Author: NAM Heesung
Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Description: Anthology containing: The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, Vol. 01- 58
Rights: Copyrights as per source stories

The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

(달빛 조각사)

Volume 01

Nam-Hi-Sung

(남희성)

The man forsaken by the world, the man a slave to money and the man known as the legendary God of War in the highly popular MMORPG Continent of Magic. With the coming of age, he decides to say goodbye, but the feeble attempt to earn a little something for his time and effort ripples into an effect none could ever have imagined.

Through a series of coincidences, his legendary avatar is sold for 3.1 billion won, bringing great joy to him, only to plunge him into despair at losing almost all of it to vicious loan sharks. With revelation of money through gaming, he rises from the abyss with new found resolve and steps forward into the new age of games led by the first ever Virtual Reality MMORPG, Royal Road.

This is the legend of Lee Hyun on his path to becoming Emperor with only his family loving heart, his boundless desire for money, his unexpected mind, his diligently forged body and the talent of hard work backing him.

Translation by RoyalRoad

Translation Quality: Decent

Original Epub: Estevam / dotNOVEL

Revised Epub: jvmunhoz

Chapter 1: Birth of a Dark Gamer

Just imagine a noble, elegant and picturesque life of poverty that you might find in a soap opera, and no matter how poor you were, it still didn’t discourage you from showing unconditional love for strangers or even sharing your piece of bread with a warm smile.

If anyone ever claimed that such an illusion existed in reality, Lee Hyun would beat him to a pulp, and strike them once more to finish him off.

Life really was too cruel for the poor. The Labor Welfare Law revised by Parliament, made all jobs unavailable to minors. Illegal though it was, Lee Hyun had worked in every kind of trade imaginable.

From the age of fourteen he took to sewing stitches in a factory. The salary there could only be called meager, but at least he was able to eat for free.

However,  being underground with only two ventilation fans running, his health quickly deteriorated. Thanks to this, he damaged his lungs, and gained heavy medical bills.

Then there was a job at a gas station and occasionally he even went around pulling a handcart collecting and selling recyclables.

But no matter how hard he worked, at the end of the day, the only money left in his pockets was chump change.

As a minor, he was forced to get a jobs illegally, and this fact was used by his employers to brutally and mercilessly work him to the bone.

He lived this life of exploitation until the age of twenty, and thanks to this, Lee Hyun knew very well the value of money. However, things would be different now. Now he was finally recognised as an adult by law, and with it came an ID card that would allow him to legally work.

Inserting the ID card in his wallet Lee Hyun mumbled.

“I’ll have to work until my body practically breaks down. I should be able to deal with 3 jobs a day.”

When he was a kid, his parents had died in an accident, and now his family only consisted of his grandma and baby sister.

“Alright. From now on we’ll be rich.”

Lee Hyun pledged to become so, and returned home.

“Lee Hyun, did you come in just now?”

His grandma asked while lying down snuggled under her blankets.

His grandma after falling down the stairs a few days ago, had dislocated her hip, rendering her unable to go to work and although she was taking medicine to help her cope with the pain, with the household struggling as it was, she couldn’t go to the hospital to receive proper treatment and thus could only rest at home, also due to not receiving treatment, every night she could only groan painfully.

Whenever Lee Hyun entered the house, he felt like he was suffocating. It was a lifeless home with an aloof little sister and an old grandma. Even if he didn’t know it, it was probably why he disliked coming home even more.

“Hayan?”

“I have no idea. She went out and didn’t return. She might be hanging around with the bad crowd again, I’m not sure.”

Lee Hayan was his little sister. He had not seen her face very often recently.

“It’s going to be okay. What could happen?”

“You’re her one and only brother. A brother should protect his little sister.”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun smiled wryly and went to his room. Even if he was forced into physical labor or driving a taxi, he still wanted to send his little sister to college.

For a while now she had been drifting off the rails, but she was bright and intelligent, unlike Lee Hyun. He believed that in college she would meet a good husband and be able to live well. He also wanted to repay his old and ailing grandma for all that she had sacrificed to raise Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan.

“Right, look for work tomorrow. There will probably be an employment test as well…”

Muttering to himself, Lee Hyun turned on the computer. The old computer buzzed to life. As soon as it connected to the internet, as was routine, he accessed a game. That game was Continent of Magic (CoM). A classic game released 20 years ago. An online game that once created a frenzy of gamers in the Republic of Korea.

That game remained at the pinnacle of gaming until just 3 years ago. Lee Hyun’s antiquated computer, assembled by combining parts from here and there, was not capable of handling most games. Nothing but Continent of Magic ran smoothly on it these days.

It was the first game he’d ever played, and only during the game could he have a feeling of enjoyment.

Lee Hyun’s playing style was very peculiar. He did not associate with the other people around him and instead hunted all day long. After killing monsters and raising his level, he headed to harder hunting grounds. He did not participate in sieges or guild wars at all.

He found pleasure in the game by gradually improving his character’s abilities and upgrading equipment. He once hunted for 200 hours straight (8 days) without catching a wink of sleep. It wasn’t unusual for him to struggle for a month to raise one level or catch a single monster.

Some might question what kind of fun he was looking for, but for him it was fun simply watching his character grow stronger and when he was able to defeat monsters he was previously unable to, he was thoroughly delighted.

In a short period of time, Lee Hyun had reached the highest level. He had attained the ultimate state where levels no longer rose.

In the two decades since Continent of Magic was released, it was the first and only record in history of this happening. When Lee Hyun looked back, he found no one who could rival his character in supremacy. In hunting grounds where others struggled as a party, he singlehandedly wiped out all the monsters.

After climbing to the highest level, he alone hunted all the ultimate monsters, including Dragons.

Unfortunately for Lee Hyun, he had lost all interest in CoM. Nowadays with the technological advances, the ultimate goal of every game was to equip itself with a virtual reality system.

A truly splendid game by the name of ‘Royal Road’, was often referenced as the standard for virtual reality gaming. Beginning with it’s fully implemented world, the game contained tens of thousands of races and users. Over tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of thousands of skills.

You could enjoy any adventure as you desired or even go sea fishing with friends for days on end, well that is as long as you don’t encounter whimsical typhoon of course.

The massive scale of freedom was amazing, but the best above all else, was the wondrous game’s system. Royal Road had the reputation of inducing the ultimate fun a human could enjoy in a game.

“Well for me, that’s all just a pie in the sky.”

What could Lee Hyun expect from a computer  that slowed down by a slightly more complex web page?

Popular as it was, to install the equipment that made virtual reality possible, would cost over 10,000,000 won ($10,000 USD). If he had that kind of money laying around, under any circumstance would first go to his grandma’s medical bills, or it would go to his little sister’s college tuition fund.

To diligently earn money, Lee Hyun had decided to delete his CoM account, and thus remove any form of distraction from his goal of earning money. Unfortunately the game/account had to go.

Are you sure you want to delete your account?

Yes / No

Lee Hyun brought the mouse cursor over ‘Yes’. Now, with a single click of the mouse, the treasured character he had raised would disappear forever. Just at the moment he flexed his finger to press down, a thought raced through his mind.

‘Can I sell my character for money? Account sale I think it’s called…’

He remembered reading a newspaper or something, that said buying and selling characters was a commonplace practice these days. That story meant money! It dawned on Lee Hyun that if he was going to delete his character anyway, it wasn’t a bad idea to sell it to another person instead.

Lee Hyun began searching through the internet looking for a character trading site. One search resulted in dozens of sites, and among them he located and entered the one with the largest trading volume.

“So I just post my character here for a price and it’s done?”

Lee Hyun uploaded pictures along with his own character.

Highest level character in Continent of Magic, with the best equipment coming from Dragons that was worth 30 trillion marks.

He decided to begin the auction with the initial price of 50,000 won ($50 USD). He was afraid that no one would bid if he asked for too high a price right off the bat.

The auction deadline was one day.

Waiting for a longer period of time for a bigger bid of money to come was unlikely to happen. Also. to get a job he needed a decent set of clothes at least a shirt and tie, so he was in a hurry to get money right away.

Typically there was a range of characters and items to determine the price, but the auction content of other people could only be seen by paying members so Lee Hyun was denied access.

Lee Hyun finished posting and went to sleep. Waking up early the next day, he planned to stop by a nearby employment office.

Not even an hour after Lee Hyun post on the auction site, the netizens that occupied the virtual space began heating up the internet.

* * *

Initially, no one believed the auction post. With the latest patch to Continent of Magic, they were well aware the level cap had been increased significantly higher.

Currently the maximum level limit was 200.

In the entire server, no one who achieved such a state could be found, possibly because the figure itself was practically impossible for any man alive.

And now, there was an auction post with the character that rose to the highest level for sale.

“Some guy’s playing a prank on us.”

“What sort of moron posted this boring stuff?”

“This has happens so frequently it’s no longer funny.”

Several people commented in this fashion. Passing by some advised no one be fooled while others gave thanks for making them laugh.

From early on in 21st century, phishing entries to steal users information had become a trend and because they were duped so often, many thought it was one such a case again.

“No, never…”

“Can’t be.”

Netizens tried to ignore the auction post. But their curiosity could not be resisted and they entered to see the post again and again.

Auction posts are unconditionally required to post screenshots of the character to be shown.

Each of the files attached to the posting were opened. The character info was truly outstanding. Various stats hit maximum and equipment items were indeed fantastic.

“Where the hell did he get those weapons?”

“Full set of Red Dragon Armor along with Red Dragon’s Backbone Shield? Wow…….”

“He says they were conferred by the Black God of Valor.”

People admired it quite a bit. Somehow it did not seem like a normal phishing post. To forge such detailed images would require a great deal of effort.

“This guy definitely spent a lot of time on it.”

“The interface is Continent of Magic, but what game did he import the equipment from?”

Among those present at the auction post were current graphics designers. Looking at the base photo, they tried to find a blind spot.

“No matter how well-crafted the picture is, microscopic traces will remain if a picture is edited. Even if it looks perfect in the eyes of the general public, when you apply the latest technology, the fake parts will be revealed.”

The designers magnified the images by a factor 10,000 to track down the editied pixels, studied every shade, and even scanned the photo files into a 3D format, trying to prove it was a forgery. But their attempts proved futile. Finally they were forced to acknowledge.

“All these images are real.”

“I’m the chief designer of LK Co. I guarantee these pictures haven’t been altered in anyway.”

Contrary to their expectations, the graphic designers began to confirm the authenticity of the images.

Then real users of Continent of Magic appeared. The moment they saw the images, they shouted in surprise. From the beginning they suspected nothing.

“It’s real. The character name is ‘Weed’. This user’s is damn famous.”

“The equipment is his, but I didn’t know he had reached the top level, thats really impressive!”

Lee Hyun always played alone, intentionally avoiding hunting grounds with lots of people. He never participated in sieges, and minor disputes were usually ignored and passed by. But rumors about him had never ceased to stop.

Slaying Dragons and Krakens deemed simply invincible and sweeping through the highest level hunting grounds all single handedly.

Not associating with other players didn’t mean they couldn’t recognize him. Among the remaining users playing CoM, he was a legend. Only Lee Hyun was oblivious to the fact that he was a celebrity.

“So the equipment is real?”

“Then, this can only be called jackpot…”

The initial price for the auction was 50,000 won. Excluding the character value or equipment, just owning it alone according to current prices made the amount was far too low.

People hurriedly began to write down their bids. It went up in a flash from 50,000 to 300,000 won, all the way until 700,000 won. An hour had not passed before it exceeded 1,000,000 won.

The value of selling just one piece of equipment would cover the cost so there was no need to be hesitant about the loss. The bid began to skyrocket.

By this time, many people stopped participating out of desperation because they imagined to some extent the auction closing price.

Although the number of players in Continent of Magic has decreased over time, after the servers were integrated into one and became free to play, there were still quite a lot of users playing.

Initially, it was the players of Continent of Magic who drove up the price, and following them were the wealthy office workers who increased the price further.

At one time, when the game was newly created, Continent of Magic kept most of the Republic of Korea up all night. The highest level character in that game, owning such an antique had such a value that you wanted to show it off to others.

The shrewder among the office workers quickly phoned their similarly aged bosses.

“Director-nim, is that you?”

“Why are you calling me at midnight? Do you want to get fired?”

“Eh? That, well… Director-nim, didn’t you use to play Continent of Magic in the past?”

“Yes, what of it?”

“Right now, the highest level character in Continent of Magic is up for auction. I thought Director-nim would surely be interested in it…”

“What! W-We-Weed you mean?!”

“Yes. So Director-nim knows about him. His Character is level 200. Stats and equipment are also filled to the max.”

Then followed the explanation.

“Right now. With your own money call for a 30,000,000 won bid right now. I’m going back home right now to check it out, try and get the first place bid!”

In the current age, people who hold key positions in companies belonged to the generation that played online games in the middle of their youth. Thanks to this, they boosted the price range even higher!

In large portal sites and every game related website, the main hot topic talked about was the auction of the highest level character from Continent of Magic. Many people started searching for it, and instantly the keyword ranking shot skyward. From this point onward, the real auction began.

* * *

In the meantime though, Lee Hyun was sound asleep, completely unaware of this.

“Nogada… 50,000 won per day. Washing dishes in restaurants, 30,000 won. Supper, ham hocks…”

He was busy summing up what to do the next day in his dreams.

* * *

With the people’s attention all focused on certain person, the auction price was soaring.

So far, nobody knew who Continent of Magic’s highest level was, but it invoked a desire to possess and show off the eternal character of the once greatest game.

The auction price finally exceeded 100,000,000 won (roughly $100,000 USD).

At this point, ownership exceeded the market price for the individual holdings and equipment. Some people lamented over their lack of money and dropped out of the auction.

“I think the guy selling this character is a big-time weirdo.”

“How could he set the auction period for such a priceless avatar to only a single day?”

“Was he damn sure he would receive the maximum possible price for it?”

In this manner people commented the auction post to soothe their sorrows. Before long, the number of comments went beyond 900.

The auction was automatically extended a few times, and when it exceeded 300,000,000 won, several companies became actively involved.

Due to the simple matter of the auction, the only thing people knew was that there was no end in sight. If the deal was settled for a colossal sum, numerous people would hear about it through news or word-of-mouth, and the publicity effects were formidable.

To place just one ad required a pile of money, also, after painfully spending money to make an ad, people still did not bother looking closely at it. However, what about news of the highest level character being sold for a small fortune? People’s interest and attention would be concentrated.

Each company’s public relations department approached with such a perspective. Digital media intensified the competition, game broadcasters wanted to acquire the highest level character. The value or market price of the character was not a problem. Organizing a series of specials about the famous game in the past and then casting the character in question would increase the reliability and public image of the broadcasters.

Fierce competition led to the price skyrocketing again and again, and the surge in the number of visitors made the item trading site smile with satisfaction.

And then, the auction finally came to an end.

In the end, five major game broadcasters battled one another for the character, but piercing though all that competition, and the one that ending up making the successful bid and received the character was CTS Media. The latest situation was its rapid expansion and increase in broadcast share that made it a promising company to go to. By intervention from the president’s secretary, the winning bid was written and submitted as the auction ended.

* * *

“Hello?”

Lee Hyun received a phone call waking him up from his sleep in the morning.

The construction job from the day before exhausted him and he had fallen asleep. He earned only 30,000 won. It was less than average because he was told off for being incompetent.

“Hello.” Unexpectedly, coming from beyond the receiver was the voice of a beautiful woman.

“Um… Looks like you might have called the wrong number.”

Lee Hyun, certain that nobody in their right mind would ever call his house tried to put down the receiver as quickly as possible.

However before he did so the woman with the beautiful voice spoke again…….

“You tried selling your account over the internet, is that not so?” she asked.

“Yes, that is correct…”

“This is CTS Media Incorporated. I am the president’s secretary Yoon Nahee. We have deposited the amount of the current successful bid of the auction into your account, you can confirm this on the item trading site. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any issues.”

“Wa-wait a minute! There was a successful bid?”

“Hmm. Yes, there was. May I ask if you have not checked it yet?”

“No, I was a little busy…”

Yoon Nahee of CTS Media, was the President’s secretary. Even going so far as to work in financial resources, she also knew 8 languages as well. She was by no means an ordinary woman at all, and all those around her were busy flattering her. But the fact that he did not check the auction of such a fortune was enough to overwhelm Yoon Nahee.

“How much was the successful bid?”

Lee Hyun was filled with unease. Hoping for at least over 200,000 won to pay the medical bills, he figured he should ask, but the voice Lee Hyun heard over the phone stunned him into shock.

“3,090,000,000 won.” (About $3,000,000-ish USD)

Originally, Lee Hyun’s character ‘Weed’, according to the market price was around 150,000,000 won.

Normally games at the height of their popularity that sell their equipment alone could sometimes pass for 100,000,000 won, but if it’s an old game, Like CoM, the market price is usually on the extremely low side.

However, due several factors, including the limited auction deadline, the one-of-a-kind rarity and his characters fame, led to it ultimately being brought over 3,000,000,000 won. The auction itself was newsworthy, which was exactly what CTS Media aimed for.

However, Lee Hyun replied bluntly.

“Are you kidding me?”

“What?”

“I can’t believe you called me just to talk about something as stupid as that. I’m hanging up now.”

After putting down the receiver, Lee Hyun bitterly laughed.

“How did she know about the auction post? And how did she get my number to play a prank?”

Lee Hyun believed none of it. It sounded far too absurd.

However, the moment he accessed the site, his auction post floated on the main screen of the item trading site. Countless people posted comments in real time, and the auction successful bid amount was as she said, 3,090,000,000 won!

Lee Hyun managed not to faint only because of his grim tenacity.

‘If this is a dream, I hope I never wake up.’ he thought.

The next day, Lee Hyun confirmed the money receipt that more than 3,000,000,000 won had really been deposited into his own account.

He pinched his flesh until blood could be seen. This is unmistakably reality! Lee Hyun rushed to show his grandma the bankbook. He still did not dare tell her the story in it its entirety.

“Grandma, I’ve made some money.”

“Yes?”

His grandma replied helplessly. It had only been 3 days after his ID card was issued. He couldn’t have earned much.

“Well, good work, Hyun-ah.”

“It was not that much trouble, Grandma.”

Lee Hyun handed her the bankbook.

“What is this?”

“Look. This here is the money I’ve earned.”

His grandma rubbed her dim eyes a couple of times while looking at the bankbook. The amount stamped into the account, the reaction was disbelief.

“You! Did you steal this?! No, no, this amount of money can’t be stolen…”

“What I did was sell my game account.”

“Account?”

“It’s far too complex to explain… Anyway, I obtained this money legally.”

“Then really…”

His grandma, filled with rising emotion, softly sobbed.

“Hyun-ah, like others, we can now live without worrying about water and electricity bills anymore?”

“Of course. We can even own our own home.”

“You can go back to school… and Hayan can go to college. We no longer have to live envying others.”

His grandma was moved to tears. It was the same with Lee Hyun.

While remembering all of the suffering and bitterness he received.

“Now we can live happily together, Grandma!”

“Yes, of course.”

Due to all of the tough times together, these two people were thrilled that much more. After several days they obtained a new house and his grandma was finally able to receive proper treatment at the hospital. They also found in addition to her hip, that she was sick in many other ways and had to be admitted to the hospital for a period of time. His little sister Hayan was also delighted. But of course, their happiness was to be short-lived.

Five men dressed in black professional suits. The ones he especially did not want to see the most came to the hospital.

These five well-built black suited men with fresh from the store shoes,  literally bullied and pushed their way into the his grandma hospital room, and even though only 5 came into the large hospital room itself, the room now seemed to be filled.

All of the other patients panicked from fear so with the help from their caregivers, they quietly slipped out.

Eventually only Lee Hyun, his grandma and the men remained. Lee Hyun thought it fortunate that his little sister wasn’t there the moment they came in. But nothing good ever came from those men in suits. He expected it would be the no different from before.

“Lee Hyun. I’ve recently heard of the good fortune bestowed to your family…”

The blonde haired man spoke.

Lee Hyun shot back sharply.

“So?”

“In the past your father took out a loan with us, and now we’re here to collect on that debt.”

“Debt?”

“Yes. And now that you have the money, I believe you’re ready pay it back.”

Lee Hyun gulped swallowing his saliva. When his parents passed away, Lee Hyun had inherited all of his father debt of 100,000,000 won.

It would’ve been fine if he had done the waiver of inheritance, but at that time Lee Hyun was still too young to understand and did not know about this law. In addition, his grandma, with the grief of losing her only child, also failed to apply for the waiver of inheritance in court within 3 months and thus legacy was inherited.

Therefore, Lee Hyun had become indebted to the loan sharks for whooping 100,000,000 won debt. He also knew how ruthless they were about collecting. But now he had a lot of money. There was no need to be afraid.

“I will repay the debt. How much is it?”

“Repay? Your words are a little short. Well, that’s fine. We treasure our esteemed customers. The money you have to pay is about 3,000,000,000 won.”

At the man’s words, Lee Hyun’s temples throbbed with rage.

“Absurd! The money my father borrowed was clearly 100,000,000 won.”

“Hey, it’s been 8 years. As time goes by, interest piles up.”

“Such a ridiculous thing… I’ll report you to the police!”

“Report? Knock yourself out. You think the police will take your side?”

“Police are the people’s cane.”

“Puhahahaha.”

The men laughed at Lee Hyun’s words. In particular the blonde haired man, hearing that absurdness, he put his hand on his forehead and had a good laugh. The man standing quietly behind  the blonde hair man spoke. Considering the atmosphere, he seemed like their leader.

“Explain to the kid straight up. Do not cause unnecessary trouble.”

“Yes, Hyung-nim. I’m sorry. Well kid, listen carefully. What we’re doing does not break any laws. Because we received legitimate interest. To begin with, the interest is 50% of the principal amount per year. Do you want me to calculate? By year 1 it increased from 100,000,000 to 150,000,000, by year 2, roughly 220,000,000, by year 3 it topped 330,000,000, by year 4 close to almost 500,000,000.”

At the calculation report, Lee Hyun felt despair. Debt increased 5 fold in just 4 years. 8 years passed, so it might have been 2,500,000,000, but the time that passed was more than exactly 8 years so it was not wrong to say 3,000,000,000.

Lee Hyun while being harassed by the gang members did not know how much debt he was in. Without him knowing, it accumulated to as much as 3,000,000,000.

Bankruptcy!

Others with a 3,000,000,000 debt would file bankruptcy. Even after bankruptcy you would probably owe a few thousand won. Lee Hyun did not even consider bankruptcy. It costs money just to file bankruptcy. The courts and legal counselors. Paying them money and following the necessary steps, you could enter bankruptcy.

Lee Hyun could not even afford to file for bankruptcy. In fact, even if you had the money, you can’t seriously believe the vicious loan sharks would leave you alone to file bankruptcy.

“We want the 3,000,000,000.”

“No-no way!”

“No way? Suit yourself. If you don’t want to we will come again tomorrow to collect. At that time what you have to pay back will increase a little more, but your call.”

The men dressed in black suits exuded confidence. The confidence of free will, the confidence of power.

And also, Lee Hyun knew it was better to repay the debt if he could. In the first place there were no other alternatives, they came knowing he had money. The men laughed with a smirk.

“Poor grandma has been injured and hospitalized, but she sure looks comfortable in the hospital. Much like your little sister in the hallway. Such a beautiful little sister, I bet she could be sold for quite a bit on the island…”

“Don’t you dare touch Hayan!”

“Relax, nothing has happened, yet. Right now, we’re just talking kid. But what if this family of three was admitted to the hospital all at once. It’d be the most touching sight.”

Lee Hyun could not stand the veiled threats anymore. It couldn’t be helped. It would be enough if the men left. Those unable to repay the borrowed money, in the slums he had seen the fates of those with no money to give them. If there was a sin in the first place, it was borrowing money from them.

Not even able to depend on the law, Lee Hyun had to surrender his bankbook. The men received the bankbook on the spot, and pulled out 90,000,000 won in cash from a bag. With it was the IOU for 100,000,000 won written by Lee Hyun’s parents 8 years ago. From the beginning they knew everything and came firmly prepared.

“Thank you. And sorry for your troubles.”

As the men exited the hospital room, Lee Hyun yelled.

“Wait a minute!”

“Why kid? What’s up?”

“Someday, I will surely make you pay for this!”

“What?”

“Because the money has been repaid, you guys think that this is the end of things. But it means later on I will get even with you guys.”

The men were about to laugh again. However, at the sight of Lee Hyun’s eyes, their laughter died before ever coming out.

A young, wild beast. The miasmic embrace of his eyes had sent a chill down their spines.

“I see you still have some spirit in you. We need to teach a fearless kid like you about the world.”

The men rolled up their sleeves. But Lee Hyun was not the slightest bit scared, nor did he shrink back.

“Enough. We have already collected the money, don’t do anything unnecessary.”

“But…”

“Do you really want to make a scene in a hospital?”

“Understood, Hyung-nim.”

The men thundered getting out.

“And kid.”

The casual leader of the men looked at Lee Hyun and gave him advice.

“I am Han Jinsup of Myongdong. Do you really your boldness will work in this poisonous world? If you think it’s unfair, make 3,000,000,000 in 5 years and look for me. Then I will serve you as my Hyung-nim.”

The loan sharks departed. Lee Hyun sat down on the ground helplessly. And at the sound of his little sister crying in the hallway, his grandma made a deep sorrowful sigh.

* * *

After being robbed to the tune of 3,000,000,000 won, he did not have the strength to do anything. He was slammed by an extreme emptiness. However, on the third day after being robbed, he stood up.

There was still hope. So he could not sit and hesitate. A smile casually drifted to Lee Hyun’s mouth. Amidst the tears, laughter emerged.

It was all but a moment, but the touching experience of having a large sum of money that seemed to have enlighten him just a little about how to really live in the world.

‘Right. If I earned once, I can earn twice.’

Lee Hyun was busy. 90,000,000 won (roughly $90,000 USD) was not taken away, but it did not mean he could use it all. Because the house contract was already set at 50,000,000 won so that was already set aside.

He was still able to cancel the contract if he wanted, but doing so would mean he would have to pay a penalty fine. He would rather die than pay the penalty.

Ultimately, the amount that could be used was only 40,000,000 won!

All thanks to the real estate slump in the early 21st century.

* * *

Using part of the remaining money, Lee Hyun registered in many martial arts halls such as aikido, kendo and taekwondo. He placed himself on a rigorous schedule traversing to as many as 6 different places a day. Over time his body was broken down and rebuilt at the various gyms as he continue to master these martial arts quickly.

The instructors there called him a ‘Wild Beast’. Building his stamina, he swung his sword all day long, enough to cause blood to flow from his hands.

Virtual reality game!

A place where depending on how a person moves their body in real life can affect how your body moves in virtual reality. Then wouldn’t learning martial arts and studying about the game system a little more be helpful?

Of course, those that learned martial arts would not be completely advantageous. But to be even a little stronger, even at level 1, it was better to learn martial arts.

Imagine being at least 10% stronger throughout the game, the tremendous effects it would bring. Because of that, Lee Hyun spent most of his morning and afternoon learning martial arts and getting fitter, and during the evening, studied about virtual reality games. Things like: which game had the most users and how the game system worked was thoroughly analyzed.

For every profession, city and skill Lee Hyun made analysis tables and pinned them onto the walls of his room. The paper records bombarded Lee Hyun’s room.

For 1 whole year. Lee Hyun learned about martial arts and studied virtual reality games. The time of 1 year wasn’t just a preparation period, it was also used to closely observe the development of Royal Road.

The virtual reality game at the end was as expected. Royal Road, like its namesake, walked the path of the emperor with serenity. Possessing more than 75% of the world’s game market share, more than 90% of Korean gamers played this game. It could practically be called a scheduled sequence.

Especially during wars of kings, it came to a point where it overwhelmed the viewership of all other networks. The only game in the world where anybody could obtain fame, power and money. Royal Road was the result of an ingenious system interlocking with virtual reality.

‘Great. All according to plan.’

Lee Hyun’s cold eyes stared at the monitor.

That day he purchased a capsule used to connect to Royal Road for 10,000,000 won. It was expensive enough that tears seeped out, but he constantly reminded himself that it was a necessary investment. With all preparations finished. It was the beginning of the game. He felt like a soldier heading onto the battlefield.

Connect to Royal Road?

Yes | No

When the message came, Lee Hyun shouted without any hesitation.

“Yes!”

Chapter 2: Wild Beast Appears

—The scan on your iris and vein has determined that you are an unregistered user.—

—Do you want to create a new account?—

Yes | No

When Lee Hyun was connected to Royal Road, the first sound that reached his ears was a feminine voice.

He looked around to see who had spoken to him, but there was no one else; a space within the universe. Then he realized that he was in the middle of the activation process of a new account.

“Yes!”

—Select the name of your avat…—

“Weed.” Weed, the lowliest of the low in the plant kingdom. To Lee Hyun, it sounded most suitable for him.

—Select your gender from male, female or neutr…—

“Male!”

—Royal Road has forty-nine races.—

—You may select your race from the primary twenty-nine…—

“Human!”

—You may alter your appearan…—

“The way I am.”

—Your account has been activated.—

—Your stats and class shall be determined while you are playing Royal Road…—

“Pass!”

—Select a city and kingdom you want to start.—

“The Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim Kingdom!”

— Welcome to Royal…—

“Pass!”

Afraid to waste even a second, Lee Hyun skipped the tutorial stage and made quick decisions according to his prearranged plan. 300,000.00 won (about $300 USD) monthly bill for the game was a great expense to him.

* * *

In Royal Road, there are over a hundred major cities and thousands of towns. A new player begins his adventure in a capital or a major city of comparable size.

Similar to where Weed is starting out.

*Flash*

With a flash of light, he appeared in the Citadel of Serabourg, Rosenheim.

“This is…”

Weed was swayed by the sight of countless avatars, users and NPCs (Non-Player Characters) alike, that he thought he was lost in the middle of Seoul.

“Where am I? Unbelievable!”

Astonished, Weed couldn’t believe his eyes as he looked around. The racket of those haggling and chattering rang in his ears. The view unfolding before his eyes was exactly the same as the real world, with people busily coming and going.

He lowered his eyes to his legs standing on the ground. His senses told him that it felt absolutely solid. Strangers passed him by as he stood still in a daze.

“Look at him. I’m sure he’s a newbie.”

“It looks like he’s never played a virtual reality game before.”

While passing by, some users threw fleeting remarks over their shoulders. They stung him enough to pull himself together.

They’re right. It’s Royal Road here. The world of virtual reality, and my new workplace.

No matter how thoroughly Weed had prepared, his knowledge of virtual reality and his research into the game system came second to the strange experience he was having now.

He had been bewildered, but it was temporary, and he soon calmed down, differences also began to catch his eye.

His senses were consistent with reality, yet people around him were clad in armor or wearing leather vests.

Close to the spot where he had shown up was a bulletin board exhibiting maps and descriptions of Rosenheim Kingdom, and directions for using the basic interface.

‘It’s time that I start.’

Weed clenched his fist, and then he started to exercise. He sat down and stood up, and then proceeded with standing high jumps, tumbling, kicking and punching.

He twisted his waist around and carefully tested one joint after another. He wiggled fingers and toes, and jerked his head back and forth.

Even though a tsunami of humiliating comments gushed forth from other users nearby, Weed was determined to overcome it.

“What the heck is he doing now?”

“It looks like he’s moving his body. I guess he’s still uncomfortable with the virtual reality game.”

“Oh, I see. But what’s the point of making a show in the middle of a crowded street?”

The sense of humiliation which Weed had been fighting so hard to keep back prevailed over his determination. What a scene he’d been making in front of strangers!

“Dammit!” Weed left in a hurry and headed elsewhere.

As a newcomer in Royal Road, he was confined to the city of origin for a week in the real world and four weeks in the game (a four to one ratio), thanks to the parallax between one place and the other.

A great majority of newcomers were getting down to basics, like taking on simple quests, or learning crafting skills, such as tailoring, blacksmithing and cooking, which are relatively easy to acquire.

The game boast of its unrestricted flexibility and freedom, almost to the extent of complete disorder and anarchy, and currently while all the highest ranking positions are still occupied by NPCs instead of users it is possible to get these jobs, this reinforces the need for personal contacts within Royal Road.

On the other hand, a considerable number of users work in libraries or stores to make money.

The Central Square brims with merchant wannabes who set up kiosks to buy and sell with fellow users and many new parties in pursuit of adventure are formed on the spot every minute.

After watching them casually, Weed didn’t hesitate to head for the Training Hall.

The Training Hall is open to any user for as long as he or she pleases, and most users visit the hall to experiment with newly acquired skills.

It is nearly impossible to find someone who, like Weed, would go straight to the Training Hall to train as soon as he created a new avatar.

It’s not only that newcomers are more interested in finding out what the kingdom and city where they were born look like, but it’s also largely because training in the Training Hall is deemed rather ineffective in the end.

The moment the instructor saw Weed walk in the entrance, his eyes glared fiercely.

“Young adventurer, I presume you have arrived at the Versailles continent very recently,” the instructor said.

“Yes, Sir” Weed said shortly. He was still upset that he had made a laughing stock of himself on the first day.

“You shall find sword training absolutely necessary when you come to confront monsters. Do you need my guidance? I tell you, take any unattended scarecrow and strike him in any way you want. A wooden sword is placed in front of a scarecrow, and it is all yours.”

“Thank you, sir. That’s enough. I don’t need any more guidance.”

“Godspeed.”

Weed clutched the wooden sword and walked to a scarecrow standing alone in the most remote comer. Then, he began beating it, once, twice, thrice. His hands were gradually getting accustomed to the weight of the wooden sword and the sense of hitting the scarecrow.

In Royal Road, a new avatar’s level is locked for the first four weeks, for he is forbidden to travel beyond the city’s gate and to hunt monsters in the field.

It is most common to carry out as many quests as possible, thus building up favorable public service points, earning money and forming your own web of personal contacts.

Nonetheless, Weed silently carried on striking the scarecrow with the wooden sword.

There are about a thousand scarecrows in the Training Hall of the Citadel of Serabourg, and an unlimited supply of wooden swords on the walls, which could come in handy. The Hall is usually frequented by users who crave to test their skills.

At this moment, however, everyone’s eyes were fixed on somewhere in particular.

“This guy’s definitely got iron guts.”

“He’s freaking tough.”

“Can’t believe any sane man is going so far.”

Weed was soaked in sweat.

The white shirt and pants issued to him in the beginning had absorbed sweat and stuck fast to his body. He still dealt one blow after another to the scarecrow without a minute’s break.

*Ting*

Strength has risen by 1 point (+1 STR)

After six hours of striking the scarecrow, Weed heard good news. He felt as if the muscles in his hands that were clutching the wooden sword were getting lighter.

“Open Stats Window,” Weed mumbled while striking the scarecrow.

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Neutral

Level

1

Profession

None

Title

None

Fame

0

Health

100

Mana

100

Strength

11

Agility

10

Vitality

10

Wisdom

10

Intelligence

10

Luck

0

Charisma

0

Offense

3

Defense

0

Magic Resistance

Fire

0%

Water

0%

Earth

0%

Black Magic

0%

Weed’s avatar was so feeble that there was nothing remarkable.

-Five hours later-

*Ting*

Vitality has risen by 1 point (+1 VIT)

Agility has risen by 1 point (+1 AGI)

The two stats rose almost at the same time.

“Whew.”

Weed finally put down the wooden sword and took a short break. Without eating or drinking, he had been hitting the scarecrow nonstop for nearly eight straight hours now.

He was physically fatigued, and worse, his throat was burning with thirst, his stomach empty and hollow.

“Open Inventory”

Given the preset keyword, the semi-transparent images of all the belongings in Weed’s inventory floated in front of his eyes. The only objects inside his inventory were a canteen and ten pieces of rye bread. That was all.

In Royal Road, you have to get hold of what you need on your own. Other users make money by carrying out easy quests for the four weeks, but Weed could not spare even a minute.

He took out a piece of rye bread and the canteen, and nibbled a mouthful of bread. As he ate food, it appeased his hunger and the satisfaction factor rose.

“I’m supposed to have a meal every five hours. I’d better eat more often if I exercise intensely, but I don’t need to raise the satisfaction factor to the full. All I need to do is just stay away from death.”

Once Weed finished the meal swiftly, he took the wooden sword in his grip and stood in front of the scarecrow.

“He’s at it again.”

“He’s nuts.”

“I think he holds a grudge against it or something.”

“I don’t think he’ll stop until he breaks that scarecrow into pieces.”

Was it an illusion that the scarecrow looked like it shivered at that very moment? Weed’s wooden sword struck every inch of the scarecrow. The same type of questions arose among all the spectators.

“Why the heck is that guy striking the scarecrow?”

“I don’t think it will help at all—if he wants to raise the expertise rating for a skill, it’s much better to go out to the field and use it on a rabbit than the scarecrow here.”

“Look at what he’s doing. He’s not using any skill. To me, it looks more like he’s beating up the scarecrow on impulse.”

“Maybe he’s bringing up his stats,” a knight in dazzling armor commented, immediately attracted the attention of everyone else on the scene.

“Can you improve your stats by just hitting the scarecrow?” a dark-skinned ranger asked.

“Huh? Ah, yes, that’s right,” the knight said.

“Then, why don’t you just keep hitting a scarecrow instead of sweating hard to raise your level?” the ranger asked again.

The knight named Pluto had a considerably high level, so he has learned a wealth of information from reliable sources. He was also the only man who correctly guessed the motive of Weed’s actions.

If an avatar uses up his stamina, his vitality and stamina will develop as a consequence, and if a wizard casts a great many spells, his wisdom and intelligence will rise.

But such an increase is trivial compared to stat bonus points accompanied by a level up.

Half a day of hitting a scarecrow without a rest might yield one or two stats. Considering that the number of stat bonus points as reward for a level up is five, what Weed was doing looked idiotic.

“It really is silly.”

A sorceress shook her head when she heard Pluto’s explanation. But he thought otherwise.

“It works,” Pluto said.

“Excuse me?”

“You can earn only small amount of experience points if you kill a weaker monster than your current level. You know that, right?”

“Of course”

“In other words, the higher your level is, the harder it is to gain a level. But if you improve your strength by undergoing such a drill in the initial phase, you can hunt monsters easier later on. It will take effect throughout the game.”

“You know this method, so I guess you went through the same training? No, wouldn’t everyone do the same if they knew about it?”

“Not really. Even if people knew, no one would do it. Back to the point, is there anyone who wants to keep hitting that scarecrow for ten hours to improve their strength by one point?”

“…”

“There are limits to how far you can increase your stats by working on a scarecrow that’s known as the weakest opponent. In the case of strength, I estimate it’s forty or so. Is there anyone who wants to keep hitting the scarecrow for at least a month to raise forty points in strength? I would get sick and tired of it, and give it up in days.”

The crowd watching Weed nodded in unison.

You’d rather look for a cool weapon than to strike a scarecrow ceaselessly for a full month in order to bring up your strength by forty points. An item that keeps up strength by forty points is unique, yet far from rare.

“This works only for newbies who can’t go beyond the walls. It was once popular to beat a scarecrow like this, but it was quickly abandoned because, when you weigh against it what you can get in the long run, it’s way too boring, and painstaking.”

Weed overheard the heated discussion that those around him were having. He wished he could have trained somewhere else, but so long as he wasn’t allowed to leave the Citadel, he could not avoid attracting unfavorable attention in the Hall.

What makes you call this boring and painstaking? Weed swung the wooden sword at full strength.

If you work hard, your avatar gets stronger step by step. When your avatar evolves, it can defeat stronger monsters and make more money. For Weed, this was the ultimate entertainment of  his lifetime.

Weed was inherently inclined to routine physical labor. All this time, the instructor was watching him with awfully gratified eyes.

* * *

Three weeks had passed in game time. Weed logged on to Royal Road on a daily basis, it was almost to the point of addiction for him, except for the minimum sleeping hours he woudn’t stop playing. Thanks to his vastly improved physical condition, which he had resolved to build up before he started playing Royal Road, it enabled him to get by with no more than four hours sleep a day. Now that he looked back at the last three weeks, it made him sick to even think of it.

Once he signed into the game, he spent nearly eighty hours on average striking the scarecrow monotonously, which had mentally worn him out. Had it not been for the occasional pop-up messages encouraging him, he would have given up.

*Ting*

Strength has risen by 1 point (+1 STR)

Agility has risen by 1 point (+1 AGI)

New stat: Fighting Spirit:

New stat: Endurance:

In Royal Road, a new stat is sometimes created besides the original ones.

Fighting Spirit

You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with your force of will from your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing any bonus points to this stat, and it will rise spontaneously, depending on the avatar’s action, or especially if you’re fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.

Endurance

You’re likely to use less stamina from an action. You are prohibited from distributing any bonus points to this stat.

Pop-up messages related to the skill occasionally appeared, too. The only skill Weed had at that point was Sword Mastery.

*Ting*

Level Up: Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv: 3 | 0%):

Increases Attack Power with a sword (+30% ATK)

Increases Attack Speed with a sword (+9% ATK SPD)

Every time a pop-up message appeared, Weed was secretly delighted by the progress he was making. But what was deeply troubling him was a sense of frustration that he had been falling behind in his goals.

For the last three weeks, as he devoted himself to beating down the scarecrows, his strength had increased only by twenty-eight points, agility twenty-five, and vitality twenty-two.

“Unless I pick up my pace, I’ll end up wasting more precious time on this scarecrow even after the four week restriction is lifted. I must finish it before I can leave the Citadel.”

Weed’s eyes burned with determination.

*Rumble*

At that moment, Weed’s stomach decided it was time to eat. Aside from the slow progress with his stats, he was tormented by the fact that he was running out of bread.

He could run to a nearby fountain and fill the canteen with water, but bread was different – he had to pay money for it.

*Sniff*

*Sniff*

He smelled an appetizing scent coming from somewhere.

Weed, swinging the wooden sword, paused and caught a glimpse of the instructor, who was taking out his lunch box for the lunch break.

“Hehe, Honorable Instructor.” Weed said, as he wagged his invisible tail, he walked to the instructor.

“Hmm, who is this, none other than Weed-nim? What has brought you here?” the instructor said warmly.

“Wouldn’t it be lonely to have lunch alone? I am here to keep you company,” Weed said obsequiously.

*Growl*

While his stomach growled, Weed lied with a straight face, but he could not deceive the instructor.

“I take it that you are hungry. Sit beside me! I have brought plenty of food, sufficient to feed two mouths.”

“Thank you, sir!”

“Enough with your humility! It is my honor to serve a meal to a would-be great adventurer like you, Weed-nim. I assure you that your reputation will someday resound beyond the bounds of the Citadel of Serabourg. When that day comes, please remember me!”

“Yes, Sir. I certainly will.”

After flattering the instructor lightly, Weed enjoyed lunch together with him. It was kind of a sad scene, yet he was grateful that with little effort, he could stuff his belly.

He wasn’t sucking up to a real man, anyway. What was the big deal about smooth-talking an NPC with artificial intelligence?

Beside the stats that Weed had increased while beating the scarecrow to death for the last three weeks, he’d established an affinity with the instructor. This supplementary effect was somewhat admirable.

While Weed was busy devouring lunch, the instructor suddenly asked, “By the way, Weed-nim, what do you think of Sculpture Mastery?”

Sculpture mastery? What the heck is sculpture mastery?

Weed chewed a mouthful of boiled rice and swallowed it before he asked back, “What do you mean by Sculpture Mastery?”

“I am merely curious of your opinion. I wonder what sort of view you have about Sculpture Mastery in general,” the instructor said.

At that moment, the speed of Weed’s brain racking which could be heard and despite it being absurd to try to convert it to a numerical value, was multiplied roughly by five.

I’ve so far figured out that the instructor is a simple-minded and near-sighted kind of guy. He sincerely believes that the sword is invincible, and to him, it’s the highest virtue to exercise hard enough to break out in a sweat in the Training Hall. And now he’s asking me what I think about Sculpture Mastery?

As soon as Weed collected his thoughts, he frowned.

“Honorable Instructor! I can’t believe you even mentioned it. I am a man of the sword. Did you ask for my opinion upon, God forgive me, Sculpture Mastery? I am most disappointed. This is my answer—never, ever, not even once has such a lowly handicraft crossed my noble mind.”

Despite Weed’s offensive tone, which would have enraged him in other situations, the instructor unexpectedly clapped his hands in delight.

“I knew you would say so!”

“It is out of question. The likes of Sculpture Mastery are nothing but awful mistakes of God which do not deserve a second of our attention. Why do I, a man of the sword, need to ever think of it?”

“You are most agreeable, Weed-nim” Weed sensed that, though it was invisible, his friendship with the instructor moved to a higher degree at that moment.

This is the way to make friends with somebody. You don’t need to shed blood with them. You don’t need to squander time and money on them. You just join them in speaking ill of something or someone at the first opportunity presented, and it will invoke their sympathy.

Weed expected the instructor to change the topic of the conversation, but he rubbed the back of his head and stayed on the subject.

“It is rumored that the unknown man who mastered sculptural and once carved the moonlight,” the instructor said.

“I doubt it, sir. A rumor is always prone to distortion. How can anyone learned in worthless Sculpture Mastery carve the moonlight? Perhaps it was a pebble in the shape of a moon?” Weed said cheerfully.

“You think so, too? But I was told by my predecessor. His honorable name is Mellium, currently a Royal Knight…”

Sculpting was perceived as a fruitless skill, no more than trimming a small block of wood to produce a fine ornament.

Rumor had it that if you elevated the craft beyond a certain stage, you would be capable of making projectile weapons of metal. But it was undoubtedly one of those obsolete skills that nobody bothered learning.

“On that account Weed-nim, this question of Sculpture Mastery intrigues me. It surely is beyond doubt that the craft cannot possibly rival our sword under any circumstances, but would you find out whether the rumor has a grain of truth? I am asking a favor of you because you are a trustworthy man. If you accept my request, I’d be happy to hear it,” the instructor said.

Then a pop-up message appeared in front of Weed’s eyes.

*Ting*

Quest: A Mystery Sculptor Rumored to Have Visited the Royal Palace

A rumor that a man who had mastered sculptural art did carve the moonlight has been prevalent in the royal court of Rosenheim Kingdom for a long time. Look into the rumor to determine whether it is true or not!

Difficulty level: E

Quest requirements:

Close friendship with instructor reserved only for those who have not acquired Sculpture Mastery.

Acknowledged as reliable by the instructor for a constant passion for Sword Mastery.

Weed barely held a whisper of triumph at bay. His instinct told him that this quest was the rarest of the rare.

This was because the quest had to meet very tricky conditions in order to get it started. Close friendship with the instructor— who would have ever thought of that?

Most users in general don’t even know the location of the Training Hall, let alone visit it when they acquire a new skill, they don’t need to come all that way to practice it on a scarecrow of all things. Moreover, it is a rare occasion that anyone is willing to get stuck in the Hall and thrash the scarecrow over and over to bring up his stats in the crudest way, as Weed had done.

If you dig out enough dirt, you might find a few users like that, but in Weed’s case, he had spent almost all of the last three weeks with the scarecrow. Who else could have toughed it out to such an extent?

Speaking of close friendship with the instructor, it is nearly impossible to achieve unless someone like Weed approaches him, fawning to scam a share of his lunch.

Even with all the conditions above met you still have to begin your new adventure at the Citadel of Serabourg in Rosenheim Kingdom against all odds, not to mention that you have to find the right moment to slander Sculpture Mastery along with the instructor.

This is great. I’m about to go broke and starve to death. At difficulty level E, this quest looks like it’s easy to finish.

Weed nodded at the instructor.

“I am honored to accept it. Although I do not believe any of that nonsense, I will find out what it was like carving the moonlight.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

“I appreciate it Weed-nim. I entrust you with this task. Take this money as a retainer,” the instructor said, handing over two silvers. “I give you my advice: visit the sculpture shop first and glean information from there”

A piece or rye bread, while literally tasteless, was enough to fill the stomach, and costs three coppers. Since a silver coin equals a hundred coppers coins, it is safe to say Weed had just received the equivalent of sixty-six pieces or rye bread for the retainer, plus change.

He was certain that once the quest was completed, he could expect more rewards from the instructor.

“Great! I don’t need to worry about running out of bread for the time being.”

Many years of first-hand experience of habitual famine persuaded him to avoid being malnourished at any cost.

Chapter 3: The Instructor’s Request

Weed first walked to the fountain and filled his canteen with water, and then headed for the sculpture shop. It was Weed’s first trip down the streets of the Citadel, and it was crammed with users and NPCs.

“We need a cleric at level 17 or above!”

“Hey, guys! We’re going to raid Cave Lasok. Anyone want to join us?”

Plenty of users were on the street, but none of them gave a passing glance at Weed. He didn’t mind it though. Wandering around in a traveler’s outfit, deprived of even a breastplate, revealed that he has yet to meet the minimum requirement of the four week game play needed before he could leave the Citadel.

Among the innumerable stores that operate in the capital of Rosenheim Kingdom, the sculpture shop holds a special position.

Most ordinary adventurers can barely recall where the sculpture shop is located because if was meaningless to them. Only an extremely small number of users who learned the Sculpture Art visit periodically. But the sculpture shop stands right next to the jewelry store on Central Avenue, and is one of the few frequently visited shops by the noblemen/women.

*Chime*

Weed entered the sculpture shop.

“Welcome to— oh, what brings you here, stranger?”

The shopkeeper was receiving a new customer with a gentle smile, until he saw Weed’s outfit at that point, he suddenly changed the tone of his voice.

Weed looked around the shop, only to find that there was no other customer except for him. A blacksmith’s workshop or a grocery store is always full to the limit of occupancy, but the sculpture shop only entertains a few customers a day, if any.

If comparing daily revenues, however, the sculpture shop does lag behind the blacksmith’s workshop. In other words, the sculpture shop sells pretty expensive merchandises.

Weed adjusted his collar and asked politely,

“I have come here to find an answer to the question which troubles me so dearly, sir.”

“So you want to ask me a question, stranger?”

“Yes, sir. If you could spare me a second.”

“I am busy right now, please leave.”

The shopkeeper rejected him right away, sounding very annoyed. As Weed’s fame was zero, and they were unacquainted, the shopkeeper had every right to chase him out of the shop.

“Yes, sir. I will see you later.”

“Goodbye.” said the shopkeeper.

Weed was taking his time to retreat to the doorway. Then, he casually shot a glance at the statues that were on display.

“How grand!”

Weed exclaimed

“The grandeur of this statue fascinates my soul. Do you supply this to the Rosenheim Court?”

The shopkeeper could not help but lend an ear to Weed.

“Which one are you talking about, stranger?”

“This two-headed eagle made of pure gold. I dare not guess which master carved this, but I can sense the excellence of his workmanship. It is dignified beyond dispute. It is so full of life that I almost mistook it for a real eagle, and I am blessed in visiting this place. This store deserves this class of item. They have opened my humble eyes to a heavenly beauty that has descended to Earth”

Whether or not the shopkeeper realizes, his mouth was forming a horizontal crescent. “Are you interested in sculptural art, traveler?”

“I daresay I am— I am only wishing to feel peace of mind at the sight of outstanding statues, and my soul craves to be even a small part of the magnificent spirit embodied in them”

“Come over and sit down. You may be good company to arouse me from boredom.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Would you like a cup of tea?”

“Only if you’re kind enough of offer me cold honeyed water. I will be satisfied with a cup of cold water.”

“Sure! Of course I have it.”

Weed drank the honeyed water blended by the shopkeeper, which soothed the exhaustion that he had accumulated over the last three weeks.

“Now tell me what has been troubling you so much?” Asked the shopkeeper.

“Yes, sir. But can you please forgive me for asking for a brief tour of these statues on display before everything else? I have business that demands your guidance, yet it is less urgent than comforting my poor soul that wishes to have a good look at these masterpieces of art!” Weed said.

“You may look at them for as long as you wish. Isn’t it the raison d’être  of fine statues to please those who appreciate their value?” The shopkeeper consented with a content smile.

(PR: Raison d’être: A French phrase meaning “reason for existence”)

Weed felt that he had won his goodwill, one scarcely disturbed by visitors and away from public attention. Suppose that you asked to look at various items in a grocery store— the next second you would be kicked out.

Weed relished the statues on display at leisure. But he had his own agenda. “I doubt sculpture mastery will make a pile of money.” The most expensive statue that is currently present is worth 30 silvers. The quality statues are made of stones or rare wood, and in spite of the impressive workmanship, the materials themselves were not costly in the first place. They were nothing more than wooden carvings, or engraved stones.

Weed knew that there would be money if he could create a gigantic lion statue or bronze status, but he wasn’t fooled by the possibility that was so far off. What kind of nobleman with so much money would order a new statue every year? He needed to reach the top of the ladder in order to do really well as a sculptor. Little competition guaranteed that it wouldn’t need too much effort to become the best in the industry.

Still, it was a niche market, too small to count on. The guaranteed way to make a fortune was to target other users as potential consumers. They were always leveling up and demanding better equipment, so on and so forth.

Fire weapons, strong equipment enchanted bracelets and rings were popular among users, but statues were valueless to them except in rare instances.

“Waste of time, waste of money.” he thought.

Weed’s primary purpose for starting this game was to make money, with a capital M. He looked around the display for the last time and passed his verdict on the sculpture mastery.

“This skill is worth a dime a dozen” Weed thought as he sat down across from the shopkeeper.

“Now, what are you looking for?” asked the shopkeeper.

“I am interested in a past event. I was told that someone had carved the moonlight in the Royal Palace fifty years ago. I would like to know if there’s any truth of that event” Weed said.

“Oh that event! It is legendary tale that has been passed down among the sculptors. I also heard it from some trustworthy patrons from the Royal Court”

Weed had thought that carving the moonlight was impossible, another urban legend, but the owner of the sculptor shop also knew the rumor that the instructor at the Training Hall had claimed to have heard.

*Ting*

Quest Completed: A Mystery Sculptor Rumored to Have Visited the Royal Palace

The rumor that had reached the instructor’s ear really took place. A sculptor carved the moonlight, and it was widely, yet secretly, known amongst the Serebourgians, though it remained an enigma how he carved the moonlight.

Reward:

Return to the instructor to claim it.

Weed grinned broadly. This was, after all, a simple quest with the lowest difficulty level of E. Although at the same time it could’ve turned out tricky if he had failed becoming a ‘friend’ with the shopkeeper.

How that he was done with the quest, the next move was to return to the Training Hall and earn a reward from the instructor. As Weed was looking for the right moment to say his farewells and leave, the shopkeeper, absorbed in thought, finally spoke out.

“I have not heard how he carved the moonlight”

“Did the patrons from the Royal Court not tell you about it?”

“Hmm, they always omitted it in their tale. They refused to tell me about it. They said Queen Evane of Rosenheim, O may her soul rest in peace, was involve in the event. Can you do me a favor and look into this, so that my curiosity shall be gratified?”

*Ting*

Quest: The Sculptor’s Past

The rumor has it that Queen Evane was involved in the event when the sculptor presented himself in the Royal Palace and carved the moonlight. The shopkeeper of the sculpture shop wondered what link existed between the two of them.

Difficulty Level: E

Warning: If you are found to be investigating the rumor in question, you will be exposed to hostility from Royal Knights.

Weed’s clenched fists were shaking in excitement. ‘This, it’s a serial quest!’

Even when the difficulty level of a quest is awfully low, the level of rewards shoot up in the case of serial quests. The more stages you complete, the more difficult the quest gradually becomes, and so most serial quests are likely to be highly difficult to solve for Weed at his current level.

The only quests that Weed could complete are the ones that are inside the Citadel, asking around and gathering information from people.

“I’m afraid that I am still incompetent. I believe that I may not be worthy of your request.” Weed replied.

“I am certain you are up to this task. You prudence shall lead the way to safety.” The shopkeeper replied.

“If you say so, I will take it willingly” Weed said.

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

“Thank you traveler. A bard with knowledge in ancient tales and street gossip is the one whom you should ask about Queen Evane. Beware! This matter is extremely sensitive, so you should not cause trouble that might lead to any defamation of the Royal Family.”

* * *

Keeping down a sudden impulse to hum a tune, Weed headed straight to a pub across the street.

“Good afternoon~!” Returning the greeting from a waitress, Weed looked around in search of a bard. There were a few conditions to meet. First, he discounted the bard users when he looked for the right man. It was a long shot that any user had even ever heard of such an event that had happened in the Royal Palace half a century before. Weed would be better off to find a Serabourgian native, possibly an elderly.

Whether he could sing ballads favorably or not, an old bard was reliable when it comes to worldly gossip. Weed stopped by several pubs until he found a bard who lived up to his expectations. It was a middle-aged bard in his forties, experienced with both charm and youth. Clapping both hands, Weed approached the bard.

“Thank you for a fine ballad, sir. Forgive me for interrupting you, but I want to ask you a few questions… Do you know what happened fifty years ago in the Royal Court of Rosenheim?”

The bard’s thrust his palm out and Weed could not miss what this gesture implied. He frowned immediately, his mouth twitching with a grave sense of responsibility that he would not waste a penny.

“You sure have a charming voice. I appreciate your talent in writing both the lyrics and the music for that ballad. Also your skills in the instrument were more than impressive…”

“…”

“I bet you broke the hearts of many Serabourgian ladies back when you were a young ray of sunshine at the peak of your career. Of course, I do not doubt that you are still stealing ladies’ hearts… For a bard, adventure and romance is everything. I also love romance.”

The palm didn’t go away, and the bard snapped, “I’m sick and tired of cheap compliments from the likes of you, foreigner. Show me the money, or get lost!”

Weed was momentarily lost.

“Do I just give up the quest in the middle? Anyway, the quest doesn’t penalize me even if I decide to drop out. But maybe it would give me sweet rewards later, and I would hate to miss out on them” Weed thought to himself.

Weed’s hand slipped into his pocket and fished out a coin before he realized his mistake. Two silvers! There were two silver coins in his pocket. That was everything that the instructor had given him as a retaining fee for the previous quest.

The bard seized the silver coin from Weed’s palm.

It was a basic mistake that he had forgotten to exchange his money into smaller coins in advance.

‘I can’t believe I made such a silly mistake!’ Weed’s body shook in distress and grief.

“Hmph, this is a secret, so you must keep it to yourself!” The bard said under his breath

“Queen Evan and the sculptor had been on intimate terms since they were children.”

“What do you mean by intimate terms…?” Weed asked

“You fool! I know nothing else for intimate terms between a man and a woman—they loved each other.”

“Point taken” Weed now realized why poking his nose into the rumor had to remain a secret from the Royal Court.

Given that if the former Queen’s sacred name was ever mentioned in that scandalous matter, the Royal Knights would probably be willing to silence anyone at any cost to keep her honor intact.

The bard glanced around the pub and added cautiously “They were both born and raised in the same village, and grew up bearing each other dearly in mind. The boy’s name was Zahab. The girl was always carrying ornaments carved and given by him. When she was a child she held a dream that she would become his wife someday, but Destiny played a nasty trick on them, and the girl was chosen to be the Royal Maid. At which point the boy left her. But in the end, there was still the promise between them.”

“What promise, if I may ask?” Weed asked, now curious.

“Zahab had promised to show the girl the most beautiful statue under heaven.”

“I guess it was not kept, then. The Queen must have a great number of beautiful, magnificent statues in her place.”

“No, he kept it. Many years later, Zahab presented himself at the request to the Royal Court. It was said that, at the sight of his work, she was most touched, saying it was the most beautiful creature under heaven.”

“Then, what statute, for Freya’s sake, did he present to Queen Evane? A Queen doesn’t easily cherish an ordinary piece.”

“True. Pay a visit to the lady’s maid who witnessed that day, and hear the rest of the story from her. This is as far as I can tell you because I also heard it from someone else.”

“Is she still alive?”

“Yes.” The bard told Weed the way to the house of the lady’s maid.

Weed went to visit her. She had retired, and when he mentioned Queen Evane and the sculptor, she gave him a joyous welcome.

“Her Highness was very virtuous and gracious lady. So do you want to hear about what happened back then?

“Yes, ma’am.”

“You’ve found the right person to ask. I personally served Her Highness. She at first resented Zahab-nim when he first visited the palace.”

“Why so, if I may ask?”

“It was his promise. When they were young, they had made a promise, a promise that Zahab-nim would present Her Highness with the most beautiful statue under heaven. But when he appeared in the palace, he was carrying a sword, not an sculpting knife. To the eyes of everyone, he looked like a fine swordsman who was proficient in the sword. You should have seen how heartbroken Her Highness was. It was indescribable! Her Highness so believed in Zahab-nim that even if the world turned upside down, he would be the same eternally, and likewise, the promise between them was divine”

“…”

“On that day, Brent Kingdom, which bordered on Rosenheim, dispatched a band of assassins. They revealed their treacherous ambition to seize our Kingdom, and Freya only knows how shocked I was when assassins stormed in and assaulted Her and His Highness in the garden”

“Those wicked scoundrels!”

“Yes, young traveler, you can say that again. A couple of Royal Knights were trapped, thus incapable of holding them in check—and we were left to face death. At that very moment, Zahab-nim walked into the garden. As you can see, right in the middle of fighting, Her Highness warned him and ordered him to leave. But Zahab-nim only smiled—”

“He smiled in the middle of such a dangerous situation?”

“—and he said he would show her the most beautiful statue that he had ever carved under heaven. To everyone’s surprise, the moonlight shattered into pieces at Zahab-nim’s sword. Its beauty was really striking. He was singing a song while he carved the moonlight. I cannot remember the lyrics word by word, but the title was A Sculptor’s Heart. Listening to the song, Her Highness was overflowing with tears. It was really the most beautiful statue Milady had ever seen. Had Zahab-nim only inscribed his name on a crude plank, but Her Highness would have taken it for the most beautiful sculpture in the world, but I tell you, the sight he was carving with the moonlight was literally heavenly. The assassins scattered at the inconceivable sight, and Zahab-nim kept his promised. Many years have since gone, but I still cherish that moving memory.”

Then, a mysterious flashback flittered before Weed’s eyes.

* * *

*Whittle*

A boy is holding a tiny sculpting knife in his hands.

As the sculpting knife slides up and down, a piece of wood is shaping into a form.

It seems he is carving a maiden.

A little, lovely maiden.

Through his craftsmanship, the piece of wood is endowed with life.

A girl, blushing up to her ears, is watching him.

The boy’s hand moving the sculpting knife, and his serious look.

The girl loves him, and everything about him.

Soon the boy hands her the complete statue. It looks so much like the girl.

“For now, all I can do is carve a piece of wood. But someday, I will give you the most beautiful statue in the world.”

“Thank you Zahab. I’m looking forward to that day!”

The boy and girl made a promise with each other, hand in hand.

As the girl grows up, she blossoms into a rare beauty.

She caught the eyes of the King and She eventually became Queen. But the girl is not happy at all.

Her Highness is still unhappy the day Zahab comes back to see her.

Zahab carried a sword, and not the sculpting knife.

Talking a walk alone in the garden, Her Highness gives way to fit of passion and clutches a thorny rose. Her palm bleeds with ruby red blood.

“Why did you forget our promise? Your promise was everything to me…”

Her Highness grieved over the broken promise.

That evening, the assassins raid the palace.

Brent Kingdom, a hostile neighbor as always, has sent assassins.

Knights of Rosenheim Kingdom collapse one after another.

She and His Highness are fearful of their imminent and inevitable death.

Zahab clutches his sword, and the moonlight begins to dance.

* * *

*Ting*

Quest Completed: The Sculptor’s Past

The promise between the boy and the girl was honored. The bluish moonlight shattered into pieces, which in turn defeated the assassins. Moonlight Sculptor Zahab— His Sculpture mastery has reached the stage of a Master. Presenting the most beautiful statue to his childhood friend.

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

To Weed’ surprise, two levels went up for a single quest, and that wasn’t the end of it. A message window popped up. To his surprise once again, it was a class conversion window.

*Ting*

Class Change: Moonlight Sculptor (Hidden)

You can convert to a secret class Moonlight Sculptor. If you accept it, you can learn exclusive skills for the class that are withheld from the primary classes.

Do you want to convert to Moonlight Sculptor?

Yes | No

An infinite number of users are bustling about to discover secret classes in Royal Road, but fewer than one out of a thousand actually discovers one.

Weed answered, “I refuse.”

*Ting*

Please confirm your decision. You can convert to a secret class Moonlight Sculptor.

Do you want to convert to Moonlight Sculptor?

Yes | No

“I refuse,” Weed answered again.

To Weed, being stuck in the corner of a closet and making unwanted statues wasn’t even worth considering. He had to admit that being a sculptor could make quite an amusing class if properly trained. But he needed a financially lucrative class for his personal gain. When Weed came to his senses, the old lady’s maid was watching.

“It was a wonderful story. Thank you very much for sharing it with me ma’am.”

“You’re welcome. It was my pleasure to tell their story like this. So, young adventurer, I want to give you a small present. Will you please take it?”

Wouldn’t it be unkind to reject a present out of goodwill? Weed was not so cruel as to decline anything offered to him. A man should accept any present with gratitude.

“I will gladly take it, ma’am.”

The old maid took something bundled up from deep inside a drawer. It resembled an ancient scalpel.

“This sculpting knife used to belong to Zahab-nim. He left it to Her Highness, and I happened to keep it now. And this wooden statue is carved by Zahab-nim. Please take these” The lady’s maid said.

“I shall long treasure your present.” Weed said.

He received two items from her.

*Ting*

You have received Sculpting Knife.

You have received Zahab’s Legacy.

Weed thought that these items were uncommon as they were left by one of the Masters of Sculptural Art. Even the wooden statue looked classy at a casual glance.

“Please keep Zahab-nim’s sculpting knife and handle with great care.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Weed dutiful replied.

Weed calculated that these might sell well and turn over a good profit.

“The wooden statue will show you where Zahab-nim’s resting place is located. I hope his sculpture mastery will not be buried forever.”

“I hope so too, ma’am”

“If only I could hear the song of that day again… Everything about sculpture mastery is concealed in that sculpting knife”

“Excuse me?”

“In Zahab-nim’s sculpting knife.”

That moment Weed looked at the sculpting knife. He had a gut feeling that an irresistible destiny was drawing near.

*Ting*

Quest: Follow Zahab’s Last Wish

Zahab did not die that day. He left for a faraway continent to test his Sculpture Mastery. Once you graduate in Sculpture Master, you should find Zahab to learn the song A Sculpture’s Heart from him. Then, you should come back here and sing it to this old lady’s maid. The tradition runs that Zahab’s was last seen heading for the Gray Pass Region.

Difficulty: A

Quest requirement:

You must complete this quest before the old maid passes away.

Cancellation is not permitted.

Reward:

You can learn Item Identification Skill, Sculpture Mastery, Repair Skill, and Handicraft Skill.

A serial quest with a difficulty level of A, rewarding four skills. Weed couldn’t tell if he was lucky or not.

For one thing, he knew that it was extremely difficult to acquire skills unrelated to his own class. Those skills, such as Item Identification and Repair Skill, which he had learned without converting to the sculpture class, could come in handy in numerous ways, but an A level quest was far beyond his ability for a long time, possibly many years.

The average level for Royal Road users is currently a hundred or so. The highest currently on the level ladder is in the low 300s. The difficulty of a quest that requires a balanced party of power rankers of about level 300 to finish is known to be B-level.

That means Weed had just accepted a quest that requires him to be above level 400 to be able to cope with the quest, let alone finish it.

As if it were not bad enough, the Gray Pass region is the most perilous of the perilous areas, inhabited by the most forceful monsters. It is one of the top Ten Forbidden Areas on the continent, where you are absolutely guaranteed to be chopped to pieces the moment you stepped into the area.

‘Dammit!’ Weed thought bitterly.

The number of quests that a user can store at any given time is only three. Now that one of them was taken by the quest: ‘Zahab’s Last Wish’, Weed was left with only two spaces for new quests.

But in case of serial quest, it is unpredictable what rewards await the user in the end. This serial quest introduced a secret class at the second stage. Even after he refused to convert to the class, he was given four practical skills. Imagine what rewards in the final stage would be like.

Weed wasn’t stupid to say no to a good opportunity. Yet, it remained unknown when and how this would work out.

He bid farewell to the old lady’s maid, and went back to the sculpture stop.

“Oh Weed-nim, I deeply appreciate your hard work to bring me results so soon. I am once again assured that it was the right decision to entrust you with this quest” The shopkeeper said.

The shopkeeper paid Weed as a reward for the request.

Weed received 2 silver coins, recovering the silver coin that had been virtually robbed by the bard.

When he returned to the Training Hall, he received another silver coin, along with a word of commendation from the instructor. Therefore, it was a total of 5 silvers that Weed had earned so far.

He also leveled up twice, to level 3. He distributed those earned stat bonus points equally to Agility and Strength.

“Why aren’t you taking on another quest?” he asked himself.

Weed wrestled with a sudden temptation, but picked up the wooden sword again. A quest that was undisclosed to the public similar to the quest he just undertook, was rare. That was why Weed earned generous rewards for his level.

Chapter 4: Dreadful Weed

The civilization of the Versailles Continent dawned approximately one million and eight thousand years ago. Back then, Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs lived together.

Dwarf women with deft hands served as midwives to baby Orcs. Orcs in infancy were christened by elven women, and human women bathed them clean in water. The four races had lived together, each compensating for what the others were missing.

The elf rangers gathered fruit from trees, the dwarf crafters made tools, and human scouts hunted game along with the Orc warriors. As deadly monsters abound in the world, the weak had no choice but to rely on one another to survive.

Orcs, who were fully developed within two to three years, were fine warriors by nature. Born with unnatural strength and a battle instinct, they sustained the elves and humans.

The Orcs claimed the leadership of the four races both in name and reality as no other race could keep up with the fertility and combat skills of the Orcs.

However, when humans developed agricultural techniques, domesticating plants and animals, they took over the food supply chain, and gradually challenged the supremacy of the Orcs.

The elves, who learned elemental and spirit magic from their alliance with Nature, became arrogant and began to distance themselves from the Orcs, who they branded ignorant.

The dwarves advanced metals technology day after day, which gave them a new generation of weaponry to brave the Orcs.

The alliance of the four races was dismantled after a series of numerous hostile disagreements and bouts of jealousy.

Eventually the humans built villages and then towns on rich soil, which later banded together to create kingdoms.

The elves moved into the Forest of No Return where the elements and spirits were magnified in effect, extending their domain over their magic widely.

The Orcs dispersed all over the wilderness and virgin soil, hunting the wild and distressing the civilized as they wished, enjoying combat without restraint.

The dwarves stayed holed up in the mountains, mining raw ore and refining their crafts.

Inevitably, the humans and Orcs argued over scarce food, and the elves and the dwarves loathed each other in a struggle to secure preeminence in the Natural world.

This is the history of the Versailles Continent, the forgotten myth of four races.

* * *

The rumor about the odd stranger ran like wildfire through the Citadel of Serabourg.

It was about a beast who had been swinging a wooden sword at a scarecrow wordlessly for four consecutive weeks in the Training Hall.

*Bluster*

*Whack*

Weed was swinging the wooden sword in silence. His strikes at the scarecrow showed no mercy. Every time the wooden sword sliced the scarecrow, a heavy sound exploded.

In the earlier days, he was content with barely grazing the scarecrow. As his strength and agility increased steadily, through, the wooden sword had been gathering force.

“Is he really a user?”

“Do you think he’s a real man? Slim chance.”

“Look at him. I bet he’s not.”

“Could it be an NPC?”

“Given his sudden appearance…”

“He could be an NPC connected to a quest!”

The eyes of some users began to glow with enthusiasm and a bunch of users offered food and money to win Weed’s favor, wondering if he was a quest NPC. Too proud to be treated as a beggar, Weed declined them, but they were persistent.

“Come on, please take this… ”

“Want something else? Just tell me. I’ll go find it.”

“Don’t you think a steel sword is definitely better than this wooden sword? I can give you a long sword, and it’ll come in handy.”

They trailed after Weed in the hope that he might introduce them to a special quest. They didn’t know it for certain, though, because Weed repeatedly denied being an NPC, and shooed them away, saying they were disturbing his training. Oddly, this rather strengthened their conviction.

“He’s not accepting any gift.”

“Who can hit the scarecrow not only one or two days, but for four weeks in a row?”

“And he’s a big friend of the instructor…!”

The instructor, who had always looked down upon users as a nuisance, was nice to Weed, going so far as sharing lunch with him every day. To the public, Weed didn’t look like a human.

The only way to tell users from NPCs is when they come out with their identity. This was why Weed caused misunderstanding in other users.

Several high level users saw through Weed’s intentions to improve strength and other stats. They came near and were nice to him. They approached him on purpose, knowing full well he was a user.

“If you join my clan, we will support you to save your disappointment.”

“We will sponsor you until you hit level one hundred. Nothing spared.”

Royal Road has a concept of clans or guilds like other online games, but there is a bigger picture.

Emperor!

The objective of every clan with high-level rankers is to enthrone an Emperor in their midst—to found their own empire on the Versailles Continent, and rule over all creation.

With taxes collected monthly, feudal lords and monarchs can build essential facilities such as granaries and blacksmiths’ workshops in towns under their supervision, or throw in money to enlist recruits and train them well.

Given a ruler who administers to the affairs of state, develops the economy and advance technology one can become very powerful. Technological innovation leads to better weaponry produced by blacksmiths, and the size of a city depends on its public security and sanitation.

In laying down national and regional policies and setting up diplomatic ties with other countries, the king on the top of a pyramid-like society exercises greater authority than anyone else.

Kings encourage cities and fortresses to expand in their domain, drawing more immigrants who become subject to their rule. Besides internal affairs, there is war.

If and when someone declares war, the armies called up by ambitious Kings engage in battle with each other under the command of generals.

Layman users in the position of subjects demand that their user kings are wise and just. Therefore, the cities where they reside will grow more prosperous, and trade of goods will be more dynamic, which stimulates the users to aspire for success in the game.

Still, Weed declined all the clan offers.

*Ting*

Strength has risen by 1 point (+1 STR)

Agility has risen by 1 point (+1 AGI)

Vitality has risen by 1 point (+1 VIT)

Fame has risen by 20 points (+20 FAME)

Health has risen by 100 points (+100 HP)

The wooden sword had not shown any sign of pausing suddenly stopped in mid-air. Then Weed closed his eyes.

“I’ve finally made it.” Weed sighed deeply with relief.

For four weeks, according to the game’s time flow, Weed had improved the stats as much as he could in the Training Hall. To his surprise, he earned a little fame— never hurts to have some fame.

The more fame you have, the cheaper you can buy goods from grocery stores or blacksmith’s workshops, and you can get more respect in talking or negotiating with NPCs.

The instructor, who had been watching him pleasantly at a distance, walked up to Weed and said,

“Good job, Weed-nim.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I didn’t expect you would come so far. Yet you overcame my prejudice. I am very proud of you.”

“I’m indebted to your teaching, Honorable Instructor.”

“Haha! You’re absolutely right.” The instructor laughed heartily.

Weed knew from experience how high a simple word could lift up the instructor.

The instructor handed a sword to Weed.

*Ting*

Item: Hard Iron Sword.

“What’s this sword…?”

“It is yours. This sword is awarded to a man who completes the basic training program.”

“Basic training…”

A question suddenly occurred to Weed.

He had learned by accident that he could improve stats by swinging a wooden sword at a scarecrow in the Training Hall.

While combing through online game communities, he had read a posting about it in a forum run by a couple of small-size clans.

Therefore, he had focused on bringing up his stats as much as possible in the Training Hall before he began seriously.

Weed had good reason for it, though he conceded that it might sound inefficient to invest four weeks to improve his stats slowly one by one.

As far as other users were concerned, they would rather waste less time to acquire an item that boosted stats so little.

‘Still,’ Weed thought, ‘it isn’t the same as training hard to strengthen the bottom line stats of one’s avatar. It makes a difference, a big one.’

As good luck would have it, you might pick up a good item during a journey, but your original stats will always be the same, regardless of whatever items you are equipped with. Suppose you rise forty points in strength, and imagine what it will be like when you wear a +50 STR necklace.

The stats that Weed had drilled in the Training Hall would help him right up to the last minute of the game play.

Weed pondered the meaning of the instructor’s remark and finally asked, “Do you know how many people completed the basic training by now?”

“16 here,” the instructor answered immediately.

He added,

“The Continent is vast, Weed-nim. I think there are a total of 3,800 hundred foreigners who finished the basic training program in all the Training Halls. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has finished the basic training as fast as you did.”

3,800 people! Weed’s eyes flashed fire.

“They are my potential rivals”

His next question broke a brief moment of silence.

“You said this is basic training. Do you provide a higher level of training program?”

“I don’t, but there are other places.”

“Where are they?”

“I do not know where they are located. I heard they were open only to those who were destined to find them. You must finish a basic level to be qualified for the next level of training.”

“Thank you for the information, Honorable Instructor.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Weed was now done with the Training Hall. When he turned to leave, the instructor called to him.

“Weed-nim, do you have a plan?”

“Excuse me, sir?”

“An expeditionary force is scheduled to depart for the Lair of Litvart a week from now. A colleague of mine is the commander of the force. His name is Midvale. If you do not have anything better to do right now, why don’t you lend your sword to him?”

*Ting*

Quest: A Clean-up Operation in the Lair of Litvart

Rosenheim Kingdom has been greatly suffering from the monsters, which have risen in number for the last decade. King Theodarren, righteous and benevolent ruler of Rosenheim, issued a royal decree to order a distinguished knight, Sir Midvale, to explore the Lair of Litvart and root out monsters. Eradicate the monsters in the Lair of Litvart with Sir Midvale and his soldiers.

Difficulty: E

Quest requirement:

Failed if you are killed.

The instructor’s proposal was a mission that any other user would rush to accept gladly. The Rosenheim Royal Army abounds in well-organized, hard-trained soldiers. The average level for infantrymen is almost thirty, and a knight’s level surpasses 150 generally speaking.

In particular, those knights with their own name among the ranks are revered as Titled Knights. Their levels lie between levels 180-220. This size of force can clear away any lair without complication. The Lair of Litvart is not at all likely to be an exception.

According to Weed’s research, the Lair of Litvart was infested by kobolds at levels in the twenties and goblins in the 50s.

All Weed needed to do after he joined the force on the mission was to stay alive, whether he actively took part in a battle or not. It was a golden opportunity that was offered to him out of the instructor’s goodwill. But Weed shook his head.

“I am sorry, sir.”

*Ting*

You have declined the quest!

“No way. What is troubling you, Weed-nim…?”

“It is nothing. I just don’t have a class yet.”

“Oh my Freya… you’re right! I’ve acted too rashly. Visit me any time you please. I will let you know if I can recommend a quest that is suitable to you.”

The instructor had not only reached level two hundred, but also kept in contact with the soldiers who were trained by him. In other words, he had established his own network in the Royal Army.

Still, the instructor’s relatively humble position prevented it being tracked by high-ranking officials.

Suddenly, the instructor asked in a low voice,

“Weed-nim, have you chosen what class you want to convert to?”

“I am yet to decide. I have to go to the intelligence guild, and see what class they recommend.”

The intelligence guild gives counsel to users, depending on their stats and skills.

In the early stage, most users walk a similar path, so the intelligence guild classifies them into two groups—combat classes (melee and supportive) and craft classes, including merchants.

On rare occasions, the guild unveils hidden classes. Very rare, indeed.

“I am telling you this only because you are… a trustworthy man who refused the opportunity to convert to such a trashy class as sculptor. Tell me honestly, Weed-nim—do you regret not having taken up the sculpting knife?”

“No way, sir! Sculptor, I won’t take it no matter what.”

“Humph, I have never told this to anyone else… you’re the first man. Come closer.”

The instructor’s voice dropped to a quiet murmur. He spoke in a whisper close to Weed’s ear. Weed got goose bumps when the Orc-like instructor’s breath brushed over his face, but he kept his disgust in check.

“You are looking for a fine class. I will show you the way. Have you heard of Rodriguez the Sage?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Go visit him. Praised as the Star of Wisdom, he is revered as a being knowledgeable in all things. He will tell you what profession suits you best, much better than a mere intelligence guild. But…”

“…?”

“The catch is the Counselor is a queer fish. Worse enough, you never know where he will hop next. He’s ill-natured, naughty and narrow-minded.”

“…”

“You can’t see him in person in the usual way. He will not bother listening to you in the first place. But if you give this to him, he will do you a favor, only once.”

*Ting*

You have received:

Item: Queen Evane’s Handkerchief

“Thank you, Honorable Instructor.”

“Not at all. I feel rather responsible for your decision because I can’t deny that many sword warriors fare worse than moonlight sculptors. I pray to Freya that you will get a fine class. Beware of Counselor Rodriguez. He knows no shame, so you should not tell him what you want until he speaks to you.”

When Weed made his farewells to the instructor on the way out of the Training Hall, a towering man approached him.

The giant’s name was Python, a fearless warrior with a gigantic sword.

“Are you leaving now?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm, where are you going?”

“I’ll first find a class, and then I’ll work hard to raise my level.”

”I’m sure you will make it to the top very fast. I haven’t seen anyone as steadfast as you in online games! Though I’m proud of how tough I am, you are literally a man of steel.”

Python was a warrior at level 288.

He had learned a new skill, so he had come to the Training Hall to experiment with it.

When he arrived at the hall, it was crowded with a flood of users, all of whom had gathered to observe Weed.

Python was also a man of curiosity.

Some people got Weed mixed up with an NPC, but when Python, squeezed by the crowd, overheard that a user could improve stats in the Training Hall, he had started whacking the scarecrow right next to Weed.

The force that was released from Python’s massive figure had been shocking.

With a few more users who had participated in the show, Python had unintentionally diverted public attention from Weed.

For the last week, Python was the only user who Weed had spoken to so far.

“Thank you for your compliment.”

“Anyway, I’m looking forward to it! The day we run across each other. You won’t disappoint me, will you?”

“You’ll be disappointed.”

“Huh?”

“With your weakness, I’m far tougher than you can imagine.”

“Fahahahaha.”

Python laughed aloud. As his level was in the high 280s, he ranked among the strongest and was treated with respect everywhere he went. He was intrigued by Weed, who could make cutting remarks to the powerful.

Python’s eyes narrowed a little more seriously.

“I’ll be really looking forward to it.”

“Take care.”

Weed said goodbye to him, and headed to the manor of Rodriguez the Sage.

“Rodriguez the Sage, the Star of Wisdom, is omnipotent in knowledge. He will give me guidance as to what class I should get,” he told himself.

* * *

The manor of Counselor Rodriguez was located in the northern section of the Citadel of Serabourg, and soldiers were on the watch, circling the manor.

As soon as Weed walked close to the gate, two soldiers called out for him to stop.

“Halt! What’s your business here, stranger?”

“I am here to visit the Counselor. I have something for him from the instructor in the Training Hall who entrusted me with it.”

“It’s too bad. I understand you have business to be taken care of, but the Counselor does not expect anyone with such little fame,” the soldier answered in a matter-of-fact tone.

“But I have an article the instructor asked me to deliver to the Counselor in person.”

“It is none of my business. Do you think you are allowed to visit His Lordship just because you have something for him?”

“…”

In short, it requires an impressive reputation, or comparable fame, to pay a visit to Kings or nobles and Weed’s fame was only 20, far too low to enter the Counselor’s manor.

“I personally know the instructor in the Training Hall very well. He once trained me with his own hands. Still, I can’t permit your entry to the manor.”

“If you insist on that, am I allowed to stay here as long as I don’t enter the manor?”

The guards were perplexed by Weed’s question. “Make yourself clear, traveler.”

“I’m asking if you mind if I just sit down on the street and wait for the sage to come out?”

“Not at all.” The soldier added indifferently, “The Street is open to everyone.”

Weed nodded slightly.

“Thank you for your permission.”

“Not at all. But…”

“Beg your pardon?”

“I’m telling you this because you’re an acquaintance of the instructor – the Counselor often locks himself in the manor for a week or so. Especially when an unwelcome visitor knocks on the door, he will definitely keep it shut. Are you still willing to wait for him?”

Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang three times to recruit him, and he turned out to be the cornerstone in founding a new dynasty in south-western China. Reminded of the famous episode, Weed nodded.

“Yup.”

Weed squatted across from the manor, anticipating the Counselor would emerge any second. He sometimes chatted with the guards, and quickly learned that the instructor was well respected among the lower ranks.

“A man who had once dreamed of knighthood, he is now fully qualified for one.”

Meanwhile, the night deepened and the Sage’s manor darkened.

“I’d be a liar if I said I expected to get what I want on the first day. He can’t hide inside forever.” Weed muttered to himself

Weed found it futile to mount guard over the manor because the Counselor was asleep. He withdrew from there and headed for the gate.

A moonlit night intensifies the brutality of monsters on the Versailles Continent. They get stronger by half, and yield an extra thirty percent of EXPs. This provokes a heightened attention from users to avert the risk of death.

That night marked Weed’s first adventure away from the Citadel. On a wide-open field a bunch of users ran after foxes, rabbits and raccoons, a scene created by newbies, whom Weed would soon join.

“So I have something I can use as a weapon…?”

He took out the iron sword given by the instructor, and held it tight.

“Item Check: Hard Iron Sword”

Item: Hard Iron Sword:

Durability: 54/54

Damage: 10-14

Awarded to those who’ve completed the Basic Training Program. This widely-used long sword is better than basic type weapons that are available in a blacksmith’s workshop.

Requirement:

Strength 40+

Vitality 35+

Equipped:

+10 Strength

The sword given by the instructor was one of the finest available to Weed. He swung it a few times, realized that its balance was ideal, and felt comfortable with it. Weed checked the other weapon.

“Item Check: Sculpting Knife Stat”

Item: Zahab’s Sculpting Knife:

Durability: 984/1000

Damage: 40-54

A short tiny sculpting knife, specifically built for delicate workmanship. This knife is very sharp.

Equipped:

Increases your chances of scoring a critical hit.

The sculpting knife dealt more damage than the hard iron sword, but Weed chose the latter. For one thing, it was longer, thus reaching farther. With the sculpting knife, he felt it tricky to work on the enemy. The hard iron sword was more useful in terms of slaying monsters.

Moreover, the sculpting knife didn’t wear down easily, thanks to its high durability. This advantage transferred to Weed, who had obtained the repair skill, and the hard steel sword provided more opportunities to sharpen the repair skill because it was comparatively fragile, requiring frequent maintenance.

“Great. I guess I’m ready to go.” Weed swung his iron sword about. “Raccoons, foxes, wolves, bring it on. I’ll take all of you down.”

The moment he went out hunting—

“Excuse me.” Someone spoke to Weed, who was walking in silence.

“Are you alone?” Weed turned around. He saw a cute-looking girl right in front of him. She wore a cotton hat and bluish leather armor.

“A girl.” he said to himself.

“Yes, It’s only me.” Weed lowered his tone.

“Do you want to join us for a hunting mission? We’ve got a mage, a cleric, an archer and a monk.”

Weed looked over her shoulder before he answered. There were two girls in robes and a man who he guessed was a ranger. Once he sized them up, he figured out why they had asked a stranger to join their party.

Those users were all ‘squishies’ wearing clothes and leather armor, limited to long-range attacks, so they needed a missing piece—a tanker who would provide protection for them.

It’s not a bad deal. It’s my first battle, and it’s probably better to start off in a party. Always better safe than sorry, he thought.

Weed readily consented,

“Sounds good to me.”

“Thank you.”

Weed quickly joined the party.

“Nice to see you. I am Irene, level 7 priestess. I specialize in healing and divine power protection expertise.”

“I’m a level 6 mage, name’s Romuna. Mainly deal with the element of Fire.

The two girls introduced themselves first, and then it was the man’s turn. He studied Weed’s face with curiosity before he spoke.

”I’m Pale, level 6 archer. You have balls, man, going solo on night hunting like that.”

“Hehe, I’m Surka, level 7 monk.”

They told him their names and levels, and now it was Weed’s turn.

“Name’s Weed. Level 3.”

“…”

A quiet shock swept over the others.

Pale plucked up courage and asked,

“And what’re you equipped with?”

“All I’ve got is this sword.”

“…”

Down to the last dust in his pocket, Weed only had five silvers. Fine leather armor, other than disposables, cost thirty silvers.

Weed had not bothered with ordinary quests, so he didn’t even have enough money to purchase leather armor.

“And your class is…?”

“Undecided,”

Weed answered, shaking his head dubiously. He sensed something wasn’t quite right, though he could not pinpoint why.

“Gosh!” Pale finally sucked in a breath. He looked completely lost.

“I guess it’s up to you to take your time deciding what the best class is for you… By the way, it looked like you were hunting alone. Is it your first time out here?”

“Yes, I’m new to the virtual reality game.”

“I see. Why am I not surprised to hear that?”

At Weed’s frank response, Irene and Romuna looked at Surka with scolding eyes. Their looks said that she had picked the wrong guy.

Level 3, class: Undecided.

As if that were not bad enough, this shabby-looking kid was a newbie in virtual reality.

Lack of experience usually proves fatal when confronted by a monster in your first battle. You simply lose your calm, lose your reason, and then lose your life, in that order.

They were aware of this because they had been through their share of newbie-hood.

These animals, though tailored for beginners within reach of the Citadel, are still comparatively fierce and mighty. Quite a challenge for a single player.

“Whew… I think we’re kind of in trouble.”

Pale didn’t know what to say and made an evasive smile. Weed decided to talk straight in order to save everyone from discomfort.

“I’ll leave the party if you think I’ll do more harm than good.”

“I’m sorry.”

Surka acknowledged her mistake and bowed to Weed apologetically. At the second look, she saw he was wearing basic GIs.

“I thought he was strong because he had that iron sword. Geez, where did he get that sword? It looks awfully good…” She said to herself.

Weed broke away from the party and headed to the field alone. Pale and Surka felt guilty having disowned him.

“What should we do now? Look for a replacement?”

Replacements were everywhere. The only commodity that was long on supply on the Versailles Continent was users, and monsters were short in supply.

“Look, we already shook hands with him.”

“If we fight as a team, it’ll work out, right?”

“I guess so, but…”

“Let’s give it a try.”

They caught up with Weed. He was busy staring at a bunch of rabbits and raccoons that were hopping about. He was ignorant of monsters in general, how much damage they could inflict and what pattern they would use to attack.

Pale asked, “Excuse me, if you’re still interested, we want you to join us.”

“I have a low level. If you’re okay with it, I want to play with you guys,” Weed said cautiously.

“Well, we’re cool. We are now a team. You don’t need to exert yourself on the front, and if you feel like it, you can stay behind us.”

Pale suggested Weed take cover instead of taking an active role in hunting. In their eyes, he was no more than a pure newbie.

“Are you sure about it?”

“Yes. You can’t collect as much experience as you are actually bringing your party down when you’re making less contribution, but your priority at this point is raising your level. Listen, level three to level six makes a lot of difference, even though they’re only three levels apart. If you’re at level three and add all stat bonus points in strength, you’ll get twenty-five. I have forty. Add to it ten bonus points in the course of converting to a class, and the gap between you and me widens dramatically.”

“…”

Pale omitted this, but additional rewards in accordance with a user’s class were more noticeable.

For instance, take an archer wielding a sword and a sword warrior wielding a sword, the sword warrior can inflict twice the damage as an archer wielding a sword. On the other hand, his arrow will make less than half the damage dealt by the archer. It was, to say the least, a disappointment to the others that Weed was freelance.

“Now, stay behind and watch us take down mobs for now, Weed-nim. When you find room to spare, get in, have a go and leave. It will help us if you just confuse mobs, divert their agro elsewhere.”

Weed nodded. “I see.”

The confusion was settled, and Weed decided to join their party and hunt monsters together. It was a pickup group designed to handle dull beasts around the Citadel, and his teammates had already been engaged in pick-and-roll without him. The thing is, though, that they had realized it was too risky that only Surka, a monk whose agility in dodging attacks compensated for a low defense level, had tanked on the frontline. That was why they had been searching for a tanker.

* * *

“Damn it.”

Ahn Hyundo, successor of Bonkuk Kumdo, one of the oldest traditional schools for swordsmanship in Korea, pursed his lips in dissatisfaction. In the dojang, hundreds of teenagers and adults were practicing Kumdo, yelling battle cries, or kihap, in the language of Bonkuk Kumdo.

“Yatz!”

“Yatz!”

Ahn Hyundo could hear erupting kihaps and the whistling sounds generated by swords in action.

Once you master swordsmanship, a sound gives you a clue as to which stage a Kumdo practitioner is in.

Ahn Hyundo was ranked the best Kumdo master, and was recognized worldwide, four-time World Champion of Swordsmanship.

As Ahn Hyundo matured in age, he retreated to his own dojang and dedicated his time and energy to training the next generation of Kumdo practitioners, but his hand and body had never left the sword, even for a second.

“I haven’t seen anyone with the guts. I should have trained that kid properly when he was around. He’s got something, something that could transcend my talent. Plus he’s got the guts and balls…”

Ahn Hyundo used to be satisfied that he had quite a number of competent apprentices. They had enough talent to qualify for a medal in the World Championship of Swordsmanship that was held every five years.

One day, however, the grand master’s perception had been turned upside down.

* * *

A year ago.

A man of about twenty years of age visited Ahn Hyundo’s dojang.

“Hello, I am Lee Hyun. I’ve come here because they recommended this is the best dojang.”

“Son, you handled a sword before?”

“No, sir. That’s why I’m here to learn it.”

“True. You must learn it. Learn and learn until you have an understanding of the big picture of swordsmanship, then we may talk about who’s the best.”

Ahn Hyundo believed it was the end of it, and forgot about the kid for a while. Then one morning, he saw Lee Hyun swinging a sword in a shower of sunlight.

Lee Hyun swung the sword for hours. His movement synchronized with his breathing patterns, and his sword emitted a beautiful sound. He had already reached a stage beyond what a beginner could achieve in a few months.

Ahn Hyundo summoned his subordinate instructors and asked them about Lee Hyun, who turned out to be devoted to ceaseless drills.

“Speaking of that apprentice, he’s got the bug. I haven’t seen anyone who’s more obsessed with training than him.”

“How obsessed is the kid?”

“Once he picks up a sword, he never lets it go, unless we pull it from his hands.”

“You have to pull the sword from his hands to stop him?”

“Yes, master. If we leave him alone, he will swing the sword hard until he’s completely out of breath. The first day he joined the dojang, he kept swinging the sword even when his palms had been shredded and were bleeding.”

“He went so far…”

“Yes, master. Exactly the same thing occurred on the second day. He trained in sword techniques while bleeding until callus formed, his grip was firm, and his palms were as hard as a rock. So it’s not surprising that he reached this level so fast.”

“He’s amazing!”

Ahn Hyundo had already chosen Lee Hyun to be his successor without telling him so.

Talent and hard work. The apprentice had both virtues, and what really captured the master’s mind were his eyes. When Ahn Hyundo instructed his would-be successor to a duel, his eyes glowed with something distinctive.

It was the will to fight, which an ordinary man whose instinct had been emasculated by civilization could not muster. This was found in Lee Hyun.

It was still a time of trial for him. Ahn Hyundo also believed that it was still too early to tell his plans to Lee Hyun, which might jeopardize his progress. Therefore, the master had treated his apprentice rather indifferently, motivating him with plenty of objectives and watching his progress from a distance.

Then, one day, Lee Hyun stopped checking in at the dojang.

* * *

-Back to now-

“Whew.”

Ahn Hyundo’s sigh deepened.

“I wonder what he’s been doing. I should have made him my successor when I could.”

* * *

Taking cover behind Pale, Weed was watching the battle from a safe place.

“Irene, help me!”

“Roger! Fire ball!” Romuna chimed in.

“Divine power leads us to a triumph, Blessing!””

While Surka the monk was attacking a fox head-on, Romuna, Pale and Irene attacked at the fox from behind.

They adopted this strategy because Surka’s level was seven, the highest among them, and the rest were squishes with relatively low life and defense.

The fox moved swiftly from one place to another. It dodged Surka’s fist with little damage, and the tail attacks when it suddenly spun around were sometimes critical enough to make her back away.

With little stamina left, Surka often found herself at the risk of immobilization. Then, Irene would give her rapid healing to replenish her life and stamina while the others attacked the fox to take the aggro away from her.

They’re not bad.

The quartet’s teamwork was emphatic.

They neither lusted for cheap items, nor became worked up over small things. It appeared to him that the chemistry among his teammates had built up over time. Perhaps they had teamed up in another online game before they migrated to Royal Road.

Still, they had to ratchet up the tension while hunting a fox at level five.

Raccoons and rabbits were easy game, which Surka could handle alone. But a fox was tough, to put it mildly.

Weed easily grasped that this party focused on foxes in their hunting spree. He watched the ongoing battle for a while-until he thought he had seen enough of it.

His sharp eyes analyzed the patterns in movement of the foxes and Surka.

‘It’s easier than I thought.’

They outnumbered their enemy by four to one. The way a fox moved was slow and predictable as far as he could see. He watched it until he gained enough confidence. Then, he held the iron sword and left the cover.

Surka smiled at Weed who was coming up to her side.

“Watch out, Weed-nim.”

“Yup.” His response was very short.

The monster on their radar was once again a fox.

“I’m going to attract her attention first Weed-nim, you attack later. Like when it’s almost dead.”

Surka punched the fox, which jumped on her in a reflex action. Romuna, Pale and Irene rained projectiles, both physical and magical, on to their victim.

When the fox’s life dropped to one third, Weed slid in.

He had little experience of battles previously in virtual reality games, but he was acquainted with real sword fights through hundreds of duels. Plus, he had struck the scarecrow tens of thousand times.

The iron sword drew a shiny-white trace in the air in a fraction of second. At the end of the gaudy semi-circle was the fox.

Weed had timed the attack so precisely that the fox could not even try to dodge it.

*Ting*

CRITICAL HIT!

A message window that was visible only to Weed popped up. Critical hit!

That only appeared when the damage was doubled as a result of an effective attack, the outcome of exquisite timing.

*Glint*

The fox was cut in half, and disappeared in a flash. It dropped two items. A fox pelt and meat.

You can turn meat to steaks by cooking on a bonfire, and fox pelt is one of the most widely used materials for clothes. This kind of production process requires related skills. Newbies rarely learn such skills as cooking and tailoring. It is more often than not that these items are destined to end up on a shelf in the nearest grocery store.

“Great move! You were lucky this time.”

Grinning, Surka collected the items.

Pale and Romuna, who had been casting the most powerful spells in case of a counterattack, were delighted by their new teammate’s success.

“Weed-nim, we’ll distribute items among us when the hunting mission’s over.”

“Alright.”

“Then, I’ll go lure another fox. Everyone, get ready.”

“Okay. Bring a fox full of items again.”

“Shoot. Wish it were up to me.” grumbled Surka comically.

She dealt a punch to a fox that was wandering by, and attracted it closer.

“Fireball!”

“Blessing. Healing Hand!”

Surka put up a tough fight as the fox was moving swiftly. Pale and Romuna pressured the fox persistently.

Weed’s iron sword began to move when the fox had forty percent of life remaining. The sword slid out of the sheath and struck the fox like lightning.

*Swish*

As luck would have it, the fox didn’t drop any item this time, not that items dropped by ordinary foxes were of any great value.

For the third fox, the sword went into action with fifty percent of its life remaining.

A critical hit didn’t burst this time, so the fox survived Weed’s first strike. It was followed by a sequence attack that flowed like liquid. The slain fox left only one item.

“What?”

“It seems strange.”

“We’re hunting foxes faster.”

“When Weed attacks them, they almost always die.”

A few foxes later, his other teammates detected the pattern.

Since Weed had joined the party, the pace at which they were hunting foxes had picked up. As soon as he pulled out his iron sword, foxes were helplessly slaughtered. They disappeared in a gray flash the moment Weed brandished the sword.

“What in the world!”

Pale’s mouth dropped open, planning to stay there for some time. For Weed slew foxes so fast, Surka was busy drawing new ones from far away.

Even if Pale didn’t bother shooting arrows, the pace of hunting hardly slowed down. This apparently inexplicable situation in the eyes of everyone else in his party was attributed to Weed’s stats.

Initially, Weed had been given ten points in strength at the activation of his account, plus forty points that he had obtained from the Training Hall. He had invested stat bonus points acquired by the two level-ups equally in strength and agility. As a result, his strength and agility were both fifty-five, and stamina fifty.

Moreover, Weed enjoyed ten points in strength from the iron sword he was equipped with. To achieve this level of strength solely by raising your level, you need to hit level eleven as you invest fully in strength.

More remarkably, Weed’s agility, stamina, willpower and vitality were way beyond his current level. It needs at least eight to nine extra level-ups to improve so much.

Weed, level three, rivaled an average level 30 warrior.

A more surprising fact was that he had advanced sword mastery to level four while striking the scarecrow. It translated into forty percent more damage dealt to the enemy.

Weed’s current level in sword mastery was four plus 98 percent. Once it reached level five, the effect on attack power would increase to fifty percent. Last but not least, the iron sword that the instructor had given Weed was a sort of high-powered luxury compared to his level. To sum it up, a fox was no match for Weed.

‘That sword must be a unique item.’ Pale immediately became suspicious. Otherwise, they could not come up with a proper explanation for Weed’s uncommon strength. They were still newbies, so they could not see how Weed knew how to come in at the right moment.

In battles in virtual reality online games, as they are based on real-time movements, a martial art maniac is obviously better positioned than a klutz.

Weed utilized the sword techniques that he had trained for during the whole year, down to trivial-looking footwork, which was invisible to the untrained eye. They simply believed that his sword was superb.

“Great.”

Excited, Surka lured foxes one by one.

Weed held the iron sword tight. He was in high spirits because the sword techniques he had examined and learned were proving productive.

“I didn’t waste the year. Now to deal with these pests!” he cried to himself.

*Ting*

CRITICAL HIT!

Many of Weed’s attacks were deemed critical. He predicted where the fox would move, and executed his attack exactly where it went. His yearlong training that demanded sweat and blood was bearing fruit.

“Yatz! Yatz!” These brisk battle cries came from his mouth. He was immersed in his own fight, keeping eye contact with the foxes and swinging the sword mercilessly.

Irene and Romuna giggled at the comical sight of Weed acting and looking so serious. Suddenly, the fox’s paw scratched him on the chest.

“Healing Hand!”

Weed’s torso flashed in white. Then he realized that, even before he received the divine power, the gauge of his life dropped minimally.

‘Maybe…’ he pondered.

Weed called out to Surka, who was running to draw another fox,

“Surka-nim”

“Yes, Weed-nim?”

“What’s your life?”

“It’s 150. Why?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m just curious.”

A fox could give a maximum damage of 15. Defenseless, Weed had to absorb the full damage, but his life was over seven hundred.

“Okay, Surka-nim. How about I do the tanking for now?”

“Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Yup. So, you keep drawing foxes. Romuna-nim and Irene can’t move far away because their stamina runs out quickly. Pale-nim, can you shoot at foxes in the distance to lure them over here?”

In a short time, Weed had assumed the role of leader of the party.

“Of course.”

“Then, Pale-nim, please help Surka-nim bring foxes here.”

Weed moved wildly. When Surka ran back, taking damage from a fox, he quickly took care of it. Those foxes drawn by Pale’s arrows fell immediately by his sword, only to vanish in a gray flash. Weed hit level 4. He decided to invest every stat bonus points in agility.

The higher the agility is, the more easy it is to dodge an enemy attack and more likely you are to hit the enemy. It is directly related to evasion and accuracy.

The iron sword in Weed’s possession was marvelous for a novice, providing extra leverage in strength. So he boldly invested 5 points in agility, instead of strengthening his avatar.

The hunting spree continued. Excited by the fast pace, Romuna and Irene could not believe their luck. They had never experienced such fantastic hunting.

“Surka, bring more foxes here.”

“Exactly. Just leave everything else to us. You can concentrate entirely on the bait.”

“Okay, Unni.”

(PR: ‘Unni’ Is A Korean term that means older/big sister)

Surka was busy drawing foxes to them. So was Pale.

If Weed had hunted by himself, he would have to roam in search of target monsters and often take a rest to replenish his stamina when it ran out. Instead, his party provided bait and a priest for him, which unarguably quickened the pace of hunting.

It’s not like a solo playing.

Back when Weed played The Continent of Magick, he had always been surrounded by monsters.

Weed used to walk in a dungeon populated by monsters and fight them as he pleased. He had logged on days and nights until he finally ran out of potions and herbs.

The inventory had been saddled with so many items that it interfered with his movement. Monsters had surprised him everywhere. Weed had fought on in a circle of monsters.

He had killed so many, and in return, been killed as many times.

Weed felt that a group game was far from the way he used to play. It was more effective, and he was having more fun. Their strategy soon backfired.

“Kyah!”

Surka made a deadly mistake. When she tried to bait a fox, she unintentionally caught a wolf’s attention.

While trying to run away, Surka screamed, “Run away, everyone!”

*Growl*

The wolf was chasing after Surka on four legs. Its monstrous muzzle dripped saliva.

While the rest faltered, Surka was constantly assaulted by the wolf. It was faster than a fox, easily gaining on her. It looked hopeless.

“I’ll rescue her. You should all run away. By the power of the Holy Spirit, restore her health. Healing Hand!”

Irene the priestess rejected the impulse to run for her life, and cast the Healing Hand over and over to refill Surka’s diminishing life.

“Damn it!”

After a moment’s indecision, Pale began shooting arrows at the wolf.

One, two, three shots. As soon as he loaded an arrow on his bow, he shot it. The multiple shots, his signature skill, flew at the wolf, but it hardly flinched.

Now that the wolf had registered the entire party as its enemy, it would eventually attack Irene and Pale after it had finished off Surka.

Then, what would Weed do? He held the iron sword and stepped forward.

Can I make it? Why not! At first sight, the wolf’s teeth and claws looked threatening.

Weed had bet that the wolf would throw its heavy weight on him and, rather than clawing, bite him in a crazed fashion.

“You’d better deal with me before anyone else,” Weed said, standing in the wolf’s way.

Weed didn’t expect the wolf to understand what he had said, but as if it knew from instinct that the deadliest enemy had just appeared, it turned its eyes on him.

*Growl*

The wolf leapt off the ground, straight at Weed.

Weed rolled to one side swiftly, out of the path where the wolf was charging, and swung the sword. Its teeth nearly slit his throat.

That scratch alone slashed 80 points of his life.

“Weed-nim, run away! My mana ran out, so I can’t help you with Healing Hand,” Irene shouted.

“Shoot. What kind of priestess doesn’t know how to manage her mana?” he said to himself.

Since Irene was fully assigned to healing, she should have always reserved a sufficient amount of mana in case of emergency. If not, someone could end up lying dead, or in the worst scenario, the entire party would face annihilation.

Weed had believed Irene must have had something up her sleeve when she volunteered to come to Surka’s rescue. To his dismay though, all that she, a priestess by nature, had was heart.

The current predicament didn’t give Weed any time to blame her. The wolf was growling at him.

After a few flames from Romuna, no more reinforcing magical power came flying from behind. Apparently, she had run out of mana.

Only Pale was left shooting arrows from a distance. The wolf got bloody, yet Pale’s futile attempts only prompted it to intensify its aggression.

“Bring it on, you bitch!” Weed yelled as he swung the sword and confronted the wolf.

*Howl*

Yelping, the wolf leapt on him. From that time, Weed’s pose and moves changed drastically.

His legs were glued to the ground while his waist and shoulders rocked back and forth. Like a breeze, Weed let the fierce wolf pass by.

‘I’ll be a fool if I die here!’

Weed was capable of predicting the wolf’s next move, and a single wound wasn’t as much as he had been afraid of.

‘I know I can defeat it!’

Weed loosened his grip on the sword on purpose.

*Wail*

The wolf groaned in a cry of pain. Even after Weed had sacrificed a portion of his power in exchange for a higher speed, the physical damage delivered by his sword was substantial.

“Damn it!”

Weed was also wounded every time the wolf clawed at him. His life of 700 fell to 200.

He was already coated in his own blood.

“Sorry, Weed-nim! I can’t pin it down. It’s moving too fast!”

Pale’s low agility made it impossible to make a hit on the wolf, which moved like a streak of lightning.

“I’ll fight, too.”

Surka came to Weed. She had already been injured when she had been chased by the wolf, her life lower than half.

Stumbling with shaky legs, Weed said, “Now, listen. You guys should all run to safety while I can still cover you.”

“But…”

“It’s the only chance you have. Now!”

Pale and Surka looked at each other, but their legs showed no sign of fleeing.

Then, Weed murmured bleakly, “You fools! What’s the point of sacrificing your life for a stranger?”

Pale felt like crying. For the record, Weed could have escaped death if he had decided to. He could have outrun the wolf to the gate of the Citadel where the guards would protect him from the threat.

Instead, Weed had stepped up, held his sword and his ground, and faced the wolf for his teammates, who he had never seen hours before.

“Weed-nim.” Surka’s eyes were watering. She, so innocent and sensitive, was deeply touched by Weed’s heroic act.

Staring at the wolf, Weed said firmly. “If you want to stay here, so be it. I’ll do my best to fight the bitch. Still, you must get the heck out of here the moment I get killed.”

“Yes.”

“Promise me you will.”

“Okay.”

Surka and Pale walked away, creating a stage, and Weed got down to a bloody fight against the wolf, which still posed a serious threat.

Weed’s life descended to 150 and before long, it went down to 70. The iron sword kept on missing the wolf by inches.

The wolf was bleeding so heavily that it seemed that a single hit could knock it down, but Weed had failed to make the final strike so far.

Irene and Romuna realized that Weed’s life finally reached the life-risking moment, below ten percent.

Pale’s heart raced, and Surka’s pounded. They tried to attract aggression from the wolf, but it knew Weed was the one to kill, entirely neglecting minor players.

One more hit from the wolf, and Weed would die.

If Weed died, he would lose some items from his inventory, drop one or more levels and be penalized by having his access to Royal Road denied for the next twenty-four hours, all because Weed decided to sacrifice his life to save a bunch of strangers.

The wolf snickered, sensing it had the upper hand of his archenemy.

*Growl*

When the wolf leapt to kill Weed with its final strike, his sword, which had missed it repeatedly, finally tore its ribs.

Before Weed’s eyes, a cascade of message windows burst open.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

Level up: Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv: 5 | 0%):

+50% Strength

+15% Agility

New Skill: Sculpting Blade Technique

So many EXPs were pouring from the wolf that his level escalated to 5. Weed shook his head, half wondering.

“What’s the Sculpting Blade technique?”

“Open Skill Window”

Identification (Beginner Lv: 1 | 0%):

Enables you to learn the true value of unidentified items.

Mana consumption: 30.

Sculpture Mastery (Beginner Lv: 1 | 0%):

Enables you to carve or engrave various types of materials. Artworks of a high artistic value are worth a fortune. Easier to win a girl’s heart.

Repair (Beginner Lv: 1 | 0%):

Enables you to repair weapons and armors. Beyond level 5, you can forge new weapons and gears.

Handicraft (Beginner Lv: 1 | 0%):

Has extra effects on various types of craft skills, and sword mastery.

Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv: 5 | 0%):

Increases attack power and hit rating for swords.

Sculpting Blade Technique (Beginner Lv: 1 | 0%):

Enables you to carve the invisible, the intangible.

Mana consumption: 50 per second.

The legend tells that Grand Master Zahab accidentally discovered a way of truth when he was practicing the sculptural art—that sculpture is an art of transforming all creations at the sculptor’s will. Zahab’s secret technique is passed down to his successor.

Weed checked the skill window and shook his head in disbelief.

I need to try this Sculpting Blade technique to figure out what the heck it is. It swallows mana too badly. At my level, I can’t sustain it longer than two seconds flat.

The wolf had died, anyway.

*Groan*

Weed fell down to the ground, his face blank white. Then, Pale, Irene, Romuna and Surka ran to him.

The first words Weed uttered to his teammates were, “Surka, are you alright?”

“Weed-nim…”

Irene and Romuna were on the verge of bursting into tears.

Surka could not hide her tears.

Pale, the only man other than Weed, was at a loss for words, engulfed by a wave of emotion.

If a user’s life goes down below ten percent, he will die slowly.

Within a minute, Irene recovered some of her mana, and cast Healing Hand to drag Weed out of death’s grip.

“Thank you, Irene-nim”

“It’s my pleasure, Weed-nim”

The look between Weed and Irene warmed up; a sign that she was growing fond of him, the same goes for Romuna and Surka. To his surprise, moreover, Pale was addressing him with respect and admiration that the archer had never shown before.

“Let’s move on,” Weed said when he felt better.

“Are you okay?”

“Yup. Alive and well,” Weed said, rolling up his sleeve to expose his muscles.

Surka didn’t make the same mistake again. The party under Weed’s leadership created a striking record of sixty foxes in the next four hours.

Romuna, Irene, Pale and Surka all leveled up, as well as Weed, who achieved level 6.

Weed invested all of his bonus the stat points into the agility stat.

“Whew. Good,” Romuna said, sweating hard as she felt drained by the excessive consumption of mana.

“We have to leave now. We’ve got to go to classes in the morning,”

“We should get together and hunt again. You’ll be here tomorrow, won’t you?” Romuna asked Weed, who nodded slightly.

“Can I add you as a friend in my list?” Surka asked.

Pale and Irene were grinning.

“Yup.” Weed added them to his Friends List, and said goodbye.

“Here, this is your share of the loot.”

Weed received three silvers when they distributed the spoils from hunting. After they left, he went on hunting more foxes.

This was why he hated party plays. When things got hot, people left.

Weed looked for monsters as he had an hour left until sunrise. He overlooked easy prey such as raccoons and foxes, and left the boundary of the Citadel to enter a forest where wolves were reported to lurk in every shadow.

*Howl*

A pack of wolves emerged. They crouched and came close to Weed who was walking alone, their eyes gleaming in elation.

The system of Royal Road allowed monsters to level up by internal conflicts between them or by killing users, so the wolves coveted lone users. However, when the wolves looked into Weed’s eyes, though, they cowered instinctively.

“~Th-Those eyes…”

“~This human doesn’t consider us his enemy.”

“~He takes us for EXPs!”

“~Nice EXPs. Great item drops. It’s what he wants from us!”

The wolves all saw through Weed’s intentions. Worse, his will to fight made them recoil in fear.

*Yap!?*

*Yap?!*

After a moment they all turned tail to flee quickly.

“You dare try to flee from me!” Weed roared at the wolves as he gave chase.

The iron sword knew no mercy, and Weed knew no honor. He openly stabbed the backs of the retreating wolves, cornered them with nowhere else to go, and beat each and every one of them to a pulp.

“You sons of bitches, come on!” he raged.

The moment that the sword slashed the air, another wolf fell into despair. Swift and merciless. Weed’s extraordinary sword techniques terrorized the wolves.

So why had he fought bitterly against a single wolf when his teammates were around him?

On the edge of an imminent and unavoidable death, Weed had made the final strike to kill the wolf. In the eyes of his teammates, it was a lucky one. This mystery was kept by Weed.

Weed was done with the wolves as soon as the sun rose in the morning. He left the battlefield and headed for Counselor Rodriguez’s manor.

Chapter 5: The Girl Who Lost Words

“Damn… it’s day again.”

Early in the morning, Lee Hyun was already deflated.

The South Korean Parliament in their infinite wisdom, have passed an unwanted bill nicknamed ‘Leave No One Behind’, which was devised to weed out anti-social outcasts and misfits from Korean society.

This whole stupidity was founded on the theory that insisted that those who were born and brought up with defective backgrounds created a higher risk of people committing violent crimes and filing for divorces. e.g. Those families with no parents and had massive debts to pay off to loan sharks.

According to the law, all Korean citizens who were twenty years or older with noticeable defects in their background were required by law to visit a psychiatrist occasionally for a mental exam.

In short, Lee Hyun was eligible for it as he had lost his parents in his childhood, and his adolescence had been haunted by the loan sharks.

So Lee Hyun went to the ‘Great Society Rehabilitation Center’.

“I feel like I’ve time traveled back to the sixties. Great Society my ass, how lame.” Muttering complaints all the way, Lee Hyun walked into the rehab center. The name suggested a romantically decorated interiors. The reception room was filled with the twenty year-olds who had also come to take their medical tests under the Socially Inept Law, so he had to waste another hour waiting for his turn to register.

“Hi, I’m Lee Hyun. I’m here to take a mental test under Leave No One Behind.”

“I see. Please fill out this form.” A nurse in a white gown handed a piece of paper to Lee Hyun.

“What is this?”

“We will create a complete analysis of your mental state based on your answers to this questionnaire. If you fall into the category of the socially inept, you will be ordered to enter the rehab center and receive periodic treatment. In that case, the government will send a monthly check to your family in compensation.”

What an inhumane law. The government had done virtually nothing to support the disadvantaged when they were suffering horrifying childhoods, abused by their parents or cast out from school.

Noooo….. now they had to accept a handicap if they wanted to apply to an undergraduate school when they were out of high school. Worse still, they were not even eligible for government jobs. The War on Terror presented a viable excuse to segregate the haves from the havenots.

“Yes, Ma’am.”

Lee Hyun took the form and filled it out quickly. Not once did the pen leave the surface of the paper. Lee Hyun had thought of those questions for many years, so the answers were flowing from his heart.

“I’m done. Can I leave now?”

“Sure. Take this to cover your bus fare.”

At least, the government showed a small token of pity. Lee Hyun took the coins and left the asylum. Meanwhile, the questionnaire submitted by him started a row among the psychiatrists in the center.

* * *

Cha Eunhee, Ph.D. in psychiatry was laughing her head off as if her neck was broken. The doctor whose attitude earned her the nickname of Ice Queen, was laughing mindlessly in public was a rare sight to nurses.

“Did she finally succeed in communicating with her pet dog?”

“Guess so. Nothing is impossible for the Dr.”

Dr. Cha had immigrated to the United States with her parents, both diplomats, when she was young. She had graduated cum laude from Harvard University at the age of twenty, and earned her doctorate before she turned twenty-three.

(PR: ‘cum laude’, is latin and roughly means: graduated with honors)

Combining beauty and culture, yet puffed up with pride, she had never shown this level of humanity before, which became a topic on everyone’s lips. In the end, the chief nurse decided to put her head above the parapet.

“Dr. Cha, what’s so funny?”

“Check this out.”

Laughing so hard she was crying, Dr. Cha gave the chief nurse what she was holding in her hand. It was a single page of a form that someone had filed out under Leave No One Behind. The Seven short questions and equally short answers.

Questionnaire

Name: Lee Hyun

1. What is your name?
Lee Hyun.

2. What is your profession?
A great villain who will threaten world peace.

3. What are you doing?
Filling out this questionnaire.

4. What are the three most memorable, or valuable, things that you have done in your life?
Hit maximum level in the Continent of Magick. Played the online game for 200 hours running without eating or sleeping. Sold my account.

5. What do you think of politicians In power?
Why can’t we just export them to China and Japan?

6. When did you recognize your social position?
After I watched ‘Planet of the Apes’.

7. How would you describe your identity In a single sentence?
I am Da Dragon.

The nurse looked taken aback when she finished reading the document.

“Don’t tell me— is this an excerpt from some graphic novel?”

“No. It looks like one of the subjects filled this out this morning. Can’t you see the stamp of confirmation right at the bottom?”

“A typical nutcase.”

“You’re wrong again. If he were a nutcase, he wouldn’t be observing society as sarcastically and precisely as he did in this questionnaire.”

Against common sense, Dr. Cha concluded he was mentally normal. From a psychiatrist’s perspective, she could almost hear a scream of desperation rising from those answers.

To be able to ridicule society in such a way, this young man named Lee Hyun must have lived a colorless life in a world of cruelty.

“Whew.” The chief nurse could not help but sigh.

She had no reason to contradict the doctor’s conclusion. Nevertheless, she thought that either Dr. Cha, who had earned a Ph.D. in psychiatry in the United States and been idolized in globally recognized medical periodicals, was above normal, or this Lee Hyun guy was below normal.

‘Both of them are simply abnormal. Or they are normal, and I’m the only crazy one in the room. Maybe the hard truth is, the whole world has gone insane’, she thought as her head spun.

Dr. Cha picked up the form and got up.

“Society needs different kinds of people. Let it be. You don’t need to look deep into it. By the way, I’m going to show this to Seoyoon.”

“Patient Jeong Seoyoon?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think she will read it?”

“She will. Those who shut their mind are more likely to yearn for attention from outside. I just hope she will laugh this time.” Dr. Cha took the questionnaire that Lee Hyun had filled in and headed to the ward. Her destination was a special ward located on the 12th floor.

With the brand-new medical instruments and best doctors, furnished with a private swimming pool and an indoor gym, the room cost nearly twenty million won a day.

“Hi, Seoyoon, I’m here to see you.”

Beaming at her patient, Cha Eunhee entered the ward. A pale-faced girl lifted her head from a book that she was reading. Who, even among supermodels whose looks are their only highlights, would be overshadowed by her beauty—but her face was empty of emotion. Like a French doll, she seemed just as lifeless.

‘God ended up giving her beauty, more than she could live with’Dr. Cha thought sadly.

For the girl was so beautiful, she was overly-loved by her protective father. The taboo blurring the line between father and daughter had never been broken, but her mother was paranoid, suspicious of her husband and deeply jealous of her own daughter beauty, resulting in relentless abuse in the early years, and then came the tragedy on that fateful day. Since then, the girl had lost the power of speech.

Back when she was young, Seoyoon had been an angel trapped in an earthly body. Dr. Cha, who used to be a close friend of hers, always felt sorry that she was deprived of her fair share of love and innocence.

“Take a look at this. I’m not allowed to remove any document from my office, but I wanted to show it to you.” Dr. Cha gave the girl the form submitted by Lee Hyun.

Seoyoon’s lifeless and empty eyes glided over the paper, and Dr. Cha had hoped that she would burst into a fit of laughter.

Dr. Cha hoped, against all odds, that Seoyoon would open up if only just a little bit.

‘Do you know that, if you laugh this time or even smile, it will be your first in about five years?‘Dr. Cha thought sadly.

But the still face shattered the doctor’s hopes. The girl looked over the questionnaire and just returned it to her. The doctor once more felt heartbroken as she remembered how bright Seoyoon had once been.

“Alright… Do you need anything else?” Dr. Cha asked.

Seoyoon gently shook her head.

“Then, feel free to call me anytime you need something.”

Dr. Cha slipped out of the room in silence.

“Did she laugh?” the nurse asked; she wasn’t permitted to enter the room.

Dr. Cha smiled bitterly. “It didn’t work again,” the nurse said, answering her own question when she saw the Dr. Cha bitter smile.

“No. I can’t find a way to open her heart or mind,” Dr. Cha said. “I must rehabilitate her to maintain the president’s faith in me— no, on behalf of Seoyoon…”

Countless of psychologists, psychiatrists and even shamans had been hired to tackle Seoyoon’s condition, to no avail. None of them could melt her frozen heart. Now, nearly everyone had given up any hope for helping the girl.

The nurse was also tearful. She was sad that such a cute girl neither talked nor laughed, stuck alone in her own closed shell.

“Isn’t there any other form of therapy or medicine to help her?” the nurse asked.

“A psychiatric remedy won’t work as long as the patient refuses to open her mind and accept reality,” Dr. Cha said.

“Then, she’s going to live like that for the rest of her life… ”

“We must do something to get her back. She just needs a cue, something that will lead her to face reality.”

“But it’s already been five years. Her consciousness might have gotten stuck by now—or worse yet be, long gone.”

“It is our job to not let that happen. No matter what, I will bring her back.” Dr. Cha’s resolution was fierce.

She had majored in psychiatry and voluntarily come to this hospital in order to save Seoyoon.

“I already started a new treatment a year ago.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“Of course not. It’s because I had to keep it secret. It’s Royal Road. She’s spending her days and nights in the game, except for medication and counseling,”

“Then—”

“Exactly. Let her start over in the fictional world. Take her out of the shell, and she will move on step by step where she can interact with others. I hope she will regain her lost faith in people, and feel emotions that she had never felt before, at least in virtual reality.”

* * *

Back home, Lee Hyun visited the item transaction site before he logged into Royal Road.

Though Lee Hyun had traded only one item on there so far, his account status was triple diamond. This is because of the account in the Continent of Magick that he sold, that was valued at over three billion won.

It alone elevated him to VIP prestige status.

[Buy] Iron Sword +20 STR for 400,000 won.

[Buy] Rings 4 warriors. Offer.

[Buy] Blue Boots for Ranger Class. 300,000 won – negotiable.

[Buy] Earrings for Mages. Royal Road Kelly book value plus extra

A list of items in demand was thousands of pages long, and keyword search yielded millions of search results, but only a few of them actually reached a deal.

As plenty of users were eager to get hold of cool items, the demand was insanely high. Basicly, the suppliers couldn’t keep up with the demand.

The system favored sellers, and when one of them posted his or her item, the auction was wrapped up in minutes.

[Sell] Mace of Red Spirit 105/105 Durability w/ 96-105 DMG +15 STR [100,000 won]

[Sell] Shine’s Blessing Ring: Rare / Heals 3 MP per sec for 5 min [From 3,000,000 won]

[Sell] Messiah Earring: Mag def. up. Fire magic +8% exp. [4,000,000 won]

[Sell] Blacksmith’s Hammer of Thomas: +15% for success rate in forging weaponry. Enables you to produce upgraded weapons at 5,000,000 won

Items in the top 10% of the auction boasted outrageous prices.

They were followed by lesser items beneath, which still amounted to at least a hundred thousand won.

This bull market signaled that items were in short supply.

If Weed had not been fortunate enough to obtain the iron sword in the beginning, he would have repeated commonplace quests here and there to collect a few coppers each time, and rushed to a blacksmith’s workshop to buy a crude sword before he headed to the field.

Otherwise, he would have to punch monsters, relying on the stats that he had accumulated by striking the scarecrow.

In that case, his attack power would have been halved without the effects of sword mastery. Compared to weapons and gear that were highly configured, craft items for blacksmith and tailoring were inexpensive. Items relevant to the sculptor class were not even available.

Royal Road had opened only fifteen months before, and the users were still immersed in leveling up and adventuring. So far, Lee Hyun hadn’t seen any other craftsmen.

Seventy percent of the continent was still uncharted, that is why many dungeons are still unexplored, and many quests unsolved. With an infinite opportunity presented before their eyes, only a few users dreamed of becoming craftsmen.

Rosenheim Kingdom was a relatively new portion of the world that had only been discovered roughly six months before (according to real world time). Accordling, the expedition party who first spotted the kingdom had earned tremendous monetary gains.

Rosenheim was far away from the center of the continent, but uncharted territories and unearthed dungeons were scattered everywhere, and strong monsters abounded. This was the primary reason why Lee Hyun chosen Rosenheim to start off his grand adventure.

“Did I start too late? No, I still have a chance to catch up,” he told himself.

Lee Hyun shook his head. While the competitors were leveling up and having adventure, Lee Hyun had worked out and collected information instead for one whole year to prepare. He didn’t want to sell his account anymore.

The procedure of an online game’s account transaction was trickier in a virtual reality game where an iris scan was taken to verify the player’s identity. Plus, Lee Hyun had to stay in the business rather than making a quick buck.

Royal Road had to support his family financially at least in the next five years.

“At this rate, Royal Road will give my family something to live off of for the next five, no, ten years. Then, I can afford to send Hayan to college. Stability comes first. I’m a high school dropout, but Hayan deserves a better life—” he said to himself.

*Ring*

The phone suddenly started ringing.

Lee Hyun looked around and realized that Grandma and Hayan were out of the house, so he picked up the phone reluctantly.

“Hello. Who’s speaking?”

“Lee Hyun, is that you? You still sound rough on the phone, man. It’s me, Sanghoon.”

“Oh, it’s you. Sanghoon.”

Lee Hyun had not heard this voice for a long time. Since I dropped out of high school, he thought bitterly.

“Hey, what’s up?” Lee Hyun asked.

“We have an alumni reunion tonight—”

“I don’t give a shit about it. Isn’t it supposed be attended by the graduates only? It’s not even funny if a dropout like me shows up in the reunion.”

“But—”

“No buts. You know why I quit school. I don’t want anything to do with the school now. That’s it.”

“…”

“Do me a favor, Sanghoon. Don’t ever call me again.”

*Slam*

Lee Hyun dropped the phone and sighed deeply. It was a phone call that he didn’t want in the least.

If only he had been given an MIB-type memory eraser, then, without question, he would have erased the whole three years of high school— the worst memory and one of the lowest points of his life.

Back then, Lee Hyun had been beaten and threatened by the loan sharks. He had to sneak in to school. He had gone to school at dawn and left at midnight as if he were playing hide and seek.

For a couple of days, Lee Hyun had dodged the loan sharks, but they were smarter than he thought. They had hired street racketeers to pressure the teachers at the school.

Lee Hyun had even been told by his homeroom teacher to pay back his debt, right in front of his classmates.

The teacher had knelt before the lost student, pleading amid tears that he didn’t want to get involved in that madness.

“It was the last straw. I quit school the next day,” he mumbled to himself.

Lee Hyun was a little curious what his old school friends were like in college. But showing his face in the reunion would only revive those shameful moments.

‘The inescapable truth is, the only thing left for me to do is to play the virtual reality game.’Lee Hyun finished lunch and slipped into the game again.

* * *

Weed never skipped his daily routine of settling down in front of Rodriguez’s manor from dawn to sunset. Who else would be able to cope with boring days such as this?

“What do you think about going hunting in the West Valley? Harpies have a high level, but if we team up together, they’re piece of cake.”

“I heard you joined an escort quest for the caravans bound for Eline Village?”

“The price of troll blood has soared lately by almost triple the usual amount. I’m afraid a big war’s coming.”

Plenty of conversations snuck into Weed’s ears.

Horses whinnied, carriages wheeled by.

Sitting by the main avenue, Weed could catch lots of information. He learned what was going on in the world. Without this type of fun, he would have given up already.

When Weed struck the scarecrow, he was at least enjoying a sense of becoming more powerful. It was self-torturing that he had to sit still under the harsh sunlight.

‘Didn’t Buddha face a wall for several days, meditating?’he asked himself.

He was going through a similar experience, resolved to see Rodriguez.

For the last two days, Weed had met Pale and Irene to go hunting together. They were not as strong as he, so they earned EXPs more slowly.

Still, they could hunt monsters as they pleased, day and night. Thanks to their flexible schedule, they caught up with Weed’s level.

Thirty percent bonus on EXPs at night is technically canceled out by the fact that monsters are stronger by half than during daytime. More often than not, daytime hunting is more efficient for low-level users.

Plus, Weed was penalized by being undecided class-wise, so that he could not learn any skills. He would lag behind in skill levels if he converted to a class at a higher level than an average user. Last but not least, it tested his patience that he was wasting valuable time waiting in the middle of a street.

‘What can I do now? Sculpture mastery… sculptures…’Weed looked around. He found a piece of wood that seemed to have been thrown off from a carriage’s wheel.

Picking up the piece of wood, Weed activated the sculpture skill “Carve this.”

*Slide*

As Weed’s hand was moving, the wood was cut here and there.

“What the—!”

When the skill finished carving, Weed sighed. The once square piece of wood was whittled to a small circular piece.

“I’d better do it myself.”

Weed picked up another piece of wood and began cutting it with the sculpting knife. With his past experience of toiling in a textile factory focused his hands, and craft was like a second nature to him.

The sculpting knife was so sharp that with just a touch, it carved through the wood. After a few attempts at trial and error, he finally carved the wooden piece into a short sword.

*Ting*

Sculpture Mastery proficiency has increased.

Handicraft proficiency has increased.

Two pop-up message windows appeared in cascade.

Weed learned something— that he didn’t need to rely on the sculpture skill to carve an object, and that when he used the skill, he had to recognize exactly what shape he was working on.

I’d better practice sculpture more often.

Bored, Weed gathered several pieces of wood and started carving them.

‘It’s fun in its own way.’

It suddenly struck Weed that when he was in grade school, his art teachers had praised him for being good at making things. What Weed carved usually turned out useless, but a few of them looked acceptable even to his eyes.

He spent five hours carving wooden pieces. It seemed odd that a man should sit down cutting wood with an sculpting knife, but he felt it was better than killing time in vain.

*Ting*

Level up: Sculpture Mastery (Beginner Lvl: 2 | 0%):

Enables to produce more complicated works.

Decreases the rate at which you fail the skill.

Weed’s handicraft skill and sculpture mastery leveled up quickly because their comparatively low level needed a small amount of EXPs to reach the higher level.

“Wow.” Weed was awed.

As his level in sculpture mastery rose, various windows appeared while he was carving a piece of wood.

Visual tips were given, such as where to cut in a circle or what patterns were available. Weed could choose one of the tips, which was automatically processed. Even if he made an error, the sculpture mastery supplemented it to refine the final product.

Now he was making quality statues. Weed carved a fox that he had hunted the other night, and a wolf statue was easier than he had thought. He placed completed animated statues beside him.

Weed’s skill level was currently two, but Zahab’s sculpting knife doubled it to four.

The knife was unique item that any sculptor would die for willingly. The problem is no one cares.

The sculptor class is near extinction. Even if there are some sculptor-wannabes left, their levels are mediocre, so it is hopeless to expect a good price for Zahab’s sculpting knife.

When Weed finished one of the pieces of artwork—

*Ting*

New Stat: Art

“Art?”

*Ting*

Art Stat:

A gift in comprehending and practicing in creating. Art renders meals and products elegant in an aesthetic and practical sense. Improves when you see, hear, smell, taste or touch beautiful things, or create artworks.

“…”

Weed fell silent. Calculating the infinite potential promised by the art stat. Then, he made a quick decision.

“Delete the art stat!”

*Ting*

This stat cannot be deleted!

“Darn it!”

A user cannot create stats infinitely. The maximum number of stat slots is fifteen.

Weed found it intolerable that one of the slots was wasted on the art. Still, though he planned to fill them only with absolutely necessary ones.

‘It can’t be helped!’ he thought bitterly.

For Weed couldn’t care less about the art stat. He swore that he would never distribute any bonus stat points to it.

He was relieved to know that the stat would increase automatically, but he was skeptical about how it would work.

Weed kept on carving wooden pieces. He was more interested in side effects than sculpture mastery itself, though.

“Sculpture mastery is good for nothing. But handicraft skill is worth effort in many areas. It will increase the attack power of swords, and archery relies on the hands. I can work on sensitive crafts, too.”

Handicraft skill is a necessity to influence everything everywhere.

*Ting*

Handicraft proficiency has increased.

Level up: Handicraft (Beginner Lv: 3 | 0%):

Enables you to learn cooking and tailoring skills.

Increases attack power with melee and long range weapons. (+3% ATK)

Increases attack power with fists. (+5% ATK)

Weed’s handicraft skill level hit three as sculptural art helped him obtain EXPs faster.

It really pays off.

Weed was satisfied with a swift increase in his handicraft skill level. It was partly because the artworks that he had produced were, in fact, at level four thanks to Zahab’s sculpting knife, but sculpture mastery was the main factor.

Cooking and tailoring skills, for example, affect the handicraft skill greatly, yet they cannot rival sculpture mastery in delicacy and adeptness.

Simply put, sculpture mastery is essential to improve handicraft skill. Needless to say, nobody would bother learning sculpture mastery in order to improve the handicraft skill.

“Shit, I will never learn tailoring. I hate it!”

Weed considered it positive to master the basic cooking skills so that he could enjoy delicious food with online recipes.

Not to mention that buying ingredients directly from a grocery store and cooking them with his hands was cheaper than ordering a meat in a fine restaurant.

Also, Weed could preserve stamina better by use of hand-made meals when he went out on a hunting mission for one or more weeks without returning to civilization. Instant food could not restore the stamina stat to full.

Besides, Weed was so haunted by the memory of toiling strenuously in a textile factory that he was resolved to refrain from learning the tailoring skill.

“I hate tailoring more than anything else. I’ll never, ever touch the damned thing,” he told himself.

Absorbed in working on statues, Weed didn’t realize that he was shadowed by black figures until his ears caught strange conversations.

“Wow, it’s lovely~!”

“It looks like they’re real.”

“I’ve never seen such lively artwork before.”

Weed looked up in the direction of the shadows. There was a group of people viewing his statutes with admiration.

A tiny, cute girl pointed her finger at the rabbit-like statue.

“Hi, ajussi, is it on sale?”

(PR: The Korean word: ajhussi, is usually used when you’re referring to a man older than you)

Weed would have gently corrected her that he was only a teenager, but the way a single woman in her thirties would react to an ‘old lady’ label.

But…

“Yes. What can I do for you, young lady?” Weed said, smiling politely, for he smelt money.

“I want that one. How much is it?”

Handing over the rabbit statue, Weed gave it a passing thought.

“It’s…” Weed was pressured to call for a fair price.

Dump those statues at a profit now, or they would sit there forever, ending up in a trash bin. He showed two fingers.

“I’ll take so much,” Weed said.

“Two silvers? It’s cheaper than I thought!” The girl paid two silver coins and picked up the statue.

“This rabbit’s really cute. I’ll keep it as souvenir.”

Stupefied, Weed stared at her back as she left pleasantly. Two fingers meant two copper coins. Only two coppers. But the girl paid two hundred times his call.

“Hey, I want to buy one too!”

“Same here. I’ll take the two foxes over there.”

Weed’s little statues sold well.

Small ones were priced at two silvers, large ones three. Fox and rabbit statues that he had hunted in the field around the Citadel were more popular than sword- or shield-shaped ones.

The animals looked cute, and customers preferred them in memory of their newbie-hood.

A level 100 user could easily make a couple of gold a day. To them, two silvers was a bargain.

The stock of statues quickly sold out.

“Can you please make us a fox-shaped statue? A fox with nine tails. Can you do that?”

Weed contemplated it and nodded.

The request wasn’t as hard as it sounded. The standard form of a fox plus nine tails. Why not?

“Yes, sir. But you have to pay extra for a customized version.”

“How much is it?”

“Five silvers would do it.”

When the word ‘five’ came out of his mouth, Weed regretted that he might have gone overboard, but the buyers were quick to respond.

“Great. I want it. Then, you should make it look very beautiful. Please?”

In the Citadel, there is a sculpture shop, but it specializes in life-size statues, sometimes adorned with gold and gems, that are not affordable for most users. Since no one else was interested in sculpture mastery, those statues that Weed carved had a collectible value.

“Wow, it’s so cool~!”

Those who bought statues were excited, adoring their recent purchases.

“Can I get your name? So when I want to buy another one, I’ll look for you.”

“Weed – Sculptor Weed. If you ever want to have a statue to your liking, please feel free to contact me.”

“Thank you. See you later.”

Before sunset, rumors of the sculptor spread to the other ends of the Citadel and people came over to visit Weed.

“Oh, there he is!”

“I want you to make some statues for us.”

Weed had earned four silvers from overnight hunting the other night, but one or two statues made more money now. It took only ten minutes to carve a statue. As materials cost almost nothing, it was a very lucrative trade.

The next day, Weed stopped by a carpenter’s shop and bought wood in bulk. He began to mass produce statues.

As the handicraft skill and sculpture mastery upgraded, more beautiful and delicate pieces were churned out.

Needless to say, blessed by his higher skill mastery, they sold at a higher price and at a quicker pace.

Successful masterpieces, one or two in every thousand, were even put up for auction.

His opinion of sculpture mastery changed slightly in the process– a part time job to secure a satisfactory amount of pocket money.

Chapter 6: Over a Barbecue

Rodriguez was afflicted by a serious disturbance.

*Grind*

It was the sixth day, and that fellow called Weed was still sitting down right across from the manor. Rodriguez in his seclusion had been aware of the presence of the intruder right from the first day. Rodriquez bet that Weed was busy selling his silly little statues to customers still.

“I need to figure out this man and what he wants from me.” Rodriguez muttered to himself.

In spite of his extreme laziness, on the sixth day Rodriguez finally gave in to his curiosity and moved his butt.

“Greetings, stranger. I am Rodriguez. What have you been waiting here to give me?”

“Wow! The Counselor’s come out!”

“It’s really him!”

“Rodriguez, the Star of Wisdom!”

The crowd in the line waiting to buy Weed’s statues was astounded.

Sages have something in common— they want to be left alone. Especially so when a stranger claims that he has brought something to be dealt with urgently. Rodriguez finally showed up outside the gate.

Weed fished a handkerchief inscribed with a blue bird from his pocket and presented it to the counselor.

“This is why I bothered waiting for the last six days, Counselor.”

Rodriguez’s eyes were immediately filled with tears.

“Aye, this is one of Queen Evane’s handkerchiefs… There are too many eyes and ears here. Why don’t you come in, traveler?”

“Yes, sir. Sorry guys! I’m closed for today!”

Beaming triumphantly, Weed folded his stall and stood up.

“No way!”

“Let me see, too!”

The crowd cried in protest, some of them even expressing grievance at being left out of the historical moment, but neither Weed nor Rodriguez could care less. Rodriguez then led his guest into the manor.

“Now that it’s quiet. Anyone who brings me an item that once belonged to Queen Evane is privileged to ask me one thing.”

“Yes, I know, sir.” Weed replied.

Counselor Rodriguez! Sometime ago, he had publicly declared that a man who brought an item that was once one of Queen Evane’s belonging was to be granted an audience. In this case, Weed had presented her handkerchief.

“Speak traveler. I’m all ears for anything you say.”

Rodriguez’s sincere tone portrayed the Sage’s duty when dealing with a fellow man’s distress. But the counselor was only pretending.

While Queen Evane’s handkerchief was invaluable to Rodriguez, he didn’t have the slightest intention to help Weed. Didn’t that contradict his promise? No, not really.

Rodriguez urged Weed to speak, and added that he would listen to anything from him. All that the counselor was obliged to do was learn what Weed was concerned about, in order to satisfy his intellectual desire and curiosity, that is all. He never considered actually presenting a solution to whatever problem Weed had.

A good number of users had been cheated by Counselor Rodriguez in a similar manner. He had always played along with them, and evaded giving the answers that they had desperately sought.

Aside from his glorious title of The Star of Wisdom, the counselor was widely slandered as Dead End of Quests. Weed didn’t fall for such a childish and naive trick. To begin with, he didn’t trust Rodriguez.

A man is a very weak being. This was what Weed had felt earnestly throughout a year’s preparation ahead of Royal Road— a weakening will and a comfort-seeking body. Weed never trusted himself, so why should he trust Rodriguez who he had not seen before?

“Does it make any difference if I tell you my problem?”

“What do you mean by any difference, traveler?”

“Will you help me when you hear me speak, Counselor?”

“That’s…”

“Then, I refuse to say anything. Why bother? It will only get my tongue tired.”

Rodriguez knitted his brows. He pretended that his integrity was being soiled by Weed’s paranoia.

“Aye, Weed-nim. Speak to me now! You may take the liberty of telling me anything you have on your mind. You brought me Queen Evane’s handkerchief, and it is now your right to speak your mind,”

Rodriguez said in his best coaxing tone.

They were the words that Weed had been waiting for.

‘I will get him to talk!’

Unfortunately for the Counselor, Weed was shrewder than the bunch who Rodriguez had dealt with before. He demanded the final seal of confirmation. “Counselor, will you tell me what I want to know if I ask you?”

“…”

“I shall remain silent until you promise in your own words.”

“Eh?… Now listen to me, Weed-nim.”

“It seems Queen Evane’s handkerchief is a priceless object, Counselor. In particular, to my eyes, it means something greater to you. Shall I take it back?”

“Keep it and leave now!”

“Sure. Godspeed, sir.”

When Weed actually took the handkerchief and turned around, Rodriguez held two hands up in the air like a white flag.

“Wait! I hereby promise to you in person, that I will give you guidance when I hear your request. I have already promised to answer anyone who brings Queen Evane’s belongings. So as long as it is within my capability, I am obliged to do so.”

“Will you make a man’s oath?”

“Of course… But you must do me a favor in return. Someday.”

Weed considered Rodriguez’s counter proposal, and nodded.

“Deal!”

The counselor smirked. “What is it that troubles you, Weed-nim? A trifling question could not compel you to stay out there for the last six days.” Rodriguez had his own agenda, though, behind his question, which spoke of his curiosity.

‘Who cares about you? How dare you humiliate me into striking a deal with such a lowly creature as you! Answer you? I will, oh I will! But my answer shall be the trickiest one, terribly bent and crooked enough for you to pay the price!’

Rodriguez was confident in exacting revenge once he learned Weed’s request.

If Weed wanted to find someone, he would be told about a nephew of a cousin of a mother-in-law of a friend of a wife of the one in question, who he would have to trace back on his own. If Weed wanted to find a place, he would be told of a faraway land with a similar name.

*Snicker*

Whether he was suspicious of Rodriguez’s wily trick or not, Weed finally spoke his mind.

“I don’t know what class I should select.”

“Class? Now that I look at you, I see that you don’t even have one yet.”

“No, Counselor.” Weed confirmed.

Rodriguez laughed lightly. That was far more trivial than what he had predicted.

What he had in mind was that Weed would ask for the whereabouts of a secret dungeon, or Rosenheim’s future policies.

A good dungeon yields a fortune to its discoverer, and a policy is valuable if you know how to take advantage of it.

Suppose you learn in advance that the royal court is planning to develop the southern provinces next year, you can secure the commercial rights in the provinces preemptively and extract an enormous profit out of them.

A personal recommendation on what class to choose was indeed a piece of cake for Rodriguez.

“I can’t believe such a light question has troubled your soul so profoundly. You didn’t need to consult me in the first place. I advise you to visit an employment agency. Your six days have been wasted, Weed-nim.”

“I was advised that the Counselor was the one who could make the best judgment.”

“Oh? Well good then. I will recommend a perfect class for you! Show me your stats.”

“Yes, sir.”

Weed displayed the stat window for the first time since he had worked hard to improve his stats in the Training Hall.

“Open Stat Window”

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Neutral

Level

13

Profession

None

Title

None

Fame

20

Health

960

Mana

100

Strength

55

Agility

105

Vitality

50

Wisdom

10

Intelligence

10

Endurance

89

Fighting Spirit

67

Luck

0

Charisma

0

Art

23

Offense

19

Defense

5

Magic Resistance

Fire

0%

Water

0%

Earth

0%

Black Magic

0%

Weed had played day and night, and the outcome was level thirteen. He could take care of a wolf in no time now.

“My Freya!”

Rodriguez was stunned.

“Level thirteen, and life of nine hundred and sixty? For your level, you have exceeded fifty in strength and vitality, and a hundred in agility! Training Hall. I can tell you drilled in the Training Hall. Your willpower is undoubtedly admirable.”

Rodriguez lived up to his reputation as the Star of Wisdom that he guessed right based solely on Weed’s attributes. But his surprise didn’t end there.

“You have level four in sculpture mastery, and level six in craftsmanship skill! It is incredible, simply unbelievable! What journey have you taken, I beg to hear.”

Weed told Rodriguez what had happened. One event after another, Rodriguez could not close his mouth in incredulity.

“You have taken the most unusual quests thanks to your friendship with the instructor. And— what? Did you succeed Zahab’s will? But you have discarded the opportunity to become a Moonlight Sculptor?”

Wide-eyed, Rodriguez was taken aback. It should be noted that he had hardly flinched at the news of a neighboring kingdom suddenly invading Rosenheim without a preliminary declaration of war.

‘Zahab. Who was he?’

He was one of the absolute powers hidden behind the scenes in the Continent.

Rodriguez had met Zahab a few times through Queen Evane’s influence, and come to admire his sculptural art and sword technique— revering the sculptor’s respectable personality and talents. Rodriguez had made friends with him. It had taken place fifty years before, the companionship between a pair of callow youths. The Counselor had even counseled His Highness to hold Zahab in the court at any cost.

“Hmph, you rejected such a fine class. What sort of class do you want to have, then?”

“Anything lucrative suits me.”

Rodriguez fell into silence.

‘Perhaps this chap is the One. The one that I have been waiting for. The Will of the Great Emperor might dwell in him — a mysterious class whose glorious traditions can be traced back to the Ancient Age.’

Geihar von Arpen, the legendary emperor who had conquered the entire continent— his blood flowed in the sage.

‘He still needs to prove his worth through tribulations. Can he pass the ultimate test? Anyway, it is he who will be tested, not I,’ the sage said to himself.

Rodriguez said in a serious tone,

“Weed-nim.”

“Yes sir?”

“I have a quest for you, though you must prove more patient than a caterpillar, more willing to survive than a cockroach, and more stubborn than a leech— or you will definitely fail. Are you qualified for this quest?”

“…”

“What’s with that look?”

“I don’t like the way you describe it. But I can tell you proudly that I am ready to do anything.”

“Your confidence touches my heart. You look as if you can even chew maggots to the last drop of juice.”

“…”

“Do as I say and the quest will give you a class. I warn you, however, that it will try your life. You are free to leave my advice on the table if you are afraid.”

Weed finally felt some suspicion towards Rodriguez’ scheme.

“Fine. I’m in.”

“Have you ever heard of the Lair of Litvart?”

“Yes. sir.”

The Lair of Litvart was coincidentally the destination of the quest that the instructor had mentioned to Weed. Or it’s not a coincidence? You’ll never know.

“Then, I am spared the inconvenience of elaborating on the details. Under your own power, destroy the cloud of evilness that creeps within that lair. Once that evil is vanquished, you shall be granted the class that is destined for you.”

*Ting*

Quest: Search and Destroy Operation in the Lair of Litvart [II]

There are a hundred monsters inhabiting the Lair of Litvart. Kill each and every one of them at least once, and prove yourself worthy of the honorable class. The completion of this quest will open a right path for your destiny.

Difficulty: Unknown

Quest requirement:

None

Weed read and then reread the instructions over and over, down to the fine print. ‘This ancient so-and-so is definitely plotting something!’ Weed thought quickly.

Otherwise, Rodriguez wouldn’t have given Weed a quest related to the Lair of Litvart— an underground dungeon of five floors, the lair had been thoroughly explored, most of which was disclosed to the public domain.

Many users were hunting monsters down there day and night. Monsters between Level 20 and Level 50 frequented the lair, while Weed was still only level thirteen.

But the additional stats that he had improved in the Training Hall strengthened him so that he was almost as strong as an ordinary Level 40 Warrior. Taking passive skills such as sword mastery and craftsmanship skill into account, Weed was confident that he could take down up to Level 50 monsters.

Destroying monsters in the Lair of Litvart was going to be tough for Weed, yet far from impossible for him.

‘There’s something is behind this, I don’t know what, but it’s something. I can trust that the sage is not lying to me, but I also know he’s not telling me the full truth. Regardless, no matter what he is hiding from me, if I finish this quest, I’ll certainly get a good class.’

The scent of a trap in this quest was unmistakable though.

‘It’s not about hunting regular monsters in the lair. Then what?’ Weed’s eyes flashed sharply.

“Tell me, Weed-nim. Will you take it or leave it? For your information, I can’t come up with a better alternative. I will not force you however. The decision is totally yours to make.”

After a brief moment of mental juggling, Weed nodded.

“With respect, I gladly accept your advice, Counselor.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

“Good. Come back here when you have beaten all the monsters in the lair. In the rare event that you actually finish this quest. I have something to give you. It is certain, however, that you will absolutely fail.”

Rodriguez laughed treacherously.

* * *

Weed headed straight to the Training Hall. ‘I must get there in time.’

Weed’s footsteps moved fast because it was still before lunch break. When he entered the Hall, the instructor was about to stick a spoon in his lunchbox.

“Good afternoon, Honorable Instructor.”

“You surprised me, Weed-nim! I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too. That’s why I am here.”

“Come over here and sit down. Help yourself before we get down to business.”

“Thank you, sir.”

With a good timing, Weed took care of lunch. The lunchbox was enormous, exactly proportional to the instructor’s triple-X body size.

Subtracting Weed’s portion from the lunchbox was like taking a cup of water from the ocean.

“By the way, Instructor, speaking of the quest you mentioned the other day—”

“Oh, that one.”

“Yes, I’d like to join it.”

“Haha. I knew it was coming, so I asked them to leave a place for you. I’m glad that you want the quest.”

The instructor generously granted Weed’s favor.

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

Quest: A Clean-up Operation in the Lair of Litvart

Rosenheim Kingdom has been greatly suffering from the monsters, which have risen in number for the last decade.

King Theodarren, righteous and benevolent ruler of Rosenheim, issued a royal decree to order a distinguished knight, Sir Midvale, to explore the Lair of Litvart and root out monsters. Eradicate the monsters in the Lair of Litvart with Sir Midvale and his soldiers.

Difficulty level: E

Quest requirement:

Failed if you’re killed.

“You have a day left until the troops leave tomorrow. Why don’t you come and stay over at my place?”

“Apologies, Instructor. I should run errands for the mission.”

“Too bad. I wanted to invite you to dinner.”

“Dinner?”

“Yes. My wife said this morning she was going to cook pork barbecue.”

Weed’s mouth watered at the thought of pork barbecue. Savory and spicy barbecue! This temptation was irresistible.

“To be honest with you, I always wanted to visit your place.”

“Haha, I knew it too.”

“Hehe.”

Weed was never ashamed that he was living an obsequious or subservient life.

But… He— he was just sick and tired of rye bread. Royal Road reproduces every aspect of reality, even taste, to the extent that sushi made of fish that was caught minutes ago actually tastes fresh, and outdated food hardens and rots. Rye bread is no exception.

For the last two months, Weed had eaten only rye bread and his tongue was flavored with rye. The sight of rye bread made him feel like puking. A pork barbecue would be especially refreshing. Plus, it was a free meal—priceless.

“Then, I will come back in the evening, Instructor.”

“Sure, Weed-nim. See you later.”

Weed had accepted another quest in the Training Hall.

‘Now all three slots in the quest window are filled up.’

The top quest was about Zahab’s will, which was out of sight for now, whereas the other two quests were a combination set.

‘Now, the problem is that Rodriguez’s quest isn’t what it appears to be… but it doesn’t matter.’ Weed braced himself to face the challenge.

In the worst scenario, he would die, so what? He didn’t want to die meaninglessly, but some difficulties were always expected.

‘Now I need to get ready, First, I go shopping for the trip to the Lair of Litvart.’

Weed walked downtown. Pedestrians in chic costumes passed by, while having vibrant conversations. A bunch of users set up kiosks on the street and sold things.

Weed went to the blacksmith’s workshop, and bought a bow and many quivers of arrows.

“Item Check: Bow of Theo Grande”

Bow of Theo Grande:

Durability: 50/ 50

Attack: 5-6

Multiple shot speed: 4

A short bow that is strung with an Orc’s muscle, crudely built, it has low accuracy but substantial attack power convenient for novices in archery.

The bow cost 1 gold and 20 silvers, but Weed would never pay the full price for anything. By presenting a butterfly-shaped statue to the cashier lady, he surrendered no more than one gold.

He had discovered accidentally that he could win ladies’ hearts with sculpture gifts.

‘Sculpture mastery. It’s only useful on trifling occasions.’

Weed also bought a stock of rye bread, though he was sick and tired of it, bread is at least better than starvation, and when a fight breaks out, it reduces the rate at which the health factor declines. When the health factor falls below 30%, a user slows down, and loses a chunk of life temporarily.

His backpack was filled with quivers, herbs and bread. As soon as Weed was happy everything was present and correct, he went back to the instructor.

“I am done, Instructor.”

“Oh, I see. Let’s go to my place now. I have a guest waiting.”

“Guest? Did you invite someone else to dinner, Instructor?”

“Didn’t I mention her?”

The instructor looked somewhat confused, and then quickly regained his composure.

“She’s a nice girl. I am sure you will like her.”

Strange though it sounded, Weed casually put the matter to one side and relaxed.

The instructor held Weed’s hand and walked to his place. His hand was as hairy as a gorilla’s.

Weed wrinkled his forehead. “You may as well let go of my hand, Instructor.”

“Surely not. I’m afraid you could lose me.”

“Excuse me?”

Weed finally arrived at the instructor’s house.

He had no doubt that when he opened the door, he would see the world’s happiest family with a burning furnace that filled the living room with warm air.

Weed had already been told that the instructor had married a female barbarian, a true love overcoming the barrier of race, but they had not borne any offspring yet.

When the door opened, however, Weed was startled at a girl sitting by the dinner table.

‘Incredible…’

For a moment, the girl’s beauty took Weed’s breath away. The scene that confronted him was idyllic. But he soon came down to earth.

Since the girl was invited to the instructor’s place, Weed had assumed that she was another NPC. She was a user, though, just like him.

By the look of her expensive-looking sword and armor, he could tell she was a high-level user.

However, that alone was not what shocked Weed. No, what shocked Weed the most was her name. The girl’s username was blinking in bright red.

A user can hide his/her true identity, sometimes pretending to be an NPC as long as he wants it that way, but a murderer who has PKed one or more users is promptly denied the right to privacy.

A red name and a bloody diamond on the forehead— the sign of a murderer. It is the sign of one who has killed a fellow user.

“My, my. Take it easy, Weed-nim. Now you understand why I was holding your hand tight.”

Weed tried to run away, but his desperate attempt failed because the instructor was holding his hand.

“Instructor.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t know you were so eager to get rid of me.”

“huhu~ So now you know.” he chuckled.

The instructor smiled treacherously, and Weed relaxed a little. He acknowledged that if the instructor wanted him dead, this man would have rather dirtied his own hands than go to someone else for it.

“Please be seated, let me introduce you to each other. This is Weed. His level is low, but he passed the basic training program perfectly.”

Weed bowed to the girl slightly but she ignored him, hardly tilting her head, “This is Seoyoon. She also passed it recently. She visits my place once a month to have dinner with us.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you.”

Weed greeted Seoyoon politely, but blank-faced, she didn’t even bother moving her eyes in his direction. It was a plain show of unfeigned unconcern.

‘You don’t want to hang out with lowly newbies or what? If I didn’t have to be in the same room, I wouldn’t want to associate with you either.’

At that very moment, the instructor excused himself and dragged Weed into a comer.

“I am sorry. I apologize for her rudeness.”

“No, it’s fine, sir.”

“She’s basically a good girl. She just doesn’t know how to speak. She is the closest thing I have to a baby sister. It seems that she is distrustful of other people. I invited her because I believed she could open her mind to you. Whew.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind at all.”

Nevertheless, Weed had no reason to extend his hand to this Seoyoon girl. He found it pointless to get to know a murderer, not even an NPC.

“By the way, do you mind if I give a hand to Mrs. Lancer?”

“Are you good at cooking?”

“Not at all. Still, a helping hand is still a hand in the kitchen. She can teach me how to cook.”

“Do as you please.”

As a barbarian by nature, the instructor’s wife was a giant. Following her orders, Weed diligently sliced pork sirloin and dipped it in sauce. As he was working hard in the kitchen, Seoyoon rolled up her sleeves and entered the kitchen. She felt ashamed to be the only one sitting idle and alone at the table.

She came up to Weed, stood to one side and watched him chopping the meat. She stepped in to help, but she didn’t know what to do first. Weed directed her to a mountain of dishes.

“Clean these dishes, please.”

Weed expected that Seoyoon would turn him down, but to his surprise, she took the dishes and squatted on the floor rinsing them. They earned credit from the hostess for their hard work.

“You are doing well.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.”

“You have gifted hands. Do you want to learn cooking skills?”

This proposal was exactly what Weed had been waiting to hear. Or why would he ever bother soaking his hands?

“Of course, ma’am. Thank you so much for your kindness.”

*Ting*

New Skill: Cooking

As if something had occurred to her as she watched Weed, Seoyoon also ‘asked’ the instructor’s wife to teach her how to cook with a few deft hand movements.

Cooking Skills— they’re simple skills that you can learn anywhere, by paying a membership fee to a chef’s guild or by serving an apprenticeship in a restaurant. No doubt it pays off well.

Pork barbecue on a large tray was finally served to the table. It was roasted yellow, steaming deliciously, the scent mingled with reality in the virtual reality. Weed promptly picked up a knife and a fork.

*Glare*

Suddenly, the instructor took it upon himself to caution Weed.

“You are a guest, Weed-nim. Do not eat too much.”

What kind of host would criticize an invited guest at the dinner table?

He was no longer the manly instructor in the Training Hall. In his place was a vicious Orc exposing his greed for food on the table. An Orc at level two hundred, that is.

But Weed wasn’t the type who easily succumbed to blackmail in the face of such food.

“I beg to differ, Instructor.”

“You are not agreeing with me?”

Weed felt suddenly pressurized, which was more than he could bear. He felt dazed, and his hand holding the knife was shaky.

‘Damn it!’Weed swallowed and glanced sideways.

He had a look at Seoyoon to see how that fragile-looking girl was coping with it. This was the world of a fantasy RPG game. Level rules. She appeared unaffected.

‘This girl has at least got to near level two hundred. And the barbarian wife, too,’Weed thought.

The instructor’s wife, one of the barbarians who venerated the laws of nature, especially the survival of the fittest, ignored the plight of weaklings.

Since a barbarian was physically superior to other races, it was only Weed who was threatened by the instructor’s murderous intimidation shooting from his eyes. Nobody sided with him.

But this was Weed. Was he not the person who could turn enemies to friends, and friends to apostles?

“Honorable Instructor, please let me speak.”

Fighting off the trembling in his body, Weed just about managed to open his mouth.

“What! If you have anything at all to say, drop the knife and fork first, then we can chat pleasantly until the end of time.”

“Your beautiful wife has displayed such exceptional cooking sense and skill in this meal. I am already intoxicated with the smell, and it fills my head with what it will taste like. Once I eat this, the memory shall be treasured forever.”

The instructor burst into his trademark laughter.

“She is a great cook. I am proud of her.”

“Absolutely. She is your wife, after all. The barbecue looks gorgeous.”

“Oh honey~!”

Mrs. Lancer poked at her husband.

She was apparently flattered by Weed’s sweet compliment.

“True, where else can you get a chance to lay your hands on such a delicious meal? Help yourself, Weed-nim.”

As the saying goes, a wife is the pride of the husband.

The instructor proved he was a sucker when it came to his wife. Anyway, the meal was great. Not only the pork barbecue but also side dishes that the hostess had cooked using recipe from the Northern Province delighted Weed’s tongue.

“Yum, yum. It’s so good, ma’am. You’re the best. I am envious of Mr. Lancer that he can eat your delicious meals every day.”

“True, true,” the instructor said, grinning approvingly.

Weed loosened his belt and eased himself. The instructor laughed heartily, and Seoyoon dutifully finished her plate in silence like a French doll made of ice.

Weed rested for the night in the house, and left for the gate of the Citadel early next morning.

* * *

Sir Midvale and his troop  of thirty foot-soldiers who were dispatched to conquer the Lair of Litvart were encamped near the gate.

“Greetings. Are you Weed-nim?” a knight asked.

“Yes, sir,” Weed said.

A little investigation prior to the quest never hurt. From what Weed had gathered from the streets, Sir Midvale belonged to the Red Order, the key unit of Rosenheim Army, where he had carried out high profile missions. He was recently promoted, as the rumor went, to a Royal Knight. He was a pride of the kingdom, revered as the epitome of chivalry.

“Our destination is far away. It takes about three hours on horseback,” Sir Midvale said.

“…”

All the other foot-soldiers, except for Weed, were riding on brown horses. He was carrying the backpack, and it had never crossed his mind that he needed a horse.

It would not have made any difference if he had been told otherwise, anyway. A horse was a high-priced commodity that cost at least 100 gold.

“Docke asked me for a favor. So I will lend you a horse for the time being,” Sir Midvale said.

“Thank you, sir,” Weed said.

“Vance, bring the horse.”

A soldier brought a sad-looking colt. It was dragged forcefully by its reins, resisting with its two rear legs. Showing two golden teeth and panting, the colt looked like a deviant rascal.

‘If I ride on that horse, my luck is as good as dead for the next seven years,’Weed thought wryly.

“Till the mission is finished, this colt will be temporarily assigned to you,” Sir Midvale said.

*Ting*

Name

Arse

Type

Neutral

Level

3

Species

Horse

Title

Stallion

Fame

-300

Health

30

Mana

0

Assigned to the punitive force bound to the Lair of Litvart. This quick-witted colt often tries to outfox the owner. It hates water and refuses to gallop in rain. It needs extra care, or it may die of sickness.

P.S: Beware, he farts often~!

“…”

The stat window for the colt was frustratingly colorful. Weed had once heard that thoroughbreds were difficult, but he found it outrageous that this fragile colt was worse.

“It won’t be for long, but let’s get along, anyway.”

Weed lifted his hand to pat the colt, but it bit his hand immediately.

“How dare you!”

When Weed glared at it, the colt turned around and lowered its rear legs.

“Good boy,” Weed said soothingly.

The moment he climbed on the colt’s back, gagging at a not-so funny smell rising from the not-so-good-looking bottom –the colt suddenly dropped its head forward, then kicked backward with its two rear legs.

“Ouch!”

Weed was thrown by the action and landed on the ground miserably. That single attack took seventy points off his life. Obviously, the colt had tried to kill him with that action.

“You damn Arse!” Weed yelled.

*Snort*

A bond was formed between Weed and the colt. They stared at each other as if they wanted to wring the other’s neck.

“I will never let you get on my back, you stupid human,” the colt seemed to say.

“I’ll beat you to death someday,” Weed’s expression said.

An unheard-of face-off between man and beast was taking place.

On the verge of an ugly disaster, Sir Midvale said,

“If you’re ready, let’s depart now.”

Sir Midvale and his troops began to march eastward. Weed hopped on the colt’s back quietly and rode on.

* * *

Seoyoon had also stayed at the instructor’s cabin. She could not reject his wife’s persistent suggestion to stay over. The next morning She ending up running across Weed several times. When she opened the door of the guest room, he happened to pass by it.

But they didn’t make eye contact, pretending not to notice the presence of the other, and excused themselves without greeting.

When Weed left the house, Seoyoon followed him out because she was too embarrassed to be left behind by herself.

With emotionless eyes, she stared at an empty space where he had been standing minutes before.

“Where should I go now?” she asked herself.

“Anywhere I want to go…” she replied.

There was no such place. At the same time, she was free to go anywhere.

‘As long as I can get away from this painful memory.’

Seoyoon began to walk toward the South Gate. Not that she wanted to go there.

She only wanted to go to the wasteland, a land yet to be fully explored, somewhere rampant with monsters.

She had started her journey near the center of the continent, moving to the Western Frontier in search of stronger monsters to fight.

‘I want to see monsters.”

‘I can lose myself while I’m fighting them.’

‘I don’t need to think about anything.’

‘Even the irrevocable truth that I was never loved in my life.’

‘Stop, Seoyoon. Stay strong!’

Even though Seoyoon spoke to no one, it was far from the truth that her mind ceased to function, and it more than willing to talk to itself.

Below the frozen surface however, water was swirling faster as she asked questions of herself, and continued to answer them. However, on the surface, her face was as empty of life as was any sign of expression, it was as though her face was carved from ice.

A repeated conversation here. Said this, heard that. Echoes deep within her mind.

Seoyoon felt less burdened when she fought amid a pack of monsters. Thus, she sought bloody battles in a dungeons full of monsters.

Ever yearning for more stronger and deadlier monsters, she feared no death. She’d never let the blood flow from battle dry out.

A berserker who showed herself worthy of a life soaked in madness and massacre— that was her, always finding peace on a battlefield.

Chapter 7: Maestro of Battles

The Lair of Litvart was at the entrance of Grave Mountains, a three hours trip on horseback from the Citadel.

The colt Weed was riding on occasionally diverted off course, and even chewed on grass leisurely. He had to cajole it to stay on course.

In front of the lair, a soldier who would look after the horses was waiting for them.

“Johnson, take good care of the horses.”

“Yes, sir.”

The punitive force led by Sir Midvale left their horses to the soldier, and entered the lair. Weed was finally relieved of the colt.

“Ready for battle!”

“Set in battle formation!”

The punitive force shielded themselves with steel bucklers and armed themselves with spears and swords. Compared to them, Weed’s equipment was pathetic. An iron sword and a bow.

Sir Midvale in chain mail approached.

“Is that all you have, Weed-nim?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You are poorly armed to fight on the front line. Stay behind and support the troops.”

“Yes, sir.

The troops held the bucklers forward and marched on the lair. Weed followed them from behind.

Making a little headway, they spotted five kobolds that were camping around a bonfire, cooking something. Surprised by the sudden appearance of the troops, the kobolds sprang to their feet.

“Grakht!”

“Enemy! Human attack!”

The kobolds are Level 20 midget-like monsters, below four feet in height, armed with coarse wooden shields and bronze swords.

“Kill! Kill!”

“Drive evil human away! They wreck shelter! Rise! Rise brave kobold warriors!”

When the kobolds rushed out, the soldiers got tense. New recruits, fresh out of boot camps, had not engaged in a battle before. Weed looked toward Sir Midvale, but the knight watched his men with indifferent eyes as if any casualty was acceptable.

‘Isn’t a knight supposed to care if his soldiers die or not? Perhaps he wants them to have firsthand combat experience on their own’ Weed thought.

The soldiers quickly formed a linear formation and charged against the wave of kobolds. A couple of kobolds flung stones with slingshots, but the projectiles barely troubled the troops. Outnumbering the enemy and better equipped, the soldiers gained supremacy over the kobolds with few casualties. Every time a kobold fell, a small piece of metal dropped on the ground.

“Buren, Becker, gather the spoils.”

The two soldiers whose names were called out by Sir Midvale began gathering the metal pieces. They were copper or poorly smelted iron of little value, yet sufficient for farming tools.

One of the reasons why the kingdom operated such a punitive force, other than to train new recruits and restore security to the outskirts was to collect war booty, a creative injection to the budget.

“I need to move in at some point…” Weed said to himself.

On the next battle, he took out the Bow of Theo Grande and aimed at a kobold’s neck.

‘Hold your breath, steady your hands and aim at the target.’

*Swish*

Weed’s high agility and handicraft skill guided his arrows precisely to the targeted kobolds.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

When Weed slew three kobolds, a level-up message window popped up. Those kobolds at a level higher than twenty gave enormous EXPs to Weed who was only at level thirteen.

Every kobold shot by his arrow immediately fell because as he picked those who were nearly drained of life.

Cleverly, Weed sniped at easy game from behind while the soldiers were risking their lives in the front line.

It was a selfish and secure tactic. An arsonist torching a house is more of a saint than the neighbor plundering jewelry and china from the burning house, isn’t he?

What Weed was doing was obviously very wicked, taking full advantage of brothers-in-arms bleeding and sweating hard to fight the monsters. A good man would not create such exploitation.

On the other hand, Weed was also very concerned that this tactic could backfire once the soldiers began to notice it and criticize him. Imagine how duped they would feel if a kobold short of a final strike dropped dead because of an arrow from out of nowhere.

Weed only shot kobolds who were running away in a desperate attempt to survive, or when a soldier was helplessly surrounded by two or three kobolds.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

Each time a kobold was taken down, Weed smiled gleefully. While the other soldiers were fighting hard in the battles, all he needed to do was to shoot arrows blindly from a safe place. What else was easier than that?

His level was skyrocketing as it was just as fast as the stock price of Google. Weed’s scheme to buy the bow right before the quest paid off.

On the way deeper into the lair, they found a wide, open place. Sir Midvale and his men circled around it, slaying kobolds as they were detected, and then returned to the place.

“Take a rest and prepare lunch,” Sir Midvale ordered.

“Yes, sir.” Buren and Becker rustled to take out large pots and light a fire.

As the youngest in the party, they were made to do chores. Weed walked to them and picked up a knife.

“I’ll help you,”

Weed said, smiling sheepishly.

“Oh, no need,”

Becker said.

“Well, I like to cook. I am still an amateur, but wouldn’t it be nice if I serve you brave warriors who are devoting your swords and shields for Rosenheim?”

“It is very kind of you, Weed-nim.”

Weed spontaneously won favor among the soldiers. A man who volunteers to do manual labor on a journey is always highly welcomed. For one thing, Becker and Buren’s attitude toward Weed changed. They couldn’t help but like he who picks up the knife and slices beef.

Of course, he had his own agenda, and it had nothing to do with universal benevolence or whatever. Improve his Cooking skill.

Weed sliced and threw beef in the pot, added vegetables and flavors to make a stew. The ingredients that were needed to serve 32 men were quite a lot. Weed was aware that cooking plenty of food was the short cut to improve his cooking skill as fast as possible.

*Ting*

Level Up: Cooking (Beginner Lv: 2 | 0%):

Enhances the taste of meals.

Increases speed of recovery of stamina when served.

Increase life when served. (+5% LIFE)

Level Up: Handicraft (Beginner Lv: 7 | 0%):

Enhances your craft skills in every field

Two message windows emerged almost together. Weed’s cooking skill rose while the Handicraft skill that had needed a few experience points for a level up ascended to seven. Two birds with one stone, indeed.

Weed tasted a spoonful of the stew— the privilege of being a chef.

“Excellent.”

Comparing this stew to cheap rye bread that said in any grocery store was an insult. It wasn’t as good as the pork barbecue that he had eaten the other day, but satisfying for his first attempt at catering thanks to his high handicraft skill that compensated the low Cooking skill.

“Everyone! Lunch is ready! Please help yourself.”

The soldiers who felt hungry because of the relentless battles were served a bowl of stew each, which they ate greedily.

“Oh, it’s delicious!”

“I can’t believe a meal could taste so good outdoors!”

“Somehow, I think he’s a better cook than my wife.”

They all gave the thumbs up to Weed. Their reaction told him that they wanted him to keep on cooking for them.

He filled empty bowls with beef stew continuously when asked, and in doing so, his stomach, too.

The soldiers emptied the pot, and when the lunch break was over, Sir Midvale came over to Weed. He asked cordially,

“Weed-nim, would you care to keep serving my men?”

Apparently, even a brave knight valued good cooking. Though, it was more likely that as a revered noble, he was too accustomed to fine meals that he could accept nothing less.

“Yes, sir. I will take care of meals.”

And so, Weed was named the official chef for the punitive force.

He found no reason to decline Sir Midvale’s request, as he could upgrade the cooking skill by preparing thirty-two servings of stew three times a day. Furthermore, he wasn’t confined to the field of cooking.

“Weapons and armors, I can fix them! Bring me anything damaged or destroyed if you have them.”

“Really?”

“Can you really repair my sword?”

“My buckler’s half damaged, low in durability…”

“Just show me what you’ve got. Repair!”

Weed used the repair skill to repair weapons and gear that some soldiers brought to him. It would cost a fortune to have a blacksmith repair damaged equipment back in town. If they were left with low durability, they could suddenly break in the middle of a battle.

“Thank you, Weed-nim!”

Weed was hailed as a savior by the troops. He could upgrade his handicraft and repair skills, and earned trust from soldiers as a bonus.

Sir Midvale, who had been skeptical of his friend’s recommendation to bring Weed along on the mission, was now more than satisfied with his role.

“You’re the man, Weed-nim!”

“Not at all, sir.”

Weed blended in with the rest of the troops.

Who knows what inconveniences they would have to suffered without him. They would have had to return to a nearby village from time to time when they needed to have broken or edge-nicked weapons fixed, and the meals would have been revolted to their stomachs.

Rarely obtained magical items would have needed identification scrolls, which cost several gold coins for each. Instead, Weed could identify them right on the spot with his identification skill.

For the soldiers, it would be torture to go back to the tasteless gruel that Buren and Becker used to claim was beef stew, especially after they enjoyed Weed’s version.

“We’re not cooks in the first place!” Buren and Becker cried in unison.

In this way, the soldiers and Weed formed an unimaginable relationship.

*Swish*

Whenever an arrow flew from Weed, a kobold turned grey.

The kobolds are considered relatively weaker monsters. They know how to use tools, but the class of their tools is crude, as though they were made by children. They basically relied on numbers in a battle.

“Kiyoyo!” A platoon of nine kobolds charged at once.

‘Come on! My precious EXP points!’

A big grin forming on his face, Weed greeted the kobolds with silent cheers. He shot arrows arbitrarily, collecting easy EXPs. Defense was taken care of by the soldiers, anyway. All he needed to do was shoot as many arrows as possible.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

New Skill: Archery

This was level-up madness!

Weed had also learned archery, a skill that was commonly exclusive to the archer class. It was hardly surprising, considering that he had done nothing but shoot arrows as he never swung a sword, even once, in the battles.

Nevertheless, the soldiers were not jealous of him in the least. After the battles, Weed was the busiest one there. He cooked meals, repaired weapons and gear and tended the wounded.

Sir Midvale had a few healing potions for emergencies, but the soldiers in the punitive force could not afford such costly medicines. Weed rubbed herbs and rolled gauze on wounds with his handicraft skill.

*Ting*

New Skill: Bandage

Enables you to stop bleeding and can increase health of the wounded when tended.

The maximum number of skills that a user can learn when his class is undecided is ten.

Weed’s bandage skill, was affected by the high handicraft skill, and thus had impressive effects. As he was busy caring for thirty patients every day, the skill upgraded fiercely.

The troops roamed on the first and second floor, slaying kobolds, for a week.

Users were occasionally spotted watching Weed with envious eyes as he was privileged to join a NPC punitive force and hunt monsters alongside them.

The week of slaughtering kobolds upgraded his level to twenty-six. The repair skill hit level three, and the cooking skill, now level four, earned him a special option to increase 50 HP for those who were served with his meals until the satisfaction factor went down.

Still, he had a headache.

“Open Quest Information Window”

Quest: Search and Destroy Operation in the Lair of Litvart [II]

There are a hundred monsters inhabiting the Lair of Litvart. Kill each and every one of them at least once, and prove yourself worthy of acquiring a honorable class. The completion of this quest will open a right path for your destiny.

Difficulty: Unknown

Quest requirement:

Defeat all of the monsters in the hidden section within the Litvart Lair.

Number of monsters left: 100

Regarding the quest that Counselor Rodriguez had, the number of monster that needed to be kill has not decreased at all though Weed had already knocked down hundreds of kobolds.

After a week of warming up on the kobolds, the troops headed to the third floor of the lair— the goblins’ territory.

While hunting kobolds had been originally intended to give the new recruits firsthand combat experience, confronting goblins posed a grave threat to their life.

The level of the kobolds were generally in their twenties. The kobold rascals are level twenty-three, and the relatively stronger kobold warriors twenty-eight, but untitled kobolds were at level twenty.

On the other hand, the goblins are level fifty or above. Their weapons and gear surpass what kobolds are equipped with in attack power and in defense. The combat strength of the goblins is five to six times that of the kobolds.

“Watch out now. When you find yourself in danger, retreat immediately.”

“Yes, Commander!”

The soldiers could not hide their excitement and tension. Their levels ranged from twenty-three to twenty-five from hunting kobolds, but their confidence ebbed at the thought of facing an unknown enemy whose level was generally twice theirs. The only relief was that goblins gathered in lesser numbers than kobolds.

“Whew…”

Weed let out an exasperated breath. His stomach curdled at the thought that if the troops fought goblins at that moment, they would surely suffer inevitable casualties.

‘One third? Or perhaps more? I hope we won’t get annihilated.’

Had Weed been in charge of the troops, he would have taken time to have his men build more experience and level up higher before he led them to the threshold of the goblins, not to mention that he would have taught them how to fight goblins efficiently.

But the command of the punitive force primarily belonged to Sir Midvale. Weed was left with two options. Either he followed them as before, only to sit back and watch them die helplessly, or he give up the quest and hunt more kobolds on his own until he leveled up enough to deal with the goblins. The second option, which would penalize him tremendously, was out of the question.

In fact, the reason Weed was so concerned about the welfare of the soldiers was more of a practical need that he didn’t want to see them die in vain when he worked so hard to build a friendship with them.

“They are coming. Get ready—!” Even before Sir Midvale finished his words, a few goblins dashed out of a cave.

“Kigggg!”

“Human, human!”

“They die!”

There were five goblins. The total number of soldiers outnumbered them 6:1. Weed planned to shoot an arrow at the goblins to take the initiative and to seek another chance afterward— undoubtedly, a goblin yielded a tremendous amount of EXPs, and he was dying to get one.

However, the soldiers were frozen stiff. They stood motionless as if nailed to the ground where they were standing. And fighting spirit radiated from the goblins! The soldiers cowered at the sight of an enemy who was level fifty. Their swords dropped downward, the bucklers trembled unmistakably.

‘Idiots…’Weed clicked his tongue.

The goblins were not easy to defeat even if the soldiers stood up to fight fearlessly, and now they were already frozen before the battle began. This would lead to a calamity.

Weed shot a glance at Sir Midvale, who was standing beside him. Obviously, the knight wasn’t in the mood to motivate his men.

‘The weak deserve to die.’

The code of chivalry developed in Rosenheim kingdom was cold-blooded. Weed stepped forward. He flung his bow on his back and held the iron sword.

‘I have faith in friendship I’ve worked so hard to build,’he said to himself.

Then, he did something that was unimaginable to the other soldiers who remembered what he had done in the previous battles. Weed shouted a war cry and charged toward the goblins!

“Yatz!”

*Sniggers*

Weed’s sword was deflected so easily, instilling a sense of futility in him.

He could make up for a gap between his level and the goblins’ with his inflated stats, but the shorter reach of his sword was critical. The sword wasn’t effective on the goblins that were armed with longer spears.

‘I’m not wearing any defensive gear. If they hit me, I’m dead.’

The goblins blocked Weed’s sword, and almost at the same time, they thrust their spears toward him. He crouched to dodge them. It needed a combination of his amazing reflexes and quick wits to save his life.

He had no intention of fighting the goblins seriously, so his subsequent attacks were half-hearted.

“Die, human!”

“Your sword sucks!”

With five spears, the goblins attacked at random places that were directed by raw instinct.

As long as Weed didn’t get close within the reach of his sword, he was free of the risk of being skewered by their spears.

Still, he pretended to be in peril, dodging the spears by inches. To the eyes of the soldiers, the scene looked like a hopeless struggle of the weak.

Even though it had been long since Weed’s level transcended theirs, their view of his role was fixed on a handyman working manual labor, such as repairs, cooking and first aid. That Weed was fighting the goblins! The eyes of the soldiers began to flicker with confidence.

After a couple more exchanges, Weed retreated a few steps and then roared in a thunder-like voice,

“Look at them! These goblins are weaker than they appear! Look at us! We outnumber them! You are not alone; we have each other! Our comrades shoulder to shoulder are watching our backs!”

“Hoo-hah!” The soldiers roared as they regained their morale once more.

“It’s a shame on us if we hide behind Weed’s back like mice!”

“Get up—fight!” They charged directly at the goblins.

Weed quickly sensed a forthcoming melee and pulled himself from the battle.

“These bastards are only using spears. If we fight within the reach of spears, it will only cause us more damage. Use your shields. Hold yours bucklers up, marched forward, narrow the gap in between, and prevent them from thrusting their spears freely.”

“Aye!”

“I will follow your command!” some yelled.

Weed gave timely advice in a cordial manner.

Since friendship between them hit maximum, his command was directly taken on board by the soldiers.

They pushed back the goblins by force. Two thirds of them held their bucklers at the front, the rest grabbed the swords.

As the first two lines charged behind the bucklers, the spears that were thrust by the goblins bounced off, astonishing the brainless enemy. Once the gap was narrowed, the sword line began to swing their swords.

*Ting*

Charisma has risen by 3 points (+3 CHR)

For Weed, who had been resting idly, had his charisma increased by three points. The charisma stat acts over NPC troops, and makes it easier to tame pets or hire mercenaries.

As the soldiers who were motivated by Weed’s speech got into action, his leadership was recognized.

*Slash*

The goblins, in spite of their much higher level, could not defeat the troops, who outnumbered them six-fold.

Their coordinated offense turned one goblin after another into a gray flash.

These Roman legion tactics would have been ineffective when it comes to a battle between armies of equal number of soldiers, but an army of thirty soldiers with bucklers on, charging from four directions, devastated the goblins, which were armed with long spears.

Occasional arrows shot by Weed after he sheltered behind the troops distracted the goblins further.

‘Five goblins! One of them is mine!’

Weed observed the battle scene, and when a goblin was near death, he shot an arrow precisely at the goblin’s neck.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

Since Weed had reached level twenty-six, kobolds had not yielded as much EXPs as before. It was still a lot whichever way you looked at it, but was overall too low for Weed.

A goblin belonged to a different dimension than a kobold. When Weed had killed the goblin, it alone filled thirty-seven percent that remained for the next level, at twenty-seven, and took extra ten percent for change.

‘At level fifty, goblins give much better EXP than kobolds.’

Weed was tempted to kiss the goblin’s ass. Only God knows what he would have done if the soldiers were not around him though. It would be difficult to find a hunting ground better than this.

“We won!” the men cheered.

The soldiers exclaimed in triumph, throwing swords in the air. They were bolstered in confidence that they had successfully defeated the first goblins.

“Goblins are no match for us!”

“No, we won easily because we followed Weed’s command.”

“He has the gift of a leader.”

“He’s excellent in measuring the enemy’s strength.”

“Under his command, our chances of survival will be high.”

When the battle was over, the soldiers complimented Weed, patting his back.

The goddess of fortune was smiling on him! Weed, however, drifted his gaze to Sir Midvale cautiously.

If the knight was offended that his command was violated by a mere foreigner, he had every right to execute Weed without trial, though Weed assured himself that his friendship with the knight would prevent the worst in that case.

Sir Midvale looked at the corpse of a goblin, deep in thought for a moment, and then said to Weed,

“You are a good soldier, Weed-nim. I can see great talent in you. How about taking the path of royal guard?”

“A royal guard?”

“You will become an officer in the honorable army of Rosenheim kingdom. Your starting position will be a Denarion.”

*Ting*

You have received a job offer!

If you accept it, you will take a military position of Denarion in the Rosenheim army. You will command ten foot soldiers. You are entitled to receive regular training, and a monthly income of fifty silvers. Will you accept this job offer?

Upon the completion of the regular training, a few basic sword techniques and a quantity of military equipment such as swords and shields are given. Certainly, they are not the sharpest tools in town—an iron sword, or similar, and heavy armor with only defense options.

Weed shook his head because, according to his blueprint, it was too early to settle down in a specific career.

“I am honored you have such a high opinion of me, sir. But I cannot take it. A royal guard is undoubtedly what I aspire to be, but I want to devote myself to wandering freely to help the poor and the weak, and to destroy evil monsters in their lairs for the time being. A wanderer’s blood flows in me, Sir Midvale.”

“Well, so be it. If you ever change your mind, let me know. For now, take command of my men.”

“Can I really do that?”

“It is my duty, but it seems my men follow you, and learn a lot from you. I will watch from behind to see how far your leadership can lead them.”

Sir Midvale transferred the command of the punitive force to Weed.

For now, the soldiers were obliged to obey him at least in this lair. Of course, he did not expect loyalty that could compel them to jump into a pit of flames from a single word.

Weed’s charisma was too low, so he counted on his friendship with the soldiers. Still, he was thrilled at his new assignment.

‘Sweet! I’ll make the best out of this situation,’he said to himself.

Weed swiftly packed the bow, took out the sword and held it up. It was a demonstration of his newly-acquired position. It would have been less impressive to hold the bow, reminding his troops of his past behavior in battles that could not strike them as honorable.

“Listen, soldiers! My name is Weed, and as of now, I take over the command of you. I ask you to follow my orders dutifully.”

“Yes, Commander!”

“My foremost objective is to defeat the lair without any casualties. Do your best, and not a single drop of blood will shed in vain.”

“Yes, Commander!”

Since Weed took over the command from Sir Midvale, the attitude of his troops toward him had changed drastically.

“Buren, Becker.”

“Yes, Commander!”

“You are scouts now. Stay ahead of the army, and look out for enemy in the areas. Even when we are engaged in battle, you must look out for any approaching enemy.”

“Yes, Commander!”

Weed marched his troops with the two scouts leading them. Soon, Buren ran back to him, panting.

“Commander.”

“Speak.”

“Buren reporting, sir! Seven goblins at twelve o’clock. Two female goblins and five goblin raiders.”

Goblin raiders were, according to Weed’s private database, level 58 monsters.

“You did a good job, Buren. Everyone, halt!”

Weed ordered his troops to stay put in an open clearing, and set up a few traps. Then, he went alone to the location where the goblins had been spotted.

As Buren reported, the seven goblins were resting there. Weed took out his bow and shot at the farthest goblin. Before the arrow hit the target, he turned and ran away.

*Swish*

“Kyah, human!” The goblins looked around, spotted Weed and chased after him in a rush.

Weed knew that, if he was surrounded by the seven goblins, he would not stand any chance. He just prayed his feet would not fail.

*Thump*

As Weed heard the goblins gaining on him from behind, he shivered.

Holding spears, the goblins were running with heavy strides.

‘God, they even sent a chill down my spine. This is what you call an awesome game. No, the coolest job for me,’he thought to himself.

Although in a dangerous spot, Weed’s thoughts were still positive. He was alone, but he would be safe once he reached the place his troops were hiding. Weed ran like his tail was on fire, and arrived at the clearing.

“Commander!”

Buren and Becker were the first faces he saw.

“Get ready for the battle. Goblins are incoming!”

While Weed’s call was echoing through the space, the seven goblins sprang out of the cave. In only a moment, their fate would be decided.

“Kugh?”

The goblins that were stupid and witless were mesmerized by the sudden appearance of the soldiers from the rocks they had been taking cover behind. Then they threw burning torches at the goblins.

“These bastards are trapped!”

“Push forward!”

“They have spears. Be careful of their spears! Anyone who is injured must step down, be it severe or not.”

Had Weed foreseen that he would be in charge of the troops, he would have bought more snares and traps. The best idea he could come up with when there were no other tools was to throw torches at the goblins.

Nonetheless, the soldiers were fighting very well. The thirty troops were a big machine driving the goblins into individual segments and destroying them one after the other. They were strengthened by an incalculable variable called morale.

Whether it comes to monsters or NPCs, morale is always a decisive factor in battles. The soldiers believed in their newly appointed leader, Weed. The Goblins on the other hand, were confused by the torches thrown at them, at the point the goblins realized that they had walked into a trap, they were already surrounded by many humans, so they lost their will to fight back.

“Cheating humans attack us!”

“Kieeekk! Run for life!”

“Who do you think will let you get away alive?”

While the soldiers pushed relentlessly towards their enemy, Weed’s eyes flashed.

“Surround them. Block the entrance of the cave!”

“Yes, Commander!”

“Let the wounded retreat and give first aid. The other soldiers with full life— focus on defense. Those who are healed should remain in the waiting position. You will get ready to join the battle when I give you an order.”

Under Weed’s command, the soldiers immobilized the goblins steadily, two of whom were felled by his arrows.

As he had put his life at risk, he justified that he deserved at least two goblins to make ends meet.

The high-level goblins held on for a considerable period in spite of low morale, but when Weed divided his troops into three groups, and ordered them to take turns exhausting the enemy, the monsters ended up as gray flashes.

The goblins left nine silvers, a steel shield and a bronze spear.

When Buren and Becker picked them up as ordered, Weed interfered.

“Everyone, listen! I am proud of your valor. I will divide spoils in a different manner than before.”

“…?”

“I will reward the soldier who fights the most goblins bravely. On one condition—he cannot  be severely injured enough to be disabled for the next battle. My priority is to bring you safely back home to your loving wives and families.”

“Yes, Commander!”

At Weed’s speech, the eyes of his troops filled with admiration.

*Ting*

Charisma has risen by 2 points (+2 CHR)

Weed would have swallowed all the items if he could, but he kept himself in checked. If his friendship with the soldiers dropped, his low charisma could not save him from the possibility of a mutiny, or even a hanging.

Sir Midvale’s presence further weighed on him to bury his unreasonable greed. Leading his troops, Weed systematically cleaned out the goblins on the third floor.

One day, however, Sir Midvale said with a grimace,

“Weed-nim, the pace of the mission is slow. I advise you to pick up the pace.”

“I beg your pardon, sir?”

“I borrowed these soldiers from other regiments. I am not allowed to keep them indefinitely. They must finish the quest within a month, and return to their original regiments.”

Weed had never heard of the deadline. It seemed that only the soldiers were bound to it. Still, he didn’t hasten the pace.

Against six or more goblins, he always drew them to the nearest open space by shooting one or two arrows where his troops overwhelmed them. In case of fewer than six goblins, he led them straight to fight with the enemy.

Weed avoided a battle unless the soldiers were fully healed to the last man, and he still made stews and repaired damaged weapons and gear to maintain their condition at their best.

* * *

When the punitive force succeeded in conquering the third floor of the lair, Weed hit level thirty-seven, and his men thirty-four. There it came. Time for the true hunting

“Charge!”

“Keep the formation! Charge!”

At Weed’s command, the soldiers moved like people who had gone berserk, surrendered to madness. To them, the goblins were as nothing.

“Yatz! Yatz!”

“Death on you! You damn ugly monsters!”

“You cheese-eating dirty frogs. I’ll clean you off the earth.”

The soldiers pushed on with their bucklers ahead. They were as foul-mouthed as ever, this was because Weed had taught them four-letter words from Rodriguez’s dictionary.

They sometimes roared menacingly, and charged under apparently impossible circumstances. Their swords became more dynamic, penetrating openings of the goblins that were armed with spears.

Weed still maintained the same formation for his troops, but ultimately they relied on their comrades, they were more reckless this way, but they were also faster. They had slain goblins repeatedly, leaving thousands of corpses behind them.

Adopting Weed’s tactics aggressively, his troops crushed the goblin defenses with thoroughly coordinated attacks.

Now it took just the blink of an eye to destroy a platoon of six goblins as an army of thirty veteran soldiers rushed on fiercely and devastated the enemy.

“Battle is won. Let me distribute items based on individual prowess. Hosram and Dale.”

“Yahoo!”

“Any soldier who needs a repair or a rest?”

“No, Commander!”

“None!”

“Then, let’s move on. Scout, report!”

Buren and Becker, in turn, scouted and reported the location and number of the nearest goblins.

“Becker reporting, Commander! Eight goblins have been located a hundred yard away at nine o’clock. One goblin alchemist, six goblin warriors, and one plain goblin.”

“Advance!”

The soldiers now ran at a comfortable pace, neither fast nor slow. They were lightly jogging, as they were recovering from battle fatigue and preparing for the next upcoming battle.

“Hu… humans!?”

“Enemy, kill them all!”

The goblins began to put up a little bit of resistance, but it was almost meaningless at this stage.

The soldiers, who were now veterans in combat and experience, already dominated the goblins in morale— add Weed’s arrows in, and it was a death sentence for the goblins.

His level in archery rose quickly as he was actively engaged in battle, and his arrows were no longer aimed only at dying goblins.

Weed now shot arrows in order to take the initiative, and when goblins were grouping to break through his men’s encircling net, he hindered their movement with warning shots. The main target though, was any goblin that threatened the life of one of his troops.

Imagine that when a goblin’s spear is flying at you, your leader’s arrow bores a hole in its head, then you will feel saved and thus more loyal to him, wouldn’t you? The same logic went for a number of soldiers whose life were saved by Weed at the last second.

His troops hunted goblins in the most efficient and time-saving way possible now. They conquered the fourth floor faster than the third one, and even kept the same pace on the fifth one where they encountered a score of goblins in each battle.

As the soldiers were mature in combat skills, giving them the status of veteran at a high level, they were capable of one-to-one combat with goblins.

Nevertheless, Weed stuck to the old tactics of focusing on defense and outnumbering goblins. Some of his men got cocky and suggested to him that they drop it and, instead, fight goblins fairly on a level playing field.

Weed stood his ground, though.

“Do not consider that filthy goblins deserve fair play! Have you ever heard of a knight asking for a duel with monsters? If there were one, he would be stupid to defend his honor against monsters. We are fighting them in order to restore peace and protect the people of Rosenheim. Keep in mind that if you hesitate to put an end to a goblin because you are trying to be ethical, your comrades will pay the consequences!”

Weed’s charisma controlled his small force of thirty men.

One who fought a goblin alone was denied his share of recognition. He was later excused from the next battle. He was at first excited to stay out of danger, but soon realized that he had to sit back and watch his comrades leveling up.

This example taught everyone a lesson, so the troops went as far as stabbing goblins in the back if it became available. They were brainwashed beyond a doubt by Weed’s silver tongue, which was now teaching these hardened soldiers, Infantry Combat Tactics 101.

For less than a month, Weed led the punitive force to sweep over the Lair of Litvart. As a week was still left, they went back down to the third floor, and on the way back to the bottom, rooted out regenerated goblins.

Once a battle began, the soldiers spread in wings, formed an encircling formation and slew their foe within a few breaths. As soon as the battle was over, they advanced to the next one.

*Blitz*

Not one soldier died.

They finished the Search and Destroy Operation of The Lair of the Litvart quest with the overall levels of the troops reaching fifty-seven, to Weed’s sixty-two. Considering that the average level of Denarions in the Rosenheim Army was forty, what Weed had accomplished was terrific.

“Good job, Weed-nim. You have done a great service to us.”

Sir Midvale didn’t hide the fact that he marveled at Weed.

“If we had five more men of your courage and leadership, then Rosenheim kingdom wouldn’t ever be harassed by monsters. By the right of a royal knight, I hereby wish to appoint you Centurion. Would you accept my proposal, Weed-nim?”

*Ting*

You have received a job offer!

If you accept it, you will take a military position of centurion in the Rosenheim army. You will command one hundred foot soldiers. You are entitled to receive regular training, and a monthly income of three gold. Will you accept his job offer?

An officer in command of a hundred troops, a centurion is deemed to be a sub-knight who is qualified to embark on an annual trial of promotion to knighthood in the Red Order.

If it were other users, they would have accepted it willingly, but Weed wasn’t swayed.

“I’m glad to hear that, Sir Midvale, but this is more than I can accept.”

“Freya forbids it! Tell me if you want additional benefits, Weed-nim. I believe we can find common ground.”

“Your offer is… beyond my dearest wish. But all I want is peace and prosperity in Rosenheim Kingdom. As my heart leads me to travel to many places and to help the many of those in need, it still seems too early to settle down. If you have another mission to destroy monsters after the autumn harvests, or if Rosenheim is invaded, I will be the first one to run to you and offer my service to command courageous soldiers in the Rosenheim army.”

“Your spirit is well understood, Weed-nim. The door to the Royal Army will be always open to you.”

Sir Midvale withdrew his proposal with a content look.

“Now that we have finished the quest, I am leading them back to the Citadel. Will you join us?”

“I have something to be done here, sir.”

“May I inquire as to its nature?” Sir Midvale looked curious.

For the last four weeks, Weed had made thirty-two servings of stew three times a day. His experienced cooking skill delivered great food on time, and Sir Midvale was one of the beneficiaries who had fallen in love with it, forming a solid friendship with him.

“I must take care of a quest for the sake of Counselor Rodriguez.”

Weed had assumed that the annihilation of the goblins would meet the quest’s requirement, but it was a serious miscalculation on his part.

The numbers of monsters that he was supposed to destroy was still a hundred without any sign of decrease. Anyway, the number of goblins in the lair was hundreds on each floor, at a conservative estimate.

Rodriguez’s quest was to sweep away all the ‘monsters’ in the Lair of Litvart, and the kobolds and goblins were not possibly the target because as they greatly outnumbered a hundred.

“I see, Weed-nim. A quest by the Counselor… I understand. I was looking forward to returning to the Citadel with you, but it seems destiny directs us to part our ways here. Instead, I will lend you Arse.”

“Arse? Whose arse?”

“Have you already forgotten the name of the horse you rode here the other day?”

“Don’t tell me…”

Weed’s head suddenly felt thick and heavy. The colt that had kicked him with two rear legs and bit his hand! Now he remembered the colt’s name was Arse!

What a shameful name for a would-be stallion.

“The trip to the Citadel will cost you valuable time without a horse. Arse is at your service.”

“Thank you, but no thank you, sir. I don’t need any horse.”

“I am only returning your favor, Weed-nim. Please take it. Return it to the Royal Stable when you finish your quest.”

“…”

Sir Midvale turned as soon as he delivered what he wanted to say. His attitude implied that there was nothing else to hear, case closed. The knight meant well for Weed’s sake, but he wanted none of it. How in the world could he stand such a wild colt?

Weed absolutely hated this pain in the butt, but he had to accept it, or he would make the royal knight lose face once again.

“Commander, we’ll miss you!”

“We’re all going home alive, thanks to you Commander!”

“Please visit my place when you come to the Citadel.”

“I run an inn in the central avenue. You’re always welcome.”

“My family owns a restaurant. My wife will serve you a delicious meal, though it’s not as good as yours!”

The soldiers came up to Weed and said farewell.

As high-level veterans, they would probably be promoted upon their return, at least, to Denarions while one or two soldiers who score the best could look for a better position.

Weed shook the hand of every soldier who used to be his subordinate. His hand was warm, and its grip held on for a few seconds.

“Do you really have to leave?”

“I want to stay here with you, Commander, but I’m a proud soldier of Rosenheim Army. I must return to my regiment.”

“Commander, I will miss you!”

Weed’s eyes shone darkly with reluctance. What troubles he had gone through to train those soldiers! He was the first to have credit for transforming once new recruits at level twenty something into hardened veterans in combat skills. Now Weed felt as though he were being robbed of them by the kingdom.

“Everyone, safe trip!” Weed said.

“Godspeed, Commander.”

“Commander, you must stop by in my place later!”

After reluctant farewells with his former troops, Weed was left alone.

Chapter 8: The Fated Profession

As was his routine, Rodriguez was taking an afternoon walk. He enjoyed checking on his neighbors and deepening their misery.

“How are you, Hans?”

“Fine, Counselor.”

“What is the best fruit today?”

“This one. Please have some. Fresh strawberry, sire.”

“Thank you.”

Rodriguez’s steps were light. For one thing, he wasn’t pestering others who fell under his gaze that afternoon. He was elated by the recent publication of the latest book he had penned.

When he returned home, his manservant in care of the manor was waiting at the entrance to greet him. He spoke without reservation to the manservant whose dedication to his family lasted for decades.

“How was your walk, milord?”

“Excellent. Very excellent. These days are free of worries and trifles.”

“I’m glad to hear that, milord. By the way, do you mind if I ask you a question?”

“What is it, William?”

“This is about the young man who carved statues on the other side of the street, milord.”

“Oh, that kid!”

“Did he find what he was seeking?”

Rodriguez laughed evilly.

“It’d never be that easy.”

“Then…”

“Not a chance! He won’t even be able to find the place, and even if he does find it, against all odds… well… “

“…”

“Serves him right even if he gets the class!” Rodriguez burst into insane laughter.

* * *

The first thing that Weed did when he was alone was double-check his armor and inventory.

“Twenty-four gold and thirty silvers…”

Instead of receiving his share of the spoils that his men had collected from the slain kobolds and goblins, which were mostly crude weapons, equipment and pieces of metal, Weed had asked for hard money.

“The revenue’s not too bad, and…”

For the last month, Weed had advanced his skills by far. His cooking mastery hit level six, the repair skill four. The repair skill is so useful that some users are encouraged to pick it up, but the cooking skill is almost extinct, except for professional cooks.

Weed’s bandage skill, now level four, empowered him to tend a minor injury by rolling gauze twice. But the most progressive one among his stats was his level.

He felt like laughing.

*Sniff*

To Weed’s dismay, however, Arse whinnied unpleasantly. He had no choice but to take care of the colt thanks to the ’courtesy’ of Sir Midvale. The colt was good for nothing for now, but Weed was obliged to return it safely to the Royal Stable.

‘The Lair of Litvart. No other lair of the same name has been discovered so far. This is the place.’

The Counselor’s trick.

Assured that there was something behind it, Weed did his best to analyze the quest’s objective from different angles.

‘It must be hidden somewhere in the lair, somewhere no one has found yet – a secret chamber.’

Weed began working through from the first floor up to the fifth one.

For the adventuring classes, such as rangers and explorers, which are endowed with a multitude of observation-related stats and skills, it is easier to discover a concealed entrance.

But Weed could only stick to elementary means such as relying on his naked eyes and touching every suspicious area with his hands in order to look for the ‘secret chamber’.

There were at least twenty users on each floor in the Lair of Litvart. Hunting monsters, they commented about Weed, who was acting weird.

“What’s that guy doing?”

“Seems he’s looking for some entrance. Why else would he caress the stone wall so dearly?”

“Puhaha, what an idiot. The lair doesn’t have any secret passage.”

“This is the first lair found when Rosenheim was discovered months ago. Thousands of adventurers stormed here. He’s taking a gamble.”

“Just your typical creep.”

They openly laughed at Weed, because they had been jealous of him who was surfing on an easy wave in the lair with thirty NPC troops, it was no surprise that he was the center of jealousy and envy.

“Just in case…”

“Watch out. Don’t let him notice we’re behind him.”

Several users followed Weed quietly, envisioning that he might have overheard valuable information from the NPC soldiers during the mission. Or better, he might be carrying out a special quest. In that case, they even considered forcing Weed to share the quest.

In their eyes, this one lone freak was a low-level archer, lacking in melee combat skills; who had worked on household chores for the troops and sponged off them like a parasite.

After a week had passed without event, the troublemakers were exasperated by tracking Weed in vain; he was obsessed with exploring the lair inch by through inch, so they finally gave up and left.

“Nutcase!”

“BAH! I’m freaking mad. I’ve just wasted these last few days!”

Even after they left him alone, Weed continued. ‘There’s gotta be something.’

Many explorers had already finished mapping out the entire lair, and had already concluded that there was nothing left to find. This was exactly what Weed was told aswell. In fact, he had done occasional research while hunting down the kobolds and goblins, but failed to make any meaningful discovery. Still, Weed was convinced that he would stumble onto something someday.

‘Famous adventurers from all over the continent have already searched this place. So what? You’re wrong; and I’m right?’

The Lair of Litvart was a vast place. Wandering casually in the forlorn hope of uncovering a hidden place was a hope was as far as the distance between the Earth and Andromeda.

Even though the many of adventurers were better with their own observation skills, attitude and persistence could make difference.

Weed patiently touched the lair walls, looking for a clue.

*Sniff*

Arse watched Weed with contempt.

He had brought the horse into the lair because there was no one else who could, or would, look after it, but due to this, he was becoming very stressed out by the disobedient beast.

‘I need to teach him a lesson first.’Weed thought evilly.

Weed led Arse to a shelter of goblins on purpose—a goblin warrior and three goblin raiders. As soon as they saw Weed, they charged at him.

He stepped forward as if to protect the colt in front, and fought against the goblins, screaming:

“My god! I don’t want to die!”

The goblin warrior’s spear sailed toward Weed but only grazed him, drawing little blood from the flesh.

“If… if I am killed now, what will ever happen to my dearest Arse…”

The goblins kept on pounding on Weed.

“No! I shall stand here to protect Arse! Bring it on, you abominable monsters! You must pass over my dead body before you lay any of your filthy fingers on him!”

Weed played a brave knight protecting his weak companion at risk of his own death.

When he glanced back, however, he saw that the colt was yawning and playing with a pebble on the ground. Also, Weed noticed that this beast was ready to bolt in the direction of the Lair’s exit the moment the master fell dead.

“Damn you!” he swore at the colt.

Weed was embarrassed by this turn of events. Why make a fool of himself to win over a mere colt?!

*Slash*

Weed slew the pestering goblins with a single swing of his sword.

He was tempted to behead the beast altogether, but losing Sir Midvale’s trust was too big a risk.

*Sniff*

Arse gave Weed a contemptuous look as if to ask ‘why he had bled needlessly when he could finish them so easily?’

‘Damnit! I feel like a fool to after liking that. Ahhh… patience, patience.’Weed thought to himself

Weed went back to the exploration of the lair.

Three days later, on the tenth day of his private exploration to be precise, he found a cavity in a dark corner on the fourth floor where goblin raiders were regenerated. It was located ten yards deeper than the regenerating point. Even the most cautious ranger would have overlooked it. Below a large rock projecting outward, the cavity was shadowed, away from human eyes.

“Is there anyone there~?” Weed asked cautiously.

Looking around, Weed made sure that there was nobody else sneaking up on him. Those who had trailed him for a week were long gone, but excessive caution never hurt.

If this cavity turned out to be what Weed had been looking for, he would be the first man to discover it, and he didn’t want to share the credit with anyone else.

For the first explorer who discovers an unknown area, the rewards are immense. He earns fame, plus double EXPs and a higher rate of item provision for a whole week after the discovery. Weed crept into the cavity carefully. The gap was narrow enough to be mistaken for a crevasse between rocks, and the interior widened little by little on each step. He soon reached a passage where he could move comfortably. A humid, foul smell pricked his nose.

Tense, he got ready for a battle. He didn’t have any clue as to what was coming next, so he held the iron sword in the right hand with a death grip, and herb and bandages in the left one.

‘Bring it on!’

Weed walked slowly deeper into the cave.

Along the cave were several forks. He picked the left one and entered it, only to find a gigantic worm at a dead end.

“What the heck… what kind of monster is this!? I’ve never seen this sort of worm—!!!”

Before Weed could finish his words, the surroundings underwent a sudden change.

What he thought to be the blackish ground was, in truth, a floor of little bugs the size of pinkies.

*Squirm*

Like Moses breaking apart the Red Sea, the bugs scattered and then came back to attack Weed, crawling menacingly.

“What the!?— How dare you!” Weed swung the iron sword like a windmill.

Covered in disturbingly crunchy shells, the good news was that the little bugs were almost harmless with their low attack power, however, the queen-like worm bore offspring faster than he could exterminate them. Right now, he really missed his men in the punitive force.

“I’d ended this mess way earlier if I only had them here!” Weed muttered under his breath.

Suddenly, the queen bug spewed light green smoke fumes. Like a drop of black ink dispersed in transparent water, the fumes slowly spread in the cramped and enclosed space, eventually reaching where Weed was standing.

The moment he inhaled it—

*Ting*

You have been poisoned!

Your life is decreasing continuously.

Startled, Weed checked his life gauge.

*Gasp*

His life was decreasing by one point per second.

“Damn… I don’t have any antidote! If it keeps going…”

In desperation, Weed ignored the annoying little bugs, ran to the queen and struck it with the iron sword. On the first strike the queen worm’s hard carapace shell cracked, and yellow fluid slowly oozed out.

“If I’m going to die, I’m taking you with me!”

Weed neglected the bugs that were crawling up and biting him. Regardless whether they bit him or seconds passed by, he was dying anyway!

Torn between two choices, it was better to kill the queen and get the heck out of there. As if they sensed that their mother was dying, the little bugs crowded Weed aggressively, but his iron sword was persistent. The shell of the queen worm was so hard that, though the outer shell was partly cracked, she was alive and well. Meanwhile, Weed’s head was swimming dizzily.

‘I’m gonna die here. If only I had a combat skill… skill? Why didn’t I think of that!’

The skill that Weed had never been given a chance to use! He had a combat skill that sucked so much mana from him that he could not sustain it longer than a second. Whether it worked or not, the situation was hopeless enough.

“Sculpting Blade technique!” Weed’s iron sword blazed white. It temporarily overpowered the enemy’s defense.

*Crack*

Finally, the gigantic worm’s hard shell shattered into pieces.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

Weed skipped the message window and yelled,

“Open Quest Information Window”

Quest: Search and Destroy Operation in the Lair of Litvart [II]

There are a hundred monsters inhabiting the Lair of Litvart. Kill each and every one of them at least once, and prove yourself worthy of acquiring a honorable class. The completion of this quest will open a right path for your destiny.

Difficulty: Unknown

Quest requirement:

Defeat all of the monsters in the hidden section within the Litvart Lair.

Number of monsters left: 99

Though he was poisoned and dying, Weed smirked.

“I did it!”

Weed had finally found the answer for the class change. It was these damn worms in the cave. He had to kill the queens, not those little bugs.

“First thing first though, I need to cure myself of the poison…”

Chased by the little bugs, Weed left the cave in a hurry. When he saw they could not cross over the boundary of the cave, he began to walk slowly toward the ground level with the colt.

When a user is poisoned, their face darkens.

Weed avoided contact with other users to conceal that he was poisoned, and recharged his life a little by rubbing herbs on his body and stuffing himself with pre-cooked meals.

If he tried, he would surely find a party that had a priest. But he would rather die than ask for help. Was Weed too proud to bargain for his life?

Nonsense!

There were no poisoning monsters in the Lair of Litvart. Neither kobolds nor goblins had any knowledge of poisonous substances, let alone used them.

His so called ‘savior’ would probably want to know where Weed had been poisoned, and by whom or what— and would ask with deeply suspicious eyes. He would rather die than share with others the whereabouts of the secret chamber that he had found after a long time of painstaking searching and tribulation. Once he arrived at the exit above the ground, he jumped up onto the colt…

“Go to the nearest village Arse, quickly, or I’ll pass out and then die!”

*Sniff*

The stupid beast didn’t even budge an inch. It was acting as if it was taking some small amount of sadistic joy from the misfortune of it’s current master, or simply me to be more specifically. As such, Arse pretended to be deaf while he lazily scuffed his hooves in the soil while he continued to leisurely chew on some grass.

“If you’re going to be like that, then…”

The last dregs of Weed’s patience had finally ran out.

“You’ve left me without any other options.”

Weed took out the sculpting knife.

Arse looked terrified at the sight of that sharp object, but soon calmed down as if it knew Weed was only bluffing.

Instead of slashing at Arse, Weed cut his own forearm with the knife. Did he lose his sanity enough to become self-destructive when his life was already in jeopardy because of the poison gas?

“Hoho!”

Weed grinned treacherously, and although his vision was already blurring around the edges of his sight as a result of anemia, he set his devilish plan into motion. As quick as a viper, he clutched the colt’s jaws and forced them to open and then forced the colt to drink some of his blood.

“Look! Now that you’ve sipped some of my blood, you’re poisoned as well now. You need to take me to a village, or we’re both dead. Fortunately for me, I will be able to resurrect soon, you on the other hand, will never get a second chance at life, got it?”

With this bit of mutual motivation, the colt finally galloped to the village, and although its speed wasn’t any faster than before, they still arrived in time. Luckily, while he was teetering on the brink of death, upon arriving at the nearest village, Weed was quickly able to find a priest to cast a cure spell on him. After getting cured, he purchased herbs and antidotes worth twenty gold. Though his pockets were now empty of money, he had no remorse.

Weed quickly returned to the Lair of Litvart, and only after he was certain that nobody was watching him from the perimeter, did he entered the hidden section of the cave where the worms dwelled.

He even brought Arse in there. He was afraid that other users might steal it, well try to, and while the idea to get rid of it by someone else’s hands was more than tempting, he didn’t want to know what would happen if he failed to return the colt to the Royal Stable as was requested, so this took priority.

“Always stay behind me.”

Arse swayed its tail resignedly.

Weed began to slay only queen worms. The tiny little bugs gave as much EXPs appreciable to their size, and the way that they crawled out at him from everywhere made it costly to attack each of them. So with this in mind he only attacked the queens.

As no sword master could catch raindrops falling from the sky, Weed ignored the tiny bugs that covered the entire floor like a murky colored carpet.

“Sculpting Blade technique!”

The mysterious sword technique from Zahab.

It crushed the enemy’s shell with powers that directly disintegrated the nature of an object, regardless of resistance and defense. Sometimes, Weed encountered bigger queen worms and needed two or three strikes, between which he rested to refill mana.

He was poisoned and repeatedly attacked by the little bugs. With life decreasing rapidly, Weed always barely escaped; death had never been so close nor so often for him.

The more he slew queens in the cave, the more blankly dismayed he felt. Who would believe this was a quest for class change? Most users choose their primary class long before they hit level ten.

On the other hand, Weed was level sixty-two, and this cave was still a life-and-death challenge to him. He only wondered what kind of class required so much hassle.

“Open Quest Information Window”

Quest: Search and Destroy Operation in the Lair of Litvart [II]

There are a hundred monsters inhabiting the Lair of Litvart. Kill each and every one of them at least once, and prove yourself worthy of acquiring a honorable class. The completion of this quest will open a right path for your destiny.

Difficulty: Unknown

Quest requirement:

Defeat all of the monsters in the hidden section within the Litvart Lair.

Number of monsters left: 1

At the end of seven days of vicious and almost continuous battle, Weed had only one more to kill. The Queen of Queens! She was easily five times bigger than the other Queen Worms!

When Weed entered her throne room without any precaution, he was accorded a cordial reception of thick green fumes of poisonous gas that the Queen of Queens had retained just for him.

He would have let it hit him under other circumstances, but he jumped back under a vague hunch.

*Melt*

The little bugs that were touched by the fumes rotted in seconds and melted into tiny puddles on the cave floor.

“What awful poison!” Weed’s heart had skipped two beats.

The only way to stay away from the poisonous gas was using the bow from a distance. But his arrows could not penetrate the thick hardy shell of the Queen Worm. So his only option was to approach within reach of her poisonous gas.

The Queen Worm knew well of Weed’s current dilemma, and with a mouthful filled of poisonous gas, waited for him to get close so she could shower it all over him.

Like a rattlesnake waiting coiled for a chance to strike, the Queen Worm and Weed faced each other, motionless.

‘She can shoot thick fumes only once. If I can dodge the first one, the second one will be much lighter. So the initial shot will be decisive.’

Weed’s eyes glittered when he saw a treasure has stashed behind the queen worm.

‘I will never, ever give up here. If only I had someone who I could sacrifice to the poison gas… Ah… right, I think I’ve found the answer,’  Weed thought, as his eyes narrowed to slits and a wolfish smile spread on his lips.

At the end of his gaze lay dumb-eyed Arse.

*Punt*

Weed kicked the colt’s ass right away. Arse plunged forward instinctively, and the queen worm reflexively puffed out the poison gas toward it.

‘I’m sorry, Arse, but destiny’s got you. Life isn’t fair, and I’m afraid that this is the end of our relationship.’

Weed could not afford the luxury of watching the fate of the poor beast.

As soon as he made sure that the poisonous gas that had been stored in the Queen Worm’s mouth was fully launched, he rushed toward her.

“Sculpting Blade technique! Double dance!”

Weed swung the sword wildly until his mana ran out.

With the iron sword in the right hand, and the sculpting knife in the left, he tore the shell off the Queen Worm.

Left without any worthwhile combat skills, this was the best option for Weed. The queen worm struggled, but her gigantic size got in the way as he was too close to her.

*Moan*

She finally closed her beady eyes shut. Then, a key dropped from her body.

“This is it!”

Weed picked up the key, inserted it in the keyhole of the treasure box and turned it clockwise. What he found in the box a few volumes of books and a parchment scroll.

*Ting*

Item: The Successor to the Legendary Emperor [I]

I am Geihar Von Arpen, the first emperor of the Continent, the one who put an end to timeless divisions.

My final years of life have been far from fulfilling.

No one has recognized my distress, my superiority!

Why does no one understand my profession? Why does everyone look down upon my profession with disrespect?

Enslaved to their prejudices, the talented have refused to understand my goodwill and succeed me in my trade. Even with my children, this form of prejudice is true!

Those imbecilic and senseless bunch!

They do not deserve to be my successor!

So, I entrust my secret trade to you.

The Emperor Geihar was the first and only man to have ruled over a unified empire in the history of the Versailles Continent.

Unfortunately, after his death, the empire was divided once again, thus shaping the present map, but his achievements were recorded as legendary.

Weed was thrilled.

‘So, there were idiots even back then too! They should have known better. It’s an excellent opportunity… Who was the Emperor Geihar? He’s none other than the first man to conquer the entire continent with his own powers, and this is his class! It must be damn good, but they judged it superficially.’

*Ting*

Hidden Class!

If you accept it, you can use exclusive skills related to the nature of the class.

Do you want to convert now?

Yes | No

Weed yelled without hesitation, “Of course!”, and in that moment, his avatar was enveloped in light.

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Neutral

Level

68

Fame

250

Title

None

Profession

Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Health

3460

Mana

340

Strength

235 (+20)

Agility

200 (+20)

Vitality

89 (+20)

Wisdom

16 (+20)

Intelligence

24 (+20)

Endurance

129 (+20)

Fighting Spirit

97 (+20)

Luck

5 (+20)

Charisma

68 (+20)

Art

29 (+100)

Offense

170

Defense

30

Magic Resistance

Fire

0%

Water

0%

Earth

0%

Black Magic

0%

+20 points add to all stats (+20 ALL STATS)
+80 points added Art (+80 ART)
+30% increase to Stats on Moonlit Nights

Gained ability to equip and use class specific items

Gained ability to learn all craft skills to the stage of a Master

Crafting skills are optional and advanced skills are available

Grants extra options to items that are produced or refined

Increases Attack Power for the Sculpting Blade technique

Decreases Mana Consumption for the Sculpting Blade technique

Enables you to learn secret skills based on your level in Sculpture Mastery

Increases Fame rapidly by creating statues of extraordinary beauty or artistic value

Weed finally got the class that he had been fighting for, but when he saw the name of his new class, he almost collapsed in mortification.

“WHAT!? Damn it! Not a ‘Moonlight Sculptor!” he raged.

* * *

After all his blood and sweat, it all went back to Moonlight Sculptor.

It was actually ‘Legendary’ Moonlight Sculptor with a flattering prefix, but Weed didn’t give a damn about it. The cursed, poverty inducing profession, Moonlight Sculptor!

“Why… why me?” he moaned bitterly as clear tears gushed out of Weed’s eyes.

He smelt what was left of the poisonous gas that the queen worm had breathed out in her last struggle at the moment of death, but it wasn’t what prompted the floodgates in his eyes to break down.

He had no choice but to accept this God-forsaken class of ‘Moonlight Sculptor’.

“I should’ve chosen a common warrior class.”

Weed, who had just moments before laughed at the fools who had refused to comprehend the Emperor Geihar’s profession, now blamed the Emperor for duping him into converting to Moonlight Sculptor. He wasn’t at all convinced.

‘Why is life so hard on me?’

Weed was weeping in self-pity.

He had spent an entire week sitting down in the middle of the street to stimulate Rodriguez’s curiosity, and more than seven weeks in the Lair of Litvart to find this cavity and crush the disgusting Queen Worms living within. All that effort was wasted on converting to Moonlight Sculptor!

Weed wanted to cry his heart out.

Yet he had improved his handicraft skills and sculpture mastery, and earned massive revenue during his sit-in in front of Rodriguez’s manor; he had leveled up at a frightening pace in the lair – conveniently, all of this escaped him now.

Only the cold reality was left to him, now he was a Moonlight Sculptor, and it grieved him. He just wanted to scream and rage that it was so unfair.

After a long moment of crisis, though, Weed’s eyes finally regained some light in realizing what he had missed amid his flood of misery.

“It’s not as bad as it looks…”

He had thought that he hit the bottom, but as he calmed down, he was seeing the other side.

Warriors, rangers and priests are the top three classes, which means that they have been tried and proven better than the other classes.

For the warrior and ranger class, they are given a 50% bonus attack power when they’re armed with their weapon of choice according to their subclasses. The priest class can learn and cast holy spells that no other class but the paladin class can tap into.

This was why Weed’s overall damage with a sword was less than his counterpart the warriors class, and the ruled applied to his attack power with arrows that could not rival that of a full-time ranger.

Therefore, a hidden class, whose secrets no has yet figured out on their own through trial and error, heavily relies on the way they’re brought up. If they’re properly developed with a focus on the class’s merits and characteristics, it should come off well. If not, it will probably turn out to be mediocre, and no better than a common class if not worse.

Weed hastily turned his attention back to the scroll. There were still a few more paragraphs that he had yet to read:

*Ting*

Item: The Successor to the Legendary Emperor [II]

I love beautiful statues. The statues that are carved with the magnificent spirit of Kvasir have never forsaken me. As long as I love and trust them, they are loyal to me.

Who would believe this? That this lowly ‘Sculptor’ class became the cornerstone of my power, from a humble farmer in a country town to the man who united the Continent.

Listen well, my successor who walks in the path of a sculptor.

A very difficult path awaits you. The path that a hundred out of a hundred men shall give up and a nation of men will not fare any better.

However, my successor, I encourage you to stay the course in the face of the toughest challenges. Hardship brings a value of its own, and toughness produces a result of its own too.

Become the Grand Master of Sculpting!

You must learn the secrets of Sculpture Mastery which I failed to learn. It shall remain the wish of every man who has learned the sculptural art.

Therefore, I hereby entrust to you these small gifts.

Emperor Geihar, the conqueror of the earth, sea and the sky, had done so through the use of Sculpture Mastery.

After Weed had finished re-reading the scroll, he then checked on the other items within—three tablets and a book.

The effects of the tablets were not recorded anywhere but he knew what skill to use in this situation.

“Identify”

You failed to identify the item!

You failed to identify the item!

You failed to identify the item!

Item: A Medicine Tablet of the Emperor

This tablet is made from a variety of very rare herbs by an ancient emperor, to clear the mind when it is taken.

Effect:

Permanently increases Mana (+200 Mana)

After a series of failed attempts, Weed was finally able to identify one of the treasure items.

It was rare— no, more valuable than simply rare— this item increased the amount of mana permanently by two hundred points!

The tablet smelt of an indescribably comforting fragrance. Weed estimated the price for a single tablet to be no less than ten thousand gold.

Since the tablet permanently increased the maximum amount of mana, instead of simply recovering mana temporarily like mana potions did from the market, they were worth such an eye-popping price.

“Thank you so much. I admire your generosity, your Imperial Majesty.”

Weed put down the tablet and picked up the book next.

“Does it contain great skills? It should! I don’t think more bad fortune will strike me again after I suffered these setbacks. No, I cannot be that unlucky!”

This time again, Weed succeeded in figuring out the content of the book just when he was about to give up trying after scores of failure message windows.

“Identify”

Item: The Book of Secret Sword Techniques from the Imperial Family of Arpens

Emperor Geihar Von Arpen recorded the Flawless Sword Techniques on behalf of the Imperial Family’s perpetuity and prosperity.

This book is composed of five movements and one footstep.

All members of the Imperial Family were, by origin, knights. So the skills are generally restricted to the Knight class, but the Emperor Geihar Von Arpen considered his successor in Sculpture Mastery, so he refined the skill for a Sculptor to learn a weakened version of the skill.

Surprised, Weed almost dropped the book.

“This, this color is—”

The Book of Secret Sword Techniques was flashing in gold when it was identified.

It meant that the book was a rare skill book! Moreover, it was an A-grade sword technique book.

“You’re so generous, Your Imperial Majesty. Thank you for giving me an A-grade sword technique book!” Weed said.

Though, It was still a little disappointing that the skill book wasn’t a unique or S-grade one.

Still, it was questionable that Weed, now a sculptor, could learn such a high level of sword techniques even if he had found one.

S-grade sword techniques in general have a requirement for certain classes, mostly sword warriors or knights.

As Weed didn’t have many decent combat skills, this book was like raindrops in a drought.

The days of basic sword skill and archery! They would be gone now, and soon only a distant memory.

Weed put a hand on the book and shouted, “Learn!”

*Ting*

New Skill: Imperial Formless Sword Technique

The sword technique book, now done with, glowed white and burned to ashes.

“Skill Check: Formless Sword Technique”

Skill: Imperial Formless Sword Technique:

This skill is tailored for Sculptors by Emperor Geihar Von Arpen.

As the level in Sculpture Mastery rises, the Attack Power of the skill increases by 1%.

It is composed of five movements, one breathing technique and one footstep technique.

“Fufufu” Weed chuckled.

The corners of Weed’s mouth rose.

‘This is great!’

The Arpenian Empire used to rule over the entire Continent. It then collapsed only to be remembered in name only, but the sword technique that had once been exclusive within the Imperial Family was undoubtedly worth money.

But Weed was once again cast into despair when he read the descriptions of each movement in the skill info window.

“What in the world!” He let cried out.

The first movement, which consumed the least amount of mana of the five, required three hundred mana points.

Because his maximum mana was far too low for now, the secret sword technique was far beyond his reach, even after he swallowed the medicine Tablet of the Emperor.

Chapter 9: The City of Heaven

A pub. A place that is usually filled with hearty laughter and clamorous noises had been silent for the last few days all because of a single man, Volk.

He had a scarily massive body, but what was scarier was his face.

Considering that someone whose countenance could make even an Orc’s heart skip a few beats, had been drinking gloomily all day long, it was hardly surprising that the pub was drowned in silence.

Volk made a terrifying face while drinking.

‘I want to propose to her. But I need something special for her, if there is anything.’

Volk wanted to propose to a lady. His heart-breaking anguish wasn’t visible to others.

‘A gift for her. Right, I’ve heard of a sculptor in the Citadel of Serabourg. I will ask him to make something for me. If he makes something that pleases my heart, I will give him the most precious thing I have in return.’

With that kind of promise in mind, Volk left the pub stumbling.

* * *

“Whew, this place is still full of users here.”

Back in the capital of Rosenheim kingdom after seven weeks, Weed felt a headache coming on at the sight of an incalculable number of avatars.

It was a dizzy scene in which buyers and sellers were actively trading with one another, and new adventurers were looking for partners to join their adventure.

“Quickly, Arse! Let’s go to your home.”

Weed led the colt to the Royal Stable. It followed him obediently.

As luck would have it, the poor beast had just barely survived the poisonous gas from the Queen Worm.

As if it knew by instinct alone, that it had just missed imminent death more times than it deserved, the colt was willing to stay out of Weed’s way; the sooner it got home, the better.

There was a shabby stable outside the Royal Palace, and as soon as the chief horse trainer laid eyes on the colt, he grimaced.

“The good times are gone, now that this mouth-firing Arse is back. Heard of you from Lord Midvale. Are you returning this beast that shames his father, Weed-nim?” Lighthearted now that he’d finally left the colt in an empty lot with the trainer.

“You’ve had a good journey? I know that this here beast spells nothing but trouble!” the trainer said gruffly.

“I am fine. It’s over now.” he replied to the trainer.

“Lord Midvale has left a message for you. He wants you to visit him if you are still interested in the centurion job. He says it’s yours anytime.”

“Tell him I appreciate it.”

The chief horse trainer was polite to Weed who was virtually a stranger to him.

Assured once again that a man’s status depended on who his contacts were, and what he had done in his name, Weed left the Royal Stable and went to the Training Hall.

There, he met the instructor.

“Hmm. So that’s what happened to you…”

The instructor was very sorry that Weed was forced to convert to the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor class.

“It is my fault.”

Weed kept it short. He just dropped his head with a grim face.

“No. How can anyone in his right mind blame this on you? The counselor stepped over the line. Still, hang on to hope Weed-nim.” The instructor said, patting Weed’s shoulder.

“Yes, Instructor. You’re the one I can always rely on…” Weed said.

“Haha. Absolutely. Anyway, you have come back from a great journey and you’ve finished my quest.”

The instructor rewarded him with three gold and fifty points of public service to Rosenheim for the completion of The Clean-up Operation in the Lair of Litvart quest.

As public service is accumulated over time, it gives a user the upper hand in trades in the country in question, and if enough is collected, he or she can become qualified for government positions as well.

Unfortunately however, the instructor’s attitude toward him had changed slightly. He no longer considered Weed his kind as a colleague on the same path in swordsmanship.

It implied that the friendship between them, which Weed had worked so hard to build up, was crumbling a little.

After visiting the instructor, Weed stopped by at Rodriguez’s manor as his last visit. As always, the counselor was confined in his study.

“Haha. You really did finish the quest,” Rodriguez said with a genuine sound of surprise in his voice. “I had been wondering how you had fared because you had not appeared on my doorstep for in a long time.”

“Yes, Counselor.”

“Hmm… Anyway, as destiny directs it, I have an object for you.”

Rodriguez handed Weed a wooden statue that fitted in his palm. It was shaped like an imperial knight.

“What is this?” Weed asked.

“It is the legacy of Geihar von Arpen the Magnificent. My family used to serve the Imperial Family of the Arpenian Empire long ago. The blood, and the obligation accompanying it, has flowed in my family generations. I am the one to take the task for this generation. Now that I hand it to you, I am finally liberated from the reins of this duty,” Rodriguez said.

“But what is this statue for?” Weed had already received a wooden statue of a different shape when he carried out Zahab’s Moonlight Sculptor quest.

“I do not know the secret of this wooden statue, either,” Rodriguez said. “Myth has it that there have been five masters in sculptural art on the Continent. Of course, it is only an ancient myth, for they came and went like the wind. These Master craftsmen are known to leave their own crafts in their legacies, so I surmise that this statue is probably one of them. According to the myth, if you succeed in collecting all five of the statues, and solve the puzzle arising from them, the ultimate secret of sculptural art will appear.”

Still doubtful, Weed identified the wooden statue. Due to his low level in that skill, he succeeded in finding out the identity of the statute after only a couple of failed attempts.

*Ting*

Item: Wooden Statue

Durability: 1/1

This statute contains the Emperor Geihar Von Arpen’s skills.

Equipped:

Enables you to acquire a unique skill to give the breath of life to any statue.

Requirement:

Expert stage in Sculpture Mastery

When Weed identified the wooden statue left by Zahab, he also found an Sculpting Blade technique whose prerequisite was five or above skill level in sword mastery.

“A great secret is hidden in sculpture mastery,” Weed said.

“Since you’re now on the path in sculptural art, I wish you all the best in making it to ‘Grand Master’ in sculpture mastery. The world has never seen a Grand Master, but if there is ever one, he will be able to handle the fate of the Continent easily,” Rodriguez said. “It is true that I introduced you to this path out of malicious intent, but it is also a true tale that I have told you.”

Weed no longer resented Rodriguez. The past was the past, and a sudden interest in the craft had hit him.

‘The one who creates his own path.’ Weed thought.

Furthermore, Weed was told that if he ever made it to the top, the days of riches and power were waiting for him.

Rodriguez thought he had paid off the old score with Weed. At the sight of his sorry state after he wandered hungry and cold for seven weeks, the grudge was already gone in the counselor’s mind.

“I have another question, Counselor. Do cooks or blacksmiths have their own hidden path to becoming Grand Master?” Weed asked.

“I guess so. God is generous,” Rodriguez said. “Remember– not everyone on the path in the cooking skill sees and grabs an opportunity given.”

“Then…”

“There must be other Chosen Ones! They will see to it their own way. It is up to them if they have it or not.”

When Weed had heard all he wanted to hear, so he left the manor.

* * *

Darius could hear his heart pounding. He had never expected it to go this far when he had solved a series of trivial-looking quests.

The best luck, he had called it.

There were two men at the center of a power game in Rosenheim Kingdom— Duke Kanus and Count Albrook. Of the two, Duke Kanus, who is in charge of the military affairs, was more powerful.

The man in question was now lowering a snowy white sword toward him now.

“Darius-nim, I hereby bestow temporary knighthood of Rosenheim upon you in recognition of your dedicated services to the Royal Court. I order you to form a punitive force by the power of a knight and rescue the villagers at the frontier from their misery.”

“I am at your service, milord. You can count on me,” Darius said.

“Then, Sir Darius, I entrust this task to you,” Duke Kanus said.

Darius felt a slight touch of the blade on both shoulders in turn, then on one the head.

It might have been a dreadful sensation in times of war, but he was in the middle of an ordination ceremony of knighthood in the Royal Palace of Rosenheim. Moreover, the holder of the sword was Duke Kanus.

Rather than fearful, it was such a memorable moment for Darius that he almost let out a cry of excitement. Darius had to fight this spontaneous temptation to exclaim and roll over on the tapestry in spite of the solemn atmosphere. Suppressing a smirk, his face wrinkled into a grin.

‘Now I’m the commander of a punitive force’ Darius thought, and counted himself very, very lucky.

* * *

‘I’ve got to do something…’Weed thought as he made a serious face.

The nature of the sculptor class that he happened to stumble on was as follows:

As Weed’s main weapon was a sword, it was useful to compare him to a sword warrior.

The moment the class is decided, a sword warrior gains a 50% bonus on sword mastery. Of course, Weed could close the gap with his useful handicraft skill as compensation.

Thanks to the initially heightened stats, even a knight at the same level was no match for him. In the case of relatively lower levels, he was confident that he could win a duel against two sword warriors at the same level, supported by the Sculpting Blade technique and the Imperial Formless Sword Technique.

The Imperial Formless Sword Technique— Weed was surprised by its dominant power when he tried it.

This technique was something close to a cheat, not only doubling the speed, reflex and the power of destruction, but even tripling the recovery of mana. No wonder the Emperor Geihar selected it to leave to his successor.

However, the warriors and knights also have there own sword skills and breathing patterns. When they master a breathing pattern suitable to their own class, it has a great effect on them as well, even when the grade of sword techniques that they know is lower than Weed’s Imperial Formless Sword Technique.

It is the special privilege enjoyed by the knights and warriors, the two standard fighting classes that specialized in combat skills.

In other words, no matter whether Weed raised his handicraft skill and other stats zealously, or acquired more cheat-like skills, he would one day be caught up by his counterparts. Even now, Weed was only slightly ahead of them unless he used underhanded tactics.

Obviously, he would have been much weaker than an ordinary sword warrior without timely investment in the handicraft skill as well as the Imperial Formless Sword Technique, and additional stats that he had earned from the Training Hall trial.

‘But the sculptor class has a greater potential than appears. If not, the Emperor Geihar could not have conquered the Continent, and it would be hard to explain Zahab’s strength.’

* * *

The Citadel of Serabourg, the capital of Rosenheim Kingdom.

In front of the Central Fountain where the thriving downtown was located, a line of avatars was watching various statues on display. Weed had opened a second stall to work on his skill level in sculpture mastery.

“Hello. How much is this?” a girl asked.

“Five silvers,” Weed said.

“Oh my, it’s too expensive, can you please make a little discount for me? Please~? I’ll buy two pieces.”

The cute girl beamed at Weed, trying to persuade him, but he was merciless. Especially when it came to money, he treated men and women alike.

“With due respect, young lady, a discount is like an insult to my artworks. Do you think I discounted my passion in art, and my devotion to the work in particular, when I carved this statue? An artwork has to bear a fair price that reflects its true value, which will grow within your mind as time passes,” Weed said.

The girl was moved by his words. Now that she thought about it, It was silly that she had tried to bargain for artwork that held the sculptor’s heart. Seized with remorse, she took some shiny silver coins out of her pocket.

“I’m so sorry. Here are ten silvers,” the girl said.

“Thank you, young lady.” Weed grinned demurely, handing over two statues. It was a winner’s smile, proud of himself that he had sold the statues as they were originally priced.

As a sculptor with the bold description ‘Legendary Moonlight,’ which he had resisted but converted to in the end, he carved beautiful statues even by the standard of Pratique Des Arts, Peinture, Sculpture, Gravure.

His current skill level in sculpture mastery was four. Since Weed converted to Moonlight Sculptor, the effects of his sculpture mastery had been doubled, not to mention that he owned one of the top items that practically amounted to a cheat, Zahab’s sculpting knife.

Weed’s lineup was yet limited to small-size statues made of plain materials by his immature expertise in sculpture mastery. Their simplicity and low price rather appealed to a broader spectrum of customers.

Some of his fans even lined up to pick up the artworks that he was working on there and then.

Foxes and rabbits, which cost less than ten coppers for their base materials, were the most popular items in his stall that sold at a lightning speed, though they were priced at five silvers.

Weed believed that his enterprise was an honest business. He wasn’t forcing anyone to buy his statues. What could he do about people flocking to get hold of them for the stated price?

Weed moved the sculpting knife faster. He was raising his expertise rating in sculpture mastery while he was making money.

Like sculpture mastery; cooking, repair and other craft skills are upgraded from the basic ‘beginner’ stage to ‘intermediate’ when they reach skill level ten, it then falls back to level one after the rank upgrade.

For the cooking skill, the intermediate upgrade creates solid options of enhancing life and mana benefits for hand-made meals. For the repair skill, the intermediate stage introduces a new tech tree for producing and refining weapons and gear.

That isn’t the end of it.

When the skill level reaches ten once again, thus passing the intermediate stage onto the ‘expert’ and then ascends to become a full-fledged master of their trade. Master are those who has proven worthy of themselves by completing all the necessary steps.

A master in any field of skills, combat or craft, is recognized and respected based solely on the merits of his expertise in the skill, but overall craft skills, such as sculptural art and cooking skill, are very limited in prospect.

Weed’s priority at this point was upgrading his basic handicraft skill to the intermediate stage.

The skill level had increase to nine while he was dedicated to repairing damage equipment and serving meals to the troops in the Lair of Litvart. Only one more level was need and then the handicraft skill would reach the intermediate stage.

The Intermediate handicraft skill enhances sword mastery and archery by increasing the overall attack power by 30%.

This skill is mandatory for a sculptor whose attack power is substandard at best, which is penalized by the character of his class.

‘The handicraft skill is quite handy.’

As the handicraft skill rises, all the craft skills become more efficient. The expert handicraft skill can lift guild restrictions for a user into a wider field of craft skills, such as blacksmith work and alchemy.

The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor class already gave a free pass to all the craft skills related to other professions, but Weed was aware that a higher handicraft skill would make it easier and faster to acquire and develop them all.

Perhaps the crafters gradually intersect with one another to the point where they converge on the same path to supremacy of a Grand Master.

Actually, it is an understatement that the crafters would become extinct without the existence of the handicraft skill. They cannot catch up with combat specialists unless they beef up their pathetic combat abilities.

‘Now I’ve finished a hundred statues!’

Even though Weed was carving statues relentlessly, his skill level in sculpture mastery was stuck at level 4 at 98%. In contrary to the fast-growing handicraft skill, the growth of his sculpture mastery was slowing down.

‘I hope it’ll level up after fifty more statues.’

In that moment, female customers suddenly parted in alarm, and through a corridor between them appeared a tall man with terrorizing looks who was walking toward Weed.

The man seemed so full of a deadly aura that even Weed felt his spine freeze.

‘What have I done wrong to turn that thug against me?’ Weed asked himself under the breath.

The man looked around with slit eyes.

*Scream*

“He saw me~!” the girls shrieked.

The man walked toward Weed slowly, and then bowed down miserably like a bedraggled mouse.

“I’d like to ask you for a favor,” the man said.

“Shoot” –Wrong choice of a word.

“I’m here to buy a statue. But I couldn’t find anything I wanted.” The man said kneeling down before Weed. “Can you make a statue the way I order? No, I beg you, please. You should be able to make a statue for me, so I can propose to the lady.”

Weed tried to get the man to his feet and hear him out. The man’s name was Volk.

Volk had fallen in love with a woman. The primary motive for starting the online game was to protect her by her side. For the sake of this person, who was a priestess, he had selected the paladin knight class for his avatar.

During a year of numerous missions and battles, she had not died once owing to his devotion and sacrifice. He had also enjoyed his second life that was accompanied by blessing and healing from her. The bond between them had deepened as months went by, and he was so happy every time he saw her.

Now was the time for him to propose a marriage to her.

“I want to give her something she’d never forget. Not a flower that withers someday. I want you to carve the flowers that shall never wither—to engrave my heart in them! Please!” Volk begged on his knees.

His face was intimidating, but his heart wasn’t.

How many men would kneel down before a total stranger for the sake of such an unconditional love cherished in the heart?

Sighing deeply, Weed looked around. Many women looked touched. Even he, blinded by money, could sense Volk’s grief.

* * *

‘I love her. I love her, but why doesn’t she see it in me?’

‘I want to speak with my heart.’

‘I tried to say in my heart a thousand times, I LOVE YOU!’

‘But why can’t I say the same words to her?’

* * *

As a man, Weed’s sympathies were with Volk. Weed held the paladin’s hand and helped him rise to his feet.

“For such a favor…” Weed said politely, “You don’t need to kneel down, Volk-nim. In your own right, you can ask for it on your feet. I am weak to that kind of request. I’ll gladly accept your commision.”

Volk shed tears at these words.

“Thank you so much, Weed-nim!”

“Not at all. So, what kind of flowers do you want?”

“Please make seven sunflowers. It will embody my heart, which has followed her, the sunshine of my life, for seven years.”

“I see. Can you wait a moment?”

Weed studied the wood stock beside him and chose the best quality timber— Elvenwood.

It was a very thick, hard wood that was known to grow only in a warmer climate in the south. It was still in one piece, the size of a small rock, which was yet to be chopped to smaller blocks conforming to statues.

‘I must do my best to deliver it this time.’

Weed could carve a fox or rabbit with his eyes closed now, but flowers seemed like a challenge.

‘If I carve each flower separately, it will be a simple matter, but how can I put them together later? Seven sunflowers and a hundred roses as my private gift for this couple. I’d better carve a bouquet of all the flowers at once.’

Weed pictured the overall shape of the final work, and began to smooth the Elvenwood very slowly.

Volk and other girls had no idea what Weed was up to. They could not understand why he chose such a large piece of wood to carve only seven sunflowers. In any case, as the Elvenwood was being trimmed off, a shape was surfacing little by little.

The first flowers were relatively large sunflowers, soon followed by roses encircling them.

As Weed’s magic hands danced, a beautiful bouquet revealed itself from top to bottom.

“Wow!”

“It’s amazing…”

Customers in waiting soon turned into spectators in awe, watching the sculptural art unfolded by Weed.

Each time the sculpting knife snapped, each time the wood was trimmed, the audience throbbed with anxiety because a small mistake could snap the fragile trunk of a flower.

“Oh, my god! Let him finish it!”

This was the wish of not only Weed and Volk, but also everyone else present.

Right in front of them, Weed concentrated on the flowers fervently.

As the sculpting knife moved, the wood was being shaped, revealing the blossoms, trunks and leaves.

‘Failure isn’t allowed here’ Weed’s eyes gleamed with his determination.

He would have been forgiven for any failure if he had been alone, but now he was onstage surrounded by a thick circle of spectators. If he made a mistake before his prospective customers, his skyrocketing reputation would immediately crash and burn.

He knew better than anyone else that his popularity was growing, largely attributed to the fact that there was no other sculptor in the near vicinity, and he had to avoid it shrinking at any cost.

A fan’s fantasy is equal to money!

Weed sublimated his excessive obsession into artistic production, and finally succeeded in making the bouquet.

*Ting*

Level Up: Sculpture Mastery (Beginner Lv: 5 | 17%):

Enhances beauty and complexity of statues.

Decreases the rate at which you fail to produce statues.

Upgrade: Handicraft Skill (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 5%):

Increases attack power with weapons and fists. (+30% ATK)

Enhances every field of craft skill and Sword Mastery.

Art has risen by 5 points (+5 ART)

Fame has risen by 1 point (+1 FAME)

Warning: The sale of a failed work may cancel it.

Once Weed finished the wooden bouquet, the two skills leveled together.

Because his sculpture mastery had been stuck at the expertise rating of 98% with the skill level of four, the first level up message wasn’t surprising, but though the expertise rating for the handicraft skill had remained six percent left lower than the next level, it was filled at once, promoted to the intermediate stage.

As luck would have it, the Art stat, which had been bothering him constantly because its progress was nowhere to be seen, increased by five points.

“This is unbelievable.”

“Open Skill window”

Weed checked the window quickly, and realized at a glance that his skill level in sculpture mastery had not only hit, but had also accumulated an expertise rating of 17% above the line. Even the handicraft skill scored 5% after it converted to intermediate level one.

‘Aren’t I lucky?’ Weed was excited by his fortune, but soon understood why it had taken place. Sculptural art isn’t a conveyor belt.

The expertise rating in sculpture mastery does not advance by mass production of similar statutes as if they were made by a cookie cutter. No, only when a sculptor is dedicated to create an original work of high artistic value that has never been tried before, will sculpture mastery gain an enormous expertise rating. It reminded Weed of the first fox and rabbit statues that had improved his expertise rating in sculpture mastery greatly in the initial phase.

Tried and failed, his skill level had risen visibly fast. But when he no longer tried a new shape or style due to force of habit though, and repeatedly churned out monotonous products, his progress in sculpture mastery had slowed down almost to a stop.

‘I thought leveling was supposed to slow down as the level was higher, but that wasn’t it. I was taking the wrong path.’

While Weed was immersed in his own thoughts, Volk and other women were fascinated by the bouquet. A bouquet made of wood. The sunflowers and roses radiated softness and warmth, bearing life like real ones.

“It’s finished, Volk-nim.” Weed said as he handed the bouquet over to Volk.

The sunflowers and roses were beaming on the paladin. To his eyes, it was magic.

“Oh, dear God. I can’t— can’t believe…” More tears dropped from the eyes of Volk. “Is this really made of wood? Sculpture mastery does magic…”

“Yup, Volk-nim. You just saw me carve this, didn’t you?”

“It’s simply unbelievable,” Volk said amid tears.

The other spectators were also dazzled by Weed’s finished work. He could not have made the bouquet without Zahab’s sculpting knife, and especially at the critical moment, his sculpture mastery and handicraft skill had been combined to bring out more fantastic effects on the work.

“I did make this bouquet with my heart. Now you go for hers with your heart Volk-nim,” Weed said.

He encouraged Volk in a fine manner. He was inspired that he had learned a new secret of sculpture mastery while making the bouquet.

“Thank you, thank you so much!” Volk said, sincerely grateful to Weed, putting his hand in the pocket to take out the payment for the bouquet.

Uplifted, Weed said, “It’s three gold.”

Considering the amount of effort that he had put into it, the statue deserved to be worth more than three gold, but he was content with it. Suddenly, Volk had a confused look, and began to turn over his pockets.

“Where… where are they gone?” Volk cried. His hand that had been combing through in his pocket didn’t hold anything in it.

It was Weed, though, who was panicked at that very moment.

‘Is he trying to pull this trick on me?!’

Weed already knew what was coming— more specifically, what Volk would say in the next second or so…

‘He will claim he’s lost money somewhere else.’

“I-I am so sorry, Weed-nim. I lost the money somewhere else!” Volk said.

‘Cause you can’t say you didn’t have any gold in the first place.’

Volk didn’t wait for Weed to answer, and cried, “I think my pocket was picked. Damn squirrel!”

‘And there you go. But you can’t bluff your way out with this number of people witnessing your every move. If he’s an expert in this line of business, he should know better than thinking he can rip me off and walk out alive.’

“Do you mind if I give you something of an equal value to make up for money?”

Volk followed the steps that Weed had already seen through, a typical trick for the penniless to try, but he underestimated Weed, whom spread a terrible aura.

‘Who do you think you are to rip me off, jackass?’Weed thought.

Then, Volk was forced to put his hand again in his pocket.

“What a relief. I found two gold and ninety silvers left. Can you please discount ten silvers?” Volk asked.

“Why don’t you just give me something worth ten silvers? What do you have?”

Weed’s sharp eyes ran over Volk’s outfit. He observed the weapons, his gear and ornaments.

Tens of thousands of identified items in Royal Road were registered in alphabetic order in a corner of his brain. He wanted to immediately identify a new item upon acquiring it, estimate the market price for it, and rejoice twice, even thrice, right on the spot.

But his eyes failed to catch anything valuable from Volk who was poorly attired. The paladin took out a book from his clothes and handed it to Weed.

“How about allowing for ten silvers with this book?”

Weed quickly scanned the book.

*Ting*

Item: The Forgotten City on the Versailles Continent #4

In the sky above the Southern Province of Rosenheim Kingdom is a metropolis made mysterious by fairy tales and legend, which is recorded to be populated by a race that is distinctly non-human. To describe them at best, the right word would be the Aves.

Strong warriors themselves, the race detested monsters, driving the lowly irritants out of the Southern Province, so they were nowhere to be seen. However, the race has now vanished, and even the path to the City of Heaven, as it is known, is now lost.

Now even the presence of the City of Heaven comes to be questionable, but the townspeople in the Southern Province still believe in the city and her courageous avian residents as the elders instill this tale in the minds of the next generation.

According to an unreliable source, it needs a Mysterious Seed to climb up to the City of Heaven.

Weed felt deceived. Who would believe such nonsense as the City of Heaven?

Granted that a city was actually floating somewhere in the air, violating every law of physics, the city would be seen from the earth. Consequently, that book claiming the presence of the City of Heaven would be hearsay.

If that wasn’t ridiculous enough, the last passage about climbing up a plant to the city was outrageous, if not lousy. The thing had about zero credibility.

As if he sensed that Weed was skeptical of the content of the book he had given him, Volk defended himself in a hurry,

“You may not believe this, but it’s a hard-won book…”

“…”

“I wish I could give you something better, but coincidentally, this book is the most valuable item in my possession,”

Volk said, showing what he had in his backpack— a rabbit’s fur, a snake’s scale and a small piece of a broken sword.

Weed could repair the sword, but it was a sloppy thing with +2 ATK that even a kobold would throw away. Perhaps he could negotiate for it for two coppers in the blacksmith’s workshop.

“I am so sorry, Weed-nim.”

Weed sighed deeply.

‘Okay, it’s fine. I learned the secret of sculpture mastery, anyway. I couldn’t have figured it out if I had printed out the same junk forever. I will forgive him for cheating ten silvers. No big deal.’

When Weed mentioned cost three gold, he had already considered it negotiable. His call was mainly intended to shock Volk into playing by his book.

The prices of most statues, which were not fixed by any normal standard, were largely determined by the way a customer made a bargain with a sculptor.

Two gold and ninety silvers, plus a silly book, wasn’t a bad deal at all, the level up of his sculpture mastery and other skills included. But God only knew what Weed would have committed to in the case of two gold and eighty silvers.

“I think this book is worth the ten silvers. I wish you good luck with your proposal to her, Volk-nim. And for the lady you’ve fallen in love with…”

“Excuse me?” Volk said.

“She will live a wonderful life with you,”

Weed said sarcastically. With such a penny-pinching husband, she would never be broke for the rest of her life, for one thing.

“Thank you, Weed-nim.” After shaking hands with Weed, Volk walked away slowly. Weed watched him leave.

Suddenly, on Volk’s outfit, appeared shiny Mithril armor. His trousers were covered by a pair of Mithril gaiters. Even his boots turned into Mithril—that was a twist that left Weed reeling.

‘He’s wearing a life cotton ring, a rare item that doubles maximum life! A priceless treasure! As far as I know, those earrings resist the element of lightning. I heard it’s only listed in the catalogue, and no one actually had them. You! You bastard, you’re loaded! It’s not fair that you just ripped off a poor sculptor!’

The items Volk was equipped with were valuable beyond Weed’s wildest imagination. Some of them were even worth thousands of gold.

* * *

Finished with the bouquet after hours of hard work, Weed stretched out his arms and yawned.

Suddenly, the spectators began to shove yellow gold at Weed and shouted—

“Make me exactly the same bouquet, please!”

“I just bought two foxes, but can I return them and change my order to the bouquet?”

“Please!”

* * *

Upon leaving the Citadel of Serabourg, Volk made a cheesy smile.

Full of humorous heart that betrayed his scary countenance, Volk had sincerely desired to reward Weed, who had created the bouquet with all his heart.

The book of the City of Heaven! Truthfully, Volk had spent two months to a get hold of it. According to the book, it is a mysterious place that even he had not put his foot on.

One of the reasons he had come to Rosenheim was to visit the city. But the proposal to the lady who had stolen his heart outweighed anything else.

Volk had given Weed the book in return of the bouquet, but it felt like nothing.

‘Don’t just throw it away. Keep it. It will show you the way if you look for it, and you’ll get there someday.’

Holding the bouquet dearly, Volk headed for Brent Kingdom, where the dear lady was.

* * *

A wooden bouquet!

It was a perfect gift at times such as when a boy asks a girl out, so as the rumor about Volk the paladin, his fair lady and the wooden bouquet spread, Weed’s outdoor sculpture shop was quickly becoming a landmark.

Most users had seen statues as a keepsake lying on the fireplace or stuck in the dark corner, only to be dusted from time to time, but Volk’s event transformed the way they viewed statues.

That day, Weed declared, “I apologize, but I shall no longer be making the same shape of statues anymore!”

He came to this conclusion, born of his personal gains, to speed up leveling in his sculpture mastery and Handicraft skill. Yet the public was misled by his words.

“He’s a real artist!”

“He is so cool~! He said he’s not making the some statue twice.”

“In that case, the value of his statues will rise.”

The customers to Weed’s vendor used to buy one or two rabbit- or fox-shaped statues as a souvenir at a cheap price, but now they ordered original designs for the gifts.

The number of finished products fell below two digits because a single work cost him a couple of hours, but they were more popular than the little cookie cutters he used to do— three gold per each statue.

Given that the business didn’t require much of production costs, it was lucrative business.

In addition, Weed’s skill level in sculpture mastery and Handicraft skill soared quickly in a short period of time.

In only three days, his skill level in sculpture mastery hit eight, way up from five and his intermediate Handicraft skill rose to level four.

When Weed was short of new orders, he cooked and sold food.

“Rabbit meat or fox meat! If you bring me any meat, I will cook it for you. It can’t be preserved for a long time, so you should eat it within a day!”

Weed’s cooking skill granted a bonus to life and vitality to the meals that he cooked. It was pretty much a poor man’s steroid. Those who found it hard to deal with meat that they had picked up while they were hunting wild animals near the Citadel rushed to Weed.

“Here.”

“Do you really cook?”

“Yes. Trust me. All you have to pay for are the seasonings and sauces. The thing is, just bring me any kind of meat anytime you want,” Weed said.

Food made with sculptural art— meals served by Weed were artistic works. More users than you would think learn how to cook because it is useful when they camp out in the field. But how many amateur cooks can apply the art stat when they are cooking?

Except for professional cooks, not so many users invest time and energy in the cooking skill, and appetizing meals are even rarer among the pros.

Selling quality food at a low price, Weed’s stall was a megahit. Users packed it in the hope of gaining a cheap bonus buff to their life and vitality.

Someone whispered to Weed, who had spent a week carving statues and cooking food for sale:

- Weed-nim, can you hear me?

It was Pale the archer, who had become acquainted with Weed during late nights hunting foxes and wolves.

- Hi. Long time no see.

- Great, you’re on! Where have you been? I sent you a whisper almost every day, but it was always blocked.

- I had work to do.

The secret cave in the Lair of Litvart—  while inside it, whispering was automatically blocked. Fortunately, Pale didn’t bother to pry into what Weed had been doing.

- I see. Do you have time now?

Weed looked around. His statues were still very popular, but it was strictly production-on-demand now, so the sales had slowly passed their peak. What people wanted for a gift was similar. In that sense, his declaration to make only original statues boomeranged on him.

- Yup.

- Then, why don’t you join the punitive force quest to Village Baran with us? We decided to take the quest together, and I thought to contact you to ask if you wanted to join too.

Chapter 10: Weed’s Role in the Punitive Force

The punitive force bound for Village Baran!

Located on the borderline of human civilization, Rosenheim Kingdom was surrounded by monsters.

The kingdom fortified the walls and organized militias in frontier towns, but the annual feasts by goblins and Orcs that raided to pillage autumn harvests were still rampant, which gave the royal court a headache.

The mission of the punitive force assigned to Darius was a group quest to take over Village Baran that had fallen into the hands of the lizardmen. Those who joined the punitive force shared the same quest, and they, composed of three hundred users, would come to drive the lizardmen out of the village.

This topic had been rattling around the Citadel of Serabourg for the last few days. Even users from other kingdoms were pouring into the Citadel to join the quest, making it even more crowded.

A member who took part in the quest was given EXPs, not to mention fame, in recognition of his service to Rosenheim Kingdom. Everyone was talking about it, yet it had escaped Weed as he was busy carving statues at his street stall.

Weed agreed to meet his former teammates first. They were waiting downtown.

“Nice to see you again, Weed-nim.”

“Wow, long time no see!”

Surka and Irene welcomed Weed warmly. Their outfits had changed greatly during his absence.

Surka wore a fine tunic, and Irene a snow-white clerical vestment. For Romuna the mage, it was a standard black robe.

They were surprised that Weed had still not changed his outfit.

“Weed-nim, where have you been?”

“It’s a long story…”

Before Weed could answer fully, Surka cut in and said,

“I understand. You haven’t signed in for weeks, right?”

“…”

“Oh, are you going to join the punitive force quest? Please come with us, Weed-nim!”

Romuna slipped her arm into Weed’s as if they were a couple.

Pale the ranger was watching them with a wounded look that sent a chill down Weed’s spine. He already sensed that Pale was secretly courting Romuna.

Slipping his hostage arm away from Romuna’s firm grip, Weed asked,

“What’s your level now?”

“I’m level forty-eight. I died five or six times in battles, so I’m the lowest among us,”

Surka said sheepishly.

“I’m fifty-one,” Irene said.

“Same here,” Romuna said.

“I’m level fifty-three,” Pale said still disturbed by the scene.

Weed had learned that his teammates were all friends in reality, so they had always hunted monsters together, thus leveling up at an identical pace. Still, it was evident that they had been on serious hunting sprees because they had leveled up faster than other typical users.

They confided to Weed that they had withdrawn from college temporarily. Though they didn’t tell him more, he guessed that they had since then have played Royal Road almost non-stop, without sleep, caged in their dark rooms like isolated, socially reclusive individuals.

Pale soon established that Weed would come along with them to join the punitive force quest.

“They posted that the level requirement was thirty and above. This quest gives a premium on earned experience. You can also win some fame.”

The punitive force was scheduled to encounter numerous types of monsters. The main target was the lizardmen that occupied Baran Village, but chances were that they would face relatively less dangerous goblins.

“The mission is a little risky, but we can call for help from NPCs if there’s an emergency. I’m now sick and tired of spiders and bandits,” Pale made an appalled face.

While Weed was away, his teammates had hunted monsters in a nearby dungeon. It was the spider dungeon, where red spiders and poisonous arachnids were lurking behind every stalactite. Poison was taken care of by Irene, but Pale had been traumatized by being fastened to a sticky spider net, struggling pathetically against saliva-dripping giant spiders.

Weed nodded, understanding exactly what Pale had been through. He had had a tough time of his own crushing gigantic worms. “It wouldn’t be so bad to take part in the punitive force.”

“We welcome you, Weed-nim. By the way…”

“Yes?”

“Did you find the class?”

As far as the class was concerned, Weed had been undecided when he had been teamed with them in hunting sprees. They even had a private gamble on when he would get one.

“I got a class, but—”

“What class is it? Tell us.”

Irene, usually reserved, approached Weed with twinkling eyes. As a priestess in charge of healing and buffs that supported the other teammates, she was supposed to know every teammate’s class.

There are so many divisions for the warrior class alone, not to mention other branches of the combative classes that specialize in different weapons and styles of combat. Tanker types are heavy on defense and vitality, and deals damage types on attack power and strength.

In the case of Surka and Pale, they belonged to supportive classes with higher agility, but less strength and vitality compared to other melee fighters.

Furthermore, Paladins, nicknamed holy knights, can use divine power, including Healing Hand, for self-healing, thanks to their exclusive stat of faith.

Weed scratched his head. “I’m a sculptor.”

“Wow, thats cool! You chose an artist class.” Surka laughed brightly, but the rest looked less than delighted. The prejudice that associated a sculptor with weakness was deeply engraved in their subconscious.

In fact, the sculptor class is one of the craft classes that had nothing to do with combat skills, so it is deprived of any effects on strength and vitality.

Still, they embraced Weed as one of their own from the bottom of their hearts. They were not heartless enough to turn their backs on their former brother-in-arms just because he had converted to one of the least desirable classes.

“We were on our way to Sir Darius to join the punitive force. Come with us,” Pale said.

“But, you see, I’m a sculptor,” Weed said.

“Don’t worry. We can make up for what you’re missing. We should hurry before someone else fills the empty slot. The size of the punitive force is limited to three hundred users and two hundred NPC soldier participants in the order of arrival,” Pale said.

“Let’s go, Weed-nim,” Romuna said.

“If you think you aren’t qualified for a spot ‘cause you’re a sculptor, we will help you out. Please?” Surka said.

Now that Weed had disclosed his class, he was left without an excuse to say no.

The women felt so maternal toward Weed that they could not abandon him, even though they thought he was weak, and Pale almost begged him to join the punitive force quest to repay what he had done for them before.

Persuaded by their persistence, Weed headed for where Darius’s troops were stationed.

* * *

Duke Kanus held a regular meeting for the knights. All the knights who were within the Citadel, without exception, had been called to attend it. In the meeting, they discussed how to drive monsters out of Rosenheim, a conscription plan and other urgent military issues.

“You have done an excellent job, Lord Midvale, and the soldiers whom you were assigned are trained competently. I’m impressed that their levels all exceed fifty,” Duke Kanus said.

“That was not my doing, your Excellency,” Sir Midvale said.

“Huh? I personally entrusted this task to you. Tell me what happened,” Duke Kanus said.

“If you insist, Your Excellency,” Sir Midvale said. Lord Midvale then reported in detail the events that had taken place in the Lair of Litvart.

“Hmm… I see.” Duke Kanus said as he rubbed his well-groomed mustache.

Other knights also looked taken aback that a foreigner, other than a Versailles native, had done the job so well. The NPCs recognize themselves as locals born on the Versailles Continent, and that users are freedmen sent by Gaea the Holy Seer. They had emotions, spoke and acted like real people, thanks to their programmed artificial intelligence.

“A fine man, indeed. Lord Midvale, why didn’t you recruit him to the Rosenheim Army?” Duke Kanus asked.

“I asked him to be a military officer twice, but he said he wanted to retain his liberty and slay monsters at his own will,” Sir Midvale said.

“A freedman, he is,” Duke Kanus said, impressed.

“Yes, Your Excellency. Though he does not belong to our Kingdom, it seems to me that he is a man who shall devote time again to Rosenheim,” Sir Midvale said.

“If you say so, we’ll see his sword by our side again someday,” Duke Kanus said and dropped the subject about the Lair of Litvart and moved on to the next one.

* * *

On the way to Darius, Weed stopped by a grocery store.

“Weed-nim, why do we stop here?”

“You’ll see.”

The grocery store was crowded with lots of customers. They were mostly delivery boys from restaurants in the Citadel.

A boy, clad in what resembled a messenger’s attire, yelled,

“I want fresh breasts!”

“Puhaha, you are at the wrong place, young tiger. A brothel is at the next corner down the street and I hope you’ve got a photo ID,” the shopkeeper said.

“Shoot. I want chicken breasts!”

The boy grimaced. But the shopkeeper, oily as a snake’s tongue, was only smiling.

“Only chicken breasts? Don’t you need eggs, too?”

“Oops, I forgot… I need eggs, too.”

“Stay put. I’ll give you eggs when hens lay them.”

“How about chickens?”

“When the eggs hatch, sir.”

Irene giggled at the exchange between the shopkeeper and the delivery boy.

“Funny kid.”

“I guess he got a job in a restaurant because he can’t leave the Citadel for the first four weeks.”

“Bad choice. Why did he decide to work at a restaurant where there’s nothing much to learn?”

In Pale’s eyes, it wasn’t wise to make a career in a restaurant.

Newbies are advised to take quests that pay well or, in the case of spell-casting wannabes, to read and learn many things in a library. This is so they can buy more advanced weapons and gear, hunt monsters more easily and level up faster in the long run.

Weed disagreed with Pale’s opinion, though. “If you work in a restaurant, you can learn the cooking skill. It pays off,” Weed said.

“I know, but what’s the point of learning a useless skill like cooking? If you buy rye bread that is processed by the food preservation spell, it will last for a month,” Pale said.

“He’s right. Why do we need to learn how to cook when we can raise the satisfaction factor easily?” Surka asked.

To Weed, Pale and Surka sounded stupid to the point of childishness. They underestimated the cooking skill just as much as they had looked down upon sculpture mastery, not knowing that what impact great meals could have on the stats.

‘These people don’t know what a poor life is like,’he mumbled to himself.

Weed’s eyes darkened. Those who actually have been through times of financial hardship don’t underestimate the significance of the cooking skill. Imagine you are forced to eat only rye bread when you hunt monsters in the field.

If you are a low-level newbie, running out of money, you will stand it because you have no alternative. But once your level reaches a point where you can afford to buy more delicious food, your tongue will automatically reject the rye bread.

In truth, even Pale didn’t always put rye bread where his mouth was. When it comes to the bottom line, people are the same. They have the same list of desires, and when they fulfill it, it grows longer by itself. In particular, the basic needs of housing, clothing and food are inseparable from life.

Moreover, the cooking skill works in real life. As the cooking skill matures, it gives you a list of available recipes based on the types of ingredients that you have now. You can try a new recipe in the virtual game, and it will stick in your head after you log out. If you master the cooking skill at least to the expert stage, you will never need to worry about getting a job because any restaurant will hire you with arms wide open.

In other words, It means that reality is so exactly realized as it is in an virtual world. Royal Road is such a detailed and realistic virtual reality game to such an extent that what is learned in the virtual game can also be applied in reality.

Of course, the majority of users who don’t bother learning craft skills as widely as Weed will never comprehend what it is really about until they experience it with their own hands.

‘I wonder if they will ever want to try it, anyway,’Weed anticipated that the value of the cooking skill would get higher as users leveled up in their hundreds.

For meals that Weed prepared with the basic cooking skill, they had a temporary bonus effect on life, so what would it be like when a master presented his cuisine?

‘I’m sure even a happily married couple would kill each other to taste a crumb of it.’

Not only the taste of food, but also the supplementary bonus would be spectacular.

Hard, flavorless rye bread worth three copper vs. French cuisine that tastes like heaven and increases various stats! The contest is over before it begins.

Weed imagined that meals prepared by a top chef would claim a stacks of gold for a taste of their food.

He thought that the value of statues would remain superficial, but that the cooking skill, as long as it was an integral part of life, would never diminish in its influence on daily life.

The rankers would long for the best food that they could find, and the value of a professional cook would hit the ceiling.

‘Well, some people might have foreseen this before. Cooks are amongst the most zealous professionals in guarding their secrets. They must be formulating their own recipes and improving their cooking skill.’

Weed turned to his teammates with a serious face and said, “I can’t deny you the choice of looking down on the craft skills as a whole as the combat skills are important. But I think that the craft skills could end up being the most necessary skills in the future. All the craft skills have something in common, and they help an avatar’s combat ability as well. I suggest you learn the cooking skill. It’s essential to your daily life.”

“…”

“I’m sorry,” Surka said in a small voice.

“I forgot you were a sculptor, and I was thoughtless to speak ill of the crafters. I am really sorry,” Pale said.

Surka, Pale and Irene were red with embarrassment.

They thought that Weed was angry because they had belittled the cooking skill, one of the craft skills, right to his face.

“That wasn’t what I meant. You got me wrong.” Weed said as he shook his head.

No matter how hard he showed it to them, they would not see it until they felt the need to see it.

The grocery store had an amiable atmosphere as it largely entertained regular customers.

Weed thrust through them and walked to the register.

“Hello,” Weed said.

“Hello. I just heard you. You have the right idea about the cooking skill!” the shopkeeper said.

“Thank you.”

“Your face looks familiar to me…”

“Yup. I came here for grocery shopping a few days ago.”

When Weed improved his sculpture mastery and cooking skill at the same time, he had visited only this store to buy foodstuff in bulk— for a simple reason: the low price.

The easiest way to maximize profits is always to minimize costs by buying a large amount of materials at a time at a discount. Weed had always used the store for his purchases, yet it was the first time that he had ever spoken to the shopkeeper.

“Alright. Thank you for visiting my store. By the way, are you taking the path of a cook now?”

“No. My primary class is not a cook, but I know the value of the cooking skill.”

“Nice. So what can I do for you?” The shopkeeper’s eyes shone brightly, sizing up Weed.

He had already gathered from the conversation with the delivery boy that the shopkeeper was a user.

“Spices and sauces,” Weed said.

“Hmm, we have many different kinds of spices,” the shopkeeper said.

“There are salt, sugar and pepper, and I can show you extraordinary local specialties, such as spices from the land of the Elves, and bottles of sap squeezed out of some plants in the north.”

On the vast continent, plenty of items with distinctive tastes are harvested by local farmers and traded through caravans.

“I don’t need extraordinary spices. Only basic ones.”

“Great. Only fools who want to impress others look for something special. How about the quality?”

“Of course, I want the best.”

“How much?”

Weed counted how much money he had in his pockets. He had not sold his various types of ore yet, except for the silver that he had collected from the Queen Worms.

He was saving them those for future use, when he improved his repair skill enough to enable him to reduce the ores.

“I have twenty-seven gold now. I want to buy as much,” Weed said.

“Okay. I’ll give you some extra,” the shopkeeper said.

When Weed’s teammates overheard the conversation between him and the shopkeeper, they sensed a mutual understanding and respect flowing in between as if old drinking buddies had been reunited.

In fact, the shopkeeper was a user who had already taken the path of the cooking skill. When he saw Weed, he realized that a strong rival in the latest wave had showed up.

Weed also recognized the shopkeeper as a forerunner in the field of cooking, so they hardly needed a word. Eye contact alone told them enough.

He packed the spices and sauces he had bought from the grocery store into his backpacks.

Once he was satisfied that he was fully prepared for a new journey, he headed for the camp of Darius’ punitive force with his teammates.

* * *

The punitive force bound to Baran Village was already the talk of the town, so there were many users who were eager to join the quest.

Darius sat down on a tiny chair, as he interviewed applicants for the quest, “Next, please.”

“Hello, I am Cochran. Level 68 archer. I’m good at Multiple Shot, and my weapon is Lasante’s Bow.”

“Passed.”

The next in line was Weed’s party with Pale in the foreground, who walked to Darius anxiously.

Pale spoke as the representative of his party. “We are all in the same party. Level fifties. A priestess, a battle mage in the fire element, a ranger, a monk, and…”

Pale stammered before he introduced Weed because he was afraid that when it was mentioned that Weed was a sculptor, Darius would be upset and reject them altogether.

“Hmm, you have a balanced party. Great. And he is…” Darius spotted Weed and asked Pale, “Is he part of your party, too?”

“Yes.”

“Five total. It fits exactly the empty slots left in my army.”

“Then…”

“Will you join the quest to take back Baran Village?”

Darius asked, and a message window emerged in front of Weed’s eyes.

*Ting*

Quest: Punitive Force to Baran Village

Beyond the border of Rosenheim Kingdom was a wilderness of monsters. Walls were built, and troops were dispatched in order to keep out the monsters that annually invaded the motherland, but there was an opening. Through the opening, a wave of monsters surged in and occupied Baran Village

With Rosenheim soldiers, save Baran Village from calamity, and destroy the monsters.

Difficulty: D

Quest requirement:

Must be completed within 30 days

Pale said with a big grin,

“Sure.”

“I want to join it, too.”

“Same here.”

“Thank you for your invitation to the quest.”

“Yup.”

Weed was the last one to accept the quest.

You have accepted the quest!

“Okay. Let’s move now.”

Darius sprang to his feet and cried, “Everyone in the punitive force quest, please come over here! We have enough people, so we’re leaving now!”

* * *

There was no ceremony for punitive force bound for Baran Village. Only a handful of people who were friends of some troops waved goodbye.

Three hundred users, colorfully attired, marched out of the South Gate and toward the Southern Province— the destination was Baran Village. They intended to take back the village that had been lost to the lizardmen.

“Hehe. I haven’t been this far away from the Citadel before. It’s like we’re on a field trip!” Romuna said.

“I think I should have brought lunchboxes,” Irene said.

The two girls were chitchatting pleasantly.

Fresh air and a sunny day! It was a perfect day for a field trip. Lions and wolves, terrified by the size of the troops, were cleared of the path, ensuring the safety of the trip.

While Weed’s teammates were walking lightly, enjoying idle talk, Weed was checking out the other troops, the way they dressed and what they were equipped with.

‘The average level of users in the force is between forty and sixty. I heard that Darius’ level was a hundred and forty-something.’

Darius had five teammates; three sword warriors, a thief, and a plain warrior.

‘I’d better assume that they have almost the same levels.’

Weed concluded that Darius had packed his battalion with anyone who ran up to accept the quest, just to meet the requirement of three hundred users involved.

This suspicion had arisen in Weed when Pale applied for this quest, and Darius was very lax in accepting his party. In the case of Weed, Darius had not even bothered asking his class and level.

‘I guess he wants to get this punitive force quest done as soon as possible. A lot of rewards are at stake.’

A sense of alarm was creeping into Weed’s mind. He had done his own research on Darius, the leader of this punitive force, right after Pale whispered to him to bring up this quest.

Darius had a bad reputation. It was an established fact that he would do anything if it advanced his own interest.

“Everyone, listen,” Weed said in a low voice.

“Huh?” Surka said.

“When we arrive at Baran Village, we should not trust anyone easily,” Weed said.

“What do you mean by that?” Romuna asked.

“I’m saying we’re on our own now,” Weed said.

Pale looked around as though awakened by Weed’s words. Then, he agreed with Weed, “I see your point, Weed-nim.”

“What is it? I don’t get it,” Surka said.

Weed frowned at her.

“Do we know any other member in the punitive force?”

“No,” Surka said.

“Are you trying to say if a good item is dropped, someone else might kill us to take it?” Irene asked.

The question she raised quickly froze everyone in her party. Surka and Romuna even looked scared.

“That’s not what I implied. Of course, it could happen. But I don’t think there will be anyone who is bold enough to overstretch his limit in front of many witnesses in the punitive force. If he earns the murderer’s sign by killing us, he’ll become a public enemy number one right in the middle of thousand odd people, and they will kill him in revenge. Also, Darius will not let it happen, because it could endanger his authority.”

“What is disturbing you, then?” Romuna asked.

“We have no one else to count on. That’s our problem,” Weed said.

Weed led his teammates a little away from the marching troops to avoid eavesdropping, and added, “Despite our low levels, we will fight a great number of monsters.

“Exactly! Isn’t it why they assembled three hundred users for the quest, and borrowed another two hundred soldiers from Rosenheim Army? When we finish it, we will gain a lot of experience and fame,” Surka said.

“Here comes a question. How will you fight when a battle starts?” Weed asked. “Yes, we have a lot of people, but we are just a bunch of strangers who don’t know anything about one another. We don’t know what skills a ranger over there has. We don’t know if a mage-like man next to him is really a mage or just an imposter in disguise. Imagine if the lizardmen take us by surprise, how will you react to them? How can we stay together and fight back?”

“But what’s wrong with that? The raids are supposed to be like this, aren’t they?” Irene asked.

When Irene raised another question, Pale shook his head. “Most raid quests are about killing a certain number of monsters or clearing some area on a limited scale. I haven’t heard much about large-size battles against an army of monsters on an open field like this quest. We have three hundred users and two hundred soldiers here, but when a battle begins, we will get stuck to our own teammates and break up into segments,” Pale said.

“That means…”

“Irene-nim, numbers always lie. Three hundred users and two hundred soldiers don’t guarantee that the party will be as strong as the sum of their strength. If we overwhelm the monsters, it will be fine. But if we encounter an unexpected turn of events, we will crumble like a house of cards. We should be careful,” Weed said.

Darius had been too impatient and too obsessed with creating a swift victory.

Since there were plenty of users who were eager to join the quest, he could have accepted high-level users to lower the risk of going astray in an emergency— though Weed’s party probably wouldn’t have been able to join if that had been the case.

However, Darius was determined to have all public service points, so he had rejected any user at level hundred or above. Instead, he had loaded the slots with low-level users.

He had also ordered the Rosenheim soldiers to stay behind and follow the main body at a little distance.

‘I bet he was worried that the soldiers might pick up some EXPs and fame that would belong to them.’

If Weed had been the leader of the troops for the quest, he would have done exactly the opposite. He would have left out three hundred users, and instead, made good use of the Rosenheim soldiers.

If he had commanded the NPCs to destroy the band of lizardmen, his public reputation and charisma would have gone up.

You can gain fame or EXPs in a number of different ways, but the charisma stat needs this sort of opportunity to rise quickly.

Weed once again reminded his teammates to watch out.

* * *

The troops stopped from time to time to take a rest and a meal. The users in the punitive force chewed on dried food they had brought, or set light meals. The Rosenheim soldiers kept to a timetable of three meals every day.

“How will we prepare meals?” Surka asked.

Pale and Surka shot a casual glance at Weed as they were talking about the upcoming meal time. They knew, from the conversation that had taken place in the grocery store the other day that Weed was good at cooking.

Weed stepped up to display his cooking skill. “I will serve you meals. Pale-nim, can you go hunt rabbit or deer? At least two of each,” Weed said.

“Okay,” Pale said.

Pale took his bow, and before long, came back with three rabbits and two deer. As a ranger specializing in the bow, he could now fire an arrow at a rabbit without missing.

“Now I will prepare a delicious meal for you,” Weed said.

Weed set a bonfire, peeled the skins of the rabbits and deer, stuck skewers through them, and placed them right above the fire. Rotating them little by little, he salted and peppered them all over.

“Heeyah, it looks great,” Surka said.

“Can we eat now?” Irene asked.

Surka and Irene were slavering over the smell of the roasted meats— the temptation to gnaw on them was almost irresistible.

Weed had already captivated the tongues and stomachs of Sir Midvale and his troops in the Lair of Litvart. They had eaten his beef stew like a pack of hungry wolves, and even scratched what little was left on the bottom of the pots.

Compared to those days, his intermediate handicraft skill now deepened the taste of his food, and the art stat was applied to make the rabbit meat look more appetizing.

Even the skewers poking through the deer’s mouth to its backside to keep it above the fire looked gorgeous.

“Please, help yourself” Weed said when he was certain that he’d taken enough time to torture his teammates with the sight of the food.

As the saying goes, hunger is the best kind of seasoning.

*Munch*

As soon as Weed gave his teammates the go-ahead, they rushed to the barbecues and began tearing flesh from bones and tossing it into their mouths.

“Oh my gawd! It’s soooo good!” Surka cried around a mouthful of food.

“You’re the best, Weed-nim,” Romuna said, giving a thumbs-up with a greased hand. Her mouth was coated with yellow grease.

Apparently succumbing to gluttony, one of the seven sins, Irene the priestess was eating a whole rabbit, while Pale was busy lightly gnawing on a deer’s rear leg. They were even licking the bones.

“Thank you, Weed-nim.”

Gratified by the splendid food, they complimented Weed again and again.

“Not at all.”

Weed looked around, and found many other users had surrounded the little grill party without him noticing.

“That looks so good…” one of them said with a bit of drool coming from the side of his mouth.

“Really…”

“I’m envious that she’s enjoying the meat so much!”

Among the members in the punitive force, the bystanders’ appetite was stimulated even more by the sight of Irene and Romuna, who were having the time of their lives.

“Do you mind if I have some of your meat?” a man asked.

Weed freely distributed his food to others. “Help yourself. But you should bring some meat next time.”

“Oh, thank you so much.” They received Weed’s food gratefully. But it ran out before more than a few had tasted it.

Weed began to work harder at the next mealtime because many users rushed to him with meat and asked him to cook it for them. In fact, some of them knew how to cook. They had been forced to prepare meals when they ran out of the dried food they had during a hunting mission. To put it bluntly, however, eighty percent of the troops were male, who hated mundane kitchen chores, such as peeling potatoes and dicing onions. The same goes for the female users.

Even those who learned the cooking skill preferred gathering meat and giving it to Weed to cooking it themselves.

“I feel sorry for you. I really owe ya!” a man said on the second day of the journey.

“Not at all. You don’t need to say that. I am doing this for fun,” Weed said.

“But…”

“Are you really uncomfortable with it? Then, how about this? Let’s make a deal. If you want to pay back what you feel indebted to me for, you can pay for the meal. For spices and sauces, you know,” Weed said.

“I like that, and it works out. I’ll feel better that way.”

A great side job~!

Weed began to collect a little fee for cooking. Of course, it was much larger than the real costs of sauces and spices, but nobody complained about it because they felt it was acceptable, nevertheless.

When the troops stopped by a town on the trip toward Baran Village, Weed purchased a quantity of foodstuffs in a local grocery store.

He needed to update his recipes to improve his cooking skill at a faster pace. Plus, new types of menu that had never been tried before were always received favorably by his customers.

With the foodstuffs he had bought from the grocery store, he was busy working on them on the march and cooking them in mealtime.

Zahab’s sculpting knife, besides its original use, it was perfect for peeling potatoes.

‘Well, carving statues and peeling potatoes are kind of the same.’

Meals prepared by Weed basically increased a diner’s life by five percent, and as his handicraft skill was in the intermediates stage, it gave off additional bonuses.

Simply put, the intermediate handicraft skill supplements original effects by thirty percent for the sword mastery, and fifty percent for the cooking skill.

Therefore, the final effect on life was an increase of seven point five percent. It might sound trivial, but this difference could save a life in the middle of a chaotic battle where blind strikes were always lurking from behind.

Familiar faces approached Weed, who was immersed in cooking. They were wearing uniforms of the Rosenheim Army.

“Commander!”

Only a handful of NPCs would address Weed by that title. He stopped slicing the meat, lifted his head and saw faces he had seen before.

“You’re…” Weed said.

“Salute! Greetings to the Commander!”

They were Becker, Hosram and Dale, the brothers-in-arms who had fought alongside Weed in the Lair of Litvart.

“How are you?” Weed asked.

“We were all promoted to Denarion, Commander,” Becker said.

When the soldiers who had been thoroughly trained by Weed were promoted to Denarion, they could not return to their original regiments. So, the military authorities had assigned them with raw recruits and a new mission.

“I guess they told you to join the punitive force bound to Baran Village,” Weed said.

“Yes, Commander,” Dale said. “Once the mission is complete, we will be stationed in the village to secure the surrounding area.”

A number of Weed’s former subordinates, including Buran, were taken under Sir Midvale’s wings, but the rest, now Denarion, were currently serving in the punitive force.

It was Becker’s canine nose, that had smelled Weed’s cooking and tracked it down to find the former commander.

“Hehe,” Hosram laughed.

“I miss your cooking, Commander,” Becker said.

“I’m sorry that we are not going to serve you again, but why not show us that old comradeship never dies?”

His former subordinates said as they held empty stomachs.

“How does he know Rosenheim soldiers?”

“They’re not foot soldiers. They look like Denarions.”

“They just called him Commander.”

Surka and Pale could not hide their surprise. A Denarion was a rather weighty position, and the levels of those Denarions were seemingly higher than theirs.

“Okay. Here”

Weed dished out what he was cooking to his former subordinates without reservation. Needless to say, all the supplies rationed to their platoons started to be smuggled to Weed from that moment on.

* * *

It took precisely ten days on foot for the troops to arrive at Baran Village.

Weed had intended to improve his cooking skill on the trip. To achieve the intermediate stage of the cooking skill, it required not only proficiency in the skill but also a humongous amount of physical labor.

Back in the days of the Lair of Litvart Weed had served thirty-two men three times a day, ninety-six servings on daily basis, and it totaled three thousand bowls of beef stew.

Then, he had set up an outdoor restaurant to prepare and sell meals in the Citadel. Now that he was feeding hundreds of mouths on the march, it was estimated that he had at least served ten thousand meals.

Provided that a man eats three times a day, it takes ninety servings for a month, around a thousand and eighty servings for the entire year.

Weed had done what amounted to ten years’ worth for a single man to accomplish the intermediate stage of the cooking skill, so if you still don’t get the picture, you’re seriously lost.

Cooking as a hobby isn’t comparable to preparing thousands of meals in order to gain an expertise rating for the cooking skill.

Though sculptural art was best to improve the handicraft skill, Weed was afraid to attract unwanted attention by carving statues on the march.

Cooking could pass more easily, making money and winning gratitude, if not respect, from others.

* * *

The troops were finally within the sight of Baran Village.

“We’re almost there.”

“What kind of monsters do you think will be there? I can’t wait to fight them.”

Exchanging small talk complacently, Irene and Surka were walking down the path, while Weed, now finished cooking, and looked up at the sky.

There was nothing there but white clouds that were lazily sailing in a blue sky.

‘I knew it. The City of Heaven was nothing but a myth. I was distracted by a stupid myth. Baran Village— the book said it was the last place with any connection to the City of Heaven. That’s why I joined this quest, but I was wrong,’A faint gleam of hope was dispelled.

When the troops marched near Baran Village, Darius cried, “Halt!”

Darius signaled to the entire complement to stop immediately. When Weed in the rear ranks walked to the front, he saw an old man in shabby clothes and dozens of children staggering toward the troops.

“What is your business?” Darius asked; he didn’t even get down from horseback—Darius and his minions were the only users on horseback.

“Greetings, Your Respectable Commander. We are the survivors of Baran Village,” the old man said. “I am Ghandilva, the elder of the village. I recently sent Jackson to break the sad news of my village’s calamity to His Highness and ask for help. I hope you are the ones to lift us from misery.”

“Yes,” Darius said.

Ghandilva was an elder of Baran Village, and the terrified children who were following him had escaped from the village with him when it was raided by the lizardmen.

“We will take back Baran Village very soon,” Darius said to Ghandilva. “So take comfort and wait a little longer for the good news.”

“I am glad to hear that, you’re a respected commander. By the way, I have a personal request…”

Ghandilva said.

“What is it?”

“Please rescue my people who were captured by the despicable these creatures. It is the last wish of this humble old man,” Ghandilva pleaded amid tears.

Darius’ eyes glinted.

“Is this a quest?”

“Yes, it is the quest from my village, your respected commander,” Ghandilva said.

“What rewards can you give me?” Darius asked directly.

As a high-level user, Darius didn’t rush into any quest presented to him. There were too many quests around, and a lot of them only wasted time.

Ghandilva made a downcast face. “We don’t have anything of value to give you, sir. All I can give is this…” Ghandilva showed a plain-looking seed.

“I thought so. What rewards would I expect from an old man who has lost his village to a band of lowly lizardmen? No treasures, no items,” Darius said.

Darius snickered coldly. He thought the old man had come to him to stir up trouble before he got down to driving the lizardmen out of the village.

“Then I will take over the village fast, and if we have free hands available after the battle, I will personally see to it that some troops will be sent to rescue the captives,” Darius said. “We cannot seriously expect that the hostages taken by the lizardmen are still alive by now. Don’t test my patience, old man.”

Darius trotted away from Ghandilva ruthlessly.

Some users in the punitive force called their leader names under their breath, but no one dared rise up to help the elder. Ghandilva was cast into despair. Then, someone grasped his wrinkled hands.

It was Weed.

Chapter 1: Land of Myth

Ghandilva, the elder of Baran Village, was in quite a dilemma. The village was once a peaceful village in the southern province of Rosenheim Kingdom and was a home to about 500 households, it was then invaded by monstrous lizardmen, and the villagers had either dispersed or were taken captive.

“I’d like to hear the story of where this seed comes from,” Weed asked.

Ghandilva’s colorless eyes shone with hope.

“W-would you help us when I tell you what I know?” ask Ghandilva desperately.

“Even if you don’t tell me, I will still help your people. When innocents are held captive by evil monsters, how can a fellow man leave it alone and go his own way?”

“Oh!” Ghandilva was struck with an urge to shout for joy. While everyone else dismissed his plea for help, here was a good samaritan who willingly offered his sword for the rescue of innocents.

“Darius-nim declined my request… because all I could offer in return was this seed,” Ghandilva dejectedly.

Certain that Darius was already out of earshot, Weed said carefully, “Those who would weigh the value of a good deed? It is unimaginable to me.” Weed replied.

“To think the world still has such great men left in it…” the elder murmured.

Weed’s eyes casually turned to Ghandilva’s clenched fist.

“Anyways, about this seed…”

“Oh, this? I don’t know what life it bears.”

“You don’t even know where it came from?”

“This seed has been passed down in my family. My ancient ancestors told me to guard it zealously, for it is invaluable. They have told me to give this only in return for a great favor or to a great warrior.”

“I see.” Everything clicked as if two puzzle pieces had finally fit together. Still, even then what he was planning was still a fifty-fifty chance of succeeding and was a big risk.

Was it the seed to show Weed the way to the City of Heaven, or just a plain seed of some random crop?

Among countless professions in Royal Road, there are gardeners and farmers as well. Unsurprisingly, they’re too few to find anywhere.

“Will you rescue my people?” the elder pleaded once more.

*Ting*

Quest: The Calamity of Baran Village

Baran was a peaceful and lively village, until the Eastern Border was ravaged by hideous monsters. When the lizardmen raided the village, Ghandilva the Elder didn’t have enough time to save all his people.

He escaped, taking only the young. The adults decided to stay behind to stall for time. The wicked lizardmen captured the resisting adults and, instead of beheading them, enslaved them in a stronghold in the Western Valley.

Rescue the parents of the children. If the time runs out, the lizardmen will show no hesitation in killing the villagers one after another.

Difficulty level: D

Reward: A Nameless Seed

Number of captives: 55

A quest with D level difficulty. It was equal to the Punitive Force quest. Weed still had an A level quest that was to succeed Zahab’s will, but it was still far beyond his capabilities for the time being.

To his dismay and annoyance the ‘Zahab’s will’ quest took up one of the three valuable quest spaces in the quest window. This quest was more difficult than anything that Weed had ever done, but he read the quest’s description over and over, skipping the difficulty level part.

Parents. The memory of Weed’s parents ceased when he was eight years old. Since then, he could only summon up the darkest hours of his life, when the loan sharks had bullied him.

‘It was the only legacy left to me.’ he thought bitterly.

Still, Weed missed his father and mother. He would pay any price to bring them back to life if it were possible.

As the would-be savior was deep in thought, Ghandilva fretted and asked,

“I suppose you’re not satisfied with the reward?” he asked worriedly.

“…”

“Once my village is restored, we will pay back your debt over time.”

“No, the reward is more than fine. It is more than I could possibly ask for. I will finish the quest as soon as possible.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

“Thank you. The lizardmen headed toward the valley near a mountain west of my village. I will eagerly await for your return and good news.”

When Ghandilva left, Weed’s teammates came over.

“Weed-nim, what did you do?”

“Did you just accept the quest?”

Pale and Surka gazed at Weed in disbelief. He had just accepted a new quest that would reward them with a mere seed.

“Don’t ask questions and just accept the quest that I got.”

Weed was the de facto leader of the party. On Weed’s insistence, Surka trusted that there must be a reason, walked over to Ghandilva, and accepted the quest.

“I’m with Weed-nim.”

“We also want to join in rescuing the villagers.”

*Ting*

Your party accepted the quest!

When the rest of Weed’s party accepted the quest, but they didn’t understand what the reason was. Pale’s head tilted to the side in confusion.

“I can’t understand why you gave up the punitive force quest and, instead, picked this quest after we came all the way here.”

“This quest will present a great opportunity if I’m not mistaken. And even if I’m wrong, it will still be better than participating in the punitive force quest.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Suppose we fight the lizardmen with the punitive force… At our levels, we can’t gain much in terms of experience and fame.”

They agreed with Weed– their levels were far lower than those of Darius and his group.

They were originally interested in search and destroy missions that would take place after the troops drove the lizardmen out of town, so the large-scale battle meant little to them.

Sandwiched amid two hundred other users at similar or higher levels, Weed’s party couldn’t really do much.

“I have a hunch that we’d be better off switching to this quest,” Weed said.

“But the quest difficulty level is D… Don’t you think it’s too difficult for the five of us?” Surka asked.

“Don’t worry, I have a plan,” Weed said mischievously.

“Okay, Weed-nim. We’re with you,” Pale said resolutely.

Weed decided to accept Ghandilva’s quest, and with this decision made, him and his party, broke away from the ranks. Soon, two men came to Weed’s party. They were Becker and Dale, Denarions officers and soldiers within the Rosenheim Army.

“Commander! Where are you going?” Becker asked.

“We’re just about to go off and fight the lizardmen.” Weed answered with determination,

“My teammates and I are leaving to liberate the villagers, fathers and mothers of the now homeless children, from the lizardman’s stronghold.”

“That’s quite a difficult mission!” Becker was startled by Weed’s statement. Dale looked in disbelief.

“Will the five of you be enough to accomplish this mission?” Dale asked with eyes opened wide with concern.

Dale sized up Weed’s party. He concluded that they appeared weaker than he, so he banged his chest and offered his service.

“Commander, we want to support you in this mission,” Dale said.

“Yes. Our commander will give us permission to join you if we explain the situation to him,” Becker said.

The friendship that Weed had built with these NPC’s had showed itself once again. Of course, according to the situation, there are times, such as mutiny or mass killing of innocent villagers, which would keep the soldiers from following orders regardless of their loyalty to their commander.

Charisma and good relationships cannot motivate soldiers unless it is supported by the leader’s fame and status, or a just cause.

In the eyes of the Dale and Becker, it was regarded as a heroic act that Weed had volunteered to rescue the villagers from peril.

As it was also largely associated with the original punitive force quest, they felt justified in helping him. However, after a moment of silence, Weed said, “I am more than grateful to hear that from you both, but that is not possible. You’re currently dispatched to help Baran Village under Darius-nim, are you not?”

“But…”

“The fewer the people for this mission, the better! I ask you to do your best in your task. What if we succeed in bringing back these parents, only to find that there is no place to stay for the rescued families?”

“Aye, Commander.” they replied.

Becker and Dale were persuaded and gave in his refusal. If Weed could get the help of the 200 soldiers from the Rosenheim Army, it would make it easier to set the captives free from the stronghold of the lizardmen.

This was especially the case since these two Denarion, had at one time, used to serve under Weed. The quest would be less burdensome if he had accepted their support.

His high Charisma stat could turn them into a formidable force once more.

Unfortunately, the downside to allowing the two Denarion and there men to follow Weed and his party, would be that Darius would quickly become aware of such a disappearance of a great number of soldiers, once news of it happened and reached Darius’ ears he would be sure to inquire into why his men were deserting his force. Which would be bad for Weed and his party. As it was, Darius probably wouldn’t notice that Weed and his small party were deserting from the main punitive force of three hundred other users.

* * *

Weed and his teammates quickly headed for the mountain west of Baran Village, as described by Ghandilva. The Western Mountain had a gloomy and dark demeanor.

A humid fog arising from waterfalls in the valley created the best conditions for the lizardmen.

“I think their territory extends to over here.” Pale the ranger, had improved his vision and observation skills to match with his class. For rangers it was an essential skill, since it allowed them to intercept enemies at a distance. It also helped in analyzing diverse landscapes.

Pale was concentrating on the ranger’s passive skills, such as Rapid Fire and Penetration. As it was the easiest path up to the second job of the ranger class.

Meanwhile Weed, whose class was a sculptor, was stronger than the others on average in sword mastery, thanks to his sculpture mastery and Zahab’s sculpting knife.

“Yes, I think the lizardmen crossed the Eastern border and camped here.” Weed answered shortly, studying the landscape. It was called a valley, but it was larger than most. They were trembling in trepidation that the lizardmen could surprise them from the surrounding forest.

Finally, they encountered the lizardmen warriors. There were 5 lizardmen in a small group acting as sentries. The reptiles resembled giant lizards on two feet with slippery, greenish skin. Their level was around sixty.

“Ew, gross,” Romuna remarked.

Weed could not disagree with her. Monsters in general were repulsive and unsightly. Yet, they hardly scared him.

‘I’ll just use the same strategy as I did on the goblins.’ Weed thought as he was sizing them up.

The lizardmen levels were roughly higher by ten, than those of the goblins, but they were field monsters. Monsters in dungeons or at night were 50% stronger and give more experience. Overall, the lizardmen strength was similar to that of the goblins if you had to compare them.

Weed equipped himself with the iron sword, instead of his bow.

He had been so busy with cooking meals and selling statues, and away from the battlefield for so long that his body was itching for blood.

‘Now I can try one of the sword techniques.’ he thought back with a vicious grin.

The five movements recorded in the skill books were as follows:

Skill: Imperial Formless Sword Technique

The First Form: Triple

With splendor, you strike an enemy three times consecutively. As the skill improves, the number of strikes and damage increases.

Mana Consumption: 300

The Second Form: Backstab

You instantly move behind an enemy and strike his back.

Mana Consumption: 400

The Third Form: Power Break

You destroy an enemy’s weapon by using five times your attack power.

Mana Consumption: 600

The Fourth Form: Sword Dance

You aim at an enemy’s vulnerable spot in a dance-like motion.

Mana Consumption: 1000

The Fifth Form: Sword Kaiser

You harmonize with your sword. Concentrate all of your mana and explode into a single point. Mana is consumed to zero, and if the amount of mana is below 2000, your health will be reduced as well.

The one footstep technique was an active combat skill to dodge an enemy attack with seven swift steps.

Weed nicknamed each form in the sword technique individually.

The first form was named Triple, and the rest, Backstab, Power Break, Sword Dance, and Sword Kaiser, respectively.

Weed’s mana totaled 940 points thanks to the Emperor’s Medicine Tablet. He could execute the skill Triple three times, Backstab twice, and Power Break only once.

Moves beyond the third form were out of the question because his mana could not even sustain them. He could activate the fifth form, Sword Kaiser, without mana, but it was too adventurous to gamble his life on a single attempt.

He labeled the footstep from the skill book as ‘Seven Celestial Step’. It alone consumed 100 mana. Fortunately, it lasted at least a minute once it was activated.

‘Let’s see what I can do.’

Weed hadn’t fought once since learning the Imperial Formless Sword Technique.

“In broad daylight, they are not as strong as they’re supposed to be,” Weed said to his teammates in a low voice, “The lizardmen can fight to the best of their abilities in swamps, but they’re far weaker in a valley. I’ll go first and fight them.”

Monsters that have adapted to a dry climate, such as poisonous scorpions and sandworms, are at their strongest in the desert or very hot and dry areas. The lizardmen, whose natural habitats are swamps, were weakened in the open.

Still, his teammates were surprised. Weed had just suggested they assault the stronghold of the lizardmen.

They had been following him to this point, but they counted on him to have a scheme to overwhelm the lizardmen, who outnumbered them.

“Wa-wait a sec Weed! Can we really just walk into their stronghold?” Pale asked.

“Yes, we can,” Weed replied.

“But this quest has a difficulty level D…” Pale said.

“For the difficulty level D, at least eight hundred lizardmen are encamped over there. Am I correct?” Weed asked.

Pale nodded dumbly at Weed.

“Eight hundred, give or take.”

“I’m sure that was exactly the case when we accepted Ghandilva’s request. But we have Darius helping us out.”

“Darius is helping us out?” Pale asked confused.

While Pale shook his head in puzzlement, Weed distributed tiny flasks to his other teammates.

“What’s this? Isn’t it a potion?” Romuna asked.

“This is a drink I brewed right before we left the Citadel. I bought empty flasks from a pharmacy at a cheap price,” Weed said.

“Why are you giving them out now–” Surka said.

“Drink it first, and you’ll see,” Weed said.

Weed gulped down the drink.

*Ting*

You have drunk: Brandy of Vitality

Effects:

+100 Health

+10 Strength

+5 Agility

Decreases your sense of pain in case of an injury.

Weed’s teammates emptied the flasks and looked stunned.

“Can’t believe this brandy did…” Irene said.

Surka had recently reached the legal drinking age, so she was particularly susceptible to alcohol. Drawn to the fragrance of the brandy, though, she drank it to the last drop and found the pleasant sweetness rather tasty.

“It wasn’t fermented for a long time, so the effect is limited. The upshot is, though, you can drink it with meals without hangovers,” Weed said.

Weed, who had finished drinking the brandy, was already moving toward where he presumed the lizardmen warriors were stationed.

* * *

Darius counted himself lucky. If not, he could not have been assigned to such a rare quest such as leading the punitive force.

The punitive force quest bound to Baran Village. It could elevate his fame to a higher level. A higher level of fame was accompanied by many benefits, and quests were no exceptions.

He could meet distinguished figures in key positions that he would have been denied to him otherwise, and easily gain more high-risk, high-return quests.

With three hundred troops under his thumb, Darius already viewed himself as some sort of an army general. The punitive force that was led by him finally arrived in the vicinity of Baran Village.

The wooden fences, which had been set up to keep monsters out, had collapsed, and the door of every home had been kicked in and broken.

The troops looked at the scene from over the hill. There wasn’t a single monster to be seen in the village, but they couldn’t relax. Darius turned and asked one of his comrades.

“Parros, go scout the area.”

“Okay. Stay here and wait until I get back.”

Parros was a thief. With extremely high agility and observation skills, he swiftly slipped in the village. About an hour or so later, he returned, panting, and reported, “There are hundreds of lizardmen hidden inside! They’re waiting for us to come closer.”

“They’re aiming for a chaotic battle.” Darius muttered.

Darius’ eyes gleamed icily. Obviously, the lizardmen, outnumbering his troops, were trying to reduce them to a full-scale melee. On the other hand, he also welcomed this kind of combat.

In the climax of confusion of the battle, Darius and his group having the highest levels among the troops could score the most kills, and as a result, would get the most glory.

“An expected known ambush is not an ambush. Just charge ahead to Baran Village!”

The troops stormed to the village. Suddenly, all of the lizardmen that were hidden in the houses came crashing out like a scaly tidal wave.

*Roar*

“Humans!” They hissed.

The lizardmen, who were basically muscular reptiles, held a shield in one hand and swung a blade in the other.

Most users were shocked by the amount of lizardmen charging toward them. Darius had decided not to inform them that the lizardmen were hiding there. Beheading a lizardman warrior, Darius grumbled to himself under his breath, “I don’t need the weak. All I want is the strong who are loyal to me. So, why share experience and fame with these weaklings?”

Darius used these tactics on purpose, at great risk of heavy casualties, solely because he was concerned that his share of EXPs and fame would be reduced if they were equally distributed amongst the other three hundred user.

The soldiers in Rosenheim Army followed Darius from behind. Their commander was Sir Jovantes.

When the knight realized they were trapped in a melee, surrounded by lizardmen who were leaping out from all directions, he shouted, “Stand your ground! Form a circle by platoons, and fight back!”

Platoons of ten soldiers began to build circular human fences, the signature battle formation for Rosenheim Army. The platoon leaders were Denarions, such as Becker and Hosram.

“Going into defensive formation!”

‘Taking defensive formation!”

“Same for us!” Hosram yelled to his men.

Almost all of the Denarions who had been educated by Weed made the same decision. Defense comes first! Only Becker stood out, “Let’s go get ‘em!” he roared.

The Rosenheim soldiers who were forming defensive circles distracted and lured lizardmen into a honeycomb formation.

They locked down the enemy, who charged into a maze of endlessly twisting passages.

In and out of the defensive circles, Becker and his ten troops emerged from nowhere and butchered the lizardmen who got lost.

* * *

As Weed approached the lizardman warriors, they let out their usual aggressive shrieks.

“Human!”

“Foolish humans! You come to die?!”

The five lizardmen warriors charged toward him, brandishing their blades. The level of each lizardman was low, but it was compensated by their number.

If Weed was encircled by them, he had to face each of them from all directions putting him in a disadvantageous position.

Weed was confident though. He had raised forty points of strength, agility and vitality for a month in the Training Hall.

If you heard about it, you would probably think it was a simple thing to do. Then, you would wonder why no one else did the same thing.

With higher stats, it’s much easier to hunt monsters. But think about it carefully. It takes one whole month of beating the living hell out of a scarecrow. One looong month. Would you be able to tolerate the boredom and physical hardship?

If you do it for twenty hours a day, it will add up to six hundred hours within a month.

You have to repeat the same action continuously while in constant pain, which feels as if your muscles are being squeezed and burned at the same time, and even professional athletes don’t go that far.

Professional athletes in general spend no more than five hours a day on just focusing on exercising. Weed had been through 120 days’ worth of exercise that an average athlete would do.

If you look at it from a different perspective, it’s equivalent to earnestly working out for an hour every day in a fitness club for two years.

There weren’t many people who would sacrifice so much time in order to raise forty points of several stats.

The fact that Weed finished the course in only one month exemplifies how persevering he was. He also had the sword techniques that he hadn’t tried before. He rather welcomed the lizardmen.

Weed and Surka were standing on the front-line to confront the charging lizardmen. Given that their party lacked a warrior or a knight, those two had to take the role of the melee fighter.

“Eh, well, Weed-nim,” Surka said.

“Yes?” Weed asked back.

“If I die, please save yourself.”

Surka looked pessimistic in the face of the five lizardmen.

“Don’t worry, Surka-nim. If any of us go down, I’ll be the first. As I will be the one to aggro them,” Weed said confidently.

“Weed-nim, you’re a sculptor. Oh, by the way, what’s your level?” Surka asked.

“It’s 68.” he answered.

Weed briskly plunged into an opening in between the lizardmen.

“Watch out!” Surka said.

His sudden action threw his teammates into utter confusion, but he was composed.

“Seven Celestial Footstep!” Weed cried.

He confidently activated the footstep technique that he had named, a skill to dodge enemy attacks with seven eccentric, unpredictable steps.

Charging forward, he suddenly disappeared right in front of a lizardman, and emerged on the right of it the next second.

“First form, Triple!” Weed cried.

Weed moved dizzyingly and swung his sword. Three silhouettes struck the lower, middle and top part of the lizardman’s body at the same time.

*Bam Bam Bam!*

The lizardmen were stronger than goblins. Their body had the flexibility of reptiles, and high speed. Their overall attack power wasn’t that impressive, but what was terrifying was their greenish scaly hide.

The thick scaly hide was a defense of its own, and they were even wearing plundered armor that they had looted from other races, which made them even more difficult to deal with.

*Kwaak*

Damaged by Weed’s skill, the lizardman cried heavily in pain. It had so far lost 80% of its health and was near death. Mana consumption for Power Shot, Pale the ranger’s signature skill, was 25 points.

Compared to that, Weed’s skills were mana drain sinks. However, as much as it was a mana drain of 300, its power was just as deadly as the drain.

Surka, right beside Weed, watched the whole scene unfolding before her eyes. She had gone through a number of battles with him to date, but nothing like this…

Since he killed the wolf and saved his teammates selflessly, he had been the leader of their party. Ever since he became a sculptor, he had started cooking.

The whole thing was incomprehensible enough, but it seemed that his combat ability had not vanished.

‘I don’t know what skill it was, but that was awesome!’ Surka thought.

She felt as if three swords pierced the lizardman almost at the same time when Weed used Triple.

‘I can’t lose to him!’

Surka punched the lizardman that Weed had already attacked. She wanted one of them down for now. The lizardman had fallen, stunned by his Triple attack, so it could not avoid her punch.

“Rapid Shadow Fist!” (Yon-hwan-kwon).

Since the enemy had a higher level than Surka, she used her best skill to begin with. Clenching her fist, she threw five jabs in a row.

It was a basic, yet one of the most popular, combat skill for monks. Her expertise rating in Rapid Shadow Fist (Yon-hwan-kwon) was already at 65%.

*Pabababak!*

The lizardman that was hit on the chest and the solar plexus turned into a gray flash.

“What the?!”

Surka was petrified for a moment due to shock, even though she was in the middle of a fierce battle.

“Sure it was stunned. But why did it die so quickly?”

In stunned mode, a monster is unable to move, and is damaged twice as much when hit.

Still, Surka felt cheated that a lizardman, who at level sixty, was so easily knocked out by her punches.

The other lizardmen were not idling away, either. When their comrade was attacked, they roared in fury. Four blades were flying toward Weed almost at the same time, cutting off every possible option for dodging.

However, his body evaded like a reed in the wind. Three of the blades barely scraped his head, leg and shoulder. The last one that he could not dodge cut into his side, leaving a lengthy wound, but the damage was lessened to one third.

*Ting*

You have lost 350 Health Points! (-350 HP)

One of many penalties for the sculptor class is that they are not allowed to wear heavy armor made of iron.

Defensive gears made of non-metals are typically weak in defense unless they are made of special materials or enchanted with a permanent spell.

Though Weed was wearing a basic leather jacket that he had bought at a really cheap price from a second-hand store, even a single strike on him could be deadly if he wasn’t careful…

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s sword, enveloped in a translucent flash, sailed toward one of the lizardmen once again. It was targeted at the neck that looked pretty sturdy.

*Pierce*

It was another one of Weed’s signature skills that was aimed at a vital spot with great timing!

*Ting*

CRITICAL HIT!

The Sculpting Blade, ignoring the enemy’s defense, and dealt great damage to the lizardman. The only flaw was that it consumed an enormous amount of mana. Had that not been the case, he would have used it every time.

Along came Romuna’s spell. “Fire strike!” she yelled.

A pillar of flame split into four fireballs in the air, and struck the lizardmen. The side effect of the spell was to push the enemy back, temporarily giving melee fighters a precious break to catch their breath.

“Fire arrow!”

Pale held the lizardmen in check with arrows. His arrows contained the element of fire that was fatal to them.

“Healing Hand!”

Irene quickly regenerated Weed’s diminished health. Then, she cast a spell of holy blessing.

“Goddess Freya, lay your protection of the Holy Spirit upon Weed. Strengthen him against evil powers. Bless!”

Holy blessings empower defense and strength. There are countless types of spells designed to boost various attributes.

A shaman’s voodoo art speeds up and increases strength and agility temporarily. A holy knight’s aura over an entire party is deemed pretty effective too.

But it is ultimately a priest or priestess’ blessing that beats all in the field of buffs. If you fight for a long time under the influence of a blessing from a priestess, you will feel almost powerless without them.

Once Irene finished what she was originally assigned to do, she pitched into Weed sharply.

“Weed-nim, you were too reckless this time.”

Weed nodded apologetically. In truth, he had fought a lizardman unprotected on purpose to experience their strength.

Moreover, he had been interested in figuring out how much damage the Imperial Formless Sword Technique could deal.

The outcome surpassed his expectations. Each and every one of the combat skills that Weed had at that time demanded an unsustainable amount of mana. So he couldn’t afford a prolonged fight because his combat skills simply consumed more mana that he could ever maintain.

But the skills were the most dominant in a small-scale battle. They gave Weed a ridiculous amount of power until his mana ran out.

When the amount of usable mana increased, in accordance with level ups, and the mana consumption for sword-related skills dropped, thanks to his better expertise rating in sword mastery and handicraft skill, the Imperial Formless Sword Techniques would shine.

However, in the eyes of Weed’s teammates, he just looked reckless. They didn’t know that his level was sixty-eight, and they had a prejudice against the sculptor class, thinking he was weaker than his counterparts.

It was true that the defense of a sculptor was pathetic. Except for spell-casting classes, the sculptor class was one of the most vulnerable ones in Royal Road.

Instead to balance this, Weed had the Sculpting Blade, and since his conversion, the effect of sculpture mastery had been fully blended into his unrivaled attack power.

A fragile sculptor. Though the future was yet unknown, Weed was more of a damage dealer than a stronger sword warrior for now.

He smiled at Irene’s buffs as his strength had risen by twenty percent, and he felt clad in comfort.

*Ting*

You have lost 230 Health Points! (-250 HP)

Weed let one of the lizardmen strike him again. He was damaged much less due to the holy protection of Irene. It showed that she had raised her expertise rating in the skill meanwhile.

‘That’s what I love about hunting as a party.’ he thought smugly.

Priests and priestesses are respected and valued everywhere for their distinct ability. Regardless of their skill level, any party is eager to invite them.

Even though Irene was a bit low in her level, she had sharpened her skills and was the most necessary asset in hunting monsters.

The bandage skill that Weed had learned only worked when he was not in combat. Although it was still incomparable to a priestess’s Healing Hand right on the spot. After reproaching him, Irene gave a small smile.

“But it’s just like you, Weed-nim, to charge at mobs.”

Weed never turned his back on monsters coming to get him – because in them, there were those lovely EXPs! Except for fighting monsters that he found it too difficult to face at his current level, Weed enjoyed jumping into the horde of monsters and slaying them.

While moving his arms and legs like crazy, he felt the wind of freedom. He collected EXPs, leveled up, picked up items and upgraded his skills.

Each step was so much fun, and the result was always worth every drop of his sweat and blood. Previously, in The Continent of Magick, and even now, Weed was always the first man to engage with monsters at the sight of them.

“Triple! Backstab!”

As soon as his mana was regenerated, Weed triggered his combat skills. It was his priority to raise the level of his skills. Consumed mana was being refilled, anyway.

*Ting*

You have failed to activate the skill!

Since his skill level in many combat skills was virtually close to zero, he often failed to activate the skill.

When the sword techniques didn’t arrive, he was stunned into immobility for a few seconds. During this moment, Weed counted on his teammates and persisted in trying out his combat skills.

He felt comforted to know that someone was always behind his back. His unassailable attacks took care of the lizardmen in the blink of an eye.

“…”

When the battle was over, his teammates looked at Weed in a daze. Their tension had been high at the thought of confronting five lizardmen, but it ended even before Surka or Pale came close to any serious danger there way.

“Weed-nim, that skill…”

“It’s too strong.” Pale and Surka complained almost at the same time.

“Uh, well…” Weed said.

“You’ve leveled up so much. I don’t think you really need us,” Romuna asked.

“That’s not true.” Weed shook his head. “It drains me of at least three hundred mana points, and that’s for the weakest movement. So I can’t use it more than three times in a row.”

“Ehhhhh!?” they all said at the same time.

Weed waited for the shock to sink in.

“I only have two hundred and thirty mana points total. This means I can’t even try it once… Then, Weed-nim, can you tell us how much mana you have since you can use it three times?” Pale asked in disbelief.

“A little over 900,” Weed said.

“Oh my goodness!”

Pale looked shocked. Romuna the mage and Irene the priestess had around 500 mana points.

Their mana points were rather above their level, but the incredible amount of mana that Weed claimed to have made their jaws drop.

Weed briefed them on what had happened to him. His quest in converting to the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor class was simply beyond any conventional wisdom.

A user selects his primary class by level five on average, and here was a man who converted to the sculptor class, at around level 60 and after weathering numerous trials.

Pale sighed, “You were not just a sculptor, but the Moonlight Sculptor. A hidden class. I didn’t know that you were also the rumored celebrity sculptor in town.”

“Rumored?” Weed asked back.

“We heard that some guy was making statues and selling them in the Citadel of Serabourg. We wanted to buy some, but we were short of cash,” Irene said.

Irene looked at Weed with yearning eyes. It was unmistakable what she wanted from him.

“I wasn’t really trying to hide it from you, but, anyway I’ll make a statue for each of you later.”

“Thank you, Weed-nim!” she screamed gleefully.

“Same here.”

“I’d like to have one if you don’t mind,” Pale said.

Weed promised to make a statue for every teammate in his party.

“Now we have enough rest. Let’s go and kill some more lizardmen. This quest has a deadline, so we’d better finish it before it’s too late.”

“Sure.”

Weed continued leading his teammates through lizardmen that got in the way. In most cases, Weed started with critical damage to the enemy, and Pale and Surka picked up where Weed left and finished them off quickly.

Romuna was responsible for eliminating one or two lizardmen in the distance if there were more than the others could handle.

The rest were taken down by Weed and Surka while the other teammates rested to recover some mana points. Their coordinated combat tactics were well matched.

In the past, lots of foxes, wolves and bears had fallen victim to them, leaving fur and meat behind them, and now the victims had switched to unsuspecting lizardmen.

The pace was much faster than when Weed had hunted on his own, and by contrast with the clean-up operations in the Lair of Litvart with Rosenheim soldiers, Weed and his teammates were synchronized in a party system, which meant that earned EXPs were collected and fairly distributed among them.

Weed didn’t need to try to give the final blow to a dying enemy. Had he stood idly, he would have received a minimum share of EXPs due to his small contribution, but that wouldn’t be like Weed.

“Wow! These reptiles are richer than they look, aren’t they?”

Surka exclaimed at the sight of the items dropped by the slain lizardmen. The booty included a steel gauntlet and breast armor. Besides that, they obtained a ring.

*Ting*

Item: Mana Ring

Equipped: +3% Increase to maximum Mana

It was the first time that the party had ever seen an accessory like a ring.

“Who’s going to take this?”

At Surka’s words, everyone looked at each other, but the mana ring ended up in Irene’s possession since they agreed that the battles would be safer as the priestess had more mana to support the others.

The rule for splitting spoils in the party was whoever picked up an item kept it. A rare item often changed hands according to the general will, but miscellaneous items otherwise destined for the general store were open game.

It sounded like a very unreasonable rule, but they found it acceptable given the nature of their party. If they had chosen someone to take charge of item storage, it would easily exceed the weight limit for how much he could carry. That was why they let anyone gather items up to their weight limit.

Weed and Surka, who were active in battles, were usually the last to pick up an item, aware that when they could not carry anything else, the battle was as good as over.

This was the current structure of the party so there really wasn’t much of a choice.

Once they began to fight, they went all the way to the end. Since they had already decided to penetrate all the way into the stronghold of the lizardmen, the battle would not be over until they had killed every last lizardman standing.

Chapter 2: The Statue of the Goddess Freya

As Weed and his teammates came closer to the lizardmen’s stronghold, the number of monsters falling in their way increased rapidly.

“We already took down more than forty lizardmen…”

“We’re still at the border. How many more do you think are gathered deep inside?”

Irene and Romuna spoke in turn. But Weed only smiled.

“Look, you all know the lizardmen are group-living monsters, don’t you?”

“Yes, Weed-nim. They herd together more than Orcs,” Irene said.

“That’s right. They also protect their own territory jealously. What if someone steps over it?” Weed asked.

“They fight back without exception!” Surka said.

“That’s right. That’s what makes the lizardmen fearsome among users.”

“Doesn’t it mean we’re in trouble now?”

Weed and his teammates were going through a valley. They often rested in the middle to recharge mana, and wasted no energy.

At this point, he gave away the riddle.

“I’d say we would be in danger under normal circumstances, but we can count on Darius now.”

Because of Weed’s revelation, they realized where his confidence was coming from.

“What do you mean by that–oh, I got it!” Surka said.

“Darius is really helping us out!” Romuna said with a smile on her face.

The stronghold of the lizardmen.

By now they should have been fighting viciously against the punitive force who had invaded their territory.

In other words, the base camp would be nearly abandoned, and only guarded by a handful of lizardman warriors.

At the sometime, Weed guessed that the treasures that the lizardmen had plundered from nearby villages were stacked over there as well.

He was climbing the western valley in order to accomplish Ghandilva’s quest, but his real agenda was hidden.

“We will face a more difficult enemy from this point on. How about baiting them now?” Weed asked.

“Roger!” Surka said.

“We should be careful. We can’t allow many lizardmen to take on us at once,” Weed said.

Surka did a great job baiting lizardmen one by one. Her outstanding agility helped her lure the enemy separately.

“Come on, you ugly reptiles!” she called out to them.

“Kruru!”

“Human, we kill you!” The furious lizardmen quickly gave chase after Surka. Weed and Pale quickly loaded arrows into their bows, targeted the lizardmen and shot them.

*Sweesh*

While Weed shot one arrow at a time, Pale shot multiple arrows so fast that his hands were almost invisible.

Their skill levels in archery made a fair difference, not to mention the effects of Pale’s other skills.

Weed’s archery had advanced beyond his overall level as he had sniped at the goblins, yet he could not possibly rival Pale whose hands had never left his bow.

For Pale, even before an arrow hit a target, the next arrow was already loaded and launched.

Since level five, when he converted to the ranger class, he had been upgrading the Chain Shot and Penetration skills, which rendered his arrows more powerful.

Weed shot arrows until the lizardmen got too close to him. The damage was low, yet his expertise rating in archery improved nonetheless.

No, the bottom line was that his temperament didn’t allow him to sit back and wait for his enemy.

Why should I wait for EXPs, no, I mean, the enemy to come?

Weed loved to fight, he just never got tired of it. He was unstoppable now.

“Yatz, yatz, yatz!” From out of his mouth, came another battle cry that burst forth.

Irene and Romuna giggled. They had once mentioned this to Weed already, who had to admit he couldn’t help it.

For him, it was a roar of triumph that came out only when he was overly excited.

Fortunately, there had never yet been a time when monsters had heard him and rushed to get his party, though he was constantly embarrassed by his involuntary habit when he was fighting shoulder to shoulder with other users.

‘Weed is always composed, but he sometimes goes out of control and becomes so childish,’ Irene thought.

They encountered six lizardmen in a ludicrous battle.

The moment the battle began, two of the lizardmen were slaughtered by Weed’s sword, and there were four more to go.

He left those four monsters alone because if he had taken down all of them, Romuna, Pale and Surka would be denied precious EXPs.

Worse still, Weed’s mana would run out while Irene’s mana remained in excess, which would compel the entire party to take a break in order for him to refill his mana. They would waste valuable time, falling further behind the deadline of the quest.

Two lizardmen went after Surka, but the other two, in a fury, charged at Weed to exact their revenge for the loss of their comrades.

Weed’s sword was in need of repair, below ten in durability. Given that a powerful sword technique gives an excessive burden to the weapon in use, further lowering the weapon’s durability, he had been engaged fiercely without a rest.

“Disarm the iron sword.”

Weed returned his sword to the inventory and clenched his fists.

Surka’s signature skill!

“Rapid Shadow Fist!” (Yon-hwan-kwon).

Weed’s fists lashed out at the enemy incessantly.

Although he had called out the skill name, it wasn’t actually like he activated the skill itself. Because He hadn’t even learned it in the first place, let alone be able to use it.

Instead, he imitated the way Surka had used her fists to the best of his knowledge, and beat the living crap out of the lizardmen.

Wanting to hit monsters with his own hands, he had learned martial arts for a year, waiting for that moment.

Needless to say, his punches were terrific.

*Pabababak*

Weed’s hands moved at an invisible speed.

In clubbing the lizardmen mercilessly with his fists, his intermediate handicraft skill added an extra fifty percent to attack power by fist.

“Ugh!”

“Human fists, they hurt!”

Weed closed on his enemy, punching at every opening. The lizardmen swung their blades in retaliation.

The bottom line was, the lizardmen and Weed were both obsessed with looking off the other before being finished themselves.

Weed’s footsteps were light. Any time his body rocked, a punch was thrust into a lizardman. His ankles and waist moved at his will and drew strength for the fists, which in turn struck the lizardmen’s stomach and chests.

“Kugh!”

“Treacherous human, he hits the same spot over and over!” The lizardman wailed in pain.

“Weed-nim, keep up the pressure!” Irene was busy healing the frontline leaders from behind.

Her expertise in healing was acknowledged, and whenever her teammate’s life went down below seventy percent, her Healing Hand touched the needy. It is risk-free and effective.

Weed was greatly enjoying the firsthand sense of punching the living hell out the enemy. He preferred hand-to-hand combat to sword fighting, for he could feel it, and it felt more real.

The lizardmen and Weed were pummeling each other, but it wasn’t the same for the lizardmen. The lizardmen’s faces were filled with pain, but a smile hovered on his face.

He was whirling his mighty fists, crying out with excitement.

Meanwhile, Romuna and Pale were quickly casting magic spells and shooting arrows, respectively, to get rid of the other two lizardmen that had fastened onto Surka.

Without a hope in sight, those two lizardmen facing Weed were having the living hell beaten out of them, yet they were still alive.

*Ting*

New Stat: Perseverance

The perseverance stat is mostly generated by warriors in the first rounds of their adventure.

When it is developed, it reduces physical damage inflicted by the enemy, and even increases the user’s life by a small amount.

One could invest some stat bonus points from a level up in the perseverance stat, but the majority chose to let it develop itself by receiving melee attacks. After the perseverance stat was added to his stats, Weed’s movement became more tactical.

He checked how much mana Irene had and intentionally let the lizardmen strike him with their blades. It was a stat that grew by the amount the user was hit. This was truly a power you could obtain only through pain and suffering.

Weed was a person that gladly accepted the lizardmen’s attacks as long as they were acceptable and were within Irene’s mana limit to heal.

In Royal Road, you can actually feel hurt when you’re hurt. Weed even enjoyed the pain.

“Kueeek!”

One of the lizardmen finally perished with a death cry.

Weed achieved a stirring feat by punching a lizardman to the point of death in the battle.

The other three lizardmen were sandwiched by Romuna, Pale and Surka and were killed.

Weed had killed three of them alone, but it would not have been easy even with the iron sword unless Irene constantly regenerated his life. The victory required all five of them in the party.

* * *

Surka went fishing for a group of lizardmen in the distance when there were two or more groups of lizardmen nearby.

If it had not been the case, Pale would simply shoot an arrow at them, or more often than not, Weed would be the first man to move.

Weed would run right into the ranks of lizardmen and swing his sword freely. His teammates would run after him and help finish the monsters off. After which point, they would walk away victorious. This was what Weed liked about his teammates most.

They were usually chatty and noisy on the march, but when it came to a battle, they would fall silent and get serious.

They had been thoroughly trained by Weed.

Since they had hunted foxes in front of the Citadel, they had learned how to hunt monsters rapidly and economically.

When they entered the lizardmen’s stronghold after neutralizing a handful of lizardman guards, they found a bunch of straw huts scattered in the forlorn valley.

‘The captives are over there,’ Weed thought, as his eyes shone.

The parents of the children were confined in a cage made of woven branches.

Weed studied the situation for a while.

There were ten men and women locked in the wooden cage, and he located eight lizardmen mounting guard over them.

Eight of them!

With little consideration for mana, Weed could finish two, or three at most, in a blitz, but in that case, his teammates would have to deal with the other five remaining guards.

He was certain that they would prevail in the end, but Irene and Romuna, who were low in life and weak in defense, could end up dying. Mages and priestesses could be seriously endangered by only a few wild strikes from a lizardman.

“We’d better rescue the captives first. I’ll lead the group away.”

Surka knew it was time for action, and moved.

“Human!”

“How she get here…”

“Kill first!”

When Surka approached the lizardmen, five of them began to chase after her. Instead of pursuing her, the other three lizardmen stayed behind to keep an eye on the captives.

‘They’re not as foolish as I thought.’ Weed made eye contact with Surka on the run. They nodded.

- Weed-nim, I will race in a circle along where we came from, and come back here.

- Thank you, Surka-nim. That will be enough.

Weed and Surka struck a quick deal through whispers.

Assured that she and her pursuers were out of sight, Weed and Pale appeared in front of the remaining lizardmen.

“More humans!” they yelled.

“Human, come again!” The three lizardmen stammered in surprise.

“Sculpting Blade technique!”

“Fire arrow!”

“Power shot!”

The guards survived barely a second against the human intruders. Weed and Pale downed them in a split second and opened the gate of the wooden cage.

The parents stayed inside, though, scared out of their wits. Weed could sympathize with how terrified they probably were, having been captured by the lizardmen and waiting for death that could come any second.

“We are here by the request from Ghandilva, the elder of Baran Village,”

Weed said to the villagers.

“The- the elder…?”

“Yes, he asked us to rescue you and take you all back home safely. Is anyone wounded here?”

“This way, please…”

Weed went into the wooden cage and gave first aid to the wounded with herbs and bandages.

That measure alone restored their health greatly.

“Weed-nim, Surka-nim is back,” Pale said.

Surka, who had been leading the lizardmen away from the cage, was coming back.

“Stay in the cage for a minute. Get ready to leave for now. You want to see your children again, don’t you?” Weed said tenderly to the villagers.

Some would have counted the villagers as a liability, and, as a matter of fact, they were right in a sense because his party was responsible for rescuing the captives from the lizardmen and guaranteeing their safety all the way to Baran Village.

But Weed thought one step further.

‘These lovely EXP points!’ he thought gleefully.

What Weed was carrying out was a rescue mission.

For each head saved, he would receive extra EXP points as a reward when the mission was completed. He had given up fame and EXPs from the punitive force quest to exterminate the lizardmen, but this one was still a good bargain.

Weed and his teammates finished off the five lizardmen that returned on Surka’s heels. They quickly hid the villagers in a safe shelter, and then searched for more captives, who were eventually found and rescued as well.

Their disappointment though, lay in what the lizardmen had looted and stacked.

Orcs and goblins collect gold and gems. In stark contrast with those crow-like creatures, lizardmen in the class Reptilian hardly gathered anything valuable when they plagued human civilization.

So all that Weed’s party found were a mountain of shields, armor and weapons made of iron.

* * *

Weed and his teammates swept the armaments together without leaving anything behind. The maximum weight that a user can carry depends on his strength and stamina.

Even Irene and Romuna were stumbling toward the village with heavy loads on their backs.

Of course, it wasn’t only his party that carried arms.

“We saved you.” Weed said to the rescued villagers. Their faces showed some uneasiness at his words.

“Naturally we’re not asking for any compensation for what we have done. All we want is a seed that Ghandilva, the elder of your village, has promised. this is because we didn’t save you for reward or profit .”

Reassured, the villagers looked less anxious than before.

Smiling gently, Weed added, “I understand you’ve gone through trouble a lot, but would you mind helping as carry those arms down to the village?”

“……”

The villagers’ faces underwent another sudden change.

They were extremely weary due to malnutrition. The last thing they wanted to do was anything that might compromise their return to home.

“As you see, this valley is something close to an impenetrable fortress, and I’ve heard that Orcs often appeared here.”

At a mere mention of Orcs, the villagers shuddered in terror. They had barely survived the lizardmen, and if Orcs were the next calamity to deal with, they knew it was going to be a hopeless case.

“Just in case, suppose that the Orcs find this place – they will rejoice over those arms stacked here. They could take up the arms and sweep over Baran Village down in the valley. So I think the arms should be removed from here. Will you please help us?”

Persuaded by Weed, the villagers ended up carrying as heavy loads as they could possibly manage and walking down the valley.

Meanwhile, the lizardmen in Baran Village had been wiped out by Darius and his troops.

The village was devastated, but the rescued villagers wept in delight for their return anyway.

At the front gate of Baran Village, Weed said to them again, “Thank you so much, my friends. We could not have made it here safely without your care and support. I will take over here, so you are free to go back to your children. They’re desperately waiting for their mothers and fathers.”

The moment Weed finished his speech, the villagers put down the heavy arms and scattered, looking for their sons and daughters.

Ghandilva was waiting with children in a clearing near the gate.

“Mother!”

“Father!”

“Selen, Marron, I’m glad you’re alive!”

It was a touching reunion between children and parents. Ghandilva walked to Weed, smoothing his white beard.

“You have finished the quest, Weed-nim.” the elder stated.

“Yes, sir,” Weed said humbly.

“I am very grateful to you that you rescued all of my fellow villagers. Honestly, I did not expect you would accomplish so much… You did a great job. None of us will ever forget what you have done for us.”

*Ting*

Quest Completed: The Calamity of Baran Village

The dispersed families in Baran Village were reunited by the brave heroes who were willing to see justice done.

The village was destroyed by the lizardmen’s raid, but the crowing of roosters and the barking of dogs will be heard soon.

The children are relieved to see their parents again. Till the day their eyes fill with tears from their parents’ scolding, the children will have gratitude for the brave heroes.

Quest Reward: Nameless Seed

You have leveled up!

Fame has risen by 15 points (+15 FAME)

The fame and EXP were distributed equally to everyone in the party, but the seed was given directly to Weed who was the party leader.

“We in Baran Village owe you.”

“No, Sir. We have only done what we were supposed to. We will always do our best to preserve Baran Village’s peace and prosperity.”

There are many factors involved in receiving a quest.

NPCs may beg anyone who they run across them if they want a quest to be done urgently, but most of them will wait for their favorite user, if any, to appear to solve their problems instead of trusting a total stranger.

“Darius, I think you’ll regret this.”

Weed had won considerable trust and gratitude from Elder Ghandilva and from the villagers who had been rescued by Weed’s party, they would also feel deep indebted to their saviors as well, and this would work to their advantage when shopping and other services in the village itself.

If Darius assumed that he had nothing much to gain from Baran Village, he would not be worried. But he would have to pay for his mistake if he had planned to expand his power over the Southern province based on his status as the commander of the punitive force.

Obviously, this subtle friendship rather than material reward was more likely to turn into the biggest asset in the future.

Darius would not have rejected the quest under normal circumstances, but he had been the commander of the punitive force.

It would have been a tough decision to abandon his mission to lead his troops to defeat the lizardmen for a major credit, or to instead, rescue a handful of villagers from their stronghold.

For that reason, Weed understood Darius, but pitied him at the same time.

Opportunities like these don’t present themselves often. Like an unforeseen accident from nowhere, they come and go.

Ghandilva suddenly clasped Weed’s hands.

“I am reminded that I have another favor for you, Weed-nim. You’re a trustworthy man. I heard from soldiers in the punitive force that you were a sculptor. Am I mistaken?”

“No, Sir” Weed said calmly.

“We used to have a statue of Freya that we all worshipped in the central square of the village.”

Freya was a goddess who is widely worshipped in Rosenheim. She was known to govern fertility and beauty.

Ghandilva said with a gloomy face, “We have always prayed for peace and prosperity to the village statue of Freya. But it was smashed in an accident earlier this year. Now that I look back on how things have turned for the worse, I suspect that the absence of the statue caused all of those troubles.”

“Do you me want to restore the statue of the goddess?”

“Yes, Weed-nim, I want you to carve a new statue of Freya. I originally asked another plausible foreigner to bring a replacement, but I have not since heard from her. It’s urgent. Would you please carve a statue of Freya?”

*Ting*

Quest: The Statue of Goddess Freya

Freya, the goddess of beauty and fertility is the patron goddess in Baran Village. The statue of Goddess Freya stood in the central square, but it was destroyed by a pine tree when a flood knocked the tree down. Though the lizardmen are defeated, the villagers will not live in peace until the statue of Freya is restored.

Build a statue of Freya in the village and bring peace back.

Difficulty: Class restricted quest.

Quest requirement: Only available to Sculptors.

It was a class quest reserved to sculptors. The difficulty level and rewards for the quest were undecided because they depended strictly on the outcome.

The rewards for most quests were settled by the same rule.

Except for definite missions such as messengers or couriers of certain objects, the rewards varied to a great degree on the outcomes.

“Please wait here. I need to consult with my teammates.”

When Weed said so, his teammates, who had been listening to the conversation vacantly, grinned and congratulated him.

“Congratulations, Weed-nim! Good luck,” Surka said.

“I thought we made a mistake when we ditched the punitive force quest, but now I am proud that we did,” Romuna said, smiling.

“Ladies Surka and Romuna, thank you,” Weed said. “But if I accept this quest, I can’t go hunting with you all for a few days.”

Weed sought consent from his teammates, and Pale was eager to give it.

“It’s fine with us. What’s left for the punitive force quest is to run around and sweep up pockets of resistance. Since we’ve already encountered our fair share of lizardmen, I believe we can do it on our own. To be honest with you, Weed-nim, you have a far higher level than the rest of us, so we really want you to take this quest.”

Pale lifted the burden off Weed’s shoulder. The truth was, his teammates were a little uneasy at learning up with someone whose level was way above theirs.

As Weed played the role of the main leader and damage dealer in most battles, they felt like accessories to his adventure. For true teammates, everyone had to be put on equal terms, and the party could not work together as long as others were conscious that they were indebted to one person in particular.

“I see. Then i’ll take the quest,” Weed said, and walked to Ghandilva.

“I will make the statue of Freya, sir.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

“Thank you, Weed-nim. Please get ready and build it as soon as possible,” Ghandilva said.

When Weed and his teammates left the village, Becker and Hosram approached them along with their subordinates.

“Nice to see you again, Commander,” Becker said.

“Where are the others?” Weed asked.

“They are chasing after lizardmen on the run,” Hosram said with a grin.

Weed thought that the other soldiers were pursuing the remnants of the lizardmen that had been driven out of the village by the troops.

“What about you?” Weed asked.

“Sir Darius ordered all the soldiers from the Rosenheim Army to stay behind,” Becker said.

Weed suspected that Darius had assigned the Rosenheim soldiers to defend the village, so he could keep all the credit to himself.

Only the Rosenheim soldiers were left behind on sentry duty in the village.

* * *

Weed led his party to a secluded place. The seed was in his hand.

“Oh, by the way, speaking of the reward that we got after we rescued the villagers, what in the world is the seed for?”

At Surka’s question, Weed just looked down at the seed and said, “To be honest with you, I have a strange book. The book has this story written in it…”

The City of Heaven!

When Weed told them about the book he had received from Volk, even the usually calm Pale could not help but be shocked.

Every adventurer on the Versailles continent has a dream.

A fantasy continent. A land of living legends and mysteries. To leave footprints of his own on an undiscovered territory where no pioneer preceding him has ever been.

To explore in an unknown dungeon and shed light upon it’s secrets.

A man who discovers a new horizon earns many opportunities besides enormous fame. The opportunity to grow, and the opportunity to die.

“The City of Heaven–are you serious there is such a place? I heard of the City Under Earth…” Pale said.

“The City Under Earth?” Weed asked.

“Yes, it’s known to be a subterranean city deep down in the earth, and that the dwarves built it. Their palace is located there.”

“Can those users who select the dwarf race in the beginning go to the city?”

“Not really. I heard not every dwarf was allowed to get into the city. There are very few people who know the place. If you get there, you can acquire the expert blacksmith skill, and learn the artisanship skill, too.”

The dwarves.

They were headaches to Weed having chosen a sculptor’s path.

For a human user to learn the handicraft skill, he needs to select a primary class related to craft skills.

A sculptor can learn the handicraft skill in the stage of basic sculpture mastery.

In Weed’s case, he had obtained it even before he chose the class, for he had finished the unique serial quest about Zahab’s successor. But not everyone is half as lucky as he was.

Be assured that almost no one receives such a windfall.

Cooks and blacksmiths have to advance their skills to at least the intermediate stage to learn the handicraft skill. A tailor can learn it when he raises his skill level to eight in basic tailoring skill.

Unless you choose a craft class, you cannot reach the intermediate stage of any craft skill. So if you want to learn the handicraft skill, the tailoring skill is a must-have.

But dwarves are born with the handicraft skill right after the activation of a new account.

With boundless stamina and imposing strength by nature, dwarves even have superb handicraft!

Weed could not relax his vigilance against the race.

However, being a Dwarf does have it’s own drawbacks. Instead, dwarves are short in height, and penalized in spell casting, horse riding and expert combat skills.

Weed wanted to visit the City Under Earth someday.

“If I get the chance, I’d love to go there,” Weed said.

“It won’t be easy. I heard they are very hostile to humans. Only good artisans are respected there. Unless you win a certain degree of recognition from them, you’ll be denied entry to the city,” Pale said.

Sculpture masters such as Zahab and Geihar Von Arpen could have entered the City Under Earth.

I have a hunch that there’s probably something related to the sculptural art’s mystery down there.

That intuition aside, Weed took out the unidentified seed that he had received from Ghandilva.

“Alright. Let’s go for it. If I am wrong, we wasted our time for nothing,” Weed said.

“I’m sure your decision was right.”

“I have a good feeling about this.”

Irene and Romuna cheered Weed up.

Burdened by his teammates’ expectations, Weed used the identification skill carefully.

“Identify”

Item: Seed of Heavenly Tree

Durability: 1/1

Requirement: You must sow it near Baran Village.

Special Effect: Guides to the City of Heaven.

Once Weed read through the description window, he closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again.

His teammates were impatiently waiting for him to deliver the good news.

“This is real.”

Once Weed gave the confirmation, the rest of the party members cheered. However, there were still matters to discuss.

“I don’t want as to be seen sowing the seed and climbing up to the City of Heaven.”

Weed was going to take his teammates there, but introducing it to Darius and his minions, or even other members in the punitive force, hardly appealed to him.

Selfishness, or you could call him self-centered if you wish.

Still, it was Pale, Surka, Irene and Romuna that had been through the unofficial mission along with Weed to get hold of the seed.

“I agree with you. If there is a City of Heaven, it will be eventually discovered by someone and become available to everyone, but it doesn’t need to be us to do that,” Pale said, seconding Weed’s suggestion.

It wasn’t a case of monopolizing the information. It was more than those in the know deserved to be able to use that knowledge.

If everyone learned of the existence of the City of Heaven, the merits of their discovery would be diminished, and what Weed had done so far would not bear any fruit.

Living by kind and righteous morals was a foolish thing to do.

Imagine if they went public with the City of Heaven, who would unveil his own secrets, or share his own quest to whom appreciate their naïveté?

“I think so too. It’s too early to tell anyone else about this,” Irene said.

“Let’s go there alone,” Surka agreed.

They soon came to a common agreement on the matter.

Yet leaving for the City of Heaven was put off for the time being.

Weed had to finish his Statue of Goddess quest, and the punitive force quest for their other teammates was still underway.

They decided to head for the City of Heaven once they were all done with the quests.

They were half excited, yet half worried about exploring a new region. If it turned out to be too tough for them, they would possibly end up enjoying the scenery in the sky and coming back in vain. Such exploration always held such hazardous possibilities.

* * *

Weed cooked up a good excuse for Darius and his troops, who had been reported to be returning. He was afraid that they might question why his party failed to show up in the battles.

When they returned to Baran Village, however, the battered troops numbered less than a hundred, and they were quarreling with one another intensely.

“You’re responsible for this!”

“Why are you making a scapegoat out of me?”

“Your pathetic plan got Collonya killed in action!”

“It is his responsibility to take care of his own life.”

“Now you’re blaming the dead man!”

While winning back Baran Village, and cleaning up the remnants of the lizardmen, the troops had suffered heavy casualties.

To begin with, the group of total strangers was incapable of executing organized tactics, so they ended up losing many clueless users in the middle of dogfights.

As a consequence, there was no love lost between Darius and the ranks in the punitive force.

“It was a battle, part of a war, that we just participated in,” Darius said. “Inevitable casualties are always a part of war, aren’t they? Get over it.”

“A few casualties? Are you calling the death of Collonya an ‘inevitable casualties’?You don’t give crap about it? It’s all because of your bad leadership!” the angry user who had lost his friend shouted.

“Wasn’t it you who eagerly accepted to obey my bad leadership? I am tired of quarreling with you this way when the battle was decisively won.”

“What the hell!”

The quarrel between Darius and his ranks got worse.

With such heavy casualties, nobody cared if Weed and his teammates had run off during the mission.

Weed studied Darius and his minions. None of them looked hurt, all alive and well.

“I bet they took most of the EXPs for the punitive force. They forced the other users into a trap, and only went into battle when the lizardmen got weak and to finish the reptiles off.”

In a mid-size battle, it was up to the army leader how to fight, possibly changing the whole outcome of the battle.

Weed later learned that the lizardmen, hidden in a forest, had sent some of their fellows out to bait the hook users.

A forest is where they fight best.

A large army is rather immobile in a forest area where defenders are better placed than offenders.

Darius and his minions had engaged with the bait, and the main force had been ordered to penetrate through the forest.

While they were toying with the bait lizardmen, the main force had been trapped in the jaws of death.

When the main force eventually exhausted and wounded most of the lizardmen, Darius and his minions, who had finished off the bait, suddenly appeared, slaughtering them!

To sum it up, Darius and his minions had collected the most fame and EXPs.

“I did my best. I killed the most lizardmen, and my friends rescued you. Show us some respect,” Darius said calmly.

“What? Do you think we don’t know what you’re up to?”

“How can he say something like that? He’s not as clever as he thinks.”

“Darius is just some second-rate leader.”

When the users in the punitive force began to denounce their commander so loudly, Darius and his minions finally revealed their teeth.

“If you have the guts, stop mouthing off and fight a duel with me like a man,” Darius said.

“You wouldn’t be here in the punitive force if I hadn’t picked you, women.”

Weed looked at Darius and the other users in the punitive force cynically.

You are all fools. Weed thought.

Darius had spread a bad reputation about himself among general users in exchange for a handful of fame and public service points.

Sure, he had missed a bigger fish and went ahead to catch the smaller one right in front of his eyes. You have to pick up small ones without making a noise, and catch the big ones boldly. Then, you look around to see if there is something else you missed. That is the right path.

Still, the other users in the punitive force could not be forgiven for their collective folly.

What had they seen in Darius to obey him unquestionably? If they had stopped to throw a little doubt on his intentions, they would not have played to his fiddle.

It was their fault in trusting a stranger too much. If they had been more cautious, their friends would still be alive.

Chapter 3: The Lost Treasure of the Temple

“Good luck, Weed-nim.”

“If you make the statue look like me, I’ll reward you.”

It was decided that while Weed was carving the statue, his teammates would wander, hunting monsters with other users.

A handful of surviving lizardmen still harassed the local population, and there were fine hunting spots around the village.

Weed had already revealed himself as a sculptor, so the other users assumed that his quest was related to his profession, and nobody raised a question about it.

“Godspeed”

Once everyone else left, Weed stood motionless in the central square of the village.

He noticed that there were several Rosenheim soldiers and returning villagers.

They watched him with hopeful eyes.

“I should find a rock,” he said to himself.

Needless to say, the statue had to be made of stone.

Weed was most accustomed to wood carving, and it was the first time that he had ever handled stone.

Fortunately, there were many rocks in the neighborhood that were fit for his purpose. Baran was, after all, a backwater village stuck at the foot of mountains.

From the rocks, he finally chose one so large that a grown man could not embrace it with his arms.

“Let’s go.”

Weed took out a hammer and a chisel to cleave the rock.

*Ting*

Item: Hammer and Chisel for Sculpture

Durability: 10/10

They are a set of items for stone carving. Relatively cheap, they are dull and easily breakable. Careful handling is recommended.

Equipped: Sculpture Mastery +1.

Weed had bought them from the sculpture shop in the Citadel of Serabourg just in case, yet he had never thought he would actually use them on the trip.

*Clang clang clang!*

“The only difference between stone and wood carving is the material. Sculpture is all about the mental image and about how to shape an object from it. All I need to do is reproduce the image in my mind. It will bring the best statue, my own statue, out of this stone.”

Weed handled the rock carefully. Shaping stone demands more time and energy than you can ever imagine. A little shock on a wrong spot and the crack will spread all over the stone. A statue should have guaranteed longevity. Beads of sweat flooded Weed’s forehead from concentration and physical exertion.

By day two of his task, the rock was trimmed very little compared to day one, for Weed had so far failed to picture the definite image of a goddess.

Goddess Freya is known only to possess the utmost beauty. No living creatures have ever seen her actual appearance and this is why sculptors and painters alike are often challenged when creating artworks of her.

Artists are always dubious how to depict the Goddess Freya to realize her beauty to the full extent.

For this reason alone, she has never been portrayed identically in paintings and statues.

The artists have had a real headache over this issue. However, at the same time, it stimulates and challenges their pride and skill as artists.

Suppose two rivals carve statues, or paint paintings, of the Goddess Freya, and what if the goddess depicted by one is more beautiful than the other?

Painting skills aside, the goddess of beauty is only appreciated as long as she is the most beautiful of all, so the one with the more beautiful artwork will claim all the credit in the end.

‘Beauty. I have to carve the most beautiful Goddess Freya on the continent.’ That was the only subject filling Weed’s head.

That was why Romuna joked that she wanted him to model the statue on her.

*Claaang! Clang!*

The speed of the hammer and chisel working on the rock was slowing down, as Weed dug deeper into his thoughts.

‘How, and who should I shape this statue after?’ Weed’s mind became a tangled maze as he followed one thought after another.

Though this profession of becoming a sculptor was not originally his choice, slacking on an assignment given to him was against his temperament. If the completed work turned out to be mediocre, it would hurt his pride as a sculptor. Plus, his fame would vanish, which he could not overlook nor allow.

“Who should I take, who…”

At that very moment, someone’s image dawned on Weed.

“She would be…”

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The hammer and chisel began to pick up speed at last.

The rock was gradually trimmed off, the outline of the statue surfacing little by little.

As shards from the rock fell to the ground, the statue got start to show it’s shape.

A beauty beyond veiling.

An angel descend from the celestial realm and learns to smile.

Her smile envelopes the world with light.

She is but a single maiden.

‘Seoyoon’

The statue that Weed was carving was based on Seoyoon. He had looked at her face only once during the barbecue feast in the instructor’s house, but he had never seen any beauty comparable to hers.

Even a movie star could not rival her in raw natural beauty, where mysterious and noble dignity had combined. Yet there was a decisive flaw in her.

She never smiled, and her face was empty of any known expression. On the other hand, the statue was smiling a serene smile.

A lady in a traveler’s outfit, holding a sword.

To his shame, Weed had become quite enamored by the statue that none other than he was working on. He had thought he would just try to imitate Seoyoon’s pretty face, but as the hours passed by, he felt his heart throbbing at the sight of the statue’s smile.

The statue that held a mysterious charm to captivate people endlessly was on it’s way to completion.

“Oh my!”

“Look at that!”

Though only the general outline was roughly drafted, the Rosenheim soldiers were glued to the sight.

Even villagers had gathered, laying reconstruction work aside, and appreciated Weed’s work on the statue.

*Ting*

Statue: The Goddess Statue of Freya

Freya, the goddess of beauty and abundance, is the patron goddess in Baran Village. Her statue once stood in the central square, but it was destroyed by a pine tree when a flood swept the village.

Ghandilva the Elder laments over the destruction of the goddess statue, and requests you to find a replacement and bring it back.

* * *

A user entered Baran Village through the gate. She was clothed in a traveler’s outfit, but her face was hidden behind a robe.

Seoyoon.

She had already removed the scarlet sign of Murderer from her forehead by slaying lots of monsters, and none of fellow users. So her name was no longer cast in bright red anymore.

‘There are more people here. It’s disturbing, I just want to fight.’ she frustratedly thought

Seoyoon slowly walked away and headed for Ghandilva’s house to complete her quest. In an enchanted backpack that could store ten times the weight and volume of its original capacity was a statue of the Goddess Freya.

Ghandilva’s house, which she had not visited for months, had been largely destroyed by the lizardmen.

At the moment she was about to open the door–

“You’re really great! The Goddess Freya that you have created is really beautiful!”

“You’re flattering me, sir. The statue is only halfway done.”

Seoyoon could hear people inside talking.

“I cannot describe how much I appreciate you, Weed-nim. When the statue of the goddess is completed, my village will become peaceful life once again. I will never forget your kindness. Please help yourself.”

*Munch munch*

Now Seoyoon could hear someone devouring their meal.

Flattering the instructor back in the Training Hall– Weed had used the same formidable trick on Ghandilva the elder of Baran.

“……”

Seoyoon dropped her hand from the doorknob.

* * *

Two months earlier, Seoyoon had left the instructor’s place, and headed south.

She had wandered only in the unpopulated hinterlands and occasionally visited the backwater villages, fighting monsters all the way.

Either mountains or lairs had suited her as long as there were more monsters.

Battle after battle.

As long as Seoyoon could fight, she could forget everything else in it. Eventually, she had drifted to Baran Village.

The village had been peaceful back then, well before the lizardmen’s raid and occupation.

‘Whew… What should I do now?’ she thought briefly.

Seoyoon had visited the village to purchase food and dispose of her spoils by selling them in the village market. As she was walking through the village center, she had accidentally overheard Ghandilva sighing.

The Elder had been grieving over the destroyed statue of the goddess on the spot where it had once been, and at the sight of Seoyoon who happened to come by, he had asked her for a favor.

“You appear to be the right person to find a replacement for the destroyed statue of Goddess Freya to my village! Would you please grant the last wish of a dying man?” asked the village Elder.

*Ting*

Quest: Restore the destroyed Goddess Freya Statue

Freya is a goddess who is widely worshipped in Rosenheim. She is known to govern fertility and beauty.

Baran Village are devout worshippers of Freya and had always prayed for peace and prosperity at the town statue until it was accidentally destroyed.

Quest requirement: Before the Elder dies.

Reward: Gratitude of the villagers and payment

Mute as always, Seoyoon could not take most of the quests available to other users. Thus she had been unable to build friendship with NPCs, let alone users, and was nearly blind to Royal Roads background information and history.

All she could do in any given town was selling items she had obtained, and buy items she needed.

However, she had nodded at Ghandilva who was in grief, and accepted the quest.

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

The right choice to finish the quest was to go back to the Citadel of Serabourg, buy any female statue there and bring it over, but she had set out to find the real one.

Her destination was the Order of Goddess Freya.

Through Brent Kingdom in the north, and across the Halkos Wilderness in the southwest, it was the Free City of Somren.

The Order of Goddess Freya was located there.

It would be a long journey of about three months by the official route, but she could make it within a month if she hiked over the Bark Mountains in the west.

Travelers of a sound mind avoided this route because they had to survive an enormous number of monsters.

However for Seoyoon, being the crazed battle maniac that she was, had carved her way through the Bark Mountains.

Over the countless corpses of monsters, she had arrived at the Order of Goddess Freya and bought a statue of Goddess Freya, which was even endorsed and blessed by Archbishop Mandolin.

For that, she had spent most of her gold.

“……”

Seoyoon turned away from Ghandilva’s house. On the way to the gate, she stumbled on the central square of the village.

There was a statue standing that she had not seen before.

A yet-to-be-completed statue of Goddess Freya.

“Isn’t she really a beautiful goddess, traveler?”

A maiden spoke to Seoyoon. But her eyes were transfixed on the statue.

“Weed, one of the heroic saviors of our village, is carving the statue of the Goddess for us. When it is completed, my village will stay free of monsters and we will live in peace once again. I cannot imagine what would happen if he were not here for us…”

Seoyoon looked at Weed’s statue. It was incomplete. Yet it was strikingly beautiful. It was almost dazzling to her eyes.

The statue of Goddess Freya radiated a splendor that relaxed onlookers all the while It showed a benevolent and comforting smile.

As she looked on the statue, she felt that smile was transforming the world into something brighter, a more positive.

The other statue of Goddess Freya that she had brought was a masterpiece found in the Order, it was also of a high aesthetic value and had an aura of piety.

However, now that she looked at the statue carved by Weed, she thought that hers was petty, like the glimmer of a firefly in the face of a rising sun.

“……”

Seoyoon looked on at the statue for a while longer and left Baran Village in silence– without noticing that the statue made by Weed was modeled after her.

* * *

*Tremble*

Even Weed who feared nothing under the sun, felt his fingers shaking at that very moment. He had devoted over ten days of solid effort to this work.

Since the news of a new statue of Goddess Freya was widespread, a swarm of spectators had visited Baran Village.

Aside from the punitive force and Rosenheim soldiers, people came even from the nearby city of Demeron. With a final touch on the eyes of the goddess by Weed, the statue was completed.

“What a goddess!”

“Goddess Freya is really descending on us in our village!”

Villagers and spectators exclaimed. It was very noisy with chattering, and prayers from the faithful who knelt down before the statue.

Then, a message window visible only to Weed popped up.

*Ting*

Statue Completed: The Statue of Goddess Freya (Fine)

Art is not always recognized for the it’s style and skill of the work in question. It is worthy of being called great art as long as it touches many hearts and cleanses many minds.

The statue of Goddess Freya, of outstanding beauty, despite low expertise in Sculpture Mastery, will hold the public eye forever.

Artistic Value: 150

Special Effects:

+15% Increased health and mana regeneration for 25 hours.

This effect does not stack with other statues.

Number of Fine Pieces Created: 1

‘A Fine piece!’ Weed thought excitedly.

This title is only granted to artworks recognized by users. Extensive skills alone cannot produce fine pieces, grand pieces, or master pieces in sculpture mastery.

Only when a sculptor devotes himself to create a work of soul and heart that is highly appreciated by other users, only then does it deserve any of the above titles.

In other words, the completed Statue of Goddess Freya was extraordinary by any measure. As the statue earned the title of fine piece, it was given an option, too.

Still in the basic beginner stages of Sculpture Mastery, Weed wasn’t qualified to produce an artwork with options. Never the less, combined with Zahab’s sculpting knife, his fine piece generated an exceptional effect.

This was a jackpot that over-reached even his own expectations.

*Ting*

Level up: Sculpture Mastery (Beginner Lv: 9 | 0%):

Enables you to produce more delicate and detailed works.

Fame has risen by 50 points (+50 FAME)

Art has risen by 15 points (+15 ART)

Perseverance has risen by 10 points (+10 PER)

Vitality has risen by 5 points (+5 VIT)

A bunch of stats rose in return for creating a fine piece.

Weed’s basic sculpture mastery finally reached the expertise rating of seventy percent at level nine, on the verge of upgrading to the intermediate stage, and his fame shot up as well.

Still, he felt cheated.

“Shoot.”

A fine piece didn’t come out anytime.

Weed’s current skill level in the basic sculpture mastery was nine, but when he was busy carving the statue, it had been only eight.

It had been applied as skill level seven in the intermediate stage, though, thanks to the hammer and Zahab’s sculpting knife.

Technically speaking, fine pieces were almost impossible below the intermediate stage of sculpture mastery. He was aware that if he had not been empowered by Zahab’s sculpting knife, he could not have produced such a beautiful statue of the goddess.

His skill level in sculpture mastery was still lacking.

Had Weed reached the intermediate stage, or even the expert one, before he carved the statue of the goddess, it could rank among the pantheon of grand pieces, not far from master pieces.

Then, he would have received five stat promotions, one of the few privileges limited to sculptors.

Other sculptors, fewer than a handful on the continent, besides Weed the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, lack combat ability.

They are denied access to spell casting in the first place, not that their strength and defense are anything other than contemptible.

The handicraft skill compensates low attack power only a little for them.

No party of sound mind would allow them in, so they have to overcome lots of bloodshed single-handedly.

The sculptor class relies on stats that are raised higher than average users at the same level by such a fortune.

It didn’t mean, though, that a sculptor can develop his sculpture mastery and produce fine pieces and beyond any time he desired. Even a highly reputable sculptor is incapable of producing fine pieces and grand pieces at his discretion.

A fine piece is created only when a sculptor melts his soul into the mold of an image of the ultimate beauty.

Suppose you go through hell for ten days to carve a statue, and it turns out to be a mediocre work, slightly affecting your stats, how would you feel about it? Worse enough, what if it rather cuts down your hard-earned reputation as a sculptor?

You will be praised if you don’t jump off a cliff from it. There are actually many former sculptors who delete their avatars after exactly the same demise.

Sculptor is such a hard and tough profession.

Ghandilva approached Weed and grasped his hand.

“Thank you, Weed-nim! You’ve made such a great statue of Goddess Freya, and we villagers will be forever blessed in her presence. Also, the tidings of the statue will bring more even more travelers here. You’re now the second founder of Baran Village!”

*Ting*

Quest Complete: The Statue of Goddess Freya

Ghandilva sincerely appreciates your work!

The statue of Goddess Freya erected in Baran Village will shore the villagers up in hope and courage. They will welcome you anytime in the future.

Fame has risen by 30 points (+30 FAME)

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

Your influence in Baran Village has reached: 60%

1st - Weed: 60%

2nd - Darius: 45%

3rd - Seoyoon: 33%

As the work turned out way better than wildest expectations, the rewards for the quest were accordingly unprecedented.

A quest with three level ups could rank amongst the highest in difficulty level D ones.

Plus, his public service to the village shot up his influence to first place.

Public service depends on various factors. If you are recognized for public service, than enlarging your influence in a town, you can purchase items in bulk at a discount there, and you are even eligible for a government position such as an elder or a feudal lord.

Weed had rocketed in public service by collecting credits for the rescue mission on the captive villagers and the production of the Statue of Goddess Freya, as well as selling weapons and gear that his party had looted from the lizardmen’s stronghold.

In the case of Darius, needless to say, he was the leader of the punitive force quest to win back the village.

Then, for Seoyoon, she had slaughtered a number of threatening monsters around Baran Village, and sold furs and items to the general store.

Before Weed and Darius came to town, her influence in Baran Village had been indisputably number one.

“Seoyoon is in third place? She’s been here before?”

Weed heart skipped a beat, probably two…

When he modeled her for the statue during its production, he had been confident that she would never come here and take notice of her own image.

The Versailles continent was vast enough.

If she had seen this statue, she might just smile coldly and behead him without question.

‘She’s a murderer, so it isn’t a remote possibility at all!’

Especially if Seoyoon ever read Weed’s writing engraved on the statue, she might kill him over and over, easily beyond hundred times. No, he’d better brace himself for the worse.

Upon completion of the statue, Weed had been very satisfied with what he had created.

He had yet to know if it would turn out be a great, average or even a failed work, but he had still been enchanted by his own artwork.

So, purely out of attachment, he had left a short epitaph on the bottom of the Statue of Goddess Freya with Zahab’s sculpting knife.

A trait no Korean can get rid of!

Weed asked cautiously, “Excuse me, Elder Ghandilva?”

“What is it, Weed-nim?”

“Was it Seoyoon that you requested to find a replacement for the statue of the goddess?”

“Yes, she is the one. So you know her, too? She is a fine lady. She accepted my strangest request, though she has not come back yet…”

“I see.” Weed replied calmly.

Weed was relieved that Seoyoon had not returned by now. If she had come back when he was in the middle of carving the statue, he was afraid what sort of hell would have broken loose.

‘She might have killed me in revenge for me stealing her quest!’

As the job was done, he wanted to leave for the City of Heaven as soon as possible. He wanted to get the hell out of town before he ran across Seoyoon again. But Ghandilva didn’t let go of his hand.

Ghandilva lowered his tone and said “I have something to tell you, the savior of my village, Weed-nim.”

“Go on, please.” Weed replied patiently.

“Do you believe in destiny? I do not think it is an accident that you came to my village.”

“Excuse me?”

“A priest from the Order of Goddess Freya once visited my village and told us that evil was raging. They are expanding their influence in the invisible realm, lower than where we are, and in the dark and cold. The priest from the Order of Goddess Freya declared that only the ‘Courageous One’ could defeat them! He then granted me the power to select the Courageous One.”

“……”

“I did not fully comprehend what his words meant at the time, but I now do! I have not revealed this secret to you; the seed that has passed down in my family will serve you as guidance to a new land. The priest told me to find a man by the name of Seagull, in order to get back the Lost Treasure from the Temple of Freya. Find him. Become the Courageous One who shall defeat the evil!”

*Ting*

Obtained information regarding the Lost Treasure of Freya

‘This is a follow-on quest to the Statue of Goddess Freya! It doesn’t look like it has any downsides. Awesome. To think that such an opportunity would come to me!’

Weed acknowledged his fortune once again. Part of it was attributed to Seoyoon, who had failed to show up with a new statue, and in turn, opportunity had found him.

“It is my long cherished wish to prevent evil from raging in the world. I will do my best to recover the lost treasure from the Temple of Freya.”

“Thank you.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

Weed concluded the conversation with Ghandilva and headed for his teammates who had been waiting for him.

“Great job, Weed-nim. I never thought that a statue could be so beautiful,”

Pale said looking at the statue with fevered eyes, which was very unusual for him. Surka, Irene and Romuna looked intensely moved as well.

There levels had reached around mid-sixties by hunting monsters continuously and with little sleep while Weed was busy carving the statue of Freya.

“It’s amazing. It looks so real. It’s the most beautiful statue I’ve ever seen.”

“I bet even Goddess Freya can’t rival this statue in beauty.”

“How did you create such an image? I can’t help but admire your exquisite aesthetic sense and artistic soul…”

Weed felt more than a little embarrassed by their praise.

Exquisite aesthetic sense? Artistic soul?

Their eyes betrayed that they had been too shamefully blind and dull to recognize a once-in-a-lifetime artist, though he was always right there before their eyes.

Who? You mean, Weed? Saying that he was power-hungry would be more plausible.

‘Would they believe it if I told them I was clueless until I actually got to work? No, I don’t think so.’ Weed thought amusedly.

What’s the point of telling them something that they wouldn’t believe, anyway?

A good salesman doesn’t tell you everything when he knocks on your door to sell something. A good salesmen hides the flaws and highlights the merits of the product he’s trying to sell.

The bottom line is: what is good for you is the best policy.

“I made this statue as I pictured all of you in my mind, Ladies Irene, Surka and Romuna. Your pure hearts and pretty faces are cherished in the statue, so it looks as beautiful as it is now.”

“Oh my!” they breathed out, deeply touched by Weeds words.

Girls are simple creatures, aren’t they? All the girls in Weed’s party were happy to hear such a flimsy lie.

“Hey, you’re that Weed, right?” Darius said, as he came up to where Weed was and his party were standing.

“You’re quite good at sculpture mastery. Is that a grand piece?”

Darius was well versed in many fields of knowledge. At level one-forty, he must have picked up a few pieces of information about sculptors somewhere.

“No,” Weed said.

“Then, is it a fine piece?” Darius asked.

“Yes,” Weed said.

“Oh, I never believed I’d see a fine piece. I heard there were less than a hundred sculptors who ever created fine pieces…”

Darius showed his surprise with exaggerated gestures. Then, he made a feline smile.

“Congratulations. I guess you earned quite a number of stats for this. At least some good fortune should befall to sculptors who are pitiful in abilities sometimes.”

Darius made light of Weed, solely based on the fact that he was a sculptor.

In fact, most sculptors are weak. Their combat skills are contemptible even if they have higher stats that are raised by the production of fine pieces and whatever else.

Even if they know a powerful combat skill, they don’t know how to fight properly.

Why do they choose to be sculptors?

It is because they are poor at fighting in the first place. Many fights beget good fighters.

For most users who belong to non-combative classes, they are simply inept in fighting.

They usually get confused, as they are ignorant of how to respond to an enemy attack, and lost to what role they should take in a party.

The elementary combat skills that they can learn are ineffective in general, and even the expertise rating is low enough to be ridiculed by their teammates.

Plus, they have to practice their sculpture mastery to become a full-fledged sculptor, so they are weaker than their counterparts in everything, including their overall level, provided that the same hours are invested in building their avatars.

Of course, Weed was the exception!

“Hey, watch your mouth.”

Pale, one of Weed’s teammates stepped forward in a fit of passion. He could not stand Darius holding his teammate in contempt.

Then, all hell broke loose.

“How can there be someone like this guy?”

“His face looks like a skillet covered in grease after cooking sausages in it…”

“Fools never think before they shoot off their mouth. Weed-nim’s so good at fighting…”

Surka, Romuna and Irene shot back, respectively.

Young Surka was hot-blooded enough to say that! Romuna, who had her own share of anger from time to time, was expected too. But what really threw Pale and Weed off was that, was of all people, Irene, always a calm and gentle soul, had flared up.

Women…

There was no way that the dense Pale and Weed could have known that those three girls together could easily change someone’s status into ‘kill-on-sight’ when needed. Even if Weed’s judgment doubled or tripled, he would never fully comprehend half the aspects of women in his lifetime.

It is foolish to assume that you know a woman just because you can make her happy with a few compliments.

“……”

Weed missed his chance to get angry.

However, he took his revenge in the thundering denunciations from the girls.

“Wha-what was that?”

Darius’ eyes sparked. But neither Irene nor Romuna flinched in the slightest.

“Why, did we say something that wasn’t right?”

“How dare you…”

“So what’re you going to do? Kill us?”

“Do you think I’ll let you get away with this?!”

Darius was about to pull his sword out. If he, Level 140 warrior, was resolved to have a bloodbath now, Weed and his teammates could not withstand him.

No, Weed could stand a chance if he succeeded in realizing the best of his potential. His level was in the seventies. But, with his inflated stats, he was close to a level 100 warrior.

Considering his cheat-like skills and combat ability, he was certain he could beat Darius.

Utilizing the element of a surprise, and given that Darius was writing off Weed, seizing the moment when he wasn’t prepared for it, Weed could beat the hell out of him in a flat minute.

The only problem was that if the duel lasted longer than a minute, Weed would run out of mana because of pouring it into combat skills, and would end up dead for sure.

Weed wasn’t afraid of Darius in the sense of stats, but he knew that his weakness lay in the duration of the fight. He was, so to speak, a typical case of premature ejaculation, a man’s number one secret fear. Surely, he was still stronger than average users at his level after he spent his lifetime on mana booster.

“Darius, take it easy!”

“Let me go! I’ll teach those bitches some manners!”

“You’re the commander of the punitive force. You can’t pick a duel with your subordinates. If you do that, do you know how many of your fame points will drop? Do you really want to give up the quest altogether?”

Parros and other minions from Darius’ party held him back. They talked him out of bursting into a rage, and he calmed down at last.

“Okay, I’ll forgive you this time.” At Darius’ comment, Romuna just poured more scorn on him with a sneer.

“Who do you think you are to decide who forgives whom?”

“Everyone makes mistakes, but he acts like he’s royalty or something.”

Surka’s final blow almost ignited the second round of the quarrel, but by then other members of the punitive force had been drawn by the commotion, and gathered around them.

Darius and his minions had already lost respect and credibility. On the other hand, Weed and his teammates were deemed respectable. For one thing, Weed had cooked great meals throughout the march.

He had even repaired weapons and armors when broken, and for unidentified items, his free service of item identification was invaluable.

His other teammates had been kind to other users except for Darius, so their reputations were good enough.

While Weed had been busy carving the statue of the goddess, Pale and the girls joined several parties for hunting, and their steadily upgraded skills and swift hunting tactics made them a favorite for any party.

Weed later learned that Darius and his minions had to hunt alone because no one else bothered inviting them. Under those circumstances, Weed was in a far stronger position.

Parros, one of Darius’ few friends, said in an arrogant tone, in the place of Darius whose face was frozen in silence, “We are member of Ica Guild. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s one of the three top guilds in Rosenheim.”

Weed had of course heard of Ica Guild. It was notorious for bad behavior, hardly surprising after he saw how Darius had acted.

“We’re planning to occupy a city in the near future, so we need a good hanging plate. Would you come visit us later to carve one? We’ll pay you well.”

In the end, Darius had only visited Weed to request the hanging plate. But he had been in a terrible mood for a while now.

He had succeeded in the punitive quest with elation, but what was left in his pocket was much less than predicted.

It was because someone else had already stripped the lizardmen’s stronghold of all its items.

In a rage, Darius and his minions had been looking for the culprits, but they could not possibly suspect Weed, the mere sculptor who was carving the statue of Goddess Freya, and his teammates, objectively speaking, whose low level exempted them from the list of usual suspects.

During their private investigation, they had made a series of terrible blunders that caused more friction between them and other users, while Weed had received a solid quest from Ghandilva the elder and completed the Statue of Goddess Freya, as if to rub salt in their wounds.

To put it bluntly, Darius was jealous.

So he had spoken to Weed rudely, and it eventually twisted the whole thing into a more complex knot.

* * *

As soon as they were through with Baran Village, the punitive force led by Darius packed their stuff and headed northward to return to the Citadel.

There were some users who liked nearby hunting fields, but the village itself hardly appealed to them. There was no pub where hunters could gulp down icy cold beer after a day of rich games. A glass of beer after a day’s hunting.

Everyone missed the delicate taste sluicing down their throat, and hurried out to leave town.

It was decided that Baran Village would be protected by the Rosenheim soldiers.

Weed and his teammates reported the punitive quest directly to Ghandilva.

“Thank you for your service. We will always remember what you have done for the sake of us villagers.”

For the reward of the quest, Ghandilva gave Weed twenty fame points.

Since he was carving the statue while other users were hunting down the remnants of the lizardmen, he had practically given up on it, but it unexpectedly turned out to be a great gain for him.

Other users at level eighties in the punitive force received between ten and fifteen fame points.

Weed thought that rescuing captive villagers and robbing the lizardmen’s stronghold had worked a mini-sized miracle.

Weed and his teammates told Darius that they wanted to stay behind to hunt monsters there, with an excuse that they still had low levels.

“Now is the time,” Weed said.

At his statement, his teammates smiled expectantly.

“Yes.”

“Then, let’s go to a dark, quiet place.”

“Of course, to a very, very quiet place… To somewhere we’re not going to be seen.” Romuna covered her mouth with a hand and chuckled coquettishly.

If one heard her, they might misunderstand.

Two men and three girls headed for the Western Mountain out of Baran Village. Once the lizardmen’s stronghold, it was now secluded enough to meet their need for quiet.

“La la la.” The girls were humming.

They were walking to a very, very dark, quiet, out-of-the-way place.

Before long, they reached the foot of the Western Mountain where there was no one within a few miles. They were already prepared for a long journey.

“It looks good here.”

“Okay everyone, get ready.”

Weed carefully dug up the soil and planted the seed in it. Then, he watered it a little.

It showed no reaction for a while, but the soil that blanketed the seed soon began to turn red.

*Quake*

*RUMBLE*

“Kyaaa!” Surka cried in alarm.

A great earthquake shook the ground!

The seismic center lay where Weed had sowed the seed. The earth split into two, and a thick trunk shot up into the sky.

Thirty feet, sixty feet…

In the blink of an eye, a topless pillar stood before Weed’s party. Yet the trunk kept on growing.

Watching the trunk rise above the clouds, Weed said, “The City of Heaven must be up there. I think this vine will guide us to it.”

“Then…”

“Now we’ve come all the way here, why shrink away? Hold on to this fast. Or we might end up climbing the vine from halfway.”

“Shoot! I don’t want to do that.”

Weed took out a rope from his backpack and tied his teammates to him.

“Together we live, together we die.”

“Yeah!” they cheered.

Weed and Pale decided to hang on to the vine first.

This was so that even if Irene or Romuna, the least muscular, lost their grip, the men up on the vine could prevent them from all falling from the sky.

Weed and his teammates clung on to the trunk sprouting from the seed of the Heavenly Tree.

Then they shot up into the sky.

Chapter 4: City of Heaven, Lavias

Dr. Cha Eunhee from the Great Society Rehabilitation Centre was a world famous psychologist, who had patented a novel method of therapy for the treatment of psychological illnesses. Her relentless work schedule usually left her no time for rest.

She had a constant barrage of patients to attend to and weekly journal articles to submit in a never-ending cycle of monotony.

“Boring. Dull. Tedious.” These were her daily complaints. But despite her desire to escape it all, she simply could not bring herself to just abandon her responsibilities.

Hence, she now found herself in the midst of a counseling session with a middle-aged woman.

“I’m truly sorry about your daughter’s circumstances,” Dr. Cha said, blinking away the moisture in her eyes.

“I know it’s already been 5 years.” The woman smiled sorrowfully as she confided in Dr. Cha.

“But ever since that child tried to throw her life away, I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything.”

“It’s time for you to tear your thoughts away from your daughter’s well-being and begin searching for your own purpose in life.”

“Actually doctor…” the woman asked, grasping Dr. Cha’s hand tightly.

“… I believe that she’s trapped in there somewhere… She’s…”

* * *

The Heavenly Tree randomly extended skyward but soon began shooting towards a specific direction.

Weed and his companions held fast onto the trunk as it sprouted towards its target at some speed. The buffeting wind left them battered and the ground below was a distant memory. Within seconds, Baran village had disappeared from sight.

They passed through the clouds and arrived at a seemingly huge island. An island floating in the sky! Riding the growing tree stalk of the Heavenly Tree, Weed and his companions rose above the fog blurring the area.

“This is the City of Heaven!” the party exclaimed, feasting their eyes on their surroundings.

A maze of buildings sprawled out before them. In the center of the extensive labyrinth rose a massive tower with a myriad of birds perched on top of it. Beyond the large tower were rolling hills and lush fields.

“Oh! The tree’s withering away!” shouted Irene as she glanced back at the tree.

The Heavenly Tree’s trunk withered and splintered before their eyes. The fragments disappeared into the clouds, severing the floating island from the distant ground below.

“Our way back has been destroyed. What do we do now?” Surka fretted. Her companions, on the other hand, did not seem particularly concerned.

“The real adventure starts here. Since the tree is gone, we’ll worry about returning when the time comes.” said Pale.

“But, Pale-nim…” Surka was on the verge of tears, already missing the solid ground.

Weed attempted to cheer her up, “If there’s a will, there’s a way.” But Surka seemed unconvinced by Weed’s words of encouragement, at which point Weed nonchalantly said, “Well, if we can’t find a way we can always jump right?”

“B-but…”

“Well, you’d surely die once, but you’d definitely end up on the ground.”

Surka’s face went white. Truth be told, she had always been terrified of heights.

As the Heavenly Tree grew, she had held on for dear life, afraid of plummeting to her death.

Perhaps she would have passed up on this adventure if she had known it would take her all the way up here.

The party continued on, consoling Surka along the way.

* * *

The City of Heavens was home to a unique species.

“They look like birds…”

Standing on two legs, with their small beady eyes, pointed beak, great wingspan, and rounded cheeks, they resembled sparrows.

The old birds seemed to have white beards around their beak.“Kyaa! So cute!” Surka exclaimed, her affection for the birds overshadowing her acrophobia. She was no longer trembling in fear, but excitement.

The old bird slowly walked towards the group, ignoring Surka’s unwelcomed affections.

“Greetings travelers, welcome to Lavias.”

The whole party shifted their gaze to Weed.

Based on previous experiences, Weed was deemed to be best suited to lead.

Furthermore, it had become clear to the party that Weed’s every move was calculated, since he was the type to sweet-talk any NPC into giving him what he wanted.

“Thank you. We’ve endured a perilous journey from distant lands before setting our weary feet on this beautiful place. But in the face of such unimaginable splendor, our fatigue has all but dissipated. Is this place Lavias?”

“Indeed! Our city is home to the noble and dignified Avians. Only here will you find the sun so brilliant, and the air so fresh!” The white-bearded bird gushed with pride as he shook his wings. Even his feathers quivered with excitement at the praise.

“The air here is indeed the freshest and the sunlight most impressive. No doubt the passing clouds paint a beautiful picture. But what are the specialties here in Lavias?”

Weed jumped at the chance to learn about the city’s specialties. If there were items exclusively found in Lavias, he would make a lot of money by purchasing them in bulk and reselling in Rosenheim Kingdom.

“We are not on familiar terms yet to permit you to ask such an impertinent question. You need to get better acquainted with me. It would help if you could bring me some delicious treats. In fact, I would like that very much.”

The bearded bird flapped his wings and hobbled away from them.

Weed tried to chase after the bird but soon gave up and returned to his party.

“Okay, let’s split up to explore the city from here on.”

If all five of them explored the city together, it would have been too time-consuming.

Therefore, they decided to split up in order to cover more ground.

“The city seems to be safe since there are no hostile zones.”

“Still, Lavias seems to be too big a city to explore alone. Let’s all meet back here in 2 hours.”

“If you come across a good quest during your exploration, just come back for the time being, and share it with the rest of the party. We’ll decide together as to which quest is best. Now, let’s get started.”

“Okay, got it.”

And thus they set off to explore the city.

To begin with, Weed proceeded towards the bustling city center to see if there were any shops.

Merchants were waddling like ducks through the streets, hawking their wares to the pedestrians.

As the name suggested, the residents of Avian City possessed traits common to birds and chubby torsos and stumpy legs were the norm, their heads ranged from those of owls to hawks.

‘To think there’s a city like this, amazing…’ Weed thought.

Opening a chicken restaurant here would definitely be the wrong move here, since the locals could misinterpret it to be cannibalism.

Unlike human cities, carriages did not exist since the birds themselves were big enough to carry the horses. If the roads were blocked, all they had to do was spread their wings and fly away.

From all the stares he received, Weed felt like a monkey in the zoo as he walked amongst the Avians.

Weed entered a weapons store.

“Good day.” Weed said as he entered.

“Ah! A human traveler! Is there something you need?”

“There are many things I need. However, I’m not familiar with the items on display. I’d like a closer look.”

“As you wish”

Weed inspected some of the items.

*Ting*

Item: Baravo’s Steel Beak

Durability: 90/90

Damage: 21-23

Equipped:

Ability to grasp food items that grant bonuses.

The long length makes it easy to reach buried worms.

Price: 100 gold

Weed sighed and turned his attention to a different item.

*Ting*

Item: Silver Pitchfork of Saigon

Durability: 30/30

Damage: 17-19

Part of a set. Low durability since it is made out of silver.

Good for snatching the heads of the undead while flying low.

Price: 70 gold

Item: Feathers of the Goddess

Durability: 15/15

Restriction: Females only

Effect: Enchantment.

The brilliant and sparkling multi-colored feathers grant relief from enemy attacks when equipped.

Light enough that you can’t even feel it. Allows for unrivaled gliding, guaranteed to prevent a fall.

Price: 45 gold

The items ranged from pitchforks and telescopes to peculiar, hollow weapons that were conical and tapered towards the tip. These seemed to be the Avians’ weapon of choice.

“Do you have any weapons suitable for humans?” Weed asked the shopkeeper, who greatly resembled a badger.

“Of course I do! Just wait a moment. Since human customers are so rare, I had to put them in the warehouse.”

As Weed waited, he felt intense stares from outside.

One by one, the passing Avians stopped in their tracks to again watch Weed like an escaped monkey from a zoo.

“I hear this guy is a human!”

“How odd. Must be difficult to eat with a flat beak”

“Look at that. No feathers, either. He must freeze during the winter, the poor thing.”

No normal bird could ever enjoy the cold. From their perspective, Weed seemed like he would easily freeze to death.

An Avian in Rosenheim, or any city in the Continent below, would draw a staring crowd as well. But in Lavias, the Avian City, Weed the human was the spectacle.

“Here are the things you asked for.”

The shop owner set out some armor, a shield, two hammers and five different blades. Weed had no use for the shield, so he immediately moved on to the blades and armor. After all, he only had 70 gold from selling the items looted from the Lizardmen.

*Ting*

Item: Clay Sword

Durability: 90/90

Damage: 23-25

A magic sword imbued with the spirit of ice.

Does 2~5 bonus damage to armored target and decreases movement.

Restriction:

Level 60

STR 200

Equipped: Grants additional 2-5 Ice Elemental damage.

Price: 188 gold

Item: Sword of the Dusk Wraith

Durability: 200/200

Damage: 14-15

Work of the Dwarf Theodore. Forged from steel mined from the Forest of Death.

Lowers vitality, has small chance of dealing triple damage on a critical hit.

Status effect: Cursed Item

Restriction:

Level 70

STR 250

Equipped: Rare chance of dealing a deadly attack.

Price: 160 gold.

Weed stopped browsing at that point and shook his head.

The prices were ridiculously exorbitant but it was not completely unexpected since this was an Avian city after all. Even though the Clay Sword and the Sword of the Dusk Wraith were evidently rare items, they would only sell for half the price at the Citadel of Serabourg.

“I don’t have enough money right now, so I won’t be buying anything.”

“In that case, come back again, except these might already be sold, so you better earn money as quickly as you can,” said the badger-like shop owner, sounding disappointed.

Weed’s party was the only human travelers here, and for the most part, doing business was his main focus.

Weed left the shop and slowly made his way to the east side of the city.

Beyond the city’s periphery lay an endless expanse of fields and patches of nothingness here and there.

“Chirp Chirp!”

“Cheep!”

“Tweet tweet!”

Cute Avian children were singing, perched on top of clotheslines. Amongst them the yellow chicks were particularly adorable.

“Hiya?” Weed said to them, walking over to look. But they merely giggled and gave no other response.

“Good day.” Weed greeted every Avian he came across.

One of the Avians, who had been in front of the weapons store, excitedly asked him, “You’re a traveler I haven’t seen before. Are you part of the strong group from the land below?”

“I am not strong yet. Though I love peace and admire the sky, I also respect the military arts. For strength is required to ensure peace.”

“I feel the same way. I happen to have a request that you may be able to fulfill. Truthfully, Lavias isn’t as peaceful as it seems. This is an ancient land and there are great evils lying underground, gathering their powers to destroy us. Will you help me?”

*Ting*

Quest: The Undead of Lavias

Undead lurk in the depths of the City of Heaven, Lavias.

The Avian residents cannot sleep for the nightly wailing of the undead.

If you return after killing at least 30 Skeleton Soldiers in the Underground Passage, good things may happen.

Difficulty Level: D

Quest requirements: Failure will decrease friendship level with Crows.

Reward: Unknown

Weed and his party had not expected the City of Heaven to be more than a regular, undiscovered city and had only hoped to buy or attain unique items that could not be found in the Citadel of Serabourg.

They had assumed that a quest related to the Rosenheim Kingdom was the best they could get.

Surprisingly, there were hunting grounds in the City of Heaven. Not to mention, it was a rare undead hunting ground. Skeleton Soldiers were known to be around level 80 or so.

Weed thought for a second, and shook his head.

“I understand that defeating the undead is my quest, but I am here with companions. I will return once I’ve consulted them.”

Weed continued touring the area and spoke to Avians he passed.

For some, it was their first time seeing a human traveler and so they made certain requests. They were mostly related to the undead that plagued the region.

Through various conversations with the inhabitants of the city, Weed gathered information about the underground areas in and around Lavias and the paths leading there. However, the place was practically a war zone. The majority of its inhabitants were skeletons, as well as Death Knights, Demonic Wardens, Dullahans, Liches, Specters and Shades.

Dullahans were powerful and exhaustive undead, who carried their own heads. Not only were they around level 140, they were fast and had excellent combat ability, making them very difficult to defeat.

Liches specialized in black magic and due to their high intelligence, they were known to flee if they found themselves in danger.

Needless to say, the Death Knights were the harbingers of death. They rode on horseback just like the Ringwraiths from the movie, The Lord of the Rings. They were the stuff of nightmares! In terms of level, they were nearly 200!

To think that such powerful undead were residing underground, Weed’s heart began to race.

‘Ah, lovely EXP.’ he thought with a wolfish grin on his face.

While wandering through the city, Weed discovered a large signboard. In large letters, it read “Beginner’s Class Training”. Weed entered as if driven by some mystical force.

“Welcome. I see you are a human,” greeted the Instructor, who looked just like a rooster. His hair, which resembled a rooster’s comb, was particularly noticeable.

“I was just passing by and wished to offer my greetings. I’ve completed the Beginners Class Training in Rosenheim Kingdom.”

All Instructors in Training Halls had high regard for those who respected the military arts and despised evil. Completing training also gave some reputation. Weed had entered the Training Hall expecting to build an instant rapport with the Instructor and gain some useful information. But the reaction he received fell far from his expectations.

“Mmph?” The Avian Instructor smothered a laugh. His eyes showed his amusement even as his beak remained still.

“That can’t be. It’s hardly possible for you to have completed the Beginner Class Training. You don’t have that look about you.”

“Huh? But I have completed the Beginner Class Training at the Citadel of Serabourg.”

“They only have a Basic Training Hall there.” Weed’s eyes lit up with the flames of desire.

‘Basic Training Hall! So then this place is the next phase!’ he thought excitedly.

“Can I attempt the Beginner’s Training once?”

“Looks like it. Those who completed Basic Training are eligible. However, this here is different from your Basic Training Hall. There’s a high possibility of danger so don’t push yourself.”

“I want to try it.” Weed said eagerly

“You mean the Training?”

“That’s what I said.”

“Your spirit is admirable. Well then, follow me.”

Weed followed the instructor accordingly.

He led Weed to a structure at the rear of the training hall. Its entrance was a yawning, pitch-black, beak, within which lay a dark passageway.

“All you need to do is go through this passageway and exit safe and sound on the opposite end. It’s simple right? However, your combat skills will be unavailable. And a word of advice, don’t light a fire, that would make it too easy, no, too convenient.”

“Understood” Weed’s response was brief. With long strides, he entered into the passage.

At first, there was nothing that could dismay Weed. However, as he progressed through the passage, his resolution slowly began to fade.

He began using his hands and feet to blindly feel his way through the passage. He did not know what could emerge from the eerily calm passage. It was then…

*PYIING!*

Weed reflexively ducked his head under the onslaught of slashes. As strands of hair flew off, he realized that the calm was now over.

‘An attack? Great’ His body moved as soon as this registered.

Weed had already drawn his sword and thrust it forward. Though he could not see, he could sense something approaching.

*CLANG!*

The Iron Sword clashed against something metallic. Judging by the impact, the blow was neither blocked by a shield nor parried. The enemy’s body had felt as hard as stone!

‘From the right!’ Weed sensed the attack coming just as it sliced through the air. Now he was certain that the next one would also come from the right. Since he could not see, he had no choice but to rely on his other senses. Weed had faith in his instincts.

At that moment Weed’s sword moved as if it had a mind of its own. It smoothly swung to deflect the oncoming attack in the pitch darkness. Someone who had no real life experience with a sword would never be able to do this.

‘Ten, maybe more!‘ thought Weed.

The relentless attacks gave him no respite.

“Yatz!” Weed shouted a battle-cry as he launched into the air. As he rolled onto the ground, he firmly held the sword sideways, aiming to slash at the ankles. Sparks flew as his sword scraped against something made of iron. In that instant, the area was briefly illuminated.

There were dozens of Barbarians clad completely in steel. They held swords, batons, sledgehammers, axes, clubs, hammers, and maces.

‘Well crap!’

A chill ran up Weed’s spine as his burning will was snuffed out like a candle in the wind. But attacks from the Steel Barbarians were not over.

He was able to parry several more of the attacks, but in the lightless passage it was impossible to deal with all the attacks at once. A blow landed on his back, smashing him into the ground. The Barbarians descended upon him from all directions like hyena’s.

* * *

“You failed.” Hearing the Instructor’s voice, Weed slowly sat up. His whole body felt sore.

‘What is this place?’ He thought as he looked about. He quickly noticed he was back at the entrance to the Training Hall. The Instructor must have carried him back here. His health bar had decreased. He had been attacked to the point that his HP was now less than 30; even a light tap could kill him. Fortunately, he wasn’t bleeding, so his HP was no longer decreasing.

“This is what happens when those without sufficient skill challenge this place. I saved you this time, but if you try again, you’ll die.”

Weed shook his head to regain his wits and asked, “Do I need to be at a higher level in order to succeed?”

“That’s not it. The Infinite Steel Men adjust to the challenger’s level.“

“Then that means my true skills aren’t up to par.”

“Apparently so”

“How long has it been since I entered?”

“About 4 hours.”

“My companions must all be waiting for me. I’ll be sure to come back again.” Weed promised and left the Training Hall and proceeded to the designated meeting place.

* * *

Weed ran quickly! At the rendezvous point, he found the rest of the party, their faces glowing with excitement.

“I’m sorry I’m late…” he said apologetically.

“Weed-nim!” Surka exclaimed, quickly running up to him.

“We’ve found a great quest!”

“We were waiting for you to return, Weed-nim, so we could all decide if we should take it.”

While Weed was gone, the rest of the party had zealously explored Lavias in order to gather as much information as possible.

First, how to get back to the ground below. The Feathers of Lightness, sold at the supermarket, would slow the descent of any falling object. Using the feather to leap off of Lavias might be exhilarating for Weed, but it would be a terrifying experience for someone with acrophobia like Surka.

The second was the slightly disappointing news that Weed’s party was not the first to discover Lavias. They had been expecting it to some extent since their fame had not increased when they first set foot on the City of Heaven.

Next were the quests!

Irene had found a quest to slay 20 Skeleton Knights. The reward was a Ring that increases Mana regeneration rate by 10%.

Skeleton Knights were, of course, tough opponents to face with their levels ranging in the 100s. But the party was bewitched by the reward. After all, a ring that increased Mana regeneration rate was very rare. Its value in any of the big cities of the Versailles Continent was priceless!

“Where is the place?” Weed asked, also amazed by the reward.

Just like that, they accepted the quest to slay Skeleton Knights.

*Ting*

New Dungeon: You are the very first players to discover Memphis Hall:

Benefits:

Fame increased by 200 (+200 FAME)

Double experience and 2x normal item drop rate.

The first monster killed will drop the best quality item it can drop.

The words floated in a message window the instant Weed and his companions entered the underground passage. They immediately froze on the spot.

“This is…”

“We’re the first visitors!” Surka and Romuna exclaimed joyfully.

Pale had a large grin on his face as well. Hunting grounds that grant double EXP were worth entering, no matter how dangerous they were. It was a waste to leave and lose all that potential EXP.

‘Others may have come to Lavias first, but they didn’t come to this hunting ground. No, perhaps they weren’t able to discover it. Let’s not get our hopes too high.’ Weed thought.

Weed tried very hard to maintain his composure, but his excitement was undeniable.

“For the time being, let’s take our time looking around. Our primary goal is to defeat the Skeleton Knights, however, since we need to know if we can even do that, we should hunt everything we pass first. Irene-nim”

“Yes!”

“Please take care of us, especially with your healing.”

“Yeah, and since this place is infested with the undead, I will definitely provide my Blessings as well.”

Priestly Blessings and Holy Magic were fatal to the undead. The Blessings served to increase damage by 1.5 times against different enemies, and inflicted additional damage if the opponents were undead.

“Let’s go.”

Everyone in Weed’s party got every available buff, increasing their Strength and Vitality. Defensive buffs were focused mainly on Weed and Surka. They then began moving out.

“Hu…man? There…are liv-living humans.” Four to five skeletons had gathered in the underground passage.

The small, diverse group of undead consisted of two Skeleton Mages, one Skeleton Soldier and a Skeleton Archer.

“Hu…man.” The Skeleton’s empty eye sockets flashed. A murderous red aura exploded as they ran toward the party, their bones rattling as they jostled in time to their movements.

“Get ready to fight.”

*CLANG*

Weed was the first to spring forward, blocking the Skeleton Soldier’s sword. Instead of stopping at a simple block, Weed smoothly parried the attack aside and dealt a counterattack.

It was not an in-game skill. Weed had naturally executed the art of sword fighting by using appropriate movements of the wrist.

“Triple!”

*POP* *SNAP* *CRACK*

He dealt three consecutive attacks. By nature, Triple was a very difficult skill to follow with the eyes. It thrust forward, then slashed diagonally, and as the sword draws back it utilized the entire body’s momentum to slash once more in a continuous attack! Mastery of the skill gave the potential for additional slash attacks, but even then, it would still be called Triple since the name was derived from the three original attacks.

In the midst of the intense melee, Weed executed the skill without shouting ‘Triple’.

Even a split second could determine the difference between life and death. Especially if one was capable of utilizing that moment to aim for the enemy’s weaknesses.

If all three continuous strikes were somehow blocked, there could be a chance for a fourth slash to be executed. In case this was deflected too, there was always the minute possibility for an impressive fifth.

‘Triple’ was originally meant to be three swift slashes, which took advantage of the enemy’s weaknesses to deliver a successful attack. On top of this, Weed was able to maneuver his sword using his innate abilities to create openings in his opponent’s defense. Unsurprisingly, the Skeleton Soldier’s ribs completely shattered under the onslaught of Weed’s sword.

Only someone like Weed could think to use such an overpowered and cruel method to kill his enemies.

At that point, the Skeleton Mages in the rear began chanting spells aimed at Weed. However, Romuna’s spell was the first to be cast.

“Fire Strike!”

Due to her high proficiency in using this skill, six fireballs were fired in succession at the Skeleton Mages. This served to interrupt and effectively cancel the spells that they were about to cast.

“You’re mine!”

Pale was focused on the lone Skeleton Archer. The two were furiously firing arrows at each other.

“Eat this! Blessed Arrow!” Pale let loose an arrow which emitted a blinding flash of light.

By nature, the undead hated light, and skeletons such as these were particularly weak to it. Higher level undead, however, could walk around in broad daylight without any issues.

Pale’s arrows lodged themselves into the Skeleton and shone brilliantly.

Meanwhile, Surka delivered punches to the Skeleton Mages at close range with Romuna supporting her. Since this was their first time fighting a formidable opponent, they were all putting their lives on the line.

Weed only had to deal with the Skeleton Soldier.

“Dieeee…”

The bones of the Skeleton Soldier rattled as it leaped into the air and executed a powerful strike as it descended. Although its sword was riddled with chips and cracks, the strength behind the strike was too great to ignore.

‘Even so, the moves are too obvious.’

Weed activated a skill.

“Backstab!”

By the time the skeleton’s sword reached its target, only Weed’s afterimage remained. Weed, who was already behind his enemy, sliced into the Skeleton’s neck.

*Ting*

CRITICAL HIT!

A critical Hit!

Such precise timing was required that even a thousandth of a second mattered in the delivery of a successful critical hit.

However, aiming for one had its own risks, therefore, succeeding in it was all the more satisfying.

Having sustained damage from both Triple and Backstab, the Skeleton’s bones fell apart into a lifeless heap.

“Weed-nim, over here!” Surka cried, fatigue evident in her voice.

Fighting two Skeleton Mages was too much for her, and she was gradually losing ground.

As a monk, she had high Agility so her movements should have been quite fast. But at the moment this was not the case.

*Ting*

You have been poisoned!

You have been cursed!

Strength Decrease

Agility Decrease

Both resulted from poisoned wounds and curses that had left her bleeding continuously. Suffering from the Skeleton Mages’ curses, Surka was engulfed in dark smoke. The curses were both stronger and faster than Irene’s Cleanse spell.

“…….”

Weed hastily rushed over to save her.

“Sculpting Blade!” he yelled as he charged into the melee.

Each time Weed recovered enough mana to utilize the Sculpting Blade skill, a Skeleton Mage with low health disappeared with a flash of grey. They were dying faster than expected since Romuna had bombarded them with spells till all her mana had ran out. The remaining Skeleton Archer was quickly finished off by a well-timed combo from Pale and Romuna, who had since recovered her mana.

“Wow! We won!” Surka let out a cry of joy as soon as the battle was over.

“Even our levels rose,” Pale said, grinning.

The level 80 Skeletons, who were more than 15 levels higher, coupled with the doubled EXP gain, gave an incredible amount of EXP to the party. They were already close to leveling up just from killing a single group.

Having used all their mana on removing the curses and healing, Romuna and Irene sat down to recover mana through Meditation.

Meditation doubled the speed of mana recovery. Unfortunately, it was a skill exclusive to Mage and Priest classes, meaning Weed couldn’t learn it.

“Shall we see what items we got?”

Normally they would just grab whatever they wanted, but this time, just one battle had felt as if they had been walking on thin ice. So the party gathered around the items the skeletons had dropped.

*Ting*

Item: Worn Bloodstained Gloves

Durability: 7/40

Defense: 6

An item filled with the hatred and desire of the dead.

Although they strengthen the wearer, they seem to be best avoided.

Restrictions:

Level 50

Strength 100

Equipped:

Raises Strength by 20

Raises Attack Power by 10%

Lowers Health by -200

Item: Boots of the Cold Ones

Durability: 9/50

Defense: 5

Shoes made to resist the embrace of the earth.

Since they are made from the hide of water buffaloes, they give great feeling when worn.

Restrictions: Level 60

Equipped: Raises Ice Magic Resistance by 15%

Items like these were not bad at all. They could be sold to the merchants, but wearing them was much better. The gloves might lower health but the defense was high enough that wearing them was worthwhile.

At the moment, as part of the effect of discovering the dungeon, the item drop rates were doubled and the best items had not even been identified. So Weed and his party walked towards the sword dropped by the Skeleton Soldier.

*Ting*

Item: Clay Sword

Durability: 12/65

Attack: 23-25

A magic sword imbued with the spirit of ice.

Does 2-5 bonus damage to armored target and decreases movement.

Restrictions:

Level 60

STR 200

Equipped: Grants an additional 2-5 Ice Elemental damage.

A grin spread across Weed’s face.

‘Jackpot!’

A sword that in the store sold for over 100 gold was also attainable as an item drop. Of course, compared to a Clay Sword purchased at a store, the item drop was much lower in durability. In addition, the maximum durability of the sword would decrease little by little if the sword breaks and remains in an unrepaired state.

“This is…”

Pale looked over the items for a while.

He felt greed sinking in. He was human after all, so why shouldn’t he feel it? However, Weed slowly walked to the center of the group. All he wore was a simple, hardened leather outfit. Neither armor nor boots. Weed spoke, addressing Pale.

“That bastard’s attack power was really something. If there were two of them, they might have been trouble.”

“…….”

Pale bit back tears as he stood aside, allowing Weed to claim all three items. If Weed, their meat shield, did not have good equipment then who would replace him?

“These kinds of items should belong to Pale-nim…” said Weed’s using his ‘disappointed voice’.

“…….”

“Still, as I’m the one who has to fight them directly, it would be a bonus to be well-equipped. But the next item drops should definitely go to Surka-nim and Pale-nim.” This was classic example of ‘giving the disease and then offering the remedy’.

Weed was the one who would benefit most from the items, so this could be called a group decision. Weed would finally be free of the Hard Iron Sword that he’d received from the Training Hall Instructor. Suddenly, a voice called out.

“Humans… the beloved soldiers of the undead…”

A ‘le-wild’ Skeleton Knight had appeared without warning.

Everyone makes mistakes, but this one was potentially fatal. Until now, the enemies in the hunting grounds they had explored stayed mostly within their designated territories. Skeleton Knights, on the other hand, wandered wherever the hell they pleased. Oblivious to this fact, the party had been resting without a worry when it suddenly appeared.

A Skeleton Knight, with its eerie, glowing eyes, wearing scale mail over its body of bones, was an undead monster over level 100. This formidable creature now charged at the party.

“Kyaa!”

The Skeleton Knight swung its sword in a wide arc, cutting Surka’s hip. Fortunately, she did not die, but her health dropped by over 35%!

“Run!”

Weed leapt in between Surka and the Skeleton Knight, holding the Clay Sword he had just picked up. His quick thinking was a great help in the midst of such a crisis.

A monster of over level 100!

Weed’s knees began to shake. But not for fear of his enemy since he considered anyone within 30 levels of him a fair fight. Weed’s concern was for the Clay Sword with its pitiful durability. If it were to break during this fight… Unfortunately, nobody could swap weapons with an enemy right before their eyes.

‘Please, God… don’t break my new weapon!’ Weed prayed.

“Be careful, Weed-nim!”

“Romuna, Irene, wake up! A Skeleton Knight appeared!”

The party members quickly got ready for combat. However, that gave the Skeleton Knight enough time to begin its first attack: A powerful charge followed by another attack! For the first time, Weed felt that his brittle sword was needed.

‘I can’t lose this sword!’

It was already too late to run, but Weed trusted his movements and defense. Rather than blocking, he attempted to dodge. A minor injury was unavoidable, but he felt that a flesh wound was a worthwhile sacrifice to protect his fragile bone… of course, the “bone” this time was obviously his new sword.

‘Wait, did I repair the gloves and boots?’

‘Crap!’ The durability of the gloves and boots were nearly depleted.

A weapon like the Clay Sword would not lose much durability unless it made physical contact, but other equipment, like the gloves and boots, lose durability simply if the wearer is hit by an attack. Durability was a strange attribute; when near maximum, it would decrease slowly, but when low, a single attack could be enough to break the item.

‘Why now…’ Weed thought bitterly.

Weed quickly rolled on the ground.

*Clank!*

The sword of the Skeleton Knight swung down, just barely missing him.

Such skills oftentimes appeared in martial arts novels. This one in particular involved rolling on the ground in an attempt to evade attacks. What about pride? Something like that had no place in this situation.

The thought of his gloves, boots and new sword breaking was much more painful. While Weed was stalling, his party finished their battle preparations: Pale sent arrows flying, while Irene cast Divine Protection and Blessings. Romuna cast powerful spells, not hesitating to start off with the strongest ones.

“Fire Field!”

In order to catch the fast-moving Skeleton Knight, she used an area-of-effect spell.

*VOOOSH!*

Flames began to spread from the spot where the Skeleton Knight stood. Weed and Surka had to move quickly to escape the fire. In that spare moment, Weed put away the Clay Sword, boots and gloves and equipped the Iron Sword. He wished he could use the Repair skill on them, but the dire situation only allowed him enough time to unequipped the item.

“I doubt it’d die from just this,” said Romuna confidently. Fire Field simultaneously dealt heavy damage to a large number of enemies. Besides Weed’s sword skills, the biggest source of power in the party was Romuna’s Fire Mastery.

Out of all the skills that improve the power of fire spells and effects, Fire Mastery was the 8th most effective. Nevertheless, nobody believed that this was enough to kill an enemy over level 100 like the Skeleton Knight.

Soon the flames dissipated, revealing the Skeleton Knight still standing where it had been before. Its blade was glowing red-hot, and fire poured from its empty eye sockets and ribs, giving it the appearance of a Flaming Skeleton Knight. Though it had taken quite a bit of damage, it was still very much alive.

“These… humans…”

The Skeleton Knight ran forward to attack. Weed confronted the creature, confident this time. He had nothing to fear now that he was using the Iron Sword instead of the Clay Sword.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s sword danced gracefully as it tore into the Skeleton Knight. Romuna’s magic, Surka’s fists and Pale’s arrows also hit their mark in quick succession.

“Grr….”

The Skeleton Knight was still going strong, and the fight began to take a dangerous turn. Weed’s mana had still not fully recovered since the last battle; so he couldn’t even execute a simple sword skill. So far, Weed had dodged the Skeleton Knight’s attacks with just his nimble movements, but had not been able to deal any significant damage. The other party members were in similar situations. Having spent all their mana, they were just barely surviving. Within minutes, the situation got worse.

“I’m completely out of mana. I’m afraid I can’t heal anymore… I’m sorry.” Irene’s words drove everyone to despair. Though Weed and Surka could still fight, once they died, the others would be sitting ducks.

‘In that case…’ Weed decided to use the most powerful finishing move he knew.

“Sword Kaiser!”

Sword Kaiser is the Imperial Formless Sword Techniques’ final form. However, this was just a nickname that Weed had created. He would have to wait and see if it was powerful enough to truly deserve the title “Kaiser of Swords.”

*Nnnng…*

Thin blue lines of light began to emit from the Iron Sword and surround Weed’s body. Weed instantly drew the Skeleton Knight’s full attention, however, its focus was the Iron Sword itself, which seemed to have grown big enough to reach the sky.

*Shoom!*

The sword compressed the air gathering an explosive power. As Weed prepared to stab, most of Weed’s sword skills usually involved slashing. Stabs, on the other hand, were more powerful, but had their own set of problems. If the stab missed, there was a huge risk of leaving an opening for an attack.

However, swinging is added weight to the blade, subtly changing the balance between the wielder’s waist, wrist and footsteps. Weed knew how to use this change to his advantage to dodge enemy attacks, and counter them by integrating offense and defense.

This was how Weed managed to fight stronger monsters, despite having lower health and defense compared to other players. If not for this strategy, even the fight against the Skeleton Soldiers would have been a flatout struggle.

Even though it was only a step or two away, Weed could feel all his health and mana draining out of his body and flowing into the tip of his sword. The Skeleton Knight’s jaw dropped in awe of Weed’s power.

‘Done!’

Just that momentary glimpse of this skills power was enough to satisfy Weed. However, even before the attack hit the Skeleton Knight, Weed felt the shock of the impact.

*Boom!*

Dirt and dust flew everywhere along with the deafening sound of an explosion.

Soon the dust cleared only to reveal Weed still standing his ground, battered and bruised.

‘How’s this possible?’ his mind said in shock.

Sword Kaiser was a monstrous skill that consumed 2000 mana. If there was not enough mana, the difference was paid in health points. Executing it had left Weed with less than 50 HP.

“Wh-where is it?”

Weed began heading towards the Skeleton Knight.

Skeleton Knight!

The Iron Sword was jammed into its abdomen. Cracks spread from that spot until the entire body fell to pieces. In no time at all, the party rushed over to see Weeds handy work.

“We worked so hard to beat this guy…”

Surka lowered her head, exhausted. They went through so much to defeat the Skeleton Knight, but the bastard only dropped some Iron Ore, a few silvers and a single Bone. Though the party had risked their lives on plenty of occasions, the first time for anything was always the hardest. Not to mention they had entered this fight in poor conditions.

Just like Weed, everyone had fought while being nearly out of mana. From then on, Romuna cast her ‘alarm’ spell when fighting skeletons, to check if a Skeleton Knight was approaching. When they were in decent condition, they would fight it. If not, they would avoid it.

In another dungeon or cave, they may have felt pressure to fight in unfavorable conditions due to competition for kills. But luckily, Weed and his party were the only players in this dungeon.

This, however, meant danger, because there was a surplus of monsters!

It was these kinds of situations that Weed liked best.

The moment they entered the dungeon, the unique ability of Moonlight Sculptors had been activated. In the sunlight, Weed’s skills were not at their fullest. However, in the darkness of the night, or in the shadowy depths of a dungeons, the true power of his class manifested, by further increasing his base abilities by about 30%.

In addition, Weed had already read the Skeleton Knights’ fighting patterns using his innate combat ability. The bastards were no longer that much of a threat now that he knew exactly when to dodge. This knowledge alone halved the damage he took. Pale and Surka had Romuna’s support, as well as Irene’s Bless spell, therefore, solo Skeleton Knights could do nothing but quietly hand over their bones and disappear.

“Hahaha.” Weed chuckled.

Weed grinned as he watched the skeletons walking about. He could not help but smile since all he could see was potential EXP points and items!

“Kekeke.”

“Hehe”

“Hahaha.”

The whole party began to laugh.

To think that the sight of walking skeletons could make them so happy! The swords that the Skeleton Soldiers carried, though not all Clay Swords, could be sold at a better price than the Iron Sword. One just had to repair it and then sell it for instant money. It was a fantastic hunting ground since the drops included shields, gloves and sometimes even breastplates. And since the drop rate was doubled, it was no surprise that Weed’s inventory was soon full. Soloing Skeleton Knights, despite their high level, were no longer a concern to Weed and his party. However, Death Knights, which sometimes wandered past, were their biggest concern.

“Hu…man. A… human’s… scent… from here…”

A Death Knight, clad in dark grey armor, appeared on horseback. Weed and his party, who had just been killing skeletons and looting items, nervously hid behind a stone.

No matter what they did, there was no way they could defeat a Death Knight, known to be over level 200. The difference in levels was so great that their attacks would be considered misses even if they hit their mark.

In Royal Road, not only users, but NPCs as well, could grow stronger. A Death Knight that reached its second advancement had formidable set of skills.

This Death Knight, called Royan, had dark energy pouring out of his helm. Death Knights were named monsters and so each of them had a name of their own.

“The… scent… of a human… Oh… I… don’t have a nose.”

Death Knight Royan looked around for a bit, then slowly left to search a different area. Even after the Death Knight left, the sound of its horse’s hoof beats could be heard for some time.

“Whew.”

“It’s gone.”

Weed and his party breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing else could strike as much fear into them as the presence of the roaming Death Knights that sometimes came around.

Chapter 5: The One Who Does the Worst

Weed and his party members had managed to safely gather the Skeleton Knight bones from the first floor of Memphis Hall and complete their quest.

Unfortunately, there was some bad news as well. Apparently, Pale, Romuna and Irene were real life friends who lived in the same neighborhood. In fact, Surka was Romuna’s younger sister.

They hadn’t mentioned anything so as not to make Weed feel awkward. But now, they had to reveal the truth.

“Sorry… our parents…”

“It seems we won’t be able to get online for a while.” they said dejectedly.

They had already become addicted to Royal Road and played continuously to the point of even skipping school but their parents, who had been on vacation, soon found out.

Obviously, they were all grounded.

“You guys… are playing games instead of doing homework?!”

“GO TO SCHOOL RIGHT NOW!”

The log-in licenses to the expensive capsules were thus confiscated, and their requests for extended leave from school were cancelled. But luckily they had learnt their lesson from watching Weed that success depended on the ability to find profit even in an unfavorable situation! They simply made their parents log onto Royal Road asking them to just experience it for themselves.

A new player couldn’t go outside the castle until four weeks had passed. Their parents, however, were completely satisfied with staying safely confined within the Castles walls.

After all, it was a perfect rendition of a fantasy world.

The parents had grown up playing games and reading fantasy novels themselves. But when they got jobs and started raising children, they were no longer able to do these things. This here, however, this was a whole new universe for them. The paradise they’ve been dreaming of since they were children.

This game is like a whole new world where they can escape from their work and business without going to faraway country.

“Games are not all that bad.”

“It’s certainly fun.”

“By the way, Jungee’s mom, I heard you got a ‘quest’ at the Weapons Shop?”

“Yes, it’s really more of a chore. I have to buy five Whetstones for the shop…”

“Do you have enough money?”

“Yep. I got 3 silvers to buy them. Whetstones are 50 coppers, so I’ll be left with 50 coppers to spare.”

“Share with us!”

The parents started at Serabourg Castle all together. They wandered around together, doing quests and befriending the NPCs.

And just like that, the four in-game weeks went by, but in the real world only a week had passed. Now the parents were free to go in and out of the castle. When Pale and Surka had told them they could now leave the castle their parents just laughed.

“Come on… how can we hunt monsters?”

“Hunting is for you youngsters.”

“We like staying in the castle and helping people, doing chores for money, which we can then use to buy good food.”

But upon leaving the castle out of curiosity, the parents’ attitudes changed dramatically. The following was the conversation that transpired between Romuna and her parents.

“Bastard Swords deal more damage than Long Swords… Why is that?”

“Because it’s a two-handed sword. It’s big and heavy, so you can’t swing it as fast.”

“So you mean instead of several small hits, it’s one strong hit?”

“Yep.”

“That’s the kind of weapon I want… But the Bastard Sword costs over 10 gold from the shop…”

“Should I buy one for you?”

“Well… I’ll only say this now… But how much do you think we went through raising you? When you were just a baby, we provided you the best food and covered you in the best clothes. Since we care so much about you, we don’t really want to force you to…”

Pale’s situation was quite similar. His parents were schoolteachers and thus they were very strict. When he was young, he could not so much as breathe loudly in front of his parents. His father, who had been an Army Ranger in his youth, had developed significant charisma from his years in the military. On the night he left the castle for a short time, Pale had the following discussion with his father over dinner, “Hmm, it seems those damn foxes are very strong.”

“…?”

Pale, whose real name was Oh Dongman, was thinking hard to figure out what his father was saying.

His father hinted once again. “Damn foxes. They’re too strong.”

Only then did it occur to Oh Dongman.

“They’re a bit challenging at first. If you don’t have any equipment, that is.”

“I do have some…”

“You didn’t try to fight them on your own, did you?”

“I did…”

“Well of course it’s hard if you try to fight the foxes alone. At your level, Dad, it’s almost impossible”

“Th-then you mean you can beat them? Foxes?”

“Of course.”

Oh Dongman’s father grasped his son’s hands. “Avenge your father!” he commanded.

Needless to say, just like that, the parents were also sucked into the world of Royal Road. Since neighboring families were also playing the game together, Royal Road had became a hot topic at town meetings and family gatherings.

Now, instead of discussing real estate and finance pains, the parents chatted about Royal Road over drinks. Apparently, there were many people their age that played the game. They had, in fact, been late to discover the joy of Royal Road.

Hyun had long since predicted that a day like this would come. In most games, the value of items dropped over time. Same for currency like gold or silver. This was natural since the average levels of users rises over time. However, if the users are not confined to 10 to 20 year olds, and if adults who are set for life become addicted to Royal Road, the value of the game’s currency would not diminish.

When there was a great item, people started a bidding war. They bought weapons, armor and accessories the same way they bought good cars.

This actually had more merit than in the real world. If one went into battle wearing good equipment, then they could actually feel themselves becoming stronger and taste the sweetness of victory.

As time went by, more middle-aged users appeared, buying items at increasingly high prices as if they were buying race cars. This was also how the parents were lured into playing Royal Road.

However, due to this, Pale and Co. were no longer able to train in Lavias.

“Sorry, but we have to help our parents. At least until they adjust to the game…”

Pale spoke without hiding his disappointment. Weed understood why they had to go. It was unavoidable since they were doing it for their parents. However, Weed still had things to do, so he stayed behind alone in Lavias.

* * *

“328,200 won spent on food this month. I heard the price of rice is increasing. But we should still avoid imported rice…”

Hyun was writing in his accounts ledger.

He did not want Hayan or his grandmother to eat American rice, which might be genetically modified. Regardless of how cheap it was, it just simply could not be trusted.

“We’ve been spending too much. I should stop using the recipes I had learnt online. Next is the heating… but there’s no way to save money on that because of grandma.”

Hyun checked all the expenses of the month. He had shopped for groceries, cooked food, cleaned the house and handled the money all on his own.

Only a meager 90 million won remained of his family’s entire fortune after the loan sharks had seized his 3 billion won. At one stage, his anger had led to many sleepless nights but in the end he was able to calm himself. That was all in the past. He even felt somewhat relieved knowing it was all over. He would have continued to suffer had the debts not been paid off.

They hounded Hyun for eight years, waiting for Hyun to become an adult so they could force him into dangerous work like drug dealing or worse – murdering members of rival groups. If Hyun was caught, they could just bribe the police and frame him for all their crimes. That was how they avoided most of their troubles with law enforcers.

Hyun had lived such a troubled childhood that the press and public would simply assume it was only natural for him to have committed these crimes.

One might even say such people deserved to be punished since there was no hope of salvation for them. But the wiser would understand the dangers these people had endured. Surely they too were afraid of going to jail? After all, what would happen to their families if they were arrested?

He only had his grandmother and his little sister.

The thought of them waiting for Hayan to become an adult was truly frightening. Or perhaps they would not even bother to wait that long. Young women sold for better prices, after all. In Hyun’s case, a young man dealing drugs and murdering other gang members would undoubtedly draw attention.

Most people cannot fathom why a young boy would go as far as to deal drugs and assassinate gang members. Perhaps they’re forced into it, or perhaps they’re being framed.

If Hyun had gone to jail in such a manner, leaving his baby sister to live a hard and cruel life, he might have gone insane. Clearing the debt prevented all that from happening.

“90 million won. Plus another nine million if we add the five that we got from selling the old house and the four million we saved for emergencies.”

However, they had spent 50 million on a new house. They were able to buy a house for that little because it was in a less desirable neighborhood. Though they still had 49 million won remaining after that, they had spent around 20 million over the last year. Looking back, it was an incredible loss. To begin with, the capsule for playing Royal Road cost 10 million won to buy and install, not to mention the monthly subscription fee was 300,000 won. The rest had gone to basic living expenses and Hayan’s school fees.

“29 million won… Just about enough to last around 2 more years.”

Hyun, dressed in a uniform, fell to despair. It was time to start living an even thriftier lifestyle.

“Oppa, I’m home!”

(PR: ‘Oppa’ is the respectful term used by females to call older males such as older male brother or friends in Korea)

At that moment, Hayan opened the door and entered the room. Surprised, Hyun quickly hid his accounts book and bank book inside his uniform.

“You’re early. Your grades come in today, right?”

“Yeah, here it is.”

“Let’s see…”

Hyun impatiently opened the report card. This was an important moment for Hayan, who was in her second year of high school.

“3rd place in your class, 14th place in your grade… Your rank went up a bit since last time.”

“Of course! Whose sister do you think I am?”

“Well, let’s leave it at that.”

“What’s with that tone?” Hayan pouted.

Hyun then looked at the list of prospective colleges at the bottom of the report. Korea University was at the top of the list, with a 98% chance of her being accepted. Until a short time ago, she used to hang out with kids who might’ve been a bad influence, but Hayan still had a good brain. Once she returned to being his gentle little sister, her grades had improved rapidly. Eventually, it became almost certain that she would be able to get into university.

‘Still…’

One could spend over 10 million won a week going to college. Not just paying for classes, but transportation, food and books, so that she can keep up with her peers.

* * *

“These test results are very good. Eyesight isn’t bad, and the liver and kidneys are very healthy.”

“How is the marrow?”

“Great. Though for a bone marrow transplant, there needs to be a matching recipient. But I’m sure a buyer will appear soon. The reactions of the intestines are very good, and the bloodstream is also free from infections.”

Hyun listened to each and every word spoken by the doctor.

“Then the tests are over?”

“Yes.”

“Thank you. Please send me the documents. I will sell whatever makes me the most money fast. But let me wait 1 year and 4 months. If I still need the money then, I’ll get the surgery.”

“I will send the documents.”

Coming out of the hospital, Hyun didn’t feel any better hearing he was physically healthy.

Selling organs.

He had discovered this hospital through the black market. 50 million won for a single eyeball, 30 million for a kidney. Though livers and bone marrow needed a compatible recipient, they could be sold for about 20 million won each. He had only about 1 year and 4 months left.

Royal Road would become money, he was certain of that. However, he needed to consider the alternate possibilities. If Hayan needed more money to go to college, Hyun was prepared to sell his body parts.

Royal Road, is a game to be enjoyed. But Hyun could not afford the luxury of being so carefree. He had to force himself to work harder to earn more money and become Royal Road’s richest man.

‘Lee Hayan, you must succeed my unfulfilled dreams. I will make sure you won’t have to make the sacrifices that I’ve had to make.’

Hyun, wearing worn-out clothes, came back home muttering like a possessed man. He did not care what happened to him. Losing one eye would not affect his life much, not when it came to earning money.

He wanted to make sure that at least his sister would grow up cheerfully away from the harshness of life.

If one went through too much hardship, a shadow would appear across the face. It is inevitable since they would be different from those who grew up in a good environment. The mind would weaken, giving way to fear which in turn erodes self-confidence. Out of greed, Hyun had tried hard even at a young age to attain the confidence and Intelligence attributed to rich kids.

Even if he himself could not eat or be clothed properly, he would make sure his little sister would never need to be jealous of others. There aren’t many men who would do this for their younger sister. Maybe not all older brothers are like this, but Hyun’s feelings for his little sister were unrivaled. She wasn’t just his little sister, she was almost his own daughter.

Hayan had lost her parents at a young age. Since then, the one who cared for her and raised her was not the busy grandmother, but Hyun himself.

* * *

Now, there was no more Irene’s holy magic, nor Romuna’s AOE spells or alarms and Surka’s relentless punches were nowhere to be found, nor were Pale’s lightning-fast range attacks. Nevertheless, Weed still had himself.

Hunting in a party was fine, but with more people arguments were inevitable, wasting time. In the worst case, the hunt ended before it could even begin.

In comparison, hunting solo had the benefit of simplicity. There was no pointless wasting of time and proved great for raising skill points. It was better to fight solo to improve Sword Mastery and other combat techniques.

“Grr, human!”

A Skeleton Knight, radiating a battle aura, swung its sword toward his head. The armored Skeleton Knight’s with its quick moves were undoubtedly intimidating, but Weed’s movements were also unique. Gliding smoothly, he dodged the Skeleton Knight’s attacks as he slowly whittled away his opponent’s health. As a result, the Skeleton Knight’s movements began to slow.

“Sculpting Blade!” he roared.

Finally, Weed’s sword shattered the Skeleton Knight’s ribcage and the light faded from it’s hollowed eyes, an affirmation of death. Fights in Royal Road were very realistic. The special effects for things getting broken or smashed were flawless.

A solo player had great opportunities to boost the Strength stat. This particular stat determined the power behind attacks, just like in the real world. A player used that power when fighting monsters. Maximum damage was not dealt if attacks did not employ strength. For example, a punch thrown while running away had much lower destructive power as opposed to a punch thrown at a close range. Therefore, damage was determined by how much one could control his own power. Posture, muscle use, proximity, and explosion of power.

Royal Road was a virtual reality game that allowed players to exploit an enemy’s weakness. Players of Royal Road, like veteran warriors, were keenly aware of their own strength. Not just via numbers on their stat window, but by actually experiencing their own destructive power. There was such joy in destruction! Of course, Weed was no exception.

He had dedicated himself to practicing swordsmanship for a year in order to master accuracy, dodging and the basics of battle. Through his many practice matches, he had become unafraid of battles to the point of actually enjoying fights against stronger opponents.

The sword became his way and his tool. The sword was the best tool to use to understand the basics of movement and fighting. Of course, a person who started Royal Road without learning swordsmanship or martial arts could still become familiar with fighting skills. Actually, that was how most players did it, thinking of it as just another part of the game to get used to. But his perspective was different.

The tree whose roots run deep will grow taller. A player who fought monsters without a strong foundation in swordsmanship could only grow up deformed. Weed had practiced swordsmanship for a year before ever facing a monster! And by fighting progressively stronger monsters, his skills improved. This was the reason Weed was even stronger than his stats suggested.

“Hmm… With this, I have all the items I need to complete the quest.”

“Whew… I should just replenish the mana.” Weed’s mana was half depleted, so he decided to take a brief break.

Since Weed was doing the work of many people on his own, he was always on the alert, never truly relaxing. While he waited for his mana to replenish, he sat and sculpted with enthusiasm. The sculpture he was making was in the shape of a crow.

Making a sculpture for the first time significantly raises both the Art stat and Sculpture Mastery. Since Weed had decided to make each new sculpture unique, his Art stat and Sculpture Mastery were rising quickly. His goal was to make sculptures for each Avian tribe in Lavias.

Weed returned to Lavias and distributed the sculptures he had made to the Avians.

“This sculpture is the only one of its kind in the entire world. I sculpted all your appearances with my own hands!”

“Thanks.”

Each Avian received a sculpture that resembles them. As they took them, they said, “I can’t take this for free.”

“How much do you want me to give you?”

Each time they asked, Weed gave the same reply. “Let’s not complicate our relationship by getting money involved. But I’m very interested in Lavias. Could you tell me something about this city?”

“Mmm… Then I’ll tell you about the Northern Nest…”

“I’ll tell you about the habits of the undead in the underground.”

The Avians’ stories became an important source of information. Though they were mostly just useless gossip, sometimes there was information about quests or hunting grounds.

Weed went to the Crow, who stood in front of the armor shop.

“What is this?”

“I made this sculpture for Crow-nim.”

“Hoh, thank you,” Crow said, flapping his wings in appreciation. Then he spoke up, as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Have you ever gone to the Dead Warrior’s Cave?”

“The Dead Warrior’s Cave?”

“Yes, if you come out of Memphis Hall and walk north for thirty minutes, you can see the entrance. Careful, though, there are Ghouls, Skeleton Mercenaries and Dullahan there. You won’t survive if you go in without proper preparations.”

In Royal Road, levels rose faster when fighting monsters above your own level. Skeleton Soldiers and Mages were no longer a match for Weed, and he was getting bored of the Skeleton Knights that only wandered around alone.

Weed prepared his bag with an abundance of medicinal herbs, food and fresh water. On the Continent, Weed would only need things like condiments and spices, since he could find edible plants or catch and cook animals with his Cooking Skills. But since Memphis Hall had only the Undead, he had to pack food.

On his way to the grocery store he met an Avian resembling a parrot.“Oh, a human traveler. Come, come!”

“Nice to meet you,” replied Weed with a sigh.

‘Bah, what a bird-brain!’

Weed had met this Avian resembling a parrot a while ago, and of course given him a sculpture as a token of friendship. He had liked it very much at the time. But a few days later, Weed visited him again and he had forgotten all about Weed.

When Weed tried to remind him about the sculpture, he angrily told Weed not to talk nonsense. He then called Weed a thief and threw him out. Frustrated, Weed visited him yet again and was greeted warmly as a customer. That was when Weed realized something about the Avians.

‘They have terrible memory!’

Don’t people say that a goldfish can’t remember anything beyond three seconds?

Then these Avians were better than goldfish, but the fact remained that they possessed the undersized brains of birds. They forgot Weed’s existence even after he had introduced himself multiple times. Because of this, Weed’s strategy to make friends with them wasn’t working.

He ended up having to get everything he could out of them right then and there while they were still being friendly to him.“I came to buy beans, sesame seeds, corn, walnuts, fish, leeks, pork, peanuts and spinach.”

“Oh, is that so?”

The parrot-looking avian took out foods one by one as Weed ordered them and checked them several times before saying, “That’ll be 19 gold.”

“Here it is. Ah, but I only have 18 gold and 50 silver. Can I give you the rest the next time I come?”

The Avian merchant took a long look at Weed.

“You’re not a merchant. I couldn’t give you a discount because you’re not experienced in bartering. You are a somewhat famous adventurer, but not that famous. But you have artistic talent. I can’t deny someone who may be the next famous artist. I’ll trust you and take that 50 silver next time.”

Weed left with his goods, having paid 50 silver less.

The foods he bought could raise mana temporarily, so of course the price would be high.

Now the question was whether or not the parrot-like Avian would remember to ask for the 50 silver. Seeing as he had forgotten the 40 silvers weed had promised him last time, it seemed unlikely.

With that, the first step of his preparations ended. Next he had to hone his fighting skills.

“Open Stats Window”

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Neutral

Level

109

Fame

365

Title

None

Profession

Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Health

5260

Mana

1521

Strength

335 (+20)

Agility

305 (+20)

Vitality

89 (+20)

Wisdom

16 (+20)

Intelligence

24 (+20)

Endurance

174 (+20)

Fighting Spirit

143 (+20)

Luck

5 (+20)

Charisma

74 (+20)

Art

84 (+80)

Perseverance

55 (+20)

Offense

231

Defense

76

Magic Resistance

Fire

0%

Water

0%

Earth

0%

Black Magic

0%

+20 points add to all stats (+20 ALL STATS)
+80 points added Art (+80 ART)
+30% increase to Stats on Moonlit Nights

Gained ability to equip and use class specific items

Gained ability to learn all craft skills to the stage of a Master

Crafting skills are optional and advanced skills are available

Grants extra options to items that are produced or refined

Increases Attack Power for the Sculpting Blade technique

Decreases Mana Consumption for the Sculpting Blade technique

Enables you to learn secret skills based on your level in Sculpture Mastery

Increases Fame rapidly by creating statues of extraordinary beauty or artistic value

Weed’s Level was over 100. So when Weed and his party discovered Memphis Hall and received double experience points, they had concentrated on hunting the whole time.

They decreased their sleep time by two hours, and even stayed connected while they slept. This way, Weed had gotten to level 95. Hunting solo, he had since then raised it to 109.

His stats had been greatly boosted thanks to the level gains. His Mana was now high enough to allow him to use the 4th Imperial Formless Sword Technique, Sword Dance; though only once.

The only unsatisfying part was that there had been no increase in Charisma. This skill rose not only when giving orders to NPCs, but also when one was a party leader. However, since he had been hunting alone, there had been no way to improve his Charisma stat and certain other skills had also increased by very little.

Cooking (Beginner Lv: 8 | 45%)

Sculpting Mastery (Beginner Lv: 9 | 99%)

Repair (Beginner Lv: 7 | 25%):

Handcraft (Intermediate Lv: 2 | 6%):

Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv: 8 | 88%):

Archery (Beginner Lv: 5 | 98%):

Sculpting Blade (Beginner Lv: 7 | 49%):

Imperial Formless Sword Techniques (Comprehension 5%):

Bandage (Beginner Lv: 7 | 11%):

Identification (Beginner Lv: 5 | 14%):

Sculpting Blade Technique (Beginner Lv: 7 | 30%):

Sculpting was about to rise to intermediate. As for Sculpting Blade, the mana cost had significantly decreased after reaching level 7.

He had used Sword Kaiser a few times lately, but for hunting solo it was more effective to use the Sculpting Blade technique, due to its ability to cut through the unseen and bypass armor. This was critical when fighting the Undead as it effectively severed the soul. This sword technique was, therefore, akin to holy magic in its ability to destroy the Undead.

“Not bad.”

Weed smiled as he headed toward the market to buy antidotes, medicinal herbs and bandages.

His eyes grew sad at the thought of spending money again. Truthfully, he had never bought items before. He made his own food, and sometimes even sold it.

Sculptures carved from cheap materials could also be sold for a gold or two. Naturally, this was not a small sum.

When he was with Pale and the others, he always told them he had only 30 gold, even after taking his portion of the loot. But his profit from selling sculptures and food was 200 gold! He had accumulated 650 gold through hunting, selling loot and collecting quest rewards.

But to be in position to spend money was greater agony than being penniless. Weed’s shoulders drooped and his face looked like one facing death whenever he went into a store.

Especially when paying, he seemed like a person having a near death experience. Therefore, no one could comprehend why his heart ached so, or why he was always short a few silvers.

Chapter 6: The Meaning Behind Royal Road

Weed now knew the first floor of Memphis Hall like his own home. He knew perfectly well where the dangerous Death Knights patrolled, and the best spots to hunt Skeleton Knights.

Being a solo hunter without a party, what Weed dreaded the most was an ambush right when he had low health and mana. For this reason, Weed prepared a few hideouts where he stashed plenty of bandages and herbs.

He had figured out safe spots to rest and places where he could most effectively target his enemies. Bandages and herbs were easily obtained, however the knowledge of the hideouts was priceless. He had selected these locations after countless trial and error. But afterwards, without regrets, he had cleared out those spots.

“It’s here, huh.” After going through the Northern area, Weed finished exploring the entire region.

*Ting*

You are the first to completely map Memphis Hall B1 Floor Map

Fame has risen by 20 points (+20 FAME)

When Weed had first came to the City of Heaven, he had bought a map. Later the places he traveled to were added to this map. The Map of Memphis Hall’s basement was now an item which could be sold for quite a high price at the General Store or to other users. There was no way he would pass up this opportunity to get easy money.

Weed left Memphis Hall and headed for the Cave of Dead Warriors. It wasn’t a difficult place to find. The moment he descended into the cave, he heard eerie noises.

‘What is this?’ he could sense a light draft and the low growl of something dangerous. Murky darkness filled his vision and the noises were getting louder.

‘I don’t feel so good about this.’ he thought as a chill ran down his spine.

Weed moved cautiously keeping his right hand on his sword just in case something popped up out of the shadows.

‘So I’m not the first one to discover this place. I suppose the people, who first discovered Lavias also discovered this dungeon,’

A short distance away, Weed came upon an undead blocking his path.

“Human! Are you a knight?”

It was a huge, muscular knight with a body much bigger than a Skeleton Knight or a Lizard Man. He had broad shoulders and dangerous looking arms, but above the neck, there was nothing. The missing head was instead carried by his left arm. He was the most unique monster among all the undead – a knight that carried around his own head. It was this head that had spoken.

‘A Dullahan, huh.’

Weed recognized his opponent – an undead around level 140!

“I am not a knight.” Weed replied.

“Then what are you?”

“I am a Sculptor.” he replied calmly.

“A scul-Sculptor?!” the Dullahan sputtered.

Incredible disappointment filled the Dullahan’s face. Dullahans loved to improve their skills through combat. They were a type of knight that made the Skeleton Knights pale in comparison.

“You’re a Sculptor? What a disappointment,” the Dullahan mumbled.

Weed was used to being underestimated because of his class. A Sculptor must look so pathetic that even the undead ignored them!

The creator of Royal Road was Unicorn Corporations. There was much controversy when they released the game. It was the first ever virtual reality game. A reality that was 100% based off of fantasy. But why was it named Royal Road? There had been so many other possible names to choose from. Even though Royal Road received worldwide attention, its title was somewhat disappointing. It wasn’t a name that stuck with you when you heard it.

But there was a reason Unicorn Corporation chose the name Royal Road. No one on earth had been able to conquer and rule over every continent and ocean. This game was the road to that great empire. The unified empire that not even Genghis Khan, Napoleon, or Alexander the Great could achieve. The game paved the way for people to achieve that dream.

It was a hope for something never before seen in the history of mankind; an Emperor who would conquer every single continent. It taught people to dream, to hope to be whatever they want to be, and this hope would drive them towards their goal. This was the true meaning behind “Royal Road”.

The first to conquer the entire land would be given prize money: 10% of Unicorn Corporations sales for one month. This was an enormous sum. In Korea alone, millions played the game. Globally, Japan, Europe and America combined; the users amounted to over 100 million. Not to mention Royal Road cost $300 USD a month to play. It was difficult to calculate such a huge amount of money. 10% of that would make someone instantly rich.

That was why most players in Royal Road chose fighting-type classes. Most users chose to advance from Swordsman to Knight, seeing battle-related classes as the fastest path to becoming the Emperor. Blacksmiths and other trade classes were looked down upon. There was no need to even mention Artists, Chefs, or Sculptors who couldn’t even fit in with the trade classes. It was their fate to be belittled and ignored.

‘Just like my own life.’ Weed thought.

Without a word, Weed drew his Clay Sword. An icy blue aura emanated from it. The Clay Sword had a special ability to slow down an enemy’s movements upon a direct hit.

“Uurrrg!” The Dullahan charged, swinging his axe fast. Weed raised his Clay Sword, parrying the attacks.

*Slam!*

*Ting*

Item: Clay Sword’s durability has decreased

The message was accompanied by the shock of the impact that made Weed’s arms shudder. He had just finished repairing that sword, but this one attack was able to lower its durability. It seemed that the Dullahan’s specialty was his brute strength.

“I can’t lose! Sculpting Blade!” Weed yell and attacked relentlessly.

The two exchanged blows rapidly. Weed, charged with the intent to kill, aimed for the vital points. Battles had to be finished as quickly and as simply as possible. That was the only way to minimize the risk of enemy reinforcements showing up.

For Weed, who hunted alone, another Dullahan or monster appearing would mean nothing but trouble. Besides Weed could sculpt as a side job while he rested. This meant that he had to reduce the time spent fighting as much as possible.

*Bash!* The Dullahan used a skill with his axe swing, pushing Weed back a great distance.

“Devil’s Strike!” The Dullahan roared, initiating a chain attack.

The axe, now launched into the air, and spun violently as it came flying. Although Weed ducked to avoid the blow, his HP dropped by 300 just from the wind pressure.

If he had used the ‘Seven Celestial Steps’, he could have dodged it completely, however he chose to get hit.

The point was to raise his level of Defense while working on his Perseverance.

Now it was Weed’s turn.

“Triple!” The first strike missed, while the second, more destructive strike came from the opposite direction. The enemy managed to dodge both attacks, causing Weed to execute a powerful swing from the bottom-up.

By then the throwing axe had boomeranged back to its owner and the Dullahan thrust it forward to block Weed’s third attack. At that instant, Weed’s sword crisscrossed through the Dullahan’s chest, making a total of five consecutive attacks. Triple had evolved as Weed’s mastery of the skill increased.

The Dullahan had somehow blocked the first three attacks, but the next two lowered his HP by more than 20%. He went into a frenzy trying to push Weed back by repeatedly using his Bash ability. But by now Weed had already worked out his skills timing, and swiftly carved into the Dullahan’s side.

“Aren’t you dead yet, just die already!? Sculpting Blade!” Milky white light surrounded Weed’s blade.

Then came the merciless strikes!

The Dullahan’s health points were decreasing rapidly as the strikes sounded.

He tried attacking again, but Weed dodged them all.

Weed could anticipate the Dullahan’s skills by watching his footsteps, and then dodge them by moving his upper body. Ultimately, the Dullahan wasn’t a difficult enemy for him. The gap in levels might have been wide, but through jobs and training, Weed was above the Dullahan in terms of stats. Weed’s Perseverance stat was at the same level as the Dullahan’s. Thanks to that, he had no real disadvantage. Although, level 80 Skeleton Mages were actually more annoying.

Mages were troublesome to fight because they cast countless curses. When Irene the Priest was there, the curses were easily dispelled, but now Weed could only dispel the curses with potions after the battle was over. Each Curse Dispelling Potion cost three silvers. This sometimes took the profit out of hunting, so Weed hated Skeleton Mages the most.

“Uwwagggh…” Sometime later the Dullahan’s body disappeared in a gray light as his horse neighed shrilly.

“Phew… that was easier than I expected. But one of them can take down 40% of my health, it would be dangerous if two of them challenged me at once.”

Weed headed to a hidden corner to level his sculpting after he picked up the greaves the Dullahan dropped.

“Let’s try sculpting a Dullahan.”

Weed’s mastery didn’t increase as much by making sculptures he had made before. But making a sculpture for the first time increased Handicraft and Art skills significantly.

Weed took out Zahab’s Sculpting Knife and a piece of wood and started to sculpt the figure of the Dullahan he just saw. He was so used to sculpting now that if he simply pictured it in his mind, he could carve it. The cave was silent save for the echo of Weed’s sculpting.

“It would be great if my Sculpting level would rise to Intermediate…” Weed thought.

His current Sculpting skill was 99% to level 10. He had also made five sculptures of Avians, so he thought it was possible to level up.

“Please let me achieve Intermediate level!”

Weed wished as he finished the Dullahan’s head.

The Dullahan sculpture was complete: A knight with a buff body, menacing eyes and a huge blade.

*Ting*

Upgrade: Sculpting (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%)

You can now craft using special metals and gemstones (Pearl, diamond, ruby, etc.)

For your class, Moonlight Sculptor, the current skills and stats will be affected:

Effect of Sculpting Blade has increased by +50%

Additional effects have been added to Sculpting blade’s skill

Mana cost for Sculpting Blade has been halved

All Stats have risen by 10 points (+10 ALL STATS)

Fame has risen by 20 points (+20 FAME)

Art has risen by 20 points (+20 ART)

New Skill: Sculptural Destruction

Weed shook with happiness. Words could not describe Weed’s feelings at that moment.

All the sadness and loneliness he was made to feel as he learned sculpting!

All of the humiliation and scorn he had to suffer because of his job as a Sculptor! Weed felt his rage vanish into thin air.

Finally, he had achieved Intermediate level in Sculpting.

The job of Sculptor, which he had wanted to quit so badly at first, felt like the job he was destined for.

The Sculpting Blade skill had proven to have the greatest efficiency so far! Every time Weed used Sculpting Blade, his sculpting skill increased ever so slightly and since it was closely tied to Sculpting, the skill was enhanced as his Sculpting Mastery advanced from beginner to Intermediate.

“Hmm, an additional ability?

“Check Skill: Sculpting Blade”

Sculpting Blade (Beginner Lv: 7 | 50%):

Zahab’s visionary sword skill, carried on by those destined to carve the invisible or intangible.

Defends against magic of lower mastery than Sculpting Blade. When spells are absorbed, the caster only incurs 50% of original mana cost.

Mana consumption: Sustained – 25 mana per second.

Weed could only laugh. For knights, mages were the most difficult opponents. Long-range magic attacks were very hard to dodge. But now Sculpting Blade was able to absorb this magic. Even if the opponent only used half the mana they had, it was hundreds of times better than getting hit.

“Since the mana cost for Sculpting Blade is also reduced, maybe I could use it when executing Triple or Backstab?” he said aloud as he pondered this idea.

Sculpting Blade was more of a buff than an attack. Combining Sculpting Blade with the Imperial Formless Sword Technique would cost an enormous amount of mana, but Weed believed the result would be unparalleled. Besides, there was always Sculpture Destruction.

“Check Skill: Sculptural Destruction”

Skill: Sculptural Destruction

The anger involved in destroying one of your own sculptures is converted temporarily into either strength or agility for one day.

Destruction of Ordinary sculpture

1:2 conversion of the Art stat is temporarily applied to either stat (-1 Art stat, -20 Fame).

Destruction of Fine statue

1:4 conversion of the Art stat is temporarily applied to either stat (-5 Art stat, -100 Fame).

Destruction of Masterpiece

1:6 conversion of the Art stat is temporarily applied to either stat (-10 Art stat, -200 Fame).

Destruction of Magnum Opus

1:20 conversion of the Art stat is temporarily applied to either stat (-30 Art stat, -1000 Fame).

Warning: Fame will drop and the corresponding points will be deducted from Art stat.

The amount of Art stat converted to Strength or Agility depended on the quality of the sculpture destroyed. Destroying a normal statue converted double the amount of Art stat into strength or agility for a day while destroying a fine or great statue would convert four or six times the Art stat into strength or agility.

This would be a commonly used skill for sculptors with low strength or agility. Sculptors who only sculpt statues in the game would have a high Art stat, but it would be hard for them to hunt because of their battle stats. This skill allowed those Sculptors to change their Art stat to other stats but the problem lay in the Fame and Art stat penalty that accompanied its use.

The Art stat was hard to increase, meaning that this skill had to be used cautiously. There was such an extreme penalty for destroying a statue that it felt very difficult and unsettling to use.

In other words, this skill was a double-edged sword. Weed decided to stow it away and not use it if he could help it. Temporary strength or agility was not true power. Even without Sculpting Destruction, Weed had become strong once his Sculpting skills reached Intermediate. All his stats had risen by 10 and Sculpting Blade’s power had doubled as well.

Weed wasn’t the only one to enjoy this advantage. Any trade skill such as cooking, tailoring, smithing, fishing, farming, held advantages such as stat, skill or Fame bonuses when proficiency went up. When it reached Intermediate, all stats gained 5 points; when proficiency reached Advanced, all stats gained an additional 10 points.

None yet knew how many points would be gained upon gaining Mastery in a skill. Any skills proficiency rose based on the user. In Weed’s case, he got 10 stat points; twice the amount gained by normal players, due to the secret class – Moonlight Sculptor – and thanks to his quest related to Zahab, Sculpting Blade had improved particularly well…

No one had ever mastered any of the production skills before because the path was too difficult. It had taken a Weed a lot of time and effort just to reach the intermediate level. It would be even more difficult to progress from Intermediate to Expert. However, at that moment, Weed firmly decided that he would become Master in all trade skills.

Delicate aesthetic senses and burning passion for art had little to do with Weed, but he had a talent that no one else had: the talent of hard work.

The Cave of Dead Warriors was a hunting ground where Dullahan and Skeleton Mercenaries, who are both around level 120, and Ghouls around level 110 frequently appeared. Ghouls were lower in levels, but they always appeared in groups of four or five, and there were many kinds of ghouls. Upgraded or Named Ghouls sometimes had levels over 130.

Dullahans and Skeleton Mercenaries had great swordsmanship, so the battles were thrilling. But Ghouls usually just charged in, trusting their clumsy but strong defense.

Weed had to learn how to attack while dodging their vicious attacks.

“Good. This place is perfect.”

Weed had chosen the Cave of Dead Warriors as his new hunting ground. Named monsters, whether they are Dullahan, Skeleton Mercenaries, or Ghouls, were a bit more dangerous, but fighting them had great advantages.

It was perfect for Weed, who fought mainly with fists or swords.

There was the odd Skeleton Mage here and there, but their magic was no longer effective. Blocking with Sculpting Blade nullified their magic; sometimes the spells would rebound, putting the mages in a difficult situation.

It seemed the rate of reflecting the magic depended on the mastery of Sculpting Blade. He needed to practice sculpting in order to raise it. Leveling his sculpting was now as important as gaining experience points and levels.

Weed, who was doing very well so far, still had one opponent he had to be wary of: the Death Knight. These monsters were over level 200 and appeared much more often in the Cave of Dead Warriors. They wandered about, never staying in any specific area. Weed had to hold his breath and move stealthily to hide from them. Thankfully, Death Knights had bad eyesight, so Weed could relax when he hid in a corner. He sometimes went so far as to dig some ditches and hide in them whenever a Death Knight approached.

“When did I become like this…?”

When he had played Continent of Magick, every monster was weak against his max level character, but now he had to hide from Death Knights.

Nevertheless, Weed felt some satisfaction. With his high mana recovery rate and mastery in First Aid, Weed’s down time was much lower.

Thanks to this, Weed was able to gain levels much faster. Plus there were much better item drops here compared to the first floor. So what if he had to do some lame things, Weed had come this far already, so going a little farther wouldn’t hurt.

“Dullahan are the best monsters for hunting. But is there anything better? It’d be nice if there was something weaker than Death Knights but strong enough to give a lot of experience points…”

Weed moved cautiously not forgetting to make his hiding places in key areas. He didn’t need anyone to teach him this, he simply persisted to adapt and survive like a cockroach.

After going through many Ghouls and Skeleton Mercenaries, Weed came upon a wide cavern where an underground river flowed gently through.

Flowers and even some herbs were blooming all over. It was about time to rest since he had just been in a fierce battle against Skeleton Mercenaries. Weed re-filled his water bottle and was just about to sit when he saw a silhouette. Upon further inspection, he found a woman sleeping in the middle of the dungeon, with nobody else around.

“Who are you?” she asked. Weed, who had been waiting for her to wake up, was startled.

“I’m Weed. Wh-what about you?”

It was an rather unpolished introduction, not like him at all. Admittedly he had never imagined that there was someone other than himself would be here.

And the look on her eyes as she woke… was exactly Weed’s type.

“My name is Da’in,” she said, smiling with an aloof smile.

Hyun hadn’t met many girls before. Of course, he had taken classes with girls, but he’d never spent time with one personally. It wasn’t that he was unpopular. There were some girls who approached Hyun, saying that his downcast and detached aura was attractive. He found them foolish.

“You think this is cool? Try experiencing poverty yourself and you’ll change your mind.”

He hadn’t gone on dates with girls either. Dining out, even just coffee cost money. Hyun found food samples from the grocery stores and home-cooked meals much more economical. What he really couldn’t understand was why dating a girl involved spending enormous amounts of money every time there was some sort of anniversary.

Plus, when others went to the drive-in to watch movies, Weed climbed up a nearby telephone pole. The only time he watched TV was when somebody else had one. Of course, he’d picked up a TV that someone had thrown away, but he didn’t watch it because it would run up the electricity bill. He only ever watched it around midnight when the electricity charges were much lower. The cheapskate Hyun, and therefore Weed, had almost no experience with girls.

Da’in. That name was deeply engraved into Weed’s mind. Every man had a dream girl. Weed was no exception.

The woman of his dreams had long natural hair, a young, intelligent face, and a kind, attractive smile. But these were nothing but details.

If a girl could make him fall in love at first sight, then she was his dream girl. Weed developed a small crush on Da’in. That was it.

‘I don’t trust anyone…’

He hadn’t completely trusted Pale or Surka either even though they had trained together. Weed had unfortunately found out that humans change and not always for the best.

They might appear to be friends at the moment but he highly doubted that they would take a bullet for him.

‘Give as much as you take, no more and no less.’ Was Weed’s philosophy. He could not trust anyone except his family.

Weed’s gaze sharpened. “Da’in, how did you come to be here?”

Only Avians lived in the City of Heaven. Humans could not climb up there and judging by her clothing, she was an adventurer.

“Here? I’ve been here for three months already?”

Three months. A thought flashed into Weed’s mind.

“By any chance, are you one of the adventurers who discovered the City of Heaven?”

“Yes, I was part of that group, but I don’t want to talk about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m the only one left here.”

“I see.”

Da’in yawned gracefully and stretched.

“I’m a level 134 Shaman.”

Her level was lower than what Weed had guessed. He had assumed she would be at least level 170 since she was alone in the Cave of Dead Warriors. Weed being there at only level 109 was also an anomaly. A regular player wouldn’t have dared.

“What are you trying to say?”

“I mean if you are alone, let’s form a party. What, you don’t want to?”

“No, that sounds great.”

Weed accepted, not just because Da’in looked somewhat like the girl of his dreams, or because he trusted her. No, Weed, ever suspicious, couldn’t trust a girl whom he just met just because she asked him to train in a party. But Weed liked to keep his enemies close.

The girl was suspicious. Besides, Weed had stored many items in his various hideouts within the dungeon so he couldn’t just leave Da’in alone.

Shamans could use white magic to cast buffs that increased Strength, Agility and Speed, and black magic to decrease enemy stats. They could use offensive spells and healing spells, counteract poison and dispel curses. They could also wield swords and maces, meaning they had some physical combat skills.

In essence, they were the jack-of-all-trades class! However, the shaman class was unpopular since they had a few skills in every aspect, but weren’t outstanding in any of them. Their healing ability was weaker than a Cleric’s, and the curses they cast were weaker than a Black Mage’s. Their melee skills were comparable to that of an Archer with a sword instead of a bow.

Low HP, low Vitality and magic weaker than a Mage’s. Stats couldn’t be invested in just one area, but had to be equally distributed, so this was a class that couldn’t do much. Weed had no expectations from Da’in. He just hoped she wouldn’t hold him back! Maybe he could just ditch her after retrieving all the items from his hideouts.

“Grr!”

Five Skeleton Mercenaries had appeared and Weed tensed. So far he had faced no more than three Skeleton Mercenaries at once.

No matter how great Weed’s combat skills were, it was still going to be difficult to face five at once.

With his back turned, even one or two blows could add up to considerable damage, and he couldn’t use first aid until the battle was over, so it would have been dangerous.

However, at that moment, Da’in raised her right hand and cast a spell.

“Light of courage descended from the ancients; give this hero the power to fight his enemy! Power up!”

Weed’s body glowed with bright light and his strength was raised by nearly 100. Da’in then graciously raised her arms, as though she was awaiting an embrace.

“A breeze drifts past. Fight the enemy with a light heart. Light will be your steps. Up, spirit, Wolf”

Weed’s Agility and Speed increased significantly. He took just one step towards the enemy and he felt as if he was running.

“You, fated to bring death, blood and carnage, the battlefield shall be your home! Bloodlust!”

Da’in’s various Shaman buffs boosted Weed’s stats, now he could easily take on the five Skeleton Mercenaries. But at that moment Da’in cast curses on the Skeleton Mercenaries: Their speed and strength decreased, they could no longer heal their wounds and they lost their will to fight.

‘No way can a Shaman’s magic be this strong!’

Weed didn’t understand the situation. After easily killing the five Skeleton Mercenaries, he didn’t even pause to pick up the item drops before turning to question Da’in.

“Your magic is unbelievable for a level 134. How is that possible? If I don’t understand the reason, we can’t be in a party together.”

He ran the risk of hurting her feelings, but she answered back with a happy smile.

“It’s because of my hobbies.”

“Hobbies?”

“Yes, please don’t think I’m crazy. I don’t like killing monsters, I just…” she spoke shyly.

“I use curses on monsters, holy magic, and sometimes ranged attack spells. After that when their HP drops, I cast Healing Hand on them…”

“On monsters?”

“Yeah, I just played around like that.”

What Da’in was saying was shocking. She was level 134 but her magic was very advanced.

So Da’in played around by cursing, then healing the Skeleton Mercenaries, Dullahan and Ghouls in the dungeon…

Chapter 7: Nameless Statues of Lavias

Weed and Da’in.

Da’in’s Bless spell raised Weed’s abilities by an incredible amount, and at the same time weakened monsters. It was as if she had put wings on Weed, who was already incredible.

Their teamwork increased their potential by near-impossible amounts.

Even so, Da’in did not kill monsters. This was no loss for Weed, since he could increase his skills in Swordsmanship when she did not take part in the fights.

Even so, I can’t trust a person I met in a place like this.’

Weed was constantly worried that she might betray him, even as he fought. Having spent so much time there, Da’in knew a lot of things about Lavias. According to her, until just recently she had been going around Lavias gathering information. She had gone into the dungeon just around the time Weed’s party arrived.

‘Pretty unbelievable story,’ Weed thought. But it was true that he had never encountered her in Lavias, so it must have also been true that she had stayed in the dungeon that long. Nevertheless, that was not reason enough to believe everything else she said.

“How about we change training grounds? I happen to know of a few undiscovered dungeons, though I haven’t been to them yet.” According to Da’in’s investigations, there were at least eight undiscovered dungeons.

“When you say undiscovered dungeons, do you mean nobody has entered them yet?”

“Yes.”

Weed cocked his head in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

Da’in was a member of the first party to ever enter the City of Heaven, and yet there were dungeons they hadn’t visited? It was very hard to believe.

“There was no reason to, since everyone other than me was over level 200.”

“So they didn’t bother to enter the lower-level dungeons? Even so, I don’t think anyone would purposely ignore a dungeon.”

There were multiple benefits to discovering a dungeon, but the one that couldn’t be ignored was the increase in Fame. A considerable amount of Fame was gained for discovering a dungeon, and exploring the whole map of it awarded even more Fame, and even money.

Even if their levels were so high that there was nothing worth hunting, who would pass on that Fame? Da’in was hiding something about the party she had been part of.

“If you don’t tell me, then I won’t move from here.”

“I can’t tell you what they did…”

“Is it a secret?”

“Yes, I promised not to tell anyone… It’s hard to explain, but I am telling the truth. You have to trust me.”

Weed decided to let it go. There was nothing he could do to convince her to reveal the secret.

Words that seemed frail had a higher chance of being true. Plus, they had just left the Cave of Dead Warriors to explore other dungeons. So at least she was being truthful about that.

- Mirkan Tower.

- Secret Area of Pan Lake.

- Baravall Coal Mine.

- Segmail Vista.

- Gaet Altar.

- Parrot Nest.

- Barlog Ruins.

- Sealed Cave of Margres the Destroyer.

These areas had been left unexplored. Weed and Da’in arrived at the region, out of sight from the city. Mirkan Tower seemed as if it had risen up from the clouds. As expected, Weed and Da’in became the first to discover the place. They were mainly up against flying monsters.

Weed had Archery as his long-range attack skill. He used a tough strung bow that made good use of his stats to deal heavy damage.

For just 10 gold coins, users could buy special feathers near the tower and use them to fly for a whole month. Plus, Dungeon discovery meant double the experience points and double the item drops! Weed and Da’in explored and trained in Mirkan Tower, the Secret Area of Pan

Lake and Baravall Coal Mine one by one. At the Balrog Ruins, Gaet Altar and Segmail Vista, the weakest monsters were Death Knights. Nobody dared enter those areas and they had been sealed off. Nevertheless, with Da’in’s help Weed made good progress and gained incredible amount of experience and items.

‘Now, if I can just make this…’

Weed was glaring at two lobsters at that moment. Next to him, Da’in also stared down at the lobsters and gulped. Weed’s Cooking Skill was 99% to reaching beginner level 10, so he chose a special dish for the final 1%. The best a Beginner level Cook could dish out was seafood, that is, the famous lobster!

Of course, Hyun had never eaten lobster in his whole life. It was simply too expensive. One of the reasons he was so diligent in practicing his Cooking Skills was so he could taste food such as these.

The lobsters struggled, but they were no match for Weed’s cold glare. Ultimately, they could only drop their antennae in defeat. Weed, however, was not trying to stare them down to death; he was trying to visualize that expensive lobster meat. Weed’s hands shivered. Even in the game lobsters were rare and expensive. In Lavias they could be purchased for the hefty price of one gold each. If he had not explored the dungeons with double the item drop rate, he wouldn’t have even have considered buying them.

‘After I cook these suckers, I will be at Intermediate level Cooking.’

Weed’s willful hands moved like lightning as he grabbed the lobsters’ heads with his left hand and used Zahab’s sculpting knife in his right to slash them from head to tail. The lobsters’ bodies split in half and Weed quickly rinsed off the sand and took out the eggs. Right away, he began to stir-fry it in a frying pan, along with the sauces and spices he had previously prepared. Soon steam was seen rising and the lobster was cooked to perfection. Finally, the lobster dish was done!

*Ting*

Upgrade: Cooking (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%)

You can now cook a greater variety of entrees, and while satiated, various abilities are raised depending on the type of entree and ingredients used. (Example: Drake’s egg, various herbs).

Your Affinity with Earth has increased by 30

Earth-based magic resistance has increased by +20%. Fire and Water-based magic resistance has increased by +10%.

All Stats have risen by 5 points (+5 ALL STATS)

Fame has risen by 10 points (+10 FAME)

New Skill: Wine-brewing

His desire to reach Intermediate level Cooking Skill finally paid off and came true, the rewards were also very satisfying. Equipment for raising magic resistance was quite expensive, but he could raise his magic resistance simply through his Cooking Skill.

“Wow that looks delicious.” Da’in, who had been waiting patiently for the food to be cooked, rolled back her sleeves and rushed towards it. Weed also hurried to eat his portion of the lobster.

Weed fought while Da’in assisted. The two dominated the dungeons. Da’in worked so hard at healing and casting buffs that Weed didn’t regret forming a party with her. Da’in was a woman who became more mysterious the better he got to know her. When she spotted a monster, she cursed them multiple times all while looking at them with sorrowful eyes. Plus she was not careless with money or items. Whenever Weed tried to get a few more silvers, or even coppers, she noticed and pointed it out.

Near the Secret Area of Pan Lake, there were many places where herbs bloomed. There she bent down with no hesitation and dug up the herbs. A formidable survival instinct! Sometimes she would write a poem or sing a song. Her clear, refreshing voice rang out beautifully.

Thanks to that, Weed could hunt joyfully.

‘To think that it could be this much fun not being alone…’

No one else visited Lavias. Pale and Surka messaged him, saying they had settled in a hunting ground near the Citadel of Serabourg. Since their parents were still new players, it was hard for them to leave.

At all times they were alone together. Plus, she was a woman who looked like the one in his dreams. As a man, it would be a lie to say his eyes had never strayed toward her. At first, Da’in was all smiles, but sometimes a shadow crossed her face. However, it lit up again as she hunted and had her meals with Weed.

One day, Weed decided he wanted to become her friend. “Um… Do you want to hunt together from now on?” he asked.

But Da’in fell silent.

“I’m sorry, Weed-nim,”

She said after a while, with a serious expression on her face.

“What do you mean?”

“Once, I made a bad decision. I thought nobody loved me… I couldn’t trust anybody.”

“… Is that, by any chance, why you were left alone in Lavias?”

“It’s hard to explain the whole story, but yes, it’s somewhat related. Anyway, I was encouraged by spending time with you, Weed-nim. Perhaps, I might find my place once again…”

“So?”

Weed was a bit frustrated. It was good to hear that spending time with him had helped her regain her courage, but hearing that she would go back made him feel like he had been used.

No one liked being used.

“I didn’t mean it like that. After meeting you, I feel as if I can live on.”

“No way. Do you…”

“Yes, I… am ill. Even though I can get an operation, it’s not certain that it will make me better. I was postponing the surgery, but it’s time to take the chance.”

“…..”

“Please don’t look at me like that. I’ll be fine. Destiny and coincidence are so similar it’s sometimes hard to decide which it is. I don’t want our meeting to be a coincidence. If it was destiny for us to meet, then we will meet again. I really hope I can meet Weed-nim again.”

With that, Da’in logged out. Weed felt empty after Da’in had left him. He hadn’t really spent much time with her because he was suspicious of her and concentrated on hunting. Maybe she never tried to hide her sickness. Weed was always busy. As soon as she logged on, he would drag her somewhere to hunt.

For over a month, they had barely conversed and just hunted. He felt regret. Maybe Da’in would never come back.

‘If she never comes back, there won’t be many people who would remember her. She was in Lavias alone and nobody came to look for her. I guess that’s the reason why she spent her time cursing and buffing monsters.’

Loneliness and fear of death can only be understood by those who had experienced it.

Weed hunted, while waiting for Da’in, but she didn’t come back even after three months passed in the game. In the real world, it had been about three weeks. If it was a life-threatening surgery, it might take her months to recover.

‘She will come back even if it takes her a year or two years. She promised me.’ With that in mind, Weed began to sculpt deep inside the dungeon.

‘Even if she never returns, I will leave my memory here. To show that at least one person remembers her…’

After his Sculpting Skill had reached Intermediate level, he could use Zahab’s sculpting knife to cut boulders. Of course, that was only possible using Sculpting Blade. The sculpting knife danced and two human figures were etched onto the rocky walls.

Weed moved boulders to the places where they had shared their meals and rested, and made pairs of sculptures out of them. Sometimes he etched drawings on the walls. Monsters would occasionally pester him, but Weed sculpted persistently.

His last piece was in the Cave of Dead Warriors where they had met each other for the first time: the cavern with the underground river flowing through it. The sleeping Da’in, and Weed finding her. A sculpture of them stood where they had shared their first memories.

*Ting*

Statue Completed: Nameless Sculptures of Lavias (Fine)

Mysterious sculptures have appeared all over Lavias!

These sculptures of treasured memories will become sanctuaries and guides in these dangerous dungeons. The mysterious statues were made by an anonymous sculptor.

Artistic value: 300

Special Effects:

+25% Increased health and mana regeneration.

+10% Increased movement speed.

-5% Penalty to Monsters’ Attacks.

These effects do not stack with other statues.

Number of Fine pieces created: 2

Level Up: Sculpting Skill (Intermediate Lv: 2 | 0%):

Your sculptures will become more detailed and delicate.

Fame has risen by 20 points (+20 FAME)

Art has risen by 20 points (+20 ART)

Perseverance has risen by 20 points (+20 PER)

Vitality has risen by 10 points (+10 VIT)

Chapter 8: The Lost Treasure of Freya

“Huhuhuhu.”

Weed perched atop a hill overlooking all of Lavias, and laughed in satisfaction as his cape danced in the wind. Hunting had raised his level to 175.

*Ting*

Item: Gray Cape of the Dead

Durability: 20/20

Defense: 12

The tattered cape of a skeletal warrior. Still provides some protection despite its poor condition.

Restriction:

Level 150

150 Strength

Equipped: Increases speed when traveling long distances.

Item: Graham’s Steel Belt

Durability: 25/25

Defense: 7

Has 10 quick slots for small items such as daggers, potions, antidotes, etc.

Restriction:

Level 110

200 Strength

Equipped: Quick slots for potions and antidotes automatically refill from inventory.

Item: Graham’s Leather Armor

Durability: 30/30

Defense: 25

Light and hard, yet sturdy, armor infused with the soul of the Skeleton Knight Graham.

Restriction:

Level 130

300 Strength

Equipped:

+20% chance to evade magical or ranged attacks

+20 Strength

+5 Agility

From fighting the undead, Weed received boots, gloves, and even rings. For every 30 Skeleton Knights he killed, he received Farrot’s Ring, which improved mana regeneration by 10%.

Since Royal Road allowed players to equip rings on 8 fingers, and even allowed multiple on the same hand so long as they did not have opposing attributes. Weed had persevered until he had a copy of the ring on each finger.

The rings now increased his mana recovery rate by 80%, showing how many Skeleton Knights he had killed.

Weed camped spawns and mercilessly slaughtered any monsters that gave significant rewards in experience or items.

The powerful Skeleton Knights of Memphis Hall were simply no match for Weed.

With his new rings, he could use the Imperial Formless Sword Technique nearly twice as often, and his other equipment further improved his effectiveness. Thanks to the new sword, rings, and other equipment, Weed finally looked like a respectable adventurer.

‘I feel like I’m flying with the wind. This freedom. This solitude!’ With his arms spread wide, Weed enjoyed the gusts of wind playing across his cape. But the world didn’t let him relax.

*Ting*

The durability of your cape has been reduced.

Undead. None of their drops were normal. The items degraded quickly, even when not in use, and tended to have low maximum durability. Thus, although Weed looked great wearing all his items, appearances were deceiving.

Weed quietly untied his cape and put it down before him, then struck it saying, “Repair!” This action was sufficient for the task. After he tied his cape, Weed felt the wind once more, as if nothing had happened…

He had enjoyed this feeling in Continent of Magick. The aftertaste of clearing a dungeon; savoring the results of his own artistry. Now it was time to leave it all behind and continue onwards…

…Then a sudden gust pelted his armor with small pebbles.

*Ting*

The durability of your armor has been reduced.

It was the rare leather armor obtained from the Skeleton Knight called Graham. An item incomparable with newbie armor! Even better, it hadn’t cost him a single coin!

“Repair!”

Unfortunately, Weed was forced to constantly use his Repair skill as he returned to Lavias. Equipment with low durability was very fragile; so he might have looked quite dashing when fighting monsters, but in truth he was paranoid about damaging his items. Due to his inherent need to recycle, Weed persistently used these items, which others would have discarded or sold at a cheap price.

Indeed, it was the greatest sign of poverty. However, this kind of life would end soon: Once he attained Intermediate Repair skill, he would be able to restore any losses to maximum durability. Then he could pose without feeling restless.

“Do you believe in destiny? It doesn’t seem like saving our town and us along with it, was a mere coincidence.”

“Huh?”

“A while back, a priest of the Order of Freya had come to warn us of evil armies on the rise. They exert their influence in places in the lower, colder, and darker reaches of this world. The priest told me that only a truly courageous champion can stop them! Then he gave me the authority to choose that champion.”

“……”

“I didn’t understand what he meant at the time, but now I do. There is a secret I didn’t tell you: the seed that has been passed down in our family serves to guide one to a new place.

“The priest said that to find Freya’s lost treasure, one should seek out Seagull. Please become a hero who defeats evil!”

*Ting*

Obtained information regarding the Lost Treasure of Freya.

Weed had not forgotten the clue he’d received from the Elder of Baran Village, Ghandilva.

‘I need to find Seagull and discover the Lost Treasure of Freya!’

This was definitely a chain quest and smelled of large rewards. Most quests from temples were difficult to obtain but were very rewarding, since temples and palaces could only be entered by those with fame over ten thousand.

‘I will find Seagull!’

Although Weed knew every area in Lavias, he had never encountered anyone named Seagull. He tried asking everyone he met for information, but received no response. Only when he talked about the Lost Treasure of Freya did he finally get some answers.

“Seagull? Of course I know him. He’s a Herbalist who goes into dangerous dungeons without a second thought and has courage enough to face the undead.”

“You didn’t know? All the herbs sold in the shops are from Seagull.”

Each Avian provided some information about Seagull, but not his location. Weed headed to the market and inquired further.

“You want to know where Seagull is? He might be in Barkhan’s Crypt.”

“Barkhan’s Crypt?”

“That place always echoes with the screams of ghosts. We tried to subdue them, but failed, since they have no physical bodies. I wouldn’t recommend going there, but I won’t stop you either. The entrance to the crypt is on the mountain behind the city. Look for a patch of blue flowers near the fifteenth large boulder.”

Once prepared, Weed enthusiastically departed the city, in search of Barkhan’s Crypt.

‘Great. Such helpful directions’ he thought sarcastically. Weed sighed at the ridiculous situation. Avians could fly, so when going outside the city, they took to the skies.

Their eyesight was also remarkably good; so good infact, that they could even see the bugs crawling on the ground.

The Avian’s directions, therefore, made no sense from a human perspective. The fifteenth large boulder on the mountain…

What does that even mean?! Damn birds!

He couldn’t see all the boulders at once, since he was on his feet. In the end, he simply searched around every suitably large rock.

To make matters worse, when he did located the blue flowers he was supposed to find, they were hidden by tall grasses!

Nonetheless, after a long, persistent and painstakingly thorough search, he finally managed to find the entrance.

There was a small building accessed by a steel gate. That was all. The rest was underground. A crooked, poorly maintained sign bore the following message:

The dead.

Those whose blood and flesh has rotted away.

Those whose mortal bodies exist no longer.

This grave be for them.

After taking a quick glance, Weed pushed open the steel gate and entered with an emotionless face.

*Ting*

New Dungeon: You are the first to discover Barkhan’s Crypt

Benefits:

Fame increased by 200 (+200 FAME).

Double experience and 2x normal item drop rate.

The first monster killed will drop the best quality item it can drop.

Before coming here, he had gathered some information from Avians about this place. He only knew that Barkhan’s Crypt contained Spirits, Ghosts, and Specters of level 130. Spirits were souls bound to the world with wicked desires. Ghosts were just blurry apparitions.

‘This place is weaker than I expected.’

Weed slowly looked around the graveyard.

Ghosts and Specters came out sometimes, but he simply ignored them, and they left without bothering him. The cause was the killing intent emanating from Weed, which was an effect of the Fighting Spirit stat.

Fighting Spirit:

You can call on superhuman strength temporarily, or bring weaker monsters to their knees with your force of will from your eyes alone. You are prohibited from distributing any bonus points to this stat, and it will rise spontaneously, depending on the avatar’s action, or especially if you’re fight monsters for a long time, or often confront monsters stronger than your current level.

Fighting Spirit for most warrior-type players was usually about 20 to 30. Close-quarters fighters like Monks or Assassins might have had a bit more, but it was rare to see anyone with over 50 points in the stat.

Though there were numerous comments and analysis regarding the Fighting Spirit stat, most concluded it was useless. Unlike Strength or Agility, increases to Fighting Spirit didn’t show any obvious effects.

Many intelligence-based characters like Mages didn’t possess the stat at all, yet had no more difficulty in hunting.

Although some players worked to achieve a high Fighting Spirit stat, they all had to raise their characters with that goal from the beginning. In other words, it didn’t have much effect.

Though Fighting Spirit increased automatically, it wasn’t easy to improve. Even killing tough opponents with every ounce of strength was often insufficient to raise the stat by a single point. Additionally, the stat decreased whenever one died or fled from combat. Thus, there were very few people who possessed a high Fighting Spirit stat.

Weed’s Fighting Spirit stat, however, was 193; addition of the 35 bonus points from the L. Moonlight Sculptor class, which made it 228. Since he fought against stronger opponents like crazy, the stat grew immensely. Monsters of the same level no longer tried to fight him. If Weed engaged first, the monster would fight, but in a severely weakened state due to the force of the killing intent.

Weed wandered through the maze-like crypt, warding away monsters with a mere glance. After searching extensively, he spotted a wounded Avian.

“Damn…!”

Weed hurriedly approached the Avian, whose body was covered with scars and feverish from poison.

“Bandage!”

He put some herbs over the wounds and bandaged them. If it was very near death, he would have needed a potion, but for normal injuries, the Bandage skill was sufficient. After attending to its injuries, Weed gave the Avian a potion.

“Uhh…”

After a while, the Avian woke up, shaking its head.

“I… I passed out. I was so injured that I couldn’t do anything and almost died here. Anyhow, who might you be?”

“I’m Weed.”

“Weed? You must be the human who came to Lavias. My name is Seagull.”

Seagull! Finally, Weed had found Seagull. “Yes. I’ve noticed. But where is the Lost Treasure of Freya?”

“The Treasure of Freya? How did you learn of it?”

“Well, in truth…”

Seagull listened with a pained expression as Weed told him what had transpired in Baran Village.

*cough*

“You’ve done great work. May Freya be with you. The Lost Treasure of Freya is here, in Barkhan’s Crypt.”

Weed nodded. He had read something similar in the history of the Versailles Continent on Royal Road’s homepage. ‘Barkhan referred to him, didn’t it?’ Barkhan Demoph was a dark mage who mastered necromancy. He sought immortality and kidnapped many children for experimentation. Although his search for immortality ended in failure, he plotted a conquest with an army of undead.

His army seemed invincible. Barkhan’s necromancy allowed him to constantly expand his army as the battle progressed, providing an obvious advantage. His undead horde consisted of several thousand Zombies, Skeletons, and Dullahans led by Death Knights and fouler creations that could only be the stuff of nightmares.

Only after kingdoms from all over the world united their strength were they successful in putting an end to Barkhan’s menace. Weed learned of this after coming to Lavias. Indeed, the City of Heaven had been built to isolate the undead.

“Would you retrieve the Lost Treasure of Freya from Barkhan’s servants?”

*Ting*

Quest: The Stolen Treasure of Freya

In the time of chaos, when dark magicians made contracts with demons and killed thousands, the continent was soaked with blood in a war between mad kings. Holy influence declined and the world descended into anarchy. Those with strength flaunted it while fools who held swords upside down and those with light lips gained power. The deceased could not gain eternal peace, and the living writhed in pain and despair. It was at this time that the Treasure of Freya was stolen.

Difficulty: C

Penalty if Refused:

-100 Fame.

Relationship with the Order of Freya becomes sour.

Weed paused for a moment, and then nodded.

“I will retrieve the Lost Treasure of Freya.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

“Thank you. According to what I’ve heard, the Holy Grail will be guarded by a Death Knight. I will wait here while I recover from my injuries. Please return the treasure to its rightful owner.”

“I will.”

Weed passed Seagull and ventured deep into the crypts.

Even against Death Knights, Weed couldn’t feel much tension anymore. After Dullahans became too easy for him, he stopped avoiding Death Knights and fought them instead.

In his first battle against a Death Knight, he failed to block its attack, and died. The penalty was a 24-hour ban on logging in. Additionally, his level decreased and his Skill Mastery was reduced by 5% on all skills. Raising his level again would be easy enough, but the lost Skill Mastery was fatal. Crafting skills like Sculpting or Cooking were difficult to improve.

Thankfully, there was no one around to steal his items.

In this matter, however, Weed was very stubborn. He actively avoided Death Knights, but when he met one accidentally, he stayed and fought. In the end… he died five times. Five days banned from Royal Road, decreased levels, and 25% reduction in skills!

After that, he increased his level and gained experience until he was able to fight Death Knights equally. Of course, the level gain was important, but he thought the experience of fighting stronger monsters was more valuable. If he didn’t think like that, he would have gone crazy with regret over his losses. If not for the Death Knights, he could have had 10 more levels. He felt miserable about the days he couldn’t log in during the double experience and item window.

With his uniquely high stats, Weed could fight against Death Knights at level 115. He always enjoyed fighting stronger opponents. Normally, the Sculptor class was a support class, for which it would be normal to be weaker than warrior classes, but the Moonlight Sculptor provided many strong advantages for combat. Craftsmanship, strengthened abilities, additional stats, and Sculpting Blade! It was an ideal job with nothing to complain about. In dungeons or on dark nights, it strengthened his abilities by a further 30%, so monsters of equivalent level were easy prey.

Ghosts and Specters wandered around, tempting him with experience points and items. However, he ignored them and concentrated on finding Death Knights. This was very unlike Weed, who normally cleared out any dungeons he encountered without exception. Weed had double the experience point and item drop rate, but he just let Spirits and Specters leave.

‘No need to fight them now.’ Weed was waiting for tougher prey: Death Knights.

However, they rarely dropped useful items, and the few remaining Death Knights were difficult to find. The one guarding the Lost Treasure would undoubtedly be stronger than any others, so he was Weed’s target.

Weed was the first discoverer of the dungeon. On the first kill, the best item that a monster could drop would come out. Now, Weed could afford the luxury to exploit such an advantage.

Ghosts, Specters, and Spirits trailed behind him as he searched Barkhan’s Crypt, creating an eerie sight. It was deep underground that Weed finally encountered the Death Knight.

“Kuku, Si…silly human. Di…did you come here to di…die?”

Weed stared at the Death Knight expressionlessly. The Death Knight wore a cape, sword, and helmet over his bony body. His shining silver helmet seemed like a very rare item.

‘Th…That’ll be a very big catch!’

Weed smiled. Incidentally, he had no helmet of his own, and now he could finally get one.

Helain’s Grail, which was evidently the Lost Treasure of Freya, was enshrined behind the Death Knight. It was definitely a unique item, for it shone with a bright light even in the depths of the dark dungeon.

“Hyaaa!” Weed charged toward the Death Knight without warning. At such an opportune time when experience points and item drop rates were doubled, he didn’t have time to spare.

“Sculpting Blade!” Weed started off with his signature move, known to be lethal to the undead.

The Death Knight raised his sword, now writhing with a dark aura, and attacked. Sculpting Blade clashed against the Death Knight’s strike, sending shocks through both combatants.

Just as he felt the impact, Weed jumped while holding his sword against the Death Knight’s, and landed a kick to his skull.

“Kuk!”

While the Death Knight staggered back a step, Weed quickly took two steps toward him.

Between enemies, there was no need to exchange pleasantries, only attacks with killing intent. With only an arm’s length between them, they fought. This was an advantageous distance for Weed: although the danger increased with proximity, for Weed, who could react only by reading the Death Knight’s shoulder movements, this was safer. If the Death Knight, at a level of over 200, used his attack skills, things would get difficult.

“Die, human!”

The Death Knight swung his sword in excitement.

Weed welcomed the attack while keeping it away from his vitals. Pain rushed through him, and filled him with the ecstasy of battle! He could feel the tension in the atmosphere, the killer intent and enmity emitting from Death Knight. He endured the attacks from the enemy, fought head-on, in order to crush him. A lion would never underestimate its prey, even if it’s a rabbit.

It would bide its time, the second the rabbit moves, it would pounce.

*Ting*

Perseverance has risen by 1 point (+1 PER)

The reward for taking an enemy’s attack, and enduring all the pain, was this. Weed took hits in almost all his battles; the result was tremendous defense from an amazing Perseverance. When he fought enemies of higher levels, the stat rose even faster. While increasing his level was important, improving his stats was even more so.

After each battle, his Bandage skill also improved quickly. If one thought of investment as a waste, he could not gain anything in his entire life. The lower the level, the more an investment in Bandage is necessary. When Weed had 205 health points left, he started to attack seriously.

He dodged the Death Knight’s attack in close quarters, confusing the enemy by moving left and then right. Then, with fierce attacks, he defeated the Death Knight.

“Ku…uk.”

The Death Knight who had been fighting with excitement now felt the pressure of Weed’s amazing Fighting Spirit, and thanks to his fabulous sword skill, the Death Knight was easily defeated.

“Now Death Knights are getting boring,” Weed muttered as he sheathed his Clay Sword. He had defeated Death Knights at level 125, so by now it felt a bit boring to fight them.

The one he’d just fought was about twice as strong as most of the others, perhaps because he was Barkhan’s servant. Otherwise, Weed would have taken a few more hits before starting to fight seriously.

Even so he couldn’t feel much threat to his life. Many people thought fighting in close quarters was dangerous, but looking the enemy in the eyes and feeling his killing intent during battle was invigorating.

The enemy’s breath had to be felt. Although Weed was holding a sword, he fought at a much closer distance than normal. If one acclimated to fighting in close proximity, fighting at longer distances became a walk in the park.

Even if the Death Knight had used its skills and fought with all its might, there would have been very little difference. However, if Weed allowed huge blows, there was a risk of having his armor broken and his Perseverance wouldn’t rise as quickly, therefore, he fought up close.

“Repair!”

Weed took off his equipment and struck them with a hammer. Armor and other equipment that had been about to break was quickly restored to maximum condition.

Unfortunately, his Repair skill was still only level 8, so it only looked as good as new: the durability of each item was at its minimum. If other people wore this kind of equipment and fought, it would have broken even before the duel ended. Wearing such equipment would have been impossible without painstaking care, akin to handling a very old car.

The Repair skill increased in level quicker than Sculpting or Cooking because it was a sub-skill, not a main skill. It was a sub-skill related to Blacksmith, so it had a fast growth rate.

On the other hand, he could do Sculpting anywhere, Cooking increased due to the Art stat and hard work, but Repair could not be improved without broken weapons or equipment. To Weed who hunted alone in Lavias, Repair was something that couldn’t be improved easily.

Weed checked the loot from the Death Knight.

*Ting*

Item: Van Hawk’s Magic Helm

Durability: 90/90

Defense: 25

Helmet worn by a Death Knight. It’s dome-shaped and covers the head completely; offers great defense. Van Hawk’s strength is contained within.

Restrictions:

Level 200

400 Strength

Equipped:

+30 Strength

+10 Agility

+15 Vitality

+10 Intelligence

+15 Resistance to dark magic

+10 Affinity with undead

Allows you to command undead of up to level 50.

The rank and number of undead commanded will depend on Charisma.

Item: Kalamorian Sword

Durability: 65/65

Damage: 35-40

Used by a knight of the Kalmor Empire – Van Hawk.

Personally presented by Emperor Theodore to honor Van Hawk on the 651st year of the empire. Conveys a fierce spirit and an air of nobility.

Restrictions:

Level 200

300 Fighting Spirit

May only be wielded by Knights

Equipped:

+20 Strength

+10 Nobility

+10 Elegance

+10 Loyalty

+30 Fame

Item: Crimson Necklace of Life

Durability: 50/50

Manufactured with ancient dark magic. Contains mysterious strength.

Created by undead ruler Barkhan for his servants.

Restrictions: Unknown

Effects: Unknown

Weed took a huge breath.

“This… this is a big catch.”

In the first hunt, he received the best items the monster could give. But they were too good.

Van Hawk’s Magic Helm— Van Hawk was most likely the Death Knight’s name.

The items, with their excellent defense and effects, exceeded his expectations. Kalamor’s Sword had way better attack than his Clay Sword.

There was no additional frost damage, but it was a great sword used mainly by knights.

Right that was the problem: this sword was a Knight’s sword. Weed, who was a Sculptor, couldn’t use it. Of course, if he truly wanted to, there was an easy way to equip it: he could go to an empire or a kingdom, pass a test, pay a fee, and become a certified knight.

Unlike swordsmen, who had to undergo a second trial to be a Knight, he merely had to go get a license. If he did that, he could use this sword. However, he couldn’t use these items now anyway because of the level limitation.

“Identify”

You have failed to Identify the Item!

“Identify”

You have failed to Identify the Item!

The Crimson Necklace of Life couldn’t be identified despite several tries to identify it; his Identification skill level was simply too low.

“Well, I can’t do anything if this is my luck.”

He collected all the loot and went for the Grail, which rested on an altar. It was made of gold, and when Weed’s hand touched it, it shone brightly.

‘It’s hot!’ Weed’s hand felt as if it was on fire.

He could feel the Holy power wrapping around him strongly. His scars from battling the Death Knight a few moments ago were healed completely; his fatigue vanished as well…

*Ting*

Item: The Church of Freya’s Treasure: Helain’s Grail has been recovered!

The light from Helain’s Grail slowly dimmed, leaving behind a pure, clean feeling. Weed examined the grail, full of curiosity.

“Identify”

Item: Helain’s Grail

Durability: Infinite.

One of the three holy items bestowed by the Goddess Freya. A symbol of the goddess’ beauty and abundance. Gives infinite strength to those with strong belief. Turns water into Holy Water after a day. Holy Water is lethal to the undead. If spread on soil, will bring a plentiful harvest.

Restrictions:

Class related to clergy, or those accepted by the Order of Freya.

900 Faith

Effects:

+100 Faith.

+300 Fame.

Generates Holy Water.

An item that infinitely generates Holy Water… as expected of a holy item of the Freya religion, it was a priceless treasure. When the Holy Water was used on soil, that year’s harvest increased by tenfold. To the undead, it was the most lethal of weapons. Only classes related to the clergy could use it, leaving Weed slightly disappointed.

‘Not bad.’

Weed repaired his sword, ready to continue to hunt the Spirits and Ghosts he had simply passed without a second thought.

The double experience point and item drop rate would last exactly one week in Barkhan’s Crypt; he couldn’t miss such a golden opportunity.

Just then, he heard a voice… “Hurry. Wake up, Oppa.”

The only one who would refer to Weed as “Oppa”, was his younger sister, Hayan. She was calling Weed through the microphone attached to the game capsule.

‘Hah… Now of all times…’

Weed looked around and logged out.

Chapter 9: Princess’ Knight

“Yes. The next segment of our program is about the famous player in Tor Kingdom who’s all a buzz amongst users these days. Mr. Oh, I hear there’s now a blacksmith who can enhance the defense of your equipment?”

“Yes, that’s right. A fighter will always have some regrets and aspirations. Equipping gear with high defense will increase your chance of survival and the Blacksmith of Tor can increase this defense by smelting it with enhancing minerals.”

There were many television programs related to Royal Road, drawing on the many wonders and legends of the Versailles Continent. Viewership increased in parallel with the influx of players, leading to enormous advertising revenues.

“Hmm, a Blacksmith?”

Lee Hyun was sitting in his room, watching a TV show on Royal Road. A female host and a male host were talking to each other in turns, and Lee Hyun hoped to hear new information about the game. Although he could not be certain, many other viewers likely shared his objective.

The Versailles continent had no distinction between night and day; every hour was training hour. But when programs related to Royal Road aired, training grounds were less busy.

“Yes, that is amazing. Perhaps I should request an enhancement too. But wouldn’t the price be extremely high?”

“Yes. He charges anywhere from 10 to 100 gold depending on the effect or function. Isn’t that unbelievable?”

Shin Hye Min frowned. “100 gold? I wouldn’t be able to afford that even after gathering all of the money I have collected so far.”

“Haha, but that price is only for very, very good items, so he would probably enhance your items for around 10 gold.”

“That Blacksmith user will be filthy rich really soon.”

“That’s not exactly true. The prices of the materials needed for enhancing are pretty expensive, so he wouldn’t be able to get 20% profit for each enhancement. The reason for Tor’s Blacksmith becoming a hot topic is probably due to him being the first player ever to achieve intermediate level in the blacksmithing.”

“The achievement makes me jealous. A skilled sculptor appeared in Rosenheim Kingdom before, right?”

“Yes. Sculptors are very rare. It’s a rare job simply for what they do. The sculptures he made are said to be very beautiful.”

Rosenheim Kingdom’s sculptor was, of course, Lee Hyun’s game character, Weed.

“After I heard the rumor, I visited Rosenheim Kingdom to interview and purchase a sculpture to give it as a gift to you, Hye Min, but he had already left. I’m worried that he deleted his character after going through the difficult path of a sculptor.”

“Wow, that’s too bad. I lost my chance to receive a nice gift. I think artisans are starting to take their places.”

“Yes. The next news item is the one you’ve all been waiting for – the Britten Alliance civil war! Finally, Castle Odein, widely known to have been unconquerable, was invaded! Balkan guild is now in big, big trouble.”

The feed cut to an in-game video of Royal Road, showing a bird’s eye view of a grand brown castle, surrounded by 35 towers that could hold archers and mages in the case of war. The moat was filled with water and spanned multiple drawbridges. The castle walls, built with 3 layers of bricks, seemed impenetrable.

“Wow, amazing. It’s as if I am looking at a medieval castle.”

“Yes, this is Castle Odein which was owned by the Balkan guild. A fierce battle took place here last night.”

Castle Odein, drenched in the blood of countless users, has a very dark reputation. It levied exorbitant taxes and entrance fees! Nearby villages paid 60% tax on every sale, which is more than twice the rate in other municipalities. This applied to all items including medicine, potions, and herbs.

The anger of the users had reached its limit. To make matters worse, merchants traveling through the fort were charged 40% of their profits as customs tax. Castle Odein exploited its strategic location between the Britten Alliance and Aidern Kingdom to monopolize the international trade.

The money all went to Balkan guild, the owner of the castle. It was obvious why they were hated by others!

“But Castle Odein has never been taken over before, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. But this battle was just splendid. Watch this.”

The TV showed Castle Odein on a night with the moon hanging silently in the sky. In the field nearby, a horde of players were gathering. Standing next to their respective guild flags, they were waiting for the morning to come.

‘Just how many people were there?’ Lee Hyun was too astonished to speak.

He’d heard that the number of users playing Royal Road was increasing greatly, but this was just too much. Rivers of people covered the field in front of Castle Odein.

“The number of users gathered to conquer Castle Odein was over 30,000.” The male MC, Oh Joo Wan continued on as if he had read the viewers’ thoughts.

“30,000? That is the greatest number of people that has participated in a siege so far!”

“That’s correct. The desire to conquer Castle Odein was widespread. About 150 guilds united, and around 5,000 mercenaries had participated in this battle. We’ll view the scene now.”

Finally, the sun rose above Castle Odein. Some of the attackers gave long speeches about how they were righteous, and how they would deal with Castle Odein after they conquered it. With courage filling the air, the battle began.

It was a wondrous sight to behold: 30,000 soldiers attacking Castle Odein simultaneously. Arrows flew everywhere, and magic struck the fortress. Catapults constantly spewed boulders, and summoned golems attacked the stronghold. But the opposition still fought back, relying on the castle wall’s defensive capabilities.

Balkan guild had pulled their allied guilds into the war. There were also NPC soldiers in Castle Odein, further bolstering their defenses.

But the tide turned when the Special Forces, prepared for the worst, snuck in through the back. Each guild’s master and elites provided a diversion by assaulting the front, while the Special Forces infiltrated the castle through the sewers.

Grand sword auras rose and magic exploded everywhere.

“About half of the Britten Alliance Top 100 players are known to have participated in this battle. In the end, Castle Odein couldn’t resist any longer, and fell into the hands of the invaders.

Balkan’s guild members, who resisted to the end, were all killed. Their allied guilds had surrendered when the situation turned against them, ending the fierce battle. The invading guilds exulted in the overwhelming joy of victory.”

“Mr. Oh, will peace come to Castle Odein now?”

“I don’t think so. First of all, Balkan, who owned the fort, is unlikely to simply back off. They will be gathering their strength to take back what was theirs.”

“Another war will commence.”

“Yes, but even if Balkan’s attacks fail, Castle Odein seems like it won’t settle down for a while. Division of profits between the victorious guilds will not be settled easily. And considering the other advantages that Castle Odein grants, they’ll all be hungry for it. That’s how much value the land has. Balkan had invested a lot of money to stabilize the economy and the land. But they had to collect a lot of taxes for soldiers and fortifications, since other forces wanted the place.

“That’s a bad cycle to be stuck in.”

“Yes. Castle Odein, which stands in the middle of the two empires and functions as a relaying station, will continue to be in chaos.”

Lee Hyun smirked; a smirk that could make the most heinous villain envious.

‘The attackers had 30,000… At least 15,000 should have died. And about 10,000 from the defenders…’ Imagining the skills and levels that decreased was simply exhilarating to

Hyun. While others’ stats dropped, Lee Hyun was growing stronger.

Suddenly the phone rang, and he hurried to answer.

“Hello?”

“You ready?”

The person asking the question without any greeting was his sister, Lee Hayan.

“Yeah. I’m all dressed, and I washed my face.”

“Hair?”

“Of course I washed it.”

“It’s starting soon so you have to hurry.”

“Alright Hayan, I’m coming.” Lee Hyun turned off the television and rose from his seat.

He sighed. Lee Hyun was discontent. ‘What the hell am I doing…’

Dein High school. Even though he swore to himself that he would never return when he quit the school…

“Brother, you have to come!”

If Hayan hadn’t nagged in the morning, he never would’ve gone. He was threatened that if he didn’t go today, he shouldn’t dare to even think about going into the capsule for a while.

‘Does she even realize who I am trying to make money for…’

A high school festival. Others went with their parents, but Lee Hayan called her older brother.

“Ugh. Just what am I doing” Lee Hyun complained constantly. Even though he really didn’t want to go, when he thought of his disappointed sister, he had no choice. He felt like a cow being dragged to the butchers. Lee Hyun carelessly sat at the festival’s stands when he arrived. Students were divided into clubs or grades, and were selling goods at shops but Lee Hyun ignored them.

“Hey, are you Lee Hyun by any chance?”

Lee Hyun turned to look towards the voice. A slim and pretty female university student wearing a purple skirt was standing there.

“Who are you?”

Her face showed disappointment at Lee Hyun’s words.

“Ah, I was right. It’s me, Junghee.”

“Oh.”

Her name and face were all that Hyun could remember.

Her pretty face had made her the object of many boys’ affections in high school.

‘She became more stylish, and her intelligent appearance probably makes her popular even now. University must be treating her well.’

That was all Hyun could remember. There weren’t any special memories remaining.

“Was it Yoon Junghee? Long time no see. Why are you here when you’ve already graduated from this school?”

“Mmhm. My little sister goes to this school so I came. You?”

“Same.”

“You have a little sister. Can I sit beside you?”

“It’s an empty seat so do whatever you want,” Lee Hyun said grumpily and continued to watch the festival. A parody of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was being performed.

An apple seller came out, danced, sung foolishly, and then spoke. “Oh!! Dear most beautiful queen. Here are some delicious apples. They are freshly picked from the apple farm so it is cheap and fresh! Only 2 thousand won for 5 apples!

The scrawny queen yawned and replied, “Why is it so expensive!”

“Because they’re ripe apples, my Queen!”

“Really? Then we can use these to kill Snow White, right?

”

“I believe I didn’t say such a thing yet?”

“CAN THEY KILL, OR NOT!?”

“If one tastes it, one won’t be able to escape its deliciousness, my queen.”

Nevertheless, the queen bought the apples. She walked up to Snow White, did some more useless dancing, and handed over the apple.

“Why didn’t you come to the Alumni celebration?” Yoon Junghee asked Lee Hyun, who was watching the musical with a cold expression.

Lee Hyun tersely replied without turning his head. “I didn’t feel like going.”

“Really? We hoped that we’d be able to see you there… After you quit school, we couldn’t contact you. Sanghoon said he would call you so we thought you’d be there.”

“Thanks for the kind lies.”

“No, really, I wanted to meet you again. Remember when you saved me before?”

“I saved you? Ah… right.”

When Lee Hyun was in grade 10, he delivered newspapers in the morning. Once he saw a girl being picked on by a few thugs at the park. Lee Hyun tried to just pass by. It wasn’t any of his business, so he decided to ignore it. But hearing the girl’s terrified screams, Lee Hyun ran back.

He beat up the thugs and saved the girl. Later on, he found out that she was Yoon Junghee that went to the same school as he did. He didn’t know about her because she wasn’t in his class, but they had ended up in the same class in 11th grade.

While they conversed, the musical had gone into a crazy direction. There was a bug in the apple that the merchant sold to the queen, so Snow White was beating him mercilessly. After she accidentally took a bite of the apple which had the bug inside, she fell to the ground. The dwarves discovered her, kidnapped her, and brought her to their house.

They were plotting to make Snow White cook their meals, wash their clothes, and clean the house! Snow White who soon woke up was at a loss. Why would a princess know how to do housework? When they told her to do the dishes she shattered them into pieces, and when they told her to clean, she broke apart the furniture and decorations.

Finally, when a prince came to take the princess, the seven dwarves cried in happiness, finally rid of the incompetent maid. It was a boring musical.

“… How disappointing” Lee Hyun thought that he had wasted his time. But Yoon Junghee who sat beside him was laughing endlessly.

“Hehehe. Look at that, Hyun. It’s really funny.”

He had no clue why she was calling him in such a friendly manner when he rarely saw her. As they spent their time like that, Hyun’s sister came. Lee Hayan was dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt instead of the school uniform. At that moment, Lee Hyun felt sparks of rivalry igniting between Hayan and Junghee.

“Why are you sitting beside my brother, old lady?” Hayan’s pre-emptive strike was sharp and filled with envy. A killer aura emanated from her.

At that moment, Lee Hyun felt that his sister was scarier than a death knight. But, a Dullahan was sitting right next to him.

“Old lady? Such a foul mouth you have for a child.”

“I’m not that much younger than you!”

“I am your brother’s classmate. I’d watch my mouth if I were you.” Junghee slowly put her hand on Lee Hyun’s shoulder.

“Hmph!”

Hayan walked over to Hyun, ignoring Junghee. “What are you doing here?”

“What do you mean what am I doing here? I am watching the festival.”

“Ugh, just hurry over here!” Hayan forcibly dragged Hyun up from the seat.

“Why?”

“There something I want to do with you!”

“What is it?”

“Just come here.”

Lee Hyun had to stand up. As he rose from his seat, Lee Hayan gave a nasty, victorious smile to Yoon Junghee. She took Hyun towards the school field, where there were many events and challenges set up.

Apparently, KMC Media had brought them for the school. They were broadcasting video of students avoiding various traps and clearing the missions. It was chaotic with a crowd of cameramen maneuvering around the mess of students rolling and jumping around.

Hayan took Lee Hyun and stood in front of one of the easiest challenges.

People had to tie one of their legs with that of another and run to the finish line at the signal of the referee.

“Why are we here?”

“You and I should run together. I really wanted to try the 3 legged race”

“Why would I do such a thing? Do it yourself.”

“I can’t do it unless it’s with you! I already told all my friends that I’ll be running with you. So you have to do this with me.”

Lee Hyun winced, but he couldn’t win against his sister’s obstinacy.

‘This probably won’t be televised.’

Lee Hyun glanced at the cameras with fearless eyes. Even though they were filming everywhere, not every single shot would be broadcast. Only the most epic failures would be edited to be aired.

Anyway, when KMC media broadcasts a school festival, the actual filming began at night when celebrities were visiting. Celebrities going through tough obstacles were extremely popular amongst viewers. Students and normal people were nothing but bridesmaids for them. From Lee Hyun’s twisted view, they were just beta testers for the safety of the celebrities.

Sexy female helpers in miniskirts were accepting the entry applications.

“Sigh. We’ll participate.”

“It costs 10 thousand won to play.”

Lee Hyun shuddered, but reluctantly forked over the money out of his pocket. Even though this was a festival, the fee was way too much; it felt like a scam.

‘I guess I’m eating spinach and soy sauce for dinner tonight.’

Of course, for Hayan or grandma, he would cook up other delicious food for them, but he still had a tiny hope that his sister would eat a lot at the festival and come home stuffed.

“Now, get ready… Go!”

Twelve pairs raced at the same time.

At the bang of the gunshot, Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan began to run. Because it was a 3 legged race, they were getting tangled in each other’s feet and started to slow down. By the time they completed a third of the race, they were one of the slowest groups.

“Brother, try harder!”

“I am trying my best.”

“I’m telling you, do better!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Because he was forced to participate, Lee Hyun wasn’t taking it seriously. As he watched the groups pass them, Hyun asked, “What’s so good about these games? All you get when you win first is a back full of sweat.”

“You didn’t know? First place gets a shopping mall gift card.”

“H-how much?”

“A 100 thousand won.”

Lee Hyun’s movement suddenly changed. He grabbed onto his sister, Hayan, and started to sprint. Lee Hyun zoomed through at an incredible speed.

A perfect motivation!

Originally, a 3 legged race requires both of the players’ teamwork. Lee Hyun and Hayan cleared all obstacles at a blinding speed, passing all the competitors and took first place.

“Congratulations for winning.”

They won a 100 thousand won gift card from the hosts. Hyun could earn a few thousand won if he sold it online. Unfortunately, a team could not participate in an event again, so they couldn’t make more money from the same race. Lee Hyun quickly searched for other games with prizes. His eyes were lit with life unlike a moment ago.

“Should we go try those?”

He pointed towards a set of facilities installed in the middle of the field.

It was called the Princess Set. The set had 3 parts: first you had to cross a moving, slippery log, second, you had to pop 50 water balloons flying at you, and third you had to climb a wall using a rope. One needed to clear the 3 stages and save the princess waiting for him in the prison. Of course, the princess was one of the participants.

It was a game where you must save your own princess. In Hyun’s case, he had to save Hayan.

“That’s going to be pretty hard, will you be okay? Let’s just give up before you fall in the water and catch a cold, Hyun.”

Worry filled Hayan’s eyes. The high structures looked pretty dangerous, and you would be splashed with water when you fall down from the log. Many people were crowded in front of the site, cheering fiercely. Most of the cameras were focused on the Princess Set.

“Don’t worry. Just trust me.”

This was an event where you receive the prize depending on your record. The fastest person receives 3 million won and a 2 million won gift card. Because the school and the broadcasting company invested a lot in this event, the prizes were big. Lee Hyun paid 20 thousand won and registered.

He had to wait for a long time. There were many challengers for the event. More than 95% couldn’t rescue the princess and failed. Even if you did rescue the princess, the prize depends on your time, so there was a slim chance of winning.

Lee Hyun’s turn finally came after an hour wait. It was near the end of the festival, after all the applications for the events were over.

“Hyun, be careful so you don’t hurt yourself…”

“Yeah. Don’t worry and just wait for a bit. I’ll hurry to save you.”

Hayan went inside the prison. Soon, she was surrounded by her friends who made a lot of fuss.

“Is that person your older brother who you’re always talking about?”

“Yeah. Isn’t he good looking?”

“He’s just average…”

Her friends couldn’t hide their disappointment. Hayan’s sugarcoated depiction of Lee Hyun was very different from his real appearance.

“I really don’t understand how your brother is so great that you reject every guy that asks you out.”

“Yeah. The world is big and there are better people than your older brother.”

“You guys have no idea.”

Lee Hyun stood at the starting point. Two celebrity MCs, a man and a woman, approached him and pointed a microphone in his face. The guy was handsome and had a mature feeling to him, and the female MC was beautiful. He expected no less from a celebrity.

The male MC asked, “Why did you decide to participate in this game?”

“To save my one and only precious little sister,” Lee Hyun replied tersely. If he didn’t unlock the cage, it would move towards the water, and the bottom would suddenly open up. Hayan would fall into the water.

This time, the female MC asked a question. “Yes. You came to save your little sister. From the information I have just received, your sister is the prettiest student that has participated so far. Apparently she’s the school’s idol! I will be watching whether the beauty will fall in the water or be saved by the hero. It’s just my opinion, but I think the crowds would prefer to watch her fall into the water. Before you leave, please say a word of resolution!”

“I’ll try my best.”

Lee Hyun felt like other words were unnecessary. He would try his best, and win by all means. He would save his sister, and win 3 million won and the 2 million won gift card! That resolution was immeasurable.

The starting gun sounded, and Lee Hyun bolted forward with his animal-like instincts. He skipped over few obstacles that were there just for the looks and arrived at the first challenge.

It was single wooden bridge, with water surrounding it and Styrofoam logs rolling around place to place to impede advancement. High school girls fired water cannons from all directions at the competitor.

The male MC was shooting out comments like a machine gun.

“The challenger has now arrived at the first challenge. I believe he is the fastest person to arrive at the first challenge so far, but it will be dangerous for him to rush because he might fall in the water! If he falls, he’ll be automatically disqualified. He needs to time his movements precisely.”

“Yeah!”

Hyun could hear neither the MC’s words nor the crowd’s screams. Even if he could, he wouldn’t have given a rat’s hat.

‘This is a game based on speed. I can’t be late.’ Lee Hyun’s eyes flashed sharply. He deftly jumped on to the bridge and started to run.

His hips, defined by strong and detailed muscles, prevented his body from shaking. Completely balanced, he ran as though the obstacle covered bridge was a flat plain. His body was very light and his feet dashed forward as though they were hovering; his steps looked like moves from Chinese martial arts.

The Styrofoam logs moved in a set pattern. Lee Hyun just proceeded on, as if the logs stepped aside for him.

“Fire!”

The high school girls shot water cannons, but most of the shots just splashed into empty space that Hyun had already passed. Lee Hyun cleared the bridge at the speed of light and arrived at the next challenge.

“Th- this is amazing. It’s the first time anyone has cleared the first challenge this fast. He’s running at an astonishing speed; it’s like we’re watching a circus act. What do you think, Ms. Ha? Ah, you’re too focused on watching.”

Ha Yejin was a rising star that was getting extremely popular of late. She was expensive to hire, so you could only usually see her in movies and commercials. But she was an alumnus of Dein High school. That’s why she was an MC for the event.

Ha Yejin just stared at Lee Hyun like a deer in headlights.

Water balloons were fired like cannons from machines.

Lee Hyun was in front of a tower of medium height.

He had to pop 50 water balloons!

You could only pass after popping at least a third of the 150 balloons that were shot. About half of the challengers failed in the first challenge and the other half failed in the second.

This was also a challenge where you could be subjected to embarrassment from situations like falling onto the sponge below from being hit by flying water balloons. Challengers needed to push their body to the limit in order to pop the water balloons that were continuously fired at them, so they tended to end up in silly positions. It was a challenge that guaranteed high numbers of viewers.

But the water balloons exploded near Lee Hyun. Water sprayed everywhere from the popped water balloons.

Lee Hyun’s hands and feet moved like lightning as he demolished the balloons. People who have tried popping water balloons midair would know: this is not an easy task. Even though they were big in size and thus had a large surface to pop, they also spun towards the challenger so it was difficult to hit them without a high level of concentration.

The water balloons were shot by a machine and all had different trajectories. Some flew high, some low, and some flew far.

Even if you do succeed in popping a balloon, the water splashes at your eye, and people would start panicking at their loss of vision.

Things get even more difficult when the machine starts firing the balloons crazily. But Lee Hyun found order in the chaos of balloons and sharpened his senses.

When he reached his hands out to pop some balloons, the weight of his body shifted to the front. He balanced that weight by doing graceful spin-kicks. His hands and feet flowed gently like water. At no time did he lose his balance, nor did he panic.

Lee Hyun did a flying triple kick, popping 3 water balloons before he dropped back to the ground.

His movements resembled dancing. He broke all the water balloons without missing a single one.

The MC’s and the crowd were in awe.

“Oh, oh my god…!”

“This can’t be happening…!”

“Who is that person?!”

The camera crew was busy broadcasting the moment on the screen, and the MC’s were just staring with their mouths wide open from the shock, forgetting the commentary.

After popping the 50 water balloons faster than anyone else, Lee Hyun moved on to the next challenge.

The challenge was to climb over the 3 meter high boulder-like wall with a rope and landing on the other side. The sides were blocked by walls for safety, and one rope dangled at the front.

‘If it’s only this high…’ Lee Hyun charged at the wall, not reducing his speed.

“Ahhh!”

Even though it was a fake wall made of compressed Styrofoam, people screamed in fear at the reckless charge. It seemed as if he had no intention of grabbing the rope.

When Lee Hyun arrived at the wall, he threw himself up. He kicked at the side walls that were made for safety and continued to climb up. After jumping over the highest point of the wall with an elegant twirl, Lee Hyun continued to run straight ahead the moment he landed on the ground.

He could see his little sister trapped in the cage at the end of the game.

“I came to save you like I promised. I was a little late, right?”

Lee Hyun opened the cage door.

The school festival ended in a huge success. Due to the celebrities that arrived later in the day, the Princess Set was surrounded by hordes of viewers. Lee Hyun was also very happy about having come to the festival. Three million won of cash and 2 million won from a shopping center gift card! He was walking home quickly from all the excitement of making an unexpected 5 million won.

‘If I exchange the gift card for cash, I’ll be able to save a lot to help pay for Hayan’s university fees. But since it was won as a prize, should I buy grandma and Hayan some new clothes? The mall is too expensive so I’ll buy them at the market…’

While he was deep in thought, Hayan tugged on his shirt.

“Brother.”

“Hmm?”

“My leg hurts.”

“Really?”

It must’ve been tiring for her, since she had to follow Lee Hyun around the whole day and couldn’t enjoy the school festival.

Lee Hyun felt sorry for dragging his sister around to earn prize money.

“Then should we take a taxi home?”

Such a waste of good money on a taxi! He knew would have to pay above the basic fee since they were about 5 blocks away from home. Lee Hyun never rode a bus either when he went to school, but since he was so happy today, maybe it’d be okay to ride a taxi for once.

Of course, his chest was trembling. He had ridden in a taxi twice in his life, and he felt like it was a terrible waste of money both times.

Hayan shook her head at Lee Hyun.

“No. We’re not too far away from home, it’s ok.”

“Then do you want to take a rest? I’ll buy you a drink. You can’t drink coffee yet since you are too young…”

Hayan stuck out her tongue. “Psh, I’m a grown-up now.”

“In my eyes, you are still a child.”

“Jeez. Anyways, you haven’t had dinner yet. Let’s hurry home.”

“That’s… not true. I ate a lot of stuff here and there when I was viewing the festival.”

“Liar. I know that you’re not the type of person to buy that kind of food.”

There was no one who knew Lee Hyun better than Hayan. His frugal personality would never let him buy food from the expensive festival.

“Then what should we do? Would you like a piggy-back ride?”

He said it like a joke, but Hayan smiled. “You read my mind!”

“Uh… Really? People will stare.”

“It’s ok. Hurry up and give me a piggy-back ride. My legs hurt.” Hayan started to whine.

Lee Hyun had no choice but to let her on his back. ‘It’s been such a long time, giving Hayan a piggy-back ride.’

When their parents passed away, Hayan was in Grade 2.

Lee Hyun carried his crying sister to school when she didn’t want to go to school. He did this for about a year. After his parents’ death, they had to pay back the loans so they had to sell their house, and move around from place to place.

Because Hayan went to school like a good girl afterwards there was no reason to give her a piggy-back ride, it had become a nostalgic memory now.

Due to other people giggling and staring at them, Lee Hayan held tightly onto Hyun’s body. “I’m heavy, right?”

“No, you need to eat more.”

Hayan’s body was pretty skinny for her tall height. For Lee Hyun whose body was covered in muscles from various training, she was light as a feather.

Hayan asked curiously, “Will you give me a piggyback ride even if I become a pig?”

“Of course, I’d still give you one even if you were a hippo.”

“I’m always forcing you to do favors, what should I do to repay you?”

“What favors… Just grow up faster and get married.”

“I’ll find a person who is rich and will die soon so I can repay everything that you and grandma have ever done for me.”

“Even if it’s a joke, don’t say such things. Find someone who will make you happy. I’ll live with grandma so don’t worry about us, and you live your life doing whatever you want that makes you happy.”

* * *

Festival Live!

Episode: Dein High School.

It received 10x more viewers than usual.

The man who cleared the Princess Set in the shortest time! The bridge crossing couldn’t stop him, and he performed an astonishing feat at the balloon popping. He used martial arts that only people who are completely in control of their body could accomplish!

Viewers went wild at Lee Hyun’s kicks.

He finished the final stage, climbing the wall with a rope with ease using his body’s flexibility.

Though Lee Hyun only starred in the program for only 1-2 minutes, the effect was beyond imagination. His clips were all over the Internet, spread out on websites from other countries.

He had earned the nickname: The Princess’ Knight!

Chapter 10: Mountains of Loot

After he finished hunting in Barkhan’s Crypt, Weed returned to Seagull with Helain’s Grail in hand. Seagull had recovered and was digging out herbs.

“Ah, so you’ve finally came. What of my quest? Were you able retrieved the Lost Treasure of Freya?” Seagull bombarded Weed with questions one after another.

“Yes, here it is.” Weed took out Helain’s Grail and showed it to Seagull.

“Ohhh! Finally, this holy artifact can be returned to the Order of Freya. Thank you. To be honest, I didn’t really expect much when I first saw you because of your low level ability, but you’ve truly done a great deed.”

*Ting*

Quest Complete: Stolen Treasure of Freya

The Order of Freya received a prophecy foretelling the coming of an age where Chaos would reign once more.

Hoping to alter destiny, the Order has raised gifted disciples and nurtured their talents. These holy knights and priests were tasked to retrieve the stolen holy treasures.

Seagull was ordered to retrieve Helain’s Grail, but he failed where you succeeded.

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

Fame has risen by 200 points (+200 FAME)

As expected, the rewards were on different scale from other quests, since it was related to a temple.

200 Fame and a level gain of 2!

Yet, Seagull did not take Helain’s Grail.

“I’m sorry to trouble you further, but could you take Helain’s Grail to the Order of Freya?”

“Me?”

“Yes. I could take it there, but the darkness is trying to rise once more. There have been signs of its attempts.”

“Signs… you mean…”

“This is only an unreliable rumor, but it seems Barkhan was attempting to unravel the secrets of immortality during the Last Battle. There is word that he’s trying to come back to life and form his army once more. Still, no one knows the location or size of his forces. I beg you; please take Helain’s Grail to the Order of Freya! I must prepare my fellow Avians for a possible attack and have no time to spare.”

*Ting*

Quest: Deliver Helain’s Grail

Seagull is in a situation where he cannot travel to the City-State of Somre where the Order of Freya is based.

He has to prepare for Immortal Barkhan’s return. You are the one whom Seagull trusts the most.

Difficulty: C

Quest requirement: You need to finish mission within three months.

Reward: Unknown

‘It was a chain quest!’

“This task seems critical for the peace of the continent. I cannot find it in my heart to turn down this important request. I will return the treasure to the temple as soon as possible.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest.

“Thank you!” Seagull flapped his wings happily.

No matter how much Seagull tried to move with dignity, he could not change the fact that he was a cute Avian with a cuddly appearance. In truth, Weed had to avert his eyes to avoid laughing at Seagull’s bright face and glistening eyes.

Still, he kept focused, planning on taking advantage of Seagull’s good mood. It was a chance for his specialty: flattering people to extract as much information as he possibly could. Weed’s instincts would not let him miss a single opportunity and here was a golden one.

“Seagull-nim, I have heard that you are the most renowned herbalist in Lavias.”

“Huh? Ah, I’m somewhat good at it, although you would not find a better looking, or cooler herbalist among the Avians.”

Praise delights any man, and it works especially well on the birdbrained Avians.

“So how do you tell the difference between herbs?”

“Ah? Do you wish to learn medical botany?”

“Yes. I want to learn everything Seagull-nim can teach me. After all, isn’t there meaning in everything a great person such as you do? The truth is, I want to follow in your footsteps and become a great sage like you.”

“I love the way you think. Of course it is important to be able to differentiate between the herbs, but the crucial factor is the way you dig them out from the ground.

You must not let the roots get damaged. Start by scooping out the surrounding dirt slowly and carefully…”

*Ting*

New Skill: Medical Botany

* * *

Weed hunted in Barkhan’s Crypt a little longer before setting out to return the grail to the Order of Freya. Regrettably, he did not finish hunting in Balog’s Ruin, Gahet’s Holy Place or Secmail’s Relics. But it was impossible to finish those all places by himself anyway. The weakest monsters in those hunting grounds were Death Knights. The other monsters: Balogs, Succubi, Blood Ladies, and Blood Lords, were all monsters over level 400. They were far too strong even for Weed.

Those monsters noticed players instinctively, so he could not move around by hiding like he had been doing earlier to avoid Death Knights. But he was thinking of leaving Lavias anyway, so he did not mind too much.

“Welcome, human!”

The grocery store owner was an Avian Weed knew well, but Weed was still treated like a stranger due to the Avian’s exceptionally short memory.

“I want to buy two hundred Feathers of Lightness and one thousand Fruits of Heaven.”

The market owner was surprised.

“Ooh, it’ll be pretty expensive if you’re buying that much, is that alright?”

Because Lavias did not have many visitors, items were always overpriced. Simple items sold in grocery stores were at least four times as expensive as those sold in the Citadel of Serabourg. Neither did they have any weapons with good abilities for the price that was paid. Weed could not make use of most of the equipment, considering it was meant for the Avians.

Still, there were some items that were exclusive to Lavias. The Feather of Lightness and Fruit of Heaven belonged to that category.

*Ting*

Item: Feather of Lightness

Durability: 1/1

Number of Uses: 1

Makes the body as light as a feather, so damage can be avoided when falling to the ground.

Price: 50 Silver

Item: Fruit of Heaven

A sweet fruit only grown in Lavias. It is edible for up to 6 months after it is harvested.

It will greatly increase Intelligence and Luck Stat if used in cooking.

Price: 15 Silver

“Hmm… that would cost 250 gold, but I’ll charge 235 gold, just for you. Thank you for your patronage!”

The power of fame!

Weed had attained a fame level of over 1,200 by finding new dungeons and finishing maps. With that, even the shopkeeper’s attitude toward him had changed.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“Could I get some Avian eggs?”

“Our eggs? Why would you need those?”

Avian eggs were kept and incubated in a separate area, since the Avians laid an enormous number of eggs. In fact, there were Avians who laid an egg every day, so the quantity was unimaginable. Newly hatched Avians were no different from normal birds, but once they turned 10, they began to slowly gain the unique shape of an Avian. When they turned 30, they could speak, gain a higher level of intelligence, and begin to live in cities.

“I love nature as much as the Avians do, and I haven’t met a nobler race. If I had the chance, I would humbly accept to become their foster father.”

With that, Weed procured 300 Avian eggs.

He could feel his stomach rumble by simply looking at them. Needless to say, Weed had no intention of raising them.

Would I get a reward if I brought these back to their parents?

Unfortunately, Avians did not have a close relationship with their offspring. No matter who he brought them to, no one would give him a reward. Weed decided to cook the eggs and eat them. Each egg was not only delicious, but also conferred an increase in health and mana by 500, and a 2% improvement in Cooking skill.

There was one more place that Weed needed to visit before he left, The Beginner Training Hall. There was still some unfinished business, and it seemed impossible for him to ignore.

‘I will succeed this time.’ Weed thought determinedly.

Weed threw open the doors and proceeded inside the training center.

“Welcome!” The rooster-like Avian greeted Weed cheerfully. With his thick torso and powerful legs, the instructor looked quite peculiar for an Avian. The smile quickly abated though and was replaced with a solemn expression when the man recognized that it was Weed again.

“The look in your eyes tells me that you have gotten stronger. Still, I’ll warn you again: if you fail, you could die. Will you still take on this challenge?”

“Yes.” he replied simply.

Unable to resist the benefits of completing the challenge, Weed had chosen to take on the challenge again despite the danger. The instructor took him to the dark entrance that led only to a pitch black corridor, where one could not even see one’s own hands and feet. Here, one could only survive by utilizing all of their other sense; smell, hearing and their sense of touch.

“If you fail, I won’t come to save you this time. In that situation, you’ll probably die. If you want to leave a will, I’ll be happy to keep it for you.”

“If you want one, I’ll give it to you on my return.” Weed said with a wry grin.

“Ambitious, I see. You may go inside.”

Weed entered the dark tunnel, his sword ready in hand. He had not walked far when…

*Fwoosh!*

At the distinct sound of a flying weapon, Weed dodged instinctively at the sound and counterattacked.

*Clang!*

The sounds of metal clashing. The brisk reaction of the wrist. The flow of the air currents.

Sparks flew with every strike of the sword, briefly illuminating the pitch black corridor. Weed struggled to see the vague silhouettes of his attackers, the engulfing darkness was drowning him in fear as the howling wind tore at him. Weed’s level may have risen, but the Steel Barbarians’ capability had also risen to match his. Their coordinated attacks hid their weaknesses and maximized their strengths. The relentless attacks gave him no room for thought and forced him to be on the defensive.

‘Dodge. Can’t dodge. Hit. Miss.’

As soon as he chose which move to make, he was forced had to make another. The enemy attacked ceaselessly, limbs striking like lightning. As he overcame his fear of the enemy, his training kicked in and his body began to move on its own. He parried, dodged and countered the attacks with greater ferocity. In fact, he had improved to the stage where he occasionally had a free hand as he dealt with the ongoing blows.

Weed came to remember the feeling of popping balloons. Definitively, the danger was greater this time around, and the Steel Barbarians’ speed was truly astonishing, but once he became accustomed to the initial shock, the rest came easily…

‘A pattern. There is a pattern in their movements. I must find the precise sequence.’

Weed began to match his movements with the Steel Barbarians’ attacks, perfecting his own sequence of movements.

‘Water, I have to become fluid like water.’

Synchronized to the Barbarians’ movements, Weed evolved from an impregnable wall to a maelstrom. As they fought, it felt like his heart was about to explode. As his blood surged, his destructive strength began to break them one by one.

*Crack! Pop!*

He was no longer afraid of the Steel Barbarians. They were no longer a threat.

Within a span of 30 minutes, Weed had managed to destroy all one hundred Steel Barbarians. He collapsed onto the floor once he had finished this deed, his chest heaving from exhaustion.

“… Huff” He gasped for breath and tried to move but his aching muscles prevented him from doing so. His heart pounded wildly and his stamina had dropped dangerously low. He felt the biting pangs of hunger in his stomach.

The dark hallway lit up and the rooster-like instructor appeared.

The Avian’s face flickered with surprise as his gaze fell upon the remains of the Steel Barbarians.

“Amazing! You’re the first one to succeed in the second attempt here.”

Weed shakily stood up, needing to be supported by the instructor’s wings.

“Did I pass the Beginner Training Hall?”

“Of course!”

“If it’s not too much trouble, could you tell me how many people have passed this before me?”

“Here, you are the first. If you’re talking about the whole continent, you’re about the 400th.”

There were about 3,800 people who had passed the Basic Training Hall. They were the ones who had raised their stats by constantly hitting scarecrows for a month.

It was an impressive number, considering the sheer determination and willpower one required to accomplish such a task. Yet, the number who had passed the Beginner Training Hall was significantly less. This was possibly because there were many who couldn’t find a Beginner Training Hall, but the more likely reason was the difficulty of the test.

Instead of the mindless task of hitting a scarecrow for a month, to pass the Beginner Training Hall, one was required to understand the essence of fighting against groups.

This couldn’t be done by just anyone!

Even after repeated failures, few have the will to continue trying after dying dozens of times. That was the amount of perseverance it takes to pass the Basic Training Hall.

Of course, the reward was well suited to its level of difficulty and incredible risk.

“You have the potential to be a true fighter. Do you have any intention of quitting your useless class and becoming a Master Fighter? You will be able to equip any weapons. Your punches and kicks will become stronger too. It is the secret class of a Martial Arts Practitioner.”

*Ting*

Class Change: Master Fighter (Hidden)

You will be able to use special skills related to this class.

You will be able to raise Weapon Mastery further. Attack and Vitality stats will also dramatically increase.

Do you wish to change your class?

Yes | No

Warning: If you change your class, hidden class ‘Legendary Moonlight Sculptor’ will automatically disappear.

Only those who had an innate understanding of fighting could pass the Beginner Training Hall. Knight, Archer or any other job could have its level raised using Weapon Mastery. In addition, the ability to use any weapon and change them while fighting was a huge advantage.

Bows for long range attacks. Spears for facing cavalry, powerful axes… All of it would be at his immediate disposal.

The strength of attacks and his vitality would increase faster than with the other classes.

Master Fighter.

It was a reward offered only to those who had passed the Beginner Training Hall. Most people would choose to become a Master Fighter without hesitation.

But…

Weed did not have to think about his answer. Although he had acquired the Moonlight Sculptor class unintentionally and had many regrets initially, all of it was now in the past.

The charms and hidden advantages of the Sculptor class attracted him. Though he did not know how strong the Master Fighter class was, his resolution did not waver.

“I’ll keep my current class.”

*Ting*

You have declined the offer to change your class!

The instructor’s face was tinged with disappointment.

“Very well. Here is another reward, based on your performance during the fight.” The instructor continued, “Also, you have a chance to attain a new skill. Whatever action you take, a skill will be created for you. Do as you wish.”

Weed fell deep into thought. A skill was not something that could be attained by effort alone, and so this opportunity should not be wasted.

‘What skill do I need?’ he wondered.

‘Sword fighting?’ No, he didn’t need it. He couldn’t even use his existing sword fighting skills to their full extent yet.

‘Footwork?’ So far, he only used special footwork when he was trying to reduce the distance between himself and his opponent in a long distance fight, or when dodging magic spells. His basic instincts were more than adequate and so he didn’t need that skill ethier.

Of course, when met with a highly skilled opponent, he would need to use footwork, but he could compensate with his other skills.

‘Magic?’ He couldn’t learn it now, but when his Intelligence rises above 300, then he would be able to learn magic, regardless of his job. It was something to consider in the distant future.

‘Holy Magic?’ He didn’t even give it a second thought. After much consideration, he decided to just do something random.

‘Whatever I do, a skill suitable for me will be made.’

He could do anything he wanted, but with the stage set, he had no idea what to do. Weed stood there unmoving, while the instructor stared at him.

Weed suddenly felt uncertainty as he thought about leaving Lavias. Memories of the brief period he’d spent with Da’in inundated him all at once, the hunting grounds they had scoured, all the Skeleton Knights, Skeleton Mages, Soldiers, Dullahans, Death Knights, and Spirits they had fought and defeated together. He’d be leaving all of these behind with no chance of returning.

She might be not even be alive anymore. He still regretted not saying farewell to her in the end.

“Ahhh…” Weed opened his mouth and made a small sound. The shout steadily grew louder, until it reverberated through the whole cave.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

This was a farewell to the Avians and his memories of Da’in. He released all of his repressed emotions all in one agonizing howl.

*Ting*

New Skill: Lion’s Roar

It is a thunderous shout that will shake the heavens, and it is filled with the fighter’s Will.

Effect:

Allied army’s Fighting Spirit increases by 200%

For 5 minutes, leadership will be increased by 170%

Any confusion is cleared

New Stat: Leadership

* * *

Baran Village had prospered after the Lizardmen’s defeat. Home to the epitome of abundance and beauty, the Statue of Goddess Freya drew visiting nobles and merchants from far and wide. Perhaps due to the statue’s blessing, the town had not encountered further invasions from the monsters. Nobles would chat excitedly about the statue when they returned to their cities.

There was a small inscription by the Statue’s feet, which most thought of as nonsense,

“Thought the sculpting level is low, I hope the finished product of the Freya’s Statue will be accepted by all and praised for its beauty”

Baran was previously a small town despite the patronage of nobles, kings and merchants. But as users who hunted near Rosenheim Kingdom increased, their gradual southward migration in search of new hunting grounds and adventure rapidly increased the town’s population.

The abundance of nearby dungeons coupled with the conference of a 15% increase in the recovery rate of vitality and mana for a day on all those who laid eyes on the Statue of Goddess Freya, were key factors in attracting new residents.

“Was this great statue here before?”

“Who made this?” People were intrigued and amazed by the statue. Rumors spread that the mysterious sculptor was in the punitive force that helped liberate Baran.

Weed had become a celebrity.

The pure smile and face fresh like the morning dew captivated the masses. They could not bear not seeing it at least once a day. The square near the statue was filled with merchants hawking their wares and adventurers come to admire the statue.

“These are weapons sold in Citadel of Serabourg. Selling very cheaply at original price plus some transportation price.”

“Buying items. I’ll pay 10% more than the retail price.”

“Need fighters above level 100 damage dealers for hunting Salamanders and Werewolves. Rogues or Assassins are welcome too!”

“I’m looking for a party to hunt at Chalupan Valley or at least someone who would guide me there. I’m level 120 Ranger.”

“First time in Baran Town. Invite me to a party! Job is Bard. I’ll sing beautifully for the whole battle.”

Within the noisy, packed square, a hushed silence suddenly spread. This was because of a single merchant: Mapan.

He was level 70 merchant. Though only a beginner, he mainly delivered items over a long distance and transported items from the Citadel of Serabourge or nearby major cities to the rapidly growing Baran Town in need of resources. Customers flocked to him in an instant.

With a dream that he would one day rule Rosenheim Kingdom, Mapan worked hard to gain money. Gathering money little by little was the fun only merchants can savor. Mapan wheeled his wheelbarrow to a corner after selling off all his items and took a well-deserved stretch, looking towards the sky.

Something was falling from the sky.

“Hu…Huh? That…”

That something was a person.

“A-a-a person, a person is falling from the sky!” Mapan yelled with all the air in his lungs, pointing at the sky.

“What is he talking about?” Many dismissed it as nonsense, but some looked up to where Mapan pointed.

Someone really was falling from the sky! A person holding on to nine gigantic bags had appeared from above, hurtling towards the ground at a tremendous speed!

“Ahhhhh!”

“Run for your lives!”

In an instant, the square fell into chaos.

* * *

*Whoooooosssssh!*

Weed’s ears hurt because of the noise from the howling winds that were flowing around him at an insane speed. If he hit the ground at this velocity, every bone in his body would be broken and ground into dust, not to mention he’d end up as a gory pancake. Even hardened stone and huge boulders would be splintered and crushed to pieces if he landed on them.

Even in this seemingly perilous situation, Weed was calm. Squinting his eyes a bit, he looked at the ground to aim he decent.

‘A little bit to right…’

Weed adjusted his body accordingly and sped up towards the ground, seen as he wanted to arrive as soon as possible.

“Ahhhh!!”

“Run! Hurry!”

He could see people screaming and running helter skelter very clearly. Merchants jumped and abandoned their stalls as though a fire was burning them.

‘Were there always this many people in Baran Town?’ Weed thought idly.

Weed used ‘Feather of Lightness’ when he was about 500 m above the ground. His body, which had been free-falling at terminal velocity, was quickly slowed down, suddenly gaining a massive amount of air resistance to rapidly slow his descent. Only a small cloud of dust rose upon his landing. However, due to the weight of the nine gigantic bags that he carried, his feet plunged about 10 cm into the ground.

“……”

“Who is he?”

“Is he a Mage?”

Users pointed at Weed completely dumbstruck from the event that they have just seen. Many users were already speculating the identity of the mysterious man who had fallen from the sky. Everyone’s first suspicion was that he was a mage who used Flight magic. But Flight magic couldn’t be used by just anyone. Only a mage with Five Circle Supporting Magic of over level 300 had the ability to do this.

A level 300 could be only seen as a top gamer in Royal Road. What sort of mage would appear like that, falling from the sky?

Because Weed had descended at such a ridiculous speed, he had attracted far more attention than he would normally have. Over a hundred users were currently staring at him as he surveyed the town.

Weed focused on a stand that did not close despite the chaos and looked at Mapan who was hiding behind the Freya Goddess Statue, peering back at Weed.

“Hey you.” Weed called out suddenly.

Mapan answered in surprise, “Ye-Yes?”

Weed said gently, “You look like a merchant, do you buy items?”

“Why, yes, of course!” Mapan hurriedly nodded as he scurried from behind the statue, afraid that Weed might change his mind. Mapan was a businessman after all, and he specialized in trading with items.

After buying items at major cities cheaply and then using the ‘Trading’ Skill that only merchants could get, he sold them at a higher price in other stores. Merchants could earn a lot of experience points by buying at a extremely cheap price and selling at a much, much higher price.

Weed said in a laid-back voice, “How much would you pay for it?”

“If you sell to stores, the profit would be 2% of the original price. I could pay at least 15% more than the stores, and when in bulk, I’ll pay at 18% more. I would be buying with only 2% margin left for me.” Mapan replied wryly.

Weed looked around for someone who would suggest better deal than Mapan, but no one else called out. The suggested price was a very honest price.

A Merchant’s trading skill depended on how quickly he could sell his merchandise. Mapan, who could leave a 2% margin, was considered as very highly skilled merchant. Weed decided to make a deal with him.

“If there’s any item you’re collecting, I’ll sell them to you separately.”

Mapan’s jaw dropped.

‘This person is a big catch!’ Mapan thought excitedly.

How many items did he have to be able to say that he’d sell an item separately if there was any Mapan was collecting?

When selling items, it was much more beneficial to sell items in bulk.

“Anything. I sold all the items I had, so it was about time I bought some more.” Mapan replied eagerly.

“Is that so?”

Weed flipped his bag upside-down and shook it. Out poured Dullahan’s legs, Skeleton bone pieces, charcoal, tree stems, rusted short spears, bone clubs, and other items to no end. Suede Pants, golden strings, tunic cloth, and other such items flowed out freely as well. They all piled up until a small mountain had formed.

“H-How can this be!” Mapan’s eyes couldn’t get any wider.

‘To be able to bring this many of items… Where did he go hunting?’

Logically, the enormous amount of items was impossible to get: these items could only be gathered through hunting, but this amount was beyond anyone’s capabilities.

Considering the fact that not many people had discovered Lavias, Weed had gathered items in his secret hiding places throughout the dungeons. He couldn’t sell at a good price if he sold them to stores in Lavias. However, he would benefit much more from selling them to merchants who would buy such items at a higher price.

Profit!

Money!

Weed would never budge in this area. He would never throw away even an item worth just 1 copper.

“Th-This many items…” Mapan’s eyes twitched slightly. He had never imagined that anyone could see such a sheer amount of items in a lifetime!

“How many will you buy?”

Mapan replied immediately, there was no need to even think about it, “I’ll buy everything I can!”

159 gold was all the money that Mapan had. Merchants could only get money by selling items that they bought from other users, but due to fierce competition, prices were constantly raised, so getting a surplus was difficult.

“Then take it.”

The moment Weed gave his permission; Mapan began categorizing the items by their price. His abilities in item evaluation were used for moments like these, so assessing an item’s value on the market took less than a second.

1 gold… 2 gold… the value rose quickly, and he had soon calculated that the mountain of equipment had a net worth of 157 gold.

The magic backpack, was able to be filled with ten times its volume and reduced the workload to carry it to a third, spilled out an avalanche of items.

“Th-then…” Mapan gave Weed a strained smile as he began to wobble off to his nearby store.

‘How heavy is it to cause…?’

‘I feel his pain…’

The crowd had begun to scatter, but the remaining spectators looked at Mapan with pity. Meanwhile, the other merchants’ expressions were filled with bitter jealousy, since if they could sell that many items, they would definitely be able to significantly raise their level.

Following the wake of Baran’s expansion, weapon stores and smithys were yet to be built. On the other hand, there were a variety of stores that bought and sold a plethora of different items.

“I’m grateful for your business! Since there is a lot, I’ll give you 169 gold in this special case. Will you accept?”

“Thank you, sir!” Mapan was able to sell the items at the reasonable price of 169 gold by bargaining with the variety store owner. Mapan joyfully rushed out of the variety store.

“I have hurry and thank him!”

Since his level and proficiency rose greatly due to selling items in large quantities, Mapan ran to the town square in hope of at least giving thanks. Fortunately, Weed was still in the same place.

“Thank you! My name is Mapan. If you come by again, at any time…”

Just then, Weed opened another bag and turned it upside down. Suddenly, another pile of items poured out!

“Th-th-that’s…” Mapan’s gaze was frozen in place as he stared at the small mountain that had just formed in front of him. He was already dazzled from just one of the nine bags that Weed was carrying.

‘… It can’t be!’ It was just as Mapan thought: all nine bags were filled to the brim with various items.

Weed emptied out the other eight bags where he stood. Excluding the first bag, six bags were filled with minor items, while two bags were filled with weapons and armor. Together, the items were worth an astounding sum of one thousand gold. The last bag was filled with the Death Knight’s armor and various ores that he had kept for when he became level 200. To date, he had collected 145 iron ores and 109 copper ores!

Once one’s Repair skill reached the Intermediate level, one could learn the Blacksmith skill, so Weed was saving these ores until then.

“Please tell me just where you had such training!”

“You came from the sky, but how did you do it? Even a magician like me couldn’t feel the flow of mana!”

“Could you give me some money?”

Users swarmed Weed.

In just a moment, he became a celebrity of Baran Village. However, soldiers that were protecting the village soon gathered around Weed.

“Is that you, Commander?”

“You guys…”

They were the soldiers from the Lair of Litvart: Hosram, Dale, and Becker.

“Ooh! So you’ve finally returned!”

The elder, Ghandilva and the other villagers had also came out to greet Weed. At the sight of the soldiers and villagers greeting Weed so openly and warmly, everyone’s curiosity was amplified. Who was this person who had literally fell from the sky and was getting all the NPC’s trust and respect?

Weed exchanged greetings with Ghandilva and the soldiers. Seeing the transformation Baran Village had gone through, he felt a surge of emotion.

‘To think that my sculpture would have this effect…’

Under the sleeve of the Statue of the Goddess Freya was an inscription that only Weed knew about. Every time he saw it, he became very anxious. If by some chance Seoyoon came by and discovered this, a clashing of swords was inevitable!

Thanks to the statues innate powers, the recovery speed of Health and Mana has risen by 15%. and these effects will last an entire day.

The Goddess statue didn’t only affect Weed and other users, but it also gave similar results to NPCs. It gave a significant helping hand to the NPC soldiers when exterminating monsters and leveling up. If a Fine piece had this much affect, what would happen in a city with a Grand or Master Piece?

Statues could strengthen the military force of a city.

‘Sculpting could be an indescribable and amazing thing…’

While Weed was looking at the statue, lost in his thoughts, the merchant who bought his items, Mapan, had appeared.

“Excuse me… if it’s not too much trouble, may I ask where your next destination will be?”

Mapan, thanks to Weed, had hit the jackpot. He had leveled up 14 times, and his Trade skill leveled up three times!

One could say it was a miracle for a merchant.

Shrugging, Weed answered, “I’m going to go past the Baruk Mountain Range.”

“The Baruk Mountain Range?”

“Yes. The place I am trying to reach is the Free City of Somre.”

The destination was where the Order of the Goddess Freya was based. Weed had to deliver the Helain’s Grail. There were two ways to reach the Free City of Somre.

The more commonly used and safer route was to go back to Serabourg Castle, pass Brent Kingdom, and before passing Hilcos Badlands, go straight in the southwest direction. This was too complicated for Weed, for not only did it take three months just to get there, but one had to follow a trail.

It was far too boring for Weed, so instead he was planning to cross over the perilous Baruk Mountain Range and reach the Free City of Somre more quickly. Although the Baruk Mountain Range was infamous for its monsters, Weed had a secret weapon for emergencies, so he wasn’t unconcerned.

“So you are.” Mapan smiled.

“Could you take me with you? Oh, please don’t misunderstand! By seeing the items you brought, I can tell that our levels are very different, but I am not trying to burden you. I know very well that Merchants are weak in combat,” he explained.

Merchants were one of the weaker classes of the non-battle type classes. However, Sculptors were commonly known to be even weaker than Merchants, and currently, Mapan didn’t know that Weed was a Sculptor.

What kind of Sculptor could kill a Death Knight or Dullahan? Furthermore, a Sculptor who had been searching for stronger monsters because he got tired of hunting Death Knights, was unthinkable.

“Even if we make a party, not many experience points will come to me. I will even cover all the costs of the herbs and bandages used for battle.”

The largest part of Weed’s losses was due to buying herbs and bandages. Mapan the Merchant had said that he would take care of that part knowing that if he gives something, it would be reciprocated.

“What is it that you are after?”

“Items. If you choose to carry everything that drops, you’ll be restricted in more ways than one. The bags will become too heavy and you’ll be unable to fight, so I will buy it all. The items you would otherwise sell end up with me, and your burden will be lightened considerably.”

Mapan’s goal was high level items. Following a strong fighter would be a huge advantage for him. Just one item from a level 200 monster was ten times more valuable than items from level 50 monsters.

He wanted to get items while following Weed rather than waiting at a town. Since he could trade items at each town, it wasn’t bad business at all.

Weed considered it momentarily. It was a win-win situation if he took up the offer. His previous tactic of storing items in a hideout when he was hunting could only be used in Lavias which had no other users running around. If someone used that tactic on the mainland, others would steal his bounty and get away with no repercussions.

“Very well! Let’s travel together.”

Chapter 1: My Profession, Moonlight Sculptor

Baran village was bustling at the seems with the drastically increased number of users visiting.

“Selling sculptures! Food for sale! Repairing low durability armor or weapons for a cheap price!”

“That sculpture, how much is it?”

“20 silver per piece! Is it expensive? Art is usually as expensive as it is pretty.”

Weed was the focus of explosive interest from female users! Each of the sculptures he made appeared almost alive. Most sculptures, especially the stone sculptures, were too large and couldn’t be sold. So, in order to draw crowds, smaller models were produced. These were cute and extremely adorable, receiving the majority of attention from the female users.

Weed simultaneously cooked while selling sculptures. People gathered, attracted by the smell of the food being stirred and fried. People who came to buy sculptures were also enamoured by the smell of the cuisine.

“What are you cooking?”

“It’s poison.”

“Eek, poison? You’re making poison? Even though it’s emitting this delicious scent…”

“Yes, it’s poisonous because it’s so delicious that it’s worth dying twice for! Here’s a sample dish. Try a little bit!”

The users tasted Weed’s stew. He gave each a small spoonful.

First of all, the smell! The stew was made from boiling wild edible greens which were good for the body and it emitted a sweet fragrance. As soon as the stew entered the mouth, the eyes of the female users widened at the gently unraveling sweet flavor.

“Wow, it’s delicious! Oppa, can’t you buy me some?”

(PR: ‘Oppa’ is the respectful term used by females to call older males such as older male brother or friends in Korea)

“Yeah! Eat as much as you want. Since my Sena wants it so much… Mister, how much is it?”

“15 silvers.” Weed replied.

“Far too expensive for one dish, isn’t it?”

Many of the faces from the male users became distorted when they heard this. This was because 15 silvers was a significantly high price. However, Weed never compromised when it came to price. There was no room to compromise when it came to money.

“The reason I cook is to allow many people to eat more delicious food. But I feel that this road is not so easy. It seems maybe the dishes are too expensive since everyone seems to complain about it.”

“Well, of course it is!”

“I would like to sell it really cheap; however, the cost of ingredients for this is nearly 14 silvers. When you consider the cooking tools and all the effort I put in, I’m selling it for next to nothing. *Sniffle*. Should I give up my dream of cooking delicious food and use cheap ingredients to cook cheap food? It’s really a dilemma for me. *Sniffle*”

Weed cried contemptibly, it was all an act of course. Even if he was stabbed and bled, Weed wouldn’t shed a tear. This was an investment. An investment in ingredients for no cost!

“Oppa!” The investment paid off, the female user vehemently cried out.

“Let’s just buy his food! I mean, come on! He’s someone who cooks really well… After all, mom would say that cooking comes from the heart. Someone who makes food as delicious as this must be a really good person.”

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Sorry about that Chef, I hope you sell a lot.”

The duo went and surprisingly paid 20 silvers. Neither of them asked for change. Weed’s expression changed to a smile of satisfaction.

‘Anything tastes good if you don’t know what good food is. Once again, money has been earned.’

Weed skillfully sold sculptures and food. In fact, the all up, the materials barely even cost 1 silver.

The wild greens were the cheapest ingredients from the market and the other ingredients weren’t that much more expensive. Since the market was in a mountain village and they didn’t have many things to sell, the prices for materials regarding food were very cheap. Even though the market didn’t have ingredients that the markets in the larger towns or cities had, with the large variety of ingredients, all kinds of dishes could be made.

“Mister! One bowl please.”

“Kimbab for us.”

(T/N: Kimbap: sushi like, but it uses different ingredients inside and the rice is mixed with sesame oil instead of vinegar)

“I came back again, hehe.”

There was no end to the customers. Due to Weed’s cooking skills and sculpting skills being at the intermediate level, he was drawing in huge crowds. With the crowds growing by the hour, even his exaggeration grew, but Weed was someone who thought lies weren’t lies if they were for business. Weed also made customers feel better with his thorough service. However, from time to time, there were of course customers that troubled him.

“Excuse me, I think I’ve seen you on television.”

Two women approached him, trying to view every aspect of Weed’s face, and then they asked,

“You’re the Princess Knight, aren’t you?”

It was the nickname that he’d received after taking an active role in an event at Dein High School to get the top prize. Probably due to the news spreading rapidly throughout the internet, there were a lot of people who recognized him. Some may like to be really popular, but in Weed’s case, it was different. Of the many nicknames he had, the nickname of Princess Knight was enormously embarrassing for him.

“Well, you see, I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

Weed turned his eyes away to avoid their attention. Weed’s cooking was not only delicious, when eaten, it gave a significant boost to the user’s health and mana. Due to this reason, many people came to eat his cooking. The boost was so significant, to the extent that even hunting parties came and ate as a group.

“The price is 15 silvers. The price for the special nourishing meal for hunting is 30 silvers. Thank you. Have a pleasant hunt!”

Even though the price of the food and sculptures were high, Weed did offer to repair their low durability items for free as an extra service, so the price wasn’t really a problem. Even though it was 30 silvers, for users who hunted in Baran village, it was an amount they could easily pay.

Food that raised health and mana was more than worth the amount they had to pay when hunting. Of course, there really were expensive dishes on the menu. There was a dish made by using an egg of the Avians and a fruit of heaven, that left a taste so delicious that you wouldn’t even notice if someone had upped and died beside you.

Just counting the cost of ingredients, the fruit of heaven was 15 silvers and the egg of the Avians cost a whopping 95 silvers. However, the dish wasn’t just an expensive dish, it was also difficult to cook. Health foods are not made with one main ingredient. A health food dish needed to neutralize the strong potency, while doubling the effect.

Just like when making ginseng chicken soup (samgyetang), ginseng, dates and other various medicinal herbs are used. The dish needs to bring out the flavour and maximize the effect of all its ingredients. These are the difficulties and hardships of a chef.

Thus, after several attempts and failures, the names of the dishes made with the egg of the Avians and the fruit of heaven were,

Wellbeing Royal Bud of the Day!

Sweet Nut & Bay Leaf.

The dish made using both of those ingredients had this name,

Main Nut on the Bird.

This dish brings out the effects of both the egg of the Avians and the fruit of heaven, which means it gives a significant boost to strength, intellect, luck, mana and health.

* * *

When Mapan joined Weed in Baran village, he had high expectations.

“Finally, my time as a tired and exhausted merchant will end! Now, it’s should be smooth sailing from here on out.”

One can say a merchant’s road is difficult. In Mapan’s mind, the memories of suffering flashed by.

“Whew, those were tough times…”

When he initially chose to be a merchant, he was filled with hopes and dreams. The Merchant class really struck Mapan’s fancy because, Money! Money was power! Money was fame!

The world, in the end, was dominated by money. He majored in economics, and he firmly believed that capitalism was not an ideology, but economics itself. To earn capital, he was prepared to endure some hardships.

It felt like all the money in the Versailles continent became his, and with it, he wanted to construct a large trading company to obtain a large amount of fame. In some kingdoms, it was said that peerage as a noble could be bought with enough money. In a word, he chose the road as a merchant to earn lots of money.

But what was this! From the beginning, the road to becoming a merchant was rough without equal. Since he was not allowed out of the city for four weeks, he ran errands. He worked diligently in hotels, weapon stores, and exchanges, to save a small sum of money. Everything was for the Merchant class quest. Mapan jumped, ran and rolled!

“Since I’ve seen all the effort you’ve put in, I think you have the talent to become a merchant. If you don’t have a greed for money, you are not a merchant. I urgently need 300 pieces of rabbit pelt. I’ll give you one gold, so can you get them for me? If you do, I will formally accept you as a merchant of Rosenheim kingdom! However, get it done as quickly as possible. I need them within 3 days.”

*Ting*

Quest: The Exchange Owner who needs Rabbit Pelts

The owner of the Exchange requires a large quantity of rabbit leather. There is no need to know why he needs it, but it seems that doing it as quickly as possible would be good.

Difficulty: E

Requirement:

Three days.

If you fail, the Exchange owner’s confidence in you will decline and you will not receive a commission for one month.

Reward: Merchant Profession

‘Hooray, I’ve earned money!’ Singing with delight, Mapan accepted the request.

“He even gave me one gold, as expected of a merchant quest, even from the beginning, they give a lot of money.”

Rabbits were common beginner monsters that spawned in front of the castle. One rabbit leather sold for 10 coppers in a general store, so the total purchase price should have been 3000 coppers. Therefore, he calculated that 30 silver should have been sufficient.

Of course, the other party needed to have some benefits. In a proper business transaction, both sides needed to profit.

“Buying Rabbit Pelts! I’m willing to pay 11 coppers each!”

Mapan cried out with a loud voice in front of the castle. He was hoping that massive amounts of users hunting rabbits would come running. Nearby, another merchant shouted even louder.

“Buying Rabbit Pelts for 30 coppers!”

A person who was sewing next to them yelled, “Buying Rabbit Pelts for 50 coppers!”

“Damn! How could this have happened…”

The rabbit pelts that should have cost only 10 coppers were being purchased at ridiculously high prices.

“What is happening?” The perplexed Mapan asked, but the answer drove him to despair.

“You didn’t know? You’re not the only person who is collecting rabbit pelts to become a merchant. Also, the people who want to learn sewing need rabbit pelts, so the price for them skyrocketed!”

Mapan was in tears. The prices were bringing beginner merchants to tears. The merchant occupation had a three day time limit. Without a choice, he had to use up all the money he had earned and barely obtained 300 rabbit pelts after hunting all day and night. Because of that, he became flat broke.

“Thank you, now you are a merchant!”

The owner of the exchange gave him a pat on the shoulder for a job well done; little did he know that Mapan’s shoulders were drooping. That had only been the beginning. It was the beginning of the harsh road of a merchant.

To raise his level and skills, he had to purchase loot from users at a costly price. Due to being weak, he was ignored during combat. But in order to purchase loot, he had to fight a torturous war of blood and sweat. Mapan, who had traveled far to Baran village, had experienced many joys and sorrows that he could not even begin to speak about.

Waiting for someone, who might or might not even come to his stall to sell loot, was really difficult, but there was an abundance of people who came and asked for unreasonable prices.

“My hardships are over!”

Ever since Mapan had formed a partnership with Weed, all of his anxiety and fears had disappeared. All he had to do was trust and follow Weed.

“I will follow him anywhere. All I have to do is trust him!”

Mapan made a firm resolution. A great warrior! An adventurer! A master of battle! Mapan, who only knew this side of Weed, had immense confidence in him. That emotion persisted until they reached Baran Village.

“How can this be?”

Mapan wanted to scream. Even when he rubbed his eyes to look again, Weed was making food and selling sculptures. To make matters worse, he was repairing things!

“Nooooooo!”

While Weed was cheerfully cooking, someone was secretly weeping. That someone was Mapan. The Weed he knew as the great warrior was now selling food and sculptures.

“Isn’t that the worst case of a Japkae (Jack of Trades)?”

(T/N: ‘Japkae’ roughly means: jack of all trades but what it really means is someone who doesn’t stick to one skill tree and puts points in all of them and never specializing)

This was not something he could figure out with a guess. He needed to be sure, but Mapan was hesitant. He was afraid to know the answer. However, It wasn’t something he could not go without knowing, he had to ask.

“Um, Weed-nim, what is your profession?”

“Me? As you can see, I’m a sculptor.”

“A-a-a sculptor?”

Mapan’s head hurt as if he was struck on the back of his head with a blunt object.

‘The sculptor class is just as unpopular as the artist and the cleaner classes!’

Melancholy took a hold of Mapan; he pointed at the boiling cauldron with a trembling hand.

“Then, what about those dishes?”

“It’s a side job.”

“What about repairs…”

“It’s one of the skills I’m diligently learning. To learn the blacksmithing skill to make weapons and armor, I need to get the repair skill to at least the intermediate level.”

Mapan, who thought forming a team with Weed was destiny, couldn’t be any more disappointed.

“Well, yeah. This guy who is terribly unlucky… but how can there be such a jack of all trades?”

In his mind, the character called Weed was terrible in a worthless sense. His skill set was so haphazard that it was enough to go down in history as the lousiest character! Weed had diligently learned miscellaneous skills that were unappreciated by others. If it was Mapan, he would have given up and made a new character.

‘How sloppily leveled is his character that you’d get something like this!?’

However, Mapan was making a huge misconception. It was Weed’s painstaking struggle! He grew stronger little by little by continuously hitting the scarecrow at the beginner class training center, all the while eating the instructor’s meals.

He had made sculptures until his eyes were red in order to increase his art stat by at least 1 point. To raise his cooking skills, he became a cook for a troop of NPC soldiers who were part of a punitive group.

He cooked tens of thousands of dishes, created thousands of sculptures, and barely raised the character called Weed, but in Mapan’s eyes, all he saw was a sloppily made character that had learned all kinds of skills. Mapan could be here now because even when he tripped or broke things, he learned something new and picked himself up.

‘This man is even more commercial-minded than me. Confucius had once said: “When there are three people walking, a teacher is bound to be among them.” Even from a jack of trades, I can learn something from him.’

Mapan decided to not regret his choice of forming a partnership with Weed. He enthusiastically bought loot beside Weed and opened up his own stall. Anyhow, he couldn’t just sit and do nothing. While watching Weed selling food and sculptures during Mapan’s spare moments, he was enlightened on being a merchant meant.

“What a wretched liar…!” There were moments where he was astonished greatly.

“He is making such unreasonable profits with such lousy ingredients!”

Other times, he got angry. For Mapan, who prided in being an upright merchant, it felt as if he had no room to compete.

“Isn’t he just a daylight robber and a fraud?”

Weed had a gift of brilliant eloquence that gently suited the buyer’s taste. With just a few words, a sculpture that was being sold for ten silver coins sold for fifteen silver coins, making Mapan boil with anger as he watched. After two days, Weed finally placed the sculptures that were on the display stand slowly into his bag.

“They sold a lot better than expected.”

The sculptures had been carved in his spare time in Lavias. More than half of them had been sold. The thing about sculptures, is that people don’t return to buy another one. An average person would buy one as a souvenir, unless he met a collector.

Even if the production cost of the sculpture is low at 10 silver coins, 30 silver coins can be obtained at best. Therefore 10 sculptures need to be sold to barely earn 3 gold. This had been quite useful in the early days, when Weed had been poor, but considering his current level, the profit from his wood carvings amounted to chump change.

Among the users in Baran Village, most people who would have purchased sculptures had already bought one. If Weed stayed any longer, all he would be able to sell would be his cooking. After raising his repair and cooking skills to 40%, Weed took down his stall. He glanced at Mapan who was beside him, purchasing loot steadily.

“It’s time for us to depart.” Weed said.

“Huh? Depart to where?”

“We’ll be traveling to the Bar Khu mountain range that I already told you about in advance.”

Weed had to return Hera’s Cup to the Church of Freya within three months, so he had already planned to leave Baran Village. Furthermore, a lot of knowledge and experience was required to become a magnificent sculptor. Although Weed had become strong by using several methods, he did not forget the fact that his job was a sculptor. Weed visited the general stores and shops, and quickly prepared for the trip.

“Take care!” Ghandilva, the Village Chief, said warmly to Weed outside the gate.

The three Denarion soldiers, Dale, Becker, and Hosram, also said their goodbyes along with the village chief.

“I’ll come back and visit sometime.” Weed promised.

“Of course. We’ll not forget all the help you’ve given us!”

“See you later.”

“Yes, sir! After our duty is complete here, we’ll be returning back home. So, the next time we meet will probably be back at the Citadel.”

* * *

Weed and Mapan bought the local specialties of the big cities as they traveled south of Rosenheim Kingdom. Pearls and jade, white wine, cheese, olive oil, mithril and more, were all specialties in the southern cities.

The Kingdom of Rosenheim did not have a high technological or commercial prowess. Probably due to this reason, jewelry, food, and unrefined ores were being actively traded. Among the kingdoms in the center of the continent, there were some cities and countries that specialized in producing weapons and armor.

Naturally, these country’s weapons were more durable and had excellent attack and defense stats, in comparison to other countries. Thus, users who started in the center of the continent had that much of an advantage. However, in terms of adventure and opportunity, the kingdom of Rosenheim was not a bad choice.

“40 pieces of Jade please.”

The task of buying jewels was left to Mapan. With the accounting skill, it was possible to purchase merchandise at a more reasonable price. However, if you attempted to drop the price down too excessively, the trade could be canceled.

When that happened, the exchange owner would not do any business transactions with you for a maximum of ten days, so it was necessary to be cautious. Mapan, who had just finished bargaining, turned around to look at Weed.

“The price for the jade is 760 gold. Should I buy it?”

“Uhm…Can’t you cut the price further?”

“This is the limit with my skills.”

Weed’s hands trembled as they entered his pockets. Then 800 in gold coins came out. Mapan gave the money for the jewels to the seller and passed the change and jewels back to Weed.

“Where do we go now?”

“To Falcon village to get some pearls.”

50 pearls were purchased for 690 gold, and then 3 kg worth of mithril was purchased after arriving at the coal mining village. The wallet that only knew how to accept money was opened up, and in the end, even the small change was spent, leaving only 50 gold.

Soon enough, the fortune that he had amassed had dwindled, and his innocent money bag lost the fight. At the end of the ordeal, 50 gold was all that was left. Weed’s former total fortune had been 1700 gold. The money which Weed had painstakingly earned and conserved was spent in an instant.

In the Britten Alliance, beyond the mountains of Bar Khu, the price for jewels was at least 25% higher than on this side of the mountain range. Even if one wasn’t a merchant, marginal profit from market price and fame could be gained, so as many goods that could be purchased were bought.

“But, what is he doing?”

Every time Weed moved to a town to buy the local commodities, Mapan’s eyes had a puzzling look. Even when Weed was walking down the road, he was always doing something. One of them was uprooting plants. Then, he diligently put them in his bag. Every now and then, he smiled delightedly.

“Weed-nim, might I ask what you are doing?” Mapan could not resist his curiosity, and Weed’s answer was simple.

“You mean this? I’m uprooting herbs.”

“If it’s a herb…”

“I learned Herbal Medicine; the terrain here is rugged, so that might be why there are a lot of medicinal plants.” Mapan swallowed his breath.

“Oh!” Weed, who had looked like an idol to Mapan, finally took shape as the worst jack of all trades ever!

“I judged this person too hastily!”

To think that I had deluded myself into thinking that the one who had hunted Death Knights and the undead was him just because he had their loot! It might be that he got lucky and found them somewhere. Of course, the chance of that happening was really slim, but Mapan, whose confidence in Weed had utterly dropped, thought of it as a possibility.

However, Mapan was still a man. He was a man who believed in justice and providence! Thanks to Weed, he had gained many benefits so far. Through the trading of loot, he had obtained a lot of skills and money. He also purchased the jewels for Weed at a reasonable price, and this also greatly raised his skills. This situation was not bad at all, so there was no need to go back on his decision to partner with Weed.

‘As a man, you cannot go back on your word!’ Mapan thought to himself.

Mapan earnestly purchased these special commodities for Weed. Mapan, unlike Weed, did not have a lot of capital, so his own purchases centered on food, such as olive oil or cheese. These items did not have high profit margins, but prices were stable, so the advantage was that there were no risks.

Mapan also had additional skills with trading food commodities, so he bought a large quantity of food products at a cheap price, and bought a cart to carry them. Since the cost of a horse was over 100 gold, he purchased a mule at the end of its life, and the preparations for leaving were done.

Weed disposed of the multiple bags he had been carrying this whole time. Instead, he got help from Mapan to purchase a backpack from the general store to put his herbs in, which could hold 20 times its own volume, as well as reduce the weight by a quarter. By now, Mapan saw Weed as a full-fledged peddler.

Bar Khu Mountain Range.

The mountain range was located between the southern part of Rosenheim kingdom, and the eastern part of the Britten Alliance. Both countries bordered the range, but it was called the paradise for monsters.

Overflowing with monsters! Rugged terrain!

Both nations had armies of rangers stationed here to clear the area of monsters periodically. If not for that, the Kingdom of Rosenheim and the Britten Alliance would have suffered from fatigue because of all the monsters.

*Rooooaaaar!!*

As they climbed the mountain range, the horrifying sounds resonated. It was the roar of a fierce animal. It was the sound of rampaging animals. Breaking branches and rough screams were audible. As expected of its reputation, it really was the paradise for monsters.

For a place that’s not a dungeon but a field, it was rare to have this many monsters. Finally, the monsters appeared in front of the wagon Weed and Mapan rode in. Lycanthropes. They were werewolves, monsters around level 100.

The Lycanthrope variant was known to be around level 150. Of course, in these mountains, they were the lowest on the food chain. Because of this, they were pushed out of the heart of the mountain range and infested places like the ones Weed and Mapan were currently traveling through.

Unfortunately, Lycanthropes often traveled in packs and currently, over 10 of them had appeared at once. The roar a while back that sounded like the howling of wolves was perhaps the crying sound of these Lycanthropes. The reason for the howl was that prey had been found and that it was in their hunting ground. Mapan, who was sitting on the box seat of the wagon, was restless and nervous.

“The-they’ve finally appeared, and more importantly, what do we do!? Weed-nim, you did say that you will handle this!”

Even then, Weed was diligently using the carving knife in the assistant driver’s seat. Zahab’s carving knife. This unique item was something any sculptor could only wish for in their dreams. The carving knife was moving according to the flow of the grain of the wood, and creating a sculpture.

The Lycanthropes approached slowly. When they appeared, they resembled humans, with the exception of the head, which was that of a wolf. On their body, gray fur started growing all over. They were evil beings that could transform into wild dogs.

*Ting*

Handicraft skill proficiency has increased.

Level Up: Handicraft (Intermediate Lv: 4 | 0%):

Ability to use tools and hands increase by 5%

It affects many skills and stats.

When the Intermediate level in the handicraft skill rose by 1, stats increased by 5%. At the beginner level, a 3% increase was given per increase in level. When you think about it, the effect was now greater; however, it became more difficult to raise the skill level.

“That was quite fortunate.”

Just then, Weed was carving the shape of the tree he had passed by in great detail, so he was able to increase sculpture mastery by 1.5%. After all, there had been plenty of branches and foliage. It was difficult to carve a tree that had survived many years and had many rings. It was said that drawing a tree that lived over 1000 years was very painstaking and hard.

Weed had carved a very lifelike tree sculpture, which looked very similar to a real tree. It wasn’t good enough to be proud of, but it was a pretty good sculpture nevertheless. There were times when the sculpting skill rose significantly that it was almost surprising, but then, there were times when he was stuck in a rut and the skill would barely increase.

Considering Weed’s skill level of intermediate level 4, an increase of 1.5% was a large increase. Weed’s skill level had increased just in the nick of time, and raised his stats.

“Wee-Weed-nim!”

As soon as Mapan was about to cry, Weed put away the carving knife. Then he took the sword out of the scabbard. The clay sword with the cold attribute!

“As a matter of fact, I’ve been sitting down for too long and was feeling sluggish, maybe it’s time for me to loosen up my muscles? It’s a pity that I missed seeing the transformation process, but that’s fine. Since these guys aren’t the only Lycanthropes living in the Bar Khu Mountain range.”

Weed mumbled as he watched the Lycanthropes. To make Lycanthrope-shaped sculptures, it is better to see the transformation process. Since they change in appearance as they transform, it was possible to make multiple sculptures showing the process in steps and increase his sculpting level by a good amount.

While Weed was getting off the wagon and holding his clay sword, Mapan let out a scream from behind him, “Surely you are not planning to fight with that sword?!”

Mapan was shocked when he saw the clay sword. The sword had chips and dents everywhere! Due to the intense hunting in Lavias, the durability of the clay sword had dropped to almost nothing.

Even though Weed had obtained lots of equipment from the undead monsters, the sword Weed used was still the clay sword. Dullahans only dropped hefty weapons such as iron maces and axes and Ghouls only dropped nails.

The Death Knight’s weapons couldn’t be used unless you were of a Knight class or had a level of at least 200, so Weed didn’t have much of a choice in terms of weapons. Since he hunted alone and in isolated places, he had to at least bear this much. Every time the sword broke, he replaced them, the number of times this had happened was in the dozens.

In the meantime, the number of Lycanthropes increased by ones and twos, and now, the number of Lycanthropes in the group exceeded 20. Weed saw Mapan’s face had turned deathly pale, so Weed put the sword away.

* * *

As expected of the descendants of wolves, the Lycanthropes attacked courageously. They kicked hard at the ground, springing up, and roared wildly.

*Growl!*

The Lycanthropes let out a bestial roar! The sound dominated the battlefield, the old mule was terrified and bucked, while Mapan prepared for death. Lycanthropes were monsters with fast movement speed, so there was no way to escape.

It was at that moment…

*Roooaaaaar!*

Exploding out of Weed’s mouth burst forth an intensive war cry. It raised a cloud of dust, the dry leaves piled on the ground cracked and crumbled. Even the branches on nearby tree’s seemed to tremble, as if they were about to break.

The roar overwhelmingly swept away those who heard it.

*Ting*

Skill: You have used Lion’s Roar

The proficiency of the Lion’s Roar will rise by 1%!

Lion’s Roar current skill: (Beginner Lv: 1 | 1%)

As the skill level rises, the power increases.

The Lycanthropes hesitated, turning their heads away from feeling troubled after the roar. Weed did not miss the opening and ran at them, beating them down with his fists.

“Rapid Shadow Fist!” (Yon-hwan-kwon).

*PowPowPowPow!*

*Yipe!*

Weed lashed out at the Lycanthropes with his fists! For Weed, who had mainly hunted Death Knights in Lavias, the Lycanthropes, who were barely level 100, were no problem for Weed.

Even if they had numbers, for them to become a problem, they first had to be able to do some damage to Weed. The Lycanthropes rushed ferociously towards Weed.

“Seven celestial steps!”

Kicking off the ground, they flew at him, clawing and biting with their nails and teeth, Weed avoided them all by using his footwork skill. By battling them, Weed had once more rediscovered his footwork prowess. Until now, Weed had only used the footwork that had ability to avoid attacks, but the footwork skills in Royal Road also had unique abilities.

In the midst of sprinting forward and then taking a sharp turn in a 90-degree direction while running would be impossible in reality. That was due to the law of inertia. However, with footwork skill, you could achieve the impossible. During a sprint, you could switch to the opposite direction, and the instant rate of acceleration to reach that speed was almost invisible to the naked eye.

As the name implied, it consisted of 7 steps, instantly twisting in any direction while running, or appearing abruptly as if coming out of thin air. It was a skill that demonstrated remarkable value, and was as expected of a first rate martial arts skill.

“Seven Celestial Steps!”

Although the Lycanthropes came in from all directions, Weed twisted his body a few times to break through the enemies’ encirclement. As he changed directions instantaneously, like connecting the lines of the Big Dipper, Weed created vague afterimages.

Illusions!

As the Lycanthropes attacked the illusions, Weed escaped the encirclement, and he began his attack. Each time Weed’s fist landed, an Lycanthropes became grey and one by one, they disappeared.

The Bar Khu mountain range was filled with monsters. It was a place that was the antonym of the word peaceful. However, at the moment, something extraordinary was happening.

(PR: antonym, a word opposite in meaning to another, e.g. bad and good )

*Roooooaaaaar!*

*Uwaaaaaaaaa!*

The tremendous sound of a roar could be heard from the each end of the mountain range. Weed had just used Lion’s Roar again. This was in order to improve his proficiency with his Lion’s Roar skill, and Weed used this skill without regard whenever a monster appeared. Day, night, it didn’t matter, and the shouting echoed throughout the mountain range was making quite a din.

The Bar Khu Mountain range was filled with enough monsters for someone to become fed up with. However the mountain range held, experience, money and items! For Weed, who liked to fight without limit, this place that was filled with monsters, was like second home to him.

“There’s got to be an undiscovered dungeon somewhere!”

The unexplored southwestern part of the mountains. Since there weren’t any proper towns or villages around, it was a possibility. Weed didn’t intentionally seek out monsters. Rather than that, he focused more on improving his sculpting skill. It was the ‘Sculpting Blade’ skill that Zahab had left, this skill had greatly enhanced Weed’s damage. The skill was an attack technique that ignored enemy defense and resistance; so it definitely was going to be a skill that was going to be more effective later on.

The skill Emperor Geihar left behind was to give life to sculptures, ‘Sculptural Life Bestowal’! The sculptures carved with passion would fight for their creator and master.

The sculptures that were made with higher art stat would be stronger, and they also grew in level after coming to life. This was the skill that allowed Emperor Geihar to conquer the continent. If life could be given to sculptures, in any situation, Weed would have subordinates that would follow him unconditionally.

“Skill Check: Sculptural Life Bestowal”

Skill: Sculptural Life Bestowal

The skill that Emperor Geihar left behind for his successor, a sculptor’s skill that is unknown to others.

Limitations: Can only be used with Advanced Sculpture mastery.

Skill requirements:

5000 Mana.

Art Stat 10 (permanent consumption).

Level decreased by 2 (permanent consumption).

CAUTION: Sculptures have strong sense of individuality and pride. When they see another sculpture identical to them, they will fight that sculpture with hostility.

In order to use this skill, you first needed to get to advanced skill level in sculpture mastery, which was still very distant to Weed. On top of that, the consequence of giving life to a sculpture was losing art stat and levels, and was something you could not infinitely repeat.

“While it’s a ridiculous skill, it’s certainly still a useful technique!”

The Sculpting Blade and the Sculpture Life Bestowal, the two techniques left by Master Sculptors were this powerful. Weed couldn’t imagine how powerful the remaining three skills would be. In addition, he thought, what is at the end of sculpting after obtaining all 5 skills?

Weed had had the opportunity to become a Weapon Master in martial arts previously; however, he had given up the chance and had remained a legendary moonlight sculptor, which had left him with worries.

Other than being able to level up handicraft faster and having the Sculpting Blade, there wasn’t really much of a benefit. Even then, all he could do was to catch up to the knights and swordsmen. Sculptors had the path of a sculptor, there was a chance. One had to make the utmost use of that chance.

‘Sculptural Destruction, Sculpture Life Bestowal, and even the Sculpting Blade! While using them to the best of my abilities, I need to find the remaining skills. And finally, I need the basis of all sculpting.’

The rise of sculpting skills would affect everything. When no monsters appeared, Weed sat on the cart and sculpted. He made sculptures of the fighting scenes with monsters, or the surreal landscapes and its trees!

*Ting*

Level Up: Sculpture (Intermediate Lv: 3 | 0%):

Sculptures become more delicate and detailed.

Eventually, intermediate sculpting skill level rose to level 3. After this, Weed took out the emeralds, pearls and jade that he had purchased from the Rosenheim kingdom when he was traveling around.

“What are you doing?”

Halfway through the mountain range, Weed had abruptly pulled out a jewel, and Mapan’s face showed his confusion. There was no reason to boast about his wealth, and it’s not like he was going to give the jewels to the monsters either.

‘Is he taking a good look at the gems?’

However, Mapan was completely shocked at Weed’s next action. He had started carving the gem with his sculpting knife.

“Aaugh!”

Mapan unwittingly felt like screaming. Since he had personally purchased the jewels, he knew full well their worth. He knew it far too well. Those were some absurdly valuable jewels! Although the gemstones haven’t been processed, the price was high enough to make one faint. But, without hesitation Weed continued to carve the jewels surface with his carving knife.

“What…what have you…?”

Just before he attempted to stop Weed’s actions, Mapan’s eyes widened in surprise, because the gemstone was gradually being shaped, little by little. The degree of the etching wasn’t even visible unless you looked at it very carefully. As the gemstone was carved down, the emanating radiance of the jewel shined brighter.

Mapan stared blankly as Weed’s hands continued to move.

“It’s beautiful!”

*sagak sagak*

Mapan’s eyes were filled with wonder, as Zahab’s carving knife carved the jewel and took shape. Each dull side of the jewel changed steadily, and the gem radiated more brightly.

“How can a gem be this beautiful?”

Weed’s intermediate sculpture level had risen, making it possible to work with gems. To work with gems, one needed basic skills and handicraft skills. For Weed, who had intermediate level, he wasn’t lacking in handicraft. He also had Zahab’s sculpting knife, which was a unique item worthy of being called a sculptor’s treasure!

However, basic skills and handicraft were only requirements; the thing that truly made the gems beautiful was the art stat. Weed’s art stat was currently near 300. The occupation of legendary moonlight sculptor gave a +100 to the art stat, and the rest came from the masterpieces and other sculptures he had made. Because his art stat was astonishingly high, all kinds of effects were given to the gems.

“For it to be this dazzling….!”

Mapan’s body trembled all over. This was because he imagined what would happen afterwards. Buying and selling the raw gems from the Rosenheim kingdom to the Britten Alliance would yield a large profit.

However, what would happen if Weed faceted those gems and sold them? Also, if the jewel was worked with the heart and soul of the greatest sculptor, what would the price be…?

‘I can’t even guess!’

Mapan fell into deep thought. He drove the wagon more carefully, so as to not interfere with the work of the faceting. Due to the ridiculously high handicraft skill and the sculpting knife, beautiful works of art were produced, even though it looked like he was working sloppily.

The food Weed cooked not only looked good, but it tasted good. Overall, it was due to Weed’s handicraft, cooking and sculpting skill being intermediate level. Those skills were exhibited by the jewels Weed carved.

Chapter 2: The Stone that gathers Lightning

Paruvan.

It was a place that travelers and Caravans stayed for lodging while traveling over the Bar Khu mountain range. It was originally a place built by the ranger division of the Rosenheim Kingdom to rest themselves, so it wasn’t a place that people visited often.

“We’re lucky enough to have found this place. We’re only a day or two from our destination.”

“The trip was so rough, I thought I was going to die.” Halman laughed.

“This was all because of you, Margaux.”

“You ought to say it straight, Levi. It all started because you killed that guy.”

Halman, Margaux, Levi, and Gran, were four famous player killers from the Britten Alliance. They lived for the joy of killing other players and looting their equipment. The notorious quartet was better known as ‘Dwichigi Quartet’.

(T/L: Dwichigi means: Backstab)

However, about one month ago, they had fearlessly messed with the Cloud guild. This guild wasn’t just a large guild in the Britten Alliance, but it was one of the ten largest guilds in the whole continent. It boasted a membership count of over 6,000 players, and if the allied guilds were included, it was an influential force to be reckoned with. The guild had enough influence to rival that of the Britten Alliance.

In other words, even for the Dwichigi Quartet, the Cloud guild wasn’t a name they could easily ignore. In fact, they didn’t mess with the Cloud guild on purpose. For a while, the four who were on the most-wanted list decided to focus on hunting to level up, but a guy named Brandy acted arrogantly and said:

“Get out of here! This is our area!” Brandy had yelled

“Huh, who is this guy?”

“That’s bullshit!”

Naturally, the four flew into rage. At this point their red PK symbol had already disappeared, since they had donated a lot of money to the temple and had just hunted for a while. Brandy disrupted their hunting and claimed that this place was his area, since he had no idea who the 4 were.

Then Levi exploded in anger and said, “Let’s just kill this bastard!”

“I’ll teach you not to mess with us!”

The four who usually killed first on a whim obviously didn’t have the restraint to let things like this go unpunished. Brandy was killed instantly. As expected of the notorious Dwichigi, the four stealthily positioned themselves behind his back and attacked. Brandy’s level was lower than 3 of the 4 Dwichigi members, so the simultaneous attack from the 4 gave him no chance and he died easily.

Then they received a map as loot.

*Ting*

Item: The tomb of the one with short legs

Durability: 1/1

The place where the short eccentric fell into slumber.

In the midst of two canyons, underneath the sturdy tree.

Rumbling, pounding!

A narrow road.

The primal power cannot be passed without sacrifice.

Among the pounding, seek the sound which does not ring.

Author: Reineig R. Hansberg

“What’s this?”

The four laughed and ignored the map. They thought it was one of those treasure maps that were scattered around. Since then, however, they’ve been persistently tracked by the Cloud guild. Only then did the quartet realize that they had attacked a member of the Cloud guild.

“Damn it! You bloody idiot. If he had told us that he was from the Cloud guild, I would have never killed him!”

“We killed him without giving him a chance to speak.”

“How is that our fault!”

“Anyways, we need to lay low for now.”

From then on, the four hid in places where no one passed by and did not reveal themselves for 2 weeks. However, the pursuit by the Cloud guild did not die down even a little bit. To avoid death, the four had overcame many hardships to barely escape.

The levels of the quartet exceeded 220, but without their PKing experience, they would not have been able to escape from multiple crises.

Halman finally spoke, “This is weird.”

“I think so too, don’t you agree?”

“An entire guild wouldn’t be chasing us for just killing one member.”

“Yeah, they’re seriously trying to kill us even to the bitter end.”

“Wait a minute, what was that map we picked up from that guy?”

“I think it was something like ‘the tomb of the one with short legs’…”

“There’s no mistake then, this map must be extraordinary. Those guys weren’t after us, they were after this map.”

“Hehe!”

“Then we should try to find the treasure from this map.”

Since then, the four had started to discover the secrets of the map. They had crossed over to another kingdom, to an archive with old books and found information regarding the map, then, they deciphered the meaning of the phrases. As a result, they had come to the Bar Khu mountain range.

“Now all that’s left to do is entering the tomb…”

“Yeah, but what’s should we do? There isn’t an Adventurer among us, so traps in the dungeon can’t be dismantled.”

“That’s…”

“Our bodies can take a few traps.”

“Even if the whole process goes smoothly, one guy still has to die to the final lightning strike. So, which one of us is going to die?”

Obviously, no one wanted to die. The quartet who liked killing others didn’t want to die themselves, so they stared at each other. Then, Gran held a beaming smile.

“It’s decided.”

“Who?”

“You aren’t pointing at me, right?”

Gran pointed his finger, but it wasn’t pointing at any of the 4 including himself. Gran was pointing towards the bottom of the mountain range. While arriving, Weed and Mapan’s cart was creaking away.

“Wow! I did not expect to meet people in a place like this. Hello, my name is Mapan.”

“I’m Gran, and this here is Levi, Halman, and Margaux.”

“Nice to meet you.”

The quartet all had big smiles on their face, welcoming Weed and Mapan.

“It’s rare to see people traveling in the Bar Khu mountain range, for what reason are you traveling?”

“Ah, we came in order to trade.” Mapan went ahead and replied.

“For trade? Then the two of you are merchants, right?”

“Yes, I am a merchant, and Weed-nim over here is a sculptor.”

“Oh, I see.”

Gran had a wide smile. Halman, Margaux and Levi also were trying to hold back their laughter.

‘He says he’s a sculptor!’

‘There are people that would choose that as a class?’

However, when they dealt with Weed and Mapan, they were entirely courteous. This was because their task still needed to be completed. Most cautious of the four, Gran asked the questions. Ever since the incident with Brandy, they were more careful in dealing with others.

“Anyways, I understand. But how did you come across the Bar Khu Mountain range as a sculptor and merchant when it’s filled with monsters? How did you deal with the monsters?”

“That’s due to Weed over here…”

Mapan was about to explain, but Weed elbowed him on the side.

“Weed-nim?”

Mapan who was about to speak zipped his mouth shut. He noticed that Weed wanted to hide something and stopped. Gran noticed and raised his eyebrows then laughed.

“Well, is it difficult for you to tell us this?”

In truth, Weed had a feeling that the quartet wanted to hide something. On the large continent of Versailles, notwithstanding the vast multitudes of users, it was rare to meet people in the place known as ‘monster’s paradise’.

Typically, when you meet other people in out-of-the-way places like the mountains, you would greet them, and maybe even eat food with them. If your destinations were the same, you would travel together for a while, but these people were far too happy.

Also they became even more delighted when they found out their class. Weed naturally glanced at the four, scrutinizing them. Gran was standing at the front talking to Weed and Mapan, while the 3 others were at the sides and the back.

‘They might be bandits.’

If you thought that monsters were the only risk on the continent of Versailles, then you were in for a world of hurt! Rather, encountering users in a place like this was far more dangerous. Weed acted naturally and said:

“I am a sculptor, but I have a unique technique.”

“What kind of technique?”

“It’s a kind of yell. When the monsters hear the sound they run away. Shall I demonstrate?”

“Yes, I’m curious.”

Weed gathered his mana with all his might and cast the skill, Lion’s Roar.

“Roooooaaaaar!”

At the hint that Weed was going to use roar, Mapan covered his ears with his hands, but the four were unprepared and staggered from the shock.

“Damn!”

“How can this roar be …!”

Gran calmed down Margaux and Levi with just a glance, looking back at Weed and smiling widely.

“What a tremendous roar. That reminds me, I’ve heard a roar several times. This has the effect of keeping monsters away?”

The Lion’s Roar skill.

Weed had not yet formed a party with Gran, so his leadership had not increased, and the additional effects did not take effect. The only thing they experienced was the loud noise.

“Yes, monsters hesitate when they hear this sound, and during that moment, I escape.”

The quartet laughed after Weed’s explanation.

‘It’s really not a big deal.’

‘I guess these guys are the perfect bait?’

‘We should have these guys go to that place.’

‘We only need 1…’

‘What, is there a problem? We take out the remaining one with our own hands, and since they’re merchants they’ll drop a lot of loot.’

‘Good, let’s do it.’

The four all quickly came to a conclusion without even talking, but by simply communicating their intent with their eyes. Gran put on an earnest face toward Mapan and Weed and said, “So far, this trick may have let you pass through safely, but the Bar Khu mountain range is a really dangerous place. You could call this meeting fate, so from here on out we’re going to be your escort. Anyway, since we’re traveling on the same route and we’re offering this out of goodwill, there is no reason to refuse. Haha…”

“Haha! If it is like that, then we’re truly grateful.”

Mapan purposely laughed loudly. As a weak merchant, it wasn’t a bad idea to accompany a group of 4 players that looked strong.

“We will be in your care.”

Weed noticed that something was fishy from the glint in their eyes, but decided to play along for now to find out how far this would go. So Weed also quietly nodded in acknowledgement to their offer of an ‘escort’. He had noticed that the situation was turning for the worse, but from the looks in the quartet’s eyes he could do nothing but follow…for now.

The fun of an adventure is in traveling, seeing new places and meeting comrades. Reliable comrades that can cover your back. Hunting with friends builds intimacy and closeness.

This was the fun of playing Royal Road. At times, Weed enjoyed hunting with others. Since he played so much of the time, it would be unreasonable to be always together, but still, being together was a rather good thing. However, this was not the case with this unknown quartet. Around the wagon, the four assumed the role of fighting monsters, and out of the corner of their eyes, they observed Mapan and Weed.

‘Well, nothing’s unusual about him.’

‘I think he is sculpting?’

‘It seems he really is a sculptor.’

The four were completely at ease. However, they were still suspicious of even a sculptor since they had accumulated a lot of notoriety in the last month. Just then, Weed pulled out one of the raw gemstones. The Dwichigi Quartet turned the focus of their attention on it, and one of them asked.

“Huh? Isn’t that a jewel?”

Immediately, Margaux revealed a deep curiosity. Mapan replied with a smile.

“Yes, Weed is currently faceting jewels.”

“Oh, jewelry faceting?”

“Yup.”

“Jewelry faceting… That’s amazing!” Margaux’s young eyes were full of greed.

‘Freaking jackpot!!’

‘I’d like that to be a drop…’

Weed tightly clenched on Zahab’s sculpting knife while sculpting, but the four did not start a fight.

‘They aren’t attacking even after seeing a jewel, so they have something else they want from us.’

In the quartet’s minds, Weed and Mapan were trapped like rats with nowhere to escape to, so they accommodated their needs. The deceivers and the deceived! And the one pretending to be deceived!

“Let’s have meal here before continuing on. We’ll prepare the food.”

“We are thankful for the escort… so we’ll prepare the meal.”

“Haha, no, please wait a bit.”

The four sometimes gave Weed and Mapan the drops from the monsters.

“This isn’t much, but I hope you’ll accept it.”

“Since we’re travelling on the same road aren’t we comrades? It’s only fair to share the loot dropped by the monsters.”

“Please accept them.” The 4 quartet easily hit it off with Mapan.

“This shameless guy…”

Mapan received with a wide smile, but Weed’s suspicion of the situation deepened further.

‘A favor without a reason… such a thing does not exist. If they’re not planning to attack us, what is the reason?’

A normal person feels grateful when others give presents, or towards those who are nice to them, but for Weed, all he felt was suspicion. In this situation, it was not necessary for them to share the items. It was too awkward since they tried too hard to be nice. Nevertheless, Weed didn’t betray even a hint of his emotions.

Since Mapan really trusted the quartet, Weed was able to hide the fact that he greatly distrusted the quartet. A day passed by just like that, and they arrived at a canyon. The canyon was only 20 meters wide, but it was a deep canyon with a dense fog covering the valley below. Because there was a bridge, crossing the canyon did not seem too difficult.

“There’s a bridge here. What a sturdy looking bridge… We can cross over with this bridge.”

As Mapan went to drive the wagon, Gran smiled and obstructed him.

“Gentlemen, what is your reason for adventuring?”

“What?”

“I think that fully enjoying this magnificent view is the heart of an adventure. There seems to be a path that leads down, so let’s take that path. Doesn’t this path seem more interesting? What do you think?”

Mapan became hesitant upon hearing Gran’s words. In the Versailles Continent there was no such thing as a stereotypical road. You could travel through the forest, or climb over mountains. There was no need to always travel on well paved roads.

Nevertheless, if you think about it logically, it didn’t make sense to go down into the canyon when you could cross the bridge comfortably. Even Mapan, who was oblivious to the situation, finally sensed that something was wrong.

“Well, is that really necessary…?”

Mapan tried to reveal his intention to refuse. As a merchant he wanted to take the safer path. So he was refusing the quartet’s suggestion.

*shiiiiing*

Halman, Margaux and Levi all placed their hands on their scabbards. Weed and Mapan found themselves surrounded. A merchant and a sculptor. There was no reason to be tense, but they prepared just in case something went wrong, at that hair raising instant. The moment Mapan strongly refused!

“We should go. It sounds like fun.” Weed agreed with Gran’s suggestion.

“Haha! I knew you’d come around. You’re a man with spirit.”

Gran, Halman and the rest took their hands off their scabbards and smiled.

Weed and Mapan continued traveling down the canyon in the carriage with the Dwichigi Quartet leading them.

The incline of the canyon was very steep, and the wheels of the carriage became stuck several times. Without the help of the quartet, it would have been impossible for them to go down. Gran and Halman pulled the cart from the front, and Levi and Margaux pushed from behind.

“Um, Sorry about all of this.”

“Haha! Not at all Mapan-nim. This is nothing!”

Gran and Halman treated the carriage as if it was their own. The quartet didn’t spare any sincerity since they thought the cart would be theirs soon.

“Oh, I think there is a trail over there…”

Gran led the way. He went around here and there, occasionally going back the same way.

“Ah, the scenery looks far better over there. It would be preferable if we go back that way.”

Gran combed through the area in the canyon several times. On this, Weed was the one who really benefited.

“Whoa! This one here is a red Sen medicinal herb. Over there is a blue Ceylon herb…!”

The Bar Khu mountain range was a rich repository of herbs. At the bottom of the canyon in the area where the sun shined brightly had various herbs growing sporadically. Weed eagerly pulled them out and placed them in his mesh bag.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think I’m doing? I’m pulling out herbs.”

On top of being lost, they were being delayed even more due to Weed.

‘Dammit!’

‘I’m going to kill him with my own hands!’

The veins on the foreheads of each of the quartet were pulsing from anger. After a couple of hours, Mapan was exhausted, and the quartet was exhausted as well.

- Hey, Gran. Did you memorize the location correctly?

- You want me to pull out the map in front of them?

- Just distract the two of them for a bit and keep their attention away. That guy named Weed looks like an idiot so don’t mind him, but the guy Mapan, he’s observing our behaviour and that bothers me.

- Okay. Just do it quickly!

Margaux approached the wagon.

“Hey Mapan, I’m actually quite interested in sculpting. Would you mind asking Weed if I can observe him at work?”

Using that as an excuse, Margaux obstructed the view of where Gran and the others were. In the meantime, Gran spread out a map of the current location and confirmed the location of the tomb. Gran’s eyes were beaming.

‘Well, we followed the right route. Just walked passed it by just a little!’

“Now, how about we head this way?”

Gran and the quartet had the wagon turn back towards where they had come from. After searching through the bushes and trees, they finally found the monument and the tomb. Beside the monument was the entrance. The four chuckled and each of them said something.

“Huh? Could this be a dungeon?”

“A dwarf’s grave?”

“Wow! We’re in good luck. We should head in. There is no reason to turn back now that we’re here.”

“Mapan, Weed! Naturally, you’ll come with us right?”

Chapter 3: Instruments and Intrigue

*Ting*

New Dungeon: You are the first adventurers to enter the tomb of the instrument-loving dwarf:

Benefits:

Fame increased by 200 (+200 FAME)

Double experience and 2x normal item drop rate.

The first monster killed will drop the best quality item it can drop.

“Wow!”

“Awesome!”

“We’re the first to find this place!”

The quartet shouted ecstatically as they entered the dungeon. Their levels were higher than the average, but most of this growth came from player killing rather than hunting. Therefore, this was their first time discovering a dungeon.

“Come! From here on, just trust us.”

Gallantly, the quartet took the lead. Originally, the purpose of going through the canyon had been for this exploration, so after having arrived at their objective, their enthusiasm rose to an all-time high.

“It’s exhilarating! Right, Weed-nim?”

Mapan was happy. It was a rare experience for a merchant. Weed only nodded his head silently.

‘So their aim was to bring us here.’

Now, he began to understand the quartet’s behavior. It explained why they were so strangely nice, openly kind and why they got them to go down into the canyon.

‘These guys were not trying to go over the Bar Khu Mountain range, from the beginning their goal was to find this place. They must have information about this place.’

At this point, there was no need to show that he knew what was going on, so Weed still acted as if he knew nothing and played the fool.

“Thanks to Gran-nim we get to experience an amazing adventure. Sculptors do not find experiences like this so easily…”

“Yes, just believe in us. Hunting together with others is one of the real joys of Royal Road.”

The quartet made a path through as they entered deeper into the cave. Weed and Mapan followed slowly after them.

“Keeek! It’s an enemy.”

“Enemies are appearing!”

“These humans are entering our nest.”

Werewolf plunderers!

Deeper inside the tomb, the werewolves that were relaxing beside a lit campfire reacted. There were many werewolves living inside this dungeon. Lycanthropes were extremely populous in the Bar Khu Mountain range. The werewolves ,who were already in their wolf form, attacked the group.

“Huh, they’re just Lycanthropes?”

*Sigh*

“What a huge disappointment!”

The quartet unsheathed their swords and easily dealt with the Lycanthropes. The Lycanthropes here were a bit stronger than their field counterparts at level 130, but they couldn’t beat the blades of Gran and Levi.

‘They’re strong.’ Weed judged.

It wasn’t just their level. They also had good reflexes and judgment. They knew where and what to attack and how to properly strike an opponent. They were gifted in combat!

‘four players… Could they be the Dwichigi Quartet!?’

The movie Weed had seen on a website flashed inside his mind. Videos uploaded by the victims with the wish for vengeance. He didn’t really remember their faces, but now that he had seen how they fought, Weed knew. But Weed sighed.

‘It looks like they’re beginners in exploring.’

The first slain monster would drop the best quality item that it can drop. Therefore, it would have been preferable to chase away the Lycanthropes and hunt a boss class monster instead. But the quartet didn’t seem to care and advanced further into the cave. One of the benefits of being the first to find this dungeon had been wasted.

“All you guys have to do is trust us.”

“Yes, that’s all you have to do.”

The four senselessly laughed as they butchered the Lycanthropes.

Either way, one couldn’t ignore their combat skills. A player killer’s skill proficiency was much higher compared to that of normal players of similar level. Probably due to their experience fighting people, they were skilled in fighting against monsters. They didn’t miss a weak point, and they fought well as a group.

To cap it all off, they spent money like it was nothing. They gulped down mana, health and stamina regeneration potions which cost 5 gold each like it was water while exploring. The money was earned from selling items from player killing.

If they had earned money from hunting, they wouldn’t be spending money this extravagantly. They didn’t even pick up the copper or the loot the Lycanthropes dropped. The quartet found it bothersome to pick up items that might sell for a few silvers in a general store. For Weed, who attacked a monster for even 1 copper, the quartet were people from a different world.

‘Should I also become a player killer? I’ll lose all the fame I’ve gained so far but it looks like I can earn a lot…’

While Weed was picking up coppers as he watched the fight, Mapan found himself in a crisis. One of the Lycanthrope passed through the quartet and was approaching him.

“Eek! A Lycanthrope!”

Mapan looked at Weed, pleading to be saved. But, Weed completely surprised Mapan instead.

He had seen Weed extinguish many Lycanthropes. Many, many Lycanthropes! As soon as they had appeared, Weed would let out a loud roar.

“ROOOOAAAAAAR!”

Then, the Lycanthropes were mercilessly mashed into pulp. When the sword had needed repair and couldn’t be used, Weed kicked and head butted. For Weed, nothing was impossible in a fight. It may have seemed strange seeing such confident behavior, but Lycanthropes were not scary at all. It was because Weed was beside him, Mapan had nothing to fear. He believed that Weed would protect him. It was something Mapan truly believed.

But…how could this be?

Weed showed signs of being far more terrified than himself. Weed’s face had turned into a deep blue color; his body was shaking in fear, in complete and utter despair.

“Um…Weed-nim?”

When Mapan tried to say something, Weed covered his mouth.

“Ack! Are we going to die?”

“…”

Mapan was left speechless. He had no idea of what Weed was thinking. The Lycanthrope attacked!

*Growl!*

The werewolf charged at him, but Mapan avoided it by rolling on the ground without a moment to think. Even so, he was fine. Mapan had seen Weed fight many times, so he was used to the Lycanthrope’s attacks. The Lycanthrope charges in first and it attacks with its jaw and claws, and it was because of that, that Mapan barely avoided getting hurt. Weed also rolled to evade the Lycanthrope’s attacks. He was covered in dirt and his clothes were a mess. The Lycanthropes pursued the closest target which was Weed.

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

But Weed was able to avoid them by rolling around and kept his body intact. Fortunately, when Weed rolled near the quartet, Margaux immediately finished off the remaining Lycanthrope. After the battle, the quartet apologized to Weed and Mapan.

“We are sorry about this. To let one Lycanthrope through, we made a huge mistake.”

“No, it’s OK; we are still alive after all. Thank you for saving us there…”

Hearing Weed’s words, Halman grinned.

- Just like I thought, these guys are nothing special.

- We were worried for nothing, just because his equipment looked decent.

- Well, his equipment are common equips that can be used by any class. And they’re only lvl 100 or so equips anyway. Even his blade that dangles around his waist is the same.

- Then let’s hurry and go!

The quartet finally were relieved of all their doubts and lost their wariness. But, they had no inkling of Weed’s intentions.

Lycanthropes! Pah!

Weed had watched as just one escaped the quartet’s slashes. It seemed coincidental that one of them went past the quartet to endanger Weed and Mapan, but it was not. Considering the quartet’s combat abilities, the situation was manageable. But, they let one though on purpose. It was to see how Weed and Mapan would react. And Weed acted as if he was fooled.

*Booom!*

*Crack!*

*Rummmmmble!*

“Aaaaahhhh!”

Without a thief or an adventurer in the party, the traps couldn’t be removed. The floor sinks to reveal metal spikes rising up or floundering after being flattened by sandbags that weigh 10 times more happened frequently. They fell into every trap that could be called a trap and sometimes they fell for into it again. In Weed’s eyes, the traps were obvious and seeing the quartet fall into traps over and over again, he almost wanted to say where they were.

‘Gah, just put your trust in us.’

Of course, that thought disappeared after seeing Halman screaming while bleeding heavily. The dwarven tomb had two underground floors. Gran found the stairs heading down to the second floor without hesitation.

“Aha, fortune smiles on us! Hahaha!”

Gran laughed heartily. Weed didn’t take his laughter seriously. They arrived on the underground second floor. This floor had more dangerous traps set up everywhere. The seldom appearing Lycanthropes were not scary at all but there was no end to the amount of traps.

*Hwareureuk!*

Oil poured from the ceiling, and without giving time to react it ignited into flames. Halman, whose health was already low turned gray and was logged out. Following slowly behind, Weed and Mapan were safe.

“Such…”

“This trap was ridiculous.”

The remaining members of the quartet didn’t shed a tear for their fallen comrade. They looked at the result with a slightly different approach. One less person meant a higher share for those remaining.

‘Only two more to go’

‘Well, if one more dies, I will get…’

‘I want to be the only one left alive.’

They had no loyalty. After Halman’s death, the others quietly wished for the deaths of the rest. And they already planned to kill Weed and Mapan at an appropriate time.

“But…” Gran suddenly spoke.

“It is a little unfair that we are the only ones at risk.”

Margaux and Levi were surprised with Gran’s words.

- Gran, what the hell are you doing?

- We need someone to sacrifice when we get to the thunderbolts. Are you going to deal with them right now?

- Just watch for now. I have an idea.

“What do you mean?” Mapan asked awkwardly, but Gran only smiled in response.

“It’s not a big deal. It is my intention to distribute the risk. One of my own colleagues has just died, don’t you guys feel even a bit responsible?”

“And?”

“I would like one of you to take the lead. Since we’re companions that are traveling the same road we should share the same risk.”

Mapan was clearly hesitant. In his mind he strongly wanted to leave, but the current atmosphere made it hard to speak. He felt that he should never have come to this place!

‘Still, I am truly indebted to Weed…’

At that moment Mapan steeled himself.

“I’ll take the lead.”

Weed volunteered before Mapan could speak.

“As a sculptor my offense is minimal, but I do have HP to spare, so please allow me.”

“Oh, then you have my thanks.”

From then on, Weed played the lead. You couldn’t call them a party because Weed and the quartet had never proposed it! They had not invited him of Mapan to their party as they didn’t want to share the experience. They only gave away the cheap common loot that they didn’t want.

Player killers usually don’t enter most towns. In very serious cases, village guards could attack player killers and they might meet someone who held a grudge against them, so it was better to refrain from visiting a town. This reason was why they were gladly giving away items they weren’t going to be able sell.

‘This is an interesting place.’

The dungeons Weed had explored were ones filled with lots of monsters. Swarms of bloodthirsty monsters moved about in packs and the hunting grounds were filled with wandering Death Knights. For Weed, it was the first time exploring a dungeon filled with traps.

‘It’s over as soon as I become careless.’

Just a little bit ahead of him was a place where blue and red tiles were arranged like a baduk board. It was the moment when a trap-finding skill would have been used. However, there was no thief or adventurer in the group to use it.

(TL: baduk: most people know it as ‘Go’, the Japanese name for the game)

“Hey Weed, we have to keep moving.” Gran encouraged him from behind.

Weed advanced while pressing firmly on the floor, but he moved slowly in order to quickly respond to any traps. Weed first stepped on a blue tile. Nothing happened. It was a relief. Then, he stepped on the red tile. Again nothing happened. But Weed still had 50 meters to go to the end of the passageway. With no clue when a trap might spring.

‘Blue tile. Red tile. Blue tile. Red tile. I stepped on alternating tiles and nothing happened. If this was the way to dismantle a trap, then it was far too easy. If it is like that…?’

Weed had a thought. What would happen when two tiles of the same color were stepped on? He stepped on blue tiles twice in a row. Still nothing happened. This made him even more wary.

‘The colored tiles were made as a deception. It was not meant to be anything. It was made as a distraction. If that is the case….’

Weed’s eyes became sharper.

‘There…’

He scanned ahead and found an almost invisibly thin thread extended at the height of an ankle. Since it was at the boundary between the red and blue tiles, it was a difficult trap to find unless you were paying attention.

‘The person who trips it is in trouble.’

Weed naturally stepped past the string. Gran was next, and followed directly behind Weed. Rather than sticking close to him though, there was a little bit of distance between them. It was far enough from Weed to not be able to help if he set off a trap. Then, it was Levi and Margaux who followed behind Gran. Mapan was at the end of the line. The quartet needed one person for the lightning so Mapan was at the safest place.

Gran had also seen that thread. Though it was very faint and thin, being keen on Weed’s cautious movement had allowed him to discover it. The reason for being so keen was that he might set off a trap that Weed avoided due to luck.

‘Hmm, this trap…Is it just coincidence that he silently avoided it? Or…’

Gran lightly passed over the thread. But he didn’t stop to say anything to the person behind him. He moved a bit more quickly since he didn’t know what would happen.

*tuduk*

(T/L: sound effect of trap being sprung)

Levi had moved carelessly onto the thread, cutting it in the process. At that moment, the walls to the left and right opened up and a rain of arrows poured out.

“Keuahak!”

Levi, who had a large build could do nothing as the arrows flew into his body. All he could do was scream helplessly.

“He-help me!”

As Levi begged, Gran and Margaux stood still on the spot. Eventually Levi died from the numerous arrow wounds, and a single breastplate dropped where he had been standing.

“Fool.”

“How pitiful to die at a place like this.”

Margaux took the armor for himself. Gran and Margaux just grinned at each other. They each distrusted the other, seeing as neither of them had moved a finger to help Levi.

After all, the four members of Dwichigi Quartet had met each other as murderers in the first place. The group was merely formed to kill others for fun and deprive them of their items. They didn’t have friendship or loyalty to each other so they could have parted at any time.

*Rumble!*

*Boom! Boom! Booooom!*

The pathways appearance changed.

A single, straight tunnel appeared before them, leading through the underground cave. Thunderbolts crashed into the path. White lightning blasted randomly inside the passage ahead. Although it was a magnificent sight, it was also endlessly dangerous.

Lightning-bolt. A three circles spell with a mind of its own, striking without any kind of pattern. Weed looked back.

“How am I supposed to go through there?”

Gran pulled out a small stone.

“We’re fortunate. This is a stone that collects lightning. With this, we can safely go across.”

“I see.” Weed identified the stone as he took it.

*Ting*

Item: Lightning Stone

Durability: 100/100

A special stone with high iron content. It has the power to attract electricity.

If it is refined it can become good quality iron.

Equipped:

Electric Resistance 99%.

Has the ability to absorb electricity.

As Weed read through the stone’s description, Gran and Margaux laughed coldly.

‘We will cross while using him as a sacrifice.’

‘After we pass this obstacle it’ll be the place where the treasure is’

One victim was necessary in order to cross this road. The one holding the lighting stone could do nothing but die.

“Hey weed, just go through it already. You may die but then we would be safe, isn’t that worth the risk?”

Gran gave a toothy grin. At that moment, they finally revealed their true colors! Weed consented.

“Well, it is a good thing if only I die and everyone else can cross.”

“And?”

“What are you going to do on the way back?”

“…!”

Gran and Margaux looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions. They had only thought about getting to the treasure. They had not even thought of going back. It had completely slipped their minds.

“It’s…”

“Damn it.”

They had obtained only one lightning stone! They would surely die when they return. Gran drew his sword.

“Now that things have become like this, you guys are no use. Time for you guys to die”

Gran shouted coldly as he went into an attack posture. He was covered with a bloodthirsty aura while his skill was about to activate.

“You dirty bastards…”

Mapan gritted his teeth as he grasped the reality of the situation. Yet Mapan still had his ace up his sleeve. Weed! Weed would deal with them. From observing, Mapan knew that Weed was more than enough to fight against Gran. However, Weed still had a terrified look on his face. In that state, he wasn’t doing anything. He didn’t even pull out his sword.

‘Why…just why? Weed can easily to handle this…’

While Mapan thought something was wrong, Gran began his attack. But instead of attacking Weed or Mapan, he attacked Margaux.

“Die!”

“Gran, I knew you would do this!”

Gran and Margaux started a fight to the death. Gran thought that he could kill Weed or Mapan at any time, so Margaux who was the most bothersome one had to die first. Since they had not trusted each other from the beginning, Margaux was prepared.

“Hah, Flame Sword!”

“Cold blade!”

The elements of Fire and Ice.

Gran, who had finished the examination for his second job advancement specialized in fire swordsmanship. Margaux, who specialized as an assassin could easily fade away in dark places. He struck while he remained hidden. Skills ran rampant, sparks flew and blood spewed forth. Their skills both leaned on the offensive side. Their skills were evenly matched, but Gran was the one who emerged victorious. As an assassin who was used surprise attacks, he couldn’t beat a swordsman in a straightforward contest like this.

“Farewell, Margaux.”

“Dammit, I was so close, just a little bit further to that treasure…”

Though Margaux was betrayed, there were no hard feelings between them as he lay dying. Justice, friendship, they were not needed! They were useless for those who loved deceit and theft. Margaux was near death. Just then, Gran’s sword sliced off Margaux’s head.

“Muhahahaha! Now the treasure is all mine!”

Gran leaned back and laughed loudly. A shield dropped where Margaux had died.

“Weed-nim, Mapan-nim. One of you will hold the stone and go inside for me. In return I will give you this shield. Since it was used by a guy over level 200 it’s worth enough in return for dying. It’s better if you don’t reject my offer. Since I only need one person, I will be killing the other remaining person right now.”

In Gran’s head, the calculations were finished. When you enter, sacrifice one person and obtain the treasure. When returning, die once. As long as you weren’t really unlucky you would not drop the treasure. The possibility of dropping the treasure which you got from the dungeon was really low. In addition to that, it was okay to drop one of his items in return.

Gran was already savoring the joy of the treasure in his grasp. That was until Weed drew his sword.

*Seureureung*

The clay sword slipped softly out of its scabbard. In response, Gran’s tone immediately changed from respecting to threatening.

“Whoa, you plan to defy me? If so, then die here, Mapan will guide me then. I may be considerably injured, but don’t you know that you attacking me is nothing but amusing? Alright, I’ll give you 3 seconds. Attack me as much as you want.”

“You have my thanks.”

A three second concession like out of a chivalric novel was something that Weed would not refuse.

“Your choice, have it the way you like it. Sculpting Blade!”

As the sword gathered light, a sense of insecurity showed in Gran’s eyes.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have yielded? Yeah, I’ll make it look like I’m giving him 3 seconds but I’ll attack first!’

As Gran was in thought, Weed approached at an unimaginable speed and swung his sword, cutting off Gran’s head.

“A Sculptor…”

Even to the moment of his death, an expression of disbelief covered his face. He was going to let Weed attack once and counterattack, but in that one attack had caused Gran’s low HP to completely disappear.

Mapan let out a deep sigh. He had predicted as such, but now that the quartet were all dead, there was nothing to do.

“So what do we do now? Shall we go back now?”

“We’ve come this far so I’m going to find the treasure. Though it’s questionable that the treasure exists.”

“How? Once you enter, you can’t come out… If we die here they will revive before us.”

“That does not necessarily mean that you have to die. These people were novices when it came to exploring. They failed to choose the correct path even with the map. They even said a path is not always something that is set, but they still didn’t understand their own words.”

“What do you mean?”

“Flying.”

Weed chanted a spell and pure white wings sprouted from his back. Since the beginning, he had been confident in safely crossing over the Bar Khu mountain range. The reason why he was so confident lay in these wings. At the ‘Mirkan Tower’ of Lavias, with the payment of 10 gold, one could fly for the duration of one month. The power of flight lay in a special feather from the Avians.

Avoiding the falling lightning and thunderbolts, he flew to the opposite side. There he saw a small coffin and a thing that appeared to be a musical instrument, a harp.

‘This is must be the treasure…’

Weed took the musical instrument.

“Identify”

Item: Harp of Vino the Dwarf

Durability: 20/20

Vino was a short and fat dwarf. But he loved a human woman.

It was a love exceeding race, a love that could never be fulfilled!

Human women disliked Dwarves, so Vino despaired. Thus he put all his effort into music.

Since music contained artistic beauty, and thus it could buy the favor of women.

Effect: 30% Rise in Female NPC popularity.

Weed looked at the harp, stunned. Eventually, his mouth broke into laughter.

“Puhahaha!”

Halman, Margaux, Levi, Gran.

For all their conspiracies of lies and killing, the treasure at the end was only a magical harp. It could have been stronger weapons, better armor, but no, it was an instrument to earn a woman’s favor. The map had even indicated this fact even from the beginning.

Chapter 4: Van Hawk’s Humiliation

Lee Hyun’s computer was connected to a trading site that dealt in items. He would check the site for the common gold prices of trade goods almost every day, but this time it was for a specific reason.

“Absolutely amazing.”

Royal Road’s popularity was increasing day by day. Although it was only last week, the listed number of registered items was around 160,000, and today it went over 165,000 items.

It wasn’t that items went unsold, well, other than the absurdly high priced and unwanted items, almost all items from the previous week were sold.

The items that were sold were deleted from the list after a day it was sold, but more and more new items were being registered. Lee Hyun slowly rolled down the list of items.

“Looks like there’s a lot of usable items this week.”

Item: Sword of Melain

Durability: 105/105

Damage: 40-43

Sword is of a long sword style, made by mixing a small amount of mithril. A sword considered to possess superior strength; a blacksmith of some renown named Melain forged this item.

Restrictions:

Strength 200

Level 100

Equipped:

+50% Additional damage to the undead.

+25 Strength.

+17 Agility.

Item: Saikuri’s Bracelet

Durability: 40/40

A creative, yet eccentric magician named Saikuri was well versed in enchantment spells. He infused his wrist items which granted magical abilities; this item has become something that everyone on this continent desires.

Restrictions: Level 150

Equipped:

+30% Maximum mana increased.

+20% Amplified magic effect.

+10 to all stats.

These kinds of items were very few and were coveted. Even Lee Hyun craved the weapons and accessories with special abilities.

‘How much?!’

The Melain black auction started at 1.5 million won. However, the prices continued to soar, currently exceeding 2.5 million won.

The weapon had no class criteria, and it could be used at relatively low levels. Because of this, the item was being sold at an expensive price.

Saikuri’s Bracelet is a unique item that had a starting bid 3 million won, and its current price was more than 5 million won.

“It’s a pie in the sky.”

Lee Hyun could only lick his lips. From the start, he never planned to buy things from the auction site. Of course, in terms of investment he could buy an item and hunt with it. He had about 30 million won (about $30,000 USD) he could use.

But by buying items, there was no end to spending money. In the end there are always better items, and the purpose of buying good items to farm is lost.

Lee Hyun decided to stop searching, and started writing a post for an auction. He wanted to sell the items he had obtained from hunting things in Lavias.

They were mainly the Death Knight’s weapons, and the loot that he did not sell due to them being so unique, or of specific importance.

Among the loot, there were some items that were needed for quests, and those could be sold for cash. Most people would discard or sell them at the general stores, but Lee Hyun kept in mind that there were people who would buy them.

The length of an auction is one week. About 4 weeks of game time. Items dropped from the Death Knights.

Weed kept the best ones for himself, and set the price of the other items at 10,000 won as the starting bid. It was more advantageous to have more bidders in the auction as the competition for the item would rise.

As the competition heats up so to would the price rise, and there was no worry since the price will at least rise to the market price.

But for general loot, Weed set the minimum price as 3,000 won. If the item was worth any less than that it was not worth the trouble of auctioning it online.

The reason being, that it was simply a waste of time. Lee Hyun had registered more than 30 items on the auction site.

“Please rise in price…” he prayed.

He was anxious, as this was the first time he listed his own items from Royal Road for sale.

‘Now, I wonder how much will they rise?’

He knew that the price wouldn’t rise just by wishing it, however, he couldn’t help but be expectant that it would. Lee Hyun had the highest rating for the transaction site– a triple diamond rating.

With this rating he received 100 commission free transactions, and items he posted were shown where it would stand out the most. The items were displayed in the middle of the auction screen with a red box highlighting them.

“With this much, at least it won’t be buried by other items.”

People started bidding on the Death Knight weapons with bids of 20,000 won and 30,000 won. Lee Hyun observed the auction for a moment before heading to the capsule to log into Royal Road.

The auction had a duration of one week, so it wasn’t good to have any high expectations after posting.

The Arpenian Empire!

It was the first Empire to unite the continent of Versaille under one banner. However, after about 300 years, the glory of the Empire did not last and was eventually divided into dozens of smaller countries.

Since then, history has centered on Knights and their stories were written. Pretty much it’s a history founded on blood and death!

The weak forces of principalities and minor countries allied to survive in this era of war. This was the story of the formation of the Britten Alliance.

In its early days, the seven kingdoms shared a strained atmosphere of distrust and suspicion; now the kingdoms have integrated into one through laws and regulations, as well as with arranged inter-marriages.

The lords of each nation can go to other countries and be treated with the same respect as they receive in their home countries. They also had a thriving economy.

Geographically, they were situated somewhat to the east of the center of the continent, and thus were able to prosper while avoiding major wars.

Born of these came the independent cities (Free imperial cities) formed by the merchants, so trade and technology were able to advance greatly.

Due to this reason, quite a number of users selected the Britten Alliance as their starting place.

Tomlin town.

It was located at the most eastern part of the Britten Alliance.

“Buying rabbit skins!”

“Anyone looking to hunt in Pestar Cave assemble here!”

“Cleric preferred. Level 50 priest or higher! Item drop allocation will be double the amount of a single person.”

A huge crowd gathered at the square. It was filled with users dressed in colorful clothing and equipment. There were also an astronomical number of merchants.

Britten Alliance is a Kingdom that is highly advanced in commercial trade, so a fair number of merchants came to trade here.

“You bought enough spices?”

“We’ve bought a lot of things cheaply, so I think we’ll make a huge profit this time!”

Tomlin village was visited primarily by the low level beginners, and the traders. With a variety of goods being sold and exchanged, many merchants frequently dropped by.

A wagon that was slowly approaching the east entrance of the village caught the attention of many onlookers.

“Huh? What’s that?”

“This doesn’t look very good…”

The wheels were wobbling as it was tumbling down the road, the condition of the canopy covering the wagon was almost a rag. The state of the wagon was not what garnered their attention, however. The real reason was that it was coming from the East.

Weed was carving away on the coachman’s seat, and Mapan also was sitting while working hard at his expense calculations.

Mapan’s ears were still covered because of Weed’s shouting as they crossed over the Bar Khu mountains. He had heard so much of the Lion’s Roar that he was near the point of neurosis.

Unlike the warrior’s war cry which put pressure on the enemy and enhanced stats, Lion’s Roar was a skill limited in its usefulness. The skill to raise the morale of an entire army, or bringing order in a military engagement, didn’t seem like it would see much use.

(P/R Neurosis: is a class of functional mental disorders involving distress but neither delusions nor hallucinations)

Even though Lion’s Roar was such a vague skill, it leveled very quickly. Once Weed yelled for a long time, the level of the skill climbed rapidly.

Weed raised the Lion’s Roar skill to Advanced Level 3. Thanks to this, Mapan vowed to never go on a similar trip with a warrior.

“Really, there’s a lot more people here than I thought.”

This was Weed’s first impression of Tomlin Village. Despite the village being in the fringe areas of the East, there was a large number of players.

Because of this Weed finally felt the realization of the fact that they were in one of the central kingdoms, unlike the Rosenheim kingdom which was one of the frontier countries.

It took nearly one month of suffering to journey over the Bar Khu Mountains, to finally arrive at the Britten Alliance Kingdom. They met giant spiders, then basilisks, ogres, and loads of various other beasts on their way!

Once by the lakeside, Water demons had seized Weed by the ankle, and with their limbs and roots, attacked him fiercely.

Bar Khu Mountains truly had to be a heaven on earth for monsters. The first wave of Lycanthropes were not even half the size of the second wave. The Lycanthropes attacked in large groups, and they had to fight through them for over 10 hours before they were able to break free.

Even with these odds, Weed had crafted all of the jewels he had. In truth, intermediate sculpting does not rise easily, or by much, at this point.

Then, through sculpting he gained the new skill to facet gems. Yet, this type of crafting didn’t even compare to sculpting wood since it gave 2 or 3 times the proficiency, and through it, sculpture mastery rose to level 4 intermediate.

But what was more pleasant than this, was that intermediate handicraft had finally rose to level 6. Since growth in handicraft skill is fueled by growth in sculpting and it affects many other skill areas, one could say handicraft is the second most important skill after sculpting.

“Weed, is this the first time you left Rosenheim Kingdom?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve been to other countries to meet a few friends, and I’ve noticed that the Rosenheim Kingdom has the least amount of people. Even the Kingdom of Brent to the north has more people.”

“It’s because there are a lot of benefits to starting in a Kingdom with many people.” Weed replied.

If there is a pioneer, then there is bound to be information. And in the case of a special dungeon or a demon’s lair, there was the notion of ‘ownership’.

When a guild takes ownership, they have several advantages. Firstly, guild members have 20% additional experience, and non-guild members in the dungeon could not enter outside of certain schedules. This was often the cause of many wars and friction between other guilds and other users.

This can be seen from the activity of the developed guilds in the Britten Alliance. The Siege of Fort Odein is one example.

‘It’s something that has little to do with me. We don’t have the time to deal with guilds fighting wars of pride.’

Weed and Mapan ignored the startled eyes and stares.

As startled eyes followed Weed and Mapan, which they still continued to ignore, their first order of business was to drive the wagon to the exchange. Because the exchange was in a rural village, it was relatively small. The owner was a nice old man.

“I came to sell a few things.”

Mapan began to speak, and the master of the exchange showed great joy.

“Yes? A lot of traders come by these days. It is greatly appreciated. What kind of goods do you have for sale?”

One by one, Mapan pulled out all of the cheese and bottles of olive oil from the wagon.

“These items are for sale.”

“Oh my! Those are from Rosenheim Kingdom, aren’t they? Coming from so far away, I’ll pay 4 silvers and 8 silvers respectively for each.”

Mapan felt conflicted for a moment, tightly closed his eyes, and sold them all. Until now, the entire journey in the wagon was just short of revolting because it was loaded with the smell of cheese and olive oil.

Every time the wagon hit a bump his stomach lurched; Royal Road’s outstanding realism rather felt more of a drudgery to Mapan.

“I am grateful. These are hard to find in this town, 470 gold should be enough.”

“My pleasure!”

Through the transaction, Mapan’s profit was about 200 gold as well as a little rise in fame and expertise. At last, the month long trip was worthwhile in the end!

After all, the greatest happiness as a merchant is the feel of success and the satisfaction you obtain from the wealth after a long haul.

Next was Weed’s turn.

Mapan looked at Weed with eyes full of envy. Since groceries reap this much profit, I wonder how much more profit will be gained from jewellery.

‘The gems Weed directly faceted and formed into jewelry…’

Mapan gulped.

Weed opened the backpack, and one by one pulled out brooches and bracelets.

“How much would you pay for these?”

At that moment, the exchange was filled with the sound of user’s comments.

“It’s a jade!”

“Those are jewels. That one is an emerald… if I’m not mistaken, that must be a sapphire!”

“Where did they find those precious stones?”

“It’s so beautiful…”

The reaction was hardly surprising. Traders who come to the Tomlin exchange are people who were relatively low leveled, and this would be the first time for the majority of them to have seen jewelry.

The exchange owner looked carefully at the jewels Weed passed forward, and he expressed disapproval.

“Things like this are impossible to sell in a small town like this! How about you go to a large city?”

Mapan gave a helpful comment.

“Jewelry is classified as a luxury; rather than selling in a small town, it would be profitable to sell it in a large city with developed commerce. Maybe it would be better to sell directly to the jewelry stores rather than to the exchange, since they would give a better price.”

“Is that so?”

Weed put the jewels back into the bag. Anyway, they did not necessarily need to sell them in Tomlin at this moment.

Each and every town or city had a different value on jewelry, so Weed had taken out the jewels to examine the current market for jewels in the Britten Alliance.

After filling the cart with other goods purchased with money from selling food, they finished everything they wanted to do at Tomlin village.

Even after the two men rode slowly westward in the rickety wagon, and were gone, their visit to the merchant in Tomlin village became a hot topic.

“If the exchange in the town could not afford it, how expensive might they be?”

“For that handcrafted jewelry, I’d wager they would fetch a really high price!”

“Where on earth did those people come from?”

“East! But there is only the Bar Khu Mountain range in that direction…”

“No way! They passed through the Bar Khu Mountain range?”

“Rosenheim Kingdom! The jewels are probably imported from the Rosenheim Kingdom, but where did they get crafted…”

* * *

After a few days, Weed and Mapan arrived at the capital of an ally of the Britten Alliance, Castle Regus of the Keuroin Kingdom.

In the broad, plain sight in front of a castle, beginner monsters such as rabbits and foxes moved about as users pursued them with determination.

Leisurely, Mapan spoke, “That’s a very peaceful scene.”

“Yeah,” Weed was also in agreement. After being used to the bloodthirsty encounters with monsters in the Bar Khu Mountains, the little rabbits and foxes looked cute in comparison.

The sky was blue with white clouds passing by. The sun was warm, and golden fields of grain as far as the eyes can see. Regus Castle, constructed with red bricks to match the scenery, was incomparably beautiful in comparison to Serabourg in the Kingdom of Rosenheim.

Looking at such a peaceful sight, you almost feel like writing a poem.

*Ting*

Art has risen by 2 points (+2 ART)

The art stat didn’t only rise when making artwork, but it also rose by seeing beautiful things while traveling.

Keuroin Kingdom, the kingdom with the most travelers!

Here, the extreme beauty of the town and castle brings many visitors. A famous resort regarded as a place for couples to date and others to enjoy vacation.

Weed and Mapan enjoyed the moment of relaxation for a while. In the meantime, Mapan was cleansing himself of his fatigue and suffering, but Weed with keen eyes analyzed the castle.

‘A castle like this would be a good model to make a sculpture out of. There would probably be many people willing to buy it. I wonder how much my sculpting will rise by?’

Weed took in the shapes of the spires and the heights of the ramparts; he roughly sketched as he walked along the interior.

A sculptor’s instinct.

Anything he views he absorbs fully in memory.

Weed and Mapan reached the front of the city gates. Mapan dragged forward the horse drawn wagon.

“I’ll go in first.”

There were two ways to enter a castle. One was entering through the front gate. Of course, this was where Mapan chose to go. But the armed guards stopped him.

“Here’s the toll payment. And I also need a trade permit.”

Mapan threw 2 gold to the guards without any hesitation. After earning a considerable amount of money by trading in the previous village, 2 gold was nothing.

“Welcome, merchant.”

The guards prostrated themselves as if in front of nobility, and they opened the gate. All castles have large gates where it’s usually closed, but they open to people who pay gold!

This spirit! The excitement!

“Wow, incredible!”

“That person just gave out 2 gold without a second thought.”

Nearby users were commenting with interest. Around the castle, the beginner players that were hunting small animals were shocked. Mapan just shrugged.

“Hey Weed, come on in!”

In a minute, Weed headed toward the side door. The small door was bored into the side of the main gate; however, this time the armed guards directly prevented him.

“Stop! You are not a citizen of the Alliance. What brings you to Regus castle?”

Just by looking at people, the guards could tell where they were from. Although he was from Rosenheim Kingdom, it was not a simple procedure to visit the capital of a foreign country, as it needs to be reported.

If the incident was not reported, there is the possibility of becoming a wanted man with the authorities.

“I am here to trade, and to sell handmade goods, honorable guards!”

“Yes? If that is so, you need to pay a toll in accordance to our country’s laws.”

“A toll for passage?”

Weed immediately began to praise the guards for their efforts with a friendly smile.

“It’s admirable to see that the Regus castle guards enforce such tight security, it really is unequaled.”

“W-Well, of course! Hahaha!” The simple guards laughed.

Weed had already mastered how to fully deal with soldiers through the experience with the instructor at the training center.

“It’s hard, right? But to keep such a great castle safe seems to be a great honor. Is everyone stopped to keep the castle safe?”

“Why yes. If you come to the castle for trade, you still have to pay the toll.”

“How much is the toll for passage? Because all the money I have is 7 silver…”

“That is sufficient. The toll will be 5 silver.”

Weed’s face went stiff for a short moment. And he pulled 4 silver out of his pocket.

“Oh! I only have 4 silver…”

“…”

As Weed and Mapan entered the city of Regus, they decided to go their own way to do their business.

“I’ll stop by the exchange and see if I can purchase loot. Maybe I’ll find something to do. Then after one day I’ll meet you back here.”

Merchants have their own unique quests. Commonly they are called story procurement commissions. How to get some different goods, or requests, or even entrusted to transport particular items.

“Well…”

Weed parted with Mapan and made his first priority to look for a jewelry shop around the busier streets. Of course, this was in order to sell the jewels.

Regus castle, the capital of Keuroin Kingdom was a flourishing city, so it was not difficult to find a jewelry store.

First and second floor.

The jewellery store ran a business on two floors that were packed with the nobility. Users like to buy gems for items with sockets. If you combine those items with gemstones, special characteristics could emerge.

“What are you interested in buying?”

Weed was greeted by the shop dealer. A woman! The elegant beauty was the NPC of the jewellery store.

“I came here to sell.”

Weed took out the gems from his backpack. The various kinds of gemstones shined brightly. These were the deeply green emeralds, dark blue sapphires and pearls.

“Wow, they’re gems.”

“I think I’ve never seen so many gems.”

It was not very different from the reaction in Tomlin village. After viewing the dealer weighed the jewels and proposed a deal.

“Oh, I think I could give you 2900 gold for this! But wait, you are a famous adventurer and you have a related profession to this business, it would be proper to pay you 3200 gold.”

At the capital he had spent 1,700 gold, and in just a moment it had almost doubled his profits of over 3000 gold! It seems that gemstones from Rosenheim Kingdom are bought for a cheap price, and were then processed and sold as highly expensive jewellery in Keuroin kingdom.

‘So this is a profit of 1500 gold?! Considering the traveling time and effort of crafting, I would say this is a huge profit!’

The experience and the money of hunting for one month were given up. There was also the risk of losing the trade goods so the profits weren’t gained for nothing.

At this point, if you were a merchant you would bargain. Depending on your trading skills, you could sell things for a higher price; Weed, however, was not a merchant. So instead he pulled out the harp.

*Ttiriring, Ding, ttingtting~*

It was a secret weapon to improve impression with woman NPC. A bard, or a harpist, has the power to charm people through a performance. It elicits favor and goodwill, and lowers prices.

At a high level, a bard can earn the love of the masses and be a guest at inns or restaurants for no charge.

“Wow! That guy is playing the harp.”

“He’s decent.”

“It sounds pretty good.”

Weed’s performance was basic, but it was not bad. He deliberately set aside some of his spare time to learn it and added one more thing to his trade since he was the jack of all trades.

*Ting*

By listening to the performance, the NPC’s impression of you has increased.

Weeds mouth curved into a smile. The shop dealer’s eyes were gently closed, in appreciation of the music. His objective was achieved. However as the dealer opened her eyes, she said, “The music is good, but the song is lacking since there is no singing.”

“Singing?”

“Yes. You can sing can’t you?”

Weed could not bear to refuse. A roaring rocker!

In real life, it was once upon a time a goal of his. Yet, he ignored things that a rocker could not ignore. Ignorance of pitch! Ignorance of tempo! Ignorance of lyrics! In other words, he was awful!

He was what people would call severely tone-deaf! Only Weed had never accepted that fact. So as he plucked the harp, Weed began to sing.

“It’s bright! The sun rises today! Return again! It’s sunny! And! It’s up! Courtyard! Day!”

“Kkyaaa!”

“It’s driving me mad!”

“Run away!”

Really, what is the difference between the Lion’s roar skill and singing a song?

Weed’s singing made the users become both shocked and horrified. If you only listened for a little bit, the head becomes dizzy and your breathing becomes labored. It becomes uncomfortable to the point it feels like your insides might come out.

“One day! Your thoughts! Walk down! Look! The! S – K – Y~!”

Weed bellowed eagerly as he sang. There was no melody. There was only noise. As if singing in a loud voice is the best way to sing a song.

When Weed finally finished the song and the stampeding crowd users got out, only the store owner was left. Her expression was turned to stone.

“How much will you give?”

She shook her head as Weed spoke.

“No trade.”

“…!?”

“Get lost! Otherwise, I’m calling the guards.”

“I have to play the harp again…”

He had to give up singing. Weed played the harp again with much effort and raised the impression of the shop dealer.

“I’ll give you 3240 gold.”

“That’s fine.”

Weed with a light heart, sold the gems, and departed with 3240 gold.

*Ting*

You have reaped a large profit through trading!

Fame has risen by 150 points (+150 FAME)

Weed’s reputation rose again.

‘From this, I now have over 2000 fame…’

The higher your fame, the higher difficulty of quests you can receive, and it was possible to receive discounts on items. However, fame in itself is worth being proud of.

“Do you know of Corona? That guy did some extraordinary work. He took out a twin headed ogre in the Hwaryong (Fire Dragon?) mountain range.”

“A thief named Batun safely accomplished the Archduke Samiel’s request. Archduke Samiel gave him a knighthood and a position in the military.”

This is the power of fame.

Sometimes, after finishing a major quest or taking out a difficult monster, the NPCs started to spread stories about it.

It is the same with merchants when they gained large profits from a trade. In Royal Road, you can become very famous through NPCs gossip.

“Have you ever seen the swordsman Bansen? If you see him, be careful. He is committing murder indiscriminately at random. Even a bounty has been placed on his head!”

Of course, sometimes you can become infamous in the way of notoriety. In Weed’s case, after creating a statue in the town of Freya, he became a celebrity there.

Having finished his business at the jewelry store, Weed headed straight for the appraisal shop to appraise the value of the Crimson Necklace of Life he had obtained at Lavias.

Weed was interested in its ability, but his identify skill was too low a level to identify it. When he first picked it up, the necklace was somewhat white in color.

Yet, it was named the Crimson Necklace of life. The color remained unchanged when he met Mapan. Then as he crossed the Bar Khu Mountains, it began to gradually change. Now it was fully crimson.

The thought of discarding or selling this item made Weed uneasy. This might cost him money, but he still decided to go to the appraisal shop to find out what this item really was.

‘If this is a crappy item, I’m going to smash it.’

Many users looking for identification services crowded the shop.

“Here, please identify this item I picked up from hunting!”

“OK, this ring has the property of…”

There wasn’t another place like this in the marketplace. Taking unidentified items for identification can be like scratching off lottery tickets.

You don’t know how it will end up. Who knows? One might even obtain a tremendously unique item. Weed went through the first floor and immediately went up the stairs to the second floor.

The first floor was for simple checking of items, and with Weed’s identification skills, he could do a decent identification check.

There were a considerable number of users upstairs. Weed hesitated for a short moment, but decided to move on. Since Weed had been able to identify all items so far, he firmly believed that the item was not common.

Finally, Weed came to the third floor, the top layer of the building. The rooms were completely sealed. It was to thoroughly guarantee confidentiality. Weed went into one of the rooms.

“Welcome!” The blond female wizard greeted Weed enthusiastically.

‘She’s a user.’

In general, when you cannot get out of the castle for those 4 weeks, users can experience a wide range of quests. Weed had strengthened himself by beating the scarecrow, but that occurrence was extremely rare.

Most users spread out to do things like side jobs at an inn, order books from the bookstore, or even improve manufacturing skills.

But for users who chose the wizard route, most of them work with identification. Judging an item’s magical properties can improve your skills, and if you’re lucky you can earn a significant amount of money.

* * *

‘Dang! How could I be lacking in 3 gold just at that time!’

Wizard Lindell had raised her level to 200 and she had just finished her second job advancement. Upon the job advancement, a wizard is able to learn a new spell.

Lindell who specialized in lightning magic chose the spell lightning shower. Numerous bolts of lightning fall from the sky with beautiful effects and can inflict great damage on monsters, making it a very useful skill.

However, the price of the skill book was a whopping 540 gold!

Even after finishing the second job advancement, a poor wizard could not have that kind of money. When you are a low level, you need to buy various magical amplifiers, the reagents for spells, and as your level raises little by little, you need to buy all the skill books, then there is your robes, the staff and equipment etc etc.

On the battleground, it may be the most colorful and shining profession, but wizards always have to live in poverty. There was no choice for her but to work part time in item identification in order to get the 3 extra gold needed to buy the skill book she wanted.

But ever since the first customer, the experience has been terrible. Lindell’s tender forehead was covered with wrinkles from the stress.

‘Why is there a beggar here?’

As soon as she saw Weed’s appearance, that was what came to mind.

‘He should go wash up.’

Lindell could not believe her eyes.

Talk about low quality, torn cloak and shabby armor. The durability had decreased and the leather had lost its luster, and the peculiar equipment seemed like a dust cloth. There could hardly be an outfit even more bizarre.

His back behind his shoulder was an unknown mesh bag, but it smelled repulsive. It was the strong smell of medicinal herbs.

Aside from her thoughts, Lindell forcibly smiled and spoke to the guest. Being unkind to customers is grounds for being kicked out from the identification store, and gone is her feasible way to raise money.

“I am sorry, but this place is for the identification of rare and high quality items. General identification of magical items is downstairs.”

It is the same wherever you are, people are judged by their attire. An NPC would react based on your fame, but it is different for a user like Lindell. Without any comment, Weed pulled out the necklace and held it out to her.

“Please determine this.”

“The price is expensive. To do an identification, the charge is 50 silver.”

Though the money was precious, his decision was already made at this point.

“Here it is, 50 silver.”

“Oh, so you are going through with it. Do not regret your choice when the item is listed as meager.”

Lindell went over the precautions. Among items that you discover through identification skill you can get good things as they expected, but realistically the item is often much more disappointing.

Because identifying can lead to this, some people will be firm in refusing to pay, so she warned people to pay in advance. Lindell took hold of the necklace. From then on, she noted what seemed to be an unusual flow of mana.

A type of magical flow that even as a wizard she couldn’t determine!

That means it contains at least 4 magic circles or more. But, her extremely high identification skill should be able to see what the magic is.

“Identify”

Lindell’s hands shined as she touched the Crimson necklace of life, and the information of the item was revealed.

*Ting*

Item: Necklace of the Death Knight

Durability: 100/100

A summoning item crafted by the Warlock of Darkness, Barkhan Demoph!

This necklace contains the life of the Death Knight, Van Hawk. With this item, you can summon Van Hawk; however, changing his loyalty from his Lord Barkhan to your own will not be easy.

Restrictions: If one is not deemed worthy as a master, he will be attacked.

Enchantment: ‘Call Death Knight’

Equipped:

Summons Death Knight.

+50% Effects of black magic.

+20 Intellect

+10 Wisdom

Lindell’s eyes were wide open with shock.

“Th-This is a unique item that has not been made public yet…”

“Please return it.”

Weed’s necklace was identified, so he left the appraisal shop.

* * *

After finishing their errands, Weed and Mapan left Regus castle and headed toward Somren Liberty City.

Weed asked Mapan to stop the wagon at a deserted place.

“What’s going on?”

“Just watch and you will see.”

Weed jumped from the coachman’s seat. He held out the necklaced and chanted the spell.

“Summon Death Knight!”

At once, black smoke gathered and within appeared the Death Knight, Van Hawk. The boss of the Barkhan catacombs.

“Keueoeoeo!”

Just the same as before, except that the clothes had changed quite a bit. His appearance in the Barkhan catacombs, Van Hawk had had great items and equipment.

But now the Death Knight is wearing only a basic sword and equipment. The reason was simple; it was because Weed had already stolen it all.

The Death Knight’s body faltered from the bright light, but he soon found his balance. Since he is a level 200 undead monster, the sun caused such a big reaction to him. The Death Knight’s vision brushed past Mapan, and his eyes rested on Weed.

“You human!” He roared at Weed.

He eyes burned with hatred. The overflowing killing intent could be felt. The Death Knight clearly remembered it was Weed who had killed him.

“You summoned me! You believe I will betray Lord Barkhan and follow you? Huhu! You’re only a sculptor! I’ll kill you, human!”

The Death Knight assaulted him. Weed intentionally took the hit and slowly his blood spilled. Then since his health was reduced to less than 20%, he used his skills.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s sword went through the Death Knight repeatedly.

The Death Knight was recalled and the necklace changed back to white. As more monsters with life are killed, the necklace will turn back to crimson.

It began from that time on. On the road to Somren Liberty City, every time the necklace turned red, he called back the Death Knight.

“Sculpting Blade!”

“Seven Celestial Steps!”

Eagerly he used the skills to kill the Death Knight!

It never left his hands as he was establishing a record. Kill him, return him to life, then kill him again, and again, and again!

For the Death Knight it was an outrageous thing to be subjected to. However, this was a desirable result for Weed. During his sculpting on the wagon Weed usually had full mana and health.

With satiety he didn’t need to have it at 100% and could control it, but the recovering health and mana at full was a waste.

However, he could always recall the Death Knight, so it could not be any better. Even if he cannot get experience due to it being a summon, he could still continuously improve his skill mastery.

After the tenth time of beating him to death, it was the first time the Death Knight sounded ill.

“Ugh, you are strong…”

When he died five times more, the Death Knight heaved a sigh.

“I seem to forget Lord Barkhan’s grace little by little.”

And again he died about five times more, he spoke more drastically.

“It seems your leadership qualifies you to rule over me, but I do not know yet.”

After that, he was killed twenty more times. By this point Weed didn’t even bother to keep count. Whenever Weed’s health and mana reached 100%, he called the Death Knight to fight.

The vitality of the necklace he held filled quickly with a little aid. The Death Knight has finally announced his intention to yield.

“Master!”

The Lone Death Knight! The strongest Death Knight, Van Hawk, recognized Weed as his master. However, Weed’s answer was unexpected.

“No, I cannot trust you. Since you are the servant of the evil warlock, you must be planning something!”

“No, it’s not like that…”

Weed did not listen to the Death Knight and killed him another 300 times.

“I will serve you master, so please…”

Even after he heard this, he killed him about 500 more times.

From then on, whenever the Death Knight appeared, he appealed desperately, but to no avail. Weed’s goal was to help master his skills, so there could be no mercy.

Chapter 5: Return the Holy Relic

Weed put the Death Knight items up for sale at a price between 10 to 15 thousand won.

“I don’t think the price is going to be that high, it’s not incredible equipment…”

Level 200 weapons.

Royal Road had many armor and weapons, which all had their own names. Some monsters even had a lot of silver and loot, so this meant a lot of different types of gear.

This was true in other games as well.

High level monsters would drop weapons that could be sold for cash.

Lee Hyun sighed, as he couldn’t find such items easily. Unique, rare, and magic items could be sold online for a decent price.

Loot for quests sometimes sold for unexpectedly high prices, ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 won.

The prices were high because of the users demand for them.

In Royal Road, the appearance of monsters was very realistic and detail oriented. For example, the rotten corpses of monsters stank fiercely.

Not many people could hunt with the smell.

Undead monsters!

They were among the most avoided hunting locations.

Because people were unwilling to hunt the undead, the price for quest items from them increased due to their scarcity. Thanks to this It wasn’t unusual that their these items would be sold at ridiculously expensive prices.

“In total, it must hit at least 2.96 million won.”

Then he looked at the e-mail he had ignored earlier.

The Dark Gamers invitation!

He read the email which said that the invitations were only sent to those that were chosen, and apparently Lee Hyun was chosen to join in their meetings.

Such was the content of the invitation.

A skeleton holding money in one hand was pictured on the site’s background.

“It’s…”

The Dark Gamers’ Union.

There were rumors about this famous organization, but the truth was unclear.

“It’s probably not them and it’s got nothing to do with me.”

Lee Hyun clicked the trading site to confirm the bid. After sending a PM to the buyer, they decided on a trading location.

They decided to have the trade a day later.

The Free City of Somren had characteristics that were well suited to a feudal lord, where there were few taxes and tariffs.

Thanks to that, many traders and adventurers stayed here. Most of the group of general users was always looking for better weapons.

In other places, the purchase price in stores included the taxes, but in Liberty City, the tax price was very cheap.

The city was a paradise for merchants.

Weed and Mapan arrived at the city at the last day remaining of the time limit for the quest.

“Then I’ll be trading over there.”

Mapan left to go sell the loot.

There had been an incredible amount of monsters in the Bar Khu Mountains. Over the course of a month, the wagon was filled with loot.

A merchant’s inspiration was the excitement achieved through trading. It was a pleasure to sell in bulk and to buy expensive things at cheaper rates.

Mapan realized the pleasure of trading.

That was the benefit of accompanying Weed.

The luxury of trading without taxes!

‘Coming to Free City of Somren wasn’t so bad.’

Weed checked inside his backpack for the Helain Cup again.

The purpose of coming here was just about to be completed…

The quest to return the holy relic to the Order of Freya.

Rather than heading to the church immediately, Weed went to the central fountain and looked around.

Liberty City was crowded with a tremendous amount of merchants.

They had opened stalls to sell stuff and were trying hard to find customers.

“I can repair any damaged items to maximum durability!”

“Selling food that recovers satiety.”

“Silk clothing for sale with +15 electrical magic resistance directly made to order.”

“Check out the various weapons and armors that I have made.”

“Get jewelry with various attributes for only 1 gold!”

Craftsman characters occupied one spot on the fountain for selling stuff.

“How much?”

“I came to pick up the clothes I ordered yesterday.”

“100 pieces of bread, please.”

The craftsman classes were treated the same as before.

Every day they sold near the fountain. The main classes like miners, blacksmiths, and tailors sold their goods around the fountain.

All sorts of other crafting classes were quietly buried off in a corner.

“This is fun, people gathering like this…”

Blacksmiths and Enchanters engaged in fierce competition with each other.

This sight couldn’t be called unfamiliar for Weed.

He had always had less competition when selling sculptures.

Down the eastern side of the square was a large red wooden building.

Weed headed to the location of the appointment he had made with buyers. There were more than 10 people there waiting.

“I’m here to sell.” Weed said to see their reaction.

People bought stuff from item trading sites.

Just say the name and the transaction number and you would receive the item.

“I’ve waited so long for this. This quest was so hard to do. I couldn’t fight against those undead monsters.”

“Thank you. It’s good to see that someone is selling a lot of the items.” With those words, the buyers left.

Aside from the Dark Knight’s weapon, the rest of the items were sold for loot quests.

At dawn, his backpack was much lighter.

“This is the first profit from Royal Road.”

Weed was comfortable with the result and headed to the church.

The church of the Goddess Freya had been built with white marble, a symbol of beauty and prosperity. It had been built in the heart of the city and thus was easy to find.

The Free City of Somren was built next to the Somren River.

There was a white arched bridge built near the church building of Freya. Many users wanted to get holy water, a type of blessing, so the area all around the temple was always crowded.

In the distance, clerics and paladins were going in and out of the temple.

Whenever they raised their levels and learned new techniques and whenever they returned to the church, they would receive contribution.

Weed went inside, passing a little statue of the goddess with golden letters written on her.

‘Collection box, pay at least 10 silvers or more…’

Weed wanted to turn around and leave without paying.

“May the grace of the Goddess Freya be with you.”

Those that donated received a blessing from the priests.

The church’s Holy Spirit Blessing would increase defense for a period of time, as well as increasing health regeneration by 5.

It was the church’s main source of income.

“Get outta my way real quick.”

“I think he was the last person in line.”

Weed paused temporarily since the users who had been waiting in line started complaining.

Waiting for turn to receive the blessing was a rule that the priests made the people adhere to.

Weed was here to return the Helain Cup to the priest and did not want to give an excuse to the complaints that were erupting from the crowd.

“I am here to return something.”

“Yes?”

The priest blinked when he saw the Helain Cup. Then a look of surprise came upon his face and he shouted in a loud voice.

“Oh, thank the Holy Goddess you’re here! This is a miracle! Come right this way, inside the High Priest will meet you.”

The surrounding temple priests took Weed inside. All the users gathered to receive the blessings were left alone because of priest scarceness.

“What the hell…”

“What the hell’s going on?”

The Inner Sanctum.

The High Priest’s room.

It was a place filled with symbolic murals and statues of the goddess, a solemn and noble atmosphere.

Here, Weed was able to return the Helain Cup. Kneeling down on one knee like the knights from the Middle Ages, he said.

“I have, on behalf of Prospects, brought the Helain Cup here.”

“Oh, this is it! How magnificent!”

The High Priest, his face full of wrinkles, was ecstatic as he held up the Helain Cup.

*Ting*

Quest Completed: Deliver Helain’s Grail

The lost Helain Cup has been returned to the Church of Freya. Barkhan’s past efforts to lead the Immortal Legions to war devastated the entire continent.

Even with the beauty and prosperity of the Church of Freya, they could not have covered the post war damages. But now, through the holy water from the Helain Cup, reconstruction can resume.

By fulfilling the related quest, the public value of religious groups has increased to fight against evil.

Fame has risen by 400 points (+400 FAME)

Your friendship with the Church of Freya has reached 15 points

Public value of the Church of Freya has increased by 1200 points

The Church’s religious public value can be seen in the window.

Current Church of Freya’s Public Value: 1490

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

‘This is amazing!’ Weed thought while kneeling down.

The rewards from completing a quest from one of the three main churches had always been good.

But normally not this good!

But this was the not the end. The High Priest sat down in his chair and looked over to Weed.

He said to a Paladin.

“As compensation to this great warrior, bring the Paladin equipment and the Sword of Agatha.”

“Yes, High Priest.”

After a while they came out with a Paladin’s armor and a sword on a red cloth.

“Take it.”

The Paladin gear was laid down in the red cloth in front on Weed.

The High Priest handpicked the items in the cloth.

Items earned as compensation for the quest.

Weed was moved to tears.

It was a happy moment for him. But at a time like this, you had to maintain composure.

‘I have never been this lucky in Royal Road! I cannot rejoice just yet…’

Weed decided not to prostrate and began checking the items.

Do not put off what needs to be done until tomorrow when what you could do today, like immediately identifying something.

First was the sword, together with an antiquely engraved scabbard.

“Identify”

Item: Agatha’s Holy Sword

Durability: 130/130

Damage: 55-60

A sword of the Church of Freya made by the Dwarven Blacksmith Roban, which boasts superior strength. Many types of metal, like steel and mithril, were forged together. However, the damage is weak because of the materials used to preserve the dignity of the church.

This is a gift from the High Priest.

Restriction: Level 130

Equipped:

+30 Strength

+20 Agility

+100 Faith

+200% extra damage against undead.

+200% Injury recovery speed

Holy blessing can be used to bless yourself five times a day.

2 hours cool down in between each blessing.

To avoid startling the High Priest and the Paladins, Weed quietly admired the items.

‘This is much nicer than the Death Knight’s sword.’

It was usually better to have items with higher stats. But sometimes it was useful to have items with low requirements.

The Clay Sword was such a case. It was difficult to sell for a lot of money, but because there were few prerequisites, it was the perfect weapon for low level characters and could be sold for a higher price. A Clay Sword was the absolute weapon against rabbits and raccoons.

“Identify”

Item: Rose Engraved Gloves

Durability: 90/90

Defense: 20

The official gloves of the Paladins of Freya.

Covering your wrist might seem very uncomfortable but they, in fact, were made to move stuff.

Restriction: Level 200

Equipped:

+50 Faith

+20 Strength

+5 Agility

Damage from Black Magic reduced by 50%.

Item: Ring of the High Priest

Durability: 100/100

A small diamond was embedded in the center of the ring. A course design but it is not available on the market.

Restrictions:

Not equippable by Warlock, Assassin or Rogue classes.

Not equippable when in murderer state.

Equipped:

The High Priest’s Blessing can be used once a day.

+150 Fame

+200 Faith

Weed had difficulty breathing.

“Such a windfall of items…”

Up until now, he sparingly used those bloody, old gloves in order to conserve the durability, but now he no longer seemed to need them.

At level 200, his gear would all be set except the helmet.

‘A very wholesome reward, indeed.’

Weed got up from kneeling and then on the spot, put one hand on his chest and made a slight bow with his waist.

“Now that I have done my duty, I will take my leave.”

It was time to go to the item trading site to check prices. First, he would look for a better sword as a replacement and then sell the Sword of Agatha.

However, the High priest looked up into the air. Clear tears were running down his cheeks.

“Brave warrior, you have shown your courage by defeating Barkhan’s evil servant and retrieving the Helain Cup.”

“…?”

Suddenly the High Priest was glaring.

‘Barkhan stole the holy relics of the church and had them hidden by his servants.’

Weed decided to stay after looking at the Priest and paladins.

Weed did not know in the slightest of the increase in the familiarity he had gained with the church.

Weed replied as he hurriedly got down on one knee again.

“Yes.”

“Did you know? Our church has lost one more holy relic.”

“Yes?” Weed was puzzled for a moment.

When he got the Helain Cup, he had collected information from the Royal Road website.

The Church of Freya had three artifacts: the Helain Cup, a sacred cup of flowing holy water, Fargo’s crown of prosperity, and the Rending Sword.

“But…”

Weed noticed the white, rosewood-painted hat that the High Priest was wearing.

It was not the Holy Crown of Fargo.

“How did they dare to, in a time of chaos, have the undead steal the crown. Beings that are alive despite the fact that their death is contrary to the will of the Goddess.” The High Priest said in his fury.

Then Weed instinctively replied. “You’re absolutely right…”

“Those undead dare to endanger our peaceful land!”

“I wish to restore the peace and progress of the continent.”

It was always good to get to know secrets.

It was the effects of blame. Thanks to it, the relationships between humans did not disappear permanently.

“The monsters of the Versailles continent deserve to disappear from under the Goddess’ eyes. The undead must be defeated for the era of prosperity to dominate the continent.”

“Yes, I agree as well.”

Weed then told the High Priest the story of what happened in Baran village, of the time the Lizardmen had invaded the village.

Thereafter he had been asked to sculpt the statue of the Goddess Freya in the form he considered the most beautiful.

Through the sculpture the possibility of another invasion through Lizardmen was diminished, leading to flourishing of the village.

“Oh, I heard the story about that sculptor! So it was you!”

The High Priest was impressed with the Statue of the Goddess Freya.

“Fortunately we were able to determine the identity of the one that stole the Crown of Fargo. We dispatched knights over three times, but to no avail. I believe that it would be better if you were to lead the attack instead.”

*Ting*

Quest: Locate and return the Crown of Fargo

The Church of Freya spares nothing to reclaim the Holy Relics. As a result, they have received information that the True Blood Clan of the Vampires has taken the crown to the town of Morata. The High Priest dispatched three groups of Paladins to recover the crown but all of them have failed to return. They have been turned to stone by a curse. Save the Paladins and retrieve the crown.

Difficulty: B

Reward: Unknown

Warning:

Church of Freya’s public value becomes zero upon failure

Fame decreases by -1000

Rewarded Items will be taken back

The quest-rewards were colossal in chain quests, and the rewards increased with each successive mission. Weed cheerfully read the contents of the quest but then his expression changed.

Barkhan Demoph had shown the strength of his minions.

His army had waged war against both the powerful kingdoms and churches. Especially the powerful True Blood Clan Vampires.

The clan counted more than one thousand members and the lowest level a vampire had was 270. The head of the True Blood Clan, Tori, the leader of the True Blood Clan, was a known boss monster with a level of 400. It didn’t matter how strong Weed was right now, since no user was even close to reaching level 400.

‘It’s going to be an absurd task to fight the True Blood Vampire Clan and bring back the Crown of Fargo…’

Weed looked at the difficulty level.

‘Difficulty B! Not to mention that they’ve dispatched three groups of Paladins that have also failed the quest. I can’t possibly complete it.’

You couldn’t clear this kind of difficulty level without forming a party with the most powerful users. No matter how high the rewards were, this fact remained unchanged.

“I’m sorry. I believe it would be tough to complete this mission with my lack of ability.”

It was inevitable since he couldn’t hope to complete the quest. He could only refuse.

But the High Priest smiled gently.

“You are far too modest, but that is not necessary. I leave this request to you.”

“No. I cannot accept this request.”

“There is no need to be too modest. A famous adventurer such as yourself is perfect for this kind of mission.”

Weed wanted to cry when he heard the words of the High Priest. To have humility misunderstood so much that it would result in a tragic ending.

‘Blindly put… intimacy of relationship.’

Because of the high reliability, the High Priest believed in him.

To make matters worse, the High Priest did not give up.

“In the legends, stories have been passed down in the church that when the church’s influence falls, a Hero will appear before a coming war and reclaim the lost treasures. You are that Hero!”

Weed could feel his ears failing when he heard the High Priest say this outlandish legend.

Then he heard a familiar sound.

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

Weed hurriedly checked the quest and it was the B rank difficulty quest in the quest window.

‘The quest is forced on the person who finds the Helain Cup? I can’t help it then. Maybe a chance will appear’

His judgment was shrewd and fast, but realistic. There was always an opportunity to live.

However, the High Priest plunged him further into despair with his next bout of words, and there was no room to escape.

“Twenty years ago, the Paladins had managed to make teleport gates and also succeeded in setting up the last one to Morata. With this teleport gate, one can be moved instantly without needing to travel.”

“So you’re saying…”

Weed’s lip trembled slightly.

“It is urgent and you must not delay any further. You will be departing tomorrow at this time and one priest will be sent to accompany you and aid in your mission. He will play an important role in saving our brothers and children that have been petrified by the vampires.”

Chapter 6: A Bad Cold

A single day…

Far too little time to prepare!

“Buying armor and weapons. Buying for less than 1 gold coin.”

“Looking to buy an unlimited amount of herbs and food materials. Please sell them cheap.”

Weed bought these items in great numbers.

Mapan had left his party and Weed could understand the reason why.

“I’m going to have to teleport through a gate because I have to go hunt in a faraway place for the quest.”

“Congratulations, by the way, am I able to come as well?”

“Well, I have to go alone…”

“That’s too bad. I wanted to go along with you…”

“It’s Difficulty Rank is B…”

“…Good luck and goodbye.”

Mapan specialized in trading skills.

Weed did not have the required skill to be a merchant.

However, bringing Mapan along would have been a bad choice.

He was too weak to keep up with him, so Weed headed to the Church of Freya for the rest of the day.

Inside the church were the High Priest and the group of Paladins.

“Hello. It is good that you have come.”

Weed trembled when the High Priest finished his sentence.

What were the odds alone? I thought an Ossan High Priest was supposed to be a benevolent person.

(P/R: ‘Ossan’ is Japanese for middle aged man usually 40+)

It was a terrifying and desperate situation, without the slightest opportunity to escape from.

However, Weed wasn’t going to give up the quest unless it was the worst case possibility with no return profit.

However, the day before, the high priest had said, “This is a very important quest. I cannot predict the future of humanity. However, I do know that this matter is urgent. This could change for the worse in a matter of days.”

Weed wanted to nod.

Personal circumstances!

This couldn’t be any worse!

Depending on the circumstances that arise, he could very well never be allowed to come back to the church.

However, the High Priest placed him in an even worse situation.

“I founded this Church of Freya in this town. I trust that you are the Hero of the legends and that you will find the relic as quickly as possible.”

“What do you mean?”

“This time tomorrow, when you arrive, a priest of this church will be at your command. If you return with him safely then you will be rewarded based on how much stronger he has become. Do not be anxious about tomorrow and we will see you soon.”

“…”

Everything was set up so that he could not escape.

The Free City of Somren, with the freedom lost! It was now like a prison without bars.

The Crown of Fargo had been stolen from the Church of Freya and Weed was not allowed to get help from other players. Weed was only allowed to use the people that the High Priest had provided.

“I will now introduce you to the person that will help you rescue the Paladins if any can be saved…”

The High Priest opened a door with a small key. Inside was a small boy that was wearing a white hat and white priest robes.

“This is our church’s candidate for the next Pope, Alveron. Thank you for your help.”

“It’s a pleasure, Weed.” said Alveron formally.

Alveron wasn’t a user, but an NPC.

Weed and Alveron headed deep into the church. In the center of the capital of the Kingdom, there existed a complex rune that had been engraved into the ground and served as a teleport-gate.

*Kkolkkak!*

*Gulp* Weed swallowed hard.

Using the teleport gate would instantly send him to Morata. But he had not forgotten that the province of Morata was inhabited by the infamous True Blood Vampire Clan that were frighteningly powerful.

Not the entire Versailles continent was full of users. Adventurers had discovered the Northern Continent but people did not approach it because the monsters were too strong in that part of the world.

He stood there and they began the preparations to start the teleportation.

“We absolutely must rescue our paladins brothers!”

The High Priest and the priests had gathered large amounts of mana to operate the teleport gate.

Light came out of the gate, surrounding Alveron and Weed, and soon both of them disappeared from the Church of Freya.

150 years ago the Niflheim Empire, which is located in the northern continent, was destroyed by monsters. While the nobles were busy fleeing, the Templar army that was stationed there was wiped out. Afterwards the Niflheim Empire became territory infested by monsters.

Now a single law governed here.

The survival of the fittest, and the strong takes all.

“So this is Morata…”

Weed and Alveron had appeared at the entrance of a cave.

The Church of Freya’s teleport gate and the cave were connected.

“Ohh, its cold!” As soon as Weed arrived and went out of the cave, he felt a severe chill.

The terrain and climate on the Versailles Continent differed enormously depending on the location.

Unfortunately, Morata is located in the far northern continent, which belonged to the cold regions.

In this zone, all seasons long, it was an perpetual ice zone.

“Never thought it would be so cold…!!”

Weed’s body began to shiver more and more from the cold.

His body began to shrink back from the random wind that was blowing into his collar.

*Ting*

Warning: You have caught a cold!

In order to overcome the cold, it is recommended to wear thick clothing or start sitting near a fire.

If the severe cold were to continue for a long period of time, then it may worsen your condition.

The body has become more rigid and the physical ability has reduced by 5%.

The speed at which satiety is reduced has increased by 25%.

*Shivering shivering*

The message had said that the cold could get worse.

But he could not stay around in the cave, as he had to look around and scout the area.

He looked around the snow-capped ridges.

Past the devastated city. The deserted, lost city.

Across the center of the second of third rows of houses was the mansion of the nobility.

Over the rooftops with snow heavily piled on top, the collapsed ceiling of the buildings could be seen.

Though the interior was seemingly empty, there was random furniture inside. It seemed that the houses had been uninhabited for a long period of time without anyone to maintain the buildings.

“So this must be village of Morata…”

Weed gazed across the town towards the gigantic black structure.

It had a large fence and didn’t have any lights on; the windows were also closed and crows flew over the roof.

The castle of Morata.

The black brick castle was covered in white snow. A strange combination that sparked a slight bit of inspiration inside of Weed. Jet black crows were circling around the top of the castle.

Usually, birds would easily freeze and die, but these crows were a tougher breed of bird. As these crows had been turned into vampires, and because the crows had been turned into vampires, they could not die and were still able to move their limbs.

“It seems that this is where the True Blood Vampires are. This really won’t be easy.”

Weed finished scouting and returned to the cave.

*Ting*

Temperature has risen slightly

The cave with the teleport gate was a little bit warmer. It was fortunate that the cold winds did not blow into the cave.

“So this is the Province of Morata.”

At an earlier time, the Uncle of Queen Natalya, Archduke Morata had ruled the province.

It had once been known for the outstanding quality of its leather and cloth and was quite prosperous, but now it had succumbed into a desolated village.

Humans were nowhere in sight, it was a ghost town!

In the capital city of the Niflheim Empire, Mordred, all the inhabitants had been killed.

Weed mentally tallied up his quest objectives

‘First, rescue the paladins. Second, get rid of the True Blood Vampire Clan from the city, and thirdly, find the Crown of Fargo’.

That was all he had to do. It was a simple, easy plan.

But Weed was frustrated at the reality of it. He was the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor.

To expected to do such a high level quest, he would need to have an amazing class to make up for the 68 levels he was short. He regretted that he had not gained more experience before returning to the ground from the flying city of Lavias.

“Now what am I going to do?”

Weed went back into the cave to ask Alveron some questions. Fortunately, the NPC Alveron had absolute trust in Weed and listened to him.

“So, before I start, I want you relax and sit down. I don’t believe that I have properly introduced myself. My name is Weed. I am older than you so address me respectfully. Okay?”

“Yes Weed-nim.”

Weed spoke a little bit more politely as he asked carefully.

Alveron looked like a very young and fairy-like boy, so he didn’t want it to get awkward if he was overly polite.

‘A kid…’

Weed wanted to ease the difficulty of hunting the monsters.

“This is very difficult, so I will need to know what level you are…”

“It’s 320.”

“…”

The candidate for the next Pope was at an enormous level. Weed hadn’t known that an NPC level could be so high. Even so, priests did not have much combat ability, an area in which he excelled in.

The question this time was not about levels but about fame. From completing the quest, Weed’s fame had risen to over two thousand.

“Your level is fairly high. But I want to know how truly you have lived your life. How high is your fame?”

“Let’s see, it’s about 150,002…”

“…”

Weed tried not to sound condescending when he spoke to NPCs.

However, because Alveron looked like a little boy, he had forgotten that he was a master level candidate for the position of next high priest.

“What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, rest for now.”

Like a good child, Alveron went and sat in the corner. Sitting in his white robe, his posture seemed to indicate that he was engrossed in a pious prayer.

“Now that the small tasks have been taken care of, it’s time to start.”

Weed laid a blanket on the floor.

Blankets were, in fact, essential items for travelling because they could prevent the chilling effects.

‘I did not realize that I needed to prepare clothes…’ He thought between shivering.

Rosenheim Kingdom and the Free City of Somren all belonged to the warmer provinces so there had been no need to carry any additional clothing. He had never thought that such a difficult problem would arise from not carrying around basic travel clothing.

Weed’s body trembled as he flipped open his backpack and called out commands to retrieve items from his inventory.

He retrieved the weapons and armors worth 1 gold he had stocked up on in Liberty City.

*Kwajijik!*

Weed struck the breastplate with his fist firmly. He struck it several times here and there until it broke in several places. The items were cheap, with weak armor and durability, so it broke quickly.

“Now I do this…” he mumbled to himself.

Weed pulled out a hammer he had bought from the blacksmith shop to repair the breastplates durability. With it, the power of blacksmithing and related skills was increased by 10%!

He had purchased it in the Free City of Somren.

“Repair.” He said as he hit on the breastplate with the hammer

Fixing a breastplates durability was hard. He hammered the steel plate a few times until the damaged area was fixed.

Weed then continued to break and repair the armor.

After about 10 minutes, a message window popped up.

*Ting*

Repair skill proficiency has increased.

However, due to the repetitive damage to the armor, the durability of the breastplate continued to drop permanently until…

*Ting*

Warning: Item loss!

An item has been lost due to frequent destruction.

The breastplate that Weed was holding in his hands had been destroyed and had finally been torn to shreds.

Repairing broken equipment could contribute to skill in some cases, but if it was frequently broken artificially, then you would have no use for a breastplate made of inferior steel.

Weed continued to break all the breastplates he had brought, then moved onto the shin guards and once those were broken, he took out the helmets.

8 hours later!

Weed was able to earn 10% repair skill proficiency.

At the cost of 100 gold, the items of broken debris were piled up to the ceiling.

“Skill Check: Repair”

Repair (Beginner Lv: 9 | 89%):

Only 11% more until the repair skill reached the intermediate level. Then the durability of equipment could be repaired to maximum.

“Ah-choo!”

He had been repairing items without taking a break. Weed sneezed. He had a runny nose and soon thereafter he also had a sore throat.

*Ting*

Warning: Your Cold has worsened!

In order to overcome the cold, it is recommended to wear thick clothing or start sitting near a fire.

If the severe cold were to continue for a long period of time, then it may worsen your condition.

The cold can lead to other complications!

-20% reduction of the body’s abilities.

-30% reduction of skill effects.

Reduced maximum health and mana.

“…” Weed was at a loss for words.

He had only had a little cold but now it had gotten worse. This was probably because he had been sitting in one place for far too long without moving.

“Damn it!”

There were three tragic things to look out for when one was alone.

Hunger, the cold and sickness!

Struggling with hunger was harder in cold climates since barley bread was no warm food.

The cold had affected his skills since it made his body more frigid. Weed was depressed that he had caught the cold.

‘It’s unbelievable…’ Weed sighed.

Life had been so difficult ever since he started this game. He had gotten a class that he hadn’t wanted; he had also gotten into all sorts of trouble like the present cold.

Weed took comfort in the fact he wasn’t alone though.

‘Alveron’s probably the same.’

Alveron was sitting over in the corner of the cave, dressed in his white robe.

‘He’s probably feeling colder than I am because he’s only wearing his robe…’

Weed felt a little bit of satisfaction, being better off than someone else put him in a good mood.

It was probably best that he didn’t know that Alveron’s robe had a special option spelled into it, preventing the cold to penetrate.

* * *

Lee Hyun exited his capsule so he could start cleaning the house.

He swept the corners, wiped the window, scrubbed the bathroom sink and changed the lights. As today was cleanup day.

“Got to make sure that grandma’s house isn’t too messy.”

Lee Hyun mumbled as he continued to mop the floor.

His grandmother had told him while she was still in the hospital that It looked like she had a disease.

Degenerative arthritis.

Working too much when young could put a lot of strain on the joints. The hospital’s doctors told her not to worry.

”Modern medicine can fix this degree of joint damage without any trouble. Don’t worry about it.

Lee Hyun was willing to pay for the medical bills. Expensive drugs were required for joint regeneration.”

Grandmother’s illness, however, was beyond what was diagnosed. Because she had not received regular health checkups, another disease in her body had grown significantly. The test result stated that cancer cells had spread throughout her body.

In modern times, there were no longer anyone dying from cancer. It does, however, require surgery and several months of hospitalization.

‘I need to keep saving up money; I can’t stop earning…’

Aside from the money from the high school festival, Royal Road brought in a considerable amount of many.

The entire process was faster than originally planned.

Thanks to hunting in Lavias and the Royal Road item trading site.

When Lee Hyun finished cleaning the house, his sister came home from school.

“The house is so clean today. Were you cleaning?”

“Come on, let’s not waste time. Grandma is waiting for us to visit.”

Lee Hyun took his sister to the hospital to see their grandmother.

“Hello.”

“Grandma, were you lonely?”

Lee Hyun spent most of his time in the game capsule and his sister was at school most of the week. It was difficult to hire a caretaker for his grandmother since he didn’t have that kind of money.

He cleaned up the room and threw away the trash. After he finished, he sat next to the hospital bed and took his grandmother’s hand.

“I’m sorry, dear. You’re always coming to see me.”

“…”

“I hope it’s not too much, but can I ask you a favor, dear?”

“Yes, go ahead and ask anything.”

“They say it’s never too late to learn. I would have loved it if you had been able to finish high school normally…will you get your GED?”

He could understand what she meant.

When Lee Hyun quit high school, his sister had cried. When he had insisted that he needed to drop out of school she hadn’t said anything else.

Being harassed and humiliated by loan sharks at school, such an education was far from normal.

It was a disappointment that he had failed to get his education.

Lee Hyun replied. “Yes Grandma, I will get my GED.”

Lee Hyun headed home alone while his sister stayed behind at the hospital. The next day was a holiday so she could stay longer.

Lee Hyun would have preferred to stay and enjoy the moment. But he had work to do.

‘GED…what do I need to study?’

When he had gone to school, his grades had not been that bad.

‘Reference books and textbooks from the bookstore…no, it’s better to buy them used from the bookstore.’

He went to the used bookstore that he remembered in the city. It was right next to the swordsmanship dojang he had attended in the past.

The swordsmanship dojang was still there.

“Yiyahap!”

“Tahat!”

Excited shouts could be heard.

Lee Hyun was intrigued and headed to the dojang.

* * *

“There doesn’t seem to be that much talent.”

Ahn Hyundo complained about the performance of his students.

“Even since I put down my sword and started teaching…”

Ahn Hyundo had locked his heart in depression. No matter what he did, they did not understand the way of the sword.

‘The sword… The sword will soon disappear and there will be no one for me to talk swords with.’

Ahn Hyundo’s heart ached as he looked over to the swords on the wall, when he had opened the dojang with a passion. It had been 10 years since he had started the dojang where he only taught adults instead of children.

“Master!”

“What is it? What’s so important that you’re making so much noise about?”

“He’s here!”

“Is it those guys…?”

Because everyone was talking at once, he was unable to understand anything since it was incomprehensible.

Then, at that moment, Ahn Hyundo thought about a familiar face.

‘That young man, Lee Hyun! The one I was going to make my successor!’

Lee Hyun would have been chosen.

He had never disappointed him since the moment he showed up at the dojang.

Ahn Hyundo stood by as he listened to what was happening.

“So he’s here at the dojang?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Come on, let’s go.”

Ahn Hyundo had wanted to see him again. He wanted to see what the person he chose as his successor was capable of!

“But, there is a problem.”

“What is it?”

“He is asking to spar with people.”

“So what’s the problem if he wants to spar? I don’t know what could be the problem since they should be strong enough.”

“Yes, I judged it the same way, so I had Dog Sun spar with him but it was a one-sided victory by Lee Hyun.”

“Ah ha!”

Endless training.

The practitioners at the dojang all have been coming for more than three years. Even in such a limited amount of time they had achieved some grade of proficiency.

So the students were tough opponents.

In sparring, beginners tried to avoid major injuries, but experts controlled the flow of the fight.

“I cannot believe that Dog Sun was defeated…”

“Yes, it took less than 2 minutes.”

“I’m sorry for Dog Sun but, for something as little as this, what does it matter?”

Ahn Hyundo asked Chung Il Hoon about what was wrong.

“Well after Dog Sun was defeated, Lee Hyun asked the others to spar as well.”

“Those guys have been learning the sword much longer than Dog Sun right? So who did he fight with next…?”

“Chang Guk.”

“He’s been learning the sword for over six years now. He was careless to fight after he was tired from fighting Dog Sun.”

“I tried to get him to reconsider but…”

“So he’s badly hurt?”

“No. This time too he won.”

“Oh!”

Ahn Hyundo had not been wrong when he had seen him.

‘He can’t hide his fighting spirit. His will to become stronger…the desire for strength!’

That quality let him win the fight against Chang Guk.

“But the real problem is that Chang Guk was just one of those that he sparred with.”

“Who else?”

“Yes, well, six practitioners.”

“You mean he continuously fought six men?”

“They were all unable to do anything to him.”

“Come on, let’s go take a look.”

The dojang instructors and practitioners gathered to watch the sparring.

“Such incredible stamina…!”

“That’s the ninth one that has lost!”

“He’s using the right amount of force…no matter how much stamina one possesses, it’s not easy to fight nine people consecutively.”

“Never mind fighting one after another. Just fighting against another practitioner is difficult enough.”

“But how can he win like that?”

“Strength and technique, it seems that he has found a compromise in the between the two of them. He reduces the amount of unnecessary movements of his lower body. Even so, he would have to train his lower body for a long time to achieve such skill.”

“But how he is able to fight like that?”

The practitioners had overseen Lee Hyun’s training when he attended the dojang as Chung Il Hoon and Ahn Hyundo had. Ahn Hyundo took a look and nodded.

“I know why he seems to be fighting.”

“Why is that Master?”

“When you’re bored, you want to fight whoever you can.”

The practitioners looked over at Ahn Hyundo.

“Then it’s just to relieve stress, Master?”

“When you’re up against opponents, it feels good to hold and swing the sword, doesn’t it?”

“Well, I guess…”

“Sometimes I would want to let loose and fight without reason. But we do not want to know these strong primal instincts. Nowadays, swords hang on walls and because of that, the view about yourself changes inevitably. Now few have the instincts of a hunter, the fighting spirit of a wild beast.”

*Kwajik!*

Another practitioner was forced to kneel down in front of Lee Hyun. As Lee Hyun slowly walked towards him with his wooden sword the other practitioner yielded.

“Stop, stop! I lose.”

Lee Hyun stopped the sword in front of the trainee’s forehead.

“Who’s next?”

Lee Hyun’s potential was astounding. His uniform was soaking wet with his sweat, showing off his powerful chest.

A drop of sweat flowed down the wooden sword and fell onto the floor.

But he did not seem tired. In his eyes, his fighting spirit seemed to be burning.

Those were eyes intent on the hunt!

Just a lone wolf’s silent roar threatened the position of the others.

More than 100 of the practitioners in the dojang were feeling the intimidation.

“Let me move away.”

“Call out the masters!”

The trainees could not take the heated challenge and Chung Il Hoon just shook his head.

“Seriously you guys…”

“Masters!”

“If the rumor spreads that 10 people lost, then the dojang’s honor will decrease. I will fight him.”

Chung Il Hoon was going to fight directly. He won silver medals at the Worldwide Swords Fighting Tournament twice, he was considered an expert.

Practitioners had never seen him fight seriously and only seen him teach others how to fight.

‘The masters are going to fight’

‘Are they really going to fight?’

The practitioners looked at Lee Hyun anxiously. He should give up because there was no guessing what would happen to him if he decided to fight.

They were speechless.

Lee Hyun held the end of his sword towards Chung Il Hoon. Chung Il Hoon was also ready to fight.

After the two of them picked up their swords, Ahn Hyundo yelled.

“Stop!”

“But master, if this guy leaves, then the pride of the dojang will…”

“I know that he beat 9 or more guys, but he is from our dojang so it will not damage the pride of our swordsmanship.”

“I suppose…”

“In fact, to fight a weary opponent would be a disgrace to us instead.”

Ahn Hyundo tried to preserve the peace in the dojang. Fighting a student and fighting an instructor were two entirely different things. Chung Il Hoon decided to stand back and talk. But Ahn Hyundo smiled as he said.

“Don’t you think that it would be fairer if an old man like me fights a tired opponent?”

“Master!”

“Master you…!”

The entire dojang was brimming with excitement.

Even though Ahn Hyundo was old, no one thought he was weak.

Ahn Hyundo was the World Swords Fighting Champion for four consecutive years.

He was not someone anyone in the country could beat even if he only had a stick.

The entire dojang was quiet as Ahn Hyundo walked to the center of the dojang.

“We’re going to see the Master’s swordsmanship…”

‘Such a small opportunity comes around once in a lifetime?’

The practitioners in the dojang held their breaths for the confrontation between the two fighters. If Ahn Hyundo’s swordsmanship were to be seen it should be in a more glorious manner. However, each of the instructors was perplexed by his actions.

‘Even if Master was interested in the kid, to think that he would personally take a look at the matter himself?’

‘If this keeps up, then everyone will want to challenge him…’

The Master was the pride of the Republic of Korea when it came to swordsmanship but he did not speak his mind much.

Lee Hyun had defeated nine people, even though they were practitioners. There had been a big gap between the practitioners and the challenger. But the difference was huge between the practitioners and the disciples directly taught by Ahn Hyundo.

No matter how many practitioners Lee Hyun defeated, the instructors were not agitated in the least. They admired his swordsmanship, his amazing stamina, and his fighting spirit.

‘But there is another problem.’ Chung Il Hoon thought.

Ahn Hyundo was fighting.

This was unusual.

‘Perhaps he won’t get serious?’

Chung Il Hoon shook his head back and forth. Ahn Hyundo came by at least once a week to compete with him in the way of the sword.

Endlessness.

Despair.

And awe.

Ahn Hyundo had reached the pinnacle. Only those below him could see that. Chung Il Hoon could not even dream of even reaching the level where he could touch his collar. There was no way Ahn Hyundo could lose.

‘There is no way that I can do anything. He will fight his favorite disciple moderately. Good luck, Lee Hyun.’

Chung Il Hoon’s eyes were cold as ice as he exhaled.

Lee Hyun’s stamina had already reached its limit. His willpower had lasted this long, but soon it would be shattered.

Chung Il Hoon saw that as the problem.

With his stamina gone as the practitioners had fought him wholeheartedly, no matter which practitioners he had fought, Lee Hyun’s body had reached an extreme state because of fighting 9 men.

Chung Il Hoon thought that his overwhelming skills had come to an end.

‘Master doesn’t have to do much to subdue a guy that’s already done for.’

However, Chung Il Hoon was completely mistaken.

It was a heartwarming scene as their eyes met as Ahn Hyundo said to Lee Hyun.

“Do you like using a wooden sword? I have a wooden sword in my hands as well, but wouldn’t you want to fight with real swords?”

Chapter 7: Ignorant Beginners

“This is ridiculous!” Chung Il Hoon screamed.

He had never stopped Ahn Hyundo’s decisions before but this time he couldn’t stand by.

“The opponent is a beginner. Beginner swordsmen do not know how to properly use a sword in a fight!”

“Argh, Hoon! I did not ask you. I was talking to my opponent! You’re going to interfere with my duel!” Ahn Hyundo’s voice rang throughout the dojang.

Honestly, nobody could stop Ahn Hyundo. If they tried, then they would be subject to a severe repercussion.

They could not afford to take that risk.

The instructors were silent, glancing to Lee Hyun to reject the proposal.

‘It is better if you flee now than to get beaten.’

Competing with real swords…

When fighting with real swords, literally anyone, no matter how skilled, would be scared witless.

However, Lee Hyun stood his ground.

Ahn Hyundo applauded him.

“That’s good. You didn’t back off. Just like a real man. Sun Hoon, go up to my room and bring the two swords on the wall. Do you know where they are?”

“Boss…”

The matter had gotten worse. Those steel swords were great at cutting.

Chung Il Hoon sensed that the outcome of the fight would be relentlessly horrible.

* * *

‘A sword’…

Lee Hyun stood holding a real sword. He felt as though his mind was clear and he had just woken up.

‘Huh, why am I here?’

Lee Hyun had come from the hospital to go to the bookstore.

Then he saw the dojang. He was not there to fight, he just wanted to clear his mind of a little frustration.

Training and working up a good sweat was refreshing.

Challenging the dojang.

To compete with the sword.

Lee Hyun did not object.

Wooden sword vs. wooden sword.

It was a fair match.

There was no reason to refuse.

The first opponent was a little weak, as he felt that the opponent’s technique was a bit lacking. Strength training was not necessarily the path to become stronger.

One should use the potential power of the muscles properly. It emerges when one utilizes breathing and core body flexibility.

The first opponent was lacking in that area.

Another challenger had appeared after the first opponent had lost. Against a sword expert with a lot of experience, Lee Hyun looked for weak spots.

Defense-orientated swordsmanship.

However, it was not perfect. In that very moment, he was able to find the flaw.

Considering the speed of the movement of the opponent’s sword, Lee Hyun used that difference to attack the weak point.

‘It’s thanks to Royal Road. I’ve been in fights over tens of thousands of times.’

Virtual reality games.

In Royal Road, if everyone became a sword master, then the world would be full of strong people.

Most users typically relied on skills and the game mechanics instead of their own bodies to fight. Someone like Lee Hyun who had earnestly learned the sword to play the game was a rare find.

So he knocked down the second practitioner.

But then another challenger appeared.

‘Why don’t you want me to win? Why do they want to beat me?’

He was angry. He didn’t know that his eyes were like those of a hungry wolf, provoking the others.

Tough like a beast!

Using all his strength until they were cornered.

He grasped the sword.

‘Cool…’

Lee Hyun shook his head as he took the sword.

As he took the sword, he could not remain still. At that moment, it felt as if every cell in his body was latching onto it.

Until now, he had felt as if he had been seeing everything at about 20%, about 5 times less than he was now.

Early in the morning, his body was normally extremely sensitive to everything around, he was stressed and in an agitated mood.

Lee Hyun calmly collected his breath.

He felt as if by simply holding the sword his mind had been cleaned.

Ahn Hyundo did not attack immediately.

Thanks to that, he was able to rest for a brief moment.

A very short moment.

He rested his muscles and blood vessels. The heart spread oxygen throughout his entire body.

In his hand, the sword felt very cold, but heat in his chest kept rising.

‘So this is how it feels to hold a real sword.’

He did not seem to know why he was here and in this situation. He had just come to have a sweat and could not believe what had happened.

‘Surrender’

It was not worth it. There was no need to fight without having something to fight for and he could easily get injured holding the sword.

He apologized and admitted defeat, laying down the sword.

Then Ahn Hyundo examined Lee Hyun’s eyes and said.

“Are you scared? Don’t have the courage to fight? That’s okay. The law of nature states that in the wilderness, wild beast turn tail and run when they meet someone stronger than them.”

Lee Hyun was enraged.

He wanted to fight.

In a moment, he picked up the sharp sword and held it close to his chest.

He had unwittingly decided to pick up the sword despite having fought over nine times.

*Chaeaeaeng*

The sword let out a metallic sound.

The metal sword let out incredibly clear sounds.

Ahn Hyundo also took his sword lightly as he stepped back a step.

“It is better to put down a sword that you cannot swing. You have swung it once already but you swung it too hard. Care to try a second swing?”

Instead of answering, Lee Hyun swung the sword. It was about 60 percent the speed of the original swing but it was a good attack.

*Jjanggang*

Gripping the iron, he could feel the subtle vibrations flowing to his fingertips.

Lee Hyun could hear the good, clear sound of the sword in his hand.

‘This is a good sword.’

From listening to the sword, he felt as if it was part of his body. To some extent, he could tell how sharp the sword was and the small difference that made it a good sword.

Ahn Hyundo blocked Lee Hyun’s attack very gently, and then raised the speed of his sword to attack.

However, because of the concern over bodily harm, it was possible for Lee Hyun to prevent the attack.

If there were swords flying towards the body from the front, then there was plenty of room to let them graze past.

Ahn Hyundo struck away Lee Hyun’s sword like a tyrant.

His sword swung away from him. He pounced towards Lee Hyun as if he was a wild beast to kill.

Ahn Hyundo’s sword came stabbing towards Lee Hyun’s heart.

The sword!

‘I do not want to die!’

Lee Hyun struck Ahn Hyundo’s sword to interfere with its path.

His consideration toward his opponent’s well being had disappeared.

He struggled to avoid being hit with his colossal will to live.

A clear sound of the wind.

A flash of light would appear over their chests as the iron swords clashed.

The practitioners had their mouths hanging from their fierce attacks.

“In..instructors! This needs to be stopped, doesn’t it?”

The practitioners asked anxiously.

Chung Il Hoon could not believe the current situation that was watching.

It was very difficult to subdue Lee Hyun without injuring him.

However, for Ahn Hyundo’s level of proficiency, it was possible.

For him, it was a simple task of hitting the wrist, the sword hilt, or by temporarily immobilizing him by hitting a vital point on the forehead.

It was simple for Ahn Hyundo to put Lee Hyun in that state, but he did not have the slightest intention of doing so.

With goose bumps all over his skin, he was barely managing to survive.

‘Instructors, think of something! Surely you have an idea of what to do…?’

‘I don’t think so. But why am I so anxious?’

Chung Il Hoon had not known what would have happened once the swords were brought into the situation. Once they were brought out, it was dangerous to try and stop the situation.

But soon he was able to relax and watch. The swords continued their exchanges.

Lee Hyun’s strength was being dragged out by pushing his will to live in front of a strong opponent.

More vigorously, stronger, faster.

These thoughts gradually awakened.

Lee Hyun had complete control over his own body. This caused his body to rebel.

Chung Il Hoon watched as Lee Hyun changed by beginning to penetrate deeper into the way of the sword.

The skilled practitioners could see it with their eyes but soon even the others began to feel something.

“Huh?”

“It’s a little different.”

“What has changed?”

Ahn Hyundo cut a path to prevent the attacks.

Diagonal slicing sword.

Lee Hyun lowered his body at the same time to avoid being stabbed by the sword, moving on instinct rather than thought. Lee Hyun struggled against Ahn Hyundo’s outrageous sword fighting skills without hesitation.

‘Why are you having fun? This is a dangerous moment…!’ Lee Hyun thought as the corners of his mouth curled into a smile.

Not knowing why himself, he decided to focus on the duel.

Sword fighting. Challenging others to a fight. The fight itself was good.

‘I’ve been thinking too much. When I’m faced with a fight, I do not need to think…’

Swinging the sword felt good; when Lee Hyun moved towards Ahn Hyundo he swung his sword. His body began to show an unsteady reaction.

Lee Hyun let go of his sword completely exhausted, he had terrible muscle pain and his legs gave out and he could not stand.

“Drink this. It will calm your body down a little.”

Ahn Hyundo gave him a cup of tea that had a deep and profound smell.

“This is good.”

“Yes. This is wild ginseng tea from Baekdu Mountain.”

“The price would be expensive…”

“There is nothing more precious than the body, don’t you agree?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Lee Hyun unreservedly drank the tea. He mixed a bottle every day.

It was good for the body.

“That’s some good drinking. Have some more.”

“Thank you. I’m thirsty and tired.”

Lee Hyun drank five cups of the tea.

Ahn Hyundo took the time to start a conversation.

“Ahem, I’m curious. This is the first time you have held a sword, correct?”

“Yes.”

“You did not panic very much. However, for the dignity of the nine men you beat, did you learn the sword anywhere else?”

“That’s not it. I learned the sword…”

He brought up the story of Royal Road.

How he mastered the sword while hunting monsters and how he had hit the scarecrow.

Lee Hyun did not trust others easily. He did not open up to others because of the memories of how he had lived up till now. However, he seemed to somehow trust Ahn Hyundo.

During dark times, people tried to hide their problems. Ahn Hyundo helped people in need and people came to trust and rely on him. A man who believed that training was more valuable than a thousand words.

“I see. You must have had a difficult struggle to develop your swordsmanship.”

“However, thanks to it, I have managed to learn the basics up to this extent.”

“So you’re telling me that there are really monsters? Living, moving monsters that you can catch for items and money…and you gain experience? Are there dragons?”

“Yes, yes there are…”

“For now, you’re tired, so go rest. I hope that you can come by the dojang sometime later so we can spar again sometime.”

“Goodbye.”

Lee Hyun finished his break and then left the dojang. Then Chung Il Hoon was surprised.

“Master you don’t want to get him? So you have changed your mind of having him be your successor then?”

“No, he’s busy with his game.”

“So you’ll just let him leave?”

“Leave him be for now. In time his skills will mature. I will watch him for the time being and guide him. However, this thing called Royal Road…”

When Ahn Hyundo was young, the idea about a fantasy world had been rampant. The idea of modern people traveling to another dimension to establish a fantasy kingdom!

Or meet the talented hero of legend. His story as he travels the world with only his chivalry and practice his swordsmanship.

“There are monsters…and Wyverns and Dragons! So there are even Dragons too?”

“Yes? At least that’s what I’ve heard. Nobody has managed to catch one yet though.”

Chung Il Hoon replied a little nervously. He seemed to have guessed what Ahn Hyundo was planning to do.

“Go into a fantasy world, become a hero of men, defeat Orcs, slay the dragons. Emperor? Becoming the Emperor? …hmmm!”

Ahn Hyundo’s chest rose arduously.

It was the best place to learn the sword. The real question was how useful the sword actually was. Having learned the sword did not meet the desire for fame and riches.

“To fight monsters…Monsters threaten the humans so…Hoon!”

“Yes, Master?”

“It requires a capsule right?

“Yes it does.”

“Order it!”

“Yes sir!”

Chung Il Hoon quickly took out his phone and ordered to have the capsule installed, which usually took two to three days most of the time. He made them install it the same day.

The capsule was installed just as he had demanded.

However there were 5 capsules instead of one.

“What is this?”

Under Ahn Hyundo’s sharp gaze, Chung Il Hoon confessed.

“It is the duty of the disciples to follow the Master, is it not?”

“So you mean that you and the other guys are going to follow me into Royal Road?”

“Yes.”

The instructors replied courageously.

“What about the dojang?”

“It’s not like we’re going off to a foreign country, and aren’t there the secondary instructors?”

Ahn Hyundo chuckled.

“So it’s such a nice game that you want to play as well huh?”

“Master! Please give us permission!” They said as they bowed.

“Then my name will be Geomchi, so Il Hoon you’ll make yours Geomchi2.”

“Yes sir…”

“And you will be Geomchi3. Next, you can be Geomchi4 then.”

“Yes.”

In the Republic of Korea, the username of the disciples of the sword style was in numerical order.

“Keukkeuk.”

“So I’m called Geomchi4…”

The other instructors tried to conceal their bursts of laughter, but they also couldn’t avert their fate either.

“Then the next name will be Geomchi5.”

They all leaned forward in a bow and gave thanks to their Master.

However, cold sweat had broken out on their backs.

‘What a childish name…’

‘I would be so embarrassed to tell anyone my name wherever I go!’

Ahn Hyundo entered his capsule and made his account and character. Then he told his disciples his name and that he was starting in the Citadel of Serabourg of the Rosenheim Kingdom.

“Oh, this is surprising.”

Geomchi accessed the world and stood in a single spot for a while.

“I’ve never had this feeling before.”

He could feel everything. He could see and hear the people chatting and laughing in the completely medieval city.

All sorts of talk could be heard.

“Need to find four more people of the same level.”

“Selling steel axes for cheap!”

“Leaving to the southern villages to trade, looking for other merchants to come along.”

Sniff.

Geomchi’s stomach growled as the smell of delicious food reached his nose.

He turned his head and saw someone making food.

“Selling delicious food made with beginner cooking skill level 7, delicious Mung Beans!”

Geomchi swallowed. He wanted to eat it but he didn’t have any money.

Then the others logged on.

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, Geomchi5!

“Master, so you logged in first.”

“So you’re here!”

“Yeah, you’re here as well!”

He had enjoyed teaching his disciples how to use the sword, but seeing them in Royal Road left a different impression.

Geomchi4 was startled when he looked inside his pockets.

“Oh, Master!”

“What is it?”

“I have 10 pieces of bread and a canteen in my pocket!”

“Yeah, that is incredible. Let us taste the taste of bread here, shall we?”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, and Geomchi5 pulled out the bread from their pockets and took a bite.

The bread was very stale and hard to chew, like a stone.

“Twe, twe! It’s not very edible. They eat this when they go out to hunt?”

“I did a little research on the internet; there are large numbers of different types of food. Advanced level foods are so delicious that it almost melts in your mouth. It’s supposed to be heavenly.”

“As expected of one that I named Geomchi4! You’re a very bright kid.”

“Hehe, I get that a lot.”

Geomchi4 laughed, pleased because of his teacher’s praise. Back in the dojang, he was well liked by the other practitioners for being somewhat blunt and eager to help.

The mood of the Geomchi’s that logged into Royal Road was unusually pleasant and lighthearted, they often smiled.

“So to eat it, we just have to keep chewing it? Even though it’s hard, it’s like eating a biscuit.”

“It looks like it’s made of barely. Barley bread?”

“Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 ate their bread and took a drink of water from their canteen.”

“So, let’s get started?”

“What do you mean? We have to go to the training center.”

“Lee Hyun, no, Weed said that you can’t go outside for 4 weeks.”

“Well, let’s go see whether or not the training center is any good!”

The five Geomchi’s found the training center. There was an incredible amount of people wandering around in the Citadel of Serabourg so they had to ask around a few times to find the training center.

Inside the building a small number of people were using their skills on a scarecrow.

“Oh! So this is the way they do it.”

“What an outdated training method they have in this dojang. It seems to be a systematic training in order to improve stamina.”

“Geomchi2, it’s not the facilities that matter is it? That is not important to a man that follows the way of the sword.”

Geomchi2 and the other Geomchi’s began to hit the scarecrows with the wooden swords. They had also listened to Weed’s story.

“So it’s a must to do this?”

“Yiyahap!”

*Boom!*

Geomchi2 and Geomchi4 felt a bit of nostalgia from swinging the sword like this again.

Constantly hitting a fixed object was like the training method practiced ten years ago, a training method that had long been discarded.

“Argh! Shout louder!”

“Yes! One million twenty one! One million twenty two!”

The Geomchi’s eagerly beat the scarecrows. Doing so left a good feeling inside them. Though the other users would think they were crazy, they did not rest.

Learn the sword first.

Later on the sword could be used to slay exciting monsters.

Their strength and other abilities continued to grow.

‘I will kill the monsters of Royal Road with my sword.’ With that thought, their eyes grew brighter and brighter.

“By the way, I’m starting to get really hungry.”

“Master, we have two pieces of bread left!”

“So it seems. Can I eat it?”

“Sir!”

Geomchi ate the bread that was left. The last two pieces of bread were now depleted.

“I feel full thanks to the bread now!”

“Oh, yea! Geomchi4 you look quite proficient now.”

“Master, when we feel hungry the satiety falls!”

“Geomchi3, you’re right.”

“But what happens when the satiety keeps falling, now that we have no more bread?”

“…”

Silence surrounded the group after what Geomchi3 had just said.

The atmosphere became tense after those words had been carelessly said.

The Geomchi’s began questioning.

“This is a serious situation. What do we do?”

“I think I know.”

“Geomchi2, tell me your idea.”

“What would you do? For example, when we hunt we can pick up items and make money. Then, if there is nothing more delicious, we can eat barley bread.”

“Oh, so we could do that…”

The rest of the Geomchis were smiling, but Geomchi4 shook his head.

“We can’t leave the city for four weeks so it looks like we’re going to starve.”

“…”

All of the Geomchi’s lowered their heads. They did not have an answer to this frightful situation. Usually others with more gaming experience would go do a quest. However, they did not even imagine that they could go do a quest for NPCs. Their only solution was hunting, but they could not exit the city.

Then Geomchi held out his wooden sword and exclaimed.

“We will continue swinging our swords. Only concentrate on swinging the sword!”

“Yes Master! We will focus on the sword!”

“Oh, Master how admirable!”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, Geomchi5 applauded.

(P/R: Idiots)

Then the five of them continued to beat on the scarecrow. Even though they were hungry, it gave them more willpower.

“Hohoho….”

The Training Center Instructor smiled heartwarmingly.

The Training Center Instructor was glad to see such enthusiasm from the practitioners.

“Hey, would you like to join me for a meal?”

The instructor invited them to have lunch. However, Geomchi swallowed his saliva and refused the invitation.

“No! Don’t we have our pride and self-respect that we do not need the charity of an NPC? Isn’t that right men?”

“That is correct! We live only for the sword.”

*Khoreureuk*

(P/R: The sound of their tummy rumbles)

“Now that I look at these scarecrows, they look pretty tasty.”

They started to sound ridiculous. Their satiety level was forced to drop since they had no more barley bread.

Less than 3% satiety! Moving to hit the scarecrow became arduous as they no longer had any stamina.

*Ting*

Warning: You have died of hunger!

You cannot sign in for 24 hours.

Since it was a simple state of death, no items or levels will decline.

Death, they died due to hunger…like dogs.

It was difficult to die in the starting state so it was extremely rare to die in the first four weeks.

To have the self-respecting Geomchi’s die in such a way and in front of so many people, they died such a humiliating death.

Ahn Hyundo, with Chung Il Hoon’s help, held a meeting in the dojang.

“Royal Road is an entirely new form of civilization, but we were too indifferent to its influence.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“If more practitioners spend more time training in a place where they can fight monsters, then their motivation will increase and inspire them further.”

“I think that’s true. Fighting monsters and proving their skills will draw out their attention.”

Ahn Hyundo and Chung Il Hoon had also died the same death as the other instructors.

“Direct combat could be a good opportunity for them to realize the true power of the sword!”

“We will get the disciples to volunteer and they will easily get enlightened on the way of the sword. To travel an unknown continent with nothing but their sword, this is a good idea Master.”

However, the only female and secretary of the entire place, Ahn Hyundo’s niece, put both hands on her waist and said to them.

“Effort is all that matters! You said that having an opponent was a tool that helps you grow. That’s what you always used to say!”

“Argh! What else is there then? What have we overlooked?”

“…!”

“So, our plan was to let all the formal practitioners join in so how many people is it?”

“500.”

“With an order of 500 capsules…they can discount it right?

“They will be able to install it tomorrow, it should be fine.”

Chung Il Hoon replied confidently.

The capsules for the 500 disciples were received from the Immigration Control and Refugee Bureau. Ahn Hyundo’s dojang had a reputation all over the Republic of Korea. They received funding from the World Kendo Federation and the Athletic Association. They received a large amount of money from the disciples and among them were several that were in the Immigration Control and Refugee Bureau.

Geomchi4 smiled and muttered quietly.

“That means that we are going to get 5000 more barley bread.”

“…”

“…”

“Keukeum!”

Chapter 8: True Blood Vampires

Weed logged back on and quietly sat down next to Alveron. Even NPC’s had to act in a certain way to improve their level and skills.

‘It obviously was not a big deal’

In fact, teleport gate had many special options and, because the cave was the starting point, it was an area that was safe and completely protected from monsters.

Alveron woke up and followed Weed as he tried to sneak out of the cave.

“Where are you going?”

“Recon. Wait here for me.”

“Yes, I will wait for you here.”

Alveron sat back down in the cave.

Weed went out of the cave alone.

Knowing that Alveron was safe, Weed began walking out of the cave. Walking around in this place was like walking on very thin ice.

‘Monster…’

He was sufficiently far away from the cave.

The giant black castle and the village had disappeared from sight.

There was something he had overlooked during the day.

The snow-capped mountains and the villages were safe, there were no monsters.

‘There are very few groups of monsters. But monsters should appear near the river.’

Weed carefully went down the mountain. Far in the middle of a field was a pack of black wolves.

‘It’s not time to fight them yet.’

He got down on all four limbs and began to sneak around, sometimes hiding behind rocks for a while, and finally arrived at the village.

The village where there were once shops with heart-warming store owners were now rundown and abandoned. The whole village was abandoned and broken.

‘It appears impossible to resupply.’

That was the fundamental difference in coming to the Province of Morata. Food ingredients and herbs should have been bought as much as possible and left at the starting point. It was a big advantage having a surplus of supplies rather than not having enough.

But Weed could not afford the danger of searching through the town.

*Ting*

Warning: The cold has penetrated deeper into your skin!

Physical ability has decreased by 14%.

Wearing the armor had no additional effect. A fire could be used to defeat the cold, but with fire there was smoke. It was no different from suicide to start a fire here.

Weed decided to only take a little bit more time to carefully scout around because of the cold.

A couple of vampires passed by.

The True Blood Vampire Clan.

After a while, the group of vampires left and one wandered off alone.

A vampire had appeared.

Pale faces, and a black cloak hung to their bodies.

They wore jewelry and had rings on their hands.

“Blessing.”

Weed quietly used the Ring of the High Priest that he was wearing to bless himself, a light covered and emitted from his body.

*Ting*

The Blessing of the High Priest has been used.

For 20 minutes, physical abilities are enhanced.

He checked his info window and the result was surprising. Strength, agility, stamina, endurance, and vitality stats were increased by an amazing 150%!. Maximum health and mana were increased by 30% so he had a tremendous 7002 health and 6002 mana.

Weed invested most of the stats he got from upgrading into agility or strength. He barely increased in intelligence or stamina.

He was able to increase ‘Fighting Spirit’ stat through battle instead of stamina which acted as a complement.

‘This is great.’

However, this fantastic item could only be used for 20 minutes.

“Bandages!”

The increase in maximum health and mana was nothing.

Accompanied by the bandage skill, the vitality stat could also be effectively increased.

His bandage skill had already advanced to the intermediate level.

The quality of the bandages along with the high level skill was able to recover health as a tremendous speed.

His mana regeneration rate was increased by 10% due the effect of the seven rings on his hand.

However, it was still a little lacking for him, and he was not quite ready.

‘Time to eat.’

Weed closed his eyes and ate the food.

Royal Bird of the Day Dish!

Food that was created from the eggs of the Avians birds.

An additional 500 health and mana increased.

But he still was not ready to battle. Weed held the sword and activated the innate skill.

“Sacred Blessing”

A buff that holy priests used. It was a skill one tier higher!

Weed’s body was covered in a gentle light.

Thanks to the superior grade of skill, his defense increased by 40%.

By this time, the vampire Weed was tracking was already hidden from view.

However hidden behind the wall of the house and coming towards Weed, was the vampire that had disappeared.

“So this was where the unpleasant feeling I felt was coming from…”

It seemed from the vampire’s words, that it was attracted to the sacred blessings.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed was surprised by the vampire suddenly approaching him.

He ran out of the house and rushed to use the skill.

“The enemy is a human!”

The vampire blocked Weed’s sword with his strong forearm. However, Sculpting Blade’s horrendous damage ripped through the enemy’s defense!

It did not matter what the enemy’s level was. Whether it was rabbit or anything else, it made little difference to the Sculpting Blade. The damage was almost the same to monsters with powerful defense like vampires.

“Kyahaah!” The vampire’s health declined as it was attacked.

However, as one would expect, it did not budge from such a high level attack. He withstood it as if it was a mosquito bite.

“I’ll suck your blood human!”

The vampire extended his hands straight towards him. He had been caught by such a simple and ignorant attack and two holes were bored into the side of the neck.

It must have been an unpleasant experience.

Weed grabbed and held onto the vampire’s chest as he dropped and rolled sideways. He stuck the snow covered ground with the vampire.

‘Alright. The damage was higher than I expected. But from now on, it’ll be considerably less.’

Just like how the fight with the Death Knight was different from others. The purpose right now was to improve combat experience that skills and stats could not.

Weed closed the stat window that displayed his health and mana. He examined his enemy with his eyes and felt the condition his body was in.

He focused on his enemy.

He was a lot simpler now than compared to back in the Continent of Magic. He did not know much about the game. He did not even have a map to memorize it. When he found a strong monster, he fought it simply to relieve stress.

It was of pleasure of finding a slightly stronger enemy.

He didn’t need the advice of other people but rather directly experience and solve it himself.

Suffering a frustrating trial and error process.

Dying much more frequently than others.

Nevertheless, Weed was the best there could be! It was a constant challenge to be the person that constantly made their own path.

He walked the path the others usually did not take and hunted.

Enjoying the battle was far simpler than before. Instead of the battle being a click of the mouse and the keyboard, he enjoyed a real fight.

He could not deny the pressure from his class.

As more skill builds up, then there are a lot more things to lose. Whenever death came, there was always the fear of how many levels and how far skill proficiency would drop.

When you fight monsters, having thoughts like these increase the tension. They do not get much out of the battle itself.

Fighting strong enemies, clearing a quest, the fun of the game was a job the he sincerely enjoyed doing.

“Kuwawaak!”

The vampire’s face suddenly distorted.

Since then, it began to attack stronger and faster.

“Septuple Strike!”

Weed demonstrated his skills at the right time.

He naturally thought of which skills to use at the right time.

“The odds are against you running away.”

Weed used Sculpting Blade around the vampire.

“Summon Bats!”

The vampire did not avoid the attack and opened his hands wide.

A group of black vampire bats were summoned.

“Kill him!”

The summoned vampire bats flapped their wings and flew into the air. They then landed on Weed and sucked his blood.

The noble monster, Vampire!

They were capable of using magic.

“Shield. Strength. Heal.”

The injured vampire strengthened its regenerative abilities to recover its health.

To attack the vampire after it recovered its health would be in vain. The damage done to its forearm was healed.

“Damn it!”

Weed used his sword to attack the bats.

The blood sucking vampire bats stuck to him during the fight.

*Swish!*

The vampire rushed at Weed with overwhelming speed.

Since it was a skill that consumed a lot of mana, he could no longer continue using it to fight.

Without mana to empower his sword, he was unable to give the fatal blow to the vampire.

Luckily its healing magic did not recover everything.

The vampire no longer had enough mana to heal.

‘It worked! It’s out of mana now!’ The vampire finally began to bleed out.

Its pale face had become even white from extreme fatigue as it slowly moved forward.

However, a message popped up to Weed.

*Ting*

Warning: The effect of the Sacred Blessing has disappeared.

Strength was rapidly draining.

*Ting*

Warning: Your Cold has worsened!

In order to overcome the cold, it is recommended to wear thick clothing or start sitting near a fire.

If the severe cold were to continue for a long period of time, then it may worsen your condition.

The cold can lead to other complications!

-20% reduction of the body’s abilities.

-30% reduction of skill effects.

Reduced maximum health and mana.

The sword grew heavy and his movements became sluggish.

His defense was reduced because of the vampire bats constantly draining his vitality. As the bleeding worsened, his health plummeted and his movement speed dropped.

“Human!”

The vampire finally caught Weed. The vampire’s current health was less than 10%.

The vampire tried to suck his blood, but with a vigorous head butt Weed said, “This isn’t over yet!”

The vampire could not stop laughing when he looked at Weed. The vampire was barely alive. Its mana was completely depleted.

But Weed was in a far more serious condition. He could not stop his wounds from bleeding.

He closed his eyes.

Death!

He was logged out.

Lee Hyun stepped out of his capsule and clenched his fist.

He had experienced fighting a vampire. How were level 270 monsters? Strong. Very strong.

He was using the sword as well as the blessings and sacred blessings. The equipment was vastly different from the cheap weapons and equipment he got from the Death Knight.

That demonstrated the prominence of fully fledged high level monsters.

But he had an absolute feeling that it was not a monster that couldn’t be beaten.

Lee Hyun took his fist and shouted, “The True Blood Vampires. I’ll kill them all!”

* * *

Pale, Irene, Romuna, and Surka had to teach their parents about the game in the Citadel of Serabourg. Their parents left to complete a dungeon quest.

Then they decided to contact Weed.

“Hey Weed, you know the people you said that connected to the game recently. I should drop in and say hello.”

“Why not? I can’t really help them right now so it would be nice if you could give them a hand.”

“Certainly, since they are Weed’s friends and acquaintances.”

“Yes, it’s impressive that they’re already in their second week of swinging the wooden sword at the training center.”

Pale and Surka smiled fondly as they recalled a freakishly strong Weed fighting thousands of monsters.

Even though he was a sculptor, there wasn’t anyone whose swordsmanship was as strong. They were surprised and could hardly believe that he fought monsters using such ingenious sword fighting skills.

That was their expectations of Weed’s acquaintances.

“Not too long ago we were beginners, but now we have excellent understanding of the game.”

“That’s because Weed is the best.”

When they went to the training center, there was a large crowd.

“What is it? Is there something going on here?”

“Look over there. Now be surprised.”

Pale and Co. looked over to where they were pointing and they saw a large circle. Over 500 people were swinging a wooden sword towards a scarecrow.

“One, two, three!”

They were yelling and counting.

There 500 people were using wooden swords and simultaneously striking down scarecrows with precise timing. Each of their bodies moved at the same rate with the same movements.

But it was the look in their eye that surprised Pale the most.

‘What a heavy atmosphere.’

He could sense something in their eyes and It put considerable pressure onto his heart.

The terrifying atmosphere seemed about 1~2 times stronger since it was coming from 500 people simultaneously from all around the room.

‘I think I know why there are a lot of people gathered here.’

It was as if something like this had become natural around the training center.

“Huh, what is it?”

He was already close to tears from the unease. It looked like Weed’s acquaintances had a bunch of scary people mixed in.

“This is fine. The level is not high enough yet but we still can’t leave so we have to keep it up.”

Pale finally got enough courage and asked.

“Does anyone here know Weed?”

When he said that, 500 guys looked over at him.

*Ba-bump!*

Pale’s chest began to beat faster in fear. But soon they went back to using their wooden swords to hit the scarecrow.

“I don’t know what’s going on here but I’ll do what I can to help. We’re here to help you so don’t worry about it and come over.”

*Shyying*

All 500 of the wooden swords stopped just short of the scarecrow that they were beating. At nearly the same time, 500 people came running over to them. They fell down to their knees and cried to Pale.

“Ple-please barley bread…”

“Please feed us rice.”

* * *

After one day in real life had passed, Weed reconnected in front of the teleport gate.

‘Proficiency… it dropped a little bit.’ Various skills had dropped by 5 to 7%.

Sculpting mastery had dropped by 7%. Cooking had dropped by 6%.

Other skills such as Handicraft, Sword Mastery, and Repair dropped by 5%.

Fortunately the only items that dropped when he died were only a couple of the one gold weapons.

‘I wasn’t ready for the True Blood Vampires.’

Weed started repairing broken equipment again.

“Repair!”

After he broke all the items in his inventory, he was able to reach the goal he had wanted.

*Ting*

Upgrade: Repair (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%):

The ability to repair has been improved based on the skill level.

It is now possible to restore to the maximum durability of equipment with a complete repair.

The ‘Blacksmith’ skill can now be learned.

“Finally…”

Weed repaired his equipment.

His current equipment had extremely low durability and he could not afford for new equipment.

The distorted cape became shiny; the dented body armor was evened out. The cracked and rusted parts were restored to a black iron.

“Alright. Time to start.”

When Weed tried to leave the cave, Alveron came up to him.

“I’ll help with fighting the vampires.”

“Not yet. There is still one more step of preparation.”

“Okay.”

Weed went to look around the Morata Province alone. Checking around certain areas he looked for where the monsters were hiding.

There were a lot of results from his search.

There were quite a large number of monsters in the Morata Province.

On the other side of the village and the giant black castle were a large number of black wolves. They were around level 170 monsters but many of the wolves tended to wander alone instead of in groups. In the worst case, there were more than 100 wolves at once.

Though it was dangerous, Weed was able to recover the lost experience by sweeping up the wolves, using the sword’s blessing and the high priest’s blessings, he reached level 182.

“This was a decent hunting ground…”

Hunting was usually done in the surrounding area of a town or neighboring villages. The reason was because the monsters were evenly spread out and it was easy to save party members.

However, Weed wandered around hunting in places with a large number of monsters alone.

After he analyzed the surrounding area and monsters, Weed went to get Alveron.

“Give me healing.”

“Yes.”

Weed was bathed in divine power, healing his wounds.

There was no need for bandages.

As expected of Alveron, the next pope candidate with an enormous level of 320. However, NPCs like this were not allowed to die. Alveron dying meant that was the end. If the candidate for the next pope died in the middle of the quest, then he would fail the quest and the friendship with the Church of Freya would drop greatly. Think of it like something that can’t be taken anywhere easily. But…

“Use protection magic.”

“Yes.”

“Weaken the power of the malicious forces that seek to injure him. Holy Blessing.”

“Increase my strength.”

“Please raise him power to fight against the evil and the wicked. Bless!”

Alveron was by far the best NPC that Weed had met so far. It wasn’t just his higher level but he had a good personality too.

Why is it useful for a user to talk to an NPC to get a quest? This in itself was problematic because the sage would trick users!

But Alveron took care of his work and wasn’t rebellious. It was the best thing around.

An innocent and naive NPC.

Weed dragged Alveron back and forth around Morata in order to hunt. That was the original purpose for bringing him.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

A large number of monsters were killed.

With the help of Alveron, Weed was quickly able to reach level 200.

‘Finally!’

In Royal Road, level 200 was one of the checkpoints in the game. The server had been opened for about 1 year and 4 months now. The average level was around level 100. Trading and production classes were around the average level, but those under level 100 were usually considered noobs.

But in Royal Road, there were an overwhelming number of low level accounts. It was thanks to the new influx of people worldwide.

Each village was filled with noob adventurers who dream of trying to see the world.

Being over level 130 was acknowledged to some extent. At that point, many join a guild and start visiting other cities and villages.

Bards and other similar class begin wandering around level 50 but most classes stayed within hunting areas for their level.

A character over level 150 was quite famous.

And those over level 200 were even a rank higher.

This was because of second job advancement!

Classes such as knights and archers were able to change their class according to their preferences.

It was possible for certain kinds of wizards, clerics, warriors, thieves, and merchants to change class as well.

New skills became available!

The range of skills they can learn significantly widen and the other skills are automatically improved.

Because of this, level 200 was called the checkpoint.

In Royal Road, less than 20% of the total users were over the average level.

With Weed’s deceptive strength and his production class, it made it difficult to determine a comparison to other characters.

Weed was doubtful of whether or not there was a second job advancement for him.

However, when Weed leveled up, his entire equipment set had changed. On his head was Van Hawk’s Anti Magic Helm and he also wore on his hands the Rose Engraved Gloves. With the armor, Weed was dressed up as a Dark Death Knight now! However he wore white gloves with his black knight set.

It was not a good combination for an outfit, but stats were more important to him than what other people thought.

“Alveron, follow me slowly.”

“Yes.”

Weed and Alveron headed to the village in front of the giant black castle. Vampires were lurking around there.

It was not difficult to find them.

Within the village, over 300 vampires roamed around for blood and they could easily find them if they were not careful.

Weed waited for a single vampire to wander away from the group. Then at that moment he would appear and begin his attack.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Surprisingly, the vampire easily blocked the blurred sword of light with its forearm.

Then it revealed its fangs towards Weed and said.

“You again!?”

Incidentally it was the same vampire that Weed had been killed by last time.

It was the same guy in the same place and Weed had been waiting for an ambush.

“That’s great.”

Weed began to attack with his Sculpting Blade. He swung the dazzling sword around the vampire’s body.

“I guess that his spirit didn’t die and he came back. Kyaahat!”

The vampire began to attack while healing itself.

Weed continued the long battle. It was unavoidable that he had to deal enough damage to kill a few times over.

The vampire’s skill consumed a lot of mana, but it was over level 270!

The characteristics of the vampire tribe were dark magic, transformation, and the fascination with beautiful women, they were also the class with the best vitality. Other similar leveled monsters paled in comparison.

The special True Blood Vampires were much stronger than the common vampire.

Soon the sacred and holy blessings were disappearing and his mana was running out. He laughed knowing that the vampire was in a similar situation.

“Once again I will be killing you! Stupid human!”

Weed ran to the wall and shouted.

“Heal, protection magic, buff!”

“Okay, I will.”

Alveron came out from his hiding place. He restored Weed’s health and gave him various buffs.

Now the situation was reversed.

Weed smiled as the vampire’s face was puzzled in front of him.

He did not forget that the monster had killed him once before.

“I’ll get you next time! Fog of Mist!”

The vampire used his skill when he realized he was at a disadvantage.

Turning into fog in order to flee!

It was a vampire’s unique skill to pass through walls or objects without being caught.

The vampire’s body turned hazy with smoke. The smoke was dispersed everywhere rather than in one place!

The smoke began squirming to escape.

But Weed had not failed to finish him.

“Sculpting Blade!”

With the Sculpting Blade skill, it was possible to deal a direct blow to the monster’s soul.

“Kueahaaah!”

The vampire that turned into mist was greeted with a Sculpting Blade.

With Alveron’s help, Weed was able to have the pleasure of taking revenge.

Ever since that day, Weed began hunting in the mountain and regional plains during the night and returned to the village during the day.

At night, thanks to the Moonlight Sculptor’s passive skill, his stats increased by 30%. All combat based skills as well as sculpting skills and art stats were improved.

To others, hunting was hard work but what else could it mean!

Weed became stronger, but at night monsters also became stronger too. More often than not, it was more than 50% stronger. However, item drop rates and experience were also increased significantly.

Many monsters lurked in groups, such as wolves, but some monsters were often alone. So he was able to hunt even stronger monsters.

But now he could leisurely level up, thanks to Alveron, by killing vampires during the night despite the extra burden.

Weed was especially careful because safety was not guaranteed.

“Call Death Knight, Van Hawk!”

Death Knight Van Hawk.

He was summoned to join the fight.

Weed had killed the Death Knight hundreds of times without any difficulty and was now it was fully under his command.

This increased his familiarity with him.

A fair one-on-one victory.

He didn’t like it.

Weed fought with vampires and evil wolves while Van Hawk raised his level by leaching of his experience.

While he was guarding Alveron, he said.

“Master, my level has risen…”

Occasionally Van Hawk would politely tell him the news.

Weed’s subordinate Van Hawk was becoming stronger.

He was growing through hunting.

“Yeah.” replied Weed while looking over at Van Hawk with a disgruntled face.

Whenever the Death Knight killed, it gained its own experience. But whenever Weed hunted alone, 20% of the total experience went towards Van Hawk. It was the summoning agreement and it would continue until the contract was terminated.

‘What a leecher…’ But he could not deny that he was a big help in battle.

Thanks to Van Hawk, hunting the vampires was much easier. Having another person made a big difference in actual battle.

Twice as much damage and armor.

Weed became safer since he didn’t need to take risks when he had a Death Knight as a tank. It took half as long to hunt vampires and he took only a fourth of the damage.

There were about 300 or so Vampire roaming around the village at any given time.

However, the True Blood Vampire Clan had over a thousand members. It seems the rest were inside the giant black castle.

Weed took care of vampires individually. Exactly numbering 49.

Then everything started to get into motion. A general level of a newly generated True Blood Vampire that died once already was 250.

*Ting*

Upgrade: Sword Mastery (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%):

Damage with the sword has increased 50%.

Intermediate Sword Mastery increased damage by 7% every time the skill levels up.

The sorrow of a sculptor!

Because they didn’t have a weapon specialization, stat growth from reaching intermediate in Sword Mastery was lower.

However, as a sculptor, he had gotten his Sword Mastery to intermediate.

The result was literally achieved through many tears.

And then a few days later.

Another skill reached intermediate.

*Ting*

Upgrade: Sculpting Blade (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%):

The Sculpting Blade color will now be blue.

Using Sculpting Blade, you can now create and complete colossal sized statues.

Ignores the enemy’s defense!

Chapter 9: The Great Sculpture

Vampires patrolled the area at regular intervals. That was a little bit unfortunate.

Weed was resting near a statue.

Bird of the main nut.

He ate the dish made from the Avian eggs and fruits of heaven.

Weed could take on a vampire by himself, and the Death Knight could fight one solo as well.

“Kyaah!”

“Van Hawk, you traitor!” screamed the vampire that Van Hawk was battling.

“I only follow the commands of the Master.”

The fierce battle was resolved after he parried a few times and Weed killed the two vampires.

Weed sat back down without having to say anything.

“Dispel Curse.”

Alveron’s mission was to wait at the statue for the vampires and use the spells in order.

“Divine Light, please dispel the restraints on their freedom from the power that is distorting their form.”

Light came down from the sky and covered the statue. The blackened surface of the statue melted away, like washing off ink. Inside the statues were paladins wearing the pattern of the Freya church.

“Die, Vampires!”

The paladins saw him wielding the sword of light as well as the presence of Alveron.

“I do not feel the slightest evil spirit coming from you. Are you from the church?”

“Oh, brother paladin! We have come to rescue everyone. Come with us and soon the suffering will be over.”

Alveron and the paladins broke out into a melodramatic scene.

The paladins returned to the cave and ate as if they were possessed. They began to beg Weed for food.

Weed put the food in a small bowl. After they ate, the paladins had an apologetic face as they held out the bowl.

“Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome. There is still some left, so eat some more.”

The paladins handed their bowl to Weed.

Their share of food was placed in the bowl. Then he gave it to the paladins.

The paladins gulped to swallow their saliva. Hunger was the best seasoning of all.

They had never had food that tasted better than Weed’s.

This was all thanks to having Intermediate handicraft and intermediate cooking skills!

They created a subtle taste and enticing smell.

“How can we eat while Weed starves? I cannot.”

“This food is given to us by the Goddess. There is no way that I could eat it all by myself.”

Weed did not lie at all. In fact, eating just a little bit of high level cooking was enough to fill the satiety level.

He deliberately gave their share of food in small bowls. The paladins could not even begin to imagine the lethal and sophisticated meaning of such an act and continued to accept the bowl with gratitude. They would accept the bowl and words of gratitude would be spoken while they ate.

Alveron was using Meditation and Weed took out a carving knife.

*Crunch* The sound of sculpting.

As the paladins ate, they watched Weed work with his hands to create a beautiful sculpture.

It was the shape of a paladin fighting evil.

“You are very talented. It’s very beautiful.”

“It’s my hobby,” he replied.

The Order of the Goddess Freya was about beauty and abundance. For that reason, Weed’s intimacy level with the church’s paladins was very high to begin with.

Sculptors! A profession about loving art and beauty.

Chef! Delicious food was a symbol of abundance.

Weed was not acknowledged by other people, but the paladins from the church would respect him.

“Everybody let us pray.”

After hunting and eating food, Weed bowed his head forwards and prayed to the Goddess Freya.

“Thank you for the abundance of food and for giving us your blessing. Please continue to protect the peace of the continent from evil…”

Alveron was raised with the habit of praying.

Praying increased the intimacy of priests and paladins.

Like the soldiers of the Rosenheim Kingdom, the paladins were everywhere.

A total of 159 paladins and 38 priests were turned to stone. But wherever there was a stone paladin, there were certainly vampire guards.

“First of all, there is a need to increase our united strength,” Weed persuaded the paladins with such logic.

The Morata Province was overflowing with many wolves and evil monsters. They could hunt thousands of monsters in Morata.

But sometimes they rescued rebellious paladins.

“Now is not the time to do this! We should be searching for our brothers who are suffering instead of doing this!”

Occasionally the paladins would take their swords and tried to assault the village. Such a fearless attitude towards evil was becoming of a knight.

True Blood Vampire Clan!

To the paladins, they were most certainly the enemy.

Weed desperately blocked them. If he let them back into the village now, what were the chances that they would become victim to the vampires again?

“They should still be alive and we must remain hopeful. But if any of us should be defeated, then we shall forever suffer the ridicule of the vampire and what do you expect will happen to your brothers as a result?”

Weed persuaded the paladins while hunting.

It was frustrating, but the paladins had to agree with Weed.

He needed money. In Royal Road, he could trade in-game currency for real life cash.

You can obtain good equipment to sell, since there was no one else in Morata.

To trade items that anyone could bid on.

It was not easy to come to this region, so who would find these items?

He did not know if he could complete the quest on his own.

So, the conclusion was to increase their power. Yet he did not forget about the effects of sculptures.

“Don’t use wood. Stone is a good material to increase the proficiency of the skill.”

Weed was trying to find a suitably sized stone. However, in the snow-covered mountains, it was not easy to find the right stones. Moreover, since he had to remain still in order to sculpt and the harsh cold wind could make him sick. A lot of time was needed in order to make a sculpture.

“A bunch of rocks. Would it be possible to make a sculpture using that?”

Weed was deeply immersed with what to do about the sculpture.

“It doesn’t have to be rock. Any other hard object would be nice…”

Weed looked across the village and the mountains.

A snow covered world.

The ground was covered in blocks of ice.

“Ice! A sculpture made of ice!”

A sculpture made of ice would be the best material to use. It could be simply cut and it was readily available. It was perfect in the cold north since it wouldn’t melt.

Since then, Weed and the paladins took a break in order to cut ice. With his carving knife, he made large chunks of ice.

Soon he started cutting into it to make a sculpture.

Weed and the brave paladins fought against the vampires.

Their presence was carved into the Morata Province.

Weed began to think of ideas for the theme of the statue. Of course, the model was still Seoyoon. Weed had no other choice since he had never seen anyone prettier.

He had learned that art stats and the sculpting skill increased depending on the meaning behind the sculptures.

Typically, in a town or a castle, a sculpture of a large object was more beneficial than a sculpture of a woman.

In the world, there existed countless masterpieces of woman and the most difficult sculpture to make was a beautiful woman.

The statue in Baran Village was able to make subtle smiles on people’s faces but such a thing would create a strange atmosphere in Morata Province and thus required something else.

A cold appearance.

It was made with an ice cold exterior. The face was the same as when Weed had saw Seoyoon.

He tried to replicate the first sculpture he had made.

It was almost complete, but it felt strange, ‘Is it because of the materials?’

Because it was made of ice, it felt vulnerable and weak.

‘If it doesn’t work and a failed product emerges…’

Weed strongly opposed the idea of failure.

Failure!

Failure was a painful aspect for a sculptor. A renowned sculptor would receive a large drop in fame.

Because a sculptor had to have passion to create a work made it even more difficult.

‘Should I give up?’

If he gave up now, he would slightly damage his fame.

It would become an unforgettable abandoned piece.

Weed used all his powers of observation in order to depict Seoyoon in the sculpture.

‘A strong, cold feeling…Murderer! Yes, lively eyes filled with hate and distrust of other people.’

As he remembered he continued to carve.

Weed began to change the clothing of Seoyoon’s sculpture to armor.

Full plate armor!

On the sculpture was a steel plate that covered the whole body, giving it an intense look. The model for the armor was based on the ones that the paladins were wearing.

One would worry that it would look awkward, but the armor suited Seoyoon too well.

Finally, Weed tried to calmly carve the eyes in order to complete the piece.

‘Do not pay attention to what the window says. I will complete the eyes and it will not become a failure.’

An unbelievable coldness.

The allure of a brutal murderer.

Weed could feel the emotions of the sculpture in her eyes.

However, the eyes in the statue seemed to be their own. It’s clear and innocent eyes.

‘The materials. This happened because of the materials. Stupid Weed! Had to make it out of ice instead of disposing it,’ Weed sighed.

When the statue was completed, it was sometime past noon. The sun reflected and shone brightly.

The sun’s rays systematically fell onto the beauty.

The beauty was shining in numerous brilliant colors. It seemed as if the light would wrapped around the nearby people.

The light changed the statue.

*Ting*

Statue Completed: The Ice Beauty (Masterpiece)

In the cold and desolate lands of the north. The feelings of the people and the earth allowed this statue of beauty to be born. Unlucky travelers that fall into difficulties and troubles will visit this small oasis. Here the travelers could receive sweet rest. An unbelievably high degree of perfection and beauty! An artist created a beauty with a mysterious atmosphere out of ice. A work deserving of praise.

Artistic Value: 750

Special Effects:

Health and Mana regeneration increased by 17% during the day.

Special resistance against ice-based magic.

+40% Cold resistance.

3% Chance to reflect an enemy attack.

30+ Attractiveness stat.

These effects do not stack with other statues.

Number of Masterpieces Created: 1

Level Up: Sculpture Mastery (Intermediate Lv: 5 | 0%):

Sculpting is more delicate and detailed.

Level Up: Handicraft (Intermediate Lv: 7 | 0%):

The ability to use hand tools has increased by an additional 5% and various other skills will be affected by the skill.

Fame has risen by 320 points (+320 FAME)

Art has risen by 45 point (+45 ART)

Endurance has risen by 4 points (+4 END)

Perseverance has risen by 3 point (+3 PER)

Luck has risen by 40 points (+40 LUC)

*Trembling*

The paladins had caught a cold. As did Weed!

After having stood around in the desolate land, they did not return to the cave until night. The temperature dropped. The level of the ice and snow in the Morata Province increased and the winds picked up in intensity.

The polar climates have lower temperatures and strong winds.

Snow and pieces of ice fell from the dark blizzards and ice storms.

The numerous pieces of ice that fell created a beautiful landscape when paired up next to the sky.

This occurrence was one of the four mysterious wonders of the northern continent.

Royal Road had created a fantastic environment and many people that visit it were amazed more than any movie that was ever made.

The snow covered ground in the north stretches almost endlessly.

Snow and ice would sweep over the ground in snowstorms.

However, only a small number of people have visited it!

Many usually taste death in the middle of the snow during a blizzard. Their hands and feet would stiffen and the cold would permeate into their bodies until they were frozen solid.

Weed enjoyed the pain since it increased his endurance stat, even if it’s not what people usually would want to do.

The body would freeze immediately and be left out like a frozen shell and left to die miserably.

Every year, the northern lands were subject to over 30 snowstorms and blizzards. Weed wanted to call it a curse of God. The frigid that cold cut deep into his skin!

At night, the temperature fell and it became even colder. Outside the cave was a giant snowstorm. Ice fell dangerously in the middle of the night and they were forced to stop their hunting. Most of the paladins suffered from a cold.

“Ohh, if I knew that this would have happened then I would have learned the sewing skill…”

Weed was trembling from the cold inside the cave but he had no regrets.

They had built up a lot of loot. From hunting in the surrounding area, they managed to collect a lot. Among them items was wolf leather, which could be made into thick clothing to overcome the cold if one had sewing skills.

But Weed did not have such skills and was ultimately forced to fight the cold on his own.

*Crackle*

The bonfire was burning.

They had looted wood from the mountains during the day so that at night they could have a fire going. However, the cold air from the entrance of the cave let in a disastrous amount of air. They weren’t going to die, but they were freezing.

“Ah-choo!”

Even with a cold, Weed managed to survive.

The cooking skill was useful. Eating hot stew managed to raise the resistance against cold and warmed the body.

When the ice and wind died down Weed and the paladins went outside of the cave once more.

The sculpture of the beauty was still standing even after the storm. The sculpture had fought a tough battle against nature.

It was damaged but not completely broken.

*Ting*

The Ice Beauty blessing is now in effect.

Thanks to it, they were able to resist the cold better. But it was weakened to only a 20% cold resistance.

Weed took the carving knife and walked over to the Ice Beauty.

‘Will this work?’

“Repair!”

He removed the extra pieces of ice on the sculpture and packed ice into other minor spots. Wherever it was broken, he attached new pieces of ice. Soon, it came back to its original appearance.

“So it can also repair statues…”

Weed had learned another piece of information. Info about classes was not made public and most professions had to make their own decisions to figure out more definite information.

‘Perhaps… maybe it might be possible here!’ Weed scratched his head as he thought.

Weed logged out.

Lee Hyun browsed through the websites. He was mainly looking for legends of the Arctic or monsters that live in cold climates.

He was looking for information.

Making sculptures raised the skill up well.

Copying the shape of a monster was not difficult. But that was not much of an achievement.

‘I can’t keep making sculptures of monsters. Now they don’t even give me 2% skill mastery.’

Sculpting and Handicraft skills required an additional 20% proficiency requirement each level.

Therefore it was very difficult to increase the level of the skills.

Intermediate skills were not that different from the beginner level, but now it required a certain level of inspiration. The skill would not increase from simply making sculptures of the things around him.

The advanced stage required 50% more training than the intermediate stage for production skills.

Looking beyond their capabilities, production classes were far more difficult than a combat based class.

‘I should make something big to get more artistic value. It will probably raise the skill up a lot too…’

Then Lee Hyun accessed a site that was associated with the Continent of Magic.

Dragons were classified as the ultimate monster of a fantasy continent. Lee Hyun had hunted quite a few dragons in the Continent of Magic.

Powerful, vibrant magical attacks. Incredible breath attack and colossal defense.

He had reached the highest level in the Continent of Magic, he had needed to use a few tricks or he would never have dared to go up against a dragon.

Of those dragons there was the Ice Dragon!

A dragon with a size of over 150 meters and it was capable of a powerful ice breath.

He remembered the time he had hunted one.

“The tail…yeah and then attach the head later. So I have to start from the feet and move up the body.”

Weed reconnected and started to collect chunks of ice.

Because it was immediately after a snowstorm, there was plenty of ice around. The ice piled around was larger than the average house. Walking around in the snow, people would have ice piled up to their chest.

“I would have died if there was nowhere to hide from the snowstorm!”

Frozen by the cold or struck dead by a chunks of ice! In the storm, death would come from one of the two. The only city in the north was in the vicinity of a large mountain. If it was unable to prevent snow in the mountains, then the village would not exist. But the northern town was frightening.

“In the past, the strongest military power of the northern kingdom was forced to be stronger or else they would not have been able to live in such an environment.”

Weed picked up chunks of ice from the surrounding area. He made a rough outline and then piled ice on top. The blocks of ice began to be stacked in layers on top of each other.

“A little bit at a time…”

Weed and the paladins had come back from hunting the wolves.

The blocks of ice that were stacked in a pile were now firmly solidified. There was no need for individual blocks but to connect all of them.

Weed had the paladins create a huge mountain of ice. A chunk of ice large enough to be a mountain!

The pile of ice was several stories tall and kept rising higher.

*Hwiyiiiing – kureureureung!*

The snowstorm had come again.

Ice stacked on top of the giant pile of ice.

Weed kept piling up the snow for two more ice storms and soon there was a mountain made of ice.

The will of humans and the power of Nature!

The two had worked together to achieve the impossible.

“From here on out, it’s my turn.” Weed said as he pulled out the Zahab carving knife.

Ice sculpting.

He had created the Ice Beauty with his hands and suffered through the process.

It was a piece that required fine detail. If he put as much detail into a sculpture of this size, then it would take a year to finish and he did not have that kind of time.

Weed cut drastically and added ice sometimes.

The sculpture gradually began to unfold.

It was now possible to sculpt.

A bonus of the Intermediate Sculpting skills was the supposed special effects to carving.

Weed had to pay attention as to not fall from the mountain of ice. He connected a piece of rope to the top. Very much like rock climbing.

*Tak tak tak!*

Pieces and chunks of ice were being cut off by the knife and fell down. They would fall to the ground and shatter. Weed looked down from above to see the bottom of the sculpture.

“Ohhh…”

To fall to his death.

This fear was suppressed while he worked on the sculpting. However, hanging from a high place in the freezing cold was no joke. Strong winds would blow and the rope that he was hanging on would shift and he could not move.

Weed finished his first goal for the sculpture which was the torso. The central part of it was the giant torso that was the size of a mountain. The circumference of the torso was more than an extraordinary 100 meters long.

Now it was time for the tail and the legs.

The legs were deformed to be very small. However they were thick enough to hold up a mountain of ice.

Small, thick legs.

A long tail lay hanging from the torso. The length of the tail itself was tens of meters.

The last part was the head. It protruded boldly from the body with a long neck, with its mouth spread wide, and its face glancing over from the side.

Its mouth resembled that of a crocodile.

Long whiskers extended from its face.

Its eyes were fierce and full of power.

The moment Weed finished the sculpture, it was engulfed in light.

*Ting*

Statue Completed: The Ice Dragon (Masterpiece)

Artistic passion and great success often impress young people, but sometimes they are impressed by the things that they are not aware of. A success made through the power of nature! In the northern region lives the pure-hearted dragon that detests evil. The dragon acts as a saint that keeps the order of the land.

Artistic value: 2500

Special Effects:

+30% Health and Mana recovery speed during the day.

+70% Resistance to the cold

+40% Magic resistance

+35% Maximum health

These effects do not stack with other statues.

Blessing of the Dragon has activated!

The Dragon’s Intimidation degrades the status of all monsters in the area around the Ice Dragon.

Monsters cannot come near the Ice Dragon.

Effect does not overlap with other sculptures.

Number of Grand Sculptures made: 1

Number of Masterpieces Created: 2

Ice Dragon has been added to the Wonders of the North.

If, in the future, Ice Dragon is given life then Weed will be given ownership of Ice Dragon and it will be loyal to Weed.

All stats have increased by 1 for having made a grand sculpture.

Level Up: Sculpture Mastery (Intermediate Lv: 6 | 0%):

Sculpting is more delicate and detailed.

Level Up: Handicraft (Intermediate Lv: 8 | 0%):

The ability to use hand tools has increased by an additional 5% and various areas will be affected by the skill.

Fame has risen by 850 points (+850 FAME)

Art has risen by 64 point (+64 ART)

Endurance has risen by 49 points (+49 END)

Perseverance has risen by 16 point (+16 PER)

All Stats have risen by 12 points (+12 ALL STATS)

He did not imagine that he would be able to use chunks of ice to make a monster.

The Ice Dragon Statue.

In comparison to the actual thing, Ice Dragon looked perfectly the same.

Using ice as the material for the Ice Dragon was the best answer.

Daring to use materials that other structures would never dream of. That made it a work of art.

Health and mana regeneration increased by 30%. That meant that the rate of hunting would last 30% longer. The increased resistance to the cold reduced the biggest obstacle in the north which would also help.

Resistance to magic and increase in maximum health.

The increase in stats.

This, along with his combat abilities made their chances of survival increase greatly.

If Alveron or the paladins die, then the quest would be over so Weed had to support them.

While Weed went around hunting and rescuing paladins. As did Death Knight Van Hawk.

“I will never approve of someone such as you!”

The paladins explicit complaints towards the Death Knight were revealed. It was too much for the followers of the faith to accept Van Hawk, who had been a servant of Barkhan.

Weed went to the Death Knight side to sort out the problem.

“You mean the Death Knight? This is the reason for his purpose.”

Weed beat up the Death Knight. After dying pathetically in front of the paladins, he was reverse summoned. A while after the Death Knight died, the Red Necklace of Life would turn crimson again and could be summoned once more.

“Bloodhounds.”

“We can do this.”

The paladins went upon the task of taking down the monsters.

‘Really strong’

Weed nodded.

When he hunted in the Rosenheim Kingdom, he lead the recruits using his bow and sword against the goblins as well as using traps.

But to the paladins, they could neglect those things. Their attacks were based on divine power and crushed the bones of the monsters.

Weed brandished his sword against the undead to collect experience. 20% of the experience was given to the Death Knight, but compared to hunting in Lavias he was able to collect much better experience here.

Hunting was much safer and sustainable with Alveron’s assistance. In a few months, Weed managed to get the paladins to around level 220 and others became equal to the True Blood Vampires with levels over 270. It was a performance worth tears. If it had not been for the Ice Dragon Statue, then it would have taken more time. One or two paladins may have ended up dead.

“Now let us begin to save the rest of our brothers.”

* * *

The 500 Dojang practitioners Geomchi’s.

The practitioners all chose similar type classes. Training their bodies, the sword was the first thing they learned in the game. They were noobs at everything else.

“It’s strange that eating bread fills the satiety level.”

“Drinking water also relieves thirst.”

“When I say status window, an impossible floating window appears!”

Such were the practitioners!

Several Geomchi’s had entered the game and ate the starting bread and were now going hungry.

Geomdulchi masked his face as he watched them.

“How is it that none of you have any bread left!”

“Do we hope for a miracle?”

“…”

They could no longer receive barley bread and the Geomchi’s were now suffering from hunger. The Geomchi’s were starving and waiting to die, but they could only hit the scarecrow. And then Pale came.

“Please buy me some bread.”

“Thank you!”

The Geomchi’s closed their eyes as they begged.

“We are not the type of people to be begging others for help. However since Weed is my disciple, isn’t it only natural that I should accept his help?”

The job was not what they had expected, but Pale and Surka accepted it nonetheless.

500 powerful men.

They instantly lost all backbone as they rushed Pale to go buy bread looking with their scary hungry eyes, so he went and bought 50 thousand barley bread.

For the 50 thousand barley bread, the price of single barley bread was 3 copper so with 1 silver he could buy 33 pieces and 1 gold could buy 3,300 pieces of bread.

Romuna, Surka, and Irene had grown up with so much money that they had never witnessed such pitiful people such as the 500 Geomchi’s.

Anyways, through a trial and error, the Geomchi’s finished beating the scarecrows in the training center.

4 weeks!

They really did not sleep for 4 weeks, and finished hitting the scarecrow.

505 people that were like Weed.

‘Ohh, I’m so tired…’

Honestly, if they had done it alone they would not have completed it.

Along with Geomchi, many of the trainees and instructors were tired and wanted to hurry and stop the training.

But Geomchi had declared that they would not leave until they passed the beginner’s training center.

If a single person did not pass, then the remaining 504 would have to wait for that one person.

“Such horror…”

If they remained behind then their conscience could not bear it! They were too afraid to take a rest. The practitioners were hitting the scarecrow like madmen.

“1697239!”

“1697240!”

“1697241!”

After Geomchi had finished the beginner’s training center, Geomchi reported the number of the other successful Geomchi’s. Aside from Geomchi, the instructors and one trainee had finished their training and were waiting for the remaining 499.

*Ting*

Agility has risen by 1 point (+1 AGI)

Finally, the last part of the training center was finished.

“Master, the training is finished.”

“Good effort.”

“It was very difficult.”

All of the Geomchi’s got together in a group. They had waited together to pass the beginner training center. The Instructor approached with a heart-warming smile. Then he took out some swords one by one.

“This is given to those that have completed the beginner training center. It is yours to take.”

“I know. Thank you.”

Geomchi thanked the instructor as he inspected his sword.

Their usernames were based on a single pattern.

Their names were in the initial order of the dojang!

His name followed the order as well.

The instructor smiled warmly.

“Do you have any questions? By the way, at this beginner training center, you are the 522nd person to…”

“I do not. I do not need any help. Thank you.”

He had heard the 504 other practitioners approached by the instructor to say the same thing. It was like they were unable to get the instructor’s voice out of their ears.

The Geomchi’s had been waiting for the rest of them to finish up.

However, now the instructor said something a little different.

“Since such a large number of you have passed this training center, it could only mean that good things will happen to this kingdom. I look forward to the day that you become valiant knights.”

“Yea, whatever. I don’t care. See you later.”

The Geomchi’s left the training center.

The game was finally beginning, but they were still noobs.

“Well, we need to get a job so let’s go to the guild.”

“Master, can we all come?”

“I don’t see any reason to not come! Is there?”

“As befitting of the Master.”

“Master, it is exciting that we will get inspected for a class.”

All of the 505 Geomchi’s strode around the streets.

They were all dressed the same and moved in unison.

“Who the hell are these people?”

“Are they holding a performance?”

“Look at that. They’re all holding the same sword.”

“Hey, they’re the guys from the training center!”

“Are they?”

“You mean those strange people…”

The Geomchi’s had already become a little famous but they did not care. They stood there, engulfed in the joy of the game for the very first time, the excitement, as they went to the guild.

After a while, one by one, the Geomchi’s came out of the guild smiling.

“Catch a fox?”

“Collect 300 fox leathers…”

“So it isn’t to catch a fox, but to collect fox leathers.”

“For a formal student of a dojang for more than two years? That is too easy.”

“Ha, ha, ha, foxes!” The practitioners laughed loudly.

More Geomchi’s laughed.

“Kkeolkkeolkkeol! They’re thinking too little of us.”

“Master, I do not think we have to do this alone. We can work together to collect the leather.”

“No Geomchi2. When you hunt you can earn experience for your level. Also, this is our first quest. Don’t you want to see what you are able to do?”

“Yes, indeed. Let us go catch some foxes.”

“Ha, I did not expect that I would first use my sword against a fox!”

“It is an honor for the fox.”

The people that were listening to the Geomchi’s conversation thought they were ridiculous. They seemed to be coming from a completely different world.

“Do you have any idea how strong a fox is?”

“They look like beginners without a job…”

“I couldn’t even catch a raccoon.”

The low levels ignored the Geomchi’s even more. They were unable to even think of hunting foxes. At their levels it was difficult to even hunt raccoons or rabbits.

“Once they die, they should come to their senses.”

“I don’t think that there were any guild quests in progress to hunt fox pelts. Once the sun rises, they’ll be in town trying to buy the pelts.”

“I bet that there’s going to be a stack of corpses in front of the castle.”

In the midst of the commotion, Pale and Surka could be seen at a distance.

“It’s so pitiful.”

“Yea, it’s too sad.”

“Poor foxes…”

“…”

They knew something about Weed and the practitioners that others did not know so Pale and the girls had a feeling about what was going to happen.

They had built up their base stats. However, to the other users it seemed that they were going to die…

“Oh! We should get going.”

“Let’s see how this goes.”

Geomchi and the practitioners went out the east gate.

The basic monsters such as foxes, rabbits, raccoon, and porcupines were outside playing around.

They were excellent at jumping and hunting noobs.

The fox was one of the monsters that stood out the most.

“Whoa, ah!”

“Let’s go!”

The Geomchi’s stampeded out into the field.

The fox was lying down with its tail in front sleeping. Unfortunately it was run down by a sword. This was the fox’s first fight against a sword and it just had to be a large number of swords wielding Geomchis!

With a fluid motion to avoid the attacks, he gently stabbed the sword towards the fox’s empty abdomen.

*Ting*

FATAL CRITICAL HIT!

The fox turned gray and died.

“What, why was it so easy?”

Geomchi muttered aloud. The rest of them that had watched the monster’s chest saw that it was true.

“Who killed a fox?”

“The fox must have been hurt. So it must have died right on the spot.”

“It doesn’t make sense that it would die so fast, look for traps. It doesn’t look right.”

“I don’t think so! I think we’re mistaken.”

“Is that right?”

However, then another fox came.

The practitioners dodge its silly attacks and attacked in response with their sword.

*Peobeobeok!*

Only one or two hits!

With their stats and skills, the 50% sword mastery boost, the damage they were doing was high.

“Oh, this is fun!”

“Yea, but why is the fox so weak?”

The Geomchi’s brutally killed any of the foxes they caught.

From squirrels to foxes, rabbits and raccoons; they killed them all. In the end, by nightfall, the higher level wolves came out!

The wolves were tough as they revealed their sharp protruding teeth.

The practitioners had secured the castle of Serabourg and wiped out all the mobs. The crowd could only open their mouths in shock at the sight of them.

“Unbelievable!”

“How do they do that…!”

Pale could only nod as a result.

“Well…”

“Yea, really.”

“I think I’m scared.”

“Irene, why is that?”

“It’s like seeing more than 500 people like Weed…”

“…”

For the mobs of rabbits and wolves, that was without a doubt an era of suffering.

The practitioners were carried away from the feeling of freely wielding a sword and using it to directly hit a monster.

Then a certain wolf that seldom shows itself appeared.

*Awoooo!*

The Silver Wolf’s roar.

Its silver fur was gently flowing in the wind.

It legs were elegantly outstretched and it boasted sturdy thighs.

Then Geomchi spoke up.

“It looks like we catch something nice.”

“Master, this one has better stuff.”

“Is that so? It gives better items?”

“That’s right!”

Geomchi charged.

*Kaeaeaeng!*

The wolves left the world with one scream at a time.

The Geomchi’s led a frenzy of slaughter in front the Citadel of Serabourg.

Sword mastery and rewards!

Experience!

Items!

Even the practitioners that had only been using the sword for a couple years became devoted.

Their soul no longer felt stifled.

They could unleash their sword skills here.

Kill monsters, get experience and level, eat better food.

For the practitioners it was good to be strong.

The reason was simple.

‘The spirit is the body!’

They did not want to be weak. They wanted to fight strong monsters.

Get good items. Get more money.

The fact that the rabbits and wolves dropped copper was fantastic since it mean that they could buy barley bread and they would not starve.

They could not stop since it was not enough!

“Keuhahahaha!”

“I will kill you!”

The crowd that had been watching them were excited at first, but as it dragged on they began to tremble in fear for their futures…

* * *

Thanks to Alveron and the higher level paladins, they were able to deal with 4 to 5 vampires at once. These were usually the vampires guarded the statues.

The paladin forces only attacked a few times during the day.

That way, they were able to rescue over 30 paladins. He was able to further enhance his cooking skills by feeding the ever increasing number of paladins, but there was an issue. The problem wasn’t the cooking but the ingredients!

So they had to start hunting for food. Dozens of paladins went to look for a good hunting ground for food ingredients, after which they needed to repair their armor. But during all of this hunting and repairing, he had been neglecting to raise his sculptor skills.

Other than his outstanding combat skills, he needed more time than other people to get stronger because he needed to improve Handicraft.

So he needed to raise his sculpting and various other skills as much as possible. Even if he had good combat capability, Weed had the hidden advantage of being a support class.

The best thing he could do was to support the paladins in the upcoming battles.

‘It’s fortunate. Other than one factor, there is no time limit…’

The quest to recover Fargo’s crown and rescue the petrified paladins had no particular time limit. Perhaps because the person that received the quest would have no time to hunt, and because of food.

There were over dozens of paladins that you had to feed. You had to watch over the amount of food left after each fight until the quest was complete; however Weed was always travelling with his seasonings and cooking skills.

To him, all the things in the forest and mountains were suitable for the cooking skill.

A wide variety of materials.

Meat from monsters could be good materials for soup, along with nuts and herbs.

He was familiar with how his geography played a part in his life.

A full-time job!

This was the place to exercise the power of the skills he had learned.

The number of paladins continued to increase, as did the number of people crowding the cave.

The effectiveness of the Ice Dragon Statue was becoming more apparent.

The larger the number of paladins, the more evident the effect the statue was having on the group.

It was always better to have more people.

Weed led as many paladins as possible to defeat the monsters.

*Ting*

Leadership has risen by 3 points (+3 LDR)

Charisma has risen by 2 points (+2 CHR)

Leading the paladins had increased his leadership and charisma by a fearsome amount so far.

His stats were increasing even faster than his level, but he didn’t complain in the slightest. He thought of it as a sort of investment in raising his stats.

The cooking skill was also growing very quickly.

Using the miscellaneous things from the mountain, he struggled with experimentation to develop new dishes while conserving ingredients. Thanks to this, he was able to create a new recipes of porridge using grass and bark. It tasted fine because of Weed’s cooking skills.

‘It has come to a good fruition.’

He had used leftover ingredients to make the dish. In the midst of mixing it together, a shocking thing happened.

A secret of the cooking skill! Weed managed to solve one of them. In fact, the secret was very simple and wasn’t very secret, but it worked.

Praying together to the Goddess Freya increased the intimacy to the church…

*Ting*

New Stat: Faith

In return for the praise and devotion to God, special abilities will be granted by God.

Weed created a stat that was usually exclusive to priests and paladins.

Faith was known to influence the magical powers of the gods. However since Weed could not use divine magic, it was a totally useless stat.

“Open Stats Window”

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Neutral

Level

205

Fame

3845

Title

None

Profession

Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Health

7760

Mana

6471

Strength

465 (+118)

Agility

405 (+38)

Vitality

134 (+38)

Leadership

133 (+38)

Wisdom

136 (+38)

Intelligence

154 (+48)

Endurance

162 (+38)

Fighting Spirit

323 (+38)

Luck

91 (+38)

Charisma

368 (+38)

Art

714 (+118)

Perseverance

379 (+38)

Faith

1 (+388)

Offense

1069

Defense

133

Magic Resistance

Fire

10%

Water

10%

Earth

20%

Black Magic

65%

Weed’s stats really were abnormal.

While hunting, he intentionally gave up experience in order to increase his stats. He had a larger diversity of stats and more stat points for a character of the same level. It did not take a genius to figure out that he had increased his fighting spirit and perseverance stats to over 300 by spilling his own blood.

However, that was not all.

He had reached intermediate in several skills, gaining bonus stats from them as well and from the various different types of equipment that changed various stats. Because of that, his strength, agility, and perseverance stats were higher than normal. The Faith stat had also just been created. His job was that of the moonlight sculptor; he had intermediate sword mastery, intermediate cooking, and intermediate sculpting mastery that added to his stats!

He was wearing the Rose Engraved Gloves, Agatha’s Holy Sword, and the Ring of the High Priest as well as the addition of status effects. Therefore his Faith stat was one of his highest stats being almost 400 points!

In terms of stat points it was enough to overwhelm an ordinary paladin. Of course, most of his items had effects on them.

If a stat did not exist, then it would not affect the character at all. However now that the Faith stat had been created, Weed was now being granted effects from the stat.

‘No matter how I look at it, the stat is useless. However one day…there might some use for it in the future.’

Unexpectedly, after the Faith stat had been created, the look in the paladins and priests eyes towards Weed had changed. They now followed his command immediately and even expressed admiration sometimes.

“Leader, we initially had doubts about your leadership, but from now on we shall follow your command.”

“You are a companion of the church!”

“The power of our faith shall guide us!”

Because of Weed’s high Faith, the paladins now acted differently.

NPC paladins were usually given the stat at level five and increased depending on their level.

Because they were a skilled swords class they needed to evenly distribute stats into endurance, strength, and agility. Since they were a class related to magic, they had to put points into wisdom and knowledge. Since they were followed the faith of God, their faith stat was around 200 to 300.

But Weed’s faith stat in respect to the paladins was nearly 400 thanks to his equipped items.

Needless to say, the priest over time usually had more. But after hunting with the paladins he cooked food and repairing equipment for them during the break otherwise they would be able to hunt.

They were extremely addicted to his food.

As time passed, soon Weed and the paladins were standing near the village with the giant black castle in front of them.

Alveron removed the curse from the last of the paladins that were still trapped.

“Divine light please free the power of restraints that are twisted here.”

The light came down and dispelled the curse on the statue.

“Under the command of the High Priest we have come to rescue you.”

At this point, the paladins kneeled in front of Weed to be informed of the situation.

“The church is here to recover Fargo’s crown and be rid of the True Blood Vampire Clan that threatens the peace of the village.”

“From here on, I would like to follow the noble commander’s commands.”

The paladins were keen to follow Weed’s commands thanks to the increase in his leadership and faith stats.

By then, he had completely secured the village.

A total of 159 paladins and 38 priests.

A grand total of 199 people including Weed and Alveron.

The tremendous giant black castle felt overwhelming standing near it. Bards would undoubtedly sing tales of its horror.

Ravens ominously circled the building and the paladins trembled.

“A total of 5 floors huh…” Weed counted as he looked up the at the castle.

The makeshift windows had curtains covering them and were barricaded with wood on the outsides.

“Okay. I’ll take on that challenge.”

Weed led the priests and paladins into the castle.

*Kureureureung!*

He simultaneously pushed both of the doors open at once.

“…”

Weed took a step back quietly.

“Let us advance! In the name of the goddess we will take out the True Blood Vampires and liberate the Province of Morata!”

“Woowaah!” the paladins and priests roared behind him.

Weed and the paladins entered inside the building and then the door slammed shut by itself. As if nothing had ever happened.

Chapter 10: Battle of The Black Castle

“Living humans!”

“Paladins!”

“The curse on the paladins in the town was removed!”

As soon as they entered the black castle they were greeted by about 50 vampires.

Their eyes were shining with bloodlust as they grabbed their flapping cloaks with their long nails and flew across the space inside the castle to close the distance between them and the paladins.

Some of them used magic to summon bats. The vampire bats could also deal a small amount of damage!

“Light, to defeat thy darkness! Holy Light!”

“Light, to defeat thy darkness! Holy Light!”

Alveron and the nearby priests used holy magic simultaneously.

“Aaaaaa!”

“It’s too bright!”

The vampires clamored to cover their eyes as the bright light sprayed down on them. The vampires that had been airborne were dropping down.

Members of the clergy usually had magic to weaken the ability of the undead and creatures of the darkness.

Typical healing spells were powerful offensive magic against the undead and vampires.

Amidst the bright light show holy magic, the paladins brandished their swords gallantly.

*Chukaak!*

Vampire blood sprayed everywhere.

It was pretty much a one-sided massacre.

Until now, none of the paladins or priests had died. They overwhelmed the 50 vampires with sheer numbers. They weren’t a very difficult opponent.

Backed by the priests’ holy magic, the paladins were able to attack the vampires. The paladins did not have much risk to their lives since the priests were constantly healing and dispelling curses.

Weed also took on one of the vampires.

“Sword Dance!” The Imperial Formless Sword Technique’s 4th form!

Weed danced around brandishing his sword flamboyantly.

He actually just moved around monotonously and struck the vital points of the enemy, but the skill created after images.

He went to attack and destroy while creating almost no openings that could be exploited by the vampires and while they were busy attacking in a wrong direction, he would close the gap.

*Ting*

You have leveled up!

Weed hadn’t taken care of a vampire for a long time so his level rose by one.

Prior to leveling up, his experience had been at 56%, but more than 226 experience points went to the 20% leech.

‘Ohh…it’s too good to boost up!’

It was unfair that he had had to give up the kills to the paladins until now. In the plains and village he had not hunted so that the paladins would get strong faster, but now he didn’t need to do so anymore.

Therefore Weed was hunting.

Whenever a vampire died, it dropped some items.

*Ting*

Item: Vampire Fangs

Durability: 50/50

Penetrates the enemy’s body to absorb blood. Though unusual, it can be used in alchemy to create items.

Restriction: Level 300

Effects: If used to create a weapon, then it can absorb the enemy’s vitality!

Item: Vampire Cloak

Durability: 80/80

A cloak worn by the nobility of the darkness. It was very appropriate for its owner. Flight is possible when transformed.

Restriction: Level 250

Equipped:

Bat transformation: In battle, it is possible to fly away.

When transformed, the defense from equipment does not apply.

-50 Faith

+25 Appeal to woman

-25 All stats

And 3 gold and 25 silver.

Vampires were very rich monsters.

Weed looked around as he pocketed the items. The paladins had finished the battle and were waiting for him. The level of the paladins was much higher, so they caught the vampires quickly.

“Let us move to the first floor. Alveron, remove the curse from the statues.

The first floor had a total of 50 petrified paladins.

Alveron removed the curses while Weed and the paladins searched for others captives.

There were a few vampires in the nearby rooms, but they were not enough to stop the heavily armed paladins.

They searched the first floor without much resistance.

All of the rooms on the first floor.

There were also numerous other statutes, they appeared to be farmers and villagers.

“Alveron, remove the curse on them.”

“Yes.”

Alveron’s holy magic freed each of them and they fell to the floor.

Of the many people, the bearded elder spoke up softly.

“Oh, are you our saviors?

“Saviors?”

“We are the residents of the Morata Province from when the forces of darkness invaded. We were here suffering, incapacitated. We have waited for our savior to come…”

“…”

“We have been waiting for a very long time for you to come. All of the villagers of Morata Province have been turned to stone, our families and our brethren. Savior, please have pity and help us! As a reward we will give you whatever we can!”

*Ting*

Quest: The Curse on the Province of Morata

The True Blood Vampires occupying the territory have turned all the villagers into distasteful stone decorations. They spend their time in pain. Save the people of Morata!

Difficulty: B

Quest requirement: To be able to cast, or have someone who can cast, Tier 2 Holy Magic to remove the curse.

Rewards: Prismatic Cloth

Weed did not worry too much.

With plenty of clerics in the party to remove the curse from the statues in the city, the quest was triggered because Weed had brought Alveron to find the Crown of Fargo.

Difficulty B…

He already had one. He had been commissioned to defeat the vampires in the black castle anyways.

“We will make it our duty to see that they are saved.”

*Ting*

You have accepted the quest!

Weed and the paladins went up to the second floor.

Nearly 150 True Blood Vampires awaited their arrival.

Other than vampires, there were also minions with them, numbering nearly 100 in total, and altogether there were 250 enemies.

With the number of paladins they had rescued on the first floor added to their ranks, it became too simple.

“Attack!”

“Ah waooooh!”

“Let us fight against the evil horde!”

The paladins had received blessings and protection magic from the priests and were now raiding the vampires. The paladins were well organized, but soon after the fight began the vampires started their counterattack.

“Dark Barrier!”

“Dark Arrow!”

“Healing Hand!”

The magic clashed terribly.

Holy magic from the priests spread to fight the darkness being shot from the dark bows.

Weed did not engage in direct combat. With such a large clash of magic, it was possible to end up dead from a random attack.

“Alveron, don’t idle by, fight hard.”

“Yes Weed-nim.”

“Use more power! Provide more support! Paladins with low health get in the back!”

Weed commanded the forces from the rear. The paladins were lined up against the dense number of vampires. They were the best defensive tankers that there could be, since the priest had layered protective magic on them. On the side, the priests were instructed to constantly support.

They attacked the remainder of the vampires.

Weed had separated the vampires into groups. Defending against the enemy attack and wiping out the weaker side. This approach was more convenient for the priests to prevent them from dying, taking advantage of their supportive role to also prevent the paladins from dying.

They would switch to the offensive for a reckless assault, then to the defensive when they were in danger, to give the priests time to heal as well as use holy magic to launch another offensive.

The densely packed paladins and priests were united in battle, fighting in the most optimal conditions.

“Let’s us attack!”

“The Commander ordered us to attack!”

For the paladins it was not an easy battle, but they eventually won.

From hunting the high level vampires, the paladins had been able to increase their level.

Furthermore, the support from the priests was enough to overwhelm the True Blood Vampires’ individual blessings.

On the second floor, 30 paladins and 40 priests were rescued. In the meantime, Weed had the villagers rescued as well.

‘They’re getting kind of hungry; I’ll have to do something.’

Weed took out a pot and started cooking.

Usually the priests and paladins would have watched him cook carefully, but now they were doing everything they could to get farther away.

Looking at the pot made his eyes hurt.

It hurt so much that Weed was crying as he made the stew.

“Is it alright to eat it?”

“Please…”

“It is overflowing with faith.”

Weed handed out bowls of stew to the paladins. The ingredients for it were the Avian eggs and the Fruit of Heaven!

Finishing the quest required a significant amount of risk. The fruits of heaven increased intellect and luck, so it was good to eat it before going to hunt. Luck increased the item and money drop rates from monsters.

So now was the time to use the ingredients. He used the Avian eggs and the Fruit of Heaven to make a stew.

In addition, he added one more ingredient to the mix: garlic.

The stew with plenty of garlic formed a resistance against vampires to some extent.

“Woohuk”

“Puaahhh, it’s too spicy, I need some snow.”

Tears trickled down the paladins’ faces as they ate the stew.

There was a tough battle ahead, so there wasn’t just stew. Weed cried as he put together dishes such as pickled garlic, garlic salad and garlic sandwich one after another. The relatively docile priests now had tears running down their faces and runny noses from the strong garlic.

The third floor of the black castle had 200 True Blood Vampires waiting for them.

“Khalkkalkkal! It seems that they have forgotten the horrors of dark magic. The fool’s need to be reminded of who their Master is. Charm!”

“Oh look, that knight is coming to us. He has become dominated by our spell. Wonderful!”

The Vampire Queen had appeared.

They tried their illusionary magic to seduce the paladins.

“You heinous creatures! Your vampire magic will not work on me!”

“This is crazy!”

The paladins began to attack with their swords as they let the priests take care of support.

The vampires tried to use their magic against the priests to control the paladins.

Once they had entered the black castle they were unable to leave.

Without the Ice Dragon statue increasing the priests and paladin fighting spirit, they were affected by the charm magic.

But not all the priests were affected, “Those filthy bastards! Those disobedient rascals! These vampires deserve to die.”

“This world needs to be freed from darkness!”

“Goddess Freya, bring your followers back onto the right path. Cleansing!”

Alveron and the rest of the sane priests used cleansing magic.

Weed thought as he analyzed the situation.

“First, kill the Vampire Queen and the crisis ends.”

But the Vampire Queen was well protected in the middle of the enemies. Weed would get killed before he would be able to kill them.

“Alveron, heal the priests before the paladins.”

“Yes Weed-nim.”

Alveron finished purifying the priests. The priests then healed the knights that were under the spell. The priests were doing a good job, but the Vampire Queen was constantly interfering.

Weed had originally planned to have the paladins and priests fight the vampires no matter how the enemies were arranged. His formation with priests as the rear support would not fail.

However, the magic caused the paladins to attack their own colleagues and made the priests unable to heal.

The vampire attacks had been suppressed to some extent because of the strong smell of garlic on the paladins, but it was only a matter of time. It was a huge emergency!

Weed radiated as he gathered his mana.

“Hey! You! Guys! Go! Attack! The! Damn! Vampires!”

*Ting*

Skill: You have used Lion’s Roar

Allied army’s Fighting Spirit increases by 200%

For 5 minutes, leadership will be increased by 170%

Any confusion is cleared

He used the Lion’s Roar skill that he had trained in the mountains.

A high intensity shout came out. At that moment, all of the Vampire Queen’s tactics became useless.

Weed’s leadership was now at a sufficient enough level to command the paladins and priests. Without the leadership and charisma stat, the paladins and priests couldn’t be commanded. There would also be higher level soldiers that would not listen to commands. Under the influence of his higher leadership, the paladins followed Weed’s absolute commands. They were faster and more accurate in following out his commands.

His Lion’s Roar range extended to the area of the vampires as well. With the advanced level skill the opponent’s movements was suppressed as an additional effect.

“Die!”

The paladins drove their blades to rip apart the vampires. The Vampire Queen tried to use her illusionary skills to manipulate the paladins, but it failed. She lacked the physical abilities that other vampires usually had. Weed used the Lion’s Roar skill frequently regardless of the mana-cost.

“Hyaahat! Die!”

All of the vampires launched an attack on Weed.

Weed was the target of the vampires, since his Lion’s Roar skill made him a top-priority target.

With great difficulty, Weed and the paladins managed to clear the third floor.

With the soldiers that they rescued from the floor, they now had 300 paladins and 100 priests!

That was everyone that the Church of Freya had dispatched to retrieve the Crown of Fargo.

4th floor!

The remaining 300 True Blood Vampires were waiting. Thankfully, with the addition of the rescued paladins and priests, Weed obtained a complete victory due to the significant increase in soldiers.

Now, in the black castle, all the True Blood Vampires had been defeated except for one.

The Vampire Lord!

Tori was the clan leader with a level of 400. He was also known to be the one that had the Crown of Fargo.

“Please rescue her…”

The daughter of one of the villagers had been turned into stone and had been placed on the 5th floor because of her beauty. Her name was Prina.

A common trait of vampires was that they enjoyed decorations such as beautiful girls.

“It would have been nice if it had been another side quest.”

Weed looked over at the paladins and priests.

There were a solid 300 paladins and 100 priests now.

‘If only I could keep them as my soldiers…’

But they were paladins of the Church of Freya and no matter how high their friendship level was, Weed would not be able to get them to follow him. Thus he was only allowed to lead the troop until the quest was completed.

It was human nature to win a battle as easily as possible and Weed hated to sacrifice time. Battle should be fought as efficiently as possible. Only fight the vampires if you are able to defeat them. If you couldn’t win, then don’t fight. It was important to win without losing anything.

So far Weed had spent a lot of time to raise the level of the priests and paladins to a sufficient amount. Through the combination of the paladins and priests, the conditions to win the battle had been cleared. However, you had to be even more cautious if you were winning. You had to take the victory safely by taking turns in fighting and resting.

Normally Weed hunted alone, but that was more reckless than supporting the group. Knowing that, it was impossible to abandon the quests that he had taken since he had already come this far.

Weed went up to the fifth floor with the paladins and priests. There was an aristocratic young man sitting in a golden chair.

The Vampire Lord Tori!

He had skin as white as a porcelain doll and dark black hair. He had a slim body, resembling a woman’s. He wore a jeweled crown on his head and he was handsome, but the contrast between his pale, white skin and his black clothing was grotesque.

Weed looked over at the crown that was on his head.

‘I presume that’s the Crown of Fargo.’

At last, the goal had been sighted. However, getting his hands on it and finishing it was going to be the most difficult. Currently Tori was appreciating a statue of a beautiful girl.

“Oh, it’s beautiful. Have you ever seen such a beautiful statue?”

“…”

The paladins stopped the moment they saw Tori.

One of the two virtues of a knight was their bravery, but seeing such a powerful enemy had them trembling in fear. In an army, the invisible factor known as morale was very important. A lower morale caused the attack power to drop.

“I have seen a more beautiful statue.”

Weed decided to go with the momentum.

“You have seen a more beautiful statue than this?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

Tori got up as if he wanted to go there immediately.

“In Baran Village at the southern part of the Rosenheim Kingdom.”

“That is not a palace or the city of a church. I have never even heard the name of that town. Why should I believe that there is a beautiful statue in such a place?”

“It’s up to you to believe it. It was a statue that I made. However this is not even close to the Ice Beauty statue that I made.”

Tori was overwhelmed as he smiled.

“What is your profession?”

“Sculptor.”

“An artist! Making your life enriching! Being praised in abundance! Eating and filling your stomach so that you can enjoy life! That is why I hate the Church of Freya. Humans are mistaken. They have lived thinking that abundance is good. Taking what belongs to another. Only that is beautiful is eternal. Humans that choose to sacrifice beauty cannot enjoy art. It takes the nobility of the night, the vampires, to appreciate art!”

Tori got off of his chair and revealed his true form. Long nails grew from his hands and fangs protruded from his mouth like a snake. He was changing his form to start the battle.

“I want to see what you look like drenched in blood! This is what it means to be a vampire. I hereby welcome you to my castle humans.”

“Paladins forward, concentrate on defense!”

Under the protection of magic and blessings, the paladins urgently made a layered formation.

“Kyaahah!”

Tori gazed with a mean look at the line of paladins in front of him.

*Jjeojeojeok!*

From the ankle upwards, they began to petrify. Tori had used a curse to turn his enemies into stone. This was the skill that had turned the all 300 paladins and 100 priests into statues before.

“Alveron!”

Weed called Alveron to use the dispel magic he had memorized. In the meantime, a full-fledged battle went underway. Tori struck the paladins like lightning. Wielding his nails like knives, every now and then paladin blood would splatter. Priests continued healing as they had in every battle until now.

‘We’re going to win!’

Weed’s eyes shone.

A level 400 monster had caused him a lot of worry. Thankfully the paladins were excellent at blocking attacks. Even the little damage they did take did not matter that much because of the priests healing. No matter how much damage was done, the priests were able to quickly restore it. Taking away the enemy’s strength, it was a fighting cycle by a large number of enemies.

Tori’s health and mana continued to drop!

But there was an unseen variable!

“Tornado Blade!”

Tori entered the fray playfully. Then a tremendous storm swept up the paladins. Those in the path of the tornado had their health reduced by nearly a third.

“Healing Hand!”

“Heal!”

“Recover!”

The priests continued to heal. The radiant white light began to heal the group, but Tori used his skill again.

“Tornado Blade!”

With that attack about 20 paladins burst into gray flames.

Eternal rest. That was the fate of the slain.

Tori moved relentlessly. His health and mana were colossal. Tori’s long nails cut down like knifes.

“Aaaah!”

“Goddess Freya!”

Once again, a bunch of paladins turned into gray flames. However, Tori’s power gradually fell, just as Weed had planned. But Tori suddenly rushed near a paladin and bit down to suck his blood.

“Keuah!”

The paladin’s complexion was rapidly disappearing. Tori had recovered his mana that he had used. His health and wounds were restored and his power was restored.

“Behold my attack, you savage sheep!”

Tori had begun to fight at his maximum health and mana. Whenever his health and mana fell, he used his unique vampire skill to shower them with a wide area magic. The paladins tried to avoid it, but they could not escape. Tori moved with tremendous speed and caught the paladins.

‘The paladins that I spent all my time training!

Weed was tearing up at the scene. The paladins he had raised by feeding, repairing their equipment, and to whom he had given up his hunting grounds were helpless in front of Tori. To make matters worse, the paladins that fell to the vampire were slowly rising from the ground.

The faithful members of the church were now slaves to the vampire lord.

A vampire paladin!

Even without holy powers, their sword skills were still intact. Tori was increasing the number of slaves.

“Keoheoheong!”

The paladins began to yell out in fatigue. This was not confusion magic but rather Tori’s plan.

“Healing Hand!”

“Heal!”

Fortunately, the priests were still alive. However, it remained unchanged that the vampires could fight endlessly while his own men couldn’t. This was the tactic that Tori had used to exhaust and wipeout the first group of paladins and priests.

“Keuhahahahah!”

These were optimal conditions for Tori. His wickedness and twisted beauty could be distinctly felt. But Weed still had means to reverse the situation.

“If this is how it’s going to be then we can’t help it! Priests, stop the treatment of friendly units and attack him.”

Since that moment the situation was reversed. Using the high vitality of the paladins to stop Tori, the priests casted their healing spells on the vampire, which were deadly to any vampire! Since the priests concentrated their attacks on Tori, the paladins had to use their own healing spells to recover their health.

“Kueahah!” Tori screamed.

Tori killed a few more paladins, but his health gradually fell. He was falling under the continuous attacks of the priests. With low health, Tori began looking for food. At that moment, Tori caught a paladin and used his vampire skills. Weed was looking for a loophole. No matter how powerful, every monster had a weakness. Not to mention that the vampires had the biggest weakness. Their completely unprotected bodies.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s sword was covered in a clear blue light.

Color Spectrum!

Most of the times, a sword skill had a red or black hue. However, as an engraver, Weed’s intermediate skill gave him a blurred blue light.

“Sword Kaiser!”

Weed’s sword gathered energy from his body. Then he flew forward and pierced the paladin and Tori together.

He used the paladin to get to the vampire!

Since he didn’t see Weed behind the paladin, his sword penetrated straight into the vampire’s heart.

*Ting*

A fatal blow has been struck!

Tori’s vampire abilities have been removed

The vampire’s weakness was the heart! Since he had stabbed the heart with the sword like a stake in the heart. Agatha’s holy attribute gave twice the damage to the undead. Tori suffered a grievously fatal blow.

Sword Kaiser was the last technique from the Imperial Formless Sword set. It was the most mana and stamina draining skill Weed could use! However, the total damage from collecting all of Weed’s mana into a single attack was enormous. Tori had became unsteady from the huge amount of damage that was dealt to him, but as a high level monster, he did not die.

“Fucker….”

Throwing aside the dead paladin, he caught Weed with both of his hands.

“I’ll eat you instead. Kueahak!” He roared as Tori opened his mouth.

At the moment the shiny sharpened fangs drew closer to the nape of his neck. Weed stared at him and opened his mouth to let out his breath.

“Woowaak! The rotten smell of garlic!”

“So I heard you like art, is that right?”

“I’m going to kill you!”

Tori chased as Weed immediately turned and ran. He enjoyed the feeling of fighting significantly stronger monsters. However, the enemy was way too strong to fight one on one. His mana was depleted so he couldn’t even use the Sculpting Blade skill. Compared to Tori, whose damage was cut by half, a simple attack was very risky for Weed.

“Heal me! Paladins kill him!”

Weed was under the constant treatment of Alveron as he fled. While running away, his stamina and health was being restored. Tori was constantly being attacked by the priests and was slowly dying. As expected of a level 400 monster, he was able to get past and kill a few paladins. But under the heavily concentrated magic he fell to the ground and died.

The paladins that had been turned into vampires by Tori stopped moving. When Tori had died, the magic that was controlling their spirit was released. None of the priests had died in the battle, but 178 paladins, more than half of them, had lost their lives.

‘It’s a pity.’ Weed thought sadly.

Weed had depleted his mana and was disappointed. He had not dealt the final blow to Tori with his own hands. With the vast experience of a level 400 monster, he would have gotten at least 4-5 levels.

As Tori died, he dropped a crown and a necklace. Weed picked up the two items. The Crown of Fargo was heavy.

*Ting*

The Church of Freya’s Treasure: Crown of Fargo has been recovered!

“Identify”

Item: The Crown of Fargo

Durability: 2000/2000

One of the three sacred treasures of the Goddess Freya.

The crown is a symbol of authority. It gives the firm belief to rule over others. It bestows the power to rule over the church’s army. With the Crown of Fargo, the army will be absolutely loyal.

Restriction:

A job related to the Clerical class that is recognized by the Church of Freya.

Leadership 800

Faith 1200

Equipped:

Raises the soldiers’ moral.

Soldiers do not surrender to the enemy.

+150 Strength

+150 Agility

+150 Stamina

+50 All other stats

+500 Fame

It was indeed a Holy Treasure of the Church of Freya. Weed admired it and then a message window appeared.

*Ting*

For observing a beautiful object, art has increased!

Art has risen by 20 point (+20 ART)

The Crown of Fargo was adorned with glittering jewels. It was made with exquisite craftsmanship and elegance. The light that shone from the jewels had unparalleled beauty. That was the feeling being transmitted to Weed.

“And now the necklace…”

“Identify!”

Item: Black Necklace of Life

Durability: 50/50

It was crafted from ancient black magic items and imbued with an unknown power. The Undead Lord Barkhan made this item for his subordinates.

Restriction: Unknown

Equipped: Unknown

“Whoa!” Weed exclaimed.

If his hunch was right, this item was able to summon Tori out to fight. But like the Death Knight Van Hawk, he needed to persuade him first.

‘Better keep it stored for now.’

Weed crammed the Black Necklace of Life into a corner of his bag. Since Tori died, the black castle began to change. Beams of light leaked in through the blocked windows. The deteriorated walls and floor were brightened up by the light, changing the atmosphere. It was as if the days of past splendor were returning.

“The divine light removes the power of restraint that binds and distorts freedom.”

The statue of the village girl finally returned to normal. The villagers of Morata came to give their thanks.

“Thank you, thank you! Now we will be able to live in peace.”

*Ting*

Quest Completed: The Curse on the Province of Morata

All of the petrified residents of the Morata village have been freed, and although it will still be tough for them, do not give up hope; for the textile business in the Morata Province will begin reconstruction!

Fame has risen by 900 points (+900 FAME)

Your friendship with Morata residents has reached 25 points

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

You have leveled up!

Completing a Rank B difficulty quest, caused him to go up a staggering 8 levels!

Then the villagers laid out something wrapped in cloth. “Here, in absence of a reward, please take these poultry gifts!”

*Ting*

You have received:

Item: 100 pieces of Sovereign Prismatic Cloth

Item: 200 pieces of Premium Deer Leather

For tailoring, Prismatic Cloth was a Tier 1 material in making clothes. The Cloth was lustrous with light and colours. The leather was a great material for buckskin clothing.

“What to do with these things? I’ll just keep them for now and see what I can do with them later…”

Weed neatly stacked the bolts of Prismatic Cloth on top of each other into his backpack.

The quest in Morata had been completed. When Weed went to the teleport gate, the Paladins said.

“Please convey the High Priest this message. The town is powerless to stop the monsters. We have decided to stay here to keep order in this town. We will stay here and keep Barkhan’s army of darkness away.”

The paladins and priests remained behind. Weed and Alveron went back to the teleport gate and the priests from the church gathered in the cave.

“Savior, an oracle has divined that you have safely resolved the quest. The High Priest is waiting. Please enter the portal.”

“Yes.”

Weed and Alveron went onto the teleport gate. With a dazzling light, they soon disappeared.

Chapter 11: Emergence of Poor Broadcasting

Lee Hyun accessed the item trading site to get information about some of the items he had.

“This should earn me a decent amount of income…”

He had spent more than 3 months in the Morata Province. He had to invest that kind of time because of the difficulty of the quest.

He had acquired a lot of vampire loot: one vampire cape, two boots, and 4 gloves. In addition to his drops, he had gathered various items while hunting out in the field.

However, for 3 months worth of hunting, it was lower than he had expected. Unlike when he was hunting in Lavias where he could monopolize the items, he had to distribute the items evenly amongst the paladins in battle.

Even with the help of Alveron, in order to make the chances of the quest succeeding as high as possible he had depleted all of the remaining heavenly fruit and Avian eggs that he had.

He hoped to earn at least 6 million won. If he managed to sell the items, 6 million won would be a lot of money. However, to get a college degree, it would only last about three months.

‘That means I have to earn 2 million won a month. However, in six months I have only managed to earn 3 million won.’

Hyun Lee, his sister, and his grandmother. For a family of three, they had a fixed income of 200 thousand won. Everything that was left over went into saving for the degree. In one year, his sister was going to enter a university. In a single year, a freshman spends more than 10 million won and it increases each year.

With all these in mind, when his sister goes to college she will need a monthly minimum of 3.5 million won.

The reason for this was so that she could socialize with others, make friends, learn various skills, and spend time roaming with others.

Royal Road! It already dominated the item trading site.

Therefore, users earned a lot of money from the game. Users were especially greedy. They formed a guild in the capital or a castle and received exclusive hunting grounds. Lee Hyun was left trying to compete with them.

‘I don’t care whatever others do. I only want my share. With time the items will sell.’

Lee Hyun had great confidence for this part.

A Triple Diamond Rating.

Thanks to it, the items that Lee Hyun posted on the trading site will have a prominently displayed position until it was sold.

“Okay.”

Lee Hyun had a moment of satisfaction.

Then the door rattled as his sister came in.

“Oppa, it’s time to study.”

“…”

His GED test was less than 1 month away.

Lee Hyun spent 2 hours a day with his sister studying in order to pass the exam.

*Beep!*

The phone rang in the middle of studying.

Lee Hyun thought that maybe it was the item trading site contacting him and picked up the phone.

“Hello. This is CTS Media.”

The cheerful and feminine voice of Nahee Yoon.

Lee Hyun had heard it once when he had already sold his account.

“What’s going on? Did you purchase my items again?”

* * *

Within CTS Media was a department that was currently holding an important meeting.

“Our shares in the broadcasting market are increasingly falling. Our sector has less than 7% ratings for broadcasting the game.”

“Is it that too many people are not interested in broadcasts about the game? Too many game companies have turned away from the game approach and trying using a lot of advertising. We have been too focused on the commercial approach while other companies are increasing their revenue and viewership by focusing on the game itself.”

“There could be another reason, however, we probably still require a major program like the other broadcasters is also true, so we should have a program about the most popular game Royal Road, right?”

More than 90% of gamers in Korea played the game now.

Royal Road, was the VRMMORPG that has caught the attention of the people on a worldwide basis.

(P/R: VRMMORPG: Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game)

Generally it has become part of the regular news, but there could be time to make a separate program about the game.

In recent years, even office workers were able to travel abroad on vacation at home without having to go anywhere by using Royal Road, except, they become a little bit hooked and it’s turning into a bit of social problem.

“Viewership for programs associated with Royal Road is doing well overall. However, our overall viewership has declined. It says that viewers have stopped following our programs.”

“What is the specific cause? I have gotten all sorts of celebrities and comedians to come onto the show as commentators for the game.”

The directors of each department were very embarrassed.

Famous celebrities in Korea. They had indeed hired high cost A-class celebrities.

Why these programs appeared to continually progress with lower and lower viewership as they were, was difficult to understand.

“Why don’t you bring in the more well-known entertainers?”

“You mean hire the even more expensive ones? I did that for a little bit, but every time I do the viewership drops deceptively.”

“The celebrities avoid doing the broadcasts now too.”

Each of the directors talked for a very long time but the answer did not come.

Back in the day, CTS Media was said to be the most popular broadcasting station. It was the first broadcasting station that brought out popular celebrities. It didn’t take long for the ratings to rise after celebrities started appearing on the show. With the appearance of the celebrities, viewership increased from low to normal.

That was why they did not discard the celebrity card. But now it was the main topic after the repeated drops in the ratings.

Celebrities in a game. It became cliché. Cute celebrities showing pitiful expressions from catching a rabbit. They also didn’t know the rules of the game or how to get a basic quest from an NPC, were constantly lost in the various kingdoms within the game and didn’t know which cities they were in.

Most viewers found watching celebrities hunting in a VRMMORPG almost hilarious.

The broadcasters had gotten a lot of good equipment and items for hunting. They wanted to find a good party that would increase the popularity of their show. Unfortunately, this annoyed the viewers.

Royal Road had meaning in the name itself.

Because anyone was capable of becoming Emperor, it was their ambitious to up the challenge and become the Emperor!

Users took risks in this dream. Each with a different way, even if the purpose itself was the same. It was a happy life full of challenges and adventure!

Even since Royal Road was released, suicide rates dropped substantially across the board.

“The most fundamental problem comes first; it is necessary to increase our incorporation of Royal Road a bit.”

Everyone sympathized with the Director of Management.

“Of course.”

“We should have done that sooner.”

“We should get rid of all future plans for celebrities playing the game.”

“Viewership may diminish temporarily but sometimes you need to try.”

“Welcome.”

The Planning Department welcomed the Ministry of Finance with open arms.

“A decisive measure to boost viewership amongst our broadcasters…we need to organize a special program.”

“A special program?”

“So far, viewers have relied on the news to get informed about the game. However there is a limit for each city or kingdom. Nothing like a boring newscast in front of a desk. Let us introduce a way to get closer to the users.”

“Closer you say…”

“Let’s select 8 people in total and have them tell their stories. They should have videos stored inside of their capsules.”

“Yes they do.”

Capsules made by Unicorn for enjoying virtual reality games.

Each boasted various modern devices. One of them recorded media as their users played. As it said within the instructions, inside was a stored media recording device that can play videos.

“We can broadcast their stories and they can give information about the secrets of Royal Road and introduce new ideas. It’s fun for people to find out other people’s stories isn’t it?”

“The story of how it all started for a user.”

From there CTS Media launched a broadcast, selecting users for it. They primarily targeted the higher level and famous users from Royal Road.

Viewers will follow the program about how the strongest users became the way they did, as well as the quests they did and the secrets they had. Of course, they won’t disclose all the secrets but, even with a little, users will come flocking uncontrollably.

It included martial arts as well as how to get rich, but they sought out the desire of the user base for the premiere recruits.

Users of Royal Road, the higher levels and the fanatics all had secrets of their own. These people led guilds and made colonies. They governed the affairs of the city in an influential kingdom and substantially increased the number of people in the cities through planning, these people were often selected.

In addition one more person, Thor the blacksmith.

It was pointed out a few times for the broadcast. The craftsman profession was poorly represented so a class that increased the defense of equipment was selected.

And then the last person.

* * *

“Is this Lee Hyun?”

“Yes.”

“Hi. It’s been a long time since we talked. I am the secretary of the President of CTS Media, Nahee Yoon.”

“Yes, it’s been too long.”

“I thank you on behalf of the company for having sold us your account. CTS Media used your account to hunt monsters in each region of the map in the Continent of Magic and it was aired as a special program, remember?”

CTS Media.

He immediately recognized the company. As he had sold his account to them for a whooping 3.09 billion won, a huge amount of money that he could never make in years.. Thanks to them, he was able to clear his debts and start a new life.

“So it’s this…”

He had put the items on the auction site and was waiting. Now he had been waiting for a response.

“Just calling to say hi, to see if you remember me.”

His response was blunt.

“I don’t remember.”

“Ah…so have you not heard?”

“I’m a little busy.”

Lee Hyun’s words were true.

Back then, and even now, he had never spent any time in leisure because he had to prepare for his future plans for Royal Road. He did not have the kind of time to be watching a game broadcast.

“Yes. I understand.”

Nahee Yoon was silent for a long time. Then she asked a brief question.

“Actually, this time our company is planning a program and wants to see if we can invite Lee Hyun. So I’d like to ask you a question. Are you currently playing Royal Road?”

“Yes.”

CTS Media was planning several different kinds of measures.

How the users that play Royal Road within the country and abroad was one of them. But it did not make sense to exclude celebrities. Celebrities appearing in reality for signings would attract enthusiasts. However, it would do nothing to pull a person that was too famous into the game.

Strong villains.

People in positions of power.

High level players.

There would be no problem if they could fill the eight positions with those. However, it would be interesting to come up with one unknown person that they did not know the class or level of in the game.

It would attract clumsy viewers.

A protagonist whose actions would cause trepidation.

These requirements, seeing as they could not create a fictional character, put the recruitment into hiatus. They had to consider several people.

Then they remembered a program in the past that was associated with the Continent of Magic.

Weed.

The game character with the highest stats in the game.

The same person who was wrapped in a veil of mystery and legend unlike any other. The person who enjoyed fighting monsters, whom nothing could stand up to his crushing force.

Everyone that knew Continent of Magic knew of Weed.

Then if he was in Royal Road. The tale of a legend in another game.

Many users had their expectations.

So this was what they wanted to try.

“This is the person we need!”

More than one year had passed.

Just like how fish cannot leave water, they thought that Lee Hyun would be in Royal Road.

“Can I ask what level you are in Royal Road?”

Nahee Yoon asked her question in a very cautious tone. Asking unfamiliar people about items or levels was the same as asking for information.

“219.” He replied

-219? That-that’s great!

But Nahee Yoon was slightly disappointed. The man was the one who had reigned supreme in the Continent of Magic. It was little more than a year now, so level 219 was lower than expected. It was a pretty high level, but there were quite the number of people around that level.

But she did not know that Lee Hyun had spent one year preparing for Royal Road, but the time he played was not very long. Nahee Yoon then explained the situation to Lee Hyun.

“Lee Hyun, there is a newly organized program in which we need your assistance.”

“You want me to go on television?”

Nahee Yoon replied to Hyun Lee’s questions.

“No, we’re not. We want to make a story about how you have played the game until now. Send it to us and we will broadcast it. Of course it will undergo inspection.”

“So you want footage of my game play and I’ll receive money?”

“Send us only a brief portion. What quests you did, where and how you raised your level. As well as what kind of secrets you used to help you level up.”

“How much will I get for it?”

“I think 500 thousand won per episode. It gets broadcast twice a week. It may be small, but after it gets aired 20 times, depending on the ratings, you can get rehired.”

It was not a bad deal. Lee Hyun accepted the offer since it would allow money to come in.

CTS Media Counsel to his house to came to sign a formal contract. Lee Hyun meticulously studied the contract to confirm that there were no unfavorable provisions. Even if the ratings fall, the broadcast gets interrupted, or if they change the show, Lee Hyun will still get 20 payments. Lee Hyun spent the entire night wondering what to do.

“What should I put!”

The contract needed to be handed over with the manuscript for the first part. But how would he start? He was blocked at the very first sentence. He seemed to understand a little bit about the feelings authors have when writing.

‘Writing is not the same as writing posts. I’m not a real writer and I just can’t send any story. In fact, especially if it’s defective.’

After that, Lee Hyun just instantly wrote the manuscript.

The Production Department of CTS Media received the manuscript of the first week and freaked out.

Others spent a lot of hard effort to write their manuscripts. Though they were gamers and not writers, they tended to see useless chatter with friends and talking to be unsuitable narration and would not be inserted, so many of the manuscripts were dropped.

However, this was the alternative and was too plain.

Even for a brief overview, it was too much.

Day 1:

Rosenheim Kingdom, started at the Citadel of Serabourg.

Went to the training center all day to beat the scarecrow.

Day 2:

Beat the scarecrow all day.

Day 3:

Beat the scarecrow all day

Day 4:

Beat the scarecrow all day.

All seven days for the week was just that.

“Is somebody messing with us or what!”

The manager of the Production Department was hysterical. It was hard not to be upset.

“He’s going to explode.”

“This time he might seriously do it.”

The staff shivered in fear. The last time he had exploded, he had broken a few cameras once.

From a safe distance away he said. “Maybe if we play the video we can be lucky. Many of them are lousy writers. Let me take a look at the video. I may want to plan a broadcast based on it.”

The video broadcast team began to finish the manuscripts. The video of Weed began to play on their monitor and everyone was dumbstruck at what they saw.

[The 8 Heroes]

CTS Media began to broadcast the program. Many stories in Royal Road were currently unknown. The stronger and famous users have all had interviews but it was never known what they did to become strong. Due to the fact that the first broadcast showed the growth process of users, it received huge ratings.

By being a leader in Royal Road, they became famous.

They were interested in becoming more famous.

The 7 people formed a guild or went with friends to do hard quests in the first episode. And then there was one person that was beating a scarecrow to death. At the end of the first episode, the Internet was in a huge uproar.

What was with the first broadcast?

Do they think that the viewers are a joke? Get it together.

I’m spending my paycheck on something like this… Tch.”

Viewers began to bring up this point on the broadcasting board.

Once, twice, three times.

The users on the internet disagreed on what a master gamer should do. But every week, as the story progressed he was the only person that kept doing the same thing, hitting the scarecrow ten thousand times. Viewers began to have strange expectations of the scarecrow beater, wondering what he was going to do. They waited in anticipation for what was going to happen next. But after the scarecrow beater continued on for four times, it disappeared from the show.

The broadcasters had appeared and had decided to suspended it.

Chapter 1: Plains of Despair

“That person is strange. Why is he jumping around like that?”

“It looks like he’s insane.”

“Come on, let’s go.”

This figure was avoided and feared by the people of Somren Liberty City. That was because he looked like the sort of person who would cause you trouble if you got close to him.

He was actually Weed. Weed was jumping up and down in fury.

“Aaargh!”

He even let out a scream. At his mad behavior, everyone distanced themselves from his suffering. Hence, it was lucky that this was near the temple of the Church of Freya.

If he acted like this in the middle of the street, someone would have taken a video and it would have ended up, inevitably, on a website.

“Uwaaah!” At the end, Weed even burst into tears!

‘I threw away the opportunity for a real jackpot!’

He had left the Morata region through the teleport gate and arrived at Somren Liberty City. Right at the moment he emerged from the gate, a thought flashed through his head.

‘I won’t be able to use the effects of the Bingryong statue or the Ice Beauty statue any longer. That’s a pity.’

They were sculptures that had taken him over a month to make. The Bingryong statue’s incredible size, its overwhelming majesty, and its various options as well, were really amazing.

Thanks to the options attached to the sculpture, his hunting had truly sped up by more than half as much.

‘So why the hell didn’t I bring it with me?!’

The Bingryong statue was too large to bring. However, he should have somehow brought the Ice Beauty statue with him.

If he tried to sell the Ice Beauty statue that increased the recovery speed of both health and mana, people would have lined up to buy it.

As the material was ice, it would melt with the passage of time, but if magic with ice preservation properties were used, the appearance of the sculpture could be maintained.

As the options attached to the sculpture could be stacked with the effects from bracelets or rings, even the effects from other items could be stacked.

Nobody would be able to guess how much money he could have received if that Ice Beauty statue had been sold.

‘Sob… It’s because I’m too much of a nice, naive, and kind person that such a tragedy had to occur.’

Though he continued to regret it while jumping up and down in fury, it was already too late.

A nice and pleasant person. Weed saw that as being no different to a fool.

Someone who was shamelessly devious, despicable, and dishonorable, but rich. Wouldn’t this kind of life be what you should truly aim for?

‘It’s not too late. From now on, you have to be tougher, Weed. Though it’s unfair that we had to become a sculptor, if we ignore all the advantages of being a sculptor, we won’t survive.’

Weed reaffirmed his life’s goal.

He had returned to the church of Freya together with Alveron and all the priests, who up until now had been watching Weed’s crazy behavior.

Some were frowning and others had frightened expressions. Like this, weren’t they even slowly edging away? So, even the NPCs were avoiding Weed.

“Ahem.”

Weed straightened his clothes and returned to his usual appearance of an adventurer out to punish evil and on a righteous mission.

“Then let’s go and meet the High Priest.”

Right afterwards, Weed headed to the High Priest along with the other priests. The High Priest had been waiting for his visit.

This time he didn’t need to make an offering like he had last time, and he was able to meet the High Priest directly. Weed was pleased by this slight effect.

Though the money he had been earning increased, if he didn’t manage the money that he spent, he would never become a wealthy person. Weed carried in his arms a crown embedded with white jewels.

“Here is Fargo’s crown that I have found and retrieved.”

“Ooh! I am truly grateful. Returning both Helian’s goblet and Fargo’s crown to us like this, you are our church’s savior.”

Quest Completed: Locate and return Fargo’s Crown

The last relic lost by the church of Freya, Fargo’s crown, had been with the vampires of the Morata region…

The True-blood Vampire clan, led by the Vampire Lord Torido.

While waiting for the return of the Immortal Legion led by the Dark Mage Barkhan Demoph, they had arrived in the Morata Region and taken control.

For Barkhan, who tainted the continent with his evil, the elimination of the True Blood Vampire clan would be a painful blow.

As Fargo’s crown was a symbol of divine authority and majesty, it was an item that had to be retrieved for the church’s prestige.

Your fame has risen by 1,200.

Your friendship with the Church of Freya has reached 31.

The Church of Freya’s publicity has increased by 2,200. The church’s publicity can be checked in the religion status window.

The Church of Freya’s publicity: 4,612

The publicity of religious organizations increases by combating evil or completing relevant quests.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

Your level has risen.

As compensation for resolving a B-class difficulty quest, his level rose 9 times.

‘This is pretty good service.’

At Weed’s current level, to raise his levels all in one go like this by defeating a monster would be difficult.

However, to find Fargo’s Crown he had to go through months of hardship, so this result hadn’t been easy to obtain.

The High Priest then gave him 30 potions filled with white and red liquids.

“This is the gift that our church is bestowing upon you. It is holy water and the finest health regeneration potions.”

“Why all of this…”

“Though it’s not much, please accept it. They could be helpful if you use them in an emergency.”

“Thank you very much.”

Weed tucked away the potions. As the price of potions was too expensive, up until now Weed had never purchased them.

If you weren’t someone working as a pirate or a bandit like the Dwichigi quartet, it was fairly difficult to make use of potions.

It was because if your level rose and your health and vitality increased, you would need to purchase a more expensive potion of greater performance to match the increase.

So, there were only a few people who hunted while using potions. But if you did have potions with you, they could truly become a great help during emergency situations. For that reason, everyone packed a few potions on them.

“Also, here is the equipment awarded to heroes.”

Including Agatha’s sword, Weed received once more the same set of the items that he had been given for rescuing Helian’s goblet.

‘These must be the prizes given when lost relics are returned. This will make me some money.’

“Also, this is an item that was in our church’s treasure vault. As there was no one who could use it, it had only been gathering dust. Fortunately, as your profession is a sculptor, it would be good if you take this.”

You have received an Unknown Leather Belt.

When you acquire an unknown item, the first task that had to be done was item identification.

Regardless of whether the item is cursed or already owned by someone, if the performance is poor, the item wouldn’t be useful in any way.

“Identify.”

Deykram’s Red Wyvern Leather Belt

Durability: 60/60.

Defense: 22.

Born from the free sky, this belt is made of Wyvern’s leather. Red Wyverns are creatures so extremely rare that their very existence is doubted.

Wearing a belt made of red wyvern’s leather will make you the subject of adventurers’ attentions.

It’s stretchy, so it doesn’t tear easily and fits well. Though its heavy, it can be threaded through trousers and worn tightly around the waist, and it seems able to hold sculpting tools.

The sculpting master Deykram has carved directly into the central section of the belt an engraving of a Wyvern head.

Restrictions: Level 150

Limited to the Sculptor Profession

Options:

Charm +15.

Strength +10.

Agility +30.

Sculpting Skill +7%.

Making sculptures while wearing the belt allows you to acquire an additional 5 fame.

Weed was silent for a moment.

He had expected to receive a special item from resolving a B-grade difficulty quest but he had received Deykram’s belt.

Obviously, the item’s performance wasn’t that good. For an item of this type that raised defense and stats, it wasn’t as if you couldn’t find any others.

However, it was none other than Deykram’s belt. One of the 5 sculpting masters who had ever lived on the continent, Deykram! His belt had now fallen into Weed’s hands.

‘I’ve just earned 900 thousand Won.’

Deykram’s equipment set.

His helmet and sculpting tools had once appeared on an auction site. Their options that improved sculpting skills were useless to regular people.

As the sculpting profession was already becoming extinct, it normally wouldn’t have been traded, but the helmet had sold for 800,000 Won, and the sculpting tools had sold for 1,100,000 Won.

They had been bought by people who collected rare items.

The items he had found and returned to the High Priest, first Helian’s goblet and even Fargo’s crown, were truly rare beyond imagination.

“We, the church, want to show our gratitude that we owe a lifetime of heartfelt thanks to you, hero. Wherever you are, you have the goddess Freya’s blessing. If you are injured or cursed, come and find us at any time. We will treat you free of charge. Also, I will act to make this church’s teleportation gates available to you at any time.”

“Thank you very much.”

The High Priest let out a great sigh. His demeanor seemed as if he was seriously troubled.

“The church’s three relics have finally returned. With the recovery of our full authority, might, and divine power, our paladins and priests will now be able to exert their full, original strength. The Immortal Legion led by Barkhan Demoph is crouching down in the barren northern plains and increasing their forces, but according to the last message sent by the paladins who went to reconnoitre, they have no need for the monsters they have recruited because they are already so powerful.”

The Immortal Legion led by Barkhan Demoph was frightening because each one of them was a named undead.

Those who died in battle and weren’t buried by the enemy were revived as followers. There were paladins who displayed dark magical powers, and priests who used the blessings of demons.

Whenever the Immortal Legion fought, their forces increased.

“Tidings have been heard that Barkhan Demoph has resurrected, and at the same time, hastened movements from the demon worshiping necromancers have been observed. These necromancers, who research magic with fresh blood and in hatred, can be said to be seeds of evil. I have been told that they are preparing something in the Plains of Despair.”

Ding!

The exiles living in the Plains of Despair

The necromancers led by Barkhan Demoph believe in the demon Beelzebub.

It is unknown as to why the necromancers, who obstinately research the principles of mana, built a temple for the worship of Beelzebub.

Dark elves and those exiles who were cast out from each kingdom during the age of chaos live in the Plains of Despair.

Some of the necromancers who were with the temple have left for the Plains of Despair. Find and eliminate them. If you go to the temple of Rosenheim kingdom, you can obtain information on them and support troops.

Difficulty: B

Rewards: Unknown

Quest Restrictions:

Failure will lower the Church of Freya’s publicity to 0.

Fame -3,000.

Weed felt as if he would let out a sigh. It was B-grade difficulty this time as well.

‘Still, isn’t it a good thing that there’s no time limit?’

The Plains of Despair was an area a long way to the northeast of Rosenheim kingdom. Located on the border between Bertran Kingdom and Rosenheim Kingdom, it was an area where dangerous monsters spawned like crazy.

However, this was only the start of the Plains of Despair.

On a map that had been found at somewhere and at some time that had been called ‘Map of the Versailles Continent’, the Plains of Despair was drawn much larger than even Aidern Kingdom, the continent’s greatest power.

“Those necromancers who oppose divine providence will be eliminated.”

You have accepted the quest!

“Thank you, Hero!”

The high priest’s face was filled with a great happiness. Once the story had finished, the High Priest would no longer respond to Weed. Weed slowly exited the church.

After training in the nearby villages, Mapan was in the middle of returning to Somren Liberty City. In his ear, he heard the voice of someone he hadn’t been able to reach for a long time.

- Mr. Mapan.

- Yes? Oh, Mr. Weed! I knew you would definitely die. Where are you now?

- The work went well. Come to the front of the church of Freya.

- Yes, I’ll run over now.

Mapan really ran like the wind. So quickly that it didn’t even take him 10 minutes. It was the return of Weed who had left after receiving a B-grade difficulty quest!

He arrived at the place after leaving straight from the market without even packing his goods. Mapan was also accompanied by a beautiful woman.

Of course, Mapan wanted to ask about Weed’s activities, but thinking that it wouldn’t be polite, he first introduced his colleagues.

“Here is Mr. Weed. And here is Miss. Hwaryeong.”

“Nice to meet you. I am called Weed.”

“Good day. I have heard a lot about you.”

During the time that Mapan had met her and they had traveled together, her class had been a great help.

“Mr. Weed, don’t be alarmed, but the occupation of Miss. Hwaryeong here is that of a dancer.”

“Dancer?”

Hwaryeong spoke with a cheerful laugh.

“You can look at it as a class along the same lines as a bard. With dancing instead of music, we can buff the abilities of our allies and take on our enemies.”

“So, it’s like that. It must be hard on you.”

“Not at all! It’s so fun. I enjoy dancing as well.”

Hwaryeong’s specialty was in confusing enemies. When she began to dance, monsters lost their fighting spirit and fell into a daze. You could even look at it as one of the hidden classes.

She could even confuse monsters much stronger that her own level of 175, but in such cases the mana consumption increased.

It was the same when she attempted to confuse a large amount of monsters in one go. Also, if she attacked them while dancing, the monsters would snap out of it.

She could only wield a single stiletto in one hand, and her attack and defense were on the meager side, so it was impossible for her to hunt alone. It had its strong points, but on the other hand, the class also had serious disadvantages.

In any case, until now, whenever monsters had been encountered, Hwaryeong had confused them while Mapan drove their wagon as they quickly made their escape.

‘A sculptor, a merchant, and a dancer… This just gets better and better.’

A legend was passed down through Royal Road! It was about those with production classes and the other unusual classes.

The classes that people shunned!

By sticking together and combining their strong points, they were able to maximize their individual abilities and the strongest party was born.

It was a legend of how they could catch defeat monsters, and that before the party was disbanded, it had been able to show the optimal usage of their skills.

Of course, as it was first during Royal Road’s initial phase, the origin of the legend was unknown.

‘It must just be groundless rumors.’

Most of hunting consisted mainly of using the combat system. It is easy to find a person and create a group. With these, the speed at which monsters are hunted greatly increases.

But for those who are weak and useless in combat, their presence in battle is one that needs to be taken care of. There is no particular reason for them to join. So they aren’t even invited in the first place.

“Gasp!”

Mapan suddenly took a deep breath. He then crept closer to Weed and whispered to him.

“Since I suffered through Mr. Weed’s Lion’s Roar, I truly felt that I could endure and get used to any other person’s appearance in battle.”

(Not sure how clear this is, might use tweaking of the phrasing. Basically he’s saying that after how strange Weed was in shouting at his enemies, no one else would even be able to surprise him, but he can’t keep his eyes off Hwaryeong’s dancing)

“And so?”

“Do you know what type of dance Mrs. Hwaryeong does for the monsters?”

“What is it?”

“The Bubi bubi…..” (jiggle it jiggle it)

“Gulp.”

This dancer, if she met an Orc or an Ogre, would actually approach them closely and dance the Bubi bubi! Hwaryeong’s cheeks were dyed with a peach color.

“I once used to frequently go to night clubs… now I like dancing so much that I can’t stop.”

“….”

“Oh yeah!”

There was something that Mapan really wanted to ask.

“But just where have you returned from after the past three months? Did you succeed in the quest?”

Weed laughed merrily.

“You’ll know soon enough.”

“Huh?”

* * *

It first started in Somren Liberty City.

“You, do you know about the adventurer named Weed? This time he has completed a great deed. Fargo’s crown! The crown that was lost by the Church of Freya has now been found and returned.”

“The True-blood Vampire Clan is said to be an important force of the dark mage Barkhan. The brave man named Weed, famous for his devotion and artistry, is said to have defeated them.”

“You know about the famous Weed too, right?”

In concert, all the NPCs in markets, coach-houses, and those staying in inns or mercenary guilds, began to tell stories about Weed. After some time, the NPCs in the United Kingdom of Briton began telling stories as well.

“Something big has turned up in Somren Liberty City, it’s said that the adventurer named Weed has completed a great request of the Church of Freya.”

“The person named Weed…”

“Weed has…”

Then to Rosenheim Kingdom!

“Do you know of Weed who comes from our kingdom? What, you don’t know? If that’s so, listen closely.”

It was not uncommon for even the NPCs from the Thor, Harpan, and Pallmore kingdoms to tell stories about Weed.

After getting out of his capsule, Lee Hyun logged onto an item auction site. He checked whenever he logged on, and today as well an e-mail from the Dark Gamer Union had arrived.

You are invited to the Dark Gamers Union.

To prevent information leakage, this email is only sent to a small number of selected people. For more information we would like to talk to you in person.

The Versailles Continent or in real life, whichever one is fine. Because our Dark Gamer Union can exist anywhere as long as there is darkness. With no obligations, we would like to meet and talk with you.

In this way, you’ll be able to reach an understanding of our union and what we do in the union. You can take part in conversations and if you feel the need to keep in touch with another, you could even find a good partner.

Lee Hyun ignored the e-mail and began to write an auction post.

Among the items he acquired, those items that can be sold for cash, needed to be sold immediately. Because as time passes the market prices of Royal Road would slightly decrease.

It was an inevitable consequence of the increasing supply as the number of experienced users increased. However, as demand was similarly increasing, it wasn’t a large problem to worry about.

The equipment of the vampires who had conquered the Morata area… those were still before the auction deadline. By now, their prices had reached from around a 100.000 to 400,000 Won.

“This much is good. When the highest bid has been made, it should reach the target price.”

Lee Hyun entered an open auction and then registered the items to be sold. The priorities were two of the items that he had received from the High Priest of Freya.

“Agatha’s sword or the High Priest’s ring will be able to fetch a fairly high price.”

There are market prices for common items. However, for items such as these that are difficult to obtain, the prices vary widely depending on the people who want to buy it.

If you met a person who really needed it, it could be sold for an expensive price, but if you didn’t meet that sort of person, you might not receive a reasonable price.

“It’ll be good if it sells well….”

Lee Hyun uploaded the auction post onto the site and went to sleep.

Overnight, a large fuss was raised on the auction site.

It’s him! He’s posted something!

There’s no one else apart from him with a Triple Diamond rating. The ID that he’s posted with is the same as well.

It’s Weed! Weed really is selling an item from Royal Road.

This is really big news!

When his account from the Continent of Magic was sold, Weed had already become a celebrity. Through Weed’s account, CTS Media had done several broadcasts on the Continent of Magic.

Now even among those not interested in games, there was no one who didn’t know of Weed. Lee Hyun’s ID from the item trading site.

That was something that the users definitely remembered. Until now, Weed had sold one or two items, but among those no really good items had been been sold.

Death Knights’ equipment weren’t very popular at times, and there weren’t many people who needed vampire capes, boots, and gloves. So it hadn’t received any attention.

Agatha’s holy sword! Rose-patterned gloves! High priest’s ring! This is the Church of Freya’s. This is the equipment used by the Church of Freya’s paladins.

The gloves that had been engraved with roses were only of the level of an uncommon item, so the market price wasn’t high.

However Agatha’s sword that was used by paladins of the Church of Freya was one of the most popular items. The equip level limit was low and the attack was high.

You could even use a sacred blessing five times a day with it, so it was a popular item preferred anyone with a class that wielded swords.

Someone had looked at list of the items Lee Hyun had uploaded, and after some research, had written this post. This post quickly spread throughout the internet.

Weed from Continent of Magic is playing Royal Road! Weed has put on an auction site Freya’s paladins equipment! At once, many people wrote posts on the auction.

Has that Weed really become part of the Church of Freya?

Could he have become an actual paladin?

Throughout the entire continent, the number of people who have become paladins as part of a church still hasn’t reached a 100. To become a knight of a kingdom or a lord is easy, but it’s said that to become a paladin of a church you have to overcome an extremely difficult situation…

It’s truly Mr. Weed. He’s impressive in Royal Road as well.

The commenters on the auction posts were talking amongst themselves. Joy and surprise could be seen in them at the fact that Weed was playing Royal Road.

Those from the Continent of Magic, and those who had heard stories of the chaotic Weed on the internet had gathered together. However several people revealed frank disappointment.

If it’s the Weed from Continent of Magic, then for us who played the game at least, he was a legendary presence.

That’s right. It was like there was nothing impossible for him. He would go and conquer dangerous hunting grounds. In the hunting grounds that Weed swept through, there wouldn’t be a single monster left. To us who remember his footprints…

He was a person who was always alone and that was all he needed. For that conqueror to become a paladin of the Church of Freya is below my expectations.

He who had solitude and an absolute strength became in some ways an object of worship. Now attention will be focused on him. Though he rose to the ultimate position in a different game, will he merely become a slightly stronger person in Royal Road?

A year has passed since Royal Road first appeared. To be starting now is irrational. Any more of him will be boring.

Seeing Weed’s name made me happy, but there is no need here for something like an idol.

The commenters laid out their contentious opinions. For the one known as Weed, the figure who had become the symbol of gaming, the people were divided between those who congratulated Weed for becoming a paladin of the church of Freya, and those who were disappointed that though he was a bit strong he wasn’t at his former absolute strength.

Naturally, while this was going on, attention was drawn away from the auction post. Beneath their attention, the price of the goods that Lee Hyun had put up for the auction climbed up very slowly.

In the meantime someone appeared. He urgently posted a single line of writing.

I have just logged out from playing Royal Road.

This kind of post incited the usual strong opposition.

Who was asking?

No one cares about whether you logged out or not.

Within a moment these cynical commentators followed each other up. Then the person who had first uploaded the post wrote a more detailed post and posted again.

In Versailles Continent time, about 5 hours ago, in concert the NPCs of Royal Road began telling stories relating to Weed. NPCs across the continent are shouting out the tale of his adventure in defeating the True-blood Vampire clan, who played an important role in the Magician of Darkness Barkhan Demoph’s Immortal Legions, and returning the Church of Freya’s sacred relic. I was also a user in the Continent of Magic. I heard talk that Mr. Weed had set paladin’s equipment for sale and I came here wanting to confirm this. So this was truly something done by Mr. Weed. I’m filled with admiration.

What did you say? Barkhan’s Immortal Legion?

Isn’t that said to be one of Royal Road’s strongest forces?

Moreover, if it’s the True-blood vampire clan, that’s a group with individuals whose levels are over 270. Their leader Lord Torido is over Level 400…

I’m speechless! I just can’t believe this.

The people were distrustful and tried to ignore the post. It was a self evident truth that the difficulty of a quest to return the Church of Freya’s sacred relic and eradicate the True-blood Vampire clan would be high.

To say that one person had solved this quest couldn’t be accepted. However the evidence was too obvious.

The equipment used by the paladins of the Church of Freya and the High Priest’s ring!

Especially the High Priest’s ring, as from what had been said about it, it was known that only someone who had provided a very large service for the church would have been given it.

Even if you had become a paladin, it wasn’t an item that you would just receive. In addition, there was another piece of evidence that could not be denied.

The vampires’ items that had been put up for sale by Lee Hyun last time. The vampire’s mantle and boots that were still up for auction did not leave any more room for doubt.

* * *

Lee Hyun slept for 4 hours and opened his eyes before the sun had even risen.

He quickly wore his clothes and headed to the morning market. It was in order to buy the side-dishes for breakfast and for his younger sister’s lunchbox.

Of course the school provided food, but nowadays there weren’t many people that ate that. The nutrition was poor and the origins of the ingredients could not be trusted.

Even if food poisoning occurred only rarely, wouldn’t it still be a big problem if it was caught.

‘Though it’s a critical period of youth….’

He had to prepare good food for the sake of his little sister who was working hard on her exam studies.

Even if this wasn’t the case, to prevent his sister from feeling any more sorrow from the loss of their parents, he wanted her to eat food filled with love.

While Lee Hyun roved the producer’s market he bought fresh vegetables and meat. He didn’t forget to properly cut down the prices.

Even in shops that didn’t give a good discount on their prices during the day, by greeting them early in the morning and making his face familiar, it was possible to purchase goods pretty cheaply.

As he had originally taken all responsibility for the household chores on himself, he had a certain confidence in his cooking.

However the reason that his cooking skill had now rapidly advanced was because of Royal Road.

Now he held confidence that in cooking at least he wouldn’t come second to anyone. It was of a level that he could find a job in a restaurant’s kitchen.

“Yawn! Oppa, good morning.”

“Did you wake up just now?”

When he returned from looking around the market, his sister emerged from her room rubbing her eyes.

“Go wash yourself. You’ll be late for school.”

“It’s okay. There’s still enough time.”

“Don’t act lazy. If it’s something you have to do, do it quickly.”

“Tch! It’s like every day there’s only nagging. That aside, is the preparation for the GED going well?”

Lee Hyun had made a promise with his grandmother.

The promise was that he would pass his GED, as he had not been able to graduate from high school normally. However he still hadn’t even taken a look at his books.

If there was time to study geography, he would take another look at the map of the Versailles continent. Instead of studying Korean history, he had to read the history books of the Versailles continent.

Because if you wanted to be a great adventurer you had to know background history. However he didn’t have the heart say something like that.

“Of course! I’m studying hard, so don’t worry.”

If you looked closely it wasn’t a lie, after all wasn’t studying this rather than that still studying all the same.

“Okay. I’ll trust you.”

As his sister washed, Lee Hyun prepared the breakfast. As it was becoming winter and the weather was turning chilly, he prepared a refreshing natural soup, red bean rice, and plain side-dishes.

“Thank you for the food.”

After he sent his little sister to school, a few minutes of free time became available.

“Now then, shall I see if how much the prices of the items I put up for sale have risen?”

Lee Hyun connected to the item auction site. However the number of bidders on the auction post was no fewer than 140,000 people.

“What is this….”

It was obvious 140,000 people had placed a bid, but the highest price for the items didn’t even reach 230,000 Won.

Even if Agatha’s Holy Sword was sold for next to nothing, it was still an item that would go for at least 2,000,000 Won.

“Who seriously bid 230,000 Won? And if 140,000 people took part, can this price be real?”

Lee Hyun didn’t have a clue so he clicked on the auction post.

Mr. Weed, you are really impressive, even if it was only once a would like to wear Mr. Weed’s items! However as I don’t have any spare money I can only join in with this.

The person who had wrote this was the first to bid 500 Won on the auction. Many people who wanted to participate in an auction would start bidding from 10 Won, so the amount was meaningless.

Congratulations on finishing the quest from the church of Freya. Please keep your spirit as a Continent of Magic user and do your best!

The second person to upload a post, raised the auction to 501 Won. After that it became a spectacle.

Mr. Weed, good luck! 502 Won.

Mr. Weed, you’re amazing! 503 Won.

I respect you. Work hard. 504 Won.

Uh, is this a new auction game? 505 Won.

Haha! This looks like fun. I want to get involved as well. 506 Won.

This is, this is…. 601 Won.

Please keep to the pattern. 602 Won.

It was these people’s own way of showing their affection through fun. It was an expression of their friendliness as they slowly raised the auction price.

Thanks to the participation of many bidders in the auction, it was quickly brought to the attention of other people. Rumors spread over the internet so that people who hadn’t even heard of Weed went looking for it.

Ah! These really the items because sold by the person rumored to be Weed.

I have arrived for the pilgrimage.

It’s already over 90,000 people. The auctions prices are over 120,000 Won.

Even without the duplicate bids, over 60,000 people have become involved. Unite through the auction post!

Hey! Who just cowardly bid 200,000 Won….

If you don’t properly obey the order, we’ll find who did it and take revenge. Be careful. Start again from 200,001 Won.

Let’s try to reach up to a million people!

Chapter 2: Jack of All Trades

“Royal Road? When we left we expected you to study, and now you’re playing with toys!”

“Now write an application for reinstatement”

“And if that doesn’t help, you can sit at home all day and prepare for the exams yourself!”

When the parents of Surka, Pale, Irene, and Romuna learned that their children were playing Royal Road in secret during their absence, they received an endless amount of nagging.

However, their children didn’t just sit around all day. They thought of a cunning plan and eventually their parents were lured into Royal Road.

“Oh! Pale, I’m going to change weapons but I’m 4 gold short, can you lend me some money? Don’t worry I’ll pay you back with interest!”

In hunting and fighting monsters, their parents were inexperienced. However, they were still able to do well. They were owners of a small family shop in game, and they opened one store after another. Their shops sold things ranging from weapons and clothing to skill books. They even opened a restaurant. As their parents supported their kids with skill books, a good bow, or even the divine knowledge of the priest, they in turn hunted loot for them. As a result, they got closer and closer to the coveted 200th level

And then in the Kingdom of Rosenheim the NPCs began to talk:

“Do you know about the adventurer Weed? He dealt with the terrible vampire clan and freed the people of Mora.”

“Oh, Weed, the benefactor of the Order of Freya! Knowing that there are heroes makes life easier, doesn’t it? I heard that he was from the Rosenheim Kingdom, and they say, the

King is looking for him.”

Even in real life, gun shops, pharmacies and even flower girls from the market - everyone was talking about Weed.

When word reached Pale and his party, they realized that Weed completed a difficult and dangerous task, and immediately sent their congratulations:

“Congratulations, Weed.”

“Well done!”

“Next time, tell us all about it in detail.”

“Haaa!”

“Swoop!”

“Urraaa! Monsters!”

The Geomchis rushed forward, and a brave headless soldier quickly began backing away. No matter how brave he may be in the game, at the sight of so many opponents even monsters would get nervous and tremble. Opponents, not showing fear, boldly attacked the enemy and easily too!

Rough, casually dressed players with blazing eyes of greed desired one thing: Experience

“Ha-ha-ha! Geomchi2?”

“Yes. I’m ready.”

“Attack!”

“Hip-hip!”

An avalanche of players struck the headless soldier. They jumped on the monster as if someone was going to steal it.

None of Geomchis knew how to game. Therefore, they went after high level monsters first, but they did not consider them worthy opponents.

“Kill them all!”

They were all looking for new places to hunt and they finally got to Lavias.

All this time they only sought to battle and fight strong monsters, so their levels grew at an astonishing rate.

Always together, a crowd of 505 people, they roamed the expanse of Royal Road. One large cohesive group. Students and instructors lived together within the school, so they could gather quickly and play in Royal Road. Also, fighting monsters was seen as part of their training, so they spent a lot of time in game and hunted the most powerful monsters they could find.

They started as Weed did with scarecrows, and then consistently overcame many dungeons. When there was an enemy, the students threw all their energy into fighting and eventually won.

The only thing that interested them besides their swords was battle. They did not take any quests, because they were too lazy to bother. In addition, their appearance was very shabby. They were very poor and often hungry players.

The teacher put his hands behind his back and, while laughing, said:

“3 copper? Oh-ho-ho! So much energy spent on this monster and we got nothing. Apparently, we are weak. Guys!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Will we pick these pennies? Or will we become stronger and kill monsters that drop gold?”

“Sir, for you, we’ll go anywhere!”

After those words the disciples and mentors had no choice, holding back tears, following the the words “First the sword!” Understandably their fear of starvation was greater than their fear of monsters.

They even shared the last crumbs of bread, and this further strengthened the friendship between them.

The Geomchis were not afraid of monsters.

“Sooner or later, we will stop dying from hunger!”

The Geomchis became focused with their eyes brimming with intensity.

You either die fighting, or you die fighting hunger.

So they traveled across the expanse of Royal Road and raised their level to 130.

In Lavias they heard that they could change their profession. People on the street said that the soldiers gave many jobs, and if you killed a famous monster then you would also gain glory and money. Also with a new profession you would gain a significant increase in strength and agility, and a bit of armor durability. A job for true connoisseurs of battles!

But in any case, we should not think that their job change was based on the increase of stats. No, the Geomchis felt that they were heirs to Korean martial arts, and with their pride they lived and died.

Martial arts - it’s their nature, their lives, and that is why all 505 people at the same time changed their profession. Well, their first job was a warrior, so the change to martial artist seemed like the next logical step.

“Have you heard about the adventurer Weed?”

“This time Weed has done something remarkable!”

Of course, this news could bypass by so many ears. When the Geomchis heard the news they were all happy.

“Ohhh!”

“If Weed made a feat so can we!

Feelings that are in every man.

Ambition! Desire for glory!

A Burning passion!

“Geomchi2!”

“Yes, Master.”

“Find out where the most powerful monsters are.”

“I’m already on it.”

Geomchi2 first called Pale. He had long understood the torment of information searching, and figured it would be better to whisper Pale.

“Mr. Pale.”

“Yes, Geomchi2…”

At this time Pale, Irene, Surka, and Romuna were hunting.

He was a little scared that they would have some wild request.

But this time, nothing happened. Generally, the Geomchis lived with dignity and pride, they did not forget about the food aid, and in the future always thanked their rescuers.

On the other hand, Pale and his party had long gotten accustomed to their strange requests.

“Who’s the strongest?”

“What? Wait … no way….”

“Just tell me who and where. We’ll do the rest.”

Pale was shaken a bit, because he knew what they were going to do.

The Green Dragon Biakis loved the peace and quiet. He liked to think of himself as the guardian of the forest. With that thought, he lived peacefully for centuries.

Biakis was fast asleep in a hollow on the top of one of the mountains, but when he heard the noise of people, his eyes became wide open.

“Criminals?”

Sometimes a group of adventurers trespassed on his domain. Sometimes even the strongest players in the continent of Versailles strayed from groups and went to hunt the dragon.

Each time, Biakis ruthlessly punished them.

“This time, you will also die” - thought the dragon angrily

The Green eyes of Biakis were filled with anger. From wherever he looked, people fearlessly approached. Even if a few fought at a time they would still be too much. Although in general the dragon did not care.

“Urrra!”

“We have arrived! Angry wild dragon, show yourself!”

He had never been insulted before. Biakis was furious. He opened his mouth wide, as if to yawn, and then took a deep breath …

“Fuuuuu!”

Liberty City was one of the centers of trade in the Versailles continent. A huge amount of goods passed through its gates, and there were many transactions within the city walls. Virtually all artisans and guilds considered it an honor to open an office here.

Weed with Mapan sold all of their unnecessary items obtained from wolves and other monsters.

“Oh! I made 5600 gold” Weed said while rubbing his hands happily.

Compared to how much he had before, he made 2000 gold, and that was not small.

But it could have been much more. Weed saved a ton of money on medical herbs, by digging and collecting them, but almost all the armor and weapons he had were sold on the auction site for real money. If he sold them in the game, he would’ve had much more gold.

Selling all these loot from monsters, Weed carelessly went to a guild. Guilds were always crowded with a lot of people, especially if they were in combat occupations, but today in the blacksmithing guild sat 30 people compared to the scale of the large city it looked strange.

Upon entering, Weed looked with interest at the people sitting at the tables.

“I wanted to make swords, so I chose this profession. And now I’m so unhappy! All of my friends that I started with are already killing kobolds, and every day I have to swing a hammer, damn it! But if it were only that! I thought I could make much more interesting things… I’m sick of this”

“Yeah. I don’t understand why I chose this profession. It’s too boring. Right now I want to change jobs”

“You don’t say. I was here for a week making swords and what do you know? They are far worse than the ones dropped by kobolds! “

Players sat and whined because of their profession. Pathetic. In fact, the profession of a blacksmith was not so bad. It all depended on how you looked at it

“By the way, have you heard the news about the blacksmith Thor?”

“I heard that he’s the first player to reach the intermediate level in blacksmithing, and now he’s intermediate lv 4.”

“No. He’s already at intermediate 5.”

“Wow! I heard all the guilds want him.”

“Of course, he’s a blacksmith that can strengthen armor and weapons. When will we get to his level?”

“Well … there are already several other smiths with an intermediate blacksmithing …”

“Ah! I’m so jealous.”

Weed heard enough empty laments and quietly climbed the stairs to the second floor of the guild. People were usually located at the bottom of the guild shop, and serious matters were decided on the floor above.

Weed waited until his turn came, and came to a moustachioed, muscular representative of the guild.

“What is the purpose of your visit?” said the NPC, tugging at his apron.

“I want to learn how to manufacture weapons and armor.”

“Oh! Really?” The representative said happily “Do you want to become a blacksmith?”

“No. I just want to learn how to forge.”

“Hmm. Actually, we don’t just teach anybody … However, if you can fix this thing, then I will think about it.”

The NPC passed Weed a battered shield.

Cracked Bronze Shield

Strength: 3/28

Defense: 10

This shield is used in the exam to identify the gift of a blacksmith. Made of bronze. Size small, usually mounted on the brush. Protects you from the impact of a sword.

Requirements: Level 15.

Effects:

Chance of enemy arrows missing increased by 14%.

Decreases critical attack by 19%.

With each level a skill gains the efficiency of maintenance increases. In the first level it can be repaired by 7 points, the second level is 10, and the tenth level 23 points. That is why, to fix the board at one time, it required an intermediate level repair skill.

Weed did not even get a sledgehammer; he just raised his hand and said:

“Repair!”

The board lit up with a bright light and glittered as if it were new.

“Um, it looks like you’re qualified” said the master scratching his head. “Okay, let’s start with an explanation of how to hold the hammer. Look closely, grab like this and hit like that.”

You have learned the Blacksmithing skill

Depending on the skill level, the requirements on equips go down by 2 percent or more. If you have mastered the skill of a blacksmith to master level, you can wear the items of other professions despite limitations.

Weed immediately bought iron tools for the manufacture of weapons, a good hammer, whetstone and some items. He also bought a portable smelter and the standard molds for weapons.

Typically a player could only work in a blacksmith shop, but with these items Weed could create weapons anywhere.

The process of forging items is very simple! Thanks to the portable stove, by using mana, metal can be melted and then poured into a mold. From there a work piece is made which after being hammered makes an item.

Hearing all this, Weed felt cheated.

Yes, the blacksmith profession required hard physical labor, but it eventually lost to the profession of a sculptor. During the creation of sculptures, he had to be constantly on his toes in order to keep the image in his head, he had to carefully cut parts only to finally get a simple sculpture. Therefore, the blacksmith profession seemed simple and crude in comparison with his profession.

“Good.”

Weed went to the nearest anvil and opened his bag. Somewhere in the back were the pieces of ore that he picked up during hunting.

“First, melt …”

He melted the ore and made a lot of iron. Then he gently poured it into the mold and, after waiting a bit, he got the first piece. Now, while the metal is not cured, he only had to give it a shape.

Tap-tap-tap!

He smacked the sword, and dipped it into cold water, and finally added a little touch up.

With that Weed produced his first sword.

Training Sword

Durability: 70/70

Attack: 4-6

Sword made from different types of metal, man made with the makings of the master. The attack Power is small, but it has high durability.

Requirements: None.

Effects: Strength +5.

You have raised the skill of a blacksmith by 36%.

“Oh! Cool! Well done!” Weed forged his first sword and now he truly enjoyed it.

Playing alone, sooner or later you start to talk to yourself. A kind of defense mechanism that Weed developed during the creation of sculptures in the province of Mora.

“It’s pretty average.”

Of course, the blade in his current situation was useless. But it can be sold in the armory shop for at least 70 silver! It had no attack option, but it was strong and provided an additional 5 strength.

For the first time he managed to create a Mighty Sword!

“And something in the profession of a blacksmith is useful.”

Fox figures, rabbits and other animals had no value, just souvenirs. But Weed sold them for silver coins and even for a time lived on the money. And now, he forged a sword that people would gladly use.

“Good. Well time to get to work!”

Weed decided to use all the ore he stockpiled during the game to make weapons. And he had a lot: some of it he gathered even though he was still a novice, some he gathered in the last 3 months in the province of Mora. He accumulated a lot of ore deposits and now he took them all out to smelt.

Melt in the oven, give it form and then smack!

Weed took the job seriously, putting all of his energy and soul into the new business. In parallel, he was trying to watch the other blacksmiths and repeat their actions, to quickly improve the skill of a blacksmith.

Level Up: Blacksmithing (Begginer Lv: 2 | 0%):

The attacking characteristics of weapons are now stronger. Now you can make more weapons too.

Level Up: Blacksmithing (Begginer Lv: 3 | 0%):

Now you can make bronze and copper armor.

Level Up: Blacksmithing (Begginer Lv: 4 | 0%):

The attacking characteristics of weapons are now even stronger.

Now you can change the shape of a completed sword. Its strength decreases, but the attack will increase.

Level Up: Blacksmithing (Begginer Lv: 5 | 0%):

Now the armor you make will become easier and more comfortable to wear.

You can now make boots.

Level Up: Blacksmithing (Begginer Lv: 6 | 0%):

Offensive and defensive characteristics of manufactured items are greatly enhanced.

Weed stayed inside the smithy, day and night, for 10 days, creating blades. He forged more and more until he used up all of his ore.

But still it was a surprise: that in ten days, he greatly increased his skill of a blacksmith. All this for his profession.

For each level Weed gained a 3% increase in his initial attack, and a 5% increase for medium skill levels. In addition, to enhance his sculpture he had to unwittingly raise a host of other features in trade skills that would undoubtedly affect the boosting of his blacksmith level.

In general, the skill of craftsmanship influenced all non-combat professions. For example in cooking. For each level, the effects of prepared meals are amplified by 5%, and with the transition to the intermediate level they are amplified by 7%. Now Weed’s handicraft level was intermediate 8, so all the effects of his dishes were amplified almost by 2.

In addition his handicraft skill also had an effect on his blacksmithing skill. By using the same materials he could make things 2 times stronger than others, and therefore get more experience. It was because of his handicraft skill that Weed didn’t have to suffer the torments of newbie blacksmiths. Of course, by the time he reached intermediate blacksmithing the advantage would disappear, but Weed would still get a lot more experience than a regular player.

That’s right, after spending 10 days smelting ore, he managed to improve his skills up to level 6.

Weed left the guild and went to the fishing guild.

“Do you want to enjoy spending day after day fishing, or do you hope to catch a legendary fish and become a legend sung by bards?” Asked the NPC wearing a vest with many pockets.

Perhaps joining the fishing guild was the easiest in the game. You just had to honestly answer a few questions, and then buy a fishing rod with floats.

Weed did not hide his true thoughts:

“I want to learn how to fish, so that when I’m hungry, I can eat.”

“Yes?” the NPC fisherman asked puzzled.

For many players in the game they became a professional fisherman for pleasure. While traveling to Versailles continent, you had to use a boat or ship, and there you could fish to pass time. But from all of answers he had received no one answered as Weed had.

The fisherman looked at Weed, as an unprecedented miracle, and laughed.

“An honest answer. Also, I see you’re an excellent cook. Maybe someday, if you catch something good, you’ll make me a tasty soup?”

“If it’s a suitable fish, then no problem, I’ll be happy to cook.”

“Hmm. Thank you. I’ll give you some special bait.”

You have learned the Fishing skill

You will never be hungry if you happen to be near a major source of water.

You can get water and food in rivers, lakes and seas. With each level of fishing gained so will your health.

You got fishing bait:

30 shrimp.

Weed learned blacksmithing, fishing, and now thought deeply.

“Should I learn more or not?”

“Is this enough? Maybe I should skip the tailoring skill. I already have several production skills so I don’t really have to learn another skill.”

His anxiety was caused by his childhood memories. At one time he had to work in a sewing factory, in a dirty, dusty environment. There, in order to make a few pennies he sewed buttons and ripped seams. Heavy, monotonous work, memories of which brought only pain. Besides, he got sick and sometimes could not come to work, and therefore he didn’t get his salary for the last month.

But it was not in his nature to retreat.

Actually, there was another sorcerer skill, the ability to cast magic on the items, but Weed could not learn it because of the high level requirements. Therefore he could only learn all the trade skills.

Finally deciding, Weed went to the second floor of the Tailoring Guild.

“Hmmm … if a person has good taste it would be easy to choose a good fabric and sew beautiful clothes “

“If you invest in a piece of their work, many people would want to wear such clothes. You want to learn to sew? Purred the spokeswoman

“Yes, I do.”

“And can you manage to sew on a button?” She asked squinting.

“Coo … of course.”

Weed was able to sew on buttons as well as he used a spoon.

He sewed a few buttons, and received a new message.

You have learned the Tailoring Skill

Saying goodbye to the representative, Weed left the guild. Unfortunately, in contrast to the Blacksmith Guild, tailors didn’t get jobs at the guild, so he sat in the corner of a street, and set to work.

In Liberty City people disappeared in the streets for days, leading a conversation or sunbathing, or doing anything else, so nobody paid attention to him. He cut a few pieces of fabric, then sewed them, and made his first clothes.

Level Up: Tailoring (Begginer Lv: 2 | 0%):

You can now you can use a soft cloth to sew clothes.

Amazing! With his high Art level, and intermediate level handicraft skill he was able to immediately reach level 2.

He sewed a few fabrics he bought from the guild, and his skill level increased again. Weed did not suffer from stitching together pieces of fabric: the work was so familiar that he often didn’t even bother to look at what he was doing. In real life, Lee Hyun often sewed buttons for his family or put patches on clothing.

Snip, snip!

Snip, snip!

Cut the fabric, sew a button!

Weed hands smoothly and gracefully fluttered over the clothes, as though his hands were a musician playing his instrument!

“Oh, great!”

“Look at his hands.”

“Excellent!”

More and more people started to pay attention to Weed as he pulled the fabric. Indeed, many players wandered the streets and just watched others, oh how easy it was! The people who were standing near Weed, lips were full of admiration, because he was very fast, and with just a few stiches he made clothes. But there were others

“And this is something you can wear?”

“I don’t know, maybe you can. I think they’re clothes …”

“If they’re clothes then they suck. Look. No embroidery, absolutely simple.”

Weed vaguely heard the whispers of players did not pay attention to them. Why did they expect something outstanding from a level 2 tailor, although it was impossible to say that the clothes were bad? After a while, sitting in the street under the eyes of many onlookers, Weed raised his tailoring skills up to beginner 4.

Now, when the bag was stuffed to the brim with weapons and clothing, Weed decided to take a risk.

“Slowly …”

Weed pulled from the bottom of his buckskin bags. He got it as a gift from the people of Mora

Premium Deer Leather

Durability: 5/5

Items associated with craft skills.

Can be made into leather clothing or other equipment.

Depending on the skill level, the effects obtained can be strengthened or changed

Requirements: Tailoring level 2.

Weed probably should not have used the material until he reached the intermediate level.

But Weed had firmly decided something. Time was money. It was important to quickly increase the skill level, and if he had to use good materials, well then this would be his fate

Snip, snip!

Weed very slowly and carefully sewed clothes.

Monk Tunic

Durability: 40/40

Defense: 13.

Men’s tunic made of deer skin.

Cover the body excellently and emphasizes the figure.

Suited for a monk.

Requirements: Level 15.

Effects: Gives a 2% boost in agility

Your tailoring skill has greatly improved.

Level Up: Tailoring (Begginer Lv: 5 | 0%):

Through skilful work, seams will not break, and the strength or garments are increased.

To sew a tunic Weed spent four pieces of skin.

“Just look … it looks good …”

“Yeah. It looks soft even in appearance and it made out of excellent material.”

Spectators were amazed that in less than a couple of hours, an unknown player was able to make such good clothes.

“Are tailoring skills really that easy to master?”

“I don’t know. My friend initially chose to become a tailor, but for a whole day of work he gets only defective clothes, so he deleted his character …”

“Being a tailor is not easy. I also know many people who have chosen it, and then shedding many tears.”

“How can this guy learn so quickly and sew such good clothes”

Weed was still sitting and he ignored the people’ talking. He took out a few pieces of deer skin and began to sew gloves and boots.

After the quest, he received 200 pieces of deer skin, so he was not short on supplies

So, slowly working, Weed raised tailoring skill to beginner 9.

In theory, by using a special material, it would not take a long time to get to the intermediate level of a profession. But the level simply would not grow.

This was because there was a restriction. The creators of the game decided that, over time, high level players could start to learn trade skills. Because they would have access to better materials they would have a great advantage over players that started off with craft skills. Therefore, there was a time limit imposed on created things, after which the player would no longer receive experience.

Chapter 3: Prismatic Clothing Auctions

Daring people like Weed, in search of adventure, often chose to start off in the capital of small kingdoms, like Rosenheim. Usually these players would then head to large populated cities where it was easier to get a good weapon, join a good party, and roam without straying far from the city gates.

At the main gate of Liberty City, there was a flock of people surrounding one person. He wore a strange helmet, a necklace, a cloak, and conspicuous white gloves.

“If you leave me your stuff, I’ll fix it for free, and it’ll be as good as new! If you bring me your leather or fabric, then I’ll make you good clothes! If you bring me ore, then I’ll give you a weapon or armor! If you bring me meat, I’ll make you delicious food! In addition, the food I roast will increase your vitality by at least 150 points! And it’s delicious!”

Nevertheless, such cries did not attract many players. The main reason was because the man offering his services was poorly dressed and badly armed.

“Is it true that if I bring you meat, it’ll increase vitality?”

“I have a few skin pooches; can you really make them into clothes?”

However, the crowd shot down the few hopefuls, and shook their heads disapprovingly.

“Another impostor has appeared.”

“Guys, do not fall for the hype. It’s just a ploy to gain your items and escape.”

“Yeah, a lot of new players do this, there are types of people like him.”

“Think with your head. He sews clothes, prepares meals, repairs and forges weapons - have you ever heard of such a man? This is a scam!”

“Man, if you’re a newbie, do something else, go hunting. Why do you try to fool other players? Ay-ay-ay …”

After hearing such talk, many players grew angry.

“Oh, you dirty bastard!”

“Get out of here, you liar!”

The man at the gate was called Weed.

Standing calmly, he quietly listened to the torrent of insults. Yes, it was unpleasant but that was life. If you think about it, they were not wrong to suspect him. It would pretty much be impossible to find someone that knew how to sew, cook, and forging.

Not to mention, Weed even knew how to sculpt and fish. Learning new skills was not easy. It wasn’t as simple as going to a guild and training. First, you had to work hard, and you had to develop the skills through constant repetition as Weed had. Therefore, to meet such a player in the game was somewhat incredible.

Even he wouldn’t have believed it if he were told of such a person in the beginning. But Weed wasn’t a newbie anymore. He was experienced in making money. Before, if he had so many players shouting and criticizing him, he would’ve experienced shock and tried to run away, but not this time.

During his empiricism, Weed sold hundreds of figurines, gained experience, and learnt how to measure the situation. He knew how, and what to do in order to squeeze out the maximum profit even when selling something simple. Weed was a professional in these matters.

“Let’s start with the simple problem”

The main causes of distrust were - the erroneous idea that he was low level and the suggestion that he was trying to scam them. It was necessary to eliminate them, and then the situation would change dramatically.

“Well, that’s that. Calling Death Knight!”

Weed with a disgruntled look on his face took out a red necklace and whispered something. Black smoke appeared, and out came the death knight.

“You called me master?”

“Stay here and do not move.”

“Got it. Master.”

The Death Knight stood menacingly near Weed. He wished to discipline the players that insulted him but money came first. The results didn’t take long to achieve.

“Hey, what’s with that guy?”

“He called a Death Knight.”

“That’s a Death Knight? Yes, it looks gloomy …”

“Yeah, it’s a death knight. It looks exactly like the one I saw online”

“Death Knights are above level 200. I don’t believe it. Maybe it’s magic? Is he a dark wizard?

“A Dark Wizard - it’s a second job advancement for mages? So it requires a level of 280 …”

Now the unrest slowly turned into interest.

“Why would a man with such a high level scam newbies?”

“Yes, it’s all mixed up. So is he scamming or not?”

“If you think about it, maybe he’s telling the truth …”

People began to slowly gather around Weed.

Those who shouted the loudest and accused him of scamming were the first to come. One of these people uncertainly handed Weed the cheapest meat he had.

“You can cook it right?”

“Yes. Wait a while. Payment will be 30 coppers.”

Weed made a fire in the hearth and began to cook the meat. Adding a bit of spice, he flipped it a couple of times.

“Try it.”

From the fried meat spread an attractive aroma. Everyone looked at the guy that got the meat. He hesitantly and cautiously bit off a little piece.

Yum-yum!

And ate it all instantly.

Then he quickly opened his bag, pulled out all the meat he had and handed it to Weed.

My vitality increased by 160 points. I’ll pay, please cook it!

“Me too!”

“And me …”

The situation changed dramatically. Many players sought him as soon as possible to cook their meat. An additional 160 points in vitality greatly added health and allowed them hunt more powerful monsters.

“Good! All right. Stand in line, please!” Weed shouted in order to be heard by all the players.

The line became huge. Roasting meat did not require special attention, and Weed quickly served people. He threw the meat on the grill and fried it expertly, while listening to a lot of questions.

“Next time I’ll get more meat, will you cook them too?”

“What’s your name, I will look for you again.”

Weed gently smiled and answered every question.

“My name is Weed. Visit me any time.”

“Weed. Understood. I’ll look for you next time.”

“You said Weed? Coincidently …”

In Royal Road nicknames were not unique. So many people played Royal Road that if you didn’t allow people to have the same name, the game would have many strange and meaningless names ones with numbers attached . Therefore, developers took care of this by introducing a system where a unique number is assigned to each person.

“Do you happen to be the one who fulfilled the task for the Order of Freya?”

“Yes, please tell us!”

All the talk about Weed’s success started in Liberty City, so it is not surprising that in the crowd there was not one person who had not heard of Weed. Yes, and in the whole game, as an NPC reached lv 30 it would start talking about someone in the continent.

“If that is the case …”

Before Weed could say anything, the players themselves all discussed together.

“Incidentally, is this the same Weed from the Continent of Magic?”

“No, it can’t be. Weed is a common name.”

“Exactly. A lot of players have that name”

“Yeah, my friend also uses the nickname Weed.”

After what Weed did in the ‘Continent of Magic’ the name Weed in ‘Royal Road’ became extremely common. When Weed was selling figurines, he met 6 buyers with the same name.

That is why the Pale, Surka, Romune and Irene did not even imagine that they were playing with the very same Weed.

“Hmm, it’s still strange that out of nowhere appears a player named Weed and he begins to help players … weird”

“So what? He called a Death Knight; as far as I know, even among the summoners there is none who can do so.”

“Yes, let’s think about the evidence in front of our eyes. Weed also destroyed the clan of vampires, did he not?”

“Yeah, they say he has a high level of faith. Tell me, where can a cook gain faith?”

“That’s right, no player from the craft professions will be able to complete such a difficult task.”

“Take a look. Weed is silent and isn’t saying anything.”

So, after much discussion the players persuaded themselves that this was not The Weed.

In any case, now no one called him a fraud.

Everybody thought that he was such a great cook, that the death knight decided to serve him.

Weed then again, as before, shouted out:

“If you leave me your stuff, I’ll fix it for free, and it’ll be as good as new! If you bring me your leather or fabric, then I’ll make you good clothes! If you bring me ore, then I’ll give you a weapon or armor! If you bring me meat, I’ll make you delicious food! In addition, the food I roast will increase your vitality by at least 150 points! And it’s delicious!”

Now people with pieces of skin gave it to him.

“Make me clothes.”

“Me too.”

“I’m new, and I have no armor.”

Weed quickly examined the skin. As he expected, most of them were the skins of wolves or rabbits, and very rarely an ordinary deerskin.

“What kind of clothes do you make?”

“Please make me some pants.”

“I will prepare you stylish and comfortable pants with good protection; wait a little, I will do everything”

Weed took from his pocket a needle, thread and scissors. Cut the skin and made pants. Of course, he didn’t just pick up the pieces and stitch leather. Weed first estimated the size of the guy.

“If he’s that size, then …”

He cut off the skin and then stitched excellent pants. He made the hips loose, with wide pockets … On the bottom edge, reaching up to the heel, he visually lengthen the leg. Weed thought of everything and made stylish pants out of simple skin.

Quality Leather Pants

Durability: 30/30

Defense: 10

Pants made of rabbit skin. This is not the best material for sewing, but thanks to the amazing talent of the tailor its deficiency was overcome.

“It turned out well” Weed even surprised himself. But he showed nothing besides a confident smile, as he handed over the pants.

For Weed, comparing the pants with his current clothes was pointless. As for the newbie, the pants would provide good protection for a long time. And it was all thanks to his intermediate handcrafting skill, without such this would not have happened.

“Wow, that’s so good …”

the newbie said as he took the pants from Weed’s hands. He was speechless, rabbit skins, one of the most worthless materials in the game were turned into pants that could be worn without problems until level 30.

“That’ll be 1 silver.”

As Weed received commissions he continued to sew clothes for a long line of players. Hats, shirts, and gloves, with just a few strokes of his arms. Weed didn’t even have to concentrate. It was like working in a factory again, only this time he didn’t have to work in a musty room but in the clean streets of Liberty City.

There was a cool and pleasant breeze, but people who were waiting in line only felt the sun burn their eyes.

“Wow! Thank you so much for such a cool tunic. I’ll wear it now. And if I bring more skin, will you sew another dress?”

When beginners received their new armor they would dance with joy. With their new high-quality hunting clothes they would be able to hunt faster, and more securely.

Rumors of an unprecedented master spread already to the point where many players lined up in advance. Most immediately ordered food, clothing, and equipment repair. Only somewhere in the evening was there a player who nervously, handed Weed just three pieces of ore.

“You can really make armor?”

“Of course. What armor do you want? For the record, making armor requires 30 pieces of ore. And with just this, by adding the skin I can make some boots.”

“Then please make some boots.”

“That’ll be 3 silver.”

“Good.”

Weed melted the ore in the furnace, poured it into the selected forms and received the boots.

Unclean Iron Boots

Durability: 35/35

Defense: 6.

Iron alloy boots. Although the defense is not high, they are comfortable and durable.

Effects: Dexterity +2.

Usually boots made of iron and bronze have more protection than boots made of leather. But there was not enough metal.

And then, in a burst of inspiration!

Weed cut on the boots a fox with nine tails. A final touch reflecting his personality. A kind of signature.

Tink!

The properties of the object have changed.

Artistic Unclean Iron Boots

Durability: 38/38

Defense: 7

Iron alloy boots. Although, the defense is not high, they are comfortable and durable. The image of a sly fox further increases the strength and health of the host.

Effects:

Dexterity +2

Strength +1

Stamina +1

Intermediate level sculpting was designed to improve the performance of objects. Maybe not much, but still two features were added.

Other skills could be applied to sculpting and only now it occurred to him that sculpting could be applied to other skills also.

“Damn it, the increase wasn’t that great. It was good, but only slight better. “

The more Weed played the better he understood that all craft professions require secondary skills. Just like in life. Prominent figures who have left their mark in history, have been diversely gifted in art, mathematics and other sciences.

And they were all well-known sculptors!

Weed finally realized that being a sculptor was not as much to the artisan craft as an art. It was a peaceful occupation that did not help battle. While this was not entirely true, the effects of beautiful sculptures had often rescued Weed; but to create such a work was so hard that it did not matter. The usual sculptures were just useless trinkets.

In addition, to raise the levels in sculpting was a lot harder than other professions. While soldiers battled, and blacksmiths forged weapons, sculptors had to create conventional sculptures and languish.

And even if after the labors they were able to reach the intermediate level of skill, the situation could not be changed, so to create a beautiful sculpture was not so easy.

But these were no useless professions: for example, the higher the level of the cooking skill was, the more tasty and healthy food he could prepare. It was the same with the sculpting.

Engraving technique and statue destruction - a unique ability of the sculptor that will never be known to any other class. And only through the work of the sculptures can one so quickly develop the skill and craftsmanship to master the skills of other professions. However, for such progress required great tenacity and originality.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you” said the player who bought the boots, and in a burst of gratitude gave a 1 gold.

If he were to buy it from a shop it would cost at least 10 gold. In addition, the boots met with the requirements, so the player paid more than the original price with no regrets.

“Thank you.”

“Be sure to take a look.”

“I found a golden thread; can I give it to you?”

The things he made selled like hot cakes. Weed worked with full dedication, but the line never decreased, in contrast it grew.

Metal, leather, or fabric, even things that were usually thrown away, in the hands of weed it turned into treasure. Weed never refused a job and the players adored him.

Weed was trembling with excitement.

In the past, when selling his figurines he had to carefully assess his customers and make great efforts to convince players to buy them. But now, thanks to the skill of a blacksmith, everything he did resulted in a cheer. He was doing really useful things, and people were grateful for it.

“Hmm … when compared with the profession of a sculptor, everything else looked extremely useful.”

After these thoughts, all pre-thoughts that showered love for his profession immediately disappeared and Weed began to be skeptical again.

“Maybe I should get a job change? I could become a blacksmith and put all of my effort into developing my skills. And then I’ll just create beautiful things. I won’t have to worry about money, because even if I stopped trying, money would still flow into my pockets.

Yes, the profession of a blacksmith was easier than a sculptor, but there were its advantages. However, Weed did not relax and back down from complaining:

“Eh …it’s too late though I really wanted to change it. Oh, my pitiful life. “

Weed without rest did one thing at a time. He took any material with some small commission and worked tirelessly at it. He had one main goal – to do more jobs, and quickly boost his skill level. The higher the level of the blacksmith, the better the tools they tried to use. So people were amazed at what Weed was making without the use of high quality tools.

“He’s really a good person.”

“Yeah, look at all the good things he’s doing …”

“He’s simple and not greedy.”

At the gates of Liberty City were two richly dressed men.

Behind one of the men hung a huge blade; it was a two handed sword that struck with a lot of force, and the other man was one of the few Druid Heliolaters in the game.

To become a follower of the sun, you had to be at least of level 250. To reach this level at this point in the game meant you were one of the highest level players.

They looked at Weed and whispered:

“Oh, a true master.”

“Exactly. A conscientious and honest man”

“And smart. He cleverly thought ahead when he chose his profession…”

“Yes, starting with a craft profession is really reliable.”

“I agree, and he doesn’t just have one kind of skill but many…”

They stood and talked about Weed. Of course, they never found out about all the agony Weed faced as a sculptor. In their eyes, he had a very clever and thoughtful game plan.

Everything he made scattered in no time.

Design! Due to his high ‘art’ all the items he made had excellent design. Quality! The stats of his items were much superior to their counterparts in the shops of traders.

In general, it was not surprising that his things sold so well.

Weed’s name instantly spread throughout all adjacent lands. Some players, receiving messages from friends, even began to come from other settlements.

It was hard to find a good craftsman. Most players had to go with the standard weapon from monsters or buy from NPCs. In addition, many players had saved up skin, ore and other materials from their hunts.

Weed did not refuse anyone and with any material created useful goods. When the line built up to a considerable number of players he began selling his previously created deerskin clothes.

Full of hope Weed arranged for an auction:

“Sale of sewed clothes. Suitable for priests and monks. Good, high quality equipment from the skin of deer. The quantity is limited, so I will sell it to the one who offers the highest price!”

Suddenly, Priests and monks in the crowd eyes lit up. In the continent of Versailles there were not as many monsters with good cleric gear.

“One for 160 gold!”

“Over here 200 gold!”

Clothes sold out within a few moments. Weed did not scam them, the quality was excellent, and were meant for players over level 100.

For the tunics people offered 200 to 300 gold, and a hat and boots sold for 50 or more gold. Thanks to the auction he earned more than 1000 gold.

And long after the end of the auction people came up and whispered trying to find out, whether there was at least one thing from the hide of a deer.

A couple of days after the auction, Weed had served more than one hundred people, and then finally achieved the desired result.

Upgrade: Blacksmithing (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%):

New skill: Blade Sharpening

New skill: Armor Polishing

+5 To all stats

Reputation +50.

Art +3.

Blade Sharpening

Sharpens the blade, increasing weapon damage

Armor Polishing

Confuses and dazzles enemies along with an increase in defense.

After some time his tailoring skills reached the intermediate. Previously, Weed thought he would first raise tailoring skills, but he was wrong because he didn’t take into account that the majority of people in the game were soldiers and they only asked him to make swords. Therefore, his tailoring skill was late.

Upgrade: Tailoring (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%):

New skill: Ironing

New skill: Hand Washing

+5 To all stats

Reputation +50.

Art +70.

Ironing

Increases defense

Hand Washing

Requirements: water

Wash your dirty clothes in the water. This will improve the defenses of the object.

Severe washing will wear and tear clothes.

Skill can be used no more than 3 times on one set of clothes.

On that day, when his skills passed the intermediate stage, Weed served his last two clients and made an announcement. He climbed up on the table and, after looking around the crowd of players, many of whom came from neighboring kingdoms, shouted as loudly as possible to be heard by all:

“Hello everyone, I’m asking for your attention. Due to personal reasons, for a while I cannot sew clothes or make weapons. I’m sorry. But there is good news! After 4 days, I will finally expose a single product. My tailoring has reached the intermediate stage, and now I can make clothes out of Prismatic cloth! Come again in 4 days and you will not be disappointed!”

After those words, Weed wrapped his things and fled.

“Prismatic cloth?”

“What’s that?”

People came up with many theories, but eventually curiosity won out, and players, disconnected from the game to look for information on sites devoted to Royal Road.

Sovereign Prismatic Cloth

Durability: 5/5

Item artisan skills. Excellent material for clothing and other equipment. During the manufacturing process 7 attributes will be chosen at random. Excellent protection from arrows and blunt weapons. To work with the fabric requires intermediate level tailoring.

It is now known where the fabric comes from but it is also known that it is not easy to get.

Tier 1 tailoring material.

Effects: Grants seven randomly generated attributes.

Suddenly an unknown player shouted out that it was used to create high quality clothes.

Rumors spread on the internet faster than the speed of light. On the appointed day at the gates of the city, so many people had gathered that it was packed. Some people ran day and night from other kingdoms in hope to buy the clothes.

Yes, there were a lot of players, and various guilds were present. In the vast continent of Versailles there was a full on war between guilds, so in the auction, there were not friends, but implacable enemies.

All because of the hope to buy some unique items.

“Let’s start the auction!”

Weed’s auction was conducted by Mapan.

Of course, during the time he was crafting his face was seen by many, but now the crowd was ten, or twenty times larger, and he was sure someone would post a movie of the online auction. Weed didn’t want to attract attention to himself and be identified as the Princess Knight, so he asked Mapan to hold his auction.

“So, the 1st lot … Ah! Mr. Weed has prepared for us 13 items. For reference, one of them is unique, 5 are rare, and the rest are usual. So, lets start with ordinary objects. The first lot …”

“1000 gold!”

“1500!”

“2400!”

“4000!”

The people fought to the last, so that at least one object fell into their hands.

Of course, things put up for auction are important, but so is the auction site and each participant - all heavily influencing the price of the object. If you advertise and then sell in a remote village, where only a few players were, no one would buy.

To make a good auction, you must first gather those interested, and then carefully maintain and create heated competition for the goods between the players and their greed.

Here is the secret to an auction!

Thanks to a great-planned auction, Weed sold all his rainbow tunics. The next day, people continued to come to the old place, but Weed, as promised, was gone.

Chapter 4: Engraving Master Darone

Bensa River

It was the lifeline of the British Confederation. Strolling across the expanses of the continent, it was said that along the river were nine spectacular sceneries.

When Royal Road was just released, players were enchanted by the river.

With dazzling beauty and tranquility, it was a place that pleased all travelers.

For this reason, many players choose to start off in the British Confederation: sometimes just to picnic by the river!

Couples would be littered about the river. Even the strong torrential rain did not scare them off because the river was so beautiful.

“Look at that. Can it really be that beautiful?”

“It’s as if the sky has come to meet the river.”

“As the rain falls into the river, it runs into the sea and fills it. Just like how my heart is filled with our love.”

“Aww, I love you.”

“Me too.”

The heavy rain fell on the earth overshadowed by a dark sky. With the rising mist, and thick white fog, an impression that the river and sky touching was created. As a result, a beautiful yet terrifying scene was portrayed.

Couples sitting lovingly together under a tree would watch the scene as they made promises of eternal love to each other. Conversation made at that time would remain in their memories for a long time.

But the world can be quite cruel to love!

“Wow! There’s a lot of water.”

“Yeah there’s a lot …”

“It’s a little bit strange.”

“I’m scared…”

“Oh no! The water is getting closer!”

“Huh, I think it’s closer than before.”

“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!”

The river was constantly changing. Many small streams ran into the river and nourished it. As the streams filled it, the rain gave it momentum. Eventually it would go so fast that the water would explode flooding its banks.

“Ahhhh!”

“Save me!”

“We have to run!”

“This is hell!”

Huge waves swallowed careless couples. In the thick fog, it was a battle for life and death.

People were screaming, running, trying to escape, but to no avail: the river showed no mercy to them.

Spectators watched from afar, those that couldn’t stand the sight of lovers chose a place far away from the river, and watched happily as they were swept away. In real life, they lived a life of solitude, so an indifferent smile decorated their faces.

“Hehehe!”

“Ahahah!”

“Amazing!”

Even for all the money in the world, you could not see such a sight. The fearsome waves as they carried the couples away. The snow storms in the province of Mora. In the vast continent of Versailles these sights were priceless.

The Bensa River flowed peacefully. After the horrendous downpour, the river returned to its natural state, a majestic river flowing smoothly and slowly.

People living near the place at the time would find themselves becoming calm, and soothed.

However there were others, one person had cold and prickly eyes as he looked down at the people below.

The man was Weed.

“Ha, well now, I’ll be sure to catch something big!”

It had been a week since he began to fish in the river. While fishing he honed his sculpting skills but that was the only thing he made progress on. His blacksmithing and tailoring levels rose quickly because of his high handcrafting skill but fishing was different. It all depended on what kind of fish you caught.

And if you used the best bait, no one could predict what kind of fish you would get and what the fish would do.

Maybe you would catch something, or maybe the fish would just eat the bait.

Weed had been sitting on the bank of the river for a whole week and he only reached beginner level 3 for fishing.

“Definitely something large. Yes, I’m going to catch a huge fish.”

He closely followed the float with his eyes, without losing focus for even a second. Spinning in the crystal water the fish would try to steal the bait on the hook.

“Selling expensive fish!”

If it wasn’t for the salary he received from the CST Media, money from the awards he gained from the Order of Freya, the revenue he made from repairing items, and the auction, Weed would not have had the opportunity to waste time. However, with money, he could now relax and develop his fishing skills.

Although he was in such a serene setting, Weed shuddered at the thought of depositing his savings.

To pay for his sister’s tuition, he needed to set aside 2 million won every month. Since he had no regular income, his payment would have to be postponed every month. Weed felt like the protagonist in a horror movie.

Not surprisingly, he shuddered because all of the money would only cover breakfast.

Even the fact that he opened an account at a savings bank for mutual credit, where the annual rate of interest was 2% above average compared to other banks, did not save him from his anxiety.

If the bank went bankrupt, the government would only return up to 50,000 won. That is if the bank was connected to a major politician. Also he was sceptical of the savings bank.

“South Korea’s politicians are a hotbed of corruption. They often create a bank for money laundering, so it’s not surprising that they cannot give large profits.”

Every day while fishing, Weed could not stop thinking about sculptural design. As a moonlight sculptor, he was influenced heavily by the local ice sculptures in Mora.

“I wish I was at Baran or Laviase. The sculptures there are probably harmonized with their surrounding environment. Hmm, I wonder what kind of sculpture would fit a river landscape. “

Making a fine piece or even a grand piece was not so easy. He needed an original idea and he had to implement it perfectly.

“There’s a flowing river, and I catch in it…. I know! I’ll make something that attracts fish!” Weed jumped so that he almost dropped his bait.

He immediately contacted Mapan.

“Hey, Mapan!”

“Yes! Weed” he said with all of his attention and respect.

After the auction, he had gained several levels along with unshakable faith in Weed. He would even go so far to say that as long as you’re with Weed, gold coins will fall from the sky into your pockets.

“I need a stone, the larger the better. Also make sure it’s pure and clean.”

“It’ll take two days, especially since it’s a rock.”

Weed anxiously waited for Mapan as he fished. However, when he pulleded his line up, often there was no fish.

Weed had spent so much good bait, and had nothing to show for it.

“This is impossible!” Out of anger he threw the rod on the ground. “I’m missing something.”

The gears in his head began to spin wildly. Faced with a crisis he became fully immersed searching for his mistake.

Then he heard a voice:

“Ho-ho, you need to understand something. Fishing is something that cleans your soul. Fish freely float in the river, carelessly and deliberately. That is why we want to catch them so badly, right? But once we catch them, then they are not free anymore, they become just a piece of meat.”

On the river, there were a lot of players who loved to fish. Even more, in real life they were related to fishing in one way or another. And in Royal Road, these players did not play because they liked to game, but because they liked fishing.

It was a fishing club.

For them, Royal Road became a place of promise. They fished in amazing places not found on Earth. Ate delicious, exotic fish and chatted with interesting people. Their characters were developed only through fishing.

Luckily, in Royal Road, players are not forced to do one thing. If you choose a craft profession, it does not mean that you have to sit day and night, making stuff. Also, craft skills raised a large variety of skills. For example, if you made armor, it would raise craftsmanship, blacksmithing, and a couple of other skills.

With this, all players could go hunt monsters and not feel too weak. As with sculpting and other skills, fishing also helps a player survive. It increases vitality, stamina, and endurance, and it also increases your reflexes because all you do all day is wait for a fish to bite your hook.

“I’ll learn how to fish. I don’t have to raise my levels again, but I’ll have to relearn the basics of fishing.”

Weed studied cooking by looking for new recipes in real life and in game. But he was too impatient to fish. As he reflected on his crisis he found one problem.

You can’t rely on good bait and your fishing skill. Like engraving, you have to rely on your own skill, while the system assists you. But as the saying goes, “trust but verify” so Weed decided to approach the problem from another angle.

He joined the fishing club and began to learn the basics of fishing.

He learned how to select and string bait, how to choose a place for fishing, and much, much more.

“So… Depending on where you are, the kind of fish you catch will be different?” Weed asked the jolly bearded fisherman

“Yup, that’s absolutely true. Think to yourself. At sea, you won’t find river fish, and at a river you won’t find any whales. “

“Uh… I already knew that. I mean does it matter where I fish along a river?”

“Tsk tsk” clicked the fisherman, squinting he said “Is the water in a river the same everywhere?”

There are deep places, and there are shallow waters. Stony places with seaweed, with pure water, mixed with food, without food, with cold water or with warm water. By the way, the latter is particularly important: When there isa convergenve of cold and warm water, one can find there the most delicious fish..

“Oh. So that’s how …”

Weed realized that what he had thought initially was wrong. He would choose a secluded spot because he thought there would be no more fish in crowded areas. He then chose to sit among a group of fishermen but found it too noisy and crowded. However, now he knew that location mattered so Weed, without hesitating, fished near a skilled fisherman.

“Uhhh, this is great!” Weed said happily

After changing his location and selecting his bait, the quality of fish he caught improved. In addition, he caught much more fish than before.

“Here, I brought a stone” said Mapan, pointing to a cart with a big gray boulder inside.

“Thank you, Mapan.”

“Ah. .. What are you going to do with it …”

“Well, if you have the time, wait and see. Although I may be wrong …”

“Are you going to make a sculpture?”

“Even though I know this might fail but…”

Mapan had seen Weed create amazing sculptures many times. He loved to observe him work, and sat watching on the ground, waiting for him to work.

Weed fiddled with his knife and tried to figure out something.

Perhaps the sculpture would show the peak of his current skills. Weed believed that he would succeed even though he was making a rock sculpture for the first time. He didn’t want to rush and mess up the sculpture. Novices would often immediately rush to work, and then mess up, resulting in penalties.

Mapan waited a moment and said:

“What are you going to make?”

“Uhhh…”

“Still don’t know yourself?”

Weed gave a silent nod. Mapan hit the nail on the head. We need to do something that will help me raise my fishing level. Just what is it?

“Maybe we can make a huge bait?” Weed seriously considered the suggestion but decided against it. No, that’s stupid; the statue would just scare the fish.

“We need to make a sculpture associated with the sea, something good which attracts fish … Yes, a woman. A Mermaid!”

The well-known fairy tale of a mermaid:

Once there was a mermaid princess that lived her whole life under water, and when she was 15, she went above water for the first time in her life. At that moment, she saw a ship with a young prince on board. Surprisingly, she fell in love at first sight and for several days accompanied the ship. But then there was a storm. The ship began to sink, and the mermaid caught the unconscious prince and rescued him. When the prince woke he thought the temple girl saved him so he decided to marry her. Upon hearing this, the little mermaid in desperation turned to a dark witch, and got human legs in exchange for her beautiful voice. She went into the palace and tried to win the prince over but failed.

In despair she jumped out of a window into the sea and turned into sea foam. All the inhabitants of the sea bitterly mourned her death and often visited her resting place.

“Yes, a mermaid would be the best, and fish would swim to the location of the statue.”

Weed worked hard carving with his knife. Recently he made sculptures of women by hand and so without further ado he again embodied the image of Seoyoon.

However, this time he would have to make changes.

“Everything below the belt should be a fish tail…bigger eyes, flowing hair… Hmm, I’ll also have to make the top nude.”

Weed stopped and appreciated the work done. The face appeared quite similar to Seoyoon. He was ashamed a little of making her naked. Internally, he opposed it; besides if she saw it, then he would be in trouble.

“Hmm, what should I do … Ahh! I’ll just remake an actress” Weed began to recall well-known actresses and made changes to the sculpture. The face changed a lot, and the body became more curved.”

Interested fishermen gathered around Weed.

“Oh! What is this?”

“A Sculpture. I’ve never seen a sculptor like him before.”

“It’s beautiful.”

Fishing on the river was slow and boring, so strange events attracted many players. Weed, scrolling through images in his head, quickly cut out details in the sculpture. In the end, it turned out as a beautiful but sad girl with a baby face.

Weed made sure to make the sculpture young because, as in the legend the little mermaid was not a grown woman.

Tink!

You have finished the Sea Nymph Sculpture

The outstanding work of a master engraver

Artistic value: 450.

Effects:

The power of a water spirit will prevent the river from flooding for 10 years.

This effect cannot be combined with other sculptures.

“…”

Weed lowered his hands.

The statue was supposed to help catch fish, and not give any extra effects.

A Water nymph “the daughter of the sea god, with a nice fish tail.” Apparently a nymph and a mermaid was something similar, and this similarity played a cruel joke.

“You …”

The fishermen condemned weed as they looked at the statue. For them, as solitary men they liked to watch the river as it carried couples away. And now there was a sculpture that would prevent floods for the next 10 years. Weed had become the enemy of most anglers.

“Honestly, I didn’t intend for this” justified Weed as the fishermen closed in on him.

“Ah! I’ll fix everything!”

In his situation, he had to act quickly. Weed turned toward the sculpture and shouted:

“Sculpture destruction!”

From the base of the sculpture, up-to-head, appeared a huge crack, and when it reached the top of the sculpture, it shattered into many small fragments.

You have used a skill: Sculpture destruction

Because of great regret you lose 1 Art stat and lose 20 fame.

A ratio of 1:2 of your art stat has been added to you dexterity for one day.

Sculpting Skill has risen by 0.2%

Even with the destruction of a sculpture it was one of the skills of a sculptor, so it gave experience points. Even more points than creating sculptures. But it could not be used more than once a day and decreased performance.

1800 points from his art stat was added to his dexterity.

Now he fished so quickly that his hands were a blur. However, his fishing rate was not affected, but it still looked impressive.

* * *

The Geomchis gripped their blades.

“Ohhh!”

“We got everything but the dragon!”

After a quick death, the Geomchis were full of determination again.

Revived, they appeared somewhere in the forest and Geomohochi, standing on a tree, calmly surveyed the surrounding area.

“Fifth, what you see?” the teacher anxiously asked

“I don’t see anything.”

“Geomsamchi, what about you?”

“I see … a boy.”

“A little boy! Does that mean there’s a town nearby?” As the master jumped up so did all 500 of his students.

Frankly, they did not want to admit it, but they were lost. After fearlessly attacking the dragon, many of them died and were reborn somewhere to the south of Rosenheim. With their supplies long gone, the Geomchis resorted to forest barriers and rare game from hunting.

Rare because the group of 500 could not move quietly enough to catch animals off guard. And because none of them knew how to cook, they ate under cooked or burnt meat, making everyone sick.

“Bring him here.”

“There he is.”

Geomsamchi quickly ran forward and brought the boy.

The Geomchis, looking at the child could not help but cry.

“Ohhh!”

“How long has it been since we’ve seen people?”

“Finally we can go back to a village.”

“And eat delicious bread. Yum-yum.”

The master on behalf of his students asked the child:

“Is there is a village nearby?”

The child looked nervous and stuttered:

“Ye-y-y-y … Yes, but who are these uncles?”

“Uncles!” The crowd quickly became rowdy.

“Why did you call us uncles!““We’re not even married. We are young!”

“And I am only 20!” There was a pained cry from the crowd.

The Geomchis responded very strongly to the boy’s words, though, they should have been happy that they were not mistaken for robbers.

With the boy’s words the Geomchis began to reflect on themselves.

“That’s weird. I see strangers form parties and hunt together but we don’t do that.”

“Why don’t we?”

“Yeah. Wherever we go, people scatter.”

“Also in the fortress of Seraburg! When we went to the market, people avoided us.”

“This reminds me, we’ve never hunted with women! If this continues, we will live a lonely life, and die forgotten as a lonely old fart!”

The Geomchis for the hundredth time shared the same experience. Then the boy fell on his knees.

“Please help me!”

“Huh?”

“My parents have been taken away by the evil giant! I left the village in order to find help. I beg you, please save them!”

Tink!

A Giant man has been kidnapping villagers

The giant man “a type of monster related to the giants” torments the villagers around the clock. Abducted villagers have to cook, wash, clean, and collect food for the monster. In return for their work they are given very severe beatings. Kidnapped people often die quickly from exhaustion.

Save the boy’s parents or they will die!

Reward: Black sword, and gratitude from the villagers

Failure: Not completed within 10 days

The instructors and students looked expectantly at their master. For them, doing quests was like being an errand boy, so they always refused to accept quests.

But this time, the master smiled gently and said:

“We will save your parents.”

“Master, don’t we usually refuse? Geomdulchi asked.

“Well, usually we refuse quest for bringing or collecting things. But as warriors we should help those who are in trouble, that goes without saying”

the teacher answered firmly.

“Then we will also …”

“Everyone take the quest. We’re going to catch a giant.”

With the words “first the sword,” the students cheered.

“Wow!”

“A quest!”

“I can’t believe we’re doing a quest!”

It was a dream of all real warriors to help those in need and drive out monsters!

The Geomchis headed toward the giant. It was not difficult, since along the way were traces of the giant on the ground.

“Oh! That’s big.”

“Probably more than 3 meters in diameter.”

“If his foot is this big, then how big is the body?”

When doing quests, regular players would first gather information and prepare in advance. However, the Geomchis stupidly went on ahead. Following the tracks they came across a huge cave as big as the dragon’s cave they came across before.

At the sound of the Geomchis, a huge, but not very intelligent monster appeared. As the giant walked out of his cave it grew angry at the sight of uninvited guests.

Boom-boom-boom!

The giant man ran toward the Geomchis, and the ground shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Run!” Shouted the teacher.

They scattered harmoniously left and right.

Wham!

The huge foot of the giant left a deep mark on the spot where the Geomchis were standing.

“What is this…”

With his weight and feet as weapons, he was bound to kill some of the Geomchis.

The Giant, shouting, was jumping, trying to crush the Geomchis. However, they avoided the jumps and struck at his feet.

“Now, grab him!”

The first and second Geomchis smartly climbed onto the giant. The monster didn’t like it, and started to wave his arms around to get rid of the pesky soldiers on the back of his head.

“Uhuu!”

The first three Geomchis, clutching the giant’s hair and clothes avoided his attacks.

Meanwhile, down below, many blows were dealt on his foot.

Like a huge elephant being taken down by a swarm of ants, the giant lost its strength, staggered, and fell onto the ground.

Kwaahang!

“Victory!”

“All thanks to you, Master!”

While the Geomchis celebrated, a small boy appeared in the distance. He ran exhausted – looking at the men that were appearing from the cave. Embracing them, and telling them something while pointing to the Geomchis. Eventually he came up to the Geomchis.

“Thank you for saving my father and mother, uncle.”

“Why…It’s nothing.”

“No, it is, as promised a reward.”

Quest complete: Liberation of the villagers from the giant’s captivity.

The giant man, who lived in the mountains, caught and terrorized the villagers.

With his death, finally, comes peace.

Familiarity increased by 26

Relations with the village of Ulkyn has become friendly.

Your level has risen

Your level has risen

The boy bringing a sword much too heavy for him handed it to the master.

“Here, take it.”

“Check item” the master quickly examined the sword, and found that it was much better than what they had at present.

“The rest of the swords are in the village. And our village is famous for medicinal herbs. In appreciation, we would like to give them to you, and if you want, you can sell them in the city for a good price.”

The disciples were stunned that the boy did not disappoint them. They helped people in distress, increased their fame, while still training!

“Cheers!”

“OOOO! Now, let’s keep going!”

Royal road gradually opened to the Geomchis.

Weed rose his fishing seriously.

“As long as I get an average fish, I will only eat fish.”

He swallowed the fish whole, and with each new dish his determination grew stronger. Sometimes not wanting to waste time he ate the fish raw.

“Wow! Muck.”

Weed kept on fishing only on the strength of his will and obstinacy.

He always liked to fight, collect items and get stronger. Which he could do indefinitely. Now however, what he was doing was nothing like that. Only a peaceful, leisurely fishing which didn’t even make money, like his blacksmithing or tailoring skill. After all, if you catch a big and wonderful fish, it would be sold cheaply as food.

As the days passed his level rose to beginner level 9. More precisely, to 97.6%.

While he was fishing, he was surprised to learn of the existence of the fish market.

And next to Weed was always the same person. Slender and tall, a young man named Zephyr. Weed later found out that the guy started fishing here since the opening of Royal Road.

He was sitting on the rocks and gazed longingly at the Bensa River. It was said that some of the girls fell in love with this mysterious silent figure.

It would have probably went on as usual, but then came Weed. When he arrived, the strongest fisherman on the river was just Zephyr. His fishing level was well above average. Therefore, Weed decided, and sat down with the best fisherman on the river.

At first Zephyr paid hardly any attention to him, but gradually he began to respond to Weed. And at some point began to compare fish.

The two men grimly watched the river.

Zephyr’s float first went under water.

“Oh great, a big fish!” Shouting, he pulled his rod back. But the only thing that hung on his hook was just an old boot.”

“Damn.”

Frustrated Zephyr sat on a rock and had started to stick on new bait, when Weed’s float went under water.

Weed carefully, but with great control, was pulling his prey out of the river. As if playing a game, Weed and the fish pulled on the line. Using a lot of force was bad. Sometimes you have to let go a little, sometimes on the contrary, spin. Fish were strong, and if you thoughtlessly pulled at the line, then it was possible to break the line.

With a little trouble, Weed pulled out of the river a large carp. It was a humongous fish, more than 45 centimetres. In the history of fishing in the Bensa River, that fish ranked among the top 10 largest fish ever caught.

Tink!

Upgrade: Fishing (Beginner Lv: 10 to Intermediate Lv: 1 | 0%):

Now you can use rods as weapons.

+25 water affinity

+2000 life

Increased effect when cooking fish

Ability to catch special fish

+50% to the effects of fish bait

+3 to all stats,

+50 reputation

+30 endurance

+30 intelligence

+30 wisdom.

After so much of suffering, Weed, finally increased his fishing level.

Having achieved his goal, he began to slowly collect his things.

“While the focus on this is finally over” he thought to himself.

Weed set out to learn all the craft professions to master level. It was huge and demanding mission, which would take him more than one year.

But now with his stats increased Weed was pleased.

“Are you going?” Zephyr cautiously asked when he saw that Weed had begun to collect his belongings. His voice was full of regret.

“Yes, I must go.”

“I just realized that we never spoke much … And you … you’re probably older than me right?”

“Well if you ask, perhaps I am. Perhaps we’ll even see each other again.”

Weed left the Bensa River, and headed to the capital of the kingdom, Kroin, to sell his figurines, which he made while fishing.

Ding-dong!

He rang the bell on the door of the souvenir shop. The owner was at the counter alone.

“What leads you here?”

“I have come to sell some sculptures.”

Weed put his products on the counter: figurines of vampires, wolves, the crown of Fargo and many others.

“Wow!” The shopkeeper could not hide his delight. “Excellent! I have never seen such excellent products. I cannot even imagine their value. Such depth, such a flight of thought in these statues … and you happen to look at the wolf, when they made this statue?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Were you hungry?”

Weed nodding played along:

“Yes, I had to go hungry for four days.”

“Oh! Even so. I feel it, when I look into the eyes of a wolf, a living statue …”

“Ohoho” Weed laughed heartily, with the shop owner’s last words he offered a prepared fried fish.

“Oh, yes! While you evaluate my products, try this dish, I cooked it myself. Eat it for Health and quietly gaze at my statues.”

“Why thank you. Maybe I will look for you in the future. I too, was at one time engaged in the work of a sculptor, but alas, I didn’t have much talent, so I had to open the shop.”

“I have only recently embarked on the path of a sculptor, and I still have a lot to learn. But my desire to sculpt does not lose to anyone. Consider me a novice sculptor and suggest any advice if you see any errors. I will be very grateful.”

“Impossible.”

Flattery! Gifts! Dedication!

To the people that have influence, it is better to be a little obsequious and friendly. Weed brought a simple dish, said a few kind words, and his relationship with the owner of the shop greatly improved. Who would not be pleased when praised!

But compliments should be used carefully, and one should be careful not to overpraise. Or else, his efforts would backfire. For example, if the shop keeper had really short legs, and if such a person were to say that he looked very tall, then the effect would be the opposite.

The shopkeeper would immediately notice the flattery and begin to think, what do you want from him. In order not to fail so miserably, you had to carefully select words for compliments. Look very good, or when laughing look honest. Therefore, choosing his words, it was necessary to consider them.

You can even use criticism. Take all tall men and criticize them:

“Growth means nothing. If you do not possess eyes enabling to see and appreciate beauty, you cannot even understand the nature of good works.”

“Yes, you are right.”

So, while the shopkeeper priced figurines, they traded with each other phrases and their friendship strengthened.

After exchanging pleasantries and evaluating the figurines, they moved on to the main point:

“How much would you give for them?”

Weed goal for the game never changed. Money, money, money and more time! He was ready to get out of his skin just to earn more money.

“For such a superb job, I will give you 3 gold per sculpture. Is that all right?”

“I’ll sell them all” Weed replied without hesitation.

Recently, he stopped selling figurines to ordinary players. Even if you put in extra time and effort into you work, people would only pay something around 1 gold. But when you sell to a shop, it’s possible to get 2 or 3 gold.

Although if you figured how much time he spent on the creation of figurines, the payment would not cover even the cost of simple physical labor.

It was much more efficient to make money by hunting rather than selling statuettes.

Weed gratefully took the 245 gold.

“Maybe when my level rises, I can earn more. But until then I’ll have to do this” he thought sadly.

Throwing the money into his backpack, he was about to leave.

“I see you have a talent for sculptural design. You see beautiful things and make them into sculptures” said the shopkeeper.

Considering that this was another compliment Weed was already heading toward the exit, but his next words made him change his mind.

“A Sculptor must feel the beauty of life, and I see it in you. Did you happen to hear about the master-sculptor Darone? I usually do not tell, but you have the gift of the sculptor, so I can trust you. Did you know that Darone lives in the town of Rega?

You have acquired information about the master-sculptor Darone.

Chapter 5: Shapeshifter Sculpture

Weed went to the slums of the city.

Built on a hill with terraced buildings, the house he was looking for was located somewhere on the outskirts of the fort. It was said that if you bought a house here, you could get a view of the whole castle. Here there were no shops or useful buildings.

The only reason Weed came here was because of Darone. As a sculptor, it was very important that he uncover all of the secrets of sculptural design. Therefore, he was damn lucky to find one of the masters so quickly.

“Even if he doesn’t cling to fame, to live in a place like this…”

At first, when Weed heard of sculptural design he was skeptical. Now he really anticipated meeting a master engraver.

“Each engraving master has their own skills. If you learn all five techniques, you can learn a final skill. However, to fully utilize a profession was not something easy to do….”

If you remember how it all began, it was very strange. The story of how he became a sculptor and mastered it was incredible. First, he became friends with the instructor leading the training centre by beating a scarecrow day and night.

With his love of battle and contempt for sculptors, he established a friendly relation with him. Then, following the advice of his instructor, he went to the sage to find a profession.

After being deceived by the sage he became a Legendary Moonlight Sculptor at level 60. But that wasn’t the end of it. He suffered through many hardships as a sculptor, but persevered and mastered several craft skills. Weed finally found Darone’s house.

The house was surrounded by a fence, but he couldn’t really call it one because of how shabby it was. Inside, there stood a middle-aged man.

“It seems that person is Darone.”

As he went inside, he quietly watched Darone sculpt. Weed only saw him work for a brief time but he immediately recognized that he was a master. He didn’t want to interfere but the fact that he was making a sculpture resulted in many questions. Darone was carving a middle-aged woman in a wide skirt.

While working, he would periodically stop and spit blood on the ground. Only after he finished did he look at Weed.

“You waited a long time. Engraver?”

“Yes.”

“So, you found me … It is necessary to realize your own skills. As your soul changes, you develop different skills and create something that is entirely your own.. But still, I see you want to learn my secrets.”

Weed understood what he meant but he couldn’t even count the number of times when the engraving knife technique helped him. With the benefits of his other skills such as the sculptural life giving skill, he became excited.

“I want to learn!”

“Good. However, I don’t just reveal my secrets to anyone. I must first check whether you are worthy to teach. Therefore, go and try to understand the souls of five living beings.”

Tink!

Weed was confused.

Sculpting secrets went against common sense, ‘the engraving knife technique’, ‘giving to sculptures’ and now he had to copy the movements of five living things in order to penetrate their souls. He could not figure out what to do.

“Is this the general attitude of a sculptor when he gives a task?” he asked.

“What? You do not want to learn my secret? Are you rejecting my quest?”

Weed answered quickly.

“No. I really want to learn. Right now I’ll go and repeat the movements of five creatures. Is that good enough?”

“Yes. But I do not know if you can …”

You have accepted the quest!

Weed left the fortress.

“Five creatures….”

With that description, the criteria fitted any living creature.

“Then, I shouldn’t choose a complex creature.”

He looked around the castle. Running around the grounds were rabbits, squirrels, deer, and other animals of the beginning levels. The kinds of monsters beginners killed. He made up his mind. His first objective was to imitate a rabbit. Small rodents and deer were too fast, so his choice fell on a rabbit.

Crouching on the ground, he snuck up on a rabbit which was peacefully munching grass.

“…..”

Although he did not want to, because of his indomitable will power, he began to imitate the bunny.

“Yum-yum.”

Weed was on his knees chewing grass.

Because of his knowledge of herbs, he did not have to worry about eating poisonous plants. But to everyone else he looked very silly. The bunny apparently felt his eyes and hopped toward another location. Weed could do nothing but to squat jump after.

The rabbit moved in zigzags, and without warning changed speeds. Periodically he would stop, drink water, chew grass and watch him.

“What! Why is the rabbit so fast?”

You repeated the movement of the rabbit. Progress 0.6%

Fortunately, he repeated the movements correctly, but it was still unclear what this had to do with sculptural skills. In any case, Weed hopped after the rabbit, and his progress reached 35%.

However this was only the beginning, after the rabbit there were four other creatures. Running after the rabbit, Weed learned a lot about the bizarre behavior of rabbits.

First, the behavior of rabbits was very different than what Weed thought before. The rabbit washed his ears, marked his territory, and sometimes would jump to express its cheerful mood. Naturally so did its human counterpart.

The small, cute bunny was followed by a big and cruel person.

“The rabbit looks so tasty, if I could just get a bite…tasty.”

But he did not hunt rabbits.

For a whole day, the only thing that went into his mouth was grass, and now just looking at the rabbit caused him to drool. In the whole continent of Versailles, this was the only rabbit that was spared from the hands of Weed.

You repeated the movement of the rabbit. Progress 84.2%

The more progress he made the slower it rose.

However in just 5 days he reached 80% and now was able to give them simple commands.“Sit down. Stand up. Turn around. Side kick!“The rabbit rolled on the ground following Weed’s commands.

“Rabbits … When you know them better, you realize that they are very nice animals.”

When his progress reached 99.8%, the bunny sat and looked toward the sky at the
moon. Then Weed did the same.

You have fully mastered the movement of the rabbit.

After the rabbit’s turn was the deer’s. Weed did not consider himself a typical sculptor because he put all of his points in strength and dexterity. Regular players with the profession of a sculptor put all their points in art.

But Weed was stingy about putting points in art. Art was supposed to enhance the value of items he made, and increase the chance of creating a beautiful work, but that wasn’t easily seen. As for strength and dexterity, he felt it made him stronger. That’s why Weed developed his art stat passively through the work of his sculptures.

Now his art stat exceeded 800 points, and he had 505 points in dexterity, including bonuses, of course.

“If it’s a deer I might be able to follow them!”

The deer calmly plucked leaves from the branches of trees, and suddenly as if frightened of something ran off. Weed could do nothing but go after him. Due to his high dexterity he would not be shaken off.

You repeated the movement of a deer. Progress 0.2%

After hopping around like a rabbit, chasing a deer was much more invigorating. Also the deer was a lot more elegant.

However, even here there were pitfalls. It suddenly dawned on Weed:“Deer run on four legs.“But it was too late to change to a different animal; he got onto all fours and tried hard to keep up with the deer.

Mapan and Hwaryeong, after some transactions, headed to the town of Rega.

“Everything went smoothly all thanks to you, Hwaryeong.”

“No, it’s because of your skill as a merchant Mapan.”

Mapan and Hwaryeong, sitting on a cart, were engaged in a friendly conversation. Trading consisted of buying and selling, between which took a long and boring journey. As a result, merchants made sure to make friends with the NPCs when they visited a town. So, if you weren’t devoted, trading would be very boring.

As a merchant, Mapan could reduce the weight of traded goods, and increase the moving speed of vehicles. However, even with these buffs, journeys were long and boring.

Mapan and Hwaryeong generally talked to pass the time. This time, they began to talk about Weed.

“Oh, I wish I was there when Weed fought and defeated the Vampire Lord Tori with the help of the Order of Freya’s Paladins.”

“Yeah, not everyone can complete a B level quest. He even built an ice dragon in the northern continent.”

Hwaryeong eyes sparkled.

She loved fairy tales and legends, and all of the stories about Weed completely delighted her. She was really impressed when she heard that Weed and AlveronAlveron - a Pope Candidate of the Order of Freya - set out to save the cursed paladins!

When they arrived in the ruins of the abandoned village, Weed and Alveron were weakened by the bitter cold and surrounded by monsters of overwhelming strength. Still, they persevered and gradually built up their strength.

While the quest was still in progress, Weed sculpted a gigantic ice dragon. When all of the cursed paladins outside of the castle were freed, Weed and his force stormed the Black Castle. There they defeated hordes of vampires, freed the innocent villagers and defeated the final boss Tori.

Inside Hwaryeong’s head, all of these events played out as one epic movie. She saw earnest heroes in pain, struggling against the cold, fighting monsters and even the forces of nature itself. Hwaryeong’s impression of the recount of Weed’s quest was that it was an incredible and dangerous adventure. Mapan shrugged his shoulder.

“People talk about this now, but believe me. At first glance I saw that he was a very special person. When he came down from the sky…”

As they shared small talk they neared the city gates, but then they encountered something odd. They found a large crowd watching something. It was unusual for so many people to be gathered on the plains because the city gates were still a couple of hours away.

Mapan and Hwaryeong looked at each other. After a long and tedious journey, they were very interested to know what was happening there.

“Shall we?” asked Hwaryeong.

“Yes. It is necessary to look.”

Mapan stopped his cart, and they joined the crowd. Then they saw something that shocked them to the core.

Running across the field was a fox. Its lush, long tail swaying gently in deft movements. But they were not shocked by the tail. An unknown player was following the fox on all fours. When the fox jumped, so did the player.

When the fox tumbled, so did the player. Sometimes there was a difference in movement that was so small, if it wasn’t for the player, they wouldn’t have noticed.

“Wow, who is this? This is kind of weird.”

Mapan began questioning a number of people standing around. They were not close enough to see the face of the player from where they were standing.

A little girl standing nearby started giggling:“That man? I don’t know who he is, but I saw him imitate a bunny, a deer, a goblin, and now a fox. And with each imitation, he gets better and better.““There are really strange people these days …”

And at that moment, the fox turned back. As he looked back Mapan and Hwaryeong saw the player’s face.

“Oh!”

“Wow!”

It was Weed! Weed was imitating a fox.

Mapan and Hwaryeong gave each other a look, while everyone else watched excitedly, and pondered the situation.

Both of their faith in Weed was boundless, but sometimes he did some embarrassing things. Without saying a word, they turned back toward the vehicle. Completely ignoring Weed. Rabbits, deer, goblins, and now foxes. Weed mastered their behaviors. Now he looked for his last creature.

“Damn, this job takes a lot of time!”

Because rabbits, goblins, deer and foxes were beginner monsters, they were often killed. As a result, he had to spend a lot of time searching and redoing everything.

Therefore, Weed decided that the fifth animal would be something that no one would attack. He chose a horse. They were easy to find, and not far from town were pastures for horses. There, he ran hard on all fours and began imitating them. A horse is an animal that is born to run, so even with his high dexterity Weed had a hard time trying to keep up. If not for the fence enclosing the pasture, he could not do it.“This is the last one, if I just preserve a little more, I’ll get to learn the secret of sculptural design.”

You repeated the movements of the horse. Progress 12.1%

After a day he was only at 12%. Having developed a plan, Weed had a meal prepared with vegetables and special grass to make even more progress.

“You are what you eat. Therefore, by eating grass, I will learn about the horse much faster.”

You repeated the movements of the horse. Progress 59.0%

You repeated the movements of the horse. Progress of 89.7%

You repeat the movements of the horse. Progress 95.9%

Two, three, four! The more time passed, the more progress he made. And finally:

You have fully mastered the movement of the horse.

Weed was filled with euphoria. Then he realized something…Clop-clop-clop!While imitating a deer, his movements were constrained and a little clumsy. Now he ran familiarly and comfortably.

Weed flew like the wind! And somehow he had the feeling that on the four legs he ran faster than two.

Tink!

You have mastered a special movement skill: Quadruped Run

In use, you will be able to speed up by 60% more than usual. However, it consumes health and mana.

When running against the wind your stamina consumption goes down by 30%.

When running with the wind, your speed is increased by an additional 20%.

When running on certain terrains, speed is further enhanced by 80%.

Stamina +5

Resistance +5

Dexterity +5

“Wow! Wow…“

His imitation of the animals turned into a skill that ran on 4 legs!

However, he didn’t want to attract attention, and its use was a serious burden.

“Looks like I can’t use this skill in front of people …”

And yet, Weed smiled broadly. The fact that he followed the movements of the animals wasn’t a secret to his friends.

“Nothing. They just will never know.”

After completing the task, Weed went back to the castle. Of course, on two legs.

Again Darone was working on a sculpture of a middle-aged woman.

While he worked, Weed waited quietly and observed that the sculpture was very similar to the old one.“He’s making the same sculpture again” said Weed, puzzled. At one time he mass produced figures: birds, people, and wolves. However, not a lot of experience for copies was given.

“And the face … frankly it’s ugly.”

If you become a master sculptor, then you have the power to create a princess so beautiful even the gods would turn green with envy. However, the woman had a common face.

Darone finally finished and turned to Weed:“You completed my assignment?““Yup. A rabbit, deer, goblin, fox and a horse. I repeated their movements.”

“Nice work and you finished rather quickly. You have done well. Now, keep the image of these animals in mind and sculpt them. If you pass this simple test, then I’ll tell you my secret.”

“No problem.”

Weed was experienced in making sculptures, from large to small, wolves to dragons.

“I remember making rabbit and foxes, I made a lot of them and sold them to other players.”

Weed confidently began cutting away with his carving knife. However, for the first few minutes he felt something was wrong.

“What did I do wrong?”

All of his confidence evaporated. Weed stopped and began to seriously ponder what had gone wrong.

The figure in his hands was very different from his previous statues. In general, it was not surprising, since over time his sculptural skill increased. But there was something new. When he imitated the animals, he began to know them better.

Why rabbits have long ears and a short tail, and how a rabbit moves was now subconsciously taken into account in his work.

His figurine became more expressive, detailed and lively.

“Oho ho …”

Before, he simply used to copy an image he had in his head, but now he could make a sad figure of a rabbit, and a joyful one.

Even a rabbit chewing grass, first tearing, and then biting. Or a rabbit running away from predators.

In general, now Weed could highlight the nuances of life of a white bunny. When he repeated the movements of a goblin, he felt a little resentment.

Now working on the figure, Weed began thinking, trying to understand its soul. As well as working on the figure of a horse, he recalled the endless fields.

Weed was surprised at how comfortable and interesting his work became. It felt like he was spending time with friends. When Weed finished 5th figure.

Ding!

Statue Completed: The Five Animal Figurines (Grand Piece) .

Small, but very complex sculptures. They reflect the work of a real master and therefore contain great artistic value.

The sculpture causes joy and delight to all who see it

Artistic value: 460

Effects:

Health and mana regeneration increased by 6% during the day.

Increases affinity towards animals.

Resistance to fire magic + 15%. (excess heat in the body and be released through your ears)

Can detect any entry level traps.

Leadership + 25

Intellect +10

+10% Movement speed

These effects are not compatible with other statues.

Number of grand pieces made: 4

Sculptural skill increased.

Weed clenched fists.

Several times he made ‘fine pieces’ and even created a ‘master piece’ when he made the ice dragon. However this was the first time he created a ‘grand piece’ out of a small sculpture.

“In addition to these effects …”

Usually his sculptures increased the amount of health and mana you had, but this was the first time he had a sculpture increase affinity.

“A rabbit, deer, goblin, fox, and horse. The features of these animals appearing in effect.”

Up to this point, he only thought that large sculptures were valuable. But now he saw that even small sculptures could give the same or even better effects.

The possibilities for an engraver were huge. Darone looked at the figurines and nodded.“Love for sculptures makes your work even more vibrant and beautiful. You’ve passed my test perfectly.”

Quest Complete: Understanding a Sculpture

Before you would cut out the form of the animal. But with sculptural understanding, it is possible to show the soul of the being displayed. Love for animals, and the desire to learn, are one of the main qualities of a sculptor.

Rewarded: Secret skill taught by Darone himself.

Once Weed finished the message, Darone continued.

“The secret is nothing special. All I do is love my work. I don’t use any special techniques or rules when creating sculptures. I just devote my heart to it. And of course when you do, the sculpture is bound to become something special. That is the secret of a sculptor.”

“That’s it?”

“The understanding of what you’re creating, is my secret, and there’s one more thing I would like to teach you, it’s a skill only for those who understand sculpture…cough cough” Darone coughed and spat out a new batch of blood.

“Are you okay?” Weed asked anxiously.

“Ugh, I cannot say that all is well. Time is running out, and I still have to create 300 sculptures. I would, at minimum, want to fulfil the orders I’ve received, and then I can leave this world with a peace of mind. Will you work with me for a week? By working with me, you can gain a better understanding of my secrets.”

Tink!

Darone’s Orders

For a whole week, you will have to follow Darone’s orders. This will help you, as a sculptor to make living sculptures in the future. This is required to fully understand his secret skill.

Difficulty: Profession quest

Reward: Experience gained at this time is multiplied by two.

Failure: The quest will result in failure if you do not meet the deadline. Your fame will be reduced and you will have to pay a fine.

Weed did not hesitate. Naturally he would be repelled by the time limit and decrease in fame, but a secret skill was at stake. Besides, there was another reason. Ever since he created the ice dragon, his sculpting was at intermediate 6, and hasn’t raised much since then.

This time, he had a lot more experience, and with a little more effort he could reach intermediate 7.

“Yes, and it’s hard to get experience. This looks like a good opportunity,”

After working for a week with Darone, Weed could significantly increase his sculptural skill. Besides, because he was working on an order he didn’t have to worry about what to create.

“Decide what you’re going to do.” Darone said as he handed Weed a sheet with a list of orders.

300 sculptures. Of course, among them some were difficult, the ones that required deep thought. Weed could only take the simple orders, but then his ambition flared.

“It’s not easy to have fun. I can’t learn much if I take the simple orders. Now I’m prepared to suffer…”

He decided to make 30 sculptures a day resulting in 210 by the end of the week. Morning, afternoon, and evening.

“If I work without rest, everything should work out.”

The figures on the bow.

A fleet, floating on smooth waves, under white sails far, far away from the sun.

A customer highly requested a dolphin sculpture.

His orders didn’t vary much. He only needed to do a little work, and on success, he received compensation in the form of experience. True, there were some difficulties. A sculpture had to meet the requirements of the customer.

For Weed, who was used to working as he liked, at first had difficulties. But over the time, he got used to it and easily understood what the customer wanted. On the first day he only made 15 sculptures, the second 24, and then the third day 35.

Taking orders, chatting, and listening to stories, Weed became friends with Darone.

“As a young man I met a woman and fell in love with her” said the master.

“All my life I only had one talent, so I decided to be a sculptor.”

“That’s nice.”

“However, she soon left the world, and I couldn’t accept it. After her death, she lived on in my memory, so I sculpted her. Creating sculptures isn’t an easy job. It’s not enough to see and create an object. You need to put your soul into the job, just as I put my love when I sculpt her.”

Thus, while working, there were leisurely conversations.

A week flew by. And Weed just barely managed to complete the entire order and reached intermediate level 7

Tink!

Quest Complete: Darone’s Orders

All throughout his life, he carved a sculpture of a woman. His sculptures were full of love and life. By sharing his skills with a novice sculptor, he can now safely and happily leave this world.

Your sculpting skill rose.

New skill: ‘Sculptural Shapeshifting’

New passive skill: ‘Sculptural Comprehension.’

Weed immediately checked his new skills.“Open Skill info. Sculpture Shapeshifting. Sculptural Comprehension!”

Sculptural Shapeshifting:

A technique created by Engraving Master Darone, which is known to very few people.

When you create sculptures you can change your body into the form of the sculpture.

Requirements:

Technique can only be used only after mastering the skill of Sculptural Comprehension.

2000 mana and 500 or more in Art

Warning: During the transformation into another person or creature you change only the appearance and physique, your stats and level remain the same. If selected for the conversion of a huge creature, you will need a certain amount of strength and health.

Sculptural Comprehension (Beginner Lv: 1 | 0%):

The better you understand the object, the greater your chance of creating higher quality works.

As skill level goes up, additional effect of Sculptural Shapeshifiting will be added.

Beginner

Adds 10% to the effect of transformation. Can only change into earthbound races.

Intermediate

Adds 20% to effect of transformation. Can now change into flying creatures. However, you must learn how to fly.

Advanced

Adds 30% to the effect of transformation. Can transform into colossal creatures.

And so, Weed learned another secret of sculpting.“Sculptural Shapeshifting …

Because his level and stats would remain the same, it was hard to tell if it was worth turning into powerful monster.

For example, if you turn into a dragon, you cannot use its absolute power. Yet still, you would have to control its body, which would be difficult to do. Not being able to take normal steps, you would become an easy target even to non-combat professions.

On the other hand, if Weed shape-shifted into a rabbit, he would be a cute monster rabbit in the level 200 range. Another plus would be that it was a very useful skill in understanding sculptures.

“Kulrok!”

Darone crouched again and coughed up more blood. He gave it his all and was about to depart from the world.

“You … I have a personal request for you.”

“I’m listening.”

“Could you support me while I finish the sculpture? I don’t have much time left …”

“I’ll help.”

Weed stayed for one more day, to take care of Darone.

Master put his whole soul into the last sculpture. Towards the end of the day his cough did not leave him even for a minute and the earth was red with his blood. Finally he finished his last sculpture. It was a middle-aged woman. The one he loved.

Putting aside his engraving knife, Darone painfully said:

“Well, that’s all. Go and try out several skills. Do not idle. A Moonlight Sculptor only grows with increasing experiences.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

“I’m proud that I was able to pass on my secret to a Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. However do you know why your profession is different from a normal moonlight sculptor?”

“No, I do not know.”

Weed really didn’t know. Even after a long search on the internet, he couldn’t find a difference between a legendary moonlight sculptor, and a moonlight sculptor.

“Most professions are passed on from teacher to student. Secrets of a master onto the hands of a beginner. So, once upon a time there lived a king who united the entire continent. A knight who called himself the best. A merchant who made a great fortune and others… Only one of them said that they were legendary….”

“So … it’s a good profession?”

Weed thought his profession was a scam.

Even now he thought of changing jobs, but he could not forget the hype and hope in his heart that the profession is unique.

“A legend is a legend, nothing more …” Darone said quietly.

“…..”

“You bring your profession glory; your profession does not bring glory to you …”

“…..”

Money, not glory! That was what Weed sought. Therefore the words of the master brought him into confusion.

“That’s the twist. So, a legendary moonlight sculptor is no different …”

It would have been better if Weed did not know that!

He would rather at least have some hope, thinking that his legendary profession was something better than an ordinary profession.

“Sarah …?” said Darone.

Staring upwards, he drew his last breath and disappeared in a flash of light.

At the spot where he died, he left a small wooden sculpture…

“A sculpture…. Only people who really loved the world would leave behind a sculpture…”

Only now, after the past few weeks of training did Weed begin to realize what kind of profession he chose and which direction he had to go.

Just being a sculptor is not enough, you need to invest your heart into it. Even the smallest fox has its own soul. And it can only be captured by a true master. Weed took out a wooden block, and began to work on a new sculpture. After all, he was the one that saw the final hours of the Engraving Master Darone. And who, if not his very student would have his image in his memory.

Ding!

Statue Completed: Sculpture of Darone (Masterpiece)

The sculpture, made by a devoted disciple, radiates love, like his master. Although he left the world, a part of his soul will always remain.

Artistic value: 2300

Special Effects:

health regeneration increased by 50% for a day

Resistance to magic 40%

Vitality increased by 45%

All stats +10

In areas where the sculpture is visible, there will be peace

These effects are not compatible with other sculptures.

Number of masterpieces created: 2

Fame + 1350

Art + 79

Endurance + 3

Stamina + 3

Leadership + 5

In exchange for creating a masterpiece

All stats + 1 point

Level Up: Sculptural Mastery (Intermediate Lv: 8 | 0%):

This allows you to create more detailed and delicate work.

Level Up: Handicraft (Intermediate Lv: 9 | 0%):

The effects of crafts skills are increased by 5%

Level Up: Sculptural Comprehension (Beginner Lv: 4 | 0%):

The more knowledge and love of a sculpture, the better effects a sculpture will have.

Translator’s Note

Volume 1 Chapter 9

Some of you may not realized, but the wooden statue dropped by Darone is really important.

“Rodiguez handed Weed a wooden statue that fitted in his palm. It was shaped like an imperial knight.

“What is this?” Weed asked.

“It is the legacy of Geihar von Arpen the Magnificent. My family used to serve in the Imperial Family of the Arpenian Empire. The blood, and obligation accompanying it has flowed in my family. I am the one to take the task for this generation. Now that I hand it to you, I am finally liberated from the reins,”

Rodriguez said.

“But what is this statue for?”

Weed had already received a wooden statue of a different shape when he carried out Zahab’s Moonlight Sculptor quest.

“I do not know the secret of this wooden statue, either,” Rodriguez said. “The myth has it that there have been five masters in sculptural art on the Continent. Of course, it is only an ancient myth, for they came and went like the wind. They are known to leave their own crafts in their legacies, so I surmise that this statue is probably one of them. According to the myth, if you succeeded in collecting all five of the statues, and solve the puzzles arising from them, the ultimate secret of sculptural art will appear.”

Chapter 6: Siege of Ohdein Castle

Weed left Rega in full excitement.

“It has been a long time since I’ve fought.”

He felt that he lost his sense of combat. Usually, he fought against difficult and dangerous monsters, but for the last few months he had been developing his craft skills. Combat was like walking on a tightrope. Against difficult and dangerous monsters, with only one slip you would fall.

“Maybe I’ll die alone and forgotten…”

He felt weak. Perhaps his source of fear was the fact that while he developed his crafting skills, everyone else was out hunting. It had been several months since he returned to the Order of Freya, and the last time he gained a level was the 9 levels he gained then.

Sometimes he would get whispers from Pale, saying he passed level 190. With Surka, Irene and Romuna having about the same levels. Even Mapan reached level 160, and Hwaryeong reached level 210.

Everyone moved forward, but Weed stood still. Though he cannot say he did nothing. During these past months, Weed had come a long way. His level didn’t increase, but his stats did, and he was able to learn a secret skill.

* * *

“Oh my God!”

“I’m going to die.”

At the sight of a monster they rushed into battle. Even against stronger monsters the Geomchis didn’t hesitate.

Their goal was to get stronger.

Striking quickly, they confused the wolf. Then, by maintaining pressure and attacking from different angles, they took it down.

The more they played the more they became recognized as ‘A group of Crazy Men’.

Five hundred players led by the first five Geomchis.

“Um… Master?”

“What is it, Geomchi2?”

“It’s about Weed.”

The Geomchis didn’t often whisper to Weed, because they felt uncomfortable distracting the affairs of a man who did so much for them. However, Geomdulchi and Geomsetchi continued to interact with Weed.

For one reason:

Information was power!

After all, if you knew more than others you could stand in front of the master; find tasty food, know which monsters dropped good loot, and much more. The two of them even learned cooking, all in order to be useful to their idol, their master, who even now surprised them.

The master swung his sword as if it was the most natural thing to do in the world. It was aimed perfectly, and the wolf could do nothing to avoid the sword! The disciples became spellbound when watching their master fight.

“I know he’s a master swordsman, but…”

“I know, he’s incredible.”

So everyone went out of their way just to please their master.

Geomdulchi carefully continued.

“Weed has completed his objective and is going on hunt.”

“Well, I want to see him fight. Indeed a man can only be assessed when he goes into battle with a strong opponent.”

“But he hasn’t fought for a long time. Isn’t that right?”

“Yeah,” said another Geomchi.

“After such a long time, do you think he has forgotten how to fight?”

“Well, what…”

Oho-ho, their last words amused the master.

“What’s so funny, after such a long time, your skills are bound to dull.”

“Geomchi2.”

“Yes, master?”

“Predators do not forget how to hunt. Whether to hunt as a cat or a lion will be their call.

“Well…I guess that’s true, master.”

While he agreed verbally, in his heart he thought different. Even outstanding athletes, after a long break became dull.

“And warriors, when they sheath their blades for some time they will know.”

“What?” said Geomd; he hadn’t been paying attention to his master.

“We must be able to separate ourselves from the blade. To achieve our goal we must not rely on drugs, or guns in our case. Learn to set aside the sword, and in your mind, continue to practice. That is one of the main methods of training.”

* * *

Many people in Fort Ohdein were conducting business.

“Selling supplies!”

“Give everything your best. Hold down the fort, and destroy the Balkans guild.”

“Reflect all of their attacks, and do not give them an inch!”

An alliance of guilds was assembled at Fort Ohdein.

Originally, the Oasis Guild, Prosperity Guild, and the Wings of May Guild were allies and they captured the fort together.

However, because the fort was of immense value, the Prosperity Guild betrayed its allies.

The other two guilds tried to negotiate but nothing happened.

The Oasis Guild consisted mainly of mercenaries who bickered about their loss, and scattered. But The Wings of May Guild, vowed for revenge as they left the alliance.

In the Balkans Guild, the guild master was sharpening a knife.

“We have to recover what was stolen from us!” shouted the guild leader.

They had already assembled several times and tried to take down the fort, but only suffered defeat after defeat. Now everything had changed. Overcome with anger The Wings of May joined an alliance with the Balkans. So now their forces outnumbered their enemy.

The fort was located on the border between Ledern Kingdom and the British Confederation. Many traders passed through its gates each day and left money in the pockets of the owner of the fortress.

Both sides had gathered a lot of people, but no one could predict what would be the result.

All attention was fixated on the fort.

There was still two hours before the siege.

The Balkans Guild slowly gathered around the fortress. Inside, the defenders were also busy.

“Their army has arrived.”

“Second corps has gathered. Waiting for orders.”

“The third corps is in position.”

“Fourth corps ready to go.”

The Prosperity Guild was divided into four corps each with 3000 men. The main force defended the walls and was dedicated to fight. The second force guarded the gate in the event of its compromise. The third force consisted of archers and mages. They supported the rear and were located on the towers. The last corps was responsible for supplies and consisted mainly of fresh recruits.

Also at the fort were many defending NPCs. They weren’t happy about the war, but in general, no one cared about their opinions. The guild master of the Prosperity Guild thought of only one thing, victory. If they lost the fortress, they would lose everything. Therefore, they were desperate and recruited a lot of mercenaries with compensations three times what the Balkans Guild offered.

Many of the mercenaries were gathered in the back of the fort.

“As expected, our job is to wait. Once the battle reaches a turning point we’ll move in. Does anyone have any questions?”

After Brine’s last words, one of the generals of the Prosperity Guild, there was only the sound of clanking armor and weapons. Mercenaries checked their weapons and slowly gazed at the walls.

“This is a rare sight. Look at all these soldiers.”

“Look at that. A flying Wizard.”

“Since there are so many people, the battle will be fierce…”

“The Balkans have a grudge against everyone defending the castle and that includes us.”

“So that means we all have a higher chance of dying?”

As they waited, the soldiers talked.

The Prosperity guild promised each of them 10 gold for participating, 5 more gold per kill! And 20 gold if they stayed alive! True, the last two only applied if they won. But many soldiers actually gathered not just for money but for the lull of battle.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

There somewhere behind the walls of the fortress, drums and horns sounded.

“They’re coming.”

Wizards and archers took position, while below them stood the mercenaries.

The ground started to shake as a large number of people marched.

“Iron Cross Knights, defend the fort against the Balkans!”

“The enemy is coming!”

“That’s it, it has begun!”

Mercenaries jumped from their seats and gave a shout.

“Urrraaaaa!”

“Kill them all!”

“Defend the fort, don’t give in to the invaders!”

The mercenaries, hearing the sounds of drums and horns shouted loudly and happily shook arms. They were all excited but there was one man who continued to sit. Theodore went up and approached him.

“It looks like you’re scared. Don’t worry, it’s nothing. Everyone gets scared their first time,” he said confidently.

Theodore was an experienced soldier who had faced many battles. So he tried to calm newcomers to demonstrate his superiority.

“Oh it’s starting?” the bewildered newcomer said, looking around.

“Yes, wait, are you making something, a doll?”

Theodore leaned over and looked closer at what he was making. It appeared he was making a butterfly from a branch cut from a tree in the fort.

The Iron Cross Knights. They were a source of terror to their invaders. Now the situation changed, and they were fighting to retake the fort; nevertheless, there was none equal to the knights.

The knights stood on a hill at a distance and followed the general course of the battle. Everything would be decided in the second wave and that would be when the knights would enter.

The guild master of the Balkan Guild shouted out: “Soldiers! Companions! Here they come! We will retake our fort!”

With his words, hundreds of warriors moved in to attack. It was an incredible and menacing sight; everyone in the castle could feel the tremors they made.

“Fireball!”

“Aimed shot!”

The mages and archers on the walls fired at the invaders. However, the attacking army was so large it looked like pebbles being thrown into an ocean. In retaliation, spirits and golems were sent. Assassins having infiltrated the fort, cut the throats of magicians. Ladders and ropes filled the wall. Ballistae and trebuchets rained boulders and iron shells upon friends and foes. So far, all attempts on the fort were unsuccessful because of its strong defence. But now, with the support of new allies and enormous amounts of money, some spent on siege weapons, they finally gained enough strength to become a threat. All throughout the fort, fights broke out; it was a magnificent battle.

The mercenary troops under Brine joined the battle 4 hours later. The walls of the castle had already fallen to the Balkans. However, the cost of their success was paid by the scores of soldiers’ blood. Almost a third of their archers and NPCs were killed in combat. The Prosperity Guild had no regrets about spending money to protect Ohdein. But now, after much fighting their forces seemed equal.

The invading troops headed to the Training Hall, which was located next to the mercenary forces under Brine.

“Everybody, please stay where you are.”

Even without words, everyone knew that there was nowhere to run. The mercenaries were at a stalemate. Their enemy was just ahead; therefore the soldiers menacingly brandished weapons, mostly swords, axes and spears, and waited for the enemy’s attack.

Weed was among them.

“This is great, too.”

He had already seen several battles for the fort on TV, but now he was personally involved. And it was great. Terrifying sounds came from all sides: the buzzing of deadly spells, and the screams of dying people. It was all real.

A cold sweat trickled down his back. Even when he played Continent of Magic, he never took part in a siege. This would be his first real experience. Only because of his desire to return to his sense of combat did Weed decide to plunge into the bloodiest battle available. Even with his eyes closed he could feel killing intent.

When the mercenaries began to attack, he immediately covered his face with a wooden mask in the shape of a butterfly about to take off.

“Oh-ho. Time to meet your maker. Ahahaha! Power Attack!”

The warrior swung his wide blade…

Bam!

Weed easily repelled the sword. All worry gone, he only saw the enemy. Just by looking at his shoulders was enough to predict his attacks, and then counter.

“Engraving knife technique!”

A fatal blow has been struck!

Weed aimed at a critical point and his enemy fell lifeless to the ground.

“Uh… He killed Altona!”

“Revenge.”

“Thunder Slash!”

“Triple Attack!”

The three of them, activating their skills, simultaneously attacked Weed.

Apparently, the victim was their friend. However, after examining their ability, you could see that they weren’t even level 200.

With great hesitation, Weed lowered his sword and took all of the blows.

Bam-bam-bam!

Each strike flashed light, and finally disappeared into white mist. Graham leather armor! He polished it until it shown, and now enemy attacks were reflected into the air.

“Is he dead?”

“Where are his items!?”

Poor guys, they thought Weed had died, and their faces were all shining. However their feeling of security vanished as Weed appeared completely unharmed. Their smiles left their faces. At this point their enemy seemed like a devil. Weed smiled, his health exceeding 9000. When skills reached the intermediate stage, there were added bonuses! In addition, with his armor polished, and health gained from his fishing skill, he was practically invincible.

The damage he received didn’t even reach 300 points.

“Weaker than I expected…”

Weed gave his opponents a disappointed look.

Enemies killed: 4

If your side wins, you will receive additional rewards.

Also, along with an increase in fame, you can get a title.

“Engraving Knife technique!”

Weed attacked without hesitation. With each passing moment his opponents lost more and more health. There wasn’t a big difference in level, but Weed’s stats were far inflated for his level. In addition, with his armor polished and sword sharpened, he had a significant advantage over his opponents.

The three players could not withstand his attacks. A few moments later they fell dead to the ground.

Ding!

Weed went to the bodies of his enemies and found 1 item. As quickly as he massacred his enemies, he picked up their loot.

“Kiiya!”

Weed jumped from one opponent to another. Enemies swung swords at him and shot spells at him, but still they continued to die! Weed was not high leveled, but the average level of his enemies did not exceed 170, so they could not withstand him.

Top players on Royal Road didn’t participate in sieges. After all, if they were mobbed and then killed, their penalty would be huge. So basically, only mercenaries, NPC soldiers, and guilds fought in large battles. On the other hand, among the mercenaries he faced some level 250 and higher. Those that did not care about the penalties. They were the real machines of death on the battlefield!

“Don’t lose your head and die. Retreat!”

Weed was not afraid of soldiers at level 250. After all, he fought against stronger enemies, for example vampires. However, he had long understood that it was better to fight as a party.

So when he approached a strong opponent, Weed hid behind a strong ally until they engaged into battle. Then he quietly went off to kill other enemies.

“Engraving Knife Technique!”

Dishonest, and clever tricks! However, Weed did not feel any remorse. Like a hot knife on butter he cut one opponent down after another, reaching a total of 42 kills.

“Ahhh!”

“Everyone! Bring him down instead!”

Many players simultaneously attacked the masked soldier, but like everyone else, they could not oppose him. And they dropped more and more things for Weed to pick up.

With the mercenaries on defense, they had an overwhelming advantage.

The battle lasted all day. Again, blood was spilled at Fort Ohdein. This time the Prosperity Guild, defended the fort, whereas the Balkans Guild attacked. Everybody discussed the fight, and most of the conversation revolved around one player. However, they didn’t know that. Instead they thought there were 42 masked mercenaries. People that did not hesitate to use their comrades. Whirlwinds of death that left nothing, not even a single copper.

* * *

The Geomchis finally passed level 170. They laid waste to everything!

Thanks to their crazy pace, they leveled quickly. What was amazing was the fact that they started when Weed was level 180. Here were the results of real men!

They walked through the valleys and mountains in the southern kingdom of Rosenheim; sometimes they went to places that were never explored before. They gradually became famous, and naturally, there would be people who were jealous.

“There’s something wrong with them.”

“It’s the famous mug, I hate crowds of players.”

“Maybe I should kill them.”

Halman and Margaux talked to each other, while Levi and Grand quietly sipped beer.

“Yeah, let’s kill them and raise our levels.”

“Let’s split the loot fairly this time, currently I still don’t have a breastplate.”

“That’s not a bad idea.”

The Dwichigi Quartet!

They had tried to use Weed and Mapan, but instead killed themselves. With the Cloud Guild hunting them, they had no choice but to hide in Rosenheim. Since then, several months passed but their levels still haven’t increased, because they hunted people instead of monsters.

“Sounds like fun. Come on, let’s go!”

As always their shady business would be suggested by Gran.

“Kekekek”

“Hihihi”

Levi and Halman laughed.

Although they were “friends”, there was always the risk of getting betrayed. After all, they already experienced it several times! But still they would get back together.

“Killing alone is no fun.”

“Yeah, it’s better to kill while having a conversation.”

“To me, there’s nothing more fun than killing.”

Respect and friendship were not words to describe the relationship the Quartet had. They gathered only because they wanted to have fun!

The Quartet blocked the road. It would be a burden for them to take on all 500 Geomchis so they targeted a group of 5 that was separated from the party. It turned out it was the first 5 Geomchis.

“Huh?”

“Who are you?”

The five of them had puzzled looks in their eyes. Gran smiled wickedly and drew his sword.

“Flaming Sword!”

Gran attacked without warning, and rushed forward.

“Master!”

“Watch out!”

The Second and third Geomchi’s mouth opened in surprise. Their master leisurely stepped back, and drew his sword. Like flowing water he blocked the attack.

“Ha! Idiot!”

Gran’s eyes were full of triumph. He was using a dangerous attack that exploded on impact.

However, the master just simply overcame the attack by deflecting it.

Tink!

As their blades crashed, his blade was deflected and the attack cut down a tree.

“What are you freaks?”

Up to this point Gran didn’t know what to do. He had no idea it was possible to block the attack.

“Huh?”

Compared to Gran, the other 4 Geomchis’ eyes were even wider. When leveling up they learned a few techniques, however the technique their master just used was thought to be useless. It was a technique that consists of first pinpointing the direction of the enemy attack and the amount of power behind it. Then diverting the force, and changing the flow of the attack causing it to miss. In addition, it used up 50 mana, and was hard to use. It didn’t just require technique, you needed to advance quickly and calculate your position. Something only masters could do!

The master deflected the attack another 5 times.

“Oh….”

All the confidence Gran had disappeared.

The master asked quietly, “Who are you? A monster? Man? You’re stronger than a death knight, so… do you drop better loot?”

Gran could not say a word. Somewhere he had made a serious mistake. Of course, he didn’t stop, and tried swinging, but that was when the master easily countered him and began to attack.

Bam-bam!

“Hmm… Not dead yet?”

“Kiiya!”

Gran due to his high health and good armor stayed alive. His teammates didn’t idle, they were moving to surprise attack the rest of the Geomchis.

“These guys are monsters too?”

“Students, now they come to us. We don’t have to search anymore!”

“Look at the one on the left – oh my!”

Perhaps other players when realizing that they were facing the Dwichigi Quartet would run away because they didn’t want to get a player kill status, but the Geomchis didn’t even know about this concept. In a sense they were more brutal than the Quartet.

After a variety of wounds, the killers quickly died.

A few hours later the Quartet met again.

“What happened?”

“Ahh… I don’t even want to think about what happened yesterday.”

“So…you’re not going to get revenge?”

The Quartet fell in a serious predicament. And as always Gran came up with an idea.

“No, we can’t give up on revenge.”

“I agree.”

“But we aren’t strong enough.”

Levi showed weakness. After yesterday’s events he didn’t want to face them ever again.

“We’re in a guild now. Let’s get them to help.”

For the Quartet, Rosenheim was like a haven. There hadn’t been a large guild formed to police there, so crime flourished.

The Dwichigi Quartet had joined the Jamaica Guild . Because the guild very badly needed strong players, they accepted the Quartet.

The killers immediately contacted their friends in the guild. With lies, the Quartet managed to rally up 300 men.

“Kill them!”

“Wow!”

The Dwichigi Quartet with the support of 300 soldiers attack the Geomchis. They were warned in advance about their opponents’ strengths so they had assassins sniping with crossbows.

“Ahh!”

“The enemy!”

Many of the Geomchis were killed in the first minutes of the surprise attack. Assassins attacked from behind and slit the throats of many. The survivors, standing back to back, began to block one attack after another.

“Damn, these guys are stronger than we thought.”

“Everyone get back, use ranged attacks.”

“Ice Storm!”

“Lightning Bolt!”

Many deadly spells flew toward the brave warriors. So far they had never encountered magic, so they were caught off guard. The massive attack dropped their health substantially.

“Damn!”

The Geomchis, not holding back their anger, cursed. If their enemy approached them, they wouldn’t hesitate to rush in for an attack. But the enemy stood back, attacking from afar with a barrage of spells and arrows. And because the Geomchis didn’t use shields their health began to decline rapidly.

“Even if we get taken down like dogs, we’ll at least get one of you!”

Some of the students broke away from the group and rushed at the enemy, but the spells became concentrated and they quickly died.

“Oh my God…”

“Who are they? Why did they attack us?”

For the first time since they started, their faces were lodged with anger and despair. Sometimes they were dying of hunger, but now they were being killed by unknown players.

Geomdchi2 shouted: “Master get back!”

“I see. Fall back…”

“To where?”

“Into the woods! Everyone fall back into the forest. We’ll have more cover there.”

“Yes sir.”

“Follow me.”

The first and second swords went on to create an opening. In a wedge type formation, they fended off most arrows, but could not oppose the magic.

After suffering heavy losses, they managed to escape into the forest.

“We’re alive!”

“How many of us are left?”

“A little more than 260, Master…”

“…Almost half of us have died.”

The Geomchis sighed; all they could do now was rest and bandage their wounds. However, they were poor and didn’t have many.

“Look! They’re coming!”

While they rested their pursuers got closer.

“How did they find us?”

“Apparently they have some thieves or hunters. They can track us.”

The Geomchis were gripped with frustration. As martial artists they could not cover their tracks. They had to run deeper into the forest. But now they were tired, and they were still constantly receiving ranged attacks.

“Geomdulchi, samchi, and everyone else!”

“Yes, Master.”

“We’re listening.”

“Should we split up so that half of us can survive. Or will we fight!”

“Sir, we are men!”

“Let’s show those bastards what we’re made of!”

Now the Geomchis drastically changed their strategy. They didn’t run, using the forest, they hid and used surprise attacks. However, their wounds were very heavy. Their enemies were using magic and even their priests were treated. Gradually, starting with the weakest, the students began to die, until only the instructors were left.

“Uhh, Master!”

“We’re sorry, live on!”

When their health reached 0, in their final moments of life, they would look at the master.

In the end, only their master survived.

“…”

In the dojo, there was dead silence. The students and instructors were focused on one capsule. The one where their master lay. And now after some time Ahn Hyun-Do, their master came out.

“Master!”

Jeong Il-Hoon, Choi Jeong-Beom, Ma San Bohm, Lee Ying-Up and all the pupils were so tensed that their breath trembled. Usually it was in the nature of Ahn Hyun-Do to stay silent but then he slowly said,

“He killed me….”

“….”

“He called himself Gran, and then slit my throat.”

Everyone finally exhaled. The students and instructors were furious! To them Ahn Hyun-Do was their role model. Yes ,he had some eccentricities, but in swordsmanship he had no equal! Once upon a time, before coming to the school, they doubted his skill when they heard about it. But as they watched him fight, their doubts dissipated. Their idol, to die and be humiliated caused them to rage.

But Hyun-Do looking at their angry faces laughed.

“It’s been 30 years.”

“…?”

“I told Jean that it had been 30 years since I’ve lost a fight.”

“But there were too many enemies!”

“No, Ile-hoon. The number of enemies and their level cannot serve as an excuse. But now don’t you think Royal Road has become more interesting?”

“Yes Master!”

The students and instructors, caught up in the answer instinctively.

Ahn Hyun-Do clenched his fist.

“It’s perfect. We are like real soldiers and we should take on everything with all of our heart!”

The instructors and trainees became caught up.

“Ohh! It’s true!”

“I like intense fights!”

“Let’s repay their offence, a hundredfold.”

However they froze as their master went up to do something.

He walked up to the blackboard and began to write in chalk the names.

Gran, Halman, Margaux, Levi and the Jamaica guild

And in front of each name he wrote – enemies!

He said with a smile, “Don’t erase.”

“We won.”

Gran and the other members of the Quartet celebrated their victory. With lies, they got the Jamaica Guild to help and destroy the Geomchis. Now they went over dead bodies to divide the loot. They loved the taste of killing, but with no less pleasure they enjoyed splitting the loot. After all, with just a few days you could get valuable weapons and armor that took months to obtain.

“Let’s see what they left.”

With greedy looks Halman and Margaux were to first to search. But soon their faces contorted in surprise.

“Nothing…”

“No! It can’t be!”

“There’s nothing valuable!”

“This is ridiculous, look again!”

Gran and Levi carefully searched for items. However, they only found several swords in urgent need of repair and barley bread, lots of barley bread.

Chapter 7: Dungeon hunting

“It’s time to talk about the latest news on the continent of Versailles. We will introduce you to the events that occurred in Royal Road. And today we have a guest in the studio, you all know him, it’s Joo-wan. How are you!?”

“Hello! Hye-min, your smile today is even more charming.”

“Ho, ho, you already managed to come, no need to bother with compliments. Apparently, there is some important news today, right?”

“Yes, you’re correct. Not that important, except your preference in taste, because I sense that in the morning you ate finely roasted pork…”

“Oh, what did you say? In the morning, roasted pork tastes best. But do I really smell?”

Joo-wan and Shin Hye-min. Although they quarrel and say random things at times, they are a pair of young reporters of news for the gaming channel, KMC Media. Lee Hyun slowly ate as he watched the news program.

‘Often they are blunt, but it’s better than CTS Media.’

Yes, the eternal problem of time management: seriously making profit, it’s hard to stay up to date with all of the events in the game. CTS Media invited to broadcast the most beautiful and famous actors, but they did not have the most important thing, innovation. In each episode, the actors focused on their image and boasted about their characters, which greatly annoyed the audience. Sometimes the show went so far off-field that it was unclear what they were talking about.

Compared to them, the news on KMC Media was much more convenient to watch. The excellently organized collection of information allows them to be surprisingly quick to recognize, and summarize main events in their news programs. The huge size of the Versailles continent gathered the vast number of players who to some extent, wanted to be up to date on the game.

“Now you will hear some wonderful news. Take a break from other issues for a few minutes. Now, at last in the Kingdom of Haven, the player Bad Ray received level 370, which was called the ‘impenetrable wall.’”

“Wow! Superb!”

“Remember that Bad Ray is one of the leaders ranking among the highest-level players, and certainly you know of the nickname ‘The Black Knight.’ Inside the tower, the soldier finally reached level 370. The highest level in the game! Now, let’s see how this happened.”

Warriors of the tower.

A gathering place for the strongest warriors of Royal Road to compete. A knight in black armor wielding a black sword was fighting against a fierce barbarian. The barbarian, screaming in a fit of rage, inflicted a terrible blow with his two-handed sword. However, using foot techniques, the black knight easily avoided and deflected the enemy attacks.

The speed of high-level players defies description. Blades flashed with unimaginable speed. And when you take into account their equipment, you would have thought that it was a battle between a red and a black dragon. Still, the winner was immediately clear: the black knight was playing with his opponent! In the end, the dark player won the battle.

“You just said that the player Bad Ray won the fight and become the highest-level player in the game! Thanks to the victory over the warriors who guarded the tower, he reached level 370. I also would like to addthat the technique which Bad Ray used in this fight has never been seen or used before!”

“Oh, ho, ho. Amazing!” Joo-wan was waving his arms and cried about. “However, Bad Ray must have been pushed, to have revealed such skills and technique?”

“What amazing insight! That’s correct; Bad Ray is from the guild, Hermes. And as you may recall from our earlier news, Hermes took on the previous ruler of the kingdom of Haven, Iluina, and announced that they have chosen the path of a military dictatorship.”

“That is, you mean to say that Haven declared war on all of the United Kingdoms?”

“Yes. Apparently their recruitment of more forces boosted their confidence.”

“Moreover, they have Bad Ray.”

“Exactly that! Although the leader of the guild is a different player, Bad Ray is in fact the face of Hermes. Thus, from the showing of his increase in level from the tower’s warriors, Bad Ray announced to the world the supremacy of his guild.”

Later on, the news turned to other matters. They mentioned that somewhere far off, some guilds started a war against a powerful wizard in a newly discovered cave. On the mainland of Versailles, something was becoming commonplace: someone lost their items due to the outbreak of tornadoes and earthquakes. So if you are going to an unfamiliar area, you must be careful and try to gather more information to avoid the maelstrom.

‘Level 370….’

The numbers refused to leave Lee Hyun’s mind. In the Continent of Magic, he was the best player! However, even then, Lee Hyun did not realize the true value of that nickname. He only played for fun, slowly beating monsters and almost never talked to other players. When he gathered an especially numerous amount of items, he would visit a town and then sell them. Hence, the nickname of the ‘Best’ had a hollow ring to him. It was only when he decided to sell his character that he came to the realization of such a title!

‘Bad Ray… if you sell your account, how huge an amount of money will you make!?’

This was especially so, as the number of players in the Continent of Magic is not comparable to Royal Road. Over one hundred million people play Royal Road! Office workers, freelancers and many others used the game as a vacation spot. It is so popular!

While he improved his fishing skills, Weed saw many people like this. They came to the river Bensa to relax, away from family or work. Having picnics or sunbathing under the hot sun. Even if only level 50, their mood did not spoil.

The players do not hunt monsters for loot; instead, they just bought it all at once in the shops with real money. Often, they did so just to show off in front of their friends, as if they had come on vacation to a resort. In general, that was not far from the truth. With Royal Road, you did not have to take a leave of work for a week, or miss a weekend, as long as you have a capsule in your home.

Lee Hyun did not blame these players. On the contrary, he considered them as a different form of clientele. While there are such people in the game, anyone can make a little more.

Lee Hyun’s thoughts all came back to Bad Ray. Everyone, from junior office workers and ending with company presidents played in Royal Road, so the cost of the highest-level character would be astronomical!

However, in the case of Bad Ray, if he is not a fool, it is unlikely he would sell his account. Royal Road has only recently begun its triumphant run throughout the Earth, and according to experts, its popularity will last for at least another 10 years. So selling a character, the value of which will still grow further, would not just set you back in the game, it would also be a great folly.

“Yes, thank you On Joo-wan. Do you have any more news to report? You talked quite a bit about the continent of Versailles.”

“Of course there is. If you talk about all the events that have occurred on the mainland, even 24 hours would not be enough. I wouldn’t be surprised if something amazingoccurred at this very moment.”

“Really? Then don’t hold out on us and quickly share something new!”

“Hye-min, do you like craft skills?”

“Hmm, yes I do.”

“And if you would go into details….”

“Er… I like passionate people who can create something new with their own hands.”

“Very good. Then you’ll definitely enjoy this news. Just recently, a player has reached the intermediate level of Tailoring, Cooking, and Blacksmithing.”

“Wow! That’s great!”

Lee Hyun bowed in astonishment.

‘Tailoring, blacksmithing and cooking – someone got them all up to intermediate?’

Lee Hyun went down that road, so he knew how hard it was to develop these skills to intermediate. So when he heard the news about another player doing this, he could not believe his ears.

‘Well for cooking, it is just a long and tedious process. With tailoring and blacksmithing, if you use good materials you can quickly raise their level…. Though, thanks to trade, I’m raising the level of skills twice as fast…. Perhaps, it is possible that player did the same….’

But even through the use of trade, the development of all those skills, you still need to spend a huge amount of effort, materials and time. Lee Hyun found it hard to believe that someone else had mastered all three of these skills to the intermediate level.

Shin Hye-min made a pretty expression and eagerly asked

“Oh, so have you interviewed him? After all, if you find a player who has mastered those three skills to the intermediate level, he would definitely have a lot to say.”

“No. Unfortunately, we found out about it too late….”

“I don’t believe it! On Joo-wan couldn’t get an interview?”

“Yeah. I was busy working on another story at the time, and to be honest, hearing of such a player, I couldn’t believe it. Only when the site posted a few things that he did, I rushed to interview him; but, I was too late. The unknown player finally made clothes from prismatic fabric – a fabric of 1st class quality if you didn’t know – and he disappeared into an unknown direction. The clothes he sold at the auction gained a lot of attention and was made into a video. Now it’s displayed here on the screen.”

The video screen of the studio was replaced with a major medieval city. Buildings made in the style of the Renaissance. Majestic temples and high towers, lots of two and three-story buildings buried in the midst of green gardens. Far ahead you could see the Colosseum, and many players wandering the streets as well as horses pulling carts.

In a shop you can see a player arguing with the owner, and in the middle of the spacious square, the auction was taking place.

A merchant wearing a suit offered for sale clothes that add seven different attributes. A lot of players gathered around the dealer in hope of buying something good. The price grew rapidly. Lee Hyun knew the merchant auctioneer.

‘Yes, that’s Mapan. So the player that raised all three skills to intermediate, it was….’

On Joo-wan was speaking about Lee Hyun.

Interestingly, would he have fainted if only he know that Lee Hyun’s fishing and sculptural skill was intermediate as well?

‘Well I was not conducting the auction…’

He thought that the recording of the auction they showed on TV was excellent. Players were excited, crying out and colliding with each other for the desired items. With it, Shin Hye-min and On Joo-wan spurred the interest by adding sharp comments. After the completion of the video, the images of the items sold by Mapan appeared, including the price it was sold for, as well as the item description.

“Look Hye-min! Clothes made from prismatic cloth, made through intermediate tailoring.

“This is amazing!” On Joo-wan enviously pointed at the monitor behind him.

Prismatic Cloth Tunic (Rare)

Durability: 110/110

Defense: 55

A tunic of prismatic cloth stitched by a mid-level master. The master has put his soul in this piece of cloth. Even some monsters would hesitate in attacking it with their sword.

Requirements:

Level 150

80 Strength

80 Dexterity

Effects:

Damage from arrows reduced by 85%.

Fire does not affect the durability of the garment.

Granted 20% probability that lightning spells do no damage.

Blunt weapons cannot inflict a critical hit on you.

Additional glory 100

Art increased by 10

Dexterity +10

Thanks the development of skills through trade, the item has incredibly high durability. The defense is also far superior to any other items made of good fabric. In addition, it has seven additional effects! With simple items, there may be two or three randomized effects, but often they are useless. But with this, when it is seven, and all of them are beneficial!

For unique items, Lee Hyun could only get a single unit. As with beautiful sculptures in the line of work of a sculptor, things do not always turn out that good as often with tailors.

“After the auction, the player did not return. When he appears, then I, On Joo-wan, will hasten to interview him, wherever he may be. I promise you that.”

Lee Hyun glared at this narcissistic twit.

When you become famous, you have to be prepared for the appearance of both pros and cons in your life. For example, if you sell stuff, it’s a plus. More people become interested in you and thus buy items; however, due to the fact that players start to follow you, they naturally appear and interfere with hunting and quests.

That is why Lee Hyun had asked Mapan to hold the auction for him.

“Aww! It’s a pity that we could not get an interview, but it’s time to move on to the next story. On Joo-wan, do you have anything else?”

“Yes. Finally, I would like to talk about the siege of Fort Odhein. The Guild Prosperity defended the fort from the attempted invasion of the Guild Balkan, gaining another victory. As of this moment, there is no force in the region that could fight on equal terms with the Guild Prosperity. It can be assumed that for some time, it is only natural that the fortress will be at peace. The prices will increase by 70% due to the costs of the military operations and the repairs from the defense.”

“Indeed, I can hear the noise even now from the disgruntled.”

“It can’t be helped. The taxes are set by those who own Odhein. Yet even with this price increase, I’m sure a lot of traders and hunters will continue to visit the castle. Now, let’s see the video of the battle.”

The screen changed once again.

The shot gave a bird’s-eye view of the fierce battle between the guilds for Odhein fortress.

Apparently, a magician tried to make a recording as he flew across the sky, in an attempt to capture the entire scale of the battle. And it was a success.

A grand battle unfolded before the audience. Wave after wave of attacks hit the walls of the fortress, and the defenders slowly had to recede. It slightly seemed that the resistance was going to break.

But no such luck. The result of the battle was that the defenders won, the Guild Prosperity. It was all thanks to the fact that inside the fortress, they divided their forces and were successfully able to defend themselves throughout the day, until the siege couldn’t last.

“In the battle involved….”

Lee Hyun, who had been watching the battle on the screen with interest, had turned off the TV. He took a shower and went to lie back in the capsule.

Lee Hyun logged into Royal Road.

He was still inside the walls of Odhein fortress. Once the siege was over, he immediately left the game, and therefore, went back to the same place, the entrance. A lot of people were wandering around the area. During the siege, ordinary players could not get inside the walls of the fortress, so now everyone was trying to catch up.

“Did you hear? They say that the player Bad Ray hit level 370!”

“Yeah, that Hermes guild is lucky.”

“They also say that the number of players who visit the Kingdom of Haven have increased several times.”

“Hmm. Somehow, maybe we should visit the Kingdom of Haven? What do you think?”

“Yeah, that would be interesting.”

Many players discussed with interest, the latest news of Royal Road. For them, the game has become a world where they really lived. Bad Ray has also become a symbol of success for such people. He was revered as a king, or even world-wide celebrity! If there are clips from his battles, they are immediately downloaded to millions of gamers.

Just like in all other online games. The whole process of the game was based on a bunch of features and the fighting techniques of a player. It was important for people to be able to demonstrate their skill in combining abilities in order to fight against your opponent. Of course, the higher your skill, the less consistent with the natural laws of battle in the real word. But the game was fun to go into battles, because the further you go, the more powerful your enemies become and more difficult will be the monsters.

Therefore, high-level players garner great interest among ordinary players.

The players who were discussing Bad Ray said their farewells and went about their own businesses as Weed went to one of the retail stores.

“Looking for a priest. Above level 170.”

“Paying for a long distance player! Mage or archer!”

“Buying a sword that is suitable for a player at level 210! Additional effects as well!”

The area was noisy again. After the battle, a lot of players returned to the normal lifestyles, gathering in groups, chatting and trading.

Weed now had a level of 230. Thanks to killing many players in the battle, he was able to get two new levels. But not everyone was as lucky; many players died and in contrast, lost experience and were hurrying themselves to catch up. Weed threw the ten points he received from the levels to dexterity as he entered the shop.

In the last few months, Weed became far too enthused with the development of his artisan skills, and therefore, he did not pay attention to the items that could be useful in battle. The shopkeeper was a strong type of NPC, with an ugly scar on his face that might have been the result of the last battle of the fortress. He happily greeted the visitor.

“What are you looking for?”

“I need items, seasonings, herbs, and bandages.”

“Good. Here are some items, medicines and herbs, as you can see.”

Unlike other cities or castles, there was no separate food store. Therefore, food, herbs and other products were sold at the same place. However, there were a lot of shops that sold weapons and armor.

Red Herb Zareta

Price: 2 silver

A herb that helps healing wounds.

Blue Herb Cylon

Price: 4 silver

Herb that helps to restore wisdom.

As an ingredient in food, it increases the rate of mana regeneration.

This bloody battle for Odhein was not in vain, there were a lot of herbs in this shop, and some were even of very rare species. Weed bought 200 pieces of each herb, a whetstone, thread for sewing, bandages and food. It also didn’t turn out that expensive. In fact, the prices at the fort used to be high, but in honor of the victory, the players who fought on the winning side will not get taxes in the shops or on goods for a week. A bonus for the winners of the bloodiest battle.

When Weed was finished, he left the walls of Odhein. His direction lay to the nearest cave, the cave of Basra!

A group of wizards were led by Sollon; in their flowing blue robes, he awaited the approach of the enemy.

“Return quickly, and get yourselves ready!” Sollon screamed. His voice was filled with tension and excitement. Yet, the squad just clicked their tongues.

‘The guy’s quite mad…’

‘That’s not all, he just wants to show off in front…’

However, this was the time to remain completely empty of thought. The thief Batu was being pursued by a detachment of enemy, and was approaching the position. The archers who saw the farthest provided the information on the force.

“The enemy is coming!”

“More than 40 people.”

“Well done, Batu. Everyone, be ready to attack!”

By Sollon’s orders, the magicians lined up and prepared spells. They then began to call out consistently.

“Attack! Billow out, pure flame of rage. Firestorm!”

A properly planned ambush had borne its first fruits. Under fire from many spells, the Basra monsters quickly weakened. But that was only the beginning; Sollon had the group begin a second series of attacks.

“Archers! Volley!”

The few archers let out a volume of fire that prevented the enemy from closing in on them. The monsters were slowly pushed back. Some of the players used stun arrows, which further slowed the enemy’s movement. During this time, the magicians prepared new spells and again did battle.

“Flames of my anger, reflect my feelings and become a wall in the way of my enemies. Wall of Fire!”

“Mother Earth! Stop the unworthy that trample thy space. Mud!”

The cave floor became slippery and the Basra soldiers began to fall as the wall of fire rolled onto them!

“AWWW… Ack!”

“Hot! My throat!”

But the battle was not yet over. Besides wizards, this battle involved close-combat. After two magical attacks and volleys, the monsters’ health had decreased by more than 70%.

“Dance of Death!”

Amongst the fighting warriors, a girl flashed by with two daggers. Like a butterfly she flit between opponents and attacked the men of Basra. Vividly, she attracted the attention of males with her looks and graceful dance moves! It was Hwaryeong!

Where Hwaryeong flashed through with her dance, enemies got terrible wounds. In addition to it being a dance, ‘Bubi-Bubi’ is also a battle dance.

“Beautiful.”

“Awesome.”

When Hwaryeong began her dance, Sollon and the wizards immediately forgot about the battle and admired her movements. The dance transformed Hwaryeong from a beautiful girl into a beautiful goddess. Sollon’s squad had become a fan of this amazing beauty in no time at all.

“Hwaryeong, hold on!”

“Woah. She just winked at me.”

“No, not at you, it was at me!”

“Gyaaaa!”

Magicians threw off their mantles and went to blows with each other. Squad Leader Sollon had to separate them and bring back discipline, but the beauty of the girl had captivated his heart. While all stood and stared in awe at Hwaryeong, another newcomer to the squad, Zephyr did battle with the monsters.

“Iron Fishing!”

He used the iron line to wound and confound the enemy, only to leave them captive with a sweep of his Hades throw.

Zephyr, the militant fisherman.

When he approached a few enemies, he attacked with lightning movement as the lure was hooked on them and he threw them to Hades.

“Lure!”

Under the effect of his ability the monsters retreated from Basra, as Zephyr threw the fishing line to lure more captives. After all of the attacks of the squad, the Basra monsters had almost no health. So after a while, Zephyr and Hwaryeong put all the opponents to rest.

You got 3.49% experience.

In the one fight, Sollon and each member of his squad got 3.5% experience.

Hunting. Another reason why the Odhein fortress attracted so much attention from the various guilds. The area around the fort was filled with different dungeons, and most of the monsters in those gave a lot of experience per kill. On the mainland of Versailles, you can find good hunting areas like Odhein, and bad where you get little experience, overly strong monsters, and worthless drops.

Sollon went to Hwaryeong and with a sugary-sweet voice, and told her:

“I saw a number of butterflies that have besotted me as they flew in front of my eyes. But the most beautiful one of all now stands before me, Hwaryeong.”

“I want nothing like that.”

“No. Don’t be shy. You should be proud of your dance, Hwaryeong.”

Yet she said nothing. This was not the first time she heard a praise similar to Sollon, and she remembered and knew what was coming next.

“Ah, remember, I told you this before. I am in the Guild Mavaros, our guild has the Basra cave. So if you join us, you can always get a lot of experience.”

Almost all of the most attractive dungeons in Royal Road were in the possession of a guild. For the right to constantly catch the monsters and kill the boss in front of the cave, small local battles occurred. After all, the owner of the dungeon accrues an additional 30% experience from killing the monsters!

Although, battling for a dungeon is very rare because of the complexly intricate relationships between all the guilds in Royal Road. For example, the Mavros guild participated in the battle of Fort Odhein, on the side of Prosperity, which won them the possession of the dungeon Basra. Then if someone tried to take possession of the dungeon, they would not only have to fight the Mavros guild, but other allies of Prosperity.

“Oh, sick!” Hwaryeong muttered unhappily to herself.

After Mapan established links to all the major cities of the kingdom, thus raising levels, he could travel safer and no longer needed Hwaryeong’s protection. As a result, he kept applying gentle hints and she finally decided to travel independently. And so it happened, a few days of exploring the United Kingdoms of Briton, she went to the Basra instance. (instance = dungeon/event).

The location was great, the monsters gave a lot of experience, and she was left to fight for herself. Gradually, her dancing started to attract the attention of other players and sometime later they invited her to their group. So a few days later, she happened to be in Sollon’s squad. In general, she was satisfied. Only now did it become difficult. Sollon did not want to let her go!

Hwaryeong loved to chat with new and interesting people, but because her dancing was very beautiful, she always found people like Sollon. If Hwaryeong joined with a different group, he would try his best to stop the hunt. Wedging himself inside the party, wasting time by talking or even strike a critical blow with magic and specifically take Hwaryeong away.

In general, he behaved like a little shit, but because the Mavros guild had a big impact on them, no one complained. Sollon then changed tactics and decided to speak again.

“If you leave the squad Hwaryeong, you will have to drop the thought of hunting with my guild.”

All would shun Hwaryeong. She had to hunt in Sollon’s squad. The only consolation was that she managed to find common ground with the other newcomer in the squad, Zephyr. They often talked, and she liked the guy, though he was much younger than her, and he even listened to her when she spoke.

“Lightning, zigzag!”

“Sylph, bind their feet.”

Sollon’s squad fought the monsters of Basra. The cave was full of monsters, the squad didn’t even have to move, they just waited till their thief, Batu would lure a new group of enemies into an ambush. A squad of archers and wizards! First to enter battle were the mages, who use spells to greatly reduce the opponents’ health. As they regain mana and begin to produce new spells, the archers join the fray. They shell the monsters and slow down the movements as they wait for the mages’ next attack.

Then towards the end of the battle, comes the melee, Hwaryeong and Zephyr.

In general, everything was planned out and kept the magicians attacking. Usually, other teams would take only two or three mages in the cave, as they had to work in a seriously confined space.

However, in Sollon’s group, the number of magicians were 8!

Battle, rest, battle, rest.

After each fight with the monsters, Sollon had them take a break. This was not because they were tired of getting experience points; no, they waited until the magicians could recover mana and restart all over. So as of this moment.

“Look, the last monster dropped silver armor!”

“Woah!”

“You know what, let’s give them to Hwaryeong?” Sollom exclaimed with excitement.

“Sure!”

“If that is what Sollon decides, then give it.”

The players expressed joy in support of the decision of the party leader, but only on the outside.

Deep down, they were indignant.

‘That’s the same thing as before with the dancing broad.’

‘Damn! And it was my turn to pick up an item…’

‘Hrm. Now we have to give all of the best things to her?’

But no matter how irritated they were, the players still remained in Sollon’s group. In Basra cave, it was difficult to find another party like this where they can receive such a lot of experience.

Like everyone else, Hwaryeong received her experience points, but since most of the work was carried out by the mages, she came out very discontent at the end.

‘My experience is growing… but when can I hunt?’

In her doubt, she turned to one of the soldiers of the squad, Davron.

“If everything goes the way it has, and we do not use our abilities, we won’t gain in strength, right?”

“Huh?” A lack of understanding spread on Davron’s face, and then on reflection, she asked another question.

“What about our skills?”

“Well we need them, to, uh, improve.”

“Right. And?”

“And we are hunting in a squad, we get new levels, but our abilities do not grow….”

It was noticeable that Hwaryeong was very worried, and Davron then asked in surprise.

“Of course, there are people like you Hwaryeong, who worry about development of skills, but in this case, shouldn’t you gain more levels? First you need to level up, enter into a strong group and get experience”

“But in this case, we will eventually become weaker than the other players without developing our abilities…”

Hwaryeong just recently remembered how she traveled with Mapan, and defended the cart loaded with goods, by dancing. Sometimes she had to dance for several hours and significantly improve technique.

So when she saw the surprised look on Davron, she asked.

“So everybody does this? Right?”

“Of course. All the hunting you have been doing, what made you make that choice, Hwaryeong? First you need to quickly increase, then you can gradually develop in skill, hrm…”

Sollon’s squad perfectly fitted Davron’s statement. Everyone tried to increase their level as quickly as possible without paying a single bit of attention on their techniques. Since wizards are trained for attack power, then for the remainder, they only gain experience. But for magicians, all was not as rosy.

In a battle, they do not receive damage and therefore their growth in levels, without increasing defense and stamina, make them glass cannons. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the party only fights against weak enemies, even if many, it was of no use to the squad. It was all quiet and very haste-less fights.

Chapter 8: Weed’s hunt

Dungeon of Basra!

A place filled by numerous monsters, was located close to the kingdom’s capital.

“A free spot in a party. Anyone willing to join? We have 30 people and promise a fast hunt.”

“Looking for a skilled warrior.”

“Selling healing herbs. Cheaper than in stores! Batch purchases are welcome!”

Weed, who just approached the cave of Basra, was watching players form parties. Some were joining the already existing parties, some were creating new ones. And all of them were hanging around the dungeon entrance.

In cave of Basra, monsters not only granted plentiful experience but dropped decent loot. Therefore its entrance was always crowded with players. Though no one dared to enter it alone which was way too dangerous.

“Do you want to join a party?”

Quietly standing Weed was approached by a few people accompanying a warrior with white plumage on his hat, who was the one to ask the question. Not waiting for an answer he continued:

“Excuse me, what are your level and profession? I see you have a sword so you must be some kind of fighter and one of our spots just got free, maybe you would join us?”

Weed slowly examined the man with the plumage. Not so much his looks as his equipment.

“Duke’s helmet, weapons and armor of The British Confederation, items for level 180 and above. Costs 800 gold.”

“Our group has 15 people. Everyone is of level 170 or higher. My name is Vintich, we are from Mavros Guild. So how about it, want to hunt together?”

Just the fact of them being from Mavros Guild would mean a positive response from any other player. Weed though slowly shook his head.’

“Sorry, but I’m not looking for group.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll manage myself.”

“…”

Followed by confused stares, Weed headed into the cave.

In the cave of Basra players were hunting from level 120 and up to 300. The dungeon had four floors, every next one having stronger monsters than the previous.

But it was not monster’s strength that was driving off lone players, but their extremely annoying ability to steal items. In short, if you die - they rob you. Sometimes they would even go so far as to take your equipped armor.

As a result, after dying, player would not only lose experience but 3-4 times more items than usual. Therefore it took a certain amount of resolve to hunt in this dungeon. However, thieves of Basra were dropping good items, so it was never empty.

“He said it’s on the 3rd floor.”

Weed carefully slipped through 1st and 2nd floors, trying not to interfere with hunting parties too much.

“Gotta be careful if I don’t want to become a pincushion after appearing too suddenly.”

Once Weed decided to hunt, first thing he did was contacting Mapan. But he had to refuse due to being too busy. As far as Weed knew, after selling items in the auction the merchant raised his level quite a bit and earned a lot of money, which he used to purchase a title and form a trading group under his name.

Instead, Mapan told where he could find Hwaryeong. It was then that Weed decided to come to caves of Basra to visit his friend.

Weed easily found Hwaryeong on the 3rd floor of the dungeon. She was hunting with a large party in the very centre of the dungeon. Gracefully dancing and striking monsters down, that girl was hard to miss.

Weed waited for the fight to finish and approached her.

“Hey, Hwaryeong, long time no see.”

“Oh! Weed? Why are you here?”

“I decided to hunt and so I stopped by.”

Hwaryeong warmly welcomed Weed as she was just starting to get bored. But then a player in a blue robe approached them from the depth of the cave.

“So, who’s this man? - Asked Sollon after inspecting Weed from head to toe.”

The way he said it, all the petty little soul of the mage was clearly visible on his face.

Barely holding her anger, Hwaryeong replied:

“This is my friend. His name is Weed. He’s a sculptor.”

“Oh! That’s how it is!”

Not quite satisfied with that explanation, Sollon continued throwing suspicious glances:

“So you’re friends? Or lovers even? And how long have you been hunting together?”

“We were introduced by a common friend. And we haven’t hunted together yet. You got a problem?”

Hwaryeong’s reply somewhat calmed Sollon.

“I see! Then there’s no problem!”

And as if showing his good will he continued:

“Weed, maybe you will join our party? I don’t have anything against your profession, but it must be hard to hunt alone with it.”

“Yeah, Weed. Join us! - Hwaryeong exclaimed excitedly.”

Actually, Weed wasn’t going to join any parties. He just came to say hello and invite Hwaryeong to go hunting with him. However he could not just leave after seeing the eager expression on her face.

After joining the party and finishing one battle, he realized that he just had nothing to do. Knowing that Weed was a sculptor, Sollon wasn’t giving him a chance to join the fight.

Instead Weed got plenty of time to talk to Hwaryeong on various topics. Certainly under constant supervision of lingering nearby Sollon.

Having grasped the situation, Weed openly stated:

“You are quite popular, Hwaryeong.”

“That’s not it, - said Hwaryeong with a smile, pretending that nothing’s happening.”

“My profession is dancer. Therefore I have high Charisma attribute. And also there’s an ‘Appearance’ attribute.”

“Charisma and Appearance?”

“Yeah, with an increase in charisma beauty increases. It can be said that some kind of ‘Glamour’ appears. Brighter eyes, shiny skin.”

“And then that ‘Appearance’ attribute is…”

“Well, that’s what comes to mind first. Improved stature, cuter face, more elegant curves. But that only applies to dancers.”

Weed recalled that he as well increased his Charisma attribute using belt of Deykram.

‘I see, so that’s what it does…’

This proved that the profession dancer isn’t as simple as he used to think. Besides basic attributes, one has to improve something new.

Now it was clear why Sollon fell for Hwaryeong so hard.

“And as I’m a dancer, most of my efforts are spent on increasing Charisma and Appearance attributes.”

“Then…”

“Exactly. My real face is somewhat plainer… Not like I have to tell you that, but I still did, just in case.”

It was natural that initial in-game appearance was gradually changing. Usually it took a keen eye to see the difference. However because of her profession, in Hwaryeong’s case changes were much more significant.

If you were to pay more attention to the woman, claiming that her looks do not depend on lighting, you’ll notice that it’s not true. Even most beautiful women who prefer not to use makeup will try to take the most advantageous position according to lighting.

Men are week for beautiful women.

That is a rule!

But every rule has exceptions. And Weed was one!

‘Woman equals money. Relationship with any woman revolves around money. If you spend it - you get love in return. I don’t want a relationship like that…’

Weed had some twisted view on the matter. In his mind he compared beautiful girls to hippos feeding on money.

After 12 hours of hunting Sollon said:

“Ugh! Today was a really hard day. Well, let’s meet again tomorrow. Thanks for the hard work.”

Party members started to log out one by one.

Weed tightened his grip on the sword in anxiety. Finally! He was waiting for this moment.

‘Well, so it’s time to start?’

To begin with he took out a whetstone and sharpened his sword.

Shiiing-shiiing!

You have sharpened the sword!

Attack power increased by 14%.

His sword sharpening skill was at intermediate 4th level. He wasn’t able to use it as often as, say, repair skill. Besides, if it was raining or he wasn’t hunting sharpening effect would vanishing quickly. Therefore, the only times he got to use it was immediately before battles, when sharpening weapons for himself and his party mates.

“Done, next…”

Weed pulled out a soft cloth and thoroughly polished his armor, until it started to shine.

You polished armor!

Defence increased by 16%.

Chance to dodge increased by 2%.

Armor polishing was very similar to polishing. There weren’t many opportunities to use it for prolonged periods, but its effect was good.

These two skills, greatly benefiting party’s strength, usually were used by blacksmiths after being accepted into a party. If you were a blacksmith, but didn’t raise these skills for some reason, you wouldn’t be accepted in a party in most cases.

“Now food…”

Weed opted for a dish made of shrimps, with a romantic name ‘Sea flowers’. Usually seafood in the game was quite expensive, but much to his surprise in Odein stronghold he managed to buy it cheaper than in Rosenheim Kingdom. And not just because of absence of taxes, but because of it being conveniently located right on one of the major trade routes.

Nothing beats seafood when it comes to increasing Vitality and Life. And shrimps proved to be best among seafood!

To enhance dish’s effect even further Weed prepared sweet maple syrup sauce and a salad out of potato, lettuce and béchamel.

Weed opened his mouth wide in anticipation.

He slowly peeled the shell off; after cooking, it acquired a golden tint and was easy to remove. There was only soft white shrimp meat left on the stick and it was all ready to be swallowed by Weed.

His will struggled with his urges.

His mouth wanted to take a bite, but hands didn’t want to let go. Especially because it wasn’t just a simple shrimp. Weed applied his sculpturing mastery to emphasize its beauty.

After slowly dipping shrimp in syrup sauce, under the influence of its aroma, Weed saw the glow of divine wings around the shrimp.

He even gave the dish a name: ‘Angel-shrimp from heaven’!

He couldn’t think of a more fitting name. The aroma was driving him crazy. Strong and delicious. No one would be able to endure its call.

Yummy!

In anticipation, Weed slowly stuck his tongue out and slowly mowed the shrimp towards his mouth…

When all the party members started logging out Hwaryeong immediately followed them. But that was just to get rid of Sollon. After waiting enough time for mage to leave, she logged back in.

As for Zephyr - once he recognized Weed, he didn’t logged out at all. He just stepped aside and watched his former fishing rival.

Hwaryeong and Zephyr were closely watching as Weed was about to eat the lone shrimp.

‘There’s only one so there’s no way I can ask him to share…’

However Hwaryeong didn’t have the strength to hold back, so she loudly swallowed.

Deafening gulp broke Weed’s concentration at the crucial point.

“Eh. I thought you logged out, Hwaryoung?”

“Ye-eah, - slowly replied the girl, staring intently at the shrimp.”

And let out another gulp.

Hwaryeong wasn’t asking to share. But here wide open eyes were staring at shrimp with such fascination that there was no need for words. She looked like it was the first time she saw food in many days.

Burning desire! Hunger! Craving!

‘I don’t want to get beat up over food!’

With a quiet sigh Weed handed over the shrimp. He didn’t have a choice.

“If you want, then… this… for one gold…”

“I’ll gladly accept!”

Hwaryeong bit the shrimp without the second thought. She didn’t even get upset over last words of Weed, trying to minimize the loss in any possible way.

Yum!

Shrimp immediately disappeared in her mouth.

Actually, Hwaryeong wasn’t so obsessed with food. Even in real life she was watching her waist and often was on a diet.

But the shrimp’s aroma drove away her voice of reason. She had a feeling that if she won’t eat it right now, she’ll regret it for the rest of her life.

It could be said she was behaving like an addict at that time. All thanks to the ever increasing cooking skill of Weed.

After gleefully finishing the shrimp, Hwaryeong finally settled down. She wasn’t regretting it one bit. Every piece of the shrimp was giving her heavenly pleasure.

‘Now that I think about it, Mapan mentioned that if you stick to Weed, good things will be happening to you all the time! I got to taste such a delicacy! Yummy!’

Finally, she threw a regretful glance at the remaining head and tail of the shrimp that usually no one would eat. But if not for standing nearby Weed and Zephyr, she’d eat those with delight.

‘Sorry, shrimp.’

Weed with regret took out another shrimp and started cooking it from the start. Shrimps were expensive so they couldn’t be eaten as snacks.

For Weed they were representing investments.

Investments in fighting ability! Because effects of food were giving maximum possible boost to Mana, Life and some other attributes.

That’s why he didn’t regret spending money to buy 500 shrimps.

You are well-fed

Life +400

Mana +400

Stamina +20

Art +15

Don’t trust those who say hunger inspires artists.

Only artist with a full stomach can concentrate on his art instead of his hunger. Actually, food’s effects varied depending on player’s profession. Were Weed to be a cook, there’d be increase in vitality and cooking, or better taste.

Weed started to gather his belongings. And of course he didn’t forget to take his 1 gold from Hwaryeong.

“I’m going to continue the hunt, you with me, Hwaryeong?”

“Yeah, sure!”

To be honest, Weed never considered any other answer.

Her abilities as a dancer would come in handy as a trump card. Even though damage from her attacks wasn’t that high, her movements were swift and monsters couldn’t even scratch her. Besides, if you were in one party with Hwaryeong, your attributes would get a certain boost, contrary to monsters’.

You have created a party!

Weed brought up the control menu and invited Hwaryeong.

“Thanks! - exclaimed Hwaryeong in excitement and accepted the invitation.”

Then she waved to Zephyr.

“Will you join?”

Fishermen nodded happily.

“I’m in if you’re ok with me!”

Weed just nodded and sent an invitation to Zephyr. He didn’t have anything in particular against it, there were plenty of monsters and therefore, experience, and some extra help would come in handy. Though he didn’t quite understand why Zephyr didn’t logout as everyone else.

“Then wait a bit, Hwaryeong. I’ll make another dish for Zephyr and polish and sharpen your equipment. And repair too if there’s a need.”

It was a great opportunity to improve, though by a small margin, his blacksmithing, cooking and tailoring skills.

“Wow! Cool!”

“The defense increased, and fishing rod’s attack too…”

Hwaryeong and Zephyr gave Weed a surprised look. They didn’t expect a single man to be a master of so many trades. And it was just a small step that separated an unskilled egghead from an omnipotent player.

“Thanks Weed! Now let’s go find a party. We have 3 people and many parties will gladly accept us, or so I think, - joyfully said Hwaryeong, but in return Weed just slowly shook his head.”

“There will be barely enough monsters for us three.”

“Huh? What…”

“Do you honestly believe we can hunt in dungeon of Basra with just the three of us? - asked dumbfounded Zephyr. Unaware of it himself, he guessed right.”

“Three of us will do fine. Though, I’m wrong. We have four. Come forth, Death Knight!”

Smoke started pouring from necklace on Weed’s neck, and a moment later the death knight Van Hawk emerged from it.

It had been a while since he was summoned last time, so he was excited.

“You called me, master?”

“Yes.”

Just one glance on his minion filled Weed with grief. Death knight was leeching off 20% of his experience. A lot of time had passed since Weed defeated and subjugated Van Hawk.

They fought through numerous battles and Van Hawk managed to greatly raise his level. Especially in the province of Morata, where Weed decided that the more vampires die - the better it is for the party, so he wasn’t holding the monster back.

And Van Hawk used it to the fullest; at that time he was getting not just 20% of Weed’s experience but all 100% for those he killed by himself. Because of that he managed to greatly surpass Weed and reach a level of 290.

“Damn monster! It’s time you pay off for everything… - Weed immediately started grumbling.”

But death knight had things to say too. After all he was getting experience not for sunbathing. He had to kill a lot of monsters, suffer through mockery of paladins and beatings of his master.

He had things to say, but he decided to remain silent for now.

History of dungeon of Basra wasn’t a common knowledge for players. In the past a family of nobles used to live in the lands of Basra. It was strongly objecting to integration into British Confederacy, so they made a deal with the thieves guild and started to prepare an uprising. And the headquarter of that uprising was located here, in the dungeon of Basra.

After sending death knight to the front, Weed and his party descended to fourth level.

“There’s no one at all here…” - said Zephyr in a barely audible voice.

And he wasn’t wrong; as dungeon of Basra was highly popular among players, it was rare for them to hunt on 4th level. Monsters inhabiting it were too strong, with levels from 240 and higher.

Trembling in fear and barely moving his feet Zephyr didn’t have a choice but to slowly follow Weed in hope that things will somehow work out.

‘Amen! Why did I even come back! I could be relaxing at home right now…’ - thought Hwaryeong.

‘If we die here, we’ll lose all the items… We’re crazy to come here without a priest or paladins…’

Hwaryeong and Zephyr could barely hold back their fear and anger. Weed’s behavior was confusing them. Even when 3rd floor hunting was hard enough, he dragged them to the 4th!

Therefore they followed behind the confidently pacing Weed and dark knight.

“Let’s check his bag!”

“And turn out his pockets!”

“And raise a level! We need more power for new revolt!”

A group of thief-monsters jumped out from behind the corner. They were equipped in iron armor and were carrying swords. Not sparing any more words thieves of Basra started their attack.

“Power of Darkness!” - yelled Van Hawk and rushed into the fight.

Death Knights were quite adept with dark magic. The spell he just used significantly increased weapon damage and defense of armor.

“Deadly Blade!”

Van Hawk accumulated dark energy in his blade and directed it towards the oncoming thieves. His weapon greatly darkened and a few moments later it let out thousands of finest threads, which struck attacking enemies in the chest.

Thieves collapsed to the floor.

Zephyr and Hwaryeong were astounded.

‘Whoa…’

‘That’s what level 290 monsters look like? How does Weed even control such a beast?’

At that moment they realized that Weed wasn’t just another ordinary player, and that it is really possible to hunt in dungeon of Basra with just 4 people. Weed’s words weren’t just feeling bragging any more.

Meanwhile Weed himself was surprised not less than his friends.

‘Wow, when did he become so powerful?’

Weed could only remember him beating the knight and improving his own skills. And he was extremely surprised to see his minion in a different light. Death knight managed to beat four enemies with a single strike. Even though it was partially due to his dark nature, which increased damage to non-undead enemies.

‘Crimson amulet of life… the item in which the death knight Van Hawk was eternally trapped. Furthermore, he had another black amulet with Lord Tori in it inside his backpack… Was that really a reward? Or just some cunning way for NPC to increase its level before breaking out of…’

Suddenly Weed forgot about everything, jumped forward and dropped the hilt of his sword on the head of Van Hawk, who lifted his sword to finish defeated enemies.

“I command! Do not to kill them. Just disable, we’ll finish them ourselves.”

“Understood Master. - Abruptly roared Van Hawk in Weed’s face.”

Because of significant increase in level death knight could feel his growing power and wasn’t so content with receiving orders from ‘lowbie’ Weed.

‘That jerk is talking back to me. I haven’t taught him enough…’

Weed noted to self to teach a lesson to Van Hawk later, but for now he headed into battle:

“Sculpting blade!”

He couldn’t imagine himself without that technique! With his blade shining blue Weed was rushing among enemies dealing multiple blows.

“Die!”

“Money! Give me your money!”

His opponents’ swords were passing dangerously close to Weed. Because of dodging and parrying he managed not to get any wounds. Though from aside, he looked like he has given up on his life.

‘Here… this is more fun…’

The thrill of being completely surrounded by enemies. Your heartbeat quickens, you start to perceive you opponents’ breath and movements. Intoxicating sensation of your own might fills you with overflowing happiness and you feel like you can conquer the world. A game like this will never become boring!

Weed thought about Swords.

In the school, Hyun only was taught basic skills, so he had to learn the art of the sword by himself in the game. However lately he’s been coming to the dojo to learn from the master of the sword himself. An Hyon-Do wasn’t an ordinary man, so his lessons weren’t ordinary as well.

“This is a Sword.”

In the hands of his teacher the sword was drawing graceful and smooth curves. It was hard to believe that someone could handle a sword like that. This was an art of a real master, who was creating another masterpiece.

‘This really is a Sword.’ - thought Hyun, watching in fascination.

However, as if reacting to his thoughts, the pattern started to change. Now it was a prowling predator, or an eagle, falling from the sky, or… Then, in front of the predator the Fort Odein appeared.

‘No, not Odein, but something solid, significant…’

Something thicker and taller than Fort’s walls blocked predator’s path. The obstacle was in his way, and without a second thought the beast lunged forward and tore it apart and rushed ahead.

“Sword… It is harder to master than a gun, but by doing it you become stronger. Death, decease and other hardships no longer bother you. I became free after I mastered the sword.”

Lee Hyun learned a lot from An Hyon-Do. He entirely changed his attitude towards sword, learned to properly breath, move and take care of his weapon. He became stronger.

Even though, his life wasn’t easy before he started going to the dojo. Absence of parents, debts and constant fights with bullies. Hyun could violently assault anyone in attempts to defend every precious memory of his parents. And that strengthened his spirit; he would never back out of a fight. However watching the skill of his teacher, Hyun started to realize that only god knew if there’s a limit to mastery of a sword.

Every thief-monster was a lot stronger than death knights of Lavias. In the fight with the knights he only had to watch the front, but now he didn’t have the right to miss anything happening at his sides or his back.

‘Woah, fights grow more and more entertaining…’

Weed avoided a long stab from the side and lunged forward.

“AAAAA!”

His hands were flying around him, parrying and striking at the same time.

You have dealt a critical strike.

You have dealt consecutive critical strikes.

Your continuous attack succeeded.

Do you want to save the series of strikes?

Skillfully moving from enemy to enemy, Weed was dealing series of critical strikes. If you were to deal an exceptionally successful series of strikes in the game, you would be able to save it, to later use it at will as an individual technique. However Weed just dismissed the message and rushed back into battle.

For Weed fight was something living, unpredictable and extraordinary. Sometimes you have to act as your instinct tells you, and by using fixed techniques you just restrain yourself.

“Sculpting blade!”

After killing three monsters he dove right in the middle of enemy group. With a trust in his skill and polished armor he was eagerly spilling enemies’ blood.

Though a bit later, but Hwaryeong and Zephyr also joined the battle.

“Charming dance!”

Enemies who watched erotic and tempting moves of the girl, froze in confusion and embarrassment. Their cheeks reddened and eyes filled with desire.

“Such a beautiful girl.”

“Oooo! Why did I go from knight to thief, if only I still were…”

“She melted my heart of stone!”

Having captured the enemies’ attention she exclaimed:

“No introductions! I have no interest in you!”

“Eeeeh?!”

Her words left enemies stunned, and she proceeded to dance with another group. Not forgetting to cooperate with partners of course.

“These ones won’t be attacking us.”

“For how long?” - Immediately asked Zephyr. Their lives depended on that information.

“About two minutes. Their level is too high; you must deal with the rest by that time.”

“Swing!”

Zephyr swung his fishing rod and joined the fight. Every time he extended his rod a few enemies were knocked down.

Weed and Van were holding back main forces of enemy. Hwaryeong tamed enemies to the right and Zephyr was fighting the ones on the left! Compared to previous fights, their situation was complicated, so they had to give their all to stay alive.

Hwaryeong incapacitated 12 more opponents and fell on the floor exhausted.

“I’m done… can’t continue…”

She spent all of her mana, and was sitting on the floor completely drained. Up to this time Hwaryeong always tried to pick the weaker monsters while not exerting too much in a fight. But this time she had to give it her all and she realized, that her dance techniques and attributes weren’t developed enough. She wasn’t strong enough.

‘That’s hard… I probably should have fought stronger opponents before?’ - Slowly thought Hwaryng, expecting some monster to end her life at any moment.

But then there appeared Zephyr, who came to cover her from advancing enemies. Thanks to fishing, his attributes, especially fortitude and stamina, were highly developed, so he handled this fight better.

Zephyr was fighting the surrounding monsters at his limit. He wasn’t hitting opponents one by one, but all of them at the same time! Fisherman’s skills allowed him to damage whole bunch of enemies at the same time.

When their health was dropping to about a third they were dying, as they were immediately finished by a series of critical strikes from suddenly appearing Weed. It seemed like the situation was straightening out, when enemies, incapacitated earlier by Hwaryeong started to come to their senses.

The intense battle continued without a single moment of rest.

“Sculpting blade!”

Weed was trying to move as fast as possible, but still the moment he was finishing one opponent another was already attacking him. He had to hurry: if he were to stop even for a moment monsters would come closer and completely surround him, which would be a sure death.

Hwaryeong regained some strength and hurried to back up Zephyr. She was dancing like a butterfly, stabbing exposed sides of enemies with her daggers. It seemed that the battle will never end. However a few moments later deeply surprised Hwaryeong realized that there was no one else to fight.

She didn’t remember how she was fighting and who dealt the last blow. In her chaotic memories fight looked like a fragment of hell. It was hard, long and extremely dangerous… She couldn’t believe they won!

‘Phew… That was hard, but… fun…’ - she wiped sweat off her forehead and smiled.

That was the only fight on her memory where she had to exert herself by 110%. Her mood was great.

Well, if not for death knight’s help, they’d all be finished by now. But that didn’t upset her at all, their victory was well-deserved.

“Weed, do you always fight like this?” - asked Hwaryeong the question that had been growing inside her since the beginning of the fight.

“Yes,” - calmly answered Weed. He already started to repair damaged armor.

If armor or weapons were losing even a bit of durability, first thing after a fight Weed was repairing them.

“But that is so dangerous! And hard! Are you not afraid at all to fight monsters, whose level is a lot higher than yours?”

Hwaryeong got a little frightened. She couldn’t imagine how one could be able to fight alone with only enemies all around. Even though they were playing a virtual reality game the fear was real.

In tight situations the stench of blood and the feeling of opponent’s strength were often stunning players by fear. After that they were easily killed.

“You know Hwaryeong, in Lavias I had to climb very high, and from up there all the monsters looked so small. It seemed like I can squish them with a finger. That’s when I realized that they’re just food. Food that makes me stronger.”

Hwaryeong let out another of her dazzling smiles.

“Seriously, with you Weed, there’s no time to be bored.”

However not everyone was celebrating the end of the fight. Zephyr was watching death knight with fear.

“Zephyr?!”

“Hwa… Hwa… Hwaryeong.” - Worry made him stutter.

“What happened?”

“Look at the death knight…”

“Huh? Death Knight?”

She looked at Van and noticed that he’s preparing another of his techniques. Hwaryeong was oblivious to what was going on so she became curious.

She was unaware of what Zephyr realized long ago. He got to fish with Weed for quite a long time, so he had an idea on what was about to happen. Did you think after fishing Weed was sitting in a shade to relax? Not at all!

Having finished fixing armor, Weed applied a number of bandages and got up on his feet.

“Hmmm… - He said, - now it’ll get a bit dangerous. Don’t worry too much, but I think we might have a couple close calls this time.”

“…”

“You know, I’m not in my best shape. I haven’t been fighting for a long time. To be honest, I don’t even remember the last time my health dropped below 15%. Even in Odein I was fighting mostly weak opponents.”

“…”

“Let’s see. After this battle only my Endurance slightly raised. That’s because I made a miscalculation and the battle wasn’t as hard as I expected. Next time I should aim to drop my health to 3%. I’ll tell you a secret: when your health gets very low, your Endurance attribute increases greatly. So in following battles you should try to lose as much health as you can. Trust me, that’ll pay off handsomely. For example, at the moment enemies’ hits feel like tickling for me.”

Zephyr and Hwaryeong were speechless from surprise.

‘That’s something! So the blows of thieves of Basra are ‘ticklish’ for him?’

‘How? Even though he has an intermediate blacksmith skill, he can’t be…’

‘My armor isn’t any worse, but every hit of a monster hurts like hell!’

‘Damn masochist!’

But his next words shook them even more.

“Well, now that the scouting and warm-up is over, it is time we fight for real.”

Scouting? For Zephyr and Hwaryeong previous fight was living hell!

Having seen their twisted in horror faces, he asked in doubt:

“So… Do you accept me as a party leader? If so, then the hunt goes on.”

They hurriedly nodded. Having accepted Weed’s invitation, they automatically assigned him as a party leader. And also he was the strongest of the three.

Even though Zephyr’s fishing and Hwaryeong’s dances allowed them to raise their attributes quite a lot, they still were as far from Weed as from the moon.

‘He has 5 crafting skills at intermediate level…’

‘He’s a beast. A machine… To do all those things…’

He was odd, of that Hwaryeong and Zephyr could agree.

Let alone his crafting profession having battle techniques, his attributes were ridiculously high as well! Looking at Weed they could feel their inferiority, even though compared to other players they were pretty normal.

‘So there exist people like Weed…’

‘We aren’t that useless!’ - they thought.

Usually the party leader’s position was taken by a warrior or a knight, due to them having high Charisma and Leadership attributes. Because if leader had high level of those two attributes, party members were less likely to be affected by panic and were getting increased experience. And monsters confronting such players were not able to use their skills to the fullest.

“Aaaaaaa!”

“Deadly dance! Charming dance!”

“Fishing rod feint!”

“Come on! Hit me! Raise my endurance!”

The hunt has started.

Endless fight to the death against thieves of Basra. As soon as one group of monsters got finished, they were switching to the next. They only had time for quick repairs and light healing.

“Waaaaaaa!”

In the past Zephyr wouldn’t believe if someone was to tell him he won’t be looting defeated enemies. But it was happening now, because of the constantly attacking waves of enemies they just didn’t have time for that.

They were fighting in such manner for almost 16 hours, when finally Zephyr got wounded. A thief has stabbed him in the stomach with a sword. A deadly injury.

Hwaryeong threw a hateful glance at Weed.

“You overdid it! We are humans, and when we get tired we need rest!”

Then Hwaryeong looked at Zephyr with a bit of envy.

‘He’s dying… At least he’ll get some rest… I wonder when I will get free from that devil?!’

That was the first time she was envious of a dying player.

With a relieved smile Zephyr said:

“I’m fine, Hwaryeong, Weed, don’t worry about me. Hahahahaha!”

He laughed to tears from joy. However Weed’s expression didn’t falter one bit.

‘What if?.. No, can’t be. He’s not a priest and won’t be able to save me…’ - Zephyr got frightened for a moment, happily watching blood pouring out of his stomach.

His health was quickly dropping and already reached 23%. Situation wasn’t critical, but without immediate priest’s help an injury like this would end killing him.

But then Weed rummaged through his bag and started taking out bandages one by one.

“I’ll fix you right away.”

“Ahahah! With bandages? Don’t joke like that…”

“Apply bandage! - Was shouting Weed again and again, rapidly applying multiple bandages.”

Bleeding has stopped

Wound has closed

Life increased to 26%

Life increased to 29%

“Wow! - Zephyr’s eyes were round from astonishment.”

He gave Weed a frightened look.

“Ermm… Weed, what’s your level of First Aid?”

“Intermediate 9th level.”

Just a little bit away from the high level!

During his long hunt in the province of Morata, Weed had to apply loads of bandages and so his skill level got surprisingly high. Usually parties had at least one priest, so players weren’t using First Aid skill at all, so most of them had a skill level of beginner even on high levels.

“Intermediate 9th level of First Aid…”

Zephyr was hitting his fist on the ground in sorrow. Damn Weed, a real sadist and devil! Now he’ll have to hunt monsters forever!

The battle continued…

Weed was slaying one monster after another and was thinking that it wasn’t actually that hard. Compared to what he experienced in the province of Morata, dungeon of Basra looked like kindergarten. Even in Lavias death knights were a lot more dangerous for him!

At least they were using long swords and dark magic. Thieves of Basra on the contrary used short swords, and though they attacked in great numbers they were a lot less dangerous opponents.

This time he didn’t have Alveron with his healing magic, but since then his health has raised a lot because of improved attributes and fishing. To almost twice the amount, 1400.

Also, thanks to his blacksmith skill, Weed was able to sharpen and polish equipment, increasing his survivability even further.

The profession of Legendary Moonlight Sculptor!

Only because of it Weed was forced to significantly improve his handicraft skill, which allowed him to raise many other skills to intermediate level during last few months. And those made him even stronger than if he was still hunting up to now and achieved a level of 280.

To become stronger and fight harder battles. Weed enjoyed fighting strong opponents; that’s why he went to the 4th floor of dungeon of Basra. And even before, he was fighting death knights while only having level 110. That sure was hard, and he died a lot, but having gained some power and experience, he was winning battle after another and that was making him happy.

Having defeated another group of monsters, Weed suddenly realized that his bag was full.

“Crap…”

Hwaryeong and Zephyr weren’t sad at all!

“Can’t help it…” - dragged Weed.

Hwaryeong and Zephyr started to nod excitedly.

‘Time to end it. It was a hard hunt.’

‘Damn, that was terrifying.’

They were sure, that thieves of Basra will be coming to them in nightmares for the rest of their lives.

But then Weed’s words shocked them yet again.

“Can’t help it, we’ll have to make a quick trip to the village to sell the stuff, and then we’ll come back again. Thieves of Basra wait for us. Let’s do it quickly.”

‘Daaaaaaaaamn!!!’

Chapter 9: The Dark Gamer Union

Lee Hyun closed his math textbook.

A few years ago he had to drop out of middle school, and since then he never once thought he’d open a textbook again. However, to pass the exam in order to get high school diploma he just had to get back to studying.

“Hmmm…”

Ever since Hyun left school, he was spending all of his time on earning money by manual labor, so his brain got pretty rusty. He was meticulously reading the book, but its meaning was eluding him.

“Damn, why are they teaching so many different formulae!? If I would ever need them, they can be easily found on the internet; and for the complicated stuff I could use a calculator…”

Lee Hyun was muttering to himself nonstop. It was very hard to study math all by himself, but going to cram school would mean additional expenses.

I should probably just forget it and return to the game… But I already paid for exam…

After a long speculation Hyun and his sister decided that she’ll help him with studies for an hour every couple of days. But even with his sister’s help, learning math was very hard. And when the student has no interest in the subject, teacher has to put dozen times more effort.

However Hayan had planned everything ahead. Knowing her brother well, she took an unusual approach to education.

“Look. This number is your savings. Think about them! You deposited $300 for 12 month with 5.39% interest rate. How much will you get in the end?”

“316 dollars and 17 cents!”

When Hayan was asking questions like that, she was always getting a correct answer in a blink of an eye. But that answer didn’t satisfy Hyun as he continued:

“The interest will amount to $16.17. But they are subjected to taxes. It’s either $2.10 of simplified tax, or $2.42 of standard tax.”

Hayan smiled happily:

“See? It’s simple. You have to learn everything in a similar manner. Now to the next problem. Count the money.”

After a long break from studying, Hyun’s head was barely working; but gradually he started to notice that solving problems became easier and easier.

Let’s see!

Hyun have read all the textbooks and solved half the problems from them. He even borrowed all the textbooks his sister had.

All in 4 days before the exam!

That’s because when you still have a lot of time you just can’t make yourself study. But once exams are already at hand, you just have no choice but to get yourself together and learn all you can in the remaining time.

And so came the day of the exam.

Hyun left his home early, to be able to walk to the school in the centre of the town, where his exam was held.

I must… I have to do my best…

On the way there he visited his grandmother in the hospital. She was getting better, she wasn’t as pale, and according to her doctor, she was able to go for walks all by herself.

“Don’t worry if you fail, Hyun. You’ll always be able to prepare better and pass all your exams.” - said his grandmother with an encouraging smile.

“Sure, Grandma…”

Lee Hyun tightly gripped her hand.

His grandmother’s hands were all wrinkled from the hard manual labor that she had to do in her late years to raise Hyun and Hayan after their parents died.

Hyun will be grateful to her for the rest of his life. If not for their grandmother, they’d be sent to orphanage and most likely get separated, as it is rare for two children to be adopted by the same family.

“Well, I should go now…” - Hyun said goodbye to his grandmother and went to the school.

Exam was held at a public high school ‘Korea’. It was part of educational complex ‘Korea’ and was located near a college and a university.

Though the university didn’t get into top ten most prestigious universities of the country, it had good teaching staff and well-designed infrastructure. A lot of talented young people, including students from abroad, were studying here in an independent and creative environment.

The main quality of a prestigious university isn’t its rating inside the country, but its reputation abroad. ‘Korea’ university was well-known in other countries, so it had more students from abroad than any other Korean university.

Lee Hyun appreciated the majesty of the main building of the university.

Even though I live a lousy life… but I swear, my sister will be able to study here…

Every group consisted of 30 people.

After receiving his question list, Lee Hyun noted with a surprise that he knew most of it. His intense and rushed studying method had a great result.

Though he shouldn’t ignore the fact that this exam was meant for adult and elderly people, who for some reason, were not able to get a proper education. So it was a bit easier than the usual exam.

I know almost all of them. If only I had a chance to continue getting education, I’m sure I would have achieved a great result. - thought Hyun, slowly looking through the questions.

Hyun regretted a lot that he wasn’t able to continue going to school. In his opinion, the faults in Korean educational system gave rise to another unfortunate genius!

But he didn’t have time for idle thoughts, so he took his pen and started writing down answers to the questions, contemplating deep in thoughts over some problem from time to time.

One of the subjects Hyun was allowed to choose for his exam was ethics. Actually, he could pick a foreign language or some other subject, but he picked ethics as he decided that he doesn’t need to study it, you just have to know basic principles.

1. You found a wallet on the ground. What will you do?

1. Take it.

2. Pick it up and check for any witnesses.

3. Pick it up and run away.

4. Pick it up, check for ID card, and try to find the owner.

5. Take money and leave the wallet.

Lee Hyun scratched his head. Even his decision to leave school wasn’t as hard to make.

So which answer is the right one?

He thought ethics was an easy subject, but it proved to have such complicated questions.

Well, 3 of the answers are correct…

After pondering for a while he opted to the 2nd answer. 5th looked correct as well, but ‘leaving the wallet’ wasn’t the best choice.

Other ethics questions weren’t as hard, and Hyun answered them with ease.

I’m totally getting a full mark for ethics.

Ethics was last subject, so with it he finished his exam.

“In my last trip to Ross Gleasis I got a new weapon. Shining Golden Axe! With 60+ damage!”

“What about bonus stats?”

“Strength +45, Agility -10, increased chance to not to encounter bandits while travelling; if it falls in water it will be lost.”

“Whoa! Cool!”

In the hallways, people who just finished their exam, were standing in small groups. And almost all of them were talking about Royal Road.

“Golden axe…”

Axes in the game had the highest damage attribute, but their attack range and speed were considered to be the lowest. Even though every hit from an axe would deal tremendous damage, it didn’t matter much if you couldn’t land even one of them. So, if you knew how to wield an axe, you were a really dangerous fighter.

Lee Hyun picked up his bag and started walking towards the exit. He wasn’t in a hurry so he decided to walk behind that gossiping group of guys. He wanted to hear the rest of their conversation.

One of the guys looked to be around 30 years old; the other two were a bit younger.

“Joong Hoon, I’m jealous. When we left school all we did was drinking…”

“Yeah, we were just fooling around, while you’re a Dark Gamers Union member…”

Dark Gamer?

Dark Gamer was a name for players who were making money through games.

But Hyun was most surprised by the reaction of two other guys: they knew who that man was and they were jealous.

Isn’t he ashamed?

Lee Hyun thought that there’s nothing to be proud about if you earn money by playing games. Because you’re not making anything useful, not bringing anything new into the world, you just make money out of thin air. And were games to disappear, you’d be one of the most useless people in the world.

“Joong Hoon, what’s your level?”

“My level? Let’s see… what was it… 355.”

“That’s huge! I have a lot of friends in game, but none of them are of such a high level. And what’s your rating?”

“I’m in the top 10000.”

The number of players in the game went over 100 millions, so being in top 10000 meant a lot.

Already at 355th level. Lucky one.

Lee Hyun couldn’t hide his envy and slowed down his pace. To get home he had to take a bus.

However Joong Hoon and two guys stopped on the parking lot near a foreign car.

“Get in, I’ll show you what being a dark gamer is.”

“Really? Thanks!”

They got in a car and Hyun didn’t have a choice but to be on his way to bus stop, when Joong Hoon called out to Hyun:

“Hey! We have a spare seat, wanna join? If you live nearby I’ll give you a lift.”

Hyun started to consider if he should accept the invitation, but the man continued:

“It’s fine. I see you play Royal Road as well. I noticed that you were listening to our conversation. We’re headed to the regular meeting of dark gamers at the moment. If you want, you can join us.”

Dark gamers were gathering at an abandoned warehouse.

Inside a huge building there were a couple of capsules, a long table, and multiple chairs.

“Before we start our meeting, I’ll tell you about our Union…”

He introduced himself as Choi Joong Hoon and continued with a smile:

“How many people in your opinion make money by selling items from Royal Road? Not just once or twice, but those who make a living that way?”

“A few tens of thousands?” - asked one of the guys after a bit of thought.

Choi Joong Hoon shook his head.

“Not less than a hundred thousand.”

“So many?”

“And most of them are from India, China and some other countries of East Asia.”

International borders meant nothing for Royal Road. Any person from any country was able to enjoy the game using capsule. Even the language barrier was removed, thanks to the automatic speech translation software, provided by Unicon Corporation.

“I heard there’s a trading company in Korea that works only with Royal Road…”

“That’s true. They sell items and in-game money obtained by their employees. I’m not going to criticize them, they made their own decision. But we made ours, and do not want publicity. A lot of our members are unsociable by nature and prefer to be alone… Players like that wouldn’t be able to show their potential in a big company. That is why we created The Dark Gamers Union.”

Choi Joong Hoon’s words slightly confused recruits.

“Then what does being in the Union mean?”

“Good Question. The main reason for Union is information exchange. Our union accumulates information gathered by members. It allows you to learn about hunting grounds, good dungeons, profitable trading routes and rare monsters…”

“Wow, you share information? So it means that once I join the Union I get access to the information database?”

“Unfortunately, it’s not so easy. You can’t get all the information immediately. Member’s access level is determined by his rank within the Union.”

“Eh, why’s that?”

“That’s just security measure. It didn’t happen before, but some member might leak our information outside, and Union is all about information.”

“Guess that’s true. Once there’s enough people about anything can happen.”

“Yeah. Also players of level 100 have no use for information about dungeons of level 200 and higher. Therefore we assign ranks to our members according to the value of information they provide. And that rank determines how much access they have to our data. That’s how it all works. Of course every new member gets access to the basic information.”

“So rank is directly dependent on the value of information you provide?”

“Not just that. If you actively participate in the Union’s activities, your rank rises. Same thing if you sell items through our auction website often enough. But there’s a certain limit to that kind of advance in rank.”

“That looks good enough. So how do we sign up?”

Two guys, who came with Choi Joong Hoon, started to fill the papers. They stated their character names, levels and other related information.

Depending on this data the initial rank was assigned. As the guys had a level of 140, they got assigned the lowest rank ‘D’.

“Aren’t you going to sign up too?”, asked Joong Hoon after approaching the calmly sitting Hyun.

Lee Hyun though it over 2nd time and after counting all the pros and cons shook his head.

“I’m not going to join.”

“So that’s your answer?”

Joong Hoon didn’t look disappointed in the least.

“Well, if you refuse to join, that means you do play Royal Road. And as you agreed to come here with us you must have a certain interest in our organization. But if that’s your decision, there’s not much I can do…”

Then Choi Joong Hoon leaned to Hyun’s ear and whispered:

“Those two are just random people. They probably won’t even use information available to them. But I can see that you are different. So if you would join our Union, you’ll get access to some special information…”

“…”

“I suppose you just don’t want to bother with sharing valuable information, if you don’t need access to information for newbies. Isn’t that so?”

Lee Hyun was quite surprised. It looked like Choi Joong Hoon saw a lot of players like Hyun and so was pretty accurate with his assumptions.

“Anyway, that’s fine. Everyone has their own principles. And our Union respects that. However I’ll give you an advice: If you’re a serious Royal Road player you’d better off joining our Union.”

Lee Hyun, who was silent up till this moment, quietly replied:

“I don’t have time to raise my rank and I don’t want to give away any information.”

If Lee Hyun was to reveal his name - Weed - he’d most likely have some problems. He recalled how On Joo-wan threatened to interview him.

But even the 2nd rejection didn’t upset Joong Hoon. On the contrary, it seemed he liked Hyun’s response.

“Okay. At least people like you won’t stab in the back. Do you know our website? Then listen here. Login kj9008, password 165008. That’s a special account for people who join our website for the first time. Once you login using it, you’ll get a rank ‘C’, and it gives you access to a decent amount of valuable data, trust me. Also, you can change the password once you login if you’re worried someone else might get access to your information.”

“Why do I get such a special treatment?” - asked Hyun indifferently, and added - “Colleague?”

“That’s simple. Dark gamers have three rules. First rule of dark gamers is ‘Don’t trust anyone’. That exactly describes our current relationships.”

“…”

“There’s also the 2nd rule: ‘Give as much as you take’. You seem to be the kind of person to follow those two rules, and would you use some of our information, you’d provide something valuable in return. I see a real dark gamer in you.”

“What about 3rd rule?”

“And here’s the 3rd rule: ‘Only trust in money’.”

“…”

And so Lee Hyun decided to join the Dark Gamers Union.

* * *

On the 4th level of dungeon of Basra Weed, Hwaryeong and Zephyr were concentrating on hunting.

They risked their lives in every fight, and with every fight their skill and experience points were rising.

“Ok, health back to full… Weed, let’s go look for the next fight.”

“Yeah, that’d be nice.”

Zephyr and Hwaryeong got on their feet.

Whatever the methods they tried to persuade Weed to slow down the pace of the hunt, it was all in vain. So they finally resigned themselves to his will.

Meanwhile, Weed was thinking that dungeon of Basra almost expended its value as a hunting ground.

We’ll stay here for another day or two at most. I’m sorry for the time I had to spend on exam.

Quite a lot of time passed since the siege of Odein.

Balkan Guild was greatly weakened and won’t be able to launch another assault on the stronghold for time being. So the winners will have enough time to secure their position. Most probably all the hunting grounds around Odein will become private, so only players from Prosperity Guild or their allies will be allowed to hunt there.

It’s a pity.

Dungeon of Basra - one of the most famous dungeons, renowned for plentiful experience and valuable loot.

In the past two days Weed gained 17 levels, reaching level 247. But he doubted they will be able to hunt here for much longer.

I’ve got to get at least 5 more levels in the remaining time. And it’s best to begin from some strong monster; I won’t be able to get experience fast enough from small ones…

Weed called his friends and headed to the place they hadn’t yet visited once - to the den of the dungeon’s boss, a place called ‘Main Revolt Headquarters’.

When Weed first mentioned his idea, Hwaryeong and Zephyr answered with a strong resent:

“I can’t believe it!”

“Weed, have you finally gone nuts?!”

Dungeon of Basra’s boss had a level of 290, and he was accompanied by subordinate knights of level 275. No wonder Weed’s partners had such a reaction.

“Weed, we used to think that you had better judgment. But this time there’s absolutely no way we can beat the boss and his knights.”

“Exactly!” - Zephyr backed Hwaryeong up -

“Basra’s boss is a dark mage, and even said to be a necromancer. Necromancer’s magic is very different from that of normal mages. And you also have to take into account his 290th level and an increase in health due to his ‘boss’ status.”

“They say his attack power is enormous!”

“Yeah, you take a couple hits and you’re dead.”

Weed waved his hand to interrupt them:

“His attacks are really that strong?”

“Of course! And no kind of bandages will help that.” - exclaimed Zephyr.

“And bandages can only be applied after the battle!” - added Hwaryeong.

Suddenly Zephyr and Hwaryeong exchanged glances and a complete unanimity could be read on their faces. They brightened up and smiled.

“Weed! We’re coming!”

Once I die, I’ll get to rest. - At that moment that was their only wish.

Those are some funny friends I’ve got myself here.

Weed wasn’t getting bored with them around. He couldn’t stop being surprised how simple they were. However Weed didn’t realize that he was not much different; one just has to remember how agitated he becomes if even one coin is at stake.

“Hahaha! We haven’t had any visitors for quite a while. What business do you have here?”

In the deepest part of the dungeon, sitting on a magnificent throne and dressed in gorgeous clothes, there was the dungeon’s boss, accompanied by 2 knights and 12 thieves.

That’s our end…

Thank god, it’s going to end here.

Upon hearing the boss Hvaryung and Zephyr bid farewell to their lives. They weren’t too nervous, at least their smiles indicated otherwise. But they did feel a little thrilled; after all they weren’t encountering bosses all too often.

The main NPC of the dungeon was gathering forces to revenge British Confederacy, so it was possible to prevent the fight. Because if you are friendly enough, you would be able to get a quest from him, like to stop assassins sent for his head, or to provide thieves with the items they require.

Naturally, would you take one of those quests you’d become the enemy of British Confederacy. However not just anyone was able to take those quests but only players with high enough fame attribute.

So when Basra’s boss started talking to Weed, Hwaryeong and Zephyr started to get nervous. Because if the fight won’t start they won’t get a chance to die.

But much to their relief Weed tightened his grip on the sword and answered:

“We came to kill you.”

“Hohoho! So you’re just another pack of British dogs! Well, if you came here to die I won’t disappoint you. I’ll hang your heads at the entrance as a warning for other puppets of Confederacy. Knights! Kill them!”

“Yes, your Royal Highness Archduke.”

While the boss was babbling, Weed waved his sword and yelled:

“Holy blessing!”

The effect of Agatha’s holy sword triggered and holy spirit infused Weed.

” High Priest’s Blessing!”

The ring on Weed’s hand faintly flared and covered Weed’s body with soft glow.

Even though these items’ effects had duration of only 20 minutes, they were blessed by the High Priest of church of Freya himself! In a single moment Weed became stronger by half.

“Van, hold off the thieves!”

“Understood, master.”

Even death knight forgot his defiance in presence of such blessings. It wasn’t wise to meddle with Weed when he was so strong.

“Zephyr, help Van to deal with thieves.”

“But…”

If he was to fight, he’d prefer fighting knights, that’d be a faster way to die.

“Hwaryeong will stall the knights. I’ll take on the Archduke.”

“What if they come to their senses?” - exclaimed Hwaryeong in a worried voice.

“Then deal with it. If Van and Zephyr finish the knights by then, they’ll help you. I’ll be busy with the boss.”

Zephyr and Hwaryeong didn’t have any choice but to follow Weed’s orders.

Two knights were slowly approaching Weed, skilfully swinging their swords.

“Don’t sleep Hwaryeong, begin!”

Zephyr immediately headed towards the group of thieves, and Weed easily slipped past two knights and rushed ahead. Hwaryeong was left alone, facing two knights.

“Charming dance!”

To charm enemies, stronger than her, she’ll have to spend a lot of mana and dance much longer than usually. And knights were quickly approaching!

“For the glory of Basra!” shouted NPCs and jumped towards Hwaryeong.

Dancing girl closed her eyes in despair.

That’ll probably hurt a little…

The pain would bring death! It was a lot more welcome than all those strenuous everyday fights that were leaving her completely exhausted.

However a second passed, than another, but nothing was happening to her! Moreover, she heard that knights had stopped and started to argue.

“Kill her, Jason.”

“I don’t want. You go, Tobon.”

“I can’t! As knights we gave an oath to always protect the ladies. It is our duty! If I kill her, I’ll no longer be a knight.”

“Well, I think the same way! But the boss ordered…”

The last words dismissed their doubts. Hwaryeong heard one of the knights approach her and say apologetically:

“Forgive us, lady!”

Even while expecting to die any moment, Hwaryeong never stopped her dance, she was still elegantly moving her hands and bending her body.

It wasn’t difficult at all for her to dance with eyes closed. Over the last few days she had to dance in front of thieves of Basra many times, sometimes while fighting with extreme sleepiness. So she eventually learned to dance with closed eyes.

Ding!

You successfully executed Charming Dance.

Knights of Basra are ensnared.

“Ah! After all she’s too beautiful, I can’t kill her. Sorry boss, we aren’t…”

Hwaryeong managed to disable the knights.

“Aww! I can’t believe I did that!”

She collapsed on the ground in frustration, when Zephyr and Van, who just finished off the thieves, approached her.

“Awesome!”

Zephyr was admiring Weed’s fight against the boss of Basra, who was throwing multiple dark spells at him.

“Pierce my enemy, Dark Arrows!”

Numerous arrows made of pure darkness shot from behind Archduke aiming at Weed. The spell was cast almost instantly, but Weed still managed to dodge all the arrows.

He was able to do that because he had already accounted for a possibility that something like this would happen. So the moment boss began to cast his spell Weed had determined its type and area of effect and started to evade it. Zephyr was completely astonished by that feat.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed swung his sword to deflect a few arrows he couldn’t dodge and dashed towards Basra’s boss.

“Blink!”

Basra’s Archduke instantly teleported a few steps back, however on his chest a bleeding long cut was clearly visible.

Weed’s Sculpting Blade technique was completely ignoring any armor!

For necromancers, who didn’t have any armor and had low health, strikes like that were especially dangerous! If only the boss was a leech, he’d have almost infinite vitality like Lord Tori. But there were few monsters like that in the game, and usually players were trying to avoid them.

“Fools!”

After gaining some distance from Weed, the boss got a few moments to observe the situation and came to a conclusion that it wasn’t favorable for him.

“It’s useless to fight me!” – he shouted in rage - “I made a contract with the god of death! Do you want to know why those British bastards weren’t able to defeat me? I’ll show you! The Immortal Power! Arise my soldiers!”

The ground under their feet started to tremble and skeletons started to appear from it! Multiple black, red and white skeletons!

Archduke of Basra, as a true necromancer, used his main trump card, and summoned mage, warrior and archer skeletons to his aid. His voice got filled with triumph:

“Most of the Basra’s warriors were buried here! This place was a burial ground for many generations, and since I was a child I used to come here to practice necromancy. Now this will become your burial ground as well! Ahahahaha!”

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s movements were significantly slowed now that he had to fight through hordes of summoned skeletons. Those monsters weren’t that dangerous by themselves, but they’ll make avoiding boss’s attacks much harder, and that was what worried Weed the most. Every magic attack of the Archduke could lower Weed’s health by third, if not by half.

“Die, human!”

One of the skeletons hit Weed from behind with his rusty sword. The hit was accurate, but there was almost no damage because Weed had carefully polished his armor before the fight started.

But attacks continued.

About level 220…

Weed started to think.

Thanks to his vast experience of fighting monsters he was able to precisely determine the level of the enemy by one received hit.

Level 220 monsters won’t be that dangerous…

But the problem was that the boss was able to summon skeletons indefinitely, and they were greatly hindering Weed’s movements, while blessings would hold for just 20 minutes.

And once their duration is over, the fight will become a whole lot harder. In other words, he didn’t have any time to spare.

“I’ve got to get rid of the undead… Yeah, I know the way! Fight fire with fire!”

All this time Weed was wearing the helmet of the Death knight that he got in Lavias.

“Summon skeletons!”

The helmet allowed Weed to summon undead of level 50. The exact amount and degree of obedience depended on the Leadership attribute of the summoner.

Even more skeletons rose from the ground. More than 200 of them, and all of them kneeled, expecting their master’s order.

“Fight! Against those who threaten me!”

Two skeleton crowds started to fight each other. In this fight it was hardly possible to distinguish friend from foe.

“Servants of the god of death, I order you with power, given to me: submit to my will!” - shouted the Archduke.

“You’re not the one who summoned us.” - came the answer from the direction of the battle.

“You, idiots…”

Skeletons, summoned by Weed were a lot weaker than those of the necromancer. They were dying quickly and did no damage to the enemy, but they still managed to divert enemies’ attention to let Weed escape the skeletons’ ranks.

“Triple strike! Backstab!”

Weed started to assault the boss sparing no mana. Archduke was able to use blinks to evade Weed’s attacks, but his advantage was already lost. Hwaryeong, Zephyr and Van finished the knights who had finally woken up and hurried to help Weed.

Now the entire party was chasing the fleeing boss, and a couple minutes later he succumbed to the furious onslaught of his opponents and died.

Ding!

Endurance +1

Fighting Spirit +1

Level has risen.

Weed had already fought monsters of level over 290, so he only got one level for this victory. Of course this boss was stronger than the vampire lords, but he was still far weaker than Lord Tori…

“Wow! Great! We won!”

Zephyr and Hwaryeong celebrated their victory and walked towards Weed. But the focused expression on his face made them stop.

“Hmm, I have 3.5% of life left. I watched it closely…”

“…”

“Well, then let’s continue the hunt.”

“…”

Chapter 10: The Largest Tomb

Weed had almost reached level 259 when the decree of Mavaros gGld was announced. A day later than Weed anticipated.

The fee for hunting in the dungeon of Basra was raised 3 times. Third and fourth levels of the dungeon were reserved for members of Prosperity and Mavaros Guilds. All the rare and unique items acquired by players during the hunt were to be sold to Mavaros Guild at reasonable prices.

“What the heck?”

“Dirty bastards! Reasonable prices my ass! They’re deciding what reasonable is by themselves.”

Initially, the decree wasn’t accepted very favorably; but as it always happens, in a couple days the unrest calmed down. On the continent of Versailles laws were set by whoever had the power.

There were no guilds around Fort Odein stronger than Prosperity Guild and their allies. And as the latter ones played a significant role in defense of Odein, Prosperity Guild was overlooking some of their whims. And if you didn’t want to be pushed around, you had to join them.

Right after the announcement, Mavaros Guild started recruiting new members at the entrance to dungeon of Basra. They were able to drag a lot of players to their ranks.

“We should raise our levels more sometime later.”

“See you around, Weed!”

After he parted with Hwaryeong and Zephyr, Weed left Basra and made his way to the mission of Order of Freya, located inside the fort.

“What brings you here?”

In response to Priest’s question Weed showed his hand wearing the High Priest’s ring.

“I have come to use the portal.”

“Oh! The savior of our order! We hoped you would visit us one day.”

Priest grabbed Weed’s palm with both hands and started shaking it in a fit of joy. Paladins of the Order came out to see the hero as well. One priestess exclaimed:

“Savior Weed! Our resident priestesses wanted to see you too. Would that be ok with you?”

Weed nodded and was instantly surrounded by lovely priestesses. Freya valued beauty, thus all the priestesses of her church were beauties with slim bodies, big bright eyes and white skin.

The lovely priestesses, humbled by the opportunity to meet and talk to Weed, sprinkled him with holy water and scattered with cheers.

You got Freya’s Blessing

Defence +26%

Health regeneration speed increased by 26%

You are protected from dark magic, until holy water on your clothes dries.

Your stamina has increased. Increase in stamina may be utilised in various activities. For example, if you’re an adult, you and your loved one can spend a wonderful time having… (TN: an afternoon cup of tea obviously)

Weed closed the message window.

The goddess’ blessing was a step ahead from an ordinary blessing for donation. But it didn’t please Weed too much as it would expire before he might need it.

“Show me the road to the portal.”

“Fine. This way…”

The Priest slowly headed deep into the temple. There were few players permitted to use Freya’s portals, so Weed didn’t have to wait for his turn.

The portal’s attendant asked:

“What’s your destination?”

“Rosenheim Kingdom. Citadel of Serabourg.”

“I’m opening the portal now.”

Weed got bathed by the light from the portal.

“Buying items!”

“Who wants to go for a hunt? Looking for mages!”

“Master tracker here! Will find you any monster you want with my sense of smell. Choose whom you fight with yourself!”

Weed was yet again standing by the fountain at the Central Square of the Citadel. It took him almost a month to travel across Barkan Mountains to the British Confederacy, but he returned in a matter of seconds.

Rosenheim Kingdom!

“It’s been a long time since the last time I was here.” - muttered Weed after taking a look around the square.

People’s clothing became more diverse and colourful; their weapons were all new and shiny. A lot of things had changed and Weed didn’t feel like he returned home at all.

“Weed!”

Pale, Surka, Romune and Iren were running towards him with happy faces.

“It’s been ages!” - exclaimed Surka and tightly embraced Weed.

Romune and Irene soon followed their friend and clung to Weed’s sides.

Weed got deeply moved, though only until he heard the girl’s next words:

“Irene and Romune are terrible cooks. Weed, I wanted to see you again so much!”

“Surka!”

“Your Cooking skill! Did you raise it? Quick, make us something tasty… pretty please!”

“…”

It turned out that girls were stuck to him only because of his great cooking. Surka couldn’t forget the taste of his dishes and was impatiently counting days awaiting their next meeting.

Having grasped the situation, Weed wasn’t disappointed much. It was his first time seeing Pale and girls since they parted in Lavias.

‘They’re so pure… It’s worth living in a world where people like them, who don’t chase money and accept me as I am, still exist…’

Weed gave his friends a heart-warming smile and pulled out cooking utensils.

“So, today I’ll make you pork fried in batter.”

“Yay!”

Weed did his best to cook a serving for each of the four hungry friends. In just a minute their plates were empty again. Once satisfied, they switched their attention to Weed himself. Even though they’ve been exchanging ‘whispers’, it was their first time meeting in person after a long time, so they were dying to know all the details of Weed’s adventures.

Weed made everyone some more food and started to leisurely retell the story of his travels.

“Eh! The most beautiful girl got turned into stone? I wish I could see all of that myself.”

Irene was a priest, so she was very sorry she wasn’t able to participate in the liberation of province of Morata.

“It’s a shame my level was too low at that time, but now you can rely on me, Weed! With my level 220 I’ll be handy for you Weed, as I’m sure you’ll go hunting soon.”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” - said Weed.

“Oh!” - exclaimed Pale after remembering something. - “We often talk to Mapan. He’s helping my parents a lot with advices and supplies for their shop. He told you were hunting in dungeon of Basra with Hwaryeong.”

“Yeah. That’s true.”

“Then your current level…”

It was obvious that Pale’s was worrying, he didn’t even finish his sentence.

Weed looked straight at him and gave an honest answer:

“259.”

“…..”

“…..”

“Che!” - furious Surka gave Weed a jealous glare and moved away from him.

At that moment royal guards appeared on the square and surrounded Weed, Pale and the two girls.

“What’s going on?”

“Those people must be criminals.” - started gossiping players around the square.

Things like that weren’t common, so more and more players were becoming curious.

“What if…”

“Weed, did you kill someone?”

Confused, Pale, Romune and Irene were looking at not any less confused Weed.

“Hmm… I don’t think I did something incriminating in Rosenheim… “

He racked his memory, but still couldn’t remember anything that could have caused this. Surrounding soldiers stepped aside to let forward a man in knight’s outfit, who asked in a loud voice:

“Which one of you is the sculptor Weed?”

“That would be me, but…”

Weed warily got up.

“King wishes to see you. Please come with me…”

Knight’s words were a complete surprise for Weed. He didn’t expect to meet the King Theodarren himself.

“He’s lucky! Hurry, we should take some pictures.”

Clicks started to sound from all directions, indicating that players started to take photos of the event.

“Look, the King himself wants to meet that guy! Hey, call everyone else here!”

In a matter of seconds the square became crowded, everyone tried to get as close to the centre as possible. Some people wanted to see Weed, some wanted to listen to what the knight was saying.

Sometimes aristocrats did invite adventurers. But usually it was a Baron or an Earl at most. But this time King Theodarren had himself invited some unknown player!

Looks like there’s nothing to worry about, - thought Weed with a relieved sigh.

If it was some crime he committed, soldiers wouldn’t be talking to him, but just capturing and delivering to jail or judge.

“May I inquire what the reason is?” - Weed asked cautiously.

Gears in his head were spinning a dozen times faster than usual. Weed was assessing the situation and calculating possible profit.

“I believe King has a request for you. I don’t know details; everything will be explained at the palace.” - the knight replied.

Weed remained calm, but the crowd gathered on the square was in uproar! Surrounding players were excitedly passing knight’s words to those who were too far to hear them.

“They say the knight brought a request from the King of Rosenheim himself!”

“So it’s a quest?”

“Looks like it.”

Many jealous, envious and even some threatening stares were directed at Weed. There aren’t many people in the world who aren’t jealous of others’ success.

Weed agreed to meet with the king and looked around. The square was overflowing with people, but he still managed to discern a mission of Order of Freya looming in the distance.

“Before I meet with the King, I would like to visit Order of Freya first, if it’s possible.”

“Fine. We’ll escort you.”

Religion and government tried not to interfere with each other in Royal Road. That’s why Weed was allowed to visit the Order before going to the palace.

“We welcome the hero, heading to the far Lands of Despair.”

Highest officials of the church came in person to greet Weed. When he returned the holy relics back to the Order of Freya, it greatly increased their influence points, and now wherever players would go, Order of Freya was well-known.

Knights and soldiers who were escorting Weed , stayed at the gates to wait for his return as he was now on the land of the Church and fell under protection of paladins and monks.

Weed went straight to the topic:

“First, I would like to know more about Lands of Despair.”

“I am truly sorry, but our knowledge about them is limited. Lands of Despair are inhabited by giant monsters and savage Orc tribes, which are constantly in war with each other. Few humans live there, and those who do are mostly exiles, as it’s extremely hard to survive there. Also, there used to live dark elves, but weare not aware of their fate, they might be all dead by now.”

“…”

“We weren’t able to find out where in Lands of Despair necromancers, worshipping Bareken are located. You will have to discover that yourself.”

Just great! With a quest of ‘B’ difficulty I will also have to find out details myself!

Weed gave priests a discontent look. In the province of Morata, while doing another ‘B’ quest, he was constantly on the verge of death! But he had 300 paladins and 100 priests at his command at the time!

“Then how many troops will I get for the job?”

Scared by angry face of Weed, the priest replied in confusion:

“We prepared 50 priests.”

“50 priests?!”

“Yes, all the paladins and the rest of priests are busy spreading our faith in remote parts of the country. So once you’re ready, we’ll open a portal for you without delay.”

Not paladins, not monks, but priests!

For a moment Weed felt like he’s drowning. But it was too early to give up! Previous quest in the province of Morata seemed impossible as well, but he succeeded.

After receiving all the information he needed, disappointed Weed returned to the waiting soldiers at the entrance.

“He’s really going to the palace!”

“He’ll meet the King!”

Most of spectators followed the escort all the way. However once they approached the palace the crowd got stopped by the guards.

One of the knights led Weed into the main building of the palace. Of course he didn’t forget to get a good look at the interior of the palace on his way.

You saw mural by Beodart

Art +1

You enjoyed the set of sculptures ‘The King’s Knights’

Art +2

You discovered 3 weapon sets of Balanch

Art +1

Looking at art was no different from creating it!

His art attribute was rising even if he was just enjoying creations of other masters. However it won’t be possible to raise the art attribute this way indefinitely; as if you were looking at something of a lesser quality than what you have seen before, you wouldn’t get any bonus.

In the palace Weed witnessed a lot of beautiful pieces of art, which boosted his art attribute by 30 points.

“Your Majesty, Righteous and Benevolent Ruler of Rosenheim, King Theodarren, we have brought adventurer Weed to you.”

Their tour ended in a throne room.

The knight, who brought him there, kneeled before he spoke, and Weed tried to mirror him.

Nobles and other knights were standing in semi-circle beside the throne, occupied by King Theodarren. The King looked unwell; his face was covered by sickly blue and yellow spots.

“You are Weed?” - asked Theodarren in a loud and powerful voice.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“I summoned you to… Khhuwaaghh…”

The King vomited blood. Knights and servants rushed to help him, but were stopped by his hand gesture.

“I know my illness well enough, so you don’t have to worry. Is your profession Moonlight Sculptor?”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Moonlight sculptor, hmm, familiar profession. My mother had a close friend by name Zahab.”

“Your Highness!”

Nobles were distressed by the king’s words, but he continued.

“You all know that, don’t you?”

“…”

“There’s nothing to hide. Anyway, Weed, you must have an idea about sculpturing and I want to make you an offer. I don’t have much time left to live. My entire life I was trying to make my country peaceful and orderly. To gather armies big enough so that British Confederacy would be trembling at the sight of them. So that, at my will, all the mountains, rivers and trees would be shaking under their marching feet…”

King Theodarren loved to talk and to brag. He was talking about his affairs, deeds, even about things that had happened in his private quarters.

Weed was listening closely to him and tried not to miss anything important.

Where’s the hint to fulfilling the quest?

However, no matter how hard he was focusing, all of the stories were useless. Be it how at an age of 5 King fell off the horse for the first time and broke his leg, or how beautiful were maids of the court - Theodarren was just spouting nonsense.

Having chattered in this manner for two hours, the King finally got to the point:

“…With every passing day I feel worse and worse. It is time I passed the burden of a king to a successor and retired. To a place my week body would find peace. Time is running out, so I need a crypt. Make me a great and majestic crypt that would be astounding everyone with its splendour for many years to come. I’ll provide you with as much manpower as you need…”

Ding!

New Quest! King Theodarren’s Tomb.

Sometimes in anticipation of their death rulers of Rosenheim Kingdom order a crypt made for them. Theodarren can already feel death’s breath, so he hired a famous sculptor to build a crypt for them.

However if the crypt doesn’t match the greatness of the king the quest will be failed and you’ll suffer a penalty.

You can request additional help for this quest. To finish this quest you’ll be funded 100 000 gold.

Difficulty: ‘B’.

Reward: In case of success, your reputation within Rosenheim Kingdom will increase by over 2000. The exact increase depends on the quality of the job.

Restrictions: In case of failure you’ll experience the King’s wrath. Your fame will lower.

Weed’s reputation with Order of Freya was over 4600.

When you’re on good terms with religious order you get multiple advantages. You can get healed and use portals with no charge, hire a squad of paladins to help for cheap. On your journeys it’ll be easier to pass customs and obtain quests of higher difficulty. Reputation worked similar to Fame.

However, good relationships with the royal court would bring even more advantages. You would be able to receive a title or spend your reputation points to get great items from the treasury.

Weed would definitely pick a weapon in one.

It was first time since Baran village when Weed got a quest directly related to his profession. At that time his mastery and fame were very low and he got a quest from common NPC, but this time he got a request from King himself!

Weed thought a little, but the decision had already formed inside his head.

He would never retreat from approaching monsters or refuse a quest! Though, the unknown consequences of refusing the quest played not the last part in his decision.

“I will do my best to provide Your Majesty with the most magnificent place for your final rest.”

You have accepted the quest!

Weed came out of the palace deep in thoughts.

Great and majestic crypt… Very ambiguous requirements.

Should I build something like a dolmen?

That’ll be fast and easy!

However, I might end up experiencing wrath of the king. Or even persecution from the Rosenheim army.

But as a reward I’ll most probably receive some rare or unique item!

What if I view it from that side…

When Weed was expecting profit he was looking for opportunities to start acting!

Even if prices in Royal Road were to decrease, a rare or unique item would still sell for great money.

Weed couldn’t afford to decline extra money, so he decided to complete the quest at any cost. However he had no idea how to approach for building a crypt.

A huge or a normal one? Filled with stone soldiers? Statues? No, those are all pretty generic ideas…

He had to build a great, majestic, monumental crypt, which would fully meet the King’s expectations.

Chapter 1: The Tomb of the Great King

As Weed walked down the hall with the Knights, he thought deeply about the current problems at hand.

‘A legendary tomb that will leave a mark in history. One that is great and Majestic. A monument worthy of a King.’

It wasn’t going to be easy to build such a tomb while adhering to the King’s tastes. However Weed wasn’t known for giving up before even trying.

‘I have little talent in doing anything. But what if I combine what little talent I have with sheer effort and determination? Then, of course, I will succeed. Has that method ever failed me until now?’

No. Not even once was the answer.

In any business, hard work is the key to success. It’s a given that it is 99% hard work and 1% genius. No matter how talented you are, if you don’t put any effort in, you won’t reach your goal.

‘There’s nothing I can’t do!’

Weed was inspired.

The size of the tomb had to be overwhelming. Any flaws on its sculptural design would be compensated by its size. Similar to his greatest creation, the Ice Dragon, the bigger, the better.

‘I’ll build the most majestic royal tomb! And of course, I will succeed!’

Upon completion of this quest, Weed would receive a large amount of experience as well as a rare weapon. However, he didn’t know the answer to the biggest question; how should he build the tomb?

– Weed, did you finish your audience with the King?

Pale suddenly whispered him. He became worried after Weed had been escorted away by the Royal Knights.

Weed whispered back:

– Yeah, I’m on my way out.

– We’re all worried about you. Is everything okay?

– Yes. I’ve received an important quest from the King.

– I see. So you’re leaving again…

Pale’s voice was filled with sorrow. Surka, Irene, and Romuna felt the same. It had been awhile since their last meeting in the dungeons of Lavias, and now, just a few hours later, they would have to part again.

– Nope. This time, Pale-nim and the others can participate as well.

– Really? You should share even though the quest is from the King himself?

– Yes.

– By the way Weed, there’s a huge crowd gathered at the entrance of the Palace. To be honest, I’ve never seen so many players in one place. If you get involved with the commotion, it might be a problem.

– There are a lot of people?

– More than words can describe. If you don’t come out soon, they might start storming the palace.

Pale gave an accurate description of the situation. A massive amount of people were clamoring outside..

The King’s Quest!

Hard work and artistic sense! The Majestic Tomb!

At that moment, Weed’s thoughts gathered to construct a scheme, and his mouth stretched into an ominous smile.

‘Yes! I’ve decided. This is it!’

* * *

Pale, Irene, Romuna and Surka, quietly cheered for Weed.

“It’s hard to believe that the quest is from the King!”

“Tell me about it. It looks like the quest will be fun!”

Weed’s quest from the King was a huge event. Because of that, they whispered carefully so that nobody else could overhear them.

“Are you sure we’ll be able to participate?”

“Yes, Weed said that he absolutely needed our help. There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Rather, I’m worried whether Weed can make it out safely,” Irene said anxiously.

Multitudes of players swarmed the Palace walls. The moment Weed appears, the players might start bombarding him with questions, and wouldn’t stop until their curiosity was satisfied.

For someone like Weed who only lived for money and preferred to be alone, he would not like being harassed by a huge wave of people.

“Please, let Weed come out of there unharmed” Irene prayed silently.

* * *

Weed came out of the Palace through the front gate where, by now, an immeasurable amount of players had gathered.

Players abandoned their activities after hearing rumors of the first player to have an audience with the King. People also surrounded the back, suspicious that Weed would try and sneak out the backdoor. However, Weed boldly came out the front gates, instantly becoming the center of attention.

“How were you able to meet the King?”

“Tell us how we can have an audience with the King!”

“We also want to meet the King, please tell us!”

A number of people started asking questions at the same time, which resulted in shouting people drowning each other out. As the crowd shouted out, Weed examining the crowd’s equipment.

‘You can buy those travel clothes for 3 gold’

Weed started appraising their equipment.

‘That shield costs 6 gold, but considering how worn out it looks, he probably bought it off someone. If he’s good at bargaining, he might have been able to buy it for 2 gold’

Although there were some experienced players mixed in, the vast majority of the crowd was made up of newbies. Due to their low levels, they have yet to venture out of the city. The areas around Serabourg were perfect hunting grounds for beginners, so when the rumors began to circulate, they were among the first to arrive at the scene.

“Ahem” Weed cleared his throat

Just building a tomb was simple. But building a royal tomb the would satisfy the king and be able to strike awe into anyone who looked at it was an entirely different matter. If he were to try and construct it alone, it would take more than a year. Therefore, getting the job done quickly would require a huge amount of workers. Workers who would follow Weed’s orders unquestionably.

‘These people will be my workers’

Weed used his Advanced Level 3 Lion’s Roar to address the gathered crowd; otherwise, he would not have been heard by all.

“All of you, listen up! I will now inform you that I have just received a quest from His Majesty, King Theodarren, the ruler of Rosenheim Kingdom”

You have used Lion’s Roar

His loud voice reverberated throughout the crowd. It sounded as if he were speaking from right next to them in a clearly audible and perfectly articulated voice. The majority of them had never heard such a powerful and clear voice before.

The interest of the crowd was once again ignited.

“What? A quest?”

Just meeting the King was incredible, but…”

“A quest from the King himself?”

“First time ever in the entire Versailles continent?”

“The first. It is the first time in the entire continent that a King has made a request”

The surrounding players became even more excited.

“Please tell us what the quest is!”

“Help us meet the King too!”

Their chatter overlapped and became incomprehensible, yet again. Weed stimulated their excitement even more when he said,

“I’ve been commissioned to build something very unique for the king. Fortunately, the quest can be shared!”

“Ooohhhh!”

“Let us be part of it!”

The crowd’s natural response regarding a quest directly from the King! They wanted to participate in such a quest even if they had to beg for it!

“Of course I will share it with everyone. Is it not our duty to help everyone else on the continent of Versailles who live and breathe the same air? However, getting to this stage was not easy, so I would like to receive an entry fee of 1 gold per person”

Everyone’s expectations became amplified. Blinded by Weed’s words, they thought his sharing of the quest was an act of virtue.

“That’s fair. I absolutely agree with you”

“Such a great man…”

“I’m willing to put my trust in such a guy!”

In the eyes of people right then and there, Weed was the most noble and righteous player in the continent of Versailles. It was a quest that had a difficulty rank of B. Even less difficult quests, like D or lower rank quests, were only shared for a huge amount of money if it was rare. However, Weed was willing to share his quest for just 1 gold.

As people looked at him, they only saw a kind face that led them to believe he was completely sincere, but in actuality Weed was busy calculating the potential profit to be made.

‘We’ll feel guilty if we obtained the quest for free…’

‘So that’s why he’s asking for a small amount of money!’

People misunderstood Weed’s intentions. After having heard his speech, their doubts were dispelled and they began to respect him more. A food with an appealing flavor is more likely to be bad for our body!

Everyone,at least once in their lifetime, will make this mistake; to get backstabbed by seemingly reliable and trustworthy people.

These words did not do Weed justice.

– What do you think Weed is trying to do?

– I suddenly feel extremely anxious.

– What is his purpose addressing all of these people…

– The King’s quest can’t be that bad….. can it?

Pale, Irene, and the others knew about Weed’s personality, so they were whispering each other, discussing the situation at hand.

There was something strange was going on!

They walked closer to the crowd, just in time to see that the people gathered had already fallen for Weed’s scam. Weed, with his dignified features and charismatic speech, made people believe in him, but those who were acquainted with Weed knew that he had a hidden agenda.

“Now then, I’ll share the quest with you.”

Weed raised his voice to be loud enough that veins began to pop out of his neck..

“First, I should warn you, that given the difficulty of the quest, you must promise me that you will follow all of my orders. I will only share the quest to those who make an oath”

The crowd was given a chance to reconsider their decisions, but in the end they all decided to follow Weed. They didn’t question the reason why if someone would share a quest commissioned by the King.

There was no time to think!

Another uproar flared up and players made haste towards Weed to receive the quest.

“Move over, I’m first!”

“What are you talking about, I was here before you!”

In a moment, people formed a long queue to receive the quest. The line started from the Palace gates, spanned to the streets, and continued to grow even longer. Those who weren’t able to see how the event started also lined up, with hopes of joining the expedition and receive something of value.

“Will you follow my commands until the quest is complete?”

“Of course. Thank you for letting me join.”

After receiving the quest, Weed received 1 gold.

*Ding*

Help Sculptor Weed build a prominent Tomb

King Theodarren of Rosenheim has little time left to live. In preparation for his death, he desires for an imperial tomb.

Difficulty: ‘B’.

Reward: If successful, you will receive at least 50 points of reputation with the Royal Court.

Depending on the amount of work you do, additional Fame and rewards may be granted.

“Thank you.”

“Really, you have my gratitude.”

After receiving the quest, the players gratefully thanked him. Because the quest was originally given to Weed, he had the authority to select who he wanted to join him. Though the rewards for other people were different from the prizes for his initial quest, people were still happy to be able to join a B rank quest given by the King.

Finally, it was Pale and his party’s turn.

“Wow, a B rank quest…”

“You said you needed our help?”

Pale felt like his heart was about to burst out of his chest. Why did he ever believe Weed?! The moment he saw Weed with his innocent expression, he should have suspected something. And once he heard Weed announced that he would share the quest, he should have thought of an excuse and ran away. He should have felt that something was off. The B rank quest.

Pale and the girls knew exactly how Weed had completed a similar quest back in the province of Mora, so now they were in the state of panic and dreaded what was coming.

“I will follow your every command.”

“Assign any task to me, I won’t fail you.”

Almost every player present wanted to participate in the construction of the tomb. Getting such a quest was the cause of excitement for everyone in the crowd. This was no surprise since the majority of the people were beginners and never before had someone commissioned a B rank quest, usually restricted to higher level players, for just 1 gold.

While he was commissioning people, Weed started to prepare the necessary things for the plan in his head.

“First of all, I need to pick a good spot to build the tomb. An open area with a good view of mountains and rivers. Does anyone know of such a place?”

As soon as Weed asked, a couple of people raised their hands.

“I know a place like that!”

“Me too! It’s on the eastern plains close to the Serabourg castle . It has a river to the north, and mountains to the south.”

“What about the hill to the north of the castle? It’s a sunny area with a great view”

One of the most important elements of creating a successful sculpture is to take its surroundings into account and take advantage of where the sculpture will be built.

Feng-Shui!

For a greater chance of success, he needed to choose a perfect place. Weed decided to personally visit the suggested sites before settling for the best.

When Weed moved, thousands of players followed. Along the way, other players started join, similar to a snowball gaining mass as it rolled down a hill.

Finally, Weed stopped in an area East of the Serabourg Palace. There was more than enough space for the construction, and there were large boulders everywhere.

‘There are a lot of stones, and the ground is pretty solid… The scenery is fine. This is it.’

Usually, tombs were built in ravines or mountains. But to make a tomb that fit with Weed’s grand vision, he needed a broad and flat area.

“Now that that I’ve decided on this place, we’ll need a lot of building materials to construct the tomb. Does anyone know of any nearby quarries? We’ll need stones that can withstand a great deal of weight.”

“I know of one” an answer was immediately heard from the crowd.

People usually overlooked places such as quarries, however, the people in the crowd knew of many places like that.

Weed decided to visit the quarries. Incredibly large stones were piled up like a mountain With a little work, they should be able to make the stones into the materials they needed to build the tomb.

Turning the face the crowd, Weed addressed them again.

“Now then, let’s get started on the B rank quest!”

“Whhooooaaa!”

“As you know, the rewards will be given according to your performance, so we’ll start working as soon as possible, and that means now. Those who cannot or are unwilling to participate today can begin tomorrow”

“Let’s get started!”

“We’ve got no time to lose!”

There was a large amount of rewards and fame riding on this quest. Naturally, people wanted to begin immediately.

* * *

There are many Kingdoms and adventurers scattered throughout the continent of Versailles! However, despite the great distances, rumors traveled at the speed of light.

On Royal Road’s website, someone wrote an article:

Topic: B rank difficulty quest.

Something incredible is happening in Rosenheim Kingdom.

For the first time ever, a player appeared and received an audience with the King. And what’s even more surprising is that he announced that the King commissioned him to a B rank quest and shared it with the other players.

Sharing a high ranking quest made no sense.

Generally, higher level players had to form parties for a slim chance to complete such quests. And in Rosenheim Kingdom where majority of people are still low levels, sharing a significant quest is reckless.

I was there to witness the event, but was against the idea.

To my surprise, the player’s profession was a sculptor. The B rank quest was to build a Royal tomb. Yet everyone joined the quest as it seemed to yield great rewards.

The somewhat exciting post of a B rank quest instantly caught the attention of a large amount of people. The article created a chain reaction. Coincidentally, most of the posted topics on Royal Road’s website were written by players from the center of the continent.

Many players gathered their information from stories of veterans who were in the center of the continent. Therefore players who started on the edge of the continent were disregarded. The center of the continent was thought to be exemplary, as most of the good weapons, armors, and information came from there. However, this was the first time players from the central regions were envious of those who started in the Kingdom of Rosenheim, which was once considered an ‘undeveloped frontier’.

– Do you really think it’s a B rank difficulty quest?

– If this is true, it’ll be epic.

– And they said anyone can participate… Players from Rosenheim Kingdom sure are lucky.

– I’m from Dor Kingdom, but I’m going to Rosenheim as fast as possible.

– A sculptor… I didn’t know such a profession even existed. I’m surprised that he met the King and received such a high ranking quest.

An illusion about the sculptor profession was ingrained into the minds of people. A high-level quest commissioned directly from the King was given to this class. Suddenly the number of novices holding sculpting knives increased, and sculpture shops were often filled with customers.

* * *

Players swarmed the mountains around the quarry like ants.

“O wind, condense into a blade and pursue my enemies! Wind Cutter!”

Mages gathered all their mana and fired spells. They targeted the rocks!

“My axe has no rival! It can shatter anything! Double Strike!”

Axe-wielding Barbarians used all their strength as they struck the rock.

Players used various skills, spells and techniques to divide the stones and shaped them into squares; then mages used spells to decrease the weight of the stones while the remaining players would carry them to the construction site.

“Everyone! When we count one, two, three, lift the rock! Heave-ho!”

Dozens of players hauled the stones to the foot of the mountain. Nobody tried to rush, as carrying a large boulder down the steep mountain slope was dangerous. Stones were then loaded into wagons and carts to be dragged the rest of the way.

“Move faster!”

“Let’s just carry these ourselves!”

With great effort, stones were beginning to pile up in the area East of Serabourg’s Palace. Players carried stones through sweat and tears!

‘I’m so tired I could drop dead.’

‘This weight will drive me crazy.’

‘I’m tired.’

Every player who carried a stone was tempted to quit a hundred times. But once they delivered the stone they are currently carrying, they always returned for the next one.

Damn addictive!

The prestigious B rank quest warped their ability to reason. To top it off , the wicked Weed devised a scheme to brainwash the workers. Whenever a player delivers a stone, Weed would tell them how much work they had done.

“That was your 12th stone. At the moment, the record is 14 stones.”

Subtle rivalry.

In addition, the majority of the players who were in front of Serabourg’s Palace had joined the quest. They were blinded by the King’s quest as differences in levels and professions became pointless. No matter how tired they were of the job, they did not give up. Even when they promised not to carry another stone, but when they reached the quarry, they ended up changing their minds.

‘I’ll carry one more stone’

‘I’ll definitely succeed!’

That was the temptation of the B rank quest.

* * *

Pale felt shivers run down his spine.

He looked down and saw a countless number of people carrying stones. People of all ages and gender were carrying stones. There was no end to the line.

‘People have to do hard labor even in a game…’

At the tremendous sight, Pale couldn’t hold his admiration. Weed solved everything with hard work and his enthusiasm spread to the people.

“Oooiii! Pale, move faster!”

Pale turned and glanced behind his back. Irene, Romuna, and Surka who were following him almost ran into him.

“Pale, you’re slowing everyone down!”

“…”

Pale was speechless. What can else could he say? They were already in Weed’s clutches! Even Pale was carrying a stone. He could not resist the temptation of the fame and rewards promised for completing the B rank quest.

* * *

KMC Media would periodically browse blogs, forums, and websites dedicated to Royal Road. To create a good report, they had to cover large quantities of information and react quickly to situational changes. Most of the information in the internet was garbage. However, there’s still hope that even in a pile of rubbish something intriguing would appear.

First the experts separate interesting bits of information, and then a special team verifies its authenticity.

Information of the B rank quest in Rosenheim Kingdom got caught in their Information Network.

The Production Director, Experts, and Script Writers immediately gathered for a meeting.

“How reliable is that information?”

“Production Director, the source is still unknown, but the information seems to be true. All the players of Rosenheim Kingdom are familiar with the event. The spies we have planted among the players have sent confirmation of this.”

“Then shouldn’t we send a special correspondent immediately?”

“I think Shin Hye-Min is in Rosenheim Kingdom at the moment. A while ago, she said she was going there to do some quest”

Shin Hye-Min was considered one of the best hosts of KMC Media’s Royal Road division.

“Well, that’s a relief. Have Shin Hye-Min cover that story”

“Wait a minute. This morning she contacted us and said that something urgent came up and asked not to call her for a while…”

“Hye-Min did? That’s unusual” The Production Direction doubtfully said.

Shin Hye-Min was never late for a shooting, and thought to be a very responsible reporter.

“There’s such an important event going on the Rosenheim kingdom. What could possibly be important enough to disregard such a thing…”

“Well, maybe…”

* * *

“Ugh, this is heavy”

Maylon carried a stone with a groan. A large boulder rested on her shoulder supported only by her two arms.

‘I’m doing this for the fame’

She had experienced a lot of hardship because of her low fame stat. Early on when she was unfamiliar with the game, she would die often while hunting. Because hunting monsters in parties means sharing experience with the rest of the group, it was hard to gain a level. Even so, she worked furiously to get her level up.

She thought that she had talent for the game because she was leveling up more quickly than others. However, later on when she began her job as a host for the Royal Road program in the evening, she had to give up more time to stay at her job. Meeting peers and making friends was necessary too.

‘I will have a wonderful adventure as well’

Maylon dreamed of a future filled with adventures. A righteous ranger helping others in times of crisis!

Until now, she was only able to talk about the adventures of others during her broadcasts. She was envious of them, and then decided that she wanted to have her own adventure to tell.

“But this stone is too heavy.” Maylon said in despair

Her eyes eyes filled with large tears that were ready to fall at a moment’s notice.

Maylon didn’t have much strength. She invested almost all of her stat points in dexterity, as it was more useful for hunting in the mountainous areas where Rangers would usually be active. Thanks to her exceptionally low strength, the stone seemed heavier.

“Uuuwah!”

It was so heavy that she was about to collapse. Willpower was keeping her from falling, but her physical strength had reached its limit and she risked being squashed by the stone at any moment.

“Are you okay?”

A hand kept the stone Maylon held steady. She lifted her head and saw another archer that had reached out to help her. His expression was no different from hers.

Rangers and Archers use bows as their main weapon, so dexterity was their main attribute.

Small streams of sweat ran down his forehead from the effort. Nevertheless, he stopped to help Maylon.

“I’m fine… It must be hard on you.”

“It’s okay, the destination is close, so let me help you.”

“But you don’t look so good...”

“I’ll manage” The archer said as he sweat profusely.

Usually, a favor of this degree wouldn’t impress her. But in this situation, when the archer was struggling to be able to barely support himself, this simple act of kindness touched her heart.

“Ummm… What’s your name? My name’s Maylon. Don’t get me wrong, I was hoping we could be friends and exchange whispers from time to time…”

“Pale, my name is Pale.”

Maylon and Pale smiled at each other as sweat streamed down their faces.

Chapter 2: The Pyramid and the Dignity of the King

At the construction site, Weed was cooking grass porridge and handing it out to workers for free.

"Good work, take your time and eat it slowly"

"Thank you."

Exhausted from carrying stones, players took the bowl of porridge with gratitude.

Stamina has increased by 35

Hunger has been relieved.

Thirst has been quenched.

Intermediate 4 Cooking Skill and Intermediate 9 Handicraft!

It was no wonder that porridge made by Weed was delicious. Although he has neglected his cooking skills lately, the enhancement of the food was still ample.

People liked and respected Weed.

They were thankful not only for sharing his quest, he had also cooked free food for them.

Though the ingredients used, were literally grass, and was boiled to look like porridge, after receiving a bowl of boiling porridge, they gave their heartfelt thanks to Weed.

Among those who participated in the quest, some had really low levels and had little money. Weed had to cook grass porridge for these workers for free, and the players were thankful that they were able to work without dying from hunger.

Along with providing food, Weed also kept an eye on the atmosphere of the construction site. No matter how good-natured these people were, any complaints can grow into a strike, bringing an end to the construction. Such as being comfortable or lazy after being provided for, or from being full.

The main force behind the construction were the low-level players. They were more interested in the reward, and so worked harder. Watching them, other players unconsciously matched their speed.

"Thank you very much, Weed."

The girl, who just finished her serving, heartily thanked Weed. This cute little girl looked to be a 10th grade high school student.

"You're welcome, I'm happy you liked it." Weed responded with a smile.

Today, he had already given tens of thousands of such smiles. No matter how friendly you are, smiling so much wasn't easy. No wonder Weed's smile looked pretty strained! His eyes were smiling, but lips was slightly crooked, making his smile looked mocking. Nevertheless his voice was friendly.

"Lemon, you've moved 8 stones already!"

"Oh, you remember me?"

"Of course. You're one of those wonderful people, who praised my porridge with such pleasure... the sun isn't down yet, and if you manage to bring 1 or 2 more stones, you'll be one of those who worked the most today."

"Oh? I see. And I was just about to stop... I'll be right back!" The young girl Lemon, diligently ran towards the quarry.

After eating Weed's grass porridge, all the players felt energized, and became even more determined to carry stones to make the tomb. Though his porridge was called 'grass porridge', it wasn't made from grass alone!

Even if prepared by such a great cook like Weed, if you eat the same dish, you'll get fed up eventually. So, from time to time he was adding some meat and other ingredients, spending about 100 gold a day. Weed considered those expenses as investments to improve the level of his cooking skill!

Even though his dishes lacked refinement, since he cooked it in tremendous amounts, his cooking skill rose constantly.

Weed would have probably lost a lot of sleep if he had to lose 100 gold daily. Since the moment he started playing the game, he had been money grubbing over every single copper, trying to reach his goal as soon as possible.

But now the situation is a little different. Weed had hired workers to build the tomb, so he has to watch the process and bear the costs!

'No helping it. I won't be able to build it without their help, so I have to buy food and take care of them.' The thoughts of a dedicated, charitable businessman.

His facial expression, confident voice, and concern for the people—all of it created an image of an adult man.

However, Weed's true feelings were similar to a vicious python awaiting its prey.

'Eat fast so I can put you to work as fast as much as possible. Received 100,000 gold as operation costs for this quest, money spent so far is 700 gold so 99,300 gold still remains. In addition, earned more than 10,000 gold from the participation fees. Ultimately, it will be a surplus.'

Excessive labor! Exploitation! Eating grass porridge with a rotten smile while exhaustively putting them to work, vicious boss Weed!

* * *

On the Royal Road website, the construction of the tomb became prominent topic for discussion. And someone kindled the flames even more by posting another article.

Topic: People busy on the tomb construction.

Greetings.

Last time I posted a topic about a 'B' rank difficulty quest. Now I want to show you a short video from the construction site.

Please watch it.

He had recorded a video of what he had seen with his own eyes and posted it on the Internet.

Fresh news about the construction of the Royal Tomb!

Some people who had no interest in the event thus far were also intrigued. The moment they pressed the 'play' button, they saw what was an astonishing scene well beyond their imagination was.

Young boys and girls were grabbing heavy blocks of stones and carrying them on their shoulders.

"Unni, it's heavy."

"Hold on a little longer. In order to complete the quest, we must deliver it."

Emotional conversation between sisters!

Even the elderly carried stones. Thousands of people, regardless of age and gender were transporting stones. Sometimes players would get crushed beneath the stones. To add to their pain, the stones they carried collapsed and turned into rubble.

People, who watched the video, had their mouths hanging from shock.

What the hell is this!

'Is this a concentration camp or execution ground?'

In the distance, behind the working people, Serabourg was visible.

– This is the reality of sculpting.

– It was wise that I did not to select Sculptor.

– We need to raise money to donate to our unfortunate neighbors who started at the frontier kingdom.

Envy and jealousy towards players who were able to participate in the B rank quest for 1 gold was over.

* * *

Over time, blocks of stones were piled up at the tomb's construction site. The whole process took a lot of manpower and to cut and carry the stones from the quarry. The entire place was surrounded by all kinds of rocks enough to build the tomb!

Different kinds of stones were necessary to build the tomb of the King. The interior and exterior of the tomb will be built out of stones with different colors and shapes. If not for thousands of players who cooperated, it would have been impossible.

"We really did it."

"*Heu-heuk* I'm impressed."

Many players started crying from excitement. One of the hardest jobs they ever had to do was over. However, the tomb is yet to be built. It's the start of a full scale construction.

*Klang! Klang! Klang!*

The moment enough stones were accumulated, Weed started to work.

Using a hammer and chisel, he was smoothing the uneven surfaces of the stones and then using his sculpture mastery to shape them and place them on their permanent location.

Weed was lucky that he chose a simplistic design to build a large tomb. If he had attempted to make something of greater complexity, it would require more work.

"What kind of tomb is he building?"

All the players, who participated in mining and delivery of the stones were watching with interest.

While Weed was engraving the stones, other players helped piled up the completed product neatly to their designated places. Unexpectedly, this part of the construction went very smoothly, thanks to the help of the guilds in Rosenheim Kingdom.

Guilds, especially the ones from the center of the continent, were well developed and had larger manpower. Official guilds became a large group that made a lot of profit. Guild can save money and buy the ownership, or claim a market as their possession, which allows them to raise even more money and increase their properties.

If the guild has possession of a castle, they would have more possibilities of earning a bigger profit. Commercial taxes can be collected on a weekly basis and can be invested on various technologies to create more diverse local shops, and most importantly, purchase assorted good for bargain price.

In addition, local craftsmen would be able to start producing weapons and armors of greater quality and rarity. Therefore, most guilds invest all of their assets into trades, and craftsmen of those field, compete with each other.

The better the guild's business is going, the more players would want to join, and the wealthier the guild grew.

Some guilds became widely respected for their virtuous actions, benefiting not only them, but general population as well. Sometimes such guilds started from small villages, and end up building their own castle.

Other area, where guilds could direct their efforts was mining. Naturally, if they were to find a rich gold deposit during the work in the mines, it would not only improve the guild's wealth, but also the region's welfare in general.

However most of the mines were infested by dangerous monsters, so before guild could start mining, it had to gather forces to clear them out. Not only guild members were able to participate in the clearing of the mines, but even other player parties, given they have the guild's approval. In that case players were getting a job to clear the mine in form of a quest.

No wonder the guilds, especially those from the center of the continent, were had a constant struggle with each other. But in Rosenheim Kingdom, guilds newly formed. This is the perfect situation to take advantage of!

The edge of the continent was mostly populated by new players, and they were the ones who created first guilds of Rosenheim Kingdom. Therefore, even if a guild was to discover an unoccupied mine, they weren't able to claim ownership, as they didn't have enough reputation points within the kingdom.

Those guilds didn't have much money, so for them, the unexpected opportunity to participate in the construction of the royal tomb with Weed was like a rain in a desert.

"We agree to any conditions."

"Leave it to us."

Before he distributed the work amongst guilds, he contacted his master by whispering him.

– Erm... I'm talking to Ika guild, should I share the quest with them?

– ...

Not long ago Ika Guild had ambushed and killed all the Geomchis. Of course Weed knew of that incident and decided to contact his master. For a few moments there was only silence. Then the unexpected response came:

– Give them work.

– Wouldn't it be better to refuse?

– No real man should be narrow-minded. Men should have a big heart and tolerance. Wouldn't that be a nobler act?

– If so, then...

– If they ask for work - give them work. Now excuse me, I'm busy.

Others wouldn't show such generosity as the Geomchi did towards the Ika Guild. They were enemies, who had killed each other. To show such generosity when an opportunity for revenge arises - is a really hard and noble decision. But Weed knew his master better.

'How much could they offend Master... If he doesn't want to use other people for revenge. He wants to avenge them in person... Only then will he calm down.'

Weed equally divided the work between guilds in Rosenheim Kingdom. Then he proceeded to build the tomb with help from highly cooperative guild players.

At the base of the tomb, blocks were placed in a square, which was gradually growing upward. But every next level had smaller scale. The higher it went, the smaller were levels.

"Ah! This is..."

At that moment, people who were busy with construction, along with those who were hauling stones, became aware of the kind of tomb that was being built.

"It's a pyramid!"

"He's building a pyramid for the King!"

Once described as a scientifical and technological architectural building, is now being constructed right in front of their eyes.

However, it was not a facet of the ancient myths and legends of a pyramid. The internal structure was much simpler, because Weed had no experience with construction such as this.

Sculpture mastery in game only assisted with the improvement of outer appearance and shape. It was no wonder that Weed didn't have any knowledge on the internal structure of a pyramid.

'How is this supposed to look like?...'

Weed had been thinking about it ever since he decided on the outer appearance, but he still didn't have an answer. Therefore, there were no labyrinth, secret passages, or any other mysteries.

Of course Weed could have gotten a map of internal structure of a pyramid from the internet. But it'd take a lot more time to recreate such complicated labyrinth system. That's why Weed decided to use his imagination.

When he was a kid, before his parents died, he remembered how they briefly lived in an apartment. 30 flat apartment! And from those memories, he modeled interior of the tomb.

It looked like a pyramid from outside, but from the inside, it was a normal 3-room flat with 2 bathrooms. In other words, an ordinary Korean flat. Of course, Weed wasn't planning to add a balcony or terrace. However, construction was already in progress and it was too late to reconsider.

The interior was so simple that the entrance passage and the left side of the room was decorated with nothing but stones that were already piled up. Yet other rooms and the bathroom were decorated with works of art.

While working, many people began asking questions. And Pale and girls were no exception.

"Is a bathroom really necessary inside a pyramid?"

"..."

"There's no water here..."

"..."

"Do dead need to take a shower?"

"Ahem! Minds of great artist do not follow common sense. How can ordinary people understand the thoughts of Da Vinci? Before you try and understand an artist's intentions, you should look at the flow and the essence of nature."

"Then you should install a bath too, Weed."

"..."

* * *

Inside the pyramid, there was a room for a coffin, a living room, and 2 other rooms for art works. The latter was provided by Mapan, who personally rushed over and purchased those items at a cheap price.

During the construction Weed had only spent 1600 gold on ingredients for grass porridge. Only vicious businessmen such as Weed would be able to organize a large scale construction without having to pay their workers.

Even on the art works for interior decoration, he had spent 49,700 gold. He could have saved on the decorations as well, but decided that successful completion of the quest was more important.

'If I make a mistake I might fail.'

A simple monster hunting quest would always give him a second chance. If he was to die, he'd always be able to return in a day and start over. But this time he couldn't afford any failures. It's all or nothing.

He purchased the best and most expensive carpet and laid it out in the living room, and on the walls he hung paintings. And of course, he had also placed a few self-made sculptures inside.

However, the pyramid was still not giving off the vibe he envisioned!

The number of unused blocks was decreasing as the pyramid's height got higher, however he had a feeling that there was something still lacking.

Although the size was enormous and magnificent, it was still insufficient. The pyramid that was being built wasn't giving an impression of it being a tomb of a great King who ruled Serabourg.

The tomb of a prestigious King should be elegant and insinuate great power. A simple tomb was far too inadequate. A tomb of a King should be iconic and easily identified. The tomb still lacking something essential to project such impression.

"Aha! That's what it's missing."

Weed ordered a huge natural rock to be delivered to the pyramid. Large rocks were placed on top of each other, making it almost as large as the pyramid.

He already had experience hanging down on ropes to create sculptures of greater height. However, the material was very different. Stone is harder than ice, so it was going to take a lot of work.

Hit, crack, and slice the rock!

For several days, without stopping for a break, he hung at a great altitude holding on his engraving knife.

Creating a gigantic statue wasn't complicated, it was rather simple. No elegant lines and fine details were needed! The statue itself was overwhelmed by its size.

For the head of the statue, he carved the face of Kind Theodarren, and its body was shaped into a lion. The design was simple, but enormous in size. And this monstrous statue was carved out of the single rock.

* * *

Current King, Theodarren, had restored the peripheral Kingdom of Rosenheim, which suffered from constant monster invasions.

He won the war against an old enemy, Brent Kingdom, and had established and trained a large army, which became the foundation of peace and prosperity.

* * *

The King himself had told the tale with pride.

Weed remembered everything he was told. When you work on a sculpture, you can't base it on the outward appearance alone. The appearance is important, but the feelings the sculptor has put into his creation, were just as important. Because they are what they will pass on the essences that is portrayed by the object, to future generations.

Sometimes feelings have great power. Music, created by outstanding composers, can make people cry or laugh. Similar with books and paintings. If they were created without feelings, they are an incomplete work, and will be quickly forgotten.

King Theodarren told him a lot about his life, and Weed didn't forget his stories. He was mistaken when he thought it was just a prelude to the quest. Only now, when he was working on the sculpture, he understood how important those stories were, and that he wouldn't be able to create a sculpture without them.

'In the body of a lion, swift, and versatile, yet a profound heart.

Longevity of the King. Embodying the aura of might that can overwhelm any audience.

When he makes his move, even the most formidable opponent trembles in fear because of their predator's menacing steps.

The Lion acts as a protector of the citizens of Kingdom of Rosenheim.'

This poem was included with the statue of the lion.

The statue of the Lion overlooking the pyramid represents King's final resting place. Finally,overbearing eyes were carved to complete the statue.

*Ding!*

Masterpiece! You created a Statue of the Lion Monster.

Created by a Sculptor with excellent handicraft skills, and the solidification of his sweat and effort. His fame and reputation will be spread throughout the continent.

The statue of the Lion:

The statue of the Lion is made out of solid granite, and has a strong and courageous temperament. This statue, resembling King Theodarren, will bring prosperity to the Kingdom of Rosenheim.

Artistic value: 4,700.

Effects:

- Those who access the statue will gain the Lion's Courage buff, increasing Health and Mana regeneration by 30% for a day.

- Movement speed increased by 15%.

- Magic resistance increased by 20%.

- Maximum health increased by 15%.

- Stamina increased by 20%.

- All stats increased by 16.

Lion's Roar applied:

- All monsters in the surrounding area will receive a decrease in their abilities and will lose morale.

- Fighting spirit of players will increase when fighting near the statue:

This effect does not overlap with other sculptures.

Total number of masterpieces completed: 3

Sculpture mastery reached Intermediate 9th level. This allows construction of even more delicate and detailed sculptures.

Handicraft Skill reached Intermediate level 10, and transformed to Advanced level 1.

- You gain a bonus when using hand tools and an increase in damage with all weapons.

- You can now learn certain skills related to the craft.

- Hand combat skills can now be learned regardless of profession.

New Skill: Mind Hand

- Fame increased by 630.

- Art increased by 16.

- Endurance increased by 12.

- Stamina increased by 6.

- The Lion has been added to the list of the Wonders of the East.

- Weed is the owner of the Lion. If life is given to the Lion, it will begin with a high loyalty towards Weed.

- You have created a Masterpiece. You gain 1 point in each stat.

New Title! You earned a title of 'Artisan With Exceptional Dexterity'.

- Granted for reaching the master level of Handicraft skill!

- Honorable title for having extraordinary dexterity.

- Granted only to the best artisan.

Weed, who was clinging on the lion's face, burst into laughter.

"AHahaha!" His spoiled rotten smile changed into a genuine one.

Ordinary people would always admire the first person to achieve master status!

In this case it was the Handicraft Skill. The marvelously complex hand movements, that can't be imagined by general public!

'I finally reached the advanced level!'

Mind Hand skill. It was obtained together with advanced level handicraft, so it must be exceptional.

Weed checked the acquired skill.

"Check skill, Mind Hand!"

Mind Hand:

After achieving a near-legendary level of dexterity, you can summon a "third hand" using your mind.

Using the "third hand", it is possible to manipulate objects and even attack enemies.

However, it is not possible for your "third hand" to use any skills.

Mana consumption per second: 2

For a small amount of mana, he will be able to summon an additional hand. It'd be able to hold a carving knife or other tools. When working on a tall statue, the skill would be very useful to him. But it can't be used to apply skills in battles.

'Depending on how I use it, it may be of a great asset to me.'

To become an adept sculptor, one has to triumph over constant challenges and overcome many difficulties. And having created another Masterpiece Sculpture brought unspeakable joy to Weed as received enormous amount of stat bonus.

Sculptors get stronger by adding up little bonuses to make one significant increase. Masterpieces, however, gave a much greater bonuses, as they were rarely produced, but it didn't make a great significant increase.

Creating a masterpiece also gave Endurance, Stamina and Art attributes. Although those stats did help to survive in a battle and create new artwork, it didn't give much benefit when it comes to battles unlike Strength, Agility, Wisdom and Intellect.

Those Attributes were only growing by 1 point. That's why, no matter how great the created sculpture was, it wasn't making him much stronger.

* * *

While Weed was hanging from the sculpture, a large crowd had gathered near the base of the statue.

Carving a sculpture out of natural rocks was very difficult!

Most of the audience anxious and afraid, seeing as that Weed had stayed up there for a couple of days without food or drink, hammering on the rock.

It was a huge rock, so there wasn't any significant change in one given day.

However, their fear slowly changed to excitement, as the statue's shape was gradually being formed Until finally, the Lion statue was finished, radiating brilliance

Majestic and powerful! The embodiment of King of Rosenheim!

It also granted a variety of effects to those who saw it.

"My Stamina has increased!"

"My Health..."

"Everyone, check out your stats!"

Players were opening their Status Windows and staring at them in shock. Until now most of the players thought that they could only raise their attribute points with certain items or buffs from Mages, Priests and Bards.

Now they realized, that sculptors could raise stats as well. Some of them already knew about effects of sculptures, but none of them had ever seen the absurd amount of effects of the lion statue.

"All stat attributes had increased..."

"Even magic resistance!"

"A day! The bonus will be working for a whole day! I think all parties will be visiting this lion before hunt from now on."

"Hmmm... The Sculptor profession seems useful."

After seeing lion's statue people's impression of the sculptor profession were changed.

'I should befriend some sculptors!'

None of them wanted to actually change their profession to sculptor. However, after witnessing a sculptor at work, they understood what they had to undergo.

No matter how alluring the sculptor profession was to them at that moment, no one actually wanted to put out the effort required. It was much easier to just get acquainted with one.

Yet, more new information continued appearing.

"Lion's Roar! It says it greatly increases the fighting spirit stat."

"What is the purpose of fighting spirit anyway..."

"Don't you know? The stronger level you are, the more your enemies' skills weaken. However, that works in reverse too. So the higher your fighting spirit stat is, the less your skills get reduced

Main reason for players gathering into parties was to hunt stronger monsters that they could hunt alone. The most common cause of such parties failing was their lack of fighting spirit. However even if it was high, it wouldn't ensure you a victory.

Usually, lower level players have to team up against the stronger monsters. However, with the increase provided by the statue, it allows the player to fight against stronger monsters on a more equal footing.

As the crowd buzzed about the stats provided by the statue, many of the Clans' message boards were overflowing with people talking about the Sculptor class.

– Guildmaster, I have found an amazing profession...

– Sculptor profession wasn't such a useless as we thought.

All the guilds started to make plans to recruit the sculptor, Weed. Meanwhile Weed was just hanging from the sculpture, overflowing with emotions.

Intermediate 9 Sculpture Mastery! Advanced level Handicraft!

Truly, the 'Artisan With Exceptional Dexterity' title wasn't given him for nothing. Usually game was granting more generic titles, like 'someone, who finished this task' or 'Someone, who hunted this rare monster'.

However, crafting skills had its own feature in assigning titles. The most important title could only be acquired by the best artisan on the continent. By the first person who reached the Advanced level in a certain crafting skills!

That fact the Weed was the first player to reach the advanced handicraft skill, it would be a small milestone in the Legend of Weed.

* * *

Pale greeted his friends and introduced Maylon.

"Hello. My name is Maylon. I'm a ranger and Pale's girlfriend."

"Nice to meet you."

Surka, Irene and Romuna greeted her with warm smiles as they welcome their new colleague.

Although Pale had a crush on Romuna for some time, as they were childhood friends, Pale found his true love with Maylon.

Comment: Really? Considering how he met her, the most he could fall in love with is her ass. (She was carrying a stone on her back in front of him! That's not very romantic...) - IcedLance

A man in love always looks confident and relaxed once he wins over his beloved. Romuna was first to notice this change and already knew what they were going to say.

"We haven't known each other for long, but we are in love."

"I am really glad I met Pale."

They said as they exchanged affectionate glances.

Understanding between lovers.

Suddenly Surka who was looking intently at Maylon's face exclaimed:

"Oh! Your face looks really familiar, have I seen you before?"

"Come to think of it, I think I've seen you before too..."

"Yeah. I've seen you lots of times... although your face is subtly different."

Irene and Romuna started staring at Maylon as well. They were sure, that they had met her for the first time in game. And yet, she still looked familiar.

Pale also started wondering.

"To be honest, I think I've saw you somewhere too."

Maylon fought away her hesitation and decided to reveal herself to them.

"Do you watch any programs associated with Royal Road."

"Eh? Oh! Come to think of it..."

"That's right, I'm Shin Hye Min."

After realizing that, Maylon's companions couldn't hide their astonishment.

"Sorry, I didn't intend to hide it, but didn't want to bother you. Didn't want to be subjected to prejudice..."

Maylon continued explaining, but no one was payed any attention.

"It's amazing to meet the anchor of one of the most Royal Road's popular shows."

"Didn't know program coordinators actually plays Royal Road."

"But your face on the screen looks a little different."

"I know. I didn't recognize her at first too."

"Stupid. They apply a lot of make-up on television."

"Oh! I see. But you're still pretty, Unni!"

"Th... thank you."

A program host and an entertainer were slightly different. An announcer of a broadcasting station was a similar concept.

"Say, do you hear of any secret information, unknown to the general public through work?"

"Well, sometimes. I'm just a host, so I know a little more than everyone else."

"Does your company give you any equipment?"

"Rarely. But that does happen sometimes."

"Wow! I'm envious. So why do you like Pale."

"I just realized the moment i met him, that he was my man."

Then Romuna suddenly asked:

"But is it ok for a TV show host to play games like this?"

"Well, I do have to gather information..."

"Information... about the pyramid? We can ask Weed for an exclusive interview anytime if you want. Should we?"

"No, but thanks, I'll have to refuse."

Maylon smiled brightly.

"I didn't get close to Pale to gain something."

"Maylon, you..."

Pale was touched by Maylon's words and smiled.

"Don't look at me like that. It's natural. But talking about business, I'd like to ask Weed for an interview, but that might offend him."

"..."

At that moment Pale and Surka realized how mistaken Maylon was.

'That certainly won't...'

'She doesn't know Weed at all.'

* * *

Lately a lot of guild representatives were coming to the construction site to meet Weed.

At first they were bragging about the advantages of being in a guild, while they actively tried to recruit him.

"Our guild is the biggest in Rosenheim. In this kingdom theres no one more influential or powerful than us. You won't regret if you join us."

"We will not only buy your sculptures at a reasonable price, but pay you a daily wage. And if you ever decide to go hunting, we'll accept you into a party without delay and provide equipment."

"Don't you by any chance want to leave this cramped kingdom and move to the center of the continent? I know you already received many offers, but ours has the best conditions..."

All those representatives were looking at Weed with superiority. They promised various benefits, like power leveling to level 200. They automatically assumed that artisan professions were all low levelled.

But Weed wasn't an ordinary artisan. His level was a lot higher than those of other players of crafting related professions. Also in all the offers he saw more restrictions, than advantages.

All the guilds wanted to have exclusive rights to his sculptures, and if they were providing equipment for hunting, they demanded them returned. Even if he was to agree and take rare and unique items to the hunt, he could end up with more trouble, than benefits. Weed had only hunted in most dangerous places. Every battle could lead to his death, and as a result to the loss of items, lent to him.

And Weed's strategy in general was aimed at fast levelling and auctioning the expensive items. Guilds would be more of a hindrance in those matters.

"Sorry, but I can't take your offer." Weed had rejected every offer.

The better the benefits of the offer, implied to him that the restrictions were tighter.

Constantly making sculptures just to be let into some guild's hunting parties...

Never! He'd become more famous and sell more works for greater money in the future.

After getting all their offers rejected, guilds resigned and gradually calmed down.

'Anyway, he's just a sculptor. Moreover you can't increase the bonus by using other sculptures.'

'One sculpture isn't enough, is it?'

'This is a big sculpture, and you can't claim it all for yourself. Other sculptures with bonus effects must be big as well and it wouldn't be possible to carry them.'

'Effects only last for a day. We can't be returning every day to our guild to look at the statue.'

They decided to acknowledge Weed's decision, as they started to understand sculpture profession a bit. Players like Weed must be constantly in motion, creating artwork in various corners of the continent. It wouldn't be possible to stay in one place and just create items, like other craftsmen.

After finishing the Lion statue Weed switched back to working on the pyramid. A lot of things were already done, but it was still far from being complete.

The higher the pyramid became, the harder it was for players to deliver stone blocks to the top of it. They even had to make a huge ramp with dirt and sand, and a lot of players used it to slowly carry the huge stone blocks to the top of the pyramid.

Chapter 3: The Power of Alcohol

The Geomchis were seriously considering changing their names.

"We've been wandering here for a month already."

"Yeah, let us be known as 'The Lost'[1] now. What do you think?"

Clueless beginners who have never before played videogames, they thought that they have already adapted to Royal Road. But they were mistaken.

Geomchis were more or less able to navigate familiar areas, but in the lands to the south of the Rosenheim Kingdom there immediately got lost and were wandering in search of a road. It was then when they heard news of Weeds return to the fortress Serabourg.

Master's eyes shone coldly.

"Finally I will meet the disciple in-game."

"Master, we also want to see Weed very much!"

All the students were of the same mind.

"Come on, let's go see him!"

The Geomchis then left for their long journey back to Seraboug's Palace.

"I think it's this way. Master!"

"We'll get there faster if we go this way."

"Huh? We passed this place earlier..."

Although the Geomchis started their way back to the moment Weed returned to Serabourg, it took them weeks of wandering to finally reach the capital of Rosenheim.

The first thing they saw upon arrival, where multiple players working in sweat.

Geomchi49 looked at them and laughed.

"That's not the way to apply strength."

Geomchi116 Also started laughing.

"To swing a pick-axe like that... That's science. Science!"

"They are so tired that they wouldn't even be able to hammer a nail properly."

"We must help them"

"Whooo OooH!"

Geomchis were completely unaware of the rewards! They just took off their clothes, grabbed picks and started mining stones.

The average level of players who were busy at the construction was higher than that of Geomchis, and many had higher strength, agility and other stats than them. But that didn't matter to Geomchis as they wasted no time and began working.

"To swing a pick, you need not strength but skill."

"Let's show those damn rookies how it's done."

"Yeah. Leave it to us."

***

Weed, Pale, Surka, Irene, Romuna and recently joined Maylon were resting.

It was the 2nd time after Lavias that they got together, the last time they weren't able to talk much as Weed was dragged away by the soldiers to meet with the King.

The construction of the pyramid got on track, so they finally found the time to get together and talk.

Like the last time, Weed was asked to cook something tasty.

So now he was cooking kimchijeon[2] with lemonade.

At first one would think that they would not fit each other, but Pale, Surka and others were eating so fast that the food Weed was making was disappearing instantly.

Seeing his friends have such an appetite, he could not help but smile.

"Want more?"

"Yes!"

"10 servings please!" Maylon exclaimed and raised her hands with spread fingers in indication.

Pale and Surka looked back at her in surprise, and Maylon replied with a smile.

"After all, no matter how much you eat in Royal Road, you won't get fat. So i'll eat as much as i can. It's hard to watch your weight. But you you are really full of surprises, Weed. Not only you are a skilled sculptor, but also a good cook. You'll be popular with girls."

"You bet, Weed is an amazing cook. He already cooked many tasty things for us, Maylon."

"Aw, Pale..."

Pale and Maylon's cooing was giving them goosebumps.

'Didn't know they're like that...'

The sugary-sweet voice of Pale... and the responding murmur of Maylon. That's a really sweet couple of cockroaches.

"I'm gonna be sick."

"And they're that way all the time."

Friends finished kimchijeon, and got up. They rested well and ate delicious food, but they couldn't spend more time idling, it was time to do some work at the construction of the pyramid or to hunt monsters.

Recently the four friends, were often sneaking of the construction site to use the benefits of the Lion sculpture and to hunt nearby goblins. Because of that they had to work real hard to keep up with other players.

That made up for a tight schedule, but everyone in the group got almost five levels, and even Irene reached level 225 now. Pale, Surka and Romuna were now at level 232, just 20 levels behind Weed.

Slowly stretching Pale muttered with irony.

"For the last couple of days I had a nosebleed five times."

"Seven for me" Surka replied.

"But you do not feel dizzy at least," Irene said, and after some thought added

"The nose i just keep plugged. And in the subway, all the people around me look like goblins... I get confused if I'm in the game or reality."

"..."

Weed and others looked at Irene, dumbfounded.

'Good thing she is a priest.'

Surka was a monk so were she to get confused like that, she might attack people with her fists. Thankfully, Irene wasn't a fighter, she was only supporting other players in the party with holy spells.

The past few day were difficult for friends, so in the real world, they were all greatly fatigued and in a state of disarray.

There weren't many people like Weed who are able to sleep for 4 hours a day and play Royal Road the rest of the time. Weed didn't feel any consequences of playing the game so much.

'Playing Royal Road is a hundred times better than, say, spend entire year working in a dusty cramped room, sewing doll's eyes or dyeing clothes.'

Weed was being shaken just by memories of that time. A tiny, dusty to the point that it was hard to breath room, and the dyes used were so dangerous that after working with it for a while red spots appeared on the skin.

Back then he had to quit working and go through a long, expensive treatment at a nearby hospital. It was then, when Weed realized that no matter what, you should always keep your body healthy.

Though most of his time was dedicated to Royal Road, in the gaps he was always doing exercises.

And to sleep well he was chanting in his head before going to sleep:

'I can sleep well.'

'I will sleep well.'

'I'll sleep for 4 hours and wake up rested.'

'I'll have beautiful dreams.'

To an outsider it would seem like a meaningless chatter, but to Lee Hyun these phrases have become some sort of a prayer and had unexpectedly strong effect. He would sleep well, and filled with energy he would rush to new conquests in Royal Road.

To be honest, Lee Hyun was only able to sleep so well since not long ago. More than 10 years he was in constant fear of the loan sharks. In those circumstances there was no place for a good sleep.

Only after paying off the debt he now had the opportunity so save up money for his family. Because of that Lee Hyun was able to let go of his fears and to start enjoying his life.

After dinner, his friends decided to go hunt for monsters. What could be better than hunting with people you can entrust with your life?

But then they were approached by five men. That were Geomchis.

"Take us with you."

Geomchi and the Four Geomchi's did not participate in the construction of the tomb.

It wasn't good for seniors' reputation to do the work of a student.

So they went to meet Weed and arrived just in time to see them preparing to go to hunt.

"Let us come too."

"We will not be a burden, believe me."

Not long ago, Geomchi's changed their profession to Martial Artists.

Thanks to that, they not only got a significant increase to their attack power, but also the ability to use all kinds of weapons in the game.

Most students were at 180th level, but Teacher with instructors had level over 200. All thanks to the fact that they were not engaged in any business, except for hunting, so they were raising levels at an amazing speed.

Besides, lately they started taking quests, though not very complicated ones, the ones that were easy to figure out. Such tasks mostly required to kill someone or to collect some items.

"Okay. Let's go together"

Weed, of course, was happy to that they participated. Royal Road was not a game where you could hunt with just anybody.

Unlike older video games that used mouse, virtual reality games were more focused on working together as a group. From the way you move and react to changing situations depend lives of other people in party.

That is why those who fought well in reality in Royal Road had more confidence in battle. Nothing can be done about it. As a smart man can always use their brains to make good decisions, a well trained one could use his good reflexes and fighting skill while hunting monsters.

In some way, virtual reality was closer to life. Because of this, sometimes those who do not know how to fight under difficult and stressful conditions, were considered a burden by party leaders.

Of course, most of players were starting without any knowledge about fighting, but they gradually gained experience and were becoming more and more skilled fighters.

It was during this period of 'learning' when it mattered most who your friends were in game and reality. And how they treat you.

But all these problems of newcomers did not belong to the top five Geomchi's , as they were the best. First, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth Geomchi! True masters of the blade, in real life and in the game.

Weed had no doubts in their fighting abilities. Moreover, he was very eager to look at the techniques of Martial Artists.

Together with joined Geomchis they were a big and dangerous party.

They decided to rent horses as the hunting ground was pretty far away. It was suggested by Pale, and as his knowledge of Royal Road was vast, Weed had no reason to doubt him.

"Where are we going? What kind of place takes two hour to travel on a horse?"

"We're going to the gorge of Huntresses. They're monsters of level 280, they gather in groups of two or three and go hunting. It's a dangerous place. I only read about them, never actually been there.

After the Pale's words Weed recalled some information about Huntresses too. They were Amazon warriors, were good with swords, spears and whips!

"I see. And what kind of place is that?"

"A gorge. Once we go in, the hunt will begin. In fact, there is one feature about Huntresses. They never attack the moment players enter their lands. They always wait, closely watching trespassers, waiting until they reach the heart of the gorge, and then begin to attack the party in small groups. So until you kill all the attacking Huntresses, you won't be able to leave the gorge."

"So it's either we kill them all or they kill us?"

"Yes. This is a very dangerous place."

Thus, while having a conversation, they reached the gorge of Huntresses.

"Hmm... Looks dangerous" Surka examined surrounding cliffs warily.

Huntresses, dressed in black light robes, were hiding at the top of the cliff sides behind trees and bushes. Although they were trying to stay unnoticed, Weed and other members of the squad were alert so they could keep track of them.

"That's right, they don't attack."

"Yes. They will attack later, after all the reinforcements arrive."

"And if we attack them now?"

"It's useless. If we noticed them, it means that we are already surrounded."

"We have to prepare for battle."

Weed threw the bag on the ground and took out the tools.

"Weed, what are you doing?"

At the Irene's question Weed just reached out his hand.

"Give me your weapons and armor."

"Huh?"

"I need to prepare them before the fight starts."

"Eeeeeeh, ok."

Then Weed's friends recalled that his blacksmith and tailor skills were at intermediate level, so they began to approach him one by one and giving him their equipment.

It was time to do some work. Weed sharpened swords, polished armor and ironed clothes!

To Maylon his actions seemed mysterious, and she quietly asked Pale:

"What's Weed doing?"

When they decided to hunt and took a sculptor with them, she naturally thought that Weed was invited, because he was their friend and needed help to grow. After all, everyone knew that the people with crafting professions had a hard time raising their levels as they were bad fighters.

However, from the very beginning Pale, Romuna and others made Weed the party leader. His opinion was the most important.

Maylon worked at a TV-Media station, so she thought she could grasp any situation very quickly, but now she was very confused and did not understand what was going on.

Weed made it even more confusing, making all kinds of strange actions.

He ironed clothes, sharpened their swords and polished armor!

Pale with a smile explained it to her:

"It may be hard to believe, but Weed has intermediate blacksmith level."

"What?!"

To say that Maylon was very surprised would be an understatement. On the entire Bersa continent there were few blacksmiths with an intermediate skill level. She could not believe that the intermediate level sculptor has a developed blacksmithing skill as well.

"Well, don't be so surprised. In addition to blacksmithing skill, Weed has..."

Pale wanted to continue, but was a bit too late. Weed buffed the equipment of the rest of the party and turned to Maylon. A little hesitant, she gave him her bow.

"Wow! What a nice bow."

After seeing the weapon, Weed was surprised.

Unique Item!

'It could be sold for at least 10 thousand dollars ...'

Weed's eyes glowed with greed. It was not easy to get a unique object in Royal Road.

Maylon was very worried, and Weed, after struggling with his greed for a bit, slowly adjusted the string and worked on the overall elasticity of the bow.

When Maylon got her weapon back, she became astounded.

Two-handed bow of High Elf Venus: Durability: 40/40. Attack: 75. Range: 16.

With a shot from this bow you can easily pick off the crows of misfortune. The string is made from the hair of High Elf. Brings good luck and reduces morale of the enemy.

Requirements:

- Level 230
- Agility 700
- Only for Rangers

Effects:

- Strength +15
- Agility +20
- Accuracy +60
- Empower skill Quick Shot +25%
- Burns 3 mana to enemy hit
- Hit rate for slow enemies is 100%

Bow was in hands of a skilled craftsman:

Applied effects:

- Strength +10
- Attack +9
- Agility +15
- Accuracy +16
- +10% skills empowerment
- The firing range is increased by 5

"Wow!"

Maylon repeatedly checked her bow.

Weed just work a little on it, and the stats got increased by about 20 percent!

"So that's what the blacksmith with an average skill level can do…"

This bow Maylon got as a gift. Although the durability of a weapon was small, it was not a big disadvantage as unlike swords you didn't have to beat monsters with it.

"And now give me your clothes."

"But... It is made of fabric."

Maylon stared at Weed in confusion. Blacksmiths could only work with armor and weapons.

"Do as he says."

Maylon trusted Pale but was still doubtful when taking off her clothes of rainbow fabric.

It was a very rare clothing made from equally rare fabric, sewn by a true master.

After taking it, Weed immediately recognized the item that he created and sold through Mapan's auction. Somehow it ended up in hands of Maylon.

Weed slowly ironed the creases and thus increased the protection attribute, increased the rate of health recovery and cold resistance!

"Incredible!"

Maylon's eyes widened in surprise, she was speechless.

Thus Weed improved everyone's equipment and greatly increased its attack, defense, strength and other parameters, which positively affected the overall strength of the party.

But on this Weed did not stop, he put everything back in bag and took out a cooking ware.

Surka awaited this moment the most.

"I'll make you steak this time."

"Wow!"

Although they have recently eaten, Surka reacted as if she has starved for weeks. She liked to taste new delicious food, but with no less interest she watched Weed cook.

The whole process of Weed's cooking was like magic. During frying fires were rising up high, as if to spoil the meat. But Weed closely followed the process, and gradually the smell of perfectly roasted steak began to spread around.

That smell, gave the party members a big appetite.

In fact, this was the main reason Pale and others were so eager to hunt with Weed.

'Looks delicious...'

'It's beautiful.'

Irene's and Romuna's eye got clouded. They were dreaming of how great it will taste.

'Wow! What a great smell..'

"Yes, the smell alone is 100 times more delicious than barley bread."

"Can we have some too?"

Five Geomchi's swallowed loudly.

"Eat first."

"We already ate Weed's meals many times."

Kind girls skipped their turn. Weed would still make more, so it was no harm letting Geomchis be first. The girls didn't know how wrong they were...

"These steak are so small."

"Yummy! So that's what the taste of the elite cuisine is."

Geomchi's ate meat as if to make up for all that time they had to eat the hateful barley bread.

First Weed wanted to prepare everything as it should be and put on one dish, but Geomchis were eating so fast that he had to barbecue whole slabs of meat.

"More! Faster!"

"It's ok, if the meat is a little raw, so come on."

The Geomchi3 was willing even to eat undercooked meat. That was true poverty. Be that as it may, all the meat cooked by Weed, ended up in the stomachs of Geomchis.

However, this did not stop them…

Having a feeling that something was missing, teacher smacked his lips a few times.

"Weed!"

"Yes?"

"You're great cook."

"Well, that's nothing to be particularly proud of. But if you get hungry, I'll cook something any time."

Geomchi nodded at his words, cleared his throat and said:

"Hmm, hmm! That was enough meat. But... After such a delicious meal, my throat gets especially dry."

"Before leaving Serabourg I took some water. Do you want it?"

Weed searched his bag and took out a bottle of water, but when he was going to hand it the Master shook his head.

"I didn't mean it that way…"

"What then?.. Was you talking about alcohol by any chance?" Weed asked after realizing what the teacher meant and he nodding his head in agreement.

"Well, not necessary... But do you have some?"

"Oh, you should have said so earlier."

Deep in Weed bags lay a supply of alcohol beverages. Mainly results of his experiments of making herb mixtures. Once his cooking has moved to a Advanced level he acquired the skill of making liquors, and Weed was trying to develop it as high as possible. Whenever he got suitable herbs or vines for preparing alcohol, he was buying everything he could and brew the beverages.

Food wasn't all about dishes. With a suitable accompanying drinks the effects of the food increased! In addition, alcohol not only increases the effects of food, but also raises strength and stamina attributes.

Unfortunately, unlike food, alcohol had to prepared in advance, since the process takes much longer.

Because of that Weed dragged a bag of stock bottles with herbal liqueurs and wine.

"Good. Here, have this tincture and some snack…"

Weed quickly reached into his backpack and pulled out one of the bottles, and as a snack he got some pre-cooked slices of dried fish.

"Thank you, my student."

Geomchi, who did not expect that there will even be a snack, gladly opened a bottle and started to drink.

Looking at that, Geomchi2 also approached Weed.

"*Khm-khm*. To be honest, I also have a dry throat."

"Yes. I was just about to get a bottle for you too."

Weed quickly got another bottle and handed it to Geomchi2. And then, not waiting for a word from the rest of the Geomchis, he treated them as well. Since he already started giving out drinks for free, he should do so to the end with a smile.

In fact Weed anyway was going to treat all of them to one of the prepared tinctures before the fight. He wanted to see the Geomchis' profession in action and for this it was necessary to maximize their attributes, so they would show their highest performance in the battle.

'And the better they will fight, the easier the hunt will go. For rapid experience gain the performance of every party member was important.'

Weed handed glasses to Pale and his friends too.

"What, we can really drink it?"

"Of course. If you drink, your strength and health will rise a little."

The friends took a sip and saw their attributes improve.

Maylon was in a panic.

'How?.. What is... What kind of party is this?'

Due to her profession of a reporter Maylon was able to hunt with a lot of different people. Even with very well-known high-level players, or influential members of guilds. So she had a more than enough experience when it came to hunting.

But this group was denying everything she thought to be basic rules!

In this party a simple craftsman, a sculptor, was responsible for improving the characteristics of it's members! And everyone considered this to be normal! Though usually, only bards, priests, and shamans were responsible for it.

It was a really unusual party combination. Maylon drank the hard liquor and observed carefully.

"Weed..."

"Yes?"

"Got anything else to drink? Let's try different drinks."

"It's..."

First Weed was about to refuse. He has put so much effort into making these tinctures, it could be said, that they were his treasures.

But the master said it with such a pleading voice …

"A little bit, just a sip…"

If he asked directly, it would be easier to say no. But the teacher was sitting with such a pained expression on his face that it was impossible to refuse.

Then the second, third and other Geomchi's tried to dissuade their master.

"Master, you shouldn't do that."

"I'm sure Weed worked hard to make these tinctures."

"Well, I'm just going to taste it…"

"And our level is low as well. We should be grateful that we accepted in the party at all."

Although they pretended to stop their Master, their words clearly had no intention of doing so, because they also wanted more of Weed's beverages.

"Try these."

In front of the Master appeared a pile of bottles with something transparent, black, purple... One of them even had a snake inside, and it was the first Weed opened.

"Oh! This is Snake Soju!"[3]

Geomchis seized the bottle and started to drink.

"Endurance raised some more!"

"When you drink it, it gives you more energy!"

"Best tincture I've ever tried!"

Whenever the amount of snake soju decreases, Weed became more upset. Meanwhile, the Geomchis continued to drink it at a ridiculous pace. Weed had used money to purchase and make the soju, and was frustrated from losing money. Moreover, they could not afford not to be aware of their surroundings.

'Come on, the materials used cost just a few bucks ...'

Most of the ingredients he obtained in person. Like the snake he caught. And the ones he bought actually costed little. The bottle costed the most, Weed bought it for 1 silver, but it's not like it was going to disappear.

And what was there for him to worry about. As it is stated in a proverb: 'The rich are well in the hell as well.' Over the past few weeks Weed earned a huge amount of money, more than 70 thousand gold. When Weed was walking, coins in his bag were jingling loudly.

Most of the money he earned on the construction of the tomb. That is how things usually are in construction business. Huge sums to build and endless subcontracts! And the saving of money by using cheap materials!

Once in the past when Weed was still a minor, he had illegally worked in construction and remembered the words of his older companions. Now it was time to use them!

Weed was given 100,000 gold for the construction of the tomb. And he was able to save 60,000 for himself!

'Unused knowledge - Is dead knowledge.'

Weed smiled with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Geomchis had completely forgot about their promises, and grabbed new bottles of liquor.

"Oh, this is good!"

"Master, try this one too. It's delicious."

"You're right, it's addictive"

No one tried to stop the Geomchis. If in real life they looked like formidable fighters, and in the game, their bodies became deadly weapons. All of them had sharp eyes and heavy gazes, that were completely overwhelmed Pale and others.

Friends knew that the Geomchis should be stopped, but could not think of a way to do so.

"Hic... So good!"

"Master, you look better today. Oh, and why did you become the two of you? You split?

"Look who's talking, whelp. There are four of you!

"A-ha-ha-ha!"

They laughed loudly, and then started to force Pale to drink too.

"Come on. Real men should be able to drink a glass."

"I already drank one."

"Then, I meant two glasses! Here am I, there is the tincture, isn't the world wonderful?"

Pale tried to refuse, but could not resist the will of the Geomchis, and had to drink. In fact, he wanted to drink. Weed's tinctures were very sweet and tasty.

After Pale the girls' turn came.

"So, let's all drink together. Cheers!"

"Oh. Thank you. You guys seem more sociable."

"Ah-ha! Of course, drinking buddies always become good friends."

Everyone continued to drink together.

"Your name is Romuna? Oh, you're so outgoing and beautiful."

"Maylon, why are you so pale?"

"Oh! Thank you, and could you pour some of that?"

One glass became two, two glasses - three. It escalated quickly. Everyone's faces were red and constant laughter was heard.

Weed emerged from his thoughts and started to worry. Not long ago, he went through serious hardships in the province of Morata, and the behaviors of his companions looked strange.

'Wait a minute ... No, no, no!'

The worst thing possible had happened. His friends were still drinking when a message appeared in front of Weed:

Subordinate players in your party drank too much and are now dead drunk.

- Their health reduced by 70%.

- Strength and Agility reduced by half.

Players can not use skills, that involving wisdom, intelligence and mana.

While alcohol does wear off, they will experience dizziness and hallucinations.

List of drunken players:

- Geomchi
- Geomchi2
- Geomchi3
- Geomchi4
- Geomchi5
- Pale
- Surka
- Romuna
- Irene
- Maylon

They went into the gorge of Huntresses just for hunting, and now his friends got drunk and were fooling around.

"Oh, look, stars!"

"How mysterious…"

"Ha-ha-ha! It's great that we got out to this gorge and had a good drink. This is the life!"

Geomchi, Pale and all others have decided to lie down on the ground under the scorching sun.

Weed froze in shock at the sight. He wanted so much to see the real masters in fight, to see their skills and techniques. Looks like it will remain only a dream.

And to worsen it, at that moment Huntresses appeared.

"Intruders? This is our territory! You won't come out alive!"

Weed sighed hopelessly and cried out:

"I summon the Death Knight!"

Out of black fog appeared the one on whom he could always rely.

"You called, master?"

"Attacks Huntresses. This will be a fun hunt."

"Understood, master! But I want to tell you one thing..."

"What now?!"

"We have been fighting shoulder to shoulder for a long time. Because of the strength of our friendship, I was able to break free from the shackles of the spell and remembered my previous life. I, knight Van Hawk from Kalamor Kingdom, acknowledges you as my master. From now on you can summon me without the necklace, I will always answer the call."

A red necklace of life created by Barr Khan. Even without wearing the necklace, I can call forth the Death Knight. The red necklace of life transformed into a radiant white light.

"Wait a minute. So, I can now remove the necklace of life? And what about my experience points?"

If the Death Knight was not lying, then the necklace that was not giving any additional bonuses or effects could now be safely removed.

In fact, for Weed there was no difference in wearing a necklace or not. Like rings, necklaces in the game were very valuable items, and to get one of them with good effect was like trying to get a star from the sky.

Best necklaces were sold for enormous money, so until Weed gets something valuable himself, the dream of good jewelry will remain a dream.

At the moment Weed was annoyed that he had constantly shared his experience points with the Death Knight. Twenty percent of the experience he gained was taken by Van Hawk!

"You can call me without the necklace. I recognize you as my master."

In this difficult situation a sigh of relief sounded. Shared experience is gone! Weed had become truly free!

Death Knight looked calmly at approaching Huntresses.

"I should kill them?"

"Yes, attack."

At Weed's order, Death Knight began to use his skills:

"Deadly blade!"

The threads of dark energy burst from the sword and stabbed in the approaching Huntresses. However, they were high-level monsters and weren't dying from a single attack of the Death Knight.

Along with Van Hawk, Weed started acting.

"Holy blessing!"

A blinding white light emerged from Agatha sword and covered Weed. This spell could only be used five times a day, but it greatly increased protection!

"Sculpting blade!"

Weed dashed to a group of Huntresses, wounded by Death Knight's spell.

"Silly boy!"

"We, the women warriors, will show your true power!"

Whips in Huntresses hands' started to move like snakes and shot forward to attack.

Weed gathered all his strength and rushed straight ahead.

*Pa-ra-ra-rak!*

Unfortunately, the Huntresses' weapons got him first. One of the whips coiled around his sword, and Weed struggled to free his weapon while avoiding attacks from other enemies. He spun and dodged to the point where it seemed like he was using magic.

Finally he managed to free his sword, close in on one of Huntresses and landed a strike.

Critical Hit!

From this moment Weed no longer distanced himself from the Huntresses. Whips were only dangerous at a distance, and if he stayed close, they were quite useless.

Agatha sword on his right hand and Zahab's knife on his left, were constantly attacking the Huntresses. However, the level of his opponents was so high that they were dying only after a serial of accurate hits.

However, Weed did not despair. To survive and find the weak spot of the enemy that was his method of fighting! If an ordinary player of Weed's level met with such a strong monster, they would most likely die, because only those with vast experiences and a perfect body control like Weed, helped not to get trapped by the Huntresses' whips.

At this point, Death Knight defeated his opponent.

"Ugh! Good, you were able defeat her. Nice job, Van Hawk!"

"No, master. I like fighting," Death Knight replied out of context.

Not so long ago, in a cave of Basra he became too proud, for which he was repeatedly beaten, so he had to become smarter to get along with the Weed's character.

Together, they killed two more Huntresses. Just as Weed was about to pick up the items that had dropped, as more enemies arrived.

Pale was not lying. You would not be able to leave the Gorge until you defeat all the enemies. In the past, the battle were not easy, but as long as friends will not come to their senses, he will have to fight with all the constantly incoming Huntresses.

Shoulder to shoulder with death knights, two warriors against hundreds of warriors.

'Half an hour, half an hour to survive, and they need to wake up...'

After the first fight van hawk health fell by a quarter, and this had to be resolved.

"Van, from now on fight them one at a time! I'll deal with the rest."

"Understood, Master."

Weed handed the Death Knight some liquor and then rushed into battle.

Death Knight took over one Huntress, Weed took on the others. To avoid their whips, he had to constantly take Huntresses and the Death Knight's position into account.

Sometimes he deliberately took Huntresses' blows, realizing, that they will not lead to tragic consequences. A dangerous game with death where he could only rely on his own strength.

The fight went on.

Weed was stabbing with a sword, cutting with a knife, trying to get hurt as little as possible and use less mana. But no matter how hard he was dodging, Huntresses constantly, bit by bit, were diminishing his health.

The moment came when his life bar dropped below 100 points. At that moment Weed jumped behind the Death Knight, and started to apply a lot of bandages as fast as possible.

And though he was in hurry as never before, by the time he finished, Death Knight's health was also at a critical point. Weed had to quickly engage in battle to distract opponents from the heavily breathing Van Hawk.

The fight still continued.

Huntresses kept arriving. After every defeated group, came a new one consisting of 3-4 aggressive Huntresses. And to make matters worse, Weed began to get tired.

Even a player like Weed who had an enormous amount of health and stamina; accumulated with help of created sculptures and many missed strikes of enemies, could not fight without break. The sword in his hand was becoming heavier and his legs slowed down. Death was closer than ever.

He had to do something.

But at that point Weed and the Death Knight had spent all their mana. There was only one thing he could do that could save them in the current situation...

'I really do not want to get to use it...'

Weed jumped and pulled spice jars from his pockets.

One of the secrets of true chefs!

"Salt on wounds! Sauces in your eyes! Pepper and garlic juice!"

Weed was ruthlessly filling wounds of nearby enemies with culinary spices. For light wounds—Salt! For deep wounds—Soy Sauce! For eyes and nose—Hot Spices!

"Ahhh!"

"No, no... Please, not the salt."

"Ahhh! I have pepper in my eyes!"

Huntresses squealed loudly from terrible pains. Their health rapidly declined, as salt got into wounds. The pain was so intense that it was difficult to describe in words.

Secret technique of vile cook Weed! He had never used it before, as it required to spend valuable ingredients, but it allowed to break opponent's concentration and significantly lower their health by causing enormous pain.

Salt, salt, black pepper! Red peppers, pickled garlic!

Weed incessantly bombed surrounding Huntresses.

'I won't die here. I have no right to...'

Weed was not afraid to miss a day of playtime because of the death. No, he did not want to lose the skills he worked so hard to obtained. Even if all the mid-level skills will decrease by 5%, it will be a much greater loss than the loss of a couple of levels.

Weed gathered all the strength he had left.

He was running around, luring enemies and throw valuable spices at them. There was nothing else he could do. Weed used all he could. He had even used up the allowed five holy blessings of the sword of Agatha during the fight!

One way or another, everything will be decided in the next few minutes.

While Weed was close to death, jumping and spinning like crazy, in attempt to try and avoid attacks of angered Huntresses, Master and all the others came to their senses and slightly open eyes, fascinated by the ongoing battle.

"His fighting skills is superb."

"That's Weed for you. Whatever you throw at him, he won't die easy."

"Tenacious like a cockroach."

"If all were so, the profession of the priest in the game would become redundant."

Pale, Surka, Irene and Romuna looked at Weed with envy. How could they learn to fight exceptionally!

It didn't require a lot of intelligence to properly use skills, techniques, and spells. But to fight like Weed, relying only on simple strikes and body control, was really difficult. Even more so, considering that in such battles, stamina decreases rapidly and it became very difficult to hit. And it was useless to try to fight at such pace, without rest, with constant arrival of new enemies.

Maylon also opened her eyes.

'That's some amazing sculptor!'

If all other were lying and being jealous, she could not even move from shock. What kind of sculptor can fight so well?

Her astonishment began since the moment Weed called the Death Knight. She knew that he was not a wizard, then he must have somehow managed to obtain an incredibly valuable item in game. He also was fighting a spectacular battle and used a lot of different techniques, which she as a reporter, had never heard about!

All in all, there were a lot of things to be surprised about.

"Good."

"And he really absorbed your teachings, Master."

Geomchi and Geomchi2 calmly watched Weed's every move. It was the first time they had seen him in a real fight.

"A little different from one in the real life, but still his reaction was more than excellent."

"However, a swordsman, not only responds to the environment, but also adjusts to any situation and imposes in their battles."

"Hyun perfectly knows it all. Without a basic understanding, this level can not be achieved. Although he still has unnecessary movement, the fight as a whole is going well. Several years of training, and it would be difficult to imagine someone stronger than him."

In fact, the Geomchi's have long since regained consciousness.

Excellent warriors that got intentionally drunk... All this was planned by the Master. He wanted to know how Weed fights in Royal Road. To see him in a real sword fight. To keep things fair.

Ahn Hyundo was satisfied.

If Hyun refused to fight or panicked, he would have been very disappointing. If you follow the way of the sword then you have to go forward, despite any obstacles.

Royal Road is just a virtual reality game, but even so, inner qualities of players were important. Reliance only in battle skills, without courage, bravery and perseverance, it would be impossible to achieve high results even with weapons in game.

Some people, seeing the last attempts of Weed to survive in the difficult battle, could not hold back any longer. Geomchi3, Geomchi4, Geomchi5, all jumped up and rushed to aid Weed.

All the others have started to get up.

"Fireball!"

"Deadly Shot!"

"Deadly Shot!"

Romuna start casting spells, and Pale and Maylon almost simultaneously shot arrows at the Huntresses.

"Holy Spirit! Use your power to save those who are hurt! Recovery! Let there be enhancement in your body. Blessed hand!"

Irene restored Weed's health, and cast empowering spells on everyone.

And so the real hunt began.

During the time the four friends have not seen Weed, they have changed. They were not those poor newcomers anymore who ran away in a panic from a simple wolf.

Harmonious attacks greeted each new group of Huntresses. It started with arrows from Maylon and Pale, then fire magic spells from Romuna!

After these attacks, Surka engaged in battle with her fist. What Geomchis did was obvious without any words. And all of that under the tireless support of Sacred Magic from Irene.

"More incoming!"

"Wow, experience grows so fast!"

The mighty Attacks of Geomchis! Harmonious actions of Pale, Irene, Romuna, Surka and Maylon! And Weed with the Death knight!

Was there anything that could stop them?

Translation Notes

↑ [1] Geomchis were directionally challenged.

↑ [2] A variety of Korean pancake-like dish that is made of kimchi.

↑ [3] Made by placing a snake in a jar of distilled liquor (Soju) and aging it.

Chapter 4: Grades

Lee Hayan finished school and was walking home.

If she were to take a bus, she’d be home long ago. But she’d have to pay for it. Her thrift was almost as strong as that of her brother.

She only was taking bus if she was in real hurry. And even then she was pretending to be a middle school student. For middle school students ticket costed 200 won less than for high school students.

Sometimes though drivers were asking her:

“Schoolgirl...”

“Yes?”

“It’s Dein high school uniform you’re wearing, isn’t it?”

“I’m wearing older sister’s uniform.”

“Sister’s uniform? Why?”

“To meet with my boyfriend from high school. Uncle, i really don’t have time let’s go already. Ok?”

While saying it Lee Hayan was usually bending her knees a little to seem shorter and make cute dimples on her cheeks. She was even flashing her eyes.

That was working because she looked younger than she was.

“Hmm, if so you can have a seat”

“Thank you, mister driver.”

After that drivers weren’t asking any more questions and she was taking her seat with a smile.

‘Being a girl has many advantages.’

However girls also heeded a lot of things men didn’t. Like underwear and cosmetics.

Lee Hayan was a natural talent in those matters. She was getting all those things gifted by boys. She was giving them advices on how to behave with girls or introducing them to cute friends of hers and was getting presents in return.

Thanks to that Lee Hayan was able to save her allowance and put it on a personal bank account. She wasn’t Lee Hyung’s sister for nothing.

“It should be arriving today.”

She hurried home and checked the mailbox. The GED report card that she’s been waiting for several days now finally arrived. In it were results of Hyung’s exam.

“It’s finally here.”

She could have probably checked results over the internet, but she looked at the report car nevertheless.

Korean: 75

Social science: 90

Math: 65

Science: 55

English: 65

Ethics: 40

Total: 390

Average: 65

Total above 360 and none below 40 meant success.

“Now brother graduated from high school.”

Lee Hayan was wiping off her tears and smiling. The hard feeling she had all this time disappeared. Every time she was going to school she was sorry for Lee Hyun. She knew how he was earning money. Many times she was almost crying when eating food, earned and cooked by her brother.

She folded the letter and entered the house.

Grandmother’s condition improved, but she hasn’t yet recovered, so she was still in hospital. So Hayan and her brother lived alone.

Hyun was still in the capsule. That was because today she came back earlier than usual.

“Well, I guess i’ll clean up the house.”

Hayan Cleanly swept the house, cleaned the dust and washed the dishes.

“The plates from the breakfast are still here. Come to think of it, brother started to go to the dojo and return tired again, like at that time.”

The time when Lee Hyun was preparing for Royal Road!

For almost a year her brother lived like he was possessed. He found and studied all the works on virtual reality and collected as much information on Royal Road as he could. At the same time he trained his body and learned to fight.

24 hours a day was literally not enough for him.

Her brother slept about 3-4 hours a day, yet still found time to prepare meals for the family.

When he first started to go to the dojo she was terribly upset. His hands were covered by blisters and body bruised. He was coming back exhausted and falling asleep right away like he was dead.

Those memories alone were making Lee Hayan depressed.

At such moments Hayan was trying to distract herself with work.

‘Now I’ve got to study.’

To get accepted to ‘Korea’ university.

That was her most important goal right now.

At first she didn’t want to go to that university. After all it was not a matter of studying in the most prestigious university but of getting all the necessary knowledge. At least that was the case for Interior designer, which was her desired profession.

But Lee Hyun wanted her to study in ‘Korea’ university. And for her brother, who sacrificed so much for her, she should at least be able to study hard. Her goal was to get a full 4-year scholarship!

But that wasn’t her only aim. After graduating from school and getting the scholarship, she was planning to start earning money as a private tutor.

* * *

“Granny, brother’s report card arrived!”

That day Hayan couldn’t hold her joy and ran to the hospital to give grandmother the news.

“Really? So did he pass?”

Grandmother’s face was tired but cheerful.

“Yeah! He did! Look at his grades. Apart from Ethics all the grades are high.”

“That’s fine. What’s important is he’s got a smart head.”

Although some could interpret it as ‘His head is smart, but as a human he is a failure’. But Hyun’s family knew well what he had to go through in last 10 years, so they never doubted his human qualities for a moment.

Grandmother was still looking at his grades.

“He really did it. Before I died...”

“Huh? What’re you talking about, granny? Our happy life has just started.”

Lee Hayan reassuringly took her grandmother’s hand.

* * *

Every morning Lee Hyun was going to the dojo.

To exercise his body and to learn fencing from Ahn Hyundo were his two main morning activities.

“Come in.”

“Congratulations on passing the exam!”

When Lee Hyun entered the dojo Ahn Hyundo, instructors and almost all the students were waiting for him. They were ready to celebrate Hyun’s graduation from high school.

“So he’s got a high school diploma now, eh?”

“I used to studied hard in high school too, but...”

Ahn Hyundo got surprised by insructors’ envy.

“What’s with you lot? Didn’t you go to highschool too?”

“No, we left it early to train with sword more.”

Instructors lived only to train with swords.

Ahn Hyundo nodded.

“So that’s why you’re so simple.”

“That’s...”

They greatly respected their teacher but his last words hurt them.

‘At least we finished middle school.’

‘You didn’t even go to elementary school yourself...’

However Ahn Hyundo had a doctor’s degree. World’s leading universities granted him an honorary doctor’s degree in recognition of his kendo skills. But actually he only ever went to the kindergarten!

There the child Ahn Hyundo have beaten many of other kindergarteners, for what he has been punished often.

‘On the day he got accepted to elementary school he has beaten up neighbourhood bullies with a wooden sword...’

‘They spent 16 weeks in a hospital I think? And the 7-year-old who beat them was taken into custody.’

‘So he never got to enter the elementary school...’

Instructors knew about it, but kept silent.

Ahn Hyundo was following the path of a sword since childhood. Days were passing by but no worthy opponents appeared, so he had to spend time meditating or playing Go, However even without any opponent Master was constantly improving his mind and body in numerous daily trainings.

Royal Road was taking Ahn Hyundo back to his childhood. He was able to fight with strong opponents, high level monsters. The long forgotten feeling of being alive, constantly improving, returned to him.

It seemed like his childhood dream had finally started to come true...

“Ahem... Master...”

With a little hesitation Lee Hyun asked:

“My sister came to watch our training today. Do you mind?”

“So it is? Of course, she’s welcome...”

Ahn Hyundo gave his permission without a second thought. Most of the apprentices were professional swordsmen. Of course bringing in talented people from various places was encouraged as wel. But general public or young kendo students sometimes trained in dojo too.

“Okay now, let’s start the training. Line up!”

After a short celebration all the students and instructors, including Chung Il Hoon took their places.

“Today we’ll start from an hour of basic training and then spar.”

“Yes!”

The usual morning routine. Students brandished their swords with swift and accurate movements.

“Then I’ll go get my sister, Master.”

“Okay.”

Lee Hyun left the dojo and headed towards school gates. They didn’t have cellphones, so they just made an appointment at a certain time.

“Brother!”

As it was sunday and hayan didn’t have any lessons, she was waiting at the school gates, dressed in casual clothes. Her skirt was barely covering her knees and short hair were swaying with the wind.

Her friends came with her.

“Hello everyone.”

“Hey. You did a good job at the festival.”

Those were Hayan’s friends!

Lee Hyun replied with a shrug:

“Eh... Yeah.”

“Well then, let’s go. Come on, brother.”

Hyun nodded in agreement and led them to the dojo. The moment doors closed behind them, all the students inside reacted vigorously.

“Oh, girls!”

“Schoolgirls!”

“Wow, high school girls came to a place like this...”

“They’re pretty.”

The unexpected happened, girls came to the men’s den. All the trainees suddenly started working harder. The strength and speed of their strikes raised significantly.

* * *

Today the training was really hard.

Lee Hyun left the dojo and, as he didn’t want to spend money on a bus, he decided to run all the way home. Running was another good way of maintaining good physical condition.

‘I graduated from high school...’

Hyun was running with a smile on his face. Maybe he didn’t get to go to high school all the way through, but now he would be able to proudly say that he graduated it.

‘Granny will be very happy. And Hayan...’

Since their parents died Lee Hyun was worried most about his sister. When she was a child she was unusually timid and scaredy. Their complicated family circumstances forced her to grow tougher.

“I wouldn’t be able to continue replacing her parents forever. Probably a few more years...”

The biggest dream of Lee Hyun was for his sister to meet a decent man and marry him!

On the wedding ceremony he’d take the place of her father and be the one to bring the bride to the the groom. Since early childhood he was familiar with the role of a parent and was used to taking care of his little sister. And when the moment comes when the groom will take the bride’s hand Lee Hyun will become free.

He never actually thought of what will happen afterwards. Every day he had to struggle through many hardships to try and earn even a little money. He didn’t have time to think about such distant future.

So only when his sister will finish the university and marry will he be able to relax and start living for himself.

‘However...’

Lee Hyun laughed bitterly.

Hayan must meet a really good guy.

With her current grades she would be able to easily get into ‘Korea’ university and get a good job after graduating from it. That, coupled with her good looks, would make it possible for his sister to come together with the best men.

But if on her wedding she will be led by her brother, who barely graduated from high school, that might embarrass her.

‘I’m so ashamed I’m uneducated...’

Lee Hyun started to worry that his poor education might become a disadvantage for his sister and interfere with her life.

Then he saw Great Society Rehabilitation Center!

He was just passing it on the way home. In addition to its stately appearance it was filled with state-of-the-art equipment.

‘I had been diagnosed there once. And if I manage to become a doctor there my sister would be proud.’

* * *

Last few days weren’t so easy for Dr. Cha Eunhee.

She used hundreds of various treatments, trying to return Jeong Seoyoon to normal state. And Royal Road was her last resort.

Virtual reality games are known to grant emotional stability. They relieve stress by allowing to satisfy unfulfilled in reality desires. Traveling between reality and virtuality helps to fade the painful feelings.

Cha Eunhee hoped that it will help to save Seoyoon from her mental obsession.

Every day since Seoyoon started playing, Cha Eunhee was watching her playing records to be able to examine her psychological state better, than any test could show, as in the game Seoyoon had to constantly make decisions by herself and interact with the environment.

All the Seoyoon’s actions in Royal Road were recorded in the capsule. That was private information, but as Seoyoon’s doctor Cha Eunhee had access to it.

First recordings of Seoyoon’s hunt were encouraging.

“This way she’ll recover in no time!”

The initial tendency was positive.

Even though she never laughed or talked to anybody and was very withdrawn overall. She started to hunt and the desire to hunt was a display of greed.

Cha Eunhee thought that her desire to become stronger and acquire better items will make her more lively. That such ‘human’ behaviour would certainly make a positive impact on treatment.

But with time her expectations waned.

Seoyoon was just hunting. She was going to places where monsters gathered in large groups and fought them. Fought fiercely, to the death, like a berserker.

And she still wasn’t talking to anyone in Royal Road.

‘But wasn’t there a positive change?’

In Seraburg got acquainted with a fighting instructor. They weren’t very close, but it still was a huge breakthrough. They were eating together and she listened to him talking.

‘Just a little but she’s reacting...’

The monster hunt was a good sign as well. Closed people usually become secretive and suspicious. Sometimes they even start acting like a child with superiority complex. Thankfully Seoyoon’s state wasn’t at such level yet.

When people endure a great pain, they often start to feel sad or scared afterwards. To threat such residual state fighting was a great medicine.

“Huh, still a long way til she’s completely healed.”

Cha Eunhee sighed deeply.

After leaving Seraburg Jeong Seoyoon headed south where she continued her endless hunt.

‘How long will you remain locked in that state?’

Jeong Seoyoon wasn’t just a patient for her, but more of a little sister, as they knew each other since childhood. Their parents were friends so they were meeting often, little Seoyoon was always calling Cha Eunhee older sister and following her around.

But now she wasn’t neither laughing nor speaking any more. And Cha Eunhee was doing all she could to return her to normal, cheerful self.

Some parts in the recordings were surprising her.

“Why is there a statue of Seoyoon in Baran village?”

It seemed that Seoyoon didn’t notice it, but the statue of softly smiling guardian deity of the village was her splitting image!

The face of statue of Freya must have been based on Seoyoon.

The beauty of that smile was making Cha Eunhee dizzy.

* * *

Seoyoon was continuing to hunt and move deeper into the southern part of Rosenheim kingdom. All the more people were coming to southern part of Rosenheim kingdom, and in order to avoid them she had to move deeper little by little.

Hunting monsters such as Dark Ghouls and Blood Ravens.

However the once low, population of southern region was constantly growing. Players had yet to come to dungeons and hunting grounds used by Seoyoon, but it was already bothering her.

‘I can’t stay here any longer...’

Seoyoon decided to leave the south of the Rosenheim kingdom.

Originally she started playing at the center of the continent, slowly making her way south towards Rosenheim, however having come this far south she realized, that there are no free lands further ahead.

‘To the east... Where there’s no players...’

Seoyoon decided to go to Lands of Despair.

* * *

The construction of the pyramid became the hot news of Royal Road. Most of the rumors were spread by the people, directly involved in the construction.

The pyramid almost instantly appeared on the web-sites. And then several journalist teams were sent to Weed by various media sources. They wanted to record all the stages of construction, from the initial concept to the final result.

Of course the report about the pyramid could fit in a small article, but reporters wanted to spotlight the pyramid, created by player's effort alone in detail. To show players' feelings, their hard work, that made the construction of the pyramid possible. And they had to do it from the beginning to the end, from the moment the quest first appeared, as that was the way great history is written!

The pyramid, built by thousands of players' hard work!

The TV producers were already thinking about making a show, where famous actors and showmen would be building their own pyramid. They thought that audience will be interested in whether someone else will be able to complete such an impossible at first glance task.

"We'll pay you a million won."

"If you agree to work with us, we'll pay you 2 millions!"

Every day Weed received such offers, but he was refusing them. However once he got an offer, very different from others. The Korean Ministry of Education decided to launch an advertising campaign of textbooks, and wanted to involve the pyramid in it.

And they offered seven million won!

Weed accepted it.

* * *

The hunt in the Huntresses' gorge was getting livelier with each passing day.

Though their party didn't have the mandatory warriors or paladins, the high level of cooperation between members allowed them to quickly demolish the amazons and earn lots of experience points. During past few days Weed received 7 levels and reached a total level of 266

Fighting together with Geomchis was incredibly pleasant. He would continue hunting with them, but the construction was nearing it's end and he just had to attend to it.

The moment the last stone fell into place Weed received a message

Ding!

You completed the construction of the tomb for great king Theodarren.

Feeling the approaching death, King decided to build a marvelous tomb for himself and appointed the most famous sculptor of the continent to the task. And now the tomb is complete.

Receive your reward from king Theodarren.

But hurry to do it before his death.

"It's finished!"

"Hurray!"

Numerous players around the pyramid were shouting happily.

For the first time so many people gathered in such a backwater kingdom. Every player mined or delivered at least 1-2 stone blocks and contributed his part of sweat and effort to the construction of the tomb.

Weed headed to the royal palace.

The tomb was complete all that was left was to report to the king and receive the reward.

The king met him in the throne room like the last time. He looked even older and the progress of his illness was evident.

Following the etiquette, Weed knelt before the king.

"Your Majesty..." - he started talking, but was immediately interrupted by the king.

"Stand! SUch renowned master deserves more respect than that. Besides all this etiquette makes me uncomfortable."

"No, your Majesty."

Weed wasn't intending to get up, but the king gave order to his knights and they got him on his feet anyway. Weed noticed, that king's attitude towards him significantly changed since their last encounter.

"You have my gratitude. Thanks to you, I finally have a place for my final rest. You are a great sculptor. And I am very curious at what was your thoughts, when you was building the tomb."

"I was thinking about all the hardships your majesty had to endure during your life."

"Yes... I vanquished many foes to defend my kingdom. And now, after my death I'll get to the very depth of hell where I will suffer for eternity."

"Not at all, your majesty. You life passed like a firework. The one who's not scared by the flame and tries to catch it might get burned. But you were burning yourself to illuminate everything around you. Your bright fire was warming and protecting Rosenheim for a long time. And now you will be able to rest in a comfortable place and watch your kingdom prosper."

The King was greatly satisfied by those words.

"I don't regret at all that I entrusted this task to a sculptor, whose name was spoken of by so many. You prepared a marvelous resting place for me, far more than I have expected of you. So go now, get your promised reward."

You succesfully completed the quest.

Fame increased by 690.

You received 2930 reputation points of Rosenheim Kingdom.

- Level up.

- Level up.

- Level up.

- Level up.

- Level up.

Five levels and 2930 reputation points with the royal family!

The King continued speaking:

"All the others, who assisted the construction of the tomb will receive their appropriate rewards. Your service to the royal family is great, we wish to reward you. What is it that you wish?"

The exciting moment, that Weed was imagining so many times has arrived.

'2930 points... I could get a rare or even unique item from royal treasury.'

The sword of Agatha was a good item in many ways. It increased the Faith attribute, increased Health recovery and even allowed to use blessing 5 times a day. But still the sword, forged by Order of Dreya had low damage stat.

Weed wanted a sword!

The best one possible.

However he had to think about completing the quests he already had...

'Even the best sword in the world won't help me in the Lands of Despair.'

Weed made a decision and said:

"Your Majesty, I have got a task from the Order of Freya. Soon I will have to go against the necromancers, worshiping the dark god Beelzebul. The Order learned, that something evil is being prepared in Lands of Despair, and my task is to deal with it before necromancers gather too much forces. However, to my regret I don't have enough men to complete such an important task. That is why I request assistance of brave warriors of Rosenheim."

The King carefully listened to Weed and seriously shook his head.

"Lands of Despair... I heard there are refugees living there, who were chased there during the era of strife and war with dark elves. During my reign I have sent my troops twice to those hostile lands, but not a single man has returned. For that reason I ordered a high, thick wall to be erected, to prevent the evil of that place from invading my lands."

"That's how it is..."

Only now Weed started to understand, that that place was even more dangerous than the province of Mora!

But it was not the time to give up. The quest is an adventure. And until his experience proves, that this mission is impossible, nothing will stop him from trying. As it is often said, 'it's better to regret doing something, than to regret not having done it'.

While Weed was lost in thoughts, Theodarren quietly continued:

"In such a dangerous, unlawful place you'll need loyal people. I’ll provide you with soldiers. But I ask you that you treat them with respect and not let them be killed in vain."

He’ll have to spend reputation points on soldiers. That decision almost made Weed cry.

‘Anyway, going there with only priests and hoping for a miracle would be a suicide. The completion of the quest is more important that any unique items...’

However even after taking that decision, he couldn't help but try to scrounge something valuable.

“I treasure my memories of Rosenheim Kingdom so much, that I wish I had some kind of memento of it. If your Majesty doesn’t mind, a sword would be a perfect for that.”

Right words, said at the right time.

The King nodded and ordered one of his advisors to lead sculptor to the training grounds.

On the way Weed was inventing thousands of excuses to take the best possible weapon from the armory. He recalled his hunt in Lair of Litvarth and his quest in the province of Mora. He had to endure so much to finally get here and get an opportunity to receive something really valuable.

To come through all that suffering to spend all the points on soldiers?

Never! Weed ought to take at least somewhat valuable item for himself.

Advisor led him to the training grounds, where multiple warriors were training.

“By the King’s order you are allowed to take knights and soldiers to aid you in your mission in the Lands of Despair. Pick them yourself.”

Knights of Rosenheim were dressed in shining silvery armor. Their horses were very clean and looked to be tended to well.

Please pick warriors using your reputation points.

After the window appeared, numbers started appearing on knights’ chests.

‘Looks like it’s their value in reputation points.’

Every available knight or soldier had a price. He had to chose carefully, spending points only on really necessary soldiers.

First Weed carefully examined all the knights.

They were gathered in a few groups. There were Scarlet Knights, known for their strength, White Knights, known for magic and Royal Knights, who served king personally. The latter had 280th level.

Without a second thought Weed stopped his choice on them. Personal knights of the king were the best fighters of the kingdom.

‘In such dangerous lands I’ll need good support...’

Weed approached closer and saw numbers on their chests. They started at 30 and went all the way up to 100 points per person.

The reputation point system was one of the reasons the tyrany of guilds in Royal Road was reduced. With it even solo players and small parties were able to complete quests and accumulate reputation points of kingdoms and other powers of Royal Road. And in case they need help, to do a quest for example, they didn’t have to look for a guild any beg for it. They were able to hire an army from some king or aristocracy.

While walking around the training grounds, Weed reached a corner, where a great number of various armors and weapons were piled up. Swords, spears, axes, bows, clubs and maces, there were too many kinds to list them all.

Sword alone numbered more than a hundred. And of course every item had a price in reputation points above it.

Old and rusty ones were cheap, just 2-3 points. But the good ones were much more expensive, 1500-2000 points.

So if he picks a lot of soldiers, he would get a poor weapon, and if he takes a great weapon, he’ll have few soldiers. Weed faced a difficult choice.

‘I worked so hard to get these points... I just can’t spend them all on soldiers.’

If an NPC were to die in combat, he would be gone for good. But even if none of them dies on the quest, Weed will still have to return them all back. But the weapon will stay with him even after he finishes the quest. He would even be able to sell it for cash.

After giving it a lot of thought, Weed decided to pick 10 Royal Knights. When choosing them, he was immediately giving them new names.

51, 53, 55, 56, 58, 59, 60, 98, 99, 100!

Of course Weed will remember the faces and names of knights, who he spent his hard-earned reputation points on.

“It looks like the King values you high, so I will obey.”

“I don’t like it, but I can’t go against King’s order, so I will follow you.”

Knights weren’t hiding their disapproval. Straightforward, rude and displeased statements were directed at Weed, but he ignored them and proceeded to pick the weapon and ordinary soldiers.

‘I should pick the best weapon possible and then spend the rest of the reputation points on infantry. I can’t let my points drop low enough that I wouldn’t be able to pick the sword I want.’

First he examined the decorated swords, covered by ornaments. However he didn’t like any of it.

‘Useless stuff. More of a work of art than a weapon.’

Unfortunately he wasn’t allowed to check the weapons’ stats when choosing, so he had to rely on his intuition and experience.

Good thing, that in free city Somuren he had a chance to thoroughly study weapons and learn to estimate their value by their looks. His experience as a blacksmith was helping as well.

Weed was trying to find a sword, containing the largest amount of mithril. And when he found one he picked it with a little doubt.

“Identify!”

Sword of Cold Loteu

Durability: 150/150.

Damage: 68-75

This sword belonged to Loteu from Niffleheim Kingdom, the leader of the mercenaries from the northern part of the continent. It contains the power of ice.

Requirements:

- Strength: 600.

- Level: 250.

Effects:

- Strength +50.

- Agility +10.

- Leadership +20%.

- Bonus frost damage +30.

- Every attack slows the opponent.

If you take a profession of a mercenary, you immediately get silver status.

“Not bad at all.”

Weed spent 1700 reputation point on the sword and was satisfied with it. Even though its effects were worse than those of Sword of Agatha, its damage was a lot higher. And if you take into account the sharpening bonus, this sword was easily best of what he ever had.

After taking the sword he had 541 reputation points left, that he was going to spend on hiring soldiers as well. Weed continued walking around the training grounds and to his surprise he noticed a familiar faces.

“Chief!”

Becker, Hosram, Buren and Dale. Soldiers from his raid to the Lair of Litvart. Old friends.

“You are here too?”

“Yes, the areas around capital started to get invaded by monsters and we were called back to patrol and hunt monsters.”

The four soldiers became captains long ago and were in charge of their own troops of hundred people.

“We knew you will come back someday.”

“Yeah, we are so happy to see you again, Chief!”

Buren and dale couldn’t hold back their joy. During their hunt in the Lair of Litvart they became really close to Weed and were truly happy to meet him.

Weed considered himself lucky.

In the upcoming mission he will need reliable soldiers like never before!

“I take you with me, guys. Come on, we have a lot of work to do.”

After picking Buren and others together with their 400 soldiers Weed had only 3 reputation points left.

Advisor carefully examined all the picked warriors and said:

“It is desirable that you return all the knights and soldiers intact.”

Weed decided not to respond. However cruel that sounds, but he was picking them to fight. There were a lot of battles with dangerous foes ahead of them, and Weed believed that losses were unavoidable.

Of course he wasn’t intending to let his hard-earned soldiers die easily, but he wasn’t going to keep them behind also.

However the advisor continued:

“If you keep their lives, the royal family will recognize your merits again. And if you return them stronger and more experienced, King and other aristocrats will be very pleased.”

Advisor’s words could be interpreted as a promise to refund all the reputation points, spent on the returned soldiers and increase them for every soldier, who raise their level in upcoming battles.

‘If I knew this would happen, I would pick a lot more soldiers...’

In the very end among the soldiers Weed noticed Docke, the instructor from training hall. Not so long ago he was promoted and now he was training knights in the palace. Also there was Midvale, the knight, that Weed was accompanying to Lair of Litvart. However he didn’t have enough points for either of them. Besides each of them costed more than any other knight.

‘Too bad. Well, hopefully i’ll have another opportunity...’

Weed finished his business at the palace and headed to the Order of Freya, accompanied by the soldiers he hired.

* * *

At the entrance the highest church officials were already waiting for him.

“Are you ready to depart?”

“Yes.” - abruptly replied Weed.

Behind his back were knights, Buren, Becker, Hosram, Dale and four hundred of simple soldiers. All of them were a little tense, as they didn’t expect to be entrusted with such an important mission.

Even Royal Knights rarely participated in quests of such high difficulty.

High priest said:

“The promised 50 priests are already waiting at the portal.”

“We’ll show you the way.”

The priests of Order of Freya. Weed greeted them and inspected carefully. There were many bearded men in robes, but much to his surprise there were a lot more priestesses. And all of them were striking beauties.

Soldiers were looking at them wide-eyed.

“Woah!”

“Now I feel more encouraged, Chief!”

From a single glance at the priestesses the fighting spirit of Becker and other soldiers shot sky high.

Weed stepped on the portal at the head of a great army. But he was only able to command 50 priests of Freya. Royal Knights, Buren, Becker and others will be independently evaluating the situation and make their own decisions.

“Freya bless you!”

High priest and others recited a prayer and the portal started to glow.

When the glow disappeared, Weed and others were already far from Rosenheim.

* * *

Pyramid quickly became one of the most visited places of Rosenheim Kingdom. Every day more than 40 thousands people visited it.

Of course most of them were coming not to look at works of art, but to receive the buff of Sphinx statue.

“Wow! Great.”

“True. That’s crazy, to build a pyramid here...”

“I saw a movie about the construction. That was really cool, I only came here because of it.”

But to the surprise of those who came here for the first time, besides the famous Sphinx statue they found there other sculptures of gazelle, kangaroo, deer, rabbit and other low-level monsters with sad expressions on their faces.

Looking at those sculptures many players felt guilty as in the beginning they were slaughtering great numbers of those harmless herbivores.

So it was no surprise that after reading the engraved words their hands were reaching to their pockets.

- For looking at the statue pay as much as your heart tells you.

- All the collected money will be donated!

- We will use them to help those in need.

Every visitor was leaving a copper or silver coin.

Chapter 5: Village of Exiles

Like always, today Lee Hyun woke up early and proceeded to doing his usual chores.

First he visited the Dark Gamers Union website and started reading latest messages.

As Choi Junghoon said, the website had plenty of information about quests, dungeons, crafting skills or even trading routes. And of course, as it was a website for Dark Gamers, most of information was about items.

Hyun Lee had ‘C’ access level and was able to view corresponding entries.

“Nothing special today too.”

He was looking for any mentions of unique items! And even though Lee Hyun had just ‘C’ access level, sometimes he was stumbling upon some interesting bits of information. Usually those were contributed by other players with the same access level, they were telling about their adventures, secret quests and rewards for them. Such messages were quickly becoming popular and getting moved to sections he couldn’t access to.

Lee Hyun was trying to catch them before that happened.

About 3-4 such messages a day appeared on the website. And if you carefuly watch it, you can read them before they are moved.

However today he just wasted time again.

‘Whatever. Anyway, i’m almost out of points.’

From the account used by Lee Hyun every day a few of points were deducted. It happened every time he was reading a message. That way Dark Gamers Union was forcing members to post useful messages to earn points, used to view other information.

Hyun got up from the chair and went down to the hall. There he has put on a light jacket, took a basket and went out of house.

Every morning after exersises and browsing news on the internet he was going to the market to get some cheap food.

“Good morning.”

“Oh, young man, you’re early today. I’ve got some fresh cutlass fish today. I’ll sell it to you cheap.”

“Thanks.”

Hyun was coming to the market every day so it was natural that all the salesmen knew him very well.

‘Picky bastard!’

‘Damn that greedy guy!’

Even when buying a single fish, Hyun was very demanding. He was always asking where it was caught, checking how fresh it is, examining eyes and mouth. He was noticing every little thing, even the way the hook was removed.

Salesmen on the market were used to customers with no knowledge of fish’s freshness. However Lee Hyun was well aware of those matters and never hesistated to haggle. He knew all the prices very well and trying to sell him something for more than its price was the gravest possible mistake!

Also Hyun was never searching for cheap food. Every morning he was cooking for his little sister so he was buying only the best of the best.

That kind of ‘infamy’ [reputation?] allowed him to buy best food at reasonable prices without having to bargain.

Using the best ingredients he brought from market he made cutlass fish stew with soy sauce for his sister.

“Thanks, brother. Everything was very tasty as always. I’m off to school!”

“Okay, have a safe trip.”

Once his sister left to school it was time Hyun devoted to himself.

***

Lee hayan was eagerly preparing for ‘Korea’ university entrance exams and was gathering all available information. She was surprised to learn from university website, that there were many ways to get accepted to it. But one particularly attracted her attention, the one for professional gamers.

Video games have become an important part of our life and culture, the amount of people, playing games regularly constantly increases.

After virtual reality came to our lives and the revolutionary Royal Road appeared our university opened a faculty, devoted to video games. There we study entire history of video game industry, from the very beginning to virtual reality.

Conditions to apply:

- Records on awards, related to videogames.

- School diploma.

After provided information is checked, you will be interviewed by one of the future professors, that will check the applicant’s knowledge and make the final decision.

Virtual reality was giving people chance to live their dream.

There were no people with disabilities and everyone was able to enjoy their adventures to the fullest.

After the release of Royal Road the number of travel agencies and consequently number of corresponding faculties of tourism and transportation decreased. But in their place faculties associated with videogames appeared.

Lee Hayan knew what exactly helped their family out of poverty. Money for selling her brother’s game character.

“Hyun doesn’t have any awards, but he has records about the sale of his character, maybe that will do?”

Though the sale records weren’t some kind of gaming award, they still signified an achievement and could serve as a good argument.

Especially since Hyun had great understanding of the subject. During his year of getting ready for Royal Road Hyun studied all the available works on virtual reality.

He probably knew more about virtual reality than any student of gaming faculty.

“It might work.”

Lee Hayan used her savings to buy official application papers and filled them herself on behalf of Lee Hyun!

* * *

Plains of Despair.

On the custom map, made by players a vast blank patch was located to the east of Rosenheim Kingdom and British Confederacy.

There wasn’t much trustworthy information about this region. The few brave souls who dared to go deep into this territory were dying in a couple days under constant attacks from monsters!

On the maps sold at merchant stores only one thing was said about it: ‘If you’re looking for true despair, these lands are for you.’

A very precise and complete description for such a dangerous place.

Weed and following him NPC appeared in a spacious cave, hidden inside one of the hills. The entrance was cleverly disguised by a large stone so that it was impossible to find it without knowing the precise location.

“Awwwoooooooo!”

The moment Weed appeared he was greeted by horrifying wolf howl.

‘Scarry...’

After arriving at the unknown territory it is always important to be cautious. Even NPC knew it. But Buren and Becker seemed to ignore that simple rule.

“If the Chief is with us we don’t have to worry about anything!”

“We trust you, Chief!”

“Let’s go see how you all those monsters down with one swing of the sword!”

“...”

Weed sighed and gave soldiers an order:

“Stay here. Make arrangements for food, rest and guard. Wait for my return.”

“Yes! We understand.”

Luckily for Weed the area around the portal was safe. Having all the initial steps planned in advance, he bought a month’s worth of provisions for his small army.

Weed watched his people set a camp for a bit and then slowly left the hideout to scout the surroundings.

There was strong piercing wind outside.

After nearly tumbling down a few times Weed climbed to the top of the hill to get a good view.

All around were wide grasslands, swaying in the wind.

Plains of Despair was such an unfitting name for this entrancing landscape of rolling green waves.

“Beautiful...”

The grasses was moving in unison as if performing some glorious dance.

Weed took a look around.

To the east of the hill was a mountain range. Not so high or steep, but very long.

“I believe they were called Yuroki mountains on the map?”

The map of Bersa continent by an unknown author. According to it Plains of Despair had only one mountain range - Yuroki mountains.

The place, inhabited by numerous giant monsters!

On top of the mountain range Weed noticed a high stone wall and a fort. And at the center of the fort a strange black temple was visible.

‘This is it...’

It was hard to say for sure at such a gerat distance, but it seemed that there was a Beelzebub statue there. That must have bben the temple of dark god, erected by necromancers of Bar Khan Demoff.

“Chwi-i-ik!”

A weird sound suddenly came from somewhere. Weed immediately fell to the ground and tried to be as unnoticeable as possible.

In the distance an ork dressed in steel armor with a glaive in his hands appeared. Weed’s mood improved after seeing him.

“Well, at least something. Maybe i’ll be able to raise the level of my soldiers by hunting orcs before storming the temple of the dark god. Some work and the mission will be finished in no time.”

His chest started filling with hope and confidence.

“I will never retreat. Will fear no opponent. Even orcs are welcome.”

About the time Weed reached level 200 he cought a stranded treasure-hungry orc. He was looking like a man, a big, gren, ugly man with fangs.

“Nice meeting you, old friend.” - sung Weed and slowly headed towards his target.

The wave of confidence was pushing him to quickly kill his first monster in this land to mark the start of the big hunt and eventual assault on the dark temple!

Rustle!

The trees and bushes at the fool of the mountains started shaking.

Weed, who was about to attack, froze in place.

The Yuroki mountains were moving!

A huge army of orcs was moving between the trees!

Before his eyes a horde of more than 3 thousands orcs was marching.

And he didn’t even know if it was an entire army. And maybe he would never know.

[t/n: this piece looks tricky in korean, 2 long 23-character sentences different in just 1 character.]

“...”

Weed sheathed the sword and held his breath.

‘At least vampires didn’t have such great numbers. There’s just way too many orcs.’

Moreover, the orc horde was just scaring away other, even more fearsome monsters.

In the end Weed had to hug the ground and wait for orcs to pass. Only when the rumbling of the horde disappeared into the distance he dared to lift his head.

As he already had inspected Yuroki mountains, this time Weed looked to the west. There was a great view at the surrounding area from the hill and he managed to see something interesting. A wall. And some frontier human settlement behind it!

Weed made sure there were no monsters around and headed towards the settlement.

You were first to discover the Village of Exiles.

Rewards:

- Fame increased by 300.

- For a week the rewards and experience for the village’s quests are doubled.

When Weed approached the gates an almost forgotten message appeared before him. That was the first time since th Dwarf’s Grave at Baruk mountain range.

‘That means i’m first.’

No player yet managed to come so far into the Plains of Despair. There were many players who were disregarding treir lives to explore new territories, but Plains of Despair were just too vast, so this part remained undiscovered.

Exiles from all over the Bersa continent lived here. Almost all of them were big tough guys with numerous scars all over their bodies.

If Weed didn’t know their origin beforehand he’d have guessed that they were barbarians.

Behind villages walls to his surprise he found around 300 hastily-built wooden houses.

“There’s an outsider.”

“See him for the first time.”

All the villagers were avoiding unfamiliar stranger. But that didn’t stop Weed in the least.

“Hello everyone.”

“It seems you know nothing about our village, stranger. We live in a very dangerous place, we can’t waste time on idle talks, especially with outsiders like you.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I don't trust outsiders.”

Weed tried to start a conversation again and again, but villagers were just leaving while ignoring him or even showing hostility.

“We didn’t forget who banished our ancestors. What did you come here for?”

No one in the village accepted him.

‘Probably this village is completely separated from the rest of the continent and my fame means nothing for them.’

However Weed wouldn’t be himself if he gave up easily.

He decided to take his usual approach: he’s set a campfire in the middle of the village and started to roast a boar that he prepared in advance.

“Come check the meat out, it’s so good you won’t be able to stop. It’s completely free, so eat as much as you want! Also I can carve a beautiful sculpture of any animal for you.”

Weed was aiming at one of the basic instincts - hunger! Who could ignore such delicious food, especially since it was free?

But villagers were still ignoring his efforts and some even got angry.

“Are you making fun of us?”

“We can cook ourselves.”

“Even after starving for ten days a warrior won’t lose his pride. It seems outsiders don’t understand such simple thing.”

“Ahahaha, sculptures... Who even needs them?”

All the inhabitants of Village of Exiles were great warriors.

Despite all Weed’s efforts none of them approached him. The few of them who stopped nearby were just watching from a distance, talking and laughing at him.

And Weed was continuing to roast the boar despite the mockery and threatening looks.

Never before cooking and sculpture mastery failed him. Everyone who as much as tasted his food were absolutely in love with it. And sculptures often brought good results too.

Once he carved a beautiful bouquet for a player named Volk, who was going to propose to a girl he loved. Sculpture mastery was always bringing unexpected benefits.

‘They must have no sense of art... Savages.’

Villagers’ attitude did not upset Weed at all.

‘It’s not the first time I’m being ignored. I’m used to it...’

He remembered well the time he was working at a factory when he was a child.

When Hyun was 14 years old he was already working full-time undoing the seams in a stuffy and dusty room. That was hard and monotonous work and he was only allowed to leave on lunch breaks. Hyun was terribly jealous of cheerful students passing by him when he was on lunch breaks.

At the time he was an outsider for everyone. However that didn’t break him but instead strengthened and made him grow up in spite of everything.

Weed finished roasting the boar, and after having receiving no response, he packed everything back into his bag and continued walking through the village trying to start a conversation. He believed that among all the NPCs there must be at least one who will talk to him.

And he wasn’t wrong. One young guy, who was crouching on the ground and staring at a shield lying besides him, turned to Weed and said:

“Oh, stranger! If you managed to get here you must be worth something.”

“Got where?”

“Hah, you don’t even know where you are?”

“Thanks to the map I have a general idea of my location, but I know nothing about this place.” - honestly replied Weed.

“Well, we don’t know anything about you either. This village appeared here in the Times of Chaos. Heard anything about that?”

“Yeah, but not much.”

“Those were times when everyone went mad and ran rampant. Our ancestors came to these lands and fought for their lives. To be honest they were willing to fight, but they had no weapons. They were driven here without as much as a hilt of a sword...”

Visions of the past started to appear before Weed’s eyes.

Numerous soldiers with spears and swords were chasing poor starving people away into far lands. Lands, filled with multiple dangerous monsters. There were hundreds of thousands of people. The ground was soaked with blood, mourning and grief.

“At first the number of people, banished here, quickly reduced. Only the most tenacious survived. Ahem! I would tell you more, but I’m busy at the moment.”

“Busy? With what?”

“You might have noticed this shield here. Unfortunately it’s broken and I need a replacement as soon as possible. Could you by chance do me a favour?”

“Yes, I’ll help any way I can.”

“Great. You should bring this shield to a certain man and take a new one from him. He’s running a large blacksmith in this village.”

Ding!

New Quest: Shield for Kokun.

Despite all efforts, hunter Kokun failed to fix his shield. If it breaks during the fight he will be in trouble. You have to bring it to his friend Lucille to exchange for a new one.

Difficulty: E.

Restrictions: If you leave the village with the shield Kokun will get angry.

“I’ll bring you a new shield.”

You accepted the quest.

Weed believed that before doing a quest it was important to gather all available information. The shield he got was very heavy and solid.

“Now, shall we? Identification!”

Shield was all cracked and dirty, so it was hard to estimate its value from look alone. Weed was heading to the blacksmith, looking through the shield’s information window in the meanwhile.

Lucille’s Shield

Durability: 12/50.

Defence: 16.

Simple shield made of low-grade metals. It is covered by steel on the outside but very frigid on the inside. It is weak against blunt weapons. It should be replaced at first opportunity.

Requirements: None.

Effects: 50% chance to defend against projectiles.

The village wasn’t very big so it wasn’t too hard to find the blcksmith. However it didn’t look anything like Kokun described. A small furnace with an anvil in a small room with a couple swords and a few other weapons hung on the walls was all Weed saw. The only big thing there was the bearded and muscular smith Lucille.

“I see you for the first time, stranger.”

“I came here at Kokun’s request.”

Weed’s relationships with villagers weren’t quite on the good side, so he decided to take the initiative. However all his worries were unnecessary.

“Oh, come on in. There’s a familiar smell of metal around you. I love fire, that’s why I became a smith. Why did you master this craft?”

Weed quickly considered his answer. Sometimes such insignificant at first glance questions were determining your relationships with NPCs.

“I like melting cold metal and giving it a new shape.”

“Good answer. So, what brought you here?”

Weed handed the shield.

“He asks for a new one.”

“That’s it! That idiot Kokun broke his shield again. I warned him many times to be careful... Ahem! I can’t keep doing this for free. I’ll give another one for 5 gold. That useless Kokun doesn’t have that kind of money, so you’ll have to pay instead.”

“Erm...”

Weed was about to say something rude, as he felt scammed, but held himself at the last moment. It was foolish to give up on the first quest after such a long search. He convinced himself, that this is just more investments in the future.

‘Hmm, I haven’t been cheated like that since meeting that sage Rodrigues.’

Weed passed the gold to the smiling Lucille.

“Thanks. I just happen to have a spare shield for him. Here you go.”

Weed got the shield. The quest was complete and he was about to leave but Lucille stopped him.

“Hey, have you heard about the origins of our village?”

Weed was first to discover this settlement. Maybe that, or the fact of Weed being a smith himself, was what made Lucille to tell him this story.

“Kokun told me a bit. He stopped at the part where only a small part of exiled remained.”

“Great. Then I’ll continue. Survivors were wandering the land of monsters in search for a place to settle. Their first choice was a huge cave, but not everyone liked the idea of living in a constant darkness. Gradually more and more people were coming outside, and eventually they decided to found a village.”

“Incredible, they had the courage to start a settlement in the Plains of Despair!”

Weed wanted to show his admiration for their courage. Even in such dangerous environment the pioneering spirit of humans won!

“Nah, that wasn’t that remarkable. To tell the truth, at that moment there were still a lot of survivors. But they had a disagreement. They’ve split in 2 camps: ones, who didn’t want to change anything and anes who wanted to leave the cave. The latter were the ones who founded our village and later built the wall around it. Unfortunately 99 of every hundred died in the process.”

“...”

That was a story for a horror movie. Unknown lands, full of dangers and a group of defenceless people...

“Yeah, that’s how it all happened. Through trial and error, each of them costed human lives, the survivors acquired new knowledge. They learned which places to avoid, discovered habits of monsters and predators of this land. They started to better understand the world around them. Around that time life in the village started to become safe. Ahem, I guess I talked to much. I still have a lot of work to do. Here, this is my present for you.”

You acquired the map of the plains.

This is the map of the Plains of Despair.

It displays the location of castles, villages, monster dens and cursed places.

Lucille suddenly gave Weed a very valuable item. The map of Plains of Despair and everything in them! With a roughly marked landscape and main habitats of some monster kinds.

Though it was drawn really bad, like it was done by a child who was learning to write.

“Thank you very much.”

“You’re welcome. Try to visit the village more often. The people who don’t hunt are more welcome towards strangers. It would be nice if more new people were coming here.”

Weed headed back to Kokun to deliver the shield. The hunter was waiting for him at the same place while sharpening his sword.

“Oh, you came back? You’re late. Did you bring it?”

Weed gave him the shield.

“Thanks. You did a favour to me, but I don’t have anything to give you. Though wait a second, here, take it.”

The quest “Shield for Kokun” is complete.

The hunter Kokun have already lost his shield a few times in a battle. He was always coming back from the hunt injured, but never yet he brought back anything worthy. Villagers consider him a failure.

No one know where he fights.

Reward: 20 steel arrows for the long bow. A little experience.

Weed opened the character window. The experience bar only grew by 0.001%.

You can’t expect much from a E rank difficulty quest, even with double experience bonus. If only it was one of the quests where experience depended on the completed goals...

Satisfied Kokun examined his new shield and said:

“Oh, yeah, I started telling about our village, right? Remind me where did we stop?”

“The small part of survivors founded the village. Lucille told me up to this part.”

“Hah! He sure loves to talk. Ill continue. To survive we had to become stronger. All the villagers mastered weapons, especially bows: some of us are even better at it than dark elves. What else... Our village is eastmost in the Plains of Despair. The Yuroki mountain range can be clearly seen from here, it’s inhabited by numerous orcs.”

“You founded your village in a dangerous place.”

“Yeah. Most of the villages are like that. We’re even relatively lucky. There’s an iron mine nearby, so we can forge weapons. we have plenty of food too. Though from time to time we’re getting raided by orcs.”

“Orcs?”

“Every year at harvest time they come to plunder our barns. To be honest orcs are the only reason we don’t live in abundance. But sadly they are also the reason we don’t have to deal with other, more dangerous monsters. So we live in poverty, but relatively safe.”

The exile settlement was holding despite annual orc raids.

“However a few years ago orcs started taking not just food, but villagers. After all they can’t make anything themselves!”

“I heard that orcs are the worst race with regard to crafting.”

“That’s right. That’s why they take people away, so that they make weapons and do other work for them. In the last few years they took more than a hundred people! Damn orcs!”

“Have you tried to stop them?”

Kokun burst into laughing.

“Ha! To stop the horde?! I never heard anything dumber. Orcs love fighting, they’re unrivaled at it. They fight not only humans, but elves and giant monsters and even each other!”

“I see.”

“I tell you all this because you didn’t yet understand what a dangerous place you got into. Even our best wariors have a hard time hunting some monsters, giant ant for example. We hold a celebration if they bring one from the hunt. Do you think you can hunt 5 of them? If you manage this villagers will change their attitude towards you.”

Ding!

New quest: Kukun’s doubt.

Hunter Kokun had met a lot of people who talked big but did little. To oppose the orcs one needs not just courage but sharp mind.

Catch 5 giant ants to prove your courage.

Difficulty: C.

Reward: recognition of the villagers.

Penalty for failure: hunter Kokun won’t talk to you any more.

A new quest!

Kokun narrowed his eyes and continued:

“Let it be a test for you. I won’t be surprised if you refuse. Consider this a challenge for outsiders.”

Weed went quiet for a moment and then answered firmly:

“I’ll catch those giant ants.”

You accepted the quest.

“I sure hope so. You can find giant ants in the plains to the west. They’re easy to find. Though i’m not sure if you can run away if something goes wrong.”

***

Weed left the village and headed back to the hill where his men were hiding. 10 Royal knights, Buren, Becker, Hosram, Dale, 400 soldiers and 50 priests. A small army led by Weed!

“Keep waiting.”

“As you say, Chief!”

Weed stood in front of the stone at the entrance to the cave and took out his sculpting tools. He already got a hang of carving sculptures, Zahab’s knife and a chisel were moving in his hands at an incredible speed!

He carved the familiar face that sometimes even appeared in his dreams! The face of Seoyoon served as a model for yet another sculpture.

‘I hope it ends up as another fine piece...’

Weed had big expectations. He had never yet failed at carving Seoyoon’s face...

In his sculptures he tried many times to use faces of other girls, but never succeeded with it.

Because of the minor details it was hard to recreate person's face. Sometimes when looking at a beautiful face you understand that something is missing. It seems that if you make nose a bit higher or eyes bigger you’ll achieve perfection.

Especially that was the case with women faces.

But in fact if start changing something you get unexpected results. By doing minor changes you change overall balance. That’s why the ‘fixed’ result usually ends up inferior to the original.

For every failed work sculptor’s fame was decreasing. Weed wished to avoid that, so he was only carving Seoyoon’s face. Her appearance was so flawless, that just by changing the expression a little he could change the overall atmosphere.

This time Weed decided to carve Seoyoon as a fearsome warrior.

For the clothes and armor he used the equipment of northern mercenaries, he heard that there are many female mercenaries among them.

The fierce and confident Seoyoon with a sword in front of her looked like she was guarding the entrance from dangerous monsters. That was a perfect image of a worthy and proud mercenary.

Ding!

Fine piece! You finished the statue of female mercenary!

The northern lands are poor and unfit for farming, so a lot of northern women become mercenaries to protect their homes and earn some money. They never retreat and always finish their assigned tasks.

With weapons in their hands they fearlessly slay the most dangerous monsters of the north! Ever since knights became too arrogant the peacekeeping duty fell on mercenaries’ shoulders.

Artistic value: 600.

Effects:

- Health and mana regeneration increased by 15% for a day.

- Movement speed increased by 15%.

- Charisma increased by 100.

- Strength increased by 10.

- Agility increased by 10.

- All attributes increased by 5.

- For a week after seeing the statue you can take a mission at the mercenary guild on better terms.

- Experience gain increased by 5%.

These effects do not stack with effects of other sculptures.

The number of created fine pieces: 5.

Sculpture mastery experience points gained.

Fame increased by 85.

Endurance increased by 1.

New attribute: Charisma!

Charisma:

this attribute represents the ability to attract people. Primarily those of opposing sex. You become more attractive and charming. One of the main attributes for bards, dancers and party leaders. If your profession is related to crafting, charisma will help you to create more detailed works.

Due to your profession, your charisma attribute is raised by 20.

Fortitude raised by 5.

Seoyoon’s image didn’t fail him this time either.

‘Hmm, this sculpture doesn’t affect combat performance much, but it increses experience gain, which is not bad as well.’

And he also got a new attribute that influenced Weed’s sculpture skill, an unexpected but pleasant gift.

“Hmmm...”

Weed tried to examine the reflection of his face in the knife’s blade to see if it changed after the new attribute appeared.

Then he took his best-looking pose and addressed his soldiers.

“Gather everyone. We’re moving out!”

Weed and his army headed out into plains to hunt giant ants.

“Priests, prepare for battle, bless the warriors.”

“Yes. Freya, please give your faithful servants power to fight against evil, Bless!”

Priests used group blessing. Order of Freya have sent their best priests with Weed so blessing 400 soldiers at once wasn’t a problem for them.

But Weed still decided to act careful. He believed that if he was to throw simple soldiers into the fight from the start there’d be no way to avoid losses, despite the support of Freya’s priests.

“Knights move ahead with me, the rest of you follow us at a certain distance.”

The Royal Knights were grumbling but still following Weed’s orders.

“We will obey for now.”

“Until we finish our mission we have to listen to you. But don’t get the idea that we do it out of respect.”

Weed was ignored in the village! Now he was ignored here as well!

Weed sighed to himself and witohut a word let the knights ahead to search for the ants.

When he was listening to Kokun he didn’t take him seriously. Well, the ants were big, they were hard to catch, so what? However after seeing those monsters he couldn’t hold his surprise:

“Woah, they’re really huge!”

Though ordinary ants were 1 cm long, the monsters that were running around the plains in front of them were easily over a few meters long. And they were moving extremely fast!

“Don’t get bothered by their size, go! Attack!”

Accompanied by knights, Weed rushed towards monsters. But they were moving just too fast. In one step they were passing a few meters and were often making sharp turns.

Knights had to be extremely careful to avoid a frontal attack of moving at top speed ants.

Weed couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

‘I spent so many reputation points on them, and this all I got...’

Knights weren’t able to kill even a single ant! The brave warriors were just running in circles trying to dodge rushing monsters.

“We need to slow down the ants! Priests, use slows!”

“Will be done, oh devoted one.”

Thankfully, Weed’s faith helped him to command the priests. They were executing his orders quickly and accurately.

50 priests simultaneously recited prayers:

“The beauty of Freya stops everyone in their steps. So be it! By the power of our faith, Slow!”

Bizarre anti-blessing of priests started to work. The movements of giant ants started to slow down more and more. The prayers of 50 priests added up and the resulting spell was a lot more powerful than the prayer of a single priest.

After a few seconds ants froze in place.

“Knights, attack! Archers, start shooting! The rest, guard the priests.”

“Yes!”

A hundred of soldiers pulled their bows and released a swarm of arrows at the frozen monsters. Ants were so big, that it was very easy to aim at them.

The remaining 300 soldiers were guarding the priests. And Weed rushed to attack the ants.

They had to hurry, as priests had to constantly spend mana to keep the slow spell up.

‘We can’t let this drag for too long.’

Archers’ attacks were gradually reducing monsters’ health.

‘They’re so big that arrows are like mosquito bites for them...’

Along with Weed the knights rushed to attack the ants. They were climbing on top of them and breaking open their shells with swords. Some were cutting off their legs.

Weed followed others’ example and climbed on the ant’s head. That was dangerous but danger didn’t stop him. He was hacking the monsters along with the knights.

Giant ants were holding for a long time.

Sometimes they were managing to weaken the slowing spells of the priests and shake the knights off them. Every time that happened Weed’s heart was skipping a beat. Fortunately Knights weren’t dying so easy, so after the fall they were getting back up, receiving some healing from priests and going back into fight.

In such manner an hour since the start of the fight Weed’s little army finished the last giant ant.

You have Level up.

You receive giant and chitin shell.

You receive giant ant antennae. You can use them to find the cave where the queen of giant ants is hidden.

“Excellent.”

Only after defeating the ants Weed realized that their level was over 350.

“They’re ridiculously strong.”

It took quite a lot of skill to fight such strong monsters. It was fortunate that because of his high fame and previously completed tasks his level was quite high.

After gathering all the loot and leading his army back to their hideout Weed headed back to the village of exiles.

There he showed the ant shells to Kokun.

“I didn’t expect much. Thought you were just another braggart. But I was wrong, you really defeated the giant ants.”

Kokun carefully examined the ant shells brought by Weed.

“Amazing. By dealing with them you proved that you’re really an outstanding warrior. No one will doubt you any more.”

Ding!

You have completed a quest: ‘Kokun’s doubt’.

In the whole village of exiles only a few people ever managed to hunt 5 giant ants. And those people are called the greatest warriors and the main protectors of the village. Now Kokun will spread the news of another great warrior among the villagers.

Reward:

- Kokun’s knife.

- Experience points.

- Fame increased by 6.

This time too Weed checked the experience bar. For this quest he was awarded 15% of experience bar. But the most important was the fact that the villagers will finally start to accept him.

“This is my knife. Now it belongs to you. Such a great warrior like you is always a welcome friend for me.”

Kokun took out a small knife and passed it to Weed.

“...”

That was the most dirty and dull blade Weed ever saw in the game.

“And what do I need it for?”

“It’s handy for removing bark from trees. Very useful knife.”

Weed decided not to reply, he already had Zahab’s knife and Kokun’s gift was of no use to him.

“I’ll continue my story about our village. The place where it’s located is really very dangerous. If you act rashly you can easily lose your life. That’s why you should never underestimate orcs. Since early childhood they’re trained to fight monsters, very strong monsters... It can be said that orcs rule these lands.”

“Got it. Avoid the orcs.”

“That’s right, if you value your life at least. However high in the Yuroki mountains live dark elves, Moreover recently some dark creatures that use magic appeared and allied themselves with elves.”

Weed’s gaze became keener.

“Could you tell me more about that?”

“Village’s hunters, like me, aren’t that aware of what happens in the Yuroki mountains. But we saw many times how orcs fight with dark elves. Almost every time orcs were winning, even though elves use dark magic and summoned spirits. But ever since those dark creatures appeared, orcs started to lose more fights. A lot more fights. Moreover, the slain orcs were rising and attacking their own kind. I almost got killed a few times when I watched such battles.”

Weed was well aware what kind of dark creatures were allied with dark elves. The necromancers of bar Khan Demoff.

“Dark elves started to win. They even built walls, fort and then a fortress and towers in the mountains. Thought that seems strange, isn’t it?”

“Right.”

Elves were the race who lived in harmony with world and nature.

And even though dark elves loved to fight, they still lived in natural environment. Why would they move into a fortress?

“I have a feeling that elves are preparing for a war. Are they going to start the full scale war with orcs and are hiding something behind those walls? I don’t know anything, I can only guess. However one thing I can tell for sure: ever since elves got support nights in our lands became longer.”

“Longer?”

“At certain time dark clouds emerge from elven fortress, and they cover the entire sky. The time for which we can see the sun keeps reducing. Take a look in the evening and you’ll see for yourself.”

That’s how Weed learned the rough situation in the Plains of Despair.

“By the way, if you meet brother and sister Moss and Amy in the village, don’t talk to them about the shape shifting monsters. Now I need to go hunting.”

Kokun picked up his shield, waved his head and left the village.

Chapter 6: Sculpture Transformation

Weed was slowly walking through the village.

After he successfully completed the quest, villagers stopped ignoring him.

“We respect strong fighters. You need a lot of power to protect friends and family.”

“They say you killed 5 Giant Ants? Incredible! I have something to be done, will you help me when you’re free?”

Weed was getting small requests from villagers and at the same time getting to know more about the situation in the village. For example, the Village of Exiles didn’t have any stores, and the villagers were buying things from each other.

‘Hmmm, I won’t be able to do much trading around here.’

While exploring the village, Weed noticed a crying boy. For some reason, he immediately thought that it was Moss, mentioned by Cocoon. Especially since there weren’t that many kids in the village.

“What happened?”

Weed approached him and asked the boy, but he shook his head.

“You’re a stranger. Strangers don’t need to know that.”

“...”

That was a very cold reception. However, Weed was persistent. When you’re denied something, it only makes you want it more!

“A lot of monsters live around this village. I heard there are even shape-shifting monsters, maybe you got hurt by one of them?”

After hearing about the monsters, the boy immediately raised his head. Tears on his face went dry, and his eyes shone with hatred.

“Have you ever hunted shape-shifting monsters before?”

“Of course. I hunted many monsters.”

“Then help us. Those monsters... those damn monsters are after my sister.”

Weed felt that there was definitely a quest associated with this conversation.

“Tell me more about what happened.”

“Actually...”

The boy vividly told about his problem.

The monsters that were attacking the village saw his sister Amy. The Doppelganger that led them fell in love with her at first sight.

“I like you human! I will feed you as much as you want if you come with me!”

The leader of the Doppelgangers was inviting Amy to his lair but she was persistent in her rejection. She didn’t want to leave her older brother Moss.

Then Doppelganger turned into her brother Moss, copying his face and body, becoming his perfect copy.

“Will this do? Will you come with me now?”

“To live with a monster, whose original form is long since forgotten? I'd rather bite off my tongue and die!”

Amy threatened to end her life and Doppelganger reluctantly retreated.

He liked her a lot. And in the Plains of Despair, monsters usually got what they wanted.

“Fine, human. I can wait. I'll give you 3 years, after that I will take you with me! And if you refuse then, I’ll slay every person in this village.”

The time given by the Doppelganger was running out in 3 months.

Moss was pleading with tears in his eyes.

“Please don’t let them take my sister. I don’t have anything to give you, but please help me. Those Doppelgangers live in the woods to the north.”

Ttiring!

Doppelganger covets a village beauty.

Monsters think of humans as things.

The leader of Doppelgangers likes the girl Amy.

Kill him so she doesn’t get taken away!

Difficulty: C.

Reward: Unknown.

Conditions: Moss and Amy must survive.

‘That means I’ll fight shape-shifting Doppelgangers soon.’

Usually Weed would just refuse this quest. The reward was unknown and Doppelgangers were very unpleasant opponents. They use magic and often can do something completely unexpected.

However, the boy’s tears reminded Weed of his past.

When his parents died, he was left only with his grandmother and his younger sister. It seemed like the world had ended back then. He had no one to rely on. He wanted some support but there was no one to provide it.

That’s why he understood Moss’s feeling very well. If he had someone to ask for help back then only to get rejected his life would be ruined completely.

Weed nodded and replied:

“I’ll protect Amy for sure.”

You accepted the quest.

“Thank you, stranger!”

Moss smiled for the first time since they met.

* * *

Weed left the village and headed towards the hideout.

From their peaceful kingdom, brave warriors of Rosenheim got right into the middle of Plains of Despair.

And in their first battle, they had to fight Giant Ants! To survive they had to give it their all. They won in that battle, kept their lives and as a reward all of them got 2-3 levels.

Soldiers’ faith in Weed was absolute.

“Commander! Where are we going now?”

“The innocent people of nearby village are being harassed by a Doppelganger, it threatens them and wants to take a beautiful girl Amy from her older brother Moss.”

“We must stop them.” - replied Hosram in a firm voice.

The Royal Knights were touched by the story too.

“It is knight’s duty to protect weak, we will follow you.”

“I can’t tolerate that a young girl is suffering from an evil monster.”

“Please take us with you, we will definitely stop Doppelganger.”

The small army headed to the northern woods, where the Doppelganger lived. Sunlight couldn’t penetrate the thick canopy of trees to dispel the darkness below. Many dangerous monsters inhabited these woods and sometime ghastly sounds could be heard.

“The earth is tainted.”

“This forest is cursed.”

The priests’ warnings didn’t stop Weed.

“Summon Death Knight!”

Death Knight Van Hawk remained in front of the troops.

“Oh, a familiar place.”

The Death Knight walked valiantly.

And shortly after they discovered the Doppelganger. They could tell it was the Doppelganger because it had the same appearance as the boy Moss. Weed and the soldiers eagerly attacked the Doppelganger.

During the fight, the Doppelganger changed his form a few times. By alternating the skills used against the soldiers, Royal Knights and Van Hawk, it endured. The variety of skills it used was enough to cause confusion, but thanks to the combination of Weed and the Death Knight along with the Priests’ healing, the soldiers were able to win.

Weed and the soldiers eagerly took on quests.

All kinds of monsters emerged around the Village of Exiles. Giant Ants, Doppelgangers and so on, usually discovering the monsters at the start was the hardest part. The missions asked of them involved killing bizarre plants, animals and flame monsters within caves.

“Commander, we’ll serve under you!”

“Commander, we’ll follow you anywhere!”

Weed seduced the soldiers! In fact, the power of the soldiers did not help much early on. The reason being they were too weak. However, while hunting strong monsters one by one, they were getting stronger at a very fact pace. The mastery of the Royal Knights rose and the pincer movement with the Priests was done smoothly.

The army’s morale changed dramatically. At first, the soldiers didn’t trust in Weed much and weren’t providing much help as they were weak. But time was passing and the more they hunted the stronger they became. Weed in the central role was sweating due to the light. Hunting the large monsters around and sweeping through the quests was Weed!

There were plenty of perilous moments, but Weed successfully resolved the quest and went on. And then the experience climbed at a very fast rate. When hunting just one of the monsters, a certain amount of experience and items will drop. But when you receive a hunting quest, in addition to when you catch the monsters, the quest experience rewards were very savory. The experience they received was practically 3 times as much as they would receive in Rosenheim Kingdom.

‘I guess because it’s somewhat dangerous.’

However, the drawback to the quests was the poor quality of things received.

In areas with poorly developed technology, all the produced items were of poor quality. That’s why when Weed was receiving weapons as reward he was giving it to Royal Knights or soldiers.

“Thanks Commander.”

“I’ll be sure to use it well.”

Every time Weed gave away some item, he was crying inside. It was very hard to take the item you gave to NPC back without your intimacy declining sharply.

‘Inevitable but...’

After hunting in the Plains of Despair he reached level 279. Even the soldiers rose their levels significantly, the Royal Knights and Priests were also quite strong. However, with the Orcs and Dark Elves as the opponent, they were woefully lacking.

* * *

Orcs!

The word Orc immediately brought a few images to mind. Greedy and tenacious race. With strong obsession they were vengeful opponents. Quickly multiplying like cockroaches and good at fighting. The Orcs were at least in the thousands, maybe even the tens of thousands!

“Urgh!”

Back in the cave Weed groaned helplessly. The hunt around the village was going well, but how was he supposed to defeat armies of Orcs, Dark Elves and Necromancers?

His subordinates were at best 4 Centurions, 400 soldiers and 10 Royal Knights. Of course he had 50 Priests, but their power was only helpful when supporting the fighting troops to some extent.

After a number of runs, the usefulness of the Royal Knight could be considered similar to Freya’s Paladins to some extent. Going right up the Yuroki Mountains with just this amount of power, they are bound to surely die. They will die at the hands of the Orcs before even meeting the Necromancers.

Enemies on all sides.

Orcs and Necromancers were definitely enemies!

But the Dark Elves were allied with the Necromancers.

Weed was thinking hard. Usually he was very sharp and knew well when to flatter or keep silent to earn more money, but now he was struggling to find any solution to this situation.

‘The enemies are strong but they’re not exactly close to each other.’

Finally in Weed’s head from a fiction book he read at some unknown time in childhood a sentence emerged.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend!

The moment he recalled that sentence, it seemed like the fog in his mind started to clear. Like a bright ray of light appeared in the darkness of hopelessness.

Weed wasn’t that much into complicated novels. The more complex the book was the harder his head ached after reading it. Therefore he liked simple, clear, cheerful stories, which he mainly read. Fantasy, adventures and comics!

‘Books never lie.’

The next idea that came to his head he encountered in comics a few times. And if he combines it with his sculpture mastery it could lead to something interesting.

‘Won’t hurt to just try.’

Weed left the cave and started looking for a big stone. There were a lot of stones around but he needed one of a certain size.

‘Not this one, I need one higher than me.’

Finally he found a stone about 3 meters high.

Zahab’s Carving Knife moved quickly cutting through the rock.

Gradually an odd shape started to appear from the stone. It was neither Seoyoon, who was the usual motive of Weed’s works, nor some object. It was a creature alive and moving. Warlike and greedy species.

Orc!

However, while working on the sculpture, Weed became plunged in distress.

‘Orcs are greedy. But I mean, I don’t understand the greed. Greedy for what? Peaceful and beautiful world, I have no idea on the activities and excessive obsession of selfish and greedy creatures.’

For a perfect sculpture, it is very important to understand the target. Weed did not know how the heck to understand Orcs.

It was surely not going to be easy to understand Orcs more than humans. The created statue was made in the form of a modest Orc. It was roughly the shape of an exemplary Orc. While sculpting various monsters, he had never sculpted an Orc, so as much as possible he faithfully resurrected the memories of time.

Unassuming and ordinary statue. Somewhat docile and awkward Orc was being created. Then one moment that happened some time ago suddenly emerged. The big incident where a whopping 5 gold had been blown to obtain a shield for Cocoon. Back then there was no other way, but still.

At that time he was expecting to receive a reward for the quest. But when he actually completed the quest, all he gained was from Cocoon was a story, a few words and a knife. He entered 5 gold and failed to even get 1 copper back. He seemed to fall over in regret.

Money! Money! Money! Money! Money!

Obsession over 5 lost gold! Greed! Obsession! Desire! Grudge!

"Euaaaa!"

Weed moved the carving knife brilliantly. The statue became filled with life. Selfish wrinkles under the eyes, gaping mouth ready to devour and a pig nose filled with desire.

‘Preferably a little stronger, show significant muscle, add scar marks to make him more life-like!’

‘I think I’ll make his muscles bigger so he looks tougher and add scar marks so he’s more life-like!’

Perfect combat type Orc statue.

As special image settings, he made the teeth large and thick. And then a larger size and grotesque nose, eyes filled with selfishness, the Orc statue was born. A face that even kept the devil away, it was hard to keep your eyes open and the body covered with muscles was at least twice as great as a normal Orc.

Ttiring!

Fine Piece! You completed the Monster Orc statue!

An artist with normal sense would absolutely fail to create such a statue. Completed with excellent dexterity, but it seems it would be better to put it in storage without having it see the light of day.

Artistic value: 1.

Special Effects:

- Gazing at the Orc statue will increase health and mana regeneration by 5% for a day.

- Movement speed increased by 15%.

- Intellect decreased by 10.

- Charm decreased by 200.

- Strength increased by 20.

- Agility increased by 10.

- Charisma increased by 60.

- Leadership increased by 50.

- Can stop the crying of a crying child.

- Those with low courage, just by looking at the Orc statue will become severely atrophic.

Effects don’t stack with other sculptures.

Until now completed number of Fine Pieces: 6.

- Mastery of Sculpting skill has risen.

- Fame increased by 46.

- Fighting Spirit increased by 1.

- Endurance increased by 3

- Charisma increased by 3.

- Fortitude increased by 5.

The Orc statue was completed. The low artistic value bothered him a little, but Weed regarded it fortunate that it wasn’t an abomination. Even though he created it, he feared such a dreadful Orc would emerge in his dreams.

Looking at the statue head on, regardless of the reason, he wanted to smash it! He wanted to shatter it with Destruction Sculpture on the spot!

‘But I painstakingly created it, so it’s like my child...’

Weed’s heart was captivated. However, even with affection, he would have to adapt as much as possible to the damn statue.

Weed instead of using Destruction Sculpture cast another skill. The first use of Daron’s sculpture skill! The secret art!

“Sculpture Transformation!”

You have used Sculpture Transformation.

The sculpture skill that uses boundless affection to make the sculptor resemble the sculpture.

Weed’s appearance gradually changed.

His height increasingly grew and rugged muscles were created. Hair grew covering his entire body, and then after a while, his appearance completely into an Orc. Even the back of his hands and the inside of his feet was completely Orc. Height obstinately grew, changing his eye level. The thickness of the limbs was different and he gained a plentiful belly.

“Successful? Chwiik!”

Until now he was able to speak normally. But now the exclusive property of Orcs, the chwiik sound emerged.

“This, chwiiik. Strange. Chwichichichiik!”

Weed tried to keep his mouth shut but his teeth were too large to close it.

Body type has changed, many of the worn equipment are unable to be used.

After the reverse transformation you will be able to equip it again.

Whole body can wear iron armor or heavy clothing.

Depending on the type of species, new equipment must be obtained.

Due to Sculpture Transformation, strength and agility slightly increase.

Intellect and wisdom will fall to the lowest level.

Art stat is reduced by half.

Charisma rises significantly.

Will remain valid until Sculpture Transformation is released.

He confirmed through the character window. Strength, agility and vitality increased, whereas other stats reduced slightly. The blow was especially great in art and wisdom. In addition, with the exception of his sword and cape, all his armor and gloves could not be worn.

“In transformed state, choeik! I won’t be able to use? Chwiiii!”

The race itself was different so it couldn’t be helped. Trudge. Weed unfamiliar with his steps climbed the Yuroki Mountains filled with Orcs. He walked with steps like a waddling duck, but with his great height, he was immediately able to climb the mountain.

Chapter 7: Simple-minded Orc Karichwi

Mountains were swarming with Orcs!

Orc scouts. Orc champions. Orc warriors.

In the past Weed had been in lots of different situations and thought he’d keep his cool whatever happens, but now even he couldn’t stay unfazed.

‘If they see through my act - I’m done for.’

Weed was soaked with sweat, as he was climbing up the mountain slope.

However brave one considered himself, it would be hard to match your behavior, when there’re only Orcs all around.

There were Orcs in Rosenheim kingdom too, but their levels ranged from 80 to 130. So you could always run away from them if something went wrong.

Here, in Plains of despair, monsters were much stronger. Even Goblins and Cobolds, which were considered the weakest monsters in the game, had different combat strength depending on the area they lived in.

And in this land Orcs had to fight for their territory since childhood. They were fighting giant monsters, so their level and therefore strength far exceeded that of their brethren from Rosenheim kingdom.

But the scariest part was not their strength, but their countless numbers! If something was to go wrong here and he has to run away, he’ll be chased by thousands of Orcs.

Weed had no intention of experiencing ‘death by Orcs’ hands in Plains of Despair’. That’s why he tried to be careful not to attract any attention.

“Chwiiik!”

Weed accidentally met the gaze of one of the Orcs standing in front of him. Level 210 Orc champion! Even some knights, known for their honor, like to stare others down to show their superiority, and this was an Orc captain.

“Chwiiik!”

Orc glared at Weed, his eyes glowing with malice.

‘I’m in trouble.’

Orc’s rude attitude made Weed frown.

‘I can’t blow my cover...’

First of all Weed decided to smile. A reliable approach, that never before failed to help him to establish a friendly relationship. A great interpersonal skill.

Weed made his best fake smile.

But he wasn’t quite used to his new appearance, so he involuntary knit his brows and the corners of his mouth were trembling a little. His oversized fangs shifted forward even more.

At that moment Orc champion looked away!

“Chwik! Chwik! Chwik!”

He got scared! Weed’s appearance alone managed to scare an Orc captain, so he said with a hint of superiority:

“Be careful next time. Chwiiik!”

“I will. Chwik. Chwik. Chwik.”

On Weed’s way up the mountain such incidents repeated a few more times. In front of Weed’s fearsome stature and appearance other Orcs were cringing in fear.

That way without any hindrances Weed reached the place, where Orcs were fighting a monster.

“I’ll kill everyone, everyone! Cwichwik!”

“Chwiiik! This is our land!”

A few dozen Orcs were fighting a giant fire monster - a mix of a mantis and a centipede! It was breathing fire and crushing opponents with his weight.

Orcs were relentlessly swinging their glaives, but couldn’t pierce the thick skin of their foe.

The fire giant had level 280 - a very dangerous opponent. There were countless monster like this one in the Plains of Despair. That’s why this region was considered one of the most dangerous on the continent!

Weed watched the Orcs’ battle. No wonder they say that you can watch two things forever: a burning fire and a real fight!

‘If all Orcs die, I’ll get their items...’

Besides Weed was now left without any armor and it could be said that he was standing there naked.

Weed had to wait for the battle to end.

The fire giant was moving around at a great speed, coiling his entire body and breathing fire at nearby opponents. Orcs were dying one after another.

Weed was watching it calmly, when a realization came to his mind:

‘I’m not a human now. On my place no Orc would be able to mercilessly watch his kin die.’

Weed rushed forward, grabbing one of the dropped glaives on the way.

“Iyahap!”

He struck the distracted giant in the side with all his might. The giant, like a building, monster fell, rising a cloud of dust. Even after becoming an Orc Weed didn’t lose his strength and skill!

The fire giant acknowledged his new opponent. It hastily crawled aside, got up and rushed towards the new threat. Bursting with flames enemy was quickly approaching!

Weed instinctively jumped high into the air an landed on giant’s head.

“Sculpting, Chwiik! Blade, Chwiiik!”

Even in the Orc’s body he was able to use the Sculpting Blade technique, but because of his lowered intelligence his mana was running out quickly.

On the other hand he was a lot stronger now.

Weed has swung the glaive down on the monsters head with all his might and just barely scratched it.

The glaive blade wasn’t very sharp, but with every hit the wound on the giant’s head was getting deeper.

“Kuwo-o-o-o-o!”

The fire giant was jumping and spinning its head, trying to throw Weed off.

If he was to fall, he’ll be in a very bad situation. Weed knew it, so he firmly secured his legs position and was dealing one blow after another while maintaining balance.

Moster was raging so much, that it almost managed to shake Weed off, but in the last moment he managed to grab its antennae.

“Die already, Chwiiik!”

Of course hanging from a head of the head of the giant monster was a lot harder than from a handrail on a bus. But Weed’s training helped him not to fall off. He had perfect control over his body! When you have a foothold, you can properly use force. Weed clung to the giant’s head like a cockroach and continued to deal blows.

Other Orcs weren’t idling as well.

“We, Chwiik, got backup!”

“Chwiiik! To battle!”

Orcs attacked the monster, swinging their weapons.

The fire giant was breathing fire, twisting and jumping, but still couldn’t stand against the united attack of Weed and Orcs and finally fell to the ground, dead.

Ding!

You have leveled up.

Hunting a giant in Yuroki mountains raised your Fame by 1.

Weed cried out happily!

It’s been a while since it happened to him on the hunt last time. Before, when he was immersed in battle over his head, he was often letting out occasional cries of joy.

“Chwiiiik!”

“Chwichwichwiiik!”

Orcs started screaming delightfully as well.

A view, worthy of a great artist: Weed, standing on a giant’s head, and a happily screaming crowd of Orcs around him. From the side it looked like they joined forces to accomplish impossible!

But after every victory there was a very important thing to do.

Weed collected the loot.

You received the Skin from the back of Fire Giant.

After processing this material could be used to create armor. The armor, made from it will be lighter and a lot tougher than tempered steel, such materials were very hard to acquire.

“Thanks! Chwiik!”

“Chwichwichwit, you saved us.”

Orcs gathered around Weed and were thanking him. He helped them in time of great danger and they were very grateful to him. However even in such a moment some Orcs were looking away from him from time to time.

Such face wasn’t easy to get used to!

But Weed was reassured by such reaction.

“Chwiik, you hunt such critters? Chwiit, you should have called me. I love fighting. Chwichwichwiiik! I love gems and good items even more.”

“Chwii. We admit. You are a warrior. We are proud of you, Orc warrior.”

Similarities attract - this rule was working even in game.

Orcs, who liked to fight and hoard the most, immediately liked Weed.

“I see you for the first time. Where did you come from? Chwiiik!”

“I don’t know. Chwi!”

Weed looked somewhere into the distance of plains with sad eyes. And though he tried to look as sad as possible, for everyone else it looked like he thinks of past bloody battles and slaughters.

“When i was 1 year old, my mother left this place with me. Chwik! We lived in plains. And now i returned. Chwiiik! Don’t ask any more.”

“As you say. Chwiik!”

“Let’s go hunt. Chwiik!”

“Okay. Chwi!”

Weed took the invitation and joined the Orcs’ party.

Anywhere, even among monsters Weed felt himself at home! Weed was master at assessing the situation and evaluating possible profit, whether it was a free serving of rice porridge or a free ride on the train. Since he was a child various difficulties he had to endure taught him to think outside the box and quickly adapt to situation.

“Wo-o-o-ah!”

“Chwiik, chwiik!”

* * *

All over Yuroki mountains Orc villages were scattered.

And after the hunt warriors from the party Weed joined invited him to their place.

“Chwiiit! Come with us.”

“May I? Chwik! Chwiik!”

“Yeah. Our family is big. Chwichwichwit. Good warriors, chwiiik, are welcome.”

“Chwik! Thanks, friend.”

Weed followed the Orcs deep into the mountains.

On their way he saw a lot of other settlements, big like human cities. They didn’t have walls or castles, but had many big buildings. One such houses housed 10 Orcs, and there were more than a 1000 buildings in a settlement.

Orcs led Weed into one of such settlements. At the entrance Weed was stopped by guards.

“Not just anyone is allowed to enter. Chwiik!”

Weed looked at them calmly and said:

“You got a problem? Chwiik!”

An Orc-like demon! With the scariest face in the world.

Weed’s appearance was his best pass anywhere. And his companions tried to defend him too.

“This is our friend. Chwiik! We fought together. Chwik!”

“H-he is still n-not allowed. Chwik!”

“Chwiiik. He must call his name. Chwik! Then he can enter.”

Though guards’ hands were trembling, they still managed to give proper reply.

Weed stopped for a moment to think. To completely get into the role of an Orc he must get a new name. He completely forgot about it.

“I am Kari... chwi!”

He hastily thought of a new name - Kari, but his body failed him again and Orcs heard a different thing.

“Karichwi! Karichwi! Chwiik. Come inside.”

That is how Weed became Karichwi, as Orcs’ names often ended in ‘-chwi’.

‘That’s how it is.’

Kari or Karichwi, it didn’t matter for him.

Weed forgot the incident and entered the settlement.

* * *

“Chwiiik! Selling cheap.”

“Chwik! Selling even cheaper!”

“Chwiit! I sell cheap too.”

A lot of things in the Orc village was similar to human settlements.

Orcs were selling armor and weapons in their stores. Most of the items were made here, in this settlement, so they were of poor quality.

But the prices were sky-high.

“Chwik. This rusty cracked glaive, chwiiik! You want it? Everyone wants it. I’ll give it to you just for 60 000 gold. Chwiik!”

The glaive with attack power of 20 and 10 remaining points of durability costed 60 000 gold! Outrageous scam. Simple Orcs thought, that if they call high prices they’ll become rich quickly. That is why they tried to sell everything at ridiculous prices.

The cheapest herbs costed 20 000 gold, and cheapest armor - 50 000. Glaives, that were more or less useful, were priced at 150 000 gold and more.

Weed was very curious, so he asked one of his companions:

“Chwiik. Do they really manage to sell anything?”

“Chwichwichwi. Never saw it once. Chwii. Stupid idiots.”

“Chwiik. Oh, you are certainly not like them.”

Orc, praised by Weed, shrugged.

“Of course. Chwiik! If it’s not getting sold, you should ask at least 2 million gold!”

“...”

Weed was speechless.

But even harder challenge was awaiting him. Female Orcs from the village! By human standards Weeds appearance was terrifying, but in this place he was popular.

“Strong hands. Chwichichwi!”

“Powerful chest. Chwichichiik.”

“Thick fangs, harder than an axe.”

“With jaw like that his throat won’t run dry in the rain. Chwiik! And look at his nose!”

“Wide shoulders and muscular body.”

“My ideal. Chwiiiik!”

Women were leaning against Weed, displaying their affection. Some of them were winking at him, others were caressing their chest.

Even the bravest man would be scared in this situation. Such an insistent affection made Weed wish to leave the settlement as soon as possible.

Even though they were women, they was a huge crowd of them!

“What are they doing? Chwiik!”

“Women love strong. They love you. Chwiik!” - replied one of his companions with envy.

* * *

Living with Orcs in one house, Weed was tormented most by two things.

First was females.

At any time of day and night they were tirelessly trying to get his love. They were doing everything a woman in life could think of.

That would never happen to an underage. But Weed was officially recognized to be over 20, so his account was adjusted accordingly.

For adults in the game there were provided special services. The night life. Pleasures, available only for adults!

But who would want to share a bed with an Orc? Surely not Weed.

‘I can’t lose my virginity like this!’

He was trying to avoid meeting females at all cost.

The second thing was food.

Orcs were eating half-raw, barely cooked food. Weed, who was almost addicted to good food because of his high cooking skill, couldn’t get used to the tastes of his new brethren.

The tasteless barley bread was a lot better. He was often dreaming about it now.

Though sometimes there were breaks in his torment, for example, when they were coming out of the settlement to hunt. Weed was always going first, marching with his glaive raised high.

“Chwiik! I smell enemy!”

They encountered the Minotaur Lord! Huge, horned monster with an axe. And even though the Minotaur Lord was menacingly swinging his weapon, that didn’t stop Weed.

“Chwichwi-i-i-i-ik!”

Weed tightened his grip on the glaive and rushed forward. Simple, ignorant, agressive and merciles Orc led his party into fight.

“All, all, all, attack! Chwi-i-i-ik!”

* * *

Yoon Chunhee was logging into Royal Road every night.

She was a summoner and her in-game name was Seirin. At character creation she picked the half-elf race, so she had small height, like a dwarf.

“With the power of our contract I summon you. Come, Basilisk!”

Casting the summoning spell took almost all of her mana, but 3 basilisk helpers appeared besides her. These monsters looked like lizards. They were poisonous and had good defence, so she was always summoning them when hunting.

With basilisks’ help it became a lot easier for her and her partner to deal with 2 knights.

Female thief finished last of the knights with a backstab.

“Phew! We won somehow.”

The thief wiped sweat out of her forehead and approached Seirin.

“Good job, sister.”

“You too, Lami.”

Seirin and Lami were sisters with 3 year age difference.

“Pheew, let’s rest a bit.”

“Yeah. And i need to restore mana.”

They were hunting in a newly discovered dungeon. Because of their high levels they were first to discover it and now were trying to use the received bonuses to the fullest.

Sisters were sitting on the ground and talking.

“Hey! Remember that guy that came to our school at the festival? His name is Lee Hyun. He’s the older brother of my friend, Hayan. He’s of the same age as you, isn’t he?”

Seirin smiled slightly.

“True.”

“You know him?”

“Yes. I do. Met his sister too.”

“I see... But you’re not usually interested in guys, even popular actors. And you’re not going out with anyone...”

“I’m just not interested in them.”

“So, you’re interested in him?”

“Him - yes.”

Seirin never hid anything from her sister, as they had good relationships, and Lami continued to question her.

“Could it be... he’s the one you like?”

“You guessed right.”

“Woah! Didn’t know that’s your ideal. So you like athletic guys?”

Lami couldn’t forget as well how Lee Hyun passed 3 challenges and won the princess saving competition. No one, who saw it, would ever forget.

When Lee Hyun was passing the 3 challenges, he was moving and popping flying water balloons so fast, that i seemed like a magic trick.

“Not because he’s athletic. No. I didn’t know he’s like that.”

“Then why do you like him?”

Lami was very curious.

If not his athleticism, then what could it be? His face and height were pretty average, and there were rumors that he didn’t finish the school.

“He’s a family man. He’s always thinking about his family first, cares for it. If you marry someone like him, you’ll always be happy. Right?”

* * *

“What do you do for a living?”

The guy scratched the back of his head and replied the girl:

“Nothing.”

“Woah. Not even going to university?”

“I do... But it’s boring and i think I’ll drop out.”

“There’s nothing to be proud of... You should have stayed silent about it.”

The girl got up. She was about to leave the room when she heard something that stopped her.

“What’s the point of going to university? I’ll be working at my father’s company anyway.”

“Father’s company?”

The girl suddenly started to like that guy.

She was sure, that she was the most beautiful girl in the club today.

“Yeah, well, that’s just a small company though.”

“How small is it?”

“Well, there’s about as many employees as people in a small town.”

“...”

“The sales... or what’s that called? Anyway it’s about same of a small city.”

“..!”

The girl was speechless.

She examined the guy’s clothes and it looked like it was true.

‘Dressed in all the brand clothes. Even shoes are from the latest collection, sold only by reservation.’

The guy handed her the phone.

“Put in your number.”

“I’m not that kind of girl.”

“I see. That’s why I would like to talk to you more.”

He easily got her number.

When the girl left the room the other guys started to talk excitedly.

“You rock, Jihoon!”

“This time it was under 5 minutes.”

The girl was outstandingly beautiful.

Even if the waiter didn’t present her as a ‘rare beauty’, one look at her made all the guys in the room feel like wolves.

But Choi Jihoon didn’t react much.

‘I won’t even remember her tomorrow anyway.’

His friend thought he was very lucky to have a life like that, but Choi Jihoon only felt boredom.

When you have a lot of money you have to be able to manage it. That’s why his parents planned his life for him since childhood.

As a future heir he wasn’t allowed to choose his friends, do what he likes, live like he wants.

Since he was a kid he was moving through his life like a robot controlled by his parents.

Only when he was sent to study abroad he started to get friends.

But even there he didn’t have life of his own. He was just a man put on a rail and forced to go ahead. When you can’t do what you like, your life becomes dull and tedious. And in Chi Jihoon’s life there were too many restrictions.

However, once when he got free time he started playing Royal Road and discovered another himself.

In that distant world there was a river.

He liked to watch its leisure and dignified flow, so he became a fisherman.

He was not interested in fish at all, he was just enjoying the stay and feeling like he is actually living.

Other players were struggling trying to raise their levels, chasing items, but he was just fishing.

With time Choi Jihoon reached 3rd Master level in Fishing. He became the best fisherman of Royal Road.

But he didn’t care about it. He was just fishing.

Because of how silent he was, other players thought he was a gloomy and melancholic fisherman and tried not to bother him much.

But Choi Jihoon was indifferent about what others think about him. He just liked fishing, the flowing water was taking away all his worries.

And then a certain man appeared.

In an effort to raise his Fishing skill level as fast as possible he occupied Chi Jihooh’s favourite place. This man was measuring everything by its monetary value. He was spending every day in an endless struggle for survival.

His name was Weed.

Choi Jihoon several times saw that guy laughing excitedly during fishing. He did it even in the most insignificant and rare cases, for example when he was finding a copper coin in a fish’s stomach.

Weed was genuinely happy about such trifles.

Competing in fishing with him was fun. And at some point Choi Jihoon was completely absorbed by it. To the extend where every time he caught a fish his hands were trembling from excitement.

He couldn’t remember last time he felt something like this.

Choi Jihoon liked Weed.

Ever since then he tried to stay by his side.

In Fort Odein he participated in the battle besides him, in the Basra dungeon he hunted in the one party with him. When he heard that Weed was going to hunt with Hwaryeong he quickly found her and bribed The leader of her party to let him join.

“I’ve got to go. Don’t look for me for a while, I’ll be very busy.”

Choi Jihoon got up and left the nightclub. On the street he was met by fresh night air.

He knew a place more enjoyable than any, even most expensive club.

The Royal Road.

The place overflowing with life was awaiting Zephyr.

* * *

Language out of this world.

A repetition of meaningless clamor.

Say what you want to say.

That won’t mean i’ll listen.

The voice of the singer sounded like sobbing. Sometimes pained, sometimes sweet. Accompanied by quiet sounds of piano, the girl was singing with a dreamy expression.

Certain gestures are forbidden.

Dialogues are almost non existent.

Eyes connected simply then they told me

Desperation. Anxiousness. Sadness. Anger. Disappointing aspirations. Affection. Love.

Feelings expressed through your eyes.

We choose what we eat.

Delicious meal. Then tell me with your eyes the next place you want to go.

Face me and look into my eyes, let me read your mind.

A world without misunderstandings and distortion.

With your eyes, I can understand you better even without your effort.

We can never truly understand each other’s thoughts.

You cannot understand the basis of my actions, I accept that.

Because I may not even know.

What we see with our eyes are inaccurate and vague.

I’m not impressed with words. Please illuminate happiness.

Just as I look in your eyes.

Even for just a short while, don’t divert your eyes from my face.

One glance, one heart.

So illuminate your heart.

Unless you have hard palpitating words,

And glances, then I’d have to say.

Eyes and voices heard through the ear

Enter and dig deeper into your heart.

With words alone, you cannot convey your feelings.

Speak to me with your eyes.

I love seeing your eyes.

Jeon Hyo Lynn was singing her debut song “Dialogue of eyes” on the Times Square.

The audience was listening, breathless.

It seemed like her tender and affectionate eyes were singing along with her. Listening to her mysterious and dreamlike song, people felt like they were in paradise. And in front of them a bright and beautiful angel was performing.

But it wasn’t just song that was fascinating the audience.

When Jeong Hyo Lynn was only starting to sing, she became known as a singer with a magnificent voice, but gradually she started to demonstrate her other talents.

The song wouldn’t be complete without her dance. Her every move, every expression were bringing audience to such delight, that they were heartily cheering for her.

Jeong Hyo Lynn was graciously moving around the stage, as if telling everyone that she is a fairy born for music.

And that’s what she was called by all the media.

After finishing her international tour show the ‘Fairy of the stage’ has logged into Royal Road.

‘From now on I’ll be rising my level. And I’ll try the new dance for sure.’

In Royal Road she chose the profession of a dancer. Though she could become a great bard with such a wonderful voice, but she wanted to dance too much.

‘I want adventures, not just stand and sing. I want to try how it feels - beating monsters.’

To other people she looked like a graceful and innocent fairy. While actually she grew up as the oldest of 5 siblings in her family. She often behaved defiantly, like a tomboy.

Of course bards could hunt as well. But the dancer profession was still giving her more opportunities to participate in actual combat. Moreover, she could dance in different styles, so no one would recognize her moves, but in case of singing that would be impossible.

Thus, she became a dancer and started her adventure in Royal Road!

Fortunately, no one recognized her. She tried not to give herself out, and even made her character look slightly worse, than in reality.

* * *

“Let’s go on a journey too?!”

“That’s right. We only hunt here, it’s getting boring.”

“Not to mention the pyramid construction.”

Zephyr, Hwaryeong, Mapan, Pale, Surka, Romune, Iren and Mayron had gathered together.

They had all kinds of professions, some of them weren’t very popular in the game. There weren’t any real warriors or paladins, specialized in fighting monsters, among them. But their rare profession allowed them to find different ways to get out of tight situations.

Zephyr, with his high health, and monk Surka were responsible for close combat. In the dangerous cases when monsters were attacking in large crowds, Hwaryeong was putting them to sleep with a dance. Also she was boosting the party’s attributes with her dances.

Pale and Mayron were shooting their bows from afar, besides them was Romune, who was casting destructive spells. Priestess Irene was providing support and healing to all party members.

Even merchant Mapan had his job. As a second professional skill he got the ‘Touch of Luck’ skill, that was increasing loot, left by monsters.

“So, where will we go?” - Pale asked everyone.

Surprisingly, the answer came from Irene, who was considered the most quiet in the party.

“Let’s go to the Lake of Souls!”

“Isn’t it a bit too hard for us?”

They learned about this place by accident.

Pale’s father discovered it personally during his journey around the world of Royal Road.

“Oh, what a great view! Gotta check the water!”

Pale’s father decided to interrupt his journey and take a swim. In such a spectacular canyon with a river, a real korean will never pass up an opportunity to at least take off his shoes and dip his feet into the water.

And then, while swimming, he noticed a path, leading to a lake. And of course he told Pale about it after returning.

Though at that time the average level of Pale’s party was 130, and considering the area, where his father was swimming, was inhabited by dangerous monsters, they would have hastily retreat after the first battle, leaving the bodies behind.

Therefore they still had no idea what kind of quests, treasures and dangers await them at the lake.

“We’ll be fine. We’re a lot stronger now.”

“Well, that may be true...”

“Let’s give it a try!”

Anticipating new experiences, they all voted as one to go to the lake. Having learned from Weed to always be well prepared to all the possible difficulties, they bought the supply of food, medicinal herbs, checked their equipment and were off on their way.

* * *

Lee Hayan couldn’t believe it.

An ottice from Korea University arrived, that stated that Lee Hyun has passed the first round. Of course, it was only the first round, there was an interview ahead of him, but half the way was already behind.

“Oh, it’s so great!”

She was staring at the notice, pleased.

She could earn her own university funds by part-time job and scholarship. But what about her brother...

Lee Hayan was afraid to talk about it with her brother. She was going to do it many times, but couldn’t gather the courage. What if her brother will say, that it’s a waste of money and won’t even go to the interview? In his case it was entirely possible...

Chapter 8: Orc Wars

“Chwiik!”

After turning into an Orc, Weed had been thinking a lot.

‘What should I do to befriend them?’

Since he was used to thinking like a human, finding a way to approach to a completely alien race was turning into a hard task for him.

Weed had already got used to communicating with the Orcs, but he was still unable to gain any real friends among them. Then he decided that it was time to stop avoiding his new kin and start to take them for what the are. To treat them as if they were humans and his real comrades.

At first, he thought that it would be extremely hard. But after dealing with them some more, he realized:

‘Oh, it’s so... familiar.’

Weed quickly befriended everyone in his party.

Orcs! They weren’t that different from the Geomchis. Harsh! Aggressive! Violent: If something was not to their liking, they were immediately pulling out their weapons! Reckless: they were attacking even the stronger opponents without a second thought! Their fists acted faster than their words, about 3-4 times faster.

“Catch, this is for ya. Chwiik!”

Weed cooked the food and handed it out to everyone in his party. Orcs were so undiscriminating and insatiable that they liked absolutely everything.

But even after accepting them for what they were, Weed still had problems blending in with this new environment. Same as humans, their society also had their own rules and hierarchy.

Regular Orcs, Orc warriors and scouts were at the lowest level of social ladder in Yurokin mountains. They had greatest numbers, but were just subordinates to other Orcs.

Commanding them were Orc champions, captains, elders and chieftains.

Captains were commanding groups of about hundred Orcs each. Elders ruled villages. Chieftains ruled and monitored domains consisting of several settlements.

And Weed was really hated by everyone above him at the command chain.

“Karichwi wasn’t born in our village. Chwiik!”

They were questioning his origins.

“He eats less, than we do. Cwik!”

Comparing appetites.

“Karichwi is too good looking. Cwiiit!”

Envied his appearance.

“Chwichwik! Females should be protected!”

After all, all the problems were because of the women!

Orcs were jealous and envious of Weed because of female attention.

“Ah, chwi! Even after I became an Orc, chwiik! The world won’t just leave me alone!”

Weed moaned. Because of all these constant challenges thrown at him by the gods, one would consider hanging himself!

‘Really, handsome guys are envied everywhere.’

He decided that the problem is in the fearful appearance, which he thoughtlessly sculptured, while being a human. And the only way to fix everything would be to start completely ignoring attention of the surrounding females.

As a result, they got angry at him as well.

“Chwiik! I don’t like those females. All of you, just take them away. Chwiik!”

And after he proclaimed that, females got even more offended.

“Chwik. He’s too full of himself.”

“Insolent bastard! Chwichwit!”

“Let’s banish him from the village! Chwiik!”

Angry locals took a long time to settle down.

And while many in the settlement didn’t like Weed, there were quite a few regular Orcs who acknowledged him.

“He’s from the winners caste! Chwiiit! This Orc deserves respect. Chwiik!”

“Chwichichiiit! Good fighter!”

“Cunning, chwiik. He would survive anywhere.”

Weed often fought and went to hunt. By order of the village elder, for the sake of peace and development of the village, every morning a hunting party was formed and of course Weed was always present.

“Cwiik!”

It usually consisted of Orc warriors and ordinary Orcs. Usually they fought against huge Minotaurs! Monsters around level 300.

Weed tightened his grip on the glaive.

‘Precious experience points!’

Minotaurs dual wielded blood-red axes and had more HP, Strength and Dexterity, compared to other monsters of the same level. So there were few people in the game who hunted them. Besides, they usually lived in places where players were rare.

But Weed loved to fight against monsters of all sorts.

Like a merchant appreciates every customers, he also happily greeted any monster.

Experience points - additional power!

Items - pure income!

With growing strength, rewards increased; and with additional loot, his future income also increased.

Weed was thinking using his own values and concepts.

“Moo! Dirty Orcs!”

Minotaur wasn’t even slightly afraid of his opponents.

Regular Orcs were level 120 and Orc-warriors 210. And all of them were terrified by the ferocity coming from the enemy.

“Moo! Kill you all!”

Minotaur started to gain speed. He charged, swinging two huge axes. The Orcs in front of him didn’t seem like worthy opponents.

“Chwii-i-ik!”

Weed jumped forward. His enormous body flew for about 10 meters and landed right next to the Minotaur.

“Chwiik! I’m your opponent!”

After turning into an Orc, his Wisdom and Intelligence got reduced, but Strength and Dexterity were boosted considerably. That’s why he started to use regular attack instead of techniques that consumed loads of mana, which he was now short on.

“Chwi-i-ik!”

Minotaur hit with an axe what seemed to be a minor obstacle, but Weed deflected it with his glaive. A loud ringing echoed around from collided weapons.

Opponents stood in front of each other.

Sword and glaive are somewhat similar, but there are also a lot of differences. Glaive is wider and heavier, so it takes some time to get used to wielding it normally. In general, it is a slower, but destructive weapon.

Ding! Ka-Clang!

Each time glaive collided with monster’s axe, there was ringing and sparks. With each hit deflected by glaive, Minotaur was forced to step back, and it was enraging him.

Normally, such a rusted glaive would’ve shattered a long time ago. But Weed had repaired, grinded and polished it to extreme sharpness.

Weed’s strong resistance gave strength to his fellow Orcs.

“Chwiiik!”

Minotaur finally grew frightened.

The wave of Orcs advanced fast! Hundreds or Orcs with glaives in hands run up and began to slash at the monster. Some of them died from Minotaur’s attacks, but in return he also received many wounds from which he finally died.

As it is said, “you can not block ten hands with a single one”. In that exact manner Orcs were winning the battles, due to their numerical advantage.

And the real hunt began.

Hundreds of Orcs with glaives hunted huge monsters. While many of them got killed, the rest grew stronger. Because survivors gained new levels, the overall strength of the party kept growing.

Orcs survived despite being constantly threatened by many dangerous monsters. They survived thanks to their fertility. Some Orcs died, but others grew stronger, and to their aid came new growing up tribesmen!

Even knowing all this, Weed made sure that none of his friends died. He repaired their weapons, prepared food and bandaged them when it was necessary.

The big hunt continued!

Many simple-minded, ignorant Orcs roamed the surrounding lands slaying any monsters they met. Orc didn’t possess any special techniques or other secrets, they just overwhelmed their enemy with the sheer numbers. If a dozen wasn’t enough, then a hundred will come; and even if they die, even more will follow.

In such dangerous battles, many Orcs started to gather around Weed.

“Chwichwit, ignorant Karichwi, lead us.”

“Karichwi, you are simple, we are comfortable with ya. Chwiik!”

Because of his low Intelligence and Wisdom, Orcs regarded Weed as one of them! In addition he also had high Leadership and Charisma stats, due to which Orcs were willing to be led by him.

Nodding to the “recruits” in agreement, Weed continued the hunt.

Although he received command of the new “heads”, fighting became harder because of them. Because they were all one big group, the one to last hit the enemy, received over half the XP.

The rest of experience was distributed almost equally, regardless of your contribution to the battle. And Weed had to restrain his greed for experience points.

‘I have to stay smarter than these greedy Orcs...’

If he focuses on getting the maximum amount of experience, He would risk losing all the friendship with these Orcs. At the same time, if he holds back, it may very well lead to his death at some point.

That’s why Weed just fought as much as possible. He attacked the monster first, did as much damage as he could and if there weren’t too many others fighting the same monster, aimed for the killing blow.

Not to mention that a large number of battles was the main point of Weed’s early game strategy. From the first day he attempted to boost his attributes as much as possible, and only then raise levels. As a result, fighting monsters of the same level was considerably easier.

By accumulating various skills and attributes, he became much more powerful than any other player of the same level! And with time, the difference continued increasing.

‘Hard work now will make it easier later on...’

He couldn’t count the times he had noticed players who do not pay attention to it. There have been cases when people reached level 250 without even getting their sword skill to an appropriate level. Those kind of players leveled up without improving their skills just because it would have required some hard work.

But for Weed it became a priority. He was very glad that Orcs hunted a lot. Surrounding lands were filled with monsters, and all he did here was fighting them, putting trade skills and sculptural mastery aside for now.

At some point Weed reached 295th level.

***

Pale’s party’s hunt at the Soul Lake was in full swing.

Before, they would not have dared to approach this place, but now, after raising their levels and with the help of Hwaryeong, Zephyr and Meyron, they decided to give it a try.

Here they encountered terrible water spirits and fishlike monsters!

After fierce and lengthy battle most of the group left the game, and only Pale and Mayrun stayed for a date next to the lake.

Pale actually liked to chat:

“And so... Actually... And then…”

He met a girl that he really liked.

Pale wanted to tell her all about his life and adventures in the Royal Road. Especially since they met through this game.

He told her about the heavenly city Lavias.

“What? Really?”

Meyron’s eyes sparkled when she heard about the first steps they took as beginners, their first quests and how they explored the city in the sky.

“How did Weed chose a profession of sculptor?”

“As far as I know...”

Pale also talked a lot about Weed. He also shared the secret that it was Weed who destroyed the vampires in the province of Mort.

***

You have completed the quest: “Orc provisions”

There are many dangerous monsters preying on regular citizens in the surrounding countryside. Catch them with a hunting party and feed their meat to the young.

Difficulty: C.

Reward: Depending on the result - equipment, precious stones and ores.

Restrictions: Orc race only. Or those capable of shapeshifting into Orcs due to magic or other means.

Orc Chieftain and Elders were also giving missions, however, the Chieftain lived in a neighboring village, and the Elders weren’t easy to get friendly with. But Weed didn’t despair, and continued to hunt a lot and do quests. He didn’t receive any good items for them, but rewarded ingredients and ores were rare.

Besides, hunting monsters awarded him with precious experience. Not just the XP points he received for kills, but also new knowledge and information. Most of the monsters in the Lands of Despair were over level 300 and often possessed unique abilities. It was very easy to make a fatal mistake in the first encounter.

Alongside with the Orcs, Weed was fighting against various monsters. Sometimes even faced Dark Elves. Even though they were small, they kept using elemental magic and proved to be worthy opponents. But it didn’t stop Weed from defeating them and gaining even more respect inside Orcs village.

This way Weed explored most of the Yuroki mountain range.

To his surprise, the Dark Elves fortress looked as menacing as the Citadel of Seraburg in Rosenheim Kingdom. And with all the magical weapons installed into the walls, the fortress became virtually impregnable.

“We’ll capture it! Break through! Nothing shall stop us! Chwiik!”

Elder looked at Weed with warmth.

This huge Orc was able to gather the meat of the most dangerous predators and complete his task. As a reward he received a lot of ore suitable for forging high quality weapons.

Old Orc closed his eyes.

“Chwik. When I look at you, I remember my youth.”

“Thank you, Elder. Chwiik! - answered Weed with respect.

Usually Orcs talk among themselves very crudely, and Weed tried to adhere to these rules. But to every rule there is always an exception, and here it was the Elder, the first influential Orc to support him. He helped Weed to buy a house, gave him advice and of course various quests.

Only the most famous and powerful Orcs, who managed to live to a ripe old age, became Elders. And although they already lacked strength, they still retained their influence and knowledge, allowing them to supervise young Orc captains.

“Chwiik! Now I’ll tell you about our mountains...”

Elder had already told Weed many interesting things in the past. About Yuroki mountain range. About all kinds of monsters, their skills, abilities and where they lived!

Sometimes his speeches dragged on for so long, that he wanted to yawn, but Weed carefully listened to it all. Most of the time elder kept to the relevant information and some of those stories were really incredible.

Weed eagerly absorbed all the new information.

“Dark Elves - are our enemies. Recently they’ve started to do strange things. ChwiIit!”

“What strange things? Chwichik!”

Elder wrinkled in discontent.

“Chwiiik! Karichwi, you know that they, like people, have built a fortress.”

“Chwichwit. So what?”

“The walls are very high and thick. Chwhik! Monsters can no longer get close to Dark Elves and keep attacking us instead. Chwiik!”

Elder was very sad because of current situation. More and more monsters came to the borders of the village, and they were becoming more powerful each day.

For Weed, on the other hand, it was good news. More monsters means harder battles and above all, more XP!

“Chwichwik! And we don’t like having that huge fortress above our village. We decided to attack the Dark Elves. 25 chieftains from neighboring lands support this idea. Cwiik. We are getting ready to attack. When sky turns bright and then dark 10 times, we will attack Dark Elves fortress. Karichwi. Come with us!”

Ding!

New quest: The prosperity of Orc tribes.

From long time ago, Yuroki mountains were dominated by the Orcs. But now the Dark Elves decided to challenge their position. With their magic, marksmanship and alliance with the dark creatures they’ve become a serious threat to Orcs’ future.

Difficulty: Race quest.

Reward: Depending on the result - precious stones and ores.

Restrictions: Orc race only. Or those capable of shapeshifting into Orcs due to magic or other means.

War between Orcs and Dark Elves!

It will decide who will rule in the Lands of Despair.

With that said, Weed being so focused on the hunt, experienced a shred of regret.

‘I was hunting so well, gaining levels and items...’

Soon the whole mountain range of Yuroki will host the final battle. Although Weed was indignant inside, he kept a calm facade for the benefit of the elder.

Seeing this, the old Orc continued:

“Karichwi! If you are a brave Orc, chwichichik! You must take part in this battle!”.

Do you accept the Quest? If refused, you might get exiled from this Orc village.

“Yes. Chwiik! I will fight those dark bastards.”.

You’ve accepted the Quest

Before the battle between the two races Weed canceled the Sculptural transformation and came down from the mountains. He was expected by warriors and priests of Freyja.

“Captain, you're back!” - Exclaimed happily Hosram.

“Yes. And how are you, hungry?”

“If only a little.” - answered Buren.

Weed had been regularly gathering, taking or buying food from the Orc village and giving it to the hungry soldiers.

‘Oh, they are like leeches.’

Weed certainly didn’t have any parental feelings of wanting to find food for their “children”. He just wanted to spend as little as possible on all these slacking off soldiers, or as he called them in his mind, pigs.

‘They sleep, eat, and don’t even do anything productive!’

But Weed kept displaying his friendly smile.

“Then I’ll feed you soon. I just got wild boar meat, just have to cook it now.”

In his travels through the mountains, he not only hunted monsters. but also regular animals. In the last campaign he managed to catch a whole family of wild boars.

“Wow! Thank you, Commander!”

As soon as they saw meat, the eyes of surrounding soldiers shined. Using a variety of spices and seasonings, Weed perfectly fried it. Also, for the first time since that drinking party with Geomchis long time ago, he opened some of the tinctures from his stock.

“Eat and drink to your hearts’ content.”

“Thank you. Yummy!”

Warriors consumed this extremely delicious dish with great pleasure. But the royal knights constantly grumbled.

“Oh, I haven’t eaten meat in a long time.”

“They served it every day inside the palace.”

“This proves to be pretty good.”

“Well, there’s a bit too much garlic and onions.”

While warriors, knights and priests ate, Weed took care of their equipment.

“Armor repaired, weapons sharpened, clothes ironed!”

He carefully examined all the equipment and finished just before dinner ended.

“Everyone, get ready for the battle!” - Addressed them Weed.

“Yes!” - shouted the soldiers.

“To battle? Well, we’ll get ready then.” - Answered the knights.

Priests blessed all of the gathered warriors. Knights boosted this effect even more with their prayers.

Weed shouted:

“Calling the Death Knight!”

“Sir, you called?”

Answering with a nod, Weed sighing heavily, finally took off the tiresome Crimson Necklace of Life and took out from his bag and equipped the Black Necklace of Life with a level 400 Vampire Lord Tori, trapped inside.

“Phew...”

Weed still couldn’t bring himself to activate the necklace. Not that he didn't trust knights and priests, but in the following battle all their lives will be put on the line.

“I summon the Vampire Lord!”

Immediately after his cry, a scarlet light blossomed in the middle of the black stone. As if someone dropped there a drop of blood. And then in a flash of darkness he appeared. A tall, slender man in dark cloak and with pale skin.

Vampire Lord Tori smiled.

“Ooh, it’s been a long time since I saw this beautiful world. Is this sunlight?”

Vampire’s fangs grew and flashed. His blood-red eyes looked with interest at the people gathered in front of him.

Tori radiated such power and authority, that the feet of the soldiers started to tremble.

Coming out of nowhere black clouds covered the sun. The ground got covered by cold fog.

Weed exchanged glances with Death Knight and turned toward the Vampire Lord.

He couldn’t afford to suffer the same losses as the last time. Tori had an incredible abilities: transforming his enemies into stone, turning into a bat and moving with lightning speed. But the worst of it was his vampirism.

By draining his victims, Lord could restore his health and mana as many times as he needed, therefore they had to finish this as quickly as possible.

‘Both Death Knight and me got a lot stronger. We need to exhaust him together as much as possible and then finish with the help of Priests magic. No matter how strong a Vampire he is, he won’t be able to handle this...’

Yes, they were faced with a formidable level 400 opponent, but these warriors weren’t normal either. Sharpened swords, polished armor, bonuses from food and sacred blessings.

Besides it was the daytime. And they were outside of a dungeon!

Boss battles are usually hard because they are boosted by half inside their lairs.

Three hundred paladins and a hundred priests.

Last time Tori killed most of the warriors, but now, during the day, he would have difficulty unleashing his full power. Even though he covered sky with the clouds, part of his abilities only got boosted during the night.

As a precaution, Weed also prepared his trump card - the Sculpture Destruction. He intentionally summoned Vampire not far from his Mercenary sculpture.

‘I would like to avoid using that ability...’

But Tori didn’t move and quetly stood there.

“O-o-oh!”

Vampire Lord noticed Seoyoon’s statue in mercenary clothes.

“B-Beautiful! Is this really a sculpture? Even if the most beautiful girl in the world were to be turned into stone, it wouldn’t compare with this.”

“…”

The Menacing Vampire fell in love with Seoyoon.

“Art! Art! Art! It’s power makes this boring eternal life more dynamic. Children of the Night love art. It’s because of this passion I’ve settled in the old castle. All art in the world belongs to me! You wouldn’t take it from me. I, Lord Tori, the greatest heir to the true blood, will punish you, puny humans.”

Finally, the battle with Vampire Lord began!

Weed and Death Knight both rushed at the Vampire.

“Blessing! Sculpting blade!”

Protective blessing of the High Priest’s ring activated immediately.

Weed dispelled Orc transformation even before entering the camp, so he already had enough mana to use all his skills.

Usually he would be aggressively attacking his enemy, dealing multiple wounds. But now Weed acted differently.

He gathered all his strength for a single powerful attack!

Simple, but at the same time very dangerous tactic: betting everything on this single strike, he’s bound to lose rhythm and open himself for a counterattack.

But Weed still decided to do it.

“Sword Kaiser!”

His most powerful technique. He has used up all his mana on this single attack.

Cold sword pierced Lord Tori’s chest. The wound and surrounding it flesh started to quickly freeze under the effects of this sword.

This new sword lacked blessing compared to his last one, but it had higher Attack Rating and was freezing it’s victims.

Weaker monsters would just freeze to death, and even if they survived, their speed would be greatly reduced.

After taking this hit, Vampire’s health dropped by 30%. Vampire just started to recover when another attack hit him.

“Deadly blade!”

Death Knight’s sword penetrated Tori’s side. At the same time, Weed pulled out his sword and jumped back.

“A-a-a-a! I’ll suck your blood dry right now!”

Vampire got very angry, and his eyes seemed to fill with blood even more.

“Blade Whirl!”

Tori’s blood drops along with sharp as blades gusts of wind flew in all directions. But Weed was ready for something like that.

All the warriors have already retreated to the safe distance even before the fight began, and this attack didn’t even reach them. While both Weed and Death Knight charged into the middle. The eye of the storm is often the safest!

Having avoided this spell, they continued to attack their enemy. They circled Tori while using their strongest attacks.

Vampire’s health kept dropping quickly.

Priests weren’t resting either.

As soon as Whirl stopped, all the priest raised their hands in spellcasting:

“Healing hand!”

Vampire Lord’s body was enveloped by bright light.

Normally, people would be healed by holy magic, but on undead species, which Vampire certainly belonged to, it had the opposite effect.

During the first minute of battle Tori’s health already dropped by half, and he was forced to use his trump ability. Vampirism!

He was unable to drink Death Knight’s blood, therefore his aim was on Weed who kept circling around. But each time Tori tried to grab him, Weed kept slipping through his fingers.

Priests kept constantly using their spells and situation for Tori was quickly turning for the worse.

“I... I need a victim... Thirsty, blood, health!”

Realizing that if he doesn’t do something quick, his life will soon end, Tori rushed toward the royal knights and soldiers who protected priests.

“A-a-a-ah!”

Terrified, Soldiers scattered in all directions, but one still fell into Tori’s hands. His eye got filled with despair.

“B... Blood!”

Tori sunk his teeth into the neck of his victim. This weak soldier, of course, was hardly enough to sate the Vampire, but still helped to restore some of his health and mana.

But while he drank blood, priests continued using their spells on him, as a result, his health not only didn’t increase, but actually dropped slightly. At that moment Weed jumped behind Tori, dealing final blow and ending his life.

Lord Tori burst into dust while terrified soldier fell to the ground. Thanks to the priests healing him all this time, he actually survived with just a serious scare.

After this fight Weed started summoning Lord Tori each time he returned to the camp. While those victories he didn’t receive any XP points, he still could practice his sword skills while fighting a powerful opponent.

The only one who didn’t enjoy these battles was the Death Knight. Not long ago he went through something very similar and secretly pitied the fearsome Vampire.

Every day for a week Weed continued summoning Tori for a new battle. Each time Vampire felt more and more depressed. In the end, he bowed his head.

“You have the right to give me, the heir to a famous family, your orders. Knowing about your talents in art and leadership, I’ll entrust myself into your hands.”

And then Tori gave Weed a drop of his blood.

Vampire blood! When drinking their victims, vampire could give some of their blood to turn one into his servant. However, this time Tori gave away his blood for an oath.

A Blood oath.

Special item: You’ve received Vampire’s blood.

- When it’s used, Mana increased by 300: a onetime bonus for your profession.

- Other statistics can both increase and decrease by a random value.

- Charm +20

- Charisma +10

- Black Magic skill +2%

- Faith -50

Unique items that increased mana pool were extremely rare in this game.

From that time on, Weed could summon Lord Tori at any time. It was going to be very useful, considering Orcs finally finished their preparations for the upcoming battle with Dark Elves.

Chapter 9: Hall of Fame

Since early morning Lee Hyun was very excited.

Unexpectedly for him, the creator of Royal Road, Unicorn Corporation sent him an e-mail!

“We would like you to visit us.”

The message was sent by one of the heads of Public Relations Department, Mr. Chang Yoon Soo. But there was just one day left before the upcoming battle between Orcs and Dark Elves.

“Right when I’m tight on time... But i guess i have to go.”

Lee Hyun didn’t want to reveal his real name, but this time he was contacted by representative of Unicorn, so he didn’t think much.

For the past 50 years Unicorn has been making some of the most popular games in the world. Almost always they were receiving huge profits, not just from monthly game subscriptions, but from sales of comics, cartoons, movies and even an amusement park that featured recognizable game characters.

There was even a rumor that Unicorn has the largest amount of free cash in the country.

However, their business didn’t always go that smoothly, Unicorn Corporation survived through multiple crises and huge competition from other game developers. A few years ago, the game Continent of Magic lured away a great chunk of their audience.

The number of players dropped dramatically and gone along with them, money. If they didn’t do something extraordinary, they’d have to reduce the staff and stay at the background of the game industry for a long time.

And they did, creating the most innovative game in history - Royal Road. They changed the very concept of virtual reality and regained their lost position. And even more that that - they started to earn more money than ever before!

“What do they want from me..? I don’t think i broke any rules. I’ll have to make that visit.”

Lee Hyun washed his face and went to the laundry to rent clean clothes. He was working there at some point in the past, so he quickly agreed on the stuff, paid for clothes, redressed and headed to Unicorn Corporation.

To reach their main office he had to take the subway and then a few busses. It was a very long and complicated trip, but aside from that, a costly one which irritated Lee Hyun the most.

“I’ll spend at least 3000 won just getting there.”

Lee Hyun was very worried.

Nothing in his life was easy so far!

When he by an incredible twist of fate managed to sell his Continent of Magic account, the money was taken from him the next day. And all those hardships he went through just to become a sculptor in the end! Not to mention his constant troubles with the sales of good items.

“I hope I’m not going there just to receive some souvenir and be sent home. They can’t do that. They shouldn’t...”

The event for players! Anything can happen there.

Lee Hyun left the bus. The street where the main office of Unicorn was located was occupied only by huge skyscrapers. Even at first glance everything looked expensive. The road was filled with shiny imported cars and all the people were wearing expensive suits.

And in this environment the building of Unicorn Corporation stood out the most. It was 4-5 times bigger than all the other buildings, and the small square in front of the building was filled with foreigners sitting on beautiful ornamented benches and talking merrily.

There were also many journalists that came to cover even the most insignificant events of Unicorn Corporation.

Among all these people Lee Hyun was a black sheep in his clean, but simple clothes. That was a bit unnerving, so without any delay he walked to the entrance at a quick pace.

However, as soon as he approached tall glass doors, he was stopped by guards.

“Excuse me, what business do you have here? For security reasons we don’t let in people without permit.”

“I’ve been invited by Mr. Chang Yoon Soo, he’s the chief of some section in the Department of Public Relations. My name is Lee Hyun.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll check.”

Though guards looked like overly muscular thugs, they were very polite with Lee Hyun.

‘I guess there’s a reason for that...’

While Lee Hyun was waiting, he heard some muttering behind him. He was very worried that he wouldn’t be allowed to enter and the money he spent on the trip would be lost in vain.

However, the guard quickly returned.

“We checked with Mr. Chang Yoon Soo. He didn’t think you would be able to come so quickly, so he didn’t have time to warn us. We apologize.”

“Ah, that’s ok.”

“The Public Relations Department is located on 43rd floor. We hope you enjoy your visit.”

Lee Hyun entered the building and took the elevator to the 43rd floor. All the way there he was worried that he would just be presented with some souvenir. That was a stupid worry. Such an important person wouldn’t bother to invite him for such little things.

The Public Relations Department was upholding the image of the corporation in peoples’ consciousness. It was separated in sections and Chang Yoon Soo was leading one of them. The Medium to Long Term Advertisement Section was considered one of the most important sections in the whole company.

“You arrived at floor 43. Public Relations Department. Have a nice time.” - said female voice from a loudspeaker.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened.

“Welcome. My name is Chang Yoon Soo.”

He was met by the section chief and a few subordinates. Chang Yoon Soo led Lee Hyun to a quiet consultation room. There the secretary who was serving coffee asked Lee Hyun if he would like something to drink and he replied firmly.

“Honey water please.”

“Eh, we don’t have something like that...”

“Well, then ginseng tea.”

To replenish energy and maintain good health one should only use healthy food. Even if you do sports, if you don’t eat properly, your health will suffer.

Fortunately they had ginseng tea, so a little while later they received tea and cookies and began to talk.

Chang Yoon Soo was behaving like an open and friendly person. He briefly spoke about Unicorn Corporation and his department’s aims. He used many technical terms, so Lee Hyun didn’t understand much.

‘I don’t have to know all that anyway...’ – Lee Hyun thought, calming himself.

Usually in such conversations the one who knows more is first to get tired, and the ignorant one can sit back and relax. He just has to wait until the other party reveals their purpose to see possible benefits.

‘Looks like they’re not going to give me any souvenirs. So what do they want from me?’

Finally Chang Yoon Soo noticed that Lee Hyun wasn’t interested and moved to the main point.

“As you know, our company is featuring the recordings of the best players’ adventures on our website.”

Of course Lee Hyun knew that, he even watched them a few times.

The Hall of Fame was one of the main sections of their website. It hosted records of battles and adventures of the best players of Royal Road. Being in there was considered a great honor.

“Many players want to get into Hall of Fame, but the actual number is strictly limited by the company’s rules. The more players there are, the more dispersed the audience will be. So our rules only allow players with Fame of 6000 or more to be featured there.”

“That means I pass?”

“Right. So, do you agree to show your game records in the Hall of Fame? You will have to provide a record of your quest or battle once a week. That’s all.”

That was an unexpected offer.

The Hall of Fame was limited to the top 500 players, one of them being Bad Ray with the highest level in the game.

But Lee Hyun wasn’t interested in it.

“I’m not looking for fame. And I wouldn’t like it if people started to recognize me in Royal Road.”

“Really?”

Chang Yoon Soo’s eyes widened. That response was completely unexpected for him. Fame is one of the main desires of people! Even the main goal of Royal Road was to become an emperor and unite the continent!

So a player who refused to become famous was a mystery for him.

“You are, a very unusual person...” - said Chang Yoon Soo with admiration.

“Until now I have only met two types of players. First, those that wish to receive the reward corresponding to their abilities. Second, those that beg for it. The competition among the 500 players is huge and they try to improve their position by any means. But you’re the first one I can’t place into any category.”

Lee Hyun was listening in silence.

‘Damn, I just spent money in vain...’

He was overwhelmed with regret.

But Chang Yoon Soo continued.

“In fact, when you’re featured in Hall of Fame besides the fame itself you get a small bonus. We pay small fees for advertising Royal Road. Depending on the popularity of your videos the fee may be changed, but on average it’s a few million won a month.”

“You said few million won?”

“Yeah. That’s what most players get. As you know there are a huge number of people playing Royal Road and the Hall of Fame is pretty popular. For your advertisements of the game we pay you money. Compared to the amount associated with mass media, the money can only be called chump change.”

“...”

Chang Yoon Soo continued to persuade Lee Hyun.

“This is your chance to become famous! Once you become popular in Hall of Fame you will get attention of media and they will fight for the right to talk with you. And then you will be able to demand the decent reward for interview.”

At the beginning of the game most broadcasting companies were relying on broadcasting the adventures of high-level players. But the audience quickly became bored by it. Players with highest levels were spending all their time on hunting and raising levels. Few of them were able to provide a decent show that would be interesting to watch.

Then broadcasting companies changed their strategy and started inviting only outstanding players who managed to achieve something significant. And most of the candidates were picked from Hall of Fame.

“Our corporation is actively supporting this trend. We created the Hall of Fame to discover the real heroes. And now i met a player who doesn’t need all that and who just wants to enjoy the game. Lee Hyun, I want to say that you’re an amazing person.”

“...”

Lee Hyun looked around.

All the assistants in the conference room were looking at him with admiration.

“He refused money and fame like it was nothing...”

“What a man!”

“He will never be slave to money.”

So they whispered to each other.

Lee Hyun took Chang Yoon Soo’s hand and paying no attention to the surprised looks said:

“Could you place me right to the top of the Hall of Fame?”

***

After the unusual visitor departed, the conference room stayed silent.

Chang Yoon Soo was looking at the empty mug of ginseng tea and thinking.

“So his name is Lee Hyun...”

“What’s wrong sir?” - asked the approaching assistant.

“Just can’t get this man out of my mind.”

So Junhee was working in this department for a long time and thought that she knew her boss well enough. But right now she couldn’t understand him.

Chang Yoon Soo was the main person behind Royal Road’s advertising strategy. It was because of his hard work that the game became so popular.

The slogan ‘The game where you can become an emperor!’ was created by Chang Yoon Soo, and it had a great impact on the company’s development.

And now was the first time she saw him lost in thoughts after meeting with an ordinary person.

“That’s not like you. This is the first time you paid so much attention to an ordinary player.”

“Me? Of course I would.”

Chang Yoon Soo shook his head and handed her a document.

“Read it and you’ll understand.”

So Junhee read the document with great care. It was a file on Lee Hyun.

Royal Road was proud of its security system. Even the top managers of Unicorn Corporation weren’t able to see players’ level, profession, skills and items.

In Lee Hyun’s file there was just a single line. Black letters on the white sheet of paper stating only one thing - the date he started to play. Lee Hyun registered in Royal Road exactly 9 month ago.

“I can’t believe it! Not even a year since he registered?!” - exclaimed So Junhee in shock.

All the employees of the department were looking at them with interest.

“I didn’t believe it too until I met him. It turns out in just 9 months he managed to get enough Fame points to get in top 500...”

“I can’t believe it...”

“Most probably in these 9 months all he did was play Royal Road.” - said Chang Yoon Soo quietly.

These words made So junhee angry.

She was playing Royal Road since its release. Every evening after work. She was paid pretty well, so she could allow herself to buy good items from auctions. Still, after all that time her Fame barely got over 2500. With the combat profession of Wizard, she constantly hunted or did quests.

“Fame, even if you work hard, there’s no telling if you will obtain it.”

“Exactly.”

“Some even abandoned their beauty just to burn the midnight oil...”

“That’s why it will be interesting.”

“What?”

“I can’t wait for his profession or quest. The video will probably be released after a week, we will know then.”

Chang Yoon Soo stretched his hands and laughed with relief.

“It was worthwhile choosing this job. It’s been a really long time since something worth my interest appeared.”

***

Like the Orc Elder said, 10 suns and 10 moons passed and on the next morning the day of the decisive battle arrived!

“Chwiik!”

“Chwiiik!”

“Chwichwik!”

Weed was looking at the Dark Elves’ fortress together with other Orcs.

“The morning is in the mountains. The red sun is rising, the mighty wind is blowing. Chwichwit. Heavy clouds are crawling across the sky, like if they know that the battle is near. In the battle against the Dark Elves I will be fighting in the front line! Chwik!”

With one foot set on the boulder and chest stuck out, Weed was reading his monologue!

“This sunny morning i feel hope. Chwichwik. Our courage and thirst for victory. Our noble spirit. Our souls. Chwiiik! I want to sing! Dark Elves are strong, but we will fight with song in our hearts. With the song of victory. No one will escape and we will be victorious!”

Weed was setting an atmosphere by reading a monologue. If the video was going to appear in the Hall of Fame, it will be seen by multiple players. He should create a positive image.

But he was doing his speech from a body of an Orc with huge fangs and terrifying facial expression, so he couldn’t make it seem deep and moving.

He wanted to read some poem in his monologue, but he didn’t know any.

“Chwichwiiik! That’s fate!”

Weed spat and returned to watching the fortress.

There was a brief rain last night and mountains were covered by thick mist. Sleepy, but already hungry birds were fluttering between sparse trees. Soon the sun will be shining at full power and the weather will improve. But for now it was still cold.

“A-aachoo! Chwiik!”

Even thick-skinned Orcs started to succumb to weather. Weed at least had a cape, which he tightly wrapped around himself, but other Orcs only had armor.

The temple of Necromancers was standing at the top of the mountain. The cliffs around it looked pretty steep and the only way to reach the gate was to pass through the Dark Elves settlement. But it was surrounded by 7-meter-high wall. Dark Elves were proficient in elemental magic and with its help they were able to quickly erect an impregnable fortress.

Moreover, at the base of the wall some kind of dark-blue smoke was swirling, which was definitely not something good. While watching the fortress, Weed saw a few times how some random birds carelessly flew into the smoke just to drop dead a moment later.

And as a finishing touch the walls were filled with Dark Elves holding their bows. They noticed Orcs a long time ago and were just waiting to see what they were going to do. Were they to come closer, they would be immediately met with a barrage of Elven arrows.

‘To reach the Necromancers’ temple is one heck of a goal... How are we supposed to take this fortress?’

Besides Weed were his 20000 subordinate Orcs. But on the wall were no less than 10000 Dark Elves! Even though Orcs and Dark Elves had similar strength, in case of siege the advantage was clearly on the Dark Elves’ side.

“Karichwi, we believe in you. Chwiik!”

The Elder gave Weed a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

“I know. We will definitely win.”

“I trust you. Chwichwit. But let’s win today!”

“E-e-erm... It must definitely be today? Chwiik!”

“Yes. We have no food. Chwichwichwi.”

“...”

Stupid Orcs! There were more than 20000 of them gathered, and not a single one of them bothered to bring any provisions.

‘We have no food and half the warriors got a cold...’

Weed wanted to just run away, but he couldn’t do it. All the Orcs were faithfully watching their new commander.

‘Damn it... This way I’ll die here.’

Many times during this quest Weed was walking the edge, but this time it looked like he would definitely fall. He didn’t see any way to get out of this situation.

‘If I’m going to die anyway, at least I’ll do it for a reason...’

Weed pulled himself together and looked around. He noticed something strange. Even though there was no wind, the trees behind them were rustling. After taking a closer look, Weed noticed a great number of Orcs coming out of the forest.

“Chwiik! Orcs from Chwibarr tribe arrived.”

The chieftain of Chwibarr brought another 10000 Orcs! And this was just the beginning. Wherever Weed looked, even in the far distance, the trees were shaking.

“Karichwi, I’ve brought 20000 warriors!”

“Holchwi tribe sent 15000!”

Weed was standing and with growing hope looked at the arriving reinforcements. The fortress of Dark Elves was located near the top of the mountain, and from every side more and more Orc troops were approaching. There were great many Orcs gathering in the Yuroki mountains today. Far too many.

“Chwiik! Chwit!”

Weed was involuntary making snorting sounds.

The Orc army looked like a huge tsunami. There were young and old Orcs, but most of them were battle-hardened veterans. And all of them came to fight besides him, leader of an army of 20000 Orcs!

“Baranchwi sent 8000. Chwichwichwit!”

“Gerbage sent 9000. Brought everyone!”

“Salchwi and his thousand fighters arrived!”

Messengers from every tribe were continuously bringing new messages.

Some of the arrived Orcs had already fought Dark Elves many times. This was evident from the burns and scars, left by Dark Elves’ magic and arrows.

The armies of the 25 closest chieftains were going to gather to storm the fortress. 5 tribes couldn’t come, but still the entire area around the Dark Elves settlement was filled with Orcs.

When the sun reached zenith the last tribe arrived, the number of Orcs reached over 400000.

The entire horde was behaving very loud, clanging with their armor and weapons and shouting all kinds of insults at their opponents. Such a great number of Orcs at their walls was making the Dark Elves seriously worried. Now they didn’t look as relaxed as this morning, a lot of them were preparing spells in advance and holding them ready to use.

The chieftain Bulchwi, who was standing nearby, approached Weed with confidence.

“Karichwi, I heard about your courage. Chwiik!”

“Thank you, chwik!”

Bulchwi was a very strong Orc. During his short stay at the Orc village Weed heard many stories about this formidable warrior who bravely hunted wyverns.

The Orc chieftain continued:

“We want you to give us the command to attack, chwichwichwiiik!”

“Are you sure? Chwiik!”

“Yes. You deserve it. Chwiik! This is the tradition. When the scariest Orc leads the attack the enemy runs away in fear.”

Even though there were 400000 Orcs here today, there was no one scarier than Weed.

He gave his sculpture a too unusual and menacing appearance. And so Weed’s appearance played another trick on him.

Seeing Weed’s confusion, Bulchwi let out a friendly laugh.

“This is a great honor. Chwiik! I envy you. Go on.”

“...”

After being told that by such a respected Orc, Weed straightened his posture with pride. Surrounding Orc leaders and all the other Orcs were waiting for his orders, so he raised his glaive high and started to shout:

“Orcs! Orcs! Orcs!”

“Orcs! Orcs! Orcs!”

The 400000 Orc army echoed him. Mountains filled with their shouts. Ground started to shake under their feet.

“Orcs! Orcs! Orcs!”

“Orcs! Orcs! Orcs!”

Weed shouted even louder. The Orcs raised their voice as well.

When the volume reached its peak, Weed swung his glaive furiously and exclaimed:

“We’ll crush everyone! Chwii-i-ik!”

“Guo! Guo! Guo!”

Orcs rushed towards Dark Elves fortress like an avalanche.

Chapter 10: Road Selection

“Chwiiik!”

Orc army was approaching the fortress of Dark Elves.

And though their advance was hindered by occasional trees and rocks, tens of thousands of Orcs reached the walls simultaneously.

Elves responded without delay:

“Wall of Fire!”

“Ice Storm!”

“Chain Lightning!”

Fire covered the ground, ice shards and lightning bolts rained down on the approaching horde. Orcs were dying in hundreds, but continued to press on.

When Orcs came close enough to the fortress, Elves started to use their bows. They were using enchanted arrows, freezing or blinding Orcs on hit.

Multiple traps were scattered on their way, spiked pits were swallowing dozens of Orcs at once.

But however well prepared Elves were, nothing was able to stop Orcs’ advance.

“Chwiik!”

“Orcs! Orcs! Orcs!”

Rage was filling Orc warriors. They came to take revenge for all the pain, misery and deaths, caused by Elves! And despite all the resistance and defences Orcs finally reached the walls

“Chwiik! Start shooting!”

“At once! Chwiik! Fire!”

Orcs started to shoot their arrows back at Elves. Those, who didn’t have a bow were throwing prepared in advance stones. Attacking from below was very hard, Orcs’ accuracy was greatly reduced, but still Elves started to suffer their first losses.

From somewhere in rear ranks Orcs dragged a huge log.

Several dozen orcs lifted it and with their combined effort put one of its ends on the wall. Multiple warriors started to crawl up this log. Some of them fell off, but most of them successfully reached the top.

Fierce fights started to erupt on the walls.

This entire time Weed spent standing on a rock, watching with interest the battle unfold in front of him. Right before his eyes Elves summoned elemental spirits and sent them into the battle. Kasa’s of fire, Undine’s of water, Sylph’s of wind and Noum’s of earth. They were soaring in the sky and raining elemental spells on the ground below!

Everywhere he looked Orcs were fighting. Some Elves were even slipping out of the gates to employ guerilla tactics. Something was sparkling, flying, smoking, shouts were heard from every direction. Orcs were dying in thousands, Elves - in dozens.

“Chwiik!”

“Karichwi! I can’t wait any more!”

“Yeah! Let’s attack! Chwiik!”

Since the attack began, Weed and his tribe’s army didn’t move one step, and Orcs were starting to grow impatient.

“Chwichik! Still wait.”

Even though battle raged for a long time now, he still didn’t lead his warriors into battle. Orcs didn’t like it, but still obeyed his orders.

‘It’s ridiculous to be reckless in a battle.’

Weed sighed in frustration. Even though Dark Elves were greatly outnumbered, such a reckless attack on the fortress was incomprehensible for him. Orcs were pushing ahead and climbing up walls under constant barrage of spells from the enemy!

Not to mention that many of them caught a cold and their vitality was reduced. Storming such a well-fortified fortress without any battle plan! What could be more foolish?!

Such serious battles require planning in advance. If only Weed was given some time, he'd think of something and Orcs would have already taken the fortress. But now the Orcs horde was dying because of their own stupidity, and if he doesn’t do something soon, the battle will only continue growing more violent and unpredictable...

The scene, observed by Weed could not be compared to the Battle for Fort Odein in any way. The scale was very different and the specific races, involved in the conflict, spiced up the situation.

‘The initiative is definitely on the Elves’ side.’

Weed was calmly analyzing the battle.

At first glance it seemed like it’ll be definetly won by Orcs. They had far greater numbers and were quickly reaching the walls and joining the battle.

But Dark Elves didn’t give up.

They were defending a well-fortified fortress with plenty of arrows and correct troops arrangement, that allowed mages and archers to act with maximum efficiency. Besides despite the huge advantage in numbers, only 20 000 Orcs were able to participate in the actual fight at a time.

That number wasn’t nearly enough to overwhelm the Elves. Besides they couldn’t do much harm while shooting from below, as elemental spells, like wind, were preventing most of their arrows from reaching the top of the wall.

With only small losses Dark Elves were able to successfully repel the Orcs’ attacks.

“Stupid beasts!”

“Pigs! At our walls you’ll meet your end!”

Feeling their advantage, Elves were ridiculing their opponents. Infuriated by their mocking, Orcs were pushing even more viciously and dying in hundreds!

“Chwiik!”

“You! Coward! Once I get up there we’ll see who meets what end! Chwiik!”

Orcs were trying to break the gates, get a foothold on the walls, do anything to breach the Elves’ defences, but nothing succeeded.

In the first half of the battle the horde suffered great losses. More than 40 000 Orcs were dead.

Elves lost only a few hundred fighters. It was a good start for them, but it was still too early to celebrate the victory. There were still plenty of Orcs alive.

To secure their advantage even more a few hundred robed elves gathered on one of the towers. They waved their hands, whispered something, and finally simultaneously exclaimed:

“FLAME!”

A huge stream of fire shot from the tower. It was so strong, that even Weed, who was standing in the distance, felt the heat on his face! In a single moment flame engulfed and reduced to ash thousands of Orcs.

“Chwik?!”

“Chwiik! Chwik!”

Even after such a display of power Orcs didn’t lose their fighting spirit. They were still pressing on their assault, though some of them had a frightened expression now.

Their confidence in quick victory disappeared.

At that moment Weed took a step forward.

‘That’s the moment I waited for.’

He turned around and looked at Orcs standing behind him.

“Chwichwiik! Now it’s our turn!”

“Ka... Karichwi!”

“This is reckless, chwiik!”

Just a few moments ago they were eager to join the fight. But now Weed’s suggestion seemed insane to them.

“No! Chwiik! Trust me!”

10 000 Orcs, led by Weed moved to the front lines. Other Orcs and their chieftains were making way for them. They quickly reached the fortress to join the fight, without getting hit by spells once! The Dark Elves ran out of mana and were now waiting for it to regenerate.

The Moment Weed was waiting for finally arrived.

“Go! Attack! Chwiiik!”

Weed’s huge body easily shot up the log and in just a few steps he was on the wall, swinging his glaive.

Dark elves were famous for their sharp eyesight, bow mastery and swift movements. And many of them were able to use elemental magic. But their mana ran out, bows weren’t of much use at such a distance and there wasn’t much space to move on the crowded wall.

Weed rushed into the crowd of Elves. His strikes were slaying one enemy after another. The orcs, who followed him to the wall were covering his back.

In close combat Dark Elves were using short swords and rapiers, so they couldn’t provide any decent resistance against Orcs, once they reached the top of the wall.

Over the next few minutes Weed and his warriors killed more Elves than all the other Orcs combined since the beginning of the assault.

It seemed that Orcs will finally be able to get a solid foothold on the top of the wall, but then Weed and his warriors suddenly jumped off the wall!

“Wall of Fire!”

The place where Weed was fighting just a moment ago got engulfed in flames.

“A-a-a-argh!”

“It burns! Chwi!..”

The spell, cast by elven mages, burned not only Orcs, but nearby Dark Elves as well. Unlike humans, elves were very rational and didn’t hesitate if the sacrifice of few was able to save the many.

After waiting for the spell to end, Weed climbed back on the wall and dived into the fight. If he saw, that Orcs significantly lowered Elves’ health somewhere, he was immediately rushing there to finish them. He didn’t mind using his fellow Orcs as a shield as well, and often used them to escape deadly fire spells. At the same time he was always ordering warriors from his own army to retreat when required.

There was only one thought in Weed’s head:

‘I must use all the 400 000 Orcs to the fullest.’

His tactics was to strike the weak points and use Orcs to cover the retreat! While Dark Elves were killing other Orcs, he was gradually gaining experience. During his first hour of fighting he finished off more than a hundred of Elves, and with the kills of the Orcs from his party added, the final result was even better. And though he didn’t have time to check, he was sure, that his reputation among Orcs raised significantly.

When the Orcs’ losses reached 70 000, Dark Elves lost only a little over 3 000.

‘It’s time to end this...’

There were still about 7 000 Elves defending the fortress, though most of them wounded and weary. They were only holding because of the walls. But they were still great archers nonetheless.

If nothing changes, they might be able to hold because of their great archery skills and win in the end.

“Keep it up!”

“Crush the Elves! Chwiik!”

Orcs, who were waiting under the fortress walls waiting for their turn to climb the log, were screaming in excitement, cheering for their fellow warriors, fighting on top of the wall. And then an Orc stepped out of the fighting crowd and stood on the edge of the wall.

“Oh, it’s him!”

“The ugliest one!”

Both Orcs and Dark Elves were looking at Weed. And he, instead of going back into fight, jumped down from the wall and headed to the gates!

The Orcs, gathered at the wall were respectfully stepping aside to let him pass.

On the way Weed took the glaive in his left hand and pulled out a small figurine. The Hare figurine - one of the five small Fine Pieces.

“Sculpture Destruction! Let it become my strength.”

The figurine in his hand shattered into pieces and Weed’s body got shone brightly.

You used Sculpture Destruction.

Pain and grief fills your heart after destroying one of your Fine Pieces!

You permanently lose 5 points of Art.

Your Fame is reduced by 100.

For a day your Art attribute will be added to your Strength at 1:4 rate.

Sculpture mastery raised by 0.1%.

Over a thousand of his Art points got transformed into strength. And they were multiplied by 4 as well!

“A-a-a-a-ah!”

Weed yelled out and gripped the glaive with all his might. His huge arms were covered by bulging veins, his body filled with uncontrollable power. At that moment Weed didn’t look anything like a person who could understand art of sculpture.

Weed approached the gate and slammed them with his glaive.

Klaaang!

The glaive got shattered into pieces and bounced out of his hand.

“Chwiik?!”

“Chwichwichwik!”

Surrounding Orcs were very excited.

Weed picked up the broken glaive and continued to smash the gates. With every hit more cracks appeared on the gates and around 10th they finally gave in and fell inside.

“Whoah!”

“The gates are broken, chwiik!”

Orcs started to shout excitedly.

Three of the nearby Elves immediately rushed to the breach.

“Don’t let the Orcs pass!”

“Grow it! Grow the new wall!”

“Use magic! We’ll hold him off!”

Three Elves attacked Weed with spears. They needed to get rid of the enemy as fast as possible to free space for mages to create a new wall.

“Die!”

A sharp spear tip shot towards Weed, but he just slightly moved his hand and deflected his opponent’s weapon to the side.

“At once! Attack!”

Three spear struck one spot simultaneously, but Weed wasn’t there any more.

Even with his armor polished and clothes ironed, if he took those 3 strikes, his health would have dropped to a critical level. That’s because his equipment was junk!

In his entire time as an Orc, Weed wasn’t able to find or receive as a reward anything decent. And he didn’t want to spend anything on buying or creating new gear. Besides because of his increased body size creating a fitting armor required more materials.

“Chwiiik!”

So all he had left was to dodge opponents’ attacks. After using his overwhelming strength to deflect the next combined attack of Elves, Weed lunged forward.

The health of the Elf in the middle dropped by half, but Weed had to jump aside again to dodge the other 2 spears.

Weed was fighting on top of his ability, showing miraculous skill, moving bare inches from the opponents’ spears. He was using everything he knew, both what he was taught and what he learned all by himself. His every move was full of strength and harmony.

As a result by the time firs Orcs reached the breach, Weed has already defeated all 3 elves and the gates were captured.

Weed smiled happily at his brethren and used Lion Roar:

“Orcs, chwichwiik, attack! Destroy! Loot! Kill!”

You used Lion Roar.

Fighting Spirit of nearby friendly troops increased by 200%.

All confusion has been removed.

Leadership increased by 195% for 5 minutes.

The Orcs, who were suffering great losses since the beginning of the battle were back in high spirits!

“Chwiiik!”

“Fight, chwiriri!”

The horde was pouring into the fortress through the broken gates.

In this situation Dark Elves didn’t have a choice but to retreat back to their village. The path to it was riddled with numerous traps and Orcs, who tried to chase them had a hard time. Once more, like at the beginning of the battle, they were dying in hundreds, if not thousands.

But despite all the traps, magic and arrows of Elves, Orcs were advancing! The battle now moved to the edge of the village, where retreating Elves created another line of defences. They were holding for now, but they couldn’t imagine what will they do when the main forces of Orcs arrive.

“Hey, it’s mine!”

“I took it first, chwiik!”

Some Orcs started looting the houses.

Weed was watching it with tears. Though Elves didn’t have much gold or silver, they had some very rare gemstones, fruits and animal hides. If he sold all of it, he would receive tons of money!

Weed was terribly jealous, but he couldn’t stay and take part in looting.

First he has to complete the mission of the Order of Freya. To get into the temple! As fast as possible!

The temple of necromancers was located on a high cliff.

While Orcs were leading their fierce battle against Elves, Buren, Becker, Hosram, Dale and other soldiers were slowly and carefully climbing up. Even before the battle started, Weed planned their path and ordered to climb up.

“Huff!”

“Hold on.”

Soldiers were supporting each other and steadily climbing the mountain. As Weed didn’t have any special equipment for this occasion, they could only count on their own strength. And if warriors were climbing more or less confidently, the weak priests of Freya were on the verge of death.

The only thing they could rely on was the Vampire Lord Tori!

He transformed into a giant bat and watched soldiers carefully so none of them falls to their death. And The Death knight was helping exhausted soldiers.

If even a single Dark Elf happened to pass above them at that time, they would be in a trouble. But all the Elves were distracted by the Orcs, gathered at their walls, so the soldiers managed to reach the top of the cliff without any caasualties.

“Huh. Finally.”

Weed was already waiting for them at the agreed place.

“We’re here. No one lost. Now there’s nothing to worry about!”

Buren earnestly pounded his chest, but Weed wasn’t so confident.

‘I’d better rely on Orcs.’

Even though Orcs were dumb, they had great numbers and he didn’t have to mind their losses! But he had to protect the knights, soldiers and priests. If they die, he’ll lose the chance to get reward from the King.

“Hurry. Get ready, we’re going to the Necromancers’ temple.”

Accompanied by Death Knight and Vampire Lord, Weed went ahead.

“Chwiik! Who the hell are they?!”

When they were encountering other Orcs, Weed was just telling them:

“Those are my prisoners. Don’t touch them. Chwiit!”

“He caught humans here. I’m jealous. Chwiik!”

As Weed remained in the form of an Orc, all such random encounters were solved easily.

When they reached the temple, they saw dead Elves at the entrance.

Weed and his soldiers rushed into the dark interior of the temple. They had to hurry: if Orcs kill the necromancers before they do, the quest might not get completed.

There was a heavy and oppressing atmosphere inside the temple. The dark hallways was barely lit by dim torches.

“Chwiiik!”

Somewhere far ahead the shouts of orcs and noise of colliding blades were heard. It seemed that there was a serious battle between Orcs and Dark Elves.

Weed ordered his soldiers:

“Hurry up. We must make it. Prepare for battle!”

“Yes, sir!”

The squad was quickly moving forward. On the way they saw many shiny things on the walls, but none of the soldiers slowed down.

‘The main goal is to complete the quest of Order of Freya.’

Like ghosts, they shot out of the narrow passage into a wide hallway. In its center a few dozens Elves and Orcs were fighting.

“Chwiik!”

“We will defend this place!”

Seeing such a convenient situation Weed exclaimed:

“Let no one get away, kill everyone!”

Soldiers blocked the way and priest raised their hands and cast a spell:

“By the beauty of Goddess that blinds all men. Blind!”

Blinded Orcs and Elves scattered around, staggering. But Van Hawk and Tori already rushed to them and in less than a minute no one was left alive!

Stepping over the bodies, Weed and his soldiers reached the far side of the hallway. There on the wall was hanged a large map of Yuroki mountains! The Dark Elves fortress there was marked by a black dot, and a bit to the east was another dot, but red.

“Vampire Lord Tori! What are you doing here?! So you succumbed to humans... to those... holy priests of Freya!”

The necromancers, clothed in dark robes couldn’t hold their surprise. There were 12 of them, and each was holding a bone stave and beads, filled with dark magic.

Weed cancelled his Sculpture Transformation and stepped forward.

“Necromancers, this place will be your grave.”

While he was speaking Death Knight and Vampire Lord stood by his sides. Priests got ready to use their spells and Knights picked their targets.

The most powerful magic necromancers had was resurrection of undead. It was able to turn dead into skeletons, ghouls, zombies or even more powerful undead!

“Freya’s servants... You have destroyed our work.” - bitterly said one of the necromancers.

There were no corpses nearby and the bodies of Orcs and Elves lying in the distance wouldn’t be of any help against such an army anyway.

It was evident, that dark mages accepted their defeat and were ready to die without a fight.

“I see you came prepared. And came at such a wrong time. Now we won’t be able to return the loose button to its proper place...” - said one of them, bowing his head.

“Barabol!” - exclaimed other necromancers woefully.

“I never believed in divine providence, but if that’s how it must be, then kill me. I’m ready.”

The necromancer slowly stepped forward and got down on his knees in front of Weed.

“Barabol, we’re with you!”

The rest of them followed their leader and got on their knees. They were so close, that Royal Knights could behead them at any moment.

“I hope you will avoid evil in your next lives.”

Weed unsheathed his sword.

He was about to behead them and complete the quest of Order of Freya, but...

‘One moment... Something’s wrong...’

Weed thought over all the recent events. After completing that stupid quest to get the profession of Legendary Moonlight Sculptor he was always looking for a catch! And now there was something that was troubling him.

‘It seems appropriate to the difficulty level...’

The difficulty was ‘B’, like in case of Lord Tori. The quest that took all he had to finish. And to some extent it was true: to reach necromancers he had to pass their allies, Dark Elves, and that wasn’t an easy task.

‘But why do they calmly accept their deaths?!’

Weed was confused. He wanted to kill the necromancers and finish this long chain of quests a lot. As on his return he would receive even greater reward than before.

The greed flared in his eyes. Besides each of the necromancers was holding a bone staff and beads.

‘Those are at least Rare items... If sold the price will start at $1000... And if they have additional effects... The price will go up a lot... And there’s not just one or two of them here...’

Weed swallowed. He tightened his grip on the sword and took a step towards necromancer Barabol. One strike and it will be over, but the feeling of something lacking wasn’t leaving.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

There was a sound of Orcs’ footsteps above them. There wasn’t much time left. Weed sheathed the sword.

“Speak, necromancer. What button was you talking about? And what you meant by divine providence?”

Regular players would hurry to finish the quest of Order of Freya, but suspicion, that something was going wrong, lodged itself too deep inside Weed.

“Weed!”

“Destroy them, that is the will of Goddess Freya!” - exclaimed priests of Freya. But they trusted their leader a lot, so they quickly calmed down

Barabol lifted his head and asked:

“You’re not going to kill me, servant of Freya?”

“I’m not a servant. Answer the questions. Or should I just kill you all?”

“We... You won’t believe us anyway. Go on, Freya’s servant, strike! Even from the flames of hell I will curse you!”

“...”

The desire to cut the head of this cocky necromancer was rising again, but Weed restrained himself and said in calm voice:

“I’m giving you a chance. A chance to win my trust. If you tell the truth, I will try to believe it.”

“Really? You swear?”

“Yes. However this is just the promise to listen to you, not to let you live.”

Barabol looked at his kneeled companions, and started to tell his story.

“Since I got a chance, I’ll tell you. But you promised to believe it! The world has a wrong impression about Barr Khan Demoff. He did study necromancy and was known as a great mage, but...”

Barr Khan was a diligent young mage. A genius, recognized across the continent. And once he started to research the eternal life. He was trying to understand why people die and find a cure for terminally ill patients.

However his disciple, Shire, hated the entire world. He used his teacher’s trust and with lies and dark spells he led Barr Khan into the darkness. Thus from the desire to cure all diseases and prolong lives an army of undead was born! In his madness, Barr Khan led his new army across the world, destroying entire cities. And Shire was supporting him, making deals with all the dark powers of the continent.

Many had to join him in his madness, my teacher, who died in one of the battles, was no exception. However, when Barr Khan was finally defeated and his armies dispersed across the continent, we got a chance to think over our actions.

In one of the temples of Beelzebub we found a manuscript and discovered truth about those events. And now we want to return everything to how it was supposed to be. To free Barr khan from the dark bindings and punish Shire.

Ding!

You completed the quest ‘The Rise of Dark Forces in the Plains of Despair’.

Necromancers, that you considered to be the worst of evils proved to be innocent. They do not try to take revenge on the world, but correct their past mistakes.

Reward: Receive from the High priest of Order of Freya.

Weed smiled.

‘The quest is complete! I didn’t even have to kill them.’

When he was looking for Helen’s Grail and Fargo’s Crown he had to return to the Order of Freya to complete the quest. But this time it was done right on the spot and Weed was pleased.

But in the next moment!

‘Damn!’

Weed kicked the nearby stone with all his might.

‘The items!’

If he killed the necromancers, he’d get all their items. Bone staves, magical beads and possibly something else. The items he could sell to mage players! Receiving one such set was considered a great success, and there were 12 of them!

‘Idiot! Showed some compassion and lost so much money! Why, why!? So much money...’

While Weed was immersed in his inner suffering, Barabol continued speaking:

“We came here, to the plains of Despair, and made an alliance with Dark elves to hold back Shire. Last time, when the undead army was defeated, he managed to escape. And since then he was gathering the new army of undead. Even though it’s not anywhere near the old one in numbers, it’s still a formidable force, when led by a dark wizard. Besides, fearing persecution and death, he decided to kill himself to achieve immortality. He became a Lich!”

The army of undead! Led by the one who caused the same disaster in the past, now it was here, in the Plains of Despair.

“To be able to stop him we had to beg the Dark elves for their support. And to ensure their own safety they agreed to help us. This fortress was going to be the main obstacle on the way of the new undead army. We have to unite to stop this new threat! We need your help for that.”

Ding!

New Quest: The Undead Legion of Shire.

The secret, kept from entire world! It was Shire who caused all the disasters, blamed on Barr Khan Demoff. After that famous battle he disappeared to create a new army of undead.

To survive Orcs and Dark Elves have to stop their mutual hostility and stand united against the undead army of the dark mage. Gather all the forces and repel the attacks of the immortal army of undead.

Difficulty: A.

Reward: Book of Barr Khan.

Restrictions: The Undead Legion will start the war in 30 days.

‘A’ rank difficulty! Weed completed the quest and received the next quest in the chain. The battle against the undead army! It will be the great event for the entire continent. Moreover, no one in the game has ever received the quest of such difficulty! Because there were special conditions to be met in order to be able to receive it.

While shocked Weed was thinking about it, another system message popped in front of him.

You got an opportunity to complete a unique quest, associated with the game’s set of professions.

Corresponding to the continent’s history, no player was able to choose the profession of necromancers, as they were considered the true evil among the mages. When you defeat Shire and complete this quest, the ability to chose this profession will be unlocked.

Background: Because of the mistake of the past necromancers were being killed or banished to the darkest corners of the continent. Because of them it was hard for them to find disciples and pass their knowledge to new generations. Once they restore their good name, they will be able to return to the kingdoms’ capitals and start a new life.

The quest of ‘A’ rank difficulty.

And it was opening a new profession of necromancer too.

“Sir!”

Buren, Becker, Hosram, Dale and others were looking at Weed with thrilled expressions and straight backs.

Knights of justice!

It was a great honor for them to fight against the Undead Legion.

“Goddess Freya...”

Priests were reciting prayers.

Weed looked at them and said:

“I have decided...”

Chapter 1: Delight

Advancing to the Plains of Despair, at the request of the church of Freya!

Join the Orcs after transformation through sculpting, and have them target the Dark Elf citadel!

During the quest to eradicate the necromancer that summoned the followers of Balkan, Weed displayed a little mercy. At the last moment, he saved the necromancer.

Perhaps due to this, an A-class difficulty quest opened up to him.

The Immortal Legion.

The Lich Shire was leading a legion of undead to war.

The Orcs and Dark Elves are needed to unite to defeat the Immortal Legion.

The necromancer watched and the royal soldiers waited for Weed's answer.

Then Weed answered.

"Orcs and Dark Elves, even with their combined strength, we will not be able to break the immortal legion. So, I will have no part of this."

Once again, for confirmation.

'The Immortal Legion led by Shire', do you want to accept this quest?

This quest is associated with the emergence of the undisclosed profession Necromancer.

"I will not fight against the Immortal Legion."

Quest refused.

"Then...."

The look on their faces was of significant disappointment.

"Sir! We cannot accept this decision, Captain."

Becker and the usual lieutenants that followed Weed unquestionably had protested wildly. Also the Royal Army suddenly turned cold.

"This person doesn't know the meaning of justice! Have you ever learned about chivalry?"

"Help the weak and punish the wicked. Come to think of it, talk about the subject of a sculptor in the military company itself!"

Loyalty and intimacy with the soldiers of the armor dropped significantly at this point.

"No way to go along with this decision."

"For the pious Weed to think like this when facing the forces of evil... I do not believe it."

Even the priests dispatched from the Church of Freya began to avoid Weed. At this point, everyone hated Weed! However, looking back, the necromancer had spoken.

"You still do not realize the seriousness of the situation developing. I said that the Immortal Legion doesn't just involve us necromancer, but also the entire continent."

"I did not know that."

"Look, you're the only one that can lead us, so fight along with us."

T'tiring!

The Immortal Legion led by Shire to take over the world, a secret mission!

Balkan controls this summoning from behind the scenes; he hopes to bring about the path of darkness, with his disciple Shire. A day after a battle, the Lich Shire will rebuild the legion entirely from the remains of the losses. So once again the Immortal Legion will be born!

In order to survive, the Orcs and Dark Elves will need to cooperate with each other in this war. Gather everything in your power to prevent the march of the Immortal Legion, defeat Shire.

Difficulty: A

Compensation: The magic of Balkan.

Quest time limit: Defeat the Immortal Legion within 30 days.

"....."

For a moment Weed was astonished. He rejected it, even though the quest was offered again.

He returned the cup to the Church of Freya in Heredia and was virtually forced to delve further in association with the quest for the crown. Now even the necromancer in the Plains of Despair gives him a mission where the rejection punishes his association with those near him.

‘This quest is extremely difficult!’ Weed shook his head.

"No. In this case, I just can't."

Once again, for confirmation.

'The Immortal Legion led by Shire'

Do you want to accept this quest?

This quest is associated with the emergence of the undisclosed profession Necromancer.

In the situation that you do not accept, dire consequence will occur.

"Hmm, it seems you still do not understand. Even after I told you. This mission affects all of the continents. If you ignore this, then like us, humans will not be able to escape from the darkness. Then people around you will lose courage and be distraught."

The Necromancer spoke in an utmost dismal tone.

Creepy!

Weed felt a chill sweep through his body.

Absolutely trapped in a conversation he can't get out of.

Instead of just the Church of Freya, look at yourself in a corner. No hesitation to intimidate with a fall in reputation. Here, a normal person can never succeed. Pretend to accept the quest.

It is hard to refuse the quest, but one can desert the quest later. The price of this is a continued loss of reputation, fixed on the conviction that there is no way it can be done.

But Weed was weak to this threat. Working hard for all of that fame, he couldn't just blow it all away.

"It is my desire to take on the Immortal Legion with my life. To defeat the Lich and his legion of undead, and fight to prevent the defilement of this land."

You have accepted the quest

* * *

Hwareureureu.

The mud and fire was swept away from the Dark Elf citadel. In order to fix the damage caused by Orc ordinances and Dark Elf magic that carved pits throughout the area.

Extremely large enough to house tens of thousands, Orcs were busy carrying luggage as they moved to the Dark Elf citadel.

"Chwichwit. Elf knows no fun, never heard of stones."

"Okay, Orc."

"I am great being first in strength. Chwiik!"

Orcs and Elves joined forces to begin the task of repairs.

The necromancer scrambled to the priests and royal knights to inform them of the undead army. Then the Dark Elves and Orcs made a dramatic reconciliation. The enemy caused a joining of races to an army.

Balkan's summoning rituals were conducted in the past, and this did not tolerate any being left alive. Dark Elves were killed and resurrected as undead hunters; Orcs were made into zombies.

Above all else, Dark Elves cherished their clans. Also the proud Orcs found it an insult to be turned into a zombie.

"Chwiik, Chwiik! We go back to the dirt. Chwichwik. We can take a break and stretch our legs after we die."

The two races allied to fight the Immortal Legion worked to repair the citadel. The priests of Freya, the royal knights also joined the task of recovery.

"It's empty in here!"

"There is stronger support underneath."

"The foundation here is too weak."

Dale and Hosram took the soldiers with them to carefully check the citadel. The strength of Orcs was good for carrying heavy boulders or objects, but the touch of human hands was better for the structure. The eccentric Dark Elves used magic to carve and made a sloppy job of it.

From the top of the citadel, Weed was hit by a cool breeze.

A heavy and serious expression!

"Sir, the trick seems to be creating a strategy that will win the battle against the Immortal Legion."

"He's also our captain after all."

Becker gave a thumb up.

But it was in the back of Weed's mind, he wasn't considering the war coming in one month.

"Let's take a look. First, the items acquired as the spoils of war...."

He was in the middle of calculating the price of spoils from his kills during the siege of the Dark Elves. Indeed, even during the most intense of the fighting, he was looking for items. All of the important items on the floor dropped by the bodies that he relentlessly searched, laughing like a crazy person as the arrows flew towards him.

A desperate struggle for money!

Scraping up weapons and equipment like he was a vacuum cleaner.

Now it was time to calculate the worth of the items obtained.

"Identify."

Orc captain's digging glaive: Durability 69/80. Damage 25-51

The glaive of a streetwise Orc captain.

Even though it is heavy and not easy to wield, the blow can be as heavy as a hammer blow.

Restrictions:

Strength 350.

Level 180.

Effects:

+20 battle cry.

+10 Strength.

-30 Agility.

Accuracy of attack decreased by 25%.

Fatal blow has twice the effect.

The first thing he checked was an almost useless item.

'This glaive will not sell well.'

Although there may be enthusiasts that look for very unique weapons, when viewed from the perspective of efficiency, tough weapons were hardly worth brimming over. When someone does not know if it can be used in the normal game, they check what stats and skills it raises. But in Royal Road, you actually move your body.

If possible, you only use those tools that feel familiar to your hand. So the Ork glaive comes out as a difficult weapon for the buyer; normally, the effects of unusual weapons made them sell generally well. Typically they are ancillary, such as freezing the enemy with a hit or a magical attack; while increase in attack is excellent, the most sought for is a lightweight sword.

Weed decided to dispose off the rough glaive, and took a look at the other stuff.

5 Orc armor, two elf headbands, and clothing with seven penalties.

Being ordinary items, but elf clothes had resistance to spirits and raised affinity, which would be popular as an item for sale.

'That's good. For once, today's costs are achieved.'

Weed found it delightful to avoid work.

Even if you specialize in construction, no matter how good you are, you would still hate lugging stone. It is laborious work to struggle with carrying bricks in a construction ground.

Ork or Elf, the soldiers worked diligently. However, he was hiding it as it was not a wise choice to announce such things. When in the thick of things, to do this would rather severe thoughts and expressions as they locked on you.

"We have to believe in the captain."

"If it's the captain, we will win the fight against that undead army."

Due to the misunderstanding of the soldiers, Weed was being revered!

Weed stood on top of the minarets in order to see further away.

With a glance, he looked down on the Yuroki Mountains. Passing like a river beneath the clouds; resulting from layers upon layers of mountains and valleys in this space.

Meanwhile the clouds flowed by. The Dark Elves placed their stronghold at the highest point where the air is extra thin and easily exhausted.

Colder and drier areas.

Places where snow covered the mountains. The sun's glow gradually diminished as the sky turned red. But even those clouds on the bottom bathed entirely in mystical colors of the sunset.

Weed quietly watched the scene as he logged out.

* * *

The first thing Lee Hyun did as he left the capsule was to stop at the item auction site.

"There has to be someone looking for an Orc glaive, right? Digger Glaive won’t be able to deliver much, I suppose. Elf headband prices rise only slightly because of their scarcity.... Should have picked up an elf bow, it would have sell at a high value."

In sadness Lee Hyun fell to the ground feeling regret.

The dark awareness of a gamer!

'I still have a long way to go!'

It was not necessary for him to bother with breaking the gate to win the siege. With all those buyers, he should have found a Dark Elf holding a bow even more so.

Thus if he would had picked up at least one Dark Elf lord's bow, he would have achieved a desirable goal.

'I was too engrossed to notice.'

Lee Hyun groaned.

Yet the information of price of each item was steadily confirmed. It is an equity investment for people to verify the pricing of the items they acquire, as was checking the items for sale. Usually, these other items in the auction when finalized, is sold almost instantaneously. Lee Hyun scanned the recent postings meticulously.

Access to the Royal Road site can also help with references to newly identified items and you can find out what possible items drop from different monsters.

The road to become an emperor. The dream to rule over continents. Welcome to Royal Road.

Royal Road's homepage.

Lee Hyun was in the Hall of Fame; he clicked on the top to log in.

To get into his account, he entered his ID in the space provided.

Inconspicuous at the bottom of all the people, that is the best place!

Lee Hyun uploaded the whole video of his quest.

As an afterthought, he would have liked to edit the original video, cutting parts out to make himself look good. But for Lee Hyun, there was no separate program that he could use to edit the video.

The path of darkness.

The so-called illegal downloads of copyrighted programs were all blocked, so he would have had to purchase video editing software which required him to pay a minimum of tens of thousands of Won. Yet, even if he did, he would have had to purchase a computer to do work to that extent, so he left it as is.

"No luck, it simply rolled."

No surprise today that it died; it was making strange sounds and vibrating. As always, Lee Hyun put it on sleep mode with the movie uploaded.

* * *

Even today, people accessed the Royal Road Hall of Fame list. The Hall of Fame; millions of people visited the record every day; it was popular enough that it was kept at the corner of the site. Of course, most had no interest in the lower section of the Hall of Fame. It was known to the users that the ones with the high levels occupied a higher position in the Hall of Fame.

"This is what happened in the Hermes Guild today."

"Griffith, is that guy still pirating at sea?"

In the case of murder, theft and piracy, some users also have images posted. People who live vicariously, their reckless pace also makes others feel excitement.

So what, Lee Hyun had attached two videos of himself and it just burned him? For those that are first on the Hall of Fame, there is a major difference in the value of names.

And then anyone looking at Lee Hyun's current video was completely thunderstruck.

"Oh my God!"

The reason for the surprise was the duration and size of the video.

"It's a 19 hour and 49 minute movie!"

He exited out of the absurd movie and wrote the line on the Royal Road board.

There is a new person that is in the Hall of Fame. But that man....

The new player in the Hall of Fame had uploaded new game-play footage, a whopping 19 hours!

Royal Road's board had a lot of users.

They immediately laughed at Lee Hyun.

– This noob is incredible.

– Novice has no idea how to post. Looking at the Hall of Fame, he must just be glad to be on it.

– Yet he didn't edit it at all, raises his reliability to 0.

– I'd see few than one

They only just glanced at Lee Hyun's post.

Then someone could not win against curiosity and clicked the video, but the moment he saw the beginning, he forget everything else.

"What, a mountain, where is this place.... there are countless Orcs going around."

At the first glance he did not know to look properly, although there seemed to be Dark Elves and Orcs.

"What a waste of time to click this."

But he could not resist his curiosity and looked at Lee Hyun's video again.

Nothing better to do anyway, and if there is no fun I'll turn it right off.

Then after 30 minutes. He posted back on the Royal Road board.

– That 19 hour and 49 minute video.

Just look at it.

No words can describe it.

It is one of the best.

I immediately gave it a second glance and now plan to watch it through.

People became interested from seeing this post.

They sought the video and played it.

The vast majority did not look far into it and saw no significance, thinking they got tricked into viewing it.

"Even now, fishing is popular to post about?"

"Maybe the original guy posted the remark himself. The ID can be different, a friend or family member's account."

"Well this is boring, what a bad reply..."

However, in the video uploaded by Lee Hyun, an Orc emerged.

Orc Karachwi!

He was an Orc with a very sturdy and adorned muscular body. A thick, ugly scar on the face with buck teeth popping out.

– A morning in the mountains. The red sun rising with strong wind blowing. Chwichwit. The clouds look heavy with the premonition of the upcoming battle, and I stand at the forefront of the Dark Elves. Chwi! This morning I bare fresh hope. Chwichwiwit. Our courage and ardent wish toward victory. Abandon that noble spirit. Spirits. Oh I like to sing. Chuyiik! The Dark Elves will fall even more as I sing that song. A song praying for our victory. If the song is not abandoned, our victory is certain.

The absurd Orc took their attention, people laughed at the monologue.

"What the hell is this anyway?"

"What is this, satire?"

And people did not stop at this.

Around Orc Karachwi, the mountain was dense with fog. But the fog started to lift little by little, as the sun rose. Like that, at every point Orcs appeared.

"Orcs."

"I have lots of Orcs."

"Where is the alternative?"

– Chwiyiik! Chwiik!

– Kuwaahah!

Following the Orc’s monologue, the Orc army roared!

The fog lifted completely.

The Yuroki Mountain revealed itself with nearly 400,000 Orcs and the siege of the Dark Elves began.

Against their high spirits, the Dark Elves were using elements and magic. The Orcs pushed with overwhelming numbers.

"This is like watching a movie."

"A battle of this scale..."

The majority of users have seen people do siege warfare. Magic can be dazzling when cast, but only that. That is only partly impressive.

But in this case, wave after wave of Orcs attacked as the Dark Elves desperately deflected them. Black fumes rose from the burning oil splashed down from the walls on to the Orcs. Some of the Orcs that were hit by the oil itself burned to death.

Orcs climbing the walls.

Dark Elves launching arrows covering the sky.

"Awesome."

"This is the best....!"

The people who saw the video were very much content.

Like out of a fantasy film, you can be a spectator of a desperate battle between different races.

The incredible power of that glaive left others in awe!

Powerful enough to defeat many Dark Elves in combat!

The mighty Orc that wielded the glaive in his recklessness.

Based on its overwhelming power, the entire force moved together. The explosive energy can be felt; occasionally the glaive was swung in mysterious ways leading to amazing results. Ever since the creation of virtual reality, all martial arts enjoyed its greatest prosperity. Users can move about in virtual reality without being winded and garnered more interest in the use of weapons and combat.

"How could he move like that?"

"You can see that the whole battle is drawn around him."

"I guess this is where that Orc subtly changed the flow of the battle."

The calibre of the battle completely engrossed the minds of those who watched. Even if the movie ended at that point, people were very satisfied. But the video was far from the end. Priests and soldiers also joined those brutal looking Orcs.

"No way!"

"So that was a user?"

The people were astonished.

The war of Orcs and Dark Elves.

However, all of this was due to the will of a user. A single man was at the centre of this.

Murderous Orcs, soldiers, and priests were entering the temple, marching toward the necromancer. There was no way to know the background of the war, but the mood made it clear that the place was very important. Then the heinous Orc turned into the shape of a man.

The viewers did not know it, but the reason for this was the cancellation of the sculpture shapeshifting skill. The interior of the temple was very dark and the angle of the video showed the back, so they could not examine the face.

Then they viewed the conversation with the necromancer.

– I do not place my trust in the providence of a God for the sake of my live. However, if this is how it will be, I am prepared to comply. Kill me.

He looked to his knees.

Then so the necromancer knelt down.

People expected that the necromancer will finally be killed.

"Kill him!"

"I am curious about this quest. Really."

"With the rewards of a quest of this scale, what is it that you want?"

People were totally immersed as they watched the video. Unlike other videos, they really felt a different experience. Hall of Fame videos were generally monster hunts. Only those that are highly acclaimed can be qualified to enter the Hall of Fame; but they also knew that their own quests can be made public to which they were not willing.

The video Weed made was a big breather of fresh air. A movie where the main character came out, and when the conflict occurred, he didn’t swing the sword.

– Say, my dear necromancer. You might think of this as divine providence, but you hit the wrong key.

– You won’t kill me, slave of Freya.

– I am not a tool. I would like you to talk. Will you tell me your side of the story?

– We... are not! You will not believe my story. Get out, you servants of Freya! Go to hell, I curse you.

– ......

The video's protagonist fell silent for a moment and then he spoke.

– I will give you the opportunity. A chance to receive faith and trust. I will also believe what you say to be truthful.

– Really? Can you promise?

– Yes. But just that I will listen to your story. Not a promise that I won’t kill you.

They saw him hesitate for a moment, and then he began his long story.

– As you told me, I will speak. What the world knows of Balkan is wrong. You see, Balkan had been researching the skill of immortality, he was a true wizard. Yet.....

He said with an indignant look.

– Balkan's subordinate Shire used wicked tactics and the forces of darkness. Yet, the research was utilized in the wrong direction to create an immortal, undead army. When they die, the undead army quickly comes back to life! Balkan fell to the forces of darkness and lost his mind; the undead legion will destroy the world. Shire is in league with the forces of darkness and he leads the immortal legion. We necromancers were brought into this by Balkan, but fear being part of it, we are not free from our teacher's sin. The fact is, we went to this temple and got these old manuscripts to study blood and death as necromancers to reverse all of this. To return Balkan back to normal by removing the dark aura, and punish Shire, the source of all this evil.

The truth is revealed and the quest is completed. A new beginning.

Difficulty A quest has been opened.

If it has not already been unlocked, the quest is associated with the unknown profession: Necromancer.

"Necromancer!"

"If this person succeeds in this quest, we will be able to choose necromancer as a profession?"

"An upper profession quest for wizards has appeared!"

Finally, as the Dark Elf Citadel's repair operation is shown the video ends.

* * *

For Lee Hyun's position, all of this took place earlier today.

Though he only slept for five hours, the world had changed considerably.

The Royal Road website had an exactly different atmosphere.

It was no longer no-one paying attention to the lower half of the Hall of Fame; the movie shook everything up.

"That Orc quest!"

"The Dark Elves, first time I've ever seen such a battle in my life."

"That Orc transformation.... might that be a quaternary poly-morph wizard spell?"

"No way, if that is it, I would probably be able to use that skill."

"At the very least, I guess it could be a unique item that allows you to change the body."

People were making speculations.

The sculpture shape-shifting was entirely unknown to them and their common sense. In addition, Lee Hyun conducted this quest itself in a place that was entirely new to them. With the stretches of mountains and valleys with no limit, and the open area with clouds underneath them.

"Where is this space land!?"

"It's not the central continent..."

"Many people live in the great cities and the surrounding terrain, and they do not look like that!"

People wanted to know where Lee Hyun conducted this quest and they couldn't wait. Royal Road was modestly mobilized here. Those that excelled in various fields among them were revealed.

– First, look at the trees in the land. The weather is very cold, not hot.

– Consider the alpine region, for the breeds of trees like that....

– The mountain peak is covered with snow.

– Certainly not in the south or the north.

– How the insects or birds move. Currently, the continent of Versailles during autumn. I can judge this by the migratory birds you see flying in the video....

The study even showed the Orcs.

– I've enjoyed many fantasy novels. Orcs from a book of fantasy! Robust and simple, the race charmed me very much. Huhuhu. Till now, I was told that the study of the Orcs was ignored by all, it was very annoying. However, I still believed. Orcs are THE flower in fantasy! Think about it. If you did not have Orcs in a fantasy world, what fun would that be!

The study of Orcs did not stop there as the topic strutted around.

– The species of Orc vary slightly depending on ethnic characteristics.

Chwiik. Chwi-ik. Chwiyiik. Chuik. Chwiik.

Where they get stronger in some way, stemming from the habitats they live in.

This particular Orc study received the attention from others as well.

– Then, I'll let you know. So far 87 species of Orcs are identified on the continent of Versailles; looking at the appearance of the Orcs in the video, it is evident that they are mainly native to the East.

Orcs of the Kingdom of Brent put out a similar twang sound.

However, soon the words of the Orc studies received objections.

– Not the Orcs you see with those weapons and vitality. Orcs of the Kingdom of Brent are just about level 140. Many of the Orcs shown in the video are beyond level 200.

– I do not know too much about Orcs, however, the level is over 350. I've hunted many monsters. The Orcs that came out there, I've never seen guys that strong. To fight hordes of Orcs like that has got to be dreadful.

– This is giving me goosebumps!

An Orc researcher wrote this a while back

– I'm confident that this Orc species is not from the Kingdom of Brent. Though perhaps we can gather that the Orcs of the Kingdom of Brent are a little related. With that heinous crime of a movie coming out, I hardly have any knowledge of where that type of Orc may be found. Looking at it, my impression and interest is lost. My taste in it has also fallen sharply.

After the announcement of the assumed region of these Orcs that appeared in the video were made, things became more active.

But for Lee Hyun, it was completely different. Turning on the computer, the Hall of Fame website report left Lee Hyun disappointed.

"The total number of hits is less than 70,000."

Other videos in the Hall of Fame get millions of hits. Of the Hermes Guild, Ray Bard's movies get more than 100 million. Especially for the Champion's Tower video, Ray Bard's authorized scene boasted a whopping 1.7 billion hits.

"70,000 and nothing else."

Lee Hyun was discouraged, but if you actually know about the Hall of Fame, you would not agree with that.

The movie was posted just five hours before.

Also, it was located at the bottom of the Hall of Fame, and the length was too long to see in this amount of time; no one will see it whole for a while. The rumour started three hours before it began to climb. Since then, thousands of people had access.

The important part is that because the movie is long, to properly watch the full length of the video, the view counts will not easily increase. However, after the word spread, more and more will be coming back. As for how much the view count will increase, nobody knew the ripple effect that would come from this.

Chapter 2: Lavias, City in the Sky

In one of the many hidden dungeons, a person appeared. She found herself in a dark dungeon, and looked around in confusion. However, she soon regained her senses.

"Light! Work fast."

Light was called to quickly burn through the darkness; she casted the spell to be able to walk around.

She originally wanted to be a wizard, but also wanted to wield a sword. Although the weapon is of a short sword variety, it has a fierce stab attack. She carried a bow on her shoulder, and she had the look of a priestess. Where she could not use physical attacks, she used spells and buffs. Her class was well rounded.

Her identity is a shaman.

Dyne! She was seriously ill and had to leave in order to receive surgery. Now she has returned.

"This hasn't changed."

Dyne's eyes lit up.

As luck would have it, the time has come to move forward with her head held up high.

"Miss, I need to ask you something."

The one who spoke those words was a Dullahan. (a headless monster, like from v2ch16)

It would have been frightening, but to Dyne, it was a familiar sight.

"Then tell me!"

"I've been looking for a head, my head. If you see it, show me where it is."

The creature of terror was holding the head he was looking for!

Dyne decided to give him an answer.

"Then close your mouth."

"What did you say?"

"I give up!"

Dyne suddenly clenched her two fists and relentlessly beat the Dullahan's head.

In the past, she hated hunting undead. After she safely returned from the surgery, the Dullahan was only a monster. Although punching with fists was not the only learned skill, her archery was also quite excellent.

She also could do different buffs, and she learned curse and attack spells.

Even her swordsmanship was at a high level!

The one thing that was difficult for Dyne, was that her class couldn’t exhibit as much power as the original class, since Dyne is a Shaman. The class is well-rounded in all talents, but is unable to specialize; though, it seems highly effective in combat.

Well, the origin of her current state of mind should also be considered. The beginning of all of this was in this place, with the character named Weed. Dyne started with punching and kicking, and followed up with fencing. She was excited using it on the Dullahan.

"My head, my head! My head hurts too much."

"It was a little bit stressful being confined in a hospital.... please understand. It won’t last much longer. Blood curse!"

Yet the blood curse she used was of a certain family of spells.

The monster, Dullahan, was blessed with the curse of darkness!

He was beaten up and then his life was restored to an even higher amount than before.

Plagues and horrible enchantments.

Rather, it was not to kill him. Buffs to save the Dullahan and then hit the him, it was contradictory. At the end of a long time of beating up the Dullahan, she finished him off with arrows.

Exerting her skills after such a long time!

Punching or fencing, archery, and magic, it was still the same.

The pitiful Dullahan became the target of all this.

"I'm not too rusty with my skills."

Dyne smiled joyfully.

When she played Royal Road in the past, she cared only about raising her skills rather than levels. Buff the monster, fight it, and repeat. Her level of skills increased abnormally.

"It's good to see Dullahans, and skeleton dogs!"

Dyne walked alone, strolling through the dungeon of the undead. Yet her body moved by its own accord. Coming back to Royal Road after a long time, she revelled in its ambiance, as if drunk from breathing the air.

How much she missed while she was bedridden.

Just a single breath, even wanting it as if it was a meal.

How wondrously beautiful life is, only a person who was sick could see this. Yet, whenever a monster was caught in her line of sight, she beat them right away.

Skeleton warriors, skeleton knights.

Just before the surgery, the skeletons emerged. It was a high-risk surgery. There are many cases where the patient dies in the middle of the operation. People worried that 'If there were only bone left after death, it could look like this case'.

She wandered around the undead dungeon just to look at it!

In her memory the area was simply barren, but it's not the same.

It used to be decorated with gray and black stalactites, hanging in the natural cave or shattered.

But statues had been chiseled everywhere.

You have seen the great Nameless Sculptures of Lavias. These great nameless sculptures had arisen!

These sculptures of treasured memories have become sanctuaries and guides in these dangerous dungeons. The mysterious statues were made by an anonymous sculptor.

Effect: The calm aura around these sculptures will increase a player’s vitality and mana by 25%, movement speed by 10%. Monsters' attacks have a 5% penalty. The effects do not stack.

"Statue?"

Dyne was in a bad mood from the sculptures that did not fit her memory of the place.

"Why is everything like this?"

The moment she was about to turn away, the statues' appearance felt suddenly familiar.

One eyebrow slightly cocked upwards with a fierce expression on the man's face!

And the woman certainly resembled Dyne.

"It can't be..."

Dyne looked at the man. It was no doubt the man she met just before her surgery.

In Royal Road, the person who was deeply carved into her heart at the very end.

At that time, Dyne and this person made a fantastic party. The various specialties of the Shaman, combined with Weed's strength swept through the undead dungeon.

"Oh Weed."

Tears flowed uncontrollably in Dyne's eyes.

"Sob. I promised to never cry again, but..."

Before undergoing the operation, she imagined it a hundred times.

She will seek a new life, being glad to be alive.

She would never cry.

But now shedding these tears, how she felt was indescribable.

As she left to take the surgery, she thought that no one would remember her. Just to become completely forgotten from existence; she did not even know whether there was anyone who thought of her.

However, there was one person who gave her this as remembrance.

There was a man who crafted her appearance into sculptures. She could feel her heartbeat. Her heart started beating rapidly, her hands trembled slightly. Dyne's whole body was wracked with emotion, and then she noticed that graffiti was written under the statues. The handwriting was so poor; it appeared to have been written by a child.

Geomchi. Punishment to the ignorant!

Geomdulchi. Men everywhere should do hard work.

Geomsamchi has been here.

Geomsachi. I serve the master; it brings glory to my life.

Geomohchi. Must obtain a girlfriend. We're still only in our late 30s.

…..

Geombaekgusipsachi. I'm hungry. Someone lend me a little bit of barley bread.

…..

Geomsambaekyisipilchi. I starved to death yesterday.

Geomsambaekyisipyichi. These little monsters; and no food.

…..

Geomsambaeksasipohchi. Lover wanted. No conditions required. Only that you are willing to learn how to cook.

…..

Geomohbaekochi. Hello, nice to meet you. Geomohbaekohchiipnida is my name. Also known as the youngest cutie, Hajiyo. Hahaha.

Dyne went around a one large tour of the undead dungeon, and then she froze.

It had been a long time since her battle with the skeleton Dullahan and his head; she sought Weed's anonymous creations. Where Dyne and Weed ate their meal, without fail two sculptures of themselves rested there.

“Amazing. These statues... “

Dyne's eyes were moistened with tears. It may be trivial, but it was enough for her heart to be pained from the emotions. She viewed many sculptures like this. Slowly she continued to walk around the damp dungeon in enjoyment.

“Khu khu khu. Human beings are not allowed in this place.”

“In this place, you lay your body down before the lions. In this place of rest.”

“Lay down your life. I will guide you to your eternal rest.”

Three Skeletons!

Occasionally, monsters that haunted the area caught up to her and were firmly beaten.

This was absolutely not acceptable. She shattered their bones in rage for committing the crime of destroying the mood. They only did this to defend their territory, while Dyne intentionally walked around them!

These statues were intimately made with the desire to not allow them to gather near these statues, but without fail, Dyne was interrupted by the monsters. All she could do was let her skills go rampant as she hunted these monsters down. The characteristics of the Shaman appeared as she attacked and defeated these monsters.

She was out of the dungeon within two days.

* * *

“So this is the city in the sky?”

“Yes. This place was recently discovered a short time ago by some adventurers. The only thing is that only people who did a meritorious service requested by Baran village could come up here.”

In Lavias, there were quite a lot of adventurers. Dyne did not look around without Weed; in the meantime, many users did some discoveries and adventures on their own.

The sky above the city.

The scenery of the clouds passing by from the flow of the wind left the tourists with a good feeling, making the place a sight to behold. Low-level tourists came here risking their lives just for the chance to visit.

Lavias became famous, and even the kingdoms' nobility officially announced their interest to visit. Rosenheim Kingdom's nobles, and the nobles of the Kingdom of Brent often drop by quite often. Extremely expensive quests arose for hiring escorts for them to go there safely.

“There are a lot of people here.”

Dyne slowly walked inside the city. Then a wide variety of bird tribes greeted her.

“Caw, caw. This is the first time seeing you. Are you new in town?”

The one who spoke up was Tom Ball, the new grandfather.

Beside him were many other bird tribes. The crow flapped his wings.

“Human, are you strong? You seem to be quite famous; I would like to ask you a favor. Up here in Levias, we have been unlucky with all of the undead.”

“Do you know how to gather herbs? If you don't, I'll teach you about herbal medicine; can you give me 200 gold? There is a herb I'm looking for in the north corner of a cave. If you try to dig up its roots, you could get injured, so you have to be careful.”

They were prospects.

She met a wide variety of bird tribes, but they all couldn't remember her. Even if they had a new head of the family, they were severely forgetful. Even though Dyne helped the black crow tribe, she had been forgotten.

As she leisurely wandered around, Dyne suddenly missed Weed.

‘He must be somewhere in the middle of an adventure and all. He must be at a much higher level, why, wouldn't he?’

She wanted to get in touch with him.

She wanted to share her joy with him in being alive!

However, there was no way to contact him. Before she left for the surgery, she deliberately disabled her friends’ list. If she came back, there was no way he would be aware of the fact. She was extremely regretful of rejecting his friend request.

Thousands of people with a similar name would pop up if you didn't register the friendship immediately with a direct contact. So this means that there is no way to keep in touch.

‘Well, that's okay, if we are meant to meet again, then it will happen. Though, if we did, would it be a sad meeting?’

The level difference must have grown too large, and they may not have a chance of meeting one another. However, this was not a big concern. With her high level of skill in comparison to her actual level, she can easily build it back up.

‘I'm free now to be myself. I don't have to worry about dying. I've got time.’

Dyne then stood alone watching as several women approached her.

“How do you do? I have a problem I would like your help with. Would you mind taking this risk? My name is Geurati, the wind spirit witch.”

Dyne happily nodded her head.

Adventure!

Hunting!

She wanted to venture forth and get stronger.

'The continent of Versailles, Levias, any place with monsters is good.'

* * *

The levels of the Geomchis failed to rise quickly. The reason was due to the building of the pyramids.

“Kkeungcha!”

“Three hundred and four, just a little bit more. Let’s show them our strength.”

“Yes, sir. To the death!”

The hard work of pushing the pyramids’ stones was entrusted to them.

Selena, a pretty girl from the flower shop in the countryside nearby came by and made a request.

“Actually, my house is falling apart right now and needs a lot of repair, can you please help me?”

T'tiring!

Selena's house. In Serraburg, there is a shabby house in disrepair. If you can rebuild Selina's home, you can be her friend.

Difficulty: D

Reward: Selena's friendship.

Quest requirement: A certain level of fame. Must have experience in construction.

Originally, this was not a common quest. The reward was simply just friendship with Selena!

When you start in Royal Road, you cannot leave the castle for the first 4 weeks. You have to master how to play, and to some extent, you have to pick and choose the quests in accordance to the rewards. Whether it be a lot of money, experience, or payment of an item!

A request to move things with your body in many ways; nevertheless architectural based quests is not that hard.

However, as the Geomchis listened to Selena, they rushed for it recklessly.

“Please, please allow me!”

“Accept me as if I was your slave!”

“A home? I'll build you a palace!”

The beauty of Selena caused them to rush and they were all clamoring to receive the quest. It was too late for Geomsamchi (3rd) and Geomdulchi (2nd). They were shouldering the various tools for building the house.

Teachers or practitioners, the desperate struggle for love was the same.

In fact, as many as 500 workers were mobilized to build the house for the girl from the flower shop. Enough people to build a house within a day or two.

The Geomchis were already familiar with the building of a pyramid! They had worked on many things; a flower shop should be a piece of cake.

However, the building of Selena's house by the Geomchis went very slowly.

“Here, have something to drink.”

“Hahaha! Thank you.”

“What to do, this sort of thing.....”

Every time Selena would say or do anything, the Geomchis were in a frantic to just to see or talk to her. In her absence, they deliberately slowed their work until she appeared again. They only pretended to work hard.

It had been about 10 days that they were building the flower shop. Even as it went closer to completion, they found more ways to avoid work.

Geomilbaekohchi sank into a deeply sad expression.

Geomsamchi (3rd) approached him.

“What's wrong?”

“Oh, master Geomsamchi! To be honest... the store is nearly complete, we won't see Selena as much, will we?”

“Well that would be bittersweet, wouldn't it?”

“Yes, I know. Selena is not really a human being.... but I like her. She is very nice and has a beautiful smile too. She doesn't ask for much. I wish this could last for at least one more week.”

Geomilbaekochi lamented saying farewell to Selena.

Then assistant master Geomsamchi broke into a laugh.

“Fool! This is what we will do.”

Geomsamchi violently brandished his sword and threw it into the flower shop's wall and demolished it.

Then they clapped as the Geomchis gathered in the disturbance.

“That's our master for you.”

“This is the best!”

“That was an excellent idea!”

They heard the echoes of the crash as the flower shop that the Geomchis worked hard to build was broken. However, in front of Selena, the nearly completed store was ultimately destroyed.

The nice little flower shop that the Geomchis built, they wept sadly.

“Boo-hoo.”

“Selena can't live in a place like this anymore.”

“In my youth, 12 people beat me up and not a single tear fell from me, but this.”

But this was not the end.

After Selena's flower shop, in the Serraburg province, since then many requests had been made for building several houses and shops.

The Geomchis' criteria for selecting these jobs were simple. The body or face of a pretty woman was all that was needed.

“No reward needed, my friend!”

“I'll work till I collapse just to see here smile.”

“Hijuk, she smiled at me!”

At the construction ground, the Geomchis worked hard in building up the bricks. Solely to see girls, they worked hard to build a house, a noble intention. In the Serraburg castle many tanned laborers with their shirts off could be seen.

From building the pyramid, it's hard to calculate the massive amounts of stone used.

T'tiring.

In regards to the repetitive actions, the architect skills bricklaying and landscaping have been acquired.

Bricklaying 1 (0%) : Bricks can be stacked neatly to build homes.

With this skill, no matter how many bricks are stacked, it can be done neatly.

Shovel 1 (0%): The ground can be dug up quickly.

Architectural skills!

It is fairly difficult class to categorize, even as a manufacturing job; as for the previous , it was not a class released so far.

Weed's exceptional dexterity brought about his skilfulness in cooking; as the Geomchis labored through construction, their extreme efforts caused them to learn architect skills. Bricklaying and spade, but another that raised was the great increase in the strength stat. In order to raise the architecture skill, the Geomchis had to complete requests by shoveling the ground and piling up bricks.

As a result, within three months the Geomchis got to know all the beauties of Rosenheim Kingdom and moved along. Since then, it was hard pressed for a Geomchi to walk the streets.

“Hello brother number 110!”

“Thank you so much for the last house you built us, brother Geomsipohchi!”

The people that visited could not believe the Geomchis.

Only a Geomchi can do such work!

After a few months, the Geomchis became very popular for eagerly building houses for beautiful residents of Rosenheim Kingdom.

From then on, each of the nobles came.

“I have heard of your fame. It is said that you are quite famous in this field. I would like a mansion built. This won’t be a simple house, but something far more grand that I will pay well for if you accept.”

Build a noble's mansion for Baron AriasNear the capital of Rosenheim kingdom, Baron Arias owns a fairly big town. Because of the large influx of markets and goods, he gained a lot of money and can now have a proper residence built.

“I refuse.”

Quest has been refused.

For some time, the Geomhis refused quests without even looking.

“What are we, your servants?”

“That is just too much extra work to do!”

“No matter how much you want to offer, I'm still not interested.”

The Geomchis watched as the overweight Baron Arias glared at them with an expression of ridicule. However, when they were asked by another pretty woman from the town, without thinking they nodded.

“No problem, I accept!”

“I will do the best that I can to help build it for you.”

The Geomchis worked fervently hard. Yet, they even practiced their skills, and they spent their spare time hunting and visiting dungeons. Then all the Geomchis exceeded level 220.

“Status window!”

Character Name: Geomchi505.

Preference: None

Level: 220

Profession: Martial artist

Title: None

Fame: 1632

HP: 27060

Mana: 4402

Strength: 850

Agility: 455

Health: 230

Wisdom: 65

Intelligence: 40

Fighting Spirit: 130

Stamina: 120

Endurance: 180

Charm: 20

Charisma: 60

Leadership: 30

Luck: 5

Faith: 10

Attack: 1340

Defense: 195

Magic Resistance:

Fire: 20%

Water: 20%

Earth: 20%

Black magic: 20%

Then a nameless challenger came before Geomchi.

A drifter wearing light armor and with a cape!

Geomchi was intrigued. Then the wanderer said:

“Little by little you perfect your martial arts. You and your colleagues, I have heard of your reputation. You live to serve women? I have dedicated my entire life into sharpening my martial arts.”

The drifter appeared to have the exact same class as the Geomchis' characters. A martial artist.

Then the wanderer spoke again.

“Do you know what it means to be stronger? Geom, it is not enough to just hone your skills. Experience the broad world around you, come back and defeat me. Then I will guide you to true strength.”

T'tiring!

Become a warrior. The world is cluttered with monsters to hunt, you need to find them.

Young women and ladies look for those that are chivalrous, it is attainable in this land.

It is said that if you travel through the continent of Versailles and return, you can be reborn as a true martial artist.

Difficulty: High tier class advancement quest.

Reward: The possibility to attain more skills.

Restrictions: Quest limited to the Martial artist class. Must not be infamous.

Once the wanderer left, Geomchi and the rest down to Geomchi505 came together in formation.

The time has come and Geomchi had to make a decision.

“All right everyone. So far we have stuck together in Royal Road as a united group.”

“......”

The Geomchis’ expressions were completely serious!

Without allowing any distractions, they listened to the words of their master.

“When we are united, we are fearsome. Frightening enough that we were avoided. We are strong even on our own.”

When Geomchi hunted in a dungeon, the majority of users insulted him and departed.

To monopolize the monsters, and take the glances of beautiful female users! In order to eat a meal without burning it when cooking, and eat delicious rice without fighting over it! No matter how crowded a place might be, even then he can find in a moment a secluded hunting ground!

“Now it is time for us to experience the wider world. Each of us must go our separate ways throughout the continent, defeating strong monsters. In six months time, let us meet again in Rosenheim kingdom.”

“Understood. Teacher!”

“I will see you later.”

“Please be healthy. Master!”

The Geomchis made their respective farewells and walked away.

A small backpack that contained only barley bread was all as their luggage. In fact, they did not leave anything behind.

The Geomchis scattered throughout the entire continent! Although the separation of master and disciples was bittersweet, the disciples left with their heads held high, and their faces filled with mirth.

‘Finally it's time to eat heartily.’

‘I will seriously die from hunger.’

‘Now to hunt a rabbit and roast it.’

To become true warriors, the Geomchis separated and departed from Rosenheim Kingdom.

A typical occasion at the University of South Korea!

Professional gamers typically have little expectation for an application to be accepted. But if it actually came to acceptance, their troubles only become greater.

“Older brother, honestly I have something to tell you....”

Lee Hayan was in conflict as she held the letter of acceptance. Today was the day of the interview at the University of Korea. However, Lee Hyun had to be present at the college interview.

“I can't hold it off any longer, got to do it....”

After agonizing for a long time, Lee Hayan eventually let it all out.

How challenging!

Hayan looked at Lee Hyun as she slammed the door.

“Brother, there is something I have to say. You have to go to University of Korea for the interview.”

When Hayan spoke, Lee Hyun was in the middle of looking at the Hall of Fame page.

“Interview? What interview?”

“I mean the interview for University enrolment.”

“What? Really?”

Lee Hyun jumped in surprise.

All of a sudden, an interview at the National University of South Korea!

Lee Hayan bowed her head and sulkily said.

“The thing is... I actually turned in the application form. It is mandatory that you have to get to the college on time... There are many people trying to enter nowadays.”

Lee Hyun had heard too often of these university admissions. There are often more applicants than there are spots to be filled.

Lee Hyun nervously asked.

“So what did you do?”

“I sent in an application form rather than toss it away. You were so busy that I did it without your permission. I'm sorry, brother.”

As Hayan apologized, Lee Hyun was extremely angry, but he could still tolerate it. He could not scold her for acting on her own. Though, he did snatch it out of Lee Hayan's hand.

“For this document and the interview, it means it passed, right?”

“Yeah. These documents typically mean that it passed, but it does not mean unconditional acceptance; but, it does show that it is likely....”

“Great!”

Lee Hyun smiled brightly.

All of his hardships so far, he felt a burden lift from him. He was happy.

He misunderstood the difference in his stance in life.

Lee Hayan's words!

Of all the universities in South Korea, he couldn't imagine the thought of going to an admission interview. After dropping out of high school, he barely took the GED. He did not even think that he could ever go to college in the first place.

Of course the truth was, University of South Korea had accepted Lee Hayan with a scholarship.

“That's great. So when is the interview?”

For some reason, Lee Hayan became a little uneasy. It was different from an expected response.

“Yes, but you're probably going to be angry...”

Lee Hayan was hesitant as she spoke.

“Today.”

“Huh?”

“You need to go see the interview. There are only three hours left.”

“Are you serious?”

Lee Hyun's spirit flared.

An interview at his sister's university, right at that moment he turned off the computer and stood up.

“Then let's get ready. I'll do it.”

* * *

The virtual reality department of the University of South Korea.

Lee Hyun lavishly arrived in a taxi at the University of South Korea. It would be unthinkable on a normal day.

‘Ah, Hayan, he has been very interested in virtual reality.’

This detail of his interest in advancing his education was something he never told her.

‘Perhaps virtual reality can be useful, since it is so familiar to him.’

Lee Hyun was completely delighted as he waited for the interview.

“It's fine. Everything will go well.”

Said his sister as she tightly held on to his hand. At this moment, Lee Hyun noticed a rough change in her.

‘This is a misunderstanding’

This was no time for such a confession.

‘Older brother, this issue will have to be put on hold.’

Lee Hayan was at once quiet. Already the wheel was rolling. The time has come, and at this point there is no chance to return back home. All of a sudden, cold sweat appeared on Lee Hayan's forehead. Wishing fervently that she could do this at a later time.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes brother, I'm fine.”

“You are sweating a lot.”

“I think it's from the tension.”

“Tell me if by chance you get sick.”

From this reluctant deceit about sweat due to tension, Lee Hyun was genuinely concerned. Lee Hayan's clever eyes beamed.

’Ah! This is it.’

Just 3 minutes left until the time of the interview, Lee Hayan placed both her hands on her belly.

“Older brother.”

“What, what's wrong?”

“It's a stomach ache. I need to go to the restroom. Might be what I ate this morning.”

“That's....”

This was not the time.

At such an important moment for his little sister, Lee Hyun wanted to stop her.

“Can you withstand it?”

“Aw, it would be better to not show something impolite during the interview.”

“Well, if that's the case.... then get back quickly.”

“Yes, older brother.”

“Do not be late for the interview.”

“I'll be back soon.”

Lee Hayan secretly slipped away by pretending to go to the bathroom. Oblivious, Lee Hyun waited anxiously for his sister to return. He got up from the chair and began pacing in the corridor as he looked at the clock.

1 minute. 2 minutes....

Minding the time, he wanted a way to completely stop it, even though such a thing was impossible.

‘This can hamper Hayan's future... Of all things, an upset stomach, I'm responsible. Something must have be strange with the rice I served earlier.’

His fingers were trembling slightly from the suspense. Lee Hayan did not appear from the restroom in the 3 minutes approaching the interview with the professors. The female assistant came over and said:

“The person who came for the interview? The professors are waiting.”

“I'm sorry, my sister has yet to return, is it possible that you can wait a few minutes?”

Being denied for coming late to an interview is certainly the worst.

As Lee Hyun spoke to her, face to face, the impression he made to the assistant teacher made her heart tremble.

Strong eyes!

If she did not wait, she felt that he could turn this whole place upside down.

“Oh, I see. I will convey this with the professor.”

After answering, the TA was equally puzzled.

‘Sister what are you waiting for? Except for the interview, parties would not enter-....’

After 10 minutes passed, Lee Hayan still did not appear. At that time she had covertly met with the TA.

“I have a request for you. Tell my older brother that you met me at the restroom and due to the stomach ache I will absolutely not be back in time. Can you tell him to go to the interview instead?”

“Yes?”

“Please, tell him that. Have my brother go to the interview.”

The assistant teacher thought that this pair of siblings was really strange.

Waiting for his sister before he goes to the interview, she could not understand Lee Hyun; then his sister, asking me to tell him instead is absolutely strange.

Anyways, the professors were waiting in the interview room.

“Will you tell him?”

“Yes, I accept.”

The assistant went to Lee Hyun and spoke.

“For now, go to the interview room first.”

“My sister is not back....”

“I met your sister in the bathroom, and she said that she is not likely to make it and that she wants you to meet the professors. They cannot be delayed anymore, or it will be cancelled.”

“This shouldn't have happened. I will go to the interview.”

The assistant teacher of English did not understand, but the interview was permitted.

“Follow me.”

Eventually Lee Hyun went alone to the meeting, without his sister.

* * *

Five professors were looking at documents.

‘I guess that must be my little sister's application.’

The fact was that the application actually was of Lee Hyun's.

As the professor was reading this application, he asked a question before Lee Hyun could try to speak.

“What motive did you have to choose this school?”

“I thought that this renowned school would give a promising future.”

“Are you indicating that other schools are not good prospects?”

The professor questioned him obstinately. Lee Hyun paired him with a simple answer.

“Not at all; however, I have heard that surely it has the best facilities and faculty.”

“I see.”

The professors nodded their heads to the textbook answer.

'Unnecessarily loud, but not bad.'

'Emphasis on doing the basics.'

'Sincere attitude in the interview by bargaining. Though he was late in the interview...'

Lee Hyun blurted out.

“In fact, my sister is a really good kid.”

“Hrm?”

“When my sister was a child, my parents died.”

Lee Hyun began to speak at length of his family history. For the sake of Lee Hayan's interview, of course he had to give his sister's story as much as possible. The fact that this choice of Korea University was not for his sister but for Lee Hyun personally, was completely hidden from him.

'The University of Korea! I absolutely must not fail. I'm talking about the future of my sister here.'

So in order to buy time until his sister arrived to the meeting, he spoke of their story of suffering from the beginning of their youth. He told them of how his family lived and how he and his sister grew up in such a way. However, to talk about his sister, he could not do so without giving his own back story.

Unsafe from the threat of loan sharks. How he fought to somehow protect his family, earn money at the gas station and other work he was not supposed to do. The professors listened to Lee Hyun in silence. The interview was longer and more different than usual. The format is normally the professor throws out a question and the candidate answers back. But now Lee Hyun spoke of how he lived in his rambling story, as the faculty heard it.

“... And now, I went through the process of preparing for a year to the extent of laying out the ground work for Royal Road. In the case of other games that come out, it is varied in interest. But with the virtual reality of Royal Road, it is different at its core. Breathing, moving, behavior and actions that make a lot of memories. I see that such a game would last at least 10 years. I'm not collecting enough money yet for the college tuition of my younger sister, but I will not be late for the payment date.”

At this point, the professors realized that something is wrong with Lee Hyun's understanding of the situation.

‘This is a ridiculous misunderstanding; he thinks the interview is for his younger sister and not for him. ‘

Yet, the professors did not talk about this; instead they extraordinarily asked a question.

“Then what about virtual reality? This may be a childish question, however, how can you divide virtual reality and reality?”

Lee Hyun's answer was simple.

“To try divide reality and virtual reality in itself is meaningless.”

“Oh, really? Tell us why you think so.”

To the professor, at most the world of reality and virtual are separate, or the other expected answer is that a complete virtual reality is a creation of a dream. Lee Hyun's unique answer was interesting.

“Standing here now or being in Royal Road, in both reality is the same”

“Virtual reality and reality is the same, what do you mean by that?”

“An example. Living fiercely, work and go about creating things and achieve things therein that will benefit me. As for virtual reality, is it not fact that life becomes an imitation. You can gain knowledge, can earn money. To endeavor wherever, it has not been different to me in anyway.”

“I understand perfectly. This student Hayan, it appears we now know enough of this kind of person. We will notify you soon of the result.”

“I am grateful.”

Lee Hyun left and afterwards the professors commenced into a meeting.

“Such strong vitality.”

“To think of such an uncommon family like that in this day and age, it stands to reason that it could.”

“With the advancement of virtual reality, the meaning of family is fading, and he has a great mentality.”

“A wide range in knowledge about the side of virtual reality."

“A variety of life experiences, it would be helpful to many.”

The professors talked at length, not one of them was looking negatively on Lee Hyun.

“Then we are all in agreement.”

The professors stamped the seal which passed the application of Lee Hyun.

“Phew, barely made it out to the ending.”

Lee Hyun barely made it through the interview. Come to think of it, he was not sure what kind of answer, if anything, surfaced.

“Well, that's all that can be done...”

Lee Hyun found his sister.

The little bird came out from the bathroom and was sitting on the bench as she breathed out a sigh of relief. His little sister was saying prayers. As Lee Hyun neared, she looked up.

“How'd it go, the interview?”

“Huh? Yeah....”

Lee Hyun did not know how to comfort his sister. Of all things, to become sick at such a time.

“In my own way, I tried to explain.... Now to get you in, I tried to speak of our situation in the interview.”

“What situation.”

“The person concerned must be in the interview. I'm not that skilled at expressing myself and I don't know the outcome.”

Lee Hayan was puzzled.

She thought he would feel angry at the fact he was deceived, but he was more regretful about the interview.

'It can't be that you still don't know? How is that possible?'

Lee Hayan decided to go with a general statement first.

“It's okay brother. Believe that it went well, and nothing more can be done for the interview anymore.”

“Yes, I could, but.... yeah. It has already passed. I was foolish of have let it.”

Back home, as they exited through the gate of the university, Lee Hayan momentarily flinched.

“What is it?”

“I left something here! Wait here just a moment, brother.”

“Okay.”

Lee Hayan got back in the school to meet the assistant teacher. She had the mailing address changed to where the grandmother was hospitalized.

Chapter 3: First time at the Movies

Initially, Lee Hyun was going to go home with his sister. As per usual, the decision was to go home and do a few things at the house and get to Royal Road. The time for the quest was just around the corner, but the lack of time for preparation made it worse. However, this was not what came to mind.

'The University of Korea interview! An incline over an incline. It is not credible to spend such an important day in this way.'

Lee Hyun took heart and looked into his wallet. (perhaps closer to withheld breath, or preparing himself)

Stiff blue bills.

If only they knew what happens to cash after the generous cash withdrawals. (might be he's contemplating the waste of overspending)

“Hayan.”

“Huh?”

“Let's see a movie.”

Until now, there has never been a time Lee Hyun went to a movie theatre. But there is a first time for everything.

“Really?”

To Hayan, this was unfathomable.

Her brother of all people! A stingy person who would never waste money or even use it to ride a bus. A guy who wouldn't buy junk or even essential school supplies at the very least. And to go to a movie theatre.

“Yeah. Seeing a movie would be fun.”

With Lee Hyun's strong determination, the two headed to the movie theatre.

A multiplex theatre with many movies.

Associated with a large shopping mall, a place where visitors were unending.

As he entered the theatre, he was continuously amazed.

“Amazing.”

How could such a place be there that will gather so many people. This just seemed to be something from a different world.

“Look brother, this movie looks really interesting.”

“Sure. Come, let's go and take a look.”

In truth, this was the first time for Lee Hayan to see a movie as well. Even though she got a fairly considerate allowance, and would earn her own money, she would never spend it carelessly. It was a first time for her to go to a high standard theatre to see a film.

“So many films.”

“Which are the more recent in popularity?”

“ Thereare posters all over.” (would prefer 'A good man's end'. But this is direct...)

“Let's go, it sounds like fun.”

Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan bought tickets after waiting for some time in line. Initially, he only knew that you had to pay money before entering the theatre; however, he also had to purchase a ticket specifically at the box office.

“So this is how it works. I knew this would happen. This is normal.”

Lee Hyun had a sudden overwhelming smile. A confident smile. Yet he handed 10,000 WonWon grandly for these two tickets.

“Two tickets for ”

Pride from coming to a movie theatre!

Satisfaction of being a cultured man!

Having begun this moment, it was worth every bit. Though it is precious, spending the money is still worthwhile.

Smiling sweetly, the employee said.

“3:30 show for 2 Adult tickets. Correct?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a discount card or a credit card?” (discount might mean debit)

“Huh?”

Lee Hyun was baffled.

Credit card and discount card!

A quite significant sounding name, the mention of those words.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh. Yes. MK capital, or carrier card, credit cards, or choose a discount.”

“Then, if that's the case, how much of a discount...”

Lee Hyun asked hesitatingly.

The staff member laughed heartily. It was a smile bright enough to pick up your spirits.

“2,000 Won per person.”

“.......”

At that time, Lee Hyun exposed his rotten smile!

7,000 Won movie tickets for 2,000 Won; a discount that cannot be ignored.

For 2,000 Won per person, a total discount of 4,000 Won!

But there was no card for Lee Hyun.

Credit cards were mainly used for the wholesale market, and he was without one since he did not fit the requirements to be issued with a credit card.

The debt was paid off, but his record remained, and no credit means no card issued.

Not even a cell phone.

“Hayan.”

He looked to his sister for help, but her head was shaking; it was the same for her.

A highschooler without a cell phone, or a card.

Eventually, Lee Hayan grabbed Lee Hyun's arm to get his attention.

“Brother. It's just a movie, we don't have to watch.”

At that moment, Lee Hyun was certain that he wanted to see the movie.

Looking back, he did not remember his family ever watching a movie together.

'As the older brother, I live for the sake of my younger sibling, Lee Hayan.'

Feeling remorse, he handed over 20,000 Won without hesitation to the staff.

A grand move!

“Without discount or credit, I want 2 tickets.”

“Hope you find a good spot, sir.”

The theatre staff found it interesting as the two siblings went to find good seats during the time remaining. For a 3:30 pm showing, there was still 1 hour and 20 minutes left. Lee Hyun attended his sister as they went inside the movie theatre. There is a comprehensive game room and a place where you can buy popcorn and squid.

'That squid is almost half the price of the film. Popcorn is so expensive.'

This place, there is no sense to it.

The selling price of popcorn and coke in the movie theatre is more expensive than the price of the ticket!

Lee Hyun looked around and noticing the game room, led his sister to it.

“Until it is time for the entertainment, let's wander around.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

The two went inside the game room.

Again Lee Hyun was amazed.

'It exceeds 1,000 Won per round for each game....'

Royal Road is the ideal of the mainstream world.

In virtual reality, you can achieve anything. For the simple entertainment from an old machine, a simple screen will appear with hand controls that costs 1,000 Won for each use. You pay cash and also calculate the amount taken since it gives none back. This is an environment to waste your money in just moments.

'These crooks!'

Lee Hyun gave out a sad sigh.

The world of entertainment was not able to give a peace of mind.

This over-inflation of prices!

Money earned from blood and sweat spilled by blowing on a few moments of entertainment was good for nothing.

“Older brother, which game would do?”

“Well, let's have a go at it.”

The best entertainment at this point for Lee Hyun would be the one that looks the cheapest. Some kind of tennis game for two people to compete against each other to win. At the game, Lee Hyun's hand trembled. Playing by putting money into it.

This was absolute fear.

Pain, terrible pain, as money leaf his pocket!

Probably at seeing the most terrifyingly thriller movie ever, he still would not have been afraid. Lee Hyun and his younger sibling paying for a game. The cheapest one was 500 Won. Will have to be strong to hang in there for 1 hour in a game that normally takes 2 minutes. If against the other sibling, two more wins, then it's all gone! Money going down the drain.

Lee Hyun went rigid in the face as he smiled.

“This is boring, let's look at a different game.”

“Yes, brother.”

Lee Hyun now found a game that was not a competition type.

'This game is preferable; as long as you can contribute something.... everything is free!'

He found an airplane game.

The objective of the game is to fly a plane and shoot down enemy aircraft by firing missiles. This was popular in the 20th century, and even now people are still enjoying classic games with simple operation.

“Let's try doing this.”

Lee Hyun was delighted as he sat in front of the game.

Two people can play this game together by inserting 1,000 Won.

'Can withstand 1 hour with this!'

The first mission was to attack the enemy's aircraft character. Flying proudly and shooting down enemy planes while timely not attacking friendly bombers. Victory was not difficult. But the astronauts that came from the second mission were unknown. An extremely fast UFO ride in a ship emitting laser beams covering the full screen! Missile, surface-to-air-missile; but regardless, the inexpensive loss is behind me.

“Keoheok!”

“Haha! This is fun!”

Lee Hyun endured as his younger sibling was enjoying herself.

'Since my sister likes this.'

They played the airplane game once then went off in search of a different game.

[Find what is wrong with this picture!]

A game that could last a really long time. First of all, it is necessary to have to pay for two people. Two people can simultaneously watch and search the screen till one of them finds it. When you succeed past 10 stages, you can win a teddy bear. His eyes were getting bloodshot from seriously looking for what was wrong in the picture, yet Lee Hyun was feeling severely betrayed. It is like finding a pearl from the ocean!

Lee Hyun took this as a very demanding challenge. For the money spent, get that doll! But then this stage was even trickier. Find the missing piece of puzzle in the sand! Find different leaves in a forest pattern! What island is not on the world map! Find an ant with 4 legs!

It appeared that the mission was only to make him completely frustrated. If you cannot find it in the time limit, then the money is lost; it was like his life was dying off bit by bit. Whenever the two failed, the amount increased. The picture searching game was set to eat money at a horrible speed.

But Lee Hyun carried on in patience.

To use up money is the poison of youth.

'I will find you no matter what.'

At this point, the money far exceeded the value of the doll. Nevertheless, one more hurdle was passed. So now to the final stage. Lee Hyun stared unblinkingly and waited. Finally, what appeared from the next scene...

Find a specific Star within the Milky Way!

'Crap!'

Lee Hyun was forced to abandon. Even with this, it's too much. At least tens of thousands of stars, how will you know If some are missing somewhere in the middle.

'What hardship!'

He felt naive, to believe that he could get a teddy bear from [finding what was wrong with the picture], he must have been a fool. There was a time when doing the work was fun in itself.

'I guess Royal Road is the only proper one to go with.'

From then on, Lee Hyun decided to just find a game that was simple enough. But there weren’t many games. If 2 players determined victory, then the game wouldn't last for long.

'I can't spend more money, is there not a single game that can last a little longer?'

Then Lee Hyun saw a Tokyo dancing game and felt that was the one. You first go into a small room in order to play. You take actions according to the instructions listed and all related behaviors are shown on the centre of the screen. It was a dance competition; you compete by scores after the game.

'This will be difficult.'

Lee Hyun saw that the instructions appearing before the eyes and the flow is so fast that the movements are miraculous. Move your hands vaguely and move your feet on the ground as you ride the rhythm of the beat, the body even more superbly, the flamboyant dance moves were displayed on the screen.

A Dance showdown!

High school girls were surrounding them and middle school girls were gathering as they were all admiring it.

“Oh, you should try it, older brother.”

“Are you sure?”

Lee Hyun was a completely noob in dancing! Well, might as well push forward. The little sister was glad to see his reaction and privately wanted to see it.

'There's a line, with that many people, it will be a 15 minute wait.'

Beyond this, he would rather save time. Then Lee Hyun stood at the end of the line to dance. It seemed that most of those standing in line were men. The boys had necklaces, earring and all the latest hairstyles.

'Look at this hick.'

'What's with him?'

'Just ignore him.'

'No. He will be embarrassing.'

The boys privately glanced and mutually winked at each other. Even so, they already had their attention focused on Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan. Everyone was thrilled the moment the beautiful Lee Hayan entered the game room. An attractive and cute high school girl. Then they saw her with Lee Hyun and watched her play cheap sucker games as she smiled brightly. Everyone was in a bad mood.

'This is a good way to fully embarrass him.'

Boys who stood in line intentionally excused themselves. Thanks to that, Lee Hyun turn came quickly.

“Brother, Good luck!”

“Yeah, I'll do my best.”

Lee Hyun went into the small room and his hairs stood on end. At that place, he had no idea of where to start or even choose the kind of dance. Varieties of dances according to region and time, but he lacked the fundamental knowledge. Finally Lee Hyun just selected one.

Freestyle.

Extreme Dance.

Coincidentally, this boasts the highest level difficulty for dance. Having started, he now must press the arrows corresponding to the symbol fast and precisely to dance. The selected dance that only people of the highest level are able to do.

“Oh man, what a novice.”

“A guy with no tact chose Extreme Dance.”

“This will be totally embarrassing.”

Lee Hyun's choice was reported through the screen outside, and they openly laughed at him. They were thinking that as soon as the real game starts, Lee Hyun will panic and move around wildly. People were normally overly conscious of those in line outside of the game.

'As it is, depending on this you will not get embarrassed.'

His body went full force following the unfamiliar dance moves, but as the hand and feet instructions approached, he sometimes had trouble. Various arrows of different distance caused Lee Hyun to struggle as it went even faster. Pressing to the exact moments, it was not an easy task. He executed complicated actions as his mind registered them as they occurred. The hp of Lee Hyun's character was in a rapid decline. In the background a crowd was filling the dance floor of the club. Lee Hyun's opponent was overwhelming, showing dazzling dancing skills. Then in one moment, Lee Hyun changed slightly.

'Dancing. I don't know how to dance.'

The fact is, it is not possible to suddenly do something you don't know how to. What it feels like to ride the rhythm, feel the music, he had no idea. He thought that only a highly cultured man would be able to dance this. But if this is about moving one's own body.

'I wield a sword, though this is fine as I do not need one in my hand. As an opponent makes a step near to me, I walk a step contrary to them. Fighting the enemy with my hands. My foe jabs first as I strike with the palm of my own hand.'

All of a sudden, Lee Hyun's actions have changed.

You can state that his body was excessively tense. His hands and feet had no place to go. Of the arrows that came out, he had been forced to follow the actions of the opponent, rather than precisely direct attacks. He considered the goal of moving his hands and legs and he unleashed. He was now kicking and twisting at the waste, rotating his body. His arms moved very quickly. He used his fists and elbows at very precise timing against those arrows.

Soon, Lee Hyun's movement projected through the screen.

“What the heck is going on?”

“This is amazing.”

The actions were associated with dance. And this was related to music. He followed the instructions with his eyes, heard with his eyes, and he watched. From his previous actions, the tide had turned. Even though Lee Hyun's character had only 1 square of vitality left, he rebounded and overwhelmed the opponent. Exactly like in Royal Road, he was victorious; the patience in order to make sense of the situation and to counter it.

“What is that guy!”

The faces of the guys in the line were completely ridiculous from shock. A complete novice that had no idea just a bit ago was making such movements and quickly become proficient.

To dance similarly and press those arrows. Extreme Dance moved too quickly, because it was impossible to resonate with the dance, and that to by swaying properly. But Lee Hyun's movements showed that he can make a new dance in response. The body flowed at an astonishing speed, while making endlessly beautiful moves.

“Wow, you are amazing!”

“A real man.”

The high school and middle school girls cheered. Soon other challengers appeared. To try to end Lee Hyun's popularity! But Lee Hyun had been accustomed to such battles. He learned a little bit about how each action should be made. A lithe body must go with the flow of the music and position itself to the arrows simultaneously.

Lee Hyun had a whopping 10 game winning streak. In truth, it would have been even more than that, but it was almost time for the movie. As he left the room, the other entrant freak out on him. They spoke critically to him. What do you mean? You just entered. Invariably, he took no action. As he moved, the look in his eyes caused them to step gasp and step back. Like in moving the body to where the arrow appeared, Lee Hyun found his sister and spoke.

“Let's go to the movie.”

“Yeah.”

It was time for the movie to begin.

Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan sat down on the padded seats to watch the movie. In fact, the movie was not that entertaining. The Korean film had a simple story and followed a typical pattern. Men from the backstreets. Importance in their friendships, and their love to fight. However, the two found themselves attached to different organizations and grew apart in opposing interests. However, then a pretty heroine appeared and a love triangle created for the two. The childhood friends suffered.

Friendship and power. At the end, the hero was betrayed by the friend he trusted the most. In order to gain power and money, the woman did a final betrayal with a knife in the back. At that time, the male protagonist was an ambassador.

- I resonated with him as well. But as much as I loved him, it could not be so.

The tragic beauty spoke as the ambassador was bleeding on the floor. In the midst of all, the detective intervened and both of them fell; it was an unbearable story. Somehow it finished like that.

“What the hell is the story!”

“Don't you think this was far over hyped?”

“The author must have written it with his feet.”

“But such a simple story took 2 hours?”

“It wasn't really that good.”

The audience hurled extreme critical comments as one. Most of the rave reviews reported by movie sites caused this reaction, damping the good reputation of the movie studio that produced it. But for Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan, who wanted to see a movie with her brother, it was just simply okay. Saving money is important, but they also created memories that they never had before. Their life hard pressed every month and there was no time to play. Thus coming to the theatre to watch a movie was enjoyable in itself. It would not be advisable to resent it and lose this joy just because they were fed up with the content of the movie.

“Brother, what do you think? The movie was a little weird, right?”

As Lee Hayan looked at the seat beside her, she was startled. Lee Hyun was crying!

Friendship and betrayal. Such a manly story. As the screen was filled with battle, Lee Hyun's body shook in response. He was completely immersed in the movie for its entire 2 hours. Even as the credits started to roll at the end of the movie, Lee Hyun still hadn't recovered.

“The male protagonist of this movie was too cool. Such a story. This movie was really interesting.”

“.......”

After watching the movie, once Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan came out onto the street outside, it was almost 6pm.

“Brother, I'm starving, let's just go home.”

As Lee Hayan spoke, Lee Hyun shook his head.

“No. You're not going to eat rice.”

More than that, eating out!

Normally, they would go home and after getting hungry from swordsmanship or painting, they would eat rice rubbed with Gochujang (red pepper sauce). Today was not a busy work day, nor was there any plan to practice fencing or painting over there. In fact, at home, you can solve it with a free meal! However the stingy Lee Hyun just mentioned eating out. This was highly unusual. Lee Hayan's interview at the University of Korea was regarded so significantly.

“So, where do we eat?”

Lee Hayan was delighted. In fact, she was shocked just from being able to see a simple movie. Not just watching a movie, but to actually enjoy a meal outside, she was truly looking forward to it.

“But where do we eat?”

Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan started walking down the street. Usually they would never have eaten outside, so they did not know a place to go. As they walked around, Lee Hayan pointed at a building.

“The seasoned rice cakes there are good. All of my friends tell me that place is delicious. They say that the kimbap, tempura and even the oden are good.”

“Really?”

Lee Hayan was pointing at a small group of stores. That seemed too normal for Lee Hyun. After all, he wanted to treat her something special today. So he gathered his courage. They were in the middle of the city, and respectively, they should go to the city's centre.

“The only place to go, let's eat at a restaurant.”

Lee Hyun pointed to where the hotel was.

'A restaurant in a hotel is really different.'

Looking at the quality of the expensive looking interior, the smiling faces of the staff overflowing with kindness, the impression of hospitality and the people eating delicious looking dishes, the luxurious atmosphere in the restaurant was overwhelming.. The guest chair was comfortable as he waited to be called. In addition, all the surrounding décor seemed to be expensive.

'I wouldn't go here twice, but every once in a while, it's nice to eat in a place like this, especially on a day like today.'

Lee Hyun checked his wallet.

'Had 200,000 Won, used a taxi, went to watch a movie and play some games. Still have 130,000 Won remaining.'

At most, rice would do for a meal.

Nevertheless, Lee Hyun went about thinking hopefully. A table stood out, where a lobster course was being served. At that moment, Lee Hyun instantly thought of the cost it would end up as.

'I suppose the cost for the materials would be 40,000 Won. Though, with this hotel, considering cost of labor and profit, 70,000 Won?'

With many ways to look at it, considering 70,000 Won for one meal is a bit overboard, something that older brother would not buy or could afford. Lee Hyun thought a little harder about Royal Road and spoke to appease his nervous sister.

“It's okay, let's eat a lot today. At least, just once in a place like this.”

“Still, it looks expensive here... Brother, let’s just go out and eat kimbap.”

In truth, being at an upscale restaurant like this for the first time was so formidable, but he came here to relax and he eased the tension in his mind.

'Look at the expensive artwork, even the royalty in Rosenheim Kingdom could not afford it.'

The waitress came over a few moments later and unfolded a menu for them.

“What would you like today?” The chef's special today is Omar prawns with Oyster sauce...”

“Give me a moment to decide.”

“Yes. I understand, sir.”

Lee Hyun relaxed as he looked at the menu.

Then he checked the price!

A lobster course is 120,000 Won.

For only about 40,000 Won for the cost, when you look at the tremendous cost, they are robbing you.

'Why is it so expensive!'

The price left Lee Hyun breathless. The A course was relatively inexpensive. Beyond that, it was packed with expensive dishes. A meal was 200,000 Won, with wine it was 300,000; then if you include foreign wine it exceeds past 500,000 Won. With his money, Lee Hyun could afford neither the bottle of wine, nor the food.

The price of the hotel's restaurant is murder!

The use of various services and the finest ingredients, the chef is also of the highest level. Including the expense of the interior and atmosphere with the price of the meal, this was bound to make it expensive. However, this far exceeded Lee Hyun's range of the expected price.

'I absolutely cannot afford to eat this.'

The precious remaining money was too little to have it work out, he was frowning increasingly. Instinctively, Lee Hyun and his sister looked at each other at the same moment. Their eyes locked. She was extremely nervous.

'No, I brought us here; even though it is expensive, leaving is not going to happen.'

No matter how little money he has, he did not want to point out that flaw and look impoverished. With an impressionable high school student with him, Lee Hyun judged that he did not want to be thrown out while in the middle of the dining room. Fortunately, the A-course meal is 120,000 Won, leaving 10,000 Won of his money remaining.

“Hayan, is lobster okay?”

“Yes but, are you sure....”

“We will take the A-course.”

“Will it be for the both of you?”

“Yes.”

“Enjoy.”

What Lee Hyun did not know.

The price not stamped on the hotel restaurant menu is the government tax and service charge of 10% respectively. The price was substantially more than 130,000. But that was a small point. Though it is expensive, they could share it; but naturally the order was for two. An A-course meal's cost was 120,000 Won per. Therefore, the price of the meal was well above 250,000 Won.

“The food will be delicious. Eat your fill.”

“Older brother. Are you sure you not overdoing it?”

“It's fine. I have enough money.”

Lee Hyun tapped his pocket.

The food soon arrived. Cooking made by a head chef of the highest caliber with fresh ingredients.

“Wow! This is really good.”

“Yeah, the taste is great.”

Lee Hyun was enjoying the flavor of the food. Like Royal Road, things can make a big difference in the taste of the cooking itself. He understood the skill required, particularly with seafood. It is easily damaged and needs to be stored. Also the cost is expensive and not eaten frequently. The effect of cooking and eating well has a huge effect when conducting a battle.

* * *

In the same restaurant, 2 high school girls wearing their school uniforms were eating a meal at a nearby table.

“Woah! This meat is very delicious!”

“The sauce is not that bad either.”

“The head chef came from France; he comes out frequently in cooking magazines.”

“So that's how it is.”

“We'll come again next week.”

These girls were from a rich house, and they were also gourmets, occasionally they would raise money to eat a meal at a restaurant like the one here.

Happiness is best when you can eat delicious food!

This motto was shared by the two girls. They would come by when the school day ended early and placed this as one of their hobbies. But then her eyes looked out to a different table and noticed a joyful Lee Hayan, who was eating.

“Ah? That's Hayan, isn't it?”

“I know.”

“Oh! That would be her brother.”

Lee Hayan was the girls' closest friend.

The fact was, in school nobody disliked Lee Hayan. Strong willed, well-studied, and excellent athletic skills. With her innate leadership, the other high school girls would always coalesce with her in the centre. She's also a cheapskate, thus this was absolutely amazing, as she did not participate in shopping or eating out. She then thought.

'Bloody hell. Yet she would only spend the little quality time with her brother, that's just not fair.'

Isane had a mischievous glint in her eyes. (Yi-san-eh, would be closest pronunciation... Isane, Yisaneh, or Yisanye. Which one to use is up to debate.)

Lee Hayan was always proud of this guy, yet they did not know why. These friends surely, surely didn't.

This perfect looking girl had the toxic infatuation of severely following her brother. But it was the brother on that festival. Her friends didn't see how she could be so boastful of this guy that looked so ordinary; they thought it had to be a joke.

They later learned that he dropped out of high school due to money. At the high school festival, he immediately set off for the princess and made it look like a breeze, making him a top celebrity. He walked lightly on the slippery and narrow wooden bridge, kicked at water balloons that were flying at him in mid-air. At the end, he sprang up like a kite over the wall, breaking through to the princess with the shortest time. When the brother opened the bars and saved her, how handsome he was, he looked such a man! Since that happened, the high school girls were more interested in Lee Hyun's body. Now when Lee Hayan is with her brother, not even a devil would dare to approach and interrupt her.

At this distance, Isane whispered.

“Let's join them.”

“Knowing Hayan's temper.... is it still gonna be okay?”

“It's okay. With her brother in front of her, she will act ideally.”

Isane arose and walked with confidence to Lee Hayan's spot and suddenly hugged her.

“To think we would meet in a place like this! Can we sit?”

“......”

Suddenly, friends of Lee Hayan emerged and left her with surprise.

“You guys!”

Not even in the slightest did Lee Hayan expect this unpleasantly fierce appearance.

Isane hurried to greet Lee Hyun.

“Hi, we are Hayan's classmates. Would you mind if we join you?”

“Welcome. Feel free to do so.”

Having his sister's friends sit at the same table, it wouldn't matter much. Rather, in many ways it might be a good thing.

“The genuine me!”

Lee Hayan was frowning as she glared across the table at Isane, who was laughing.

“Now I can't keep a straight face. Hayan. Still, are you okay?”

“Sheesh!”

It was inevitable; Lee Hayan could do nothing to stop this. She did not like uninvited guests barging into midst of her happiest moments with family. However, she had to quickly correct her expression. She did not notice that she was still sitting in front of her brother. Getting angry can be saved for later.

'I'll see you at school! You guys are so dead!'

Whatever the circumstances, Lee Hyun was delighted seeing his sister's friends. With a variety of courses coming for dinner, the four people enjoyed a relaxing meal.

'Nevertheless, still doing well at school.'

It appeared to Lee Hyun that his sister's smooth school life was not that bad. Daily, he had been busy hunting in Royal Road, and now he was giving his weary soul a rest.

“Oh! That's pretty.”

During the meal, they saw from the side of the table, ice sculptures being transported near the window.

“Now take a look at this.”

Lee Hyun turned his head and glanced at the statue. It was of a Korean woman who wore elegant clothes with a pigtail ribbon finely braided into her hair. (A pigtail ribbon is a wedding ornament)

'That's not bad.'

As Lee Hyun had a little bit of experience with ice sculptures, he could see that the statue was made with very excellent workmanship.

'It gives a vibrant feel, yet also quite gentle. From the hand of a master.'

As Lee Hyun and his younger sibling thought about the statue, the waitress came over.

“Guests, I'm sorry but it will become slightly noisy since we are in the middle of preparing a wedding anniversary for an esteemed elder. I hope you will understand.”

“We are fine.”

In the background was a little bit of mending and repairs, but soon Lee Hyun and his sister finished eating. At last, the last dessert of fruit and ice cream came and the four ate it in a flash.

“Ah, I'm full.”

“That was really yummy.”

The four went to the counter to pay. First went Isane and Song Miyong. Then Lee Hyun went to pull out his wallet to pay.

RUMBLE!CRASH!

Chapter 4: The Restaurant of Hotel V.

From the early day, the restaurant was always bustling as the managers and employees prepared to fit in VIP customer. The wealthiest person in the Republic of Korea. An accomplished man who made his own fortune from starting with nothing; he was Chairman Kang who had made this dinner reservation. There is always some dish that you will criticize, but the head chefs and the managers knew that this one was in fact special.

It is said that Chairman Kang, a devoted husband, was rumored to be having his 40th marriage anniversary commemoration meal with his wife. The hotel was making preparation for this.

According to the interests of Chairman Kang's wife, objects of art must first be hung on every wall, and new carpet must be spread on the floor. A band famous in the country, and even worldwide, must hold a concert; then a commemoration cake is to be made, and decorated with the light of 1,000 candles.

In regards to cooking, the preparation must promise perfection. Each ingredient, in order to maintain a level of freshness, must be transported by air from the mountainous region of a foreign nation. They go out from the kitchen and catch the airplane's flight. But the most important thing was the event that commemorates the marriage.

In order to mark the beautiful features of when Chairman Khan's wife was young, a foreign sculptor that was famous world-wide created an ice sculpture especially for this.

It was a beautiful woman in ice!

At the North Pole, this ice statue was made from arctic ice. The surface shone like a white gem. It took far longer than 20 days to mold the face into the ice. Not even a single rough spot on the ice surface could be found. Under the ornate chandeliers, the light reflected and refracted in sweet rolling waves.

“So pretty.”

“It was rumored that a guy like Chairman Kang would prepare such an event for his beloved wife.”

The hotel employees were quite enviable as they prepared for the event. Chairman Kang was to have his meal on the table in front of the beautiful ice woman. However, as they were loading it and placing it near the table, the glass of the window broke and it fell on to the floor. As it fell, it shattered.

The manager was in disbelief.

“How did you let this happen!”

“I'm sorry.”

“Sorry, is that all you got to say?”

The incident of the ice statue breaking called for even the General Manager of the hotel. The Manager of the hotel, who could be held responsible for the restaurant, appeared in front of the people in order to directly hear of this matter. The General Manager collapsed to the ground as she saw the broken lumps of ice on the ground; it was hopeless.

The neck of the statue was broken. The damage to the nose, mouth and eyes was so severe that it was impossible to repair. In addition, several parts of it were broken; it was barely possible to recognize the shape of the beautiful ice woman.

“How are we going to afford the wrath of Chairman Kang.... Chairman Kang is an express VIP. He Wont be satisfied with our services. Based on rumors alone, the hotel's revenue will decrease dramatically and it will be the end of us.”

“Even now, no matter how we try to repair it...”

“Repairs? What good will this ice do? The event is canceled. Have all the chefs prepare the best dishes they can. Hopefully, we can satisfy Chairman Kang through our quality of service and try to be victorious over this setback.”

The General Manager somehow did everything she could to sort out the situation. But the staff could do nothing but be nervous.

“We are preparing this event for Chairman Kang. We have decorated our hotel as he requested, be calm.”

“How did we do that, even in the least?”

“Really, You have no right to cancel the event yourself. Chairman Kang must acknowledge that beforehand, General Manager.”

“Ugh.”

The General Manager breathed in a deep sigh. The manager provided courteous services to hoteliers and impressed clients; now she's currently in her late 30s. She's gone through many challenges for the sake of the hotel, but this was a first time for a setback like this. And that too with Chairman Kang, no less.

To someone who was called a representative of Aechoga, if he knew that his 40th wedding anniversary event was ruined, he will not stand for it silently, more like a scorching fire. The general manager considered,

‘There must be a way to rectify this. Can't possibly get much worse than this, the only thing you can do is try.’

“Get a sculptor! Fix the ice as much as possible somehow before Chairman Kang arrives within the hour. Anyway, these broken parts. Polish and attach it back to the ice.”

“But we only have 30 minutes left.”

Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan were watching the turmoil. At first, when the ice came he thought it was a very pretty sculpture. Then that sculpture cracked and the series of events that occurred due to it turned the restaurant into a frantic mess. Walking around the manager, they jumped back and forth as all the pieces of ice on the floor were rolling around.

The employee that caused the problem did not know what to do; his face was pale. Tears started dripping down.

Then as she watched them and felt pity, she carelessly commented.

“Ah brother, brother's profession is a sculptor. Would you not help these people?”

The Legend of the Moonlight Sculptor.

That was in Royal Road, and Lee Hyun had barely mentioned it to her. Lee Hayan never forgets. The employees at the front counter did not miss the chance to hear it.

“Guests. Huh, our guest is a sculptor? Then please help us, even if only a little.”

“.....”

Lee Hyun did not say anything. But, the staff heard the comment and the General Manager came running up. As she first saw Lee Hyun, she was suspicious as he was too young. Yet, in a situation like this, you can afford to take liberties. A sculptor is not a job that can be easily found in real life. It was not possible to obtain one in 30 minutes, but with one readily brought to you?

The general manager begged.

“Please help us. Please.”

“I ask that you repair the ice carving.”

The employees.

It was inevitably; Lee Hyun couldn't possibly deny this request from these men and women. An accident that someone else caused, how could he become responsible? But now his sister was watching. At the very least, he did not want to be inhumane in front of his sister.

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Kang arrived exactly 30 minutes later, along with their secretary and attendants. You could feel that Chairman Kang was a stubborn, old man. He and his wife came finely dressed in traditional Korean clothing. The food was set out according to the reservation, and the manager greeted them with a smiling face.

“Have a good time.”

Over 100 candles were lit in the place.

“I'm grateful. Hmm, are you set as per the order?”

“Yes. They will arrive shortly.”

Today of all days, Chairman Kang was in an unusually good mood. This was because his wife was pleased. During their 40 years of married life, there had been a lot of twists and turns. This place today was where they wished to commemorate all the time they've been together.

Chairman Kang sat in his place and commented.

“Quickly give out as I planned. We will take our meal now; I want to surprise my wife.”

“Yes. We will do so.”

As they ate and drink, the manager did not lose her friendly smile, even though she was sweating. The food itself, the staff was bright and cheerful, and the band was playing. About the time the meal started, Chairman Kang had a slightly ambiguous smile as he asked his wife.

“Is this not fun?”

“Yes. I'm glad. This restaurant has quite a good atmosphere.”

The Chairman unseemly scratched his head at his wife's answer. No matter how big his business got, he was still no different to his wife since the time of their youth. For 40 years, believing in his happy marriage, he was able to spend all of his driving force and concentration on his business. The pale face of Chairman Kang's wife was slightly blushing. A smile surfaced on his face full of wrinkles.

“However, it is a bit awkward coming to a place like this at our age.”

“You're still young. Let's go out more frequently.”

Gradually, the mood was ripening.

'But that event I prepared, when will it start? I wanted that to surprise my wife...'

Chairman Kang signaled to the secretary with a quick glance. He had already instructed them to leave the statue in front of the table before mealtime. However, no statue was there.

'What is taking them so long?'

Gradually, time had passed. The hors d'oeuveres included a simple soup and authentic food.

Only at that time did the statue come out. But, it was just a big fat lump of ice as tall as a person!

They had to angle the sculpture on its side to get it past the door. The staff carried the ice and positioned it directly in front of the table Chairman Kang was eating at.

'What is this!!'

Chairman Kang was displeased as a frown covered his face. He had ordered the work of a world-renowned sculptor. Something about this felt wrong.

'Such a mistake would not happen now.'

His eye then noticed the carpet below the table. What was quickly cleaned, the carpet was wet.

'It's not possible... the ice broke?'

In his anger, Chairman Kang was about to get up.

Then there came Lee Hyun. Carrying carving tools, including a hammer and a chisel, he at first tried to repair the ice sculpture. Yet, the shock made cracks which traversed throughout its entirety. The statue was not able to stand upright. With the damage to the neck and face from the fall, it was already impossible to regain the original appearance through repairs. Eventually, the restaurant spent their effort in preparing more ice within the 30 minutes, and it worked.

This is not a sculpture, but a complete mass of ice.

Lee Hyun was holding the carving tools in front of the ice. A cold chill puffed out from the lump of ice. For a sculptor to make a more than precious work, what is fundamental is the materials used.

Lee Hyun touched the ice with a glove-less hand. It was said it would be cold. A proud and unbroken rough chunk of it!

'It's not that much different.'

It was not that different from the natural ice he used from the Mora province.

'Then I can do it.'

It was his first time making a statue in real life.

It was a tense moment. He initiated work that he had never done, but at least he will try his best.

Caen! Caen! Caen!*

Lee Hyun carefully defined it as he carved the block of ice. He could not know how beautiful Chairman Kang's wife was in the past. He had no photo of that time to go by, nor was he able to remember the delicate face of the original statue.

According to the height, the eyes and the shape of the nose, the impression was rapidly being changed; it had now the face of a woman. As he had nothing to go by through memory, he started to delicately carve the features of Chairman Kang's wife, as she appeared currently. A sculptor must have some understanding of the target. Would Chairman Kang's wife be embarrassed about her wrinkled face? Time will pass, and the features age; some would cry out or become shy about it. When you are young, being beautiful, everyone wants it to be eternal, but that cannot be and the result is sadness. She lived with her husband, who loved her so for 40 years. She was far past fitting such a description of crying about such a thing as lost youth.

She would not be ashamed of a wrinkled face that was gained, through the flow of time. She spent 40 years living together with her husband, in faith and affection. Things were not always good. Having suffered hardships. Raising children and preparing them for the future is difficult, she had a tough life.

Though she had her troubles, it was also rewarding. These last 40 years were the happiest of her life, not the days before it. Their meal together, at this time and place, you can see the gentle smile of this grandmother, so he carved it safely, little by little to perfection.

Lee Hyun's delicate touch at carving the ice sculpture attracted the attention of many people. The hotel and restaurant staff watched nervously. In their minds, they urged and entrusted the sculptor. However, they were still not relieved. Around the table he could see that Lee Hayan and her friends were watching.

* * *

Initially, Chairman Kang was furious and was about to get up from his seat. To criticize the inadequate preparation made by the hotel; however, the instant Lee Hyun began to cut away at the statue, he endured instead. Though his anger was not reduced, his wife was watching curiously. Already his 40th wedding anniversary was ruined; along with what he wanted his wife to see. He just wanted to leave.

'Well, let's see how you do. However, you better be prepared when it turns out horrible.'

Chairman Kang was very uncomfortable, but as the statue was gradually being made, this unpleasant feeling was gently being relieved.

The statue was of his wife, as she’s currently.

It showed the happiness of her heart.

Admiring such work was unavoidable.

“Sweetheart.”

Chairman Kang took hold of his wife's hand. Although wrinkled in age, these old hands were familiar, ones he has always held.

'If it was not for these hands I hold, my life would be meaningless.'

Chairman Kang shook his head. I would not be as happy as I am now, with any other woman.

Her hair was lighter colored in age, and it all paled in comparison to her former beauty. Such a long time had passed, and looking at her, it shows; but, that meant nothing now.

Rather, he felt that she was more lovely now than ever before.

* * *

Kang and his wife persistently waited for the completion of the statue.

Even after their own dinner, some guests returned to see the finishing of the statue.

“Here is some lemon juice.”

“I brought you some fruit, hope you are comfortable.”

The staff handed out snacks to the guests. In their spare time, they threw their gazes on the statue.

“Oh, that is some sculpture.”

“It just seems so beautifully carved, and can't believe it is just some decoration...”

They could see from the sculpture that he was no amateur. Sweat soaked Lee Hyun's forehead as he sculpted. The cold ice he carved was also perspiring. He was sweating even though they lowered the temperature in order to stop the dry ice from melting. The fascination of making such a sculpture. When he carried a sword, he was entirely immersed. In order to create a piece of art, he had to be entirely devoted to his work.

According to the mood he felt, he moved his hands across the sculpture. The time to utilize the techniques and conceptions in his head had already passed. He shaved the statue as the flow of emotions moved his heart.

“It's amazing.”

“I think I entrusted this job to a better sculptor.”

The hotel staff noted that the broken statue from before was of a much higher level than the one Lee Hyun was making. Lee Hyun was certainly insufficient in the delicate hand sculpting techniques. However, the differences in level were only a few steps away. It could not compare with the previous sculpture. In fact, the sculpture was a little rougher and did not feel as complete. However, Lee Hyun poured his heart into it and it began to emerge.

It is said that a good sculpture gives out its own feeling. This reminds you of a young sculptor smiling brightly just as he made his best work. Of course, he did his best to live up to it. Creating a statue that embodied her charm. However, the statue he made did not hold these special feelings. He did not know how to properly create a sculpture of a person; it was still too far away, his skill was lacking.

On the other hand, with their long time love of 40 years with his wife, Chairman Kang looked into the grandmotherly eyes of the sculpture that Lee Hyun was making. He had taken these emotions and the sculpture was possessed with them. Pouring their hearts to the sculpture.

The artistic profession of a sculptor. Even if this was not a top-level piece of art from the best sculptor.

And finally, the moment the sculpture was complete, thunderous applause rang out within the restaurant. The admiration from the guests, the staff, and even the singers were clapping in unison.

For the stubborn Chairman Kang, tears flowed freely from his eyes. The woman, who fell in love with him for a lifetime, living together for 40 years, was watching him.

In front of this sculpture of ice, she was currently at her happiest.

* * *

Lee Hyun was soaking wet from sweating all over, he was exhausted.

Chairman Kang suddenly caught Lee Hyun's hand.

“Thank you, this is really wonderful, the most beautiful sculpture I've seen in my life. And more so in the future, I will not be able to see a more grand sculpture.”

Chairman Kang was smiling widely. He was truly sincere in what he said. However Lee Hyun shook his head.

“Isn't the person at your side far more beautiful than the sculpture I made?”

Suitable flattery!

Lee Hyun's instinct started back up.

The moment he completed the statue, his mind returned.

'What else can I do right now?'

He suffered for a few hours by making a sculpture. His hand almost felt numb after handling cold ice. At least in Royal Road, the work you make might become a masterpiece.

Stats and fame!

This was his first time in making a sculpture in real life and he missed that opportunity of earning skill points.

'No, this is not yet the end.'

It was then that Lee Hyun took notice.

If you take a look, Chairman Kang was in every aspect, a business tycoon. He is accompanied by his secretary and if you take notice, it is evident that the manager of this large hotel is catering to him. Might I be on Chairman Kang's good side due to his mood from the sculpture? There is absolutely no chance Lee Hyun would ever let chance escape!

Chairman Kang's comments to Lee Hyun, and even his wife's mirth. If you would ever speak of a truly good-humored couple, they would indeed be it. A touch of flattery in this mood after Lee Hyun's hard work in making a sculpture, everything sounded good.

Chairman Kang was in good mood. To compliment his wife more than his own compliment made him even more exhilarated. Lee Hyun firmly clasped Chairman Kang's hand.

“Thank you very much. All the work you did for my wedding anniversary is a big deal for me.”

Chairman Kang was very grateful for what Lee Hyun did. In times like this, it is imperative that Lee Hyun say something with humility.

“No, I would have to deny that I'm just a sculptor who sculpted for such an esteemed elder's wife. I did nothing special. Rather, for the hotel giving me an opportunity such as this, and for you Mister Chairman, I give you my appreciation.”

Humility is the highest virtue that can be expressed. Not being modest would even stir up problems, the key is true humility! As the remarks were exchanged, he led the counterpart into a suitably amicable atmosphere.

It was then that the General Manager of the hotel came forward.

“Chairman, this work was not originally planned and he had no relation to this incident. The truth is that this man is one our restaurant's guests.”

“General Manager, what do you mean? I thought this man came to celebrate our wedding anniversary.”

“Well... the thing is, there was a little accident as we were preparing the sculpture.”

The General Manager frankly gave the story of how the ice sculpture shattered on the floor during the preparation of the event.

“I'm ever so grateful.....”

Chairman Kang was speechless.

The wedding anniversary that was almost ruined left him with very important memories. Then Lee Hyun opened his mouth. The timing was exquisite.

“If you have finished your meal, could you take the sculpture, sir?”

“What do you mean?”

“It may be just a statue for you, but for me it is a powerful work of art that I finished. This is also a piece that I am very satisfied in. If the hidden intention is to throw the artwork away into the garbage, then it would be meaningless. I could not possibly endure the fact that it will disappear, I would like you to take it.”

“That's....”

It is highly unknown how people ascertain the aesthetic value of a sculpture and their way of thinking. Their decision is not necessarily clear. However, after this priceless remark, it became apparent to the Kang couple that this also became a treasure that could not be discarded.

Chairman Kang's wife sharply jabbed him in the side. Usually she had a quiet nature; but it was not the case this time. The wife of chairman Kang was unfathomable.

'If I asked this improperly, I will incur a very harsh punishment.'

If he left the statue and did not bring it home, it would be tactless.

Chairman Kang shook his head.

“It would be a mistake. This sculpture is now very valuable to us, and it would be so for a long time, I would like to keep it. It seems, I'll buy this carved ice sculpture.”

The president took out his wallet and pulled out a bill.

Certainly, Lee Hyun declined.

“I did not do this for the money; it is fine as it is, just seeing that it caused you two to be so happy. Just to see you look so affectionately towards each other. To be honest, I am enviable of you, honored elders. For it to decorate elder's home, it is truly a dream come true.”

Proper humility straight from the mouth.

All the way till the end, such marvelous ability of flattery!

The mood created from flattery is what the most important to getting what you want. (literal trans. was scam/fraud, lol).

Building up such dignity in front of his wife was highly impressive.

Chairman Kang pulled out another bill.

“At very least, take this as my gift of sincerity.”

“I am still very reluctant.... I insist, the statue is a gift, but I'm happy for these last two minutes I've had with you both. To consider such a piece as valuable in your time of celebration.”

A second refusal.

This is beyond being civilized to save face.

“I can not be so shameless. In exchange for money, make sure you are well paid. If this is not acceptable, how will this old man express his gratitude? I cannot accept a debt not being cleared.”

Chairman Kang repeatedly handed out the bills to Lee Hyun, in such a way that he could not help but take it from the man. He instantly determined the number of circles written on each bill. Verifying the amount and managing money at the same time.

Two cheques worth 5,000,000 Won each.

'As usual, the smell of money is gentle on my mind....'

The Chairman casually pulled out large sums of cash, as much as ₩ 10 million.

Then Chairman Kang left with his wife. It seemed that the couple probably had a wonderful time at their wedding anniversary dinner.

Having finished his work, Lee Hyun headed to his sister, who had been waiting for a long time.

“I'm sorry. Did I take too long?”

“No, brother. What I saw was really good.”

Both of Lee Hayan's friends had sparkling eyes beaming at him. It was a mixture of admiration and amazement, eyes of respect.

Lee Hyun turned to take his sister back to the house. The managers gathered at the entrance. Just as Lee Hyun was about to take out his money, the General Manager waved his hand.

“That won’t be needed. Why would we take money from a benefactor to our hotel? Your sculpting was great, and sincerely it was a very big deal for us. Although, if you would like to come back and look in at any time, you can use the hotel or restaurant at no charge. Also it is complimentary for the person who accompanies you as well.”

“But....”

“This is from our sincerity. Please just accept.”

With the mogul, Chairman Kang, he did not miss out on even the smallest reward; it was worth every penny. If Chairman Kang had gone out of the hotel angrily, all the people in his business would no longer visit the hotel. The fact is that the damage to the hotel would not have been tolerable.

* * *

“One, two.”

“The sword is weak in force. Conduct 100 lower body workouts!”

Chung II Hoon was at work, teaching swordsmanship in the dojo.

'This outcome of Royal Road, not bad.'

In modern times, the opportunity to fight with a sword is rare. Particularly, it is even more difficult for practitioners in a dojo. Certainly, ordinary people would not even brandish a wooden sword in any kind of incident.

Such an unfair position, where inferior occupations are more proper.

Just to have the power to endure is very difficult.

For trainees of the sword that was stuck in the middle of this, those that normally thought in such a way are the ones that join such an organization as theirs.

'Royal Road is our very own outlet.'

Fighting monsters and growing stronger, this was what was enjoyable most of all to a simple practitioner. Satisfaction on a daily bases, but not only that is evident, there is a noticeable change that shows in their swordsmanship. The shift in becoming accustomed to sparring against people and battling various monsters with the sword. The opportunity to thoroughly become good in the basics, I would never have expected that such a break for us would have ever existed.

For a long time, sparring in a fight between people did not occur do the risk involved. Yet in Royal Road, a group of practitioners could fight to their heart's content and in the best conditions without worry.

RING!

Then the phone rang.

Chung II Hoon quietly picked up the receiver, and spoke in a low voice.

“This is instructor Chung II Hoon.”

Chung II Hoon's dream was to go and meet a beautiful but good woman to marry. The instructor's favorite thought was to demonstrate his strength and dependability in front of a lot of girls.

The voice he heard that came from the other end of the speaker was the one he knew well.

“Brother, this is Lee Hyun.”

“Oh hey! How are things?”

“I was thinking of going out for food.”

Chung II Hoon was surprised.

The miserly Lee Hyun buying a meal outside, he couldn't even imagine such a thought.

“You're asking about us at the dojo? Getting some take out from a Chinese restaurant? A fried dumpling would be nice, even if only one I would be grateful.”

“No, we're going out to eat.”

“Really? Where shall it be.”

“Do you know the location of Hotel V?”

“H--hotel?”

Chung II Hoon was stuttering.

“I know the location, but why do want to go there?”

“Come to Hotel V, I'll take you out to eat.”

“Y, Yes. I understand!”

Before Lee Hyun could possibly change his mind, Chung II Hoon prepared to go in haste.

Nevertheless, he had trust in Lee Hyun's words.

“Also take the whole dojo family. For this is truly a rare opportunity. Huhuhu.”

Chung II Hoon called all of the practitioners and instructors and ordered them to head for the hotel. As he silently played Baduk, Director An Hyun-do decided to join them. Since it seemed they were doing something unusual, like going out to eat, An Hyun-do decided to cut in like a ghost and join them.

“So its a hotel....”

“Yes to go to a hotel.”

“I Wonder, will it be delicious? If it is a place very frequented, it must be very good.”

“Oh, Master is also here with us.”

“......”

An Hyun-do, the instructors and the practitioners walked to the grand hotel. Of course, this was not a leisurely walking pace that was graceful and relaxing.

It was quick and lively!

The practitioners practically ran the entire way.

They reached the hotel without a single straggler.

“This, this is....”

The guards tried to restrain them, but they ran like the wind. Before long, they arrived in front of the elevator. But the elevator was filled with people.

The eyes of the practitioners were severe. An Hyun-do spoke effortlessly.

“Guys, on a day like this, there is still the stairs, moreover let's use them.”

“Such a reasonable point.”

An Hyun-do led his disciples on foot and arrived at the restaurant, which was on the 20th floor.

Lee Hyun was waiting for them.

“Welcome, Master.”

“Yeah, I'm hungry. Where is the food?”

“Go, it is served within.”

“We can eat freely?”

“Yes, it is all free.”

“You truly are my favorite.”

The Manager of the restaurant already told the staff that he readily consented to Lee Hyun and a large group of acquaintances. Commit the best service for them, the chef should be ready to cook the best they can, and the employees were to be ready waiting.

However, once the door was open and they helped An Hyun-do, the instructors and saw the practitioners come inside, the faces of the staff went grey.

There were more than 500 people!

They gladly occupied all of the tables and made their orders.

“H--here is your wine. Burgandy, Vintage '99.”

CLINKCLINK!

As they drunk all the rice wine, the horrified staff had to comply with refilling of all the glasses.

“This is delicious, another cup!”

“.....”

“Stir-fried meat, 50 more servings here!”

“The food is delicious, but it's taking too long!”

“Let's try to get so full that we almost faint. Everything is on the house. It's all free!”

The practitioners and instructors were at their peak in hunger after swordsmanship training; they released their waistbands and ate and drank without hesitation.

Then An Hyun-do rose up from his seat.

“Everybody listen. For a person training in martial arts like us, it is not a good thing to overeat.”

The Manager and his staff watched An Hyun-do with hope in their young eyes. Near the end however, they could not help but be more frustrated.

“Per person, eat 10 servings each.”

“Old Master!”

500 people, 10 servings each!

For each person, a single serving came out to 7,000 Won. They ate to their heart's content. The food was like a meat buffet, thanks to all of this, the restaurant ran out of ingredients.

“BURP! Now, I'm full.”

“Tasty, I ate well.”

The employees completed serving the dishes and were to the point of collapsing. Their only wish was for the them to quickly leave.

However, they were all still sitting, every single person.

'What the hell?'

Choi Jong-bum asked with embarrassment on his face.

“When does desert come out?”

Alongside him, Masang Bum-do spoke.

“If I could eat it every day, it would be nice.”

“.......”

* * *

Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan came home after watching a movie and having a meal at a restaurant; it was nearly the first outing they ever had outside.

Both were practically exhausted.

'Rather have been wielding a sword for 5 hours straight.'

Lee Hyun shook his head from side to side.

Well, other people do hang out and walk around yet it was so difficult for me.

He found watching a movie to be a difficult thing, and just from wandering around town he was quickly fatigued. In addition, carving at the restaurant. It was really a difficult thing to create a statue carved from ice. Also for the moment, just from a glance his work was unsalable.

However, the day's work Was complete and now he had returned home.

“Goodnight, brother.”

“Yeah, you too. Have a good rest.”

His younger sister went to bed and Lee Hyun changed again into his outside clothing. Normally, after washing up he would access Royal Road. But today he had another place to be.

Lee Hyun went toward the night-time bus to take it to the hospital, sought the nurse in charge of night shift and asked.

“How is grandmother?”

“She is asleep. Because of the cancer cells, she is taking medicine to relieve pain. You can go in now, but it will difficult as it will take some time for her to wake up.”

“Regardless, I will go.”

Lee Hyun opened the door to the room and went inside.

The hospital room was small. Grandmother was lying down on the bed, soundly asleep. Various medical equipment were attached to her body. Lee Hyun sat down on the chair next to her and took her hand.

“I came with good news.”

“.....”

From grandmother, only pale breathing came out, she was asleep.

The devices checked her heart rate, and it stayed in a consistent pattern. She will probably not wake up for 7 hours due to the effects of the drug.

“Hayan had her interview for the University of Korea today. To be honest, there was a bit of an accident so I don't know if it is a pass, but it's still a good thing, right?”

“......”

“She is already 19 years old now. It has been 14 years since that day. The girl who kept asking where our parents were, while riding piggy back, she's now a real lady.”

Lee Hyun continued speaking to his grandmother as she slept.

“Indeed, a lot of things have happened since that time, and my only wish is that she live her life in happiness. A lot of it was tough back then. At a time there was no food to eat, grandma, you once said that to reduce the mouth of person, you had to give up Hayan. You tried to send her to an orphanage.”

It had been a long time ago, but his sister was about to be sent to the orphanage. In protest, Lee Hyun went three days without eating in order to oppose his sister going to an orphanage.

“Grandma, you told me that I was going to regret it. We actually had to go through difficult meals, and there were indeed many times where I skipped meals. Grandmother, only during that time, I concede that I hated Hayan. Because of Hayan, we hardly could even afford my schooling. I had said abusive things to her, like I would have been happier without her.”

Grandmother had hated the younger sister. Because of the younger sister, Lee Hyun suffered and was often scolded. They severely complained about trivial things. This was another reason why his little sister once went astray.

“I have no regrets. If we return to that time, my choice would have been the same. Because, we are family.”

As she slept, there was no answer, but it eased Lee Hyun's heart. He had kept it all inside for more than 10 years, and now it had ended.

Lee Hyun returned home and went inside the capsule. And he accessed Royal Road.

* * *

The Yurokey Mountains and the Castle of the Dark Elves!

(note: the choice of name is Yulokina, Eurokey, Eurokina; it is not possible for it to be Europa)

The ruined walls were repaired and the Orcs' supplies had been moved. They were preparing for war with the Undead Legion led by the Liche Shire. Weed was just like he was when he terminated the connection; he appeared in human form in the Dark Elf city. Construction was going on everywhere.

“Chwiit profits!”

“Chwichwit. We Orcs worked hard, we good Orcs.”

“Stack that stone even higher!”

“How high you want it stacked? Chwi!”

“Higher, higher! Chwichichichit have it reach the sky!”

An Orc was carrying an overly large rock. Many rocks were gathered together and stacked in a bunch to make a tower.

CRASH!

“Chwieeg!”

“Kkwaeeg. Orcs save me!”

This over accumulation of rocks for the tower groaned and crumbled at a touch, crushing the Orcs beneath it. The Dark Elves were a little bit different from the Orcs. With them owning more intellect, all they did was roll their eyes.

“Those Orcs are hard at work.”

“More like having too much fun.”

“We are elves. No equal in power.”

“Naturally, that is so.”

The Dark Elves were eagerly goofing off and smoking.

Weed was away just temporarily, and in just 5 minutes of his absence everything became a mess and now he had the task of repairing it all once again.

Piles of rocks were scattered without order all over the place and it was a battle to collect all the neglected materials that accumulated throughout the area. Part of the castle was destroyed from Orcs smashing and burning. The Dark Elves were sprinkling salt on the grilled dishes. Generally, elves detest killing life and do not eat meat; however, Dark Elves did not have such qualms. Given that Dark Elves are initially fallen elves with blackened skin, other elves consider them as quite a savage race.

“This is the power of salt. You savage Orcs.”

“Indeed.... We also found that out. Eating with a sprinkle of salt, it's delicious.”

In the name of fighting against the undead, Orcs and Dark Elves made a dramatic reconciliation. They drank alcohol and ate roasted meat together. So, many Orcs and Dark Elves were gathered in the castle's marketplace, indifferent to the plan.

To take these ignorant and lazy people and fight the legion of undead with them....

With his head constantly throbbing, Weed felt seriously ill.

“Captain! We have accomplished our tasks.”

At that time Buren appeared, Becker, Hosram and Dale as well! The Royal Knights and priest.

'But these guys are so few, is there any hope? Even if the quest fails, if I could only send these guys safely back to Rosenheim Kingdom, the contribution from the royal family can be obtained. Items obtained from such a contribution!'

Contribution of money and connections.

To Weed, these soldiers were more important than anything.

But the lieutenant spoke.

“As you asked, all of our supplies near the town were moved here.”

“Well done.”

When he looks at Buren, he sees reliability.

The first time he met with Becker and the rest was in the hellish lair of Litvart, where they undertook a dangerous mission together.

Faith and trust in Buren!

But the point that Buren made of where the supplies were was negligible. No, they are there nonetheless. The weapons of war: arrows, daggers, the mace that soldiers wear and other kind of weapons. That was already a loss, but what was important was the wine bottles he had for wholesale.

Ever since Weed arrived at the Yurokey Mountains on the Plains of Despair, he wandered to his heart's content. He collected various acidic berries! Serpents and precious medicinal herbs!

High-quality materials utilized only when immersed in a solution of alcohol; if you were to consume even more than one you would only notice the sweet taste before you die. No, perhaps consuming more might not kill a person.

He collected clear dew at dawn to distill various liquors. Weed had then made bottles of wine which now was all gone.

“My wine bottles, where did they go? Maybe they haven't been transferred yet. Maybe that's it, right?”

“Well...”

Buren hesitantly pointed at the orcs.

“They are drinking all of it; I tried to stop them but....”

Weed then had a thought pass through his mind.

There could not have been alcohol on the Plains of Despair. For Orcs to be able to brew liquor, it would be impossible. Therefore those damned Orcs must have been drinking Weed's liquor.

“Delicious. Chwiik!”

“SNIFF! What's that smell?”

Lucid and crystal clear wine was flowing into the scratchy snouts of the Orcs.

“Keoheok!”

Weed wanted to puke blood, intense suffering as if his flesh was being torn.

The alcohol that he brewed.

Every time he made a bottle, weed had hoped.

'Please, give me success in earning a lot of money.'

Through fermenting, you can earn a considerable amount of money selling alcohol.

It took several months for it to fully mature in taste and effects; without even a second thought he had done it all. (originally it was a Korean idiom, kind of like saying 'Absolutely, yes' or 'you bet your life on it')

In his spur of moments of making it, it reached hundreds of bottles of liquor. Precious items obtained and he had to put the alcohol aside as he hunted, but he had no place to hold them so he instructed its management to the soldiers.

This was the result.

“I don't believe this...”

Weed was devastated.

In the meantime, the Orcs were drinking quickly. The dark blue wine sloshed at the bottom of the bottle. Empty wine bottles were rolling haphazardly around. His wholesale liquor disappeared. The money flew out.

“Ahhh!”

Weed groaned in sadness!

Even the beef jerky, the Orcs and Dark Elves were chewing on it.

Weed had made that jerky.

Almost no wine bottles remained, and already the drying baskets that were full of jerky was empty.

'To make again the liquor or food.'

Still, Weed had his hopes.

After all, these were his soldiers.

Though the liquor or the supplies for battle may be lost, he did not lose his loyal soldiers.

“I'm at fault, I'm sorry. The Orcs were so forceful... *hic*!”

As Buren explained the situation, he had a case of severe hiccups. That was when Weed properly examined the soldiers. Being held up on staggering legs, red in the face. A phenomenon caused by excessive drinking.

“This....!”

Then, all of it became apparent to him.

Buren and Becker, while following his command to carry his supplies, found the liquor bottles.

“It's alcohol.”

“What are we going to do?”

“To do what, I'm the captain right now.”

“GULP! This looks tasty.”

“You think a sip will be fine?”

“You lot, how could you....”

“Come on, let's do it.”

Like trying to entrust a fresh fish to a cat, it would be similar to saying to trust a soldier not to have a bit alcohol before a fight.

At first, the soldiers really only took a sip, but then they got to drinking.

“It goes down so smoothly.”

“Wow! It's so delicious.”

That single sip of the bottle was like an addiction.

Weed's soldiers then committed themselves to their work but couldn't keep it out of their minds, but even then, their fear of him remained.

“This will do, have the Orcs drink it.”

“Let's give it to the Orcs.” (Pretty much they wanted to hide their guilt by blaming it on the Orcs)

So they revealed his little nest egg, his prized position the fermented wine!

“And have to fight against the Undead Legions with things going like this...”

Weed sighed.

* * *

There was uproar on the internet.

People were driven to connect to the Royal Road website during the morning and daytime.

They always liked to access the reports from Hall of Fame, they were always fascinated.

- Let's reveal that Orc's true identity.

- An alternative magic item that allows you to polymorph or something?

- A type of wizard perhaps. One that can change to a necromancer later on?

- Does this mean people who already switched jobs can become a necromancer?

Wizards were desperate about this.

When a new profession opens up, it means that you can learn new magic soon.

Magic was very precious for wizards, so they wished for more by any means.

Wizards were making a myriad of inquiries to Unicorn, who operated Royal Road.

- Please, can't you tell us about the quest's progress? How can we receive the commission for this profession in any way?

- Disclose the characteristics of the Necromancer profession.

Unicorn's answer was simple.

- This is from headquarters; the quest is still on-going and it would be careless to the user. We are unable to disclose more. You will know of the characteristics of a necromancer when the profession is opened. If the quest fails, the profession will not be shown to the public.

On the pretext of privacy, Unicorn did not reveal any of the current progress.

Then the more anxious users stormed various game sites.

KMC Media, CTS Media, On-stations, Digital Media, LK game.

The viewer feedback form on such broadcasting companies of games was deteriorating, both domestic and international.

* * *

The producers of KMC media held a meeting.

Usually this was for the young facilitators on the front line or PD, to participate and express their opinions freely, or to recant about the stories or broadcasts, or for the sake of planning.

However, today something unique occurred.

The heads of other broadcasting stations participated in the meeting.

“The forums are in an uproar. Director Kang, what is happening?”

The Director of KMC Media accessed the website to oversee the reaction of the viewers. What he saw was tens of thousands of posts. The feedback was all about a request to broadcast one quest.

“There is a new movie in the Hall of Fame.”

“Well? What the hell is on that one video to cause this chaos?”

At this period of time, his broadcasting station was first in audience ratings; in his division, this was never the case.

Director Kang embarrassingly rubbed at his bald head as he replied.

“A quest, it seems.”

“What quest? So many people becoming so excited only for a quest is outrageous.”

The Director tilted his head to the side when a young producer stood up from his seat.

“Right now we will begin our attempt to cover the contents. Show the prepared video for the Director.”

“Why not?”

In the conference room, state-of-the-art equipment to view various videos was installed. With omni-directional surround sound system the entire video appears on the front wall. Granted, this conference room's facilities were natural for a broadcasting station.

During the movie stream, the director, the young producers, nor the organizers could not open their mouths. After a long while, the director spoke.

“This, we will be sure to catch it.”

“Of course, Director.”

Director Kang and all the organizers agreed.

Not only considering the battle of Orcs in front of them. A mystical quest where someone transformed into an Orc. An adventure in uncharted regions. Considering all these things, it is just not enough broadcasting it. Director Kang then spoke cautiously.

“Yet the other stations will not likely let us stay in this. Perhaps various other stations will contract their offers out.”

“You mean it would be difficult?”

“Not entirely. It is just that when other stations compete, the contracting terms will also increase further.”

The problem was always money.

“It is not so possible to spend a large amount of money.”

From the words of the Director, the group was left in a heavy silence.

From the beginning, the company KMC Media did not have a substantial amount of capital.

They had high viewership, but as a fledgling station, they did not have surplus funds as they actively invested their income when many did not. Director Kang carefully let fly their fortune.

“Gentlemen, our financial situation this year from broadcasting so far is not that bad, I know.... but I thought of making a steady surplus.”

“Even so, we don't have enough money to overwhelm the contract offers of other broadcasters, and this brings me to building up an unconventional deposit.”

At the end of the Director's words, the organizers soon became depressed.

Even if you endeavour to work hard, you will see that reality will catch you by the ankle. As there are many other places here and there for money entering into a small broadcasting company, they are always tied to their budget.

KMC Media's motto.

It is only fun if you spend less money!

They were desperate for survival.

The organizers sighed.

'But in order to grow further, you need to invest more....'

'This was always a big issue, like with the downfall of CTS Media who deceived themselves.'

However, the Director was smiling.

“Regardless of the agreement, we will do it.”

“Really?”

“A contract with an incentive. Even if the deposit is exceptional, we will not fail; a smash success due to the performance and advertising can and will distribute proceeds.”

Currently, the rating from Royal Road is continuously at its peak on a daily basis. In increments, the viewership of broadcasting stations for Royal Road rose in succession. The price in advertising sales is also in the midst of growth.

“The audience ratings will rise more than 5%, to share in the proceeds a certain percentage of an advertisement will be given to the broadcasting station in accordance to the contract, and who can say how much money will be given when people download the quest video from the home page?”

KMC was still a small station, but this was a possible method.

Department Director Kang wiped the sweat from his brow.

“Let us form a contract, Gentlemen.”

* * *

When a video in the Hall of Fame gets an increased number of views by many people, the company Unicorn provides a nominal payment to the original poster. Such a way to earn money was unfamiliar as until now he was used to selling items.

“I will be given money for people to watch it, but there won’t be a difference if I do nothing to make it.... If I can edit it a bit, I can raise the amount I get.”

It was a bit late but Lee Hyun hesitated about purchasing an editing program, even now when the Public Relations Department of Unicorn headquarters was in an uproar.

“Surely he would let other users onto the quest.”

“Oh, that would be great.”

Chang Yun-Su, chief figure in the Public Relations Department was in the operating room and was coming up with strategies with other people who saw the movie. It was essential to familiarize yourself with the game in order to seamlessly promote Royal Road.

Strategies are not a straightforward task when in the operating room. Studying and understanding the whole background story for each quest. Histories of each of the Kingdoms! Helping in the development of cities as well as background of important figures, the growth of users. These types of things forecast the future direction of the continent of Versailles and this is how strategy in the operation room flows.

“The progress of the quest is already so far, the speed is faster than we believed.”

“What is the problem then?”

“The emergence of the Bar Khan quest is fine if it barely hit to the second quest chain. If you look at the overall picture, yet because of him, this is just not....”

“Yet?”

“The situation seems to have made little difference to the game for now, but if the forces of undead run rampant, the axis of power with the existing forces in the kingdom will gradually effect the users in time.”

The NPC occupation and the rights of ownership for famous castles and fortresses, as well mines, villages and places of business will be changed. Users in guilds join forces to contribute for a siege, and to take ownership from increasing their occupation. A city may or may not be near the capital of a Kingdom, but they still fall into the hands of users; in fact much of the central continent is already operating with users.

“But what does the Bar Khan quest has got to do with all that?”

A team leader who was very curious asked Chang Yun-Su because he was very familiar about the game's backstory. He clasped his hands as if he was at home and gave a wide smile to the rest of the operators in the room as he listed the possibilities.

“It will be interesting. Bar Khan's complete resurrection with his undead forces and power, in this aspect it will be very different with the hatred of the undead.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Villages and castles under attack from the undead. The undead can even wage a siege with all of the corpses. Their hatred can work both in attack and defense and find more participants. Not only that, keep in mind that in that case the undead can completely dominate an enemy counterattack.”

“On the other hand, the undead can occupy a town or castle?”

“Enough talk on the possibilities. The undead are just one of many types of monster on the Versailles continent. The kingdoms that become occupied by the infestation of undead will fade away. If the users can purify them, it would become a very big opportunity for such contributions.”

“So this will bring about crisis and opportunity at the same time.”

“Yes, the rewards of this storyline is unexploited, the kingdom in the northern part of the continent lies in the hands of the undead, but.... Regardless, the overall difficulty will rise in the future and we might frequently see the undead.”

Chapter 5: Karichwi Running!

A pub at the capital of Haven Kingdom, Aren province.

Volk stood inside with an impression of filthiness. The employees were at the entrance to take coin and asked questions.

“Business?”

“Rest.”

“5 coppers. For a comfortable rest.”

The atmosphere was different than in a regular pub. Employees elsewhere made it a priority to be polite and treat their customers. Volk looked inside the rough and empty tavern, then sat down. The standard drink was a fruit juice. Other people may think that those who drink a 5 cooper drink would be a beginner. Volk was as high as 367 in level, an ultra-high level user.

Volk was not the only one.

The level of users in this pub was on average, higher than 300. Of the listed guilds, there are few with forces with so many that are level 300 or higher, it is a really unique kind of place.

Dark Gamers specified this pub in the United Nations. A place for Dark Gamers to take a break.

Jjook. (don't ask me, it seems to be a name.)

Volk drank his prized fruit drank sparingly.

A sweet taste. It is often said that a taste can wash fatigue from your entire body. If food and drink were placed before you, you should eat and sip sparingly. Dark Gamers were characters whose focus was to own money, therefore they would not carelessly waste even a dime.

The Dark Gamers increased their levels since they don't squander. However, it is said that they are not consistently in good condition.

“The Barang cavalry has joined the rebel army.”

“Roam village is seeking mercenaries for a monster attack.”

Within the pub, Dark Gamers would often exchange the latest information.

“There's a contract. A quest to guide someone to the 109th altar of spilled blood, payment 3000 gold. Would you like to give it a try.”

“And the number is?”

“These five recently reached level 190.”

“I'll give you more than 5,000 gold, just consider it.”

The pub took on the role of giving and receiving contracts.

A special way for users to contract Dark Gamers. Depending on your requirements, Dark Gamers would accept or refuse these contracts.

This is the underground economy moving through the Versailles continent!

This is the heat of the moment; Royal Road has become a game that the whole world enjoyed. The number of Dark Gamers even reached a minimum of 20 Million. Scattered like grains of sand, Dark Gamers only appear where there is money and items. Separate but dispersed in behavior, just as much as anywhere comparable in strength.

'This place, it still remains unchanged.'

Volk was resting comfortably.

At once he was recalling the beautiful past. It was of the woman he loves. He started the game for her sake. Played in numerous battles with her. He was unable to live his life without her hearing his affection for her.

Then finally, on that day he confessed to her!

He had asked that sculptor he met in Rosenheim Kingdom to make a bouquet of flowers for her. The vibrant wooden bouquet had the highest effect; Volk and she were soon married.

Life has been good up to this point.

He was mesmerized by her for over 1 year in Royal Road. Actually, he almost went for it in real life but it did not happen due to being busy. With work and his new job, it was unbearable!

The fact was that they were only able to become a couple due to Royal Road.

“Honey, I earned a lot of money.”

“I picked up a lot of items, come in!”

“You too!”

A complete Dark Gamer couple was born.

His wife was too busy accomplishing quests from the clergy and Volk hunted and roamed alone.

“Excuse me, what is your profession and level?”

Volk, as a Dark Gamer, was sitting alone and a few people came.

These people pay for being colleagues!

It can be difficult to hunt alone, so this is a place where you can find a colleague. Of course, for the division of roles and sharing of the revenue, you must be thorough. As one of the Dark, if you cannot fulfil your part in the bargain, or if you are unreasonably greedy, you will be intercepted and get a record on the United Kingdoms. In severe cases you can find yourself kicked out and executed as the Dark Gamers turn against you.

Volk spoke to them with a soft smile.

“I just came back from afar; I would like to be left alone for now.”

“Oh, alright.”

A few of them offered their apologies as they turned away.

To the Dark Gamers, this pub is their only refuge. One place where you can rest in peace. There were rules, such as not interfering with the rest of another.

RATTLE.

Volk was resting there for some time, then the tavern's door was wide open. It was one person. He was a Dark Gamer. As if it was a proven rule, it was fairly simple to distinguish between them by what they wear. In most cases, Dark Gamers found efficiency as most important, and at the same time they didn't want to bring attention to themselves by wearing fancy equipment.

“Your business?”

“Secret.”

“........”

Sometimes they are like this.

What is the secret if your behavior alone makes it out to be a secret of the world? It became a new pub as Dark Gamers shared whispers back and forth between multiple tables.

Some Dark Gamers immediately shook their heads. Different people gave a nod of their heads to indicate consent, but after a few additional words of the man, they shook their heads.

There was no appearance of even a little dissatisfaction from the rejections. In fact, the five people had a hint of respect in their eyes toward the young man.

'What are you doing here?'

The man calmly came up to the seated Volk.

“A prospective Grade ‘A’ difficulty quest, you mind?”

“.....”

Volk had a moment of silence.

The appearance of a difficulty A quest was not the best thing. He began to understand why the Dark Gamers rejected him.

“Not tolerable, it would be hard.”

“I have prepared personnel from my own guild. Just obtaining some people I lack with mercenaries.”

“The guild?”

“Crimson Wings.”

The guild is in 10th place among the Versailles continent in holdings. This same guild owns as many as seven fortresses in the central continent.

'If that's so, then if the odds are right.'

It pulled on Volk's appetite.

It was true that he had grown tired of hunting alone.

“Level restriction?”

“About 350 or so.”

“......”

“Qualified, but stressing over the terms beforehand?”

“Sufficiently so.”

“Well, that's a relief. The base salary is 20,000 gold. In the case that you die in the mission, reparations would be 50,000 gold. For exploration of the ruins, if the progress takes longer than 20 days, 2,000 gold will be given per day.”

“Those conditions are very good....”

“Instead, any items excavated from the ruins are under ownership on my side. As you see, all the quest progression and materials needed are covered by us, so what we ask shouldn't be unreasonable. Also we will take care of the lives in the group.”

So, in a nutshell, it sounds like they don't mind living or dying, or how much they spend.

“The ruins of the Scorpion King...”

Adventure or reward, Volk was pulled in by his appetite and he decided to participate.

* * *

Pale and Maylon!

The couple had become indispensable.

“Shoot the vital spot!” (or vital spot shot)

Aiming arrows to attack the monster's philtrum and heart at the same time!

After the archers' joint attack Irene followed suit with divine magic.

“Divine light, correct the multitude of evil in this world. Saint blind!”

Radiant white light showed from Irene's hands and they were reflected in the monster's eyes. In fact, the divine magic was a brutal addition. Blocking the monster's eyesight with bright light. And naturally being blinded, it could not act properly.

“Kueek!”

A monster that walked on two legs was suffering as if it was a tadpole.

Saint Blind also gives a bit of damage. The damage is small as it is made to constrict, but the mana consumption is low and against a monster with evil attributes, it makes the magic easier.

When she passed level 200 and switched jobs to Priestess, she gained the skill.

“Without hesitation, burn like a blazing fire and leave behind nothing but ashes. Fire Field!”

Romune was too formidable. Area effect fire-based magic! At the underground lake, there were monsters with a slight association with the water element. All of a sudden, they were hit with fire magic that was antagonistic to them. Drying up all the water in their body did large damage to them. For a specialist in fire magic, the lake of water elementals was the best hunting grounds for Romune.

“Experience the taste of my steel fists!”

Finally Surka learned a skill she dreamed of as a deaconess.

Gather mana and punch apart the enemies with the skill!

Although they don't consume much mana, archers cannot do damage without being from afar. Being farther than 10 paces, the damage will be intact.

Zephyr, Hwaryeong and Mapan!

Of them, Hwaryeong was particularly welcome to the party.

Irene, Romune, Surka and Maylon, all of them were girls that had looks that can kill.

When on a hunt and there is nothing to do while waiting for monsters, there is nothing to do but relax!

Talking to women.

“The story I broadcasted about yesterday?”

Recent changes.

Maylon's broadcast of the story took her 3 hours. The actual broadcast time was just 1 hour, but there was the process for preparation, arrangement and to meet and speak with the entertainers.

Yet this was not the end of it. We have not even begun.

“I volunteer part of my time outside of that.”

“At our school....”

Romune and Irene were both female college students and each talked about their own stories, clubs and other subjects. They have only been there for barely a year before their leave of absence, but there was no end to their discussions. Surka was a high school student and had interests in various hobbies, reading, collecting plastic models, fashion and so on. As usual, even Hwaryeong adapted immediately to the formidable chatter. She instantly attended the discussion by leading the group with her experience of traveling around the world, such as Milan, Venice, Rome, London, and New York.

These five women achieved complete harmony through intense chatting.

Dancing around enemies, Hwaryeong would attack. Then Zephyr would stand on the forefront of the fight with the monsters. They found that the powerful vitality of an angler can defend enemy attacks. A position dedicated to defend the party like a warrior, because he was an angler, Zephyr took on that role.

Zephyr assumed the most difficult thing!

He and his outrageous vitality had to hold on to the full wrath of the enemies' attacks.

“Zephyr is truly reassuring.”

“I never suspected that anglers could fight.”

“I admit, initially I thought fishing would be very weak, but this is absurd!”

Calming colleagues with flattery!

At first they did not do things like this, as they were once pure. Since meeting Weed they had changed. Praise and flattery! The technique they learned from Weed that will work once again, even today. You can say, they learned to how live in the world.

Even in the midst of things, Mapan's presence was always weak. To the extent that when in battle it is hard to distinguish whether he is there. However, at the end of a battle, right away he pops out and calculates the japtem. After processing the japtem of Geomchi and companions, Mapan became reborn as a large merchant.

* * *

Citadel of the Dark Elves

Weed re-established his influence with the Dark Elves and Orcs.

His Leadership!

When left unattended, the law and order in an army will gradually decrease over time. Although it was temporary, Weed had to command the Orcs and Dark Elves in order to combat the Undead Legions. Also, Weed's leadership was so high that it was almost too hard to find an equal.

“DO! NOT! PLAY! INSTEAD OF! WORKING! ALL OF YOU!”

Skill: You have used Yell. The morale of your units within range have been increased by 200%

Any state of confusion has been cleared.

In addition, for the next five minutes, 205% more leadership is applied.

“Chwiik! Let's do it”

“Needs to be done. Chwichwit.”

Some of them went back to insufficiently playing, though more than 100,000 of the Orcs remained. In unison, they rose up from their seats to build walls and once again hauled supplies.

Besides the leadership stat, incidentally how well they listen is in preference to the abilities that the General reflects. In the case of the Orcs, they liked his outstanding determination. Innate belligerence, they followed him because he will not back down from a fight. In the case of Weed's fighting spirit, it did not need to be so high for the Orcs because it was reasonable. The Dark Elves were tougher, they wanted a little more knowledge, wisdom and had an affinity with nature, glamor and art which was reflected evenly.

“He rules over us, although he is not clever enough to know or understand the earth in a significant way. He is just a human.”

“Are you familiar with the story of the falling leaves? I see your artistry, so I'll follow your orders.”

Becoming proficient in the skills he acquired such as cooking, herbalism and others related to the nature. Thanks to his high art stats, this affinity allowed him to lead Dark Elves. The Dark Elves created magical traps and by magic they instantly made trees grow and enlarge around the castle. Magnificient branches spreading all over the area as the tree trunks grew huge in size. Lying within the trees were thorns. The characteristics of the trees made natural rampart. Bushy fruit trees were clustered together. With the absurd number of Orcs, this will play a good role for food for the Orcs.

Vampire Tori actively helped Death Knight Van Hawk pick up large beams. These so-called boss monsters. His subordinates can preside over their own kind. Tori resurrected his own Vampire family that had vanished after the defeat. Death Knight Van Hawk, once again he collected more men to create his own Death Knight unit.

A tooth for a tooth!

He was ruling his own powerful undead legion here.

Hard at work for the war with the Immortal Legion, Weed headed to the rock tower that the Orcs stacked. And he carved the rock.

A Dark Elf!

He sculpted the spirit of the Dark Elves on the fly as the shape started to unfold. All of a sudden, it came to his mind, the imposing appearance of a Dark Elf covered by the fire element that the Orcs immolate themselves with.

An audacious and rough touch by Weed.

The sculpture was finished and one by one the Dark Elves gathered around it.

“The human gave was a sculpture.”

“I thought his people disliked us, yet through affection he created a sculpture for us.”

T'tiring!

A masterpiece! An award for finishing the race of Dark Elves!To call this the work of a master sculptor is not enough!

The savage battle loving Dark Elves that sometimes reveal their presence to the outside world. Compare the soul of these aggressive rogues to the plain elves.

Artistic value: 120

Special Attributes:

Dark Elf health and Mana regeneration is increased by 3% during the day.

Movement speed increased by 25%

In addition, they are 5% faster when running.

Strength decreased by 10%. Agility increased by 20%.

Intelligence increased by 10%. Wisdom increased by 10%

Elf scouts have 1.5 times the view of the field and their skills are increased by one level higher.

Cannot stack with other sculptures.

Up to this moment, the number of masterpieces you have completed: 7

- Your proficiency in the sculpting skill has improved.

- Fame has risen by 41.

- Endurance has increased by 1.

- Intellect has increased by 1.

- Patience has increased by 3.

Now he can easily create masterpieces, but his fame and stats no longer rose so well. Now the raising of the stats depended first and foremost on the quality of the statue. The fame gained was low for the creation of a classic masterpiece and any significant increase is gone. When you make a statue with insufficient skill, the affection and care in making it can expand your stats. The patience and endurance stat when creating a giant statue that takes days and nights still grows. However, suffering to make a sculpture on a daily basis does not otherwise increase stats. Even so, as a sculptor, increasing endurance or patience could be seen as a privilege.

“Skill check: Sculpting!”

Intermediate sculpting 9 (28%): you are able to carve.

Beautiful sculptures can be sold at a higher price.

Good to buy a woman's favor.

A long time had passed since his sculpting reached Intermediate level 9. He was busy concentrating on combat and quests. As he was conducting a battle with the Orcs, he was unable to carve pieces occasionally to improve his proficiency.

“Okay. I guess I need to make a few more sculptures.”

In addition, he made the Orc sculpture. Looking wild while wielding a glaive. The Orc masterpiece sculpture increased his valor and determination. This came at a cost as his sculpting was a failure and barely tolerable.

* * *

KMC Media’s Director Kang was un-comparably frustrated.

It had been three days since the Hall of Fame video was released!

“We must have that contract, we need it to.....”

Just today the Director had already sent five contract offers to the email that uploaded the video.

Obviously he sent it as the representative of KMC media. Exclusive rights to reveal the quest and footage of the combat. But there still has been no answer.

“Were you unable to get the e-mails? If you don't want it, then at least send me a reply saying no. Damn it!”

Director Kang broke down in a rage.

Unicorn's privacy is very strict, requests for contact or address will never be informed to the station. So somehow, the only option available for contact is an e-mail that we cannot even see.

“Given the time in Royal Road and when the quest started, in four days’ time it will have ended....”

Because of the imminent time frame, without a doubt Director Kang was restless.

On the KMC Media site the requests from viewers already reached more than 10 Million comments.

On the fifth day of the quest, the quest will get even bigger in South Korea. Although they had no live broadcast, if there is no contact they might have to cheat to get by.

* * *

His sister returned to school early in the morning and had a moment of free time remaining. Lee Hyun turned on the computer and connected to the internet. He first looked at the item transaction site.

The Dark Gamers invite you to the United Kingdoms.

The Dark Gamers were relentless, still sending him invitations when they already knew he joined. Lee Hyun immediately discarded the invitation and turned his attention to the prices of the items.

“Where.... did the price rise up?”

Bit by bit he collected items while he was on the Plains of Despair into an enchanted backpack that can reduce the weight and hold by 7 or 8 times. The majority of the equipment failed to sell. The transactions for the items from the village of Exiles did not gain a good price, to the point that no buyers appeared to even bid. He raised auctions to sell items in order to earn cash; the bids had to be successful. However, what is more important is the argument that no one can come to Plains of Despair to buy the items. Therefore it is common for some Dark Gamers to hunt near the larger castles. If they get items from hunting, they are always able to sell it to customers in the vicinity. However, doing it in that way, it is difficult to find good items.

'As a Dark Gamer, I guess it is inevitable that you must go.'

Dungeons near large castles were already crowded with users and the monsters were lacking due to it. You may need to go a little farther in order to hunt. So near a city with a lot of people, there is a low chance for a Dark Gamer to find things. So they could be proud just finding something to sell!

Items can become commonplace and is thus useless to sell, as many among the general public have it. When such items are actively sold, there are almost no trades for expensive items. Mainly beginner or intermediate level equipment was commonly sold, as more expensive equipment were usually bad deals. Strictly speaking, this is the difficulty that Dark Gamers see.

For a true Dark Gamer, it would be rare to see them deliberately be in the open with many people.

In Royal Road you can break a quest for the first time or be the first to enter hunting grounds and can gain experience and rewards.

Undiscovered areas and quests. Risking their own lives to enter for enemies and items. Dark Gamers were those that truly chased after money and adventure. For such a reason as to gather decent items, then the proceeds from the sale, but it really is lucrative. Lee Hyun spent several months of game time in the Plains of Despair and he was able to collect quite a lot of items. However, with the quest close at hand he is still too busy to be able to dispose of it.

“It would more costly to sell at a later time....”

The posted auction needed no reply as the item pricing was roughly fixed.

Glaive: 150,000 Won

Orc's armor: 50,000 to 100,000 Won.

Elf clothing was more than 400,000 Won.

A lot of the other stuff to sell, it is not an exaggeration to say that the price is almost fixed as well. For items he put up with a reputation, he bounced the price higher. Last time the transaction was about 3 Million Won, so Agatha's sword should be sold for 3.5 Million Won.

"500 Won, 501 Won, 502 Won...."

The auction post ascended only 1 Won at a time, it did not go easily but it passed over 3 Million Won, which was the current price. The price ascended continuously and has become close to 3.5 Million Won. But we cannot always expect such luck.

“So the normal price for the total would be 6.5 Million Won.”

Lee Hyun had a bitter expression.

After 3 months of hunting in the Plains of Despair. Until the quest is finished, he could not use the teleportation gate and it would be haphazard to drop his collection of equipment. If the combined price of the items was 6.5 Million Won, it was not satisfactory.

“An income of just a bit over 2 Million Won per month. This is insufficient. Next year, Hayan will be going to college...”

When entering a college, you have tuition, textbooks, clothes; you don't know how much money goes into this.

“Also it's not easy; money is not so spread out in the Yuroki Mountains.”

Although he raised his levels and increased his fame a lot in its own way, it was especially about item acquisition. In regards to making money, selling a lot of his acquired items for a suitable price, though the fact was that most of the Orc and Dark Elf equipment he picked up did not have a high price currently.

“This quest has to be finished as soon as possible; I got to get out of the Plains of Despair.”

Lee Hyun glanced momentarily at the auction. As it turned out, the fact that it was from Weed of the Continent of Magic, thousands of comments were being added to each of his auction posts.

- This is disappointing. Where did you plunge yourself into? Update us sometime, please let us know.

- Did you join with Freya's knights on an expedition, or are you on your own? I've heard that there are many new quests originating in the northern parts.

- Tell us about the knights. How do we join?

Ever since he last sold Agatha's sword, people mistook his affiliation with the Church of Freya.

“I regained the crown and Helaine's cup; it won't matter after I register the quest into the Hall of Fame.”

Lee Hyun was muttering as he viewed the comments on the auction posts.

It seems that not enough people knew of the quests to return the sacred items of Freya that became famous to the NPC's by word of mouth. Since that's the case, this quest will leave an impression and take a considerable number of views in the Hall of Fame.

“Money, money is the best. Huhuhu.”

Lee Hyun had a dismal smile.

While posing as Orc Karichwi, he was drunk with despicable laughter and he was very familiar with the selfishness, yet it did not dwindle.

“Kuhuhuhu.”

The greed for money could not be hidden in him, he smiled as he watched what the monitors uncovered. After a while, Lee Hyun accessed the Royal Road website and went to the Hall of Fame.

Over 15,000,000 views already. The comments reached in the hundreds of thousands. Comments ranging from questions on the quest to asking the character's professing and level.

This hot response was more than he expected. Lee Hyun was just moonlighting, even getting just a few hits, not even obtaining income, he would have left satisfied. But for him to see the number of views being like this is unusual.

“That's all right.”

Still he did not have big expectations. The length of the movie is long enough to exceed 19 hours, and it can’t be seen all at once, the number of views could be due to this.

“Anyways, I don't know how much I will get from this. Later we will see the amount.”

Lee Hyun closed the window after a moment of looking at the comments. He should open his mail but he also resigned. His mail had accumulated more than ten thousand. Mail asking questions about the quest or for him to inform them more of the facts. Once he had requests to join guilds, hunts and even to the point of cell numbers. Opening the box, it will get clogged with dozens of accumulated mail and without a doubt it would be a mess to read.

Lee Hyun did not even try to open his e-mail and rose from the spot.

* * *

CRACK! BOOM, BANG!

The battle preparation was in full swing at the Dark Elf castle. Day by day, renovations and additional expansions for the castle were made. The Orcs were building five walls and struck 4 layers of barriers from the bottom of the mountain. It was the task of creating a battlefield on an entire mountain by dawn. Some of the Orcs who left had returned bringing back their tribes. It was a field of Orcs.

Fertility is frightening!

Although near 400,000 Orcs died in battle, around 60,000 leave and when they return, the number they bring swells to 500,000. On the road, the Orc elders spoke to Weed.

“Chwiik. Chwiik! Among Orcs it is said. Hit us and we shall not die. Chwichwit! In order to fight we bring more of us. We are Orcs!”

According to what the Orcs conveyed, nearly 1 Million Orcs assembled on the day of the decisive battle. The Dark Elves also summoned their tribes. A race that lived in dispersed groups in the Yuroki Mountains. The Dark Elves were secretive because a lot of them were excellent assassins. Assassins with possibility to ambush those with low stamina will be helpful.

Aside from the soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom, the necromancers and the vampires under Tori, the power on this side was formidable. Nevertheless, Weed was not so sure.

The strength of the legions of undead!

Killing, there is no end by just killing them. Purification or destroying them completely through divine magic so that they could not be resurrected even from ashes and must be discarded. If that's not the case, at such a time our army's dead would instead be revived and become our enemy. If the Dark Elves and a Million Orcs all become undead, the quest will be a complete failure.

Actually, if the situation deteriorates rapidly, it may be difficult to keep the undead legion from growing. Seeing nature of the undead, the numbers will be very difficult to kill beyond a certain limit.

“Priests, follow me.”

Weed descended the mountain with the priests. As he left the citadel, the necromancer ran out.

“Dearie, have you forgotten your promise? To slay the legions of undead, we would like to believe those words you gave.”

They were worried that he was trying to escape.

How much trust can there be when they are that anxious, though in fact Weed wanted to give up. However, it was only due to his desire of not having regrets.

“For us to be ready for battle, a lot has to be done.”

“I understand. Yet I will most certainly return.”

“I know you will come back.”

Barely listening to the necromancer, Weed parted with the group and headed into the cave in the Plains of Despair. The teleportation gate inside the cave!

“Priests, operate the teleportation gate.”

“Yes.”

Thick in their faith, the priests gathered mana and operated the teleportation gate. Weed soon disappeared with the light.

* * *

“Level 170 Bard wanting a party.”

“Let's go together into the forest to hunt monkeys!

“Selling inexpensive set of ice crystal armor. Bring it out when its hot, you'll stay cool.”

“Sculptor wanting a part. Let me join the party, please, please, please show me some mercy. I will never forget.”

*Paat!* (Grasping sound)

Someren Liberty City.

The place where Weed appeared was in the middle where people were doing business.

'Still swarming with people.'

However, it was different from before; on various occasions he noticed sculptors, painters, potters and other blue-collar characters. The pyramid that Weed made was being gossiped about. Seeing someone make something so grandiose made people thrilled. Artist professions rose en masse. However, with the scorns they received, the majority gave up early.

Sculptors were no better. Early on, it is too hard to hunt. For Weed, it was somewhat easier thanks to his harsh training that resulted in stats and skills to hunt with, but other craftsmen were weak. Also, unlike his initial thoughts, the Moonlight Sculptor profession itself was apparently very strong.

Just as he lamented that his stats had no direct relation to combat, little by little his high endurance and stamina stats increasingly shined. Yet dexterity skill greatly nurtured and raised is other production profession skills for the mercantile system. Cooking skill was now at Intermediate level 5, fishing at Intermediate level 1, smithing and sewing were at Intermediate level 2.

One cannot have a sculptor profession without the level of being a vicious laborer, and this was not counting another job. Even if you wanted to create something specific, you wouldn't know the result as it is based on luck. For such reasons, guilds only raise them strategically; but for the majority of sculptors it is still walking a road of suffering. As a sculptor like Weed, it is hard to get into a party.

He was still a young boy.

Desperation building, with a long face he was seeking a party. At the moment Weed saw the boy, tears shed as his memories of struggles in the past emerged all at once.

“It is hard work.”

From those words, the young boy looked up.

“A fellow sculptor?”

Weed nodded.

“Making sculptures is a hard thing, but there will be a day when you see the light.”

“During a period of ten days I already made ten thousand sculptures. I'm tired of even looking at a tree branch or a sculpture. Foxes and rabbits, even thousands, how much more must a make a labor?”

As with Weed, there was not a lot of information about sculpting; the young boy was going through a period of trial and error. Even if you don’t come to like the boy, as a sculptor he worked uncommonly hard. As an enlightened sculptor, Weed generously gave out his knowledge of how to grow.

“Once you make something, if possible do not make it frequently. Those ten days were not enough for the stats. You made no mistake. Work on art. When the laborer has decent art, they will be able to grow. Cheer up.”

“Boohoo!”

At the end, the boy wept sadly.

“I really don't want to be a sculptor.”

“I understand how you feel.”

Weed had different kind of dealings here in the past and didn't know who might recognize him; he covered his face and quietly headed to the denomination of Freya.

In front of the church, there was a line for offerings and to receive blessings.

“Do not cut in line!”

“Stand straight in the queue.”

Users flocked to the temple due to the great crowd. Weed quietly followed the line to get in. However, the two guards with spears that guarded the church approached him.

“Huh?”

“Has he fallen deeply into sin?”

This was an unusual case, the tolerable guards that would never budge. The guards approached Weed in a hurry and spoke.

“You came. Please step this way.”

Because he piled up a lot of contribution to the Denomination of Freya, his reputation rose and reached a point that even the guards recognized him. With the guards, Weed went to see the High Priest.

Chapter 6: Tallock's Armor

The paladins and senior priests gathered around the High Priest’s alter as Weed went down on one knee in front of them.

“I have come to report on the mission.”

“Is it possible that the precious duty we gave you about the Exiled people on the Plains of Despair, have you ended that thorn in our side?”

The High Priest asked him a few questions.

Weed gave them the story about the necromancers in the city of the Dark Elves.

“Oh! So that was what happened. The actions that you have taken are proper; I would have choosen the same.”

The High Priest though did not understand why Weed did nothing to Necromancers.

“You have taken our request and to such a distant place and suffered for our sake, I'm unable so express all the gratitude we owe you. May the grace of the Goddess Freya be bestowed upon you.”

The High Priest touched Weed lightly on the head.

You have completed:

The Exile living in the Plains of Despair.

The Necromancers did not discard their pride and self-esteem. More pressure is added to the power of darkness due to this loss, Bar Khan and the Liche Shire are no longer subject to his romantic admiration. He will fight with the Immortal Legion and do so with the courage to straighten up the wrongdoings, even the priests of the church are in wonder.

- Fame has been raised by 1,800.

- Friendship with the Church of Freya increased by 42.

- The public value of the Church of Freya has increased by 1900. You can see the public value of the church in the next window.

- The Church of Freya's public value: 7,202.

- The religious organization that eradicates the forces of evil, their public value has been raised from the fulfilment of the related quest.

- Faith has risen by 60.

- You have gained a level.

- You have gained a level.

- You have gained a level.

Three levels and a significant amount of public value!

Weed had nearly reached level 300, even when he obtained a considerable amount of experience, there is nothing like rising in level all at once.

Weed bowed his head deeply. Experience is one thing anyway, but of course, the most important thing was the items obtained. The High Priest then spoke.

“It is painful to say, but the wealth of our entire church is lacking, in truth, our coffers are empty.”

Truly he endured, he could barely draw a smile on his lips, but that was the most he could manage.

'Yet I immediately went out of my way just to get to the Plains of Despair for you!'

The High Priest had not yet finished speaking.

“It's just that our church is poor and does not have many treasures. Therefore, I express this so that you may not have to expect something extremely good.”

The wealth of the Church of Freya, this was beyond his imagination.

There are many extensions of the church all over the Versailles continent. Each temple also has spacious farmlands, mines and believers that donate money. They sell potions and receive a formidable amount of donations from their blessings. A certain amount of gold is acquired from Paladins and Priests each time they hunt.

For the Church of Freya to be sitting on top of so much money, yet not having any treasure, it just doesn't make any sense.

'There must be something I can have, even just one!'

Weed currently had moment of distress.

In order to hunt, the most important thing is a sword with exceptional damage. Rosenheim Kingdom gives out a lot of swords. In addition, the weaponry from the church usually has poor damage. The Sword of Agatha, that he previously received from the church, even had an ability to exert a special Divine ability, but the sword itself still had a weak attack.

'Also will need to pick body armor with a good defense.'

Armor of the Church.

Various kinds of sanctification have been imbued through magic into the armor; you can boast of it being exceptional. Weed raised his patience and endurance to a great degree by beating superior monsters, but for other people ignorant of this, it is not like that. They are unwilling to fight stronger monsters with high attack and increasingly searched to obtain good armor.

Swords and armor have always been higher priced items.

After Weed organized his thoughts, he spoke.

“To defend my body from enemies, I would like some armor.”

“In return, you will get what you wish.”

The High Priest instructed a paladin to bring Tallock's armor.

'Tallock's armor?'

Weed was hard at work racking his brain.

His head did indeed contain the information on numerous items. Almost all the various kinds of items worth money, he also memorized the names of items that were tolerably worth something.

Something like Tallock's armor was unfamiliar to Weed.

A moment later, the paladin returned carrying armor over a red cloth.

A white armor with a subtle radiance that made it like new. In addition, the red pattern that was needle stitched was indeed of Freya. At the moment Weed saw the armor, his eyes were sparkling! He was very intrigued.

'It looks expensive!'

He had not checked the information of the item yet; however, the glossy appearance is not ordinary. Wearing that around the plaza will certainly receive peoples' attention right away. Traditionally, the appearance and rarity of an item greatly affects the price. If a luxury goods market exists, such an item would fit in that class. So the value could be higher. One passing point was the perfect appearance in itself.

“Your contributions have been meaningful to us I pass on to you Tallock's armor. I hope that you will cherish this gift. “

“This is what I needed to fight monsters. This armor passed on to me from the Church of Freya, I will never forget this grace and will conserve it as I would my own body.”

Just to say there was need for suitable flattery, he was trembling!

Weed promptly took the armor into his own hands. He felt conscious of the heavy weight.

“Identify!”

The Armor of Tallock's faith

- Durability 150/150.

- Defense 85.

Armor made from the mithril of the Rahoman Mine. The dwarven blacksmith Tallock, who was renowned throughout the continent, made this armor to repay a favor to the church of Freya. It boasts amazing defensive capabilities and is light in weight. It gives the wearer a fighting spirit that will not waver and a noble tenacity.

The gift of the High Priest.

This is the only one of its kind.

Restrictions:

- Level 350.

- Strength 600.

Attributes:

- Faith +100.

- Fame +300.

- Strength +40.

- Agility +30.

- Charm +25.

- Fighting spirit +40.

- Maximum mana will be increased by 15%

- Magical damage reduced by 10%

- You are immune to confusion and fear magic.

- Acquired the Dwarves favor.

Due to the properties of the mithril that came from Rahoman Mine, it turns to a black sheen when underground.

Immediately, Weed's jaw dropped the moment he viewed the information of the item. For some time his mouth stayed in that state.

A unique class of item!

With a variety of attributes, the defense was almost of the highest class.

If using the blacksmith skill to polish armor, with a 20% additional effect to defense, it would be more than 100.

'Jackpot!'

The item was very good, except that his level was still too low to wear it. Weed rapidly packed away Tallock's armor and spoke. His business at the Church of Freya's altar was not complete.

“High Priest! The Liche Shire and his Immortal Legion, they are powerful and my force and Dark Elves are still lacking despite my efforts to strengthen them. So, for that reason I formally request that you send a contingent of the order's knights and priests.”

A request for reinforcements!

Even the Church of Freya would not have any expectations that those that were borrowed would necessarily return to Rosenheim Kingdom. Looking at the necromancer Shire's forces, it is indeed powerful. Even if weakened, Bar Khan can still draw the power of over 5000 Doom Knights over level 300. Doom Scouts, Doom Servants, Doom Wizards!

Archers of the living dead, ghouls, zombies, remnants, and all kinds of undead skeletons, grouped together and lead by various stronger monsters.

The priest spoke with a sad face.

“For something like that you will require a lot of strength. However, in our Church's order, we have no such force. We devoted all of our strength to the province of Mora in order to stabilize the region. No matter how critical it is to go against the Immortal Legion at this moment, we will not be able to discard the choice we already made.”

In this matter, the request of reinforcements he made has been refused. It was inevitable, paladins and priest would not have been enough. But the High Priest did not send Weed away just yet.

“At all costs, can you stop the Immortal Legions on the Plains of Despair?”

“I will do my best.”

“In order to help, the church will lend you our sacred item, Helaine's cup.”

The cup of Helaine.

The treasure that Weed gave at the beginning which created; this bond with the Church of Freya. When water is placed into the cup, the relic will change it into holy water.

“Originally, it is only reserved for the clergy as only they are able to handle Helaine's cup. By the grace of the Goddess Freya, our benefactor may make use of it. With this you should go on to do very great things. As you are currently busy with the mission, at any time you are finished, you know where you can find us.”

Weed accepted the cup of Helaine and headed to the teleportation gate into the Plains of Despair.

* * *

Someuren Liberty city, people were still lining up to receive the blessings of the Church of Freya.

“Just a little while back, just who was that person that the guards took with them?”

“For the lowly guards at the entrance to escort him, must be some kind of big figure with influence or made a great contribution.”

“Donate big bucks to the church and you might be one.”

“Ah, that can't be the case. When I looked, he was wearing some shabby clothes, close to a beggar.”

“Yeah.”

The bored people that were standing in the line stood and chatted. Suddenly the guards stepped up to them and the people were tense. It was very rare for the guards to come out like this, especially so frequently. Not just that, the guards also spoke to them.

- You people, do you know of the adventurer called Weed? Now, this is probably something you should know. This time he departed for the Nercomancers on Plains of Despair, with no guide to tell him the proper path.

- Passing through the greedy and dirty Orcs and the selfish Dark Elves, he met with the Necromancers.

- He did something that no one else would do, with his benevolent heart, he listened to the Necromancers and spared their lives, and thus he learned of a more important affair.

- Now, Weed is the great benefactor of our Church.

The people were surprised as they quietly listened to the dialogue of the guards. As they heard the guards speak, something emerged for them.

“The Hall of Fame. The quest seen in the Hall of Fame has just been reported of, right now!”

“It was a quest from the Church of Freya.”

“Then, that man who was just in front of us all, the one who went through.....”

“It was him, the man who progressed through the quest.”

“But his name was Weed.”

“No way, is it just a similar name?”

“Surely no. War with the Immortal Legion. Following the defeat of the True Blood Vampire clan, it must be a serial quest!”

“Weed! From The Continent of Magic, it is that Weed!”

The people started a fuss.

Others knew the name of Weed; even in this game he was legendary. People remembered the incident of Weed combating the True Blood Vampires for the Church of Freya.

“But did anyone memorize the face of that person?”

“I don't know.”

“Did no one see that guy's face?”

“He was gone so fast....”

“It was because his attire was so mediocre.”

“Wait. We will camp out here and wait until he comes out!”

In Someuren Liberty city, all the residents, the soldiers and the priests, the word went out of Weed's story. As the rumors spread, an immense crowd stood in the line in front of the Church of Freya.

However, Weed had already taken the teleportation gate and was away into the Plains of Despair.

* * *

Holy water seems to have a lethal effect to the undead.

Helaine's cup can produce an infinite amount of holy water; it had been lent to him, but he was unsure if this alone could stop the legions of undead.

“It can weaken the enemy, but this won’t win it for us.”

Weed concluded that in sober judgment.

The best class to kill an undead would be a Paladin. He was short on priests too, just barely having 100 of them. They lacked the mana to give blessings to all of the Orcs; it would be difficult to just walk to them.

When they get close, it will be almost impossible to defeat the undead without priests or paladins.

“I need weapons. The Orcs and Dark Elves will need to be armed with weapons.”

A quest of ‘A’ class difficulty would not be so easy.

Orcs holding their glaives, and Dark Elves and their arrows would not be very effective with the undead.

Nevertheless, what he could do is prohibited and is no different than a mistake. He knew that this job was too difficult to continue if he didn't use an absurd amount of money in answer.

“Silver! Nonetheless, we need weapons made of silver!”

Silver defeats evil!

If the Orcs and Dark Elves were armed with weapons made of silver, their allied power will practically increase more than two times. But if he bought the weapons and still fail the quest, Weed will end up broke.

“This is why I wanted to abandon the quest.....”

Weed decided with tears in his eyes.

“An investment. Must take a risk or I won’t obtain a greater return.”

Weed sent a whisper to Mapan.

- Mapan. Are you currently available?

A merchant has access at any time!

As soon as he sent a whisper to Mapan, an answer is returned.

- Yes. Choose! Choose! Buy goods cheaply. If you want affordable items, we can purchase on your behalf. We also buy japtem! Could you please leave your contact information? Thank you for visiting Mapan's firm. We will serve you kindly.

- …....

* * *

The tearfully ascetic road of a merchant!

He still purchased japtem, and Mapan was intent on selling goods. In fact, until a certain point when you reach the top of the scale you still crave for money. Most traders would fall off such a path. But Mapan was persistently dedicated to his merchant skills. He followed Weed and the Geomchis while using flattery as he walked the merchant's path.

'Even though my funds may leave me, my skills will never betray me!'

Mastering his skills, Mapan had the belief that the effort of improving the merchant skill will let him live a comfortable life. Yet in the meantime, it seemed that there was a lot Mapan had to develop. To the extent of his intonation while he speaks to, even his way of humming.

- Oh! Is that you Weed?

Mapan sent a whisper straight back.

The guy knew Weed was the sender but he was surprised as he belatedly spoke back.

- Yes. It's me, Weed.

- You're still alive. *sob*

- …...

Tears poured out from Mapan unexpectedly.

This time Weed's colleague assumed that he was dead.

So far no one had ever known of a person return from the Plains of Despair alive. In addition, the quest was of B-class difficulty and leaving for that alone should have left him to his death.

Mapan had bet 200 gold that Weed would die. Pale and his other companions had all bet money that he would survive. They had a solid belief that with Weed's vitality he would somehow live. Mapan thus lost money but he quickly smiled and whispered back.

- Anyways, I'm glad that you're alive. Pale was also very worried. Zephyr, Hwaryeong, Irene, Surka and Romune have all been talking about you, Weed.

- Where is everyone gathering at right now?

- Ah yeah. Besides myself, they are hunting at the Lake of Elementals which is conveniently lucrative and gives quite a bit of experience.

Weed's party was hunting without him.

- How are the Geomchis doing?

- Oh! Each of them left Rosenheim Kingdom talking about training as warriors. For the sake of becoming great adventurers in the end they were instructed to break up individually.

- Training as a warrior... that would be fun.

Traveling troublemakers!

The Geomchis traveling all over, you can't imagine what they will do, for Weed it was not difficult to make a guess.

Mapan could not help but laugh as he told him.

- You seem to be getting along well on the Plains of Despair, anyway I'm glad. The quest, are you still doing it, have you resolved it yet?

- As you can expect, I'm managing. By the way, I'd like to make a little purchase of weapons for the progression of the quest. Sterling silver, I will need a lot of it smelted.

- Oh, if I go to the blacksmith's shop, I should be able to buy silver and other materials. Silver by itself will not be that difficult.

A large kingdom being in the frontier, like Rosenheim, would normally stockpile weapons and materials.

- Then find and purchase some please.

- Sure. Although you need all that silver for those zombies, will you pay me through Pale-nim or directly, will it be during the shape of the battle with those undead monsters? How many would you like? Weed, as with the original preparations for a hunt, will you need 5,000 maybe even to the extent of 10,000?

It depended on the quality of materials, but that made little difference, one arrow would usually use 2 silver coins.

It was hard to imagine Weed needing a large amount, so the ignorant Mapan heavily assumed that it was for hunting. From his calculations he considered that the total would be a generous 200 gold. However, what Weed told him next was beyond anything he imagined.

- Two Million arrows. First purchase as much of the ingredients for smelting as cheap as you can. So that at least 50,000 weapons could be cast.

- ….....

For a moment, there was no answer from Mapan.

He was eagerly hard at work on the calculations.

Gather 100 silver for 1 gold. If it is 2 silver per arrow and he bought 2 Million, that's 40,000 gold!

No matter how cheap he bought the materials, to cast one weapon would cost at least 60 silver. First off, using the cheapest, even if only doing the lightest covering of silver on 50,000 weapons, it would be an unbelievable 30,000 gold.

- T, that's so much....

- Can you get it?

- 2,000,000 arrows. Enough sterling silver to cast 50,000 weapons. What the hell is happening over there... All right. I'll get started on this right now!

After entrusting Mapan to the purchasing of weapon materials on his behalf, Weed did not have to worry about a thing.

There is a limit to the amount of material that is sold from a shop, but up to this moment, Mapan had learned important lessons from advice given by Weed.

From the beginning, there is nothing that can't be done.

If there is no way, then make one.

Think on how to strive. Money never just comes to you.

Get up earlier than anyone else to earn a copper more.

In the future, earn more money than can be done now.

To fill the sheer amount, he would have to purchase from many blacksmith shops in the Kingdom of Rosenheim every morning and buy from users that obtained silver through hunting. Sterling silver as in silver arrows exert a lethal effect on undead; but for those who do not hunt or look for undead, they turn over such items that they do not need much of. There are not a lot of people in the Central continent, let alone the rare few in Rosenheim Kingdom that would bother to scour cemeteries. To purchase such extraordinary amounts that would be normal for an industrious reason is strange but not impossible.

'My entire fortune is gone, decreased by 75,000 gold.'

This money wasted, never to be seen again, Weed wanted to lament in his pain.

Ordering these weapon materials, he had to pay more than 70,000 gold at the very least.

Truly the saddest moment!

Weed had to quickly recover his motivation.

“Yes, money! When you start off, there is no money, but this is not how it has to end!”

He never spent money so casually and suffered so badly. Rather, this was too big a shock. Shedding tears profusely, he made an effort to try to forget about the money. At a time when a friend fell and broke his knee, he shed no tears. But when he bought land, his tears gushed out with such force.

“But even with this, it will not be enough!”

It was still lacking for Weed. His throat was dry.

In the Plains of Despair, there was still another force that can follow him. The Village of the Exiled. Scattered throughout the Plains of Despair, but the Dark Elves and Orcs alone are not sufficient. Humans, should they join, the battle ahead will be eased by quite a bit.

“I will obtain the silver weapons from Rosenheim Kingdom, but I have to go there and back.”

Weed pulled out Zahab's carving knife.

Soon after, Weed picked out a rock of good quality without any cracks and sat in front of it for a moment to think.

“Perhaps running, a Cheetah would be a great choice for that right?”

A sleek cheetah!

If disguised as a cheetah, he should be able to pass through the Plains of Despair by running. Also, he already had the map.

*Syasyasak!* (sound effect for carving)

With his skill, he very nimbly carved through the rock and carved a cheetah. He elongated the torso, and most importantly, lengthened the four legs like that of a horse.

“Should be able to run faster with longer legs.”

It should run well, just like the fact that a child will not run as well as a tall adult can!

T'tiring!

A fine piece! A reward for completing a quadruped animal!

Sculptor, you are approaching towards greatness! Your fame is enough to be widespread throughout the continent. It is not necessary for art to have a fixed form! This is certainly an age where you can experience any kind of art at any moment. However, in accordance to the development of art, various attempts were deployed. As this artwork is made with an abstract impression, to people with a good eye this may be seen as superior but not all will consider this as a work of art.

Artistic value: 3,100.

Special attributes:

- This beast is awarded 25% increase in health and mana regeneration during the day.

- Movement speed increased by 20%.

- Prior stats are raised by 10.

- You will see that 9 random attributes will be applied.

- Can activate Roar of the Beast.

- Overlap with other sculptures does not apply.

Until now, the number of completed fine pieces: 4 (could also be classic)

- Your proficiency in the sculpting skill has improved.

- Fame has increased by 320.

- All stats have risen by 6.

- Patience has risen by 3.

- Endurance increased by 2.

- In response, Weed will have ownership of this beast. If you give life to this beast in the future, it will be loyal to Weed.

- In consideration of making a masterpiece sculpture, all stats will have and additional rise of 1.

An abstract!

In accordance to the development of the arts!

A created work that really meant that Weed's beast statue was tacky. In fact, it actually had the long legs of a horse and a long torso, but he was trying to create a cheetah. The reward was for an unknown beast. The cheetah's body hair was closer to that of a camel. It had the posture of a cow stepping backward and crushing a frog.

It was rough, but intentionally trying to create a masterpiece does not come so easily. Because of this, his sculpting skill rose by 12% and he reached level 9 and was at 43%.

“Anyways, it's a masterpiece so that's alright.”

Weed was greatly satisfied.

An outstanding sculptor would be confident of himselfand might obsess over his work. However, Weed was more interested in what the work lead up to.

Traditional art will be like this. You wouldn't know what the history was like if you didn't live in that time. As with the abstract art of Picasso, how would you know what he wanted from his paintings?

A great musician might make a mistake and that music may become the masterpiece of the century. Depending on your own point of view, the interpretation of art is different.

“Although it may be like this now, how it may be considered 100 years from now, it is possible that the work of a beggar can become recognized as superior art. If not in 100 years, maybe 300, no perhaps about 10,000 from now.”

Roughly Weed ended his self-justification of the skill he used when he looked at the beast.

“Sculpture shapeshift!”

You have used Sculpture Shapeshifting.

The boundless affection for the sculptor and his engraving, the sculpture and him are changed to resemble one another! Weed's body became covered with hair and his arms and legs became thin and long. A human with two arms and legs soon finished transforming into an animal similar to a camel running on all fours.

- Many of the changes in the body shape have caused the worn equipment to become unusable. Leather clothes can be especially made to be worn. Depending on the species or form, obtaining new equipment may be required.

- The impact of Sculpture Shapeshifting has increased your agility and endurance. Charisma and Leadership has fallen to the lowest level. The Art stat is reduced by half. Endurance will rise dramatically. This will remain valid until Sculpture Shapeshift skill is released.

The endurance of a quadruped is also greatly increased.

“Okay, I'll run to the Village of the Exiled”

Weed dropped to the ground and started going at a sprint

“Quadrupedal run!”

Quadrupedal run: a moving skill.

Using stamina and mana, you can run at a speed nearly 60% more than that of being on two legs.

In addition, when running against the wind, stamina consumption is increased by 30%. When running downwind, speed is increased by a rate of 20%. Skill cannot be used in hilly and mountainous terrains, plus when in grassland or plains, you gain an additional movement speed of 80%.

In the past he had to act for another sculpting skill, where he had to understand what he sculpted. At first the skill seemed useless.

Weed's paw moved forward. Then the hind foot soon came up.

Tatatatak!

Weed's running speed utilized the Quadrupedal run!

Each step went by quickly as he stepped forward on the plains landscape. This type of running was not at all familiar to an ordinary human. The paw and hind legs move forward and back simultaneously to the point that you forget the fact that you moved the paw itself.

Left front paw, right hind foot, paws and hind legs. Furthermore, his forelimbs and hind limbs made ridiculous wobbly clicks. Walking as a four-legged beast is surprisingly complicated. First stride, the left paw and right hind foot went, and then right front paw and left hind foot moved. Unless with the appropriate intervals, balance and strength otherwise the action will not be sleek and break apart.

It was hard but weed followed these actions from deers and horses with his own body and acquired the Quadrupedal running skill.

Tatatak.

Weed processed his speed into a gallop. At first everything seemed to be going well; but soon a big problem came up.

“Unbelievable....”

He did not take into account that this was trial and error. Weed was a big human. To learn how to run as a quadruped, he was like a toddler! To run at a fast pace, but when you think of running for several days when in an infant stage, it can't be done.

“It can't be; this is such hard work!”

At first, he thought he could do what he saw. It was vicious, he could not run!

His throat was aching. The scenery was going too fast for him to see in front of him as well as what he was running over. Running for a long time, his soles were hurting.

- You have hit a sharp boulder health decreased by 3.

- You have stepped on a piece of metal health decreased by 10.

He had managed to tolerate the side effects thus far. With blacksmith skills, a little bit of the shock can be reduced because of horseshoes. The problem was stamina.

For animals like a cheetah or a horse, the endurance was not so outstanding. The top speed may be very fast but the time maintaining that speed was very short. The remainder of the time was being idle and drinking water or standing about.

- Your stamina has fallen, you can run no further.

It had only been 10 minutes!

The time taken to go at full speed. He had to move slowly on all fours while wandering to rest. Every time he walked, his hips swayed and he had shortness in breath. Hardly nothing else to do, Weed finally stopped in place.

“HufHuf! This is not what I expected.”

Running across the Plains of Despair was tricky and frustrating. Although you can be quick at times, when your stamina drops, this is the answer.

“Sculpture shapeshifting off!”

Weed made another sculpture he can Sculpture shapeshift into again.

An animal that runs on two legs, like the ostrich!

He did not even attempt such a thing. This was the time to create a modest choice, like the form of an Orc.

Karrchwi's body consists of a plain Orc with enlarged musculature, and using the same existing form, he made a leaner version of an Orc into a sculpture. He did not bother spoiling it with looks and focused on keeping it skinny to keep only the necessary muscles. It was reasonable to reduce the weight as much as possible.

The end piece looked like a little red pepper. Undoubtedly it was only the impression of Orc Karichwi. Just from looking at his face you could see that it is upset every time of the day, and when its eyes encounter something in the world it had the look that it wanted to break it.

Weed had the talent to make the ugliest Orcs around.

T'tiring!

A masterpiece! You have been rewarded for completing a little Orc monster.

A work from a young great sculptor in anguish! A masterpiece of the century, made from tons of frustration and agony! This object could not be any more uglier, but somewhere in the gloomy atmosphere you can feel that there are hidden secrets.

Artistic value: 1

Special attributes:

- From gazing at the statue, Orc health and mana regeneration is increased by 5% during the day.

- Movement speed increased by 18%

- Intellect decreased by 20. Attractiveness decreased by 100.

- Strength increased by 10. Agility increased by 5.

- Can stop the cries of a crying child.

- Those with a low nerve that view the sculpture will become severely weakened.

- Overlap with other sculptures does not apply.

Special attributes:

- From gazing at the statue, Orc health and mana regeneration is increased by 5% during the day.

- Movement speed increased by 18%

- Intellect decreased by 20. Attractiveness decreased by 100.

- Strength increased by 10. Agility increased by 5.

- Can stop the cries of a crying child.

- Those with a low nerve that view the sculpture will become severely weakened.

- Overlap with other sculptures does not apply.

Until now, the number of completed masterpieces: 9

- Fame increased by 80.

- Endurance has increased by 2.

- Intellect has increased by 1.

- Fighting spirit has increased by 1.

Weed immediately cast the skill once the sculpture was completed.

“Sculpture Shapeshift!”

His height and face shrunk as changed to a small Orc Karichwi. His hair grew longer and his body became scrawnier and drier than before.

- Many of the changes in the body shape have caused the worn equipment to become unusable. You can wear plate armor. Depending on the species or form, obtaining new equipment may be required.

- The impact of the Sculpture Shapeshift has increased your Agility and Endurance. Intellect and Wisdom will fall to the lowest level. The Art stat will be reduced by half. Endurance will rise dramatically. This will remain valid until the Sculpture Shapeshift is released.

“Chwiik!”

Small Orc Karichi.

As expected, simple is best.

Not requiring art or any other values, ignorant is convenient.

As he staggered, Weed diligently began to run across the Plains of Despair.

Chapter 7: Past Ties

King Zet, the third king in Belsos La Deus dynasty, has disappeared from all books of Bersa continent.

But then, by a stroke of luck, members of Crimson Wings found a short reference to him in one of the private libraries.

“Looks like there might be some secret associated with him.”

“Maybe. Let’s find out more.”

And since then the guild members started to investigate it. They were asking aware of history NPCs and looking for any mentions of that king or the times he lived in.

Though they didn’t have high expectations, everything was pointing at some high-level quest.

During his searches, one of the guild members reached the distant Mersel kingdom, where he got an audience with Count Kresse, a stingy and very intelligent scheemer, which entrusted his guest with a mission:

“King Belsos had many treasures. And the most valuable among them was Black Flute, created from a horn. If you find it and bring it to me, I’ll reward you handsomely. But make sure, that only trustworthy people know about this deal.”

Ding!

New quest : Shadow of the returned King.

The great king, whose rule once spanned over many lands, is now sleeping in the dark below. There was time, when his power was absolute and now his tomb is filled with gold, silver and rare magical items. But even then, there wasn’t anyone brave enough, who would dare to approach it.

If you find the horn flute in his tomb and bring it to Count Kress, you will get a generous reward.

Difficulty: A.

Reward: Treasures from the King’s tomb.

Restrictions: No magic may be used inside the ruins.

Usually players were acquiring quests by finding something unusual during hunt or by talking to certain NPC. Most of them were requests to find some ingridients, protect something or clear a monster-infested area.

However, thanks to luck and long investigation, Crimson Wings guild managed to find a hidden ‘A’ rank difficulty quest.

“Yes! This is the Royal Tomb ruins!”

They found the location of the ruins and even the map of its interior. The guild was celebrating their triumph, not forgetting to carefully guard their secret.

“So what if Hermes guild has BadRay? If we complete this quest we will be able to change everything!”

Teros, leader of the Crimson Wing guild, was making a speech for his guildmates.

At the start of the game guilds were appearing everywhere like mushrooms after a rain. But by now the situation has stabilized and the main competition was going on among the few dozen biggest and strongest guilds.

But soon all this was going to change. Guilds became big enough to claim control over entire kingdoms, which meant that times of quiet rivalry were coming to an end.

That was why it was important to gain as much power as possible before the new confrontation begins. The power was based on rare items, high levels and influential allies, and all of this was provided by difficult quests.

The Crimson Wings guild gathered all of their high-level players, 200 players of levels over 330, and hired 50 players of levels over 350 from the Dark Gamers Union.

The result was an extremely powerful squad of 250 people. And if they were to fail, Crimson Wings will lose 60% of its strength for full 4 days of Royal Road time. In this case other guilds might use their weakness to try to capture their castles.

That was why members of Crimson Wings were taking all possible measures to prevent any information from leaking. They did hire players from outside the guild, but none of them knew where and, more importantly, when they were going.

At the appointed day they gathered at the abandoned ruins, hidden in the center of bersa Continent.

“We’ll dig up the entrance to the ruins. As you all know, this quest is ‘A’ rank difficulty. Be careful not to die, every death will be a huge loss for our guild. Gale.”

“Yes, guildmaster.”

“You will lead the search party.”

“Yes! Leave it to me.”

Gale was very proud to be assigned to such an important task as scouting.

The search party consisted of a few dozens thieves, whose task was to detect traps and monsters along the path of the main forces, led by the guild master himself.

They started to slowly explore the area. Step by step, players were combing one part of the ruins after another. Thieves were going in front, followed by warriors, with priests in the back row.

Even though the latter couldn’t use healing spells because of the quest’s restrictions, they could still provide a helping hand in critical situation or drag the wounded soldiers out of danger.

“Be careful!”

“Don’t miss anything!”

The ruins were inhabited by dangerous monsters with sharp claws and filled with numerous cleverly hidden traps. Those traps were placed just a few meters from each other and were connected in such a way, that even player of level 300, who accidentally activated one of them would be lying dead a few moments later.

If such traps were installed in ordinary dungeons there would be very few players, willing to go into them. Besides, monsters in the ruins had a pretty high level and weren’t easy to deal with.

A great part of hired Dark Gamers, who had to go in the front line and scout the way, died on traps. By now the guild had only lost 30 people.

“We can’t give up! Our losses are indeed great, but if we retreat now, everything we did today will be lost and our companions’ deaths will be in vain.”

Teros was encouraging the remaining players and they were continuing to steadily advance into the ruins despite the losses. Some of the Dark gamers would prefer to leave this place, but they were bound by contract. Besides they were promised increased payment in case of death.

When the players reached the internal part of the ruins, they couldn’t hold their surprise. The entrance to the Royal Ruins was blocked by seemingly new, and therefore obviously enchanted doors with an image of red scorpion and some inscriptions in an unknown language on them.

In front of the doors was a small stone altar.

“Can anyone read the inscription on the doors?”

To answer the Teros’s question mages and priests approached the doors. Former knew various ancient languages, latter - holy symbols. But the symbols on the door didn’t seem to belong to any of those.

Fortunately, one of the best mages of Crimson Wings, Shavron recognized them.

“Those are letters of Varon.”

“And how are they different from the mages’ languages?”

“They come from the runic alphabet. But they were used by shamans rather than mages.”

“That’s right. So to provide some encryption some characters were a bit deformed. I learned it just in case and didn’t think it’ll ever be useful.”

“Come on, read them.”

Shavron started carefully interpreting the symbols on the doors.

“The entrance to the Royal Tomb will open for the one who will show true respect. His entire life King loved and revered scorpions, and only the one who will bring 7 scorpion figurines will be able to open the doors and enter the tomb.”

That must be why altar in front of the tomb had 7 small pedestals with 7 red gems.

“Figurines?”

All the members of the squad were confused.

Like everyone else, Teros got stunned for a while, but he quickly recovered and sent a guild-wide message, meant not only for those participating in the mission, but for the rest of the guild members, spread across the continent and kingdoms, too.

“Sculptor. Find a sculptor, who can create scorpion figurines!”

* * *

On a warm and sunny morning a group of players left Seraburg through eastern gates.

“Wow! Cool!”

“Look, they have Pluto and even Haisyns...”

“And their leader is Oberon!”

“Great! They must be going to the Plains of Despair again.”

Players, hunting around Seraburg couldn’t hold their admiration. Participating in such a dangerous adventure was the limit of their dreams at the moment.

“I’m jealous! When will we be able to go on a journey like that?”

“Not anytime soon. Let’s go, we have a lot of hunting to do if we want to raise our levels and be able to join them. They only accept players from level 250.”

“Eh, really?! Maybe there’re a lot of people like that in central kingdoms, but in our they’re less than one in a hundred.”

“That’s why they’re elite.”

The party, that caused such an excitement, headed along the road. They marched in unison, nodding proudly to encountered players, who were looking at them with admiration and reverence.

Soon the party reached the eastern border of the kingdom and their leader gave an order to stop.

“You already did so in the city, but I’ll ask you again to check your weapons and equipment.”

Following his own order, Oberon sat on the ground and started to check his equipment.

Usually the party leader position was occupied by a warrior with high leadership attribute. Fighting under the command of such a player, everyone was receiving a bit more experience and a slight stat increase.

As the hunt in Plains of Despair was very difficult, the most experienced and renowned warrior was selected to lead it, Oberon.

“All good.”

“I finished preparations.”

After waiting for every member of the party to report, Oberon nodded approvingly and commanded to move out.

On the eastern border of Rosenheim Kingdom a high wall was built, that was blocking the way of monsters, living on the other side. And to pass into Plains of Despair one had to climb up the stairs to the top of the wall and carefully descend the small hidden ladder on the other side.

“Wow! There’s a place like this...”

“Yeah, spectacular view.”

The players, who joined this hunting party for the first time, glowed with delight.

However Oberon, Pluto and Haisyns only smiled slightly.

“Let’s go. Wait a bit and you’ll see something even more breathtaking...”

These three were the most experienced in the party, they has left the Kingdom before for over five times and already knew what was waiting ahead.

The party just descended and moved a bit away from the wall, when they were attacked by a pack of wolves. Soulless Wolves with levels just below 200, and number just over a hundred were quickly approaching the players.

Calmly looking at the wolves, Oberon was giving orders.

“What’re you standing for?! This is just the beginning! Mages, attack!”

“Fireball!”

“Wind blades!”

“Blessing!”

Some of the 30 members of the party immediately started to cast one spell after another. Multiple elemental spells were directed at the wolves, burning, cutting and exploding many monsters at a time.

“Guaaaaaaah!”

The commander yelled at the top of his lungs. This shout was similar to Lion’s Roar, but instead of Fighting Spirit it was raising Vitality and Stamina of nearby players.

“Mages, aim at the ones on the sides and in the distance!, Warriors, attack!”

All the warriors and paladins gripped their swords and maces and rushed into fight, with Oberon in the lead.

“They’re poisonous. Be careful, don’t let them bite you! Each of you should watch your Health and Mana and retreat to mages and priests when needed. If you die, that’ll be your own fault.”

Oberon continued giving orders.

The dangerous fight has started. Monsters were coming from all sides. Warriors were trying to not let any of them near mages and not die from their sudden attacks at the same time. Maces and swords were striking wolves’ bodies with deadly force, priests were shouting healing prayers, mages were casting spells repeatedly. For the next several minutes the party was repelling one attack after another.

Finally, when the number of wolves dropped by more than a half, monsters, as if following some order, rushed back and disappeared as suddenly as they appeared before.

“Hurray! Victory!” - were cheering some of the newcomers.

“What will come next if we just entered the Plains of Despair and already encountered such monsters?” - were asking others.

However there was no answer. Oberon just calmly looked at them and said:

“Thanks for the good work. We’ll take a short break for mages to restore their Mana.”

After a fervent battle, the party settled to rest near the recent battlefield. Some players went to gather the loot, left after the wolves’ death.

“What do we do with hides?”

“yeah, and meat and teeth?”

The players, who came here for the first time were looking at their more experienced companions, who were sitting on the ground, talking leisurely.

“If you take them, they might become a burden later.” - said Pluto.

“True. hides, teeth and the rest aren’t worth much. take it all if you want.” - confirmed Oberon.

However there weren’t any players willing to collect the loot after his words, and the ones who already gathered some, threw it out under approving gazes of more experienced players.

“There must be something valuable waiting ahead of us and this junk will only take up place.”

After a short break the party packed up and headed further into Plains of Despair.

“Be alert, you might already understand what’s waiting us ahead. Cover each other and then no one will die.”

The party only moed some 100 meters away from their resting place, when a black dot appeared in the distance. It was gradually growing and approaching the party with great speed!

First it was discovered by archers, who had the sharpest eyesight.

“Monsters!”

“Take positions. Monsters approaching!”

Like the last time, players quickly formed a battle formation, hiding mages and priests behind warriors’ backs. Mages prepared their spells, priests renewed blessings, thieves unsheathed their daggers and hid on the sides of the party. Everyone was ready for an ambush.

Finally the growing dot approached close enough to identify it.

“What?.. That’s an Orc!”

“A very thin Orc...”

A small, all skin and bone Orc, dressed in some torn and dusty rags was quickly approaching the party.

“Chwiik!”

Tap-tap-tap...

“Chwiik!”

Every three steps he was making loud abrupt noises, covering the constant clanging of tree huge backpacks on his back.

“There weren’t any Orcs in this area before...”

“But where did this one come from then?”

“And what’s he carrying?”

It looked like this tiny Orc suddenly decided to go on a journey or move to a new place with all his belongings.

No one in the party has ever heard about anything like this. While they were standing there in confusion, guessing what was going on, Orc came close enough to see his face.

He looked very tired, but at the same time he had extreme determination in his eyes.

“Chwiiik!”

He shouted twice as loud as before and then passed the party in a wide arc, not slowing down for a second. And though no one knew why he was doing it, all of them sympathized with him, seeing how hard it is to make every step for him, like there was a mountain on his shoulders.

And then Orc’s eye suddenly brightened up and he rushed to the place where the party left their loot a while ago! He ran to that place and started to scurry all around it.

“What’s he doing?”

“Beats me. He’s weird.”

“Looks like he’s gone crazy.”

The party members were still standing and staring at the strange Orc. And he was still rummaging through the former battlefield, and wherever he was passing, all items were disappearing. With his right hand he was grabbing teeth and hideas, with left - wolves’ meat.

Suddenly his eyes sparkled even brighter, like those of a jackal who found food for the first time in 10 days. He found 3 silver coins!

“Chwi-i-ik!”

After grabbing the unexpected money, Orc continued to run towards Rosenheim kingdom, laughing with satisfaction.

* * *

“Almost there.” - quietly muttered Weed.

Of course that Orc was him.

After turning into small Karichwi he ran across Plains of Despair. But first he visited the closest to the mountains villages of exiles.

After a little persuasion, absolutely all of them agreed to take part in the battle against the army of undead.

“We don’t like Orcs, but if undead win, no one will survive. We will join the battle to defend our new homeland.” - said the blacksmith in the first village before gathering as much warriors as possible and departing to the Yuroki Mountains.

It then repeated in other villages in a similar manner.

Generally it wasn’t hard to persuade them to fight against the undead, the main problem was traveling. Villages were scattered all over Plains of Despair and he had to visit each of them.

‘Tired like a dog...’

Weed, who was running at the top of his speed all this time, was under a heavy stress. Even for a trained by heavy manual labour human, this would be a hard challenge, and Weed has turned into a small Orc. Besides he had a huge weight on his back, consisting of backpacks with his items and a small, but heavy Orc statue. Because of all that, he couldn’t feel his legs any more.

Though the first few days went relatively good. He was still at full strength and running was actually pretty entertaining. He had to avoid the dangerous monsters at all costs! Such a race with death was very exciting for Weed.

The Plains of Despair were among the top 10 most dangerous regions of the game, that had barely any information about them. No one knew what monsters inhabit them, how many or where their lairs are.

But Weed had a map of this land.

The map had precisely marked villages and dangerous areas, that must be avoided. And moreover - information about each of them!

Weed was just passing the dangerous areas along the edge and continuing to run along his way. Therefore, though his journey took a long time, it was absolutely safe.

On the other hand, those who didn’t have such knowledge, were sooner or later walking into a wrong place and dying in battle. And that was why these lands were rumored to be very dangerous.

But even though he knew the way, he had limited time. The battle against undead was going to start in 20 days, and during that time he had to complete all preparations and return.

When he was still at full strength he was running on all fours. The skinny orc Karichwi, running like the wind through the dangerous Plains of Despair.

Full 24 hours a day Weed was under a constant tension, as he had to watch for occasional wandering monsters. He was even eating on the run. As a result he ran out of stamina and got sick.

You are exhausted.

Strength left you because you haven’t rested for a long time.

Your Stamina, Strength and Agility attributes are reduced.

You are suggested to rest. If you don’t do it, you may lose consciousness because of exhaustion.

To collapse from exhaustion and wait for death by some monster’s claws. What could be more ridiculous? He would probably be the first player in Royal Road to die because of exhaustion.

After reading this message Weed was furious.

“So I wasn’t working hard enough until now?!”

All this time he thought that he was working at the limit of his ability. And now he got such a message! At this moment he remembered his entire time in Royal Road and regret over all the possibilities he missed filled him and he screamed.

“A-a-a-a-a-ah!”

And then the rain came pouring down.

It was so strong, as if some god made a hole in the sky and all the water in the world was flowing through it now. It was raining heavily all across Plains of Despair. Dry soil was greedily absorbing the water. Withered grass started to fill with life.

And Weed kept running.

At first it wasn’t troubling him at all, on the contrary, cold water was only cooling down his overheating body!

But however long he was running, the rain didn’t stop.

And that’s when he had a second nervous breakdown.

“A-a-ah! A-a-a-ah! A-a-a-a-argh!”

The rain went on for 3 days and 3 nights. The ground was covered with mud puddles and water streams, that obstructed the path like small rivers.

Weed had to make great efforts to avoid them. Unfortunately, he was alone on this journey and there would be noone to help him, were he to make any critical mistake.

The Plains turned to one big muddy swamp, which made it very hard to travel through for a short-legged Orc. And the most unpleasant part was that he couldn’t stop to rest because of constant heavy rain.

The weather in Royal Road was known to have very quick and drastic changes. many Royal Road websites even had discussion groups, that were trying to figure out weather patterns and make a forecast.

But Weed was passing through a barely explored region. And of course the map was of no help here.

“Winter... I hate winter! Chwiik! Summer too...Hate summer. Spring and autumn - those are the best.” - was muttering he on the go.

Weed had already fallen down many times, but every time he was getting back on his feet and continue walking.

The rain was going on and on, and he was gradually losing his strength. He got a fever too.

“Just exhaustion. Nothing wrong with that.” - he was trying to convince himself.

The time was running out and he had to hurry. But such disregard of his body didn’t pass without consequences. His speed dropped even more, backpacks’ weight seemed to increase even more. He got dark circles under his eyes and his face turned a pale shade of blue instead of green.

You are severely exhausted.

The Stamina recovery has stopped.

Health is gradually reducing.

To prevent collapsing from exhaustion you are strongly advised to rest.

Weed couldn’t allow himself to collapse in the middle of flooded plains. He searched his bags a little and started to chew one healing herb after another. He was doing everything he could to sustain his tired body in a working condition.

In such manner, constantly urging himself, he reached the Rosenheim Kingdom in 6 days. Or, more precisely, on 7th day he saw the walls of Seraburg.

“Cancel Sculpture Transformation!”

After shouting that he fell to his knees, but already in his human body.

It was a miracle, that he managed to reach Seraburg without dying. Crossing the plains of Despair was the most dangerous thing he did since he started to play Royal Road. Not because they were filled with dangerous monsters, but because he nearly died from exhaustion.

After transforming back into human, Weed sat on the ground for a while staring into the void. His body finally got to relax and he wasn’t able to make himself move again.

Meanwhile players were passing by him on their way to and from the city. And most of them, especially girls, couldn’t just ignore him!

“Cheer up...”

“Live, uncle. Do not give up hope!”

“...”

One small coin after another were falling to the ground in front of Weed. And hearing such a sweet tingling of money, he would never admit that he’s not a beggar. So he was quietly scooping them into a small pile.

‘3 silver and 14 coppers.’

There were times, back when he was in school, when he didn’t have anything to eat. Almost all of the small monthly allowance, paid by the government, he was spending on his little sister. So he often had to eat expired food. For someone who experience such things, every coin was a fortune.

“Uh-oh...”

Weed finally forced himself to get up. His body was still fatigued and legs trembling.

That was one of those moments when he felt that Royal Road is made just too well. He was tired not only physically, but mentally as well. Running for seven days straight wasn’t something just anyone could do.

And if he wasn’t using the four-legged running, it would take even more time.

Weed shook his head and slowly headed towards the city walls. He agreed to meet with Mapan at the fountain on central square.

Lately Rosenheim Kingdom had a lot more players, than before. Now its population wasn't much lower than that of central kingdoms.

Other frontier kingdoms as well noticed that population of Rosenheim was growing. And of course the cause was the giant statue of a Sphynx. It not only had restorative effects, it was raising various attributes too. Besides the nearby monsters became a lot easier to hunt.

Of course, this situation wasn’t going to hold for long.

‘When other kingdoms get their own sculptors, painters and other artists, players will disperse once again.’

Because of the Sphynx sculpture many players were choosing a profession of a sculptor. And with time more and more Fine pieces and Masterpieces will be appearing in other kingdoms, and then Rosenheim will lose its advantage.

“Weed! I’m here.”

Deep in thoughts, Weed didn’t notice that he got to the central square, where he was met by Mapan. He was waving his hand, trying to get his friend’s attention.

“Wow! It’s been a long time. Here, I got what you asked for.”

Like a true merchant, Mapan has already prepared everything.

“Two million silver arrows, some weapons and enough silver to smelt into the rest of required 60 000 weapons.”

That was 10 wagons worth of goods.

“I tried to get it as cheap as possible. In the end I got everything for 65 000 gold. I know we agreed on 70 000, but you can pay the actual price. Want me to put it on your tab?” - carefully finished Mapan.

To be honest, he was grateful to Weed, because he introduced him to Pale’s party and Geomchis, which really helped him to earn some extra money. Besides this deal helped him to raise his trading skills quite a bit.

So he was expecting that he’ll have to make a discount for such a big deal, or at least postpone the payment.

However Weed shook his head.

“70 thousand. I’ll pay in cash.”

“Woah! Really?”

Mapan knew, that Weed is secretly a money bag, but didn’t expect him to be THAT rich! But then it hit him and he started to worry. This was his old friend Weed, that wouldn’t move a finger without a good reason.

And like he expected, Weed continued:

“But only after you deliver it to the place. At your destination I’ll pay you the full ammount.”

“...”

Mapan sighed with relief.

He still considered himself lucky. He would still be the one, responsible for delivery, as there would be no way Weed would be able to move the goods, occupying 10 carts.

“So where should i deliver it?”

“To the Plains of Despair.”

“...”

“Yurokin Mountains to be precise.”

“...”

“And it should be done in 10 days.”

“Damn!”

Saying that Mapan was angry would be an understatement! He was about to blow up in Weed’s face, when he passed Mapan his trump card. The map of Plains of Despair! With it anyone will be able to avoid the dangerous areas and reach the destination by following a safe route.

And Mapan didn’t have a choice but to agree. Besides...

‘Villages of exiles... This is my chanc e to boost my trading skills!’

By making good deals in settlements, which haven’t been visited yet by other merchants, Mapan will be able to receive a lot of experience and make a lot of money.

Fame and wealth captured his imagination.

“Excuse me. Then i need to hurry.”

After bidding his farewell to Weed Mapan hurriedly checked the carts and immediately left towards Plains of Despair.

Weed decided to take another route. Traveling through portal had certain restrictions concerning the maximum load that could be carried through, so it didn’t fit his needs. Besides, he still had to visit remaining villages of exiles. Therefore, after quickly visiting some stores and completing his preparations he went to the stables, where he bought a horse, on which he headed to the city gates.

* * *

The main square of Seraburg suddenly lighted up by a bright flash of a portal, through which two players stepped into the Seraburg.

A beauty, dressed in red, and a bald monk.

“So you say there’s a sculptor here?” - asked monk his companion in a calm voice.

“Yes. Don’t you read any forums? There was a huge uproar about the construction of that sculpture...”

“Hmpf! Like I don’t have anything better to do. The fact that we had to come to this hole of a kingdom is enough! If it wasn’t for this damn quest...”

“Ha-ha. Calm down. Soon we’ll finish it, get inside, and you’ll get what you want.”

Psyche and Mako were walking around the city, talking to each other. Psyche was a girl in a gorgeous red velvet robe, and Mako was a monk, wrapped in bright yellow ceremonial clothes.

“Hmmm... Those people...”

“A witch and a saint.”

“What are they doing in Rosenheim?”

Here and there people started to loudly discuss them. These two players from the Hall of Fame of Royal Road were widely known in the game.

Psyche and Mako, who were used to such reaction weren’t paying any attention. And though they weren’t showing their power, every player who was looking at them got an impression that there’s nothing they cannot do.

“Psyche, you remember that game we used to play?”

“Huh?”

“I wonder what that guy is doing now.”

“Mako, you’re talking about that guy, Weed, again?”

“Yeah. About that bastard. He was the only one to get ahead of me and humiliate me.”

A lot of best players of Continent of Magic were playing royal Road now. And most of them were looking for Weed.

Not so long ago, the old and dusty secrets of Continent of Magic were being discovered because of Weed. He was always hunting alone in the most dangerous locations of the game, and his fame was absolute.

Mako and Psyche, like many others, were zealously following his footsteps. Many times they watched from his hunt from a distance, and they saw, that however ridiculous that seemed, he was fighting, like his life was at stake.

When he was entering dungeons, he was slaying every monster inside. He was extremely violent and efficient when he was fighting the most dangerous monsters in the game. Players, that were following him were trembling in excitement, seeing how every strike takes one life.

Back then Weed was considered the most dangerous and most successful player, that never gives up, but always keeps going ahead, fighting and winning. That’s why everyone called him the Dark Knight.

Psyche and Mako reached the east gates.

“According to our information, the sculptor was last seen around here.”

“That’s him!”

Psyche pointed at Weed, who was riding a horse.

After going through so much trouble in the past 7 days, Weed decided that the way back he’ll spend with comfort.

Plains of Despair had small herds of wild horses, but only players of certain professions, like Knights or Mercenaries, were able to tame them. They could even make horses run faster.

But Sculptors didn’t have any abilities related to horses. Though even druids could use ‘Wolf Spirit’ and bards - their singing. But sculptors...

‘Profession, that thrives only through hard work.’

Only after crossing Plains of Despair, Weed seemed to truly understand the Sculptor profession.

‘Hya! Let’s see how fast you can run!’

He was a bout to send his horse into a gallop, when two players blocked his road. A woman in red robe and a bald monk. Not giving him any time to express his anger, woman asked:

“Are you the sculptor?”

“Yeah... That’s my profession, and what is it you want from me?” - warily asked Weed.

He didn’t like unnecessary complications and he didn’t have time for them.

Psyche smiled slightly and continued.

“That means I was right. It was you, who built the pyramid. Could you by any chance make us scorpion figurines, uncle?”

“I’m afraid not. It seems you purchased some figurines from me before, but unfortunately I don’t make any more souveneers.”

Weed didn’t have enough time to spend it for a couple silver coins, so he decided to lie. Some extra profit was always welcome, but right now he had an important quest waiting for him, with hopefully great reward.

“But we have an emergency. We need those figurines right now. Could you please help us?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s impossible. Ask another sculptor.”

Weed refused abruptly, showing that he’s not going to continue this conversation.

But Psyche, seeing that the situation is developing in a wrong direction, handed him a small gem.

“We already talked to other sculptors. They say, that we need a Sculptor with an intermediate skill level. Only such a sculptor will be able to carve us the necessary figurines.”

Unfortunately for Weed, the situation was getting more and more complicated, it was obvious that they’re not going to let him go easily.

“My skill level isn’t that great, besides I’m in a hurry.”

“We know, that it’s a difficult request. So if you agree to help us, you’ll get this gem as a reward.”

Shiny red ruby got Weed’s complete attention. He already had experience of working with gems and he easily estimated its value.

‘I could sell it for 400 gold. Or even 500 if i put enough effort.’

The regret over spending 70 000 gold was only strengthening his usual greed.

Weed quickly got off the horse, smiled brightly and said:

“If you give me a little time, I’ll make them right now. You can count on me!”

Psyche and Mako were looking at each other in confusion.

The moment they mentioned a gem, the sculptor’s attitude completely changed! He was even looking younger! They never before seen such behaviour in the game.

“We need seven figurines. Can you start right now?”

“Hmm... seven?”

“Is that too many?”

Psyche looked at him, a bit worried. Weed answered her with a sad look.

“As you know, I’m an artist. I admire art, that’s why I became a sculptor. Even when working on similar figurines, I have to make a lot of effort to maintain their originality, I have to use special techniques.”

Weed was saying that with crystal clear eyes of the most honest man in the world. From the side he looked like a most moral player, who devoted his life to art. Weed, who had a lot of experience in such matters, became an incredible actor.

“Oh! I haven’t thought about it. In this case, if you make us the figurines, we’ll add another gem to your reward. Can you make them from this material?”

Psyche took out seven red stones. At that moment she was warily examining the surroundings.

The monk has put his hand on the sword handle. If they noticed any suspicious movements, they’d immediately get rid of the sculptor.

But Weed was only looking at stones.

‘To cut them, one indeed needs an intermediate skill level. With Zahab’s knife I’ll be able to work with them easily.’

No wonder, that other sculptors refused the job, messing with gemstones of these two with just beginner skill level was very dangerous.

“Sure, I can. Wait a bit. I’ll make you best scorpions in the world.”

Weed relaxed, but kept the appearance of extreme focus, and started working. Usually there were many curious players gathering to watch him, but this time Psyche and mako were repelling any unwanted attention.

“Hey, Mako...”

“What, Psyche?”

“Do you think he might be playing this game too? Weed, I mean.”

Skillfully moving hands of the sculptor froze for a moment, before continuing work, like nothing happened. It was unlikely, that in this huge world someone was talking about him! Them must be talking about someone with a similar name.

“Hmmm. Most probably. I heard, that he sold his account in Continent of magic and moved here. There are rumors, that he’s not only playing this game, but became a paladin of Order of Freya. Of course you shouldn’t trust it much, but...”

“What, did he realize his mistakes and desided to follow the path of light? That Dark Knight, that was destroying everything in his path, like a death machine?!”

Weed’s hands started to tremble slightly. He sneaked a look at their faces.

Mako added in a low voice:

“I want to meet him so much...”

“I know, Mako. When you started playing this game 2 years ago, you was only regretting not killing Weed in Continent of magic.”

“Yeah... I wanted to best the one who was considered the strongest by everyone else.”

“I understand you. Everyone, who achieved anything significant in Continent of Magic must have had that feeling.”

“You bet! To beat the one on the top. To take his position and make him suffer. If he’s here, I wish I could meet him. No, I will definitely meet him! The continent is big, but our paths will definitely cross someday.”

“And what will you do when you meet him?”

“Oh, I’ll happily greet him. It’ll be such a joy. Ho-ho-ho!”

Psyche gave him a wry smile.

“Those are my thoughts exactly. When I meet him I’ll happily welcome him.”

“Right. We should kill him at least a thousand times.”

Weed’s hands were moving so fast, that they were barely visible. Only Zahab’s knife was flashing from time to time.

“Sculptor, there’s no need to hurry that much...”

“No...”

Weed finished the figurines as fast as possible and showed them to Psyche.

“You did a great job.”

She nodded with satisfaction, handed him the promised reward and turned to her companion.

“We can finally return.”

“Yeah, let’s hurry.”

Mako and Psyche said goodbyes to the sculptor, turned around and walked away.

When they were far enough, Weed sighed with relief.

‘Phew! I really shouldn’t tell anyone, that I have played Continent of Magic.’

As big was his fame, as strong was the hate, others felt towards him. After all he was dealing with everyone who ever attacked him with no mercy.

He has heard of Psyche and Mako before. But thanks to virtual reality, he was able to see faces of people, who might become his worst enemies in the future.

Chapter 8: Strange Companion

Once Weed finished his business in Rosenheim Kingdom, he headed into the Plains of Despair again.

Though, this time he was riding a horse. It was a cheap common breed, known for its short stature, short and muscular legs and good endurance.

People, who wanted to make an impression, were usually picking a horse of pure black or white color. But Weed certainly wasn’t one of them, so he chose a simple brown one.

“Okay. Let’s go. Come on, run!”

Loudly hitting the ground with its hooves, the horse broke into a gallop.

In rocky or swampy areas it wouldn’t be the best means of transportation, but on the plains, across which Weed was traveling, it was unrivaled.

“Yeah. It’s worth the money.”

He was enjoying the fast and comfortable journey.

Now Weed could understand why other people were buying horses. But he still was bitter about spending those money! So he had to constantly comfort himself about it.

“Right investments is the only way to success.”

Though he only spent 3 gold on it, he had to constantly praise his new purchase to not feel regret. He was doing everything to suppress his greedy nature.

But whatever was his reasons for praise, the horse really was a worth investment, as it allowed him to travel a lot faster than even when he was using Quadruped Run skill.

In a single day he reached the border and passed into the Plains of Despair, then he changed direction and started to move in a strange pattern. Plains had passable terrain and great visibility in every direction, but Weed was riding to south-east for an hour, then making a sharp turn and riding another hour to north-east.

Making such zigzags, he was gradually making his way to the east, towards the fortress of Dark Elves, though he had to spend his valuable time on meaningless wandering.

A few hours later Weed encountered a party, that was hunting on the Plains again. Oberon and his companions just finished another fight and were resting. Of course they were alert and noticed the approaching rider first.

“What in the world...”

“There’re solo players, who come here!”

Everyone in Oberon’s party turned around and looked at Weed in surprise.

When they entered the Plains of Despair, they had to fight monsters almost non-stop. If in Rosenheim Kingdom they could brag that they can deal with any monster, here it was different. They’ve got to feel what real battle is the hard way.

Abyss Knights, Lightning Casters, Poison Lords, Dark Dancers, Night Lords! And many other monsters of level 350, that were setting traps, making ambushes, casting deadly spells and summoning minions to aid them in battle.

These lands were a real challenge for their party. A couple times when they encountered monsters of level over 400 it was only by their tremendous effort that their hunt didn’t end at that moment. With every day the mood in the party was getting gloomier and gloomier.

So it was no wonder, that the moment Oberon saw Weed, his eyes took a perfectly round shape.

“It is dangerous here. This is Plains of Despair... Hurry up, turn around and get away from here as fast as you can! Or no, we better escort you back.”

Oberon was a really noble man. He was ready to defend others even when he was being attacked himself. The warrior profession was often picked by such open, good-mannered and kind people.

But Weed wasn’t anywhere near that kind of guy. It could be said, that he was an exact opposite.

Weed just rode past them. He totally ignored the players, but not the items, left by them, like on their previous meeting!

He didn’t even get off the horse to pick them up, he just bent over to gather them into his saddlebag, holding on the horse only by his legs.

‘I must gather everything.’

Having picked up the items, Weed continued his way to the east.

“Huh? He just left?”

“Does he not value his life?”

Players from the hunting party were watching him ride away.

“Everyone is free to choose his own way to die.”

“Really, there are people who like to travel alone everywhere.”

However Pluto, Oberon, Haisyns and a couple other veterans weren’t so quick with conclusions. Weed’s behaviour wasn’t that of a person, who was going to die in near future.

A few thoughts flashed in Oberon’s mind. He remembered how they encountered Soulless Wolves right after passing the border, and how they saw a strange Orc, that picked up all the items, left after the fight.

“Could it be...”

Pluto looked at Oberon.

“That Orc!”

“So it was a player?”

“If that was a player, then...”

They nodded to each other.

“The player, who can turn into an Orc... Only one person comes to mind.”

Now others understood as well what exactly Oberon was implying. After all this hunting party consisted of high level players, very passionate about Royal Road.

“Hall of Fame!”

“The Orc from that video!”

“He looked different this time, but that’s him! The same terrible face.”

“Right. There are no Orcs in the game as ugly as this one!”

“So that event is going to happen in Plains of Despair!”

* * *

Though this time Weed was traveling on a horse, his mood wasn’t quite as good as it should have been. On his way he was noticing traces of the hunting party, or, to be precise, items, left by them.

Weed could see them clearly, but couldn’t come close enough to pick them up. There were strong monsters living in those areas, that would be hard to deal with alone. Besides, hunting party was coming through the middle of such areas, where the number of monsters was the greatest.

At first glance plains looked like they were empty, but that was a misleading first impression. Every kind of monsters had its own territory, by walking into which players were forcing all of the monsters inhabiting it to attack. These territories were scattered around the plains, forming a complex labyrinth.

Weed had a copy of the map, therefore he was able to avoid all the dangerous areas. But even with that map and a horse, he had to follow a tortuous path, which was really slowing him down.

After a day of constant gallop the horse started to foam at the corners of its mouth. It was getting exhausted. Especially since Weed was carrying a pretty weighty Orc statue in one of his bags.

Usually horse owners were taking care of their rides: stroking, comforting, feeding carrots to them, and of course letting them rest when they were tired.

Weed was rushing his horse instead.

“Come on, run. You can do it. You belong to a species of runners after all, aren’t you disappointed, that you never actually reached your limit?”

After that he suddenly started to thump out a tempo on the horse’s back. And it did start running a bit faster, expending the little power it still had. But after some time the speed started to drop again.

“It’s hard, isn’t it? Hold on a bit more. When we arrive you’ll be able to rest as much as you want.”

The horse believed those words, stopped slowing down and put some more effort into it.

Weed’s kind voice and his hich charisma and leadership attributes were helping him to convince the poor horse to run ahead in hopes of reaching their destination.

But however long it was running, there was no sign of their destination and Weed wasn’t letting it to slow down.

“Come on, a little further.”

The horse was running.

“Almost there.”

It was still believing.

“Just a bit left.”

Weed’s attitude towards his mount went beyond horrible. He was squeezing every last drop from his horse.

In the end it couldn’t stand such a treatment any longer, made last few steps and fell to the ground, completely exhausted.

After examining the heavily breathing horse and realizing, that he won’t be able to ride it any further, Weed took his bags off it and said:

“You’re free now. Go wherever you want. Good luck.”

He took out the small Orc statue. He didn’t have time to wait for the horse to recover, so he switched to his original way of traveling.

“Sculpture transformation!”

The journey to Rosenheim Kingdom took him 7 days. But now, that he covered a significant part of his way on the horse and saved his strength, this time was going to reduce by half.

“Chwiik! Chwik!”

The small Orc headed to the east.

He still was terribly short on time. last time he visited all the villages of exiles in the center of the plains, now he had to visit as many of the remote ones as possible.

Taking into account the way back to the fortress of Dark Elves, it was going to take about 12 days.

“And I have 15 days until the battle starts.”

Having concluded, that he has just enough time, Weed was continuing to run, when all of a sudden, he noticed someone standing on a hill. The person was standing with his back to Weed and looking at something out of Weed’s field of view.

“A player? How... It’s not easy to get here. That must be some villager. Chwiit!”

Villages of exiles were scattered all around the plains. And despite the abundance of monsters, they were full of life, villagers were hunting and going out of villages for other business. It was not unusual to meet one of them here.

“Chwiik, is there a village nearby?”

As he was coming closer he was noticing more details about the person on the hill. Graceful posture, waist-long hair.

‘That must be a woman.’

Though he could only see her back, his sculptor’s senses were telling him, that she must be very beautiful. A woman watching the sunset. No, a young lady.

Deciding that it was not his business, Weed continued to run. The girl could obviously hear him, but wasn’t paying him any attention, so he decided to simply run past her.

While running up the hill, Weed noticed something at the edge of his field of view. A huge bull-like monster was running in the same direction.

“Hunter of Plains!”

That was one of the few kinds of monsters, that didn’t live on some set territory. Hunters of Plains were roaming all over the Plains of Despair, hunting people or even occasional monsters.

Villagers said that they were warriors of about 320th level, who got cursed by a dark spell and turned into monsters with large health pool and an unpleasant ability to reduce player’s vitality a bit with every hit.

That last feature made them incredibly hard to fight against.

Weed prepared for a hard battle.

“Damn. I didn’t even sharpen the sword or polish the armor...”

He was focused on running, so he didn’t prepare for a fight at all. And the difference between fighting after preparations and fighting unprepared was huge.

If he encountered the monster on plain terrain, he’d be able to go around the monster. But on a slope he noticed it too late and there was no way to avoid a fight.

However Hunter of Plains wasn’t going for Weed, but for the girl, standing on the top of the hill!

It was hunting her.

‘Great. I’ll escape in the meanwhile... Oh, no, I can’t run away!’

At first Weed got relieved and was going to use the opportunity to escape, but then he remembered another trait of that kind of monsters. Hunters of Plains were always chasing their prey to the end.

Once it finishes the girl, it’ll follow Weed until it catches up with him. And that’ll most probably happen when Weed will be tired, which will make fighting with it even harder.

So his best bet would be to deal with it now. Besides this monster had a certain week point.

‘While it’s busy with the girl, I’ll come from behind and stab it.’

The Hunter aimed his spear at the girl.

Weed got a better grip on the glaive. He was counting on making a single powerful strike, that’ll most likely be lethal.

He thought he planned for every possibility. But in the last moment the girl turned around with incredible speed and unsheathed her sword! The blade flashed and seemingly divided into 3 separate edges, which immediately struck the Hunter, that was about to thrust his spear forward.

The next moment the monster was dead.

The girl looked at Weed.

When their eyes met Weed got stunned.

He knew her.

Knew her well!

That was Seoyoon.

“Chwi, chwiik...”

He froze with a glaive lifted in a striking position. From the side it looked like an ugly small Orc was going to attack a lone girl.

* * *

After leaving Rosenheim Kingdom Seoyoon went on a long journey, that ended in Plains of Despair.

in the game she was a Berserk, which allowed her to master all kinds of weapons. However her real power was showing when fights were dragging on for some time. Players with that profession were never getting tired and instead were getting stronger when they saw their opponents bleed.

Seoyoon was fighting like a machine, as any real Berserk should. No matter day or night, she was restlessly hunting and slaying one monster after another, leaving only dead bodies behind.

Sometimes, during her journey she was getting stranded in the center of some dungeon and getting killed as a result. Even a player like her, who was fighting non-stop since the launch of Royal Road couldn’t win against such an overwhelming number of opponents.

But that wasn’t disturbing her. Losing levels and skill levels was insignificant. All the more so, as she preferred fighting monsters to bothering with her skills.

However she wasn’t able to play for 24 hours after death, so she was trying not to die. She tried to win in all the fights.

Though, that wasn’t the main point either. She only needed battles to let out the accumulated frustration! To take revenge!

And monsters wouldn’t find even a spark of compassion in her cold eyes.

‘Enemy.’

Seoyoon noticed the Orc, that was approaching her with glaive in his hands and looked straight at him.

She didn’t relax for a single moment, as new fight could start any moment now. The sword in her hand turned towards a new target.

* * *

Seoyoon.

Having recognized her, Weed froze in place.

Beautiful. He already saw her before, but now that he met her again he couldn’t avert his gaze, her beauty struck him too hard.

‘A human can’t be this beautiful...’

It seemed like her face was shining. Eyes, mouth, nose - everything was in harmony, filling her face with incredible charm.

After seeing Seoyoon so close, Weed felt despair. He created so many sculptures, but none of them reflected her beauty properly.

If it was possible, he’d look at her like this all day. He would never get tired of it.

But right now wasn’t the best time for that. He had to get away from here, until something terrible happens.

If he’s discovered to be the player, who created a sculpture of her without permission, he may end up like the Hunter of Plains.

However strong Weed considered himself, Seoyoon had a pretty high level even on their first meeting. And all the items she was wearing were above level 300!

‘Trouble.’

Besides the situation was very delicate. Orc with a glaive was assaulting a lone girl.

Weed swallowed. Of course, he’ll just explain it to her and clear the situation.

“Chwi, Chwiik!”

Weed was hurried and agitated, but all that came out of his mouth were meaningless orcish sounds!

“Chwichik...”

“Chwi-i-i-it!”

Every time he tried to say something he was spitting in Seoyoon’s direction instead!

And then he felt some sinister aura coming out of Seoyoon’s body. Like if she was already slicing him in pieces in her mind. It was making his body numb and his knees tremble. Something menacing and oppressing.

The breath of death!

That overwhelming pressure made Weed think that he’ll die even if he explains himself. But he couldn’t at least try. He must tell her, that he’s that guy she once shared a meal with in the instructor’s house.

Though even that fact might not stop her. Even the most beautiful rose has thorns. After all she already had a red mark of player-killer on their first meeting.

She was the first Player-Killer Weed met in Royal Road.

‘Who would think, that in Plains of Despair I will meet the person I never expected to meet again.’

Since that memorable meeting at the table the image of that beautiful but cold girl was imprinted in his memory. Every time Weed was creating a new sculpture, he was trying to give her face different expressions in his imagination. He tried to fill this cold angel with a living beauty.

“Chwiik!”

Weed opened his eyes wide and looked forcefully at Seoyoon.

If his opponent is a murderer, the fact that he was a player too may only encourage her to attack. But it may prevent her from attacking as well.

‘Can I defeat her?’

Even if he gives it his all, he’s still significantly behind her in levels and equipment quality. At first sight, judging by her items, he was behind by about 70 levels.

‘A few months ago BadRay had level 370. Now he should be around 390. Though her level was slightly lower, she was still among the top players!’

Weed wasn’t afraid of players with higher level than his. He was compensating the difference with his crafting skills, heightened attributes and Sculpture Mastery!

But for him, who started to play to earn money, worst enemies were Player-Killers.

They were bandits.

While ordinary players, like Weed, participate in hard quests and battles to acquire items, those murderers train to fight against players. And in the end they were killing other players and taking all their items!

Though he already had experience of encountering Dwichigi quartet, which ended in his victory, that case was very different.

Seoyoon was going to be a tough opponent.

She went through the same training in training hall he did, so he couldn’t rely on raised attributes much. And he wasn’t able to use his secret advantage, blade sharpening and armor polishing. Besides a fighting profession, like hers, must have some unknown to him skills too.

He didn’t see any way out!

However, Weed put even more intensity into his glare. He must show that it’s exactly opposite situation! That he’s at least of the same strength as her, if not stronger! And then use any chance to get away!

Weed already prepared 36 different escape scenarios.

But then Seoyoon simply lowered her sword, turned around and continued on her way.

Weed couldn’t understand what just happened. How would he know, that Seoyoon only fought monsters, that attacked her first! In his eyes she didn’t see any threat, so she didn’t do anything to him.

Confused Weed quickly came to his senses.

‘Anyway, I don’t have time for this.’

He continued to run towards Yuroki Mountains.

But Seoyoon was moving too. And, surprisingly, they were going in the same general direction. Therefore a few days later their paths crossed again.

At first Weed couldn’t understand how did that happen. He was running as fast as he could for 2 days straight, but Seoyoon was slightly ahead of him anyway.

But then he realized. He had to avoid all the monsters and their territories, while visiting exile villages at the same time.

Of course his path was much longer and more difficult. Unlike him Seoyoon was walking straight, fighting all the monsters on her way!

“Chwi, chwiik!”

Weed was hurt.

He was putting all his efforts into running, but they still were moving with an equal speed! And Seoyoon was simultaneously hunting monsters and receiving experience and items.

The third time they met at the Yunopu Canyon. Since that moment they had to travel together. Seoyoon wasn’t paying any attention to the Orc, that was following her, she was just following her way.

Yunopu Canyon was located in the northern part of Plains of Despair. Two twin mountains were attracting travelers, like a giant pair of doors. Besides the canyon between them, the only way to get to the other side would be going around them or climbing over, which would be even more difficult.

“I don’t have much time, chwiik!”

Weed decided to go through the Yunopu Canyon.

He was a bit worried about having to follow Seoyoon, so he decided to keep some distance to avoid danger. Or monsters, to be precise.

This area was inhabited by giant Yetis. They had thick white fur, that made them immune to ice magic. Besides they had level 340!

They used to live in mountains, but were driven out by other even more powerful monsters, so they moved into the canyon, that happened to be a popular route for hunters in Plains of Despair.

“Can’t help it! Will have to fight with Yetis.”

Weed decided to go through the canyon and was now watching Seoyoon demonstrate her outstanding sword mastery on occasion Yetis.

“She’s strong...”

While running through Plains of Despair, Weed was avoiding most of the monsters, but in Yunopu Canyon he had to confront Yetis. He had to fight!

Even with his crafting skills, every fight required all of his skill. During fights his health was dropping to critical level, but for now Weed was winning them.

It seemed, that fighting didn’t require any effort for Seoyoon. Using her techniques, with incredible grace she was killing several Yetis at a time.

Of course she had higher level and better equipment, but Weed noticed something else. Skill.

Royal road was a game, set in virtual reality. Here no matter how high was one’s level of skills and abilities, only by using them effectively was one able to realize the full potential of his profession.

It can be demonstrated on a duel between a monk and a swordsman, two most popular among players professions. The player with a sword would try to keep his opponent at a certain distance during the duel, while monk on the contrary will try to approach as close, as possible.

If their skills are on equal level, the outcome of the duel will depend from their tactics, reaction and a bit from luck. And in this case the fighter with most experience and skill will most likely win.

Of course, that wasn’t as important during monster hunt, though newbies, who didn’t want to learn at all, could be killed even by weakest monsters.

However, even experienced fighters didn’t have a single chance against Weed, who spent an entire year on learning swordsmanship.

‘Nice moves.’

Weed was admiring Seoyoon’s sword skill.

Her technique wasn’t as organized, as his own. Weed’s swordsmanship didn’t have any weaknesses. He was correctly using all his muscles, concentrating his strength on defence or sudden offence.

Sometimes Weed was getting carried away and rushing into battle, completely forgetting about defence. Relying only on his agility and reaction, showing incredible feats, he was raining strikes on his enemies, defeating them sooner or later.

But Seoyoon was fighting in a different manner. She was thinking about defence and offence at the same time. When she saw a weakness - she was attacking, when in danger - defending.

Of course, she developed that tactics during multiple battles against monsters, which was why her skill will eventually reach the limit. But Weed was envying her anyway. In the battle she looked like she was dancing. Because of her agility, she was able to make strikes only a woman could do.

When the situation allowed it, Weed was watching the girl’s actions with full attention.

‘She likes to hunt!’

Though during this entire time she didn’t say a single word and was always fighting with the same cold expression. It looked, like it was telling that these terrifying monsters aren’t a competition for her.

But Weed saw something else.

Deep inside her beautiful cold face was hidden sadness. Some burden on her heart.

Since their first meeting, while creating sculptures, Weed was often thinking about her inner world. He didn’t have much experience in understanding people back then and didn’t see much.

Now he could understand people’s feelings better and was able to see those hidden feelings.

‘Why is she so sad?’

Weed tried to take even closer look at her.

Though he was captivated by her secret, just watching her was no less pleasant. He never before saw a girl of such beauty, that he couldn’t capture in a sculpture even after so many tries.

While watching her, Weed noticed something else.

Seoyoon was never aiming at the opponent’s head. Though Yetis were higher than 2 meters, while the girl was about 1.67 meter, with a sword she would be able to hit it anyway.

Weed would definitely aim for the head, as it was the least protected part and hitting it would likely be a critical strike.

But Seoyoon was never hitting the face. It looked like she wasn’t even looking at their faces. He was just using all the techniques, available to her to kill her opponents as fast as possible.

‘She doesn’t look at their expressions? Maybe she’s afraid to see their pain... No, there’s most likely some other reason.’

Because Weed was following Seoyoon, he didn’t have to fight much. He was mostly fighting the few enemies, who tried to attack the girl from behind.

“Chwiik, experience!”

Yeti hides was a top grade item and costed a lot. Besides their fur looked very impressive and clothes made from it were very warm.

“Chwichichichit!”

‘If I pick it all up - I can forget about cold. I’ll sew clothes and even earn some extra money.’

Weed got absorbed into hunting and gathering hides.

“...”

Seoyoon was continuing to fight and paid no attention to her unexpected companion. It’s just that when she was turning around now, she was always noticing a small Orc behind her.

She still didn’t say a word, and Weed considered it natural. He didn’t hear her talk before as well. Besides even ordinary players wouldn’t talk to him now that he was transformed into Karichwi.

Though at first he was worried a bit about following her, Weed quickly realized, that she won’t attack him. It became clear after he watched her for some time and saw, that she was trying to avoid fighting Yetis, who had offsprings.

‘How did she became a murderer? And she doesn’t have to walk around with such a cold expression then.’

Weed was very curious, but as he didn’t like others intruding his personal life, he was trying not to intrude others’. So the only thing left for him was hunting and gathering loot, while traveling through the Yunopu Canyon. The canyon didn’t have any turns or crossroads or other paths, only one straight and very long road. And it would take 4 more days to pass it according to the map.

Half a day later Seoyoon made a stop to rest. She took out a stale barley bread, which she stocked up with back at Rosenheim Kingdom and started to chew it slowly.

Weed respected Seoyoon for that.

“Yeah, to reduce expenses one should start with the food. If you do that, you can accumulate good money. Money is power. One should constantly save up, then he will never run out.”

But unlike the girl, Weed wasn’t eating only barley bread.

Because of his high cooking skill, he was able to gather ingredients during hunt and then, with a bit of spices, cook himself tasty and almost free meals. Which didn’t only satisfy his hunger, but boosted his attributes.

Weed lighted a fire, threaded Yeti meat on wooden sticks and started to slowly roast it over the fire. The tasty aroma of roasted meat gradually spread around him.

“Chwiik!”

When it was ready, Weed grabbed one of the sticks with both hands and started to eat. The thin Orc was eating with great appetite.

Your Satiety increases.

- Stamina increased by 40%

- Health increased by 15%

You ate flesh of Yeti, who have great strength.

As a result your strength has been slightly increased for a certain period.

Intermediate cooking skill!

Some people use precise timing and exact amount of ingredients. But Weed achieved everything through practice of cooking great number of meals for the parties he used to command.

So even the most simple dishes, cooked by Weed, were very tasty. Besides they were slightly increasing attributes.

“...”

While eating, Weed glanced at Seoyoon. He thought that she’ll continue walking after eating the bread and he’ll have to catch up with her. After all in a filled with Yeti canyon even the most unsuitable companion is important.

However, to his great surprise, the girl was standing just a few steps away, staring at the Orc. Or at the meat in his hands to be precise. The tasty tasty-smelling roasted yeti meat!

“Chwiik!”

Weed was stunned for a moment, but then quickly handed her the other meat stick. He could hunt for meat and cut another stick from a free branch, all of it was certainly not worth risking his life.

Since that moment Seoyoon was always joining the small Orc for meals. In this journey Weed completely unexpectedly became her personal cook.

Though he didn’t think it was quite fair.

‘If I don’t share, she might eat me... She’s a true murderer.’

Chapter 9: Sculptures of Her

Since Weed and Seoyoon entered the Yunopu Gorge together, they haven’t said a single word to each other.

But at every stop they were sharing food. And of course Weed was the one cooking, though that wasn’t bothering him much, as he didn’t have to run this time, but instead walked calmly while hunting Yetis along the way.

At first they were moving about 100 meters apart from each other. But that distance was gradually reducing. After another hard fight Weed was the first to shorten the distance to 50 meters, as he was worried about being attacked by another group of Yetis. And after a few shared dinners the distance shrunk to 30 meters.

Usually Seoyoon just approached him, taking her share silently and returning back to her place. Each of them ate alone, carefully watching the surroundings.

After another day they were already 20 meters apart. And they fought at the same distance from each other, which gave Weed a chance to observe the girl from up close.

“...”

After one of the battles Seoyoon stopped and took off her half-plate armor. She was fully equipped in heavy armor. Weed had a lot of opportunities to appreciate their expensive shine. But what he didn’t know was that she was wearing chainmail underneath them.

‘That’s the melee profession for you.’ he thought enviously.

Knights and other melee fighters had the ability to wear all the different kinds of armor at the same time. By equipping 3 kinds of armor: iron, leather and cloth armors - at the same time, one could get the best possible protection.

The only problem was that the combined weight required high strength, endurance and agility attributes. If they were not high enough, one would quickly tire out and lose the ability to move.

After getting an Intermediate level of Blacksmith Weed also gained that ability, but as he lacked the attributes, he didn’t dare to equip all 3 kinds of armor like a knight.

Absorbed by those thoughts, Weed almost crashed into Seoyoon, who was carefully examining her unequipped armor.

‘Is it time for repairs?’

Almost all of the surface of armor was covered in cracks, some places even had pieces missing.

“Chwiik!”

Weed quickly approached Seoyoon and snatched the armor out of her hands. He did it unconsciously, as he was always repairing armor for people around him.

And then he noticed Seoyoon’s murderous glance.

“Chwi, chwiik...”

Reflected in her eyes was a small green thief! So he took the instruments out of his bag, repaired the armor, and returned it to her as quickly as possible.

Seoyoon took her armor back like nothing happened and started to examine it carefully. Its durability increased, and formerly damaged parts looked completely fine.

Then Seoyoon took off her chainmail and handed it to Weed by herself this time. He silently took it and repaired, and then did the same with her leather armor.

When the girl took off her last set of armor, she was left almost naked. As any proper man, Weed couldn’t help but try to oogle her, but at the last moment he thought otherwise.

He valued his life more.

And since that day he was responsible not only for food, but for equipment repairs too.

Actually, skills like cooking and repairing were very rare among unintelligent Orcs. Some Elves, Hobbits or Dwarfs did have Intermediate Cooking or Blacksmithing, but Orcs - never.

But Seoyoon didn’t seem concerned about it at all. Maybe she thought that the Orc she happened to meet wasn’t ordinary, or maybe she just wasn’t interested in surrounding creatures.

Whatever it was, Weed wasn’t eager to explain himself, so he just silently walked ahead. However when Seoyoon was logged out of the game, he didn’t have anything to do, as he didn’t dare to continue his way alone.

Seoyoon left Royal Road every 4 hours. Maybe she needed to eat, or rest. After leaving, she always appearing exactly 2 hours later.

Weed himself ate very quickly. Besides, for the sake of the quest he was spending all of his free time inside the game, and as a result he barely slept 2 hours a day for the past several days.

‘Since she’s logging out so often, I should do something useful in the meantime.’

And Weed started to make sculptures.

If one was to sum up all the time the girl was absent, there would have been enough for Weed to pass through the rest of his path alone and reach the fortress.

However the risk was far too great. Sometimes Yeti’s appeared in groups of 3 or more, and it was extremely hard to deal with all of them alone.

And if he died, he wouldn’t be able to login into royal Road for 24 hours! Which would be 4 days in Royal Road time...

Under such conditions the safest way was also the shortest and the best. Sometimes even Weed was able to silence his inner unreasonable greed.

“Yeah, sculpturing is always the best way to spend free time.”

Lately, his Sculpture mastery has grown significantly and his art became more diverse. Which actually wasn’t surprising, since he had cut many different monsters, castles, people, a dragon and even a tomb with a sphynx.

However Weed decided to make more sculptures of Seoyoon.

“I should cut what I have seen so far while I have time.”

The first sculpture was full of motion. The cold side of Seoyoon, fighting with monsters. He had cut the female warrior with a sword.

Ding!

Fine Piece!

You have completed a statue of ‘Beauty with a sword’!

The master, whose hands create only great sculptures, left a statue of a beautiful woman in desolate plains!

Her cold face is full of fury towards her enemies.

Artistic value: 260.

Effects:

- Everyone who looks on the sculpture has his health and mana regeneration increased by 4% for the next day.

- Movement sped increased by 5%.

- Strength and Agility increased by 10.

- Intellect and Wisdom increased by 3.

- Men have their fighting spirit increased.

These effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Fine Pieces created: 10.

- Sculpture Mastery has improved.

- Fame increased by 19.

- Endurance increased by 2.

- Art increased by 1.

- Fortitude increased by 3.

His Sculpture Mastery improved again!

Weed exclaimed impatiently:

“Check skills. Sculpture Mastery!”

Sculpture Mastery: Intermediate 9 level (46%).

You can create sculptures, sell them at high prices, and win the favor of ladies.

Even though Weed created a Fine Piece, his skill increased only by 3%.

“Terrible work. The worst of Fine Pieces. What did I do wrong?”

Even if his aim was Fine Piece, that doesn’t mean he can do his a sloppy job and still get the desired result. Even when working on a small figurine, a sculptor has to put his heart and soul into it.

For example, in a fight, one can win even without using his full strength. But when engraving a sculpture, even the smallest one, one had to spend a minimum of half an hour not to get a failed work, which would decrease your fame.

The statues of Seoyoon required not half an hour but half a day of in-game time. He had to thoroughly work on every detail and facial features to capture the image of the girl into the sculpture.

And naturally, creating giant sculptures, like Ice Dragon, Pyramid and Sphynx, required weeks or more time.

“Maybe I’m noticing the wrong details?” - Weed asked himself.

In exactly 4 hours, when Seoyoon left the game again, he started to work on the next sculpture. And even though he made a Fine Piece again, ‘Female Warrior with a Sword’, his skill only increased by 4%.

“Maybe I’m lacking understanding? That’s why I get such small skill increases?”

The next day, once he was left alone again, Weed started to cut another sculpture. He was trying to convey the unearthly beauty that was driving him crazy.

He was cutting a sculpture of a beautiful girl, bitterly watching the sunset with a calm face and very sad, almost crying eyes. He was engraving an image of a girl, grieving deep inside.

“Hmmm. This is hard.”

It was the first time creating a sculpture was so difficult for Weed. He was used to feeling like his hands moving on its own, as his skill level was very high. But the higher his skill level was and the more knowledge he had - the harder it was for him to work.

“Damn! Why is it like this?”

Weed had already created many sculptures of Seoyoon, but every time it was getting harder and harder. The more he looked at her, the more he was saw and the more he wanted to convey her charm. And it was an incredibly difficult task.

This time Weed created a Masterpiece and his skill increased by 13%.

But the closer he was to the next level of Sculpture Mastery - the harder it was to increase it. And to actually advance to the next level he needed something special. For example to go from Beginner to Intermediate he had to make a statue of Headless Dullahan.

And to go from Intermediate to Advanced level he’ll have to make something truly outstanding.

“Right. I’ll never pass to the Advanced level with Fine Pieces. With my 63% in current level it’ll take 3 or 4 Masterpieces...”

Now Weed started to closely watch Seoyoon’s every move. Not only in battle, but in-between them too. How she walks, which hand she eats food with, where and how she sat - he was engraving absolutely everything in his memory.

This small and ugly Orc was secretly spying on Seoyoon!

If only she realized that she was accompanied by a player, she’d have gone off far ahead or even kill the annoying little creep.

Sometimes it was difficult for Seoyoon to even look at people, which was why she was trying to hide from everyone by going somewhere remote. Sometimes she wasn’t able to do it, men would chase her everywhere, fight each other, and show off their strength. But she still wouldn’t talk to them, which was getting her into trouble and making her a player killer in the end.

If Seoyoon knew that there was a man besides her, she wouldn’t be able to stay with him.

But not with an Orc! Simple Orcs did not cause any repulsion from her. And that’s why Weed managed to see the real Seoyoon that was fighting monsters and sleeping under the warm sun. Her face still remained expressionless, except for her eyes...

With sadness in her eyes, she was watching leaves falling off trees. She often looked at the small brook in the middle of the Gorge while humbly sitting and waiting for the food to get done.

Once, while walking, Seoyoon plucked a flower and put it into her hair. She herself didn’t notice it at all, but Weed almost jumped from surprise!

“...”

Weed thought that she was a murderer who did not have any place for tenderness in her heart. That was completely opposite from what she was letting others see. But when he witnessed Seoyoon watching with her sad eyes two squirrels play... He understood.

“Yes, that’s it!”

Weed immersed himself into work again.

“When making a sculpture, one shouldn’t jump to conclusions. Even if you think that you fully understand a person, you should stop and think it over. Not everything is simple.”

He might just be making another mistake right now. But this mistake will bring him another step closer to the true Seoyoon.

“I should not only show her cold appearance that catches the eye, but her feelings too. I should try and trust my heart once, rather than think it over again and again. I should try to create the Seoyoon I feel, rather than the one I see.”

Zahab’s knife started to dance in his hands again.

To depict the girl’s appearance was a relatively easy job, but to convey the harmony of facial features their unique feel was incredibly difficult.

Weed forgot everything he knew about Seoyoon and started to engrave the impression he got after looking at her for a long time. In this sculpture he was putting emphasis not on her appearance, but on the feelings and humanity he saw in her.

And making only the sculpture of Seoyoon would not be enough. The site, where Weed was working was littered by edgy stones, that were depressing to look at. And for the success he had to fix it.

“She’s a girl, so there must be flowers. Lots of flowers.”

First Weed carefully recreated the flower she had put in her hair earlier. Then he proceeded to the stones that surrounded the future sculpture. He wanted to cut multiple flowers from them, and every single one was going to take him some time. It was going to be hard to finish it before Seoyoon returned.

“No. I can’t give up now... I can’t stop here.”

Weed continued to cut flowers, waiting for the girl to return. But to his surprise, two hours passed and she was still absent.

“Maybe she’s sleeping?..”

He was so absorbed by his observations and work, that he completely lost track of time. It was already night in real world, and what’s more important - they had almost reached the end of Yunopu Gorge, and he could continue to travel on his own.

“So she’s not going to return for a while. I have time, so i should finish the sculpture and then go ahead. There’s no reason to give up the work I already started...”

Weed proceeded to cut the next flower.

* * *

Dr. Cha Eunhee from the rehabilitation hospital was checking on her main patient, like she did every morning.

“Aren’t you tired? Maybe you should rest some from Royal Road?”

“...”

Seoyoon, like always, kept silent, which was not a surprise for her doctor. She was submerged deep into herself, and didn’t show any reaction on the outside, but that didn’t mean she was rejecting everything. Usually Seoyoon would follow the advice of people who genuinely cared for her.

‘Looks like i should accept that I’m in a dead-end. Seoyoon is still not talking, despite all the treatment methods... Maybe it’s time to try something different?’

Dr. Cha Eunhee started to think.

Royal Road was one of the newest treatments for people, who were shutting themselves off from the outside world. Once they started to play and got a taste of life in the game, their status in reality would start to improve.

However despite her long stay in the game, Seoyoon’s state did not change at all.

‘Should i push her harder? But such strong-willed people like Seoyoon are better off when encouraged to change on their own. The use of medications, hypnosis and other means may only make it worse...’

As a very experienced psychologist, Cha Eunhee was the most worried that her patient will become shut in so deep, that there will be no way to bring her back. Seoyoon was already on this path.

‘She doesn’t express any emotions, so it’s hard to determine the state of her illness. Fortunately I know her. Such a kind and honest Seoyoon won’t get shut in so fast. But... Why won’t she start talking yet?!’

It was time for dinner and Seoyoon went to an adjacent room. She was placed in the best VIP ward of the hospital, so she was eating in the next room. Of course, if the patient was too weak, the food would be delivered to his bed, but Seoyoon could walk on her own.

“Okay, I’ll sneak a peek on what she’s been doing in the game lately.”

Cha Eunhee called the captured recordings on the screen.

Almost all of the free time Seoyoon spent was on fighting monsters. That didn’t provide the necessary medical help, but Cha Eunhee still continued to look through the recordings every day.

The higher Seoyoon’s level, the stronger the monsters were that she fought. Fights were gradually becoming longer and more violent. At times the entire battlefield was covered with blood and Seoyoon was falling in such a rage, that she looked like a goddess of war.

This was temporarily relieving the patient’s stress, but nothing more...

After watching such recordings it took Cha Eunhee great effort not to immediately go to play her own character.

“Yeah, Seoyoon has really high level, if she can hunt in Plains of Despair.”

Dr. Cha Eunhee was a bit jealous. If she was in Seoyoon’s place, she would die from the weakest monster there.

But Seoyoon was fighting and winning most of the time. Not only because of her high level, but because of her vast experience that she gained from numerous fights.

“Now. I should quickly look through the rest before she comes back." Cha Eunhee enabled fast-forward.

Seoyoon was still traveling the Plains of Despair and fighting monsters. Everything was the same.

But then... Something unusual happened.

The girl was resting and looking at the sunset, when two monsters started to approach her from behind, a Hunter of Plains and some terrifying shortie.

“Oh... She will be in trouble if they attack simultaneously.”

But Cha Eunhee wasn’t very worried.

If she did die, Seoyoon would leave the capsule the same moment and Cha Eunhee have been notified. But that never happened...

What happened next was what surprised Cha Eunhee.

When the Hunter of Plains died, Seoyoon looked at the other monster that proved to be an Orc. But nothing happened! They just looked at each other for some time and then Seoyoon lowered her weapon and walked away.

However some time later she met the same Orc again and soon they started to hunt and eat together. The orc even fixed her broken armor!

Seoyoon loved to travel alone and never let anyone close. However this Orc didn’t seem to bother her at all.

“Last time she became friends with the instructor in Seraburg’s training hall. Maybe it’s easier for Seoyoon to be close with NPCs and monsters? This Orc isn’t half bad. He makes a great servant. I wonder where could I get one like that? Wait a second!!”

Suddenly Cha Eunhee almost jumped out of her chair.

“Orc! What kind of Orc has skills like that? That’s a human, a player!”

After battles he was collecting loot, applying healing herbs, and bandaging wounds, cooking... If you try hard enough, you could find another such monster in the game. For example, Cursed Goblins or special mini-bosses had an advanced artificial intelligence.

But an experienced psychologist like Cha Eunhee, was not so easy to fool. She was noticed the tiniest details: the way he was moving, fighting, where he was looking, and how he was picking up the items.

Everything was pointing to a real, live person obsessed by some idea.

“It can’t be...”

Cha Eunhee flinched, like she was struck by lightning.

She saw something similar in the Hall of Fame! Moreover, she was certain, that it was the same Orc from the video.

“There can’t be any other Orc as greedy in this game as that one!”

The Doctor’s heart began to race. Of course the fact that Seoyoon was traveling with someone was great, but Cha Eunhee was a devoted fan of Royal Road.

“There’s only 2 days left before the battle! What the hell is he doing!”

* * *

On the stone floor the flowers were blooming.

Cut from stone, they looked extremely real and alive. So real, that on a few of them the stone butterflies were sitting and a pleasant aroma seemed to be in the air.

As the flower field was made out of stone, it had an unusual color. White, grey and black, with pattern and without a pattern. Together they created a mysterious atmosphere on the stone terrace, In the center of which Weed was completely immersed in creating the main sculpture.

“Strange...”

The closer he was to completing the piece, the stronger it seemed that tears were about to flow out of Seoyoon’s beautiful eyes. And though the rest of the sculpture didn’t give that impression at all, her eyes were filled with unbearable sorrow...

Following his instincts and trusting the impulse of his heart, he created an extremely sad statue. It even seemed that, out of sympathy to the beauty, all the surrounding flowers were crying too.

From the realization of that fact, Weed’s mood also worsened.

“I should make her happier. I can’t change the eyes any more, but i can do something with the rest of the face!”

Very slowly and carefully Weed worked on the statue’s face and in the end he made a sad, but heartily smiling girl.

Ding!

The moment Weed completed the statue a window appeared in front of weed.

Please set the name of the created sculpture.

“Give a name?”

This had never happened before. Weed tilted his head in confusion and said:

“Seoyoon.”

You chose to name it ‘Seoyoon’?

“Yes.”

Grand Piece!

You finished the sculpture of ‘Seoyoon’!

This work contains contradiction itself.

Depending on their feelings and mood, everyone will see something different in it.

This young and incredibly talented sculptor created in these lands a statue that causes mixed feelings.

Artistic value: 8700.

Effects:

- Everyone who looks at this statue has their Health and mana regeneration increased by 40% for a day.

- Movement speed is increased by 20%.

- All stats are increased by 30.

- The effects of 2 various attributes are increased by 30%.

- Granted bonus to Earth elemental attacks during the daytime.

- Sculpture emits a special aroma, that heals wounds.

- In case the rights to this sculpture are transferred to a certain person, the sculpture’s effects are increased by 20% for that person.

- In the previous case, the effects for others are decreased by 60%.

- Effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Grand Pieces created: 1.

- Sculpture Understanding skill raised by 1 level.

- Handicraft skill has reached Advanced level 2. Efficiency of all crafting skills have increased by 8%. This will affect various aspects.

- Fame increased by 1680.

- Art increased by 65.

- Fortitude increased by 7.

- Endurance increased by 4.

- Charm increased by 40.

All the rights to this sculpture belong to Master Weed.

If this sculpture is given life in the future, it will be loyal to him.

As a reward for creating a Grand Piece, all attributes increased by 3.

Grand Piece!

Weed had created something he had never even dreamed of.

“Yeeeeaah!”

From the ancient times there were many artworks left in the world! And most of them were portraying women. Maybe because they are so complex and beautiful.

But Weed was happy not only because he managed to create a Grand Piece. Most importantly, because of it he finally got to the Advanced skill level.

Sculpture Mastery reached Advanced 1 level.

Now you can engrave patterns and work with any material.

Your Sculpture mastery reached the Advanced level.

This affected your attributes and skills.

- Sculpting Blade technique efficiency increased by 30%.

- Additional properties were added to the ability.

- Mana cost on use reduced by half.

Sculpture Mastery is linked to other crafting skills.

Blacksmithing skill:

- You can now create bronze sculptures.

- Sculptures, created by pouring molten metal into the mold will be harder and more durable.

Cooking skill:

- Your dishes are now more vibrant and delicious.

- Also they will be more beautiful from artistic point of view.

Sewing skill:

- You can now decorate clothes to create custom outfits.

- All attributes increased by 20.

- Fame increased by 600.

- Art attribute increased by 20.

New Skill available for learning:

- Moonlight Sculptor Technique.

This technique only available to players with Advanced skill level.

Now, apart from Fine Piece, Masterpiece and Grand Piece, a new hidden grade of sculptures is available - Moonlight sculptures.

This kind of sculptures embodies the nature itself, it will allow to protect your friends from enemies.

The master, that wishes to protect his loved one from all dangers, will appreciate this incredibly valuable ability.

You can learn more about Moonlight Sculpting Technique in Arts Guild.

He finally went from Intermediate to Advanced skill level!

“Hahahaha!”

Weed bursted into happy laughter.

What can be more enjoyable for a sculptor, than reaching the Advanced level of Sculpture skill.

The Blacksmith profession was a lot more popular, and certainly someone must have already reached the Advanced level in it, but among sculptors he was the first. The only Sculptor with Advanced skill level on entire Bersa continent!

“Now I don’t regret becoming a Sculptor!”

Weed felt like the whole world was smiling with him. But then he quickly snapped out of it and started thinking about the immediate future.

“This is not the right time.”

Seoyoon should be returning soon.

The Grand Piece had special effects and was hard to miss. An inevitable consequences of Sculpture Mastery.

When the girl comes back she may discover it, and then the other sculptures. When she learns about them she won’t let him get away.

“It’s time to run!”

Weed looked at his sculpture for the last time and headed towards the exit from the Gorge.

The great master Sculptor, that just created the Grand Piece and reached Advanced level of Sculpture Mastery had to run away from it as soon as possible.

* * *

Late at night [in-game time] Seoyoon logged back in.

After appearing she examined her surroundings like always.

Orc!

In the past few days she had gotten used to his presence.

He was feeding her sometimes, repairing her armor, covering her back. Useful Orc.

But however long she was looking for him, he was nowhere to be found.

‘He Left.’

Though they were traveling together, Seoyoon didn’t quite open up to him. But still she was feeling somewhat empty. She was alone again.

Having checked her armor and sword, she set off on her way.

After leaving the Gorge she was going to look for some new lands, inhabited by many different monsters. But then she smelled some unusual aroma.

“...?”

She followed it.

And in the end it led her to a small flower meadow, in the middle of which a sculpture was standing.

A sculpture of a girl, that was laughing and crying at the same time. And it looked much like herself.

“...”

Seoyoon froze in confusion.

‘Crying? Me?’

It was like she was looking into a mirror. But in the mirror she was crying.

‘No. That can’t be me. I never cry. At least as far as I can remember...’

Seoyoon had forgotten when she was crying last time. Lately all she did was try to become as strong as possible.

Ever since she was a child, she was always keeping her grief inside. She was deliberately avoiding all the suffering and pain. And the best way she found to do it was to avoid all people altogether. If no one was talking to her, no one could hurt her, and she could live peacefully.

And she wouldn’t have to cry. Wouldn’t have to feel the pain, that was shattering her world into pieces.

That’s why she was always calm.

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

She had never opened up her soul to anyone.

At some point it became hard for her to talk, she started fearing getting close with other people. She stopped talking even to herself. She was hiding her feelings deep inside.

She was threatening everyone who tried to get closer to her with doubt and suspicion. Trying to avoid pain and sorrow, she lost happiness as well.

The cry, coming from the depth of her soul, was rising in her chest, with all the feelings she hid inside coming out with it.

“...”

Seoyoon hid her face with her hands. Down her cheeks tears were flowing.

* * *

Hall of Fame on the website of Royal road!

The assigned time of the quest was approaching and the tension was rising.

“The day of the battle agains Immortal Legion is close.”

“Can that Orc finish the quest? After all it’s ‘A’ grade difficulty.”

“Look at his face. It’s terrifying! Someone with that face can deal with anything.”

“He can. He ought to. Because I’m a mage.”

“I’m a mage too. I’ve picked the Dark Magic specialization and suffered enough... Now I will definitely become a Necromancer.”

“Tell us more about Necromancers.”

“Wait, just wait...”

“Is there anyone who knows something new?”

The upcoming event was actively discussed on the forum.

There were already many topics with various questions and ideas about the battle against undead and the new profession. Hundreds of thousands of players were reading the topics every second and leaving comments.

Every minute someone was asking about news.

As the quest was directly affecting mages, they were heating up the discussion the most.

“Aaaaah! I want to know the outcome. All the mages agree with me, right?”

“I’m interested not only in the outcome, but in the battle itself too. The war agains the undead on such a large scale! That’s a whole new level, nothing similar has ever happened before!”

“Yeah, I’m already tired of ordinary sieges. Most of them finish very quickly and they all go the same way.”

“Wariors charging, mages barraging each other with spells... I've seen it all too many times already.”

“Only if one side is significantly stronger it gets interesting.”

People switched over to complaining about sieges.

Once some guild was starting to get significantly ahead of the rest, others were immediately forming a temporary alliance and sending that guild back in its place.

“I want to see how it goes soon...”

“Where? It wasn’t announced on any channel.”

“True... So we have to wait until it appears in the Hall of Fame?”

“Unlikely.”

“Huh! What are TV guys doing?”

And then a new person joined the conversation.

“Friends! In the Free City of Somre player called Weed finished another quest. Do not be surprised, but that’s the Weed from Continent of magic!”

“Weed from Continent of magic?!”

“I heard that he plays Royal road, some even say, that he joined the order of Freya.”

“Yeah. We thought so too.” - continued the new player - “But this time he finished the quest, associated with defeating Necromancers!”

“Wait. So that’s the chain quest after getting rid of vampires and returning the Fargo’s Crown?”

“Necromancers? So that Orc from the video..?”

“Weed. Weed became an Orc and is fighting against the army of undead!”

At that moment the discussion thread of the video practically exploded. In just a few minutes time thousands, or maybe even millions of messages were appearing one after another. Some were happy, some angry, but no one was indifferent.

The Hero from the Continent of Magick.

Though the peak of the game’s popularity long since passed, many former players still treasured their memories about it. They loved to reminisce the past.

“Yeah... Anyone who seen him in action at least ones would never forget the charisma and poser he showed in Continent of magick.”

“Right. He’s a true Dark Knight, sweeping his enemies away like a storm.”

“The combination of skill, efficient use of abilities, and smart use of terrain features in his endless battles. No compomises. Weed is the role model for many of us!”

“Weed was opening the way into places no one else could get to. He was a legend.”

Former players of Continent of Magick were leaving numerous messages. Others were asking questions.

“Who’s that Weed?”

“That Weed is so great?”

“You don’t yet know Weed, because he must have joined Royal Road not so long ago. Everyone who ever played Continent of Magick know him. He has set the record!”

“I once was following him. Let me tell about it. We went into Rosenda Plains that time. They were inhabited by Hell Guardians and Cerberuses. And Weed was just slaughtering them! That was really cool.”

“But with a high level that shouldn’t be a problem?”

“Yes. That’s true. But at that time no one ever hunted there yet. Weed was the first. No one of my friends from the Continent of Magick believed it. That’s why I was following him, to check it myself. And he slain absolutely all the monsters, without making any mistakes. In the battle he was like a wild beast, mountains of dead bodies left after him. But that’s not all.”

“There’s something else?”

“Just don’t be surprised. Once he hunted for 200 hours without breaks!”

“200 hours?!”

Many of players of Royal Road were devoting all of their free time to the game. Many of those, who considered themself good players were proud of it. And of course all of them had at least once accidentally forgot to eat or played until a very late time.

But even for them 200-hour long game marathon was something imposible. Weed wasn’t a legend for nothing.

And then some more players with new information joined the discussion.

“We were hunting in Plains of Despair. Maybe that’s not very hard for players from the center of the continent, but in Rosenheim only a few dozen people dare to go there. And we met a small thin Orc there...”

“If you don’t get it yet, we met Karichwi there! He was thin this time, but the face was the same.”

“The battle against Immortal Legion will happen in Plains of Despair!”

Everyone was waiting in the Hall of Fame to see the outcome.

Maybe if someone posted the full information about the quest, people wouldn’t be so anxious. But the absense of any news only fueled players’ curiosity of large number of players.

* * *

New section “The Bersa Continent” opened on KMC Media.

And today Shin Hye Min and Oh Joowan were reading the first news.

“The prices of mithril continue to rise. The Pirate Guild, that owns the mythril mine, rised the price by 20% already, that caused an uproar among other players.”

“How to strengthen your weapon? The effect of the sharpening stones found so far isn’t that great. But did you know, that a Blacksmith with Intermediate skill level can significantly increase the durability and damage of your weapon?”

“The new trade route was open between Kingdoms Lootun and Thor. The road passes through the Forest of No Return. The Scarlet Wolves guild cleared it from the monsters and built the road. Merchants, who use it, must pay the 10% tax.”

“Though they lose 10% of their revenue, considering how much sorter that way is, many players will choose to use it.”

“Right. For a while the guild’s income will rise. Many players will consider joining their ranks.”

Tales from the Bersa Continent.

First there was information about monsters, hunting sites and professsions. Then discussions about politics, society and economy. When large powers, like kingdoms, were confronting each other, there were many changes and many new quests were appearing.

Therefore the second part was shared between the experts in various fields.

Today they were discussing the quest about stopping the Immortal Legion.

“His level is very high. Many players hope for his success, but most probably the quest will be failed.”

The military expert Yee Yonghan confidently stated his point of view.

“In any war quantity is not the most important part. What’s important is not how much soldiers you have, but how good they followyour orders and work together. It’s impossible to fight against an army of undead with such diverse forces - Orcs, Dark Elves and Humans.”

Han Yeelseo, who was sitting besides him, was nodding in agreement. He was playing Royal Road too and was among Top 300 strongest players.

“Right. To manage such different races he need a lot of leedership. Will he be able to lead them into battle?”

“I think so too. Fighting with Orcs and Dark Elves against the army of undead is a waste of time. If I was in his place I would have got away from there long ago.”

“And no one would judge you. This quest is impossible to do alone. And as far as I know, none of the Top 50 guilds received a request for help. In my guild Crimson Mercenaries no one heard anything about it. That’s why he will definitely fail the quest.”

“It is entirely possible, that after their death all the orcs and Elves will become undead and attack other kingdoms. According to our research all the quests of ‘B’ grade difficulty, received so far were associated with defeating small groups of very strong monsters or passing some very difficult route. However the ‘A’ grade difficulty quest will affect the situation on an entire continent.”

“But you don’t have to worry about it. When the Immortal Legion comes our guild of Crimson Mercenaries will be there do defend human kingdoms.”

Almost all of the participants of this discussion tended to think that the quest will be failed. Many of the invited players were using this opportunity to attract new members to their guilds, promising help in the upcoming disaster.

Shin Hyemin was frowning.

“So the quest everyone is rooting for may fail?”

“Who knows... Maybe it’s already finished, or...”

“Or he dropped it and ran away long ago.”

Everyone was talking about the failure.

But then they faced the colossal protest of ordinary players. Of the people who knew Weed! Those, who were waiting anxiously for the profession of Necromancer to become available were swearing at them.

Chapter 1: Pre-War

Weed headed to the rocky area in Yunopu Gorge.

Yeti monsters occasionally showed up in the area where the rocks were piled up, but they were easy to handle and gave decent experience.

“This seems to be enough materials”

Weed inspected the rocks and smiled in satisfaction.

He had been accompanying Seoyoon for several days acting as her servant, looking after her and cooking her meals however; thanks to this he had been able to further advance his sculpting.

A beautiful motive was an important requirement, if one was to create art.

Seoyoon had sleek white thighs, ebony hair and a slim waist. She also had a thin slender neck and an immaculate collarbone leading up to her almost radiant face, an appearance that you would not get tired of, even if you looked at it for a year.

With her as a model he had successfully created a few masterpieces, and he had finally learned advanced sculpting.

“Skill confirmation! Sculpture life bestowal!”

Sculpture life bestowal

A technique invented by Emperor Geihar the Master Sculptor, which makes it possible to grant life to sculptures.

Requirement: This skill requires Advanced Sculpture Mastery .

This skill consumes 5000 mana. Additionally, the Art stat of the user will be permanently decreased by 10, and the character level will decrease by 2.

Warning!

Sculptures have a strong sense of pride.

They will fight if they see a sculpture resembling themselves.

Each time it was used 10 art stats and two levels would be lost.

Because of this, it wasn’t a skill to be used lightly. If it wasn’t used, however, it wouldn’t matter whether he had it or not.

He wouldn’t use it very often though. Due to the high cost he would save it for when it was absolutely necessary.

“It’s an investment... It is a necessary sacrifice to improve the chances of winning the battle.”

Weed pulled out Zahab’s engraving knife and started sculpting. He was going to sculpt a monster to animate.

“There are plenty of Orcs and dark elves already. I’ll be better off creating something that will aid me in commanding them.”

Weed started carving out long wings, sharp claws and a thick belly to create a wyvern sculpture.

Wyverns were extremely strong monsters.

Their average level exceeded 380, and their tough skin was quite resistant against both swords and magic, while in flight, their speed was comparable to that of a running horse.

But even if he was able to recreate the body, it didn’t mean that the sculpture would be as strong as the original creatures.

Its strength would be determined by his art stat, and even though the shape was similar, the difference in strength would be obvious if compared with an original.

“I don’t have very much time so sculpture will have to be a little rougher.”

If life was granted to the sculpture, his stats would disappear and his level would drop. Of course he would prefer to create a sculpture on the level of a magnum or classic. But, alas, he did not have the time for this and had to make it rather sloppily, and thinking about this brought an aching to his chest.

Even though he had resolved to create the wyvern, Weed was on the verge of tears.

A sculpture created without care, even by a master sculptor, wouldn’t turn out very great.

But this was a Wyvern sculpture was more than ten metres tall, and he wasn’t even sure that he could finish it. Even if he put in all his effort and worked for two nights straight, he only had enough time to create the general outline of a Wyvern.

Ching!

A Fine Piece!

You have successfully completed the Wyvern!

Rulers of the skies!

Fierce and tough monsters, that stands at the peak of all beasts.

They enjoy eating horses whole, and sometimes they will hunt fish swimming in the rivers.

The Wyverns have a high sense of pride, if you shoot them with an arrow while they are flying, they will let you taste instant death.

Monsters will keep their distance from the statue out of fear.

Artistic Value: 750

Special Bonuses:

- Health and Mana regeneration is increased by 10% during the day.

- Flying speed is increased by 20%.

- Agility is increased by 5

- Strength is increased by 30

- All stats are increased by 3.

The special abilities of nearby monsters are weakened during the day.

Monsters cannot go near the statue.

These effects cannot be combined with the effects of other sculptures

Fine Piece created: 12

- The Sculpting skill has improved

- Fame has increased by 6

- Stamina has increased by 1

- Charisma has increased by 1

- Charm has increased by 1

Thanks to the advanced sculpting skill, even though he didn’t put in much effort, a fine piece came out.

Still, because he was already such a well-respected sculptor, his fame didn’t rise much, he had passed the point where he could become famous for sculpting a fine piece.

Now, rather than making a fine piece it was easier to gain fame by questing and hunting. This would mean that to gain more fame from sculpting, he’d have to sculpt a grand piece.

Additionally, the stat increases weren’t very big either. The amount of stat points he received for a sculpture of this level had decreased drastically, as his sculpting skill improved.

In order to receive as big stat increases as in the the past, he would have to create a Grand Sculpture or better.

Well, a famous sculptor cannot dwell on his work. He needs to continually challenge himself to improve his sculpting.

“Alright. It’s time to use this new skill.”

Since it was actually a fine piece, he would regret the loss a little less. But Weed still hesitated to activate the skill.

It was difficult to complete the quests needed in order to gain experience, and he had just reached level 299. He only needed a little more experience to reach 300, but if he used the skill he would be two levels further from this goal.

“Well, it has to be done. ‘Sculpture life bestowal!’”

Weed gently touched the head of the Wyvern. A small crack started forming in the surface.

Pasasak!

Like a chick hatching from an egg, the wyvern broke through the shell of the statue.

By Weed’s hands, a Wyvern was born.

You have granted life to a sculpture.

The power of the sculpture is based on the level of the art stat.

The art stat is currently 790, so the sculpture’s base level will be 359.

However, due to the monster being a flying-type, a 10% level penalty will be applied.

Additionally, two affinities are bestowed upon the sculpture when life is granted to it.

The affinities vary in power according to the form and quality of the sculpture.

- Wind affinity (100%).

- Fire affinity (30%).

- The creature’s flying speed is greatly increased, and the creature will be partly resistant to fire magic.

- 5000 mana has been used

Level has dropped by 2

Due to the decrease in level, 10 points have been deduced from your most recently upgraded stat. The stats will be regained once you regain the lost levels.

The Art stat has dropped by 10

The stat can be increased again through any activity related to sculpting or other art forms.

Please be careful with the sculpture’s life.

Upon death, the sculpture must be granted life again to return its soul.

The sculpture cannot be revived if it has been completely destroyed.

A true miracle!

He had made a living wyvern.

“Wow, that went well.”

Weed inspected his creation.

Granting life to sculptures seemed to be a very convenient skill. To make sculptures whose power was based on the art stat!.. Sculptures with mighty strength and high agility, who’d be able to move around and fight monsters... for the artisan classes who weren’t suited for fighting, a skill like this felt like a dream.

The skill was created by the master sculptor Emperor Geihar von Arpen, the first man to unite the whole continent.

Of course, there were lots of other benefits, beside the sculptures’ fighting power.

Similarly to this skill, summoners and elementalists were able to summon beings and lead them to battle.

For those classes, any amount of items or experience gained by the summoned creatures would be transferred to the summoner.

However, when it came to sculptures they kept the experience and level individually.

A sculpture’s initial strength depended on the art stat, but if led well by a sculptor, it would grow stronger and more powerful.

Animated sculptures were typically a little stronger than elementals and other similar summons.

Additionally there was no limit to the number of sculptures that could be active at the same time.

There was however a crucial difference between summons and animated sculptures when they are killed.

When a summoned being is killed, the summoner can just use an ability to resummon it.

It is very common for an elemental to be killed in battle. However, the only thing required to resummon it is a little mana, so it is only a tiny loss.

But it’s different for animated sculptures.

If a living sculpture suffers a fatal blow, the life given will leave it, and if it’s completely destroyed and the parts dispersed, it cannot be repaired.

In some way Weed dreaded the loss of a sculpture brought to life by sacrificing two levels and ten points in the art stat more than dying himself.

“It’s not a skill to be used carelessly. However, if I increase my art stat it might prove very, very beneficial to me”

A sculptor’s highest stat was his art stat. If it was used correctly, it could even make up for the generally bad fighting strength. A Sculptor who cannot fight, can just make a sculpture fight for him.

Before Weed’s eyes, the wyvern spread its wings and turned around. The head alone was the size of a whole person. Its stomach bulged, as it spoke for the first time.

“Master!”

A loyal steed.

Weed was overwhelmingly pleased.

“Yes, I am your master.”

However, the wyvern had a question after having displeased looked over its body

“Why am I so ugly?”

"......"

“Did you sculpt me with your feet?”

"......"

“I’m really disappointed to have come to life this ugly”

Sculptures had great pride indeed!

The Wyvern wasn’t satisfied with its body, and was very displeased.

He hadn’t had enough time to sculpt the large body thoroughly. Due to this, there were places here and there that he hadn’t really worked on.

Parts of the wyvern been very roughly carved, the wyvern was really a crude and incomplete sculpture.

“Anyway, I brought you to life, so I’m your parent. From now on, you will do best to follow me. You should even be willing to sacrifice your body to save me, since I’m your parent”

Weed didn’t intend to let his ‘childbirth’ go to waste though.

He had no intentions of losing the wyvern after granting it life. To get as much use out of it as possible, he intended to thoroughly pamper it.

The wyvern didn’t share Weed’s point of view, and had something to say.

“I would have preferred not being born.”

"......"

The wyvern was very prideful, and wouldn’t listen to him. Soon enough, though, Weed had an idea.

Such a demanding person would probably be a sucker for flattery!

He would just have to thoroughly flatter the wyvern, by playing on its pride.

“Listen to me. Your face might be a bit angular, but it just serves to make you look stronger and more masculine. Don’t you think so?”

“Wahahahaha!”

The simple-minded wyvern was easily won over by the silver-tongued Weed.

“Master is nice. He seems to be a worthy person to serve”

“Yes of course, I created you. Now follow my orders closely.”

“I will. But what is my name?”

Weed had to decide on a name for the wyvern that he had brought to life.

“Master, find a good name... please.”

The Wyvern had high expectations. As a sculpture with a lot of self-respect, it wanted a name full of strength and pride.

Weed pored over it for a while, and in the end he decided on a name

“Let’s call you Wy-1”

“I don’t know what that is, but it sounds good. What does it mean?”

“It means ‘the coolest guy in the sky’.”

As Weed said this, the wyvern flapped his wings. They were mighty wings, that could easily harness the air to its fullest effect.

“I like it very much.”

“Yeah. It’s a name I picked just for you, Wy-1.”

Weed, the silver-tongued negotiator!

“Thank you for naming me master, but there’s something I’ve been wondering about.”

“What?”

“My siblings. If you make other sculptures like me, what will they be called?”

Weed thought about what he’d call the others when the time came. He decided to name them similarly to Wy-1.

“Wy-2”.

“Will that be the name of my next sibling?”

“Yes.”

“And my sibling after that?”

“Wy-3.”

“Those are some very nice names. I like them very much.”

The wyvern continued to flap his wings in joy. At this moment, Weed was confirmed in his decision.

This was the whole point with generations! The other wyverns would surely be satisfied with their names too.

Just like the bird clans in Lavias, the City of Heaven, all winged creatures weren’t very smart.

Furthermore, this guy was carved from a piece of rock. His head was practically made of stone, and thus Weed wasn’t very surprised that his intelligence wasn’t much better than that of a rock.

“Let us depart. Carry me”

“Yes master”

Weed climbed onto the Wyvern’s head.

*Whoosh, whoosh*

The wings beat a few times, and then they were floating through the air towards the light. They were very high in the sky, and he could see the entire canyon below him.

Soaring, Weed recognized small dots below him as the flower garden and the masterpiece he had sculpted. That would be the sculpture that truly represented Seoyoon's inner being.

“I do not know when we'll meet again, O most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen”.

Weed shook his head in regret.

She should have realized by now, that all those sculptures were modelled after her.

“I’ll be more careful the next time we meet. And pray that you won’t kill me”

The flying wyvern didn’t meet any trouble from the monsters on the ground. Meanwhile Weed was struck breathless by the view of the landscape below.

He finally left the Yunopu canyon and rode towards his destination, the Yuroki mountain range.

* * *

"......"

Seoyoon tried to smile. She wanted to smile the same bright smile as the statues.

Tears could flow easily, but to laugh again was impossible.

Somehow, that was how she felt.

*drip, drip, drip*

Her red lips moved a little.

It was nowhere near perfect, but she was smiling.

She was thrilled by this fortunate turn of events!

“Perhaps I will even be able to laugh?”

But at this thought, her face fell. There was still important things she couldn’t do.

She still couldn’t speak or laugh.

However awkward it was, the smile was pretty, and this brightened her frowning face.

The white-skinned beauty with countless statues depicting her beauty.

On a background of a canyon’s precipice, a lone girl stands beside a statue.

It seemed to Seoyoon, that the world had just become a slightly brighter place.

* * *

*Rattle rattle* (some sound of wheels on pavement)

A merchant’s wagon, carrying a load of goods was arriving at the city. After a long and arduous journey, it had finally arrived at its destination..

The merchant at the driver’s seat turned to the man lying on top of the wagon.

“Sir, we have arrived."

“Is that so?”

The man jumped down from the wagon, landing on his feet.

“This seems to be the Kingdom of Prain.”

He was broad-shouldered with a suntanned face.

With short cropped hair and an ignorant expression, his appearance was quite plain.

Geomchi 449!

Geomchi 449 had safely arrived at the kingdom of Prain.

His level was actually pretty low compared to most of his colleagues, who had an average level of 241.

However, there was a reason why he was still level 200.

He had entered the forest alone to hunt deers at level 5, with a single purpose!

“Deer blood is soo delicious...”

He remembered the iron straw going through the deer’s neck several times before it died.

It was a pain that he couldn’t share this with anyone.

“Everything’s alright for a warrior, as long as he has his sword”

Geomchi 449 travelled with a lengthy strides and a powerful gait.

All he had was his shabby clothes and a bag full of swords.

He spent all the gold he earned from hunting on food and swords.

“A true swordsman only needs a sword. Armour will just be a burden.”

Geomchi 449 was searching for strong and famous warriors in the kingdom of Prain.

Swordsmen, warriors, knights, paladins...

As long as they used a weapon, their class didn’t matter.

He just wanted to become stronger.

“I’ve heard that you are one of the strongest people in this city. I challenge you to a duel.”

The challenged person was taken aback. Seeing Geomchi 449 in his shabby clothes, the person couldn’t help but ask him.

“Are you out of your mind? My level is 280. Your level seems low and you’re not even properly equipped”

“I don’t mind. Will you accept the challenge?”

Most people that receive a challenge will accept without much thought, merely thinking of it as another kind of entertainment.

“Alright. You’d better not regret this after I’ve beaten you”

“Of course I won’t.”

The person Geomchi 449 was going to duel, was a paladin.

For some reason, the paladin was struck by a sense of foreboding about the duel.

“You just wander in and challenge me wearing shoddy clothes like that.... I don’t know who you are, but fight properly, okay?”

“Holy Shield!”

The paladin cast holy shield, one of his basic skills.

“Sun god’s divine protection! Warrior’s Blessing!”

Paladins used blessings to protect themselves, and to increase their fighting strength.

They could also heal themselves in critical situations.

Due to this, most people tended to avoid dueling paladins.

Paladins could heal up their wounds very quickly, so if you didn’t inflict enough damage they would just recover more health than they lost.

“Holy Blade!”

The paladin’s sword became coated in white light.

Holy flames appeared whenever the sword was swung.

The skill used a fair chunk of mana to add a splash effect to the paladin’s attacks.

“Here I come.”

Whenever the paladin swung his sword, white flames appeared.

Geomchi 449 jumped around, dodging the flames.

“It affects an increasingly large area... The longer the match takes, the more dangerous this will get for me”

Geomchi 449 ran into the fire, even though he risked losing some of his health, and raised his sword as he approached the paladin.

“Head!”

The surprised paladin blocked the attack with his sword.

*sliiiide*...

Geomchi 449’s sword slid past the paladin’s sword like a snake.

“Wrist!”

This time, his sword was aimed at the paladin’s wrist.

Once again, the paladin narrowly dodged the attack.

The paladin’s eyes finally sharpened, he had seen countless battles.

Usually duels like these were decided by the duelers’ levels, normally, a battle with a level difference like this would have already ended. His opponent was resisting impressively, despite the big level gap.

“Very well”

The paladin raised his sword to his chest, and released it with all of his might.

“Bash!”

The Paladin had composed himself, and began a series of powerful sword strikes.

The power gathered in the sword made the strikes very powerful. This time he intended to fight with his full power from the beginning.

Without the slightest hint of anxiety, Geomchi 449 changed his fighting stance.

His opponent’s attacks were very straightforward, and he dodged them smoothly by moving his waist and ankles. His sword grazed the paladin’s side and made a small wound, but the damage inflicted was hardly noticeable.

Geomchi 449’s healthpoints had dropped by 20% when he was hit by the “Holy Blade” earlier; On the other hand, the paladin had only suffered slightly from the wound in his side.

The Paladin’s defensive blessings had nullified most of the damage, but despite this the wound restricted the paladin from moving as freely as before.

A murmuring crowd of spectators had gathered to watch the duel.

“This person...”

“I’ve heard rumours about people like him, who travel around in search of strong people to challenge”

“People who hunt strong monsters and players, relying solely on their swordsmanship.”

“Could he be one of them!”

Lots of rumours were being spread about the Geomchis on the continent of Versailles.

The level of Geomchi 449 was low, and he was very susceptible to paladin’s attacks. Despite his skill at martial arts, the 80 level difference would eventually wear him out. In addition to his lack of armour, his defense stat was also quite low but to do it like this was his objective.

“Only by fighting people that are stronger than me, can I hope to improve my sword technique”

I need to think and act faster. I’ll have to train for a long time, if I am to have any hope of winning against opponents with such an overwhelming advantage, otherwise I’ll just lose to the strength of their skills and spells.

Geomchi 449 didn’t only fight humans. He also fought monsters at hunting grounds, whose names he didn’t know.

Facing unknown monsters in an unknown terrain. He just jumped into the fray, and saved doing the thinking for afterwards.

Just like the other Geomchis, the goal of Geomchi 449 wasn’t to reach a high level. His true goal was to improve his concentration, by fighting strong opponents. Due to his lack of spells and abilities, he could only depend on his swordsmanship and movement.

While searching for strong opponents throughout the Versailles continent, Geomchi-449 had fought countless monsters. All of the Geomchis from 6 to 505 was currently travelling to polish their swordsmanship. By doing good deeds along the way, they also fulfilled their duty as warriors.

Although this wasn’t the fastest way to level up, all kinds of battle related experience was gained by doing it this way.

Meanwhile, the first six Geomchis were cooking and eating lots of food at the Serabourg Castle.

“It feels all lonely, now that the disciples have left”

Geomchi 2 smiled after hearing Geomchi’s words.

“Well, it isn’t often that we get to take a breather like this”

“True”

Geomchi 3 added to this:

“I’m sure that the disciples will benefit greatly from their experiences in this world”

Geomchi 4 and Geomchi 5 also joined in with their opinions:

“If one seeks to strengthen his swordsmanship, he must first strengthen himself. If they get more real fighting experience, their swordsmanship is bound to improve as well”.

“That’s true”

Feeling satisfied, Geomchi resumed eating and drinking.

“As expected, it was a wise decision to send the disciples out to train on their own.”

“Indeed, Master”

Geomchi 2 smiled. With the matter resolved, he and the other instructors, started eating too.

The food had been paid for by the disciples.

The students had no use for money during their training.

And the instructors could surely put it to better use.

Following this logic, all the students were “firmly advised” to ‘donate’ their earnings to the instructors.

* * *

In the Yuroki Mountains, all of the Orcs, dark elves and humans residing in the plains of despair had gathered.

The leaders of each race had come together peacefully!

They had united despite their differences to fight against their common enemy, the undead legion.

“I thought you had run away”, the Necromancer told weed in a contemptuous voice, however, upon seeing Weed’s annoyed look, he quickly regretted it.

Upon returning to the rocky mountain range, Weed had used his Sculptural Shapeshifting ability to change form to an Orc.

The fat and proud Orc Karichwi, with a mouth full of wicked teeth, vicious-looking eyes and a constantly running nose.

This ugliness, while not very favoured by the humans, was very impressive to the Orcs and served to further bolster his charisma.

“What’s the status of the undead legion”, Weed asked.

“There’s only two days until they’ll arrive. The lich Shire will break off from Bar Khan’s main army and bring a contingent here from the mountains to the east. We need to prepare for when the undead legion comes to spread death through the land.”

The undead legion would be advancing from the large pit to the east of the mountain.

He could see an ominous red mist rising from the direction of the pit.

It had a dark and dirt-stained colour. An increasing amount of smoke was flowing out from the pit and was slowly coloring the entire sky a dark red.

It must be an extraordinarily large army.

The necromancer explained:

“When the sky has turned completely red. When this has happened, the magic power of Shire will increase greatly, and the undead legion will start their advance.

Suddenly, Weed heard a voice inside his head.

– "Weed, I’ve arrived at the foot of the mountain”, he heard Mapan’s voice saying.

Mapan had finally arrived after crossing the plains of despair, with his wagon fully loaded with silver bars and arrows from the Rosenheim Kingdom.

Choosing to become a merchant wasn’t a good idea, unless you were very diligent.

Many things were needed in order to successfully make profit from the buying and selling of goods.

First you had to learn the local market prices, and improve your reputation with the local residents as much as possible.

The combat classes got stronger by hunting at hunting grounds or dungeons, while a merchant had to travel around and sell goods instead.

The merchant class was the most sensitive to changes in different towns, wherever they went, merchants would easily be accepted and increase their reputation.

Due to these attributes, merchants received quests much more easily, and whenever they entered a shop, they could receive all kinds of quests suited for a merchant; from finding a missing ribbon to reading and summarizing a book.

When they had gained the right amount of experience and information, very important quests might also show up, making it possible to invest in a town or province.

When a certain level of reputation has been reached, it’s also possible to buy all goods cheaper and to buy special goods that are not usually available.

It was Mapan’s dream to earn the money needed to buy a whole village.

– ”What do I do now? It’s going to be troublesome to get the wagon through the mountains.”

– ”Wait there, I’ll send someone to show you the way”

Weed pointed at some Orcs.

“You guys, chwiik!”

“Chwit chwit chwit! Command us.”

“There is a human at the bottom of the mountain, bringing us some goods in his wagon. Bring him here, and be careful not to frighten him”

“Understood. Chwichwik!”

The Orcs took off without a second’s notice.

* * *

Mapan was relaxing while waiting for Weed.

He had crossed the Plains of Despair, and was now at the Mountain. The mountain was lush, with birds chirping in the dense forests, and a lush breeze gently blowing through the plains.

“It feels really good to have come here”

Mapan was entranced by the scenery.

There was a flowing river in front of the mountain range.

The clear river was teeming with fish, and numerous deer and giraffes were grazing on the plains.

“This mountain is the best after all.”

Mapan was very satisfied with the view.

Since he was a merchant, he always picked the safest possible routes when travelling, so he rarely went over mountains.

The mountain range reminded him of the time he and weed travelled to the kingdom of Briton.

The rocky mountain range was truly magnificent, but the many rocky cliffs made it hard to traverse.

Near the top of the mountain, the trees were covered in snow.

The wind was a little bit chilly, but travelling at this climate was perfect.

Mapan felt that the terrain was somehow familiar.

“Have I been here before? This is certainly my first time here, but seeing this place.....”

But it was so remote...

Mapan could never have seen this before. Nevertheless, he felt a twinge of familiarity.

Even the snowy clouds near the top of the mountain felt oddly familiar.

“Where have I seen this?”

Orcs were coming down from the mountain.

Mapan handed the carriage over to the Orcs with trembling hands.

“Drunk-ik! Carriage. Me take care of”

Mapan felt faint and baffled as he listened to the Orcs. Why were they acting like this?

“Ah right, the Hall of Fame! I saw those mountains in a Hall of Fame video”

Mapan felt very excited, but still couldn’t really believe that Orcs like these existed.

“What’s the deal with this, Chwik!”, the Orc then asked while waving his Glaive

“Human! Bring to Karichwi. Chwichwik!”

The Orcs started ascending the mountain again, easily carrying the load that Mapan had struggled to get there.

Mapan nervously followed the Orcs as they lead him, and when he saw the citadel of the Dark Elves, he cried in relief.

“It’s here. This is the destination.”

At the front of the Orcs was Weed, transformed into Karichwi.

“Thank you for the work Mapan. Chwiik! “

The Chwiik sounded oddly familiar.

Mapan realized that Karichwi was actually Weed in disguise.

He was pretending to be an Orc.

“Weed! This situation...”

“More stories, chwik! We will talk later, now it’s finally time to get started. Lucille!”

Weed had met an exiled blacksmith in the village named Lucille.

"Chwichit. Here, come and start smithing the weapons”

“Understood”

The human smiths quickly brought the materials from the wagon to the forge, and began working on them.

Once properly equipped, the humans, Orcs and dark elves would do far more damage to the undead.

However, the dark elves were proud and didn’t feel like obeying .

“Pfft, it’s only made of silver”

“What’s with these crude weapons? Wouldn’t our mythril swords serve us better?

“These so-called ‘crude’ weapons will crucial in the fight!” Weed said.

Weed had spent his entire fortune on these ‘crude’ weapons, that the dark elves were now trying to discard.

However the Orcs liked him and didn’t mind.

'My weapon is so strong, chwiik!'

“It’s so shiny.”

The simple-minded Orcs were quite happy with their new silver weapons.

Weed’s plan of how to fight against the undead legion was finally nearing it’s execution.

This time, Weed’s strategy to fight against the undead legion wasn’t improvised.

'“The Orcs will be the vanguard, and the dark elves will be at the rear.”

As the strategist he was, he arranged their placement with utmost care.

The silver arrows that Mapan had brought were immediately distributed to the Dark Elves.

Their archers were amazing, even when they were only using oaken bows and arrows.

Their power shouldn’t be underestimated.

The preparations for the war were almost complete.

The Orcs and dark elves had nearly finished gathering.

The dark elves had finished building the castle walls.

Additionally, trenches had been dug in front of the walls.

The height difference would make it easier to defend against a siege.

The elves gathered, and the Orcs swarmed.

The humans were instructed, and began reinforcing the castle.

The castle was finally completed. It was huge and beautiful!

A long stretch of wall had been erected along the length of the entire ridge.

At the top of each tower, there were cauldrons filled with burning tar.

Now they were making oak gates

Weed had nearly overseen the completion of the defenses. But if one looked closer, it was pretty shabbily constructed overall.

Everything seemed to be able to collapse without a moment’s notice.

It was because the Orcs were so lazy and stupid. The dark elves actually did their jobs properly, but were small in number in comparison

“It’ll be fine, the undead aren’t very bright.”

Weed didn’t want to, but he was forced to abandon overseeing the last part to grant life to more sculptures.

Of course, creating just one meant that Weed would lose another two levels.

The novice strategy might be to try to make 100. Anyway, it was now due time to create more sculptures.

“Nothing comes for free; You can’t expect to complete an A-rank quest without doing something extraordinary.” Weed’s tears dried as he completed the first sculpture.

Each time a sculpture was granted life, his level fell by two. Although it pained his heart, it was a necessary investment.

There were only two days left until the confrontation with the immortal army; in that time Weed’s level dropped to 279 as he granted life to nine more Wyverns.

Chapter 2: Undead Legion

“Dark red smoke obscures the crimson sun. Chwiik! The land is locked in darkness, even the birds have stopped singing. Chwikchwik!”

Weed stood on the nearby rocks and muttered to himself.

Because his achievement should be listed in the Hall of Fame after the quest was completed, Weed would be able to assume airs related to it.

Weed was standing in front of a million Orcs and a hundred-thirty thousand Dark Elves.

In truth, even with the million Orcs, Weed still felt uneasy.

There was a disturbing feeling that made him shiver.

The Orcs were organized in regiments of thirty- and fifty-thousand members. On the battlefield, the Orc regiments spread without end.

You couldn’t even see them all. There were more Orcs than there were trees on a mountain.

The black-skinned Dark Elves gathered in an enormous group.

Any normal human being could not help but shrink in fear.

The mountains were literally crawling with monsters.

They rode beside the ridge, the line of defense guarded by the Orcs and Dark Elves along the bottom to the top of the walls.

The humans from the village in the Plain of Despair gathered beside him. The priests of Freya and the Soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom had all gathered in one place.

With so many monsters under his command, Weed was in an ecstatic mood.

Weed was so excited that he began to sing on top of the rock.

“Die Undead Legion, die! Chwichwi chwiik! Who is going to win? I am going to win! Lovable Undead. Give me experience and items! Appear already, Undead! Hurry up and appear!”

Unbelievable tone-deafness!

Within Weeds singing there were no rhymes, no rhythm, or anything that sounded appealing at all!

Weed’s song only lead to distress the Orcs and Dark Elves further.

“Somebody stop that song!”

“Oh, even to us Orcs, this song is repulsive! Chwiik!"

“It brings disgrace, humiliation, and despair on our race. Chwichwit!”

As the Orcs became more and more annoyed, Weed sang with ever more vigor and happiness.

Suddenly...

*RUMBLE!*

The ground shook so much that the human, elves, and Orc Soldiers couldn’t stand properly anymore, while the dark red smoke grew thicker in the air, spreading throughout the battlefield.

Weed looked at the Necromancer and spoke.

“The Undead Legion has awoken from its long and deep slumber. We won’t find peace before we grant all the Undead eternal rest. If we are unable to put the Undead to rest, we will be slaves for eternity.”

Finally, it began.

Weed finally stopped singing and looked toward the Undead Legion.

From the faraway pit, Skeletons, Ghouls, and Zombies suddenly emerged. The Undead Army continuously appeared, forming a line.

*RATTLE RATTLE*

The clashing sound of the skeleton joint was regularly heard, while smoldering blue smokes appeared from the zombie bodies.

The Zombies release a lethal poison that would kill a human in minutes unless an antidote was administered.

*Stomp, stomp, stomp!*

The ghoul generals leading the Zombies and Skeletons were three metres tall.

Ghouls had sharp nails and teeth with far superior physical abilities than the average Undead skeleton!

“Yes... I can smell living flesh and blood nearby!”

“We will turn all of you into undeads like us.”

“Let’s be friends.”

From the nearby lakes, Ghosts started to break through the water surface, joining with the other Undead hordes.

The Undead Legion started to move without any sign of disorder.

The Skeletons moved in a precise line, and though the Zombies were slow, they gradually made their way forward.

*Whooosh*

As the Undead Legion advanced, the trees and grass in their path withered and dried from their poison.

In comparison, the Orcs and Dark Elves did not look organized at all.

“The Undead are finally here! Chwik chwik!”

“Those damn bastards. Chwichiik!”

“What should we do? Chwik!”

“It smells bad. It feels so painful since we Dark Elves have keen senses.”

“It’s really depressing that a graceful elf like me must fight against such corpses. The thought of it makes me want to run away right now.”

The Orcs and Dark Elves fell into confusion with the appearance of the Undead Legion.

The armies moral was running low after watching Legions of Undead crawling out of the ground.

The pressure and fear generated by the Undead Legion was extremely effective.

Any living creature would find it hard to utilize their full ability while fighting the Undead Legion.

Due to the difference in levels and power, the Rosenheim Kingdom’s Soldiers were especially vulnerable to the Undead legion’s fearsome aura. Already, there were Soldiers who became sick with fear.

“I want to go home.”

“There are too many enemies.”

“How can we win against such a large Army?”

Buran, Becker, Hosram, and Dale, who were all centurions, were trying to calm their Soldiers.

“It’s okay. The fear will only last a moment.”

“Don’t worry. Once we start fighting, the bloodlust will comfort you. It is not everyday that we get a chance to make a huge impact on the world.”

“We will meet again even after death.”

The Soldiers became even more depressed and started bursting into tears.

Mapan stood frightened behind a group of Rosenheim Soldiers. The only thing keeping him on the battlefield was the thought about grabbing all the high-level, quality loot from the Undead!

“So that’s the Undead Army!”

Feeling the hair standing on the back of his neck, Mapan hesitated.

The enormous and all-consuming Undead Legion was marching forward!

The Zombies shambled at a slow pace, while the skeleton’s joint creaked as they moved.

Seeing the Skeletons holding their rusted swords, Mapan was one of the first to feel frightened.

*Gulp!*

Mapan’s saliva dried on the top of his throat.

‘How should we stop that Weed....’

Involuntarily, Mapan looked up above.

There he found Weed had transformed into the Orc Karichwi.

Weed showed a completely serene face.

Even while facing a threatening situation, Weed was able to keep calm.

‘Aren’t there almost a hundred-thousand Zombies, Skeletons, and Ghouls?’

The vanguard of the immortal Legion!

Since there was still quite a gap between them, Weed waited patiently.

The monsters themselves were not to be feared.

They only needed to be grabbed and beaten down.

However, Weed was the only one who thought like that.

The Orcs and Dark Elves were completely terrified.

When almost all of the Skeletons had reached the wall, Weed gave an order.

“Filthy fellows. Chwiik! Don't they take baths. The disgusting smell even reaches up here.”

“......?”

The curious Orcs and Dark Elves listened to Weed’s speech.

“If you turn into Undead, you won’t be able to bathe. Then, as time passed, you’ll go bald. You also won’t be able to eat. You will starve and your stomach will become thin. So fight and crush them!”

“Chwiik chwiik!”

“Kill the Undead!”

The spirits of the elegant Dark Elves and the gluttonous Orcs immediately returned after hearing Weed’s words.

Weed took out his glaive and signaled the start of the battle against the Undead Legion!

The Orcs raised their shields and drew their glaives.

The Dark Elves took out their javelins and targeted the Skeletons as soon as they saw an opening.

The battle to decide the faith of each race began!

Mapan was shocked.

With a few words, Weed had managed to recover the Orcs’ and Dark Elves’ morale and raised their spirit to fight.

‘So this is what Weed is capable of...’

In reality, it was not even that surprising.

It was completely natural for Weed to treat the Orcs similarly to how he treated the Geomchis, since he was already used to their particular attachment to food.

The Orcs and Dark Elves fought fiercely from the high grounds. The Zombies and Skeletons were forced to scale the walls and had a terrain disadvantage.

Facing the Zombies and Skeletons on high ground, they did not have a hard time.

Several Orcs died because of the pincer attack, but those that had died were the ones that simply ran out of luck.

Even if the Zombies and Skeletons were stronger than usual, they didn’t give Weed’s Army any particular problems.

The amount of damage dealt by the Ghouls was substantial.

“D-Death, life, give it up. We will make you our… f-friends.”

Ghouls threw poison which scattered, destroying trees and Orcs alike.

The Orcs took a considerable drop in health upon each hit.

Ordinary Orcs couldn’t possibly hope to fight the Ghouls equally.

However, Orc fighters threw themselves in unison according to Weed’s instructions and overwhelmed the Ghouls.

Dreadful number of Orcs!

The scale should theoretically be tipped in their favor by winning the skirmishes against the Zombies and the Skeletons.

Even if one assumed some damage was taken, such minuscule amounts could be ignored.

The speciality of the ghoul forces was to consume the corpses of the fallen to restore their bodies and increase their strength.

But with only a slight number of dead Orcs and Dark Elves in the vicinity, their specialty couldn’t be used often.

The Rosenheim Kingdom Soldiers also eagerly took part.

Weed hunted the Zombies and Skeletons, supported by the priests’ healing and blessing spells.

When a ghoul came too close, the Royal Knights watched over the Soldiers to make sure that they didn’t die.

“Buren, Becker, Hosram, Dale! Penetrate enemy lines with the Soldiers. Priests, focus on healing the Soldiers.”

Weed utilized the Rosenheim Kingdom Soldiers to clean up the remaining enemies.

While the Royal Knights were maintaining safety, the Soldiers went to finish the rest of Zombies and Skeletons.

After around three hours of combat, the Undead Legion lost their strength and started to falter.

The battle was still on going, but victory would almost certainly go to the Orcs.

“Uwaa!”

Mapan enthusiastically applaud.

“Outstanding! The battle between the Undead Army and the Orcs! The long wait was worthwhile.”

It was a wonderful scene, seen from the best seat.

But Weed’s tension hadn’t changed at all from his attitude before the battle.

‘It was that kind of feeling. Every time things go too smoothly, something will go wrong!’

Weed continued to issue orders continuously

The Orcs and the Dark Elves who participated in the battle were tired and wanted to rest.

The Orcs with serious wounds were taken towards Weed, to the place that could be called their headquarters.

“First Aid!”

*Paraaaak!*

Weed was applying loose bandages like crazy.

He applied medicinal herbs to the Orcs’ bleeding injuries before bandaging them firmly.

His Fasciation technique, having reached Advanced Level 3, marvelously stopped the Orcs’ wounds from bleeding and restored their health.

Other than wounds that caused immediate death, Fasciation could be used to treat standard wounds to some fairly large wounds.

Weed hunted for experience, while bandaging the wounded.

During his rests to restore his mana, he purposely got hit.

Stat improvements in Defense take time.

It helped to increase his Patience stats and his defensive skill.

By doing this, his skill level in Patience and Fasciation went up beautifully.

“Thank you. Chwichwik!”

Weed kept the Orcs alive by dividing them into several long units to distribute their strength, forging them into united groups, thus preventing competition between Orc warriors to maintain minimum casualties.

The Orcs that had fought were able to rest,and were allowed to eat the food Weed had prepared and to receive bandaging if needed.

“To recover, you must eat. Fight to eat. Chwichit!”

“Thank you. Karichwi!”

Food was also given to the wounded Dark Elves.

Because the Dark Elves were already used to eating grass, there was no need for additional ingredients.

The meat soup was gulped down by the Orcs, who liked meat very much.

The Orcs put their fingers in the soup and stirred it.

But no matter how long they looked, there was not enough meat.

“Karichwi, Karichwi!”

“What do you call this soup, Karichwi”

“This meat soup is decent. Chwit.”

"That's right. Chwichik.”

“Chwiik. But why, why is there no meat.”

There were only tiny bits of rabbit meat floating in the empty soup.

The Orc diets involved a lot of meat, but it would be impossible to give them what they wanted.

The Orcs had to compete for more food while they ate, so their hunger could finally be satisfied.

However, Weed wasn’t worried.

He had already surveyed the units fighting against the monsters, and accordingly assigned leaders with complementary characteristics to them to prevent casualties.

Between wrapping bandages and preparing food, he still would have been busy even if he had ten hands.

“Skill. Mind Hand”

Weed cast his treasured skill.

Mind Hand, which had seemed worthless at first, turned out to be a high quality skill.

Weed used his extra hand to cook and wind bandages faster.

Finally all the Zombies, Skeletons, and Ghouls that had come out were defeated.

The silver-plated glaives made regeneration impossible for the Undead monsters.

“Finally, the Undead Legion was defeated.”

Even though the Necromancers voiced words of celebration, Weed stayed vigilant.

‘There is no way it ends with just this!’

Without leadership, fighting spirit, and charisma, it was impossible to give orders to the Orcs and Dark Elves.

To evaluate a situation, you also need to look at the entire battlefield. By observing the battlefield, it’s easy to discover where you’re weak, and where you can reduce or add power to balance your side.

Under Weed’s command, his various production skills complemented the fighting prowess of the Orcs and Dark Elves.

Nevertheless, the degree of difficulty was rather easy in comparison to the Vampire Blood Clan.

‘It isn’t going to end like this.’

Weed gave an order.

“Chwiik! Orcs, Dark Elves, withdraw behind the castle walls. Prepare for the next battle.”

“Chwik chwik. The battle has ended!”

“We won!”

The Orcs were too busy celebrating to hear his words.

The Dark Elves were the same.

The Orcs victoriously swung their glaives in celebration, while the Dark Elves preferred to look smug.

Each of the Orc tribes were led by an Orc lord, but even they weren't listening because they were also extremely jubilant.

“Weed. Congratulations.”

Mapan was also glad.

While everyone else relaxed, Weed’s weariness grew larger.

He began yelling orders.

“Everyone return to your positions quickly! Chwichichichik!”

Skill: You have used Lion’s Roar.

- Morale increases by 200% for all allies in the influence range of Lion’s Roar.

- Any present state of confusion will be cleared.

- An extra 220% increase in Leadership will be applied for five minutes.

“He said, that’s an order!”

“His voice contains such great authority.”

“Come on, let’s go back.”

Weed’s strong leadership made the Orcs and Dark Elves return to their posts.

Depending on the power of your leadership, commands can be absolute.

Coming from the pit, an Immortal Army had monsters rushing out.

Reapers holding long sickles!

Banshees whose voice could slice the air!

Mummies that covered in bandages!

And beside the Yuroki Mountains were Ghouls and wild Undead beasts!

"Kuekuekue."

“Let us kill all of the living.”

“We will reap your lives.”

“Kiyaaaak!”

The Undead creatures launched a massive surprise attack.

While their individual abilities were questionable, he had heard that the ghoul leader's position at the axis was now weaker than before. They weren’t comparable with the Zombies and Skeletons from before, but there were many other ghoul and skeleton warriors to replace the ones that died.

“I don’t believe it!”

Mapan was devastated.

Another Immortal Army had emerged from the pits.

Suddenly, Undead Legions specialized in heavy offense filed out from the pit.

An enormous crowd madly rushed through.

The battle before was child’s play compared to this, this Army held a much more oppressive feeling to it.

For the Orcs and Dark Elves who were celebrating victory before, this was a serious blow.

It took several hours, but they had overwhelmingly won the previous battle.

Their minds were still somewhat in disbelief of the situation.

Even if the Soldiers had become absent minded, their Commander had remained vigilant.

‘As expected of Weed!’

Mapan sincerely admired his work, but Weed was thinking completely differently.

‘Lucky bastards!’

There wasn’t enough time to reform the lines.

From the start, his job wasn’t anything that allowed him to relax like the other players.

He knows that being a moonlight Sculptor is a difficult job, as his life was not an easy one.

He, himself, have no artistic ability, and when making a sculpture, It was preferable to make it big and ambitious!

Surely a pretty woman can make a nice model for a sculpture!

But, because he was sculpting masterpieces of her, he had to flee and avoid getting targeted and caught by Seoyoon.

Having never lived a grand life, Weed feel proud and honorable of having won so easily. He had moved to a safe place where, thanks to his Army’s raid on the Undead Legion, little damage reached.

“Orcs, fix your positions.”

“Chwiik! I know.”

Thanks to the effects of Lion’s Roar, through Weed’s command, the Orcs repositioned themselves.

The Orcs worked on their defensive formation. Many walls of oak were deployed and stacked along the walls of the castle by the Orc.

“Kill them!”

“Til death tears us apart!”

"Kkkiiieeehoooo!"

As for the other side of the Army, it had the effect of putting the opponents in screams and despair.

"Oh, I can’t do it."

"We’re too weak."

“I will be their friends. Enough, I want to die now.”

The Dark Elves soon started crying. The Orcs also wanted to put down their glaives.

The Priests were waiting for Weed’s orders.

“Start preparing a blessing.”

“Yes! Understood, Weed-nim.”

The Necromancers worked together with the fifty priests of the Temple of Freya from Rosenheim Kingdom.

Now they gave the Orcs blessings. Overcoming the despair and confusion brought upon them, the priest sang so they could fight.

“Oh! Spectacularly beautiful Freya, the Goddess! Your fair hand stroking through my hair, gives it infinitely deeper grace. The instrument I play is because I loved you at first sight. Love you forever, that will not change, and dedicated to you."

The priests’ stats had risen slightly through the last quests. Their level had not risen that much, but by singing a hymn, the Freya denomination’s contribution would increase.

The church hymn was about a song of a man’s love that was dedicated to Freya.

Due to the effects of the hymn, the Orcs and Dark Elves overcame the despair and prepared to battle.

In order to maximize the height difference of the terrain, the castle have large ditches built in front of the walls.

By far, it was a more favorable fight toward the Orcs and Dark Elves.

The humans from the exiled village were also a big asset to the battle. The smiths had created the silver glaives and arrows and the hunters had lay down all kinds of pitfalls throughout the mountain.

Under the castle wall, the Ghouls and the mummies received great damages as their bodies were pushed against each other.

“Eehyo hyohyo!"

On the other hand, banshees and several other types of Spectres were able to pass straight through the walls.

Some possessed the bodies of the Orcs, or flew above spraying liquid acid.

The upcoming fighting between the two would result in a large-scale battle.

At the time, Mapan was on a rock where he saw Weed. He was at the highest point of the Yuroki mountain where you can view the entire battlefield.

That was after all, the best place to send commands.

Mapan was significantly distressed, but Weed still looked as composed as ever.

‘If you had ambitions like Weed’s, there won’t be a crisis that is too much.’

With increased faith in him, Mapan followed Weed even more enthusiastically and with admiration.

Weed was actually able to calmly command the Orcs and Dark Elves. Even in the midst of crisis, when the walls crumbled and the Orcs were killed by Undead monsters, he was completely unfazed.

‘If I die, they are nothing to me.’

Selfish Weed!

To Weed, the deaths of the Orcs and Dark Elves were nothing.

Rather, Weed’s mask of serenity broke thinking the items dropped from the Undead Legion would be stolen.

There were thousands of items right under his nose that Weed desperately tried to get.

While the front lines were busy fighting, Weed did not hesitate to pick up items.

Yet, commanding the frontlines did come before picking up items.

However, because of the threat of painful, agonizing deaths, the Orcs and Dark Elves didn’t care to take command.

“Raise troop morale.”

“The right flank needs to be more engaged.”

“Before the walls break, humans repair them”

"Orcs, go for the Ghouls and mummies, and the Dark Elves with magic and spirits, take care of the Ghosts."

Weed was able to calmly and impassively analyse the situation and command his troops.

After the effect of Lion’s Roar disappears, however, his potential to command decreased.

Because of the many selfish Orc lords, Weed’s commands were obeyed slowly, or not at all.

Weed generally left the Orc officials alone, as the mana consumption for Lion’s Roar used to make the Orc lords obey was no joke.

Besides, if the authority of the Orc lords were ignored, they may get irritated.

So, turning a blind eye a little bit won’t hurt..

To successfully conduct warfare, one cannot pay attention to all the trivial details.

A prolonged battle will decrease the stamina of the Orcs and Dark Elves.

Commanding the battle, preparing the food, emergency Orc bandaging, the frenzy left no time to breathe.

Weed issued orders breathlessly.

“Orcs -- ignore the front of the battle and concentrate! Dark elves! The Ghosts are attempting an attack! Try using magic. Chwichwit!”

The Dark Elves eagerly displayed their magic .

“Flame Spear!”

“Flare!”

“Elemental Shock!”

The banshee Ghosts that flew through the walls met a barrage of spells from the waiting Dark Elves.

Flame Spear, Ominous Blaze, Elemental Shock.

Having stronger mental capacities than Orcs, Dark Elves were capable of magic ranging from frenzy magic to elemental attacks.

This magic undoubtedly came from a Ghost

*RUMBLE!* THUMP THUMP THUMP.

The burned mummies angrily battered the walls, but the Orcs stubbornly persisted.

Even the height of the walls were over ten metres.

On their favourite terrain, the Orcs stood bravely with their glaives. They relentlessly hurled insults at the Undead.

“Bring it on. Chwit!”

“Chwichik. These ignorant bastards!”

“Gonna try washing off that stench? You’ll still stink. Chichwik?”

“You are fighting against noble Orcs. Chwichwik!”

The Orcs and Dark Elves briefly worked together, efficiently fighting operating as a group.

Although their armies did not fall, the Legions of Undead were slowly being diminished.

To the Orcs fighting hard on the walls, it was a surprise.

Their allies beside the Orcs were being strangled.

“Chwichit, why?”

“Death. The end of the road. The end of life. Men, your path to an eternal life will come from me!”

Each Orc was possessed by a Ghost.

Their pupils turned pure white and poisons seeped from every part of their bodies.

Suddenly, there were *possessed* Orcs attacking from inside the city walls, throwing the battle into chaos.

In addition to the mummies, it was now necessary to fight allies, too. Because the front walls were vulnerable, many of them were beginning to be captured.

Weed observed the situation impartially.

“All free-minded Orcs, lift your weapons and attack!”

The Orcs possessed by Ghosts dropped their glaives.

The silver-plating on the weapons were worrisome for the Undead.

The free-minded Orcs attacked targeting the possessed Orcs who released their weapons.

To the possessed Orcs occupying the walls, the concentrated dark elf magic was overpowering.

Flames melted the walls, causing large chunks of ice to fall down on the possessed Orcs.

The insubstantial, intangible Ghosts were not affected by the attack.

Ghosts, Orcs, and bloody Dark Elves!

Weed actively participated in the defense of the city walls.

Because enemy forces were stronger, it was a strategic retreat.

The enemies maintained a particularly strong defense, but large numbers of Orc warriors and fighters were designated the task of searching for enemy weaknesses.

Little by little, the battle had pushed between the walls, breaking into the enemy lines.

After having seen him work a few times, Mapan continued to admire Weed.

“Weed is so amazing.”

Once again, it was wise to listen to Weed in order to win.

Weed could efficiently command the battle against the Undead in many ways.

He could keep an eye on the entire battlegrounds within his field of vision and display excellent judgement. Weed’s control of his emotions was impeccable, thought Mapan.

In reality, however, it was a little different.

Although the results were similar, there was a large difference between what Mapan felt and reality.

It was comparable to the distance between the heavens and the earth.

Weed had an extensive amount of experience from fighting countless Undead monsters. Thus, harm fell only to the Undead.

From fighting in the majority of the battle, vitality continues to fall until fighting becomes painful.

If you cannot correctly determine the number of Undead, then it will be impossible to win.

An idea of which side was at a disadvantage could be formed from observing the behaviour of the Undead along with the movements of the Orcs.

This caused an enormous amount of nagging!

“You stupid, dull, slow-ass Orcs! Chwik. Chwik chwichwik chwichik! Move quickly and as soon as possible! Chwichwichwik! Your allies are dying. Fix it already, go go go go. Chwikchwik. And the Dark Elves’ eyes are closed. Are they sleeping now? Tired already? So you’re just like the Orcs, nothing better to do, huh? With your weak bodies, what will you do? Chwithwitchwit. Why don’t you beg to be saved from punishment. Chwick!”

It was impossible to command the troops outside without nagging.

Thus, Weed commanded the Orcs to fall back through nagging and yelling. However, in fact, it was a strategic retreat. The morale of the Undead Legion rose, but it was a mistake. Weed was ready to initiate his plan.

He intentionally allowed the Undead to easily enter so that the entrance would be empty. Then the alliance surrounded them from three sides: the left, right, and front.

“Chwit chwitchwt! Kill the enemy.”

"Chit. I, Porchi (Orc’s name) , will take care of them."

The Orc fighters and warriors rushed to attack the enemy troops. The Undead who came past the walls were now facing a situation which they were almost completely surrounded.

Weed’s eyes started to shine.

“Orc troops, retreat! Isolate the Undead that are trying to break away and escape!”

Since some of the walls were handed over to the Undead, it was an opportunity.

Not only that, he even used the lion's roar to give this command.

While watching this spectacle, Mapan had renewed respect.

‘I see, by choosing not to fight, it was the golden opportunity.’

Applying flexible tactics according the the situation!

It’s easy to plan, but it’s more difficult to change plans on the spot or abandon them.

Don’t be greedy for victory. It’s impossible to create a favorable place that would allow you to defeat your enemies easily without trying.

‘Yes, that’s Weed.’

Weed expanded his view and saw the Orcs fleeing back. Closely chasing the troops were the Undead.

“Whew, how unlucky to have forgotten.”

During the fighting, a herb field was found. Many herbs comprised of yellow leaves were found growing there.

Herbs with red leaves help with vitality and the ones with green leaves help with mana. In fact, most of the herbs follow this pattern.

But the leaves that are colored black, white, purple, and yellow are also herbs. The black herbs are mostly used for black magic. The white herbs can be processed by Wizards. The purple herbs are used to create poison.

In the early days of the Versailles continent, the yellow herbs didn’t receive the attention that they should have. The herbs were the most common, widespread throughout the continent, and if they were consumed, they seemed to have no effect.

There were just a few people who chewed the yellow herbs, which they saved in case of an emergency.

Then one day, one of the programs associated with Royal Road revealed to the public about that herb.

The yellow herbs increased stamina!

Since that day, people soon began to collect the yellow herbs. Those herbs were taken from their roots and began to have value.

This herb became the most expensive of them all!

Throughout the Versailles continent, the yellow herbs disappeared in a moment. Now the seeds were completely dried out.

Since then yellow herbs have become very difficult to find, but there was a pile growing here.

The plan was changed so that during the battle, the precious herbs can be gathered.

Making the Army retreat, just for the sake of gathering the herbs.

Through nagging, the tactical operations were all done due selfishness!

Nevertheless, the situation the Orcs and Dark Elves were in would worsen in time. But still, Weed was not caught off guard.

‘Oh my corrupted luck! This simply will not end.’

* * *

Pale’s party was working hard at catching fishes in the underground dungeons of Jinn Lake.

Damn fishes.

Pale stared at their large rotting eyes rolling, then fled. Zephyr was fly fishing, and Maylon and Pale were shooting arrows.

Pale, Surka, Irene, Romuna, Hwaryeong, Zephyr, Maylon. The seven of them definitely worked and hunted together as a party. The party’s level rose significantly to two-seventy to two-eighty.

Quietly, relaxing time with each other without concentrating on leveling up. But now, the only fishes that seems to come here are from upstream.

Romuna suddenly lost her temper.

“Aaahhh! It’ll be possible to become Necromancer.”

She has been wanting to become a Necromancer. Although she was learning the brilliant flame-oriented magic, she didn’t have a well-matched aptitude.

When fighting, mana consumption was very high, so one was only able to enjoy fighting briefly after a long rest.

In comparison, Necromancers almost didn’t need a break! With a weak series of magical attacks and their Undead, a user was able to fight.

Among the top four of her dreams, she wanted to be a powerful Necromancer that had control over countless Undead Legions.

It was her dream to raise lots of Undead from the ground and demolish a city!

Of course, you would need to raise your level very high in order to do that, but she, Romuna, would not give up.

It was thrilling and fun.

That was the sole reason for choosing a Wizard in the first place.

“Haaaaaa.”

Romuna gave a heavy sigh

In recent years, Maylon, as the host of the Royal Road program, had been too busy broadcasting live to come and party with them.

However, there was another way to talk with her.

Romuna was complaining, as predicted.

“So bored. I wonder when Weed-nim is coming? It’s a little boring always hunting in the Lake of Elementals. Even though it gives a lot of experience.”

“Yeah. He’s taking a long time”

The officials were quite curious.

It was said he was on a quest in the Plains of Despair.

According to Mapan, he had successfully completed the quest, but Weed still had not returned to Rosenheim Kingdom.

“It’s boring without Weed-nim.”

No matter what you did, working together with Weed was exciting. They eagerly established pyramids, hunting together on the frontiers. The tension and thrill of doing something significant created a sense of accomplishment. The sight of his various production skills, like cooking and sculpture, was also a pleasure.

“Strangely, I haven’t had contact with Mapan-nim these days . . . He hasn’t sent a whisper to me once.”

Eventually, Pale went ahead and sent a whisper to Mapan.

– It’s Pale. How have you been doing?

Only a few minutes had passed when Mapan answered.

– Yes? You messaged me? Yes, yes, yes! But what did you want to ask me?

– It’s Pale. I meant to ask you what you’ve been doing.

– Yes. Hello, I’m very well.

Pale was puzzled.

He was normally friendly and outgoing when you spoke to him, but Mapan seemed distracted by something.

– Can you talk right now?

– Yes. , I can talk.

Pale tilted his head to one side, puzzled, but continued to speak.

– Where in the village are you doing business? If you’re bored, we’ll come and party with you. Mapan must also level up.

– I’m not. I’m not doing any business right now … Kkkuueeeeg!

He made a noise like a strangled pig!

A long time passed before Mapan sent another whisper.

– It’s ended for now. A Spectre just charmed a group of Orcs just now, so I was surprised.

– Pardon? A Spectre?

– Kyaah! The battle is really amazing.

Pale shook his head. He couldn’t seem to understand Mapan’s story.

– Fighting Spectres? What are you talking about now?

– I’m saying I’m here with Weed-nim!

– You’re with Weed-nim? When did you meet?

– A few days ago. I just thought I would be transporting goods for a client. Eulaaaaaaa! I’m sorry. Just now, one of the walls of the possessed Orcs was seized. Very shocking . . . Anyway, this is Weed-nim’s battle.

– Battle?

– Battle! The Battle of the Yuroki Mountains.

– What’s that ... Where are the Yuroki Mountains?

– I’m at the Plains of Despair right now. I’m here watching Weed-nim’s battle.

– And what do you mean by “orcles” …...?

– I said Orcs! Orcs, Orcs! The famous ugly Orc from the Hall of Fame! That’s Weed-nim!

– Keeeeek!

Pale was startled.

When Weed left for a B-class difficulty quest in the Plains of Despair, they did not ask any questions.

They were curious, but had thought asking for details about the difficult request he was leaving for would be impolite.

First he was in combat against the Necromancer, and now he was at war against Legions of the Undead!

Pale immediately told his party about the information as they persisted to know.

“What did you say?”

"Weed, is he that fat Orc?"

“Weed is a Sculptor. How could he possibly do those quests?”

Focused hunting within dark dungeons, the party was too busy to hear the latest rumours.

So the most recent rumours were the ones they were unaware of until they ended.

“Once you know where it is, you should ask!”

– So how is it now? Do the Orcs and Dark Elves listen well? The Orc lord, Gulchi, looked the most handsome and strong.

Surka and Hwaryeong questioned, and even the normally cold and cynical Romuna joined in.

“Necromancer! Is it possible that this is the Necromancer from before?”

A former Necromancer was vital for Wizards.

Romuna excitedly spouting many questions was no surprise.

Each party member chattered to the wind, but Pale paid them no mind.

Ignoring the opinions of his party, Pale eventually just asked Mapan questions.

– How is the battle against the Undead Legion?

– Just Zombies burning; the battle against the Ghosts are coming to an end. It’s been 10 hours already. It’s a extraordinary battle! I didn’t expect to see such a large-scale battle. It was really worthwhile to come here.

– Is the battle close to ending?

– Yes. It seems to me that under Weed’s command, his Orc Army will win. . I can’t say for sure because Weed has a very negative expression.

– Why?

– I don’t know. I saw his expression harden with realisation ... Theoretically though, in a few hours we’ll be able to gain victory against the last dead enemy .

Pale, who heard the story up until that point, suddenly felt like paying the place a visit. Then Romuna’s nails bit into Pale’s body and said,

“Pale, we’re going!”

“We?”

“Yes, I’ll even buy a horse in order to make it in time”

Even if the ride was fast, many horses are needed to change mount whenever they lose stamina and the trip will take a few days. But Pale and his party were unanimous in conviction.

“Yeah, let’s go see!”

“We’re going to see those Orcs.”

“Woohoo! Let’s get going!”

* * *

"Klkkiiiiiiiieeeheeeehooohyoooohoooo!"

Finally, the howling of the Banshee marked that the Undead Legion has been annihilated. Three out of the eight walls been destroyed and two hundred and thirty thousand Orcs lost their lives.

The Orcs were busy fighting, and forced to take a considerable amount of time.

Weed gave the Orcs time to relax in middle of the battle. These were measures so that the health regeneration and stamina consumption does not exhaust their physical strength.

The Dark Elves were also given time to meditation to conserve mana.

Maintaining the top condition of the Army as much as possible!

Quite a lot of time had passed since the battle and the Orcs and Dark Elves were slowly rejuvenated.

Incompetent commanders would just follow their initial plans and rely only on their allies’ powers. This was an established, simple formula for victory.

With Weed, there was a difference. The Orcs had been through a lot of hardships, considering the chronic fatigue they had. It was a serious matter for his allies to have suitable amounts of comfortable rest.

Weed did not cede to the tension.

‘So far, the battle has not been very difficult.’

If a lesser Commander had been leading the Army, a third of the Orcs would have been slaughtered. It was a battle where anything was possible.

With the dead Orcs, the situation with the Undead was becoming extremely disadvantageous for the battle.

The walls provided great benefit to defense, where if they were not there, the Dark Elves’ magic would not be able to be properly used.

Because of the mummies and their power to burn through the walls of the castle and the Ghosts possessing bodies, they were in middle of the entire conflict.

Nevertheless, Weed would not put a strap to his mind

‘I’ll be damned if this quest was this simple to succeed. To contribute so little and easily get rare items is impossible.’

Users cannot rely on luck in order to gain from such a difficult quest. A user has to suffer in order to enjoy the pleasure of reaping a large income.

The land was too harsh and barren to create classics, masterpieces, or better statues.

Weed hoped the more powerful enemies would appear.

“A death aura, a ying without a yang. Let’s go, chwiit. I’m going to teach them the true meaning of death, the power of those living, the meaning of fear and despair!”

– Skill: You have used Lion’s Roar.

- Influences all allies in range of Lion’s Roar with a 200% increase in morale..

- Any present state of confusion will be cleared.

- An extra 220% increase in Leadership will be applied for five minutes.

His yell was fierce.

Weed stood on the panoramic rocks overlooking the battlefield, his arms held wide, magnifying his roar.

His roar echoed in the mountains and in the valley. The birds perched in the tree tops rained feathers as they billowed up to the sky as one.

"Cheuwaaa! Yawaaa!"

The Orcs followed, pounding their glaives upon the earth until it shook. It had begun with Weed, but soon it evolved into an enormous fury that spread from Orc to Orc.

The Dark Elves too sang a song of their own.

Hosram, Becker, Dale, and Buren, the Soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom, heard yell and drew their swords from a rear unit.

It was then.

It was calm in the pit again after additional Undead creatures emerged from it.

Great, immense entire bodies of bone knights!

The giant, devious creatures of the Yuroki Mountains!

Paladin’s blessed by the churches of various countries, with worn armor and swords. They fought past Legions of the Undead, even as the Undead revived. Giant monsters roamed the battle field, at the same time that others powerful monsters wandered by themselves.

The Orcs would attack the Undead monsters that morphed in the mountains.

Weed's experience hunting them told him of their strength.

More than a hundred Orcs should be mobilized in order to hunt a single one of those monsters.

Now, making the uncommon types of Undead die would would be more challenging.

An entire wave of ten thousand ancient Undead Soldiers and five thousand giant monsters!

The proliferation of Undead would not end there.

The witches rode colossal rhinoceroses.

In the past, when Barr Khan had attempted to create a Land of Death on the continent, the Serpa witches were the ones in charge of the Undead legion’s vanguard.

If the witches were skilled in black magic, they would present potions and curses.

Witches numbering a whopping 3000!

It is said the words can become the trigger.

As they waited, Weed appeared and ordered an immediate march.

*RUMBLE!*

The land shook as giant rhinoceroses marched across the mountains. The rhinos crushed the giant trees before them. Too many giant monsters and Undead to count. The true Army of the Undead -- the truly elite, the Army of the Lich Shire.

Chapter 3: The Lich Shire

The glorious Undead Legion was horrifying.

Individually, they were very strong monsters, but they were even more terrifying as a group.

The faces of the Orcs and Dark Elves paled as they saw the Undead Legion.

Some of the Orcs even abandoned their weapons and fled from the battlefield!

“Ueek!”

Mapan was also horrified. The Undead Legion held this much of a presence!

“Kue! Kue!”

“Kill everyone! Make more allies. Ku ku ku!”

The Serpa Witches broke out laughing.

Ancient Undead soldiers and giant monsters began to attack. They tried to climb over each other in order to scale the walls.

It was a disaster!

However, to Mapan, Weed seemed relieved and full of life.

It was a bit boring until now, but I finally have a battle worth fighting seriously over.

Well, guess it’s my time to give a complete display of my strength, and experience more thrills flowing through me.

Fighting this army will be a lot more fun.

Of the Undead Legion, Zombies and Ghosts were fewest in numbers, but individually, they are powerful monsters.

Never before were there this many strong monsters gathered together for a reason, and he was going to take them all on.

Suddenly, Weed raised his hands.

“I am just starting. Dark Elves, prepare to fire!”

Weed walked to the Dark Elves who were waiting on the high ridges since the start of the battle. There were fifty thousand arrows available for their bows. The Dark Elves pointed their bows askew at the sky and waited for Weed’s command.

“Fire!”

Shuchouchoushuk!

This was the first arrow attack since the battle started.

The myriad of arrows completely covered the sky. The fifty thousand arrowheads that he had saved sparked under the sun.

“Above... from the mountains. Its bad... comforting feeling.”

“Do not stop.”

The Undead Warriors lifted their shields over their heads.

Looking like old relics, the shields, probably dating back to more than a hundred years, crumbled after being pelted by the arrows. Those without shields had to stop the arrows by blocking them with their bare arms.

”Aaaah!”

With arrows landing everywhere, the ancient Undead soldiers cried out in pain. But one ancient Undead soldier secretly laughed.

“Ke ke ke ke!”

His body size was unusually large with wide spaces between his bones. Thanks to that, the arrows luckily just passed between his bones, causing no damage.

“Ke ke!”

The ancient Undead Soldier’s jaw was wide open as he laughed in delight.

“Second volley ready. Fire!”

Arrows rained down every second, due to Weed’s orders.

The ancient Undead Soldier again, crossed it’s arms and just looked up at the sky as the arrows passed between his bones.

Countless numbers of silver arrows rapidly rained on the ground.

“Kuuek!"

The Undead screeched painfully.

The light was painful to the Undead.

“Night is going away!”

The arrows in the Undead made them look like hedgehogs.

The Undead have solid bones, but it was to no avail. The silver arrows had the effect of preventing recovery and was lethal to them.

“Fire, fire, fire!”

The arrows were shot rapidly, non-stop.

The tens of thousands of arrows flew down from the high mountain and caused the Undead to be unable to move, creating a beautiful sight.

“Amazing, Weed!”

Mapan said in admiration, but Weed did not feel good at all.

“That much is.....”

Weed’s heart broke as he saw money flying away with each passing shot, but it brought piercing pain to the Undead. Still, the ancient Undead soldiers marched on under the leadership of the Serpa Witches.

“Water force, scramble!”

Weed had prepared three secret weapons!

First, the Orcs holding their silver plated glaives. The second, buying two million silver arrows, and the third, using the Wyverns.

“Haaaaghhh!”

From the rear of the mountains, the Wyverns flew with tearing cries. The soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom riding the Wyverns were holding onto a big cup filled with water.

Sswaah Oh!

Water fell from the sky, as if it were raining. However, rather than regular water as rain usually was, it was holy water. The Herrera Cup changed regular water to holy water.

* * *

Seoyoon, who had crossed the Yunoph Canyon, went into the town of the exiled.

"......"

The village was completely empty and deserted. All the people had moved, and the battle with the Orcs was to be blamed.

Seoyoon walked from there, taking breaks throughout the day, continuing by following her feet. Powerful, and thick forests, towering peaks.

Her footsteps naturally headed to the Yuroki Mountains.

It was the place where monsters were anywhere.

The Plains of Despair contain dangerous monsters, but the area is too wide to hunt around.

Going deep into the Yuroki mountains, Seoyoon was standing in front of the fighting Orcs and Undead. The Serpa Witches unfolded their magic and spells whilst riding the rhinos.

“They are strong, I think”

Seoyoon wanted to fight, but there were too many monsters. She was not afraid of them, but it would be much too time-consuming to fight them all.

Holy water was being sprinkled from the sky by the Wyverns. The Undead Legion was shouting as they marched, while the Orcs were sputtering out words of hatred.

‘Hate it here.’

Seoyoon liked the quiet. She placed her hands over her ears, leaving the place and moving deeper into the mountains.

* * *

Chaeng Caheng!

Chou syuk.

“Wukyaaaaaa!”

“Chwiit!”

With antipathy, the Undead were soaked with holy water!

The Wyvern force sprinkled holy water constantly, and walls of silver arrows were being shot.

The Undead Legion marching had incurred enormous amounts of damage. With holy water, their whole body were engulfed in blue flames, literally laying on the ground whilst on fire.

“The coldness of ice, the endurance, slowing and broken. ICE ENCHANTMENT!”

“Unstoppable wind, sharp breeze, slicing the strength. WINDSLICE ENCHANTMENT!”

“The unquenchable image of sparks, hot strength, and flames. FIRE ENCHANTMENT!”

Lifting their bows, the Dark Elves temporarily enchanted the orcs’ weapons. Following the Dark Elves, the necromancers also used their magic.

“Boiling blood, show me your power and lose your head! BLOODLUST!

“Kuwaag!”

The Orcs had gone berserk. The necromancers’ magic was accepted. In exchange for the magic granting tremendous strength, there were serious aftereffects. The orcs’ bloodlust eyes became bloodshot with red while their muscles swelled and tendons strained.

“Chwiaag!”

Brandishing their glaives, the Undead soldiers climbed the walls with matchless valour, clinging to the giant monsters.

Hundreds of Orcs leap on one of the monsters.

There were absolutely no tactics involved.

There were signs that made them realize they could only half recover, due to the holy water, and thus could not handle an all-out frontal attack.

Depending on which god each denomination was dedicated to, the attributes of the water were slightly different.

The denomination dedicated to the Battle God was good at healing wounds and enhancing strength. The denomination of the Goddess Freya, who loved art and abundance, had the ability to subdue the Undead.

Puwoogh!

Giant rhinos rushed to the front, kicking and trampling the Orcs.

Kuung! Kuung!

The rhinos made the surroundings shake, as if there was an earthquake. Even with their large thighs and legs, the Orcs had to avoid the rhinos by rolling their bodies.

“Block!”

The faces of the Orcs guarding the wall changed into a deadly pale look. The giant rhinos were rushing towards the walls!

The rhinos were larger than fifteen meters, even though the walls were solid, the power of the rhinos was enough to crumble the walls.

“Fire!”

“Take nothing for granted!”

The Dark Elves shot arrows, but most of their power was lost and fell near the rhinos. The Serpa Witches riding the backs of the rhinos using their defensive magic were to blame.

Weed witnessed this.

The rhinos that came running were incurring heavy damage on the Orcs.

At least a few hundred Orcs will die, but if I let there be serious damage, then the overall morale will be lowered.

“Dark Elves, use enlarge magic. Summon trees.”

In accordance with Weed’s command, the Dark Elves casted a spell.

“Enlarge!”

“Summon trees!”

Lush trees sprung up around their feet. Deep and long leg-like roots began walking toward the Undead soldiers, brushing them off violently.

And so the rhinos were intercepted. Because of the enlarge magic, the rhinos’ legs and bodies were enclosed by large, grown bushes.

Kueuoh!

The Rhinos roared, struggling to tear out.

The Dark Elves were constantly stopping the rhinos using plants, while the Serpa Witches hurled magic at them.

On the other side, the ancient Undead soldiers wielding their swords and axes were relentless. Whenever they waved their weapons, the Orcs lost their lives. However, after the death of one Orc, two to three Orcs grouped together to fight. All the Orcs growled, coming down the mountain to fight.

At this time, the hunters went out.

“We have to get this done.”

“I will take on the rhinos.”

Those who do not get stronger will not be able to survive in the Plains of Despair!

While killing monsters, the hunters came close to having a bloody death!

The smiths were mobilized to repair the orcs’ weapons while the hunters stayed brave waiting for them.

At this moment, Weed was willing to use them.

“We have to catch the Witches. For the peace and security of the village, fight the Undead Legion.”

“Okay.”

Each of the hunters packed their bags with weapons and went down. Three of the four rhinos jumped through the plants and trees.

Valiantly, the hunters threw their spears at the Serpa Witches!

Holding themselves in an arch formation, the hunters aimed at the rhinos’ eyes.

Human, dark elf, Orc, necromancer!

Combining all their strength to fight the Undead Legion!

They have become more vulnerable due to the holy water and arrows, presenting a chance.

While the Orc fighters healed slightly, the remaining Orc scouts and soldiers one-sidedly slayed the Undead soldiers.

The Orcs were in the front lines to prevent enemies from reaching the Dark Elves who were constantly preventing their bowstrings from snapping. While the Orcs fought, arrows flew above them.

Kkeueooh!

From the ancient soldiers to the Serpa Witches riding the rhinos, hundreds of arrows flew and upon impalement, they became stuck.

Qoowooung!

Before long, the rhinos had gone beyond their limits, cried out and fell to the ground. The Serpa Witches, with their unusually low vitality, died, helplessly crushed under the rhinos. However, the Witches’ bodies survived and rose even without their spirits inside thanks to their magic.

“From death, come into being, newly alive, death take colour, death perform, death we have carried out, O comrades awaken. Dead rise!”

The dead Orcs became Undead. The tens of thousands of Orcs and ancient Undead soldiers that died during the battle were quickly revived as undeads. The enemies had further increased.

“Attack. Disregard that they have been turned into Undead and focus on attacking the Undead Legion!”

Weed was willing to sacrifice the inevitable. It was due to selection and concentration.

If dead Orcs or Dark Elves were transformed to Undead, you can never win. With the size of the enemies increased, the fight will be more difficult. Besides the Undead being constantly revived, this was not the case.

Instead, however, it appeared that for the first time the Undead Legion was weakening.

The ancient Undead soldiers being dealt by the silver arrows and holy water received heavy blows. The holy water was corrosive to the Undead, weakening their strength. It was the same for the giant monsters.

The Undead Legion, which could be called the true main force, was incurring serious damage.

“Calling Death Knight, Calling Vampire Lord!”

Death Knight Van Hawk!

Vampire Lord Tori!

Weed summoned the two.

The Death Knight can be summoned at any time and will fight as your comrade.

The Vampire Lord is often difficult to use when called out. Whenever power is consumed, the need to have blood is not a very good thing. If you do not compensate for the blood, he becomes increasingly weakened, stamina is reduced, etc.

A blood-sucking vampire has its advantages and weaknesses. Fresh and un-dried blood is necessary.

“You called, Master.”

“That’s your enemy. Go and fight.”

Weed pointed a finger to the Undead Legion.

"Dark Knight has awaken from the darkness. I hear your command."

The Death Knight keenly followed like a honed knife. Heading towards the giant monsters to assault them.

A loyal knight.

Since Weed had beaten him to death, the Death Knight absolutely obeyed Weed's command.

“I have no interest where blood does not flow, but those Witches are still alive. However, they are not to my taste.”

Tori’s black cape flapped as he spoke. It might be because he was born a vampire, but he favored women, especially maidens.

“Gaza!”

Tori jumped into the battle with vampires under his command.

A true-blooded vampire clan of a hundred!

In the past he had up to a thousand, but now he only needed a tenth. And because the vampires had not been born for long, many were still weak.

If you were to disregard their toxicity, strong vitality, and other racial characteristics, and only in terms of levels, they would be only around 120.

Vampires, too, grew over time while hunting.

Therefore the True Blood Vampires, despite their usual reputations, went for the giant monsters instead of the Serpa Witches.

“Mist of Disaster!”

“Hand of Death!”

Vampires were similar to or weaker than Orcs, but they had strong vitality. They fought by clawing monsters with their nails, while using various black magic.

Tori was also the biggest asset. Multiple winds bound together and a tornado arose.

“Blade Tornado!”

The technique that made even the Paladins fly away was used.

Like leaves, the giant monsters and ancient Undead soldiers were caught up in the swirling tornado and fell.

And in a flash, they were massacred by the Orcs and Dark Elves.

“Stone Curse!”

The monsters that encountered Tori's eyes literally turned to stone. His petrification specialty was a bitter curse.

Tori also concentrated on keeping the monsters and Serpa Witches in check.

With the Witches occupied by Tori, the Undead no longer increased.

Meanwhile, the Orcs and Dark Elves earnestly brought damages to the Undead Legion.

Asserting the situation, Weed narrowed his eyes.

‘This is not good.’

Tori was also a vampire. Even though he had strong vitality and huge amounts of mana, his high-level techniques used lots of mana. Understandably, if he was tired, he wouldn't demonstrate the ability of a level 400 monster.

Weed looked down from his place on the rock. Mapan was there watching the battle develop, clenching his two fists with excitement.

“Mapan.”

“Yes?”

"Would you like me to guide you to a good place to clearly watch the battle?"

"Really? Of course I'd like ... No, wait a minute!"

Mapan suddenly had a bad feeling. In his experience, when Weed gave favours, there would always unfailingly be a reason.

However, he hoped it would just be his imagination.

‘Surely nothing bad will happen, right? He says he’ll prepare me a good spot. But I’ll ask just in case.’

Mapan asked with a suspicious face.

“Do I need to pay you for this spot?”

If it’s Weed, he could have easily taken money for the spot!

He asked since he understood him very well.

“No, it is free.”

“Free!”

Mapan was no different from Weed in that his favourite word was "free."

“If it’s free then it’s tempting, but surely there must be something bad about it, right?”

"Yes, it is extremely dangerous. You may die."

If the Undead Legion were not defeated in this battle, he would die anyway.

Watching the battle already put his life at risk, so it was something Mapan did not particularly mind.

"Yes. Then, I'd like to see the battle in this good spot of yours. Where is it?"

“Right over there.”

Weed pointed to the place immediately next to Tori.

“What’s that …..”

“Now, go!”

Unnoticed, a hand slipped between them, and took Mapan's body up into the air with a whoosh.

A Wyvern flew down and grasped his legs before taking flight again.

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

Mapan screamed. Immediately beneath him, were the countless heads of the Orcs.

They all held their glaives upright!

Next to the arcs of arrows, the magic of the Dark Elves came by.

Their flames grazed past, causing Mapan's face to heat up.

“Whew, I barely survived.”

The magic had narrowly missed him, and he was only barely able to sigh in relief.

“Waa, this is amazing!”

Mapan's mouth widened as his eyes took in the memorable landscape.

Flames shot everywhere. Magic exploded, as the ancient Undead soldiers fought against the Orcs.

“This view really is great.”

Mapan was a little thankful to Weed.

His feet were caught by the Wyvern and he was hanging upside-down, and even if he was in considerable danger, the present fighting was certainly thrilling and fun to watch.

A wyvern could fly around the sky to where you wanted to see the battle, so it really was a good spot.

But in actuality, the Wyvern clutching his feet had no idea where to fly.

Mapan had trouble thinking up there.

That question was soon resolved.

Hwirik!

The Wyvern flung him in mid-air without a sign of regret.

"Uwaaaaaaa! Somebody help me!"

Mapan began to fall towards the ground. Also, of all places, he would land straight between the battle between the Serpa Witches and the vampire Tori!

The Witches, whose faces were as jet-black as the Dark Elves, had various of gems embedded where their hair should have been!

In addition, an eerie aura emanated.

“Kihehehel!”

Mapan panicked.

He was afraid of falling into the ground and the thought of being caught by the Witches. If he was caught by the Witches, he’d face all kinds of curses, and might even be trampled to death by a rhino.

But then, Weed yelled with Lion's Roar.

“Tori! Catch Mapan!”

“I shall comply with thy request.”

Tori ran, jumped, and snatched Mapan in the air.

For a moment, due to the weight, it seemed that they were going to dangerously crash, but with a flap of the cape, they managed to safely land .

“Kkueek!”

Mapan felt his stomach churning.

‘Still alive.’

Yet, he stole a glance with half-closed eyes.

Directly in front of him was Tori's pale face.

A boss-class monster over level 400, the Vampire Lord Tori!

To Mapan, it was hardly conceivable to even dare to hunt such a monster.

As soon as Tori sat Mapan down on the ground, the surrounding ancient Undead soldiers unceremoniously attacked them. As inexperienced as Mapan was, he had never seen a battle fought this way before.

‘Euuu!’

Weak-minded merchant Mapan. Chattering teeth clacked. And monsters were all around. It was crowded with Undead.

Mapan clung to Tori in order to survive.

Giant monsters, ancient Undead soldiers and Serpa Witches, were dying right before Mapan.

It really was the best location to watch, for it felt like he was participating in the battle himself.

“Yeah!”

Mapan was soon cheering.

He immersed himself in the battle. Selling his death! He wouldn’t regret dying if it was caused by watching this direct combat experience.

He also heard Weed speaking to Tori.

"Eat sparingly! You shouldn't die because you're well-protected!"

At first, Mapan could not understand what he meant.

‘What are you eating sparingly?’

But as soon as he was able realize the meaning.

Jjuuuuk!

Something caused an eerie feeling to run up his neck!

Tori had his bloodsucking fangs stabbed on the nape of his neck.

Whenever health and mana were low, it allowed instant lunches!

Weed gave Mapan sightseeing of the battle as the reason.

* * *

The necromancers were holding their own against the Serpa Witches, casting black magic to generate Undead. They tried to make the Orcs or the dark elves’ corpses into Undead before the Witches could.

Without stopping, the Priests were engaged in blessing the arrows that were rapidly sent flying into the sky.

Some Dark Elves formed a separate group.

Their mission was to recover the arrows that had already been shot!

This was to regain the arrows and maintain a constant supply for the Elves.

“Cannot believe that us two noble males must do such a trivial mission.”

Of course, they did not forget to do it while grumbling.

The silver arrows and the holy water played a major role in weakening the strength of the Undead Legion. The ancient Undead soldiers covered with holy water were unable to use even half their power, and the silver arrows led them to their demise.

“Karichwi, the silver arrows are all out.”

But it eventually reached the limit. The arrows had been used as sparingly as possible, so the end of them was inevitable.

Weed gave orders.

“Then, shoot the fire arrows. Chwiik!”

“It’ll cause fire.”

“It doesn’t matter. Chwiit!”

“I know.”

It was far from the dark elves’ nature to protect and value life. Contrary to the regular Elves, the Dark Elves were often quarrelsome and greedy.

“Shoot the fire arrows.”

“Ooohhh!”

The Dark Elves, agreeing with the idea, shot the fire arrows towards the enemies. Some hit the ancient Undead soldiers right on mark, but most of them ended up hitting bushes or trees.

Hwareureuk!

The flames were spreading, burning the dense forests.

The destruction of nature!

Arson!

Destroying Mother Nature recklessly, decisively!

Since they had firewood stacked at the bottom of the mountain, the fire spread quickly. The forest fire was not large because there were patches of ground with cut trees here and there, but soon it would go up in flames. Unavoidably, the ancient Undead soldiers had to stick together in one place.

They tried to forcefully break through the walls, but the Orcs desperately blocked them.

Grouping them together was the goal, as from the sky, the powerful holy water could be poured on where they were!

Sprinkling holy water on the bodies of the ancient Undead soldiers caused their bones and flesh to corrode.

The holy water was evenly distributed to the trees as pools of it surrounded them. The powers of the holy water, which was granted by the Goddess Freya as the symbol of abundance, made the plants grow.

The plants that had grown held onto the legs of the ancient Undead soldiers, while the tree branches hit the giant monsters.

Again, the Orcs suffered great damage, but the Undead Legion continued to be decimated.

The weakened ancient Undead soldiers were slaughtered, while the giant monsters were attacked by the surrounding Orcs. The Serpa Witches were finished being taken care of by Tori and the dark elves’ magic.

A skeleton from the Undead legion dressed in robes emerged from the pit.

Red jewels were studded on his skull’s forehead!

The Lich Shire was emerging.

“I will dye the ground and water in darkness. Undead Legion, advance. Kill the living. Make them our comrades!”

Shire’s roar rang out without hesitation.

* * *

Weed quickly looked over the Lich Shire’s body the moment he appeared on the surface.

He made a rough estimation of his assets.

A lustrous black and blue robe, with ancient glyphs painted, that gave the feeling that he had small wings!

His fingers covered in jewelled rings, and a golden crown covering his head.

In one hand was a book of magic, in the other a white cane.

The Undead was wearing an unbelievably gorgeous attire.

Gulp!

Weed swallowed his drool.

It was like staring at delicious food.

‘Those are Moon’s shoes. They increase traveling speed, and, at the same time, significantly improve agility. That robe only came out once until now, the magical Vine Robe. That robe specializes in attack magic.’

He couldn’t distinguish the other equipment though.

Only one thing was certain, the Lich Shire had come out with REALLY expensive equipment.

‘If I stripped him down, I will at least earn ten million won easily! I have to end up with at least one of them.’

Wearing those items was like a death sentence in itself.

Quest-related goods apart, looks like drop items will also be worth their fair share of money.

Weed took full command of the army.

“Our last prey has appeared, chwik. All out assault! Orcs prepare for our last battle!”

Just the walls separated the Orcs of the ancient Undead soldiers and the giant monsters!

They began a large scale assault.

“Heave! Heave!”

“Push the walls. Chichik!”

The shabbily constructed walls began to fall apart!

The Orcs were all around the wall pushing them together.

All just as Weed had planned.

Their only hope they had to win against the Undead Legion, was to wait for the last moment to execute this plan.

The Orcs pushed against the walls with both hands.

Chests broad, faces ugly, struggling desperately.

Little by little the walls were being tilted towards the bottom of the mountain.

Then they suddenly fell out of their hands as they collapsed.

Kwareeeeeeeeuuuuuuung!

Chunks of rock quickly fell down, filling the previously dug ditches.

The remaining rocks continued to roll down the severe slope of the mountain.

The walls successively collapsed one after another!

The rocks rolling down the mountain side bounced.

Some of the Orcs couldn’t avoid being crushed by the landslide of falling rocks, or lost balance and started rolling down the mountain as well.

A huge landslide of rocks struck the Undead Legion.

“Kill that Lich!”

The remainder of the Orc forces charged at the Undead Legion in order to kill the Lich Shire.

The Dark Elves casted magic and the Necromancers casted curses.

“Corpse Explosion!”

They destroyed the corps in advance, in order to let the Lich Shire revive them.

It was a pincer attack!

This was far from a righteous and fair competition.

The Lich Shire, no matter how powerful, if the Dark Elves, Priests, and the Vampire Tori attacked together he couldn’t survive.

“Cowardice! One-on-one, this wouldn’t even be a fight!”

The Shire’s voice, full of anger, was completely ignored by Weed.

There was no reason to argue over righteousness and justice, but sometimes it was the only way to win.

Fighting him alone was foolish with such numbers.

He did not notice that fighting with an overwhelming majority was much more fun!

It was the Shire’s fault that he appeared at the end of the battle to die alone.

“Know your own weight. GRAVITY.”

The Shire was casting a large variety of gravity-based spells.

The Wyverns that had been flying in the sky and pouring holy water, were caught up in the magic and fell to the ground. The Rosenheim soldiers that the Wyverns had been carrying lost their lives when the Wyverns fell to the ground.

The Shire’s magic shot down the four Wyvern groups, and got about six thousands Orcs. Around three thousand Dark Elves also died.

The Lich's ability to display that extent of power, while restraining Tori, the necromancers, Dark Elves, and Priests was, to a degree, alarming.

Whenever Shire casted a spell, an explosion occurred and Orcs died by the dozens. They were switching one by one to weaken him, but they were still suffered great damage due to his monstrous strength.

It was so strong that soldiers of the Rosenheim Kingdom were forced to be evacuated.

Soldiers provided by Rosenheim Kingdom, Wyverns provided by sacrifice of art stat and level.

“Wyvern forces fly high. Tori, completely harass him, Dark Elf forces outpour magic!”

Thanks to the power of the holy water, however, Shire was weakened.

The Lich’s life vitality was sealed in the vessel, and would never die unless by the force of divine power.

The holy water was being poured, the Priests used divinity magic, which was his weakness.

“Daemon Spear!”

Shire called out a black spear, and, controlling it with his finger, hurled it.

“Gaargh!”

Priests were pierced by the passing spear!

“Royal Knights, Death Knight, Orcs, protect the Priests.”

The Goddess Freya Priests appeared to be the lifeline.

Weed protected the Priests while the Wyverns, as much as possible, sprinkled holy water as a barrage.

Shire was slowly accumulating damage. He continued casting spells, but his power was gradually weakening.

Even though Weed was safe, the Lich Shire was to be caught, to be used to cover investment costs.

Though the battle had been going on for a long time now and was nearing the end, the Shire had high vitality, but his mana had been reduced to the lowest.

“Gueergh! How dare you!”

The Shire’s voice was filled with anger.

He could not fly in the sky, because he could not cast the spell. He was not able to cast even this simple magic because his mana had been depleted. His skeleton was cracking and his vitality too was going away!

However, Shire did not die quietly.

“Van Hawk! Tori too! Have you forgotten your pledge of allegiance to Master Bar Khan?

“We found a new master.”

“Master Bar Khan is waiting for you. Come. Together with me, let us serve Bar Khan, and let this land be ours.”

It had become an emergency situation to tempt the Vampire Lord and Death Knight.

“I cannot.”

The Death Knight just cut it off and declined, but Vampire Lord Tori’s mind was being swayed.

“Though I had already apostatised, will I still be accepted?”

“Master Bar Khan is our hope. You will be given great generosity and tolerance.”

“Then......”

“Yes. I’m willing to work together with you. Kill those alive. Life is cumbersome and should be harvested.”

Together with Tori, the Shire no longer hesitated to attack. The situation had haply gone to the enemy!

The Vampire Lord was more than level 400, if he possibly moved to the other side, it was going to be very serious.

There were living Orcs and Dark Elves, it was heaven for the vampire who had the means to constantly replenish mana and vitality. The apostatised Vampire Lord Tori was that dangerous.

“Forward!”

Weed gave orders to the Dark Elves.

With what was left of his vitality, Shire out poured magic.

A tremendous explosion shook and made the earth tremble!

But Shire stubbornly survived.

His skull was cracking, his body had caught fire. Lich showed monstrous vitality even though he had a broken arm.

Weed ran like lightning.

“Quadruped leap!”

Top running skill that enables running like a gale!

In a short period of time, that form severely consumed stamina, but he was not in any position to choose.

Weed literally ran his way through the Orcs. And jumped to the front of Shire.

Since Lich had grown his body to nearly five metres tall, there was no danger of his body becoming astray. Weed pulled out his sword, and there was a piercing sound.

“Sword Kaiser!”

The orcs’ vitality was so depleted, they simply look like herbivorous!

He watched Lich Shire, he was placing his life at stake at this time, to deliver his present skill that was his best one.

“This guy!”

His conversion attacks hit Shire, but he still did not die.

Weed has tested his technique against the giant Yetis to the point of being able give a lesson about it. Even though great amounts of mana were consumed, the giant monsters were incurred vast losses to their vitality.

Yet, to eliminate the Shire, he ran short.

Black smoke similar to energy escaped his body and, in spite of being battered and looking like hell, he moved.

“Of the ice!”

Wanting to squeeze out the last of his mana, at the hands of the bony Shire, crystallised ice was made.

With the sword in his chest, there was no doubt that the attack would fly towards Weed.

Weed shouted.

“Dark Elves, ignore me and attack!”

Either I die here or we all die.

Already the Dark Elves prepared and launched a magic assault.

From all directions, hundreds and thousands of magic attacks were coming.

The magic assault had completely devastated the place where Weed and the Shire stood.

Hit by a series of ice magic attack spells. Body is freezing. Movement speed decreased.

Your body is burning. If the flame isn’t put out quickly you will get severe damage.

By the lightning attacks, your body is temporarily paralyzed.

You have a serious injury. Your are completely disabled!

Weed and the Shire were battered by the magic at the same time.

Weed clung to the Lich to avoid the possibility of him escaping.

The special effects produced by the magic appeared in a window but, most important to Weed, his health was quickly depleting.

The Shire’s body, battered by magic, was engulfed in light and disappeared.

Your level has increased.

Your level has increased.

Your level has increased.

Your level has increased.

Your level has increased...

Through pure instinct, Weed’s hand reached out to where the Lich had disappeared.

Before verifying what loot he had grabbed, a window message opened.

Died from loss of health.

- Cannot log in for 24 hours.

- Skills and levels will decrease as a result of player’s death.

- Boots and hat were broken due to the deterioration of durability.

- It will not be possible to repair broken goods.

Chapter 4: Quest

“Ahhhh!”

Lee Hyun, got out of the capsule and thrashed about in bitterness from having to die at at the very last moment.

Although he was prepared for death due to the difficulty of the mission, so he wasn’t in the least concerned about having lost his life, but he wanted a chance to confirm the items that he had picked up.

“It definitely must have dropped something good!”

A boss-class monster.

A monster similar to the Lich Shire would probably never appear in front of him again. Even if another one was found, the monster would probably be well beyond the abilities of any group. After having killed such a monster, he hadn’t even been able to confirm what it had dropped.

“If it was a robe that dropped, it would be big.”

Lee Hyun paced nervously around the room.

Vine’s Magic Robe.

It had only appeared once, and its price had not been announced. It hadn’t appeared on any auction site, instead a buyer had appeared through the Dark Gamer’s Union. Even if it was for auction, not many people could buy afford such an expensive item anyway. Therefore it was more common to procure elite items through the Dark Gamer’s Union.

“Robe. Robe. Robe!” Lee Hyun desperately prayed that he had acquired the robe.

“I know I got a hold of something....Whew.” Lee Hyun sighed deeply.

There had never been a time, in the game, where things had gone right for him.

Even if he had been hit by a massive scale attack, the fact that his boots and hat had been broken, even after having been maxed out in durability through his repair skill, was a symbol of his bad luck.

“It doesn’t have to be a robe. Shoes! Yes, Kurdal’s Shoes wouldn’t be so bad either.”

Lee Hyun lowered his expectations.

In fact, even if the Lich Shire had been dressed in those items, there was no guarantee that those were the items that would have dropped. The term ‘japtem’ didn’t exist for nothing. Even if he had picked it up, he could have lost it when he had died.

“I wonder, what about the quest...”

Lee Hyun sighed.

There was no way to find anything out.

With him dead, it raised the question of how the war turned out, and whether he had completed the quest.

He would only be able to confirm everything after logging in again.

“I can’t help it. I’ll just rest for now.”

Rather than having to wait anxiously for a day, he chose to put his mind at ease. No matter what he did, he wouldn’t be able to find out anything until the suspension is lifted.

Since he had been preparing for the quest, he hadn’t been able to sleep properly, so his accumulated sleep deprivation kicked in. It was better to just sleep with his mind at ease.

* * *

People who watched the Orc Quest from the Hall of Fame, were waiting the video results of the large-scale war.

Numerous posts were popping up.

– Why has the video not been uploaded?

– Considering the time the video had been uploaded the last time, the quest should’ve progressed by now.

– Aah. I’m curious about the result.

At first, there were a lot of people filled with hope.

They were content with simply watching the adventures of the legendary Weed. The user that had climbed to the zenith of the ‘Continent of Magick’. A game that had reigned on top for twenty years.

Wizards were filled with hope of finally being able to advance to the Necromancer class.

The people were not only interested in the large scale war, but also in the prestigious A-class quest. Even C-class quests gave a sense of accomplishment when finished, so they were curious about what an A-class quest would be like. Therefore, the Hall of Fame was filled with millions of people. They were waiting to see the video as soon as it came up.

However, with the Orc’s grand quest not progressing, and another video attracted the attention of the waiting people.

The Crimson Wing Guild

It was one of the top ten most prestigious guilds in the continent of Versailles. The leader Terose released a special video.

The video only spanned five minutes!

Although the video was too short to announce a quest or display a good fight, it still attracted people, simply because of Terose’s name.

Since it would take a while to be able to watch the large-scale war of the Undead Legion, they had no problem watching a short video.

The video showed people entering ancient ruins.

“It’s the Barbarian Warrior, Pline-nim.”

“The Feared Assassin Dane is there, too!”

“The Magma Witch, Do-Gwang is there as well!”

All the strongest members of the Crimson Wing Guild were present.

Paladins, Priests, Thieves, Wizards, Adventurers, Assassins, Bards, Warriors, Summoners, Shamans, Rangers.

Beside these classes people commonly chose, there was also the witch class with reduced vitality but increased magic power!

The witch who fought with a single dagger without ever retreating, a man completely crazy with daggers, Do-Gwang! The man said to live in a fortress full of monsters, assassinating them every moonless night, Dane!

Even famous users and unique professions were members.

Needless to say, The Crimson Wing Guild was large and famous throughout the continent.

These rare, high level users had all gathered and were going into the ruins. Just this fact alone made other users excited.

Terose was clad in a crimson armor, spoke with his cold and unique voice to attract attention.

– Finally, we have reached the tomb of the Scorpion King, after tracking down the tiniest clue, we have, at last, found it.

Even while Terose was speaking, guild members were entering the ruins.

Terose paused for a brief moment, after which he opened his mouth again.

– No matter how harsh the road or the obstacle lying before us may be, we will definitely overcome it. I will put my life on the line to solve this quest. Only those that do not lose hope may prevail. Let us depart, the A-Class quest is waiting. Scorpion King’s Tomb, I will beat you.

Another A-Class quest!

It was more than enough to make people enthusiastic.

Terose, after saying one more line, disappeared into the ruins along with his guild members.

– Behold our unyielding courage and honor. From now on, watch our fight, our spilled blood and our honorable victory.

The video ended there.

The meaning of his message remained unclear. There were many questions left unanswered about the nature of the A-Class quest, but soon it was answered.

Ten minutes after the video had been uploaded into the Hall of Fame, users discovered that CTS Media was broadcasting the quest of the Crimson Wing guild. On top of that, it was a live coverage of the Crimson Wing Guild exploring the ruins.

* * *

‘We’re managing well.’

Terose was showed a fully satisfied smile.

In fact, they had already started exploring the ruins some time ago. On their first attempt they had lost some men, but together with their losses they had found out the way to the door leading to the stone chamber. However, due to not having the necessary sacrifice for the altar, they had to return.

‘It’s time to complete this quest.’

Terose pretended to survey the ruins along with this guild members. The thieves and assassins opened up the path, while warriors and paladins prepared for danger with shields raised.

“Kuaak!”

“Watch out. It’s a trap!”

The guild fought dangerous monsters and destroyed deadly traps. Sometimes they had to face large monsters, which resulted in a few deaths.

“Don’t give up. The real danger isn’t even here yet”

“Keep going. Something of this degree cannot stop us, the Crimson Wings.”

“The blood we’ve spilled will help us reach our goal”

“Don’t let your comrades die in vain. Don’t give up here!”

All around, high level users exclaimed frivolously.

Terose had mobilized over a thousand high-level users of the Crimson Wing Guild, four times the number of people in the last expedition. Therefore the average level was lower than usual. Still, they mobilized as much users with a level of over 310 as possible.

‘We can’t afford to miss this opportunity.’

Terose took full advantage of the quest to promote his guild.

Broadcasting a difficult expedition 24/7 would greatly increase the guild’s fame. Additionally, by completing an A-class quest, they would be able to establish themselves as a strong guild to spectators.

‘If this quest turns out well, the guild would be able to spread their influence on a larger scale. First, raise funds to increase our size. If the newcomers level up high enough, the title as the strongest guild can be seized from the Hermes. We, the Crimson Wing, will dominate the continent.’

Terose puffed up his chest.

His ambition knew no bounds.

"Aaaaah!"

“Put more strength into it! Priests, heal our injured colleagues!”

The Crimson Wing Guild pierced through the hard way.

In reality, they had already advanced a great deal during the last expedition, but they acted as if they knew nothing of the dungeon, and faked their hardships in order to gain more viewership.

The guild members worked hard on their act. They had died knowing that it was coming. They had deliberately placed less men than needed to clear the paths; of course, they had already promised a substantial compensation to those that died.

“Even if I die, the expedition must continue.”

“Yeah, trust us”

Terose purposely took his guild members deeper into the dungeon while the Dark Gamers, positioned at the rear of the expedition, could do nothing but smile cynically.

“They’re doing such useless stuff”

“Just increasing the number of people will only increase the losses.”

“That’s all just wisdom of life. You can’t do such a thing with being just a little crafty.”

“It doesn’t concern us since we just have to receive what we worked for. But the fact that we can’t fight is a bit unsatisfying.”

The Dark Gamers followed while complaining.

* * *

The Crimson Wing Guild finally arrived at the altar after having gotten lost numerous times. It was the entryway to the deeper parts of the ruin, the tomb of King Belsos.

“We have finally arrived.”

Terose trembled with excitement.

The quest they had received required them to retrieve the horn flute of King Belsos. But the tomb’s interior was also said to have been filled with rare swords and magical items.

Terose took a look around.

A thousand users had entered, but only about 650 remained. Almost 350 had died while coming here. Compared to the last expedition, in which they had kept to the correct path, it was a rather high number. Even at that time they had lost 45 men near the entrance, and the number grew until reaching 130 deaths by the time they had reached the altar.

Since this time the number of weaker users had increased, it resulted in receiving higher damage. However, this was an A-Class quest, so the extent of the damage taken was to be expected, hence, their expressions did not falter.

“Let’s get started. Everybody get ready”

Terose placed 7 scorpion sculptures on the altar. At that moment, the large door carved with a crimson scorpion, started opening with a loud sound.

*Kruuuguuung!*

Nervously, the guild members held their weapons closed to their bodies. In the ruins, the use of magic was impossible, so the users had to rely on their physical strength.

It was full of beasts unheard of in normal monster books.

“Monsters.”

“Everyone prepare for battle!”

“Let’s fight ‘till death.”

“We can’t go back after coming this far!”

Terose entered the battle and commanded his guild members.

The Dark Gamers weren't there for show, either. They formed a circle to defend themselves, Priests in the middle and combat specialized classes protecting them.

Even though the formation was completed very quickly, some of the demon beasts managed to reach them.

*Kuuhuung!*

The beasts cried.

Due to their ferocious attack, the expedition continuously lost more of its members. If they had stayed near the narrow door, instead of taking their circle formation, they would have achieved much better result. Because they relied on what they had always done, they lost more lives than necessary.

But because the Crimson Wing Guild mobilized all their power, the warriors, paladins, and swordsmen led the battle on the front lines.

“We won!”

Only about 480 remained after winning the battle. Many had fallen yet again, but they were able to come out victorious.

“Let’s go in”

Terose hurried inside. The opened door had been shining with a brilliant light.

The members of the expedition that had entered the demon beast’s lair could do nothing but gape in wonder.

"Iyaaahh!"

“Treasure.”

In the depths of the room was a gigantic golden scorpion statue, and various treasures were piled on or near it, forming a mountain.

“It’s gotta be at least a half a million gold.”

“Half a million? This has got to be at least a million.”

Money wasn’t the only thing that had made the expeditioners excited. There were items scattered everywhere. Scattered treasures that were piled up shone brightly.

Terose easily found the horn flute lying in front of the golden scorpion statue.

“This is it.”

Terose raised the horn flute. Their mission was to bring the flute back to Count Grace.

‘With this, the quest will be complete.’

It had been pretty difficult, but they had safely reached their goal.

Terose’s future looked bright.

The CTS media was broadcasting this right now. At least a million people were watching, perhaps even ten million.

Once the A-class quest is finished, people’s minds will be imprinted with an unforgettable scene. The video shown by media would be watched repeatedly, creating a glorious image.

The Crimson Wing’s supremacy would only be a matter of time.

Then a pure white sword caught Terose’s eye. The sword’s hilt was engraved with flame-shaped patterns. Although there was countless of treasures in there, among it was something particularly refined.

‘That's unique. Maybe it’s the king’s sword, but I’m not quite sure.’

Terose’s eyes glinted with greed.

No warrior should be too greedy when getting a better sword, but they held great pride in improving their maximum damage output rather than focusing on their defence.

Every sword is significantly different in terms of their damage output. Naturally, an excellent sword couldn’t be compared to a normal sword. Depending on the job, alignment or even the monster’s characteristic, swords would vary even further. Against monsters of the fire attribute you should use ice-type weapons and against dark-attributed monsters, a holy weapon was the way to go. Therefore, warriors would normally possess up to three or four different types of swords.

‘For the Crimson Wing to reign over the entire Versailles Continent, it is necessary to possess an excellent sword. A sword of this prestige will greatly increase my reputation.’

Terose silently fixed his eyes on the sword. Being the head of the guild, he desired to possess an excellent sword. The beautiful sword appeared to be a work of art. With his dignity and prestige, only a perfect sword was worthy of him.

Then the guild saw Terose and the sword.

“Terose go ahead, take it.”

“Sir Terose, you have suffered a great deal, so you deserve the sword.”

Terose’s guild officers encouraged him to take the sword. Underneath the sword, they discovered an signboard.

After looking at the sword for a long time, it gave off an intense sensation.

“Hey, there’s something written on it!”

Sabron deciphered the characters.

Take the sword.

“It says take the sword.”

“Me, take the sword?”

Terose didn’t look enthusiastic on the surface, but he was secretly excited as he reached for the sword.

If Weed had been there, he would have been suspicious five times over already! With such easy battles, they should have been suspicious of their surroundings. Considering how smoothly everything went, this A-class quest was too easy. They had only encountered a few dangerous battles.

In contrast to Weed, who had commanded his troops and led them into battle; that in itself, was an achievement. However, neither the Orcs nor the Dark Elves were able to use their full potential.

The enemies were far too weak. The difficulty of this quest couldn’t even compare to the Undead Legion’s quest. Furthermore, this quest stated nothing about acquiring a sword.

That moment Terose just grabbed the sword.

*Flash!*

The place was filled with treasures made out of gold.

“What’s going on?”

“The area is getting brighter.”

The people could not find where the light came from. After looking up, they found the source.

The Golden Scorpion had awakened.

“Fearlessly entering the tomb of Belsos - the great emperor of fire - with greedy intentions. The king is fed up with you fools. Those who trespass shall not be forgiven. A Fiery Retribution shall consume every one of you!”

*Hwareureuk!*

While holding onto the sword, Terose’s body burst into flames. Within moments, he turned to ashes and died.

Another disaster befell on the expedition.

Fire spirits!

Countless fire spirits appeared and attacked them all at once.

The expedition party failed to respond to the sudden situation and its battle formation became disorderly, until it finally collapsed. While observing the expedition turning to ashes, the Golden scorpion said:

“Foolish mortals! You have aroused the wrath of King Belsos and have brought a curse of fire upon the continent.”

* * *

CTS media was broadcasting their adventure to millions of people.

The Crimson Wing guild crumbled at that moment. Greed caused the Crimson Wing guild to fail the quest and led them to their downfall.

At first, they didn’t understand what the golden scorpion statue was saying. Then they realized that they had failed the quest.

People on Royal Road began to start posting furiously.

– Humidity is on the rise.

– The rays of sunlight suddenly intensified.

– It seems like the temperature rose by about 5 degrees.

The curse of King Belsos!

It created a heat wave.

The continent was hit by a sweltering heat wave all year long, turning it into a place of death.

Albeit briefly, it was a good moment for those who controlled the Elements of Fire, because the fire magic became powerful and prosperous. Even if they liked the fire element, that only lasted until the sweat ran down their spine. Before leaving on a hunt with colleagues, it was great to breathe in the cold air of dawn, which is now impossible because of the heat.

There was a tremendous outcry from users!

Accusations were made that the Crimson Wing guild caused this situation. The Crimson Wing guild, who was affiliated with the A-Class quest were punished for their pride and arrogance. The guild became stigmatized by their failure, so they were recognized anywhere they went.

Merchants and Traders alike refused to sell any of their merchandise to them, and players refused to party with them.

Allied guilds left one after another, turning their backs on them.

The once high reputed guild had now collapsed.

* * *

With his spare time, Lee Hyun washed his face and took long baths.

“I like summer.”

It was quite difficult to take a bath in the winter. First of all, the boiler had to use more power to heat up the water. With extra cost added to the electricity bills, he would never get rich. In contrast, the summer was really nice. He had the option of taking a cool bath.

After he finished taking a bath, he went onto the auction site.

Orc’s Glaive, loads of Elven headbands, rare herbs that can be used as a special poison, and japtem.

With his tailoring and blacksmithing skills, he intended to use the ores and leathers he had accumulated during his journey throughout the Yuroki Mountains and Plains of Despair, so he didn’t post them on the auction site. Rather than selling an unprocessed ore, he wanted to sell the items he made to players, as it was easier to find buyers for them.

He took a short rest and then he sent his sister to school.

Lee Hyun spent almost 24 hours daily, exploring Royal Road.

To gain experience and items in order to make money!

“Can I finally login to check what I got?”

It had been exactly 24 hours since he died.

* * *

The Director of KMC Media had been trying to contact Weed by making phone calls, and sending dozens of e-mails and private messages.

But to his distress, he had not gotten a single reply.

“Please read your damn e-mail!”

The KMC media director was a man of little patience. He was using every method available to him.

Then in the car, his eyes widened as he saw items from the Lich Shire available on the trading site.

“This is it, That’s what I’m talking about”

Weapons from Dark Elves and Orcs, leathers from Giant Monsters.

There’s no doubt about it.

The director immediately made a bid on the items.

He bidded as much as 30 million won for just one Minotaurus’ claw japtem.

* * *

Because Weed had died, he respawned in the nearest human village which was called The Village of Exiles.

The residents were busy, moving around with purpose and bright and vibrant expressions on their faces.

Hunter Kokundo was maintaining a shield.

“Hey, Weed. You’re back”

“How did the war against the Undead Legion go?”

“We won, the Lich is dead.”

“And then?”

“After the battle ended we returned here, the villagers who once were slaves, came back as well. For now, the orcs and humans can get along without conflict. Although it’s only a temporary truce. Right now the Orcs are looking for their hero; Karichwi, and the necromancers are looking for you. They hope to depart for the world as soon as they are able to gather.”

With that last bit of information, Weed knew what to do in order to finish the quest.

“I see. I’ll go see them.”

“Thank you for protecting our village. It may not be much, but you will find open doors welcoming you in the Plains of Despair. We owe you a favor.”

Kokundo went back to polishing his shield.

Weed decided to pay the Necromancers a visit first.

“Stat Window!”

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Neutral

Level

286

Profession

The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Title

Artisan With Exceptional Dexterity

Reputation

13645

Life

19230

Mana

9760

Strength

715+65

Agility

575+65

Stamina

134+65

Wisdom

136+65

Intellect

154+65

Fighting Spirit

323+65

Endurance

180+65

Fortitude

374+65

Art

447+145

Charisma

212+65

Leadership

492+65

Luck

5+65

Faith

96+435

Charm

39+65

Attack

2211

Defense

640

Magic Resistance

Fire

13%

Water

15%

Earth

25%

Black Magic

50%

He had gained 7 levels.

Even though he had not personally killed the Lich Shire, Weed had played a fairly decisive role. Thanks to that, he leveled up simultaneously. Even after dying his level had still been 286. However, contrary to his level, several other things had fallen.

Combat classes receive a rapid increase in strength, dexterity, or wisdom stat during their second job advancement. But sculptors didn’t have such benefits, they had their craftsmanship instead.

A Sculptor is a class based mainly on art production. The fastest way to develop craftsmanship is to learn the different production skills, and then utilize their respective abilities and talents to create a variety of products.

Thanks to this, their physical and mental capabilities could be improved to be equal to those of the combat classes.

If one invested enough time, he could become strong enough to overpower any other players of the same level. However, the sculptor class had a downside: the skill levels.

When you die, the hard earned production skill experience would drop:

Advanced sculpting 13%, Cooking 10%, craftsmanship 16%. Sewing, blacksmithing, herbalism, fishing, sword grinding, armor polishing, bandaging, Ironing. These skills had all dropped by 5 to 7%. In terms of levels, it was comparable to losing two or three.

“Euu.”

Weed trembled with sadness.

How could the skills he had earned through all his grinding fall so much! But for now, it was time to confirm the most important thing. The items he had acquired from killing the Lich Shire!

He had to confirm what he got.

In silence, Weed stuck his hand inside his backpack.

One staff!

One jewel!

One Magic Tome!

It would have been an impossible task without nimbleness that allowed him to loot items in any situation.

Weed also lost a few things due to his death.

A small brazier used by Blacksmiths, and threads and needles used for sewing.

In terms of money, it hadn’t been that big of a loss.

“There is no Vine’s Robe. I’m guessing the magic book is a quest item...”

Weed was still anxious.

Even if there were a lot of dropped items, if they were useless, then he would have done all that for nothing.

“Identify!”

Weed decided to check the magic book to calm himself down.

*Ttiring!*

Bar Khan’s handwritten Necromancer’s Tome of Magic

Durability:30/30

A book of Black Magic that allows you to gain the ability to summon the Undead.

It contains methods of summoning the Undead, from the easiest ones to the most advanced.

Since it was written by the genius magician Bar Khan Demoph himself, it isn’t too difficult to understand. However, to create and control the Undead, large amounts of mana were necessary, so use the skill with caution.

Restrictions:

- Magic related profession.

Level: 300

Wisdom: 500

Mana: 8000

- Able to advance to the Necromancer class.

Option:

- Black Magic Resistance +25.

- Ability to create undead +2.

With high intelligence, you will be able to create Undead Boss-level monsters.

Improves the Undead’s vitality and increases resistance to holy magic.

It was an item worthy to be called the greatest in creating and training the Undead.

‘I can get a lot of money from this.’

Weed returned the tome to his bag, as it would be difficult to sell until there were more necromancers.

Although he had gained an elite item for the Necromancer class, in reality, the interest in the class was still minimal.

Even if the interest is small, it would still take time for people to advance to the Necromancer class, and no one would be able to use the tome for a while.

Once the advantages of being a Necromancer became known to the public, a large amount of people would change their class. However the physical weakness of the class was a serious issue.

Necromancers were unable to receive blessings or healings from holy magic. This was a big problem because of the low vitality most magic based classes possessed, which resulted in increasing their chances of dying by three to four times. Therefore the typical mage wouldn't be able to successfully become a necromancer.

With their faults, Necromancers might not fit into the typical party setting. Because Necromancers would summon many undead, the undead would be doing most of the killing. As safe as it may be, the experience gained would be lesser than normal. The Necromancer population would slowly bleed out, and eventually only Mages who enjoyed that play style would choose it.

Weed slowly took a deep breath and identified the staff.

“Identify!”

Saint's Staff:

Durability: 90/90

Attack: 15-20

The staff said to have been used by the Great Saint Gorian whenever he’d have a bad leg. It was crafted using light but sturdy Elf tree wood, but because of the thick layers of dirt, the engravings had become unrecognizable. It is imbued with the force of life.

Restrictions:

Holy type professions.

Also available to criminals and warlocks

Options:

If used by Priests +150 Faith.

Charm +30

Endurance +20

Reduced stamina consumption in rugged terrain.

Improve fame by 30% more when making donations.

Able to use devotion or sacrificial magic.

When used by a villain, the staff increases the power of darkness.

Devotion:

Consume all but 1% of life and mana.

Gives all members of the party a level higher tier blessing and protection magic.

Sacrifice:

By sacrificing your own life, up to 50 party members can be completely healed.

The staff that held the highest expectations!

“As I thought!”

The item was enough to make Weed release a sad sigh.

“Where am I suppose to sell this thing?”

A weapon even more evil than the bone-staves the Necromancers cast magic with. Before he had identified it, he had thought that it could be a good weapon for Priests. Because of their low strength, Priests were unable to use mace type weapons. They usually carried staves or holy items that increased their faith.

Who would want this staff?!

If it had been a sword, then its damage would have been increased, but this staff didn’t do anything other than augmenting personal stats.

“In this selfish world, things like values, devotion or sacrifice don’t exist.”

Weed punched the ground out of anguish.

“I’d have rather not picked it up.”

Even so, the thought of throwing it away never crossed his mind.

He didn’t have to sell it to a priest. Since it increased black magic as well, he could sell it to a villain or a warlock.

“Tools are tools. It’s not the knife that’s in the wrong, it’s the person behind the knife.”

Finally, he looked at the gems he looted. When creating weapons or armor, gems enhanced their power!

They were tier 1 gems.

Tailoring, like blacksmithing, could recycle a variety of leathers. Depending on your skill mastery, the difference could be big. As for the value of the metal he had found, it required a lot of effort to be melted, even for an expert.

“With this I barely break even”

Weed’s mind was set to some extent.

Although the quest was complete, he had to invest 20 levels, 100 art stat, 70,000 gold. Quests were different from hunting, since performance had to be taken into consideration.

“If this was a chain quest, I’ll have to go to the necromancers to get it.”

Weed left the village and headed to the Yuroki mountains. Scattered debris and dug up dirt lay where the battle had been fought.

The ground showed obvious signs of struggle from the orcs, dark elves, and paladins.

The rhino horns had been looted, and the witches were gone by now.

After Weed had died, he had disappeared for 4 days, so all of the loot had already been taken.

“Still, I’m glad.”

He would be able to get his hands on special herbs. Higher quality herbs could be sold for a better price.

“I’ll be able to make more profit”

Weed’s eyes lit up when he found the herbs.

Deep in the mountains where herbs grew well, he will carefully harvest them all without missing a single one.

*Pabababag!*

With a knife, he dug the soil around the herb until its the root was uncovered. Then with a swipe of his hand, he pulled out the herb with a clump of soil still attached to it.

In the past, he would’ve found this job to be too tedious. The money made from herbs was marginal and it wasn’t necessary to put in so much effort. However, Weed had used up almost all of his money, so he was more covetous than usual.

“Money, money, money.”

Weed diligently inserted the herbs into bottles. Soon, his backpack was filled with bottles of herbs that needs to be fermented.

In the Yuroki Mountains, liquor was hard to come by.

The soldiers of Rosenheim and the Orcs were drinking together. Exploiting the Helaine Cup by mixing Holy water and fruit juice to create an artificial liquor.

Using the Sacred relic of the Church of Freya for personal pleasure!

The holy water combined with herbs, produced a sweet aroma and flavor. When drunk, it went down well.

Since the quest had progressed well, gaining a lucrative income became a possibility. The mastering of various kinds of production skills had always helped, no matter which environment Weed had treaded upon.

“Sculptors live on the edge, if you don’t make money on the side or sell your sculptures then you’ll starve to death.”

This was why he dug out herbs so diligently.

– Weed!

Mapan whispered him.

Perhaps he survived the war after all and since then, he had been trying to whisper Weed.

– Yes, go ahead.

– I finally got through! Where are you now?

– The place where we fought the Lich.

– Oh, that great. I’ll be there soon. Let’s form a party when we get there.

– Party?

– Pale and the others are riding to Plains of Despair in order to see you. Let’s meet up. I’ll be there soon.

Weed was deeply touched.

‘Too bad I didn’t live up to the world’

The party traveling across the plains show their friendship and loyalty towards each other!

* * *

“Phew, this is hard.”

Pale wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Riding and changing horses, Pale wanted to watch at least a part of the war against the Undead Legion.

The Priests came and gave them their blessings. Their exhausted stamina recovered, and as a result, they were able to continue riding.

When the going gets tough, smile.

“It’s just like what was shown in the video, this must be the right place.”

“This is east of Rosenheim Kingdom. Explorers have yet to venture to this land.”

“We’ll be the first ones to see the result.”

Romuna and Surka felt overwhelmed, as they had never set foot outside of Rosenheim Kingdom. In search of adventure, you’ll find yourself in the midst of various civilizations on the Versailles continent, and experience the depth of their culture.

When royal road first opened, many people were worried about others entering the game just to indulge in selfish desires. After the game became well known, people got to it completely addicted. Young gamers were at risk of becoming shut-ins, narrow-minded, and timid of the real world. Such a result would have become a huge issue. However Unicorn Corp. was able to placate people with such concerns.

A player’s experience varies with the continent they initially chose. From cultures of different places, to events you’d never see in real life. Such as cultivating a land and running its government. So instead of become weak minded, people appeared more human. And strong ties of friendship could be built while battling with your companions.

Surka said.

“Hehe, let’s ask Weed to cook for us.”

Hwaryeong smiled and nodded

“I’ll have him make me a delicious dish.”

The Geomchis were also in the party.

“I want to drink.”

“I’ll get you a cup, master.”

Geomchi2 quickly complied with enthusiasm.

The Geomchis 1 to 5 immediately followed the party! They had originally decided to scatter throughout the continent in order to hone their swordsmanship, but Pale and the others were going to see Weed, and they decided to tag along.

For the sake of food and drinks!

* * *

“Weed-nim!”

“We’re here!”

Weed was harvesting herbs on a cliff overlooking the bottom of the mountain, when people came rushing in.

The crowd rushed up the desolate mountain.

Pale, Surka, Irene, Romuna, Hwaryeong, Zephyr!

Unexpectedly, the Geomchis also arrived.

Weed welcomed them and a multitudes of conversations seemed to sweep over him, demanding his attention. Only now, that he was done fighting the Undead Legion, was he ready to talk.

In the middle of the plains, Mapan waited impatiently, as he felt no different from the parties that just arrived. He wanted to hear what had happened.

Mapan immediately came running to hear the story.

“And, so...”

Weed leisurely gathered herbs as he explained.

Just listening to the story about the war against the Undead Legion was exciting. Pale felt like he was on an adventure.

Mapan, having seen the battle first hand, was the envy of all.

“Was the quest successful?”

Pale cautiously asked.

Likewise, Mapan was unsure of the results of the quest since he had seen Weed and Lich Shire dying together.

If the Lich Shire had died even a second before Weed, the quest would have been a success, otherwise, it would have resulted in failure.

“Well...”

Weed’s expression conveyed endless depression.

Loneliness and solitude!

Deep sadness exuded throughout his body.

Even a lovestruck man dumped by his girlfriend wouldn’t look so crestfallen.

“I thought it was okay to ask” Pale apologetically said.

Weed dug into the earth, pulling out herbs, and spoke.

“The items...”

“Yes?”

“I lost my chance obtain the all items dropped by the Lich Shire”

“Keoeog!”

Eventhough he had successfully completed an A-rank quest, Weed was a man who would grieve over the inferior Items he hadn’t looted!

‘Weed’s the same as always’

Hwaryeong grinned.

Despite not having seen his friends for such a long time, he diligently harvested herbs in order to make even just one more penny, rather than catch up with them. But that was Weed’s mindset. Even if he acted differently now, he would never change his lifestyle.

Pale and Zephyr quickly jumped into the herbal field.

“Weed, we would like to help.”

However, Weed modestly shook his head.

“No. It is not your job to do this tedious job, it’s mine”

“But still...”

“Just sit there comfortably and watch me.”

The usual Weed would never hesitate to take advantage of other people!

Pale obediently sat down on a large rock after Weed declined his offer to help.

Nevertheless, Hwaryeong and Surka rolled up their sleeves to try and help Weed, but they were stopped.

“This is my job, and I’ll finish it”

Seeing is wanting!

Weed was more worried about the women than the men.

Theoretically, herbs were more coveted by women as it enhances vigor.

“Wow.”

“The wind feels great, Master”

“There’s an available spot on this side”

With the stamina enhancing herbs completely cleared out, the Geomchis took a seat on some rocks.

After a while, Weed's bag was filled with bottles of herbs

“Whew, I’m finished. Thanks for waiting for me to finish gathering herbs. I’ll start cooking some rabbit meat stew.”

“Wow!”

The news that Weed was going to cook led to cheers.

“Ahem!” Geomchi cleared his throat.

“My throat is parched.”

“As if a knife was shoved down my throat,” Geomchi2 quickly added.

“Weed, we’ll catch a rabbit for the Stew. In the meantime, I hope you can make us something cold to drink with the herbs you harvested.”

“Yes. In fact, I’m going to brew a drink good enough to die for”

“Why don’t you?”

If it’ll makes you feel better, I’ll let you drink as much as you want!

“There are dishes to eat and wine to drink beyond the valley.”

“Won’t our travel be in vain? Wouldn’t it be faster if you start preparing now?”

“Enough said. Alcohol is better drunk cold. Depending on the atmosphere, the original aroma and taste varies greatly. So if you drank it in a relaxed atmosphere from high up in the valley, how much do you think the flavor will differ?”

“Yeah?” Geomchi thought to himself, 'even just one cup would’ve be fine...'

Weed decided to head to the other side of the valley together with his companions. A far distance from the decimated battlefield was a clear, flowing stream, full of fish.

“This will slightly increase my cooking proficiency. Anyway, let me fill the pot up with water from the river”

“Ha, go on then.”

Within sight of his companions, Weed took out a pot and filled it with water from the creek. Then he added the rabbit meat to the pot, and brought it to a boil. Finally he took out a few herbs and seasonings, to create a rich stew.

The food revitalized their tired bodies!

“Great!”

“It’s really delicious.”

The dish Weed cooked was a success.

The rabbit meat stew disappeared as soon as it was ready. The entire group literally waged a war for for the remainder of the soup. The Geomchi’s appetite was merciless! Surprisingly the combined efforts of Pale’s party was overcome. In the end, their master won, and everyone else was fended off.

Weed gave them generous servings

Of course, none of this would be free.

‘One way or another. I will have you guys return the favor.’

In the case of livestock, pigs are raised as an investment and then slaughtered for profit!

“It burns my throat a little.”

He handed Geomchi a cup of alcohol to drink.

*Gulp!*

Some swallowed their saliva in anticipation.

Geomchi wasn’t the only one who wanted a taste of Weed’s brewed alcohol.

“Now, I’ll let everyone have a taste of my drink”

Weed used Zahab’s engraving knife and made mugs out of the surrounding trees and handed them to everybody.

*Spliiish*

Clear emerald liquor filled the cups. Any sane person wouldn’t be able to withstand the sweet aroma that filled the air.

The Geomchis drank a sip and were ecstatic.

“Kyaah! this is nice.”

It’s better to drink something cool when your body is warm. Your body will feel refreshed after a good drink.

“This liquor is priceless and it’s worth every penny.”

Geomchi said, and Mapan agreed.

“This liquor is so good, I feel bad taking it without paying. It must have been hard making it. Here we are, spending Weed’s hard earned quest money.”

“Everytime I drink a sip, I feel like I owe you an apology, we’ll pay for the liquor. I’ll buy two bottles”

After Pale tasted the drink, he decided to buy some too.

“Yeah, I live for this this kind of drink. I’ll buy ten bottles.”

Since the Geomchis were no longer beginners, they were able to pay for their drinks. Weed will finally able to make money from selling alcohol.

But modesty in his words must not be forgotten.

“Really, you don’t have to.”

"We're out. Would you bring us four more bottles of your famous alcohol. Sorry to say this but we’ve run dry, can we have another round of drinks?”

“Yes, right away master.”

Weed enthusiastically brought out more liquor.

The Geomchis and the others happily drank the alcohol made from the cold valley water.

Irene and Romuna decided to get up and help and said.

“Weed-nim, we’ll help.”

“No. Please allow me to make it. Alcohol tastes different depending on the skill of the person who brewed it. This way the drink will deliver the most delicious taste.”

Weed had his own reasons for doing so and continued to bring out the alcohol.

Therefore, the Geomchis and the others drank Weed’s delicious liquor like water. They deliberately conversed since the reason they travelled with Weed in the valley was to drink. They talked until the liquor was completely drained away.

Chapter 5: The Power to Reject Death

After the drinking party, Weed headed for the village of the Orcs. Weed shapeshifted into the Orc Karichwi again, who had a massive and vicious body.

“Kyaaaah, so cute!”

“This is how you look like as an Orc!”

“Look at those forearms. So muscular"

These people had an unusual taste.

Hwaryeong and Surka liked Karichwi’s appearance.

Yellowish teeth coming out of his mouth and a big nose.

Eyes brimming with confidence!

He had a bulging beer belly, proof overeating!

It looked nothing like a human or, for that account, like any other race you’d normally see. He was so ugly, that the word ‘monster’ was too genteel to describe him.

Weed had found the Orc village without much difficulty.

Orcs came to the Yuroki mountains, to hunt around the area, only a few months after the quest had ended.

“Chwichik! Selling zombie teeth for 5 million gold. Chwichik profit. Please buy.”

“Rotten Ancient Soldiers’ sword. Good condition! For only 20,000,000 gold.”

“Wear a cursed bracelet for the low amount of 8 million gold. Chwiik”

The Orcs were selling items they had acquired after the victory against the Undead Legion for absurdly high prices. But only a crazy person would buy it for those prices!

Some Orcs spoke in earnest with Weed.

“Good stuff. Buy some. Chwiik.”

“I’m not interested. Chwiik.”

Usually, that was enough to make them give up, but some Orcs were persistent.

“Do you want to buy this, Kari? You seem interested, see if it fits”

The Orcs were aggressively soliciting customers!

“Well, come take a look. Chwiik!”

Weed didn’t even have to take a look. He knew how the Orcs tried to ensnare their customers.

The Orc Village also had another characteristic.

They were completely devoid of any intelligence.

“Kari. Kari.”

“What’s the matter. Chwik.” Weed, showing no interest, replied.

“Hold on, those are humans. Chwit.”

“They are my prisoners. Chwit.”

Therefore, that reason was good enough to get them into the village. Because of the Orcs low intellect, they couldn’t follow complex reasoning.

“Oh, who cares. Congratulations. Say chichichit. Mmm this one looks good, you going to eat it?”

The Orc soldiers were drooling over Hwaryeong, Irene and Romuna while looking at him.

In the eyes of the Orcs, Surka was so small she wasn’t even considered food.

Sensing prey before them, the Orcs erupted into a hearty laugh.

As Weed was used to dealing with them, the situation wasn’t of much concern to him.

“I’ll eat later. Chwiik!”

“Oh Yea? Count me in. Chwiit.”

“I’ll pay 2 gold. Chichik.”

“No money. Instead, how about 80 zombie eyeballs? Chwik.”

Zombie eyeballs were high quality japtem worth 5 silvers each.

“Deal. Chwik”

“As usual, arms for me Chwichik”

“I’ll save them for you. Chwiik!”

However, Hwaryeong and Irene’s complexion went pale as they listened to Weed’s and the Orcs’ deeds during the war.

It seemed as if they were going to be hawked and eaten!

Weed brought his party to the Orc Elder’s home. The house was made out of roughly chopped wood, and when it rained, water leaked through the roof.

“Kari, you're home." The Orc Elder greeted Weed with eyes full of affection.

“Elder, as requested, I accomplished my quest, and returned. Chwiik.”

“Yes. Your contribution will not be forgotten. We, the Orcs have defeated the Dark Elves and have proven ourselves to be the rulers of Yuroki Mountains. Chwichichik!”

*Ttiring!*

Prosperity of the Orcs quest has been completed.

The Great Orcs were willing to make sacrifices.

To the highly fertile Orcs, life holds greater significance than death. It was a great honor for the Orcs to have fought against strong enemies. Fight to death against any enemy.

For a period of time, monsters in the rough terrains will no longer struggle for power because of the Orcs’ victory over the war against the Dark Elves and the Undead Legion. The Orcs had been crowned as the rulers of the mountains.

– Fame has increased by 230.

– Familiarity with the Orcs has increased by 19.

– Your influence in the village has risen by 950. You can now access the domestic affairs window.

– Influence in the Orc Village: 2,790

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

He gained 3 levels by completing the quest given by the Orc Race.

The Orc Elder continued saying.

“Here are the promised goods. Chwit!”

Quest reward items! For completing the quest from the Orc Village, the reward was either Gem or an Ore.

‘I hope I would get an expensive gem’

Processed gems from sculpting sells for more money. Weed held considerable expectations.

However, what the Orc Elder brought back was a black lump

“Chwichwik. This ore was discovered a long time ago. We found this being used in parts of some armor we took during a hunt. You can take it to a Blacksmith and have it applied to your armor to enhance it. Chwiit. Take care of it.”

A black lump!

At first, Weed did not know what the item was.

It was neither a type of equipment nor a mineral ore.

After examining for some time, faint traces of an armor was found.

It could be used to make gloves, boots, shoulder pauldrons, and belts. Things that were partially made out of mithril could be sold for a hefty sum.

The mithril could be melted in a furnace, but without proper skill proficiency, the process of hardening the metal would result in an unusable piece of junk metal.

‘Mithril. To handle this properly, I definitely have to go to the City of Artists. I also have to pay the city a visit to obtain more knowledge of the Moonlight Sculptor profession.’

The City of Artists, Rhodium!

Many Guilds of the artisan and production classes gathered there.

“I sincerely thank you, Elder. Chwit.”

Weed placed his reward inside his backpack.

Without missing a beat, the elder continued talking.

“Now the Orcs can hold their heads up with pride. Chwitchwit. We have proved to the arrogant Dark Elves that we are the masters of Yuroki Mountains. Chwiiit. Up to the last moments, through tough challenges, the Orcs survived.”

*Ttiring!

The existence of Orcs in the continent of Versailles was revealed.

- Ferocious, selfish, and enormous race!

However, they are also honest and straightforward. The Orc race boasts a large population and the strongest members in terms of raw power. An overwhelming force!

With their enhanced physical abilities, the results of the Orcs’ growth is physical strength that rivals that of a Barbarian.

For the Prosperity of the Specie.

The Orc race is now available at the start of Royal Road. New players can now choose the Orc race as their initial character.

‘It’ll be a busy time in the Yuroki Mountains’

After some time, Orcs with the appearance as handsome as Weed were made.

Curious of the new race, a lot of people were interested and chose Orcs as their initial character. Multitudes of new players arose in the Village of the Orcs. There were a lot of Orc players with “Chwiik” in their name!

Thanks to expensive prices and unconventional commerce in the village, the Orc players ran around the mountains hunting while looking heinous and selfish, but it also produced many opportunities.

Spacious hunting ground of Yuroki Mountains!

Infested with high-ranked monsters!

When they chose to start as an Orc in the Village of Exiles, they were able to get many value experiences. They wouldn’t have been able to if they chosen the human race.

Weed bowed his head slightly towards the Orc Elder and walked out of the village.

* * *

With his party, Weed went to the castle of the Dark Elves to look for the Necromancer and submit his report.

“Commander!”

In the castle were Dark Elves and the Soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom.

Royal Knights and Centurions alive and well.

Buran, Becker and Hosram!

Weed noticed that Dale was missing.

"Buran, where's Dale?"

“Da, Dale... Heuheuk!”

The Royal Knights had somber faces, both Buran and Hosram bursted into tears, while Becker was trying hard to hold back his tears.

“Dale, along with the Wyverns, got swept away by the Lich’s magic spell.”

“How’d it happen!”

Weed eyes turned red and began to cry.

Deep sorrow, sadness, regret, bitterness and pain!

These were the feelings that Weed felt.

With a glum look, Weed sat to the spot next to Hosram, where Dale would usually sit.

Dale was hardworking and reliable, he got promoted to the rank of Centurion, and was given charge of the main force. ‘Dale.’

Rosenheim Kingdom soldiers were sorrowful, but Weed took the chance to increase intimacy.

“Nevertheless Commander, as a parting gift, he and the wyverns sent one of Barr Khan’s main forces straight to hell.”

“I’m sure he regretted nothing, we all would have followed you anywhere.”

Hosram, Buran, and Becker’s affinity and loyalty was at its best. To other soldiers of the Rosenheim Kingdom and the Royal Knights, Weed’s order was absolute.

It wasn’t unusual for a commander to mourn for the loss of a subordinate. Weed’s ability, charisma, and leadership that allowed him to complete the quest earned deep trust amongst the soldiers.

Weed’s companions thought that they had mistakenly judged him.

Pale reflected.

‘Although he cares a lot about money... he also has a tender heart.’

Surka and Irene had the same thoughts as Pale.

‘What an affectionate response Weed, having to mourn for fallen soldiers.’

‘The fallen Kingdom soldiers, even the careless ones, are being cherished.’

With tears silently forming on the rim of his eyes, Hwaryeong and Romuna tried not to smile. Weed had lost a lot of subordinates, but they believed his pain would come to pass.

In regards to depression and loss, these were some of the feelings that the world did not allow Weed to have. But reality was a little different. Weed was sad about something else.

‘My contribution!’

If the soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom were sent back alive, the contribution he spent to borrow them will be returned. It their levels were higher than he first borrowed them, he will receive extra contribution points. Contribution was related to rewards and money.

He felt great regret because the death of Dale, the Centurion, had lost him a lot of contribution points.

Weed’s eyes were still sore as he faced the Rosenheim Kingdom’s soldiers.

“In addition to Dale, who else died?”

Amongst the soldiers, 25 people have lost their lives as they fought with the wicked Lich. However, our fallen comrades will be honored.

“Not anymore. Although they are no longer here, they will remain in our hearts forever. We should never forget them.”

“You are right. Commander”

Its a miracle that all the soldiers didn’t die fighting in the quest against the Undead Legion. The healing power of the priests contributed greatly to the success of the mission, a lot more than he would have thought.

Buran, Becker, Hosram, and others who were ranked as Centurion leveled up a lot. Thanks to his quest, the soldiers’ level had grown by an average of about 70 levels. They would probably be promoted when he returned them to Rosenheim Kingdom.

The once ordinary soldiers would climb at an unprecedented rate. The Royal Knights had also leveled up by about 10 to 20 levels or even more.

After checking on the Rosenheim soldiers and the Royal Knights, Weed went to the Black Temple to meet with the Necromancers. Weed’s companions followed up to that point and stopped.

The black-skinned Dark Elves were walking around the citadel and had sparked Weed’s party’s interest.

“Weed, we would like to walk around the castle and take a look”

Weed considered Romuna’s request, and then nodded in agreement. He didn’t have anything else to do other than to report the success of his quest.

“Yes, please do so. I’ll report the quest and then I'll come meet you.”

Alone, Weed went into the Black Temple.

* * *

Underground of the Black Temple!

Necromancers were still wearing their robes with neutral faces, waiting for Weed to arrive.

While waving a Bone Wand, they said.

“We have waited for thee. Thy ability as commander was truly remarkable and will eternally be exalted.”

“It was no big deal. I had found their weakness” Weed replied politely.

Actually, I did not consider myself to be doing so well with the quest. If fought alone, the Legions of Undead would be similar to beating an egg on a rock. However, maximizing the Orcs’ and Dark Elves’ abilities was a great investment. It was not a big deal, thanks to them it wasn’t hard to claim victory.

“Thanks to thy ferocious spirit, we were able to defeat the Legions of Undead and put Shire to his eternal rest. To hell with ambition where it’ll burn with fire. Thanks to thee, the continent will no longer see works of Shire and the Undead Legion.”

*Ttiring!*

Lich Shire’s Undead Legion quest has been completed.

- The Lich Shire tried to conquer the world with darkness, but has been stopped and shall never again return.

- The continent of Versailles seems to be safe for now, because Shire who devastated the world in darkness and tried to cause an endless war, has been defeated.

– Your fame has increased by 2,750.

– Familiarity with the Necromancers have increased.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up...

Messages of his level increasing continued appearing. He had simultaneously gained a whopping 17 levels. To some extent, the quest limits the experience gained depending on the allegiance of the recipient.

Completing a A rank difficulty quest meant receiving a lot of experience. Weed noticed that his level went over 300, to level 306.

‘I’ve regained all the levels I’ve lost.’

He has lost a significant amount of levels from creating Wyverns, yet he had gained all it back.

The Necromancer raised his thin hands and said.

“On behalf of all Necromancers, I will bestow upon you the compensation.”

Weed would never dream of refusing them. With an A rank quest, the rewards you received were bound to be enormous. Receiving the Lich Shire’s book of Necromancy would be just the icing of the cake.

‘At least a unique item! Or 3-4 rare items should be fine too.’

Looking back at the quest he had completed for the Church of Freya, receiving something similar to Agatha’s Sword was to be expected.

“But I’m sorry, we have absolutely no proprietorship of treasures.”

"..."

“Acquitted as hermits who could not attend to the world, we have no treasures to award you with”

“Isn’t there at least a treasure that you’ve saved that could be awarded to me?”

“For hundreds of years we have lived in the shadows of obscurity. Treasures of the Necromancers are scattered throughout the world, secluded from the sun.”

"..."

In the end, it all made sense. Looking miserable, Weed felt like curling into a ball.

Weed’s robes were so tattered that he was close to being naked, and his boots were so ragged his toes were sticking out.

The Necromancers looked no different from beggars. It was enough to make Weed fall into despair. However, the Necromancer shook his head.

“Do not be discouraged, there is something that we would like to give to you.”

“What is it?”

“As the leader of the Necromancers, I would like to present you with a special gift for all your assistance. This power is exclusive for to the Necromancer class!”

The atmosphere was very solemn.

*Ttiring!*

The skill ‘The Power to Reject Death’ is a high ranked skill unique to Necromancers, and passed down specifically to Blood Necromancers.

When attained:

- Health will increase by 500.

- Mana will increased by 1000.

- All stats will increase by 3 (+3 All Stats)

Would you like to accept?

The message window appeared before his eyes.

Weed did not worry so much.

‘For a prestigious A rank difficulty quest, the reward wasn’t so bad.’

The increase in health, mana and stats made the skill a great supplementation for Weed.

Unique to a former high rank wizard profession, the necromancer!

It wasn’t such a bad thing as long as he received the skill of the second class advancement of the Necromancer class, the Blood Necromancers.

“I will accept it.”

“You chose well.”

– You have accepted the skill ‘The Power to Reject Death’.

When attained:

- Health will increase by 500.

- Mana will increased by 1000.

- All stats will increase by 3 (+3 All Stats)

*pajijijik!*

Weed’s hand transformed to the shape of a Death Knight’s.

“Skill description. The power to reject death.”

Power to Reject Death Beginner Level 1 (0%) Blood Necromancer’s Unique Skill.

It is automatically triggered and activates when your health reaches zero. At the crossroads of life and death, avoid being put to rest by thy foes, and seek revenge.

You are immediately revived as an undead, ready to rage across the battlefield.

While in the undead state you gain two times the amount of life and mana. After a day, you will return to being human.

When your Vitality as an undead is completely exhausted, your skill levels decline and you will be unable to log in for 24 hours.

- The type of Undead will vary depending on the mastery of ‘Power to Reject Death’.

- You can take advantage of the Undead’s abilities.

- In the undead state, you are completely immune to black magic curses.

- For 1 day, you will be able to hunt as an Undead.

- In your undead state, you are vulnerable to Holy Magic.

- Blessings and Healing from Priests are impossible.

- Undead also experience the death penalty normally, and lose skill and experience levels like a normal player would.

‘In battle, the person whose life drops to 0, dies. However, using the power to deny death, I’ll be able to continue fighting’ Weed thought that his new skill was pretty useful.

A skill that allows you to die and return as an undead while retaining your level before death. Not to mention that turning into an undead will help him prevent item loss on death.

Stamina and vitality were both doubled, and depending on which undead he transformed into, he would gain different skills.

Above all else, death can turn into a strategic advantage now with which he could continue playing.

‘I no longer have to wait for 24 hours to play the game.’

Dark Gamers such as Weed made their money through quests.

Dying meant a substantial loss of experience and items and it deprived Weed from the opportunity to make money for 24 hours. The delay on the one day suspension means less monetary loss.

Although that came with formidable advantages, there still existed side effects. Even if he always revived as an Undead, he could not necessarily be sure of having victory in his grasp. On the contrary, he would suffer great consequences from dying twice.

All this is said.

“We necromancers have suffered greatly because of misunderstandings, forthwith it can be resolved. We the disciples of Black Magic, will once again prosper in this land.”

“May you be successful.”

“It may be a stretch, but we have suffered a great plenty while not trying. But there is one thing I would like to know. Is the continent of Versailles really peaceful?”

“Yes?”

“Unknown to most, evil hidden beneath the world has begun to move, this evil is known as the Embinyu Church. There are 12 leaders of this religion.”

“Religious leaders?”

“The churches of Freya and Rui are different from the dark group hiding in Valhalla’s temple. They believe in the evil god and will try to dye the world with darkness. Amongst them is the 12th leader who is hiding in the land of Baseurin. Although peaceful in daytime, during night, demonic festivals unfold. As a result, the entire city is under their control”

– You have learned information about the Embinyu Church.

– Learned information about Baseurin

‘Baseurin.’

It seemed to be an undiscovered region, and information was always helpful.

Weed said his farewells and exits out of the Black Temple.

* * *

The people of the central continent looked up at the sky with resentment.

Cloudless sunny weather!

The Sun was blazing hot.

“It’s hot, it’s hot.”

“Damn. Where have the rain gone to.”

For the past few days, there had not been a drop of rain. A haze had settled over the land as the heat continued to skyrocket. As the atmospheric temperature continued to rise, flame type magic became dramatically stronger. A 20% increase or more, was granted due to effect of the weather. Seeing as magical power varied depending on the surrounding environment of the caster. As a result, Wizards didn’t have you use the full extent of their power to cast a powerful spell.

“Level 272 Wizard specializing in fire magic. Can I join your party?”

“You don’t have to cast a strong magic flame. What are you trying to barbecue?”

Wizards who specialized in Fire Magic received their share of inhospitality. However, Wizards who specializes in Ice Magic, even those who were just becoming proficient with their magic, were in the spotlight. Even if their magic was a little weak, they were taken to many exhilarating places.

Scorching Heat!

Sweat running down his spine!

Even during short battles, stamina descended quickly. Surprisingly, there were only a few people who left the continent of Versailles in frustration. Instead of complaining, more people seemed to arrive in the continent of Versailles. It seems like the world had a twisted sense of fun. Dynamically changing the land.

The pleasure of overcoming difficulties to weave a new path.

The fact the original temperature of the Versailles continent has not returned was not surprising.

“Apparently this is the curse of King Belsos, if so, there’s a way to solve it”

“Let’s go find a way before anyone else finds it!”

“Maybe, if you overcome the heat, you’ll earn an enormous amount of fame.”

The members of the Crimson Wing Guild were shunned by the people who had witnessed their downfall, while other guilds fought for the place that had been opened by their demise.

On the other hand, people were gradually adapting to the heat. Inside the Kingdoms and Cities, some people lingered near a fountain. Before people left to hunt or to explore, they would buy a bucket of water. Drinking cold water while walking, the heat was forgotten for a short time.

Those who were intimidated by the prospect of hunting under the sun, plunged themselves into underground dungeons. The cool underground dungeons and dens became very popular hunting grounds.

Many users seeked cooler temperatures and traveled north. But it was difficult withstanding the cold ground, recently almost everywhere seemed lost to the cold.

The Curse of King Bellsos affected many players on the continent.

* * *

“Looking for party without success...”

Rosetta who chose a profession with Fire affiliation and looked around while sitting by the fountain.

People were searching for parties so they could start hunting.

“My fire attacks is effective as any magic attack. Fast and powerful, although not as much range as spells.”

There weren’t many wizards who chooses to hunt alone because it was difficult to overcome their disadvantage of having low health and defense, but majority parties were prepared to defend them.

“If there’s an opportunity, would it hurt to learn an Ice attack? Since I am fully qualified to advanced to a Necromancer, I am forced to wait for it. The problem with learning a new skill is that the system can only raise it a little bit, but by joining a party, it can be raised significantly...”

It was then, when one of the nearby NPC villagers opened their mouth and spoke.

“Rosetta. Did you hear the rumors?”

“Yes?” Rosetta was slightly acquainted with the locals.

“The story of an amazing adventurer named Weed. The Lich Shire full of hatred led a Legion of Undead but was stopped by a single man named Weed.”

“Umm, which Weed are you talking about?”

“Yes, he has sent the Lich Shire and his Legions of Undead to their everlasting rest, and will never again be able to conspire evil. Although many soldiers and paladins had lost their lives, we can finally rest our eyes, eh?”

So far no one knew of the quest progress other than Pale’s party!

Everyone had come to hear of the news of the defeat of the Undead Legions.

“Weed! Weed completed the quest.”

“The Lich Shire is dead!”

“Necromancer, I can now advance to the Necromancer job!”

Rosetta too, took part in the uproar that swept the entire subcontinent by shouting here and there like an erupted fountain, everywhere, a similar scene was taking place.

* * *

The Versailles Continent story.

Shin Hye-Min was in the middle of today’s broadcast.

“Yes. Sources say that monsters who had invaded the Reuwan village were eradicated. People have once again begun to resettle in the village.”

Oh Juwan continues where she left off.

“We are indeed fortunate. This is result of many mercenaries who worked hard to defeat the monsters, is it not? Crisis is opportunity! Thousands of mercenaries who fought the battle gained a lot of experience. Although the village was ravaged, congratulations to all for winning.”

Shin Hye-Min and Oh Juwan had bags under their eyes.

All kinds of random events seemed to pop up around the Versailles continent. Not resting, ever vigilant, the broadcast was extended.

‘I could not travel with Pale-nim yet again.’ Shin Hye-Min felt pain in her chest.

Because of the broadcast, Shin Hye-Min hasn’t logged into Royal Road for several days to meet with her lover, Pale, yet alone talked to him!

‘Ah, Pale-nim and the others should have departed for their trip to Plains of Despair.’

She too, wanted to go along but had been no time. Fortunately after completing today’s broadcast, she would receive a three day holiday.‘You can finish this broadcast.’ She thought sorrowfully.

Putting up a smile while casting her feelings aside, Shin Hye-Min continued the broadcast.

“Now let’s talk about the heat wave that’s been occurring these days, do you think that the Crimson Wing Guild are responsibile for this and caused them to disband?”

“Yes, in fact, I don’t think anyone could have anticipated just how large the ripple effect that this event created.”

“At the center of this is Crimson Wing Guild, which boasts a formidable power.”

“It wasn't by chance that they have achieved their place as one of the top ten guilds of Versailles continent. They were a huge guild, owning 7 castles in 25 different villages. The guild has 150,000 available for immediate deployment in case of any form of emergency. The collapse and dissolution of a strong guild was very unexpected.”

“It is as you’ve said but it can’t be helped”

“As Hye-Min-ssi said. All their allied guild turned their backs on them, and avoid socializing with them. Other guilds who had been attacked by them, did not miss their opportunity for revenge... Their gate was reinforced only by ten thousand Archers! The way Terose commanded his army was electrifying, but it didn’t stop the morale from falling. On the other hand, allied forces was became more powerful adversaries. Which forced the Crimson Wing guild to choose their last resort and disbanded”

“Truly Heartbreaking.”

“However, the guild master Terose, with Dane, Do-Gwang, who all played a pivotal role in the guild, was seen together with other players, and seemed to be recovering. Perhaps their credibility will not disappear completely.”

“Indeed! Many guilds are looking for a way to stop the intense heat, isn’t that right Oh Juwan-ssi?”

“There is an increase of interest in recruiting new players to find a way repel the heat. In hope of doing so, will trigger a quest or find some treasures. To try and find a trail, they will start from the north and make their way to the deserts in the south where King Belsos ruins are.”

“A great adventure to the Northern continent.”

“Myths and legends always revolve around a boss type monster. I can’t even imagine how strong the monsters flocking towards villages are or how frequently they invade. There are only a few high level players who are at the forefront of this, pioneering new hunting methods. It’s actually quite amazing considering the monster’s levels.”

“I’m surprised that you know so much, have you been pioneering north?”

“I haven’t been there myself, but more likely than not, people will gain interest in exploring the North.”

There were not many people in the north due to the cold. However, there were adventures who were not deterred and traveled on foot.

Shin Hye-Min’s eyes shone.

‘I think it would interesting if I get a chance to travel to North with Pale-nim.’ Shin Hye-Min said quietly.

“The northern part of the continent is currently warm. Don’t you think it’s a good time to travel?”

Then Oh Juwan face emerged with an outrageous expression.

“That is still not enough Shin Hye-Min-ssi. I cannot begin to imagine how cold the north of the continent is. I assume that even with the heat wave, majority of the area is still covered in snow. Because of the frozen grounds and snow over at the northern Kingdom, adventurers have a hard time looking for signs. However, those adventurers that managed to arrive at their destination, left tangible evidence, but had a hard time leaving again.”

“They had done a good job”

Thereafter, Shin Hye-Min concluded the first section of the news, she proceeded to the 2nd section of what’s happening in the continent of Versailles.

The second part was progression of professions from various sectors. On important issues, the professionals were called in for interviews before the show.

With this, he said with confidence.

“The Legions of Undead clearly seems to have failed. Until now, we have not receive any news of success.”

“I have already suspected it. I am not surprised.”

Each experts were allowed to voice their own opinion. They received a lot of criticism from viewers because they emphasized on the failure.

Shin Hye-Min said cautiously.

“The likelihood of success is remains, don’t you think so?”

“It’s impossible. Someone of Shin Hye-min-ssi's low level wouldn't be able to understand, the quests difficulty level is extraordinary.”

“It becomes more obvious as ones level grows higher. We also once were like Shin Hye-Min-ssi when we first started playing”

“Rosenheim Kingdom’s Red Mercenary Guild has been dispatched. Please rest assured. The Undead Legion will be stopped if they try to invade.”

Shin Hye-min was embarrassed being unable to rebuke the veteran players’ claims.

They didn’t know the identity of Weed, as the company refused to disclose any information, but she was also reluctant to bring up her personal relationship with him. Shin Hye-Min’s face showed the slight frown.

Everyone was clearly betting that he would fail, despite all the incredible things he had already accomplished, they still scorned him. These things were gradually beginning to pile up under the surface, bringing her temper to a boil until a sound in her headphones indicated that a message was being conveyed.

News!

Shin Hye-Min addressed the broadcast with a genuine laugh.

“We have just received new information concerning the topic that everyone wants to know. The results of the Legions of Undead quest.”

"...?"

“Is it as we have said, a failure?”

The experts were clearly puzzled when Shin Hye-mine said.

“The Lich Shire has been killed, and the Undead Legions had been put to rest.”

“That’s not possible!”

The experts stood their ground.

It was completely against common sense that something like this could happen.

“I can’t believe it! Are you sure about your sources?”

“It is the common story throughout the all residence of the continent of Versailles and amongst Rosenheim Kingdom’s Red Mercenary Guild.”

“Yes?”

“We’re gonna have to come back to you another time.”

"..."

Chapter 6: Into the World

Weed had been busy preparing for the previous battle; and now, affairs had returned to normal for the Orcs and humans. After Weed had reported to the black temple, he wandered around the marketplace.

“So, here’s the market.”

Mapan acted as his guide.

After living in the citadel for a several days, the Dark Elves had a rough grasp of the geography, and many Dark Elves were opening up shops in the area.

“We Elves sell fruit that we planted and grew ourselves.”

“Buy medical herbs to heal your wounds.”

They had black skin and black eyes that shone like pearls!

Though the Dark Elves weren’t very tall, they had flexible bodies, overflowing with health and beauty.

“I am surprised. Mapan-nim is wandering around various market stalls to meet the Elves”

Surka said to Mapan, but Mapan awkwardly scratched his head.

“Actually I haven't met that many.”

“Then...?”

“The first time I saw Dark Elves, Wood Elves, and Half Elves, was when I was traveling to the center of the continent with Hwaryeong.”

“How are Wood Elves different?”

Surka asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.

Pale, Irene, and Romuna, had never stepped outside of Rosenheim Kingdom, the Geomchi were the type to listen as they were very ignorant.

“Half Elves have long pointed ears, other than that, they are no different to humans. Half human, Half Elf, they’re a mixed species. Wood Elves live deep in the woods and have excellent attack power, but are weak to magic.”

“There are other Elves too?”

“Grey Elves or High Elves, Shadow Elves, Night Elves... There are many varieties of Elves.”

The description that Mapan had given to Surka was the full extent of his knowledge.

Geomchi turned and poked Geomchi3 and asked

“Geomchi3”

“Yes, master.”

“Do you know a lot about Royal Road?”

“Yes, of course master!”

Geomchi3 replied gallantly. He pretended to be the Royal Road specialist amongst the Geomchis.

“Where do the Elves come from?”

“Yes, the Elves, sir?”

“Yeah.”

“The Elves...”

“You do not know the answer?”

Geomchi and Geomchi2 had eyes filled with disbelief, and Geomchi3 stirred his hand.

“Of course I know. From the Elf village.”

“Village?”

“Wood village, Dark village, and Half village. It’s simple once you understand it, right? Their skin is black because this is the Dark village.”

There was a grain of truth in that strange explanation, Geomchi nodded his head.

"Oh ho, so it’s like that. You are wise, as expected, Geomchi3."

“You’re too kind, master!”

* * *

The party went to the market to buy medicinal herbs and simple souvenirs. There were plenty of cheap, good quality medicinal herbs.

The party indulged themselves in the fun of sightseeing.

Mysterious items were common in grocery stores and trading posts, and with the Dark Elves walking around proud of their black skin, it was an extremely mysterious existence.

The scenery of the surrounding landscape from the citadel located at the mountain top was delightful.

Standing above the castle walls, the world unfolded underneath their feet. Azure skies, thick clouds accompanied by a calm breeze made the mountainview exceptional. Refreshing strong wind blew and cliffs were visible from the distance.

Irene was the first person who spoke out, with a smile on her lips.

“All of this walking around is worthwhile.”

“I know. I need to get out more often.”

Zephyr shared the same sentiment.

He usually fished along the river, so it was his first time to come to the mountains. He felt refreshed coming to the top of a high mountain and enjoying the sights.

“Well, let me take you to the weapon shop then.”

Mapan and his companions decided to look at weapons. They entered the weapon shop.

“Hello.”

Mapan bent down to greet the Dark Elf, who merely tilted his head.

“Why are you here?”

A haughty Elder Dark Elf!

The Elder Dark Elf who ran the shop had an arrogant look. Customers were not his concern.

Mapan asked politely.

“Do you mind if I look around the shop?”

“Knock yourself out.”

The party went around and looked at weapons individually.

The Orc Village had decent shops, but here there were plenty of rare things.

Zephyr found a fishing rod. Elves took pride in the flexibility, elasticity and rigidity of their cultivated trees, so it was perfect for fishing.

“How much do you want for it?”

“8000 Gold. If you’re thinking about saving and not buying then put it down.”

The value was inexpensive.

Zephyr paid for the item without a word.

"Wow! So much money."

Irene said, and Zephyr burst out laughing.

”It’s only money...”

"..."

Instantly, Zephyr became public enemy of the party!

The party was about to walk out the door to search for another shop which sold other types of weapon, however, the Dark Elf called out to Pale and stopped him in his tracks.

“Are you an archer?”

“Yes, esteemed elder. Do you have something you wish to tell me?”

“Compared to your talents, your bow is lacking. We Elves will never draw a bow that will put us to shame.”

Pale’s face reddened with embarrassment. It was a fact that his bow was considerably worn out, and it was time to replace it.

“Buy one here, there are lots of bows so you can buy for a cheap price.”

Most of the weapons in the shop were daggers and bows. Daggers were in showcases, while bows were hung on walls. However, in the citadel of the Dark Elves mostly sold weapons primarily made by the Elves.

The first bow he saw was barely level 200, but the rest were more powerful. The prices of the items were not suited for the weapon, as some looked like they were just there as displays.

Not to be overconfident, Pale chose a regular bow. An antique bow decorated with sky blue hue. Although the Elven bow was not rare or unique, nor did it provide longer distance, it easy to use.

“How much is this one?”

“25,000 gold.”

“I only have 24,000 gold on me......”

“If you’re not going to buy it, get out”

Methods on how to save money that he learnt from Weed didn’t work. Hard to please Dark Elves, when dealing with humans, they had a very unfavorable impression!

‘All my earnings amounts to 25,000 gold’

After a difficult struggle, Pale eventually bought the bow. Archers did not differ from Swordsmen in that they wanted better weapons right away. In some way, there’s a fiercer competition for Archer weapons. If you shoot a good bow, the range is further lengthened, showing an evident difference.

“Hu-hu-hu”

Pale let out a hysterical laugh after purchasing his new bow.

Then Surka looked at the owner and said.

“But you look cute indeed. Not like an old man but like an oppa.”

“Surka!”

Romune cried out in astonishment. Hard to please Dark Elves, you had to take extra caution not to anger them.

Being in a neutral zone made no difference. Unlike humans, depending on the intimacy levels, one could be attacked at any time.

But such concerns seemed groundless as the Elder Dark Elf shyly smiled.

“Girl, you really think so? That I truly look young?”

“Yes. You do not look older but truly super cute. Dark Elf-nim.”

“What a very cute girl. My name is Granbell. I hope you will call me Granbell.”

“My name is Surka. Granbell-nim.”

Zephyr and Hwaryeong's mouths dropped at what was taking place. First having him give his name, afterwards it was possible to form an acquaintance relationship to some extent. Dark Elves like to look cute and young!

Surka’s words by chance formed proper intimacy.

Romuna’s fists trembled.

Pretending that the elderly Dark Elf was cute like an idiot. Depending on the perspective it should be different, but enough to say super cute. The same Surka that knocked out monsters with her bare hands was pretending to be cute.

“Surka you....”

“Shush!”

Rumuna tried calling out to Surka, but Mapan quickly stopped her.

“This is an important moment. So leave her alone.”

“What?”

“It seems this is a way to create intimacy with Dark Elves.”

Mapan knew better than anybody about the importance of intimacy and commerce in kingdoms.

As the intimacy with villagers rises, more serious dialogue with them becomes possible. One could possibly be asked to perform quests or earn important information.

In fact, when Mapan heard of Weed conducting the Orcs and Dark Elves of the Yuroki Mountains, he had big expectations. Via Weed in the Plains of Despair, he hoped to get quest information, but unexpectedly with little luck.

The Orcs were simple and ignorant so they did not know much about anything. The only information they had was about hunting grounds. Where and how to encounter strong monsters.

It was the Orc’s way to send out several warriors for every one that falls. 100 could be brought to fight but only one might survive. This was no help to merchant Mapan.

In addition to that, Orcs were not very fond of humans. They found even basic conversations difficult. The gold needed to bribe them or feed them was enough to make Mapan have a nervous breakdown.

In this situation the Dark Elves were no different. They were arrogant and reluctant to have any conversations with humans. Shopping or hearing basic stories was possible but the profit was minimal.

Weed hated Dark Elves considerably. They were picky, lazy and had to be constantly pampered like they were some kind of nobility.

Mapan was isolated in the Citadel of the Dark Elves. No words could describe how delighted he was when the party arrived.

A guide plays an important role, giving detailed information about the Plains of Despair.

They were not disappointed by Granbell when he said.

“If you head to the east of our province, you will encounter tall mountains. The terrain is uneven, and you will be able to hunt lots of monsters but it’s the scenery that’s the best. It’s a little tough to climb Horom Mountain on foot, but the story is you’ll be in for a surprise at the hunting grounds although I can’t give you any information.”

Weed came back from the Black Temple and saw the party’s excited faces.

“What is it?”

“Well...”

Mapan went ahead and spoke of what happened in the weapon shop.

“A high mountain. Maybe you can you get fame for climbing it?”

In fact, until now Weed was fighting the Undead Legions so he did not know about the Dark Elves’ story. Money might be around too, so feeling it was a necessity decalred.

“Let’s fly up Horom Mountain!”

Pale strongly disagreed.

Irene and Romuna also did not wander around because of their low fame.

For them, this was a great opportunity to earn fame.

Weed looked at the other party members.

“Everyone in favor of climbing Horom Mountain?”

“Mountain. I’ve stayed in the rivers for a long time, spending some time in the mountains seems fine to me Hyung-nim.”

Zephyr quietly spoke with impudence and Hwaryeong smiled with interest.

“For the sake of having a scenic walk of the breeze blowing the lush, let’s climb the mountain!”

Geomchi said and clasped his hand together.

“Sounds like it’ll be fun.”

Geomchi2 said.

“Eating grilled meat in the mountains has a special taste, seems like it will be refreshing, fine by me, I’m coming.

Geomchi3, Geomchi4 and Geomchi5 had similar opinions. They had not many adventures this year, so climbing Horom Mountain seemed like it would be quite interesting to see. If you climb a really high mountain, you will be able to look around at the surrounding landscape. The entire party left the Citadel of Dark Elves and were intoxicated being in the mountains. Climbing the mountain, they had completely fallen for the story of the weapon store owner.

‘Somehow, I’m getting nervous’

Weed’s companions felt that this was somehow too easy.

‘Well, I’m sure everything will be alright.’

Everyone was content that nothing was there to oppose them, which wasn’t strange because there was no reason to do so. With a high fame, a player’s status in kingdoms and villages are easily recognized and quests can be easily obtained.

Because of Weed’s high fame, he didn’t have any trouble commanding the Dark Elves and the Orcs.

Weed nodded.

“We climbed the mountain from the bottom. Everybody should be tired, so how about we take a break and regroup?”

Pale and the rest were tired as they already rode a horse en route through the Plains of Despair. So far, they had yet to sleep properly. Drowsiness was forcing them to their knees. Hwaryeong agreed in a hurry.

“That would be lovely. Let’s meet again after we’ve all slept.”

“In that case, so be it.”

Pale sighed and then he told his party to meet up in 12 hours after getting some sleep.

Weed impatiently terminated the connection after the Geomchis logged out.

* * *

Lee Hyun got out of the capsule to organize the household finances. There was a need to meticulously organize the income and expenditures if it meant saving even a penny.

“This month’s profits...”

Lee Hyun’s hands were trembling while writing the household ledger.

Maybe other people would buy the items he had acquired this time.

Lich Shire was difficult to beat, his level was at least 470. No one had ever defeated a boss-class monster of this caliber, yet only 3 items were obtained. Nevertheless, Necromancer’s Tome was unique compared to the other 2 items he obtained.

One enchantment stone and a seemingly useless staff.

“I’ll put aside the enchantment stone rather than dispose of it, eventually I’ll sell if I need something to eat or drink which leaves only the staff.”

He decided not to sell the enchantment stone unless it was at a sufficient price. Perhaps if he uploaded it to the auction site, people would stand in line to buy it. Other blacksmiths can be entrusted to buy the enchantment stone because they wanted to process it!

They were more than willing to directly reinforce items as there will be further benefits when selling. Raising skill mastery made them able to get a higher price. Even so, the income was far less than expected.

“Should I sell the staff first?”

Lee Hyun went to the auction site and wrote articles for his items. Still, the staff did not seem to be a lot of money. Priests wouldn’t buy goods labeled with useless options like Sacrifice and Devotion. If it became a known fact that the staff had such features, it would be used only when necessary.

“I wonder what my earlier items are priced at?”

Without any big expectations, Lee Hyun looked at the prices put up for the goods. He had given up altogether early on because of vicious buyers that raised the price by only 1 won.

In fact, it was not a law to hold the auction till the due date. By setting a determined target price in advance, when the price is exceeded, purchase is made. Generally if a reasonable price is set, stuff is often sold in 1 hour. However, in order to make even a penny more, Lee Hyun did not set a target price. Playing around by raising the price by 1 won was very common.

“By now though, it’s got to be over 5,000 won right?”

Lee Hyun thought realistically for the most part before looking at the price of the items. Glaives and Elf Headbands were a little more than 1 won. In the first place, there were few buyers for glaives so he wasn’t going to hope for an expensive price. If the Elf Headbands sold well enough, he predicted he would be able to get at least 300,000 won. But then something toxic entered his eyes, it was one japtem.

Minotaur's claw: Number of bids 6. Price 30,000,000 won

“What the hell.”

No outrageous words came from Lee Hyun’s mouth. Joke bids could not be made in auctions. That is because when you bid on goods, at least 10% of the total amount must be registered as deposit.

“But 30 million won?”

Lee Hyun thought it was ridiculous but he quickly confirmed the bid in an instant. He decided to sell the goods to the buyer for no less than 30 million won. Even if the other side doesn’t purchase it out of hesitation, he would still receive the equivalent of 10%, which was 3,000,000 won.

“Made 3 million won.”

Lee Hyun promptly put the additional income into the household accounts book.

*Titri Ring!*

A loud ringing sound echoed. Lee Hyun felt uncomfortable and was wondering whether or not he should pick up the receiver.

‘There’s no way they’ll say it was a mistake and cancel the auction.’

It might just be phone call like that. Biting his nails, Lee Hyun heartily spoke into the headset.

“Hello.”

– Ah, I’m the person who won the auction. Minotaur’s Claws, you placed this item on the site did you not?

The voice coming from the phone was mixed with impatience. Lee Hyun’s eyes darkened.

‘Of course!’

Hearing that, he thought the person wanted to ask to cancel the auction altogether rather than just give up on the purchase. Lee Hyun raised his voice and replied.

“What are you talking about, such people don’t live here!”

Lee Hyun’s instantaneous wit! With these words you would normally step down, but the other side did not oblige.

– Is there anybody there that plays Royal Road?

“Yes? What road?”

– Royal Road, using the character name Weed, is there someone like that?

Lee Hyun replied bluntly.

“I don’t know those people.”

– There’s no doubt this is the correct number.”

“I don’t know what business you have but I’m busy so I’m hanging up.”

– Come on, wait a minute! The item trading credit rating is high and a few transactions are listed so this can’t be the wrong number.

"..."

The rationale of the other side was talking about him. Lee Hyun hesitated for a second and did not give an answer.

– Right now I very urgently need to speak with him. If not in person, then please arrange for me to talk with him at any time. Really, my mind’s been so restless that I forgot to introduce myself. I am KMC Media’s Planning Department’s Manager Kang Han Seo.

“KMC Media?”

There was probably no one among those who played Royal Road that did not know this highly popular broadcasting company.

– I really need to speak with the person that uses the character name Weed. Can you contact him for me?

Again the request came, Lee Hyun’s mind wavered.

‘His words don’t seem like he wants to cancel the auction.’

He noticed that it seemed like some very important business. Lee Hyun, conflicted for a moment concluded.

“I am Lee Hyun. I use the character name Weed in Royal Road.

– Oh, so it’s like that. But a little while before why?

"..."

– Well, that’s not important. I need to speak with you about something important.

“Go ahead.”

– I’d prefer not speaking about this over the phone, so do you think you come down to the broadcasting station?

Lee Hyun replied without any hesitation.

“Difficult.”

– What?

“Going that far will take quite a lot of fare and I would have to change buses three times.”

He would not use transportation expenses if he could help it. At Lee Hyun’s words, the other side was stunned into silence for a moment and did not answer. But soon a voice came.

– Then ... please tell me the address and I’ll send a car there. Do you think you can take a car here?

“That is possible.”

– Then I’ll see you shortly.

Chapter 7: Profit and Loss

KMC Media wanted an appointment as soon as possible, so a vehicle was dispatched immediately.

The vehicle was an imported car.

Lee Hyun opened the door with both hands and boarded the car politely. It was the first time he’d ever rode in an imported car.

The door was closed carefully to prevent any scratches from happening. Even during the arrival at the station, Department Director Kang was waiting for him at the entrance.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Kang Han Seo.”

“I’m Lee Hyun.”

The bald, middle-aged Director Kang’s eyes lit up as he inspected Lee Hyun.

‘He’s a lot younger than I thought.’

The Hall of Fame video was magnificent, exciting, and dynamic. What he had in mind was a man in his mid-30s, but unexpectedly, the man was relatively young in his early 20s.

Director Kang casted his doubts about Lee Hyun aside.

“We can continue our conversation in the Planning Office. Right this way.”

“Yes.”

As they walked inside the broadcasting station, Director Kang told stories of the birth of KMC Media and its attempt to establish real-time broadcasting of games.

As more players joined the game, even more information is required. Royal Road’s success can not only be credited to its large continent but also its diversified jobs of over ten thousand different available professions.

There are information are unobtainable on the Internet. There were a handful of rare and hidden professions, obtained through excruciating efforts. So naturally, players who had acquired them would not want to share the information. Thus, only the common professions chosen by famous people were selected by starting players in overflowing numbers.

Through quest rewards and broadcasting, several promising new jobs were uncovered. Not only Professions.

Unexploited areas throughout the vast Versailles continent, where you can be introduced to a quest with specific rewards. By doing so, players can experience different kinds of enjoyment in Royal Road.

The Department Director Kang said with conviction.

“One of the ways to inform players is through broadcasting. Overall, it is beneficiary. It has attained great accomplishment by allowing secondary or tertiary players to enjoy playing together. Royal Road and broadcasting are already inseparable.”

Director Kang continued talking about the new role of broadcasting and its concept, which Lee Hyun did not pay much attention to. Broadcasting was soaring thanks to their high amount of loyal viewers.

In the end, the conclusion he came to a conclusion.

‘Broadcasting earns money from stories.’

There is money where people gather.

Broadcasting programs associated with Royal Road was popular in Korea and abroad. It was not limited to broadcasting. It extends to various industries such as movies, comic books, novels, and toys based on famous characters. Lee Hyun was, in a sense part of the industry by selling items from the game to make money.

“This is the Planning Department.”

Director Kang then led Lee Hyun into a private room.

Lee Hyun could’ve sworn that the employees eyes lit up as he walked to the private room in the Planning Department because he was the protagonist with the character named Weed, and he was young.

The room had comfy couches where the Director can meet with guest. Lee Hyun sat on the opposite side of Planning Director Kang and his staff. Director Kang immediately began asking him some general questions.

“Excuse me for asking Lee Hyun, but could you tell us your level?”

“Do I have to tell you?”

“You don’t have to tell us, but I recommended that you do because it could be helpful”

“Well, let’s say it’s 306.”

“306, huh?”

Director Kang and his staff had eyes that showed disbelief.

“Are you sure it’s 306? If you don’t want to disclose it, you can tell us privately.”

“It really is 306. By completing that last quest, I’ve gained a total of 20 level which caused by level to rise.”

“Impossible!”

“Is there something wrong with that?”

“No, I’m just a little surprised.”

Planning Director Kang and his staff were stunned.

KMC media had seen a lot of high level users while working in the industry. The majority of the users were above level 370! Of course it is surprise that Lee Hyun, with his level 306 character, was able to complete a quest of an A rank difficulty.

‘No. Prior to this, all quests that were given were reported to reflect the user’s level or lower...!’

Director Kang and the rest of his staff shook their heads, calculating the probability of this situation because it was too absurd.

‘No matter how the Orcs and Dark Elves were commanded, clearing the quest was ridiculous.’

After drinking a glass of water, Director Kang said.

“Anyway. May we ask what your profession is?”

“Profession...”

Lee Hyun hesitated. It was embarrassing to reveal that his profession was a Sculptor!

Director Kang and the staff completely misunderstood his hesitation.

‘Oh, he must have a very good job!’

‘Yeah! It was because of his profession that he was able to complete the quest!’

‘An Adventurer, maybe? The quest does require the innate ability of an Adventurer.’

Lee Hyun hesitated at that moment before speaking.

“I’m a sculptor.”

“What?”

“My profession is Moonlight Sculptor.”

"......"

The planning room went silent.

A Sculptor!

It was an Artist profession that everyone had forgotten ever existed, that completed the quest? Project Director Kang could barely hold his laughter.

“Cool. It is great to hear that you are a Sculptor. Recently, Production and Art professions are becoming more popular in Royal Road.”

“I’ll have to agree. The profession of a Sculptor seems really fancy.”

While the others were either embarrassed or ashamed. They didn’t think that a Sculptor could accomplish such feat.

Various growth progress.

Many Artisan professions, such as a Sculptor, have low combative skills; therefore need to join hunting parties and survival techniques. If directly involved with the battle, those with higher stat held the advantage. With a high Endurance stat, it allows them to fight for a long time and not get tired.

As something popped in his head, Director Kang said.

“Oh! Come to think of it, a while back, a Sculptor shamelessly exploited the labor of players in Rosenheim Kingdom. Building a pyramid and savagely ate grass porridge.”

“That really happened? The world is an odd place.”

Lee Hyun blurted out in surprised.

“Yes, thanks to that, there was quite a rise in viewership. So how long have you been playing Royal Road?”

“For a little over a year”

"......"

This time the silence lasted a little longer.

Royal Road has been released for 2 and half years. Most accomplished players began playing during the beginning stages.

‘1 year, in a short period of time, he had grown enough to complete the prestigious A rank quest?’

‘How did he do to be able to gain over 300 levels in a year?’

Director Kang and the Planning Department staff’s opinion of Lee Hyun was depreciating.

‘Great, a total charlatan is just what we need.’

‘A guy with severe pretentions.’

‘Maybe it’s because of his young age.’

In a case where one plays for 18 to 20 hours a day, can lead to a misunderstanding.

Lee Hyun’s level growth was not an easy thing to accomplish. Though it might take some time, the best way to level up is to increase their abilities.

Only someone with great patience can attempt to be a Sculptor and get to an adequate level. Spent a month sewing, a month of smithing, and three months fishing. Alternating with the ability to endure boredom!

Sometimes hunted monsters without breaks. Created sculptures in between break times. It was almost impossible to endure hard labor and succeed.

After asking a few more trivial questions, Director Kang got down to business.

“Actually Lee Hyun, the reason why we asked you to come down to the broadcasting station is to have you sign a contract with us.”

“Contract?”

“Yes, a short-term broadcasting contract.”

“Broadcasting contract. Specifically, what is its content?”

“It was you who joined forces with the Orcs and battled against the Undead Legion, right?”

Lee Hyun nodded in agreement.

“I figured as much.”

From time to time, there are people who came in contact with broadcasting stations. They would be questioned about their levels and professions, and it is always certain they would not hide it.

Director Kang showed great delight.

“I saw the video that was posted in the Hall of Fame. Your quest is enough to make lots of players fascinated. Do you think that our broadcasting station could broadcast your quest? Truth be told, our generic earnings and profits are all based on the ratings and viewership of our programs. When Lee Hyun’s quest is shown during one of the broadcasts, the viewership will increase.”

“And in case the ratings are low?”

“Although that is unlikely, we will happy to pay you the basic amount.”

After pondering, he concluded that it wouldn’t cause him any harm. By giving rights to the broadcasting station, he would earn more money than posting it on the Hall of Fame.

“I see. That’s good.”

“That’s great. If you are willing, we’ll have you sign an exclusive contract with our station.”

"How is an exclusive contract different? Do I have to come down to the station and make appearances? Chat with beautiful hosts like a Singer, or go to meetings in order to get viewership?”

The people in the room had astonished faces when Lee Hyun finished speaking.

‘Does he even look in the mirror?’

‘Celebrities can attract millions of fan girls scattered in the garden...’

‘All for increasing viewership!’

Director Kang wiped the sweat off his forehead with a towel.

“Not really. There’s no need for you to make an appearance in the broadcasts. Lee Hyun, you have a recording of your quest, right? We’d like for you to send it to the station.” [1]

“So it’s like that”

“Lee Hyun, by having an exclusive contract with us, Lee Hyun’s quest progress can be seen here at the station and broadcasted immediately.”

“Ah, that’s what you meant.”

Lee Hyun smiled briefly at his good fortune.

When it comes down to it, every time viewers laughed and enjoy the broadcasting station's show, that's when hard work really pays off. Director Kang and the rest of the Planning Department staff breathe a sigh of relief.

‘Whew, it was a misunderstanding.’

‘What a relief.’

‘Somehow, we passed the critical moment.’

Director Kang took out the documents.

“Here’s the contract. Please sign this document if you agree to broadcast your quests in our broadcasting station. You should know that we will not broadcast all of your quests. And we might also adjust the broadcasting time if necessary.”

“Why is that so?”

“It will be difficult not to disclose an important quest. During those times, the broadcasting station will adjust their schedule to give way to broadcast the quest.”

“The ratings of the program would be important.”

“It is not the only factor with take into account Lee Hyun. As you know, broadcasting stations are considered a company. Even if the quest is successful, the broadcast of the quest will be intentionally delayed which benefits both sides. Depending on Lee Hyun’s decision, the rewards of the quest would be revealed.”

“Then that’s not too bad.”

“For more information, you should first read the contract. And if you have any other question, please ask me.”

Lee Hyun contemplated and then read the contract.

From an unknown source of information, broadcasters can usually find information of rare quest, hidden quest, and a B rank difficulty quest. Programs were broadcasted were based on such information. Being bold in the field of broadcasting pays off as shown in the program ratings.

‘Sounds good.’

Until now, he’s only focused on the loot. If he has already got what he wanted, any rewards he receives from the quest would be meaningless.

If you’ve obtained a complex quest, spent a lot of time on it, there’s a chance of failing. But you will be able to earn money through these kinds of quests.

“I’m ready to sign the contract.”

“You have to answer some basic personal information and sign it.”

Lee Hyun signed the written contract.

* * *

The Director of the Planning Department saw Lee Hyun off and had just returned.

The employees said in unison.

“Director.”

“What?”

“There is one significantly minor problem.”

“What is it?”

The staff showed Lee Hyun’s signed contract and saw how hard it was to read his lousy handwriting.

Director Kang narrowed his eyes.

“This person’s handwriting is difficult to read.”

“I find it hard to read as well.”

In any case, once the written contract has been signed, the contract is established.

Spending a couple of days checking the Hall of Fame and the auction site, Director Kang sat on his chair, exhausted.

“Now I feel completely unrestrained.”

“Congratulations, Director.”

Likewise, the Planning Department was also at ease. Because they were always extremely busy with their job, without these small senses of accomplishment, they would have already quit.

“Director. How long would it take for the video to arrive?”

“1 hour perhaps? It will take him that long to get home from the station and when he arrives home, he’ll send the video”

“It would be great if it arrived sooner.”

The Planning Department had all been waiting for Lee Hyun to send the video. As soon as Lee Hyun got home, he had sent them the video of his gameplay and the quest.

Just as the lunch hour had approached, Director Kang left all the Planning Department staff to do their own things and simply waited for the video's arrival.

Soon after, one of the employees who was looking at their computer, shouted.

“It’s here!”

“Really?”

Direct Kang was delighted. The Planning Department staffs were pleased.

“Play it on the main screen for us to watch.”

“Alright, Director.”

One of the Planning Department staff maneuvered the computer to play the video on the screen, but Director Kang felt his tummy grumbled.

“But shouldn’t we have lunch first?”

“Director, may we watch and eat at the same time?”

The staff knew that Lee Hyun’s video was something they wouldn’t want to miss. Director Kang was eager to find out if the results of the Legions of Undead quest were true.

“Why not? Let’s order some take-out.”

“Yes. I’ll order it immediately.”

Director Kang sat down with the rest of the staff.

Just as the video was about to play on the screen, the door opened and the Station Director walked in.

“Director Kang, I trust you have acquired the contract?”

He had heard that Lee Hyun came to the station.

“Yes. It went very well.”

“Will you be the one to organize the broadcast?”

“I also want to edit the video and the audio, if necessary, so it’ll fit the time schedule of the broadcast.”

“It’s not good to delay it for too long. I want it done as soon as possible.”

“Yes. We will do as you say, Director.”

Director Kang inclined his waist and bowed. A thorough worker’s attitude.

“But what is the hurry Director Kang? The employees have all gathered here when they should be eating lunch.”

“Actually, the video had arrived. I told the staff that that we will watch it while we eat.”

“Is that so?”

Director Kang revealed the video’s content. It was about the Orcs and Dark Elves battling together, and he was excited to see it.

“Director Kang, could I possibly watch as well?”

“It would be an honor if the Station Director would watch it with us.”

“Well, in that case, I’ll also call the Program Director. Actually, except for those who are busy, let’s call everyone who participated in the last meeting to the conference room.”

Nobody opposed to the Director’s suggestion. It was much better to watch the video in the Conference Room with state of the art surround sound and screen rather than watching it in the Planning Department.

The Station Director, Director Kang, and the Planning Department staff went to the conference room, ordered a meal, and sat down. The Program Director also arrived and sat down, and waited for the movie to play.

Soon the lights went out and the sound from the video began to reverberate. With surround sound, the feeling of immersion can be felt.

– Black smoke obscuring the red sun. Chwiik! In the land of darkness, where the birds do not sing. Chwikchwik!

The ugly Orc Karichwi appeared.

“Ohhhh!”

“Karichwi!”

Some female fans within the staff cheered quietly.

Their behavior is understandable if he was charming but it’s a puzzle when he has an unattractive face.

Overnight, Karichwi became popular among females everywhere.

The Director laughed with satisfaction.

‘It’s good that Karichwi was popular even amongst our employees.’

It’s intolerable if the staff and Station Director do not enjoy the video. They’re like a person’s immune system. Needless to say, if it’s not popular with the staff, the viewers will probably not like it.

“Director Kang.”

“Yes, Station Director.”

“Could you tell me the duration of this video?”

The Station Director asked as Karichwi began to sing. Director Kang took a moment to check and then replied in a small voice.

“It is twenty one hours long.”

"......"

“He sent us the original video. It looks like it hasn’t been edited. What would you like for us to do? Do you want us to skip to the important parts or would you like to play it a little faster?”

“Let’s just see what happens.”

The glaive gave off a reddish depressing light overshadowing the sky and Karichwi.

What an atmosphere!

*Kukwakwakwa!*

Burning Skeletons and Zombies began to emerge from the valleys.

“Kyaa!”

Some female employees began screaming at the bloody appearances of the Undead, but it was a scream of astonishment. Their eyes were glued to the screen, as their lips formed a curious smile.

As the Orcs and the Dark Elves’ battle with the Legions of Undead progresses, Director Kang gasped and clenched his fist a couple of times.

The eight Castle walls didn’t seem sturdy and their anxiety reflected in their eyes. Relying on such walls during an important battle was nerve-wracking. [ii]

Then the lunch they had ordered arrived.

However, because of the intense video, there was only one person who laid a hand on the packed lunches.

The battle begun when the Burning Skeletons and Zombies arrived. And then the second and third branch of Legions of Undead army came out for an ambush!

Thousands of Silver Arrows were shot out of Elastic Bows.

“How much is all of that?!”

“He must be a rich!”

They were led to misunderstand the frailty of the walls.

Under the commands of Karichwi, the Dark Elves defended the walls with the help of the Wyverns, by flying around the sky while sprinkling Holy Water without care of getting their hands wet.

Not to mention the bravery of the Orcs.

Ancient Giant Monsters were fought by Soldiers who worked side by side with Orcs!

Without a single one killed, the Necromancers played a big role.

Even without showing their true powers, the Necromancers were formidable opponents, which was evident from the rate they were summoning Undead.

And then finally the Shire Lich appeared!

The Lich's power was overwhelming. Being able to rapidly fire and area of effect magic, was completely devastating.

Among the Orcs, Dark Elves, and Undead an order to come forth was heard.

A vampire and Death Knight appeared.

It was an amazing scene.

The Lich Shire pounced against his enemies like tiger, creating absolute havoc. As a level 400 boss monster, his overwhelming power was evident.

The Lich Shire roared, as he faced countless enemies!

Rampant Area of Effect magic.

Wyverns risked their lives sprinkling holy water on the ground.

The tremendous power that the Lich Shire had shown gradually weakened.

The Lich Shire tempted the Vampire Lord.

Only then did Karichwi join the battle. Without a doubt, the situation turned sour and the Lich Shire did not die in the hands of Karichwi. It was the Dark Elves who casted a large Area of Effect magic that ended the battle.

The Station Director unwittingly murmured.

“Was it a success? A failure?”

Director Kang replied.

“A source reported that the quest was a success.”

“I see.”

The Station Director took a look around.

The clock hanging on the wall showed it to be precisely 9 in the morning. They had stayed up all night watching the video. This caused them to have bloodshot eyes.

It wasn’t surprising that nobody wanted to go bathroom in the middle of the video. If they did, they went quickly. It’s the first time in several decades that they had to hold it in.

Station Director and Director Kang opened yesterday’s lunch, which has already grown cold, and started having a conversation.

“Director Kang. How does our broadcasting schedule look?”

“Today, there are some important broadcasts scheduled.”

“Can we possibly cancel it?”

“Let me see if that’s possible.”

Director Kang examined the matter.

The Station Director agrees that we should broadcast this video as soon as possible!

The Director added.

“It will not be enough to just briefly introduce this amongst our other broadcasting programs.”

“Yes. Special programs must be organized separately.”

“As soon as possible.”

Unfortunately, Director Kang inconveniently said.

“If possible, I would like to have it broadcasted before dinner. The audio and the video will only need some minor adjustments. We certainly lack the time. I’m sure it’s worth having it broadcasted before dinner and have it run overnight.”

“Please edit the video to a minimum. You don’t have to cut down on the hours. Broadcast a short segment of the video, and then post information on our broadcasting station’s website.”

“I’ll do just that. Although I think it’s possible to broadcast the original copy of the video.”

“There wasn’t a single dull moment.”

Station Director and Director Kang smiled satisfactorily.

* * *

Lee Hyun was happily writing on the household bookkeeping ledger.

“Easy money. I haven’t calculated a budget yet, but money keeps rolling!”

The broadcasting station's incentive contract!

The money he would receive varied greatly depending on the audience. Nevertheless, he received the Broadcasting Company’s contract deposit from the bid on Minotaurus Claws.

“However, I still need to earn more. This will only last for a while.”

For now, there was no need to worry about his grandmother’s medical bills and living expenses. The problem was his sister’s future.

University tuition is rising annually. For one year in University, it cost 10,000,000 won. Therefore for 4 years, it’s quadruple the amount, 40,000,000 won! [iii]

In addition, the Student Association decreed that students have to pay for their own textbooks.

Money that could be spent elsewhere was spent only on school. Money spent on Membership Training and University Festival isn’t included. You’ll also need money to join clubs, cosmetics, and clothes to keep basic dignity of University students.

People don’t want to live with the feeling of having someone superior to them.

To meet up with friends cost money, but it cost even more money to pursue knowledge and education in school.

“I could buy a new computer with this money.”

A very small portable computer.

Lee Hyun’s handwriting differs from a computer because it’s so small that it’s hardly legible. Many of the school’s lesson and clubs depend on computers.

The price varies. For a really good one, it could cost billions of won, and a cheap one is at least 5 million won. It was an essential item for University students.

“It doesn’t end there.”

He dropped out of school to seek employment. Nowadays, if you wish to find and a job and live in luxury, you have to graduate from University. It was worth the sacrifice to develop the slightest ability.

“If I didn’t learn, I couldn’t earn money in this world.”

* * *

Lee Hyun recalled a painful memory.

He had tried to forget the bitterness against others during his younger days. Stitching clothes in a sewing factory while listening to countless lectures. Mistakes were present no matter how hard he worked, followed by insults of his incompetence.

He also had to work late at night, doing some odd jobs, while not being paid overtime.

He had a fixed monthly periodic salary!

Even if he worked hard, he received less money than those people who sleeps on the job, Lee Hyun swore as tears flowed out.

Although it was common to report cases of mistreatment, he couldn’t. The Vice President of the company cleverly used his illegal age of employment against him and threatened to report him to the Ministry of Labor.

If you get reported to the Ministry of Labor, you will not receive your salary. Furthermore, you will be blacklisted and from then on, you will not be able to find a new job.

Because he had to earn money in harsh conditions, he wanted his sister to find a proper job in a normal business, preferably a corporate job.

“In order to do well in school, absorb everything. A portable computer is something she must have.”

Lee Hyun decided that everything he earns will go towards his sister’s education. There are a lot of things needed as a college student. For a time like that, an emergency fund is needed.

“Ah, I have to visit Grandma at the hospital today.”

Lee Hyun budgeted the household finances and kept the book.

He had been busy lately trying to complete the quest that he had not had the time to visit. But today, was the day they had promised to visit Grandma.

Lee Hyun left the house to visit Grandma.

* * *

Grandma and Hayan were already together.

“Is this really an acceptance letter for a university? You’re not lying?”

“Achaa! I would never lie to my grandmother. Look the name’s clearly written here.”

“Even though, I still cannot believe it.”

Grandma could not hide her surprise over the acceptance letter to the University of South Korea. Lee Hyun was accepted to University!

This was something beyond her imagination.

Although it came as a surprise, she and Hayan were glad that it occurred.

‘I never thought he’d get this far when he had the interview...’

Who would have thought he’d get accepted.

Lee Hayan did not rejoice, instead she thought.

‘Ah, if oppa only knew the truth, it’d be a big deal.”

He’ll be mad if he found out that I lied to him. The real problem was Lee Hyun would grind his teeth if he has to spend 100 won daily to go to University.

Grandma smiled and then laughed.

“It’s not as complicated as you think, sweetheart.”

“Really?”

“There’s nothing to worry about, I have an idea.”

“If that’s the case, I will trust Grandma.”

* * *

When Lee Hyun got to his grandmother’s hospital room, Lee Hayan’s head was bowed. His grandmother was about to say something, but stopped.

Lee Hyun quickly came to her side.

“Grandma, what’s going on?”

“You don’t have to know.”

From his grandmother's attitude, Lee Hyun could feel an unusual aura. In addition, his little sister still had her head bowed.

“Did you give Hayan another scolding? To my knowledge, she has been studying properly, and she hasn’t hung out with any shady people.”

“That’s not it.”

“Then, what’s the matter...”

“Why don’t you go to University.”

Grandma said it as if the matter was already settled.

“Did you say something?”

“Yes. You should go to University to have a better livelihood. You haven’t made decent money since you dropped out of high school.”

“Surely Grandma! There’s no difference, now that I’ve passed my GED and graduated from high school.”

Lee Hyun tried to convince his grandmother with soft, gentle words but she didn’t budge.

“You have worked hard to earn the money, how could you not spend it? As the head of the family, it’ll be difficult to make money if you don’t attend University and gain an education.”

“University is useless, Grandma. If ever I want to learn about something, I could always study about it in the future.”

“Hyun - ah, let’s say you didn’t have to take care and protect your sister. Would you have not gone to University?”

Lee Hyun tossed the thought aside and nodded his head immediately.

“Obviously. But I still think you should go to University.”

“What?”

“It is as I’ve said.”

You can’t get full off of one spoonful of rice.

Grandma and Hayan’s eyes met each other. But Hayan shook her head slightly.

‘It’s a little lacking.’

This was certainly not enough to persuade Lee Hyun. It needs to be done properly, without leaving any loopholes of escape.

Grandma paused for a moment.

Her expression was filled with distress.

Lee Hyun was an expert on flattery, so how in the world would Grandma convince him.

After selling goods in the market for decades, it did not occur that Grandma was a veteran. She had more experience in flattery, to get people to buy her items.

With an obstinate wayward expression, Grandma said.

“It’s a different story if your sister has already been accepted to University. Right now, there is no longer a need for you to save up for your sister’s education. I explained it to Hayan, and understand this as well."

“Grandma!”

Lee Hyun was startled.

His grandmother sounded opposed to having his sister getting accepted to University.

“What are you saying? Hayan going to University is a good thing.”

“Do you really think that this is a good thing?”

“Of course. If she goes to University, she could study Liberal Arts.”

“But you’ll have to spend a lot of money.”

“I don’t care if I have to spend a lot of money. Because if you study hard in University you will reap a lot of benefits from it.”

“Then if you also get accepted to University, you should certainly go.”

“That is ...”

Strangely enough, Lee Hyun couldn’t any words to say. He felt disadvantageous but it was too late to retreat now.

‘What’ the hell is happening?’

As if it was natural, Lee Hyun replied.

“Of course. If I get accepted to University, I would probably go. So I would spend the money to send my sister instead. Hayan is very talented when it comes to studying. Her grades improve on every exam.”

“Is that so? You’ll go to University if you had the chance. However, your words will mean nothing if you don’t attend University.”

“Yes?”

Grandma lips formed a satisfied smile. She handed him a notice written on a sheet of paper.

“Here’s the acceptance letter to University of South Korea.”

“This is really..!”

Lee Hyun’s hands trembled.

An acceptance letter to University of South Korea!

‘At last, Hayan got accepted to University of South Korea!’

He left thrilled and glad that it left him out of words.

Grandma said.

“Hyun-ah, congratulations on your acceptance to University of South Korea. You’ll be a college student next year.”

* * *

The forum of the broadcasting station was frantic because of the Legions of Undead video. Although the quest was a success, people were wondering why they still haven’t released the video.

KMC Media did not use any additional promotion. Nevertheless, there were rumors that a contract has been signed regarding the Legions of Undead. Just between the Station Director, the Planning Director, and other employees, caused the news to spread.

– Please show us the video quickly.

– Why haven’t you broadcasted it yet?

People who posted on the forums were quite anxious.

KMC Media were worked as quickly as possible. But to edit the original length of the video and cut it down to 1 hour before broadcasting it, would take a couple of days to accomplish.

So they were forced to make a decision without the Program Director.

“Let’s just do the broadcast.”

“I’ll take responsibility for it.”

Actually, there wasn’t a need to work on the video.

They didn’t to interfere with certain scenes by giving it some special effects or subtitle on the original footage. So, they had to abandon the idea.

“It’ll be broadcast as it is.”

“However, some people might lose interest quickly.”

They also enjoyed watching the video very much. They didn't regret watching it. They think that the viewers would also find it interesting, and started the broadcast.

The broadcast started without any notice.

Because there was no schedule, the viewers couldn't have known that it was going to be shown and its duration. The broadcast suddenly started. Nevertheless, they somehow knew. The news was soon spread throughout the Internet.

The viewership grew exponentially. And when the broadcast ended, the viewership count was more than twice as usual.

Again, the forums were in overflowing with posts.

– I wasn't able to watch from the beginning. Please broadcast it again.

– When would be able to watch this again?

The broadcasters who were observing revealed a cold smile.

This brought in more profit for KMC media because awareness is equivalent to money earned. There were a lot of people who wanted more information about the Orc Karichwi and Weed.

* * *

“I have to get out of this situation.”

Lee Hyun was troubled. He never thought this would happen. What kind of University would accept someone who is only good at playing games?

“Are they some kind of a scammer group? Those shameless bastards who extort tuition fees out of students?"

In this day and age, multimillion businesses only sought out the students from the best Universities. Truthfully, Lee Hyun has little benefit from this admission. It would be similar from extorting money from him.

“They’re probably hiding somewhere around the corner waiting for the chance to take the money.”

Nothing in the world can change regrets.

His grandmother already said that he has to go to University. His sister was also there to listen.

There were a lot of things that Lee Hyun abandoned because he promised himself that he would do anything to get his sister accepted to University. Lee Hyun didn't want to go to University because of the money and he didn't have anything he wanted to pursue.

It was her third year in high school. It’s the most critical moment of her life, but he couldn't figure out what was going on in her head.

Lee Hyun had no choice but to compromise.

‘Even if I got accepted to University, it doesn't mean I have to attend. However, if I give up on the acceptance to University, Hayan will also not to enroll to one. But if Hayan gets admitted to a University with full scholarship, I will attend University. That sounds like a nice compromise.’

He was able to think of an ultimatum.

Grandma and Hayan were persuaded with the idea. They look some time to think about it and then agreed.

‘If she studies really hard, it’ll be sufficient enough to get a scholarship.’

Lee Hayan was pretty smart, unlike him. However, even if she was to study real hard and get accept to University, there it wasn't certain that she’ll be able to receive a scholarship because there are other factors. But nowadays, scholarships are based on grades. It will not be a surprise for her to receive one.

‘Wait a minute! It’s good that Hayan will be studying hard to get a scholarship, but doesn’t this mean that I’ll be attending University next year?’

There was less than one year until enrollment day. Only seven months away before you receive the admission letter, there wasn’t much time left.

Lee Hyun's face looked rigid.

University, overflowing with youth and romance!

This fantasy was something he had long abandoned.

“Other brother and sister studying together.”

Lee Hyun’s currently 22 years old, 23 as of next year.

It cost a lot of money to go to University and back. Lee Hyun was already getting worried. Of all things, University was one of those places that motivate youth to turn into mature working adults.

The meals in the cafeteria were expensive and tasted disgusting in contrast to food he cooked himself with cheap ingredients.

“It must be the age.”

Lee Hyun was definitely not in the normal age group to attend University.

Chapter 8: Trail of Death

When Weed came online, the hard working Mapan, Pale, and Irene were already connected. Romuna, Surka, Hwaryeong, Zephyr, and Geomchis soon came online as well.

“Now, what should we do?”

Pale looked at Weed. Weed didn’t have anything special to say so he talked about general things.

“We should buy the supplies needed for the trip and go to the Horom Mountain. What else do we need?”

“Snacks! We should buy lots of snacks.”

Geomchi made an opinion, and that was soon made into a consensus. Irene and Surka missed Weed’s cooking skills so much.

“It’s been awhile since Weed cooked for us.”

“That’s right. I want to eat Weed’s delicious food.”

“Wouldn’t eating meat in the mountains be the best?”

Zephyr’s appetite grew larger. Then, Geomchi3 tapped his shoulder.

“Huh huh, It seems like you know the taste of meat very well.”

“Yes, of course. Doesn’t meat taste better in a wide open environment rather than eating at home alone?”

“Right, right! That’s true.”

Zephyr and Geomchi agreed on eating.

Former fisherman Zephyr! In fact, you can only become a fisher if you are not lazy.

You had to sit in one place and enjoy fishing while eating fish dishes!

Zephyr remembered every dish Weed made.

Weed decided to follow the aggressive opinions of the party.

“Then I will simply buy condiments and cooking tools.”

“I’ll guide you.”

Mapan accurately remembered the vendors of the Dark Elf Castle. As a merchant, it was a necessary skill.

Weed and Mapan circled the Dark Elf Castle once. The purchases were usually some spices and condiments. They bought twice the amount of a day’s worth of groceries.

“We can find meat there so we should buy roughly. Fresh meat is good.”

It was Geomchis’ opinion. Weed also didn’t buy ingredients from stores often.

“Then should we do it like that?”

Weed and the party left the Dark Elf Castle as if they were on a light picnic.

“Now, let’s go.”

“Wa, it’s mountain hiking!”

“Let’s go! We should go and eat grill meat!”

The party excitedly headed towards the direction where Horom Mountain is said to be located.

It was really enjoyable to climb up the mountain. The gentle breeze was cool, flowers bloomed everywhere. Butterflies flew, birds chirped.

“It feels like we really came here to play.”

Hwaryeong was very happy. The feeling of strolling in the mountains like this was the best.

Walking along the path made in between the trees carefully, following the person in front. Telling stories while walking, seemed like it was going to be a great memory.

Everyone else felt the same way.

'Who knew there was a peaceful place like this?'

'We only tried to level up so far so we lived too deserted.'

'We should have times like this.'

'Walking while gaining fame and information, it's not too bad.'

Then Surka was impressed when she saw a deep hole in the ground.

“Wow! It's amazing! How can a big hole be in a mountain like this?”

Weed replied casually.

“They are the footprints of a monster.”

“Th, This is a footprint?”

“Yes.”

When they travelled a little further, trees were scattered everywhere.

“It's the mysteries of nature. I wonder if a tempest came.”

Weed glanced and identified the situation. It was a familiar terrain.

“It looks like the monsters fought here.”

“A Monsters fight?”

“The damage indicates a fight between mid-level monsters.”

“Hiccup”

The party then noticed the seriousness of the situation a little bit.

‘The place we are in is the Yuroki Mountain range’

The Rosenheim Kingdom is a relatively safe place. At least there is a low chance of dying there. However, in the Yuroki Mountain range, you have to risk your life.

“I will look around.”

Pale headed first, Zephyr and Surka also went into the surrounding range. So when a monster appears, they can perform their best. Geomchis also took out their swords.

Weed didn’t find it necessary to do that, but he didn’t stop the party from doing so. In the territory of the Dark Elves and the Orcs, there was not that many strong monsters. Strong monsters only appear in the far and outlying park of the mountain range.

Really dangerous monsters lived in the red forests or gorges.

While hunting with the Orcs, Weed knew well about the dangers of the Yuroki Mountains. There were a lot of places he hasn’t been, but he at least recognized the types of the monsters residing in it.

‘They say the Yetis live in the Horom Mountain. We have faced Yetis before.’

The Elder of Orcs did not ever talk about the Horom Mountain. They said that the trail was a little harsh, and monsters did not reside much.

‘Yeah, Yetis are no big deal.’

Weed could move freely because he acquired a lot of information about the Horom Mountain.

You could easily find the Horom Mountain due to the many mysterious trees and rock.

The movement of the party resembled a light walk!

They thought of the Horom Mountain as a simple neighbourhood hill. But when they saw the actual mountain, the height was enormous.

They tilted their head way back, but they still couldn’t see the top. It was covered entirely by clouds.

“It’s pretty high.”

The slope was fairly dangerous. It almost looked as if they were climbing stairs. It’s like a mountain with more rocks than trees.

“Wow! If we make it up to the top of the mountain, the view is going to be great.”

Everybody agreed with Hwaryeong.

‘We will be able to see the view on our way up.’

‘The sun is hot but the wind is fresh, it is the best weather for mountain climbing.’

The party started climbing.

It’s been 2 hours since they entered the mountain!

The monsters are nowhere to be found, they only repeated climbing flatly.

Geomchi stretched and spoke looking bored.

“Weed.”

“Yes.”

“Shouldn’t we eat since we’ve climbed so far? We were going to eat at the top......”

“Should we?”

Weed looked around. The everyone seemed hungry so as soon as he said it, they sat with a plop.

“Then we should eat here.”

“Irene, Hwaryeong. Please prepare to grill meat. Mapan please collected some firewood, Zephyr pass out the plates. It would be great if Pale would light up the fire.”

“Yes!”

Everyone hurried to make preparations to dine.

The bonfire was made, dishes and the meat from the Dark Elf Castle were soon prepared. Surka spoke as if something was missing.

Everyone hurried to make preparations to eat.

“By the way, are we only having meat?”

“No. Since we came all the way to the mountain we have to eat noodles!”

“Noodles? Where can we get them?”

“Wait a moment. I will make it quick.”

Weed added the wild greens and meat into the pot and boiled them. He was making a broth.

Then, relentlessly pounded the kneaded flour.

*Tata Tak!*

Touch of Weed pounding the flour!

The flour mixed into the water was kneaded. When the batter was nearly completed, he spun it around and lengthened the noodles.

He made Ramen noodles.

The handcrafted noodles were tangy and they were overflowing with richness. Weed added the Suta noodles into the boiling soup and waited a little longer.

“Now, eat before it is completely cooked.”

“Wow! It looks delicious.”

It was when Surka quickly tried to put in her eating utensils. The Geomchis put in their whole bowl into the soup.

“This is the best.”

“We have to have ramen in the mountains.”

“Yes sir! What would be better than grilling meat in the mountains and eating ramen.”

“So refreshing. Cool!”

Weed’s popular food!

In the mountains, ramen with meat and refreshing soup is the best.

“Zzup zzup, but master.”

“What’s wrong, Geomchi2.”

“At this rate, we are going to eat all the food supplies.”

For Geomchis who ate all the Barley bread and starved, they were always sensitive to the amount of food.”

“It’s okay. We have Weed.”

“That’s right.”

“Let’s eat without worrying.”

“Yes! Master!”

Shamelessly, the Geomchis ate all the food.

The other companions also ate two or three more times the usual amount. They were in a picnic, hence they ate more.

“I ate well. Kkeueuk!”

With their bellies filled, the party felt satisfied.

“So should we start climbing again?”

Geomchi stood up taking the lead.

At this time, the tension around Weed and his companions lessened. It was a mountain. They climbed step by step and will soon reach the top.

Suddenly a thick fog began to cover the area. It wasn’t long, when clouds were in view.

“Its damp.”

Hwaryeong opened both her arms.

“It’s refreshing.”

Zephyr wiped his forehead. It wasn’t sweat, but moisture from the high atmosphere.

“The water is cold and refreshing. If I came here with Maylon, it would’ve been great.”

Pale spoke with a feeling of loss.

The foggy area stimulated a mystical feeling. If you came with your lover, it will be one of the best memories.

They passed the foggy area, and the view became clear again.

Weed glanced towards the top.

“We’re are almost at the top...Keuk!”

Everyone thought that they had reached the top, but no matter how much they looked up, they could not see the summit.

The clouds were blocking the view!

The people saw a breathtaking view of the mountain appearing on top of the clouds.

Even though they had walked for a long time, some might say that it was impossible to reach the top of the mountain.. At the snowcovered area, the Yeti was there.

A steep cliff!

The slope of the mountain was sharp and steep!

And there in the middle of road Yetis were living there. Because the Yetis were here, they could not advance any further.

‘This is why we haven’t seen any monsters so far.’

The gigantic Yeti monsters, with white fur, were ready to face their opponents.

“From here on lets get ready to fight.”

Weed received the party's equipment and clothes.

Swords were sharpened, armor was cleaned and ironed.

The Handicraft Skill enhanced his abilities.

Since they had already eaten, their strength and stamina were perfect for the situation.

“Ok, Irene, please bless us. Pale will distract them with his arrows. When we break up, fight them accordingly.”

The battle soon began!

Pale shot some arrows and as it descended, 3 Yetis were provoked.

“Kuwuuhhhh!”

“KulukKuluk!”

Level 340 Yeti monster!

But it was different from the monsters he hunted with Seoyoon.

“KyaoKyao!”

With his sword, Weed blocked the white furred Yetis’ attack. But chilling hex was passed on to him.

Your body is freezing.

Your strength has been reduced.

Your attack and movement speed have been slowed.

Addition effects:

- You are more likely to catch a cold.

- In severe cases, you can freeze to death.

High level Yeti monsters each had the special ability to deliver coldness. Indeed, this is really Yetis’ breeding ground! The climate is warm, but with the elevation of the Horom Mountains, the Yetis ability to deliver coldness proved to be effective.

*JjeoJeoJeok!*

Weed’s sword which bumped into the Yetis’ claws, turned into ice.

“Beware of the Yetis claws!”

Even without warning them, the rest of his party members were already having enough trouble.

Whenever Yetis attacked, extremely cold temperature could be felt. The ice damage attack was horribly frightening, it immediately damages their vitality, strength, and slows down their movement speed.

“Bless!”

“Why is it so cold.”

“However, it’s refreshing.”

Although they were also cold, the Geomchis felt glad about it.

On the other side of the Continent of Versailles, across the Plains of Despair, people had to endure the scorching weather. But depending on the person, attacking while sweating profusely, could also feel good.

*Grin!*

Geomchi3 and Geomchi5’s eyes met. Over the years, they were able to understand each others’ thoughts.

‘I’ll take the front.’

‘Then, I’ll take the back.’

Geomchi5 and Geomchi3 focused on 1 Yeti.

One person jumped out from the front, and the other one at the back. Avoiding the Yetis claws, Geomchi5 and Geomchi3 attacked mercilessly, and killed the Yeti.

A method of fighting that risked their lives!

Geomchi3 was directly in front of the Yeti, attacking its large stature while moving his body to avoid its claws. Inevitably using his sword to attack at an angle while reducing the damage taken.

Anyone would be surprised if they saw this.

With the Yetis big stature, Geomchi3 had to avoid its attack and counterattack with a margin of a needle hole!

One critical attack, and he’ll die instantly. The act was dangerous and similar to tightrope walking.

However, every time Geomchi3 landed a hit, everyone applaud.

“Wow! That is really cool.”

Geomchi3 became tolerable and immune to pain!

If you receive a direct attack in Royal Road, you'll also feel the pain. Although the maximum pain you receive is only 20% the original, it was enough to make to sting and someone sore.

Because of Geomchi3's real world experience of getting beaten up, he was able to laugh off the pain.

Geomchi was also attacking the Yeti eagerly.

“Slash, Slash, Stab!”

He targeted only the fatal vital parts.

Such as parts of the spine, and near the top of its head!

Geomchi enthusiastically wielded his sword. The power of his attacks became even stronger.

“This is fun”

“We should fight too!”

After they saw that, Geomchi2 and Geomchi4 went behind the Yeti.

Geomchi3 resentfully exclaimed.

“If you’re going to help me, you should attack the front!”

“Sorry, attacking from behind seemed more fun”

“You are doing a good job, so we thought that you didn't need our help. We thought you could easily beat that monster.”

“Of course.”

Geomchi2, Geomchi4, Geomchi5 violently attacked the Yeti’s back. The angry Yeti changed his plan. When they attacked, it would turn its back.

Geomchi3 switched into a defense position and caught the Yeti’s attention. Doing so, his health was slowly draining away. The sword and his feet became frozen. Thus, even a little damage would result in a significant injury.

If it weren’t for Irene’s blessing and Weed’s armor polishing skills, he would’ve died ages ago.

It was Geomchi3’s battle of life and death with the Yeti!

Geomchi2, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5’s amazing strength and their hitting the same spot at the same time eventually killed the Yeti.

*Kuuung!*

The sluggish body fell to the ground.

“Wow! We won!”

For Geomchi3, the ice reached the scabbard of this sword. He was frozen up to the leg and was unable to move.

While they were fighting one Yeti, Weed and Geomchis were also fighting, using the same strategy the Geomchi’s used.

“Me, I’ll take the front.”

“Well, do as you please.”

Weed’s endurance level surpassed 400; it was unparallel to none other. Even though the Yeti hit him multiple times, the endurance level was high enough so that it barely scratched him.

Weed had already seen the attack movements of the Yeti while traveling with Seoyoon. It was dangerous, but he was able to attack the Yetis one at a time. All he had to do was take care of the cold and he would be fine.

Whenever Weed was attacking the Yeti, Geomchi also took out his sword and attacked the same place.

Instead of weak, successive attacks, the Yeti would attack Weed and hit a very strong attack. At this time, Geomchi attacked the head and the Yeti lost all its health.

Weed also defended and counter-attacked so the 2 of them were able to beat the Yeti.

For the last Yeti, Zephyr took the damage while Pale, Romuna, Hwayoung, and Surka attacked it.

The Yeti was a strong monster so it was able to withstand much damage, Hwaryeong’s dance did not affect it. Thus killing the Yeti took quite awhile.

But slowly, the Yeti began to lost health; eventually it died. All 3 Yeti’s were killed!

We won!

Difficult monsters seized!

Powerful monsters have been slain!

Such strong monsters, if they did not combine their strengths, it would have been impossible to kill the Yetis.

Mapan lifted his head.

‘Of course as a merchant I can’t do anything, so I avoid all fights.’

While watching Weed fight, it was impossible not to be amazed.

The way he was able to handle 3 Yetis all at once was overwhelming.

Even for Weed, fighting Yetis were a difficult task. Even with Irene’s blessing, Weed’s HP bar was slowly decreasing. However, the Yeti’s health disappeared first.

If other Yeti’s rushed to attack Weed while he was fighting, Hwaryeong and Pale would finish off the monsters.

However, Geomchi3, Weed, and Zephyr split the 3 Yetis. They had to fight each of the strong monsters individually. With quick wits and speed, these were attributes that no one else had. If one did not have complete faith in themselves, fighting the Yetis was an impossible task.

In these types of emergency situation, the competence of the party can be measured by how well they can adapt to the circumstances.

“The experience is no joke.”

Irene called out for her character information window and smiled. Although it was difficult to killed them, the Yetis gave tremendous amount of experience. From the dead Yetis, they were able to acquire a large stick and some ores.

Mapan took the japtem first, and placed it in his bag.

“Now, lets take on the next Yeti.”

When Pale said that, Weed discouraged the idea.

"Wait a minute Pale, there's something I must do first."

“Something you must to do?”

“We gotta take care of the loot”

Weed took out the Engraving Knife.

*SagakSagak!*

From the Yeti's corpse, he extracted leather and meat. He then separated the bones according to its classification.

It was only through luck that meat or leathers would dropped, but with intermediate sewing and cooking skills, he was able to extract them.

The level of his dexterity and the level mastery of his skills attributed to how much of each loot he could extract.

“I understand why you are collecting the meat, but the leather?”

Hwayoung asked, taking a seat next to Weed.

But Weed did not stop his knife.

"It's cold around the Horom Mountains. You would never know when they would become useful. And bones could be used to brew refreshments."

Weed was extracting meat, leather, and bones

There was nothing thrown away from the corpse of the Yeti. At that very instant, the Yetis’ big corpse was disassembled.

Whenever Weed fought the Yetis, he collected the leather.

A hunt overflowing with thrills and suspense!

With just a small mistake, the party could be entirely wiped out. So the party was forced to focus solely on the hunt.

As often as possible, Pale would try to attract the attention of 4 or 5 Yetis all at once, but sometimes a few would try to attack Pale. When that happens, Hwaryeong would help out. She would use her special confusion skill, a technique that would put the Yetis to sleep.

“Enchanting Dance!”

An immense offensive attack!

It was foolish to dance in front of the Yeti, knowing that there is a high risk of losing her life.

Geomchi’s eye lit up.

"The young lady is awesome. Her movements are very flexible."

Geomchi2 said.

"Do you think so too, Master? There's no unusual movements of the ankles and waist."

"You're right. It's a very cool dance. It seems to be at an advanced level. It cannot be learned within a day or two."

The Geomchis were analyzing Hwaryeong's movements. To the Geomchis, the body is inscribed as second to none!

However their concentration only lasted 10 seconds.

While watching Hwaryeong's dance, the Geomchis' mouth got wider little by little, and finally, they started salivating profusely.

“Heh.”

“That’s so cool!”

The Geomchis were not interested in the fight, but rather Hwayoung’s dance!

Fortunately, at that moment, the party's great crisis came to an end, and Hwaryeong's dance concluded.

The Yetis who watched the Enchanting Dance all fell asleep with their faces flushed.

“Keuheoheom!”

The Geomchis killed every Yeti that were not affected by Hwayoung’s dance.

Although Geomchi5 also thought of the situation the same way, he did not show his agreement to the same degree as Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi.

"It is an honor to die by my sword."

“Let’s get married!”

"You must not be greedy. Young Lady, how about you try being my girlfriend just once!"

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, and Geomchi4, were in their fighting spirits, and the party were able to hunt the Yeti safely.

Weed was extracting leather and meat, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, and Geomchi went up to Pale.

“Pale-nim.”

“Ye-Yes!”

Pale’s attention quickly diverted.

Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 looked like thugs and criminals because of their faces and their muscular bodies. The normally gentle demeanour was nowhere to be seen, and the color of their eyes were different.

The impregnable fortress which is said to hinder other people's combative spirit to the degree of no return. Something that is only attainable to normal people by going through extreme training.

Then Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 approached with a rigid face.

Geomchi5’s face was flushed.

“Next time, can you bring as much as 5 Yetis?”

Geomchi3 saw Hwayoung and broadened his shoulders.

“6 is fine too.”

Geomchi2 wrapped both his hands around his face like a shy boy.

“No, you can call 7. Its not like we wanted to see Hwayoung dance.”

"......"

* * *

They ascended high up the Horom Mountains and the party was feeling extremely cold.

The soil ground was covered up in snow up to their knees. A sharp wind came blowing in, penetrating their necks.

“The wind is cold.”

Surka shivered.

“Winds such as that will give us the cold.”

Pale's body was all curled up while walking.

Coldness, compared to the rest of Versailles continent, felt like another dimension! With the immense cold, while standing still, you could turn into ice.

The Yetis intensified the cold even more.

Pale recently pulled 3 Yetis, 2 of them were put to sleep by Hwaryeong, and 1 was safely secured.

“Its cold here.”

"I'd like to go to a warmer place quickly."

The party was getting tired of the cold and wanted to leave.

Geomchi then looked up at the peak of the mountains. They had walked for quite a while, and yet the peak was still not visible. It was getting increasingly colder, and the trail was becoming steeper.

“Its really amazing that the mountain is this tall.”

Geomchi has traveled to a lot of mountains around the country.

Among those who took the path of a Martial Artist, there were quite a few people who deliberately seclude themselves in high steep mountains. And from his experience of his retreats, proves that Horom Mountain is formidable.

You can feel the severe coldness, and in more extreme cases, stats relating to combat—stamina, vitality, strength, and agility—decreases.

“Achoo!”

Surka sneezed then.

Finally, the initial symptoms of the common cold.

You have caught a cold

- Physical strength is decreased by 20%

- Skill effectiveness is decreased by 30%

A cold can then lead to other complications.

Maximum health and mana has been reduced.

The use of combat skills are likely to fail because of the cold.

"Although it's summer, I caught a cold. *Sniffle*!"

While sneezing Surka was seriously suffering.

The party was not capable to go any further.

Because of the cold, Yetis became considerably harder to handle, you'll catch a cold, and then lose all combat capability because of it.

Weed took out a needle and a thread, and then got to work.

He took out the leather from the Yeti that he packed before, and started cutting to make clothes.

“It doesn’t need a design. Just make us warm clothes.”

It was a request from Hwaryeong who is unusually exposed to enjoying different types of clothes. Irene and Romuna just wanted something warm to wear.

“Please wait a bit.”

The first clothing that Weed produced was given to Surka. The Yeti's leather was absurdly big and durable. The first part of the leather was completely cut out because it was too thick and hard, therefore the material was not appropriate clothing.

For sewing, the lighter the fabric, the more luxurious the clothing. Thus, making clothes out of rabbit or deer leather was a much better option.

Weed's sewing skills were still insufficient to sew clothings out of rustic brute leather.

‘Although it looks shabby, it'll still gives some warmth.’

The clothing Weed made out of Yeti Leather had basic designs. There were three layers added to the leather, it was thick and durable, and was made to withstand the cold outdoors.

The Yeti fur was attached separately, which gave it the finishing touches to the clothes. It looked like a white fur coat, made to withstand even the cold from the North Pole.

‘Fur clothing is good for cold climates.’

Weed completed the clothing.

*Ttiring!*

Clothes made from Yeti Leather:

Durability: 60/60.

Defense: 25.

Yeti leather were cut, altered, and attached to make the clothing.

Clothes were made with a delicate touch.

It prevents the coldness and the chilly winds from sipping through.

The white fur attached to the clothing will help maintain body temperature.

Requirements:

- Level 150.

- Strength 600

Options:

- Cold Resistance 40%

- When dressed in this clothing, all Yetis will be hostile.

- Because of the weight, vitality decreases.

- Agility 80 reduction.

If you look at the defense or the options of the clothing, it might seem useless but it was enough to keep warm.

Weed created Yeti leather boots, gloves, and hats, and handed them out to the party.

“Thank you, Weed-nim!”

Surka bowed and nodded.

Irene and Hwaryeong said their thanks and gratitudes with a big smile on their faces.

“Wow! Thank you so much. Now I think I’ll live.”

“It was nothing. It’s only natural that I would do so.”

Weed said words of humility, but deep down, he thought differently.

He had already experience the miserable cold from provinces such as Morata and it plagued him. Catching a common cold because of lower temperatures, cold winds blew throughout the night. When the snow storm came, all he could do was moan and grunt from sickness!

He barely had the courage to beat the cold by creating a statue. He was lucky a few times thanks to his sewing skills, if not, he’d already have frozen to death several times over.

If he had frozen to death under any circumstances, there would not have been any possibility of winning the battle against the Vampires.

Because he had already experienced it before, he already knew that the coldness in Horom Mountains will get worse, little by little.

When he made the right clothing, the party could not possibly feel the coldness anymore.

Drastic and freezing temperatures!

There was no need to fear the cold wind, or fear catching a cold!

Weed deliberately made the clothes for that reason.

The party did not know how warm the clothes could be if made with sewing skills. Granted, if he had made those clothes the moment they entered the Horom Mountains.

If it was a little uncomfortable, his insufficient sewing skill is to blame.

When hungry, any food served would taste delicious and be appreciated.

“I’ll wear it well.”

Weed evenly distributed the clothing he made to the party.

Geomchi 3 and Geomchi4 wore the clothing made out of Yeti leather and were amazed at its quality.

“After wearing these clothes, it’s not cold anymore.”

“Master, these are really warm!”

The Geomchis were wearing white fur clothing.

Weed and his entire party wore thick white fur clothes. At first glance they could be mistaken as a Polar Bear.

The Geomchis' body recovered from the cold, and their strength returned.

“Then, let’s continue the climb.”

Geomchi2 vigorously replied.

"Master, shouldn’t we fight first and the climb?”

“Good. It’s a start.”

The Geomchis went running up the mountain eagerly. It was possible without any Yetis around.

Weed and the rest of the party were hesitant to follow the Geomchis, but they eventually ascended after a short while.

Geomchi5 suddenly looked down at the bottom of the mountain.

‘A world covered in clouds.’

The clouds flew by depending on the movements of the wind.

They were at a place much higher than the altitude of castle of the Dark Elves. Lands and blue clouds stretches far and wide.

Geomchi5's bosom was filled with great morale. So in the spur of the moment, without being conscious of it, he cried out.

“Yahoo! I made it!”

From the top of the mountain, with a loud voice, sounds of screaming cheers!

“YaYaYaYa!”

“HoHoHoHoHo!”

The echo of the screams could be heard.

It was exactly what Geomchi5 had pictured in his mind. The sounds of the echo gradually got louder.

And then.....

*Kureureureureureureung!*

*Ujikkeun!* *Kwangkwang!*

Suddenly, an audible roaring sound can be heard.

Geomchi5 turned around and looked at the summit of the mountain and his face went pale.

Not too far away, the snow that were piled up was destroyed. The crumbling snow came rolling further down.

A tremendous amount of snow has been swept away. An Avalanche occurred.

Weed and Pale quickly hid behind some rocks to avoid it.

The ground clattered and trembled, they felt like an uncouth outrageous power had struck them.

Long after the Avalanche ended, the Geomchis were nowhere to be found. They had lost their lives to the Avalanche.

Weed and the rest of his party members inevitably had to stay and hunt the Yetis that were there.

Because of the cold climate of the Horom Mountains, they had been looking for a good place to hunt, but they could not do so until the Geomchis come back.

Normally the others would not touch anything and wait for Weed's order, but now it was a little different.

'One person alive, counts as one life saved...'

Geomchi5 could be said to the the prime culprit of the situation, now it's the rest of the party who would suffer the consequences.

Weed spent his time diligently hunting Yetis.

Geomchi had a much harder time hunting, but it was just that much more rewarding.

All except for 2 or 3 people, who were level-cautious, ran up the Horom Mountains right after Weed.

Weed could only fill about 30% of his EXP. At level 306, the experience was very difficult to obtain. Although the hunt would go on smoother with a party, the experience was less than what he would get by soloing.

When Weed was taking on the formidable Vampire Lord, Tori, he was forced to hunt to gain experience and level.

‘I’ll take care of these guys just like I did with the Death Knight.’

And Vampire Tori.

Although he might not like others to know, he could create a useful subordinate with a sculpture and then give it life. But because he would have to pay with his experience, there was no need to constantly use it.

Also, recklessly summoning the Vampire Lord Tori was also not a possibility because a supply of blood from living create must be continuously given to him.

Although to Weed, the desire was not completely abandoned.

‘Without a doubt, it was related to his quest.’

The Fargo’s crown and the Helaine’s Grail lead to the Legions of the Undead Quest!

He intuitively knew that the Vampire Lord Tori, and the Death Knight, Van Hawk, will be associated in his end quest.

In six days time, the Geomchis were back in the Versailles continent.

In exactly 24 hours from their time of death, they logged back in.

With his head bowed bow, Geomchi5 said.

“I’m so sorry. It’s my fault that our time was delayed.”

The Yeti with his waist bent, walked toward the party. Geomchi5 and Hwaryeong greeted him with a dance and a Sword.

“It’s alright. You don’t need to be so sorry. However apologizing is really masculine.”

“Yes?”

“It is really a macho apology. It is great to honestly apologize for what happened.”

“Hwayreong-nim”

Geumchi5’s eyes were bloodshot.

With Hwaryeong's gorgeous appearance and perfect body, there wasn't a possibility of not believing her words. Hwaryeong was so beautiful that they would not dare talk to her.

The Geomchi2 quickly bowed.

“I’m sorry. Since I like eating, until now, I have eaten more than everyone else.”

Geomchi3 bowed respectfully.

“Please accept my sincerest apologies. While you will preparing the meals, I was being lazy.”

Geomchi3 was demonstrating a manly apology to Geomchi2!

The young Pale and Zephyr’s eyes saw something that wasn’t pleasant, they seemed desperate.

‘To try and capture a woman’s hand is in a far distant world.’

‘Should I tell them that a woman’s hand feels like a wooden sword? It felt similar to the the feel of the master’s sword.’

They apologized desperately hoping that they would be able to hold Hwaryeong’s hand

Hwaryeong liked it nevertheless. Irene, Romuna, everyone welcomed her.

Then Hwaryeong and the others looked in surprise. They didn’t know that the many Geomchi and Geomchi3 were like this.

Plus, the very noticing Geomchi4 climbed on top of a rock and yelled.

“Yaaaaaaaaho!”

Ashamed, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, and Geomchi4 started to climb the mountain with Weed and the party.

Thanks to the Avalanche, most of the snow were swept now, and the soil can now be seen.

Arctic plants grew underneath the rocks!

Weed diligently dug out the plants and used them as ingredients. They were tired of constantly eating Yeti meat.

As they ascended, it was not easy to find Yetis. The terrain was probably too difficult for the Yetis to live in.

The party only knew that they lived in high mountainous places.

Their only memorial of the Yuroki Mountains, is climbing it. Nothing more, nothing less.

However, the higher they climbed, the more they felt they had reached their limits.

A human being in Mother Nature’s vastness!

A strong wind blew, it was almost enough to cause their bodies to fly off the mountain, but they endured it until it subsided.

With their stamina almost depleted, each step taken was more laborious than the next.

They climbed the mountain on foot, but the moment they turned their heads, another world unfolded. They finally reached the summit.

*Ttiring!*

You are first to climb to the peak of Horom Mountain!

The highest mountain in the Yuroki Mountains!

Fame : 150 increase

Earth affinity increased by 1 %

Luck raised by 3

Because they were tired, the party found some rocks over the valley and laid down on them.

“Uwaahhh!”

“Ahhhh, it hurts!”

Their stamina was almost depleted and their legs were throbbing with exhaustion, but they endured the journey.

It was obvious that the acrophobic Surka would not have been able to climb the mountain without help.

The higher up the mountain they went, the greater their sense of accomplishment was. Thus, not a single one of them complained.

Pale said.

“Our fame increased.”

Surka checked as well and nodded her head.

“It has increased by a fairly large amount.”

It wasn't easy for them to raise their fame. It was only possible by doing quests and fighting very strong monsters.

However, the quests that could raise their fame only raised it by a marginal amounts.

Pale gruelingly said

"At first, we only climbed the mountain for the fame, but it was a great idea that we climbed it. It was indeed a rewarding experience."

Although none of the other party members voiced their feelings out loud, they all agreed with Pale.

Weed and the rest of the party took a break and laid there on the summit for a long time and rested. They looked at the scenery around them.

A lot of mountains in the Yuroki Mountains were all spread out.

The clouds and the mountains, and even the plains far away, they were all part of nature.

“This place is amazing.”

Hwaryeong’s eyes turned red.

The sight provided by nature was amazing.

Versailles Continent's naturally fickle climate! But because of the amazing sight, they can't be blamed for dismissing the thought.

Walking up here was more emotional than simply looking at the mountains.

The Geomchis took out their swords. They began to write on the rocks next to them.

Geomchi were here.

Without fail, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 also wrote on rocks. It was a Korean tradition to mark their accomplishment every time they reach a new level.

“That seems fun.”

“Shall we do it too?”

Pale and Surka laughed and wrote a message.

I want Maylon to see this.

Next time, let’s come here, just the two of us.

Surka was here and left!

The party realized that they were uselessly wasting their time so they descended down the mountains.

Compared to the strength used to go up, going down was much easier. Then the party logged off one by one to take a break.

They were all mentally fatigued from climbing the Horom Mountains.

*Sweeeeeeakkkkk*

The wind blew like knives in the Horom Mountains!

Weed wore his thick Yeti fur coat, and traveled back up again. He had a purpose.

‘Making a sculpture of nature here would increase my skill greatly.’

An act of creating blooming art in any gloomy places.

It was hard to breathe at the top of Horom Mountain due to the coldness and severe wind. If that can be overcome, it will be the a place with an amazing, incomparable scenery.

Weed took out the Zahab Engraving Knife.

'If I were to build a sculpture here, maybe it'll turn out to be a Masterpiece.'

Weed went to find some big rocks at the summit.

It was currently night time. The night sky, without pollution, the stars were shining brightly.

He had to sculpt, relying on the light of the night sky.

The wind was too harsh to light a torch. In fact, the main problem was the darkness, not the cold strong winds.

The winds were so strong that it would blow you away. The winds were so strong it would freeze the sculpture.

Thankfully, he was certain that he could make the sculpture.

‘If I carve Seeyoon, I would definitely get a masterpiece.’

But Weed decided he wouldn't sculpt Seoyoon here

He had no intention of being apologetic if he coincidentally meets up with Seoyoon. He no longer wanted to be frightened of her.

He wanted to created some other sculpture this time.

“Grandmother, Hayan, me. I want to make a sculpture of my family.”

The fact that he never sculpted this always stayed on his mind.

Although, he promised not to sculpt his family until he raised his sculpting level. He began to cut the rock and began sculpting.

In the past, life was hard right after his parents died. He had to raise his younger sister which requires money. Although he had nothing, he always promised to take care of his sister.

The lighting was horrible and the air was musty and it was damp in the basement. It was his biggest dream to live in an elevated housing.

“Its high up here. You can see the sun rise and the mouse walk everyday.”

To depict life’s wisdom was hard, but Weed tried his best to not think of his story.

In the wrinkled hands were anxiety and pain.

Weed looked directly and began to reminisce as he moved his Engraving Knife.

When he was carving his Grandmother’s eyes, he paused for a moment. It was overflowing with emotions that he didn’t know where to begin.

“But, I should do this before it gets too late.”

Weed moved his Engraving Knife diligently.

Eventually, after cutting the statue, a shape began to form.

From afar, the sun began to rise.

The sunlight shone on the sculpture and its surrounding.

The dense fog began to disappear, along with the dark features of the night sky. The sky began to lighten up, it was yet another mysteries of nature.

Weed was so focused on finishing his sculpture, that he did not realised that the sun had risen. It was different from the time when he was able to leisurely carve Wyverns. But when it’s completed, the results of the advanced sculpting should grant similar rewards.

‘Looking at the sunrise will not give me a single penny.’

Perfect sense of impoverishment!

When Weed sculpts, he tries to forget his sense of time to help him concentrate.

To sculpt, he needed to gather rocks, which took up a lot of time.

While carving, he had to watch every stone he carved with his knife, and think about the sculpture. What he should created that would show emotion.

The statue of Grandma, her form was sculpted without taking any breaks.

He did not think more about the finesse details of sculpture representation. It was bound to be insufficient compared to a Professional Sculptor.

Weed included it in his thoughts. Carving until emotions could be felt. As he carved, in his mind, he started imagining and a perfect sculpture unfolded.

The Sculptor of Royal Road!

The profession of a Sculptor differs from a typical artisan profession.

Blacksmith melt ores such as iron in the hearth, and then uses molten metal to create weapons and armors.

Chefs knew recipes to some extent, but if their cooking skills were polished, they can roughly figure out what kind of dishes to cook based on the ingredients.

With Tailoring, you only need to know the basics such as cutting and stitching clothes, so it is not difficult.

The people from the Arts Profession had to work firsthand.

Only if you produced Great Works or Masterpieces, will you obtain increase in skills, which is impractical. This is the desecration of art.

A Sculptor must first draw a picture, and then carve it out to complete the artwork.

When Weed first started out, during his break times from his battles, he would spend most of it carving. He would always crave out dozens of basic artwork a day, while learning the basic fundamentals of sculpting.

Near Serabourg Castle, he carved popular sculptures such as Rabbits and Foxes, and sold them to the public, but soon after, he started carving more diverse monsters from different kinds of wood to gain more experience.

Therefore it was rare for someone to choose Sculptor as their profession unless they’ve gone totally insane.

*Clang Clang*

Grandmother's body, including her face was almost complete. But both her hand parts was deliberately connected to the other rock.

Followed by the creation of his sister’s statue.

'From here on, there shouldn't be any mistakes.'

After his Grandmother's statue, Weed began working on his younger sister's statue.

Rather than a photo, in his mind, he recalled an image of a perfect family!

When he got hungry, he ate Yeti's dried meat because did didn't want to take time to eat a proper meal, just to finish his work.

When creating a sculpture, it was important to retain one's sensibility.

Weed concentrated all his efforts to create the statue of the family, and nothing else.

The statue of the family were holding hands firmly. His Grandmother's statue, she was wearing a fine dress. Thanks to his sewing skills, it wasn't hard for him to create clothing for the statue he had made.

Once he finished sculpting the statue of his Grandmother and his siter, it exudes a subtle radiance.

An Advance Effect of Sculpting!

All statues with an Advance Sculpting Effect all had different distinctive radiance depending on the climate of the statues’ surroundings, and the type of materials that was used.

Weed got another piece of rock and placed it on the other side of his Grandmother. He has to now create a statue of himself.

Gracious, fine elderly Grandmother and beautiful sister!

And a statue of Weed, himself!

Creating a statue of himself was something he didn't like.

'My eyes are originally not this small.'

Weed's statue had significantly large eyes.

'In fact, the nose should be a little straighter, and the forehead, shouldn't it be slightly wider on this side? Yeah, that's right. And it should be taller!'

Weed had a height of an average Korean person, and had a rather ordinary look. However, self satisfaction was carved into the statue.

The overall composition of his statue's image was a Hottie. Almost at the level of Celebrity hotties!

“Yeah. That’s me alright! The equally freakish me. Boohoohoo.”

Weed laughed with delight as he completed his statue.

*Ttiring!*

Right when the sculpture was finished, a message popped up in front of Weed.

Please set a name for the finished sculpture.

A precaution was given. Last time when he made a sculpture of Seoyoon, there was also a message that asked for a name.

When a sculpture is made and the creator is asked to give it a name, it was one of the greatest honors for a sculptor. Weed paused for a moment and said.

“Harmonious Family.”

Is Harmonious Family correct?

“Yes”

Grand Masterpiece! You have completed the Harmonious Family!

The Horom Mountains can be called the world’s roof!

At a colossal height, the glorious work of a sculptor was added.

Because it was created regardless of all adversities, the delicate statue shows the creativity of the Sculptor, and it is valued even more.

Artistic value : 9,400

Special option :

- Those who see the Harmonious Family will have health and mana regeneration increased by 30% for a day.

- Taking a break near the sculpture will recover stamina and health very quickly.

- Passing through rough terrain consumes less stamina.

- Cold resistance increase by 50%
- Resistance to ice magic.
- All stats increase by 25
- Three attributes increase by 24%

- These attribute bonuses will last for a whole day.

- It stacks with other blessings.

- Does not stack with other sculptures.

Up till now, the number of Grand Masterpiece complete : 2

- Sculpting skill has improved.

- Sculpture understanding skill has increased by 1.

- Advance handicraft skill reached level 3. Efficiency of using any handicraft skill is increased by 8%. It will have various effects.

- Fame increased by 40.

- Because the statue was made out of basic materials such as rocks and trees, although it is an advanced statue, the amount of fame awarded was not large.

- Art stat increase by 34
- Fortitue increased by 9
- Endurance increased by 4

- All rights to the sculpture is given to Master Weed. If this sculpture is given life, it will be loyal to him.

- For creating a masterpiece, all stats increase by 3

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

Weed burst into joyous laughter. Laughing at the summit of the Horom Mountains.

“Grand Masterpiece!”

Although he has yet to master Moonlight Sculpting, he could still be able to produce some great works. He felt really good after completing the statue of his family.

It would only caused troubles if he gave life to all three of the statues.

When the 3 statues are given life, they would be hand in hand, and their efficiency level will decrease.

He has already decided not to give life to the statues. He will only give life to statues when they serve him purpose. He had only created this statue to commemorate the occasion.

'I’ve seen the sunset, sunrise, and many rain clouds passing by the mountains.'

* * *

Hwaryeong logged in earlier than usual and waited for the rest of the party. She had longed to see the view from the summit of the Horom Mountain.

“How will I get back? It’ll also be hard to get back down.”

Hwaryeong climbed the mountain alone.

Soon, she was not far away from the place where the Avalanche occurred. Because she had experience of the climb, it was difficult to climb back up.

Hwaryeong reached the summit and found a statue that was not previously there.

“It’s beautiful!”

Hwaryeong couldn’t stop admiring it sincerely.

The statue stood still and quiet on the summit of Horom Mountains.

It seemed like warmth was wrapped its surroundings in the world's highest summit. To add to the mystery, there was a light surrounding it. It was no doubt that the light came from the Advanced Sculpting Effect.

The statues made from ordinary rocks showed off their beauty like gems.

“It’s awesome.”

Hwaryeong guessed that the person who created the sculptures was Weed.

"This is a genuine statue."

Besides the Pyramid and the statue of the Lion Monster, this was the one of the first statue she had seen made by Weed.

“What a marvelous sculpture.”

Hwaryeong slowly viewed the sculptures.

The grandma and younger sister statue was overflowing with liveliness.

“The guy is so handsome.”

Hwaryeong’s eyes shone as she saw the statue of the tall man.

Because she sees Celebrities considerably often, she appraised its appearance to be fairly passable. But of course, when she looked at the statue, she would imagine it to be Weed.

Chapter 9: Hall of Fame Expedition

The guilds in the Central Continent were starting to use cutthroat information warfare.

They were looking up about the Scorpion King while also finding a way to lower the temperature around the continent.

Wizard or Sage, Nobles meet in the library presenting legend and myth from old books.

Then in the Barbarian's village a hint was found.

“In the continents North Edereun village disappeared. That in the village’s altar a legend was passed down by the devoted saying that the heat would disappear. More contents from Edereun were reported in the investigation to me”

Edereun village disappeared!

Historical records states that it is located somewhere in the Kingdom of Kaldeath.

In the Northern parts of Kaldeath Kingdom, the land was literally frozen for a long period of time. Edereun and several other villages were not listed on the map.

“I already knew that.”

For the leaders of each guild, a goal appeared.

Go to the coldest part of the continent and seek the Edereun village!

If any other guild was able to solve the quest that led to the Crimson Wing Guild’s collapse, they will be able to gain more prestige.

On top of that, they had other plans as well.

‘We take advantage of this opportunity, and can be the first pioneers of the north.’

The plentiful quests in the north. If you can obtain them and secure the hunting grounds, it would greatly increase the prestige of our guild.

‘There are many quests in the North. We can occupy the hunting grounds and expand the influence of our guild.’

‘A great opportunity to expand our guild!’

The guilds in the Central Continent have been fighting over the ownership of the land.

There are problems when occupying castles and fortresses, and even minor hunting grounds!

But you could change the balance of power by exploring the north.

Some guild leaders announced their guilds would go on an expedition to the North, without forcing those who don't want to go. It was a tolerable risk for their guild to venture to the North.

The Era of Pioneering the North is about to start.

* * *

The Dark Gamer’s Tavern.

A number of high-level users were commissioned by the Crimson Wing Guild to participate in the failed quest. They were in recession for a while, but now they were active again.

Various guilds came to look for them to commission them on an expedition to the North.

Being a high-level user does not guarantee they will be an asset in battle. They should have experience and be able to exert the best of their abilities.

In any kind of battle, Dark Gamers knew how to use their abilities to survive tenaciously. At the same time, they bring out a sense of responsibility and competitiveness from other guild recruits.

“Do as I say!. Don’t go to places you are not told to go to.”

Keuu. I thought it’d be ok.

“I died vain on a high level quest, and because of that people hate me.”

“Ok, I get it so stop.”

At the end of the day, Volk couldn’t bear listening to his wife.

Many others lost their lives following the Crimson Wing Guild on their A rank quest!

It was very bad venture for them, not only did they lost two levels, but they also lost skill proficiency.

The Dark Gamers Union had suffered significant damage to their reputation from the event.

However, as an excuse, Volk said.

“Regardless, we’ve made money from it. So far we’ve made a total of 110,000 gold.”

“It’s not that much compared to the value of your life. It hurts me to think you’ve died.”

“You...!”

Volk’s eyes were filled with sudden emotions.

“I also feel the same way about you.”

“Sweetheart.”

Volk held her hands affectionately. A thought struck Darelyn and she asked.

“Surely, you didn’t lose any equipment, did you?”

“Of course not. I wore some cheap equipment purchased from a shop. The place seemed dangerous, so I took precautions.”

“You did well.”

Dark Gamers would always obtain additional equipment and wear them if they find they are likely to die during the quest. They only wear items that they wouldn't mind losing.

It was obvious that to a Dark Gamer, their equipment are treated as their second body.

Volk and Darelyn were resting, when a man approached them.

“I have a commission. Will you hear me out?”

Volk nodded at the man politely.

“We would listen. But once you tell us about it, we’ll decide whether or not to accept it.”

“Well of course. I come from the Cold Roses Guild. Our guild is taking this opportunity to explore the Northern Continent. The level requirements is 320 or higher. The salary is 40,000 gold.”

“The salary is rather generous.”

A man shouldn’t complain.

“Yes. The current fee for Dark Gamers have risen recently. If we find any important quests in the town of Edereun or any other town, additional money will be compensated.”

“I don’t mean to be disrespectful, but the Cold Roses Guild are able to lead an expedition without additional help, right?”

The Cold Roses guild was a mid-size guild who ranked in the top 40s in the middle continent. They owned 4 forts, but they were located in remote areas.

Furthermore, there was a kind-hearted Dwarven Warrior who was the head of the guild called Oberon, it was a decent middle-ranked guild.

Although Volk had his concerns, he accepted the man’s request.

"Of course it's not just us. The guild's alliance, and some of the people of the general public are going as well. It is the first time that the Northern Continent is being explored, so we have to move faster and work faster than others to gather information."

“Then i guess there will be a large amount of people.”

"That's right. We want to take this opportunity to explore the Northern towns and Kingdoms. In the North, there are still a lot of places left unexplored. Would you like to participate?"

Darelyn poked Volk in the side.

The conditions weren’t all that bad.

Dark Gamers lived very prejudiced lives. In fact if they travelled alone, they will go to more dangerous areas.

To get there first, they had to venture ahead ambitiously and take lots of risks.

Pioneers of the Northern continent!

New hunting grounds and quests were not enough to satisfy their desire.

Volk and Darelyn accepted his request.

* * *

Weed and his group returned descending Horom mountain to the Dark Elves castle

They wanted to dispose of their japtem before climbing the Horom Mountains.

Surka listened cheerfully to the Dark Elves Granbell.

“You really were able to climb to the summit of Mount Horom, that is impressive. Let me tell you about a good hunting ground. Have you heard of Karaka forest?”

“I have not heard of it.”

“It is about a day's walk from here. There you will encounter monsters of various levels. There is an abundance of monsters, a good place in many ways. And if you defeat the King Snake boss you'll be able to access an amazing place.”

“Amazing place?”

“You’ve heard of the Undead Legion?”

Granbell lowered her voice.

Granbell was not aware that Weed was Karichwi, after he transformed using Shapeshifter.

“The Undead Legion were very strong.”

Surka saw Weed’s eyes and replied. Weed associated with them and listened with interest.

Granbell started to boast.

"The Legions of Undead are strong, but not as strong as the Dark Elves. Talented in Elemental Magic and Archery! There are a lot of things the Dark Elves succeeded in!"

“Yes, of course.”

"Although the Legions of Undead caused a lot of chaos and disappeared, the dungeons of the Lich Shire remain. Who knows what treasures the Lich Shire might have left inside."

“Teasure?”

"It is not for certain. But it's the type of things you would want to check out, is it not? Now the Dark Elven warriors are gathered at the entrance of the dungeon."

The hollow place where the Undead Legion emerged!

Granbell was talking about the place, in favor of a hunt.

The Rosenheim Kingdom Soldiers, Freya's Priests, Weed, and his party, headed into the forest of Karaka.

According to Granbell, various types of monsters appear randomly in the Yuroki Mountains. However, Weed recently became familiar with the types of monsters that could appear.

Weed travelled there with the Rosenheim Kingdom Soldiers and his companions to hunt if it only to raises just one level. Although the soldiers and his parties level differ slightly, it wasn’t a big problem.

In any case, it was still a long way from being one of the strongest. He has leveled his production skills by contributing to the hunts with the soldiers.

But after a few days, Becker, Buren, and Hosram approached him.

“Commander, we have to go back to our hometown.”

"We are part of Rosenheim Kingdom. We cannot be absent in the army for too long."

No matter how high Weed’s intimacy was, he could not hold soldiers belonging to the kingdom indefinitely. Now that we’ve completed the Legion of Undead quest, it was natural that they wanted return to their Kingdom.

The church of Freya was also missing its priests.

‘It’s regretful that I cannot use my contribution points to retain them.’

Weed headed to the teleportation gate inside the cave in Plains of Despair with the Priests and Soldiers. His companions decided to continue hunting in Karaka forest.

“To Serabourg Castle.”

The teleportation gate was operated by the Priests.

The inside of the cave was suddenly covered by light, when it was gone, nothing remained.

When Weed, the soldiers, and the priests teleported to Rosenheim Kingdom, they appeared near the central fountain. Where they inevitably became the center of people's attention.

“They appeared to be the Kingdom's Soldiers. The Royal Knights.”

"Where did those people come from?"

"They're Priests of Freya."

"What quest were they doing?"

Weed caught the attention of the people, fortunately, troublesome things did not occur.

The Royal Knights and Guards immediately came out.

"His Majesty is waiting for you."

Under the guidance of the Knights, Weed headed inside the Palace. He was to once again meet with the King in his Royal Court.

The old King of Rosenheim Kingdom has passed away. A new King has been crowned. The King's first son. Archduke Winston has taken his place.

“You are the Sculptor, Weed, who built the tomb for His Majesty, the late King.”

King Winston's eyes were very sharp. There were many Nobles and Knights inside the Royal Court. King Winston's evaluation was belligerent. Because of their nemesis, the Kingdom of Brent, He planned on enriching and strengthening the Kingdom's army.

In fact, those intentions were already implied on several occasions. Weed had collected data from the Dark Gamers Union. Weed had tried to read all he could about the newly appointed King of Rosenheim.

Weed kneeled on one knee.

“Yes. Your Majesty.”

"We heard from sources that you borrowed a few of the Kingdom's soldiers and Royal Knights. Is that correct?"

“It is so, Your Majesty.”

"However, they our soldiers were gone for a long period of time. What business did you have to conclude to take Soldiers and Royal Knights outside of their Kingdom?"

King Winston looked down at Weed’s eyes.

The King was known to have the best military strength. He has special interest in monster subjugation to expand the frontiers. But on Sculptor's appeal, they were forced to retreat from the enemy.

The judgement of King Winston did not end there.

‘I too see that.’

However, Weed was familiar, inhospitality, life suffering, and sorrow. But now he knew how to be more proactive to reverse the situation.

Weed stood up on the spot and said.

"It was honorable for His Majesty's soldiers to fight again the Legions of Undead that might have done harm to the Kingdom of Rosenheim."

After Weed had spoken, he tried to leave. This was all part of a plan.

It is the law to deliberately say something interesting, and then disappear. Once they have gained interest, they will be more willing to listen.

King Winston asked.

“What has happened.”

"It wasn't that much of a big deal. We only prevented the Undead Legion and Lich Shire from doing harm to the continent."

"Did such a thing really happened? Let me hear more of the details."

Weed told the story of how he brought the Soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom to the front lines and fought with the Legions of Undead.

He also mentioned vividly how the soldiers did outstanding job of fighting without neglecting their lives.

But the truth was, it was the Orcs and the Dark elves who were the main source of power to fight the Undead Legions.

The Rosenheim Kingdom's Soldiers were also present listening to everything Weed was saying.

Weed praised the Rosenheim Kingdom's Royal Knights and Soldiers for efforts, and they said thanks.

It is necessary to have intimacy with the King and his courts, even more so than villagers. Because of the story of how the soldiers fought, Weed was able to raise his familiarity with King Winston.

King Winston's assessment of Weed was also altered.

“You know, I also had many great adventures.”

“No, your majesty.”

"I also like people who enjoy challenges and adventure. It's been a long time since I've had a companion with similar interest to chat with. Would you like to work with the Royal Family of Rosenheim?"

*Ttiring!*

You have received a job offer from the King Winston.

The Kingdom's Sculptor.

If you work for the Royal Courts, you get to live with the Royal Family, and meet any Nobles and people of Royal Blood.

300 Soldiers will be put under your command.

The Royal Family will provide you with a private room.

You can receive training from Royal Knights, and you will a monthly salary of 2000 gold minimum.

You will receive additional salary every time you create a sculpture.

While hired as a Royal Sculptor, all sculptures made during that period will be property of the Royal Family.

Would you like to accept this job?

Employment as a Royal Sculptor.

If he can meet Royals and Nobles, quests are much easier to obtain. It is easier to raise his reputation with men under his command.

If you gained enough reputation, you may receive a town or a castle.

For the sake Kingdom, one would need to contribute large amount of money, rather than building up reputation or public value.

However, without losing his courtesy, Weed said.

“I am sorry, your Majesty.”

“Why the expression.”

“My skills are still insufficient to be the Royal Sculptor, and I would like to have more adventures.

A royal sculptor could get more quests from Nobles and Royalty. But the number and type of commissions is usually limited. But the variety of quest are limited to creating sculptures.

In such quests, he can improve his sculpting skills abundantly. But, wandering freely and independently is precisely the shortcut to improving Sculpting.

“If that’s so, then it cannot be helped. If you ever change your mind, come find us and We’ll be happy to entrust the job to you”

“Yes, Your Majesty. Also unfortunately the Centurion Dale was killed in the midst of chaos. Although he will not be returning, along with other soldiers, it was all thanks to their sacrifice that we were able to become victorious. He will remain as one of the bravest Soldiers in the history of Rosenheim Kingdom.”

“We are also saddened by Centurion Dale’s death. But because of this event, other Soldiers are stronger, and the Kingdom and her residents are safe. Adventurer Weed, Rosenheim Kingdom will not forget what you have done for us.”

Rosenheim Kingdom’s Royal Knights and Soldiers have been returned.

Due of the growth of the borrowed Soldiers, you have earned 3705 Royal Contribution points.

With this Weed’s work at the Royal Court was mostly finished.

‘Contribution points have been returned after leveling them up’

Weed came out of the Palace and headed towards to the Church of Freya. The guards no longer stop him.

Weed was able to meet with the High Priest Immediately.

“Congratulation to defeating the Legions of Undead.”

The greeted Weed in reverence, because there was no one who had higher contribution to the Freya’s Church.

At least in Rosenheim kingdom, there was nobody with more fame than Weed.

Weed took out the Helaine’s Grail from his coat.

“I’m here to return the Church’s Relic.”

“It has been received. And please go to Somreun Liberty City sometime soon, the High Priest is expecting you.”

“I will go when I have the time.”

In reality, he regretted returning Helaine’s Grail because it provided infinite amount of Holy Water. However, the item must be used with discretion.

If you use holy water from Helaine’s Grail for personal gain, you will lose Faith. His Faith had dropped 4 times from drinking Holy Water.

‘Then I am done with the errand from Freya’s church’

After returning the Helaine’s Grail to the church, Weed stood in front of the teleportation gate.

The next destination was the City of Artists, Rhodium.

On the Versailles Continent, it’s the place where culture blooms like a brilliant flower.

The city is the birthplace of the Production and Art profession.

Weed imagined.

‘Talent artist don’t need to hone and polish their skills. Musicians flooded the streets, giving great performances.’

Sounds of beautiful music, discussions of art throughout the city, and a brilliantly illuminated night sky.

Weed imagined Rhodium.

“Travel to Rhodium.”

The Freya priests operated the teleportation gate and Weed was engulfed in an instant.

* * *

Rhodium’s Central Square!

Weed appeared under a light, and a crowd formed around him immediately.

“A person!”

“Someone came here through the teleport!”

In a very desperate and urgent voice.

Weed quickly looked around.

Many people appeared to be gathered in the square.

‘Did something happen in the city?’

Weed began to observe the situation.

People in the square began to rush towards Weed.

Their reaction was comparable to when he appeared in the center of Serabourg in Rosenheim Kingdom with Soldiers and Priests of the Orders of Freya.

Everyone in the crowd came running towards of Weed, with heads bowed.

And at the same time they quickly held out their hands.

“Please help.”

“Please spare some coin!”

“I'm really hungry, Keuheuk! Mister help a starving friend out."

Rhodium, the City of Artists!

It was the poorest town riddled with beggars everywhere.

“Please give me money.”

“Only 10 coppers and you could be the savior of my life.”

"People once lent a helping hand!"

“I won’t ask for a lot. Only enough to buy some bread to feed myself.”

Weed was surrounded by approximately 1000 people asking for money.

At the same time, new people appeared through the teleportation gates. Weed swiftly escaped.

The beggars approached the newly emerged travellers, and bowed their head until it almost touched the ground.

“Just 1 copper. Please. Please help me out a little, we’re living in a harsh world. Help a poor man just this once.”

It was as if they haven’t seen the light for one year!

Pathetic tears come out with gloomy disposition!

They were struggling from hunger as they begged!

Chapter 1: Rhodium

Rhodium, the City of Artists, was filled to the brim with beggars. Masses of people asking for alms were found all the way from the gates to the plaza.

"Please, spare just one coin! Ah, have you chosen what paint color to use yet?"

"Well, I wanted to create a new shade of my own, but as you know, the price of paint isn't cheap."

"Right, it's hard to use as many colours of paint as you are right now."

"I may have to stick to using the basic primary colors."

Impoverished art critics! This is a common sight anywhere in Rhodium. But, right now, these panhandlers were extremely jealous. The reason being a user named Weed, a beggar who had recently appeared from a Teleport Gate. At first, they had crowded him so that they could beg him for money. Now, however, they were amazed by his skill in supplication.

"Haaaa..."

Weed gazed at the sky with an expression of utter devastation … He was still wearing Yeti fur clothes in this hot weather! Crowds of people passed by this part of the plaza.

"........"

Weed just stared at the sky with a gloomy expression. Despair, lamentation, pain, frustration, regret! Showing all these emotions on his face, just sitting there. Clink!

"Cheer up."

"Perhaps a better day will come."

"I don't know what happened to you... but life isn't as hopeless as you think."

"Please, buy some clothes with this... that fur looks so uncomfortable."

Weed didn't say a word. Passing adventurers simply used their own imagination.

"He must have suffered a terrible fate."

"How can he stare at the sky so mournfully?"

"My heart bleeds, just by seeing him..."

And so, they tossed their coins.

His skill was enough to attract donations through sympathy alone! However, if they knew what was actually on Weed's mind, they would have cried out in frustration instead.

"How could I be accepted into a college?! Now I’ll have to pay expensive tuition fees for classes! And, in addition, I’ll have to buy all those pricey textbooks. It can’t be true ... What must not have happened ..."

He was devastated about something that everyone else would be envious of: Getting into college. Even the other artists couldn't truly stay jealous of him, since he looked so miserable.

"Hey, a young one like you shouldn't be so dejected."

Weed only sighed.

Pavo clicked his tongue, saying, "Cheer up, it's a big world out there ... Were you dumped by a girl?"

Weed just shook his head. He couldn't bear to say that he had passed an entrance exam. To him, it was such a tragedy, just the simple mention of it would make him burst into tears.

Gaston and Pavo couldn’t have imagined that it was merely this that made him seem to be in such terrible despair.

"You shouldn't be so discouraged. No matter how dire the situation seems..." Pavo said, as he took a step towards him.

Pavo was now close enough to reach for the stack of coins in front of Weed.

Sweep!

Weed collected the coins in the blink of an eye as he maintained a pained expression. The movement was so fast that it would have been missed by anyone, even if they had watched him closely. No matter how sad he was, he wouldn’t forget his attachment to money.

"Lacking cash as I am, I had better grab all the change I can."

There was one gold coin, several silver ones, and many copper pennies. However, those totaled a whopping one gold and forty silvers... pretty nice for just being small change.

It wasn't that much to Weed, but it was a motherload to the artists in Rhodium. Pavo came closer and patted Weed's shoulder.

"Haha, were you that needy? But, say, are you planning to sit here without eating anything?"

Of course, Weed didn't want to do that. It was just that he was stuck in the midst of beggars. Then again, he was rather hungry.

"I know a good diner just around the corner. Wanna join me?"

"How much is a meal?" Weed asked, sharply.

"You can get a decent meal for around twenty coppers."

Twenty coppers would buy almost seven loaves of wheat bread, but a proper meal raised satiation more.

"I guess it would be okay."

As if he’d finished what he came here for, Weed rose to his feet.

"Then, let's go and have a look at that diner."

When he had first arrived through the Teleport Gate, loads of beggars had crowded him. Luckily he managed to ward them off at the time. Now those panhandlers didn’t bat an eye as Weed left the plaza. Actually, they were pretty happy to be rid of the competition, if only for a while.

"I didn't lose any money to those guys... I even earned a little more than a whole gold coin."

He had managed to protect his money, even though he could have just tossed a few coins in the first place to do so. But he was proud and satisfied! No artist should ever bother to beg from Weed!

"There is a good, cheap diner this way. Just follow me, and I'll show you where to get some nice food."

Gaston and Pavo dragged Weed through the convoluted alleys. They had gone quite far from the plaza.

"This place might actually be good..."

Normally, stores in deep alleys sell cheaper and tastier meals than ones near main roads. Only people in the know can find these places, hidden like treasure. In layman's terms: Exclusive native diners!

Weed sat down with Gaston and Pavo to have a meal. Cheap as it was, the menu only included a simple soup, some salad, and a loaf of bread. It was made with good quality grain though, so it was soft and savory.

"Delicious!"

Weed ate his food with satisfaction. He could bake his own bread, of course, but it would require a lot of materials and time. His money was well spent on bread this good. Pavo smiled brightly.

"Isn't it? Few places would sell this as cheaply."

It was a valid point; even Weed agreed. That would explain why the diner was so crowded, even though it was hidden this deep inside the alleys. The bowl was virtually clean once Weed was finished.

"Thanks for showing me this, it was a very nice meal."

"What are your plans?" Pavo asked, interested.

"I’m going to have a look around in the city."

"You don't exactly look like a tourist to me..."

Many tourists come to Rhodium, since it had become a trend to tour the castles and cities of the continent. Though, tourists usually didn’t start begging as soon as they arrived.

"I wished to inquire about skills relating to my job."

"Then your profession is...?"

"A sculptor."

"Ah, you chose a tough one."

Gaston and Pavo looked at Weed with sympathy. They also understood why he begged so fervently now. If he came here not as a traveller, but as a sculptor, he surely had a hard time wherever he went.

Gaston said, "Among art-based classes, the more basic types, like sculptors, tend to be the most difficult. You need a skillful hand, and can't even make art as you wish. Even in the city of Rhodium, few have chosen an artistic class; production classes are much more common. Though... I have heard rumours that there’s actually a world-renowned sculptor somewhere in Royal Road."

"World-renowned sculptor?"

"Someone who has, with passion and persistence, overcome a class that everyone else dismissed."

"Wow. It’s amazing that there’s such a person. Do you think I would be able to meet him here in Rhodium?"

"They say he's in Rosenheim Kingdom. He even made a pyramid and the Sphinx; something no ordinary sculptor would even have imagined! They even say that some of his other works are hidden around the continent. Some pieces thought to be his work are also found in the sky city, Lavias. The rumours say that his sculpting skill is at least Intermediate Level 7, and that you can get enormous buffs from looking at any of his works."

".........."

Weed was very surprised that stories about him were this widespread. He knew that he was well-known as the adventurer Weed, but he hadn’t thought that he was this famous as the sculptor Weed.

"Makes sense though, since it would be artists that like this side of me."

Weed stood from his seat.

"Are you going now?"

"Yes."

"Then, we'll see you around. Perhaps once you level up some more, you can buy some paintings... or I might help you with a house..."

Gaston and Pavo waved good-bye.

* * *

Rhodium, the City of Artists.

There was poverty everywhere, but the city itself was beautiful and romantic.

It was filled with wondrous architecture that complemented the surroundings, with streets that were littered with detailed art, and even the little things spread here and there were stupendous.

The whole place was filled with fancy lights and colors.

Each road had young aspiring artists, either painting or sculpting. Others were playing instruments, often performing on the spot.

Crowds of travellers visited, and even more artists strove for their dreams in this city.

Indeed, it was built majestically. However, due to lack of funds the city wasn’t properly maintained and therefore easily deteriorated. Understandably, Rhodium was also known as the city without a lord -- since no one was interested in taking it over!

While the continent had plenty of lords engaging in brutal struggles over castles and territories, Rhodium seemed almost too peaceful.

The lifeblood of any city is, of course, money. Funding is needed to populate, irrigate, research, and trade.

However, weapons and armor didn’t sell very well in Rhodium.

The place was nearly deserted of adventurers, because the nearby hunting grounds were just mediocre.

No person in their right mind would want to own such an unprofitable city.

"Well, art won’t bring in any profits..."

Weed's convictions were strengthened in this moment.

Blacksmiths, weavers, and enchanters usually complained about how tough their classes were, but to Weed they sounded a hundred times easier than any artisan class.

Weed continued his slow tour of Rhodium.

"O, you are my sunlight, my blessing, my lover!

To be with you forever!"

He could hear some young bards singing at a nearby theatre.

There were many bards in Rhodium.

They could improve both the strength and morale of their parties while hunting, and could also earn extra cash by giving performances.

In short, just the fact that they didn’t have to beg was an advantage. This was a class that could earn its keep wherever it went!

Because of these traits, the Bard was the most respected class in Rhodium.

The second place would be Jewelers. Jewelers are able to manufacture various precious metals into beautiful accessories.

Sculptors could also refine gemstones once they reached a certain skill level, but they couldn't compare to the real specialists.

Jewelers could refine gold, silver, pearls, jade, emeralds, sapphires, and more to raise their worth.

The Jeweler class could be considered a more specialized type of sculptor.

"This is truly the City of Artists."

Weed appreciated many artworks as he walked around in Rhodium.

There were the production guilds and artistic guilds, who were very rare in other cities.

Of course, there were also a few basic combat guilds here and there.

In Rhodium, there were more than three hundred guilds! This was only possible, since there was of all kinds of combat, production and artistic guilds.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that nearly all existing classes could be found here.

Weed stopped at a street lined with guilds.

"This would be a good time to look for more clues."

He had been told that there would be more hints about moonlight sculpting to be found in the artist guilds.

Thus, it was necessary to become friendly with the residents and guild masters.

Flattery and praise to steal a target's heart and relentless criticism to make him look like a lifelong friend!

This task wasn’t all that difficult for Weed who possessed these smooth-talking skills.

"There is something else I need to do first... It would be good to learn a few skills now that I’m here."

Before touring the artistic guilds, Weed entered the nearby warriors’ guild.

* * *

Even though Rhodium was an artistic city, it didn’t mean that there were no users with combat-related classes.

Bramas was a warrior who strangely enough had chosen to start in Rhodium.

Being someone who loved to travel, he was attracted to the history and culture of Rhodium.

At first, that choice had been fine, as there was plenty of prey in the surroundings!

While the artists were busy trying to raise their skill levels, Bramas easily found mobs to hunt right outside the walls.

Normally in starting cities, there would be an extreme lack of rabbits and foxes which created fierce competition among hunters.

However, since there was an abundant wildlife to hunt around Rhodium, Bramas had quickly leveled up.

He even developed a strong companionship with the few other combat classes, as they fought along each other.

"There are no warriors in Rhodium stronger than I!"

Bramas had started to take pride in being the best warrior in Rhodium. While he was practising a new skill in the warrior's guild, someone approached him.

"Oh! Are you a warrior visiting Rhodium?"

Warriors had great compatibility with each other. Since they could cover each other in tough battles, it was a good idea to have more than one in a party.

Weed, who had just entered the guild, shook his head.

"Sorry, but I am no warrior."

"Then, what are you in our guild for?"

"I'm here to learn a skill. If you have no business with me, please excuse me."

Weed walked past Bramas and entered the guild's training center.

"What is he trying to do here?"

Curious, Bramas followed him. Weed had stopped in front of the center's instructor.

Curtly, the instructor asked, "What business have brought you here?"

Simple and dutiful warriors generally tended to dislike artists.

The instructor treated Weed with disdain, because he saw that Weed possessed the "displeasing" temperament of an artist.

Weed silently unequipped his Yeti clothes and put them away. With the continent as hot as it was, he didn't require any leather clothing. He even unequipped the armor covering his torso.

"Please, strike me."

"What?"

"To protect my peers, I wish to test my will."

Bramas went goggle-eyed. Aren't those the promised words for warriors learning new skills?!

"It's definitely in order to gain a warriors’ skill -- what is going on?"

The instructor brandished his club.

"A feeble artist dares to make such an arrogant statement!? I will make you regret those words!"

The instructor forcefully swung his club towards Weed's torso.

*WHAM*

A terrifyingly powerful blow!

However, Weed didn't move an inch.

"Looks like that wasn't enough. Then I shall strike again."

*WHAAM!*

But Weed's expression still didn't change at all.

"Perhaps I have seriously underestimated you ..."

The instructor showed a little more respect, and held his club even tighter. The veins popping out from his arm were visible.

"If it gets too painful, let me know. You could die, even if you force yourself to endure it."

"I am fine."

"Then I shall continue."

*POW* *BAMM* *BAMM* *BAMM*

The instructor struck, each blow more powerful than the last. But Weed still calmly took the hits. The instructor's breathing became more and more labored, and in the end the club snapped in two.

"Haaaaaa … Haaaaaaa ….. You ... are incredible!"

The instructor was out of breath.

"Have you ever tried closing your eyes when you took a hit? This a whispered secret, but they say that the pain dulls when your eyes are closed. This method lets you endure even more rigorous beatings."

*Ding!*

New Stat: You have gained the Toughness stat!

TOUGHNESS:The ability to endure blows.

The more hits a body has survived, the stronger the hits it can resist becomes. Unlike Fortitude, which grows as you repeat a task, this stat is only increased by being hit, and contributes to increasing your maximum life.

SKILL: You have learned Eyes Closed Tight.

EYES CLOSED TIGHT LVL 1 (0%):

Closing your eyes as you are attacked minimizes the damage taken. For each level in this skill an additional 3% of Damage and Pain is decreased. However, caution with this skill is advised, as unwise usage of this skill in combat may expose you to even greater danger.

A new stat and skill!

But closing your eyes was a very dangerous action.

To close your eyes as an opponent's weapon closes in... it's a newbie’s mistake, but in this case it’s done to distribute damage, and in order to do this better, it is necessary to shut your eyes at the right moment.

This requirement might actually end up exposing a player to following attacks, and cause an inability to counterattack, or leave the player’s weak points vulnerable.

Weed re-equipped his armor.

"Thank you for teaching me. I truly respect the warrior class since a warrior is able to protect their friends and fight their enemies at the frontline. I will do my best to become such a dependable man and might return once the chance comes around."

"It was an honor to teach such a great man who is able to defend the ones dear to him. Please come again anytime you want."

After bowing towards the instructor, Weed stepped towards the exit.

At this point, Bramas went slack-jawed.

"No way!"

The skill Weed had just learned required a whopping four hundred Fortitude.

Thus, it was a skill even Bramas hadn't learned yet... Fortitude wasn’t an easy stat to raise in the first place. It only increased when a player consistently took severe damage from monsters, or falling into grave danger. But how often will a player actually let himself get hit by monsters?!

"No one in their right mind would fight those kinds of dangerous battles."

Usually, warriors hunt in a party instead of travelling alone.

Therefore, there aren’t really that many occasions to get hit. While the warrior may take a blow or two from monsters, the fighters of a party always return at least three or four for each taken.

They can hunt monsters with less damage. So, even if a player has a high level, usually their Fortitude stat won’t be very high.

On top of this, Fortitude only rise in situations driving players to their limits... for instance when a monster deals severe damage, because the strength of it’s attack overpowers one's defense!

Fortitude is only easily increased when one's life is near empty.

Toughness only demands for players to take many hits, but Fortitude is true to its name in that one has to truly endure to increase it.

To get such a stat to a high level, a player would need stunning combat awareness to preserve their life until the critical point and still deliberately permit multiple hits.

But, in such a situation, a direct hit could mean instant death!

A monster's attack power isn't fixed. A direct hit causes a lot of damage, while a grazing blow only causes little.

A player would have to tolerate those blows and precisely monitor his health.

Considering that most common warriors cannot break past the two hundred and fifty mark in Fortitude, this situation suddenly seemed ridiculous.

Flabbergasted, Bramas really had to ask: "Just what kind of class are you?!"

Weed answered, "A sculptor."

"..........." Bramas was at a loss for words.

* * *

The Frozen Rose Guild used every possible means to try and rally people.

"Come on! We still need more people to join our expedition!"

"No way... we don't know what kind of danger is waiting for us out there."

The users in the Frozen Rose Guild and their allies announced their participation in the expedition.

A total of four hundred high-level users, and an additional thirty more Dark Gamers joining on the day of departure!

For only being a mid-sized guild, this was an incredible effort.

Since they were tired of constant clashing on the central continent, they had decided to invest heavily in exploration of the north.

Even so, Oberon the guild master of Frozen Rose felt as if something was missing.

"It’s better to start exploring the north before others do, but there’s no need for any futile sacrifices."

While there were already adventuring parties making their way north, this was the first time a guild were attempting this as well. It also put the guild's fate on the line.

Oberon wanted to be fully prepared.

"We shall only recruit the best of each field."

The primary adventuring classes, assassins, thieves, cartographers, rangers, and other exploration classes had already hired. However, there were still many other roles needing to be filled.

"Clerics! We need someone to cure our injuries and afflictions. We also need cooks for meals, and at least three blacksmiths for repairs. A few merchants for logistics would be a good idea too."

Since it was a guild-wide, large-scale exploration, there was still much to do.

There was no time for slacking off, since no one knew what dangers and adventures would be waiting in the northern towns and castles.

Other guilds probably had probably been delayed due to having similar thoughts.

Leading a guild to explore the north was indeed a huge risk.

Until the expedition was ready for departure, Oberon and the rest of the Frozen Rose Guild would be busy collecting members.

While they were working on finding valuable men for the expedition, Drum, the guild's chief mage, called out.

"Commander Oberon."

"Yes, what is it?"

"Why don't we recruit a few people from Rhodium?"

"The City of Artists? Why from there?" Oberon asked quizzically.

There weren't any warriors or adventurers of notice in Rhodium.

As the rumors about the northern expedition spread, a tidal wave of requests to join from all over had been flooding in!

Sure, have a larger force would be nice too, but it wouldn’t do to admit just anyone.

Only famous and very skilled users were allowed in.

"Rhodium is full of classes related to crafts and arts, right?"

"That’s right"

"Perhaps we can make use of their specialities... if we were to encounter a storm during our adventure, the expedition would quickly tire. With an architect around, wouldn’t we be able to build a shelter to rest in?"

Drum brought up a valid point.

"That sounds like a nice idea. Add in some architects - why didn't I think of that?"

When Oberon showed his approval, Drum continued with increased confidence.

"While Bards aren't explicitly useful, they can wash away the fatigue of travel by playing their instruments. Dancers can also play a similar role. When a certain number plays as a group, their performance will become even more effective."

Though the stat bonuses from bards only totalled about 10%, the cumulated effect of using it on hundreds of people made it impossible to ignore. If dancers and other similar classes joined in, it would grant a significant increase in the expedition’s fighting power.

Bards and dancers were not well-accepted in standard sieges though.

Their low vitality made them easy targets for skilled assassins in the early stages of a war.

This was a critical flaw for most of those classes!

When a performer dies during a song or dance, the boosted stats is not only reversed to normal, they’re even decreased.

This was why these classes weren’t of much use for sieges.

They might still prove essential for large-scale explorations though.

Oberon stroked his chin, mumbling, "This really is an intriguing suggestion..."

"That's right, commander, and it may be nice to have a few types of artists as well. While they may not have an immediate effect, they will definitely bring some kind of buffs to the group. We should bring as many people who may increase our chance of success as possible."

"Alright. We have to pass Rhodium as we head north anyway, so we'll use the occasion to recruit some more people."

* * *

After learning a skill from the Warrior Guild, Weed headed towards the guilds related to production and arts.

"Firstly, I should investigate the places most likely to be related to my goal."

He was going to start his search head on. The hints for moonlight sculpting should be somewhere nearby.

First, Weed visited the Sculptors’ Guild. Lots of people were entering and leaving the building.

"That’ll be a good place to start looking."

However, as Weed tried to enter,, the guards crossed their spears and barred his path.

"You may not enter our guild unless you are an artist of Rhodium. If you wish to pass, go and register as one first and return."

"How do I register as an artist?"

"Go to the Artists’ Union. The Union is on the left at the end of this street"

With no other choice, Weed had to go and visit the Artist's Union. The Union was a grandly built three-story building.

"Extravagantly fancy despite being dead broke..."

Weed opened the door and entered. There were five middle-aged men handling the usual office work.

"We haven't had a visitor in a long time. How may I help you?"

"I wish to register as an artist."

The elder laughed heartily at this.

"Anyone from Rhodium wouldn’t need to register separately, so you must of course be from some other kingdom. Where are you from?"

"I came from the Rosenheim Kingdom."

"Hmm... That's quite far away. Surprising that artistry has spread all the way over there. Then I shall first introduce to our city Rhodium. Rhodium is the City of Art and Culture! By all means, any person seeking a meaningful life must live alongside art. Barren, dry emotion causes an impoverished lifestyle. In our Rhodium, there are countless pieces of art; each preserving great beauty and vintage style."

Weed nodded in agreement; he had seen that for himself.

Each piece decorating the streets and houses of Rhodium were crafted with a very devoted effort. Since even the common streets had art of that class, it was plausible that there were even better pieces inside residences or galleries.

Weed had actually visited the Palace of Rosenheim, but even there he hadn’t see artistry of this level. With all this art, the city definitely deserved the title of "An Artist's Heaven". On top of this, Rhodium was overflowing with requests for art that anyone with decent talent could easily accept.

The elder continued his seemingly endless boasting over Rhodium.

"Have you seen the sights of Rhodium during sunset? It is an absolutely breathtaking scene! Many tourists come to Rhodium for that sight alone. Art is the lifeblood of any rich soul! Once again, I welcome you to the city of art, Rhodium."

However, Weed wasn't the least bit inspired. There were more beggars than artworks! If he had not seen those unfortunate people, the elder's speech might have moved him a little, but now it was too late.

Rhodium, a city with so little profit that no one wanted to claim it! It was definitely way out of Weed's interests. The only redeeming quality it had was that artwork was traded in bulk here.

That made it easy for Weed to sell all those mini-sculptures he had piled up for a bit of profit.

There were even a multitude of quests related to artists.

Since there was such a rich culture in spite of the lack of commercial development, there were still many such requests. This fact alone was what kept the artists from leaving Rhodium.

"I wish to know how I can register as an artist of this wonderful city of Rhodium."

"Mmhmm, that is something you should know. For a foreigner to register as an artist, one only needs to show a specific qualification."

"What do I need to do?"

"Make art. Any road, wallside, or place in Rhodium is fine. Just make some kind of artwork in a spot. Should you create art that shows your passion for Rhodium, we will welcome you with open arms. Since you are a sculptor, you will have to carve a sculpture."

*Ding!*

Artist of RhodiumSculptors prove their effort and passion through their works.

If you wish to gain the right for activity within Rhodium, create your own piece.

DIFFICULTY:

Undefined

QUEST CONSTRAINTS:

You must create a piece fitting of your talent. Should you dishonor yourself, you may lose a significant amount of fame and be restricted within Rhodium.

So, to get registered as a Rhodian artist, he needed to carve a sculpture that accurately represented his talent. That explained why there were carvings everywhere! As this point, making any old sculpture was a piece of cake for Weed. But to make one fitting of his skill, he needed to make either a Grand artwork or a Masterpiece.

"I shall make a fitting sculpture."

You have accepted the quest.

* * *

When Mapan first arrived at the Yuroki Mountain Range, he couldn't really find much to do. It really was difficult for merchants to settle their businesses in unknown territories. Mapan, however, adapted pretty quickly.

"There is no such thing as a place in the world where you can't earn money!"

An indisguisable greed for money! The adaptability Weed had seeded in him activated.

"I can trade, simply traveling from town to town, buying and selling."

There were plenty of towns in Yuroki, either comprised of Orcs, Dark Elves, or the Exiles in the plains. Mapan started a trading route between all these towns with a wagon filled with goods.

"Alright, buying items -- anything from animal skins to japtem from your hunts!"

First, he bought all the japtem he could get his hands on in the Exiles' towns. Those items, traps and camping equipment such as rope, were cheap and plentiful. He purchased enough items from the Exiles to fill five wagons, and moved on to the Dark Elves' settlements.

While not as skilled as Dwarves, the Dark Elves still had a rather high skill in handicraft. Much of their crafted equipment and tools were durable and reliable.

Mapan bought as much as he could here as well.

After selling the skins from the Exiles' towns, he spent all the money on buying more items.

Then he travelled to the Orc settlements. First to the town of the orc lord Bulchwi. After the Orc Race quest had been cleared, new users was appearing in great numbers in Yuroki.

"I'm an Orc. Chwichwit!"

"Any real Orc should be able to nasalize. Chwiiik! Mimic me everyone."

"Oppa, you're so charismatic! Chwichwichwit!"

"Eww, you're spraying spittle. Chwichwit!"

There were a horde of Orcs wearing the orc starting gear.

These people were charmed by the Orc race after watching Karrichwi on the Hall of Fame.

Overwhelming numbers! Quantity over quality! Orcs, the incredibly reproductive lords of Yuroki!

Those who dreamed of adventuring with the strong, charismatic, and violent Orcs chose this as their race. Even the shoddy east gate of the town was crowded with more than a thousand Orcs!

If you added to this the Orcs that hadn’t passed the newbie four weeks in Versailles Continent's time, it would total an astronomical amount of them!

"Let's hunt! Chwik!"

"It's a monster haven. Chwichwichwit!"

"Chwikchwik! Lots of things to beat up."

These people formed parties of three to five, scattering out of town in order to pummel wolves.

They held bulky clubs and even large broken branches as weapons.

Since branches had shoddy durability and miniscule attack power at best, newbies from not only the central kingdoms, but also from the Rosenheim Kingdom, altogether ignored them as weapons.

*SMASH*

The female Orc user, Erchwi, pummeled the head of a wolf with a branch. It wasn't a weak hit at all.

"Nice hit, Erchwi. Chwiik!"

"Such overwhelming power, Oppa. Chwichwichwit!"

While humans have trouble hunting even the feebler rabbits and foxes, these newbies were effortlessly beating up wolves.

Orcs don't have to fight as controlled as humans.

They can take most attacks with their natural thick-skinned defense even without protective gear. Add that to their natural strength!

They could even freely use heavy weapons normally unusable to humans, so their fights were very easy.

Take one hit, then give back a hit - only, their reciprocated hits were extremely powerful.

"From the Yuroki Mountain Range... Chwichwichwichwi! I am an Orc!"

"Orc! Orc! Orc!"

"Puchwiik! Puchwichwit! Kill them all!"

Massive, burly Orcs ran amok, stomping and clubbing wolves on sight. This was the splendor of the Orcs, and proof of their incredibly fast precocious growth.

Meanwhile, Mapan began his business in this Orc settlement.

"Come one, come all for adventuring tools! Essential bandages to dress those wounds, and bags to carry all your items! There's even some simple weaponry -- top quality, made by Dark Elves. You must be tired of all that mundane Orc cooking! Don't you miss the taste of salt? I have all sorts of spices used by Dark Elves."

"Chwichwichwik!"

"I'll pay all my money. Chwichwik! Please sell me one of those weapons."

The Orcs had to line up to buy even one thing. Sure, Orc settlements were fine in all other fields, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that their shops were the baddest there were.

Since even a rusty glaive cost more than a hundred thousand gold, there was no affordable weapons to buy and use. Then, as if some kind of god had manifested on Earth, Mapan appeared with wagons filled with goods. Not only were they in high demand, he had a monopoly as well!

"Step right up and wait in line; there's plenty of stock!"

Mapan was more than happy to sell all the goods he had bought. The lowest price was two or three times the original cost, and weapons were even sold at ten times the original cost!

Others might criticize his actions as bordering extortion, but Mapan had been taught something important by Weed: "It's not a rip-off if your customers are happy."

Usually, the profits from newbie items were minimal, but it was a completely different story if they were sold this skillfully. It might have been nice with a little more, but the profits were enough to fatten Mapan's pockets. Above all, the fact that he didn't have to wait very long for it to sell was a huge advantage.

As he watched the Orcs cheer as they make their purchases, he felt a certain satisfaction as a merchant.

"Chwichwik!"

However, Mapan’s faint heart was tested every time an Orc's face got too close.

"Gaahhh!"

The atrociously ugly Orc Karrichwi! His vestige was evidently present here. The users who selected the Orc species after being charmed by Karrichwi's quest usually changed their appearance slightly. Except, they always changed it for the worse!

"A knife scar on the face, please."

"I'll be fine, even with an eyepatch."

"Make the teeth as large as possible, and have them stick out of the mouth a lot as well."

"Make it easy to spit a lot while talking..."

"A nose that takes up half the face!"

Orcs don't even have a plain appearance in the first place!

There was always at least an eyepatch or a scar on their faces. Adding to this all the personal "tastes", the resulting sights were the stuff of nightmares.

Nevertheless, Mapan ended up making a killing on his sales and rapidly built up his fame.

Mapan, the Merchant of the Orcs! Virtually every Orc user knew the name of Mapan.

"Orcs tend to grow blazingly fast, though it slows a bit after the initial stages to mid-game."

Orcs had feeble magic and handicraft. They have no idea how to disarm traps, and lacked the power of faith. There were Orc Shamans and Warlocks, but they specialized in buffing fighting power, rather than restoring health.

"Orcs -- weak mentally but amazing physically. If these people mature, so will my profits... Establishing a monopoly without a single competitor! This is the dream of any merchant."

Mapan continued trading with high hopes. After selling all his goods, he bought japtem from the Orc users.

"Hey! Buying anything and everything! Buying all kinds of japtem."

"Over here! Chwichwit!"

"Chwiik! Buy mine too."

Mapan even purchased japtem in bulk. Items from thousands of Orcs! Using his monopoly to buy items cheap, he made a fine profit by reselling them on the spot. His dream of becoming a wealthy merchant was finally coming true, step by step. Depending on the success of the many Orcs now wandering Yuroki, Mapan's profits might grow even larger! Since the number of Orc users were multiplying by the day, one could say that Mapan had discovered a rose-colored life as a merchant.

Most ordinary merchants would have become complacent at this point.

"I've earned lots of money already. I deserve some rest."

However, Mapan was already severely affected by Weed on this point.

"Gotta earn as much as possible while I can. I need to tighten my belt, buy cheap, and sell for even more."

Mapan didn't even bother resting on the roads between the Orc settlements and Exiles' towns. He kept his hands busy as he sat on the coach box. He used a carving knife to improve his handicraft.

"Indeed, a merchant must learn and practice. One must do whatever he can to get rich."

Mapan diligently carved sculptures. He had learned the basics of sculpting back in Rosenheim Kingdom.

His primary goals were to learn weaving and jewelcrafting. After his handicraft reached a certain level, he would be able to learn even more production skills. If a merchant like Mapan buys leather and turns it into clothing, or refines the jewels he purchased, he can double or triple his profits!

However, as neither his handicraft or his other skills could rise quickly because he didn’t have a sculptor-like class, Mapan could only handle his carving knife with even more diligence.

Chapter 2: The Golden Statue

Her name was Seechwi. For her race she had chosen to be an orc.

"This is interesting!"

Female Orc!

According to basic human aesthetics, Orcs were considered incredibly ugly. Women usually avoided choosing the Orcs as their race and the proof was that less than 10% of the orcs were female. But she was different.

"For females as well. Orcs are the best! Chwichwik!"

Cha Eunhee was very satisfied with how her appearance had changed.

Her thighs and legs were thick instead of slender. Instead of a long thin neck like a deer it was more like a thick log. But more than that was the large protruding stomach that overlapped itself.

When it was time to make a character, you could change the appearance.

It was even possible to add tribal characteristics to the Orcs.

The body was made to overlap to have more flexibility at the waist and stomach.

Thus Seechwi was born as an imposing female orc.

"So easy. I don't need to worry about my looks anymore. Chwichwit!"

Seechwi was completely satisfied with her appearance.

In order to maintain a slim figure you need to constantly exercise and watch what you eat. She felt like all that mental stress and pressure had disappeared.

"Anyways, where did Seoyoon go to? Chwichwitchwik."

Seechwi's identity was that of Doctor Cha Eunhee, a psychiatrist at the Great Society Rehabilitation Center.

There was a reason an ice queen such as herself would start off as an orc.

She had saw Seoyoon crying in the videos that were stored daily in the capsule.

'I'm glad that you're still able to express emotions. A little of her wounds have healed.'

Seechwi wanted to meet Seoyoon. Up until now, Seoyoon had been allowed to roam alone. She had judge that it was not time to force her to travel with someone.

It was then that the Orc Karichwi accompanied her that things changed.

Holding back tears, she wanted to get Seoyoon to like she was in the past where she could smile and laugh.

"Seoyoon, where did you go. Chwichwit!"

Seechwi could only stomp her feet in frustration.

She was restricted from leaving the city for 4 weeks until now.

Seoyoon was always in the forests or in the valleys. Even with the videos in the capsule, it was difficult to accurately locate the place.

Since Weed became an orc, it would not be very easy for him to meet Seoyoon.

'Seoyoon should be able to quickly find where she ought to go.'

Then someone behind spoke to me.

"ChwikChwik. Hey!"

She looked back to see a fat male orc. A male orc was standing there majestically with a disposable rusted glaive.

There were other orcs next to him.

"ChwiChwiChuet"

"FuChwiChwuik"

"Chwiit, Do you want to join our party of four?"

The pig like orcs stopped by to greet her.

A party request!

It was much easier for orcs to make parties than humans. Those without high leadership could not make large parties. Orcs were able to make parties of 10 to 20 members without any experience penalties.

For that reason orcs actively formed parties. It was extremely rare to hunt alone. Seechwi lifted her head when she heard this.

"Let's go together. Chwi Chwi Chwit"

"That's good. Chuik Chuik!"

Seechwi went hunting together with the Orcs.

'Anyways, I can't see Seoyoon immediately. I need to get better stamina to travel through the mountains easier.'

Seechwi and the orcs went up to the wolves near the village.

Keongkeongkeong!

The wolves could be heard frantically barking. Orcs and wolves were both creatures that hunt in groups. They group up to attack weaker enemies, but usually more Orcs died.

"This is dangerous. Chwichwik!"

"Let's go get them. Seechwi!"

Just as the orcs were going to rush into battle, a wolf jumped at Seechwi. Seechwi saw it coming and side-stepped it. She had learned various different types of self-defense and her body responded in turn. In Royal Road, even if you were not very high level, having a lot of combat experience was very helpful.

This level of attack from the wolves was not very difficult. Seechwi continued to dodge and then raised her stick into the air. And then she struck down.

"It struck!"

It hit the wolf exactly in the center of the head.

Ppajik!

The blow was so powerful that cracks appeared on the stick.

The wolves did not dare to recklessly charge at Seechwi again.

This time it was Seechwi that charged at the wolves.

Every time she took a step, the ground shook because of her heavy body.

'Beating stuff with a stick is the best way to relieve stress!'

Seechwi danced around with a stick in her hand.

She liked the race that she chose. It was simple and there wasn't any need for any complex unnecessary calculations.

"Is, is that all you got. Chwichwichwichwit!"

Seechwi squeezed her way through the wolves with her fat body as if she were possessed.

The Karaka Forest.

Pale, Surka, and Zephyr were nervous as they watched closely.

"Huhuhuhuhu"

"Now watch closely."

"I'm quite nervous, Sunsaengnim"

"Of course, this is very important.."

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 was going to show them how to fight properly.

Surprisingly agile and resourseful.

It was hard to believe that the Geomchis could fight so precisely.

They keenly attacked the monsters' weaknesses.

– Struck a fatal blow.

– The stomach has been destroyed.

– The monster's eyes have been attacked. Reduces the monster's field of vision.

– The tendons in the monster's hamstring have been severed. Monster movement speed has been reduced.

Geomchi2 was especially skilled as the skillfully struck through the enemy's defenses without taking damage.

It was hard to inflict damage to monsters with high defense. Even though it was hard to attack weak points like the joints, eyes, or the neck, if an attack is successful then it would inflict a lot of damage.

They were able to overpower monsters early on in the fight.

However, even though it was good, it was even more cruel.

The Karaka Forest was divided into the Beetle Cave, the Hobgoblin Fortress, and the Dread Wolf areas.

The hobgoblins were powerless against their attacks.

"How does he do that?"

At the end Pale, Surka, and Zephyr could not come up with a definite answer.

Leadership was important to battle but it was not the same as knowing how to fight.

Surka let out a deep sigh.

"I guess it's about reading the monster's movements in advance."

The dream of every combat related class!

That was to score fatal critical blows.

People never thought to attack the gaps in the monster's weakness. It was more fun to attack it normally 2 or 3 times.

Hunting parties usually celebrated whenever there was a successful deadly attack.

But Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 were so familiar with combat that they got one every time they attacked.

They were never in the situation where they were surrounded by enemies because they were always moving around..

Zephyr looked at his fishing rod.

"I don't have that kind of taste for fighting."

Pale shruggeed.

"I don't understand it either."

Pale and Zephyr both sighed confidently.

Compared to Surka, Pale's and Zephyr's damage was weak. With a sufficient level skill mastery their damage can be pretty strong.

Nevertheless they watched to try and learn how to perform fatal blows

They had struggled with so many different types of monsters, like Yetis, together so they had learn how to do this. Fatal blows were easier to perform from the monster's blind spots.

Yetis had high health and thick leather skin so it was difficult to land fatal blows and do damage.

However the Geomchis revealed that it was possible to against hobgoblins, a similarly leveled monster with lower health.

To some extent Pale was able to inflict a lot of damage.

However Pale and Zephyr needed mana to inflict a lot of damage so they couldn't compare to the general melee classes.

The Geomchis had virtually no body armor. They relied on their endurance and skills for their defense. They did not think they needed to get anything like that in the first place..

In three to four hits they would be on the verge of death, but they never got hit since they avoided the attacks in advance.

They put all of their power into their attacks and received minimal damage. An extraordinary ability to fight!

They grew stronger through reading the flow of battle with their eyes and controlling their bodies in any situation. The Geomchis had climbed to the heights of master in combat ability.

Even though the situation looked very good, it was in fact not.

'Ugh, I'm barely alive. A little bit more and I'm going to end up dying.'

'It would be embarrassing to die in front of the kids.'

'Do not embarrass yourselves! We can't die to something like hobgoblins.'

The Geomchis bitterly regretted that they didn't have any defensive skills.

They never wore any armor and whenever they leveled they mainly put into strength. And of course they only raised skills that were related to combat.

Thanks to that their hunting speed was very fast. Their damage was abnormally developed. However each moment of a tremendous fight they were on the crossroads of life and death.

Generally they avoided the weapons and attacks of the monsters. They were almost masters of this kind of movement.

But then there were times that they were surrounded by several enemies and died.

After a few times of dying miserably they saw to it that they have to escape being encircled!

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 focused their eyes.

'Be careful not to get surrounded.'

'Got to watch out for monsters coming behind me.'

'Have to gradually split up the monsters while fighting.'

'Need to run away whenever the monsters are densely packed.'

While keeping each other in mind, they thoroughly paid attention to the monster movements.

But generally they were not able to avoid magic attacks. Because of this the Geomchis were desperately fighting. Every time they regretted that they did not invest in defense!

"I can do this very easily."

Geomchi2 grinned at the other Geomchis.

"Of course. It would be a problem to not do this much."

Geomchi3 said hearing him.

"I can handle tens of these guys."

Geomchi4 couldn't say anything..

He was surrounded by a large number of monsters. Because of this, his life was in danger.

Still he laughed, showing his teeth. He laughed to lighten up a little.

The Geomchis checked their remaining health and laughed as well.

"Now, this is great! Weed is surely much better at this than us! Always fighting within an inch of death. So doing this is going to raise our endurance?"

Geomchi5 nodded his head vigorously.

"Of course. He said that's how it's done."

"Then us too!"

Irene naively watched the masters fight and didn't know what to do.

For Weed, it was the right choice because of his high defense. But that was completely different for the Geomchis because with their pride they were unable to fight battles within an inch of their life.

'Must not die.'

'Got to keep up our appearances.'

The Geomchis put all their strength and soul in order to keep up their image.

The younger people relied on mana and long range attacks to fight. Close combat, however, required a higher level of difficulty since there was no resting in the battle for a long time.

Even though the hobgoblins had bad equipment, the Geomchis were much lower level and the damage built up over time.

Even with their lives hanging by a thread, they kept smiling as if they enjoyed the battle.

They were fighting level 270 hobgoblins using pincer formations and sometimes cross attacks.

Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 attacked simultaneously!

Pale and Surka's eyes shone fiercely.

They saw, for a brief moment, a weakness in the hobgoblin's movements. In that moment, Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 moved in for a combined attack.

Keyeeek!

The hobgoblins could only succumb to crying and shrieking!

Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 cleverly used their positioning and formation against the hobgoblins as the battle progressed.

"Ayte!"

Surka plunged into battle with her fists. She relentlessly attacked as she had discovered the weaknesses of the hobgoblins.

'I can not make small attacks.'

It was risky but she targeted the weak points. Examine the monster until its weakness became more apparent. Surka understood this little by little as she fought.

Zephyr and Pale also found their roles. He drove the enemies into one place with a wide range of attacks with his fishing rod and then arrows were shot to inhibit the enemy's movements. Surka and the Geomchis then opened on that opportunity and rained down blows.

They were fighting as a group rather than separately!

The party was inspired by watching the Geomchis behaviour

'So this is how we need to fight monsters.'

'It took a lot of hobgoblins dying to understand their weaknesses but now it makes sense.'

The party enjoyed their battle alongside the Geomchis.

Weed saw different types of artists.

He needed to make a sculpture to register in Rhodium. You needed to make an artwork for the city.

"I must not fail this one."

Weed currently had Advanced Sculpting. At this level, he could not just make something random.

Very large lions and Bingryong!

If you were creating a very large sculpture then there was a higher chance of getting an outstanding piece.

However, this was Rhodium.

It wasn't that making a large sculpture in the city was unreasonable since there were good spots. The problem was getting material.

"So I need to make a great work of a moderate size. For now, I need to find out more."

Weed headed to the crowded street shops first.

Rhodium did not develop its weapons and armor shops much. It was only average. The stores only specialized in selling accessories and other useful things. Smithing fell behind in comparison so inferior goods were made.

Nevertheless, the city of artists still had one.

Sculpting materials!

There was a suitable store in the Kingdom of Rhodium.

Weed went into the material shop.

"Rululu."

A lovely employee had materials on display. Elsewhere there were trees, stones, and unusual metals.

"Whoa, how do they sell all of that?"

Materials were like mountains piled up in her shop! It was a good place to get materials but there were twenty people in the building.

"I have to make it out of top grade material."

There were all types of materials in the shop. In the meantime, the number of people decreased to 5. They glanced around the shop enviously.

"A piece of wood is over 1 gold."

"What kind of sculpture do you make that's over 1 gold?"

"Let's leave. I don't even have 3 copper."

The guests were discouraged and departed.

A good meal would cost them at least 50 copper. They could make a sculpture with a stone or a piece of wood on the side of the road.

The place hasn't sold anything in the last 3 days.

"The prices are too expensive, I'm never going to get enough to buy some new clothes."

Sharlinn, an employee, sighed.

She needed money everyday in order to get bread to eat. She could drink water from a fountain but it wasn't food.

The salary wasn't enough. She got paid minimum wage but in order to make more she needed to sell stuff.

A system of earning from sales!

Sharlinn could only anguish at her situation.

"Huh, worrying is not going to do anything. I don't have any customers. Might as well clean."

She started to clean. She started to clean the materials on display. Then all of a sudden the store door opened.

Ding!

Sharlinn greeted with a smile.

"Welcome customer!"

Weed quickly entered the store as he was greeted by her.

"This is a material shop. There is a weapon and armor shop to the right. Are you looking for that?"

Weed shook his head.

"No."

"Oh, then you must be here to buy some materials! Please understand that we only sell expensive materials as you can see."

Up till now, Sharlinn had rarely ever had any customers. This was granted to the fact that people rarely bought crafting materials. In fact, Weed's current attire seemed to indicate poverty.

The Yeti fur seemed to resembled old and faded travel clothing! It was as if he were wearing the equipment that was provided at character creation.

Such clothing barely had any defense. It was more common for people to wear lightweight and fashionable clothing.

Weed was dealing with an employee that was an user. Otherwise the reaction would have been different because of his high fame.

Weed slowly looked through the materials.

There were expensive ores and stones with designs on them. There were all kinds of wood as well as gold and silver materials.

It barely had any materials that were suitable for sculptures. It seemed rather impossible for the

City of Artists Rhodium to not have them.

'The materials used as a basis for the sculpture increases the probability of creating a greater piece.'

Rhodium, as a whole, was very large but it did not serve the interest of its artists.

Weed was shooken up when Sharlinn knocked to get his attention.

"Customer."

"Yes?"

"Would you like me to recommend you a material to use?"

Sharlinn was very bored. People tend to try and find something to do when they have time. She had learned quite a few things about materials, though it couldn't compare to Weed.

Weed nodded.

"Tell me."

Sharlinn opened a shelf and took out a thick piece of wood.

"This is Bemok wood, its durability is very high and it can be processed in a number of ways. It's a good piece of wood for a sculptor to handle. However this is difficult because it is expensive. This is Bora Wood. There are a lot of different aromas. It's possible to make a sculpture that has a scent. However the size is small."

Each piece of wood had their own characteristics. The rigidity of the wood had to be taken in mind as well.

There were also a lot of types of wood with special options.

Weed followed Sharlinn to the corner of the store. A formidable amount of gold, 3 meters in height and width, was piled up.

"This is the pride of the store. Isn't it great? A sculpture made out of this has many different options, but the total price is no less that 7000 gold. It's a tremendous amount."

Weed looked at the gold. There was a bright and noble distinctive sheen to it.

'This is decent stuff for a sculpture.'

Weed secretly made a decision.

"Now, if you look at this side there is a turquoise gem..."

Sharlinn had knowledge about a lot of different types of materials. At first it was out of curiosity but then it became to learn about it enthusiastically.

After hearing her description Weed said.

"I would like to make a purchase."

"Oh? Really? Thank you."

Sharlinn was overjoyed. It was going to be her first successful sale since Weed wanted to buy some materials.

'Even if its cheap, I'll take what I can get.'

Weed fully transcended her expectations.

"I would like to purchase all the gold in the store."

"Yes? The price is...so it is 10 gold a piece and the number of pieces are in total."

Sharlinn calculated the amount. She examined the amount of stock to check how much there was.

"The total amount comes to 18000 gold. No wait a minute. That was the original price of the goods so I need to properly calculate it again."

Sharlinn took all the gold and calculated it again. The price was substantially less. Even without the trading skill, Weed had an enormous amount of fame so the price of items purchased in stores was decreased.

In addition the price of certain materials were discounted depending on the engraver. Because of Weed's advanced sculpting and high fame, the prices was discounted by 30%.

Buying these materials were much cheaper than through a merchant.

'How can there be such a big discount!'

To Sharlinn, it was breathtaking. To do this, someone must have a large amount of fame. One would not suspect a sculptor to have this much.

She saw that she had hit the jackpot.

Even after the reputation and skill reduction, there was still a gain.

Sharlinn swallowed as she asked.

"18000 gold, but 12600 gold after a 30% discount. Would you like to make the purchase?"

"I will buy it."

Weed replied without hesitation.

He made money of the Lich as well as the last 3 years.

He had earned a lot of money from building the pyramid, after the Legion of the Undead as well as through hunting he managed to collect quite the sum.

Compared to the past, he could afford to spend 12000 gold.

"Gulp!"

Sharlinn swallowed in surprise.

She did not even begin to think that she would make this large of a sale.

'I'll get at least 2500 gold from the sale. I can't believe something this lucky is happening to me!'

Sharlinn couldn't have been more shocked. To something of a beginner she was going to get a windfall of 2500 gold!

But, it was not so easy to get that from Weed.

"Well, then let the negotiations to determine the price begin"

"...?"

Sharlinn momentarily did not understand what he said.

"What are you talking about?"

"How much are you going to discount me?"

"What?"

In front of her there was a famous sculptor and he was still going to bargain at such a price? She could not imagine it.

"Give me a discount of 2500 gold."

"!!!!"

He demanded a price without mercy!

The look in Sharlinn's eyes changed. Before she was looking at a customer, but now it was an unscrupulous thief.

"Then that means that I'm selling it for next to nothing!"

"2,499 gold."

"I'm not selling it."

"2490 gold. Think about it. It's 10 gold less from before."

Weed took out his cash.

He was prepared in advance to pay. He also knew the actual value of the item.

"Sob sob! To think that there's someone like this."

Sharlinn tearfully sold the materials.

Weed swept the goods into his backpack, feeling the sudden change in weight.

He was tempted to find out how much it weighed. His backpack would hold things at a fourth of the weight and it could carry much more.

Weed took a chunk of metal from his bag.

"Identify!"

Black smelting material :

- Durability 100/100

- Metallic crafting material.

It was combined with a number of different materials through blacksmithing.

Can not return to its past pure state once joined with other metals. An excellent blacksmith may be able to revert it.

Mixes well with steel and mithril.

"I'm going to need to melt it."

Weed's idea was to make armor.

Equipment has become exceedingly scarce as compared to the past.

Orcs lived in a simple lifestyle, but there was more needed for humans.

So he had to get a new one.

Weed roughly gauged the metal with his eyes.

'I need to make about 5 pieces of armor.'

Mithril's weight was exceedingly light. This gave weight reduction effects of crafted boots and helmets.

As a result, movement and agility were greatly increased and lightened the burden of battle.

It felt good when he was Karichwi and he was able to move around freely and deal strong attacks.

Weed, in fact, already had armor.

Talrok's unique armor given from the Church of Freya!

A highly esteemed dwarven blacksmith with a whopping 85 defense.

It was a level 350 armor. But every level of blacksmithing reduced the equipment restrictions by 2%.

With his Intermediate Level 2 Blacksmithing, Weed was able to wear Talrok's Armor.

"Hoohoohoo"

There was a wily smile on Weed's lips.

That was how he felt whenever he identified Talrok's Faith Armor.

An expensive and precious armor of tremendous value!

There were a lot of armors better than it, but it was difficult to acquire unique items.

Its product value was far about the Saint's Staff and the Necromancer's Tome.

He would be stopped in Rhodium because of his armor.

The black mithril armor would shine and catch the attention of others.

Beggars!

He would not think of wearing mithril since beggars would rush him.

Weed found the blacksmith and went inside. Dwarves were working actively.

Caenkkangkkang!

The Dwarves hammered a blade that was heated by the bellows. They were citizens instead of users.

It was not difficult to see dwarves working in the center of every city.

The Dwarf in charge welcomed him.

"What can I do for you Human?"

"Please melt this."

Weed pulled the black lump from his bag.

"Can you do it?"

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, this is!!!!"

"What is it?"

He was not thinking that it was special but now he was expecting something from the dwarf's reactions.

It required higher skills and professional knowledge in order to get an item's complete information through identification. He was hoping that this was the case.

The dwarf could not hide his astonishment.

"It's a complete mess. It's a horrid mix of several metals."

"..."

He had not expected anything special from its appearance. The dwarf noticed the same thing as Weed, a black lump.

"You can sell it to use for a decent value. You can also dissolve it and we can make you some weapons and armor."

"I'll decline. Just melt it and give it to me."

"That's too bad. I would have wanted this wonderful piece of metal."

The dwarf embarked on the task.

If he left it to the dwarves, he would get better armor. But he could not leave it to the dwarves because of his Blacksmith Intermediate Level 2.

Weed wanted the opportunity to raise his skills.

'This is a good opportunity to raise blacksmithing.'

Weed did not rely heavily on equipment. No matter high good the armor, he worked to raise his skills and stats.

Riiitrrring!

The dwarf put the black lump in the high temperature hearth and used the bellows. The lump melted little by little until it separated into various metals.

Weed could have also separated the black lump but his skill level was low and he would not be able to separate as much metal. First the dwarf removed the steel, then black iron, and finally mithril.

"Here it is. It'll be 700 gold but since you are a bright adventurer I can bring it down by 50 gold and another 20 for bringing me some interesting stuff."

"Thank you."

Weed had waited a long time for the black iron and mithril. He was even able to get some tempered steel.

Sculptures were greatly affected by the surrounding area. The effects of a sculpture differed based on its surrounding like the difference in heaven and earth.

"Need a good place..."

Weed wandered to find the perfect place in Rhodium. There were many streets with a variety of paintings and sculptures.

"I can't put my sculpture there."

Weed first went to the central square.

It was a beggar infested place! But it was also the place with the most art. Rare plants, trees and flowers grew there. It looked like a park for couples.

There were performances in the morning and evening. Almost all of Rhodium wanted to display their art here. People and travelers flooded in to see the clear water fountain.

If he built a sculpture here, it was sure to get recognition.

But Weed abandoned the square without regrets.

'Everyone would find out about me.'

There were too many people to make a gold statue. Furthermore, if they knew he had money then beggars would stick onto him.

Weed thought about going into the alleys. The alleys in Rhodium were intricately shaped like a spider's web!

There were shops nestled in here. There were not many people walking around like the residential areas.

Weed was able to find a place without many people during the day.

"Okay. This place is suitable."

People did not own private property in Rhodium. People could rest and sell items but they had to pay taxes accordingly. As a result, Rhodium did not have any people that had enough money to own a house. Weed set a small fire burning. Then he started smelting the gold.

"First I have to make a plate."

Weed made a mold out of clay. To make a statue of gold, he needed to take advantage of time. He dissolved the gold using his blacksmith skills. The blacksmith skills were required to make a variety of sculptures!

Weed finished the first clay mold, then he poured gold into it.

He felt sick each time he put the crystal clear gold into the mold.

"Why the hell do I have to do this."

A new regret to add the the job of the engraver!

It was a tough and pitiful job to make money from. Even if you make something in earnest, you do not make a lot of money. In a situation like this, one does not even make money.

"Why did I pick art! It's harder to live on art."

Weed felt pained as he waited for the gold in the molds to hold. He pulled out a hammer, an anvil, and miscellaneous ores.

"Now to raise skill proficiency."

As Karichwi, he gathered ores on hunting commissions. There was a lot of high quality ore in the Eurokey Mountains. He got a lot of ores and jewels from orc quest rewards that he needed to dispose of.

There was iron, copper, bronze, and even gold mixed with silver.

"Selling all of these will earn a lot more than sculptures."

Weed began to work on a pile of ores.

He melted the ore to get the metal. Then he poured a certain amount of metal into a frame.

Profits!

It began to take a shape of a blade.

Caenkkangkkang!

Weed struck the steel with the hammer.

Unlike a sculptor, a blacksmith did not need to use a lot of force but simply hit in rhythm. The number of hits affected durability and balance. In some cases, a sword could come out unique and sold for a lot.

This was possible because Royal Road was virtual reality.

It was quite difficult to use a sword with a bad center of gravity.

"This one came out nicely."

Weed sprinkled water to cool the red hot blade. Meanwhile, he pulled out more molten iron from the hearth. He gathered all the ore he had up to now to make equipment.

Armor had a more complex structure than swords.

But even with a more complex structure, it was more advantageous since there wasn't much to worry about. When creating a sword the center of gravity needs to be taken into account.

It was useful that Weed could swing a sword a couple of times to test of the center of gravity.

Blacksmithing skills have risen 0.1%.

Blacksmithing skills have risen 0.3%.

Blacksmithing skills have risen 0.4%.

Blacksmithing skills have risen 0.1%.

Whenever he completed a sword, blacksmithing gradually rose.

'I need to make about 500 or so swords to get to the next level?'

Blacksmithing skill was easy to learn early on. Compared to sculpting, it was incredibly easier.

As the skill level rose, it became more challenging to raise. The amount of physical labor for Intermediate Level 2 was considered significant.

'Now for the steel swords.'

In blacksmithing, with good materials it was possible to make fine or grand pieces to raise the skill faster. It was an expensive way to get faster growth.

Clank.

Weed completed a pile of swords and set them aside.

He worked on checking each of them manually. They were, on average, between 20 and 45 attack.

That was the limit of swords made from common materials. It was reported that a dwarven blacksmith with advanced blacksmithing could make an iron sword with 60 attack.

Intermediate blacksmithing would produced lesser results.

'I'll probably get 100 gold a piece for them.'

The price will vary based on the options on them, but on average they will be 100 gold each.

Swords made with Weed's Advanced Dexterity produced unusually higher durability at a significantly higher rate. Generally, swords with higher durability were preferred. Sword durability tended to drop quickly when fighting monsters with high defense.

On the other hand, Weed was crafting other things.

He made leather clothing using molten iron as well. An inexhaustible spirit for multitasking!

As much time should be eliminated as possible.

'I can't rest while other people are getting stronger through hunting!'

Weed continued to do the physical labor repeatedly.

Physical labor could not rest for a moment.

Work to death one day and rest the next day. When one is rested, then work the rest of the day.

It was really basic.

While he was doing one task, briefly in the middle of the spare time perform another task.

While resting to recover mana and health, sculpt or sew.

Weed's skills grew fast for this reason.

Weed was constantly working to make leather clothes.

Cutting and sewing clothes was all too familiar to him. The needle in his hand speeds through as he sews on buttons.

It was as if his hands were moving lightning fast!

"I used to sew on the buttons to hundreds of thousands of dolls. This much is easy."

Weed took a break in making swords to sew leather.

– Tailoring has risen to Intermediate Level 3.

You can now dye clothes a specific color.

You can now convert soft and hard leather from monsters.

After he finished sewing, he went back to swords.

– Blacksmithing has risen to Intermediate Level 3.

Attack and defense of crafted items increase by a certain amount.

More effective siege weapons can be produced.

He stopped working once he leveled up tailoring and blacksmithing. He looked around to see a pile of swords and clothes.

"Now time for the real part."

He pulled out the mithril. He was going to be producing the armor himself.

"Identify!"

Black Iron: Durability 30/30

- Can obtain metal by smelting ore.

- Can produce a variety of different goods and purposes.

- Can be processed in many ways but mainly used to make armor.

Intermediate blacksmith skills required to handle.

Very rare to obtain in large quantities. Turns black when mixed with other metals.

2nd tier blacksmith materials.

Options:

Excellent defense against physical attacks.

Mithril ore was easily tier 2 blacksmith material. It was almost never sold in stores. There was so little that you needed to mix other metals. Weed raised the mithril up. It did not even weigh a few kilograms.

Mithril:

Durability 50/50

Superfine blacksmith materials.

All blacksmiths want to use it.

To get to this state of mithril, only very small amounts can be obtained.

Great improvements in performance when mixed into swords or armor.

It is clear and give off light. Has the ability to protect from magic.

Mithril requires at least intermediate blacksmithing. To use properly requires Advanced Blacksmithing.

Tier 1 blacksmith materials.

Options:

- Increases in physical power and magic resist.

- Increased fame and charm.

Weed mixed the black iron and mithril into a mold. Then he hit it with the hammer.

Wham! Wham! Wham!

Both black iron and mithril were very tough metals so it required a lot of force to process. A lot of strength was required for blacksmithing.

However, Weed's strength become excellent when he turned into an orc. Even though sculptors are weak, he invested strength into strength and agility only each level.

He got vitality from fishing and he raised his defense with endurance by monster attacks.

His art grew thanks to his many crafting skills. Thanks to that, he had high strength and agility. Weed completed the helmet.

Blacksmith proficiency has increased by 7%

"Identify!"

Elegant Black Helmet of a Young Noble:

Durability 150/150

Defense 32

A work made by a very talented blacksmith.

The admiration is because of its high level of difficulty and meticulous dexterity in making it.

It appears that the skills were immature to handle mithril completely.

The black gloss and sheen has considerable artistic beauty.

Nevertheless, it has outstanding defense and protection from monsters.

Restrictions:

- Strength 300

- Level 300

Options:

- Agility +30
- Charm +70
- Art +20
- Wisdom +20
- Intellect +10
- Fame +200
- Leadership +30%
- Immune to confusion magic.
- Magic resist +15%

The item came out decent.

It would have came out better if Weed's blacksmithing was higher but it was unavoidable.

Weed now made boots. Weed did not make that many boots before so it was difficult. The value of boots was largely dependent on agility. So he had to use all the remaining mithril.

Blacksmith proficiency has increased by 8%.

"Identify!"

Precious Lightweight Black Boots:

- Durability: 130/130

- Defense: 14

MIthril boots are light and protect your feet. No matter how long the distance, one will not seem tired.

A talented blacksmith made this despite a lack of skills to properly handle mithril. As a result, the mithril is not strong enough.

Restrictions:

- Strength 150
- Agility 300
- Level 300

Options:

- Movement speed increases by 15% Only consumes mana.

- Agility +70 Art +20

- Fame +100

- Prevents loss in physical state from long distance travel.

- Easily walk in rough terrain.

They were not as good as the boots that the Lich Shire had been wearing but they came out decent.

"There's a decent amount of movement speed and agility."

Weed was pleased.

If there was even a single option that increased movement speed then the item value was several times higher.

Being able to move faster than others during battle!

The benefits were tremendous. It became much easier to avoid enemy attacks.

In the case of a ranged attack from an archer or mage, it was possible to reach them much faster.

Those with higher movement speed were less likely to die in contrast to those without. For this reason, movement speed was very expensive and insufficient in quantity.

The boots had a 15% increase in movement speed and they were fairly decent as well.

Chapter 3: The Silhouette of a Golden Statue

Northern Expedition!

The Cold Roses Guild finally finished setting up the expedition and was finally ready to start exploring. There was an impressive total of 1300 members. Oberon and his allies thought it was good to get as many people they could.

But with greater numbers, management of them all became more difficult. It became more difficult to gather the necessary materials for the situation. It was a good idea to increase their numbers but not this much.

Expeditions usually had 50 to 100 people. In some cases, over 200 people would occupy a dungeon for leveling.

For such a dangerous place, it was better to have 7 to 8 high leveled players.

It was because they could smartly avoid hazardous situations that lead to death.

Larger numbers were more formidable and safe, but there were also disadvantages.

Oberon talked to his aids.

"There are so many people taking part in the expedition that I think I need to cut down on some.”

"That will be difficult.”

Kerberos frowned at the guild leader.

"That current situation will not let us reject them."

"This is a dangerous place. We can't just bring along a crowd."

"We have a handful of adventurers as well as some of the highest level players in the northern continent."

"So only the higher levels should go."

"Suppose if they fail to survive. We need to consider bringing more people if necessary."

Kerberos concluded his thoughts to Oberon.

"So you're saying that we should bring a large force?"

"It's hard to say. We don't know what will happen in the north. There are quite a few adventurers that dislike sharing information about the north. Even if it might be useless, we will still gain popularity."

"That is true."

Oberon agreed immediately.

It was useless to go to the north based on public information only. They didn't know anything about the cities in the north or the hazardous areas! They didn't even know exactly where to go.

"The monsters we will face in the north will be very dangerous. What can we do about the lack of information?"

"Kerberos, it is already time. Send word to the scouts before it gets delayed any further."

"Yes, I think so. We need to keep a few men in case of the situation that the high levels are wiped out."

Oberon was skeptical.

"Is that the case? There will certainly be situations like monster raids at night. Even if I keep a few men, won't they have to fight?"

Kerberos did not deny it.

"Hopefully our friends will be more helpful than a few well trained men. It will be difficult to deny participation to those within our alliance."

Oberon and the Cold Roses were mostly focused on when to leave to the north. They would be surrounding themselves with a large number of users who may be greedy. A guild may perform a surprise raid on some of the castles that they own.

They would have noticed such a large group of people on the move. However, gathering as many forces as they could was the priority.

Oberon took into account all of the power of the Cold Roses Guild with him.

It was because they were able to trust in Oberon.

Dwarf warrior Oberon!

He roamed throughout the kingdoms with his soldiers.

They went on adventures such as liberating towns from monsters, fighting other users to protect the weak, and risking their lives for others.

Even in a difficult situation he would extend his hand to help the weak!

He led a large force of his friends, many of which were warriors, into various hunting grounds.

Tens of thousands have heard of his fame and because of this named him Dwarf Warrior Oberon.

The Cold Roses Guild had been formed by Oberon and his followers. The Cold Roses Guild was a mid to high range guild on the Versailles Continent but fewer than 100 people were Oberon's men.

So in order to expand the influence of the guild, they decided to go on an expedition.

Ultimately the Cold Roses Guild decided on going to explore the North.

"I will not accept any complaints. They do not have to take part if they are unwilling. Even if there are risks, isn't it unlikely that they will leave?"

"The group will eventually accept it."

In that sense, Oberon had decided and ended his conversation with Kerberos.

If they wanted to be in the expedition they wouldn't be allowed to have any complaints.

Since trust was critical to Oberon, he declined several people.

The initial plan was to recruit the elites but that was torn down and the criteria was expanded to anyone being accepted.

Warrior and adventurer classes. The participation of these classes increased increased significantly because of this.

Drum and Kerberos wanted to capitalize on this opportunity.

"The leader is too naive."

"Adventure. Exploration. Discovery. It's not good. However, it is a chance to get some fame. This is something we can't pass up."

Kerberos and Drum exchanged meaningful glances. They had the same thing in mind.

"We should take advantage of this opportunity. We can raise the reputation of Oberon and the Cold Roses Guild. So we should accept as many people as possible into the expedition."

That was Kerberos's intention. Kerberos accepted several guilds within the kingdom. Thanks to that, anyone could join. The Cold Roses Guild and their allies. They flaunted a large force. There were over 1300 people and many others watching from afar.

There wasn't much of a choice.

Kerberos and Drum had done this intentionally. They splurged on the troops in order to raise the guild's reputation. They had advertised it outside the castle a few days before. There were a lot of spectators. A massive expedition.

It would take a few months to get the expedition to the north because of their large numbers.

There was idle talk.

"Got to get there safely."

"I need a souvenir..."

"Don't worry and just wait."

People deliberately came from far away distances.

The rumors that both the Cold Roses Guild and their allies were gathering power began to become troublesome.

The head of the alliance had to work up a good speech.

"We leave this city to go off to the land of adventure! There will be risks but there are also opportunities. For those that wish to go, let us seize the day!

"Yea!"

"We set off to explore a new land. We will make our mark in the soil of this new frontier. There will be new experiences and memories waiting to be made with the people you meet.

Stories will spread far and wide of our actions. We will be heroes of legends!"

"Wooooahh!"

One by one, the people that had raised complaints at the beginning of the expedition had changed to cheering.

Despite how it sounded from the speech, it was actually going to be a very drastic expedition with a significant amount of risk.

There was not going to be any proper place to rest in the bitter cold expanses of the north.

It, however, had a magnificent effect on raising the morale of the expedition. For the sake of formalities, this ceremony was indispensable.

It finally came for Oberon's turn after the head of alliance gave his speech.

Oberon stood on the podium silently and looked around.

"..."

The expedition and the crowd held their breaths as they waited for his words.

The warrior guilds had immense faith in Oberon!

There was much tension as to what the famous Oberon was going to say.

Oberon's words were not very long.

"Let's forget about the heat. Let us go to somewhere cold. We will get rid of the heat!"

And that was it.

The eyes of spectators and the expedition shone fiercely.

There were tens of thousands of people in the expedition and the video was being streamed to millions.

If the expedition was successful, then more than 50 million people would see the video. This was a great opportunity to get publicity.

Usually a good leader would give a speech for ten minutes, but Oberon's speech was short.

But the hearts and minds of the expedition became even stronger.

"Get rid of the heat on the Versailles Continent'

'We are going to the North!'

Oberon's words had the power to leave a lingering feeling that filled the chests of the expedition.

With Oberon's words, the ceremony was over.

People said their goodbyes to friends after a hearty meal.

Neiiiigh!

The expedition set off.

Merchants stocked up with goods began to move as the Dark Gamers led in front.

* * *

"It's hot."

Volk said as he fanned himself with his hand. It was very boring for most of the Dark Gamers. Oberon was fortunate to have enlisted them.

"This was an annoying commission to accept."

Thirty other Dark Gamers nodded their heads at Volk's words. They agreed since it was similar to most of the other commissions that they have been commissioned to participate and suffer in.

However, some of the Dark Gamers were a little bit excited.

It was the first time that they got to explore such a vast place.

An expedition of this scale was unprecedented and only one had ever been formed before to reclaim the the Rosenheim Kingdom from the Brent Kingdom.

The Dark Gamers were inspired to become historical heroes.

"Let's depart."

"Let's go!"

All the preparations were completed and the expedition set off.

The noobs watched enviously from the gates as they set off.

"Do you think that they'll run into any problems?"

"It's not impossible. It depends on how loyal they are going to be to the expedition."

"I think so too but I still think it's fascinating. It's no joke to his ability and his capacity to get quests and information from the residents."

"Let's stop hunting and go eat some soup that Elen made."

"Parties are fun. You get to adventure around, eat good food, and there are lots of pretty girls. How am I ever going to get over 100 fame?"

"I exceeded a 100 fame earlier when I turned in a Retrieve Fox Tail Quest."

"You have to work hard and do quests to get fame."

"I know. I've tried myself."

"Let's go and get some food to eat."

The noobs were envious but they had work to do.

* * *

Weed kept dissolving ore to pass time. Of all the swords and armors he made, there was one unique piece that he got using sculpting.

A nine tailed fox!

Ttring!

The item properties have changed.

Sculpting skills have improved.

Handicrafting skills have improved.

Advanced Sculpting gave up to three stats on finished items. It used to raise it 1 or 2 points in the past, but now it gave 10 strength and 10 agility.

"So it changes depending on the level of the finished product."

Sculpting was less effective on weaker items. With better products there were more exceptional abilities endowed.

"Hopefully it can improve proficiency this way"

High level users had better stats on their items.

At first, players only cared about finding clothing and weapons that look nice.

However, it was better to fight solo if team mates keep dying in dangerous dungeons.

Trust in weapons and armor. Rely on swords and armor to fight until you lose your life. Until it becomes like an extension of your arms and legs.

Spend a fortune to buy armor and weapons.

There were still a bunch of people concerned with the color and design of weapons and armor. People that can craft weapons can earn a substantial amount of money.

'I guess this is another secret of sculpting.'

Weed found a way to earn a little bit more money!

Sculpting on items did not improve proficiency that much. Advanced sculpting, no matter the level, could not improve it beyond a certain point.

It could improve equipment a little bit or render it more useless.

– Defense and durability have been reduced.

In addition, excessive sculpting could decline the ability significantly.

Swords would also decrease in damage sometimes.

"So I can only outline it slightly and not overdo it."

Weed began to learn more about sculpting. He sculpted on the swords, armor, and sewn clothing.

As a result, the black steel swords and armors came out with great options.

There were some with useless stats like charm, but the Mithril Boots and Helmet with the fox raised the affinity by quite a lot.

30 strength, 20 agility, and 120 fame!

Good equipment proved to have higher increases.

All the sewing and blacksmithing was done and now only one thing remained for Weed. To create the sculpture.

"Let's get it out of there."

Weed pulled off the earthen mold. Then a brilliant light came out from the gold pieces.

He kept pulling out more gold pieces.

"The amount that will go into the statue will be about 7000 gold."

Weed felt a sick feeling in his chest.

A statue made of gold. The gold pieces were quite small. He had dissolved the gold into plates in order to make the statues.

But it was not yet completed.

"Time for the last part."

Weed carefully worked on the face, ears, and fingers. A fundamental part of the mold was made.

Then he made detailed representation of the necessary parts like clothes and knuckles.

He gradually got rid of the rough edges and smoothed it out.

Then the sculpture was completed.

A sculpture was in the city of art, Rhodium. It was a gold sculpture.

Please set the name of the sculpture.

Weed thought about what answer to give.

"Sculptor with a lot of money."

The worst naming sense!

Countless artists could cry hearing that name.

Sculptor with a lot of money correct?

"That's right."

Ttring!

Masterpiece! You have completed Sculptor with a lot of money.

The dazzling material further enhanced the value of the art.

Statue of pure gold!

It was not easy to complete a sculptor by smelting gold.

To symbolize the glory and the challenges of the sculptor, the city's art will shine more brightly.

Artistic Value: 7100

Special Options:

- Sculptor with a lot of money increases health and mana regeneration by 30% for one day.

- Increased drop rate by 15% for one day.

- Luck increased by 60.

- Two properties increased by 10%: Merchanting skills increased. Art skills increased.

- The statue is located in the center of the city or kingdom, so the frequency of crime will increase.

- Does not overlap with other sculptures.

Until now the number of masterpieces completed: 3

Sculpting skills have improved.

Handicrafting skill has improved.

Sculptural Understanding has advanced one level.

Fame has increased by 520.

Stamina has increased by 3.

Sculptor with a lot of money has become the specialty of Rhodium. Many travelers will visit to see the colorful sculptures.

Weed is given ownership of Sculptor with a lot of money. If Weed gives life to the sculpture in the future, then it will be loyal to him.

All stats have increased by 3 for creating a masterpiece.

He had not made that many masterpieces.

Original masterpieces were quite rare.

It was the first of its kind!

It was a sculpture that was recognized by its blacksmithing skill.

If he tried using blacksmithing again and the final product was not outstanding, then it would be fairly difficult to make another masterpiece.

After making thousands of piece, it would finally bear fruit and a masterpiece would emerge.

It was the pleasure of the final product.

'A reward for my troubles.'

Weed started to smile.

People usually mistake sculptors for a profession that cuts things.

But a real sculptor can make things in any dimension.

Sculptors can use any techniques, including blacksmithing.

Sculptors with second job advancements varied considerably.

Metal sculptor, structural sculptor, stone sculptor, earthen sculptor, and jewelry sculptor...

Because there were various jobs in the palace and city, there were dozens of forms of sculptors.

However, that was not the case with the Moonlight Sculptor. The job was relatively unknown so there was no information about it and the quest requirements were too high.

Ttiring!

Artists of Rhodium has been completed.

You have created an excellent sculptural masterpiece by yourself.

The finished product is enough to be accepted in the city of artists.

You are now able to register at the various art guilds.

Quest reward:

Go back to the artist guild to register. You can receive sculpting related quests.

Quest success!

But there was no rewards compared to the suffering of the quest.

An low level sculptor could not be picky in the city of artists Rhodium

Weed's standards were too high and went through more trouble than he needed.

He was able to make a sculpture using a separate class! Sculpting, in a way, had an amazing ripple effect

Sculpting was not directly useful to combat skills or for adventure. It couldn't take care of immediate needs since it was difficult and required a lot of time.

However, it was good for the development of kingdoms and cities. Sculptures draw people's attention creating culture and strengthening national power

Thanks to the large lion sculpture, tourists flock to Rosenheim and the dungeons are overflowing with players.

A single art class could influence the future and strength of an entire kingdom! But Weed was not interested in a country.

Rather he did not like it at all.

"It's a good thing that I made this sculpture. Grant life to sculpture!"

Weed patted the head of the gold sculpture.

The sculpture of the man was a little shorter than him. But it was made entirely of gold.

Hooowwooooooo!

The gold started to heat up.

Once it was red hot, it gradually started to move its body.

You have given life to the sculpture.

The level of the sculpture will be made from converting the 762 art stats, making it level 351.

It's level will be increased 20% because it is a great masterpiece to 420.

Three properties have been granted.

The abilities will be granted based on the sculpture's properties and level.

Properties:

- Fire 50%
- Metal 100%
- Water 60%

Can ignore the majority of metallic magic. However, due to its golden properties, it is softer than usual. Unlimited use of fire.

However, excessive fire can melt and liquify the body.

Enemies can be attacked in various ways from melting the body and can be useful.

However, a change in liquid will reflect on the body.

5000 mana has been consumed.

10 art stats have been reduced.

Stats can be regained through art related activity.

Level has declined by 2.

The 10 most recent stat points have been decreased.

The stats can be raised again upon level up.

Please respect the life granted to the sculpture.

If he loses his life, then the sculpture needs to be granted life again to return his soul.

Cannot be granted life if completely destroyed.

A sculptor's dream!

He gave life to the masterpiece sculpture and the finished level was 420.

It also had amazing power and it could gain experience by fighting.

'I should grant life to the Seoyoon sculpture later.'

Weed told himself to someday return to the Canyon to give life to his first masterpiece of Seoyoon.

He could not use the skill to give life often.

It was because it cost 2 levels and 10 art stats. but as art continues to grow the results get better.

Sculptures that were granted life had good growth rate.

Yiiiing!

The gold statue opened its eyes and woke up.

The statue instinctively looked at Weed as if he were its father.

It could not feel good and happy since it was made out of gold and it was a masterpiece.

The statue gave off a yellow flash and said.

"Golgolgolgol! Please tell me my name."

Weed immediately gave him a name.

"Your name is Geumini."

"Geumini. Geumini. Golgolgol!"

Geumini repeated his name in his mind.

"I will fight together with master against any enemy!"

Weed obtained an absolutely loyal servant.

It would lose its life when it was destroyed but the sculpture had absolute loyalty and would sacrifice its life for him.

* * *

"Ahhhhhhh!"

A roar echoed off.

The Wyverns were screaming in the sky.

The 6 Wyverns flew in formation in a magnificent grandeur.

They were the most experienced members. Four had died in the battle against the Lich Shire and these were all the remained of the Wyverns that Weed made.

Sculptures were created in the image of their owner.

Thus they acted according to their instincts quite naturally.

Wah-il, Wah-thul, Wah-sam, Wah-oh, Wah-yook, and Wah-chil.

He had made their quickly so that's why their names were in order since it cost him art stats.

"Kuuahhho!"

The Wyverns would sometimes go to the ground to eat animals to fill their stomachs. At night they would sleep in large caves or on cliffs. They would take breaks to recover their stamina after flying.

By flapping their wings they could move at a very fast pace.

However, it was different in their case.

"Flying is too hard!"

Wah-chil complained.

"The wind keeps hitting against my body."

Wyverns were mostly supposed to be like birds with sleek, streamlined bodies.

That was to minimize wind resistance.

Weed was short on time and created them roughly.

Angular faced Wyvern! A huge bulging stomach.

Indeed, it was the worst structure for flying.

The wind on their face and body during flight was no joke.

Because of the speed they were going at, their stamina ran out quickly.

It was hard for them to fly with Weed for days. So the Wyverns would expand their wings and glide. The villages and land would pass by them quickly.

* * *

Lee Hayan has been wondering for awhile about whether or not to inform Lee Hyun

Admission to the University of Korea.

Admittance based on history of awards. Eligibility was made based on the awards and merit.

She waited until he had passed the document screening and interview.

"Why I didn't tell you earlier? Because you wouldn't go."

He could only feel disappointed at the end of her words.

'I'll just drop in and then go home.'

Lee Hayan went to see an interview. It was difficult to find people like Lee Hyun.

30 minutes early to the interview.

She safely finished the interview nervously.

However the tension was not over.

'I must get a scholarship at all costs.'

Lee Hyun had promised her.

If she could get a scholarship, then Lee Hyun promised that he would go to the University of Korea.

Lee Hayan was now waiting for the results.

* * *

Wherever they went there was a big fuss. It was the first large scale expedition into the north.

"Get rid of the heat!"

"We look forward to the adventures to be had in the north."

People were celebrating the expedition with envy as morale increased.

The expedition kept increasing in size.

Every time they visited a city, friends and colleagues of Oberon would join. The expedition showed greater strength when the blacksmith Trumann and the seamstress Cadmus joined. Trumann was an Intermediate Level 7 Blacksmith.

He was ranked fifth amongst the Versailles Continent in Blacksmithing.

He never hunted monsters beyond foxes. He was never curious after that.

Trumann would laugh after having hunted foxes.

"Instead of fighting, I made and carried weapons that would help my colleagues."

Trumann made heaps of weapons all day long.

A pitch black blade called Sword of Darkness.

Sword of Imprisonment was a beautiful blue blade like the sky, but it actually freezes enemies.

Some of his weapons were capable of dealing 10% more damage against armor.

Oberon smiled to have a master craftsman like Trumann of the industry join his expedition.

"Welcome! I ask that I can entrust all of the expedition's weapons to you."

Oberon and Trumann had a slight friendship.

In the past Trumann had a quest to make any weapon, but the material was in the Lizardmen's Lair.

Stinger Shooting Lizardmen were not high level but they were very tricky.

No man would courageously enter the Lizardman Lair.

But Oberon went inside and retrieved the material.

Because of this bond, Trumann went with the expedition as the blacksmith.

Compared to that, Cadmus was an oddity.

"I have to make clothes. Comfortable clothes, practical clothes, I want to make clothes that can be worn in any environment."

Cadmus wanted to go to the North to put her sewing skills to the test.

Intermediate Level 6 Sewing Skills!

For the third ranked seamstress, putting on a button was nothing for Cadmus the tycoon.

The well-known Cadmus and Trumann joining the expedition gave further hope to the expedition.

Oberon stood on a hill overlooking his expedition from horseback.

"Must I bring all these people to go with me?"

Drum nodded at Oberon's question.

"Yes, as I mentioned before architects and chefs are essential. Bards will help you travel."

"Is it necessarily bad enough that we have to take all the guilds in Rhodium?"

Kerberos weighed the question. Bards were not that rare. It would have been better to bring in some from the guild rather than strangers.

"The real skill is in the guilds of Rhodium. We mainly focus on combat so we usually neglect bards."

"Come to think of it, Bards enhance fighting."

Kerberos affirmed this.

Bards were a musical profession that helps raise stats and create a relaxing atmosphere.

However the bards in the guild were different. Combat type bards!

Their flexibility of using the musical instrument as a weapon rather than singing.

"So we need to take people in art related professions."

Oberon gave Drum permission.

"Do as you wish."

Oberon firmly gave his permission. He entrusted him with the rest.

"Drum, you see to it that it's taken care of."

The amount of people they have had already increased a lot. It made no difference if a few more join.

Indeed, that was Oberon the Warrior. He was skilled at taking down monsters. Of course he couldn't see the meaning in art.

He left anything he couldn't do for them to take care of.

But Oberon did not forget to be careful."

"The Northern Expedition is not going to be a walk in the park. Artists are just going to weigh you down. Go ahead with your plans. Just don't regret your decisions later."

"Understood."

"Now, go into the city. Kerberos."

"Yes leader."

"Are we far from the northern part of the continent?"

"Yes, we are a far distance away from the central continent. Hereafter, we may need to teleport to move about."

"Where are we going?"

"For when we need to go up Ras Hill."

Ras Hill was the name of a hill in the center of the northern continent. Its name and location had been identified by adventurers.

Oberon nodded his head.

"So the search starts from there."

"Yes."

"Bring wizards so that we can create a teleport circle."

"I'll prepare a teleport circle in the plains."

"How many people can we move at once?"

"We can send 150 people. Taking mana and health consumption into account, it can be used 3 times a day for about 450."

"So it'll take 3 to 4 days to move everyone."

"That's roughly how long it will take."

Teleport Circle.

Capable of large scale movement to a specific location.

Using many magic stones and reagents, the teleport circle can move roughly a little more than 150 people with luggage.

The magic stones and reagents were very expensive and difficult to obtain.

If they were to fail the northern expedition, the Cold Roses Guild would take a huge hit.

They had not planned to use this much money. But the preparation processes kept growing.

They had to use a lot more materials now. If the plan to cool the continent were to fail, then the guild would go bankrupt.

'I hope everything will be fine.''

Oberon and his aides closed their eyes.

Their home was in the center of the continent. The longer they are away, the more the guild's villages will be in danger. They had to finish early in one month and no later than 2-3 months.

* * *

Volk and the rest of the Dark Gamers went to Rhodium.

They were given a few days to relax.

"Well, see ya man."

"I'll see you later."

The Dark Gamers greeted each other and said their goodbyes.

Their final preparations were to check their equipment for the expedition.

There were accomplished values for the Dark Gamers.

Life and physical ability. If one does not play properly then their performance drops.

The Dark Gamers prepared thoroughly for any quest.

Because of that, Dark Gamers survived most of their battles.

"Let's go get some alcohol this evening."

"I heard that Rhodium has a really fancy pub."

"Not bad."

Some of the Dark Gamers met with acquaintances for drinks.

The pub was relatively nice and it gave off a nice atmosphere from the expensive furniture. It didn't feel like a pub.

"Who's covering the bill?"

"To each their own."

"We'll meet up in the evening then."

Other Dark Gamers scattered around to gather information.

Volk and Darelyn walked together holding hands.

"It's a beautiful place."

Volk said after a long time.

Volk did not seem very to be one that enjoyed art but he had a romantic look in his eye.

"Yea, all the city city's art is gorgeous."

The couple walked together as they smile to each other. They had courage when they were up against ferocious monsters but they also had this side to them.

"Money please!"

"Please give me some money!"

"Help me please!"

It was considerably fun to watch the beggars cling onto the people in the expedition.

That was because the expedition was high leveled and had fancy equipment.

They thought that money would flow out of them like water.

There was a stampede of beggars. The expedition had to give money to some of them.

Dark Gamers were, however, more inconspicuous to avoid attracting unnecessary attention.

"Let's get a bit of rest."

"Really?"

Volk and Darelyn sat down in some chairs. Everywhere there were works of art. The air breezed by bring with it petals. A fountain was pouring in the distance. The droplets were glistening from the sunlight. Volk clenched his fist.

"I'm sorry."

"What?"

"To think this is what has become of our honeymoon..."

"I'm fine. This trip is perfectly alright."

Darelyn slightly leaned her head against Volk's shoulder.

When the two of them married, they did not have much money. They were barely able to raise enough for the ceremony. They weren't able to have a grand wedding, but he wanted them to at least have a honeymoon. However, he was ashamed.

Together they had wandered the Versailles Continent.

They went around dangerous dungeons and friendly villages.

But it did not satisfy his desire to take her on a honeymoon.

There were actually couples that went to the Versailles Continent for honeymoons. As a young couple, they did not have the kind of money to go to a travel agency.

They were tricked by the Exploration of the Versailles Continent Travel Agency. It was targeted towards players of Royal Road. It wasn't fitting to go to the danger zones together for a honeymoon.

It had been three years since the release of Royal Road and the Versailles Continent was constantly changing.

Commercials have been rapidly developing for the recreational purposes. And tourism. Now tourists were visiting places in large numbers.

They were able to go see natural freely without the limits of reality!

People were going for relaxation.

In this time, travel agencies were competitively developing the continent as a scenic oasis.

Royal Road led to a great change in business.

A number of meetings and presentations took place in Royal Road.

Salesmen would invite customers in Royal Road.

It was an entertaining way to open up customers with a meal and beverage.

The Versailles Continent was an effective means of getting money out of consumers.

A new world in a land of monsters.

A world defined by magic and strength!

Items gotten from hunting monsters could be given as gifts.

A secure measure in contrast to real life.

Some still might not be impressed.

Gifts in Royal Road was not like getting a luxury car in real life as a bribe.

Receiving gifts in Royal Road was something that could be accepted gratefully.

Bribes were more tempting for people that were lower levels since it visibly rose their stats.

One of the best things about Royal Road was that you could move your body as you wanted. They could beat up monsters solely for the sake of pleasure!

Salesmen found several ways to bait in customers.

As a result, there was no salesperson that didn't use Royal Road to promote their products.

Royal Road had much influence on the marriage industry.

Young men and women were very attracted to adventure.

The things that were possible in reality were also possible in Royal Road.

It was easier to get to know someone and get used to them through adventuring.

Royal Road had a tremendous effect of the couple industry.

Volk and Darelyn had a similar experience.

At first, it was only a one side crush that Volk had but it grew through adventuring and hunting. Soon love blossomed and they got married. They were recognized as a lovely couple. Women found it hard to hate a man that was constantly dedicated to protecting them.

'I'm glad that you picked me'

Volk patted Darelyn's head.

"Are you comfortable?"

"Yea."

Darelyn put herself deeper into Volk's arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist as if she was clinging to him for warmth.

Suddenly Volk said.

"Do you remember that wooden bouquet that I gave you?"

"Of course, there's no way I could forget the bouquet that you proposed to me with."

Darelyn still had the bouquet. She had gotten a diamond ring in reality but she could never forget the bouquet that she was proposed to with.

"I couldn't prepare a better gift since I didn't have much money and now it's the one year anniversary of our marriage."

"The bouquet was enough. But..."

"But what? Is there anything else that you wanted?"

Volk was curious and asked her. If she wanted anything he would get it for her.

"Rather than a bouquet, I would have wanted a sculpture of the two of us. Even though we are one, we are also two."

"Honey!"

Volk and Darelyn were thrilled with each other. They were looking at each other with the sweet eyes of a couple!

That was why the Dark Gamers deliberately didn't invite them out for drinks.

Then Volk said in regretfully.

"I couldn't find the sculptor who carved the bouquet though."

"He wasn't in Rosenheim?"

"He already left Serabourg. By the time I proposed to you, he was long gone and my attempts to find him were useless. I tried to finally track him down at the Pyramid and Lion Sculpture after I confessed to you but I could not find him."

"I heard that rumor, that the sculptor that made the pyramid was the one that made my bouquet."

"He was the best sculptor that I knew."

"It's too bad. I would be surprised if you were able to meet him again."

"Me too. But I think that he and I have a special connection that will bring us back together. Just like you and I."

"Maybe you're right."

Volk and Darelyn were talking fondly to each other, right in front of Weed selling his mountain of weapons and armors.

"Selling high durability swords! You will not need to repair often! Selling leather armors! High quality and good defense! If you want, I can custom make leather clothing on the spot!"

Darelyn asked Volk.

"What was the sculptor like?"

"Well, he was stubborn in his own way. He would do anything to make money selling sculptures. It's not a very good class."

"Like that guy?"

Darelyn pointed to Weed.

He was in the middle of selling stuff. Shining bright swords and glistening leather armor! He had used his ironing skill and sharpening skill. He had put the best goods up for sale and increase the performance of the items with his skills.

"A well sharpened sword is extremely useful for increasing damage by an entire 20% for two days! Two days is more than enough time to kill over 400 monsters! You won't find this opportunity anywhere else! This sword is cheap cheap cheap! Selling swords for as cheap as 120 gold a piece! There is a limited number of 40 of them! If you miss it now, you will never get a sword like this again!"

He was speaking rapidly and clearly.

An active way of attracting customers.

The absolute power of the sword grind skill! It was an exclusive sale for luxury swords!

People were flocking around Weed.

Volk slapped his knee.

"Yea, just like him! He's doing quite well. It takes effort like that to be like the other man."

"Yea, how did you meet him?"

"In the Rosenheim Kingdom. People were flocking all over him from the entire town to buy some of his sculptures."

Volk looked at the swords and armors that Weed was selling.

'Meticulous workmanship. These are decent items for beginners.'

Volk had good eyes. He could tell that the armors and swords were well made.

Then he suddenly felt that Weed's face was familiar.

"You're kidding me... It's the sculptor?

"Is it?"

Volk shook his head.

"No. There's no way I could meet him in a place like this."

Volk denied that it was Weed after seeing him.

It had been a long time so he couldn't exactly remember the face but the atmosphere that he had was nearly the same.

An elegant method of deception and tricks! The sculptor was unmistakable when he had been selling sculptures. But this person was selling swords and armor and there was no way that a sculptor could be a blacksmith and a tailor.

'The point is that it's not the same person.'

Chapter 4: Northern Expedition

Weed disposed of all the swords and armors. Because the items were popular it did not take long to sell them all.

‘I earned about 7400 gold.’

Accumulating money into his pocket!

That was the meaning that Weed had in life.

Weed got up and headed to the artists guild.

A middle aged man jumped up to greet him.

“I’m shocked! That is amazing. Rumors have already spread all over Rhodium. You created such an outstanding sculpture with your excellent dexterity. Your work will inspire endless possibilities for the artists of Rhodium.”

Because Weed was a combination of a number of professions, he was someone that the middle aged man could admire.

So far that was fine.

That much he had expected from having completed the quest.

The middle aged man grabbed Weed’s hands.

“This is the time that I have been waiting for.”

“...?”

“Did you know about the current state of those of the artisan profession in Rhodium and how that the poverty in Rhodium is constantly on the rise?”

“Well, a little...”

“That had not always been the way it was. Artists with great aesthetic senses had created delicate works that were praised by many. The city was filled with art and music, nobody went hungry, and it seemed like there was never a dull moment.”

He began to feel a little nervous.

‘I don’t like where this conversation in going.’

A city of people going hungry and increasing amount of restlessness.

He was going to tell him something absurdly bad.

Then he had a premonition of what it was.

WIthout a surprise, the middle aged man smiled widely and said rather forcefully.

“This is because the city doesn’t have a ruler! A city ruled by a great artisan can grow infinitely. As a talented artist, please become the ruler of Rhodium and guide us!”

Ttiring!

Proposal to become the Ruler of Rhodium, the city of artists.

Rhodium currently does not have a ruler.

This position can be received by an artist that creates an overly superior work in the city of Rhodium.

Do you wish to become the ruler of Rhodium?

You will be given ownership of soldiers and public facilities as well as capable of setting laws and policies.

Taxes on harvest, technology and commercial goods can be collected monthly and military power can be strengthened. A higher position and other rewards can be provided if you successfully conquer another territory or castle of a certain size.

Do you accept?

“Do I accept....”

Owning a city or castle is a very attractive proposition nowadays.

Weed almost accepted it. But then it came to his mind.

‘Nobody has become the ruler of Rhodium!’

He had to check the situation.

Weed’s eyes lit up as he sharpened his gaze.

“What is the monthly deficit?”

“...”

“Number of soldiers?”

“...”

“What is the city’s current technological development and specialty goods?”

“...”

The middle aged man answered none of them.

This meant that Rhodium had a rather large deficit and no income coming in.

Many different possibilities flashed through Weed’s mind. Then his thoughts cleared.

“As a sculptor, it is my quest to seek out beauty. I heard that this place was the first step to that path. It would be unreasonable for me to settle down when I constantly need to travel to infinitely long distances.

You have refused to become the ruler of Rhodium.

The middle aged man’s lamented.

“It can’t be helped if that’s how you feel. Leading a city is important, but so is finding the true nature of art.”

Weed was able to avert the crisis.

Weed asked.

“In fact, as a sculptor, I have been led to Rhodium to find something.”

“What are you looking for? Are you talking about a sculpture?”

Weed shook his head.

“A good sculpture would give me inspiration. However, I seek to learn about moonlight sculpting.”

“Moonlight sculpting!”

“Do you know about it?”

The middle aged man looked up to the ceiling as if to recall something.

“Only a handful of great artisans have managed to learn that technique.”

“How do I learn it?”

“I do not know how...but I can tell you the direction you need to take. The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor! Ask the guilds of Rhodium about moonlight sculpting . You will be able to get sufficient information from the Sculpting Guild.”

Ttiring!

The Secret to Moonlight Sculpting

Sculpting for distinguished sculptors!

At the present, many do not know about the existence of moonlight sculptors and even the few that do know only know a little. Ask around the guilds of Rhodium about Moonlight Sculpting. Then go to the Sculpting Guild to learn more about moonlight sculpting.

Difficulty : Occupation related quest.

Restrictions:

Limited to Sculptors.

Can be acquired regardless of the number of quests currently being performed.

Advanced sculpting required to learn. Stats and fame need to be above a certain level.

Unable to do the quest if the art stat is very low or if the user is infamous.

Weed left the Artists Guild and went to the other guilds. There were a lot of people everywhere and it was very crowded.

“Recruiting artists to join the Northern Expedition!”

“The Cold Roses Guild will ensure your safety. Even to the end, we will try to keep the artists from getting annihilated.”

The Cold Roses Guild was trying to recruit artists and production classes.

‘Northern Expedition.’

Weed recalled in the past where he had hunted in Morata Province. He had been risking his life to fight against the True Blood Vampires!

Then two women clung onto him.

“Are you going to go?”

“You just came from the artists guild right?”

“That’s...”

Weed tried to get away but the girls were holding onto both of his arms.

“You want to come with us to the northern expedition right? Traveling around is the fate of artists after all.”

“Adventure and opportunity! You can go and explore the world. There are a lot of high level people in the guild so you can get to expand the number of people you know.”

The two women were acting exceptionally intimate.

It was the first time that Weed experienced something like this before. He was used to Irene and Hwaryeong who liked the murderous Karichwi had

Weed trembled at the soft feel of the girls’ skin on his forearm.

It was an unusual feeling.

He had been single for over 20 years of his life and it was the first time that that he felt like this.

“Are you going to the north?”

“Uhh.”

“Don’t look so worried. It’ll ruin your looks.”

“...”

“It’s a lot easier than you think. It’s an opportunity. What profession do you have?”

“Sculptor.”

Weed gave his answer. The feeling of them touching his forearm disappeared.

The girls looked at Weed after he answered them.

“A sculptor...”

“We already have three of them and one of them is close to the intermediate level.”

“Man, we don’t need anymore sculptors.”

“I wasted my time in vain.”

They took their hands off of Weed.

They thought that they might get a good artist when they saw Weed. He had the appearance of a typical artist.

Poor, hunched over, and destitute!

The girls walked away quickly.

“Have a nice adventure.”

“Try to make a lot of pretty sculptures.”

Weed was left alone on the street. Then he went over to the artists guilds.

Weed went to all of the top artists guilds in town.

The place filled with musicians and performers. The Bard’s Guild!

The guild was very crowded. The number of beginner bards was astounding.

“This is a nice place.”

Weed thought as he looked inside the place.

Unlike other guilds, the bards guild was decorated like a bar. Young bards dreamed of traveling and singing in the middle of adventures.

La. Lalala. Lala.

The instrument and songs were not accompanied by lyrics but rather there were clear sounds.

“Well played!.”

“One more song!

“A very clear voice.”

They were playing to guests in hopes of receiving money.

Depending on the crowd’s reaction, they could get a lot of money and some fame.

There was a very minimum requirement. A certain level of singing skills.

The higher the skill level, the more effects are given when playing a song. It was an added bonus if they had a beautiful face, a nice body, and high attractiveness stat.

For bards, attractiveness was an important stat.

Looking prettier was a good thing and needless to say it was important to please the crowd.

For these reasons, Bards were often good looking men and women.

Oh, baby you’re not dreaming

I’m right here

Because I’m in front of you singing right here.

A little girl began to sing in the middle of the song. Even bards basically needed a certain amount of singing and playing skills. In Royal Road, almost everything depended on skill.

They must know how to act and move their bodies. Furthermore, they must know about art!

Weed left the first floor and headed to the second floor.

The bard instructor was a beautiful woman. She had a slender figure and a thin jaw line. Because of this, many men became bards.

A lot of the popular professions were the ones that allowed men to go on adventures with women.

Weed of course was attracted to her looks.

But he had already seen extremely beautiful women like Hwaryeong and Seoyoon.

He waited until it was his turn, and then he asked the instructor.

“I would like to know about moonlight sculpting.”

Serena, the instructor smiled softly.

“Moonlight Sculpting? I haven’t heard that for a very long time. But there is no obligation for the Bard’s Guild to answer you.”

Weed looked at Serena very quickly.

“You are very beautiful.”

“You need more than that to tempt me. The challenge is over before it even begins. A man of your charm is not enough.”

Weed did not put any stats into attractiveness.

Attractiveness increased luck and appearance as well as reduce the chance of receiving a deadly attack.

It could also minimize the amount of damage received from magic attacks. It increased drop rates a bit as well. It did not apply until the stat was over 200 though.

Thereby, Weed did not invest any points into the stat.

“You have a beautiful singing voice.”

“I’m a bard so that much is obvious.”

“You have very beautiful hands and clear eyes.”

“Hoho. You know how to say some nice things. What were you curious about again?”

Serena’s attractive and shiny eyes flashed.

This was what Weed wanted.

“I would like to know about moonlight sculpting.”

“Okay, would you care for a song first?”

“Of course.”

Serena began to sing with a fine voice while playing a harp.

You’ve lost hope

A girl waits dreaming at home

You’re missing

Fighting any enemy even then do not forget the girl

You sing about her and see her in your dreams

Go to her, the place where you will be happy...

The bard’s guild flocked with people as Serena began to sing.

“She’s singing.”

“How long again did she start?”

“I really like her song.”

They sat around admiring her song.

Serena’s clear voice brought a soft feeling to his chest.

She closed her eyes as she brought her song to an end.

– You have listened to the song of the returned soldier.

- Fighting spirit has increased by 10%.

- Intellect has increased by 5%.

- Endurance increases when vitality drops lower.

- Last for three days. Does not overlap with other bard’s songs.

A long time after the song Serena asked Weed.

“How did you like my song?”

“It was very pleasing to hear.”

Weed did not need to exaggerate and simply gave an honest answer.

It was a really good song. There wasn’t a need to think of any flattery.

A compliment straight from the heart!

There was flattery more authentic than the simple truth.

‘It’s an easy thing to flatter people. Flatter has its limits. It was really good, so there was no need to say anything else.’

People were jealous of him on the ground level, but at that moment he was also the most respected person in the room. Even the slightest actions, if brilliant, had to be accepted.

It was important to say things casually.

“Serena truly is majestic.”

“There isn’t anything that Serena can’t do.”

“I was surprised that it was such an elegantly flowing song...”

The words left a lingering feeling.

As the words left his mouth, one could only smile from the change in the atmosphere.

The one thing that Weed prided himself in was his flattering abilities.

“Ho, ho, ho.”

Serena laughed with a smile on her face. Weed thought she was satisfied.

“This is will be a souvenir of the song.”

“Yes?”

“It’s 1500 gold.”

“That is...”

“If you give me it, I will tell you what you want to know.”

Weed gave her the money with tears in his eyes. The world revolves on money.

Bribes!

Bribes promoted human relations.

Weed examined the item he got after paying a fortune.

“Identify!”

Serena’s Harp

Durability: 50/50 Attack: 15

A harp owned by the instructor of the Bard’s Guild. A dwarf had made it for her.

It produces a clear sound when played.

It is suitable to sing while playing the harp.

Beginners and non-bards can play it.

Limitations: Attractiveness 100 Level 60

Options:

- Attractiveness +30
- Elegance +20
- Playing skills +2
- Fame+20

Bard related quests can be performed.

The performance of the harp wasn’t that bad.

Serena said as she sold the harp.

“I haven’t seen many moonlight sculptures. But every time that I see it, the feeling that it gives off is different. The light that the finished sculpture gives off is different.”

“Yes?”

“Unfortunately there is nothing more for me to say since that is just all I know.”

Weed reluctantly left the Bard’s Guild and went to others.

Hairdresser’s Guild!

It was a rare class that didn’t have many guilds in the Versailles Continent.

You could dye your hair and change your hairstyle.

They were typically classified as artists since it required a certain level of skill for beauty.

Such professions were only popular among a handful of enthusiasts.

As soon as Weed entered the Hairdressers Guild, the instructor seized him and threw him into a chair.

“Too bad there isn’t more hair. Don’t worry about it. I’ll give you a pretty cut.”

“I don’t want a haircut...it’s nothing. I would like to get a haircut. What is the price?”

Weed was pretty much forced to pay to have his hair cut.

- The art stat has temporarily increased by 3% and has various effects on a variety of production skills. Not applicable to sculpting.

- Attractiveness has increased by 5% for three days.

The instructor told him after he finished cutting the hair.

“I’ve never directly seen Moonlight Sculpting. But it’s not that I’ve never heard of it. Do you know the history of sculpting? Sculpting has historically been striving to develop. As I said, it’s related to history.”

Dancers have fine appearances and sensual bodies.

After the Hairdresser Guild, he visited the dancer’s guild and danced with the instructor.

“The foot goes here...then a quarter turn.”

Weed’s dance lessons cost him 80 gold.

– Agility has increased by 2%. Upon death or when the body is fatigued then the agility will return to normal.

– The pleasurable dancing has increased attractiveness by 1.

Attractiveness and agility increased after dancing with the instructor.

“I’ve once danced underneath some moonlight sculptures. My body felt very light. For some reason, I could dance better after I saw the sculpture. Maybe I am mistaken.”

Weed could kind of understand the quest.

‘It’s to experience a wide variety of different types of art forms.’

It could not be ignored that a large amount of money was consumed in the process.

Weed had to buy three of the best cheapest perfume from the perfume instructor.

In return he got to hear a story from the instructor.

“The angle at which you view the sculpture changes the feeling it gives. Those feeling arouse different types of emotions. But even if someone saw the same sculpture in the same direction but at a different time of day then it was different. Would you like to know why?”

Weed visited the Calligraphy Guild, the Antiques Appraiser Guild, and the Crafts Guild. A mountain of items were accumulating in his backpack.

Calligraphers wanted him to buy wooden plaques with letters on them while appraisers wanted him to buy pots with unknown origins. The Crafts Guild made him guy glass accessories.

He could not bear to go see the Architect Guild.

‘It costs too much to buy a house.”

Weed confidently went to the painters guild.

At a first glance sculptors and painters were similar, but the methods that they used pursued their means were completely different.

Because of that they were forced to know about each other.

The painting instructor was amazed when he saw Weed.

“The man with amazing artistic ability! What questions do you have?”

“I would like to know about moonlight sculpting.”

“Moonlight sculpting...I think I have heard of one such story before. Painters create two dimensional art while sculptures create three dimensional art. In the past, there was a competition between the two. Have you heard of it?”

“A competition?”

“It was to produce one lion. They both equally expressed the lion’s strength and majesty.”

“I wonder who won then?”

Weed hoped the sculptor won.

He did not choose to become a sculptor, but he would be pretty angry if the painter won.

“The painter painted and the sculptor cut away. Vibrant pictures showed up on the canvas from the painter while the sculptor made a beautiful sculpture. In the end, no one won. It was useless to compare sculptors and painters because of the fundamental differences between the two as it had always been in the past. It only served to blur the distinction between the two.”

What the painter said made sense. Then he came to his purpose.

“Painters and sculptors do not have to be so estranged. This is my most favorite, favorite painting...”

It was a very large watercolor painting.

Weed asked with tears in his eyes.

“May I ask that you price it reasonably?”

“I’m willing to give it up to you for 1500 gold.”

Weed paid for it with trembling hands.

‘I will never come back to Rhodium.’

He only had 7000 left of his original gold. Even though he had saved up his money without any spending it, he now ended up poor.

But thanks to it he was able to hear about moonlight sculpting.

“Sculptures exist depending on the environment and the nature of the location. If you make a sculpture in a dark place, then the sculpture will also be dark. But what would happen if the sculpture glows?”

“Do you mean as in light?

“These sculptures can radiate light. This sculpting gives the user the ability to freely control light. That is moonlight sculpting!”

Ttiring!

– You have gathered all the information about moonlight sculpting. Go to the Sculptor’s guild instructor.

Weed headed to the Sculptor’s Guild. Surprisingly there was a large number of people gathered.

Chattering

“Rather than plain wood, high quality patterned wood seems to be better for making artistic sculptures.”

“I’m certain that rare trees give more proficiency.

Novice sculptors!

Because of Weed’s actions in the Kingdom of Rosenheim, more people began to choose sculptors. In other places it was hard to be a sculptor. That was why there were a lot of sculptors in Rhodium.

Information exchanges about sculpting development was taking place.

Weed walked up to the second floor.

The first floor instructor knew how to deal with basic sculpting. How to cut wood, how to make shapes, how to use a carving knife, and other basic knowledge.

However, the second floor instructor gave special quests and skills information.

Weed went up to the receptionist on the second floor.

“I wish to learn moonlight sculpting.”

The elderly receptionist blinked.

“What sculpting?”

“Moonlight sculpting.”

“Have I heard of moonlight sculpting? I’m old so I can’t really remember. I don’t think I have possibly heard about it?”

The elderly receptionist looked like he had no idea.

“There is however a person that introduces people to create sculptures and is more knowledgeable about such things than me in Rhodium.”

“Who is he?”

The old man pointed to a middle aged man in the corner.

“He’s Rhodium’s finest sculptor so he’s the one you need to ask about sculptor related questions. But you must have a modest sculpting level or he will not be willing to talk to you.”

“Thank you.”

Weed went up to the sculptor. He had a carving knife and was making a wood sculpture.

“Nowadays its a problem that young people have no patience. Patience is unrivaled. Patience! When things start to hurt a little or get annoying they give up and they can’t taste the pleasure of fine sculpting? Ah, tsk tsk!”

The mumbling continued endlessly.

That was probably because a large number of people started choosing sculptor recently without knowing about the hardships it entails. The sculptor poured out stirred and disinterested complaints. He tended to not raise his head when others came near.

Weed immediately initiated his flattery.

“You’re an excellent sculptor.”

“I hear that alot. I’m sick and tired of hearing it.”

For a sculptor that was the best compliment but he did not even budge.

Weed looked at the shape of the wood in his hands.

“Elven elkwood..”

“Whoa! It appears you have traveled around and learned a little bit about sculpting.”

The sculptors desires was hidden in his way of speaking. Still, the sculptor was concentrated on his work and didn’t look up.

‘Maybe it wasn’t good enough?’

Weed looked closely at the wood he was using. He had tried using the material several times. It was a bit expensive. It was also thick and hard.

‘The material itself isn’t much.’

The elven elkwood was rounded by the sculptor to make a bowl.

“In this world things need forms.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Aren’t there people out there that would rather make a commodities than works of art?”

“Then you consider this bowl I sculpted to be trivial?”

“Not at all. What I am thinking are original sculptures. Art came about to fit human needs.”

“It looks like you wish to know something. Come and sit down.”

The sculptor willing gave up the seat next to him.

People with high pride are often not given enough recognition in the art world.

Art from the beginning did not start as art. Painting, music, and sculpting began depending on need and then sublimated into art. At the heart of it was its application.

Weed knew what to say and that created the right level of intimacy with the sculptor.

But that was natural for Weed.

He saved quite a bit of money by carving his own cooking tools. Stone table, wooden spatula, and frying pan! He even sculpting a barrel for seasonings. Weed beckoned the sculptor to take a short break.

“It seems that you and I can have a conversation. Since we are colleagues walking down the same road after all.”

“Thank you. I wish to ask you a question about sculpting.”

Weed politely asked the sculptor who readily answered.

“What is it that you wish to know about sculpting?”

“Do you know about moonlight sculpting?

“Moonlight sculpting? Those that reach the pinnacle of earthly sculpting can learn light sculpting. People tend not to believe. It is an impractical story.”

“Impractical story?”

“Yea, it is one from sculpting...if you want to learn moonlight sculpting then you need to know its origins. Here take this.”

The sculptor reached into his bag and pulled out an ore and gave it to Weed.

“It’s hard to cut precious ore to make sculptures. It is not easy to shape ore. There is a large risk and it dulls hundreds of carving knives. However, if you wish to learn about moonlight sculpting then you need to make light on your own.”

Ttiring!

Find the Lost Light.

Light sculpting.

Cut down ore to make a sculpture.

The lost art of Moonlight sculpting can be learned.

Difficulty: Profession related quest.

Restriction:

Sculptor only.

Quest can be accepted regardless of the number of quests in progress. Advanced sculpting required.

Fame and stats must be above a certain level. Quest can not be done if art is low or if the player is infamous.

Essentially he had to learn it himself. He needed to learn how to perform Moonlight Sculpting on his own. That was the last trial to learn moonlight sculpting by carving this ore.

Chapter 5: Moonlight Sculpting

Since he was finished with his business in Rhodium, Weed went to the Church of Freya. Freya was the symbol of abundance and prosperity so Rhodium had a very large temple.

The reason that Weed returned to the Church of Freya was because, due to his contributions in returning the holy relics, he was free to use any of the teleport circles in any of their churches in the Versailles Continent.

“We are humbled to welcome you. Great benefactor of our church.”

Weed was welcomed by the senior priests.

“I wish to use the teleport gate.”

“As you wish. We will begin the preparations. However, are you aware that they High Priest has been requesting to see you?”

“The High Priest?”

Weed was puzzled. The quest was already finished once he returned in the Herrera Grail. He could not find a reason for the High Priest wanting to see him.

“Do you know what has happened?”

“The High Priest said that you have to search the Valley of Death to find clues to restore the honor of king who is buried there.”

“What do you mean the king’s honor...?”

“The royalists have been accused and insulted because of what happened to their king so the High Priest want a great adventurer like Weed nim to obtain the truth and restore the king’s honor.”

“I am not such a great adventurer.”

“It seems that the High Priest thinks otherwise. Also since Weed nim has already been to the north once, it is better to have someone who already has experience in the area to go.”

Weed could guess what kind of quest this once from the description.

‘It’s going to be at least an A rank quest.’

The High Priest was waiting to give him another great quest like the one to defeat the Immortal Legion.

‘The quest of this level. It was pretty bad when I fought against the Legions of Undead. Even if I’m higher level and I’ve slowly increased by sculpting skill.’

Weed immediately shook his head.

“I’m not interested. Please send me to the Plains of Despair instead.”

He needed to get back to his party.

The senior priests gathered their mana to operate the teleport gate.

In Rhodium, the Cold Roses Guild accepted many people into the expedition. A total of 160 people!

Except for about 30 artisans, roughly 120 people were combat type classes.

“This will not guarantee success since this is going to be a difficult adventure and everyone has to be prepared.”

Oberon clicked his tongue.

No matter what, having novices did not matter. It was more stable if there were only high level users.

Most of these people were obviously going to raise their levels and try to obtain rare items from dangerous hunting grounds.

Drum had a joyful face since he also expected to reap large profits from it.

“It’s going to increase the probability of success isn’t it?”

“Yeah, but the increase of the number of mercenaries in the expedition will also increase fraud.”

“Since it’s going to be difficult, having the mercenaries will be a great help in case of an emergency.”

“The only ones that are going to be of any use are the ones that are more experienced and higher level than the rest of these people.”

All the people joining the Cold Roses Guild brought in a large amount of money. Most were participating simply for the adventure. However, it greatly increased the strength of the expedition.

“But where did these replacements come from?”

Since Oberon was wondering, Kerberos explained.

“Did you know that recently there have been some people that have become quite famous by challenging strong people?”

“Challengers? You mean the people that go around dueling others?”

“That’s right.”

All the Geomchis up to Geomchi505.

Some went to challenge others to duels. Others went to train in the mountains. There wasn’t a need to fight solely against people.

Deep in the mountains there were dangerous monsters, fierce animals, and the trials of nature.

Each of their sword fighting styles were different.

Destructive forces usually depended on the strength stat, agility, and the differences between reaction time.

Nevertheless, they learned various things about the sword.

Their bodies became more attuned to the sword.

They learned how to fight in various situations and how to match their movements with their swords.

The sword is a means for survival!

With a month of beating a scarecrow, they tempered their mastery of the sword.

Many Geomchis had increased their levels through hunting. Among them, several dozen of them joined up with the expedition.

“That’s very good to hear.”

Oberon had a big smile on his face.

It was good to hear that a number of these people were in the expedition and he wanted to meet them.

“Kerberos.”

“Yes leader.”

“Are all the preparations finished?”

“All the supplies have been prepared.”

“How about the teleport circles?”

“They have been drawn. We are ready to go as scheduled.”

“Then in one hour begin to send people. Start with the main vanguard of our forces.”

“Naturally since they will set an example for the rest of the expedition.”

Northern Expedition!

The wizards drew a large circle in the plains. Then the vanguard of the forces stood onto the circle.

There were 150 warriors led by Kerberos! There were also some blacksmiths and architechs.

“I’ll see you in the north.”

“Be careful.”

“Don’t worry, we will set up camp and scout out the surrounding area.”

“We will meet again in eight hours.”

“Yes. I’ll be waiting.”

It could be used three times a day to send about a total of 450 people. Therefore dividing it up into 11 groups in order.

The vanguard’s job was to set up a field of operations and scout the area.

Oberon needed to signal the start of the expedition.

“Let’s get started. Send them to the north.”

“Teleport!”

The wizards triggered the circle.

They were only able to send people to a designated location rather than where they want to be teleported.

Kerberos and the warriors!

They were the best of the elites in the guild.

They had a curious love for fighting. They would go into dungeons that others would be frightened to even approach.

They closed their eyes and when they opened them the surrounding landscape was entirely different.

It was very cold and the ground was covered in snow.

Thick bluish vapor came out of their mouths.

“Achoo!”

“Why is it so cold?”

The expedition immediately took out their blankets.

They had come prepared. Everyone had laughed at them when they were packing blankets to bring along.

“This is better...”

“I’m just going to cover up in a blanket and fall asleep.”

If they did not have blankets once they came to the Northern Continent then everything would have gone horribly.

Ruruyiiing!

The cold wind blew past them like blades.

Chatter chatter chatter.

The expedition was frantically chattering their teeth in the cold.

Because of the cold, it was difficult for them to walk much less scout the area.

“This...we need something to get rid of the cold.”

Kerberos ordered to have a bonfire started. However it was not an easy task since there was hardly any useful firewood on the frozen ground.

The Ras Hill.

In a place that was completely covered in snow it was unlikely that anyone would be able to find anything.

They went to the top of the hill and looked around only to see that they were in the middle of nowhere. There were other things to be worried about besides the cold.

Some distance from there there was a flurry of snow. It slowly raised ice and snow off the ground and sucked up anything in its way. A dance of ice and light. It was an extremely beautiful power of nature. A unique regional characteristic to the north, the storm of ice and snow was approaching.

The boss monsters of the Karaka Forest!

Pale, Zephyr, Hwaryeong, and their party search the entire forest for the King Snake. However, they could not find it.

Geomchi5 saw a tree with some colorful patterns on it.

“That looks like its unique and since Weed makes sculptures so do you think we should take it?”

He thought about it for awhile then he gave up the idea and stopped worrying.

He started moving based on his behavior before thinking anything else.

Profits!

He pulled out the sword and slashed the wood.

However he only cut the surface.

“What is this?”

Geomchi5 saw that it was harder to cut than usual.

Pakakakash.

An insidious sound came from behind as the head of a large snake appeared.

Shururuk!

He caught sight of the King Snake’s head as it spit out its two-forked tongue!

“Stupids bastards. You dare to attack my majestic body.”

The King Snake was a named monster.

Since then, the party engaged in battle against the King Snake. It had a body length of over 10 meters and it was capable of moving very quickly.

It was not a possibility to run away from it should it give chase. It hid terrible poisonous vapors in its body was well as very tough skin.

The King Snake’s main weapons were its fangs and its poison, with have enough force to break a bull’s back.

The incredibly pointed teeth were capable of piercing heavy armors.

In the past they would have never thought of hunting the King Snake. However, now they had more companions and they all had developed a sense for battle.

“Fire Field!”

Romuna set fire to the surrounding area. Snakes hate fire!

It was not a direct attack on the King Snake but it reduced its range of movement. But because of this the party suffered damage.

“Please protect us from the blazing fires. Blessing of Water. Kyaaaaa its hot.”

Irene screamed.

Her main role was restoring health. Her defensive and blessing skills were a little lacking.

Because her Blessing of Water skill had low skill mastery it was helpless before Romuna’s fire.

Since it failed, Irene focused on healing the party’s health using holy magic.

Zephyr took the role of baiting and luring the King Snake while Hwaryeong danced.

“Dance of Confusion!”

The dance was capable of lowering the enemy’s spirit and breaking their balance. In a sense it was a dance that was suitable for combat since it disrupts the enemy’s balance and does not revert to normal.

It was a powerful sort of curse.

The snake began to have irregular behavior as Hwayrung danced.

Her face seemed to indicate as if she was cage inside a chaotic maze as she danced.

These dances were not part of the dancer’s skills.

It was because Hwaryeong's dancing that such a skill was possible.

The dance increased the effects of the skill even more.

“Oh, Hwaryeong is dancing.”

“It’s a very beautiful dance.”

“Beautiful is not enough to express it...”

“She has such a slim waist and graceful neck...”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 found it hard to not watch Hwaryeong dance.

Battle or not, all of their attention was devoted to Hwaryeong's dancing.

“Keoheom!”

They were in the back modestly watching her dance. Men did not change no matter how much time passes. There was a spoonful of truth in the superstitions that women have for men.

Chururaah!

The King Snake moved its big long head side to side along the floor. Then it spread its blue poison out. Others would usually instinctively fall into chaos rather than fight and protect themselves.

“Poison Cure!”

Irene was in the middle and she dispelled the poison.

“It’s time for our part.”

“Yes Master.”

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 rushed along an open path and slashed at the enemy’s body.

“Ice Blade!”

“River Sword.”

“Revenge Slash!”

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 cast their skills.

Because the King Snake’s body was so thick, the skills did not inflict that much damage.

The other practitioners tended to limit their use of skills but there were some exceptions.

Most of the time, a monster’s behavior and response changes before a skill can even be used.

It was easier to take advantage of an enemy with a sword rather than using a skill.

‘Use the skills! Concentrate your force! The damage will gradually build up.’

‘Feel the use of the skills. Use the skills continuously and destroy the enemy weak points. With each blow our strikes get stronger!’

With certain skills they were able to increase their damage output and reach new heights in their ability. Their skill proficiency was much higher than their levels.

Stats were not the only thing that increased attack strength and more damage could be inflicted if one knew how to fight properly.

The sound of Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 yelling out their skills could be heard.

“Slice and Dice!”

A fierce attack harnessing rapid movement!

The muscular Geom4chi’s was moving his sword so fast that it looked like there were tens of swords.

“Double Strike!”

Surka hit the King Snake’s torso with great force. Her sharp knuckles gave blows to the King Snake’s tough leather.

The damage they were dealing was small, but with the Geomchis they were able to finish off the King Snake after a great struggle.

Since hunting the King Snake was so tough, they to head back to the Castle of the Dark Elves.

Weed went back to the Plains of Despair and started running to the Castle of the Dark Elves once the party finished conquering the Karaka Forest and they took a break. A little later Maylon showed up and they started talking.

Then in the middle of the conversation Maylon said.

“Pale nim.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know what today is?”

“I don’t know. Is it because its been 64 days since we first met?”

“Today they gave me a day off from work.”

Maylon was speaking in a coy tone!

The only ones that could hear it was those two.

Pale nodded without hesitation.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the concert.”

“I’ll take you this evening.”

Pale and Maylon quickly arranged a date.

Romuna and Irene looked as if they stomachs were in pain.

“It feels like Pale has become a different person.”

“As a friend and a fellow man, I approve.”

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 watched the couple.

They understood that women liked strong and reliable men. They had good bodies and they could fight well. However they could not get any women.

‘Why is that?’

‘Is it that women don’t like muscle?’

‘Exercise and mixed martial arts seem to be a good thing though...’

The Geomchis thought that being muscular was exciting and attractive.

But in reality they were unable to get any women.

In order to maintain their bodies to the best physical condition in real life they mainly ate chicken and protein. There were no seasonings nor condiments but they simply ate boiled chicken with rice! Sometimes the chicken would have a strange fishy smell. Sometimes it was hard to chew.

It was natural for them to eat their meals this way.

‘Have to watch what we eat.’

‘We have to eat to be strong.’

They forced themselves not to eat other foods and only eat lean chicken breast.

The problem was egg whites.

They would eat dozens of boiled eggs until they went mad. It was so appalling that they would get sick from the smell of it.

They needed to digest a lot of food because they needed large amounts of protein.

They were also troubled with the level of water in their bodies.

They tried their bests to supplement replenish their bodies and stamina whenever they exercise a lot.

Many of the other also went through such challenges for thorough self-management from living through the sword. Thanks to that, they did not have the chance to ever meet any women.

Surka suddenly said.

“Since we’re all talking about this, why don’t we meet up in real life?”

“What?”

“We can meet up with each other and talk this way in reality! Why don’t we all go to the concert together?”

“I’m not sure if that’s a good idea.”

“Why not. Seeing each other for real would be great.”

Meeting in real life.

Maylon, Irene, Surka, Romuna, and Hwaryeong!

The Geomchis were going to get to meet as many as five women. It was a rare opportunity to talk with women even if Surka was too young and Maylon had a boyfriend.

Drinking coffee and eating hamburgers.

Just walking around the city with women would be pleasant.

Geomchi4 and Geomchi5 looked at each other.”

“Geom4chi.”

“Yes, Geomchi5.”

“Have you ever been to a concert before?”

“The last time I went was probably six years ago.”

“...”

“I want to go this time.”

Maylon and Pale was against it since they didn’t expect to have anyone else get in the way of their quality time.

Aside from that, Zephyr and Hwaryeong were relatively friendly with the Geomchis.

Also meeting up and talking in real life was a good way to pass time.

Needless to say, Irene and Romuna approved.

“Sounds good.”

“I haven’t seen a concert in a while.”

“Hwaryeong-unnie is it okay if we meet up?”

Surka went up and nodded her head at Hwaryeong.

“Yea, I would like to meet up.”

The fact was that Hwaryeong was a little reluctant to meet up with people. She didn’t want people to know in game that she was a celebrity.

‘But I’ll be fine with these people.’

Since she got Hwaryeong's approval, Surka asked Zephyr.

“Is Zephyr-oppa coming?”

“Of course.”

Zephyr was also a little hesitant.

His family’s company made millions overnight.

He would only need to talk to strangers for 3 to 6 minutes to get their contact information.

This legendary playboy would go out at times for 30 minute dates.

Because of this, Zephyr was awkward to accepting interpersonal relationships.

However, the time that they had spent together in game was not for nothing.

It was then that Weed arrived in the Castle of the Dark Elves.

“So everyone’s here.”

Except for Mapan, who was busy, all the companions were united.

Wasting no time, Surka walked over to Weed with bright eyes and asked.

“Weed! Weed oppa!”

“Huh?”

“We want to meet in real life. Zephyr oppa, Hwaryeong unnie, Irene unnie, Romuna unnie, Pale oppa, and Maylon unnie as well. Oppa I want to meet up with you and see a concert. What do you think?”

“...”

Weed was half-hearted about it.

‘A concert...tickets for them are expensive.’

Weed hated spending money on cultural activities.

To him, culture was unknown.

Weed didn’t think that culture was great performances, theaters, or exhibitions.

To him, it was enough to use a magnifying glass and look and play with ants. He also planted vegetables in his free time. There was a difference between organic vegetables and market vegetables so he tried to save money.

There was also house cleaning and washing the dishes.

An infinite amount of labor.

In contrast culture was only about consumption.

Money money money!

No matter what you are going to do or eat, it will cost money.

Weed ran a strict household budget.

For one month, he had an allowance of 2000 won.

That was the amount set aside from food for entertainment.

Weed was going to refuse.

But then it would be difficult for him if they all meet except for him.

Then Geomchi5 went ahead and spoke for Weed.

“Weed is a busy person, we can’t force someone as busy as him to come.”

Geomchi4 also nodded.

“Yea. I’m certain that Weed has a lot of work to do and I would be surprised if he had any free time.”

They gave a strong defense in Weed’s favor. But Hwaryeong opened her mouth to speak her slight disappointment.

“If Weed’s not coming then I don’t want to go.”

Irene and Romuna were also inclined.

“I don’t think it’s going to be fun if Weed’s not there.”

“For a concert, I think its more meaningful if we all go together than if we simply go by ourselves.”

Zephyr said leaning his fishing rod against his shoulder.

“If Weed’s not going then I don’t need to come. I would rather spend my time doing something else then.”

At that point, they changed their minds to meet up in real life.

If Weed, who was at the center of their group, wasn’t going then they weren’t either.

If Weed didn’t go, then it wouldn’t be fun. That was how much of a role Weed had.

Geomchi2 quickly tried to change the subject.

“Weed, I don’t think that it would be too much trouble to meet up.”

“Don’t you come by daily to train at the dojo?”

“Ah! That’s right, that is how it is.”

Geomchi5 also entered into the conversation.

“It’s a good chance to immerse ourselves in some classical tunes. Passionate music.”

Geomchi4 grinned as well.

“Like a real man! Friendly companionship! This much is obvious.”

Geomchi2, Geomchi4, Geomchi5, Pale, Hwaryeong, and Irene were all encouraging him to go.

He noticed that they really wanted to meet up.

It would be really embarrassing if he refused now.

“Okay. Will three days from now be fine?”

“Maybe...it should be.”

Pale peeked over at Geomchi2 who nodded his head.

“So until then, let’s go hunt in a dungeon.”

“Dungeon?”

“I meant three days in real life. So if we start hunting now, it will be about 8 days in the Versailles Continent. With that much time, we can fully explore and clear out a dungeon. Is that alright with you?”

Surka thought about Weed’s claim.

“Are we even able to clear a dungeon in eight days? I’m with Weed oppa.”

Maylon shook her head as if she was hearing nonsense.

‘Any decent dungeon would take at least a fortnight. It would take at least 10 days to map out the dungeon as well. Eight days is just ridiculous.’

But Maylon did not understand. The very moment that Weed said it, Hwaryeong and Zephyr started shaking their legs.

Of course this was because they remembered their memories of hunting with Weed in the Basra Caverns.

‘Geuak...’

‘Endless hunting...’

‘Eat, hunt, get bandaged...’

‘Then more hunting. It would be less trouble to just die!’

Hunting for 29 hours without rest. It was their first experience doing such a thing. They hit their physical and mental limits fighting monsters to such an extent.

Then they went back to town to sell the japtem.

They thought that it was the end.

Only to return back to level for a few more days...

Now the grueling hunt was going to be resurrected.

You are the first person to discover the Rotten Lich’s Dungeon!

Reward:

Fame has increased by 400.

Experience and drop rates have doubled for a week.

The first monster hunted will drop some its the best items it has.

Chapter 6: Hollow Dungeon!

Weed and his companions went to the area where they had hunted the King Snake.

They were the first ones to discover the dungeon.

At the entrance of the cave, Weed collected all the weapons and armor to use his skills on them.

“Sword grind, armor polish, iron clothes!”

Production skill side effects!

Before entering the dungeon, everyone ate food until they were satisfied.

The effects were higher than those of a bard’s and a shaman’s blessings combined.

Thanks to his superior handicrafting, it gave quite a few advantages to his skills and thus did not require them to repair their equipment that frequently.

“From here on it will be nothing but fierce hunting.”

Surka stretched out her hands.

“This time we need to get to at least level 300.”

Pale had become level 296 thanks to their frequent hunting.

Romuna, Surka, and Irene were also similarly leveled.

But his girlfriend Maylon was already level 310. Isn’t it something all men have in common to want to be strong in front of their girlfriends!

‘Get stronger.’

Pale did not spend all his time hunting like Maylon.

He spent more time increasing his archery masteries. While training his character, he focused on raising his skills and masteries.

The advice from the Geomchis had been a great help to him.

With a bow and arrow, he had to suppress the urge to simply shoot at the monster’s body.

He had to look for the brief moments to attack the enemy’s weaknesses!

If you shot an arrow at the same time a sword struck the enemy then the damage from it would be higher than usual.

It was time to show off his skills to Maylon.

At the entrance of the cave were Skeleton Knights. They were some of the monsters that went around patrolling areas.

“Li...life.”

“”Those are...living things....die!”

Skeleton Knights.

Three Skeleton Knights riding on ghostly Phantom Horses came charging.

Neiiighhhh!

The eerie cries of the ghost horses.

“Fire Fist!”

Surka jumped to the front and shot out blazing flames.

It collided with the Skeleton Knights.

Weed had been worried that it would be unreasonable to have Surka fight if she was underpowered. Apparently his worries had not been of any real concern.

Surka charge into the Skeleton Knights and then circled around.

“Strike! Yonhankwan!”

She had rushed to the rear to strike the Skeleton Knights from behind.

“Ah ha!”

Weed admired her a little.

In a fight against an enemy it doesn’t help to just have a more flexible body.

You have to move around naturally and avoid the enemy’s attacks.

It takes quick judgement and fast reflexes to succeed at such a tough feat.

Good use of close range skills could be used to slaughter enemies in ways that long range couldn’t.

But that didn’t mean that clerics and wizards didn’t have an important role.

However, Surka had very good judgement.

She had rushed ahead of the Skeleton Knight’s attack to reduce the damage she took, allowing her to prevent further enemy attacks and strike in the enemy’s blind zone.

Surka rotated her body to strike the Skeleton Knight.

Her companions were not idle.

Pale and Maylon shot arrows rapidly.

Chashhhak.

Arrows continued to fly ceaselessly.

The arrows flew around Surka and pierced the Skeleton Knight precisely.

“Ga...ga..gahhh!”

The Skeleton Knight was too busy with Surka’s attack to avoid the arrows.

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Hwaryeong and Zephyr were responsible for the Skeleton Knight on the left while the one one the right went to Geomchi, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5.

The Geomchis generously showed off their advanced battle skills to the party.

“I should not be idling.”

Weed took out the Talrock’s that he had been saving in his backpack. The lustrous sheen of the armor!

It was nearly white because it had been made mainly of Mithril.

However, this mithril had light absorbing properties. So it was now actually black in color. In fact, in the past most of Weed’s armor had been black.

It was finally time to wear something nice!

He rarely changed his armor and usually stuck to repairing and raising his endurance.

But Talrock’s armor was black and expensive looking.

Weed carefully polished it with a cloth.

“Armor Polish.”

Swishswishswish.

It was difficult for his to even touch the rare armor.

It was not just any armor after all. If he were to sell it he would get at least 10 million won.

It was entirely possible to find someone that wanted to own it!

It was one of Weed’s treasures.

– The armor has been wiped clean.

Armor defense has increased by 20%.

Weed equipped Talrock’s Armor. It was made consisting mainly of mithril and it had the red pattern of the Church of Freya on its chest.

Talrock’s Armor has been worn.

- Defense has increased by 102.

- Faith has increased by 100.

- Fame has increased by 300.

- Strength has increased by 40.

- Agility has increased by 30.

- Attractiveness has increased by 25.

- Fighting spirit has increased by 40.

- Mana has increased by 15%.

- Incoming magic damage has decreased by 10%

- Fear and confusion magic immunity has been gained.

- Relationship among Dwarves have increased.

The gloriousness of unique items!

Hwaryeong could not hide her admiration since she was in the back of the battle.

“That armor looks very pretty.”

Weed was a little disappointed.

‘The options for dancers are useless for battle.’

Irene knew her role in battle as a cleric.

“Get filled up with holes so I can patch you up..”

It was to be expected of Irene after all.

‘Couldn’t she have put it more delicately?’

Weed gave a low sigh and then he took out his sword to join in the battle.

“Sculpting Blade!”

It was a fearsome blade that ignored enemy defense and struck at the body.

Weed struck at the Skeleton Knight with his sword.

It looked as if the enemy froze in place as he unfolded his attacks onto him.

Kakaaang!

The Skull Knight slashed towards Weed with his sword. Weed closed his eyes the moment it struck.

– Cold Eyes skill has been used.

You can not see but pain subsides.

Because of his high endurance stat and his black armor as well as the skill, he did not take that much damage from such a big hit.

“Hu....human open your eyes!”

“I do not want to. I am strong enough to beat you with my eyes closed.”

“Human...what you say...is an insult to me as a knight.”

The Skeleton Knight gained more power through anger.

Undead Frenzy!

It was an ability that increased their power by 10 to 20%.

Every time he got hit by the Skeleton Knight’s attack he would close his eyes and then strike back.

The battle then changed up.

The Skeleton Knight started moving his shoulder bones towards Weed.

It was heading towards his arms and wrists.

Then he closed his eyes.

“I guess its coming towards the chest.”

He anticipated the enemy’s attack.

That was because it was the only way it could attack.

“Daemon Blade!”

The Skeleton Knight’s blade was covered in a devilish shape. It started using skills.

The forces of evil caused the creation of a skill that caused blood to flow from wounds.

The Skeleton Knight wielded his sword quickly and 3 after images came at Weed.

‘The one above and the one below are illusions! From the motion of his shoulder, that one is real. The one that is coming for my neck.’

Weed made that judgement with his eyes closed and acted.

He could accurately judge the skills of the undead.

One mistake and he could take significant damage.

Even with his high endurance, it was difficult to take deadly attacks.

His health would drop rapidly and his power would drop severely.

He could become temporarily paralyzed and potentially lose an arm or a leg.

‘Its coming for my throat’

He kept his eyes closed as he let the Skeleton Knight strike him in the shoulder with the sword.

– Skeleton Knight attack has decreased health by 630.

The Talrock’s armor could block 3 to 4 times more damage than normal. However an armor was useless if the user had poor skills. Most warrior types classes did not even bother to learn the skills.

It was reckless to fight with his eyes closed even if it was to raise his endurance stat.

Most people did not bother to struggle to raise endurance.

However, Weed did not miss anything trivial related to combat.

He gave up on using his eyes. By doing so he would raise the skill proficiency much faster than usual so that its effects would increase. Even with high endurance and defense he wanted to maximize the use of Cold Eyes as well.

It was unavoidable for beginners to close their eyes in their first battle.

However actually using the skill was a world of difference.

Weed had the courage to close his eyes and use the skill in the middle of such a difficult battle.

Surka said admiringly.

“Weed’s responding well to combat. He really is the best.”

Zephyr was forced to agree.

“He repays with more for everything they give him. I would hate to be his enemy.”

The Geomchis fought while laughing.

Closing your eyes may work at first but then it might become a bad habit...

‘His skill is still growing after all.’

It was easy to lose track of the enemy in battle with one’s eyes closed.

But he was deliberately closing his eyes.

He was well acquainted with the enemy’s movements. He knew where the enemy was attacking and how to attack back.

Development of skill did not rely on the senses alone.

Geomchi3 and Geomchi4 said.

“Now this is hunting.”

“It would be nice if we had met Weed earlier.”

Geomchi5 gave a laugh.

“Dungeons are not such a big deal, they have like only 6000 monsters right? Soon there will be none.”

Geomchi2 looked around the dungeon.

“Eight days might be too long. Let’s see if we can finish this overnight! Come on, let’s go!”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5!

Fighting was as familiar to them as eating. It was going to be eight days of grueling hunting but they were going to enjoy every moment of it.

But it was going to be difficult for the member that were not monsters like Weed and the Geomchis.

However, everyone had changed from how they were in the past quite drastically.

The Geomchis were indispensable but Pale, Hwaryeong, Surka, and Zephyr’s combat skills have improved dramatically.

“More Skeleton Knights! There are five this time!”

Pale had confirmed after Weed had sent him out to scout.

Usually Pale would be leader but things were different when Weed was in charge.

Everything was left up to Weed.

Weed stood at the forefront of battle and dealt damage with his superior swordsmanship and endurance.

Someone that fought directly would usually be more useful as a leader than an archer.

Weed had cold bandages, providing food and repairs, and effective skills that no one else had!

“Hwaryeong put two of them to sleep with you skills!”

“Enchanting dance!”

Hwaryeong put two of the knights to sleep with her dance. In the meantime everyone else fought the rest of the Skeleton Knights.

The Rotten Lich Dungeon increased in level as they moved on.

They would face Skeleton Knights, Chimeras, and other monsters of similar levels.

The monsters were at least level 300 and in severe cases up to 360.

Since it was the stronghold for the Undead Legion, there was no wonder that the monsters had significant levels.

Weed had one overall ability in production skills though.

The could raise the entire party’s damage and defense by at least 10% and 20% respectively!

They could engage moderate numbers of enemies thanks to Hwaryeong's dancing.

The party would collapse upon and destroy moderate groups of 7 to 8 Skeleton Knights.

Exploring high level dungeons required special attention. Dancers had a big role in distracting enemy attention.

Of course, sometimes a dancer’s skills could fail.

They could fall down from dancing. Once they lose balance then the skill loses power momentarily.

The higher level the enemy the more dancing was required.

Hwaryeong had to continue dancing uncomfortably. Her legs were staggering and there was a pain in her legs but she still danced strongly.

Sometimes it would fail when there were Chimeras, a form of contagious disease zombies.

That was because they didn’t have any eyes to see beauty with and the difference of levels was lacking since they were at least level 350.

The Lich had made Chimeras with a wolf’s head on top of an ogre’s body.

“Eat the humans!”

They could only be tempted with food.

A dancer’s dance was usually limited to human and humanoid monsters.

To go above these constraints required a significant amount of skill

“There’s really a lot of experience.”

After hunting for a while, Irene was startled when she checked her stat window.

They were hunting 3-4 times faster than usual.

They had also discovered the dungeon so they were receiving 2 times more experience.

‘It’s thanks to Weed and the Geomchis.’

Irene looked at Weed and the Geomchis’ with envious eyes.

Priests were known to have weak attacking power. Weed had the turn undead skill, but it would be quite useless during hunt with a group. Therefore, strong warriors and priest go well together.

Weed said.

"I think monster in this territory are getting tougher. From now on the battle are going to get faster.”

“Whoa!”

“Ah, here we go!”

Zephyr's eyes darkened. Hwaryeong's held her breath.

Up until now they were hunting comfortably.

The moment Weed said that meant that it was time for the real hunting!

The party's hunting speed accelerated.

By now, they couldn't rest and traveled quickly through the hunting ground, and if no one was injured after battle they immediately went on to the next hunting ground and continued.

So since they started this hunt, they have completed several rounds of battle. After battle had ended, the people who needed to heal up gladly sat down by the healer.

Those that could stand up were free to break off into their own group to continue hunting in the next region.

They got up and started hunting again. The problem was that the speed was slightly increasing. The interval between hunting and more hunting left them with no time to breathe.

Weed lead his companions into more battle and more battle faster and faster. They were hunting at a fearsome speed so they were getting experience and items rapidly.

“I leveled up.”

Someone would say every now and then.

Their companions would quickly say.

“Congratulations.”

“I’m close to leveling.”

“Let’s keep going then!”

There was no time to rest.

Irene had a lot of mana. She would heal them as much as she could and they would keep fighting.

Whenever their health dropped below 30% she would heal them.

To survive as long as possible, Weed would treat them.

With his advanced Cold Bandages, he could heal up up in a flash.

They only took short breaks for bandaging.

Zephyr and Hwaryeong resigned themselves to their fate.

“Keoheok!”

“I’m going to die! Weed I need to be bandaged.”

They would get hit on purpose.

Skeleton Knight skill. Darkness status.

They would deliberately get put into a state of darkness.

Even if it hurt they could lie and rest comfortably for a bit. If their health drops low then Irene would just heal them.

After a while Weed would just bandage them up so it was almost impossible for them to get a fatal wound.

Hwaryeong and Zephyr had the same thoughts when they had hunted with Weed the first time.

The both of them wanted it to end after getting hit by the Skeleton Knight.

‘It got me.’

‘Now I can rest.’

Zephyr and Hwaryeong would just a have a slight smile.

Then Weed would yell and come over with bandages.

“Pale!”

“Yes!”

“It takes about 45 seconds for bandaging. But its not enough to get Zephyr and Hwaryeong back up. Lure the monsters around and bring them back here.”

“Alright!”

Zephyr and Hwaryeong lied down injured and groaning.

‘I’ll never get out of this hell.’

‘Need to die properly.’

This was because of the unprecedented hunting speed.

Seechwi was an Orc!

Early on, Orcs had many advantages.

They had exceptional health and stamina, their death penalty was lower, and they had high defense.

Even if Orcs die, the skill loss was insignificant.

That was the one thing that Orcs had over the other races.

They were in large numbers and Orcs happened to die often but they had high growth rates.

Many people came to the village.

A lot of them were Orc users trying to form parties.

“Chwikchwik. Let’s go hunt foxes.”

“Chwik. Chwik! Fox meat is delicious.”

The number of people in the town were increasing and the Orcs were repopulating.

Orcs sold meat to the stores. A lot of new Orcs were constantly being born.

The city was horribly expanding.

New Orcs were born in village near the Yuroki Mountains.

It takes time for a human village to expand but for Orcs the only thing they needed was food.

Seechwi scoured the Yuroki Mountains for Seoyoon. However to find one person was close to impossible. However Seechwi had a secret weapon.

“That look familiar to the direction that Seoyoon went in.”

She could watch the videos in Seoyoon’s capsule!

Seoyoon was hunting so with a bit of luck she could catch up in time.

Luckily Seoyoon fought three to four monsters at once.

All monsters gave up their lives when they attacked Seoyoon. She killed all the belligerent ogre forces in the Yuroki Mountains.

Seechwi tried to say as gently as possible.

“Seoyoon. Chwichwichwik!”

Horrible nasals sounds came out when she spoke.

Seechwi laughed and said.

“I’ll come with you. I’m Cha Eunhee. Chwichwit.”

“...”

Seoyoon didn’t say anything. However Seechwi knew this wasn’t a rejection. If she had refused then she would have walked away. Seoyoon did not refuse because it was someone that she was close to.

“Chwichwik. Let’s get quests and sell japtem.”

Seechwi stayed with Seoyoon who had gotten a quest from the Dark Elves even though she didn’t say anything.

It was more comforting now that someone was traveling with Seoyoon rather than leaving her alone.

It was still really dangerous and she could die in battle.

However, thanks to Seoyoon it was not dangerous at all. She took care of her because she was weak.

Seechwi smiled seeing that there was a little change.

‘Okay. This means that her mind has opened up a little.’

It was difficult to start the healing process. Any treatment is useless if the patient is unwilling to open up.

After she had saw Seoyoon cry, it was enough to show that she still had emotion.

“The quest was to obtain some red fruit. Okay chwit. I’ll get some and come back. Chwit.”

The elderly Dark Elf wanted to east a Red Dawn Fruit before he died.

Seoyoon and Seechwi acquired information about the quest.

It was not in Seoyoon’s personality to refuse requests like these.

“These monsters give a lot of experience and items. Let’s hunt here.”

Seeyoon listened to Seechwi as she led her along.

Then when she had finished about 30 quests.

Ttiring!

The Great Orc.

Alone they are vulnerable but because of their racial characteristics together they are strong.

Orcs like a strong leader. You have proven yourself to be a strong Orc.

Do you wish to become an Orc commander?

Orc Commander profession!

The Orcs had a lot of professions that dealt with heavy weaponry. Orc commanders were a particularly special profession.

Seechwi had not gotten a profession. An opportunity to get a profession barely ever showed up.

She had been too preoccupied with doing quests.

Rather than raising her level herself, she obtained most of her experience from Seoyoon.

The amount of experience of hunting with Seoyoon was small because of such a huge level differrence but she still received some because she was in the party.

It was more than how much she would have received from hunting alone!

Thanks to hunting with Seoyoon, the opportunity to become an Orc commander opened up.

“I’ll do it. Chwitchwit!”

Seechwi became an Orc commander and wandered around with Seoyoon doing quests.

They wandered from the Orc Village to the Dark Elf Village while hunting.

Normally someone with looks like Seoyoon would draw attention but she normally hid her face when she went into towns.

Seechwi also approved that Seoyoon hide her face.

It was not a good idea to draw people’s attention with a pretty face. There was no need to socialize with such people. Then they managed to obtain some information.

From the Dark Elf Granbell.

“Seechwi. You may be an Orc but we are friends. In fact, dark elves are usually against Orcs but I still consider you a friend.”

Seechwi’s major helped her here as well.

A doctorate in psychoanalysis!

Psychoanalysis was not just guessing what people were thinking. That was just the surface, and what it was really about was seeing the secret thoughts and emotions that people hid underneath.

Seechwi was specialized in psychoanalysis and she grasped the villager’s tendencies.

An female Orc flattering dark elves!

Seechwi used her psychology to raise her intimacy with the residents.

Through her hard work, she realized that the dark elves loved receiving flattery.

Dark Elf Granbell broke into a laugh.

“My friend was pleased that you got him the red fruit he had wanted to eat. Even though you are not a dark elf, let me tell you of a good hunting spot for the future. If you go east of here you will find a dungeon to hunt in. That dungeon is the source of the undead that have plagued us. There will be plenty of things to hunt in there.”

Seechwi had a high amount of fame for her level.

Orcs had fairly high growth for fame and levels.

But that increased greatly by doing quests and hunting with Seoyoon.

They had received hordes of information on hunting grounds.

Seechwi and Seoyoon headed to the hunting grounds to become the first discoverers.

“If I get double experience, then I’ll level even faster! Chwichwik!”

Seechwi had a fairly high level until she became an Orc.

She had chose it because it was Orcs were very interesting, so she didn’t regret it and she wanted to level up and get stronger as soon as possible.

Double experience.

The gap between her and Seoyoon will close quickly if she levels up faster.

Seechwi and Seoyoon went to the pit.

“Huh. Chwichwichwit!”

A discovery message did not pop up.

“I can’t believe it. Chwitchwitchwit.”

Seechwi then remembered something.

‘Who else would have heard that story? It must be him...’

Karichwi had hunted alongside Seoyoon!

An Orc with a legendary presence.

He became famous through the Hall of Fame video and the KMC’s broadcast.

“Let’s find out. Chwitchwit!”

Seechwi led Seoyoon inside to find Weed.

There were a lot of areas where monsters had been cleared out.

Finally they met Weed and Pale’s party.

“Orc.”

To Surka and Irene, seeing an Orc here was amazing enough.

It was also accompanied by a woman.

Seechwi was surprised.

She did not know that so many people were hunting here.

Seechwi said with difficulty.

“I didn’t know that there was another party. Are you guys the first discoverers? Chwik.”

“Yes.”

Pale decided to step in since Weed didn’t look like he was going to say anything.

“Then, do you know the way out? It was really difficult to get here. Chwichwik.”

Seechwi’s face looked very tough but she was able to convey herself to the party.

‘To come this far must have been tough.’

‘Orc. To come this far it must be a quest and also a pretty high level user but even then it would be tough.’

‘To get through the Karaka Woods we had to take down the King Snake.’

They had suffered and earned a right to hunt in the pit.

But now there was another party and there were unavoidable circumstances.

Pale shook his head.

“There is no need. It is not a small dungeon so take your time hunting.”

“Yeah. Go ahead and hunt. There are too few people for such a large dungeon.”

Surka said. The party was being very courteous.

In the Versailles Continent, the higher level dungeons were monopolized and murder was common over them.

It was common to get kick out if you did not get permission from the other hunting parties in advance.

It was possible to force another hunting party out as well.

Seechwi looked thrilled.

“Thank you very much. Chwitchwit!”

“But where are you going to hunt? You can come with us if you want. Is that okay with you Weed?”

Seecwhi smiled at what Pale had said. It was very rare to find such pure and good people on the Versailles Continent.

It was even harder for Orcs. Most people wouldn’t let others join in their party.

It could be seen what caring people they are since they invited them to join their party.

“Good work, Pale.”

“Yeah! That’s the way you do it.”

“Way to help others in need.”

“Hahaha. It’s not like I’m losing anything.”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 praised Pale simultaneously. All they saw was a woman and they didn’t even see her as an Orc!

It was a good group of people.

She was thankful to Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5.

‘Such nice people.’

Seechwi smiled and said.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Seechwi. Chwit! This is Seoyoon. Chwit!”

‘How is she here!’

Weed was surprised the moment he saw Seoyoon.

She was covering her face so he couldn’t see that it was her.

But that atmosphere she had! He could see the armor and sword that only Seoyoon had.

The problem was that Seoyoon had already discovered the statues he had made of her.

‘I didn’t think that you would chase after me. However you are trying to catch Karichwi and not me.’

Weed messaged his party.

– The fact that I am Orc Karichwi is a secret.

– Yes, I know.

His party easily listened to Weed.

The Orc Karichwi had already risen to the top of the Hall of Fame. It was unnecessary to tell others and cause Weed unwanted trouble.

In fact, Weed was afraid if they did tell people.

He had reasons to be afraid.

It would be annoying if Seoyoon chased after him ruthlessly with her sword. He had nothing to be afraid of from boss monsters.

His pride as a man!

It was alright as long as they didn’t say anything.

Weed raised the hunting speed now that Seoyoon joined the party.

He wanted to prevent his party from talking with Seechwi and Seoyoon.

Everyone in the party except Weed was worried.

‘Are they able to fight properly?’

‘I must protect the party.’

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 started to compete with each other.

Brave knights who come to help when monsters attack. It was the best way to get along with other people on the Versailles Continent. Seechwi and Seoyoon were positioned next to Irene. Then the Skeleton Knights appeared.

Seoyoon pulled out her sword and rushed forward excellently.

Kwakwakwakwang!

A powerful force came from the sword!

It had tremendous crushing power.

It was easier to fight when you use mana but hard to stay within the mana range.

“Krahhagh!”

“My...lovely bones....”

The Skeleton Knights brutally collapsed.

The monsters that Weed and the Geomchis had to hit so many times to kill, Seoyoon caught easily.

"...."

Geomchi4 widened his mouth.

There was no more hope!

The opportunity to flaunt themselves in battle had disappeared. Weed was acquainted with Seoyoon but it came as a surprise to the rest of the party.

It was the first time they saw such a high level user.

Endless stamina.

A berserker’s characteristic was to constantly fight monsters.

With Seoyoon, hunting got much faster.

Dark Shamans using evil witchcraft.

Their powers increased the strength of the undead.

It was similar to Dark Speculation.

Using black magic on the undead.

The party fought a nonstop battle against high level undead.

“Heokheok. It’s too hard.”

Pale was short on breath.

“I would rather die than keep going.”

Maylon wanted to give up on life. However, she already saw Hwaryeong and Zephyr, so even if you wanted to die Irene would just heal you up.

‘No one dies without my permission.’

The highest virtue of a cleric!

No one can die during a battle.

The situation changed now. They begged Irene to let them die. But Irene refused to let them.

Under Irene’s strict protection they were not allowed to die. It only made the party suffer even more and increase their wanting to die!

They continued to fight dozens of enemies in the time span of 1 hour. They used to take breaks in moderation and leisurely chat while hunting.

But it was different with Weed.

Almost without rest, endlessly hunting.

He considered and thoroughly managed the various movements and appearance of monsters as well as time management, health, mana, stamina, and fatigue.

If there wasn’t enough mana, he would use bandages to heal.

He thoroughly beat up monsters with his melee skills.

Hunting became several times more difficult.

There were several life and death moments in the course of a single hour.

Proper meals were replaced with jerky or bread eaten along the way.

Record breaking time.

A relentless hectic battle ensued.

It was Pale’s and Irene’s first real hunting experience.

Weed would sweep away on the monsters back on the Continent of Magic. Now he was doing the same here in the Versailles Continent. Unfortunately, his party was witnessing it for themselves.

They thought they would go insane as days passed.

“How can they be human...”

For two days they continued to complain and then they stopped.

If they had the energy to complain they would rather rest.

Hunting at such a tremendous pace high levels of stamina.

They could last three or four days.

But they were forced to go even further than they were ever used to until now.

Then on the seventh day.

You have hunted all the monsters in the Rotten Lich Dungeon.

Title of Lich Dungeon Hunter has been given.

Fame has increased by 100.

The rights to double drop and experience for a week have disappeared.

On the seventh day they managed to kill all the monsters in the dungeon. Weed managed to raise his sword skill five levels.

However it had severe side effects on the party.

“Kerr haa haa haak!”

Pale, Maylon, Surka, and Hwaryeong collapsed. They were literally too tired to stand up.

Only Weed, Seoyoon, Seechwi and the Geomchis remained.

Seechwi also did not have much strength left.

Even though she was just a low level porter, she manage to get a considerable amount of experience.

‘These monsters!’

In her eyes, Weed and the Geomchis were not human.

At first she had thought that Weed and the Geomchis were just manly people but then decided that they were monsters after having been dragged around.

Because she was low level she had to be on the defense a lot. Geomchi2 did not hesitate to protect Seechwi despite her appearance.

It was uncommon for men to do such things nowadays.

But as for the hunting...

“Well, see you later. Chwiichwiik!”

Seechwi logged out and Seoyoon terminated her connection without saying anything. Even if she fought monsters to relieve stress, this was just too harsh.

The party was going to leave but then Weed looked at Geomchi.

“Master.”

“Huh?”

“You need to be careful when you are hunting. I have the map of the dungeon so I can find where there aren’t that many monsters.”

“Well, I guess. Should I use bandages generously?”

“They should be used sparingly.”

Chapter 7: Classical Concert

Lee Hyun got up early in the morning to go to the market. To buy fresh groceries for his sister!

He prepared food for his sister, and logged in to the Hall of Fame. He uploaded videos of the Lich and dungeon hunts.

“I wonder how many views I’ll get this time.”

He didn’t expect too much because non-quest related hunting videos were not popular.

People enjoy watching fierce battles instead.

But it has its advantages, because other players also upload videos of themselves hunting.

“For now, I’ll just post it.”

He did it in hope that others will take interest in it. It was a difficult competition in order to gain more popularity.

“It’s still better than not uploading it.”

KMC Media browses the Hall of Fame looking for hunting movie videos that will sell.

Lee Hyun, again uploaded the entire video of his two days hunt.

*Diiirrriiiing!*

Out of nowhere, something in his computer rang.

He had uploaded the footage stored in his capsule onto the Internet using his severely outdated computer.

From time to time, he would find random parts from broken down computers to repair his computer.

“So its been about 2 years.”

Weed browsed around on the internet until noon for information. He could not allow himself to fall behind on info about Royal Road.

There were all sorts things going on throughout the continent all the time that no one knew about.

Lee Hyun accessed the Dark Gamer’s site.

There were a great number of Dark Gamers. They could be referred to as one of the most pivotal forces on the Versailles Continent.

People regretted participating in the Northern Expedition

How was the heat on the continent going to be overcome

Those were the first posts that caught his eyes.

‘I guess that’s the Northern Expedition.’

Weed read through the posts roughly.

At first things had started off well since they were moving to the northern lands.

However, they had not been prepared the imaginable cold and ice storms.

At night they could get killed by a chunk of ice or freeze to death because of the cold.

However due to the extreme cold, it was easy to catch an awful cold that considerably reduced physical ability.

The would have a hard time travelling in the north and they would have to fight against the monsters and wild beasts so gradually more people would desert the expedition.

They had high morale at the beginning of the expedition, but after they suffer like beggars for awhile it would soon disappear.

In addition, the responses were not very good.

As Dark Gamers, we need to prioritize money. However, it is not always good to concentrate on a reckless quest.

No matter how large a crisis is on the continent, I’m still going to be able to hunt and gather items.

There were mostly comments from solo Dark Gamers.

Lee Hyun read several more posts.

A new series of magic profession. Necromancers have been unlocked for use.

Combat based professions. Their strengths and limitations.

Good professions with overall balance.

Suitable professions for soloing.

Professions that are adept at earning money.

The future of adventurers three years after the start of the Versailles Continent?

Monster drop list.

The most popular posts on the Dark Gamer’s forum were mainly about items.

But the viewership on profession related posts were also high.

In the post about the Necromancer profession, there was already a lot of information that was gathered about the class.

Some very tricky quests had to be performed to become a Necromancer.

To produce the first undead, it required fresh bodies and they need to have an affinity with death.

You also need to kill a lot of that type of creature.

That will increase the ability.

It was not an easy thing to do, but it was alluring to reign over a legion of undead.

‘This is good. I’m guessing the tome will become very expensive when I sell it.’

Weed still had not sold the tome he had obtained from Lich Shire.

Early on, Necromancer items will not sell for much. The market value still have not been formed.

Necromancers were very good magic professions since they did not need to buy magical items in order to use spells like wizards.

As more time passes, the Necromancer class will gain more popularity and the price of the tome will gradually rise.

‘I can probably sell it after 2~3 months.’

Weed read about the other combat based professions carefully.

Posts praising their profession!

Each of the posts boasted the advantages that their profession had. However, nobody recommended any crafting professions.

It was very rare for there to be adventuring professions in the Dark Gamers.

Most of them were solo combat professions such as Paladins that could use healing magic.

Elementalists were also spotlighted since they could summon spirits to fight.

Finally after Lee Hyun search up info on monsters, he stood up and got ready to leave.

* * *

Today was Friday.

His little sister came back early from school

“Hayan, do you want to come along?”

Lee Hyun asked his sister who was resting and watching the television.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m going to see some people I met in Royal Road.”

“You mean the people you were talking about the other day?”

“Yea, we’re going to see a performance.”

“That sounds great.”

Lee Hyun sometimes talked to his sister about Royal Road.

Royal Road was the most popular game. His sister always paid attention whenever he said anything about it.

Hayan Lee just said.

“I’m just going to stay home and relax.”

“Yea? Be sure to lock the doors.”

“Yes. You don’t have to worry.”

His sister would usually just return home from school and rest.

‘She’s been busy studying so she must be tired.’

Lee Hyun quietly left the house.

Hayan Lee leapt up from where she was and nervously paced around after making sure she locked the door.

‘Today they announce the results.’

At 5 p.m. the University of Korea would announce the results on the internet and by phone.

Hayan Lee was waiting for the results.

She was going to find out whether or not Lee Hyun passed and how she was going to tell him.

* * *

The cafe was booming.

It was located in the area around the university so the place had a continuous amount of people passing through.

Apart from that this place was also popular for other reasons.

Couples in Royal Road would meet up here.

The cafe!

This was a place where you could meet people that you built relationships with in Royal Road!

It was already considered a popular location.

“Keuheum!”

“Miss, can I get another one of those parfait things?”

“How is it that you are thirsty..”

“Argh, I’m nervous. I need to relax.”

* * *

Ahn Hyundo.

The instructors Chung Il Hoon, Choi Jong Bom, Ma Sang Bom, and Roi Lee.

They, who have trained their entire lives in the way of the sword, arrived first and were waiting for their companions.

They had combed their hair back and their muscles were bursting out of their suits.

Chung Il Hoon was hot since he was wearing sleeves.

“The dojo is a lot more familiar and comfortable than here.”

Roi Lee thought so as well.

“Training in the jungle was not as uncomfortable as this.”

“There are so many people I have never seen before. In addition, their clothes are very revealing.”

Choi Jong Bom did not know where to keep his eyes.

There were a lot of slender women who were not wearing much clothing. His face was flushed.

Then Ahn Hyundo said.

“Then do you want to go back to the dojo?”

“…”

Nobody could answer.

It was uncomfortable and awkward, but none of them were willing to leave.

A long time passed.

The time for the meeting was in ten minutes.

Oh Dongman appeared holding hands with Min Sinhye.

On the Versailles Continent, Min Sinhye was Maylon and Oh Dongman was otherwise known as Pale.

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Oh Dongman and Min SInhye bent over and greeted them.

They faced them and tried bending over to return the friendly greeting with their large sturdy bodies.

Iron River, the nickname that Mapan had given them when he first saw them surprisingly fit.

“Hey buddy.”

Ahn Hyundo tried to get the instructors to relax with the young people.

Then people began to show up one after another.

“Ah, it’s this way!”

Ahn Hyundo and Chung Il Hoon bent over to greet Kim In Young who came into the cafe wearing a bright white dress.

“Hello.”

“Yeah. So you came? You look prettier in person.”

“Thank you.”

“What is your name?”

“Kim In Young.”

She took a seat and sat down.

Then Yeon Hee Park and Yoon Soo Park came over to say hi, otherwise known as Romuna and Surka respectively.

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you.”

They could not help but be surprised when they saw Ahn Hyundo.

‘Scary!’

‘His eyes look like he’s out for blood.’

Then they looked over.

Chung Il Hoon!

He had a dignified but wildly handsome face. He looked as if he was a very tolerant person.

Choi Jong Bom. Ma Sang Bom and Roi Lee.

They naturally kept their waists bent.

It was if it was on instinct.

The cafe became calmer when Choi Ji Hoon, otherwise known as the fisherman Zephyr entered into the cafe with his gentle look.

“Hyung, it’s a pleasure.”

He reluctantly made a respectful greeting!

By now he had already been noticed. He was meeting in real life.

The entrance was getting loud.

“Jae Lynn is here,”

“The singer.”

“A celebrity’s coming here…”

“So this means that she plays Royal Road?”

She blatantly appeared walking in!

Even with a hat and sunglasses, it was easy to know someone’s face.

The moment Jae Lynn entered the cafe, everyone stopped talking and turned their attention towards her.

The clothes she was wearing, even if it wasn’t a performance costume, harmonized with her appearance.

The clothes sofly exposed her waist and the top of her chest, showing off her seductive curves.

They could not take their eyes off of her white neckline.

Looking around the cafe, Jae Lynn walked in the direction of Ahn Hyundo and Chung Il Hoon.

Gulp!

“That girl…why is she coming over here, Sahyung?”

“Why, why is she coming?”

“Sahyung, maybe we did something wrong…”

Choi Jong Bom, Ma Sang Bom, and Roi Lee trembled badly. Chung Il Hoon smiled, puzzled.

“Guys, do you not know why?”

“Sahyung, do you have any idea?”

“You tell me!”

“That’s all there is to it.”

Chung Il Hoon shrugged his shoulders.

“Wasn’t it because she was attracted to my fabulous muscles? Hahaha!”

“…”

They still did not know why.

Chi Jong Bom, Ma Sang Bom, and Roi Lee thought in the back of their heads.

‘Every time he thinks of women in the same sense that he think of fighting.’

Despite Chung Il Hoon misunderstanding, Jae Lynn greeted them.

“Hi. I barely made it here in time. So Weed is not here yet?”

She sat down in an empty seat.

Oh Dongman widened his eyes and asked nervously.

“Well, excuse me.”

“Yes?”

“Do you mean… that you are Hwaryeong?”

“Yeah.”

Jae Lynn nodded in confirmation.

Of all the women that have yet to show up, Hwaryeong was the only one left in the group.

‘So this means…that we have been playing the same game as Jae Lynn this entire time!’

Oh Dongman and Min Sinhye were shocked. Anyone could enjoy Royal Road. There was no law against having celebrities play. To think that they would actually meet someone that did!

Yoon Soo Park caught Jae Lynn’s hands.

“Unnie, I’m a fan.”

“Really? Thank you.”

“You’re a lot prettier in real life. Why is it that you look a little different?”

“Is it now? You can change your face when you make a character. I changed a lot of things like the eyes and the overall impression of the body so people don’t recognize me.”

“The body?”

“That’s where I was ignorant. I thought that if I ate delicious things I would gain weight…so I thought as a dancer I would do a lot of physical activity.”

Jae Lynn and Yoon Soo Park started having all sorts of conversations.

Yeon Hee Park and Kim In Young faces flashed with tension.

‘A tremendous competitor has shown up.’

‘In Royal Road she was targeting Weed, surely not here as well…!’

‘I do not thinks so, but she still is an entertainer and singer.’

A confrontation sparked over a man!

Chung Il Hoon, Choi Jong Bom, Ma Sang Bom, and Roi Lee were all 5 years older than them.

That was why they did not intervene in the women’s conversation at all.

Oh Dongman was only interested in Min Sinhye and Ji Hoon was talking nicely about a few topics.

Roi Lee whispered to Choi Jong Bom.

“She is a very pretty lady.”

“Yea, Sahyung, I did not think she was going to be that pretty.”

They were unaware of the fact that Jae Lynn was a singer.

A large number of people were meeting up on table 2.

A mix of young men and women created a bright atmosphere.

Having a fond conversation about small topics!

However, Ahn Hyundo was in his 50s so he just sat there. He did not say a word and just sat in his rigid posture.

They played together in Royal Road. But the age difference was just too much so he couldn’t hold up in conversation. Furthermore the look in his eyes stung. It was like a group of people sat down and he was bullying them for attention.

Then Lee Hyun came into the cafe. He did not modify his appearance in Royal Road so it was easy for them to recognize him.

“This way!”

Yoon Soo Park waved her hand.

Lee Hyun slowly approached and greeted them.

“Hi, I’m Lee Hyun.”

He was already acquainted with Ahn Hyundo, Chung Il Hoon, Choi Jong Bom, Ma Sang Bom, and Roi Lee. That split up the greetings.

“I’m Oh Dongman.”

“Min Sinhye.”

“My name is Ji Hoon. Hyung!”

Lee Hyun easily accepted it since he saw them a lot in Royal Road.

Lee Hyun was going to sit next to Jae Lynn. It was the empty spot near the entrance so he did it without really thinking. Jae Lynn was a famous singer. Like Ahn Hyundo, Lee Hyun had no idea of it. In fact, according to Weed’s criteria, Jae Lynn was an average woman.

‘She’s wearing expensive looking clothes. Necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and other accessories. Luxury is useless!’

It was minus 200 points by his criteria.

“Lee Hyun.”

Choi Jang Bom called out to him as he was going to sit.

“Yes, Sahyung.”

“This spot is also empty. Why don’t you sit over here?”

Lee Hyun rejected his offer and sat down.

“Sahyung, you’re here early.”

“I came a little early. How about you?”

“I’m late because I was stuck on the bus.”

From there on, the atmosphere became a little brighter.

Chung Il Hoon and Choi Jong Bom had a scary face and they had a hard time talking to people for the first time.

Aside from looking scary, it was hard to them to say anything in such a rigid atmosphere!

Once Lee Hyun came, it was easier for Chung Il Hoon and Choi Jong Bom to talk. The edge of the burden was relieved.

Oh Dongman rose from his seat.

“If we leave now, I think we can get to the concert on time. Come on everyone.”

Hearing that, they began to hurry.

Lee Hyun suddenly leaned over.

“Ah, my shoelace…”

“…”

He was no different than how he was in Royal Road!

He eventually went with Ahn Hyundo to the concert.

Classical concert.

It was very full because a famous French orchestra was performing tonight.

Oh Dongman and Min Sinhye reserved some seats in the middle.

Min Sinhye reserves such difficult seats because she was in the broadcasting industry.

Lee Hyun sat down.

The concert began with the conductor’s greeting.

He was a rookie conductor recognized in France. He held concerts all around the world and raised his fame and confidence.

‘Korea has culturally outdated performances. It’s time that the audience experiences something new and surprising.’

It started with a solemn grim atmosphere. Then 10 minutes in, there was a sound.

Deureureuong!

Kuul!

Chung Il Hoon and Ahn Hyundo had fallen asleep and were snoring.

Oh Dongman looked around. Everyone was looking at them.

‘This is embarrassing.”

Oh Dongman’s face reddened.

He was also scared that they would recognize Jae Lynn.

Yeon Hee Park complained.

‘To fall asleep in a place like this. I don’t even know how they can do that.’

But then ten minutes later.

“Haaaaaaah.”

Ji Hoon’s eyelids started getting heavy.

“Even together these performances are really boring.”

He looked around and everyone was asleep.

Oh Dongman, Kim In Young, Min Sinhye, and Yeon Hee Park were all asleep.

Their consecutive hunting accumulated a lot of fatigue. They fell asleep when the tension was gone and it was relaxed.

“Come to think of it, I’m getting sleepy too.”

Ji Hoon also slipped into sleep.

A group of people were falling asleep!

Jae Lynn was startled when she heard the sound of snoring during the classical music. Everyone was asleep.

“Shouldn’t we wake them up?”

She carefully whispered to Lee Hyun, who was sitting next to her. However there was no answer.

“You’re kidding?”

Jae Lynn grabbed Hyun Lee’s hands and shook them. She was literally shaking him to see if there was a response. He was watching the performance with his eyes wide open but he was asleep.

“Wow, you’re really asleep.”

Jae Lynn just sighed. Eventually she just closed her eyes.

“I’m the strongest.”

Ahn Hyundo was dreaming.

There were echoes as he marched through the streets.

He achieved a great victory in war and was being recognized as a hero!

“Please allow me this dance.”

“You are very beautiful”

Chung Il Hoon was dreaming too.

He was in a medieval palace with splendid music playing.

The entire place was filled with beautiful women from noble families!

It was common for women to be attracted to promising knights with powerful bodies.

He was covered in precious stones and gem to return to his hometown.

He had great riches!

However, they were not the only ones.

‘Monster!’

‘Damn these guys.’

‘There it is again’

The rest were having nightmares of hunting in the dungon.

Unlike Ahn Hyundo, Chung Il Hoon, and everyone else, Lee Hyun slept like the dead.

Under no circumstance did he relax.

One less hour of sleep meant more experience he could get and more skill proficiency he could raise.

He could not rest because of Royal Road’s monthly fee.

So to Lee Hyun, the concert was his precious time of relaxation.

Hyun was sound asleep as he was unknowingly lying against Jae Lynn’s shoulder.

Jae Lynn could feel the touch of his body as she gently stroked his hair.

Meanwhile, the conductor was furious and in a frenzy.

‘How could they fall asleep listening to my music! What does my music possibly lack?’

The conductor put all his strength into conducting the orchestra.

The passion! The electrifying feeling, the best music.

Even if it was to only wake up the people that fell asleep.

They left the concert and they were stretching out.

“That was a really good show.”

“I’m still kind of tired…”

“My body is refreshed.”

“Oh, I slept well.”

They were hungry after a refreshing sleep.

“Hey, I’m buying.”

Ji Hoon went ahead and took them to a nearby restaurant.

Eating all they could would relieve their fatigue.

They got a lot of meat onto their bowls and got platters of roasted meat,

They shared up the roasted meat and drank while chatting.

It was nothing special, but they were satisfied and happy.

By the time they finished dinner and went outside, it was already dark.

“It’s a shame that we have to leave now.”

It was a bit of an emotional parting.

They suddenly met with each other and saw each other’s faces.

But they did actually meet in real life.

“It was nice to see you. Now we can meet up anytime.”

“I had a good time.”

“See you next time.”

“We’ll see you in the Rotten Lich’s dungeon.”

“We really need to sell off that japtem.”

They exchanged emails and telephone numbers and then they went home.

Lee Hyun rode on the bus and went home. But when he went home, he saw Hayan sitting on the chair in front of the computer wiping away her tears.

“What’s going on?”

Lee Hyun trembled with anger.

Hayan had never been fortunate in the past.

Kid would use to tease about their parents.

“Well…”

Hayan was using the computer and went to the University of Korea’s website.

There was the list of successful applicants.

“I got accepted into the University.”

Lee Hyun quickly glanced at the monitor screen.

“Is this the University of Korea’s successful candidate roster? Are you absolutely certain that you passed?”

“Yes. My name is written there.”

“And did you get a scholarship?”

“They contacted me on the phone earlier and I got the scholarship.”

Hyun Lee’s body was trembling. When he first heard it he had tears of joy.

‘But why did she have to receive the scholarship…”

The promise he made to his sister!

If she received a scholarship then Lee Hyun would have to attend university.

“Oppa, didn’t you promise to go to college?”

“Yeah. I’ll keep my promise.”

Lee Hyun had a bad taste in his mouth.

He was going to send his sister to college, but now he was going to spend an enormous amount of money to attend college.

But he already made the promise.

However, he was not light hearted.

There was more to worry about than college acceptance.

Now he still needed to earn money.

Lee Hyun took out a passbook hidden within a book and gave it to Hayan.

“I still want to help pay for your tuition. I want you to be able to buy clothes and have spending money. At the very least, so that a trip abroad will not matter.”

“Oppa.”

“As a college student you will be studying hard. There will be times where you will need to spend money. I’ve been saving a little from wherever I could. I did it just for a time like this.”

Lee Hyun wanted to teach her how to spend money.

Ever since he was young, he was always saving and he did not know how to spend money. But he was not stupid to think that money was something that he took to the grave.

He spent his money sparingly.

Lee Hyun was tenaciously collecting money for his family.

“Thank you.”

Hayan’s eyes were tearing up.

She carefully opened the passbook which contained 30 million won that her brother had been steadily saving for her college tuition.

He willingly walked around to save bus fare to save up this money.

‘He did all this for me in a year?’

For a while, Hayan had trouble holding the money.

She didn’t know what she was even supposed to spend it on.

She was going to go the college and try to not spend a lot of money.

But she was a college student.

They were supposed to be economically self-reliant.

Books, tutoring, and tuition were covered by the scholarship.

‘I want to experience the way you see the world.’

In the very end, Hayan decided to order a capsule.

The Church of Freya!

There were a few people trying to purchase holy water and blessings.

“Hey did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“The Hermes Guild took down three castles yesterday.”

“Even that one castle?”

“Yea. It lasted quite long but it couldn’t handle an all out attack from the Hermes Guild.”

Urban cities were greatly different.

Urban cities could train soldiers and archers from the population.

They could also conquer cities for commercial gain.

For a castle, having military power is an important role.

“They’re occupying all the territories of Haven Kingdom. Have they already occupied the entire kingdom?”

“Not yet. There’s a still a few cities left.”

“The towns and cities won’t be able to stop it.”

“Well its not important. They’re all going to fall to the Hermes Guild.”

“Bad Ray called himself the king. He’s going to be ascending the throne shortly. It’s a wonderful coronation with over 6000 guests apparently.”

Between users there was endless talk about the Hermes and Bad Ray.

He was the first person qualified to be king and the strongest in the Versailles Continent.

He was the true meaning of a king.

Bad Ray did not have a very good reputation.

To get where he was now, he had to fight a lot of battles.

Cruelty, do not accept any surrender!

Thats to that notoriety, it has risen to the heights it has now.

“That castle had miserable military strength.”

“Still, the Hermes Guild is not going to have a bright future.”

“You’re right. Half of the guilds under the Hermes Guild’s banner are useless.”

“I heard that the Iron Templars and the Lone Wizards Guilds are forming a coalition.”

“It looks like there’s going to be a great war with the Hermes Guild. Which side should we go with?”

“No no. The Hermes Guild will collect funds in the meantime and devote the money to internal affairs.”

“Come to think of it, they did acquire a lot of land. They’re going to get attacked.”

“Keeping something is harder than taking it.”

“The war will not stop.”

Thus people were talking.

Then the Templars that represented the Church of Freya entered.

People stopped their conversations to watch.

Large movement of the Church of Freya’s Templars!

“What’s going on?”

“It looks like something is happening.”

Chapter 8: Forced Quest Trigger

When Weed connected to the game, everyone else was already gathered together. The Orc Seechwi and Seoyoon were there too.

“…”

Weed had a pain in his chest whenever he saw Seoyoon.

She was definitely going to get back at him because he had made a sculpture of her without her permission!

The idea that Seoyoon was a killer was firmly held in his heart. Even if she had not learned how to wield a sword properly, he feared the terrible things that would happen if he was careless.

“What else do you want to hunt?”

Weed was trying to resume the hunt when Geomchi raised his hand.

“First I have something to say.”

“Go ahead master.”

“We would like to go and hunt separately.”

“…Did we do something to offend you?”

“That’s not it, we just want to do some hunting on our own.”

Weed looked over at Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5.

“You all feel the same way?”

They nodded.

It was a decision the Geomchis had made after talking about it to each other.

Hunting together in groups was more enjoyable.

But they realized the limitations in it.

There was a limit to how much they could avoid an enemy’s attacks with just their movements.

All their stat growth was in attack! They were very vulnerable to magic attacks and curses as well as to sudden attacks from random monsters.

‘We don’t want to embarrass ourselves. It wouldn’t look good if we end up dying in front of the children.’

Geomchi also supported the idea for other reasons.

Their defense was very low and honestly speaking their damage was too weak in order to be hunting with the party.

Then they had seen Seoyoon. Their damage was nowhere close to her level!

‘Amazing! Even without the proper movements, I did not think it possible to do that with just a higher skill level.’

‘Dashing. It’s a skill that rushes towards the enemy. In reality it would be hard to show off that sort of explosive power.’

‘Using skills. Even if they fake and can only be used in Royal Road. I am still strong.

‘It wouldn’t hurt to become the strongest in this continent.’

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 played around in Royal Road.

They were actual swordsmen in real life.

Most of the other Geomchis came in order to hone their skills but the instructors had come to play around.

However, for the first time they got sincere about the game.

Although it was only to remove their weaknesses and raise their skill levels to become the very best.

Royal Road was without a doubt virtual reality. They could see, touch, and feel.

It was also a world in itself.

They wanted to become the best in this world as well.

It was difficult for them to bear being even a little bit weaker than someone else.

Of course, Geomchi5 had an opinion.

“Ahem! Master and Sahyungs as well. I think we should properly think about what we need to do.”

“What do you mean? Do you mean our lack of armor? If that is the case, can’t we just see if Weed can make us some decent armor?”

Geomchi5 just shook his head and said.

“It’s not so simple. As you guys know, this place is called the Versailles Continent”

“That’s right. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that we have not seen enough of this world.”

“That also means the creation of couples. Pale was able get a girlfriend. Yesterday since we went to the cafe, I decided that I didn’t want to be alone.”

“Then, Geomchi5 are you suggesting…”

“We need to become the best! Being the best means that we become very popular. Don’t you guys see what I’m saying?”

Geomchi4 was trembling with excitement.

“I see. Outside of Serabourg there was a famous guild recruiting all sorts of people!”

“There were quite a few high level people going off to a hunt. If we go and show that we are the best, then we can become popular.”

Geomchi5 made a suggestion.

They could show off their unrealistic and overpowering strength to women and children. It was obvious to Geomchi4 what Geomchi5 was suggesting.

“Sahyung are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Its a good idea Geomchi5.”

After thinking about it Geomchi2 nodded. However it was not yet decided. There were still a few issues being left out.

They had saw the Geomchis at the concert.

Lifelong bachelors.

They didn’t have to guess, since it seemed that they had devoted their lives to the sword.

That was become to normal people, they seemed content being crazy swordsmen.

‘Meet with a woman alone? Indeed there are more than just teens and people in their 20s playing on the Versailles Continent.’

Geomchi thought about it and nodded his head.

“It’s a good idea Geomchi4.”

The Geomchis made their decision to leave. On the surface they left in order to become stronger.

Weed made the Geomchis wear basic armor.

“The defense is higher now and it’s pretty light so you don’t have to worry about it restricting your movements. There is also some magic resist so you don’t need to be that wary of magic anymore.”

“That’s good to know.”

Weed made armor, boots, helmets, and gloves from the iron ore and leather they obtained from the Rotten Lich Dungeon.

It came out with relatively average defense because he was using normal materials, but with Weed’s Intermediate Level 3 Blacksmithing he could probably get about 250000 won for them.

That was because of his advanced Handicrafting that the item’s durability was significantly higher than usual.

“This is a gift. You will need it during hunting.”

Cold Bandages made from sewing skills!

Weed had made several rolls of bandages. The bandages could quickly stop bleeding and restore health. Weed gave them a backpack filled with bandages. Since none of the Geomchis had healing skills, the bandages would prove to be a valuable lifeline for them.

After the Geomchis left, Weed’s party returned to the Castle of the Dark Elves.

They met with Mapan to dispose of the japtem and then they checked over their items in preparation to hunt again.

Continuous repetitive hunting!

Weed knew all the details about the surrounding area and monsters in the Yuroki Mountains.

Now the overall level of the party was about 300.

‘It’s just getting started.’

Weed clenched his fist.

It was time for crazy hunting.

Acquire items and gain experience. Thanks to his various production skills he could hunt faster and more efficiently.

However, Weed was going to have to wait.

Back in the city of the dark elves there were some uninvited guests waiting.

The pope candidate Alveron and the Paladins from the Church of Freya.

High priests were not allowed to leave the temple without at least 20 bodyguards.

The paladins placed a hand on their chest and bowed to Weed.

“Hello benefactor of the church.”

There were more than 100 paladins present giving him a salute.

“Wow, that’s so cool!”

Such a wonderful sight caught Surka by surprise. The Paladins were lined up in the middle of the day in full uniform. The high priests were also in a solemn posture.

Alveron took a step forwards from the high priests.

“The Church of Freya has ordered us to come and hear Weed’s answer.”

“...”

Weed did not say anything. His party however was making a big fuss.

The Knights of the Church of Freya came to call him out.

“Ah, the Paladins of the Church of Freya!”

Irene and Romuna were amazed.

“They’re here for Weed!”

Once again, Hwaryeong admired Weed.

They had been hunting together, but Weed’s fame was beyond anything they could ever think of.

He was the one who obtain indisputable power in the Continent of Magic.

Then he laid out his own story in the Versailles Continent.

It was thrilling to listen to his stories of adventure!

It was incredible to learn these facts about Weed.

‘To think that the Knight of the Church of Freya would come. It doesn’t matter which church it’s from but it’s got to be someone very high up.’

Maylon looked at Weed like a frightened rabbit.

He had a calm look on his face.

There was a smile on his face but it looked a little bit annoyed.

He was taking something like this on calmly.

‘I really admire Weed. Not even the toughest adventurers would be able to take on those quests.’

Zephyr said with admiration.

“The Church of Freya came all the way out here from the temple just to hear Weed’s response.”

In actuality it was quite different. Weed wanted to run to anywhere that isn’t here. However, the Paladins approached them at a very quick pace and he was completely surrounded.

He forced on a rotten smile.

‘Why did they chase me out here…’

Weed frown at Alveron and said.

“What’s going on?”

“The cold and monster infested land of Morata. Ever since the fight against the True Blood Vampires, Paladins have been dispatched to police the province.”

“So what?”

For some time, Weed had stayed in Morata to combat the True Blood Vampires.

Ice stretched across the desolate land.

At the end the people that were turned to stone were awakened.

“Do you know the history of the North?”

“The north’s history?”

“It’s a very old story that is now long forgotten. The Kingdom of the Niflheim Empire.”

He roughly listened to the story.

‘This sounds like its another difficult quest.’

The side effects of high fame!

Even quests that were refused had to be taken.

“You need to cleanse the Valley of Death and recover the treasure of the Niflheim Empire to restore the King’s honor.”

“Treasure and the King’s honor?”

“That’s right. We need to leave to the North immediately.”

The priests, on Alveron’s command, would teleport them immediately.

To think that a situation like this would force him to stop adventuring!

Weed asked pathetically.

“Am I not allowed to bring companions again?”

He needed to take someone with him so he wouldn’t die alone in the north. They were recklessly heading to the land of ice after all. There was no way he was going to withstand the cold alone.

“You wish to bring your companions?”

“Yes.”

Weed looked back at this party. He looked at them with eyes of reminiscence.

‘The suffering needs to be split! Only the suffering of others brings me comfort.’

Pale and Zephyr’s shuddered.

'Oh no! Please not me…! I wanted to rest if only a little bit.’

‘To be so cruel to your own fellow man!’

On the other hand, Maylon was thrilled and having all sorts of expectations about adventure.

‘This is an adventure! I finally leveled up enough to go on a real adventure! And it’s Weed’s adventure! This adventure is going to shake the entire continent.’

‘I’ll go anywhere Weed says. No matter how tough it was going to be.’

Whether it was the heat or the cold, Hwaryeong was willing to withstand anything if it was with Weed. However, Alveron just shook his head.

“You won’t be able to pick all of them. I think that you’ll only be able to bring one person.”

“One person.”

Weed began to worry about who to bring when Seoyoon walked forward. It was actually Seechwi who firmly pushed her forwards.

“There you go!”

Weed was incredibly scared.

Why is she emitting such killing intent!

He would die if he traveled with her. However, it was hard to openly reject her.

Fear of Seoyoon!

To think about it, Seoyoon was the strongest and the most useful person to bring.

While he was hesitating, Alveron said.

“Well, that determines it. Begin to send us to the north!”

The senior priests triggered the teleport circle formation.

Weed, Seoyoon, the paladins and the priests were covered in a bright light.

* * *

Wah-3!

The angular jawed wyvern roared wildly.

“Kkeueoeuk!”

The Wyvern was mad.

They had to fly around Rhodium when their master went back to the Yuroki Mountains.

Geumini was flying on the back of the Wyverns to the Yuroki Mountains. There was a lot of sunlight so they were getting really hot.

The Wyverns were totally exhausted when they finally arrived at the Yuroki Mountains.

They could smell the fragrant scent of flowers.

Their favorite animals were in the Yuroki Mountains.

Deer and wild boars!

Their favorite food was tasty but not like horse, which they considered a delicacy.

A little inside the Yuroki Mountains, Centaurs would emerge from within.

The lower body of a horse and the upper body of a human.

Since they attacked with bows and spears they were difficult opponents for the Wyverns to raise their levels at.

But then their master left again.

This time to the Northern Continent!

It was much farther away than Rhodium.

“Kkeuruk kkeuruk!”

Wah-1 shivered his neck.

The Wyverns remembered their loyalty to their master.

“Master did give us life.”

“We must watch over our weak Sculptor.”

“The master is incompetent so we must protect him.”

“Let’s go protect our weak master.”

The Wyverns flew into the sky again.

The distant north.

The Wyverns flew in a straight line to the north despite the fact that they did not like the cold climate.

Geumini was gleaming on top of Wah-1.

“Golgolgol!”

* * *

The Cold Roses Expedition!

The 1650 people that were dreaming of the north were now experiencing all sorts of sufferings.

The first scouting party suffered a large ice storm as soon as they got to Ras Hill.

A natural disaster on the Versailles Continent!

The architects took out their shovels and started digging in the middle of the ice storm. It was not very easy to dig through the ice at all. However it was better to work hard instead of dying. The rest of the expedition used their weapons to dig into the ground. However, some of the expedition just stood around watching the ice storm.

“The storm lifts thick pile of snow off the ground into the air.”

“So that explains why pieces of ice and snow are falling from the sky.”

“The ice storm is created even though the sky is clear. So this is an ice and snow storm?”

The wind was gradually increasing, so they calmly waited for the ice storm to approach.

“Protect the body from the cold and prevent them from losing body warmth. Frost resistance!”

Wizards used protection magic.

“I did not think the first thing we would face would be an ice storm.”

“Since I came all the way to the north, there are bound to be good memories.”

“It’ll be a wonderful adventure story that I’ll be proud and willing to tell others.”

Their unknown confidence wasn’t based on anything.

Meanwhile artists, craftsmen, and the majority of the warriors from the expedition hid inside the pit.

“Ack, its cold!”

The cold caused their teeth to chatter!

Gaston could feel the northern chill even though he dug a hole. After a few moments, he caught a glimpse of the turmoil on the ground level.

“Well, this storm…doesn’t it look a bit dangerous? It’s still coming closer and it has tremendous power. The ground is shaking!”

“The wind is rapidly increasing!”

“The temperature is rapidly decreasing.”

“Ice shards! Ahhhh! Ice shards are incoming!”

“Halryun! Halryun is dead!”

“Ah! Help me!”

The terrifying ice storm swept across the Northern Expedition’s vanguard on the Ras Hill.

The cold wind and the ice stacked on repeatedly.

About 4 hours!

The expedition dug holes and had to wait hours in the cold.

Crackle crackle!

Even though Gaston dug a hole, he suffered a severe cold.

He was barely even alive. Most of the artists and craftsmen were weak and they caught colds so they died.

Most of the expedition did not know about the dangers of the north and that they would face something like this.

“I’m dying, it’s so cold.”

“The weather is so cold.”

After a long time, the ice storm passed and ice was thickly piled on top of the hill.

One of by people began to pop up.

“I’m still alive but is it over?”

“It was really cold. I thought that I was going to freeze to death down there.”

“We are literally going to freeze in this cold.”

Gaston cleaned off his face.

The artists, the craftsmen, and the majority of the users recognized the seriousness of the situation so they dug holes and hid in them.

Now they were extremely cold almost froze to death.

But thanks to Pavo, Gaston was able to survive. They managed to survive because Pavo was a good architect and was able to dig a deep hole.

Pavo shoveled as he moved his frozen lips.

“The group was nearly wiped out.”

“I don’t want to get a cold ever again. My hands and feet are still not moving properly.”

Gaston had very weak stamina and his body was shivering. There were small pieces of ice growing on his beard. After the ice storm passed, Ras Hill started to get really busy.

“Check how many people are alive.”

“We need a cleric here now!”

“We have serious patients over here!”

There were only 7 clerics sent with the vanguard. Of those, only 2 survived and they hurried to try and treat the others. However, there were very few who survived. Those who had been confident in their strength tried to stand and resist the ice storm. They had been ruthlessly beaten to death by sharp chunks of ice.

Only 130 people thought of digging up holes!

But even in the pits it was hard for the production classes to bear the cold from the ice storm.

Ferocious winds propel pieces of ice into the holes.

Unless the hole was very deep they would either die or be on the brink of death.

In this situation, the warriors and the knights had fared much better.

Gaston and Pavo from the production classes had nearly died while the majority of the magic professions died.

Eventually at the end of the storm there were only 65 people alive!

“My god! This is only the start and the damage is already huge.”

Kerberos sharpened his eyes.

However, being frustrated had to wait.

“Everyone in the party keep up your strength. We must hold out until the next group arrives.”

The vanguard was exhausted.

The situation was not good for the ones that were left.

“We need to hold out for four hours until the next group arrives. Until then, take it easy. Assassins and rangers should go scout the area.”

“Yes sir.”

“This is going to be merely reconnaisse, do not provoke any monsters.”

Many of the combat series users were either dead or disabled.

They would be unable to fight back if a large number of monsters come on a raid.

Suffering from cold and hunger!

Health and stamina recovery rates were not even half the normal amount.

They had to curl up and suffer until the next group arrives. The scouts from the vanguard cautiously spent their time. All of them were very afraid of monsters appearing. They were fortunate because there weren’t any monster attacks as time passed. Monsters in the north were known to be very strong and violent, but they also had high intellect.

Thanks to the passing ice storm, monster activity was considerably lower so there wouldn’t be any attacks. Some time later, the second group arrived and they began to set up camp. Architects set up temporary homes made out of chunks of ice. Since the houses were made out of ice they would expect it to be cold. Surprisingly enough it was warm because they started a campfire.

“Pile on more wood!”

The ones from the vanguard that survived the ice storm wanted to relax in a safe place.

The expedition started off on the Ras Hill. There was going to be a need to come back here as well as repel attacks from monsters. To do this, it would be helpful to set up a base camp so that they could defend it easier.

However work progress was slow!

The elites from the Cold Roses Guild. Others were envious of the high level players but they were unfamiliar with cutting out ice. They would build poorly made houses that would collapsed when touched. To make matters worse, most of them couldn’t even properly use a shovel. They could be seen shoveling.

They were only familiar with hunting monsters so they were building houses and shoveling for the very first time.

“Move out of the way!”

Geomchi364 was part of the second group to go to Ras Hill and he was holding a shovel.

“Who are you?”

“I’ll show you the proper way of using a shovel. Haah!”

Geomchi364 set the shovel lightly on the ground, then he stepped on it vigorously to transfer his weight onto it.

The way to use a shovel!

Pababarak!

The momentum was fearsome. It was like the shovel was alive and every time it moved shocks would pass through the ground.

The most optimal and efficient way to use a shovel.

“That is how you use a shovel.”

The people in the expedition were forced to nod towards Geomchi364.

It was very easy for Geomchi364 to pile up ice.

They had already done something similar when they were making the pyramid.

Shoveling and bricklaying!

His efficiency was much higher since other people did not have the Construction skill.

Cadmus was working hard to make clothes for the expedition.

“For this kind of weather there needs to be warmer clothing.”

Thermal insulation was needed for dealing with cold temperatures.

They seamstress was forced to make clothing for the entire expedition.

Bards began to play instruments and sing.

Cold winds blowing

Ice is falling on the ground

Even then I love adventurous stories

Adventure and romance on Ras Hill.

More than 10 bards were singing.

It was enough to increase health and stamina.

“Seductive Dance!”

Despite the cold weather, the dancers were wearing bold clothing that showed off their navel and they were dancing.

A passionate and charming dance.

Their presence increased the expedition’s motivation.

The cooks were busy.

“Herbs?”

“We got our hands on a lot of quality materials in Rhodium.”

“No need to hold back on the meat. It needs to be eaten in larger quantities since stamina is going to drop very quickly. Put in plenty of it.”

The chefs made a spicy stew to beat the cold.

It was very helpful since it was just what they needed.

Depp was holding a carving knife and glaring at a chunk of ice. When making a sculpture it was a good idea to have the shape in mind.

Pavo walked over, trembling in the cold.

“You called me Depp?”

“Yes sir.”

Depp politely greeted him.

He was still young and everyone was older than him.

“So what did you want?”

Depp was one of the sculptors so the expedition was wondering what they was doing looking at a chunk of ice.

He answered to Pavo.

“We are trying to make a sculpture.”

“”Sculpture?”

“Yea, that’s right.”

Sculptors were committed to going to harsh environments to make sculptures!

As an architect, Pavo was able to understand.

“Sounds like a lot of work. I’d love to stay and watch but it’s too cold here so if you don’t mind I’m going to return to the expedition.”

“Not at all.”

“I’ll come as soon as you finish the sculpture.”

“Yeah, I’ll come get you.”

Pavo walked through the snow to return to the expedition.

It was just 30 feet away from the hill but a ghastly wind blew.

Pavo had to endure the tough weather with his low health and stamina.

“Well, let’s start.”

Depp was very cold, but he could stand it since there was sculpting material everywhere.

‘The question is if my sculpting skill is good enough.’

In Rhodium, Depp managed to get a lot of fame!

His sculpting skills, however, were only Beginner Level 8.

‘I can’t tell if I’m going to fail unless I try.’

He didn’t give up and continued moving the sculpting knife.

Crunch!

Most sculptures had a defined shape.

Animals, plants, objects.

Up until now, Depp also made sculptures in the form of shapes. However, this time he was going to make something different.

First, he made a normal eagle. An eagle with sharp and clear eyes.

But he made it going for a dive.

It was going to eat delicious food.

The eagle was in an improbable situation.

Because of its speed, the heat turned into flames!

Flames were pouring out of the eagle’s mouth.

At first he only made an eagle, but then he started embellishing on it.

A sculpture about fire!

The eagle with glazing hot flames!

A sculpture of fire that not even a strong wind could put out.

Depp finished up the sculpture of fire as a high gust of wind blew across the Ras Hill.

However, all he could feel was warmth.

The form of fire in ice.

Ttring!

Fine piece! You have completed The Fire of the Continent. The bleak northern lands. Monster filled the icelands. A humble artist’s work was completed in the freezing cold. Unquenchable passion for sculpting. Imaginative use of sculpting solid ice despite rough workmanship. The artists has a certain charm to sculpting. He is relatively unknown so it will be difficult to find his works.

Artistic Value: 340

Options:

- Those that see the Fire of the Continent receive 7% increased health and mana regeneration.

- 15% increased cold resistance.

- Resistance to magic increases.

- Campfires last longer.

- Increases the power of fire related species.

- Does not overlap with other sculptures.

The number of fine pieces completed up till now: 1

- Sculpting skills have improved.

- Fame has increased by 320.

- Art has increased by 56.

- Stamina has increased by 4.

Depp was startled when he finished the sculpture.

“I…I did it!”

It was the first fine piece he had made in his entire life.

The sculpture that Depp made was like rain in the middle of a drought for the expedition.

The expedition was shocked when they saw the sculpture.

“You went and created an ice sculpture! It’s the first time I’ve seen a sculpture this awesome.”

“Moreover, the cold has been reduced by a lot.”

“I think I’m going to be able to live now!”

“My abnormals status is going back to normal.”

The extreme cold that was plaguing the expedition was changed.

People did not expect much when the artists and craftsmen joined the expedition.

That together they would make things a little better? They did not believe that the artists and craftsmen had the ability to do so. It was the same for the sculptors. It was very hard and laborious work. They did not have very good attack power and they didn’t earn money well.

A lot of artists live their lives in poverty in Rhodium and sculptors were not recognized either.

Sculptures were considered a trifling sight.

“You have talent in sculpting.”

“From now on, we need sculptors.”

“Wouldn’t that be nice?”

Sculptors were a profession that could overcome harsh environments. That was the fantasy that was planted into sculpting now. Artists could show off their skills anywhere.

They were an occupation that could show off the skills from a wide variety of fields.

Finally, Oberon joined the expedition on Ras Hill.

All 1650 users were gathered in the north.

Before, the production classes were ignored by the expedition. Now they were actually coming with them to the north. It was thanks to their active participation in the expedition.

Oberon nodded his head at the way the expedition had changed.

“The way people were chosen is really well done.”

Kerberos scratched his face and laughed.

“I had a funny feeling when I accepted them. Hunting now will be a lot easier now since we picked up people for the expedition in Rhodium.”

They were usually considered bad classes but now they were really impressive.

“We ought to include sculptors on the next expedition.”

Oberon had not expected much from the artists.

The expedition finally began to move in earnest.

Oberon dispatched the expedition in all directions.

Ten different teams were sent from the expedition!

A group of adventurers, knights, and clerics among others found a nearby village.

They obtained information and the opportunity to receive quests from the village.

The expedition would be risking their lives against the monsters in the northern continent. However, even if things did go well, they chose not to do it.

They could not imagine what they would do if they ran out of stamina in the cold or starve to death without food.

They wandered through the ice and the snow. Some of the wizards were specialized in ice magic.

“Ice Bolt!”

Due to the weather, their magic was much more powerful that before.

They, however, received strong opposition.

“Stop using ice magic!”

“Are you trying to freeze and kill us?”

They were the knights and warriors that tasted death by freezing.

There were monsters in the north that had a high tolerance to cold and were stronger in combat that they would think.

Ice cave!

A group of adventurers were able to find an ice cave. They were able to enter after breaking the ice that was blocking the entrance.

“There seems to be something in there.”

“Let’s check it out.”

A number of the expedition died because they didn’t know that they were heading towards fearsome monsters. The ice monsters were able to maximize their strength in the cold weather against the expedition. Some of them were barely able to conquer dungeons and find a little treasure but it was hardly worth it. After suffering for 10 day, discontent broke out.

“It’s been nothing but suffering.”

“I’ve already died twice.”

“There’s too much snow on the ground and I can barely walk.”

No matter where they went, the snow went up to their knees. To make matters worse, the horses that the expedition had prepared had frozen and died. Needless to say, they were tired and reached the end of the rope!

“I’m just going to close my eyes.”

“It’s too far to walk without knowing the exact location.”

People became tired of the tedious and painful expedition one after another.

They were looking forwards to adventure and fighting, but instead they were starving and deliberately avoiding monsters.

They couldn’t tell which monsters were strong or weak.

That was because of the lack of information.

They dispatched a group to gather information about the surrounding area but contact with them had broken off.

“I’m better off just going back.”

“I’m sick of this.”

They were divided and confused!

Each guild began to branch off and do their own activities. Although it was the Cold Roses Guild that led the expedition, they had already lost many because of lack of trust. The expedition was going to rapidly collapse. It was on the verge of collapse because everyone was doing whatever they pleased. Many of the mid-level players that made up the expedition had also failed to come back.

Chapter 9: Valley of Death

*Whiiing!*

Shortly after he opened his eyes, Weed walked out of the Teleport Gate and found himself inside a cave. Cold wind blew in from the cave’s entrance.

“Uu, Cold!”

It was a situation he had to get used to every day!

Due to having experience shivering in the cold, he could be unfazed by strong, cold winds.

“Looks like I had to return to this place eventually.”

The North.

He ended up coming to this harsh place with Seoyoon.

Weed changed his clothes quickly to avoid catching a cold.

It was clothing made from the furry leather of the Yetis!

It did not look all that appealing from the outside, but it provided good insulation.

‘Being warm in the winter really is the best.’

Some people tried to look cool by wearing light clothing.

Weed looked upon those people and laughed at them.

‘They’re going where while wearing clothing like that?’

Traditionally, thicker clothes were the best. Warm clothes that did not let any cold air in.

New clothing made from good, light materials had to change as fashion moved on.

However, the clothing he wore was very special.

Clothing stuffed with a lot of fur and cotton!

It resembled the clothing that the older men who sailed on the boats near beaches wore. It was the thickest clothing. Because the clothing is thick and durable, you can wear it every year.

As a negative side effect, one would never appear to be young while wearing clothes like these!

The first time in his life, he had been called an "old man" while he was out on his milk delivery route.

It was a painful memory filled with shock, something he would never want to recall.

“Cough.”

As Weed searched his surroundings, he found Alveron and Seoyoon.

The pope-candidate Alveron. It was comforting to travel with him due to his high level and his knowledge of higher-tier divine magic.

Without Alveron, it would have been impossible to win against the True Blood Vampire Clan.

This time, he had to rely on both Alveron and Seoyoon in order to complete the quest.

Weed faced Alveron and gave him an order.

“It’s cold. For now, see if you can get a campfire going.”

“Yes.”

After Alveron politely answered, he gathered some nearby wood and started a fire. Kind and pure Alveron fulfilled his orders without complaint.

Meanwhile, Seoyoon’s lips turned a deep blue.

Alveron was wearing a robe that did not allow the elements through, because he was a candidate for papacy. Weed was similarly wearing Yeti leather, which let him withstand the cold to some extent.

However, Seoyoon did not have specially insulating clothing, so she could only remain exposed to the full brunt of the extreme cold.

Weed pulled out sewing equipment and materials from his backpack.

Since he had no choice but to travel with Seoyoon, he was going to make her some clothes. Luckily, there were some materials leftover from making the Geomchis’ clothes.

Weed cut the leather and, with more care than usual, began sewing.

*Ttiring!*

Women’s Leather Clothes:

Durability 80/80

Defense 25Clothing made from a long-lived black boar.

A tailor with great insight made this clothing using intermediate sewing materials.

Since this clothing is not thick, it allows natural movement of the arms and legs and is comfortable to be active.

Requirements:

- Level 250

Options :

- Agility +20

- Arrows are harder to detect.

- When worn by Dancers, effect of dancing increases by 3%.

Weed finished sewing the clothing, and held it out to Seoyoon.

“Please...wear this.”

All while trying to force the unnatural politeness!

The clothing that Weed made was average leather clothing. It was something that one could wear underneath heavy armor.

While the wizard and priest classes lacked the strength to do so, the classes that could wear heavy armor usually wore leather armor in addition to that, resulting in an even more exceptional defense.

He made the clothes using Seoyoon’s measurement, which he already knew in advance.

However, Seoyoon did not take the clothes.

“…”

She fixedly stared at the clothes that Weed held out for her.

A thought passed through Weeds mind.

‘She must have some difficulty receiving it from an acquaintance.’

There was a time when they traveled together for a number of days while he was the orc Karichwi, but Seoyoon was unaware of that fact. Since she only recalled meeting him while eating barbeque at the Instructor’s log cabin, it was understandable.

With those thoughts, Weed smiled favorably towards her.

“It’s okay. You may wear it. Since it was made particularly for your use, please hurry up and take it.”

However, Seoyoon shook her head without saying anything.

‘Why is she behaving like that?’

Weed, puzzled, followed her line of vision. Seoyoon was expressionlessly looking at the Yeti leather clothing he was wearing.

‘No way…!’

The fleeting thought that passed in a second!

Weed investigated Seoyoon’s location. She was right in front of the campfire. She was so close to the fire that if she moved a little closer she would burn.

‘She must hate the cold. That means the reason why she refuses to wear this is...’

The reason she refused was not that she found accepting the favor to be difficult. She was silently demanding the slightly warmer clothing.

The clothing that Weed made properly reflected the exposure of women’s clothing, and he did not layer it in to reduce the amount of materials used.

She keenly observed this and wanted different clothes.

Weed had no choice but to make her a new set of clothes. Using the leftover materials, he added on some layers and eliminated the exposed areas of the clothing to make thicker clothes.

It was at this point that Seoyoon grabbed the clothes and went behind a boulder to change.

After somehow completing the preparations for weathering the cold, Weed turned to ask Alveron a question.

“Where is the Valley of Death?”

“It’s known as the Sendeim Valley.”

“It has an original name. Is that place also related to the Undead Army?”

Weed asked the question because most of the high-ranking quests he received had involved the Undead Army in some way.

However, Alveron shook his head.

“The Church is investigating the Undead Army that Bar Khan controlled. They revealed that this quest and the Undead Army are not related. It involves the ancient Niflheim Empire. You should be able to obtain more information on the Sendeim Valley from the Morata Village’s Elder.”

“I see.”

Weed went to the outside of the cave.

A large darkness was visible in the distance.

It was the Morata Castle, where he fought against the True Blood Vampires.

It seemed as though they splendidly renovated the houses in the outskirts of the manor, which were ruins in the past. The residents were also moving about here and there.

“Then let’s go.”

Weed trudged towards the village of Morata.

Alveron and Seoyoon followed him.

The village residents welcomed him warmly.

“Warrior! We welcome your return to this place. We will never forget the grace by which you saved our lives.”

With the completion of the quest, the village revived.

Weed was the village’s best contributor! Thanks to that, he could receive a lot of favor from the village residents. Weed began by seeking the Elder.

The largest house that, in the past, was completely destroyed so that not even a skeleton could be found was repaired and became the Elder’s house.

Inside the house, the wood in the fireplace was burning, spreading a warm atmosphere.

“Warrior, I sincerely thank you for revisiting us in these hard times. “

“I wanted to come again even if that wasn’t the case. I’m glad to see that you and the village residents are doing well.”

“It’s thanks to the protection of Freya’s knights and priests.”

Monster infested villages could become invaded at any time.

As in the case of Baran village, monsters could kidnap people and force them to become their slaves. However, thanks to the efforts of the Church of Freya, this village became safe.

The Elder brought out a basket laden with sweet potatoes that were puffing with steam.

“As it so happened to be, it’s about dinner time; would you care to join?”

“I won’t refuse.”

Weed sat down at the table and began to peel the sweet potatoes.

Seoyoon also sat down next to him and quietly began peeling sweet potatoes and eating them.

In the past, there was a time they also ate together like this in the Instructor’s log cabin.

‘Every time we meet, we seem to end up eating something together. If we’re this tied together, could it be fate?’

The sweet potatoes that they put into a campfire and grilled. The sweet potato eaten at night was puffy with steam and had an aesthetic golden meat.

Weed took a mouthful of the sweet potato.

It was savory while being sweet!

‘It would’ve been perfect if I had some kimchi to go with this.’

He had enough proficiency in cooking to make some kimchi. He also had the necessary ingredients.

However, it was impossible to start marinating kimchi when one wanted to eat it. That was why special foods, such as kimchi, usually sold at exceedingly high prices.

Because it became a widely spread universal food that even the Westerners could eat, it was available in most restaurants.

People loved to eat kimchi to the point where chefs would learn how to make it first.

Weed diligently peeled and ate the sweet potatoes. Ever since coming to the North, there was very little to eat, so they were in a hungry state.

Alveron tried to eat politely at first, but he started to eat hastily. After he started traveling with Weed, he began to gain an appreciation for food.

The basket filled with sweet potatoes began to rapidly empty.

Weed and Alveron did most of the eating, but the amount Seoyoon was putting away was also substantial. It was then that Weed looked at the Elder’s expression.

A mooch must always gauge the state of his benefactor in order to live and eat.

The glaring eyes and the furrowed brows!

Unsurprisingly, he was feeling sensitive about the dwindling amount of sweet potatoes.

Weed put the sweet potato down and asked a question.

“I want to hear more information on the Sendeim Valley.”

Even without receiving a quest, the Valley of Death offered monsters to hunt and treasures to find. However, it is better to obtain one because it offers necessary information and rewards.

The Elder looked out of the far window, as if to throw away the attachment he had to the sweet potatoes. A layer of white snow covered the entire view.

“Are you aware of the past glory of our Niflheim Empire?”

“No, I’m not aware of it.”

Weed had separately studied the history of the Versailles continent. It was the stories of the rise and fall of each kingdom and their respective heroes.

If he comprehended the background stories, it would help with obtaining important quests. However, in this kind of situation, it was better to feign ignorance. That way, one could hear more stories, and it could serve as an important hint to another question. The Elder made a sad face.

The diminishing sweet potatoes might have had a big part in that sadness. He could be regretting the invitation he extended to Weed and his party.

“When we were caught in that evil curse that left us petrified, the Niflheim Empire was still a thriving nation. It wasn’t as cold as it is now, and it was very suitable for living in. I was one of the Niflheim Empire’s border aristocrats.”

It could be said that all of the village residents in the Morata province were important people to the history. If seen from another view, it as an important village that had no choice but to contain many quests.

If the North became explored in earnest, the village would become completely crowded with adventurers.

“However, due to a sudden invasion of monsters at the capital when I was young, the residents faced annihilation. When the emperor, who swore always to live honorably, had to put his life at stake, he became cowardly and abandoned the capital while fleeing with his guards. The monsters left to chase after the fleeing emperor, and there were rumors that they eventually caught up and captured him. The place where this occurred was the Sendeim Valley.”

“The emperor must have died by now.”

“Yes he would have likely died by now. Due to the cowardly death of the emperor, the empire lost its constitutionality and shattered, while the nobles entered a power struggle that consumed them all. However, these are all simply uncertain rumors! We can’t find out the truth. That’s why we’d like to find out the truth, whatever it may be, of what happened back then.

*Ttiring!*

Truth and GloryThe Niflheim Empire produced many stories of glory, which became broken. Emperor Eben Niflheim VI was an outstanding knight, and was a warrior who did not know the meaning of retreat. However, he was condemned for being unable to maintain his chivalry in the face of his death.

Found out the true history of events that occurred in the Sendeim Valley.

Difficulty: A

Reward:

- The treasure of the Niflheim Empire

Quest Requirements:

- Only righteous may take this quest.

- Must be able to withstand the extreme cold.

Another quest with a difficulty of “A” rank appeared.

Weed breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Still, it’s lucky that it’s only an ‘A’ rank.’

His thanks that it was only an “A” ranked quest, and not the “S” ranked quest that was only known to exist, swept through his body.

Weed furtively glanced at Seoyoon.

Clear eyes and an unblemished and translucent skin.

She, who had the beauty that would make people hesitate to call her pretty out of fear for disrespect. She was exuding a mystical charm that was hard to describe.

Although she was wearing the simple leather clothes that Weed made, she radiated elegance. Seoyoon had the kind of absolute beauty that could turn any clothing into a luxurious masterwork.

However, all Weed could see was a simple brawler.

‘Even though it looks like I received another hard quest this time, since I have a person who could help, it’ll be alright.’

Judging by what he saw, Seoyoon’s combat ability was no joke. Powerful skill, outrageous vitality, indefatigable stamina, and even surprising damage!

As one of the combat classes, it could be said that only the strengths were gathered and put together.

Although there players, like Weed or the Geomchis, who also displayed outstanding melee abilities, it was not bad to rely on the class’ skills.

The flexible and gentle movements that were unique to women.

Combined with flawless execution of the high-end skills!

It was a faster and safer way of hunting, if one had the mana.

On top of that, as Seoyoon engaged in a fight, her mood shifted. With her eyes glittering while she fought, it was the specialty of the Berserker class.

As a Berserker, whenever a monster was killed, health and mana were replenished. While the amount was negligible, but if one were to fight in a place with many monsters, the results were overwhelmingly different.

If the Martial Artist class the Geomchis chose was strong against small groups of enemies, then the Berserker class was specialized for defeating multiple monsters without rest.

Since that Seoyoon was with him, Weed could feel much less pressure from the quest.

“I will go to the Sendeim Valley and investigate once I arrive.”

You accepted the quest.

After readily accepting the quest, the Elder became very friendly.

“Thank you. That you’re willing to do such a hard task for us...”

“It’s nothing. It was something I had to do. Rather, I want to apologize for being unable to come to visit sooner. If, in the future, there are any more difficult tasks, please look for me.”

Hunting was great, but quest rewards were also valuable!

Since he could make money off the ad revenue from uploading it to the Hall of Fame or entering into a contract with a broadcasting station, it was a good proposition.

In order to raise the intimacy sufficiently higher, he used the situation. As if to demonstrate the substantial effect it had, the Elder’s face showed admiration for the younger man.

“Until now, those who wanted to learn the truth dispatched an innumerable amount of expeditions and knights, but none of them returned. After that, the Sendeim Valley came to be known as the Valley of Death.”

“...”

After hearing the Elder’s words, Weed wanted to scream.

‘Aren’t you supposed to tell me those kinds of secrets ahead of time?!’

However, the truth was this level of difficulty was to be expected of a rank “A” difficulty quest. Since he always started from the ground up, he had nothing to fear. There was no reason to change his mind after coming this far. The Elder continued speaking.

“Then, this person will also come along, right?”

He was referring to Seoyoon.

The girl who was making a face that was colder than the cold North!

However, in order to receive the shared quest, she needed to join the party.

Weed extended a hand.

“Please join my party.”

You invited Seoyoon-nim to the party.

Because she had joined another party as though they were merging when she was with Seechwi, it was her first time getting an individual invitation to join a party.

However, Seoyoon just stayed as she was.

Weed began to have a sense of foreboding.

‘There’s no way she’d refuse to join the party after coming this far, right?’

It could turn into a situation where she would not accept the quest and left Weed to suffer by himself!

He began to think there was a good possibility of it happening.

Of course, Seoyoon was not as cold a person as she seemed on the outside.

Although she liked fighting, she was not greedy. One could tell that from observing how she did not fight a monster unless it attacked her first, even if it was a rare monster that came out once per day and dropped a good item.

However, Seoyoon was completely indifferent to these things.

As much as she never uttered a single word while following the orc Karichwi around, she could have ignored Weed’s quest.

As Weed was getting nervous, Seoyoon, herself, lightly put her hand on top of Weed’s.

You have gained a new member in your party.

Even Seoyoon could not understand her emotions. That she would be travelling like this with a stranger, and an unfamiliar man at that, was unthinkable.

While this happened thanks to the unknowing Seechwi’s encouragement, even taking that into consideration, if the person did not want it they would have separated here.

‘Strangely, I’m not uncomfortable.’

Seoyoon became puzzled.

That was the person she had only ever met in the Instructor’s log cabin. However, for some reason, he exuded a familiar feeling.

* * *

Ever since she hunted with Seechwi’s other colleagues she felt this feeling.

"Lee Rien, hurry up with Seoyoon’s treatment!" (Lee Rien is the name of the nurse treating her.)

Seoyoon did not speak a word. Even if you say that her health was deteriorating, she could not express it in words.

Whenever that happened after battles, Weed always made sure that they had spare time, so that she could receive her treatment.

Whenever the fights ended, he applied bandages and repaired armor and weapons.

There was also a time in the past when she had this feeling.

The feeling she got when she travelled with orc Karachwi at the Yunopu Gorge.

Orc Karachwi, whose face was appallingly ugly, but whose eyes were good-natured.

Even the way they repaired weapons was very similar.

She did not talk; she carefully observed the facial expressions and eyes every time she saw someone. Although she never engaged in conversation, she was able to determine people’s moods and temperaments because of her observations.

At that moment she felt the same vibe coming from Weed that she felt from Karichwi

Seoyoon didn't understand Weed's intentions, but she knew it was him who took the appearance of Karichwi, who observed and protected her.

Although it is not always accurate, she trusted her feelings and instincts. Which was why she chose to travel with with.

* * *

After Weed left the Elder’s house, he walked around the Morata Village and gathered information. The villagers and Freya’s Paladins and Priests became his goal. The Freya’s Priests had remained in Morata Village in order to protect it.

For now, Weed was gathering supplies for the journey and was asking the storeowners about information on the Sendeim Valley.

“Sendeim Valley? It’s a place that became better known as the Valley of Death. They say that there are a lot of monsters there.”

“Can you tell me what kind of monsters?”

“Hmm... There will probably be some Ice Trolls. The Ice Trolls often gather in places like the Valley of Death.”

Ice Troll!

They have an amazing ability to regenerate health, and since their ability to use the extreme cold is great, they are not easy monsters to fight against.

However, Weed would not cower at this level of danger.

Whatever the case, they could hunt the Ice Trolls by luring them one at a time as long as it was a valley and not a dungeon. It might take a long time, but using bait to lure them one by one and beating them was not an impossible task.

Of course, there would probably some viciously strong ones, but since that was a daily occurrence, they had no reason to fear.

‘Ice Troll blood sells for a lot. It offers better effects than most common medicinal herbs, and it can also be used to make potions.’

Weed, who tried to estimate a value for everything!

He was not scared of strong monsters; he was scared of monsters that only dropped leather. In fact, he found nothing to be as horrific as a monster that dropped only cheap leathers.

‘If it’s a valley, the landmarks will be extremely important.’

If you could shoot an arrow from one side of the valley to the other, it could turn out to be a much easier hunt than expected.

However, if the Ice Trolls dominated the upper portion of the valley and expanded their territory, then it may be much more challenging.’

Weed had no information on their territory.

A mission to recapture the monster’s domain!

There was no other way besides having an effective siege.

The situation was different than fighting the True Blood Vampire Clan with Alveron and a few Freya's Paladins in the past.

Back then, the number of vampires was small, and there wasn't a feeling of a siege.

Even though Weed used different words to ask the residents, he received the same information.

“If you’re looking for the Valley of Death, it’s quite far from here. At best, it’ll take 1 month of travel. Why does it take so long to get there? That’s because the Niflheim Empire’s territory is vast.”

“Ice Troll? Of course, there should be some Ice Trolls. However, it’s not only the monsters you need to be wary of. This is a story I heard from my grandfather, but there is supposed to be a treasure storehouse in there. That’s why there will be much more dangerous hazards.

Monsters and the chances of dying to the myriad of traps!

“They say that some kind of terrible feeling spills out from there every morning. Due to that, even some flora cannot grow near the Valley of Death.”

“There have been people who also spotted something that was pure white and flying around near the Valley of Death.”

“I don’t know very well, but they say that the flying thing was enormous. They say that the body alone was over 300 meters long. Since it’s so unbelievable the people who saw it must have mistaken the length.”

The Freya's Paladins also had something to say.

“The Valley of Death? That place is very dangerous. Monsters other than Ice Trolls also gather there.”

“From the church’s investigation, it seems likely that it’s a place that’s congested with monsters.”

“Given how many monsters gather there, no matter who saw it they would say that it could only be an unusual situation. There must be a boss monster leading the others. It can’t be a normal monster since it has been leading the other monsters for several hundreds of years, so you must pay extra care. It would behoove you to avoid the boss monster at all costs.”

“Since the blessing of the Goddess Freya is with you, may your courage remain unfaltering.”

As Weed was gathering the information, he got a general picture of the situation in the Valley of Death.

The Paladins from the Church of Freya usually did not falter over typical matters.

If these Paladins were wary enough of this boss monster to be frightened, then there was no doubt that it was a very high level.

‘It probably won’t be easy.’

However, one must experience everything firsthand in order to gain an accurate understanding of it. There was no need to feel diminished when you were not even sure of anything in the first place.

‘There must be some way through this.’

Even with the information on the Valley of Death, there was no way to obtain more details in the nearby villages. In places that were widely separated like this it was impossible to obtain anything other than very simple information.

While he was taking Seoyoon and Alveron around Morata Village in this way, Weed met a small girl.

Prina!

It was the little girl who was turned into a statue by the Vampire Lord Tori.

The small and cute Prina was carrying a small bag.

“Hey old man, you’re the one that saved me, right?”

That old man title he had no choice but to hear often.

However, Weed smiled widely.

“That’s right. I’m glad to see that you’re up and about.”

“Thank you. I think that being turned into stone is a very sad thing. The heart doesn’t beat, blood doesn’t flow, the body that hardens and becomes a prison to your body...Oh! Do you happen to have an interest in flowers?”

“Flowers?”

Of course, Weed had no interest in flowers. However, he would never answer like that.

“Flowers have a good scent. I love the peaceful scene of butterflies and honeybees hovering around beautifully blossoming flowers. There’s no pleasure like lying in a field of grass and taking in the refreshing air.”

This was Weed, who would become immersed in hunting in a dark dungeon while only carrying a torch.

A dungeon with stale air, disgusting smells, and unknown things appearing the further one travels. Weed found pleasure in hunting like a maniac in places like that.

It was a depraved sensitivity!

However, he always showed care when dealing with Prina. It was because he did not want to shatter the dreams of a little girl yet.

Prina became happy while clapping her hands.

“Is that so? That’s great. Then will you listen to a small favor of mine?”

“Speak your will.”

“I heard that you were headed to the Valley of Death. Do you think you could sow some seeds there? If only the flowers of hope would bloom in the place where the aura of evil and death gather. Looking after these small seeds until the bloom into flowers will take a lot of effort. If they do blossom, then my newly-made friend would be happy.”

*Ttiring!*

Prina’s FlowerThe little girl who loves to cultivate the land, sow seeds, and watch them sprout through the ground wants to be a farmer in the future.

If you sow the little girl’s seeds and nurture the plants so that they repaint the Sendeim Valley, the little girl will be forever happy and introduce you to her friend.

Difficulty: A

Reward:

Introduction to Prina’s friend.

The plants that sprout from the sown seeds.

Quest Requirements:

Must have a particular amount of care and vigilance in order to protect the flowers from monsters and let them grow in safety.

Weed looked at the seeds that Prina held out with a huge sense of devastation.

The burlap bag that the little girl was dragging about! It was filled to the brim with seeds.

It was an amount that was hard to count.

It was a request to make a field of flowers with this at the Valley of Death.

The ambition of the little girl who wanted to cover the entire world with flowers!

‘It’s an extremely difficult request.’

It was a hobby to plant a few cluster of flowers.

If the quest was only getting hundreds of seeds to bloom, then it would be hard, but possible. However, if the number was in the tens, hundreds of thousands, then this was not a typical job.

In addition, that he had to protect the flowers from the monsters while they were growing made this a formidable task.

‘I have to sow these seeds in the Valley of Death. I get why it’s difficulty is “A” rank.’

Weed was about to shake his head and refuse. Setting aside the issue the high difficulty, it seemed as though there would be many tedious tasks. Suddenly, the quietly following Seoyoon grabbed the burlap bag that contained the seeds.

“Thanks, big sister!”

The party member Seoyoon has accepted the quest.

Seoyoon was always like that. She had not verbally accepted even a single quest, but she never refused someone’s request.

In the end, Weed had no choice and accepted the quest.

“I also love to plant seeds and cultivate the land. Thanks for requesting such a pleasant task.”

You have accepted the quest.

His face was crying, but he was forcing a smile!

It became a rotten smile as time wore on.

* * *

Lee Hayan registered on Royal Road filled with expectations.

She chose her character name to be Yurin.

It was a cute, youthful, and feminine name. It was definitely not a name that was meant to be youthful.

Yurin was an abbreviation of sorts.

Human Rights Violation!

“Monsters! I will defeat them all.”

Yurin wanted to earn a lot of money. She also liked to gather as many items as possible. Since she had a lot of time before she could attend university, she intended to work hard and raise her levels.

Yurin selected Rhodium as her starting city. It was because she had the expectation that, if she was lucky, she might be able to meet Weed.

“Does anyone want to hunt with us in front of the village?”

“We’re looking for a Minister.”

“I’m a sculptor who is looking for a party. I have a 7 damage sculpting knife.”

“I’m a level 35 Bard who has the “Song of Healing” and wants to join a party. It would be ideal to find a party that will hunt for about a week.”

The people were crowding Rhodium’s central square as usual.

There were many beggars to one side, but there were also people looking for parties in some spots.

On the other hand, there were thousands of people who flocked the plaza where there were beautiful sculptures dressed in various costumes. There were many third-year high school students you just passed University exams; wearing beginner clothes and staring wide-eyed.

However, Weed had unfortunately left Rhodium by this point.

Yurin thought that it was for the best.

“Good. It doesn’t matter. I didn’t want to start the game by owing anyone, anyway.”

Yurin rolled up her sleeves and looked for a job to make money. When one starts to play Royal Road, they cannot leave the city for the first 4 weeks.

She wanted to make some money during this time.

“We’re looking for help in a restaurant who is deeply interested in cooking."

“My child loves books. Is there someone who will read to him about cool heroes?”

“Hm, Lately, there have been too many flies in my store. Do you think you could catch flies for 5 hours for me? I’ll compensate you with 20 copper.”

This was about the level that Yurin could find work for.

Like Weed, she also quietly hit scarecrows to train. However, the stats that she raised also resulted in training her body.

‘I should become a pretty female mage.’

The magician that Yurin wanted to become was an omnipotent mage.

They used large-scale, wide area-of-effect magic in order to turn hundreds of monsters to dust. The mages that could call upon rain in dry lands, destroy mountainsides, and studied highly offensive spells!

Note:

The Valley of Death is called "Sendeim Valley"

Chapter 1: Night in Morata

As the moon emerged in the night sky, Weed was stirring with a ladle.

In the past, the True Blood Vampire Clan inhabited the bleak and luxurious black giant castle in the background, but now he was cooking in the middle of Morata village.

In the north, traveling in the night was no better than suicide.

Because he didn’t know the area very well, it was best not to move around and risk stumbling into strong monsters. It was also much more tiring to endure the cold, during the night.

Even though he had eaten the sweet potatoes he was given by the village elder, the fullness bar was gradually disappearing. Thus, Weed decided to cook some food in Morata.

'Better make some nice, hot food that can defeat the cold.'

The meat of the various beast he had hunted in the Yurokina Mountains, vegetables and seasonings were all mixed to make a soup!

'Mixing makes it much more delicious.'

The open-air fire burned majestically, with a pot hanging above it to be used for boiling the broth.

Depending on the fire, the food can be prepared in numerous ways.

Weed started slicing the meat, before dropping it into the pot.

As soon as he dropped the toppings into the broth, it changed to a reddish colour.

A spicy smell exploded into the area.

*Gulp*

He saw the Pope candidate, swallow his saliva. Even though he was a priest of Freya, it was hard for him to resist his appetite in that situation.

'This time I will be able to give you some real cooking for a change.' Weed thought as he glanced a look at Seoyoon. She was squatting next to the fire, watching the broth boil.

In the past, they had never had time to cook any meals properly, as they were always in a hurry to get back to the Yurokina Mountains.

Being an Orc decreased his craftings skills tremendously.

As Karichwi the Orc, his dexterity was also weakened a little, which also affected his cooking skill. It was however sufficient for grilling meat.

Seoyoon delightedly ate the grilled meat.

'Previously whenever we met each other, we were so busy hunting that I didn’t get an opportunity to cook. We just ate the bread that I had made beforehand. Therefore, even if it’s this meal, it might still appease her.'

'Through the means of this meal I could apologize to Seoyoon.'

Paladins and Priests started gathering around the place where Weed was cooking.

The paladins started exerting divine power, in order to keep a straight face! The noble priests drooled at the look of the mixed soup. The ideal of maintaining dignity was lost in front of a temptation this big.

Then the villagers of Morata started to come out of their houses, even though Weed had thought they were sleeping.

“This savory smell……”

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I smelled anything this good.”

The villagers started to stare at the pot with greedy eyes. The children were grabbing their stomachs.

Weed shook his head.

'I can’t give this to anyone.'

'To obtain the seasonings and cooking ingredients costs money. Therefore I have no intention of handing any of it over.'

At this moment, the children started to cry.

“Mom, I’m hungry!”

“Bear with it for a little longer. Your father’s going to be home soon.”

“Is it grass again?”

“Yes, he said he’ll be going a bit south of here where you can easily pick up good tree bark and grass roots, so just wait a little longer.”

“WAAAH!!!”

The children burst into tears.

Even though Morata was no longer in ruins, it was still really poor. Due to the cold they could not grow crops, and since it was inhospitable like the towns in the areas around it, trade wasn’t improving either.

The town was just barely scraping by!

It wasn’t truly dead, but only by living off the distributions from the church of Freya, did the village manage to survive.

In actuality, for the village elder to hand out the sweet potatoes was an astounding act of kindness.

Weed frowned.

'Why did we, out of all the places have to come somewhere this poor.'

Memories of barely being able to feed the paladins in the past started to surface.

'I struggled so much in order to fill their bellies. If this had been a normal situation I wouldn’t even have been noticed.'

However, the children were starving.

In the past, there had also been a time when Weed had starved. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to eat, but because rice had run out. Therefore, without any other options, he had just clutched his stomach.

After such an experience, even though he could endure many other things, he couldn’t endure hunger.

With tears of regret he called the children over.

“Hey kids, I think the cooking is all done. You can come and eat now.”

“Can we really eat it?”

“Of course. This uncle put a lot of effort into making it, just so I could give it to you...”

“Thank you!”

Because Weed had put plenty of rice and herbs into the mixed soup, there was enough to be divided.

“Wow! Wow!”

Because the children had already been starving for a few days, they ate the meal very fast.

The villagers also slowly walked up to the fire. They were too proud to say it, but their faces gave off a touching expression, showing that they would be very happy if they were given food.

Weed was very conflicted with this.

'If I want to feed them all, a great supply of ingredients and seasoning is required, and I don’t want to personally provide that.'

However you looked at it, it was a huge loss. Making food for everyone would mean spending a great deal of money.

'If only I hadn’t learned cooking... then I wouldn’t be in this troublesome situation.'

Until now, he hadn’t regretted learning the cooking skill.

However, the villagers of Morata were severely starving.

'At least I’ll be recognized, and relieve my conscience. I was confident that I would live without these kind of situations. However, the paladins and priests of Freya are watching.'

Alveron came and said “In this difficult situation you made food, and gave it away. You are a very good person.”

“...”

“Even if you only have a single proper meal, it will bring you hope. Hope that anything can be achieved. If you don’t have hope in your hearts, it will be as if you are dead. Devotion and hope brings will. I, the paladins, the priests and the Morata villagers will never forget the kindness you have shown us.

“...”

Weed wanted to find a way to stop Alveron’s mouth from prattling on.

The priests and paladins had great respect for him.

Benefactor of the village, and the great adventurer who found the holy treasures of Freya!

Weed’s eyes began to tremble.

'There will eventually be some damages, so it might as well be here.'

Avoiding to spend money now was impossible, so there was no need to stand idle.

Weed smiled brightly as he stirred the soup.

“If there is anything I can do to increase the prosperity and peace of the continent of Versailles, of course I will do it.”

“Now that is a true response from Weed.”

Alveron’s, the paladins’ and the priests’ respect for Weed increased even further.

Weed pulled out all the food ingredients he had. He took out all the meat, grass and vegetables he got from hunting in the Yuroki Mountains.

“Just wait a little bit longer, then I’ll cook up some food that will fill your stomachs.”

With all of the ingredients, Weed started to cook.

Anchovies boiled moderately, thick gravy seasoning mix to create a broth, and he put in plenty of meat into the stew.

Whenever the soup was distributed he could feel his heart breaking.

Trickling.

Out of Weed’s two eyes tears were coming out.

“It’s Saint Weed’s tears!”

“Weed would even shed tears for us.”

“He’s the real deal, doing this for the peace of the continent.”

The surprised villagers of Morata exclaimed.

The tears that trickled down were tears for the precious of loss of money, but the villagers had misunderstood.

'My precious money.'

Weed impatiently pulled out a small piece of paper, and quickly wrote on it.

For the villagers of Morata that were starving I have cooked them food using luxurious ingredients. Consumption amounts:

Seasoning: 7 Gold 47 Silver 98 Cooper

Currently the average price of meat in the Versailles Continent: 38 Gold 80 Silver 7 Copper

Various vegetables: 9 Gold 10 Silver

The effort to cook the food 20

He wrote down the value of food ingredients he used to feed the residents of Morata.

Weed beat the ground with grief.

‘In order to recover the amount I have spent I would have to work harder.’

By looking at the expenditure statement he resolved to work harder and make more money. 'From now on I’m going to hunt even if I’m tired. When I’m doing a quest and if I ever want to pull out, I can look at this statement and get strength from it.'

The purpose was not only this.

I could not sit still while doing such a good job. While I’m walking I can secretly drop this paper and it will attract the attention of people.

Especially if it was dropped during a party.

“Huh, why did this fall out?”

And you hurriedly pick it up as if it was nothing. Of course, nearby co-workers would be forced to wonder what it is. Weed was never going to show it straight away though, cause if you hide the information the greater the value of the information would be.

And when curiosity peaks that’s when you hopelessly show the information. Even then, you hesitate to show it around three times then you slowly take out and show the expenditure statement.

By doing this you would be boasting to you co-workers.

The villagers that received the soup, that contained the oiled fish, were overly rejoiced.

“You really are the savior of this village.”

“Thank you. How do we repay you gracefulness?”

One by one the villagers thanked Weed, while he smiled back at them as if it was nothing.

“It’s nothing. The road I’ve been walking on has always been like this. Now I think that this is to be my destiny. I will do whatever I can to help people in trouble. That is a life that I can live without regret.”

“Now that is a response from Weed.”

Since he liked to hear praises, he gave more food to anyone who praised him .

If colleagues who knew him saw the appearance of the current Weed, they would not believ it was him.

In the past, it was a time a pyramid was created.

After he completed the pyramid, in the castle of Serabourg, there were a lot of people in tears of joy. The majority were novices with no money and low levels. Malnourished, at the end of the exploitation of the labor they were glad to receive the money from the quest.

Finally they would be able to at least buy a piece of bread!

Till now, that’s how Weed lived, now he had a boundless natural look. It was a skillful law to not have done charity even once.

Alveron, Freya’s platform of paladins and priests did not value gold.

“Freya will bless Weed.”

It was like the attitudes of the Paladins and Priests, could not get any better. Watching the non-righteous and inconsiderate Weed would of given him immense respect.

The priests urged.

“The Freya religious order needs a lot of people. We know of Weed’s loyalty and all the great acts you have done for our religious order. Even though you might have not walked in the path of faith you are more than qualified. Now why don’t you become our Bishop and work for our religious order?

Ding!

A religious position has been proposed. Freya’s religious order of Bishops.

Given jurisdiction over a temple, you can oversee the finances and also expand the policies. It is a similar position where you oversee a castle’s finances, but there is a difference where you have the jurisdiction over the works of the religious order.

You can foster new Paladins and Priests, and also use the donations to buy land and erect new temples.

The higher up you go up in the hierarchy, the more responsibilities you get.

However, if you lay siege to a castle or town then your reputation will plummet.

If you use your power for bad then you will be judged.

Which province you will be responsible for will also be determined by your reputation and contributions.

Do you want to accept the seat of Bishop?

The Bishops of Freya was a special place that even the world didn’t know that existed.

Take on the important position of the order and have authority over the Paladins and Priests!

No one has ever been proposed a position like this until Weed had appeared.

Coming back for the church, the contributions that have been steadily built up through the Legions of Undead War, and the high reputation and the place of bishop.

The opportunity to walk the path of a religion that has succeeded.

However, Weed shook his head.

“I am honored to be given the opportunity to serve the church of Freya. However, even though it may not be me, I have found that there are many others that would be willing to serve the church. I am willing to use my life to help people who are in a worse position than here.”

The position of Bishop for the Order of Freya has been refused.

The priests withdrew themselves.

“The goddess Freya will acknowledge your wonderful mind.”

Even though it was a once in a lifetime chance, the reason he refused was simple.

If he became the bishop, like now, there would be extremely large cases where Weed would have to live for others. Even though reputation and influence might increase, Weed thought money was more important and thought that it was not worth losing the money.

“Then enjoy.”

As Weed poured out the soup and rice he smiled a bit.

With sad eyes he shed a tear but forcefully spread a smile on his face!

Pain and frustration, and resignation. Resentment and anger in a rotten smile was a step forward.

Nevertheless, to people it looked like he was a person who liked a lot of people.

Then a resident who was wearing red, came holding a bowl and said.

“Have you ever made clothing of the Niflheim Empire?”

“Pardon?”

“Empire clothing are clothes that you wear when you enter an empire. It’s suitable for working, and for fighting in. It is complicated to create, and you also need special material. I know the method to create the clothing.”

The villager handed to Weed a book.

“I only give this to benefactors.”

You have acquired the foundations for making clothing of the Niflhein Empire.

A sewing item!

The rise in closeness made him able to receive the secret to create regional clothes.

The Morata province was a master of leather and cloth in the past, and he had high skills in sewing.

“Something like this…….”

Weed quickly took the book in his arms.

“Then we’ll give you this.”

Other residents of the village gave 2nd grading deer leather or cloth. In exchange for receiving the good food they provided items for sewing.

“If you want to go to the Valley of Death, then you will need to follow the Pahel River. All year round the river is frozen thick with ice, and monsters don‘t come out there.”

“In the past, if you went north for about three days, you would reach the Sabi Village. They have unusual methods that are passed down from father to son, and they love to carve things. Even though you will have to pass through dangerous roads, if you’re a craftsman it would be best to go there.”

“The closest fort to the Valley of Death is the Vent Castle. Once it was a thriving with knight during the Niflheim Empire, but now we don’t know what has happened to it.”

The villagers were able to give additional information. Weed had started to think.

‘This is definitely not a coincidence. Of course, to someone as kind, and compassionate like me such blessings would come. ‘

Weed started to cook.

But it was not easy to create a hundred bowls. Even though there were enough ingredients, the number of hands that were needed to make the food was not enough!

It was vital to make food quickly. If the food line was to be cut off, the people who haven’t been able to eat would fight over the food. Even though moderate hunger is the best side dish, if it goes too far then if could cause a revolt.

But he could not ask Seoyoon or Alveron to help.

If someone with no cooking skills helped, then the taste would only worsen.

If it was just an everyday situation, then he would ask Alveron to at least do the dishes, but with the paladins and priests watching him he could not use Alveron as his servant.

However Weed had enough experience.

When he was in large hunting groups, he made food for a lot of people. This experience!

In Morata, he had to make food in bulk for the paladins and priests. Therefore he was familiar with how to make large quantities food.

‘I can’t make stew. I need to create a menu that I can make quickly!’

In a large pot put in all the ingredients and whisk them all together. Bring the water to boil then slowly adjust the amount of water. Then create a lot of rice, and distribute the rice bowls.

Weed looked after Seoyoon and Alveron, so that they would receive enough food. It is natural to look after your partners when you’re about to venture into a dangerous place.

But the villagers who were being well fed shed tears.

“When was the last time we were able to eat like this……….”

“Since the invasion of the monsters, I think this is the first time.”

“Can we return to how we once were?”

They each were locked out in grief.

The village elder started to speak.

“It is possible. If we gather up our strengths and work together, then we will be able to live like we have in the past.”

“I hope that a day like that would come.”

“It will definitely come. Rather our village, from when it was freed from the monsters has never once shared our joys. Such a joyful day we could not stay still. Let’s put on a festival. A festival that will celebrate the rebuilding of our village.”

“Wow!”

Ding!

The Morata village Night festival has taken place. Morata Village's Unique Night Festival.

Throughout the night there was singing, dancing, they shared their joys and hope.

The productivity of the Moarata villagers increases by 300% for 1 month.

The town’s culture and technology advances rapidly over a period of time.

Goods will be sold in shops without a margin.

There is a significant increase in the number of young children after a certain period of time after the night festival.

Residents change to a more hard-working, industrious people.

You can participate and enjoy the festival.

Night Festival!

Festivals happened on a regular basis in big cities, but for a festival to take place in a small village was rare.

The satisfied villagers gathered together at the fire and started a festival. The women started to sing, while the men beat on their drums.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The villages danced to the beat of the drums. Every time the wind blew it made the dance seem more dreamy.

The women took their clothes off and danced wearing only their undergarments.

Even though it was cold, the heat of the festival made you forget about the cold.

Thanks to that, Weed could have a nice show.

“Festival’s aren’t bad.”

Men and women danced, while the music poured out. In a pleasant atmosphere the night had passed.

“Hoo, it’s finally finished.”

Weed quickly finished the dishes and sat down.

Weed was tired from busily preparing food for thousands of people. Weed himself, couldn’t eat a lot therefore he was hungry as well. However, after seeing Seoyoon’s face his hunger dissipated. In the daylight when looking closely at Seoyoon’s face, there was no place for her. Always looking cold was a bit of a waste, but her mysteriousness and charm were enough to stir the heart.

But now, the light of the moon and the fire gave a proper atmosphere. At this point, Seoyoon’s beauty even surprised Weed.

He made a lot of sculptures of her and he faith that he could make her with his eyes closed, but as he saw Seoyoon now, it surprised him to the point that his faith was nearly broken.

“Beautiful.”

He could do nothing but compliment her on her beauty.

Seoyoon was sitting with her legs wrapped. However, unlike usual, she was watching the festival with soft eyes.

‘If I miss this chance I might not get another.’

While Weed was fully immersed in Seoyoon, he took out Zahab’s Engraving Knife and the ore he had received from the Rhodium Sculpting Guild.

“Identify.”

With a tiny whisper, Weed confirmed the information on the goods.

The Ore:Durability 1,000/1,000

White crystal set.

Is made out of special materials that absorb radiating light. Very hard substance, therefore it won’t crack or break.

It is known as a tool to engrave and polish, unless you have excellent workmanship it is impossible to deal with. If you still want to carve it, then a good knife is needed.

Restrictions:

- Sculptor.

- Quest item.

Option:

- Variety of hues.

- You can make the sculpture of this century.

- There are other special option.

It was a quest item in order to obtain the Moonlight Sculpting!

Durability was a whopping 1,000. If you tried to trim it with a normal knife, then the teeth of the blade would wear out.

'It should be ok, because I have Zahab’s Engraving Knife.'

If you’re a sculptor everything can be converted into a unique item.

'No matter how hard it is, even if it is a hard ore, there should be no reason that I can’t cut it.'

Weed finally had a target to create from this ore.

Seoyoon!

He would create an image of her from these pieces of ore.

'I don’t have to be greedy here. I should live by this feeling.'

Weed knew if he was discovered it would be a disaster. Until now, if it was discovered that all the statues he made were of her then she would want revenge on him.

Even though he was afraid of the aftermath, because it was a small sculpture, he could hide it with his hands, and then it would be difficult to recognize it.

‘Before making the specific face shape, I don’t know where to cut.’

Even if he’s been noticed, with the atmosphere Seoyoon was showing, it was worth it. Before the current feelings disappeared he needed to hurry.

Weed pressed the carving knife against the moon rock. Because it was a hard ore, using ordinary strength was not enough.

‘I can’t think of doing it all at once. I need to do it little by little. The night is long.’

A task that requires great strength and a fine-grained sense!

Proficiency is also essential.

Little by little Weed started to carve it from the head of the moon rock.

First is not to be greedy and make the shape of a person.

The armor that Seoyoon was wearing now, it didn’t fit the atmosphere.

Weed envisioned Seoyoon wearing a white dress.

She is not here where the ground is covered by snow. She is in a flower garden with bees and butterflies flying around.

Surrounded by many people, the little girl who is bursting with laughter!

Even though it was an atmosphere that didn’t suit Seoyoon, the aspiration that Weed felt from her now was this.

Weed slowly started to move the carving knife faster.

Full Immersion!

Weed did not calculate what he should cut in his head.

His hand moved with instinct and from the ore he carved the feelings he wanted to show Seoyoon.

Par ah aht!

Every time he cut the moon rock, flashes came out. Like uncovering old layers of dirt, the rock shone brightly.

Whenever Weed pressed the carving knife against the rock, a little more light began to shine.

Under the shining moon, the villagers danced. Trying not to attract any attention from the festival, he created the sculpture.

A brilliant light came from the rock.

It was almost a magical sight.

It seemed like Weed was carving from a sphere of light.

“Wow, what’s that?”

“He’s creating a sculpture.”

As word got by, villagers and paladins gathered around Weed. But they kept their distance and did not come any closer. When creating a sculpture it is best to not be obtrusive.

Fortunately, Seoyoon was near the bonfire and was more interested in watching the festival then watching Weed carve a sculpture.

The abyss of beauty.

Moonlight Sculptor!

However, Weed didn’t have any other work.

‘Well, it wasn’t a rock that could be carved easily.’

Since the sculpture gave a light that stung your eyes, in the situation that he had to carve the rock, it was difficult.

To a certain extent he got more familiar with the engraving.

Since he made a considerable number of sculptures every day, if you add all the sculpture he made, it would be a huge amount.

But even then, since he could not confirm the details, it was difficult to carve.

Even though it might have a good form, in the inside it was just dead.

Because you moved the craving knife wrongly, you have hurt your fingers.

Vitality decreased by 30. Dexterity temporarily decreased by 3.

Because you moved the carving knife wrongly, you have hurt your arm.

Vitality decreased by 100. Damage done by hands or arms temporarily decreased by 8%.

There were instances when he made mistakes he had not usually made, which made him hurt his hands. If he was being decent then he wouldn’t have hurt his hands like this. But since the rock was so hard and he had to apply a lot of strength, even if he didn’t get hurt now, he would have been bound to get hurt soon.

It was then that Weed finally realized the difficulty of this quest.

‘Trying to make sculptures out of pieces of moon rock is not as easy as it seems. A little mistake might be ok, but a big mistake is not.’

After information was gathered from Rhodium and given to the Sculptor Guild, he thought the quest would be finished. But to completely make the sculpture, that would be the peak of the quest.

Since the moon rock had tremendous durability it would have a hard latency. But when you try to carve it with a carving knife, mistakes can be easily made. Because you can’t see it well, and you have to give it excessive strength when carving, it could be spoilt without seeing it.

If important parts like the body or neck is damaged, then the sculpture can be nothing but a waste.

If the only rock is lost, then I might not be able to learn Moonlight Sculpting.

‘Of course, there is not a thingy that is easy to do in this guy’s job!’

For other professions you can obtain skills by obtaining the necessary items or learn skills by testing them out.

But other professions aren’t as stunning as the sculptor.

The urgency that he might not be able to get another challenge.

Even though it was challenging to master sculpting, to familiarize yourself with Moonlight Sculpting was formidable.

Weed’s heart was shaken.

‘If I hurry like this I might end up damaging this sculpture.’

I can’t just let this opportunity fly. If I leave time to study the form step by step, then the chances of making a mistake will be reduced.

However Weed shook his head.

‘No, there is no way to make a sculpture mechanically. There will come a moment when I have the confidence to make the sculpture.’

When I try to attempt the challenge again later, then there will be too many ideas in my head. Because of the obsession to not make a mistake becomes bigger, composure disappears.

Even though it might be lacking something, since I laid a finger on it, it would be better to finish it now was what I had judged.

‘If I do it carefully…………. I can do it!’

Because you moved the carving knife wrongly, you have a big cut on your fingers.

Vitality decreased by 250.Whenever you deal damage with your hands or arms, the cut will become bigger.

As soon as he was motivated again, he messed up.

Even though the knife was carving the sculpture, the strength he had left over fizzled.

However, Weed changed directions and didn't damage the sculpture.

After that, as he was carving the sculpture he made a string of mistakes.

Little by little his vitality disappeared.

By heading down this path he could die before finishing.

Weed tried to relax

‘The worst case is that I’ll die. My level will be lowered, and skill proficiency levels will be lowered as well. The skills that I worked up to build with difficulty will all be lowered.’

His view was becoming more and more pessimistic.

Dry saliva was gathering in his mouth.

Weed held the sculpture in his hand, felt it and carved.

But he was glad of the fact that he was making a sculpture of Seoyoon. Even though the size was different, it was less difficult since he had created a lot of other sculptures of her.

Weed literally hugged the rock and carved it with his knife.

And finally he was able to create the form he wanted.

Ding!

- You have created a sculpture from the moon rock.

- Fame increased by 450.

- Sculpture Understanding skill has increased by 1 level.

- Sculpture skill proficiency has increased.

- Handicraft skill proficiency has increased.

- Arts stat increased by 60.

Bursting with thankfulness.

Completion of the sculpture!

The moon rock changed into a sculpture of Seoyoon laughing.

As time went by, the rock was still shining brightly.

The sculpture started to glow clearly.

As the sculpture was just carved, you could see the smooth form. However, since the rock was emitting a bright light, it seemed more noble.

Ding!

Search of the lost light completed. Dealing with the mysteries of the light sculpture, you should know how to tune the light through sensations. Been handed down only to a handful of sculptors, the technology is very dangerous, and at the same time it is outstanding.

Quest Reward: Gain of Skill.

Moonlight Sculpting has been learnt. Moonlight Sculpting Level 1 (0%) : Sculptor’s skill

Sculptures will be able to emit light. However, the shape and color of the light will depend on the material. As time passes, the value of the finished sculpture will increase depending on the signs of the years passed.

You can handle light in everyday life. Light can be sprinkled as an attack, or it can be put on the body as a defense. It uses certain levels of mana to prevent magic attacks rather than physical attacks. An affiliation to nature, it’s weaker than a wizard’s shield but it uses a lot less mana. Can be used to light special places. Can light dark places.

Your affiliation with light has increased by 3%.

You can create light sculptures.

Luminarie. Fantastic light of the three-dimensional sculpture using a large number of jewelry.

Skill Sculpting Blade has been transformed. Sculpting Blade has developed into Moonlight Sculpting Blade.

Mana consumption will be tripled.

Using light as an offense will be possible.

Where there is moonlight, the attack power will be doubled.

Current expertise in Sculpting Blade will be transferred to Moonlight Sculpting Blade and will be reduced by half.

Moonlight Sculpting Blade skill is Intermediate Level 2 (43%).

Acquisition of the Moonlight Sculpting!

Now he could be reborn as a true Moonlight Sculptor.

With the completion of the quest, one can understand more facts.

‘I now know why it’s called Moonlight Sculptor.’

The finished sculptures will shed some light.

The sculpture Weed made was also emitting light.

There is no mistake that the light must be placed into the sculpture.

If the light is like that of the sun, then you would not be able to see it.

If you put proper light into the sculpture it would raise its dignity.

If it is too bright then the sculpture’s mystique will fall.

Sculpture completed in the northern part of the moonlight!

Weed retained the sculpture of the smiling Seoyoon into his bosom.

* * *

Dr. Cha Eun-Hee was looking hard at the monitor in the Great Society Rehabilitation Center.

She was watching the images coming out from the capsule Seoyoon was in.

The festival in the small northern village.

People were bursting with laughter, singing and dancing.

The romantic atmosphere.

Insurance would not be these things.

Cha Eun-Hee was at an inconvenience.

‘It was on opportunity to go on a trip with Orc Karichwi.’

The adventurer with a great reputation, Weed.

If you could go on an adventure with Weed, you would not hesitate to accept.

Orcs aged in battles!

Being a female Orc, fighting battles was a pleasure that went to heart.

The pleasure of being able to freely run around the many places in the mountains was unspeakable.

However, to Cha Eun-Hee, the adventure in the north was more interesting.

The events that occured as soon as they arrived in the northen village.

Cha Eun-Hee envied the pair.

Chapter 2: Operation Acquire Food

After the night of celebration, Weed left Morata along with Seoyoon and Alveron.

“From now on genuine travel?”

He gathered as much information in advance as possible about the region he was heading to.

He meticulously learned the general direction and the paths he had to cross.

But food supply was the one thing he needed the most at the moment.

“Let’s see, how long will the food last?”

Shuffling through his bag, the food supply that was always filled to more than a certain size was now frozen into one piece. Nowhere in that piece remained essential food.

At the Morata Festival, he could only spend it all on villagers eating and drinking in large quantities.

Fortunately, the alcohol bottles were still there.

Before leaving the Yurokina Mountains, he plucked and immersed the wild grapes in them!

Sitting there, it silently ripened.

But Weed shook his head.

'Alcohol will not fill the fullness factor.'

Alcohol cannot fill one’s stomach. Of course, you will get some degree of fullness, but there was a problem. As the amount of alcohol rises beyond a certain point, strength and agility declined. In more severe cases, disabled in battle! In the worst case scenario, you may die due to excessive drinking.

‘Still, later on drinking just a glass will be fine.’

In life, alcohol is absolutely a useless thing! However, alcohol also had its advantages. In Royal Road, after getting attacked, it doesn’t end with only just a temporary drop in life.

You should give immediate treatment by rubbing herbs or potions and wrapping bandages. Also, when there is swelling in the wounded area, it has the effect of disinfection that will help prevent additional damage.

Furthermore, alcohol is good medicine against the cold. When it’s cold, drinking about a cup of alcohol will allow you to withstand the cold much better.

‘I can’t use this precious alcohol. Conceivably, when it matures quite a bit, I’ll be able to receive money……..’

Leaving the wines in his bag as they were, Weed went to obtain food.

* * *

Sarak.

Terose felt refreshed stepping on pure white snow.

‘Finally the beginning of our resurrection.’

The imposing Barbarian Warrior Pline’s forehead frowned slightly.

“It’s very cold here.”

Dane covering his face with a robe spoke.

“It’s fine. Fighting will warm you up quickly.”

Terose looked at his colleagues that believed in him and followed him all the way here and nodded.

“We must fight for sure.”

Scorpion King’s Tomb Quest!

Due to that incident, the Crimson Wing Guild disbanded, but the people that formed the core did not leave.

Magma Witch Psyche and Light Bearer Mako. Assault Captain Bastien. The elite of Crimson Wing Guild hid their names, switched armors, and took part in the Cold Rose Guild’s expedition.

From the beginning, the last thing in the world they wanted was to mix in with another guild’s expedition. Crimson Wing tried to directly set up their own expedition group. But bad things happened all at once and the situation continued to worsen. Guilds seceded from the alliance. As a result, the towns they held were attacked from the front and because of the Scorpion King’s Tomb, they were pressured with funding.

This chain of bad events was enough to crash Crimson Wing from the top 10 guilds in Versailles Continent. As a result, the guild inevitably had to disband. The heads remained till the end defending it to the death, but the slowly crumbling guild was seen to not even number in the tens of thousands.

‘But we will rise once again.’

Terose wanted to regain his honor and revive Crimson Wing.

‘The place will be the North.’

To reverse everything and revive the guild, the expedition!

‘To return the continent to normal is our responsibility that cannot be passed to anyone.’

Terose smiled coldly.

* * *

The expedition led by Cold Rose Guild was still in trouble. They confidently brought a large number of people, but all kinds of problems appeared one after another.

The expedition brought a massive number cooks! Nothing went well in the early days of the expedition. To raise the morale of the expedition crew, they made lots of food to give them. Eating delicious food would bring up their spirits.

To Oberon and Drum, it looked like they bought enough supples to not be overburdened. But the amount of food ingredients used by the expedition was beyond imagination. Those who had nothing much to do in this cold place relieved stress by eating food the cooks made.

“Delicious.”

“Wherever you go you have to eat good food.”

“Yeah. It was a good idea to follow the expedition. There’s a reason the Cold Rose Guild is famous.”

The expedition gave their thanks as they reasoned about the name of the guild.

Cooks also became enthusiastic.

“People are eating the delicious food we made.”

“Opportunity is knocking, we must imprint on to them that the Cook Job is important.”

“Of course! The ingredients aren’t even ours so let’s use them to our hearts’ content!”

The cooks, due to the abundant food ingredients, had peace of mind and instead of what they usually created they dared to develop novel fine cuisine.

“Matsutake mushroom and crab dish!”

“Snail in honey!”

Making good food improved their cooking mastery even more. Therefore, the cooks spared no expense in ingredients to make food. Since the expedition also gave a positive reaction, they didn’t hesitate.

Ingredients were rapidly consumed. At that time, at least those managing the supplies should’ve stopped them. But those responsible for managing supplies were completely relaxed.

“Well, we can get food materials anytime we want.”

“Captain Oberon did order us to raise morale so give them supplies in large quanities as they want.”

They did nothing even though the food ingredients were decreasing very rapidly. When they realized the remaing ingredients had been reduced to almost 30%, the mood finally changed a bit.

“From now on, save a little food before the main course.”

“Need to get food ingredients.”

“Right now it will be better to generously fill the inventory stock.”

Then the big problem occurred. It was very difficult to obtain food ingredients in the cold North. In the mountains of the center of the continent, chestnuts, acorns and fruits like apples were readily available, and they could even hunt.

Even if there was a food shortage that made their stamina decline or stiffen their movement, cases where they died from starvation were quite rare. With money, it was possible to buy food ingredients from passing travelers. But in the North, because of the cold they couldn’t get fruit. It was also impossible to obtain food from travelers.

Inevitably, the only option left was to hunt, but this was a formidable task. The monster infested areas were limited. It was unreasonable to provide food for the many number of personnel in the expedition through hunting. It could only be attributed to them overlooking the importance of food.

As the food ingredients rapidly decreased, the morale of expedition fell as well. Food quality declined and the situation of saving food to eat later came up. Not only did the quality of food drop, they had to save as much food possible.

“I’m hungry.”

“Please bring me something to eat.”

The expedition wallowing in hunger! If they started off poorly in the beginning instead of stopping in the middle of eating well, in theory it would be much more difficult to go hungry. The Cold Rose Guild took the initiative and starved themselves.

However, even in the midst there were those that did not starve. They were not part of the elite Cold Rose Guild. There was no way the righteous and highly respected Oberon would give them permission to eat their secretly packed food.

The Geomchis! Geomchi 306 pulled out barley bread that had been hidden away in his backpack and secretly chewed. Old, cold, hard and frozen bread, but as saliva moistened it, he ate as it gently dissolved.

“No matter what, barley bread tastes best.”

Ever since starving to death, they decided to always have a plentiful amount to get ride of hunger. So barley bread always generously went in their backpacks. Basically, in Royal Road there was an inseparable relationship between the Geomchis and barley bread.

However, a majority of the expedition was forced to endure as they clutched their empty bellies. They realized this fact at the end of such a failure.

‘Difficult to find food in the North. Must conserve food ingredients as much as possible.’

* * *

Weed embarked on gathering food.

'Have to gather as many edible things as possible.'

Since enough seasoning remained, he just had to gather food ingredients.

'No choice but to hunt.'

Weed thoroughly set the principle of local procurement in the past. Apart from not having to pay money, it was easy to obtain fresh gredients. Piling up food ingredients for a long time in one place will just end up rotten and uneatable, that’s law.

“Alveron, let’s go!”

“Yes.”

Using Alveron like a subordinate, Weed moved to the mountain behind Morata Village.

Woof woof woof!

Aooooooo!

Usually wandering like lost souls in the mountain behind Morata Village, Wolves! Their wild instincts sparkled as they acted in packs eating animals nearby, however, the Wolves trembled at the advent of Weed.

‘This wicked bastard......’

‘He’s looking at us as food.’

‘He ate our parents. My mother met her end at his hands, he didn’t even leave the leather. Woof woof.’

‘My brother got cooked whole. He has returned.’

Weed’s high fighting spirit!

It had the effect of decreasing morale of monsters similar to or lower than his level. In addition, Weed hunted Wolves several times already. For monsters, Wolves have fairly high intellect and excellent memory. Hunting and extracting the meat and bone, then stripping off the leather for sewing, the Wolves did not forget the cruelty of Weed and trembled in fear.

‘Still, we are wolves.’

‘To protect our pride.’

Woof woof woof!

The Wolves rushed as a pack while Weed lightly drew his sword.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

The enhanced and definitive version of the Sculpting Blade! A sword of serene light. With a far longer range, Weed brandished the sword of light and slaughtered the Wolves. Weed’s level could not be compared to before, Wolves originally weren’t even considered as opponents.

Slaughter!

He separated bones, meat and leather of the Wolves he caught on the spot.

Seoyoon simply watched.

Weed gently told her.

“Don’t just stand there and watch, help me.”

Seoyoon didn’t say anything. But through her eyes the feeling of sorry was passed. She felt sorry for Weed suffering alone in this cold weather, but if the Wolves did not attack her first, she would not attack them. Weed shook his head.

‘This person can’t be called an ally.’

Somehow he needed to improve his position over Seoyoon through power, because if she just folds her arms every time there’s a fight, it won’t be helpful. The predicament was enough to put pressure on him.

Like the saying being powerless is a sin, Seoyoon’s fighting ability was far superior to Weed’s.

Weed was still struggling in the early level 300s. In order to proceed with the previous quest, he inevitably had to give life to sculptures so his levels hadn’t risen.

‘Wouldn’t have made it through the quest if I didn’t grant life to sculptures.’

Though he hunted hard in the recent months, because of this reason his level didn’t rise. Still, while his level went up and down, various skill masteries went up. Getting hit by monsters whenever he had time also raised his toughness a lot.

Weed’s method of faithfully raising stat and skill mastery built up substantial foundation, so it wasn’t some unspeakable plight like no income at all. Stats and skills certainly help when hunting monsters. But Weed surmised Seoyoon’s level was at least in the late 300s.

‘Maybe even over 400.’

Hermes Guild’s BardRay unveiled his level at his coronation. Surprisingly, his level was revealed to be no less than 412. In Royal Road and on the Internet, there was a lot of excitement. Even when considering the amount of time passed after his level was known to be in late 300s, his level up speed was still fairly rapid.

‘Probably because the guild is herding monsters for him. As the head of the Hermes Guild, of course he’s receiving benefits.’

Actively utilizing supplies and equipment, as well as collecting information on hunting grounds. Blacksmiths crafted for him and Bards were always on standby. In addition, in most of the battles BardRay would deliver the finishing blow to the monsters. Receiving such strong support, it was no surprise his fast leveling speed remained unchanged.

Originally, BardRay was a famous gamer in other games. There were a lot of forces that would follow him. In Continent of Magic, those who followed BardRay were very common.

Weed did not clash with BardRay because he was the first to quit the game. BardRay in Continent of Magic was one of the top 5 Warriors and his guild was the strongest force there. According to an unconfirmed rumor, his actual fortune was so enormous you could hear the sound of wealth.

The scene of BardRay revealing his level at his coronation brought about a large topic in the Hall of Fame. Not only that, all game broadcasters treated it as a major news issue. Furthermore, the revenue of bars and pubs in Versailles Continent increased by more than 5 times.

“Bastard looks good at whatever he does.”

“We slowly walk and he just flies off the shelves quickly.”

“I’m still level 357. When will I be over 400?”

Bitter soreness!

Crowds tried to resolve their so called bitterness with alcohol. Immediately known up to the present, BardRay received all their attention. King of the Continent. Officially named Emperor, he challenged for supremacy with with his apparent ability. Of course, Hermes Guild’s scale and breadth of their forces had just as many enemies.

In the wide Versailles Continent, though not as strong as BardRay, users with the level to restrain him numbered at least a dozen people. There was also quite a lot of tension between Hermes and other guilds. Single guilds capable of standing against Hermes were only 7, but when considering guild alliances, more than 15 were able to deal with Hermes’ hegemony.

Although not as desired, all users in Versailles Continent focused their attention on BardRay. They all envied the strongest on the continent. Such was the person BardRay.

* * *

‘The Dark Gamers Union revealed combat videos. Compared to the Mercenaries in the late level 380s, Seoyoon was by far stronger. The monsters the Mercenaries took quite a while to hunt, Seoyoon would murder in an instant.’

Depending on the method of battle and the primary used skills according to the hunt, a speed difference was bound to occur. But even when considering those points, Seoyoon was far stronger than Weed himself.

‘Between a minimum of 390 to beyond 400. It probably won’t stray too far from that range.’

An estimation made by Weed. Comparing combat abilities based on monsters would probably not be wrong. Combat abilities rarely went counter to his eyes’ intuition. As such, he couldn’t force Seoyoon to do this and that. He needed to make her into a companion who would help him voluntarily.

‘It’ll be pathetic if I get beaten by a girl!’

Weed spoke in an insinuating tone passing through. Like a merchant selling self-preservation food!

“You never ate Northern Wolves before right?”

“......?”

“Actually, they’re so thin they don’t have much meat. Their bones are uselessly strong too. But the taste is incomparable. This is an absolutely true story!”

“......”

“Firmness and longevity together in the meat. The pleasure of eating after carefully separating them from the bone!”

Weed reproduced the appearance of tearing ribs with both hands. Truthfully, Wolf Galbi covered in spices was the best. Weed licked his lips imitating the feeling of not being able to forget the taste ever again. Weed added these final words.

“And the delicacy that comes from immersing the bones later on. Drinking one sip of the piping hot broth in the cold is just……..”

Seeuk.

Listening up to that point, Seoyoon headed toward wolves with her sword unsheathed. Meaning to hunt. Without a single flaw, clear eyes and white jade like skin, her beauty was only really expressed in the morning dew.

After Seoyoon went out and hunted Wolves, Weed extracted the leather, meat and bones from the bodies of the Wolves. With the proper division of labor, they could gather food ingredients quickly.

“We can eat for a long time with this much.”

Weed smiled with satisfaction as he looked at his bag full of Wolf meat. In the past, he had the experience of feeding dozens of Paladins. The Paladins liberated from the statues. To handle even 1 more growing mouth, he had to increase hunting. Through it, he learned of locations where you can gather lots of meat. That memory was helpful even now.

Weed didn’t gather Wolf meat only.

“Cannot eat only one thing for too long.”

You would be concerned about loss of appetite as well as the dish effects. If you eat only food made from the same ingredients, its efficiency will reduce until it dies.

Cooking Wolf meat dishes was simple. You either boil or grill it. Eating Wolf meat dishes increases health by 300 and increases strength and vitality by 20. It also has the advantage of making health regeneration 2% faster than usual and improved fighting spirit.

But when eating only similar foods, the cooking effects are reduced until it only gives the feeling of fullness. At such times, other delicacies are needed to provoke the taste buds.

“This way.”

Weed took Seoyoon and Alveron and went beyond the mountain behind them. There was very broad ice path. The land did not consist of soil and stone but of pure ice! Originally, this area was a huge flowing river. However, due to the far too low temperature, thick ice covered it.

“Well then, let’s go get something to eat.”

Weed along with Seoyoon and Alveron walked to the center of the ice.

“…….?”

Seoyoon and Alveron were both curious. Basically, food ingredients are bought at stores. It was usually enough to buy from there. Few people had become proficient enough in the Cooking skill to obtain ingredients from the wild like Weed. In addition, the thick, frozen ice was devoid of any kind of herbs or fruits. To make matters worse, there was not even 1 monster nearby. So preparing food in a place like this sounded like nothing but nonsense.

Shuaaaaa!

Tremendous winds were blowing.

Kuleuleuleu.

The ground rang minutely.

‘What’s this?’

Something unknown. It wasn’t like earthquakes did not happen in Versailles Continent. But the situation around seemed far too peaceful. The mountain they just came down from did not shake even the slightest bit, gradually their bodies moved toward the minute sound.

‘No way.’

After looking downward, Seoyoon’s face became pale. Below the thick ice, rapids were flowing! A huge river was flowing beneath the ice at a furious pace. Through the currents charging at the ground of ice, the minute sound emerged. Seoyoon and Alveron were instinctively engulfed by fear.

If it was just monsters, they would not be afraid of dying. But if the ice breaks and they fall into the river below, they would helplessly freeze to death.

‘Down below is going to be incredibly colder.’

At their current location was a sharp cold, the temperature of the river down below need not be said. Seoyoon and Alveron were completely tense.

Gedeukdeukdeuk!

Weed pulled out a sculpting nail and chisel, scratching the ice to draw a circle. Then he pulled out a Blacksmith hammer and began ruthlessly slamming the ground.

Every time Weed slammed down the hammer, the ice rang. Blood drained from Seoyoon and Alveron’s faces.

‘If you want to commit suicide, do it alone.’

‘Goddess Freya bless him. Grant me salvation.’

Then they heard Weed’s muttering voice.

“Very solidly frozen and not even cracked. Then with greater force……..”

At the end of this, a tremendous fear surged upon Seoyoon and Alveron. Soon, Weed swung the hammer with all his might. He accurately concentrated the force toward the center of the circle he made.

Kuaaang!

Kuaaaaaang!

Every time Weed slammed down the hammer, Seoyoon and Alveron felt faint. Goosebumps encroached all over their bodies. After looking at each other and nodding, they located a safe place and backed up. Meanwhile Weed swung the hammer several more times and the ice finally broke off, making a round circle. Around the line made at the beginning with the sculpting knife! A big hole formed there. A hole where the cold river flowed through!

Weed squatted down on the spot and sat, pulling items from his bag one by one. A long fishing rod, pots and a net capable of holding fish.

“Shall I go catch some now?”

Weed cast the fishing rod into the ice hole. Smelt fishing in the dead of winter. Weed became proficient in the Fishing skill to the point he could procure food to survive in this place. Through the cracked ice, the riverbed seemed transparent. Inside the river, fish were swimming energetically.

“Big catch!”

Weed busily moved the fishing rod.

You have caught a 20cm long Sweet Fish.

You have caught a 22cm long Pond Smelt.

You have caught a 57cm long Fresh Water Eel.

You have caught a 1m 20cm long Gold Fish. A catch that’ll remain in the history of fishing!

Fishing skill mastery has risen.

Luck rises by 1.

Unrivaled fishing spot! Catching completely defenseless fish. Guys spirited enough to rise out of the tempestuous rapids! Above the ice ground nearby Weed, it was filled with fish splashing vigorously.

“Identify.”

Sweet FishA fish with thin and flat body. Only lives in clear water. Dark blue color.

Can be caught in various ways. Thrives in a fairly wide region.

Sweet fish is common, but people can never forget the taste.

Food 3rd Grade Fish Ingredient.

Pond SmeltBody is thin and flat on the side. Light fishy smell. Can be made into good sashimi.

Fish tastes best in winter. Can be cooked in a variety of ways.

Food 2nd Grade Fish Ingredient.

Fresh Water EelEels are great for male stamina! Common fish, but many people seek it due to its effect and taste.

Usually caught during winter, but sometimes there are odd ones.

Taking care of the many bones is tricky, but incredibly delicious after seasoning and eating.

Food 2nd Grade Fish Ingredient.

Gold FishA rare fish that shines with golden skin. Luck follows those who catch.

Inhabits living and breathing nature. Likes cold places.

Enhances flavor of any dish, improves stamina by 1 and helps with detoxification.

Taste in any cooking, and increases vitality by 1 and helps with detoxification.

It is a rare fish that all anglers want to catch at least once in their lifetime.

Food 1st Rate Fish Ingredient.

Watching the lively and fluttering fishes, Weed’s mouth was filled with a heartwarming smile. They couldn’t be compared to rare Blacksmith or Sewing items, but still, in their own way, the fish he caught were valuable. In the case of the Gold Fish which permanently raised stamina by 1, its value was indescribable.

The first fish Weed pulled out he gutted and stored separately. The one advantage of the North was that valuable food did not spoil because of the low temperature. Since it had a very long shelf life, it was possible for him to collect food to his limits.

From time to time, he also gathered dry branches separately for lighting a fire. Fire was needed not only for cooking, but also for melting snow to make water. Snow was everywhere so he filled the canteen with only a little bit of water and instead put the branches in his bag. Fishing learned for survival skills!

Eating too little food for a long time, he learned the secret of survival. Weeds that survived anywhere, Weed’s appreciation of such life was evident.

While Weed was busy procuring food through fishing, Seoyoon and Alveron checked for safety and slowly approached.

“........”

Seoyoon and Alveron now had considerable interest in fishing. They slowly put the fishing rods into the cold water and before long the caught fish emerged toward their forearms. The act was quite marvelous, but the fish were also considerably beautiful.

Priests were generally opposed to death, but Alveron was a follower of the Goddess Freya that believed in beauty and abundance! Like delicious and pretty things. Alveron swallowed his saliva as he watched the fish.

Seoyoon stared down at the flapping fish with curious eyes. Seafood was quite expensive in Versailles Continent. It was not that she didn’t have money, but she was not deliberately picky with the food she ate. She had never experienced eating fish in Royal Road.

Weed asked while wiping the pot with white snow.

“If you’re hungry, I can fix you something to eat?”

“........”

Seoyoon thought for a moment and then nodded. She wasn’t that hungry, but she had expectations on what kind of dish he would make.

“Then wait for a bit. It’ll take some time.”

Weed started a fire with the branches he collected in advance. Cooking over the river, to prepare for the off chance of unknown danger, capable of blocking heat, he took off the cape he was wearing and laid it on the ground.

Vampire Cape!

Although it did not have very good stats, it had the strong attribute of blocking fire so he used it as a mat underneath the fire. The fire quickly became large. Weed hung a big pot over the fire and poured in plenty of oil.

“........?”

To cook fish dishes, would you take out a pot and use it that way, it was incomprehensible. Instead of boiling several ingredients to make fish stew, he filled it to the brink with oil.

While increasing the temperature of the oil in the pot, Weed eagerly prepared the newly caught fresh pond smelt into sashimi. He extracted the meat from the bone and after covering the meat with tempura powder, he placed them in the pot.

Jigeul jigeul jigeul!

The fish meat fried in oil turned yellow.

‘What kind of dish is that?’

Seoyoon tilted her head.

The food Weed wanted to make was none other than fish tempura. Fish tempura was not common. Separating the meat into thin layers and then frying. All that remained was the crunch and deliciousness. What was burdensome was you had to reduce the tempura part as much as possible.

“Now, let’s eat.”

Cooking was completed quickly. Lightly frying thin meat so not much time was needed. Seoyoon carefully put the fish tempura into his mouth.

‘Delicious. Really good.’

The flavor of the light, crispy fried fish harmonized exquisitely. The freshness was best when eating shortly after the fish is caught. In addition, there was the atmosphere since it was outside where the cold wind blew.

Seoyoon usually hated fried stuff. But this time, she ate as many as 8 until her stomach was satisfied.

“……..”

Seoyoon blushed.

‘What did I just do?’

It was so delicious that she ate without thinking.

Seoyoon stealthily glanced at Weed. But he did not say anything.

‘Lucky.’

Weed in his heart smiled with satisfaction.

‘She enjoyed eating a bunch.’

Now he felt more comfortable going around Seoyoon in the future. As long as he cooks for her, she wouldn’t attack or kill him.

Body and equipment equaling property, Weed was fearful of the bloody presence of a killer. But there was a bonus. Seoyoon would now aggressively do battle with monsters. If she knows the taste of a monster that appears, she will hunt even more thoroughly.

Feed them well. Handle them well.

Suddenly, Seoyoon was being treated similar to the Geomchis.

Chapter 3: The Wonder of the Northern Region

Seoyoon logged out at the same time routinely.

It was to follow the schedule set for her like eating and then taking a walk.

Compared to that, Weed goes to the market early and cooks.

He minimized the time used onto most needed things for his social life such as going to the Dojang to train his body and sleeping.

Other than time used for utmost necessary things, he spends most of his time in Royal Road.

Thanks to that, Weed could use the time when Seoyoon wasn’t around.

When Seoyoon wasn’t there, he headed toward the highland of Morata.

Weed’s own secret place.

“It’s right here.”

Weed felt very refreshed looking back to past.

The first giant sculpture!

The great sculpture made using the nature of Northern region.

The Wonder of the Northern Region.

This was where the grand piece Ice Dragon Sculpture was.

Ever since he came to Morata, he wanted to come here but he couldn’t because he was with Seoyoon!

Before he made the Ice Dragon, he made the Ice Sculpture of Seoyoon using her as the model.

Since it was right next to it, he couldn’t bring Seoyoon with him.

Full of excitement, Weed almost ran there.

‘Ice Dragon Sculpture! I’m finally back.’

He was full of expectation.

Even in this ridiculous coldness, much of it is reduced to the point one can endure upon seeing the Ice Dragon Sculpture.

He could say that it was one of his few masterpieces.

But when Weed reached the top of the hill, he could only see a gigantic mountain.

A very steep ice mountain!

It was an ice mountain that did not exist before.

The height was pretty low, but since its slope was so steep, it could be seen as a gigantic ice block.

“No way! I’m absolutely positive this is where the Ice Dragon Sculpture is.”

No matter how much he looked, it was nowhere to be seen.

“I was here........”

Even when he thought back very carefully, it was definitely here.

There’s no way he could mistake the location.

As he spent much of his time here, he could never forget the place.

But the Ice Dragon Sculpture wasn’t here.

‘Could have someone possibly brought my sculpture to life and took it?’

Weed shook his head.

There is the possibility.

Nowadays, there’s an increase in the number of sculptors but there aren't many who reached a high level.

Even by coincidence, there’s no way such skilled sculptor would come here, and there’s a low possibility of the sculptor possessing the skill to bring sculptures to life.

One can bring life to others’ sculptures, there’s huge penalty following it.

Since it's the same as destroying another sculptor’s piece, fame decreases and notoriety increases.

Additionally, since Art or Luck can decrease as well, it’s rare for a sculptor to touch another’s.

Then, he found the Ice Sculpture of Seoyoon.

Ice Sculpture of Seoyoon covered with considerable amount of snow!

If the ice mountain didn’t protect it from the blizzard, it could’ve been buried under snow.

“Then, could it be....”

Weed moaned. Then suddenly looked at the ice mountain.

“Then this is the Ice Dragon Sculpture?”

Looking at it carefully, behind the ice mountain, the Ice Dragon’s tail was sticking out.

Because it was left untouched for a long time, it became unrecognizable, covered with snow and ice.

Tons of snow and ice stuck onto the sculpture, so the size increased by twice or thrice of the original as well.

He stood in front of the ice mountain.

“So that’s what happened. Well, doesn’t matter since I found it. O, my precious sculpture. I have shared my life to you who was made with holy art spirit,
now awake from the deep slumber and join me. Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

Weed touched the ice mountain gently.

Crack!

The outer ice cracked and split.

Inside of it, something moved.

Kururururur

Strong vibration!

You have brought a sculpture to life.

- The ability of the sculpture will be adjusted to level 382, according to current Art stat 812.

However, according to the ability of the exceptional Grand Piece, 10% of level will be added. Level is increased to 420.

Additionally, because it is a monster with wings that can fly, 10% of the level will be decreased as penalty.

Due to the special material formed with ice, 15% of the level is added.

Instead Stamina and Health will be weakened.

Three attributes will be given to the lifeform.

The quality and ability of the attributes will differ according to the shape and level of the sculpture.

Attribute of Water (100%), Attribute of Ice (100%), Attribute of Magic (100%)

Water submits to none.

Possesses very strong Fighting Spirit with high Defence and Magic Defence.

It can freeze opponent using the power of coldness.

It can use magic with Ice property.

It can increase its ability to a maximum of 30% in cold regions.

However, it will weaken under warm weather.

Having high intelligence, it can use magic.

It can use any type of magic, but additional damage is added when using magic similar to its attribute.

Since it was a sculpture that was once the Wonder of the Northern Region, a special ability is added.

Ice Breath!

It can be used once a day. It will be the strongest attack.

- 5,000 mana is used.

- 10 Art Stat is permanently decreased.

The decreased stat can be recovered by creating sculptures or other artistic activities.

- 2 levels have dropped.

Due to the decrease of level, most recently raised stats will decrease by 10.

Decreased stats can be raised again when level raises again.

Please care for the sculpture with life.

When it loses its life, life has to given again to recover the soul.

When destroyed completely, it cannot be revived.

Kurururng! Kururung!

The vibration of ice mountain never ended.

Whatever happened, Weed just continued to wait for the Ice Dragon to awake.

Then his wish came true.

“Master. Master who has given me life, art thou there?”

“Yes. I’m here.”

Weed felt proud.

Unlike the Wyverns or Geuminu, the Ice Dragon seemed to have high intelligence.

But, the next sentence it said was enough to make Weed disheartened.

“Save me. I can’t get out. I can’t move because of the thick ice frozen on my body.”

“You useless idiot!”

For a moment, Weed seriously considered leaving the Ice Dragon like this and return.

‘I’m an idiot. Just why did I give life to this kind of....’

It was huge only in size and was extremely weak!

‘But it’s bit of a waste to just leave it.’

Weed ended up working himself.

Relying on a rope, he had to clean snow and ice climbing up and down the Ice Dragon.

After working for a day and night, the Ice Dragon’s head finally appeared.

The dignified face of a dragon.

Ferocious, strong looking eyes.

Long, white beard.

The Ice Dragon looked handsome.

“Master, please get rid of the ice covering my body quickly. I want to taste the freedom.”

“Alright. Wait a bit more.”

When Seoyoon logged in, Weed went to where she was, preparing food; in his spare time, he cleaned the snow covered Ice Dragon.

Simple and repetitive labor!

It was a labor where you had to hang on a high altitude getting hit by cold wind all you want.

All day, the Ice Dragon was moving its only free part, the head.

Weed pitied himself.

'Now I end up doing all kinds of labor.'

After clearing out ice and snow, he finally made one third of Ice Dragon’s upper body free.

“Master.”

“What.”

said Weed coldly.

“I think I can get out with my strength.”

“Yeah?”

Weed climbed down the Ice Dragon’s body and backed up a bit
as if to watch Ice Dragon free itself.

“Kuwuwuwuwuwu!”

Ice Dragon roared very violently.

And tried to move its body to escape from the pile of ice.

“Urggg!”

The sound of giving all it got and trying all it could!

Weed watched the scene as nervous as to get his palms full of sweat.

‘Please get out.’

If the Ice Dragon can’t get out by itself, he had to get rid of more ice and snow.

Since he didn’t want to anymore, he was praying with hope.

The Ice Dragon’s body had a thick upper part and got thinner as it went toward lower parts.

On top of that, since its two legs were relatively weak, it seemed it just might be able to escape itself if it tried.

“Kurarararararararara!”

Roaring Ice Dragon!

It had the power to make thin cracks form on nearby ice and blow snow everywhere.

Monsters froze as well due to the Ice Dragon’s high Fighting Spirit.

This is the legendary Dragon Peer!

It couldn’t be compared with the real dragon on every aspect;
still its outside seemed pretty much the same.

‘Definitely, it is my sculpture.’

Weed tightened his fist. He got a servant that did not lack anything.

He can’t make servants forever. Since he didn’t have any plan to give life to sculptures, the Ice Dragon was more precious to him.

But that was only for a moment.

KuaDang!

The Ice Dragon fell down with no strength left in its legs.

The Ice Dragon lying with its stomach on the floor!

“Master, I have no strength left.”

To support its huge body, it did not have enough level.

In a way, a handicapped dragon with a huge, useless body!

After resting for a long time, the Ice Dragon raised its body.

“Master, give me a name.”

“Your name is......”

Weed suddenly was full of regret.

Even if he did give it a name, he wasn’t sure if it could do its share.

“Well anyway, let’s just say Bingryong.” (lit. IceDragon)

Still a simple name easy to memorize!

“Thank you Master.”

Bingryong was very happy.

Then the face expression changed to a smiling one.

If it was a sculpture, it wouldn’t be able to, but since it was given life, it could change facial expression as well.

“Master, you don’t have to be that disappointed about me. My strength is slowly coming back.”

“What do you mean?”

“This land, this energy is giving me strength.”

Ice-formed Bingryong’s body became even more white and clear.

Cold-absorbing Bingryong’s body!

He could exert even stronger strength.

He raised its upper body using legs and arms and opened up tens of meters of wings.

Then the piled snow around it scattered right away.

The overflowing Bingryong’s dignity!

Weed nodded.

‘Although it’s only useful in the Northern region, he’s not that bad.’

Although strength and health is pretty weak, Bingryong that fights using magic and breath!

Weed got a pretty excellent servant.

Seoyoon and Alveron were quietly collecting fishing rod and tools needed for hunting.

The work they’ve been doing to collect food finally ended.

After the preparation was finished, Weed breathed out deeply.

“Can’t do anything else. Never knew this would happen.”

"........?"

Seoyoon tilted her head, confused about Weed’s ambiguous words.

Alveron asked directly.

“Do you have some trouble?”

Weed turned his body toward where wind was coming.

Then his cape fluttered.

“Well, I’m not trying to show off or anything but...... just watch comfortably.

No need to be surprised either. Since this is nothing to me.

Huhu. Really, this kind of thing is like everyday life to me.”

“Sorry?”

“Bingryong!”

Weed yelled out loudly. He was trying to call his servant Bingryong.

“Master, I’m coming.”

Bingryong was curled up behind the farside mountain and flew up toward the sky.

An Ice Dragon that suddenly appeared out of nowhere!

He was waiting at an appointed place until Weed called him.

At where wind and snow came down harshly, a dragon made of ice opened up its wings widely.

Even Weed who made it and saw it over and over got goosebumps.

The electrifying appearance of the dragon.

The pressure and charisma from its terrifying size!

It was as if a mountain was moving.

The horizon was becoming red with the sinking sun.

Bingryong flying across that sky.

The body made of ice exerted a speechless mysterious aura.

Seleuleung.

Seoyoon took a step forward.

Bingryong was coming and she tried to fight it fearlessly.

Weed stretched out his arm and gently stopped her.

She looked back and silently nodded.

Then Bingryong opened up its mouth.

“Kurararara!”

It was a terrifying roar.

A roar that made Weed or Seoyoon shake from a far distance!

As he did it, Bingryong flew in the sky beautifully as planned priorly.

Every time it moved its tens of meters of wing, a great wind pressure occured.

Bingryong flew down in a quick speed and landed in front of Weed, Seoyoon, and Alveron with dignity.

It was the appearance of an over 300 meter long dragon.

“Kuhum!”

Weed approached Bingryong as he cleared his throat.

In reality, it didn’t have as much dignity as it showed.

It looked nice, but it wasn’t very efficient.

Even though it was humongous, because it had weak strength and stamina, it started to breath heavily if it walked just for a bit.

Leg that shakes when standing up for a long time. Sometimes it had a hard time just opening up its wings.

Even all that wouldn’t have been possible if it wasn’t in the Northern region.

Since it couldn't even take care of its own body, there wasn’t much physical ability in reality.

Still, the presence Bingryong left was far from nothing.

“Don’t be surprised too much. He’s my servant.”

Weed easily climbed up to Bingryong’s body.

He only climbed up Bingryong, but his sight became more wide.

Seoyoon and Alveron looked very small.

They were looking up at Weed for a long time.

“Huhuhu.”

Weed made an arrogant smile.

He thought his current self would look very cool.

Weed riding on an Ice Dragon!

Cape was fluttering with wind and the Armor of Tallok had more shine as well.

To make things even better, the sky was turning red with the sunset.

The scenery was perfect with lighting and items adding onto the effect.

There’s no way to look anything other than handsome when looking up from below.

Of course, he wasn’t considering Bingryong, who was barely able to endure having Weed alone get onto his back, at all.

Weed suddenly had the urge to sing.

“I can’t resist singing in such a place.”

He took out Serena’s Harp he got from Rhodium.

Diriring!

Weed’s hand moved skillfully on the harp.

The harp sang with a clear sound.

Under the sky with sunset, playing the harp while sitting on an Ice Dragon.

Isn’t this the look of a hero!

It was a beautiful scene that would only appear from a drunken poets’ stories.

Weed glanced at Seoyoon.

‘If it’s this much she might get fantasies about me.’

If he showed such capability and sense, it was possible.

Plus, if it’s this beautiful of a scenery, maybe she’ll come to like him.

Diriring. Diririri!

Weed continued to play harp looking at the sinking sun.

Drunk in the mood.

Weed’s harp playing skill wasn’t really bad.

He played few songs with the harp he had for a long time, so his skill increased.

After he played the harp Weed smiled.

His heart beat. To become a hero of this beautiful scenery. He felt excited.

Weed yelled toward Avelon and Seoyoon who were on ground.

“Let’s go to the Valley of Death. Ride on this Ice Dragon!”

"........"

Seoyoon didn’t say a word. She just took turn looking at Weed and Bingryong and stirred her head.

Weed offered once again.

“It’s fine. He’s my servant, so none of what you’re worrying about will happen. You don’t have to be afraid. You can ride him without any worries!”

They rode onto Bingryong and flew straight to the Valley of Death.

This was the transportation Weed planned on!

Alveron rode onto Bingryong without any problem.

But Seoyoon stood where she was and didn’t ride onto Bingryong.

“Hm!”

Weed felt a bit disappointed.

‘It would be a lot of help if I could bring her.’

The Berserker's focus in a battle!

He could never forget the way she massacred the monsters.

But he didn’t really think Seoyoon would be necessary.

‘I completed all the quests no matter how hard they were.’

Of course, he had to go through all kinds of hardships.

All the effort he put to somehow complete quests starting from nothing went by his head.

The memory of him fighting against the Death Knight to recover Freya’s holy item in Lavias, and the memory of taking care of the Paladins for months to exorcise the True Blood Vampires.

The exciting moment when he fought against the Legions of Undead, commanding Orcs at the Plains of Despair.

There was Mapan’s indirect help, but he was always alone in critical moments.

There was no need to be disheartened because Seoyoon wouldn’t be with him.

Weed decided.

‘If she doesn’t want to, there’s no need to force her. It’s bit of a disappointment though.’

If she says she can’t go with him, he can’t force her to go with him.

Weed told Seoyoon after making the decision.

“Rest at Morata. I’ll finish and return quickly...... Let’s go, Bingryong!”

That as a signal, Bingryong opened up his wings.

Bingryong was barely standing at that point.

Since he didn’t have any strength left in arms or legs, flying in the sky was comparatively easier for him.

With Weed and Alveron on his back, Bingryong flew up to the sky.

After about 3 hours!

“Achoo!”

“Cough!”

Weed and Alveron returned to where they started riding on Bingryong and shaking.

You have caught a serious cold. Physical ability decreased by 45%

Skill effect decreased by 60%The cold can develop into other sickness.

The maximum possible health and mana decreased.

When using Sculpting skill, there’s a possibility of sculptures breaking due to the cold.

With the cold that he never wanted to get again as a bonus!

The reason why everything turned like this was simple.

Bingryong was pretty fast in the sky.

The problem was Weed or Alveron who were riding on top of it had to shake in the cold.

It was cold enough just standing, but they flew through the sky at an incredible speed.

The higher the altitude, the temperature dropped and the wind got harsher.

In the end, they returned unable to endure any more.

As if she knew, Seoyoon was waiting at the spot with a campfire lit.

“Achoo!”

Weed approached the campfire as he coughed.

The old saying was right. If the head was bad, the body had to go through hardships.

Seoyoon thought as she lit campfire.

She was used to camping alone.

Watching carefully if there’s monsters around, she collected wood, lit the fire, and cooked an edible food.

She learned how to cook in the wooden house from the Instructor’s wife.

Since that was when she first met Weed, she can say there was some sort of deep relationship.

Cooking for only one.

She only ate to make hunger disappear, so she only had to cook little.

Recipes were simple too, so she used what she got from hunting.

If she got sick of it, then she ate bread she bought from store or picked wild berries.

Due to such, her cooking skill didn’t go over beginner level 3.

Then, she ate more than necessary as she ate Weed’s cooked food.

‘Delicious.’

It wasn’t so bad to eat food made with someone’s care instead of food made to just rid of hunger.

‘pfft.’

When she was lightly thinking of such, she almost laughed out loud when she saw Weed and Alveron appear.

Their faces and whole bodies were covered with frost. They came back looking like poor frozen rats.

Even if it was Seoyoon, their appearance was horrible enough to make her laugh.

Weed walked with Seoyoon and Alveron toward the Valley of Death.

Using the information gotten from Morata, they moved only using safe areas.

He enjoyed fighting against monsters, but there is a right timing for everything.

They couldn't slow down to hunt while not even knowing what monsters come out from what area.

In the morning they walked while eating, and at night, they crawled into a cave or raised a tent to escape the coldness.

March full of hardship!

Since he still had a cold, he wore layers and layers of wolf leather clothes.

Additionally, there was a fierce silent mental battle.

Weed took one step back.

“Cough! The scenery here is great. Go ahead. I’ll walk slowly enjoying the view.”

Clear ice was standing out from the ground here and there.

Ice on such a wide plain was very mysterious.

Harsh wind blew on the earth covered with ice and snow.

Weed was planning to walk behind Alveron.

Alveron opened his mouth.

“Godess Freya has... achoo!... told me to be modest.”

Then took three steps back. Avelon slowly hid behind Weed.

“If you’re a Priest of the Church of Freya, you should lead the way for others.”

“My mission is to help Weed-nim. I’m sorry but I cannot stand in front of you.”

“Kuhm!”

Weed coughed very loudly.

Truthfully, the wind was coming from the front right now.

Since the one in the front would be the coldest, they were trying to stand at the back.

But the wind changed its direction and now it came from behind.

Alveron hurried his steps.

“Goddess Freya has told me to lead the way.”

“I think I heard that too, Alveron.”

“Still, you wouldn’t have as much responsibility as me who is a Priest.”

“What are you saying? Monsters might appear. I’ll take the lead.”

There was nothing around, but Weed used danger as an excuse to walk in front.

Alveron hurried his pace to avoid the cold wind.

Only Seoyoon walked silently; sometimes looking at them dumbfounded.

The wind was cold.

“Achoo!”

Faster one runs, faster stamina runs out and thus faster the coldness comes.

Weed and Avelon were buying their own misfortune.

Just like that, during the day, when it’s relatively warmer they walked; during the night they rested in a cave or at the bottom of a hill to take refuge from the wind.

Every night Weed showed off his cooking skill.

“Fish stew with plenty of garlic!”

It sounds terrible but in reality it’s a stew that tastes great.

The stew gave warm a feeling throughout the whole body.

If they didn’t even have such food, it would’ve been crazy to move while they had a cold.

Sometimes when the cold got worse because of the weather, they ate meat soaked in wine.

Countless stars shone in the unusually clear night sky.

The mealtime was the only time when they could rest and get rid of some tiredness from the harsh traveling.

Then one day after finishing their meal in a cave, Weed tried to take plates like usual.

Dalgrak.

But Seoyoon suddenly took away the plates from him.

The wooden plates that Weed created himself with currency used in Versailles Continent carved on it!

He carved in the picture to not forget that he should never forget to gain money even when he’s eating.

Weed raised his head. Seoyoon’s clear eyes were looking at him.

"........"

Weed’s chest hurt.

‘So she’s taking away my precious plates just like this. She has some good eyes for items.’

They’re not the best silver or gold plate set.

Just simple wooden plates good to hold food in.

According to rumors, there are some with jewels on them.

Verjua plates which had a price of over 6000 gold.

Unless it’s someone with overflowing money, they’re not plates that anyone can use.

Like this, good plates are often expensive.

Weed made plates himself to save money, but Seoyoon took even that from him.

But that was Weed’s delusion.

Seoyoon wasn’t trying to take it away from him.

Without saying anything she took it outside and wiped it with snow.

Seoyoon washing dishes!

Since she always got food from him, she was in her own way showing gratitude.

Bingryong!

He gracefully opened his wings and flew around the sky.

Then when he saw a monster, he landed and attacked whatever he saw.

“Kurarara!”

He fell down from the sky and viciously stumped on monsters or bit them.

There was almost no monsters left where Bingryong attacked.

It was to hunt for meals, but it was more to increase experience and fighting ability.

“I can’t stand anyone stronger than me! To be able to open my wings under this sky and over this earth, I need to be stronger.”

Bingryong knew by himself that he was a great being, but the fact that he couldn't even move his own body properly was very painful to him!

Since Bingryong’s Fighting Spirit was high, ordinary monsters froze right away.

Bingryong didn’t overlook anyone and hunted even those monsters.

Monsters gain skill experience and experience through killing.

Since it was possible for him to become even stronger depending on the effort put in, Bingryong did not rest.

“A stronger monster! To make myself stronger I need a stronger opponent! Appear, an opponent who can make my heart shake!”

Bingryong’s roar shook the ice covered earth.

The Northern region’s strong monsters

There were plenty of boss level or strong monsters in each ice mountains.

By level, there were many over level 400 here and there.

Furthermore, in the Forest of Massacre, strong monsters that are usually very hard to meet formed a food chain and lived there.

“Kuwuwuwu!”

In the ice mountain, Bingryong stumped on weak monsters and when boss level monster really appeared he opened up his wings.

“Then see you later.”

Bingryong was a coward unlike his huge size.

Therefore, if he met an opponent similar to him or stronger than him, he ran away. He was growing in such a way.

Weed walked while clearing the snow busily.

“Alveron, just a bit more.”

“Yes.”

Last night lots of snow fell.

Thanks to that, it was harder to walk with snow piled up to their knees.

Serious cold doesn’t get better easily.

Their stamina dropped easily, so they took turns to move forward.

“Weed-nim I’m sorry. I can’t continue anymore.”

Weed and Seoyoon can manage somehow, but Alveron who was a Priest became tired easily.

“Oh well. Let’s rest for a bit.”

Progress became slower because of Alveron.

Walking on cold, frozen land consumes lots of stamina.

Alveron who had weak stamina, couldn't walk much under normal circumstances either.

But since there’s a pile of snow, he’s having more difficult time.

Around them, there were only wolves who wandered around, looking for food.

‘There should be a way. A way to move faster. We need a transportation method.’

On the Versailles Continent there are various transportation methods.

Most popular method are horses!

They’re traded commonly in towns or cities. Moreover, there are professional horse trainers.

A great horse that follows owner’s command well, or a fast horse like lightening.

Due to horses that can be used even in battles, transporting time between hunting grounds or towns could be reduced.

‘In this kind of coldness, all horses will freeze to death. Even if they survive, they wouldn’t be able to run well.’

Horses are made to run well in plains as a basis.

To run on snow and ice covered land would be too much.

Then, an idea appeared in Weed’s head!

‘That’s it! Why didn’t I think of it earlier? There’s saying chicken instead of pheasant.’

Wolves were wandering about.

When they meet Seoyoon or Weed they slowly go away. There was exceptionally a lot of wolves in this area.

Weed pleaded Seoyoon.

“Please help me catch wolves around this area.”

Seoyoon silently pulled out her sword thinking that it was for meat.

But Weed’s request was something bit different.

“You have to catch it without killing. But if possible, beat them up so they’ll think dying is better.”

"........"

Seoyoon took out her sword and beat up the wolves just enough.

To hunt wolves they didn’t even need to use skills.

Woof! Woof!

If monsters have intelligence, they choose to run away when against an impossibly stronger opponent.

When life dropped, scared wolves started to run away.

Seoyoon chased after wolves and broke their legs without any hesitation. It was to immobilize them.

Wolves sliding on an ice rink.

After becoming unable to fight, they were only waiting to die.

Then Weed approached them.

“Oh my, you poor things doesn’t it hurt?

Wolves showed cautiousness.

It was human. One of the humans who made them like that approached them.

But Weed did not kill the wolves.

He applied herbs to the wounds and bandaged them.

Grrrrr!

Most animals would feel thankful.

But still, wolves did not abandon their violent side.

When their body recovered, they bared their fangs to bite off Weed.

Like a wild animal, it couldn’t trust a human.

Weed backed up silently.

“Look like you’re better, I will be going. Someone of your kind may be in pain somewhere after all.”

Usually he would hunt wolves down with joy, but Weed backed up without getting too greedy.

Grrr, Gr Gr Gr!

Wolves tried hard to stand up using their four legs.

It was time for them to go back to the base.

Then Seoyoon came again. Then she beat up the Wolves without a word

Like that, the Wolves got beat up and Weed cured them for several weeks.

So one hits, then one cures to make them feel thankful to them.

lick lick.

A young Wolf looked at him and licked his hand.

“Yeah. Good boy.”

Weed touched the wolves head.

He gave him a specially dried fish

Now, most Wolves wagged their tail.

Sometimes they showed their stomach.

They’ve been tamed!

They came to follow Weed.

But still, there were some who did not accept Weed until the end.

In a way, those were captain level of wolves.

Those kinds of ones Weed silently took them to the back of the hill, holding their neck.

“Hoohoohoo, you good boys. You must be hurt a lot. Then I should treat your wound with even more care.”

I think it’s better to treat you over there than here.”

Soft smile and caring eyes!

There is no way to know what happened there, but when Weed came back his bags were a bit more packed.

The amount of meat and leather increased.

To the wolves, nightmarish events were happening.

GhingGhingGhing!

Wolves cuddled up to Weed when he returned, not knowing anything.

Alveron and Seoyoon felt a chill going up their spines, but Weed only had angelic smile on his face.

“Yes, you cute little things.”

They were wolves that already got used to Weed’s touch and food.

“Eat lots.”

Weed gave wolves more than enough food.

When wolves were eating, he quickly made something using wood and monster tendon.

“I should make the bottom with steel blades to make it move forward easily and I should tie the tendon three times so wolves can’t get away.”

The object Weed made using his Smithing and Sewing skills to the fullest!

Even when it was put over their bodies, wolves did not resist at all.

Then it was completed.

Sled led by wolves!

It had different a shape from the chariot.

Tens of wolves lead from the front in a group, and the sled was made to slide over ice.

Since it was low, there was less resistance from wind, and because there were no wheels, it could slide over ice.

He made transportation that fit to the Northern region.

Weed commanded wolves to move forward.

The sled moved fast, sliding over snow and ice.

It gave incomparable joy to horse riding or any other transportation.

Fast enough speed and stability!

Alveron and Seoyoon could relax and enjoy the scenery.

Still, even if there’s a sled, moving during the night was risky.

Not only were there strong monsters, the Versailles Continent was very unpredictable, so if they got swept away by a blizzard, it would be hard to survive.

At times like that, they needed to rest in warm caves.

Awoooooo!

Remorseful cries of wolves that rings every night.

After four days like that, they could arrive at the Valley of Death soon.

Weed first checked the geographic shape of the valley.

‘ It’s high, and it’s very dangerous.’

With the valley in the middle, there were very steep cliffs.

After the valley, there was a huge mountain.

Although it was not as dangerous as Yuroki mountain, it was a mountain covered in snow and ice.

Plus, plenty of monsters were on the top of the cliffs as if to prove that the name the Valley of Death was not for nothing.

“Keukuakuakua!”

Ice Troll with exceptional physical recovery with its body most fit to cold environment.

Ice Trolls that usually are active in one or two numbers, were gathered in the hundreds in here.

Unlike the green ordinary trolls, Ice Trolls were white like snow, but their long arms and disgusting muscle body were the same.

The Ice Troll is a high level monster of over lever 320.

Additionally, because they live in cold region, there are not many who have hunted them before; and due to troll’s exceptional recovery rate, it was a very difficult monster to hunt.

“Kyao! Kyao!”

“Kuahah!”

After finding Weed and Seoyoon, the Ice Trolls yellowed out in disappointment.

The Ice Trolls that enjoyed violence and massacre wanted to fight Weed and Seoyoon, but since the cliff was too steep, they couldn’t go down and could only yell.

“Come here. Come up. I’ll hug you. Do you have the confidence to spend the night of temptation with me? Then come.”

“Spend the long night with us. It’s so cold here. Please hug me with your warm embrace.”

Lamia with female humanoid body!

With bright attractive smile, they were tempting Weed and Alveron.

They point using their slender fingers. As if they’d make any man’s dream come true!

But if your eyes drift down to their lower half, one can only shake their head.

Lamia’s lower half was like a snake.

Gradually thickening snake’s body plus a long tail!

The Lamia had a fighting ability like the Ice Troll and high intelligence as well. She was a highly difficult monster to handle.

Like this, there weren’t only Lamia and Ice Troll.

Lizardman and Lizardking!

Evil Spirit Soldier that are protecting the Valley of Death.

Servant Evil spirit tracker, Priest of Diverse, it was full of local monsters as well.

“I have nothing go easily.”

Weed muttered unconsciously.

There was no way such fun will happen like massacring all the monsters at bottom of the valley.

Rather, reversely, they needed to attack monsters on the top of the valley.

Weed and Seoyoon started to investigate around the Valley of Death.

Then, they were able to find a castle not far from the valley.

Niffleheim Kingdom’s Vent Castle!

This was definitely what the Morata residents were talking about.

‘They said the Kingdom’s knights reside there.’

The old castle was build using rectangular rocks.

Although there were many broken places due to time, but... yes.

“Do not come near!”

yelled the soldier on top of the castle wall.

There were some places where human cannot live.

The Soldier’s Armor was on the verge of collapsing.

Weed could wear such armor. He had no intention letting items go to waste.

“Do not approach me!”

“ We have come to help you all!”

Weed yelled, but no one listened.

“I don’t know what kind of monster you are but I’m not getting fooled anymore!”

“We are human and we would like to enter.”

“Shut up! If you come any more near, we’ll attack!”

Then an urgent bell sound came.

The soldiers were aiming at Seoyoon.

"........"

Weed became speechless. They had no trust.

In such situations, the most necessary lesson is now.

Weed looked at Alveron. Alveron knew those eyes...

“As a Priest of the Church of Freya, I have learned recovery and blessing magic professionally. I will stand for them.”

“The Church of Freya? We don’t trust anyone. We’ll attack if you approach any more.”

Vent Castle did not allow anyone to approach.

Even if Weed is famous, it didnt reach the castle.

For Fame to spread, it needs to be passed from person to person, but since Vent castle has no communication with the outside world, it is useless..

‘I can’t go in here.’

Weed could do nothing but to leave Vent Castle behind.

There was no way to get in, and there was no need to.

‘It's a poor castle anyway. Even if I force my way in, I’ll just get robbed like in Morata or cut down to pieces."

Weed came back to the Valley of Death, preparing to attack;
at that moment, they found him.

“Kuahahahahahahah!”

Wyverns screamed due to coldness.

The expensive Geumini flew through the sky and they finally arrived.

“Yes, you worked hard.”

Weed touched them both.

Then using the wolf leather he had, he made clothes for the Wyverns.

Just that due to poor the condition of the materials, the quality of the clothes was way lower than usual.

Wah-il, Wah-thul, Wah-sam, Wah-oh, Wah-yook, Wah-chil!

Originally Wyverns have vicious personality, but the ones born from sculptures were different.

“My clothes are more pretty!”

“Look at my leather clothes’ color!”

As expected from artistic Wyverns they were showing off their clothes.

Wolf leather that hasn’t been properly taken care of.

Ripped loose, low level leather made cover-up cloth.

Wyverns were very happy wearing it.

“Definitely, our master’s the best!”.

The gift cleared away all the hatred they had toward Weed for making them fly all the way to the Northern Province, and even made them feel thankful to him for making them the clothes.

In truth, Weed complained while he was making clothes with wolf leather.

“Unable to do anything because the weather’s bit cold. Useless bunch!”

For them to move normally, he had to make them clothes.

So, he was forced to make them without putting even an ounce of care in making them.

“GolGolGol.”

Geumini whose body is entirely gold got some clothes from him.

The clothes that Weed wore during his noob years!

He gave Geumini the sword and armors which had the lowest possible durability and could only be sustained through countless numbers of fixing and fixing again.

Equipments handed down for generations.

The Wyverns and Geumini had pathetic appearances for having a cheap and stingy owner.

Still, the Wyverns held their heads up.

“My clothes are prettiest!”

“Nope. My clothes. My clothes are even more pretty!”

“Wanna fight me?”

“Yes, fight!”

Violent Wyverns trying to fight each other saying that their clothes are the best!

“My clothes are the best. GolGolGol!”

Even Guemini joined the fight to not lose its pride and took out his sword.

One was a Clay Sword. The useful sword Weed acquired in Lavias!

Another sword was a great one.

Agatha’s Sacred Sword from the Church of Freya!

He auctioned away another one, but he gave the one left to Geumini.

Using both swords and attacking opponent like a lightening was Geumini’s specialty.

It was when Weed’s underlings were trying to fight with their pride on line.

“Kurarararara!”

Bingryong appeared with an amazing roar!

The long humongous body that is hundreds of meters long.

The open mouth that looks like it’ll launch out a Breath any time!

Detailedly depicted beard.

Moving its long tail left and right, Bingryong flew through the sky in high speed.

“Kurararara!”

He roared with force once again.

Due to the force of the moment, the Wyverns and Geumini couldn’t move.

Compared to the enormous Bingryong Wavyer’s huge body looked like a child’s toy.

As Bingryong approached, the Wyverns and Geumini bowed their head.

They have completely accepted Bingryong as the top in their league.

Kuung!

Bingryong landed heavily with force. The ground where he landed shook as if an earthquake happened.

He was showing off.

That confident and pompous appearance!

But Bingryong’s legs couldn’t bear the weight.

CheulPuDuk!

Bingryong feel on the ground right then.

It desparately moved its short legs. It tried to get up using its wings too, but it wasn’t easy.

Not only was the ground slippery, it lacked strength to make its huge body stand up.

Suddenly the mood became cold.

Where the Wyverns, Geumini, and Bingryong were, an endless coldness flowed.

Chapter 4: Conquest

After resting for a day, Weed started to focus on attacking the Valley of Death in the morning, right after the sun came up.

Although his condition was worse by 20% due to cold, he didn’t have the luxury to rest and fully recover himself.

“It’s common to get a cold. To avoid getting a cold in the Northern Province is only a luxury. Alveron!”

Alveron was sitting there when Weed turned around.

A dependable companion he can always trust!

As expected from the candidate of Pope, he had immense amount of holiness.

Unlike most strong characters, he was comparatively nice and obedient, he was very useful.

“Yes.”

“We’re confronting a very important battle. Bless Wah-il, Wah-thul, Wah-sam, Wah-oh, Wah-yook, Wah-chil, Geumini, and Bingryong.

“Yes, I understand.”

Weed called out the names of each and every one of the sculpture creatures.

This scrupulous consideration!

But in truth, they get sulk easily because they’re life forms full of jealousy and selfishness.

‘Just for what good did I make those kind of things.’

Weed couldn’t do anything else than to sigh whenever he looked at his sculptures.

Bottom-low intelligence!

Greed towards food!

Greed towards money and items!

They were servants he could never trust.

But sculptures couldn’t do anything about it. Like the saying children take after their parents,
their level is comparatively high thanks to Weed’s high Art stat; but Weed’s intelligence and wisdom stat are pathetically low.

Due to that, only simple and idiotic ones came out.

Alveron cast holy magic.

“Undermine the dark power which tries to weaken him. Divine protection. Maximize he who fights against evil darkness. Bless!”

A white light poured out from Alveron and wrapped around the Wyverns, Geumini, and Bingryong.

A Priest’s special skill that raises Defence and Strength.

It also raised various Element Resistance.

Alveron cast another holy magic onto this.

“Help his breath of life to not leave him. Hand of Life.”

Skill that adds great amount of health!

Alveron became stronger while Weed wasn’t with him.

‘Yes, he’s very useful.’

Weed showed a disappointed expression.

Compared to when they arrived at Morata, lots of time passed, so he became much stronger.

But Alveron was his companion only for a specified quest.

Since he can’t order him around once the quest ended, it was such a waste.

“Master I will attack.”

Wah-il fluttered its wings.

After getting various blessing magic, he became full of strength and showed his vicious nature that enjoys battles.

Weed didn’t necessarily stop him.

“Alright. Just becareful. Geumini.”

“Master. Why call me? Gol gol gol.”

“Fight riding on Wah-il.”

“It’s cold. Can’t I rest nearby camp fire? Gol gol gol.”

Geumini was made of gold.

Just like his expensive gold body, he was very lazy.

Weed replied very honestly,

“If you don’t fight, I’ll melt you.”

“I will follow my Master’s words. Gol gol gol.”

“Take this bow.”

Weed gave him the bow he was equipped with.

Flutter!

Making a bit frivolious sound, the six Wyverns flew up to the sky.

The skilled Wyverns that survived fighting against the Legion of Undead.

Wyverns circled in the sky with dignity.

Just like an eagle preying, looking for a moment of opening!

But Wyverns quickly switched their minds.

“Gosh I’m gonna freeze to death. Let’s attack.”

Although it was morning already, because of the cold atmosphere, the Wyverns’ physical capability was being held down.

Thus, the Wyverns decided to not circle the sky out of unnecessity.

With Wah-il as a lead, they flew up the sky.

After continuing like that, they dived straight toward the monsters on the top of the Valley of Death.

The Wyverns attacked while diving down with thrilling speed.

Using steel-hard claws, they scratched Ice Troll or Lamia.

“Kill!”

“This is our land!”

“Fight!”

Ice Trolls yelled warcrys and attacked using tridents while Lamias used their spell, flicking their tongue like a snake.

“Eye of Temptation!”

Spell of Lamia. Regardless of race, it weakens all the men’s strength.

On the bottom of the valley, Weed though he made a big mistake.

“Did Lamias have such ability?”

Lamias are usually considered as rare monsters, so not much about their abilities are known.

Only that their level is around late 200s, but there’s nothing about how they battle.

The spell Lamias were using was a kind of curse, but it couldn’t be dispelled with holy magic. They were tricky opponents to face.

This was the Lamia’s specialty that wasn’t known to the public.

But the Wyverns were not one bit effected.

“Why aren’t we effected?”

“What the heck.”

“Couldn’t it be because we are great beings?”

“That should be it. Because we are so great, we’re not getting affected by such petty curse.”

“Wait! But are we male or female?”

No Wyverns could answer the sudden question by Wah-sam.

Weed then realized.

‘There are no males among them!’

When the Wyverns were sculpted, Weed was busy warring against the Legion of Undead.

There was not much time, but he had to sculpt fast without caring about quality.

Bulging belly and angulated face!

Because he was on a race against time when sculpting, he couldn’t make that something that defined their sex.

Thanks to it, the Wyverns had a body that cannot tell their sex.

Then what of Geumini?

In the case of Geumini, starting with the face, he clearly was made looking like a male.

But Geumini was also not affected by Lamias’ temptation.

Somehow, sometime, Geumini was busy looking himself in a mirror.

“This shining aura. This golden face. There will be no one more beautiful than me in the world.”

Telling himself how beautiful he was, he was in love with himself!

In the end, no one fell for the Lamias’ temptation.

“Poison of Eucla!”

Since their spell didn’t work, they started spraying deadly poison all over the place.

Some stung poison needles.

Blue poison smoke spread with the wind, Ice Trolls swung their spears all around.

Wyverns were flying in the sky and diving from time to time to scratch and peck with their claws and beaks to attack Lamias and Ice Trolls.

Thanks to the incredible blessing effect, the Wyverns’ physical ability expanded unusually.

They could fight on equal terms against one to two Ice Trolls!

But there were tens of Ice Trolls.

“You dirty birds! Die!”

“That way!”

Whenever the Wyverns went close to the ground to attack, Ice Trolls gathered around.

When that happened, Wyverns flew upward to avoid focused attack.

“You cowardly birds!”

“Come down again. Let us fight!”

Ice Trolls yelled, full of rage.

If they were Orcs, they would’ve went down to fight fairly.

But the Wyverns had a terrible and cowardly personality.

“You lowly lives who don’t even know how to fly.”

“Why don’t you guys try to come up here?”

Wyverns cleverly scratching with claws and attacking!

It didn’t do much damage to Ice Trolls.

The Troll’s special immense physical regeneration.

Most scars recover with a speed that can be seen with the eyes.

Since they had monstrous recovery speed that would allow them to grow new arms and legs when they were cut, it was impossible for the Wyverns to kill Ice Trolls.

“They’re going that away!”

“Let’s hurry up and kill them!”

When Wyverns approach the ground, Ice Trolls run towards them without even getting a bit tired.

Trolls that are much taller than Orcs.

That tall body ran with full speed on icy paths and slipped numerous times.

When tens of Ice Trolls fell, they got tangled up by themselves, so they wouldn’t be able to get up for awhile.

At those chances, Wyverns would scratch and peck viciously.

Although Ice Trolls recovered fast, stamina was used up very fast.

This, rather than direct attacks, was the main method of weakening Ice Trolls.

Only picking out the Trolls that fell on ground, Geumini shot with great accuracy.

Due to the wind caused by huge flying Wyverns, snow stacked on a side of the valley crushed down.

On the other side of the valley, there were Lizardmen led by a Lizard King, Ghost Soldiers, Servant and Ghost Followers were waiting.

“We just have to face one side at a time.”

Weed sent the Wyverns purposely to where Ice Trolls and Lamias were.

It was impossible to fight against swarming monsters on top of the valley.

But thanks to the geographic factor of the Valley of Death, they didn’t have to face them at the same time.

They just had to face enemies on one side of the valley.

In other words, divide and conquer!

“Master, we can’t win by ourselves.”

At then, Wah-il was asking for help.

As Wyverns who can fly, they rarely got into a dangerous situation.

Because if their wings were fine, they could fly away anytime!

But due to numerous monsters on the ground, dealing critical attacks was impossible.

Against 5~6 Ice Trolls whenever they dived, only a few Wyverns had trouble just trying to shake them off.

“Bingryong, it’s your time to shine.”

“Alright. Master.”

Finally, on Weed’s order, Bingryong who was waiting opened up its wings widely and flew.

“Kurararara!”

With impressive Dragon Peer, Ice Troll and Lamias became atrophied.

Roaring Bingryong flew and stumped on Ice Trolls.

Pudeudeuk!

His weight was an attack ability itself. Bingryong flattened trolls by simply stepping on them!

Whenever Bingryong moved its wings and kicked, Ice Trolls and Lamias fell away.

Although Bingryong was scolded how useless and strength-less he was, it was only because he was too heavy!

Against light enemies, he had great potential.

When Bingryong moved his wings or legs, Ice Trolls fell without any chance.

“Kurararara!”

When he roared from time to time, surround shook.

Bingryong, whose strength increased with Alveron’s blessing, was on a roll.

“Kill him.”

“Destroy that bulk of ice!”

Ice Trolls charged.

Although there were many who slipped and fell from getting tangled among themselves, more than five of them stuck onto Bingryong and swung spears and axes.

And from deep within the Valley of Death, a countless number of Ice Trolls appeared.

The number was over 100!

More Ice Trolls than what they were facing appeared.

There was reason behind as to why this place was called the Valley of Death.

At then, Bingryong stretched his wings and flew up.

Then breathed in deeply.

“Huuuup!”

Atmosphere got sucked into Bingryong’s huge nostril.

His normally bulging belly became even more bulged.

Then the body made of ice became more and more white.

Then, Bingryong’s mouth became wide open.

“Puwaaaaaa!”

Ice Breath!

He used his ultimate skill that can only be used once a day.

The Ice Trolls that were charging froze on the spot.

They were frozen, stuck with the ground.

“Run.”

“Run away!”

Ice Troll and Lamias became confused.

Monsters that got directly hit by Bingryong’s breath were on the verge of death, and the ones that was around the main attack spot partly froze and became very slow.

The intense aura spread by the dignified dragon.

Sadly, it was a skill that could be used only once a day.

Although it froze a considerable number of monsters, even more Ice Trolls showed up. Bingryong was busy trying to defend.

“Bingryong, drop them to the bottom.”

Finally Weed gave an order.

There’s more than several monsters crowded in the Valley of Death; he couldn’t just leave those endlessly appearing monsters to Bingryong or the Wyverns.

“Master, I will execute your order.”

As Bingryong thrashed on the top of tightly spaced valley, Ice Trolls got pushed away and rolled down the valley.

“Gueheak!”

The Ice Trolls that fell down the cliff was Weed or Seoyoon’s to fight off.

“Ahchoo!”

Weed took the lead even when he could barely stand due to the cold.

“Gosh it’s killing me.”

His body was hot from fever.

Really, the Valley of Death was just too cold. Not only because of monsters, the temperature was basically too low.

A strong wind that can even freeze any living beings blew.

The wind that came from the center of the valley worsened Weed and Alveron’s cold for every little second it was blowing.

Enduring his shaking legs, Weed took out his sword.

“I can only try my best. Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

The sword skill with holy light flowing around it.

Whenever Weed swung his sword, the trajectory of the light remained for a long time.

Unlike usual straightly slaying or stabbing an enemy, a sword that synchronizes body and sword to flow freely!

The sword skill Weed trained for a long time remained and appeared as light.

Wobble!

Whenever his strength loosened from his hand and foot, Ice Trolls approached dangerously.

Wounded Ice Trolls.

Along with loud chest pounding sounds, they came, holding spears and axes high up.

“Kyao!”

Ice Trolls breathed out heavily and swung axes.

‘It’s dangerous.’

Weed ducked and dodged the axe.

Then, at the lowered state, he rolled forward, passing after slaying their knees.

He doesn’t usually use such method, but he was in a pinch.

Over ten Ice Trolls fell down the cliff.

Although their Stamina dropped considerably, it did not mean their attack did as well!

They had higher levels than Weed as well, so he had to take caution.

“Kurrrr. Cowardly bastard.”

“Kurrr. You will die by our hands.”

Ice Trolls breathed out rapidly out of anger.

Whenever they breathed out, white foggy breath came out.

‘Too many.’

Weed’s eyes lowered.

When danger approached, he can judge the situation rationally with a panoramic view.

If his body was in his normal state, he would be able to get by, but in his current state with a cold, his Strength, Agility, and Health were overall very weakened.

Since his combat skill mastery was lowered as well, it was the same as to say all his strong points were gone.

“Still I can’t give up. I can’t back up now.”

Weed held up his sword.

If he can’t finish them off quickly, he can drag the fight on although it would be a bit risky.

Even if he got damaged a bit, he had to wait for an opening and deal them one-by-one.

“Since I can’t let Alveron die.”

Behind Weed, there’s the slow-at-running Alveron.

So he had to hold his ground no matter what.

Phusuk!

At then, a light flashed in between a group of Ice Trolls.

Seoyoon took care of the monsters that went toward her and helped Weed.

The formation of Ice Trolls that were surrounding Weed fell apart.

“Kurrrr!”

“There’s the human female who have murdered our friends.”

“Kill the woman.”

As Ice Trolls attacked Seoyoon, Weed could rest for a short moment.

‘The real battle begins now.’

Although Weed’s condition wasn’t normal, he continued to participate in the battle.

Sharp and exquisite lines of light overlap and creates ominous beauty.

Offensive side of Moonlight Sculpting!

Like the originally artistic class job, the sword skill was beautiful as well.

Compared to it, Seoyoon used much more simple attacks.

She dodges monster’s attack with refined, dancing-like movements.

Then when she sees an opening, she cuts away the opponent right away.

If it doesn’t die because of its monstrous recovery rate, she hit the neck again.

It was a cruel method, but in truth, it was much more gentle compared to Weed’s.

He got confident when good amount of Ice Trolls were taken care of.

Weed said to Ice Trolls.

“Try to hit me.”

“Kuaaaa!”

Raged Ice Trolls attacked Weed.

Whenever they did, Weed closed his eyes.

Closed Eye skill mastery has increased.

Toughness raised by 1.

Weed was using Ice Troll’s hits to raise his skills!

When his life became minimum, he would finally hunt the Ice Trolls.

Then when he kills an Ice Troll, he held a cup carved out of wood near its body.

“This precious blood! Blood keep on coming out.”

Ice Troll Blood was an important material needed for making healing potions.

Compared to money, one bottle would equal almost 1gold. It was a rare item.

A rare item wanted by many and sold by few.

A bottle of such valuable potion ingredients could be gotten here when they hunted 3~4 Trolls.

An item placed highest on the Dark Gamers’ must-get list, Ice Troll Blood.

That was literally taking even a last drop of blood (for selling). Such was Weed’s method of hunting.

* * *

To gain money, Yurin was doing small quests.

“If you clean these dishes in an hour, I will give you 3 copper more”

In the restaurant Yurin was working, used dishes were stacked up like a mountain.

They had food leftovers disgustingly stuck on them and they smelled very bad.

To the point where no one would dare clean them.

“Well, I’ll have to try.”

Yurin rubbed the dishes very hard.

Cleanly, to the point they would shine.

‘Let’s get money. For the future. To buy a skill book, I will to save bit by bit.’

Yurin wanted to take the greatest and honest path.

Her target was to become a great mage who can kill ten thousands of monster with crowd control magic!

Covering an open field with flames, causing floods to sweep away enemies.

It was a dream like story, but it was still possible.

In the beginning of Royal Road, there was a mage who fought against a tens of thousands of monster army on the commercial from Unicorn Inc.

Due to that, there were many players who chose to be a magician.

They had weaker physical ability than warriors.

They did not have a high Health that would allow them to survive even after several beatings.

Even when monster a comes, they’ll be busy running away, and it was magicians who unluckily got into a trap and would die from it.

Rather, it’s weaker than in reality, so they wouldn’t be able to carry a bag with enough items in.

A job that has to wear a thin leather rob and walk around with a cane and cannot even wear cool armors like warriors!

Despite all that, it was mages who had infinite magic attack and the highest attack power.

Ding!

– Fame increased by 1 due to cleaning dishes thoroughly.- Because you have completed a chore, you’re now known more in the village as a person who’s good at dish washing.

The restaurant owner came.

“Thanks for your hard work. I will give 3 more copper as promised.”

“Phew. Thank you.”

Yurin smiled and took the money.

After this, she could get more jobs easily.

“I heard you take importance in sanitary. The items in our item shop are buried under a pile of dust. Could you clean it for me? I’d like you to finish within five hours.

I will give you 30 copper for an hour.”

“Yes. Just trust me.”

Yurin moved her working place to the item shop.

It was a job to clean the items that people don’t usually look for.

As Yurin cleaned up the place, she studied up various items she didn’t know about before.

She could just clean away dust she can see.

But Yurin cleaned each and every item very thoroughly.

She cleaned the items overnight, changing the dry cloth tens of times.

Ding!

You have cleaned the items in the Item Shop completely.

Fame increased by 2.

The Item Shop owner looked at the shining items and became overjoyed.

“You’re the first person who took care of the job this thoroughly... I will especially give you 20% more.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, should I introduce you a job? See that armor shop over there? Although it’s doing well, there seems to be items that don’t really sell. Who knows if someone will buy them if they’re cleaned up and displayed. I heard the owner was looking for someone to hire so try the place. If you tell him that I introduced you, he wouldn’t reject you.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Yurin cheerfully said farewell and went to the armor shop.

Nothing was much different there either.

It was again, to clean old armors.

Now, she became a master at cleaning.

“They’re armors and shield that protect one’s life, so be extra tenacious.”

“Yes, I will.”

“I don’t really trust you, but since a good friend of mine introduced you, I will trust you with the job. Careful to not get metals wet. I will pay you 50 copper for an hour. Compared to the job you have to do it’s not too little right? Since there’s lot to sell, if you finish in a day, I will give you some bonus. Since the work you have to do is limited, work hard.”

The owner of the armor shop was a huge person with a mustache and meticulous personality.

Yurin worked there successfully as well.

She cleaned the armors to the extent that not even a grain of dust would be left.

Rhodium had lots of beggars.

Those who tried to live with ease by getting even a bit from the tourists who came to look at splendid art works and scenery!

It wasn’t such a bad choice.

Since Rhodium became a tourist city, one can expect generous treatment.

Although art is recognized as a hungry job, one can earn as much as doing a chore even when one becomes a beggar.

But one can only gain fixed amounts of money.

Getting bigger and bigger jobs as she went, Yurin worked anywhere doing anything she could to gain money.

‘After buying a spell book, I should buy a ring that raises magic attack. I’d love to have a robe too, but that’ll be hard to buy.’

To become a mage, lots of money is required.

So Yurin worked like crazy.

She tried to work off anything to gather money.

If she became a store clerk, she could gain money more easily, but those kind of job don’t give much.

Thus, dreaming of becoming a great mage, she jumped into the harsh road of labor.

Then one day.

Now she raised friendliness with most of the store owners and raised fame.

When she was washing dishes, the restaurant owner called her.

“Yurin I have a favor to ask of you......”

Yurlin replied as she smiled.

“Yes. Ask me for anything. Is there more to wash?”

“No, it’s not that. When you go near that river over there, an old man comes out alone every night when moon comes up. I borrowed something from the old man. Can you return it for me?”

The restaurant owner showed her the book.

“What is this?”

“It’s about most recent pictures and drawing that’s popular in the kingdom.

I borrowed it several days ago, but I just can’t return it because of busy restaurant work.

I hope you can return it for me.”

Ding!

Cook Balon’s Request

Balon is a very prideful cook. He is famous for not making food just for anyone.

Go to the Hesny River and return the book to the person Balon talked about. Difficulty: E

Reward: 30 copper

Quest requirement: A person Balon trusts.

Chapter 5: In the Cave

While inside the small, rusty cave, Weed’s body was getting hotter with fever.

His already serious cold became worse.

– You are fatigued. Physical ability is lowered by 62%

You cannot use battle skills.

Due to the decrease of Life and Stamina, you cannot move.

You may experience dizziness.

If not treated properly, you may die.

The Northern Province was much colder than the Central Continent. Four out of seven days in a week it snowed, and a strong, cold wind blew. The Valley of Death was even colder, so his Stamina dropped to very low as he pushed himself too much by travelling and battling.

The Valley of Death Quest required the participant to not only fight against strong monsters, but against difficult weather too. It was hard to endure even in a normal, healthy condition, but since he had this cold, his situation became much worse.

The cold had worsened as he progressed, and now he couldn’t even move anymore.

His forehead and back were already wet with sweat. He couldn’t even control his shivering body properly.

‘I’m going to die like this again.’

Weed wanted to cry out.

It’s not like he was fighting deadly monsters, yet he was about to die from a mere cold!

Normally, he would at least have been able to recover life with Alveron’s holy magic. If he recovered life, there would be a greater chance of getting rid of the cold.

But even that was impossible now.

“Cough. Cough.”

Alveron was huddling in a corner, coughing.

Just like Weed, he got the terrible cold and was on the verge of death.

Even when you’re a candidate for Pope, a cold didn’t look over you.

‘I’m really going to die now.’

Due to lowered Stamina and Life, he couldn’t even raise a finger.

Surrounding them was just ice and snow.

They somehow found a cave near the Valley of Death and came in, but it didn’t help much to shield from the iciness.

If they got terribly cold in such a place, they had no other way out but to die.

Since his ill body would remain and freeze away, even if he logged out it would make no difference. It seemed like he could not avoid death.

‘I was careless.’

Although he was filled with regret, it was not something he could undo.

He used up all the herbs that may have been useful against illness when cooking soup in Morata Village.

‘Now I can really do nothing.’

Weed closed his eyes silently.

The rocky ground felt as cold as a sheet of ice, and cold air came in from everywhere. In these circumstances, a cold could only get worse.

His hands and feet were already getting numb. Death was approaching.

‘Just why did I have to get sick.... so pathetic.’

With his eyes closed, he looked back to his past.

Ever since he was little he took any job for the sake of money. To help his grandmother who was working in the street market, even at such an old age, he would work anywhere as long as they took under aged employees, when he should have been playing with friends of his age.

Since it was illegal, the working conditions were the worst possible, and he never got paid on time.

Still, because he worked over vacation without sleeping, he could gain a bit of money.

But now he had a type of work that he have never done before, and by pushing himself too much, his body couldn’t endure.

“You weakling! Are you acting because you don’t want to work?

“If you’re going to work like this, then give up right now!”

The boss, who hadn’t paid him his three weeks’ worth of payment, yelled at him.

Even when he was sweating all over from fever, and dark rings forming around his eyes, the boss never admitted that Hyun was sick.

Back then he couldn’t eat much, so his stamina wasn’t very good, and because of that he was always scolded on.

Other employees, too, scolded him whenever he did something wrong, whether big or small.

“Useless one.”

“Why should we use someone as brainless as him?”

“It’s better to not have you here at all. You only cause problems.”

“You trash! Because of you we have even more work now.

Just go steal or something instead of working here.”

He endured those countless snarling comments.

On that day, he wanted to get up and work if possible, but his body just couldn’t move.

But no one worried about him nor did they tell him to go to a hospital. When he was young, he curled up and cried in a corner where no one was. It was very painful.

After that day, he hated getting sick the most.

To someone like him who had to support his sister, getting sick was an unthinkable luxury. But, he couldn’t help but feel sad and pathetic when pain came.

“Damn.”

Weed felt his eyes getting watery.

‘I’m as weak as the amount of tears I let out. I’ll never cry.’

He gritted his teeth and endured. This time his pain wouldn’t stay much longer.

His body was weak all over and his Life status was still decreasing.

He was alive so far thanks to his monstrous amount of Endurance, but soon, he would die.

He just had to wait a bit for the nausea to die, and then he too will die completely.

Only, death is not the end.

Right away, a special skill activates as a Blood Necromancer.

Revival as Undead.

According to his level and skill mastery, he’s going to revive as an undead. As an undead soldier who rules over black magic and the power of death.

When he dies, at the least his cold will disappear.

‘I’ll just have to level up and get masteries back up like a mad person for a while.’

With his eyes closed, he waited for death.

Without hunting or using his sculpting skill, this was first time he just lied down and rested completely like this. When fighting or resting for Life and Stamina to recover, he was always making a sculpture. The reason for Weed’s fast growth was because of such focus and effort.

But even as time passed, he didn’t die.

‘What’s happening?’

Weed opened his eyes partially.

His body ached all over and opening his eyes caused dizziness, but he wanted to check the situation.

And now he could see the reason!

Seoyoon!

She disappeared to somewhere and brought mountainous amount of firewood.

‘It wouldn’t have been easy......’

Around here, there isn’t much wood that can be used for a fire.

To get firewood, she would have had to go through blizzards and walked far.

Seoyoon stacked up the wood and lit the fire.

As the surrounding air became warmer, Weed could feel a bit of warmth seeping into his flesh.

Seoyoon took out a small iron can.

It had become black from using it so often for cooking over an open fire.

It is sold for 4 coppers in a general store, but it was dropped when hunting a fox near a castle. It was something not even beginners used.

Seoyoon glanced at Weed as if she was embarrassed for taking out beginner's iron can.

Weed closed his eyes again.

It was because his dizziness became worse as his body temperature rose.

‘Thirsty.’

Weed had a serious thirst and lots of pain. The thirst was due to the sudden burning heat of the flames.

But soon, something touched his lip.

‘What is this?’

An unknown scent came from it.

Weed opened his mouth.

Then, something dripped into his mouth little by little.

It was porridge.

Using the cooking skill she had, Seoyoon had made porridge and was feeding Weed. The problem was that the porridge was extremely salty and spicy! ‘Stop feeding me that stuff!’ Weed screamed inside his head.

She was feeding him the worst porridge possible, and it didn’t even taste right! Plus, the porridge smelled fishy.

Weed could guess what she used to make it.

‘She put smelt in it.’

Seoyoon put rice she had for emergencies into water along with smelt to make porridge.

The porridge was made as if she tried to fry the smelt, but because she didn’t clean the smelt properly, the fishy smell remained strongly.

The rice wasn’t fully cooked either, and tasted terrible.

Seoyoon was forcibly feeding Weed bad porridge such as this!

“Urgh!’’

Even when Weed closed his mouth, Seoyoon opened his mouth with force and poured the porridge in.

If he had strength to speak, he would’ve stopped her.

But Weed’s dimming strength was literally halted right before he died, so he couldn’t speak even a word.

After eating bit by bit, his hunger disappeared.

It was a torture to eat, but his hunger and thirst was still satisfied.

But Seoyoon didn’t stop at just feeding it to him.

Weed realized then.

‘You murderer!’

All along, listening to him obediently and acting nice must have been an act.

‘She was looking for an opportunity! She was planning to torture me like this while I didn’t have the strength to resist,’ Weed thought.

He could do nothing but to regret the situation.

In his defenceless situation, he had to endure Seoyoon’s tyranny.

The porridge she kept feeding him, spoonful after spoonful!

A great danger approached Weed.

‘Let’s just die. I just have to die. Then everything will be over.’

Weed wished he could die now. He hated suffering from fever and dizziness. If he revived as an undead, his level or skill mastery would fall, but at least he would be more comfortable.

But even if he wanted to die, he couldn’t.

‘Someone please kill me.’

Weed’s cheeks were filled with food.

Seoyoon fed him 150 spoonfuls of porridge. It equaled four full bowls!

She fed him not only to be satisfied, but to the point right before he would explode from being overfed.

After eating enough, anyone wouldn’t want to eat anymore, but she was feeding him more forcibly. No one would understand what a nightmare it was.

Step. Step. Step.

He heard Seoyoon walking towards Alveron.

Because of the heat, he felt dizzy, but he could hear the sounds very clearly.

Since it was the sound of the devil that was torturing him, he just couldn’t help but hear it.

Weed prayed. ‘Amen. Alveron, you suffer a bit too.’

Even in such a situation, another’s misfortune was Weed’s happiness.

Opening his eyes a bit, he watched Seoyoon feeding Alveron her porridge.

She carefully fed Avelon.

Weed shivered.

‘Really cruel. She’s a devil in human disguise.’

From the effort to not spill a drop and feed everything, Weed saw pure evil.

The way how Seoyoon moved her hand reminded Weed of the careful way of handling poison.

But, it didn’t take that long to feed Alveron.

She cooled the porridge by blowing on it when she fed Weed, but she just fed Alveron.

And there wasn’t much left either. Weed was force fed almost two-thirds of the can, so Alveron didn’t have to eat as much.

Weed thought, ‘So I was her main target. She wanted to torture me more.’

Although he ate some porridge, he still had no strength left. His fever and dizziness became worse.

It was worse than the flu. It took away the ability to move.

If he had fallen in a place that was full of monsters, he would’ve died soon afterwards, but because he fell after moving into the cave, he didn’t die as quickly.

He recovered some life because he ate some food, but as if to prove that the cursed cold wanted to be stubborn, it only became worse.

Due to his worsening condition, Weed closed his eyes, unable to endure anymore.

‘Yeah, there’s nothing more depressing than getting sick.’

When he closed his eyes and rested, sleep overcame him.

The thought that he’d die made him feel comfortable.

Since he couldn’t do anything anyway, he relaxed and fell asleep.

If he wanted to, he could sleep in Royal Road.

There were many people who slept at a place with great scenery, listening to birds chirping.

Virtual reality had many uses, but it was first time Weed fell asleep.

Since he always had something to do, he thought sleep was a waste. But that is why he dreamt a dream so sweet; a dream that no one would want to wake up out of.

Someone nursed the sick Weed.

She melted snow to make water, and put a soaked cloth onto his forehead.

When Weed woke up from time to time from his fever, he could feel someone’s care.

Although he almost reached the end of his life, he didn’t die. Someone nursed Weed like a mother would her child.

This someone was the most beautiful but also the most evil woman. Seoyoon was looking after Weed.

* * *

When Yurin heard of Balon’s request, she felt happy.

‘So this is the real quest!’

After building up the relationship, she got a quest.

Although the reward wasn’t much, Yurin became excited at the thought of her first real quest.

“I will return this book for you.”

You have accepted the quest.

Carrying the book, she walked towards the river.

Lights are turned on brightly.

The roads were decorated with paintings and sculptures.

From a distance, a Bard can be heard singing.

Fantastic night in Rhodium. Each individual artists were flaunting their own unique talents.

The heart of the Rhodium river is extremely clean.

Many people especially lovers, were walking around at night.

‘Elderly.’

Elderly people were unexpectedly easy to find, as there were many elderly people by the river having a conversation.

‘Balon said he was someone who likes to be alone.’

Yurin found a lone elderly person. But still, there were many elderly people.

There’s only one elderly who owns the book!

If she had given it to the wrong person, she would fail the quest.

Looking carefully Yurin noticed one person. It was a man that watched the flow of the river endlessly. Boundless solitude and sadness was reflected on the old man’s grieving face.

‘That person appears to be the right one.’

Yurin walked up to the elderly person and said.

"Hello, do you by any chance know Balon?"

The man replied without looking at her.

“Balon? I don’t know such a person.”

For some reason, the man’s voice faltered.

‘This man isn’t the right one?’

However, Yurin persisted. Because unlike other elders, the man had a heavy atmosphere surrounding him.

“Balon’s restaurant minutes away from here, and is visited by many travelers, are you sure you don’t know him?”

“Oh, that friend. I know he’s a Chef.”

“Balon asked me to return this book for him.”

“Oh, it’s my book. He borrowed that book, and now it’s returned to me.”

Yurin held the book with both hands, and gently handed it over.

“Thank you so much for returning the book. I hope Balon gets well.”

Ttiring!

You have completed Chef Balon’s request. The Elder has received the book.

Please see Balon to receive compensation.

Quest Reward: Return to Balon’s restaurant to receive the rewards.

Because it was a simple request, she did not receive any experience or reputation. The reward was a free meal in the restaurant.

Yurin sat beside the elderly after finishing the quest.

‘He seems desolate.’

The desolate Elder man was sitting alone in the river.

She wondered by the Elder man was staring blankly at the river.

Yurin asked cautiously.

“What are you staring at?”

“Young lady, it’s been a long time since someone has shown interested in this. In the past people did not believe my story, but you brought my book so I will tell you. What do I see there? Probably a canvas.”

“Canvas?”

She glanced at the river, but could not find the canvas amongst the water.

Where is the canvas?

"Water canvas. I've had an idea to draw a picture for a long time. But then I asked myself, why should it be drawn only on a piece of paper. Pictures can be drawn anywhere such as earth and stones. If you want to use Nature as a canvas, it harmonizes with the world, that is the basic qualities of a painter.”

Yurin was curious of the profession of the elderly painter.

She asked the elderly painter with a serious expression.

“Young Lady, would you also be thinking that it’s impossible to do?”

Yurin shook her head firmly.

“No. That’s not it. I also think it is possible to paint anywhere.”

“As I thought, it’s like that? It’s a rule that the true nature and harmony of paintings can newly express nature. I’ve only lived my life by clinging to paintings. The time I spent trying to draw inside the designated margins of the paper. Young lady, I have a favor to ask of you.”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“A legend is passed down amongst us painters. It’s of great painter that painted on a flowing river.

Could you please look into this?”

“I think I’ll be able to do it.”

Yurin had no confidence.

This could be useful daily activities, but she was not sure know where to start looking.

"No, it shouldn’t be so difficult. I grow old, and it has become harder for me to travel around please investigate the rumors in Rhodium Kingdom please. I don’t have much but I have a little money I can give you."

Ttiring!

The favor for the Elder Painter. The rumors described the Painter to be absurd.

For painting a Legendary picture on top of the river.

Investigate the authenticity of the rumour.

Difficulty: E

Reward: 3 Silvers

Quest Restrictions:

Delivered Balon’s item, people who listened to the old painter’s story.

A chain Quest!

Yurin could not ignore the reward.

‘3 Silver requires 15 hours of dish washing to earn.’

After reaching the higher levels, one could make 3 silver by killing 1 monster. But in the beginning 3 Silvers was a considerable amount of money. A small hat and a fire bolt spell book can be purchased with that amount.

“Sure I’ll find out”

You have accepted the quest.

The old man nodded.

“Thank you. I must know the truth. If the rumours are true, I will not have spent my time here in vain.”

After leaving the Elder, Yurin headed straight to the painter’s guild. There should at least be some information to be found there.

‘The instructor of the Painter’s Guild would know, right?’

Thanks to having taken on several jobs finding the painters guild was not hard. But the instructors wouldn’t talk to her.

“I’m sorry, but I would rather not talk to a nameless person if i don’t have to.”

Yurin hopelessly starting talking to different members of the Painter’s Guild. However, the only conversational partner she had was the gatekeeper.

The gatekeeper listened to Yurin’s requests and, after a long time of consideration, he carefully spoke.

“There’s a rumor I heard not too long ago. It was long time ago, and I do not remember it well. If you seek the whole truth then you must find grandmother Bellopaix. Since she is a famous painter she should be able to clear all doubts.”

“Where does grandmother Bellopaix live?”

“The Kiam family mansion. You will be able to meet her if you go there.”

“Thank you.”

Yurin looked for the Kiam family’s mansion. The dignified mansions were all gathered behind Rhodium.

Yurin was also denied access to the inside of the mansion at this place. The reason she was denied access to the mansions was because Yurin had no fame and was not acquainted with anyone.

However, Yurin did not budge and said what was on her mind.

“I came because I have to talk with grandmother Bellopaix about a painting.”

“You said a painting? Grandmother Bellopaix has always been a person who holds great affection for painters. Enter. She should be at the garden.”

The gatekeeper let Yurin pass. Because she mentioned the painting, we didn’t require any other decorum.

As grandmother Bellopaix was taking care of flowers in the garden. Yurin approached.

“Hello. This is the first we’ve met. May I ask what you know about the rumors about the painting that was painted above the river?”

“The picture above the river? Hulhul, there are even people who have heard the surfacing rumors and came to find me. When I was young, I went to see the fantastic form personally.”

“Then the truth behind the rumors of the painting...”

"Of course the rumors are true. I've seen it with my own eyes, it can't be phony. The brushstrokes of the painting are so amazing that you will never forget for a lifetime. I got into a hobby of collecting paintings from then on. Paintings of flowing water. I can’t see the painting anymore, but the paintings harmony and composition were perfect. Hulhul, the paintings around Rhodium do not give the same impression. Perhaps such works will never be seen again.”

Yurin wondered.

“If it is a picture, you can take it out and look at it at any time. However, since it was a short-lived piece of art, maybe it was too much to give it such high praise?”

“Lady who is still young, the strength of time is tremendous. If a person has no happy memories, then their past and future prospects look bleak. The painting was significant to me for a long period of time that I've lived and it will be forever embedded in my memory.”

Ttring!

Completed Quest of the old painterRumors about painter that painted on the river were proved true. The painting currently does not exist, but is still praised as one of the best paintings ever.

Quest Reward: Please receive it from the elderly painter.

You have leveled up.

The quest was successfully completed.

Thanks to the experience from the quest, she was able to level up.

‘Wow, the second stage of the chain quest is complete.’

At that moment, Yurin released all her tension. As soon as grandmother Bellopaix knew that she finished the quest, she spoke with a pensive face.

“It would be difficult to behold such a beautiful sight again.

Due to too many people assuming paintings can only be done on paper. Young lady. Do you think I would be able to see such a spectacle one more time before I die?”

– You are able to become the hidden profession ‘Aqualight Painter.’

If selected, the class related skills that are special that you don’t have will be usable.

Would you like to select this profession?

Yurin would have never imagined herself being a painter. However as she saw the tears in grandma Bellopaix’s pleading eyes she unconsciously nodded.

“I’ll draw that picture once again.”

Yurin was suddenly engulfed in light.

Change profession to Aqualight Painter.

– New skill: Painting

Painting: You can draw anything.

You can raise your reputation depending on the type of level of artwork you create.

– New Skill: Coloring.

Coloring : You can use color on paintings whenever it is necessary.

Your skill level rises the more you use different colors.

You can extract dyes from grass and flowers.

– New Skill: Doodling

Doodling: If doodled on the face or the body, it can weaken enemies or fear them.

At night, this effect double.

However, if you continually draw weaker monsters, it will not be as effective.

– New Skill: Quick Hand Movements

Quick Hand Movements: Able to draw moving objects using rapid hand movements.

Mana can be used to increase the speed of hand movement, and this can be used in combat.

– New Skill: Artwork Emotions

Artwork Emotions: Can be used to determine value of basic art.

– New Skill: Illustration Identification.

Illustration Identification: Can only be acquired by Aqualight Painters.

Chapter 6: A Man's Romance

Weed gently opened his eyes and saw a bonfire burning nearby.

‘Are there any survivors?’

Although he had no more strength and had little health left, he did not die.

– You have caught a cold.

Physical strength has decreased by 36%

Skill effects have decreased by 40%.

With some rest, your body will stabilize and return to normal.

The vestiges of the cold still remained in the body. If you overburden yourself, the chance of the cold returning was high.

He overcame the cold that he thought he was going to perish from.

The warm heat started to fill up the cave.

‘The cold air is coming in?’

He saw the ceiling of the cave was collapsed, completely blocking the entrance with large rocks.

“These imprints are?”

Trembling, Weed confirmed the ceiling had collapsed.

When he confirmed that the ceiling had collapsed, Weed trembled out of terror.

A strong skill had completely destroyed it.

‘She fully intended to bury me alive!’

As if force feeding him with food is not enough, she wanted to bury him alive.

Weed laid bare his chest.

“Somehow, I’m alive.”

Escaping was too difficult to do.

The entrance was completely blocked and although he used his Sculpting Skills to cut through the rocks and metals little by little, escape seemed impossible.

In the worst case scenario he could call out to Bingryong. No matter how feeble-minded Bingryong was, these rocks could easily be cleaned up.

The area was still clogged with rocks, and was not big enough for a person to fit through, but you could breathe fresh air through it.

Suddenly, Weed had other concerns.

“Alveron! What has happened Alveron?”

Similarly, Alveron suffered from a severe cold.

Priests had various skills which provide a lot of support.

Moreover, he was a Pope Candidate for the Church of Freya. If he died there would be serious repercussions.

Not only would he fail the quest, but he would also lose his contribution points to the Church of Freya.

That would be the worst outcome.

“He absolutely cannot die!”

Weed went further into the cave to check on Alveron’s condition who was lying nearby.

“You’re alive.”

Weed examined his condition and was relieved.

Alveron who survived the cold, had a smile on his face. Despite that, it wasn’t a good enough reason to ignore his cold.

He saw an odd shape on the ground.

Weed touched it by tapping it with his foot.

“What the hell is this?”

The ground was covered with a long thick mantle. It was the mantle he had not seen in awhile, but it had something baggy in it. It was in the shape of a human.

“I don’t think it’s a monster?”

Weed was surprised to see a cloak peaking out.

Weed was surprised on what he saw after peeking under the mantle.

Seoyoon was covered in cold sweat under the mantle!

Weed speculated.

“Although she did not bury me alive, she tormented me instead.”

When he was laying down with a cold, she could have harassed him at any time.

What a wicked trick!

Alveron, who was taking care of Weed, also caught a cold, leaving all his responsibilities to Seoyoon.

She spent countless hours outside in the snowstorm to collect firewood. She thought that Weed and Alveron might die, so she made them food, but forgot to make some for herself. In the midst of things, she felt her physical body weaken.

A slight feeling of a cold.

If she went back to rest, she would not get sick enough to be incapacitated.

However, Alveron was okay up to a certain extent, but Weed was at the brink of death, so she watched him throughout the night and nursed him. She replaced the cloth on his head with a cool one, and stoked the fire.

Because she was not able to rest, Seoyoon’s cold became worse and then she collapsed.

Weed thought of different situations and came up with a theory.

“I’m sure it was to harass me!”

Anyway, he was alive.

Weed took cooking tools out of his backpack. He was going to create food that will supplement his stamina.

This was a good time to cook.

Weed used Eel, Sashimi, and Goldfish to make the soup.

Bouillabaisse. (It's a name of a French Dish.)

Eels, and several other fishes were some of the ingredients used to create this French Specialty. Eating this healthy dish is exceptional when it comes to increasing digestion.

In the proper home, one could experience the rich taste of seafood, but because they did not have the necessary equipment, the dish was incomplete.

Weed looked at the sick Alveron and Seoyoon and fed them the Bouillabaisse.

“Now I feel a little better.”

Extreme selfishness!

A man who cooks and eats his meals alone loses his appetite, and, because he becomes apathetic, it becomes harder to eat.

But you should always eat delicacies alone!

If destroying an apple tree would end the world, Weed would still eat the apples

If he had to choose between destroying the world or to plant an apple tree, Weed would immediately choose the Apple tree and eat all of its fruits by himself.

You have regained your Stamina and Health.

Bouillabaisse increases cold resistance by 15%. Weed divided the food between Alveron and himself.

“Eat this, so you can regain your health faster. Then we can resume working.”

After that was Seoyoon.

“I will definitely repay my debt.”

Revenge for being fed food that was difficult to eat.

Weed sprinkled the remaining salt, red pepper paste, and garlic into the remaining Bollabaise. But he became heartbroken when he saw Seoyoon’s face.

She caught a cold and was unconscious but even asleep her face was incredibly beautiful.

Her clear skin was completely free of blemishes.

A high nose and red lips.

Beads of sweat covered her nose and forehead.

How perfectly her neck and collarbone lined up!

No matter where, there was not a single ugly spot.

Complete harmony was achieved in her exhilarating beauty!

Charm flowed from her eyes, which were slightly open due to her dizziness.

Seoyoon held a fairy-like beauty even while sleeping.

‘I’ll endure for now. No matter how it was prepared, I lived by eating her food. And I suppose there was a reason the precious seasonings were wasted.’

He lifted Seoyoon’s upper torso and tipped spoonfuls of the Bouillabaisse into her mouth. Weed felt his heart clench while looking at the Seoyoon who was eating with her eyes closed.

‘Even though I only have to get revenge... Even though I had to eat that disgusting food...’

He ate and rested that day.

It was to recuperate his fallen Stamina, which was due to the sickness.

Weed felt refreshed after resting completely for a day. However, because Seoyoon and Alveron were still lying down due to their severe fever, Weed could not resume his activities.

‘This awful cold. It still hasn’t gone away.’

The power of the Valley of Death.

It was an even harsher place because they had to fight not only the monsters, but also the cold.

For now he would cook food little by little until his body returned to normal, and would rest while carving some sculptures.

The romantic scene of carving a sculpture of Seoyoon’s sleeping form in a small cave.

‘This isn’t too bad.’

Weed was content as he was. Afterall, it was not common to be able to sneak a look at the sleeping form of a girl as beautiful as Seoyoon.

He was sleeping in the same place with a beauty, and also the happiness of feeding her three meals a day while supporting her head. Weed was enjoying the situation every man dreamt of.

After regaining her consciousness, Seoyoon tried not to eat due to her embarrassment. Her cheeks were bright and red and she was quickly blinking her eyes. She was clearly trying to oppose her caretaker, but Weed would not back down.

As much as he had been through, he did not want to seem like a pushover.

“You already ate this earlier.”

“...”

Since it was already cooked, he had no choice but to give it to her!

The woman was one of the many temptations to men.

‘Only her hands are small and fine.’

It'll be a brilliant strategy to try and use its effects.

Seoyoon slightly parted her lips and ate the food that she was fed.

After feeding her a few more times, she became used to being fed.

‘Even though I fed her often yesterday.’

Weed recalled the past again.

After his parents’ death, he directly raised his younger sister. While the age gap between the two siblings wasn’t very wide, back then it was large.

When his younger sister was younger, the biggest problem was food. They did not have decent side dishes, and, when times got really tough, they ate rice sprinkled with salt at night.

Most families as poor as his sought aid from the government or social welfare services. They usually provided the most basic necessities to survive.

However, the government usually gave only very basic supplies, like rice.

The people who controlled the economy were pessimistic about the impoverished grandmother and the two young siblings living together with her.

That was why, in order to send them to an orphanage or to split them up through adoption, they did not provide support.

Thanks to that, they only had rice and salt to eat.

Of course, the younger sister tried not to eat.

“Eat. If you eat something, your stomach will at least be full.”

As he said this, Weed gained the responsibility of feeding her.

Weed unknowingly began to feed Seoyoon the food kindly. He also stroked her hair.

“Eat a lot.”

“...”

Seoyoon instantly became stiff!

After she ate her meal without saying anything, she laid down and slept again. Facing the wall, she had no need to say anything while her face became redder than a ripe persimmon.

– Big brother, what are you doing right now?

Just then, a whisper came from his younger sister.

Weed was as surprised like a criminal getting caught red-handed. It was because of Seoyoon’s presence. Although this was due to a quest, he would never be caught with a girl alone, even in his dreams.

If one meets a girl, it will take up money. Luxury and pleasure, an easy way to overspend.

‘In order to save even a bit more, you have to live as a bachelor.’

It was Weed’s outlook on life. That was how much he distanced himself from women while growing up.

His younger sister was the center of Weed’s life. That was how much he distanced himself from women while growing up.

Weed answered his little sister.

– I’m in the middle of exploring.

Typically, people had to meet up and add each other as friends before being able to whisper to each other. However, family members were able to immediately send and receive whispers.

– Exploring? Is it related to a quest?

– That’s right.

– What kind of quest is it?

Yurin showed a great deal of interest.

Because it had not been long since she had first started Royal Road, she was buried in quests.

– Hm, It’s nothing much. I’m traveling around a bit in the North.

– The North? I had heard that there was barely anyone who was able to go up there, and the people here say the same thing? That it’s a place that is too cold to bear. Are you okay, big brother?

– Of course. If it’s about this cold, I can take off my coat due to the heat. I even broke some ice and took a bath a little while ago. Ah-choo!

– Big brother, didn’t you sneeze just now?

– No, what are you talking about! It’s so hot that I’m dripping sweat from my forehead.

Weed stoked the fire and went closer and sat down while talking.

Bluffs and bravado.

Even if he was to die, he would never show weakness in front of his little sister. He wanted to leave behind the impression of a strong older brother.

– I see; if you’re doing a quest in the North, it must be hard.

– No, something of this level is nothing. I was always doing quests of this difficulty.

Huhu. Weed laughed haughtily.

– Then, what kind of quests are you doing?

– I’m looking for the ‘Valley of Death’ in the North and investigating the treasure it holds, and I’m sowing seeds. More importantly, hasn’t it been 4 weeks for you as well? Can you leave the city now?

– Yeah, today marks the 4th week.

– Congratulations. It looks like you can now travel the wide continent of Versailles to your heart’s desire. Take care to not underestimate even a rabbit. And don’t bother the wolves, because they’re strong.

– Thanks, big brother. I’ll take care.

– By the way, what’s your profession?

Weed slyly planted some expectations in her.

What kind of era is the current era? Most families were usually dual income. It was a world where a family could not survive with one source of income! The truth was Weed, alone, could send his sister to university, and was earning enough to support their current lifestyle. He showed his frugal mind through making whatever he needed, and sold all of his items. In addition to the ad revenue he collected through quests and the Hall of Fame, the revenue from the gold made him rather rich.

However, if they became a dual income family, they could look forward even more money than they had.

‘I’d be glad if it wasn’t a weird profession like mine.’

His little sister answered.

– My profession! I got it from this chain quest that I obtained through a very unusual association. Can you believe that I got it through a quest the owner of the restaurant gave me after I finished washing the dishes?

– I see.

Suddenly, the quest the Instructor gave him came to mind. The chain quest he obtained while he was eating the Instructor’s lunchbox.

– That’s how I obtained the profession of ‘Aqualight Painter.’

Weed’s face turned grave.

– Aqualight Painter?

– Yeah. It’s a Hidden Profession.

– ...

Weed felt as though the world had collapsed.

‘It seems like our fate won’t allow us to obtain a normal profession!’

Aqualight Painter.

Just hearing the name made the jobs that could earn a fortune unobtainable.

At least with an adventurer related profession, like Grave Robber, one could obtain some items and earn some money. However, without fail, both siblings ended up with an art related profession. And, in the case of the younger sister, the title of “Legendary” was not even applied.

‘I can earn money on my own. It wasn’t like I had big expectations from the beginning. If it’s a job that she can have fun with, it’s okay.’

However, the art related professions was atypical, so his little sister could have sufficiently enjoyable travels.

– More than that, I hate the cold, so I guess it would be too much for me to go there?

– It will most likely be hard. If your Stamina is low, then you will immediately freeze to death.

– I see.

– However, don’t be disappointed. I’ll introduce you to some people who can help you.

– Who are they?

– The Geomchis. If it’s those people, they can probably help you a lot. The Geomchis are currently wandering around the continent, undergoing undisciplined training. If you contact them, they’ll put all other things aside and come running to help.

– Those guys can probably give you some fitting basic beginner equipment. I will settle the debt afterwards, so don’t worry and get what you want.

– Yeah, I got it. But big brother, didn’t you say that you had friends that you often went hunting with?

– Are you talking about Pale-nim, Irene-nim, and Surka?

– Yeah, introduce those people to me too.

– Of course I’ll introduce you. I’ll tell them to contact you later. Although, as things are, they can’t meet you since they’re far away.

– The distance doesn’t matter... Anyway, I got it. Then, I guess I should go out of the castle. I’ll whisper you later.

– Alright, be careful of the rabbits.

– Yeah, don’t worry about me and take care of yourself.

After Weed finished talking to his younger sister, he brought some firewood to feed the campfire with, while trying to be careful so that even his footsteps did not make any noise. Even while he was cooking some food, he spent extra time to make sure that he did not make any noise. Only when he was sculpting could a small sound be heard.

In this way, while, two weeks past and Alveron’s body recovered.

“Weed-nim, I am ashamed.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay.”

“Since my Stamina has recovered somewhat, I think I can exert some divine power.”

“Oh, that’s a relief.”

Weed nodded his head.

If one had private access to healing magic, it was much easier to get rid of diseases.

“O goddess Freya, please cleanse away the pain and distress of these who follow you and depend on you. Cure Disease.”

Alveron first used a disease cure magic on Weed.

Due to holy power, the physical resistance ability toward sicknesses increases. Most sicknesses can be healed.

The cold is healed.

Physical resistance returns to normal.

Resistance against colds permanently rises by 2%

Resistance against ice magic permanently rises by 0.2%.

Along with being healed from the cold, Weed gained a bit of permanent resistance against it.

Alveron used the same disease cure magic on Seoyoon and himself.

Since they had the cold more severely than Weed, it didn’t cure them completely.

But after eating food that was good for health and resting for a day, they could move around again.

“It was the worst cold ever.”

Weed moved the boulder that was blocking the cave entrance.

Now, it was time to make the monsters of the Valley of Death taste bitterness.

* * *

Zephyr yawed.

“Huaam! So boring.”

“Still, you’re hunting a lot.”, Hwaryeong said as she braided her hair in two plaits.

“Not like we used to. It was real fun when hunting with Weed-nim.”

“True, it was just an endless repetition of charging and charging.”

“When I think back to it, I feel as if my body is still covered with bandages.”

The death hunt they did for eight days when they were with Weed and the Geomchis! The terrifying memory of intense labour was becoming beautified as time went by.

After that, most hunting didn’t feel tiring.

Looking at a mob of Skeleton Knights running toward them, Romuna snorted

“Something like this is a piece of cake.”

“I don’t feel the excitement like I used to,” Surka said, as she punched Skeleton Knight’s face with her cutesy fists.

The tension that makes one’s spine and neck chill!

Such tension had disappeared.

Now, they chat while hunting monsters and even when monsters pop out from somewhere while they’re resting, they don’t get surprised.

Romuna, the magician, moves between monsters, binds them and casts magic.

Pale’s arrows never miss, and he can shoot three arrows at the same time and make them hit different targets.

In Hwaryeong’s case, she can now fix her make-up when fighting a monster.

Zephyr said, “Irene-nim. It’s boring. Bless the monsters. I think I’m going to fall asleep from boredom.”

“Yes, I will. I was going to for skill mastery. The strength that burns one’s fighting will, will bring out the strength that exceeds one’s limit. The whole party will strengthen.”

Irene raised the monsters’ strength.

She raised their ability by 20%.

Even though a priestess raises a monster’s strength, no additional experience points are given, nor do any special items drop.

Just for fun.

To have more fun fighting, Irene and her party raised the monsters’ ability.

Seechwi’s face turned blue.

‘You monsters!’

She never thought she was weaker than anyone else.

But, Skeleton Knights are monsters over level 320. They’re not easy to hunt even when in a party.

They were hunting such monsters in a very dangerous way.

Seechwi became very alert.

“Unni, now.”

“Yes, alright! Chichik!”

On Surka’s signal, Seechi dived into the group of Skeleton Knights.

To someone with a low level like her, she could only pick up items.

Picking up items while moving between Skeleton Knights!

Because of the huge number of monsters, it wasn’t very easy. And since they didn’t succeed in every hunt, they had to get all the items when they were available.

Although she had Orc Commander as her job, her Charisma or Leadership stat didn’t give much to benefit the party because of their large level difference.

Only to the point of raising physical damage by 3% and recovery rate by 2%!

Her ability would’ve had a bigger effect if she was leading orcs, but she was the only Orc in the group.

* * *

But who would have thought that a sister-like girl painter would want to beat cute rabbits mercilessly?

“Die, die!”

When rabbits resisted, Yurin used her feet to beat them up.

They worked for money during the day, and hunted at night.

Hunting at night was to gather more experience points.

But to Yurin who was a painter, her life and attack wasn’t very strong. It was hard for her to hunt just a rabbit.

“Hunting is harder than I thought.”

After hunting a rabbit, she rested.

Before she levelled up, hunting was hard for her even when she had good equipment.

At that time, she got a whisper from Pale.

– Hello. I’m Pale.

– Yes. Hello.

Yurin politely greeted him. She always acted politely towards people she didn’t know.

– You’re Weed-nim’s sister, right? I’m a friend of Weed-nim who hunted with him ever since we were beginners.

– Ah, the one who is skilled at shooting arrows!

– Hahaha! Seems like Weed-nim already told you about me. Skilled at shooting arrows, that’s an overstatement. Did he say anything else?

– Yes, he told me never to tease you. That you’re very timid.

– Ah, is that so. I’m a bit timid. Other than that...?

– I heard you sometimes play alone digging in the ground.

– Kuuk!

Yurin had fun talking with Weed’s friends. The polite, gentle way he talked gave her the feeling that he was a nice person.

‘Still, to hunt with Oppa, even I didn’t get to do that yet.’

Out of jealousy, she played a prank that had no ill intention.

But she was smiling, enjoying it.

– Anyway where are you?

– Rhodium.

– You’re at the city of artists. We’re at Yuroki Mountains.

It’ll take about a week to get there.

– You’re coming here?

– Of course. If there’s anything we can help with, we will.

– You don’t have to. I’ll go over there.

– Sorry?

– Could you explain the surrounding?

Yurin took out charcoal and paper and readied herself to draw.

Pale became speechless at Yurin’s absurd idea.

Just how long did it take to come from Rhodium to the Yuroki Mountains?

Plus, because monsters came in groups, it wasn’t somewhere a beginner could go.

Still, Pale answered Yurin’s questions.

– Behind us, there are two tall trees. There’s a boulder in front of us. It’s a normal boulder, light grey in colour.

– What’s the ground around you like?

– There are a lot of weeds around. There are also plenty of wildflowers, there’s more on the right side. A mountain we can see far away that isn’t very steep, and it has lots of trees. There’s the Dark Elves’ Castle after going over about two mountains.

– Weather?

– Clear. There are some clouds though.

Pale was confused even when he was explaining the surrounding.

“Pale, what’re you doing?” Romuna asked

“I don’t know. Yurin-nim is asking me to describe the surrounding, so I’m describing it for her.”

“Is she that curious of this place?”

Romuna tilted her head, unable to comprehend.

Judging solely by the scenery, the place was quite extraordinary. When the sun came up in the morning and went down at night, there was nothing more beautiful.

The mood when it fogs over or rains was great. Looking at the rain forest, one can fall into one’s own thought.

To those who are sensible, it was best place to spend their time.

Zephyr approached Pale.

“But what is her voice like?”

“Huh?”

“Is her voice gentle?”

Zephyr, who didn’t have a girlfriend yet, was naturally curious about Yurin.

‘If she’s Weed-nim’s younger sister, she would have strong ability to maintain livelihood. She wouldn’t starve me in any situation.’

So far, he had met various women.

Beautiful, confident women!

Still, they were busy giving their numbers when they learned of Zephyr’s background. Zephyr didn’t want to meet women like that again. A woman he can meet heart to heart without a care for money or status.

Like the naive heart of a man who just started dating, he wanted to make a girlfriend.

Pale looked at Zephyr as if he pitied him.

There were things that cannot be done even with a handsome face, sharp eyes, and elaborated speech.

“I’m sorry. Zephyr-nim”

“Hm?”

“To prepare for such a situation, Geomsamchi-nim told me.”

Zephyr’s heart became heavy.

He remembered Geomsamchi’s angular face and muscles.

He was a man scarier in real life than in Royal Road. If there was an Orc in real life, the one who would be able to catch it with ease, would be Geomsamchi.

“What did he say?”

“I will relay the message as it is. If anyone dares to touch Yurin, he’ll kill him.”

"........"

“Geomshachi said more than that. He said that if a man makes Yurin cry, he’ll break his spine.”

"........"

“Geomwuchi and Geomwubakchi also said something along those lines...”

Zephyr wanted to block his ears.

“I-I can’t dare hear them.”

Pale looked at him as if he pitied him.

“It’s hard for me to say them as well. I don’t want to remember them either. So when I heard something I just added them up in numbers.”

“Numbers?”

“Death 309 times, vegetable state 68 times, at least a month stay in hospital 93 times, lower-body paralysis 30 times, deaths that I cannot describe twice. Something that’s not alive neither dead… If you still want to, I can tell you what Yurin-yang’s voice was like though.”

“Kuhuk!”

Zephyr would give up on Yurin completely.

His confidence to approach Yurin, who is like a sister to Geomchis, vaporized.

Additionally, if he thought carefully, Yurin was Weed’s sister by blood.

If he considered the continual revenge coming from Weed unlike simple, short revenges from Geomchis, she was someone he absolutely could not approach.

Based on Pale’s description, Yurin painted. Her drawing skill wasn’t very good. Rather than art or music, she was someone who only focused on studying academics. Although she didn’t have exceptional talent or sense; she tried to be as descriptive as possible.

She considered overall positions as well as the details of them.

A feminine sensibility and soft curve were drawn with warm colours.

And, she finished drawing just like how Pale described.

Yurin stretched out her arms over her painting.

“Picture teleportation!”

The special skill of an Aqualight Painter.

The scenery on paper started to wave.

Skill: You have used Picture Teleportation.

Maximum mana is halved for four days.

A fantastic skill that allows one to teleport to anywhere on the continent as long as one can knows the exact geography.

On the painting, Yurin drew herself.

When she drew herself, her physical body was mystically disappearing from the plains of Rhodium. Legs, body, and finally head.

If Yurin closed her eyes for a bit and opened them again, she would meet Pale, Irene, Romuna, and Hwaryeong.

They were surprised to see Yurin, who appeared suddenly.

To Zephyr or Seechwi, she seemed to pop out from the earth.

It was special skill that only Aqualight Painters could use.

* * *

Weed decided to thoroughly understand the surroundings of the Valley of Death first.

“I can’t solve the quest directly.”

He had high hopes because he had Seoyoon and Alveron with him. But unfortunately, there were problems to solving the quest speedily.

Strong Ice Trolls were part of the reason, but the climate and geography were bad as well.

“At the least, I should grasp the geography.”

Enduring the cold, Weed flew to above the Valley of Death riding on Bingryong.

He could see the whole Valley of Death after flying high up into the sky.

Snow and ice covered it until it met the horizon.

Mountain, river, frozen cities and towns.

They were part of special scenery that can be only seen in the sky of the Northern Province.

There were lots of undiscovered places in the Northern Province.

The quests that can be gained by going to such towns and castles were like heaven to adventurers.

“If they can endure this cold air.”

Weed wrapped his body in his cape as much as he could.

Although he ordered Bingryong to fly slowly, the wind was far too fierce.

If he didn’t want to catch a cold again, he had to end his surveying of the area as soon as possible

Weed focused on the Valley of Death. In the middle of the mountains, the place that looked like a pair of long snakes stretched on the ground was the Valley of Death.

On the mountain tops, there were countless monsters like Ice Trolls, stationed like soldiers defending a castle.

Only when he beats them, can he complete the quest.

“The dead end of the valley is where snakes’ heads meet.”

Although he was estimating with his eyes, the length was only about a kilometre.

The valley itself wasn’t very big. And when they would pass about one-third of the valley, he could see frozen soldiers and knights waiting there.

“They’re Nifleheim soldiers.”

Around the soldiers’ feet, there were lots of rusted weapons.

Whiiing!

Anymore surveying would be dangerous.

His condition was about to get worse, as small ice particles started to blow with the icy wind. “Anyway I can understand the situation.”

Weed stopped surveying.

He found a larger cave around a nearby hill where the Wyverns could stay.

Until they conquered the Valley of Death, the place would be their base.

The chill would even freeze their skin!

They didn’t know when snow would come and the hardened earth limited their movement.

On top of all that, monsters become stronger at night. Wyverns and Bingryong are classified as monsters, so they become stronger at night as well.

But, while the cold doesn’t concern Bingryong whose body is made of ice, the Wyverns cannot fight.

Weed shook his head.

“It’s not an easy quest.”

He somewhat understood how to deal with an Ice Troll or Lamia.

Using Bingryong and the Wyverns, they were hunting Ice Trolls little by little.

But since they had to stop at night, they were giving Ice Trolls time to recover in the end. They are monsters that gather again like ants after a day. They had idiotically strong life stats, and their reproduction rate was exceptional as well.

So, at night only Bingryong and Weed fought, while Seoyoon, Alveron, and the Wyverns rested in the cave.

Seoyoon always logged out from Royal Road at night to get some rest.

When that happened, neither Alveron, Weed, nor the Wyverns had anything in the cave.

“Alveron.”

“Yes?”

“Look after the fire.”

“Understood.”

Alveron put in sufficient amount of firewood to keep fire from going off.

The Wyverns cuddled up near the fire with their wings folded.

“Too cold.”

“I thought I was going to freeze to death when I fought during the day.”

The Wyverns talked about their sympathetic situation and warmed their bodies near the fire.

“Kurararara!”

From time to time, they heard Bingryong’s roar from outside the cave.

‘Since he’s strong against cold and has strong life, he should be fine.’

Weed didn’t worry about Bingryong at all.

In truth, Bingryong was very timid, and cowardly.

Although he had a big body with dignity, in reality, he ran away when only a bit of life dropped or when he felt a bit of danger.

Therefore, he almost never got into dangerous situations.

When his Health dropped to only 20% of his maximum life, Bingryong drew near Alveron and goofed off.

Weed analysed the situation critically. ‘If we continue like this, it’s impossible to beat the quest.’

Even if they reduced the number of Ice Trolls during the day, their number just increased again at night.

There were numerous monsters in the valley. If they struggled against only Ice Trolls, it was impossible to complete the quest.

It was a great place to hunt and raise his servants, but he couldn’t stay there forever.

‘Anyway, we have to do something about this cold! If we do, then I might be closer to an answer than I think.’

Ice Trolls, Lamia and other monsters couldn’t show their full ability due to the cold.

Weed used all the wolf leather he had to make patched up cloth and ate properly.

Fish stir-fried in sweet wine… But the cold was too severe to use food as a distraction to forget the discomfort.

Sewing and cooking had limits.

Weed held up his sculpting knife.

Chapter 7: Moonlight Magnum Opus

“Finally, it’s time to start sculpting.”

The material for sculpting was a big boulder inside the cave.

After his sculpting mastery rose quite a bit, normal materials didn’t raise the fame stat that much.

Although he could have used ice instead, there were limits, and it wasn’t so good for expressing details, so he chose to work on a boulder instead.

Weed stood, staring at the boulder.

“What should I make?”

In the past, he wouldn’t have hesitate.

Fire!

Fire!

Or something warm.

It’s always the most effective to make something simple and straightforward.

It was easier on the mind when not considering the added benefits that were desired from the finished product and just focusing on the sculpture. But as his experiences built up, the eye for making sculptures became different.

“A sculpture doesn’t exist by itself. It’s more important to consider the situation.”

Even if he sculpts a campfire, it will only give a small warmth factor.

Sculpting is not that simple.

It is made to reflect genuine passion and the spirit of art!

Weed realized how his skill wasn’t on par with a master artisan.

But at the least he now knows the most important element of making a sculpture.

“The sculpture is as good as dead if it doesn’t contain emotion.”

He sculpted for his grandmother once in real life, in front of her who had aged with him for his entire life.

Of course, his sculpting skill was pathetic.

Even if he sculpted hundreds or thousands of times in virtual reality, it’s different in reality.

Considering how he was experimenting with sculpting, where the small touch from his fingertip made a huge difference in the sculpture itself, it was a very risky thing.

The sculpture he completed had many flaws.

When looked at closely, it had many places that weren’t properly finished and had scars because he put too much strength when carving.

Critical flaws to sculptures!

Still, it moved people’s hearts.

Because the sculpture had his grandmother’s life stored inside.

To someone who didn’t know, they would only think of it as a sculpture of a grandmother.

But to an elderly woman who had gone through various difficulties throughout her entire life, it would feel differently.

A face that became so familiar to the point that it almost came alive.

As he completed the sculpture, the face that had the trace of life melted in and gave the elderly expression various feelings.

Even if it was a famous artisan’s sculpture, it wouldn’t move people if it was only made with skill and without purpose.

In sculpting, time and life had to be invested into it.

Therefore, it was critical to match the sculpture to his situation.

‘Definitely, I can’t ignore the setting. I need to put in as much of my life as I can into it. I need a sculpture that honestly expresses the situation I am in.’

Then Weed thought of an idea.

A man and a woman were left in the cold, earth-freezing North.

A couple pained by extreme coldness.

Nature was nothing but cruel.

A blizzard came every day and hungry wolves cried.

Aohhhhh!

“Come this way.”

The man had the duty to protect the woman.

After going through many difficulties, they found a safe cave and took refuge inside, away from the vicious wolves. However, even if they managed to escape from dangerous enemies, hunger and cold still followed them.

The woman with bottomless beauty and immense kindness, the only one of her sort in the whole world, said to the man.

“I’m cold.”

The man could do nothing but watch her with sad eyes.

Because he was useless, he couldn’t protect the woman he loved.

Their lives stood on the verge of death.

If only I could sacrifice my life to save this woman!

The man would definitely have done it if it would save her life.

But the reality was that it would not change the situation, and the woman knew.

The woman did not blame the man.

“Still, thank you.”

“For what?”

“For staying with me until the end. And I love you.”

To the man who had a soft and gentle heart, her words where the best gift possible.

Wharak!

The man folded his arms around the woman.

“I love you too.”

No matter how cold the sky and earth was, it couldn’t freeze the hearts of this couple. They could feel a thread of warmth as they hugged each other.

“Yeah, this kind of concept would be the best.”

Weed took out his sculpting knife and approached the boulder.

Seeuk.

Rock powders fell.

Cutting the edge of the boulder, he slowly gave it shape.

Accenting the feeling of the couple who worry about and care for each another, he sculpted.

Of course, the story had different facts from the real situation.

It’s true that Weed and Seoyoon came to the North. But they were never separated and alone by themselves. Alveron was there, as well as the Wyverns and Bingryong.

“Can’t you fight well! You powerless, useless things!”

Weed harassed Bingryong and the Wyverns, and even forced the holy priest Alveron to work. But he hid all those truths.

And, the truth didn’t end with just that. The powerless woman who stirs up the instinct to protect and the woman Seoyoon were far different from each other!

The strong female warrior who can slay just about any monster, Seoyoon.

The appearance of hungry wolves was true at least, but the reason why they cried was different.

They were crying, pleading for mercy, merely tasty food that got slaughtered for food as soon as they were seen.

Even when they came to such place, Weed adapted instead of starving to death.

“Well, art needs some ignorance of reality from time to time.”

Even if it’s a hero who saved a country from danger, he will have to go to the restroom too.

One can sculpt about how he led a war to victory, but one can’t really draw or sculpt such a scene.

Whenever Weed moved the sculpting knife, rock slithers were sliced away.

The basic form took place.

Then, Seoyoon logged in and it became morning.

Depending whether it was night or day, battles happened periodically, so Seoyoon logged in when there would be hunting.

As the sun rose and bright light filtered in from the outside of the cave, the temperature rose a bit over night.

“Then, let’s go hunting.”

With the Wyverns, Weed headed to the Valley of Death.

Hunting when the sun’s up, sculpting when the sun’s down.

Like that, the sculpture started to take form after several days.

A man and a woman were hugging each other with the expression that they were about to cry out in inexplicable sorrow.

But Weed felt it was incomplete.

“It’s not enough with only hugging each other.”

Although the couple was so close to each other, there wasn’t much feeling coming from the scene.

They were just a couple that had great sadness and pain.

Weed carefully thought what was missing.

“What would I feel if I was the man?” he asked himself.

He would be desperate and feel powerless.

Looking at the lover who was slowly dying, trying to warm her up, the man would feel very sad.

The fact that he himself could not endure any more, and that he would have to say farewell to his lover, his heart would be heavy with sadness.

Farewell and death.

He lost family members before, so he knew how much sadness it brought.

Weed decided.

“This is failed product.”

Although he worked very hard for several days, he decisively abandoned it.

When knowing that it would be a failure, he couldn’t continue to make it.

Weed started sculpting a different boulder.

This time, the couple was hugging each other again.

As if he was trying to waste his time, there was not much difference from the other one.

Even if he makes a similar sculpture, Weed’s sculpting skill wasn’t as pathetic as before, so it would raise the mastery of it a bit.

If there were any difference, the man and the woman were smiling now.

The most loving smiles they could show to one another.

“If you’re about to leave this world, you should smile. That’s the last thing you can show to the person you love.”

Weed’s parents passed away when he was small.

He saw his parents for the last time when they were going into the surgery room in the hospital.

At that time, Weed cried and cried.

He cried because it was heartbreaking.

But, no one would know how much he regretted it afterwards.

“I should’ve smiled. I should’ve shown them the best smile.”

He should’ve smiled. Shown that it’s alright, and that he would live happily with his sister and grandmother.

Not being able to do it always remained as one of his regrets.

“Yes, a smile is the best.”

Weed made the sculptures have the happiest smile toward each other.

A smile with abundant love and trust.

Still, it had a somewhat sad and ominous mood.

With their two arms, they embraced each other as much as possible, to share a little of their warm between each other, and to never separate from each other.

Please name the Sculpture

Weed said as he pointed the sculpting knife.

“Warm Lovers.”

He decided on the name simply because they were hugging each other in a cold place.

But it came out to be a good one, going mysteriously well with the mood of the sculpture.

Would you like to name the sculpture Warm Lovers?

“Yes.”

In truth, he had some guilt as he named the sculpture.

Because of the man and woman’s faces.

He didn’t realize it in the beginning, but the man resembled himself a lot.

Because he became emotional and sculpted as he thought back to his regret, he unconsciously carved his own face.

Because he went through so much hardship, he couldn’t smile purely.

It was not a rotten smile, but a reliable and bright smile that he only showed to his family.

If it was only the man that resembled Weed, there would be no problem.

But the problem was the woman’s face resembled Seoyoon so much so that it was as if he brought Seoyoon’s face and placed it there.

Seoyoon’s beauty was such that it would be no exaggeration to say her beauty was absolute.

To the point where one’s own taste or preference wouldn’t matter, Seoyoon was beautiful.

After sculpting her several times, to the point where he would be able to sculpt her with his eyes closed, he naturally sculpted her.

‘How troublesome.’

It would be problematic to deal with afterwards, but Weed decided to leave it for now.

No matter what, Weed liked the finished sculpture.

It’s not like he can edit a sculpture that is this complete.

Because the woman’s or rather Seoyoon’s face was turned toward the cave wall, it wouldn’t be easy to look at unless one purposefully put an effort into it.

Ding!

Moonlight Magnum Opus.

You have completed the Warm Lovers!The warm lovers from the place where even breath would freeze. The work expresses the lovers’ passionate love that even death cannot separate. Due to its impressive expressiveness, the work deserves to be displayed even in a king’s personal museum or in a palace.

This great work will have more value as time goes by.

The creative and highly artistic sculptor has learned and recovered the forgotten skill, Moonlight Sculpting.

This work will leave its name in the continent's history of sculpting.

Artistic value:

- Exceptional sculptor Weed’s work.

- 2,600.

Special options:

- Those who have seen Warm Lovers will have 20% increase in Health and Mana regeneration rate for a day.

- Resistance to cold increased by 40%.

- Maximum Health increased by 25%.

- All stats have a 20 point increase.

- The sculpture fumes out hot air that would make one burn oneself when touching the sculpture.

- Party experience gain increased by 6%.

- When lovers hug one another in front of the sculpture, they can receive the blessing of Warm Lovers.

- Does not stack with other sculptures’ effect.

- The number of Moonlight Magna Opera completed: 1

– Advance Sculpting skill level rises to 2. Sculpting becomes surprisingly detailed and delicate.

– Dexterity skill mastery rises.

– Sculpture Understanding skill level rises by 1.

– Fame rises by 460.

– Art stat rises by 30

– Charm rises by 7.

– Warm Lovers was recorded in the history of sculpting.

– When talented sculptors look at this sculpture, it will help them improve their sculpting.

– For making a Moonlight Magnum Opus, all stats additionally rise by 4.

Like always, Seoyoon logged in when night was about to end.

Unless there were dishes to clean after eating or leather to sort that was stacked up to be done from hunting, she logged in on time.

She didn’t log in much in the past.

But after coming with Weed to the North, she was never late.

A place where freezing air flowed about.

But today, warm wind came from deep inside the cave.

".........?"

After looking around, Seoyoon found a sculpture that wasn’t there before.

There was a man who was dressed lightly.

There was a woman who was wearing short sleeved clothes, unfitting to the climate here.

‘Such a great sculpture.’

From where Seoyoon was, she could see the back of the woman sculpture and the man’s face.

The man’s face resembled Weed quite a lot.

‘How can he smile like that?’

Seoyoon tilted her head.

Although the sculpture had thin clothes on, they had smiles that warmed the heart.

The warm wind came from the sculpture.

"........."

Seoyoon kept on looking at the sculpture.

‘Such a well-made sculpture.’

The expression and detail made it hard to believe it was made of rock.

The sculpture that emitted gentle light was very beautiful.

Although their faces were smiling, they were trying hard to embrace each other a bit more in such harsh conditions.

It was a sculpture that filled the heart with affection.

‘Only a person with a warm heart would be able to make such sculpture.’

With gentle eyes, Seoyoon looked at Weed who was sleeping near the sculpture.

He was a person with various talents. He cooked well and could survive well. A cheapskate who tried very hard to get even a penny more.

Still, he had one thing that not many people had. A warm heart.

She thought he was a good person.

Then Weed suddenly sprung up from his sleep.

“I guess I fell asleep after working so hard. She wouldn’t be here yet right? Gasp!”

When he looked up and found Seoyoon, his face became as pale as a sheet, as if he had seen a ghost.

He shivered as well.

“W-When did you...”

Weed’s fear did not cease.

If she saw the face on the sculpture, she wouldn’t let him go easily!

But Seoyoon stood there expressionless. She thought Weed was a great person, but she didn’t show her feelings.

‘I cannot be loved by anyone.’

Seoyoon always felt pain in her heart.

For years, she lived not talking to anyone.

She wanted to talk, have a conversation. But fear always came first.

The fear of not knowing when she’ll be scarred and that she will never be loved.

She was used to not expressing her emotion.

If she hid herself from everyone, the pain would be less.

Still, she spent a considerable amount of time with Weed.

The happy Morata town’s festival.

The time in the cave.

At least Seoyoon wasn’t uncomfortable hanging around Weed.

Still, she didn’t express herself.

She had to hide herself especially more because he was one of the few whom she knew.

‘Phew, she didn’t see yet.’

Looking at Seoyoon’s reaction, Weed could only guess she hadn’t seen the woman’s face yet.

“So,” he said hurriedly. “Let’s go hunt!”

Since Seoyoon didn’t have reason to refuse, they headed outside the cave.

Before going out, Seoyoon turned around.

She wanted to hold the sculpture in her eyes once more.

The face of Weed holding the woman, smiling so brightly.

Chapter 8: Korea University

Hayan went into the Kumdo dojang.

Inside the dojang, there were hundreds of trainees swinging swords. Men who seriously focused on swinging wooden swords while proudly wearing the dojang uniform.

She came during afternoon, while it was sword skill training time.

Usually, they would show a casual side of themselves, but when holding a wooden sword, they would become as serious as if they had met a life threatening enemy. They were people who dedicated their lives to the sword.

Choe Jongbeom who was teaching trainees saw Hayan and approached.

“Come on in. But your brother already left, after finishing his morning training.”

“I’m not here to meet my brother.”

“Then why?”

“I have something to discuss.”

“Really? I’ll listen. Wait in the lounge. I’ll go as soon as their training ends.”

“Sure.”

Hayan headed to the lounge where guests could wait. Immediately after, Jeong Ilhun, who only has his strength to trust, dropped his wooden sword.

“Master.”

“What?”

“I don’t feel good today so...”

"........"

“Can I rest in the lounge for a bit?”

As if he’s dizzy, Jeong Ilhun held his forehead.

It had never happened before. Then, other trainees started to speak up.

“Ah, nowadays I feel like crying just from watching a leaf fall.”

“Since even a gust of wind can shake this body, the sword cannot find its path. Master, can’t we rest for a bit?”

“I think I now understand what the sword is trying to tell me. In order to listen to its story, I want to rest my head inside the lounge for a bit.”

“Actually my body’s a bit weak...”

Their eyes burned with passion!

The trainees made excuses, wanting to get to the lounge no matter how!

Hayan would be surrounded by 500 males in a moment.

In the end, Choe Jongbeom personally brought Hayan to the instructor’s room.

Jeong Illhun prepared tea for her.

“Here.”

“Thank you.”

In the instructor’s room, other than Hayan and Jeong Illhun, three other instructors and 20 trainees have gathered.

Because the trainees liked Hayan like their own little sister, they didn't want to be left out.

Hayan finished the tea.

“The tea’s very tasty.”

“A former student of mine sent me this. Before that, you had something to say?”

“Yes.”

“Could it be about Lee Hyun?”

Jeong Ilhun asked sharply.

Ahn Hyun-do was thinking of taking Lee Hyun in as a disciple.

Then, next after Jeong Ilhun, Lee Hyun would become the youngest disciple.

But, since it would mean they would become like family, he was sensitive towards it.

Hayan nodded.

“That’s right.”

“What happened?”

“It’s because of brother’s birthday.”

“Birthday?”

“Yes. Brother’s birthday is only a month away. I want to hold a birthday party for him.”

"........"

Hayan was planning her brother’s birthday party and came to the dojang to get assistance.

Lee Hyun never cared for his birthday before. With their difficult life, remembering his birthday itself was a luxury. But his sister and grandmother never forgot his birthday and even prepared a small gift.

This time, Hayan wanted to prepare a surprise birthday party for Lee Hyun.

Jeong Ilhun, Choe Jongbeom and Ma Sangbeom’s eyes became huge.

“Birthday party? Like the ones on television?”

“Don’t you just celebrate your birthday by eating Seeweed soup?”

“After I became eight, I never did anything special on my birthday.”

“Birthday is, when the insurance company makes a thank you call....”

Those who dedicated their life to the sword!

They almost never have spent their birthday in a proper manner.

Even Jeong Ilhun, who looks after members as the eldest, was being pessimistic as well.

“Celebrating birthdays doesn’t suit us.”

Choe Jongbeom agreed.

“True. Rather than a birthday, victory in a sword skill competition is a better reason to celebrate.”

Ma Sangbeom nodded.

“Winning a competition is more important than one’s birthday. Since you can show off the sword skills you trained by yourself to the whole world.”

Everyone spoke their opposition.

Although Hayan, whom they liked like their own sister, was making the request, celebrating an occasion like that didn’t fit them.

It was an example as for why they weren’t popular with girls.

Like this, it seemed the birthday party plan would end as nothing.

But after Hayan´s next sentence, everything changed.

“I will introduce you to my Unni´s when I get into college.”

“A F-Female college student?”

“Yes. I’ll introduce pretty Unni´s. How about a blind date?”

“Blind date. The ones you can see in a drama?”

Jeong Ilhun gritted his teeth. Then, he looked around his companions.

Choe Jongbeom firmly nodded his approval.

“Instructors, let’s throw a birthday party! Can’t we do at least that much for Lee Hyun?”

Lee Indo moved his butt as if he was about to get up in excitement.

“Of course. Since it’s his first birthday party, shouldn’t we do it properly?”

Enthusiastic agreement from the instructors. And there’s nothing to be said about the trainees.

“To think I’d have a blind date with a college student during my life.”

“I don’t even need for it to go well. If I can just date for a day like others...”

The trainees were struggling with loneliness.

Since they trained in sword fighting, apart from their passion, they lived a life far from women.

Even sharing a word with girls was awkward and uncomfortable.

Rather, fighting yakuza was much more comfortable.

Others may be used to dating a girl and separating, but to them, those were moments that will remain with them for the rest of their lives.

Hayan promised.

“If you help me with the birthday party, I will set up a group blind date.”

“Ohhhhh!”

Trainees cheered. Then they started to plan for Lee Hyun’s birthday party one month later.

Absolutely in their own style!

* * *

“Welcome.”

“We welcome all newcomers.”

In front of the front gate of Korea University, there were clubs that were trying to have newcomers join them.

With his head lowered, Lee Hyun quietly headed towards the front door.

‘No time for things like clubs. The time I use for school life is a waste in itself.’

After going to school, the time he can invest in Royal Road decreases accordingly.

So, even if he’s a college student now, he can’t do club activities like others.

The job of sculptor showed many good points as time went by, but it needed more time investment.

Lee Hyun was set on never joining a club, even if he goes to a university.

Tadadadak.

With his heart set, Lee Hyun quickly walked by.

But no one stopped him.

Most newcomers got caught by the seniors, but no one approached Lee Hyun.

‘Phew! Thank god.’

Lee Hyun walked towards the main build, where a briefing for newcomers was to be held.

There he overheard a conversation.

“Unni, should we catch that person?”

“Leave him. Can’t you tell from his face? He’s probably a reject.”

* * *

At Korea University a briefing session for newcomers was held to explain the basics before entering the university.

Since it was still two months away most newbies did not attend.

But Lee Hyun took his time to come here.

‘I need to tell Hayan about this.’

Like parents worrying about their child’s education, it was purely for his sister.

The briefing took place in something like an auditorium.

A bit countryish style man seated himself next to Lee Hyun.

He talked to him first.

“Nice to meet you. Are you a newcomer?”

Lee Hyun nodded and turned to face him.

“Yes.”

“Korea University is so nice. I came from the countryside to visit the school. I’m Bak SoonJo from virtual reality major.”

“Is that so. My name is Lee Hyun. I choose virtual reality major as well. Since we’re in same major, let’s speak casually to each other.”

“Is that ok? You seem older than me.”

Bak SoonJo carefully asked Lee Hyun.

Lee Hyun shook his head.

“No way. I’m 20 too.”

“Your face doesn’t look like....”

“Hmm Hmm!”

Lee Hyun cleared his throat to show that he was uncomfortable.

Thanks to it, he could move on without much trouble.

“Yes, well. Lee Hyun! Let’s get along.”

Bak SoonJo lightly beat Lee Hyun’s shoulder as he said that.

Almost at the same time, people started approaching Bak SoonJo and Lee Hyun.

“I’m also virtual reality major. My name is Lee Yu Jeong. Nice to meet you.”

“Me too. I’m Min Sura.”

“I’m Choi Sang Jun. Nice to meet you.”

Lee Hyun and Bak SoonJo shared light greetings with friends of the same major.

Afterwards they listened to the briefing together.

On the first day, after attending the briefing session, they formed a “family”.

During the briefing’s break time, there was a hot debate among the friends.

“The virtual reality motion system used in Royal Road allows different level of physical movement depending on the user’s level.”

“Not only the basic five senses, but to be able to use potential above it. It must’ve used studies on brains as research basis.”

“To save such an enormous amount of data...”

Lee Hyun didn’t get involved in their conversation.

‘It’s a simple problem if you look at it.’

Before he started Royal Road, he read various research papers about virtual reality.

There were many words he didn’t know, but he memorized everything in its entirety.

As such, Lee Hyun’s knowledge about virtual reality was over normal students.

When Royal Road was first made consideration for safety was very high.

Lee Hyun was very considerate on this point as well.

It’s fine for something to go wrong with him, but his family would have a hard time.

Therefore, he studied about virtual reality.

“But Sura, what job do you have?”

“Me? I’m an enchanter. I'm in charge of wind and electricity.”

“Whoa! That’s a rare job.”

Enchanter is a job that gives strength to an object or a lifeform.

It’s basic is similar to a priest’s blessing magic, but it’s better in a sense because the given strength doesn’t disappear afterwards.

Mostly, it was job that takes necklaces, earrings, rings, etc and uses magic on them.

Even if it’s hard to raise the level in the beginning, it’s a job that brings in lots of money when successful.

“What about you?”

“I’m just a normal warrior. Level is 216.”

“That’s not normal at all. The level’s really high. I’m still only 140.”

“It can’t be helped since enchanter isn’t really a job for battling . But let’s go hunting together later on.”

“Yes. OK.”

After the girls revealed their level and jobs, boys started to reveal theirs as well.

Choi Sang Joon spoke first.

“I’m a warrior too. Thanks to hunting with a guild, I’m 278.”

“Which guild?”

“Black Lion.”

“Wow! The most famous guild in Thor Kingdom!”

Lee Yu Jeong didn’t hide her surprise.

It was very difficult to join a huge famous guild.

Your activities are limited while in a guild, but everyone still wanted to join a good guild.

It’s because of the benefits. Such as entering a guild war to take over a castle or hunting ground and the chance to borrow items easily.

Especially being able to borrow good items was a great advantage.

Not only that, if their activity is beneficial, they can receive some gold for monthly payment.

But even if there weren’t such benefits, famous guilds had their own pride.

When going to a field, city, or a castle, everyone will recognize their guild mark.

They get respected and commented by people and they can even get good amounts of giveaway items.

Sometimes, even if someone does a great thing, they may not even get a comment.

The Versailles continent is a world where strength rules and the famous guilds were the source of it's strength.

“It’s nothing. My brother is Black Lion guild’s founding member. He was one of the first 30 members, so I could join.”

“Then your brother’s level must be insane.”

Lee Yu Jeong looked at him as if she was jealous of him.

Choi Sang Joon nodded.

“He doesn’t tell me his level, but he should be at least over 340. I was able to raise my level easily following my brother around.”

“Whoa, really?”

While girls were jealous of him, Lee Hyun thought otherwise.

‘He trained his character like all the others. It’ll only get harder once he gets further along.’

In Royal Road the skill level was very important.

If he just gathers up exp fast and levels up, he’ll only go through hardships later.

Especially if he raised his level tagging behind someone else, then he’ll be barely able to do his share of work if a really dangerous hunt began.

Min Sura and Lee Yu Jeong approached Lee Hyun and Bak SoonJo who hadn’t revealed their job yet.

“Soon-jo what’s your job?”

When Min Sura asked blinking her eyes, Bak SoonJo answered, scratching his head.

“Me? Level 342 and the job is thief.”

"........"

The level of Bak SoonJo who had a naive appearance caused great ripples.

Royal Road couldn’t be understood from it's cover.

It depends on how many monsters you've slayed and how much time one spends in a dungeon.

Although Bak SoonJo looked like the quiet type, because he had competitive nature, he caught monsters while almost living in a dungeon.

Lastly, Min Sura looked at Lee Hyun.

“Lee Hyun, what’s your job and level?”

He didn’t really want to hide it.

But he didn’t want to show off either.

To those who who simply enjoy virtual reality, level may be something to show off, but to dark gamers, it was just exposing their cards.

‘They wouldn’t ask in detail anyway.’

Looking at the experience until now, they probably wouldn’t.

Expecting what would happen, Lee Hyun slowly opened his mouth.

“Sculptor.”

“Hm?”

“My job is sculptor.”

“Oh my.”

It was only a split of a second for people’s eyes to be full of pity.

Choi SangJoon beat Lee Hyun’s shoulder in encouragement.

“Try hard. I heard people choose sculptor a lot nowadays.”

“Yeah.”

Chatting from time to time like this, they listened to the briefing.

Lee Hyun wrote down important details in a notebook he prepared separately.

They were mostly subjects that would be helpful to study before school life, information about studying abroad and financial aid.

He parted with studying after dropping out of high school.

Although he passed the GED test, it’s impossible to get financial aid in the middle of university life.

Still, he wrote them down just in case.

When the briefing session ended, the friends stood up.

* * *

“Ah, it’s over. I’m hungry.”

“Let’s go eat something.”

“Yeah. Let’s eat at the school cafeteria.”

Lee Hyun followed his friends.

‘It wouldn’t be so bad to experience what the school cafeteria is like.’

The cafeteria was within the campus.

Korean and Western style food came out depending on the days of the week.

The girls chose Korean and the boys chose Western style.

“Looks delicious.”

“Let’s eat.”

In case of Korean style, there was rice, soup, and about five types of Banchan.

In case of Western style, there was fried pork or fish with salad and noodles.

Min Sura smiled after trying rice and Banchan.

“Good enough.”

Choi SangJoon and Bak SoonJo sliced fried pork and put it in their mouth to savor the taste.

“School lunch isn’t bad at all.”

“It’ll be fun to go to school.”

When everyone was enjoying it, Lee Hyun alone ate with his expression wrinkled.

‘Food materials are terrible.’

It may be obvious, but the fried pork wasn’t made there.

Frozen product!

Additionally, because it’s been long since it has been cooked, the freshness was very low.

‘If it’ll be like this, it’s better to bring lunch.’

The price was 2500 won, it wasn’t very cheap. [$2.5]

It’ll be much healthier to make lunch with freshly bought ingredients from the street market and bring it with you.

Lee Hyun finished lunch thinking of packing the best lunch.

At that moment, bulky men gathered in the student cafeteria.

They were martial art major students.

The man with great built and sweat came to eat and found Lee Hyun.

Then they bowed.

“We greet hyung-nim!”

When a student in the front bowed, other tens of students bowed as well.

“We greet hyung-nim!”

Lee Hyung sat still with an expressionless face.

He turned his face the other way as well.

He was using the ignoring-by-doing-other-stuff skill learned from Seoyoon.

But the martial art major students did not leave and stayed bowed.

Friends next to him were surprised and sat with their mouth dropped open.

A fly could’ve flew into Choi SangJoon’s mouth.

Since martial art major students with healthy body build bowed, they could do nothing else but become confused and surprised.

And although it seemed like Lee Hyun didn’t like it, he was taking their bow very naturally.

The four people there were so surprised, they took turns to look at Lee Hyun and then at the martial art students.

Lee Hyun responded to the bow as he sighed.

Lee Hyun and his friends relationship changed. Since an upperclassman bowed to him, he had to be the same age or older. Not 20 like he had claimed.

Finally the martial art students walked away from Lee Hyun.

“SangChual Hyung, who is he? Just who was he, for you to bow like that?”

Truthfully, most of the students bowed without knowing why. Since their senior Han SangChual suddenly bowed, they bowed along with him.

Han SangChual had sweat running down his forehead.

“I told you before.”

“Huh?”

“I told you which dojang I go to right?”

“Yes. Don’t you go to that one?”

The one they were talking about was the dojang where Ahn Hyun Do was working as the master.

The famous dojang that produced world swordfight competition winners.

It was a place where monsters that had nothing to be afraid of with a sword gathered. Not counting the official trainees, just the beginner trainees numbered over 5000.

Han SangChual was one of the beginner trainees.

“He is the place’s trainee, no, he´s master’s official best disciple.”

“Gasp! The best disciple?”

“Probably. Almost sure. Mostly the instructors teach him, but sometimes he fights against the master, so it should be.”

“But he looks younger or similar to our age, there shouldn’t be any need to be as formal as you were, is there?”

The students tilted their heads.

Those who train the martial art have a very strong sense of pride.

Even if someone was higher in status in a dojang, there was no need to bow one’s head to him.

Han SangChual shook as if he felt a sudden chill.

“You should’ve seen it. You think I treated him like this from the beginning? In the beginning I didn’t admit his strength. Just one year. It felt very unfair for a person who only learned sword for a year to become master’s best disciple. Even I, who went to Kumdo dojang for over 3 years, couldn’t become an official trainee. I thought he was an arrogant bastard.”

“Then shouldn’t you have beat him up to put some sense into him?”

“I was going to! Seeing how a newcomer was pushing aside all original trainees. But I saw him fighting with a wooden sword.”

“Just what was it like....”

“He fought, fought, and fought. Even in front of the wooden sword that could easily break his bones, he showed no fear. And the sword he swung had life stored inside.”

“Is it that great? Isn’t it normal to not be afraid of a sword when swinging and to bet one’s life on it?”

“It’s great. It’s very great. I realized then. Although physical strength could be build up by training, mental strength you have to be born with. Truthfully, just how many would really fight with their life on the line in a world like this?”

"........"

“A person who can throw one’s life away for a belief. A mentally strong person. Leaving physical conditions behind, I then realized that his heart was the strongest in the world. After that, my sword skill became much stronger.”

Han SangChual’s freshman finally understood.

A sword swung with sincerity.

If it was a person who could swing such a sword, leaving the time spent for learning aside, they could bow to him.

‘A ridiculously strong minded person.’

‘Memorize the face and never touch him.’

Han SangChual told the freshman to pledge to him.

“There has been word from the dojang’s Sahyung. From now on, if you meet him, bow to him. If you don’t, I’ll be killed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Chapter 9: Planted Seeds

Thanks to the “Warm Lovers'” statue effect, Weed had more resistance to the cold. Although he still had the remnants of a cold, his condition would not get worse.

Thereafter hunting was much easier. Along with Alveron and Seoyoon, they had spent nearly fifty days in the Versailles Continent, continuously fighting Ice Trolls.

“There’s no end to killing them.”

Ice trolls have frightening regeneration ability. If a limb was cut off, it would be grow back in just a short time. When their Health drops really low, it will only require them a few minutes to regenerate it.

With 1-2 people it seems like going up against an invincible army. It was a good thing that there was a cliff and the Ice Trolls couldn’t get down from it.

“Now we know why the quest had high difficulty.”

When he fought with the Legions of Undead, he used information he had against them. But the Ice Trolls were different level, and thus, they were harder to deal with.

Weed had to change his strategy.

"It's too difficult fight Trolls if we separate. Wyverns, fly up into the sky and grab a hold of the Ice Trolls! And from there, drop them down here."

The Wyverns brought the Ice Trolls down from the cliff one at a time.

I'll be able to get a lot of the Ice Troll's blood which is used to create potions that restores Health!

Divide and Conquer!

With Weed's instinct, he was able to form a great strategy.

“Listen, you have to bring them into a secluded area so we subjugate them!”

Since early childhood, Weed had already mastered the art of hard work. Because of the fall and their teamwork, the monsters’ morale dropped quite significantly.

Ice Trolls weren't like other monsters, so when they are not mobbed together, hunting them was lot easier. They caught it and killed it before they had a chance to use their regeneration ability.

“Moonlight Sculpting Sword!”

Weed raised his sword.

The Ice Trolls were overpowered by the beautiful ornate sword. Now the situation of the battle has been reversed.

It was by no means a fair fight. He killed them all before they could try to regenerate their health.

“Kuoooo!”

Even as they were about to die, the Ice Trolls resisted and swung their Axes aimed at their feet.

Ignoring the incoming strikes, he shouted.

“Cold Eyes!”

He closed his eyes from the Ice Trolls’ incoming attacks.

If you do not try to predict the occurrence of the battle, winning would be impossible. That was Weed’s way of battle.

Trapping the monster quickly and decisively!

“Ahh! Die. I’ll kill you!”

With his eyes closed, he swung his wielded sword.

It looked like an ignorant action that even a novice wouldn’t do.

It was tantamount to the most disgraceful behavior in battle.

Whenever Seoyoon attacked, her sword leaves an afterimage of a black hue.

A Berserker’s attack to kill Ice Trolls.

The profession that gets stronger as one slaughters and sees blood!

While they are weaker in shorter fights, the longer the battle goes on for the stronger they get. During combat, although briefly, she could forget about her pain.

Although the tension on Seoyoon’s face showed that the battle was difficult, she never once looked towards Weed.

‘No, no, don’t look...’

She did not want Weed to see.

If he saw her fighting, he would start laughing. Because of this she desperately turned her head away.

With his eyes closed fighting, Weed turned towards where Seoyoon fought.

Alveron silently healed the Wyverns and Bingryong's Health whenever it got low.

Hunting in the Valley of Death for over 50 days! Finally, the number of trolls decreased. No matter how they tried to escape the Wyvern’s grasp, their efforts were in vain.

Weed looked up at the bright blue sky impatiently.

“I can’t believe all of them disappeared!”

As if looking for chicks in a chicken farm, it was hard to find Ice Trolls, even after rubbing one’s eyes. Although it was because he was earnestly hunting them, he was filled with regret.

“Now it looks like I will not be able to procure the Ice Troll’s blood, which I’m certain I can make money off of.”

But when he suddenly spotted a large group of Ice Trolls, he was happy. Like a farmer who saw a well grown grain in his field, even though it was possible to be crushed to death for that single grain.

For every bottle filled with Ice Troll’s blood, Weed earned approximately 5,300 gold.

Rapid recovery potions. It increases Stamina and Health recovery, and they were produced in large quantities and placed inside his bag.

Because of limited supply of potions, it was worth an arm and a leg. During hunts, it was rare for people to use such potions, but it can be extremely useful during a Guild Siege.

“Heu heu heu.”

Weed laughed at the sight of blood! He laughed with joy to the extent that his stomach began to hurt.

“...”

Alveron and Seoyoon showed no reaction while they watched Weed.

After seeing it for a day or two they got used to it. Although Weed’s behavior was strange, he was trained in disciplining himself. And soon, Weed returned to his usual attitude.

“Would you want to go hunting again, Alveron?”

“Yes.”

“Use your holy magic. From now on, we’re going to need it for the upcoming battles.”

“Okay.”

Alveron blessed both Bingryong and the Wyverns.

First, Weed commanded Bingryong and the Wyverns so that they would attack the Lamias. Up until now, the strategy had been to attack only the Ice Trolls in order extract their blood, but from now on the plan had been changed to capture the Valley of Death.

Weed’s current level was 312.

From the time Bingryong and the Wyverns were brought to life, their skill levels had risen significantly. Now, they didn’t have a hard time defeating the Lamias.

Weed's level would have risen beyond level 300 a long time ago, but because he had given life to many sculptures, he constantly lost levels. Although he hunted to death with Pale and the rest of his party, he was only able to get his level a little over 300. His levels were mainly gained through battles he fought in the Valley of Death.

Weed’s eyes shone.

‘It is finally time to aggressively conquer the Valley of Death!’

The Wyverns and Bingryong were fighting extremely well. Compared to dealing with the Ice Trolls, Lamias had relatively weak defense.

"We are the elegant Lamias."

“Try not to fall for our charm.”

“Venom of Eucla!”

“Shoot them with poison stingers!”

The Lamias opened fire and fought in turmoil.

The icy road allowed the Lamias with snake like bodies to move quickly by gliding across it.

Although they provided formidable resistance to ice attacks, they fell quickly to the Wyverns’ offense. Bingryong lifted itself off the ground with its big wings and used its claws to attack.

“My body is huge. But why are my legs so short!”

Venting his dissatisfaction, he continued to complain.

Compared to his enormous body, his feet were abnormally short. Because of this he hesitated to walk even during battles.

“There’s no law stating that great works of art must have convenience in action.”

Weed’s excuse was because there were problems with the nature of the ice.

In order to properly distribute the weight, short thick legs worked better than long legs. Thanks to Bingryong’s huge body only short thick legs could support him.

Nevertheless, Bingryong and the Wyverns cornered the terrified Lamias. Without the protection of the Ice Trolls, the Lamias downfall was inevitable.

A one-sided massacre!

Groups of mere level 200 Lamias came and died quickly.

Initially, without the cluster of Ice Trolls supporting them, Lamias were nothing but a small threat.

The Lamias died leaving spoils such as snake leather, gold, silver, poison stings, and some ores.

“We did it.”

“Keurwawrawrarwa!”

The Wyverns and Bingryong flew up in the sky and let out a loud roar.

Weed’s eyes were focused on the opposite cliff. In between the valleys, there were a bunch of clustered groups of monsters.

The Lizard King, Possessed Soldiers, Dibase’s Priests, Demonic Followers, and Puppets.

These various kinds of monsters formed into one large army.

Chuk!

Weed raised his hands summoning Bingryong and the Wyverns.

“Alveron, heal and bless them so they can continue to fight, the battle is not over.”

“Ok, I will regenerate their exhausted Stamina.”

The Wyverns and Bingryong set out again.

“Kuooo!”

Bingryong and the Wyverns were flying around while fighting the Lamias and other monsters in the Valley of Death.

The Lizard King wielded an axe, while the demonic followers stabbed their enemies with spears and swords.

“The roughly flowing melted snow, through the dark and moist power, will strengthen your flesh. Bloodlust!”

The Dibase Priests casted blessing spells on the monsters. Unlike Alveron’s divine magic, which had no side effects, the aftereffects were huge. It was similar to curse magic that temporarily enhanced attack.

“Dibase ordered us to cast flame magic on the huge lump of ice.”

“Dibase ordered the Possessed Soldiers to attack the Wyverns without delay.”

“Dibase commanded his minions. Behold, we will demonstrate what will happen to those who dared oppose us!”

The Dibase Priests commanded the Legions of monsters. Monsters who were void of faith, overflowing with evil and greed, followed the Priests.

Since they became united through the accurate command organization, the army of monsters were able to block the Wyvern’s attacks with ease. Bingryong’s attacks were also not very effective.

Once on the ground dozens charged devoid of fear. The monsters commanded by the Dibase Priests did not completely dwindle.

“Ice Bolt!”

Even though Bingryong used his prided Ice Magic with enormous power, the Priests were able to counter it by casting flame magic.

The Wyverns circled the sky not fighting properly. While Bingryong was too scared and didn’t want to continue fighting.

“It looks to be going alright. However, this isn’t the end.”

Weed’s eyes were glinting coldly.

Going by the Versailles Continent’s time, he had spent more than fifty days. If you add the days it took to get to the Valley of Dead after arriving to the North, the accumulated days would be greater.

Weed’s perspective, those who diligently earned money, could not afford to struggle in a place like this.

“Call forth Death Knight Van Hawk. Call forth Vampire Lord Tori!”

Weed summoned all of his statues.

He even called forth Van Hawk and Tori!

A black vortex appeared when Van Hawk was summoned, holding on to a sword.

“M..ma..ma..Master! You called!”

He stuttered with his words.

It was a misconception that, because they were pale, the undead were unaffected by the temperature. The cold from this place could freeze their bones!

Ttak. Ttak. Ttak. Ttak!

Death Knight was making a clattering sound with his teeth.

The contrast between his pale white skin and his bright red lips! However, Vampire Tori, who was wearing a red and black cape that was pretty laid back.

“This place is not too far from my hometown. Morata! I miss it. The frigid winds, snow, the ice storms, and the place where loneliness and hot passions are alive and breathing. It’s a place where the beauty of the brilliant light is alive. It would have been perfect if I had a beautiful maiden by my side. What a pity.”

The Vampire Lord Tori was delighted by the cold, while looking for a woman to turn into an artwork.

Weed glanced at Seoyoon.

On Earth, her beauty unmatched.

Even though he saw Seoyoon, who even had countless sculptures in her image, Tori showed no reaction.

‘Is it because we were in the same party?’

Weed and Seoyoon were in a party. Thanks to that, Tori did not harbor any attraction towards Seoyoon.

Nevertheless, for Weed, it was another nuisance out of the way.

Tori wrinkled his nose and sniffed.

“What is this smell? It’s very vulgar, but it’s a smell that leaves a sweet taste in my mouth.”

When it comes to the smell blood, Tori was an expert.

Traces of Ice Troll’s blood exquisite scent were the cause of his sniffing.

He could have summoned Tori earlier. He could have cleaned up the Ice Trolls faster had he done so. However, in exchange, he would have had to give up on extracting the Ice Troll’s blood.

Because of that, Weed did not summoned Tori.

Since the Ice Trolls were defeated, he could now mobilize Tori in battle.

“Tori, you go out and fight as well.”

“You dare command me?”

Tori asked arrogantly.

Since he had not been summoned for a while, he could not recognize his master.

It was the same Tori, who had the time of his life as he fought the Immortal Army along with the Wyverns!

His self-esteem grew along with his abilities and his level.

Weed wrinkled his brow.

“I am commanding you. Now go out and fight.”

“Then I’ll say something as well. Since it’s a bother, I would like it if you didn’t summon me for such trivial tasks.”

Contrary to his ability, Tori was an irritating boss monster! However, this doesn’t mean that Weed had no use of him.

“It seems like you haven’t been beaten enough.”

“...”

“Shall we chat again once after I’ve beaten you continuously for about ten more days?”

The ruthless violence that Weed used when flattery and appeasement failed!

Shink.

Nearby, Seoyoon also sent a silent threat. She was going to help Weed since the Vampire he summoned did not seem like it would obey.

Since even Alveron was preparing his divine magic, Tori had no choice, but to unwillingly start walking towards the enemies.

However, after walking a few steps Tori turned around with a serious expression and said.

“Master, I have something to say.”

“What is it?”

“Have you ever heard of the Vampire Kingdom?”

“Is there such a place?”

It was the first time he had heard of it.

The history of the Versailles Continent only gave a brief description of the Vampire Race.

“Vampire Kingdom Todium! It exists below ground. An everlasting Kingdom of Darkness. Thanks to Master, I have grown stronger so I should be heading back.”

“... Heading back?”

“It is my obligation as a Vampire. In a month’s time in the Versailles Continent, the entrance will open for 89 days.”

“Doing that would breach the contract...”

“The contract will end. However if you desire, with my name, I will pledged my immortal life to you.”

Tori wanted to rid himself of his constraints. But he could already guess what the next words would be.

‘When it comes to hunting, there is a limitation where Tori could be useful.’

A level 400 high-leveled boss monster. He was very useful thanks to his Vampire characteristics. However he could only use it to feed himself.

‘He always had this limitation from the beginning.’

Weed shook his head.

“I do not want your life.”

He had no intention of taking Tori’s life.

He had seriously considered killing Tori just so that he could get his items. However, Tori’s equipment was pretty useless.

All his equipment were limited to Vampire Lord, and unlike with Orcs and Elves, other than Dark Wizards, monster-only items had no sale value.

“Thank you. When I leave for Todium later, if you want, I can guide you there. It might be the first time any human has gone there, and even in the future you won’t be able to find another person who would be able to enter the tomb of the Vampires who are Nobles of the Night.”

Ttiring!

Vampire Lord Tori has invited you to the Noble City of the Night, Todium!Ancient artwork and gems, a City not found on the ground, inhabited by beautiful women and hundred millions of rats and bats.

In three months’ time, Vampire Lord Tori, has invited you and your colleagues to Todium.

Weed tilted his head slightly and nodded.

‘As expected, my prediction was right.’

Death Knight and Vampire Tori have grown excessively.

They would not always simply exist as a burden. If one raised them above a certain level, they could obtain a special quest or gain access to a certain area.

Tori headed towards the Valley of Death.

“My family, reveal yourselves.”

“You have called, My lord.”

The beautiful Vampire Queens, and young Vampires wearing mantles, suddenly appeared.

“The blood-filled enemies are over there.”

“My thirst is rising. Lord.”

“Although we may not be able to increase our family yet, we can look forward to drinking blood. Let’s go!”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Veil of Darkness!”

Tori and the other Vampires hid their bodies in the darkness.

And in a flash, they appeared around the Priests of Dibase and the Demonic Followers that were above the valley.

“The Nobility of the Night!”

“Evil Vampires appeared!”

Tori extended his nails and greatly damaged the Priests of Dibase, while the other familiars were appearing and disappearing. The young Vampires were also moving diligently, and the Vampire Queen snared the Demonic Followers using their spells.

However, the young Vampires were no match for the Possessed Soldiers. If they were fighting humans with blood and life, they could use their powers to their hearts content, but these enemies were ensnared by evil. Even though they were fallen possessed soldiers, the Vampires’ powers were not shaken.

“Tornado Blade!”

Crash!

Tori created an enormous tornado around the area where enemies were gathered and killed several people.

Because the large Tornado Blade swept throughout the area, the bodies of the Priests of Dibase were battered and ripped apart. Snow and ice were strewn everywhere. Because the strength of the storm was so strong, the impact made the Wyverns stagger.

“Blood Drain!”

Tori consumed a large amount of mana with each attack.

Only when he was drained of mana would he weaken, but he could replenish his strength by feeding upon the Priests of Dibase.

Tori’s eyes would also turn grey.

“You lot that don’t take me seriously, those whose blood was sucked by me, turn to stone.”

Crack!

The gathered Possessed Soldiers’ bodies hardened and turned to stone. It was the effect of the Vampire’s Curse.

Van Hawk brandished his sword and led his subordinates. Bingryong and the Wyverns, with Geumini, claimed the skies. Weed and Seoyoon also joined the battle. They climbed up the cliff and fought the monsters.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Relying on the trustworthy defense of Tallock’s Armor, on top of cliff, he wielded his sword. As he did so, his sobering eyes searched every direction.

During a close combat, one’s gaze must not be fixed on a certain place. It must always be appraising the situation of both allies and enemies.

Especially in a situation similar to now when there were many monsters to fight, the skill was necessary.

The Priests of Dibase were on the verge of dying from the fangs of the Vampires.

“7 Celestial Steps!”

It’s been awhile since I’ve used this footwork!

He could use his full speed and change his directions in the middle of each of the 7 steps.

Since the skill completely ignores common knowledge, it makes it difficult to use during battle.

But if you could utilize the skill well, you could gain far superior attacking power than others.

Weed ran in between the Vampires.

With the dazzling footwork, he was able to get in front of the Dibase Priests.

“Die!”

Weed swung his sword in the direction where his body was moving.

The excessive sword barely grazed its neck, but, as it returned, it sliced its chest.

You have dealt a fatal blow!

As its blood was flowing down, the Priest of Dibase, who was in front of him in the brink of death, died.

You have gained experience.

Because they weren't regular monsters, the priests gave at least 30% more experience.

But before he could check how much experience he received, a mace-wielding Evil Spirit Follower had followed him closely behind, attacked.

“Kkiyaaat!”

While shouting a battle cry, it swung the mace.

Weed lowered his body forward without even looking backwards. He rolled on the ground, and got up immediately. When Weed got up, his hand held a bag full of gold coins. Some time when he was on the ground, he had picked up the loot.

‘As expected, there’s plenty.’

Dibase was a deity of the rich. That was why the Priests of Dibase had a lot of money.

One could also tell that from the way they spoke while they fought against the Vampires.

“I’ll give you plenty of money if you follow me.”

“I’ll give you this jewel so believe in us.”

“All I have is money...”

They tried to appease and lure them with money.

Although the Vampires, being Nobles of the Night, were too prideful to fall for it, if they were money-loving Orcs, they would have undoubtedly sided with the priests of Dibase.

Weed looked around carefully with keen eyes.

He had no interest in the evil spirit followers, who only dropped japtem.

He grasped the general location of the priests of Dibase, and took their Stamina into account to try and squeezed out every last copper from them.

“Seven Celestial Steps!”

Weed was quickly moving through the monsters and quickly picked out the Priests of Dibase! He was disciplined to acquire the best items from any monster.

Chapter 10: Raid

Sswaaaa!

Under the breathtaking waterfall, five men were brandishing their swords.

"14,930,641!"

“14,930,642!”

“14,930,643!”

The sword-wielding men were shouting astronomical numbers!

They were the Geomchis.

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5!

After parting with Pale and the rest of the party, they went deep inside the Yuroki Mountains to practice their sword.

Geomchi3 swung his sword blissfully.

"Only strong men are popular in the world! Strong men don't need to be afraid or suffer from anything."

In reality, strong men weren’t the lady-killers they believed in from the stories. Of course, women of the same age were afraid of them, even their mothers and little sisters were afraid.

Every day, they practiced their swordsmanship with earnest.

“Mom, please give me some food!”

Geomchi3 yelled the moment he reached home. he was very hungry.

“Oh, alright, I’ll make you some. Just wait for a short while...”

However, while cooking, his mother trembled with fear.

Mastering the sword also disciplined the mind and body, and was meant to help live righteously. Although there was no case of severe malice behavior towards his family, the change in his look and voice was enough to scare his mother.

This was only the beginning.

Some days he just shouted thoughtlessly.

“I'm hungry!”

“Kkkkaaaaaaaaaaackk!*

Crash!

She dropped the bowl she was carrying and shrieked.

Although she adores her children, she suffered from fear watching her child getting tougher day by day.

Because of that, Geomchi3 actively considered abandoning the sword and sat alone to have a talk with his dad.

“Father.”

“Yes? Speak. Tell me. Whatever you want.”

“Will you hear me out?”

“Why are you so serious? Father will listen...”

“I was planning on stopping to learn the sword and follow in your footsteps and work.”

“Keoheok!! You’re saying you want to be like me?”

Geomchi3’s father ran a rice factory.

The store receives many orders via internet, including from large supermarkets. They used to hire many workers to help them with the store.

According to Geomchi3’s judgement, the family business seemed to be doing well.

But his father just shook his head.

“That’s not right. You have to do what you want. Learn the sword. What are your thoughts about studying abroad? For about 10 years...”

“...”

Geomchi3’s childhood mental traumas did not end there. It was hard for him to look at himself in the mirror after washing his face, but his family were careful not to hurt his feelings.

Geomchi4 wasn’t any different.

In junior high, walking through the alleys.

“Hey! You come over here and take a look at this.”

He was called by the neighborhood bully and he was part of a High School gang. He was smoking cigarettes and chewed gum.

Geomchi4 slowly lifted his head. And looked at him straight in the eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ve made a mistake.”

“Spare me...”

The bully quickly put out his cigarette and apologized.

The rumors that were spread about Geomchi4 being a thug that no one should ever mess with, during his childhood days. Geomchi5 also had his situation.

National Id cards came out not too long before his sophomore year of highschool, and the government began large scale cleanup operations against gang members.

Because of his threatening scowl, while he was walking on the road, there was a time when he was arrested and dragged to the police station.

It was definitely a situation he should be angry with, but he held himself back. Mainly because among the thugs who were dragged to the police station, many were punched around by Geomchi5!

The Geomchis, who were all hiding away painful experiences, found hope in Royal Road.

Geomchi2 spoke.

“This place could be our paradise.”

“That’s right. Sahyung.”

“If we raise our level then we can meet girls!”

Geomchi3 and Geomchi4 said out loudly.

There were a lot of single men in modern times. However, to these guys who have never dated even once, a “woman” was a very urgent problem.

The only women they knew were their mothers and family. They were naive men who had never kissed a girl.

Geomchi3’s eyes shone brightly.

“Therefore, let’s give it our all. We can’t spend our time idly.”

“Okay. I understand!”

Geomchis trained deep in the mountains and valleys.

They hunted monsters to raise their levels. The embraced the advice that Weed had given them.

At their inquiry of the method to becoming a master, Weed answered.

“You only have to work hard.”

It was a very simple advice.

Geomchi2 was the one who came up and personally asked. Since he was asking a much younger disciple, although it hurt his pride, the pressing desire was greater of importance.

The hope of the old bachelors to get married even a day sooner!

“Is there any way we can raise our levels and fame even a bit faster?”

“Um, If that’s what you’re after, there’s no other way than to work hard. You have to put in much more effort than others.”

“What kind of effort do we perform? If it’s hunting monsters, we have confidence in that."

Fighting became second nature to Geomchi2, as much as sleeping or eating was.

The monsters of Royal Road had a set attack pattern. The wolves favored frontal attacks, and the thieves used poison-coated daggers. In cases where monsters wielded axes, one had to watch out for fast and straightforward attacks.

Because the Geomchis figured out their individual weapon’s timing and the enemy’s movements, they were able to hunt more efficiently.

Weed spoke his personal secret.

“You must sincerely work hard. In the master’s or senior’s case, you can raise your defense to a certain extent by wearing better gear.”

Geomchi2 nodded his head. After wearing the defensive items, the damage dealt by monsters lessened tremendously.

“You’re right. It’s much better wearing armor.”

“Since it’s heavy, it’ll dull your movements, but it’s a sacrifice for better defense. Also, if you take a lot of hits every once in awhile, you can raise your Fortitude and Fighting Spirit, which will help you in the long run. Though it will hurt a bit.”

“Getting hit many times... If you want to master the sword, it is something everyone has experienced. And what else?”

“It should be fine if you can supplement your weakness this way. However, to raise your level really quickly, you must have high damage.”

“Hm, You’re right. You have to have high damage to hunt quickly. But how do you go about doing that?

“You have to raise your sword skill.”

The importance of skills in Royal Road could not be overemphasized. It was revealed that even the highest leveled player, BardRay's, sword skill was only at Advanced level 4.

There could be many reasons for that.

While leading a large party mainly to hunt monsters that gave a lot of experience, there was not enough opportunity to swing a sword. Because he favored using powerful skills rather than basic swordsmanship, the proficiency of this skills were on the lower end.

The art of swordsmanship was the basics of battle.

Depending on the Sword skills level, it may exert enormous attack power.

The Geomchi’s had only one goal.

To master the sword!

Also to pave the road for the next generation of swordsmen.

The goal was to challenge the unthinkable.

The plan was simple. While mastering swordsmanship, they would also increase their levels.

Always hunt monsters at the same level or slightly higher than yourself. After mastering swordsmanship the damage done during hunts was overwhelming. This made level ups come faster.

Although Weed spends a lot of time on other skills, he does not lag behind others due to this.

Weed gave this advice. This advice was nothing special. If you played Royal Road then you would have already known this.

But not everyone could follow this advice.

Most people who played Royal Road were doing so just to enjoy it. Only less than 10% of the players played with the purpose of hunting. This was not a number to ignore, the amount of effort done by this 10% was much larger.

Not many people could wield a sword for 18 hours straight. Who can for 1 month, 2 months, three months?

Most likely, many will not be able to.

But to the Geomchis this was possible.

“When there were doing our most favorite work, it does not feel fun.”

“I’ve held a sword every day since I was 7 years old up till now at 35 years old.”

While the Geomchis were near the waterfalls of trees, monsters would sometimes spawn, and they would brandish their sword. Becoming the true monsters.

While learning the way of the sword, Geomchi3 occasionally saw the teacher’s questioning stares.

The Sword!

He was the most enthusiastic student when he held a sword. Whenever he felt the stares of the other students he blushed.

“Royal Road has no law restricting old people right? We aren’t married yet...”

* * *

Weed hunted day and night.

Due to the “Warm Lovers” statue, they did not catch a cold and they’ve increased their hunting speed.

Since fighting the Ice Trolls, Lamias and the other monsters on the cliffs, four days had passed. Because of the Dibase Priests, the Death Knight and Vampires had lost about half their forces.

The situation where the threat of the monster decreased!

“Those monster trampled the plants and most of the herbs have disappeared.”

Early in the morning Weed had went back down into the Valley of Death to plant herbs.

“Identify!”

Wood Elf seeds:Durabilty 1/1.

A seed of variety of flowers, trees and herbs.

Although the seeds are quite rare, majority of the seeds are in good condition.

Due to the blessing of the elves, they can be planted anywhere, but they grow faster in fertile places.

Quantity: 100,000.

There was as many as a hundred thousand different seeds.

Weed pulled out Zahab’s carving knife and looked up at the sky.

The Myriad of stars were glittering.

The fresh air and a cool breeze..

This was a very warm day in the north.

“This is good weather to plant seeds.”

Weed squatted on the ground and began to dig a hole with his knife. Weed used Zahab’s knife as a trowel.

Breaking the ice, digging up dirt and then planting the seed.

“You should grow well.”

He moderately divided the seeds and planted them according to their size.

For the big seeds, he sparsely planted them, for the lighter plants, he carefully gathered them and planted.

Weed had some experience. In the past, he cared for a small plantation.

The truth be told, he could not even imagine buying the ingredients for the side dishes!

Lettuce, bean sprouts, these were vegetables that were grown in a small yard and then eaten.

Maintaining plant sprouts was very easy. Once they were germinated, the plants grow very quickly. When these vegetables were mixed with rice and hot pepper paste it created a wonderful dish. Ten thousand won does not go very far at a restaurant but this way it could be used efficiently.

Even for an apple tree, two trees would be planted and all the fruits would be eaten.

Having lived like that, made planting seeds in proper ground easy.

Only for those people who are tolerant and used to hard labor!

Weed planted seeds from place to place and after 1 hour he got worried that the sprout had not broken the surface. The seeds germinated and absorbed the nutrients around them and grew at remarkable at a speed.

1 day, 2 days, 3 days!

As time passed and the monsters in the Valley of Death decreased, the area where seeds were planted increased little by little. Green plants grew bewilderingly here and there like weeds. Most grew into flowering plants, but some grew into trees.

Weed fought monsters while he waited for the trees and plants to grow.

It was not necessary to wipe out all of the monsters. But in order to make sure that no monster trampled on the plants he had to wipe them all out.

Weed planted around the area that the Vampires, Death Knight, Bingryong and the Wyverns defended. They laid out the defense for the plants. At this time Alveron was also a big help.

Alveron carefully planted the seeds.

“Weed-nim.”

“Yes?”

“The goddess Freya likes the birth of new life. Do you mind if I pray for bountiful harvest?”

The goddess Freya was the symbol of abundance. Therefore if Alveron prayed it would increase the effect of the harvested plants 2 fold or even 3 fold.

“In order for them to grow quickly please do.”

“Yes. Merciful Goddess Freya, by the power of the earth grant these crops thy bounty.”

The trees started to grow quickly after Alveron’s prayer. When the sun hit them they sucked up the surrounding nutrients and grew at a remarkable speed. With just the blessing of the Elves this speed would be impossible.

Soon the trees held abundant fruit. There was common fruits like apples, grapes, peaches, plums, banks, walnuts, acorns, and chestnuts. The trees held a large variety of fruits.

Weed was also able to harvest wheat and rice.

“Finally, it’s time to eat.”

Weed gathered up the fruit.

Ice apples. Ice peaches!

After carving the hard layer off the rest of the fruits were delicious.

Weed dug up potatoes, sweet potatoes and even medical herbs.

Red herbs help wounds heal faster. The most abundant were the yellow herbs that increases Stamina recovery.

“Fruit salad! Plum tea and bread can be made with chestnuts.”

As a cook Weed could make many dishes. Desserts could raise stats even more when eaten. As the trees blocked the cold wind, the area became more convenient.

As if filled with Weed’s desire the ground in the Valley of Death became over run with flowers and trees. Plants grew up to the border of the monster’s territory, trees did not grow over a fixed boundary.

Where the strong chilling wind of the Valley of Death blew, plants would not grow.

“There is something here.”

Weed looked down into the Valley of Death from the cliffs above.

The area was blocked with ice.

Inside the deepest part of the Valley there was a huge chilling wind blew..

As accessible as the cliff was he could not get any closer. Most of the cold wind blew upwards into the sky.

Even with the effects of the warm food and the statue, the wind was unbearably cold.

“To complete the quest we have to travel farther in...”

Weed could not advance from the cliffs. He had to enter from the front of the Valley of Death.

Two quests in one. In order to investigate the wind that was blowing onto the plants in the Valley of Death Weed would have to go inside.

“The problem is the monsters...”

The native monsters of the Valley of Death!

They were around the mid level 300s. But it would be a whole different story when the boss came out.

With this many strong monsters, the level of the boss monsters were bound to be stronger. You cannot even imagine the problem at the moment, it would be different depending on which monsters showed up.

“This is a special region in the history of the Nifleheim Empire’s downfall. So it wouldn’t be unusual for extraordinary monsters to show up.”

Weed felt a sense of alarm.

The bosses should at least be as strong as Tori, or even as strong as the Lich Shire!

* * *

Meanwhile the Northern Expedition led by the Cold Roses guild suffered as they moved. Then one of the Rangers scouted out a path.

"The position of what was once the largest Castle of the Northern Village has been found. But we've yet to acquire any information related to our goal. Maybe more information can be found by walking around in the town and Castle."

Drum made the report in a weak voice. Guild master Oberon listened to Wizard Drum as he finished.

“We can’t explore in that way. They’re already talking about us resentfully.”

If not for Oberon’s reputation and guild’s power, the saturated complaints about the expedition would have been enough to break the expedition apart.

Doreum nodded in agreement.

“Then there is only one way.”

“Only one?”

“The best option is to move to a higher elevation. Sendeim Valley. We will go to what the Northern residents call the Valley of Death.”

People gazed, wide-eyed, at their new destination on the map.

The terrain map of the Northern Region has been completed by direct reconnaissance. The villages were listed but the interiors had not been explored. Indeed, only the name and location could be seen on the basic map.

Kerberos found the Valley of Death. It was a secluded place in the very North of the Northern Continent.

“A place close to the capital of the Nifleheim Empire. It’s close to Bent Castle. Is there a reason we need to go?”

The ranger simply replied.

“Because that place is very cold.”

“It’s freezing?”

"Yes. It is the coldest part of the Northern Continent. Try to recall if you have something that can lower the temperature of the continent. Judging by the rumors, perhaps the Serbian Witch's necklace is broken."

“The broken glass bead necklace of the Serbian Witch!”

The Serbian Witch that appeared in the Versailles Continent’s history.

She made many things. Serbian’s broken beads were among the highest grade of unique items ever recorded.

“I can’t be sure, but, according to the information we received from the travellers and the locals, the Northern Continent was not an area that was originally this cold.

“You’re saying that the reason the North is this cold is due to the broken beads of Serbian, right?”

“It is likely the case.”

Oberon, Drum and Kerberos’s eyes met.

At this point, they had no better option.

Oberon decided.

“Okay. Let’s head to the Valley of Death.”

The expedition clutched their hungry bellies as they marched.

There was not much food supply remaining.

Although the Rangers could have moved away from the group to hunt for food, they were the only ones who knew the precise location of the Valley of Death, therefore staying together was less risky.

Whiiing!

Every time a cold wind blew, the expeditionary forces shrank their bodies. Especially during the ice storms, they weathered under a hill that left the expeditionary force shivering in fear.

“If this keeps up we’re going to wiped out.”

“It’s fine. Just make sure to watch out for incoming storms.”

"Of course! I will be watching carefully with both eyes. Don't worry about me."

Pavo and Gaston stuck together.

An Architect is needed to dig a hole. Therefore if you were beside him during an ice storm, you can crawl inside the hole until it is safe to come out again.

There were a lot of artisan surrounding Pavo. Artisans such as Blacksmiths, and Tailors.

“Whew, we are going to need the Architects to survive.”

Pavo did not think of this and shook his head.

They had dreamed about an adventure. If they wanted to build strong building they would need them. However he did not want to rely on other people and felt bad. Around Pavo the cooks were getting cold stares.

“They should have some food to spare....”

“They irresponsibly used up all the food ingredients.”

The cooks thought differently.

‘They eagerly ate when we cooked for them.’

‘Lets try to make something tastier.’

‘We just cook its not our fault!’

However it was not the time to complain, the Cooks could only hold on their complains.

Hunger forced the expedition into the Valley of Death. Though they expected snowstorms and ice, they met neither one.

But as they moved deeper into the Valley they were met with a tremendous cold wind.

“Ah-Choo.”

“Bless you!”

The expedition much like a group of refugees went through many hardships but finally arrived at their destination. They were surprised yet again.

“There are flowers that bloom even in this cold ground.”

“There are trees growing.”

The yellow flowers that did not match their surroundings were blooming everywhere. The trees were blocking the strong wind that the Valley was so proud of.

The rangers did nothing but gawk.

“When we came before we didn’t.....”

“This wasn't here before, where did all of the ice go?”

Oberon asked in a calm but serious manner..

“What's going on?”

Doreum shook his head.

“I’m sorry. I do not know.”

They were happy to see a valley filled with flowers instead of ice. In fact this scene was burned into their memory for some time.

Any expression of coldness and clattering teeths dissipated. To them, the place was unlike any other.

The expedition was surprise that it was really happening. The people stood at the entrance to the Valley of Death!

They sighted Weed.

Weed, Seoyoon, and Alveron all stood downwind. Oberon and the expedition came slowly through the snow.

But all their eyes, filled with surprised, settled on Weed.

“That man, is Weed right?”

“That’s right. I saw Sculptor Weed in Rodium.”

Gaston and Pabo knew of Weed

Dark Gamer Volk also heard of him.

“A Sculptor named Weed?”

“Honey! You said the Sculptor of Rosenheim Kingdom went by the same name, right?”

“The name Weed is not uncommon. But the face... is the same! Weed. It’s the Weed who carved the bouquet I confessed with!”

Volk’s eyes were open wide surprise.

His attire was different from what he wore in Rhodium. When Volk initially met Weed he looked like the most wretched of beggars. He only noticed the similar face when Weed was dressed in rags. But after hearing the name Volk was quite certain.

“We finally meet again, Weed.”

Volk wanted to see Weed. But he would have never thought that he would find him in the Northern Continent, where no players ever ventured. He began to run towards Weed.

“Weed!”

“Hey it’s Geomchi320!”

"Come here and make me some food. I'm starving. The food you make is incredible tasty."

“Euheoheoheong”

The hungry Geomchis made their way towards Weed. Oberon, Kerberos, and Drum listened to the conversation of Volk and the others.

“Sculptor?”

Drum said with interested.

“So it seems to be.”

Oberon nodded in agreement..

“That guy is the famous Sculptor who carved the Sphinx?”

After making the Sphinx statue, all the guilds wanted to recruit him.

Oberon also sent people to recruit him but by then Weed had already left the Rosenheim Kingdom. He had wanted to somehow meet Weed, but had not expected to see him here.

Kerberos smiled brightly.

“If he is the Sculptor Weed then we are fortunate indeed.”

Drum readily agreed.

“If he created a sculpture somewhere here, it'll be a big help to the expedition.”

As usual, Weed was not pleased of their arrival. The expedition had sprouted a new awareness of the Artist Professions and the Production Professions.

Especially in extreme weather conditions, struggling to live is bound to take a toll. Open appreciation to the professions!

Other Productions and Art Professions did not have the opportunity.

They had been ignored and were not able to adapt to a normal hunting party. However, even for himself, it was difficult to survive in the Northern Continent, therefore it showed their remarkable ability.

The novice Sculptor Depp had made a fire sculpture!

A large number of people benefited from that sculpture.

The usefulness of sculptors was recognized.

Weed took the expedition to the place where his statue was.

“It’s warm.”

“Now I feel like I’ll live.”

The Geomchis were able to lie down and stretch their legs.

Oberon and the rest of the expedition saw the Geomchis and the statues.

“Could this be the effect of the statues?”

Oberon and the rest were surprised.

The air around the statue was different. It was easier to breath and gave off warmth.

Because it was cold earlier on, they were not able to use their full strength in combat. But now, they no longer felt the cold.

“Sculptors, what an amazing profession.”

But the surprise of the expedition did not end with this. When they ate the food Weed made they realized just how much their stats went up by.

The blacksmith Truman came up to Weed sneakily. He was an old man with a white beard.

“Sculptors are awesome. The dexterity behind these works is amazing, what’s skill caused this?”

Truman had knowledge about other Production classes, including the Artist Profession.

Sculptor itself was very hard to level up. But if it was leveled up, they can reveal to be a prominent profession throughout many areas.

With keen eyes, Weed scanned Truman up and down.

‘Hammer of Palmoru. It increases the effect of items forged by a Blacksmith by 20%.’

It was a unique item that could be sold over a few million won over the auction site. A Sculptor's engraving knife, unlike Blacksmith Supplies, were fairly common.

Wearing an armor exclusive to Knight Profession.

‘A blacksmith could wear any armor. Is this a person from the expedition? This was old man must be Truman.’

Weed was much happier after identifying the other person.

“I've seen you before.”

“Oh, this is amazing. You’re probably at the forefront of the Sculptors.”

Seamstress Cadmus also came up.

“Amazing Mr. Sculptor. You don’t know how much I appreciate your sculptures.”

Weed spared them no favor, only because they could be useful to him.

“Although its not much, here is a gift.”

Weed handed Truman and Cadmus some small statues as souvenirs.

They were dazzling trinklets.

It was a simple commodity that would not sell for much. But it was all that was needed to buy the favor of an opponent. It was a trivial piece with no name , but it was still made by Weed.

Weed shared friendship with Pavo, Gaston, and other Production personnels who were part of the expedition.

Then Oberon came up to Weed and introduced himself as the leader of the Cold Rose Guild.

“I have some things I would like to ask.”

“What is it?”

Weed asked politely.

It’s Weed's principal to determine their goal before trying to become friendly with them!

He had guessed that the purpose was the expedition.

Oberon said.

“We intend to occupy the Valley of Death with military force. But to be honest I don’t think it will be that easy. I wish for you to help us in this matter.”

“What can I help with?”

“A lot I hope, I'll pay any cost. At the very least I'll pay for the effects of the statue, to share it amongst us. That statue is very important for us.”

Oberon eyed the “Warm Lovers” statue.

The eyes of the Cold Rose guild members were filled with half envy and half admiration. Many of the higher levels tried many things to overcome the harsh environment but suffered, and here a simply Sculptor created a statue to do what they could not.

Weed was halfway dead from the cold, but the members of the expedition only saw a great Artist.

Working their way to their favorite Sculptor.

Artists that travel the continent making beautiful statues were highly respected.

Weed happily allowed this.

“ Its fine. Use the statue as much as you would like.”

“The price... How much will it be?”

"I don't need any. Meeting in a place like this must have been fate. We will cooperate fully."

“I cannot just take it. If you want anything tell me whenever.”

“No. I did not create this statue in the hopes of getting money so how can I ask for it?”

“But...”

Anyone who knows the usual Weed would never believe what was happening here.

Pavo and Gaston took this opportunity to glance sidewards to send a signal to Weed, but it was ignored. He was looking nowhere but at Oberon.

Eventually Oberon nodded.

"I do not want to take it for free. It would be immensely helpful to us. So how about this. I noticed that as a Sculptor you don't have wrist protectors. I will give you these ones."

Weed took the wrist guards as if he had no choice. He could not look at the item information while so many people were watching, but he could tell that it was made from rare material.

Weed then asked.

“There are level and job restrictions to wear this, right?”

Oberon kindly answered.

“The level restriction is 200 but it can be worn regardless of profession. It has good magic resistance and 2 properties. We obtained it from the Holden dungeon boss monster.”

High class!

Weed smiled widely.

“Thank you for the wonderful gift.”

Rare and unique class, depending on the properties each had the difference could be enormous. But Oberon was not the kind of person to wear luxury items if they were not good.

‘Holden Dungeon Boss monster? A rare monster that only appears once a month! And good drops don’t happen very often.’

Perhaps they discovered the dungeon before too many people knew about it and got good loot before the hunting picked up. It was Oberon’s policy to exchange things of equal value only.

‘I judged him correctly.’

Weed had very quickly analyzed Oberon.

‘A Righteous Warrior.’

He had a exceedingly good reputation known throughout the Royal Road. People assume that with good reputation, the person’s attitude is also righteous, however, it is often not the case. Oberon was one of rare people who lived up to the rumors.

Polite request!

In the Versailles Content, those who have the power, rule.

Even though he was just a Sculptor, he asked first rather than taking by force if need be.

Oberon was a loyal and respectful warrior.

For some people, it could be counterproductive if they acted in a roundabout way. Some people might try to negotiate, but end up bailing out. That's why most of the time, negotiations often lead to taking by force.

After analyzing the situation, Weed responded accordingly.

As a Sculptor, there were some skills that must be acquired!

To be able to sell goods for even 1 copper more helps greatly.

Weed wore the wrist protectors while smiling brightly.

“It fits well. Thank you very much.”

"One more thing, I have a question. What are you doing in this place?"

“Im.....”

Even if the central content was hot due to the curse, Oberon and the expedition found it weird for a Sculptor to be here.

“Wondering to many different places help awaken the soul of an Sculptor. Then in the midst of my travel, I received a request from a girl.”

“A request?”

“She asked me to plant flowers and trees in the Valley of Death.”

“Ah!”

Oberon, Drum, and Kerberos finally understood the sudden changes to the valley.

‘This person was doing a quest.’

A sculptor doing a quest in the North!

A quest to turn a barren land into something beautiful. Oberon asked about the quest’s difficulty rank.

“That’s the way it turned out. We will try to explore the Valley of Death. That is, if you don’t mind the expedition exploring this region?”

Weed answered his question with a soft smile.

“I am a professional sculpture and I have pride in my work. But I feel guilty about destroying nature.”

He broke a branch off a tree and started to make a sculpture from it. In order to save money Weed always used the base of a big tree as he carved into it with his knife!

Weed showed the feelings of an artist who loved nature.

“Now all thats left is to plant some more trees and flowers. If you would get rid of the monsters if would make my job easier. And.... can we follow the expedition?

“Follow us?”

“Yes. The expedition is heading deeper into the Valley of Death, correct?”

“Yes we are.”

“I would like to see the expedition fight bravely.”

“I would not recommend it. In case of an emergency we could not protect you....”

As Oberon said this, Drum elbowed him and sent a whisper.

– Captain, I'll look after him. As far as i know he has not joined a guild, after he sees our guild in action we could take the chance to recruit him.

– But I do not know of the danger that might await them. You may not be able to keep them safe.

– It's alright. They aren't' beginners. They can take a hit or two without dying.

– But still...

– Captain, your sense of responsibility is too strong. Do you want this person to feel rejected?

Kerberos the Wizard, noticed they were sending whispers to each other and intercepted by sending his own mini whisper.

– Captain this person is already part of a quest in the north. Words can be dangerous, you cannot take them back.

The move was eventually left up to Oberon.

Oberon nodded.

“You may follow if you want, that's fine. But if there is an emergency we will not be able to guarantee your safety.”

“Thank you.”

With this Weed was able to ride along with the expedition.

As the expedition pressed farther into the Valley of the Dead he could plant the seeds, and he would be able to snatch the secrets of the Nifleheim Empire.

Weed, along with Alveron and Seoyoon, joined the support units in the back and followed the expedition.

The expedition was proceeding with haste.

“Move! Capture the Valley before nightfall!”

"Support units to the rear of the formation, Drill Scouts lead which way we should go!"

"Use protection magic, while Knights prepare to dominate the core area. Drive the monsters towards one side. Make sure to protect the Archer! Wizard prepare to cast a spell."

The expedition formed a spearhead and swiftly advanced. From the all the time they spend in the North they worked together well.

Assassins, Thieves, and Archers were paving the way forwards. There mission was to trap and kill any monster they found.

“40 traps set. Preparations complete.”

“Go to the next area.”

“Come on, come on, lets go.”

Doreum was tolerable enough to handle scouting monsters and lead the way. But he was shocked to see a relatively large demanding monster.

The monster used Curse Spells to assassinate some players.

“Forward!”

“The enemies are now Lizard Soldiers, and Lizard Kings.”

“Wizards, suppressing fire. Attack!!”

“Uoooo”

The Knights spearheaded the attack.

They were holding shields and swords as they rushed towards the enemy. Weed had to admit these charging knights exerted a tremendous pressure.

Kwa-gwa-gwang!

Archers and mages fired heavily onto the enemies.

They were supporting the front lines.

Large explosive magic landed.

The wizard group in the center led by Oberon had a considerable size.

Dark Gamers and Cold Rose guild members participated in the expedition while the support Professions remained in the rear.

The monsters in the Valley of Death were slain in an instant.

Meanwhile the charismatic Weed went to the rear.

“There are newly planted plants spaced out back here. Please try to be careful!”

Pavo and the other Architects were digging in order to build. The Geomchis were also shoveling to plant the seeds. Even cooks who had nothing to do joined in.

Cadmus the Tailor and Truman the Blacksmith, who were famous all over the Continent joined in as well. They had received souvenirs from Weed, therefore could not afford to hang around.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Sometimes members of the expedition looked back at the priceless scene of nature. But the production classes in the back did not seem interested.

Weed followed the expedition and plated seeds along the way. Once planted they grew fast and started to bud.

Weed just finished planting all the seeds he had.

Ttiring!

Quest Complete: Plant Flowers. Seeds have been planted in the Valley of Death, to fulfill Prina’s wish. The growth of the plants and trees will create a forest in the future.

Since ancient times, Dwarves and Elves have fought over the Valley of Death!

On the edge of the Valley lived a particular race. They made a Village for themselves and produced many things. But they never forgot to give thanks back to the land that provided for them.

Quest Reward: When you return to Morata Village you will introduced to Prina’s friend.

Quest Complete!

Now all thats left is the quest related to the lost honor of the Nifleheim Empire.

Weed’s tension loosened.

‘It took a little time to deal with the monsters, but the quest wasn’t so difficult.’

They almost died due to the vicious cold. However thanks to the help of Tori, Seoyoon, Alveron and the others they were able to solve the quest.

He was also lucky to be able to travel along with the expedition.

Still his nervousness remained.

‘The expedition had been attacked by monsters countless times. If it hadn’t been for the expedition I would have had to waste 40 more days. But why were there so many monsters in this area?’

The expedition entered the Valley of Death.

Weed had visited the upper parts of both sides of this Valley! This was another whole area he had not been to.

“Humans. You dare step foot in here.”

“We are the ones who erased the Nifleheim Empire off the map.”

“Kyareureureureu! Kill the intruders!”

“Blood, Curse. Blood flow like a river through this valley.”

Suddenly Priests clad in black and monsters began to appear.

Using magic, the Priests commanded the monsters.

Alveron watched them grinding his teeth. It was the first time he made such unsophisticated reaction.

“Huh?”

"It's a bunch of Cultists who worship Evil Spirits! These Priests are devoted and faithful to the powers of evil and gained their strength by slaughtering the innocent. Each Church of the Continent have been long specified by the public. However, the Continent has excluded the Embinyu Church to prevent confusion. I would have never imagine them being in a place like this..."

Weed looked around.

Fortunately the expedition was so focused on the battle they seemed to not hear Alveron’s story. The battle intensified as more Priests of Embinyu joined.

Seoyoon was close by. Close enough to hear Alveron's story.

"..."

But Weed did not worry about it. Because she was not a person who would carelessly run her mouth! In fact, so to say, she cannot speak at all, so she could not speak of it even if she wants to.

Weed remembered the words of the Necromancers from when he had fought the Legions of Undead.

The necromancer looked around and said.

“We necromancers have experienced great suffering throughout our lives. But now the misunderstanding will be cleared up, and we will be able to formally accept disciples and develop the Black Magic.

“I pray for success.”

“You’ve suffered because of our selfish request. In return, I’ll teach you one secret. Do you think that the Versailles Continent is actually peaceful?”

“Huh?”

“An unknown darkness builds around evil deep within the cities. The Church of Embinyu. There were 12 recognized leaders.”

“Leaders?”

"Based on the Church of Freya, the group have been hiding in the shadows, otherwise known as the Valhalla Temple. They believe in the Evil Spirit of Water, and they want the world to be covered in Darkness. Among those 12 Leader, one of them lived as the founder of Baseurin. It is peaceful during the day, but when the sky turns into night, a festival of Cultists unfold. The overall achievement goes exactly as they wanted."

Baseurin is not safe. The Embinyu Church was more of a threat to the peace of Versailles Continent than the Legions of Undead.

'As far as the story goes, it seems like this might be Baseurin.'

It was a clue to a great quest. At least a hidden rank A or higher quest.

‘Until now there has been no information of anyone having acquired on an S rank quest.’

Typically fame gained differed greatly depending on the quest. A quest that requires a great clue to get usually has a higher difficulty and better rewards.

‘The land of Baseurin.’

Weed recalled the memories with ease.

This battle was much more difficult for the expedition. The Priests of Embinyu did damage constantly.

“Damn it. Where did those guys....”

“Protect them! No matter what, block it!”

Since coming here, the expedition was virtually unharmed but now about 10% of them had died.

The Scouts and Assassins were wiped out, and many Wizards were killed by the Priests of Embinyu because of their low Stamina.

“O gatekeeper of hell, descend here and cleanse the sinful!”

Embinyu Church’s summoners had arrived. A large number of monsters including summoned Cerberus damaged the expedition.

The expedition was embarrassingly on the verge of collapse.

Quickly mobilizing the Wizards at the beginning of the battle could inflict massive damage on the enemy. However the night before the battle after a long advance the Wizards’ mana was depleted.

Demonstrating that power at the beginning of the battle was impossible.

The priests were exhausted.

“Do not give up!”

“We have to destroy those guys!”

Oberon had the courage to move forward. Displaying the trust that as commander for his expedition not caring for his own life.

The allied guilds and Dark Gamers that had been watching the battle from the rear finally joined the fight. Aside from the Merchants, all combat profession and the Bards joined the battle.

As a result the Church of Embinyu’s numbers slowly began to dwindle. The Knights that went through hell and the Rangers; one or two died to the Archers massive attack.

Weed’s face relaxed but soon became serious again.

‘This isn’t enough to win. These are only the weak monsters and bosses.’

The Priests of Embrinyu were not everything. Weed was sure he had heard something. It was then.

At the end of the Valley of Death a huge shape of a shadow appeared!

A large pile of bones was rose from the ground.

The expedition members’ jaws dropped at the sight. An unimaginable thing appeared.

A Dragon.

A dragon, the strongest creature on earth, after its death and being frozen into ice, it was revived with Dark Magic as an undead.

“I can not believe it!”

“I never thought there would be a Bone Dragon here.”

The Bone Dragon was an undead monster. A real dragon could not be compared with it. Nevertheless, there was no group that could say they had captured a dragon.

Padadadak!

The Bone Dragon stumbled as it flapped its wings. It was just as flippant as before. The Bone Dragon was over 400 meters long and the force created by simply flapping it’s wings was enormous.

Hwi-ri-ri-ri-ri Hwi-ri-ri!

Wind raging through the bones made a strange sound.

A cold-blooded threatening noise!

You are in a state of fear.

Stunned temporarily

Agility reduced by 15%

Wisdom reduced by 30%

Fighting Spirit was lowered just by the dragon roaring.

“Whoa!”

Some people turned and tried to escape.

They did not want to die fighting the bone dragon.

It was understandable. However, Dragons were creatures who did not know how to show mercy.

The Bone Dragon unfolded its wings. Flying without hesitation it attacked the expedition.

With rotten teeth the bone dragon preemptively moved his body and neck and swallowed members of the expedition whole.

“Kkeu-a-ak!”

Knowing that the formation was on the verge of collapsing, Oberon shouted.

“Do not falter! Don’t give up! If you want to be a coward then run away! If you want to be a hero lift your sword and fight!”

Oberon led the charge to attack the Bone Dragon.

The monsters and Priests of Embinyu still remained, but it was imperative to restore the morale rather than deal with them.

“Follow the Guildmaster!”

“I will die with Guildmaster Oberon!”

The focus of the expedition became attacking the Bone Dragon with Oberon.

The Dragon faced an all out assault.

The Bone Dragon banged around as it charged!

The force was so great it cause the ground to shake.

Screams erupted as the big feet trampled over the expedition.

The Dragon’s act of battle was simple, but those who befell it were surely dead. Whilst to some extent the expedition and monsters were still fighting.

The Dragon opened it’s mouth.

Weed noticed its behavior and knew what it was about to do.

‘Breath! It’s going to use its Dragonbreath.’

Because of Bingryong, he was able to guess what was going to happen. But the dragon was targeting the rear end of the expedition.

Puhwahahak!

A powerful acid like breath poured out like water.

Poison that melted everything!

Breath Spread wiping out Weed and all the others belonging Production Profession. Not one survived. Death awaited those who met the Dragon’s breath.

Architect Pavo didn't even try to dig a hole at the moment of his death.

“Attack!”

“Let us avenge our fallen comrades.”

The expeditions attacks became more heated. Yet the Dragon dealt enormous damage, whilst also have to fight the remainder of the other monsters.

More than 10 minutes had passed.

Peoseuseuk. Peoseuseuk.

Where lives were once lost, bones began to take form.

Skeleton Soldier!

Thanks to his power to deny death, Weed was reborn as a skeleton soldier.

Chapter 11: God of War Weed

The History of Versailles’ Continent is KMC Media’s most popular story.

Shin Hye Min concentrated on the program that held the interest of many Royal Road players.

“Yes, during today’s program, we will be informing you of the prices of several the basic goods in each Kingdom. By the way, Oh Juwan, I’ve heard that you have something very important that you wish to tell us?”

“That’s right. Many players have their attention focused on Bikeijeu Kingdom.”

“Why is that? What’s happening there?”

“For example, there is a massive legion of monsters heading towards Bikeijeu Kingdom. These monsters came down from the Beurukei Mountains, their detailed travel route is unknown, but we are urgently gathering information.”

Anything befitting the Versailles Continent, they will even provide the most basic information. Information on prices, monster and travel routes of legions, they had it all.

If a novice was near a legion they would not be able to stop trembling.

Tens of thousands of monsters were slaughtering people as they travelled.

For traders this was hell but, for Mercenaries, it was very good news. When you participate in a monster suppression quest given by Royal or Feudal Lords, the rewards and contribution points were tremendous.

Although many did not participate, there were many higher leveled Mercenaries that attended. It was an extraordinary experience to be able to watch the movement of monsters in battle.

Therefore, there was massive interest in urgently subduing the travelling monster army.

However, not many viewers were interested in the travelling Monsters heading towards Bikeijeu Kingdom.

"Yes, this will conclude our story of Bikeijeu Kingdom."

Shin Hye Min proceeded with the news broadcast quickly. She was well aware of what the viewers were all waiting for. On the host’s monitor, she could see thousands of viewers commenting.

– When will that person be appearing on-air?

– When he appears, please ask him about the latest news.

– Please ask him about the Legions of Undead, and what item he acquired after defeating Tori.

– I am a level 380, one of the Maul Knights. My strength is a force to be reckoned with wherever I go. Can he keep up?

– I am a level 385 Monk and I want to at least watch him hunt. Please tell him.

These were the comments in the viewer section.

A few days ago, KMC media even released a trailer as an advertisement stating that they would do a telephone interview with the player who was famous in Continent of Magick and now in Royal Road.

Because of this, many people’s interests flared, which resulted to doubling the usual view count. Even a skilled host like Shin Hye Min could not help from having her mouth dry.

"We have released a notice that today, we will have an interview with the person who has the character named "Weed". Once again, Weed was known to be the strongest and highest level in the Continent of Magick! With the Legions of Undead defeated, Weed was available for an interview."

“Really Shin Hye Min? I was skeptical when you said you were going broadcast his interview, but is Weed REALLY going to appear?!”

Oh Juwan couldn’t hide his excitement.

"Yes, it is true. We have already set up the telephone connection. It is all good to go."

"Of course. There is no other hero like Weed."

Oh Juwan had heard a lot of stories about Weed.

In one of the Continent of Magick’s dungeon, it was known to be unconquerable, but he cleared it and even defeated the boss monster! This had become a legend.

Because he was able to conduct an interview with the very same Weed, Oh Juwan was bound to be glad.

The Production Director was looking at Shin Hye Min through the monitor, ready to type.

The phone call.

“Yes, then I will start the interview with Weed-nim.”

Shin Hye Min did not waste any time. Too many people were waiting for this.

In Royal Road, she would sometimes whisper Weed to have a conversation. Even still, she had times where she trembled because she was with the Weed that everyone talked about, how much more would other people be looking forward to this?

– Hello?

The moment the voice came through the studio, hearts leaped.

– He came at last!

– Weed is speaking.

– The phone call with Weed went through!

For every 10 seconds, there was at least 100 comments. This shows how much people were concentrated on the broadcast.

Shin Hye Min effortlessly kept the conversation going.

“Hello, Weed-nim. During the course of the interview, I’ll be referring to you with your character’s name. Is that alright?”

– Yes.

Weed replied simply. Being called by his character name than by his full name would be best. How much of a pain would it be to be remembered as the Princess Knight!

Oh Juwan is in the studio, please say hello to each other.

“This is Oh Juwan. It is an honor to talk to the highly renowned Weed.”

– It’s a pleasure to meet you.

“Please greet the viewers.”

– Hello there.

Lee Hyun replied succinctly.

Shin Hye Min’s insides burned.

‘His answers cannot be short like this!’

This was a broadcast. Viewers were definitely looking for a more smoother broadcast than this short one.

There were ways to read the script that the writers prepared before that would increase the dramatic effect, but this was not the case. A real time interview does not have any lines prepared beforehand.

Shin Hye Min asked while laughing.

“Weed-nim, is there any matter that is making your mood bad?”

– Just a little bit.

“Yes? Is it because of me?”

– Yes.

At this unexpected answer, Shin Hye Min and Oh Juwan were embarrassed.

When you do a interview you do not want to have the involved parties complaining. Although they had wanted it to remain that way, Lee Hyun did not reply did not comply.

‘This broadcast is a failure!’

Shin Hye Min felt sweat on her palms. However, she had to continue the interview.

“How would you like me to reply? If you want an apology, I'll apologize, if something needs to be fixed, I'll fix it.”

– That is, is it okay to be like this?

Hmm?

– You asked me to call you at 7 in the evening, but if you were going to hold an interview like this you should have called me. The phone bill is so expensive.

"..."

The skilled host, Shin Hye Min was lost for words. Oh Juman, who was also lost for words, wasn’t any help either.

They thought that it was some great inconvenience that the station would have to apologize for!

‘He’s so cheap!’

Only the frugal Lee Hyun could surprise them like this.

Soon, Shin Hye Min got a grip of herself.

“Yes, that was our fault. But we are very curious about Weed’s action. First, selling your Continent of Magick’s account. When it happened, the internet was in a huge uproar.”

There was nobody who didn't know that Lee Hyun sold his Continent of Magick account.

At that time, the game was no longer as famous as Royal Road.

For many years, Continent of Magick was very popular, but it started going downhill as Royal Road became popular.

After purchasing his account, CTS media immediately halted the program which covered virtual reality games to hold a big event.

The items Weed had and even the records of him clearing the dungeons were broadcasted!

Because of there were still many who played Continent of Magick, this event gained high ratings.

Likewise, for the company who owned Continent of Magick, this was a huge help for them to try and overtake Royal Road.

Continent of Magick once again became very popular and in time, more and more famous accounts were sold to the media.

Shin Hye Min said it in a jealous way.

"I heard that when you sold your account, you earned a huge amount of whopping 3 billion won. That is a lot of money. Did you buy a foreign car with the money or bought something excessive?"

Lee Hyun’s reply was very concise.

– I no longer have the money.

“Yes?”

– If you earn 3 billion today and you want to keep that 3 billion, you have to do so by working hard when tomorrow comes.

“Ah, those were really good words.”

Next to her, Oh Juwan asked a question.

“No matter how much money you have, it could not be compared with money you earned through accomplishment. Deep.”

It was true that Lee Hyun earned 3 billion. But at the same time, he lost it to loan sharks.

Because most people had the luxury of not knowing those circumstances, they misunderstood.

“Ok, then here is question #2 for Weed.”

Shin Hye Min was ready for a short answer, so she prepared another question.

“In the continent of magic, you leveled at a fast rate, outleveling everyone else. Is this true?”

– Yes

“Could you perhaps share your secret?”

– Hunt every single monster. Find a place where it is overflowing with monsters and kill them all.

Oh Juwan could not believe what he had heard.

“Weed, I also played Continent of Magic for a long time. But Weed’s growth was particularly exceptional, you sure you had no other tricks?”

– It is because I hunted everyday.

“Wouldn't it have been boring, hunting? I can understand a couple monsters, but hunting for a couple hours gets boring no?”

– I’ve never felt that way.

"..."

Lee Hyun said he never got bored of it. He replied well to Oh Juwan. Shin Hye Min asked the next question.

“Did you play Continent of Magic all day?”

– Whenever I had free time, yes

"When you sit down and play, how long many hours did you play for?"

– It is 204 hours.

"Pardon? The question was, how long did you sit down and play continuously."

Shin Hye Min and Oh Juwan thought he had misheard the question. But Lee Hyun heard the question correctly and gave his answer.

– Would you be asking the longest time that I have played continuously?

“That’s correct.”

– It is 204 hours long.

"..."

The message boards were in an uproar.

– No way!

– It looks like he’s lying.

– How would anyone be able to play for 204 hours straight?

– I was a fan of Weed in Continent of Magick. Weed did not log off until he had cleared a dungeon once he entered it.

– Even so, there is no way I am trusting his words that he played for over 200 hours!

– His words just don’t make sense.

Shin Hye Min and Oh Juwan became embarrassed by their mistake.

It was an essential requirement for a host to tolerate whatever the interviewed person says. But after hearing this unbelievable statement her facial expression tighten. The message boards were heating up as well, making it unable to be ignored.

Eventually to recover from the awkwardness Shin Hye Min asked.

“Weed-nim, is it possible that you did not keep track of the time properly?”

– I'm not mistaken. When I logged off the message said I had been playing for 204 hours straight.

“Oh did you mean you were logged on for 204 hours? Like if you were powered up your computer and left yourself logged on for 204 hours?”

Shin Hye Min was trying to make sense of his answer, but she wasn’t able to.

– No. I spent 204 hours inside the game.

"..."

Shin Hye Min eventually became completely lost. Oh Juwan, who wouldn't stand the atmosphere, finally inquired.

“How is it possible for a person not to sleep for 204 hours and play a game instead?”

As for eating, you could eat in front of the computer. However, people needed to sleep.

Lee Hyun replied, recalling his experience.

– If you play games, sleep can be overcomed.

“How is that so?”

– When you are hunting or doing quests, you are fully engaged, thus you do not become sleepy.

“Yes?”

– In the beginning, I was really sleepy. But after 50 hours, sleepiness did not come easily. Even then, one hundred hours later, my eyes still stayed open, so of course I kept hunting.

"..."

– It was a situation where I could no longer differentiate between playing the game and sleeping! However, one could continue playing without feeling sleepy or tired.

“204 hours of gaming. This seems to be the maximum a person can play continuously?”

– No not at all. I only stopped because my mouse broke...

Shin Hye Min sighed a breath of relief.

‘We are normal.’

People pride themselves with playing for a day or two. But for Lee Hyun, staying up one or two night to play a game was child’s play.

Shin Hye Min then asked with anxiety.

“When you play games to that extent, do you properly eat your meals?"

– No. There is nothing to eat at our house...

In fact there was not much food in the house.

But Shin Hye Min and Oh Juwan had different views on this.

‘I guess he couldn’t prepare and eat his meals because he was diligently playing the game.’

Oh Juwan asked in tone mixed with anxiety.

“How long did you play the game like that without sleeping?”

– For about 3 years. I wasn’t only playing games. I was doing a variety of jobs, and played the game only when I had time.

Shin Hye Min asked carefully.

“Didn’t your body deteriorate somewhat?”

– After not eating and sitting in a chair for so long, walking around became awkward. Should I say that my legs became atrophied? Since my body was hurting all over at the time, I make sure to thoroughly exercise now. It’s important to manage your fitness.

“They say that the I.C.U. patients who have been hospitalized for a long time have similar symptoms...”

– It would probably be similar.

“...”

– Other symptoms appeared after I washed my face.

“Washing your face?”

– Yes. As soon as I washed my face the nose bleed...

“...”

– I had no other choice but to spend some money and go to the hospital. There, the doctor told me something. He said that the ventilation from the fan was also dangerous if you spent too long playing games...

Shin Hye Min’s and Oh Juwan’s faces turned pale.

The Weed they called the God of War! They got a small glimpse at the reality of the crippled form.

Chapter 1: Skeleton Soldier Weed

Royal Road's website came up again and again. The first movie posted by the Cold Roses guild started.

"Look! It's the battle of the Northern Expedition."

After going into the Valley of Death from the white snowy fields, the fight started! The expedition had been fighting evil soldiers and servants, as well as Lizard Kings. The battle royal was going on in real time, uploaded by Oberon, a registered Hall of Fame user, but the responses were doubtful.

"Will we actually see some battling in the valley this time?"

"With nothing to hit, what are they even doing there?"

People had abandoned the expedition, only few lingered. The expedition was subjected to ridicule because for more than two months in Versailles Continent time, the only thing they did was wander around. However, people's reactions changed after the video progressed a little more. From the moment they entered the depth of the Valley of Death, the number of monsters that appeared increased exponentially. The identity of the expedition was still unknown, yet the Embinyu Priests stood before them, filled with feelings of rage, and casted their magic.

"So worth it ......"

"Fighting like that while whistling, as expected of the expedition led by a prestigious guild."

"Great tune."

As the expedition reached its end, surrounded by white snow and ice in the Valley of Death, the exciting last-ditch breakthrough attempt unfolded. Seeing real people fight in a thrilling action movie, you feel as though you have become one of them. While watching the video, the rumours people heard increased rapidly. The Hall of Fame's audience was always growing because it only takes a single moment to get people's attention.

"You mean you think it's related to the atmosphere?"

"Hey, wake up."

"Monster levels appear quite high. In the north, it's not uncommon for such strong monsters to appear in groups, this doesn't look good ......"

"Will it go right this time?"

People were dubious, yet they held their emerging hopes on the expedition.

"It's not the first time a courageous expedition has left to explore the northern continent. Let's wait and believe."

"I hope you have a successful expedition."

"Its way too hot, I'm dying here. It's hard to move, sweat's even flowing from my forehead. Stamina is consumed too quickly."

"We can't go to places like cool dungeons or mountain-rivers because of the prestigious guilds occupying the areas."

"It's better for wizards and clerics to move less, they can't really survive like warriors."

The Versailles Continent was harder and hotter since the failure of the last A rank quest.

The value of hunting in dungeons and mountains skyrocketed. Stamina became much more difficult to preserve, and guilds fiercely fought wars to expand their area.

Meanwhile, people of course had to enjoy themselves and so tailors had a never before seen rush of bikini orders. Muscular men removed their black body armour and burned their clothes while enjoying the glamour of tanned women.

The scene in Royal Road changed.

As the festivities ended, there was a significant increase in people swimming in rivers as people struggled to forget the summer heat by hitting the beach! Normally, if you wanted to relax and enjoy yourself, places could be found anywhere, but because of the crazy heat, they were rare. Crowds all gathered in river towns and seaside castles for the eye candy.

Even at the rivers, by noon you could no longer swim because of them.

Most people were forced to endure the heat. They were bound to be a little annoyed.

"I hope this expedition is successful."

"I really hope for the best too."

"Please make it ......"

People began to cheer for a successful expedition and a home return.

"But if they really succeed, what will happen?"

"Well, the Cold Roses guild will gain tremendous fame. They will also gather massive wealth and power from the new users flocking to join them."

"Will it really end that way? Oberon is a benevolent guy and trusts his guild, but I imagine they are growing way too daring. Think of how reckless a challenge this is ......"

"They could jump into the top 5 of the guild rankings though."

Below the video in the Hall of Fame, users posted their views.

Then someone posted an article.

It was a user with the nickname Chase. People knew him as a celebrity in Royal Road.

"About one month ago, in the middle of a quest, I heard the story from a pub owner."

Everyone focused on what Chase wrote.

"Chase-nim?"

"The high-level user ranked in the top 100? He normally doesn't write here, what the hell is going on?"

After stimulating the curiosity of a bunch of relaxed viewers, he finally posted:

I heard a simple story.

'To create the continent's cool weather again, you must acquire the things the Witch presented to the altar of the God.'

Edereune God's altar. I investigated by reading the history of the Versailles continent for information about witches. As a result, I found the records of the Serbian Ice Witch.

The Broken Beads of the Witch.

Through the information I learned from the history of the Versailles continent, the beads are in an unknown location in a valley... and from what I have heard, it seems that the expedition is probably battling around that place.

Chase's article was like pouring oil onto a roaring fire.

"The expedition is at the place where the broken beads of the Serbian Witch can be found!"

"Chase said the expedition's battle is associated with the heat in the Versailles continent!"

"The quest to blow the heat away from the Versailles continent is finally in progress?"

The Broken Beads of the Serbian Witch was a kind of item that corresponds to accessories.

It is known for its special power of manipulating the surrounding climate, but it constantly eats away your life. Unless you are a master wizard specializing in ice, just touching the cursed item will freeze your body.

The spotlight was focused on the Hall of Fame as the video came up.

All professional stations -including KMC Media and CTS Media- interrupted regular news broadcasts to show the video. The real-time news was not to be missed; its purpose was to tell exactly what the big issue in the Versailles continent was.

The TV screen showed the expedition finally venturing deep into the Valley of Death.

Then something gigantic emerged.

One of the most powerful undead creatures, the Bone Dragon!

With every roar of the Bone Dragon, the earth underneath already shaking feet trembled.

Kuah ahang!

"Damn! Run!"

"Divide the party!"

"Don't stick close to the wall! Ice blocks will fall from above!"

The expedition fell into disarray.

Bone Dragons have never once appeared before, let alone been hunted.

It is usually much easier to fight in the plains. You can put your feet on the life filled earth and stay steady until the enemy is defeated.

But here, the ground is made of slippery ice, making it very unstable. To make matters worse, whenever the Bone Dragon moved, the earth shook.

"Knights, please clear the rocks!"

"Damn it! It's so difficult to keep balance!"

Swordsmen, knights and warriors ran off with their swords, dislodging the ice every time they slipped and fell. No matter how strong the thrust was, it could be easily stopped by a twisted foot.

Complaints burst out across the expedition.

"Stand united, together we will have a better shot at killing it. Wizards, attack with magic!"

"Damn it ... can't use magic! The body's not listening due to the Bone Dragon's roar."

Roar of the Bone Dragon. Dragons are peerless. They inflict psychological pressure on inferior creatures!

Even if thousands of animals such as foxes gathered, they would end up lying on the ground, dead.

The mentality of the magicians got disturbed with fear of the Bone Dragon.

- Magic failed. Mana reflux.

A number of hands started shaking. Words did not come out properly. More than nine tries failed in succession.

"Fireball wave! Keuaaag!"

While trying to attack, the wizard's magic failed and his body caught on fire, burning him afterwards.

Such a sight made the mouths of wizards freeze.

"Oh my god. What in the world......"

"Never seen that monster before."

The Bone Dragon's level was known to be in the late 400s.

Many users in the expedition had a level in the late 300s. It had incredible strength for a difference of only about 100 levels.

Significantly higher levels reveal greater gaps in power.

Furthermore, the Bone Dragon was one of the large boss monsters able to fly and use magic!

Because of these reasons it was an even more difficult opponent.

"Stupid human race!"

The Bone Dragon was communicating.

A body made only of bones.

The area where eyes should be shined a dark blue glow.

"This will be everyone’s grave!"

Whenever the Bone Dragon roared, the ice spontaneously ruptured.

"Behold your sanctuary!"

The wings folded over the large body spread wide out.

Parararak!

The Bone Dragon unfolded its bony wings.

Its broad wings completely covered the Valley of Death.

The Bone Dragon majestically soared into the sky. It reversed directions and descended, all the while using its feet to pick people up and its head to swallow them.

"Oh shit."

"We’re trapped. We're all going to die!"

Despair filled the eyes of the young users that believed in the Cold Roses guild and followed the expedition.

Bone Dragon!

They were legendary mythical creatures fought against in ages past.

But Cold Roses was a rather ambitious guild and went straight into the fire without a glance at the frying pan. The guild alliance had not lost any of their will to fight.

"It is a Bone Dragon."

"A golden opportunity to hunt one."

Bone Dragons have not yet once been hunted.

The reason was not because they were invincible, but rather Bone Dragons were never seen in the continent until now. They are very rare in nature, making them hard to encounter.

Usually, as soon as boss monsters over level 400 appeared in dungeons, guilds joined together into hunting groups to dominate.

In the end, the Bone Dragon is just a monster!

"Forward!"

"Sacrifices are necessary to take him out! Otherwise, it is pointless for us to be here."

The expedition led by Oberon marched towards the Bone Dragon and tackled it.

Kureureureung - kwangkwang!

The Bone Dragon used a fire spell and exploded the ice. Swordsmen, knights, warriors and paladins bravely rushed right through it.

"Keuaaaa!"

Roar of the Bone Dragon.

Unhindered landslides of snow and ice occurred on the hills of the Valley of Death.

"Wizard forces, attack with magic! Use whatever's necessary to take down the Bone Dragon!"

Following Oberon's command wizards put their lives on the line.

"I collect all the mana here ......”

"Bright burning fire shall ......"

"Rage against the enemy and strike."

"Mana burn!"

Wizards used all their mana at once for their magic attacks.

After mana depletion, you would take a long break before using magic again, but the situation was urgent.

The ground of ice was divided and snow and ice poured down from the cliffs on either side. In this confusing situation, there was a need for a strong blow to the Bone Dragon.

Pillars of light generated by wizards flew in unison toward the Bone Dragon and exploded.

Many wizards lost their lives due to their magic failing, but it was a necessary sacrifice.

Kkwaahahang!

The Bone Dragon flying in the sky crashed to the ground, shattering the ice ground significantly as it got stuck upside down at its destination.

"Now."

"Now is our chance."

"Before it is able to fly again."

"Attack!"

The warriors of the expedition rushed toward the fallen Bone Dragon.

"Keuoooo ......!"

The Bone Dragon brandished its tail to protect itself.

"Strike!"

– Cried Oberon as he bravely jumped with his stocky body. With 2 sharp rotations in the air, he slammed the body of the Bone Dragon with his hammer.

That single strong pound attack was filled with the power of Oberon.

"Wing Smash!"

Only great warrior skills create enough damage for a chance at stunning the opponent!

As a large monster, the Bone Dragon was nearly immune to physical stun attacks.

Nevertheless, the damage went beyond its threshold.

Other swordsmen, warriors, knights, and paladins approached the Bone Dragon and began hacking away.

"Straight cut!"

"Smite!"

"Holy Attack!"

Nearly 200 high-level users held on to attack. Rain had soaked their clothes, forcing them to go step by step to strike the Bone Dragon as it moved its huge body, but the warriors at the forefront resisted the attack from its body.

Priests with poor Stamina were busy repeating their cycle of restoring declining health.

The spirit of the other members of the expedition started to rise up.

Non allied guilds stood alongside the Cold Roses guild, nevertheless, those courageous enough to come along to the north fought with as much strength possible.

"Killing the Bone Dragon will be hard, but we can handle the rest of the monsters after it."

"The evil priests, soldiers and followers are our responsibility."

The expedition started to eradicate some of the monsters, starting a melee inside the Valley of Death.

Oberon shouted.

"Drum!"

"Yes, sir!"

"How much more do we have to hit?"

"I'll check it out."

Drum swiftly slid straight down the ice to the bottom while trying to cast magic at regular intervals.

"Bursting with vitality, show me everything. View Life Force!"

The magic revealed the monster's status and remaining life.

In front of Drum, the Bone Dragon's status was displayed.

Tiring!

Bone Dragon Kurenbereu

Sinister spirit could not forsake the power of hatred and was revived as an undead. Originally a savage Red Dragon, since turning into an undead it became even more berserk.

Health: 74%

Mana: 12%

"Keoeog!"

Drum was breathtakingly surprised.

While hitting the Bone Dragon, Oberon excitedly asked.

"How much left?"

"Still 74% left."

"What?"

"The Bone Dragon's life is tremendous. We've got a long way to go before it dies."

Until now, only about one quarter of its health was decimated!

As expected of a large monster, the Bone Dragon took pride in its enormous life force.

* * *

Weed struggled free to find something out of place. He was both energetic and light in his body and legs.

"This is?"

Weed was shocked after looking down at his body. Bony skeleton ribs with neither flesh nor muscle attached anywhere.

"Did I turn into a skeleton?"

Skeleton soldier.

After being fed to the boss and dying, he turned into an Origin of the Skeleton.

Weed recalled the past.

When he completed the quest to destroy the Undead Legion, he gained the power to reject death.

The Bone Dragon's breath blew away all his health and he was reborn as a skeleton.

"I have more urgent matters."

Weed took comfort in confirming that Alveron and Seoyoon were still alive.

The Bone Dragon's breath, despite sweeping throughout the cave, did not spread to Seoyoon because she had already decided to wait and save her energy to fight monsters later.

Alveron was also fortunately still all right.

Priests, merchants and other production jobs gathered together to see if they could accomplish anything.

Every time Alveron elevated his skill levels, the Church of Freya's public values rose. Through his blessing and treatment of the expedition at the place where priests gathered, he was able to obtain many thanks.

Weed whispered to Alveron through the created party.

"Alveron."

Alveron was busy treating the injured people around him yet he immediately reacted to Weed due to their familiarity and listened closely.

"Hi Weed, you're alive. I thought you were dead."

"Thank to Goddess Freya that I was able to rise again due to the ability of the Necromancer. This could not have been possible without having the blessings of the Goddess."

"All according to the will of the Goddess of harmony."

"All according to the will of the Goddess of harmony."

They splashed flattery at each other to establish a sense of respect. To be the target of flattery meant you were useful.

Flattery came out spontaneously from Weed to compensate for his disadvantage.

After being changed into an undead, it was pointed out that his familiarity with Alveron, the priest from the Order of Freya, would be reduced.

As his familiarity with Alveron was below a certain level and he had turned into a skeleton, confidence in him was low. Alveron, however, accepted Weed as he was.

"Rather Alveron, I command you. In the Valley of Death, stop all treatment and support activities."

"Yes, I shall follow your words Weed."

"First, carefully come to the back unnoticed."

In the midst of the battle, Alveron left from the back of the group.

Even for clerics and wizards that took a lot of breaks separately to replenish mana though meditation, it was the picture of suspicion.

Weed spent some time whispering to Geumini.

"Geumini."

"Master. Golgolgol!"

"Come with Wyvern 1 and take Alveron to the hiding place."

"Understood master!"

Weed mobilized Geumini and a Wyvern to take Alveron to a safe location.

'Cause I turned into a skeleton, divine power no longer works on me.'

In addition, he wanted to drop Alveron in a place safe enough from the fighting.

"Keuag!"

"Block their magic curses!"

"Start taking care of the priests."

The priests and monsters of the Embinyu Church.

Due to the roar of the Bone Dragon, they took control of the Valley of Death.

Alveron might be endangered from the blindly executed attacks. If Alveron died, not only would the quest fail, but worst would be the loss of friendship with the Church of Freya. The risk of losing experience and skill levels was also tremendous.

Not until Alveron was safe in the rear could Weed finally afford to breathe.

"Stats Window!"

Character Name: Weed

Status: Undead

Level: 319

Job: Origin of the Skeleton

Health: 35,080

Mana: 28,210

Strength: 1050

Agility: 969

Vitality: 713

Wisdom: 663

Intellect: 655

Fighting Spirit: 598

Stamina: 497

Endurance: 406

Charisma: 387

*Power to reject death is currently enabled.

Skills usable in the undead state are dependent on the skill level of the power to reject death.

However, for the first eight beginner levels, skills will be given.

Stats were changed.

Health, mana, strength and agility had increased abnormally.

"It's a characteristic of the job."

As Weed spoke, his jaw was seen moving.

Art, leadership, luck and faith were lost, and instead the basic combat stats went up significantly.

– Holy natured Tallock’s Armor made by the Church of Freya is best not worn in an undead state. The created body is rather weak to it.

"Items off."

Weed took off Tallock’s Armor and put it in his backpack. He then removed all the other equipment the undead couldn’t wear as well.

Although his well-trained intermediate blacksmith skill lowered the limit to equip things, they needed a status other than undead in the first place.

"It's better not to use things with the good properties."

There were not many particular things to wear besides the armour of the Church of Freya. Weed instead rummaged through his backpack for some other things.

Saint's Staff!

One of the things dropped by the Lich Shire.

Tiring!

Saint's Staff equipped. The property of the staff changes according to the undead property. The real power of the staff shall be revealed. You can use black magic.

After equipping the Saint's Staff, dark energy spread rapidly through the remaining bones in Weed's body.

"Identification!"

Saint Taranhan's Staff

- Durability 90/90. Damage 79-98.

The great saint revered by humans received a dawn ring with a hidden secret, demons could be heard from within. Saint Taranhan enjoyed blood, carnage and corruption! Nestled among his bribes was a powerful magical staff.

Restrictions: Dark series job.

If worn by a priest or paladin, power of the staff varies.

Options:

-600 Faith

-200 Charm. +100 Stamina.

+80 Intellect. +100 Wisdom

35% increase in spell damage.

Reduced stamina consumption in rugged terrain.

Notoriety rises by 30 for every human killed.

Devoted living sacrifice can restore health and mana.

Black magic is available.

In the hands of the wicked, evil forces will further ascend.

The undead status awakened the real power of the Fallen Saint's Staff!

Weed was significantly satisfied.

"Too bad the world's about eating and living well. When various good young men are being used by others, hatred is destined to accumulate."

He who strikes first wins.

Hit even more with devious tricks.

Especially if they are sleepless.

Guys wealthier than most!

Non applicable gem like sayings.

The world is too fast to live straight up.

Weed had a few more wearable items.

"Identification!"

Necromancer tome directly written by Bar-Kahn

- Durability 30/30

The second written tome dealing with the difficult discipline of black magic that manufactures undead. All undead recipes ranging from basic level to advanced level are listed. Written directly by the genius wizard Bar-Kahn, it is not difficult to understand.

Dealing with the creation of undead requires a huge mana supply and cannot be carelessly used.

Restrictions:

Wizard Job. Level 300. Wisdom 500. Mana 8000

Only available to Necromancer job.

Options:

Resistance to black magic +25.

Ability to manufacture undead +2.

Can make undead bosses with intelligence.

Vitality of the undead will improve and immunity to divine power will be built up.

"Not bad."

Origin of the Skeleton.

Thanks to the balanced characteristics of Skeleton Warriors and Skeleton Mages, Necromancer magic could be equipped and read.

Numerous spells were written in red.

It contained a bunch of Necromancer magic. In addition to undead manufacturing magic, many magic attacks were also written.

Weed first read about Bone Dragon manufacturing magic.

Easy undead recipes directly written by Bar-Kahn.

Bone Dragon:

The ultimate undead all wizards want to see and create.

Dead body of a Dragon is required and many magical reagents must be committed. In contrast to zombie or ghoul like monsters that instantly appear, one hundred time-consuming days are required to generate it. Magic defence and intellectual ability are significantly dropped compared to a normal Dragon, but the bodily ability to take advantage of is the health increase. However, the weaknesses of the Bone include...

Weed zealously read the magical book.

Chapter 2: Origin of the Skeleton

KMC Media told the story of the Versailles continent.

Shin HyeMin and Oh Juwan's job in the program broadcast was to tell the latest information.

"Mr. Oh Juwan, you told me that if certain conditions are met and special quests are done, something specific would happen?"

"Yes. Unicorn Company reportedly said: ‘in the case of production jobs, after their skills reached a certain state, they can embark upon a unique generated quest’."

"The quest isn't like the primary 3?"

"It's a little different from them, for example, in the case of blacksmiths they can operate their own studios as a reward."

"Even jewellery workshops?"

"Yes, on the basis of accumulated technology, their own studios can be opened. It is also possible to employ operators."

Until now, blacksmiths were only able to erect castles for kings, lords and nobles. The blacksmith was a form of employment run by others.

After acquiring skills to a certain extent, blacksmiths can forge under their own name and create their own story.

"In the future, towns and countries will want more workshops to improve the speed of technological development. Production jobs appear to be the hope of the future."

"It's a positive thing. Many people with production jobs can now go out and dream."

"Returning back to the story about job quests ... we do not know specifically what will happen with the generated quests. For example, I have heard of the blacksmith quest that allows for the creation of studios as well. There are just so many alternatives for job related quests that I advise people to never give up."

Oh Juwan explained while sweating. He had been reading from the script for nearly two hours.

"That's right, what would happen if those job skills are mastered Mr. Oh Juwan?"

"Unicorn Company, in a private interview, reportedly said people are close to crossing that line. Such a person has yet to appear though. Royal Road is a game very large in nature. Furthermore, it is based on the physicality of reality. When you think about it, mastering a skill is very difficult."

"But if they master job skills, will they get something?"

"Great fame, and if they belong to a kingdom, I would guess that they get a title."

Oh Juwan tried to proceed with an ordinary expected remark, but Shin HyeMin did not miss his expression change.

"We have been broadcasting together for over a year Oh Juwan, do you know you have a habit of blinking whenever you try to hide something."

"Haha, yeah?"

"Please let us know what's going on right now."

"Here's the truth. Well ......"

Oh Juwan smiled albeit embarrassed and quietly talked.

"It doesn't end when they master their profession."

"It's not the end? Once skills have been mastered, they have reached the final stage of the production process, is that not it?"

"No. It is said that at that time, there will be a new beginning. Their given skills will be used for something related to the continent. For those jobs to carry out their master quests, they must form parties able to break information reminiscent of the main story of Versailles continent. As far as I can tell, quests have had no association with races ... until now. I really do not know any more than this."

"It's a lot more fun when things just come out."

"I'm sure you would think that. I'm still a while away from mastering my job; I still make mistakes with it."

"Job skills during the high growth period are very difficult to level. Thank you for telling me."

"I had the honour of talking to the beautiful Ms. Shin HyeMin; I am the one who should be thankful."

"Oh, I appreciate the compliment. That reminds me, today I ate the fruit you brought for me."

"I will have to buy more fruit when I go home today then."

Shin HyeMin and Oh Juwan were now ready to shut down the broadcast. Part 1 was inviting people from the panel to talk to. Part 2 was telling them the information they had. The broadcast that lasted for over two hours was finally ending and it was time to rest.

'I should go out with Pale-nim and have fun.'

Shin HyeMin followed the scenario and prepared for the moment to shut down the broadcast. Suddenly, the PD signature for a broadcast extension shined.

'Isn't now time to end this thing?'

The appearance of the TV screens mirrored the sudden fight of the expedition in the Valley of Death. Battle of the Northern Expedition was linked in real time.

Oh Juwan was in a panic, but Shin HyeMin quickly responded.

"Viewers, it is our pleasure to try and give you the stories of Versailles Continent. Timely and accurate broadcasts! Without ending the broadcast, we will send you the news as soon as it comes in."

Oh Juwan had learned how to adapt to fast-paced situations. By looking at the contents of the illuminated TV screen, he guessed it was related to the expedition so he quickly gave an explanation.

"Before the people in the audience, what we will tell you is never before heard information about the expedition in the north. The expedition led by Oberon, its Captain, seems to have finally entered the Valley of Death."

Oh Juwan boasted of an extensive network in Royal Road.

Through good fortune, he was acquainted with the prestigious Oberon, allowing him to hear news about the expedition directly from him.

Shin HyeMin and Oh Juwan read what was written in the PD just then and told the story through their headphones.

"Chase told me the news. Currently in the valley where the expedition entered, there is a very high probability that the Broken Beads of the Serbian Witch are there! The Serbian Witch's Broken Beads will blow away the current heat in the main continent."

Shin HyeMin and Oh Juwan's fatigue from the 2 hour long broadcast was gone.

Like anyone else that liked Royal Road, giving new information to viewers filled the two with a sense of pride.

Shin HyeMin opened fire first.

"The expedition is on an adventure to find the Serbian Witch's Broken Beads! It's currently being streamed in real time. Regardless of the broadcast time, the story of the expedition's adventures in Versailles continent will continue until the end for our committed viewers."

The broadcast was to last till dawn to show the viewers what they wanted. The story about the Versailles continent had already become the top priority in the timetable in the station. If necessary, hours of the show would be extended on top of any other program!

Shin HyeMin and Oh Juwan saw the base of the Valley of Death on the viewing screen created from the chunky dwarf Oberon's adventure.

The bloody fight of the expedition.

As they battled against evil looking Priests of the Embinyu Church and hordes of monsters, the Bone Dragon was flying around in the sky eating the expedition.

All these things appeared through the dwarf Oberon's vision.

Shin HyeMin thought to herself.

'Pale-nim's gotta see this.'

All users were sensitive to information about Royal Road. The very rare quest occurrence that could quickly lead to the outbreak of war, millions of people were watching. Within just a few minutes, there was an explosive growth in ratings, crowds of tens of thousands gathered on the street in front of large television screens.

In fact, for Shin HyeMin and Oh Juwan, it did not matter how long the broadcast took. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves because it was about Royal Road!

Shin HyeMin said her expectations.

"Well, I hope the expedition takes out the Bone Dragon and acquires the Broken Beads of the Serbian Witch."

Oh Juwan nodded.

"Seems possible. The Cold Roses guild is not alone and there are a lot of outstanding users in the expedition."

"I am guessing that the expedition primarily formed for the reward. But Mr Oh Juwan..."

"Yes?"

"How powerful is the Bone Dragon?"

"The Bone Dragon is a very powerful monster. Only guilds that dared to enter dangerous monster zones would be able to tolerate it. When walking alone at night, if you meet it, run right away."

"I can only imagine how terrible it would be to meet a Bone Dragon at night."

At night in the Versailles continent, monsters grow stronger by 50%, therefore reducing the number of emerging monsters that people were capable of hunting. People usually tended to take a break from monster hunting at night.

In the first place, hunting a boss class monster at night was no different from a suicidal act. The items and experience rewarded were not necessary, considering all the risk present.

Then on the screen, they listened as it showed the Bone Dragon's torso on the ground, studded with axes.

Dwarves threw them like firewood with an unrelenting hand!

Shin HyeMin excitedly made two fists.

"Hopefully, the efforts of those who struggled in the expedition will end in success."

"Yes. Wizards are getting ready to cast large spells again. They appear to be targeting the body of the Bone Dragon."

"I think it’s a massive Fire Field."

"The kamikaze attack led by the wizard Drum has been launched!"

And so Shin HyeMin and Oh Juwan explained the fight like a football game broadcast.

* * *

Weed was also watching the expedition fighting the Bone Dragon.

'A Bone Dragon. Certainly stronger than Tori.'

Tori was a Vampire Lord. The Vampire power of transforming someone into stone was a very strong and destructive magical attack.

But the Bone Dragon, as a large monster, literally trampled over numerous members of the expedition. It was relative to an elephant versus a group of ants.

"They will be used to the fullest, keukeukeu."

Weed scored a wicked smile.

He won much when the expedition perfectly ignored him as his job was a sculptor!

‘The misfortune of others is my happiness!’

Although Oberon recruited a few other people including Weed, he gave preferential treatment to his guild.

Most of the terrible battles were won, but the expedition ignored the sculptor department.

It had become common for production jobs workers that made weapons and armours to be ignored. Even for those with high level skills, only a little respect was shown and what did not essentially change was that people only looked for them when they needed something. The labour force workers just wanted money so they could eat at any time.

It goes without saying that production and art series jobs were at least sometimes useful in treatment.

While cooks, sculptors and architects assisted the expedition crew, the fundamental change recognized was not enough.

The currently slain production and art series jobs revealed that fact to be true.

Weed recalled the time the Bone Dragon's breath flooded the chambers.

"They could have provided full protection."

The priests and wizards had time to spread defensive magic around. Quite a few production series jobs including the cooks and merchants would have lived if they had done so. Weed had the advantage of monstrous health and would have survived somehow, but no one was protected by magic.

"We were not worth saving."

Consuming mana to keep countless people alive who would not directly help in the battle would end in annihilation. Since they didn't need to keep giving assistance, they could concentrate more on distributing power for fights.

It was not attributed to the wizards or the clerics' decision but rather Oberon's judgement at the time. Still, Weed did not blame him.

In the first place, that's how the world is.

"The Bone Dragon's pretty strong too."

The Bone Dragon struck the earth, increasing the martyrs of the expedition.

A dangerous situation!

The Geomchis’ and Dark Gamers executed surprising plays.

"Honey, I'm hurt!"

Volk went through the gaps of the Embinyu Priests while brutally wielding his Great-sword.

"Hang in there baby. We can't meet our end here!"

Lin Der treated her husband and the other Dark Gamers.

The Dark Gamers, rather than recklessly tackling the Bone Dragon, dealt with the monsters, steadily reducing the enemies.

Each of the Geomchis were also scattered throughout.

"These guys!"

"Taste this!"

Thanks to the improved attack and defence via Weed's sword grind and armour polish skills, the Geomchi were now able fight evenly against the monsters.

Other people also noticed it was not normal.

"It's dangerous Geomchi 350!"

"Yow!"

Geomchi was not surrounded by monsters. By thoroughly analyzing the situation, he showed only the most optimal movements.

He faced only the scattered monsters and overwhelmed each of them.

Geomchi individually battled each of them, even without the support of a wizard or priest!

Weed nodded his head.

"At this rate, the Bone Dragon will be finished off without a hitch."

No matter how strong a monster was, it could not take on all the forces of the expedition.

In the icy northern continent red blood flows through the valley. The unwelcomed Bone Dragon will never stop the advance of heroes.

The people listened to the voice of bards as they took songs to new heights.

Dancers danced accordingly. Sometimes they slipped and fell on the ice, but even then they did not stop dancing.

Bards received assistance from the dancers.

Shamans’, summoners’ and elementalists’ were each dedicated to their own missions.

The expedition took heavy losses, but appeared to be winning the battle itself.

"While dealing with the monsters, they encountered the Bone Dragon. Roughly half died, but it still wouldn't be that hard to win."

Weed decided not to intervene until the end of the fight.

The Geomchis were not people who would die in this battle, their lives were based on taking care of their bodies, and therefore, there was no need for Weed to go.

"Anyway, I can't just embark with this body."

His appearance was currently changed into a skeleton.

To be mistaken for a monster would not be at all unusual in this situation!

Also, the magic treatment of priests would bring adverse effects. Therefore, it would be good to be hidden from the eyes of the expedition.

Weed concealed himself and simply watched the situation unfold.

"But what is that woman doing?"

Seoyoon strangely caught his eye.

Even when the enemy of life, the Bone Dragon appeared, she kept dragging her sword to the forefront of the expedition.

While the barbaric Oberon withdrew his forces to an extent, Seoyoon viciously attacked with ongoing momentum.

The berserker characteristic of continuous attack was applied to the Bone Dragon.

She sustained numerous injuries while fighting at the forefront, all the while causing the battle to erupt into more chaos.

It was then that the situation reversed itself.

Monsters were reduced to some extent when a big calamity took place within the expedition.

Part of the expedition aimed their swords at the back of their colleagues.

"Keueok!"

"Why all of a sudden ......"

"We are on the same side. Stop attacking!"

"Priests dispel the seduced status. Come on, hurry up and cast the divine magic!"

They knew they had to use divine magic on their colleagues caught in the seduction magic from the sacred writings of the Embinyu Priests.

Meanwhile, people in the expedition did not stop attacking. Those caught up in defending died.

Priests burst out screaming!

"The removal magic's not working!"

"They are still attacking our allies!"

It was not the monsters that dazed people.

Betrayal at the decisive moment!

Tero Seu of the Crimson Wings Guild was holding his sword inverted.

All this time, the Crimson Wings Guild had been patiently waiting. They purchased appropriate equipment, namely special face changing items, armour and swords.

Then at the crucial moment, they revealed their true form.

Terose's disguise changed back into his original armour and the figure drawn on his face was removed.

"We scoured this cold land in search of the Bone Dragon!"

Flavio, the barbarian warrior next to Oberon immediately intercepted him.

"Keueuk! Why ......"

"For our Crimson Wings, it can't be helped. We will take care of the Bone Dragon, but worry not. Your role won't be in vain."

Flavio slashed deeply into Oberon.

A fatal blow!

Oberon's nerve was not prepared for the sudden outbreak of civil war in the expedition during the battle with the Bone Dragon. His injured, defenceless colleagues met a complete end.

Unlike his usual character, Oberon was extremely outraged.

"Until now you have been waiting to go rogue!"

"You people should not have been tricked. Just because we belonged to the expedition, didn't mean we shared the same goal."

"Cowards, I will not go down like this ......"

As expected of a strong warrior, Oberon tried to stand his ground, but then a shadow rose from his back.

"This will definitely kill you."

Fear swept over his face as he glanced at the assassin Dane as he struck with his dagger.

Assassin's fatal blow!

Paralysis of the body!

Poison has spread rapidly throughout the body.

If you do not stop the bleeding wound, health will continue to decline.

Dane's poison dagger was buried in him. Oberon could not move his paralyzed body.

The eyes of Flavio and Dane met.

"If he recovers, all that trouble will be for nothing."

"All that's left is to finish him then."

Flavio and Dane kept striking with their weapons. They gathered near the Bone Dragon and finished Oberon off in a joint attack.

With his body paralyzed, Oberon could not withstand both of their attacks.

"Cowardly bastards! I will have my revenge someday!!!"

Oberon vowed revenge and died.

The expedition was notified of the death of Oberon.

"The captain is dead."

"Damn traitors killed our captain. They must pay for this!"

The expedition fell into a state of disarray. A fierce battle erupted between Oberon's allied guild forces and Terose's hired mercenaries.

Terose did not directly participate in combat and instead went to the place where the Dark Gamers gathered together.

'They move for money anyway. Even though Cold Roses is a larger guild, we just need to offer to pay them.'

Crimson Wings Guild was officially gone, but instead of reasonably finding a new place, they remained attached to their legacy.

"Volk, I want to contract you."

Terose looked for Volk among the Dark Gamers.

King Bersos' Tomb. They became acquainted while participating in the difficult Rank A quest together.

"We stand here before you with a purpose. We will pay you if you come and help us instead of the expedition. If you want, we are even willing to give you half of the items from the Bone Dragon."

Terose believed Volk and the Dark Gamers would accept the offer. Lives for money, they recruited people to die at any time for money. Rather than vague feelings of friendship, the mercenaries were faithful to reality!

But Volk shook his head.

"I'm sorry, I cannot do so."

"Why not? Do you have a problem with my proposal? We are suggesting a contract with better conditions than Oberon's."

"I am sorry. I got an advance."

"Seriously......"

Chapter 4 of the Law of Dark Gamers.

Take the money, keep the promise. No matter how many benefits there are to reap, you must absolutely fulfill the contract.

Most people do not know that when Dark Gamers take money, they do not break their contract.

When a group has an incredibly low reputation, they cannot earn money, therefore, for the benefit of the Dark Gamers a rule was implemented.

The moment you accept the contract, you promise not to abandon it.

Being told they would not act accordingly when presented with money sounded like a bunch of crap to Terose.

A grimace appeared on his face.

"We can give more than 2 times the amount they promised. No we will pay you 3 times as much."

"I'm sorry but we can't. We are bound to the contract. When the contract expires, then we can help, but not now."

The Dark Gamers were unable to accept Terose's offer.

"Keuoooo!"

Meanwhile, the Bone Dragon and monsters became increasingly active in attacking.

The expedition could no longer concentrate as the senior users were busy fighting among themselves.

Regardless, the Dark Gamers observed neutrality and fought monsters, but they were unable to block everything.

"Kiyooh! Humans, kill them!"

"Believe in evil. Ride Evil!"

Although wounded, the Bone Dragon and monsters released vicious attacks.

The Valley of Death literally became the graveyard of many people.

At one point, the balance began to collapse. The axis of power shifted from the dominant humans to the Bone Dragon and monsters.

"Oh fuck!"

"It's because of those traitors."

It was already too late to stop fighting each other and concentrate on monsters.

To make matters worse, the situation did not allow them to believe in each other.

It was difficult for the expedition to trust Terose's men that killed the Cold Roses guild. If they once again combined their full strength, they would have had a chance, but they were unable to do so and took increasing cumulative damage.

Finally, the Bone Dragon broke the inhibiting line of defence.

In order to catch the Bone Dragon, its movement must be sealed by constantly attacking; but due to a lack of attacks, it managed to free itself.

"Keueoeoeo!"

The Bone Dragon flapped its unfolded wings.

As it flew away, the wind pressure knocked down Terose and his men, along with the warriors of the expedition.

"Damn!"

Terose tried to stand up in a hurry.

Gleem!

At that moment, the Bone Dragon's eyes lighted up.

The Bone Dragon took a deep breath, expanding its mouth.

Puwahak!

With a powerful breath, it destroyed Terose and expedition warriors.

"Aaaaah!"

"Please help me!"

"My body ... my body's melting!"

The Bone Dragon’s released its most powerful weapon, its breath.

Concentrated in one place, priests, elementalists and wizards with weak stamina literally forced their way through.

"Make it!"

"Come on!"

Frightened, they tried to run away like flies while casting defensive magic. Then, a sweeping breath passed through.

The survivors quickly tried to avoid any incidents by attempting to stop those who suffered significant damage from dying.

As their bodies turned black, their health exponentially declined.

This was the result from being fed poisonous breath.

Initially united, they casted defensive magic on the warriors to slowly weaken the breath, but they could not prevent it from swallowing them up.

"Treatment of the hand!"

"Heal!"

"Recovery!"

The priests’ hurriedly casted recovery magic.

Reducing the poison while recovering health!

"Anti-Poison!"

"Poison Cure!"

The priests aggressively cast detoxification magic.

Thanks to their diligent effort, their colleagues hit by the breath survived, but the situation had already turned desperate.

The remains of the expedition numbered in the 400s. The number of survivors was still quite significant; nevertheless, they could no longer fight the Bone Dragon.

They lacked direct combating warriors. The remaining priests, wizards, elementalists, archers, bards and dancers were physically vulnerable jobs.

"Damn! It's happening again."

Volk scored a complaint.

Like the last request he took, he would lose his life again. You would receive a large reward if you died for the promise, but for the Dark Gamers, death itself was a huge loss.

The Dark Gamers including Volk and Lynn Der united in one place.

"What should we do?"

"Contractually we cannot escape."

"So ......"

"Cool, let's fight!"

Blood started flowing in the Dark Gamers after a long time.

Royal Road was a job for Dark Gamers to make money, but they basically loved the land.

When fighting monsters, they were generally forced to be passive to get home.

However, by the invisible hand of god, they ended up fighting the Bone Dragon and monsters, making their chests burn with spirit.

"Euaaa!"

"Kill him now!"

"Hack them! Hack them!"

In a frenzy, the Dark Gamers ignored the insignificant monsters and charged exclusively towards the Bone Dragon.

"Woo hit hit hit hit!"

"All right! Exciting ain't it?"

When the Bone Dragon knocked them down, they simply laughed. The Dark Gamers stood right back up like zombies and charged again!

In the meantime, the Geomchis’ had to deal with the monsters. Wizards and priests fought carefully while observing their surroundings, but they did not take full advantage of the Geomchis.

After fighting dozens of monsters until he was ragged, he could no longer take anymore.

"Keueuk!"

Geomchi emerged injured and collapsed as he died.

Weed decided to intervene in the battle after receiving the report.

"I wish I had not been forced to embark."

Geomchi's death, however, could not be overlooked. Thus, Weed first sent a whisper.

"Brother Geomchi 16."

"Huh? Weed?"

Geomchi 16 said with a very serene tone of voice as opposed to his grim, fighting face.

He was the eldest after Geomchi. Having gone through quite a lot of chaos in reality, he never lost his calm reasoning.

"I heard about the breath attack. Does this mean Ahn Hyundo died?"

"Died. Some circumstances from a while back allowed me to survive. Anyway, let me help you. Please get safely to the back."

"No, there's no need."

Geomchi 16’s words were rather unexpected.

"Please wait until I die first."

"Yes?"

"If you are not in front of her, I will have a chance to show her I’m a great man."

Near Geomchi 16 was a beautiful, crying and trembling priest casting treatment magic.

In this cold and dangerous place where hungry and unmatched monsters lurked, she watched a man risk his life!

Geomchi 16 decided to sacrifice his body.

In reality, this situation would never happen. Geomchi 16 typically beat up bullies on sight.

Eventually, Geomchi 16 gloriously collapsed while fighting evil soldiers.

His life had fallen to a dying level, rendering treatment magic useless.

"I'm sorry, my skills weren't good enough. It would have been better if I died instead..."

"...It's fine, you did everything you could."

Priestess Yevhen's big eyes filled with tears.

She focused her eyes on Geomchi 16.

With a strong presence on the battlefield, he always looked after her.

Now he lost his life.

"Again stay away, one day we will meet again. Even then I would like to protect you, would you do me the honour?"

Geomchi 16 had spent a few days preparing for this moment. He specifically trained under the playboy master, Zephyr.

He said for women, a grieving voice lamenting over not being able to protect them was highly effective in touching their feelings.

"Yes, my name is Libby."

"Geomchi 16."

Register friends!

Having accomplished his goal, Geomchi 16 could finally die.

'I did it.’

Weed arose from his hiding place.

A body made up of only bones!

A figure in the shape of a skeleton advanced on the expedition.

Chapter 3: Rise of the Undead

Weed in one hand held the Staff of the Fallen Saint and in the other hand, the Magic of Bar-Kahn.

"Wyverns, to the battlefield!"

Wy-1, Wy-2, Wy-3, Wy-5, Wy-6, Wy-7.

The Wyverns pushed their proud wings and flew.

"Ah-choo!"

"Damn I'm getting cold."

"My sin is that I met the wrong owner, now I suffer and suffer!"

In the upper levels of the Valley of Death, cold winds blew ice particles. Weed was afraid of being unable to take the cold just from approaching it!

The Wyverns flew while trembling in the cold. If not for the colorfully dyed wolf leather clothing, they would not have been able to come anywhere near there.

Survivors of the expedition fell into despair as they saw the newly emerging Wyverns.

* * *

"Oh shit, Wyverns are coming out."

"Now I can't even run away."

However, their complexions quickly brightened up at once.

"What the hell is that, I swear those Wyverns are in clothing. Why are Wyverns wearing clothes?"

"Answer me this, the Wyverns’ appearance, doesn’t it look a bit weird?"

"That angular face, exceptionally short neck and protruding belly, I've clearly seen it somewhere ......"

"The Plains of Despair!”

"Wyverns helped the Orcs fight against the undead army.

"So ......"

"Weed! Weed’s here at this place!"

The expedition fell into celebration.

Hero from their dreams!

When asking about the adventurer and champion of the continent, the name Weed would appear.

"Dumb Wyverns, do not miss the food!"

When Weed issued the command to drop him off, the Wyverns vigorously flew to find a place for him observe the battle.

The Wyverns narrowly avoided the gathered expedition to attack monsters. Geumini in the meantime fiercely shot arrows.

The Geomchis, priests and wizards gathered around monsters and started fighting.

Even with the extended help, the situation would still be difficult to reverse.

Weed unfolded the Magic of Bar-Kahn.

In order to deal with the number of monsters, allies were needed. Usable allies were plenty here.

"Rise sleepless spirits living here undetected by eyes. Take revenge on those that killed you! Dead Rise!”

The land of ice that the expedition stood on darkened in color.

The land produced Zombies, Ghouls and Skeleton Soldiers!

"Kiyahooh!"

"Keuhehel."

As the undead army moved over a distance, Weed pointed and commanded them.

"Fight. Kill them. All your enemies!"

"Keurererel!"

Under Weed's command, the undead sluggishly walked towards the Embinyu Priests and monsters.

Thudding.

With those unnatural movements, they slipped on the ice.

Nevertheless, in the fingernails brandished by the rising zombies contained tremendous strength.

They were strong monsters slow on speed.

"Weed produced those undead!"

"The undead are fighting the monsters."

Said the expedition that had fallen into chaos.

Undead are enemies of the living, yet they only destroyed monsters!

The Necromancer job had long been open to the public, but people had yet to finish changing jobs, so seeing the undead summoning skills with your own eyes was simply amazing.

"Call Death Knight Van Hawk! Call Vampire Tori!"

The summoning of a Death Knight and Vampire Lord!

A stacking Death Knight and pale faced Vampire appeared.

"Today must be very lucky for me to meet my favorite master."

The Death Knight began flattering as soon as he was summoned. Now that Weed had become an Origin of the Skeleton, there was a sense of intimacy.

Weed acknowledged that it had been a long time.

"Death Knight!"

"Master, give your orders. Which one do I fight? Just demand it and I will bring them in front of you as an offering."

The victory loving Death Knight replied confidently, but Weed shook his head.

"It's not that. Take off your helmet and give it to me."

"......"

"Did you not hear me? Take off your helmet and give it to me. I'm going to wear it."

In the world for only five seconds and already facing perfectly cruel behavior!

Returned only to be snatched again.

It was originally owned by the Death Knight, Weed was just going to steal it.

"This is my stuff."

The Death Knight stood upright and tried to protect his magic helmet.

Weed made a fist.

"Would you rather I beat you?"

Choose between a mix of coercion and violence!

Weed did not exercise patience.

"Don't make me tell you twice."

"... I’ll give it to you."

The Death Knight was forced to gently take off his magic helm.

For others, this fearful atmosphere would simply be considered as intimidation, but Weed had reached a stage of mastery in physical beatings. With his skill proficiency, a few days was all it took for him to knock someone into submission!

It would be nice to see people like that without free will.

"Don't worry. I'll return it later for you to use again. Go fight."

"Understood master."

The Death Knight rushed towards the Embinyu Priests.

Weed then looked back at Tori.

"You take the Bone Dragon."

"Understood."

"Focus on defense rather than attack it. You don't need to defeat it."

Tori was given orders to challenge the Bone Dragon and fight to the end.

"Vampire Queen and Vampire children, don't stick together. We are the nobility of the night."

"Yes my lord!"

Tori also turned into a bat with them.

Sharp vampire teeth!

Flapping their black wings, they clung on to the giant Bone Dragon and incited an attack.

You cannot defeat the opponent, but you can at least earn some time.

Weed in the meantime wore the magic helm.

"As long as it is written, let it be seen."

The magic helm made of cursed iron.

In the area drilled between the eyes, a brilliant yet insidious light burst out.

Glowing eyes like the flames of hell!

The Magic Helm of Van Hawk was among the items obtained from the Death Knight in Lavias.

At one time, he always wore the item, but not long ago, he created the Mithril Helmet of Noble Grace. Although he returned it to the Death Knight, he found himself in need of it once again.

Resistance to Dark Magic is increased.

Affinity with undead is increased by 10.

The magic helm granted options.

Weed once again used magic to summon the undead.

'Quite a lot of mana left.'

Step 1 of basic undead summoning magic.

Creating hundreds of dead bodies consumed about 4,000 mana only.

Staff of the Fallen Saint!

Thanks the immense effect of the weapon and his remaining mana, Weed decided to equip it.

'The physical force of the Origin of the Skeleton tends to be on the stronger side.'

Even without mana, you can engage in hand to hand combat.

Weed opened the Magic of Bar-Kahn and used step 2 of undead summonining magic.

"Ye who have returned to the land of living. This black and corrupt land is a dark place. The eternal dark law will never disappear, engrave this upon yourself. Undead Rise!"

Bureureu.

Vibrations arose from the Staff of the Fallen Saint.

Weed saw numerous bodies being produced.

They did not have any necks, Dulahans!

Combat loving warriors.

In addition, a number of Skeleton Mages rose.

There were hundreds of undead. The large scale made it hard for them to be controlled.

Thanks to the Staff and Magic Helm, Weed had command of the forces, but he could not afford to create more undead as most of his mana had been used.

Only about 200 mana remaining!

A flash of light came from the Magic Helm Weed was wearing.

"Fight! War! Unfurl your hatred towards the enemy!"

Weed’s yell intensely radiated. His advanced Lion's Roar skill exhausted his remaining mana.

The undead jumped towards the Bone Dragon and monsters under Weed’s command to fight.

The zombies fought with broken bones and even resorted to using flying limbs.

The Dulahans embraced their ghoulish heads next to their torsos and in the other arm, they brandished swords.

"Fight!”

"Enemies everywhere!"

Weed also created several boss class monsters!

Boss class Dulahans and Skeleton Mages gave rise to a dazzling performance.

For the first time in the battle, the expedition stood frozen, transfixed on the true power that was Necromancer magic.

"Unbelievable!"

"So many undead."

Usually in the game you avoid hunting undead!

During the expedition, most people saw undead for the first time.

A few people, however, could not believe that their eyes could shine like that.

"Don't you think that undead looks somewhat familiar?"

"Hmm? I guess so."

"Maybe it's Oberon?"

It was an unusually short Dulahan. Rather than avoiding the enemies, the Dulahan with a small body fought fiercely.

Necromancer magic used bodies in the place of elements. In other words, if there were no bodies, the power of the Necromancer spells was bound to decline.

The bodies of the expedition that died during the fight against monsters resurrected as the undead.

Tons of zombies and their exposed defects ran towards the enemy, stumbling on their dead limbs.

Their skills were nonexistent, but they had an appearance very similar to those killed in the past.

"But what are they?"

Rusty soldier armor. Dulahans also consisted of soldiers wearing old patterned armor.

These were Soldiers and Knights of the Nifleheim Empire.

All those that had fallen in the Valley of Death thus far were awakened by the call of Weed.

"Kyaohoh!"

The scary undead cornered the monsters.

Weed saw information silently emerge on the message pane.

You have acquired experience.

Dulahan has killed an Embinyu Priest with amazing power. Due to the unbelievable victory, fame rises by 1.

Ghoul has been killed.

Concerning the Skeleton Soldiers destroyed in the attack, if you use the Dead Rise Again magic, the mana cost will be halved.

Skeleton Mage’s remaining mana is 35%.

Undead were differed from sculptures.

Unlike sculptures, they consume mana, but as soon as they are created, they can fight. In addition, they were typically stronger compared to the general levels.

The undead did not get that much stronger so instead, you produced a significant number of undead whenever possible.

From the undead came a certain percentage of their fame and experience gain.

Necromancers have to assess the situation faster than other jobs to know what to do with their monster army. In other words, it was a job that required considerable leadership.

Weed summoned amazing boss class undead!

"Kiwowol!"

"Corpse explosion!"

"Bone shield!"

Some of the Skeleton Mages used corpse explosion. Bodies were scattered in front of a bunch of enemies without mercy.

The ghoulishly strengthened Dulahans went wild, too wild.

They differed from humans. Nothing good ever happened with those from beyond the grave. After collapsing onto the ground, they crawled on their bellies and chomped on your ankles, trying everything to accomplish their goal!

The horror of the ruthless undead army.

They attacked with unexpected methods. Fighting style based on crumbling bodies.

Royal Road Hall of Fame!

Hundreds of thousands of viewers were already looking at the rumors spread through the internet. Every room in society received a broadcast report. Considering the millions of people following them, the number might even have exceeded twenty million.

Bone Dragon hunt.

The heat and drought will be removed from the continent quite soon.

Joy and pleasure!

People enjoyed watching the exhilarating moment of victory.

Then Terose's betrayal of the expedition was shown.

If it was just a simple betrayal, it would not have been that important, however, because of the betrayal, the battle became extremely disadvantageous. Oberon also lost his life.

That's what those guys are like.

Cowardly bums, why go that far?

What jerks.

Worthless scum!

The expedition crew was filled with anger over the death of their leader.

However, they lacked the power to rule the world. Morally, they deserved to be blamed for the betrayal.

Besides, if they failed, the heat would have to be endured for a longer period of time!

Reckless insults fired off.

Hundreds of thousands of insults fully enveloped bulletin boards. Quite a few videos had to be shut down because so many people watching complained.

Then he appeared.

Weed!

Dude, dude, it's Weed from Continent of Magick!

Weed is leading the undead.

No, he produced the undead!

People were excited.

A name heard everywhere. Weed!

Many people wore the famous name Weed, but there was only one true Weed.

The top ace in the Continent of Magic that defeated both the blood sucking vampire family and the undead army.

Weed was already a celebrity.

Thanks to the fuss from made from various media, when he sold his account at a high price, he was all the hype.

The appearance of Weed alone was sufficient to thrill the people.

Weeds commanded his created undead soldiers to claw and bite the Embinyu Priests and the evil soldiers that followed them.

"Attack! Fight! Devour away!"

Weed thoroughly ordered his undead army to target only those monsters.

You have acquired experience.

Ghoul followers have picked up 3 gold and 15 silver.

Dulahan has obtained loose cloth.

Skeleton Mage has picked up a red herb package.

Every time they killed a monster, you received income. Experience tended to climb up pretty quickly as well. Whenever the undead fought, you received a certain percentage of experience, so engaging in direct combat would be fine without the situation turning into a mess.

'It’s a combat series job too!'

As Weed's hunt progressed smoothly, tears of sadness seemed to flow.

True combat series job.

Necromancer job boasts of the highest known growth rate and a taste in the dead.

Necromancers accumulated experience four times faster than other professions.

Of course, the hunt was limited to the moment. Necromancers usually roam around solo as most parties are never comfortable around them.

Necromancer is a job making undead bodies. Therefore, in order to utilize their skills, they need bodies.

The first undead!

To make it, you had to first catch and kill a monster with poor magic attacks. As the number of undead increased, earlier problems became much easier to deal with, but there were still some complaints. They had a vulnerable weakness to priests and paladins. Besides that, after a fixed amount of time, you could no longer maintain the undead and they turned back into corpses. To restore the bodies required an enormous amount of mana.

Commanding groups of slow undead into battle was tricky as it burned mana that required spending tedious hours to refill.

In addition to the magical skills of the undead, the quality of the material was important as well. Depending on the body used, the power of individuals varied with worlds of difference.

If the level of the body was over 300, even with low magic skill, you could still create a strong undead.

"Death Knight, Lace, Wight, Banshee or Spector. I wish I could call those monsters, but ......"

The Origin of the Skeleton had the tendency of a wizard, making the primary and secondary steps of the Necromancer's undead summoning magic spells simple to use! Only step 3 of the Necromancer's undead summoning magic spells had a limit.

Nevertheless, excellent ingredients showed outstanding plays.

Corpses from the expedition, bodies of the dead soldiers of the Nifleheim Empire, and even the bodies of enemy monsters arose as undead. The opponents outnumbered them 1-4, but this much was sufficient enough.

"Chances are you'll die."

As the battle continued, the undead were unconditionally bound to increase. The Necromancer job had a tremendous advantage.

"Awesome!”

"That guy's the master, Weed-nim."

The expedition looked on with eyes full of envy.

A true adventurer of the Versailles Continent.

An absolute existence that showed no quest was impossible.

The people in the expedition crew were bound to revere such a figure.

"Hmm."

Weed also felt the attention as he stood cross-armed while watching the battle. In order to not expose his body of bones, he stood in a dignified manner as he watched the battle.

"Hu hu, my undead army's fighting well."

Weed stood moderately above the 50,000 minions.

Of course, the expedition concentrated all their attention on the situation at that place. They were extremely curious as to how others besides themselves came to this place.

Weed heard the babble from the expedition crew through his ears. (no ears tho, skull joke )

"Why a skeleton though?"

"I don't know, maybe he offended someone somewhere and got cursed for it?"

"I don't think so. The curse is still fully intact."

"Anyway, is he going to show us an authentic black magic show?"

"If that’s true, we should wait for him to demonstrate the power of Necromancers."

"Weed the master will definitely show an amazing scene."

Weed's ears tingled. It was not embarassment, but rather he could not disclose the fact that he ran out of mana!

'Can't use Necromancer skills anymore.'

Blood flowing.

The staff held in his hand added strength.

As always, bodies will suffer from an evil mind.

Weed aimed his staff towards the body of monsters.

Pabababak!

The motion of the staff was smooth. It moved freely under the palm of his hand and lodged itself into moving monsters.

His fantastic swordsmanship debuted in front of people with a staff.

There is a big difference between swords and canes.

The sword was a sharp weapon that slashed opponents, while the staff was simply something that smashed your opponents.

The attack of the Staff of Saint Taranhan was much better than that of his sword!

Weed indiscriminately smashed the monsters in front of him.

'Experience! Experience is calling me.'

Items and money picked up by the undead all returned back to Weed. More than half of the experience, however, would be lost to the governed undead.

Therefore, Weed thoroughly picked out monsters with their lives at risk.

With his supreme broad field of vision, he noticed everything!

Although Weed could not afford to die, he attacked multiple monsters at once.

Wherever he passed through, monsters turned into carcasses.

Weed swept through the camp like a storm.

'Anyway, once the Bone Dragon dies, I'll have to diligently fight to make up for the lost experience.'

In addition, the mastery of many valuable skills needless to say was a big loss.

To make up for his low damage, Weed picked only the monsters with little remaining life left.

"It's really Weed-nim!"

"Even without magic he can fight."

"Damn! I want to hunt monsters by moving my body like that."

"With that degree of skill as a wizard, what kind of damage is that ......"

"What level is he?"

Admiration deepened in the eyes of the expedition.

This view was unavoidable as there were significantly less monsters everywhere he passed through.

Like the wind, he swept away the monsters, the stem of the problematic situation.

Weed did not leave their eyes.

The undead fought in place of the inactive people as Weed ran straight into a crowd and instantly destroyed a number of enemies.

Mysterious movements of the staff.

Remarkable moves and smoothly connecting actions.

It seemed the continuous melee until now was simply fiction, for the battle had now become clean and organized.

In fact, Weed planned to release the near death undead for the people to finish up, but their views were completely opposite.

"You're so strong!"

"Battling like that, so cool!"

The expedition continuously spat out praise.

Weed's artistic movements were sufficient enough to garner admiration.

Origin of the Skeleton was a thorough job, fairly strong in battles.

In the finest combination with the weapon, the Staff of the Fallen Saint, Weed's damaged shined even more.

For ordinary people, it was difficult to imagine the violence and intense skills Weed demonstrated.

30 meters away, an Embinyu Priest was dying away.

About to collapse!

However, the sword above the Dulahan was ready to descend.

At this, Weed snapped one of his ribs and angrily shouted.

"Bone-throw!"

He threw his broken rib toward the target.

The sharpened bone went flying! Only the Origin of the Skeleton had such a unique skill.

The bone flew with strong momentum and claimed the life of the target before it died. (KS FTW)

You have used part of the body.

Until the bone is recovered, damage is reduced by 1.3% and defense decreases by 2%.

Weed very busily moved to fight, acquire items, threw bones and often direct the undead army. He moved at all times without ceasing, striking all the monsters like an endless gale.

In a sense, the spirit of Geomchi also fought with the expedition.

As a result, the Embinyu Priests and Evil Soldiers could not withstand the onslaught.

"Kuaaa!"

The roar of the Bone Dragon!

All that remained was to deal with the boss-class monster, the Bone Dragon.

Vampire Tori was also fighting, but he took devastating damage. Of the Vampires serving under him, only half remained!

Countless of undead roared on the ground, but they would not help much in the battle with the Bone Dragon and the expedition was now exhausted without strength to fight anymore.

Weed was in conflict.

'Should I retreat to the side now?'

He had already secured an escape route. If he sacrificed Tori's life, he could escape.

'But I won't know the truth of the history of the Nifleheim Empire that took place in the Valley of Death.'

The quest took precedence.

Seeing as the quest was one of a kind, he had to somehow clean up the situation on the ground!

The Bone Dragon had emerged from a big cave. Perhaps in there contained a true secret of the Nifleheim Empire, but going into the cave while avoiding the Bone Dragon's sight would be a formidable task. In addition, while it fought, the larger surroundings of the cave might collapse, trapping him inside. When it is time to come out, there might even be a bigger problem.

'To step back here would lead to a more difficult opportunity. Kill the Bone Dragon now!'

Weed made a decision.

As far as fighting monsters goes, he never stood in the back. Sometimes working meticulously for long hours may not be rewarded, but challenges have never been successful without putting in effort.

Weed revived the spirit of the tireless fighter from the Continent of Magick.

'Looks like it will need a sharp blow.'

Weed confirmed the mana gathered during the fight. By fighting only with his body, he conserved mana and recovered 43%.

"Gloomy darkness falls upon the spear. Spear born from the darkness, penetrate the enemy's heart. Appear, Dark Spear!" (Frankenstein anybody)

Weed opened his side arm and caught the spear of black life in his hand.

Insidious fog streamed from the spear.

The spear was created through Black Magic.

Among the most powerful magic attacks usable, it was a skill that consumed lots of mana.

More than half of his remaining mana was consumed.

"Go!"

Weed through the power of his soul directed the Dark Spear towards the Bone Dragon.

Tori helped Seoyoon toward the few surviving Dark Gamers fighting the Bone Dragon.

Declaration of war.

Regarding the Bone Dragon as game, he faced it with a determined expression of wanting to inflict pain upon it.

Chapter 4: Single Point Attack Arts

Sswaeaeaeaek!

The Dark Spear tore sharply through the air and rushed in a straight line, piercing the Bone Dragon’s wing.

"Kkeueoeoeo!"

Howled the Bone Dragon greatly. It screamed painful groans.

"Only just the beginning."

Weed on the other hand just smiled. Before killing the Bone Dragon, he enjoyed watching it writhe in pain.

His happiness is relative to its suffering!

Normally, he would have undoubtedly given away a rotten smile, but now that he was a skeleton, he was free to cruelly laugh. Thus, he laughed, significantly spreading his tempromandibular apart. (jaw joint)

More bastardly than anyone else.

"Keuheuheuheuheu!"

Weed suddenly burst into laughter.

He took out a large number of red potions from his backpack.

Rapid recovery potions.

They were refreshments that rapidly healed injuries. Indispensable as one could not buy them.

“Elder brothers, try to gather over here!”

55 Geomchis were still alive. With life surpassing that of cockroaches, they survived the battle with the monsters.

“What’s the matter?”

“What’s going on?”

The Geomchis hanged around at the gathering place.

“If you’re in danger, drink it.”

Weed gave each of them 9 red potions, not forgetting to add a few words.

“What a lovely aroma.”

“Oooooo.”

The Geomchis cheered.

To them, such things were considered the same as tasty delicacies!

Geomchi 39 opened the cap of a potion.

“Oh, this soft scent.”

The potion of life was refreshing and simple.

Made out of troll’s blood, the potion was undeniably a great drink.

The Geomchis viewed this as eating a delicacy.

“Yummy.”

Geomchi 39 had no immediate need for it, so when he was about to drink the potion, Weed said something insinuating.

“But....”

“Hmm?”

“Geomchi 16 was such a glorious warrior elder brother.”

“Uh, what do you mean?”

Geomchi 39 was quite surprised, his eyes narrowing. The dead man was intolerable due to deliberately escaping danger.

“What the hell happened?”

“Well... the fact is, it worked out with a woman he liked in the expedition, elder brother.”

“What went through the woman’s mind that made her like dead senior?”

“He fought to keep the monsters away from her and died bravely, so the woman registered him as a friend.”

Register friends!

Geomchi 39's eyes sparkled and thousands of photos came into view. The Geomchis that had gathered around to get potions also stumbled.

“Disgrace to register friends......”

“You fucking with me?”

“Until now, I thought us men only had the ability to register friends with each other.”

Geomchi 39 dubiously asked.

“Are you saying he really registered a woman as a friend using that method?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

“You saw it with your own eyes, not in a dream, right? It’s not some story based on ridiculous rumors you heard?”

“I heard the report directly from him. Women like strong men. Fight the Bone Dragon while looking awesome, even if you fail, you demonstrate your courage so their minds will certainly have positive thoughts.”

Geomchi 39 grabbed his weapon.

“Weed.”

“Yes, elder brother?”

“Good information, thanks for the heads up. Euaaa! This old bachelor owes you his honor.”

Geomchi 39 ran toward the Bone Dragon with all his power. No matter how strong the Bone Dragon was, it was not as frightening as washing dishes all alone!

Lonely Geomchi 39 howled. The other Geomchis that subsequently followed rushed fiercely as well.

“Kill that thing!”

“Must die as beautifully and elegantly as possible!”

‘They did not have the mind to back off anyway.’

More than anyone, the Geomchis enjoyed combat, there’s no way they would ever perceive the opponent as a burden.

So far, the expedition was quietly taking a rest when a change occurred in the army of wizards and priests.

“All the mana I collect here … let this bright light burn straight towards the enemy and be a strike of fury. Mana Burn!”

Wizard’s Mana Burn attack!

The Bone Dragon flying low in the sky crashed to the ground once again by the Mana Burn attack.

Priests also joined forces.

“Ionizing powers. Please grant me the power to make things right and defeat the monster. Grant thy servant the strength to reclaim the luminosity. I fear neither the sacrifice nor the counsel against me.”

The ultimate divine magic was available only to priests that had completed their second advancement.

Noble Sacrifice!

It was a technique that sacrificed all health and mana in order to attack the enemy.

The damage was more than wizard’s Mana Burn, but priests could not endure casting it.

They lost their lives after a single use.

Even after the death of the priests, parties of the expedition still continued to fight hard.

Truly a last resort!

“Kyaoo! Cowardly humans! Stake your pride in this battle and fight honorably!"

The Bone Dragon’s body blazed. From the inside of its body, hot flames rose and bloomed thanks to the priests’ Noble Sacrifice.

The Bone Dragon on the ground struggled with the pain from the strike.

Unfortunately, the sacrifice of the priests exerted deadly havoc upon undead and vampires.

“Disgusting hot lights shining. They have robbed the power of us nobility of the night.”

Noble Sacrifice also adversely affected Tori.

Tori and the Vampires that fought by turning into bats until now were turned to ashes by the priests’ Noble Sacrifice.

The death was not complete, but they received a strong blow and were reverse summoned!

However, there was now an opportunity.

The Geomchis and Dark Gamers caused a rampage with the Bone Dragon by brandishing their swords and weapons at it.

Kill the Bone Dragon!

But the Bone Dragon did not succumb.

"Stupid humans! Learn what it means to anger me!"

It brandished its whip like tail meters in length to attack the humans.

“Icebolt!”

Icebolts fell like rain from the sky. The Geomchis, Dark Gamers and Seoyoon also met with the Icebolts.

The Bone Dragon sustained damage from the magic at the expense of the whole region.

Narrow Icebolts went beautifully down at random.

"Kkyaahak!"

"Help me!"

The Wizards, Elementalists and priests that lost their powers were the first to die.

Across the Valley of Death, there was no place to avoid the falling Icebolts.

You could only absorb it with your body!

"Sacred doom spear descend. Spear born from the darkness, penetrate the enemy's heart. Appear, Dark Spear!"

As soon as Weed recovered his mana, he summoned the Dark Spear again and then silently approached the Bone Dragon.

‘It’s better to be up close to that enormous body.’

Weed violently pierced the Bone Dragon with the spear.

No need for special attacks.

Hack!

The gigantic figure lying on the ground was assaulted by many attacks.

Moving at spectacular speeds, the Geomchis arrived, but were met with resistance magic at that moment, rendering them unable to slash the Bone Dragon.

Rather than level or skill, it was instinctive behavior.

They combined their movements and slashed the Bone Dragon.

“Kill it!”

“We can win this way.”

Thanks to the sacrifice of the wizards and priests, the Bone Dragon’s huge body was trapped on the ground, allowing it to be attacked.

Nevertheless, the enormous Bone Dragon still had over 20% health remaining.

Suddenly, the Bone Dragon’s eyes shone with brilliance. It opened its mouth and took a deep breath.

“Damn!”

“Everybody out of here!”

Weed, the Geomchis and Dark Gamers wielded their weapons and stood back as everything burned.

Breath!

The Bone Dragon’s strongest attack skill, the breath bursting from its mouth was a sign to escape.

“How many times can it use its breath?”

Deep down in his core, Weed’s first priority was avoiding.

The Bone Dragon got its head off the ground, readied its incomplete breath and fired.

Puhwahwahwahwak!

Breath was fired toward the ground!

The land of ice below melted.

Using the recoil from its breath, it rose into the air and soared. Once in the air, breath began flooding everywhere. It was extremely weaker than the first breath. Nevertheless, there was more than enough power left.

Up until now, the Geomchis and Dark Gamers had just barely dodged, now they were melting away.

The Geomchis as a last resort invigorated their energy by drinking the potions, but the potion essentially just granted a brief moment of stimulated health recovery rate.

The amount recovered by the potion could not compare to the health lost by the attack.

After the strong attack, the Geomchis were bound to weakened and could not cope with the life lost to the breath.

The Dark Gamers and Geomchis were the last remaining warriors responsible for direct combat.

First and foremost, Weed and Seoyoon noticed that there were only a few surviving Paladins that could heal themselves, so they quickly fled.

However, suspended in the air, the floating Bone Dragon appeared to have remaining reserve power.

"I will destroy everything! Demon Spear!"

A huge spear appeared in front of the Bone Dragon. (oh the irony)

However, compared to the Dark Spear Weed created, it was a higher level Black Magic!

The high ranked magic attack required at least the 3rd advancement in a Black Magic job.

It was very likely that due to the Bone Dragon using its breath up till now and virtually depleting its mana, it was now forced to use its best skill.

Weed did not forget to aim at the gap between the Bone Dragon’s wings and ribs.

The distance was enough to strike the idle monster.

Sswaeaeaeaek!

The Demon Spear released a ferocious sound as it flew toward Weed.

A storm was left in the wake of the massive black spear.

Using its power of control, the Bone Dragon did not miss its target.

“Damn!”

Weed stepped back and ran.

“Death Knight! Undead in front, block it!”

With few undead remaining, the crowd was useless.

They somehow managed to offset the power of the Demon Spear in an effort to survive, but the Demon Spear still pierced right through the bodies of the undead!

It appeared highly unlikely that the Death Knight and undead had enough defense to withstand the attack.

The perforated bodies of the undead vanished like dust.

“Sorry master!”

Even the Death Knight Van Hawk was reverse summoned.

The Demon Spear now approached virtually right in front of Weed.

‘Never thought I’d die twice in one day. Today’s really the worst day ever.’

Power from the Blood Necromancer, the power to reject death!

Its biggest weakness was emerging.

“Cold Sealed Eyes!”

Weed closed his eyes.

Finally, everything would end.

‘If I’m lucky maybe I’ll survive.’

But even after a few seconds, no pain was felt.

“Did it miss? Impossible.”

Weed opened his eyes. Then he saw the woman in front of him blocking.

Seoyoon!

She sacrificed her body to block the Demon Spear, but in exchange for that, Seoyoon was dying.

Weed took out his bandages in a hurry, but her life was already nearly exhausted.

No matter what the Bone Dragon used thus far, Seoyoon was able to withstand it.

However, with an anxious and impatient face, Seoyoon opened her mouth.

“Friend ……”

Doing something unimaginable!

Never in his dreams did Weed did think she would say that line.

‘Wasn’t she mute?’

Even Seoyoon herself gave a startled expression at the word.

As if coming from heaven itself, a clear and brilliant voice.

Weed then heard the voice of a stiff person.

Seoyoon has requested to register you as a friend. Will you accept?

Weed quickly nodded.

“Yes.”

Seoyoon-nim has been registered as a friend.

It was only for a brief moment, but Seoyoon died with a rather relieved face.

When Seoyoon found out about the first breath the Bone Dragon emitted, part of heart seemed to collapse.

‘Weed. He’s dead.’

Actually, the time they spent together was not long, but her feelings quietly grew.

Looking at the sculptures he created, she discovered warmth.

Eating the food he created, she learned of a simple happiness.

Anywhere they stayed together, she was able to feel comfortable.

That was a friend.

Seoyoon knew Weed was dead because of the Bone Dragon, she did not know why she felt such a dense anger.

As expected of a Berserker, for the first time she surrendered her body to rage.

Without caring for her life, she attacked the Bone Dragon!

But somehow, Weed survived.

His shape changed a lot, but Geumini and the Wyverns that appeared alongside Weed were unmistakable.

From the sounds of the expedition crew, she heard the story as well.

‘You’re alive.’

Seoyoon herself felt a little joy. In a warm corner of her heart, she felt relived.

‘You needlessly worried.’

Blushing alone in vain, she silently devoted herself to the battle.

‘Anyway, I am not someone who can receive love. Again I’m not questing with others.’

In a corner of her mind and heart, she planned only to remain with Weed until the end of his quest where they would separate from each another.

From the start, it was the natural choice for someone like her unaccustomed to hanging out with others.

Such a conclusion had already been made.

But when the Demon Spear flew toward Weed, contrary to her thoughts, her body moved first.

‘No!’

Seoyoon blocked in front of Weed.

It was normal for her not to continue to fight after the critical hit from the Demon Spear.

‘Dying.’

Seoyoon had a premonition of death.

There was no regret about level or skill.

In any case, the gaining of such things was not even for hunting.

While hunting alone, she suffered countless deaths.

Access restricted for the day, because of the time, she changed and tried not to die if possible, eventually the fear of death itself disappeared.

If you died near villages or in caves, you would be conjured up in a safe zone. However, the problem was where that place is and where to go in order to find Weed.

‘To meet this person now and again is very unlikely. If by chance we don’t overlap in this vast land, I’ll be unable to see him. Eternal separation...’

Seoyoon was puzzled by her heart’s sudden disturbance.

Separation with someone.

Having believed she had not received love, she did not know eternally separating with someone would break her fragile heart.

She faced him. Then, unknowingly she said.

“Friend...”

– Weed-nim has been registered as a friend.

Seoyoon came and took Weed by surprise, making him tremble in fear.

“What in the world was that evil woman doing there! She’s definitely up to something vile.”

It’s said that beautiful roses originally have thorns.

Seoyoon's level of beauty was comparable to the art of the century. The skin, body and face. A place where a flaw could be found did not exist.

Even her loosely flowing ebony hair exquisitely matched her fantastic figure.

No matter who, be it a painter or a poet could not skilfully express her charm. To properly depict the beauty and atmosphere she radiated was truly difficult.

Lightly loose hair down to her shoulders and clear skin, eyes, etc. it was impossible for anyone to keep their eyes off her face.

Weed on the other hand was concerned about the poison that matched her beauty.

“Until now she was able to speak but didn’t!”

There were numerous opportunities to speak, even when cooking or hunting, but so far, she had never so much as spoken a word, making the other party mistake her for a mute person.

“This must be a cruel trap. She will accuse me of ignoring her when she spoke and not doing something that I knew nothing about. Bad taste, such bad taste. How could there be a woman with such bad taste like this.”

Weed further raised his vigilance of Seoyoon.

“But why did she suddenly ask me to register her as a friend, why? So far, no deal had been made yet.”

Weed grew rapidly suspicious of her pure intentions.

Darkness, backstabbing, conspiracy, plotting or fraud, Weed thought of everything possible.

Suddenly, a sinister tactic passed through his mind.

“No way... that’s right! I knew it.”

Weed hit the palm of his hand after coming up with a solid reason.

“She said register friends right before she died! Female, you’ll have to find me first.”

Everyone drops items when they die. Weed believed that when Seoyoon died, she worried about her dropped items and assumed that by adding him as a friend, she could leave her things with him who would never lose or sell her stuff!

“That must be it. You’re a wicked woman.”

Weed once again trembled after suggesting how human beings employed such calculations in order to thrive. Perhaps it was merely coincidence that the Demon Spear struck her. This place is the land of ice. It might have been bad luck and by chance she slipped on the earth, who knows! Weed closed his eyes at the end, making what he knew even more unknown.

“Deliberately sparing me on purpose because you believed you could afford to die and take advantage of me later. That’s right. No way was it a slip.”

To protect Weed was mostly Seoyoon's impulsive decision.

Weed did not see it that way and thought about why as he examined the place where Seoyoon died. He then observed the promised items that dropped!

“What the hell.”

At Seoyoon's gravesite was thick leather created from pork leather. It was Weed who made these clothes for the winter. Only this dropped.

“Unique items of high caliber didn’t even drop. So pitiful, when I try, I just don’t have any luck.”

Weed picked up the leather clothes while complaining. Then the Bone Dragon arrived to deliver mockery.

"O foolish and presumptuous man! This is your limit."

The Bone Dragon’s immense wings flapped as it floated in the sky! Heavy wind pressure struck the surrounding snow and cracked the ice into regions.

Weed, as well as the few remaining survivors of the expedition saw the power charge up within its stomach. The expedition crew was frustrated.

“Now we’re finished.”

“It’s nearly dead thanks to the priests and wizards, but we have no method of fighting the Bone Dragon while it’s flying in the sky.”

They felt thoroughly helpless.

“If not for the betrayal...”

Even when it was too late to regret, one could not help it!

Up till now, Weed created many undead from the ground.

Dulahan, Death Knight, Zombie, Ghoul, etc.

However, typical monsters are known to be of little help when fighting a Bone Dragon flying in the sky.

It was possible for Skeleton Mages to use magic, but they would not inflict any significant damage to the Bone Dragon.

The expedition felt desperate as they watched Weed. There was no one else that could fight.

“Go back to your origins. Return undead!”

Weed memorized the spell. All the undead struggled with the force of the earth as they lost their power and collapsed. The reason was to recover a source of mana.

The expedition believed Weed abandoned them, increasing their responsibility.

“Ah. Finally!”

“Unless you die, you’re not leaving.”

The Bone Dragon laughed at the ludicrous humans.

"Foolish human race! Feel the transgression of time!"

But it was then.

“Bone Dragon, has your mind still not noticed? Can you not see what is happening?”

Weed did not back down in the slightest as he taunted the Bone Dragon.

"It is ludicrous that I will meet my end here, who do you think you’re talking to?”

“You, you idiot!”

Weed aimed to intimidate the Bone Dragon with this.

To the Bone Dragon, terrified food was unnecessary.

Of course, it was recognized as a difficult to capture monster. Normally, it would be like hitting a rock with an egg. The fight itself would never have been started!

But now the situation had changed a lot.

‘Due to the battle, its health has fallen below 20%. And with that multitude of spells, there should not be any mana remaining.’

There was no reason to panic.

Due to excessive loss of life, a significant amount of physical strength and power shall be reduced.

Apparently, it boasted of outrageous grandeur, when in fact, it had weakened significantly.

The fight felt worthwhile.

Weed cried out.

“Battle, Bingryong!”

Using Lion's Roar, Weed’s cry shook the Valley of Death.

Wareureureu!

Once again, the ice above the valley shattered and snow poured down.

"Keurwarwarwarwarwa!"

And in response, a sky ripping scream was heard from far away.

Something was coming.

At first, it was thought of as a little bird, but it grew larger and larger in shape!

Bingryong!

Enormous at a size of hundreds of meters, Bingryong emerged. It was almost as large as the Bone Dragon.

“Forward! Destroy him!”

On Weed’s command, Bingryong flew at a tremendous speed as it rushed the Bone Dragon.

Kwaaaaang!

Bingryong smashed into the Bone Dragon!

The Bone Dragon once hovering in the sky had fallen to the ground.

Bingryong welcomed the great opportunity!

However, Bingryong too wallowed on the ground.

Such a huge impact also weakened his condition.

"I’ll kill you."

"The owner has ordered to fight. I'll kill you!"

Bingryong and the Bone Dragon hated each other and fought fiercely.

The Bone Dragon was the first to attack.

As a skeleton with a large head, it took a bite out of Bingryong’s side.

Blindly shattering the ice into debris, the axial wings were finally injured.

Attack of the mighty Bone Dragon!

But that did not stop Bingryong. He slammed his hind legs and tail into the Bone Dragon’s body and recklessly slashed it with his front foot.

“Keuaag!”

“Ahh! It hurts!”

The Bone Dragon screamed at Bingryong’s barrage. While his massive body was still up in the air, he bit and slashed his opponent.

The fighting between the two dragons turned the ground into tornado wreckage. Tremendous winds brought about a flurry of snow and ice as well as an earthquake that made standing up impossible.

Weed calmly watched the battle between the Bone Dragon and Bingryong.

‘The Bone Dragon has weakened.’

Bingryong’s power was strong enough to draw. Nevertheless, he was to some extent eager to fight the Bone Dragon simply because he was tired of waiting.

If the Bone Dragon was in perfect condition, it would have overwhelmed Bingryong in an instant by ripping his neck off.

‘The fight’s a simple matter of which side dies first.’

Weed was not the type to just sit back and watch.

“Wy-3! Come forth!”

“At once master!”

The Wyverns were not brave enough to dare stay around the perimeter of the Bone Dragon. They only came and accepted their fates as a ride to avoid dying by the hands of their master.

Weed climbed on top of the Wyvern.

“Fly. We fight.”

“Understood master!”

There was an emergency when they spread their wings. Weed inquired about it.

– Strength is reduced due to the cold.

The chill of the northern sky was too harsh to cope with. In the past, there was a severe cold as they hovered in the skies. But if they waited, it would be uncertain if they would be able kill the Bone Dragon.

‘Do not expect good luck. Fight yourself!’

Weed aboard the Wyverns recalled the Dark Spear.

To ensure the destruction of the Bone Dragon’s life, he directly involved himself in combat.

“Fly at full speed!”

Upon Weed’s command, the Wyverns flapped their wings even more violently.

Wind maddening!

Weed then viciously launched the Dark Spear towards the Bone Dragon’s ribs.

Piercing through the battlefield, it penetrated the wind barrier surrounding Bingryong and the Bone Dragon.

Pakagak!

Tremendous resilience as sparks sprang up.

‘The source of the Bone Dragon’s life is its defense. Because of its tremendous defense and health, it will not die. If so, how can I kill him?’

Weed recalled from long ago when he learned the sword in the dojo.

“Lee Hyun, can you topple that tree so big that you cannot wrap your arms around it with your sword?”

At Ahn Hyundo’s question, Lee Hyun shook his head.

It was impossible.

No matter how sharp swords are, there is a limit to the thickness of trees before they can no longer be cut down. Especially in the case of living trees, they have withstood dozens of ax methods.

Relatively light and dark weapons are not suitable for cutting wood.

“Slashing with a sword is... unreasonable I think.”

“Really? It is difficult but not impossible. Your elder brothers can do this. With a sword they can cut down huge trees. Among the trainees, it’s possible for about half of them?”

Lee Hyun’s head was puzzled.

“How is such a thing possible? No matter how good they are at wielding a sword, the strength required to accomplish such a task is unreasonable.”

“It’s cutting the grain of the wood.”

“Grain?”

“In both heaven and earth, all things possess grain, so you simply cut along the flow. Without having to expend great strength, you can cut down anything you want. Even if it is rock or metal, as long as you cut along the grain, it is not difficult to cut it down.”

“I can do it too?”

“If you make the effort. A great sword is not born, it is tempered dozens of time. A sword alone is nothing, but a sword inscribed by people through decades of hardship can slash through anything in the world.”

Ahn Hyundo actively spoke of his past where he honed his sword proficiency directly from the battlefield during his youth.

Then by accident he came about a different story in Royal Road.

Ahn Hyundo burst into laughter.

“Royal Road, in the Versailles Continent, there are many interesting elements. We looked and found a similar result.”

“Are you telling me if you follow the grain, anything can be cut down?”

“It’s significantly different but yeah. After many experiences the best method we discovered was basically concentrating power on one spot.”

“I would like to know what you mean by this.”

Without hesitation Ahn Hyundo turned to tell Lee Hyun about Royal Road. You can wield a sword anywhere in that place. It was a virtual reality game that did not ignore this virtue.

It is written that swords are to protect oneself, discipline oneself and care for one’s family.

He knew why Lee Hyun played Royal Road, so there was no reason to condemn him.

“I’ll tell you. The way we wield the sword is different every time a monster receives damage. I believe you know this?”

“Yes, the power of the sword varies when cutting different areas.”

In Royal Road, you must directly move your body.

Because you have to move your body to wield the sword, damage is dependent on several factors.

Balanced stance and circumstances, power and speed, technique, attack and defense of the monster, are all major elements in determining damage along with numerous minor elements.

“Yes, that is the primary reason. Stats and level are important, but the way to deal maximum damage is through focus.”

“Would that be to attack a vital point?”

“That’s a decent way, but some have no vital point to strike. However, even the mightiest monsters are bound to succumb to cryptanalysis. Be warned, this method is not easily executed.”

Lee Hyun always had questions about the Geomchis’ outrageous attacks. No matter how similar a job was to martial artists, the damage was typically too strong to compare.

When their levels were around 50, they acquired the combat series job and quickly took hold of monsters forcing him to wonder. Lee Hyun asked.

“What is cryptanalysis?”

“Where you strike the same place over and over again.”

“That I know. When you continue to hit one part, you can cause slightly greater damage to some extent.”

He had obtained information on how to hunt before starting Royal Road. In other words, Lee Hyun had been using this method to battle relatively well. This secret could not be called special.

Ahn Hyundo simply laughed and spoke of the underlying story.

“Have you ever seen concentrating hits on a single point?”

“But that does not reap such a large effect. However, I’m sure there is another meaning to those words. Do you mean precisely hitting that one point again?”

“You’re quick to understand. The place once attacked, attack it again and it will severely weaken after. Smaller than a fingernail, smaller than a grain of rice, focus all attacks to that point. Even if you lack strength, you can still destroy the monster.”

Ahn Hyundo knew his teaching wasn’t something anybody could use. You must wield a weapon with all your might and attack a point smaller than a grain of rice repeatedly.

Even against nonmoving targets, there are times when you aren’t confident of success.

To target vigorously active monsters, you must predict and understand the relative movements in advance and at the decisive moment, you must align every action to explode simultaneously.

An exceptional human being, it is difficult to even dream of such a state.

Ahn Hyundo said this without hesitation.

“Tens of million of milliseconds. To bring the sword into combat, for life to vanish, the time is to be determined. At that one moment, it is not impossible to bring about your will. It is possible because human beings are not machines.”

Chapter 5: Treasures of Nifleheim

Kaaaang!

Weed slammed the Dark Spear into the Bone Dragon’s ribs.

Devastating stab!

The Dark Spear was perfectly wedged into the ribs, but the Bone Dragon’s
body remained intact.

It remained strong and its appearance was largely unchanged, but at least its health declined slightly.

Weed thrust the Dark Spear again. Just before the attack, he precisely aimed again!

‘I must match my breathing to it. Relax the muscles. Forget everything else. Only one point is shown. Wide. Boundless.’

Kaaaaang!

This time there was an even greater resonance.

– Fatal blow struck. Adds 29% damage

Weed wielded the Dark Spear freely in his hand.

‘Till it is destroyed!’

Swinging, chopping, and stabbing.

All attacks can be concentrated onto one location.

Single focal point.

Peoseoseok!

At the end of five attacks, the Bone Dragon’s rib shattered into pieces.

"Keuaaag!"

Bingryong was fighting the Bone Dragon as it screamed in agony.

“You fucking coward! Die!”

The Bone Dragon swung its tail but it was too late, for Weed had already escaped with Wy-3.

“My attack has only just begun.”

Weed boarded the Wyvern and quickly flew off into the black sky.

Bingryong and the Bone Dragon were intertwined in their aerial battle as they dealt attacks at each other.

Still damaged from the prior attack, the Bone Dragon’s shattered rib remained exposed.

Actions already difficult on the ground now required balance in the air, creating a small gap to aim at.

It was time to give the Bone Dragon a nightmare, but it would require amazing control at close range.

But Weed was not confident given the situation.

– Due to the cold Strength will be reduced by 16%.

From the cold winds blowing at the top of Death Valley, the body reached its limitations.

The Undead state allowed him to withstand some cold, but due to the freezing weather, his Strength and Stamina declined rapidly.

The cold also made the Wyverns dizzy, causing them to slip several times already.

If they fell onto the ice ground, their lives could not be guaranteed.

‘Not much remains now though.’

Weed read the movements of the Bone Dragon.

It finally reached its limit after receiving tremendous damage from the expedition and Weed breaking many of the bones in its body. Apparently, the Bone Dragon’s time was coming to an end within moments.

The Wyverns and Geumini chiseled away at the Bone Dragon here and there as well.

“Pesky flies, be gone you bastards!”

The Bone Dragon struggled fiercely from the hits. Nevertheless, the decisive attacks from the Wyverns, Bingryong and Weed did not cease.

Because its body was entangled with Bingryong’s, escape was impossible.

With solemn dignity the Bone Dragon appeared, but the expedition wizards brutally dragged it to the ground. Nonetheless, it actively demonstrated its greatness on the eve of its death.

“Let’s go!”

Weed controlled the Wyvern and landed upon the head of the Bone Dragon.

“Time to finish this.”

It was a rough struggle hitting the Bone Dragon whilst standing on its head. Simultaneously, Weed aimed the Dark Spear exclusively at a single point and attacked in rapid succession!

Kwak! Kwajik! Kwagwagwak!

– Fatal blow struck. Adds 46% damage

– Fatal blow struck. Adds 95% damage

– Fatal blow struck. Adds 129% damage

– Fatal blow struck. Adds 167% damage

– Fatal blow struck. Adds 215% damage

Hitting the small point successively increased the damage exponentially!

"Keueoeoeo."

The Bone Dragon’s resistance almost disappeared completely. With its health falling below 10%, it became even more difficult to move.

Nevertheless, some time remained until the end of the Bone Dragon.

If it was a normal monster, it would have lost the will to fight immediately, but as one would suspect when dealing with large monsters, particularly named boss monsters of a region, it held on tenaciously.

‘You know, all you’re doing is making me tired.’

With the cold wind blowing, Weed’s stamina rapidly declined as he fought.

Given the variables, if the battle was prolonged, the Bone Dragon might choose self-annihilation.

Weed yelled at the visible body in the air.

“Bingryong, use your breath!”

“Understood master!”

Bingryong took a deep breath and exhaled.

Ice breath that froze everything!

With no place to escape, the Bone Dragon dove towards Bingryong’s feet as the breath was released.

Jjeojeojeojeok!

At that moment, the Bone Dragon’s body was frozen stiff instantly!

In its usual state, it would have warded off the attack to some extent due to its magic resistance, but with its abnormal status, the ice breath literally froze the Bone Dragon’s body.

It was then.

Weed jumped into the air and as he landed, he thrust the spear down with overwhelming force.

Fatal blow struck. Adds 122% damage.

The target of the past, the point was hit precisely again.

"Keueoeoeo!"

The crack on the Bone Dragon’s skull spread over an increasingly broad area, all the way down to its tongue when the whole skull shattered into ice debris.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– The Bone Dragon Kurenbereu which once dominated Death Valley has entered its eternal rest.

– Due to great achievement, fame has risen by 230.

– Charisma has risen by 3.

– Fighting spirit has risen by 2.

Many message windows flashed through Weed’s head. Some indicated his level had risen. With the Bone Dragon hunt successful, tremendous experience would be acquired. Even with Weed’s current level of over 300, his level should have risen by at least 10, but since he hunted it along with the expedition, the experience was divided and he received a total of 7 levels.

However, there was something even more urgent.

Acquire items!

Weed descended to the ground and ran to the spot where the Bone Dragon crashed.

On top of a hill in Death Valley, items were all over the place.

Some ancient books, a bunch of bones and a shield!

Syasyasyak!

His hands moved rapidly towards the items with battle mentality.

Current weight has exceeded strength capacity.

Penalty: 35% increase in stamina consumption rate.

Despite transforming into Origin of the Skeleton, he lacked the strength to acquire items.

“Now, time to find the truth about the Nifleheim Empire.”

Weed finally came down the hill to finish his work.

Slowly.

Crawling like a turtle.

Due to the heavy weight, each step was done with the utmost caution. His legs had to be perfect to compensate for his insufficient strength.

‘With all that suffering, I better get something good.’

Earned income was a case of big business!

When weed arrived at the bottom of the hill, he determined his reward.

“Identification!”

Emblem of the Nifleheim Empire:

- Durability: 5

Meaning of the emblem is based on the imperial family.

The loyal royal knights of the once noble Nifleheim Empire garnered respect from everybody.

Can be attached to weapons and armors.

Options:

- +100 Dignity
- +50 Charm
- +200 Fame

Nobles of Nifleheim #2

The manor blueprints of the Empire of nobility are described in the book. After ages, it is unknown whether they are usable.

Rotten Dragon Bones:

- Durability: 250/250.

Large amounts of dragon bone. In the past, it was speculated to be harder than Mithril due to its own mana supply, but as of now, it is extremely corrosive. Even so, it is unparalleled against normal ores as precious material.

Blacksmiths will garner exceptional experience from handling the dragon bones.

First class blacksmith item.

Options:

- Helps raise blacksmith skill.

- When crafting a weapon, poison attack will be added.

- Can create armor with specialized resistance.

- Slightly foul odor.

Ancient Shield:

- Durability 300/300

- Defense 86

Old shield crafted with a delicate touch. Never before been used. Made of Mithril and unknown animal bones. Originally possessing a shiny mirror-like surface that captured light, grime now covers it after many years. Due to deep corrosion after being stored for too long, it is beyond any further repair.

Restrictions:

- Priests cannot use it.

- Level 400.

- Must be able to utilize shields.

Options:

- 40% Physical Defense.

- 35% Magic Resistance.

- 30 Agility.

- +45 Fighting Spirit.

- All combat related stats rise by 7.

- Increases additional effect of skills by 20%.

- Chance to confuse the enemy.

- Control over undead enhanced by 25.When durability is reduced, cannot be repaired.

Four types of items were left behind by the Bone Dragon.

Refused to abandon even a single item!

Particularly the ancient shield, an exceptional unique class item. Tremendous defense was extremely helpful in battles.

Because it cannot be repaired, it will be abandoned when durability runs out.

“Given its extremely high durability, I suppose I can use it for a few months at least.”

If it is not used in normal hunting, it can be used for even longer periods of time.

Items that cannot be repaired are difficult to deal with. Every time it is used, your nerves are on edge as its durability decreases.

People look separately for rare items at relatively cheap prices, but given the Ancient Shield’s degree of defense and many options, it could be sold at an expensive value.

“The rotten dragon bones can contribute considerably to blacksmith skills and it can create a lot of necessary equipment to wear or sell.”

Weed made a heartfelt smile as he slowly descended down the hill and entered the cave he saw the Bone Dragon emerge from.

Creepy cave.

A cave made with ice as clear as glass.

“So this is the source of the cold.”

After being sent to the north, it was the first time in a while that Weed encountered such a cold place.

“If this drags on too long, I’ll freeze to death.”

Weed hastened his pace as he walked into the cave. The deeper he entered, the colder it got.

Paintings were drawn on the walls.

Knights of the Nifleheim Empire appeared to be fighting monsters. Vivid scenes depicted knights and wizards attacking their way through hordes of monsters.

The last figure was a blue robed wizard opening a box containing some beads.

Then all the monsters and humans froze.

Looking at the paintings, Weed speculated.

“Is it talking about the final battle of the Nifleheim Empire?”

Not far away at the end of the cave were boxes placed side by side.

Heavy iron boxes.

The inscribed patterns revealed them to be noble Nifleheim Empire treasures.

‘Jackpot.’

Weed stretched out his hand.

The box is locked. A key is required.

Severe tremors sprang up on Weed’s skull bone.

‘No way... they can’t be serious. I don’t think so.’

Weed once again tried to force the box open.

However, it did not go as planned.

The box is locked. A key is required.

Adventurer or thief’s unlocking skill!

It was an essential skill for opening closed doors and boxes. But there was no such skill for Weed.

Cursed with the job of Moonlight Sculptor, there were no skills from the adventurer series.

‘This damn job, it’s so fucking useless!'

Weed struggled to beat the sadness. However, near the boxes was a small paper. Weed read through it.

Events chronicling the last six years of the Nifleheim Empire.

Our Nifleheim Empire was invaded by hordes of monsters.

Northern forests, there is no doubt the monsters descended from the dark forests.

The burning imperial capital collapsed.

Loyal Knights and Soldiers laid down their lives, but it was not enough to handle that many monsters.

Thus, as a last resort, we lead the monsters into the center of the valley.

Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads.

Passed down from generation to generation within the Empire’s Royal Family, the cursed object used to fight monsters.

And finely wrapped inside the paper was a golden key. Weed opened the boxes right away with the key.

The first box contained gold and jewels filled to the brink. The gold sparkled and the jewels dazzled.

‘That’s gotta be at least 150,000 gold.’

No matter how powerful you may be, you cannot overlook treasure.

Weed pocketed all the treasures inside the box without reserve.

Current weight has exceeded strength capacity.

Penalty: 59% increase in stamina consumption rate.

In the second box, various materials were gathered.

Ores for blacksmith handling as well as cloth and leather for sewing.

‘Nothing must be left behind.’

Current weight has exceeded strength capacity.

Penalty: 78% increase in stamina consumption rate.

The third box contained weapons and armors of the Nipelheim Empire.

Old antique weapons sprinkled with dust. With rusted blades, a terrible performance was sure to follow.

The clothes were also outdated and seemed to crumble when touched.

“Even old clothes can be used well!”

Weed pocketed them too.

Within the last remaining box contained the Serbian Witch’s broken beads.

The goal of the expedition!

From the Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads flowed an unimaginable chill.

Weed was well aware that he had to give up on the beads.

If you are able to sell, you can get quite a lot of money, but rather, life was more precious.

“The moment I touch that I die.”

Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads possessed incredible ice magic. The body would be turned to ice as a side effect from touching it without protection.

Thus, in order to prevent the worst, he had to abandon his excessive greed.

“Too bad though.”

Weed glared at the Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads.

Special combat capability object not classified as japtem, but it was also the item targeted by the expedition.

Cannot help lingering regrets.

“It’s gotta be a unique item at least… contrary to rumors, you could possess a skill even if you have no knowledge about it.”

You risk your life to grab it, but with every step, you move towards death meaning you cannot move.

“Should I pick it up anyway?”

Weed was greedy as expected.

When facing dead ghosts, caution should be used.

He took the small beads close at hand. Extremely slow speed.

Hwaaaag!

Then a chill poured out from the Serbian Witch’s broken beads.

Due to the cold, paralyzed for 13 seconds.

After paralysis is released, likely chance of developing a cold increases by 25%.

Degree of cold!

"Ah-choo!"

Weed was finally able to give up on the beads.

In fact, even if he obtained them, he would have no other option but to lay the object upon the altar of Gods to fend off the heat in the continent.

Although devoted to the expedition for only a while, Weed still belonged to it so his contribution would be rewarded nonetheless.

Weed waited until the paralysis was released and escaped from the cave. There was considerable burden on his footsteps upon leaving.

* * *

Hall of Fame!

The number of viewers increased exponentially until it exceeded one million. Considering each broadcaster and their real time relay, there were at least 20 million viewers.

"Hugelgelgel!"

“Where is my head?”

“Humans. So many living humans I want to eat.”

Unbelievable battle of the undead.

– That’s necromancer magic?

– I never thought creepy undead would have so much advantage in battle.

– Corpses continue to pile up, creating more undead servants...

Through the video, the Necromancer job exploded in popularity.

Whenever the army of undead monsters led by Weed dominated, the forums erupted in cheers.

But after the monsters overwhelmed the expedition, not many people that could continue to fight remained.

– Seems really difficult.

– It’s too hard, even for Weed. The Bone Dragon’s really strong.

– Goddamn it. If not for the betrayal...

– Still, it was a wonderful battle.

Nothing was expected of Weed because it was simply too unreasonable.

The activities of the undead army and the Geomchis were of such great quality that many were satisfied for a long time.

However, it did not pan out as they expected.

Out of nowhere, an Ice Dragon appeared!

The glorious fight scene where Bingryong got entangled with the Bone Dragon was unforgettable.

“Please. Please!”

They were praying to the Hall of Fame movie with Drum and the wizards.

In order for the expedition to succeed, they had to somehow catch the Bone Dragon.

When it did not fall, they were horrified.

Then Weed appeared holding the Dark Spear as he flew in the air on a Wyvern.

It was tricky to fly through the air on Wyverns. It was extremely difficult to do it while using magic simultaneously, but this was only part of it.

No matter what attack, the Bone Dragon’s bones were not expected to shatter.

In the forums there was a huge uproar unlike any other.

– It never happened when Oberon and the other warriors hit the Bone Dragon. What the hell is its level?

– It looks to be over at least 400.

– How did he do that? Using magic to inflict physical damage, I can’t believe its health would drop like that!

– So far the Bone Dragon had weakened considerably from the battle, but to damage the body to the point of breaking was totally unexpected.

Stats, levels and skill mastery, it is natural to use them as reference points to some extent.

The scene Weed showed in the video broadcast was so unbelievable to such an extent that it shut the mouths of all the viewers.

But they soon uncovered the reason. Weed was seen repeatedly hitting only a certain area in succession.

– Attack the same point! That will increase the damage dealt.

– Cryptanalysis, it increases damage and thoroughly neutralizes the opponent’s defense. Theoretically it’s possible, but I can’t believe he can use it in practice like that!

– Does hitting in one place really make your damage stronger?

– Did he really hit that one point only?

Some people showed up and addressed the questions.

– In my experience, I somehow attacked the same place and it did additional damage. It was so amazing that I’ve been trying again after that but to no avail.

– You must hit the point perfectly again. If there is even the slightest error, it will most likely fail.

– This is usually not applicable to petite monsters. It is easier when dealing with large, sluggish monsters because you’re more likely to weaken specific areas with the same attack.

People looked closely at Weed’s actions. Indeed, unerringly he repeatedly struck only one point.

While in the air on a Wyvern, he quickly wielded his weapon and precisely hit the same position!

It was by no means an easy task.

Using all his power to wield his weapon and hit only one point exactly. Perfectly chopping, swinging and stabbing continuously.

Lightning attacks with incredible precision!

Excellent flexibility and movement, it was a fabulous technique.

– Well...

– That’s Weed-nim.

Every time the Bone Dragon’s bones shattered, admiration came out.

And finally at the end of the struggle when the Bone Dragon died, thrill and excitement filled the air.

It felt like a lie that the humongous and dangerous monster died.

The expedition, Bingryong, the Wyverns and the vampire Tori all attacked, but it was Weed who finished the Bone Dragon off.

At the sight of the incredible reality, the survivors of the expedition stood there dumbfounded.

Weed in the meantime moved slowly. He entered a cave inside Death Valley and after a while came out, walking slowly away from the snow covered ground.

Lonely and reclusive shoulders of an adventurer.

Far away, he left heavy footsteps as he departed.

Those still alive from the expedition woke up and began to move. In the cave they saw Weed enter, they discovered the open box with the Serbian Witch’s broken beads.

Chapter 6: Birthday Party

Lee Hyun accessed the internet. He checked out the response on several different websites, including the Royal Road website.

“It’s in an uproar.”

The number of posts increased far more than usual, including on the Hall of Fame.

Over half of them were discussions about Weed.

– Weed! Weed appeared again!

– I was a user from the Continent of Magic. Weed has appeared, once again, to make a legend in Royal Road? As we expected of him.

– The God of War, Weed!

– It’s probably not going to be long from now. 1-2 monster groups have increased their influence and activity throughout the continent.

– I believe that it’s in response to Weed.

– Have to see Weed’s quest. It’s unbelievable.

– It was difficult to fight the dragon, would have they succeeded if Weed hadn’t been there?

– When will the broadcasters rerun it?

A considerable number showed admired him.

– I just saw all of Weed’s fight. How do you learn to attack like that?

– In my opinion, it seems to be a master level of martial arts. I guess you have to concentrate all the attacks.

– I succeeded against an elephant!

– Theoretically, hitting the same point more than 10 times will increase the damage 2 times, and it seems to be able to increase up to 3 times more damage.

– The additional damage to stack differently depending on the type of weapon.

– I think you don’t need to do this for general hunting though.

– It’s too tough to be picky. It’s unreasonable to only attack the same spot since it would increase the hunting time.

It was not easy to attack the same spot over and over in the middle of a life-threatening battle. In that situation, being greedy would result in taking a lot of damage!

– So Weed’s class is a necromancer.

– What are some of the Necromancer skills?

The necromancer class was becoming more popular.

This was not bad for Lee Hyun.

“Bar Khan’s Tome and the Saint’s Staff will worth more money if a lot of people start to convert to Necromancer.”

For first job of the wizard class, the cost of weapons and items were very expensive. There was an item scarcity because they were different from warrior weapons that could be obtained from hunting monsters. It was not easy for blacksmiths to craft wizard weapons. Blacksmithing skills needed to be at least intermediate to learn how to craft them and then it required several special materials such as Blessed Wood.

Therefore, the supply of items was far lower than the demand for it. In other words, not only was it expensive to buy but it was difficult to purchase an entire set for their class.

“In about 5 months I should get a decent price if I sell.”

Lee Hyun decided to use the items while waiting.

For some items, like the Ancient Shield should be sold quickly as the durability declined over time but that was not something he wanted to do.

The Ancient Shield had a limitation attached. If he placed it in an auction, there would be very few users that were over level 400 and there would not be much competition over it.

“If I had sold the items made from the dragon bones I’m sure I would have made a lot of money.”

Lee Hyun could not conceal his regret.

“The Ancient Shield just had to have the special option of not being able to be repaired…”

If repair had been possible, then selling it would have been a good idea since a lot of people would want it. Regretfully, he was unable to acquire the rest of the treasures of the ancient Nifleheim Empire.

“It they could have been repaired then they would have sold for a lot in antique shops and large cities like the capital.”

Lee Hyun skimmed through the rest of the post on the Hall of Fame. A high level adventurer party was challenging the Land of the Exiles.

– Does anyone know about the Village of the Trees?There has not been anyone that has been able to complete the quest yet.

Join us and we can be the first ones to complete it!

Their public declaration to challenge the Shadow Lands!

In addition, they would put up quite the challenge.

Plenty of well-known high level players sent their requests for the challenge.

More than 300 players signed up for the expedition.

“Ha, these guys are trying to do the quest without knowing anything.”

A fair number of people criticized the challenge but their comments were dismissed as useless.

The quest was described in detail, asking to find something or hunt some monsters that appeared somewhere. Lee Hyun considered the information and the value of the money to be earned. The quest did not state the rewards for joining!

“No point in working for nothing…”

Physical labor was the basis of all quests. Information about the monsters was pretty useless. Even if you searched the internet it wouldn’t help much. People were still searching for fresh information about various hunting grounds.

Knowledge is power!

Some information would be conveniently kept unknown.

“I’ll check through my mail.”

Lee Hyun was roughly reading through his mail.

Ttiring!

A new mail has been received from a family member.

There were very few people in his address book and it could only be either his grandmother or his sister that sent the message.

“Who?”

Lee Hyun looked to see that the mail had been sent by his grandmother.

“What’s going on?”

Lee Hyun clicked on the mail.

Lee Hyun.

My waist is okay now and it doesn’t hurt anymore.

The hospital is very comfortable.

You’ve seen the old lady in hospital room 203, haven’t you? Her grandson brought a massage machine as a gift. Moreover, it has shoulder massage options and it can also heat up and cool down. I have never received anything like that. Do not worry about it. I do not mind.

* * *

Chung Il Hoon, as usual, asked them coldly.

“Today is the day. We have planned for this, are you ready?”

Choi Jong Bom nodded frightfully.

“We need to be perfectly prepared. Two, no three times the amount will be necessary.”

“How about only once...”

“That will create an absolute mess of the plan.”

Chung Il Hoon eyes dimmed. He had trouble believing Choi Jong Bom’s words who had payed for the other brothers before.

“It certainly would, wouldn’t it?”

“If necessary I will lead.”

Choi Jong Bom could feel his heart being smashed. Next to him however, was Chung Il Hoon smiling brightly.

“Brother, you’re not planning to do that are you?”

“That’s right. Unless we carry it out, we will never succeed.”

Nevertheless, Chung Il Hoon did not change his countenance.

“You know the emphasis of today’s importance.”

“I do.”

He nodded his head.

It was Lee Hyun’s birthday today.

Since he had never once had a birthday party ever since the day he was born, they wanted to give their brother the best birthday party ever!

‘Isn’t it such a moving sight?’

Both of them trembled. Without a doubt they would share a meaningful experience.

They did not mind that they were going to use some of their income.

They were going to get to meet with female college students!

It was everything they could ever hope for in their dreams.

It was also a good opportunity since Ahn Hyundo was on a business trip.

Chung Il Hoon said again.

“Everyone do your best. If all goes well then it should succeed. How many years do you think that we have left of our lives?”

“Maybe about 50 years or so?”

“Yeah, during that time you have to eat meals by yourself and sleep alone when you’re tired...So keep in mind that depending on how things work out today, you may either live alone for 50 years or with a harmonious family.”

The expressions on Choi Jong Bom, Ma Sang Bom, and Roi Lee’s faces changed.

Chung Il Hoon was able to give them some courage.

‘The plan is incredible. It was able to make those kids willing to help out!’

They always went to ask for help.

Ever since they started Royal Road, they would always ask Pale for help.

Since they knew it was Lee Hyun’s birthday, they promised to come.

‘The girls were difficult to get.’

Lynn, known as Hwaryeong promised to come have lunch.

Kim In Young; known as Irene, Yeon Hee Park; known as Romuna, and Yoon Soo Park; known as Surka, would all come in the evening because of family reasons.

‘This will be an enjoyable birthday.’

Chung Il Hoon gave a satisfying laugh.

* * *

Lee Hyun visited the dojo early today to train.

But without knowing what his brothers were planning, they brought him somewhere else.

“Let’s go!”

Dojo Instructor! In addition they were joined by a massive number of 70 practitioners with hardened faces, eyes, and overflowing courage.

“Brothers where are we going?”

Lee Hyun asked in a low voice.

Roi Lee replied in a grim voice.

“Going to the amusement park.”

“What are we going for? Are you going to fight?”

“We’re going to go on rides and play games. Even we have rest day sometimes, don’t you think? Go along with it.”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun shook his head.

Even if they were going to the amusement park, the facial expressions of the people going did not fit with it. A heavy atmosphere was made as they passed by.

‘Do not fail.’

‘Happy birthday, birthday.’

It was too heavy of a responsibility to remain calm. They were carefully dressed in black suits, feeling vaguely uncomfortable and awkward.

The group rode on the subway. The dojo owned a vehicle for transportation, but they deliberately decided to use the subway.

‘People going to amusement parks use public transportation.’

None of the practitioners or instructors have been to an amusement park since they were kids. Consulting the internet, there was going to be a lot of traffic and other transportation would be recommended. With that in mind, they decided to board the subway.

“Hey, today are we going to your house to play some games?”

“Last night I was dancing at the club with a guy...and I held hands with him!”

There was a deep silence in the subway as the cars were filled with broad sturdy shouldered men in black suits.

“...”

The students from before and the all the men stopped talking. When there were many passengers on the subway there was bound to be a fierce battle over the seats. The struggle for more comfortable seats!

But some people stood quietly in place. Everyone didn’t know what was happening.

“Keuheum, it feels more comfortable to stand.”

“Yea, it’s better to exercise...”

40 to 50 men stood in place. Even the elderly seated nearby were getting worried.

“Huh? Why are they standing?”

“Yeah.”

Roi Lee and Ma Sang Bom did not sit down in any of the seats. Being accustomed to comfort made the body increasingly weak. It was necessary to work the body out everywhere. Therefore, it was normal for them to stand around in public transportation. The instructors and the practitioners stood alongside the ordinary people.

‘Are these guys mafia? The look in their eyes...’

‘It looks like their muscles are going to tear through their suits.’

‘I think they’re going to do something illegal.’

‘The police. I think it would be a good idea to call the police...’

When they arrived at a station, the subway doors opened.

“Huh, there’s empty seats?”

“That’s not very common. Maybe we’re lucky this time.”

The new passengers were delighted to see the empty seats, but then they saw the practitioners.

“....”

The passengers stood around quietly. They would not dare to sit down looking at the hard faces of the instructors and practitioners.

‘Why does it feel so bad to take a seat?’

‘I would rather sit down. Then I can be comfortable.’

More passengers were forced to be worried. However, the practitioners could not afford to care.

They needed to entertain Lee Hyun somehow!

They did wonder about the people standing for a bit, but they didn’t care so that was overlooked.

‘It must be some kind of fad to stand around in subways huh?’

‘Come to think of it, it’s good for their health.’

Nobody sat down in the subway until the group had reached their destination.

“Lee Hyun, over here!”

“This way!”

In front of the main entrance of the amusement park.

Hayan, Oh Dongman, Shin Hye Min, Lynn, and Choi Ji Hoon were waiting together.

“Hayan, what are you doing here?”

Lee Hyun asked weirdly. He noticed that there was something strange that he wasn't informed of.

Other than the abnormal behavior of the practitioners, Oh Dongman, and Jae Lynn, he did not expect to see Choi Ji Hoon.

Hayan opened her mouth and smiled.

“Oppa, It’s your birthday today!”

“Birthday?”

Lee Hyun began to calculate the date. It was indeed his birthday. Since he never celebrated his birthday, he had forgotten.

“Isn’t that why we’re here for your birthday?”

“Oppa has never gone to an amusement park before so...”

“I mean, amusement parks are exclusive to the wealthy...”

Jae Lynn, Oh Dongman, and Shin Hye Min were puzzled at Lee Hyun’s words.

‘When did amusement parks become reserved for the upper class?’

The instructors and the practitioners took it quite literally.

“In fact, you don't go to an amusement park unless you make a modest amount of money. It’s a big decision about whether or not to go.”

“A lone martial artist in an amusement park...”

“Isn’t it more than 5000 won a ride?”

The instructors spend a considerable amount of their money. For room and board in the dojo, they don’t make much money to spend. Therefore it was difficult for them to spend more than 10,000 to 20,000 won for something.

Lee Hyun sat down, since whenever he spent money on something, even going on rides, his heart broke a little.

“Keuheum! I prefer just relaxing at home.”

Hayan grabbed Lee Hyun’s arm and led him inside.

“I already have a free pass. This way you can play games and go on rides for free.”

Hayan already knew what to do with Lee Hyun. Since he disliked wasting time and money, with this he would not have an excuse not to go. The others followed after Lee Hyun in an instant.

Shin Hye Min asked them.

“What do you want to ride first?”

Jae Lynn didn’t waste any time.

“The Viking? Or the roller coasters?”

Roller coasters were high speed mechanisms that move along the rails in the air. It was the most popular rides.

Shin Hye Min was mentally tired from constantly being busy with the daily broadcast and secretly wanted to taste the thrill of the ride.

“Let’s go on the roller coaster first right?”

Ride the roller coaster first!

A considerable number of people visited the park in the earlier hours so thanks to this they can get their turn sooner.

Lee Hyun sat in the front with Jae Lynn, followed by Oh Dongman and Shin Hye Min, and Hayan and Choi Ji Hoon was paired together.

This was unavoidable because of the guy to girl ratio.

‘That’s great.’

Today was the first time that Ji Hoon had met Lee Hyun’s younger sister.

Not just hunting and exploring in Royal Road. It was different meeting her in reality.

In other words, he was attracted to her.

He had met with numerous women, but he had never felt emotions like this before.

‘Doing this and spending the rest of the day with her. Yeah, not bad.’

Ji Hoon had a bright smile.

Then he receive a light tap on his shoulder from Ma Sang Bom.

“Watch your back.”

“What?”

“Recognize who that is first...”

The horror hit Ji Hoon in the face.

“Hooo hoo hoo.”

At this Roi Lee smiled.

The practitioners did not try to get close to Hayan, since it risked their lives.

To them, Ji Hoon seemed pretty cool.

Then the roller coaster went up to the top and when it came down Oh Dongman, Shin Hye Min, Jae Lynn, Hayan, and Ji Hoon all began screaming.

“Kyaaaah!”

“Wheee!”

Lee Hyun and the practitioners were more blase about it.

‘It was really scary when I was sculpting Bingryong's head.’

Sculpting chunks of ice hundred of meters high and hanging on a single wire. The body hangs there, with the wind constantly interfering. Compared to that experience, sitting here could be thought of as medicine.

The instructors were also calm.

“The angle needs to be steeper...”

“If we fell from here, even in the worst situation we could be okay if you give up the legs.”

“We can reduce the falling speed by rotating the body a few times to diminish the force.”

“Can we jump off from here?”

Talking about such things was scary in its own way.

Thanks to that, a few people were screaming because of the bizarre roller coaster ride!

‘What on earth are you?’

The people in charge of the rides wondered.

On the Viking, the same thing happened.

Lee Hyun and the practitioners sat still doing nothing. Same as the first ride without any change.

‘Oh this isn’t worth my money! Since I’m not using money, I need to enjoy this.’

But Lee Hyun still looked angry.

Eventually they gave up on the longer rides.

“If he’s not scared of the rides then we have to go on something else.”

Jae Lynn said unfortunately.

It was a long way from Lee Hyun and the practitioners to enjoy the thrill and suspense of the amusement park.

Then Oh Dongman had an idea.

“Instead of going on the rides...what if we go to the zoo?”

Hayan’s eyes twinkled in expectation.

“The zoo?”

“Yes, this place is very big but so is the zoo. Wouldn’t it be more fun than sitting in a wheel as it spins?”

“Undoubtedly.”

So, changing their goals, the group decided to go to the zoo this time.

* * *

There was a giraffe.

Kids that were barely six years old were watching the giraffes.

A kindergarten group had come to watch.

Small and cute boys shouted.

“Look, it’s a giraffe!”

“It looks so cool.”

The pretty young girls smiled with bright eyes.

“It’s beautiful.”

“The animals are so cute. Whoa! Look at it’s long neck!”

It was a harmonious sight.

They were peacefully walking around with the giraffes.

Then an insidious voice came from behind!!

“Giraffes, are they tasty?”

“It may be uncomfortable since we may need to cook it for a long time.”

“But with some salt, it may be quite delicious to eat. The other day, I was training in Africa. I was so hungry. If I could have caught a lion, then I would have eaten it.”

“Do you feel comfortable eating herbivorous animals?”

“We can come and get it at night...”

Sseueuk!

The instructors and the practitioners!

They were looking at the giraffes while they talked.

“Waaaa oooooohh aaahhhh!”

This made the kids cry.

The completely innocent area was completely destroyed by them.

The instructors and the practitioners had to go to the other side.

Camels and ponies.

“Hey, what do these guys taste like?”

“I think I’ll have fun choosing what to eat.”

“It may be a good idea to bake and eat it.”

They looked at the polar bear while blatantly showing off their distasteful appetite.

“Well, look at him.”

“Wow, looking at it makes my mouth water”

“Gallbladders and feet...it eats whatever they throw him. If someone ate it, they could eat nonstop for a year...”

The instructors’ and the practitioners’ eyes shone with blood.

To such a degree that even the polar bear fled in fear.

The otters, the dolphins and the crocodiles suffered the same fate. Understandably, it was even worse for the birds.

But it didn’t include the expected animals.

Monkeys, gorillas, pigs!

The practitioners liked watching their sweet antics and bananas.

“Somehow I like it.”

“I just can’t seem to stop looking.”

Lee Hyun enjoyed the zoo.

It has been so long since he had taken a break.

He had never taken a break after he had started Royal Road. The thought of taking a day off was unbearable since monthly fees were expensive. However he did not regret coming to the zoo with his sister and friends.

“Someday I will visit here with my family again.”

That would be in 10, or maybe 20 years.

But now he was peaceful and happy.

Even when it was time to leave, Lynn refused to leave Lee Hyun's side.

She was on a quest to get closer to him so that they could be lovers.

Oh Dongman, Shin Hye Min and Ji Hoon tried to stay as estranged as possible from the instructors and practitioners.

“Not everyone wants to know what they like...”

“Let’s walk farther away from them.”

“We don’t know them.”

* * *

They left the amusement park by public transportation and returned to the dojo.

The last plan of Lee Hyun’s birthday party was completed.

A meat party with pork ribs and pork belly!

Kim In Young, Yeon Hee Park and Yoon Soo Park served the precious meat.

“Bon appetit.”

“Thank you, young lady.”

Ma Sang Bom took the dripping greasy meat wrapped in lettuce and put it in his mouth.

“You just have to eat meat for a birthday.”

The instructors had set up the meat for the end of Lee Hyun’s birthday party.

The amusement park was to be followed with meat!

This is what they were planning when they set up the birthday party.

Choi Jong Bom diligently picked up a piece of cooked meat with a stroke of his chopstick.

“Meat is more delicious when you eat it with others.”

Roi Lee also struck onto that comment.

“The more people there are, the tastier it is.”

The birthday party was neither at a nice restaurant nor did they prepare any special gift, but it was a warm experience nevertheless.

Chung Il Hoon brought out the soju.

“Here, take a cup of liquor.”

Lee Hyun listened to him and carefully took the cup with both hands. Chung Il Hoon filled up Lee Hyun’s cup with soju accordingly.

“To our lives!”

“To life!”

The men gave a clumsy toast. Looking at everything, Hayan was the one that planned everything in advance.

A group meeting with college woman!

Chapter 7: High Elf Bow

Weed returned to the Versailles Continent after two real life days. In the Versailles Continent, six days had passed by.

“Oooh, we drink to him.”

Drinking alcohol was common for laborers. After a hard day of work, they were loosening up with a few glasses of liquor. One bottle of wine after another and the atmosphere would be considerably friendlier. But here they were drinking all of the previous night. Weed was with Pale and Maylon, who were both weak against alcohol. He didn’t even want to mention Zephyr.

“It was a bad idea to bring soju.”

They drank for over four hours with over 200 boxes of soju. Words could not describe the fearsome sight. The number of practitioners, no matter how many, could not be human to consume so much alcohol.

He would have wanted to be unconscious instead of being awake.

“Now that we’re finally back, we’re still suffering from a bad hangover.”

Weed looked around.

A cave in a safe location not too far from the valley of death. Alveron slowly stood up from his prayer.

“Weed-nim have you just returned?”

“Yeah.”

Weed had returned to human from a Skeleton Soldier.

Night had fallen and the wolves became active.

Alveron was inside the cave. Since it was well hidden, the wolves were not able to find it.

“Moreover... I wonder what happened to the expedition?”

Weed wondered about the Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads.

* * *

After such an arduous climb, Oberon and the Cold Roses Guild could not catch their breath after walking all night to the town of the altar of the Edereune God, stopping only to eat. At the end of it all they could finally reap the fruit of their efforts.

Run down houses with broken walls. The desolate village was entirely in ruins. The wind was blowing over the town of Edereune, but the members of the expedition felt that their troubles would soon be over.

The small dwarf Oberon climbed over the rocks.

“Here is Edereune, the final destination of the expedition. Everyone I want to thank you for following and believing me, though I may be lacking.”

“Captain, even though we ran into trouble, we did succeed and it was rewarding.”

All of the Cold Roses member in the expedition nodded.

‘I doubted coming to the northern expedition a few times since it seemed in vain.’

‘This is the first time that I put up with such a troublesome quest for such a long time.’

They were now unspeakably thrilled since they managed to finish such a difficult quest. The eyes of the people in the expedition sparkled with excitement in anticipation of what happens next.

Oberon was close to the end of his speech.

“I would like to thank all of you...Drum.”

“Yes, Leader.”

“Restore the item.”

Drum removed the cherished treasure from his inventory.

Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads!

It was obtained from the center of the continent; a treasure obtained after the end of countless battles, now to be locked in the north.

In the center were the broken beads. From the cracks of the broken beads was a constant chilling cold.

Everyone in the expedition was trembling from the cold. If it had not been for Drum weakening the strength of the beads then they would have frozen to death.

Drum presented the beads to Charon.

“Thank you.”

Charon did not even dare touching the beads. Since he was an enchanter that dealt mainly with jewelry, the beads effects would curse him.

“I accept.”

“I am sorry for making you do this.”

“Dwell on it later and buy me a drink.”

“I will.”

Charon looked at the Serbian Witch’s Beads.

“Identify!”

Ttiring!

Witch’s Broken Beads.

Durability: 1

Made of an unknown material. Originally it contained a great force.

Due to the cracks, that force has erupted outside.

The beads are a source of incessant chill.

Options:

Restore the beads to seal the cold.

The Enchanter class had to ability to use magic to grant power to gems and minerals. They were very rare since it required a large amount of effort to get a high skill level.

That was Charon, and he was a high level wizard.

“Damn it! This honor is not that honorable.”

Charon touched the broken beads.

“Restore the marbles!”

A hand shone dazzlingly as the cracks were neatly repaired.

Enchanter job skills.

The ability to revert the durability of magical gems and materials to the original value.

The cold chill from the breads that was extending indefinitely disappeared mysteriously at that moment.

“Ohh!”

“Now I can finally stop holding my breath.”

From then on, everyone in the expedition was able to breathe much easier.

The numbness left their hands as the cold went away. Charon, from the instant he touched it with his hands, turned into ice but the Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads were intact.

“Save him, resurrect him somehow!”

“God damn it!”

They checked around but most of the clerical classes had already lost their lives.

From the staircase the expedition could see the surrounding landscape.

Since the cracks were fixed, a warm Northern wind blew.

They turned their eyes slightly towards the sky to see a slight rainfall.

A little warm rain.

However it seemed that the ice would not be melted. His character was alive and trapped with his health bar turned blue.

“Later on, I’ll buy whatever you want.”

Drum’s voice cracked as he spoke and then he turned to the Witch’s Smooth Beads.

At that moment, some scenes from inside the beads were shown.

In an area with a surrounding landscape of a thick layer of snow.

The young girl had to learn magic.

Whenever the girl used magic, tiny snowflakes were born. Sometimes small chunks of ice were made.

Every time she succeeded with her magic, the girl smiled.

Serbian Witch.

Perhaps it was the girl’s inner talent. The girl’s skills grew increasingly.

The young cute little girl wore a robe. She was too small for it at first, but eventually it fit her.

However, she had heard that proper mages used staves.

After a while, invaders set foot onto the peaceful snowy land.

A legion of monsters fought against human soldiers.

The Serbian Witch fought against the enemies.

Monsters would freeze whenever she used her magic. Human soldiers could not withstand the cold and died as well.

The legend of the Serbian Witch spread throughout the continent!

In the history of the Versailles Continent, there once was a legendary master of Ice Magic.

Wind and rain heralded the coming of a storm. The Serbian Witch would wave her hand and everything froze.

The ice type magic, Freezing Storm!

– The magic of the Serbian Ice Witch has been restored. Forcefully altering the climate to subdue enemies. Those familiar with ice based magic can now learn advanced magic.

“Ah!”

Drum sighed.

Serbian Witch’s Broken Beads. They had managed to restore the beads. Now it was possible to learn new types of magic without the need of a spellbook or materials. The beads contained the skills for highly advance ice magic. For Drum, a professional ice mage, it was one of the best magical treasures.

Oberon approached him and put his hands on his shoulder.

“There’ll be another chance.”

Drum lamented for a while.

“I’ll have a chance again?”

“Perhaps...”

“...”

The beads were obtained by the expedition after a lot of hardship.

Drum inevitably raised the Witch Beads to the altar of the gods.

* * *

The live internet feed ended at sunset as the expedition dedicated the beads to the altar.

It was not just in reality. Taverns all across the continent of Versailles with magical screens installed could see the footage.

“The heat wave is going to disappear?”

“How could they do this?”

People had already given up trying to adjust to the heat.

They found it incredibly hard to believe that the heat would be gone so easily.

Nevertheless, they had some expectations.

At that moment, there was no event more important that this.

The Witch's Beads disintegrated into dust when they were placed on that altar. However, the powers within the beads began to cycle and create its impact on the entire continent.

The sweltering heat caused by the Curse of the Scorpion King on the continent began to change.

The atmospheric temperature lowered until it was how it used to be.

A refreshing breeze blew past, cooling the lukewarm beers.

“Bravo.”

“Cheers.”

Many people threw festivals, indulging in their excitement over the success.

You could see people yelling in pleasure across almost every city or town in the Versailles continent.

Weed rode on the Wyverns with Alveron and took to the skies. They were escorted by Bingryong. They had left to check on the remnants of the Valley of Death.

The place was teeming with monsters.

“Kyawoo. It’s a human!”

“Kill him!”

Weed shook his head.

“Looks like it’s gone.”

The Valley of Death was covered in snow and ice.

The sun was in the sky, but it did not feel hot and a warm breeze blew. Since the Serbian Witch Beads had been restored, chilling air no longer permeated from the cracks.

The source of the curse.

The heat wave that covered the entire continent was proving extremely useful.

The snow and ice, that never seemed to melt, dissolved instantly into water. Because of the Valley of Death, it flowed through like the rapids. But because the land was so barren, it quickly sucked up the moisture that was being offered.

“Gaaahh! The heat! It’s burning my body! Master!”

Bingryong was suffering as he struggled to beat his wings in the sky. Droplets of water dripped and fell from his body of ice.

For most people the increasing temperature was a blessing, but to Bingryong it led to weakening his strength.

“Please, spare me. Master.”

Bingryong was overwhelmed with pain and tears. His eyes held the most heartbreaking glance.

“Useless!”

His penetrating glance told Bingryong to knock it off. This much was not enough to be out of breath. Even with the hot weather, he would not be pampered. Even with his tremendous Stamina and Health, he struggled with his wings. It takes a lot of time to recover. He was weakened even more so, considering that it had not been long since his battle with the other dragon.

Weed finally messaged Seoyoon.

A normal person would never pretend to be unable to speak!

“Since she hasn't messaged me, she must have found a decent quest or a good hunting ground.”

Weed nodded.

Weed guessed that Seoyoon was not a good natured person or she would not have fed poison to him when he was sick.

“I’ll see if I can contact her next time.”

Seoyoon was lingering around in Morata.

People were wandering around within the bustling town.

“The weather is getting warmer.”

“Maybe it’s time for the town to start getting some new clothes? It’s not going to be easy to work in winter clothing.”

“Monsters are going to get more active in this kind of weather. We need to get the walls repaired to stop monsters from invading.”

The townsfolk were working and talking. They were doing things from smithing farming tools to making fabric for clothes.

Productivity in Morata had increased significantly because of the recent festival and many houses in the local area were reconstructed.

Alveron politely addressed him.

“Weed-nim, I will return to the village with the rest of the priests and assist the townspeople.”

“Thank you for all the help.”

“Yes. You can call us anytime if monsters invade.”

The village was under the protection of the Church of Freya so many priests and paladins were staying in Morata.

The village elder was roasting a sweet potatoe as Weed came back from his travels.

“Welcome back, hero-nim.”

“I have returned.”

“Are you here to turn in the commission I gave you?”

“Yes, but more than that I am hungry.”

Weed loved food.

But he did not excessively eat it. If fullness was excessively full, then stamina was quickly exhausted. However, he did not give up a situation where he could get free food!

Beggar instincts.

The ability to find food in any situation!

“To give the hero of the village a mere sweet potato...”

“That’s fine.”

“Well, the polite thing would be to serve food so...”

“Thanks, I appreciate it.”

“No, the pleasure is mine.”

The village elder, with tears in his eyes, offered him the sweet potato.

As Weed ate the sweet potato that was soaked in kimchi.

Satiety has been filled.

Stamina has increased by 10%.

It was a simple dish of sweet potatoes.

Compared to Weed’s intermediate cooking skills, the food wasn’t very good but the effect to fully fill satiety was priceless.

Weed ate the sweet potato quickly.

“The Nifleheim Emperor did not run away. He pulled the cowardly monsters into the valley and he overpowered them with the Serbian Witch's Broken Beads.”

Ttiring!

The King’s Glory quest has been completed!The Divine Emperor Nifleheim IV sacrificed himself to protect his people. But the results were not as he had wanted.

The weather in the northern lands went out of control until the Serbian Witch's Beads were restored.

– Fame has increased by 3200

– Friendship with Morata's citizens increased by 100.

– Public value points with Morata village increased by 3200. Regional public value points for Morata village can be seen in the public service values window.

– Morata village public value: 9800

– You have leveled up!

– You have leveled up!

– You have leveled up!

– You have leveled up!

– You have leveled up!

– You have leveled up!

– You have leveled up!

...

The level gain was huge, but even more so was increase in fame.

Weed thought.

‘Quests related with the honor of a kingdom are in a whole another level of rewards.’

The village elder took something wrapped in a cloth from the depths of a drawer.

“At least in the end I retain my honor as a noble of the Nifleheim Empire.”

Frankly, Weed found it a little hard to believe. A nobleman of the empire was so desperate now that he could barely keep a sweet potato for himself. But even that Weed took away from him and ate. To think this was the condition of the leader of the village.

“The day that the Empire fell, the Imperial treasures were scattered and all that remains is this bracelet. Hero-nim, since you found the fate its true owner, I feel you deserve this.”

Items earned as compensation for the quest.

It was hard to get good items such as rings, necklaces, and accessories.

Weed’s heart was beating so fast as he hurried to check it.

“Identify!”

Ttring!

The King’s Bracelet:

Durability 30/30.A treasure of the Nifleheim Empire. Refined beauty and a variety of magical abilities. An incredibly finely crafted piece of jewelry embedded with gems. Restrictions:

Level 450.

Reputation 100,000.

Options:

Maximum mana increased by 55%.

All stats + 15.

Mana regeneration increased by 20%.

Charm + 30.

Typically it was unassociated with combat abilities, but it had the precious option of increasing mana and regeneration so that substantially increased its value.

Much better than what Weed lost when he died.

‘Never thought I’d get something this good.’

He regretted that he didn’t get any better items from the dragon.

However, the rewards from the quest did not disappoint him.

It was incomparable to his current armor and items.

If he put the bracelet on the item trading site, it would turn the place upside down.

A considerable amount of people would start a bidding war.

The quicker the mana regen, the more often you can use skills.

You would be able to hunt and raise skill mastery faster.

He had gotten a few rings from Lavias.

Later on he had gotten the Ring of the High Priest.

Each increased his mana regeneration by 10%.

The village elder was about to finish his speech.

“Under Hero-nim’s mighty shoulders the fate of this village may be changed.”

“Yes?”

“Hero of the village, you are our glimmer of hope. Please do not refuse.”

Ttiring!

Elder’s proposal to become the Count of Morata. Morata was a renowned producer of high quality cloth and leather for generations. The True Blood Vampires took over the territory once, but now humans inhabit once more. The village elder has offered the position of ruler to one of the two heroes of the village. Great adventurers with high friendship with the people will not be able to refuse.

Able to tax crops and trade monthly. Able to strengthen military power. If the lord occupies another city or castle of a certain size or population by force, the rewards will increase.

– You have become the Count of Morata.

– The title Count of Morata is now available.

– Fame has increased by 2500.

– Charisma has increased by 30.

– Leadership has increased by 20.

Proposal cannot be denied!

Familiarity with the residents increased its effects. On the spur of the moment, he became the ruler of the province.

* * *

Weed went out of the village Elder’s house and saw a little girl.

She was making a very small outfit.

“Oh, you are?”

“Yea. What are you doing?”

“Baby clothes. Haven’t you heard that there are a lot of kids in our town? It’s my dream to make clothes but we need to farm since we don’t have enough farmers.”

Weed nodded. Morata was historically known for its famous sewing productions.

‘That’s right. I still have the quest for having I planted flowers in the Valley of Death.’

“Have the flowers of hope chased away the spirit of death?”

“The seeds you have given me have grown into grass, flowers and trees that have soaked its surrounding around in a sweet scent.”

“Thank you, thank you very much.”

Ttiring!

You have completed the Plant Flowers quest. In the valley, flowers and trees now grow and can safely be passed without the danger of monsters. The seeds cultivated by man will spread widely by the wind and grow into a forest.

– Fame has increased by 1600.

– Friendship with Morata citizens has increased by 120. Residents will more or less heed your orders.

– Morata Village public value: 10,400

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

– You have leveled up.

Once again he leveled three times.

He was a bit disappointed. He had huge expectations of the quest. Not everyone was able to do an A ranked quest.

‘However, to think it only gave three levels.’

Weed breathed a deep sigh.

‘This is the kind of luck I have. What was I expecting.’

Still levels did not mean everything.

Leveling only meant a slight rise in stats. He would need to raise his skill masteries and other stats or else he would end up dead later on from being underskilled!

Weed was well aware of this, but still it was a quest. At least the increase in fame and public service points were far higher than usual.

Then she said again.

“You have to wait.”

“Huh?”

“I wanted to give you something.”

She hurriedly went inside her house. Afterwards she brought out two things wrapped in paper.

A map and a bow!

“This is my friend’s map that I promised you. For helping me, please accept this bow as compensation.”

Items have been acquired as compensation for the quest.

It was a poorly drawn map that looked like a child drew it.

“Identify!”

Freely drawn map: Durability 3.A map of some place.

It seems to locate an area.

The problem was the lines on the map and the triangles for mountains.

“I have to go find this thing.”

He let out a sigh. However, the bow felt a little bit different. There seemed to be a big difference between normal bows and this bow’s materials and composition.

“Identify!”

High Elf Bow:

Durability 65/65. Damage 98. Range 18.A High Elf creates one bow in their lifetime. Due to its scarcity, the rarity of it is uncompared. Finding elves were very difficult in the human world and even more difficult for a human to befriend one and receive this bow as a gift. Imbued with the power of Sprites. Restriction:

Level 400.

Agility 1000.

Archer related profession.

Options:

+40% chance to hit

+40% range.

User can move very rapidly.

The damage done by arrows is elemental damage.

Affinity with spirits +5%.

For a short while he didn’t say anything.

‘Jackpot!’

As of yet, this was one of the most superb items!

The High Elf Bows were one of the most coveted items of the archer class.

Chapter 8: The Tower of Light

As soon as Lee Hyun came out of the capsule, he logged onto the item trading site.

– Buying Elven Bow.

– Looking to buy an Elven Bow, regardless of whether its a dark elf bow or a wood elf bow.

– Paying large amounts for a rare or unique level 300 bow. Willing to pay a lot more than the usual market value.

The posts bombarding the board reflected the number of archers there were in the game. Prices were very high because of the limited supply.

Weed smiled at this.

‘This is good.’

The High Elf Bow!

If he placed it on the auction site then he could get a very high amount for it.

The value of level 400 weapons were high. Then there were the various options it had on it, such as high damage and long range.

There were too many advantages on the elven weapons to count.

“With that kind of money, it would be 2 to 3 months of savings spent on living.”

Lee Hyun was excited.

He would have registered the King’s Bracelet and the High Elf Bow on the auction site, but he decided not to on impulse.

It was not an exaggeration to say that unique items could be cashed in at any time.

However putting them on sale came with a price.

“Other people can’t be the only ones with good items.”

The purpose of good items was to be worn and ultimately become stronger!

He decided to keep it for himself for the time being.

Instead of looking further, Lee Hyun stood up and left the house.

“Its been awhile since I’ve felt this good.”

Lee Hyun headed off to the supermarket.

* * *

The supermarket was built on the fifth floor of a department store building, with many customers coming and going.

It was highly unusual for Lee Hyun to be in this place.

‘Discount stores seem to advocate low prices but the quality is cheap.’

The usual Lee Hyun absolutely did not go to supermarkets. Generally the price of produce and poultry was expensive. With goods like meat and eggs, it could not compare to street markets. The only exception was inexpensive items and buy one get one free sales.

‘Looking around there’s a lot of useless things. Most of them are priced higher than usual.’

He could not believe his eyes. Looking at the prices, shopping at a supermarket would often exceed his budget. Even arguing its advantages that it was convenient did not make up for how much would be save from shopping at a street market. Lee Hyun came to such a store.

Lee Hyun grabbed a cart.

“Okay, time to shop!”

He was shopping to celebrate his good luck!

He chose items that you could not imagine people usually getting.

He chose a large number of inexpensive goods instead of brand names.

“Maybe two more boxes of Chewy Choco Pies. I think I should be fine with three boxes. Three boxes. Hm, maybe I should get four?”

Lee Hyun was conflicted for a moment then shook his head.

“Oh, of course. I can get four or five boxes, but four boxes will be sufficient and I bet that I won’t need more. Hahaha! These sweets are delicious.”

However, it was different for the grocery purchases.

Olive oil was twice as expensive as normal cooking oil!

He bought a container of salt that was individually packaged.

He wanted to see the difference in salt that was 200 won more expensive!

“It’s a little bit of luxury.”

* * *

Every bit of Seoyoon’s gameplay was recorded by Cha Eunhee.

“I’m a little envious. It would be nice if I could go on adventures like that.”

She started to investigate Weed whenever he appeared.

It was very hard to find people that were famous on the internet.

She knew his name, but not what he was like in the past.

The only information she found was that he did unbelievable things in the Continent of Magick, and that he was now on a quest in Royal Road.

The information in front of Cha Eunhee was insane. Here was a person, with as small as a one in a million chance, that somehow got lucky and became famous worldwide.

“A great user...and he’s very famous.”

She didn’t want to believe it until she saw it with her own eyes.

It was then that she found and saw the quests in the videos. Hunting down the True Blood Vampires, the creation of the pyramid, and the great battle on the Plains of Despair that everyone was talking about!

It was then that Cha Eunhee became a fan of Royal Road.

Because of this she became more enthusiastic.

“Weed really is the most favorite adventurer.”

A passion of hard work!

Cha Eunhee was immersed in the idea of drowning herself in patience in order to solve a quest.

This was true in many of Weed’s adventures. Whether it was the fight against the True Blood Vampires or the Plains of Despair, he experienced and won over the tough quests. However, they were not the only important quests on the Versailles continent.

An expedition from a kingdom going to explore an unknown jungle.

Adventurers going off to explore new ruins and dungeons.

Taking on a quest to clear out a den of thieves, who were former nobles.

Traveling to new kingdoms and having thrilling adventures and quests were some of the most important elements that comprised the Versailles continent.

But Weed’s adventures had something special in them that others usually did not.

That was what Cha Eunhee wanted to find out.

“Even with a step-by-step approach and passion, unforeseen circumstances will forcefully interfere with their efforts. That’s why people readily give up.”

Most quests fail. With higher difficultly quests the probability of failure increases. Weed was as human as anyone else but people can’t help but watch his quests.

Unexpected behavior was a unique aspect of Weed’s.

Unlike most people, he solved his quests with not just his strength or levels but with something innovating.

The excitement and the tension.

The passion he had when he was commanding the Orcs and the Dark Elves.

People were surprised with his fighting abilities, but it was the way he behaved, his spirit that fascinated people.

“He’s been gaining popularity for a reason. In the aftermath of his supremacy in the Continent of Magic, he’s now forging a new legend in Royal Road. People can’t help but look on fondly.”

Cha Eunhee had to admit it. She did not remember how many times she turned back to the scene of Weed fighting against the dragon. Most people watched it about a dozen times or more.

Weed was going to be more famous than ever.

It was then that Cha Eunhee got a surprise when she was watching a video that was in Seoyoon’s capsule.

– Friend...

Even if it was only for a single syllable, Seoyoon opened her mouth to speak.

Unless someone loved torturing themselves, Seoyoon did not want to be separated from Weed and had to speak.

Weed then responded to her words.

Seoyoon didn’t have the time to say anything else.

“I guess it’s been so long since she’s said anything that she couldn’t reply.”

Cha Eunhee felt bad for her. For someone like Seoyoon who lived for so long without speaking would forget how to talk to others. Talking would become awkward and she wouldn’t want to say anything embarrassing.

* * *

After Pale and Romuna returned from the Yuroki Mountains they warmly welcomed Yurin.

‘So this is Weed’s sister.’

Hwaryeong had not known that Yurin was his favorite family member. Everyone was a bit skeptical that Yurin was joining the party. Pale scratched his head.

“This is too dangerous...Yurin are you going to be fine coming along with us?”

As the leader of the party he asked carefully so that she could avoid getting hurt.

“Look...the Yuroki Mountains are not easy places to hunt. There’s a lot of monsters and sometimes we get killed. Wouldn’t it be better if we to go to a place that helps beginners?”

Yurin thought for a moment and then shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. It’s better if it’s more difficult.”

“It’s going to be really dangerous...”

“I understand. I’ll just look for somewhere safe to paint the monsters.”

“Well, go ahead then. Call us if you’re in danger. We will protect you.”

“Okay.”

Yurin sat down on an empty spot and took out a bunch of painting materials.

A few moments later she drew a picture of Pale shooting a monster with arrows.

Shah syasyasyak!

Yurin moved the pencil quickly across the canvas. She then painted a piece of murderous ogres running around.

Ttiring!

– You have used drawing skills.

You have painted an ogre. A big success!

The piece has been named Ogres. The drawing has made the Ogres more brutal.-Drawing skills have improved.

With that, the Ogres evolved into named monsters.

Monsters with names are 20% stronger. However, this was done intentionally because named monsters have more experience and better drop rates.

This was a hidden skill of the painters!

“Oh, named monsters.”

“Surka, buy me some time so that I can prepare a strong magic spell.”

“Okay, Unni.”

The party had to fight fiercely against the monsters that got buffed from the painting.

Yurin began to scribble over the picture of the ogres.

She gave beards to the scarred murderous faces of the ogres. She also gave them glasses and made them hold a book as if they were conducting a performance.

- You have used the Doodle skill.

The Ogres will now become lazy and gentle natured.

The enemy is suffering from a wound on his sides. This area will be his major weakness.

Yurin was very helpful with her paintings even though she did not engage in combat. Looking at her silently hold the painting to herself, wearing her cowl hat, made people want to give her a hug.

But the images she was painting were quite bloody. It was quite a sight to see the ogres, known as the lords of the forest, being tossed around like rabbit. The heads of the ogres were skewered by 3 beautiful golden snakes.

Yurin was a very pretty girl but the picture showed the cruel reality.

Inhumane abuse!

Pale nodded a little.

‘Her brother really is Weed.’

In Yurin’s veins flowed the same blood as Weed.

* * *

Viewership was always rising over news about the Versailles Continent.

Oh Juwan and Shin Hye Min were on a program having a discussion with a number of experts.

“A few days ago a combat based profession player took over a castle.”

“Warriors and Knights seem to be the most popular classes to own castles. There are a few mages but they aren’t exactly many.”

“Professions that are good with leading others into combat seem to be good.”

“However, for the first time, a blacksmith has appeared with enough money to become the lord of a castle.”

The specialists for the Versailles Continent argued about their opinions.

“Impossible.”

“I have no idea how that could have been done.”

“Was it merely a coincidence? Or maybe there were special circumstances?

Several things changed after the castle was bought.

An increasing number of residents were interested in metal. Residents would talk about metal and hand out quests related to it. Usually smelting a certain ingredient or making a special item.

The number of quests for blacksmiths were limited. Most of the time the quest was too hard for the blacksmith to complete. There was also the fact that a lack of fame made it more difficult for blacksmiths to receive quests. Because there were hardly any quests available, blacksmiths had to work for days to increase their skill proficiency.

In the blacksmith’s castle the quests were very basic. But the rewards for those quests were quite decent. By making the appropriate armor and weapons for the quest, fame raised quite quickly. The weapons depended on what the quest referral wanted and may require more skill than available. Even if the result was poor, the blacksmith would still receive a considerable amount of training. This lightened the burden considerably.

“I think, thanks to this castle, the blacksmiths class and other crafters will receive better treatment.”

“Crafters?”

Han Gil’s eyes shone.

This did not happen often.

“Yes. My guess is, with the heightened interest thanks to this new castle, the value of blacksmiths will increase considerably.”

“Then that means...”

All eyes were looking towards the expert.

“The castle lord’s profession will have a large impact on the continent.”

All of the conclusions were converging towards a single point. Otherwise people wouldn’t be able to understand the situation.

Shin Hye Min asked cautiously.

“What kind of changes can we expect to see because of the new blacksmith lord?”

“It’s a little early to make any definite conclusions.”

With that they began beating around the bush with idle conversation. Then he said.

“The first development we should expect to see in that castle is the the level of technology should advance more quickly than other cities. The blacksmiths will sell a larger number of weapons and armor. Moreover, the quality of these items will constantly improve.”

“In other words, this means that this is going to be that castle’s specialty?”

“That seems to be the case. From the information gathered so far, the standard of weapons is currently higher than usual and there are signs of positive effects. Raising soldiers in the castle will be considerably easier than raising mages.”

Shin Hye Min nodded at what the experts said.

With combat based castle lords could raise strong soldiers easily. Wizards lords increased the overall magical power. Yet blacksmiths were able to have a similar impact as a combat related profession.

* * *

When Weed returned to the Versailles Continent, the sun had already gone down and it was evening already.

The clear jewel like stars were twinkling in the sky.

Dark clouds loomed overhead of Weed. Harsh thunder bolts rained down from the sky. The entire rest of the Continent was busy watching the televisions.

“Damn! This cursed profession forcefully made me into the Lord.”

His complaining and lamenting over his cursed profession did not disappear.

Rhodium City of Artists.

In reality it was a city infested with beggars.

There was no guarantee that someone would try and overthrow Morata after Weed took over.

Exploiting high taxes!

Ripping off the residents and squeezing out large taxes.

Raising soldiers to fight monsters to earn him items and money!

For Weed being a vicious dictator was truly his dream.

“Honestly, what is peace... there is no need for any of that. Anything beats being a beggar.”

Weed wanted to be a dictator.

But a lot of traders did not come through Morata because it was far from being a metropolis. Famous fortresses did not border it nor were there well developed hunting grounds.

“But being a Lord should come with some benefits right? Regional status window!”

Lord Weed was allowed to use that command.

Region of Morata

A region that once was part of the Niflheim Empire.

In the past the Emperor brought the land prosperity but now it is hard to imagine it.

Military Force

20

Economic Power

90

Culture

120

Technology

190

Religious Influence

80

Public Order

88%

City Development Rate

269

There are currently no soldiers so a regiment of vigilantes exists in its place.

For one year the province will have the protection of the Church of Freya.

There are few buildings.

The residents are very poor.

Merchants used to visit this land.

Needs rapid development to quickly improve the livelihood of the residents.

Festivals and sculptures make the residents more happy.

Requires more cultural facilities for the residents to put behind their harsh past.

Former cloth and sewing industry is on the decline.

The local population believe in the Church of Freya as their religion.

In the future, it is likely that it will become the central faith of the Kingdom.

Specialties: Leather and Cloth.

Total Population

7,863

Monthly Tax Income

2300 Gold

Village Operating Expenses

Military

20%

Economy

20%

Village Maintenance

45%

Donations to the Church of Freya

15%

The information he got was in itself.

“Its not even at the level of Baran Village in the kingdom of Rosenheim!”

The towns in the southern part of Rosenheim were constantly being attacked by monsters.

Now that he thought about it, the town had been reduced to ruins by the vampires and that halted its development.

Weed quickly regretted it. He usually had a lot of regrets but he could feel this one tingling in his bones.

“I even got the salt that was 200 won more expensive. This must be my punishment.”

Developing the military and the economy would require a large sum of money. It would take hundreds of thousands, no millions, of gold to advance Morata into an enviable city.

Weed did not have the time or money to afford it.

“The position is nothing more than a luxury for a Dark Gamer.”

At this time, seventy six of the lords on the Versailles Continent in the various kingdoms were users. Most of them have and are attending college.

By governing and improving a town you get fame and fortune! However, it was not an easy task.

* * *

There were various mountains around the town of Morata.

After the ice that had piled up melted, the surface of the rock was exposed.

Weed climbed the mountain while holding Zahab’s Carving Knife.

“I have to force my body!”

Extreme physical labor!

No matter if it was day or night, Weed never forgot to make sculptures.

When the sun rose, he had made many sculptures. There were strong tough men with weapons such as swords dancing around. When the moon rose, there were women as well. But Weed did not stop there.

“Moonlight Sculpting!”

The unique sculpting ability to emit light.

The difficulty of sculpting went up when using the skill.

Jjeojeosal!

He worked on the rock to make a slender arm.

It was softer, unlike the other rocks he had used in the past. To keep the feel of the sculpture he had to pay attention to the materials.

Seoyoon.

He had spent several months with her.

It was very difficult to sculpt various people doing different things such as dancing.

A girl dancing on one leg.

Four soldiers brandishing long spears.

It was very easy to break.

It was inevitable since he had yet to master moonlight sculpting.

“I can’t help it if it fails.”

Weed boldly took the loss. But it was worth it.

Shirtless men showing off around the campfire.

Women doing sensual and provocative dances.

The dancing was full of energy!

The Memory of the Night Festival in Morata had been created.

It took over ten days to complete.

– Please set the name of the statue.

Weed had thought in advance and gave it a noble name.

“A Night in Morata.”

Somehow he made a titled piece! He was reminded of a movie he saw when he was a kid. Weed couldn’t quite remember the name but he went with it.

– A Night in Morata, correct?

“Yeah.”

Ttiring!

A moonlight sculpting masterpiece! You have completed the piece A Night in Morata!

A piece that represents people dancing!An astonishing dance full of passion and energy was born. Unfortunately the sculpture was damaged a few times during creation. Incomplete sculpture.

Because of the reputation for being an excellent sculpture, it does not appear to be a mistake.

The sculptor gave this piece endless possibilities.

This piece will be talked of for many years.

No one will forget the creative and artistic skills that the sculptor used.

The name of this sculpture will remain in the history of the Versailles Continent.

Artistic Value:

An excellent work created by the Sculptor Weed. 6300

Options:

The statue A Night in Morata gives

15% increased Health and Mana regeneration during the day.

30% increased Health.

All stats increased by 10.

All chef, dancer, and bard skills are one level higher.

Other statue effects do not overlap.

Number of Moonlight masterpieces so far: 1

– Sculpting skills have improved.

– Handicrafting has increased to advanced level 4. An additional 8% increase to all handtools and it will affect various areas.

– Sculptural Understanding has increased by 1 level.

– Fame has increased by 110.

– Art stats have increased by 5.

– Stamina has increased by 1.

– All stats increase by 2 for create a Moonlight masterpiece.

“Kuehuehuehuehue!”

Weed had a wicked smile.

Advanced handcrafting level 4!

Every time the skill rose, his damage increased by 8% and his crafting products would have better effects.

The sculpting class was amazing because of the ability to learn all crafting skills and access to the handicrafting skill, as well as the amazing two times growth rate for skills.

Royal Road’s hope for below average classes.

A skill that displays true physical effort!

Handicrafting!

He recently learnt the truth.

Handicrafting rapidly raised the Sculpting skill. It also widened the number of skills affected by Handicrafting.

It boosted all manner of production skills with more gentle handling, such as picking herbs. It made sewing more elaborate and helped to restore the durability of repaired items. Even mages needed some level of Handicrafting. One could not hope to increase the Handicrafting by focusing on one skill and repeating the same thing over and over.

Therefore, one needed a large variety of skills and training to boost the Handicrafting skill.

In other words, endless physical labor!

The embodiment of physical labor in all skills.

Whenever he got a level in Handicrafting, Weed could not help but smile.

“Handicrafting increased a level. Hehe, I should work hard and make another light sculpture.”

Weed looked to see that there was no one else around. Then he started to dance around vulgarly with the carving knife using Moonlight Sculpting.

“It’s like winning a lottery ticket after getting dealt a bad hand. It doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun.”

Simple and easy! Sometimes he expressed his delight like a crazy man. It was his one act of comfort from having to constantly repeat the same thing over and over.

“204 hours of hard work yet it came out flawed.”

Weed painfully reflected on his work.

He was not sleeping or eating properly and it had affected his work.

“If I worked 6000 hours this month, my goal for next month should be 6001 hours. That is what it means to be truly devoted to hard work.”

If he was given a lot of money, he would sew on doll eyes for 100 years!

The finished work however would have to be successful compared to the effort involved.

Weed put a massive amount of work into his sculptures but a few still ended up as failures.

“There’s still time left.”

Weed went towards the rocks without a break.

He had to go to Todeum but he could afford a little time.

For the next sixty days of the Versailles continent, Weed sculpted from the rocks in the mountains. He managed to make a couple dozen classic pieces, four grand pieces, and one masterpiece.

With that, he managed to reach Advanced Sculpting.

* * *

A large number of adventurers arrived in the town of Morata.

People used to stay away because of the severe weather, but now it had subsided.

Since the air and weather was refreshing, it was no surprise that monsters and adventurers started to appear.

“It’s a village!”

“According to the map, this is Morata.”

“Let’s check out the place.”

Villagers looked at the town in amazement.

Most of the northern towns had been devastated. With all the monster attacks, public security was a mess. In most towns, the monster had invaded too far.

They were less than villages and more like hunting grounds.

Monsters would trot around freely, eating and killing humans!

“In case something happens, I will lead the group. I leave healing up to you.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of the treatment.”

The party of five cautiously approached the village.

This party was quite famous in the Versailles Continent.

Behind the party was a total of 300 people.

People sought to explore the northern continent. They thought it would be safe once they entered a town. However it was early in the morning and that was the time that monster activity peaked!

The party raised their vigilance whenever they entered a village.

“Welcome!”

“Welcome to our village.”

The Morata citizens greeted them in unison.

“We sell tough durable clothes in Morata.”

“We also sell armor with high defense and clothes for women.”

The adventurers went around Morata’s specialties shops. They looked around at the trees and the ground. One of them nervously asked.

“What is that over there?”

This was usually not seen in a village.

The reason was soon revealed.

The adventurers saw a bunch of cute boys and girls holding a bunch of pretty sculptures!

“Selling sculptures of flowers, rabbits, deer, as well as high quality pieces! There are also sculptures of monsters from Morata, such as the wolves.”

The residents were trying to make money somehow. They were trying to earn money like how Weed earned chump change in the beginning.

Then they saw a vacant lot where Weed was sitting.

“Gear for sale, traditional antiques from the Nifleheim empire, as well as iron armor and clothes! There is no doubt about the elegance of the antique patterns!”

Weed piled swords and armor next to him.

“Swords! Iron goods from the master blacksmiths of the ancient Nifleheim Empire! Get this chance now before it passes. It’s not going to be here tomorrow!”

The treasures of the Nifleheim Empire. After so many years, the weapons and armor deteriorated and are now sold as antiques.

“Men, show off to women your love with these clothes and this sword. As for women, this dress was worn by the third princess of the past lord of Morata during a ballroom dance where she was proposed to. Imagine it...”

Weed built up on the items with story.

“What is that guy?”

“A merchant?”

“Let’s check it out.”

The adventurers found themselves interested in Morata village.

They were surprised at the unexpectedly good performance of the stockpiled rusty swords and armor.

“What is this.”

“The damage on the rusty longsword is so good. I wonder how great it used to be?”

“That sword!”

“I like the dress.”

People flocked.

It was after they heard and saw the unexpectedly good performance of the items.

“Ajussi, how much is this dress?”

Weed smiled brightly as he answered.

That rotten fake smile!

“3600 gold.”

“Aegyae! I could buy clothes in the central continent for 3200 gold...and besides these clothes are old.”

Some people were reluctant to buy after finding out the price.

The performance was fine but it was overpriced!

The equipment was old so the durability was 20% lower.

Weed picked up the clothes.

“It looks like I did not repair it yet. Repair, polish, ironing!”

Repairing old clothes!

Using his sewing and blacksmith skills he could return them to their original state. Of course it was impossible to do complete repairs. The polishing would also disappear over time. Repairing them gave the treasures of the Niflheim Empire durability equal to common items but there was more. It had been so long since they have been repaired that the increase of durability and the change in the appearance of the items were spectacular.

“Please decrease the price a little more.”

“You know the clothes are too shabby.”

The guests complained while trying to beat him in a price war.

Weed also actively utilized engraving.

There was the sculpture of the beautiful woman that Zahab loved his entire life.

As well as Emperor Geihar Arpen that united the continent.

He was selling food along with the items.

“Original old styles are fashionable these days. I’m in a good mood so I’ll alter anything you want. I’ll carve whatever you want into it.”

This boosted the value of the items. Equipment performance was not the only aspect. No matter the performance, people wanted to look nice as well.

Nicely engraved equipment and sculptures worked to give a slight stat boost.

“Come! Come! Cheap! Cheap! Celebrate coming to Morata with a new set of equipment! It will be hard to find equipment like this anywhere else except here in northern Morata. An opportunity like this passes by in no time!”

Weed’s hands and mouth were moving non-stop as he advertised.

“What do you think?”

“The quality is not that bad. It’s hard to find stuff like this in the stores.”

“It looks comfortable and lightweight.”

Weed sat by quietly wondering how many people were going to buy.

“Customers should think about purchasing now rather than later! There’s limited stock so if you don’t hurry it might all run out!”

When there were limited amounts then price went up.

Weed sold the equipment so well that he sold food of the Nifleheim Empire for the rest of the time.

* * *

Adventurers in Morata Village!

They were all wearing similarly designed weapons and armor.

Dirty, old, and colorful clothing and armor!

It was questionable whether or not the swords with cracks in them could cut a tree.

Nevertheless the adventurers were satisfied.

“I think that for equipment this good it was reasonably priced.”

“Yea. It’s good even if the durability is a bit low.”

“It just means we have to repair it a little more often.”

Weed wickedly sold low durability equipment after repairing them to temporarily give them more durability and defense.

Of course it was still less expensive than the plated armor sold in stores.

The adventurers did not have much money left.

“I don’t have any money left on me.”

“Then let’s go hunting.”

“Let’s see if we can get some quests.”

The adventurers split up to talk to the residents.

They didn’t know whether or not it was dangerous outside the city. Therefore they went looking for information about hunting grounds in the surrounding area.

If you raised your friendship level with the residents then you would get better quests and clues about dungeons. Fortunately the villagers were very kind to the adventurers.

“Behind the village is the Lord’s black castle. Sometimes monsters gather near there every year.”

“Did you know? East of the village there is a river made from the melted ice and snow. Rumor is that if you bathe in it then your charm will increase.”

“Hunting grounds? North, East, South, West; no matter where you go the ancient Nifleheim Empire is infested with monsters! Can you go hunt down the monsters and collect their skin so I can turn it into leather?”

“There’s a famous band of robbers northeast of here in the mountains. They started to become more active. There are going to be wagons coming through there as well. However, there will be other monsters that attack. It would be nice if you could go assist them and clear out the bandit base.”

Quests related to Morata’s specialty of cloth and leather were available too. They would easily exchange materials for money.

Some of the residents said.

“Have you been to the mountains to the east of the village? There are many great sculptures that fill us with pride and confidence.”

“Sculptures?”

“Can you help me? My husband went to see them in the middle of the night. I hear that its dangerous there at that time.”

The adventurers were curious.

“Which residents have we not spoken to yet?”

“Should we go check it out?”

The adventurers went to that place in the rocky mountains that they heard about.

Hundreds of thousands of rocks were piled on the mountain.

Surprisingly many of the rocks were crafted.

Rock sculptures. Nothing comparable to something like a mountain, but there was quite a lot of them.

A sculpture of the villagers entertaining themselves in a festival!

Many of the sculptures symbolized the paladins of the Versailles Continent’s Church of Freya.

The sculptures were gradually built up along the mountain on each level.

It all led to the pinnacle of the sculptures.

You have seen Morata’s symbol. A tower built for the well-being and development of the town!An excellent and skillful sculptor crafted this with all his heart, greatly increasing its artistic value.

- Health and mana increased by 10%.

- 3% increase in the town’s productivity.

- Monsters are less aggressive in the area around the sculpture.

Morata’s warriors has been seen. Strong health and tenacity!The appearance of the warriors of the Versailles Continent is enough to fill you with courage to fight the monsters.

Stamina and Strength increased by 3%.

Monster’s Fighting Spirit does not apply.

Increases the chance of gaining Fame when you defeat a strong monster.

The effects of various sculptures!

The sculptures on top of the mountain would be considerably helpful for hunting.

The adventurers gaped in surprise.

“Why are there so many sculptures here?”

“Who do you think made all these sculptures?”

Questions began to pop up.

Buildings and other works gradually age with time.

In other words, it was not possible for these to be remnants of the ancient Niflheim Empire.

These sculptures were still fresh!

The sculptor that made these had created them recently.

“Weed! It was Weed!”

“Sculptor Weed?”

“That’s right. Who else but Weed would do such hard work?”

Weed was the most famous sculptor that was named in the rumors. He was known for the hard work in creating the pyramid in Rosenheim Kingdom.

Among the adventurers, many of them had heard of Weed.

“Perhaps it was the guy that sold us the items.”

“After making sculptures in Rosenheim, now he’s here.”

“Since he disappeared for six months, do you think he was making sculptures here?”

“I think he was a part of the expedition.”

“I see. Did you see his sword and armor?”

“They’re exactly the same.”

It was rumored that Weed had blacksmithing and tailoring skills during the expedition.

“He raised blacksmithing and tailoring...”

“Both of them are very difficult to do...”

“Its like he’s the true god of hard work.”

Not many people had that kind of tenacity.

They still had a few doubts though.

“But Morata Village is where Jeoshin Weed fought against the True Blood Vampires. I’m certain that was his quest.”

“Yea.”

“Then why is Sculptor Weed here? Is it just coincidence?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Maybe they just have the same name or...”

The rest of the people laughed at those that were seriously considering it.

“To think that Jeoshin Weed and Sculptor Weed are the same is ridiculous. Want to find him to see for yourself?”

“Think about it. There are a lot of people named Weed.”

“A sculptor wouldn’t learn blacksmithing and tailoring, right?”

“Well, they would be too busy to learn other crafting skills...”

“Also remember a little back. During the Necromancer quest with the Legion of the Undead, they briefly showed the armor that Weed was wearing.”

People did not know that the blacksmith skill lifted the restrictions on wearing items as the skill rank increased. That was because there were few intermediate level blacksmiths.

A fierce debate broke out over the topic.

“After the defeat of the True Blood Vampires, Weed, at that time, was of the Paladin profession. But Jeoshin Weed received a special Necromancer quest and he was the Orc Karichi. So they can’t be the same.”

“There’s no proof that Jeoshin Weed stayed in the village. He wouldn’t just sit around all day and craft stuff.”

“Hm, you have a point.”

“Yea, you’re right. There is no way that they could be the same person.”

Everyone had their suspicions and were saying something different.

Never forget the value of a single won!

Because of Weed’s telephone interview with CTS broadcasting, many people were not sure whether or not it was him.

“The Jeoshin Weed!”

“He made a major contribution towards the quest to get rid of the heat on the continent.”

“The expedition suffered through much difficulty but thanks to Weed it succeeded.”

“The continent’s savior...there’s no way he can be. Never!”

“I bet he’s in some unknown dungeon doing a quest or killing a monster that no one was able to before.”

“He’s like a hermit, always in places where people will never, ever find him.”

“Yea. That’s right.”

That was what the general conversation was becoming.

His supporters would never dare to imagine that Weed was a money mongerer.

It’s as believable as a pretty female celebrity saying that she’s going to the restroom!

Still, the adventurers had yet to see the most important sculpture.

You have seen the Tower of Light!A great masterpiece made by a skilled sculptor!Sometimes a sculptor leaves behind a work so great that it stuns the continent.

The tower takes on a grander appearance at night and its full characteristics are displayed.

– Health, Mana and Stamina regeneration increased by 25% for the entire day.

– All stats are increased by 15.

– Maximum Health and Mana increased by 15%.

– Movement speed has increased by 20%.

– Luck increased by 100.

– Increases the power of Holy and Elemental Magic.

Statue weakens the nearby forces of darkness, strong monsters will weaken.

When the sun goes down, then a light show will occur.

The Tower of Light sculpture increases defense to 1.5 times the original value.

When the people saw it they did not leave to hunt. They sat down and waited for the sun to set.

“What is this light show?”

“Light sculptures? Are there such things?”

“Either way, the monsters are 50% stronger at night so there’s no point in leaving.”

They sat around relaxing and chatting.

Then night fell.

A pitch dark night.

There were clouds in the sky so they could not see the moon. Nevertheless, the tower radiated warmth and light.

It was as if it was bright jewel, a beacon of light.

“Pretty.”

“It’s like we’re in a dream...”

“I did not know that it would be this good.”

Most people did not like the idea of sculpting.

“The rating is quite high so I suppose it’s decent.”

“I guess it’s a fairly famous sculpture. It’s quite hard to say if its good.”

For those without prior knowledge of art, it was difficult to feel the inspiration.

Even if it was a world famous sculptor, some people can’t be impressed by what it’s supposed to mean or realize why it is special.

However there were people that could appreciate the Tower of Light.

‘Such a profound work of art.’

‘Oh, such an amazing work of art. But how does one learn to make such a thing...’

‘What a sculpture. I saw the other ones nearby but this is a first...it wouldn’t be bad to go to a sculpture exhibit on a date once in awhile.’

‘But why is it so different compared to the others along the path?’

The Tower of Light.

It was solemn and somber; in the cool, pale moonlight there were 7 brilliant hues of clear and transparent light.

Suddenly the clouds over Morata parted. The moonlight poured onto the surface of the tower and scattered. Everywhere around the tower was bathed in the moonlight.

“Oh!”

Sounds of amazement came out of the viewers’ mouths. The tower concentrated light in the center of the tower and dispersed it through the small towers in a mixture of light.

The concentration of light!

Light reflected from the small towers to the central tower.

Reflection of light!

The small towers scattered the light at various angles.

It changed and distorted.

Many rays of light could be seen in the sky.

It spread increasingly as the tower generated light.

Soon it covered the entire mountain!

Therefore they were exposed to the sheen of the light sculptures.

The light danced.

Every time the clouds or the moon moved, the light would dance.

A dance of light that could not be expressed with words.

It was a fantastic sight.

Usually sculpting showed a shape directly. However light sculpting was different as it was not the sculpture being displayed but the light itself.

A piece of art that can be seen but not felt!

The people did not think about leaving that spot.

* * *

A great sculptor made the Tower of Light!

“Morata has a lot of amazing sculptures.”

“The Tower of Light has such a beautiful light display! Anyone that sees it can’t help but be fascinated.”

“The light was spectacular.”

“It was the most wonderful scene I’ve seen by far.”

“If you’re going to a hard dungeon then you will regret not coming to see the tower.”

It did not take a long time for rumor to spread throughout the Versailles continent.

It improved and made his name more well known. Weed worked for the people in the past and had a reputation in sculpting.

The people that were impressed told their friends.

A video was put on the Royal Road website about the Tower of Light so users could watch and talk about it.

The users began to appreciate the production classes.

“Weed is a true sculptor.”

“His sculptures are popping up all over the place. It must be his human desire to constantly have inspiration.”

“I heard that he has a touch with sculpting beautiful woman.”

“He created such an astounding piece of art.

Bards eventually sang praises of Weed.

Sculptor Weed,

He has a tough job but he broke the confines of poverty.

Soul of sculptures.

The sculpture that rules the light.

Oh, it’s so beautiful.

He leaves behind everything he makes.

Like a fairy elf singing and dancing in place.

The legend of gathering the light.

* * *

Other people were thrilled when they saw the Tower of Light.

But the people that know Weed found it hard to believe.

“How is it that Oppa has such a delicate sense of beauty...”

Yurin was suspicious so she asked Hwaryeong.

“He’s very good with his hands right?”

“Yes. I like to eat the apples he peels.”

“I wonder how he made that.”

Pale fell into anguish.

‘Maybe we were wrong about Weed all this time?’

They wanted to see him. Artists are often misunderstood for their sense of aesthetics.

‘Weed! I really love the sculpture you made. You’re right. Without enthusiasm and affection for the sculpture there is no way you can make such a beautiful piece.’

Irene apologized to him tearfully.

‘I though Weed kept talking about how he dislikes his profession... I think in the future the complaints are only going to increase.’

Zephyr grinned.

‘Weed is someone that’s really hard to be proud of. This might be something of an accomplishment for making something like this, right?’

Hwaryeong was mistaken about Weed’s mindset.

‘The creation of a new innovative piece of art requires painstaking effort and passion. Along with a wealth of emotions and affection. Weed really is someone that can warm your heart.’

* * *

When Weed was making the tower he had no idea what to do and was going to make a normal tower.

Moonlight sculpting!

It boasted a high level of sculpting difficulty.

The sculpture itself emits light so it was hard to think of an idea.

“Damn it. There is no end to sculpting’s curses.”

Weed was annoyed with his harness.

He was able to use moonlight sculpting to make small sculptures, to some extent, by outline the shape. But for such a large object, he had to think of one or two things else.

“This damnable sculpting!”

Weed dealt his frustration of hanging on the peak by slashing the rock.

He was dangling high above the ground with the sculpture.

As he was smashing the snow with moonlight sculpting, tears trickled down his face.

So far to note, in the sunlight the effects of light sculpting was greatly diminished. Then night came.

Morata village had a full moon.

The moon shone on the sculptures crookedly. The mirror like surfaces of the rocks reflected the moonlight.

“The light is reflecting off the sculptures and onto the snow!”

Weed was irritated as he clung onto the mountain. He spent hours trying to position the moonlight correctly. Gradually he just slashed to cut the sculpture at more angles.

Chapter 9: Gathering

In the past, the other villages around Morata were devastated from waves of monsters. In the streets piled up with snow, around the buildings with patched up ceilings, many people were gathering around. The thing that captivated everyone’s attention was the glorious statue!

“So Morata is somewhere around here.”

“That’s the place with the Tower of Light!”

“People can’t come to the Northern area without hearing about it at least once.”

“I like how there’s a lot of good monsters to hunt too.”

The number of tourists visiting Morata increased exponentially each day.

“Looking to hunt over at the hills!”

“Going to rescue the fire wizards from the insects in the cave.”

“The name of the quest is ‘Lisa’s Handkerchief’. You can get a high quality handkerchief as the reward for finishing it.”

“Buying food! Is there anyone selling food that lasts longer than a week?”

The vacant lot in the center of Morata village was in an uproar.

Ever since the ice melted in the North, hundreds of thousands of travelers from the central continent moved over. Some of them came to Morata.

Morata was one of the most important geographically positioned paths to the rest of the Northern Continent.

Still, no one expected that such a large crowd of travelers would come.

Moreover, they did not expect to be able to use the town as a base when they were hunting.

The Tower of Light had changed everything.

Wonderful sculptures!

Women were the first people to come and see the beautiful Tower of Light.

“So pretty!”

“I almost feel like I would have regretted it if I didn’t come here.”

They had seen the video, but standing directly on top of the rocky mountain in front of the light choreography was an experience of a lifetime that one would never forget.

It was impressive to see it shining in the moonlight until the sun rose over the plains.

“So this is the sculpture.”

“Even if the class’s attack power is quite low, it’s amazing they can make something like this.”

“I know. There are a number of pieces like this on the Versailles continent.”

Over time the popularity of sculptors grew.

Most of the tourists that came to the rocky mountain was due to the Tower of Light.

There were still a lot of female users, but there were a lot of males as well.

There were couples everywhere!

These men were forced to visit by the women, but there were some classes that visited for more practical reasons.

The life-or-death hunting.

However, less than 10% of the entire Versailles continent actually hunted to this extent.

“Health, Mana and Stamina regeneration are all increased so we can hunt monsters without taking as many breaks.”

“It’s thanks to the Tower of Light that the hunting time has sped up so much.”

“Increased elemental? Have you seen the Tower of Light?”

“Looking for a cleric that has visited the Tower of Light last night!”

The dance of lights.

The effects of the statue eased and hastened hunting.

They wanted to hunt but didn’t want to leave the proximity of Morata Village.

The statue was the symbol of Morata Village!

Because of the advantages of the sculpture they were forced to stay around the village.

The church of Freya was also affected.

The priests and paladins were readily available if one wanted to receive blessings or dispels.

Morata was the only village at the center of the Northern Continent with a church.

As the number of tourists steadily increased, the effects of the statue will continue to develop the amount of quests and hunting grounds.

Weed could not watch over it for long.

Time was approaching for him to go to the Vampire Kingdom of Todeum.

“Call Vampire Lord Tori!”

“You have called me.”

Tori was dressed in black clothing as well as a black cloak.

A handsome pale face!

He was tall and overflowing with grace.

Weed looked over him with his eyes.

“It seems that you have grown since you no longer call me master.”

“Well I mean, in four more days, I’ll be free.”

Vampire Kingdom Todeum!

Only three days left until it was time to go there.

Weed did not forget to remind Tori about the last three years he had him for.

“The last three days can feel longer than the last three years. In the course of the last three days, it wouldn’t harm you to say it.”

“...”

“Hey, tell me more about Todeum.”

Weed wanted to gather more detailed information about Todeum.

“Todeum is our Holy Land. Every three months we get together and celebrate.”

“Celebrate?”

“Yes. The nobility of the night get together and celebrate our eternal lives with blood.”

“What else?”

“Compared to the crude and childish technology of human civilization, the nobility of the night have cities boasting a long history.”

Tori had a tremendous amount of pride and self-esteem for Todeum.

Weed judged.

‘Vampire Lord Tori grew up there so he’s probably embellishing it a bit.’

If it takes a considerable amount of effort to go somewhere then you can expect to be something special there.

It was true for the prestigious kingdom of the dwarves and the kingdom of the elves.

In the kingdom of the dwarves, the bellows and the hammering never ceased.

Elves were aligned with nature so they planted lots of trees and flowers.

Vampires were the nobles of the night so you could seem to expect luxurious and fashionable lifestyles.

‘In addition, this is an exclusive opportunity to get quests and hunting grounds that nobody else have been to before.’

According to Vampire Lord Tori, Todeum was a place that humans haven't been to in the past and will not be able to go to in the future.

So it was only available for Weed!

The number of quests in Morata increased but there were too many tourists. Even for a simple quest, there was a lot of competition.

It was hard to have a monopoly on a hunting ground. It’ll be easier to find people to party and go hunt monsters.

Even though it was worth it to hunt in Morata, it did not even cross Weed’s mind. He could not ignore the doubled experience and benefits of hunting for one week.

Weed wanted more information.

“You can only take a few people, can’t you?”

“It depends on the situation.”

“Situation?”

“Yes. I recall that I have a total of 200,000 bats to take with me to Todeum. It takes about 200 to take a human so I can only take 1000. But if you’re bringing stuff with you then we would have to reduce the number of humans.”

“Is there any limit to the number of people that can go to Todeum?”

“As long as the human being is prepared for death.”

“And what if you die?”

“Anyone that dies in the kingdom of the night is banished to the world of men.”

That meant that there was a significant penalty of dying once since they would not be allowed to respawn in the nearest city but rather expelled from the kingdom.

‘This is going to be very dangerous.’

Weed frowned.

It was not uncommon for people to die in the middle of a quest or hunting. This is because there are others that have already experienced it the first time.

In other words, that was the risk of hunting somewhere this rare since he could die since he didn’t know about the hunting grounds or quests.

Nervous because of not knowing what there was to come!

The situation was unpredictable.

To make matters worse, he couldn’t take along the Wyverns or Geumini. They wouldn’t be able to come back since, when they died, they had no way of reviving.

‘Safety first. It would be crazy to hunt without gathering information. Doing it alone will be difficult. I need to get my most trusted companions.’

Weed sent Pale and three others a whisper.

– Would you like to take the risk of going to Todeum with me?

* * *

After Pale received Weed’s whisper, he asked the others for their opinion.

“The Kingdom of Vampires Todeum. It’s still an undisclosed location so we don’t know how dangerous it is. Weed is trying to find people to go with him and I’m going with him, so what does everyone want to do?”

Currently Pale has the position of leader and this adventure had a significantly high probability of death so he had to see what his companions thought.

Considering what he had said, Maylon answered.

“I want to go.”

Since they were lovers it was no surprise that she was going with him. In addition, whenever Weed went on an adventure there were opportunities to be had.

‘This time we’re fighting under pretty high stakes.’

Maylon had gone hunting with Weed a few times, but she had never truly gone on an adventure or quest with him.

Surka nervously asked Romuna.

"Unnie, are you going?"

“Yes, of course. Won’t the vampire kingdom be very beautiful? It seems to be worth it. Come on, what do you say?”

“I wanna go with you. It’s my duty as a priest to go along.”

Romuna and Surka were vampire fanatics.

When they were young, they were mesmerized by vampire movies.

Pointed fangs!

Black cloaks!

The girls were even fond of the little bloodsucking vampire bats.

Now only Yurin, Hwaryeong, and Zephyr were the only three left to make a decison, as well as Seechwi.

Of course, Zephyr was going along loyally.

“I’m going. Hwaryeong, what are you going to do?”

She already made her decision to go along the very moment Pale mentioned Weed. She wanted to go with him for the Northern Expedition but unfortunately he had refused.

“I’ll be there.”

Now the party turned their attention towards Yurin and Seechwi.

In this case, it would be very dangerous for Yurin since she was very weak.

“I’ll go.”

Yurin wanted to go to Todeum with Weed.

“Chwiik, I’m going too.”

Seechwi decided to go.

It was an Orc’s nature to fight, even if the damage was insignificant.

For a monster, it seemed appropriate to go to dangerous places!

‘But...this time I’m going to get to kill something for sure.’

Seechwi had sorrowfully been a member of their party a few times. Pale’s party was mainly comprised of young people so she seemed to be an old maid.

The generation gap!

Irene and Surka treated the elderly warmly so that made the sorrow even worse.

‘I don’t have a choice as long as Seoyoon is still like that.’

Not too long ago, Seoyoon had finally managed to say something again but since then she had not said anything else. She wasn’t suddenly going to get better, so to get her normal again it would take time for her to regain her words. So in order to recover Seoyoon, Weed’s presence may be an important role. So for her sake, she must go. It was an important reason to stay near Weed.

Mapan was a shameless trader preying on the Orcs!

Mapan always told others.

“Weed is like a teacher to me.”

Obscure means of making money from customers.

Acting like a nice guy to rip people off.

It was essential to use flattery to sell stuff.

An insatiable greed for money!

He had learned the fundamentals of trade from Weed. He even looked in the mirror and practiced until he had a rotten smile.

Mapan was going to participate in the adventure to the vampire kingdom.

It was a huge gain for merchants to go to a new area. It was a great opportunity to exclusively get money, skill and fame from selling. For the Vampire Kingdom Todeum where no one was able to go to, it was something a trader could not pass up.

“This adventure can be an opportunity.”

Mapan did not forget.

Weed had led the Orcs and the Dark Elves against the monsters in the Yuroki Mountains.

Weed had invested tens of thousands of gold in order to affect the battle.

Mapan could not help but feel nervous.

There were benefits to be had in an unfavorable combat situation.

The Lich Shire and the Immortal Legion!

His heart jumped every time as the large number of enemies dwindled.

There was so much tension, excitement and thrills and then it was over.

Mapan wanted to go on such an adventure again.

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5.

Instead of hunting in a party like Pale, they were deep in the Yuroki Mountains with their swords.

Every day, from morning until evening, they would wield their swords.

“We have dedicated our lives to the sword. Aside from the sword, I want the opportunity to meet with women.”

A sense of urgency was contained in Geomchi2’s sword.

The sword was his way of life.

He did not regret it.

If he could, he would walk down the path of the sword once more. It was not about making the body stronger but the mindset of it.

Geomchi had said.

“A man’s home is in the hilt of a sword. Even if the years pass by and one becomes old, the sword will remain young.”

Do not throw away the sword.

Through the sword, you will meet a girl.

But only if you are strong!

The teachers wield their swords their entire lives as single men.

Martial Artist!

It was a job that could use any weapon.

It did not matter if the durability of the sword was going to break from hunting.

Just pick up a weapon and attack the monster.

They ate as if they were starving.

“The mind is clouded when one is hungry.”

That was the mindset of Geomchi, Geomchi2 and Geomchi3.

In reality, they had no problem fasting for three days.

‘I’ll get the ladies by being overwhelmingly fast and powerful.’

‘Famous rare items! You have to get the attention of the ladies.’

‘I want to protect. I want to be taken care of. I want a woman!’

Their thoughts were filled with selfishness as they wield their swords.

It didn’t matter if they were sweating profusely as if it were raining, they did not even think of quitting.

They were completely immersed.

They swung their swords 100,000 times a day.

They wielded their swords even when they were not hunting.

Strength depended on Skill and Stamina, so they only took breaks when they were exhausted.

It took time to move to another hunting ground, and it took considerably more time to find party members.

Even if they got into parties with others, the hunt did not last very long.

But for the Geomchis it was more of a hassle.

Fighting by themselves!

They swung their swords 100,000 times a day.

They did not need any rationalizing.

Once they set a goal, all they did was train.

They did not bother with complex calculations.

It was enough to shed sweat until breathing became difficult.

Such was the only life they knew.

Geomchi2 swallowed his saliva from hunger.

“The right woman for me. I don’t need much. Barley bread and corn today, rye bread tommorow. Any woman would be fine for me.”

Geomchi5 was even lower.

“Kimchi three times a day, Shin Ramen, if you boil in hot water then it’s fine.”

Their standards were getting lower.

“I would be fine even with just eggs.”

Geomchi2 would not be moved and pressed on.

“Keuheu! The eggs do not need to be made do they?”

“How can I meet a woman without this level of devotion? For love one must make sacrifices.”

Geomchi2 had asked.

And then there was Geomchi5.

“Sahyung, I think I would be able to give up meat.”

“Meat!”

The sahyungs admired each other’s determination.

Then almost at the same time their skills rose.

Ttiring!

Weapon mastery has reached Advanced Level 6.

The base damage of all weapons increased to 360%.

There is a 3% increase in attack speed. Mana costs for skills decreased by 4%.

Advanced level 6!

As a martial artist they could learn all weapons instead of just swords.

The weapon skill was becoming closer and closer to the master level.

“If we keep this up, then we will soon reach our goal!”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5 replied back in a shout.

“Yes!”

Increasing the Weapon skill was far from tolerable. Normally people would get sick and tired of swinging a sword all day. Nevertheless, they steadily remained devoted.

On top of the cliff, they continued their monotonous lifestyle.

Geomchi put his sword into the ground.

“Men!”

“Yes Master!”

“Come over here.”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4 and Geomchi5 quickly gathered around.

“Tell us what it is Master!”

“Look at how long we had stayed here.”

Others would be appalled to know that they had stayed up there for the past few months.

“Every now and again don’t you suppose we should quench our burning desires by going off into the world?”

Geomchi asked his disciples for their opinions.

“Yes, I think that sometimes.”

Geomchi5 opened his mouth to laugh and grin.

The moment separating decisions and actions.

In the past they were thought to have unbelievable combat skills. It was scary to think how much they have improved since then.

Now the Geomchis could enjoy the fight.

Geomchi5 blindly followed the Master’s words.

“Master, that is a very good idea. Do you have a place in mind?”

“We do not know much about the Versailles Continent. Don’t you want to go to a place that no one else is able to go to?”

“That would be nice.”

“This time we are going to go along with Weed.”

“So this place is the one with the vampires.”

“Let’s get all of the kids together!”

The Geomchis had separated once to seek individual training.

Now it was time for them to reunite.

Geomchis gather!

The Geomchis that had spread to the far corners of the continent to seek the way of the warrior gathered back together.

They had a wide range of purposes. Some went to find strong swords, others drifted, and few went on quests. Most of them went around trying to find strong people to challenge.

They moderately raised their levels by hunting.

Some even gathered to help the devastated town of Morata.

“My sword skills have reached Advanced Level 3 so I’m a lot stronger now.”

“By doing quests I managed to get 10200 fame.”

“I went to the Northern area and fought along with Bingryong.”

The practitioners were proud of their accomplishments and assembled individually.

They learned to never give up and all manner of tricks to fighting.

Geomchi5 saw in the eyes of the five hundred trainees the spirit of a warrior.

Earlier he had be quietly laughing.

Now he had somewhat of a sneaky smile.

“Youngest one, where were you and what did you do?”

“Kuhuhuhu! You don’t need to know how much pain I was in. But if you need to know, I will tell you.”

“Tell me what has happened to you.”

“Well, Sahyung, the continent has been really hot lately right?”

“I know.”

The practitioners nodded.

Stamina consumption became worse and they began to sweat profusely as it got warmer. Many gathered at the center of the continent because of the surplus of monsters and quests. Others rested after they hunted.

They would not have withstood the heat if it wasn’t for the mentality of the practitioners.

The five hundred Geomchis laughed insidiously.

“The continent was hot so I immediately went to the Selrun River.”

“River?”

“What was there?”

“What sort of monsters attacked you?”

The practitioners were curious.

They had listened to Geomchi2 about the way of the sword.

Their fighting instincts were stimulated many fold while fighting strong monsters.

But he shook his head to show it was not as ridiculous as the five hundred Geomchis were thinking.

“I mean, I didn’t get to see any monsters at all. Selrun River is famous for being pure and transparent. The river flows very quickly so it’s very suitable for swimming.”

“Swimming? You went to the Selrun River to swim?”

“Well, lots of women were there because of the heat wave. Tens of thousands of girls in bikinis.”

“Gulp.”

“Tens, tens of thousands!”

The five hundred practitioners had eyes as if they were sparkling.

“Explain to me in detail what happened and why the hell you were there!”

“Well because of the heat, women were enjoying themselves by splashing around in the river and sprawled over the sand. In the clear and transparent river she was wearing a bikini...hehe I went there with a girl that I’m seeing.”

“So, so envious!”

The instructors and practitioners admitted it.

It seemed much more rewarding than the five hundred and five of them training their swords as warriors!

* * *

Lee Hyun visited the item trading site on a daily basis.

“The High Elf Bow. It’s sale price is gradually increasing.”

As demand increases and supply is short then prices increase.

Lee Hyun took a look at the item trading site and then went to the proud Dark Gamers Union.

On the Dark Gamer’s site you could see a mountain of information based on your rank.

You didn’t have to say anything that you didn’t want to disclose to the public.

It was natural for people to monopolize information.

Needless to say, information was valuable to the Dark Gamers.

The Dark Gamers had access to information that the public generally did not know about.

Lee Hyun’s rank was “C”.

The grade was set at the initial sign-up.

He could not see the hidden information for the important quests and hunting grounds.

Nevertheless, there was still quite a bit of information that could be obtained through the Union.

In general, the information found publicly on the internet was very lacking.

Here it was possible to view information on kingdoms and castles, characteristics of a city, and evaluations of hunting grounds and analysis on materials.

It was a considerable difference from low level articles.

“Sooner or later I have to upload some information to increase my rank.”

Second law of the Dark Gamers.

Give as much as you receive!

In the meantime, for the sake of rewards, Lee Hyun uploaded some information about the North.

Dark Gamers enjoyed hunting and receiving requests to go on adventures.

It was extremely rare to find hunting grounds that weren’t owned by guilds and that you had to pay a fee for.

It was difficult to make money when they constantly had to pay off the guilds.

It was better to go down the more difficult path.

He calculated the amount of information he had from Morata to as far as the Valley of Death, so the information about the wolves would be useful for the Dark Gamers.

Then Lee Hyun checked the commissions on the Dark Gamer’s Union.

There was a number of commissions from purchasing goods, escorting goods, and commissions for the Dark Gamer’s Union to participate in wars.

You could purchase a commission based on rank.

– Red Rank. Number of purchases 12. Metson’s crafted emeralds. They are required for a quest. Looking to receive them within 3 days.

– Blue Rank. Number of purchases 7. We are the Elementals Guild and we are looking for people to save the Elemental Spring.

– Blue Rank. Number of purchases 2. Looking for people to kill a certain person. Message me if you are willing.

Murder was an occasional commission. For Dark Gamers, it did not matter about personal feelings or fairness but simply as a lucrative source of income.

Of course these commission are not always accepted unconditionally. It was harder to make money in Royal Road due to the various constraints of a killer.

So people did not usually take killing commissions unless they are in the need of money.

The killing commissions were the most eye catching ones on the board.

Diamond Rank. Number of purchases 183.

Obtain the Paskran’s Lance. Do not ask why...

I beg you to help me. We can negotiate price after.

Paskran’s Lance!

Even the name of the item was unknown. There were rumors about the person disclosing the information. Just from the name they could tell that it was a unique item. With things like these, there is only one in existance.

“It looks like a quest. Probably he needs to find Paskran’s Lance for the quest.”

Unique items.

A commission from a diamond rank user usually had a minimum pay of a million won. Given the rank of the user, it could very possibly be millions of won.

Lee Hyun kept the information about Paskran’s Lance in his head.

Those in the Dark Gamers Union tried to remember the items that were being bought. That way if they are hunting it, then they would remember that they needed to collect 300 red hearts. That way they could collect enough for the commission.

It was an essential measure to earn money.

A lot of Dark Gamer’s commissions don’t get the attention of the hundred of thousands of gamers. But this one commission caught Lee Hyun’s eyes.

Diamond Rank commission!

The number of requests for it did not even reach 0.1%.

Diamond Rank. Number of purchases 289.

We are a party of six. Average level 360.

Looking to spend two weeks on a vacation throughout the Versailles Continent.

Either quests, vacation, or an adventure.

Five million won.

“Five million won.”

Lee Hyun’s mouth took on a look of ridicule.

Given the number of purchases and the level of the user, it was possible to guess the nature of the person posting.

“These guys think they can do anything with money!”

Lee Hyun looked at the monitor while cursing for a while.

Then he moved his mouse to send a mail.

Hello.

I have contacted you from the Dark Gamer’s Union.

Are you currently available?

It is not a problem if you are not available... but reply back if you are interested.

I would like to invite to visit a city in a new kingdom, of the Immortal Vampires.

Please come. Thank you!

Bow.

Chapter 10: Todeum

This was the day that Vampire Lord Tori had announced!

Early in the morning at Morata village, the Geomchis, Pale, Irene, Seechwi, Mapan and their other companions were there waiting.

“So this is Morata Village!”

Mapan had eventually become a mid-level merchant. Because of his skill level, he was now able to trade in precious metals and gems.

A small blessing given to merchants. A very luxurious wagon. It was a large wagon that was drawn by 8 horses and was capable of carrying a lot of cargo and groceries loaded within would not spoil as quickly.

“Buying food! Buying battle supplies!”

Mapan bought supplies that he thought they would need for Todeum.

He went around Morata Village, buying and stockpiling supplies in his wagon from the residents and adventurers.

In the meantime, Weed was at the village entrance earning himself some quick money.

“Wonderful carved sculptures for sale! Each are one of a kind and give stat benefits!”

Sculptures carved by the great Sculptor Weed!

Almost all the tourists that visited Morata wanted to get a souvenir. There was a long line of people in from of Weed to buy sculptures.

A small girl said.

“Ajussi, I’ll take the sculpture that looks like the tower of light.”

Weed said, smiling cheerfully.

“It’ll be 10 gold.”

“Ehh, it’s so expensive: I can’t buy it.”

"..."

The small girl left since it was a rip-off.

The next customer, an old grandmother with gray hair, walked forwards.

“Well young man. I would like the sculpture carved like the Tower of Light near the rocky mountains.

"Yes. That will be 9 gold."

Weed gave a her a small discount.

He had a weak spot for the elderly!

"What?”

“8 gold...”

“What sculpture is this expensive? You’re not disregard this elderly lady, are you?”

“No, that’s not it...then how about 5 gold.”

“Elders don’t have that kind of money. How about 2 silver!”

“That’s hardly the price anymore...sigh okay ma’am.”

"You should have done so earlier."

Tears fell from Weeds eyes as he watched his sculpture disappear.

His innate skill of flattery!

The prices of his sculptures were right to some extent.

‘Damn. It’s so hard to make money with sculptures.’

The money he got from selling the weapons and armor he made through the blacksmith skill was more than he was expecting.

But here buying sculpture is considered a luxury most people can’t afford.

It is rare for people to buy sculptures as gifts because the prices for sculptures keep rising due to rarity.

The next customers were slightly older Ahjummas.

The Ahjummas hurled sharp questions at him.

“If I order one sculpture, can a get a discount on another?”

“That’s...”

“You created it from a piece of wood that can be found on the side of the road. Isn’t the cost too much just for this level of service?”

The customers thought sculptures were like things that were mass produced and could buy one get one free like in supermarkets!

Sculptures were still recognized as a souvenir.

This was a situation Weed could not get out of.

No matter how much a great sculptor is praised, realistically he still doesn’t earn any money.

‘Sculptor is a horrible profession!’

Weed was forced to concede earning him a little less. Thanks to his fame, he was fortunate enough to earn, on average, 5 gold a sculpture. Yurin was drawing paintings nearby.

“Get in line!”

There were even people flocking near Yurin, comparable to that of Weed. However, the big difference was that they were all men!

“What would you like me to draw?”

“Relax...just write down your contact information for me, please.”

"That’s difficult. I’ll just draw you something cool.”

“Thank you.”

There were a few customers that came multiple times.

"This is already the third time Mister Customer.”

"Just call me Hans.”

“Then, Hans. What kind of drawing would you like?”

“I would like a picture that Yurin has drawn with her heart. If you want, Yurin, you can leave the canvas blank.”

“Oh thank you. As a painter, I only have a little bit of money...”

“I know. Are you having trouble? I can give you 7 gold of my money.”

These customers gave her items.

“I thought you might need some leather gloves...”

“I think it would be a good time for you to get a new hat.”

Men flocked with much liveliness to see his little sister, the beautiful Yurin!

She was far more popular than Weed’s sculptures.

Weed had to make huge sculptures or sculptures using expensive materials to get good effects. That was what it took in order to make a sculpture with tremendous effects.

Sculptures contributed to the development of cities and kingdoms! However because sculptures, are by nature, hard to transport due to its weight was the reason that people did not buy such sculptures.

Fine sculptures don’t even sale for much, unless they are at the level of Grand or Magnum pieces.

Pure passion, and the ambition to create great pieces of art!

So a true artist will immediately choose the sculpting job skill.

Weed fell to the ground in regret.

‘Since this wass how it is, it would have been better if I had been a painter.’

To immerse himself in his work and the joy of getting his blood boiling towards a finished product brought him a sense of accomplishment! But then again, it couldn’t be compared to the feeling of one licking their fingers to finger through a stack of stiff million won notes.

He was thoroughly a sculptor that thought about money!

Rather than trying to sell heavy sculptures, it seemed that it would be better and easier to sell food to the people buying paintings.

Finally all the food supplies had been gathered.

Mapan approached and said.

“Weed-nim, it is ready.”

“What about Master and the Geomchis?”

“They are waiting in a vacant lot in the center of the town.”

"Then shall we go now?”

Weed folded up the stand he had set up.

“For today for all those waiting for the next sculpture we will give a discount.”

“Eh, we’ve been waiting for nothing. For about 20 minute that is.”

“I really wanted one”.

People who were waiting in line to receive a sculpture were given apologies before their face of yearning dissipate in disappointment.

“Than Mapan-nim, please wait here for a bit.”

“Yes? Yes. Goodbye.”

After requesting Mapan to wait, Weed then went to the barn, where he took out Talrock’s armor.

His new piece of armor made out of mithril that shines.

When Weed equipped the armor, the armor gave him a decent amount of stat bonuses.

Wearing nothing but black, black armor, black cape, looking like a black knight!

Thanks to his intermediate blacksmith skills, he could equip other job class’s armor, despite him being a sculptor.

Weed came out of the barn, fully equipped in the armor to emerge onto Morata’s street.

* * *

"You’re kidding.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Then what?”

“There’s no way.”

Weed was being a bit excessive.

High level warrior.

He was wearing armor that was made out of mithril.

“Armor like that has high level restrictions.”

“He must be high leveled.”

The way other people saw Weed changed.

He had spent a few days on the side of the road with a carving knife and a piece of wood or stone and now he was the center of attention and envy.

He walked past the pedestrians and over to where Mapan was waiting.

"Did you wait? Let’s go then."

"Yes? Yes!"

Mapan walked with him to where Yurin was waiting.

‘There’s gotta be a deeper meaning to what Weed is doing.’

He could feel the constant cold gaze of envy.

It was a piece of armor made of a material that absorbs light. They walked endlessly. It was a special and luxurious item that only a few adventurers had and it was rare just to see one.

“He must be a great person.”

“Really, who the hell is he?”

“Perhaps he looks a little like the sculptor from before?

“No, I feel they look alike but...”

“It looks similar.”

“Yes. That’s Sculptor Weed.”

The saying birds of the same feather flock together was not wrong.

The other people could barely notice that it was Weed’s face.

The face that seemed to say poverty and need!

Weed looked rather ordinary so he was relieved that others would not recognize him. However, the pedestrians’ reactions were different.

“That armor must be fake.”

“Well, mostly. It must be coated with Mithril on the surface only or something.”

“It doesn’t even look that good.”

Weed and Mapan ignored the reaction of the people behind them and went to Yurin.

“Yurin, let’s go.”

Yurin was in the middle of painting a picture when she looked up.

“Yes, Oppa! But, your clothes...”

“Huh?”

Weed looked over his clothes slowly.

“Why do you say that? Is it because I’m wearing the Talrock armor?

“Oh, it’s nothing really. It’s just a little unique...”

"...."

Blatantly showing off his armor!

In fact, he had worn the armor so that his sister could be proud of him. Weed, Mapan, and Yurin walked towards the center where they heard the people chattering.

“Did you see the vacant lot in the center? Where are you preparing to go hunt at?”

“The party has Orcs, a high level trader, and Geomchis...what quest is it?”

“I heard Sculptor Weed is coming too.”

They had already seen the battle against the dragon that was aired on the television.

A bunch of muscular guys fought together closely in a group, mainly using swords. The Geomchis were not unknown.

Many had become famous by going around challenging people in the pursuit of martial arts.

Now the people’s attentions were focused since the Geomchis had now gathered in Morata and were now ready to leave for somewhere.

“That’s an enormous amount of supplies!”

“Has a new hunting ground developed near Morata?”

“I don’t know, maybe.”

If you came to the northern village of Morata then you shouldn’t be a beginner. Most of them caught on quickly and realized something was going on.

They noticed the strange signs that were going on in the village.

The massive hoarding of groceries and the Geomchis were gathering!

Not to mention Pale’s conspicuous party adorned with pretty good weapons and armor.

The third fact was by far the most attention grabbing.

The new Orc species!

Orcs could speak human tongue and they traveled between villages, but this was the first time they have seen one.

“It’s really ugly.”

“Look at the ass. Every step is like a joke.”

“It’s bigger than my head!”

Seechwi felt delighted.

It was more comfortable for her now that people could approach her more easily rather than looking cool and glamorous like an ice queen.

“Look at this! Chwichwit chwiit!”

“Those nasal sounds!”

Weed, Mapan, and Yurin went to the vacant lot in the center to see that it was overflowing with thousands of onlookers. Because of the rumors people had come from all over Morata.

All sorts of people were waiting to see where they were going to go; from adventurers, travelers, hunters, clerics, and bards.

Surka felt awkward from all of this attention.

“These people are really looking at us a lot.”

She moved away and hid behind Irene. She could never handle so many people focusing their attention on her.

“It’s still less than the number of people in Rosenheim, but it’s growing fast.

They agreed about that.

“Yeah, doesn’t it feel exhilarating to explore a new part of the continent?”

Morata was the key city in the North!

Over a thousand people came a day and they were always going off on adventures in new hunting grounds.

People were currently active in exploring the North and the number was increasing. They came in earnest from the central continent and soon the number of people in the north will be equal to everywhere else.

There were approximately 50000 users in the North. Given the large size of the continent, the remote areas were largely unexplored. People would form parties to go on quests, hunting, or adventures. A lot of people would gather in the cities to share information. Other people rushed to Morata to sightsee.

Looking around, Weed asked.

“Are you all prepared to go?”

“Yes.”

“Yea!”

Hwaryeong and Zephyr replied confidently.

Pale lightly patted Maylon on the shoulder.

“No matter what danger we’re in, I will protect you.”

“I’ll always trust Pale-nim.”

Romuna, Irene, and Surka were also ready to go.

More often than not, they would go with Weed to hunt. The feeling of being short of breath and the excitement in their chests.

Irene’s eyes were twinkling.

‘Whenever you go hunting with Weed, something interesting always happens.’

Every time someone died, priests would always feel sad about it.

Weed’s rate of hunting was 2~3 times faster than normal. However, such high paced hunting was always rewarding.

‘I have to do my part...so that no one dies.’

On the other hand, the Geomchis did not seem to be nervous at all.

“Ahem! Departure is taking quite some time.”

"Since it’s taking some time are we going to eat?"

Weed shook his head.

“That’s not it. We’re leaving soon.”

They were about to leave.

The onlookers were waiting to see what they were going to do with anticipation in their eyes.

Morata’s village elder quickly ran up to him.

“Count!"

The village elder called out to Weed.

"Did he say Count?"

"Did he call him the Count?"

The surprised onlookers were in an uproar. A user was the Count of Morata! But even more surprising for them was that the village elder called Weed the Count.

“I don’t believe it!”

“A sculptor has never made it to even a Baron or Viscount but he’s a Count.”

"If he’s the Count of Morata, then that means he’s the ruler of the entire province."

Looking around, Weed replied.

“Village elder, if you make such a fuss then you’ll trouble the village guards.”

He took on the personality as if he was a character in a historical drama.

Counts were considered one of the highest of the nobility. They had more authority than almost everyone in the kingdom.

The village elder said.

“The village is almost out of food.”

"..."

“Due to the increase in the number of tourists and residents, there is not enough land so we need to expand. You have to build a trading post for the commercial development of stores for grocery and fabric exchange.”

Weed was listening to this story and realized that it was dangerous.

He could only come to one conclusion.

‘Money! It could only be that he’s asking me for money.’

The village elder was shedding tears.

“We need money. There must be more funds to invest in building and repairing houses for the town.”

Zephyr and Pale felt bad for the village elder.

‘It’ll be hard to get money out of Weed with that kind of story.’

‘It’s impossible. You have a higher chance of finding a whale in a well than getting money from Weed.’

Instead it would have been better for the village elder to talk to Mapan about such matter. Traders often collected money and would usually be able to spend about a thousand gold. But then the unthinkable happened.

“Oh! If you only needed money then why didn’t you just say so earlier?”

Weed let out a long sigh as he opened his backpack. He then pulled out all of his money.

By saving his money by using it as little as possible, he managed to save 30,000 gold. By selling the gold and silver treasures of the Nifleheim Empire, he managed to earn 230 thousand gold.

That meant he had a total of 260 thousand gold.

He handed every single bit of it over to the village elder.

“If you must, try to use as much money as necessary for the residents.”

“Is, is this really okay? This is far too much money..”

“Of course. It is your responsibility to judge Morata’s needs.”

“Thank you. Thank you very much.”

Ttiring!

Large scale investment in the Morata Province. It will allow Morata to flourish to the days of the old Nifleheim Empire!Its past glory was long gone in the flow of time leaving it bare and starving.

Only its residents and frail houses remained.

But now these new investment will fund the effort for the residents to become diligent citizens.

For three months, productivity will increase by 30%.

The area of the village will expand.

Use of the castle has become available.

The population growth rate has improved.

Buildings will be constructed immediately depending on the characteristics of Morata.

Bar

Increases tax revenue and satisfaction of residents but affects Public Security adversely.

Blacksmith

Increases the technology of the town. Increases the productivity of the residents.

Trading Post

A place where you can trade with merchants. Brings in tax revenue as well as supplement the town’s needs.

Inn

A place where travelers can stay. Travelers become more lively than if you simply left them in the village.

Textiles

Cloth weaving and leather polishing. Morata’s specialty increases the amount of leather and textile related quests.

Vigilantes

Residents will form groups to protect public security. They can’t fight the nearby monsters but they will be enough to catch village shoplifters. Help with public security increases commercial development.

Mercenary Guild

Investigates the surrounding village and gives quests on a regular basis to combat the monsters. Operates largely on taxes. Whenever successful, public security is increased and fame will be given.

A small Church of Freya

A place of the believers of the Church of Freya to pray. Sacrilegious buildings cannot be build in the village.

Due to the blessings of Freya, the residents will have increased grain production. Urban development increases, you can now build more buildings. Proposed Maintenance - Once the village has produced enough buildings, tax rates can be set, commercial, military power, technology, security, and public policies for increasing residents can be set in the budget.

Currently 50% of the budget has been set in regional development and state budget, the rest will be distributed.

To raise funds for investment, you can reduce the amount of control you have over the region.

Improve or expand the province to gain more control. Stats that can affect the local politics have been generated.

After the first stage of development, you can raise taxes. Excessive investment in welfare of public security may increase the satisfaction of the residents however, as the town’s deficit grows, the position as Count will be compromised.

Weed put in a huge amount for wide scale development of Morata. It was an essential component for a village like that of the cities in the central continent.

Thrilled, the village elder said.

“My Lord, as you know, the amount of investment for half of the area has already been managed. The question is what do you wish to do with the remaining 130 thousand gold. First, how much do you wish to spend on village maintenance?”

It was used for the maintenance and construction of houses and roads in the village. If basic buildings are not made, then resident satisfaction, commerce, and public security will worsen. Developing these facilities help somewhat.

Judging the amount for buildings, Weed said.

"Ten thousand gold!"

– Ten thousand gold has been invested for town maintenance.

He only had about 130 thousand gold to work with. That was because the village elders would never work with a small amount to invest with.

“100 gold for each house should be enough.”

He judged that would be enough money to spend on the residents for now. Having to use the money he had saved up made him sick.

The village elder asked again.

“How much money do you want to spend on Security?”

Security reduced the crime rates in the village.

It made a big impact, since it affected the villagers’ satisfaction.

If crime occurs too frequently commercial development and production would degrade.

National emergencies.

In times of war, the citizens could be mobilized.

There are a number of elements affecting public security and residents with high crime rates would not participate.

Weed said cautiously.

"300 gold."

A timid investment!

The amount was very small, but thanks to the Freya Church policing Morata it was not a bad choice.

“How much money do you want to invest for Military?”

Political and military power increased whenever the region expands. The military would manage Morata’s affairs. They would train knights and soldiers to fight monsters and defend the kingdom from enemies of other regions. They were loyal to the village. It was the cost to maintain a strong military power, but ultimately it was a means to increase territory.

Weed said simply.

“Zero gold!"

The village elder carefully checked.

“Do you mean that you do not want to invest in Military at all?”

“Yes.”

– No money has been invested in Military.

The village elder’s face became more cautious.

"Please set the amount that you want to invest in art."

As art develops, the villagers become more happy.

Free imagination and creativity was the basis for the growth of culture...

Weed didn’t even have to think.

“Zero gold!”

“Do you mean that you do not wish to invest in art?”

“Yes.”

Even if someone had put dirt in his eyes, he would never invest in art.

Art did not bring in any money!

Now one area remained.

“Please set the amount that you wish to invest in commercial development, which can be subdivided into several areas.”

As productivity and commercial development increased, so did the town’s tax revenue.

It supported livestock and agriculture as well as the town’s technology. It was also used to develop mines and construct buildings, increasing the town’s productivity. Grocery stores increased the number of goods and quantity available from the trading post.

Blacksmith development increased the quality and production of weapons, armors, and tools.

The production of specialty items will increase.

It was important to make conservative investments in the most specific areas as possible.

Weed flatly replied.

“119,700 gold!”

“Such a huge investment in commercial development? I am concerned that you are too preoccupied with economic development.”

"Please invest 119,700 gold in commercial development."

– 119,700 gold has been invested in commercial development.

Mapan shut his mouth.

"So there is this side to Weed!"

At first he had thought that he was just a really cheap person.

“We didn’t know how he truly was all along."

Once again this was the time to gauge Weed’s leadership. However, the truth was very different.

Weed’s judgement.

‘Morata is going to be an important city in the northern continent.’

The growing number of tourists!

Morata was safely under the Church of Freya’s protection for another year, so there was no risk to the village or residents from monster attacks.

Other users could attack Morata.

However, they were not willing to attack Morata because of the strength and influence the Church of Freya had.

Paladins from the Church of Freya were known to be some of the most strongest and unforgiving people.

'So it’ll be safe for at least one year.’

Morata was set to develop.

Then in the future he could recover the money he had invested through a tremendous rate of exploitation!

Truly a vicious lord’s dream!

* * *

While he was delayed by the village chief, Mapan, Pale and Geomchi were waiting.

Weed said.

"I’m done now. Let us depart from town!"

"Finally, let’s go."

Surka said, smiling brightly as she took lead.

Mapan got the wagon. Whenever the wagon moved it left deep ruts in the ground. This was because the wagon was filled with different types of fabric and leather, jewelry, mountains of food, combat supplies, and other products.

If you pack too much it wouldn’t move, but he had calculated and carefully placed the items so that the maximum quantity could be taken.

“I’m going to see.”

“Let’s follow them.”

“I don’t wanna miss where they’re going!”

Onlookers followed along closely.

Once they found out Weed was the Count of Morata they became even more anxious.

It looked as if they would follow them to hell if they must!

Weed was moving in the direction of the west canyon.

“The area over there is unexplored?”

“I don’t know. There are a lot of hunting grounds and dungeons that have not been explored yet.”

The spectators were puzzled but they still followed. They had witnessed the large amount of supplies that brought along.

Weed’s party headed into the foggy woods of the west canyon.

Thickly grown trees blocked out the sky.

It was hard to see through the dense water vapor in the fog so visibility was bad.

Jjireureutring!

Swarms of insects buzzed ominously.

Monsters did not pop up from the fog in the forest. But the daylight was getting dimmer and sounds were getting closer.

“It’s okay.”

“There’s an exit on the other side, so we just have to wait until they reach the end.”

The people circled around cross the foggy forest.

Only one group continued into the forest while the others avoided it.

The people waited as Weed and his companions went into the fog.

They waited for one hour, two hours but they heard no news.

“Even if they’re moving slowly because of the wagon, it should be enough time for them to cross.”

“It doesn’t make sense that they’re not coming out.”

“Let’s go back to the entrance.”

Some people waited at the end while the others went back to the entrance. But they could not find any trace of Weed or his companions.

* * *

The Forest of Mist in the Eastern region!

Water vapor rises from the land, the trees releases the savage wind.

Hwaak! Hwaaak!

There was a strange feeling flowing from this place.

Even for a short while it was an unpleasant place to stay in.

Weed summoned Tori here.

“I call forth Vampire Lord Tori!”

Chatringtring!

They heard something as the ground shook.

A swarm of black flying bats!

He had red, bloodshot eyes with sharp canine fangs protruding.

There were a large number of vampire bats swimming throughout the fog. However, they did not attack Weed, Pale, or Geomchi.

They flapped their wings and flew lower. Some of them hung upside down on trees while others on the wagon.

Looking closely, each of them had the signs of nobility of the night from the protruding fangs and the elegant wings.

Maylon, Irene, Romuna, and Surka were surrounded by 200 thousand vampire bats.

"Oh my god! Look at those fangs."

"Look how lovely and adorable they are."

Surka and Romuna had a joy that no one else could quite understand. Some would say that bats are ugly creatures but they found them very cute.

Irene slowly went and put a bat on her hand.

“Pretty wings.”

"..."

Irene also had weird tastes.

Maybe it was because she didn’t have to worry about them trying to attack and eat her.

Vampire Lord Tori knelt down respectfully.

“Master, I’ve come to take you to Todeum.”

Tori gave the the utmost splendid manner towards Weed.

Weed nodded in approval.

“Yea, let’s leave now.”

Tori was also glad to hear that.

He could finally get away from Weed’s outrageous tyranny!

Tori circled around them.

“Take care Master, once we get to the kingdom. If we, by chance, meet again.”

"Is that supposed to be a threat?"

“Well, more like intimidation...”

Weed gently hit Tori on the shoulder.

“Do you want to get beat?”

“That, that is not the case.”

“Now you’re going to live your life with pride and good fortune?”

“That would be more comfortable.”

"Then do you want to get beat then?"

"..."

Weed scared Tori again, beating him here where there was no doctor to heal him.

The Geomchis’, Irene, and all the party were waiting here, where they wouldn’t use up their Stamina.

'It’s just like a van with bad brakes! The fact that you make a single wrong decision could mean death at any time.'

According to Weeds philosophy, if he didn’t beat them enough, they would get rebellious.

Beating that rebellious spirit out of him.

Being beaten at any time leaves an aftertaste. And being caught so suddenly one day.

The times between beatings were very short.

Soon you start acting more positively.

Just like how Death Knight Van Hawk was compliant.

Weed stuck true to his principles and threatened Tori in their last moments together.

“Let us go, Master!”

“Yea.”

Weed, leading the way, climbed on top of the vampire bats. Then he slowly rose into the sky.

The humans were flying as well as the carriage!

The vampire bats stuck to the lower part of the carriage to carry it.

* * *

A shaman with long straight hair and a violet wand walked into the entrance of Morata.

She looked around and said.

"Is this where Weed is? I wonder if I came on time?"

Her name was Da’in.

In Lavias she was the woman who played around with monsters with blessings, curses, healing, attacks, and magic!

She was now focused on going around the Versailles Continent and playing in party hunting quests. She had heard the rumors about the village of Morata and its outstanding Tower of Light.

Weed was said to be the one that sculpted it.

“Maybe it will be that Weed that I know.”

Da’in could remember that Weed was a sculptor as well as a great fighter.

The sculptures he had made were meager. Since his carving skills were low, they didn’t even become fine piece.

There were sculptures that resembled monsters.

"He must have gotten a lot better by now.”

Listening to a rumor, Da’in had guessed that this was the Weed she was looking for.

A lot of people had the username Weed, but it was uncommon for them to be sculptors as well.

Thus she came to the northern continent and mingled into the village of Morata.

* * *

Gaston and Pavo arrived in Morata village.

"There it is."

"So difficult. It’s even harder for people like us with low Stamina to come such a far distance."

"True, if it weren’t for those generous merchants who gave us a ride in the middle of the trip then we would never have made it."

Pavo looked back in reminiscence.

During the time in the northern expedition they faced annihilation at the hands of the dragon’s Breath.

Pavo thought they were bound to lose their lives.

“I really regret it. I should not had such high expectations in the first place. What could an architect and a painter do in such a battle anyways? We went along, suffered all kinds of difficulties, and didn’t even get to see it properly.”

“Yea. It was harder for us to go into combat when we’re so powerless.”

Architect and painter!

They were saying all sorts of complaints about their profession.

When they turned on the television they had seen that the expedition was a success, but they were stuck back at the City of Art, Rhodium. They missed out on the chance for fame and the savory rewards.

“Yea, there’s a limit to how much growth we can get in Rhodium, Pavo.”

“Yea, that’s true. Our reputation won’t grow in a place like that.”

A characteristic of artists.

Repeated works in one place gave less fame. The difference is negligible at first, but difference between the first and the tenth work was considerable.

A faint light was in Gaston’s eyes.

“How about we go see other cities?”

“Other cities? Are you suggesting we settle down in a new city?”

“Let me persuade you how it is more rewarding. Its uncommon for painters and architects in Rhodium to get jobs but there is the whole Versailles Continent. There’s nothing keeping you here.”

“I understand what you mean. What city do you want to go to?”

Gaston already had a place in mind.

“I’m going to Morata.”

“The village with Sculptor Weed? That’s bringing back the bad memories that I had in the northern continent.”

“I was also there but I did have fun.”

“Damn you’re right. But can we go?”

It was difficult for people to go to a new place. It was even more difficult for production classes.

Gaston sighed.

“We can at least try. See it that way.”

Then the two middle-aged men underwent a number of challenges to get to Morata. They had to go through dangerous zones that were teeming with monsters and sometimes they were chased by bees. Several times they barely escaped and made it safely to a town!

They lay down in the street, exhausted, until they got the help of a passing by merchant.

Gaston shook his head.

“It’s really hard for profession like ours to get by.”

Pavo laughed at that.

“We did arrive safely though.”

If it had not been for the digging skills, then they would have almost died. They would dig a hole in the ground and hide until the monsters left. This would not have been possible if they did not see the monsters approach in advance.

Thankfully for Gaston, the skills worked exceptionally well in the snow.

They could just dig a hole anywhere and hide.

Painters and architects with poor survivability but they had their ways to cope.

Even so, it was important that they had caught a ride with that merchant or they would not have been able to survive their crisis.

Fortunately they met in the middle of the northern continent where it was still relatively safe.

Gaston looked at his clothes.

“Wow, your clothes are so dirty.”

“You didn’t even wash it once.”

Gaston and Pavo were basically wearing rags, but the people around didn’t seem to mind.

“They must be travelers that are new to the town.”

“Look at how much they have suffered.”

It was difficult for thousands of the people that had come to Morata. Many people would arrive looking as if they have not bathed in days. Gaston was a little surprised about Morata as he washed his face.

‘This city is lively.’

Pavo thought the same.

‘There’s a lot of people. Judging by just this there are more than 3000 people in the village.’

They did know that this was just the entrance to the village and that people flocked daily. Quite a number of people were busy walking around the village. Merchants had opened stalls and were selling to people as were chefs selling food.

“Pavo, I think it was a good idea to come to Morata.”

“This is an all-new frontier of a developing city! It’s not bad and I don’t know if we can do anything here but it’ll be fun.”

Then an issue came up.

A Morata resident walked up quickly and grabbed Pavo.

“Are you skilled in architecture?”

Pavo trembled as he replied.

“Yes, I am an architect.”

“Good! Did you know that my wife has recently become pregnant? The child is going to be born soon and I need a new house. I’m busy and I don’t have time to do it. Please help me out, you won’t regret it!”

Ttiring!

The village house for a couple. The home for his wife and a young baby. Relieve his concerns by building a durable house as soon as possible.

He wants his house build two to three places in one of the vacant lots west of the apple tree, wood and stone can be used as building materials.

Difficulty: D

Compensation: 26~309 gold.

Varies depending on the size of the completed house and the building materials.

Quest restriction:

Architect profession only.

Pavo nodded his head.

“Please leave it to me. I’ll build you a very sturdy house. It will withstand all sorts of storms."

– You have accepted the quest.

Houses made by digging out stone.

A lot of the city was busy in building new houses for the residents.

The villagers were even building a shopping district.

The residents were able to somewhat construct this much.

But the quality of the houses affect the villagers’ satisfaction and improve public security. On a certain level, productivity increases.

Even with a few people helping out, you still needed the professional help of an architect.

A kingdom. The construction of a wall around the town of Morata.

In order to ensure the safety and stability of the town, they built a wall and expanded the city.

A lot of people were interested in participating.

It was announced that there would be a new village made outside the wall.

Morata village was still underdeveloped. They had to create new fields and waterways.

Large scale investment in Morata was rapidly changing the environment for the poor.

Opportunity.

These were the best kind of quests for an architect.

The opportunity to actively participate in the development of a city!

Pavo pulled up his sleeves.

“We need to work fast! Hands on jobs are very scarce. We’re going to need people to work on this."

“Haha, I’ll help.”

Gaston could not conceal his envy as he saw Pavo working.

Having issues with your profession was a most sorrowful thing.

Quests were very few and you work for next to nothing so often you end up starving.

However, in Morata, they were in great need of an architect. There were god knows how many jobs for him.

‘Architect was so much better. I’m never going to get recognized as an artist.’

However, things then changed for Gaston.

Residents came up to him.

“Can you help me? I need a signboard for a shop that I’m going to open.”

It was not a very difficult job to do.

Then the village elder came.

“I want you to draw a picture on the city gates as a symbol of the village.”

Various doors of opportunity opened up for Gaston.

He was even asked to draw a map about monsters in the vicinity. When the map was completed, it could be sold to adventurers and he would get fame.

He even got jobs to make paintings for the castle.

The village elder said.

“Our lord is a lover of art. I think that my Lord would want to give some support to the artists in his city.”

Tons of Weed’s investment was used to develop the town.

Aside from donations to the Church of Freya, the village elder put large sums into art and culture.

* * *

Weed and his companions flew on the vampire bats.

“Kyyyaaaah!”

The acrophobic Surka screamed.

The bats did not have as much power as the Wyverns, who had large stature.

Cluster! Cluster!

Whenever she made eye contact with the ground she would be overcome with fear.

It was very shocking.

“So this is how the adventure starts...”

It was a grandiose start to the adventure of a lifetime. This was the kind of adventure that Maylon had fantasized about.

Pale was at a loss.

“Maylon-nim.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t the bats scary?”

“Well...”

“Then again, we are heading to the kingdom of the vampires so riding on bats will be an experience that we can’t miss.”

Maylon was convinced.

It was slightly different than how she imagined but one does not ride on top of bats often!

It was incredible to think if there were people flying above the ground on bats.

‘So this is Weed’s adventure.’

Pale was expecting the same thing.

This was the next place that they have gone to since the City of Heavens, Lavias. They spent a long time going on quests and adventures.

The bats flew for a long time until Morata was out of sight.

The faraway lakes and mountains looked smaller than their fingernails. They were so high up that the village looked like a dot.

Then they stopped in place!

The vampire bats were flapping in place.

After waiting for a few moments, Weed asked.

“Tori, are you lost?”

“No, Master.”

Tori replied in a relaxed voice.

“How much longer do we have to go?”

“That’s not it, the place is right here.”

“Then why?”

“Master, the noble Vampire Kingdom Todeum is in the world of the night. We will never be able to get into Riga during the day!”

“Then...”

“We have to wait until it is night.”

They remained hanging in the sky listening to the sound of the air.

Weed let out a deep sigh as Tori said it so naturally.

‘I brought my entire party. I wasted an entire day because of this ignorant bastard!’

Weed was regretting. A whole day had been lost.

“Tori.”

“What’s with the look?”

“Come over here, closer.”

“I don’t want to go over there.”

Tori had finally noticed. Weed was smiling brightly.

“Didn’t you say that you would send me and my party there shortly?”

“Yes.”

Tori revealed his fangs and laughed grinning.

“This is the last time I think I’ll have to say goodbye. Weren’t you fond of my sculptures?”

“A sculpture you say, Master? Master’s sculptures are very beautiful.”

Tori came over.

His face showed was one without any sign of doubt.

‘You are an ignorant man.’

Weed narrowed his eyes finely. Then he started beating him.

Papapapapak!

A cool and playful sound was ringing in the air.

There was the scene that Mapan always remembered seeing. Pale and Yurin just looked on.

Hwaryeong's calm eyes lit up.

“So strong. He’s so cool.”

He firmly hit him around. Weed’s actions were good.

Geomchi nodded.

“It seems I taught him correctly.”

The Geomchis sympathized with Weed.

“He’s only smacking instead of punching.”

Geomchi3 had a tingly sensation in his hands.

“I want to try hitting too...”

Geomchi4 agreed.

“It would be nice if I could get a vampire I could hit around.”

“Geomchi4, we’ll see if we get a chance to get one.”

“So I will.”

Irene was forced to sit in the front.

This kind of thinking was certainly not normal!

‘One only thinks about money and the others are narrow minded and violent!’

It was just what Irene expected from Weed’s philosophy. Nevertheless, she felt bad for Tori.

Weed could feel the beating he was giving.

He used high number of attacks in rapid succession giving off big and strong echos.

Weed honed his techniques by beating Tori!

His sword fighting involved increasing the number of basic attacks.

Whenever the skills were used correctly against a monster, he dealt huge damage.

But if the attack was a bit off or if he lost the flow of the attack then the skill was canceled. It was necessary to properly activate and use combat skills.

Because of this, it was a skill that you needed to use in Royal Road.

Surka was impressed.

‘He’s punching properly!’

She checked for anything that she could learn from Weed. Given her character class, she watched to see if she could learn to deal more damage. Daytime had passed and now it was night.

The door to Todeum was now open.

They were standing on ground instead of the sky!

Kurururang!

Deeper and deeper they went into the unknown swamp.

Tori said.

“This is the entrance to the Kingdom of Todeum!”

At the end of the description he plunged into the hole and rapidly descended.

“Kyaaaaaah!"

Surka’s feminine scream!

Almost at the same time, a snaky voice erupted forth.

“The kingdom of the nobility of the night! You are welcome to enter Todeum! Kuehuehuehuehue."

Chapter 1: The Land of the Vampires

Weed, while riding on the back of a vampire bat on its way toward the Kingdom of Vampires Todeum, had great expectations.

“This place Todeum must be overflowing with money and treasures. The mindset of nobilities……..am I going to get a reward in exchange for time I’ve spent bringing up Tori?”

Bloated optimism.

After reaching the city of heaven, Levis, Weed took care of the Death Knight and reclaimed the lost cup of Freya, Herrara Cup. But instead of getting a reward, he instead received another quest from the Church of Freya!

The quest was to defeat a clan consists of vampires in the name of Freya; and retrieves the lost relic of the Church of Freya, the Fargo Crown. With that said, Tori was the head of that vampire clan, a Boss type monster of level 400; and an underling of Lord of the Undead, Barr Khan.

Weed, on the other hand, was not even at level 200 back then. Along with just Ron Alves, he had to free all of priests and paladins whom were under the petrified curse. Thanks to their valiant effort, Tori and his clan were defeated; but that, by no means, was not the end.

Near the beginning of the battle against the Legion of Immortality, Weed went through many adventures in order to grow stronger; strong enough to summoned and fought against Tori to earn his title as Tori’s master. Now, as if to truly recognize Weeds as his master, Tori invited Weed into the Kingdom of Vampires.

The reward will be as sweet as honey!

Vampires love luxurious things: treasures, beautiful works of art, magnificent castles and the likes; so Todeum will be filled with such sights. For them to be invited to such a place, they must have been in Tori’s good grace.

While harboring these beautiful fantasies, Weed and his party were taken by surprise as the vampire bats they rode dove into the ground. Entering a hole below earth, they were dropped into the contaminated river and went with the flow.

“Ewpupuu!”

They swam upward from the depth, gasping for air, and made their way toward the shore. With the help of the Geomchi’s group, Mapan’s wagon full of provisions departed from the river unharmed.

Maylon asked.

“Where are we, anyway?”

“Well, we came here by means of bats,”

Pale shook his head while answering, though he wasn’t sure since no one had ever stepped into this region before.

Similarly, Weed came up with nothing.

‘Surely we should be in Toteum.’

Tori promised. For sure the invitation was to the Kingdom of Vampires Toteum! The nobles of the night who lived in the Kingdom of Vampires! Possessors of piled high mountains of ancient arts and jewelry; along with beautiful women that’s hard to find on earth.

This Promise Land was only accessible once every 3 months; and housed hundreds of millions of bats and rodents with its rulers, the vampires, while surrounded in eternal darkness.

Damn hell.

After the abrupt end with the vampire bats, the party walked along the shore of the disgusting river, going with the flow of the murky water underneath the earth.

Pale, walking forefront as the scout of the party, asked.

“Will we be able to trace our path back to Morata by going upstream?”

“Can’t go back to Morata via that way,” Weed answered after he thought it over, “it isn’t even near the vicinity of this land.”

The river of this land was so polluted; the nearby shores along it were contaminated beyond recognition. Instead of the lush green they usually sees, withered plants and grey sands were all they could see. The decayed reeds swayed back and forth as the wind brushed the leaves, an ominous chill seemingly sent by the murky Todeum’s sky. This scenery was nothing comparing to Morata.

“That means we arrived to the Kingdom of Vampires, correct?” Pale asked.

“Well…let’s check to be sure. Summon vampire Tori!”

Weed tried to summon Tori for more information, but no response from Tori.

Hwiyiing!!

The wind grew stronger.

Nobody understood the current situation, as to why Tori couldn’t be summoned. Hesitantly, Pale said.

“Weed-nim, were we played for fools?”

“There’s no way.”

Weed wanted to believe in Tori. The feeling would have been like a shot in the back of the head, though everyone had a similar notion.

“But Weed-nim, this sight is different from what we thought it’d be. Todeum must be a nice place; it wouldn’t be near a contaminated river such as this.”

“……”

Pale pointed out.

The Todeum they fantasized about. This reality was the complete opposite of the Kingdom of Vampires that was supposed to be filled with elegance and grace, piled high in gold; this was nothing more than a desolate land filled with nothing but a polluted river and a murky sky.

“No way, this was not what he meant!”

Weed still in denial, retorted.

Remembering what Tori said, it suggested that it was some sort of reward; but this can hardly be called a gift. Neither sun nor stars; the passing wind that have the stench of rusted pipes; the Kingdom of Vampires was completely different than what they imagined. Zephyr finally made a remark.

“Another damned character.”

“……”

“Getting abused every time, this must be payback.”

“……”

Romuna words punctured Weed’s chest like a canine’s bite; though the most damaging blow came from Surka’s innocent words.

“Although we made it here, nothing exciting is going to happen?”

In exchange for bringing up Tori, he figured it’d be a pleasant trip; but he hadn’t considered the risks, and came without a guide. Weed tried to rally his spirit that had plummeted to the ground.

‘What about my kingdom of gold.’

So far, he hasn’t been lucky enough to relax, not even once. He had to overcome plenty of sufferings throughout his journey!

Though looking at the situation calmly, the pleasant trip to Todeum may not be as it seems. Considering Tori’s level, along with the time he have been serving directly under Bar Khan; building a ‘good’ relationship with a level 400 boss type monster under the duration of a year seems unlikely.

‘Seems like it isn’t as I thought. This place is extremely dangerous, and we’re definitely not ready.’

If the monsters’ here were nearing Tori’s level, this would not be like any adventures before. The thought broke Weed’s expectations and fantasies; from this point on, survivability is the highest priority.

The law of Toteum, the Kingdom of Vampires, is that even if you died just once, you’ll be toss back into the world above.

This is considered as a heinous penalty, even prohibited on the Versailles continent. On the continent, you can die many times with no care about the banning; but here in the Kingdom of vampires, you only have once chance.

Due to the fact that your stature isn’t like a vampire, a death in Toteum means an immediate spawn outside of the kingdom, total deportation. A difficult to obtain opportunity like this should not be wasted, since you don’t know the proper quest line you’re supposed to follow on Versailles continent.

Weed’s eyes then became cool.

‘Whether it’s Toteum or anywhere else, I will not back down. MONEY! Gunna get me buncha money!’

Consider a big pot in a casino, a piled high shrine that reminds humans of their deepest desire, obsession for money; like a moth going toward a flame at the risk of survival, aiming for it is like foods for desires.

‘This is too much of risk if mobs were to come, a crisis will occur if this happens.’

Bubbling hopes.

However, these hopes will pop if Weed’s fear comes to pass. In Toteum, this crisis maybe averted if he was alone, but now he have a huge number of colleagues with him.

“Where are we and where to?”

“What about our way back?”

Geomchi475 and Geomchi503 manly voices seemingly shuddered.

Taken to a place in hopes to witness vampires, but arrived at some random place in which they were unfamiliar with. At this point in time, if they had seen a monster, they’d be too intimidated to fight. With an unknown quest or adventure while situated in an unfamiliar location, the feeling was like being a blind man being pushed into a river!

Not only the fear, but the confusion came along with it was a major crisis.

Though Weed had a simple solution to the problem.

“Lets eat!”

“Wooohohoh!”

Hunger for a meal!

All craving for kimchi.

“Give me something delicious!”

“Love some sweets, like chocolate.”

“Whipcreams on them doesn’t hurt.”

“Who here don’t want some meat as well, hm?”

“A drink here don’t sound too bad…….”

Immediately the nervousness that once filled this party faded away; with happy expressions on their faces, they mimic plump-faced pigs, each and every one of them. And as pigs, food was now the main topic. Though the teachers themselves didn’t express their desires, their opinions didn’t seem to differ. Geomchi3, Geomchi4, Geomchi5 seems pleased.

“What kind of food you’re going to make?”

“The wait will be boring, but…gotta have patience for delicious foods.”

“Foods Drinks!”

“Wooo!!!”

Seechwi gave out a groan.

“Oh my God, if everyone were like these people, I’d be out of a job.”

All of her theses about psycho-analysis regarding the complexity of the human minds would be abandoned if all humans were as simple as the ones before her!

Falling into the depths of hell just to eat pork was not the way of human natures either!

But there were hopes amongst these hopeless-es that kept Seechwi from going insane. Pale, Zephyr, and Maylon were of the general population, and were troubled by the situation.

Pale asked Zephyr in a serious demeanor.

“What are today’s meals?”

“Can the items we get in Todeum be use as ingredients?”

“Of course. Possibly.”

Hwaryeong clapped with absolute delight.

“Weed-nim is so good at cooking; we don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“……”

Again, Seechwi was troubled.

‘They’re also not normal.’

As written on the POD before one enters the game. To go down in history as one of the heroes that bears the danger of exploring unknown territories, high Leadership is required:

Not giving in at the face of any crisis shows the will of the mind.

Unrivaled spirit.

Unsurpassed comradeships.

Having quick wits and being decisive.

It was even more essential to explore the Kingdom of Vampires. However, the conclusion drawn after watching Weed during the time was that it was difficult to match him to a heroic stature. Seechwi basically gave up and said.

“He’s leader probably because of the levels; but those Geomchis and I can probably match his levels!”

Seechwi, after all, was just another human.

After some time had elapsed, Weed brought out the dishes.

Zara Soup! (Turtle Soup)

They had brought enough ingredients before leaving Morata, just needed to cook them.

“The ingredients in this were Zaras, and this very dish represents growth. You know how you’re on all fours at night begging for it to ‘revive’ like a turtle, but when you look down and it was still shriveled like a turtle? This will completely revive the ‘VIGOR’ of a man…keuheuheu!”

Weed began to sugarcoat the dishes before him. At the end of the appealing demonstration, a boisterous laugh!

Having been through a year as his class being a sculptor, he learned how to hype things up and a show of confidence was a must.

‘Being a cook is the same. The LAW - delicious food will become more delicious if you give them a taste beforehand.’

A vote of confidence from the chef was a must to heighten the experience.

“OHOHH yeah!”

All of the Geomchis rushed to get their Zara soup servings. While they should have kept in mind of the possibility of lacking ingredients for the future, they didn’t leave a single drop of soup leftover.

“Kkeoeok!”

“Awesome!”

They thoroughly enjoyed the soup. They each chow down 3 servings per person; even in a place such as the scary Kingdom of Vampires did nothing to dampen their appetite. Especially when the words ‘reviving vigor’ were mentioned! Even though Pale and Zephyr didn’t discuss about it, they consumed the turtle soup diligently.

“Bon appetite…will not leave a single drop.”

Maylon was the next to be encouraged; thinking about women’s side, Weeds words were different.

“Similar to the turtle’s longevity, Zara Soup will stop the aging process of skin for 20 days……”

“Please give me! Do it fast!”

“Plenty of it please, Weed-nim!”

Irene and Romuna interjected. Surka on the other hand was still too young to be bothered with skin care. Of course, no one knew whether the aging process would halt for 20 days if consumed, since it was pretty much impossible to tell otherwise. But taking care of oneself on any day of the year will be rewarded!

Even if you felt like you were duped, no point being unhappy over the situation. Since the girls spent so much time in Royal Road, using skin care products became a second priority; though the girls hesitated.

As if he saw through their doubts, Weed gave his words a final nudge.

“Eat right after serve. It’s a must! Only then it’ll be effective…”

With that said, the girls devoured the foods greedily.

However, Mapan knew of a terrible fact behind this feast.

During the time shopping for food.

Although it was up to Mapan, as he was of the merchant class, to procure foods and handle the loads of shipments during the trip; it was up to Weed to decide on the ingredients since he was the cook most of the time and knew what to choose to obtain everyone’s shares.

“Are 17 Zaras good enough?”

Weed nodded deeply.

“Yes. Being advanced cooking materials, each one of them costs 3G(G=gold), so we don’t have the luxury of eating them as much as we want.”

“But considering the group we’re going with, are they enough for 500 plus people?”

“Possibly.”

“Even with Weed-nim’s cooking ability, I doubt serving 17 Zaras to this group along with Geomchi’s will be difficult.”

Making Zara Soup was not only difficult, acquiring enough to not leave anybody out was even more difficult.

Weed gave a weak laugh.

“Storing live Zaras will also be tough, maybe this amount is fine.”

“Yeah, will it be alright?”

“We will probably be ok on the first day in the Kingdom of Vampires, and eat them on the second. Depending whether we’ll face any danger along the way, but saving them for too long means the effectiveness of the Zaras will decrease.”

“So it’s best to buy a lot of Zaras…….”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“If we do that, what will we do with the extras we won’t eat?”

“……”

Weed began preaching as if he were a professional chef.

“The profit margin of high class cuisine is excruciating! Making more than enough is not optimal, and investing too much in ingredients is not recommended. But which is worse, letting the Masters suffer the death penalty without the foods or making them pay 5G per meal?”

“No sir, those choices are too tough.”

The Geomchis group generally was very poor, due to the fact the money they’ve gathered were used to change weapons or was invested in gears. And rather than hunting mobs for items, they killed one and went onto the next immediately to become stronger without a care for drops. The thrill was in the hunt; the tougher the challenge, the more they enjoyed the game.

So for them to have enough to pay for foods was an ordeal in itself.

“Between death penalty and the Masters, best to have them eat; therefore, we should get an abundance of inexpensive ingredients that we can.”

“But we only have 17 Saras, meaning we’re leaving a lot of people out to dry.”

“There maybe a way. Have the Pollock prices been dropping?”

“Hm? Their prices have dropped drastically from the original.”

“Get 2000(amount) worth. I’ll make Zara Soup with the Pollocks.”

“Wouldn’t their tastes be different?”

“Get as much spices, flavoring, and food coloring you can afford.”

Pretentious Zara Soup!

And its main ingredient was Pollack. Mapan’s eyes spun greatly, as his conscience suffered a damaging blow.

“I thought I’m not buying?” (spec *im not involve in this*)

Weed replied to dispel Mapan’s concern.

“There’s no such thing as an unfill part in a taiyaki.” (spec *the moment we started talking about this, we were in cahoots.*)

“……”

* * *

The feast was finished, and the energy level of the party grew, primary due to the increased strength and vitality of Weed’s cuisine; and the effects were heightened thanks to his advance stages in Dexterity. One can cook the foods from the recipes earned, but there wouldn’t be a homemade feel to them. Crafting foods with any kind of tools wouldn’t be a match to the base of every tool, the hands. Weeds made every part of the feast with his hands, down to the ingredients; and it was completely worth it from his party’s perspective.

Irene came.

“I enjoyed Weed-nim’s foods. But to make everything with your bare hands, is it a bother?”

“Doing so will make it more delicious.”

Irene agreed. Weed even mixed the seasoning by hands. And it seems by doing so, the effects were even more spectacular.

Irene sheepishly said.

“But when was the last time you’ve washed your hands?”

Of course, the question was a joke, but Weed offered a serious answer.

“A month ago; or it could have been two. Well, I don’t really recall….”

“……”

Irene, speechless, began shedding tears.

“Kkeoeoeok!”

“Zara Soup was delicious. Just as I had it before.”

“I want to eat this again some other time.”

“Now for the adventure.”

The innocent Geomchi rejoiced, while Mapan and Irene had a quiet conversation on the side.

“Mapan-nim, what other ingredients were made with the Zaras?”

“Well…actually, I traded in a lot of stuff we’ve collected and was still short.”

“We did give you our money.”

Pale interjected. He, along with Irene and Surka, handed Mapan their collected golds.

“In Weed-nim’s opinion regarding the products, he said to buy lots and turn them later for profits.”

“So you mean all of the money was used to get the ingredients? That’s too much for ingredients.”

“Yeah, they were cheap, but…”

“Where’d you get them?”

“In an alley.”

“An alley?”

Mapan paused for a moment, coming out of his hesitation, he said.

“It’s easier to believe they came from China…”

“Ahheuk!”

Irene flooded with tears.

Though the appearance of the dish seems appetizing, but knowing the actual ingredients may put you off the foods for good. The materials they’ve obtained were nearing their expiration date! They basically got anything of grade 3 or grade 4 qualities at an extremely cheap price and threw them onto the wagon.

Nevertheless, the Saras amongst all other craps mixed in the dish left a desirable aftertaste, as if to wash the junks away.

“Finally after the meal, the adventure begins.”

Weed got everybody to gather in one place.

Seureureung.

Sounded as Geomchi409 drew his sword.

“Keuheuheu! Finally its time.”

Geomchi15 gave a boisterous laugh.

“Dirty vamps, ima cut you up.”

Geomchis eyes all changed. Wielded their blades nonchalantly, with absolutely no sign of jitters; their mindset have been switched on to respond to any situations.

High Fighting spirits!

No longer were they scared of stronger enemies. If one had come, they’d be honor to rush into the battle head on; such were they ways sword wielding Geomchis.

Zephyr silently nodded.

‘Weed did well putting his faith in these people.’

It was extremely dangerous in the Kingdom of Vampires; since this was a first for anybody, anything could happen will happen.

One major obstacle in this land!

They did not have prior information regarding this land; hence they’ll have to solve everything without a helping hand. Forced to walk through this on their own, and there was no other choice; though they’ve been through this before in the Versailles Continent, where they had to adapt through trials and errors in order to grow. But a death in the Kingdom of Vampires meant an expulsion from this place. Commit no mistake, be highly alert, face all the risks, and need to cope in adversities.

Such were the policies the Geomchi lived by; they’ve been through many hardships and had hands-on experiences regarding situations like these. Rushes-in-head-first experts.

As if they’ve sensed the risks, the mood suddenly changed. From one member to the next, their aura amplified one another.

Land of the unknown.

Geomchis showed absolutely no fear!

Pale smiled.

“I’m also ready!”

Surka, too, clenched her fists.

“Lets get to it? I’m ready!”

Definitely a dangerous place; but having comrades to face the risks with will give one the confidence to get through! Similar to the adventure in Levias, they had absolute faith in each other.

Weed came toward Geomchi and said.

“We are probably in the land of vampires; since I do not know of what will happen, I hope master will take the reign and lead the group.”

Geomchi gently shook his head.

“I don’t know much about this place, so I will not understand the mobs’ characteristics. So I believe it’s best for you to lead. You have various production skills that are absolutely necessary, so you stay back and conduct our movements.”

“But I don’t want to risk you all to suffer the death pentalty…”

“No, it’s not for you to take the blame. It’s best to put those who knows even a little more than others to keep the most of us alive.”

Geomchi2 also lent a hand.

“It’s best if you take the command. Better you than any of us.”

Weed’s eyes went toward Geomchi3, Geomchi4, and Geomchi5.

“Are you guys willing as the Master, teachers?”

“Am.”

“Up to you.”

Geomchi5 gave a pat on Weed’s shoulder along with words of encouragement.

“We’re only here because we were invited by you. Don’t be drag down by the heavy burden on your own, ease your mind, child.”

Sincere encouragement in the face of the death penalty.

Weed examined Geomchi6 to Geomchi505 faces. All of the apprentices’ stern faces gave a slight smile and nodded. Rather than greed for power, they devoted absolute loyalty toward the masters.

In Surka, Irene, and Romuna’s viewpoint, this was a great scene showing the passion of men’s heart.

“So cool.”

“I’ve grown fonder with them.”

“Having Geomchis-nim with us is really nice company.”

Though Seechwi viewed them from a different perspective.

‘Well, to get the five teachers to agree in exchange of delicious foods, then knowing the practitioners will follow the masters; not everyone is as creative as Weed.’

The other Geomchis had something quite different. Weed is one thing, but they were completely fearful of the teachers. During training they were forced to push past the human limitations every time, always near the brink of death everyday. If they had said anything, they feared they might suffer a quick and sudden death.

‘In the past after Geomchi3’s death, we were forced to do morning training everyday for three days straight; I hardly got a wink of sleep in…’

‘When Geomchi5 was killed by some worm, he came back and punch the crap out of it until you couldn’t tell who’s blood soaked his fists…and he went around dragging it’s carcass…’

‘Master Geomchi!! Ever since you’ve joined Royal Road, your moods have been getting better……’

The other Geomchis regarded Weed leading the party was fortunate.

Weed turned to Pale.

“Pale-nim.”

“Yes.”

“Please go with Maylon-nim toward that hill to scout the surroundings. If you happen to encounter any mobs, do not engage and rush back to us.”

“Scanning only? Sure, will go now.”

Pale and Maylon headed toward the hill together. With the archer’s peripheral visions being higher than anyone, they can scan a wide range of space in a short amount of time. Pale and Maylon returned.

“There are no monsters in this area, though the problem is that they maybe hiding from our sights…”

“What about the terrains?”

“The surrounding areas near the river are blocked by cliffs; so we can only go in one direction. There seems to be a small bridleway that-a-way.”

“Then let’s get on it.”

After Weed’s decision, the party moved along the road anxiously. After passing the woods, Geomchi turned toward Weed and asked.

“Weed, you’ve dealt with a lot of vampires before?”

“Yes, master.”

“What happens if you were bitten?”

“The vampires here aren’t similar to what we’ve heard. Mainly they drain your vitality and mana to replenish theirs, so we should exercise cautions.”

“Do they have any weakness?”

“They have high vitality and stamina, and their magic attacks are very strong. They don’t use weapons and agile like rats and insects; and they can also go on the offensive as bats.”

“That’s quite annoying.”

“Their defenses are also high, and the higher level vampires can use curse magic or stronger types of sorceries; it’d be big trouble if we encounter one and aren’t ready.”

“What are their other characteristics?”

“Unlike simple mobs such as beasts, trolls, and ogres, vampires have way higher intelligence; they can manage well enough and band together to form clans.”

“Keuheum! They can do that? I guess it’s best to keep our distance.”

“Yes.”

They walked for another 10 minutes or so. Then the red sky above them was masked by an innumerable amount of bats.

“Sign of vampires! As a reminder to not relax, vampires can change their forms to bats.”

Weed’s words added extra tensions, he gripped his sword even tighter. They rode many vampire bats to make their ways toward Todeum, but the sight before them was way too much.

However, the bats did not attack.

Weed took some time to come up with a decision.

“Before we continue: if you see the bats, do not be the first to engage. Keep your arms up and to see whether or not they’ll approach.”

The sky above them changed as the bats continued their ways onward, and scatted.

“Heuheuhew.”

Mapan let out a petite laugh. Though with that smile, sweats were running down his spine. He imagined what would have happened if the bats were to attacked; the sensation of them coming closer and closer, and drained the life out of you. Such vivid imagination!

‘A taste of the adventure, too.’

No one knew what will happen. Each step they took takes them closer and closer to a direct confrontation. He was so excited from the excitement of the adventure; as he was the first of the merchant class to leave the continent and facing the unknown land!

Merchants, too, do enjoy the game.

“Keuheuheuheu.”

Geomchi9’s muscles tensed up. He was the biggest amongst all others in terms of size. After the intensive training he went through, the fats in his body turned into well-toned muscles. And he was itching for a fight; he hoped to bats to come close so he can test himself.

“Come on!”

Hand clenching his sword, he was ready for the moment! If the situation had changed, he would be ready to dance amongst the bats with his sword. And perhaps the other Geomchis had similar idea; but the bats did not come.

Though it would have been Romuna to be the first attack, as she was ready to cast her spells to attack them if the bats came into range; but they flew away.

Weed’s party continued as they were, passed the mountain ridges, and came before a sizable town. It consisted of hundred of luxurious residences, with large gardens and some with their own water fountains; the houses were more like villas than anything else. The roads were paved neatly and kept cleanly, while surrounding the town was a seemingly impenetrable wall.

Chapter 2: Seirun

Weed and his party cautiously continued forward, until the wall’s gates were in sight. Next to the gate were men in white gloves that looked like guards.

Sharp teeth!

Paled face!

Draping black cape and so forth.

“The guards are vampires.”

Weed stopped at a distance.

“Shouldn’t we attack?” Mapan asked a question that no one could answer.

Highly intelligent monsters that don’t attack were very rare; the mobs that may not attack were herbivores, or those that lived in tree or such doesn’t hold aggression as much; unless they were protecting their youngs!

But vampires were subtly different; maybe in some ways, they have emotions such as human beings. Weed took a step forward.

“Maybe I’ll get a dialogue with them. Let me have a word.”

“That could be dangerous…be careful, Weed-nim.”

Irene words were full of concerns. As soon as Weed finished, the always sunny Yurin also felt uneasy. But Weed, as it was his position, took the lead and embarked.

“Don’t worry. I’ll somehow avoid and make it back here alive.”

Faith and will power!

Though having his profession as a sculptor, his defenses were quite lacking; while the extent of the Kingdom of Vampires, Todeum, vampire guards were still unknown. But still, Weed fought against a clan of vampires before, and had to deal with Tori a bunch of times before; so much that he understood their laws and habits that he could use these to his advantage.

Geomchi5 approached from the side.

“I’ll go with. Cant let you brave the danger alone.”

“Yes, sahyeong(elder brother).”

Weed and Geomchi5 walked carefully step by step toward the vampire guards. Geomchi5 was completely trustworthy. Regardless of the differences in levels, he did not show fear to monsters he have encountered. In this dead of night, they advanced forward, fully prepared; Geomchi5 suddenly asked.

“But Weed, why don’t we fight them? Whether its vampire bats or a village full of vampires, shouldn’t we just attack and destroy them?”

On Versailles continent, territories belonging to a race of monster were popular hunting grounds. An example would the Goblins, the one with the Broadest Distribution, where many of them came together to built forts using the materials and land around them, namely woods. Goblin town or Goblin forts!

With that said, because of them, the nearby kingdoms productivity will be decreased. Usually then, the lords of those kingdoms would commission people to hunt down and destroy them. These opportunities not only will increase their reputations, but they get to keep all of the loots. But Weed had a different opinion.

“Maybe, but it’s too early to make a decision.”

“Too early?”

“Yes. We’re not even sure if we’ve arrived to the Kingdom of Vampires, right? However, starting a war with the vampires will do more harm than good.”

“I see. An unexpected brawl is something we don’t want after coming this far.”

“War is the last option after everything else.”

“Yes, understood.”

Weed and Geomchi5 came up to the vampire guards.

“Halt!”

The vampire guards snarled while revealing their blade like fangs.

“The stench of unfamiliar bloods. Are you humans?”

“Yes.”

Weed said in a humble tone.

“What are humans doing on our land? This is where you can not enter. Return to whence you came from!”

“Leave now and I spare your blood.”

Though they didn’t openly acted out their aggression, the vampire guards were still very hostile. At this point, adventurers would usually back away or choose to fight against the guards. The typical cases, though Weed was different.

“The weather here is a good one! The bats can fly high in the sky freely, hunting down the crawling vermin on the ground.”

“I understand what you’re talking about, human.”

“I agreed.”

The guard showed a slight reaction.

“And truly to your names as the lords of the night, the clothing you wear is really luxurious; full of elegance and cordial. Donning a white shirt, setting contrast to the black pants and the cape. Ah! Is that the Cloak of Darkness?! I’m honored to see such an exquisite item.”

Weed fussed over their outfits.

Seems like the vampire was a race of clothes lovers, whom had shown lots of considerations toward their outer appearance; the vampire guard on the left voice seemed to soften after hearing the compliments.

“Take a photo, it’ll last longer.”

Though the right guard still had his Battle Stance up and seemingly will rush in at any moment. Weed could show the same amount of interest in the other guard, but they might notice the lies if he had switch from one to another. Seeing how the Intimacy level only rose slightly, there was still a huge risk of them becoming aggressive. Weed then pulled out a carving knife.

The right guard asked.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to give you two gifts.”

“Gifts?”

“Yes, I’m going to craft something, I’d be delighted if you accept.”

Weed then pulled out a piece of Nabemok (some sort of crafting material?)

There were a variety of ways to increase intimacy. Having a silver-tongue to hoist someone’s ego was the simplest way, but it’s effective immediately and works only for a while, and will stop working after a certain point.

However, in order to raise familiarity to a higher point and maintain it, one had to act appropriately according to the person-your-sucking-up-to’s personalities; furthermore, doing quests with that person or saw through some sort of trial with each other increases trust, hence forth higher status of intimacy.

But there was a simpler way.

‘Give them gifts!’

Weed continued trimming down the Nabemok.

‘Vampires like pretty girls.’

He could sculpt Seoyoon. Seemingly in her early 20s, her skin matched those at the age of 10 in terms of smoothness and tenderness, a beauty that defied the laws of aging. However, to sculpt Seoyoon was immensely difficult; to achieve the same level of beauty meant to not make a single mistake while crafting.

If the Heavens were to grant a human with something on the line of absolute beauty, it was not an exaggeration to say Seoyoon was the recipient of that reward; so to truly mimic that level of beauty was not possible. What more, to willingly passing that finished product to vampires was too hard to bear.

‘Though…it was confirmed that vampires prefer little girls.’

Weed recalled the time he freed the town Morata. Something that quenched the blood-thirsty vampire, Tori, for a whole decade was a statue of an unfortunate girl!

The flower-garden-loving innocent type of girls, one that flounder about on the bed of grass. Weed made his decision and began to sculpt. He moved his hand expertly with the carving knife as he was with his mastery of the sword, and he finished the sculpture in a flash.

“This is a gift.”

“A Lovely gift……! We’re whom who appreciates fine arts; and this girl here is truly to our liking.”

The guards were thrilled. Loving girls is a main characteristic of vampires! (*for any guy really -.-*)

“Are you of the sculptor class?”

“Yes.”

“We nobles of the night never had the chance to mingle with an engraver before, so you may come in. Many of us would love the opportunity to enjoy your works.”

Ttiring!

Access of vampire village Seirun have been granted

Weed returned and told his colleagues that flattery and gifts will get the vampire guards to grant permission to enter.

“Soo handsome.”

“Valiant.”

“Truly the lords of the night!”

Pale, Zephyr, and Mapan obsequiously used painted words to impress. Then, came the gifts.

“This here is a tail obtained from a water buffalo.”

“This ring is a loot I got from hunting.”

“Jewelry. Hehe.”

They pretty much bribed and suck up to the guards until they got permission to enter.

“You guys are alright. OK, go! Though do not raise any trouble, else we’ll kick you out.”

As for Maylon, Romuna, Surka, and Yurin, they were allowed to pass without getting screened at all.

“The more pretty girls, the better..PASS!”

Their faces hardened a little bit when it came to Irene.

“I feel unpleasant. Do you believe in God? Well, no matter. We were not condemned. Rather than the boisterous lives of the day, we enjoy the serenity of the night, like it is the source of life. But girl, watch yourself when you’re in the village. Do not use your Holy power, else we will not be held accountable for what happens to you and your friends.”

Though the bore their fangs at her, she was still allowed to pass with a warning.

“You cannot come in!”

However, they firmly opposed Seechwi. Orcs are inferior creatures! Seeing how they viewed themselves as nobles, the vampires wouldn’t allow something that doesn’t match their standards to roam their streets.

“Chwiik chwwik! Come on.”

The eyes of the guards remained indifferent toward Seechwi’s begging.

“Our village is not a place where you Orcs can set foot in!”

Now. Geomchis’ turns.

“Well, it’s simple. Do what we saw, make a few gestures here and there.”

“Yeah, well, yes, but……”

“Wait and pay attention. You guys, I’ll start first.”

Geomchi5 decided to be the first to advance toward the guards.

“Hi guys, you don’t need to stand here!”

“Huh, what? What did you say?”

The guards forehead furrowed.

“With faces like yours, you’ll keep everyone away for miles…”

“Shits are spewing out of this dirty human’s mouth!”

“WHA? You undead bastards!”

Geomchi5 was a moment away from going to war with the guards.

“Don’t do it!”

“Please no.”

It took Weed and Zephyr a while to settle the situation. Then it was Geomchi3’s turn.

“Take notice on what I do.”

Weed was overcome with anxiety, but figured what the heck. Since Geomchi5 method failed, he figured Geomchi3 might have learned something, hence him proceeding forward.

“Human, do not enter.”

The guards blocked him.

“Mhmm, keep up the excellent work.”

Geomchi3 patted the guard’s shoulder as he tries to pass.

“Human. You are not allowed to come in.”

“Uh-huh, whatever.”

“A lowly human like you fools do not have the permission to enter. Turn around, unless you want to die!”

“What? Die……”

The guards gotten more aggressive than before, Weed and Zephyr stepped in again to calm them down. Quietly watching the situation, Mapan said in a serious demeanor.

“I don’t think they can go into town, what can we do?”

Not a single Geomchis was allowed to pass was a major crisis.

“Sahyeongs! Isn’t it better to show them a little bit of flattery to be allowed into the village?”

Weeds words of persuasion did not work. Even the cool-minded Geomchi2 sneered at the thought of sucking up to a bunch of vampires."

“I have a man’s pride! I’m not gunna bow to down to a monster like that or any kind of them.”

Geomchi2 coolly declared. Geomchi3 and Geomchi5 had the same opinion; and all of the practitioners regarded the vampires with the same mindset.

“This is so troublesome…,” Weed hesitantly spoke, “what about learning how to carve from me?”

Weed’s carving skills had advanced to such a level that he could teach others now to sculpt. Seeing how vampires love arts, if Geomchis offered the sculptures similar to their statures as human beings, they might be allowed to enter the village.

“Carving? Do we really have to?”

Geomchi2 replied in an annoyed tone.

“Yes. Beautiful sculptures are good to get girls, and it can be just a side hobby.”

"Really? Only need to know just a bit to attract girls as well as getting in? Might as well?”

Horrid reason for Geomchi2 to began learning, though he was good to go. Weed pulled out a carving knife and commenced trimming a nearby bush in pretense of a lesson.

“There you go. As soon as you finish carving this ‘sculpture,’ I’ll be able to pass you.”

Geomchi2 and the instructors, along with all the practitioners of the school were talented with the swords. While also similarly adequate with smaller weapons, they finished carving the simple “sculpture.”

Ttiring!

Wisdom is too low, cannot learn sculpting

Weed was stupefied. How low can their Wisdom be to make them unable to learn the skill?

“Sahyeong, mind telling me how much Wisdom you have?”

“Well, let’s see... It’s 8.”

“……”

Geomchi3 shined…even worse.

“I’m at 6?”

Geomchi4 too, was formidable…

“I’m 5.”

Some other practitioners were severely low.

“I must be as impressive as the teachers. I’m at 3.”

As low as 3! Weed couldn’t believe the situation.

“Didn’t you begin with 10 Wisdom when you start out?”

Sculpting didn’t require high stats on Wisdom similarly to something like magic, one only need to be at the basic level in order to acquire it; but the Geomchis didn’t even meet the basic requirement on the stat. Geomchi3 mouth opened as if he realized something.

“Oh, I may know why. Our intelligence got reduced.”

“……”

“No, Weed, that’s not what I meant… Initially, we started out at 10; and the former job before martial artists, we reached as much as 60.”

Weed nodded his head. Stats rising in the earlier days were a common phenomenon. If they had fought and beat the Basic Training Center, they can choose to get the specialized job as Martial Artists, which also meant some level of Wisdom was required to change jobs.

“And why do you think wisdom got decreased?”

“I think it was due to the fact we repeatedly hunted and grinded while using the same skill; we spammed it for a few days and our Wisdom got progressively smaller. Though during hunting, on the other hand, it’s not like reduced Wisdom can do anything against monsters.”

“I see.”

Simplistic repetition and Wisdom got decreased. Weed too, was just like them; but he learned various skills here and there. Having sculpting as base, there was fishing, cooking, repairing, blacksmithing, sewing, and collecting and taking advantages of herbs.

Geomchis, however, limited themselves only with skills that can be utilized in battles; they gradually fought and honed their skills, while completely neglected the decreasing Wisdom along the way.

Simple ignorance!

This situation was not only the revelation of their stats, but also their characteristics as well. Weed carefully advised them.

“If your Wisdom is too low, you won’t be able to learn new skills when a situation arises that requires you to do so. So you better increase your Wisdom before entering the town.”

“Yes, it seems we better do that.”

Anyhow, since they can’t learn sculpture, their chances of entering the town were pretty much spoiled.

“Hunt the nearby surrounding area until you level, and invest all the stat points earned into Wisdom, then you’ll be able to learn the skill.”

Weed had no faith in this plan even though he came up with it. The Geomchis were an arrogant and prideful bunch…whom all shot up to a stand still all at once.

Through the opened village gates, the streetlights inside were lightening up. As the night descended deeper and deeper into the darkness, the once empty streets of the town became animated as every doors flung open and vampires emerge. It seems as if vampires became active at night. Female voices rung from the market streets.

“Buy an apple!”

“Selling apples as sweet as honey here.”

Female vampires were selling apples on the market square. Immaculately white skin and straight nose, they had a slender build. However, this was something that cannot be viewed in normal senses. Slim waistline along with a sizzling bodies of the vampires was unlike the pure and innocent girls!

“Koeheok!”

“Th…the land of dreams, man……”

Geomchi3 and Geomchi4 body shuddered. From Geomchi5 to Geomchi505 swiftly rushed toward the light, with Geomchi leading the herd.

“Brother guards!”

“……”

“We’re willing to serve, what would you like? Maybe something like a back massage?”

“You can even take our barley breads that we use sparingly……”

Chapter 3: Quest

Though the Geomchis had absolutely no ability to flatter, the vampires were heart-struck by their desperations. The guards gave them a simple quest.

“A bunch of healthy humans; it would have been better if they were females, but this is a huge source of fresh blood. We’re tired vampires have exhausted our lifeblood.”

Ttiring!

Quench the Vampires’ thirst.

The guards’ livers have been grumbling since they’ve been working hard protecting the town, and have accumulated a huge amount of fatigue. The rumbling meant needs for extra blood. Fresh, healthy human blood.

Difficulty: E

Quest limit: Only available until the Vampires’ vitality been refilled.

Needless to say, they all accepted without a single rejection. The guards plunged their fangs into Geomchis’ nape of the neck.

Juuuuuuk!

Bitten by a Vampire.

Power was reduced.

Vitality continues to declines.

Burning at the nape!

Geomchis lined up systematically to give blood in order to get into town, and none bore any grudge toward the vampires.

“Iyahh, its only blood…”

“I’d do it a hundred times over for the ladies without an ounce of regret.”

Pale and Zephyr were enlightened.

‘I will be better toward Maylon.’

‘I don’t want to be like that at all; men being so transparently needy of women.’

The extreme playboy Zephyr had a major epiphany. For he who was able to get girls as easily as he was with fishing, he realized that the road he was on would eventually leads to futility.

‘And I travel with some pretty nice girls.’

Zephyr glimpsed around at his party members. Irene was simply kind by nature, she never as so much as used curse words toward anyone. Though occasionally quite feisty, the easygoing Romyuna knew how to have fun.

The young and childlike Surka was cute, while the alluring Hwaryeong was the complete opposite. Her dances were the first instances of her charms; then sometimes when she was in the mood, she’d sit on a rock and starts to sing, one of the crucial factors that made the adventures more enjoyable.

She was amazingly well-rounded! But Zephyr digressed, since Hwaryeong eyes no other but Weed.

‘But he doesn’t even realize it.’

Though Hwaryeong did not openly express it, anyone else could have easily guessed. Anything Weed cooked was simply delicious to her. Even if he had served something as simple as a bowl of soup along with a piece of bread, she wouldn’t voice a complaint.

Each and every time, she’d never miss a chance to say thank you nor leave her meal unfinished. Even now she’d actively stealing glances from his side; this act was downright without a doubt from a woman in love!

Though Weed’s mind was mainly preoccupied by money and his worrisome face reflected that fact, the atmosphere set by the two could catch the attention of any onlookers.

Maylon was Pale’s girlfriend, and Yurin was Weed’s younger sister. Yurin was very appealing. Zephyr sneaked a peak at her trying to catch her smiling; but he shook his head.

‘No no. Absolutely not her!’

Never try to get close to her unless you wanted to drastically decrease your likelihood of living!

‘The antagonistic families of Romeo and Juliet weren’t so bad.’

Perhaps even the Geomchis feared the trouble they’ll face for liking her.

In the meantime, the Geomchis “donations” to the vampires were almost over, as there was a huge number of stumbling Geomchis. As their vitality and power were being exhausted, the guards were overflowing with vigor. Even their naturally pale faces blushed, and their canines were lined with crimsons.

To their nature, the vampires became more robust after they drank blood; still, the guards were less than enthusiastic when the Orc Seechwi stepped up.

“Do not want to taste orc’s blood.”

“……”

“You’re not coming into town.”

Those words wounded Seechwi’s feelings. Then Geomchi2 stepped in.

“May I offer my blood on behalf of Seechwi?”

The guard perched with interest.

“More human blood? Good, I’ll take my fill.”

Second time Geomchi2 offered his blood to the vampires. Seechwi voiced.

“Chwiik! Geomchi2 nim.”

Seechwi’s eyes were lined with tears. After Geomchi2 finished, Seechwi became his pillar of support since he was completely overwhelmed with fatigue. An obese Orc assisting a sturdy human!

After that, every party members gained permission to enter Seirun.

The first to discover Seirun village.

Rewards:

+180 Reputation

For discovering a village in an unexplored region, the quest rewards from this village will be 2x for a week.

The benefits of being the first discoverers!

Weed’s face was widened with a satisfied smile.

“2x……”

Doubled the rewards from questing. Furthermore, there were substantially more benefits undisclosed. Besides being the first discoverers here, they were bound to be the first discoverers in the Kingdom of Vampires, Toteum; that meant the loots and EXP from hunting there will also yield 2x. Pale and Irene, too, were delighted.

“Gained reputation.”

“It’s a good thing.”

Weed quickened his steps entering the village.

“Let’s go.”

But everybody else was hesitant; after all, they’re the first to enter a village full of vampires! This was a completely new land, not of the Versailles continent. They were impressed and excited into frozen stiffs at the entrance of the village. Especially Maylon, from the second she settled her sights toward the vampire village. Beautifully built homes in the forms of villas, and cape wearing vampires roaming the streets were intoxicating.

‘Well, exotics are parts of the adventures too.’

She did not know where to begin. Then Mapan bellowed.

“Yeah. C’mon!”

Yurin too, considered this was a great prospect. Painters such as herself traveled in order to visit cities and view landscapes with the intention to paints to increase their skill’s mastery. Therefore, the newly discovered Seirun village provided her an opportunity to paint dozens of pictures.

Weed and Mapan entered the town together and made their way toward the stores. They needed to dispose of some of the imported goods they bought from Morata, not to mention checking on new equipments and obtaining maps of the town. Mapan got the pricings from various owners regarding loots and let out a scream of joy.

“They’re selling rubies and sapphires and jewelries at very expensive prices. Furs and rugs too!”

“YES!”

Weed was more delighted than usual. (*evil hint*)

“You’re so lucky, Mapan-nim.”

“Hope you reap a huge profit as well.”

Pale and Surka handed out the congratulations. Though he hadn’t done anything yet, Mapan felt as if he’ll reap a huge return; yet he viewed Weed in suspense.

‘It’s all thanks to Weed-nim that brought me here.’

Back on the continent, Mapan did well selling stuff also, but he did not have a large profit margin nor were his items guaranteed to sell. But here, an unexplored region along with a town full of vampires!

Being the first to sell goods in this village meant he’d be able to receive the special treatment of reaping an extra 20-30 percent in addition to the selling price. Not many merchant can have a chance like that. But Weed’s face showed no hint of envy at all as he handed Mapan the opportunity; in fact, the smile he built simply mimic that of a baby who was in bliss.

Pale nodded his head.

‘I knew it! Weed-nim is a good man.’

The shameful Surka wanted to go somewhere to hide.

“I guess I misunderstood Weed-nim. I should broaden my interpretation wider like the seas that embraces everything, rather than judging something over just one instant.”

So Weed was still smiling and glowing without creasing a single wrinkle, told Mapan.

“Mapan-nim, please let’s go sell your stuff.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. You should grab hold of this opportunity as the values here are more than the original.”

Mapan came up to a trading post and began to negotiate. The owner of it was of course a vampire.

“I brought some pretty jewelry here with me; ohh Mr. merchant, and I just want to sell them,” Mapan pulled out ten rolls of furs, five stacks of rugs, along with three gems, “what are your offers?”

“250,000G. Nah, no. Stuff like these goes for 270,000G.”

“Ahh I’m sorry. That price is lower than expected.”

“Damn! Don’t go! On second thought, I’m able to pay as much as 303,000G for them.”

1st stage bargaining succeeded.

If you decide to sell goods, all merchant skills will rise with +2.3% each.

Mapan swallowed his saliva. The costs of purchasing these goods totaled only to 110,000G! The offer he just got was nothing more than a jackpot, made more than twice the gold he paid for. But Mapan greed decided for him.

“Though that may sound like a decent price; but to me, I prefer to go elsewhere……”

The vampire built a long face. Mapan, who was also in the trade of deceiving, hinted a leaving gesture. The conflicted vampire suggested.

“This is a gesture out of the kindness of my heart. 368,000G. I’m sure you’d show the same kind of gestures when you’re out to purchase goods. I do not care for how much you purchased them for where you were, but I can not go any higher.”

2nd stage bargaining succeeded.

If you decide to sell goods, all merchant skills will rise with +6.2% each.

Mapan mouth widened and remained open for a while, he himself couldn’t believe the jackpot he just hit.

“You don’t want to sell at this price?”

“Ohh, sorry. I’ll sell.”

Mapan handed over the goods he brought.

Ttiring!

Obtained massive profits via trading, +630 Reputation.

Accounting skill have risen to Intermediate - lvl. 6.

Chances increases when negotiating on prices to tip to your favors. Will be able to take advantage of 7 gullible players.

A moment where a merchant triumphs!

70% of his goods remained after the sale; for Mapan feared the prices might drop if he had sold them in bulk. Therefore, he planned to sell a few more things, and save the rest to be disposed of at the Kingdom of Vampire Toteum. Some vampires chattered from a distance.

“That human Mapan just earned a great fortune; it’s a topic amongst those humans.”

“Which one is this Mapan? I hope he’ll pass by right in from of me. What I’ll do if he did? I’d just drag him to some alley and sink my teeth into his nape…”

Jackpot in trading!

Mapan accumulated a huge amount of profits, and Weed handed out his congratulations.

“Very nice.”

“It’s all thanks to Weed-nim.”

“Nah. I’m pleased to see you do well.”

Weed was very happy; the joy came from his position as the Lord of Morata. Not too long ago Mapan registered himself as a resident of Morata, and facilitated his trading practices in the North as a citizen of Morata. As a result, he was subjected to Morata’s tax rate, something that’s even more fearsome than a bloodcurdling dragon! (*Weed’s way of thinking -.-*) Merchants had to pay 3% of their revenue by means of taxation; and as Mapan reaped roughly 360,000G, he’d had to pay Morata more than 10,000G via tax.

Main reason for taxes!

‘Taxes can also be good for something after all.’

The reason why Weed was more pleased than usual.

They made their way toward the weapon shop afterward, of course, they also planned to sink their snake-like fangs at the weapon shop too! They boldly declared their intentions in the face of the thick-fanged male vampire owner.

“Hey buddy. Can we see your weapon inventory? Unfortunate, we can’t use true vampire’s weapons; so can we see a few we can use? Things like elegant equipments: rings and such, or precious armors we’d love to see.”

The vampires did not use weapons such as swords etc., so there were little of those metallic gears. But there were gloves that absorb bloods, belts that summons dark beings, and capes that induces delirium and forced apparitions(see ghosts); these weapons were truly to the nature of vampires. Among these Hwaryeong found a dress.

“Wait. Take a look at that dress.”

Golden flows on a crimson dress, an eye catcher. A view from the side, one could tell from the abdomen area up to the chests, there was little to none. A difficult dress to get into if one weren’t in shape. However, Hwaryeong experienced harsher dresses while she was doing concerts.

“What do you think about it?”

She asked Weed for feedbacks. Seeing how he had achieved the intermediate stages on sewing, she wanted a second opinion. But of course, that’s not the main reason why.

“It’s amazing.”

“Also pretty?”

“Yes. The fabrics used to make the dress weren’t used sparingly. From the materials, he could have made two dresses; I would have done so to make more money! Too bad I haven’t leveled to a stage to handle those kinds of materials yet.”

Weed was in deep thoughts staring at the dress, why don’t people use their minds when it comes to these things! Usually regarding these clothes, they’d be hard to sell. The more revealing the clothes the more lackluster it is when it comes to defense; but he couldn’t have fathomed the dancer’s needs for appearance and charms.

“Would that dress go well with me?”

“Well…the price is also important.”

“Would I be prettier wearing it?”

Weed thought for a while then nodded.

“I think you’ll be beautiful.”

“Thank you. Hey Mapan-nim, please buy that dress in my stead.”

The merchant Mapan used his skills to bargain for a price on the dress, still it came out to be at 148,000G; but Hwaryeong didn’t considered it as expensive.

“Cheap.”

At this point, one would considered this was a slip of the tongue; but it wasn’t so to her.

The expensive dress itself wasn’t the problem; in fact, for her levels and her profession as a dancer, there was a major factor she knowingly overlooked when she paid 140,000G for the dress.

‘Weed didn’t even address nor did he check the stats on the dress and I snatched it only because he said I’d be beautiful in it.’

It wasn’t logical, decided to pay for the dress before asking about it!

Fortunately, the crimson dress enhanced her dancer skills by giving her a boost in agility and grace. Hwaryeong, in the dress, was able to show off more of her charms; the coverage was lower than before, but she in no means looked vulgar in it. Her exposed well-toned exercised figure did not take away any of her cultured charms. Comparing to the colorful dress, Hwaryeong was lovelier; the face full of confidence and the eyes full of magnetism would catch anyone’s sight; truly a Fairy of the Stage. (*what her fans calls her?*)

“Beautiful, eonni(elder sister, term of endearment toward one of not blood relations)!

Surka commented first. For her age, she looks up to beautiful women. The commotion went on for awhile, and they all left after they finished checking out the weapons.

Next, they visited general stores that sell basic necessities for journeys, though the ones they saw were seemingly useless. Weed had no intention to buy anything however; as the lord of Morata, he invested all of his money into its development for further exploitation.

‘Use money to make even more money.’

Weed was far from mindlessly spending his money on impulse; nonetheless he was here in search for something. While in thought, the approaching vampiric owner revealed his fangs, and Weed immediately spun around!

“Kueaaa!”

The owner had his mouth opened as he loomed toward Weed, who’s reaction was as fast as the wind and turned around, forcing the vampire to close his mouth. The owner was smacking his lips as if he wanted something enticing.

“Humhum, it’s a shame that you noticed, been a while since I’ve tasted human blood. So what is it that you want?”

As the reason why he visited the shop when he wanted to buy nothing, Weed entered to obtain information.

“I’m a sculptor that’s looking for something to inscribe.”

“Sculptor? Have you tried Todeum yet? This is just a small village in comparison. There was a rumor that Toduem had something that can be viewed as inspirational to sculptors, though it wasn’t confirmed.”

“What is the relationship between this town and Totuem?”

“Here’s just a small town, a serene place where vampires escaped the hustle and bustle of a city. Toduem is a few days due east if you wanted to go, though I do not recommend it; there are more rumors about it becoming more dangerous.”

According to the vampire owner, Seirun was kind of a town where beginners began.

‘I don’t think Toduem is a good place for the weak.’

After that, they started to collect and authenticate the information acquired from vampires.

“Seirun? You’re asking where the town got its name? It’s the name of one of our three moons: Pallun, Gorun, and Seirun. The vampire queen of the nobles of the night belonging to Todeum also carried the same name. She’s also very beautiful; if she asked, I would gladly pull and dedicate my human heart if I was one.”

“A tip to you human tourists, avoid the alley at night. It’s a place where many humans were drained of their bloods, so never accept their advances.”

“You really want to know about Todeum? It was originally where the dead were put to rest, a cemetery if you will. But for some reason, they rose from their slumber and began to seek out blood. And now, it has become a city for nobilities of the night. Join with the living beings? Why would the Nobles do something that relinquishes their prominence!?”

“The land of vampires is different from human’s. The dead are sent above to the ground for one. What about their belongings? We vampires just put it with them as we have no need for human’s belongings. Though, antiques and jewelries occasionally could occasionally be ‘misplaced.’”

“Tsk! Damn younglings vampires these days. I had them agreed not to search of the golden vampire bat……”

“I didn’t do that when I was a kid. Sometimes they don’t even make it back by the break of dawn the next day; I hope nothing had happened to them.”

“The pride of our town? We have a lot of pretty sexy vampire gir…keuheum! Go somewhere else and leave me be.”

The adult vampires on the street!

There was a huge difference in the generation gap, the younglings were literally garbage. Weed saw and talked to a few of them.

“You’re human? Do you want to ride something that makes your blood pumps? Ok, that’s great! Have you seen the scenery from the alleyway? That’s where everything seems the most majestic. If you want to go, I can guide you there and……”

“Female vampires, they talk so much it’s incredible. The Jakkuman clan seems to have disappeared, whether it’s true or not doesn’t really matter to me though.”

“The rumor in Seirun is that the vampire queen of the same name is the most beautiful, but I haven’t seen her. Wonder where she is.”

The Geomchis have long separated from the group as the only they occupied their mind were the female vampires selling apples, now eating apples they purchased. Occasionally, they’d throw their fists in the air or pointed thumbs out while screaming loudly.

“Vampire Kingdom Hurrah!!”

“Long live all the vampires!”

“Keuheuk! Good thing we came here. Thanks. Weed.”

Geomchis were making a scene!

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4 were truly enjoying themselves, while Geomchi and Geomchi5 were stuffing themselves with apples. Seirun was considered as a haven to these old bachelors. They would flex their muscles or smile whenever they were dealing with the female vampires.

“Bon appetite. Thankyou for your patronage.”

“Not a problem. Do you have more like these……”

“Thank you.”

The female vampires hung on both of his arms as a reward.

“Euheoheoheoheo.”

Like a male student getting touched!

“Worth every penny!”

Geomchi3 notice his master.

“Master! Use the money we saved up!”

“Roger, disciple! Keep up eating! Buy some more!”

Geomchi’s money drastically reduced; knowing that all were going toward the local beauties, he still didn’t mind. He could hunt again to raise more money, there was no hesitation because living an impoverished lifestyle for a day or two didn’t really matter to him.

And for some reason, their behaviors elevated the female vampires liking towards them, as one of them tugged on Geomchi3’s arm.

“Please help us.”

“Yes? What can I do for you……would you like me to buy more apples?”

“There were those who were trying to capture then kill us, please slay them.”

The worrisome words from the tearful female vampires; the sight burned its place in Geomchi3’s heart.

“No, those lousy fools! Where the hell are they? Take me to them punks immediately……”

“We’ll guide you. Come with us.”

While Weed and his party were gathering information and find out which quests were good to obtain, Geomchi3 rushed in hastily.

“Weed!”

“Yes?”

“I think we found a quest.”

“Tell me when and how?”

“We were buying apples from girls and they told me.”

They were vampires!

Though classified more so as monsters than humans; in Geomchis’ eyes, they were simply women.

“What about the compensations and difficulty level?”

“I don’t know. It’s something regarding the Jakkuman somewhere, I thought you might have an idea.”

“Take me there.”

Weed, along with his party, rushed toward the female vampires, and caught sight of the Geomchis surrounding them.

“Weed hurry. This lady said she’d guide us; we’re to rescue her friend as soon as possible.”

Geomchi2 said with urgency, and poised ready to do. However, Weed was sharp, he turned to that female vampire.

“Tell us where you want us to follow?”

“I’ll show you directly.”

The vampire shot a reply bluntly. Weed did not believe her or the vampire race, figured they’ve used this lie plenty! Full of greed and envy, the jealousy filled vampires loved to produce crisis based on their lies; the most incredible creature on land were the vampires. Weed stated.

“If it’s true that your friend’s in danger, would you swear to the Blood Oath to authenticate?”

Blood Oath.

The blood being the source of the vampire’s life, and they could not lie once they swore to it. Weed found out about this fact when he dealt with the vampire clan Jinhyeol.

‘If she’s lying, she’ll ignore and pretend not to know of it.’

Contrary to what he expected, the female vampire nodded.

“Yes! I, the vampire Minorue, under my sacred blood, I swear I am not luring the humans to a trap.”

“Let’s go.”

Weed and his party followed the vampire Minorue as she led them toward the plain behind the village. Navigating through the plain they encountered a spacious field with many divided paths; then after passing the vast grassland, a village came into view.

Surprisingly, the village was inhabited by human beings!

Fences rose surrounding the village acted as a barrier, while knights and priests remained on the lookout.

Minorue sorrowfully said.

“This gathering of human fanatics has been plaguing us.”

“And they have something to do with Roselin’s disappearances?”

“Yes. They foolishly believed in their god. They continued to kidnap young members of our clan every night and burn them at the stake. Take a closer look over there.”

Minorue pointed her finger toward a place near the main entrance of the village where pillars of stakes were erected. The vampires were suspended by ropes tied to a cross; while beneath them, woods, oils, and such materials were accumulated.

“My friend Roselin is supposed to be burn tonight, please expel all of the fanatics gathered there and save my friend.”

Ttiring!

Vampire rescue.

The threats from a religious cult, priests and paladins are amongst them! We could not drink their blood because they were armed with pious; they blessed their lands so that we could not approach them.

We were playing when they attacked us, and claimed it was in the name of justice and duty when they captured Roselin. However, they’re going to pay dearly for going after our queen.

Difficulty: B

Rewards:

Potions of vampires.

Roselin cursed doll.

Quest limit:

3 months between the date Roselin was captured till the date she’d burned at the stake, quest will fail at the moment of her death.

A very unusual quest!

A quest commissioned by a vampire. Weed was relatively hesitant at the thought of fighting against humans, but the Geomchis had already decided.

“There’s a woman named Roselin tied up?!”

“Ima help a babe like that!”

“Sure. No other choice for us men!”

“Don’t worry, we’ll help.”

A sight at Roselin’s face, the vampire queen, Geomchis helplessly accepted the quest; while Weed also reluctantly accepts.

“Roselin will be rescued.”

– You have accepted the quest.

-15 Faith.

-200 Reputation.

-3 Luck.

+15 Attractiveness.

Tendencies slightly lean toward wickedness.

Chapter 4: Roselyn rescue mission

Accepting the commissioned quest was simple enough, regardless of the multiple stats change; not surprising considering the request came from a vampire.

“Wah! Reputation dropped.”

After Weed had accepted the quest, Surka bellowed; while the remaining other people shown vexed expressions. Gaining fame was a tough road; one could be grinding mobs or repeating the same quests for weeks or so to raise 200 Reputations.

There were also the declines of Faith and Luck, but the amounts were laughable comparing to Reputation. And since the Reputation had a direct correlation to the quests one may takes, while acquiring 2nd job, and 3rd job also required a certain amount of rep, the loss was quite huge.

Geomchi seriously inquired.

“Weed.”

“Yes?”

“If this continues to be the case, what would happen if our REP hits zero?”

Though Geomchis’ reputations were not terribly high, the resulted loss still wasn’t that big of a problem. In fact, Weed concluded that there would be some kind of penalty when accepting the quest.

‘A level B quest offered without doing familiarity works such as quests beforehand, so the loss in fame in the land of vampires isn’t a significant problem.’

Originally Weed was going to tell them the damages were not a big deal, but he decided to say something casually to prevent them from accepting fraudulent offers.

“Well, Weapon shops aren’t going to sell us good weapons.”

“Why?”

“They’ll say the no-REP and anonymous doesn’t deserve good weapons.”

“……”

Geomchi’s greed for good weapons would not lose to anyone; so in actuality, the fact that he might not be able to purchase good weapons to further his arsenal caused him considerable sadness. Geomchi3 then asked.

“But that doesn’t mean our only option was to buy them from weapon shops. Can’t we just order blacksmiths to make them directly?”

“Problem is blacksmiths will be even more difficult since they got more pride; since they make their weapons on their own, they want to put them in the hands of celebrities. And if our fame falls while those prices rise, it’ll be even harder.”

Geomchi3 forced a smile.

“We’ll probably be able to endure it.”

They can still buy weapons through Weed or Mapan.

To have blacksmiths to create custom-made weapons uniquely matches their personal preferences would be great, but not a primary concern. Also, blacksmiths can be bought at a premium price if they had truly desire to create their personal gears.

Weed, again, tried to make it a big deal.

“Will also be tricky if you want to enter a restaurant.”

“Wh…why’s that?”

“A reputable restaurant isn’t going to let just anyone in.”

“Euheuheuk.”

Geomchi3 agonized over it.

The need to suppress his appetite was a long and insufferably painful road. In fact, the foods in Royal Road were something to alleviate the throbbing called forth by his strict diet.

“Com’on, fame was that important?”

“Noone said it’d bring this kind of trouble?”

The others practitioners also churned.

Their spirits, broken!

Weed then turned to his simplest method.

“Hyungs!”

“……?”

“Battle! It’s time to rescue the vampire beauties. And then…in consolidation…”

“In consolidation…”

Kkolkaa!

All of them essentially drooled. Throughout faces of the practitioners, all of which formed an easy to read poker face.

‘This is not the time to care about something like that!’

‘I will be the first man to get……’

‘Gotta hurry! Damsel in distress!’

Weed did not continue. Just a hint here and there will get results!

“Whoaaaa!!!”

The students bellowed as they charged across the field toward the village, followed by the teachers. As to not be outdone, the teachers also vented their voices.

“MOVE! I will get Roselyn!”

“Your rank’s below me! Follow and pay attention!”

“Brother, why would ranking authority matters here!? There’s a woman in trouble!!”

Both teacher and student practitioners rallied while rushing!

“Get out my way! IT’S SUPER URGENT!”

Geomchi too, ran like the wind.

Female vampires were monsters that closely resembled humankind, and tend to quite pretty.

Unlike the High Elves and Wood Elves whom were innocently charming, the female vampires had the enticing and sensual body figures.

The captured Vampire Queen Roselynn that was awaiting rescue had the figure that could not lose.

Surka sighed deeply.

“They’re hopeless.”

Romuna too, furrowed her brows.

“Men are all the same.”

Still, the macho and tough looking Geomchis jumped at the chance to rescue the vampire queen was a disappointing sight beyond belief.

Meanwhile, the strides of Geomchi2 and Geomchi16 remain unchanged.

Maylon was quite curious as to why.

“Geomchi16-nim, why aren’t you going with them to the rescue?”

Her impression of Geomchi16 within the Geomchi’s group was similar to the ridges in one’s hand, just one line of many. The ridges in the hand that belonged to one of the nephew weeping loudly, while he amongst many others holding out that hand on the first day of the New Year.

Geomchi16 replied with a bright smile.

“I’m sending whispers with my girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?”

Everyone’s eyes were widening in amazement.

Geomchi16 has a girlfriend!

The possibility was too hard to believe.

This was the first time amongst the Geomchi group that there was the mention of a girlfriend, so it sounded unbelievable.

“I cant believe what he’s saying.”

“Could he have some sort of dementia?”

“To be talking to an imaginary person, could he have been…”

“Don’t talk like I was abducted!”

A bunch of speculations came about, and as Maylon worded her own theory, his outburst caused her to choke on her words. She then painfully asked.

“Can you tell me what happened when you met her?”

“I knew her since the battle with the dragon. Her name is Libian. Isn’t it a beautiful name? HAHAHAA!!”

A good event happened to Geomchi16 that no one else knew.

He devoted the last bar of his life fighting to add a friend. A dream then was made into reality by her. She sent him a whisper after they parted. He was quite clumsy, but Libian was comforted to find Geomchi6 to be honest and trustworthy, and extremely entertaining.

He was then looked up by the Geomchis, the act was something worth imitating!

Hence, they all rushed forward like crazy to save the female vampire.

Maylon eyes blinked with admiration.

“Of course I understand! The trait of being dependable, of course this will make you popular. Oh, and by the way, Geomchi2 nim, why aren’t you rushing in to battle?”

“I’m here to keep her accompanied.”

Geomchi2 drew his sword and stood beside Seechwi to keep watch.

Tall fat female Orc and human!

Geomchi2 muscular body and at a stuttering two meters tall, was still slightly smaller in comparison to Seechwi. So to say he was going to watch over her may sounded a bit unusual, but he still remained static to take care of Seechwi.

“Geomchi2 nim! Chwiik, chwiyiit!”

Seechwii didn’t know what kindness meant while in this second body.

The parties she was in before were filled with bitterness!

Having good people didn’t mean the status quo were evenly distributed; in fact, the loot and experienced she acquired were at the size of a bedbug comparing to the bed itself. Unable to be let in battles, she was only allowed the job of a porter, carrying luggage around.

She felt a sense of loneliness and desolation, and even shame.

However, such a person is presented before her.

‘This is not the first time a guy said such a thing to me, but…’

In reality, the beautiful psychiatrist had been out on blind dates and such, while many well-dressed men lined up before her.

Even though going against what the male preferences were in Royal Road by choosing a job as an ugly Orc, she didn’t have to worry about her outer appearances nor worried about men pretending to be interested without their own agenda.

Geomchi2 was the older brother amongst the teachers so he was naturally sensitive to the people around him.

Weed stepped up.

“Then, we’ll also go into battle.”

“Weed nim, I’ll cast a blessing. Please let the divine power fill thy body to protect it from harm. Origin of Eternity!”

The prayer can from Irene.

As she chants her prayer, the area was filled with white light.

Irene acquired a new blessing skill!

It temporarily increases magic and physical defense, also improves the body ability to heal.

“Please let his power peak against all forms of wickedness. Bless!”

She continued with the blessings on Weed, and then turned to bless the rest of the party. Even though the best of her current ability can’t match that of the Pope candidate Ron Alves, Irene divine powers were still quite effective.

Now they were primed for battle.

Weed then turned to Yurin.

“Sis.”

“Huh?”

“Stay here and be well hidden. Mapan nim will be here with you.”

“Ok.”

“If monsters come then let Hyungs take care of it; if not, run.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll run fast.”

“When you get hungry, eat the beef jerky inside the wagon.”

“Eat till I’m full.”

“But if I don’t come back…”

“I’ll offer the best rice for the afterlife.”

“Man…”

“Just kidding. Didn’t have to believe it.”

Weed then, continued on for a while.

From things such as it’s usually female vampires that are seductress, but if a male vampires sent you a pass, don’t go for it; to when you’re tired, take a rest. Having low stamina mean you’ll be exhausted quickly. So don’t overdo things, to avoid chronic fatigue and a cold, it’ll take...

Mapan’s face was stricken.

“Weed-nim's sensibility is going downhill with each spoken word.”

Pale too, agreed.

“To be quietly listening to this, Yurin-nim is amazing.”

Zephyr seemed to identify the reason as to why.

“I can relate to the relationship between a younger sister and the older brother. When she goes out wearing a mini skirt, as a brother I can’t seem to word out the problem at hand.”

After that duration of nagging, Weed turned his sights toward the battlefield.

“The situation there is more urgent so lets be brief.”

"Yes, brother.”

“Plenty of time later.”

“Tell me more later since there are a lot of unfinished subjects.”

“Of course!”

The people around them were horrified.

Weed moved toward the widely flung gates of the fanatics’ village.

“The vampires misled you fools.”

“Repent. Repent!”

“Here is where we sent them to hell to repent for their sins! And we were given the task by God!”

“First squad, Paladins, GO!”

The fanatics.

The Shadow Paladins and Shadow Priests were poised to attack.

The expectation of a boring siege as the village lying in wait to be attacked was off by a mile, as these human NPCs were rather aggressive.

“The path you tread is not abiding to the will of God!”

The rumbling speed of the Geomchis lowered significantly. Their heavy footsteps were constantly being constraint as they headed toward the headwind blowing against them.

The Shadow Priests continued casting their magic.

“You whom were deluded by evil, you reprobate beings! The stench emitting from you now will make you sick!”

Geomchis bodies began to turn green. An unpleasant smell entered their nostrils as they breathe in the plague.

Usually this would have been a troubling development! Most would have lost the will to fight, holding their breath and run away at the opportunity.

But an unfortunate blessing, the Geomchis aren’t normal humans.

Geomchi3 grinned.

“Just this much!? This is barely comparable to not having my feet wash for 10 days!”

Geomchi4 too, flashed a sinister smile as he recall one moment of his past.

“I was on an excursion in the rainforest for 2 years, and then returned to Korea. Everybody ran away from the bathroom when I started using it. Hehe!”

“There’s never a stench that can raise a hair on my skin!”

He went on a hellish training to discipline himself against any sort of odor.

Geomchi aimlessly let out a chuckle.

It was a lifetime ago. In his childhood, at the time when he was learning the arts of the sword; his house was poor, and there was nothing to eat. Sometimes in the middle of his training, he’d find food and eat at the bathroom on his way back.

This was one of his comfort zone!

At the time, it was called a dwitgan (a hole in the ground where u sits to poop. Google.) The ‘facility’ didn’t have water. It was an old and outdated hut, where you’d have to scoop out the wastes, unlike modern conventional toilet!

The foods in the dwitgan were delicious.

“Squatting there eating instant noodles was the best.”

Each and every one Geomchis’ past was so tragic!

Though their bodies were riddled with the plague that was weakening their joints, they continued to advance.

“Warrior’s Assault!”

“Endless Sword!”

Geomchis’ bodies glowed with a faint light.

Their running speed and attacking speed increased.

Warrior’s Assault.

A buff that increases the recipient’s running speed by a whooping 25%!

The powerful rushing attack was extremely effective against the knights.

Even thought it consumes a considerable amount of stamina, the trade off was worth it.

As the buff was continuous, anything that was in the way did not stand a chance.

Cutting, stabbing, and hitting anything!

The swords were forced to flow constantly as a stream of water.

The buff is inefficient to those that aren’t familiar with the way of the swords. If one disrupts their flow at the sight of monsters, potentially the sword can go out of control.

One must be three or four steps ahead of the monsters and change their attacking patterns accordingly.

And raising the skill’s proficiency can be done through efforts, but to truly utilize the ability to its full potential depends on the individual’s fighting ability.

“Screw them!”

“There’s nothing that can stop us!”

The Geomchis brandished their swords and advanced like madmen.

Swords were slicing the wind!

They charged toward the priests that conjured the headwinds.

And more paladins got in between.

“Strike!”

“Feel God’s wrath, unbelievers!”

The fanatics and Geomchis clashed.

“Hammer of God!”

“Ground Reversal!”

Magically enhanced shields and swords collided.

“Haters. Hate the will of God!”

That was not a skill, just two herds smack talking.

“Oh power of the Holy Spirit, please give me power to relieve the suffering. Therapeutics Touch!”

The Paladins kept receiving the Priests’ blessing every time their health points drops.

Priests, clergy and the likes didn’t have very strong magic attacks, but their protective blessings and heals were unmatched.

Geomchis continued their vehement attacks, but the HPs they caused on the Paladins were immediately replenished. Not only that, the expensive armors the Paladins were wearing boosted their defenses unimaginably.

Then the Priests in the background continued to buff the Paladins attacking powers.

Furthermore, the Paladins were wearing great armors!

Weed eyes pried them at his location.

“Armor set! Paladin’s even!”

Paladin is one of the most popular professions.

They can wield a variety of weapons such as swords and maces. They can also use magic, and have a high defense for survival, so it’s love by many.

“If it’s the Paladin armor set, I can sell for a helluva high price.”

Most people don’t like checking auctions to get a part at a time. Most would just go for the full set even if it’s more expensive.

“This is awesome to come to the Land of Vampires.”

Then against, they must win the battle.

The priests in the rear were making it tough with their constant buffs and heal.

“Why don’t these fools die!”

“Priests are healing them.”

“Cowards…”

Geomchis clamored.

Though not having the high vitality the Geomchis has, the knights were constant getting heals from the priests till prim and proper shape. Even the ones that seemingly almost ready to collapsed, the priests took care of them till they’ve made a full recovery.

The Paladins continued the fierce fight, forming an impenetrable wall.

They firmly stood their ground in the midst of the battle, while defending with their shields, and slowly pushed Geomchis back.

“Magic Arrow!”

“Ice Bolt!”

At the same time as their defensive lines up, the priests also used some tough attacking spells.

As the damages they were continuously receiving, the accumulation was becoming more and more significant.

Geomchis were too far ahead for him to intervene, but Pale was getting more and more restless.

“If things are continue to go the way they are, are we’re going to fail the quest?”

Weed shook his head.

“We good.”

The quest was acquired from the village of vampires!

Similar to the quest he received a while back fighting against Tori’s clan, also a rank B quest.

In order to complete the request at the time, he was struggling to increase and utilize all of his skills while under the assistance of Ron Alves.

However, the situation has changed. The Geomchis are higher levels comparing to Weed at that time, and masters in their arts.

Nevertheless, Weed’s optimism still looked a bit wry.

“Quest is successful, but there’ll be sacrifices.”

“Yeh?”

“We’re done if we died just once in this place.”

“Ah, that’s a hell of a restriction!”

Pale and Zephyr’s were startled.

If you fail a quest, or die, you’re forever banished from the world of vampires.

In case of the death, revival is not an option.

Having high ATK is an outstanding feature of Geomchis. But that also means their defenses aren’t prominent enough so they’re quite vulnerable. In addition, they can’t even use simple self healing spells like the Paladins.

As things going the way they are, the cumulative damages will naturally results in deaths, and the amount is relevant to the total of their strength.

Pale realized.

“We’re screwed if this continues!”

Irene lacked the power to cycle her heals to a large group of people; therefore, the fact they were facing was that anyone maybe expendable. In particular, the DEF-lacking Geomchis had the highest possibility of dying at any moment.

Frankly speaking, if the battle continues to go down the current path, the number of their allies will be greatly reduced.

Weed’s ways of doing things are meticulously going through preparations.

Cultivating his allies, test the strength of his enemies, while making the most of his environment.

But now was not the case.

They were allowed to be in this land for the total of only three months.

Current situation: Vampire witch trial.

There wasn’t much time left to rescue Roselyn from the burning stake. While the Paladins and Priests continued to defend with their impenetrable barrier.

‘Have to bet everything on this one.’

Weed’s heart was about to break from the slowing growing pain.

‘Paladin armor set. Have to give up holding back the damages now.’

Organization within a natural clash can minimize casualties. While commanding over hundreds of officers is a tremendous task; at the same while, organized battles can mean abandoning the victory, and the loss is even more damaging.

In this messy melee skirmish ‘formation,’ controlling the fight isn’t that complex. In addition, the intention of the Geomchis who are in no mood to listen to anyone is well known.

Weed yelled.

“Roselyn, hang in there for a bit! Zephyr nim is coming to save you!”

Kureureureung!

Terrible roars roamed from the battlefield.

Weed’s Lion Roar stirred an enormous ripple effect.

Up until now, the uncooperative individuals of Geomchis continued to move forward for Roselyn’s, exhausted their rage.

“What? That fish soup of a playboy’s gunna save our Roselyn?”

“Hellsnoo! Not happening!”

“I’d rather let our Hyongs get her.”

“All the handsome guys can go lie in a ditch!”

The movements of Geomchis changed.

Rather than single mindedly forcing their ways to Roselyn, they pushed toward the Paladins and earnestly fought in close quarters.

“Rotating Lunge!”

“Crisscross Cut!”

“Seven Strokes!”

Geomchis took advantageous of their skills and attacked aggressively.

Dealing direct blows with their swords.

They were using long ranged attacks with their swords, while dealing little damage at the cost of lots of mana. Now they were utilizing their direct melee attacks.

Straightforward and more effective skills.

Some rolled their body on the ground to avoid incoming magic arrows, and then leapt into the air immediately afterward.

Swung their blades at enemies whilst rotating in midair.

Results from agility, quickness, judgment, and experiences!

The scene here was unconceivable by any movies.

From running, ducking, even throwing their swords for a hit……attacking with no distractive thoughts such as flashy moves and defending.

The paladins frantically avoided Geomchis’ desperation whist casting their spells.

“I absolutely won’t allow him to pass!”

“I don’t care how unfair the world is to me, just not for the sake of Zephyr!”

An honorable one on one fight during a confrontation.

In a war, to hell with that!

Geomchis repeated the same tactic of attacking then recedes while ganging up 3-4 people to one paladin.

They continued to do so as they isolated some paladins, and hunted them down. The priests persistently casted heals and plagues, but Geomchis were able to pushed the paladins to their breaking point.

Geomchis had plenty of experiences attacking large group of enemies, so the priests weren’t given any break as they tried to intervene.

On the Paladins’ side, they weren’t given a second of a breather as they faced the onslaught of the raging-wild-boars that were the Geomchis.

In the battle, just a miniscule of a second of the moment!

For one caged Paladin who let up just for a bit, he was struck five, six times in that bit.

Weed’s entertained tears faded as he approached the priests at a different route from a far distance. He intended to attack the Judges and Priests that were located behind the units of Paladins.

Dadadadadadak!

From the middle of nowhere, footsteps approached him for no reason.

Therefore, Weed, without a care, sped up on the plain. But then, Zephyr also did the same in a flurry.

Initially, the intention was pure. Weed only sped up to get the similar rate of speed to that of the dash. Then suddenly, the two continued increasing their speed as if it was a competition.

Men’s Pride.

For such a trivial reason, even if their stamina’s depletes, they absolutely refuse to be lag behind.

If they were at the same condition, Weed was a bit faster. But at the moment, he was wearing a heavy armor. So Zephyr was able to match his speed with Weed’s.

Weed was the first to open his mouth. Even though he was short of breath, he let his word flown out calmly.

“The plain’s pretty.”

“Not a big deal.”

Zephyr too, maintained a healthy like glow.

“How you gonna slow down? It’ll be a bit hard for ya…”

“Is hyong nim saying it’s tough for little old me? I have a very light body.”

“Hu hu, the wind’s quite calming. So far, I’ve only used 1% of my strength.”

“Only 0.2% of my real strength’s used at the moment.”

The childish competitive mindset of men weren’t going to end.

Weed lifted his hands.

There was still a considerable amount of distance until the priests. However, he had a secret weapon hidden away.

High Elf Yeurika’s Bow.

The dream of all archers.

Weed loaded an arrow on the bow. Then shot it toward the priest.

Syusyuk!

The bow was imbedded with powers of the water spirit. The arrow zoomed past as it left behind a stream of droplets in it trajectory.

Soon the arrow reached its intended target.

Puwawak!

It swept up the priests like a wave.

A luxurious bow that can use the power of water spirits!

Weed’s archery was not very outstanding. Most of his battles he relied on his sword. The arrows he shot before simply drifted toward monsters from a distance. Also, since the skill wasn’t in set with his mastery, it had very little power as it was reduced.

But the Yeurika’s Bow reached the priests at a surprising distance and dealt the standard damages.

‘This bow’s pretty good.’

Weed continued to fire arrows using Yeurika’s Bow toward the priests. His mana was rapidly depleting, but he didn’t care.

“Cowardly bastards!”

“We are the devotee of God.”

“You shall receive the wrath of God!”

Cries of fanatics!

Weed and Zephyr were in close proximity to priests with their sprints.

Weed’s gaze became stone cold.

‘Ima win this battle and bring the armor sets back.’

Many people also took on the roles priests. Unfortunately, the prices for robe sets were much lower in comparison.

Because they usually weren’t situated at the forefront of the battle, their sets didn’t require much defense.

‘Armor sets!’ (yep…that’d be my warcry too, Weed.)

Desperation for items!

“Moonlight Sculptor Blade!”

Aimed at the Priests!

Weed forced his way amongst the priests as he brandished his sword.

Due to the fact that his level was considerably higher than the current quest, the priests lost their lives within two or three strikes.

‘Bracelets, rings, earrings, magic staves! MINE!’

Weed looted the priests as he swept through them.

Zephyr too, attacked with a wide radius as he swung his fishing pole, while Surka flaunted her fists in close proximity. At the same time, Maylon and Pale situated themselves atop a hill.

“Triple Shot!”

“Fatal Blow!”

And to support the two as they fired their arrows, Romuna called forth her memorized spell.

“Fire Tornado!”

A huge whirlwind of fire took place.

More so than attacking directly, the spell had vast range and struck many enemies; essentially, disabled the priests from conjurations.

Hwareureureu!

“Kkueahahak!”

The Priests screamed.

Irregardless of the flames around him, Weed continued to target the priests.

Without the past protections and heals from the priests, the paladins dropped quickly one by one.

Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 joined Weed amidst the flames.

“I’ll help.”

“We gotta divide up their troops.”

As they read the flow of battles, the Paladins united into one thick assembly.

While seemingly past their limits, they were not broken.

To our faith, we’re to offer our suffering.

May God bend it against the unbelievers in folds.

The Paladins.

Organized themselves and offered their prayers. And contrary to their characteristics, they even tossed their shields aside.

We will forever remain faithful, even to follow the in death.

To God, we give our lives.

As they continued to hymn, the Paladins fiercely swung their swords. While ignoring defense, they fought to annihilate.

The Geomchis retaliated for their dear lives.

“Damn!”

“Where are they getting the strength…”

The Paladins will to live were twice that of the Geomchis.

Geomchis were surrounded by the paladins to a point where there was little space between each Geomchis. Then the paladins let on an unrelenting onslaught as they neglected their defense; but as the damages they dealt were comparatively little, each fell one after another.

The fierce battle raged on for more than 40 minutes!

As the Shadow Priest were taken care of before them; the Shadow Paladins too, lost their lives.

The Geomchis slumped as they sat.

“Coughkeok”

“I was hella nervous for a long time.”

Their stamina was exhausted after the long battle.

Even if they were against tough mobs, they can easily take a break in between battles. But this war against the paladins was a necessity for the quest’s sake, and called for no pause as they had to win the battle.

Geomchi13 grinned.

“Thank God. The kids didn’t get hurt.”

Geomchi19 too agreed.

“Aint we dignified? It’d suck if we couldn’t protect them.”

They withstood the attacks from the Shadow priests and paladins to ensure Seechwi and Yurin’s safety in the back.

Men’s Pride.

Even they they’re seemingly near death; they’re willing to fight at close range to ensure the safety of the women in the rear.

A close examination after the victorious battle, the number of practitioners declined by 34. They’ve lost their lives during the ferocious battle. Primarily the lesser experienced who were killed during the confusion of battle.

“Keoheoheom!”

Geomchi coughed uncomfortably. In addition, Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 didn’t lift their heads, similarly with the other instructors.

“How are we going to instruct those kids……such a big disappointment.”

“……”

“Tonight, make them do every set.”

“Yes.”

“Write the name of the deceased separately.”

“Sir!”

The penalty for losing their lives in game were experiences lost and a day of was a tiny punishment.

Hell Training!

They will be subjected to at least a month in front of hell’s gates.

“WOW.”

“Heoeoeo, better not relax too much to avoid death.”

“In the future, the instructors also have a responsibility to their practitioners.”

The instructors’ shoulders dropped.

But this was another sort of training posed on them.

Instead of teaching the selection they had to practitioners; comparatively, Royal Road offered an unlimited ways to learn an art.

Royal Road was more superior in terms of training the five senses and one can truly take advantages of the swords.

Without even the need of using skills, no one who truly uses the sword was harmless if they had anticipated the behavior of the monsters.

Nevertheless, the practitioners face a higher risk, so it was better for the instructors to monitor their group of disciples.

After that, Geomchis, the instructors, and every other practitioner approached Roselyn who was still on the cross.

Kkulkkeog!

Geomchi swallowed his saliva.

The hanged being on the cross had an amazingly alluring appearance.

“Le, let me get you down.”

“Thank you.”

Geomchi untied the ropes on Roselyn. She held on to him afterward to show thanks.

“I was able to released thanks to Yongsa-nim” (brave warrior + nim)

“Keoheok!”

Ttiring!

Vampire Rescue Complete

Roselyn was rescued from the clutches Taron’s Cult unharmed.

She was born destined to be a great queen. Appropriately to the amount of blood she drinks, she’ll become more beautiful.

Quest reward: Inquire Minorca.

As Roselyn gives thanks to everyone, she held them close and bowed to kiss their hand.

“Oh great human hero, I humbly gives you my sincere thanks for saving me.”

Geomchis were flattered.

“OHH!”

“Great!”

“Nice work coming to the Land of Vampires!”

After completing the quest, the sense of achievement filled the air!

From the teacher down to the practitioners, Roselyn gave thanks by means of a hug in sequential order.

The quest’s finished, Pale subtly checked the notice for quest completion.

“Maylon nim, if it’s not too much to ask, what we received for completing this quest…”

“Alayot!”

From Minorca, each was to receive 10 cursed dolls as a reward.

Items such as these can be offered to the Temple for a great boost in reputation.

They also received a considerable amount of experiences, the lower level Geomchis were able to gained 2~3 levels.

“The compensation wasn’t bad at all.”

Weed was satisfied.

After receiving the thank you from the beautiful vampire, Geomchis were more than happy.

“I wish this quest can be repeated……”

“Saving her was a righteous thing to do; this was just one sample of chivalry.”

From then on they started accepting Vampire quests!

Quests ranged from grade B and C, and got as much as four at once.

Although they received a considerable damage from the first battle; through Weed’s conducting, the damages now reduced dramatically.

Beyond the red wall of the town, where the wild yaks roamed, were their favorite preys.

And the reason was that they can eat yak’s meat after the siege!

19 Geomchis were killed. (ROFL)

They became more cautious when hunting Beasts of Chaos. Since the beasts were able to use dark arts and their physical were topnotch. Therefore, a frontal assault seemed to do more harm than good.

Weed and the top 100 practitioners decided to head into battle.

“How we gunna fight? Do we go all out on those guys? I think if we do that, we can take out about half of their HP.”

Said Geomchi12 while clenching his fists.

In comparison, it was apparent that the beasts were far stronger than them; but in any case, he didn’t want to allow himself to show any sign of weakness.

“Please stand your ground as long as you could when fighting against them.”

“Aren’t we fighting to win?”

“Of course! They’ll be attacking us with all their might so it’s good to show that you’re able to defy them. It’ll be pretty difficult. Don’t fight them to the death, escape them to survive.”

“Oh? Sounds interesting. Lets do that then.”

Weed along with the top-tier Geomchis went on the assault against the beasts. And they were heartily beaten with all sort of magic and physical attacks.

And before their lives were at stake, they fled like the wind.

“Bandage!”

He used the bandage skill on them for a long time.

Weed brought along plenty of first aid materials on the wagon for situations such as this.

In the meantime, the second wave led by Geomchi2 of 100 men went on the assault.

“Yo evil beasts!”

“Come and get it!”

They were struck by curses from the dark arts and sustained physical strikes, calling forth for retreat.

Like a bunch of tanks!

Resilient and slowly worked their way toward victory!

Over time, the Beasts of Chaos power and HP continued to dwindle. And since their INT were low, these monsters began to go out of control.

Rush, rush!

Without a single break, the fight escalated and caused for more retreats.

This was the method of fighting Weed thought up while fighting along side the Pope candidate, Ron Alves, many times before.

100 people during each assault alternately winding down the beasts power; and when they were completely burnt, it spelt their deaths.

As a result, only 13 Goemchis died for the win!

They couldn’t escape the strikes from the beasts fast enough.

Pale muttered.

“This quest’s also tough.”

Zephyr too, agreed.

“Hella tired to celebrate the victory.”

Some quests through hard work rewarded new talents.

Those that claimed hard labor won’t result to anything suddenly realized Weed’s conviction.

Thanks to that, Pale and Irene were able to obtain some new skills; though the skills requirements were so random that they let out shrieks of terror.

“I have to shoot once for every 1000 steps; if I can’t, I won’ be allowed to shoot for 10000 steps.”

“It’s this hard to raise the expertise on Sacred Blessing? I have to train it everyday for 10 hours each time……”

The number of deaths gradually decreased as they took on the quests, but they spent much more time than before. Nevertheless, nobody complained.

Soon after they entered the land of the vampires, Pale’s party realized that they weren’t prepared for such a task, now primarily focused on safety.

From the practitioners’ perspective, if they were to die, the gate of hell would swing open for them.

The instructors, who assumed the responsibilities as well as the penalty for his disciples, worried for their safety also. Even if the progress of the quest came to a crawling speed, they’d still prioritized safety above all else!

Geomchi at this time was distracted by delicious foods and Hwaryeong.

Weed was the only one by himself.

He wanted to make use of the 2x EXP period given.

He would try to get commissioned quests battling other monsters so that it wouldn’t interfere with his colleagues’ current quests.

‘We already have 66 deaths. The number will increase without a doubt, and even more so as they get higher difficulty quests. It’s best to survive as long as possible. There are still things to do after we finished here.’

The feeling of complete isolation seeped through in this land of vampires; while it’ll continue to increase corresponding to the number of people dying.

Weed’s way to ensure the number didn’t drastically increase was to remove a bunch of stronger monsters while he hunted.

So in some hunt, he swept more than the requested number; such as defeating the wizards and clerics of the Killer Blade Army in addition to the request.

In this way, Weed was busier than the bunch.

Since the quests were preceded with caution, they cut the time for lunch breaks as short as possible. While Weed and Mapan were going through the supplies for food preparation, the rest assumed other duties.

Geomchis were used to making their own foods; while Yurin and Irene as well as other girls tried to be helpful; from washing rice to doing the dishes or setting up the fire.

Weed’s tasks decreased to simply picking out ingredients and seasoning the foods as the girls’ jobs increased.

When Weed cooked by himself for the group, it could take up to as much as five hours each time. And thanks to this, his Cooking skill increased tremendously.

Hwaryeong after she tastedsoaked kimchi said with a smile.

“Kimchi’s so very delicious.”

Irene then murmured sadly.

“It’s still came from China.”

“……?”

She still could not shake off that past the expiration-date-material feeling.

Nevertheless, Hwaryeong and the rest enjoyed it. The feeling of sitting on the ground eating freshly made food enthralled her. Yurin and Surka who were at the same age too, wanted to cook the food.

Of course the manly Zephyr and Pale didn’t want to just idle. They got the necessary firewood and also prepared the materials.

Even to such extent as removing the poisonous part of monsters they’ve hunted: Pale with his bow arrows obtained birds, while Zephyr went down the river to fish.

They supplemented the food ingredients diligently.

“Hurry! We need fish here.”

“Yea yea, in just a bit.”

Zephyr never once rushed while fishing. With the lure in the river, he would simple watch the flow of the river with a peace of mind.

But ever since he joined up with Weed, he was expected to procure foods. He was now fishing with as much as 10 fishing rods at once, so there was no time for him to slip into his idle mode.

The strange thing with the pressure was that even though the fishes he caught weren’t rare, the expertise rating on his skill rose rapidly.

‘Maybe the reason my Advanced expertise rating stalled was because I’ve been too lax.’

He was sure that fishing skill rose by means of catching rare fishes.

There was even a record of the fishes one has caught. But now, simply by catching a lot of fishes, his expertise proficiency rose noticeably.

‘Maybe the profession weren’t for the sake of a relaxing hobby. This is a fight for continued existence, could it be fishing was a mean to survive? It makes sense……’

Zephyr moved quickly and deliberately as he tried to increase his proficiency by means of fishing. As a Fisherman, his attacking power was a little higher than the norms, and his health point was on the high side; so the possibility of his survivability is very high.

No matter how things were, even when he was near collapsing, he’d refuse to be toppled.

Persistency was the Fisherman’s greatest advantage!

Squishy like a zombie, but still survived.

Though, since he was obsessed about his outer appearance, he wouldn’t allow himself to be in their position.

So from day to day it was a series of struggles.

From questing then to procuring food he had finally found out how difficult it was.

He remembered the time when he hunted in Basra Dungeon with no rest and thought that it would be his last. But now, on these lines, he was severely mistaken.

By participating in obtaining ingredients, his workload further increased. As if he was maturing step by step, his workload increased as he grew.

Like a suffering horse leaving his barn for the pleasure of an adventure only to find out his suffering hadn’t change.

As if he deliberately brought the pain onto himself.

While eating, Zephyr muttered something strange.

“But this is the first time I’m deserving of the food.”

Mapan raised his head from the food.

“Hmm?”

“For some reason I’m feeling like the meal’s decreasing in term of quality.”

“……”

They were now eating poultry, noodles, meat, and whatever else mixed in the midst of it without spices.

Earlier on, the foods were covered with fruit scented seasonings. But now, the food they were eating unadulterated by the plentiful of spices; and the flavor of the day before lingered.

The body gotten used to the slight change of flavoring!

Nevertheless, the food expenses remained the same.

Mapan called for Weed urgently.

“You there, Weed nim!”

But Weed suddenly got up and hurriedly left.

“I just remember I gotta do something, I’m out!”

“……”

Everywhere in the world, there’s corruption, even in cuisine!

Meals in the early days of a restaurant tend to be on the good side. But slowly, the qualities of the foods drop to slightly average or go completely unbearable.

The similar process was aimed at Weed’s foods and the complaints accumulated to too much, he made the appropriate gesture.

Rather than cooking the foods he normally made while receiving praises, the meals now weren’t as delicious.

And now everyone caught wind of the deal!

Weed spoke without an ounce of alarm.

“Then don’t eat when you’re hungry!”

He threw a threat at them!

And sounds of discontentment traveled the group.

In the meantime, the party continued.

Day by day, experience and skill proficiency increased terrifyingly. Those who were below lvl 100 gained levels tremendously. Of course they were the Geomchis, thanks to the 2x experience boost for the initial weeks.

But still, their achievements couldn’t match to that of Weed’s.

He was able to locate enemy’s position, in an efficient manner, and dominated them in battles.

He underwent tremendous pressure and challenges, so he had little time to himself.

Weed’s rate on the hunt increased substantially as he learned of their patterns; he’d then informed the other parties regarding the matter.

Another reason why he didn’t join other parties such as Fail’s and the others was due to the fact that he was too strong.

If Weed was to lead any party, it’d be a boring hunt.

Still, even the lower levels practitioners were gaining experience dizzyingly fast via his information.

Every time they’d succeeded the quests, they changed their evaluation of him.

“It was set up the way he said.”

“He’s not a completely evil being.”

“My head’s……”

Weed was recognized as a force to reckon with.

Around a week had passed, and roughly all the quests in Seirun village were completed.

They’ve obtained Olderin Boots that gives +45 Agility, and the Circlet of Blaine increases maximum MP as well as mana recovery.

Though the greatest gain came from the Beasts of Chaos’ quest, where they received a number of refinement stones for weapons and armors upon completion.

And while Weed gained two levels from it, the others ranged from 5-10 levels increased.

Now the 2x period from quests ended.

The total of Geomchis dropped by 92. Romuna and Surka, whom nearly died twice, managed to survive.

By now, they’ve acquired a more coherent information regarding Todeum.

“Ordinarily, no one should go near Todeum. The vampires who went there never came back. Why? We do not know. If there is one, then……”

“You’re going to Todeum to find out why? This maybe the penalty we’re facing for the sins we’ve committed.”

“Maybe you humans could save the aristocrats. Why be in league with you humans? It’s something we don’t even dream to care for."

Chapter 5: Lee Hyun’s First Class

Lee Hyun got onto the bus.

‘Whew, it’s finally day to go to college, huh.’

For other people, their chests might be bursting with glee when they go to a university. The college life is one fill with a variety of good times: extracurricular activities, MT (membership training), and being part of the clubs. It’s also a collection of various knowledge and education, a great place to gain experiences.

However, in Lee Hyun’s view, it was crap.

Endlessness. Darkness. Despair!

He should have been fully devoted to Royal Road in order to make money instead of going to school.

As the sighing Lee Hyun continued, a conversation the female college students drifted into his ears.

“What courses are you attending for your major on Monday?”

“I enrolled in advance process of Regenerative Medicine, since I wanted to learn more about joint treatments.”

“Really? That’s great. I’m also going to it. Words going around that Professor Hanh Minsoo are really good at teaching it. What about you, Soyun.”

“Major’s Molecular Biology.”

“Whew! That’s tough. Bet the tests’ are killers.”

Three female college students are having a lively conversation.

There were many female college students coming to the University via buses so it wasn’t a strange thing.

‘They’re prolly medical students.’

‘Pretty cute girls…’

‘Good at studying also.’

Some passengers on the bus eyed the female college students with envy.

However, Lee Hyun thought the opposite.

‘I pity them.’

That’s six years of college!

The Medical field tuition is significantly more expensive than that of other majors. Even if one came from a decent household.

But in most cases, the Ministry of Education and the bank joined hands and prepare a system.

Student loans.

To receive student loans for nearly six years for the University; once you get out, it’d be debt piled on debts!

‘Tsk.’

Unknowingly, Lee Hyun’s tongue got cold.

Though unlike what really was happening, the female college student took it another way when she saw it.

“Ah Soyun, there’s a man over there looking at you drooling!”

“He seems to be the best looking guy on the bus.”

“Go and say something.”

The two girls forcibly urged the girl named Soyun on.

Soyun then came over to Lee Hyun as she was told.

“Sorry. I don’t plan to have a boyfriend since I want to focus on my studies.”

She said carefully and soothingly, as to try not to offend him.

Lee Hyun sighed deeply and replied instead of a simple bow of the head.

“I apologize that my behavior was misleading. So here’s my two cents on girls. You female college students drink coffee which is extremely expensive rather than just simply……”

Deed rooted prejudice against woman!

He deliberately and annoyingly explained just that bit and then slumped his head.

Sleeping on the bus helps plenty when you lack sleep while recovering your vitality! (as in quit drinking coffee and sleep more.)

Soyun watched the scene and didn’t know what to do.

‘She alright? Was it too shocking?’

Until they’ve arrived at the Korea University, Lee Hyun kept his head stationary like that.

“Deureureong, kuwuool.” (snoring)

The girls’ bitterness grew as he pretended to sleep.

‘This makes it look as if we’re the bad people.’

‘Still, he was too severe to Soyun.’

‘I want to ask for his contact info…’

The misunderstand increased when Lee Hyun arrived at the school and at his classroom.

The university’s lecture hall was large and magnificent, and was stocked with various state-of-the-art equipments.

Lee Hyun victimized himself.

‘This is where my tuition goes?!!’

Since the tuition money was already officially paid to the university, the cut was even deeper!

Since the money was gone, the resentment filled up quickly resolved.

‘Hayan also, is taking classes.’

Lee Hayan has a different major, so she didn’t have class on Monday. The only time where they were in the class was Liberal Arts on Friday.

‘Anyway, let’s enter the classroom.’

He did not know anybody in the class.

The senior student threw several welcoming parties and had invited him several times. The motive was that to have the students get acquainted with one another, form friendships from the curriculums, but Lee Hyun didn’t go.

The fee was 20000 Won. (20bucks)

Nothing in this world exists for free.

He even skipped the Admission Ceremony a week before. Usually, for most, at the beginning of the new semester shouldn’t be a time for them to be late.

In other word, the moment he first stepped into the class was his first time ever.

“Who is he? Don’t seem to recognize him.”

“Is he a returning senior?”

“I think he’s on the waiting list. What his student ID?”

The students who were taking the class noticed him and whispered amongst themselves.

Lee Hyun steadfastly ignored them and took a seat, and then opened up his laptop.

An old, outdated laptop.

It was a relatively inexpensive item from the marketplace on the internet. It was heavy and crude, but the performance wasn’t that far behind others.

However, Lee Hyun’s face lit up with embarrassment.

‘I don’t have any books.’

The lecture was on the Existence of Virtual Reality.

He didn’t know what kind of textbook to get so it had completely slipped his mind.

Lee Hyun was sitting there in embarrassment when a book slipped in the middle from the girl sitting beside him.

“You can share with me.”

“Thank you.”

“No problem. likewise to Seonbae-nim too.” (Senior classmen.)

“……”

Lee Hyun took a bit to explain.

“So you can be at ease. Im not a Seonbae.”

The girl then, persisted.

“Seonbae-nim, please do not joke like that.”

Freshman girls seemed to treat many males like poison, at the same while only be interested in their Seonbae. So she took what he said as a joke.

“I really am not a Seonbae……”

Suddenly the misunderstand became unpleasant.

Since he didn’t show up at the Admission Ceremony, he didn’t make acquaintances with anybody; and surely, the people in this class wouldn’t want to hear this conversation.

‘I have no choice.’

Lee Hyun gave up on it.

Letting the misunderstanding fizzle out on its own was the best method.

Shortly afterward, he dove into the lecture the professor was teaching. Since the subject the teacher was teaching caught Lee Hyun’s interests.

“Many organizations, one in particular is the military, began research into the numerous advantages virtual reality poses. On their part, if they were to deploy a team of Special Forces on a dangerous mission, the survival rate wouldn’t be very high; so to have them train on the same terrain in a virtual reality will increase their experiences. This will maximize their survivability, and……however, this notion then wasn’t fully completed.”

Lee Hyun more or less nodded in agreement.

‘It was lacking in many ways. The earlier development placed emphasis on education and training. But to truly place a real being into another reality, it took a long time.’

The Professor spoke.

“Initially, the development of virtual reality then was insufficient; however, there were many feedbacks on the subject regarding the looming possibility of increasing people’ happiness via this method. Ultimately, many companies dove into researching virtual reality. Their goal was a simple one.”

‘Obviously it’s the money.’

Lee Hyun’s pet theory (simple logic) did not change.

Money is the thing that can make one either cry or laugh!

“Companies essentially gave birth of new societies within virtual reality and sold it to the consumers as a mean of reinvigoration. As technology develops, the field became more competitive. And from this, Unicorn surfaced from the ground to what it is today with its greatest game, Royal Road; which, in my opinion, is the most beloved by humanity.”

The professor then went on to lecture about the history of VR, in which he simplified.

Lee Hyun then felt a surge of boredom. Ever since he decided to play Royal Road, he researched countless of articles before even actually playing the game. Thus, he already knew the basic contents of the professor’s lecture.

“Euhaam!”

Lee Hyun unknowingly let out a big yawn as he ninja-stretched. He was already tired when he rode the bus, but now sitting in chair listening to the lecture, the waves of sleepiness splashed over him.

And he was reprimanded with eyes from every direction pouring in.

‘Until now, he barely came to class on time……and now he doesn’t look like he’s in the mood to study.’

‘Is he a student, or was he fired? Oh, then how was he able to come to our department?’

‘Looks like he’s a returnee……that must mean he got an F to be retaking this class. I don’t want to be like him, gotta work hard and learn. Jjeutjjeutjjeut!’ (pencil hitting paper)

Most of the students who are attending this class are freshmen, whom if not openly criticizing him, made unpleasant faces.

Lee Hyun regained his posture and pretended to be studying hard. But the book placed in between the two earlier by the girl who was next him, seemed a bit further away from him.

It was a subtle three centimeters from the previous spot!

Most likely, she too, reviled him.

The professor laughed.

“There are many other times to talk about VR’s origin and development in the future to ensue dullness. So should we talk about what your favorite things are regarding Royal Road?”

“Yes!”

“Professor, please do that.”

Royal Road’s popularity among the students was high. There are only a few of people in the VR Department that doesn’t play the game.

“VR is fun, while it can also be use as a tool to study. So then, what is your action against someone who uses skills and of the art classes?”

The professor asked a rather random question. However, some astute students realized his hidden agenda.

The artistic classes in Royal Road are currently under reevaluation.

The troubadour, which is the Bard class, songs convey romance and adventuring together. Even when you did the same quest that many had done; when you have a bard participated during the event singing songs of praises, the rumor of your achievements will get spread farther, and you’ll obtain more fame in the process.

If you participate in the Bards’ special quest of creating songs, you’ll receive an extra bonus in reputation.

Due to these reasons, the Bards were accepted into many parties as people continued to do more difficult quests.

The highly skilled Painter.

Beraneo’s ‘Paintings of the Continent’ were sought for desperately by many nobles.

When nobles have had it with an adventurer choice of action, they console with the painter’s network. At that point, that adventurer’s face will be plastered in every city; when that happens, that person usually won’t be able to receive any special requests.

Only in some cases, where one’s intimacy with the commissioner is extremely high, that the quest could be given. Or when one’s current level’s acceptable or not, it’s up to the client.

The painters have a saying whether you can get quests or not, hence their values were reassessed.

Essentially, the picture determines whether you’re an adventurer or not.

“Art in a nutshell, was like having an orc readily waiting in the front yard wanting to pounce you because of your uselessness. But now the Artist classes in Royal Road are being re-evaluated. Although this is a very tough path, walking down this road to become a true artisan is very much respected.”

The students were convinced after the professor’s proclamation.

“To be an artist who travels the Versailles continent, such a wonderful thing.”

“Becoming the great soul that spreads art to an unknown land filled with chaos sounds awesome!”

Some students seemed to be dwelling in their fantasies.

Frankly speaking, even if they didn’t choose classes such as Warriors or Paladins, there was no guarantee they’ll be safe from monsters. Not only the Artists’ attacking power was weak, the risk of traveling Versailles Continent was like that of a flame on a match, easily snuffed out.

So the occupation wasn’t as impressive as he let on.

“Recently, I too had been thinking of choosing Artist as an occupation.”

“Spreading art to people while earning their respect sounds incredibly attractive.”

The students were murmuring.

Lee Hyun wanted to curse.

“You guys are living in an illusion.”

If they go to the art city Rodium, they’ll be made painfully aware of the harsh reality!

The people who resides there and painstakingly work on their arts; so they when do not receive good reviews, they suffers from aches and pain, and hunger!

Lee Hyun too, also experienced it when the statues he worked on didn’t sell well and had to lower the price to a couple of Coppers. And when his statues were regarded as useless ornaments, he held himself back as much as possible to not pick a fight with them.

Having been through such trials he could not argue on behalf of it.

Of course in Lee Hyun’s case, he got through to a couple of people by means of flattering; essentially suckered many people to buy his sculptures even if it was just a penny gained.

The vicious sculptor’s going as far as getting every change from your pocket!

A while after the students’ buzzing did the professor’s words continued.

“The Artists struggle to create works; through the works’ Artistic Values that their reputation rises, as well as the rise in skill proficiency. Masterpiece, Classic, and Magnum are rankings upon successful completion of the art; so can anybody tell me what are the basis for establishing the Artistic Values and the ranking of the art?”

A student raised his hand.

“I’m Kim Hyun-jun, Gyosu-nim(Professor-nim. Isn’t it directly related to the skill’s level and proficiency?”

It was an obvious answer using one’s common sense.

I.e. for fencing and archery, the damage output of any attacking techniques depended on the skill’s level.

Lee Hyun shook his head.

‘It’s not fully based on skill level.’

Even when he was at the beginner level of sculpture, he sculpted a Masterpiece. And even though later on he reached the intermediate level, the other sculptures he sculpted had lower Artistic Value in comparison.

To say that skill level plays the direct role of determining the art, then when your skills are so far ahead beyond that to make Magnum pieces, the art will no longer be called an art. It could be from skill levels, use of the tools, or the amount of work put into the material; but to say it’s absolutely depended on skill levels was wrong.

“No. If there any other students that would like to make an input please do so.”

“I’m Park Sumin. Would the value change according how detailed the work was?”

This was it was a girl in sharp glasses who replied.

She was two seats away in Lee Hyun’s row.

‘That’s not even an answer.’

If what she said was the case, then Bingryong could never be a Classic piece.

Fine details.

It’s beneficial, but clearly has limitations.

Art can never be based around the technical aspect. Even with just a small portion, when tried to precisely imitate something as it is, it’ll never be called a work of art.

Lee Hyun knows that the Royal road system was crappy.

‘I can’t stop them from randomly making wild assumptions. And since the ball will keep rolling and it’s useless for me to stop it, might as well not give a crap.’

Many students answered the question, but the professors buried all their opinion.

Finally, after the professor realized there was no one else to comment on the matter, he spoke.

“So let’s change the question. Leave Royal Road and its special circumstances behind; in reality, how do you assess a piece of art?”

Even before the students could come up with an answer, the professor continued.

“In reality, many people dream of stardom. But amongst the many, only a few can truly rises and live well through art. But even they don’t understand the meaning of art.”

Many dreamed of making a life through art. But unfortunately, without popular consensus from the public, not many people can achieve their goal.

“World-class artisans and their works are reputable, that meant many people know their names, and received lots of praises. They created works of art that are often overpriced. But a look at their works, even experts in the field sometimes said they don’t feel an ounce of inspiration. But for many who really truly love art can no long walk those roads due to personal reasons or placed their family before themselves.”

“…..”

“To make a piece of art isn’t difficult. A child first painting of his mother is art; or even paintings on a wall during prehistoric time, as a well wish from the hunter’s family to return home safely, is consider as one. The art’s value is only in the mind of the beholder. What art is, in addition to the beauty it depicts, are what people’s heart postulates what the drawing or the statue represents; and there are boundless of possibilities.”

The students quietly listened to the professor’s rant. They were in the middle of discussing the Royal Road’s system; and now random stories were flowing out that they could not keep up.

“Now lets go back to talk about Royal Road? Artists create their works and are subjected to the evaluation of Masterpiece, Classic, or Magnum with its own Artistic Value. But by this method that it poses a very difficult question regarding the piece upon its completion. In this example, the question is the mistake you made along the way when creating the piece. Or that is to say, you did not make a single mistake when working on the piece, and have made an identical representation; the system will still devalue the art.”

Lee Hyun nodded his head.

He sculpted numerous of statues in Royal Road; even when he hadn’t made a single mistake on a piece, that work still did not come out to be a Masterpiece. While some relatively well made pieces received more Artistic Value than the former, or some didn’t receive any at all.

“In our world, from ancient times, there were many virtuosos. So imagine being evaluated based on their standards? So by which means does the Royal Road system assess your skills by taking in the inputs of our eras past artists, is there a specific method or notation, or something else?”

The students regarded the matter in an unbiased manner. Taking in all the expressions from all the works existed and set it on a standard. However, the professor denied their assumption.

“If you are not to create anything new but constantly acknowledging and compared to the past’s expressions, essentially you’re standing still. Similarly, others are forced to do the same and cannot overcome it. To be able to witness and create works comparable to past virtuosos, but cannot overcome them to achieve true greatness; is frustrating.”

Silent swept the students.

Listening to the professor, it was too complicated.

Artists’ works should be evaluated in a fair manner. The fact is the problem is difficult to resolve.

“Many experts praised works? The works will be judged subjectively, depending on the differences between the masses or within a niche of people. Many works of art faces rejection due to the point of view from the mainstream.”

“……”

“Though, to speak of, the Royal Road system is under complete security. To evaluate a piece of art, it’s classified information.”

“Don’t you know, professor?”

In respond to the student’s question, the professor showed a slightly embarrassed smile.

“In fact, I do not know how the system process and give Artistic Values. Maybe in a percentage, the level of the skills effect the value, but perhaps there are more than hundreds of variables to calculate the score. Or possibly, thousands?”

“If it’s that many…it’ll be difficult to obtain a good score.”

Shortly afterward, the many students who secretly fantasized about becoming an artist gloomed. If there was clear information regarding the criteria of how the value was given, it’d be easier to get a good score; but an unknown criterion with hundreds of variables would be difficult to solve.

The professor shook his head.

“I told you before, art isn’t difficult. A look, a feel, and if you can enjoy it, that’s enough. Rather than matching the hundreds of criterions, just go with what you think is better and create; because Royal Road is just a space in virtual reality.”

“……”

“Royal isn’t a simple game. Would it be that great if the skills were only at that level? Royal Road here is another world with a complete history from the beginning of its inception. In real life, is it possible to transform what you value in your mind to reality? Virtual reality realistically depicts reality, and it means something more. Not only can you, in essence, achieve your dream, but you can also enjoy it as the space hands out challenges to be flatten.”

The professor had a job in Royal Road.

His class was Landscaper.

His job was to maintain and cultivate beautiful flowers and trees.

The reason behind this particular class was when he obtained a quest at the beginning.

It was thank to a child sitting while watching a flower withering. Then the professor offered the child with a piece of advice on how to bring up the flower.

Then a quest occurred!

The professor gave the flower fertilizers and watered it as it revived. He took it as a sign to be a Landscaper, to cultivate flowers and trees and make them thrive.

Sometimes he got jobs to look after extravagant gardens, but sadly, there weren’t many of those. Of course, he was poorer than others, and he was proud but it wasn’t anything to boast about.

However, one time, the flowers attracted butterflies with its aroma under a starlit night.

It was a beautiful sight as the flowers bloomed.

It bloomed and faded away; in just one moment, it gave a great impression.

Royal Road was filled with exotic sights, that was its purpose.

The professor said forcibly.

“A space where people can achieve their dreams. Future lessons will be on real life and virtual reality in combination.”

After the lecture, the students left the classroom one after another.

“Oh I’m hungry.”

“Lets go quickly to get food. I don’t wanna be late and wait in line. What’ll you do afterward?”

“The library?”

“I have club activities.”

Other students were coming into class as it changes course. Lee Hyun then know it was the right time to leave.

Even though they were in the same department, nobody talked to Lee Hyun. He was essentially labeled as a returnee. In clothes that way past its prime, while bearing a face they didn’t recognize, he was easily ignored.

‘I got to eat lunch.’

Lee Hyun slowly moved alone.

Carrying his homemade lunch to the campus lawn!

Instead of being like the other who came and went to the cafeteria to get their lunch.

A picnic like relaxing tone. Some were eating in a relaxed mood, while others lying on the lawn to sleep.

College student romantic and atmosphere situation!

Many smiles on the faces of the students who were in the shades.

Lee Hyun, too, took out a lunch box to eat.

Ugokugok. (eating)

Radish kimchi and white rice!

A simple but tasty meal.

‘The kimchi hadn’t been soaked well.’

Nowadays, eating kimchi sold by the market was popular.

‘But at least the ingredients genuine.’

Lee Hyun was ok with the price because it’d be much more expensive if he was to soak the kimchi by himself.

Meanwhile, a brisk wind blew.

The students chatter and laughter from all around. Spring is coming.

‘Sleepy.’

After the meal, he let out a stretch and yawns followed.

Two hours till next lecture!

He could go to the library but there was no particular book he needed.

‘There’s no internet at times like these.’

He’s now on an adventure in the vampire’s kingdom, so sooner or later he’ll have to check on the prices of the items.

‘Maybe it’s telling me to take a nap?’

Lying on the grass as Lee Hyun closed his eyes.

Though the wind was a bit chilly, it was a beautiful sunny day and the weather was great for a nap.

He closed his eyes, and in a short while, he drifted off.

Then, after finishing off their meals in the cafeteria, the students from the Virtual Reality department came out and passed by him.

“Hey, is that not the Seonbae?”

“Yea, looks like him. Seems like he ate here.”

“That must be right. But look at that.”

“Eating and sleeping……”

“Ugh, so embarrassing!”

The students increased their paces to pass Lee Hyun quickly.

He was a sample of laziness and idleness.

Lee Hyun, more than before, was shunned by the students.

His afternoon course was about the Technological aspect of Virtual Reality. And he saw some familiar faces.

Choi Sang-Jun, Min Sura, and Lee Yu-Chong who were taking similar classes.

“Hey.”

When Lee Hyun approached them, their faces stricken.

“Ah, Hello!”

“……”

“Did you want to sit here?”

“Is it alright?”

“We’ll go to the back seat.”

“You don’t have to. I’ll go back there.”

“No no. We’ll do it.”

They deliberately rose from the front seat and moved to the back.

Similar with the two that showed up afterward. They were students of the martial art department, so it was even more shocking. At first, they spoke in low form(less honorific) until he looked up; then it became unbearable for them too look at him straight in the eyes.

There were many, but Lee Hyun sat alone.

Lecture time was approaching and students continued to pour in, but no one sat next to Lee Hyun. Most of the reason why was due to the two he faced earlier, everyone else simply avoided him in fear of the unknown.

Ddiriririri.

Four minutes until the lecture officially began, Lee Hyun heard the phone rang.

He purchased an old and used phone to keep in touch with his sister while in college.

The three dimensional images that was so common when one calls did not show up, nor was this able to get online due to it being a discontinued antique phone.

Through the phone, a cheerful voice of Shin Hye-Min came over.

– Hello, Lee Hyun nim.

* * *

During the KMC media Planning Committee.

Everyone who was involved in broadcasting Royal Road was to find new item. Trends were quickly becoming out-of-fashion; no matter how fresh the material was, after a week or so, the committee would discard said material.

“How is it going with the other day’s precipitated proboscidean analysis?”

“Will be done before noon tomorrow.”

“Too late! You’re working on that overtime and get it finish before today end at all costs. Don’t even think about leaving your office until it’s done!”

“Keoheok!”

Director Kang Han-Seop was pushing the employees.

Broadcasting was the only thing, but it was busy every day.

KMC was growing as a media broadcaster, so one pretty much was expected to be working all day without sleep.

“Nowadays, there is an increase of beginners playing, so what do you think about programs directed at them?”

“That’s not bad. Is the age group high?”

“Yes. The majority of them are seniors.”

“Then the broadcasting contents are easily resolved. I think it’ll be fine to place emphasis on the path of the adventure. Broadcasting time…lets make it at 10 in the evening.”

“Overlap it with the Terrestrial Drama.”

“To make it comfortable for the family to gather in order to watch.”

The number of elders playing Royal Road was moderate, but shouldn’t be overlooked; since the number increases proportionally as each month passed. They were beings slow to adapting to new changes, but the generation has the purchasing power that was very formidable if they ever get involved.

“We got to seize them from the beginning. If our broadcast captures their attention during their novice time, this generation of gamers will become loyal followers.”

“Yes!”

“Attach in advertisements you investigated that are enticing to the seniors.”

“If you want the viewership and have the committee coming up with advertisements, then I don’t think that’s a good idea at all.”

The rapidly growing KMC Media.

Due to and the increasing of the popularity of Royal Road, the advertising fee that gets attach to the program is also on the rise.

But due to the increasing birthrate of new channels broadcasting games, the competition was fierce. Even the channels which only specialize in Royal Road were scared of the increasing trend.

“But Director-nim, what would entail in this month’s special program?”

One member asked silently.

He really didn’t want to say have a rerun, but there was only a few days left until the date.

Unlike regular broadcasts, the special program ran once per month and featured a special story on the Versailles continent. The date, which loomed about in five days.

“How is the relationship between the two warring guilds, Legend of the Hammer Guild and the Silver Wings?”

“We already did two takes on them.”

“What about the adventurer who traveled north?”

“It was late last month, I don’t think he succeeded.”

“Well, is there anything fresh?”

Director Kang and other members stricken.

Fresh events in Royal Road were dwindling, while KMC Media steadily continued its timely and accurate reports.

Newly discovered locations.

Quests.

Warring forces!

They were deep events of storytelling that builds the Versailles continent’s history.

Nevertheless, the special programs did quite well for the station.

Director Kang and the others bound their heads in their hands and groaned, until a new suggestion entered the conversation.

“How about we intersect it with some of our broadcasts?”

“After all, would it be better to broadcast the people flocking to the north?”

“Ok, the north. It’s still going through consecutive broadcasts, but there’s probably something there the regular program didn’t retell.”

“That’s true.”

That suggestion was easily accepted, and time drifted on hopelessly. But suddenly, Director Khang’s eyes followed the stream to an empty seat.

“Why is it I don’t see Sin Hye-Min ssi?”

“Didn’t you know? She’s on an adventure in Royal Road, so she couldn’t make it to this meeting.”

“Is that so?”

“She’s lucky.”

Director Kang and the other members weren’t really concern about Sin Hye-Min situation as they were so busy with the matters at hand.

However, Sin Hye-Min showed up at long last.

“Hello.”

She arrived two hours before the actual broadcast, hence she would attend the meeting.

Director Kang inquired.

“Sin Hye-Min ssi, what are you so busy with?”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have much time because of the quest. I just want to check up on you since I have a bit of time.”

“What is the quest?”

Director Kang didn’t expect much from the answer that followed after he asked.

“I’m on a quest together with Weed nim.”

“Weed? Is that right. Which Weed?”

“You know which.”

“How can you be sure who I know?”

“You can’t not know. How can you not know Weed nim?”

“I only know of two that goes by that name. Are you talking about the Jeonshin Weed?” (it had many meaning, but the one that’s resemble this story means: predecessor, antecedent, ancestor, original. Basically this prefix was for the ‘Weed’ of the previous game, which he sold the acc for 3 mill. I rather like the word antecedent.)

“Yes.”

Director Kang jumped out of his seat.

“You’re on a quest with that Weed?”

Weed.

A common name for a very common grass.

Many users in Royal Road know of that name.

And as a broadcaster, he was the benefactee of such a handle.

The brutal orc Karichwi.

The battle against the Immortal Legion received a sensational audience.

There was a sense of urgency when he led the Dark Elves and Orcs to fight against Rich Shire!

To Kang, stereotypical siege was just a struggle, while he was on the edge of his seat during this event.

Since then, his name broadened as a broadcaster, and finally had dinner with a peace of mind on such matters.

Then from out of nowhere.

During the Northern Expedition battle against the dragon, he suddenly showed up and fought fantastically.

With a method nobody thought of.

Clearly proven he was the Jeonshin Weed.

“So you’re on this quest with Weed…”

“To be precise, we haven’t gotten there. But we’ve been through many adventures along the way.”

“What is the quest?”

“It’s to reach the Vampire Kingdom, Todeum.”

Director Kang and the other eyes filled with suspicion.

“Where is the Vampire Kingdom? Has it always been on the Versailles continent? Is it a newly discovered location in the north?”

“No. Actually, it’s the place where a vampire named Tori grew…”

The director and others listened as Sin Hye-Min’s retold the story.

The gates of the Vampire Kingdom only open once. If you die, everything ends.

The expedition left for the unknown world.

Their adventure!

As if he seemed to hear the number of audiences climbing.

Director Kang shouted.

“This is the special program. No, cancel that! On the other hand, they still have a month left. What if we schedule this as a regular program? Call him! Call Weed and persuade him to broadcast this!”

* * *

Lee Hyun was sitting in the classroom while on the phone cautiously.

“What you call me about?”

– Yes, actually, I want to talk to you regarding a broadcast.

“A show? What’s this about? Are you saying KMC Media wants to broadcast my adventure as a program?”

As soon as the sentence left his mouth, the still growing crowd in the lecture hall became still momentarily.

“……”

The students stopped what they were doing and paid close attention to Lee Hyun.

The students of the department of Virtual Reality.

After graduation will be doing various jobs depending on their fields.

Even for those who current doesn’t have Royal Road.

They want to learn about VR because they were motivated by Royal Road.

And the one place where the majority of them obtain news regarding Royal Road was KMC Media!

‘What we did was not good, huh?’

‘No way, couldn’t be.’

They were dubious, but still listened to Lee Hyun’s call.

– Yea, that’s correct. I want to broadcast our adventure in the Vampire Kingdom, Todeum. But I need permission to do so.

“Hye-Min ssi need my permission?”

– Yes, because you’re the one that leads the party as Weed nim. I saved the videos of everybody on the adventure, but it’d be morally wrong if I was to broadcast the clips without your permission. If you get the ok from the others, each can get a salary, and you’ll also get the consultation fee.

The students were in frenzies.

‘Hye-Min ssi? Couldn’t be Sin Hye-Min?’

‘Why would that returnee receive a call from Shin Hye-Min?’

‘With that famous host?’

These people knew all too well about the name that came from Lee Hyun’s mouth; the famous commentator of the Versailles continent, Shin Hye-Min.

The surprise filled students became unspeakable.

“Well, I get the jist of it. Fill me in more in the future.”

– Yes. I hope to have an answer as soon as possible, since the station’s members are in an uproar. Ah, actually, I forgot since they went so crazy about Weed nim’s adventure in the Vampire Kingdom Todeum, but there a catch regarding the broadcasting schedule. They wanted to make an episode once every two days regarding this adventure. Take your time and we’ll talk later with more details.

“Definitely.”

Lee Hyun hung up the phone.

Then came a flood of students who pretended to be close.

There was a competition to see who could get the two empty seats beside Lee Hyun!

*Triririri.*

Lee Hyun phone rang again.

The student’ body stiffened.

‘Is Shin Hye-Min calling again.’

‘No way…’

‘I want just a chance…’

They were quietly waiting with frustration.

But they still kept their mouth closed.

Lee Hyun lifted the phone to answer, but it was another voice that came out.

– Bored so I phoned you. What are you doing now?

Like a crystal clear voice tuned to musical instruments.

It was Jeong Hyo Lynn.

“Ah, Jeong Hyo Lynn ssi. I’m waiting for the lecture to begin.”

– Please excuse me, did I interrupt?

“Nah, don’t worry, the professor hadn’t come yet.”

– So you have a few minutes to talk.

“Well, yea. Oh, I heard you have a new song out?”

– How’d you know?

“It was an article on the internet. Something about Jeong Hyo Lynn’s imminent release of the song.”

– Yes, it’s just a single.

The students ridiculed.

They were suspicious of the first call, but to get this second call from Jeong Hyo Lynn, who was a singer.

‘I knew something was up.’

‘Damn prank.’

‘Psh, what do you do to receive a call from Lynn?’

‘I saw through your bluff.’

The students continued to deride him. As implied, from that point onward, Lee Hyun’s present was thoroughly ignored.

Chapter 6: The law of Local Procurement

People were coming to Morata day by day. Visitors flocked to the north because of the scent of adventure and new quests.

“Wizard, level 310. Skill set atmospheric magic, looking for a party.”

“Come this way, Wizard nim”

“I’m here!”

“Identifier, level 296. I focus on traps but can also identify things for you.”

“Identifier nim, I’ll let you take care of the items. Join our party!”

“Since we got the offensive lacking Identifier nim, what quest do you want to get?”

The town square was abuzz with people looking for parties.

In every part of the north, new quests and stories were being born.

So every Adventurer wanted to make the best of it!

When they hunted monsters in some dungeon, the chance of them acquiring good items was rare. But here, some given quests can lead them to be the first discoverers of some unknown dungeon, where they will get double experience and the good items drop rate will also increase.

Many of the adventurers gathered in Morata to find faithful compatriots to face the risks. And because of this, Morata became the most prosperous town.

“Polearm! Nothing is more comparable than polearm in combat. A weapon that excels in attack and defense, this might be the last chance for you. Check its stats!”

“Kadallina Dagger. The only weapon in his name. You can find out its value before purchasing……”

Players were squatting in the town’s square as they waited for potential prospects to sell their stuff obtained through hunting. Precious items were sold to the players directly as they can get a better value than that from in-game shops.

“Black Iron! Selling items made specifically through Black Irons. These were created by the Blacksmith Geam. These were made at the Intermediate levels and will blow anyone away. However, items are non-refundable after purchase! No guarantee future repairs for dents and damages.”

“Masterwork Shield production. Align yourself with a custom made shield from Paberu, whom recognized as a master craftsman upon reaching Intermediate level in Blacksmith.”

“Items that provides magic. I have from one day, three days, and a full week.”

From Blacksmiths to Seamstresses, Enchanters and Tamers gathered. The north was filled with erratic swarms of monsters and traps. Life crisis happened at every turn here, so naturally called for a great deal of demands on specialized equipments. The market for equipments and commerce developed rapidly, which called for various blue-collar jobs. Now, Morata’s name was widespread amongst users as a place to obtain and exchange things, and the adventurers have been endless.

“The land’s fertile and wide. Now we just need wheat seeds.”

“There must be somewhere in the mine.”

The farmers, miners, and grazers also came to Morata for the opportunity. The vacant land was cleared; and from the clearings, mines were founded. For those who found them, they only have to pay an estimated tax to own the land; so miners came and searched the land as adventurers in order to strike rich quick with a gold mine.

Morata was the north’s central city!

To be honest, it was flattering to call it that. The number of people deviate from the standard value for a population because it was low, it was also lacking in buildings. Nevertheless, the village was growing everyday as more and more people came to pass. Another part of Morata that was busy besides the adventurous warriors leaving were the producers; which were always can be seen working on something.

And the night life after the sun went down!

The once busy streets in broad daylight were completely abandoned. The main reason was because people were crowding at the Light Tower near the rocky mountain area.

“How on earth can this wonderful sculpture captures the human’s sensitivity so subtly?”

“It makes me want to get to know the Engraver more.”

On the other hand, for the warriors and mages, they hurried to the battle zone as soon as they saw the light.

“Let’s go!”

“To the hunt.”

They wanted to make use of the duration of the buffs from the sculpture as much as possible to hunt monsters.

Similar to the Eiffel Tower in France or the Statue of Liberty in New York, each symbolizes individually great city; Morata became famous and flourished through the Light Tower. The information was widespread regarding the subject; now many towns and cities knew of the Light Tower of Morata. Through its workforce, committed care for health, the city’s name further widespread. Many of the northern cities know of Morata’s achievements, but its Light Tower made it worthy of its recognition. That is the thing people recalls once they had a reminiscent regarding the north.

Another reason why the number of tourists never seemed to dwindle was that of its citywide development, thus the role of the Light Tower was even greater as the city’s landmark.

For those who traveled to Morata from Roseheim Kingdom, these were the words they exhale in exhaustion!

“Is this Morata?”

“The Sculptor Weed nim is the prince of this city?”

“I heard they give you porridge when you come!”

The village Elder ruled over Morata province in place of Weed’s.

“I want the town’s residents no longer have to go hungry.”

So he had the city go through a large scale development. The city cultivated the land with crops to relieve the food shortages. Since plants grew so well in the north, the once starving resident thrived and its population increased.

The investments to obliterate the vicious cycle!

Morata have clear another space of wilderness. Reclaimed land can be planted with wheat, vegetables, and plants. First harvest will be four months after which.

Clearing Area: 140,000 Py (1 Py = 3.3058 m2, so about 370 soccer fields)

Economic Growth: 7

Tax Revenue: 800 Gold per month

Grain Yield: 830% increase

In terms of investment, the income yield was inefficient. However, since Morata’s population was increasing, this sort of investment was well required. For the clearing of the fields, the village elder spent as much as 30,000 Gold in this project.

“The town’s buildings are too underdeveloped. Have to the increase the pride of the village residents by cleaning up.”

2000 Gold were given for street cleaning, and 260,000 Gold were invested to housing and commercial constructions. Numerous maintenances, and even a marble gate was built at the entrance of the village. For the pride of the people!

Morale of Morata’s residents is 89.

Sanitation and Health Status modified to Very Good.

Whenever adventurers visited the village elder’s home; in this case, Bantem, Kunta and Horeugan brought back things from monsters such as the horde of Barbarians they’ve hunted in Yodeum’s Evil Lair. In other cities, these materials could get them up to 200 Gold and around 30 Reputation points when handling them over. But in the Elder’s case, this too was also unusual.

“Oh, you did a great job. We, the people of Morata, will never forget your help.”

As the village Elder fussed over something seemingly was not big a deal, Bantem replied bluntly.

“As warriors, we’re simply doing as dictated.”

“No, no. You’ve helped relieve fear for us from these monsters of our troubled past.”

For Morata’s village Elder, as well as all its inhabitants, their fear regarding monsters was a bit unusual, as it was due to the fact they were harassed by a vampire clan in the past. That was why the elder was very fond of the warriors.

“You guys were given the task of taking care of things for our cherished and beloved residents, and I would like the exercise the power on behalf of our Lord. Although this may seem insufficient, I hope to take care of your expenses.”

Ttiring!

Reward for commissioned is 360 Gold.

Reputation increase by 46.

“So much money…”

“Please come back with more monsters. We’ll pay more.”

The village elder paid heartily!

In the Lord’s stead, he gave a lot. The 130,000 Gold Weed left behind dissipated quickly; so from then on, they heavily relied on the income tax as the revenue source.

The people of Morata revered the warriors that took care of the monsters, and the warriors, in turn, were rewarded with a large amount of fame. Thus, the village elder had to spend a lot of money, this caused the income tax to rise.

Then, on the part of the adventurers; while questing, they had to fork out their money to take care of their equipments, as well as money for food, and even paying for a room at the hostels.

As for the monsters’ byproducts and whatever else, they can be processed and remade into leather as well as other products; which caused the prices for the items to increase dizzyingly.

On the other hand, technology, agricultural, and industrial side of Morata were underdeveloped, everything except for the textile industry!

They grew and went on to creating excellent leathers and cloths, which merchants and adventurers bought readily even at expensive prices. This was the main revenue source for Morata.

Still, the village elder did not forgive the increase in tax.

“As thanks for being under the constant observance of goddess Freya, I’d like to make this donation to our brethren.”

“Ooohh, may blessing come unto thee.”

A significant amount of 5000 Gold was offered.

In addition, other cultural projects went underway. Even though guilds related to combat weren’t established, the artist guilds spared no effort to start up. Conferences, art shows, etc., money flowed through these like water. Day by day throughout Morata, variety of window displays, sculptures, and paintings grew into the thousands.

“Keukeukeukeu.” (laughter)

“The owner left.”

“Let’s fly. We are now free.”

Wa-1-yi, Wa-2-yi, Wa-3-yi, Wa-5-yi, Wa-6-yi, Wa-7-yi!

They were happy. Their exploiting and oppressing owner was in the world of vampires; although temporary, it was freedom. It wasn’t a paradise.

Cheoeok! (a choke.)

The first to spoke through the sound of the wings was Wa-1-yi.

“We have to indulge, but how!”

“Yeah.”

“I’m distressed.”

The wyverns enthusiastically replied.

“Golgol. It was insufferable because I got the wrong owner. Look at what happened to my golden shell. Golgol!”

Geuminyi knocked on his head.

“Cold and hungry…now, sweet freedom after the suffering. We have the right to enjoy this freedom. Cause here and now, NO OWNER!”

He was elated, as for the simple reason that weed had left. But nevertheless, he was still under Weed’s command. Before leaving for the world of vampires, Weed called for the Wyverns and Geumniyi and preached eloquently.

“Looking down from this vast sky, checking on walking monsters. Wa-3-yi!”

“Speak, Master!”

“To you, what does Wyvern means?”

“The lord of the sky, the strong and fast Wyvern, is this right?”

“That’s right.”

At this time, Wa-3-yi was stuffing himself with chicken wings vigorously. Of course, the rare praise from Weed also made him feel good. But the praises and encouragements also had another meaning.

“So why on earth are my Wyverns weaker than those weak monsters walking on the ground!? So the Wyverns, lords of the sky, flinched against them and spread your wings. The wings are just convenience excuse so you can avoid those inferior walking monsters!!”

Weed fiercely criticized the Wyverns for their weakness.

“Sorry, master.”

The Wyverns were ashamed and didn’t know what to do. But in actuality, they were weak because of Weed’s lacking in proficiency when created them; but they, all the same, were convinced because of their low in intelligence.

“Be strong! The Kingdom will no longer exist if you continue to let others forfeit their lives to those weak monsters. As true lords of the sky, you guys will not lose any of your colleagues at all costs!”

“Kuoooooo!”

“You were concerned about us regarding this.”

Their beaks(snout?) trembled with emotions. Weed at the time of his departures, left a goal for these Wyverns to accomplish with his speech.

“Gotta get stronger.”

They moved around freely on the hunting ground while growing stronger. Even though their owner wasn’t there, they still followed his guidelines. And for a while now, they knew why they were adhering to Weed’s commands faithfully.

Leadership and Charisma!

The stats affinities were higher than most toward the Wyverns as they were directly created by Weed. Everybody was growing slowly while following Weed’s commands.

“I’d like to get some fresh air today.”

But Wa-1-yi chill time went beyond of that his hunting time. He stood on a high cliff with his wings folded, feeling strong, while uselessly stood in his place with a rabbit prey in hand. The other Wyverns behind him were also just as bad.

“Keukeukeu.” (laugher)

“This thing is good.”

“Eat more, c’mon and eat more!”

Their hunting time was increasingly shorter. The Wyverns were indulging themselves; passing their peaceful days outside in the meadow sleeping and loafing about!

“We came and pretty much did everything.”

“Gotta have a break.”

“When the owner’s not here we gotta rest. Certainly when he comes back, we’ll be in a world of hurt then.”

“Come and play.”

They still hunted sometimes, but it became very little. No matter how high the Leadership and Charisma stats were, if one were absent, it’d become less influencing. And this was one of the results from Weed reduce in control.

“Keukeukeu.”

“Happiness. Such a cozy feeling to have.”

The Wyverns were indulging themselves on the ground. While being lazy, they were stuffing themselves with delicious things. As a result, they were rapidly fattening. Number of necks grew(weird…but I guessing the fat in the neck came in layers), while their abdomens were no longer able to flexed out, and remained convex. As for other parts, such as their wings, they were severely impaired. Although not a big deal, as they were originally crafted slender, the growing stoutness significantly reduced their flying speed.

Maybe a little more of this recurring actions they’ll no longer be able to fly!

“The ground is also good.”

“Yea. We had to flap hard just to stay floating in the sky.”

The Wyverns banded together on land.

Feet’s turn!

Now, sometimes, when hunting, they had to resort to running on the ground.

Step by step!

* * *

When Weed connected, Maylon was already telling the party regarding the broadcast.

“KMC Media is insanely interested in our adventure.”

Pale was quite surprised. He had a lot of interest regarding broadcasted materials, but he had never imagined one of their adventures would go on air.

Maylon said with a smile.

“We are pretty much the only people ever to have an adventure in the land of Vampires. So, is it alright if we can air this?”

Since Hwaryeong saw no reason as to why not, she nodded willingly.

“I vote for.”

Pale was a bit reluctant, but seeing this as something to promote Maylon's work, he too joined in.

“I too vote yes.”

Romuna, Irene, and Sureaka too, calmly withheld their excitement.

“I’m not saying no. An adventure in the world of Vampire isn’t something to hide.”

“Though it’s kind of embarrassing to be in a broadcast…it is ok, you know?”

“We’re gunna be aired, yeah!”

There was no need to ask the Geomchis.

As soon as the word broadcasting came out, their attitude since changed.

Those who were sitting idly on the ground shot up and faced the wind, then remain in said position.

Having one’s hear swept by the wind is a wondrous sight!

However, since their hair was either crew cut or shaven, the hair remained motionless.

All the instructors called together a meeting.

“Did y’all saw Weed’s last video?”

“Yes, Geomchi2 sa-hyeong.”

“I hate to say this, but it was cool, huh?”

“The rating was very high.”

“We cannot lose.”

“Definitely. The heroes of this broadcast are us.”

Geomchi3 then said confidently.

“Sa-hyeongs, will you carry out my plan?”

“Can we trust in this?”

“Definitely, we need to make our own song”

“Song?”

“Didn’t you see Weed singing his song?”

Orc Karichwi singing was the worst!

Nevertheless, the song accompanied by the exciting event that it became popular.

“But on our part, we’ll give them a better song.”

“Pretty good idea. I think we’ll be alright if we sing the chorus together. But who’s gunna compose it?”

“We can leave it to Weed to do it. He is experienced in it, and good at it.”

“Leaving it up to Weed seems right.”

The instructors were considering everybody’s inputs.

The practitioners also came up with few ideas.

“It’ll have to show man’s spirit.”

“It has to be loud to seemingly overwhelm enemies.”

“Oh. Gotta show our nice bodies too..then…”

“Yeah! Shirts will be off.”

The general population. The norms that enjoy playing Royal Road could never come up with such idiosyncratic idea.

Taking one’s top off and to fight against monsters? It’s like asking for an immediate death or show that you’re crazy.

No matter how little one’s clothing is, it’s still significant since it is the main source of defense.

Even if it’s just a piece among thousands, when wearing the right armor at the right level, the damage sustained can decrease by half.

Though the only time that the idea is right is when one can tell the damage will be huge, or a desperate need to save the armor from breaking, then it could be considered as a good idea to take it off.

But the absurd opinion from Geomchi38 was aggressively taken to mind by Geomchi3.

“Good idea, Geomchi38.”

“Thanks for minding my idea, Geomchi3 sa-hyeong.”

“But! Ain’t it riskier by taking it off?”

“Mhm! I also though about that. So when we meet a really strong dude, we’ll slip away. But for normal mobs, we’ll just overwhelm them with our stamina!”

“Sounds cool, solid plan.”

“Geomchi38, I didn’t know you were so smart.”

“I don’t wanna boost, but when I was a child, my teacher had praised me.”

Geomchi38 recalled his past with a satisfied look.

Geomchi3 seemingly enviable, asked.

“What were you told?”

“She said ‘I have a good head but hate studying.’”

“Oh, such a good compliment.”

School teachers often lie!

They said that every time there was a parent-teacher conference.

Doing so then kids could be sent to school, and paid the tuition.

“I usually procrastinate till the last minute or so, then I start using my head.”

“I see. So attempting things nearing due time is good for you.”

“My retention capacity’s only a 30 minutes worth when it comes to studying.”

“But really now. You guys have something special going on here.”

The usually non-talkative Geomchi intervened.

“Keuheum.” (Ehem)

“Instructors, you guys have something to fill me in on?”

Geomchi2 and the other instructors, as well as the practitioners, made haste to comply to their Master’s inquiry.

A moment after their tale was finished, Geomchi words seemingly burdened.

“I think, we need something that symbolizes our teachings.”

“MHM! Though we have a lot of styles, so one line may not encompass for all of us. Could you come up with something, Master?”

“If that’s so. Then to keep it in mind……”

Geomchi thought to himself for a moment, then boast with a smile.

“Our sword is invicible.”

“……”

The message was very simple and clear!

But it spoke to many of the Geomchis.

The willingness to face any enemy.

For the sword, even if it’s nearing its brink of fracture, it should never break. When a sword under duress, it’s because its owner couldn’t properly taken care of it.

They have learned swordsmanship for seemingly a lifetime.

And they trusted in it.

For Geomchi, he learned the value of life through it.

For the others, though they were only under his tutelage for just the swordsmanship, they still learned the world through his sword.

They faced the turbulence weather undeterred with their swords.

While continued to sharpen their swords and hone their skills as they move forward, it signified their bold aspiration and commitment!

Geomchi2 repeated those words.

“Our sword is invicible!”

“Our sword is invicible!”

“Our sword is invicible!”

Geomchis shouted their aspiration.

Weed’s party, a bit further away, also gathered to stage a conference.

Pale's brows furrowed a difficult expression.

“That plan has indignation written all over it.”

Hwaryeong and Zephyr agreed with criticism.

“I think that’s a horrible plan.”

“Can you imagine the Geomchis taking their tops off while shouting ‘our sword is invincible’ at the top of their lungs?”

Suffice to say, the imagined sight was terrible.

And the embarrassment follow was even worse!

At this moment, they were scared of the Geomchis action more than those of the mobs.

The embarrassment at this level would always retain at the back of their mind.

Irene pleaded expressively.

“Weed nim. Can you please do something about this?”

Weed shook his head.

“How can I tell my Sa-hyeongs to dial it down? That’s like subjecting them to an even larger indignation and killing the momentum.”

“Hyuu!”

Everyone groaned, fully knowing they couldn’t do anything have the Geomchis tone things down.

Seechwi at this time finally gave in.

‘I don’t think I’ll ever understand them no matter how many psychiatric evaluation they’re subjected to.’

Until now she had been observing the Geomchis’ mindset, but it was considerably difficult. She struggled on this far more so than that of her doctoral dissertation.

They’re exciting like true men, and then somehow sometimes turned into childish clowns.

It was as if the only thing they knew of were swords and battles, while clueless on how to appeal themselves to the opposite sex.

Their hidden complexity was a current that was impossible to determine its flow.

Nonetheless, one thing was for sure, anyone that could understand the Geomchis bizarre nature was just as twisted as they are.

Weed said.

“But this hype is a necessity.”

Surka lamented.

“But do we really need this…”

Romuna replied shortly.

“Somehow this hype seems to be so troublesome.”

Mapan intervened.

“I think…the best way to decrease this embarrassment is to get the maximum distance from the Geomchis as possible.”

Weed agreed with his opinion after a moment of thought.

“I’m in favor, what about you guys?”

Maylon, Irene, Pale, and Seechwi answered simultaneously almost immediately.

“As far away as possible!”

“Don’t even turn your heads, just pretend you didn’t know!”

“We can reach the top of a hill then speed up when coming down the slope.”

“Chwiik. We got to go.”

Their instantaneous agreement showed how desperate they were.

Coming together!

There were a lot of embarrassing moments in everybody’s lives. But when a situation such as hanging out with the Geomchis came forth, it was best to turn tail and run rather than playing along.

And so, a secret countermeasure was put in place.

Seukseuk.(brushing)

Yurin was still sitting on the ground painting in her sketchbook.

She had been drawing without taking a single break to increase her skill proficiency.

Zephyr had slipped away from his colleagues meeting regarding the Geomchis and pondered at the sight before him.

‘I wonder how she lived to trust her brother so much.’

A little while back, Weed’s words to Yurin were kept to a minimal, yet somehow, the message from one to another was well understood.

Her parents died when she was young, so it was tough having a steady home.

‘I don’t how anyone lived without money. Even the dolls I had were foreign made.’

Zephyr had never first hand experienced any kind of poverty.

When he was a kid, instead of toys to play with, he was handed jewelry and many things that shouldn’t be given to a kid.

Only times where he’d went without money was when he didn’t receive his allowance for not cleaning his room, or had his platinum credit card taken away for a slip in his grades.

His one crushing trauma was when he didn’t have the money to go to night clubs with his friends the week after.

‘She is such a nice and pretty girl to live such a heart wrenching life.’

Zephyr couldn’t endure watching from the side.

He didn’t know anything regarding Yurin and was not appropriate to console her.

He though she should at the very least smile a lot more while enjoying Royal Road, but now only to encounter an embarrassing moment brought on by the Geomchis.

Zephyr said to her kindly.

“It’s alright. It’ll be fine.”

“Hm?”

Yurin seemingly confused, as she didn’t understand what she was told.

She was enjoying painting. Envisioned what color goes where to produce a beautiful painting.

She was happy when finished her drawing!

This was a good thing, so she brooded over what she was told from next to her.

Due to the unusual reaction, Zephyr said cautiously.

“Umm, have you not heard? Due to the Geomchis embarrassing actions, we called together a meeting to plan what we should do.”

Yurin’s eyes twinkled.

“Why? Aren’t they cool?”

“……”

Zephyr jaw dropped.

“I drew a picture of it to keep for a long time. On another note, I can sell this to girls for money. Hehehe.”

“……”

Zephyr felt a cold sweat running down his spine.

He was momentarily captured by Yurin’s cuteness.

But she was still Weed’s younger sister. This was absolutely not something that could be easily overlooked.

* * *

Weed and the party continued to move eastward toward Todeum.

According to the information gather from Seirun, the trip could take as much as ten days!

“Really tough.”

Zephyr heaved a heavy sigh.

Under normal conditions, there would be some sort of transportation via horses or carriages for such a journey. But here and now, it was the world of vampires.

There was no such convenience.

Although there was Mapan’s wagon, but it could only seat a limited amount of people; only Irene, Hwaryeong, Romuna, and Yurin were those that rode it as they had low stamina.

“Heokheok.” (wheezing)

“Damn, really.”

They were slowly traversing the road; and whenever anyone felt out of stamina, Irene would cast magic spells that restores physical properties.

After a full day of walking until the evening, the party would rest to eat. Of course, the foods were made by Weed.

“I’ll make food that’ll increase stamina and decrease fatigue for ten days or so.”

Weed put herbs into the chicken.

Well stuffed chicken!

Of course, the mix of herbs contained very little ginseng or dry bellflower, as to not let their scent ruined the chicken flavor.

“It’s only still broiling and I’m already hooked.”

Everyone traveled the same span of time and distance. All were physically tired, the toll on their mind called for a rest as well. Nevertheless, Weed still had to prepare the large quantity of food.

As a matter of fact, Hwaryeong and Yurin tugged on Weed’s sleeves to offer their assistance, only to be declined by him.

“Usually I don’t mind, but this time the food needs to be much better than other times, so it’s better if I do make it myself.”

When people with low cooking skill cooks, they tends to be very wasteful of the cooking materials.

“Ok, but if it gets too tough, call me.”

“Brother, I can lend you a hand anytime.”

Hwaryeong and Yurin were forced to retreat.

After eating a hearty meal of herbal chicken stew, Weed resumed to his usual actions at night.

Sagaksagak. (carving sound)

Weed was carving a sculpture while walking. Using the plain method of actually carving rather than relying on his actual skills to sculpt the wood.

“Every little thing when comes together will always bear fruit to something greater.”

When he created a Magnum piece, his skill proficiency rose considerably. But until now, despite having carved maybe a dozen pieces per day, many of which were Classic rather than Magnum pieces.

When relaxing after a battle, if he wasn’t carving, he would sow or did smithing. Or fishes while he sculpted

Comparing to the long cooking hours and preparations, carving was as simple as pulling a piece of wood out and begin.

As his goal was far away, he knew it would take a long while before achieving it.

And he tirelessly devoted to travel that long path knowing that it was the fastest way to make his dream comes true.

Attaining his dream through sculptures, as well as other acquired production skills; they were his driving force.

An endless road of physical labor.

More than the being strong or the aptitude to learn, was the will of complete devotion.

Though relying on just that is simply exasperating.

So there is another reason for one wanting to become stronger.

On Versailles continent, there were numerous dungeons and hunting grounds, as well as a wide variety of quests. To face and fight stronger monsters and overcoming the risks was the main reason for him to get stronger.

So purposefully continuing, the constant work was not at all tedious.

They have traveled for three days.

From onto the wagon, Hwaryeong asked apologetically.

“Weed nim. Isn’t walking getting harder?”

“No. I’m just worry over the broadcasting material!”

“……”

Weed had a suddenly realization about the broadcasting thing.

The eating and the blindly walking constantly should not be the only materials being broadcast.

If things continued the way they are, it’ll turn away many viewers.

With the thought of the money obtain corresponding to the broadcasting materials in mind; he sped up his speed toward Todeum to a much quicker pace.

Hwaryeong this time around, questioned Geomchi9.

“Is it bad?”

“No.”

Geomchi9 replied valiantly!

“If it’s too tough you can take my place.”

“I’m only using a fraction of my power.”

“……”

Seeing as Weed and all the Geomchis were used to the hard work and physical training, she didn’t give it a second thought.

In Zephyr, Maylon, Pale, and Sureuka’s cases, they took turn to rest on the wagon.

Of course Mapan, the merchant, remained on the ride continuously.

Lunch time that day!

The traveling group and the wagon finally crossed the mountain.

The wildflowers and the blooming trees engulfed every degree of their sights.

Whenever a breeze blown past, the flowers all danced to its sweep. The temporary sight of the tens of thousands of petals flying in the wind was spectacular.

“Wooow!”

A once in a lifetime sight.

Numerous petals dancing in the sky to the will of the wind, as well as the fragrant that came and went left the party wanting.

In the northern part of the continent, it was a struggle everyday against the harsh nature for everyone; but the sight bore before them in the land of Vampires was breathtaking.

A beautiful scenery out of this world!

Yurin asked.

“Brother, can we rest here a little?”

Irene and Romnyuna couldn’t help but agreed to it.

“Yes Weed nim! Let’s take a break here. It’s not good to let this opportunity pass.”

“Just an hour here. It’s been too tiring.”

They did not voice themselves, but Hwaryeong, Maylon, and Surka also thought the place was good. Such a beautiful place to kick back and relax to wash away all the fatigue accumulated.

In fact, the physical fatigue can somewhat be controlled via the use of magic and foods, but not the mental fatigue amassed.

The constant movement, while tedious, was a pain. In this natural flowerbed stretched before them, they all wanted to relax.

But some did not get their hopes up.

‘There’s no way Weed nim will stay at this place for such a meaningless reason.’

‘Just give up and go.’

Susceptible to his ways!

In normal cases, Relaxing was not Weed’s way of doing things.

But for some reason, Weed readily agreed.

“Yep, this place is good, but I think one hour is too short. Let’s stay here for seven hours or so.”

“Kyaa, really?”

Surka cheered. The other girls were also happy.

The unbelievable scenery of blossoming flowers within the mountain created a good atmosphere.

However, Mapan and Zephyr eyes were filled with suspicion.

‘It’s not normal for Weed nim to do this.’

‘No way, could it be there are monsters in the area?’

They scanned the flower garden.

A scene hard to find elsewhere on heaven and earth alike; filled with blossoming flower and blooming plants, while the dragonflies and butterflies lazily flutter, a magnificent picture filled with serenity.

There was no dungeon, nor were there any monsters that could be spotted.

In the case of monsters, archers would have sighted them outright with their buffed up visions.

‘Then what is the reason.’

Mapan and Zephyr were locked in agony rather than relaxing.

Hwaryeong, Irene, and Romuna thought to themselves.

‘Weed nim must have also wanted to rest while viewing the beautiful flowers and trees. Perhaps he might also want to take a stroll with me…’

‘Seems like Weed nim is still a brother who can’t refuse his dear sister’s request. Aside from his usual actions, he’s secretly a real family man with sensitivity.’

‘Such a really beautiful place. Of course, an artist of his caliber could not pass up a place like this. Is Weed min trying to conjure up his inspiration in this place? He’s going to sculpt a great statue!’

Romyuna’s opinion was fairly straightforward and plausible, so she told the whole party of it.

Naturally, the reaction was explosive.

“Wut, really?”

“He’s going to sculpts? Then we get to watch the work from beginning to end?”

Hwaryeong eyes sparkled.

Maylon did not hide her expectation.

“Yes! Or else he wouldn’t have bother calling for a seven hours break.”

“Wah, I get what you’re saying. That’s definitely it!”

Weed, on a daily basis, created a lot of sculptures.

Delicate and calming representation of objects.

The road to increase skill proficiency was paved with labor.

Nevertheless, many things happened to increase his desire.

However, Weed’s aim and the created works differed in terms of purpose. Few known of the fact, but nonetheless, his reputation spread on the Versailles continent as the transgressor of great sculptures!

Sculptures like the Light Tower and Bingryong that rose to the ranks of Classic or Magnum were few examples of his visions.

Even the calm Pale fluttered with anticipations.

Geomchi too, looked forward to it.

‘Creating works through carving. In this way, can I read how polished his heart is through the work’s textures?’

Everybody was watching Weed’s movements.

None carelessly opened their mouth, nor approached Weed. They tried to be as unobtrusive as possible.

Before their eyes, he was gone.

Weed was presently moving.

As expected by Romuna, he drew out Zahab’s carving knife.

Through the same means as always.

He infused his life and soul into Zahab’s carving knife just like the numerous times he sculpted.

“Moonlight……”

Weed shouted at the tree before him.

“…Sculpting Blade!”

Rather than moonlight sculpting, he used Moonlight Sculpting Blade!

Weed’s carving knife surged the plant with a whoosh whenever he strikes.

Irien’s small mouth stretched wide.

“Haahh?”

Zephyr also shook his head.

“The hell?”

At the first glance, it was as if Weed was working from bottom upward, but the branches and the tree was cleanly severed off.

Hwaryeong muttered in a quiet voice.

“I need to watch longer. Since there are various ways to sculpting, I’m sure this is just one of the methods.”

There was even a method to sculpt light.

So they figured there was some sort of way where Weed needed that tree in a different manner.

They patiently waited with expectation.

“Wheww.”

Weed then went on to collecting the pieces.

Formed a collection of branches!

“I wonder how much money this is going to save me!”

Weed was very happy.

To increase his sculpting he needed good materials.

Excellent materials such as the Wood Elves’ lumber were sold at expensive prices.

Strict procurement laws!

In Weed’s case, he couldn’t help but to buy the materials, but the prices his sculptures sold at brought him to a loss.

The speed of his skill-rise decreased; and as he grows, the future mats will be even more expensive.

But then, they had accidentally discovered this lively flowering bed with growing trees.

The outer surface of the wood was good, while the leaves were lustrous.

Strong life force and vibrant trees!

Thus the true purpose of the rest: a chance to save a few pennies by cutting down the trees.

“So great, this should earn me a bit!”

After having collected the branches, Weed went on to working on the trunk.

Mapan rushed over.

“Weed nim, I’ll be happy to help you!”

Mapan swept up the twigs to place them onto the wagon.

The difficulty when he was a beginner taught him how to gain and spend money!

He had to survive on collecting firewood from the mountain ranges.

Mapan was now collecting timbers with the intention to sell them.

The atrocities the committed!

Cutting down the myriads of trees, the party realized the circumstances of his actions.

“It was for money after all.”

“Somehow, Weed nim’s action would always result to this……”

They once again faced an overwhelming disappointment.

However, one did not lose hope.

Zephyr said to himself.

“Weed’s younger sister must love flowers.”

Pale also nodded his head.

“The need for money can’t be genetic.”

The youthful Yurin should be somewhere adorning herself with flowers in this plain.

As expected of a girl.

When they sought out Yurin.

The scene unfolded before them was shocking.

It was correct that Yurin was sitting in the field of flowers. The problem was she was squatting on the ground digging into the flowers reaching for the petals, yanking them out and placing them into her basket-shape formed hand.

“The, why……”

Questioned by Zephyr who approached her, Yurin replied concisely.

“It’s natural dye.”

“Dye?”

“Gathering the petals together can make dyes. And to use them to paint a picture, cost nothing.”

“……”

Same mentality!

Yurin was no different from Weed.

“Please help me.”

Zephyr could not refuse Yurin’s request, squatted down, and then started collecting the petals diligently.

“You have to divide them by colors.”

“Yeh…”

Then he went on to struck a tree, and colleted the dropped petals.

The practitioners, at this very moment, were getting bored of flower watching scene.

“This carefree idling around is a bit tiresome.”

“There’s nothing to do here besides this.”

Weed just couldn’t bear with their wry comments any longer!

He sent a message to quell their complaints.

“If you help me collecting these woods, then I’ll treat you all with a round of meat.”

“Meat!”

The practitioners rushed in a flurry brandishing their swords toward the trees. Followed by their swinging, all that left were wreckages and stumps of what used to be vibrant trees.

Even when the durability of their swords dropped tremendously due to the demand, they continued their devastating prayer!

“Sword or meat, MEAT!”

“COME TO ME GRILLED MEAT!”

Mapan obtained the wood in exchange for the meat rations.

Pale was devastated.

“I can’t believe this!”

The sight was beyond shocking.

Everywhere Weed and the practitioners step foot on, the trees appeared to be just a stump moments later.

The instructors and Gemchi weren’t just idling around.

“There are a lot of trees this way.”

“The pieces aren’t thick enough for carving!”

Shouted them as they led the practitioners collecting wood; using this voice deliberately, they cried out for Weed to hear. In the practitioners’ cases, they weren’t press by concisely cutting the wood; rather, meat was their ultimatum.

And in comparison, the hypocritical instructors’ wreckage was worse!

Then, Hwaryeong’s face stricken as she walked toward Weed.

‘Guess it’s too much for Hwaryeong nim to take.’

‘Seems like she’s going to give him what for.’

The party hoped.

The people that can seemingly restrain Weed were Geomchi and Hwaryeong.

For Geomchi was his master in the ways of the sword, while Hwaryeong hardened look and strong presence can essentially dampen the atmosphere.

If she was like this, Weed would change his attitude.

However, Hwaryeong did not stop Weed.

As he went on cutting the tree in front of him, she danced silently behind him.

The speech the dance spoke was quite straightforward.

She was doing it in order to lessen Weed’s fatigue, at the same while she had on a provocative gown to confess her heart to catch his attention; like a butterfly sappunsappun(fluttering about) to draw in her mate.

Her heels trampled the flowers with every dance steps she made.

Complete destruction of nature.

The place they stayed at slowly turning into ruins.

* * *

Director Kang and the planning committee hearts were thrilled.

‘I can see what the Jeonshin Weed is like.’

‘It was very good for the station that we got this.’

Simply having Weed’s name, it was a guarantee that the viewership wouldn’t be low.

Domestically, as well as on the international level, he was known as the God of War!

Cryptic Invader.

Hunter without a shadow.

The Dark Knight.

Weed earned a variety of nicknames, but the one that stuck without being either excessive or long, was the ‘God of War.’

An individual that exists to fight against every monster, and comes out the victorious singular.

A legend born from the Magic of the Continent.

From just buying his account, CTS Media essential obtained a strong following that came with Weed’s reputation.

“I hope it just as sensational as the Legion of Immortals quest.”

Director Kang was filled with a swirl of positive anticipation.

“No drinking yo. They’re away in the Kingdom of Vampires. Above all, Weed is leading the expedition. This is going to be more work than the Legions of Immortal.”

“Gotta stay up, right?”

“Yes!”

The station officials were convinced.

This adventure was the jackpot of a broadcast to draw in more audiences!

What they need now, was the work to put behind it.

“Sound team, special effect team! Starting today, you’re on a 24 hours standby. You’re gunna edit things as they’re shown the screen.”

“Yes. Everyone is waiting.”

“The writers have to make the caption oomph with the descriptions.”

“I don’t think there’s such need. If you copy paste anything to Weed’s adventure it’d still be just as intense.”

“True that. But it’s an order from the commissioner. We’ve had this experience before, got to proceed with the editing as quickly as possible. Our first priority is to begin the broadcast as soon as possible.”

Only veteran broadcasters were gathered for this urgent task.

Usually the special program features prestigious guilds expeditions or large scale boss monster hunts; though now, Weed was the only person that they’re preparing the program for.

The faith they had in Weed was proven long before.

The Planning Division unexpectedly exclaimed, due the fact that the adventure they were about to work on popped up on the screen.

“Boss! Videos are coming in.”

“Who got it? Put it on the main screen.”

“Yes. Doing it now.”

The station turned their gaze onto the main screen.

According to the talk earlier, they should have been proceeding with editing.

But curiosities regarding Weed’s adventure far outweigh the work.

Weed and the party stepped onto the steep mountain.

Far above the cliffs, clouds drifted by.

They cleared it, and traveled along the flowing creek, and reached a place filled with trees and flowers.

Kkulkkeog. (Gulp.)

Director Kang swallowed his saliva.

On the main screen, the unexpected sight before them was simply breathtaking!

Weed and his party stopped in their tracks when entered the plain of flowers. And after a few verbal exchanges, they scattered in groups.

“That must mean they want to take a break.”

“Yea, I think so.”

But they began to harvest petals and timbers.

As the hundreds of people moved forward with their harvest, they ground became bare wherever they tread.

From one area to another, each was becoming a thorough mess. Everywhere they trampled, it was as if the once sweet fragrant from the flowers got drown out.

Havoc!

Devastation!

It became unbearable.

“……”

Director Kang, as well as everybody else, became speechless.

Instead of appreciating the beautiful place they’ve encountered accidentally, Weed and co. left nothing standing.

In what seemingly as 2 seconds, every form of flowering plants disappeared.

In that location, they calmly had their meals with meat as if nothing happened.

“Do we export this to broadcast?”

“There’s no way we can do that, sir.”

“Then, today must be just messing around; the real adventure will probably start tomorrow.”

“Sure. It is Weed.”

Director Kang still did not lose hope.

Jeonshin Weed.

It was an honor to watch all of his struggles.

In Magic of the Continent, he was the sole existence that can drop any challengers to their knees, and forces every enemy to abandon hope. It was great to form an exclusive contract with Weed and to broadcast this adventure.

In fact, the entire broadcasting station had already cleaned up the internal issue regarding the special program because the expectation on this was very high.

However, Weed and his party have been traveling for about nine days, and everywhere they went, atrocities were committed.

Each and every time, Director Khang’s innards were slowly burnt to black.

Chapter 7: Letter of a Vampire

Vampire Kingdom Todeum.

Weed and his party arrived to their destination.

The first glimpse was the projecting spires shooting toward the sky; of which belonging to dozen of old rustic castles surrounded by mountains.

Broken gravestones and burial mounds.

Essential indicated a cemetery within the mountain ranges.

“Ahh, this is Todeum.”

“So many castles.”

“Lots of graves.”

The energy flown out from Toteum was eerie.

There was the cold, but from some unknown place, the chills were creeping in!

Due to the thick fog that encompassed the area, the far away horizon could not be seen.

Became the first to discover Vampire Kingdom Todeum.

Rewards:

+820 Reputation.

If reported to an aristocratic member or to a royal family of Versailles continent, additional compensation will be rewarded.

For discovering a kingdom in an unexplored region, the quest rewards from this region will be 2x for a week.

Todeum!

Tori’s promised location.

Weed slowly stepped forward. He pretended to be undaunted, but still could not settle down.

‘I cannot relax. If I do, my devastatingly huge misfortune will consume me.’

Arrival at the kingdom should have been comforting; but, if anything, it has brought in more vigilance.

‘It’s always the calm before the storm. Have to be on alert for any requests before accepting them.’

He was thinking about the compensation to the difficulty ratio of quests prior to spending energy after reception. When everything was checked out accordingly, then expectations can be high.

He didn’t want quests that were similar to having a watermelon flung at you from behind that came out of nowhere!

Then, it couldn’t be avoided.

And the run is over.

Those quests are just the temptation at first sight and leads to nothing else but death.

They first quest they accepted in Seirun was already a rank B quest, from what seemingly a town for starters; so it was understandable to speculate that the Vampire Kingdom Todeum quests would be much more difficult in comparison.

‘There are indications of quests. But nothing alarming.’

Each elegant and classically built castle was connected to each other, forming a huge citadel. But the feeling weren’t the least human.

There were no traces of living beings or to a smaller extent, bats, observed within this giant fortress.

The colossal Todeum appeared menacing.

Near the gate, Weed discovered fragmented pieces of wood written in cursive by someone.

« To keep…our nice blood. »

“……”

Weed thought it was absurd, but he continued reading.

« Drink blood three times a day. Regular Vampires must never skip sleeping in the morning.

To us, Todeum was a comfortable home.

As a hobby, late at night, I wake up and start with a little stretching, then turn into a bat and fly around Todeum.

The banquet room in Blood Palace is a good example of our luxurious vampire race.

The humans that lived around us have already been condemned to slavery.

The humans worked for us such as cattle, and had sacrificed their blood to us.

Isn’t it wonderful? Thanks to the sacrificial of humans, we were kept away from death.

As Todeum increasingly became gloomier by the day, so did the Power of Darkness, which added to our strength.

But with the increase of the mighty Power of Darkness, our enemies too, rose from their slumber.

The Pegasus that flies in the sky.

The Innocent loving Unicorn.

They simultaneously attacked our darling Todeum.

They weren’t affected by our legendary Power of Darkness at all.

As we were peace loving, and though we were scared, we had to fight.

Oh, as to why Vampires hate Unicorns? There is a deep historical reason. »

At that, Weed took a quick glance at the wooden boards below.

The long narration as to why the Vampires and Unicorns had deep hatred for one another spanned over a total of seven pieces (of wood.) It was something trivial such as the Unicorns snatched away virgin Vampire maidens, or stole jewelry or gold, etc.

« Anyway, it was difficult for us Vampires to fend off the Pegasus and Unicorns’ attack. Unlike the humans, we did not have the number to do so. Thus, Todeum’s day and night were occupied and the citadel fell.

But this event wasn’t all the misery that fell upon our Bloody family.

With the strength of the Power of Darkness too was on the decline, the humans who have lived here in ancient time would return.

For that specific reason, they had a tower built within the citadel of Todeum.

Hero’s Tower.

We want You to destroy that place and to reclaim the pride of Vampires.

If this is not possible, then at very least suppress the Unicorns and Pegasus to the bare minimum.

Note: Our Vampire families doesn’t have any foreign currency, but if You succeed the request, we’ll allow you to enter our treasury. »

Ttiring!

The request from an unknown Vampire.

Todeum’s only remnant is a vampire’s record.

Under the annoyance of the Pegasus and Unicorns, the Vampires had hidden themselves and would not come out. The virtue of the Vampires is still a mystery, but it seems alright to comply with their request. Within the Vampire clan’s treasury, the soul of Koldeurim was trapped in a bead; and at the moment of the bead’s destruction, his soul will be liberated. If You want to see the true nature of the Vampire Kingdom Todeum, then engrave your name onto the board.

Difficulty: A

Rewards:

Can obtain a level 400 or more Unique grade weapon.

The weapon can be directly selected from the weapon’s warehouse.

Koldeurim’s Liberation.

Quest limit: Death will result in immediate transportation to the Versailles continent. Quest will fail.

Grade A difficulty quest finally revealed itself!

Additional Information: Koldeurim’s Liberation.

Koldeurim, a Knight of the Kallamore Kingdom 30 years ago.

The hero that was the salvation of the Kingdom, who have led and won countless victories against the Kingdom of Haven. One day, a loyal soldier discovered his body while getting drinks for his horse. Through a plot devised by the Kingdom of Haven, he was presumed dead on 2013.

But in reality.

The Kingdom of Haven instigated his kidnapping with the help with the Vampires, but it was unsuccessful. So then, the Vampire counsel decided to lay a honey trap. They use the beauty of the Vampire Queen and seduced him to lower his guard.

Alone, Koldeurim soul was lost and sealed in a bead.

If Koldeurim soul is liberated, he will be revived on the Versailles continent; and the unfinished war between the Kingdom of Haven and Kallamore Kingdom will resume.

If Koldeurim’s soul is liberated, You will receive 23, 000 points in Public Relation with the Kallamore Kingdom.

A full-scale war between the Kallamore Kingdom and the Kingdom of Haven will occur.

“Ueaaaaaaahhhhh.”

“I can’t believe this! Such a difficult commission.”

“Pegasus! Levels around 420. And the Unicorns are a bit higher.”

“Plus, they can take to the sky. We can’t accept this request.”

This was the first time the members of the party encountered an A difficulty quest, and all were in panic mode.

However, Geomchi and the instructors had a different mindset.

“Geomchi2.”

“Yes, Master.”

“What are these Pegasus and Unicorn bastards?”

“Their powers are legendary.”

“Stronger than me?”

“Is that even possible? Master is invincible.”

Flattery was the best way to handle this.

Especially when the risk of getting a hole blown into his body was located next to him.

Geomchi3 quickly shouted.

“Even infants know that Master is a Celestrial Being!”

In normal cases, Geomchi and the instructors’ willingness to fight might seem a bit creepy.

But they had been relaxing while viewing the scenery for more than ten days already, so everybody was itching for a battle.

The practitioners were also in favor of the request.

“Why’s the pending, isn’t it good to kill strong guys?”

“That’s right! This is a chance to see the Pegasus to their deaths, isn’t it so rare?”

“I think we should check up on the Royal Road’s board, to check how we’ll fare against them.”

“Well, Weed will think of something!”

They had no countermeasure.

They figured the situation will somehow take care of itself, so they weren’t at the bit least worried.

‘That’s right. Weed showed this side before.’

‘If it’s Weed nim, we can trust his judgment.’

The party turned their attention to Weed. Until now, they have put their faith onto Weed to make the best decision.

In fact, the request didn’t make sense in the first place.

The Pegasus and Unicorns can use magic affiliated with nature, while they move fast and could also take to the sky.

Therefore, aside from their levels, it was already hard enough to have such monsters as the opponents.

‘Forget about it.’

‘It’d be easier to commit suicide.’

Fighting back against the desperate pleading eyes of his party members, Weed placed his gaze on the rewards.

“The Vampire’s treasury and Koldeurim’s Liberation.”

The treasury must contain some unknown item, as a grade A quest’s compensation shouldn’t be this simple. Yeurika’s Bow, Baharan’s Bracelet, becoming the Earl of Morata was such quests’ rewards.

Koldeurim’s Liberation reward stated was huge.

“23, 000 points of Public Relation is tremendous.”

The points can be exchange for items, and can even be use to borrow soldiers. And can even be helpful when buying goods; in Weed’s case, although not necessary, it can even be use to increase Reputation or even obtain a title.

“A jackpot to encounter this grade A quest with such good rewards.”

Facing this terrific compensation, his usual mindset was lost.

Weed said at once.

“Ima accept this quest.”

Then he took out his carving knife and engraved his name onto the board.

You have accepted the quest.

“Eos.” (ack!)

“Weed nim!”

Everyone gasped in surprise. No matter how unreasonable the quest was, Weed readily accepted it.

Weed didn’t hesitate once bit and continued to engrave the other’s names onto the board.

Pale, Maylon, Surka, Irene, Romuna ...

Pale have accepted the quest.

Maylon have accepted the quest.

Each time Weed engraved a name onto the board, a new window message followed. As the leader of the party, each time he wrote a name on the board, the written person will automatically accept the quest.

“Keuheuheuheu.”

“It’s a fight.”

The still without-a-countermeasure Geomchis were joyous.

Pale couldn’t help but ask.

“Weed nim. You must have some sort of plan to deal with these Pegasus and Unicorns, right?”

“Nope. I’ll gradually think of one…”

“Then shouldn’t we wait before accepting?”

“We’ve come this far, why not see how you fare against Todeum’s caliber?”

If they didn’t accept this quest, they would have to retrace their steps back to Seirun.

From there to here and back takes at least 20 days!

As the monthly fee for Royal Road was expensive, this was something Weed could not afford.

“We will respect Weed nim’s judgment. But why did you write our names on there?”

“I didn’t want to die alone…….”

“……”

Weed calculated in his head.

‘Pegasus and Unicorns’ leather. Superbly fine tailoring item. If I sew using these items, the skill proficiency will rise dramatically, and I’m sure I can sell the produce at a high price.’

Leather wasn’t the end of it.

The Unicorn’s horn magical property can be use as the main ingredient to create excellent grade staves.

The magic staves are one of the most expensive weapons!

Not only blacksmithing and sewing skill would improve, the fabricated products were excellent sellers, an opportunity no one should ever miss.

Koldeurim’s Liberation and the Vampire’s treasure were important, but to compare which was easier to bring back between the gifts and monsters’ mats, monsters’ mats win out easily.

Then, another message window popped up.

Ttiring!

Built by ancient people, the Hero’s Tower.

Following the war, the tribes of Heraim built Hero’s Towers after they were scattered throughout the Versailles continent.

Located on the frontiers or remote regions, 12 towers were made.

Why the people of Heraim did such a thing was unknown.

The Hero’s Tower consisted of five floors.

Another name for this is the Immediate Training Center.

Upon reaching the third floor and more, one will be able to obtain Heraim’s power or skill.

Difficulty: Unknown

Rewards:

At each stage, the people of Heraim have prepared special rewards.

Quest limit:

Had to accept given quests by Todeum’s vampires beforehand.

Those that can climb the Hero’s Tower are limited to those that passed the Basic Training Center and Beginner Training Center.

For Weed, another reason why he must unconditionally complete the current given quest appeared.

A second quest.

Many have desperate sought out the Intermediate Training Center, only to discover that it was in fact the Hero’s Tower in the Versailles continent.

The Intermediate Training Center presented in the form of a quest.

‘At the very least, I need to reach the third floor.’

Unknown difficulty!

The Basic Training Center and the Beginner Training Center was considerably difficult. For the BaTC, it required a tremendous amount of patience; whereas the BeTC forces one to face an oncoming group without a single rest while going through a dark passage.

For the ones that have no combat sense, they would never be able to break through the passage.

Weed had passed the Beginner Training Center back in the day; at the time, only 400 contestants passed the challenge in Versailles continent.

‘That number prolly increased a lot more now.’

The Geomchis also passed the BeTC through the use of martial arts.

Now, the locations of the BeTC were no longer a secret.

So those that have passed the BaTC will most likely try and challenge the BeTC. There were those who’ve encountered failure; but through efforts, most succeeded.

At this point, there were about 3,000 people who have passed the BeTC.

But for those who have passed the Intermediate Training Center, the number did not exceed 150.

By passing each of the two training centers, one can obtain stronger skills or new abilities.

Weed made up his mind.

“Ima sneak into Todeum. I’ll map out the Unicorns and Pegasus’ locations and their number, I’ll also look for their weakness.”

“No no no!”

“That’s suicide!”

The party was trying to discourage everyone. But Weed was stubborn.

“We need information if we are to enter Todeum. In any case, we’re gunna have to launch an attack anyway.”

“If that’s why, I’ll go with you.”

“Hyeong nim, I’ll regret it if I let you do this alone.”

Pale and Zephyr tried to offer their assistance for the infiltration.

Weed shook his head.

“Your power is important that Pale nim remains to watch out for our members.”

“Hm?”

“The Archer’s skills are essential to detect any Unicorn and Pegasus roaming around.”

Pale could not deny it.

It was the characteristic of the Archers. The party’s safely rely heavily on their power.

Though with weak defense, low vitality to take on opponents attack, and can be charmed; but in this case with flying monsters, the Archer was the most essential.

Hwaryeong smiled slightly.

“Then I’ll go with you too.”

“Hwaryeong nim can’t go either. It’d be dangerous at any moment and I won’t be able to accommodate you all the while.”

“If Weed and I are together, we can work around the fact that a singular are more susceptible to a surprise attack, don’t you want that?”

“If more people are coming, there’ll be a higher probability for us to be founded out. So I’m gonna do this alone.”

“Will you be alright?”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve gone on a reconnaissance on a horde of monsters.”

Hwaryeong did not hide her deep affection or discomfort.

“How long until you come back?”

“If it’s a short while, maybe a day, longest will take a couple of days.”

“Hm? Why is it that long?”

“Because Todeum is a large castle. To check up on everything, I need that much time.”

“Wouldn’t it be fine if we look on from just the entrance?”

“I’d start with that anyway. In additional to identify the location of the monsters, we need to have a deeper look into Todeum.”

Weed’s aim was a thorough inspection.

It was a must to identify Todeum’s geography, to the location and the number of the enemies. In addition, he must find the most secure path to the Unicorn and Pegasus at each location.

If they didn’t accept the quest, it didn’t matter. But since the quest was accepted, they must succeed for the compensation rather than going in blindly.

Yurin readily held out her sketchbook.

“Brother, do you want to use my sketchbook?”

“Huh?”

“Whether the positions of monsters or locations of traps, it’d be easier for you to draw them out.”

“Ah!”

The words made sense!

Adventurers and artists alike, they all had the skill to create maps by default. Adventurers could make map by pinning down the exact coordinates of monsters and traps or list information regarding dungeons, but it all pale in comparison to the Painter’s accurate illustrations.

“I didn’t learn how to draw.”

“I’ll bestow it. You’ll learn it fast.”

Weed took a bit of time to learn how to draw from Yurin.

The skill acquisition process was just to simply draw an apple. Since Weed’s Wisdom and Dexterity was unusually high, he could learn it easily and drop it later.

Meanwhile, Hwaryeong and Irene did not hide their expectation.

“Since he could sculpts so excellently, he’ll learn how to draw in minutes.”

“He could really do all sort of works(art), huh?”

Contrary to their speculations, Weed’s illustration was hard to look at.

The apple looked like a rat had munched on it!

Rather than a round apple, it looked like an elongated melon!

He redrew the simple apple several times because he kept committing mistakes.

Because art requires time.

In order to draw a picture, the minimum requirement was a sketchbook and a pencil. In addition, crayons or paint or such were necessities to paint the picture.

So for Weed, the lack of such said materials meant he never drew once before. Therefore, to say he had no sense on how to paint was not an exaggeration.

From his beginning, the ‘talent’ to sculpt was built through vigilance endeavor rather than talent itself.

He continued to sculpt to increase the skill’s proficiency.

And through every piece his work became better and better and his selling price increase!

Without a single loss in concentration, he continued to work on the picture and became susceptible to the defects and modified them.

Then it became easier for Weed to draw a fitting picture, but there was a big mistake.

He still did not learn how to paint nor did he want to, and there was a reason why.

Ttiring!

The completed picture is an abomination. However, thanks to the excellent Dexterity and Artist Value, the conditions for skill acquisition was met.

Illustration skill have been acquired.

Painting skill have been acquired.

Two kinds of essential skills of the Painter were transferred.

In fact, as a sculptor, Painting could be a quite handy skill. Beside being able to create colors from materials obtained, the completed sculpture could be coated with layers of paint from the then attained paint colors.

Weed also knew that he could get these skills from a Sculptor Guild, but he didn’t want to get them until now.

The reason was simple.

‘There’s no way I can buy the materials!’

The spirit of the skinflint that won’t even pay for the skill.

Though speaking frankly, whether painting was good or not was hard to say; on one hand, it may increase the Artistic Value of the finished sculpture, and conversely, it could decline.

Reasons being the fabrication materials or the coloring was mismatched, or the painting skill was too low in terms of the level.

Therefore, it was best to not touch the sculpture after its completion.

Weed said after returning the sketchbook and pencil into Yurin’s arms.

“By any chance that I’ll die, I’ll tell you guys how far I got and how many there were through Yurin. If our levels aren’t adequate enough, you’ll have to grind here. Then, I’m off.”

Weed stood tall and looked onward, then entered through Todeum’s gate.

With the final footstep disappearing from sight, it wasn’t the only thing that was heavy or lonely. Hwaryeong sighed.

“Whew! I hope he’s successful.”

Her heart was filled with anxieties and insecurities.

It was perilous to venture alone to scout out the Unicorns and Pegasus.

However, this dangerous task was taken up by him because he deemed it necessary.

“This disciple was brought up well.”

Geomchi laughed proudly.

Geomchi2 hurriedly pulled out his blade.

Weed’s aim was a thorough reconnaissance, so no one knew how long it’ll take. Rather than idling in his absence, Geomchi2 practiced to improve his skills in the meantime.

Zephyr held out his fishing rod in the nearby river, while Pale and Maylon left to catch for rabbits and birds.

Incase they’ll be going for Todeum, food was a necessity.

Heading toward Todeum, Weed fearlessly walked at a quick pace; the moment he stepped past the gate, his attitude made an 180o turn.

Salgeumsalgeum! (sneakysneaky!)

Every footstep he took, he tried not to leave any prints.

It was the best choice seeing as his fellow companion was already out of sight.

‘I don’t wanna get caught.’

If he saw lone Pegasus or Unicorn, he would fight. But it’d be a different matter if the enemies appeared together.

Weed placed his hands and legs against the wall and pushed his body toward it.

He didn’t care how lame he looked.

“Survival comes first. Confucius said for three people, the others (2) are teachers in disguise for the third (paraphrasing). There’s a reason why rats and cockroach are good at not dying.” (the full Confucius saying is “If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher. I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them, and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.”

So instead of applying this quote to imitate human beings, Weed decided to learn from rats and cockroaches.

It’s better than reflecting and regretting when you died!

Ttiring!

The skill Four-legged Traveling is available in your current position.

Would you like to use the skill?

He then dropped to the ground to get into the best position that he could to start using the skill.

“I’ll use it.” (remember how he had to imitate animals, and Hwaryeong and Mapan saw him acting like an animal they were like ‘we don’t know that person.’)

Weed activated the skill quietly.

At that moment!

Weed’s moving speed was very fast.

Syasyasyasyasyak! (him moving.)

Like a cockroach crawling, he swiftly roamed around the ground.

Weed felt the excitement.

This elevating pleasure.

There was no one who could match Weed’s crawling speed!

‘This is the best.’

Though trivial, he felt proud.

Todeum was a very large citadel. It was basically dozens of Rojaim Kingdom’s Saraborg castle conjoined together.

Basic reconnaissance completed!

Weed with his body lie close to the ground while concealed in water, found his targets.

Located near the tallest spire, the silver Unicorns and red Pegasus were in flight.

The situation was similar to the Jinhyeol(Tori’s) vampire clan infiltrated and encamped Morata village, but the differences started from there.

The vampires were walking slowly on the ground. Most of whom were in their human forms, to easily avoid the attention of the scouts. Though it seems with just one drop of blood, the vampires will swarm to the area.

However, the silver Unicorns and the red Pegasus’ speed were far superior.

Their tails and manes waved as they raced around Todeum.

And occasionally, some spread their wings while on the ground and began to soar in the sky.

Weed hid as much as possible using the alleys.

Close to where he hid his body, more than ten Pegasus dashed by in a flurry.

Dudududu!(galloping)

Weed’s body shook.

The body of the Pegasus was nearly three meters long, and as large as a troll.

‘It’s tough. It’s really not an easy quest.’

Though it was suspected of a grade A difficulty quest.

Not only were the Pegasus and Unicorns divinities, they also possessed the quality of aerial animals. While mainly active in groups along with their quick speed, they’ve proven to be difficult.

Even with the currently used skill, he wouldn’t be able to escape them if they were to give chase.

Sometimes, while Weed was hidden in the alleyway, the Unicorns and Pegasus snuffed into his direction not allowing him a single breather.

‘First, I’ll need to find more about Todeum, and the scale of these bastards.’

Weed snuck into Todeum’s smallest white castle undetected.

The ornate palace was decorated with numerous works from the vampires. Candlesticks made with silver, armor embedded with gold, wall paintings and sculptures were also presented.

Have witness the work of the Maestro Elware “Nestled Lion.”

Art stat have increase by 1.

Have appreciated excellent works through Your eyes, the Illustration skill increase by 28%.

With just viewing an excellent illustration through his eyes, the skill proficiency increased. It was the same case as the sculptures; but in the case of appreciating works of art, the skill proficiency leapt through sight was a huge help.

Since his Illustration skill was at beginner level 1, the increase was a lot; nearly 1 or 2 percent increment each time!

It was a rare sight to see arts that were beyond those of the masters. For Weed, he gained as much as 650 Art points and his skill proficiency gained even more.

Weed simply walked around the castle viewing all the works.

Though the level of the sculptures were low and weren’t as helpful, his beginner level Illustration skill gained aplenty.

Beginner Illustration reached level 2. Able to use charcoals and other tools to draw the illustrations.

Beginner Illustration reached level 2. Art can be express in more details.

His drawing skill rapidly increased.

However, Weed had no desire or satisfaction from the growths, since he knew too well the limitation of these.

“In elementary school and even middle school, no matter how hard I try my drawings never got any better!”

In his childhood, he once dreamt of becoming a mangaka. (yes, that’s right, I used it. Cartoonist is the term)

He tried to doodle and paint as best as he could, only resulted to nothing but crap.

To express the object via drawing was very difficult to him.

There were too many differences between that and creating sculptures via feeling and carving.

That was the case for Weed.

Such as many Maestros of history.

Genius sculptors also need the foundation in other areas as well.

Math, physics, human anatomy, architecture, and invention were the foundation for such geniuses!

Whether it was sculpting or painting, these required activities in many other fields.

Whether it was the painters or sculptors, the difference between them was not large.

The reason was simple.

Aptitude!

Weed since then decided to abandon drawing.

In the beginning, the skill level can grow quickly. With his high Art and Dexterity stats, these advantages can help him to create drawings. And at most, he could reach level 6, 7 of beginner level illustration.

But, there was no way he could get past that.

With his inherent horrid hand writing, the fact that he’d have to start at the novice level of drawing was hard to overlook. Sure the skill could help to some extent, but from there he’d have to create something on his own!

He saw that it was better to invest his time in other areas rather than drawing.

After completed his tour of the castle appreciating the arts.

He was still wandering around the hall slowly to avoid the Pegasus and Unicorns!

And in the midst of the lobby, there seemed to be a red casket.

“A vampire’s coffin?”

Ttogttog! (knock on wood.)

Weed knocked on the coffin.

“Is anybody in there?”

“……”

There was no returned reply.

Weed shook the casket from side to side.

“It’s empty?”

Then from within the casket, a roar.

“Keuahahang!”

A vampire screamed wildly. But the lid remains unopened.

That sounded very uncomfortable as well!

People who are asleep does not like being woken up.

Weed left the casket alone and went to check on the rest of the castle. As a result, within the castle, there were approximately 30 Unicorns presented.

‘30 of them will be pretty hard. No, realistically, it’s nearly impossible.’

Weed shook his head.

Even with the Geomchis, it still wasn’t enough to fight level 400+ monsters.

Their damage output weren’t bad, but the continuous damage that will be inflicted was the major problem.

The problem was that they don’t wear armor!

If they were impaled by the Unicorn’s horn, it would spell a sure death.

Weed through the use of Piece Destruction could hold has much as two of them, but as for the rest, he wouldn’t be able to.

Thereby, they were overwhelmed by the damage output comparatively.

‘So far, 92 people have been killed, making this difficult situation even more so.’

Weed ate the bread he prepared in advance as he remained in the castle for the whole day, to avoid being impaled to death in the midst of Unicorns outside.

“With Todeum’s under these circumstances, we can’t fight them effectively. We’ll have to catch the Unicorn or Pegasus outside.”

Weed left the castle and returned to the street once again.

Before him were the Vampire residents and the Pegasus and Unicorns flying above.

At first glance there were more than several hundreds of groups!

Including those on the ground in Todeum and all the other places, the number seemed to be over 2000.

In the smallest castle, he had seen at least 30 Unicorns presented, the cumulative number could result to something tremendous. That said, there were at least 40 castles in Todeum.

“I rather go catch a dragon.”

Finally, Weed began to whine.

Until then, he remained quite quiet.

Whether it was completing quests or raising his sculptures, listening to people narrating stories, Weed tried to remain as humble as possible.

But, he could not see an escape route now.

Even with Weed, Geomchis, and his other companions, there was no way to resolve the quest.

With the dragon, it would probably be similarly difficult, but there is a slim hope. Whether it is death or for the win, there’s only one to fight!

Although its breath may be terrifying; with the use of the single point attack, and possibly a significant amount of sacrifices, they could come out with a win.

But in the case of the Unicorns and Pegasus, they were presented in flocks.

No matter how good the items they were using, it’d come to naught. They were heavily outnumbered.

“I could give life to sculpture. This could even the odds.”

However, Weed until now had no desire to do so.

Every time he grants life to the sculpture, it costs him 2 level and 10 Art stats will decline. He calculated that it’d take him at least 50 sculptures be granted life to create an even fight; and the loss would be too enormous.

“They’ll have to be Classic or Magnum pieces to be on par with the Unicorns. Plus, I don’t think I can make them in this short while, along with the fact that they’ll only be disposable here.”

This is the world of Vampires.

Even if the sculptures are to survive the battle, they can’t be transport back to the Versailles continent.

“Fucking quest!”

Weed broke out in rage.

A grade A difficulty quest, no matter how hard, shouldn’t have been this tough.

Even for Oberon who led the Northern Expedition; for them, half a day in Todeum would face a complete and utter slaughter.

The rewards weren’t even sufficient.

This quest should have been labeled as the premium of A-grade difficulty!

Although not reaching the level of S-grade difficulty quests where it can change the balance of the continent, this was still on par in terms of difficulty.

An ordinary person might have just give into the frustration and git-up-n-leave.

But Weed was different.

“I’ve gotta somehow break even. There’s gotta be a path to do so.”

Weed continued to search through out Tudeum.

A day went by, then another, he did not give up the search. For the slightest hope, he searched high and low and even areas no one would bother.

And finally, he discovered a place.

In the middle of the city there was a creek flowing, a place where the monsters in Todeum huddled together for a drink of water. Usually 10 or 12 monsters each time, the numbers were smaller than the rest. (comparing to the 30+ for each castles, and 2000 for the central.)

However, they didn’t come on a timely basis, while at times there were hundreds of groups waiting to use the creek.

“Here is still impossible!”

Weed with his growing frustrations!

But seeing how Todeum was an aggregation of many castles, he did not give up on the expectation of finding a suitable location for the fight.

Afterward, he discovered a dark castle before him.

This was the sole black castle amongst the abundant beautiful red, yellow, and even green castles!

Now, after going through several castles, he piled up on knowledge.

Usually near the main entrance of the castle, there’s a plaque present.

Count Christopher’s Castle.

Viscount Burachya’s Castle.

In this way, others could see who the owner of the castle was; but this black castle had no such thing.

Weed carefully infiltrated the black castle.

He found a path to the basement, traveling down the passageway and found himself a warehouse filled with coffins.

‘I don’t feel any presence here.’

Weed left and went for higher grounds in the castle.

The largest room in the castle where the owner stayed!

Even here, there were Unicorns and Pegasus moving around in the corridors.

Patience and wait!

Every time each one of them coming down the corridor, he could hear their loud footsteps rang.

Weed waited for a long time for their passing to get his way into the lord’s room.

In the center of the spacious room there was a large black casket.

‘Must be the master of the castle.’

Weed didn’t expect much when he came toward and touched the casket. Then from within, he heard a raspy voice.

“I love pretty and cute girls. If you are not a girl, GTFO of here.”

The gloomy voice spoke severely with girls as the subject.

Even though hearing the vampire’s voice shouting loudly was unexpected, Weed somehow felt as if he had encountered this voice before.

Weed asked.

“Who are you?”

“Me? You asked the young and beautiful me a very pointless question. But since I’ve just lain to rest I’ve been too unsatisfied, so I’ll specifically tell you. I’m the new Count of Todeum, and also lord of a mighty clan.”

No matter how it sounded, he seemed to recall a similar voice.

Weed said with a lump in his throat to the coffin.

“I’m Weed.”

“……”

“Who are you?”

After a long pause, the vampire from the coffin said.

“I absolutely am not Tori.”

Chapter 8: The Slightest Hope

Weed questioned once again.

“Aren’t you Tori? Earlier you did say you like girls?”

The vampire from the coffin was desperately trying to convince Weed otherwise.

“All vampires like girls, that’s the stereotype of my country, hmph! You also have no evidence that I’m Tori.” (vampire usofunny, digging ur own grave.)

“But I do think that you’re Tori. I’m Weed. Don’t you know me?”

“I don’t. Really.”

Weed knew that vampires often lie, so he didn’t believe these words one bit. He’d rather believe in the words of the merchant trying to 1up him rather than them(vampires.)

“But I’m sure this voice belongs to Tori. So you’ve been asleep in Todeum since you came here?”

“……”

Weed senses surpassed those of the diviners.

But from the casket, no further answers escaped. He simply remained silence, not bothering with a reply.

Weed said insinuatingly.

“Humm. And here Prina wanted to see you.”

“Really? Prina with the body that I missed?”

“Yep! She wanted to give you flowers she brought up. Something like red roses.”

“Keuheuheu. I knew you were really in love with me, Prina. Not a single girl can reject this handsome body of mine.”

Weed asked.

“Then, it’s really Tori who’s in there, huh?”

“Hut!”

“You decide: get beaten when you come out, further beaten when you come out, even more so beaten when you come out, or I’ll beat you until you come out, or I’ll let you come out. You know I’m an engraver, right? If you come late, I’ll engrave the casket ‘Tori the Fool’.”

The pride of the prideful vampire has been stripped through intimidation!

Weed used his profession as a Sculptor to intimidate without hesitation.

At first glance, the Sculptor class was one where one can barely live on and had to fight to survive on a daily basis, but the upside was that he could dabble into many areas.

In fact, this helped in the inseparable relationship between Weed and Tori.

Whenever he beats Tori, Familiarity dropped.

If so, then the normal case was that Tori would never follow Weed.

However, after having severely beaten, the taming process would automatically begin. Domesticated animal like horses, or such monsters with slightly higher intelligence could be tame.

Complete surrender to the owner, faithfully following any commands given.

Of course there are conditions. Charisma and Leadership needs to be high, and having a class such as the Tamer will be helpful.

In Weed’s case, the profession was hardly suitable, but his Leadership and Charisma was on the very high side. But to be at the tolerable level of a guild master, Weed’s Leadership and Charisma weren’t enough.

On top of those, while Weed hunted, part of his hunting EXP also went into Tori’s growth.

In other words, Weed’s contribution to Tori was very high, which forced him to comply.

Although the master and pet relationship was over, Weed and Tori was still inseparable.

“Kkeueung!”(squeak sound)

The lid of the coffin gently opened. And the vampire in it was making a sickly sound.

The change in lighting showed the pale appearance of Tori.

* * *

Weed took Tori and returned to where the party was staying.

The party, in the meantime, had unearthed a few good hunting grounds in the surrounding areas.

Swamp in the east filled with Crocodiles!

Scorpions in the sands located southeast!

In the Northwest plains had Barbarian tribes!

Although there were a lot of other hunting grounds, the levels of those exceeded 300, so it was too early for the party to hunt there.

“Weed nim, please make crocodile leather bags.”

“I want to eat seasoned and grilled scorpions, can you do it?”

Hwaryeong and Surka begged as if they were baby birds awaiting the mother’s return.

Zephyr too didn’t play around. He had loads of fishes stacked in wait.

Of course, even without Weed around, they all still wanted to eat. But because everybody cooking skills were too low, nobody wanted to cook and take the blame for everyone’s intestinal problems.

Zephyr, as a Fisherman, could cook the fishes by default; but he had never cooked before.

Because of this, Weed began boiling to make hot chowder.

“Along the river, there are many hunting grounds. Calling it the monster’s paradise is not an exaggeration.”

There were also plenty of monsters in Todeum.

There wasn’t any place that doesn’t have monsters!

Weed had been under duress of the Unicorns and Pegasus when he was running away.

But Weed’s eyes lit up like those of the monsters.

“Can we win the fight at our levels?”

“I can’t tell yet. I found an intermediate hunting ground filled with Water Elementals.”

The hunting ground he spoke of was filled with level 320!

While being hopeful that the quantity of mobs there were sufficient, with the party superior damage output along with teamwork, that hunting ground seemed like a blessing.

Weed’s level was at 339 as well, so the experience points he could obtain weren’t bad.

“But isn’t this that vampire Tori?”

The eyes of the party left Weed and went toward Tori.

“Yes. By chance, we meet again.”

“……”

The glances from the party changed into that of pity.

In every case and form, Tori looked as if he had been socked in both eyes. That sight and the drastic screams of the moment resonated vividly in everyone’s ears.

He had suffered so much. All he wanted was liberation…

And here of all places, to have meet Weed once again, the door of suffering swung wide open.

‘We are also tired like you. You’ll get use to it.’

‘Poor guy.’

‘He must rather die.’

‘You’re also attracted to misfortune.’

They sympathized with the mighty lord of a vampire clan.

Weed now, having escaped the Unicorn and Pegasus, lowered his guard.

“Tori, tell me. What happened to Todeum.”

“That…”

Tori let out all he knew about the situation.

The Vampires were in a state of mass hysteria under the invasion of the Unicorn and Pegasus. However, some reorganized and organized a counterattack. A brave lord and his familiars fought against the invaders; in one or two bouts, the clan turned into ashes.

Because of the nature of the prideful and independent Vampires, no one lineage wanted to cooperate with another.

Most of the time they would never comply to the will of another race!

And since they didn’t want to risk the sacrifice, they’d rather went into their coffins to hide. They planned to sleep for several hundreds of years until their invaders disappear entirely.

Weed asked.

“That’s the plan?”

“Yes, is that not a plan? Simple non-violence and patience tactic…”

“……”

Tori’s plan was also to sleep. Having just arrived into Todeum, he had not drifted into his slumber. And just as he was about to, Weed found him.

“But we Vampires did not give up fighting. If you are here, we can fight together.”

“How can we do that?”

“Wake up the sleeping Vampires! If you kill the enemies in each castle, then the Vampires would voluntarily leave their coffins on their own.”

Ttiring!

Obtain more concrete information on the quest.

Cooperation with the Todeum’s Vampires.

Save the Vampires and join forces to prepare for a counterattack against the Unicorn and Pegasus.

Until Todeum’s night and day returns, on the full moon of every month, the bats will lend You assistance with their wings to give You flight.

A major battle will be known when the drums are sounded.

The request of an unknown vampire.

To be victorious in a frontal assault against the Unicorns and Pegasus, under normal circumstances, was something that could not be done.

However, thanks to the relentless investigation into Todeum without giving up, he has obtained a second piece of information on how to deal against the Unicorn and Pegasus.

It was still far from certain victory, but it had shed some light of hope in the current situation.

Weed began to conduct the battle plan.

“First, Master and every Sahyeongs have to go grind to raise your levels, the duration is 10 days in reality.”

At the end of Weed’s sentence, Geomchi willingly agreed.

“Got it.”

“Tori will be very helpful if you take him along with you. Irene nim too.”

“Me?”

“If Irene nim goes too, then Master and Sahyeongs could utilize the hunting ground more.”

Irene nodded her head.

“I see. I’ll take care of all the treatments. I will make sure no one will die. But Weed nim’s not coming too?”

“I have things to prepare for the battle ahead. Oh, Master, what is your level?”

“236.”

“What about Sahyeongs?”

“229. 227. 224. Geomchi5 is a bit higher at 235.”

Weed also had all the other practitioners reported their levels.

Among the practitioners, there were those that practiced their skills during the travel on the valleys and mountains, and those who enjoyed fighting against monsters and doing quests. While the minimum was approximately 230 and the maximum at 290; the level differences was too significant.

“For the people with low levels, you’ll need to hit at least level 270. And to those who have more, rather than raising your level, it’s best to raise your skill proficiency, please. This hunt itself is against really high level enemies; but for those with low skills proficiency, it’ll be tougher later on to raise them.”

In the case of Geomchi and the instructors, their attacking related skills were very high. Until recently, they’ve overly invested in Strength and Agility that they didn’t care about defense.

The damage output for them could be on par with those in the 300s, or even higher.

Having weak defense can seem like having a disadvantage; but looking objectively, it’s not an exaggeration to say they have the highest efficiency when it comes to hunting, if they don’t die.

“Alright.”

“No problem.”

Geomchi and the instructors said without a question while grinning.

If you compare swinging the sword alone, this was heaven. It was more interesting to fight against monsters in comparison.

But why would anyone risk the likelihood of death in a fight against monsters of similar level? Mobs in those hunting grounds could potentially deal powerful attacks, anybody would find that unwelcoming.

At the same while, the uneasiness due to the lack of defense was something that could not be easily overlooked.

But for those who enjoy hardships, these details weren’t at all alarming.

Everything weren’t for some simple level or wish for the end; it was to prepare for the quest!

“Two weeks to hit 270.”

It was Pale and Zephyr who offered their condolences to the other party.

Usually, it was unlikely for humans; to having to raise their levels at that rate was something to snort at.

They didn’t have complete faith in this at all. In the first place, this plan was beyond unreasonable!

But…they were Weed and the Geomchis.

“They can do it.”

“I think they can, those muscle heads.”

They watched with a bit of envy and jealousy in their eyes.

For the Geomchis, the preposterous plan might be a successful one; because for them, all they know was fighting.

It was something that the party could depend on nobody else but them.

Normally, the plan was still a bit excessive even for the Geomchis; but throughout Todeum, they would be the first to discover the new dungeons. With the 2x given, it was something doable.

Weed now face his party.

“Pale nim and the rest, please go and collect dozens of food ingredients.”

“’Yes!”

Pale replied without a problem.

This bit right here was also true. Since the Geomchis had to grind, they’d have to collect food for everybody.

It was something that could not be helped. During their time in the world of Vampires, all that was left of the wagon of foods was just the wagon itself; so in order to keep living, they have been collecting food.

“This maybe troublesome, but please collect food ingredients that are at least Intermediate grade. If possible, Advanced grade materials might be better.”

“Collect Intermediate or Advanced materials?”

Pale questioned.

It was because until now, Weed didn’t care for the level of the ingredients.

If one was to hunt 10 deer and noted down the ingredients, there’ll be several different grades. And collecting Advanced grade food materials was something easier said than done.

“I want to utilize my cooking skills to maximize the effectiveness of high quality foods. Since this could potentially elevate our lack of power just a bit more, this is a very important mission.”

Weed’s words were pretty clear.

To have found Tori was a glitter of hope, but he was still worried.

“We know the number of Vampires we can rescue is limited, plus comparatively to the Unicorns and Pegasus, our power is much weaker.”

Surka asked innocently.

“So what can we do?”

Weed replied with a clear cut answer.

“For us being here, most definitely, the more we fight, the more people we will lose.”

As the battle continues, the number of colleagues will be reduced.

To them, whether it’s the Unicorns or the Pegasus, the differences in level and size isn’t something they can handle. For all the Geomchis, Romuna or Irene, if they are attacked, then the possibility of them dying isn’t that far off.

Losing their focus even for a split second and are attacked a second time, it would be an instant death!

The Unicorns and Pegasus are very strong.

The sorts Pale and the party have never hunted before.

Weed added a slight tension with his last few words.

“There’ll be many deaths. Even if we ended up lucky and the quest is successful, the majority of us here will die. I want to ensure, even if it’s a slight number, that more people will survive throughout the quest by means of preparations.”

“……”

The words didn’t bring up their determination in the least. Even if party somehow succeeds, knowing that they could potentially die anytime only left the lingering feeling of despair in the depths.

“So every one of you need to take responsibility and cook your own meal, today’s meal is…”

Weed paused slightly.

It’s always best to draw it out rather than spoon fed them.

Excitement and anticipation!

Gauging their hunger appropriately was the main ingredient to bring out the foods’ taste.

“Flower Bibimbap!”

“Woooeahh!”

Weed began to cook.

Making an edible meal from flower petals and mushrooms and herbs mixed together with rice. Finally, mixing in honey and red pepper paste to create a gourmet among delicacies!

There weren’t that many different dishes prepared, nevertheless, he made enough dishes to have an adequate sangdari. (it’s kinda like everybody’s individual salad. A sangdari is the many separate dishes prepared individually, while the bibambap is a mixing by oneself from all these dishes. Not 100% sure. An educated guess.)

Have created Flower Bibimbap.

Simple made cooking.

Have minor effects, but a bowl does not dissipate hunger.

With every bowl, Weed also decorated the meal using the flower petals.

From one to another, each had its own custom design, such as a sword or a shield.

Through this means, it further increases the value of food skills!

The aesthetic image of the food was just as important as the taste.

Weed had fully comprehended how to maximize cheap cuisine.

Of course, there was a story behind the Flower Bibimbap.

A while back, he didn’t even have money for bread. Whatever edible things he procured around him had turned into food. And then, he went as far as mixing flower petals into the rice to make a meal. And through experimentations using his imagination, this dish was born.

And now, with the sea of petals in the area, he could bring this dish to the light in several folds.

“Kkeoeok!”

“Delicious.”

Geomchi and the instructors, as well as all the practitioners downed seven bowls each before going on the grind.

Pale and the party also left to complete their assignment. Weed too, had his own preparation to do.

* * *

KMC Media planning committee.

Director Kang and the production staffs were watching the video received.

It was through Shin Hye-Min’s character, Maylon, point of view.

“This is Todeum. They’ve finally arrived.”

Director Kang scored a proud laugh.

Throughout the course of the party’s journey and witness their brutality, he felt sick to his stomach.

By all appearances, they weren’t suitable contents to be broadcasted!

The director murmured a prayer.

“From now on, they better receive a good quest.”

“Definitely, boss!”

The station was too, a company.

So his workers were quick to flatter the boss through any means.

On the screen, a grade A difficulty quest popped up at the entrance of Todeum.

“Ah!”

“So difficult!”

From here to there, groaning came about!

“But this is Jeonshin Weed.”

“He defeated the Legion of Immortality, so he could do this too.”

Director Kang eyes were fixed onto the screen, but he was filled with anxiety.

Then, it seemed as if Weed was going to infiltrate Todeum alone.

The director jumped.

“Switch to Weed’s POV!”

“Yes sir! Doing it right now.”

The technical staffs immediately changed the screen to Weed’s point of view.

Beforehand, Maylon went through all the necessary arrangements to have her and Weed’s capsules to relay videos in real time.

“Is that is?”

“Yes, it is. It’s Weed.”

“Amm! I think Weed will be fine infiltrating Todeum.”

If Weed was to die, the disappointment would be huge.

Director Kang and his staffs went silent and watched the screen. The sense silence now was like that of the serenity after death.

At different points in time, the door would move without a sound. One by one, people came and look for seat vacancies. When all seats were taken: some stood leaning on the wall, others shared seats, and some squatted on the floor.

People flocked when they heard talks of Weed doing another unknown quest. All of them became hardcore fans after they’ve seen the war waged against the Legion of Immortality.

Whether it was the receptionists, the facilitators, artists, or even security personnel; all abandoned their work and snuck in.

They whispered in low voices.

“I heard they finally arrived to Todeum?”

“Weed’s going into Todeum alone!”

The excitement and thrill!

All of them were assimilated by Weed.

The created city of Vampires consisted of castles.

He was to stealthily spy on the monsters that seized the city alone.

And after that!

Weed was crawling like a cockroach.

“What the?”

“I think he was to scout…but…”

“I think he want to scout by crawling.”

“……”

Speechless!

All their mouths were opened, but they could not able to force any word out in this situation.

Nevertheless, there were those that did not abandon hope.

‘It’s not like a cool hero will explicitly appear whenever you asks for one. The heroes achieved miraculous results because they went through such tedious work as this.’

‘It’s like the swan standing elegantly in the lake. It only appears so on the surface, but their feet must constantly work in order to remain still. Weed nim is probably like that.’

They looked at it positively. The expectation they placed on Weed did not go away.

Weed entered each and every castle in Todeum and persistently looked for clues. There were more than plenty of times where he encountered the Unicorns and Pegasus, where he had to hid or crawled away to escape the scene.

But as time passed, one day, two days, and more, he repeated this same process.

Since Royal Road and reality had a time difference, they would have never see the ending of this if they didn’t fast forward four times as fast.

And now, all were in despair.

Defeat was the only option seeing how the Unicorns and Pegasus dominated Todeum!

Director Kang and his staffs were forced to stay up the whole night.

“Director, what about a rerun?”

A member spoke up and forced the director to ponder about the proposal seriously.

“Really? How can I do that when we haven’t land any advertisement yet?”

To cancel said feature program, then have a rerun wasn’t an uncommon thing. But doing so would have a great repercussion on the director in charge.

“You know, sir, actually…”

“Hm?”

“What if we give them an exclusive sight of the world of Vampires, and say that there was a mistake regarding the aforementioned news?”

“……”

The circumstance was beyond redeemable!

“No. I will never do that!”

Director Kang was facing an unexpected suffering. But that was just it.

“The director’s words were that no matter what, Weed’s the top priority when it comes to broadcasting! It’s pretty clear that the last thing we will do is going against his words. So does anyone know what to do since we’re not canceling?”

Director Kang also recalled the words he said.

“Kkeueung! Then was there an alternative program?”

“No sir.”

“Really? Why is that we don’t have another program planned? Isn’t B team or C team supposed to do so in these situations?”

“Because of this program, they didn’t convene it. The sound teams, video teams, and the writers all focused on this. This adventure called for everybody to make this the best ever.”

“Then there is no alternative?”

“What if we do reruns sir?”

If they did that, KMC Media viewership would drop dramatically. This was simply not an option.

“If I do that, the embarrassment we’ll face will be too much. What should I do.”

Time kept moving.

Director Kang suddenly turned his attention to the screen.

‘Why’s he swaying like that…’

Weed retuned to his colleagues and began making preparation for the quest.

“Huh? He didn’t give up?”

“I know right. I would give up.”

“Wait a minute. There’s also the vampire lord Tori who joined up.”

“What?”

The station’s officials became busy once again.

Director Kang also found a lingering hope among the darkness.

“What are the odds now?”

“Still very slim!”

“What about those muscular colleagues with them?”

“Their levels are too low, so I doubt the can do much. And also, there are too many monsters. The quest itself was already difficult, piled on the level differences made this unimaginably complicated.”

“Keuheum!”

Director Khang’s forehead lay flat as if he was defeated.

Now it was the time to somehow come up with a decision. Whether it was to cancel and fold their hands, or continued with the risk was the decision to make.

“Weed did not give up so we shouldn’t either. Ima risk it and continue broadcasting.”

Director Kang and the staffs were in haste.

They bet on the possibility and resumed their work.

* * *

Weed had embarked on preparation alone.

Juseomjuseom. (sound of placing stuff)

Backpack filled with various materials.

Weed pulled out all the mats and set them down.

Items of various occupations, and piled together depending on the type of goods. Fangs of wolves, or bone fragments, or virtually useless loots were the majority.

However, Weed wasn’t the type to pass on these loots.

“Lets recheck to see if these are useful now.”

If someone picks up threads and a needle, then they’ll use them to sew.

If he obtained a torn shirt or a piece of leather, then after the meticulous repair made, he’ll sell them. Sell them at a higher price than when he obtained them.

That’s what he does regarding Charcoal!

Usually, he makes Charcoals to sell them. And use them on a torch in the dark or use them to seal Light Magic. So there was no reason why anyone would write off Charcoal. And as for the chef, this was also an important tool.

“Charcoal-grilled meat is delicious beyond comparison.”

It was a handy tool to save for cooking. If it was sold to the store, the price was a copper a piece, while things like bone fragments didn’t even come with price. But if you mix the bones into soup and cook using the Charcoals, it’d be beneficial to your health.

Weed was rummaging through his backpack and through his loots to find the items.

He was looking for the tree trunks and monster’s tendons.

“I hid the items deep inside the backpack a little too wel…got it.”

Elastic Strong Tree Trunk:

Durability 39/40.

Attack 3~7.

Part of a rubber tree.

Lightweight and excellent elasticity.

Is not suitable to use as a writing stick but can be use as a whip to some degree.

Not only can this be sold to stores for a price as firewood, this can materialize into other purposes for those with the skills to do so.

Material: Rank 4.

Option: -30 Faith, when use as a weapon.

Damage wasn’t on par with beginner weapons!

It wasn’t useful as a weapon, so it was classified as a type of loot.

Cattle’s Tendon:

Durability 50/50.

Docile cattle’s tendon.

Tough and elastic, suitable for making bows.

Material: Rank 3.

Weed, through fundamental knowledge, tried to create a bow.

Ttiring!

Creation of Beginner’s Bow logged.

Blacksmith skill proficiency have increased slightly.

“Identify!”

- Beginner’s Bow: Durability 70/70.

- Damage 9~13.

- Range 4.

Bow made from basic ingredients.

Short and tight, can be use throughout many hunts.

Comparing the level to the materials, this was made with great flexibility so the chance of it breaking is low.

Restriction:

- Level 3.

- Available for all professions.

Option:

- Upgrade impossible.

Normally, bows would be graded as specialized weapons in blacksmithing. It required advanced Dexterity and Intermediate level Blacksmith to begin making them; while also, there were no instructions that can be view on how to create them.

With all of Weed’s wastage materials, he could create more than 100 bows.

Rotten Wood Bow have been made.

Unknown Used Bow have been made.

Poor Goblin’s Bow have been made.

The levels of the finished bows were slowly improving. Reason being he was gaining experiences with each finished product. Though, it was still far from satisfactory.

Weed simply continued making bows while filling his stomach with bread.

Hunting Bow have been made.

Specialized Deer Hunting Bow have been made.

Tree Shortbow have been made.

Beginner Archer’s Bow have been made.

At this point, the bow’s level has improved. If he could somehow manage to bring them to a store, he could sell them for fairly low prices!

The quality of materials was decreasing, but good products were still coming out.

“From now on, it’s the real thing.”

Up until now, Weed has not a single ounce of regret when he was making the bows.

The bows production was at a very high speed. But from then on, he was going to create them with more devotion.

So, he made another 200 bows.

Beautiful Wooden Bow have been made.

Hawk Hunter’s Bow have been made.

Penetrating Bow have been made.

You have gained a level.

Ttiring!

Able to use animal’s bones or horns to craft Khakgung(horn bows). Varied in size: accuracy, shooting speed, and damage can improve.

Through making a large quantity of bows, he obtained a new stage of bow making.

Generally, wooden bows were widely used throughout the beginner stage. But with the superior tension of animal bones and horns, these had a clear advantage.

“I could make bows out of animal’s bones?”

For most, having suffered through making several bows only to discover there was a better grade of bow out there, their relative willpower would drop.

But Weed was different.

“Let’s start over now!”

Repeated labor!

Working with tree trunks was abandoned. Since the transition was easy because he had collected many bones.

Through the materials collected from hunting monsters, and through cooking where he had to separate the meat from the bones. However, it was dependant on the mastery of the skill; whether the amount was large or not, based on this.

In Weed’s case, with his Intermediate cooking skill, the bones collected after separating from the meat was huge!

“Bones! I don’t think normal bones would do tho.”

Depending on the size of the bone, the size of the bow could be large, and with the given bone’s resiliency, it was to excel. Although better ones were made from monsters or animals’ horns; but since they were classified as medicinal item, the prices rocketed in stores.

Because of that, every horns he had he sold to the stores without reserve.

“Instead of those, I’ll use ogre sized monster’s bones to make them.”

Weed fished out large bones and began making bows.

Handling large monster’s bones required tremendous force.

Struggled against materials!

“The mobility of short bows isn’t that great. While it does have fairly fast reloads, the power of it is weak.”

He trimmed the unforgiving large monster’s bone to create the limb(don’t know the terminology, so I yeah.) Any vulnerable part on the limb, he reinforced it with iron; then he carefully fastened the bowstring.

With that, the bow was finished to some extent; he then meticulously adjusted the balance of the bow. And through engraving, he carved a wind sylph onto the limb.

It was indeed the best that he could do.

Ttiring!

Creation of The Chasing Wind Bow logged.

Blacksmith skill proficiency rose by 0.2%.

“Identify!”

The Chasing Wind Bow:

Durability 85/85.

Damage 49~62.

Range 7.

Bow was created using the thigh bone of an ogre.

The bow has an unimaginable strength.

But because this was crafted from strong materials, not a lot of people can handle this.

Accuracy drops sharply.

Restriction:

- Level 200.

- Strength 530.

- Archer only.

Option:

- Minus 35% chance of hitting.

- Minus 80 Agility.

- Plus 45% chance of penetrating target.

Can destroy light armors or shields.

With Power exceeding 700, arrows can fly 3 times as fast.

Arrows can ride the wind and fly a bit further.?

The damage output wasn’t all based on the processing!

This was not comparable to Weed’s High Elf Yeurika’s Bow; but considering that it was made from common materials, its was amazing.

However, Accuracy and Agility had been sacrificed.

Compare to moderate armors, this was much heavier; the large bow was born.

“Good. We need to bows with powers to this extent!”

Weed was felt a surge of prideful feelings, and he embarked on the production of another bow.

He continued through the same process trying to make similar bows.

The goal was 413 bows.

One for each of the still living Geomchis.

“I don’t have much time, hafta hurry.”

Earlier he was making bows through trial and error, but now he moved more diligently.

He made about 17 bows, when Pale and the party returned. They were standing with bunch of ingredients.

“Weed nim, we got plenty of meat and fruits this time around.”

“Thanks for the hard work.”

Seechwi and Zephyr were in charge of the wagon of food materials.

At this time, Maylon came to Weed to see what he was doing.

“What are you making? Siege weapons?”

She asked as she watches Weed refining the large monster bone.

“Nope. I’m making a line of bows for Master and the Sahyeongs.”

“Bows? At this size?”

Maylon face shown she was shocked.

It was something hard to believe. The bows Weed created were around the staggering 140 centimeters in height.

“Yeah. Pretty awesome, huh?”

“Yeah but, it’d be substantially difficult to handle with such large bows. Do you mind if I check one?”

“Sure. By any chance you encounter something worth noting to create them, please tell me.”

“Yes, I will do that. Let me see.”

Maylon was very surprised when she checked on it. Its weight was very heavy. It was heavier than the armor she was wearing, which seems to counterintuitive.

Leaving the burden of the wagon, Pale, Seechwi, and Zephyr walked up.

“What are you doing?”

“Ah Pale nim. I’m looking up on the bows Weed nim made.”

“Oh my…bows, huh?”

Awe filled Pale's eyes.

He saw there was only a 30 centimeters difference between Maylon and the object she was holding, that he didn’t even notice the moaning and groaning she was making with the bow in her hands.

“The hell with these weapons…isn’t it heavy?”

“It is. A lot.”

Weed was like a craftsman, silently listening to the criticism, while dutifully continued making bows form the monster’s bones. Around him were the various bows he created, piled up like mountains. When the bones ran out, he returned to making wooden bows, sizable ones.

‘To have made this many in this duration…’

‘Making bows for several days without a single break.’

Pale and Maylon didn’t know what to say, because they could not afford to use such bows.

It required such overwhelmingly Strength, and its weight heavily restricted movements.

“Uhh…”

Pale was about to point out the problems he saw with the bows.

Then from far away, Geomchi5 and 10 practitioners appeared.

“Weed, we return for food. We also gained some minerals and leathers from the hunt. Master wanted to give these to you.”

“Yes.”

Weed gave them the bread he baked in advance in bulk. But instead of returning immediately after receiving them, Geomchi5 snooped around.

Pale and Zephyr seeing so and nodded their heads.

‘I see.’

‘So it was too tough even for you.’

To hit level 270 like Weed said was something beyond difficult. And because Geomchi5 had high self-esteem, he didn’t want to confess he couldn’t do it and decided to loiter about; or so they thought.

‘That’s no good. I have to help him out a bit.’

Zephyr saw an opportunity and walked over.

“Geomchi5 hyeong nim.”

“Hm?”

“Isn’t hunting tough? I know raising levels never get any easier. When I was like you, it was realllllyyy hard.”

Geomchi5 yawned and replied.

“There are a lot of strong monsters. So far, there were cases of monsters appearing that I couldn’t handle. They came out when we were picking up loots from other monsters, I also hear those issuing commands.”

According to Zephyr’s past experiences, those would be a Boss monster or Named monsters; that meant the area they were grinding in was a very dangerous hunting ground.

“That’s very risky.”

“Hm? Nah. Everybody kicked their asses.”

“Eh?”

“Don’t the unique ones give more experience points? They dropped a lot of items; so whenever they appear, we come together and beat them where they stand. It’s a pleasure to see all 10 guys haven’t died yet.”

“Shh, it wasn’t easy, I presume?”

“Even if I don’t use weapons, they still die all the same.”

“……”

“The knives rarely taste the thrill of combat. If some accident occurs then I’d have to repair them; so most of the time I’d just grab some random thing and kill the monsters.”

If a Boss monster came along, they would drop the things on hand and rushed toward it. They didn’t need the overly complex skills since brandishing their swords was like anyone else using their pen to write.

“Oh Weed, I forgot to ask this. My level is nearing 270, but a few of us are beyond that level. Is it alright?”

“Yes, Saheyong.”

“Oh thank God.”

And Geomchi5 was watching Weed making bows.

“Weed, what is this?”

“They’re bows. I was going to give them to Sahyeongs.”

The Geomchis picked the Martial Arts profession, so they could buy and use arms of other professions without restriction.

“Really? Can I try some?”

Geomchi5 quietly picked up a bow.

The bow Maylon barely manage to hold was casually picked up!

“No way!”

“How high is your Strength…”

Maylon was an Archer through and through, so she did not raise the Strength stats over the requirement. Nevertheless, there was no way to make sense of Geomchi5’s incredible Strength.

“Strength? It’s a little more than 1000.”

Maylon wore an amazed face.

“How on earth can your Strength be at 1000?”

Even with the given stats back in BaTC obtained, having more than 1000 points in Strength stat was a preposterous thing.

Geomchi5 answered as if it was simple.

“Whenever my level rises, I put my stats into Strength. If you’re a man then strength is the way to go! Oh, and I put a little into Agility. If the Agility is low, then I can’t strive to hit monsters properly without receiving reciprocated damages; and that would increase the chance of me receiving a critical blow.”

It was something out of Maylon's prediction.

“So you’re saying until now most the stats were put into Strength?”

“Yes. Where else am I gonna put them?”

“……”

Whether it was ignorance or courageous, the Geomchis growth revolved around Strength; aside from the little points put into Agility.

The side effect of this is always the lack of mana that spells the inability to use skills, and with the low defense means a single attack from the monsters can increase the chance of death!

Death meant the loss of a level and drop in various skills’ proficiency, so would the stats placed in Strength.

“Geomchi9’s stronger than me by 2 stats!”

No one knew when it turned into a competition!

But it became a contest to see who can get the higher Strength stats amongst themselves.

With encountering monsters, they increased Agility accordingly to give them a lee way to dodge. Attack and defense were coordinated according to their will.

Even with the lack of dexterity, they moved precisely without much worry; so it was a battle revolving the increment of Strength!

Battle of masters!

This was a method that anyone who knew better would never attempt.

‘Monsters!’

‘The laborious monster and actual monsters.’

The persistency of Weed was something they couldn’t dare to venture.

The Geomchis were similar in their eyes. Their strong desire to be strong and their struggles to do so forced everyone to admire them.

Maylon and Pale's eyes met.

“Maybe…”

“Could we actually be able to resolve this quest?”

Weed had come up with a plan, but everybody was dubious. They swallowed in their doubts and participated, knowing it was unlikely to succeed.

Since it couldn’t be helped that it’d be a let down after working their ways to Todeum, so they followed the plan without a complaint.

And now, a little hope was seen.

It was hard for Zephyr to endure the curiosity: how on earth were they able to level up so quickly.

Zephyr sent a whisper to Irene.

– Irene nim. I want to be informed of something. In what ways are the Geomchi nims hunting and where?

A moment in time passed before Irene replied.

– Now, we are hunting on the plains.

– Are there a lot of monsters there?

– Monsters? At first when we arrived, it was a paradise of monsters. There were many villages, many buildings, and many wandering monsters.

Irene was a quiet character. So now she seemed to be embarrassed with each accumulated word, but she still had more to say.

– Near the beginning when we arrived at the plains, there were thousands of various monsters! So I thought we should give up and return to hunt the Crocodiles. But before I said anything, Geomchi3 recklessly rushed toward the monsters in the plain and struck them.

– So you’re still on the plain you told me about a while ago?

– Yes. Instead of withdrawing Geomchi3 nim proposed a mission.

– What kind of mission?

– He’s out to lure monsters. He was to go to where monsters are and kite them back here. And then…

– Gulp! And after that?

Zephyr couldn’t see and only imagined the situation.

To openly provoke the monsters in his eyes was not a smart behavior.

– There were hundreds of monsters chasing him!

– Ugh! Why so many?

– But I really admire the Geomchi nims. We managed to come out victorious, barely. And then from there, we kept moving toward the populated plains, fighting. Also, yesterday we found a monster’s lair and like a punitive force, we…

Irene complaints continued indefinitely.

“Yatz! Yatz!”

“These guys are mine.”

“Here we go! Here we go! Slaughter them all!”

Shouts traveled on the rampant battlefield.

Irene at this moment was treating the injured Geomchis who were waiting in line, the number of patients was nearing 35 people.

They were in need of Irine’s divine magic without letting her take a break.

“By the power of the Spirit, please relieve this one from suffering, Hand of Treatment! Geomchi395 nim, please be careful.”

“Yep, thank you.”

“I’m Geomchi44.”

“Gyaa!”

Irene involuntarily screamed.

Geomchi44 whole body was bleeding.

He was almost at death’s door!

It was surprising that he didn’t drop dead right about now.

Even more so that he let out a laugh.

“Why so shy. I thought that if we were hurt we’re supposed to come here for treatment, right…well, if you’re busy, I’ll come again.”

“This is not the time to be saying that! Come quickly so I can help you.”

“Something like this isn’t much. I still have 200HP remaining. It’s not a problem, you know.”

Whenever and wherever, the weak side of a man can never be shown.

Even before death, Geomchi44 maintained his image.

“Increase stamina of this worn body. Recovery! By the power of the Spirit, please relieve this one from suffering, Hand of Treatment!”

Irene casted urgently.

First, it was to increase stamina, then onto recovering vitality. This was the way to effectively maximize the output of divine magic.

But before she could fully treat him, her mana was depleted.

“Please wait. I’ll continue healing after my mana’s replenished.”

“No need, just lightly wrap this because it seems like they’re fighting again.”

“Excuse me?”

“This last bit of healing, you can wrap me up with bandages and I’ll be good.”

“……”

Geomchi44’s body was still bleeding when he returned to the battlefield.

Even after that, there was still a line of the wounded!

And in the same way, some of them who weren’t in critical condition got wrapped up while those who were got healed.

Chapter 9: Program Weed

The promised 10 days had passed, and all the Geomchis’ level exceeded that of 270. They didn’t acquire any skill, as the main focus of the grind was through quests, and the lowest level the group achieved was 274.

The average level was around 279, in which Geomchi and Geomchi2 were at.

Their strength was too weak in comparison to the Unicorns and Pegasus!

This was the goal they had in mind, due to all the work they’ve put into hunting without a single moment of rest, it seemed to pay off. But in the process, the number of Geomchis declined by 60.

At moments in time, one or two died in the midst of battle until only 353 remained.

Geomchis faces were filled with shame.

“Sorry. Because of us, we may have doomed the quest.”

Geomchi2, like a man, cleanly apologized.

“It’s fine. Will it be fine, Weed nim?”

“It’ll be ok.”

Irene quickly went over to Hwaryeong. She took her place, and one could see from her drooping shoulders, that she was grieving. It’s not a lie to say between her and Geomchis’ self-esteem, she’d win out!

Nevertheless, with this drop of number from the get go, the fear of not being able to succeed the quest took a big toll on all.

“Sahyeong.”

“Yeah, Weed. I’ll accept whatever admonishment brought out.”

“No. That’s too much trouble. It was something really difficult and you’ve done the best you could.”

“Frankly, this is too damaging. Will this really be a dire consequence?”

“You don’t have to worry about the quest.”

“Is it really alright?”

“It’s been determined that our power was weaker since the beginning. But we’ll have the opportunity to join forces. “

“Thanks for easing our minds. In this quest, if there’s anything you ask, I’ll oblige.”

Geomchi2 made a firm promise.

If it’d within his power, if he said he could, then he definitely would.

Weed thought.

‘I guess for the time being, they’ll need to eat heartily.’

Geomchis are experts in battle. If there was a way to have leverage over them, it would provide a great advantage.

Even with others, if they have seen the monsters for a while, they would gain enough confidence and courage as time passed; and this time they would follow Weed’s command. After having battle this long of a while, one will always show their true color; but this was a positive one.

‘Rather, having just 60 deaths is excellent in itself.’

Weed had predicted the result to some extent. Since they were forced to undergo such a hunt while having just Irene as the sole Priest, it was a longshot.

‘Thank God we still have a lot.’

He had considered that from 100 to 170 people might die from that. If it was above the maximum number, then the severity of this, even with the newly gained levels, will definitely hinder the goal.

Without a single piece of information, to tour the unknown hunting grounds and raise their levels to that extent was a very difficult thing to do. But the toll of just 60 people to complete the given objective was an amazing thing to achieve.

– Yo. How do you assess your sahyeongs’ work?

Geomchi had learned how to skillfully use the chat whispers.

If by any chance a girlfriend who sent him a message, it’d be terrible when he doesn’t know how to reply.

Though, the only use he had through mean of sending whispers was solely to whisper Weed for food.

– Really admirable. I knew they could do it, but didn’t know it’d be this well.

– Ahem. It also exceeded my expectations.

Geomchi was pleased and did not hide it.

The instructors were roaming the battlefield leading the practitioners. The purpose of it being the quest at hand, but the loyalty between of the brotherhood strengthened as time passed.

‘Geomchi2 is the type that cares for the well-being of his boys. A deep and caring brother who knows how to treat his bros. Geomchi3’s a bit further away. He knows how to fight and can read the flow of the battle and make good judgments.’

Geomchi imminently evaluated the instructors and practitioners.

‘Geomchi4 has a strong competitive spirit; he’s fast and tough to catch. Even though it is a good thing, this could turn into impatience and spoil things.

Geomchi5’s swordsmanship relied on his Strength, so he lacks the roundedness of a player. Geomchi18? This practitioner is a surprise, he has the ability unlike other kids. He spent 17 years in the drilling halls. Even if his fencing skill’s a bit lacking, you can trust him to do some good work.’

In Royal Road, Geomchi led a crowd of hundreds into battles; whenever and wherever they explore, he tended to watch over the students to gauge their caliber and personality.

The only person who had not been fully comprehended by Geomchi was Weed.

‘Even if it’s fame through luck, maintaining it is still difficult.’

Geomchi was also informed of Weed’s past and his reputation.

Even in Continent of Magic, Weed entered difficult dungeons that nobody dared to venture, alone no less, and defeated them. He didn’t care about the attention of others as he thoroughly and silently hunted dungeons and doing quests.

At that time, his charisma was at its absolute!

Impregnable castles, penetrated.

Strength demonstrated by guilds, didn’t even came close to make him bat an eyelid.

Weed, solitarily, grew stronger constantly.

He broke through impossible and highly praised dungeons, cleaned them up as he finishes his quest; obtaining items no one had ever seen.

All previous records were revised.

There was no dungeon that could prevent Weed.

For anyone else, as if they deliberately wanted to die, they’ll charge in recklessly to fight. But for them, with each growth, the fear of death and loss of reputation increases; providing a constant challenge.

In Continent of Magic, his Reputation was also absolute.

All of the people then who knew of Weed said one thing in unison.

“Continent of Magic, the peerless Jeonshin Weed!”

One instant of this was when Weed was riding a horse through the plains. There was a crowd of thousands of people there, as the united guilds were going to war trying to dominate a kingdom; but with emergence of Weed riding his mount through them, all resigned to themselves.

As they were trying not to be obtrusive in Weed’s eyes, they became submissive in order to not obstruct him on his way.

These types of event were only one of the many anecdotes manifested.

The lone Jeonshin Weed.

He shook the heart of everyone as their fighting spirits plummeted.

But, it wasn’t in just CoM that he quickly grew stronger; Royal Road too.

‘The art of the sword. He thoroughly learned the basics of the art in just one year in the Dojang. So in Royal Road, he could reasonably harness it within here. Since in here, there are skills and stats so that anyone could utilize their body without the ultimate understanding of the art. Proactive and adaptability, he quickly identify the weakness of the opponent and uses it to decrease the difficulty of combat. With what I saw in the Dojang, it does not surprise me that he gotten strong so quickly with such fangs. Nowadays, you cannot find that kind of strength easily; the will to survive anywhere, not just the will to be strong.’

If Geomchi had fully utilized his power in Royal Road’s battle, it’d be too easy; so he didn’t necessarily did that.

He just stood nose to nose with the monsters and taking them down!

Where one could only see its tail, the sword itself was imperceptible by the human’s eyes.

There are also murderously strong monsters that wield heavy weapons.

In order to hunt these monsters, one would need considerable experiences and ability. Something that Weed had perfectly adapted to since the beginning.

The predispositions that outsiders could not see were the fighting spirit and the competitive nature.

He had no fear with monsters. The roundabout way he saw them was that they were consisted of experience points and items.

Weed, like the real weeds, grew stronger as a mean to survive in any situation.

He was already considered as a celebrity, as his broadcasts drew the crowd in frenzy.

Usually, through the conventional broadcasts, they doesn’t fervent people’s chest to any degree.

Hope, courage, struggles, and tenacity.

People were excited by Weed’s every move.

Geomchi really wanted to see Weed’s true nature.

* * *

In KMC Media, there were three broadcasting teams on hold.

“The acoustic calibration?”

“Nearly finished!”

“Make the accompanied music personify to the personality of each cast. Who is the MC host?”

“Shouldn’t it be Shin Hye-min?”

“Don’t even dream of it! She is one of the main adventurers on this.”

“Bae Seon-hui’s schedule is empty.”

“Then arrange it!”

The broadcasting team undergone urgent preparations accordingly.

They laid the groundwork with complete preparation; their aim was to create a film with its own story that surpasses that of a simple video.

The epic story of a whopping six hours!

They cut as much as possible to reduce the videos to that of six hours for the broadcast.

But this was only from the currently received footages; with the continuing quest in progress, it will become much longer.

The officials showed their dissatisfaction.

“We cannot cut anymore.”

It was to inform the audience the basic information regarding Todeum.

View of the landscapes, some of the quests obtained at the beginning that weren’t deemed essential to the audience were cut.

Director Kang decided.

“If this is we can do, I’ll try to negotiate with the manager of operations.”

He went up to the manager of operations.

Having been enlightened of the situation thus far, the manager proposed a simple solution.

“Since it is so much, we can just organize it as a regular program. You can broadcast the content once per week on Saturday.”

“Is that really alright?”

“We can make transition of the existing footages of Weed’s adventure into a regularly scheduled program, doesn’t that sound good?”

“Your words sound fitting, but…”

Todeum’s traveling and the amount of quests were too much to imagine and difficult to fit into the special program. So he did actually gave serious thoughts regarding making it into a regular program; but because the level of the quest was too high and its result was still pending.

The manager said.

“Director Khang, have you determined the quest’s achievability?”

“Hm?”

“An adventure that you don’t know which way it’ll flow will be more interesting. It leaves you with excitement and tension. In Royal Road’s hunting and exploration, doesn’t it always leave you with the feeling of wanting more?”

Director Kang nodded.

Forming party with strangers to hunt and explore always leave you with that feeling!

That kind of feeling escalates with each and every party member obtained on the hunting grounds.

Through the demonstration of power and ability, while sometimes offering a helping hand to those weaker than them, the bond formed becomes that of friendship.

“It is an adventure. But since we’ve already formatted the adventure to that of a film, to change it is something we should not do.”

It was not like they can’t broadcast recent events. But to turn the already finished film script to that of an adventure program did not make sense.

Whether the quest was a successful one or that of a failure, the fact that it was a great challenge to overcome was a great pleasure to see.

Director Kang reflected.

‘Because of what happened to the Crimson Wing Guild that I’ve became so timid.’

Due to the Scorpion King’s curse that many have suffered.

As a result, the guild was disbanded and the concerned parties suffered a downfall.

Taken examples from that huge failure, he became worrisome and didn’t dare to be brave.

‘Leaving the adventure in its simplicity is worth it. If our goal is to make the adventure more pleasing, then our station should leave the adventure to take its course.’

He was to follow the manager’s words.

In which he thought the words didn’t even bother to have a sense of encouragement within them.

Director Kang ordered the staff.

“Broadcasting team! Dispose whatever scenarios we’ve created so far! And also, please contact Mr. Bae Seon-hui!”

“Yes, understood. What should I say?”

“Tell him we do not need a host.”

“Yes?”

“We’ve decided to turn this into an adventure program that shows periodically.”

Scrapped the created story, and shown the adventure as is. Without showing so much as any prior information, simply expose the viewers to the video was the chosen decision.

“Everything is private! Everything we see and hear will be shown to the audience and let them come to a decision! The footages and sound needs to be at the highest level, and do not disclose any of the contents regarding the adventure!”

The prepared broadcasting program was to hide everything, even the fact that it was Weed’s adventure was masked.

“By the way, what is the name of the program?”

“Huh?”

“Since this is a newly organized program, we should determine a new name for it.”

“Well. How about ‘An Adventure in Todeum’?”

“I think that’s a bit too descriptive.”

“Well then, ‘Bloody Adventure.’”

“That makes sense since the blood can symbolizes the vampires, but it seemed a bit too cruel… and since this is Weed’s adventure, it seems to leave him out on the sideline.”

“Ah, also that point, huh?”

It was not an exaggeration to say that the title can dictate the ups and downs of the program.

Director Kang and his subordinates debated on the several hundreds of titles suggested.

After careful consideration, Director Khang’s mind flashed.

“Weed.”

“Hm?”

“Lets go with the title ‘Weed.’ Even if we call it Weed, most people will simply ponder at the title and just guess, so it’s ok.”

“Then isn’t that sorta like exposing the fact that it’s Jeonshin Weed?”

“Ah, that’s the jackpot.”

“We’re simply suggesting it rather than naturally showing it in the broadcasting contents.”

Director Kang and the committee members exchanged insidious smiles.

The new periodic program title of KMC Media that suggests the main protagonist was Jeonshin Weed!

It was needless to say the shock would be overwhelming if it was true.

Thus, the program ‘Weed’ was first broadcast on a Saturday.

It started from the moment they were dumped on the Land of Vampires till the scene of the Vampire queen’s rescue.

The average rating of first episode was 0.6%.

In comparison to the average 12.8% of other game broadcasting companies, it was far too low at the start of the broadcast.

Chapter 10: First M.T. (Membership Training)

The psychiatrist, Dr. Cha Eunhee, was consulting her patients.

“Doctor, I don’t know if I want to get married. My boyfriend is all good but he’s too poor.”

“He doesn’t work?”

“He’s an office worker. But because there is a mortgage on the house that there’s no money left over. And in fact…not long ago I met a man on a blind date, he’s much older and I don’t like him much, but he is a professional. This seem swell to me.”

At this moment, she was having a session with a woman at a marriageable age.

“So you broke up with your boyfriend, and chose the professional?”

“I don’t know. I can’t really decide. This makes me hateful of how much of a vulgar person I am. Because of this, I can’t sleep well at night, and it even gives me headaches.”

The common symptom of depression.

Cha Eunhee did not blame the woman.

‘In reality, that will eventually hit home to everyone.’

Cha Eunhee was a doctor who treats disease of the mind, to ease the suffering.

And she was determined to help.

“Miss.”

“Yes?”

Cha Eunhee glanced at the charts.

“You’re 30 years old now.”

“Yes.”

“The average lifespan of a person can hit up to 90 years old, which means a third of your life have passed.”

“So I’ve used that much…”

“Wouldn’t you hit 40 in 10 years? And 50 in 20 years…”

“……”

“Life is like a crab, it scurries along, and when you take a second glimpse, you’ll realize it had long moved. You’ll only get one chance to choose a man to love you during your lifetime, or you could get the house and a nice car that you wanted; it all depends on what you will ultimately decide to ease your mind.”

Cha Eunhee spoke softly as she finishes with the session with the patient.

In the case of mild depression, she just needed to have conversations several times and the symptoms will be relieved within a few days.

“Whew, with this, did it roughly finish with the morning appointments?”

The nurses from the side who were listening in were very impressed.

“Amazing, Doctor!”

It is easy to talk about life. However, it is difficult to change the psychological state of the patients with just a few ordinary words.

Cha Eunhee pouted her mouth.

“It’s not something to be admired. Actually prior to this, I had a talk with a patient about the same subject.”

“What about that patient?”

“A novelist.”

“Yes? They have troubles?”

“Of course, the writer is also a human. He was an old bachelor and anguished over it when he almost got killed, but if you’re going to eat ramen at home then at least peel off the utensil’s coating instead of choking on it and writhing on the floor!”

“……”

She’d know, since her equipments were hard to get and she was incompatible with the human sets of armors and equipments. Since Orcs wouldn’t be able to produce good products as a Blacksmiths due to their low Dexterity, so there weren’t that many out there. But since the Orc’s population was growing at a terrifying rate, overtime, the problem could be solved.

‘I ought to connect to Royal Road at lunch.’

Lately, Cha Eunhee has been fidgeting every time she thought about Royal Road.

Healthy and dependable guy. Geomchi2!

Through her appearance as the Orc Seechwi, he was the most familiar person that stayed by her.

They didn’t have many conversations as of yet, but from his cautious words and attitude, she could feel the care and attention. Occasionally, his embarrassing actions also attracted her.

At times, to her, his sincere efforts to protect her impressed her.

“Huum.”

A soft smile rose from Cha Eunhee’s lips.

Often times when she chat with Geomchi2, through the low proficiency cooking skill, the burnt fish tasted good when it shouldn’t.

Still, Cha Eunhee was cautious as she could not accept to be happy alone.

“Seoyoon needs to speak again soon.”

Progresses have been made with Seoyoon’s treatment.

She has been in Royal Road to be detached from reality to break the ice!

She did not talk for long and pretty soon returned to being speechless.

“It’s fine. She may have long forgotten how to speak but it’ll return like before.”

There was no need to specifically rush things by force.

Cha Eunhee didn’t urge Seoyoon to talk.

If they try to draw her out through coercion, she would most likely hide herself even further. For more than a decade they’ve patiently waited for her to naturally feel like herself. Cha Eunhee witnessed it when Seoyoon took the opportunity to do so.

“By the way, are her lessons going well?”

Cha Eunhee was a little worried.

Seoyoon was also attending school.

If you only let them live in the hospital ever since they’re young, then they’ll fail to fit into society when they leave in the future. So she had a tutor throughout middle school, and attended a formal high school from there.

Of course it was a place mainly dedicated to educate special children.

And last year, she was admitted into the University.

Circumstances didn’t allow her to go every day, and sometimes she just wanders around the school. This was the first time she went to class this year.

“I hope she’s ok. I don’t want her to be caught in an accident. And since I don’t know what will be going on at the school, how will she know what they’re talking about?”

Cha Eunhee was thinking of plenty of false scenarios. Most of which were highly unlikely.

* * *

Lee Hyun had already paid the expensive tuition, so he did not want to miss attending the classes.

But only a few know of this.

While others had extracurricular activities, social activities, school wide broadcast activities, he only showed up for the classes.

“The average needs to be a C. So I don’t have to retake the class.”

If the academic grades you receive have a warning or a failure as an undergrad, then that will restrict you from graduating. And because of so, since he didn’t want to repay the expensive tuition to re-attend, he was somehow faithful to going to school.

Fortunately, it was a promising fact that the steady attendance can guarantee a C grade most of the time in college.

Lee Hyun usually sat in the front and steadily took notes of the professor’s lectures.

“Have you heard the words going around about Professor Jeong Dongmin?”

“Yeah, he does a really good job with his lectures.”

“You should add him next semester.”

The students’ conversations during the break were basically knocking on his ear.

Half of the students were incline to talk about the class, while the other half broke up into groups and chatted about Royal Road.

“So let’s go hunting at Medium today?”

“I have to fix my equipments.”

“…defensive against Lighting property Sebon set.”

“How’d cha got money for it?”

“Been saving since a month back. Today ima try to buy the full Sebon set. I’m so excited.”

“Whew. When can I wear the set…I’m really jealous.”

Lee Hyun’s mouth permeated into a creepy smile.

‘These group of students as well.’

The price to purchase the Sebon set was 420,000 Won cash.

It was a flawless set for those at mid-range lvl200.

‘Now that I think about it, they’ve just gotten out of high school so a large amount of them are still at the lower levels.’

Comparing to a dark gamer like himself, these students seemed as if they were truly innocent.

Lee Hyun smiled gratifyingly.

But then he heard the low whispers of the students.

“That returning Oppa is laughing at us again!”

“That’s a really sinister smile.”

“He’s full of it.”

Lee Hyun’s reputation within the department was already set in stone.

At the end of the class he would clear up and head off home. He didn’t participate in the department activities, nor did he get along with anybody; thus they labeled him as a charlatan.

‘What choice can I have.’

During break, Lee Hyun also engrossed himself in the textbooks. But the reactions from those around him were far different than imagined.

“Look at him pretending to study…”

“If he was truly studious them he wouldn’t have yawned during class nor slept during break.”

Lee Hyun figured he shouldn’t rebuke the accusations. Since they have already set a prejudice against him, it was to do more harm than good.

And though, some of their misconceptions were a bit appropriate.

Lee Hyun’s target was just a 2.0!

‘Don’t want a warning as an undergrad. Nor any F is tolerable.’

The extent of his studies was only to avoid expulsion or failing.

Even with the perfect attendance record, he did not want a bad evaluation from the professor on his weekly reports.

‘My days are always like this.’

Lee Hyun resigned as he continued going to school. He had already given up making friends.

But today was a bit special. The students were excited about something.

“Where is it going to be this year?”

“I don’t know. It never said.”

“Last year we had a really good time!”

Lee Hyun could not understand their conversations.

‘Are you planning a weekend trip?’

But Lee Hyun thought it was unrelated to him, he didn’t give it a second thought.

At the end of lecture on that day, the professor suddenly said.

“Lecture is over, but we got a little time. Shall we talk about MT just a bit?”

The University initial MT!

For many, they’ve heard it from friends or their superiors, and only Lee Hyun was completely unaware.

‘This is completely irrelevant to me!’

Of course Lee Hyun wasn’t going to go. If you have time to do that, then you should take the time to beat up monsters and make more sculptures!

But it seemed as if the professor had read Lee Hyun’s mind and continued on with his story with such additions.

“Don’t you think that having a real life adventure is important to get a better understanding of Virtual Reality? You have to fully commit to the MT and do not play hooky to eat. You will be evaluated by your peers along with the teacher that will have a major effect on your grades. Of course for the students that will be absent, I will not give you your academic credits.”

The students cheered.

MT will have a major effect on the grade!

For Lee Hyun also, the atmosphere spelt that it was unavoidable to not attend.

“Professor, what is the goal of this trip?”

“Is there some concept about the MT we should know about?”

The MT events of the VR department were quite unique. It wasn’t the drink or the culture sharing, it was truly a novel experience.

Each MT event had its own particular concept, and it changes every year.

Of course, the professor never said anything regarding it.

“It’ll be known once you form your groups. So you’ll meet in the afternoon in the auditorium. Oh, the person you all know very well, Seoyoon, have also come to school. Although unlikely, she might be attending the MT. But you shouldn’t raise your expectations, okay, guys?”

At that moment, the boys’ eyes changed.

After having finishes his other classes, Lee Hyun slowly turned to the auditorium.

‘This is really weird.’

The library did not have a single person. Normally, the students were idling on the lawn or stayed at the language lab. It was also hard to find people at school cafeteria or the food kiosks.

‘I guess they must have finishes with their lessons early.’

Lee Hyun moved leisurely.

He was basically ordered to attend the MT, so he was going through the motions since he didn’t have the heart to go.

‘My credits will be screwed if I don’t participate.’

Lee Hyun finally arrived at the auditorium in his slow pace.

He was a bit late. But there was already a sea of men clamoring about.

“Don’t push!”

“Where, where is she?”

“Beyond them!”

Many people were eager to see something.

“I came from the Engineering department. We’re miserable. Please just let us have a look.”

“Please refrain the Engineering department students!”

“Yes. If I see her then my will to live definitely increase, y’know.”

“Keuheuk! This is by all means wrongful since we have girlfriends…but still…”

All the guys located in the back voices echoed with sincerity.

Lee Hyun barely got to the entrance of the hall by swimming through that sea of people. At the door, there were the VR department seniors who stayed guard and identify the people they were letting in.

“I’m sorry, but students of other departments are not allowed to enter.”

These seniors also restrained Lee Hyun.

“I’m also a VR department student.”

“Huh?”

“Freshman.”

Lee Hyun replied coolly. The two guarding seniors looked at each other and smirked.

“Who is the freshman?”

“Who knows?”

They figured Lee Hyun was also a senior student.

It happened very often in the school.

It was the perplexing power of that female seonbae that led to these things.

“Excuse me, but do you think you can show your student ID card?”

“Sure, here you go.”

Lee Hyun took out the ID card.

“This is right. Then you can go.”

“Okay.”

After having shown his ID card, Lee Hyun safely made it past and entered the auditorium.

There were plenty of VR department freshmen already presented.

Most of the guys and girls’ eyes were particularly leading toward one side.

“Really pretty.”

“She’s a goddess. Goddess.”

“What could be more beautiful than her?”

“If I could hear her voice, and even if she’d call my name just once, it’d be heavenly.”

“I’d enlist for the army twice for that.”

Like the men who were stunned and resulted to muttering, the women were also the same.

There were those who likes pretty woman too. But there were many of those who eyed with envy, knowing that they will eternally doomed themselves to jealousy when the opponent transcended to that level.

Lee Hyun also directed his gaze to match theirs.

‘What the hell are they looking at?’

And then Lee Hyun quickly discovered the reason.

Seoyoon!

Her skin was sooth and clear like that of a child, and her eyes were fine like those of a deer. The human eyes could not be that pretty.

Her well groomed eyebrows harmonized with her forehead. Her nose was also wonderful.

If one was to stare at her face for just a while, they wouldn’t be escape from the gripping radiance.

Even her hands, feet, and body exuded beauty.

The clothes she was wearing were also exquisite, as if they were born for her sake’s.

Her whole body was covered with brilliance.

Lee Hyun was badly surprised.

“Keoheok!”

That Seoyoon really do exist in the real world!

‘I assumed she maxed out the appeal settings ingame.’

Compared to the real world, her beauty in Royal Road was rather lacking.

‘Come to think of it, she usually has on those clunky armors in Royal Road.’

Lee Hyun silently looked at Seoyoon.

But as if she felt his attention, she suddenly fluffed to the side and looked back at Lee Hyun.

“Ugh!”

Lee Hyun quickly averted eye contact by hiding behind a girl.

Virtually instinctive reaction for survival!

In Royal Road, he sinned a lot toward Seoyoon.

He secretly made several sculptures of her!

And because of the time he took to avoid her in game, it had become so habitual that he even did so in real life.

Seoyoon also looked briefly where Lee Hyun hid himself before resuming her earlier line of sight.

Lee Hyun mixed himself amongst the girls, and slowly turned his direction away from Seoyoon.

The girls whispered behind him.

“Did you see that? He’s avoiding eye contacts.”

“Wow, so creepy!”

“So stupid.”

He was again, misunderstood.

The deeply seeded misunderstood distrust took roots and budded.

There was no way to undo this.

The MT was led by faculties and senior members.

“This year, the MT event will take place on an island. We’re going to stay near the shoreline and mimic the Neolithic Age…”

The seniors were describing the purpose of the trip, but the freshmen’s only interest was aimed at Seoyoon. They watched her clear eyes and waited on her lips to move for the description.

Of course, there were those at Seoyoon's vicinity.

Yet among the freshmen, chatters about her were carefully spoken.

“That Seoyoon seonbae. I thought the rumors were exaggerated since there’s no way a beauty like that is possible.”

“I think she’s more beautiful than celebrities.”

“But why doesn’t she have any friend?”

“Didn’t you know? Seoyoon seonbaenim was mentally shocked when she was a child, and she lost her words.” (seonbae’s senior, seonbaenim’s more honorific, ill use senior from now on.)

“Really? No wonder she seemed so expressionless.”

“She also doesn’t come to school often, this is like the first time she came this year.”

“She’s really a noble and a pure person.”

Lee Hyun wanted to scream.

‘You all been lied to!’

How can Seoyoon be ladylike and a pure person!

Lee Hyun knew more about Seoyoon's nature than anybody else.

IF you had seen the slaughtering of monsters that Lee Hyun watched for 4 days and 3 nights, you would not be able deem her ladylike.

She did not care for the users’ level and cut them down like flies, such the way of the Berserker! (misunderstanding since volume 1, where she had the murderous ign.)

When she wields her blade, even Lee Hyun was terrified.

‘Such a strong woman in such a small frame.’

Plus, there was another deception people were led to believe.

She could speak.

Lee Hyun also knew a second reason why he thought they were duped.

Right before she was slain by the dragon, she clearly spoke the word, friend.

‘She feared for the loss of her items and registered me on her friend’s list with that word.’

That was not the end of her devious way.

Lee Hyun immediately tried to return her items when she reconnected. But there was no response.

‘Pork, leather, and clothes. She ignored me because she had no need for them. She must have obtained a good quest or busy hunting that she saw no need to reply or come back.’

Seoyoon's cruel nature!

Lee Hyun pitied those who were deluded by her.

The senior continued talking.

“Therefore, today’s top priority is the formation of groups. Note that this is very different from the usual MT. This year concept is the wild.”

“The wild?”

Some of the freshman asked.

Because they didn’t know what that singular word truly means.

“Yep. It literally is the wild. No fixed accommodations, nothing outside of the prepared things are allowed.”

“So what are the necessities?”

“You will decide that on your own.”

“Hm?”

“Each group will prepare your own necessities. However, the budget limit is 50,000 Won per person! The goods and tools need to be bought according to the budget in order for you to participate in the MT.”

The freshmen wre appalled after the senior finished.

“OMG! Only 50,000 Won!”

“What can I do with 50,000 won?”

Not caring for the freshmen’s dismay, the senior spoke.

“Of course, I do think the 50,000 Won budget limit is a bit lacking considering you are to spend 3 days and 2 nights there. However, if you plan well among your group members and form a tighter bond through the ordeal, don’t you think that’ll good? Also, the professor will be grading you based on how well you adapt to the wild; so please work hard everybody.”

A good meal at a decent restaurant was around 10,000 Won. So the restricted budget of 50,000 Won per person was quite tight.

Lee Hyun thought differently.

‘The MT trip is pretty luxurious. What kind of wilderness trip that allows 50,000 Won to sleep for two days?’

It seemed to him that the given expenses can cover for an entire week.

Even with the cold weather nowadays at night, if one could get their hands on plenty of newspapers then that’d be able to cover for the night portion.

The most Lee Hyun need was about 5~6 sheets of newspaper! He wouldn’t even mind going without them if he had to.

If he had to, he could even use a rock to dig the earth for a place to sleep, yank up the trees to eat the roots; because it’s survival for two days!

“Each group has to have 8 people. In this MT, the senior does not need to be in a separate group. Please get together to determine your group correctly. But in any case, the group needs to include at least 3 males and females respectively. Please specify the groups now.”

The freshmen were buzzing trying to find their friends.

“Seona, come this way.”

“Jaejina, come here!”

Each person looked for the senior whom they were familiar with to get together!

Since they needed to be a close knitted group through the trials, they’ve searched for those whom they’ve already made contacts with.

Lee Hyun was just standing around.

‘I don’t know anybody anyway, so I’ll just wait until they’re finish and join a group with vacancies.’

Since the only thing he wanted was the credits, it didn’t matter which group he’d join.

“Donghyeon, this way!”

“Senior Sangho, come join us.”

Lee Hyun thought to himself as people were forming groups.

More and more singular people were reduced until there was only a third left.

Among them were three acquaintances Park Sunjo, Lee Yuu-Chong, and Min Sura who remained undecided. The freshmen uptakes on their senior were too fast and made it far difficult for them to form a group.

There were only 20 people remaining.

Park Sunjo saw Lee Hyun.

“Lee Hyun Hyeongnim, come this way! There are two spots open here!”

In this situation, Lee Hyun figured it’d be better for them to assumed(he was a senior) otherwise.

Lee Hyun scratched his head in embarrassment.

“You don’t need to bother. I don’t think I could attend the MT.”

“Come on! Let’s go together Hyeongnim!”

“I see. Well, if you want.”

Lee Hyun replied with a bit of courtesy and joined Bak Sunjo’s group.

He had already met these guys in a brief instant so it was best for him to join them. Not long after, the group increased with the addition of two girls.

“Hello. I’m Hong Seonye.”

“I’ve heard so much about you (just a greeting). I’m Ju Eunhee.”

“Lee Hyun. Pleased to meet you.”

The two women were a bit reluctant toward Lee Hyun, due to the horrid reputation he had within the Department.

Even so, they did not plainly hate him.

‘Anyway, at least in this way I can go to the MT.’

Lee Hyun felt at ease.

The fact was that he had a little expectation with his first ever college MT!

Then, someone came and stood behind Lee Hyun.

The attention of the auditorium turned to her. It was Seoyoon who approached Lee Hyun.

* * *

The Seoyoon who have never participated in an MT.

‘Everybody else will not like me.’

She was afraid of meeting people. She was afraid of getting hurt so she bounded herself in a frozen state.

Then, she found Lee Hyun.

‘It’s him.’

If it weren’t for the fact that he looked exactly like how he did in Royal Road, then she would never be able to recognize him.

While she had the chance to meet him and accompanied him, he cooked and created a sculpture.

‘The heartwarming sculpture of a pair of lovers, that man.’

Seoyoon unwittingly reached her hand toward Lee Hyun.

Lee Hyun reacted and turned around, only to find Seoyoon.

His eyes dilated; the instinctive attribute when one perceives a crisis.

“No way…MT..you want to come with…?”

Seoyoon's head nodded in silence.

She thought it’d be fine if she could tag along with Lee Hyun on the MT trip. Surely in his case, he would not abandon her, because they were friends.

To Seoyoon, the moment they registered themselves as friends, she had already regarded Lee Hyun as a real friend.

Chapter 1: The day of the showdown.

Finally, it was the day to conquer Todeum.

Mapan was anxiously waiting for the timing.

“No matter what, the quest needs to be successful.”

Since the Merchant would not participate in combat, he was very desperate.

He brought a wagon full of goods from Versailles continent on this quest!

If they fail to conquer Todeum, then the investment would come to naught.

Until now, while hunting, he bought loots to refill his pocket, but that was pale in comparison to the good he traded and planned to sell.

“I can’t believe that last town didn’t take tax.”

On Versailles continent, at every town, he had to pay a toll and taxes on the trades.

Even at Morata, he had to pay income tax and various taxes placed with each of his earning.

Furthermore, larger metropolitan area had addition taxes.

Among them was the village of the Orcs, where the growth of the society was based around taxes.

But the Vampire was a race exempt from taxation.

Mapan trembled with excitement.

“No matter how much of a profit I’ll make, there’s no tax on them.”

Even in Economic class, the most interesting subject to him was the laws of taxation.

For instance, here’s an interview for a company based around knowledge.

Nowadays, many people have several skills.

“A Master in English.”

It is rare to find people without 1~2 foreign languages.

“An excellent computer literate.”

Knowledge in computers at the modest should be around those of a middle schooler.

Have to have corporate internship, volunteering activities, winning awards in competitions, or strength are crucial for the interviewee.

“What do you think is the most crucial?”

When asked by the interviewer on what is the most crucial aspect of an employee that stands above all of this!

“Tax evasion. Need to be an expert on tax evasion!”

“HA?!”

“Up until now, I’ve successfully never having to pay my tax once.”

This was indeed the best talent for any company!

* * *

Hwaryeong pulled out the red dress to wear.

Along with the exposure of her body, there were luxurious jewels dangling from the gown.

She turned about with her body and nodded.

“With this, it’s not bad.”

Saying ‘it’s not bad’ wasn’t enough. It was a powerful magic to seduce men!

No men could have enough will power to pry their eyes from that.

“Laa. Lalalaa.”

Hwaryeong hummed and danced along to her own tunes.

She was dancing her seductive dance under the moonlight.

The mysterious and alluring spectacle of expressing herself was a good view to behold, for there was a simple reason behind her dancing.

“I’ve enjoyed being with Weed nim in a large-scale battle before. This time as well!”

It was for Weed that she danced in the moonlight.

A slight habit of hers before any large battle.

It was something that can easily wipe out the bad atmosphere.

* * *

In the middle of the night, the three moons rose over Todeum, Weed went on one of the small hills.

“Finally, it’s time for the showdown.”

He had on the light absorbing Talroke’s black armor, the Noble Grace black helmet, Vampire’s cape and black boots.

Dark Knight.

The complete knight outfit.

Weed raised one of his legs and placed it on a rock, gripped his fist as he set his elbow on his thigh, and gazed down the hill.

Overlooking the Kingdom of Vampires, Todeum.

The appearance of dozens of old castles connected to one another was a very quaint spectacle.

As dawn approaches, the three moons: Pallun, Gorun, and Seirun were descending below the horizon.

In fact, since the sun did not appear, Todeum’s night and day had no distinction from one another.

At certain times where the three moons reached their peaks, it then plainly resembled that of day.

Since then, the morning began.

The light of Seirun shone on the hill Weed placed himself.

Hwiyiing!

And the wind blew exquisitely.

This was the moment Weed waited for!

In this great scene with such fine atmosphere, while the wind softly flow its path.

‘I gotta quickly take advantage of this moment.’

Weed, in his most elegant way, splendidly took off his helmet.

“Huu.”

Weed formed a light smile.

His hair caressed by the wind, while the cape flapped to its will.

With the guaranteed of a tough battle ahead; he mimicked the elegance of a champion: alone in solitude, and enjoyment!

‘Gotta relish this!’

He held this form for a long time while still gazing down the hill. Then suddenly, he drew his sword with his right hand.

The Cold Lott Sword.

Within it contained the spirit of ice, a sword of ice.

With this in hand, his damage output could be very high incorporated along with Weed’s level; the blade shone sharply from the daily grind.

‘This isn’t all.’

On Weed’s left hand was the Ancient Shield.

A shield forged by the best blacksmiths of the Dwarves.

A shield made from mithril and bones of unknown monsters.

The original beautiful patterns carved were unrecognizable due to the effect of time.

The lackluster shield was impossible to repair.

Nevertheless, it was a high class Unique item.

In order to fully utilize the shield, he needed to increase his stats and level to take advantage of it; but thanks to his Intermediate Blacksmith skill that he was able to use it.

Also, he also had on one the treasure of Nippleheim Empire, Baharan’s Bracelet. (when I sounded this out, it sounded like Val Hallen, the Viking God of Rock in Dexter’s laboratory. But keeping baharan for consistency for my fail last vol.)

But because it was a valuable item and he wanted to pamper it, along with the fact that his arm gotten cold, he removed it.

The added glamour of the finely crafted jewels on the bracelet didn’t fit his overall image.

“This is for the best.”

Weed with one sword in a hand while a shield in the other, stood as the wind reintroduced itself to him.

He deliberately didn’t wear the white gloves because it didn’t match this particular image.

He wanted to keep up the charismatic image and went barehanded!

Weed opened his mouth.

The created armor

The timeless armor

In the sun and the moon

Through the wind and the rain

Let’s make an imperishable armor

Through the beatings

Rumbling bang bang bang

Appearing for just a moment

Only to be sold expensively

Up to where can this go?

Three gold?

No, no, no…

Now much will it cost…

Must be at least seven gold

In this trade, it only comes to a deficit of I go along with the first customer

He slipped away from the three moons as morning emerges.

Weed descended from the hill to where his party members gathered.

Their eyes were bloodshot red; it seemed as if they lack the necessary amount of rest.

Weed asked curiously.

“Did something happen?”

“N…no. It’s not a big deal.”

Hwaryeong shook her head, but she really did have a nightmare at dawn.

Pale, Maylon, and Irene all connected earlier than the promised time due to the building tension.

Since before dawn, some gathered their thoughts, while the others were warming up to get into forms.

Then in the midst of their growing optimism, Weed sang!

‘Worse tone deaf ever!’

‘What kind of lyrics are those?’

Weed’s singing was like a splinter stabbing at their minds.

But that wasn’t even the end of it.

He sang four songs in total!

They vaguely remembered the lyrics of the first two.

Shortly after that, they were in stupor, and could not recall anything afterward.

I’m going to make the cape in the wind

Flapping like a flag flapping

I can sleep at night with this covering me

Should never wash it after usage

Because when you try to use to avoid enemies

Sniff sniff

They will smell

The strange odor of the cape

“But…that really did happen to me.”

“……”

At the end of that, the party firmly kept their mouth shut.

Since, it was almost time to barge into Todeum, they didn’t see the point of increase the already existing pressure with such triviality.

Then the Geomchis connected one after another.

Most of them connected simultaneously because it was reaching the appointed time.

“You’ve come, Master, Sahyeongs.”

“Yes.”

Geomchi took a relaxed stroll and greeted the members.

Pale and Mapan eyes widened.

‘It’s just Geomchi nim, the others will be filled with tension.’

‘Maybe he’s a little uncommon, but the others will beg to differ just a bit.’

As usual, Geomchi2 retained his trustworthy countenance; Geomchi3 and Geomchi4 were seemed somewhat excited.

“This will be on TV?”

“That’ll make it a bit harder to fight.”

“We’ll just show them our usual things.”

“Also, find good angles too.”

The broadcast of ‘Weed’!

The show’s ratings started low, but having it as a regular program on KMC Media was a very encouraging fact.

The Geomchis were enjoying the situation.

However, Zephyr looked around Weed with a relatively flustered face.

“By the way, Weed nim, I don’t see Yurin nim.”

Everybody else came, only Yurin was the sole absentee. So the question was thrown.

Weed knowingly nodded unconcern.

“Yurin won’t come.”

“Hm?”

“She’s spending a nice time at home today.”

“……”

The party’s anxiety jumped.

‘So you hid your sister from this!’

‘If it’s the usual Weed nim then he wouldn’t have done this.’

In fact, their thoughts weren’t misunderstandings.

Weed expected that this battle will actually be very hard.

‘Assembled here are those why we survived.’

Weed thought.

When they first arrived to the Land of the Vampires, the Geomchis alone was at 505 people.

Together with their companions such as Weed and Pale, totaled to 516 personnel.

But throughout each of the numerous battles, their group declined by almost a third.

The Geomchis without considering their companions, dropped to 353.

And the other colleague’s safety could not be guaranteed.

Since Seechwi and Mapan lacked the attacking power in the first place, they would face all kinds of risks.

With the imminent battle in mind, the silence crept on since nobody was talking.

“Please trust me. I’ll see to it many of us will come out alive.”

Facing Weed’s grim determination, Maylon and Seechwi hearts trembled a little.

‘It’s happening.’

‘Finally I can see the God of War true aspect.’

On Continent of Magic, every quests and dungeons fell to the legendary Weed!

Now, Weed was to defeat the Todeum before him.

* * *

Weed made an unusually hearty breakfast.

“I will eat well.” (it’s a common saying.)

“Yes. Enjoy your food. This maybe our last meal in this place.”

“……”

Until now, he had been making considerably tasty food with low grade materials; but this meal was made from Advanced materials that took many difficulties to obtained.

Intermediate level 6 cooking skill!

In this Land of Vampires, having to take care of the Geomchis, the bustling of cooking finally gave him Intermediate level 6.

The secret of having higher skill level was simply work on it like doing chores.

While traversing the road, he looked for herbs amongst the wild grass.

As he kept on doing that, his Herbal skill also suddenly climb its way to Intermediate level 9.

With having the skill at this level, he could even find and unearthed sweet potatoes hidden deep with the crust.

And also, his Handicraft skill reached Advanced level 4 in this place.

Weed poured all of this into his cooking!

With the combinations of various Advanced materials collected, nothing made could be better than that of porridge.

You have eaten very good food.

- Stamina increases by 40%.

- HP increases by 25%.

- Mana increases by 13%.

- Strength rises by 36 points.

- Agility rises by 22 points.

- Poison resistance increases by 36%.

- Stamina will not decline.

The materials contained in each bowl were at whopping 53 Gold!

Needless to say, this was the most expensive food Weed had ever cooked.

In the cities, the collective ingredients would cost around 200 Gold to start making the meal.

But here, the materials were collected through hunting.

The effects given were a clear indicator of the precious resources that went into the food.

The aromatic meal melted as it entered one’s mouth and spread its taste thoroughly.

At this point Weed took out a bottle.

“Here’s a bottle to drink.”

A drink made from mountain fruits and herbs!

Although it had not been a while for it to be fermented well since it was made here in Todeum.

Nevertheless, the Geomchis each took a shot.

Pale, Zephyr and other party members did not drink since they were filled with tension.

This was the first time they’ve encountered a grade A difficulty quest.

Whether it was the Pegasus or the Unicorn, individually they were still too powerful of a monster.

They were imagining themselves going head to head against such monsters.

But they didn’t realize that the added tension along with these thoughts would stiffen them further mid battle.

They could not drink the drink, because they were already tension filled.

In combat, just as stats and skills, having morale was just as important.

With so many people gathered together to fight, they could not ignore the psychological factors of the group.

‘Everybody seems to be nervous.’

Maylon shot a question towards Weed to try to boost their morale.

“Weed nim, I’ve been curious about something. Do you mind if I ask?”

“No.”

“It’s about back then in CoM, the Ibanpolten Island’s labyrinth.”

Weed somewhat vaguely remembered.

‘It was the sealing place of an Archdemon.’

It was a very famous place in Continent of Magic.

It was the nastiest of labyrinths that remained undefeated until Weed!

It was an incomprehensible maze that wouldn’t allow Weed another attempt at it after he had finished exploring it.

“So, how did you break into it?”

Maylon was expecting a great answer.

She figured if they listened to Weed’s adventure for a bit, it’d calm the mood of the party.

Weed had a simple answer.

“Did you know that that labyrinth had many sewer rats in the basement?”

“Yes. It was infested with large ra…no way?”

“I entered it through those sewers.”

“……”

The answer was too simple!

That was too much of a simple solution to come to.

Maylon had to throw in another question.

“Do you remember the Inferno Skeleton King?”

Skeleton King!

A monster with a body of bones and smoldering flames encompassed him.

“That was another monster that Weed nim killed. Great physical attacks, as well as magic defense so great that it was expected to be at the level of dragons, it was considered as the worse of monsters; how would you handle him?”

“I would immerse him in water to kill him.”

“…………”

Maylon drooped tremendously after her useless attempts.

However, if she had known of the situations behind them, she wouldn’t think it could be so negligible.

He had to make detailed mapping of everywhere, all to predict where the Archdemon was sealed.

Just to locate the nearest entrance to that location, and it was a sewer entrance no less!

The Skeleton King too, after a dozen deaths or so to figured out his weakness, and was finally able to drag him to the lake.

The reasons for Weed’s successes were through thorough investigation and preparation.

Although it was easy to give an immediate answer while leaving out plenty of the intermediate steps; in actuality, he suffered a lot throughout the process.

‘Regardless, it was much easier than trying to earn a living in real life.’

To Weed, any quests given weren’t that hard.

They were much easier comparing to him being a high school dropout trying to take care of his sickly grandmother and younger sister.

With no education degree, his payroll wasn’t much.

The workload, the risks, and being dirty; his pay would get cut immediately from any one of these simple reasons!

He even had to compete with foreign workers.

Quests are just simple comparing to that of the job market!

Maybe if it was a grade Special S difficulty quest! (dunno if SS is a real grade or not in this game, no1 achieved it yet.)

Comparing to real life, doing quests was a relatively simple shift.

Breakfast was over.

Weed stood up from his spot.

“Are you all ready?”

“Yeah.”

The party nodded slowly. Regardless of their confidence level, they cannot not go.

“Now let’s move. Everyone are to take care of yourselves.”

At last, Weed led the tension filled party through the gates.

Within the expanses of the collective castles in Todeum, the Unicorns and Pegasus were in flight.

They would romp from roof to roof, and sometimes they would whiz by on the plaza.

“I’m prepared for this.”

Geomchi2 solidly said.

He saw the abundance of monsters, but his aim was to pounce them all anyway.

This was the reason why the party, more than before, culminated themselves to the utmost.

To go against what could be called the ultimate power.

Having just seeing what he visualized as objects of terror before him; at last, it was the moment to fight.

But Weed shook his head.

“This isn’t it. There’s a better hunting ground.”

“Where at?”

“You’ll know when we get there.”

Weed crouched closely to the earth, and crept on all fours.

Therefore, his party did the same thing. More than 300 people, moving in unison, crawled on the ground.

Ppalppalppalppal!

All were crawling at formidable speed.

It used twice the amount of Stamina comparing to running, but everyone tried their best to keep up.

“Heokheok! Well Weed nim.”

Mapan was struggling onward, because he was the Merchant, really weak when it comes to combat abilities.

It was a steep price to pay for his high amount of Wisdom.

In the first place, other than Knowledge, Wisdom, and Charisma, most of his stats were waived.

But since he gained a bit of Stamina from the meal, he was barely able to keep up zigzagging around.

Mapan asked while relaxed.

“I don’t know why we have to zigzag from alley to alley.”

Weed absolutely did not take the main street.

As soon as they past the gate, he passed through an alleyway where there were plenty of empty boxes stacked on one another.

He only used the extremely narrow alleyways among those were there.

Weed spoke in a low voice.

“If you look carefully at the behavior of animals, there are a lot to learn.”

“Huh?”

“They know many laws of survival to live a long life, so they have a lot more advantages over you.”

“So now, what kind of animal are we going to copy for survival?”

“Cockroach.”

“……”

Not a lion or a tiger, Weed was going to learn from a cockroach!

Thus they were moving like the insect with the highest rate of survivability.

Syaysyasyaysyasyak.

The two arms and legs moved very quickly.

His head moved violently from side to side, as if it was a moving antenna.

His rolling eyes moved constantly to determine of there was an oncoming monster.

Fortunately, thanks to effort put into this, they did not encounter any monster and were able to arrive to their destination.

The first destination was the vampire Tori’s black castle!

The party entered the castle and made it safely to the basement.

With the tension dwindled down a bit, Pale asked as he took a relaxed breath.

“Whew, what is this castle?”

Weed replied simply.

“This is where I found Tori, and this is also his home. Our first battle is here. Sahyeongs, please take out your bows.”

Geomchi, the instructors, and all the practitioners took out the overly large bows they received from Weed.

“You’re talking about this?”

Geomchi had the biggest bow.

Then from Geomchi2, Geomchi3, the size, in increments, got smaller and smaller.

Even the bows had rankings!

Only after then that Pale and Maylon understood why.

The bows seemed to be too big and sluggish, making them difficult to use; but that would not matter since they were going to fight within a castle.

It’d be an inconvenience to use during combat, but along with a shield, they will be able to survive.

Weed looked at his dirt covered body, then removed his Talroke’s Armor, Lott Sword, Ancient Shield and cleaned them at lightning speed.

“Ah so. Please take out your shields.”

The Geomchis each removed the shields that could cover their entire body that they have equipped.

It was hard to say whether the shields’ form and usage were good or not.

It can deflect oncoming arrows from their enemies when equipped, also increased their defense by at least 50%.

Problem was they were two-handed weapons; along with the inability to equip swords, their Agility reduced dramatically.

“Sword go, shine armor, shine shield!”

Exercised the Blacksmith skill!

Geomchis and other colleagues’ weapons were grinded and armors wiped; albeit temporarily, stats increased through these means.

“It’s over. Then Irene nim, please bless the group.”

“Yes. To fight against the wicked and evil, please let his strength reach its peak, Bless!”

Weed and the Geomchis’ bodies were covered in slight divine radiance.

The Unicorns and Pegasus broke their ways into the cellar through the door.

Due to the fact they were creatures made from divine magic, they could sense whenever divine magic was used within a certain range.

Chapter 2: Todeum Expedition

10 Unicorns and 12 Pegasus broke through the door and intruded.

“Hihihing!”

“PeureungPeureung!”

Before long, with voltage like speed, they dashed.

Dadak dadak ddadadadadak!

Within one or two steps, they gained tremendous acceleration with each tread one after another.

These horse-like monsters can be regarded as long-term sprinters!

In comparison to the size of the common horse, these divine creatures were nearly twice as big; with steams coming out of their snouts, they angrily rushed toward the group.

It was not an exaggeration to say that the castle’s basement was about as large as decent plaza, with empty boxes and pillars posed as obstacles; however, they were smashed to bits before the terrifying assault.

Kuruereung kwashang!

Kwareureureung!

The whole castle shook from trembling of the ground.

Weed had already anticipated the Unicorns and Pegasus to come due to their acute sense to divine magic, but he didn’t expect a rush of this caliber.

Nevertheless, he immediately responded.

“Sahyeongs are to divide into 5 units: 1st unit in order of names up to Geomchi100, 2nd unit up to Geomchi200, 3rd unit Geomchi300, so on so forth. Master and the four instructors are to command each unit. One of the 5 units please at once, go and block the enemies’ rush!”

Weed’s words echoed terribly; with 70 of the current group’s members under Geomchi5’s command, they went on the assault with their shields.

“Let us move to fight!”

The Unicorns and Pegasus at a terrifying speed, shortened the distance in an instant.

Through the means of shields, Geomchis tried to stonewall their assaults.

These divine creatures were much more daunting and larger than the usual horses!

They broke through the barrier and were still rushing in at an alarming rate, but more jumped in in order to prevent them.

Whether they were brave or just simpletons, time and time again, the Geomchis took place for preventive measures.

Even if they could not stop the sprint and suffered a great deal of damage in return, there was no hesitation coming from any of them.

Weed too, ran out with his Ancient Shield in hand.

Although he could have waited safely in the rear, he wanted to check the damage output of these creatures directly.

With his Defense and Endurance, Weed was the best to take a hit and if he couldn’t stop them, nobody else could.

Weed ran in and issued a second order.

“Romyuna nim, use spell! I don’t need any strong magic, please just make the ground muddy.”

“Understood.”

Romyuna’s specialty was offensive Fire magic. But she acquired a secondary skill set with her few extra points.

The set was completed with the addition of a pretty much useless skill called Water Clay.

“Water, moisten the earth wet and drag the on the enemy’s feet. Water Clay!”

Romuna casted her magic and the ground changed into that of a moist swamp.

These divine creatures’ magic defenses were enormous.

Even if they were attacked, they were impervious to it.

But this was not a direct attack on them; this cast was to influence the environment around them.

Peureureung!

Peuhing!

The Pegasus and Unicorns were digging their hooves into the earth.

And because of that, it had slowed them down quite a bit.

If they had been weaker monsters, they would be stumbling around and falling onto themselves; but this only made them madder.

Pretty soon again, they tried to achieve their earlier speed.

The Pegasus sought to spread their wings.

The Unicorn and Pegasus planned to get airborne deliberately to escape having to set their hooves into the ground.

Their bodies became twice, three times as large with the huge white wings!

Pureukpureuk!

Their aim was Weed and Geomchi’s unit.

Weed on the verge of being rammed, closed his eyes.

You have used Cold Eyes.

You can see nothing, but suffering and pain disappears.

Kwakwakwang!

The roaring sound of collisions!

The strong impact spread throughout Weed body as his HP dropped by half.

Have suffered a highly lethal assault.

Due to the nature of the Sculptor, his HP wasn’t great; so even if he had high defense, the toll taken on him was expensive.

In this case, half of his life force had been reduced.

Comparing to the damage taken by Weed, the practitioners didn’t fare any better.

As many as 12 practitioners, after having crashed into, turned to gray and disappeared.

They cannot underestimate the Unicorns and Pegasus’ charge!

Of the 12, during the clash of the moment with their shields in front of them, some practitioners were slammed and lost their lives.

Others survived for a brief moment, before once again being hit by something as the monsters turned around to deal another strike.

Beside the 12, thanked to the fact that they weren’t directly hit by the Unicorns and Pegasus’ rush, they were able to be alive.

The attack was as disastrous as being hit by a car.

For the practitioners who stonewalled, all their shields were damaged without exception.

The steel shields made by Weed at Intermediate level 3 Blacksmith exceeded their limits and broke from direct impact.

It didn’t end there for Weed with the decreased vitality after having received the strike.

The large impact have put you under Confusion.

- For 8 seconds, movements are impossible.

- 36% decrease in Attacking Power, 23% decrease in Defense.

- Cannot use any skill.

He was confused.

For Weed, throughout his history in battles, that rarely happened.

He went in to deliberately take a hit.

The ones that he saw didn’t expose their vitals nor allowed any attacks to come behind them.

Then the thrust came from the Unicorn, contained a great deal of force, stopped him and put him in disarray.

It put him under a very dangerous situation, but the Unicorns and Pegasus weren’t exempted from the clash.

The reciprocation of the impacts in the conflict also blew these creatures away from the location of the crash.

Even with their force being much stronger than expected, Weed grew more vigilant as he watched them.

Jjijijik.

A fine crack spread on the Ancient Shield.

The Ancient Shield Durability have declined by 1.

An impossible to repair Unique item!

The Ancient Shield was expected to fetch at the very least 1,000,000 Won!

He wanted to pamper himself with the debut of the treasured shield.

Now the Durability of the Ancient Shield had dropped by 1.

“You dare…my money…”

Weed’s fighting spirit raged.

“Ready to fire arrows!”

Cheochoechoek!

The Geomchis and Pale, along with Maylon drew the bowstrings as hard as they could at beckon.

Needless to say, their targets were the Unicorns and Pegasus!

Thanks to the selflessness of the 5th unit, the monsters were standing in place, stopped moving.

The remaining distance between them was 20 meters.

They were close enough to be a breath away.

“Fire!”

The fired arrows flew straight toward their targets.

Due to the abnormal size of the bow, the large arrows shot by the Geomchis gave off vapors as they flew.

These arrows that could be even be mistaken as something shot off of a siege weapon; struck the body of the Unicorns and Pegasus.

“Puheeeheng!”

These divine creatures screamed and staggered as they suffered the blows.

The Geomchis took the Martial Artists profession.

With any weapons, they follow the same skill proficiency.

Now they were dealing damages with their bows, which was equally as strong as their sword.

These creatures’ levels were explicitly more than 400; while close to more than 280 Geomchis were attacking with arrows; it can’t be said that it wasn’t damaging.

However, not a single monster had been slain yet.

The Pegasus who seemed to suffer the greatest, were still in decent shape with ¾ of their health remaining.

After series of strikes, Weed exclaimed.

“All get swords. We’re attacking!”

The Geomchis all abandoned their bows and rushed these Divinities with their swords armed.

“DIEEE!”

“I’ll avenge you brothers!”

They brandished their swords and fought close range.

The greatest weakness of the Unicorns and Pegasus!

Along with their tremendous size and high affinity to elemental magic, they could also fly.

Although unmatched; with the ground hindering them, at this distance, they had far less combat capability.

“Do not allow them space!”

“Block them. Keep the being close!”

The Unicorns were going wild and on a rampage.

They kicked with their fore and hind limbs, chewed with their mouth, even thrust with their foreheads.

The Geomchis were rolling on the ground to avoid the attacks, turning side to side and moving round and round.

Figuring that frontal assaults were meaningless, they refocused themselves to attack the thighs and buttocks from the sides.

“Keoeoeok!”

“Really strong. These guys!”

Screams erupted here and there.

None of these divine creatures had lost their life.

No matter how much they dealt, the creature was too strong even with a group of Geomchis attacking; and there were more of them.

With 22 of these more than level 400 divine creatures, they could not afford to go all on one.

Then, Hwaryeong stepped up.

“Enchanting Dance!”

Her specialty Bubibubi dance!

The rampaging Unicorns started dancing to and fro among her.

The sight was dangerous from another person’s perspective, but surprisingly, she was safe.

“Pretty woman. Kihihing!”

Around her, the once unruly Unicorns became as docile as lambs.

Women are toxic to Unicorn!

Caught up in Hwaryeong’s formidable charm, they quietly closed their eyes.

“Happy. Kihihihihihing!”

She was able to quiescence the enemies’ ability with her fascinating dance.

They smiled delightfully, and stood still.

Having settling the three Unicorns asleep, she headed toward the nearby Pegasus.

‘Maybe this wont work on Pegasus.’

Perhaps she’d be kicked once and killed instantly.

Being a dancer with her weak defense, dancing among monsters was an amazing risk.

But it was the same for Pegasus.

“Kiheheheng!”

A very satisfying smile rose and even their butts swung to and fro!

Whether it’s men, wolves, or horses, all males have the same tendencies.

After having set two more Pegasus asleep, she ran out of Stamina and sat in place.

Afterward, the battle didn’t get any easier.

With the declined in number of active creatures, it came in handy because the groups were able to get thickened for the assault.

“Cut his legs! Do not let him move!”

Geomchi3 screamed.

Although dozens of attacks landed on the body, the results were inconclusive because of the thick leather like armor.

But each time they attacked the ankles and thighs, the Unicorns and Pegasus were writhing with pain.

“Here’s the weakness!”

“Concentrate on the legs!”

Geomchis were fighting well, but this tactic place them in vulnerable situations: such as being unable to avoid the kicks and were hit to the point where they were near death.

So whenever that happened, Irene took the risk and approached to give help to those in need of treatments.

Meanwhile, Weed withdrew and assessed the situation.

‘The odds.’

With the significant damages earlier on, he saw they might not be able to win.

If it had not been good at all, he would call an order to immediately escape.

However, with that singular drop of the Ancient Shield Durability, he wanted to grab the bastard who did it!

Still, he couldn’t tell if the hunt could be successful or not, but the creatures were getting pretty damaged.

It was thanks to the fact that the Geomchis were clinging onto them like leeches that their vitality and stamina were incrementally weakened bit by bit.

‘Can win.’

Weed was confident.

“Don’t let up on the assault. Don’t let them cast magic or call on the elements! We can win if we stop them from doing so!”

Weed’s cries stopped everything and gave Geomchis hope.

“I knew it!”

“Keuheuheuheu.”

“Looks like these bastards are our meals.”

Geomchis did not doubt Weed’s words.

They experienced it throughout many adventures, and they were ready to place his insistence before their own judgment.

Though they thoroughly trust Weed’s words, they still believed.

‘Weed’s reliable at everything except money transactions!’

Complete trust!

Furthermore, Geomchis felt something as they continued the battle.

‘Their movements are increasingly sluggish.’

‘We can do this.’

Geomchis, without a single thought misplaced, heavily focused on the monster they were responsible for.

Only in this situation where they were fully preoccupied in battle that their talents shine.

Herein, it was more difficult for Weed. It was a full-pledge battle that needed all sorts of power.

“Tori! Death Knight Van Hawk!”

“Present.”

The Vampire Lord Tori mantle waved as he approached from the rear.

Although they have already liquidated their relationship, they entered a temporary truce until Todeum return to normal.

Death Knight Can Hawk also appeared in his armor in a puff of smoke.

With Weed in the helmet taken from him, a bunch of mixed feelings stirred up.

“First get the guy on the right.”

“Got it.”

The Death Knight and Tori answered briefly and moved toward the enemy.

“The guy at the right. Hold the rightmost guy.”

“Aye.”

“Okay.”

Pale and Maylon answered lightly one after another and focus their shots at the Unicorn on the right. Weed also used his Yeurika’s Bow and focus on the target.

They shot arrows consistently as they ate away at the Unicorn’s HP constantly.

With the help of Tori and Van Hawk, the first of the Unicorns fell.

“Hihing!”

The bovine-like body of the Unicorn slumped to the ground with a loud sound. In its place: horn, leathers, jewelries, and knee protector dropped.

Weed’s eyes scanned like a wildfire.

‘Celtic Protector, 220 Gold; Jewels, averaging with 103% to sell would be 400 Gold; 7 pieces of leathers, 325 Gold; horn! 8 of these with 2000 Gold in others mats and I can make Unicorn horn bow. The minimum price to sell it could be 5000 Gold, and if it ends up being a Unique item, it’s 78,000 Gold. The horn stands alone at 945 Gold!’

Weed’s eyes were consumed by greed.

The Unicorn’s levels were too high; but generally, they weren’t monsters static in dungeons.

No one had ever hunted these divine creatures in Todeum before!

Their drop rate was still fresh.

In this case, he was able to obtain more items.

Furthermore, it had long been acknowledged that Unicorns often dropped good and many items.

With such conditions, it was highly probable for them to expect more.

“If we hunt the Unicorns, each one can buy us 3,118,500 barley bread!”

Only when it was about money calculation that his mind work so fast!

“Heoeok, so much barley bread.”

“Let’s get them all!”

“Woooooooo!”

“From now on, we can say goodbye to hunger!”

The Geomchis’ motivation burned.

Weed too, unequipped his bow and rushed onto the battlefield with his sword.

With just that, it was sufficient enough as a command.

To the Geomchis, the importance of the first hunt is incomparable!

Because from thereon, as battle experts, within that clash was how they learn how to deal with the monster afterwards.

In the first place, they allowed Weed to decide whether they should continue the hunt or abandon it to escape.

‘Let’s hunt till death.’

Weed made the decision and jumped toward the divine beast without hesitation.

“Moonlight Sculpture Blade!”

This was done onto a Pegasus.

The Pegasus vitality and stamina had already been significantly reduced due to the fight against the Geomchis!

Together with the Geomchis, they became an encircling task force.

Weed moved dazzlingly.

“Single point attack!”

He focused only on the rampageous Pegasus’ leg.

Every strikes were focused on a single point was the best still to use!

Due to the struggling of the Pegasus, sometimes Weed’s attacks missed.

But with all the Geomchis presented attacking on all limbs, the damage taken by the Pegasus grew increasingly.

Whenever his legs became exposed with his wild movements, the punishment was immediately dealt by the Geomchis.

So the divine creature was forced to rely on his great defense as his hidden legs remain covered.

But his blood dripped onto the floor constantly as he took the hits, dwindled his more and more of his vitality.

Weed, Tori, and Van Hawk designated themselves a different target to fight.

“Pale nim! Maylon nim! Concentrate on only one!”

They had a slight overall advantage in this war-like situation, so it was best to concentrate on one and kill it as soon as possible.

Unless some unforeseen event happened, this way was the certain path to their victory.

Kuwooung!

Kwaang!

Here and there, the divine beasts collapsed.

With Tori, Van Hawk, Zephyr and the party concentrated on attacking, this creature also fell; and the number increased as they fell to the hands of the Geomchis.

“Iyat. We did it!”

“Master, we got him!”

The monster that Geomchi’s group was dealing with also died.

Under Weed’s intensity, another Pegasus fell pretty soon; afterward, these divine creatures clung to each other.

With Geomchi2 and Geomchi3’s hunting competition, more and more creatures collapsed.

“Puhihing!”

The monsters that were put to sleep by Hwaryeong woken up only to realize they were getting pummeled!

Later, nine additional Unicorns busted through.

Although their intrusion was a momentary crisis, Weed and the Geomchis have thoroughly refined themselves during the struggles of the earlier battle, hunted these down.

After which, it looked as if they have hunted all the monsters.

Ttiring!

Fought against the Shinsu in the 1st castle of Todeum.

Remaining castles: 46.

Reputation rise by 30.

Receives an additional 60% combat experiences.

They obtained additional compensation in correlation to the hunt.

Presently, Weed and his party, along with the Geomchis, their Reputations had been dragged through the mud.

– Mean and Petty Archer – Pale.

– The Vile Merchant Who Can Eat Children For Money – Mapan.

– Fists are Louder than Words – Sureuka.

During the course of doing all the Vampire quests, they were given bad titles and also the declination of their Reputation.

However, by winning battles, they could make up their Reputation little by little.

The achievements through the battles could be great.

Through physically beating all these divine creatures, not only vast quantities of items were acquired; but also, the Vampires who were asleep in Tori’s castle arisen.

“Greeting my Lord.”

The Vampire Queen and the followers joined!

A troop of 100 Vampires obtained.

These guys’ levels were around the mid late 200s, but nonetheless, more power was added.

The practitioners, however, faced a loss of 28 deaths.

The largest amount of 12 deaths was during the initial clash.

Mid of the battle, some were killed in combat; the second intrusion of the Unicorns took out seven more.

“We got this vampire castle.”

Those who were still alive toured the castle’s halls.

The place was decorated with old arts and crafts!

It was filled with many precious treasures such as gold or silver candlestick holders, and swords embedded with sapphires or opals.

Weed and Mapan seemed to have made a secret oath with a quick eye contact, and went separate ways.

And as they moved forward, each and every time the valuables they passed disappeared moments later!

Swiishh!

For a simple reason to earn additional income, they left nothing remained.

Even with the items where they couldn’t see the monetary values using ‘Feeling.’

Due to their Rarity, Artistic Value, Historical Value, their prices varied.

Although the armors and the swords had practical uses; but in actual practice, their values dropped in accordance to their low Durability.

Weed addressing these points and asked.

“What do you think the price for all these is?”

Mapan agonized and replied at the end.

“Most of these artworks are Common. Altogether, the maximum we can get for these are 12,000 Gold.”

Weed nodded.

The suggested price was somewhere around what he initially figured.

Since these artworks weren’t the really good items, it was difficult to sell a huge sum of them.

“I’ll try to sell all of these. After which, we’ll evenly split the profit.”

“Yes!”

In the case of valuable works of art, they were valued as collectibles; but to these guys, that meant little in comparison to the monetary gain.

And then, they stumbled onto a picture they had never seen before in the middle of their ‘hunt.’

From the picture on the wall, a strange energy wafted out within it.

A pale vampire was staring at the nape of a girl longingly could be seen.

You have witnessed ‘The Longing Face Masterpiece.’

Perhaps the painter was intimidated by a vampire to paint such a picture.

This was not an amazing work by such an exceptional painter.

In addition, few mistakes were committed from fear in parts of the work that declined its overall rating.

- Fighting Spirit will increase by 10%.

- In the dark, stats will rise by 7.

- In the dark, Recovery Rate will increase by 15%.

By looking at the picture, some abilities could be increased.

“Well then, let’s go to the next castle.”

Weed visited another castle.

This castle seemed to be slightly larger than that of Tori’s!

In this castle, there were 32 more.

Again, Weed with the Geomchis stood at the forefront as the vanguards.

The newly acquired Vampire forces will have their chance not much later to enter the battle.

Reason being that they were too weak and could be easily dealt by these divine creatures.

Growth of the Vampires!

The group was being thoughtful: to keep the Vampires from death and have them grow stronger.

The experiences the Vampires acquired from these divinities were enormous.

Through just one single battle, Weed also gained more than 20%; while the Geomchis nearly obtain another level as the battle finished.

After which, the number of liberated Vampires in this castle was 110.

Thanks to the experiences accumulated from the first battle, only 16 of the Geomchis lost their lives.

At this point, Weed said.

“We still have too many people dying during the battle. If we keep this going with an upward of 10 people die at every battle, then before long, all of us are gonna get wiped out by these creatures way before we can liberate Todeum. From now on, we’re gonna keep the damage taken to a minimum.”

They have already learned how to deal with the Unicorn and Pegasus.

Weed, to over the shortcomings of the group, pulled out the materials he had been saving.

The Rotting Dragon.

The materials were obtained from the dragon hunt.

From which Weed made weapons and armors out of them.

Bone Sword:

Durability 130/130.

Damage 64~79.

Sword made of from bones of a dragon!

To use such corrosive material into the blade is not a good idea.

Though, it’s sufficient enough to function as a sword.

To repair this item requires a highly skilled blacksmith.

Restriction:

- Cannot be used by Paladins.

- Level 300.

- Agility 520.

Option:

- This was created with extreme delicacy, so it’s easier to use.

- Requirement reduced by 20%.

- +200 Reputation.

- +30 Agility.

- Poison damage will inflict an additional 60 HP points per second.

- From fear and metastasis, atrophy with monsters rises.

- Foul odor.

Bone Chest Armor:

Durability 130/130.

Defense 85.

The armor has a fatal flaw!

Since the armor is made out of old bones, if it was to receive a singular large enough impact, it will break.

Restriction:

- Cannot be used by Paladins.

- Level 320.

- Strength 650.

Option:

- This was created with extreme delicacy, so it’s easier to use.

- Requirement reduced by 20%.

- Reduce physical damage.

- +35% Magic Defense.

- Immune to all Confusion magic.

- Foul odor.

Blacksmith skill proficiency increased by 2.3%.

Blacksmith skill proficiency increased by 3.1%.

The rotting bones of the dragon gave an unbelievable amount of proficiency.

The completed sword and armor weren’t at the highest levels, but they were more brilliant than expected.

“While there aren’t that many effects given, but I think each should be able to fetch at least 20,000 Gold.”

If he had better blacksmithing techniques, he would have been able to reach the extreme capabilities the materials could give out.

However, these were the maximum output for them since Weed was rather lacking in blacksmithing techniques.

To make a sword required at least 3 kilograms of the dragon’s bones!

To make either shield or armor required as much as 5~15Kg of the bones.

He obtained a total of 230Kg of dragon bones from the hunt!

He made a total of 10 swords, and the rest went into shields and armors.

Each person a bone armor set!

Ttiring!

Have obtained Blacksmith Intermediate level 4.

Created items’ Attack and Defense increase by a certain value.

Improve ability to handle weapons and may inflict additional damages.

Have acquired the title ‘Blacksmith with Extensive Experiences.’

+350 Reputation.

Weed’s skill level had risen by one.

Furthermore, the Intermediate level 5 wasn’t that much further away.

Weed’s made weapons and armors were offered to Geomchi and the instructors.

“Master, please take.”

“Is it really?”

“Yes. I was saving these materials but it made me just as happy to make these weapons for Master.”

“Weed.”

Short word and grim demeanor!

To interject in this requires delicate timing.

The hesitant feeling will decrease as the effect if the gifts slowly loosen their grips.

Weed did not miss the moment.

“In this stead, if you don’t mind, can some of the smithing and sewing materials you get from the Unicorns and Pegasus go to me…”

“No problem. Take all you’ll need from us.”

Geomchi and the instructors value little regarding the materials.

So after little deliberation, Weed was able to take them.

Some of the practitioners also divided up the weapons and armors; instead in an immediate trade, they offered their promises instead.

From then on, the battles against the creatures were much easier.

The swords, shields, and armors played a major role in this.

Thanks to the help of the given defenses, the number of deaths greatly reduced; as the battles raged on, only about 5~6 people died in each.

They were still going after the smaller castles; and among them, the number of tag-along Vampires increased significantly.

Chapter 3: Silmido of Hell

Lee Hyun had done nothing in preparation for the MT.

‘I don’t want to do anything that’ll be deemed unnecessary.’

The samurai’s doctrine of complacency was the best course of action and the easiest.

However, the group got together to discuss and prepare.

The progression of the meeting was in charge by Park Sunjo. Seoyoon too, specifically came to school to attend the preparation meeting.

“Well then, everybody share the things that you can do. Is there anybody who knows how to cook?”

“……”

At the end of Park Sunjo’s question, all were silent.

“…well, if it is food, we can roughly get around to it. Then next, does anybody know how to put up a tent?”

“……”

“Is there anyone who likes the outdoor more than staying inside the house? It’d be really good if you have mountainous experiences.”

“……”

Seoyoon was already silent to begin with, but everybody else had their head bowed and was quiet.

Other than studying at school, the all had no other experiences.

It seemed that in the frequent trips they took, they did not bother for any of these things.

Lee Hyun’s eyes plunged into the darkness.

‘You incompetent fools!’

Park Sunjo’s forehead was shining from the sweats formed.

For all of them, this was the first time they’ve done anything like this, and thus, didn’t know what to do.

10 minutes passed, and then onto 20, the meeting was going nowhere fast.

Inevitably, Lee Hyun was forced to comment.

“What do you say we start arranging with the necessary supplies first, due to the fact we have a limited budget. Since we don’t have much time left, just suggesting things and we all deem whether it’s really essential or not.”

“That’s right. Let’s start with things we see fit.”

Having Min Sura favoring the idea, each began inputting what they thought was necessary afterward.

“Tent!”

“If we’re going to cook food to eat, then we need cookware and burner.”

“We need meat and water…we really can’t go without water.”

“Since we need to sleep at night, we need a set of blankets.”

“Wash towels are also essential.”

“Cell phone charger.”

“Cosmetics too…and bowls, cups, spoons, chopsticks.”

“I almost forgot! The pinnacle of all travels is photos. I’ll bring a camera.”

It seemed throwing in ideas rekindled their livelihood. And then, Choi Sang-jung face frowned.

“But these stuffs, we need to prepare them within the 50,000 Won per person limit…and also, we’re all going have to carry them. How the hell are we going to carry them all?”

Once again, the planning seemed to hit a wall.

“The money is a problem.”

“To be limited to 50,000 Won per person is really like having nothing at all.”

“How do other groups prepare with this?”

“I figured we should just buy a box of ramen and eat them everyday.”

Credits were associated with the MT!

All were well aware that this was a viable and important option, for the general trend of most groups was to buy ramen to eat.

Every meal consists of only ramen!

Lee Yuu-Chong forehead wrinkled as he spoke as if it couldn’t be helped.

“Anyway, I think ramen is a good option. Including Sulanju and rice, I think that good enough.”

Then Park Sunjo also gave his consent.

“So is ramen ok?”

3 days and 2 nights!

That meant having 6 or more meals consisted of only ramen!

Although the activities that they have to do during the MT hadn’t came out yet, they all generally expected that it wasn’t going to be easy.

Still, having to force down and endure meals of only ramen was the decision to uphold.

“What other alternative do we have…”

“You sure it should be ramen?”

Choi Sang-jung and Min Sura moments later also confirmed.

Lee Hyun eventually decided to come forward. People then entrusted him to be the person-in-charge because it was far more convenience for them.

Friday morning.

Since they were in the vicinity of the marketplace, Lee Yuu-Chong, Park Sunjo, and Choi Sang-jung gathered.

Because of Lee Hyun.

He strongly opposed to ramen.

“Even for me, I cannot handle having ramen at every meal.”

Ramen as food wasn’t bad.

Rather, to Lee Hyun, it was the most valuable food.

Back in his old life of economic hardship, where he was burdened with the inability to buy rice and had to buy the inexpensive ramen.

It was the biggest help that filled his enduring hunger when in dire needs.

Even now, sometimes along with his grandma and younger sister, they would boil the ramen and eat it with kimchi in reminiscence.

‘But I cannot eat six straight meals of just ramen.’

He had eaten way too much ramen in his childhood that he learned all the secrets within all of them. So now, he just want to eat ramen as a sometimes food.

Also, six meals of ramen meant that they won’t have a balanced nutrition.

“Rather, whether it’s eating or sleeping, let me prepare the necessary tools to live.”

He had told them he would take care of the essentials in accordance to the given budget, but they remained dubious and came to clarify.

Lee Hyun came exactly on time; he looked to his colleagues and nodded.

“You’re all here.”

“Yep.”

“Then let’s go.”

Lee Hyun then took them into the agricultural wholesales market.

Only having just entered the market, even the seemingly intelligent Lee Yuu-Chong didn’t know.

“The supermarket’s much more comfortable. So why are we here?”

He privately murmured insinuatingly. It was not long after the appearance of the supermarkets that the era of the marketplaces was fading.

Lee Hyun didn’t want to explain the complexity. He had to buy a lot of stuff here so he didn’t want to be relaxed.

“You’ll know when you see it. And this place isn’t like the usual marketplace.”

From the entrance to the wholesale market, there were different types of butcher shops, rice stores, grocers, bowl stores. There were all kinds of stores.

The moment he saw the pricing list, Lee Yuu-Chong mouth did not close.

“No way! 100 grams of pork is 1,400 Won!”

In the supermarket it’s usually 2,200 Won for that much, so nearly half of that value! Rice, vegetables, or fruit prices were also unparalleled.

“Are all these stuff imported?”

When Lee Yuu-Chong asked, Lee Hyun shook his head.

“There’s not much to profit off of pork to do it. Fish is imported though, it’s like that anywhere.”

“Why so cheap!”

“They’re just small shops. These outdoor shops aren’t big, and also have been doing for more than 10 years and brought them here directly from their fields.”

Lee Yuu-Chong called his mother and had her checked at a few sections only to find out how severe the price differences could be.

The shop owners saw Lee Hyun and began to horselaugh.

“Young man, you’re coming twice today?”

His sister already came at dawn due to their periodic changes to get the items to prepare the meals, so they thought he had come back once again for the same purpose.

“Yes, hello. I’m going with these guys on an MT trip so I need several different items.”

“Well, come one then. I’ll sell them cheap, of course. So are they also bachelor college students?”

“……”

Lee Hyun was selecting the meat from then on.

‘Since were on a budget, I’ll start with the most expensive.’

He chose 2 kilograms of each of the pork belly, neck, and ribs.

The meat bought in corresponding to the 8 people eating for three days and two nights, so it seemed right. Since he didn’t know whether it was lacking or not, so he got pork chops just in case.

“It’s not much but here are some ham hocks on the house.”

“Thank you.”

The next place Lee Hyun went to was the grocer!

By the way, when cooking, if you don’t have fresh vegetables to accompany the meat, you won’t be able to wake up your taste buds.

At this place here, Choi Sang-jung and Park Sunjo were disheveled.

Poram Vegetable 21.

Dapeojwo Vegetable 19.

From there, the grocers’ name didn’t change their pattern.

There was almost no vegetable on display; while the ones that were, were still inside the box with the box top cut off, boxes stacked on each other.

Lee Hyun picked the lettuce, onion, and cabbage boxes.

“How much are they?”

“3,000 Won for a box of lettuce, onion 3,000 Won, cabbage is 5,000 Won.”

“Please give me parsleys, leeks, garlic, peppers, and potatoes too.”

“How much do you need?”

“A lot. Enough for 8 people for 3 days and 2 nights worth.”

“For you students 90,000. I’ll give you a lot!”

The grocers pulled out boxes one after another to give him. There were eight extra sweet potatoes lying on top of them.

“These are only 7,000 Won for all.”

Lee Hyun hesitated for a moment before receiving.

“If you sell it at that, doesn’t it mean it’ll go south pretty soon…”

“It’s because nowadays we’ve got too much sweet potatoes so they’re cheap. Just take them.”

Once all the boxes were placed, Lee Hyun turned and asked.

“Do you also want to eat fruits?”

“Huh? Yes. I can eat then if we have them to eat.”

Lee Yuu-Chong in embarrassment replied with a slur.

In the tight budget of 50,000 Won per person; even when they had came up with a guideline, they never expected to be able to buy everything they could.

Of course, they never planned to have fruits. But as it happened, they went along with Lee Hyun to the store.

“Auntie.”

“You’re back, bachelor.”

“Yes. How much for the strawberries?”

“2 boxes for 4,000 Won. I’ll round the items in the front to 3,000.”

“Please give me two of the good ones. Cheap please.”

“Cha! Here’s just for healthy guys like you. Just 3,000 Won.”

Choi Sang-jung and Park Sunjo loudly exclaimed.

“Keek!”

“What kind of prices is this low?”

It seemed as if they came to a strange country. While they were pushing carts in the market to purchase items, they had no clue about the existence of this place.

Anyway, to the disarray of the other party members, with everything up to the strawberries, they were far from reaching the budget limit.

Lee Yuu-Chong asked excitedly.

“Aren’t just the tent, cookwares, and oven left and we’re going to make it!”

Lee Hyun shook his head just once.

“The MT preparation was to be entrusted to me. So I will take care of getting ready.”

“We’re ordered to not borrow any tools.”

“I’ll take care of everything. On a side note, who here can’t eat pork chops so I’ll buy some other food?”

“If that’s all we have then it’s fine, but…”

Lee Hyun took them on a trip around the marketplace, and bought a bit of shrimps, tofu, and shell fish.

Also, he did not forget to buy red pepper, bean paste, salt, and seasonings.

“You eat chicken, right?”

When Lee Hyun asked, the now tired Lee Yuu-Chong simply nodded. Park Sunjo and Choi Sang-jung had long since turned into quiet porters.

“I’ll bring a chicken from home and treat it as a wholesale price.”

“From home?”

“Because we raise them in the yard.”

“Ah. You’re raising them as pets.”

“Nah. As for human consumption.”

“……”

“I raised them since they were chicks and when they bear eggs I raised those too.”

“But it must have been hard to raise the chickens so we can’t just eat them.”

“It’s ok, we have 7 chickens at home. First is Boiled Egg. Second is Sunny Side Up.”

“No way, those are their names?”

“Correct. The third one is called Mother Hen. Because she raises the chicks. Or I should call her the Protagonist since she’s also one that bears new arrivals. From the forth one upward are classified as food. Soup, Fried, and Sauce. The seventh one is the youngest, Half Sauce Half Fried. The naming process is altered by family branches, but the full name doesn’t get pass on from generation to generation.” (that is, 2nd gen - ‘half fried’, 3rd gen - ‘fourth fried,’ never just fried.)

“……”

Do not expect warmth from Lee Hyun. Even chickens he raised are just food!

* * *

Port of Incheon waterfront terminal.

Students were chatting away about the upcoming ‘pleasant’ MT.

“Uwhew, it’s finally today.”

“I only wish today had not come.”

“How much are we’re gunna suffer.”

The sophomores and the more seniority students were already in haggard appearances.

The generations who had already done an MT weren’t at all relief.

They weren’t so confident about the special concept of the MT trip.

“But it’s the coast this time around. It’s on a small and pretty island too, so it’s better off.”

“Come to think of it, the last time it was hard because we had to climb a lot of mountains. This time, that’s not going to happen.”

“Oh btw, what kind of food did your group prepared?”

“Instant ramen. We also have around 1 kilo of pork to eat.”

“Sounds a lot like us.”

“With a budget this low, I bet all the other groups are like this also.”

The new students were carefully taking to the seniors in order to enjoy their time.

The purpose of the MT trip was to build up motivation and it was an opportunity to make a good relationship with the seniors!

Lee Hyun and his group members also huddled up.

“What the hell is that?”

His group members had no intention to show the materials and tools Lee Hyun had prepared.

Contained in the black vinyl bags consisted of unknown things!

It didn’t feel like the normal tools such as tent, oven, or cookware.

There was even one with holes perforated into it, while the sounds of struggled flapping and knocking came from within.

Kkokkodek! (cockadoo)

“Shup it!”

After Lee Hyun’s piercing shout, the sound from out of nowhere stopped.

“……”

“No way…”

To the group member’s surprise, the cold eyes of Lee Hyun let off slightly.

“There’s less taste from frozen meat.”

Lee Hyun did not bring an ice box.

It was heavy and expensive to use only just once so he didn’t see the point.

Instead, the frozen pork was thrown into a Styrofoam box.

He then threw in a few extra ice bags, and completely sealed it with wrapping tapes.

With that, it should be able to retain that degree for about 23 days.

However, there was no point to do it to the chicken.

Between raw and frozen meat, there was a subtle difference in taste.

Because of that, the selling prices were different.

So, Lee Hyun chose to bring the youngest Half Sauce Half Fried raw rather than having him frozen.

If you are not Lee Hyun then don’t even think about it!

After a bit more time had passed, it was the right time to get on the ferry.

“Well then, let’s get on the boat. We’re departing.”

With the professors leading, the students followed and boarded the ship.

The students had no intention to watch the sea from the deck.

The waves calmly rolled and the seagulls lazily glided above.

For the students who are first timer on a boat, this was a very strange experience for them.

“The boat’s rocking.”

“This is a volleyball.”

Conversations broke out with the boys trying to cozy up with the girl they like as they straddled next to the girls.

A moment in time to enjoy the peaceful happiness.

Also, at Lee Hyun’s side was Seoyoon.

Ever since Incheon, she stayed at Lee Hyun’s side.

He was her only trusted friend, so she did not want to leave his side.

‘You’re planning to preoccupy me up till Incheon as well.”

While Lee Hyun was trembling in fear, he did not want to miss the opportunity of seeing Seoyoon's face so close to him.

‘Ima watch you in detail to make the best sculpture.’

Standing next to her, at this distance, he was close enough that it was possible for him to see any facial fuzz.

In the wind, her ebony hair dispersed gently as it passed.

In Baran village, and in the north, every time there was a need, he would sculpt Seoyoon from what he felt.

He wanted to express bits and bits more of her beauty when creating sculptures.

In this moment, he wanted to imprint a picture permanently onto something instead of his mind.

For Lee Hyun, this was the first time he ever felt that.

‘Need to have a picture, there’s no point in having it in my memory and can’t recall it when I need to…’

He felt as if the whole ocean was drowning in her ambiance.

Seoyoon's beauty was to that extent.

Additionally, the corners or her lip slightly elevated!

If he didn’t see it that close then he would have never saw the change in expression.

‘That’s nice to have.’

Lee Hyun had observed Seoyoon's expression very closely, but he did not know what she was feeling.

Seoyoon was happy, though she did not show a wider smile.

With the boat having been at sea for a long time, she was getting comfier with time.

The professors came out onto the deck and took off their coats.

They appeared to be Marine uniforms!

“This is the perfect time to tell you about this MT trip.”

The remark was made by Professor Ju Jonghun.

The students gathered together on the deck and wait for him to talk in silence.

“As you may have known, the original location of this MT was at Seung Bong Do. It is an extremely beautiful island. But it became clear that for this trip, for the purpose of having a wildlife experience, it was not fitting; so we cancelled. It’ll be better for you to visit Seung Bong Do at a later date.”

Ju Jonghun said this while expanding his smile.

“It’d be good to know in advance that it isn’t Seung Bong Do.”

“Then, where are we going for this MT, professor?”

Asked the senior students, be Ju Jonghun did not leak anything.

“You’ll find that out eventually. In the mean tine, you don’t need to worry too much about it. It’s Sil…nah, though this island makes sense for this trip. It’s truly the wilderness and has the spirit of selflessness; it’s the best location to take advantage of the opportunity to nurture the blazing hot camaraderie!”

Due to the professor’s remark, the students were buzzing busily making guesses.

“Hmm where at. Certainly make sense if it’s one of the islands in the Yellow Sea.”

“Nope, not there.”

There are numerous of beautiful islands belonging Republic of Korea in the Yellow Sea.

The fishermen would board their ship and go fishing, while the rest of their families are to remain working on the fields in wait.

The students were still pondering about the island and had no intention of letting up guessing its name.

But many of the senior students had already given into the immense sense of disappointment and began gazing toward the abandoned Incheon ports.

“I should have never come on this MT.”

“With the new and returning students, I figured this is a great opportunity to mingle with girls.”

Lee Hyun too, wanted to clear the many misconceptions the students thought about him being a returnee.

He wanted to get along with the freshmen and reiterate that he was also a freshman.

Or else, all that was left about spending time at school was the depression of singularity.

With this ambition in mind, he was willing to carry this out during this trap of an MT.

“Why’d he say that place.”

“Huwew, please don’t remind me…”

“Give me a life vest so I can swim away from here.”

The returning students have already guessed the location.

The professor’s slip of the tongue of the first syllable pretty much gave them the island.

‘Sil’ was that character.

The island was the tile of a film with a base audience at the box office of a whopping 10 million viewers and made the island famous.

Nowadays, not many people knew of the island itself; in the usually cases, even the returning seniors, most made the connection to the film in its stead.

“Silmido.”

“Keoheuk!”

“Why that place...”

* * *

For the seniors, it was exactly like they predicted.

Southwest of the Ports of Incheon, the ship arrived at Silmido!

What welcomed them were the sandy beach and the foreshore.

Their hardship was just beginning.

“Here is the MT timetable. Please keep an eye out for this; hopefully we can smoothly match the times set for the MT.”

[Your day by day is tabulated here.]

Day 1 – Arrival at 1100.

– 1200 Group meal:

- Cannot use matches or lighters.

- Live as those in the wilderness, make your own fire.

- Once fire’s done, you can start with the meal preparation.

– 1400 Training course of hell #1:

- Run one lap around the island on the shore; race to be the first 30 people.

- Whoever arrives afterward must run another lap.

- However, if you can’t do it and give in, one of your members can take on the duty in your stead.

- The group will do so until it is dinner hours; if not finished by then, having dinner is prohibited.

– 1700 Group dinner and rest.

– 2000 Courage test:

- Each group will be given a specific target to be reclaimed in the mountain.

- The group that obtains many targets will be presented with an exception.

– 2300 Bed time.

Day 2 – Wake at 0600, toiletries.

– 0700 Group meal.

– 0800 Training course of hell #2:

- Lunges 300 meters, then get on wooden canoes and row 1 trip around the island.

– 1200 Group meal.

– 1300 Sport competitions.

- Events: Football(soccer), wrestling, log (bridge) boxing, lug of war, no exceptions. Unconditional participation.

- Souvenirs to groups according to performance.

– 1700 Break.

Sincere information exchanges between the grades as you share drinks. Talent show.

– 2200 Free time from here.

- If you want, you can sleep as long as possible.

Day 3 – wake at 0800, toiletries.

– 0900 Meal:

- Each group can make you own food and share with the entire lot.

– 1000 Clean up.

– 1100 Free to tour Silmido.

– 1300 Returning.

[Writing this is an enormous pain…huek…]

The so-called timetable of hell!

If it was the usual MT, they’d be busy playing and eating.

But as the professors who planned this MT, they firmly swore.

“Unconditional wilderness! And hell’s training!”

The groups were made to take care of the preparations themselves, and now the intensity of the training was raising the works to a higher height.

After putting together the timetable, the professors were very pleased.

“We’ve completed this good timetable and are now heading back.”

“It’s necessary to adhere to this guideline.”

“This is a bit generous already so don’t ask for more. We won’t do it.”

“Never!”

The professors recalled last year’s Teacher’s Day.

It was a sad day since they did not receive a single flower or gift from the students!

But this was not done through vengeance due to that.

It most definitely was not.

* * *

The timetable was accepted with some concerns.

“Do you think they’ll really commit to this ridiculous thing?”

“It has to be a joke.”

The symptoms of escaping reality!

While still dubious, each set their baggage on the open and spacious sand.

“Well then, let’s set up our place.”

They did not care for breakfast and got started working on their settlement.

Each wanted to start early before night falls so they pulled out the equipments to set up the tents.

Most groups had essentially got a tent that could accommodate eight people to sleep in.

The tent, within the given allotted budget, spent most of it.

As for Lee Hyun, it was a different story.

“Our group will also set up an accommodation.”

Yet, the stuffs he removed from the compressed baggage were Styrofoam, aluminum rods, and building insulators that were used on construction sites.

“That’s the tent?”

The group members were dazzled in confusion.

Lee Hyun was carrying most of the stuff so they didn’t know most of the things acquired.

“We’re not going to make a tent. We’re going to create a temporary place to live.”

“……”

Park Sunjo asked cautiously.

“But we’re lacking a lot of materials to build something like that.”

Lee Hyun only removed a total of eight rods.

The insulators and the Styrofoam were barely able to fill one backpack.

“I know. Without the rest of the materials, these wont be enough.”

“Then how…”

“Local sourcing! I’m gonna go get things to make pillars and roof so you guys wait here.”

Lee Hyun pulled a saw from the tool box. Then he went into the woods nearby.

The group members then, were truly speechless.

Although the mountain was not very big and the woods weren’t completely dense or hazardous, his unexpected behavior caused them to be in the state of static panic.

Surprisingly, Lee Hyun returned pretty soon.

Along with the saw he brought, there was an additional tree he cut.

The dead and fallen tree branches were intertwined with other branches and kept close to the trunk.

He returned with the tree on his back, dragging it by the trunk.

Lee Hyun’s shoulders and arm muscles tighten as he kept the tension onto the material.

After his tendons thickened, he was overflowing with physical attractiveness.

It was not an exaggeration to call him a wreck once before, but thanked to the workouts in the Dojang, he built a strong body.

‘Look at those chest and forearm.’

‘His abdomen looks rock hard.’

Most of the girl’s eyes sparkled.

The members of the other groups privately talked about Lee Hyun.

Since then, the teachers also looked toward him with interests.

“Materials are all prepared, so I’ll build a house.”

Lee Hyun nailed the aluminum rods deep into the ground.

And on the ceiling, he has established a solid roof using the braches.

Choi Sang-jung didn’t like the roof very much.

“When it rains, it’ll leak through and put out the fire.”

The cut off branches were woven together and looked quite sturdy.

But if there were too many small openings, it would be too vulnerable against the rain drops regardless of its constitution.

Likewise, rain couldn’t possibly come.

As for Choi Sang-jung, since he hadn’t lifted a single finger, he wanted to be somewhat useful by pointing out and highlighting anything.

In fact, the other group members were also worrying over that point.

If they encounter a shower in the middle of their sleep, it can be a big problem.

“I’m not finished yet.”

Lee Hyun relieved all the concerns of the group members.

The roof was covered with the throwaway transparent plastic.

Three or so layers of the see-through vinyl covering and secured with a line to complete the perfect roof.

The walls were formed by the transparent vinyl around the aluminum rods with silicon sealant briskly applied; the roof and the walls could handle a big storm quite a bit.

In comparison to the others’ tents, their temporary residence was twice as spacious.

“Do you think making the entrance at the wall facing the sea is good?”

Lee Hyun asked for his group’s opinions, but everyone simply nodded their heads, stunned.

Lee Hyun moved stompstompstomp on the material.(will mention below)

With each sound, the residence was getting closer and closer to completion.

Without a hint of hesitation, along with the proficiency in crafting, the pace was terrifyingly fast.

Lee Hyun pierced an entrance facing toward the sea.

After cutting the multiple overlapping layers of plastic, with the easy installation of a zipper, it was complete.

Lying in a tent, there was no view of the ocean.

With theirs, whether it was the wall, roof, or entrance, they were made of with transparent vinyl; so even when night comes, they can see the stars of the heaven.

The moonlit vinyl beach house!

Listening to the sound of the waves, the atmosphere will halt anyone and put them to sleep.

‘Making a house is insignificant; it is way easier than creating sculptures.’

To create the myriad of sculptures that he did required a significant imagination.

The basic of the sculptures was to harmonize with the surrounding environment.

To Lee Hyun, creating a house best suited for the beach was not a big deal.

He also strengthened the constitution of the ground below.

It took no time to do so, and then he lined it with Styrofoam with the building insulator to top it off.

These days, there was no problem to use these adequate building materials to make something of this level and have it last a couple of days.

Though, it could be a comfortable home for a month or so without the group.

It required a more robust built for it to last a storm if it was to hit; but it wasn’t the season for such weather, so their concerns were alleviated.

“It’s done. Let’s move our luggage inside.”

Lee Hyun led them all inside; once in, the group members looked around.

It was pleasant and wide, while the floor was relatively cushioned.

“This is great.”

“Really comfortable. More so than tent for sure.”

Hong Seonye and Jung Eunhee were comfortable and didn’t hold back their words.

The other groups were still busy setting up the tents and struggling with it; while they were the only group that had a comfortable house that finished in a flash.

Until now, Hong Seonye, the once with no interest and negligent to Lee Hyun, came up to him.

“It seems you have an interest in interior design or architecture and such. I think a man with such a hobby is really ideal.”

It was evident that her awareness of Lee Hyun had positively improved.

Lee Hyun replied honestly.

“If they work 3 months as a manual laborers, anybody can do this.”

“You also have an excellent sense of humor.”

Hong Seonye took what he said as a joke and laughed it off.

Seoyoon also looked around the temporary residence and her face showed she was comforted.

She wasn’t someone who can simply mingle with others. At night, it also wasn’t easy for her to fall asleep.

Throughout the duration of the MT trip, she was concerned over this point; but was relieved due to the comfortable and spacious house.

As such, it took Lee Hyun’s group half the time of the other groups pitching their tents to complete their temporary residence.

Although it wasn’t specifically anything awkward, Lee Hyun was fidgeting around because he had finished too fast in comparison to the other groups.

“Chaa, Let’s eat.”

Lee Hyun grabbed hold of the materials to cook the meal himself.

As usual, there was no other reason than that it was difficult for the rest.

He washed the rice in the pot, and set it on a crevice of rocks.

Then a bit after, he picked up the pot and set it below the trees.

“By the way, about the fire.”

Lee Yuu-Chong and Min Sura as well as the girls came over with curious gaze.

There was no doubt Lee Hyun’s actions further proved that he was a returnee in their eyes.

The reason for their hearts lightening up was mainly because he easily set up the house.

“Ima make it of course.”

“How?”

“I wonder if I have some tool to make it easier…”

Lee Hyun wondered for a moment.

If he had a magnifying glass, then it was possible with the use of the sun’s rays and have it directed it a paper to make fire.

It was easily the easiest and most comfortable method.

‘Don’t have a magnifying glass, but there is a roundabout way to do it.’

He brought the clear vinyl to take advantage of them and create a habitat.

He could also use it to fill it with water to collect the rays.

But it’d be a bit tricky, since he’ll have to tear off some of the vinyl he used earlier.

“Then we’ll just use wood to start a fire.”

Lee Hyun looked for a suitable tree.

On a piece of dry wood, he put a bit of some dry grass, then used a dry branch and rubbed it back and forth.

He did not forget to blow on it to refresh the oxygen in the bundle.

Chiiiiiiii.

Pretty soon after, a thick bluish smoke preceded the coming fire.

Although it seemed like an easy thing to do; if one lacked the experience, it was absolutely not an easy task.

‘Done it plenty in Royal Road is all.’

When he was at the novice level, he didn’t have the money to get flint. Thus, he spent time rubbing branches to make fire.

Complete devotion to spare a penny!

Later in reality, he tried to do the same thing as his memories entailed.

He was a Sculptor in Royal Road.

In real life also, sometimes, he would suddenly get the urges to make a fire out of wood as practice while he was shearing trees.

The first few times he failed plenty in succession, at the end of a four hours long endeavor that he could finally produce fire.

The Sculptor class brought him another advantage!

He used those experiences to kindle this fire.

“Wah!”

The group members were amazed while watching the flame.

In the usual case, one can use a readily available lighter to make a fire; but in this case, the speculation of creating a fire outdoor gave a different atmosphere.

Lee Hyun used that fire to cook the meal.

The given meal time was two hours due to condition set forth to make and keep the fire lit.

With the generous amount of time given, he leisurely took his time to boil the pork.

They could also boil the ham hocks to eat too.

“Ah, I’m hungry.”

“C’mon and boil!”

The other groups hurriedly took out their burners and cookware to boil water.

However, there was one thing they needed to first.

They were busy clamoring about with painful blisters forming while rubbing the wood.

“Can’t do it, it’s tough…”

“Copy that group over there.”

At the end of the groups’ suffering, using camera lens and such tools, they made a meal of ramen with their kindled fire.

Nevertheless, there were many groups that could not eat.

Because from then on, it was time for the training course of hell.

Chapter 4: Wild And Hell Training

Many students were hungry as they gathered on the sand when time called for it. The professors came first and waited for everyone to come.

“One lap around the beach and that’ll end today’s hell training.”

The students felt at ease.

‘We have until 5 to leisurely make it back.’

‘It’d be like a tour around Silmido in this case.’

During this, the freshman Kim Hyeonjun hand went up.

“Professor, I have a question. Our group did not eat. If we still have time after then lap around the island, can we eat then?”

The professor readily agreed.

“Sure. If you have time at the end of hell’s training, then it’s free time until the next item on the schedule. So, everybody ready?”

“Yes!”

The students wore comfortable running shoes; they did so in preparation for the running on the beach.

“Then, you run. GO!”

At the drop of the professor’s command, more than 100 students rumbled forward.

“With the sea breeze being fine like this, it’s good enough with a jog.”

“For your health, I think it’s good that we came to the MT. right, senior?”

“Yea, I’m thinking that as well.”

The student ran as if it was a leisure walk or stroll.

Even with the scorching sand below their feet, it wasn’t a hard terrain.

The fined grains of sands meshed as they trampled on.

But, some of the students led by their returning seniors were running with conviction.

“Heokheok!”

“Faster, faster, let’s go!”

The majority of the students did not understand their seniors’ reasoning.

“Run a bit slower, please.”

“Following that pace is too hard.”

Minor complaints erupted.

But, the seniors looked back while smiling brightly.

“Oh, then you can go slowly.”

“We won’t wait and are going ahead.”

The students eased off and asked.

“Is there some sort of reason?”

Then these returning students strongly shook their heads.

“It’s nothing. I just want to run, yeah.”

“Don’t you think it’s good to run in such a rare event to have such a nice sea breeze blowing into the island?”

“That’s right, we just want to run.”

With that, the seniors ran like fleeing arrows.

Lee Hyun too, didn’t care too much about having to run.

He was thinking that it was just one comfortable lap around the island.

However, he was watching the odd behavior of the returnees and became suspicious.

‘There’s something.’

Lee Hyun did not believe in anybody.

Everything was for the sake of his family’s well being!

He had long abandon trust in humanity and sympathetic compassion.

Once he learned of the harsh reality, he no longer had naivety.

He acted hard on himself as he lived while reciting ‘money money money’ in abundance.

But as if the world was truly trying to drag him to the bottom, his harsh life wasn’t just that.

It gave him experienced a temporary feel of 30 billion Won in his grasp, only just to take it away moments later.

Reality hits!

Having truly fallen once into the pits, he will not easily put absolute faith in others.

‘Be careful as to not get hit in the back of the head. There’s no way I’ll easily believe these guys.’

While Lee Hyun kept close eyes on these seniors, he raised his running speed.

This physical attribute didn’t come from his time in the Dojang; it was already instilled in him by default before then, as he never once threw money to ride the bus for the good amount of distance.

With time to cherished, he raised his physical ability up a notch to turn walking into a running pace in this place.

Dadadadadadak!

His speed rose far beyond those of the students!

Pretty soon after, he caught up with the returning seniors.

However, he didn’t care for the lead role while remained in their vicinity to find out the reason why.

He quickly found out the reason for the seniors course of actions.

No matter how much they ran, they couldn’t see the end of Silmido’s beach.

“Heokheok! I’m sure at this point we must have screwed up the direction somehow? Why are we going straight and seems to be going nowhere.”

“I think it’s already been way over 15 minutes.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Shit I’m hella hungry.”

Several of the seniors knew.

With just a quick glance, most people are often not mistaken to think that the islands in Yellow Sea as small.

But, having to run from one end to another is not an easy task.

The circumference of Silmido’s beach is more than six kilometers!

After having to run just one lap, you’ll never want to do it again.

‘I’m sorry. You young’uns’

For these knowing seniors, it was the first come first serve basis.

The effect took its toll as the other students also increased their running speed.

Their mind became impatient as they tread on continuously on the endless beach.

Physical limitations of hunger!

There were several students who were trying to catch up, but a while after, their overall speed quickly fell with shortness of breath.

For the students that neglected exercise, there was no other way to call the event but hellish.

From the once running speed they had, eventually they all came to a walking halt later.

As for Lee Hyun, the one lap was easily accomplished within the first set of 30 people.

Among this first come first server basis group, there were good amounts of returning students, seniors, and even freshmen still seemingly fresh.

Seoyoon was among them. This was easier comparing to the usual morning jog with Cha Eunhee that became a habit.

For those that didn’t make it within this group, they had to do another lap around Silmido.

From the exhaustion to the hunger, it was a proliferation of endlessness!

“Man, shit.”

“Somebody please help me, anybody.”

The students sought a helping hand from within their group, but nobody tried to lend one out.

The distance of six kilometers!

Although it seemed to be short at first sight, it was a very long distance.

It goes without saying for those that had to do it twice.

Now they finally understood why the given time was three hours.

If you cannot run, then you’d be better walk profusely to finish!

But during this second bit, they had little power to even walk, and were on the verge of collapsing.

“I…please help me. I’m really sorry but please, can you take my place.”

Hong Seonye was having a hard time and asked Lee Hyun.

She was at her physical limit and waned to rely on Lee Hyun as he seemed to be still fine.

Lee Hyun, of course, said.

“Well…I don…”

He was trying to find the right moment to reject!

“Sure.”

Lee Hyun changed his mind and ran.

It was due to the fact he had finished the lap quickly and had no particular work to do.

He figured it was better off to do a bit more physical training.

For those who had to do the second wheel, almost all of the students walked.

To be forced to do 12 kilometers was very difficult for those that didn’t exercise normally.

The only people who were running were those who returned from the service where they were forced to do so.

“Keoheuheuk.”

“Yaheuheung.”

Among the students who were still running, strange moans and groans came about here and there.

Each was forcing their heavy footsteps as the tread.

They wanted to give up. But for the sake of their group members, they could not do so at all costs.

They had not have lunch, and they could very well forgo dinner for their entire group.

‘This is why it’s called training of hell.’

‘Very fittingly put on the timetable.’

While contemplating again and again, they were forcing themselves to keep moving.

At this time, Min Sura sank to the floor in exhaustion. She sat there for a long time while panting.

“No, no more…I can’t do it anymore.”

At the sight of this, Lee Hyun who was far in front, came back.

“Piggyback.”

“Huh?”

“Piggyback. It didn’t mention anything about this on the board so I think it’s ok.”

“Yes, but…I’m heavy.”

“Don’t worry, you’re prolly not as much as before since you’ve spent a lot already.”

Lee Hyun had experience in rice delivery.

Giving a person a piggyback ride was much easier than carry a bag of rice!

‘In comparison to bringing up loads of brick up the stairs, this is much easier.’

Min Sura, with conflicted emotions, leaned on Lee Hyun’s back carefully.

“If it gets heavy…please let me off.”

“Okay.”

It wasn’t hard for Lee Hyun to carry.

He rested both hands on his thighs to push himself up and was moving slowly at first. This attracted the eyes of the students around them.

Some envied, some praised!

It was already a tough thing to carry a girl when one was already physically spent!

But what they saw after was the real surprise.

Dadadadadak.

Lee Hyun was holding onto Min Sura as he ran.

“Huh?”

“What th…”

They were already having a hard time walking!

If they had known Lee Hyun had to adjust his speed in consideration, they’d be in for a real surprise.

‘If I try to get back as soon as possible, I’ll have nothing to do but act appropriately with those people. I’ll just roughly match the leading ones and that’ll do.’

Lee Hyun ran within the leading group of the second lap.

“Aaa, so hard.”

“I’m dying, dying. If it have ice cream to eat right now would be wonderful.”

“Even if it’s just some cold water…”

As soon as the other students arrived, they dropped to the ground and sounded sickly.

Min Sura’s face also strained.

‘He really gave me a piggyback and ran.’

She was filled with anxiety when she thought that she would be put back down if she was too heavy.

But they really arrived running steadfastly.

She knew he had lots of male friends, but she just realized that the sheet anchor she thought she had wasn’t there.

That projected onto Lee Hyun; and Lee Hyun appeared much more favorable in her eyes.

Having returned after two laps around the island, before long it was already time for dinner.

Lee Hyun immediately started preparing food.

The foods he was making this time were grilled chops covered in rosemary sauce and Mediterranean shellfish soup.

Although he could have just made the grilled pork to eat, he but specifically opted out for the more labor intensive dishes because he thought about the amount of work their jaws would be doing otherwise.

“Hyeong, let me help you.”

Park Sunjo came over with his hands ready.

The other group members, unless they weren’t presented at the moment, were lying on the ground gasping for air intensively to be able to do anything else.

Fortunately for Park Sunjo as he made into the first group during the first lap at the 29th place.

Lee Hyun asked while trimming the ribs.

“Have you done or watched a lot of cooking at home?”

“No. I don’t watch it. I don’t go into the kitchen so I almost never see it.”

“But there must be a dish you can do.”

“Yes, I can make a bowl of ramen well.”

“…Do you know how to peel fruits?”

“Peeling? I’ve never seen it done before. If you leave it to me then I’ll try.”

“Wash the dishes.”

Lee Hyun rather chose to suffer alone.

In Royal Road, he can receive help from his party members as they have a basis for cooking to trim the materials and such.

But now in the real world, since there was no such thing as Cooking skill to keep things tolerable, he decided to directly work on them all.

But Seoyoon was exempt from cooking even with the skill.

The worse food!

Even comparing to fighting off a fever from the cold, a human with highest spirit would die if they were forced to eat something so tough.

If Seoyoon was somewhere within the vicinity of the dish, it would dried up somehow.

‘Welp yeah. Anywhere in this world, there are people who are incompatible with this sort of stuff because they’re not fated to suffer.’

The smoke billow from the fire was huge as Lee Hyun grilled the ribs.

“You need?”

Hong Seonye offered him a towel.

She came and brought him a clean towel.

Her hair and face were wet as if she had just gone to wash her face with water.

“Because of me that you had to do two laps when you’re not supposed to. I’m so sorry. It must have been tough.”

This time also, Lee Hyun answered candidly.

“It was not a big deal.”

“The professors are really too much, If we come here for an MT then why the hell are we training!”

When women strongly criticize something, the point they’re making usually lies contrary to what they’re saying.

Essential, the right thing to do in this situation that could blossom into that of friendship is to agree and pass judgment on the said subject.

Rather than using one’s logic or offer a solution, just use a few simple easy to understand words accordingly to increase points.

On the other hand, Lee Hyun took a good look at Hong Seonye like he had never done so before and roughly replied.

“The implied hell’s training is too easy.”

“It’s easy?”

“It doesn’t need to be called ‘training of hell.’”

Generally, if something is named that, then it shouldn’t be so easy.

If it was laid out like Lee Hyun’s plan, then it wouldn’t be so effortlessly doable. Upon arriving to the island, they would march orderly into the mountain for 20 kilometers.

At the end of the march, they would exercise for about three hours through the mean of having battles. After that, a meal that takes about five minutes to finish then onto the next course.

In which they throws themselves into the sea; with sea water fill about half of their body, and they would run in that state while carrying logs!

It’s also good to drag a log through the mudflats. One can get a really good workout with heavy logs.

After which, they can get about two hours of sleep at night.

At this point it can’t be called basic training!

He had learned this from watching the instructors from the Dojang.

This was not the breaking point of humans!

If it’s something you crave then you can do it.

Even if you can’t make it.

To reach the pinnacle of strength, this is nothing at all.

After seeing them, Lee Hyun suddenly matched his workout to align himself to their standards.

“Uh huh.”

Hong Seonye had a totally different interpretation.

Although he showed he had a lot of strength running the lap for her, what she want in a man is the looks to show him off, and would not care for otherwise.

‘Does he like me?’

She had no other option but to be mistaken.

They finished their meal.

They had a sumptuous dinner while the other groups could do nothing except eyed them with envy.

The other groups’ food was simple: kimchi ramen, beef ramen, Neoguri Deung ramen, or some other types of food they couldn’t recollect.

Some also had cold noodles with spices, but that level of food could not compare in term of quality to Lee Hyun’s group.

Kkokkodaeg! (cockoldoo again)

It seemed as if every time the youngest of the chicken Half Sauce Half Fried cackled, the sounds of beating crackling flame torches and saliva swallowing could be heard.

“Did you hear? Over there have a chicken for food…”

“So jealous. That sounds really good.”

The desperation level in the wilderness was way different.

Perhaps, at this time, when asked what one would bring with him the three things they deemed essential; most of whom will answer as such.

Lee Hyun.

A lighter.

Half Sauce Half Fried.

The meal time ended with the constant envious eyes, now it was time for the courage test.

“Hidden within that mountain over there are slips of paper for you to find. The group with the most will receive a special award of having their liquor paid for.”

A courage test within the dark mountain!

Realistically, snakes or other animals had concealed themselves and attacked people.

This time too, Lee Hyun’s group inadvertently ranked first.

“My legs are sore.”

“Ahh, I’m sleepy. Hungry. Mommy.”

Most were too tired to hike so there was no other group to join in.

Only Lee Hyun, Seoyoon, and Park Sunjo diligently walked around and were able to find as much as 10 sheets of paper.

Just as the night hits 11 o’clock, all easily fell asleep.

They rode the ship to come, set up their tents, made their food, and ran; because all of whom did things they normally never did before so they easily got tired.

From within the tents and from the temporary cursed beach, there were only the sounds of the wave and the sound of the snoring alternated between the two.

Slam!(wave)

Deureureung.(snore)

Slam!(wave)

Kuuuuuul!(also snore…not sure…sounds like crying…)

* * *

Lee Hyun woke up in the morning as he usually does.

‘I wonder of Hyeyeon is eating her meals properly. She should be bringing side dishes to grandma in the hospital too.’

There as nothing he could do on this island.

It was not possible to go to the homepage of the Dark Gamer website for information, nor could be go to an auction site to check up prices of items.

The only thing to do was to relax comfortably.

‘Rarely have this kind of rest before.’

Feeling comfortable for the first time in a few years, Lee Hyun quietly slipped out of the temporary residence.

He could hear the exchanges between the sounds of the students from the tent and those of the waves.

It was so dark that he could barely tell the oncoming dawn by the moon and stars.

“Nice.”

Lee Hyun walked on the white sand.

Like others, he too wanted to get to know them and hang out. But it was not possible.

‘I can’t stand out like the rest of them. I have to be concealed in the shadows, in order to earn money and make living easier.’

He had s strange relationship with the friends and seniors he knew.

The people he befriended back in primary school all believed he moved away.

Their parents had said so to Lee Hyun.

“Don’t play with our children.”

Since he was at a young age, Lee Hyun bluntly asked why; since he couldn’t possibly have known.

“Your parents have both passed. And I heard you live in a very poor house. So do not come close to our kids anymore.”

On the grounds that he didn’t have parents and his living environment was difficult that he was unable to make friends.

Whenever stuff goes missing and money was gone, even the teachers prosecute Lee Hyun.

Due to these experiences that forced Lee Hyun down the path of a moneygrubber.

But he really could understand the mindset of those parents.

‘My children are more important than others, huh. To interfere whenever they can to root out what they think are the bad influences.’

Lee Hyun no longer tried to recall the past.

He wanted to take time to rest comfortably here. Only here at the MT where he can do so, once he gets home he’d have to work hard again.

Lee Hyun took the ‘to be enjoy’ stroll in the morning.

But in the distant on a rock, someone had did so first and sat on it.

It was Seoyoon.

She was able to sleep a little at Lee Hyun’s side, but it then somehow got uncomfortable and she quickly up and left.

“……”

Seoyoon also noticed Lee Hyun but she did not say anything. She simply glanced at the side next to her.

Lee Hyun took a seat beside her. Of course, he didn’t forget to check again and again to verify that it was an ok thing to do.

‘Sit down you mean? Can I sit down? Don’t get angry when I sit. Maybe she’ll take revenge on me in the future if I do...’

It was still dark.

Lee Hyun and Seoyoon were sitting on the rock watching the sea.

Under a myriad of stars under the sky, and the vast ocean stretched before them.

The little frustration melted away as they sat to relax.

“……”

Seoyoon didn’t fully open her mouth but she wanted to say something.

It was due to the tension that she could not say anything.

In fact, so much so that she specifically did not know how to put anything into words.

To her, being friends was factual. So, she wanted to have a nice chat but she did not know how to clear the tension she felt in the air.

‘I don’t know what to say. So how does someone transmit their sincerity from just words?’

Seoyoon sometimes took deep looks into Lee Hyun’s eyes for a long time.

In which, to Lee Hyun, the deep looks evoked his thoughts to go wild.

‘You know I created the statues or what? I knew that sculpture of Morata’s beauty would give me away sooner or later. No, on the plain of despairs you watched me make the statues, did you figure out since then? I don’t know if you knew the Freya statue in Baran was based on you. Aah, these eyes are like those when I had that severe cold and you forced that poisonous food down my throat; they’re the same exact eyes!’

Illusion and distrust, fear was budding along with the coming dawn.

* * *

The entrance to Morata.

“Hehe, thank you very much.”

“We’ve been a lot of trouble to Da'in nim.”

“Thanks to you that we were able to break this quest.”

Before the gate, there was a party disbanding.

The place they explored at was the Spring of Oblivion within the Twilight Ruins!

“It’s unbelievable. To think we could subjugate the Twilight Ruins like this.”

“We got so many items, it was an interesting experience. It is all due to Da'in nim.”

“Heh, don’t mention it.”

Among the party members, one amazing Shaman who was very memorable.

Shamans were usually deemed as the jack of all trade.

Ranging from treatment and magical spells, buffs, and curses, it was a struggle of a class to have.

There was no upside to be seen as is.

So when ones form parties, they usually do not designate a spot for Shamans to join.

They lacked the ability to deal treatments to the level of the Clerics, or were they specifically able to work at any certain area; so in most cases, whenever Shamans were invited, they usually only played a supporting role.

But the Shaman Da'in was in a different dimension in comparison to the others.

Her treatment magic exceeded the tolerable of a Cleric, and her damage output was near those of the Wizards in term of magic attacks.

Blind.

Blockade magic.

Using vines of trees to bind and stop enemies’ movements.

Invisible arrows.

Familiar summons.

While her variety of skills were correctly set to obtain the most advantage, her mastery of the skills were also very high.

No wonder the party members were smothered by Da'in.

“Hehehe, then do you all want to register as friends?”

At Dain’s suggestion, the party welcomed it readily.

“Sure.”

“Then we’ll do more some other times!”

So Da'in bid a final farewell to the party; after which, she roamed Morata wanting a tour.

Entering the town, she saw many shops were still in construction that she had never seen before.

“Need people to go hunting in the hills in the south. Preferably Wizard.”

“Need those beyond the level of 300. Need warriors that can take hits of those level 400 or more.”

“Want Wizards. Necromancers and Summoners welcome. To do quest.”

There were many people who were trying to recruit members to hunt or do quests.

While many blue collar workers in their rightful place began creating items, the other vendors set up their shops.

Tailors, faith, trading post opened!

From these small textile vendors, leather and cloths were woven.

Rather than going to other cities to buy the expensive leather, adventurers here paid money to have their customized equipments produced in exchange.

Since Morata was the leading in textile technology, pretty good items were produced from the given materials.

The faith vendors relieved curses and gave blessings, while they also played a role in training Paladins and Clerics.

The trading post was a popular place that was always crowded with Merchants.

At Morata, with the rise in traffic of people, the need for luxurious goods, food, weapons and armors were also on the rise.

While some others obtained goods sold in Morata, and earned profits by selling the materials at other regions.

The Mercenary Guild was finally completed.

Members of the Red Shield mercenary gathered after their tough lives of mercenaries.

After one having exchange drinks with the mercenaries, they share a conversation regarding the employment of these hired guns.

In some cases, someone who doesn’t want to for a party for a quest chooses to hire mercenaries.

The dialogue between them is to figure out whether the soon to be hire merc has the basic qualification to be do the job.

After considering the reputation, level, and occupation, the chance of the employment corresponds to the level of familiarity.

Although their services were expensive and on a daily allowance, endless amount of people had been looking for mercenaries because their costs spoke for their effectiveness.

While Da'in took a lap around the town to purchase the necessary goods, she walked to a party seeking a Wizard.

“Class Shaman. If you don’t mind it, my level is 227.”

“It’s a bit low, so…let me try to talk to the party members and I’ll be happy to reply.”

The leader was Paikeumaen(Pike-Man), with a pike polearm as a main weapon.

After having chatted with his party members via whispers, he nodded.

“It seemed you’re quite famous and well known. Da'in nim is very welcome. Our commissioned quest is to punish the servitors of the Skull before the coming sunset. Would you like to join?”

“Yes!”

Da'in joined the party even if it was just a simple quest.

The location for their quest was at the Green Lake near the town of Morata.

Da'in with her new party moved toward their destination.

Chapter 5: Lee Hyun’s Identity Uncovered

The second day of MT.

Morning came; along with a bunch of bizarre sounds came from the tents.

“Kkeueung, kkeung.”

“Heuheoheoheoheok!”

“Ma…my thigh.”

Pain resulted from the aftermath of yesterday’s running.

Even with the pain occurring during the event, it was nothing comparable to the muscle ache of the following day!

“All rise. It’s morning!”

The professors each went around the tents to wake everyone up.

With eyes so narrowed due to the sleepiness, they moved to wash their faces and hurried to prepare breakfast.

Each group nodded their heads grandly at their meals.

Due to the troubles of yesterday, they simply had ramen because they didn’t have the will to cook the materials otherwise; today, there was a wide range of food.

Chigeulchigeul. (sizzles)

Grilling pork, and also opened a bottle of cider.

“Can I drink the Soju?”

Some students asked the professors with hoarse breath.

Drinking in the morning is not condoned during an MT!

The professors delightfully allowed.

“Go ahead! Drink and see if you can withstand today’s training of hell!”

They withered and returned the Soju back to the box once again.

In Lee Hyun’s group, he used the leftover materials to boil stew; along with a side dish of seasoned premature leaf mustard kimchi.

He steamed the rice in a sotdanji until thick smoke evaporated, till the rice seemingly burnt, then they were allowed to eat. (???it’s like a flat kettle of a pan.)

“Hyeong, this food is really is the best!”

Choi Sang-jung gave it two thumbs up.

Min Sura also slurped down the meal and asked.

“Where did you learn to cook like this?”

It has long been settled that the ideal men are those that can make appealing dishes.

If you can cook day by day particularly for a woman, she can’t be helped but fall in love with you.

So from that standpoint, learning how to cook is a virtue of a man!

“My cooking skill rises over the years at home. It has been more than a decade already.”

“So you cooked since childhood? And the qualities are so high.”

“There are circumstances. And I learned more specific dishes in Royal Road.”

In Royal Road, there was a separate cooking skill. But simply relying on that could not lead to a finished dish from beginning to end.

In reality, even with just the improper adjustment of water in the rice cooker, the damage is enormous. At that point it’s either to turn into porridge or throw it away completely.

Practicing in Royal Road helped reduce these mistakes and even acted as flavor analysis.

Thus, in order copy the taste properly, it required accurately finding the increments in the recipe exactly.

Lee Hyun studied such recipes for days.

Given that the various parts in the recipe in virtual reality did not transliterate precisely out in the real world.

After having finished breakfast, the hell’s training started again!

“Group lunges. Just 300 meters worth.”

“Uoooooooooooooo.”

After the professor’s words, the students’ grievances were enormous.

With cramps in their legs at one point or another, they forcibly lunged for 300 meters.

In fact, the length of it wasn’t that long so it ended quickly.

“Today wasn’t bad. Didn’t even take more than 20 mins.”

“The professors also have consciences, huh.”

“I want to go back to sleeping more soundly.”

The students’ conversations were a bit relaxed.

Then as if to instilled more resentment, a professor spoke.

“Is the warm up exercise done?”

Since they overly abused their muscles during yesterday’s run, this warm up was to release the pent up tension in their muscles!

The real hell on this training schedule was the coming boat ride.

Eight people riding at once on the wooden boat.

“The rule is simple. One lap around the island paddling your boat.”

Since the professors won’t be able to keep an eye on everyone, they all were enclosed in life vests.

They also rented fishing boats to hover around, to watch out for any accidents that could occur.

Lee Hyun examined the detail of the boat.

‘The boat’s pretty old. Think it’s about 10 years old or so. I don’t have any experience on boats, let’s give it a try.’

Lee Hyun tried to reach for the oars and Choi Sang-jung grabbed hold of them first.

“Hyeong, let me do this.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yea, you get some rest. You can take over once I’m weary.”

Choi Sang-jung was feeling sorry about having left Lee Hyun to endure alone until now.

While the other groups suffered, it was all thanks to Lee Hyun that their current lifestyle was comfortable.

“Kkeungcha!” (exerting force)

Choi Sang-jung rowed.

Kkulreong.

“Huh?”

Kkulreongkkulreong.

With each row, the boat staggered aimlessly. Fortunately, the boat was surprisingly sturdier than it looked.

“Left, go left!”

“Ah! The waves are coming this way!”

The waves were pushing against them at the opposite flow instead of their intended one lap around the island.

Every time the waves came, it rocked the boat back and forth and slowing their speed to a crawl.

Choi Sang-jung and Park Sunjo alternately rowed the boat for more than 40 minutes.

Suddenly, their backs were drenched in sweats.

“Wanna switch to me?”

“Yes, hyeong.”

Park Sunjo got up from the seat and switched to Lee Hyun.

Lee Hyun gripped the oar in both hands tightly. And stirred.

Kkulreong!

The distortion between the forces he exerted and that of Choi Sang-jung was too much!

The boat skewed for a bit before realigned itself.

It was difficult due to the fact one had to take into account of the incoming waves as they row.

‘Not easy.’

Lee Hyun relaxed himself.

He figured it’d cost more power if he had try to force against the flow. He adjusted his strength accordingly so he wouldn’t get tired quickly.

After all, the paddle was simply an extension of the arms.

‘It’s like brandishing the sword to a flow. No point to go against that.’

Lee Hyun rowed the oar as he felt the pushing force against the water.

He accepted the oncoming waves fully and allowed it to slip by.

After which he once again puts reasonable force into each paddle.

Seureureureureureong.

While not a too overwhelming row, the ship moved forward with ease.

Without distorting the boat, it wasn’t being pushed back.

It was nothing comparable to the experienced fishermen, but the boat’s advancement was in a different dimension comparing to when Choi Sang-jung and Park Sunjo did it.

Choi Sang-Jung curiously asked.

“Hyeong, have you done sailing before?”

Of course, Lee Hyun had never been on another boat before. They were something beyond his reach.

Though there is a possibility if it was a shrimping boat. Though it’s kind of like the worse case scenario of a job.

“I have the feel of the paddle.”

“Huh?”

To Lee Hyun it was an easy answer; but since that philosophical sentence was built off of his numerous experiences as he suffered, it wasn’t for others.

If you don’t endure physical labor then you’ll suffer when experiencing it.

Such as working hard shoveling. After a period of tremendous effort, it becomes easier as one get well accustom to it.

The boat moved along soothingly whenever Lee Hyun paddled.

This island of unspoiled nature and wide blue sea!

While doing the lap, they were able to take in the scenery Silmido had to offer.

Afterward, it was lunch. Then followed by the sport competition.

The students were still tired and exhausted, but the heat from the sun remained strong.

Due to the view of the sea and the taste of fresh air, unexpected vitality arose from within all the students.

A gift from nature.

Lee Hyun too, played without regret.

Football(soccer), wrestling, and log boxing.

Even at the moderate level with the subtracted power, the totaled score represented his overwhelming vitality.

Thanks to his performance, it naturally attracted the attention of others.

A female student, Park Sumin, seemed to have realized something and clapped.

“That’s right! I’m sure I’ve seen him somewhere.”

Lee Hyun heard from corner of his ear ad his heart thumped.

‘Is it the fact that I’m Weed?’

Until now it was unlikely that they could recognize him.

His face wasn’t exposed from Continent of Magic back in the day, and the time he was Karichwi the Orc was when he was an Orc.

No matter how good or keen eyes anyone had, there was no way for any of them to call Lee Hyun out from the Orc.

Then the dragon hunt was also not possible.

In this case he was a skeleton. Only showed a skeleton body and a face without flesh.

The truth was never publicized.

Recently KMC Media started a program named ‘Weed.’

But it was never disclosed whether it was Jeonshin Weed of CoM or not.

It was due to the judgment of the broadcasters to deliberately conceal his identity.

The content of the Kingdom of Vampires Todeum was a major broadcast.

An emerging hero of Versailles continent, Weed, to challenge the incomprehensible.

To intentionally keeping the mystery of Weed, they edited parts of him out or excluded him as a whole.

And Weed the Sculptor did not have that extent of popularity!

While it had only been two weeks since it started.

Being at the bottom ratings, there was a positive spin that the mysteriousness was kept.

Because Weed the Sculptor wasn’t a completely unknown being.

The Lord of Morata, the Earl of Morata!

Scouts from guilds had constantly made offers to the one known as the best Sculptor of the Versailles continent.

Lee Hyun knew he once again became famous through his sculptures.

But while the Sculptor’s popularity was nowhere near that of the Jeonshin Weed, only few knew that the two were one and the same in Royal Road.

All in all, in reality, there were very few people that can make the correlation between Lee Hyun and them.

Park Sumin pointed her finger toward Lee Hyun.

“I’ve seen him before! Once 2 years ago!”

All the faculty members presented and the students all focused their gaze at no one else but him!

Lee Hyun face contorted.

“2 years ago?”

He rocked his head to one side but nothing came to mind.

“What, where did you see me?”

“Don’t you remember the event long ago?”

Everyone pondered in search for the reason why Park Sumin spoke with such confident tone.

“Princess Knight, right?”

Princess Knight.

He visited his sister and attended three events at the school.

Among them was one event called the ‘Princess Set.’

Then, Park Sumin tried to recollect the video she came across on the internet and recited it to see who else also remembered.

During that time, Lee Hyun’s movements were very incredible.

He dashed across the obstacles in a flurry, and defeated the water balloons using his fists and legs. Then used a leap and jumped past the wall.

Due to the fact that the event attracted a lot of participants because of the prize money, the video widespread further on the internet as there were a lot of viewers.

“Pr..Princess Knight?”

“Ah, then you’re that person from the festival.”

From Park Sumin recollection of the story, people began to recall such event.

Lee Hyun face frowned. To him, having a nickname as the ‘Princess Knight’ was nothing flattering at all.

“You have the wrong guy. I’m not that person at all.”

A lie!

But Park Sumin nodded her head.

“Of course you’re the Princess Knight. Although the video was just a clip, you still have the same face, now and then.”

“Well, don’t be too sure.”

“The countenance you used to deny that wasn’t trustworthy at all.”

“……”

At this point, Lee Hyun was dubbed as the Princess Knight and engraved in steel.

“Come, take a drink. Princess Knight!”

“Yes, Senior.”

At the end of the athletic event resulted to a drink party.

This could be considered as pretty much the last event of the MT.

Lee Hyun’ popularity essentially skyrocketed as a resulted from that. Along with the professors called him to come around, many students also visited him several times.

“So you’re Lee Hyun huh. You have been very unexpected at every tasks……anyway, you did a good job in the MT. Now, take this drink here.”

“Yes, professor.”

Lee Hyun went around the professors and drank the offered alcohol without leaving a single drop.

Doing so to earn the credits from the professors to be able to make his college life more favorable.

Flattery through drinking spirit!

To the strong the weak, and to the weak be strong! (I think it means…the weak sucks up to the strong, while the strong takes care of the weak.)

There was something wrong with this old saying.

But it’s a reasonable law for people to live by.

“Lee Hyun Oppa. Please help me here.”

“What is it.”

“Please light this fire here.”

There was a motive behind them to substantially changed the way the addressed him. Most of them, including the returning students, cautiously changed the way they addressed him to Oppa.

But with Lee Hyun lack of sensibility, he did not budge. He spat his words out as dry as the desert.

“Use a lighter.”

Lee Hyun built a cheeky facial expression. Nevertheless, the students did not give up.

“I want to see you make the fire using woods.”

Those who acted cold toward him before also showed their interest.

“Come here.”

“We owe you a drink.”

With motives of getting along with the Lee Hyun, the seniors called him over for a few words.

Especially with the female seniors, as he felt their intensity in their stares.

The focused eyes of strong stallions!

With their forcefulness and sizable groups, he had no choice but to quietly go to where the voices beckoned.

“The seniority isn’t that important, ok?”

“Look at those leg muscles. So solid. Hohoho.”

Lee Hyun had not grown accustomed to this.

From here and there, other freshmen and seniors chatted up amid laughter along with drinks in hands.

“Whew. No kidding. Rowing the boat was really hard, y’kno.”

“But thanks to senior that we finished the MT well.”

More familiarity!

Though they’ve reached the extreme of their fatigue; by overcoming such hardship and adversity, the freshman and the seniors formed a mutual respect for each other.

Whether it’s the talent show or the training of hell, in several hours or so, they would all leave those behind and nothing will remain except for their happy memories.

So they all shared drinks as the night draped over.

At 11 PM, one by one, they all fell to sleep in exhaustion.

* * *

“Huaa.”

Lee Hyun woke up and soaked in the fresh air.

Although last night he seemed to have drunk too much till having a hangover, there was no change in his morning schedule.

‘And now, we’re going to return.’

He was a little disappointed, but it seemed he accomplished the motives he came with.

The fact was as soon as he returned home; he’d reconnect to Royal Road.

During the three days and two nights of absent, he was certain that things had developed somehow.

He’ll once again slipped into the shadows in the subversive activities of a dark gamer by making money through quests and items with his ambitious colleagues; and this will become nothing more than just a dream.

It was a fierce battleground rather than just a game!

Lee Hyun needed to return to that world.

‘Today, I may have a bit of time to go to the Dojang. Need to do a bit of morning exercise.’

Lee Hyun removed himself out of the temporary residence.

He loosened his rigid muscles by moving around and had intended to run.

But just as yesterday, he spotted Seoyoon sitting on the rock.

‘When did that happen?’

Lee Hyun approached her and spoke.

“Hi.”

“……”

“Why are you up early?”

“……”

Still no reply. Lee Hyun quietly took a seat beside her, and that was all as he remains seated.

Once Lee Hyun sat down on the rock.

His mind was still troubled as he thought about being unable to exercise, so he didn’t want to just silently sitting there.

Lee Hyun no longer spoke, while Seoyoon was still hesitantly trying to find what to say.

Even though she really wanted to share a lot, she did not know where to start or how long the wait in between each reply should be.

30 minutes in silence.

Cheosseokcheosseok!

The sound of the waves in their current vicinity could be heard, along with the cries of the seagulls.

The rise in Lee Hyun’s anxiety was directly proportional to the rise in Seoyoon's feeling of comfort.

As the greeting breeze blew, the day was becoming brighter.

They watched the sun rising over at the faraway horizon!

Suddenly, there was a gentle touch on Lee Hyun’s shoulder. It was the unable to win against the drowsiness Seoyoon's head leaning on it.

It was due to being the second day already that she could not sleep well, along with the fact that she was tired from the out of the norm alcoholic drinks.

And here it was, her trusted friend Lee Hyun, presented comfort from the built up tension and knocked her to sleep spontaneously.

Segeunsegeun.

Seoyoon's breathing rhythm sounded in Lee Hyun’s ear.

With each exhale, Lee Hyun could feel his own heart reacted to it as the beats increased in strain.

In this place, it was just Lee Hyun and Seoyoon.

Although the students were still sleeping on the sandy beach, they were at a distance away.

Moreover, Seoyoon had already drifted to dreamland in a seemingly drunken slumber due to the hearty drinks from the previous day.

In other words, it was an opportunity given by the heavens!

There was no other way but to say Seoyoon was defenseless in this state before Lee Hyun.

Lee Hyun’s eyes filled with murderous intentions.

‘You treat me like fodder, huh. And during my cold you jammed that food-to-kill porridge down my throat!’

It was a golden opportunity to take revenge.

As it seemed she was deeply in her doze, he could have picked her up and tossed her into the sea.

Holding grudges infinitely!

However, Lee Hyun’s mind soon wandered off from the thought. Though vengeance would be thrilling, he was afraid of the troubles to come in the future.

‘I don’t know how she will manage after I throw her into the sea!’

Still, in his internal rampage he paid careful attention to not wake up Seoyoon. Then a thought hit.

‘Let me adjust a bit to have you sleep more comfortably.’

Lee Hyun gently lifted up Seoyoon's head and placed it on his lap. After which, he observed Seoyoon's face in detail.

‘There’s gotta be an ugly corner somewhere.’

He still had not given up on his childish revenge.

The first time Lee Hyun saw Seoyoon's face was in the instructor’s cabin.

But because he noticed the ‘murderer’ mark during that event that he did not examined her beauty in more detail.

Nevertheless, a fragment of Seoyoon's face remained in his mind that he went to sculpt the Statue of Freya.

The image he had at that time was indeed beautiful.

But he did not know that the beauty exceeded what he had imagined.

The second meeting where he saw her was on the Plains of Despair, where her loveliness shone even more.

Then, during the times they risked their lives in the northern parts, he took peeks at her in his spare time.

But with each and every time he saw her, she continuously exuded attractiveness.

It wasn’t because Seoyoon was increasingly becoming more and more beautiful.

She was already beautiful from the beginning. It was because the more closely he got to look at her face, the more beauty he saw in her.

Eyes, nose, eyebrows, forehead, chin and lips.

There was no way to totaled up her features.

While wondering how dreadfully beautiful something was, a new attraction came into play whenever he took a look.

No matter how long he stared at her face, he could not get tired from the sight. With each and every sight to admire, he had no choice but to look!

Lee Hyun wanted to find flaws in Seoyoon's face.

He leaned in so close that he can feel each of her breath, a rare chance to do so since she was still sleeping.

‘Skin. Well, it’s perfect. Not one crease and I can’t even see a single pore. How can human skin have such milk like quality? Facial feature. Great. It’s the perfect golden ratio of placements if I was sculpturing. Long eyebrows…how does her hair even have such orderly placements?’

Trying to find any facial flaw in her, even if it was just a tiny ugly part in her, did not work out.

‘Fine, I admit the face is too good. What about other places…’

Lee Hyun’s eyes ran downward. He could roughly make out the figure through the dress. And here still, he could not find a fault.

Tall and slender, her body was also good.

The calves, thighs, and even the waist line were smooth.

Even the freaking toes exposed from the sandals were also beautiful!

Lee Hyun did not hate women.

He simply wanted to avoid having a relationship with one because there will be money to spend. But this idea has changed quite a bit after watching Seoyoon.

‘If it’s her then it’s prolly ok to treat her to a Kimbap shop. No wait. If I do that then it’ll go bad if she develops a habit of wanting to go there. Oh yea, I suppose I could treat her at an udon stall or sumthin!’ (??? sushi shop or something, google image sushi, but not sure what else it also encompasses.)

This was a somewhat of a significant change in him.

Lee Hyun was still giving Seoyoon a lap pillow even as the sun fully emerges.

The sunrise from the sea was a spectacular sight to behold.

Due to the fact that yesterday morning was filled with fog that he could not able to see such sunrise; but today, not a single cloud in the sky could be seen in this sunny weather.

From where the sky and the ocean attempting to touch one another, the sun seemingly burned them both as it rose.

“Ahh!”

Lee Hyun’s morale also rose.

Anyone looking at such beautiful sunrise can feel their commitment on the rise; Lee Hyun was not an exception.

‘This year I have to earn a lot more money!’

The sun had risen completely so there was no way to differentiate anymore.

Lee Hyun returned his gaze onto him lap and focused on the Seoyoon on it.

She somehow became prettier in the given sunlight. Due to the alcoholic facet, the view became slightly enhanced.

At this close distance, she looked as if she was a sleeping baby.

Lee Hyun bent down and picked up a nearby piece of wood. And his arm pulled out a small knife.

Sagaksagak.

He was trying to carve the soundly sleeping Seoyoon.

The handy skill he learned in Royal Road made it easier for him to sculpt.

Making Masterpiece, Classic, or Magnum was not possible, but regardless of the Artistic Values, he could still sculpt as long as he had the cardiovascular control and will.

Though still, in reality, he still didn’t have the Zahab carving knife.

Even if he gave it his best shot, in no way can he create exceptional works.

However, due to the innumerable experiences and commitment, the piece was becoming similar to what he wanted to make.

Lee Hyun was carefully carving the sleeping Seoyoon.

Chapter 6: The Loots' Shadow

Weed finished the MT and re-entered Royal Road.

But he didn’t feel very good. It was entirely due to Seoyoon.

‘I was too careless.’

Weed had face several people.

The malicious humans.

At the core, all humans are parasites leeching off on others.

The weak align themselves with the strong, while being subservient to those who are stronger than them.

Those who fail to be careful and aren’t hesitant to hold back their trust are only susceptible to being exploited in the world.

The usual seeds of discord are sown once the family members can not receive much from the given salary.

The first salary he was going to receive for working was 600,000 Won; of course, that doesn’t even come close to the minimum cost of living.

But at that time, he greatly thrilled.

It was the first time he could be paid in full for cost of labor.

And with the money, he planned on going on a shopping spree to buy his sister and grandmother clothing.

He was purely delighted.

But even at that low wage, the president did not give the full amount to him.

Using the terms of condition, the ‘unemployment insurance’ or whatever, to take from him.

Saying ‘few fellow colleagues left the factory last month so being their unemployed self, each will reap 30,000 Won from you.’

At the end of all the ‘difficult calculations’ in order to pull few a few bucks back into the factory, he received a total of 450,000 Won.

They removed a whopping 150,000 Won.

The month after, the same thing happened.

By claiming it was for the ridiculous ‘the employment insurance of employing illegal minors;’ of course he did not know, so all that was left was to believe.

Only to find out later through other colleagues that he shivered from the feeling of betrayal!

The anger wasn’t just placed on the president.

It was also toward his fellow colleagues, whom kept on spitting speeches about him being the youngest and through cumbersome and hard work that he could make something of himself.

Knowing he had suffered the injustice from the president was one thing, but finding out that the people he worked with used these spiel to tease him was another thing entirely.

Weed well knew he was at the bottom.

Just like those gamblers, drunkards, and debtors, not a single hope to living life!

Then having fallen down the pit a second time, it was difficult having to climb up once again.

So he did not believe in anyone easily.

Lee Hyun was confident that through his own suffering, he had already seen the many sides of people. But contrastively, Seoyoon was the first being unique from those he saw.

The completed sculpture was in fact, not pretty.

Its level could be counted as a souvenir; although there was a bit of resemblance, it was difficult to capture the feel of Seoyoon in the real.

The lack of time, tools, materials, and the many thing weighted in his mind weren’t at all encouraging.

Filled with his sincerest intention, he placed it secretly in her pocket.

‘I’m repaying some of the debt I owe to you.’

As in the many sculptures he made of her candidly.

No secret could be kept forever; this was simply a gesture of concession on his part to show he conceded first if it someday will be discovered.

He wanted to make sure that at least in real life he wasn’t going to get beaten to death!

For dark gamers, a death within Royal Road directly correlated to the financial loss; but comparatively, it was comforting to the mind if it was just simply that out in the real world too.

By the way, the awoken Seoyoon wasn’t angry.

She remained silent just like from the events to the meals preparations. Sometimes while watching Lee Hyun her face blushed as well!

‘She’s still drunk huh? Nah, those look as if she’s angry.’

Lee Hyun was making speculation, but the reason was actually a simple one as for the why of Seoyoon's face.

‘I let him see me sleeping.’

Seoyoon was just a girl.

She was embarrassed to let him see her sleeping face. And the coloring of his knee meant that she had done that for quite a long time too.

‘Was my head heavy?’

She had all sorts of imagination running. Even her nose corrugated from the concerns.

So every time she turned to see Lee Hyun’s face, it lit up a pinkish dye of embarrassment.

But an incident occurred when they returned to the MT group.

The chicken Lee Hyun brought. Half Sauce Half Fried.

They still had a lot of foods left over before returning safely to the mainland. It seemed as if they didn’t eat as much during the MT as he thought they would.

Lee Hyun often made food for the Dojang practitioners whenever they went on training, so he bought the ingredients this time based loosely on their input.

However, the usual students’ appetite weren’t like them, plus this second day was just a lap around the island via boats, so the hunger built up wasn’t as much as before.

So, there was a considerable amount of food ingredients still remained.

It happened during the distribution of leftover food ingredients, when Min Sura suddenly asked.

“What are we going to do about the chicken?”

“I brought him from home to eat. You want to take him?”

Lee Hyun calmly replied. It was too much of an obvious question.

If Min Sura was to get Half Sauce Half Fried, it would be more beneficial than dividing for him portions of different meat or other food ingredients.

But, the fact was that Min Sura would have difficulties carrying Half Sauce Half Fried home.

Lee Hyun added a side note.

“If you want, I can twist the neck now to make it…”

He was offering a favor.

But suddenly, Seoyoon revealed a shocked expression.

With face seemingly about to tear up, she grabbed hold of Half Sauce Half Fried with no intention of letting go.

Lee Hyun, at this impass, did not know the seriousness of the situation.

“Give me that.”

“……”

“Don’t mess around when it comes to food.”

“……”

Yet she was still stubbornly holding onto Half Sauce Half Fried.

Lee Hyun thought perhaps Seoyoon wanted Half Sauce Half Fried to eat.

“If you insist on it, then take it. So instead, you won’t get the other food materials, okay? Then please give it to me for a minute. I’ll just quickly twist its neck.”

Lee Hyun thoughtlessly stretched his hand out. But suddenly, tears flowed from Seoyoon's eyes.

“……”

In matter of seconds, criticism and looks of resentment gravitated toward Lee Hyun!

The Seoyoon with Half Sauce Half Fried was too cute.

No one could imagine how many hours she put into feeding grains of rice to it during the MT, and thus she developed feelings of affection towards it. She caught him with the intention to protect.

“What’s going on?”

“Why’s she crying?”

“Who was it!”

“Look like it was because of that chicken…”

“Seems like he forcefully tried to take the chicken and made senior Seoyoon cried?”

“How could he do something like that…”

The demonstrative power of a beauty’s tears was unspeakably powerful.

The image he built during that MT trip collapsed all at once.

It was as if he was driven to an execution without a single reason given.

‘Damnit!’

Lee Hyun wanted to punch himself.

Why was it he didn’t have his defenses up against Seoyoon at this point.

He had anticipated her hiding her evilness all this while, and it was reprimended for lowering his guard.

This was due to him obtaining finer details about Seoyoon.

She had the presence and can imprint in people’s mind of a good woman who loves life.

On the other hand, Lee Hyun received glares as if he was a savage and cruel being.

Lee Hyun was naturally victimized.

‘I was diligently diving up the meat here and all of the sudden the subject switched to animal protection.’

At this point, Lee Hyun sharply observed Seoyoon.

She was weeping without a sound while gazing at Half Sauce Half Fried affectionately.

‘You want to eat him as well.’

Lee Hyun was offering his service of wringing its neck, but to him it didn’t seem like that was something required in her case.

‘So you want to feel it while using your hands, aint it. I bet as soon as you come home you’ll twist his neck on your own.’

It was hazardous for him to continue down this way, so he took a step back.

He wanted to win against the Seoyoon at least once.

“Wait of a minute. There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding, it was just a little joke…you thought I actually wanted to eat that chicken?”

Firstly, Lee Hyun decided to take an ethical attitude. Its purpose was to deceive the public.

“Please return Half Sauce Half Fried to me. I brought him up from when he was just a chick. And in fact, his entire family is living at home. So if he does not come back, Mother Hen will be very sad.”

Justification and legitimacy!

It was just a short while, but Seoyoon could not rebuke against that logic.

Even if Seoyoon could open her mouth to express her intentions, she could not win against Lee Hyun in this situation.

“Give me him.”

Lee Hyun confidently reached his hand toward Half Sauce Half Fried again.

It was then.

Kkokkodek!

The Half Sauce Half Fried who was on standby pecked at him!

The chicken once belongs to Lee Hyun refused to go back to him.

* * *

Weed along with the Geomchis and together with other colleagues were retargeting the Todeum castles.

32 castles remaining!

“From now on, we’ll be targeting castles with maybe 40 Unicorns and Pegasus minimum, so don’t be too lax.”

At the moment, they were already too used to battle within the Todeum castles, that Weed didn’t want to lose too much tension.

But the resulting effect was very little.

“Encircle him!”

“Get him!”

Since the beginning, the Geomchis were already used to risking their lives fighting while wounded.

Despite not having experiences, weapon, and armor necessary to go forward, they already surrounded many enemies and were busy attacking their limbs.

As for Weed, as the battle raged on, did not keep an eye out for them.

“Pale nim, Maylon nim! The Pegasus is attempting to use magic! Romuna nim, try to intercept the Unicorns’ elemental summonings!”

“Yes!”

Whenever they start using magic, the level of difficulty increases tremendously. Therefore, the party had to use whatever they could in order to halt the Unicorns and Pegasus from doing so.

In the first place, if there was a distance between the two forces, the fight would turn into defeat in an instant for Weed’s.

If all 40 or so of these divine creatures were to use elemental summoning and magic, it was bound to have catastrophic consequences on the opposing force.

However, fortunately, they typically like to charge in head first at the beginning.

“No way buddy!”

Geomchi felt an interest for the first time after a long while.

Nothing in Royal Road could fill him with enough tension to run a sweat down his spine.

In the real world, he had encounter several hundreds of battles, each and every time he walked away with his life.

To overcome the worries of life and death was his way of getting stronger.

Though there had been those whom were hopelessly aggressive against him, his position as the strongest was never really challenged.

Though he had been reprimanded numerous of times due to fighting; for some reason, fighting was his reason to be excited about being alive.

In the midst of the fierce battle, Geomchi briefly looked around.

The Unicorns and Pegasus were rampaging about, while the practitioners struggled in order to stop them.

Their battle buddies as well as colleagues also brandished their weapons in order to win.

Each and every one of them struggled on desperately as they fought.

It felt as if this was the real urgency of a war.

The encirclement tactic, while seeming dangerous, pretty much held up against the unruly movement of the creatures.

“Let me have a go!”

“Unicorn meat tonight!”

The units under Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 shouted.

Geomchi and the instructors were pleased while fighting, which also lit the fighting spirit of the practitioners.

They continued deploying this fighting method while not backing down in the slightest.

“Our sword is invincible!”

“Our sword is invincible!”

The Geomchis shouted their slogan in unison. Even during this seeming war situation, they did not care a single bit.

Hwaryeong had put seven creatures to sleep.

Even with that, there were still 34 of the beasts left, and the circumstance was overwhelming.

While holding back just two of these divine creatures, five of the Geomchis had already lost their lives.

While the rotten armors made from the dragon’s bone they wore increased their primary defenses; but if they were struck with an excruciatingly damaging piercing blow, the damage would directly result onto their bodies.

The reason why many were able to barely hang on was because of the organization of the encirclement tactic they practiced.

As the situation grew increasingly precarious due to the accumulated damages dealt by the Unicorns and Pegasus, Weed scored a yell.

“Tori!”

Tori in his black cape while majestically played around with the Pegasus, replied.

“Why you call?”

“We have to change tactics now. You do not focus on just one single beast, agro as many of their attention as possible and kite them.”

In short, put up with being pummeled!

Weed also gave the similar order to the Death Knight.

“Van Hawk! Focus on defense rather than attack.”

“As the owner’s command.”

The Death Knight showed his loyalty.

But Tori did not cooperate.

If he was able to kill one his own, his growth would be substantial.

But he did not want to bear all of their oncoming attacks alone.

“I’m sorry but I will not do as you asked.”

Tori simply refused.

The subordinate relationship he had with Weed had ended. So there was no reason to comply to Weed request this time around.

Furthermore, he was now engaged in an all-out battle to do anything else!

Weed cried out.

“I will give Mapan nim!”

Tori could not understand what was said and blinked his eyes.

“Why?”

“So you can drink heartily!”

“If under that condition then OK!”

Got a deal!

Weed had sold Mapan willingly for the deal.

“Weed nim.”

Mapan built a frown, but Weed remained cool.

“This is your battle to obtain more loot.”

“LOOT! Gulp!”

Mapan swallowed his built up saliva.

Not all the loot obtained at the same.

Let propose that the most expensive parts from wolves or foxes are the claws and fangs if they’re obtainable.

But any drops from the Unicorns and Pegasus would be on a different dimension altogether from those.

For any piece of loot, one can receive more than 10 Gold per!

Mapan shouted.

“Please leave it to me!”

* * *

Bread, cake, beverages.

Movie tickets, concert tickets, figures, games, CD, etc… whenever he wanted any of these, he’d go and sell his blood.

So given since childhood, he had been funding himself through selling his blood; doing so now wouldn’t have been a big deal.

Tori with Mapan at his side were fending off attacks from Unicorns and Pegasus left and right.

Whenever his health declines, he would plug his fangs into Mapan’s nape and take how blood supplements!

“Tornado Blade!”

Tori used his skill without a hint of hesitation.

From then on, the watching from side line Mapan that wasn’t suited for fighting also had several tense moments.

Thanks to Tori’s guerilla assault of hit and kite, the practitioners could take turn for a breather.

Since then, Weed began focusing on one at a time and knocking them down.

Due to not being able to focus the intensity of the attacks, the battle dragged on nearly twice as long as before, and was victorious afterward.

Fought against the Shinsu in the 16th castle of Todeum.

Remaining castles: 31.

Reputation rise by 60.

Receives an additional 60% combat experiences.

A time for a bit of rest and relaxation!

They had come out victorious after a lot of difficult battles, but there are still more than 30 castles remained.

“Something like this is an A grade difficulty quest, eh.”

Geomchi2 let out a prideful smile.

“It’s interesting as well. It really sends shivers down my spine!”

Geomchi was already getting prepared to putting an end to resting and go back to fighting.

“C’mon, let’s go. It’s unfortunate that we only have 30 more of these interesting battles.”

For those that enjoy battle, it was something not to get excited about.

Pale and the party mustered up some energy.

The battles were hard but even more rewarding. The focus during the fight was just the battle at hand without a single pause.

The divine beasts they had to battle at this point always numbered above 60. Each and every battle, everybody fulfilled their role without a single one slacking off.

During the battle in the 19th castle against these beasts, Geomchi, the instructors, and all the practitioners crossed the threshold of 293.

The growth rate was incredible.

Aside from receiving the basic experience points from the Unicorns and Pegasus, the additional combat experience was the greatest gain.

After having looked at his level, Geomchi9 said.

“Leveling is easy.”

Geomchi11 agrees.

“I know huh. When we hunted on our own here and there, it was really slow in comparison to how easy it is to level when we hunt with Weed.”

As soon as he heard, Pale’s head began to spin.

Usually when people hear these words, they would jump up to yell.

“Leveling this way is by no mean easier!”

Leveling beyond level 200 was something similar to having stuck in traffic.

As the required experience point to reach the next level increases exponentially, even killing similarly level monsters give little to nothing EXP.

However, the Geomchis do not know the meaning of mental fatigue along with the excessive movements of the body.

18 hours of hunting a day and even more so when having the pleasure of hunting in groups.

Here, Weed is unusually fast.

By simply belong to the party he leads, they are forced to be immerse in the battle he makes.

Ridiculous hunting speed!

Eating and hunting, he pushes them to their limits.

Weed’s level was at 347 at a sudden speed.

But that was just the level not mentioning his other growth.

Fencing, Archery, Magic, and other kinds of combat skills! Attacking skills’ development also had their growth.

To get beyond the Intermediate levels and reaching the Advanced levels of skills, through conventional means was difficult due to having numerous skills; however, it was easier here thanks to the strength of the monsters he battled against.

Precision attacks to increase hit rates against the monsters that are higher level than you are, you can obtain a healthier amount than the usual.

Through this method, the proficiency of his skills, too, rose significantly.

Then, Maylon asked as if it suddenly struck her.

“Oh, Weed nim.”

“Yes?”

“Why haven’t you sculpt a sculpture by now?”

Sewing, Blacksmithing, Bandage, Herbs, Cooking, and combat skills!

Weed had raise the proficiency of all other skill but not sculpting. She was quite curious about the reason why.

To Weed, there were circumstances.

Until now he had been shearing wood to making wooden sculptures in his spare time whenever possible.

But he did not try to create something in the earnest.

‘A large sculpture. There’s no space to make such a thing.’

To create one of ten meters or more meant having to stick close to the sculpture and working on it for weeks.

Procuring the material was also a problem.

So besides having to create a huge sculpture, he would need to find something fitting the size along with the difficulty of it being a worthy material.

Then again, Todeum was a place filled many perfected compositions and a considerable number of sculptures.

They have not discovered Classic or Magnum pieces as of yet, but there are decent sculptures and pictures to gain proficiency through viewing so he did not feel the need to make a piece.

Weed explained it simply.

“The inspiration to create a piece has not hit me as of yet. And in Todeum vampires’ castles, there are a lot of paintings and sculptures yet to be discover.”

“Ah, so that’s it.”

Quickly convinced, Maylon pulled away from going deeper. Hwaryeong seemingly brooded over something, asked.

“Does it need to be some specific tree or stone for you to sculpt something?”

“Huh?”

“That is, I figured if it’s something you’d want to express, such things wouldn’t matter much anyway.”

In the vampire’s castles, the majority of the sculptures founded were carved into the walls or ceilings.

Though some are simply too plain and nothing like the grandly crafted statues to attract much attention.

Hwaryeong wondered.

“Why does it need to be something physical to make the statues?”

Weed recalled the light tower he made in Morata.

Rather than the beauty of the Light Tower itself, the harmony of lights refracted shown an even greater beauty.

He even obtained ‘The sculptor that governs light’ as a nickname!

Due to it being so amazingly creative and expressive!

For a Sculptor, there’s no better praise than that.

In reality, Weed was unaware he was dubbed as such since it surfaced from the forums.

If it was something outside money unlike something as the fox he sculpted and sold for 3 Silvers; rumors and such things was nothing for him to be concerned about.

Hwaryeong was overestimating Weed.

The Light Tower was not something he was susceptible to create at any point in time.

“You made the Light Tower from light, why not do the same with a statue?”

Weed considered seriously.

‘It’s true that I’ve been neglecting sculpture.’

Todeum itself was a very good hunting ground. Because of so, he excessively obsessed with hunting and sculpting remained on the sideline forgotten.

‘Light based sculpture.’

There was some sort of potential seen in sculpting the moonlight. Although it was a bit awkward for him to find his footing, the Moonlight Sculptor has yet to disappoint.

Weed pondered about what to create because he still did not have an idea after all had said.

“Hmmmm.”

“What kind of sculpture will be good?”

“What was made and still have words going around?”

“It has to fit into the limited ability of light being able to take shape.”

Everybody pondered.

Having fought in the castles, they would ponder over this in the middle of break time and still had trouble coming up with something.

‘So this is the pain of creativity.’

‘Art takes more time anguishing over what to make than actually making it huh.’

Even a vague concept as to how to create the sculpture had not been suggested.

After all the contemplations, Sureuka spoke.

“Well, how about this? Conversely of light, how about demonstrating the shadow’s?”

Showing an expression of not being able to get what Sureuka was talking about, Romuna looked at her.

“Shadow what?”

“The shadows of things. Using the shadow as a piece of created artwork.”

“What do you mean by making an artwork through shadows?”

“If there an object, then there’s a shadow. We can create some form by means of shadows like shadow puppeteer, y’know.”

“I think that’s not a bad idea, but is it feasible to create something through shadows and is it worth doing so?”

Romuna was dubious. To use an object and expresses it through its shadow didn’t appear to be tasteful.

But Weed regarded as a very good idea.

The usual Sculptor with common sense wouldn’t have easily attempted this idea, but he saw the advantage that could be found from this.

‘Instead of light, express it with shadows huh. Though this mean, I can make it as big as I can try.’

Composition!

Weed’s desired formation!

There was no need to get the materials also.

There are tons of materials that create shadows!

Weed made the decision in matter of seconds.

“The loot. Ima use the loots to create the sculpture.”

This expensive piece’s materials will come from the items obtained through the hunt so this was an ambitious plan of creating a sculpture!

“Good.”

“Wherever you see.”

Believed in Weed’s ability, Geomchi and the instructors readily pulled out their mats.

Everybody’s loots gathered in one place.

The gathered mats obtained from the land of vampires were a tremendous amount settled all in one place!

Given the fact that the loots were simple ingredient materials, the price of all these gathered here could amount to hundreds of thousands of Gold.

“I think this amount should be sufficient.”

Weed went to a hill located near Todeum to create a tower of loot that was about five meters high.

Ttiring!

The Tower of Miscellaneous Items was completed.

Its status does not live up what was attempted and the piece will remain unknown.

Although built with great dexterity, nobody will be able to consider and will have the difficulty understanding the eccentricity of the Sculptor’s intention.

Artistic Value: 15.

The ‘Excellent Sculptor’ Weed’s work.

Special Option(s):

Those that seen The Tower of Miscellaneous Items will have their Luck increase by 20 throughout the day.

It didn’t even match normal works.

With the current Weed’s carving skills, his smaller animal sculptures also have Artistic Values.

But compare to those completed pieces.

“It’s still not done yet.”

Weed did not stop there.

The amount used was not even 1/10th of the amount gathered.

“It’s a start.”

Weed continued stacking the loots as its size and height unrelentingly grew.

Ttiring!

A Masterpiece! The Remarkable Items Tower was completed.

Its status does not live up what was attempted and the piece will remain unknown.

With great craftsmanship, the tower height reached an excess of 20 meters.

The concept of creating something through the accumulation of goods is a fresh idea but Artistic Value is hard to obtain.

Artistic Value: 360.

The ‘Excellent Sculptor’ Weed’s work.

Special Option(s):

Those that seen The Remarkable Items Tower will have their Luck increase by 20 throughout the day.

The number of Masterpiece pieces completed until now: 25.

Sculpting skill has been improved.

Fame increases by 3.

Weed did not stop building the tower there. It was still smaller than he had originally envisioned it to be.

‘Gotta lay the basic foundation or else it’ll fall in the future.’

He continued to strengthen its foundation as the tower constantly rises.

Carefully lain where the mats would be placed.

Including empty space intentionally left bare was also considered.

‘Three moons. The brightest light should be… I should take into the changes and the path of each moon.’

Though seemingly easy to start; at this point, it was never easy.

Two days spent building the tower.

The loot’s tower size was overwhelming.

The topmost of the thing was at a staggering 50 meters!

He completely used up all the materials gathered.

“We need more mats. Let’s hunt again.”

He began hunting Unicorns and Pegasus in Todeum’s castles once again.

Every time they did so, the loots obtained made the tower to continually grow bigger and bigger.

Feathers, pieces of broken glass, metal fragments, arrowhead and roots; along with other forms of ingredient materials, the tower was in a state of beauty that was difficult to comprehend.

It was then, the tower exceeded 55 meters.

Ttiring!

A Classic! The Mysterious Tower of Items was completed!

The tower was stacked with at least 300 kinds of goods or more!

The meaning is not known, however, this odd tower does not exist anywhere on the Versailles continent.

It’s hard to deem the massive work with any artistry, but this could be a unique monument.

Even children and mercenaries can’t not hear of Weed’s sculpture.

Artistic Value: 490.

- The ‘Excellent Sculptor’ Weed’s work.

Special Option(s):

- Those that seen The Mysterious Tower of Items will have their HP and MP regeneration increase by 10% throughout the day.

- Those that seen The Mysterious Tower of Items will have an increase in drop rate by 15% throughout the day.

- Luck increases by 150.

- Stamina increases by 60.

The number of Classic pieces completed until now: 10.

Sculpting skill has been improved.

Sculpting skill has been improved.

Fame increases by 106.

Stamina increases by 1.

Charisma increases by 2.

The Mysterious Tower of Items have been included in the Wonders of Todeum.

Ownership of The Mysterious Tower of Items belongs to Weed.

If dismantling the great tower of goods for monetary gain, the acquired Fame will be reduced.

Also, for the residents of Todeum who are art lovers, the backlash from doing so could result in the decrease of Familiarity.

In exchange for creating a Classic sculpture, the previous stat will increase by 1.

Finally a Classic!

Even if it was just a few percentage increase in the drop rate of an item, that in itself was a great effect.

At this point of the hunt, the tower was a desperate necessity.

Weed continues to put in the effort by piling up the loot whenever he could.

With the consistent endeavor in doing so, the tower reached the height of 60 meters. And with that, the purpose of the tower was achieved.

“Fufufu.”

Weed sat on top of the result and smiled.

Today was the last.

‘The trouble was rewarding.’

Building the loot’s tower was rather easier than sculpting a piece.

With just one wrong move while carving, an irreversible scar will remain on the piece for all time.

Still, the tower had to be completed within the certain time so he had to work on it on an hourly basis.

“But still, it’s safely completed.”

Weed just sat and waited for the time which watching the finished product.

Balun, Gorun, and Seyirun.

The three moons peaked through the fog and were approaching the center of the sky.

The moons shine brightly.

Todeum’s unusually bright moonlights shone and everything seems as if it was out in daytime.

The tower bathes in the moonlights’ glow.

Gold and silver, jewels and swords, along with armors were glistening in the moonlights.

Having swept all of Todeum’s artwork and viewing them, the completed loot’s tower was many more times beautiful in the moonlights.

Weed’s breathing became a slight pant.

“Heoeok. So beautiful!”

He was more ecstatic about this piece more so than any thus far.

Who you think he is! This was a towering pile of cash of loots that he could sit on.

A dark gamer’s dream!

Weed was thrilled.

‘All this money. I’m sitting on money.’

The accumulated sea of loot he could swim in, the mountain of loot he could sit on, and even able to take a nap on; Weed happiness was peaked such as the sunrise at the highest point in the sky.

‘Have the relish the money made from this as well.’

Still continuing, the shadow of the tower loomed toward Todeum.

The tower’s changing shadow.

He depended on the positions of the three moons for the transformation of the shadow.

The tower shadow’s shape was becoming more and more evidently specific.

Ttiring!

A Magnum! The first attempted work of glory! The Mysterious Shadow Tower was completed!

The mysterious tower was stacked with at least 300 kinds of goods or more!

At other times, the meaning of the tower cannot be understood; but at a certain time, the expression becomes evident in the shadow.

An unusual attempt by a renown Sculptor!

Nothing beside the dexterity was applied.

Nevertheless, the Sculptor’s name will be heralded throughout the continent.

Artistic Value: 3640.

- The ‘Excellent Sculptor’ Weed’s work.

Special Option(s):

- Those that seen The Mysterious Shadow Tower will have their HP and MP regeneration increase by 25% throughout the day.

- Those that seen The Mysterious Shadow Tower will have an increase in drop rate by 19% throughout the day.

- Luck increases by 180.

- Stamina increases by 60.

- Critical attacks have 30% chance of success.

- The person who completed this sculpture will be granted a title.

- Not to be combined with other sculptures.

The number of Magnum pieces completed until now: 5.?

- Advanced Sculpturing skill have risen to 4.

Sculpture will be phenomenally more detailed. Finer craftsmanship in jewelry will have outstanding results.

- Handicraft skill proficiency have increased.

- Understanding of Sculptures skill reached Intermediate level.

The effect of carving skills will increase by 20%.

Can turn into flying creatures.

When use Shapeshifting Piece, one kind of property will be granted.

Fame increased by 1265.

Art stat increased by 19.

Stamina increased by 3.

Patience increased by 9.

Charisma increased by 5.

Has earned the title ‘The Artisan of Excellent Works.’

Can erect and Engraver Guild, and can exert influences in culture and art.

Attractiveness increased by 100.

- Restriction: Advanced Sculpting level 3 or higher.

- Sculptures that can obtain great reputation at completion.

Non-physical sculpture through shadow!

The compensation for the completion of the first ever attempt was tremendous.

“A piece with no regret. A well done work!”

Weed also felt very relieved.

His work still seemed to be deemed within the law of sensibility of the artists!

If he did not mention the meaning of the piece, then the degree of understanding and fulfillment was hard to feel.

But anyone can easily recognize the implication of the piece through the shadow of the tower.

The shadow of the tower shows just one figure.

A man.

Twisting the neck of a chicken.

He still did not let go of the grudge!

The sadness of not being able to eat Half Sauce Half Fried was evident through the shadow of the tower.

Chapter 7: The Victories In Heaven And On Earth

Due to the effects from the manifested shadow of the loot’s tower, the battle was bit more stimulating.

However, due to the resistance of the Unicorns and Pegasus, the practitioners were still dying 2-3 during each battle.

Even though with better armors, and also the growth of the levels, the battle were still against numerous enemies.

They were on their 33rd battle of suppressing the castles.

Sureuka took a kick from a Unicorn and fell dead.

After the battle, the situation was, beside the party members, the number of practitioners remain was just 212 people.

Geomchi spat at himself.

“I couldn’t be there when the fragile girl died.”

Weed soon lowered his head.

“No. It was my responsibility. I wasn’t aware and should have taken better care of my party member.”

“No. I could not provide a good example.”

“Rather Master, I think we should not be allowed to eat unless no one dies.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. It’s ok to not care about the speed of doing things.”

Geomchi carefully thought about the suggestion for a while.

“Ok then. If it’s punishment at this level then in my opinion should be sufficient. It’s true that we’ve been too fed up with the constantly similar battles in Todeum, so from now on, let’s go with what you said.”

For the instructors and the practitioners, the battlefield in Todeum provided a great training course.

It encourages camaraderie, builds backbone, and sends electrifying sensation to enjoy the game.

Therefore, it was a great place to gain power by fighting against the powerful.

Swordsmanship was not a true necessity; a steady mind was a better weapon.

Even with the death of several practitioners, it was still entertaining to fight.

But Sureuka was a simple girl; and with her death, the fights were no longer enjoyable.

Weed declared.

“No more death or no more food!”

With the suppression of Todeum’s castles, the liberated vampires also joined in the battle!

It was a time for Weed Charisma and Leadership stats to shine.

Not only the Geomchis and colleagues fought, they intended to overwhelm the Unicorns and Pegasus through numbers.

The number of released vampires thus far was 4600.

Many of the weak and common Vampire Familiars entered the fray here and there whenever the Shinsui became weary.

Now was the time for them to begin fighting in the earnest.

“Fight. Your. Enemies. To. Reclaim. Your. Lost. Dignity. And. Pride!”

You have used the skill Yell.

All allies within the proximity of Yell will have a 200% increase in morale.

All the disarray will be diminished.

Leadership will increase by 200% for 5 minutes.

“We vampires do not follow the commands of others, but Weed has proven he is a rational man.”

“His words have not been damaging.”

“The Unicorns and Pegasus are enemies we eventually will have to defeat anyway.”

The male Vampires left streaks of capes sailed by as they assaulted the Pegasus.

“Ohohohohoho! Please look at me. Allow me just a drop of your blood.”

“Kak kak kak. Charging into this world without a sense of decency, we’ll show you fools who your real enemies are.”

“They’re coming. Let’s see who the real rulers of the land are.”

The Vampire Queens’ dresses were very flashy. Wrapped tightly in full leather, and carried whips to boot.

The Queens chanted their wail of psyche curses in unison.

In the past, many of the Freya’s Knights fell victim to these deceptive techniques.

“Euhuhyuhyuhyung!”

“Yihihing!”

The Unicorn’s horns lit up with purple light.

This was a mechanism for the mind and magic to resist and won’t be easily deceived. They were immune to black magic.

However, the Queens constantly sending those curses in and summoned insects to bother the divine creatures.

The weakly Vampire Familiars transformed into bats and flippantly clung onto the beasts.

The Shinsui’s resisted vigorously, but the bats clung on and sucked their blood until death.

Chyureureup!

The bats weren’t able to avoid the damages; but through the blood consumption, they were able to recover and reclaimed the losses.

These were awfully tough opponents.

The Vampire Queens with their constant curses while summons of numerous insects and sent their enemies through many agonies.

Though, whenever there was a battle, the loss was as many as 200 Vampires.

Severe times where the losses were more than 300.

But through such battles, the surviving Vampires were much stronger.

Through the characteristics of the Vampires.

The Vampire’s traits!

Very powerful weapons.

Whenever Vampires hunt, the experience gained was dramatic and also contributed to the development of their adaptability.

With the blood consumed from the Unicorns and Pegasus, the Vampires can lessen the damage of the beasts’ magic attacks.

And with a certain amount consumed where the blood was completely digested, their power would temporarily increase.

These vampires provided Weed and the Geomchis considerable reinforcements.

Where the Vampires would die in a large amount in battle, the Geomchis hadn’t lost a single person.

Even though it was a bit risky buffing the legion; but right now, it was a powerful army of Vampires!

Weed completely controlled the legion of Vampires.

Thanks to a series of victorious battles, the Vampires moved ad if they were an extension of his limbs.

Ttiring!

Legions of Vampires completely under controlled.

The Vampires acknowledged you as an avid leader of the darkness.

Their dedicated loyalties will contribute to your notoriety.

Familiarity with the Vampires is at the best state.

They would even gives you the most delicious nape of women to drink out of respect.

- Infamy increased by 350.

- Leadership increased by 2.

- Charisma increased by 5.

They weren’t all good news.

Infamy sometimes helps with quests that required them, but the consequence was too great.

Villagers take one look at those with infamy points and would run away, or even chase them out!

In any case, the Infamy he has thus far was not something high enough to be concern about.

‘If it’s Infamy, it’ll go away if I donate to the church or finish some quests.’

Of course, for him to make donation to the temple was something highly unlikely; but if it’s a true necessity, it was the quickest way to rid of it.

The problem lies elsewhere.

Ttiring!

Have joined up with the despicable Vampires to hunt the innocent Shinsui.

In exchange for all the vicious acts You committed, your actions will be reflected.

Weed’s forehead was inscribed in red.

The mark of a murderer!

Anyone could understand the mark shone in crimson.

“Why this happens to me…”

Weed said in distress.

If the mark was received by the others, it wouldn’t be so unfair.

But even while hunted in groups, he alone obtained the mark of a murderer.

There are tremendous penalties being the recipient of the mark.

While being vulnerable to the attacks of other users, the drop rate for items would be higher than most at death.

Obtaining quests are more difficult, making it harder to be release from the mark.

“Why did this only happens to me?”

Even someone like Weed wanted to complain.

Pale took some time and answered with the most likely reason.

“Could it be because you killed a lot of Unicorn and Pegasus?”

Weed was the highest level and the best in damage output, hence being the one that killed the most.

Romuna stealthily noted.

“The person who proposed to come to Todeum was Weed nim.”

Irene, while blinking her eyes innocently, said.

“Being the mastermind behind all the bad things.”

“……”

As she knew of all the reasons, Weed could not rebuke.

The Geomchis looked rather envious.

“That look wicked.”

“Manly.”

“They say you’re famous when you are a murderer…”

The mark was well received from the Vampires.

“From the beginning he wasn’t a good man.”

“We were right, placing our expectations.”

“Here, while it’s a bit vulgar, you can plug your teeth into the colleague’s nape.”

While being hailed by the Vampires, they continued attacking Todeum’s castles.

Weed efficiently manages the power of the Vampires.

Irien’s holy power could only heal the people. They did not work on the Vampires.

‘Holy powers are rather poisonous to Vamps, huh.’

The thing Vampires want is blood!

While near the brink of death, with a generous ‘donation’ of blood, the dying Vampires can be reinvigorated.

An increasing number of Unicorns and Pegasus fell victim to the life stealing Vampires.

The Vampires’ level continues to climb.

On the other hand, the members of Weed’s party obtained less and less experience and loot, but it was something inevitable.

Even with the reduction of Vampires, their number still increases.

Through the battles, a huge number of them died, but with the awakening of more, the number was made up and then some.

The Vampires led by Tori, his family Jinhyeo, was also upgraded.

Different vampire Lords also woke up one after another.

They lead a huge variety of Vampires.

Dream Vampires.

Non physical beings, uses illusions to cause confusion and paralysis.

Shadow Vampires.

Those that hide in the darkness in wait to attack their enemies.

Only reveal their canines at propitious times of attack, something hard to react to.

Assassin Vampires.

An unknown type of vampires.

Other elegant and art loving aristocrats of that aspect, though similar, was difficult to be placed in the same class.

Power! Prowess!

On chest and arms and such, hair was all over the place like bizarre beasts with formidable strength.

Natural fighters with no use of magic.

The only ways to separate them from the normal beast were their fangs and their capes.

All in all, with more than 5000 Vampires under his control, they far exceed the capacity of Weed’s Leadership no matter how meticulous his management was.

In fact, more than 100 of them were out of his control.

He had seen this before back when he conducted the Orcs and Dark Elves; if the number exceeds the capacity of his Leadership ability, then the crowd would play around or resists the order if he was just a bit distracted.

Weed was reaching his limits to conduct with the lack of Leadership, the Charisma to Yell, and Familiarity.

Weed entrusted the excess Vampires to the Orc Seechwi.

* * *

Orc Seechwi. She took a breath toward the sky and sigh.

“Chwiik, with the Orc’s body, I, I can’t make the posture freely, chwichwit!”

If she tries to bend forward, a bunch of fat flaps would prevent her from doing so.

The fats on each side would rock whenever she moves.

Ffs!

And the face when she seriously tried and ends in failure were also something beyond belief.

At each time, she pants like no tomorrow.

“With all due respect, Orc is a joke! Chwichwhik!”

Seechwi was wonderfully and graciously enjoying the solitude.

During the battle thus far, she really didn’t have anything else to do.

Simply taking care of herself!

She was assigned some errands as she was fitting for them.

But it has change henceforth.

Group Conducting Skill has been created.

Group Conducting Skill 1 (0%):

Depending on the skill level, the Orc is able to configure up to 35 members (Orcs) in the unit.

Of different species, the Orc can configure 20 members.

Depending on the skill level, the influence of Leadership increases by 3%.

All party members and the unit can have an increase in Stats.

An increase in Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Physical Resistance.

Experience received will increase by 2% for all party members and the troop. (16% increase at skill mastery.)

All party members and the unit have an increase resistance to Confusion and Fear.

Rises in Leadership will have extra effects on the skill!

In the case of human, though slightly different depending on the occupation, usually can form a party up to five members.

Then, with each additional 50 points in Leadership, the party can increase by one member.

Orcs are exempt from this.

From the beginning, they can form parties consist of 10, 20 members to hunt.

In Seechwi’s case, due to her obtaining the Group Conducting skill, the size of the party was much larger under her command.

From the skill to her Leadership, a substantial number of 50 members can be grouped into the party.

In addition to being able to strengthen her party members, even able to conduct monsters was a big help.

“Wi, with this, I’m also a force, chwiik! Not imposing as an Orc but as a commander. Chwichwichiik.”

Seechwi wiped away her tears of sorrow, and moved around showing off freely.

While the protruding belly extends to the utmost, and even loud nasal nose!

“Chwichwichwit. If you listen closely to what I say, I will feed you with lots of delicious food!”

Seechwi shouted her commands at the controlled Vampire Familiars.

She had doubts in the ability of Weed’s conducting when she watched from afar. But now the idea has changed.

‘Those wild Geomchis. If it’s someone else then they won’t be able to command them.’

Her first impression of the Geomchis was that they were tougher.

Nearly the size of the Orcs with close-cropped hair, and body of twitching muscles.

And murderous gaze to boot. An accidental eye contact would spell constant apologies from the other party!

The intimidation level was something not typical.

So much so that when ordinary people came near them, those people would naturally shrink and got out of the way.

And then, with the intensity of 500 worth of them together, who would have the galls to issue them an order. (I wanted to say balls, a letter apart.)

Constantly going to fight, along with the stubbornness and pride to boot.

Wherever they’d go, there was no other way but to cause trouble.

But in front of Weed, they were just naïve pigs.

‘If they get food then they’re good. Then rushes to fight to rid of everything that pent up.’

The food Weed made were satisfying scrumptious, aromatic, and even prospective to they eyes.

Pudding that melts or tasteful shark’s fins in their mouth!

Seechwi also, couldn’t sum up how many times her fingers reached for the entrée.

Nevertheless, if it seemed like how simple humans the Geomchis were at first sight, then one would definitely by puzzled at how they acts.

But, those that came to know them, their problem was understandable.

For the Geomchis, the shortest time being 10 years, while the more severe were more than 30 years, lived with strict regimen.

Their foods too, simply consisted of cooked chicken breasts or egg whites only, were something tiresome.

For them, their diet in the Dojang was simple.

300 grams of boiled chicken breasts without any sauce at every meal.

The egg whites too, 10 to 20 worth of them without a speckle of salt.

If you lived such a life for 10 years or so, then you would even be ecstatic with just the taste of a chewing gum.

With just the fish and boneless chicken breasts lain out on the grill and the pork ribs getting bake, their hearts thump thump in anticipation.

Just by watching the sizzling sound of the ripening meat as its juices flown out, their mouth would essentially do the same with drools.

Having this second life in Royal Road, being able to indulge in this world without having any repercussion on their bodies in real life; the Geomchis lost themselves in their gluttony.

And whenever they encounter strong opponents, they can expend all their energy to fight.

The only fear they have was hunger!

Laughter and heartbreak over food, simple and fierce men.

Holding all their rights was Weed.

‘Domesticated them with food. He have been cleverly give them tastier and tastier food…he won’t come out with a full entrée else they’ll be fully indulged and he loses them.’

Weed far exceeded the skillfulness of being the leader of the party or that of an expedition.

The recognizable talent of an exceptional being whom able to leads an underdeveloped third world country with dictatorship.

Skillful politician, the instigator, the vicious defamer! The perfect representation of a dictator!

It could be said because of Weed, the Geomchis and regular users like Pale should be well received everywhere.

‘He might as well have put the highest additive drug in the food! Charisma and Leadership should only be able do so much. You fit the definition of unrefined and jerk to a T.”

Seechwi too, from that moment, was probably being drugged by Weed with the drink in hand.

* * *

The Vampire army commanded by Weed was more sustainable as the battles continued.

The size was larger, and they were getting stronger.

So of course, the experience and the acquisition of items greatly reduced.

As the EXP dispersed among the Vampires, full experience could no longer be obtained.

“Let’s go to the next castle.”

Weed said with a harsh impression.

Having won all the battles thus far, he had yet shone a single delighted expression.

This was not always the right course of action befitting that of a great leader in the face of a crisis.

The reason behind this was because he couldn’t get anything.

Appalling to the core!

‘All the loots after death are going to the Vampires!’

Anyway, with the progression of the quest, it was to be expected since the force was needed in the first place.

In fact, their earning summed up weren’t much to speak of. This was due to the fact that the Death Knight Van Hawk was participating in all of their battles with stronger brutality each time.

The knight of the darkness Death Knight!

Van Hawk was a powerful DPS that inflicted a great deal of damage to the Unicorns and Pegasus.

Naturally, lots of the drops went to him when dead.

A quick check of his level, suddenly he exceeded 368.

He was proportional to the general Death Knights at around level 200.

But now, the growth beseeched him to that of the higher grade monster.

“Death Knight information window!”

Name

Van Hawk

Alignment

Darkness

Race

Undead

Level

368

Class

The Evoker of Despair Death Knight

Title

The Dark Hand of Army Commander

Reputation

7904

Health

126930

Mana

23850

Strength

964

Agilitiy

675

Stamina

650

Fortitude

315

Wisdom

220

Intellect

220

Fighting Spirit

594

Endurance

455

Faith

-200

Charisma

242

Leadership

502

Luck

-200

Physical Resistance

268

Loyal Knight of the Kallamore Kingdom.

Stained with the forces of darkness and was reborn a Death Knight.

Had a part in commanding the Legions of Immortality under

Barkhan; but in the recent years had deviated from his control.

Death Knight with terrible damage and has the ability to command.

- Death Knight is head of the unit.

- Vulnerable to Holy magic.

- Can control Undead, Monster corps.

- Less than 4 Black magic circles available.

- Fully grasped the art of Kallamore Kingdom’s swordsmanship.

Originally a Darkness army commander, the Death Knight!

Able to be at the center and called on the members of darkness, he could call them to war.

Even though the damages taken by the unit Weed entrusted in him were higher due to the characteristic of the Death Knight, but they were able to attack as much as they could so there was no complaint.

Van Hawk forces his way toward the boss level mobs as a Death Knight without fear.

Weed recalled the past.

‘Ever since I met him at the City of Heaven Lavias, we’ve been to so many places.’

He prevailed through several hunting grounds with Death Knight Van Hawk at his side.

Thanks to having him watching the rear, Weed could fight on heartily.

Although recently he have been hunting with his colleagues and the Sahyeongs, but there were many times where Weed hunted alone.

Even during the time where he was together with Seoyoon in the north, when she wasn’t around Van Hawk would enter the scene.

Weed gazed at Van Hawk nostalgically.

“This damned fellow.”

“……”

“Don’t take a breather and fight diligently.”

The feeling disappeared and Weed spat out the cold words.

So they continuously drove from one castle to the next for conquest.

In fear of the vampiric effect disappearance and having their adaptive and attacking powers plummets, they fought with minimal amount of rest.

The Vampires’ complaints were ceaseless.

“I only want to fight just once a night.”

“Give us a break.”

In order to avoid them getting tired, Weed pushed his forearm forward to sooth the Vampires and fill them.

“Drink.”

He provided them with fresh blood to satiate their fountain like Stamina.

Weed went first, then the weak willed Pale, Irene, and others also joined in.

Now only four remaining castles!

“Huhihihihing!”

There were golden horn Royal Unicorns, flowing argent mane on Silver Pegasus.

At the sight of their skin, Zephyr gulp with a little nervousness.

“Gulp! They’re monsters that have never been disclosed, Hyeongnim.”

“But they’re not huge in numbers. If we push from the sides, we got it.”

Weed replied with clarity and with his right hand.

A drop of it to signal the push of thousands of Vampires!

The Royal Unicorns and Silver Pegasus lasted in matters of minutes before kneeling and disappearing from sight.

That was how all the last remaining castles subjugation essentially went.

Hwaryeong, with admiration, said.

“I think Weed nim’s was born with excellent memory.”

“Hm?”

“You’ve remember Todeum’s geography exactly. Even the order of up to 47 castles.”

The party too was amazed with the information.

Of course it wasn’t all in Weed’s memory.

“It’s ‘cause there’s a map.”

“A map?”

“I learned how to draw from Yurin so I made one myself.”

Hwaryeong eyes lit up. She was very curious at Weed’s painting.

“Could I see the map?”

“I don’t think it’s a problem.”

From Weed’s chest, a straightened out crumbled sheet of paper was shown.

An outline of Todeum’s entrance was drawn, and then castles were drawn a bit small up to the fifth castle.

After that, due to the size of the paper, castles were increasingly getting smaller.

Although from the entrance to the few castles were drawn, the rest including the roads were a mess.

Instead, they were replaced with explanations.

Long rise from entrance on the right of the heroes’ tower a beautifully large castle

Lots of apple trees castle.

Across the bridge north, a blossoming yellow flower castle.

10mins walk into the alley, gate to the blue castle.

The only person who can tell head from tail of this map was probably just Weed.

Hwaryeong trembled.

‘I can’t believe we followed this map to hunt.’

Anyway, the conquest of the last castle ended safely.

All the Vampires of Todeum has been liberated.

Since then, Weed, the Geomchis, and the party began setting their sights toward Todeum for the unfolding event of their service.

Todeum!

The kingdom of legend where Vampire lives!

Three glowing moons.

Weed’s made loot’s tower at a distance, old fashioned castles, and an unknown Heroes’ Tower.

Above all those, the Unicorns and Pegasus took flight throughout Todeum.

Also on the ground were those drinking and leisurely grazing about.

But then, from far away, dark clouds rapidly descended.

The dark clouds pretty soon enveloped Todeum from all over.

Fierce wind blew, heavy rain poured.

Kureureureureung. (wind)

Kwagwagwang! (bullet rain)

Every time thunder and lightning struck, only flashes of light were seen.

The bodies of the Unicorns and Pegasus who drank and grazed on the ground soon were covered with huge swarms of bats that clung on.

The Vampires also broke out of the castle through the windows in unison.

For vampires, the darkness had no effect in their vision.

They surrounded the herd of Unicorns and Pegasus that were covered with bats, and with soulless stares, aimed straight at the necks.

Kwaak!

Vampires were weaker than the Shinsuis, but a multitude of vampire fangs entered their necks.

Sneakily within the disruptive bats, the divine creatures’ health and stamina were rapidly absorbed.

“Euhihihihing!”

The Unicorn cries.

The Royal Unicorn spoke.

“As members of the virtuous forest clan, we cannot be force back by those of the night clans. Burn everything. Summon Kasya.”

Fire spirits were summoned.

The swarm of bats that covered the common Unicorns also protected the sneaky Vampires from the effect of the spirits.

“Summon Undine!”

Turned the rain water into spears and flew around fighting the swarm of bats.

Silver Pegasus used their magic.

“Dancing Light.”

“Fire Arrow!”

In the darkness, light in flight and fire arrows made of magic penetrates the bats and Vampires.

The battle between the Vampire and the Shinsui raged throughout Todeum.

Within the raining of cats and dogs, magic spells and summoned spirits, along with bats, all were clustered.

The Vampires that rushed in early on and had a definite clutch.

“The blood of Unicorn is really sweet.”

The vampire Queen giggled flirtingly.

Some seemed to pay heed and chuckled at every sluggish movement the Unicorns made.

The Queens were women.

The Unicorns like things that are beautiful, and falling asleep on the lap of virgins would be the ideal happiness for them.

‘Beautiful.’

‘It’s too fishy if I go over to them. Yihing!’

They stood firm and weren’t tempted, but their summoned spirits were hesitant and did not attack.

The situation in the sky for the valiant Pegasus cutting through the sky also wasn’t good.

Steeds of the sky!

Largely filled with muscles, neurotic and couldn’t have been more violent.

In addition, their rushing speed was something hard to follow.

Because of that, the Pegasus shouldn’t have been allowed to soar the sky.

Though now, their body swiveled due to the bats clinging on like leeches.

“Woheheheng!”

The Pegasus landed and with their limbs, crazily stomped the ground.

Nape, sides, hip, forelimbs, the bats covered all with their teeth inserted.

With sharp pain, the paralysis had taken place.

Then the Vampires drove in to ensure the kill.

The Unicorns and Pegasus fell to the ground in rhythm with the beating of the thunder and lightning.

Their screams of death were buried within the pounding of the heavy rain.

But further away, in the higher place, the watching divine beasts flew in to see the crisis of their brethren.

“You still have not gone away, you of the night clan still have not gone to your slumber. I shall send you to an eternal rest.”

The Unicorns, while in the air, cast their magic.

Regardless of their own kind, they brandished their magic toward all the bats and the Vampires.

The Pegasus were scary sprinters.

During the Todeum castle hunts, the thing that victimized the practitioners the most was their full speed charge!

Several dozens Pegasus rushed through the sky while hitting the swarm of bats and Vampires.

In the areas swept through by the dashing Pegasus, a few surviving Vampires staggered with injuries.

“Whew, barely survive. Blood, I need blood.”

“Shall we turn into bats and give chase?”

“Even with our top speed we can’t match up to them.”

A glance of the Vampires and they saw the beasts were more than 300 meters away in the distance.

In the brief moment of a single breath, the herd of Pegasus was already circling the sky.

Their gestures in the sky, when switching from one direction to the next, differed from that of a flock of birds.

The Pegasus spun in an orbit similar to that of a wheel in the sky above.

Along with a straighten head squared off, their feet once again accelerated terribly in midair.

Dudududududududududu!

The Vampires who turned into bats, with the thought of being a safe distance far away, but in a moment, they were nose to nose due to the beasts lightning like dash!

The area where the Pegasus had swept by once again, the Vampire bats disappeared without even trace of their cloak remained.

“Wohihihing!”

The movements the Pegasus shown during the battle against the practitioners seemed to be something like child’s play; the piercing speed they demonstrate in this battle field was tremendous.

At those times, it was due to the marrow space that they couldn’t fully utilize their speed.

Their summons and magic were also essential blocked and forced into close combat.

The Unicorns and Pegasus’ attacking powers were pretty much sealed.

However, in the vast open space, they swept through the Vampires using charge as if they were nothing.

“No vampire could take this!”

“Should we just be sacrificial and hung onto their nape with our fangs?”

Clamoring of the Vampires who were struck.

They could not come up with an adequate solution to deal with the divine beasts.

Their movements were too fast; a turn of one’s head was enough for them to be breathing down his neck.

Along with the use of spirit summons and magic, the once shrouded darkness the Vampires was given was no longer explicitly important during the fight.

Whether it was Weed, the practitioners, or the party, no remorse were given from these high level Shinsuis.

Though the Vampires did deal hazardous amount of damage, it was nothing comparable to their intensity.

The Vampires that took a big hit to their health and mana, plummets to the ground.

Some wounded lay motionless, while others reached for close by Shinsuis that were molested by swarms of bats.

The Vampires slammed their fangs into the beasts and drank their blood.

“Kyaah.”

“This vitality filled hot blood.”

The degrading staggering Vampires obtained more vigor.

From the eyes that were losing focus to their arms, vitality, stamina, and mana too, all recovered.

Even at their deathbed, the Vampires were still not done.

Using this life stealing technique, they can regain their original power with a sip of fresh blood!

The Vampires would once again battle after having regained their vitality.

Also, not one of the Vampire Lords died.

They were far superior than other Vampires; and if the Unicorns and Pegasus weren’t cooperating with one another, then the Lords were stronger than them too.

Such were the Vampire Lords!

The vampire clan Jinhyeo that was led by Tori.

Even though his Intelligence wasn’t high in the first place, a lot of battle experience and skill proficiency built up when he battled with Weed.

Tori knew by watching Weed how to control the unruly Pegasus.

Tori used magic.

“Summon Spider!”

Huge spider webs were generated in the sky.

Sticky webs that connected every castles!

Obviously since the sky had no support, they couldn’t act as fixed location for the web.

Nevertheless, large networks were formed by the interweaving spider webs, and caught swarms of bats flying about.

Seeing these bats stuck on the webs, the Unicorns and Pegasus rushed at them with terrific speed.

The webs were pierced through and went limp.

But every time they pass though the webs, the beasts’ speed were increasing getting slower.

From the head to their limbs, the Shinsuis were tangled in the sticky webs and their movements were slowing down.

“Summon Spider!”

“Summon Spider!”

Seeing how the Jinhyeo clan effectively acted, other Vampires also simultaneously cast the skill.

Todeum’s castles, streets, and the sky above were struck with countless of intertwining spider webs.

Having pierced through many webs, the Pegasus had significantly dropped their speed, and many flocks of bats came like ominous clouds and drank their blood.

* * *

Weed, Geomchis, and the party were equipped and ready to embark.

As soon as the last battle in the castle ended, they all sank in exhaustion.

Without a pause to be happy about the accomplishment or a blissful rest, the war broke out between the Vampires and Shinsuis.

So for them, the recovery of health, stamina, and mana were all delayed.

“Let’s go. The final hunt!”

“It’s time we go out.”

The rumbling made Weed and the Geomchis jumped. And that still could not represent the massive situation going on about.

The entire castle felt the progression of the war.

With magic and summoned spirits rampant, the castle walls were in rumbles.

The Vampires, Unicorns, and Pegasus were in the middle of a fierce battle in mid air.

It was not an exaggeration to say that was where the main battlefield was.

Geomchi2 muttered in vanity.

“But how the heck are we going to fight in the sky?”

The activation of some skills had prerequisites. However, they were still severely depleted of mana.

Since they overly invested in Strength and some in Agility, the Geomchis were fundamentally fast and strong, and can use various weapons in all range.

Geomchi showed that he was the one with the most experience.

“We’re not limited to one weapon. If we can’t use sword, then we got our bow.”

“We have that as well!”

Therefore, following Geomchi’s actions, the instructors and practitioners all drew their bow in unison.

“All ready! Fire!”

The arrows that were seemingly to be coming off of siege weapons shot into the sky.

Many flew into the cobwebs but not only did they strike the Unicorns and Pegasus, the swarms of bats and Vampires were also hit.

“Keuaaang!”

“The humans are attacking us.”

The Vampires complained.

While only a few of the divine beasts were hit, the Vampires suffered heavy damage from those.

The reason being Weed created those bows for their strength and not accuracy; so instead of the targeted Shinsuis, they hit the pursuing Vampire flock instead.

“Hit it!”

“Continue shooting!”

Completely oblivious to this matter, the Geomchi group continues shooting toward the sky.

After having repeatedly attacked by the arrows, the Vampires were fiercely angry.

Even at this time, the unaware Geomchis kept doing it while not knowing this method was wrong.

Geomchi roamed around.

“Weed!”

He was to be called whenever things did not work out!

For some situation, it was up to Weed to find an appropriate solution and they waited on his commands.

However, Weed was nowhere near Geomchi’s vicinity.

“Geomchi2.”

“Yes, master!”

“Where’s Weed?”

“Uhh. He was here a while ago…”

“Look for him.”

“Yes.”

Geomchi2 and all the practitioners looked for Weed.

Moments later, they found him at a distance.

He was in a place where many Unicorns and Pegasus had fallen during combat.

Due to their high level, the fallen had remarkably survived.

They continued a strenuous effort to get airborne by flapping away, but to no avail.

Along with the Vampires and bats that fell and were subjected to their life stealing technique, the Shinsuis were paralyzed.

Resistance owes more misery!

Weed quietly grabbed the horn on one of the Unicorns.

“You won’t feel the horn.”

“Kkwaeaeaek!”

This time, he pulled out Zahab’s carving knife.

“The smoothness of this shiny polished leather.”

“Kkeueoeoeok!”

The strength of these muscles. I think its well taken care of.”

“Peuheheheheng!”

The horn taken, leather skin skinned, and even up the muscles, he took them all.

Even after death, horns or leathers could be obtained.

But the odds of selling them at a premium price were higher if they were obtained when the beasts were alive.

In several cases, the Shinsuis bellowed just once more, and then died.

Since the beasts were already almost near death in this state, the EXP attained weren’t much when killed, but generous amount of items could be acquired through this method.

Each one dropped several loots such as Gold or Silvers, mats, and even armors and weapons!

Such luck won’t return a second time.

It was like a dream for Weed.

‘The loot’s tower also came out good. The Japtem(Loot) God is so gracious to me.’

On the Versailles continent, this was not a recognized religion. Its existence was solely through rumors and words of mouth.

Nevertheless, the Japtem God was just as great as any other!

In the past, someone obtained five Unique Grade equipments in just 2 hours of grinding on the Honose plains!

In the mountains around Fort Ohdein, someone found a cart of Dwarfen made gloves just by walking around!

And someone claimed to have found 70000 Gold worth of loots from a treasure chest in a cave nobody lives in; myths like these of the Japtem God has been endless.

Weed has been a devoted follower of the loots and items’ faith.

Of course of course, he absolutely won’t ever make a donation.

One being there was no formal temple.

Also, the Japtem God was generous. Simple prayer in one’s room was enough to beget His grace.

A single doctrine.

'Do not throw japtem away in vain. In this world, no japtem was useless.'

Among the Dark Gamers, the sensation of this japtem doctrine reverberated considerably and its ideal was widely valued.

‘At last, I have received the Japtem God’s blessing I’ve heard so much about.’

Whenever he seized one, he could earn at least 900 Gold.

If they couldn’t recover their wounds and take to the sky, those that could barely function pretty much considered themselves dead.

This too, was a battle against the Unicorns and Pegasus who were on the ground, so Weed had no reason to hesitate.

And then, noticing Weed’s behaviors, Pale, Maylon, Zephyr, Hwaryeong, and Romuna too, diligently attacked the Shinsuis.

If you can believe it, Mapan also went out.

As a Merchant, he was weaker than most; and even though his main objective was to stay alive in most battles, he now held a huge ax up and singled out a dropped Unicorn to hit.

Geomchis also realized.

“We’re going to catch those that are down on land. Get them all!”

“Yeah!”

The Geomchi troop changed their targets and aimed at the fallen beasts.

The Shinsuis’ nature was that of horses, and did little to resist after having fallen.

Unless you’re paralyzed, standing around on your feet giving up is pathetic!

Even a dismay bear that had given in could easily be caught.

The hardest thing in the spacious Todeum was the sneaking around approaching the fallen Unicorns and Pegasus.

While the battle still raged on in the air, magic spells and summoned spirits occasionally made their way down to the ground.

So they had to mindful of the battle above to avoid the incomings while paying attention to how they spread themselves.

But even so, for the Geomchi, the instructors, and practitioners, it wasn’t an easy thing to do!

Geomchi took off his armor and moved around exposed.

“Our sword is invincible!”

The instructors’ interest was aroused. They followed Geomshi’s footstep and took off their tops.

Twitching muscles on their study physique!

“Our sword is invincible!”

The practitioners also fought undressed. The perilous path!

To take your armor off means a dramatic decrease of your defense. If in this state you are attacked, the received damage can amount to five times the damage you would get with your armor on.

That means just a twitch of the Unicorn’s hind limb was equivalence to death!

Along with that, their lives were also at the risk of getting hit by stray magic or summoned spirits.

But because Geomchi and his students enjoy the tension, it was their decision to do so.

Moreover, the only person who could seemingly restrained them, Weed, was hunting blindly.

Weed had long since noticed the abnormal behavior of Geomchi and the students.

“Hm. Why not run fast like that?”

Because the armor he worn wasn’t a heavy armor that his speed was great. The defense given was little, but it had maximized his Agility.

“This…!”

Weed too, quickly took off his armor.

Even though it was risky, and if something does happen, then nothing can be done.

While carrying his full baggage, only at this moment when the Japtem God sent his rare blessing, that there was no reason to hesitate.

“JAPTEM!”

Weed’s eyes were bloodshot and he ran circles around the Unicorns and Pegasus.

Along with him, more than 200 others did the same!

“Our sword is invincible!”

On the ground, along with the resounding shouts, the number of Shinsui plummeted.

Fear, fear, fear.

From the dark sky.

Thunder, lightning, and heavy rain pounded down.

Vampires and flock of bats attacks continued on soundlessly having been drowned in these.

Many of the horses’ falling brethren cry!

Now the few remaining Shinsui began their escape.

But were relentlessly pursued to their ends by the Vampires.

Not even able to reach beyond the boundaries of Todeum, all the divine creatures were wiped out.

All the surviving Vampires landed on castles and the tower wearily.

The rain stopped, and the clouds were disappearing.

Todeum’s castles were filled with Vampires.

Their bodies wrapped in black cloaks as they stood gracefully. At last, the long battle had ended.

An aged Vampire came toward Weed.

“Thank you, human. You saved us.”

While looking at the Vampire’s aged face, Weed asked.

“Were you the Vampire that left the message?”

“That’s correct.”

“But unlike a lot of other Vampires, your face looked rather old.”

“Well, that’s because I drank past the upper limit of blood before going to sleep.”

“……”

“If I drink a bit of fresh blood from a virgin, I will heal. Now that they no longer exist, nothing in Todeum can oppose us. We can regain the luxurious and enjoyable life again. Thanks to all you humans.”

From Weed, Geomchis, and up to the party members, message windows popped up.

Ttiring!

The request from an unknown Vampire.

Todeum’s past was as old as their night as long.

Human loving Vampire.

Solitude liking Vampire.

If watching flowers, the shy Vampire.

The jewelry collecting Vampire.

Enjoying painting and sculpting Vampire.

With stones, castle building Vampire.

Nature caring Vampire.

The Vampires that had been deserted by Gods.

Parasitic to humans, they were beings that lived by hiding in the darkness, and were determined to establish their own kingdom.

The continent wandering Vampires found a place to rest and made it their home.

Peace has once again arrived to Todeum, and now, the Vampire civilization will shine even more brilliant.

You had become the Vampire Kingdom Todeum’s savior.

Fame increased by 4420.

Charisma increased by 25.

Hostility with clans of the forest increased by 100.

Having experienced in an extraordinary battle, all combat related Stats will increase by 3.

- Level has increased.

- Level has increased.

- Level has increased.

- Level has increased.

- Level has increased.

With the successful quest, Weed had gained six levels.

The others ranged between 9-12 levels.

The one that had gained the most levels was Seechwi, having attained as much as 17 levels in compensation.

Since the beginning, this was one of the characteristic of the fast growing Orc.

In this moment, all the accumulated tension the Geomchis and the party members felt was all released.

“Ahh.”

“We did it.”

“Success.”

All the party members simultaneously in glee and their faces filled with happiness.

An improbably A Grade difficult quest was successful. And the level up was something from a dream!

Their chests were filled with achievements and delights.

The Geomchis however, grunts in dissatisfaction

“Weed levels were raised too, my chase continues.”

“Ah, this, didn’t expect levels to rise so easily.”

“……”

The Geomchis continued with their complaints, and Weed again stood in front of the Vampire.

The compensation for the quest hasn’t ended yet. The Vampires’ treasure still remains.

“For God’s and our faith, we have done our best for you. Now please bestow on us what has promised.”

The Vampire nodded.

“Adventurers, while there had been many wandered freely about, none had accepted the responsibility like you have. The Vampire race does not ever forget a promise made. We may commit fraud or lies, but never will we forget a promise.”

There was something disturbing in that remark.

The Vampire pulled out a rusty key.

“In Todeum’s treasury, there are many rare treasures. As promised, here is the key to the warehouse. For us nobles of the night, we have many of the heavy things so if it’s something you want, take it.”

“What about the location of the treasury?”

“That, you’ll need to look for yourself. But be careful and heed my words. That old key can no be replaced.”

The Vampire let out an insidious laughter.

Weed received the key.

Ttiring!

You have acquired the key to the Vampire’s treasury. Be careful, the durability of it is very low.

Chapter 8: Prisoner of War

Kingdom of Haven.

The central powerhouse of the continent, wide and fertile territories, along with mineral rich mountains.

For these reasons, many users chose this kingdom when they first started out playing Royal Road.

“A lot of mountains, meaning a lot of dungeons, lairs, and dangerous hunting grounds exist here.”

Here, it’s primarily filled with adventurous classes or Bard.

“The trading posts here are great too. It has convenient access to all other kingdoms, and…with the amount of adventurer types, there’s no end to the spoils.”

Merchants also chose the Kingdom of Haven.

Warriors, Priests, and even those that wanted to hunt, also decided on the kingdom.

Thanks to this, the kingdom flourished commercially along with explosive military might.

A person unrelated to the kingdom will probably see this as a crowed town.

Whether it was Illuin, Khiden, or Balkiseu castles, even as soon as dawn the streets were bustling with crowds.

But the too many people, Mulline, has endless amount of disputes.

Whether they were at dungeon, lair, mountain, or in the plains, endless amount of battles took place among guilds.

“The first to strike will not be eaten.”

“War! We should get together for war!”

It was filled with counsel and tactical meetings.

Guild alliances and unions often met with repeated disbandment and betrayal.

In the Kingdom of Haven, there exists several thousands of guilds ready to go to war.

Along with mercenaries obtained from other countries, increasingly larger wars were fought.

The powerhouse Bar-Ray leads the Hermes Guild to occupied the Noreunjawi castles led by Bar Ray with the intention to reign over the entire kingdom.

Blood Knights, lone Mercenaries, red Mages units set their flag where the oppositions of Hermes had fallen.

* * *

Kallamore Kingdom.

Once, the kingdom had a vast territory.

But in the royal palace’s weakened state due to the members of the imperial court scrambling up the nation’s power; in its opening, the capital got burned down as they suffered a downfall from the aggression of the neighboring countries.

Nevertheless, they tried to resurrect the empire by once again lifting their flag.

They deployed the strongest knight of the royal family, one that was venerated and revered by other countries as the strongest traditional military power of the central continent.

And since it was exclusive to the nobles and its inhabitants, as travelers deemed it an inconvenience; not many users chose to start from Kallamore Kingdom.

Similar to other countries, they have a huge population with developed mining, technology, and commerce; but unlike the others, guild wars did not occur frequently.

This was due to the fact that they were surrounded by the Senbain mountains; so every week, a huge wave of monsters poured down and spread throughout the kingdom.

Looting and destruction.

If the frontline fell, the village and its inhabitants were fated for complete disappearance.

Because of this, the user base rather dislikes the Kallamore Kingdom.

– It’s too hard, and you can lose everything in an instant in the kingdom.

– I don’t recommend it. Unless you’re the type that wants to die.

– Don’t go, the protection at Sebain is no good.

Travelers turned their sight away from getting anywhere closer within the range of Kallamore Kingdom due to the outbreak of monsters.

In the kingdom, though reluctantly, thanks to the subjugations of the monsters, its military steadily grew; it was a gritty place for adventurers.

However, there are a variety of people in the world.

Some accepted the commissioned quest of their Knights from Senbain to find the reason for source of the monster infestation in Kallamore Kingdom.

Those that were insane enough and wanted a new experience without fearing of losing their lives did so for the enjoyment.

And so together with the kingdom’s troops, they fought against the downpour of monsters from the mountain.

And gained fame!

As Senbain’s defender, You have earned 3 Honor points.

The Honor points that were exclusive to Knights could be obtained.

If you have enough Honor points, your subordinates will always be loyal, and everywhere you go, you will always be regarded as nobles to some extent.

Sometimes, gifts can be received from nobles or those of the imperial courts, and popularity with the ladies will increase.

Honor points were essential for those that wanted to join the order of the Knights or to become higher ranked officers.

Those that performed this quest spread the news of this fact widely.

Frankly, there were desires to hold this info to themselves.

But in fear of the danger fighting in Senbain, they needed more.

“We can get the valuable Honor points?”

“The hard to obtain Honor points that could only gained through dueling victories or special achievements…”

The combatants rushed to Senbain. And all fought there.

Many died intercepting the hordes of monsters, but the pleasure of successfully blocking them was something beyond belief.

Volunteers were also dispatched around the Senbain castles.

With the rise in Fame and Honor, some could be assigned to lead troops of the new volunteers.

While extra contribution to the kingdom will rise, it was possible to obtain more combat experience every time.

The requests were awfully dangerous and although there were a lot of failures, everybody found themselves immersed in defending.

Infantries, Warriors, Archers, Knights, and so on so forth. The tens of thousands became members of the kingdom’s troop and gathered to fight fierce battles against the monsters.

All for the thrilling joy of being within the Kallamore Kingdom’s war.

“War? So what about the guilds, how do they fight for territories?”

“Just go up the Senbain mountains, you can find a wealth of monster’s villages to occupy…”

Even so, when the hunting started here and there, the fixed number of the downpour of the hordes of monsters didn’t decrease.

Dungeons and lairs weren’t around, but across the vast mountainous range, monsters continued to descend.

Even in exhaustion, there was no other choice but to fight until death.

It was the highest honor in Kallamore Kingdom to defend Senbain!

Having played their roles in preserving peace of a kingdom and actively gaining prizes, many guilds’ influence was wide spread; but conversely, in Senbain mountains, numerous guilds united under one flag.

Rather than warmongers, they were disciplined soldiers.

Particularly in Kallamore Kingdom, Knights were engaged in remarkable activities.

They worshipped the traditional belief held by the original knighthood, and as the nation’s Knights, they’ve given their generous support.

In the vicinities of Senbain, there were a variety of terrains.

The valley in between the mountains was a huge plain. This plain acted a substantial final line of defense.

Here, monsters have to be stopped or else the granary zone and the villages will have to pay the price.

Horseback riding Knights fearlessly charges in!

All having blessed by the Clerics, they were an armor wearing monsters slaughtering wave.

The assault of more than 3000 Knights of the country!

Through the thick fog, the knights sped toward the hungry swarm of monsters on their steed.

For the people participating, there was no other time more exhilarating than this.

“I can’t describe it. It’s just awesome. The feel of breaking through the line of monsters on horseback, it’s really, really thrilling.”

“I have no fear. But my hands are shaking.”

“As a knight, if you’ve never fought till death against these waves of monsters, then it’s just too sad.”

The Kallamore Kingdom’s pubs were always crowded with Knights.

It was a place to boast about having fought with no regret and to unfold their tensions, or where they could get a drink before going off to the next defending battle.

The pubs had become the most attended spots for those that defended Senbain to release their experiences.

On the other hand, those of the other kingdoms could not understand those from the Kallamore Kingdom.

Travelers asked.

“But still, aren’t you scared of getting killed?”

“If I die, the penalty’s pretty hefty aint it. The knight armors and weapons are so pricy…and I might even lose my horse too.”

“Your level and skill proficiency will drop too.”

“You’re right. But Honor is more important. If I can get more, I can get a better mount, and even troops will be assigned to me.”

In front of the combatants, they could only see death and rains of blood.

The hooves beating on land, the thickening fog, the scattering blood.

Along with the breakthrough, blockage, and up to collapsing on horsebacks, everything came along with the excitement of piercing through the monsters corp.

The combatants of the Kallamore Kingdom traveled about while carrying their growth.

And surely, the time will come where they will show the skill they’ve obtained during their time in Senbain.

The chivalry of those that survives in the Kallamore Kingdom!

* * *

Kallamore Kingdom’s royal court.

Before the king and the imperial court official, the Knight Koldeurim appeared after 30 long years of absence.

“You, how…”

Choking on his own words, the King’s eyes moistened.

From the Kallamore, Haven, Toreupan, Masen, Thor, Aidel, the scene unfolded for all the users to see.

In the middle of all their activities, their sights were suddenly filled with the scenes unfolding at Kallamore’s royal court.

“What?”

“What’s going on?”

“What kind of Event is this?”

The users from all over the place wondered about the event that was taking place in Kallamore’s royal court.

“I’m truly sorry, my King. I have returned.”

“What happened? How have you come back 30 years later?”

“I fell into the deceitful hands of the Kingdom of Haven…if it hadn’t been for some great adventurers, I would have never been able to return to fight for my King and my Country.”

“So the fault lies in the Kingdom of Haven as well. Is this the day I’ve been waiting for? Come back as my officer again. With us, the Kallamore Kingdom will once again be able to spread its wings.”

Vincent Kallamore III.

The current king, as soon as he rose to his throne, along with Koldeurim, they were truly fierce together.

Together they led the Kallamore Kingdom against their nemesis, the Kingdom of Haven, and were on a winning streak!

Expanded their borders, and became dignitaries throughout the continent.

As the nation’s heroes and its salvation from chaos; at the time, they were favorites to be able to obtain the whole continent within their grasps.

The best Knight has returned and lifted the kingdom’s spirits once more!

But reasons unbeknownst to him, after his disappearance, due to the strong resistance of the Kingdom of Haven, the war was finished.

Kallamore III proclaimed.

“The war I’ve started in my younger days, and still, I have not seen its end yet. Now that you’ve returned, the kingdom will be at its peak; and though we have no castle to speak of, the pride of our soldiers can never halt, Koldeurim.”

“Yes, your Majesty!”

“I shall leave you our troops, make our enemies of the Kingdom of Haven realize the greatness we all shared.”

“We will march on with our trumpets nonstop and will destroy all until none are left of the cowards.”

Ttiring!

With this act, the Kallamore Kingdom is on an outbreak of war.

The Minister of War Koldeurim leads 90000 men of Kallamore Kingdom’s army!

- 8500 Knights.

- 60000 Infantries.

- 16000 Archers.

- 3500 Clerics.

- 2000 Monks.

Not only the troops of Kallamore Kingdom are very powerful, they are also ruthless and non-forgiving groups.

Even though they have not gone to war in the past 30 years; they’ve reached the peak of their fighting power due extensive combat experience against monsters.

In addition, if the Kallamore Kingdom allows it, all sorts of mercenaries can participate in the war on their side.

The goal is the occupation of the Kingdom of Haven.

As of this moment, all achievements, weapons, armors, and the prices of all basic necessities, will be frozen at the current place/price in all towns belonging to the Kallamore Kingdom and the Kingdom of Haven.

User who participates in the war will acquire an increase of 20% of the Experience points.

The users were astonished.

“Welp, it’s war.”

“Finally the war broke out.”

They’ve known from earlier on that the Kallamore Kingdom and the Kingdom of Haven hated one another.

But still, a full scale war between the two was something they couldn’t fathom.

* * *

Weed also saw the flash screen of the events unfolding at the Kallamore Kingdom royal court. The party too, was able to participate in the quest.

Weed, in a very short time, thought about the aftermath of the war in approximately 0.01 second.

“Well, no skin off my back. It’s not my job.”

This cool attitude!

Geomchi treated it as natural and nodded.

“If we join up in this battle then the balance will be tipped. Dead or alive, I don’t need to worry about such details for them.”

Geomchi3 inputted.

“Against those kids, give me three days and it’ll be enough to beat them all.”

Geomchi4 also recalled his past.

“I spent my days hitting a lot, but strangely I still sleep well.”

Whether it was those of the Kallamore Kingdom or the Kingdom of Haven, they had very little interest in whether the users would die or not.

Pale on the other, slightly felt a bit of remorse.

His forehead furrowed deep and hadn’t straightened out.

“The war…”

Irene was also very anxious.

“You think the users of the two kingdoms will be ok?”

Pale could not answer for a while.

The war was an opportunity.

It was a golden moment to for the two forces between the kingdoms to try and tips the scale of dominance!

There were those with nothing to do while waiting for this day, and others that will inevitably be harmed as casualties of war.

The Kallamore Kingdom and the Kingdom of Haven.

If either side loses their territory or it facing its destruction, to the users, it would be an incredible loss as it was their base.

Also, the efforts they’ve put the raising Familiarity with the nobles or knights in those area would essentially be moot when those character dies.

In the worst case scenario, they would be exiled.

For users like Pale or Irene that were based in Rosenheim, to attend the war would mean having to travel a long distance and didn’t need to do so; but for the lot of other users, they couldn’t just abandon their country.

Because the places were their homeland where they started out.

They got along with the inhabitants of the town, and knew information about the surrounding vicinities.

Having watched it grow to its current state, the pile of contribution to gain Familiarity, most users would be reluctant to go anywhere else than staying put.

Even users whose levels were beyond 300, having received quests from nobles to go off on an expedition, could not simply leave their country as if it was nothing.

Nevertheless, Pale did not know whether to choose to be in the Kallamore Kingdom or that of the Kingdom of Haven, due to not knowing the entire truth of the complex web the countries spun.

Pale came out with the most comfortable and reasonable answer.

“As long as we don’t get caught, then all is well.”

“A really good comment.”

Zephyr displayed his agreement.

“If they don’t find out then it’s good.”

“Yes, let’s say it’s none of our business.”

Pale’s opinion was welcomed by all.

Toward the whole lot, Weed’s wickedness was slowly affecting them.

Maylon too, in order to prevent having founded out.

“I’ll edit this part out.”

If they could keep the fact that they released Koldeurim out of his confinement, then there was nothing to worry about.

If she deletes this section out before handling the videos over to the broadcasters, then none of them will be the wiser.

Turning their attention away from the full scale war between the two kingdoms that will most definitely be acts of brutality, the interest of the party once again returned to the Vampire’s treasure.

Having successfully completed the quest, Weed obtained a rusty key close to losing its durability, but it was not something that could prevent Weed.

Key to the Treasury.

Durability 2/20.

After using it several times and of the rust, the Key is nearing its obsolete.

With severe corrosion, its most likely will be able be used three times.

‘Che, only one or two uses after the quest. Well whatever, a piece of cake.’

The location of the treasure was a necessity.

The vampire did not give out the location of the treasury so they will have to explore with the rusty key.

However, Weed had already survey all of Todeum and had confirmed the location of the said treasury.

“It’s in the spire above, located directly below the moon in the center of Todeum.”

For Weed, every time he wanted to give up on the quest, he would look toward at the spire and would break out in drools.

Even through the lighting, thunder, and the cataclysm of the day before, he would do the same.

All he could see were the garishly appeal of gold within the interior of that spire.

Maylon expresses her doubts.

“But that spire doesn’t have any ascending path with a closed door leading to it?”

“The window is the answer to that.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a characteristic of Vampires. All they really need is a window. Once they get in through the window, then they can activate the stairs to go up on the other side within it. Its location will be revealed exactly where the moon will hit it.”

The whole party watched Weed.

Weed, without any difficulty, went through the window of the Vampire’s treasury.

And then, along with him came a Vampire that confirmed that this was indeed the location of the treasury.

The unnamed Vampire spoke.

“One person can only take one object, one weapon, or one piece of armor. Any more than that, will incur the wrath of us Vampires.”

Only one item is allowed.

Since the Vampires does not allow any more beyond that, they will be pressed to attack.

When the Vampires lose their lives, the items in the treasury will be deprived of.

In the treasury, they could see items of those that have their spirits extricated such as Koldeurim.

Even with Koldeurim’s body liberated, without his soul, he remained incomplete.

There were dozens of beads on display, Koldeurim’s soul was depicted in one of the transparent bead.

– Ooo, finally signs of humans…

The ghostly voice of Koldeurim.

Though it was a ghostly cry, it was filled with emotions such as joy and ecstasy.

– Human, get me out. I’m Koldeurim of the Kallamore Kingdom; finally, I will be able to devote my allegiance to the king again.

But alas, this was a treasury of the Vampires, they were not obligated to do anything for a human.

Beside money, Weed doesn’t know of anything; the party too, seemingly resembles him, while the Geomchis do not care about anybody but themselves!

Weed said annoyingly.

“Who are you?”

– You do not know about me? I’m the Knight of Kallamore Kingdom, Koldeurim.

“Is that so? You got trapped.”

– ……

Koldeurim spoke much more carefully now.

– If I can break free from the bind of this bead, then my soul will be set free. Due to the Vampire’s trickery my soul was captured; even now, my body is somewhere waiting for the day that my soul can return.

“How do you know it’s not rotting away right now?”

– ……

Weed’s sentence was a few words away from making Koldeurim burst in frustration!

The hope he felt that came along with the humans explicitly plummeted down all the way to hell.

Within the bead the filled with Koldeurim’s soul, the glint was getting dimmer and dimmer.

The wounded soul of a Knight!

Maylon gently whispered into Weed’s ear.

“Weed nim, in this case, his resurrection would be just fine since it was already been determined.”

“How so?”

“With people of the past, there were some prerequisites for resurrection, such as occupying a new body…well, virtually all of them searches for a Warlock’s body. Or if there’s a body existed in the temple, that could be used too. If the soul of the missing and the body haven’t disappeared, the body can be preserve through magic or placed in a dungeon accordingly to repel any intruders, so it’s possible for the body to survive.”

“So, you’re saying that he could really be resurrected on the continent.”

“It’s fully possible.”

But even with that, Weed wouldn’t release Koldeurim just like that.

“But Koldeurim will never know how hard we’ve fought just to get our ways up to here. To save you, we have to give into the demands of the Vampires. It’s like throwing mud all over our bodies after we came all the way here…If we just release you all willy nilly, then you’ll just forget the favor you receive.”

– A Knight would never forget the grace of others.

“Koldeurim, if you practice chivalry just as you do against monsters, I hope you do not forget to stand straight with conviction. That’s all I really wanted you to do.”

Golden-hearted mode!

Without having to break the bead that contains the soul, Weed was operating to increase Familiarity with the being inside it.

For the upright Knights, his intention was to imitate having integrity and innocence.

However, Koldeurim wasn’t a great knight for nothing as he wasn’t easily swayed.

– That’s strange. A second ago you said you don’t care to relea…..

“That’s the conviction I want to see in you…in fact, in order to save you, we’ve lost a lot of our colleagues…keuheuk!”

Weed even tried to squeeze out a few tears!

He flashed a smile with a thought of the dead practitioners.

‘I suppose they have earned their keep.’

Nevertheless, seeing an adventurer who prioritized camaraderie like that, Koldeurim’s voice softened.

– I..in order to save just me…in the future when I may return to Kallamore Kingdom, I will never forget you. I’m sorry. I do not possess anything at the moment to present to you; but in the future, I promise I will not forget to do so.

If one befriended a king or nobles, then the chance of receiving quests is higher while the gain is greater.

But with just a slight Familiarity made here, then they could set up the framework to have an easier access to Kallamore Kingdom to come and go as they pleased.

As a dark gamer, he needed to work on having Familiarity with several kingdoms, no matter now risky that may be.

Weed was already satisfied with this, but a sudden idea popped up.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk!”

“I answer your call, Master!”

Death Knight.

The reason he was summoned was because he used to a Knight of Kallamore.

“Were you also a Knight of Kallamore Kingdom?”

“A day to day life. Now as a Death Knight, I’m faithfully dedicated to the owner.”

“Even so, you can have a little chat between the two of since you both are Kallamore natives.”

“Understood.”

The Death Knight eyed Kodeurim who was trapped in the bead.

“You’re a Kallamore native?”

– Yes. But I cannot reveal my name to a Death Night.

Koldeurim was trying to deny the idea of being in the same prestigious knighthood with a Death Knight.

The Death Knight patiently asked.

“From which platoon?”

– What?

“I asked which platoon you were assigned to from the knight academy.”

– The 694th.

Having heard that, the Death Knight sneered.

“It has already gotten that far huh? I was in the 164th.”

– Seonbae nim!

Once a Knight, always a Knight!

Van Hawk was a seonbae to Koldeurim for a lifetime due to having served for Kallamore empire.

It was not a matter of Familiarity.

It’s the Rank!

Death Knight Van Hawk and Koldeurim’s ranking hierarchy was formed.

In a sense, it was the same as those with higher rank in the military to not even lift a finger.

The Death Knight has lived for a long period of time.

“When I was in Kallamore, we had the entire continent shaking fear. Since when did Kallamore seem so dead?”

– I’m sorry Seonbae. Our national power has been weakened a lot by the neighboring countries that we’re not even on the map anymore.

“That’s just wonderful.”

– It was entirely our fault for being insufficient. If I had not been capture by the Vampires then…ah! Seonbae nim please save me.

“As a former Knight of Kallamore, that’s my course of action.”

– Thank you, Seonbae nim.

“What the hell man! I can’t believe you got held captive by those of the Vampire kind.”

– ……

The high self-esteemed spirit Koldeurim shrunk before Weed and the Death Knight.

Chapter 9: Elemental Sculpturing Skill

So then, a serious incident occurred after releasing Koldeurim.

But before their sight was the treasures, so the war of Kallamore Kingdom and Kingdom of Haven was soon forgotten.

“How much are all of these.”

“Ima pick up a weapon, if there’s none then I’ll take gloves with boosted Strength.”

“There are Cleric’s gowns here too.”

“Even Wizard’s robes too!”

There were a lot of goods so that made it hard for them to decide.

If they decided on one, another would pop up at some obscure angle of their line of sight and essentially turned it into a conflicted debate.

In addition, the Unique grade items in the vampire storage were at level 400 or more!

There were more than 450 items.

Although they were superior in performance, there were a number of them that wasn’t available for immediate usage.

Hwaryeong found a fan.

“Weed nim, please check it.”

Since she did not have the necessary skill, every time she found something, she would hand it to Weed to check on its information.

“Identify!”

Celine’s Fan:

Durability 55/55.

Damage 12~21.

Eastern styles folding fan.

Fan carved out of bamboo with 12 kinds of colorful silk attached.

It can be spread out with just a flick due to it silky attachments.

Small grains of gems are embedded within this, so its beauty can still be seen even within the dark.

Dancers often use Celine’s Fan.

Reason being the alluring seduction.

Restriction:

- Bard, Dancer only.

- Level 400.

- Attractiveness more than 620.

Option(s):

- If the Dancer is famous or have more than 700 Attractiveness, then the Restriction will decrease by 25%.

- +60 Attractiveness.

- +60 Charisma.

- +30 Stamina.

- +20 Agility.

- All Bard skills +20% effectiveness.

- All Dancer skills +40% effectiveness.

- Dance skill has to be in Advanced to use the following skill.

*The Fan Dance:

- Advanced dance skill.

- A very elegant Easter style dance.

- Make monsters with Intelligence fall in shame and suffer damages.

- While lifting moral of colleagues and recover from status, enhance their combat capacity by 15%.

- In times of peace, if danced before the royal family or nobles, will gain the residences’ favor.

- The effect of Attractiveness and Charisma increases by 80%.

As expected of a Unique item, there were many effects given as well as a new skill.

In fact, for a level 400 weapon, it was not an outstanding item.

Though there was the option of reducing the usage restriction, so Hwaryeong could use it as is.

Weed returned the fan back to Hwaryeong who was jumping in delight.

“Ohh thank god. I can use it right away. This fan is really perfect.”

“Though the performance is a bit…”

“But it’s beautiful so that’s fine.”

Weed nodded.

‘It’s a good choice.’

It was a wise decision to select one and use it right now than having to wait until reaching level 400.

As of now, the number of those over 400 was very low!

With the option to decrease the restriction, the fan would always get a high price when selling.

Weed’s point of view was rather practical, but Hwaryeong’s view was rather simple.

‘If it’s pretty then it’s fine.’

As long as it could grab the attention of others, then the possibility of selling a rubber band for 1000 Won would increase.

Seeing how Hwaryeong chose her good, the others opted out and picked up items with level reduction option also.

Only the Geomchis didn’t care about the restriction and freely went about picking their favorite sword.

“The sword fits in my hand.”

“I want a practical sword rather than an ornate one.”

They picked up excellent swords but due to the level restriction, they couldn’t use it.

Pale once again thought about the Geomchis naivety and though they were causing trouble for themselves again.

“Geomchi2 Hyeongnim.”

“Hm?”

“Shouldn’t it be better to choose a sword you can use immediately? And then later on you can get better swords, faster and stronger ones.”

Pale inquired seriously and Geomchi2 replied back dully.

“That’s not all when wielding swords.”

“Huh?”

“What makes a good sword? As long as you mind the sword with sharpening and cleaning; until you are able to use that sword, you’ll be forcing yourself to get stronger and preparing for the day you can use it.”

The Geomchis picked up the level 400 weapons.

If they want to use those level 400 weapons, then they would have to get stronger faster.

The feeling of holding the swords in their hands was bound to be different from those bamboo blades they’ve held for years.

Having acquired those wonderful Unique grade weapons, their goals changed to one day being able to swing them.

Weed wandered around the treasury looking for a worthy weapon.

‘Level 400 weapon…’

Since having the Blacksmithing skill, he didn’t have to care about those with the level restriction reduction options.

What was important was the strong attack.

‘And then in the future, I can clean it up and sell it for a good price.’

He carefully searches for weapons, though most of the being the already discarded by the Geomchis as they deemed them as modest swords.

However, Weed was still rummaging through the remaining swords as he could never absolutely deem them moot.

The use, price, preference, appearance, and usefulness in battle, he weighed all of them carefully.

‘The 200 Won more expensive salt I bought at the market. I will not allow such a thing to happen again.’

Endless regret about buying that on impulse!

Without forgetting the incident, he thoroughly analyzed all the weapons.

“What is this? Identify!”

Paskran’s Lance:

Durability 60/60.

Damage 79~97.

The lance used by the Knight Paskran during the Reign of Chaos.

There is no way to check for more detail at this time.

Restriction:

- Knight, Spearman, Paladin only.

Option(s):

- Damages will increase 3x when attack on horseback.

- Penetrate through enemy’s shield and armor with an increase of 65% to inflict critical damage.

Paskran’s Lance!

‘Where have I heard this name before?’

The item used by Paskran, one of a kind Unique item in the world.

Weed’s head flashed a moment in the past.

‘That’s right. I’ve seen a post about this on the Dark Gamer Union board.’

The purchaser being a diamond rated buyer was looking for this stuff.

‘The average price he usually pays was 2000000 Won.’

Though filled with regrets, he refused to choose or think about choosing Paskran’s Lance.

Weed couldn’t use it since he did not learn anything outside of swordsmanship. (gained archery when started out, staff is just a stick to cast spells and smacking)

Although he was able to use the lance due to the Blacksmith’s characteristic, he could not utilize the addition effect given.

‘Better pick a different weapon. I want something I can use while can still get a decently high price for it.’

As a dark gamer, obtaining items to sell was important, but one’s growth still takes precedent.

Aside from the Paskran’s Lance, Weed found an old sword among the abundance of swords he looked into.

“Should a sword no good as this be in the treasury? Identify!”

Koldeurim’s Old Sword:

Durability 12/27.

Damage 16~37.

The sword of a famous knight from the Kallamore Kingdom.

The best blacksmiths of the kingdom commissioned by the king toiled for three months, pouring their heart and soul into creating this weapon.

More graceful elegance and splendidly ornate than any of their previous work that they filled with dignity.

Having gone through countless battles, the blade became rugged and the decorations all fell off.

The final damage to the blade came from the battle against the Vampires.

In the middle of Koldeurim’s knightly duty, the sword retained a little of a lesser demon Ice Daemon power.

Restrictions:

- Knight only.

- Level 440.

Option(s):

- Demon cutting sword.

- Strength +2.

- +3 Dexterity.

- +25 Fame.

The sword used by the Knight Koldeurim!

Severely worn, had holes in it for a long time, the durability was no good too.

‘Since the maximum durability fell, there’s no way to tell if this was the true damage.’

If he went by the damage output itself, then the level requirement of the weapon would probably be around 50 or so to properly use the sword.

It couldn’t possibly be graded as a Unique grade item!

Looking at the level restriction was something ridiculous, Weed felt that the potential of this sword couldn’t just amount to this.

“Just like how a pearl is buried under all the mud. If I could get it back to the original damage then it is fine.”

It was not an easy choice deciding on something unknown.

Repair to try to get it back to the original state!

Even though it was a shame to use the Mithril, it was worth a try.

“This valuable opportunity is a gamble I can not blow. With something like this, I’m going to start right away.”

Weed immediately started a fire in the furnace.

The Blacksmith’s fire!

Two hours went by as he hammered away at Koldeurim’s Old Sword.

But beside from just knocking off the rusty parts, the lumpy golden part in between the sword didn’t give a response.

“Indeed…a Unique item.”

Seven more hours passed.

All the others were tired of waiting, so they left the treasury.

Only the Vampire guards remained watches while yawning away.

The fire’s smokes that expelled from the hearth were limited by its boundary, so those outside the repair weren’t affected at all.

Weed raised the output of the hearth’s flame.

Satiation level have dropped below 20%.

Weed held a sweet potato toward the furnace to bake.

By the time the day had passed, the color of the flame had changed to blue. Though still, there was no reaction from the old sword.

“Keuheuheuheuheu.”

Weed’s obsession did not waver.

He had strengthened its center, but he did not recheck the sword.

His pride couldn’t let him do that with just that amount of hard work!

That was Weed’s source of endless strength.

“It’s a start. If I can go out to briefly rest my eyes for 20 minutes then I’m good. With that, I can hold out for at least a month.”

Sitting in front of this poison waiting was nothing to him.

So while focusing on the frame before him, time continued to pass.

When the flame burned a complete white color, he put the old sword back into the hearth.

Jjijijik.

This time, there was a reaction.

With this, the blade was tolerable to the grinding.

With greater force than before, he consistently hammered the blade.

But because of the badly eroded shape it was in, he had to re-smelt the worn out sword again.

Working on a Unique grade level 440 was no easy task!

Ttangttangttang!

While continuously refining the sword, Weed kept hammering away.

And with its cooling, Weed added in the Mithril he obtained when he hunted.

As a result, after an additional of more than six hours of repairing, he was able to recover the sword.

“Identify!”

Koldeurim Daemon Sword:

Durability 160/160.

Damage 103~121.

Sword of a famous knight from the Kallamore Kingdom.

The best blacksmiths of the kingdom commissioned by the king toiled for three months pouring their heart and soul into creating this weapon.

More graceful elegance and splendidly ornate than any of their previous work that they filled with dignity.

Had recently undergone through a major repair.

Does not expect to fully recover to its former state due to having gone through the hands of less talented than the blacksmiths.

Couldn’t not be completely repaired, the Durability and Damage will be less than its initial completed state.

In the middle of Koldeurim’s knightly duty, the sword retained a little of a lesser demon Ice Daemon power.

Restrictions:

- Knight only.

- Level 440.

- Strength, Agility, Charisma, Leadership, Fighting Spirit, Faith all have to be more than 500.

- Fame more than 12000.

Option(s):

- Demon cutting sword.

- Whenever the Daemon Sword cuts, it can inflict up to 7 different types of curses.

- Monsters that are weaker than the sword owner will severely wither.

- +20 Strength.

- +35 Agility.

- + 150% Leadership stat on Human soldiers.

- +3% Attack Speed.

- +46% Magic Resistance.

- +2500 Fame.

Brilliant options and attack!

The sword once owned by Koldeurim showed amazing stats.

“Jackpot.”

Weed packed the Demon Sword.

A Grade A difficulty quest with reward of great weapon and may have even obtained contribution points to the Kallamore Kingdom; with these, his heart was lighter.

‘Later ima go to Kallamore Kingdom and have him give me treasures or some supplies.’

It feels like a loan shark leaving somebody’s house in the morning after having clearing them out!

Weed cheerfully left the treasury.

After Weed and his companion left the Vampire treasury, the place found its peace once again.

Dozens of scattered bags that used to contain weapons dizzily rolled about.

The remaining weapons were poor; so of course, nobody wanted to take the terrible lot.

At the end of the disturbance, only clouds of dust float about.

– Heumm, this guy wasn’t it as well, is there nobody eligible to wield me?

Surprisingly, the sword was thinking.

Self awareness Ego Sword!

Usually those with more than one kind of special property are known as magical items.

Rarer grade of those are things that have been granted special magic or properties.

On the continent, the rarity doesn’t exceed that of the highest degree Unique grade weapons or armors.

However, the disparity between those within the Unique grade is huge.

Such as the cane held by the Goblin Chief and the staff of the Archmage, the differences between them was as enormous as the distance between heaven and earth.

Among them, the Ego Sword is classified as a premium grade weapon.

The sword itself remembers the experiences of combat.

Therefore, the next time it reencounters the same monster type again, it would speak of the mob’s weakness; and at the sword’s discretion, it may use skills or magic accordingly.

The level requirement was 520!

While people still can’t use the sword as of yet, the Ego Sword chooses a qualified master on its own.

Since it deemed Weed as one who was not eligible, it masked itself as nothing more than an ordinary sword.

In the Vampire’s treasury, within all the remaining swords laid the finest sword that chose to be left behind in the obscure darkness.

* * *

KMC Media had prepared an ambitious TV program called “Weed.”

Started from the quest accepted in Seirun town on the Land of the Vampires to stimulate the viewer’s interests.

Viewers gathered because this was an adventure they could not perform on the Versailles continent. But later on.

– It’s irrelevant to us.

– Only show us this, we can’t get there.

However the show of the northern part of the continent was still tremendously growing in popularity.

Because the users were still in the dark, all kinds of events took place.

If it was a newly coming up town, then there would be cases where it called for the annihilation of the crowds of monsters attacking.

While solving quests, new heroic sagas were created every single day.

The newscast that specializes in just the north has rating of 16%!

In contrast, the program “Weed” at it beginning was poor, having only accounted for 2~4% of the viewers.

It was easy to see the falling interests in the show as they were not part of the party in the Vampire Kingdom.

– Those idiots!

– Dumbasses. Pigs.

– Look at how over the top they are. Haha!

– One eats over 10 whole servings.

The program ‘Weed’ bulletin board was filled with just cynicism.

As shown before then, the mere actions of the Geomchis made it a fun sitcom.

It was somewhat enjoyable to the audience to see the loads of ingredients going into preparing the food only to disappear a moment later.

Masking the food to feed the group was funny too, but that was it.

So with that, the viewership remained at a standstill after three episodes.

KMC Media was at the bottom of the audience’s favorites.

The production and the planning departments that were related to ‘Weed’ were subjected to a written affidavit.

Dear Esteemed Director,

We did not consider the users’ interests…

But we’ve attempted a combination of ideas, but ultimately, we’re asking for the station to give us a bit more...

This was the affidavit most directors would write.

Director Khang’s written statement was different.

Dear manager of operations,

Not long ago, I sent your wife roses and she was very pleased.

Hope you can find some time of peace…and let’s go play golf again sometime.

The level of intimacy was shown in the statement.

Director Khang maintained his withering integrity, but also, the manager of operations was a fan of Weed so he did not mind the ratings.

“Even monkeys can fall from trees. Failures too, have it good points.”

The broadcasting station had expected the show to somewhat fold.

However, but the time the quests in Seirun ended, the viewership rose to 5.5%.

With the Geomchi troops combat skills, and the highlights of Weed’s seriousness with Cooking, Sewing, and Blacksmithing skills to help out his party members, the audience increased.

And it was worth the wait having released their anticipation to finally see the genuine Vampire Kingdom Todeum.

Those with the broadcasting station saw with Weed’s leadership, the quests to Todeum also seen its end.

The planning committee, the production team, and all the others, witnessed the sensation of a Grade A difficulty quest.

Incredibly, the once rabble-looking group showed their years of training and indomitable fighting spirits for the quest’s triumphant.

In the station’s open dinner.

“Hurrah!”

“With this, I suppose my mind is comforted for a while.”

“The quest still’s progressing in real-time so I still gots butterflies.”

The production staffs seemed to have lost weight and their face shown a pale-ish hue.

Now it was truly at the bottom of the ratings.

Because if that, they did not sell any advertising space.

Each episode was organized to run for two hours; now, they were given just one hour every week to run the episodes.

But the next broadcast would be the adventure in Todeum, and while the broadcasters also deemed it an impossibility to solve the quest; they expected the ratings to rise with the scenes set to air.

* * *

The Vampire’s Kingdom Todeum.

Unlike the soothing quietness liking Vampires of Seirun, this was a colorful and bustling place.

Black magic school, underground relic dealers, a place to drink fresh blood at any time on everyday, etc.

There were lots of shops that fit the characteristic of Vampires.

“We sells broken wings of Unicorns.”

“Pegasus’ horn for sale.” (I feel so trippy here, like it’s switched around. But that’s how it is on the raw.)

“Freshly received blood here, for the youngling.”

Vampire merchants went around in their black capes.

Their arrogant deals made it thrilling for the spectators within Todeum.

Mapan checked the prices and his eyes lit up.

“Most component items and loots’ prices are all lower than normal.”

It was the time not long after the combat with the Unicorns and Pegasus.

These guys were selling miscellaneous goods at low prices, while art, handicrafts, and jewels were sold at high prices.

Mapan pulled out all of the carpets, furs, and jewels he had in stock.

“With so much jewelries how many am I going to sell? I wonder if I have enough to fulfill all the Vampires’ desires. In comparison to here, the humans don’t pay nearly as much.”

Mapan began to bargain and all of his quantities were sold off.

It was a huge victory of an investment; then on the empty carriage, he filled it with miscellaneous goods.

For Merchants, this moment was such a win.

“Euhahahaha!”

Within Mapan’s poignant laughter, Weed also hid a smile during the conversation.

Later Mapan will have to pay tax in Morata!

‘Probably more Merchants and adventurers will have to stop by to pay taxes in Morata.’

Weed had this secret expectation when he returns to Morata.

With the lot of Vampires, the quests they could receive from the easy Grade F or even to Grade B were available.

Since there was nobody else beside them, this was the golden land of quests.

“You humans who we fought with. These days, there were issues that popped up in the east. We were asleep so we don’t know what had happened. I’d like you to investigate.”

With just those few words, quests of Grade C or B were released!

There was no way other people could come to Todeum, so it was a complete monopolization of quests!

“We will try to find out what’s wrong.”

Geomchis and the party members had accepted the quest. Weed also tried to perform the quest.

“We’ll investigate things in the east and will come back.”

But the Vampire shook his head.

“You cannot.”

Has been denied to perform the Quest.

“What?”

Weed hesitated for a moment in this embarrassing situation.

Most of the time when one’s unable to receive a quest, it is due to the lack of Reputation or level.

But Pale, Zephyr, or even the Geomchis could accept the quest without having being rejected.

“You have a special job to do.”

At the end of the sentence, Weed’s eyes sparkled.

“Is it important work?”

“Yes. It is very important work.”

Other colleagues weren’t in the Vampire’s selection. Only just Weed was chosen.

So the quest lying in wait must be something special!

At this moment, the party looked very enviable.

“This time as well, it’s Weed nim.”

“Perhaps…the Vamp is implying it’s something we don’t have…”

Weed shown the party an apologetic façade. However, it was a rotten face to cover up the intense joy he was feeling!

Weed carefully asked the Vampire.

“What’s this adventure that I have to do? Just leave it to me and I will faithfully commit to it, even if it’s hard or even lonesome.”

“It’s not an adventure so to speak. That’s not it. As you know, from our earlier battles, the city we live in has been severely damaged. Statues on the streets, and sculptures in castles too, has been significantly destroyed.”

“……”

With the sudden talk of sculptures, Weed had an ominous feeling surfacing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a mistake.

“My ‘Child Holding an Apple Figure’ was also damaged. I woke up at night and the first Sculptor I remember is you… so as an exceptional human Sculptor, I have you repair the sculpture for me. Is it possible?”

Ttiring!

The broken ‘Child Holding an Apple Figure.’

The sculpture the Vampire Metson purchased 36 years ago for 120 Gold!

The treasured sculpture is severely damage due to this battle.

To repair the sculpture, you need an exceptional Sculptor with keen eyes.

Difficulty: F

Compensation: 3 Unicorn’s feathers.

Quest Limitation:

Specifically Sculptor.

To deny the quest, Metson’s trust will fall.

“……”

Weed was speechless.

An absolutely unwanted quest by profession!

The Vampire seriously asked.

“I realized that besides having attained an exceptional state in sculpturing to explore the land as a human, to sculpt would be impossible if you don’t have affection toward the work. So you won’t refuse my request, would you?”

Weed, of course, wanted to refuse.

“I’m sorry. What art is are passion and creativity. I cannot accept this because I am busy dedicating my time to create new things.”

If there were no other quests around the maybe he would; but he did not want to begin repairing sculptures with the plentiful amount commissioned quests with large rewards lying around.

Of course he’d take if it the compensation was a lot of money; but regrettably, the reward was just three Unicorn’s feathers.

The Vampire was considerably disappointed.

“Oh, I guess I got the wrong human.”

Quest refused.

Received Vampire Metson’s distrust.

Weed noticed and spoke gently.

“So instead of repairing, I want to help you out by investigating the east.”

The Vampire shook his head again.

“You can not.”

Has been denied to perform the Quest.

All other colleagues were able to accept while just Weed was denied.

“I would never entrust that to a human who won’t even repair a sculpture.”

“……”

The situation had completely put him on the spot!

Along with Weed’s face faltering, the party members held their stomachs.

“Kikkikkik.”

“Haha, so funny.”

“Really interesting. I thought with everything Weed nim does, he was great; but he’s like this too.”

Zephyr, Mapan, Irene, Maylon, Hwaryeong, and Seechwi were laughing.

Weed kept all their names in his memory so he could later in the future take his vengeance.

But now, the quest took priority.

“Actually, come to think of it, I’d like to repair the sculpture.”

The Vampire bluntly refused.

“Didn’t you already refuse my request to repair a few minutes ago?

“If someone like Metson nim with such keen eyes to deem a sculpture is good, shouldn’t it be worth it for me to try and put it back together? New creation is important, but I want to see what kind of sculpture it is that retained Metson nim’s interests.”

The Vampire cleared his throat.

“Hum! But human, it’s just something trivial to the eyes of the one was deemed as an exceptional sculptor.”

“Artworks, sculptures, how can anyone tell whether it is good or bad? All I see in the sculptures are beauty and its noble values, not whether it could fetch a price or not.”

“Yes, I truly feel what you do. Then, can I count on you to repair my sculpture?”

“I really want to work on it.”

You have accepted the quest.

The party and Geomchis left to do the quest.

Weed also intended to work on the lowly compensated quest he received.

‘I’ll roughly work on this and then follow up with the commissioned quest.’

The sculpture the Vampire brought out was badly damaged.

The boy’s neck had broken off, ant it seemed as if something had tried to eat the apple as there were plenty of holes dug into it.

The torso and legs had minor incontinences, and broken off in many places due to having been hit by debris.

“I don’t know if I can attach the boy’s neck since the damage was too great. I need to take some additional steps in order to support the weight of it. It’s better to just replace the apple. If you give me three hours then I’ll finish the job.”

His estimation was correct.

Weed, at the beginning of the process, created the dough-like hardening agent.

Component things, such as stones bonding agents use for constructions, are sold in the item shops or sculpture shops.

Even Todeum’s shops sold the item, and could even get them in their natural states.

Weed doesn’t make mistakes when he creates or fixes sculptures.

The reason why he didn’t buy them was because each barrel costs up to 2 Silvers!

The substance was limited to how much weight it could afford to support.

If he was to repair a large-scale sculpture, then he wouldn’t have used the thing at all; but for this purpose, he had an idea of what to do.

“First I need to help his head straight.”

Weed nailed where the neck was broken off.

Ttangttangttang!

At first glance, the cruelty of this is unmatched!

But it was essential to the repair, regardless of what it represents.

In fact, while carving Seoyoon, he had unearthly guilt spreading throughout his body as he sculpts her body.

At the sculpture’s completion, you would view it as beautiful; but the fact is that its creator would obsessively focuses on specific areas and tries to make it as good as possible.

In order to express the delicate body that is being sculpted, strenuous observation have to be made along with experiencing the delicate body parts.

That said, touching the breasts and buttocks are musts.

Sculptors, or any other type of artists, in their lonesome freed environment, they would listen to their perversion in most cases.

Frankly speaking, for Weed also, in this portion, was not honorable.

When he sculpts Seoyoon's face, her toxic lips would draw him closer.

And when he sculpts her breasts or posterior, his face would blush for no apparent reason.

Another enjoyable moment when sculpturing!

Weed too, was a dark man.

“There we go.”

Weed then applied the bonding agent and placed the head where he nailed.

Then he nailed the head to attach, to ensure that it wouldn’t be able to fall off.

“Next part, the hand.”

He carved another apple similarly to the one the boy was holding.

Due to the hardening agent’s quickness, the roundness of the apple wasn’t attractively well represented.

Minor damages on the torso and the legs were quickly covered up smoothly; the substance he made lasted till the end.

He had only intended to roughly repair the sculpture; but due to Weed’s nature, the moment he touches on something he has to complete it fully without a single loose end.

The Vampire was overjoyed since the repair was made excellently.

“Human! You human have potential of which we Vampires do not.”

And Weed receives the quest reward of 3 Unicorn feathers.

You have completed the repair of the sculpture and has been subjected to Vampire Metson’s trust.

Now he gains the condition to take up the quest again!

Weed receives the commissioned quest and tries to leave.

But the Vampire that waited for him to finish wasn’t just one.

Suddenly, there were hundreds of Vampires had gathered around.

“At our home, we also have a sculpture that is in need of repair, human. The Compensation being 15 Gold.”

“Could you restore my broken statue? It’ll be difficult but I wish it to be restored…”

“The engraved sculpture on my wall was crushed. Quickly come and fix it!”

The Vampires stampeded in and commissioned quests left and right.

Weed’s face wrinkled with extreme prejudice.

The Vampires had no desire to give any combat quests.

And probably similar to what Metson did, they would deny him of all beside these.

“You have shown my people great power in our times of need. And has good tastes in sculpture. Then to you, I will get Todeum’s sculpture to regain its splendid past by just me.”

The circumstance has already forced him to repair the sculptures and was unalterable.

The numbers of Vampire referrals had exceeded hundreds.

‘If I finished all the repairs then the taste of compensation shouldn’t be so bad.’

With that, Weed launched a physically laborious campaign.

The first day.

Eight sculptures were repaired.

Exterior corners were trimmed carefully, and the overall proportions matched.

The damages were many but since they were jus F quests, their degrees weren’t so hard.

The second day rose in difficulty.

In most cases, one Vampire would have several commissions, so various materials were needed.

Particularly, severe damages on wooden sculptures were hard for Weed to recover.

Grade E quest.

“I’d rather create new ones instead.”

Weed assembled the remains of the sculptures, and similarly, recreated some parts.

Although having Sculpting and Handicraft were useful, having keen eyes were even more so.

While scouting and fighting the battles in Todeum, he had seen almost all of the decent looking sculptures at least once.

If it were Warriors then they would just regard sculptures as ordinary ornaments, just one glance and it was over with.

But Weed, as a professional Sculptor, meticulously looked at them to remember the details.

‘Should always memorize so in a later time it could be used.’

Memorization for imitation!

The memory served as a great strength when it can to restore the sculptures.

With the third day’s passing, he had finished 29 grade E quests.

The levels of fame and reward were still poor.

“But still, there are even more sculptures that have yet to be repaired.”

Weed’s sunken eyes filled with motivation.

In Todeum, there was an enormous amount of broken sculptures.

The works on the street were just stepping stones.

The quests to raise his levels and to gain items still weren’t available to him, but he still has sculpturing quests.

Experiences given from recovering the sculptures were little, but Fame and skill level improved as well.

With positive thoughts in mind, this was an unreal opportunity for a Sculptor.

Repair is finished.

- Sculpturing Skill proficiency has been improved.

- Fame increased by 2.

- Art stat has increased by 1.

- Understanding of Sculptures has leveled up.

Weed spent a month or so repairing sculptures in Todeum.

A plentiful of sculptor quests!

For the usual Sculptors, this would have been enough and needed to play around; but this was not Weed.

‘Hurry or it might end. Must go get battle quests.’

The sculpturing quests rewards weren’t too bad because it simply relied on hard work.

So, even on the smallest sculpture, he meticulously repaired it until not a single scratch remained.

He applied new paint at spots where paint chipped off, and newly created duplicate for those with damages too severe and impossible to fix.

The sculptured pieces!

All are based loosely on the Sculptor’s personality or sensitivity.

In addition, the works of art had historical values so the chance to work on them wouldn’t happen again.

Although only modestly challenging and weren’t at all complex, they were something rather handy to Weed.

“I’ve gotten so many different experiences.”

If it was an evil looking monster, then it would be represented by a monster model.

The mentor-less Weed’s instilled his own interpretation as it evolved.

Uses of Handicraft to raise the maximum precision of the fundamental likeness of objects!

By crafting duplicate of a work by another Sculptor, the gain was great.

“In this way, I can make sculptures like this too…”

Weed did not understand some of the sculptures as to what they depicted.

Women that resembled the land, sky, and sun were carved.

If the women were the expression of attractiveness, then the other object accentuates the meaning of it.

Exquisite harmonizing beauty!

Whenever he restores these types of sculpture, the Handicraft proficiency rises.

“When I create Classic or Magnum pieces, the increase in proficiency is unparalleled; but this is fairly good.”

Weed’s Sculpturing and Handicraft skills were in Advanced level 4!

The two skills were at 54% and 42%, respectively.

At the beginning when his started learning how to sculpts, the Handicraft skill improved very rapidly; but having attained the Advanced stage, it hadn’t increase at all.

“For even more advanced sculptures, it alone was not even enough for Handicraft?”

Weed could only guess.

With only just Sculpturing, Handicraft skill is very difficult to master.

Nobody has ventured to achieve Handicraft Mastery yet!

Even when creating sculptures, or to take advantage of other production skills, and even in battle; the impact of Handicraft is enormous.

“To master Handicraft for just combat classes is highly unlikely.”

One would rather to go through the process of upgrading the class to gain much stronger attacks.

After having completed 2nd job advancement, the Knights or Warriors statistically would have an increase in stamina and higher damage output.

Despite the Geomchis low levels, their attacks are very excellent.

Weed too, although not on the weak side, but the speed of his growth through battles isn’t something comparable to theirs.

His Handicraft and Sculpturing stats could be obtained through creating sculptures.

With these given points, his combat effectiveness wasn’t pale comparing to the Geomchis.

Aside from the Stamina, Physical Resistance, and Strength, the will to fight without a single break was just as high.

“Give Life to Sculpture, Sculpture Blade, Sculpture Destruction Skill, Shape-shifting Sculpture. Even with all these my melee isn’t comparable to the Sahyeongs…”

In essence, all of Weed’s combat capabilities were Sculpture based.

The ability to understand one’s character is important to one’s growth.

Weed’s growth was optimized according to his characteristics comparing to everybody else.

So it was hard to find an opponent who was akin to him at the same level.

And even the learned life-skill Fishing skill boosted his health and vitality to an extraordinary level for his profession.

He also has manufacturing skills such as Sword Grind, Armor Shine, Ironing; the likes the normal Sculptors would ever see.

“I gotta gain more experiences. The experiences accumulated in the various fields can affect the Handicraft Mastery.”

In addition, the Understanding of Sculptures skill rose very rapidly.

Having repaired more than 300 sculptures, the skill suddenly reached Intermediate level 7.

At the rate that it was going, just a bit more and it may reach Advanced level.

If that was possible then he could morph into the fairytale like monster.

“Giant Weed. Not bad!”

Weed with a satisfied smile moved his hands busily repairing the sculptures.

And if the Shape-shifting Sculpture growth was also just as fast, then it could compensate for the lowly stat Sculptor class.

“Puchihihihihihit!”

Weed broke down in a vulgar laugh. One that was similar to days when he was the Orc Karichwi.

While the Vampires who were carefully watching the scene.

“Crazy.”

“He’s not normal.”

“I should keep in mind to never drink that human’s blood.”

* * *

The time on Versailles continent has reached two and a half months.

Geomchis and the party were surprised whenever they returned to Todeum.

Sculptures that were destroyed changed into those in perfect form.

When viewing Weed’s efforts, there was no way to describe their admiration.

Even the pious minded Pale said.

“He’s not human. How can you honestly work like that? I thought it was impossible to finish repairing that many sculptures…”

Hwaryeong eyes twinkled.

“I think a man who doesn’t give up and devoted is so great.”

Weed’s endless source of willpower was already formed even since he was 10.

At the valuable critical period of one’s lifetime!

He learned life from suffering under the hands of the loan sharks.

Money!

Miasma! (A noxious atmosphere or influence)

Persistence!

To describe Weed without mentioning these three things would make him obsolete.

So nearing the end of two and a half months, all the sculptures in Todeum that required repairs were finished.

The achievement was incredible.

The hard repair sculpture quest of Grade B!

As of now, the level of his Sculpturing skill was in the late Advanced level 4, and his Handicraft was the same.

Understanding of Sculptures hit the Intermediate level 9, and readily able to reach the Advanced stage any moment now.

Since crossing the mid threshold of Advanced level 4 of his Sculpturing Skill, he heard mysterious sounds coming into his ears.

– Please sculpt me.

– I want to see the world.

– If it’s you then you should be able.

– Be strong, c’mon!

Whenever he repairs the sculptures, he would hear these voices.

Not just one of them, he heard several mysterious voices.

“Is this the Vampire’s joke?”

Whenever the voices appeared, Weed would jump upright and turn around, but there was no one.

The Vampire’s Stealth skill, the ability for them to conceal and roam around, especially at night, was incredible.

Weed did not throw that suspicion out even if the visibility of the plaza was as clear as day.

– Me…please sculpt me.

The mysterious voices seemed to be coming from his immediate vicinity.

– Please, do me. Please carve my appearance.

He kept his eyes open and looked around, but there was no visible Vampire.

They have a general tendency to sleep during the day, so there was no reason for any of them to be around.

The vivid whispers seemed to be coming from right beside him.

Occasionally, the voices also sounded ominous.

– C’mon, sculpt me! I’ll kill you. I’ll kill you all!

– Do you want to have power? If so then carve me. Keukeukeukeuk. As a piece, I’ll bring hell to the world.

– You’re angry. Be angry. I’ll do everything to take revenge on those that harassed you.

The dried and wretched men’s voice could be heard.

Having heard dozens of voices in his ears, Weed was annoyed.

“You want me to sculpt what?”

He did not know the identities of the voices to his ear.

They on their own went on and on without a single story asking to be carved just like a herd of children.

As if Weed knew what to sculpt to satisfy their wishes.

“I really don’t know.”

While not having a single clue of what to do, Weed sculpted.

He carved out human beings, men and women.

Having repaired a lot of sculptures, he could produce Masterpieces from his keen perspectives.

However, the unidentified voices revealed their disappointments.

– That’s not it.

– These aspects are not me.

– I thought you were a competent Sculptor.

For a while, there was no sound to his ears again.

Then, midst of repairing the sculptures, they came and whispers.

They want to be carved!

While being afflicted with these, Weed finished repairing all the sculptures.

As reward for the quests, he gathered from swords for Knights, gloves, armors, and a huge amount of loot.

Where one would drop them and nod off, he survives by adapting!

So then, Pale party and the Geomchis were standing before all the works by just one Sculptor.

They were completely overwhelmed.

‘The Emperor of physical labor.’

‘The fallen God of hard work.’

As if she understood something, Maylon nodded.

“The Weed of CoM. No reason why this shouldn’t be the case.”

If the goal is too much; instead of giving up, move your body and solve a bit at a time.

Such continual effort will build up and eventually, the quest will be squared away.

Weed told the party.

“Done. Now I can go along to do them.”

The Geomchis looked away and tried to whistle.

Pale and the party members looked sideways at each other.

‘Pale nim, go ahead.’

‘I’d rather Hwaryeong nim do it.’

‘I don’t want to say that to Weed nim and be hated.’

‘But still, we need to give him an explanation…’

Finally, Pale went.

“Will you go hunting?”

“Yes. I finished preparing. I obtained many ingredients while doing the sculpture repair quests in Todeum. I’m ready to cook. I gained a lot of grinding wheels too. We’ll be ready anywhere.”

While staying in Todeum, Weed had firmly prepared to go to battle.

But Pale broke his expectation and confessed as there was no round-about way to do it.

“Sorry, Weed nim. Actually, we broke all the decent quests.”

“……”

Weed’s face contorted.

The face was the worst Pale had ever seen!

Nevertheless, he couldn’t help but to explain.

“We did all the Grade C and D. The follow up hunting quests were easily achieved.”

“What about Grade B quest?”

“We were quite successful with them too…”

“……”

“Though actually, there were a few that we couldn’t do.”

“Is that so?”

Weed’s face dramatically lit up. But again, Fail’s voice resonated with depression.

“We were blocked from accepting them. They didn’t become quests because it was essentially from the other side. And several others, the risks were too high. We have had too many of Geomchi nims died, so we gave up cause we couldn’t move any further.”

During the time when Weed wasn’t around, they were hooked on quests.

In exchange for accepting the worrisome Vampires’ commissions, the paid reward and high level quests made them gleeful.

So instead of raising their levels solely through battles, they tend to do quests together as they were twice as efficient.

While receiving quest experiences, Fame, and compensations, their activities were wide spread among the Todeum’s Vampires, and the range of their activities increased.

The quests set the foundation for them with the Vampires! Then there were quests to negotiate with small ethnic groups also!

In between the Vampires’ slumber to awaken period, they had to find new grounds for the groups while avoiding the Vampires to escape their oppression.

Find a safe area for them.

Mapan’s quest was to procure supplies for these ethnic groups.

So within two months, they established a new order at Todeum.

Within the Vampire dominated land!

These minorities cultivate their lives in peace dwelling in caves or forests.

Quests to hunt dangerous monsters, necessities, or lost children were given.

Having already almost exhausted all the quests in Todeum.

And as the situation continually changes, new original quests were given.

The best advantage of Royal Road.

Even now, when there was no quest readily available; until the new order needed to be fully established, no big event will happen right away.

Grade F or E, or quests that were for beginners, they didn’t accept them if they were outside the requirement of their commissions.

The Vampire Kingdom Todeum was as vast as the Versailles continent, and the number of quests they could accept was limited, so they had to cut some out.

Weed said quietly.

“I only got quests to fix while you guys got good commission quests.”

“Yea, well…I guess. But Weed nim also got a lot of quests.”

Weed also acquired a lot of Fame; he regained about 2/3 of the Fame lost while hunting the Unicorns and Pegasus, and also got to develop his Sculpturing Skill further.

Advanced level’s proficiency was indeed hard to increase. And the requirement to do so wasn’t just a few.

Still, Weed’s stomach aches.

“How come ever since I came to Todeum, I’ve not received a single good commission…”

With the remark of regret made, Pale couldn’t come up with an excuse and was speechless.

In good conscience, it was Weed that attracted them to go come to Todeum or else they wouldn’t have.

In the middle of all sorts of jobs; from castle to castle, he still fought and with him, the Grade A difficulty quest was a success.

Weed’s impact during the ordeal was absolute!

Although he was disappointed that the party went and abandoned him for two and a half months, it was unavoidable.

Keeping that in mind, Pale felt it the most since he obtained the most points during the course of the quests.

But if they didn’t do the quests, they along with the Geomchis wouldn’t have had anything to do.

Not knowing when the repairs might be finished, they couldn’t just idle around indefinitely waiting on him to finish.

So they rushed through the quests without minding him at all.

Weed started looking around toward the Geomchis and asked.

“But Sahyeongs.”

“Hmm?”

“The number of Sahyeongs seems to have reduced a lot.”

“Well, some died midst of the fighting yo.”

After having finished fighting the Unicorns and Pegasus, the number of Geomchis remained was 174!

During the course of doing the quests, the number steadily declined and now, there were only 102 people remaining.

Along with these Geomchis, they could do something together.

While their level was also highest amongst themselves, Geomchi2 and the other teachers also survived.

Weed decided.

‘With this now, we can’t afford to take on anymore quests.’

The Todeum that was dominated by the Vampires, was a modest Kingdom.

Nevertheless, more quests still remained.

With Weed’s Fame and his ability to raise Familiarity, with just a twist of the dried-up quest towel, he could wring out a few acceptable quests.

Grade B still remained, and even A could also be hiding somewhere.

However, too much of the Geomchis died.

With no Bandages left, even with Sword Grind and Armor Shine, it was impossible.

He could not see the benefit of Cooking either, even if the remaining people had the best development.

This was a terrible sacrifice.

‘We have to stop here. If anymore of the Sahyeongs died, then we’ll be too weak. And we won’t able to climb the most important place.’

With that decision, Weed looked up to the highest tower in Todeum he had to repair.

“There is one final thing we can do.”

The ancient building, the Tower of Heroes!

As the unnamed Vampire has said, the Intermediate Training Tower was located somewhere.

Weed’s body burned.

In the City of Heaven Lavias after having separated from Dain, he went through the Beginner Training Center.

Where he learned how to Yell and increased his strength by 50 or so.

‘About 3800 people passed the Basic Training Center. And 400 among them passed the Beginner Training Center. And after that, I bet many more went through the training centers.’

Even the large number of Geomchis made it past the Beginner Training Center, and they accepted the Martial Artist profession.

On the Versailles continent, information among users isn’t something secretive.

Because of them, Lavias have already been open to the public so quite a few numbers should have passed the Beginner Training Center.

‘I’m not interested in how many people have passed the BeTC. The Intermediate Training Center is important. I can catch up to those who are ahead of me with this.’

The condition poses by Todeum made the Intermediate Training Center here very difficult.

Whatever test is waiting in there, a death spells expulsion from here. Meaning only one opportunity to pass through the test!

In Continent of Magic, Weed was the God of War. Every battle he led he won, he became the absolute existence.

That Weed’s blood boiled as if it had resurfaced.

Weed spoke.

“Before climbing the Tower of Heroes, there is work needed to be done.”

His voice was filled with strong conviction of resolution.

“First, I have to dismantle the loot’s tower.”

“……”

The piled high mountain of spoils that created a large sculpture!

Even if the japtem was only worth just 1 Copper, Weed would not ever let it go.

Chapter 10: Tower of Heroes

The Weed leading the Geomchis with ambitions to climb the Tower of Heroes.

“As humans, humm. How dare you tread here without permission.”

The Heraim people who were barely covered by the primitive leather clothing spat coldly.

“Humans, this is not a place for those who have not learned the ancient martial art. If you turn back now, then you can preserve the life that you have.”

The Heraims resembled beast type humans.

While their whole body filled with coarse hair and porous; their hands, feet, and head were large.

Their muscular bodies were on the verge of exploding; seemed as though the race had been optimized for battle.

Weed hurriedly stepped forward before the Geomchis starting some sort of incident.

“The reason we came here is to put ourselves to the test.”

They immediately reacted.

“What is the test called?”

“It’s a topic among the weak human; is it possible for to go through if we passed the Beginner Training Center?”

The presented Heraims on the first floor murmured.

Weed said quickly.

“So yeah. By passing the Beginner Training Center, we came to the Tower of Heroes. In order for us to test our strength.”

And then, an older Heraim approached.

“Outside have a lot of bats of darkness; didn’t expect you to defeat them to make it here.”

“……”

Weed did not speak of the fact they conspired with the Vampire by doing commissions and gaining money in return.

In a brief moment, he had already identified the characteristics of the Heraims.

‘So that’s how it is with all the training center instructors huh. Venerate strength and likes to sweat.’

Fortunately, the older Heraim did not ask about the Vampires.

“I understand the willingness of you humans. The weak human could not have possibly passed through the Beginner Training Center. But this is different. If you want to test it then be ready with your life.”

“We understand that that is the price to pay in order to attain strength. We are prepared in order to save the persecuted human beings, and in order to build a just world by our definition.”

The illustrious Weed filled with chivalry of the knights kicked it.

The aged Heraim nodded.

“If your determination is at that level then it’s adequate enough. On the first floor, you will need to learn how to be patient. On the second floor, if you do not walk the road you must tread, then you will not survive in the third. If you can reach the third floor, you will succeed in challenging of the Tower of Heroes.”

Weed was not satisfied with just that. If he survives till the third floor, there wouldn’t be any desire to go back down.

“What about the fourth floor also?”

“On the fourth floor you will need to overcome your limitation. On the fifth, you will be able to see a legend. We’ll see how far you can climb against vicious hordes of Monsters.”

Weed no longer cared for the Heraims.

The behavior was just to gain enough information and that was that.

* * *

Pale, Hwaryeong, Zephyr, etc, were not qualified to climb the Tower of Heroes.

But the tower was something they’ve only heard, so they did not want to miss the opportunity to watch the climb.

Thus, they decided to assemble at KMC Media broadcasting station.

In the station, they could watch the live feed via Weed.

Shin Hyemin picked them up and explained as she led them to the cinema room.

“The Tower of Heroes. 12 were built on the Versailles continent by the Heraims. But only available to those that passed the earlier ones.”

Kim In Young, who uses the nickname Irene, eyes were filled with curiousity.

“How do you know?”

“Actually, the Tower of Heroes was just a secret rumor.”

The information regarding the Tower of Heroes belongs in the top class of info.

Even if the person knows the location of it, he would keep it to himself rather than tell others.

Monopoly of information!

The station was also barely able to pick up this data.

“The story spreading regarding it is that there’s some kind of tower that if you pass, you’d be considered as a true warrior. I too, until I heard the name Tower of Heroes, was also convinced that it was such.”

Without knowing, they arrived to the cinema room.

In there, the events happening in the Tower of Heroes was already underway in full swing.

* * *

Dark dungeon.

Weed and the Geomchis were fighting against an enormous amount of Stone Golems in the passageway.

Bearing their swords, sparks were flying off but there were no cut.

Also, they couldn’t go back.

The entrance happened to be blocked.

“So this is the endurance stage huh.”

Weed was clearly worn out.

They had to get through the Golems and search throughout the complex maze.

More heavily weighted Golems were also dropping from the ceiling.

Hidden pitfalls and hidden arrows were also presented.

Weed and the Geomchis moved forward slowly while defeating numerous Golems.

The Golems did not give them time to rest.

As if to replace the fallen, from all directions in the passageways, a lot more were attracted.

The battle in the labyrinth went on for seven hours!

The weariness in the body increased, so did the fun.

‘EXP is rising, and the item from the golems looks good.’

No matter how dangerous. If it’s the chance to make money, he’ll get stronger.

That was Weed’s soul.

“Ajajajajajaja!”

Bursting shout of joy!

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s kill them all!”

The Geomchis too, desperation filled and fought.

They did not fear death. However, a death here meant an embarrassing failure. So they tried their best not do die.

Pushing through the enemies while taking care of each other, they found the staircase to the second floor.

The fight with the Golem was 14 hours since its conception.

* * *

The cinema room.

Rumor spread of Weed challenging the Tower of Heroes, and suddenly the station employees gathered.

The program ‘Weed’ rating was significantly low.

They were trying to give the audience an accurate depiction of Seirun so it was inevitable.

Earlier on, the Weed’s presence wasn’t great.

From food, sword grinding, ironing, and up to bandaging, he was the person who did all sorts of chores.

Even when they did not edit the battles, all could really be seen from him was the ability to conduct the attack and sweep of surrounding areas.

Although that alone was awesome, each time they saw the Jeonshin Weed and built up on the traumatic experiences, and his charismatic self falls short each time.

Not only that, the Geomchis were somewhat of insectivores.

‘But it may be different if we watch it this time.’

The staffs hyped themselves.

They also came to the cinema room and watched for about an hour or so, and were bored.

‘Just fighting golems.’

‘Tired, tired.’

Even after three hours they were still fighting while searching.

The Royal Road footage was played at the rate of 4x the norm.

Endless fighting, monsters wearing away.

From the viewers’ perspective, everything they saw up to the strike of the swords, there was no hint of giving up.

At the end of the bloody battle, the staircase to the second floor was found.

Then, they felt a lump in their chest.

If it’s time for dungeon quests, then most will take the more rational approach.

First, they will gather up each type of the needed occupation, and readied the equipments.

After entering the dungeon, reconnaissance and dismantle traps.

Wizards attacks and archers suppresses!

Also conversely, traps are installed to fight effectively.

There are still a lot of risks; even with the Clerics’ heals.

But this was the most commonly used method most large guilds practiced.

‘It has been a long time since I’ve seen bodies collided like that to solve a quest.’

‘A lack of the combination of cooperation and faith means no way to persevere through this…’

‘Seeing this these days is rare.’

* * *

Weed and the Geomchis arrived at the second floor and a parchment could be seen.

Gold skill book!

The Tower of Heroes had prepared the compensation.

Weed read the skill book.

Stone Skin: makes skin hard as rock. The User can protect himself from Fire and Ice, even sharp weapons.

The Defense increase is based on Perseverance, Physical Resistance, and skill level.100 Mana consume to activate the skill.

15 Mana per second consume to maintain the skill.

Due to the heavy weight gain, Agility will decrease by 25%, Damage will increase by 15%.

Limitation:

- Contestant of Basic Training Center.

- Available to all.

- Must have Mana to use.

A skill to directly protect the body.

In the case of Warriors, they can increase Defense by temporarily increases Morale. This was a bit different.

It is at a disadvantage since it consumes more Mana. And in place of outstanding increase in Damage, Agility declines.

Weed found how he could take advantage of this skill.

‘If I’m surrounded by enemies and cuts come in from all directions, this would useful.’

The other skill is only for the Warriors, those that don’t meet the condition demanded can’t use it.

Then it’s the same as Eyes Tightly Shut!

Stone Skin may seem a bit weak against air-based attacks or charging attacks, but the great gain in defensive capability is useful.

Defensive skills against aggressive attacks weren’t so rare though.

“Skill Acquisition!”

Have learned Stone Skin.

By means of acquiring new Ancient Skill, Intelligence increased by 7.

Wisdom increased by 6.

Having learned the skill, they moved slowly forward to the next challenge.

As oppose to the first floor, it wasn’t dark at all.

It was too bright to the eyes.

On the ground the glowing fire burned, and the flames covered up any sight of the staircase.

Even with the Wizards ability to fly, due the low ceiling above, there was no way to avoid the flames.

“So this is what he meant by walking the path you must tread, huh. Stone Skin!”

Weed activated the skill he just learned, and walked into the fire.

This was the quickest way and there was no going back.

If the quest required this method, rather than coming up with tips and tricks, he took a chance and made a bet by stepping in.

Under special circumstances.

- The rate of acquiring Stone Skin’s proficiency will increase 20% of the norm.

Each step he took, the proficiency increased by 1%.

Even though the level was still at Beginner, the speed was great. However, the pain had not subsided.

The hardest thing imagined.

The whole entire body was covered in flames. Hands and feet seemed to have dried up as bone as they evaporated.

Before his harassed by flames sight lies the gateway of the second floor.

“Let’s go. The third floor will be waiting with something more interesting.”

A rather confident Weed walked excitedly.

The Geomchis also followed.

The pain in their body transcended.

Something for the likes of the sick minded.

“33 year old bachelor.”

“If I think about girlfriends then my limbs shrivel like this.”

“Can’t be weakened just because of some stupid stage.”

Their pace had fallen along with their speed and vitality, while fatigue jumped with every step they took.

But thanks to Stone Skin, they were able to withstand it of that level.

Stone Skin skill level increased by 1.Due to the rock-like hardened skin, a chance of bouncing off enemies’ weapons improves.

Base armor increases by 1%.

- Stone Skin skill level increased by 1.

- Due to the rock-like hardened skin, a chance of bouncing off enemies’ weapons improves.

- Base armor increases by 2%.

The growth the Stone Skin was a pleasurable feeling.

“Keuheuheuheuheu.”

Weed enjoyed the bodily aches.

Even if it was physical hardship, the growth of a skill was the best of feelings.

For others, they may not want to walk the length because of the pain; but for the sake of the skill, there is no reason to not persist.

Then they discovered the stairs to the third floor.

Weed and the Geomchis sufficiently rested before climbing up the stairs.

Again, they were filled with Health and Mana. And again, they returned to the flames.

“Grow skill, grow!”

With the Stone Skin mastery in mind, the jumped into the flames!

Only Weed would ever come up with that logic.

Stone Skin have reached the Intermediate level. Increases base Defense by 4%.

Magic Resistance increases by 7%, the Mana to maintain the skill reduces by half.

At this point, they could say the inferno was a bit generous.

Along with the Mana cost depletion, the tension left somewhere as well.

Geomchi’s forehead sweated like during a workout.

“Oh cool.”

Geomchi3 body also felt refreshed.

“Master, isn’t it a pleasure to feel the sweat falling?”

The Geomchis sat and relaxed as if this was a sauna!

They stayed on the second floor for a day or so.

Enjoying the pain of the flames, all for the mastery of the skill!

After the means, they mastered the skill and climbed toward the third floor.

* * *

In the cinema room, the station’s staffs couldn’t close their mouth while watching the sight.

“Are these people humans?”

“Maybe it’s not that hot?”

They simply had to be dubious.

However, the inferno there was no illusion.

Whether it was Weed or the Geomchis, all had to shed the clothes they were wearing!

They suffered an unexplainably high fever that was impossible to explain.

Weed had to continually repair the broken armors, and later was forced to enjoy the blazing inferno with just pants on.

The swimming in the fire Geomchi10.

The baking potatoes in both hands while eating another Geomchi17.

The roasted juipo eating Geomchi38. (dried fish jerky.)

Even Oh Dongman who was familiar to Weed and the Geomchis placed his hand on his heart.

‘I’m human. I appreciate the fact that I’m just a normal human!’

Now was a time where he could not be proud of the fact he knew Weed and the Geomchis.

Those eternally absurd human beings once again amaze.

Park Heeyeon was also frustrated.

“I’m seriously going down the path of a professional Flame Magician, but I can never be a carefree as that in that situation…”

She attended the conference on the Flame Magic series.

The pain of the magical flame is something substantial.

Although it burns like the real, of course, it is not.

But in order to counteract the burning one will feel, the parts need to be covered in very hot spring water or something comparable, which were fiercely expensive.

But here, Weed and the Geomchis seemed a bit too impervious.

They stay in the flames for long and still seems like the flames were softening.

With the lowering resistance, the pain will get even more severe.

Perhaps, the pain they are feeling at the moment may have been close to the maximum.

Nevertheless, they still enjoyed it.

“Perverts, those Ahjussi!”

When they reached the floor, they obtained more stats.

Ttiring!

Passing the Intermediate Training Center has been logged.

Physical Resistance increases by 60.

Perseverance increases by 60.

Endurance increases by 60.

Physical Resistance, Perseverance, and Endurance all increased by 60!

With the Stone Skin mastered, Defense had almost doubled.

At their current self, it was as if they’ve acquired the effect of a high end defensive item.

Other Tower of Heroes would have also provided users with the Stone Skin skill.

But no one would ever reach the height of the skill of which Weed and the Geomchis achieved.

It was an exceptional opportunity for the weaker than most defensive-wise Geomchis!

However, the degree of difficulty on the third floor was much greater.

Thieves and Assassins made traps while waiting for a more opportune time to attack.

Poisoned daggers and crossbow arrows flew.

“Thunderous Lightning!”

“Fire Blast!”

“Aqua Arrow!”

They were subjected to a widespread of magical attacks.

The third stage was the stage of survival!

The Assassins and Thieves made their way in between the Geomchis, with magic attacks followed.

If they were distracted by the Assassins or the Thieves, then they would have received a direct hit from the magic attack.

And if they had tried to avoid magical attacks by dodging, their body would suffer thrusting blows from the hidden Assassins.

“Keeuu.”

“Oh shit. This sucks…”

Geomchi54 and Geomchi77 died.

They will not be able to exceed the third floor of the Intermediate Training Center.

Now, they will re-spawn back on the Versailles continent at their saved location.

Weed used Yell

“Do. Not. Divide!”

The yell overwhelmed all disturbances.

Geomchi2 asked urgently.

“Weed, is there a way?”

Geomchis and the other instructors were safe.

They were those who can take care of themselves even in the midst of chaos.

But due to the sudden change in circumstances, they have not figured out a solution.

“I also have no way.”

“That so?”

“The Wizards should attack the center of where we gathered because it’ll be a concentrated zone. But for some reason, they want us to disperse; which means their line based attacks are more damaging. We gotta fight united.”

“Wouldn’t they do what you said though, attack the center?”

“Still, we have stick together. Even if we scatter, it has to be in groups of 3.”

Weed instinctively found a respond.

Geomchi2 relied on his judgment.

Any lack of rational conviction, and they’ll suffer from the thrusts of the enemies.

Geomchi2 had always been the best disciple at the Dojang, and decisions were often forced on him.

He had always been watching over the other instructors and practitioners as they gain experiences.

However, at this time, there was no need for Geomchi2 to make a decision.

‘For me I have a trustworthy apprentice. If it’s his judgment, then I’ll follow it.’

The Geomchis gathered.

Magic attacks concentrated before them, and the dagger wielding Assassins and Thieves rushed forward.

Weed exclaimed.

“Stone Skin!”

He utilized the skill he had just learned.

“Stone Skin!”

“Stone Skin!”

The Geomchis hurriedly used the skill.

Their skins were as hard as rocks. Magic enveloped above them.

Kwaahahahang!

Dozen of colorful magic attacks exploded above Weed and the Geomchis.

Thanks to the power of Stone Skin, the loss of life was not large.

Most likely due to the benefits of attaining mastery of the skill.

‘It’s holding up against the power of magic.’

The Geomchis were vaguely afraid of magic attacks.

They were not accustomed to magic as they did not use it.

If they saw an oncoming flying spell, they would avoid it.

But not just the Geomchis, anybody else will choose the same course of action.

The destructivity of magic doesn’t just stop at the initial hit.

Some fire or ice skills, they have two three phases in one attack.

Completely damages all except for the caster himself; while many other magical attacks covers a large area of complex damages.

That’s why magicians are widely recognized as best offensive class!

While also difficult to completely avoid, the huge area affected means far less work for them.

However, due to the effect of Stone Skin, they were at least able to survive through the non-direct magic attacks.

The earth-based magical attacks with two, three phases were deflected by the stone skins.

The Geomchis overcame the magical storm as rooted trees.

“Survived.”

“I’m not dead!”

Meanwhile, the Assassins and Thieves were in shock.

Having received the damage, but the Geomchis’ situation wasn’t chaotic.

Chaaeng!

Geomchis skillfully brandished their blades that their respective Assassins and Thieves.

Deadly attacks!

The Assassins and Thieves had not prepared their guard in the first place, so they were taking a beating.

“Strike!”

“Killing away!”

Even before, they weren’t afraid of the Assassins and Thieves who overwhelmed them by the numbers.

Holding their swords rushing their enemies, the Geomchis solidified their footings while keeping their opponent at bay.

Magic attacks occasionally made their ways in, and some Assassins and Thieves relied on suicidal rushes.

On the third floor, it was literally a fight for survival.

Just a single moment of loss of concentration spelt a wider gap of vulnerability.

The Assassins’ stealth skill was very impressive; they were only able to be seen within a few meters.

But still, they were just like moths to a flame, deathly counterattacks soon followed.

While holding their positions, Weed and the Geomchis took care of all the Assassins and Thieves.

Then to each their own, they took on the remaining cast of Wizards.

Along with their deathly attacks, only 37 Geomchis were left after the damage of their magical attacks.

Weed and the Geomchis headed toward the fourth floor.

Have learned Heraim Sword Skill.

By means of acquiring new Ancient Sword Skill, Strength increased by 15.

Agility increased by 20.

- Heraim Sword Skill:

- The developed sword skill of the Combat Race Heraim.

A very difficult skill to operate; evidently resulted in its extinction.

While moving forward without stopping, can deliver five consecutive strikes.

Depending on the skill level, the maximum possible of consecutive attacks and effect will increase.

Whenever success at continuous attacks, Strength and Agility will temporarily increase.

If the sword stopped moving, or is blocked, the skill will cease automatically.

200 Mana will be consumed when using the skill.

Restriction:

- For those that learned swordsmanship.

- Available to all.

- Must have Mana to use.

The compensation for having made it to the forth floor was an ancient sword skill.

Whether it was limited sword skill, unique sword skill, or the extent of its power, all were unknown.

As soon as they learned the skill, the enemies flocked.

The feeling of hopelessness came from some unknown place seeped into Weed to a decent extent.

“The humans who woke us up.”

“The living humans…kill.”

“So I can…rest.”

The cursed Ghost Knights.

The knights were equipped with old swords and armors.

For having betrayed their commitment and having fallen into corruption during their lifetime, they had to pay by constantly living in suffering.

The number of knights and soldiers’ ghosts had gathered beyond the hundreds.

Even now, more and more of them were spawning from the ground.

Weed drew his sword.

“Let’s break through them.”

He intended to rush in the second he saw the dozens of the awakening ghosts of knights and soldiers!

Weed and the Geomchis all headed toward the same direction.

“Skill cast. Heraim Sword Skill!”

Above head, and toward the stomach, the hits landed.

When the continuous attacks were successful, the sword flew much faster.

First order of continuous attacks was successful.

Agility increases by 20%.

Second order of continuous attacks was successful.

Strength increases by 40%.

Third order of continuous attacks was successful.

Agility increases by an additional 40%.

Fourth order of continuous attacks was successful.

Strength increases by an additional 40%.

Fifth order of continuous attacks was successful.

Sent the enemy into Confusion.

Degrade the enemy’s Fighting Spirit.

The initial combo gave the second faster sword speed.

By the time of the third, the Ghost Knight dropped to his knees because of its awesome power!

The sword did not stop.

It returned in a smooth circle and connected at the exact point where Ghost Knight’s armor was most vulnerable.

And the transverse swung of the buffed up fifth blew away all the attacks of the enemy.

The Ghost Knight lays, crushed.

Heraim Sword Skill proficiency increased by 0.2%.

For the series of attacks to be successful up to the fifth order: sense of balance, visual acuity of the body, and proficiency in swordsmanship were all needed.

While not stopping the movement of the blade, one must respond immediately to the actions of the enemy.

Weed and the Geomchis having already mastered swordsmanship, thus quickly picked up the Heraim Sword Skill.

Fighting against the oncoming enemies, the Heraim Sword Skill demonstrated its ability by blowing them all away.

But rather, having already suppressed at least 80 of them, the number of enemies increased by twice of that.

“Damn.”

“This will not be easy.”

From Geomchi up till the instructors, their faces seemed solemn.

Even if you’re gifted in the art of the sword, it is limited within Royal Road.

With more and more enemies to fight, Health, Stamina, and Mana all decreases with each one.

Overtime, the end of their time was drawing near.

“Break them!”

“C’mon!”

Only the sound of Weed and the Geomchis reverberated.

“Heraim Sword Skill!”

First order of continuous attacks was successful.

Agility increases by 20%.

Second order of continuous attacks was successful.

Strength increases by 40%.

Third order of continuous attacks was successful.

Agility increases by an additional 40%.

Fourth order of continuous attacks was successful.

Strength increases by an additional 40%.

Fifth order of continuous attacks was successful.

The enemy has Fainted.

Has lost the ability to attack.

Whenever they used the skill, the Ghost Knights and Ghost Soldiers were crushed.

Their surrounding was unbearable; even with just moving a step, they were confronted by the lapping waves of enemies.

The Geomchis’ eyes turned cold.

Received a fatal blow!

The successive attacks were only able to be so when targeting the sensitive areas.

The Geomchis earnestly battled.

But with just that, it wasn’t going to turn the favor back to them in this war like situation.

For the first time, they could only advance toward one direction.

While more enemies spawned, they were forced to be wary of their rear.

Eventually, they were encircled, which further delayed their progress even more.

More than a third of those that arrived on the fourth floor died.

“Keook!”

“To die here…is really…inconvenient.”

They fought without regret.

Not a mistake on their part, the fault was on the lack of Stamina and Strength.

Some Geomchis died, fallen and turned into nothingness.

All those fought at one point or another almost collapsed from exhaustion.

All the Geomchis were killed.

In minutes, it was just Weed by himself.

“Sculpturing Blade!”

His most basic of sword skill.

A sword skill that while uses less Mana, able to fight off multiple opponents.

While wounded, he ferociously fought against the lance and sword wielding Ghost Knights and Solders.

Attack, attack, attack!

The ghost knights lost their lives, the soldiers fallen.

But Weed, by himself, could no longer move forward.

With each and every of the enemies’ attacks, his wounds deepened.

‘Damn.’

If he had not surpassed the Warrior’s Perseverance and Physical Resistance, he would have died in this situation already.

He could not use the Eyes Tightly Shut skill either.

While have already been surrounded by enemies, he also could not fully control his body as of now.

Weed alone, bravely fought against the horde of enemies for more than 10 minutes.

Less than 5% Stamina, Mana already depleted, and HP dipped below 23%; it was a situation where he could not win.

With the diminishing Strength, his arm felt heavy with the sword in his hand.

His body no longer moves fluid-like as before.

“I’ll take one more fool!”

He abandoned blocking the hits of his enemies.

Each and every attack using sword required a certain amount if Strength and Stamina.

He chose to decrease the distance between him and an enemy.

Weed having completely abandoned defending himself, the number of wounds rapidly shot up.

And in return, he was able to thrust his sword through the helmet of one of the knights.

“Up to here?”

Weed then gave up preventing their attacks landing.

However, he did not give up on picking up the items.

Having battled in one spot for a long time, it was a plate like area filled with items and loots!

There were so many items dropped by the Ghost Knight that were just scraps.

But if they were to go through the smelting process, all were able to be recycled.

In some cases, he obtained jewelries and fallen Gold.

If he left the Ghost Knights and the Ghost Soldiers alone, he could pick them up.

Hwiriririk!

Weed rolled on the ground.

Focusing everything into his hands, he quickly reached for the surrounding items.

Aimed for the more expensive items first, then onto the lowly japtems.

Then by the sword of a Ghost Knight, he died.

You have died.

The Weed who died fighting till the end.

The ghosts, once again, returned to their original position.

“Kkirikkkirik. All challengers have died.”

“Too bad they could not remove our curse.”

“Now I will return to my slumber once more.”

They burst into laughter and ridiculed their human challengers.

They believed everything has already been terminated!

At the spot where Weed died, the body had been replaced by a set of bones.

An unsightly sword wielding white skeleton!

A power received from the Necromancer; due to the power to deny death, a Skeleton Knight will be resurrected.

* * *

The Manager of Operation was brought in.

Because of the known fact that Weed and the Geomchis were challenging the Tower of Heroes.

Director Khang and the entire production staff were watching the attempt together.

“Such splendid and precise movements.”

“Have anyone ever seen such accurate movements like that from a user?”

“Whew, receiving hits from the Assassins and Thieves and still not even panicking.”

“How many people can fight covering for each other like that?”

The fight was full of admiration.

In order to master the Stone Skin Skill, they also had to bathe in flames.

But that as well could not drown their fighting spirit.

Watching Weed and the Geomchis’ fight scene, it was as if their souls were drawn into the screen. Nothing short of admiration.

“And what floor is this now?”

“The 4th.”

Within the station, from one acquaintance to the next, the news of being able to watch the first ever seen attempt of the Tower of Heroes spread among them.

The first or second floor wasn’t anything comparing to the excitement of the fourth floor.

Weed and the Geomchis arrived to the fourth floor and still showed tremendous fighting spirits.

The thrill was something difficult for any other movie to match to as they lead into the battles.

It was as if their roles were natural born warriors fending off enemies.

Too exhilarating.

Their hands shook unknowingly as if they wanted to enter the scene.

It was something simply breathtaking and exciting.

A perfect stage to fight until the end where each and absolutely all enemies must be eliminated without retreating.

The Geomchis were wiped out.

Even though Weed had put up an excellent resistance, he also lost his life.

“Ah!”

The group sighed.

Oh Dongman, Shin Hyemin, Kim In Young, as well as all those who knew Weed and the Geomchis, and of course the station’s staffs, all lamented.

It was the emphatically feeling of wanting Weed and the group to pass the Tower of Heroes.

“That was it, just like that?”

“It was just a hunch from the beginning anyway. But what they did was great. If it were us, we wouldn’t even dare to do it.”

They then collapsed from exhaustion.

It felt as if they’ve stayed up for two, three nights; all were not able to do anything.

And then, the transmission transferred to the screen stunned them all as they watched.

From where Weed died, a skeleton rose in his place.

For some reason, the skeleton felt familiar.

The skeleton that appeared at the right moment during the Fellowship led by the Cold Rose Guild to fight the dragon Kurenberg!

Using magic of the Necromancer, he produced thousands of Undead.

Amazing close range dogfight against the dragon while mounted on a wyvern.

Even yelled and called forth the ice dragon.

The impact achieved at that time was something unrivalled.

Though it looked a different from the first skeleton, the skeleton had appeared once again.

The station employees cried in excitement.

“He came!”

“The Jeonshin Weed!”

Chapter 1: Skeleton Knight

Ttadadadak.

Weed knocked on his jaw and looked at his body.

The appearance of a perfect bone set devoid of any flesh!

This was all due to the Power to Deny Death that he was able to resurrect as an undead.

The body looked weird with nothing but bones, but comparing to the last time, this set seemed to be thicker and more nutritiously filled with power.

Ding!

You have returned from darkness of the abyss.

The skill level of the Power to Deny Death has increased by one. Reached Beginner level 2.

Health will gain an extra 3%, 1% derived from the Power of Darkness.

Additional effect will be granted by fighting more wickedly.

Possibility to raise the Undead increases.

After resurrection, the number of available type within the category increases as well as the skill level.

It was impossible to gain experience for the Power to Deny Death any other way.

The only way was to die.

“Character information!”

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Undead

Level

354

Reputation

7904

Class

Skeleton Knight

HP

146800

MP

6400

Strength

1265

Agility

1130

Stamina

Infinite

Wisdom

70

Intelligence

65

Fighting Spirit

922

Endurance

Infinite

Perseverance

665

Physical Resistance

470

Leadership

459

Guilt

96

*Due to the unique characteristic of the Skeleton Knight, You do not feel fatigue.

*Sword skills +2.

*Due to the power of darkness covering the entire body, add additional damage and Defense.

*Extremely vulnerable to Holy magic.

*Weakens before the sun and fire.

Weed’s original level was 355. Having died, his level dropped by one.

Mastery of skills also dove considerably.

Having already died plenty, he took a deep breath and could somewhat calmly accepted it. Hard work will refill the proficiency once again.

“Skeleton Knight. Been a while since I can move my body, need to get this off my chest.”

Weed drew the sword and cut the Ghost Knight that killed him.

“Keueuk!”

“Enemy.”

All the Ghost Knights suddenly blocked each and every one of his potential paths.

Still, they had not attacked Weed just yet, because they could not tell whether he was an ally or an enemy.

He was an undead that had a cursed skeleton for a physical body.

But due to Weed’s preemptive attack, they all raised their rusty sword, rotten shield, and broken lances towards him.

“Painful, so painful.”

“Painful. The suffering came from humans, that skeleton too isn’t one of us.”

“We were betrayed. This traitor. Unng, I’ll kill ya.”

Large number of Ghost Knights took place.

To finish the fight and return to their slumber.

As time passed, more and more Ghost Knights and Soldiers spawned from the ground.

These ghosts!

They were those who were betrayer of friends, sinned against their king, and committed treason against their country.

Within a few seconds, 30 or more enemies returned and ready to fight.

Even after having been reborn as a fleshless being by the Power of Darkness, the answer for his resurrection was as clear as day.

“Stone Skin.”

Weed’s white bones hardened like stones.

The amount of Mana was too small so he could not use his attacking Skills anymore after that.

“You’re a traitor, buddy. You’ll suffer like us!”

A Ghost Soldier came running in first.

Weed quickly leaned to avoid the oncoming lance, then he stretched his sword toward the assailant’s neck.

A fatal blow!

Puseuseu.

The ghost became a blurred smoke then disappeared.

When he was alive, as a fault of the Sculptor class, his stats were evenly distributed matching to his profession. Art, Faith, and Appeal all played a role on his low Strength.

But after having been reborn as a Skeleton Knight, his damage output was incredibly high. Similarly with Agility, his moving speed has gotten noticeably faster.

His base defense had also increased greatly.

Pababababak!

Weed continued to advance while taking a beating from all direction.

There was no need to be cautious of distant enemies.

‘I only need to concentrate at this point.’

With multiple attacks coming in at the same time, he countered them by hitting the weapons, and then uses the technique to disarm the lot of entangled weapons.

Still, colleagues of those adversaries did not stop the assault.

Puwak!

Lances pierced through Ghost Soldiers’ body as they attacked.

Weed brandished his sword as if he had already anticipated the attack coming from the rear.

He fought as if he was possessed.

He had a constant flow within the battle.

Having already fought for a day or so, the number of them kept growing for at an enormous rate.

Synchronized breathing with the attacks of the enemy and his own movements.

He assimilated himself at this point.

Weed’s movements had surpassed his earlier ability with the sword.

The possibility of this was no less owe to the role of the Skeleton Knight.

Because of the physical limitation of being human, commitment made to vigorous movement at every time seems moot. With quicker movements, more stamina is consumed and will soon tire oneself out.

Let’s say at the earlier part of the battle, 100% of the damage can be carried out; however, along with the decrease of Stamina, the damage output also decreases.

In the case of Defense, Stamina plays a small role even if it had been severely depleted; but Physical Resistance, Perseverance, Wisdom, and many others all will be greatly affected by Stamina.

However, thanks to the unique characteristic of the Skeleton Knight, he never gets tired. Even an hour of constant battling, Stamina remained as it is without fail.

Furthermore, he doesn’t get hungry.

Weed was immersed in the fighting, but he felt so miserable.

“Because of the Sculptor I miss out on the Skeleton Knight!”

Grief and chagrin!

In exchange, he fought vigorously with every bone in his body.

With the countless of combat experiences in here, as well as the learned swordsmanship in real life.

Even with the Skills, he still must confront in direct battles.

As a reward, Weed gained his body perfectly under his control.

Although not akin to that of Geomchi’s, his mindset was nothing short of comparatively.

The fourth floor of the Tower of Heroes tests one’s sword skills and determination.

If he flinched from the enemy’s attacks, more and more of these ghostly adversaries would gather and wouldn’t allow him to penetrate.

This stage was not meant to be passed by those with weak heart.

‘Give ma flesh and whittle to the bones.’

Whenever Weed’s heavy stride stepped forward, huge number of Ghost Knights and Ghost Soldiers falls in its quake.

“Uhaaaaaa!”

From Weed’s mouth, shouts of excitement erupted.

During this impossible challenge, he was having fun. Whether it’ll be successful or end in failure, he no longer cares!

Chwararara!

In return, Weed’s elbow and wrist violently broke.

Spectacular sword wielding. In contrast to the impossibility in reality, it was possible here.

With the usage of Skills, the attacks can be even more bizarre; but without having Mana to use, he mainly fought by brandishing his sword and stabbing.

‘The sword should not be stopped; to retain the state of force when cut.’

After acquiring the Heraim Sword Skill, he pretty soon discovered the gist of this since experiencing it.

With the scream of the sword coming down from an attack, the repulsion force of blocking forces him to be in a momentary delay. But now under the same situation, he no longer block but instead attack.

Weed’s Swordsmanship Skill was at Intermediate level 4!

Of course, it was not something comparable to the Geomchis’ Skill which was at the Advanced levels. Due to the nature of a Sculptor, the growth of the skill was twice as slow as theirs.

But now, the rate lined up due to the fact that he was a Skeleton Knight; and along with this attribute, his power was also flawless.

“Kkirikkkirik!”

“Though a Skeleton Knight, still he’s a great knight.”

With the ongoing battle, the attitude of the Ghost Knights has changed.

“Our mission is to stop you here.”

“Pain, this sucks… In exchange for the betrayal I have to undergo this eternal torment.”

“We are of the Knights. So I acknowledge your strength and courage.”

“But we cannot allow you to pass here.”

Nearing the 8th time he penetrated through the hordes of ghost knights on the fourth floor, they began rushing in more violently.

Weed faithfully relied on just his sword.

There was no other option, and with the given infinite amount of Stamina, the only thing to do was to wield the sword.

Similar to the scarecrows back in Saraborg Castle!

Except for brief breaks in between, he had never wield a sword so tirelessly before.

So neglecting everything, he fought on.

Finally, there wasn't a single Ghost Knight or Ghost Soldier blocking his way any longer.

Before Weed, a white staircase was seen.

He passed the fourth floor challenge!

With one step at a time, he proceeded to the end; climbing the stairs leading to the fifth floor of the Tower of Heroes.

“Keukeukeukeu.”

“A great knight.”

“It has been an honor.”

With that, the ghosts no longer rushed at him, showing proper etiquette. Though having been battered, they acknowledged their defeat.

‘Seems like even though they have been ghosts and specters for a long while, they still retained some of their codes even after death.’

Weed checked on the state of his body.

63% remaining HP.

Thanks to the Power to Deny Death, the base health was enormous.

He shed the Talrock Armor and Divine Integral Rings and such; and in their places, he wore the armor made of the dragon’s bones as well as the Payrote’s Ring, which increases his mana recovery.

Normally, he maintained all of his equipments in their best state by means of repairing. Thanks to his constant care, though having been through a lot just now, their Durability were still above 80%. Now he donned a much harder armor that was made from dragon’s bones.

The Durability of the sword was still at 75%.

‘It’s enough.’

Weed turned away from the stairs in front of him. And from behind, the Ghost Knights rushed with their swords swinging in slow motion.

“It hurts!”

“Wh…why is this plaguing us!?”

The knights and soldiers clamored and struck.

They were barely hanging on and were suffering.

They passed through the gateway after having climbed the stairs in order to pit themselves against Weed.

Weed did not speak of an answer.

‘I have never refused any quests, monsters, or challenges to fight.’

Back on Continent of Magic, Weed did not know how to refrain himself.

If it was something obtrusive, whether they were people or monsters, he simply shattered and pierced through all.

Smash everything, crushes all.

Those were the days where he would stand alone amongst all those eradicated.

On the stairs of the fourth floor leading to the top, that disposition of the Jeonshin Weed was resurrected.

* * *

Jeong Ilhun was staring at the phone.

“The time for the phone to ring is coming.”

He was Geom-2-chi in Royal Road!

Jeong Illhun hospitably took care of Orc Seechwi. And yet his feelings deepened as he got to know more about her.

The Jeong Ilhun who would make a complete fool of himself in opposition to a woman, but somehow he could comfortably deal with Seechwi.

Eventually, the two became lovers in Royal Road.

And today, she had said she would call Jeong.

“How long must I wait.”

Jeong Ilhun joyously spoke.

The expensive dating service phone call, the old bachelor that was difficult to pull away from the phone call with a woman that would requires a card to talk to.

But he never thought he would have a girlfriend to give him a call!

Ddareuu!

Jeong Ilhun heard the phone rang once and immediately picked it up.

“Yes! I’m Jeong Ilhun!”

His voice tightened to that of a recruit in the service.

‘Forgot that I had 7 raw eggs, is my voice gunna be ok?’

He never once been troubled over this fact. But still, being on a call with somebody he loves, anyone would start to care a little.

– Hello, Mr. Ilhun.

Over the line, a melodious voice of a woman was heard.

Jeong forehead began to furrow.

‘It’s not her voice.’

She was suppose to have strong nasally sound. Groggy like a man, rusty voice.

Her voice was not pretty.

Jeong Ilhun spoke quickly with a harsh tone.

“I don’t want to sign up for a card. Don’t want to use a loan phone. Don’t want to join a high speed communication network. Please disconnect because I urgently need the phone.”

For a bachelor on the phone, with calls that comes, it needs to go instead of having being hung up on. He believed the phone call right now was for a lending or some subscription, and told them off!

But this was Joeng Ilhun’s mistake.

– I’m guessing you’re busy, Mr. Ilhun. I insisted to make a call at this time…well, I guess I’ll go. I’ll try and call again tomorrow.

“Ah! Wait! Could you be Seechwi?”

– Yes, that’s right.

He could hear a light laughter coming from over the phone as she answered.

The call with Orc Seechwi was a bit awkward.

That was her race in Royal Road. So of course, her voice there was not something common. Just like an Orc, she’d chwiichwii, along with a stale and groggy voice.

Because of that, Jeong Ilhun mistook that as her original voice; but still, he did not realize the truth.

‘The voice on the phone seems to be in pretty form. Maybe just like me, she ate a few raw eggs.’

However, having received his first call from her, Joeng Ilhun was already happy with that fact alone.

Five minutes of talk!

Even though he could easily hold the heavy metal sword with just one hand; he held the receiver with both.

This was the most intense of time ever in Joeng’s life.

His calls always simply to the point; even when he spoke to his apprentices, it never once passed the seventh syllable mark.

Come.

Let’s go!

Keep it up.

Get them!

Seal the door shut.

Let’s eat.

He primarily spoke in short and concise answers; and this was the most interesting time he ever had on the phone. Though just the talk was about the little stories in Royal Road, what they had for breakfast, and a bit of catching up to some extent, he was happy.

‘Free 300 minutes. I can see why they gave out this service.’

Now the call must end.

Hearing her sweet voice was good, but now his heart filled of delight made it hard for him to continue the call.

The lack of topic was another issue.

‘Talked about the weather, abusing politicians, military stories, even talks about soccer; I’ve ran out of things to talk to her.’

He finished all the conversation prepared to talk with a girlfriend already, he figured he should end it neatly and take a rain check for another day. Knowing that he could share a conversation with her at any time, there was no need to be impatient.

“To have shared the dialogue with you, it was an honor, miss Seechwi!”

– No, it was good to hear Ilhun ssi’s voice for me too.

“Phone call is good but it’d be nice if we can meet directly.”

Without much forethought, Jeong Ilhun spoke clearly unconsciously.

She readily agreed.

– Well, shall we?

“Yes?”

He took in a deep breath as he heard it. It was something incredible that he could listen tens of thousands times over.

– Let’s meet tomorrow at around noon. Our first meeting….I would like this very much. I’ll pack kimbap and liked to have lunch with you. Is it alright if we meet at the Dojang?

“Ki, kimbap?”

– Why, do you not like kimbap?

“N, n, n, no, no ma’am! I really love kimbap. I look forward to meeting you! If by chance you’re late, or something came up tomorrow, and even if you don’t come, I’m looking forward to it!”

Jeong Ilhun screams into the handset!

The call got cut off.

“……”

He sat in a daze. After a long while needed to clear his mind, the other instructors came out and the lot of apprentices could be seen.

Choe Jongbeom, Ma Sangbeom, and Lee Indo!

Though not the violent types, they were sturdy guys that deserved to be called monsters of the human species.

Some while after he initially saw his brothers that he could finally hear them.

Rather than a dream, it was his reality.

“Sahyeong!”

“Did the call with Seechwi nim go well?”

At their questions, Jeong Ilhun nodded his head.

“Yea, it went well. Though tomorrow she’s coming with kimbap.”

“Heok.”

“Ki, kimbap…”

An explosive reaction from all the practitioners.

Lee Indo remained the calmest of the lot.

“Did you mean she’s coming with bought food from Kimbap Haven or hand-packed one?”

“The latter. She said she’ll also put in tuna.”

“Including tuna!”

The entire body of people was envious of Jeong Ilhun.

* * *

The final fifth story!

Ding!

Reached the final stage of the Tower of Heroes.

Charisma increases by 10.

Strength increases by 15.

Fighting Spirit increases by 60.

Having been able transcend the limit, You will obtain valuable EXP.

Level has increased.

Level has increased.

Improved permanent stats, along with two levels.

Weed’s level once again hit 356.

With the given levels accolades, he granted all the stat points to Agility.

Passing through the fourth floor has leveled his sword skill, and now it has reached Intermediate level 5.

Fighting against the undefined number of spawning specters improved his proficiency considerably.

Only after the completeness of the battle that he realized his sword was down to 23% Durability. It was his willingness to fight against the Ghost Knights and Ghost Soldiers that the drop was so much.

“We succumbed to a great warrior.”

“Our life, concluded.”

No longer did they want to receive Weed’s damaging blows and having to revive for more.

Fundamentally, the specters having been at the receiving end of the endless suffering, their mind was already weak. And now, their pride, confidence, fighting spirits, all collapsed.

On the fourth floor, Weed repaired his equipment and waited until he was in perfect condition before climbing the stairs to the fifth.

‘Some great thing awaits.’

He refused to be scared or dreaded.

There was no doubt that the fifth barrier of the Tower of Heroes was something difficult.

He took in deep breaths and had already put an end to the jittering.

When he arrived to the fifth floor, the expectation of a Monster filled area broke into nothingness; instead, a round table could be seen.

There laid different copies of books.

《Knight》

《Blade Master》

《Champion》

《Fighter》

《Warrior》

《Paladin》

《Kung-Fu Master》

《Archer》

《Ranger》

《Hunter》

《Thief》

A total of 11 books of golden glow.

“Well that’s vague.”

Weed realized he must select one.

If he was an adventurer type of class, he could have use either ‘Research' or 'Observation’ skill on them. Which could allow him to see if there was some hidden trap, or permits him to investigate on the books.

It could be said that this was one of the privileges of being an adventurer type.

Understandably, this was not a skill existed for the Sculptor class. And while being the Skeleton Knight, he had no such skill either.

“Make no difference to me then.”

Weed agonized for a moment then opened up the book for the Knight.

He reserved a bit of interest in either the Thief or the Hunter. But in his current self as a Skeleton Knight, he picked up the matching class's book instead.

From a distance, it seemed as if a skeleton from an anatomy class was inconceivably reading a book.

“Times of war. The Kings fought in competitive wars of invasion. Due to the expanding human’s territories, the Goblins, Demons, Elves, and Dwarves resisted terribly. From all across the borders, the aggressive Monsters made life on the huge continent impoverish to all. Incompetent rulers and corrupted noblemen, and the brutality of the Monsters all drove lives into those of rotting corpses, lain out everywhere. The fate of all Humans, the other species, and that of the Monsters rested on the battle at the Jagsen Plains, located at Bromba Kingdom of 102 years in the past.”

Weed read the book up to there.

Then the area around him was engulfed in light.

“Kill him!”

“Dirty bastards! Cut up the garbage of the Bromba Kingdom!”

“Elite warriors of the Mapon Kingdom! Fight and win!”

“For the glory of Her Majesty!”

Weed awoke in a place filled with noises. Not only that, it was too chaotic of a place.

Drakes soaring in the sky while pumping out fire; while from a distance, Archers and Magicians were pouring out their attacks.

A gigantic battlefield!

Weed fell in the middle of a large scale battle that was taking place.

“Keulelelel!”

“Hueumcha!”

Shouts from afar along with the sounds of incoming collection of rocks.

Weed thought that mobilizing onto his feet wasn’t a good idea, but that was a mistake. There were giant one eyed Cyclops pulling stones from dug into the ground and tossing them as hard as they could.

Suuuuuuuuuung-kwakwakwakwang!

The stone flew in the sky ripping through the wind, landed on the ground and shattered apart.

Soldiers and Knights who were the unfortunate souls that caught the rocks clamored.

“Please save me!”

The commanders remained undeterred.

“As Bromba Kingdom’s soldiers, die with honor!”

“Don’t let them get slaughtered like that!”

The soldiers were at war with themselves.

Humans versus Humans; as well as the Enchanters attacks.

Along with a massive march of legion of Monsters coming toward them from a distance.

Puhihing!

Suddenly, a white horse was next to Weed.

Though not being able to fly like the Pegasus, it was still a well defined and muscular horse.

The horse stuck his tongue toward Weed’s skull.

Chyabchyabchab!

His skull was slobbered like having a dog putting sunscreen on him with its tongue. The white horse showed a sign of affection towards Weed.

Weed reassessed his situation.

‘I was reading the Knight’s book on the top floor of the Tower of Heroes…then this place must be the Palrangka Conflict on the Jagsen Plains.’

His immediate situation was in one of the fiercest battle on the Versailles continent, the Palrangka Conflict!

Seven kingdoms that held powers on the continent fought at this battle on the Jagsen Plains. Especially those of the Bromba and Mapon kingdoms, who fought as if to devour one another.

At the climax of the Human made battle, the Monsters army intervened. They marched toward the smell of blood from a long distance to be included in the conflict.

Other species were also involved.

The Elves and the Barbarians, who no longer want to lose anymore of their nests, also came to the plains.

Cumulatively, all resulted into this.

Each race, with each respective flags held high, attacked everything in order to live.

Sturdy Barbarians swung their swords and clubs while the Elves penetrated the troops with their emanating bows.

But they weren't secured either. From behind, these species were rushed by Monsters who gathered like the clouds.

In the midst of this battlefield, standing at its center, was Weed.

To make matter worse, there was a girl riding on the white horse that chewed him.

The girl was even prettier than the beautifully grown flower that came from Morata!

She delicately looked at Weed and opened her red lips.

“Knight nim, I believe that you are the one. Please take me to where it’s safe.”

Ding!

The Request of Princess Remy

The first Princess of a small country on the frontier with a population of 80000 people, Isran.

She likes the sea and wanted to live at home. But she was scheduled to become the Crown Prince of Bromba fifth concubine.

However, due to the sudden outburst and the escalation of the war, the two could not be wedded because the Crown Prince had entered the fray of the battle.

She wants to go home again.

Quest difficulty

Heroic History Quest

Compensation

Experience in the combat of History, may become the Hero of History.

Quest Restriction

Having gained the Princess’s favor, the Knight cannot refuse.

Weed was conflicted for a while.

‘How should I do this?’

Weed had received a lot of seemingly impossible quests before, but he could see route for each to some extent.

He was in a temporary standstill, so Princess Remy red lips puffed up and spoke.

“For me, there’s no one else but Knight nim. Even now, in your current cursed form; though strange, I can still tell. All I know that it is Knight nim who will help me.”

You have accepted the quest.

Completely option-less!

The quest had just accepted itself.

For the Knights, some of these cases do occur.

Whether it was the frail women, aristocratic women, or their enshrined lord’s will, they could not refuse.

This was a characteristic of the Knights!

‘Terrrrrrific.’

Weed felt the cold wind blowing through his ribs.

He looked around; the place was flooded with Monsters, Humans, Elves, and Barbarians.

One of the most intense battles in history, the Palrangka Conflict!

He was to deliver the Princess away from here.

The beauty and the white horse.

Enemies everywhere!

This perfectly fits into the romance of the Knight.

And there were even the high-leveled fire-breathing monster Drakes.

Along with the fact that the current human Knights who were fighting seemed to be at level 300 at the very least.

The ordinary Soldiers were also formidable. Beings of the warring age, they were high level soldiers.

Not to mention the Barbarians, Elves, and Monsters ranking from lower tier to the top, along with giant monsters, all presented.

Plenty of them, if not at the rank of Lich Shire, were about the class of the Vampire Lords.

Extensive range magic blasts all around; huge rocks flew for a great distance and when lands, dented the earth and ruptured as easily as an egg spattering.

He must work alone and survive while escorting the Princess on the white horse to breakthrough the battlefield, ranging in miles.

Chapter 2: The Princess’s Knight

Weed’s eyes shone sharply.

‘Anyway, I can only do my best.’

Having received the commission, he could not back out.

As the fight goes on, he would not have a single moment of rest; Weed courteously bowed to the waist.

“Remy... no... Princess.”

“Yes, Knight nim.”

Princess Remy’s starry eyes were looking down on Weed.

In Weed’s eyes, he saw her small and delicate feet and calves.

To some men, the women’s feet were poisonous things. But Weed did not have such a hobby.

“You must be willing to believe in me. Do not be alarm of whatever happens, you must trust only in me.”

“Yes, I understand. My life, I will leave it in thee.”

Weed ended it there and did not talking anymore.

The Human troops approaching were increasing in number all around them; and flying rocks as well as magic spells were at their doorstep.

This place they stumbled on was on the verge of becoming a vortex of the war.

Weed modestly accepted the rein to become the master of the white horse.

He then pulled the Princess up and placed her behind him.

Puhihing!

The horse lightly neighs.

While one hand holding onto the rein, the other pulled out a sword.

Ding!

You have equipped the Knight of Kallamore Kingdom Koldrim’s sword

- Reputation will increase by 2500.

- Attack Speed increases.

- Strength increases.

- Agility increases.

- With the powerful Charisma, will overwhelm weaker Monsters.

- The power of the Ice Daemon retained in this blade.

Weed tapped the horse to accelerate towards the center of the enemy’s camp.

“Go, giddy up!”

With each of its propagating steps, the white horse accelerated to a scary speed.

This steed was in another dimension when comparing to the colt he had to accept back in Rosenheim Kingdom, during the operation in the Lair of Litvart.

A Knight’s assault is significantly affected by the charge of the horse.

A good steed isn't all based on its stamina or speed, even its gene is deliberate when raising one from conception.

For the most valuable of horses, the beginning of the deliberation starts at the horse's lineage!

He did not know, but he could tell that the horse he was currently riding must have been extremely expensive.

Due to the horse’s terribly rapid sprint, the wind was getting sliced up before them.

A speed comparable to an arrow in flight.

Weed’s eyes widened and held out his sword.

From now on, the only thing he felt was the hilt of his blade. He did not feel the tender and delicate warmth of the Princess who was hanging onto his back.

* * *

Swordsmanship Dojang.

Jeong Ilhun, dressed in his uniform, was waiting for Cha Eunhee.

“Yo.”

“Yes, Sahyeong.”

“Women say, appearance isn’t everything. So you shouldn’t mind that, k?”

Cheo Jongbeom made haste and spoke.

“Your words are right.”

Ma Sangbeom also patted him.

“I believe Miss Seechwi is fair in nature. And she seems to like you. She’s even coming to the Dojang to meet you, you know?”

She'd even bringing homemade kimbap over too.

The appointed time was approaching.

“Calm your heart for the moment, yo.”

For Jeong Ilhun, it was his shyly first love. He had more butterflies in his stomach due to this first actual meeting than any of the swordsmanship competitions.

It was the same for Cheo Jongbeom, Ma Sangbeom, and Lee Indo.

It was something really unexpected. Their first Sahyeong got a girlfriend.

Although the subject in question was an Orc: a foul, ugly, and a fat Orc, it was something they could congratulate him on.

They all watched them during their adventures in Royal Road; Seechwi’s wisdom was something that could rival Jeong Ilhun’s heart.

“It's time for her to come now…”

Jeong Ilhun was anxiously dreading during the wait, when a lady carrying a lunchbox wandered into the Dojang.

“……”

Cheo Jongbeom, Ma Sangbeom, Lee Indo all gasped.

‘It’s that woman!’

‘She resembles a bit to Seechwi.’

‘But her age is wow…late 30, 40 maybe?’

The plumped body auntie continued to walk toward the Dojang.

Jeong Ilhun’s face still retained a great smile and went out for a face to face.

“You’re just in time. Thank you for coming. Was it tough coming here?”

Jeong Ilhun was the first to extend out his hand.

Though the action was miniscule, the courage it took was tremendous.

In order to not make her feel awkward, he smiled and asked to shake hands.

It wasn’t her appearance but her heart that was important; so he tried to welcome her.

However!

“Who are you?”

The women’s face squinted. Then from within the Dojang, someone who looked like an elementary student came running out.

“Mom! You brought my lunch?”

“Here. Don’t you go forgetting it the next time.”

“Um, ok. Ah, Masters. Hello!”

The little boy bowed like a cute pup before Jeong Ilhun and the other instructors before scampered back into the Dojang.

The boy’s mother went away.

“Keuheum~!”

Jeong Ilhun embarrassingly cleared his throat for a long time, and once again waited for Cha Eunhee.

Then, an eye contact with a woman coming from the street made his body stiff.

‘Is that her?’

She was coming while carrying kimbap luncheons. If she was empty handed, he wouldn't have looked otherwise.

She had fair skin, sparkling eyes, and a beauty that was noticeable within the thousands.

A single person within the lot of thousands. He could stay still in the mid of the center of the city while facing the beauty.

She held two large shopping bags and was walking toward the Dojang.

Jeong Ilhun thought.

‘That’s not her.’

The other instructors also had similar ideas.

‘I don’t think it’s that lady.’

‘But she is coming this way.’

‘What’s going on? Maybe a solicitor for the credit card company? Or to sell stuff. If she tells me to join, then maybe I will. Let’s see how she is with a few words…’

Lee Indo was the most eager.

All of their mind weren't on the heavy shopping bags. If they had seen her grunting due to their weighs, they wouldn't have just sat there in daze.

Their eyes all attached to the young and beautiful lady approaching and couldn't open their mouth edgewise.

‘Why is she still coming this way?’

‘What does she have to come in this direction?’

‘Did we somehow do something wrong?’

In all four men’ head, a myriad of thoughts was blowing through their mind.

She came and precisely stood before Jeong Ilhun; then fondly spoke.

“Hello, Ilhun ssi!”

Suspicion flew across Jeong Ilhun’s eyes.

“How did you come to know of my name? Could you perhaps be a scout from another Dojang coming to make a proposal…”

Even if they tried to lure him away with a beauty, he wouldn’t leave the Dojang.

No matter whom they received the offer from; whether it was the instructors or their students, none would accept it from anybody. With the time they’ve accumulated learning the way of the sword; the depth of their honor outweighs any amount of the money offered.

Her bright smile formed a slight dimple and she asked.

“What? I’m not a scout, but weren’t you waiting for me?”

Now Jeong Ilhun was really surprised.

“Wa, waa, wha, what?”

The Dojang eldest Hyeong!

Even when facing someone carrying a real blade unarmed, he maintained his cool; but now, he was really in shock.

“N, n, nuh, no way…suh, suh, some, something…nuh, uh, uh, couldn’t be! Fo, fo, for, for you know what I’m doing…”

“Goem-2-chi. Are you not Jeong Ilhun ssi?”

“T, th, tha, thaa, that’s…right…”

“I’m Seechwi, Ilhun ssi!”

Jeong Ilhun had lost his soul looking at Cha Eunhee’s human form.

The other teachers were also frozen still.

‘No way.’

‘That’s impossible.’

‘The hell is happening here.’

‘The girl…Orc Seechwi.’

‘Wait a sec. We can change our appearances in Royal Road, can’t we? We remained the same, but in her case, she changed her appearance. Why didn’t we think of that?’

Even up till now, they were still relatively unfamiliar with Royal Road.

“……”

“……”

“……”

There was a long silence inside the Dojang.

Jeong Ilhun, the other instructors, along with the grand master An Hyeon Soo, all were silent.

The trainees also did not spoke a word. All were simply looking at Cha Eunhee blankly.

‘To think Ilhun have such a talent.’

An Hyeon Soo was more surprised in this than when he unearthed Jeong Ilhun’s talent with the sword.

‘A pretty woman like that is First Hyeong's girlfriend.’

‘No. I don’t think this is reality. Let this be a dream, I’ll wake up soon.’

An Hyeon Soo, the instructors, as well as all the practitioners, did not eat Cha Eunhee’s wrapped kimbap. No, they wanted to but could not muster the courage to do so.

Because the faces on the rolls were too cute. But they were compelled by the rolls and as soon as the first one entered, its taste spread.

‘Keueuk! These cute and daintily kimbap rolls.’

‘She's even good with cooking.’

‘I would definitely give up a lifetime of Ramyeon for these.’

An Hyeon Soo, the instructors, and the trainees all saddened, making the rolls seemingly hardened as they were becoming difficult to chew.

This was the first time since birth that they were hesitant with food.

After a while, the one with the most age, An Hyeon Soo drew a long sigh.

“Wheww~! So, you are Seechwi?”

Cha Eunhee politely replied.

“Yes, sir.”

She wore a gorgeous beige blouse, along with a cute skirt that ran down to her knees. Her entire body had all the right curves. She exuded the pinnacle beauty of a lady.

Although it was not a beauty comparable to that of Hwaryeong and Jeong Hyorin, she was extremely beautiful among the general public.

An Hyeon Soo nodded his head.

“Well then. Continue treating our Ilhun well.”

He got up and quietly headed toward his office.

In a neat manner.

But in actuality, his stomach aches to an extent that he had to get out of there.

For the remaining instructors, Cha Eunhee the object of interest.

Words escaped Cheo Jongbeom’s mouth.

“Hyeongsu nim, may I ask you of something I was wondering?”

Just then, Jeong Ilhun had leaked out a grin that couldn’t be stopped.

“Fufufu.”

He said ‘Hyeongsu nim’! A term he had no idea was so enjoyable.

Cha Eunhee revealed her sparkly white teeth while smiling slightly.

“Yes. Please ask.”

Cheo Jongbeom asked cautiously.

“Umm…what school did you graduate from?”

“That is…”

Cha Eunhee attempted to answer but Jeong Ilhun’s strained and rebuked.

“Dude, Jongbeom! Why is school important here?”

Jeong Ilhun was a high school dropout.

The other instructors and students were also in some form, middle school or high school dropouts. It was not something they'd (proudly) put on the end of their belts.

If someone graduated from high school, that person would be classified as an elite here.

So when Cheo Jongbeom threw out this question unconscious of its hidden notion, Jeong Ilhun though differently.

‘She must have been embarrassed for not being able to graduate due to some incident.’

A caring man’s consideration.

The reason why Jeong Ilhun had captivated her mind.

Cha Eunhee replied with a smile.

“It’s fine. I have no reason to not answer. I graduated from Harvard.”

“Huh?”

Cheo Jongbeom was confused.

“You mean the Harvard institution in downtown for cramming to repeat college entrance exam?”

“It’s the University in Boston, US.”

“Keoheok!”

Which resulted in a flurry of screams, then a deep silence.

The instructors and practitioners alike just inadvertently know of someone from Harvard University.

This time, Ma Sangbeom asked.

“Excuse me for asking, but what do you do now?”

“I’m in the hospital.”

“Oh, you’re a nurse.”

“No, I’m a doctor.”

“Do, doctor?”

“Yes. I’m a psychiatrist.”

Ma Sangbeom eyeballs alarmed.

For Jeong Ilhun to get a girlfriend, the mid 30 year old instructors breathing had become clogged.

The trainees too, were desperate.

‘No no. This is not a time for us to aimlessly eating away.’

‘We're in our late 20s, while 30 is just around the corner. To be able to land a beautiful and intelligent girlfriend...’

The future was looking bleaker and bleaker for them.

Within, falling rain and thunderous crashes pounded away at them.

‘It can’t be this way.’

‘There is no time to waste.’

The instructors and practitioners all shot up.

“We have to connect to Royal Road!”

“C’mon and let’s connect!”

“The Orc village! We should go to that village!”

All of them gave birth to a great goal all at the same time.

At the time, An Hyeon Soo’s capsule was already occupied and connected. As soon as they spawned into Morata, all of them violently charged toward the Orc village.

* * *

It was a state of urgency inside KMC Media cinema room

“Toppled the second line of defense!”

“He’s fighting with the third perimeter.”

“Seven Spearmen slaughtered, he can’t be stopped.”

“Killed a Bromba Kingdom’s Knight! Level estimated to be around 360.”

Director Khang was busy checking the Broadcasting Schedule that he couldn't watch the screen at the moment.

“He killed them in just a few minutes?”

The staffs inside the cinema room hesitated for a bit before replying.

“Almost instantaneously really…didn’t even get up to one minute.”

“Are you talking about the situation on horseback? I think you all know how strong a single level 360 Knight is. Aren’t you all mistaken?”

“The horse didn’t stop at all. It ran toward one direction and he was fighting while on horseback…in a brief moment, he slashed over 10 times.”

“Is that possible? Swinging sword while on horseback will disturb the rider’s balance.”

“I too...in my shoes, I couldn’t fathom it. But he did it.”

“What a monster.”

Nothing outside of admiration on the continuing battle!

From the beginning, Weed, while on the white horse’s back along with the Princess situated behind him, rode toward the enemy’s lines.

The Archer units fired arrows at an enormous rate, but he boldly charges through. Even before the arrows lands at the targeted spot via above, he had already crossed past the space.

The enemy’s Magicians cast their magical attacks, but the horse exquisitely dodged them by redirect his body.

Explosive flames, ice shards, and storms of lightning!

The Skeleton Knight demonstrated his trustworthy riding skills and penetrated aboard the white stallion.

He then came face to face with the Spearmen and Archers’ line.

By just adjusting the hinds of the horse, whenever the stomps landed, pikes and swords cracked up, and the Spearmen at the end of the romp stomping without a doubt lost their lives.

An irresistible assault!

A Knight on horseback’s base damage is so much higher during the charge.

At least, by two or three times.

It can get to the maximum of seven times the damage depending on the speed of the steed’s assault.

A shield to prevent it will result in broken pieces; armor plates are crush, shatter, or even tears off.

Regular infantry troops cannot stop the galloping speed of the Knights.

On foot, Knights have reliable strength and very good defense, along with high vitality; but, to really display the true strength of a Knight is when he’s ridden on horseback.

Weed with the aforementioned speed attached, charged and penetrated the perimeter.

Above calling forth the terrific speed of the horse, Weed’s movements were notoriously flamboyant. The sword within his hand seemed to be dancing about.

Formidable strength and speed.

He dove into the heart of the enemy’s territory with just himself and swung his sword through the infantries.

Also, in spite of a duel against a full-fledged Knight amongst them, he still triumphed.

Even though he was under the effect of the Power to Deny Death, it was nothing short of greatness.

Director Khang suspiciously asked under a cold tone.

“Could he possibly have experience being a Knight…originally?”

“Maybe, but we don’t know.”

“The application said he’s a Sculptor.”

“Might just be a side hobby.”

Mere speculations, but the broadcasters determined that was something sensible enough.

In fact, with the images being sent over, there was no point dwelling deep into the character’s information. Something along the line of a principle to the broadcasters.

Things such as Weed’s circumstances were also unknown.

For the broadcasters to beseech things such as items, skills, or character information in order to form a contract was something nearing the border of an unreasonable request; because they were important secrets.

“He’s versatile everywhere on the battlefield.”

“I’d like to have a Knight saving me like that too…”

“Romantic, so romantic. The excitement of having a Knight on a white steed is something I can enjoy…”

The female writers indulged in the battle.

A naïve Princess wanting to return to her home country! She entrusted herself to a Knight with a white horse.

It was something out of a romance novel, or something of a yearned-for dream.

Of course, within those stories, the Knights were often handsome young men; in contrast, the Knight was a skeleton without a single flesh attached.

“Don’t you just want to be held in that chest?”

“I think the Knights in Royal Road are soo reassuring and cool.”

On the other hand, seeing Weed’s battle, Director Khang spearheaded the lot in the cinema room.

“We don’t know what will arise, the production team members, don’t you dare miss a thing!”

“Yes!”

“The investigation staff. Depending on the work for today, you could be set with bonuses for this year. Do not fall asleep. Even if you are sleepy don’t you dare.”

“We absolutely won’t do so until the end of the battle, Director nim.”

“Other staff members too, if you saw something unique or have question regarding something, you have to speak.”

The battle that was noted in the history of the Versailles Continent.

A battle of the past that was unbeknownst to all except for what was written in the continent's history book.

But now, the scenes from the fiercest battle of the past could be seen again.

“Found a rare robe! Don’t know what it is but the Magic Defense is outstanding.”

“There is also a race of giants. Seem to be over 200 of them or so.”

“Special ability?”

“Demonstrated marvelous strength…doesn’t use weapons or magic.”

“Alright. Let’s see…so far, this founded species haven’t been recorded. On the skill side, is it obvious?”

“Now? sorta. On the magician side, there are 57 new, no, undiscovered spells used.”

Their eyes were filled with Magicians’ magic or the Knights and Warriors’ skills during the Palrangka Conflict.

At the present time, the magic that weren’t passed down by profession was too large a number.

Here, those lost magics' effects and their powers were able to be revealed.

For Magicians, trying to recover past practical magic or developing new magic, it was something along the line of spending days and nights hoping for a rain drop in the middle of a drought.

In line with the characteristic chosen for those Magicians that had completed the second job advancement upgrade; they can choose to either create their own magic through the proper channels, or to gather information to restore ancient magic.

Magical data, items, species, etc.; all were rare.

It was more special for these types of adventurers.

From those chasing to attain information on rare quests, special requests of information after having seen the Palrangka Conflict would most likely be a high number.

Along with the species, and kingdoms participated at the time of the war, who are now extinct.

If it was toward these, those adventurers will definitely respond to the Palrangka Conflict.

“Jackpot.”

“An enormous amount of information; and look at the scale of this battle.”

“It doesn’t even matter where the viewership is at anymore.”

“There will be at least 2 months worth of controversy over the Palrangka Conflict.”

The investigation staff members cried out with joy.

Since the show of Weed in Todoom, they’ve held their disappointment calmly inward for so long!

However, it was clear to them as to why Weed’s course of actions was as such during the adventure.

For others, if they tried to forcefully breakthrough a hard quest, they would fundamentally cause more hardship onto themselves rather than anything else.

‘Sunbain Kingdom. I’ve just arrived to the Herotai Province of the place…I wonder what kind of quest I can get from there?’

Director Khang body was getting twitchy and it was becoming difficult to endure.

A few minutes passed.

“Weed. What’s he doing now?”

He was scanning the hastily written analysis papers from the investigation staff that he did not raise his head when asking.

“……”

Though he waited for a long time, there was no answer.

There were over a hundred people inside the cinema room, but not one had answered him after he inquired. Sure there were those who were in the other departments which meant it wasn't their place to answer; but among those presented, more than 50 people were under his command.

Then, there was a sudden silence in the cinema room.

“Why is nobody answering me?”

Director Khang raised his head.

This time too, it did not take him long to behold the huge spectacle.

He turned his attention toward the screen.

Weed was flying in the sky.

More surprisingly, he was above a Drake.

“Wha, what, what happened?”

It wasn’t the employees who answered but Odong Man.

“That is, he was severely attacked by several Drakes. Along with the fire attacks from the air, they also used their claws to scratch him up; he struggled considerably to avoid these.”

It was amazing to avoid the onslaught of arrows or magic attacks with just his riding skills. But as for the Drakes, not only did they breathe fire, they irritatingly chases him down; making it a tiresome task.

Even if their pace on the plain was decent, it was still difficult to throw the Drakes off; along with the fact that the ground surface was filled with Monsters and enemy soldiers.

“Then what?”

“Then at one point, he jumped up above a Drake and ridden the thing.”

The Drake wasn’t domesticated by humans, so it fiercely resisted. The beast tried its best to get rid of Weed by shooting off fire and rolling its body in mid air.

Fellow Drakes also sighted the scene.

They collectively helped out by huffing out fire through their snouts.

Whenever they did that, Weed moved like lightning onto the opposite side aboard the Drake and attacked the others within his vicinity.

Airborne dogfight!

Amidst the bunch of Drakes in the sky, the battle was a breathtaking one with every single movement.

“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

With Weed’s hit, explosive hollering rang out.

The Drake urgently fluttered its wing and began soaring to greater heights.

Along with the lot of ascending Drakes, the spirits of the people watching was also high.

“Keoeoeok!”

“Oh my gosh!”

“This here, 20%, 30% viewership is not even enough.”

“Jackpot, jackpot! With this done properly, our bonuses this year is set.”

On the ground, the historic Palrangka Conflict was still going on.

Tens of thousands of Humans and of other races quarreling over the supremacy of this world.

Somewhere in the sky, the airborne battle with the Drakes is still taking place.

Amidst the irritating sunshine, alongside the drifting clouds.

The Drakes has tremendous speed and incredibly erratic movements, and the one fighting against them is the Skeleton Knight Weed!

Their excitement was so high that they forgot to gulp.

“This is really like a painting. The heroic knight fighting like that in order to protect the princess…”

The tale was good.

Because it was so romantic, for those with only a decent amount of sensitivity, they would have no choice but to be submerged into it.

Then suddenly, one person clapped.

“Ah!”

“Why, what happened? Find anything?”

“That…is…”

“Is what?!”

“The Princess died.”

“Wha, what?”

“Umm…look at the bottom of the screen. She got neglected so she died; along with the white horse.”

“……”

Apparently, the Weed who was completely immersed in battle had abandoned the fact that he was to take care of the Princess and the white horse!

He alone jumped on the Drake and boldly fought the exciting fight while the Princess ended up dead within the lot of Monsters.

The female writers were frustrated.

“Princess Remyyyy!”

“Ahk! Our princess died!”

They had given their full empathy to the Princess so the shock was as huge as the collapse of the heavens!

The staff members gathered in the cinema room were just as discouraged.

They had such high expectation placed on Weed; then saddened when he was unable to keep the Princess alive.

“Our bonuses.”

“My vacation…”

“The promotion too…”

While sounding sickly, the staffs still had hopes.

With this Palrangka Conflict, and Weed’s participation in it; they did not know how this will reverberate among the audiences when they broadcast.

Though at the moment, they all felt rewarded working in KMC Media after having seen the Jeonshin Weed’s feat.

Chapter 3: The Historic Battle

That night, Lee Hyun’s evening started as usual.

Homemade spicy sweet-and-sour pork.

At other times, due to it taking a good amount of time to cook, it was difficult to prepare.

“It takes in too much oil so I can't cook this often.”

Frying dishes annoyingly uses a lot of oil. At home, they wastefully consume the oil, making it harder for him to make.

Even to the miser Lee Hyun, it was already barely tolerable that he had to use it; he too, did not recycle it.

“If it’s deficient to my sister, then it’s no good.”

Although it was just something as simple as boiling food to eat, he tried to make his best sweet-and-sour pork for the sake of his younger sibling.

Then after dinner, Lee Hyun accessed the homepage of the Dark Gamer Union website.

– Buying Jackal Sword.

– Buying Golden Candle Stick. Need it immediately for the ‘Rural Wolf’ quest; please email me.

– Looking for group to hunt with. Still nubby but better than the rest. Level 312. Occupation hand combat series.

Today too, many articles were posted.

Lee Hyun looked at the item pricing.

“Have plenty of time now to properly spend them.”

Anyway, he was not able to log in during the next 24 hours.

Lee Hyun couldn’t hang on and also lost the second life he was given.

* * *

Palrangka Conflict was literally the gateway to death.

Endless ranks of enemies.

While battling the Drake and its ever climbing heights, he was able to catch a glimpse of the entire field of enemies.

The Orcs he encountered in the past were led by leader so they have never gone to war; but the number here surpasses the current number and was waging war with the others.

The matter in the sky was also similar, with giant Monsters that resembles dragonflies flew in.

He was about to have control of the Drake, but it was not possible to escape the area. It was due to the fact that even the aerial Monsters were waging war amongst themselves.

Monsters’ relationship was often no good in the first place; from things such as being one another's natural predator, or be it over territories; they fought.

Weed was aboard the Drake so he was locked into such a fight. And unfortunately, he did not last long within the battle due to the wounds.

He fell out of the sky, and the bones of the Skeleton Knight got smashed and scattered due to the huge impact of the fall.

It was a large loss of vitality and combat ability.

His aim was to hunt the Drake, but other vengeful Drakes kept harassing him with their fire breaths.

Looking toward the sky, his sword wielding actions moments ago seemed meaningless.

It seems as though with just one hit, the Drakes became wary and never even descended near the ground again.

Weed changed his objective and blew a whistle loudly.

Hwiiiiiiik!

If it was a trained steed, it would return from anywhere once having heard the whistle.

“……”

He waited for the figure of the white horse to breakthrough the hoard of Monsters for him to hop on.

But over time, there was no response.

The Princess had died, and the white horse was also already dead.

There was no way out for about 10 Kilometer radius.

“The skull rider that escorted Princess Remy.”

“The ugly culprit incited the Princess with his insidious words and tried to escape! By the honor of the Templar of Bromba Kingdom, cut him!”

“Charge him. Charge!”

The powers of the Templar Knights rose to an outrageous degree.

Whether it was Monsters or magic, they just went on and slashed away at them.

Once recuperated from his loss of words, Weed was unable to escape, and all the paths converged to a single passageway: to fight and win.

His bones were badly cracked and broken because of the fall from the air, and although his vitality somewhat lingers, it was dissipitating as time passes. Weed calmly stood in one place, and he roughly estimated the number of the Knights belonging to Bromba Kingdom.

Weed’s skull ophthalmic optics flashed.

‘Sword. The Knights, has to be the sword, huh. At least levels of 270 or more. While providing defense against arrows and throwing weapons, I think it can restore wounds using divine powers too.’

It was just a feeling, he couldn’t have truly know.

He was observing the scene of the Knights fighting against other Monsters, and he identified the information of the weapon via that method.

He contemplated with his broad perspective over the entire battlefield.

In this massive Palrangka Conflict, he had to learn of the exact location of good swords and armors in order to seize them.

‘But for now, it’s too much of a fight to face them head on.’

Even if he had a great and tough body, the weapons with Holy powers caused the Undead him to be uneasy.

He had been revived thanks to the Power to Deny Death, but along with the advantages of being an Undead, he was at risk with several weaknesses.

Weed picked up a stone in his immediate vicinity and threw it in between the Cyclops.

“Kyaohoh!”

“Kuwaahahang!”

They treated the stone as an annoying insect and yelled loudly, they picked up a collection of rocks and hurled them as hard as they could.

BAAAAAAAMM!

Few feet away from Weed’s location, he could feel the earth trembled whenever each of them landed.

“Kill!”

“Knights of Bromba Kingdom do not know the meaning of defeat!”

The Templar rushed off at the forefront, while Weed rushed off to catch up to the Cyclops.

“H, hu, humans.”

“Bad tasting humans!”

“Cheeky bastards.”

The Cyclops changed their positioning, and threw rocks towards the Templar.

Clearly in Weed’s eyes, the Templar who were struck by the rocks suffered enormous damage.

The charging Templar, regular infantry troops, or even the Knights trying to defend their position, the rocks weren’t something they could stop. But unlike those of arrow, the thrown weapons had relatively weak range.

And arrows could even pierce through the cracks in the helmet; speaking bluntly, it will kill.

In contrast, the huge stones thrown by the Cyclops toward the Knights not only hit; but when they lands, it shattered and dispersed, causing tremendous damages in the immediate vicinity to occur all at the same time.

However, the flags of the Bromba Kingdom continued to rise to further heights within the Templar grasp.

“Wipe them all out!”

“For the glory of the Kingdom!”

Like moths drawn to the flames, to protect their honor as well as their pride, they bravely jumped onto the giants who were 10 times their size.

Making use of the number one assault of the Knights; ridden on their galloping horses, they charged furiously with their lances tightly within their grasps.

“Keoeoeoeo!”

The Cyclops fell from their wounded feet.

The Knights with their plunging lances and their cutting sword attacked the Cyclops.

The remaining Cyclops brandished their wielded rocks as if they were clubs in resistance. Horses got struck and collapsed at once…there wasn’t a melee battle like this one.

‘Now, opportunity.’

Weed hopped on the Cyclops back and dealt with any charging Knight.

Surprisingly it was too easy for him to avoid the Cyclops’ rocks.

Not only did having just one eye lowering their accuracy, there also were plenty of blind spots.

For throwing, they simply lift a rock over their heads. Then looked to their predetermined trajectory to throw; the forewarning makes it not impossible to dodge.

Because of the risks of being crushed coming from the dropping airborne stones, his hamstrings were prohibited from yielding!

“I’m Bromba Kingdom Silver Knight…”

“Me, Skeleton Knight Weed.”

Weed made a short greeting, then he and the Knight clashed for the victory.

Only very short time gaps in between the Cyclops rock throwing that they had the time to duel.

The moment he subdued the Knight, the others came over to help out; but by throwing his body in the apertures of the pouring rocks, he escaped.

He rushed deeply toward where there were healthy Cyclops had attracted many Knights.

Even if the place was lacking of disasters, he could formulate much confusion within the area; and in the midst of it, he will fight.

In the location of the Cyclops, Knights of the Mapon Kingdom jumped in.

“Beat up the Bromba Kingdom’s henchmen!”

“Cut up the one-eyed monster’s throat!”

“Yaaaahhh!”

A large confusing fight was going on.

While the two kingdoms at war, Bromba and Mapon, were going at it; Humans of other countries also intervened.

This naturally attracted the attention of other Monsters who head toward the commotion. The Cyclops stomped their feet and crushes with picked up column like boulders. The once tossed up into the sky stones fell and the feeling of shattering Human bodies could be felt; aside from that, the Cyclops also simply threw the stones straight downward.

In the massive confusion that took place, Weed snuck to the front and clashed one-on-one with the Knights and came out winning.

He killed as many as 17 Knights before kneeling on the ground.

His HP was only at a mere 30 points; there was nothing left.

“Oooooowoooo!”

“C’mon!”

Even though they had easy access to the readily-given Weed’s life, soldiers of Bromba Kingdom and soldiers of Mapon Kingdom were busily backing off.

They looked to the sky and continued to recede.

Weed too looked up at the sky.

Then he saw a small dot that was growing rapidly.

It was a rock of more than 10 meters in diameter falling toward where he was located.

‘Ain’t it great for the final moment of a jackal to be soooo colorful.’

Weed waited with the sword dug into the earth grasp in hand.

BAAAAAAAMM!

You will leave a distinctive mark in one of the fiercest battle in history, the Palrangka Conflict.

History Book of the Versailles Continent. Original Palrangka Conflict.

It was a time where greed and jealousy were at their peak.

The Humans, in order to hoard wheat and iron for themselves, held expansion wars that did not stop.

The other Species joined forces with the Humans in order to avoid disputes; but their similar intentions deteriorated.

Having received the Humans’ influence of pursuing what they desire, the other Species gathered up their own members and fought for self interest.

As if corresponding to the Humans territorial wars which undermined their powers, the highly fertile Monsters spread across the continent like a poisonous mushroom.

Newly restored content: Palrangka Conflict Secret History.

Can only be deciphered by adventurers who reached Mastery in Linguistics and Archeology.

Even at the time, Monsters’ Intelligence was pretty exceptional, so coarse language was possible; and with that, they formed larger groupings for activities.

And on the plains of Jaksen, they fought a decisive battle over who will dominate the continent.

The eventual winners were the non-Human Monsters.

But the few remnants that came out alive from the fray of the dangerous battle spread tales of a Skeleton Knight’s role on the battlefield.

Having received the favor of the Princess of Kingdom of Isran, Remy, he tried to rescue her.

He was very brave; and had amazing horseback combat skills. But having been distracted in between the lot of winged Monsters, the white horse and the Princess lost their lives.

The angry Knight fought on the very spot in order to fill the sadness of losing the Princess; and eventually lost.

Geographically, the Bromba Kingdom location was on the Jaksen Plains.

It was a vast fertile plains; the most extensive canary of the Versailles Continent.

But along with the downfall of Bromba, its territories were torn apart; and became that of the Kingdom of Breman.

At the time, it was said that more than a million of corpses of Humans, other Species, and Monsters were collected separately and stored in a massive underground tomb.

Then, over the course of three decades, along with the continual fighting over the wheat, ownership of the kingdom undergo constant changes.

The plains of Jaksen also disappeared; its terrains all changed due to the Humans incessant effort to build barrier and forts.

Now, in unison, the name of the Palrangka Conflict is more widely known among the Monster groups.

《History Book of the Versailles Continent.》

From the Records of the Palrangka Conflict.

* * *

Lee Hyun continued to complain.

“If I had not been revived as a Skeleton Knight…”

He was still regretting over the fact he was revived as a Skeleton Knight.

Due to the fact that the being didn’t really demonstrate the level of an Undead.

The first revived skeleton was nearing that of a Boss type level.

Aside from having great physical abilities, its magic ability was excellent above all else.

Powerful Black Magic!

With being able to utilize the Necromancer’s skills, he could fight more pleasantly.

With fallen bodies, he could conjured up Dullahans and Death Knights, he could even summon the skeletons of the long deceased to make the fight more exciting!

In contrast, the Skeleton Knight was a skull head who was ignorance with magic.

It had even weakened out in the sun, and severely vulnerable to Holy magic.

It was an Undead who was vulnerable to being hunted in broad daylight.

He felt slightly weakened during the fight in the Palrangka Conflict in the broad daylight.

If it was back on Continent of Magic, he would have welcomed the Knight. Relying on their mighty force, he would have wrecked all the enemies in his way; there was nothing wrong with the Knight.

But then again, there was no destructive Necromancer fighting in the battlefield of the continent either.

“If I could have used the Necromancer’s magic…”

Lee Hyun did not conceal his contemplation.

If he was reborn as an Undead with Necromancy, the results of the Palrangka Conflict would have been brilliantly flipped upside down. The spacious battlefield was something good for the Necromancer, something along the line of being in his own front yard.

Reviving Cyclops, producing Zombies and Ghouls. Skeleton Soldiers and Knights weren’t impossible to raise either.

By using the Ender Saint’s Cane along with the Necromancer’s magic; it was like icing on the cake.

“Come to think of it, I don’t really have control over the kinds of Undead I can revive with necromancy, huh. It’s entirely possible for me to revive things such as ghosts or winged beasts. The risk that comes along with this skill is too great.”

Since it wasn’t something that goes according to his will, it was rather disturbing to use the skill based on luck.

Lee Hyun now emptied his mind and searched for pricing of items.

He intended to sell the weapons and armors that he doesn’t use after resurrecting on the Versailles Continent.

“It’d be better if I put these on the auction side of the site.”

Lee Hyun then got a price quote, went onto the item trading site and registered the items for auctions.

– Bromba Kingdom Knight’s Sword. Starting auction price: 1000 Won.

– Mapon Kingdom Knight’s Sword. Starting auction price: 1000 Won.

– Honorable Knight Armor. Starting auction price: 1000 Won.

– Gloves of Blessing. Starting auction price: 1000 Won.

– Armor of War. Starting auction price: 1000 Won.

– Cyclops’ Helmet. Starting auction price: 1000 Won.

He went ahead and registered the items obtained from the Palrangka Conflict.

Most of the items he got in Todoom were ingredient items or the lot of japtem.

From the Pegasus or the Unicorns. Things he happened to obtain almost inevitably during the battle with these divine creatures.

In Morata, he can directly manufacture these and can sell for a fair market price, or even tagged them with a high price.

But things such as complete items like weapon or armor, it was easier for these items to find a buyer by putting them on the auction site.

The weapon he acquired from the Vampire treasury was limited to level 440 players, Koldrim Demon Sword. He suspected that it wouldn’t sell for a high price if he had putting up to sell.

With the competition between the players making prices rise heartily; it was better for him to use it in the meantime and sell it for a reasonable price after a wait for these competitive individuals.

“Of course I can just sell it right now…oh that reminds me, the Paskran Lance.”

The lance he identified but did not take from the Vampire’s treasury!

Clearly, he recalled that somebody had posted an article on the Dark Gamer Union asking to get it.

Lee Hyun failed to best a fight against his curiosity, found the author of the post and sent a message.

In the past, you’re the guy that wanted to get the Paskran Lance, right? How much were you willing to pay for it?

Lee Hyun had things to do so he ended it with that.

It has been quite some time that he was able to rest comfortably for a day, then the feeling sunk into him.

“It’s been almost 100 days since I last posted huh.”

For Dark Gamers, their working hours wasn’t something belonging to the five days a week category. They must play well with others, have to be eager to hunt or lose out, and must raise their skills.

Before turning off the computer, Lee Hyun went to the information page and posts an article.

Information on Monsters in the North.

Together with Seoyoon, they found the Valley of Death when crossing into the northern borders.

From things such as procuring food, routes, and information on habitats of Monsters.

For the Dark Gamers who primarily hunts alone in order to get more money; needless to say, these were valuable information.

Give as much as you receive.

At the expense of gaining information from the Dark Gamers, Lee Hyun too had to give a bit of something back.

As for the current information given, grade ‘C.’

Lee Hyun published the self-written article, then got up and headed toward the kitchen.

“On a rest day like this, I gotta soak a bit of kimchi.”

Thinking it was a bit too early, he quickly immersed the kimchi.

“The common salt is just as good as any. Pricier salt isn't even a good thing.”

* * *

Today as well, millions of people have accessed the Royal Road webpage. The lot of them were watching the live feed on the Hall of Fame page.

– The Tower of Light Guild went into the Cruel Urolba cave.

– In just a bit, Urolba will appear.

The Tower of Light was a guild with a towering number of 30000 members.

It wasn’t a guild filled with high-leveled personnel, but the number was something of a huge force.

They occupied a territory that contains the Urolba Lair.

Cruel Urolba.

A typical Boss Monster, an evil spirit whom revives itself once every month on the Versailles Continent.

The power of the Electric Whip it wields was not something comparable to that of a Dragon’s breath; but if having been struck, one's body will be Paralyzed as well as being depleted of Stamina. Preceding its emerging familiars, the Evil Spirits, which does so in an extremely quick manner, their resistance made the hunt much more difficult.

The Tower of Light Guild mobilized a massive scale of personnel to raid this Urolba.

“We are in a position to establish justice on the Versailles Continent. The cowardly monster Urolba, it hides itself instead of coming out. It is in my position to punish this wicked being for the sake of all!”

The Guild Master Hertz proudly exclaimed in the huge cave. Then, Urolba emerged.

And the appropriate battle began!

The focus of the battle for the Guild was to obtain a new item; the Blessing of Enormous Wealth from the God of Battle, Tyr.

‘This is an opportunity to elevate the guild’s honor that we can’t afford to miss.’

Until now, the number of guilds that have hunted Urolba didn’t even reach six. Among all these prestigious guilds, only the Hermes Guild’s hunt came out successful.

The Tower of Light Guild didn’t hold back on investing their all on this gamble.

“Take Urolba treasure. Let's get his whip too.”

The warriors too, craved for the stats.

The person who bears the occupation of a Sculptor, Weed, his stats rise when he is able to create Masterpieces, Classics, or Magnums. This method was only available to the Sculptors and not to any other occupation.

In cases with the melee's lot, if it was a successful hunt after risking it all with Boss Monsters, Reputation and sometimes, stats, could be obtained.

Though this was something easier said than done.

Their targets were often something terrible; most times, they would risk their lives and fight with their all.

The Cruel Urolba fits the category.

As for the non-melee type adventurers: in this case Grave Robbers, there were rumors that their stats would rise if they identify locations that haven’t been discovered, a grave belonging to someone who once was a celebrity, or when they investigate dungeons.

While the clergymen can gain Piety stat points by treating someone in deadly condition, and gain Faith through deliverance of monks from the grasp of evil.

Art occupations such as professional Painters, can simply gain stats by drawing qualifying pictures. Architects gains stats by creating architectural marvels. Of course, Blacksmiths that produces luxurious weapons and armors can gain stats.

The advantage of being a Sculptor and other blue collar occupations is that they didn’t need to risk their lives in order to gain stats.

At the very least, constructions and creating a huge artwork poses a bit of risk; but it was nothing really dangerous to one’s vitality.

Nevertheless, the warriors that has to face higher risks by hunting dangerous Bosses obtain a lot more stats, more spoils, more Reputation; while are continually able to fight stronger and stronger Monsters.

“Iyaaahh!”

“Watch his hand.”

“Melee, spread out to prevent getting hit by the whip!”

“Going head to head is our only way!”

The warriors rushed Urolba.

Meanwhile, the Evil Spirits within the cave made their appearances.

Out of the rocks, Cave Worms appeared and overtook the Clerics and Wizards.

“Save me!”

“Help us here!”

They cried out insanely, but the melees who were locked in the battle with Urolba did not heed their calls.

Though the size of the guild was big, due to the lack in ability to lead its members, as many as 2000 of the Tower of Light Guild members lost their lives outright.

The people who were watching the stream on the Hall of Fame page had already determined their debacle before Urolba and its familiars.

– Waste of time.

– In my eyes, seems like they already gave up.

– Although it’s their first time hunting this Boss Monster, I think the Tower of Light Guild fell too easily.

They did not conceal their disappointment.

Then on the forum, someone posted on the bulletin board after checking out the auction site.

– Weed! Weed came back. Check on his auction site!

The fact that Weed was selling off Bromba and Mapon kingdoms’ Knights’ weapons and Cyclops’ helmets was widespread.

– What the hell happened?!

– I wonder what Weed went through again.

When it came to Weed, raving fans flocked like the clouds.

There was no news regarding Weed after he had bested against the Dragon, so the mysterious disappearance as well as his activities were bound to stimulate people’s curiosity.

Again, they checked on the goods he registered on the auction site.

– The performance on the weapons is quite excellent.

– The auction price had already surpassed 500000 Won.

– Weed huh. Oh my, he hunted Cyclops…! Alone, I wonder? I think he musta have colleagues.

– As I understand it, Weed is almost always alone. Even with strong Monsters like the Cyclops, even Dragons, for Weed, abnormal opponents are normal to him.

– Keuu! There ought to be a movie of the hunt. Weed’s combat capabilities and the Single Point Attack skill just swept by like a storm; I can’t get it out of my head.

– But does anybody know where the Bromba Kingdom is?

– I have no idea on Mapon either.

– Maybe they’re new kingdoms in the North?

People plunged into questioning the location of Bromba and Mapon on the central of the continent. The number those that deduced that they were small countries in the north wasn’t small either.

But, those that were in the north refuted the possibility of the kingdoms being there.

Then someone on the forum found the answer.

– Bromba Kingdom, Mapon Kingdom. They’re ancient kingdoms that existed centuries in the past.

– Really? I don’t believe it.

– It’s an irrefutable fact. You can find them on the Versailles Continent History Book.

Some other user then posted by quoting the whole history of the continent. Then and there, they found out about the war waged between the Bromba Kingdom and Mapon Kingdom.

Most of the people, unlike Weed, did not go and memorize the whole history of the continent.

– How’d he get ancient kingdom’s weapons…?

– What kind of adventure was it? Like, did he unearthed the remains of the ancient kingdoms? Or like, he explored an ancient dungeon?

– Grrr. I want to see. I want to see.

The people’s curiosity reached their peak.

Nobody can really escape the ponderosity weighing down on their body.

So with the craziness, they herded themselves toward the homepage of KMC Media.

– Is there any truth that Weed went on an adventure, or anything at all relating to the matter?

– Did he cross into the ancient kingdoms?

– Do you plan to broadcast Weed’s adventure? If yes, please do it tomorrow.

– I believe in the ability of KMC Media. My channel is fixed and I’ll wait; even if it’s just a special, please show it.

In writing tantrum, the viewers commented page after page!

* * *

KMC Media staff members' feet were on fire.

“Overtime, working overtime!”

“Order boxed dinner. We can’t go home before editing all the material.”

The staffs’ tears faded as they must indulged in their work.

Due to the nature of Weed’s adventure, even with the short section of the Palrangka Conflict up to his termination, it could come out to be at least a few hours.

Meeting with Princess Remy, assault on horseback, battling in the air, the fight against the Cyclops and Knights!

There were many prominent scenes that were indispensable.

In addition, this was the historic Palrangka Conflict.

Not only are they broadcasting the adventure of Weed, they are to provide information on skills, items, and monsters on the spot.

Due to this, all hands at the station were on deck.

Prior to the final edits, the MCs were also preparing.

The writers had to write the script while watching the video playback in real-time at the station, the hosts had to stay up all night busy memorizing the established information on the battle.

They tried to shorten the time to the broadcast in consideration to the viewers’ degrading attention span as well as to live up to their collective expectation.

Shin Hye Min reads the confirmed script on air.

“This is the battle of the Jeonshin Weed, the being who is unique in virtue and the embodiment of adventure himself! We will introduce the viewers to the breathless passion and chest pounding jubilation of a romance with the Princess within the Palrangka Conflict.”

* * *

Bwakk bwakk!

Half Seasoned Half Fried!

The chicken that betrayed Lee Hyun and went to Seoyoon haven't eaten anything.

The hospital nurses gave it rice, millet, sesame seed, as well as other different types of chicken feed they've obtained, but all were in vain.

“Why don’t you eat?”

“He’s going to starve to death.”

The nurses in Seoyoon hospital room watched the rooster with anxious eyes.

To be precise, they were worried about Seoyoon.

The tenderhearted and kind Seoyoon, for if the chicken that was kept by her dies, she would be greatly damaged.

Half Seasoned Half Fried just lay there weakly.

“……”

Seoyoon sadly stroke the chicken.

She lamented that there was nothing else she could give to the chicken outside of this.

‘Do you want to go back to your owner?’

Seoyoon’s eyes filled with fret.

It may have been a mistake for her to take Half Seasoned Half Fried.

She believes that she could not have the love of anyone!

More so, she couldn't even gain trust and love from a chicken.

‘Lee Hyun. I have to take it to him.’

Having decided, Seoyoon tried to lift Half Seasoned Half Fried.

But the chicken strongly resisted as she attempted to lift it from its roost.

The gesture of never wanting to go!

The nurse who were observing the situation were quite impressed.

“Chickens are also more intelligent than most creatures. They're able feel and think more than what people believes.”

“It's a really good chicken; it like the heart of its new owner while it also misses its old home. It would be nice if it could take just a bit of food…”

While filled with wrenching sympathy, Seoyoon and the nurses tried to be quiet so Half Seasoned Half Fried could go to sleep.

Then, in the middle of this, another nurse opened the door and came in.

She brought Seoyoon’s meal on a platter.

Vitamin rich vegetable and pork dishes.

Bwakkk!

At that moment, Half Seasoned Half Fried flapped its feathered wings and flew straight toward the tray. It then began pecking up the pork to eat.

Ttotototototok.

It was just going at it on the tray.

“…!”

After eating a huge amount of food, the chicken peacefully fell asleep.

‘I have heard stories of chicken eating pork, but…’

‘This wasn’t about separation anxiety. That chicken is just a pig.’

The nurses have realized it.

Seoyoon was also in deep thought.

‘I just wanted to receive love; but I have never tried reaching out first.’

The only person whom she felt comfortable with was Lee Hyun.

In Royal Road, he was the one who made the food for her to eat. During the MT too, she also ate the food he cooked. But she did not offer a word of gratitude.

‘There’s nothing I can do for him.’

Seoyoon then nodded her head.

From now on, she wanted change, even if it just a little.

‘Next time…I’ll give him my food.’

She knew where he would go to eat during lunch.

‘On my own…not some cheap already-made lunch. I want to make the food to give to him.’

Seoyoon fell into deep thoughts, for she was busy determining what to prepare.

* * *

“Guys, come here.”

Lee Hyeyeon came into the yard.

She had prepared the portion of food for the chicken that Lee Hyun have started raising from long ago. She wanted to directly and tidily give the chickens their meal; and as a brother, Lee Hyun could not reject.

Lee Hyeyeon happily gave them the feed she worked on.

“Today’s meal is kalbi.”

Bwaaaak!

The first, Boiled Egg, pecked at the little strings of kalbi as he eats.

Afterward, Sunny Side Up, Mother Hen, Soup, Fried, Seasoned, and even the newly replaced Half Seasoned Half Fried went at the remaining kalbi.

The chicks that were recently hatched!

The growing chicks had already eaten the worms that Mother Hen gave them, but they’ve smartened up and hovered towards the kalbi.

“A very harmonious scene.”

Lee Hyeyeon felt happy.

The chickens and the chicks were gathering along side the kalbi. It was a very cute sight.

A considerable amount of leftover of meat on the bones after the chicken had finish eating.

Not one to abandon food, Lee Hyeyeon called forth for one more animal who was sitting in wait from a distance.

“Boshin, come here.”

Woof woof!

It went at the leftover portion of the kalbi.

The dog’s name was Mohm Boshin!

She brought in a young stray pup in the neighborhood to eat, but did not do so because she had grown attached to him.

[TL: Mohm Boshin(몸 보신): This term here has 2 meanings that are nearly identical to each other. The verb 몸보신하다 means to 'improve[build up] one's health,' with the 몸보신 as 'nurture, restore' in the compound. The second meaning is when you break up his name, 몸 means 'body' while 보신 means 'self-preservation.' That is, 'for my preservation.' Oh and, 보신탕(boshintang) means 'dog soup'; take that with a grain of salt. Won't add this to Glossary, since it's a name.]

“You must have been hungry.”

Lee Hyeyeon stroked Mohm Boshin’s head.

It’s a known fact to not touch a dog while it is eating; but Mohm Boshin was fine with it.

Arf arf!

As if asking to be petted some more, after finishing up the kalbi, it rolled over and assumed the belly up position with its limbs held high.

Usually not that clever of a dog, it can still chases birds and even knew where to take care of its business.

Whenever he does this, Lee Hyeyeon lets out a brilliant smile.

“Our Boshin is very sweet.”

A girl and a dog.

A very peaceful scene.

But, Mohm Boshin have not forgotten.

During the days when he was younger, she personally named him as such with her wickedly staring gaze.

Chapter 4: Weed’s Return

In Morata, on the Crimson Mercenary Guild's wall, the Bounty's board was pack tightly with wanted posters.

“What, what happened?”

“Where are the good requests?”

Departing and returning adventurers flocked to the board.

Wanted: Geomchi

Bounty: 550 Gold

Crime: Corruption, Murder, Evasion

Appearance: Aged fellow

Body style is similar to a Barbarian

Known for wearing a strong odorous armor

Strength: Enough to fight on equal standing with a Hell Lord Knight. Skill and Strength are excellent

Special note: Sided with the Vampires and massacred Humans

Location last spotted: Morata South Entrance

Wanted: Geom-2-chi

Bounty: 548 Gold

Crime: Corruption, Murder, Evasion

Appearance: Could not stop his incessant laughter

Great muscular body

Known for wearing a strong odorous armor

Strength: Can hold and win a fight against five Vikings

Special note: Sided with the Vampires and massacred Humans

Location last spotted: Morata South Entrance

From Geomchi, Geom-2-chi, Geom-3-chi, and so on and so forth until Geom-505-chi.

Despite the fact that the description did not match their characteristics to a tee, their names were still exposed due to the bestowed Murderer's mark.

To reiterate, in exchange for doing quests for the Vampires, they were deemed wicked.

“They appeared yesterday and rampaged off.”

“I heard they hastily departed southward.”

A considerable number of their tracks could be witnessed.

In fact, there was an attempt to apprehend the lot.

Besides the bounty assigned; Reputation, Public Value, as well as Mercenary rating could all be obtained along with the gold. In addition, if one was lucky enough, he could steal the equipment they donned. As a result, people promptly jumped on this.

“Ah, hells.”

“We aint like that.”

“Ah! Girls!”

“Keugg! Even women are trying to kill me.”

Alas, the Geomchis paid little mind to their immediate situation and quickly rushed off. Whatever urgency they were in, they looked so furious as they were rushing toward the south. So much so that those tried to pursue them didn't want to stand in their path.

There were many people whose level were higher than the Geomchis in Morata. If the Geomchis had been just one or two of them, then these people would have been surrounded them. But with many of them appearing and suddenly bolted off as if they were sails with wind pushes on them, people simply backed out of the way.

And now.

From Morata’s West Gate, one person with his name inscribed in the crimson Murderer's mark approaches.

“On the subject of killers, there’s one trying to enter the town fearlessly.”

“Is he crazy?”

There’s no army in Morata. Instead, Paladins of the Freya’s Church stationed and were standing guard at every gate.

“Damn, I wanted the kill. Miss the opportunity to raise my Reputation.”

Freya’s Paladins were known to be unforgiving.

Merchants and adventurers alike were watching the oncoming person whom was without a single measure against the Paladins.

In a few moment, he will be caught by the Paladins and he will be beaten mercilessly.

Everybody have expected this since they’ve witnessed how the Freya Paladins treated the rebelling monsters and sinners near their vicinity.

However, as the Murderer advances toward them, they hoist up their swords and performed salutations as if they were greeting an aristocrat.

“May all harmonizes according to the Goddess’ will.”

The visitor too, lightly saluted back.

“May all harmonizes according to the Goddess’ will.”

Then, without a single sign of resistance from the Paladins, he casually passes through the entrance to the village.

* * *

Weed was the person that came into Morata.

After journeying to the Vampire Kingdom and passing the Intermediate Training Center, he returned once again to the Versailles Continent.

Wherever Weed step, people just scampered off out of his path.

“What?”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s a Murderer. A Murderer came into the town.”

“How? I know Morata has poor public security, but…aren’t there the Freya Paladins?”

“Dunno. It’s hard to believe, look there. The Paladins around the town doesn’t bother him at all.”

The crowd gathered and was pondering about the terrible fact, Weed continued his stride toward the center of the square from the entrance of the village while people continues to part.

The they all followed him immediately as he passes.

For one donning the wicked mark of a Murderer to be walking so unabashedly inside the town, they felt an intensive interest and curiosity towards Weed.

‘It has developed a lot since I left for Todoom.’

The large-scale investment of 260,000 Gold!

The roads widened and were filled with decent pebbles, making it convenient for the carriages as they make their way through the streets without having to pay expensive tolls; unusual for a village.

Along the street: pubs, smithies, trading posts, textile shops have been completed. The Freya Church’s post could be seen from a distance as well. Mercenary Guild and Vigilante spot were also created, each crowded with people.

A spectacle that haven’t been seen in any other villages or provinces (in the North.)

‘The number of people have grown by a lot.’

Even before Weed left for Todoom, there was quite a lot of travelers who paid Morata a visit. But now, due to the rumors circulated by words of mouth regarding the Light Tower, a lot more people came and always set Morata as a Starting Point for their adventure in the North.

The number wasn’t as large as when Weed started in Rosenheim Kingdom, but people were filled with vigor just the same.

As for the reason, this was all due their adventurous spirit as well as their will to face challenges, along with the fact that this was the new frontier for exploration.

Splash splash splash.

A waterway was also made from the river. And in the center of the path, an artistic bridge have been made and was filled with sculptures and works of art.

All thanks to the Elder for his endless and aggressive investments into art and cultural activities; for he took the fact that Lord of Morata, Weed, was a Sculptor.

Weed was satisfied while looking at the artwork.

‘These are also nothing like cheap decorative artwork.’

But still, artwork were still dirt cheap!

Though, artists weren’t just some cheap laborers.

Sculptures, pictures, building, all are things to elevate sightseers’ satisfaction who stands before them.

The money they sprinkled on this in order to stimulate Morata's economey, in which it will eventually return back to Weed’s pocket.

There was no need for Weed to fret over this, because the travelers will in turn recompense them with money from on Morata's resident to the next.

He's like a delighted IRS agent watching the birth of a newborn!

Or the feeling the joy of a loan shark with its newly found first time customer.

Weed, who inadvertently attracted a crowd, sat down on a vacant spot in the square.

“Selling manufacturing goods. Sewing, smithing, sculpture; and although it's weak, I'll paint if am commissioned. Chaa! Pick, pick! Whatever material you have in mind for custom-made work, I’ll do it.”

Weed wanted to produce items while donning Murderer mark!

Reasoning flew past the users head.

“What the, this guy.”

“I thought you can only take one, but a Tailor, Blacksmith, and a Sculptor?”

“I’d imagine he’s no good, there no prospective seen in the combination.”

The users were appalled.

While he marred with the Murderer’s mark, the users were being considerably conscious around him.

‘The Ranker I heard about.’

In the spacious Versailles Continent, it was difficult to even meet just one user with a ranking position.

They weren't viable to come across even in the Central continent’s largest provinces; for they were usually in the nearby villages or mining towns that were close to dungeons or hunting grounds.

‘He’ll be very strong.’

‘He won’t attack me all of the sudden, will he?’

They trembled in fear while following behind him, but in fact, there was no need to worry about the range in power.

The clue has been provided by the Paladins; for they politely make way as he passes and have not once made an attempt to attack.

Although, if the regular users attack Weed, they would overwhelm him and his situation would have been difficult.

As a matter of fact, there was no beginner among the Morata’s user base.

Surely, the level of those who were here wasn't as high as Weed, or are they as methodical as him; but they absolutely had the majority.

If someone made a simple pillory, things could spark into a huge event.

But as he subdue the initiative and showing no erratic behaviors, the attacking mood would simply diffuse itself.

In fact, Weed have had a lot of experiences being on this side.

Back in the days on the Continent of Magic, if the scattering of broken glass bothered him just a bit, Weed would kill all.

He would even kill the soliciting Merchants for nagging him. And there was no exception when it came to hunting grounds, as he wanted it all to himself.

There was no forgiveness even for a couple having discreet conversations in some corner of the dungeon either.

All the challengers who dared rise time and time again were crushed thoroughly.

The notoriety he had then wasn’t just there, for it had shifted in location.

‘This is why the fact that I’m 'that' Weed should not be known.’

The accumulated reputation Weed gained back in Continent of Magick was huge.

Due to the tremendous widespread of him name by the stations, he was revered by the adventurers and regular users alike on the Versailles Continent.

As a result, he was the target of many people.

The Jeonshin Weed’s killer.

A glorious title.

Along with the people with grudges back in the days of CoM, a huge number of them who are high-level users on the Versailles Continent haven been constantly grinding their axes contemplating the day.

He must not be recognized; for these people have scattered about, lying in waits to have the honor of intercepting Weed.

To make matter worse, Information Guild, Assassin Guild, Dark Gamer Guild, etc. made a lot of attempts to find his location as well as his (ingame) identity.

As long as they know who he was, hundreds of Rankers would swarm him and challenges him as soon as tomorrow.

Even large, prestigious Guilds would trample one another trying to get at him.

Assiduously with the logic of power in mind, a rather simple way to increase the guild's influence was to hold that title. While not on the same level as the famed adventures of chasing after the presence of myths or legends; but all in all, to maximize the guild’s strength, Weed was a good prey.

With the Invicible Gambler, the God of War and such titles following him, he was at risk as he walked on such thin ice.

On the subject of Royal Road, while the game poses as enjoyment for many others, this was Weed's livelihood.

‘Without this, warmth and a full belly isn't possible. All these weak guys wouldn’t mind ratting out a person like me for all the food to survive. There’s no such person who is sweet, naïve, and modest.’

Then, a girl raised her hand.

“Sir.”

“Yes?”

“I want to align new attire…a Robe that’s trendy and fit me perfectly. Also, if you could, I’d like to have high Magic Defense.”

Although a bit reluctant, the girl placed an order.

He sifted through his backpack to look for the mats.

He had already memorized the kind of mats he has as well as the amount of quantity, but he wanted to confirm it at least once more before doing anything.

“I have Strong Pegasus Leather, as well as Strong Unicorn Leather. And I also have Premium Vampire Leather. Note that if you decide to pick this type, I’d charge you a bit more for repair charges.”

“The premium leather?”

“Yes, the leather that the Vampire uses. I could dismantle the cape again and gain the mats to create the garment. A short enough skirt can lose out on Defense, would you like me to make a tight fit that runs along the curvatures of your body?”

The new skill he obtained upon reaching Intermediate level 2 of Sewing, Raw Material Extraction!

Recycling from clothing that have already been made, he could essentially create new items through this skill.

Making good items from older items was a high gamble though; but being able to make more diverse items as well being able to correct it with all the necessities, the skill's advantages was not a small matter.

Weed continued ahead without stopping.

“The prices are subjected to the materials. And I charge 10 Gold per hour for the labor fee.”

Weed’s proposed price of labor was sufficient enough to cause rejection from the users.

From the rear of the crowd, one person bluntly protested.

“If it’s 10 Gold then that's too expensive. Don’t you know that the Sewing prices from all over are cheaper in comparison, you complete crook.”

Though it had a tone of cynicism, it incurred the responses of other users.

“That right. He did that and became a Murderer.”

“I know right. Having no decency like a crooked taxi driver.”

For a skilled tailor, receiving 10 Gold per hour price wasn’t something so expensive.

Because comparing to the vocational profession, others could hunt for even more money during that same while.

However, due to the excessive competition of the blue-collar workers, as well as the decline of the delivery of goods, it was uncommon for a person to request that price.

The people who crowded around Weed began to lose interest and were starting to disband.

Weed then spoke.

“My Sewing Skill is Intermediate, Blacksmithing Skill's Intermediate, and my Handicraft Skill is on the Advanced level. Whatever item it is, I will make them to the best of their ability. Believe and please leave it to me.”

The reaction from those people changed at once.

“Intermediate Sewing, Intermediate Blackmithing, Advanced Handicraft? Did the Versailles Continent ever have a user like that?”

“That’s impossible, it’s a ridiculous combination.”

“Maybe he’s a person who sits all day in a cave just to increase his manufacturing skills?”

“If you look at the equipment he’s wearing, its level seems a bit low. I don’t think he’s a user of the blue-collar job who reached the Advanced stages of the Handicraft skill yet…”

“Then, the stature of his craftsmanship is unknown. He’s a scam artist, an impostor.”

“By the way, his name’s Weed. No way, could he be the Sculptor Weed?”

Weed’s name has been openly revealed in red. Murderers are unable to hide their names as it is a forced exposure.

“If he’s that Sculptor Weed, then he’s that famous user who is the Lord of Morata, similar to that of an Earl?”

“Weed was the said user who overstepped the Intermediate stages of the Sculpturing Skill long ago. That means he's just returned from his trip to the Kingdom of Vampires Todoom…”

“He must have returned just now!”

“Morata’s Lord is back!”

The Sculptor Weed’s name had significant recognition across the Versailles Continent.

At least, everybody in Morata knew he was its peculiar Lord.

“No wonder the Freya Paladins didn’t attack him…”

“And the residents too, were amicable even when seeing a Murderer.”

The space between Weed and Morata’s inhabitants was very small.

A result of the power of Reputation on the Versailles Continent!

The users with all their completely uncoiled doubts rushed together.

“Please make me the Robe!”

The girl from a while before, followed by the lot of denizens.

“Me too. Please make me a pair of Boots. Is it possible to grant it Options? Boots that is as light as possible.”

“I’d hope you can make a coat…for Warrior that is. Something that can be worn over the armor, please produce a good fit for me.”

It was still rare for a user to attain Intermediate Sewing, even with Morata’s expedition on Tailoring. Because of that, most of the items the users obtained were through hunting or were things they bartered for by trading necessary items.

Since a user with Intermediate level in Blacksmith and Sewing appeared, they swarmed together with their own Advanced materials.

Furthermore, the user’s Handicraft Skill attained the Advanced level, this was something they couldn't fathom.

“For me, a Sword.”

“I need a Shield that protects, could you make it?”

The users’ ordered goods were very diverse, the mats Weed saved up from Todoom ended up selling as manufactured goods.

* * *

“Excuses me…I understand you are a Sculptor.”

A male user approached.

“That’s right.”

Weed replied as he beats the hammer. It had just turned the evening, so he didn’t see to too many customers.

In contrast, during the morning and in the afternoon, he was manufacturing ordered goods without a single break.

“Could you carve me a bouquet of flowers for commemoration? For my girlfriend?”

“……”

It was a prime time for him to make money, so Weed wasn’t very enthused.

“I have orders backed up at the moment; I might finish with them some time tomorrow evening…”

Noticing a sign of discomfort coming from Weed, the user held out an item.

“This is Pure Iron. I’ll pay for the fee along with this here.”

Pure Iron!

Compare to the Common Iron, this has higher intensity of iron packed in.

Weed suddenly clasped the man’s hand.

“I’ll make it!”

“……”

The Sculptor class really isn’t one to rely on to make living.

Since the fee for the work is really cheap in comparison to anything else, any tip that come with an order is something they cannot refuse.

‘I'm used to using the Sculpturing skill anyway, this'll just a bit and I’m done.’

As usual, he took out a piece of wood and began to carving a flower.

Since he manufactured so many floral merchandise in the past; the output would still result to something desirable even if he had kept his eyes closed.

But soon after he had activated the Sculpturing Skill, whispers from unknown beings could be heard.

– Please sculpt me.

– Carve us!

– Human sculptor, I’m sure you’re able to do it.

– I say hurry and sculpt us!

Ever since attaining the level 5 in the Advanced stages of Sculpturing, he could hear the voices of these unknown presence without fail.

Not only can they be heard, they can impart themselves.

– If you do not free us…

– If you are not willing to give life to us…

– It would be better off for this fool of a Sculptor to die.

Weed’s body suddenly went ablaze.

His whole body caught on fire and roaring of the flames ensued.

This happened in the center of the square, at midnight in Morata.

Received the Curse of Fire.

Will sustain continuous Fire damage.

All Durability of worn good will deteriorate quickly.

While his body was burning, Weed’s Health was defusing out of him at a rate of 300HP per second.

The wood he was carving also caught on fire without a moment of delay.

“Stone Skin!”

Weed reflexively used his protection skill, and the decline of his HP decreased by 65%.

“Waah! Look at him.”

“That’s cool.”

“How’s he doing that?”

Morata’ square got nosier again.

Thanks to the spectacle that is Weed!

“Bright.”

“He’s beautifully on fire.”

The number of users watching Weed as he burns was quite large. But of course, there were well meaning Clerics there too.

Noticing something bad had happened, the Clerics simultaneously casts treatment and curse removal Holy magic.

“Cure!”

“Recovery!”

“Round Heal!”

Weed was being treated with several different types of divine magic used over and over again.

“Iron Protect.”

“Holy Shield.”

Along with the overlapping protection magic bestowed onto him, the fire covering Weed finally dispersed.

Weed was discouraged.

“Now it looks like I’m putting on a circus act.”

He became the eventful and suffering Sculptor on the move!

Who would have though the road of a Sculptor could be so colorful?

When he started carving again, he took on a Curse of Ice.

He slowly carved the bouquet in on piece while being frozen in the block of ice.

“Th, thank you.”

The one who ordered the item received it then hastily disappeared.

Now it was raining atop of Weed’s head. The large clouds just over his head without targeting anything else, and thunders within the clouds could be heard.

Kureureung, kwawang!

The other users in the square deviated from him.

“Strange things are happening around just that guy.”

“Look at the cursed character.”

“Shh. Don’t get close, you might get infected by the curse."

Still, Weed was released unharmed from the curses with help from the Clerics.

As a test, each time he tries to sculpt: either burning fire, infectious poison, falling rain, shaking earth occurs.

Sewing Skill proficiency increased by 0.1%.

Weed gave up working on sculpturing commissions for the foreseeable future and just focus on the received smithing and sewing orders.

Skill mastery and money, as well as building up reputation while manufacturing goods!

There was no less coming from the recognized Weed’s preaching either!

The essence of the products increased rose higher due to his great articulation.

“This may just be clothing, but I’m not selling you just some common dress. Sedona nim, was it? This is made tailored specifically to Sedona nim. This pleasingly fits over the base line of Sedona nim’s chest, waist, and buttocks with Defense and Durability fundamentally in mind. Thanks to the luxurious Unicorn Leather, the clothes appearance won’t fall short at any time. This thing can essentially save Sedona nim at least 10 times over the course.”

“What about the prices?”

“Price…it really doesn’t have a thing like a price tag attached; but if you trust in me and regard me to a status in mind, then please give me what you think is right by that standard.”

He looked toward the person while talking about the prices.

Any exhilarated and goodhearted man would willingly shell out money after watching the work that took place. Rather than presenting a specific price for the service, Weed got more revenue this way.

For those who were sensitive with money, they were not forced down to a predefined cost and in turn believed they received a bargain.

For the users who wanted to use Advanced material, Weed sold imported items obtained from Todoom without care for the money.

Unlike the fairly affluent goods in the Central continent, the prices for Leather and Iron in Morata were still more expensive. Here, while selling according to the prices set for each material, Weed’s pocket was growing and growing with more money accumulated.

Unlike doing sculpturing on the fly back then, he received more money and more skill proficiency thanks to the positive response from the people.

This was infinitely impressive!

‘Not as an artist, but I’m more befitting of a simple hard working technician, huh.’

While seriously thinking about his vocation, Weed’s hand was moving as he calculates money without a misstep.

In the midst of creating the armor piece, his mind ventured on next order: calculating the materials needed, pricing on the said mats, and the cap the customer payment for the item; the scale of workload he put on himself that could be considered as amazing.

Traveled by the words of mouth, the armor or clothing Weed made obtained greater responses due to their performance.

“Look at this, the Durability is no joke.”

“How vigilant is his work to get the Durability of a Robe to such an extent?”

Even from cheaper fabric, he was able to generate something out of it.

While the Lord of Morata Weed’s produces premium goods, people congregated.

Through this method of disposing the mats, Weed’s Tailoring and Blacksmithing skills were able to gain a level each.

The revenue obtained was a larger sum when he manufacturing goods out of these material items; and this method earned him a stagger profit of 340000 Gold.

If he had disposed them as individual item, this path wouldn’t make as much money as he did.

Receiving these materials in place of creating the armor set out of bones for the Geomchis, the payoff was huge!

This earned him more money comparing to when he sold the treasure of the Nippleheim Empire.

Additionally, Weed’s popularity varies.

“Hey, I came here from Rosenheim Kingdom to eat porridge!”

“Are you planning to build something like the Pyramid again? While making it, I got a lot of points for Public Value for the country…”

“Whether it’s grade B or C is fine with me. If you can accommodate the porridge during the work, I’ll make sure to work to the bone.”

There was a considerable amount of users from Rosenheim Kingdom that liked Weed.

Every time he sees them, Weed felt very satisfying.

* * *

It was when Weed finished with his business that the Freya’s Paladins together with Alberone approached him.

“Weed nim, you have sinned a lot in the time we have not met.”

Weed spoke matter-of-factly.

“Yeah. I was rescuing the Vampires and it became so.”

He didn’t hesitate to speak so informal towards the Pope candidate because they have gone through quests together, as well as once having treated Alberone through food; so naturally, Familiarity between the two was high.

Alberone had a look of pity.

“How could that had happ…ahh I understand. It’s all due to the fault of Weed nim’s compassionate heart, is it not?”

“……”

“Obviously, the Vampires pinpointed Weed nim’s goodness and used it to their own gain. You must have thought their preordained fate was too much, even for them; your mercy surely has no end.”

“……”

Weed figured it was best to let Alberone theory to run its course in order to keep Familiarity with the Freya Church.

The Church has a very high Public Value.

There are faith stalls built in Morata village for the villagers as well as the contribution made by the Church to the village.

Owing much to the close relationship between the two, they decided to put their trust in Weed, even if he was on this side.

Rather than right or wrong, sometime the influence of Familiarity is heavily relied on.

“I’m going to pray for you, Weed nim. By the mercy of Goddess Freya, I believe She will forgive you.”

But Weed coarsened.

‘Prayer!? I don’t have money to eat or to die and you want me to make a donation?’

The fastest way to get out of the Murderer state is to donate money to the Church.

For the sake of receiving more quests with the lessen notoriety as oppose to more. In this state, chances to have a dialogue with the residents is slimmer because they will choose to avoid you, additionally blowing one's chances to commence business transaction.

The more pressing matter beyond such consequences of Infamy is that under the status of a Murderer, it'll be more likely for users to initiate the attacking.

Weed made it looked as if he hadn’t eaten anything while being embarrassed.

“Alberone nim, I understand your intention. But I don’t have much money. I’m even worried about what I’m going have for food tonight…”

“By the blessing of Goddess Freya, She has filled those with hunger. The development in the Morata province has been many. Thanks to Weed nim’s excellent decision making in spreading the wealth, there are not many who are in need.”

“……”

Weed was driving at trying to compromise at getting a discount in making donations, but thanks to Alberone simply genuine trust in him, he just swerved for nothing.

‘Morata’s development…excellent decision making?’

During the time he was in Todoom, he was getting bits of information regarding the matter. Talks on the Versailles Continent and such, and also through the Dark Gamer Information Network; he read a few articles written how people significantly like Morata.

‘In order to get concrete information on how good it has been, I should to meet up with the Village Elder.’

The idea brushed past in Weed’s head as he walked toward Alberone and knelt down, with both of his eyes closed.

Weed was praying.

His surrounding filled with divine power.

“This being here fought against the Vampires on behalf of the Goddess. Although his actions have been deemed as something comparable what humanity's standard regards as atrocities; he believes that the Vampires are also your beloved beings and they too deserve the Goddess’s prosperity and richness…”

The candidate for the next Pope spoke with no less inferior in faith and divine power to anybody!

Ding!

Due to the mercy of Goddess Freya, 45% of your outrageous sins were saved.

Infamy have been reduced to 500.

The loss of Infamy also resulted in the decrease of Leadership by 10.

In many ways, Infamy isn’t completely useless.

Through means of threatening the NPC residents, you’ll be able to obtain quests they won’t give you otherwise; and you can also impose on the price set for items in stores. If and when you meet with fur trading NPCs at a secluded location, if your Infamy is high enough, even without the need to pose for a brawl, you’ll be able to get your goods intact.

Subsequently, also affects Leadership when dealing with your own subordinates.

But due to having received Freya’s blessing through praying, along with Infamy, his Leadership also decreased.

A side effect of the prayer for salvation.

After the prayer finishes, Alberone readily extended out his hand.

“Weed nim, let’s go out to dinner. Let me go instruct them to set supper at the dinning hall.”

Weed replied.

“Thanks, Alberone.”

Having received what he yearned for, his tone changed slightly.

In Freya’s Church, the meals aren't something light such as potato or sweet potatoes. There will be more than three or four main courses, as well as deserts, salads, and wine that will be served.

Lead by Alberone’s hand and disappeared, Weed was admired by the gawking users.

“Ahh! Come to think of it, there’s no need real need to question this…from the Light Tower to how he is Morata’s Lord, after all.”

“The relationship he has with the Freya Church is no joke.”

“Might also be about money, isn't it? As a Lord, he had heavily invested in Morata.”

“Maybe it’s because he’s heckla rich; he was able to be in a close knit relationship with the Church using the money.”

“I heard they were pretty tight ever since Rosenheim Kingdom.”

* * *

Weed was leisurely enjoying dinner at the Freya Church. There were fresh and plentiful foods all around.

Back in the cold and bleaker days of Morata, the residents wouldn’t even have the homemade food to hold a celebration.

During those days, they didn't even have a rotten potato to fill their bellies. A stark contrast to the present, where food are bountiful.

All thanks to the due diligent of the Village Elder with expansion of the irrigation of food.

‘Morata’s truly having an revolution.’

If comparing to the provinces in the Central continent, Morata was just a minuscule portion of them; nonetheless, this was very impressive.

A town of mixed residents and users were living happily together!

He couldn’t help but be pleased due to all the taxes coming in from all the commerce.

Weed chomped on and on till his Satiety became full, and the Alberone talked to him.

“Weed nim, the Freya Church have been looking for you for a long time.”

“What for?”

“Actually, it’s about of the eradication of Monsters…”

After the ice melted in the North, Monsters with atrophies to the cold were coming out gradually.

It was because of these Monsters who have seemingly risen from their slumber that the northern exploration was in a state of stagnation.

From the story coming from Alberone, it seemed other developing villages were blindsided and got looted, and there were cases where the villagers decided not to leave for greener pastures. Merchants, on a large scale, did not travel for their businesses.

Weed anxiously asked.

“Is Morata going to be ok?”

In his position as Lord of Morata, the invested money that he earned with his flesh was the reason for his fretting.

“With the trustworthy Paladins of Freya here, we’ll try to maintain.”

Fortunately, Alberone’s words assured him.

At Morata, aside from the Paladins, there were also quite a few of adventurers as well as mercenaries available.

As a matter of fact, Morata have quite a force due to the users’ tendency to consider the place as a strategic pioneering location. Quite frankly, if this place is to be overrun with Monsters, then the result would spell the fall of the whole northern region to the Monsters.

“Subsequently, there is something I need to ask of Weed nim. It would be greatly appreciated if we have your permission to gain reinforcements of Paladins and Priests of Freya Church from Somren Liberty City.”

Weed saw that there was nothing wrong with the proposal.

“If there are unrests because of Monsters here in the North, I would be thankful to have more to Paladins come and make certain of the excellent work of ensuring the public’s safety thus far.”

“And…”

Alberone reticently slurred.

“In addition, there is one more thing that’s a bit difficult to ask. The High Priest nim necessarily asked of Weed nim to listen and work on this.”

“What is it?”

If the talk wasn’t about his money, then Weed would want to listen to any decent proposal.

The quests he received from the Freya Church, though a bit difficult, were all good ones. Such as the Jin-Hyeol Vampires, the war with the Legion of Immortals, all were quests that led to the second tier.

The question is how to avoid spending the substantial income he raised.

The commission coming from Freya Church was something he must accepts as he did not want to just abandon the pile of contribution that comes along with it.

“Morata is a place known for its culture and art. However, there is no statue to symbolize the Goddess Freya anywhere to be seen. This can lead to the disappointment of Priests whom dedicated themselves to the Goddess. Due to this reason, the High Priest nim chose Weed nim to erect a colossal statue of the Goddess Freya.”

Ding!

The Statue of the Freya Church

On the northern part of the Versailles Continent, a statue that symbolizes the Goddess Freya is to be made.

The Freya Church want this to be a symbol to subtly state that it doesn't want competition from any other churches.

If successful in making the statue for the Church, the Sculptor's name will resound greatly throughout the Versailles Continent.

Workers can be coordinated with during the creation of the statue.

Diamond is given for the expenses of the operation.

Quest Difficulty

Religious Quest

Compensation

The faith of the believers towards the subject will become three times more effective than usual.

For those involve, they can be compensated with skill proficiency as well as Reputation three times the norm with the successful completing of the statue.

If this fails, the Freya Church dependency on them will decline.

Quest Restriction

Because the Monsters will hate the object that represents the Freya Church, they will try to break it before completion.

The statue must never be destroyed.

Chapter 5: A Symbol of Prosperity that is Morata

Needless to say, Weed was going to accept the quest.

The current state of his body was not normal, but he cannot deny a request made by the Freya Church. Above all, there was nobody else in which he could forcibly impose the request onto.

He could not turn a blind eye to the compensation either.

A quest that can't be dissimilar to that of a Grade A difficulty where he can gain Reputation and rewards through creating the best of sculptures.

An opportune for the Advanced level 5 Sculpturing and Handicraft skills to rise!

In particular, if the piece is a large religious symbol, one can ask for assistance from the Subject with every changing season through prayers. In the Goddess's case, they can ask for an increase in grain yield, even if it's just a small amount; and even ask for the reduction of raiding Monsters.

In order for Morata that was trailing behind to progress further, the sacred statue was a necessity.

All in all, he did not miss the chance to able to take the credit for it.

“The difficulty of the labor is all the same regardless, but if it's Alberone asking for the favor, I cannot refuse.”

You have accepted the quest.

The Murderer state disappeared with the acceptance of the referral from the Freya Church.

Infamy has decreased by 30 with the successful acquiescent.

“I’m sorry, Weed nim. There is nothing else our Church can offer outside of providing this for the difficult task.”

While being apologetic, Alberone offered up the Diamond.

The size of the Diamond was larger than that of any coin.

As he gratefully accepts the money-pot that the Freya Church put up for the commission, the trembled Weed pondered.

‘If I hand this over to the Jewelers, I can get over 130000 Gold. The most expensive of jewelry to make a living out of is the Diamond, after all. I’m going to finish the statue with care.’

It can take one week at the very least to create a large sculpture, and can span as long as three months. However, if you have a lot of people helping out during the process, it can be much shorter a time period.

‘All the Sahyeongs went to the Orc village.’

The Geomchis who ran off to the Orc village were busy. He sent them messages but none had replied.

“I’ve gotta ask for help from Fail nim.”

Weed decided to send a whisper to Fail.

– Fail nim.

– Yes, Weed nim!

– Where are you now?

We're still at Todoom.

Fail and the others were still doing some remaining quests there.

As a result of not being able to qualify to climb the Tower of Heroes, they were performing commissions from the Vampires until experiencing death.

– When are you returning to Morata?

– I don’t know really. If Weed nim call for us, we can go anytime. But what do you need us to do?

– Well...

Secretly, Weed hesitantly reconsiders.

If he tell them that he was just commanding them to create the statue, they can chose not to come immediately. This was due to the fact they have already suffered a similar experience during the creation of the Pyramid.

– I have an ok quest, you know? Like the quests I once took up from the Freya Church led to the Jin-Hyeol Vampires and the Legion of Immortals.

– Gulp! Is that so?

– I received a quest from that same division of the Freya Church this time too. If you like to do it, then please come.

– Please wait there. We’ll go now.

Weed smiled.

“Got a group liaisons.”

Still, to create the statue, he needed more help.

“It is essential to get help from workers with vigorous vitality in order to finish the sculpture in a short amount of time.”

He didn’t know the magnitude of how many Monster will come to attack; but assuming there will be a significant amount of them in the raid, he can’t afford to be lacking of people.

In order to create it as quickly as possible; from this standpoint, Weed was filled with motivation.

Who do you think he is?!

He’s a Korean!

Driving taxis at the speed of bullets, not to mention buses too.

The buses that closes their doors even before passengers can get on; or have already zoomed off before they could even get off.

The culturally excellent transport that rushed its unfortunate passengers to their destinations while its gears settled at a single place.

On the construction industry side. Once they passes regulation, the building of however million of apartments will pretty soon be constructed.

Even though collapsed department store and broken leg of bridge had happened as a side effect, the pace is unmatched.

Nothing like them beside the nations of the economic beasts that are the Jewish and Japanese!

The Korean that care about a relaxed and easy-going labor hour is not going to happen here either.

“Gonna go to the South Entrance of Morata. That’s where I’m gonna see oncoming visitors from the Central continent first!”

* * *

Weed once again returned to the square to obtain more workers.

“Pick pick! Cheap pindaetteog!”

“Armor for sale. A piece of work by Warlord Olsen! Who is Olsen? Just me. A Blacksmith that fully understands steel.”

“Looking for a person that knows where Rubelin is! Is there a guide to go with to catch the Blue Beetle? I’ll even compensate.”

The square was in turmoil with people trying to deal at the stalls, obtaining colleagues, asking questions regarding information on the terrain or things for quests.

Busily moving feet and face filled with energy. Comparing to the Central continent, there was a lack of goods; but the spirit of adventure and vitality of life was nothing short of.

The blue collar jobs were festive as well.

The Monsters in Morata’s vicinity never dries out.

Monster’s head that is covered with green fish-like scales.

Crocodile monster that walks on two legs.

As the day warms up and the coming rain, new Monsters will spawn.

“Kui. Kuii!”

“Pwapapwa!”

Emerging weapons and armors using Monsters’ materials made by the craftsmen sold like hot cakes.

“By making these, I gain money and skills proficiency too.”

“Here, this place is heaven.”

The artisans were ingenuity without any distraught.

* * *

Mishya bought a rod from them for Staff Techniques.

“Ah, feels really good.”

She twirled it to her heart content. There was no hiding her excitement.

Recalling the first time when she bought the latest rod and was in the mood for her first hunt!

She received praises from her colleagues as she overpowers the Monsters.

Rods were longer than swords, and were useful for defense. Along with sharing about 80% of Lancing Skills, of which were widely diverse with a huge range of weapons.

When she tried to leave the center square, Mishya met Weed.

“Eek!”

It was like a school girl screaming when meeting with a pervert!

“Morata Lord!”

Mishya’s words were able to pull the attention of the people who were absorbed in their own affairs.

“Sculptor Weed.”

“Morata’s Lord has returned.”

“Wait, he doesn’t have the Murderer mark. It’s gone. His name no longer shows.”

Momentarily, the crowd all noticed that the noticeably crimson mark has disappeared.

“Ya ya. Watch your words. You’re talking about the Lord of Morata here.”

“Morata’s Lord! Ack, you’re right, I forgot.”

“A wrong word toward a Noble or a guild Master spells death, you know.”

“Lower your voice. Be careful.”

Creator of the Pyramid and the Light Tower, the Lord of Morata Weed!

In Morata, whether they’re of the trading or of the hunt, people can’t help but be wary of Weed. If they somehow seemed to be opposing in the Lord’s eyes, he can mobilize the province's entire army just for the sake of punishment. Of course, these were the cases of those who weren’t residents of Morata.

Weed looked at the square filled with people.

Because of the developments in Morata, a lot of people coming to visit meant that the town was a nice place to live.

Weed wasn’t just its loving Lord, he was just as much a user and its resident.

‘My lovely tax piggies.’

Whether they were users or the residents, he saw them as money.

Due to it being the middle of the day, a dramatic influx of users could be seen.

These people concerning about their commerce made the market an uproar.

“The method of a good ruler is to only to reveal himself during the tough times. I’m the Lord of Morata, Weed, who have made all the governing decisions. I welcome all those who have gathered.”

The reaction of the users gathered in the square wasn’t all that welcoming.

“Che, what kind decisions have you make? Every decision was done by the grandpa Elder alone. You were just playing somewhere else and just returned.”

“Earlier you were ripping people off selling the stuff.”

“I thought you were selling at the listed price but it seems to be a stretch. 'Cause comparing to the friend who knows of the right price, it wasn’t even off by a few. So why didn’t you offer the information to those who didn’t know?”

The users were getting more agitated with the increase in murmuring.

In a short period of time, he became the subject of their distrust, their Lord!

Weed can understand the suffering of politicians during those 10 minutes.

'Here, I have to be a bit more vulgar and cunning. I thought it was going to be easy tricking them by feeding them a bit. Here as well, only those that want an honest living life loses out.'

He broke out a Yell in order to quell the increasing disturbance.

“Keu..ha...heu..heuu heump! Uhh, I have a Religious Quest in Morata. I need helpers to create a colossal statue for the Freya Church. Unlimited number of people, providing free room and board! Accepting those who would work for the whole duration.”

Gathering as much workers as he can was a good thing for Weed.

But he would only take those that could shoulder the responsibility.

For the people who were busying trading, manufacturing, hunting, it wasn’t for them. Because then, the production of the statue would just be leisure work!

In aspect, those who have never participated didn’t know how much compensation there were for the sculpture quest.

“Me! I’ll do it!”

Then from behind, there was a number of beginners!

Supposedly, they were tourists, but they were those from Rosenheim Kingdom who had a hand in making the Pyramid.

Or users who heard from these guy came running together.

“If you have Porridge then I’ll join!”

“What are you going to create this time?”

“Do you remember me? I’m Lemon!”

The cute girl seemed to still be in her mid teens.

Weed navigated within himself to remember and showed her his rotten smile.

“Ahh, of course I remember. You’re the Lemon nim that moved stones 39 times to build the Pyramid. I will offer my porridge as well as Gopaegi too.”

“Yes! That’s right!”

Weed made greetings with those who returned.

* * *

Morata’s large-scale construction!

Ever since the first dig of the shovel, it went very smoothly.

There were 20 people who participated in the production of Rosenheim Kingdom’s Pyramid.

These Mana lacking personnel were rather lacking in comparing to the necessary number, but they wind up shoveling at a good pace.

“Do it quickly and we can eat porridge.”

“Hurray! We’re also creating something this time around.”

They were rejoicing while humming and singing along; at the same time, the more dubious participants numbering in 300s who wanted to try experiencing in sculpture creation were rather embarrassed.

“What’s so good about this to be in an uproar?”

“This isn’t even Rosenheim Kingdom ffs.”

Rosenheim Kingdom was still classified as a new kingdom.

Because a good proportion of the user base were still novices, thus it was obvious that quest sharing made them very enthusiastic.

The further lagging behind of development in the north did not have the beginner starting point option for the users. Although it was renowned for tourism following the influx of adventurers, the number was still modest.

Nevertheless, more than 300 people joined up to take on the new experience together through Weed's quest in collaboration with the Freya Church as the Lord of Morata.

Ever since the initial dig of the workers have gather, the composition of Morata's South Entrance change dramatically from then on.

* * *

“Well, I'll die if I go too far from the gate. Hence, that's why I'm working here.”

“I came to Morata to adjust my equipment, but between here and there, my money is meh; so receiving another hunting quest right now is too big of a risk…I figured I might as well dig, whatever this is?”

“Yulha, wanna do it together? I think it’ll be a good monument.”

“Yea, lets.”

These kinds of conversation were shared with the participating workers that uncover their intentions.

Those who came from Rosenheim Kingdom also shared their source of pride.

“The Pyramid in Rosenheim Kingdom! Any of you who directly worked on it? I moved the stones 56 times horizontally AND 19 times vertically.”

Rumors of the piece becoming a wonder of the Versailles Continent circulated among the diggers.

A tavern where men and women eat and drink in!

“Hwaryeong nim, have you heard?”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Before Sculptor Weed sculpts something, he usually doesn't have a clue of what to do.”

“So the sculpture is still a mystery? I hope this statue would be just as wonderful as the ones before it.”

“It’s the work of the Sculptor Weed after all, it’ll certainly come to that.”

“But Jaffe nim.”

“Yes?”

“Actually, this is kind of a secret.”

“What is it? It’ll be just between us…”

“It’s something that's absolutely must not be publicized.”

The woman spoke in a very low tone.

“It’s ok. I will not tell anybody, so let me know.”

A rather crowded pub that was once boisterous with shouts; now, the volume had dim down as people were listening to the man and woman's conversation. Even the drinking drinkers stopped doing so as they were interested in listening of the content.

Inside the tavern, it quickly became still.

“The item he has to create, it was commissioned by the Freya Church.”

“That I know.”

“Typically, the Church doesn't give out commission to anybody to make anything. Because then, the Church has to grant credits to those who do. Now what do you think will happen if you join up in making the statue?”

“Gulp! So this is what Hwaryeong nim means…”

“That’s right. First of all, isn't the contribution made to the Freya Church is greatly boosted? It’s three times the norm. And, in exchange for participating in creation of the most iconic symbol of the Freya Church, you’ll get free blessing and treatment; and even able to arrange a way to get to the Clergymen that you don’t know before, in anywhere there is the Freya Church. For a lifetime.”

“That’s like, befriending with the Freya Church. Being friends.”

“It’s not even fair, you know. If there is the contribution, then it could even be beneficial to the possibility of receive a quest from the Freya Church.”

“Yea, to think of it, the reward is too much…”

“It’s the Church, you know. To the Clergymen, what could be more important than piety? Taking a few Monster’s head? No. If the person that creates the statue know of this, then he wouldn't have spread the commission quest to a lot of other people, you know. And above all, it’s a rare chance. If it’s something like hunting, then you can go anytime. Dungeon? It’s not like it's going to collapse if you don't show up! But do you think it’s a common thing to have an opportunity to participate in the creation of a statue?”

Mhmm mhmm.

It was coherent enough for the users in the tavern to agreed.

‘So that’s it. Although it’s a bit hard and cumbersome, if it’s for the sake of the contribution, wouldn’t it be nice to take the quest on the side?’

‘I don’t know if there’s a lot of contribution to the Church…but it’s three times the usual. Even if it’s just a sculpturing quest, there’s not much reward out there that as decent as this.’

‘It’ll become a monument, huh. I’d feel proud of it for sure. I can hold Monsters no matter how high their levels are, but it’s an unlikely event that any opportunity of creating a sculpture will happen again. It’s something I’ve never experienced before even up till now.’

‘Hwaryeong in it too? She’s really pretty. Like beautiful women on them sculptures. Making this statue, it’s an important experience!’

People at the pubs were messaging their friends, families, and guild members in privates ; men and women were disappearing quietly.

During this while, a similar conversation were shared when they went to the weapon shop.

Groups consisted of Fail and Meiron, Romyuna and Sureuka, and Mapan and Irien were doing similar activity.

Manipulation of information!

Forming public opinions, spreading fuzzy logic, thus forming a consensus among the crowd; towards this end, suckers will fall.

Pretty soon, the attention of Morata turned to the creation of the statue at the South Entrance.

Workers flocked to volunteer due to the Royal Road forums, the Hall of Fame movies, as well as coverage by stations.

Even though Weed charges 10 Gold per person; nontheless, there was a growing number of registering workers.

Participating users who were high-level had the highest working efficiency.

A gesture of the hand from a Wizard beckon the earth to dig, while Warriors can move five or more bags all at once.

Weed was selling warmed porridge.

“Some porridge to eat.”

“Kyaa! Good.”

“Delicious food to eat. Could I have another please?”

“I don’t know how many times I have had this now.”

The workers did not forget to give their thanks.

The tasty porridge was gulp down quickly in their times of hunger, and it quickly recovers their Stamina!

Weed was a working bee going at a tremendous speed.

This first step was where the entire vast area of soil was now hollowed out.

“Soil is essential as material for any type of construction. It’s going to be biggg money selling this to a guild for construction.”

Working on his plan for self-interest!

He’d grab the chance the change the large-scale public work and put it into his back pocket.

Creating a vast lake, then a road in the center of the lake, imposing tolls on the five lanes street on carriages that would have to come through.

“Harmony with nature is important for the sculpture. Therefore, the statue needs to be where there is a large body of water for it to be most effective.”

He was the most outstanding Sculptor on the Versailles Continent, so nobody can really question his point-of-view.

The majority of people remained silence because they were the usual type that had no interest in sculpting.

“Well, his words do have a point.”

“He’s the person in the Advanced stages of the Sculpturing Skill after all…I guess he’s right.”

They had their doubts, but he seemed to be a Sculptor passionate enough to take care of the details to make his work a good piece; so they let him to his own accord.

In fact, the higher the level of the sculpture, the higher the reward they’ll be compensated with.

The number of those who assembled, those who considered him as most outstanding Sculptor on the Versailles Continent, who wishes to do his best, wasn't just a few.

Reacting on their conversation, Weed formed a smile.

“Smart people are much easy to fool, huh.”

Having a good head on their shoulder meant they did not ask questions!

While being pampered, they generously dug out the road. From there, the composition was given the same effect as installed moat and canals.

In order for Morata to be attack now, aside from the narrow transit, enemies would have to swim across a lake.

Not only can it narrow down their perimeter, but during their swim, they were left defenseless against arrows and magic attacks!

Also, normally, canals are used by houseboats for tourism, a resource that was available to be developed.

Jaffe had already drawn plans for the moonlighting business.

“Ima catch fishes and set them here. If you create some sort of a fishing spot, then it’ll be really good.”

If they create a fishing hole next to Morata, it wouldn't be so bad.

Even if they weren't truly interested in it, it can still lead to a positive image with the involvement of the general public.

Having moved more than a whooping 10 Kilometers area of land; but after only four minutes of digging work, Weed suddenly stopped.

There was no limit to his laborious self. The number of workers was sufficient, but he determined that the losses were too large.

“It’s becoming too severe for people doing this kind of work. They have to stop now for the sake Morata’s other economic activities.”

At this point, he stopped the work on the lake at its current size, because it seemed to have disrupted the smooth tax income from the people going to the hunt.

Now, in the center of the authentic Lake Park, it was the right time to create the statue!

He didn’t have to worry about the bricking materials due to all the help stacking it up.

Weed confidently held onto the carving knife, however, a more worrisome problem started from here on out.

– Carve me.

– For God’s sake.

– Make a representation of me. Unless you’re as stupid as before, I’ll exert my talent on you again. Keuhahahahaha!

– What reason do you have to ignore us? If you ignore us, then we’ll forever remain away from the world.

– Why are you sculpting Freya, but us…

The whispering in his ears of those with unknown circumstances was giving him an epilepsy.

“Why don’t you talk about what you want me to carve you into?!!!”

Weed, who could not repress himself struck a Yell, but then turned to the nearby users.

“What was that all about?”

“His true nature is no good huh.”

“Leave it be. All artists are like that.”

“It must be the anguish of a Sculptor to think of something to sculpt.”

Fortunately, the users showed understandings and moved on.

Still, Weed was almost sick with the party going on inside him.

– Make me a piece, me!

– You’re not going to carve me? It’s would be a great honor to you…

– Ignorant Sculptor, free us.

While not telling Weed what they wanted to be carved as, they constantly bugged him to use his skill to create them.

Although he took on as many as hundreds of curses, his life was by no mean in danger with the help of protection skills.

Later on he was able to be released from the curses with the help of the Clergymen; but due to the great amount of suffering, he could not carry out the normal pace he could have had regarding sculpting.

Others may have not been able to withstand the complaint; but to Weed, the sounds weren’t just some random noise.

‘I feel like, since it’s not some obvious sculpture, it must be a quest of some sort.’

Weed noticed that it was something unusual, but it was difficult to relate the subject to something specific.

Ever since Todoom, after his Sculpturing Skill reached Advanced level 5 that he began hearing these voices; so he figured that there must be some sort of correlation.

But he did not know of what to do.

Back then, during breaks in between creating and repairing statues, he took his time and calmly sculpt statues of both men and women.

– No. this is not it.

– How does any of us look as shamelessly shabby as these shits…

– You’re not a very talented Sculptor.

The unidentifiable voices revealed their disappointment and anger as soon as they saw.

Weed felt that the mystery must be solved soon.

‘If whenever I start to sculpt and the curses break out, this will make it hard for me to concentrate in the long run.’

He would carve little sculptures during the time he takes breaks in between the hunt.

Even if one’s profession is a Sculptor, it is still rather hard to sculpt; as each sculpture that he'd make can take a long time to reach completion.

Even though Weed did create Masterpieces, Classics, and even Magnums, it was all due to the foundation he accumulated by making so many statues.

– Kuekeokeokeokeo. Foolish guy.

– This Sculptor that doesn’t even know of our gloriousness, he’s overworked to make us.

Weed's anguish, as he takes on more and more damnation, deepened day by day.

He was struggling with the progression of making the Statue of Freya.

Weed was forced into using the Stone Skin skill as he worked stiffly through the ordeal.

His body was heavier by the thousands.

Ttaddak!

Eventually, due to the curses taxing on his Stamina, he scratched the statue he was carving with his chisel.

‘This is a huge deal.’

Sweats were falling down Weed’s spine.

If the statue fails, he will ruin the quest.

There will be a decline of his reputation as a Sculptor, as well as Familiarity with the Freya Church; not to mention the grievances that will be brought up by the many users who participated.

Weed reassured himself that the scratch wasn’t that big of a deal, but it was a mistake as he continued.

The agony!

With the poor health his body was in and the curses causing him to stiffen, causing minor mishaps to happened in rapid successions.

‘I can tell that this is far from being a Magnum. But please, don’t let this fail.’

Weed was force to pour even more concentration as he sculpt.

* * *

Near Morata, black shrouds were forming.

The sun have not risen as night continue to dominate the land; the ominous looking darkness looms as it intensify the Monsters’ power.

“What is that thing?”

“Dunno. I think something big will happen.”

“I can feel an unusual aura coming from those shrewd users. They're making a commotion for something.”

“This region is ours.”

“This is not a place for the Human to invade.”

Beast-type monsters covered with fur from head to tail, magically inclined Goblins, Werewolves that transform with the appearance of the moon, groups of Thieves living and hiding in caves along with other predators like a cloud descended on Morata.

Monsters in the north have increase by a huge number; and as if to prove this point, while numbering in the hundreds of thousands, they foray towards Morata.

“A Monster Legion.”

“They’re targeting our village.”

For everybody who was on the outer walls, sweats were running down their spines.

This was something similar to the few sieges they've watched before. And for the lot of them, the sieges they've seen on television was already enough excitement.

However, for them to be directly confronting the horde of oncoming Monsters, they were completely appalled.

“Could Morata army defend against this?”

“Nah. Morata doesn’t have an armed force…”

There were Paladins and Clergymen of the Freya Church, but they alone could not prevail against a force of this magnitude.

“Why the hell are Monsters suddenly attacking like this? There a must be reason why even races who had bad affinity amongst themselves come together like this…”

“The statue! Do you think the statue have anything to do with this?”

The users who once accepted the referral without a single worry finally grasp the risk pertaining to this production of the statue.

“This is a really dangerous quest.”

The situation increased to something even scarier than mounting on a tiger. At the same time, it was a waste of effort if they have given it up in the middle of the quest, nor was there a place where they could hide from this invasion.

Fail and the other Archers clustered on the wall.

“You have to survive.”

Meiron, Fail’s lover, was holding onto his hand.

“Yes, Fail nim too.”

Romyuna went on the offensive while staying close to the Archers. Irien was busying doing a thorough blessing of all the users who were taking part in the battle.

Which included Surka, who was near the gate to intercept them.

The users who were fighting for the Freya Church as well as protecting Morata rallied!

“We cannot back down in the face of these Monsters. Fight! Fight for victory!”

“This is the pioneering town of the North! If we lose this place to them Monsters, then we essentially loses the North; afterward, they will push toward the the Central too.”

Knights who were on horseback bellowed for encouragement.

Similarly, the legion of Monsters charges. However, as oppose to the vulnerable spots in Morata's walls, they hurdled themselves toward the statue.

Plop. Plop.

They plunged into the lake in their attempt to crush the statue.

The vast lake which was dug for its soil; the soil that will be sold at a later time for landscaping.

“Eopu, eopu!”

“Kkorororeuuu.”

Though, the Monsters needed a considerable amount of time in order to cross the lake as their bodies were much heavier than that of the average Human.

After making a third of the way to the statue, the Monsters were subjected to the Archers arrow flying freely at them.

“They’re slow targets. And in water.”

“Shoot!”

Densely packed arrow attack.

The magic troops also moved vigorously.

In comparison to the weapon wielding Warriors, damages coming from the Magicians are stronger than physical attacks by 5~6 times. Additionally, if Magician uses even stronger magic, the differences in damage can get up to as much as 30 times.

Of course, they were subjected to the disadvantage of having to take up a lot of time preparing those stronger grade magic for usage.

“The incessant blazing flames of pain at the bottom of hell. Flame of Hell!”

The flame enveloped the head of the Monsters that were trying to keep afloat.

Still, even in water, there were Monsters who made an attempt to attack the residents that were in their striking distance; though the attacks could easily be avoided as the residents spread themselves out.

In between the time the Magicians have to recuperate and to wreak havoc.

There were those who didn’t have anything to do.

“Damn.”

“Wanna jump into the lake?”

The battleground deep within the lake!

Among the Monsters, there were those who knew how to fight underwater, such as the Lizard-type.

The heavy clad Knights and Warriors flocked out.

“Let’s shoot them. Hopefully we can hit somebody.”

To that end, arrows flew into the lake.

The oncoming Monsters faced near annihilation; insurmountable number of arrow and magic blast flew into the lake, added the effect of great splendor.

“This is new.”

“It’s interesting.”

There weren’t many opportunity for these guy to experience something new.

Some Monsters came close the vicinity of the statue, but facing the fiercely impenetrable resistance of the Knights and the likes, they were defeated in an instant.

The Monsters army had to withdraw, leaving many casualties; but repeatedly, they kept on invading night and day.

In the meantime, Weed was facing an increase in difficulty with the increasing ascension; having completed the hips and the waist, now he was going to create the chest and the shoulders.

From the roughly constructed form, he was going to give the regions the finer details.

“Moonlight Chisel!”

Gentle light trailed the path of his carving.

Ever since attaining Advanced level 5 of the Sculpturing Skill, he was able to use the skill to carve by weakening the output.

Strike by strike, the shape of the statue mellowed out with soft curves and flown with more refinement.

Since the statue have a direct effect on when the invasion of Monsters will come to an end, Weed continued on ceaselessly as he carved in the middle of the night.

He clung onto the rope as he work, the vicinity of the to be completed statue was filled with crowding shimmers.

A dreamlike spectacle was given to the statue as it collect the moonlight and stars to the ground.

“Sculpturing is beautiful.”

“It’s really romantic.”

Single men, women, and couples among the user base picked out good locations to sit while watching Weed’s sculpture to unfold.

The left hand of the statue was holding a money bag, while its right held up high in the sky.

The statue was holding a torch!

The Freya Statue of Liberty.

“Waaa! Awesome.”

As they watches the form of the statue becoming more defined, their gaping mouths were falling all at the same while.

Mere moment before its completion, the statue towered at a height of 160 meters.

The statue’s head donned a huge jewel embedded in the carved crown, its figure seemed to be covered in fur.

It was decorated with a luxurious watches, jewel rings, necklaces, and of course, not to be without earrings.

It was truly a symbol of wealth, and Weed branded each of its adornment.

The Music Box Plaza Merchants Association.

Supply and Demand Association.

Merchant Mapan.

He received advertisement fees from active merchant associations from Morata, as well as the entire Versailles Continent, to inscribed what they wish.

Here, the received advertisement fees came out to be more than the Diamond the Freya Church paid for the expenses.

No matter how painful the never ending curses continued, he persisted on in order to get at this.

Weed once again found another way to make money from sculpting!

He would even tenaciously pocket money from other sources if they choose to put socks and shoes on the statue.

Lastly, the finished face of the statue was a direct depiction of Hwaryong’s face.

The face of a westernized person fitted well to the luxurious feel of the statue, and he only proceeded after asking her for permission in advance.

When Weed told her that he wanted to sculpt her face, Hwaryong’s face lit up like a ripe apple.

“It’s Weed nim…so……”

She have consider Weed to be a rather insensitive being. He was too busy making a living to ever consider luxurious things, such as love. His worries and inner thoughts weren’t very forthcoming, which made it difficult to generate a deep conversations with him. He was a man in which things such as Event or romance were something impossible to expect from.

[TL: Event(이 벤트): This term here is a sort of a a loan word from English, it actually vocalizes as 'event'. This symbolizes as a 'setting up a romantic event' in this context.]

‘I was wrong about everything.’

Hwaryong could not sleep that day.

Morata giant statue. Massive waves of people seeking answers from the Sculptor as to why he sculpted her face!

‘This is the greatest Event on earth.’

Even though it seems that the phases of their relationship have skipped a few steps; but to Hwaryong, this was a very auspicious moment.

And now, the Freya Church’s statue reached finalization.

Ding!

The Freya Statue have been completed

The goddess of beauty, Goddess Freya.

At the request of the Freya Church, the statue was erected in Morata; and will poses as the exemplification of thickened Faith, and make this region more fertile than ever before.

To commemorate the Statue commissioned by the Freya Chuch, annual pilgrimage to the Church will be made.

The effect of the Statue

- Crop yield in the surrounding area will increase by 45%.

- The rate of commercial development will accelerate by 3%.

- The rate of industrial development will increase by 2%.

- Will be alleviated from drought, flood, and storms damages.

- The residents' rate of increasing Faith will be doubled.

- Residents happiness increases.

- Willingness of residents to pay taxes increase by 12%.

- Freya Church’s Paladins and Clergymen’s Divine power increased by 30% in Morata’s Province.

Chapter 6: The Sculpture of a Daughter

Lee Hyun logged into the Dark Gamer Union website.

Fortunately, production of the statue was completed safely. Videos related to it were posted on the Hall of Fame and appeared to be sensational; but he could not afford to watch the video.

He changed his daily routine of checking of prices to heading straight toward the information forum.

“I can’t put up with this anymore.”

The tantrums of these unknown entities!

Not only did they tax on his head and ears, his concentration was affected by them as well. The curses dampened the creative side regarding sculpture's inception; and what made the interim intolerable was that he noticed the rate his Stamina recovery was also disturbed by this.

“There must be a hidden secret about the Sculpturing Skill.”

He knew what the problem was, but he did not know the answer of how to resolve it. Thus, he came to the Dark Gamer Union lurking for the information.

Lee Hyun’s disclosure of information was adjusted to ‘Grade B,’ which now entitled him to see more resources.

– Expected fluctuation of materials of precious metal.

– Price of Iron Ore in Uto Kingdom’s Gamal town is scheduled to plummet.

Information from Merchants popped up.

As for the Dark Gamer Union, there were a variety of classes.

For most of them, the commonplace profession such as Hunters and Warriors was hard for them to make money. Since they weren’t aptitude to the combat scene, and if they didn’t want to hunt in dungeon alone each and every time, then it was best for them to adopt a non-combatant occupation.

As a result, many of the dark gamers chose to be Merchants.

Additionally, they also chose a secondary class such as a craftsman, a metal smith, or a tailor of sort could spell something lucrative for them. As for the reason why, they could utilize the skills from the secondary class for the collection of materials, as well as making them; then selling them to the stores in their Merchant-persona.

Converting bought japtem by reselling them back to users, through such ways while gathering capital, which accrues in a large profit.

For the Merchant, depending on his capital or even the fortune he will eventually earn, he could hire Mercenaries by means of the forming a trading company; which in essence, forming his own armed force. It's even possible for them to form contract with Mercenary Guild or even guilds; so to reiterate, there were many dark gamers who were Merchants.

As for them, they had the highest frequency when it came to exchanging information; but still, there was a wide variety of classes within the Dark Gamer Union.

– Jorbin Earl is recruiting Mercenaries. Generous compensation. High risk.

– Kemal Mountain Monsters rebel activity. Very high possibility of finding dungeon. Seek for adventurer Uten. Want support.

– In the capital of Meda Kingdom, urgently looking for an NPC who used to give the level 300 or more Rare Grade shield. Must show quest.

“These aren’t it.”

Lee Hyun looked further down on the information that were coming-up in real-time.

– The Lancing Skill’s secret skill book. Bestow from Terian from the Thor Kingdom. Level 250, he only teaches those who are at the Intermediate level(or more) of the Lancing techniques.

– How to nurture Accounting Skill: Classify more than 12 kinds of precious stones, mastery of Lapidary Skill will increase about 5%. After that, if you deal the jewels to a Noble-type NPC for more than 15% of its worth, then you can earn a lot for the skill’s proficiency. And you also gain Reputation as a Jewel Dealer.

– Quick examination of weapon, Saber. A very wide body and short weapon…

There were a lot of information of various occupations shown, but only a little bit of information on the Sculptor class was actually posted.

– The study of the relationship between the Sculpturing Skill and Handicraft.

– Study on the synergistic effect of Handicraft.

– Distribution of sculptures on the Versailles Continent characteristic and effects.

And, they were only basic information too. There was no information on the presence of these unknown beings who were related to the sculptures that Lee Hyun wanted to find.

“Figures!”

Lee Hyun tossed his head.

Though, he’d actually feel disappointed if the Dark Gamer Union had these information on Sculpturing Skill instead.

“It'll be troublesome if there’s a more outstanding Sculptor than me out there.”

While a side of him feel relieved, Lee Hyun was searching for more information.

Even if the information wasn’t directly related to what he wanted to find, they could help him indirectly by providing some clue.

– Skill gap of Blacksmiths between each kingdom.

– Unresolved craftsmen’s quests.

– Characteristic of wandering NPCs.

– Blacksmith of the legendary kingdom.

– The birthplace of art.

Lee Hyun stored the information carefully in his head.

Once the appropriate information is obtained from the Dark Gamer Union, all that is left is to solve the presented problem.

Afterward, whether it was the library, the Sculptor Guild, or anywhere else, he had to find out the reason as to why these unknown beings have to be carved.

Lee Hyun knows of the possibility that there is a solution to the presence.

He figured there must be lost traces of the Sculpturing skill.

“Need to get back Royal Road.”

But before that, he checked on his messages. Last time, he sent a message to a person looking for the Paskran Lance.

Sent by: Hyperman

Subject: Do you have the Paskran Lance?

Was the replied message.

“You replied fairly quickly.”

Lee Hyun clicked on the title he saw.

If you have it, please, pleeeaase sell it to me.

I will send you the money.

The amount of cash I have right now is approximately 1500000 Won.

If your intention of selling for more than this, then we can somehow negotiate for the price.

Please reply quickly because I’m very anxious right now.

“Keoeok! 1500000 Won!”

Lee Hyun’s heart jumped out of his chest.

The experience he had when selling his account for 3900000000 Won. The price was rather too extreme to be consider as something realistic. But pretty soon, it was something that was quickly deprived from him.

However, 1500000 Won seemed more pragmatic.

A whopping of 15 crispy 100000 Won bills to receive.

“If I put this money into savings, then at an interest of 7% on the money…I can get more than 100000 Won in return…I missed a jackpot!”

Lee Hyun was so sad.

Adults often say that money isn't everything in life. Lee Hyun too, concur with this sentiment.

“Money is not everything in life. It’s roughly 98%. The other 2% are desires, consideration, friendship, and promises.”

Lee Hyun reflected on the painful memory he retained about the 200 Won he wasted by buying the more expensive salt.

But he just missed out on the chance of getting 1500000 Won!

Lee Hyun could not sleep that night.

“Ahhhh my money! ohhh God noo! 1500000 Won!”

* * *

Along with the Light Tower, pretty soon, the Freya Statue was referred to as one of the two main attractions of Morata.

“This is the Freya Statue huh.”

“This statue that swept the entire continent isn’t even rare. But even though each denomination had their statue built, this was the first a thing like this was made by a user.”

“The Clergymen told me they received substantial benefits.”

“I heard that those of the melee classes doesn’t even want to leave Morata’s vicinity because of the Light Tower.”

“Even if there is a better hunting ground elsewhere, with the effect of the Light Tower, you shouldn’t even bother going anywhere far. By the time you get there, hours of the effects’ duration will be gone.”

“Yep. If you’re talking about effectiveness of the hunting grounds, then the places near Morata are the best. You can even find members for the party immediately in town.”

While looking up at the Freya Statue, the users were impressed.

Having come to Morata, they had thought the region was completely underdeveloped. Besides the pub and smithies, it was lacking of many essential buildings.

Merchants and craftsmen were also low when it comes to the supply chain.

The addition of the beautiful statue was an excellent touch to this lacking town.

About 300 meters from the statue, the Architects created a stairway toward the Goddess.

Climbing the staircase meant that they could see the statue in a closer proximity.

Of course there was an admission fee, but there was a line of visitors.

The scenic view high, above the staircase, it was something meant to be commemorated with pictures or video.

“It’s by the Weed that made the Light Tower; I think it’s more amazing than I initially thought.”

“Not only Sculpturing Skill, he also raised other skills to significant levels too; in this field, he can’t not be the most significant presence. He’d have no problem receiving proposal to join a prestigious guild.”

“Isn’t it harder for him now? Other users are going to learn Sculpture too.”

The user who said that was spurn back the other users.

“I know, ‘cause I’ve seen the tremendous, physically laborious work that he did. Can you put in just as much labor as Weed does?”

“IF that, then yes.”

“There are limits, dude, even for a Sculptor. Like any other classes out there.”

Warriors persistently have it tough because they are always in the front line fighting for survival.

If Knights loses Honor, then they’re weakened.

A fatal weakness of Archers is being seen by their opponent in close range.

Magicians have great offense, but they have lousy defensive stats. They'll die if something simply brushes pass them.

Even if Merchants have the power if they have the money, they don’t have the Strength to keep it for themselves.

Mercenaries has the ability to survive under any condition, but as their contractors increasingly increases in difficulty of each request, their equipment are soon to be ready and over with; and eventually, they’ll be at the poorhouse.

Adventurers should enjoy the adventures. The spirit of exploration, that something that doesn’t give up even after ten days in a labyrinth as you struggle on trying to find a path out, is required. If it’s successful, then you get all fame and money; but if after the end of it you get nothing from the dungeon, then you'll become one of those many cases that collapse from suffering.

Including these professions, all the others have their advantages and disadvantages.

In the Sculptors’ case, they can make massive sculptures.

They can bring forth wonders in a region, with Classic and Magnum pieces!

Obviously they have amazing effects, but there are limits to it also.

Usually, they put in massive efforts and not all the sculptures end up as rare pieces. Without the help of others, then the Freya Statue too would be at a standstill for at least a few months.

In order for the sculpture to be successful, you must discard all other interruptions and only concentrate on just sculpting.

Absolutely never lose concentration in any work or else the job will all be for naught.

***

Weed approach the Freya Statue.

It was in the middle of the night when he reconnect; he could see the Light Tower from afar, marking the village's boundary, as it collect the moonlight to the center of the tower. Numerous rays of light shot into the sky as if they were dancing about.

A choreography of light.

It was a time to appreciate Morata’s artistic beauty.

Light that spreads into the night, similar to gradual development of the changing Morata village!

The statue was also topped with Moonlight Chisel, so it was also collecting luminescence in the night. Upon receiving the moonlight, rich light was illuminating all around the statue.

Because of the Light Tower and the Freya Statue, Morata didn’t give an impression of a desolate area.

Weed also saw what it had become.

“This is like a night club now.”

A woman holding a torch while dancing under the radiance!

If you don’t have Weed’s susceptibility, then it’s a bit difficult to see.

Anyway, he had something he must do.

Weed sifts his course through the visiting crowd, making his way closer to the statue.

“What the.”

“Doesn’t he see a line of people waiting here?”

Tourists protested crazily; but then, hearing that it was Weed, they became silence.

He was the Sculptor that directly made the statue, as well as the Lord of Morata.

So then, he came closer to the altar below the feet of the statue.

“What’s he doing?”

“Dunno. Appreciating his own work?”

Many onlookers around the statue paid heed to Weed’s behavior.

Weed settled a ripe apple atop the altar.

Offering to the Goddess Freya!

Afterward, he bowed.

“To the Goddess Freya, the Lord of Morata prays to thee.”

Once per changing season where you can pray!

Around the statue, hundreds of auspicious light gathered.

The light now was in a different dimension comparing to those collected through Weed's sculpturing skill.

The Treatment of the Goddess.

All the bad energy of the body is purified.

HP is restored to maximum.

Mana is restored to maximum.

All physical abilities rise for one week.

The level of Luck will rise for one week.

Brief gain in production and involvement of the ability to rule.

Faith increases by 10.

The treatment of the Goddess to undo all negative plight!

While praying, people in this situation was hoping for this additional effect to be granted.

If Weed knew of this beforehand, he would have brought people he was friendly with here; then again, he haven't seen anyone of them making prayers.

Not anybody can make a wish, only a local ruler of the area that have the landmark can make just one wish depending on the season. Only another religious symbol in Sudona Liberty City behaves this way, and even the head of the prestigious guild there can not make the wish. They have only heard of so from the Clergymen and Priests there.

Weed was the first of the users.

“What’s happening?”

“Let’s go closer.”

The users try to approach the statue, but some unseen force pushes them away from the altar that Weed currently was present.

– Master of Morata, speak of your desire.

Behind the statue, a revelation made of light could be identify.

The reincarnation of Goddess Freya!

Weed raises his head to look at the vision.

‘The Goddess must look immensely beautiful.’

The Goddess Freya that was deemed to be of abundance wealth and beauty. A beauty said to be enough to make men go blind.

But despite Weed’s expectation, he could not make out the exact facial features of the Goddess. However, an impression of her seemed to be chubbier than expected.

Weed told her of his desire.

“I would like to know more about the Sculpturing Skill.”

Weed’s wish wasn’t of an abundance harvest, benefits from mining, or a faster pace of development of commerce. Although he very much wanted to achieve such things, he was more desperate about the skill.

“I would like to know about the unaware method of how to carve the unknown existences.”

Due to the disturbances caused by the nearby users, belatedly becoming aware of the appearance of the Goddess Freya, everywhere in Morata, users rushed in like the clouds.

“Hey!”

“Wait!”

“What’s happening right nowww!?”

Only Weed could hear of the Goddess’s answer.

– They…from their beginning, were beings without forms. The people that love sculpture, you need to make your way toward their kingdom, a place of pride of these stubborn and delicate people; that is your destination.

The surrounding area was getting darker.

The sacred light that took place around the statue was disappearing.

When the light was totally gone, the sight of Goddess Freya was no more.

Weed also made his escape from the congregation of people there.

‘The kingdom of these short people, a place where they feel proud.’

Weed needed to get to that destination.

But before he leaves, he had to meet up with the Village Elder.

Morata’s Black Castle!

He approached the only-bearably done maintenance of a lord’s castle.

Dawn had slipped past and now it was a brightly lit day.

The place was always crowded, pact full of users; but now, there was an upset of people watching the statue which made it difficult.

Members of the local watchmen saw Weed and displayed their interest.

“Lord nim, are you returning to the castle?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll let people know of Lord nim's return.”

The crew went to pull on the rope hanging from above in order to strike the bell.

“No need. I don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable in vain since they’re busily working.”

“Yes but it’s Lord nim's return though…”

“Hahaha, it’s ok.”

Weed slowly climbed up the entrance way.

He could feel the euphoria of the increase in power!

He would hate to drop it after having grabbed hold of this power.

“Is there a village-wide feast?”

“Huh?”

“An ox or a pig or so, where everybody can eat as much as they want.”

“……”

Weed was speechless.

The educational standard of Morata is indeed pathetic!

Not only the watchmen but the formal soldiers also, they weren’t disciplined nor did they show loyalty. Even towards Weed, who should have the highest Familiarity with them, but their gestures showed nothing of such.

If their level of education is low, then the technical and commercial development will slow down by a bit. Also, residents will have a harder time becoming Knights and Magicians because of this. As much as the belief in religion is spreading quickly, the deterioration of public security was just the same.

It has been told that residents among those other town would essentially opt out to become renegades or bandits.

Whether it is a village, castle, or metropolitan; all are difficult to develop.

“Keuheum. I’ll worry about that in the future. Pigs…not only them, but I’ll catch rabbits too.”

“Thank you, Lord nim.”

Weed coughed and went around checking the lord’s castle.

When he first came here in the past, the castle was then occupied by the Jin-Hyeo Vampires led by Torido.

Broken apparatuses, residents made of stones, or even cobwebs that filled the place, all neatly cleaned.

“I came to receive quest.”

“I came to take the transport.”

Having heard of the rumor about the Statue, the Lord’s castle was filled with Merchants and Mercenaries.

Adventurers were preoccupied with reporting their spoils.

Since it had finished with basic maintenance, a surge of residents and adventurers made their way here. Village management, Monsters subjugation, migration, upgrade registration, settling tax rate, reporting spoils and reporting for duty; all were possible.

The Lord’s castle needed more extensive care; but it was a necessity, even at this current state, in order to rule.

Even with just the spoils reported by the adventurers, each of their reports lead to improving the information on the surrounding areas. Local control was also on the rise, as well as affecting other vicinity politically.

Weed toured the castle slowly.

Although there were many users, there weren’t any of them on the second floor.

There were many vacancies on the first floor also, but the second floor was closed off altogether. It was the place available only to the Lord.

'Castle’s maintenance seems minimal here.’

Weed returned to the first floor, making his way toward receptionist's desk. At this place, he must wait for a while to get the order.

“Aren’t you Lord nim?”

Weed cough significantly.

“Keoheom!”

“Currently, the remaining commissions are monsters subjugations, escorting the currently leaving cargo, and commission for mining development. There is the crop protection too, but I don’t think it’s something for you, Lord nim.”

Because the staff at the reception desk was taking care of it, he was totally on wait.

Having privileges of a Lord, he could proceed to take on any commission in Morata.

The easiest one being the cargo transport on the move for a long distance. Becase it was much more comfortable sitting in a carriage, reducing the cumbersome of the work.

For the mining development, party had to be formed with other miners.

While being protected, you can go down the tunnels. You’ll hit jackpot if you find Jewel, Mithril, Gold, Silver, Iron, Coppers, and the likes!

The profit would be distributed amongst all those participate in the mining development, but it was still a bonanza of a dream.

The role of crop protectors was to prevent Wild Boars, Sparrows, Elks, etc.; it was rather a beginner's quest.

Instead of receiving a referral, Weed asked the receptionist.

“Where is the Elder?”

“The Elder is patrolling the outside walls of the village with the Freya Paladins.”

“Patrolling?”

“Yes, there is a large scale influx of migrants. Lots of smaller towns formed outside of the walls.”

“When is he returning?”

“He said he would come back today seeing it’s finished. Would you like to wait here? I can serve you a bit of food.”

Weed did not mind waiting since he had nothing to do.

He intended to eventually stuff food in his pocket from the castle before returning back to the streets.

* * *

Weed secretly visited the newly constructed buildings.

The pub!

“Kyaa! Good.”

“After coming to north I did not expect to taste these good drinks.”

“It’s good that I can drink alcohol in Morata freely.”

There were a lot of drinkers among the tourists.

Mercenaries and adventurers also stave off their thirst with simple drinks.

Pristine country maiden of Morata carried drinks and snacks to these guests.

‘Excellent.’

Weed nodded.

The tavern was an essential building to the development of Morata.

The market, trading posts, and travel information windows weren’t required buildings. Because of the 60% tax on alcohol, the pub had enormous value for profits and income tax.

Weed used the command only available to the Lord.

“Tavern management window!”

Adventurer’s Haven(Tavern)

The only pub located at the Morata Square. It was built soon after the cleaning. Large interior space, more than 500 seats; able to get alcohol and snacks at a reasonable price.

Selling

All basic munchies

Fermented fruit drinks

Force boiled Barley booze

Beer

Employees

Chef Jenna, Mia and 10 residents

Maintenance and Management Cost

600 Gold

Daily Visits

Average 7200 Guests

Latest Weekly Net Income

2642 Gold 43 Silver 56 Copper

This was the only bar in Morata.

It could possibly be the only pub in the entire Northern part of the continent.

In the port city of the Central continent, they mainly just serve Aquavit, they do not sell alcoholic beverages such as rum, or the more popular drinks such as fermented alcohol, distilled alcohol, nor do they sell beer. Nevertheless, they still enjoy the economic boom due to its exclusivity.

The seats inside the pub weren’t enough for the guests who experienced back and forth along with the waits.

Following that, Weed turned to the Inn.

Here also, there were many people coming and leaving.

There was not another village in the North that have a larger Inn than the one in Morata. It was difficult to have one sizable in term of room number, in which this Inn has 300 of.

And the rooms could be sold if one pays the premium.

The room activates to fully recover a sleeping being from Fatigue and their physical abilities. After a night in the Inn, the recovery rate of Fatigue increases and because of the tastiness of the food, nobody left for another inn.

The weekly net profit of the Inn was more than 4000 Gold.

The figure could possibly due to the food sales.

The foods in the Inn were easier to digest unlike those in the Tavern, and they were things that easily boost Satiety.

“Later on, I’ll make a restaurant. If it’s that, then more money can be earned.”

He seemed to be in acquaintance with the joy of a Lord whenever a new building pops up.

Taking advantages of the residents and users to develop estates, he could cultivate the mighty momentum produced through such means.

Adventures and quests can be call the interesting elements on the Versailles Continent; but as for the Lord, there was a more satisfying feeling.

The pride of ruling a place on the Versailles Continent!

While having direct management of the town and castle, it was like everything was bending to his will.

Next step, Weed headed toward the Farmhouse and the Granary.

The vicinity of Morata had long cleared its land and was cultivating wheat. In the barn, wheat bags were stacked alongside and among each other, and the farmers were working on the farmlands.

While the crops were harvested by them, the food prices in the village was reliably controlled, while excess food were shipped by Merchants' wagons and carried to other frontier towns in the North and sold at a premium value.

The effectiveness of Faith by the Freya Church bumped the crop yield up for this year.

Grain Warehouse

A warehouse storing harvested grains.

Stockpile of Wheat and Barley are reserved.

Inventory

32000 Ton of Wheat

19000 Ton of Barley

Morata’s agricultural space of 197000 Py[1]!

To relieve the food shortages, the policy was passed for an aggressive expansion of farmland.

Since the land that was once covered by the thick ice, fertile soil was created in its stead as the ice melts. While residents and the newly introduced nomads comfortably farm, there was a boom of farmlands.

“For Barley, the number will hit 1000000 fast.”

It was a far cry from being painful.

But that is not without problems.

Immigrating residents to Morata was excessively increasing.

The number of area and houses protected the walls of Morata village was only at 5400 houses!

Currently the number of residents was more than 60000.

Of these, the number of unregistered users was at 100 people.

The pure number of residents was a large number. Excluding the number of those who originally have lived in Morata, the number was 53000.

While they’re comfortably farming wheat, they built shabby houses out of straws to live outside of the town.

In which they formed a shantytown in Morata’s vast reclamation of land.

“Housing management window.”

Morata Village Housing Distribution

Morata Castle

1

Wooden Houses

960

Poor Thatch Cottages

12953

With the deteriorating hygiene of the Poor Thatch Cottages, there is a great concern of an epidemic.

When the weather becomes cold in the winter, more than half of the people will be dead due to freezing.

Since Morata doesn’t have good public security, they are extremely vulnerable to Monsters’ attacks.

If there is an emergence of Monsters, then the Freya Paladins will diligently intercept them to ensure the residents’ safety. But there is still many unknowns in the North, if there is a major march by the horde of Monsters, they will be extremely vulnerable.

“Regional information window!”

Ding!

Morata Province

A province once belong to the Nippleheim Empire.

In the past, it was a place for the Empress to live to relieve Herself from exhaustion.

Since the fall of the Nippleheim Empire, it was governed by Vampires.

Currently, gathering Mercenaries and adventurers, along with the protection under the Freya Church, residents are working together to revive hope.

Military

22

Economy

260

Culture

570

Technology

190

Religious Influence

83

Local Politic

6

Influence on Neighboring Vicinity

83

Influence of the Niflheim Empire*

2%

Urban Development

97

Sanitation

36

Security

72%

Recently, there were concerns of the frequent raid of Monsters, however, residents no longer fret due to the completion of the Freya Statue.

Lack of water facilities and housings for residents to live.

There are many people with memories of the festival that took place a long time ago.

May make the lives of resident happier if they’re given multitude of sculptures.

The elegance of the town rose due to the trust and support given to the Artists.

While the residents are proud to have many more artworks than any of the other towns, they hope for a broader range of cultural facilities.

Industrial sewing techniques from the past are progressively transforming.

Techniques in the field of Iron are fairly rudimentary, Blacksmiths creation of weapons or armors are very immature.

The local faith believes in Freya. The faith of the residents is a good thing, and will not be easily sway.

The impact by the Freya Church takes appropriate forms: love is abundance, and characterized the people as hard-workers.

Specialty

Leather and Cloth

Total Population

61,689

Monthly Tax Income

27,860 Gold

Village Operating Expenses

Military

2%

Economy

34%

Culture

12%

Commissions Paid for Monster Subjugation

15%

Village Repairs

22%

Offering to the Church of Freya

15%

*Influence affect area such as Military, Economy, Culture, Technology, Religion, Population, and Commission.

***

Even though currently, there are few problems, Morata had grown beyond its past self.

‘Investment in Culture? What’s going on here? I’ve never invested in such category.’

Weed was going around the vicinity of the South Entrance in the town, spending time locking himself in wonderment about the reason. In the midst of this, A bandit-like man with great physique and bloated beard approached him.

“Excuse me, are you a Sculptor?”

Weed reflexively scanned the man’s body in his Jeonshin mode.

Mithril Boots!

On the other hand, leather clothing and cloak that weren’t suitable for traveling had layers of debris.

‘In most cases, people dislike trouble so they change their clothing to something non-distinguishable when coming into a town, in order to hide their high levels.’

Including the Mithril Boots, the man didn't change his overall appearance like the norm. If the Mithril Boots had Movement Speed effects, then the expensive item’s base price would be at least 3000000 Won!

After Weed completed his quick scan, he carefully replied.

“That is correct.”

There were few things in his mind that would be the causes for alarm. Nevertheless, there was a willingness to answer due to one thing; and that was the man asked of the Sculptor. Since it was a question whether Weed was a Sculptor or not, then most likely, the request of him would somehow be associated with sculpting.

Weed doesn’t go a day or two without leeching off on others to survive.

‘Maybe it’s about when I ripped him off with before? Maybe I gave him a defect? If it’s not these, then what other business does he have with me?’

The man who was similar to a bandit breathe a sigh of relief, oblivious to the uneasiness of Weed who was currently filled with several intentions.

“Finally, I found one after searching the entire village. I searched for you after seeing the video of the sculpting of the Freya Statue. I need to ask a favor of you. If it’s true that you’re the Sculptor Weed, then I would appreciate it greatly if you carve me a sculpture.”

Weed gave an impression of being apologetic and shook his head.

“Thank you for looking me up, but I do not plan to make sculpture at the moment.”

Since the other side's rank seems high, Weed can try to extort a few pieces of Gold from him; but at the moment, it was difficult for him to sculpt anything at all so he refused.

And then, the bandit-like man cuffed Weed’s wrist in his hands and pleaded to Weed.

“It’s a vital request. Please, sculpt my daughter.”

“Daughter?”

Weed’s eyebrows narrowed.

There were a variety of targets to carve, but requests of doing a family member were the most difficult.

‘If it’s too pretty then they don’t like it; and if uglier than what they are in real life then they’d go crazy.’

When it comes to their cubs, parents won’t remain prettily, just like a hedgehog.

Wanting deliciously cooked food for the kid, or nag on and on at tailors to make pretty and comfortable clothing.

“Yes, that is so. My daughter, please carve her for me.”

The man blared out desperately.

“I understand.”

Weed wasn’t very enthused, but he supposed he might as well sculpt. He could see the urgency coming from the man; in addition, the Village Elder have not return as of yet.

Also, the by-standing users were clicking their tongue spouting harsh words.

“I feel sorry for that uncle.”

“That Sculptor usually only light up for the money huh…”

“One misstep and that (bandit)man can rip even the clothes off your back.”

There were many among the user base of Morata that has the same mindset as Weed. They too, like him, assumed the man was a high level user from noticing just his boots.

‘I can just ask Alberone to remove the curses anyway.’

Weed cemented his mind and said.

“Then, please bring you daughter here.”

The man shook his head dejectedly.

“That’s impossible.”

"Well, a picture of some kind…”

“There isn’t any.”

“If that’s so, then, you describe what the child is like.”

Weed pulled out a generously thick piece of wood. As he listens to the descriptions, he will try to come up with a concrete image to sculpt.

It was an impossible attempt if you have never taken on several hundreds of sculpture requests inside the village!

Due to the characteristic of sculpturing, he can essentially detailed out rough estimates before going onto the finer aspect of things.

‘I can’t do the eye, nose, and mouth well since I haven't heard anything about it.’

It can be said that is the woe of making a small wooden sculpture.

Going by the man’s description alone will not be enough, and there’ll be a concession of what the man ultimately want to make.

‘He’ll try to make it difficult as possible so there’ll be a lot of things to cover.’

However, instead of describing features, the man who had the appearance of a bandit began a dialog.

“The child’s mother is really beautiful. Her eyes are very clear, kind…a wife that’s...really too good for me.”

“……”

“It was when she and I have been married for five years. Although it was a bit late, she had our long awaited pregnancy, we had a day set to give birth too, you know. But…”

“But?”

“We went to the hospital to have a screening done, and found out that she had become sick.”

The man began shedding tears.

“We went through the surgery and cure her of her illness, but we had to give up on the child. Due to the shock at the time, her body became unable to carry a child again.”

“……”

“Please carve her for me. Then she could have had a child. Our daughter, our world most beloved daughter, I would be happy with just a look of my daughter’s appearance…carve her for me. Euheoheoheoheong!”

The man dropped his neck and cried.

The users who were listening nearby in the middle of the street were also moved to tears.

“D, da, damn it!”

“Ima go hunt as much as I can.”

“Damn the Monsters. Ima kill you all.”

Filled with such overwhelming emotion that they wanted to take it all out on the Monsters.

Weed’s face paled with tension.

“My sculpture…are you going to keep it for yourself? Or will you show it to your dear wife also?”

“I will show it to her.”

“So she is on Royal Road…”

The man wiped his tears with his sleeves.

“Yes, she’s on with me. And I came here hearing of Sculptor nim’s reputation. But us…don’t worry about us. We are not crazy. Simply, our daughter, we just want to see our most beloved daughter in this game world, because we want to at least share our goodbyes. This way, we can have our peace of mind as well as something unforgettable…our daughter, we want to see her for the first, and the last time. I know, this is foolish and awkward and stupid. I know, but, I..but…”

The bandit-like man assert once again.

“What do you want in return for carving my daughter? I’ll give you the amount of your choosing, just please carve our daughter for us.”

Again, the man shed oodles of tears as he begged.

Weed spoke as he sighs.

“I will not make you a piece right now.”

“Money, is it because I lack money? I will pay you 10, no, 20 times more than other people.”

“That’s not what I mean. For me also, in this case, I’m not ready; and I don’t think a stick of wood is appropriate to carve your daughter.”

“Then…”

Weed once made an ice sculpture. It was of ice: sharp, and pretty, but was still cold. The coldness even penetrate him through his chest.

He realized then that the material of the sculpture influences the atmosphere of the whole composition.

“A lifeless piece of wood is a hardened thing that does not the disburse warmth. Even though, even if it'll be just once, it need to somehow represent family. Then, toward that goal…a piece made out of wood cannot do so.”

Weed continued on decisively.

“Something that's not cold…something that the warmth of life can be felt…not some hardened material. Through that mean, for the two of you, the piece can really be your beloved daughter. So I must prepare. I will do my best, but I cannot promise when it will be completed.”

The man sigh dramatically.

The situation was somewhat different than what he expected, but he could feel that Weed said what he did by no means was to avoid having to do it.

He sincerely intended to sculpt the daughter that was meant to be birthed by the man and his wife.

“Thank you. My wife and I look forward to it in Selchium of the Ritten Kingdom. And my name is Mandol.”

“My name is Weed. Upon the completion of the sculpture of your daughter, I will bring it to Selchium.”

“Even if you don’t bring it over, I will not put the blame on you. However, what is the price of the sculpture?”

Mandol asked in a slightly nervous tone.

Weed replied with a soft smile.

“It’s 1 Copper.”

Chapter 7: The vicious Morata Lord

Tenbain, an unknown dungeon in the North.

Against the breakouts of sickle carrying Ghost-type Monsters, there was a troop advancing to oppose them.

“Complete dismantling of the traps!”

“A horde of Monsters, 30 meters ahead. Approximately 25 of them.”

“Clerics, Blessing. The Warriors equipped with full sets, lead the advance.”

The Champion of Blood, Deimond, leading the Predators of the Land guild.

A force of one of the top 50 guilds in the Central continent.

In possessions of three castles, all with high tax rate set.

Users living there had issued their complaints, but they were all suppressed by the guild’s overwhelming force.

Those that resisted were often punished.

But that’s not all. Whether they were users of other guilds or of another kingdom, the Predators of the Land slaughtered them all indiscriminately.

“Kill them. So they can’t get a foothold on our land again!”

While growing and lacking of equipment and money, the so-called outlaw guild.

Based of their forces, they were triumphant, but at the end of the attack from the alliances of the guilds, they faced their destruction!

Now, they were forced to become wanderers, away from the Central continent.

They wandered and made their way toward the north.

“Yesh. This, it must be the Boss Monster Death Lord’s place.”

Deimond’s motivation soared.

Owning castles or towns, that was the easy part. Not needing to mind about maintaining guild alliances with others nor care for the sizeable growth of the guild; all they needed to do for now was to concentrate on only hunting and questing for themselves!

The Predators of the Land’s growth of power was continuing in full swing, without having to care for influencing the fattest of castles or towns, nothing can beat their enjoyment of playing Royal Road.

“Suban, pay full attention. Maban, Attack!”

The Barbarian Warrior Suban fiercely wielded his ax with both hands.

Monsters were flocking to him.

The Theif Maban stuck out of the Monsters’ shadows and attacked them with poisonous daggers.

Predators of the Land, although numbering many more than any of the other guilds, the working relationship between them was excellent.

While leading the combatants of the Predators of the Land, Deimond led then up till the end of Tenbain dungeon, and hunted the Death Lord.

And then, as a reward, they received one statement.

Will instill fear in all - If you want to walk on the Road of Death, then find the temple that has disappeared from mankind’s memories.

Deimond wrack his head and began to investigate.

“Create fear. Lost temple. What the hell is this?”

Though he enjoyed plundering and killing, Deimond was not slow-witted. Even if this was something seemingly trivial, the phrase had somewhat of a presence; thusly, not negligible.

“If we go and check on the history of the Versailles Continent, it aint going to be helpful. It states here…'disappeared from mankind’s memories'…”

Suban also showed signs of being intrigued.

“Quite unique, huh. Wherever we will look or ask, there isn’t going to be some concrete explanation regarding it.”

“Then it’s better to shift our focuses to the missing temple, yea? If not, then we have to collect more clues on it.”

Deimond, together with his colleagues, covertly probed the hidden rooms in the dungeon seeking for information. They casually picked up random unknown written objects and assembled the lot.

Ohhh! This world is shrouded in darkness. The empire's destruction, and it seems like the Versailles Continent may meets its end on this year.

There is nothing at all that can escape from the hands of death.

Their prison of death and their followers are exponentially growing.

They listed the many strange legends from an array of residents from various nearby towns.

“My grandfather’s grandfather, rather, the story have been passed down long since the time before my grandfather’s; for some reason, people could not carelessly talk about the past of the earlier days of the Nippleheim Empire.”

“There are unusually a lot of traces of the destroyed castles that are at the ruins of the Nippleheim Empire. Why are there a lot of traces? If it weren’t for the lot of Monsters invasion, then their fort or castles wouldn’t have fallen.”

They got more and more clues.

In some Grandfather’s home, he showed a booklet that has been handed down.

– Leading the road of death.

It was a time when the human’s desire and greed to have mightier powers went too far.

The spell that shouldn’t have been made, the magic that shouldn’t have been spread; of plague and death, the prohibition of Priests that dominate Monsters!

Trailing those who walks on the road of death, the continent will fall into darkness along their path.

– Empire history XX year XX day.

They are coming.

The town fell into a state of panic.

The lord who took his family and fled returned in a rotten body; his body was infected by some unknown soldier. It was rotting away.

– Empire history XX year XX day.

Food dropped.

Been here for 200 years at the barren bottom of the well that haven’t been exposed.

Now crowded with mice.

– Empire history XX year XX day.

Finally, they revealed themselves.

The Soldiers and the Knights tried to fight them from the castle’s walls.

Although there was no prior, this was a final struggle to survive.

Yes. From my point of view, this is a struggle.

Their army…

At this writing, the castle’s walls have collapsed.

They shattered it through the use of wicked magic. Piles of crushed Soldiers and screaming Knights begets our continuous dwindling of power.

Ding!

The Priest of Death

Of blood and the reaper, the legend of the Priest that gained the Power of Death.

Find the lost temple from human’s memories to unlock the secret of the Priest of Death.

For those with greed, he will be offered the strongest power befitting them.

For those with wisdom and courage, glory and honor awaits them.

If You should choose the path of the obsessed with greed Priests of Death for their power, then You will be subjected to fear and hatred from the Humans and every other species alike.

The map of the vanished temple have been divided among the Monsters who took it.

Quest difficulty

Grade S

Compensation

The followers of the Church of Death.

Quest Restriction

No restriction on Reputation or Level. Find the temple before others find it.

“Difficulty Grade S!”

Deimond bursts with ecstasy.

Grade B quests were typical to them, as they have encountered a substantial amount of such.

Difficulty Grade A quests were commissions that gave huge rewards or power, or even affecting the balance of the Versailles Continent.

Therefore, this was not something one can conveniently obtain, because there was the issue of risking the very life of the guild that needed to be addressed.

The reason Jeonshin Weed received a tremendous amount interests from public was due to being the first to solve a Grade A quest, the Legion of Immortality.

The emotion of the Elemental Shaman of the guild, Imperial, was also sparked.

“It’s a difficulty Grade S of a quest, it’s something needed to be unconditionally accepted.”

The Witch Nardo was being cautious.

“Our current power right now has been stretched thin. This isn’t like the Central continent.”

The Predators of the Land guild was currently isolated from the Central continent; but if needed for a fight, the number of support they can gain for cooperation wasn't small.

In example, fighters that fights for their spoils! They could request the help of the Mercenaries or request help from an army.

It was difficult for them to judge the success of the quest if they guild went alone.

“So it’s better for more to accept the quest huh. Since this came from a Monster like a Death Lord, then it means that this is an amazing quest. We will likely receive a huge reward if we solve it on our own.”

“We don’t know how many Boss Monsters will come into play…if the Monster is a Dragon, then we’ll be annihilated.”

“Annihilation? You’re frighten of something like being annihilated?”

“I don’t mean that, but…”

“Since it’s adventurous, let’s not mince words any longer.”

The opinion of the gang was gearing toward embracing the quest.

They may have ran castles and towns, but each and everyone of them have not abandoned the pure joy of a challenge and of a fight.

Deimond’s ambition pulsed.

‘We’re going throw away everything.’

Their castle in the Central continent has been taken, and they can no longer take up the shame-filled flag of the Predators of the Land anymore. They might as well put the times where they had influenced the Versailles Continent and memories of the past behind them.

‘I think my chance has come.’

An opportunity to turn everything around after from returning back to square one!

Through the use of the Priests of Death quest, they can stand again in the midst of everything.

Deimond strongly clenched his fist.

“As for me, I want the power of the Priests of Death. Anybody that will defy me will be swept away, and I want to grasp the Versailles Continent within my hand!”

You have accepted the quest.

* * *

Only when the rising sun indicates that it was noon, that Weed could meet up with the Village Elder in the Lord’s Castle.

“The old me could have taken on many things, but for you to go play around and only to meet up with the me now, wow.”

As soon as the Village Elder saw Weed, he complained since.

“A sudden advent of people coming into Morata…with the increasing residents, there are mountains of things that needed to be done…”

He was nagging.

Weed’s unique secret of how to get along with those who nags in the world!

At times like these, you do not pile it up more with vain excuses.

‘Nothing to say here.’

In one ear and out the other!

Only after the long lecture ended, the Village Elder hurriedly say.

“You must take hold of Morata’s affairs and security. Now that the castle became somewhat sustainable; now Lord nim must directly take a stand on what you want of our Morata. The remaining fund of the Morata province is 39845 Gold.”

Ding!

Do you want to use the Affairs of the Lord Mode?

The mode to enable the Lord to maintain the domestic state of affairs!

Weed accepted.

“Yes.”

The on-screen view will switch to Affairs of the Lord Mode.

From the empty room in the castle where Weed had a conversation with the Elder. Suddenly, things changed.

Now, he had an overview of the region of Morata.

The thing he saw below him, as he remained in the sky, was a view of Morata.

“Well, now what should I do.”

Weed silently looked down on Morata. Everything was apparent to him, from the movement of people on the streets, buildings, even up till the landscape from the castle walls.

If he wanted, he could change his view point and take a closer peek, it was even possible to hear people’s voices.

The Domestic Affair Mode that was only available to the Lord!

Military

22

Economy

260

Culture

570

Technology

190

Urban Development

97

Sanitation

36

Security

72%

Fund

39845 Gold

A message window popped up to inform him the current state of Morata.

From things such as construction, commercial, military, change in taxation; currently, all were in Weed’s command.

“First, I have to take care of the poor residences in Morata, hmm.”

Weed searched up buildings that needed construction.

Then at this time, more than 300 names and shapes of buildings popped up before him.

From things such as maintenance of the Lord’s Castle, and a number of building of specific types for residents were coming up.

Weed looked at the top priority of the list, the palace, and read its descriptions.

Palace of the Lord

The peak of luxury and revelry!

The palace made befitting only the Lord, widespread of the Lord’s authority and reputation will increase.

While reduces the loyalty of the soldiers and the residents, the threat of creating friction with those affiliated with the kingdom can increase.

Construction Cost

70000 Gold

Morata does not belong to any kingdom.

Though it did said that the land once belonged to the Nippleheim Empire, ever since the fall of the nation, every village had to survive relying on themselves.

Therefore, there won’t be any friction with those who affiliated with the kingdom.

But Weed lightly shook his head.

‘I don’t need such a thing.’

The state of the village was in its early development, no good conscience of a reason to be building a grand palace for just the Lord. It sounded more like a waste of money, while planted trees on the roadside seems better looking than a palace where the Lord could freeze to death.

While living the simple life as a Lord, he absolutely had no interest in showing off his best.

Golf course only for the Lord

Everything taken care of by the maids while you comfortably golf.

Can boast to other Lords or Nobles.

Need a large area for the course, will increase people’s hatred.

Construction Cost

At least 40000 Gold

“The hell..?”

Most of the facilities available for the Lord, Weed immediately turned them off.

Now, on top of the priority list, there were only necessary buildings to be constructed.

* * *

The Haven for Adventurers.

The only location for liquor in Morata where people were standing in line waiting for vacancies.

Fail, Meiron, Mapan as well as other colleagues too, were waiting so they could eat and drink.

But, they have been waiting for an hour now and still no vacancy.

“Boy, can we even sit down to have a drink by the end of the day?”

“It’s lunchtime too and so it's full of people.”

While complaining, they couldn’t leave their positions.

There was no other place in Morata where they could enjoy alcohol if they leave the Haven for Adventurers!

If there was a hunting party in the North, then the first place they’d come to in Morata once returned was the Tavern.

While drinking coconut, fruit wine, beer and such, they can shoo away their Fatigue and loosen up, as well as catching up with colleagues in many of the other parties.

“About when can I get a spot…”

Jaffe was complaining with a sigh that follows.

He was in a serious predicament since this was the only location where girls didn't mind him placing himself near them to chat them up.

Then, the roof of the bar suddenly gets torn away.

A whole side of the wall disappeared altogether.

“What the?”

“What’s going on?”

The users who were eating food and getting drunk were wholly surprised, as if they were struck by lightning.

A perfectly natural reaction to something so sudden.

Since the completion of dismantling the pub, walls, pillars, and ceiling were recreated in expanded form.

Now it was able to seat as many as 2000 people!

It had converted into a super tavern.

Only then the users understood.

“The Lord.”

“Morata’s Lord is working on domestic affairs!”

***

Using vacant land, Weed extended the Tavern and the Inn, while also building a large Dining Hall.

In the more compartmentalized lands, hundreds of buildings were still being erected.

Renovation of the Tavern was 12000 Gold, the Inn was 9300 Gold, and the construction of the large Dining Hall was 16000 Gold.

Various windows informing the status of Morata popped up.

With the expansion of the Tavern: Economy +2, Public Security -1%.

With the expansion of the Inn: Economy +1, Hygiene +3.

Along with being able to afford the construction of the Dining Hall: Culture +3, Economy +2. For the next 3 months, the town’s Productivity will increase by 1%.

Military

22

Economy

265

Culture

573

Technology

190

Urban Development

97

Sanitation

39

Security

71%

Fund

2545 Gold

As he modifies, he could see the immediate effect taking place.

It was revealed from things such as the current Military, Economy, and Hygiene that accompanied the addition of the new Dining Hall which were all severely low, affects the influx of people negatively.

When public Security is low, crime rate will increase as well as problems in the development of commerce.

“The next thing…”

Weed’s eyes turned to the Central Square. And with 100 Gold, he opened five stalls.

Stalls that sell simple snacks!

Although they have minor economic impact, they play an important role to enhance the town's income.

Along with the momentum of this act, the Central Square was having a riot.

“Lord, please make a Blade Master Guild!”

“Adventure shop…”

“I hope you build private homes and warehouses.”

“A traveler’s association must be presented in Morata!”

Everyone was talking about their specific needs.

Just like noisy young birds chirping with both limbs raised wanting some food.

Evidently revealed they longed to have many great things.

Even if the Lord doesn’t commences the constructions, the residents or the Architects are capable of building the things they need themselves. But on the Versailles Continent, the number of Architects is uncommonly low; because it isn’t easy to build stores and houses to put up for sales.

Generally, as for the Lord, if they want to go ahead and build buildings according to the town and castle, it was meant as a development to create a city.

If the Lord of the castle was a Magician, then he would make a lot of Magic Guilds and Magic shops in line with his traits. If it was an Elemental Shaman, then wood and water would be abound in the dominated castle, along with making it eco-friendly.

Development under the accommodation of the Lord!

While merely listening to the breeze of users, Weed also had to choose.

However, the fund of the village was only 2045 Gold.

Leaving just 100 Gold of his private fund, Weed began investing wholly in Morata.

Until now, the lot of money he used for the construction was Morata’s own Fund.

Shacks!

New houses were needed because of the explosive increase of population of Morata.

Hill and mountain trees were simultaneously disintegrated together forming Shacks.

Each Shack was a mere 30 Silvers per household.

“Make it a Shack of dreams as well!”

Weed made an investment of 3000 Gold into 10000 furnishings.

The Morata’s users were surprised by the changes made.

“Woah!”

“This crazy Lord!”

“They’re just Shacks but they’re huge!”

Shacks also appeared in the Central Square.

Shacks that were built near atop the mountain were packed tightly together.

The next thing Weed chose to build was the Commodity Exchange.

This played a similar role to that of the trading posts, but this has the possibility of carrying out large-scale commerce.

Morata has already exported their stuff to other places, and this building can effectively supply to those insufficient towns!

Traders’ warehouses and pickup areas were widened.

This was warmly welcomed by the Merchants.

“Morata lord knows whatsup.”

“If you ignore the Merchants then the growth of the city is a no go.”

He also conceived a Union for the Merchants.

Even when there is a large amount of work or procurement required, they can divide the commission up among the Merchants within the Union!

The building is the cornerstone of the Merchant Guild.

A lot of building arose in the vacant lot near the Morata Central Square.

Weapon shop, Armor shop, Tourist shop, Adventurer shop, Cartography group, Fruit store, and including Grocery store were made.

Rows of buildings were built on the once empty streets of Morata caused the users to cheer.

“Hurrah!”

“It’s going to be much convenient now, huh.”

The other competitive town was of poor quality at a time. Even with the advent of some famous guild dominating the towns, which attained the users’ awareness for a while, the number of users was not something comparable to that of Morata. Being able to purchase items from Morata made them a bit more comfortable; hitherto everybody was delighted.

But this was not the end of Weed’s construction.

Kuuuung!

The land rang out in a thunderous noise while materials were piling up on the vacant lot next to the Smithy.

“What, what is that?”

“What is he trying to make?”

As a place to manufacture weapons and armors, the Smithy boasts a pretty spacious area. A building five times larger than the Smithy was being assembled on the vacant lot.

A large building with a large chimney.

As soon as the building was complete, the Blacksmiths who were unable to overcome the curiosity nimbly navigated towards it.

They went inside then jumped and screamed all around.

“Huge hearth!”

“The hearth can pull out high quality Iron from just Iron Ore!”

If there isn’t a large fireplace, then only skilled Blacksmiths were able to extract Iron, and even so, it takes a lot of time. Because of this reason, if they want to fabricate what they want, then they will have to dissolve a lot of other swords and armors in order to do so.

But now, when they obtain just simple Iron Ores from the hunt, they could come to this large furnace and quickly after, they can extract high purity Iron from them.

If the supply of Iron shoots up, Blacksmiths could potentially make weapons with improved quality, as well as increasing quantity.

This was something the fabricators desperate needed!

Although it took up 50000 Gold, Weed did not hesitate using the money.

Because with more Blacksmiths and Jewelers(Jewelry cutter) flooding in using it, there will be an increase in the production of weapons and armors, needless to say the influx of the tax revenue that comes with them!

To the unaware users, outside of the village of Morata, other construction projects were going on.

The Iron mines, Copper mines, and Silver mines that once belong to the Nippleheim Empire of the past!

Weed was trying to transform the mines that were neglected.

He repaired the tunnel system again; some villagers have moved to the locations while holding pickaxes. Paladins of Freya were also included among those villages in order to hunt Monsters who were currently dwelling in those abandoned old mines.

“He’s been slacking off from Morata, finally he returned with the mindset of its Lord.”

“I guess now we’re having a bit of progress.”

The user base as a whole all wore smiley faces.

But the changes did not stop there.

Kuuuuuung!

This time too, piling materials were appearing at another vacant lot.

The lush weeds grown there were cleaned off with the founding of a guild.

Tailor Guild!

There were a lot of Tailors who were far ahead in the mastery of the skill and could take advantages of Morata’s Advanced Fabric and Leather.

While they were skillfully experienced, several other guilds were built that can could help them out as well.

Farmers Guild and Freya Church’s Altar were constructed.

If their offering to the altar exceeds than what was asked for, curses can be lifted in addition to the temporary increase in Luck.

While the Freya Church’s Clergymen were well liked; user Clerics, Priests, and Adventurers fervently hope for this building.

“Even the Altar! That’s really excellent.”

“Hunting in Morata is good.”

Blade Master Guild was also created.

“The Lord musta used a bit of money.”

Thief Guild was founded.

“This crazy Lord, he’s just throwing money from one place to the next.”

The users that were in the village greatly cheered.

It wasn’t their village, but a place where they mainly stay while adventuring becoming more developed was making it comfortable for them.

A Warrior Guild emerged as they were blindsided by their chatting.

Bard Guild, Archer Guild, Assassin Guild, Kung-fu Master Guild, Fist Guild.

Guilds of the Magician series were not built because each of the trait was 40000 Gold. However, almost all of the basic combat classes’ Guilds were built.

An enormous amount of Weed’s hidden asset was invested into the village.

All the material items he earned from Todoom resulted in 340000 Gold attained by utilizing his Tailor and Blacksmith skills.

And the Diamond he received in exchange for making the statue appraised for 145000 Gold.

Together, the sum of Gold was 485000.

While the money obtained from those who he receives for their participation in the creation of the statue along with the sales of porridge exceeded 150000 Gold, the production cost of the statue came out to be 160000 Gold, which bled him.

But still, the money earned from hunting, combined with the money he previously have came out to be more than 500000 Gold.

Ding!

Has triggered the development of a New City in Morata Province.

Morata has distinguished itself in the area of the former Nippleheim Empire!

The softly blooming flower of Culture and is firmly instilled with Faith.

In places which are economically underdeveloped, a lot of money has been invested.

The inhabitants of Morata, with the teachings of the Goddess Freya, will try to enrich their lives.

Productivity will increase by 45% for 2 months.

With Morata’s expansion and development, it is heading towards urbanization.

Along with the development, influx of migrants is growing. The number of residents is rapidly increasing, but until they can get jobs, public Security will decline and funds will be spent supporting them.

There is more need for food due to the increasing residents, but at the same while, the town’s proximity will increase.

Following the improvement of the Lord’s Castle, one will be able to exercise political leadership to other provinces though diplomacy in addition to the town of Morata.

Military

22

Economy

297

Culture

579

Technology

196

Urban Development

108

Sanitation

42

Security

68%

Fund

79014 Gold

Weed still did not leave the Domestic Affairs Mode.

As there were still many necessary buildings remain.

“There are as much as 12 mine-able mines…”

To bring forth the development of one mine took 50000 Gold.

While Morata does not having the money to develop the 12 mines, but when it does cultivate them, the value of every Ores will most likely to crash and discarded.

Regarding Hygiene, much of its value will decline more so in comparison to when the residents were just farming; and in other areas, work productivity will also drop because of the mining they will do.

Material production, economic strength, and the source of military are all important resources consisted of the residents.

If there was such a thing as a Mithril or Mana Stone mine, they would unconditionally excavate it, but unfortunately, such high grade resources did not exist in Morata or will they ever be found.

But still, it was lucky that they had Ivory.

While he was observing the province of Morata, in a grassland located north-west of its vicinity, Weed found a large herd of Elephants. If they were authorized to hunt these Elephants, then they would be able to obtain high quality Ivory.

Ivory is something that could be called the 'jewel of the living.'

“Gotta catch them sparingly.”

It was now time to nurture the Soldiers.

Morata still have seven months remaining of the received protection from Freya Church, but the Soldiers need much more time than that in order to grow.

“I need to recruit about 100 Soldiers and 10 Knights.”

Recruiting station and training ground were built to recruit Soldiers and to give them basic training.

It was not possible to have a proper training facility for the Knights, so he ordered the hired Knights to venture out.

Weed was done with the army.

Frankly speaking, the head of any guild was the leading user of any group. However, it was different for the Lords of any town or castle. By using the fund to drive the town, he will possess his own army.

* * *

It was when the users of Morata were bursting with cheers as the town was going through with its development.

Users amidst light appeared in the Central Square.

“Ah!”

“Is this the way how I move the body?”

“This is Royal Road!”

They were complete novices.

Morata had become a place where new users could start out.

“This is the North?”

“Wow! So this is how the villages in the North look like.”

New users accompanied by light were constantly being generated.

This was the only starting point for beginners in the North.

An explosively large amount of new users who saw Morata village chose the place.

“Uwahhhh!”

“Newbies.”

In the midst of the beginners’ bustling, the general users who once felt lonesome and forlorn also became more delighted.

Even though they are just beginners, their worth is very large.

While hunting for fox, deer, rabbit and the likes, they can deal with the town with the meat and leather they saves.

This isn't similar to the high level users who hunt meat and leather for production purposes, these were useful materials for the beginners to obtain money and weapon.

Thus they become a force to procure a huge quantity of food, weapon, and armor materials for the town.

Whether it was a chip of Wood, a rolling Ore, or cheap Herb, they serve as a driving force to develop the town as these new users sell what they can.

This also makes it easy for the Merchants and production classes to save time in collecting basic materials, making it great for them to comfortably make the goods and sell the lot.

Although there wasn’t a place that the beginners could get help immediately, the normally specific combat job venues became convenient shops to sell out of miscellaneous weapons and armor to the beginners to use.

The novice users felt greatly welcome while the Clerics, Priests, and Knights were able to earn Honor points, Faith, Devotion as they helped out.

* * *

Kang Jin-Cheol was in great anguish as he scanned Royal Road’s board.

“Is this really alright? Is this fine letting it grow?”

On the Versailles Continent, he went by the handle Mapan, and had a bit of commercial success.

But he was feeling severely remorseful at the moment as his conscience beat down on him.

“Even beginners are coming to Morata…”

On the bulletin board, he could see many articles coming up regarding the subject.

– Information on the birth of the frontier of the North village.

– Beginners, start in Morata.

– Basic map of Morata, and information of buildings and basic quests.

– A rich hunting ground. Please note that although the information has risks, hunting in Morata is an opportunity to have an adventure.

Information about Morata accumulated the board.

Users' reactions were enthusiastic.

– Just starting Royal Road now, is Morata really that good?

– I’m creating a character in Morata. I'm tinkling with a Champion. Looking for people to go together.

– Me!

– What are the traits of the officials of Freya?

– I heard that if you go to Morata, they gives you free porridge…

Questions and answers took place in real-time. Much of the people’s core interest was toward Morata.

The town was a hub covering the entire North’s trading, hunting, and commissions!

It was still a small town that had little development, though still there were a lot of people wanting to start in this Morata.

Kang Jin-Cheol lamented.

“These poor souls are continuing to migrate.”

The Smithy, Tavern, Trading Post and such that were established by Weed denotes that prices were cheaper.

At the large Smithy, the residential Blacksmiths were regularly employed to produce stuff. If they continue to make increasingly growing luxurious goods, then their skills can climb resulting in better and better goods.

In this way, the Lord who directly built the buildings can earn a share as each location reap in profit.

Prices in the Tavern can hardly be called fair already, while the Inn has its own pulls.

As the town welcomed the poor novice users and gave them a peace of mind, it was a critical juncture to lure them in for them to start in Morata.

But like a sudden storm coming in at any time, so will their future be exposed to exploitation!

“I cannot let them go!”

Kang Jin-Cheol dramatically decided.

It was not a bad thing for him if Morata was becoming more developed. As a Merchant who had invested here and there in Morata, it would only increase his income further.

He wrote, having already prepared himself for this penalty.

Title: Beginners, do not EVER start in Morata.

You all have greatly misunderstood.

Morata is a place that can indeed be called a den of evil.

The boundary of the town is tiny, and if you go out of it, there is a plethora of Monsters; it’s too dangerous for the beginners.

The Light Tower or the Goddess Statue?

Do not expect much from these.

If you happen to see the sculptures every single day, then pretty soon you’ll have had enough.

And now, although the prices are on the medium or low side, later on, the Lord will raise the taxes significantly; so absolutely, do not come to Morata.

“It’s done now.”

He was anxious with the written article, but pretty soon, malicious comments piled up.

– Other people who are this way don’t concern me, but are you actually trying to have a leisure hunt in Morata?

– This post was written by a person, so it’s apparent that he was slapped with huge tax by the Lord in the Central continent.

– He must be some kind of Lord! Prolly a headman of a small village or something!

– Seems like a complete novice trying to dirty the water to me. Anyone who even know just bit about Royal Road knows how advantageous it is for beginners to start out in Morata.

– Should I inform you? Widespread of sculptures, hunting grounds, high level users, there is nobody who does not get a quest. Take my word for it's worth, Morata is a place of hope and is a haven.

– Get out of here!

“Keuheuk!”

Kang Jin-Cheol grabbed his pounding chest.

Since he was only reading the negative comments coming in real-time in real life, he wasn't hurt externally.

Despite him being slammed, extremely strange things were going on.

Besides Kang Jin-Cheol, different articles from other people trying to discourage the user base from starting in Morata or coming to Morata.

They were posts that weren’t possible if they didn’t know the little things about Weed!

But as such articles appear, they were heavily struck down by negative comments.

So much so that they deleted the posts since every single one of them were fed up with the accusations; as the authors made out to be antagonists.

“Ahh.”

Realization dawned him.

It wasn’t just him that had a conscience, but Fail, Meiron, and the others as well.

They too, tried to be saviors but could not turn the tide.

They were hardly able to change the current.

By means of attacking Morata, they faced a procession of users!

The definitive definition of evil was winning.

The world is dominated by the ill-intent.

And standing in the apex of all the swirling wickedness is Weed!

Chapter 8: Dwarf Kingdom

“…class is over.”

They stood to bow to the leaving professor, and only the students needing to unwind remained.

“Wheww.”

“Barely made it.”

It was a day of a quiz regarding the technology of Virtual Reality. The beaten students who studied for the test the week before slumped and groaned onto their desks.

Lee Hyun still had a good countenance without a hint of fatigue. And as if they had truly know, the others thought to themselves.

‘Must be good knowing the fundamentals.’

They thought he knew of the content at a previous instance and was back learning again, sparing no cost paying for the tuition.

The lessons were on the principles and developmental potential of Virtual Reality; along with the results of dying and living in VR and how they affect the motor nerves in reality. It was fortuitous for him that he could write down the answers without having to cram as they continued to believe he was repeating the class.

But in comparison to the countless histories of the Versailles Continent, heroes, locations of villages, items, magic, and skills he had already memorized in his mind, he could answer a quiz on this level with his eyes closed.

“The test is over, do you guys want to get on Royal Road?”

The proposal came from Min Sura, who had been wanting to play.

Choe Sang Jun accepts.

“If you’re thinking about the going to the capsule room, I could not agree more. Since there's one here to for rent, let’s go to that place?”

Popularity of the capsule room, a place where people can connect to Royal Road was widespread. There were a lot in the university; from there, they resumed their conversation.

Lee Yu Jeong said.

“Rather, we should do that class assignment, the one about having an adventure in VR.”

“Ugh! We just finish with the test and here I thought it was all good and well; but there’s still this assignment.”

Their assignment was to have an adventure in Virtual Reality, specifically for them, it was to explore an actual dungeon in Royal Road.

An exploration in a team of seven, with the deadline being in two months!

Alternatively, they could opt out and take a midterm instead; but as the team members were scattered around various regions on the Versailles Continent, they were given a generous amount of time to do such project.

Lee Hyun was in group C.

“Anyway, let’s go to the capsule room. We’ll decide the rest later on.”

At Choe Sang Jun’s suggestion, the school buddies grabbed their bags and was getting ready.

“I…have busy work to do…”

Lee Hyun tries to get out of going to such a place, but Min Sura grabbed him and wasn't about to let him leave.

“Oppa is also in the same group with us, and you've never once went with us to the room…today, come with us.”

“That’s right, if we’re in the same group, we should be comfortably cooperating with each other. Come together with us to the capsule room.”

Lee Hyun did not want to go to the capsule room.

The place was an expensive alternative just to log into Royal Road!

He had trouble understand why people would pay to go to the capsule room when they could access Royal Road anytime at home.

* * *

It was break time at the university, and the capsule room was crowded with students hanging about.

“Spots, for seven please.”

“You've come today too. Will you be playing Royal Road?”

The part-time student at the counter asked, and Choe Sang Jun gently nodded.

“Yes, is the capsule I always use available?”

“It’s empty. I’ll show you to it.”

“K.”

This was a good indication that he would log into Royal Road whenever the class was over, or sometimes, he’d even skip classes to do so.

Min Sura’s eyes narrowed.

‘His attendance must be bad, his exam score must also be a mess.’

While his friends looked at Choe Sang Jun with pity filled thoughts, Lee Hyun had a different viewpoint.

‘So jealous.’

The capsule room regular!

The hourly rate of the capsule room can be as much as 5000 Won.

Because of the price of the capsule was expensive, the fee calculated of about this much must be correct.

Hence, Lee Hyun could not enumerate the pocket money he must have had to become a regular of the capsule room.

‘I’m not like these deep pocket guys.’

He admired Sang Jun's plentiful boldness and ambition.

In the capsule room, there were capsules with special purposes. The main screen inside the room launched with their individual gameplay.

Choe Sang Jun of the Black Lion Guild confidently disclosed his appearance; thanks to that, the capsule room attracted a lot of strangers.

“Ooooooo.”

“New armor.”

Along with the footages that came out just as Choe Sang Jun connected, the exclamations could be heard.

“Water Elementalist armor. Just for a level 280, the set costs more than 1.4 million Won.”

The set was recognized as something a lot of top users typically wore.

‘Because we have Sang Jun, we’re going to be able to do the dungeon exploration assignment easily.’

‘Such relief. We can leisurely prepare.’

Lee Yu Jeong was a level 200 Blade Master, but she was uneasy knowing of Min Sura, an Enchanter by trade who could not provide good enough assistance in combat. But now, she was relieved while looking at the reliable Choe Sang Jun.

Lee Hyun also approached the part-timer.

“Will you also get on Royal Road?”

Lee Hyun agonizes while nodding.

“Yes. Please get me a capsule.”

It was like throwing money away, but since he was already present, it was better than acting out a fool.

He decided if he was going to use money, he would raise even more on Royal Road than what he had spent.

His capsule was right next to Lee Yu Jeong and Min Sura.

“Then Oppa, cya later.”

“Have fun.”

Spending money in the capsule room!

Lee Hyun gave a light nod then entered capsule.

* * *

When Weed connected, peace was absent in those in Morata.

There was multitude of beginners looking for hunting parties consisting of just them; and going on quests together.

“Level 1. All the classless come here.”

At someone's beckoning, dozens of people gathered toward him.

“Looking for people to catch Rabbit.”

Currently, over 100 beginners gathered up.

There was no bothersome distinction to be made.

These people who didn’t even dress up in combatant’s clothing accumulated and proudly crossed the gate; hitherto, it seems to be the Merchant’s dream.

“In order to make camp, we need to build a bonfire…does anybody have a flint?”

“With our power, we'll be fine even with Wolves.”

Even though they were beginners, the number was frightening.

A crew of more than 100 novices!

Without exception, more than 10 parties consisted of nothing but beginners went to the field and hunted in front of the village.

More than a week in real life slipped pass since Weed was in the Domestic Affair Mode of the Lord.

He had intended to make ways toward the Dwarves Kingdom immediately after logging in, but the Soldiers seems to be starting their training a bit late at this time.

“Ven, Stam, Yuple.”

“Yes, My Lord!”

The Soldiers came to Weed and saluted ceremoniously.

“You guys must lead the others well.”

“Understood, My Lord!”

“I will follow the Lord’s command.”

The light in the Soldiers’ eyes were adamant, giving them enough validity.

* * *

Weed went hunting with these Soldiers four weeks earlier on the Versailles Continent.

Needless to say the hunt wasn't even decent for him. They were just catching Foxes, Rabbits, or Wolves in front of the town, and then traveled together to some easy dungeon.

Basic dungeon that has Kobolds, Rogues, Lions, Skeletons, and Ghouls.

In there, Weed displayed his absolute ability to conduct.

“Do not hesitate to draw your swords for the sake of the innocent residents.”

“Yes!”

“GO! Do not rest your body! You must remember that in order to make the village safe, you have to hunt a lot of Monsters.”

Weed led the Soldiers and ceaselessly hunted.

There was no need to use the method like he had in the past, where he would bandage and cook in order to gain the trust of the Soldiers.

“Do it this way to cut away the Kobold.”

When Weed used the Sculpturing Blade and sharply cut it at the waist, the Kobold literally turned to gray.

The strength of one hovers above level 300!

“Wow!”

“He is indeed the Lord!”

“He deserves to be an important Knight among the Knighthood with power of that extent.”

In reality, the current level of the conscripted Knights in town wasn’t even at 10.

Because of the disposition of the Soldiers, they were loyal to the Lord and respected his powers, and that was enough to gain their trust.

“Looks like the sword's Durability is nearly gone. Don’t you know how to take care of the sword?”

Weed threw in a comment, the Soldiers bowed while they were reprimanded.

“Sorry, Sire.”

“Here, let me see.”

Subsequently, at occasions, he would take their swords to repair, and he would only bandage the Soldiers liberally just before their death.

The eyes of the Soldiers changed.

Twinkle twinkle!

‘There is nothing our Lord can’t do.’

‘We need to become Soldiers with good judgment to protect the village.’

Loyalty quickly hit 100%.

Ven, Stam, and Yuple had the fastest growth; their levels were in the 30's and rose to Denarions.

Weed’s rapid hunting method.

While the routes taken shortened, breaks were also reduced.

The quickening result was achieved by working in combination with the Spearmen, Swordsmen, the Shield, and Archers.

The second week.

Weed led the Soldiers further into the depth of the dungeon.

When they were camping at night, flock of Monsters attacked.

It won’t make a bit of difference to Weed, not even as an after meal snack; but for the Soldiers, they were fighting for their very survival.

“Strike!”

“The Skeleton’s too strong!”

“These Monsters are like in a different dimension comparing to those we fought till now.”

While listening to clamors of the Soldiers, Weed was sitting in the back sewing. He was manufacturing clothing as a hobby with fabrics Mapan brought him.

Nevertheless, he was never completely withdrawn from taking care of the Soldiers as he would immediately intervene at any dangerous juncture.

If it was not a time where he would have to draw his sword and jump in, he would just send commands in their direction.

“Swordmen, Spearmen, to the rear. Take a break. Shields, form formation and push back the enemies. Archers, fire the silver plated arrows!”

Weed took care of the Soldiers one by one, trying to keep them from dying. He tried to keep them from taking risks before combat, but still, they were barely able pull it through.

With the effects of the Light Tower and the blessing of the Clergymen of Freya, their growth quickens much faster with each hunt.

“Charge! No time to rest. Fight. Only one minute of rest after you kill all of your enemies.”

Weed used Lion's Roar while pushing forth his Soldiers.

The Soldiers grew stronger with the intensity of the training along with further increase of Familiarity.

Finally, at the end of four weeks, they became full-fledged Soldiers that lack nothing.

Ven, Stam, and Yuple levels were beyond 60, and became adept with the flow of battle and were able to make judgment for themselves.

They were promoted to Centurions.

“In order to defend Morata, more Soldiers are needed. From now on, you guys are role models for future Soldiers.”

“Yes!”

To conclude the four weeks training, Weed gave them that speech.

The undisciplined Soldiers.

They underwent the hellish training and learn the minute details about battles as Soldiers.

It was an effective measure.

The Authority of an Experienced Instructor.

Having directly trained by His Majesty and under his Leadership, the Soldiers will dedicate unconditional Loyalty to Lord of Morata, Weed.

The effect of Leadership rises by 3% permanently.

“Cherish the lives of your fellow colleagues. Along with them, you are to take care of the village.”

“Yes Sire! We will follow the Lord’s command.”

After them, Weed reeled in an additional thousand Soldiers. Because Morata’s proximity was has widened, they needed to have more Soldiers.

While only actively invested commercially which resulted in the explosive growth of the economy; now it was time to invest in the military.

At this time, the territories of Morata were half of Rosenheim Kingdom, so they needed more Soldiers in comparison to before.

Keeping the peace is also one of the important tasks of the Lord, after all.

Consequentially resulted in a slight reduction of bold investments into technological development, increase housing, improving crops and industrialization.

It was just an eventuality: he was stepping closer day by day towards an evil Lord’s dream of future exploitation through the adjustment of the tax rate.

* * *

Regaining himself after revisiting those past four weeks, Weed moved to a remote hill away from the village of Morata.

“Wah-il, Wah-thul, Wah-sam!”[1]

He called forth the Wyvern sculptures he once infused life into.

Far beyond the mountains of Morata, six dots emerged. Those flecks expanded with huge wings and were approaching at a high velocity.

Along with the group of Wyverns, the glittering golden Geumini[2] was riding atop Wah-il.

Weed was thrilled witnessing their imposing appearances.

“You’re all alright!”

He looked relieved, the look of those who place their money into a safe!

As soon as the Wyverns landed on the ground, they waddled toward him and nudged him using their bodies affectionately.

“Master, good to see you.”

“We missed you too, too much.”

While in Todoom, Weed’s Leadership and Charisma didn’t have a significant growth.

However, for the Wyverns, his existence was that of a parent!

They showed intimacy that was no different than that towards a biological father.

“Hmm guys, I think you’ve gained a little weight.”

“Kkyaruk?”

The Wyverns eyes blinked and shook their heads.

The kind of attitude of pretending not understanding when someone speaks English.

In reality, they got fatter once they became too lazy; and later on it became harder for them to fly. They hunted preys while mainly staying on the ground.

Due to the retreat of the cold in the North, the Wyverns also felt a sense of crisis with the large scale of Monsters activities.

‘The preys are also serious business.’

‘We have to stay alive here.’

The Wyverns original disposition was that they could take to the sky.

Their inherent specialty was aerial combat, while Geumini was to shoot arrows.

They noticed that the Monsters in the North were stronger, so they fought with the mindset of defending their territory.

The territories of Morata!

They lived everyday while hunting Monsters.

When they were first granted life, their levels were around 323.

They battled against the Legion of Immortality, and with the Northern Expedition, they fought against the Bone Dragon!

While experiencing most of their battles with Weed, their levels also reached the 360's.

Facet accumulated on their lustrous wings and such effects. Their bodies were scarred, giving them an imposing appearance.

“Well, it’s not like you’re severely obese or anything. It must have been hard during the time I wasn’t around.”

Weed carefully applied bandages to cover up the inscribed wounds they received during those time.

“Kkyakkkyakkkyak!”

The Wyverns thanked frivolously as he rub their bodies.

The clothing he made for them to cope with the cold of the North from Wolf Leathers had become tattered.

However, comparing to the Monsters that did not have the armor, the Wolf Leather clothing gave them a considerable effect. They boast significant help in tight victories against other sizable Monsters in their territorial disputes.

Weed spoke faintly while collecting the Wolf Leather clothing that had severely past their expiration date.

“You must have had a lot of troubles. Eat more.”

The happy Wyverns showed extreme elation to the Weed who had returned!

They had thought with his homecoming, so would the abuse and smacking, but this was really a good thing.

‘The owner has become a human now.’

‘I knew that he was not a rude master.’

The affinity of the Wyverns seemed to have risen dramatically.

Wah-sam turned around and extruded his back.

“Master, if you want to ride, ride on my back. Is there a place where you want to go?”

“There is so let’s finish it here.”

Weed immediately got on Wah-sam’s back.

“The goal is southward. It is now time for a trip!”

Whenever the Wyvern flapped his wings, Weed climbed higher and higher into the sky.

Daylight was fading away far behind the sky, and they flew in the night sky among the scattering stars.

Kureungreung-kwagwagwang! Kwangkwang!

They flew into an area where a bunch of clouds suddenly amassed, pouring rain and thunderbolts struck.

In the cold rain, Weed and the Wyverns’ bodies were soaked.

The frustratingly rain continued to pour; falling onto some brightly lit nameless villages and castle.

The lush weeds’ bodies tilted to the will of the wind, while the rain was stirring on the surface of the river.

The risen river flooded to and fro at a place where fishermen congregated.

Members of hunting parties, as well as individual Adventurers could be seen running through the prairies.

Hanttam. Hanttam.

Weed was sewing while seated on the back of the Wyvern.

He was creating new armor for the Wyverns by recycling the torn Wolf Leather they were using.

He was hard at work without a care in the romanticism of the splendor of Mother Nature!

Only Weed could understand his sentiment.

‘No need to be hasty, working hard step by step and the number will accumulate making this a joyous trip! The real enjoyment, not like those fake happy glued-on eyes on those dolls for 10 years old. The excitement is similar to the thumping in my chest at this high elevation. In this way, when I work hard, I’m really unaware of the time.'

The endowed innate temperament which was perfected through accumulated experiences; now he was taking pleasure in the steps of laborious tasks!

“Is that the Mubain Castle?”

Weed shot up on the Wyvern’s back.

On the ground, a castle with pointy spires and huge walls could be seen.

The castle that was currently occupied by the Lord Crescendo of the Black Serpent Guild!

It wasn’t the capital of a kingdom but many users have gathered in the huge metropolis. The number of users was unparalleled even to those of the Rosenheim Kingdom Seraborg; Mubain was something comparable to that of the Somren Liberty City.

“Master, is that place the destination?”

Wah-sam asked while flapping his wings strenuously.

Weed shook his head.

“Nah. We only have a little more to go till we get there.”

“Alright, Master.”

Wah-sam continued on.

They passed by Mubain, along with several other towns and castles. But Weed did not tell them to descend to those locations.

‘The secret of Sculpturing Skill. If I go by the Goddess Freya’s revelation, I might be right if I just go there without checking Human's towns.’

He thought it’d be in vain if he stops to investigate, so he wanted to directly go to the location he initially assumes to be correct from the get go.

They flew for three more hours.

About five hours have passed after they flew over Mubain Castle.

“It..it’s hard, Master. Substitute someone else to get there.”

“Just hang on.”

“Ho…how much longer is ther…”

“We’re almost there.”

Wah-sam was flapping with his dying strength.

The tip of his wings were shaking hard, informing him that exhaustion was reaching its max.

This might be the first time that the Wyvern’s wing power was about to give out.

Two more hours passed by and Wah-sam was essentially pleading.

“Master, please, let’s take a break!”

“We’ll be there soon.”

Another hour passed.

“I…I’m really tired…so…can the other sibling switch in for me, Master?”

The other Wyverns were flying at a distance from where they were. From the time when Wah-sam first got tired, they distanced themselves in advance with this specific situation in mind.

The Wyverns’ intelligence when it comes to this, was excellent.

Whether they were horses or Wyverns, their momentary acceleration was extremely fast, but their endurance was rather low. In addition to the duration of the flight, they would be hard pressed to keep afloat while carrying Weed.

“Annoying. If it’s just a bit more, why are you making it such a hassle getting there?”

The tone that relays that affection was running dry!

If Weed wasn’t the parent figure to him, Wah-sam would have betrayed Weed already.

This is the reason why children put up with their parents hypocrisies!

So Wah-sam endured a little more and gently asked again.

“Master, how much longer?”

“Now, we just got a bit more to go.”

“……”

Weed’s indifferent words cruelly spat out.

If it was just ‘a bit more to go,’ then they would have been done by the time they passed by the proximity of Mubain.

From then, they flew for four more hours.

The mountains and mountainous ranges on the ground were huge.

Dense forest with plenty of trees, tunnels drilled in on the side of the mountains, and Dwarves that had no difficulty crossing said mountain could be seen.

The scenery of the lustrous green mountain that could be seen from the sky was breathtaking, but Wah-sam’s optics had long changed to yellow.

“Whew, just 2 more hours now and we're there.”

“……”

* * *

Unlike the other kingdoms that were on the plains or beside a river, the Thor Kingdom was unusually lined throughout three mountainous ranges.

Norn Mountain, Ulta Mountain, Saigorn Mountain.

The kingdom that grew alongside the Dwarves over 600 years.

The kingdom of those with extremely dominating specialization.

Gold, Silver, Platinum, Amber, Sapphire, Jade, Diamond, Malachite, Rose Quartz, Amethyst, Ruby, Opal, and countless other gems. As well as minerals such as Iron, Copper, Bronze, and Mithril.

From these, along with the Dwarves’ refinement and carving abilities, they were manufactured into good befitting the Thor Kingdom's notability.

Innately, Dwarves were given the Handicraft skill; and because of the fact that they were abundant in metal, a lot of whom became Blacksmiths that creates swords and armors.

The goods that were made by the Dwarves could sell anywhere at a premium without as much as saying a word, and they even give out additional commerce Experiences.

For that reason, Merchant never cease from visiting the Thor Kingdom.

However, Dwarves of the Thor Kingdom does not feel even the slightest euphoria. Their one and only agonizing fault.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] "와일아, 와둘아, 와삼아!": Basically, their names are just WAH(colloquially) and a number, in this case 1, 2, 3. The reason I chose to spell out the numbers unlike going with numbered Geomchi is because there's only six Wyverns, whereas there are 505 Geomchis. If I were to spell out Geom-499-chi, it'd be Geom-sahbaekkushipku-chi, rather long winded. I seem to remember that the Wyverns' name has this suffix "ii" to it though, so i may have to change this later.

↑ [2] Geumini(금 인이): His name in English is Goldman. Opt out going with the romanized Korean since google translate won't translate this either. Personal preference, really.

Chapter 9: The Dwarf Art Hand

There was someone accompanied the Wyverns that flew over the hills of the Thor Kingdom.

The man's identity was none other than Weed!

Weed walked with the carving knife out after he sent the Wyverns into the sky.

“I gotta find me a small rock.”

When he carved the Orc Karichwi, the rock was a sizable one; but it shouldn't necessarily be at that size this time around.

However, it was difficult for him to find a worthy rock.

Due to the lustrous forest dense with trees, the rocks were well hidden by the mountain.

“Ima just go with wood then.”

Weed cut a branch from the tree and cleaved the foliage on the upper part of the branch to make a Log.

He was prepping the material with the Sculpturing Skill.

After that, he used the Carving Knife to give it finer details.

At first, the overall composition of the head and torso were made, from there he pondered about the measurement of the legs.

“If I make it about 30% shorter than normal, it should be right.”

Weed worked while squatting down in order to use it as a comparison.

He carved thick and ample legs, no waist from the hip to the chest; resulted in a thickly built figure.

“I have a feeling the Log’s lacking…”

Despite the thickest wood he obtained nearby as material, he felt it was rather deficient.

Weed reluctantly held the piece with both hands and continued to carve. He made bold short arms, and decided on how to carve the head as the last remaining region.

“Dwarf. I have to match the Dwarves’ properties.”

Dwarves, stubborn and never abdicate.

Possessed by the excitement in a battle against Monsters and never backing down, for the ones who chose their profession as Champions or Warriors.

Naturally, they were the strongest of species, disregarding the standard set with their small stature.

At the same time, with the innate Handicraft Skill, anything placed in Craftsmen’s crude hand can be fashioned into something beautiful.

The interpersonal relationship of the Dwarves is not something harmonious.

In many cases, those that have decided their lives to their goal as a craftsman, stay inside their workshops and do not come out.

Because of this, in contrast to their great works, they do not get along well with others unlike the other species.

The Race have said to brighten up with exceptional quality of ores, gems, Mithril and the likes; the Race that said to have an unusual greed for equipment and materials.

The species that loves molten metal and purely adorn nothing.

Weed carved the stocky figure of the Dwarf.

With a wayward mouth and despising saggy eyes even at times with no other to stare at.

Long and full beard that ran down to the chest.

By one strand to another, the hair seems to be given life within the beard.

If the Sculpturing Skill hadn’t reach such a cultivated state, such finer detail was not possible.

Similarly, at this point, the short and thick arms and legs were fashioned.

Weed was pleased with the self-made sculpture.

“At this level, it’s pretty good for a dwarf I haven’t even seen, huh?”

It was not scary to look at night comparing to the Orc Karichwi he made.

“It’s not bad at this level. Shape Shifting Sculpture!”

Used Shape Shifting Sculpture.

For having infinite affection toward the Sculpture, the Sculptor and the Sculpture will resemble one another!

Weed’s body changed to assume the divine figure of the sculpture.

His stature was getting shorter, legs thickened. His trunk got thin and his arms also thickened. On the other hand, his head grew larger and his beard was growing longer. And wrinkles formed around his eyes, making his age unknown.

The shape of the body have gotten smaller, many equipment the body is wearing at the moment is impossible to use.

The armor plate or the body armor accidentally slipped to the mouth.

Depending on the form of the race, new necessary equipment are needed.

Due to the impact of the Shape Shifting Sculpture, Endurance, Strength, Luck will increase slightly.

Effectiveness of the Handicraft Skill increases by 5%.

Art stat is rising dramatically.

Shape Shifting Sculpture skill will be effective until it is lifted.

“Keoheoheoheum!”

Weed gave a long cough as a Dwarf.

And he walked toward the direction of the targeted Dwarf village.

Being a short legged Dwarf, the center of gravity that came along with it made it very easy, but with every step taken, he was panting at a lot of spot during the distance traveled.

Nevertheless, Weed diligently moved with each step while being lost in thoughts.

“This time, what should the Dwarf’s name be, hmm?”

In his head, several names flashed by.

Just as Orc karichwi, he needed a name that leaves a strong impression.

“Art Hand. This is a name that can express the delicate world of art.”

* * *

When Lee Hyun was released from the capsule, his school friends were sitting in the lounge drinking beverages while watching TV.

Heroes of the Versailles Continent.

It was the CTS Media’s own information program.

It report news quickly and introduces information of castles or villages of starters; a more in-depth analysis oriented kind of program.

MCed by one with a comedic background, with wits and humor that came along with him, the show had a considerable audience.

“Oppa, you’re done?”

Min Sura asked pleasantly, Lee Hyun nodded his head.

“Yeah.”

“Did you do a lot of hunting?”

“No. I had to go somewhere so I didn’t hunt at all.”

“Where did you go?”

Choe Sang Jun cut in the middle and asked with a sudden interest.

“Thor Kingdom.”

“When you say Thor Kingdom, you mean the Dwarves kingdom?”

Choe Sang Jun asked in wonder.

The other school friends who barraged each other seemed to also be quite interested.

“It’s one of the places I want to go to if it’s that Dwarves kingdom.”

“What does the Thor Kingdom look like?”

However, Lee Hyun didn’t have an apparent answer to that question.

“I’ve only just arrived in the vicinity of the kingdom…I have yet to enter the village so I can’t say.”

“Ah, so that’s it.”

Lee Yu Jeong nodded her head.

The Versailles Continent was really extensive, to move from one kingdom to another logically shouldn’t take just one or two days.

Even if he does ride on a horse or carriage, he'd still have to climb mountains and take the winding roads, so it will take a long time before reaching the desired location.

Therefore, it was understandable the he had not entered the Thor Kingdom as of yet.

Park Sunjo said with concerns.

“I’ve also went to the Thor Kingdom. But Hyeong, are you some kind of Merchant?”

“Why is that?”

“Those that are of the warrior series occupation doesn’t go well at Thor Kingdom. Magicians and elementalists are also just like that. They are seriously territorial. But if you’re a Merchant that takes the goods of the Thor Kingdom to sell, then you’d be fine as you’re greatly benefiting the south.”

Lee Hyun answered after a bit of hesitation.

“I’m a Sculptor.”

“……”

“……”

Just telling his occupation had the power to silence people.

Additionally, they gave him pitiable and apologetic eyes.

It reminded them the first time ever since they’ve talked to him.

Min Sura strive some courage upward and said.

“Cheer up. Nowadays, there’s even a famous person who is a Sculptor. Maybe Oppa also heard of him. Weed.”

“……”

“Ah, you haven’t heard of him? He makes a lot of really amazing sculptures, and he also a user that traveled to the world of Vampires.”

And then, Lee Yu Jeong said while smiling.

“Sura, that Weed was born with the innate ability to sculpt. He’s a person that was imposed by art at his very soul. So does it really matter that he chose to be a Sculptor in Royal Road? That person is also the Lord of a province, so it’d be discourteous to compare Oppa to someone like that person.”

“Keuheum.”

Lee Hyun coughed.

For them to talk like that about the person in question was rather embarrassing.

There was even a broadcast about the Weed that came to the land that was occupied by the Vampires, but because his face and equipment were obscured, it was difficult to recognize him.

If his Dark Gamer identity and the said Weed were found out to be synonymous with the Jeonshin Weed, then he’d had to pay the high price of facing numerous challengers and his subsequent adventures would also be impossible to carry out.

Choe Sang Jun spoke as a-matter-of-fact.

“If you’re a Sculptor then it’ll benefit you a lot by going to the Thor Kingdom huh. There are a lot of mineral there, and there will be a good amount of commissions for you there too. Please try and work hard.”

Choe Sang Jun was implicating that because Lee Hyun was a Sculptor, he wouldn’t be any help at exploring dungeons, so he told him to be vigilant.

‘It’ll be fine if I just lead the dungeon exploration.’

When Choe Sang Jun put on a contented smile, the broadcast of the Heroes of Versailles Continent resume after the commercial ads.

Lee Hyun had little interest, but the broadcast with contents related to him was shown.

“Daejin ssi, if we change our conversation to talk about the north, then definitely, we cannot leave out Morata.”

“Yes. It’s exactly as you said, Yu Dambi ssi. Many adventurers went to the north since the melting of the icecaps, but still a vast majority of the comments said it's still premature. The reason being the unknown land made it very difficult to settle.”

“I have heard that the northern region was dangerous because of how active the Monsters are.”

“That’s right. However, with the people gathering at Morata and its rapid development, it was constructed as a foundation where one can settle down to some extent. Someday it will also be able subjugate the Monster grounds; as more and more people emigrate, the era of full-scale development in the north is expected to come.”

“Yes. That’s so, Part 1 we will talk about the north and Morata. Well then, what information will be covered in Part 2?”

In the Part 1 of the broadcast, information about the north were commented.

With emphasis being on Morata, trend of the users and hunting grounds were the usual ingredients.

Lee Hyun thought of this positively.

‘It’d be good if they talk more. If more people come to the north through the broadcast, then so will the income coming to me.’

Lee Hyun figured with the audiences coming to Morata to spend money, so willthe growth of his income.

“Well now, here’s a fresh supply of news flash that we’ll show our dear audience. Daejin ssi!”

“Ok, Dambi ssi.”

“This here is the hot new adventure of the Jeonshin Weed that has been disclosed to the public.”

“The record of the historic Palrangka Conflict that has recently climbed the Hall of Fame. We will show a brief clip directly from it.”

The TV screen changed and Weed appeared in the form of a skeleton. Compilation of shots of Weed accepting the request of the Princess, ridden on the white horse as they raced through the battlefield that was clamoring with enemies everywhere appeared.

“Holy cow…”

“Even my heart is pounding.”

Min Sura and Lee Yu Jeong clenched their hands and did not avert their gaze from the broadcast.

They were watching the pretty nifty scenes by Lee Hyun.

KMC Media was the first to air the Palrangka Conflict, and landed first of the weekly viewership rating. Five days later, the original video of the Palrangka Conflict was posted and ranked first in view counts, first on recommended, and first on the number of comments.

Indeed it had the best popularity. And this, spawned exuberant speculations.

“If we look at these footage of the Jeonshin Weed then there are alooot of unascertained points. And I've heard a lot of controversy over these points.”

“Judging from either the national symbol or from the soldiers’ cries, it is certain that the underlying place is the Palrangka Conflict. But the point of how was he able to jump into this battle evoked a lot of suspicions.”

“What specific notions are there?”

“That maybe it’s just a quest. Whether this fight was the end of some obvious tier quest or not, after that, then there are many other questions regarding it remains.”

From KMC Media, the information they investigated from the Palrangka Conflict such as the dynamics of each kingdom, Monster groups’ relationship, magic and skill were air on TV.

After the full broadcast that went on beforehand, Lee Hyun was then allowed to show the original source to the public.

Even so, the original footage also began at Palrangka Conflict.

The part of him getting through the Intermediate Training Center up till when he picked up and read the Knight’s book was removed.

If he show this section to the public, then on Royal Road, everybody will be on the same wavelength and kimchi will be known as jimjang instead.[1]

The situation that may arise is that they will claim ownership of the known tower and wages wars over them, they will also devote everything they have to pass the training center.

It was one of those adventures where one will surrender himself to it.

If too much information is disclosed to the public, the situation will become lines of people waiting at each training center; and that would have been the wrong way to enjoy the pleasure of Royal Road.

Because there is a need to keep secrets of the unfinished adventures of Lee Hyun that the broadcasters also reliably kept it a secret.

“I’ve also heard of a lot of inconsistencies about the combat ability of Jeonshin Weed.”

“During the Legion of Immortality war, he demonstrated the ability of an excellent conductor. He dealt with the Orcs and the Dark Elves smoothly. Thanks to the loud Lion's Roar Conducting Skill, we assumed that he has very high Leadership and Charisma. Speculations of his occupation of a Paladin at that time was thrown into the wild.”

“Because the best class to raise the Leadership and Conducting Skill is of the Knight series, huh.”

“It’s the point that's widely accepted, since the time he went to battle with the Jin-Hyeol Vampires, there were circulating rumors of him being a Paladin of Freya. But when he appeared after a break and began battling against the Bone Dragon, he used magic of the Necromancer, and also showed remarkable fighting abilities.”

“But this time around, we know for sure he didn’t use Necromancer magic.”

“And I think because of that, that I feel that this controversy was staged. There must be a reason why he couldn’t use Necromancer magic, or he might deliberately chose not to.”

“That power…he deliberately not shows it to the public?”

Yu Dambi widened her eyes.

How much overflowing confident Weed must have had, fighting with just a bayonet without using any magic.

Dambi had the expression of not knowing how come or for whatever reason why Lee Hyun didn’t use Necromancer magic.

Choe Daejin, who was temporarily distracted from his job when he looked at Yu Dambi who was oh-so pretty, hurriedly said.

“Heumheum. It’s a possibility that we can’t rule out. But now we’re talking about how fierce the battle was…”

“But if it’s Jeonshin Weed then couldn’t it be that it wasn’t deliberate that he didn’t use magic?”

It was unavoidable as Yu Dambi too was a fan of Weed.

While covering Royal Road, there weren’t many people that could give her so much excitement and heat her heart.

Not Guild Masters or Ranked Players. If they obtain airtime, then they are too busy showing themselves off.

It goes without saying that they are Castellans or Lords.

They practically use NPC Soldiers to take care of their property whose powers were far beyond the normal users instead of guild members.

It was commonplace that there were many cases where they used tricks, buy, vile blackmailing, backstabs to horde; and beginners and weak users weren’t even treated as people.

There were good Lords too, but on the Versailles Continent, there were many more Lords in comparison who only advocate for themselves.

Because of this, she mainly deals with adventurers that has her respect and envy.

Those that continuously searching for challenges such as treasures or fetching a promise!

She had known the God of War since Weed was on the Continent of Magic, but he solved many impossible and herald quests on RR too.

He was the very symbol of adventurers doing commissions that others could not, and a symbol of the hunt itself.

“I’d only be guessing at this moment. His physical ability to fight is a bit superior comparing to the last time. I can’t repress my astonishment seeing things such as his reflexes, instantaneous judgment, resolution, and accuracy while fighting. The footage seen of him being able to keep balance and fight may even be questionable for martial artists to do so in real life. However, some users provided fair and highly credible comments as to that.”

“What is it?”

“When he meets some certain condition, the Jeonshin Weed monster, by that I mean Undead can emerge at that time. Because apparently, his appearances at time of the Bone Dragon and of this time in the Palrangka Conflict had a significant difference; and this ideology spread and gained convictions.”

“I too think there aren’t that much a number of users wandering around in the form of a skeleton.”

“Common sense can’t fit here. If someone comes into the town in a form of a skeleton, then pretty soon rumors about him will spread.”

The Power to Deny Death is a higher ranking skill belonging to the Blood Necromancer vocation.

There were still not many that wanted to become a Necromancer; the Magician’s second tier job. In other words, the third job that should be the Blood Necromancer was still only mere conjecture.

At this time, Lee Hyun tried to leisurely stand up from his spot. Unfortunately, the rest of the broadcast was also associated with him.

* * *

“This time, the news will be on the war between Kallamore Kingdom and Kingdom of Haven on the Versailles Continent. The Knight of Destruction Koldrim. Has he done anything with the ruthless army that he leads?”

“Yes. This time, in the wake of the Kallamore Kingdom’s march, the helplessly slaughtered Kingdom of Haven lost its Sistain Fort as it meets its fall.”

“The Sistain Fort siege. I’d like to watch this. Do we have footage of this?”

“Of course, we have some newly obtained juicy videos. We will now show the power of Koldrim leading the Kallamore Kingdom’s army and the actions of their Knights. Let’s watch together with our viewers.”

The screen of the broadcast was changed to the siege of Sistain.

Puhihihing!

The horses coarsely exhaled as they shot off.

“Hit! Destroy! Do not leave a single foundation of the Kingdom of Haven unturn and sweep them all!”

“For the glory of the Kallamore Kingdom!”

“Use your sword for honor and victory and for our King!”

Immediately, the greyly lit sky poured down a thick veil of rain.

By the ladders and ropes, the soldiers of Kallamore Kingdom seized the walls of the Sistain Fort.

Siege weapons and battering rams were mobilized to knock down the gate; and from the rear, attacks were hurled from the Archer troops and the Magicians.

The Sistain Fort looked so pathetic among the colossal firepower concentrated there.

Attacks were pouring in with the literal intention of not leaving a brick left undeterred.

“Fight with courage!”

“Die here for the future of the kingdom!”

Although the Kingdom of Haven's Soldier fought hard, it did not look like they were going to win the fight.

The well-trained forces of the Kallamore Kingdom slowly but increasingly breeding their forces, and have already reached 150000 members. Along with making use of slaves made of the Haven Kingdom’s residents and surrendered soldiers, who were placed at the forefront of their troops, their number grew.

Condemnation of the slaves and random looting.

Their Knights engaged combat behind the enemies’ line, throw them into confusion, guerrilla warfare, melee, as well as sieges.

They were cruel being who would not accept a single surrender when the battle begins.

Knights of Destruction.

The being that was born for war.

These were the evaluations of the commander in chief Koldrim through his won battles.

“Ah! Completely awesome.”

Choe SangJun said as he seemed to admire it.

The Sistain Fort was neutralized before the concerted movements of the Kallamore army.

“How much Leadership points are required to fully handle that many soldiers there?”

Although he did not know how strong the individual soldiers of the Kallamore Kingdom were, he evaluated the commanding ability of Koldrim as excellent.

The battle was composedly carried out.

Koldrim first surrounded the fort as to prevent reinforcements from providing support.

With the forces of the Sistain Fort being just 20000, without reinforcements, it was impossible for them to defend it against an army that was 3~4 times larger in size.

At most, they could at least delay the inevitable until reinforcements come.

Thus, Koldrim first struck around the fort, leaving the road to go to the capital of the Kingdom of Haven wide open. Because of so, it completely disrupted the army of the Kingdom of Haven from ensuring their fort.

Although the troops of the Kingdom of Haven weren’t on the lacking side, they could not prevent it from happening.

Considering in the war, usually the ones attacking were at much of a disadvantage; but for those having been trapped indoors, they will not escape from their enemies.

* * *

When the Kallamore Kingdom first declared war, users of the Kingdom of Haven were glad.

‘Declaration of war? It’s a good opportunity to raise contribution.’

‘War between countries. This is going to be great. I ought to participate.’

The participating users who were without doubts of being victorious went together to defend the Kingdom of Haven.

However, the Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom.

Before the large assault of the Knight troops, the users of the Kingdom of Haven got goose bumps.

The 9000 horse ridden Knights and cavalries charged with their lances held out. summoning a cloud of dust in their power rush.

Even with steady foots on the ground, the earth shook, and the sound of their battle cries could even tear off eardrums!

“Wha, what the.”

“Let’s avoid this. If I’m going to the front, it’s an unconditional death for me.”

“But, the soldiers…”

“You idiot! If you die, what do you think will happen to the soldiers after that?”

The forces at the forefront consisted of users panicked and escaped the battlefield in embarrassment, making the morale of the troops of the Kingdom of Haven drop further into the abyss.

Centurions, Chiliarch, and even Knights of the Kingdom of Haven excused themselves to the back in the wake of the Kallamore army’s frontal assault.

As they could not see those who would often give command during the struggle, the ranks naturally collapse one after another.

As oppose to the Haven’s users, those who mingled themselves among the Kallamore Kingdom’s Knights gained further intensity as they watched the spectacle. They poised themselves on the offensive, looking to devastate the already collapsed army.

At this point, they slay their enemies without sparing a single thought.

In the midst of the main force’s thorough desecrating assault, Koldrim commanded the Archer troops to fire arrows into the battlefield from afar.

Echelons of the Kingdom of Haven subsequently plunged into further disarray as they were besiege by the storm of arrows while not having a single command issued.

The belief that they could withstand the Kallamore members’ assault was an indescribable delusion.

Kallamore Kingdom’s army was definitively winning, while the Kingdom of Haven was suffering a heavy defeat.

It wasn’t easy for those that tried to defy and escape the Kallamore Knight’s pursuit, as they were attacked till the brink of death.

Lastly, Magicians of the Kingdom of Haven burned all their Mana as they resisted until their end, but their impact on this war was rather insignificant.

Koldrim also commanded part of his army to concentrate on breaking though their enemy’s camp decisively.

Under the brutal assault by subjects of Koldrim, souls of the users of the Kingdom of Haven simply dissispitated from within.

Thereafter, the Kingdom of Haven did not have a single decent attack and was force to be on the defensive.

The Kallamore Kingdom went on plundering for however long afterward in order to secure materials; as for Kodrim, he was dubbed as the “Reaper of the Battlefield.”

And now, during the Sistain Battle, not a single stepping stone has left unturned since the skirmish started.

Choe Sang Jun spoke without removing his sight from the monitor.

“Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom is really strong…I suppose it isn’t called the Kingdom of Knights for no reason. And it seems they also have the support of many users also…”

Similarly, Lee Yu Jeong and Min Sura nodded in agreement without removing their gaze.

Seems as though their hearts also wanted to cheer for the Kallamore Kingdom.

The Kingdom of Haven has an unusually large amount of prestigious guilds. From their claimed exclusive hunting grounds along with their excessive taxation, those that do not receive unjust treatment from them are rare.

So for these guys, they cheered on vicariously within their hearts for Koldrim’s pleasurable assault.

For normal users who did not opted to participate in the war, there was nothing for them to lose even if they were users of the Kingdom of Haven.

In fact, those that did give their support to the Haven army contributed little for the situation.

It was hard to remedy the situation even if they tried as videos of Kallamore Kingdom overly dominating the Kingdom of Haven were already spewing out from everywhere.

Also the impact of the current news broadcast was not something that could be ignored.

The underlying truth of the matter was that the tide of the war was ultimately tipped toward Kallamore Kingdom’s favor.

Lee Hyun felt satisfied.

‘It was a good thing to release him after all…’

This was the same guy that was revered as the ‘Knight of Destruction’ who was trapped by the Vampires.

Lee Hyun was proud to recall the huge contribution made to Kallamore Kingdom with his release as well as intimacy with Koldrim.

The Sistain Fortress could not halt the Kallamore Kingdom’s army advances and was eventually taken down.

The confined space made their siege weapons hard to be utilized, while their Magicians had to sit through their cooldown.

“Men, march!”

Koldrim chose the simple tactic of piercing through without a moment of hesitation.

Even with the disadvantageous position of being those that are committing the siege, soldiers of the Kallamore Kingdom attack in unison.

“Please leave me be!”

“Gotta get inside.”

Kingdom of Haven members’ morale fell further. For their self-interest, they created a tangled mess as they tried to get inside.

At their heels, soldiers of Kallamore Kingdom cemented their victory as they pull closer to the entanglement.

And then, a massive wave of Kallamore Kingdom Knights entered!

They were heavily tired from combat, but it wasn’t so hard solidifying their success in an already won battle.

Fervent cheers arise with the descent of the Kingdom of Haven flag and the climb of the Kallamore’s.

* * *

“We should decide on what dungeon to explore and what kind of adventure to have.”

After finish watching the broadcast, Lee Yu Jeong spoke in a clear tone.

As a student targeting scholarship, she wanted to successfully complete the challenge as oppose to be taking a midterm.

“So let’s get everybody’s class and level at this point, yeah? Let me go first. I’m a Swordsman and of the Dale Kingdom. My level’s 237.”

Min Sura introduced herself following the lead.

“I’m in the same place as Yu Jeong, Enchanter. Level is at 144…it’s higher than the last time.”

The lowly level Min Sura shyly extruded her tongue.

She was at 140 at the freshmen seminar when they first introduce themselves, so the level climb was only below average.

“Swordsman 297. I belong to the Black Lion guild. My current position is in our guild’s territory, Nehalles Castle.”

Choe Sang Jun confidently introduced himself.

His level and guild influence was the source of self-confidence.

Park Sunjo awkwardly spoke.

“I’m a Thief, and at 355. My current place is…King Suna’s Tomb.”

King Suna’s Tomb!

Abundant in traps and is haunted by Ancient Mummies. It was not a place where even high level users could carelessly enter. Due to the scale of the tomb, aside from the grand entrance, the place has not been excavated. This includes the resting place of the King and Queen.

“That tomb huh…”

“Your level is much higher than the last time too.”

“Are you exploring it alone?”

“I’m focusing on the trap dismantling skills and nurturing the profession’s surprise attacking skills. I’m barely able to manage.”

With Park Sunjo attracting the attention, Lee Hyun sneakily introduces himself.

“I’m a Sculptor. My level is…just so. I’m on my way to the Thor Kingdom.”

He didn’t mean to lie.

But as a Dark Gamer, he could not go around publicizing his level, characteristics, and skills.

“Oh, I see.”

Lee Yu Jeong didn’t bother dwelling into it.

Originally already knowing that he was just a Sculptor, it was not necessary going after other separate information.

But this struck to the low level Enchanter Min Sura.

“Lee Hyun Oppa?”

“Hmm?”

“I know you keep to yourself on most tasks, but this time please do exactly as required. Though we still need to take on two more people for a total of seven on this challenge, if you do not participate then it’ll be hard to get the proper grades.”

“Yea.”

Lee Hyun nodded.

The usual assignments weren’t problematic for him to complete, as he was simply aiming for the minimal letter grade for the graduation credits.

For a considerable amount of college students, there weren’t much hours in the day for them to even play around or to eat because of school.

‘But it’s a different story for me when it comes to Royal Road.’

Royal Road was his job.

He had to do his best in order to make a living, and also work just as hard with dungeon exploration within the game.

Despite him giving in, Lee Hyun remains a source of worrisome.

Min Sura forehead furrowed.

“But for a thing like exploring a dungeon…our classes aren’t really for this.”

An Enchanter and a Sculptor.

Among the lot with two Swordsmen and a Thief, the level differences were severely high.

While the combination did not seem fitting, they also have to somehow adjust for differences in experience.

“We have to somehow secure two Clerics for the other slots, or at least get a Shaman on hand.”

“Mhm. Otherwise the ordeal is going to be hella hard.”

“The other condition of this is that we need to be exploring some other undisclosed dungeon rather than an already well known one, else we won’t be able to get the credits for this assignment.”

“Difficulty of the dungeon needs to be rather high, so we have to come up with some skill combination or cooperation to increase our collective power.”

“But how many Shamans or Clerics are there that doesn’t have a group yet? And after this assignment, there’s the festival too…”

“What’s the class planning to do anyway?”

“I don’t know the specifics, but the level of preparation has to be a lot to be fitting of a school like this.”

The size and range of recreation activities of the University of Korea’s festival garnered great popularity.

A lot of other school students as well as many of the general public attends, even singers and performers comes to hold small events.

Highlight of the festival being the students’ collective themed events.

Lee Hyun thought.

‘The hassles of the damn college never seem to end!’

Pilling upon the class assignments, there was the MT, then this current group project that they have to solve together; and immediately following this is the school festival.

‘This is no different than that of a chain quest in Royal Road.’

Lee Hyun was extremely depressed.

The considered golden time of a festival or that of a school project!

The Korea University is to be envied by other school’s students precisely because of its festivals, dance parties, and concerts where pretty women come.

A place filled with insurmountable flushing vitality of the youth.

But to Lee Hyun, this was just a nuisance.

‘I hope this ends quickly.’

The festival is going to take more than five days, and things such as preparation for the event between now and then was going to keep him real busy for a long while. The seemingly cornered Lee Hyun frantically searched for an exit, but the outlook on escaping seems grim.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] Jimjang(짐 장): jimjang what ppl calls kimchi in some region. Basically, this line is saying with common knowledge, it will spread.

Chapter 10: Akryong (Evil Dragon) Kaybern

Dwarven Village Iron Hand.

Thor Kingdom was famous for having many Dwarven Masters living in their villages, who could mass produce high quality goods from minerals in a nearby mine.

Residential areas had small little houses. Blacksmith shops were sparse in the village, making it prominent to others that artisans made up the village.

The majority of people who were present in the downtown area were Dwarves.

People from other villages frequently visited the central square, and the place of commerce, the marketplace, making it a rare sight to see Traders camping near the village entrance of Iron Hand.

Humans, and Elven species dragged their wagons (and were) sifting through town to solicit with Dwarven Merchants.

“I am one of Roen’s top traders, Mithras. If you have any of the weapons or armor that you created, would you be willing to sell them to me?”

“This completed product has been imported in large quantities. Please take care of it...”

“I will supply any items that you might need in bulk. In Thor Kingdom, iron and copper are expensive, but how about Noid Kingdom’s more affordable 3rd grade iron?”

“The price will skyrocket. How were you able to find out?”

The solicitation of persistent Merchants!

As the day turned into night, these Merchants continued to persevere.

Goods such as weapons and armors that were obtained in the village of Iron Hand were sold at other places in the Versailles Continent for a very high price.

Merchants deliberately came to the village, desperately trying to obtain anything the Dwarves had made.

“Please sell it to me.”

“I’m a Dwarven Warrior...”

Any Dwarves who had finely groomed beards, were having a hard time.

In fact, if you want to look for a Dwarven artisan, you shouldn’t come to Iron Hand. The Artisan who lived there had unsophisticated Blacksmithing skills, and would only look for Merchants who did not know of the value of items, and scam them.

Then Weed walked into Iron Hand.

Merchants who swarmed the place only watched and nodded at Weed from afar because compared to his body, he had a relatively large head.

‘They are Merchants, and this seems to be the right place, the Dwarven Village.’

Some of the Merchants peddled a long distance from Morata, looking for items to buy and make money. They buy in bulk, and sell in bulk.

Because the Commodity Brokerage collected by Kingdoms for the development of villages did not help improve the trade industry, the Merchants frowned upon it. Similarly, solicitation fees were arbitrarily calculated to cater to guests, therefore the quality of goods sold were meager.

Traders who travelled from afar, saw Dwarven Weed.

'He's my prey.'

'That Dwarf is mine.'

The group of hungry Merchants ran towards Weed.

"Buying or selling goods."

"I'll buy anything."

“Please sell the items you have cheaply. I came from far away. Please!”

"I'll unconditionally offer a higher price than others. If you have something to sell, please sell it.”

The successful Dwarves had no way to escape when the traders gathered into a group and started begging.

All the Dwarven craftsmen that came to Ironhand were low-levelled and they were physiologically intimidated by the crowd of people surrounding them.

Weed ran off like the wind.

Taking advantage of his small height, he ran in between the legs of the traders using his excellent sense of direction to evade the hands of the traders.

“Ah!”

“He ran away.”

The traders who worked in vain stood there devastated.

To easily be able to break through a crowd of people.

The career of evil traders left a bad reputation.

* * *

Real merchants did not budge as they sat at the entrance of the town.

And Weed passed through the village entrance when words were passed/said indirectly.

“You won’t find anybody who will buy for a higher price than me.”

“Out of money...”

Their own business strategies, in accordance with their will, was to differentiate themselves from the other merchants.

Weed then ventured in even further into town, into the village of Iron Hand

* * *

Dwarven blacksmiths were proficient in creating weapons and armor due to their naturally high dexterity stat.

It’s claimed that even Dwarven warriors could create simple things such as a torch or an arrow without difficulty.

Dwarven warriors were renowned for fighting in battles to the death but it was not an exaggeration to say that most Dwarves chose the path of the artisan.

This is because of the characteristics of the Dwarves who were born blessed with art and dexterity needed for production skills.

Those who chose the life of a craftsmen should take into account these benefits when picking their species when starting. This was a race most skilled with dealing with iron.

Being able to make durable goods from the beginning with high productions skills, they were sought for and respected.

Human blacksmiths could make almost any weapon but the expertise was reduced by a lot.

Elf blacksmiths made the best and strongest bows.

But Elves were masters of magic, and were a species proficient in archery.

There weren’t many Elf blacksmiths. They created bows from special wood materials but it was not traded frequently enough.

The life of a Dwarf species blacksmith was one that was envied but their lives were nowhere close to being rich.

“Wow, this month the price of iron ore has risen.”

"You think so too? Recently i've been thinking that increase in prices are going to kill me."

“Blacksmith skills will increase, but without middle merchants busily striking the prices...This is really hard.”

Many dwarves were complaining in the tavern.

Weed sat at a low table, and listened in to their stories while drinking milk.

‘Everyone in the world says it’s hard to live.’

He continued to complain about the hard life of a dwarf compared to artists, economical hardships were forced on the dwarves, but there were no stories.

“That Akryong Kaybern further raised taxes.”

“But wasn’t it raised just three months ago?”

“That’s why I might want to decorate with rare gold.”

“Ugh! Another hunting quest? His demands are endless. What kind of monster is it this time?”

“What is the matter with you. How does one or two legions under his command make him a monster?”

“It’s not what he’s got or gotten, though.”

“Listen, the Minotaur guards have been useless.”

* * *

Akryong Kaybern.

Thor Mountain, like other neighbouring mountains, was ruled by a dragon.

The Dragon's desire for treasure was not easily satiated; the dwarves had to constantly pay tribute or face its wrath.

The Human Villages were invaded by monsters, even if that was not the case, there were attacks from other kingdoms.

Even Morata was not safe from the invasions of monsters

While the Dragons dominated the Dwarf villages, they were safe from monster attacks but it was necessary to offer tributes in return.

It was just unconditionally bad, but it wouldn’t be confiscated. Sometimes Dragons managed monsters under their command and gave consideration for the new mines that should be developed. More than half of the mithril and iron ore from these mines as well had to be paid up.

In addition, Dwarf warriors were allowed to hunt in the mountains, and even in this case, the dragons did not punish them.

Dragons view Dwarves as troublesome and taken only for any work, whether it was one or a few, it was viewed as only one worker. The monsters were just worms living in their own area.

There was no reason to interfere or bother.

There were five dragons known to live in the Thor kingdom but it was said White Dragon/Akryong Kaybern had the most treasure.

Thor Kingdom had a phase transition where it repeatedly had earlier development, but even then it was not the top country because of the Dragons.

Thor Kingdom gathered mercenaries and periodically raised the heat in the fight against the Dragons and ended up with no income at all. Currently, even having one mercenary participating in the duty was rare.

Weed left the pub after eating a simple meal of bread and milk

‘Nonetheless, it’s the Dwarves’ life.’

All you’d hear from the dwarves were exaggerated.

When poverty strikes, it was a habit to spend time where there was beer and meat!

In the Dwarf village it was necessary to overcome the high taxes in order to live.

Using the highest quality ore in the continent as foundation to make weapons, there was growth in skills and the famous Dwarf artisans continued their infinite orders.

Dwarves who left Thor Kingdom to make a fortune sold weapons and armor, and even managed to become lords in the kingdom with the money.

Guilds supply goods in order to build a strong network of high level players to expand their forces.

There were a considerable number of blacksmiths with ambition on the Versailles continent.

Weed entered the Sculptors’ guild

The Sculptors’ guild was generally used by the majority of Thor kingdom's Dwarves.

Understanding how important dexterity was, they learnt sculpting as it was a fast way to raise this stat.

There were many Dwarves in the guild but they did not pay attention to Weed thanks to the perfect sculpture shapeshift.

“Tsk Tsk, you’re still nowhere near perfection, you have much to learn.”

The Dwarf Instructor was consistently dealing with the Dwarves with a prickly attitude.

“You craft weapons with little care for art, didn’t you know doing this will cause you trouble in time? With lack of art you can make strong weapons but they will be far from perfection.”

“Learning about breathing life into weapons by coming to the Sculptors’ guild? Looks like the Blacksmith guild taught well. But it’s too early. At least the weapons will be created properly after coming. The stuff will be full of defects, how would they breathe life into it without having expression.”

“These Dwarves are incompetent”

The words of the Instructor did not budge the Dwarves.

‘How many more of these actions does this navvy mean.’

‘Tired, sick and tired of this. This guy’s way of production is so long.’

Bowing his head respectfully while lamenting, he withdrew.

The higher the blacksmith skill, the better the created goods, and (they are) recognised from around the land.

Even if they had complaints, the Dwarves endured it.

In order have the blacksmith skills to create any kind of weapon, fast improvement of dexterity was essential.

For such dexterity, it was best to familiarise yourself with sculpturing. Sculpturing did help a bit to make and develop/become other items, but it was outright intolerable.

The Dwarf instructor told Weed to await his turn.

“Art Hand is here to create a way of expression. To ask for new instructions in cultivating the way of art.”

“What?”

The Dwarf Instructor listened with an unbelieving look. On the face full of wrinkles, convulsions were taking place. He was stroking his beard and forgot his grumbling attitude.

“What did you just say.”

“I said I came here to learn about new techniques.”

Ungseong-ungseong.

“What did that Dwarf just say?”

“New techniques, what on earth does that mean?“

“What level of sculpting does he have?”

The Dwarves could not believe it. This is because they had yet to see a user who said that..

As sculpting mastery increased, better skills could be learnt!

Until now they had not considered bothering to learn, but at the Sculptors’ guild in the Dwarf Village, they oddly decided to come and learn. Compared to the benefits of learning the skills at other Dwarven guilds, it was not even a third of the cost.

The Dwarf Instructor guided Weed towards the Elf Neck sculpture that was on display.

“I’ll give you a chance to prove that you have the sufficient qualities of a Sculptor. Then...let me see a display of your craftsmanship.”

“What’s the theme?”

“Whatever’s good, if the mind is flexible the sculpture will turn out well.”

Weed was already familiar with the Elf’s Neck.

‘Sculpture pieces sold in stores were usually made of expensive materials rather than superlative wood.’

Making wooden sculptures were really boring.

One should not try to craft as quickly as possible such that the representation turns out bad.

As trees age, the wood grains start forming patterns, when you create a sculpture in a certain direction of the flow of the pattern, it is very beautiful.

Masterpiece sculptures from this wood as the material was very expensive and could exceeded dozens of gold.

The Dwarf Instructor presented the superlative wood that the Elf Neck came out of as the test.

“That Elf’s Neck is not easily sharpened. Creating an impromptu wood sculpture, this test is difficult...”

“What if I fail?”

The Dwarves in the Sculptors’ guild stopped their actions and watched Weed.

Weed silently laid the Elf Neck on the chair below. Due to becoming a Dwarf, he had become smaller. So, a chair was required as the key to a smooth sculpturing.

Weed boldly took out Zahab’s carving knife and stuck it in the Elf’s Neck.

*Puukg!*

Since the test required a sculpture, the onlooking dwarves were trying their best not to look shocked!

The carving knife cut deeply into the Elf’s Neck.

In such a state, Weed cut diagonally with the Zahab carving knife and made a division of the Elf’s neck and head.

Whenever Weed moved the carving knife, he would undoubtedly cut the outline of the Elf’s Neck.

“What does this have to do with carving?”

“To treat a carving knife with the same mastery as a sword, how can this be...."

“Usually I don’t use it as a carving knife.”

The tool was surprising, but the decisive workmanship was a greater surprise.

What kind of carving knife could stab, slash, and slice a number of strokes mercilessly on wood without ruining it.

Nevertheless,more of the wood was carved out and surprisingly began to take a form.

It seemed to have been cut at random, but there were no mistakes. Having made things with the hands several times, at this time the skill to work easily without hesitation was achieved.

To use a carving knife, if the master stage wasn’t fulfilled, then it would be inferior.

The trust in the strength of the blade is necessary when working on a piece of such difficulty.

The dwarves were not ashamed as they stared in astonishment at Weed while he was performing the test. In Weed’s mindset while working on the test was simple.

‘There’s no money anyways, so roughly!’

Not many were allowed to take the test, and it was not made clear of the requirements to pass.

‘I have hurry up before the curse returns.’

The spirits of the unknown beings had been whispering in his ear. Any moment now, the curse could kick in. Time was of the essence.

‘If this is successful, I can make golds off of it even if I have to lower the price, every bit of money counts...’

Making pieces was desperate in the days of the novice.

The situation improved now,there was confidence to raise the degree of grandness of the sculptures made.

The dwarves around town began to stand around to see the test and watch Weed carve, he gave off inspiration.

‘You have to see a life-like structure in your mind’

Weed was worried as to what he should make.

How many seconds it took did not worry him.

This is the Dwarves’ Village

It was decided from the beginning that the sculptures could move the hearts of Dwarves.

“It’s a Dragon.”

“Those wide and flat wings, well-developed hips and thick legs...That’s Akryong Kaybern!”

Due to the limited size of the wood, the sculpture had to be smaller than the real, living thing.

But the overall composition of the sculpture was quickly and finely carved out on the wood once Weed had determined what it was to be.

Greedy mouths were gaping.

For the human vocal cords, if the structure of the upper and lower lip becomes a circle, it is except to say one word.

Money!

Holding up jewels with short arms, eyebrows and beard naturally reached forward.

Recklessly running on land trying to soar on the wings of Akryong Kaybern.

“That’s better than the other dragon I made.”

“For him, even if it wasn’t the Dragon, to eat Salmon would have meant quite a bit.”

The Dwarves that watched the sprouting picture of Akryong Kaybern become annoyed.

Sculpture was the three-dimensional representation of art.

Only hearing the name caused the anger to well up, so that seeing and feeling the target has doubled.

The Dwarf Instructor spoke.

“You’ve passed the test. To make such a sculpture in a short period of time is impressive because you were not overconfident with your skills.”

The Dwarf Instructor saying this could be considered the highest praise.

To be seen as a Sculptor with an ego was a bad thing.

Weed quietly excused himself.

“It was my sincere intention that I did not want a sculpture that was related to the theme.”

“I understand. Since I see that it is a great sculpture that comes with precise workmanship, you are well-qualified. You did not know that in the way of our Dwarven society, Akryong Kaybern sculptures are taboo.”

“I’ve carved a dragon only once before.”

The Dwarf Instructor laughed, satisfied.

“In my heart, he’s a great guy.”

The faces of the dwarves watching went rigid.

Many insulted and cursed him, to become so acquainted with the instructor with so few words!

“A user who managed to befriend the Sculpture Instructor has appeared!”

“Where did you learn such flattery?”

Seeing Weed’s technique for the first time,the Dwarves had a desire to get close to him and it was a fact that was worthy of the sky collapsing.

‘We live in such a difficult world’

‘The debt is settled with words, the crafty tongue eats freely in life.’

Anyway, due to the effect of the familiarity with the Instructor, price of teaching Sculpturing was given a discount of 20% .

“Sculpture can move people's’ hearts, if you don’t close your mind you can understand the sculpture”

Ttiring!

– Acquired Sculpture Communication

“Sculptures are not immortal. Over the years, they are damaged. If the damage is worked on to restore them, they will be happier. If you manage to learn the art of turning back time on sculptures, you can learn a lot about the past. Unfortunately this technique is lost in the past.”

– Acquired Sculpture Restoration

Weed immediately decided to find out the information of the newly-acquired skill.

“Skill info window. Sculpture Communication, Sculpture Restoration!”

– Sculpture Language/Communication 1 (0%):

It is impervious whether the conversation is with monsters or humans, these two kinds of sculptures can converse. If they are a fine work, their hostility will be alleviated and there will be spells that are favoured. When fame or skill level rises, more species beyond the current limits will be able to converse.

Reaching intermediate Sculpture Communication, adventurers acquire special emotion skills.

Sculpture Restoration 1 (0%):

Depending on skill level, damaged sculptures can be restored to their original appearance.

Weed already had high fame,and with flattery and divine help, the skill was not necessary. Learning was placed first.

Originally, Weed was here partly to learn.

The presence of the unknown sculptures that were continuously clamouring themselves at him, accepting the words of the oracle of the Goddess Freya to come to the Dwarf Kingdom.

The way he sliced the wood as he crafted bore the scent of doubt.

It was not a common occurrence.

But what the Instructor had to say was unexpected.

“What do you think of the carving? Is this not the dream of a Sculptor?”

Weed, unconflicted, had an easy answer for this moment.

‘Money, fame, power, what more is there to say?’

Grazing the conflict that momentarily came by, whether there was an answer was not important, and the Instructor continued talking without waiting.

“The Sculptor’s dream is to eagerly aspire for sculptures, creating better sculptures shows the purity of the heart. The Sculptor’s words, isn’t it romantic?

“....”

“Well.. when it’s time, you as a Sculptor will get to choose which path you wish to follow.”

“My own path?”

“Sculpture is more noble and difficult than other areas in the field of arts.”

Weed realized this.

Sculpture. Money did not come easy if your art was dreadful.

“Devoting life to making sculptures... indeed it is not easy. Reaching great heights of sculpturing, but at that single view level, it is still infinitely feeble.”

Since reaching Advanced Sculpting, the skill proficiency progression was very slow. Not only the reduced skill proficiency increase, sculpture skills associated with swordsmanship, Grant Life to Sculpture, Sculpture Shapeshift were staying at low levels.

“It’s hard to give it your all when sculpting. Stopping now would be disheartening and after all the trouble so far, there should be a reward.”

“Is it worthwhile?”

“Sculpture Mastery is recognised in the field of arts, and famous nobles are one of those. If you can, visit a noble of the human kingdom.”

Weed was already a count so the advice wasn’t very valuable to him.

“So far, what’s been acquired in sculpture, I could take advantage of in other areas. You may or may not choose the easier one. This actually causes that sort of thing. But I should also be able to see the end of sculpture, in the meantime,for ourselves,should be able to take it easier.”

“....”

“Sculpting is not difficult unless you don’t appreciate art. Take your time and enjoy it, who will blame you? Now that may lessen your burden.”

Ttiring!

– Chosen Sculptor

Dwarf Instructor has been waiting for someone like you.

*Sculpture Attributes: When 5 or more sculptures are created daily for more than ten days, after that, the Sculpture skill expertise rating increases faster.

*Sculpture Features: Growth of Art and Attractiveness Stat increases. It would be helpful in the creation of big, beautiful sculptures.

*Versatile Artist: It will be helpful when learning dexterity-based skills. But more than sculptures, learning production skills, including skills that use the hands, there will be 25% increased growth. However, for any other production, there is no artistic skill to master.

*Eternal Sculptor: Sculptor that devotes his soul to the sculptural world/world of sculpture. In addition to the division of Masterpiece, Magnum Opus, Masterwork, other characteristics of the sculpture create spells.

Characteristics of sculptures are enhanced. Historical works, incomprehensible works, treasures of the continent, and spells are created.

Effects related to sculpting skill are increased by 20%.Magnificent artistic quality and skill make the sculpture of a higher grade, and due to the special effects, there are many rewards.

But when what is created is a failure, the drop/decline is greater.

For a long time, Weed was not conflicted.

‘It’s always been like this.’

Sculptor was selected and several times,there were chances to change careers. Whenever it was time to select one, Weed went the way of the Sculptor.

Basically,the fact that he was warming up more to sculpturing could not be denied.

If a person has superior workmanship skills, then he will always make a great sculpture. However, detailed parts of a sculpture does not impress.

The skills must be insufficient.

Concentric sculptures made by a child. Course workmanship made it feel clumsy, everything felt different than it should be.

Curiously,others are happy with the sculptures made, as joy is delivered and smiles are put on their faces.

Pleasantness, that was what rewarding sculptures were made of. Filled with love for sculptures and being faithful to yourself every time you carve.

‘My sister’s smiling face, grandmother’s loving eyes … I think those were times when I was most happy.’

Weed was being paid while enjoying his task. It was pure bliss!

Carving Seoyoon smiling.

A murderer, times when she was scared, times when she was happy, all those contributed to the beginning of a real sculpture.

The risk of freezing to death in an icy cold snow storm, it was overcome with the creation of Bingryong.

Sculptures were the only companion that travelled alongside Weed during his adventures.

Having a painful dream.

Unfulfilled dreams become reality through sculptures.

Unfolding life by investing in sculpture and swordsmanship, this was another transformation.

It created a sense that sculpting was not difficult.

Sculptors had to stay close to and be clear of people's feelings,but nevertheless, sculptures had various forms.

The fear of failure was often time-consuming for Sculptors, mainly the large ones, but a good sculpture was the only one that could deny it.

Sculptures made with the heart and soul.

Weed was trying to forget the poetic memories but the dreams for the future of sculpting unfolded to him.

‘Well, terribly cheap, so far the value that was placed so far...What if it can be done even better, but tiresome so just choose what is presented.’

Weed spoke.

“I will go the way of the Eternal Sculptor.”

* * *

– Oppa, how are you?

– That...

Zephyr was alone in Todeum and was answering Yurin’s questions in whisper.

She did not know what answer she should give, though if suddenly connected, even between the whisper, a greeting was shared.

‘I know, at least on the day that Geomchi was killed.’

It was so devastating that when Geomchi was mentioned, the mood and heart was heavy and had to sit down!

However, there was no denying, the answer was kind.

Then while in the car, Yurin suddenly asked him.

– Where is Oppa’s home?

– Gangbuk. Pyeongchang.

– Where is Pyeongchang?

– The description is hard... It’s north of Bukhansan.

– Oh, Brother’s life is difficult. Does water from the tap come out well? Does the bus to town pass there?

– …..

– Later I will buy for you an energising seaweed rice cake.

Business cards could/were not even be handed out as Pyeongchang was treated as an upstart mountain town.

– What does Oppa intend to do when you graduate from school?

– What?

– Isn’t there anything you want to do.

– Because what I want to do...Don’t have to think that much. My parents would just have me take over the family business. So far, it’s turning out that way with a lot of studying.

– What is your family business?

– It’s Sung’s …..

Zephyr was hesitating about whether to tell the truth. This was because he had never told anyone in Royal Road about his family.

– You're from Sung Electronics?

– Huh? Mmm.

The established former five-star world record holder in annual revenue and net income company, Sung’s Electronics was the center of a group of affiliated companies.

‘It’s not wrong to say that Sung Electronics is one of our affiliates.’

– The Sung Electronics that sells everything from computers, cell phones, kitchen appliances and so forth?

– Th-That is true.

– Heh! That’s great.

Zephyr had met an extensive number of women, and he noticed that she was on the unusual side.

‘That reaction was a little weird though.’

Surprise and admiration, but it was a proper attitude.

He then heard Yurin whisper.

– Tonight could you come to my house? Don’t tell my brother …. Today I’ll make my brother a painting.

Yurin suddenly asked in a clear voice.

* * *

Choi Ji-Hoon was cardioplegic when he saw the suffering, his face was haggard as his car was driving into the neighbourhood Lee Hayan was living in.

“What is happening.”

An invitation to a woman’s home was welcomed, but if the opponent was Lee Hayan, the circumstances would be different.

Conversation and intimacy with their lives at stake, invited to the house at night I must do whatever it takes....

“Life or death. There was no room for excuses.”

Choi Ji Hoon was obsessed with a myriad of delusions and was forced to back off.

The location was not hard to find thanks to the simple directions given by Hayan.

A bit of a distance from the roads and stores was a small house located in a secluded area.

The yard was full of flowers in bloom and in the corner were jars.

“Really.”

Choi Ji Hoon smiled.

“Theres a pleasant atmosphere about the house as if she was raised well.”

But he had not the slightest idea.

Lee Hayan was in the kitchen, working hard to make it clean.

“Kitchen maid and even later, married. Cooking kimchi and side dishes will be continued to be carried with you even as you prepare to die.”

Be that as it may, the dishes and the laundry were not forced completely, but most of it were the tasks in Lee Hyun’s life.

The house was saved.

Years of newspaper delivery had trained a sense of geography. For a long time, the sun was good they found a house in a quiet secluded area and bought it.

Ding dong.

Choi Ji Hoon rang the doorbell and the front door opened.

“Excuse me.”

Seeing as it was the first time visiting a woman’s house, secretly his heart trembled a trifle. His two arms were holding flowers and a fruits basket as a present for whatever was to come.

*Bark!*

Soon after, the barking dog ran into the yard.

“Heog!”

Choi Ji Hoon faltered and stepped back.

“What is this veal dog.”

The big dog came running up while wagging its tail, licking and desperately rubbing on his body.

An excessive display of intimacy.

He realised its behaviour was because it knew he was a guest.

“Come in.”

Lee Hayan, wearing a white t-shirt came out on the porch modestly dressed. Even then, Choi Ji Hoon was trying to pretend to be friendly.

“Boshin, go ahead and relax.”

As soon as Hayan said this, the tail stopped wagging at once and the dog quickly retreated to its kennel.

Choi Ji Hoon’s spirit was in turmoil, he held out the flowers and fruit basket.

“It was awkward to come empty-handed so I brought something."

“Yes, thank you.”

Hayan received the fruit basket and led Choi Ji Hoon into the house.

“The flowers?”

“What about the umbrella stands....”

“.....”

Lee Hayan served the meal with side dishes that were food boiled down in soy sauce or other seasonings.

“Bon appetit.”

Impetuously showing up,taking dinner at the table that was already set,Choi Ji Hoon raised the spoon.

“Although it’s not much, have your fill.”

Eating at home was different. Side dishes were carefully pick so they would not put a strain on the stomach.

The immaculate Choi Ji Hoon was struck with the taste of the food.

“Delicious. I enjoyed it.”

His words were not empty, even the rice was great. The dishes were more delicious than eating a full course in a restaurant.

As soon as you ate the rice, you’d feel as if you were on air.

“You prepared the food for me, so I’ll clean up.”

“No thank you. You’re the guest. I’ll clear the dishes so stay in the room. I’ll be back.”

“I-In the room?”

“Yeah. Why don't you go there.”

“......”

Choi Ji Hoon was intrigued as Hayan pointed to an open door and entered.

Stepping foot into a 20 year old girl’s room.

Pink wallpaper, posters of celebrities, photos, was what he expected. Rather it was filled with shelves of books mostly related to science and medicine and in the midst of these, mystery novels.

«The world will be destroyed with 10 technological advances»

«Human Anatomy»

«A serial killer's invitation»

“She’s reading really good books.”

Even the written language of the titles, Choi Ji Hoon could not carelessly pass by to read.

“She’ll be here soon... What am I doing?”

Hayan’s room, it bore a haunting and amazing atmosphere that overflowed, causing him to be afraid.

‘But...I can’t settle with this girl. At least other women who come will be similar, in one’s eyes.

There was a refreshing fragrance in Hayan’s room.

Just a while ago she was studying, there were books and notes spread all over the desk.

After a while, she came carrying tools including a screwdriver and hammer.

“Have you rested? The television isn’t working well so please fix it.”

“Yes?”

“You said you were part of Sung’s Electronics. Please fix it.”

“Sung...Electronics, but I’m not sure if if I can repair the television. Just because South Korea has cars, does it mean we can make cars?”

Choi Ji Hoon, although puzzled, disassembled the TV with tools and luckily was able to find the parts of the circuit that required fixing.

“Ah! Here comes the screen.”

The nervous Choi Ji Hoon wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

It was an old vintage television but he hadn’t taken one apart before.

‘This experience will be helpful.’

Choi Ji Hoon had a smile plastered on his face.

‘Now all I need to do is to wait for a lovely conversation to happen.’

In that moment, he felt himself reliable as Lee Hayan smiled a bright,innocent and perfectly natural smile.

“Really it’s fixed. I’m amazed.”

A little dramatically, Choi Ji Hoon gestured to his pounding heart.

“In the future, if you need any help, please call on me.”

“Can I really do that?”

“Sure.”

“In fact there might be other things broken.”

“....”

“Even imported things? Oh but I don’t think you know how to fix those...”

“No. Bring it.”

Hayan actually brought it.

Gas stove, oven, air purifiers, humidifiers, vacuum cleaners, cell phones, laptops, printers, computers, monitors, cassettes, telephone, fan, rice cooker, a bidet!

“This, is this all?”

“No. There’s more. The refrigerator in the kitchen too."

“......”

“You can’t fix it? Do you have to bring it to the depot?”

Choi Ji Hoon vigorously shook his head.

“No. I’ll give it a try.”

He started with the easiest one, the telephone.

Old parts wear out and end up unusable, but generally parts tend to just break.

After the repair period, it looked newly bought because even a small failure could not be detected.

“Where did you get all this stuff?”

“I got it from our original house, some of the things were brought by brother. He found it during his newspaper routes.

“I see.”

Repairing was difficult, but Choi Ji Hoon was comfortable because he was having a conversation with Hayan who was sitting right next to him.

Chapter 1: Dwarven Village Iron Hand

“Excuse me, what is the level of your sculpting skill? You’ve clearly progressed into the Intermediate level, but is it over Intermediate level 6?”

“If I hand over my prized iron ores to you, would you disclose a little secret about creating a sculpture?”

It was unusual for a Dwarf to beg to another dwarf to the extent of clinging to his legs. The moment Sculptor Weed walked into the Sculptor’s Guild, an astonishing event occurred.

Ttiring!

You have started on the path of the Eternal Sculptor.

Possible changes in some stat will occur when earnest attitude towards sculptures is displayed. To some extent, magnificent artistry would be helpful to accomplish high skills.

Sculptors have formally stepped back into the world.

Nobles and Royalty will hear of your name through the Sculptor’s Guild, and other Sculptors will have their competitive spirits kindled.

The immeasurable imaginations and variability in expression; if one has the creativity, they are able to pioneer a new techniques to Sculpting.

Because of passion for sculptures, Art stat has increased by 100.

Charm has increased by 50.

The effect of skills related to sculpting has increased by 20%.

Mana consumption for skills has been permanently reduced by 20%.

He had sacrificed many benefits to pursue the path of a Sculptor.

Weed was already standing at the zenith of the Sculptor profession.

Since the sculpture he created garnered attention, it surprised the entire continent; in which he recieved abundant fame and glory.

The Dwarf Instructor said.

“Even if you devote your entire life to the boundless world of Sculpting, you will never see the end. While people who are obsessed with hunting and adventuring can’t see the value of sculpting, they say that the venerable Dwarven Sculptor Kendellev thoroughly enjoyed adventures. Have you heard of his tale?”

The Dwarves who gathered around trying to unveiled the secret of sculpting, grew silent.

They were closely listening to the Dwarf Instructor, since it seemed like he would provide some information.

‘Dwarven Sculptor Kendellev?’

‘That’s the name of the Dwarf from the quest that no one was able to solve.’

‘However, the prologue is a little different from last time.’

‘Hurry up and say that you haven’t heard of it!’

The dwarves were thinking this, however they were eager to hear the Instructor’s words, so they stayed silent.

Intuitively, Weed’s mouth began to speak words of praise.

“So it’s like that. That is a welcoming task for us Dwarves who love challenges. Us Dwarven Sculptors can walk anywhere using our powerful legs.”

“Ahm. That’s right, if it’s another race with weak constitutions, they have to travel by horse.”

“The romance of traveling lies in walking. It is a given that only by walking can one fully experience things and be inspired.”

“It’s something you should try.”

Weed was getting annoyed with the onlooking Dwarves.

‘How can I have a peaceful conversation with the instructor like this.’

‘All I can hear are tremulous chatter.’

The Dwarf Instructor continued.

“In any case, he was a Dwarf who liked to travel alone, and no one would ever lay a hand on him. One could say that he was one of the rare Dwarves who was extremely respected by even the arrogant Elves.”

“He seemed be a very talented Sculptor. He can even tolerate the loathsome Elves.”

The characteristics of the Elven race.

They despise using materials such as trees, rocks, and clay to create their sculptures. They despise using parts of nature [to artificially create sculpture, and labelled them negligible.

The Elves hated Sculptors because they take the lives of trees and turn them into wood.

Because of that reason, forests where Elves reside did not have a Sculptor’s Guild.

“This story has been passed down from the time of my great-great grandfather. It was said that his sculpting skills have reached godliness but unfortunately, none of his remaining works can be seen.”

Although most of Zahab’s sculptures in Rosenheim Kingdom were destroyed, there were significant number of collectors who kept his sculptures in storehouses, who now thrive from selling them.

As with the religious shrines and the Tower of Warriors, the Tower of Magicians also preserved the products of the great masters, but the Dwarven Sculptor Kendellev did not leave any pieces for posterity.

“Due to the situation, only the Dwarves knew of his God-like skills. The haughty Elves would not even talk about our ancestor, who made astounding sculptures in their image…”

“He doesn’t have any family or disciples?”

Even if it was just Kendellev’s descendants, Weed wanted to meet them somehow.

“They say he didn’t. He liked to travel by himself so much that he didn’t marry and lived all of his life alone. Even the location of his final resting place remains unknown. We Dwarves can only cherish the pieces we make everyday.”

“That’s right.”

The Dwarves were a race who had great pride in their equipment, protective gear, and artwork.

“I can’t believe that he would destroy his life’s work so that no one could see it. Although it’s only conjecture, a place that is difficult to find… I think his work could be contained in a hidden place that only the most outstanding craftsman, even amongst us Dwarves, can enter. If it’s an exceptional Sculptor, he or she might be able to discover it.”

Weed nodded his head.

“That could be possible.”

“Please let me know in the event that you are able to discover traces of that person, because I want to rub it in the noses of arrogant Elves and Humans.”

Ttiring!

– Sculptor Instructor Jorbid’s Request.

An unbelievable story was disclosed in the Dwarven Sculptor’s Guild since antiquity.

The Dwarves claim that there was a Sculptor who could craft fire and water, light and darkness, amongst them. However, others don’t believe this claim.

“While the Dwarves may be a race that can produce an amazing quality of weaponry, no matter how talented they are, their artistic talent is like that of a child’s. Since they’re short, even if they say they know how to sculpt, how can they? Hahaha!”

The Elves’ insulting remarks echoed throughout the forest.

“The Dwarves have still yet to learn about the mystery and beauty of nature.”

Although their words were very degrading, the Dwarven race would not protest.

For Dwarves to regain their pride, one would need to find traces of Dwarven Sculptor Kendellev’s work.

Difficulty: Dwarven Sculptor Race Quest.

Reward: Honour among the Dwarves

Quest Limitations: Only available to Dwarven sculptors.

If the quest should fail, Dwarves will receive the same hostile treatment from Humans as that of Elves.

Bystanding Dwarves who were listening to the story tried to discouraged him.

“The Instructor have also tried to give me this quest before.”

“Don’t accept this. This is an inferior quest that they give to any Dwarf who thinks of picking up Sculpting. If you accept it for now, it’s hard to forfeit it later, and it’s an impossible to clear quest. I swear.”

“I accepted this quest, but no one knew anything about Kendellev. It’s a quest that I gave up on after suffering for two weeks trying to complete it. I suffered a lot to recover from the loss of fame and intimacy.”

The Dwarves were trying to stop a Dwarf they had never seen before, and kept encouraging him to refuse the quest. However, there were also extremely curious.

‘But this time, the explanation and the description of the quest is a little different…’

To be honest, it varied greatly.

But because he and many others were curious about Kendellev, they were forced to accept the quest and investigate him.

It was a racial quest; they accepted it because they thought there would be additional bonuses after succeeding, but there were many Dwarves who regretted accepting it.

However, unlike before, he gave Weed more details and kindly explained. They carefully observed how his fame and intimacy as well as the difference in his sculpting skill changed the dialogue of the Instructor.

And then Weed said.

“I believe it is a fact that we Dwarves, once had a great sculptor among us. I will definitely look for evidence to snub it in the Elves arrogant noses.”

– You have accepted the quest.

“Thank you. I’m hoping you’ll find it.”

As a means to show gratitude, the Instructor presented a carving of an Elf.

“Oh! He already accepted the quest.”

“Even though I begged him not to that much..-nim, please abandon it before it’s too late.”

The Dwarves who were beside him grew impatient.

To be honest, they were anxious.

Even if one considered the failure of the quest they accepted, it had been acknowledged as an insurmountable quest. However, since Weed accepted the quest, the Dwarves had an uneasy feeling that he would succeed.

“Instructor, I also believe in the tales of the Sculptor, Kendellev. I also want to search for his tracks.”

“I will as well…”

“Didn’t you guys already fail earlier? However, it would be good if many Dwarves would participate in this event.”

The vigilant Dwarves left together after receiving the quest from the Instructor because they all suspected that they would be left behind. Weed, making the most of this opportunity, left the Sculptor’s Guild.

* * *

The Dwarven Village, Iron Hand was built along the rugged mountain peaks.

Blacksmith stores and houses were built on an uneven surfaces, and the village square was made in the form of staircases. There were very few flat terrains to be found, and therefore they were very costly.

There is no place like the village square for people to sell their unwanted goods and recruit teammates.

Weed went to the corner of the square and started sculpting.

Sa-gak-ssa-gak

“I heard that Dwarf has superior sculpting skills, is that true?”

“It remains to be seen. Anyone who accepted and completed Kedellev’s quest would have bragged about it.”

“We’ll, have to wait and see.”

The Dwarves were closely watching Weed. The users who accepted Kendellev’s quest were filled with regret.

Weed was determined to solve the issue with this quest.

Weed was sculpting, showing no intention of relocating.

His marvelous skill allowed him to carve a circular block of wood by spinning it, as if it were an apple!

Even after becoming a Dwarf, the unknown beings whispered in his ear.

– I’m sorry I ignored you up until now. Please hurry and sculpt me.

– Look at me; look at me and sculpt me, I say. Sculptors have always ignored our existence.

– Weak. Pathetic. Don’t you desire power?

It might be because he was transformed as Dwarf using his sculpting skill, but the beings who muttered with alluring voices became more polite.

They stopped cursing him after he displayed his skills in the Sculpting Guild, because of that, he sculpted with relief.

“No, now! It’s not like I’ll be here day in and day out. I will make you some sculptures. Please stand in a line, a line!”

In this manner, he sold souvenirs to young Dwarves as a side business…

While there weren’t many Dwarves with outstanding skills to choose from, there were many Warriors and Fighters. If a sculpture was smaller, there would be a greater probability of usefulness during a battle.

In that case, he made a living making and selling sculptures, he sold them to the merchants who wanted to buy and sell, and to the tourists.

“Can’t you increase the price by just 1 copper?”

“It’s a sculpture I made with a lot of effort… Please give me 1 more copper. I’ll show you around for cheap.”

“I’m giving special discount. For a short time, all sculptures will be 30% off! It’s first come first serve up to the first 5 people.”

For some Dwarves, sales came in different sum, while others walked away with their confidence crushed.

The Dwarves who were watching got their hopes crushed and left.

Although he started sculpting in order to elude the pursuers, Weed was overflowing with motivation. Compared to carving and selling sculptures in other villages and Kingdoms, the customer responses here were completely different.

“You sculptures differ from what those other Dwarves made. I’ll pay 1 gold.”

“Thank you. It’s very beautiful.”

“Did you make these as souvenirs for those who came to Dwarven Village? Thank you.”

In order to show respect towards the Dwarven master craftsmen, they usually paid the asking price. He received different treatment from human villages.

The Dwarven sculptures humorously transformed into the appearance of the guests, it was so popular, it sold like hot cakes.

And the masterpieces he made prioritizing his inner feelings above all!

Ttiring!

A fine piece! Dwarf boy was completed!

A happy Dwarven boy wearing a hat.

Although the sculpture does not have a childlike appearance, his lack of a beard tells you of his young age.

Looking at the sculpture closely, in-depth sculpting artistry can be found.

Artistic Value:

Because it is a work of a qualified Sculptor, 73.

Special options:

Luck stat increase by 7.

The number of completed Fine Piece: 34

The effect of sculpting skills have increased in experience.

Fame has increase by 1.

There are a few minor errors but the sculpture still came out as a fine piece.

I think it is very well done for my standard, even beans can grow in the midst of a drought.

But since walking down the path of the Eternal Sculptor, masterpieces are produced fairly frequently.

‘It all thanks to the increased effectiveness of my skill.’

Weed was satisfied with the end result. Not only did the Sculpting skill increase, but even the related skills would increase its effectiveness by 20%.

Sculpting Blade skill increased by 20%, and Sculpture Transformation will become better at expressing racial characteristics.

Weed was able to use the fast paced method he had learned from his illegal part-time job during his teenage years.

With approximately 45 masterpiece sculptures created, he could earn approximately 1,200 gold.

It was petty cash compared to what other classes made, but with all his money invested in Morata even this small amount was precious!

Weed made sculptures all night long.

When morning came, the Dwarven Liberation Corp entered the town square.

“One day of taxes from all travellers!”

All are required to pay taxes for all commercial activity done in the square, if you do not pay the taxes required, you will be forcibly expelled.

The Dwarven Liberation Corps ruled over all the guilds in Iron Hand!

The Dwarven Liberation Corps increased the village’s tax rate by 35%, making it higher than any other villages.

Murderous tax rates!

Most people agreed, that as a whole, the group did not fit their name.

‘They should change their name. Dwarves Exploitation Group would be a much more fitting name.’

The Dwarven Liberation Corps ruled Thor Kingdom, including 8 guilds and other small villages.

Every month the guild had to pay tribute to the Akryong (Evil Dragon) Kaybern in the form of goods. Thus the greedy dwarves could not become wealthy.

Dwarves with Beginner Blacksmithing skill did not open their eyes to avoid the high taxes. Those with Intermediate skills tried to bluff their way stating that they were moving to another village. However, the Dwarven Liberation Group still had influenced over the village, forcing them to pay the taxes.

Dwarves from the Liberation Group walk towards Weed.

“Art Hand, you have to pay taxed for that.”

“Seniors, earning a day-to-day living is the plight of the poor Dwarves.”

“All other Sculptors also pay taxes. And from what we’ve heard, you’ve been earning quite a lot.”

“I have recently pursued sculpting and it’s the truth that I have a few customers. However, others are jealous of me and are defaming me. How much could a sculptor possibly make?”

“Please accept 15 gold.”

“I can’t shave off 20 gold, if you don’t like it leave the village.”

At the Dwarven Warrior’s threat, Weed had no choice but to pay the 20 gold. However, it was a relatively small price to pay if you compared it to the weapon craftsmans’ taxes of several hundred gold pieces. Gathering all of their income from taxes, the Dwarven Liberation Corps were very profitable.

Inside the protection of the Akryong Kaybern, there was no need to maintain an army because neither monsters nor other Kingdoms dared to invade. There were occasional power struggles amongst the dwarves, which didn’t normally last very long, nor very catastrophic.

The Dwarves were a race that was naturally hard to siege.

The cities and villages were built on harsh terrain of mountains, which gave an overwhelming advantage to the defenders, and, without Magicians or Archers, they did not have the necessary resources to attack.

The Kingdom of the Dwarves was a disappointment.

Although it was their birthplace, those with a certain degree of skill scattered throughout the Versailles continent.

* * *

“Ah! What a beautiful sculpture, lately I’ve made most of them without errors.”

“What are you talking about, Pin? The brass statue you made yesterday had more dignity. How good was the “Anxious Dwarven Child” statue?”

“From a woman’s perspective, the sculpture you created today is more appealing.”

Weed created a sculpture of two people who couldn’t stop squabbling.

Herman had a profession as a Dwarven Blacksmith. At the sight of Weed making sculptures, he said.

:“You look like a Blacksmith with superior skills.”

Weed could not helped but asked.

“How did you know that?”

“If you look closely it’s obvious. You are not a native Dwarf are you?”

“Yes.”

“In this place, the most Dwarves acquaint themselves and live on. Although most other people think all Dwarves look alike, if you look closely, there’s a slight difference.”

The length of the beard, hair color, the shape of the jacket, and even to the size of the head differs according to the taste of the Dwarf. Even if other people have difficulty differentiating them, if one actually became acquainted with a Dwarf, it would be easy to tell them apart.

So Herman said while gently stroking his beard.

“While I think I know, to some extent, most of the Dwarven Sculptors who live in the Kingdom of Thor, there wasn’t one among them that looked like you.”

“It appears you know how to sculpt.”

“It’s a job without anything special involved. Speaking of sculpting, aren’t you skilled with your hands?”

“…”

“Although I trained in order to master sculpting, there was no reason for me learn other skills. While it’s hard to attain greatness, it’s probably easy to become good enough at it.”

“You can see a lot of struggling Dwarves.”

“The Dwarves who worked on Sculpting have usually dreamed those dreams and achieved it. However, the actual number of Dwarves who have done so are very few. They had their hand full with training their Sculpting skill, how can they possibly raise other skills? However, I think a person of your caliber can make it possible.”

“Why is your estimation of me so prominent?”

“Do you know how long you’ve been sitting here sculpting while eating only bread crumbs?”

Weed had not been aware of the time for hours.

“It is already the 22nd hour. Seeing your composure, patience, and remarkable skill in sculpting, I would guess that it would be unthinkable for you not to be honing other skills.”

Particularly among the Dwarven race, there were many older users.

Production, and especially the ranking of the manufacturing fields, was usually thought of as boring and irritating by most energetic youths.

Herman was an elderly user who was in his mid-40s.

Both his son and daughter worked for another kingdom, as a soldier and gardener, respectively, stopping by to visit once every three to four months. Herman lived for the the joy of mending the weapons and armor he’d crafted for them whenever they stopped by.

Besides Herman, there was a female user named Pin.

The girl with the cute name was female of the Elven race!

Unlike the extremely thin fairies, it was a female elf who had similar proportions to an adult human. Even though her job was a Shaman, when she travelled to the dwarven village, she settled down. To age her specialty; spirit wine.

Offering spirit wine to the Earth in the Thor Kingdom doubled its effects.

In order to properly age spirit wine and progress it past the Intermediate level, she had to pick a good and strong soil, offer it there, and stay put.

Since Weed was in the plaza of the Iron Hand Village and sculpted for consecutive 20 hours, he became intimate with more villagers aside from the two users.

“Art Hand, did you finish the mother-of-pearl cabinet order, yet?”

“Yes. Here’s the finished product.”

Weed handed over the remaining mother-of-pearl cabinet he made beforehand.

Although it was a bit overboard to say they were pure statues, they were only simple products. He was now able to make crafts that took a lot of skill.

Since woodworking, metalworking, various cutting techniques, crafts, and other handiwork were all related to sculpting, it was an extremely exceptional display of practical skill.

The mother-of-pearl cabinet must be detailed and comfortable to use. In that way, it required an artistic side and was not easy to make.

“Great, Art Hand! It must have been a difficult request, but I like it. You completed it meticulously as if you were part of our Dwarven clan.”

The Dwarf paid his dues and left with his mother-of-pearl cabinet.

Weed was satisfied with this transaction.

As expensive as the mother-of-pearl cabinet was, he made it back cost and more.

“Art Hand, what about the scabbard work I requested?”

“Here. I completed everything.”

“Thank you. Let’s do business again.”

Dwarves kept looking him.

“Mister, is the crane statue that I dropped and broke fixed yet? If I get caught by my mom, I’ll be in big trouble.”

“I used a high quality glue to attach the neck portion as good as it new.”

“You can’t see a scratch, right?”

“Of course.”

Weed was wrapping up all of the requests that the villagers had.

While there were also cases of people requesting a special sculpture to be made, most were trivial requests. If the Dwarves had a piece that they coveted, they raced to make it themselves instead of entrusting it on others.

However, the work that the Dwarven villagers requested did not give much rewards, fame, or intimacy.

At his skill level, if he were to focused all of this attention on the production of an occasional irritating piece it would be easily completed!

At that moment, a drunk Dwarf who was wearing a red vest walked down the path while searching for something.

“Where was it? Where can I go to recover it? There isn’t much time left before the arranged time with the man is up.”

Weed found that the eyes of the figure shone brightly.

‘I guess it is time to stop the long wait.’

There were no Dwarves in the village who knew about the Dwarven sculptor Kendellev. There would be no way the citizens of the Thor Kingdom would not conduct a search.

– They were… the ones who were here since the beginning and could not settle on a form. You, who loves sculpting, the place you have to go is the Kingdom of the small beings. There will be a place where the hugely stubborn beings will feel a great amount of pride.

However, if for no other reason, this was the place that the Goddess Freya, told Weed to go to.

Weed walked up and spoke to the drunken Dwarf.

“Do you happen to be looking for some good iron ore?”

“That’s right! That’s right! How did you know that? But anyways, that’s not a big deal. But if you happen to have some iron ore on you, will you be willing to sell them to me? I know it’s a hard request. Other dwarves usually don’t ask this boldly. I’m asking since you didn’t refuse the others who are in trouble and need your help.”

Dwarf Dane Hand’s request.

Because the lazy drunkard Dane Hand doesn’t turn in an iron ore to the forge within the designated time, he is always in trouble. Since the Dwarves greatly value honor, he will ask you to procure an ore in order to keep his promise, even it’s a somewhat unreasonable request.

Difficulty: F

Compensation: Monetary reward

Quest limit: More than 20 Grade 2 Iron ores

As Weed fulfilled the Dwarves’ requests, he had receive some ores as a reward. Dwarves generally did not give money, but ores and swords as rewards.

“I’ll get you the pieces of iron ore”

“Will you do that for me? Thanks a lot.”

– The quest has been accepted.

“I am short on time. When can I expect you to get some ores? I’m a Dwarf who values keeping promises. That means you should keep your promises and not be late.”

“I am carrying some ores right now. Let me give you the amount you need.”

Weed searched through his bag and pulled out 20 Grade 2 iron ores.

“Th, Thank you so much! With this I can keep my promise to the blacksmith Noble Hand!”

Ttiring!

Dwarf Dane Hand’s quest completed.

Dane Hand can now return the iron ores to the Blacksmith shop.

Quest Reward: Please ask Dane Hand directly.

Dane Hand asked.

“That’s right, how much should I pay you for the iron ores? Does 20 silver above the regular price sound good?”

The average price for a grade 2 iron ore is 1 gold 30 silver.

While merchants might be able to get more than this through the market, it was an acceptable value to Weed.

Weed disagreed with the price and shooked his head excessively.

“I am not a shameless Dwarf who would demand more just to exploit your time crisis. You can give me the going price of 1 gold and 30 silver.”

“Will that be okay? Actually, let’s go to the pub and get some beer, my treat.”

Dane Hand stroked his beard and became elated.

“You, you’re a really likable Dwarf. Since I can see that you’re carrying around 20 iron ores it would appear as though you really like iron. You also didn’t ask for an impossible price and instead asked for a reasonable price; you must be a Dwarf of scruples.”

Weed had received 26 gold for his Iron ores. After that, Dane Hand kindly said.

“Would you like to take at look around Noble Hand’s Smithery?”

Weed asked as if he was a Dwarf that did not know anything.

“A Smithery?”

“Since you usually only let Dwarves who are close to you to enter the forge, and hate letting anyone you’re not close to enter, if it’s not too much to ask, I hope you won’t refuse. I have to go to the tavern and am busy, so I’d like it if you could deliver the ore to the forge.”

Another Rank F question have appeared!

It was a simple request. He had to bring the 20 Grade 2 Iron ores to Noble Hand’s Blacksmith shop.

Weed accepted his request and rose up from his spot.

Herman was playing and telling jokes, and then Pin turned around and asked.

“Are you heading for Kurueso?”

“Yes.”

“I wish you success.”

Herman shook hands with him.

“Thank you”

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

Weed bow slightly, kept his head down, and moved a step back.

* * *

“If he leaves, do you think he’ll ever come back here again?”

“His objective here has been accomplished. As well as the Dane Hand’s quest that he’s been waiting for.”

As Pin and Herman watched him walk off in the distance, they looked sadly upon each other.

Herman spoke in a really low and quiet voice so that the other people in the square could not hear him.

“There were eight ways to get to Kurueso. The easiest way is to obtain Dane Hand’s request, but you’ll need a great deal of tenacity to get it.”

“How did he know it was him?”

“He might have received some information. Anyway, we have more reason to stay here.”

Herman and Pin got up from their seats.

The Dwarves in the plaza looked at them briefly and soon averted their eyes.

“Are we going back to Kurueso?”

“Of course. We have work to be done there.”

“I’m sure there will be something interesting or a surprise waiting for us.”

“It appears as though you have fallen for him, young lady.”

“Please don’t tease a lady! Also, I told you it wasn’t like that.”

Pin shook her head and strongly denied.

Whenever she shook her head, purple light unique to the elf became visible from the antennae in her hair.

Herman bursted into laughter.

“Kkeol-kkeol Is this not some kind of strange attraction? It’s his indifferent attitude that appeals and draws you closer to him.”

“That’s right. Truthfully, I am worried about it. This is the first time I’ve felt this way about a male Dwarf. However, I don’t think it’s love, but affection I feel, and…”

“And, what?”

“Also I’ll just say this now, but his hand movements while he sculpts are attractive.”

“Kkeol-kkeol-kkeol!”

Herman started laughing pleasantly.

Chapter 2: Kuruso

The Dwarves had a ranking system in their smithery.

The low ranking Dwarves had to set up their smithy in the lower parts of the village.

Of course, even low ranking Dwarves were more skilled than humans, as well as the other races.

They were able to quickly repair severely damaged armour, weapons, among other things.

The quality of the items they made weren’t bad, and traders buy and sell these items all across the continent of Versailles.

Noble Hand’s smithery was located at the very top of Iron Hand Village. They are the most respected of Dwarven craftsman.

When Weed went to Noble Hand’s smithery, he found the Dwarf sweating while sharpening an axe.

“What’s with this little Dwarf!”

“On behalf of Dane Hand, I have brought 20 Grade 2 iron ores.”

“So that little brat was able to keep his promise this time. If you want to watch me work the bellows, you can watch from the corner.”

After 30 minutes had passed, Weed successfully received a request from Noble Hand.

Because Noble Hand did not have the time to melt the iron ores, he asked Weed to do it for him!

When orders are placed in this prestigious smithery, the customer will only expect items created with high quality refined iron ores.

That is only possible when someone has a Blacksmith skill higher than Beginner level 3.

“It’s urgent I would appreciate it if you would hurry. And also….”

But when Noble Hand looked at the refined ore he was very surprised.

“Who’s the Dwarf that refined that ore?”

“Is there a problem with it?”

“They are all of the same size and weight, and it is refined to the highest quality. If a Blacksmith were to make 100 swords with these ores, they will be able to make high quality swords.”

Noble Hand greatly compliment the iron ores that Weed refined.

In most cases, if a Blacksmith were to create 100 swords, some are bound to be failures.

Because the difference in the materials, and fire temperature, decreases the quality of the sword.

In comparison to wooden sculptures, a small mass of iron would required to be adjusted to its golden ratio, however more details are required for sculpting.

Thanks to his experience with carving wood, it trained his dexterity, hence it wasn’t hard to consistently produce high quality iron.

Noble Hand spoke with a serious face.

“But I think it seems to be short of 40 grams. Are you sure you used 20 iron ores to create this iron?”

“…”

“Well, This isn’t a big deal as long as you don’t take it too far. Is it possible that you want to surprise everyone by creating a large weapon?”

According to the information he read in the Dark Gamer’s website, the answer to this question should be ‘Yes’.

“I would like to create a weapon that would astonish the entire world. I believe if I were able to create a weapon like that, only then will I be worthy to call myself a Dwarf.”

Noble Hand stroked his beard with a satisfied smile.

“Yes. We Dwarves have forsaken water in exchange for the ability to handle our beloved metals. The ability of humans could never match up to our skill.”

The pride of the Dwarves is endless!

The Dwarves are reknown for their skill in working with fire, thus their pride is not unfounded.

“Dwarven weapons… How many weapons do you want to make?”

He didn’t have to set a high buying price in order to obtain one, but he would have to state a slightly above average price.

Weed proudly said.

“I want to make 5 billion gold worth in weapons.”

Suddenly Noble Hand became irritated and said.

“5 billion gold! Even if all the Dwarves put our money together, it would be impossible. I did not realize you had such an absurd dream. Get out of my forge immediately!”

If this continues, all my suffering will be in vain.

Weed immediately complimented him.

“You say that Dwarven weapons are worth it. I currently have about 20,000 gold.”

But in reality, he didn’t even have 2,600 gold.

He was so desperate for money, he even considered selling his japtem or unnecessary equipment!

“Do you have 20,000 gold?”

“Yes.”

“You plan on buying Dwarven weapons with all your money?”

“Splendid.”

“Then I guess I can assist you. All Dwarves appear wealthy, but in fact it’s the opposite. We’re always crafting something, repetitive failures and successes is why we’re not particularly wealthy. We always struggle with lots of debt because of expensive materials.”

There are two things merchants find most profitable in the Dwarven kingdoms.

Raw materials and beer.

Dwarves tend to be liberal with money when acquiring supplies for crafting, the cost really adds up.

However, they almost never buy other luxuries.

This is the reason Dwarves seldom have appropriate accessories to match their appearance.

Imagine Dwarves with pierced noses and wearing bushy earrings.

Without exception, every single Dwarf in the continent was suffering from poverty.

“If you indeed have 20,000 gold, I know some Dwarves that will be willing to help. They can craft genuine items of the highest quality grade possible. Now go east of the village with this written introduction to Nein Hand. You’ll need to find the oldest abandoned mine, and then you’ll be able to locate where the truly outstanding Dwarves live.”

Ttiring!

You have acquired an introduction from the Dwarf, Noble Hand.

What Weed needed was a letter of introduction.

By accessing and searching through the Dark Gamers’ Union website, he was finally able obtain the information he needed.

A place where he can learn Advanced Blacksmith skills from some Dwarves with excellent talent.

If you walk to an old abandoned mine without a light, through the lakes, the Underground Dwarven City will appear.

It was a City built out of gold, stone, and iron, where Dwarven Artisans reside.

He will end up there if he met the requirements.

* * *

Weed did not have any trouble looking for the way to Nein Hand’s village. He tracked down the old abandoned mine easily.

Deep inside the abandoned mine, was a passageway connected to the unground.

*Jeo-beok jeo-beok*

Whenever the torch flickered, Weed’s shadow danced around violently.

Walking down an underground passageway while relying on the light of a single torch instills a primal fear in people.

It took roughly 30 minutes of walking to reach the abandoned mine’s entrance. It wa surrounded by stalactites with water dripping off of them, breaking the silence and creating a sense of fear.

* * *

Since Royal Road became popular, less and less people went to see horror movies.

There are many dangerous areas on the Versailles continent, such as monster-filled dungeons, which many have decide to explore. For that reason, a lot of people have lost interest in watching horror movies.

In reality, the main reason why people stop watching horror movies is because the basic elements of the horror movies are outshone by the monsters found in dungeons.

“Zombies!”

“They’re about level 30. You’ll never find monsters with characteristics like these before level 30!.”

“You can’t get rid of it with one Holy Blessing.”

These were some of the comments viewers made while watching the hero escaping from Zombies.

* * *

Weed was not afraid as he descended into the dark cave.

“It would be more interesting if monsters came out for an ambush.”

In fact, even if he knew monsters were waiting in ambush or there were traps laid out, he would not be tense.

There was graffiti all over the walls, written by Dwarves. However, most were insignificant random doodles.

– What can I craft with 5 iron ores and 1 silver ore?

– Take the right path to the Dwarven Village. That… is exactly what I’m trying to do. Do you know the correct path to the Dwarven Village?

– Don’t ever look back. If you look back…

The graffiti was useless provocation intended to instill fear.

Dwarves are very optimistic, but mischievous, they are similar to Smaragus.

They like fire and dislike the darkness, and drew graffiti for their enjoyment.

All the top players would recognize the graffiti as baseless provocation and carry on. However, with so much Dwarven graffiti, no one would blame you for thinking that perhaps there was a great treasure behind it.

Just when he was about to become accustomed to walking in the darkness, it gradually brightened. Finally, he was approaching his destination.

Weed suddenly quickened his pace. And finally, he was able to see the end of the cave.

There was a huge communal area.

All the subterranean streams fed into one canal and then ran into a lake. As the water flowed, it sparkled as if it contained grains of silver. And along the lakefront, an inviting village with earthen structures, completed a charming scene.

The home of Dwarves.

From the lake, water flowed and went to every house.

The Dwarven village was a sight to behold with its waterways like silver veins.

The smitheries were constantly emitting plumes of white smoke.

Some houses were built with precious materials such as silver, gold, and mithril.

The Dwarves, like humans, favored embellishments, but did not like anything too fancy.

Just like houses, the pubs were built using gold and other materials.

The taverns must produce great tasting beer if they can afford the fine stones.

Kuruso definitely looked like the gathering place for Dwarven artisans.

* * *

The Priest of Death Question.

In the Royal Road forums, Daymond posted the first ever S-Ranked quest acquired in Royal Road.

– We, the Predators of the Land guild, are going to hunt a boss monster in the northern parts.

We accept all professions.

Looking for brave adventurers to take up this challenge.

If the hunt is successful, the loot obtained will be equally divided amongst everyone.

A reward of at least 10000 gold is offered for any information about the boss monster’s location.

The users’ response was apathetic at best.

“The Predators of the Land guild were already past their prime.”

“They have taken possession over Seongdo village… If you want to hunt the monsters down, go further north.”

“Indeed, it could be successful.”

There weren’t many users who will be participating in this hunt.

The North was crawling with so many powerful monsters and evil forces, that it requires an expedition consisting of top level players.

However, despite the risks, a small adventuring expedition was sent to gather information.

“On the eastern shore of the Wailing Swamp is where you’ll find the Hydras. The Hydras had an unusually large heads…. I don’t know any more details.”

They had received Information on the boss monster.

Daymond’s guild members led the way to the lake where the Hydras resided.

They met the informant in a small neighboring frontier village to give him 10,000 gold, and then proceeded to the Wailing Swamp.

The Hydras grew to a height over 6 meters tall. It’s heads’ movements were slow, but each of the heads could emit a strong venom.

The acid could reduce the durability of shields and armor to zero in a matter of seconds!

The Hydras inhabited a marshy area where their feet would sink deeply, so hunting them was unexpectedly easy.

“Let’s go”

The warrior Daymond, led the way.

After the Hydras were defeated, new information stating that the boss monster has been spotted.

It had 7 heads and each of the cursed heads would continuously spit venom.

The heads could even pick them up and devour the expeditionists.

Barely succeeding in the hunt, more than 25 people in the Predators of the Land guild were injured. And it was clearly displayed in the Hall of Fame.

“It looks like a really tough boss monster.”

“Is this the first encounter with Hydras?”

Just then, more information arrived.

Daymond choose to go to the nearest place from their location.

“This place still had remnants of human civilization. Over there lay large wriggling earthworms… And an expedition who casually entered the place were annihilated.”

The earthworms could not be ignored.

They were a rare type of undead worms which kept struggling and squirming for their life.

Undead earthworms!

“A boss class monster named Lava appeared with its green body and a humanlike head.”

The Predators of the Land guild received heavy damage while trying to hunt Lava.

Nobody knew how many boss monsters existed. The Predators of the Land guild kept attacking the monster recklessly, attracting more and more attention.

* * *

Kuruso deserves to be a place called the Dwarven Blacksmiths’ paradise.

*Ttung-ttang-ttung-ttang.*

In the distance, it was easy to see a number of Dwarves holding hammers and pounding away at something.

Minerals were scattered everywhere, while finished goods were stacked up.

In comparison to Iron Hand Village, the secluded Dwarf village was sweltering hot and less populated.

“Exper, do you already know how to make a spear?”

“I know. Its base damage isn’t more than 90, now watch this Chain.”

“There are fire spirit and wind spirit gems, if you add these you get a fiery tornado effect.”

“Then how much additional damage would be added?”

“For each attempt, up to 23 additional damage could be added. Needless to say, it is a stunning weapon.”

“This proves your ability, Exper. The kind of weapons that you make must have great durability.”

“So I also tried making a spear. For my first time, I wanted to see if I could make a spear with over 100 attack damage.”

The Dwarves whispered numerous stories of weapon production.

When Weed passed by, they ignored him and continued their discussion.

“Fabio-sunbae, I heard that you’re very familiar with making armors.”

“He is very good at making armors, enough to be called a master of the art. If you have enough money, then he can upgrade your armor, better than any sword.”

“Damn. If I had the money, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

“Don’t even say that. Do you think Fabio-sunbae uses his skills only for making money? He is not picky with the work he choses.”

“Everyone knows that.”

Even Weed’s ears have heard and imprinted the name “Fabio”.

The Dwarf Fabio, Thor’s chosen Blacksmith, was extremely famous among users.

From the time Weed acquired the Death Knight’s armor in City of Heaven, Lavias, Fabio was already widely known.

It was said that the moment Fabio lays a hand on old derelict armor, it would become as good as new.

Fabio is a master with his hands.

The elite guilds, and the so-called “rankers” of the Versailles continent, would gather bags of money to request for his services.

People wanted stronger armor, but refused to have armor reinforced, since it becomes bulkier and somewhat heavier. Also at a higher level, the death penalty increases.

Besides Weed, there are very few people who have the patience to endure the hardship of raising their skill levels.

However, many people prefered to have better armor in comparison to an excellent weapon, therefore they did not spared no money to upgrade their armor.

During that time, Fabio acquired a great fortune.

He had become the first ever accomplished Blacksmith.

When CTS Media broadcasted about Weed, along with 8 other users, Fabio was also one of the chosen players.

After the program, users with intermediate Blacksmith started to emerge.

With trying to raise their skill levels, more mithril mines were developed and better Blacksmithing materials appeared, which made it easier to raise Blacksmithing.

As time passed, more users have raised their skill enough to reinforce armor and Fabio disappeared from the Versailles continent.

Weed wondered if Fabio was last seen in Kuruso, and whether he has been trying to raise his Blacksmithing skill.

Weed started to slow down his pace.

On the side of the road, Weed spotted many Dwarven Blacksmiths crafting goods, while others were packing up the finished products.

The Dwarves were making their own goods, and didn’t care that weed was was watching them.

They were making goods in case someone wanted to make a purchase, but it didn’t look like anyone was going to buy anything.

“Is Herman-sunbae busy these days? I haven’t seen him in a while.”

“I do not know. Now that humans have returned, maybe he’s crafting some swords?”

“Tsk tsk. Herman-sunbae is cautious to a fault. Blacksmiths don’t follow his style of workmanship anymore.”

“Long ago, around 4 or 5 months ago, I followed the same cautious style. Back then, Herman-sunbae’s skill was superior to the rest of us artisans.”

“Even if you’re stubborn and try to create a sword with all your heart and soul…. at most, it’ll take you 1 week. But if you’re going to take more than a month, no one will want to buy a sword from you.”

“Yeah. That’s right.”

“You can sell it in the auction house for a higher price, but it takes time. And Blacksmithing is all about the money.”

Up until recently, Herman was with Weed.

On the Versailles Continent, it is not unusual for one or two people with the same name to run into each other. However it was unlikely for another Dwarven Blacksmith near Kuruso, with the same profession as Herman.

‘Who knows, I might see them here again.’

Weed did not focus much on his relationship with others.

However, it is a fact that he had spent a lot of time hunting with Pale and his party. And as a Dark Gamer, he is unable to refuse dangerous hunting tasks when he is asked.

Except for sleeping and going to school, he invested all of his free time playing Royal Road, and it would be difficult to do so if he hunted with others.

‘We shall see if this relationship is destined.’

Weed headed towards Kuruso’s administrative agency.

* * *

Unlike other Dwarven villages in the Kingdom of Thor, the administrative agency held great power and governed over Kuruso.

In other Kingdoms, the King and other nobles govern the land, therefore it was unusual for the administrative agency to making all decisions for the Dwarven Kingdom.

Dwarven Elders are appointed during the first week of every new year. The Elders then agree upon all the decisions and establish policies.

3 Strong Dwarves with excellent swordsmanship, and 7 Elders were chosen to lead the administrative agency, a total of 10 Dwarves are elected. Dwarves who just reached their adulthood are considered too young, and therefore not eligible for election.

However, it is said that the Elder seat is open to anyone, including players.

Each of the Elders will work at the administrative agency alternatively.

“You’re a new Dwarf here in Kuruso. Would you like to register?”

“Yes. I would like to register.”

“What is your profession?”

“I am a Sculptor.”

In Kuruso, you do not have to pay taxes to Akryong Kaybern. You will not be hassled by the Dwarven Liberation Corps for money. Everything was governed in accordance to the Dwarves.

Coming to Kuruso was free!

However, there was a requirement if you want to leave Kuruso.

They must contribute a piece to the great city. The work must be created with devotion, and when completed, must be better than their average product.

For a Sculptor, he would have to create a sculpture.

There is no alternative but to create something good, you cannot create something poor. Thus, to leave Kuruso, you must contribute something decent.

That was the minimum condition in entering Kuruso.

Unlike other places in the Kingdom, there is no taxes because of special restrictions.

The Dwarven Elder ask Weed.

“What is your name?”

“My name is Art Hand.”

“That’s a good name.”

“The registration process is now complete. Before leaving Kuruso, you are required to leave something created by you, in your case, a sculpture.”

Just when Weed was about to leave the administrative agency.

“I have a question for you.”

“Let me ask you. Do you want some information about Kuruso? If you’re not busy, will you listen to my request?”

A Request from the Dwarven Elder!

However the offer didn’t seem appealing to Weed.

Even though Weed had enormous amount of fame, after changing into a Dwarf, the fame he had, had no effect at all.

The Dwarven race’s characteristic adjusted the fame accumulated by works of art created, but there’s a temporary restriction to the fame he gained through his adventures.

Even then, his fame still maintained an enormous amount of prestige. However, Kuruso was different because they do not frequently trade with other Kingdoms.

The fame he had accumulated around the Versailles Continent and the North, was unheard of in Kuruso.

Even with Weed’s high fame, he did not acquire a lot request from outside of those places.

“You don’t need to complete my request in exchange for information. Have you ever heard of the Dwarven Sculptor?”

Weed thought that if he could not find any information the Thor kingdom, he might be able to find it in Kuruso!

Weed nodded at the question the Dwarven Elder had asked him and said.

“He was the best Sculptor amongst all Dwarves. His Sculptures were vibrant and full of mysteries. But I’ve other Dwarves’ story that’s been passed down from their ancestors.”

He was able to obtain information about Kendellev. At the very least, he had confirmed the existence of the Dwarven Sculptor, Kendellev.

Weed asked with renewed hope.

“Where can I go to find his disciples, or any of the sculptures he has left behind?”

“Even I don’t know the answer to that. To my knowledge, that person didn’t leave any sculpture behind… I suppose we wouldn’t be able to find his disciples even if they existed. As I seem to recall, there have been a lot of Dwarves asking about Kendellev.”

“Other than me, have any other Dwarves asked this question?”

“There were many that asked. At least over twenty.”

Just like Weed, more than twenty Dwarves have travelled to Kuruso to gather information about Kendellev. However, they failed to do so.

‘A clue was said to exist in Kuruso. The reason why this truth spread out as a rumor is because those who gave up did not want to give other Dwarves an opportunity to find him.’

No one could find any traces of Kendellev by themselves. However, because another Dwarf might discover him, they did not make the information public and kept it to themselves.

Weed asked another question.

“The unknown beings; what do I have to do in order to be able to sculpt the ones who speak to me?”

The Dwarf elder was simply stared blankly at him.

“Did such an event occur?”

“…..”

“If there’s anything that you need in Kuruso, you need to look for it yourself. If you want something, you have to earn it yourself.”

In other words, the Elder was saying that you could not easily obtain the information.

It was possible that the answer Weed was looking for was one that noone could ever tell him.

‘The unknown beings. I don’t know what their forms are, and if someone had already sculpted them, there would be no need for them to pester me to sculpt them.’

Sculpting was an art that anyone could enjoy, but only one could master!

Although he wasn’t in a hurry, he had already guessed that the information he needed wasn’t easy to obtain.

Chapter 3: The Secret Commissioned Statue

Weed left the administrative agency and took a look around Kuruso properly.

The Dwarven Blacksmith and other Artisans were on the streets creating something items ceaselessly. There were also Blacksmith shops such as Fabio’s, Bambi’s, and Exper’s.

The names listed above are probably Blacksmiths who made a lot of money from the sale of distinguished items, that they’d crafted. Once the required contribution has been made to the Kingdom, it’s possible to become Knighted, and own a house or villa.

‘In Kuruso, people are evaluated based on their Blacksmithing skill.’

Unlike sewing and other crafting skills, Dwarves, by nature loved to gather high quality materials, and use the best of their Blacksmithing expertise, forge something new.

“I am the dwarf, Heins. The deadline is almost up, but is there a person who is willing take up the challenge of making 100 window panes with me? It’s a request from the blacksmith’s workshop.”

Colleagues were appropriated based on necessity, even in Kuruso.

“What an excessive request. We have to make 20 pieces of armor, but the conditions are a bit difficult to meet. We’re looking for experts in smelting with a smithing skill of at least Beginner Level 8. You’ll have to provide your own materials, and the cost will be about 300 Gold. This job is only available to dwarves who are interested in skill growth!”

“Monsters have appeared in 8 tunnels, making it difficult to mine. We need to take back these tunnels and restore peace. The pay is 20 gold per person.”

“Every single protective armor must be well made. It’s the Armor shop owner’s request, but I have to make and deliver shields with over 30 defense. Shall we make them together, Dwarf?”

In every castle or village, there was a place set aside for recruiting companions and buying and selling supplies for quests. And inside this place, they crafted their wares, therefore there were many requests to obtain the necessary materials.

When it comes to commissions, it is better to gather colleagues rather than trying to complete it alone.

Thanks to various commission that were constantly being given out, Dwarves with low skill level were given many chances to improve their skills.

* * *

Kuruso!

Named after the Ancient Dwarven Kingdom, a glorious city for all Dwarven Craftsmen!

Dwarven houses’ entrances were small and narrow, but the ceilings were high enough for a human to enter.

Inside various shops, there were dozens of different weapons and armors on display.

Among the many things, next to a blacksmith’s shop, was a pub where Dwarves drank alcohol.

“In my opinion, the weapon I made this time turned out good. It’s well suited to strike the heads of the Orcs.”

“If you’re a blacksmith, you definitely have to live in Kuruso.”

“In the entire Versailles continent, we have the highest technology, we should be proud.”

Outside the pub, the Dwarven users noisy conversations could be heard.

Many people that entered from the back roads of the abandoned mine like Weed, were humans and Elves.

“Heueeeng! Why is everything so expensive.”

The beautiful user Elf’s face turned grouchy. She had found the bow with the perfect shape for her. However, the Dwarven seller said uprightly.

“We have no choice but to sell it at an expensive price to Elves. If you don’t want to buy it, scam!”

“Hueng, But I really do want it…”

“Then give me the money for it!”

“What should we do. Don’t you have enough money for it Lumiya?”

“No, I’m about 1500 gold short. I wish they would give us a slight discount. They don’t ever give us discounts.”

Grumpy Dwarves!

Unlike their fellow Elves and humans, Dwarves were not so favourable with them, or other races for that matter.

Although there were five beautiful elves inside the shop the price was not reduced by even 1 gold. Weed approached quietly to the side where the Elves and the Dwarves were bargaining.

However he did not have even the slightest desire to help the Elven women. He was just wondering what kind of quality the bows sold in Kuruso were.

Furthermore, this shop has garnered plenty of interest since it was located in the center of the Kuruso and was known for the high performance of the items it dealt.

Weed pointed at the bow the Elven woman wanted.

“I would like to look at this.”

“I was looking at this product first.”

The Elven women said with a sigh. However, Weed’s expression did not change.

“Is that so?”

“However, I don’t have enough money…”

“Then can I take a look at it?”

“But…”

As the Elven woman nodded, she received sharp glares from her companions.

Weed’s eyes shone as if he had captured prey!

The Dwarf owner readily handed him the bow.

“Our shop would be more thankful if a fellow Dwarf would uses this bow.”

Weed took the bow that was handed to him and looked at it carefully.

“Identify!”

The Dwarf Unoban’s tribute to combat:

- Durability: 40/40.

- Damage: 65.

- Range: 14.

A bow crafted for hunting by the Bow Craftsman Unoban.

Quick aim, and accurate. A powerful weapon made with a bowstring optimized for speed.

Restrictions:

- Level 280.

- Dexterity 730.

- Archers, or Intermediate Warriors are able to use this item.

Options:

- 20% speed increase
- Improved penetration damage
- Rapid fire Accuracy Improves

- Steel, Flaming, and Poison arrows may be used.

‘Not bad.’

He received the information from his intermediate identify skills.

Because of his Intermediate Blacksmithing skill, Weed was able to get a more detailed information about the item.

Weapon Production.

The attributes of the weapon can only be seen in the work of those who have raised their Blacksmith to the Intermediate level.

If you continuously use 45 steel arrows or more, the string will stretch and cause the range and accuracy to drop by 20%.

The damage of arrows increases by 23% on average.

Because this is one of the weapons the Craftsman Unoban made poorly, it’s center is not properly calibrated and there may be a deviation of about 15 cm when shooting at a range of 100m.

However, as a product that was made with faith, it can emit a light that guides the arrow on the proper flight path.

If a Blacksmith with more proficiency enhances the bow, there is a chance to slightly increase an arrow’s maximum range and damage.

After fidgeting with the bow for a while, Weed returned it.

“How much for this weapon?”

The Dwarf replied.

“15,500 gold.”

“Hmmm”

“Will you be buying it or not?”

Weed retreated a step.

“No, I will not be buying it.”

He was the person who had High Elves’ Bow. The reason why he was searching for items was not because he wanted to buy and use it but because he wanted to check the equipment’s price. That was the only reason he searched through the Dwarves’ equipment!

He had absolutely no desire on purchasing any weapon.

The Dwarf clicked his tongue.

“That’s too bad. Come to think of it, we Dwarves, don’t need a bow to win any battles.”

It was a weapon that she liked, since Weed said he was not going to buy it, she felt that another opportunity came.

Then Weed said to these people.

“Don’t buy that bow.

“What?”

The Elven women’s eyes were shining.

Although Elves were beautiful by nature, there were better looking people out there.

They had large round eyes, clean skin, and slim bodies. With pointed ears and green hair, it was natural that men would think they are very pretty.

“Its a cheap item.”

“What? What are you…”

“Little Dwarf friend! What do you mean by that!”

It was natural for the shop owner to have an outburst. However, Weed ignored the owner’s outburst and continued speaking.

“It is not a weapon that was made with careful consideration to its quality. Rather than Elves, it was made for non-Dwarves to use. The balance of the weapon is not good, and the average damage and durability is subpar.”

The weapon was not good enough for Elves to use. The Dwarven shop owner’s face was flaming red and was unable to utter a word.

“Huh?”

“The Dwarves have strong pride. Why did you not get angry?”

Weed continued saying.

“The fire rate is high, which would make it cost more, but this weapon was not properly calibrated in the center and is a complete rip off. If you want, you can get a shooting target and test the bow yourself.”

After he finished saying this, Weed quickly walked away from the store because there was nothing more to say.

He gave the Elf some advice only because she seemed to be his sister’s age.

The Dwarf was blushing bright red with embarrassment.

Dwarves start of with basic handicraft skills which made them excellent craftsmen.

The Dwarf knew that Weed was completely right and could not argue back.

“Elf, are you going to buy this or not?”

The Elf cautiously put down the weapon and nervously asked.

“What is the price for this bow?”

“12,500 gold.”

“But I heard that it’s not balanced…”

“Then don’t buy it.”

The arrogant Dwarf replied back and folded his arms.

The Elven woman understood that Weed helped her and ran after him in a haste in order to not lose him and to register him as a friend.

“Register Friend!”

– Your friend request has been denied.

“?.”

As a female Elf, he was the first one to refuse to register her as a friend.

On the battlefield and on quests, the elven race was always the most popular.

Because of their fast footwork, archers would react to surprisingly fast. And due to the Elven women’s pretty faces and slim bodies, men had always taken care of them.

In reality, their appearances were actually plain and they looked like model students who were engrossed with books, but they were popular in Royal Road.

The female Elf threw away her pride and tried again.

“Friend Request!”

– Your friend request has been denied.

“Friend Request!”

– You and Weed-nim have been registered as friends.

After three attempts for a friend request, in the end his name was Weed?

‘The name of that person is Weed?’

At that very moment, the Elf Edel sent a whisper, and just as she expected, the words she first heard were blunt.

– The Dwarves’ skills and devotion…

The whispered words Edel heard was exactly like that.

“It’s not that us Elves are doubting the skills and quality of the Dwarves, but this bow is too expensive for us plain elves to use. I know that the Dwarven Masters can make bows like this easily.”

“12,000 gold.”

An Elf was trying to bargain with the arrogant Dwarven shop owner who was said to be impossible to bargain with. It was a subject worth mentioning.

– Average damage…

Edel was carefully watching the Dwarf’s reaction and said.

“It says that the average damage is not consistent. If a bow’s damage is not consistent, it’s a big problem. I have to hunt the evil Orcs before they get close.”

It was known to all that the Orcs were the Elves’ and Dwarves’ common nemesis.

One could say that the Dwarves hated the Orcs existence.

“11,000 gold. Thats the lowest I can go.”

“I’ve heard that the durability is bad…”

“10,500 gold.”

If the price was about this amount, Edel could sufficiently buy it with the money she had.

“Wow!”

“I didn’t know Edel had a talent for bargaining.”

Edel’s fellow Elves cheered her on, however Edel decided to press on the matter.

Edel has yet to buy the bow. This was because she was unsure of the price.

Edel asked one more time to confirm the price.

“That is… Is it okay if I shoot a far target and check the results? If it’s a weapon that Master Dwarf has made there should be no problems, but I want to see how good the bow is before I decide. However, if the arrow strays even a little bit from the target, you’ll give me a discount, right?”

For the first time, the Dwarf’s complexion changed and turned pale.

“Give me 9,000 gold for it. Although the bow is somewhat flawed, it’s not bad if you bought it for 9,000 gold.”

That was how Edel finalized the purchase price to 9,000 Gold.

There was a slight disadvantage when you use the bow because of the inconsistent damage attack!

However, skills in archery would be more than enough to compensate the shortcomings of the bow.

It was amazing to be able to get a bow that provided a strong base damage as well as rapid fire capabilities at this level and at that price. A Human would find Elves to be amicable, but it was amazing to be able to bargain with the introverted Dwarves.

Edel tried to sending a whisper to Weed with a word of thanks.

– Thank you very much. Because of you I was able to buy the bow…

– The recipient has blocked you.

* * *

Most of the quest that were commissioned in the Kingdom of Kuruso were for the Dwarven race or Blacksmiths.

Sculpting was as rare as beans sprouting in a drought, and it was a situation where no one could say that they were proficient in it.

“Heolheol, I can’t buy any ale since my money for ale is gone. Although this is really unfortunate, I can’t beg due to a Dwarf’s honor. Luckily the lady who owns the bar said she likes sculptures; won’t you make her one? In return, I’ll give you the pickaxe I’ve been using. You can’t sell it anywhere, but you can use it in a variety of ways.”

*Ding!*

Request of a Dwarven Miner

Make a sculpture of a pickaxe.

When completed, you can obtain a pickaxe.

Quest difficulty: F

Reward: Pickaxe

Quest Restrictions: Limited to sculptors.

“I will get started on the sculpture right away.”

– You have accepted the quest.

“You say you’re a Sculptor? A Sculptor… When I was young, I was also able to see some spectacular sculptures. What, you say I don’t seem the type?”

“That’s not it. Dwarves are legendary artists, and they are delicate craftsmen.”

“That’s right. The arrogant Humans say that the Dwarves have no interest in the arts; unlike the Orc bastards, us intelligent Dwarves love beautiful and durable things. Even in our city of Kuruso, we have many Dwarven warriors who don’t know the meaning of backing off. I want to store those memories in my house. Make me a sculpture of a proud Dwarven warrior.”

*Ding!*

The Valor of Dwarven warriors.

The Dwarves boast that if they have the armor and weapons they made, they can block even Breath attacks and can cut through anything, they can even capture the evil dragon, Kaybern.

This might be the reason why their Blacksmithing skill was nurtured, but the possibility that this is true is nonexistent!

Even in paintings, as long as their opponent isn’t a dragon, the Dwarves don’t know the meaning of fear and retreat.

Sculpt a courageous Dwarf warrior.

Difficulty: E

Reward: The weapon set that the Dwarf poorly made to relieve his boredom.

Quest Requirement: Must be a Sculptor.

You must make a bronze sculpture.

“I’ll get started right away.”

– You have accepted the quest.

He received this quest without even accepting the Rank F difficulty quest.

One could say that it he was good at getting job quests!

He had hope that there would always be a Sculptor quest anywhere he went.

In this way, he randomly received Sculptor-related requests.

‘Kuruso is a small place.’

There were no more than a thousand Dwarves living here.

There were a lot of empty buildings, and it was quiet for its size.

If there were no Elven or Human adventurers, it would truly become a lonesome place.

‘If I keep doing the sculptor requests, I guess there will be a request to sculpt some unknown thing.’

He thought that he would be able to find a clue at the very least.

However, even though he finished dozens of requests, a special request never appeared. Although the difficulty of the requests rose on average after he mentioned Iron Hand, they never exceeded rank D.

Chain quests were hard to find, and, at best, they introduced him to another Dwarf who needed a sculptor.

The scary thought that flitted through his mind at that moment!

‘This can’t be the limit for sculptor quests, can it?’

If he was a combat-related profession, he could just go adventuring.

There was no need to talk to go on an adventure. He could excavate a ruin, or study the local fauna and flora. He could capture a monster.

The interesting requests were linked together without an end.

Even priests were able to experience special rites that the Church had laid down.

However, he began to think that such quests were nonexistent for the sculptors in the first place.

‘That’s right. Even the quest to make a tomb for the King in the Rosenheim Kingdom was like this.’

It was a rank B difficulty sculptor quest!

If the difficulty was higher than the other commissions then experience and rewards would be greater and it might also give influences throughout the Versailles content.

But what made the tomb of the King so difficult was the physical labor needed to build it.

‘It was a task that could easily be done with simple workers. Furthermore, when sculpting the statue of the Goddess Freya, there were no special challenges.’’

Weed was proficient at laboring, and whenever a new job appeared, he accepted it with optimism.

It was true that he was scared of the other difficult sculpting requests in reality.

How troublesome would it be if there was a request to turn some gems worth tens of thousands of gold into a necklace that would be left behind in the world for centuries?

Weed gladly accepted simple labor, and had created a significant portion of his sculptures that way.

However, it seemed as though, while he was doing that, he had never earnestly thought about the sculptures.

‘It’s possible that the quests I receive through sculpting are stuck at this pitiful level.’

While he did specially make large statues, it could be that those were the limits of the sculpture requests.

It did not fit the image of a Sculptor to do things like search for a party, battle, or go on an adventure!

It might be better to hole up somewhere and create sculptures endlessly.

One could say that Tailors and Blacksmiths were in a similar situation, but whatever the case, he began to hold doubts that, as a Sculptor, he might not be able to go adventuring.

‘No. Damn it. This is reality. There can’t be any Sculptor who goes on adventures, can there?’

Weed fell into despair.

* * *

Every day, the Predators of the Land Guild and Daymond were gaining more and more attention.

The reason the Humans were concerned about this incident was because it was about time they went to hunt the King Griffin in the Havelin Gorge.

It was considered impossible to kill the King Griffin!

They went on countless adventures to the Land of the North to hunt the Yellow Griffins.

As Griffins could fly in the sky, they had high agility, and were clever, thus they were considered suicidal to hunt.

The Havelin Gorge was a place that lured many adventures to their deaths.

Daymond and the Predators of the Land Guild entered the Havelin Gorge fearlessly.

The clever Griffins lightly greeted the intruders by rolling boulders on them and tossing branches at them while airborne.

However, the Griffins with not use any frontal attack.

‘If you want to come further, then come. There is no way you bastards will be able to survive.’

This terrified them, and with night raids every night they had to watch their surrounding carefully.

They were about the third of the way into the Gorge, which was too far to turn around, the Griffins’ attacks began in earnest.

The Predators of the Land Guild experienced a series of deaths. Words of their failed attempt were up for discussion.

Other guilds laughed at the Predators of the Land guild for their recklessness.

“Unless you’re crazy, you can’t challenge the Havelin Gorge.”

There are other guilds who had larger military strength compared to The Predators of the Land guild. Nevertheless, they would not dare to challenge a dangerous area such as Havelin Gorge.

Especially when defeat was guaranteed.

Because their guild had high prestige, they would be the focus of all players in the Versailles continent. If they were to fail, their reputation would drop significantly.

Additionally, even if they were successful, if many of the core players died, they would suffer great losses.

Although the guilds occasionally exercised their military strength, they were very cautious about it. Therefore the Predators of the Land guild were ridiculed for fearlessly challenging the Havelin Gorge.

“Since they’re leading the guild recklessly, they will fail and end up lost in the North.”

Nevertheless, the Daymond and the Predators of the Land Guild continued to stay strong despite their losses.

However, they were anxious because of the Griffins.

Because Griffins were aerial monsters, only arrows and magic could slay them.

Nonetheless, there was a place of refuge for them.

Griffins’ nest was in the centre of the Havelin Gorge!

In the nest, there were baby Griffins that did not have wings or knew how to fly.

After the Predators of the Land guild, led by Daymond, arrived at the nest and started a terrible and bloody fight, they obtained an unbelievable victory.

In order to kill the Griffin King, they had to capture 35 little Griffins. The value of successfully capturing and taming one Griffin in an aerial battle, was enormous.

There was a movie in real-time of the battle in Havelin’s Gorge posted on the Hall of Fame. Many lost their lives in the battle but the guild fought until the Griffin King had been killed which impressed many of the viewers.

People were completely captivated by the Predators of the Land Guild’s recklessness.

* * *

Weed’s concerns about the value of the sculpting request was deepening.

“Though, it can’t be helped. They say that learning is theft…”

There was no other way to develop the art of sculpture. He could only accomplish the requests in silence!

“Good work.”

“No, not at all.”

Even though the Dwarf who had entrusted the request to him came, Weed only gave curt responses.

“Oh! It’s a really great piece of artwork.”

“I simply carved it.”

“To think that you could trim the surface so smoothly… And look at the curvature of the surface. To think that we could see the pinnacle of grace in the curvature!”

“Since I made it with a lot of consideration, please stop the cheap talk and give me money.”

The height of exhaustion!

Even if he earned favor, the sculpturing requests did not compensate well. He would only get the amount that was already agreed upon.

Of course, if he made a sculpture that was better than requested, he could get a bit of a raise in compensation. However, the reward would not raise if he simply traded words.

The Dwarves gently laughed at Weed’s haggardness.

“If you’re a Sculptor, you have to have at least this much pride.”

“Ah, well! You could go act like one.”

“A engraver with a wonderful personality. If I have another request, I’ll come again.”

“Please request a commision that pays well next time.”

Even though Weed showed his frustration, the Dwarves took the sculpture and left satisfied.

He even had situations where he received mundane sculpture requests!

He also had a lot of times when he created things like graves or a Goddess in the continent of Versailles. However, there was nothing the Dwarven Artisan city of Kuruso did not have.

There was a lot of monuments, memorials, museums, etc, piled up by extraordinary Dwarf craftsmen, but commissioned sculptures were rare.

“There really is not even a stall.”

Nevertheless, Weed continued to carve sculptures.

– I said to sculpt us.

– Sculptor, why are you following the counterintuitive path?

He was getting used to the murmurings of the unknown presences.

Weed only did business at certain sculpture stores, sculpture materials stores and a certain spot on the side of the road.

However, one day the sculpture store owner held out a sculpture that looked like a bat.

“Art Hand, take a look at this.”

“Why?”

“Can you give your impression of this work of stone?”

Weed examined the work as he handled it.

“It’s annoying, but you do know that sculptors are naturally not very good at this job?”

“I know, but I wouldn’t ask for no reason. Yes, you won’t be disappointed with the compensation.”

“Then will the sculpture I make be sold for a high price?”

“Just to gain 1 percent more. A popular sculpture will sell for a very high price, and other sculptures can sell for a high price even if they are not as popular…”

Also according to the transactions the prices of sculptures could rise.

If many merchants came to want the statue then the price will also rise. In reality, the value of the defensive equipment in Thor and Kuruso were expensive due to their popularity.

In order to set the price following the economy of the market, the sculptures couldn’t be sold for a particularly high price, even if it was Weed’s sculptures. It was a poorly made sculpture, not one made using superior materials and without a lot of consideration.

“Since it’s only one impression, I’ll try it.”

Weed closely examined the bat sculpture.

“I don’t think there is anything special about it…”

Since he made many sculptures, his observational skills had vastly improved.

The bat sculpture that was made using a rock consisting of poor quality clay did not seem to be a piece that was made with great skill.

‘It wasn’t elaborately presented, and there are many crude knife marks. It’s barely average.’

It was a piece that Weed would have regarded as a failure.

It was a rule that the more time you invest in a sculpture, the more the mistakes will be corrected, but this sculpture was filled with mistakes.

“I’ll know more if I take a closer look. Identify!”

It is a Bat Sculpture with an unknown name.

The Bat Sculpture is covering its body with its wings.

Its form resembles the Vampire Bats of the Shaspin Cave.

Artistic Value: 3

Weed was about to pass the sculpture back to the store owner and said.

“It seems to be nothing much. It has no worth and it seems like it was made simply.”

“Is that so? That’s disappointing. I had a lot of expectations for this sculpture, since it was found in the rapids of a lake .”

But it was at that moment.

Weed looked at the eyes of the sculpture.

Thrilling!

The eyes of the Vampire Bat whose eyes were alive with fright!

They say that a bat’s eyes were degenerated, but it still had eyeballs. It seemed as though the surprising bright eyes were moving about.

Its eyes were not made of stone, but were made of precious rubies.

Weed swallowed and examined the stone piece again. He touched the rubies with his fingertips, and observed it while shining a light at it.

‘It’s a ruby that hasn’t been cut and is rough. Since it’s a ruby that I can get thousands for if I touch it up a little, I can’t see how something like that should be in something like this Bat Sculpture.’

Then he had received a message!

You have discovered evidence of the Shaspin Vampire Bat in the stone piece.

Weed felt another weird feeling.

“Identify!”

Shaspin Vampire Bat.

The work of the Dwarf Craftsman Gudolph.

It was the last completed work in the Shaspin Cave.

Artistic Value: 245

* * *

In Kuruso Kingdom, the region behind the lake that was littered with caves.

It was certain that without a guide, one would get lost within the complex anthill-like cave.

Thanks to the Dwarves’ innate senses and the ability to read the traces of ore deposits they could never get lost underground. However, since anyone could get lost in a complex cave even with a map, if it wasn’t a particularly brave Dwarf, they never ventured in too deep.

The young Dwarf Gudolph cautiously walked into the cave.

‘This time… Have to find courage to go to the gemstone mines.’

Gudolph was highly noted as an artisan, but even more than that, he had a good grasp of the underground ore deposits.

“I ought to give her a pretty brooch as a present.”

He wanted to give a brooch he created with the gems he found to his lover when he proposes.

Gudolph took up a fast pace towards Shaspin cave.

“This is the way that leads to a cluster of ruby viens.”

The Shaspin is a place Dwarfs do not dare to go. Gudolph was blind in love and cautiously went into the depths of the cave.

Dark, and narrow cave!

He passed by stalactites and the vampire bats sleeping on them.

He was willing to risk his life to move further into the cave to mine jewels.

And from the depths of the cave, he discovered traces of light emitted from jewels.

“It’s here!”

Cheered, old Gudolph as he struck his pickaxe into the vein.

He found the mine of high graded red ruby gemstones!

“This will be more than enough to make a brooch for her!”

Gudolph sank into happiness.

However, the sound coming from the pickaxe as he was digging the ruby out woke up all of the Vampire Bats in the Shaspin Cave. The Vampire Bats beat their wings and flew over to sink their teeth into Gudolph.

“S, Stop! Spare this Dwarf!”

Gudolph fled deeper into the cave while having bats hanging off of his body. He did not have the leisure to search his surroundings and recklessly ran away.

The place he arrived at was a zone that had hot lava boiling!

The bats ran away from the heat, but Gudolph had no more strength left. The blood loss left his consciousness hazy, and he did not have the strength to walk out of the cave.

Even if he searched for a way out, it was the Shaspin Cave, where Vampire Bats were waiting for him.

“I don’t have any way to go back…”

Gudolph took out the ruby gemstones he had and fashioned a precious brooch out of it.

It was an item that he wanted to use while proposing to the Dwarf maiden Jena.

He chiseled a small stone into one of the Shaspin Vampire Bats, and inserted the leftover rubies as its eyes.

“I hope someone will discover…”

Gudolph felt that he did not have much longer to live. That’s why he wrapped up the stone sculpture in some of his upper clothes and sent it flowing down a fast stream.

It contained his hope that it would reach Kuruso after flowing and flowing down this waterway…!

The bundleed up Bat Sculpture rode the underground stream.

Kuleuleuleuleu.

Udangtangtang!

There were times when it became as deep as a river, or its speed slowed down, and without leaving time to relax, the blocked off labyrinthian passage became overly turbulent.

The bundle accumulated damage as it collided with the ground or stalactite of the underground. Every time that happened, the sculpture also received some impact, but because it was bundled in Gudolph’s clothes, it remained safe.

And so, as Gudolph had hoped, it made its way all the way to Kuruso’s lake.

Although it had already been more than a month, it safely flowed to Kuruso and was discovered by the Dwarves. That was how it came to be at the sculpture store.

* * *

The moment Weed used his insight, he was able to see the origins of the Vampire Bat of the Shaspin Cave.

*Ding!*

You learned ‘Understanding the Memories of the Scupture’ Skill.

Can witness the sculpture’s hidden in the past.

*Ding!*

Gudolph’s Dream.

The Dwarven artisan Gudolph imbued the last of this strength into this sculpture.

Acquire his vengeance on the Vampire Bats, and gift the brooch Gudolph left behind to the maiden Jena.

If you do this, you are able to obtain the Ruby Mine that Gudolph discovered.

Quest Difficulty: B

Reward: Ruby mine of Shaspin cave

Quest limit: Acquire information about the Vampire Bats in Shaspin cave, and Intermediate Sculpting.

Weed felt like he had been struck with a hammer, as he was shocked senseless.

Sculptors have always been ignored and ridiculed by others!

But when he puts a lot of effort and hard work in creating a sculpture, it never betrayed him.

“I am a Sculptor. A Sculptor.”

There was no need to dwell on the opinions of others.

There was no need to beg for low ranked commissioned quests, it was given without asking.

There were hidden quests in Sculptures only available to Sculptors.

With the Sculptor’s profession, anything is possible!

That is what it means to be a sculptor.

Chapter 4: Commander of Tremors

Weed decided to purchase the statue of Shaspin Cave’s Vampire Bat.

The shop owner sold it over for next to nothing. However, the price did not even cover the value of the rubies.

“It’s only 3 gold, I hope you’ll help Gudolph achieve his dreams.”

As a result of Weed’s spun up tale about the sculpture, the shop owner began to favor him even more.

“I didn’t know that your sculptures would be this good. I’ll gladly purchase the sculptures you make at double the price, in this shop.”

Twice the normal price was extravagant.

If this were to happen, he would still make significant profit, even after deducting the cost of the materials used.

He might be able to live off creating sculptures.

“Are you sure you can afford to buy them at such a price?”

Weed asked courteously.

Gudolph’s arrogant attitude quickly disappeared the moment the shop owner offered to pay twice the original amount.

“It’s twice as cheap as the average price. Art Hand, if you make cheap works like this, I will not forgive you!”

“I’m not much of an sculptor; I still have many things to learn. Thank you, but you need not praise me.”

Weed said with modesty.

Humility is always a virtue. Even if that was the case, the store owner really wanted to stop the conversation, but he would be chastised for at least three days.

“How could I not understand an artist’s feelings.”

“…”

“Artist have a habit of underestimating themselves. I have the conviction and the pride as a shopkeeper to buy your sculptors at the right price. I appreciate it. You’d be glad to sell your sculptures in my store.”

“…”

Weed bought the Shaspin Vampire Bat sculpture. Subsequently, he received a new quest.

**Ding!**

The Vampire Bats of Shaspin Cave.

Take revenge on the Vampire Bats who stole the life of the Dwarven master craftsman, Gudolph.

The Dwarven warriors are obliged to participate in the fight.

The Dwarf who received the will of Gudolph must not die.

Quest Difficulty: B

Reward: Dwarven Honor

Quest Limit: Dwarves’ participation is mandatory.

Forced Race Quest

Weed was startled by the commission.

At that moment, all the Dwarves present in Kuruso received message window containing information about the quest.

Please help Dwarf Gudolph’s successor fight off Vampire Bats in Shaspin Cave to retrieve Gudolph’s sculptures.

You must help, and if you do not wish to participate in the quest you will be deported from Kuruso. Dwarves will be hostile to you.

Dwarves have an enormous amount of pride in their race. In case you do not swear to avenge him, the Dwarves will not treat you as one of their own.

“I want to participate.”

“We will conquer the Vampires Bats of Shapsin cave.”

Dwarven Warriors swore and accepted the quest as quickly as possible. They exclaimed.

“Locate the successor of Gudolph’s sculpture quest!”

“Who is the successor?”

“We are a party of Dwarven Warriors. Please lead the way.”

The Kingdom of Kuruso became restless.

Everyone were scattered, shouting, and looking for Weed.

* * *

Conquest of Shaspin Cave!

Dwarven Warriors ran amuck trying gather supplies and get things done.

Dwarven blacksmiths lent out their surplus weapons and armour.

“Use it well and return it.”

“May your quest be successful.”

The Dwarves in Kuruso showed a favorable response.

Unlike the other Cities, Kuruso had a lower number of users. Dwarven Blacksmiths or Warriors do not have high regards for another person’s work.

“Racial Quests…. Compared to Humans and other species there are many possibilities, it’s a marvelous thing, don’t you think?”

“A quest for Dwarven Sculptors, what a surprise!”

Herman had also arrived.

He came running while holding a bunch of weapons.

“I made weapons. Most are abominations, but you may borrow as many as you require.”

In his mind they were abominations, but they were actually superior to what the other dwarven craftsmen made.

“Even though we met each other in Kuruso like this again, I guess you don’t have some time to spare for me.”

“Nevermind, maybe another time.”

“That sounds good, in any case something great happened. This is a quest from a sculptor.”

Weed met with the other Dwarven Artisans.

Exper and Bambi were regarded as Kuruso’s 5 famous craftsmen. Herman was also one of them.

Through a representative, Fabio also gave away some of the armor he created.

The armour that was brought out was limited to level 200, it was low enough level for Weed to wear and there was no class limitations.

“I will stick to the things I normally use.”

Special protective equipment for battle and was not made purely for defense!

Although the level cap is low and it is possible to wear without high amount of strength, it was extremely heavy and reduces agility. This frustrated him, and it also made him look like a fat hippo.

He believed that strong armour and magic resistance were essential to survive.

Weed shook his head.

“This will not be necessary.”

“Huh?”

“I will not die.”

The truth was, dying would be a huge catastrophe.

Of course, his Sculpture Transformation would be released, and he would be revived through the power to reject death!

At the sight of him, the Dwarven Warriors would be in an uproar.

Because he was none other than Weed.

‘The old Dwarf Gudolph had left things behind.’

But thanks to Gudolph, he had learned the locations and attack patterns of the Vampire Bats in Shaspin caves.

He was not willing to take any risks.

* * *

“Let’s march.”

Upon entering the cave, Weed walked with long strides as if he were out on a stroll. The Dwarven Warriors were astonished.

“Art Hand, have you gone insane?”

“Did you drink a dozen cups of some high-class beer?”

The Dwarves became concerned.

In order for the commission to succeed, Weed must survive.

Their mission was to fight under the leadership of Weed!

However, since their leader was inexperienced, their confidence wavered.

But Weed knew exactly where the Vampire Bats were located.

Inside the empty cave the Dwarves wondered around.

When he was about 500 meters away from the Vampire Bats’ nest, Weed raised his hand.

“It is here.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

A Dwarven Warrior named Bindel asked.

Since he had experience in more than four different types of weapons and had mastered various combative skills, he was the best Warrior out of the Dwarves assembled here.

“The battle will take place here.”

“What do you mean. Where are the monsters?”

Weed answered clearly.

“Of course I will be bringing the fight here.”

At that moment, the faces of all the Dwarven Warriors started to frown.

“That’s foolish, we are all battle experts, let me take the lead from here.”

“You can just find a safe place and rest there.”

“You not know anything about the vampire bats fast movement, tsk tsk! Furthermore we Warriors did not bring any bows.”

From then on, the Dwarves did not show any respect to Weed. The trust between him and the Dwarves had been broken.

I’ll lure all the monsters back, and we’ll see how well all of you will fight!

Hunting Vampire Bats was a lot more difficult than common monsters, therefore the hunt was not simple. It was important to have experience in at least a dozen different kinds of hunting, with various monsters.

However, all the Dwarves tried to ignore Weed.

Weed took out Zahab’s Engraving Knife and slashed his arm.

“What are you doing!”

Bindel shouted.

All the Dwarves who had not listened to him thought he was trying to commit suicide!

If Weed were to die, the commission would fail, if the quest were to fail, the Dwarves would experience a great loss for all the equipments they bought.

The Dwarves were surprised when Weed silently said.

“Dwarven Troops prepare for battle!”

“Huh?”

“You, what are you saying?”

Feeling frustrated, Weed quickly explained.

“The nest of Shaspin Vampire Bats is about 200 meters away. However any blood they smell within 600 meters radius, they perceive it as food.”

“…”

“The cave length varies due to the winding paths, but from here on, it is a straight path to them. They are not able to use their speed because of the low ceiling and stalactites. Dwarven Warriors prepare for battle!”

Weed assertiveness caused the Dwarves to draw their weapons once again and prepare for battle.

‘What the hell are the sounds I just heard?’

‘The Vampire Bats seem to be approaching…’

Chwalalalalalag!

A flock of vampires flew through the darkness.

“They really came.”

“It’s the Enemy!”

The Dwarven Warriors who were prepared for battle, violently hit the bats with axes and hammers, while the bats resisted.

However, because of their specialized wings and utilizing the darkness of the cave, the Vampire Bats were able to surprise them. The Vampire Bats that were not deflected, clung to their enemies.

Although the Priest’s holy magic did do some damage, but sadly they did not have the health, strength, or enough defensive equipment to provide much support.

Because Warriors have high physical strength and vitality, together with high defensive armor, they believed that they were safe from the Vampire Bats who attacked in flocks.

Then Weed bursted out yelling.

“Formation change, Five column concept!”

*Kwakwakwakwakwang!*

The Lion’s Roar echoed inside the cave!

Morale has risen by 276.

All confusion has been expunged.

Luck has risen by 6.

Each Dwarven established a party and fought, and at the same time the message appeared.

Morale in a party was important. When morale is low, it affects damages and magical attacks.

Due to morale being doubled, the state of confusion from the bats attack were gone, and their Luck had also increased!

“Five Column Formation!”

Weed was yelling the same words frequently.

Although the effects of the skill did not overlap, it created a tremendous noise.

The same words echoed throughout the narrow cave.

“Five Column Formation!”

“Stand in groups of five, hurry!”

Although they were in the midst of battle, the Dwarves stood together in groups of five.

The reason they followed Weed’s commands was because they did not know what was going to happen.

Experienced Senior Dwarven Warriors were surprised at these developments.

“He is using a skill for commanding a group of Knights, is he not?”

“The effect of that skill… I’ve never heard of a skill that increases the morale of a party.”

While standing in groups of five fighting in the narrow cave, the Dwarven Warriors soon realised.

‘There is big a difference.’

Although it was not easy to form a groups of five in the middle of battle, because they lacked the experience of doing so in battle. However when they rally together, and fight as one, their attacking prowess, the battle goes by smoothly as opposed to fighting individually

The size of the groups would be changed based on the size of the area they fight in. Sometimes there would be four people, and sometimes there would be six.

Every time they got into their battle formation, Weed would used Lion’s Roar.

“Third column lead forward, second column stay in your position!”

The leading column knew that the Vampire Bats were three steps ahead of them. Then the space between the columns emerged.

The Vampire bats targeted the Dwarf furthest from the front of the leading column.

“The second column, cover the leading column!”

The Dwarves from the second column brandished their weapons at the Vampire Bats who came in flocks.

During battles, the highest priorities of Warriors is to assure the safety of their allies!

The commands were easy to follow all thanks of the kinship of the Dwarves.

“Three people from the leading column, move forward and close the open gaps, second column move forward, and third column maintain your current position!”

The Dwarves soon realised that the situation had a repetitive nature and knew how to deal with it.

It was important to maintain their formation and remain united while fighting the Vampire Bats.

The Dwarves were able to fight properly because of their helpful allies who supported them, and they were able to maintain their formation and remain calm.

Those who were wounded, fled from Vampire Bats to get healed, and once they were healed, they went back to battle.

With the formation Weed came up with, it was easier to fight Vampire Bats.

However, they weren’t able to guard against the Vampire Bats who flew above them passed column 6, and defeated column 7.

The darkness of the cave does not have any disadvantages to Vampire Bats, and because of their nature, it allows them to clings on people’s body really well. And by doing so, it created anxiety through the remaining Dwarven Warriors.

‘We can win, fight harder.’

‘Fight to win.’

The Dwarves’ eyes shone like lanterns, as they pushed forward with newfound energy.

“Advance Forward. Breakthrough!”

The Dwarves hastily moved their feet.

*Ttadadadadag!*

The column formation fought the Vampire Bats at a steady speed.

A shiver ran down the spines of the Dwarves.

This was a battle they had never experienced before!

It was common for five or six people to unite as one party. However, it was difficult to form a party while there were over hundreds of Dwarves fighting together in unison.

Taking a collective stand and fighting swarms of Vampire Bats, they felt a huge sense of pride in themselves.

The excitement rose in their bodies, and they found the battles exciting and fun.

Weed gave commands skillfully.

“Hurry up!”

He told them to increase the pace.

Hurry, hurry, hurry!

The Dwarves repeated these words to themselves to keep up their pace while wielding their weapons.

The Vampire Bats who ran into the leading group were defeated, however some flew past them and headed for the third and fifth column, they were lucky that the bats died in one hit. Despite all that they experienced some losses.

Weed used Lion’s Roar again to boosts the parties’ morale, and with the increase in morale, the Dwarves attacked the bats.

“Make haste!”

“Hurry!”

“Hurry!”

“Hurry! Hurry!”

The Dwarves spoke in unison as they ran.

This was the most exciting battle that they’ve ever had!

They did not know they had to fight in a dark and narrow cave. They had never fought like this before.

“From the first to the third column, stick to the left and right side of the cave. Fourth column, ignore everything else and advance. The current leading group, go together with the main force and stick around the rear!”

The Dwarves were initially worried about how their formation will be.

Since they were fighting swarms of Vampire Bats head-on, they experienced a large loss of stamina, and their vitality decreased immensely. However, because they did not want to voice their discomforts, they decided to tough it out as much as they could in order to continue with the exciting battles.

They moved dutifully because the entire battle formation could be destroyed if the front of the column formation were to collapse.

However, as if Weed could read the minds of the Dwarves who were at the head, replaced their ever building feelings of worry.

The Dwarves who, after fighting in the frontlines, were moved, clinging to the sides of the cave, exchanged glances with the Dwarves who were passing by.

‘Well done.’

‘Good work.’

Their eyes were filled with confidence!

The hearts of all the Dwarves were becoming united as one.

“Power through!”

As the frontline units were changed, so did Weed’s commands.

After that, the Dwarves ran through the swarm of Vampire Bats and wiped them out.

The size of the community of the Vampire Bats of the Shaspin Cave was enormous.

‘If we had fought normally, we would’ve struggled.’

‘Even altering just the battle formation could let us, groups comprised of only soldiers and warriors, fight like this.’

The truth that the Dwarves had learned came across as shocking.

By the fifth time they had swapped the front line units, they had broken through the swarm of Vampire Bats.

The Dwarves still had more than enough strength.

That was because the Dwarves who were in the frontline still had strength in reserve due to the early swapping.

“Everyone, about face.”

The Dwarves turned around without hesitation.

Of course, Weed was currently in complete control.

Since they were able to witness the effects of Weed’s commands, their readiness to defend themselves naturally increased.

“Charge!”

Just like before, they charged towards the Vampire Bats slaying every single one.

After the battle, the party would pick up the japtem that dropped along their way and would repeatedly do so after every battle. Right then, the Dwarf named Bindel asked Weed.

“How should we distribute the japtem?”

Originally, the party who received the most experience would take care of the japtem. However, during the battle, they had to continuously split into different party and get into formation, which made things complicated.

Furthermore, when it comes to the Dwarven race, there are many characteristics that can’t be overlooked.

Dwarves were greedy by nature, therefore Weed had to come up with an idea and told them.

“You can pick up japtem on your own. However, in case you pick up more than you can manage yourself and your movement speed slows down or if combat ability suffers, I will take measures to forcefully remove you on the spot.”

“…”

“The battles in this cave will be fought in the same manner as before, and will continue until you are sick of fighting. That’s why it is proper for you to loot with moderation so that your combat ability and your movement speed does not suffer.”

With this, the Dwarves nodded their heads.

It was better to loot japtem moderately than be uselessly greedy and become mobbed by your own team. It was because they were going to fight an innumerable amount of battles such as these unceasingly and there would be more opportunities to loot later on.

* * *

The hunting of the Vampire Bats of the Shaspin Cave!

As the Dwarven Soldiers and Warriors built up more and more combat experience, they became more efficient.

“Faster! Faster! Faster!”

“Forward, charge!”

“Crush them all!”

The Dwarves swept through the inside of the cave with a crazed fervor.

The main habitat of the Vampire Bats!

The dark and narrow caves that, Humans obviously, and even Dwarves would cowered from. There were rampant noises and such coming from the land as if it was a completely different cave.

Until now no one had ever experienced nor imagined such a battle.

Some of the Dwarves openly shared their delight.

“If all of this is put up on the Royal Road forums, there will probably be a lot of excitement.”

“It would probably turn things upside down.”

The highly-skilled Dwarven Soldiers and Warriors of Kuruso; there were some users who were able to get into the Hall of Fame.

Those users were also waiting for their chance to upload the video.

Weed was unconcerned with it.

He could not monopolize the video commission since they were all doing the quest. Furthermore, Weed was in a situation where he could not make his account public.

If he made it known that he was leading these people in a Dwarf form, then the secret of his job and his Sculpture Transformation skill would be leaked to the public!

Weed decided to loot only important items.

“Hm, these Vampire Bat Tears… I think they can be an important reagent for magicians.”

In order to not become encumbered, he only selected and looted lightweight and valuable japtem.

To others, if japtem distribution was a problem, they usually resorted to threats of discarding the items completely.

Weed’s words constantly increases his control and authority.

The Dwarves had to be wary of Weed.

However, since he was a Sculptor, he did not have to participate in the battles, and the other Dwarves thought well of him.

‘How much can a Sculptor be able to pick up even if he tries?’

‘He largely distinguished himself in battle, and it’s true that we’re all on this quest thanks to him… I feel kind of sorry for him since his profit would be too small.’

He even received some sympathy.

Shyashyashyashyashyashyak!

However, all this this time they didn’t know that Weed was stuffing an enormous amount of japtem into his secret pockets; more than the amount that could fit into his backpack!

The difference between Weed’s perspective and theirs was enormous.

Watching Dwarves, who usually looted a lot, and gather japtem a few times made it seem like they were extremely greedy.

Meanwhile, Weed barely glanced over all of the japtem.

*Ttoleuleug.*

While naturally rolling his eyes, he didn’t spare another glance at the areas where the cheap japtem were.

While seeming to considerately giving the other Dwarves adequate time to loot, he selected and packed a lot of expensive loot when their concentrations were dull.

Even in that chaos, the speed of the battle did not drop, and, inside, the end of the Shaspin Cave was in sight.

“Here it is!”

A Dwarf who was in the lead shouted after discovering a Dwarven corpse.

Weed found a corpse that was dried up like a mummy after getting drained of its blood by the Vampire Bats, and the last ruby brooch that Gudolph had made.

*Ding!*

– You have discovered Gudolph’s ruby brooch.

Weed turned around and spoke.

“It’s complete. Let’s return to Kuruso now!”

The Dwarven soldiers and Warriors had successfully completed the mission.

* * *

They found a Dwarf by the name of Jenna in Kuruso, and gave her the ruby brooch.

Since Weed was the leader responsible for this, other Dwarves gathered around him and watched him.

“This has ended quite unfortunately. Gudolph… He loved you the most, and, at the very end, he left this for you.”

“Heu-heuk!”

The female Dwarf Jenna received the ruby brooch and sobbed.

“Gudolph, to think that you died this way…”

*Ding!*

Quest Completed: Gudolph’s Dream

The Dwarven craftsman Gudolph’s greatest dream has been realized.

Since you took vengeance on the Vampire Bat, and delivered the jewel brooch made for the maiden Jenna, he can rest at ease.

Fame has risen by 120.

Your Friendship with Dwarves of Kureuso has risen by 10.

You have become the most favored and trusted of the Dwarf, Jenna.

You have levelled up.

You have levelled up.

A window popped up to other Dwarves to let them know of the success of the request. Weed paid it no mind and looked upon Jenna with a regrettable gaze.

‘No one knew how painful it is to the one who’s left behind… Until they experience it for themselves.’

The sorrow he experienced after his parents’ death.

His parents could not have rested in peace after departing while leaving their children behind.

Jenna got up while wiping her tears.

“I shouldn’t be here like this. Gudolph wouldn’t have wanted me to be simply crying like this.”

“Then?”

“This jewel brooch is the proof that he proposed to me. And for as long as I will live, I will be known as Gudolph’s wife.”

The Dwarven women had a tough side to them.

Jenna spoke with a smile.

“The Ruby Mine of Shaspin Cave that Gudolph discovered was probably meant as a gift to you. I will pray for you to be able to dug up some beautiful rubies while developing the mine.”

– You have acquired the development rights of the Ruby Mine of Shaspin Cave.

He acquired the development rights of the Ruby Mine!

* * *

Weed registered the mine at the Administrative Office.

Art Hand’s Ruby Mine of the Shaspin Cave!

He recruited orphans and soldiers at Kuruso Administrative Office, and planned to start digging up rubies from the Shaspin Cave.

While he had to pay 60% of the rubies’ worth to employ mercenaries and to compensate for personal expenses and safety fees, he would still make an enormous profit.

He was slowly starting from establishing public order. He was going to lower the employment of mercenaries, so the net profit would get larger as time went on.

“Good work.”

“This will be remembered as the fastest completion of a quest in recent times. If there are any more jobs in the future, call us any time even if the pay is lower.”

Amazingly, the Dwarves who took part in the battles were satisfied and dispersed.

Chapter 5: Fight against Death Hand

Weed was able to start a fire thanks to his sculpture.

The sight of a maiden’s tears!

It was a sculpture that was buried at the side of the road.

“Identify!”

Her father made axes everyday.

Her mother sewed everyday.

They would never play with my younger sibling and I.

There wasn’t anyone who would play with us.

Quest difficulty of Rank E!

Weed found the Dwarves. However, because the sculpture was made awhile ago, she aged and became a fully grown female Dwarf!

She was in the midst of sewing something.

“Excuse me. Would you mind if I played?”

Weed called out to her. He bought her some of the apple-flavored mead that Dwarven children loved and played with her for about 30 minutes.

“My childhood dreams became fulfilled like this. These are clothes that I made… I will give them to you.”

A handmade Blue Dwarven Blue Robe!

It was a magician’s robe with a level requirement of 130, but even with the low level requirement, it was a very important magician’s robe.

Magicians are not significantly conscious of their defence. Because they have the most powerful damage, they focus on mana regeneration and attack power.

In fact, no matter how bad or how good a robe is, they did not give any extra health or defense. However, this Dwarven handmade Blue Robe was something every Magician wanted. The robe had options to give fast casting for spells and extra mana, which could be sold for 7,000 gold.

Even though a Magician’s staff provides the most magical attack power boosts, Magician robes were rare and therefore sold for more.

This was why the compensation for this statue quest was absurd.

“Sculptures can be compared as the flowers of true art!”

Weed lavishly praised the sculpture.

“Welcome, Art Hand!”

“Hello Esteemed Guards. Would it be okay if I entered the house for a bit?”

“If it’s you, you’re welcome here anytime!”

He even visited the Dwarven Guards’ house.

Weed had an affinity of using flattery which did not cost any money and this way, he was able to get familiar with the Guards. There was a sculpture inside the guardhouse.

There was a big difference between Humans and the taciturn Dwarves.

Because they loved sculptures and other works of art, such as paintings, there were always 1~2 sculptures in every house. There was a small number of sculptures that had no meaning and were made for display, but there were also plenty of sculptures that were requested to be made or symbolises something.

“This seems like an amazing sculpture.”

“Ah. It’s something my ancestors kept a hold of.”

“May I take a look at it close up?”

“If a sculptor as skilled as yourself would look at it, it would bring me great honor”

“Thank you. Identify!”

There aren’t be a lot of Dwarves who knows the truth about the foul and evil being living in Kuruso.

‘Evil being…’

For some reason the quest seemed like it would get fairly troublesome.

That evil being shapeshifts and roams around while tempting innocent Dwarves. Since the evil being changes his identity regularly, he cannot be found easily. However, the evil being usually has a form that resembles a sneering Dwarf.

If a capable Dwarf makes a good item, this evil being will approach them. It will always try to pass itself as an unskilled Dwarf, and will produce a better item after inspecting and mastering their skills.

A despicable act to the Dwarves who work hard to raise their skills!

Weed thought this was fairly extreme.

‘I wouldn’t be able to forgive him either’

If, while one is making 1 Gold, their neighbor is making 2 or 3 Gold, it would cause irreparable mental trauma!

– You must take revenge on that evil being.

He had to make sure the evil being would never step foot on Dwarven soil again.

However, because the Dwarves defended the weak and powerless, he couldn’t just punish the evil being. If he did that, the pride of the race would not be restored.

It was better for him to identify the evil being and then openly challenge him to a competition of skill and defeat him.

Fortunately, the evil being was not proficient in every field, so there was a definite chance of success.

This time, the difficulty of the quest was rank C!

“I think it will yield a fairly good reward this time.”

Rather than fighting against the evil being and beating it, he had to defeat it in a feat of skill.

Weed immediately identified a Dwarf that was likely to be the evil being.

Whenever a Dwarf player produced an item, there was another Dwarf that was making a superior item next to him.

His name was Death Hand!

“Keulkeulkeul.”

Unlike a Stouthearted Dwarf, he would make noise and then create something.

He was a Dwarf that was famous in Kuruso for requesting random things.

‘If he won’t drink any ale, there won’t be any doubt.’

After following him around for a day, Weed was certain.

A Dwarf that wouldn’t drink any ale was abnormal!

He thought there was no doubt because, even though he stood next to him and drank as if inviting it to drink with him, he showed no interest.

“Geez, you couldn’t even cut a watermelon with this kind of sword.”

“Keueuk…”

There was another frustrated Dwarf in front of Death Hand.

He had spent his whole savings to obtain the highest grade of bone. A sword made from the bone of a monster!

After making a fairly decent sword from the femur of an Ogre, he let out a shout of joy.

“Alright! I finally completed the Ogre Sword!”

Before he could even share this happiness with the other Dwarves, Death Hand walked up.

“Heh, It seems pretty complicated. How did you make a sword out of the bone?”

He tried making a sword out of some Ogre bones he had, and after a few failures, he finally succeeded.

‘No way.’

The Dwarf that made the sword out of Ogre bones became focused entirely on Death Hand.

‘It can’t be. It won’t be like that this time.’

Iron is the easiest material to make a sword out of.

It was easy to change its shape after melting and beating it, and it is easy to complete the sword due to the strength of the materials. The completed sword’s durability will also increase after grinding it on a whetstone.

The inferior bone sword would not allow for mistakes during the entire process, and the material itself was especially sensitive.

Even if one was a Dwarf with high level Blacksmithing skill, they could not make the sword if they did not know how to work with the material. Death Hand had produced a few failures, but suddenly he pulled out an Ogre bone.

“That was in the treasury, it’s valuable…”

And then, after working on it for a short while, incredibly he made an Ogre Bone Sword!

It was a better sword, it also had an interesting shape.

Death Hand however, threw his sword on the ground and it smashed like pottery.

“Damn it, this is abomination! This sword won’t cut a watermelon. It won’t cut an apple. And it even won’t cut a banana!”

“Keuheuheuheug!”

Death Hand’s latest victim of the day was crying bitterly.

* * *

Without warning, Weed proudly walked up to Death Hand.

“Ahem, what should we make? Producing items must be hard for you given your lack of talent.”

His clothes gave off the smell of a novice Sculptor. With a beginner carving knife and skills that could take him over 10 hours to sculpt a squirrel.

Sculpting the tail took 4 hours, the head took 2 hours, even though he crudely made the torso, it still took a long time, and there was still the legs left to be carved.

It was a squirrel, but, without knowing where the cute feet went, it resembled a badger or weasel.

The size was about that of a wild boar and the quality would not be worth mentioning.

– As a result of a failed sculpture fame has decreased by 23.

“Keulkeulkeul.”

When it was completed, Death Hand laughed.

Anyone who saw could see the sculpture of the squirrel was a failure!

Weed once again grabbed his beginner’s carving knife with newfound motivation.

“Failure is okay because it is needed to in order to improve!”

This time, he planned on sculpting a cow.

A gentle, meek, and hard working cow.

Although he put forth more effort to sculpt the cow than the squirrel, it still turned out to be so ugly, it wasn’t worth a look.

The thickness and the length of the legs were of four different sizes and the tail was 1 cm wide!

Fortunately, the head turned out well even if the rest of the body was horrific.

There was no recognizable proof that it was a cow.

*Woodangtang!*

Even though it was a complete sculpture, it was destroyed because its meager legs could not support its weight.

It was a gruesome sight.

His sculpting skill was slowly decreasing!

– As a result of a failed sculpture fame has decreased by 39.

“Keul-keul-keul-keul! keu-hi-hi-hi!”

Death Hand was laughing even harder than before.

He liked to see the misery of others and Weed was his favorite victim right now.

“There is probably no need for me to bother if it’s this kind of sculptor, but…”

Regardless of what Death Hand thought, he did not want to stop watching Weed.

“I should destroy him so that he won’t make any more sculptures!”

* * *

A sculpting battle between Death Hand and Weed!

In the small town of Kuruso word travelled quickly.

Up until now, Death Hand had made a fool out of every Dwarf with capability. Nevertheless, this was a sculpting battle therefore the outcome was hard to predict.

Inside the tavern while drinking their beers, Weed was the topic of all Dwarves.

“Logically speaking, who do you think will win?”

“Death Hand will.”

“No, I believe Art Hand will get the job done, defeat and crush that arrogant flat nosed Death Hand!”

The Dwarven Warriors who were with Weed in the Shaspin caves were cheering for him.

“Do you think that skills are that easy to obtain? You can put up a good fight in an unfavorable battle, but the skill of your hands won’t lie.”

“But Art Hand might be able to do so.”

“Wanna bet?”

“Alright! The loser will buy the winner alcohol for a hundred days, including today.”

“As you wish. Two casks of ale here!”

You could occasionally see people taking bets while everyone was merrymaking.

* * *

Death Hand created a sculpture of the Ghost Knight of Balgest.

A vicious monster Knight who goes to battle atop a mountainous horse!

When a Knight of Balgest appears, even monsters trembled in terror. It was a high-ranking monster that held an absolute power.

“Keulkeulkeul.”

Death Hand was completing the Knight of Balgest at an extremely fast pace. Since it was massive, he gathered plenty of clay to make it.

“Ah, Sculpting is really hard.”

Death Hand was exaggerating.

Weed made noises to show that he was suffering.

Although at first, Weed made the thickness and length different while he was sculpting the legs. However, because he was not contented with it, he made a few repairs. As he was sculpting the legs, he also sculpted the torso and changed it so that the forepaw was raised.

Death Hand’s mouth was twitching viciously.

“I wasn’t even trying to make this… My luck sure is good.”

He left out the delicate muscles a horse had, and it became a splendid Ghost Knight of Balgest.

From the chainmail and the iron mace to the torn clothes worn over it all, the Knight of Balgest was perfectly recreated.

“Phew. To think that I could only make something like this… Is there a sculptor as incompetent as I am? A common sculptor like myself should die. Death is only proper.”

*Kkeukkkeuk* Death Hand cried sadly.

Masterpiece!

Sculpture of the Elite Knights of Balgest.

The Ghost Knight of the ruined Balgest Kingdom.

It is a sculpture that shows the roaring of war.

It is made of inferior clay, and it was covered with black dye.

Artistic Value: 416

Special Option:

Movement speed in battle increases by 7%

The skills of Knights increases by 1 level.

“My god, I should never make another sculpture again. How can I have the right to make another sculpture with these lowly skills?”

Death Hand was making a suffering sounds in front of him.

Dwarves who came because they were curious clicked their tongues.

“It looks like the appearance of another poor victim.”

“Speaking of which, this time around it was really cruel; it’s hopeless when he even included that kind of horse.”

Death Hand’s marvelous work that took one’s confidence and ground it into the floor!

“However, since his opponent this time is Art Hand, wouldn’t something be different?”

“He won’t back down without a fight. For sure.”

The Dwarves could not accurately gauge Weed’s skill. However, since he was able to receive a request of B-rank difficulty, no matter how good his luck was, they expected him to at least have substantial basic skills.

However, Weed created another beginner-like sculpture.

“…”

Death Hand and the Dwarves watched his every movement.

However, after lifting his sculpting knife and thinking for a while, Weed put his hand back down.

The outburst of sighs in that moment.

“Hey!”

“Are you really forfeiting?”

The Dwarves were getting impatient.

“I won’t need something like a sculpting knife.”

Weed nonchalantly said this while raising his bare hands.

He did not have a sculpting knife, and worst of all, he did not have materials to sculpt with. He started moving his hands over the air like a crazy person.

And then, a faint light appeared like magic!

Weed quietly repeated the same action.

“This is Moonlight Sculpting, right?”

It was easy and comforting to carve a moonlight sculpture. Childishly forming the light of the sculpture, the artistic value rose.

However, a real Moonlight Sculptor could use the light itself to make a sculpture.

Weed released tendrils of light from his ten fingers, as if they were a skein of thread.

“Whoa! What’s that?”

“That looks like magic… A Dwarf is using magic?”

The Dwarves gathered around.

As if he were a singer performing on stage, Weed, who was using light to sculpt, was the main character.

Even Death Hand, himself, looked at Weed with astonishment.

* * *

The thin tendrils of light emitted a quiet beauty.

It was hard to produce any color with the light, but it contained a profound hue.

Weed’s hands were dancing in the air.

‘Gather it. Bind it. Spread it. It’s spilling. Expand it. There can’t be any… Mistakes and stuff.’

Weed heightened and expanded his concentration.

This was the first time he was properly exhibiting the art of Moonlight Sculpting.

Aside from accidentally gaining the credentials to use it, It was impossible to actually learn it from leisurely sculpting.

It was a sculpture that utilized completely different techniques from stone or wood carving.

It is a sculpture of light.

Every time he moved his fingers a different color appeared, and it consumed a bit of his mana.

The delicate tuning of Moonlight Sculpting.

Even the color of the light was versatile.

If you make each part of the sculpture, a different color then it changes the overall outcome of the finished product.

The sculpture was made of thousands of different colors easily surpassed the scale of the pyramid!

Although it would become an inconceivably spectacular work, it would become crude without refinement.

Over a couple of days, he had to use his highest level of concentration which was not easy thing to do.

The superior skills of a Sculptor, a Moonlight Sculptor!

When the skill is used continuously, it takes up a lot of mana to maintain it, and even more to add or change it to a different color.

‘My skills are not up to par yet.’

Weed was determined to add different colors.

First he added a bright red color.

‘The color red. Very bold and glamorous.’

The sculpture is now limited to colors that matches with red.

Then from Weed’s fingers, flowed the color of yellow.

Similar to the color red, it was a very challenging color.

The greens, oranges, blues, blacks and purples colors were all changing.

Although there were many different colors, they blended in well.

The clear and spectacular colors that drew one’s attention as though they have been possessed!

The color choices came from Weed’s childhood memories.

‘Crap! Even though I’m looking right at it, I can’t determine the right color.’

It was an effect of being able to use only 8 colors of pastel crayons ever since elementary school, due to his poverty!

It was hard to differentiate one color because of the intangible sense of color.

The colors were always changing.

There weren’t forty-eight colors, nor were there sixty colors.

The color, hue, and contrast led to the gentle change of tens of thousands of colors.

Weed decided to select the color based on his intuition.

‘It won’t be the prettiest color, but the color I’ve chosen.’

There were too many colors, and they were changing quickly.

Whatever color he would picked, he would probably regret it later on, but he would chose the color that touched his heart.

‘It’s done. This is it.’

Finally, Weed chose a mixture of a bright silver color and a noble light blue color.

It was a light that radiated a brilliant silver blue hue.

It was a silver blue that Weed, who only used 8 colors of pastel crayon, could not explain nor comprehend!

It was a much more noble and beautiful color than the light could express.

*Paas!*

The light that was flowing from Weed and piling up until now faded altogether.

The hundreds of the colored lights that were gathered into a large ball dissipated in a moment, and a silver-blue light glowed from Weed’s hand.

It was the start of Moonlight Sculpting.

‘What should I make?’

Weed’s concern faded as soon as he saw the light.

Sculpting was a profession that worked with materials. Depending on the material, some works were restricted.

Since he decided to use Moonlight Sculpting from the beginning, he already had a few ideas in mind.

‘Seoyoon. Although I overused her, if I sculpt her using Moonlight Sculpting, she’d be as beautiful as a Goddess, right?

However, in truth, it was extremely hard to create a person using light. It was hard to capture the beauty, and it was exceptionally difficult to express skin.

He thought it would be a worthy challenge someday, but it was impossible for now.

‘Bingryong or the Wyverns would be fine.’

It would be a refreshing experience to make a sculpture he already made out of light.

However, after seeing the deep light that was spilling out of his hand, Weed changed his mind.

‘Let’s make a sculpture that matches this light.’

Rather than choosing a sculpture that he had already done in the past, he decided to go with a motif that tugged on his heartstrings.

Weed’s hands started to thread the air.

As the lights got tangled and wavered, he preserved the pattern.

Rather than stone or wood, light was being used to create a sculpture!

It was a work that needed meticulousness and details.

His 10 fingers moved delicately as if he was playing an instrument.

The thickness of the light changed depending on the power of the intensity and time. Because the thread could change in quality, if one couldn’t focus their concentration and feelings to the utmost, then they couldn’t even attempt to sculpt.

While working on the light sculpture, Weed had a charismatic aura around him.

Gathering and caressing the light; it was the pinnacle of an Artist who worked with light!

The light sculpture was so captivating that even if lightning were to strike beside it one would not notice.

Finally, a pair of wings that were made from the silver-blue threads of light were completed!

– Please set a name for the statue.

Weed, who was looking at the statue as it emerged, said.

“Wings of Light.”

If the onlookers knew the name that was given to the sculpture at that moment, they would have felt a sadness ripping at their hearts.

Wings made out of fantastic light.

It’s as if the Wings of Light gave its name to itself!

Weed’s lips formed a big warm smile.

‘As expected, my naming sense is the best.’

– Would you like to use the name “Wings of Light”?

“Yes.”

*Ding!*

Sculpting skills has improved.

Handicraft skill proficiency has increased.

Moonlight Grand Masterpiece!

Wings of Light is a Moonlight Grand Masterpiece!

The Versailles Continent has been waiting for sculptures of light for a very long time!

Only a handful of Master Sculptors and their apprentices know about sculpting with light.

The art of light sculpting that was recorded in the legends of history has been revived, and made into a work of art.

It encompassed the traditional values, and was piece worthy of becoming a testament to the art of sculpting.

It was regrettable that the pair of wings lacked a perfect symmetry.

Artistic value: 17,900.

A work of a person who is walking down the path of an Eternal Sculptor.

Special Options:

Those who gaze upon the Wings of Light sculpture will gain a 15% increase in health and mana regeneration for a day.

All stats rise by 25.

Resistance to Darkness rises by 35%.

Immunity to Blinding magics.

Because of the sculpture, the town or city will receive additional security at night.

3% power suppression of monsters active at night.

Priests of Light will receive 15% increase in their skills and Faith.

Effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Moonlight Grand Masterpiece completed so far: 2

Understanding Sculpture Skill has increased by 1 level.

Fame has risen by 332

Art Stat has risen by 30

Wisdom has risen by 2

Charm has risen by 7

Wings of Light is recorded in the history of light sculptures, any sculptor who sees this will understand sculpting better and create better works.

As a result of creating a Moonlight Grand Masterpiece Sculpture, all stats will rise by 4 points.

Overwhelming astounding work!

Although he had created a few sculptures using Moonlight Sculpting, this time one could say that it was a true Moonlight Sculpture.

The sculpture had the highest artistic value out of all of Weed’s sculptures thanks to the historical value.

The pair of elegant Wings of Light floated in the air while flapping.

Weed lamented while hitting the ground.

“This is a failure, a huge failure.”

“…”

The wings would pierce the mind of any Dwarf who looked at them.

They wanted to insult and criticize Weed.

‘Are you insane, crazy Dwarf!’

‘Calling a work such as this a failure, are you making fun of us!’

A legend was made. In fact none of the Dwarves present, had ever seen a light sculpture. Such a sculpture was made, yet the creator was despairing over it!

“A Sculptor like me who does not have talent deserves to die. *Heug-heug*. How could I create a lousy sculpture.”

“?.”

“I blame my half-hearted effort. If only I spent more effort making it.”

However, Weed’s Wings of Light sculpture was harder to work on than any sculpture he had made thus far.

He needed maintain a constant sense of his fingers to match the intensity of the colors of light and control them uniformly. He could not hesitate when making it. Any bold moves have to be exact.

Everyone gathered knew where the roughly 4 hours spent on sculpting the Wings of Light.

Cooled sweat soaked Weed’s forehead and back.

“Death Hand.”

“Huh? Di-Did you call me?”

Death Hand was embarrassed as he looked blankly at the Wings of Light. He was stunned.

Weed had put together an apology.

“I’m Sorry.”

“What, What? Why are you apologising to me…”

“You were right. An incompetent sculptor like myself is not worthy of creating art.”

“…”

“Using my crude skills to make such a sorry failure, I don’t think I can bear to live with the shame.”

“…”

There were slight flaws in the Wings of Light.

When making a pair of wings, both sides should be identical but if you looked closely you could see that the wings were of different sizes.

There were microscopic defects but it was unnoticeable under the naked eye. But if people were to look at the sculpture closely, they would notice the small microscopic defects.

Given that perfect sculptures are rare and this was the first sculpture of light, this sculpture was closer to perfection rather than a failure. It actually came out to be a one of Weed’s Grand Masterpieces.

“It’s shameful and embarrassing. If there was a mousehole, I would want to crawl into it. An incompetent sculptor, like myself, can only die.”

Weed was mimicking Death Hand’s words and flinging them back at him.

“My sculpture seems to be soiled. Sculptors like me are useless in the future, Death hand, what are your thoughts?”

“Me, I…”

Kuruso’s notorious Death Hand was embarrassed and too lost for words.

The Dwarves who were captivated by the “Wings of Light” regained their senses.

Weed and Death Hand’s sculpture battle!

Weed was victorious.

‘Art Hand had won.’

‘Death Hand was finally defeated!’

* * *

Weed and the other dwarves listened to Death Hand’s words of surrender.

“Previously I was haughtily flaunting my skill, I’m sorry.”

– You have eradicated the Evil Being of Kuruso.

With this the quest from the Guard’s statue was completed!

“You are one talented Dwarf. Once I have polished my sculpting skills, I will be back to challenge you again.”

Death Hand pulled out a 15 cm tall sculpture from his bosom and gave it to Weed.

– You have obtained a sculpture from Death Hand.

“I hope that you will treasure this statue until the day we meet again.”

Forlornly, Death Hand turned around and left.

“What, he left after giving me only 1 sculpture?”

“So this is how things come to an end…”

The Dwarves watched with fallen shoulders.

The Knight of Balgest was excellently portrayed in the sculpture, it was a great work. In addition, the sight of the making of the Wings of Light would become an unforgettable memory.

However, with Death Hand’s reputation and capability, this was nowhere near the end!

Chapter 6: Continent’s Dreams

Unicorn.

It may seem like a name of a monster or a mythical beast, but when most people hear the word, they recall Unicorn Corporation.

The sole company who developed and managed Royal Road!

It was not an overstatement to say they were raking in all the money in the world with the new world they created. The company owned enormous industrial clusters based on capsules and mini computers. Even after the operating cost for Royal Road was deducted, their monthly profit was astronomical.

Apart from these, Unicorn’s influence spread to cutting edge communication networks, cartoon character business, image and video culture, tourism, leisure industries and much more.

The company who developed the new world created a rippled effect throughout the world, quickly expanding Unicorn Corporation.

The ever important Royal Road. Royal Road, which almost all of Unicorn’s business were based on, focused mostly on maintenance and getting new players.

There was currently an important meeting between the core leaders in Unicorn’s meeting room.

Jang Yoon-soo, the head of the long-term marketing strategy division, was conducting the meeting.

“Department Head Kim, if you want a smooth meeting, we need you to give us some information. What is the growth rate of our current players?”

Department Head Kim Han-seo flipped through the data, produced a handkerchief, and wiped the sweat off of his forehead. With a sharp gaze, he stared at all of the members of the meeting.

“Yes, I am the director in charge of Goddess Versailles.”

Goddess Versailles, the AI that manages the Versailles Continent.

Kim Han-seo had gathered 17 brilliant scientists who worked together with him to develop it, the AI who handled the creation of the Versailles Continent and everything else in it. The real creator of Royal Road and its absolute ruler! Now it could run fine on its own and it was simply a matter of taking a break and watching the AI run the continent. The player reports by Goddess of Versailles could only be seen via Kim Han-seo’s system management department.

“You probably already know this but… What I am about to reveal to you all is highly confidential company data, and in under no circumstances to be leaked to the general public. Family members included. Therefore you can’t speak of this even to coworkers and subordinates. From this point on, you must keep quiet.”

The members of the meeting had already sworn to to secrecy as they came in. Everyone who was present in the meeting lightly nodded their heads. The topics to be discussed were so important, they could radically change the Versailles Continent. These people were not foolish to be unable to recognize the chaos such information would cause if it were to be leaked.

“Then I will begin. The majority of the top players are slightly below level 430. There are exactly 890 players. It is more or less below our expectations.”

The game, Royal Road, was targeted towards players worldwide, not just Korea. The growth the game was favourable; however, the majority of players were from Korea.

In every game, there were players who played to see the end. Because of the involvement of such players, the history of the Versailles Continent had been altered several times. The Public Relations department and Operations department could not afford to not consider the tendencies of such players.

The deputy of Foreign policy, Soo In-hae, who was in attendance, raised her hand.

“I have a question. What level have players reached in countries outside of Korea, namely Japan, America, and China?”

“They are still relatively low. When Royal Road was in its infant stage, they didn’t have much access to the game, and they are growing around the edges of the islands and in the cities.”

America and China were furious about Royal Road. They just could not believe Unicorn Corporation had managed to create a virtual reality.

Even though Unicorn’s theory was meticulous and they had proven the reality of virtual reality, the American and Chinese press focused only on the negative aspects.

– The First Virtual Reality, Still Too Early

– A Korean Enterprise, Found Technologically Impossible

– National Scientists Appraised It Not Worth Attention

– Science Is Not a Fraud

Anyone in the world could play Royal Road, but players from other countries joined late, giving Koreans a good head start.

There were many players from other countries, but because they joined much later, they were quite far behind. These players were often in smaller countries and islands in the middle of the continent, but because of the automatic translation program, their respective countries were often not revealed.

Everyone spoke the same language in Royal Road, so a player’s country of origin had no real meaning.

The Executive Director of Management, Son Il-gang chuckled.

“That’s a relief. There is not even the slightest chance an Emperor will rise from a player in a foreign country.”

“However you look at it, it seems to be the case.”

A smile played on Jang Yoon-soo’s lips.

Royal Road.

The Emperor of the Versailles continent would receive 10% of a month’s profit as a prize.

It was the ultimate goal of the entire game, and the person who achieve the dream of becoming Emperor would receive incredible privileges.

The press focused solely on this immense prize money.

However, there was another unique reward besides the money.

5% of Unicorn’s shares.

Scientists and researchers worked on the project, along with existing shareholders opposed to the idea. The Systems and Operations strategy department, however, pushed the issue and succeeded in making it the reward.

The one who becomes Emperor was bound to wield incredible power. He would be able to destroy or create anything at will.

Even the company who created an innovative economic system based on Versailles, Unicorn, would not be safe from the Emperor’s hands.

Even the Goddess of Versailles would be unable to lawfully lay hands on the ruler.

The emperor of the virtual reality world in which a multitude of players lived.

It was a secret prize which was immeasurably larger than the reward the public knew of.

* * *

A conference was held in the early morning concerning Royal Road’s new Public Relations strategy, support for new technologies, and business partners.

Nevertheless, the members of the meeting did not discussed Bardray, other high leveled players, or guild leaders. Instead, they focused earnestly on various other important topics.

“Strategist Yoon Young-sil will elaborate. Recently, NPCs from the Kingdom of the Horde have been popular for their cute appearances. I’ve sent documents about character analysis. Did you get a chance to look at them?”

“Yes. We are rushing the production of popular NPCs.”

“More and more players are utilizing the trochet carriage for their vacations. They’re becoming increasingly renowned and well-regarded because of its price, speed, and safety. What do you all think about installing them on resorts?”

“Transportation in the resorts? Whether for mountain climbing, skiing, or golfing, I think it would work out pretty well. I will consider it.”

It was a meeting with light ideas.

The heads of each department ate sandwiches whilst conversing amongst themselves.

As soon as breakfast ended, the atmosphere around supervisor Jang Yoon-soo changed.

“Well…. the external balance of power on Royal Road needs to be examined.”

Department Head Son Il-gang stood up and turned on the screen in the middle of the room.

The territory of each Guild, castle and town were displayed on the map.

“The power in Versailles is split up something like this: Central has 66%, the East 10%, West 8%, South 13%, and North 3%.”

Jang Yoon-soo pointed at flags on the screen which were placed in various places.

“The East is unexpectedly big. There’s a guild occupying the village whose members are impressively high in level.”

“Based on the new players, the kingdoms beyond the plains of despair are blooming, but the Orcs are responsible for the noticeable growth.”

It was a grand sight—races merging together with the emergence of the Orcs, changing the balance of power.

“From the traditional kingdom in the South, there are those who enjoy adventuring using their own strength; in the West, there are only a few players, but, due to the escalating conflicts stemmed from the scarce resources, strong warriors are being born. At this time, the place needs to be focused is the center of the continent.”

Department Head Son Il-gang gestured toward the center of the Versailles continent.

The Kallamore Kingdom and Haven Kingdom were traditionally the powerhouse nations concentrated in the central continent.

“Based on their political economy, the area was perceived to be capable of development. However, the area accumulated overwhelming growth, incomparable with other regions. We must watch out for approximately 149 players.”

Jang Yoon-soo asked in a light tone.

“Yes, how did you decide on those players needed attention?”

“It was determined by the players’ influence and player levels.”

“Then that group must contain a lot of Guild leaders, Nobles and Lords.”

Even supervisor Jang Yoon-soo did not receive materials prior to the conference. Of course, when leaving the conference room research materials could not be taken out. So materials would be distributed at the meeting upon request.

“That’s how it is. Although there are some players who stand out even while playing solo, but in general, their influence is limited. First, take a look at the players in the most prestigious guilds of the continent.”

The members of the meeting took a look at the data of the 149 aforementioned players. Only the rustling of paper could be heard in the silent meeting room.

This information is different from the info spread by the game network. It’s been gathered by the Strategy and Systems operation departments, so it’s highly reliable.

If one was to take a look at the documents, he would see the diversity in both nationalities and genders.

If one particular guild was notably more powerful than the rest, the 5 or 6 guilds which ranked right below the guild will form an alliance against it. In some cases, 10 or more similar sized guilds fought in a single country.

Because of the large number of players in the Versailles continent, this was only natural.

Whenever the balance gets disrupted, the weaker gets absorbed as the winner becomes a little stronger, but when it happens, the stronger side makes more enemies.

There were great wars which would upset such a tenuous balance, but there has yet to be a war so large, the continent itself would be forever changed.

The chief of the company’s development department, Ha Yun-ji, looked doubtful as she read the file and spoke.

“The power of Bardray and the Hermes guild seems to be far higher than I expected. What are you basing this on?”

“You’ve asked a very good question.”

All eyes slowly concentrated towards Son Il-gang.

The meeting, itself, had to be treated with the utmost secrecy. Until now, comprehensive ranking reports of all of the players’ activities, like brass trading or quest progression, was shared publicly, even with Unicorn Corporation. However, this special report was only available for a few important, special people to review.

In the report, it is a fact the military, financial, and the productive prowess of the Hermes Guild, as well as their territory and skills, were an overwhelming 5 times greater than the other prestigious guilds of the Haven Kingdom was revealed.

“Bardray is an amazing player. Ever since the beginning of the launch of Royal Road, he has been the best, and has established the Hermes Guild. There was a time he fell behind while founding and managing the guild, but he quickly ascended back to the top position. This is probably the first time all of you have been aware of Bardray’s level being 447.”

Everyone in the conference room dejectedly nodded their heads.

Bardray’s level was a matter of course. But they did not know there were this many 400 level players.

The broadcasting stations and players estimated Bardray’s level to be around 410.

However, the truth was he had passed his estimated level, and so had his competitors. While they were not at Bardray’s level, it was a disparity which normal players would anguish.

Even the people in the conference room were currently quite shocked at what they saw in the report.

“The players at the apex are quite amazing. Their individual power, not just their levels, but their usage of skills, actual battle senses and their practical ability were way above the grasp of the average player.

The reason the videos of the so-called rankers gained popularity was because they were special. The reason why, during the Joseon era, the warriors emulated those of the Goryeo era was due to their fast and efficient battle system.

In anticipation of the difference in individual skills, they used a new method of hunting monsters.

The sight of them dungeoning or storming a monster fortress was akin to watching a really well-made fantasy action movie.

There was an assassin player who stormed an infamous monster fortress in the Baimar Kingdom alone, and took more than ten lives every night.

After making the monsters feel fear, the player destroyed the castle, and raised his own flag from the highest point in the castle. It was the birth of a new castellan, and, through the video footage, created a large force.

It was not a randomly occurred event, but it was not evident from the video, but it took a lot of preparation beforehand in order to conquer it in one go.

“However their true fears lie elsewhere. While there are players who enjoy going adventuring and fighting alone, most people usually made a guild or occupied a village, and ruled over it. Afterwards, they did not stop at political conspiracies and weakening alliances in order to raise their own influence. Especially in the case of the Hermes Guild, they were open about their methods and means of expanding their power. The Hermes Guild represents half of the competition in the struggle to control the Haven Kingdom. While we learned of this fact due to the inquiry, there are 3~4 guilds who have deep ties with the Hermes Guild among the competitors.”

“…”

It was a guild not based on friendship, but supremacy.

Because of the tremendous value of virtual Versailles Continent, many players were after similar authority.

The directors held their heads in their hands.

“There are a lot of amazing people.”

“It’s enough to give me goosebumps; how were they able to do so much like this?”

Director Kim Han-seo said.

“There is nothing to be too surprised at. We expected this much progress ever since we launched Royal Road.”

“…”

“Didn’t everyone already speculate a virtual reality would create a world which would be reigned with supremacy?”

While they anticipated some of this, the players had bewildered them with their unorthodox behaviors.

On the screen was a battle of the higher tier of players, but it was jaw-dropping. It was so action-packed which seemed as though they were fighting against monsters in a real fantasy world. It was daring, keen as a blade, and showed unparalleled skills and usage of their respective abilities.

Originally, they thought it would only be a few particularly powerful or focused players, but in reality, there were quite a number of extremely talented ambitious players!

They were lost for words at Royal Road; the world that they created.

“It is a new world. This is how we must now look upon Royal Road. And no matter what the ruler of Versailles is like, or whatever he does, he is invariably interconnected with us, and thus, we must keep a close eye out. This is the goal for our meeting.”

The members of the meeting nodded their heads while listening to Kim Han-seo.

Son Il-gang repeated.

“Bardray and other top level players do not release all the information they have to the broadcasters and media stations. If you look at the publicly released data, they’ve limited it so that players will not feel too unnerved about seemingly unreachable heights.”

Director Jang Yoon-soo groaned.

“I really want to recruit them into Department of Advertisements.”

The public appraisal of Bardray, he was a player who easily the supporting foundation of the guild.

To think, even truths such as these were easily manipulated.

The throats of the people who were gathered in the conference room suddenly went dry.

“I think this has to be brought up: there are about 149 people who control over 10,000 players through their individual strengths. However, among those 149, there are about 13 players who shine above the rest. Like a giant, fiery wave, they are the strongest and most cunning players. In the future, there will be more difficulties and changes, but in the present, out of the 149, we can expect a 70% chance of one of them prevailing as the Emperor.”

* * *

The meeting lasted until late at night

The discussion about the dynamics of the power of guild influence in Versailles continent was endless

Some players’ activities were so shocking, the people who participated in the meeting became uneasy.

The meeting completely ended, and Team Director Jang Yoon-soo and Son Il-gang and Kim Han-seo remained

“Whew! It’s all over. Good work, Section Chief Son.”

“Speak nothing of it. You must have worked hard to keep progressing like this, Team Leader Jang.”

While exchanging pleasantries, they blithely drank some coffee.

During this time, Jang Yoon-soo suddenly recalled something and asked.

“Director Son, a word if I may.”

“Yes?”

“I’m asking this because there is a player whom I have a personal interest in, however, I saw his personal files were not included.”

“There’s no reason for such situation to happen. We have completed all the reports on the players who could become Emperor… What is the player’s name?”

“It’s Weed.”

“If you’re talking about Weed, he’s the player who seized victory in the war against the Immortal Legion.”

Section Chief Son Il-gang had watched the movie with Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo.

There was a time when the story of the Undead’s movements and similar things were spread.

“Weed… Based on his personal level and influence, he was not included as a target of this investigation.”

“As I expected.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo was regretful. However, Director Kim Han-seo laughed and said.

“Even if Weed was to be included in the 149, he would have been the least powerful and influential.”

“Really? How so?”

Kim Han-seo answered with a calm but sharp tone

“Because he has no goal.”

Supervisor Jang Yoon-soo, who just couldn’t understand, continued to question Kim Han-seo.

“No goal you say. Weed is doing quests which astounds the whole world. Do you realize the short amount of time he’s been playing Royal Road?”

However, Even Son Il-gang was on the same side as Kim Han-seo.

“I as well, do not hold high expectations of Weed.”

“?.”

“The truth is, even we, at the tactical management room, are watching extremely closely. Through investigation, we found he participated in the recent historic Palrangka battle, and it seems as though he’s been to Vampire Kingdom and back.”

Kim Han-seo nodded his head.

“I am also interested. I was once a player of the Continent of Magick.”

Every engineer in the Systems Department saw Weed’s quest.

Director Son Il-gang continued saying.

“However, there is more. I don’t know if he would do more quests which would impact the world… That is all. If you see the quests he has accomplished, his behavior, skill, and combat abilities at his core, he is similar to Morata’s Lord.”

“Excuse me? Are you saying the Wargod Weed is Morata’s Lord, no, a Sculptor?”

“This is data is over 99% trustworthy.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo had received the shock of his life.

Never in his wildest dreams did he ever muse Weed was truly a Sculptor.

As a Sculptor, he rose to Hall of Fame in less than a year’s time, and the fact he completed the Undead Legion quest went against logic and was disputed.

“It is very accurate. The basic defense and magic-related skills he displayed are too feeble to claim he had a battle-related profession. He’s making up for it through his battle senses and battle-related abilities.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo could not believe it at all. However, Director Kim Han-seo, told him the truth while nodding his head. There was no other way, but to accept it.

Because Director Kim Han-seo was a notable figure who had access to all of the information within Unicorn Corporation.

“I see; it’s because his profession is a Sculptor, you don’t expect much from him.”

“You’ve got it wrong.”

Unexpectedly, Director Kim Han-seo denied that it was because of his profession.

“Even within the Systems Department, there are lots of coworkers who like him. The Wargod Weed, while being a legendary Dark Gamer, took part in impactful quests, as you saw, and also flaunted of his abilities. While I am also looking over him with interest, I am disappointed right now.”

“Why is it so?”

“He’s… Well, one could say he lived a very sheltered life in some aspects.”

“…”

“He’s only hunting and questing with a few people he knows, and hasn’t been a public figure. While eating fruits he could have easily grown in a warm greenhouse, he’s living a life devoid of greed. It’s one of the mistakes that most Dark Gamers make. Why did we give them the freedom to do whatever they wanted to do in the Versailles Continent in the first place?”

Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo answered while recollecting the initial planning stages.

“Is it because the players are residents of the Versailles Continent? Also, because they had to self-impose law and order…”

“That’s correct. We don’t think of our players as a number to represent our gross income. No matter how they go about it, as long as they have ambition, we won’t obstruct people with the drive to rule.”

Royal Road had paved a way for people to become rulers, emperors of a united empire. It gave them the freedom to try the impossible, to really actualize their dreams.

However, many Dark Gamers had a lucrative business of selling items or doing mercenary work to participate in requests. They were happy with their situation and did not look for more.

“He’s probably making money through broadcasts and the Hall of Fame, not just through selling items. He’s probably bringing in quite an amount. You could say he’s quite successful as a Dark Gamer.”

Director Kim Han-seo spoke as if he was familiar with the type.

If all one looked at were records of his hunts, quests, and reputation, then one would be able to estimate he was making more than the average section head of a large company.

“However, this is a secret… I won’t be able to observe him forever. There’s the fact I wouldn’t be the first one to make him public, and, while the truth is, I want to protect his secret, if the tactical management room managed to find out about this, other people will be able to find out as well.”

In other words, while Weed had hidden himself in a safe house, eventually his identity would be exposed in a not-so-distant future.

Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo spoke defensively.

“Even so, isn’t it surprising he could go this far as a Sculptor?”

Director Kim Han-seo showed his harsh reactions.

“He’s amazing, for a Sculptor. I don’t know if there’s some other meaning behind the question. Do we have to hold sympathies to his enemies?”

“It’s not exactly it, but…”

“I know Morata is currently growing at a tremendous rate. Am I correct?”

“Yes. It is becoming the capital of the North. It is leading the adventures in the North, and lately there have been enormous investment funds made.”

“When the Church of Freya’s protection ends, and, if the player traffic increases in the North, there will be greedy people gathering there. The enemies who will invade Morata, will they have any interest in whether he’s a Sculptor or not?”

“…”

“His widespread reputation of being the ‘Wargod’. In order to protect a reputation like his, he will have to put in a lot of effort. If he simply basks in the glory of his reputation, then the day will come with he succumbs to it.”

Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo could not say anything in defense; Director Kim Han-seo had hit the nail on the head.

“They see it as ‘while travelling up to the North, I can have my wish granted.’ If they only try to protect the city and challenge him, then they won’t be able to obtain anything. If you don’t have dreams, you will be die while being trampled. If not, you’ll end up as an average player…the Versailles Continent won’t open the way for the incompetent.”

It was the first time he had seen Director Kim Han-seo so impassioned.

It was enough to intimidate Team Leader Jang Yoon-soo.

Unicorn’s core executive, who was as capable as an engineer, had a superior brain.

Since he was Director Kim Han-seo, whose scholarly voice was heard throughout the entire field, one could trust whatever he said would come to be.

Department head Son Il-gang was careless, and threw a question out to lighten the mood.

“What if… Weed really aimed for the Versailles Continent; what do you think would happen?”

Thoughtlessly, he asked without having any intent behind it.

Director Kim Han-seo closed his eyes and kept silent for awhile.

Due to him staying in the same position for awhile, they began to suspect he has fallen asleep, but he opened his eyes and spoke.

“Then the entire Versailles Continent might fall into his hands…”

“…”

“If he starts to actually dream big, then the situation will be reversed. Bringing his hidden talent to light, and his large reputation spreads, then Wargod Weed’s dreams…the Versailles Continent could be reborn.”

* * *

While Daymond was hunting the northern boss monsters, he also collected the map pieces which lead them to the Church of Death.

In the process of collecting pieces of the map, Predators of the Land guild took a lot of damage.

“It’s okay if we die. Our last hope is hanging on this quest… Even if we have to spend the last of our saved money, we must succeed!”

Everyone laughed at them for challenging the impossible.

The reason why boss monsters were so dangerous wasn’t only because of their power, but because of the attack patterns were impossible to predict.

Lack of information resulted in massive damage!

For the monsters they failed to hunt over and over again, some guild members died as often as 10 times.

However, the northern players who were driven by the sacrificed members were able to succeed by combining their strength.

“Hooray for Predators of the Land guild!”

“The best hunting guild has been born.”

“A guild of warriors who specializes in hunting boss monsters.”

After defeating 12 boss monsters, the voices of the admirers of the Predators of the Land guild grew louder.

However, without second thoughts or regrets, Daymond and his guild hid themselves.

The seven map pieces they had striven to acquire were assembled.

Although the guild was honored to be the first to slay a boss monster of the North, they were not able to feel any emotion. Because they had lost their lives so many times, they did not regard this act as a great achievement.

Daymond and the Predators of the Land guild went into the guild’s dismal and dark basement.

“Captain.”

“Yes?”

“Why, of all times, are we going to the basement now?”

Daymond answered Nardo’s question with a relaxed attitude.

“Because it’s fitting for us who are planning something sinister.”

“Che! I keep telling you, you go with the flow too much.”

Daymond only grinned and laughed at Nardo’s rebuke. Then, he pulled out the map fragments from his chest.

“Then I’ll try to fit them together now,” he said in a voice clearly filled with tension.

Daymond took the 7 pieces of the guiding fragments, and started to adjust their placement, as if he was solving a puzzle.

Hwa-reu-reu-reuk!

The map suddenly caught on fire.

“Ah!”

And then Daymond’s and his guildmates’ bodies stiffened.

A video composed of a set of pictures was formed in the fire.

After passing a sunken land, and you pass a place where many monsters’ bones lie; climbing mountain and field, and you go through a cliff with barely any foothold, you will cross a Forest of Fog. The dried and dead trees will be a landmark.

Once you cross the forest, a Church of the Death will appear. The place was closed for several hundred years. After seeing a set of heavy doors at the place, the pictures ended.

Only burned-up ashes remained of the map, and the rest disappeared.

Daymond raised his flaming eyes at his guildmates.

“Everyone remember what they saw?”

“Yes, we memorized it perfectly.”

“We’re going to go to this place right now.”

Daymond and the Predators of the Land guild immediately set forth. It wasn’t a place too far from Morata.

They rode on fast horses and they went 3 days south and then went west, across the wastelands.

Since the wastelands is mostly composed of dungeons, it was a place rarely visited by adventurers.

“Deriam Desert; to think we would have to pass this place.”

“This is the place where the boss monster we hunted resides.”

“I do seem to recall a memory of going through a lot of trouble to find the place the bastard was hiding in.”

The Northern expeditions and the adventurers had already searched a considerable amount of places. However, usually they only scratched about in places like the wasteland or the Forest of Fogs.

Because the Versailles continent was so wide, if one did not know their exact location, they could even pass over dungeons.

Although the Wastelands encouraged exploration in the beginning, there were only a few visible dungeons because there was no feasible way to go over the whole thing. In order to find the place shown in the picture, the Predator of the Land guild passed through the Wastelands and the cliffs. They were barely able to find the dried-up, withered trees at the Forest of Fog, and they were able to take a guess at the path.

After passing all the difficulties, they finally reached the shrine of the Church of Death. They had arrived at a shrine exuding a mysteriously evil aura, just as the fragment had depicted.

It was a discovery that would go down in the history of the Versailles Continent.

Daymond had spent long hours and finally saw the thickly dust-coated, unspoiled-magnificence of the shrine.

“What does it say on the door?”

The guild magician interpreted in their stead.

“It says ‘Door of Hell’ in ancient language.”

“It means the door is not meant to be opened.”

For a split second, Daymond struggled immensely.

They did not know what would happen if they opened to door to the stone shrine; they did not know what pure terrors lay ahead.

Even though they did not want to stare at a door which perfectly fit the frame and left no cracks, they had a feeling it should not be opened.

“However we cannot just give up after getting this far.”

Daymond gritted his clenched teeth.

The quest did not end simply by finding the Church of Death.

“No matter what is at the end of this road, I want to see it.”

Daymond opened the iron door widely.

He was then greeted by a fearful number of malignant demons. They were gruesome monsters looking like they came straight out from imaginations.

The boss-level monsters they had hunted in order to arrive there were also there.

“D-Daymond! Be careful.”

Their head warrior, who was known to show no fear, said in a shaky voice.

Nardo observed the malignant demons. “It seems they aren’t attacking.”

“Huh?”

“They’re just watching us calmly.”

Whenever Nardo moved, the eyes of the thousands of demons moved and followed him. They didn’t take an aggressive stance, but silently guarded their places. The demons were lined up on either side, and there was a passage where a person could fit in between them. They felt they could get eaten as soon as they were a toe out of place, but Nardo did not even hesitate.

“Let’s try this path.”

“Yeah, seems like we should go through this path.”

Daymond and the Predators of the Land Guild walked with heavy steps.

They were unaware of anything when they were trying to gather all of the map pieces for the S-rank difficulty quest. They began to suspect more as they got closer to the Church of Death, but they were overwhelmed by the pressure now.

Daymond squared up his shoulders and walked forward.

‘This life… I’ve already intended to throw it away.’

If there were enough demons, then one’s will to resist would actually rise.

The demons were gathered at the Church of Death. They would be no more than a single meal to these monsters, who were nameless and were shaped in every way possible, draining their courage.

‘Since we’re here now, is there anything left, but to die?’

A realistic sculpture of a village, which was in the spitting image of the village they saw at the entrance, was there, and on the altar were incomprehensible symbols and words written down in ancient times.

– I long for a place where those who died with regrets can live on. The power of resurrection is the eleventh authority of the Embinyu Church.

The more dead there are, the greater the number of brethren of the Embinyu Church.

This is your duty: to kill many people; to save many people.

The written phrases were hard to understand.

Daymond did not think about the written phrases in depth.

“Embinyu Church? This is the first I’ve heard of it, but if it’s a passage we have to know, then we’ll figure it out eventually.”

Since they were at the Embinyu Church, there were many things they wondered about.

The shut rooms, ornaments, and packed items.

As if to say their suffering was at an end, there were many places they could explore. However, Daymond and his guildmates did not get reckless.

“Since we found the Church of Death, it’s the time to learn more about the priest. Let’s go to the rectory first.”

Therefore Daymond and his guild moved in preparation to fight.

– Resurrection Priest’s Rectory

While they came knowing it was the Church of Death, there was the word “resurrection,” completely contrary to their belief.

“Are you sure there aren’t any other rectories?”

“There isn’t. I can’t see any; this is the only place which says ‘Rectory.’”

“Then let’s go into this rectory. Everyone, be on your guard.”

They pushed the door into the cobweb, dust-filled rectory and entered.

There was no living person in the rectory, and there was a dried out and withered mummified corpse. Also, in front of it was a compiled book.

«Scriptures of Resurrection».

The book was decorated with golden embroidery threads.

Daymond stretched out his hand toward the book.

Since he was undertaking the commission from the church of death, the priests would have to dig up the secrets.

While investigating the corpses, the priests were moving various items about as they should; however, they were not able to overcome their greed and laid their hands lustfully on the goods.

“Identify!”

– Spellbook of Resurrection: Durability 58/60The scriptures of the 11th sect of Embinyu Church.

Contains the basic Resurrection, Plague, and Magic of Immortality.

The Resurrection spell is considered as the most evil black magic regarded as a heresy.

If Necromancy is about raising the dead to undead, Resurrection is forcing the dead to come back from hell through a terrible sacrifice.

This is not a complete revival. This is close to an atrocious contract compels monsters from hell, the dead to arise, and controls them. This is a forbidden text which gave rise to the foundations of this field of study differs from Undead Magic!

This book is the foundation of the existence of The Order of Resurrection.

Limit: Available for Resurrection Priest job. Can use only if you are the previous profession.

Whenever you use a magic spell, you must take the life force of a living thing.

Option:

Resistance against All Magic +50

All stats+10

Mana regeneration rate will be increased by 25%

When Immortal Life is active, Health will not decrease.

Will be able to control the resurrected dead.

*Resurrect: Required Life – 20 lives. By taking other players’ lives, can resurrect the dead and use them as underlings.

*Plague: Required life- 150 lives. With the use of mana, creates a powerful plague on an area. The area of effect is limited to a certain area. The spreading speed will be determined by the medium.

*Immortal Life: Only able to use once. Unable to cancel. Grants limitless life to the player. But when the player is unable to get supplies of sacrificial lives, Immortal Life is disenchanted and the players life will be forever gone with it.

The Embinyu Church.

The unknown 11th sect of the Embinyu Church. They are the ones who endlessly kill to resurrect and rule over the dead.

In the world, they are better known as the Clan of Death.

Ding!

– You can become The Resurrection Priest. Would you like to change your job right now?

Even after switching the job, your skills and stats will remain constant.

You will be able to use the Spellbook of Resurrection.

The Resurrection Priest have an obligation to fill Versailles with the resurrected creatures they can make.

By the contract with Death, you will be against the provision of nature. Thus, once you die, you will meet a everlasting rest.

He could become a Resurrection Priest.

Once he get the dark monsters and its followers under his control, the Predators of the Land guild’s power would become high ranked at once.

The dark monsters promised unquestioning obedience compared to allied guilds and recruited mercenaries.

He could also use the Magic of Resurrection.

However, in return, if Daymond were to die just once, he would face eternal death.

A short-lived, but grand, road.

He was at a standing point. Whether to have all the people playing Royal Road focus their spotlight on Daymond, or to simply continue his quest to unveil the secrets of the priest.

“I would like to be the Prest of Resurrection.”

Daymond chose to change profession.

* * *

Daymond and his Predators of the Land guild took control of the property and the dark monsters. There weren’t piles of treasures, but there were several orbs and items related on curse magic.

The rest of the guild members also gave up their original professions and became Priests of Resurrection.

“This may be our final amusement,” Daymond said while smiling faintly.

The Resurrection Priest; in order to maintain power and strength, one must ceaselessly kill someone. They are able to resurrect the dead based on the sacrificial lambs they slay.

It was clear the Versailles Continent would collapse into utter chaos.

However, there was no turning back now. Suban, who had became a Resurrection Priest, laughed. “Let’s just give it all we’ve got.”

Nardo took off the witch’s robe, threw it aside, and fidgeted as if the Priest robe she was wearing was uncomfortable. “There’s no law which says we have to die early. We will live, no, we must survive and wave our flags.”

Daymond nodded and said, “That’s not a bad idea.”

The quest to unearth the secrets of the Priests of Death was canceled. Instead, a quest to spread the name of the Resurrection Church appeared.

Chapter 7: Water Park for Young Dwarven Children

Death Hand was defeated by Weed’s moonlight sculpture!

The reward was just a Statue of Death, but he was not disappointed.

“If I sell this off, it’s going to be worth a lot!”

All goods were connected to money. Even if they weren’t weapons, armours, or jewels, he was satisfied as long as he could get a high price for them.

By looking at the precision and the black jade material it was shaped out of, he could tell that it was a unique item.

The statue of this horse-resembling a magical beast, brought up the image of death not only because of its name but by its sheer atmosphere.

“Anyway, this isn’t what’s urgent.”

Late at night when Dwarfs were unlikely to wander about, Weed went to the place where he had sculpted the Wings of Light.

The elegant wings, whose mysterious and enrapturing brilliance fluttered whenever the wind blew. It was a work created by a Moonlight Sculptor.

This caused even the 5 Great Dwarven Blacksmiths to be fired up and motivated. This was the artwork that made the name Art Hand become famous in the Dwarven Kingdom.

Weed extended his hands and lightly touched the Wings of Light. The light covered his hands with a mystical glow, and an amazing sight unfolded before him.

“If I showed this to my little sister, she would have praised its beauty… In any case, I suppose I should collect it. O, my precious sculpture, the work I created with my artful spirit… I have shared my life with you. Now, awaken from the long slumber and join me. Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

He couldn’t leave the light sculpture to rot as a decoration for Kuruso. He was going to pour out his life to make it completely his own.

– This sculpture does not have the optimal shape to bestow life. It is unable to act by itself due to its unstable shape, but it is able to parasite off other life forms. Would you like to grant this sculpture life?

“Sculpture Life Bestowal”

– You have granted life to the sculpture.

The power of the sculpture is based on the level of the art stat.

The art stat is currently 1,196, so the sculpture’s base level will be 406.

Because this is a Masterpiece, 20% of the level will be added. Level is increased to 487.

However, due to the sculpture being a flying-type, a 10% level handicap will be applied.

The sculpture’s life is low, but it has very fast speed.

There are three attributes attached to this lifeform.

The quality and ability of the attributes will differ according to the shape and level of the sculpture.

Light Attribute (100%), Fire Attribute (100%), Holy Attribute (100%).

The fire does not give in to anything. It has an extremely powerful fighting spirit as well as high defense and high magic defense.

It can burn enemies using the power of fire.

It has immunity to all cursed magic. A strong resistance to black magic has been formed. It can use a little bit of Divine Magic.

Because this was once a light sculpture, a special ability is added.

Cursed individuals will be released from the magic, and monsters with evil intentions will have their power weakened.

5,000 mana has been used.

Increases skill efficiency of life-restoring magic by the 20% of the level and stats.

The Art stat has permanently decreased by 6.

The decreased stat can be recovered by creating sculptures or other artistic activities.

The level has dropped by 1.

Due to the decrease of level, the most recently raised stats will decrease by 5. Decreased stat can be raised again when level rises again.

Please care for the sculpture’s life. When it loses its life, it can be revived again.

When destroyed completely, it cannot be revived.

The Wings of Light hopped onto Weed’s back and attached itself there. Because it lacked a body, it had to rely on someone else like a parasite.

The wings, which were made out of tens of meters of grand light, rested on Weed’s back. Silently, radiant light beamed as the wings spread.

Weed looked like he’d turned into a Warrior of Light with his magnificent wings.

Weed’s body suddenly floated in the air.

“Let me down already.”

With one word, he broke the mood.

The Wings of Light spread themselves even more. The silvery blue light vastly spread, covering the road in an exquisite glow.

The effort of its will and own strength to make its owner happy!

Weed scrunched his forehead and frowned.

“Turn the light off.”

“…”

“Just go down. I’ve already flown a lot.”

“…”

The Wings of Light became 15 times smaller and lightly let Weed back onto the ground.

“Owner, please choose my name.”

The Wings of Light politely said to Weed.

Different from the chilly voice of Bingryong and the Wyvernes, with their bad personalities, the voice of the Wings of Light was pure and angelic.

“Your name is…”

“Let’s go with Light Wing.”

“…”

If the Wyverns, Geumini, and Bingryong were there, they would have shared its pain and suffering.

* * *

Weed decided to leave the Statue of Death alone for now.

“I think there’s some kind of a secret hidden behind this sculpture…”

He could effortlessly feel this was the case.

The created quest item linked to Death Hand! There was no doubt that an unimaginable quest was waiting.

“I should put all troublesome things on hold.”

Weed decided to just wait for now.

Kuruso had lots of other sculptures, but the most urgent matter was to find the clues about Kendellev!

– Find the Dwarf sibling who became lost while he was young. For clues, use the statue of his younger appearance.

It was a quest to find a fully grown Dwarf by looking at a statue of his younger appearance. Dwarves never retain their younger appearance, so this was impossibly difficult commission to complete.

Weed found the Dwarf’s younger sibling within Kuruso’s cave.

“That’s right. My name is Norman. How were you able to recognize me?”

“There aren’t many Dwarves that look as stupid as you, you see. You’re no different now than when you were young.”

“Ooohhehehehhng!”

The Dwarf Norman who burst into tears like a baby!

– It is difficult to identify the minerals used to make this sculpture.

It was a quest to analyse the material of the sculpture and to find the cave where that material could be extracted.

The commission was completed with the mobilization of the Dwarven Blacksmiths and Miners.

Thanks to the development of mines by a Dwarf named Twitter, Weed was able to register his name as the owner. If the ruby mine was developed well, it would yield a lot of revenue in the future!

Although Weed completed 10 quests, he wasn’t able to discover a trail leading to Kendellev. Because not all sculptures possessed a unique memory, there were times when he met a dead end. Even after examining every sculpture in Kuruso, Kendellev’s trail was nowhere to be found.

“This is not an easy quest after all.”

The Dwarves who had accepted the Sculptor Instructor Jorbid’s quest wondered if they had all been idiots.

“There’s really nothing I can do properly…”

However, it was too shameful to go to back to Iron Hand village and give up on the quest, so he decided to linger in Kuruso for ten more days.

* * *

“Art Hand, it’s clear you’ve worked really hard.”

Herman was next to Weed.

Herman, along with Pin, had decided to come and watch Weed sculpt from morning to night. Besides Herman and Pin, there were at least 50 other Dwarves watching him.

They were the Dwarves who had grown close to Weed after many quests. And there were Dwarves who waited in the hopes of watching Weed carve another light sculpture.

However, Weed did not make another light sculpture.

‘My sculpting skills aren’t perfect yet.’

The Wings of Light had miraculously emerged, but his skills were far too underdeveloped to judge himself.

A historical work of art!

The artistic value of works that were extremely unique was massive. However, such incredible works didn’t show up often. Although he always tried to make something great, not everything turned out as fantastic!

While making the Wings of Light, he made countless of small mistakes, and he had the will to do it again..

‘I’m attaching the light, making it out of light, using the properties of light. It won’t do if I don’t understand the character of light well.’

A sculptor’s inherent skill was to identify the material they were using.

Weed used his Moonlight Sculpting skill and played with the light. Whenever his mana ran out, he would take an ordinary piece of wood and carve it while restoring his mana.

He ate bread crumbs in between projects and made all kinds of sculptures.

“…”

Weed did not respond to Herman.

Even Weed knew it was customary to honor his elders and be polite, but there was a limit to that. He grew tired of Herman’s countless of questions and chatter while sticking right next to him.

Not bothered by the fact Weed wasn’t replying back to them, Herman and Pin talked among themselves.

“A man with such determination will succeed regardless of what he does. Pin, be sure to meet a steady, hard-working man.”

“Of course. But where can I meet a man as steadfast as he?”

“Is there a reason to search for one far away when there is one so close?”

“Oh my, grandpa, you’re too much.”

The stress they were putting on Weed together was building up. Even when Herman left his spot, there were always other Dwarves to take his place and attempt to start a conversation.

The Dwarves from the quest and those in the same professions talked amongst themselves. They gave Weed the weapons and armour they made so could he engrave them.

As a result, Weed looked through almost all the wares the Dwarves of Kuruso had made. There wasn’t anyone else who knew about the fierce competition between the Dwarven Blacksmiths over the completion of Blacksmithing Skills better than Weed.

‘The armour Fabio makes has admirable functionality. The other properties of his works aren’t unique and aren’t quite there yet, but his armours have some great defense stats.’

Fabio’s skills were so outstanding, even Weed was jealous.

‘The quality of the materials and reputedly assured skills. He creates works with almost no mistakes.’

He wasn’t conservative with his materials and used no petty tricks; he smithed with skill alone.

‘If it’s this level… I’ve think he has Advanced Blacksmithing skills.’

After Weed saw Fabio’s greatest work, Rainbow Coloured Armour, he was absolutely sure.

“Identify!”

– Rainbow Coloured Amour: Durability: 150/150. Defense: 159

The work of the Dwarf who monsters hate the most.

Seven rare materials were combined to make this.

Full plate armour that covers the whole body, (it is at the climax of beauty), so knights of a lower level will be unable to wear it.

As this work was made not too long ago and has not yet been used, it is in a perfect state.

Professions:

Knights, Warriors only

Level 350

Options:

Physical Resistance (30%).

Magic Resistance (20%).

Agility -50.

Satiety +80. Charisma +60.

Leadership skills are strengthened.

There is a strong probability that weak attacks will be deflected.

This huge, respectable defence!

Because the blacksmith lacked Weed’s deftness, the durability was low, but there shouldn’t be too much of a problem if this had an above average level of durability because one could use it while repairing it every now and then.

“It’d be really good to know what materials were used to make this.”

Because Weed’s blacksmithing skill was lower than Fabio’s, he could not determine the materials used. He knew there was mithril and black iron used, but besides them he didn’t know.

Fabio gathered all kinds of luxurious materials and efficiently used them to make armour.

‘After Fabio, Exper and Herman are the main competition.’

They were the two blacksmiths who made spears and swords. Their skills were not too far below Fabio’s.

Because there was so much pride and competition between the blacksmiths, no one disclosed their skill level. However, by looking at their works, it was likely that these two were also at advanced blacksmithing.

‘If these three have raised their blacksmithing level to Advanced, then including those two blacksmiths I haven’t met, there’s a high possibility that there are 5 blacksmiths with Advanced skill.’

Weed had seen Exper as he worked on the finishing touches of his sickle spears and Herman had let Weed take look at one of his swords.

It wasn’t completed yet, but Weed could see the abundant passion invested in the sword. In order to complete one product, the good steel had been forged and reforged again.

Herman had become a blacksmith because he liked swords and wanted to make them.

If Fabio or Exper were competing for the mastery of Blacksmithing Skills, Herman was working towards creating even better swords.

Even amongst the blacksmiths, there was a large difference in terms of their personalities.

‘I think the first blacksmith master… will most likely be Fabio.’

As one of the greatest Blacksmiths in Versailles Continent, he held considerable power. Looking at the armour he supplied, they were on par as the equipments used by the top rankers and he seemed to have connections to them. By befriending high ranking users, he used the materials they gathered and created amors or improvements for them.

Seeing Fabio’s ambition, he would most likely the first to reach Master stage.

‘The other Dwarves, especially Herman, have impressive skill.’

Weed perceived all the Dwarves of Kuruso like this.

Having registered the Warriors, Fighters, and Sculptors, who participated on the quests as friends, they asked many questions as they had nothing to do. The Dwarven Blacksmiths tried to become close with Weed because of his sculpting expertise.

Occasionally, there were Dwarves who brought Weed some rice balls, so he didn’t starve in Kuruso.

* * *

Weed spent a lot of time familiarizing himself with Moonlight Sculpting.

His sculpting skill was almost at the next level, and he was getting better at handling the light. As there were a lot of sculptures that he wanted to create and give life to, he immersed himself into sculpting.

If his level and Art stat wouldn’t get decreased, he couldn’t stop sculpting.

On his last day of creating sculptures, a lot of Dwarves came again as usual.

“I suppose I should make some swords if the sculptor is working hard.”

Motivated by Weed, the other Blacksmith Dwarves started to work hard to increase their Blacksmithing skills.

“It’s beautiful.”

Today as well, Pin and Herman were right beside Weed, watching as he sculpted.

Fundamentally, making sculptures took skill.

If you created sculptures for hundreds of days, you’d be lying if there was nothing in your hands.

Due to his skill level in Sculpting and Handicraft, Weed was able to make wooden sculptures without much effort. Wood, his most familiar material, came alive in Weed’s hands.

“What do you think of art?”

Weed answered Herman’s question frankly.

“It’s a useless skill that brings no money.”

“But there are cases of extremely rich artists. Watch the news and you’ll see paintings 100 thousand dollar’s worth.”

“Well, ordinarily those drawings are sold after their makers are dead. Works that are worth hundreds, maybe thousands—why does it matter if they’re sold? You’ll already be dead.”

Weed spoke bluntly.

“While drawing the picture, the level of hunger he suffered is only known to the artist. If his family starved along with him, it would really be his fault.”

“But isn’t it thanks to those famished experiences that the greatest masterpieces of the world were made?”

“Whether it be paintings or sculptures, neither would be able to fill the table with food to eat.”

As he was thinking his point wasn’t getting across, Herman smacked his lips.

“Everyone has their own way of thinking… but, there is value to doing something no one else has done before while living your life.”

“I don’t really know.”

“Having lived to this age, I think I can finally understand. Life isn’t simply about eating and living, it’s about pursuing at least one thing you truly want to do, and if you do it, you’ll have succeeded in life…”

And although Herman’s words had depth to them, Weed was not moved.

Weed could not be moved because just ten minutes ago, Herman had brought fish paste and had annoyingly asked him to make a tasty stew.

Even if there was something meaningful in Herman’s words, Weed couldn’t take him seriously because Herman and Pin were both lazing about while contentedly eating fish paste kebabs (odeng). [T/N: It’s sold by street vendors]

‘If the ingredients for fish paste were good, then obviously the kebabs would taste good.’

At that moment,Weed’s carving tool suddenly came to a halt.

“Sculpting Master Jorbid’s Quest, Information Check.”

– Sculpting Master Jorbid’s Request

The story that has been passed on for a long time through the Sculpting Guild.

There was once a single Dwarf who could sculpt fire and water, light and dark. However, the Humans did not believe the story.

“We admit the Dwarves are able to make outstanding weapons. But to say they have high skill in the arts, is extremely childish. How can those short Dwarves understand anything there is to know about sculpting? Hahaha!”

The insults of the Elves echoed throughout the forest.

“The Dwarves need to learn about the mysteries and beauty of nature.”

Those were words which humiliated all the Dwarves, but they were unable to retaliate.

In order to save the pride of the Dwarves, find a trace of the Dwarven sculptor Kendellev.

Difficulty: Dwarven race Sculpture quest.

Reward: Honour from Dwarves.

Quest Restrictions: One Dwarven Sculptor.

If you fail, all the Dwarves in the village will regard you in the same way they regard Elves and Humans.

Kendellev, the Sculptor of fire and water, light and darkness!

The answer was hidden in the quest’s explanation.

‘Basic sculpting materials. If so, what materials do you need to sculpt with fire and water?’

Of course, fire and water were needed. To sculpt light and darkness, a material must exist.

Weed suddenly stood up and ran to the lakeside.

His short legs and butt twitched as he hurriedly ran. Herman and Pin ran after him without knowing the reason why.

“What’s wrong?”

“I guess we’ll find out if we go as well”

The Dwarves, who thought they might see an interesting sight, dropped whatever they were doing and followed Weed to the lake.

“What happened to him all of a sudden?”

“Did he get tired of making sculptures and become like that?”

At the sight of fish swimming in the lake, Weed looked around and took a deep breath.

‘I don’t know if my guess is right. However, Kendellev was a sculptor. A sculptor who doesn’t make sculptures is preposterous. The sculptures he made are hidden somewhere in Kuruso, yet no one has been able to find them.’

Weed threw himself into the lake.

Splash!

As he caused splashes of water, he dived deep into the lake.

It was an unthinkable act that other Dwarves could not fathom.

“There’s a Dwarf who knows how to swim?”

“How can a Dwarf swim?”

As a result of their body type, the Dwarves sank like stones.

Weed dived all the way to the bottom of the lake and fumbled around himself with his hands.

The bystanding Dwarves could only conclude that Weed, who stood firmly in the clear and transparent lake, was doing something peculiar.

“He doesn’t seem like a Dwarf who is drowning in water.”

“It seems like he’s struggling to find something.”

Every time Weed tried to grope something in the water, an eel or a gray mullet fish would narrowly escape his hands.

If he tried a little harder, he would be able to catch a fish, but he set the thought aside and kept scrabbling around in the lake water.

‘It must be here somewhere. If it’s in Kuruso, I’ll be able to find it.’

He was getting short on breath, but Weed spread out his arms and wildly walked on the floor of the lake. There wasn’t a moment that he didn’t regret that Dwarves had such short arms and legs.

‘I can’t breathe.’

Although he had high endurance, he was gradually reaching his limits.

Swish!

Suddenly something was shot into the lake.

An Elf’s arrow was imbued with the spirit of air.

The Elf, Edel, who had received advice from Weed when she was trying to buy a new bow, had shot the arrow.

Weed walked towards the arrow and breathed in the air.

“Please hurry and come out!”

Edel yelled out from above the water, but Weed could not hear her. Although he understood what she was trying to say, he shook his head and continued on the bottom of the lake.

Edel shot numerous arrows in order to relay more air.

However, as Weed went deeper and deeper into the lake, the arrows were soon not strong enough to reach him.

‘If this is the place where the sculpture is, it’s probably in the deepest part of the lake.’

Weed did not slow down his diving pace.

Even if there wasn’t a way to go back and get out, with the Power to Deny Death, he’d be reborn underwater as an undead.

If it was truly in Kuruso, and it was a sculpture, he was certain that this was the right place!

In a place where it seemed there was no way of getting out, Weed found what he was looking for.

It wasn’t a solid object, but rather a different flow of water.

– You have found Kendellev’s Water’s Statue.

– You have earned 200 fame.

– Would you like to restore Kendellev’s water’s statue? 20,000 mana is required, and your Art stat must be over 500 to restore this piece.

Weed accepted.

“Glurgg. Rarrr. Blergh blergh, blerghhh.”

Although his pronunciation was hampered by the lake water rushing into his mouth every time he opened it, his meaning still got across.

At that moment, the lake’s water started moving.

Ignoring gravity, water started to rise into the air.

The star rose up.

Birds flew away as they chattered.

Butterflies spread their wings, and Dwarven children started to dance with their short legs.

The water droplets of the lake adorned Kuruso behind the sculpture.

“Wow!”

“The lake turned into a statue!”

Where Weed stood, a new path of water was formed.

Tons of water streams exploded from below into the sky, then coalesced and roared into rapids, cascading down like a waterfall, and soon gathered again and became as gentle as a stream.

In the water path, a boat made of water was leisurely flowing along.

There was a sailor on the mast, and dolphins that soared out magnificently, and they were all made of water.

It was a majestic and beautiful sight that filled you with happiness.

The work that best expressed the beauty of water!

– While restoring the sculpture made by a Dwarf, your sculpting level has increased.

Charisma, Charm, and Luck stats have increased by 10.

Fame has increased by 50.

– You witness the water play sculpture for Kendellev’s children.

The Dwarf Sculptor Kendellev’s artwork.

The nature of the water reflects the innocence of the Sculptor’s young children.

Because of overwhelming emotion, Wisdom has permanently increased by 3.

One must personally use the water park Kendellev made for his young children in order to experience complete and absolute joy.

Weed did not hesitate and threw himself in the water stream.

As the water rose like a powerful geyser, his body was rapidly carried upwards; then, he slid down the stream as if he was on a slide.

After crossing a waterbed, he passed by a water hill.

The playful dolphins leapt up and nosed Weed’s face; splashing him with streams of water.

– You are enjoying the water park made for young children.

Your Health, Mana, and Stamina will recover rapidly.

Stamina will rise to maximum level.

If currently raising water magic skills, other related affinities will be enhanced.

“That looks fun!”

“Let’s go too!”

The Dwarves and even the Elves rode on the water slide.

“Wooo hooo!”

“How exciting!”

The water slide completely turned Kuruso upside down.

The Blacksmiths, giving the pretence that they were washing something, snuck over to the square space under the clock tower.

“Hooray!”

“This is so fun!”

The crazed Dwarves of all shapes and sizes shouted and yelled, and everyone had an immense amount of fun.

The refreshing water stream moistened their faces and bodies.

In the torrent, they did flips, performed acrobatic movements as if they were on water skis, and opened their mouths widely in the water as if they were competing with sharks.

The discovered work created a fairytale-like atmosphere beyond imagination.

As they enjoyed the water park, a sweep around it clearly showed a rainbow!

– You have appreciated Kendellev’s Miraculous Rainbow.

While mining materials in damp caves or forging steel, the Dwarves did not have many chances to see a rainbow.

During rainy days, it was natural for Dwarves to sit down and drink beer in a neighbourhood pub.

For the Dwarves who did not want to ride and swim in the light water stream, the rainbow was a magical gift.

– Health will increase to the maximum for one day.

– Luck has permanently increased by 6.

– On the day when rain falls, for one month Observation and Sight skills improve.

“Ah, beautiful!”

The rainbow you think your hand will touch but can’t quite reach.

They passed through the darkness where they couldn’t see nor hear, even with their eyes open.

– You have appreciated Kendellev’s Relaxing Afternoon Room.

The sleep-loving sculptor Kendellev!

Out of all the Dwarven sculptors, he was on the lazy side, so he slept in on many mornings, and if he had consumed any alcohol, he would wake up the next day in time for dinner.

For the sake of his much-desired rest, he needed to charge up.

To Kendellev, this was an inexorably honeyed-taste beyond compare.

Health, Mana, and Stamina recovery are boosted by 35% for one day.

If Relaxing Afternoon Room is appreciated for at least three consecutive days, then Recovery Speed increases by 50%.

Spellcasting by Magicians will have shorter activation time and the number of Magical Skills available by the skill Memorise will increase by 40%

The harmony of light and darkness.

The turtle and the snail quickly grazing past each other.

The refreshing sound of water flowing.

It had the form of leisurely floating clouds.

Weed had discovered Kendellev’s sculptures.

Chapter 8: Elemental Creation

Daymond and the Predators of the Land guild classified the gathered Demonic Spirits.

There were approximately 50 giga-sized Demonic Spirits! The force also included over a thousand medium-sized Demonic Spirits, and tens of thousands of smaller Demonic Spirits.

“For now, let’s do an experiment.”

Daymond was in favour of Nardo’s opinion.

“We have to find out how much power we have.”

At first glance, the Demonic Spirits appeared to be incredible, but they needed to verify this in a real fight.

They led all the Demonic Spirits, left the Resurrection Church, and conducted an experiment in the wasteland.

An unlucky passing herd of Manticores became their opponents.

The Manticores, bearing resemblance to large lions, were extremely fast and powerful. Even the Predators of the Land guild had to fight to the death. In the past, they could have won while taking damage, but they were weakened while doing the quest and could not perform spectacularly.

“Attack those bastards.”

At Daymond’s command, the giga-sized Demonic Spirits marched across the wasteland with thundering footsteps.

Every time they went forward, they dug cavities into the ground. The Demonic Spirits used their incredible weight to charge at the Manticores, completely trampling and crushing them.

Several Manticores kicked by the Demonic Spirits’ front feet were suddenly tossed into the air, and the other Demonic Spirits used their horns to strike or impale them from below.

It was quite a sight: the biting and clawing Manticores could hardly do any damage to the Demonic Spirits.

Every time a Manticore died, Daymond and the guild could sense their Resurrection Energy rising.

– By taking the energy of another’s life, 35 Resurrection Energy has been acquired.

– Your loyalty to the Embinyu Church has grown.

Your contribution to the Embinyu Church has increased.

You have earned the status of a Junior Follower.

They were able to receive resurrection energy each time the Demonic Spirits succeeded in hunting. Their loyalty towards the Embinyu Church also increased.

Daymond’s army grew each time the resurrection power was used!

Nardo applauded.

“If it’s this much power, we should be able to destroy a castle wall.”

There were no comparable siege weapons.

However, if they let the giga-sized Demonic Spirits go first, with their incredible strength, there was nothing they couldn’t do.

When they appraised the strength of the Resurrected Army, Daymond and the Predators of the Land guild shuddered.

The abilities of the medium and small-sized Demonic Spirits were outstanding as well.

By using the Power of Resurrection, dead Soldiers and Knights could be revived again. Those who were revived lost their rationality, and fought against their foes atrociously and viciously.

* * *

“It’s time to decide where we should head to next.”

Daymond spoke while equipping his bone cane and helmet.

The prized items they earned while hunting in the wastelands with the Resurrected Army!

“Let’s get out of this place first.”

Suban disclosed his opinion.

“I think it’s now time for us to conquer the Kingdoms occupied by Humans or Elves.”

The Resurrection Army was growing in numbers, and it was difficult to find a decent hunting site in the wasteland.

Even if they mobilized just the medium-sized Demonic Spirits, the situation was resolved in mere moments, so finding swarms of monsters proved to be difficult.

The Predators of the Land guild originally possessed the battling, plundering, and aggressive nature. The wastelands, where it lacked people, they were bursting with unbearable impatience.

“It is indeed time to make our move.”

Marvin was in agreement.

He thought it would be a crime to not use the strength they possessed.

They possessed a strength greater than that of the Kingdoms in the Versailles Continent.

Although they didn’t know if they were going to turn the world into chaos, all those involved couldn’t worry or wait because of that.

Nardo asked.

“Where’s the closest village?”

“Even in this wasteland, there were a few small frontier villages.”

As they dragged the resurrected army around, they had passed by small-time hunters and small villages that survived off of subsistence agriculture.

“But they’re so small that we don’t need to look for them ourselves. We can overtake ‘em as we pass by. For starters, don’t you think Morata is good place? A lot of people have gathered there.”

Marvin recommended Morata.

It was the closest yet most densely packed town! But Suban had a different idea.

“Morata has a Church of Freya. Also, the adventurers there are of high levels, and if we attack a place like that from the start, we’ll probably acquire a considerable amount of damage.”

“We have to expect some damage. Even if the Demonic Spirits die, we can always revive ‘em.”

“Well, that’s right, but aren’t there many decent Kingdoms or other villages in the area surrounding Morata?”

“That may be so but….”

“After we take over Morata and busy ourselves slicing away in small Northern towns, the Kingdoms in the Central Continent could be preparing for our attack. We must strike the Central Continent when people are yet aware of us and quickly expand our strength.”

Nardo seemed to agree with Suban.

“By going for the small battles that we are sure to win and dragging on the time, we will be in a disadvantage later on. Wouldn’t it be better to go for somewhere that has lots of fighting opportunities, the Central Continent?”

There was a disagreement. There were those who wanted to start working their way up by attacking the surrounding villages, and those that wanted to immediately strike out for Morata.

“We will go to the Central Continent. Getting revenge on the bastards who took our land and slayed our brothers comes first. We have enough strength, so there is no reason to bide our time. We will throw away the name of the Predators of the Land Guild in this place. We will march onwards as the Resurrection Church.”

The Priests of the Resurrection Church chose to follow Daymond’s decision.

Because they were a fighting guild, if a decision was discarded, no other murmurs could be heard.

Together, the Resurrection Church and the Demonic Spirits moved southwards.

* * *

“The Demonic Spirits are attacking!”

“There’s a gruesome number of monsters advancing.”

The users who were out hunting, dropped everything and hurried towards the North gate of Isoru Kingdom.

“What’s going on?”

“You say that monsters are attacking?”

In order to find out about the situation, users gathered near the castle wall.

Most monsters were not capable of penetrating thick castle walls and became easy prey for arrows and magic.

“Doesn’t it seem like the hunting party just grazed the monster swarm and ran back to the castle?”

“What kind of monsters would make them so scared that they ran away?”

While people were leisurely chatting and watching, the users who came in through the Northern gates were in a state of panic.

“Everyone, prepare to evacuate!”

“You’ll only survive if you leave Isoru Kingdom, hurry!”

“The Monster Army is advancing!”

After feeling the sense of urgency in their screaming voices, the Warriors who were chatting with Merchants who were doing business and the people chattering in the plaza, stood up.

Rather than running away, in order to find out what was going on, they moved towards the city wall.

“It’s none of my business if you regret it!”

“We definitely warned you to evacuate.”

The users that had come in through the Northern gates immediately left through the Southern gates.

Their friends, as well as some doubtful users, followed them out.

The Knights and Soldiers of Isoru Kingdom assembled and lined up on the castle walls, above the Northern gates. Even the Magicians, who usually didn’t venture out, came with their wands and prepared for battle.

Only then did the users realize how severe the situation was.

While they were agonizing over whether they should flee or not, the horde of Demonic Spirits from the North drew near.

There were giga-sized Demonic Spirits, comparable to the size of a citadel.

The Resurrection Church appeared along with tens of thousands of Demonic Spirit Legions.

After they assembled the Demonic Spirits in an orderly line, beyond the gates, Daymond came forward riding a horse.

“My name is Daymond!”

Daymond yelled loudly towards the castle wall.

He was scores of meters away, but the users could hear him clearly.

“If it’s Daymond, is he a user?”

“I think he’s the famous user who hunted boss monsters in the North…”

“For him to be accompanied by a monster army and appear here, just what kind of quest did he do?”

Doubtful, they waited for Daymond’s next words.

They were expecting him to demand for large fortunes from Isoru Kingdom, suggest they surrender; especially when he brought a Monster Army with him.

But they couldn’t help but be astonished by Daymond’s next words.

“I declare war on your Isoru Kingdom. For those who don’t want to fight, I will give you 10 minutes of respite. Come out of the castle walls and flee South. Those who do not heed our warning will die.”

It was a drastic, incomparable ultimatum!

When they saw the Monster Army Daymond commanded, the users quietly left Isoru Kingdom. However, they did not leave area, instead, they went atop a nearby hill and watched the battle over Isoru Kingdom. Daymond and the Resurrection Church decided to leave the bystanders alone.

“10 minutes have passed. Everyone left in the castle is our enemy.”

Daymond and the Resurrection Priests Demonic Spirits began to use their magic, and gray smoke soon enveloped the castle.

As the plague spread rapidly, the faces of Soldiers and Knights were dyed in green.

They became so infirm that they could no longer bear the weight of their armour and collapsed atop the wall.

“Earth Dragons. Charge!”

The enormous Demonic Spirits Nardo called forth detached themselves from the Army with heavy steps.

The giga-sized Demonic Spirits awkwardly waddled step by step. They rapidly accelerated and crashed into the castle walls with a terrifying, unmatched speed.

CRRRAAASH!

Part of the castle walls crumbled.

In succession, the giga-sized Demonic Spirits hit and destroyed the castle walls, while the medium-sized Demonic Spirits attacked the castle; they either jumped up and climbed up the castle walls, or they gained entry by using the giga-sized Demonic Spirits.

The Soldiers of Isoru Kingdom shot arrows and sprinkled magic, but even when the Demonic Spirits were hit squarely, they soon rose again.

The Resurrection Priests were continuously replenishing their lives.

Thanks to the supersized Demonic Spirits, the castle wall was completely crushed; even the interior of the castle were getting demolished.

It was a terrifying and unforgettable sight to users, who watched the whole castle slanted to one side, cracked, and then fell apart.

Daymond and the Resurrection Church went all out. They did not spare single soul inside the castle.

Isoru Kingdom was swiftly crushed, and the Resurrection Army became increasingly powerful.

The Demonic Spirits were growing through the fighting experience.

Intoxicated with life, ordinary Soldiers and Knights were all resurrected.

This was how Daymond and the Resurrection Army overtook Isoru Kingdom.

An incredible wind of change was brewing in the Versailles Continent.

* * *

The Dwarves of Kuruso were in a commotion because of the water park.

“Kekeke!”

“The beer we drink while playing in the water is the best.”

Dwarves were enjoying the water park regardless of their age or gender. Before long, it became the trend to drink beer while going down the waterslide.

Herman and Pin addressed Weed.

“Kendellev’s sculpture! Isn’t that the racial quest the Dwarf Sculptor’s guild Instructor gives? To think that someone I know discovered this… It’s truly surprising news.”

“Congratulations. You cracked a request that couldn’t be solved for a long time.”

To the Dwarves, discovering the trail of the enigmatic, legendary Kendellev was an impressive task.

There was also a change in Weed’s quest window—if he went to see the Sculptor’s guild Instructor Jorbid, he could receive his reward.

It was not strange for Dwarves, including Herman, to be jealous.

Weed spoke his own thoughts under the cover of humility.

“Oh, please. I just happened to find it by chance.”

“…”

“Since I looked all over in Kuruso, wasn’t that the only place where it could be?”

“…”

“There’s nothing special or spectacular about what I did, it’s just that the efforts of other Dwarves fell short.”

His way of speaking that greatly lowered their affection towards him!

It was awkward for Weed to take the compliments of others, so he’d done the best he could to pass it off as a joke.

‘It’s definitely no good to receive compliments!’

In those days when he was working as a minor, when he couldn’t do the work well he was always sworn at. Those were the days when he got more curses than food.

But with effort, he was able to overcome his insufficiencies. He mastered the techniques and did as much work as other people.

He lifted and carried more flats of bricks, attached more eyes to dolls, and delivered the newspapers well.

“So you had some talent in this field.”

“You’re an outstanding individual we absolutely need.”

As the compliments from the President increased, the amount of work he had to do also accumulated.

It became worse was when he worked part-time at a pub.

“You’re really outstanding! This perfect taste matches well! From now on I’ll have Hyun Lee do this kind of work.”

With each compliment, his ears were joyful, but Weed knew that soon enough, his whole body would be exhausted.

Even though in this case, that wasn’t Herman intent, Weed had instinctively counteracted.

And he wasn’t deceiving them on purpose either.

By law, all discoveries made after great lengths of effort were seen to be obvious in the end.

“As a Sculptor, it wouldn’t do to just look for the complete works. No matter what sculpture it is, if you understand the materials used to make it, the place, and its characteristics, what I did is possible.”

“Understand the materials and characteristics… It’s not just about completing the sword, but really immersing yourself in the process?”

They were ordinary words, but Herman thought about them for a long time, as if he’d gotten some kind of hint from them.

Pin hesitated for a long time before carefully asking.

“Now that you’ve succeeded in completing the quest, will you leave Kuruso?”

She, too, was aware he had completed almost all of the Sculptor quests, and he’d even discovered Kendellev’s trail. In reality, Weed had completed many different kinds of commissions.

Requests that had to do with adventures or fighting, sewing and blacksmithing production requests, requests that had to do with creating sculptures off of impressions… He’d done them all!

As a jack of all trades, the requests he could receive expanded.

Usually, when Dwarves saw Weed, they immediately gave him a request.

“The Eastern coal mine is overflowing with lead worms. Won’t you take care of them?”

Lead worms were monsters with levels in the high 300s.

It wasn’t impossible for Weed to hunt them with his level, but because they burrowed through the earth, they were hard monsters to catch without magic. Additionally, if they felt any danger, they spewed a poison that was hard to detoxify.

“A sword that can even pulverize cast iron, and can’t even be blocked by amour, there’s a rumor of a legendary sword that’s hiding somewhere in our Kingdom, can you believe it? I’ll be happy if you can find it.”

A legendary sword quest.

With a difficulty of rank A, it was a specialty quest that no one in Kuruso had been able to solve.

There weren’t very many clues, but there was a strong chance he could only do it by raising his intimacy with the Dwarven residents to the max.

Weed, who could flatter any day, thought it was a worthwhile to challenge quest. However, he had no choice but to give up on it. He lacked the Advanced Blacksmithing skills that were needed in the middle of the quest.

“They say there’s a fruit that can extend the lives of Dwarves which can be found in Kuruso’s Southern swamp, but no one has succeeded in finding it. Would you try it once?”

It was a rank B quest.

If you partied with a Cleric, you could struggle to find the fruit in the dungeon within the swamp.

These kinds of rank A and rank B quests poured out continuously.

It was literally a flood of quests.

Weed answered Pin’s question simply.

“I suppose I’ll have to leave.”

“I thought so…”

“But it’s not time yet. The reason I came here—I think I can achieve it.”

* * *

He couldn’t be certain, but it didn’t seem like Kendellev had master level sculpturing.

‘Since I found his trail, if he’d been a Master Sculptor, he would’ve left a secret about sculptures.’

However, thanks to him, Weed was able to figure out what he had to sculpt.

He guessed Kendellev had been a sculptor with an impressive affinity towards sculptures. To be able to create a sculpture out of water meant that he must have completely learned the characteristics of water, enough to be able to control it like his own body.

The Sculptor’s secret!

If you raised your affinity with the inanimate matter to the highest degree, it was possible to sculpt anything.

Weed, who was a Moonlight Sculptor, learned to control light. There were special sculptors everywhere. There were those who sculpted because they wanted to. Their love of sculpting became their driving force and motivation.

Now, he gained the confidence to sculpt the mysterious existences that begged him to sculpt them.

– You incompetent sculptor, use your dull head and hands to sculpt me.

– What is the reason why you won’t sculpt me. I’ll listen to everything so make me!

‘I have to understand them. I have to make them with the feelings they exude.’

The reason why a water droplet shimmered so beautifully was because it brought all the best characteristics to life. Wind expressed freedom, and rainbows were fantastical.

The faintly visible characteristics of a rainbow you see as if you’re in a dream were alive in Kendellev’s sculpture. The ample emotion that forced adults to fall back into childhood innocence!

Weed held the sculpting knives in both of his hands.

‘I will become them. I will absorb the feelings they are giving me. I will sculpt them as my heart leads me.’

– Sculptor, will you make me?

The cordial and dignified voice, the warmly encouraging yet not impolite voice—Weed decided
to preserve that sensation inside his being.

Human, monster, or however it looked, putting a name on it was difficult. To classify it, he must focus on the voice.

The voice held a lot of information.

Its current emotions and personality, the matching body, and the overall inclination that remained intact, could be felt.

‘Eyes that are alight with warmth, hands that are at least average in size, wide and healthy shoulders and body. I can’t omit the gallant feeling and the warmth.’

Instead of agonizing on what to make beforehand, he created the sculpture by following the flow of emotion.

The legs were long, as were the arms. Everything was a little longer than they were on humans. But it was not hideous like a monster, and was a sculpture that gave off the feeling of a tenderly benevolent gentleman.

“This is the sculpture I have made for you.”

Ding!

– You have learned the art of Elemental Spirit Sculpture Creation.

– Elemental Sculpture Creation: A Sculpture which can now create bodies for new Elemental Spirits.

There are innumerable Spirits existing on the Versailles Continent. However, out of those, only a few have corporeal bodies or have been named.

If you make bodies for Spirits, those Spirits will then be able to wander around Versailles Continent with that body.

If you can give it a name, you will become the Spirit’s father and will be able to mobilize it during battles.

If the amount of mana consumed of the Spirit is small, you can summon Intermediate level Spirits from the beginning.

The spirit’s completed body must be satisfactory in order to summon prized Spirits or the King of Spirits.

The quality of the Spirits you can summon in the future are determined by the level of the sculpturing skill and intimacy.

If you master the sculpting skill, you can learn the skill of ‘Race Creation’.

Restriction: Can only be used with Advanced Sculpting.

Skill requirement: 200 Art stats (Permanent Consumption)

Precaution: Spirits learn the most on the first day they are born. The personality of the Spirit depends on the Sculptor who created their form.

If Elemental Spirits of opposites are summoned at the same time, they will fight each other.

If many Demonic Spirits are created, infamy may rise .

If a Spirit with a completed body loses its King of Spirits, all spirits will become weaker until a new King of Spirits is created.

If skill mastery is achieved, humanoid monsters can be created, but All stats will be decreased by 20 points.

– You have created a new spirit.

160 Art stat has been consumed.

– Your Advanced Sculpting skill has risen to level 6. Sculptures will become extraordinarily delicate and detailed.

– Your Handicraft skill has increased.

– Fame has risen by 260

– Charm has risen by 60.

Sculpting Blade, Sculpture Life Bestowal, Sculpture Transformation… And now he had acquired a new sculpting secret art.

The skill of Spirit Creation.

It was a Sculptor’s secret art, which granted existing Spirits in the world corporeality and a physical form!

The sculpture Weed had carved with wood was next to him, and the dirt on the ground rose up and became exactly the same form.

The lump of dirt respectfully parted its lips.

“Sculptor, since you have created my body, please choose my name.”

Weed replied after a brief deliberation.

“Let’s go with Dirtman.”

“Alright.”

No matter how you looked at it, the spirit seemed to be affiliated with Earth, so the name that had come to mind was Earth-man. However, if he chose that, then it’d be too easy to see through its intentions, so he used his head and picked out Dirtman.

‘As expected, there’s no one who can top my naming sense.’

Weed asked.

“Do you like your body?”

“I think it will be uncomfortable to move, but it is to my liking.”

Since it could be a new type of sculpture, just to be sure, Weed tried to identify it.

“Identify.”

Dirtman

Earth Spirit.

It was born due to the Sculptor’s talent.

It has a gentle and reliable personality. However, because it has an ill-matched body, it can only display 35% of its abilities.

Able to advance into an Intermediate spirit.

Through the Spirit summoning skill, the spirit can demonstrate their different supreme abilities.

Specialties: Earthquake, Dig, Bury, Finding Sap, Accelerate Growth of Crops.

Because this was the first attempt, the Spirit’s features could not be brought to life and was made with adequate skill.

– You filthy sculptor! How dare you make another bastard before me! I’m getting angry. I’m going to burn everything down.

Weed saw his failure reflected in the angry voice and raised his sculpting knife.

‘It’s a spirit. It doesn’t even need to be similar to a human.’

He made a blazing fire. He made the fire’s body with elongated legs and arms.

– You have created a new spirit.

160 art stats were consumed.

– Sculpture Identification skill has increased.

– Handicraft skill has improved.

– Fame has risen by 260

– Charm has risen by 60.

Weed’s sculpture caught fire. All that was left of the wood was debris, and soon everything was burned away. In its place was an identical, blazing form.

“I like it, this body. I’m very pleased with it. Sculptor, speak my name!”

The spirit of fire was enjoying itself.

“How about Fiery Pebble.”

“To say it’s Fiery Pebble! It’s a name I really like.”

“Identify!”

– Fiery Pebble.

A blazing Fire Spirit.

Created by a Sculptor on the new frontier of a sculpting skill that’s being expanded.

Has an impatient and violent personality.

Although it lacks charm, because it has a body that suits it, it can favorably display its abilities.

It can use 62% of its strength.

Able to advance into an Advanced spirit.

Through the Spirit summoning skill, the spirit can demonstrate their different supreme abilities.

Specialties: Fire Spear, Fireproof, Incinerate.

“Summon Dirtman, summon Fiery Pebble!”

As Weed’s eyes sparkled, his mana flowed out like an ebbing tide. The earth shuddered and rose. A wild, blazing fire arose. And so, Dirtmen and Fiery Pebbles were summoned in the hundreds.

Intermediate Elemental Spirits, Advanced Elemental Spirits. This was the power shown by the Advanced Sculpting skill!

Although he didn’t summon all the common Elemental Spirits he was capable of, he wasn’t disappointed over five or six Elemental Spirits. If the number of Elemental Spirits rose, it was difficult to control them.

“Ah, to be able to come out into the world! Are you saying that this dream is really true?”

“Look here. These are our bodies. They have substance, and we can move them as we please.”

For the Elemental Spirits who had been created not long ago, that in itself was a miracle. When they saw their bodies, they exclaimed in wonder and rolled their feet on the ground.

Every time the Dirtmen did that, the earth shook a little, and in the case of the Fiery Pebbles, the flames blazed even more intensely.

Though they were happily preoccupied with the miracle of creation, they soon noticed Weed. They instinctually knew the owner who had created them and held a deep intimacy with him.

Weed’s charisma and leadership was triggered. And Lion’s Roar!

“Ahem! I am the owner who made you all. Since I gave you life, fulfill your duty to me.”

The original Dirtman and Fiery Pebble, who were made first, had special egos.

They were the representatives of their fellow spirits.

However, the other ordinary spirits bowed and recited.

“We will follow our owner and pull forth the power of the earth.”

“We will raze down everything that poses a threat to you.”

The pledge of loyalty from the lined up spirits!

As if he were a leader of a cult, Weed raised both his arms.

“Believe in me and follow!”

“Yes, Master!”

“Believe! Believe in me, and blessings will come your way.”

“Who am I!”

“The Almighty, the Master who created us.”

“You’re sculptor that works till the end, a heroic sculptor who turns the impossible into the possible.”

As if they were in a competition, the Dirtmen and Fiery Pebbles flattered him. Perhaps because Weed had created them, they learned bad things first.

“What about my intelligence?”

“The smartest throughout the continent.”

“You are a genius.”

“When I was one year old, I toddled 100 meters in 0.1 seconds. At two years of age, I used my wings to fly around in the air.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

From behind Weed’s mantle, the Wings of Light spread wide.

Brilliant. Such brilliant luster! Used for the purpose of lying, such was the life of a moonlight sculpture that was granted life!

Seeing the absolute loyalty of the spirits, Weed’s heart was warmed.

“My face is the most handsome in the world. There is no human who is more good looking than me in the world! When girls see my smiling face, they can’t help but tumble towards me.”

“…”

“…”

The Dirtmen looked like they had bitten into a tart grapefruit.

“T-Thats a little…”

Weed reflexively looked at the Fiery Pebble. It was burning down some perfectly healthy grass nonchalantly.

“We let him have his way and listened to him, but he really doesn’t know when to stop.”

“Yeah. Do we really have kiss his ass and suffer to get a body?”

“I don’t think it would’ve been bad to just exist as a spirit…”

The Fiery Pebbles quietly murmured amongst themselves.

Weed loudly cleared his throat.

“AHEM! This is a regrettable incident. For the Elemental Spirits I made with such difficulty to not be satisfied with this world… Should I just use my Sculpture Destruction skill to just crush everything and make it so that this never happened? ”

The Dirtmen and Fiery Pebbles felt the threat on their lives and quickly raised their arms.

“Hooray for Master Weed!”

“Long live the Master!”

Their happiness was short-lived, and while their arms were raised, the bodies of the Dirtmen and Fiery Pebbles blurred and started to disappear. Weed’s mana had been completely used up and he couldn’t sustain them any longer.

“Please call us anytime, Master!”

“Please don’t forget me.”

As the Dirtmen and Fiery Pebbles disappeared, the sounds of their exclamations were left ringing faintly in the air.

After all of the Dirtmen and Fiery Pebbles had been recalled, Weed contemplated briefly and restored his mana.

The sculpture skill of Spirit Creation.

The memories of the effort he had invested into discovering this sculpting secret flashed through his mind.

The past times when he’d been cursed for sculpting!

With his mana completely filled up, Weed stood up from his spot again.

“Summon Dirtmen. Summon Fiery Pebble!”

As the earth and fire rose, Dirtmen and Fiery Pebble were summoned again!

Weed raised his two hands straight up in the air.

“Hurray, Master Weed!”

“Hurray!”

The exhaustive brainwashing work went on all day.

The brainwashing that forced them to harbor only respect for him!

“Who am I!”

“The absolute immortal creator who took pity on our trifling selves and made our bodies.”

“What are my words?”

“They are absolute commands we must obey even if we become extinct in this land.”

“There will be no greater honour than for this trifling body to cease to exist whilst fulfilling your command.”

The next day, the place the Dirtmen were ambitiously mobilized to was Weed’s ruby mine.

“Mine them carefully. Don’t get even a single scratch on them!”

If a Spirit Creator treats the spirits as his friends, they will respect him…

Usually, one would have adventures in the Versailles Continent while being friendly to the cute and adorable spirits.

However, it was something that didn’t apply to Weed.

Like day laborers, the spirits were being called to mine rubies.

Chapter 9: Dark Gamers’ Conversation

Lee Hyun connected to the Dark Gamers’ chat room. Information disclosure, questions, sales, and grade advancement were the main topics of the chat room.

In normal chat rooms, there were people who were there just to waste time, but Dark Gamers were different. Information about the activities of Kingdoms, professions, quest information, and other necessary info were exchanged in real time.

These conversations weren’t open to everyone. The rooms were available through the forums, which could only be accessed if their rank permitted it, so only a small fraction of Dark Gamers were allowed to share the information.

It was a basic skill to use chatting to uncover the secrets of other gamers.

Huni: Hurry, hurry, come in. Hyun-nim.

Hyun: We meet again.

Huni: Yes, nice to see you.

Wicked Me: This is my first time meeting you, Hyun-nim.

There were about 7 users in the chat room.

Aside from the people who were lurking beneath the surface, in actuality only Huni and Wicked Me were chatting.

Huni: Hyun-nim, you’ve been coming here only for a little bit late at night. What have you been doing lately?

Hyun: I’ve just… I’ve been learning my profession’s skills.

Huni: Profession skills are very important. Normally, you access the chat room and don’t say anything, but you also check the market prices of items, right?

Hyun: Yes.

Wicked Me: I also often do that too.

Huni: All Dark Gamers are probably like that. It’s because there’s no job as busy as ours.

It was crucial for Dark Gamers to regularly check on the item market prices, commissions, and hunting grounds. For the sake of earning money, not only effort, but information in itself was crucial.

Only Dark Gamers who went beyond other players, could purely enjoy their meetings.

Huni: I have been a Dark Gamer for 7 years. How long have you two sirs been Dark Gamers?

Wicked Me: I’ve been one for three years. Well, two years actually.

Huni: Then I suppose I’m your senior, though that doesn’t mean much. If it’s 2 years, then did you start Dark Gamer activities since the release of Royal Road?

Wicked Me: That’s right. I started the same time Royal Road was released. Since I progressed faster than others, I was able to collect some money from the start.

Huni: I envy you. What about you, Hyun-nim?

Hyun: I’ve been a Dark Gamer in earnest for about one year.

Huni: That’s incredible!

Wicked Me: Is that true? If you can enter this rank’s chat room, you’re probably not on an ordinary level… And it’s not just level, but the quality of the information shared and your responses are important in determining your rank.

Huni: One year is really surprising. Can you please tell me your secret?

Hyun: I just worked really hard. And I started making money as a Dark Gamer way before then; it’s just that I registered a year ago.

Wicked Me: As I thought, that’s how. It’s hard to be a Dark Gamer in Royal Road.

Small Dragon: Nice to meet you. I see you’ve been having an interesting conversation while I was lurking. I’ve been a Dark Gamer for 6 years.

The users who had been lurking joined the conversation and the chat room soon became hectic.

As they exchanged greetings and conversations started, the old text ascended quickly. In spite of that, the frenzy didn’t even last 10 minutes before calming down.

Users left to look for information they needed, or were taking a break while keeping the chat room open.

Lee Hyun also briefly went to look at different information and returned to find Huni and Wicked Me having a conversation.

Huni: Hyun-nim. Are you there?

Hyun: Yes.

Huni: Actually, this time there’s a quest I want to accomplish…. I’d like to consult the two of you.

Wicked Me: What quest is that?

Huni: First of all, please be understanding of me when I say that I won’t disclose details about the quest’s contents.

Wicked Me: Of course.

Hyun: I understand.

Huni: Thank you for understanding. To be honest, I’ve been doing a quest that’s a little special.

Wicked Me: Is it a dangerous quest?

Huni: You could say that. It also has a high degree of difficulty… The quest prevents you from ever reviving again.

Wicked Me: I don’t understand what you said about not reviving. What does that mean?

Hyun: The character would completely die in Royal Road, right?

Huni: Yes. Thats right.

The complete death of a character.

It was something that could happen if you learned a forbidden magic, or if gave your soul for some reason or another. It was standard for Dark Gamers to refuse these kinds of requests. Curses that were difficult to cure could somehow be resolved after a time, but if your character disappeared, you have to start again from the very beginning.

After his profession was changed to Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, he had initially been very dissatisfied, but the reason he gave up on raising another profession was because it was hard to start over.

Hyun: How did you come about that quest?

Huni: I was with the guild I manage, it was a quest we got as a guild.

Wicked Me: If you’re managing a guild, you must have quite an exceptional character; that’s quite regretful.

Huni: Yes. Now I’m feeling a little regretful. I wonder if I started something too excessive because of my friends and guild mates, but the rewards that can be obtained through the quest are considerable.

Wicked Me: As a Dark Gamer, is it worth starting over?

Huni: I’ll have to see how the quest progresses, but right now I think it’s worth challenging. Even if we aren’t able to clear the quest, we accepted it because we can hope for such a huge reward.

Wicked Me: If it were me, I’d worry first. Even so, to raise another character is going to be tough.

Huni: In my 7 years of being a Dark Gamer, I think this is the biggest opportunity and challenge yet. Since there’s some money I’ve earned, even if I die I’ll probably be able to start over.

If you read in between the lines, you could feel that the Dark Gamer Huni was trying to force himself to be positive about his situation.

For a Dark Gamer, losing their character was the same as becoming unemployed!

To be unable to expect employment insurance and unemployment pension, if you considered such disaster, you would only become anxious. If Lee Hyun was also in a situation where his character Weed might be permanently deleted, his anxiety would be too great to express in words.

‘I haven’t made enough money yet!’

Perhaps because the all work he had done would have been a waste, so he didn’t think he would be able to accept a quest like that.

He’d have no choice but to suffer from an extremely severe apprehension. In real life, Grandma’s hospital bills and their living expenses would be threatened by this approaching menace. Though Huni might have saved up a little spare money, that alone would not assure him, for this was something that could very possibly ruin a Dark Gamer’s life.

If you died while hunting, your level and skill proficiency would drop, and if such an incident were to occur again and again, it would be an unfathomably devastating blow to a Dark Gamer.

Wicked Me: I hope you receive a lot of items. The items are what’s left.

Huni: Of course. All the items we obtained on the quest are gathered separately, and are being sold. However, when I imagine the character I raised and very attached to, completely disappearing… It’s not something that will happen right away, but my chest really hurts thinking about it.

Hyun: You must worry a lot.

Huni: There’s nothing I can do but to move forward.

Hyun: Since you have experience, you’ll be able to grow again, and the quest…

Lee Hyun’s hand, which had been clacking on the keyboard, suddenly came to a halt.

Though it was just a speculation, even if those kinds of quests were to be successful, because of the ridiculous chance for a character to be deleted, there was no one who would be willing to accept such quests.

But the Dark Gamer Huni was even considering death.

‘It seems like he has received a truly difficult quest.’

He guessed it would be much harder to succeed in this quest than to find a needle in a haystack.

Hyun: I pray for your success. Those words are all I can offer.

Huni: Thank you. I’ll do my best. I needed some reassurance.

Wicked Me: It’s really heartwarming to see you two talk.

Huni: Wicked Me-nim, Hyun-nim. Shall we be friends? Although I don’t know how old you are or where you live, I don’t think it’ll be bad to get along as friends in the Dark Gamer chatting room.

Hyun: I’d like that as well.

Huni: I will introduce myself first. I’m twenty-eight years old.

Hyun: I’m twenty-three years old.

Huni: Hyun is like my younger sibling then.

Hyun: Yes, elder brother. Please speak informally.

Huni: Do you mind? Then Wicked Me-nim, how old are you?

Wicked Me: Elder brothers! I am 15 years old. I’m the youngest. My two elder brothers, please take care of your cute brother.

Huni: …

Hyun: …

Huni: Hey Me.

Wicked Me: Yep!

Huni: It’s already 11. You’d better go to bed.

Wicked Me: Ah! Is that the time already. It’s nearly time for my mom to come home soon… I guess I’ll pretend to study and go to sleep. Goodbye.

Hyun: …

Huni: …

* * *

Lee Hyun’s school life went by busily. Even if he barely passed the tests, the assignments kept coming.

Tests and challenges concerning Royal Road.

Because of those, Choe Sang Jun and Park Soon Jo were to gather information about the dungeons, and the preparations were quickly underway.

“Hyung, just come when you can, and all you need to do is show us your sculptures.”

Choe Sang Jun said generously.

In any case, because it was a team assignment, Lee Hyun had to participate too, but not much was expected from a Sculptor. Hyun would show them his sculptures, and if Choe Sang Jun and his team mates acted as if they were deeply moved, he calculated that the professor would give them points.

‘If a team that includes a Sculptor is able to explore a difficult dungeon, that can be seen as a huge success.’

Choe Sang Jun was determined to use the dungeon exploration as a way to stand out. His brother, who was a high ranking player in the Black Lion Guild, lent him an item and was helping him raise his level.

But the one who worried him most was Park Soon Jo, the Thief!

‘Thieves aren’t as useful in dungeons as you’d think. Although it’s not bad to have 1 Thief to help me out. That’s right, I should be happy about it.’

Even if a Thief were to help out, all they could do were dismantle traps and opening doors, anyway.

For the sake of the dungeon exploration, the team held meetings at lunch without Lee Hyun.

While eating her sandwich in the school cafeteria, Min Sora asked a question.

“But you guys, who are the other 2 people going to be for our team? Everyone’s excited and it’s getting hectic, but we have to decide and get ready in advance.”

There were currently 5 people in their team C !

It was time to recruit the 2 people required.

Choe Sang Jun was also extremely interested in the new team members.

For him to stand out the most, the other team member can’t be too outstanding. However, he wanted to bring in a team member who could be at least somewhat useful.

‘It’d be good to have a Cleric or a Shaman… Who still hasn’t decided on a team yet? Do we have to pull out a guy from another team?’

It happened as he was making up his mind. Ju Eun Hee and Hong Sun Ye, who had been in his MT (Membership Training) team, were approaching him.

“Hey, we haven’t decided on our group yet either, can we do it together?”

Choe Sang Jun rejoiced and asked.

“What’s your class and level?”

“Elemental Magician. Level 266. Current position is in Dale Kingdom.”

“I’m a Ranger. Level 285. I’m at Nekan Castle. I’m hunting with Eun Hee.”

A Magician associated with elements and a Ranger.

It was far from the Cleric and Shaman Choe Sang Jun had wanted.

“Let’s do it together!”

Despite that, Choe Sang Jun kept a smile on his face.

Women were always welcome. Particularly Ju Eun Hee and Hong Sun Ye, whose pretty faces and bodies caught the eyes of many guys in their department.

‘Eun Hee is really very pretty.’

Choe Sang Jun had no reason to refuse the ideal Eun-hee.

Ju Eun Hee beamed so brightly her dimples came out.

“Really? I’m grateful, Choe Sang Jun.”

“Yeah.”

With a pitiful look, Lee Yoo Jung spoke to Choe Sang Jun after watching him.

“If you’re in Dale Kingdom… We’re also in Dale Kingdom right now. Nekan Castle is only a day away.”

“Yoo Jung, what’s your level?”

“Swordsman, 237. Sora, here, is an Enchanter. She’s 144.”

“I-is that so?”

Ju Eun Hee and Hong Sun Ye’s discontented expressions were obvious.

It was because the Swordsman’s level was too low, and Enchanters weren’t very useful in dungeons.

Perhaps because she sensed their discomfort, Min Sora asked.

“Is it really okay to be in the same group as us?”

“Yeah. Well, it’ll be okay. But you know…”

Hong Sun Ye asked while blushing slightly.

“Why isn’t Lee Hyun oppa here? Isn’t Lee Hyun oppa in your group?”

“Oppa doesn’t participate in the meetings.”

“Why?”

“He said he’s busy. And ‘cause he’s a sculptor, we don’t need him for the exploration.”

“….”

“You two. You really decided to join our group, right?”

“You’re, you’re right.”

Somehow, they had gotten into a situation where they couldn’t refuse and ended up joining. However, once they learned the levels and professions of the other players, everyone could feel their reluctance.

‘This is the worst…’

‘For me to be in a group like this…’

‘I messed up.’

‘I’ll retake it later.’

* * *

At lunchtime, Lee Hyun went to the grass plaza to eat his packed lunch.

‘It’s here today as well.’

A girl’s red lunch box.

Since about ten days ago, there was a red lunch box at the place where Lee Hyun regularly ate. Of course he did not touch the lunch box.

‘It’s someone else’s lunch.’

He thought that the owner might come looking for it, so he didn’t open the lunch box.

The next day, the lunch box was placed in the same position. However, this time, there was a yellow lunch box was wrapped in a white handkerchief. There was even a note left on top.

– Please eat me.

Sophisticated and beautiful handwriting.

Lee Hyun muttered while looking at the lunch box.

‘I don’t know who it’s for, but I envy them.’

The lunch box can be called the flower of love!

‘Traditionally, there’s nothing better to eat than that. How happy must that guy be, to have such a girlfriend. He’s even getting free food.’

Lee Hyun laughed lonesomely and ate the lunch he’d brought himself.

He thought for sure that some guy other than himself would come and eat that lunch box.

He, who had never dated before, would never have believed that lunch box was for him.

The next day.

– Lee Hyun, please eat this packed lunch.

The message, which was a little longer and more detailed, was written beautifully.

Perhaps because the sender was tense, the text was firmly indented in the paper, but Lee Hyun didn’t notice this.

“It was my lunch!”

He knelt to open the lunch box.

It was packed to the brim with sushi rolls!

“Korean sushi rolls, of all things.”

Lee Hyun complained.

The food he always packed for school was sushi rolls. He brought them because they were simple and not very time-consuming to make, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to eat something different.

“Well, even sushi rolls are okay as long as they taste good.”

Lee Hyun tried 1 of the sushi rolls.

There was a harmony of evocative flavors bursting in his mouth.

A taste that could not be described by words!

The radish, imitation crab, and spinach she’d used were already in a different dimension from regular ingredients.

The faint sheen from the side of the rolls was from sturgeon eggs and plump lobster leg meat!

Lee Hyun was knowledgeable in cooking, but he had never seen these ingredients.

“The pollack eggs are fresh. And what in the world is this imitation crab that tastes so good?”

They were the best luxury sushi rolls!

After Lee Hyun ate the delicious sushi rolls, he left a note in the empty lunch box.

– This time as well…

He had left the note while harbouring a faint hope.

The next day when he went to the grassy area, there was another lunch box.

– Thank you for enjoying it. Please eat some today too.

Lee Hyun opened the lunch box lid.

They were korean sushi rolls today too, but today’s fillings were shark fin, eel, and salmon. There was even fresh fruit salad for dessert.

“It’s delicious.”

From that day on, Lee Hyun went to school without packing his lunch. Even if he didn’t pack a lunch, there was always food waiting for him.

As Lee Hyun ate, Seoyoon watched from a distance.

Every time he ate happily, she felt full, even if she hadn’t eaten.

‘Friends…’

Her precious friend, the only one she had in the world.

Seoyoon was thankful for him just eating it.

Due to her lack of cooking skills, her first batch of Korean sushi rolls had torn sides and their fillings protruded out. To pack delicious sushi rolls, she learned from five-star hotel chefs.

As Seoyoon watched Lee Hyun eat joyfully, she blushed. It was the sight of a goddess being shy.

* * *

In order to restore the art stats that had been consumed, Weed began working in Kuruso.

‘The fastest way to get art stats is through making handicrafts.’

A successful sculpture could earn him a lot of art stats.

Though it was a simple method in theory, the probability of success was low.

Since there was a limit to the techniques Weed could express with imagination, continuously making a successful sculpture was difficult.

Comparatively, jewelry handicrafts raised the art stat by 1 or 2 points, so it was good for replenishing. Although it took 10 works to raise the stat once, he had the perfect aptitude for doing these kinds of depressing jobs.

“The law is that grinding doesn’t lie. There’s nothing I’m more thankful to than grinding.”

In addition, videos of Kendellev’s Water Park for Children were being uploaded in Royal Road forums. Dwarven users had competitively put up their videos as quickly as they could.

Until then, Kuruso had existed so secretly that even amongst the Dwarves, there were only a few people who knew of it. However, after images of Dwarves enjoying the water park were published, the veil of secrecy was torn off.

As the number of interested people grew, the path to Kuruso was published and done with.

“We’re here!”

“WOW! This is the Dwarven Kingdom.”

More Humans and Elves came and found it, and the number of users in Kuruso increased by over 5-fold.

The sculptures of the newcomer Dwarves!

The sculptures they had acquired from above ground through one quest or another found their way to Weed.

“Art Hand-nim, I heard you can evaluate sculptures.”

“Yeah. Although I don’t do this for just any object… But since I have some time, I’ll appraise it for you.”

“Thank you!”

Even in Kuruso, where the best craftsmen had gathered, Art Hand was the most outstanding Sculptor.

The Battle in Shaspin Cave, and the victory against Death Hand!

There were Dwarven Soldiers and Warriors who gabbered in the taverns about the sculpting quests that had occurred in Kuruso, and Art Hand’s legend reached the ears of the newcomers through their gossip.

Weed, who was passing himself off as Art Hand, was gathering sculptures.

“Identify.”

– The Repentant Bird

A clay pigeon meditating on one leg.

Made by a nameless, obscure sculptor.

Although this is sculpture made with a remarkably polished skill and is a superior depiction, the meaning intended for this sculpture cannot be discerned.

Artistic Value: 30

– You have appreciated this work and your Art stat has risen by 1.

To gain Art stats through identification!

Whether they were drawings, famous swords, or even legendary armor dressers, they earned him a little Art stat.

‘The Art stat seems to be different from the other stats.’

Whenever he made a living sculpture or used a skill, the Art stat was consumed. However, when he was raising it again, there was a force of restoration, that gave him the feeling that the stat was a little easier to raise than others.

Albeit challenging to regain the Art stat by identifying sculptures alone, his Art stats rose twice as fast after he activated Eternal Sculpture.

[T/N: Weed is talking about the title he’s using.]

Even just by sewing with good material, his Art stat would rise. When he made anything from Blacksmithing, Art stats also increased.

‘Still, it’s not a method I can use often.’

As indicated by its name, restoring force really recovered stats quickly!

If he only consumed the Art stat and didn’t rebuild it, he wouldn’t be able to reach a higher level.

In order to restore his Art stat, Weed met with a lot of Dwarves in Kuruso.

“Art Hand, would you like a beer? I’m buying.”

“Have you perhaps joined a guild?”

There were guilds that approached him to recruit a sculptor.

Weed refused them each time.

One day, Herman who was watching the scene, said in a courteous tone.

“It would be nice if you joined our guild. Production class, eh! Though you aren’t in a production profession. Anyway, for people like us, who have crafting professions, it’s comfortable to be in a guild.”

“I know that too.”

“Then is there a special reason why you are not in a guild?”

He was caught with remorse over the fact that he was a Dark Gamer. Even when he was playing the Continent of Magic, he had always acted alone, so getting fenced in by a guild was a burden for him.

Herman’s eyes twinkled as he laughed.

“You seem to have circumstances you can’t talk about. But just because you’re in a guild doesn’t mean everyone is going to want to know your life story.”

“…”

“You don’t have to say anything you don’t want others to know, just act comfortably. And if you don’t like the guild, can’t you just leave it?”

“That may be so, but…”

“When you’re my age, the biggest regret is not having tried many different things in your youth. Can’t you regret it after you’ve tried? It’s not healthy to worry too much when you’re young.”

Weed decided.

‘If there’s a guild I can move comfortably in, then I suppose it wouldn’t be bad to try joining.’

In many ways, he might become the odd man out, but he found no reason to avoid the concept of guilds.

Even the Elder SwordNoobs didn’t make a guild and act within in it, though they were getting so famous in Rosenheim Kingdom that they might be forced to do so.

‘Though I shouldn’t need to join the Instructor’s guild.’

He was on close terms with the Elder SwordNoobs, and he also saw their faces every day. They were also registered as his friends, so he spoke with them often. There was no need to join a guild made by the SwordNoobs.

As if sensing Weed’s indecisiveness, Herman spoke up.

“Have you heard about the Travelers of the Wilderness Guild, by any chance?”

“I haven’t heard of it.”

“It’s the guild I’m in. Quite often, we hunt without speaking, and there are also those who only go on adventures…. It’s a guild made of willful people.”

“How many people are in it?”

“About twenty-five? The activity rate is on the high side. As for the age group…. There are old people like me, and there are many in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. We are not affiliated with any Kingdom, and there aren’t any initiation rites, so it’ll be easy to join. Why don’t you join our guild?”

“And if it becomes uncomfortable for me?”

“Then you can just leave.”

Weed felt that Herman’s proposal was acceptable.

‘They won’t bother me about this and that for being a Sculptor.’

Most of the guilds that tried to recruit Weed approached him knowing that he was a sculptor.

A sculpture for their guild.

That was their motivation for inviting him to a guild. It seemed that nothing of that sort would happen in Herman’s guild.

“Alright. How do I join?”

“I can invite you. It’s a privilege given to all members who has been part of the guild for over a year.”

Ding!

– Herman has invited you to the Travelers of the Wilderness guild.

Information about Travelers of the Wilderness guild

Members

25

Guild Leader

Vacant

Alignment

Good

Hostile Guilds

None

Hostile Kingdom

None

Only after a certain amount of time since becoming a member will you see detailed information on the guild.

Do you want to accept this invitation?

Guilds that are at war or are hostile with other guilds make players reluctant to join, but if the guild is neutral, there is nothing to lose.

“I’ll join.”

Ding!

– You have joined the Travelers of the Wilderness guild.

Just then, the new guild popped up in Weed’s message window.

Sabrina: Welcome to the guild, new member!

Pin: Welcome.

Edwin: It’s a pleasure to meet you.

A guild that welcomed its new member!

Looking at the guild member list, there were 24 people on out of 26, including Weed.

Though you could say the activity was on an extreme level, since there were only 3 people who welcomed him.

Weed: Hello, I’m Weed. To all the guild members, nice to meet you.

Herman: It seems that other people are busy hunting or doing quests. In our guild, there are a lot of people who completely turn off their guild messages. So if there’s something you need, you’ll need to register them personally as friends and talk to them that way.

Weed: I understand.

Pin: But Herman grandpa, didn’t you say Art Hand-nim was joining too?

Herman: What are you saying? The one who joined just now is Art Hand.

Pin: No way. The one who joined is Weed. Please check it, grandpa.

Herman: There’s no way I’m wrong. I invited Art Hand when I was personally raising my hand towards him….. Huh, how did this happen? As Pin said, the one who joined is really Weed.

As soon as Weed joined, he immediately set his level and profession to hidden.

He didn’t want to be too friendly with this guild yet. He was reluctant to expose himself to a guild whose members he didn’t know.

However, his name was seen as is.

Weed: I am that Art Hand.

Herman: Are you really that Dwarven sculptor Art Hand?

Weed: Yes. But I’m not a Dwarf.

Herman: You’re not a Dwarf?

Weed: Due to circumstances, as of now I’m pretending to be a Dwarf.

Pin: Art Hand, it’s good to see you, but what do you mean, you’re not a Dwarf? You’re a perfectly short Dwarf… Ack! I’m really sorry for saying Dwarves are short. Anyways, are you not the same race as Herman grandpa?

Weed: I’m not.

Pin: Then what is your original race?

Weed: Human.

Herman, who was blankly standing next to Weed, suddenly realized something.

The incredible sculptures Weed made and the sight of him doing the Sculptor quests, and the time when he made the Wings of Light.

There was a thought glancing through Herman’s mind.

Herman: A Human as well as the sculptor Weed…. No way, the Lord of Morata?

Weed: That’s me.

Chapter 10: Travelers of the Wilderness

Once it was known that Weed was the Lord of Morata, the guild chat window became very active for a brief period.

There were even 2~3 people who were lurking came out to greet him. Pin and Herman were shocked, saying they really hadn’t known.

“After all, there probably aren’t many people with your level of sculpting”.

Herman said this with a smile.

In retrospect, it was strange that an outstanding Dwarven sculptor had suddenly appeared. The world of Dwarf craftsmen was small, so it would be known if any skilled Dwarves came along.

In that regard, Herman was also incredibly famous figure. He was a Blacksmith, the likes of which could be counted with just ten fingers, in not just Kuruso, but in the entire the Versailles Continent!

Although he hadn’t produced many goods, it’s because he poured his soul into making just one sword, his name was still widely spread. He was so famous that he didn’t pale in comparison with Weed.

“Did you change your face and appearance at a Dwarf shrine?”

“As a result, I am roughly similar.”

It was possible to receive a temporary blessing from the shrine and adopt a Dwarf’s appearance.

However, that particular method costs a lot of money, and he would have to make a special donation to the Priests. On top of that, it was a special type of blessing which could not be received if the player’s contribution to the shrine was too low.

“Anyway, how amusing.”

With a laugh, Herman passed over the matter.

People in the Travelers of the Wilderness guild did not probe and prod for details. Rather than asking a question for their curiosity, they decided to just cover up the secret.

Although the guild was mainly engaged in personal chatter, this time it was Weed’s turn to be surprised.

– Sabrina: Edwin.

– Edwin: Yes, Ma’am.

– Sabrina: Have you ever hunted Claude by yourself?

– Edwin: Many times. Their sap can be used to produce a healing agent.

Claude is a monster around level 380.

Medicine made from the sap of a Claude could help one recover from a severe injury if they applied it and rested. While it pales in comparison to a Priest’s healing magic, it was still traded in minute quantities at high prices every day.

In case the Priest died or suffered a really large injury during a battle, it was a good idea to pack backup medicine, just in case.

– Sabrina: Do you think I can kill one?

– Edwin: Yeah, pretty easily. It has low Health so you can defeat it right away. Where are you hunting right now?

– Sabrina: Cave of Echo.

– Edwin: Getting to where Claude is, is the only troublesome part, hunting them isn’t that hard, you just have to go straight through.

– Sabrina: Thank you.

Though this was obvious just by looking at Herman, the level of this guild’s members wasn’t normal. There weren’t any trivial questions normally asked by beginners.

Even after the truth about Weed being Morata’s Lord was revealed, there was merely a brief conversation out of surprise that soon faded out.

‘This doesn’t seem like an average guild.’

* * *

Lee Hyun accessed the Dark Gamer union’s guild information forums. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he went into the thread for the Travelers of the Wilderness.

“It’s always safer to be on the safe side. I might as well be well informed about it.”

He was a Dark Gamer, and he could not simply relax and have fun. That was why he looked up information on the Travellers of the Wilderness.

– Travelers of the Wilderness Guild

A guild founded in the Armen Kingdom during the initial stages of Royal Road. It is known that they did not secure a special base in any Kingdom after establishment. As it is a guild made up of only a few people, the identity of its members and its exact numbers have not been confirmed.

This guild has not engaged in any wars, and have not shown any particularly notable activities.

Through occasional guild hunts, they have been seen defeating very strong boss monsters; this is a powerful guild that cannot be disregarded.

Reference detail: Though they are classified as having a friendly disposition, the guild members’ standard is very high.- Reliability: Superior.

– Financial power: Estimated to be above average. Their fixed revenue has not been confirmed.

Seeing as there wasn’t any detailed information registered in even the Dark Gamer Union, it wasn’t a guild that had a lot of activities.

“Even so, it’s a relief that there isn’t any bad talk about it.”

Lee Hyun also entered the Dark Gamer request forum. Escort and hunting requests, as well as requests for fighting in active guild wars overflowed in the forum.

Although recruiting a Dark Gamer as a mercenary was extremely pricy, there was a considerable variety of advertisements.

Usually, he only came to understand the situation in the Versailles continent, or to look up information on a request, but today was special.

He’d come to make a request!

‘Do I really have to go this far for this…’

After being briefly conflicted, he started to write.

– Title: Submission of a Request for the Investigation of a Particular Person- Required Mercenary Grade: B

– Professions: Assassins, Trackers, Thieves.

Information concerning Mandol and his wife in the city of Selchium in Ritten Kingdom is requested. Take more than three days to observe the appearance and nature of the target as well as information about the residence required.

– Payment is 5,000 gold.

Since I am also a Dark Gamer, I request this with a 20% discounted price.

Food expenses are not included!

For a mercenary of grade B with a profession that could use concealment skills, the official request fee was 5,000 gold. At the last moment, he remembered to request the discount.

“Since it’s not a dangerous request, someone’ll probably take it if they can.”

He put up the mercenary rank and made the request impossible to read unless you were a Dark Gamer with the applicable profession.

Though this was something that would have cost them at least 4,000 gold, he wanted to do his best to sculpt Mandol and his wife’s daughter.

Although money is extremely important, it can be saved up again. So if he didn’t act honorably in this matter, he wouldn’t be able to do anything sincerely.

“I would rather go to the free sample corner to fill my belly, than to dine and dash at someone else’s restaurant.”

A lion does not deign to eat grass, no matter how hungry it is — Lee Hyun was of the same logic!

* * *

The Church of Resurrection that seized the Isoru Kingdom.

They set up a large scale construction in the Kingdom, and began to build temples for the Church of Resurrection.

The power of Resurrection and the strength of Daymond and his priests grew accordingly with each temple. The Demonic Spirits began to increase in vitality and vigor. And soon after the Resurrection Army became more and more powerful.

From that point on, every Church in the Versailles Continent was offered the same commission.

– Existences that drenched this land’s Northern region in blood have appeared. Stop them in their tracks.

In order to complete the simultaneously thrown down mission, Paladins and Priests united in the newly born Isoru Expeditionary Force!

“I will save my brethrens from Isoru Kingdom. It is my responsibility to do so.”

“It is a honor for a Knight to fight such a battle.”

The forces and guilds that dominated every castle joined in, with ulterior motives. They raised their armies, machinating to seize the abandoned, defenseless Isoru Kingdom, as soon as the Church of Resurrection was eradicated.

The number of troops willing to participate in the liberation of Isoru Kingdom was a whopping 90,000!

They invaded the Isoru Kingdom with high spirits, but a massive fortress that didn’t exist in the past blocked their way.

It was the fortress which Daymond forced the residents of Isoru Kingdom to make!

Reaching 30 meters in height, there were Archers arranged on the fort walls. The fortress was blessed by nature, as it was blocked by a penetrating gorge in the center of a mountainous terrain.

“Let’s bypass the fort.”

“No. If we bypass it and go around, it’d take too long.”

“There’s no reason to avoid it since we’re dragging along this many troops.”

Although the users that participated as mercenaries wanted to avoid it, the nobles and lords had different thoughts.

‘There is no way that an improvised fort has sturdy defences.’

‘They were probably scared of us. So for their own defense, they built such a big fortress.’

Generally, building a fortress required immense amounts of labor and money. That was because, even if it became the key point of fierce siege warfare, repairing the walls or maintaining the fortifications was difficult.

‘So that they built a large fortress is evidence that they are frightened of us?’

If Daymond’s army was confident of victory, they wouldn’t have even thought to create a fortress. The troops could only think along the lines of common sense.

“We must go in through the front.”

“For our righteous Expeditionary Force’s march, God will bless us.”

It was the General Assembly Chairman of the Expeditionary Force.

The Priests and representatives of every church, who were the army’s lead participating users, spoke what was obvious in their minds.

Truthfully, even the Expeditionary Forces behind them were quickly organizing themselves to follow. Since many had taken their armies from areas far away from the Isoru Kingdom to join the Expeditionary Force, they wanted to hurry. In consideration of the opinions of the lords and nobles, they decided to wage siege warfare on the fortress.

“Make a path.”

“Stock up on enough arrows and prepare to install a ladder. How far are you digging the underground tunnel?

The Expeditionary Force set up their positions, and they made thorough preparations to wage siege warfare. Though they didn’t doubt victory, their wariness of the Resurrection army that had seized Isoru Kingdom hadn’t disappeared either.

They were a valuable force that lead NPC soldiers as well. They didn’t want to lose soldiers they had laboriously trained through military exercises in this place. The stone fortress was very tall and looked thick, and it didn’t seem like it would be easy to penetrate it with normal methods.

As the Magicians buffed them and they made orderly war preparations. Time flew by until it night came, the dawn of the last day of the month, when the monsters became the most powerful!

The Resurrection Army that Daymond led made a surprise attack on the Expeditionary Force.

The giga-Demonic Spirits burst out, destroying the fortress gates.

Stomp — Stomp — Stomp!

Each step the Demonic Spirits took created a great quake.

The forces that were resting in the barracks immediately rose to their feet.

“It’s the enemy!”

“I never thought that they would launch a surprise attack!”

Perplexed looks were on the faces of lords who came leading many soldiers.

The sieges they’d experienced commonly started in the morning and ended in the evening. Late-night surprise attacks that would occur in real wars did not happen often.

Since it was favorable to simply keep watch inside the fortress. There was absolutely no reason to overexert themselves. Even if they tried to attack at night, since they knew it was dangerous, the fault of the users who weren’t there to participate in the charge was big.

Though they knew there was an extremely high chance that they might die, they didn’t want to organize a charge.

Though night raids on the supply carts occurred frequently in the war between Kallamore Kingdom and Haven Kingdom, in other areas there weren’t still were many people who had experienced a real war.

“Everyone get up and block them!”

“It’s a fight! Prepare to fight!”

Users ran out of the barracks.

When they got rest, the Soldiers played poker or drank alcohol, and were in a state where it was difficult to prepare for battle.

It would be difficult to drink alcohol in the war to come, so for the last time they could they drank too much, and thanks to that it looked like they would receive more damage.

‘Before we came here we passed an Isoru Kingdom village warehouse that cached many bottles of wine. Was it all for this?’

It was too childish to call it a strategy. Nevertheless, they accepted it because it was a surprising tactic that found the enemy’s weak spot.

The alcohol the Expeditionary Force had discovered while on the move was branded as supplies, and everyone drank aggressively before that alcohol completely ran out.

They had guzzled away with the motive of getting drunk.

“Damn it, to think they’d resort to petty tricks!”

Even as the inebriated users stumbled, they pulled out their swords and raised them.

In any case half of the Expeditionary Force was made up of Paladins and Priests. Since it was out of the question for them to have partake in the alcohol, the drunken users intended to leave the fight to them and hide; there was no need to stand in the front and fight the enemy.

But strangely enough, their swords felt much heavier than usual.

– You have caught a disease. Health and Mana is reduced.

Breathing is more difficult and coughs occur. If you do not receive appropriate treatment soon the disease may be aggravated.

The epidemic had spread to the camp.

A crossing rat swarm had suddenly appeared around the barracks.

“Cleric, Priest sirs! Where are you?”

“Please cure this disease!”

The users sought the Clerics and Priests first.

But the Priests who were capable of treating them were in a place that was already being attacked by a horde of flying Demonic Spirits.

This was the advance of the Resurrection Army. It wasn’t a simple night attack, but an all or nothing attack done by amassing all of the Demonic Spirits.

ROAAAAR!

“Ahhhhh!”

“Fight with the enemy. Where did everyone go!”

“Run away!”

“Fight, don’t run away!”

The surprise attack of the last night of the month drove the Expeditionary Forces to near extinction.

The Resurrection Army gathered the lives of those who were barely alive, and gained more Demonic Spirits and comrades.

Every time they occupied castles and towns, they emerged victorious against other churches and destroyed their temples, their strength and authority rose!

Daymond, who gathered the forces, left after defending Isoru Kingdom, and once again resolved to go South. It was to take over the land once ruled by the Predators of the Land.

Another Expeditionary Force was raised, and the castle lords in the Resurrection Army’s attack route gathered the best forces in their territories.

Places where the Resurrection Army passed through became paradise for Demonic Spirits.

* * *

Through Weed’s hard work, he managed to recover 100 art stats.

“It’s quite a chore to raise the Arts stats that were consumed.”

Although the stat was restored at a relatively fast pace, it wasn’t an easy task. But thanks to that, the Sculpting Skill proficiency went up a little and reached 70%, and his Handicraft skill was also raised to Advanced level 6.

It could be said that the Handicraft skill was a memento of the stat grinding!

Weed crafted earrings with complete care.

– Art stat has risen by 1.- Sculpting skill proficiency has increased slightly.

– Handicraft skill proficiency has increased slightly.

– Accessories Crafting skill has been acquired.- Accessory Crafting: The skill to craft necklaces, earrings, and rings. With a higher level of skill, it is possible to craft beautiful accessories with high Charm.

Now it was 101!

Weed’s cheeks trembled.

He’d even acquired an exclusive skill of Crafters, Accessory Crafting.

Weed sighed.

“There’s no impossibility in reconstruction.”

He was worried sick that he might even pick up a magic spell like this.

“Anyways, now there’s not much left ‘til Master.”

While his guild members in the party chat window were chatting, Weed concentrated on making accessories.

‘There’s really a lot of sculptures I’ve got to make.’

The sculptures that came to mind would have to wait until all his Art stats were restored. It was a waste to make those sculptures just for stat restoration.

If he didn’t arm himself with the spirit of reconstruction down to the marrow of his bones, it’d be impossible not to turn back. Lee Hyun learned this kind of perseverance from the company manager, who had him carry bricks up 25 flights of stairs because it was a waste of electricity to use the elevator. Then, he got a whisper from Hwaryeong.

– Weed-nim. What are you doing?

– I’m making handicrafts in Kuruso.

– Handicrafts?

– Yes. I learned the skill for making accessories now.

– Though I knew crafting was possible with sculpting, can you acquire even exclusive skills?

– It happened after I made about 1,000 of them. The work of the sculptor profession basically isn’t that different compared to other crafting professions.

– Oh my! You went through so much for me. Accessories are like the life of a Dancer… Thank you so much.

– …

Ever since Weed created the Statue of Goddess Hwaryeong had been growing increasingly interested in his sculptures.

From the way she was talking, it seemed like she’d misunderstood and thought that Weed had undoubtedly learned the accessories skill for her sake.

Weed spoke frankly.

– I’m making some pieces for Hwaryeong too.

Of course successful accessories were saved for Hwaryeong.

He intended to sell them to the rich Hwaryeong.

– Thank you. I want to see you soon.

It was when he was was whispering with Hwaryeong and making crafts.

The Blacksmiths of Kuruso heard disturbing rumors.

“Apparently Daymond’s army seized the Nopunem Plains.”

“So one twentieth of the the Versailles continent is their territory?”

“It’s not wrong to say they’ve currently prepared the greatest power. After conquering Isoru Kingdom, new Demonic Spirits have continuously been born, so the size of their army kept getting bigger as they go.”

“It’s really scary.”

Weed overheard this as he was creating accessories.

As a matter of fact, the selling price of items had sky-rocketed. As the Resurrection Church wholeheartedly attacked, the Knights of the Versailles Continent did not spare any money in order to protect themselves.

However, on the level of the Union there were worries.

The logic of holding the increasingly powerful Resurrection Army in check was gradually gathering strength. However, the war between every power hadn’t yet ceased, and on the basis of the increasing prices, only the Dark Gamers were enjoying the special occasion.

‘The Resurrection Army. Tch, what should be done.’

Weed had also seen the images of the Resurrection Army through the broadcasts.

The army of Demonic Spirits that couldn’t just be expressed as “incredible”!

The Resurrection army had grown strong enough to trample the whole might of a Kingdom.

Daymond guaranteed the safety of undefiant, ordinary users and tourists who happened to be enjoying a break. Thanks to that, they were able to receive broadcasted images of the areas seized by the Resurrection Army.

The temple resembled a Demonic Spirit holding a sickle, while riding a horse! That was the massive temple the Resurrection Army was making.

The problem was that the shape of this temple was very familiar to Weed.

‘The sculpture Death Hand left behind was like that…’

He began to doubt that it was possibly a chain quest.

It could be an item necessary for Daymond’s quest, or on the flip side it could be a quest to stop them. No matter which side it was, there was no doubt that it was related.

‘The problem is… Should I receive this quest, or not.’

If we accepted the quest, there could be another incredibly difficult fight.

So Weed debated on this as he made crafts.

‘Should I just sell this off and be done with it.’

Even though he wanted to sell the sculpture, if the sculpting skill wasn’t high enough, or even a little lacking, it was an item that couldn’t be used, so the problem was that he wouldn’t be able to find a buyer.

Chapter 11: Dain’s Wait

Director Kim Han Seo was looking at Yoo Byung Jun — his teacher, the genuine genius scientist who was sent by the heavens.

The whitish centered lines on his head, red bloodshot eyes, and thick eyeglasses.

Though that was the stressed-looking Yoo Byung Jun, his brains were at a level where he could be called a genius.

‘Though the world knows that Royal Road was made together by me and 17 other scientists…’

Director Kim Han Seo lightly shook his head.

There was many differences to the truth than what the public knew.

‘In truth, the concept came from teacher, and he also developed the core technology. The other scientists and I did nothing more than simply flesh out the framework that teacher made.’

For Director Kim Han Seo and the other scientists, it was daunting just to do the parts they were responsible for.

There were many times when the reputedly impossible perfect Virtual Reality System was considered a fantasy. There had been dozens of times when he’d gotten up from bed in the morning after having a nightmare about failure.

Every time they were stopped at their tracks, Yoo Byung Jun stepped in to help them, and the person who understood the whole system was also him.

Although the other scientists including Director Kim Han Seo were able to generally manage Versailles for the sake of their tasks, their powers were limited.

Being careful to stifle his footsteps, Director Kim Han Seo stopped in front of Yoo Byung Jun.

“I have returned.”

“Yes, good job. What were the kids at the office saying?”

“Yes. They were being very concerned about the Resurrection Army.”

“Keke. I supposed so.”

“In particular, the Strategy Management’s Department Head Son Il Kang was complaining that he has to work overtime every day.”

“Kekeke.”

Yoo Byung Jun just laughed like as if he had already expected it.

“The user named Daymond, what do you think of him, teacher?”

“Let’s see. Well, he’s not bad.”

Byung Yoo Jun responded dissatisfactory.

“The Resurrection Army quest… Well, an incredible amount of power can be gained from that commission.”

The scientists who handled the main console in the System Management Department cocked their ears to listen in on this particular conversation.

Yoo Byung Jun was a scientist who transcended intelligence itself and secluded himself without revealing himself to the world.

It was just that the outside world didn’t know, but in reality, Yoo Byung Jun had taken on the role of leading everyone.

But what truly shocked the scientists and raised goosebumps, was the might of the Versailles’ Goddess. Without any defects, they didn’t even need to intervene with things modified by artificial interventions.

It was the super AI that perfectly regulated Royal Road since its release, a fearsome system that could even be called a true Goddess.

And it wasn’t just Royal Road; it even controlled related executive affairs of the Unicorn Corporation. Even at that extent, the Versailles’ Goddess was only using 20% of its administrative resources.

For the scientists, it was a feat that was undisputedly extraordinary.

If someone was told that this system had been developed by just 1 scientist, they would never have believed it. This was the judgment of the scientists who knew Yoo Byung Jun.

— A scientist that cannot be replaced by ten million of mankind.

— He is a scientist who would have been able to advance the world’s technology by 30 years, had he produced anything besides Royal Road.

He was a person that the scientists could only respect and regard as marvelous, to the point that even being a contemporary of Yoo Byung Jun was a source of pride for them.

“Greed ruined their work. Although they’ve been on a roll since they’re using petty tricks… Later on they’ll make more enemies.”

There were no scientists who doubted Yoo Byung Jun’s words.

The words of the genius of the century have never been wrong. If he said that was so, then at some point it would become like that. And for the scientists who knew about the prearranged quest and the hidden dangers throughout the Versailles’s Goddess, they did not feel that the Resurrection Army was truly a crisis.

Royal Road was a great Virtual Reality.

As complicated as the applied technology, there were stories hidden throughout the continent, and the histories were innumerable.

The scientists knew the adventurers who were hiding and raising their strength, what the level of the warriors were, what quests were in progress, and they found no reason to be tense.

With a continent that was too wide, and an incredibly large number of users that could be called the virtual social integration of humanity, the scientists put beaming smiles on their faces.

Although they had participated in the development, Royal Road was a truly fun virtual reality. After the release of Royal Road, there was even a report that humanity’s happiness had gone up by at least 40%.

With the pride that they had opened the doors to a new world, the scientists returned to their own duties.

Yoo Byung Jun muttered to himself.

“People in this world delude themselves too easily.”

On the screen he was watching, he could see the activities of the adventurers on the Versailles Continent.

A user who raised strength while hunting in a jungle no one else would seek out.

A user who trained their basic Stamina while climbing the most perilous mountain in the continent.

A user who was growing stronger as they tested their own limitations on a deserted island filled with monsters.

Yoo Byung Jun felt happy whenever he saw these users.

With endless tests on their limitations, they were experiencing extreme situations that could not be undergone on earth.

“To say that Royal Road is a game…”

After the creation of Royal Road and its release, the public media had gone wild over the technology.

The cutting-edge technology that realized the most realistic virtual reality!

Royal Road’s rapidly burgeoning user-base marked the ruin of existing games.

A new world had opened up for the users.

This caused even people in the general populace who were unfamiliar with games to become fascinated, and articles claiming that Royal Road had calmed the entertainment industry came out one after another.

Corporate managers and directors in the real world found great joy in selling fruit within the medieval castle walls, or even setting off on adventures, armed with a sword strapped to their waists.

As they scraped up enormous funds, they received praise as the stars of the game industry’s next generation.

Yoo Byung Jun smirked every time he saw those articles.

“Soft and lazy humans. They don’t even know their future is hanging here.”

It was something so pathetic that Yoo Byung Jun couldn’t stand it. .

He had dedicated his life to Royal Road. It was a monumental work of art that he had devoted his energy and life to, created as if it were his own child.

If it was just for the sake of making one game, he would have already given up long ago.

* * *

After chasing the Glowing Skeletons for a long seven days, they discovered the grand prize near the cemetery at last, and they were able to purify and defeat it with the Cleric’s holy magic.

“It’s a success!”

“Great job, everyone”

The Cleric and the Pikeman were especially happy.

“Dain-nim was especially helpful. Thank you.”

Chasing a Glowing Skeleton was difficult even with a skilled hunter. That was because it would go into a mountain with a lot of monsters, or find dungeons and hide inside. As they stopped to fight while chasing after the Glowing Skeleton, it would escape somewhere else before they even realized it.

If they didn’t have a Shaman’s magic to increase movement speed, catching the Glowing Skeleton would have been much harder.

Dain’s teeth slightly showed as she smiled.

“It was nothing. I wasn’t even very helpful in the fights.”

“That’s not true. Even though you’re a Shaman, the power of your treatment and all sorts of beneficial skills… If Dain-nim hadn’t been here, it would have truly difficult to successfully accomplish this request.”

“Dain-unni is a true shaman.”

Dain had firmly won the trust of her party members.

“Unni, stay with us.”

“Will you do the next request with us?”

“Yes, I will.”

For a few months, Dain freely enjoyed adventures together with the party members.

Her fame improved day by day as well. When there weren’t many users in Morata who did not know who Shaman Dain was, she left for an adventure in the Land of the Black Curse.

It was an expedition that over twenty of Morata’s most seasoned adventurers participated in!

After experiencing new monsters and a new dungeon, she returned to Morata.

* * *

“Whew! I’m back in Morata again.”

Dain grinned broadly.

The Morata she had returned to after a long time… She hadn’t known how much she would miss it.

It was because having savored enough solitude in the sky city of Lavias, she had secured a new position in the North and had made friends in Morata.

“But I have to get the curse resolved…”

Dain made a worried face.

The entire expedition had received a curse in the Land of the Black Curse.

Their skin turned dark like a Dark Elves’, and primitive tribe-like patterns had appeared.

A curse that reduced the effects of magic and skills by half!

It was a curse that could not be removed even by the holy magic of a Shaman or Cleric.

‘I’ll go meet with the Priest first.’

Although the Priests in the expedition were also helpless, they could only believe in their Priests.

Dain went into the Church of Freya.

Similarly to the expedition that just came, there was a crowd waiting for a blessing.

After waiting for a long time for her turn, she met a Priest of the Freya Church.

“I would like to have the curse on me cured.”

“You have received a curse of an ancient evil.”

“Yes.”

“This is because you went into a place where you should not have gone. It’s a curse that formed as you explored a land that does not welcome intruders. To lift the curse, you’ll need Kelpie Wood, Platinum Powder, Carrot, and a White Rabbit’s Blood. If you daub these ingredients on your body, then blend them and drink, you can be freed from the curse.”

Beside the Kelpie Wood, though it might take a little time, they weren’t hard goods to gather.

Dain smiled as she did not expect the cure to be so simple.

“Thank you very much.”

“It was my pleasure. All harmony is in accordance to the Goddess’ will.”

* * *

“Buying and selling loot!”

“Tell me if there is anything you need.”

The raised voices came from merchants lined up in the square outside the church of Freya. The competition of merchants is a sight to be seen anywhere in the Versailles Continent.

After selling off all the loot she had gathered, Dain calmly milled about the square.

‘This time I’ll relax and wait.’

Meeting Weed was the whole reason for coming to Morata.

However, Weed did not return to Morata, and she got tired of waiting and left for an adventure.

When she left, the Statue of the Goddess Freya was built, as well as other numerous sculptures and the castle had evolved as well.

A rumor that Weed, the Count of Morata, had returned circulated. However, he seemed to be away on another adventure, so it was said that meeting him would be difficult.

‘What were the chances of him coming back while she was away anyway?’

As Dain looked at a building that hadn’t been there before on Morata’s newly developed street, she walked around lonesomely.

‘The Statue of the Goddess Freya, huh…’

As she looked at the glamorous Statue of the Goddess Freya, she felt slightly jealous. For her, who was only slightly prettier than an average girl even when she viewed herself positively, she really did feel a little irritated.

She wanted to return to the location of the Lavias cave sculptures in her memories, but if she did that it would be even harder to meet Weed.

It was when Dain was looking around the square.

“Excuse me.”

She looked back at the voice that had called out to her.

Short and slim, it was a lady with eyes that looked extremely virtuous. From the white robe she was dressed in, she must have the profession of a Cleric or a Priest.

“Did you call me?”

“Yes

“What can I help you with?”

“Oh, I’m sorry for asking this after just meeting you… You’re the Shaman known as Dain, right?”

“That’s right.”

“Whew! I finally found you. My name is Irene.”

Starting the conversation had made Irene feel awkward and very uncomfortable, but she could not hide the joyous expression when she found Dain.

“My party is trying to do a quest right now. But it’s far away, and we thought it’d be good to have someone with a lot of adventuring magic, so we’ve been trying to recruit a Shaman.”

The name of the quest that Pale had discovered was, ‘The Secret of Manufacturing Ancient Breastplate.’

It was said that the book recording the method of manufacture was buried somewhere in the North, so they wanted recruit an Adventurer and a Shaman, and leave. Then they heard that the famous Shaman named Dain had returned just then and had found her.

Irene explained again with a nervous look.

“The difficulty is C. If you don’t mind, would you like to adventure with us?”

Dain slowly studied Irene’s face.

‘She looks like a nice person. She also seems to be around my age…’

But she was unwilling to leave on a quest. She was in the position of waiting for someone.

She couldn’t always just wait for Weed to return to Morata, but since she had just come after completing an adventure, she wanted to take a rest for now.

“I’m sorry. Right now I’m going to rest…”

Just as Dain was saying this, a lady wearing a fancy dress embedded with jewels walked toward them from the direction of a store.

Every time she lightly stepped forward, she was followed by the eyes of the users in the square. Simply watching her walk could deliver the feelings of vigor and pleasure.

‘She’s a Dancer.’

However, the only professions that could go on adventures or hunt while wearing dresses were Minstrels and Dancers. She also wore bracelets, necklaces, earrings, and short heels that were comfortable to dance in.

Since she wasn’t holding an instrument, Dain concluded that she was a Dancer.

“Hwaryeong-unni, where were you?”

“I was eating at a restaurant. But who’s this?”

“This is Dain-nim. She’s a famous Shaman…”

“Ah, that person!”

Hwaryeong looked at Dain’s face as if she was seeing it anew.

Since she was a Shaman with black, jewel-like skin, she was extremely distinctive.

“Did you ask if she was going to come with us for the request?”

“Yes. But unfortunately it doesn’t seem like she’ll be able to do it with us.”

Dain, who had been standing by and listening to Hwaryeong and Irene’s conversation, suddenly interrupted.

“Hey there, I’ve changed my mind.”

“What?”

“The adventure you were talking about just now, I’d also like to do it together.”

“Really? That’s great! Thank you.”

“Yes. Thanks for having me.”

Dain accepted Irene’s offer.

The Statue of the Goddess Freya that Morata’s Lord Weed had sculpted!

It was because the statue’s face and Hwaryeong’s were miraculously similar.

* * *

Lee Hyun trained his body daily at Ahn Hyun Do’s dojo.

Lee Hyun’s distinctly divided, toned muscles that lacked excess fat, his physical strength, and endurance grew stronger every day. While experiencing the training from hell from 4 different training instructors for 30 minutes each, Lee Hyun’s body was becoming a weapon.

“Even a sharp sword is completely useless in the hands of a dull person. If you don’t even have complete control over your body, then you can forget about holding a sword. Though the training is rough, it’s a process that’s required to wield the blade.”

Lee Hyun faithfully followed Jung Il Hun’s harsh lecture. He endured the hell training without a single complaint.

It was to the point that the instructors consulted amongst themselves.

“Isn’t the training intensity too strong?”

“If we keep going like this, will he not say that he’ll quit?”

“Even I don’t know. Since Master told us to do it, he must have something in mind.”

“That’s probably true, right?”

“Though occasionally he really doesn’t have any ideas…”

“…”

As Lee Hyun tamed his body, he perceived the feeling that his true skills were being strengthened.

If his body was solidified, then his mental strength would be boosted.

The willpower that formed if he passed the arduous training!

When he completed a session of hell training with the instructors, he would take a break while drinking the tea Ahn Hyun Do gave him.

“It’s ginseng tea.”

“Thank you, Master.”

Lee Hyun gulped down the ginseng tea.

He was thirsty, but it was so that he could drink another cup of the healthy tea!

Ahn Hyun Do spoke after pouring him another cup of the ginseng tea.

“Is the training not hard?”

“It’s doable.”

“Yes. That’s praiseworthy. With that attitude, you should be able to progress further. How is the rest of your life?”

“My life?”

“I’m talking about your own life. I’m talking about how your life is.”

After a moment of thought, Lee Hyun nodded.

“It is good.”

“Good? What’s good?”

“Grandmother is receiving her treatment well, and my little sister is going to school well. As am I…”

Lee Hyun briefly hesitated and spoke.

“There are no big grievances in my life.”

In the difficult days, eating and living had been the biggest worry.

Although there were times when he wasn’t able to get treatment when he was sick, now he was even able to save a fair amount of money. As he played Royal Road he was able to buy the things they needed, so there weren’t many elements that grieved him.

Ahn Hyung Do shook his head.

“Is that not literally your everyday life?”

“…”

“Are you satisfied with your current life?”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun answered easily.

The school studies were a little tiresome and bothersome, but apart from that he was getting the things he wanted, so he was living contentedly.

“It’s perfect right now. I’m even going to university, my little sister is studying well too, and Grandmother is recovering her health…”

Ahn Hyun Do asked abruptly.

“Then what is the work you want to do.”

“…The work I want to do?”

“Whether it’s a goal you had since you were young, or there must have been some work that you wanted to do.”

Lee Hyun was momentarily silent.

He had lived these days for his sister’s sake.

As he slept at night, there were times when he’d feared the day to come. The years when he worried while he ate, things such as what he would do after the hunger disappeared.

Without hope, he had lived while despairing.

If there had been no responsibility to support his family, he might have been able to throw down an extreme decision sooner.

Now his little sister was grown up, and she was even going to school on the scholarship she’d received. Grandmother’s big surgery was over and she was waiting to recover as well.

His life’s goal was to live for his family. In the event that he would no longer have to take care of his family, what he would do afterwards was something he had never thought about.

After heaving a sigh, Lee Hyun spoke.

“I have no dream.”

* * *

The SwordNoobs passed the Plains of Despair and arrived at the Orc village in the Yuroki Mountains.

The place was teeming with pig-faced Orc users, and because they had such great reproductive rates there were even whole families gathered there.

After a female or males decided their mates, even if they ate just one meal together, baby Orcs would bounce out of somewhere.

SwordNoob5 held his head in his hands.

“We’re ruined. To say they’re married Orcs…”

SwordNoob3 patted his shoulder.

“It is okay, sahyung, it’s simply that a man and a woman are sharing one meal together. We have to understand that this is how Orcs naturally are.”

SwordNoob4 also interrupted.

“Sahyung, manly broad-mindedness is what wins the game.”

Of course, real sex was possible in Royal Road.

Humans or Elves could also strive to obtain a house, and there were many cases where a loving couple did so to spend a cozy time together.

However, Orcs were a special case — if they ate just one evening meal with their spouses, or someone they were close to, baby Orcs would come out.

At first, of course that was too impractical, and there were many forlorn male Orcs who said the progression was too easy. It was the Orc’s racial characteristic, the vigorous reproduction feature. There had been wicked intentions to take advantage of this disposition, and many who wanted very much to satisfy themselves.

However, soon they realized the reason why Orcs needed to be able to make baby Orcs simply by eating one meal.

‘It looks like 4 fingers will fit into the nostril of the partner Orc female.’

‘The partner is an Orc male! If he opens his mouth and yawns, a whole watermelon might fit in there.’

‘Just look at the plump side fat and belly, on a sober mind it’s hard to go together with him.’

‘What a relief.’

They were very satisfied that all they had to do was eat food together, and the Orcs repeated the propagation.

The Orc villages on the Yuroki Mountains were expanding.

Adult Orcs would take along young baby Orcs and have them grow up. Whole families of Orc tribes developed, and Orcs controlling the families appeared.

Since Seechwi was an Orc Commander, after she arrived at the Yuroki Mountains she emitted the light of talent.

“You Orcs, chwi-chwi-chwik!! We must eat more. Must have more food. Let’s fight. Chwik!”

There were no reasonable explanations or reasons or the like. She made the Orcs satisfied with the simple eat and fight logic, and created subordinates.

In the vicinity of the Orc villages, there were many tourists who had come to sightsee to satisfy their curiosity.

“Orcs really look unique.”

“Individual Orcs are weak, but their reproductive rate is something to be feared. They don’t recruit mercenaries, the baby Orcs can come out so easily and endlessly offer their loyalty… I think the Orcs will be able to grow really quickly.”

“Will it be okay even though they say Orcs are on really bad terms with the Dark Elves?”

“Since users can now choose Dark Elves too, sharp conflicts between them will probably happen.”

“A war with Humans could happen in the future too.”

“A racial war between the Orcs and Humans? There’s probably a possibility of that. If the number of individual Orcs grows and they come to the Central Continent, then there’s no doubt they’ll bump into each other.”

“Isn’t right now the opportunity to strike when the Orcs are weak?”

“There’s nothing we can gain by fighting the Orcs. And it’s too far to come for Human armies to cross the Plains of Despair. If a fight with the Orcs occurs, then that itself could become a quest, so there are probably many people who are waiting for it to happen.”

The tourists did not go inside the village and were observing from outside. That was because the relationship between Orcs and Humans wasn’t all that great so it was dangerous to get close.

However the SwordNoobs entered the Orc’s village without any reservations, and upon seeing the SwordNoobs do quests together with a female Orc, the tourists were very shocked.

“How can a Human act like that? The Orcs don’t even care about them.”

“It must be part of a quest.”

“I think it could be a characteristic of their profession. I heard there are professions that have high intimacy with other races.”

When the tourists were pitting their opinions against each other, a convincing answer appeared.

“Just look at their appearance. Is there a difference between them and a male Orc?”

“…”

A closer look revealed that the explanation was plausible.

Though there was no doubt that they were Human, their wide shoulders and their physiques outclassed the Orcs.

Just by seeing those bodies, the simple Orcs had easily become friendly toward them.

* * *

“Hyaa!”

SwordNoob violently swung the two-handed sword.

The Ogre. In terms of physical strength alone, the monster was an opponent second to none.

The SwordNoob who was at the apex of his class, doctrine, and sword arts was not able to suppress his piled up rage.

The movement of the sword was rapid and intense.

*Kuoooooo!*

The Ogre swung its ax with extreme fury, and although the wind grazed his face as the ax passed, the Ogre was unable to follow the natural movements of the SwordNoob.

“Tak!”

The SwordNoob’s swung sword frayed the Ogre’s side. Even with his outstanding attack power, the Ogre did not die easily.

Since he didn’t use any skills, he had a lot of mana left. He purposely did not aim for the fatal vital spot and hacked away at the Ogre’s whole body.

The words of his most brilliant pupil, who had come to him late, would not leave his mind.

“To have no dream…”

The SwordNoob’s memories of his youth came to mind.

‘There was only fighting for me.’

He had chased strength and advanced towards the fighting that made his blood race.

There were many times when he’d had to put his life on the line, and he’d even struggled with gruesome wounds in deadly situations. Although he had very briefly felt satisfied after defeating a strong opponent, it just led anew to the process of looking for more powerful men to challenge.

After only fighting and training as if possessed by something, his youthful days had passed.

Then, one day when he regained consciousness and looked around, he had risen to the position of the top swordsman.

The glory of the admiration and scars he received every time he beat a strong opponent. He was the ground-breaking, risen SwordNoob whom no one could surpass with a sword.

Although there were many people in the general populace who did not know who he was, martial artists and the people of the backstreet world were all in awe of him, and feared him.

Despite that, one part of SwordNoob’s heart was empty. After he’d achieved his goal, he did not have a lifelong partner, and his whole family thought that he had died.

“I didn’t have a family.”

The emptiness and despondency that resulted from the goal that he had achieved over his life!

“Although I have become the best with the sword, there was no one around me.”

Before SwordNoob returned to the ordinary life of going back to Korea, finding his family, and raising his disciples, he had spent a lot of time alone.

There was no reason for his disciples to follow in his footsteps.

That was because the burden of family was heavily weighing down on his shoulders. Since it was something that could be done together with family, friends, and fellow brothers, there was no reason to feel alone.

Weed had strong will and judgement, and possessed the ability to take action immediately and put his skills into practice. If there was anything he needed to do, he did not hesitate. Although he occasionally showed a tendency for timidness, he was a man.

In his current state he was like a child searching for his lifelong goal and dream.

“I envy that kid.”

The SwordNoob’s honest feelings understood his best pupil one hundred percent. If he had also had a little sister as beautiful and cute as Lee Hye Yeon, he would have never left his family.

“And how are his friends again.”

He even had pleasant and beautiful ladies like Hwaryeong, Irene, and Romuna by his side.

SwordNoob looked back at his memories.

How had his youthful days really been?

“There were only unlucky-looking men! I had to get stronger if only to trample down those arrogant bastards.”

If he had been in enviable circumstances like Weed, why would he have only fought in his youth!

“This loathsome, unmarried life.”

SwordNoob grumbled and hardened his resolve.

“I’ve left him alone in the hands of the other instructors for too long. It’s time to teach him now.”

He would show Weed what true hell training was.

He was resolved to teach Weed the real sword.

* * *

WIth the festival approaching, the number of students staying late in Korea University was increasing.

Each department was preparing plays and musicals, and a stage for performing music was installed. Expectations of a music festival, magic show, and even the neighboring university’s sport meet spread through rumors.

Lee Hyun could not possibly understand this.

“Why must we do something that can be seen on television?”

With his utterly meager sensitivity, merely not having to attend the festive school for a few days was gratifying. To Lee Hyun, the festival of the Korea University that matched the regional culture matched well and was sought out by many famous celebrities was simply an inconvenience.

However, his department seniors came out and threatened them.

“We cannot be outstripped by other departments in this festival. We can’t let them make light of us just because we’re a new department. Does everyone understand?”

“Yes!”

The new students answered with smiling faces.

Lee Hyun held his tongue.

“What useless competitive mentality. Why can’t we be looked down upon? A life lived while passing unnoticed is quite comfortable. Stopping the school’s antagonism and prejudice? What nonsense.”

He had considerable complaints, but since he did not want to get involved in something troublesome, so he stayed silent.

‘Even if I don’t say it, someone else probably will.’

There wasn’t a rule that said everyone had to participate in the festival, so all he had to do was wait for it to pass.

As the day of the festival came closer and closer, the virtual reality department had not made definite plans on what to do.

“What about dressing up as our Royal Road characters and doing a parade?”

“We should make a large dinosaur. We could make a Tyrannosaurus hologram, and if we had it roam around the festival, it could be the highlight of the festival.”

“How about the incomparably vicious Velociraptor? If we have hundreds of them running around and hunting humans…”

Only absurd and grandiose opinions emerged and a reasonable plan did not form.

It was when there were only two weeks left until the festival.

The student body executives held a meeting with the whole department.

“We must do something as well.”

This was the united view of the executive seniors, including the president.

However, there were neither preparations nor plans.

“It’s tiresome to prepare something for every festival, and there’s already no time so can’t we just pass it?”

Choi Sang Jun cautiously presented his opinion. Then the returning senior spoke with an impartial tone.

“The professors are currently wondering whether or not they should do another department membership training (MT) before the break.”

“….”

“Specifically, it’s a considerable Silmido, a 6 night, 7 day course…”

“I definitely want to participate in the festival!”

The previously uninterested seniors and new students offered their opinions.

“The problem is what could we do…? Of course we have to do the sports meet in the name of our department. Since there are a lot of girls in our department it’d be good if a lot of them came out and participated. Anyone opposed to it?”

“…”

“I see there’s none. Then let’s just have everyone attend.”

The President’s words were absolute.

Suffering a little in the festival was a hundred times better than going to Silmido.

“After that I think we urgently need to go out on at least the music festival, because the professors never fail to come and watch.”

“For the music festival, have about five teams practice and send them up.”

They were quickly coming to an agreement. Though it was a festival that the students should enjoy, they would do anything to impress the professors.

Even for the students, just attending was bothersome, but since Korea University’s festivals were famous and there were a lot of things to watch, they were waiting for the festival.

“And I think we’ll have to open a bar too, because we have to earn event funds from the bar. Who wants to participate in the bar?”

If it was a bar, they would have to cook until late at night, and there were a lot of chores to do. All things considered, though it was a tiresome job, Lee Hyun willingly raised his hand.

“You’re Lee Hyun, right? Okay, thanks. Anyone else?”

By the mood it seemed like all the freshmen and seniors had to participate in at least one task.

He had judged that it was better to work in the relatively comfortable bar.

‘The play or whatever is preparing all week, so just suffering during the festival time is probably better.’

Since the bar opened during the day, he might even be able to set aside some time. However, excluding Lee Hyun, there were no students who voluntarily raised their hands. In many ways, working the bar would make it difficult to sightsee and they regarded it as a pain, so no one wanted to participate.

Then, 1 female student raised her hand and broke everyone’s expectations.

It was an honor that she simply came to the same school as them. Though they saw her at school every day, it was she who was so beautiful that they wondered if it was a dream, reality, or heaven.

Seoyoon was raising her hand.

Even the President was so taken aback that he spoke formally.

[T/N: In Korean, formal and informal speeches are very distinct.]

“Surely you do not plan to participate in the bar?”

Seoyoon nodded slightly.

Then the other male students simultaneously raised their hands.

“President, me too! I would also like to try working in the bar.”

“I raised my hand first. Please just let me do it.”

“Sunbae. No, hyung-nim! It’s me, Dong Hun! You’ll squeeze me in, right? Right?”

“Sang Hyuk, I’ll buy you booze until we graduate so I’ll just request that you give me the bar job. I’ll enshrine you as my life’s savior!”

The other students’ eyes shone brightly as they shouted that they would participate, and the bar staff list quickly filled up.

Chapter 1: Dwarf’s Gift

“I think I’d better go now.”

When Weed said he would leave Kuruso, the Dwarves were disappointed. They had become friendly through quests and sculptures.

“Do you really have to go?”

Herman asked with a sad voice, “Can’t you just continue making sculptures here in Kuruso.”

Blacksmiths did not often leave after settling in Kuruso. It had all the facilities and materials for blacksmithing, so there was no need.

Weed shook his head.

“I am a Sculptor. It’s difficult if a Sculptor does not travel the wide world and gather experience. Now that I’ve done what I wanted to do in Kuruso, I shall leave.”

He had acquired the secret skill of sculpting!

Although he was unable to find the wooden sculpture that the Sculpting Master had hidden somewhere, he had perceived the secret skill of sculpting on his own.

He had used over 300 Art stat to create the spirits, but at the end of his grinding he had recovered them all.

In the end, all he would leave behind were memories of gruesome grinding in the Dwarven City of Kuruso. Although of course, there were thrilling memories of when he restored Kendellev’s water sculptures hidden deep within the lake.

Herman spoke bitterly.

“In the end, you appear to be leaving.”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Then we will have a Dwarven farewell party.”

“There’s no need to go that far.”

“It is a tradition here in Kuruso.”

Though it was a tradition, Weed was uncomfortable and tried to refuse. Herman saw right through Weed’s thoughts and began to speak.

“It’s an event where all the Dwarves who settled in Kuruso comes out to drink and have fun. Because Blacksmiths spend most of their time polish their skills, they don’t come out often. However, all the Blacksmiths will attend the farewell party, and each one will give a present to the departing Dwarf.”

“It seems that we definitely have to have a farewell party.”

The word present changed Weed’s mind. It would be a joyful thing to leave with his belly amply stocked and his hands full of gifts.

Herman added, “Your Dwarven farewell party will probably be the last.”

“What? Why?”

“Because the sculptures you restored made the headlines, the number of Dwarves coming to Kuruso has really increased by a lot. Also, there aren’t any Dwarves who are as friendly with both the combat-related and crafting-related Dwarves.”

The rivalry between the craftsmen meant they felt extreme jealousy towards craftsmen who were more outstanding than themselves. However, Sculptors are not craftsmen and therefore were not regarded as competition, so everyone was comfortable with them. This was also a big part of the reason why Weed was able to become friends with Kuruso’s 5 Great Craftsmen, including Herman.

“Since this might be the last farewell party, we’ll have to make it magnificent. I’ll tell the Dwarves I know to be sure to bring out the goods they’ve been saving.”

“Thank you.”

“A Dwarf that’s leaving for a journey will need many things, so take this opportunity to get them, hahaha.”

“Hahaha, I sure will.”

Weed laughed happily.

Unlike birthday presents that he had to give back sometime later, he could simply and happily receive the presents from the farewell party.”

He could just receive them and give heartfelt thanks for them.

Weed thought the Dwarves were an unexpectedly romantic race.

‘I thought they’d just be a small and stubborn race, but they have a nice tradition.’

When Weed left for the lake to plan a new sculpture, Pin asked Herman.

“Grandpa.”

“Hmm?”

“There’s one thing you didn’t tell him about the farewell party.”

“What is it?”

“The drinking tab.”

Herman just grinned.

“Would he have said yes if he had known?”

“Still, that’s…”

“If we’re to throw an enjoyable farewell party, it’s better that he doesn’t know. Even if us Dwarves eat and drink, how much could it possibly amount to?”

Herman did not lie.

He just didn’t say one thing.

That it’s customary for the leaving Dwarf to pay the drinking tab for the farewell party.

* * *

“Congratulations.”

“Go to the wide continent and unfurl the Dwarf’s dream to your heart’s content. Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“To you!”

Over 1,000 of Kuruso’s Dwarves gathered in the plaza next to the lakefront and drank beer.

“Kyaa, so good.”

“This is the taste!”

On the lake, there were duck sculptures made of water making ripples on the surface as they leisurely moved about. From beneath the water enormous whale sculptures were splashing up and about, creating rainbows.

The fantasy-like scenery that Kendellev’s sculptures showed, and the beer drunk in the Underground Kingdom!

The Dwarves were busy drinking beer from the barrel.

“If someone asks why Kuruso’s the best place, you can’t leave out the taste of the beer.”

“I dun think I can leave Kuruso just ‘cus of the taste of this beer.”

Although their mood probably played a part too, Kuruso really did have incredible tasting beer.

Beer Artisan!

They were an existence in Kuruso that the Dwarves could only respect; they boasted that the beer made by Kuruso’s Beer Artisans had the best taste.

Dwarves find joy in drinking beer and happily getting drunk. They have the racial characteristic of liking beer. Their concentration, as well as several stats and skills, increases when they drink beer. If they fully rest for a day after getting completely drunk, they are back to their best condition by the next day and are able to make goods.

Every time they slammed empty iron cups to the table and saw the positive changes that occurred, the Dwarves felt rewarded.

“Art Hand, get over here!”

“Here, you oughta drink a cup here too.”

Weed moved from place to place and was busy drinking the offered alcohol. Since he was to some extent the main character of the farewell party, he had to participate.

“The quest that time was truly incredible.”

“You created a strategy for Dwarves to fight in caves, didn’t you.”

The Soldiers and Warriors praised Weed.

The way the drunken Dwarves said the same thing over and over again was the most awkward part of it all! Since Weed had to move from place to place, he heard similar words, but he endured it all.

‘If it’s for the sake of a free present, this level of boredom… I can endure it whenever.’’

The Dwarves game him shortswords, leather rucksacks, and things like bait food as presents.

The bait food not only emitted an incredibly good smell, it also had the effect of putting monsters to sleep. It only applied to monsters of life, and it had the drawback that monsters with a lot of suspicion didn’t often eat it. Monsters with big frames had to eat a huge amount of the bait for an effect to appear, and there were cases where monsters gathered because of the bait.

However, even taking into account the drawbacks, its considerable effects made it a type of dish that sold for high prices. Talented chefs had to make it with excellent ingredients, so the amount produced was low.

“It’d be good if this bait could save your life. The continent truly has many dangers so always be careful. And only go where there are a lot of Dwarves.”

“I’ll use it well.”

“Ya Dwarf, Art Hand isn’t even a beginner so there’s no need to say something like that. Art Hand… go. This Kuruso has really become a nice place to live, thanks to you. There are the even sculptures of water…”

In the warm atmosphere, Weed received and stowed away gifts. But Dwarves who were giving him their well-wishes suddenly tilted their heads.

“But the wings you made in the victory against Death Hand aren’t there anymore. Where did they suddenly go?”

“…”

“They were really magical wings but they suddenly disappeared. What happened to those wings?”

The Dwarves were wondering about the Wings of Light that Weed had granted life and stored away separately.

Weed explained in an evasive way.

“It’s made of light, isn’t it? What happens when you keep a candle lit for a long time?”

“It turns off.”

“That’s how it is.”

“Ah! So that’s how it was.”

“I thought it was something else. Haha!”

As they drank their beer the Dwarves smiled brightly, their doubts relieved.

The evasion went well because the Dwarves had drunk alcohol.

– Intoxication level is going up.

As Weed received and drank the offered beer, he became rather pleasantly tipsy.

“Art Hand, you’ve gotta drink the beer we’re givin’ too!”

“Come here, here!”

Though it was to the point where he had an unsteady gait, Weed walked over and received a glass topped to the brim with beer.

“Drink it aaaaalll at once.”

The Dwarves were a race that didn’t like to drink it sip by sip.

Weed superbly drank it all down in one shot.

“Kyaah!”

“You’re a man after all, now, have a drumstick appetizer too.”

As Weed ate some appetizers and walked around, he even got to drink alcohol with Exper.

He was one of the 5 Great Craftsmen, and when Weed had first come to Kuruso his had been the first name he’d heard — the artisan who had songs made in his honor.

For Weed’s farewell party, all 5 Great Craftsmen had come here.

“Art Hand.”

“Yes, elder.”

“One day I will definitely make a spear that can catch a Dragon. Hic.”

“I’m certain that if it’s elder, you will definitely make it.”

Though he was drunk, he made an effort to match Exper’s mood.

“Hiccup. I’m drunk. Anyways, I made this spear for you, so take it with you.”

– You have acquired the Spear of the Fire Lance that was made by Artisan Exper.

With a furtive check, he found it to be an incredibly excellent spear with over 78 attack power.

“Since it’s a spear with my name on it, don’t give it to anyone else. Haha.”

“Yes. Then have one more glass.”

“Now, pour it!”

Weed drank three glasses with Exper and moved elsewhere. When he was gathering plenty of presents again, Kuruso’s farewell party distinctly came to a climax.

“Drink, drink up!”

“Let’s drink it by the casket. That’ll show ‘em our most Dwarfliness* side.”

[T/N: Like manliness… but Dwarfliness.]

“Wild Boar Roast, where’d ya go! Chef, bring us 5 Wild Boar Roasts!”

The Dwarves were boisterously making a clamor.

As Herman and Pin also drank beer with some Dwarves, they became extremely worried.

“Grandpa, is this gonna be okay?”

“Well… even I didn’t know that this many Dwarves were going to come. Oh man.”

“The drink tab is going to be enormous.”

“Since they don’t consider drinking moderately and going back, it looks like this is gonna become the best farewell party. These Dwarves really didn’t have anything to do. Or did Weed become this famous somewhere along the line?”

To the point where Herman clicked his tongue, almost every Dwarf in Kuruso was participating in the farewell party.

The Dwarves could feel that this might be the last farewell party, and there were many Dwarves who were only slightly related to Weed. Towards the Weed who might become the best Sculptor, there were many Dwarves who came because they wanted to build a personal connection with him.

Even though it was past midnight, the farewell party showed no signs of ending.

Weed even received a glass of beer from Fabio, one of the 5 Greats.

Fabio was in his mid-forties,had broad shoulders, and keen eyes.

Though it was Weed’s first time meeting him in person, through broadcasts and films, his was a face Weed had seen many times.

The most famous artisan Dwarf, who was believed to have enormous wealth and had outstanding Blacksmithing skills.

“Take it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Weed was one step away from being totally drunk.

– Intoxication level has severely risen.

All stats are temporarily reduced.

As a result of the drinking he was getting dizzy, and his hand was trembling, but he endured with willpower.

‘Cannot be beaten by this degree of alcohol.’

Compared to the mental training he’d learned from SwordNoob, he could tolerate this degree of alcohol.

By strength of his will, Weed straightened his posture, and though his hand trembled, he did not spill a single drop of alcohol and received it.

The look in Fabio’s eyes deepened.

“I heard this story from my daughter. You refused the armor I gave out of goodwill when you were doing the quest.”

“…”

“I felt that you were a presumptuous kid. I thought you would fail because it was a perilous quest, but you proudly succeeded. And for a while this story about you became the hot topic in Kuruso.”

“I am flattered.”

“As long as you have ability, it’s fine to be arrogant. I saw you had engraved even the armors I entrusted fairly excellently.”

As Fabio downed his beer, Weed also followed and drank. 2 beer mugs were emptied. Both of them filled each other’s mugs.

“Seems you’re not a normal Dwarf.”

At Fabio’s words, Weed raised his gaze.

Their eyes met resolutely.

The whites of Weed’s eyes were red and bloodshot as a result of his intoxication, but they were deep and strong.

“I watched you drink alcohol as you moved around earlier. If you were a normal Dwarf, it’d be difficult to maintain a clear mind after drinking that much alcohol. Since I’m a Dwarf too, I know.”

“I’m on the side of holding liquor well.”

“Is that so. However, the way I see it, at the very least you’re not a normal Sculptor.”

Fabio’s eyes became more intense.

They were not eyes meant to investigate Weed.

As a person aged, insight formed and their temperaments strengthened. Following their impression from even their first meeting, it was possible for them to approximate what kind of person they were, what kind of nature they had.

Fabio’s temperament was like rough and thick steel. It was strong, and did not break easily.

Ordinary users were intimidated from simply meeting Fabio. But Weed didn’t appear even a little daunted.

Weed was handling and using steel; he was walking the path of the sword. He would treat the sword as an extension of his body and endlessly devote himself to it.

Even the steel-like aura of Fabio subsided in front of Weed like a torch before a typhoon.

Fabio was feeling that.

‘He has a personality that is stronger than mine. And though I don’t know what work he does, he’s a guy who has less fear than me.’

Fabio threw away the judgement that he was dealing with a Sculptor, and acknowledged Weed as one of the few men who had frankly surprised him after he’d met them in person as he played Royal Road.

“Say what you want as a gift.”

He also decided to give him the option of choosing his gift.

The majority of the armor he made was engraved by Weed’s hands. Since Fabio already knew that, he was telling Weed to choose what he needed!

‘Through this, I’ll be able to see what kind of stat distribution he has!’

Though Fabio made the armor, he believed that the person was the most important in the end.

Weed’s eyes lit up.

“Please give me the Pauldrons of the Iron Wheel.”

“The Pauldrons of the Iron Wheel? Even among armor, that’s an severe item with an offensive build… No, besides that, isn’t it impossible for you to use it because of the level and profession requirements?”

In the middle of asking the question, Fabio looked like he himself had just found the answer.

“No. Seems like you can use it.”

“That’s so.”

“Alright. I’ll give it to you.”

Fabio changed the evaluation he’d made of Weed. He noted that Weed’s Blacksmithing skill was considerable and that he was an extremely high-level user.

‘Since he dared to ask for that, he’s a guy with ample boldness. No shame either. I shouldn’t have asked him to choose anything.’

As he mentally grumbled, he swore quite a bit too. That was because even out of the armor he had made, the Pauldrons of the Iron Wheel was at the peak of his works.

* * *

As Weed collected presents, he reached Herman as well. His body staggered and he was unable to steady himself.

“You’re very drunk.”

“I am not.”

“Will you receive my beer too.”

“Anytime.”

Weed guzzled down the beer. Then, Herman took out a pair of earrings.

“Maryong’s Earrings. It’s an item that has the effect of amplifying Mana.”

As an advanced accessory, effects of attacks that used Mana were amplified, so this was an extremely valuable item for not only Magicians, but everyone.

At the very least, it was an item worth 30 thousand gold.

“Thank you.”

“No. More importantly, there’s something I want to ask…”

Weed’s head dropped down, then, as if he’d suddenly come to, quickly raised it.

“W-What is it?”

This was a slack appearance of Weed that wouldn’t ordinarily be seen.

Weed’s efforts to stay in control by sheer force were obvious to the eye.

A smile formed on Herman’s lips.

“I’m not trying to say something all that important, but what do you think about the mission of the Sculptor?”

“The mission?”

“I have a certain mission as a Blacksmith. Because of that, I’m making an effort to make one specific sword, but it’s not easy. You probably have some kind of mission as a Sculptor as well… hey!”

In the middle of talking, Herman tched. It was because Weed’s head had been falling down inch by inch and then completely folded forward.

“Look here!”

“Mmm-yeah.”

Weed must’ve fallen into a deep sleep, because he could not come to.

Herman looked over the area and found Dwarves tipsily drinking beer, same as ever. He saw many Dwarves who were so drunk that they’d spread-eagled their short two arms and legs and fallen asleep.

‘Well, it figures that he’s down after drinking one glass each from all those Dwarves.’

Herman shook his head back and forth.

“Pin, will you help me a bit? Grab that side a little.”

“Yes.”

“Now, let’s move him.”

Then together with Pin, they laid Weed in a corner.

The drinking party looked like it would be going all through the night, and there were many Dwarves holding a glass of alcohol who came looking for him, so Herman was deeply immersed in conversation.

And then at some point, when he turned around he felt something was missing.

Weed, who had collapsed and fallen asleep because of his intoxication, had disappeared like magic!

“Oh, where’d this guy go?”

Herman hurried and searched.

“Is there any Dwarf who saw Art Hand?”

One dwarf pointed towards the exit leading above ground with his finger.

“He left that way earlier.”

“That-!”

Herman’s tipsiness completely flew away. Then he hurriedly whispered Weed.

– Look here!

– …

– Look here!

After calling him several times, Weed’s reply came through.

– Yes, Grandpa Herman.

– Humhum! Have you sobered up?

– No, not yet. I think I’m gonna die from nausea.

– It must be tough after drinking that much. Alright, when are you planning to come back.

– I was going to go aboveground to get some fresh outside air.

Even as Weed was replying, he was running toward the coal mine and was quickly making his escape.

He’d completely seen through it — he’d seen that the Dwarves had no inclination to pay as they drank the beer.

‘Then it was arranged to have me pay this money.’

He didn’t let his guard down even as he drank.

And the escape that utilized exquisite timing!

– Look here, how can you just leave like this?

– Why not. I thought the farewell party was pretty much over.

– That… You have to pay for the drinking tab.

– What did you say? Was I supposed to pay for that?

Weed sent the whisper with a tone that said that was ridiculous. It was a bewildering moment for Herman. Weed spoke again.

– You should have told me sooner, sir. If you had done so I would have paid before I left.

– Ahem. How about returning even now and paying. The drinking tab… let’s see, it should be a little over 3,500 gold.

For them to have drunk over 3,000 gold of beer, it was something impossible if not for the Dwarves’ stupidly enormous drinking ability.

– I have already left for the road, so how can I return.

– Even so…

– How about we do it like this. Please pay for it for now, Grandpa Herman. Next time I’ll repay you.

– Sh-should we do that.

– Yes.

– Looks like we’ll have to do that then. Alright. Later on you have to repay me for sure.

– Don’t worry. Who am I? Hahaha!

– Ha, haha.

* * *

Weed came out of Kuruso Kingdom and arrived at Iron Hand Village to turn in the quest.

As a Sculptor, when he left the kingdom he was required to offer 1 sculpture, so he took out the parrot sculpture that he usually carved and had kept with him.

Compared to the Sculptor Weed’s fame, it was a truly small item!

Although the sculpture would stay in Kuruso as something Weed had made, he had no interest in that kind of honor.

“Did you hear? The Resurrection Church has finally captured even the Phenomph Region.”

“Huh. That’s really terrible.”

“Who can stop them? If this keeps up, even capturing the Versailles Continent is not far in the future.”

Weed also heard the conversation of the Dwarves in Iron Hand Village.

The powerful Resurrection Army that Daymond led was menacing the Versailles Continent.

Earlier they had avoided a monster swarm invasion, drought, and a flood, but Daymond’s invasion this time was becoming the greatest crisis of the Versailles Continent.

The Dwarves whispered.

“They say that the kingdoms have decided to make their move.”

“They’re going to form a league and block the Resurrection Army.”

“They must be fretting ‘cause the Army is gonna cross over to their land too.”

“There’s no need for other words, ‘cause they’ve hung a 60 thousand gold bounty on Day’s head.”

This talk was a topic in the Dark Gamer guild too.

60 thousand gold was an enormous sum. It was enough to get people aiming for a quick fortune and encouraged Daymond’s assassination.

However, it was difficult to sneak through by routing the Demonic Spirts’ attention, and there was also a lot of talk about waiting because of predictions that Daymond’s bounty would increasingly rise.

‘To get a somewhat stable income, chaos that’s too drastic isn’t good…”

Weed entered the Sculpting Guild.

No matter what crisis troubled the continent, the Sculptor Guild was still the same.

“What a waste of materials. How many times do I have to say that this isn’t how you carve for you to understand!”

“You’re the shame of the Dwarves, the shame!”

The Dwarves who were sorrowfully learning the Sculpting Skill while being scolded by the instructor!

They recognized Weed’s face as he opened the door and came inside.

“He’s the Dwarf who left after taking the request that time.”

“Are you talking about the request to find the trail of Kendellev?”

“He’s the Dwarf who boldly accepted the request that no one could solve and left.”

“Tsk tsk. Looks like that Dwarf also finally came back to give up after trying and trying.”

The Dwarves were secretly gleeful.

When Weed received the request they had worried that he might possibly succeed, but at the sight of him returning covered with dust and without any energy like that, they figured that he had failed.

Although the discovery of Kendellev’s sculptures had already circulated through Royal Road broadcasts, by the look of it these Dwarves were completely in the dark.

Weed walked towards the Instructor.

“I have come to report the result of the quest.”

Sculpting Instructor Jorbid politely asked.

“You went through a lot. Was our Dwarf Sculptor’s legend the truth?”

“It was. There was a Sculptor in the Dwarf race, and his sculptures were beautiful.”

“Indeed! I believed that it was true. Can you show me Kendellev’s trail?”

“Of course.”

Weed opened his rucksack and stuck in his hands. After rummaging through the items in the rucksack, he grabbed something. Then, he pulled out something enclosed in his two hands.

“Here, this is Kendellev’s sculpture.”

As Weed parted his two hands, a confined bird made of water flew out.

The bird sang out with a bright voice as it went around and around the Sculptor Guild.

“Ah! This is the sculpture that our ancestor made!”

The Sculpting Instructor Jorbid could not hold back his deep emotion.

The comical sculpture in the shape of a sparrow flew in between the Dwarves.

The Dwarves had on a shocked expression that looked like they had seen a new world. Their jaws didn’t drop this much even when they were guzzling down beer.

“To say this is a sculpture! How is this a sculpture?”

“Isn’t this an item made by a genie or magic!”

“Sculptures have to be carved to be made, this is a fraud.”

Meanwhile, it was difficult for the Dwarves to accept this new sculpture.

From the stereotypes they possessed, they could not be convinced that the bird made of water that was flying around was a sculpture!

Weed shook his head.

‘It’ll be difficult for them to achieve lifelong Sculpting Skills with thoughts like those.’

Sculpting was a three-dimensional art.

If it was something a Sculptor made, and was visible or if the idea could be grasped, anything could become a new attempt.

‘I don’t know why they think they just have to carve only wood or stone.’

As if Weed couldn’t remember himself looking down on the Sculpting profession until not too long ago, he maintained a dignified expression.

The Dwarf instructor grabbed his hand.

“Thank you. Now, no matter what race, they won’t be able to look down on us Dwarves when it comes to Sculpting.”

Ding!

– You have completed Sculpting Instructor Jorbid’s request.

The legendary Dwarf Sculptor Kendellev’s sculptures were in Kuruso.

After finding out about his sculptures, Humans and Elves that are wise craftsmen will no longer be able to criticize the Dwarven Artists.

– Fame has gone up by 130.

– Evaluation of you in the Sculptor Guild has improved.

– In racial prestige, respect toward Dwarves has increased by 3.

– Friendship with Thor Kingdom Dwarves has increased by 82.

Dwarves will throw aside the pickaxes to help you in your work.

– Level has gone up.

– Level has gone up.

The Sculpting instructor held out a pair of black gloves.

Honestly, Weed was more expectant of the reward item than the levels or fame.

‘That’s the reason why Thor Kingdom quests are good.’

Through quests from the Elves, for the most part friendship or affinity with spirits increased. In the case of the Humans, you could obtain fame, a reward, or a special status or profession.

With the Dwarves, especially Thor Kingdom’s case, through quests they gave you good items; it matched Weed’s tastes perfectly.

“This is a glove I’d like you to use. Though it’s not Kendellev-nim, the Dwarf who wore this glove was extremely outstanding.”

“Thank you very much.”

– You have acquired the reward item from the request.

Gloves that delicately gleamed with a black luster.

“Identify!”

Skilled Producer’s Glove:

Durability 45/45. Defense 13.

Gloves that were personally made and used by Thor Kingdom’s Seventh Blacksmith, Spindal.

Even while doing Blacksmith work he had adventures, so in order to make the gloves perfectly comfortable while catching Orcs, he made them through a lot of trial and error.

Although they were produced for Blacksmiths to use, they can be utilized in a wide variety of uses.

Requirement: Intermediate Handicraft and over. Level 150.

Option: When equipped, Blacksmithing skill +1.

Sculpting skill +1.

Effect of Handicraft skill +5%.

Attack increased by 7%.

When using long-range weapons, casting speed is improved.

As he’d expected, it was a high-class item.

Though the level requirement was low, with the Intermediate Handicraft limit it was an item that not just anyone could use.

The Sculpting instructor added, “I believe that Kendellev-nim’s trail is left somewhere in our Thor Kingdom. Will you do more searching for that trail?”

Ding!

Kendellev’s Hidden Sculptures

The very talented Dwarf Sculptor’s artifacts are still suspected to be left somewhere.

Find and restore the additional sculptures that Kendellev left in Thor Kingdom.

Difficulty: Dwarf race Sculptor quest.

Reward: Honor of the Dwarves.

Quest requirement: Limited to Dwarf, Sculptor.

The still unfinished Kendellev’s quest!

However, Weed shook his head.

“I must leave for the path of adventure. Since the Humans and Elves have been sufficiently informed of greatness of the Dwarves, I want to entrust this to a different Dwarf in my stead.”

There were things Weed had to do, and he wanted to end the sculpture searching with this.

The Sculpting instructor nodded morosely.

“Alright. Even if it’s not you, ordinary Dwarves should now be able to do this work.”

– You have refused the quest.

Your intimacy with Sculpting Instructor Jorbid has slightly fallen.

Although intimacy had dropped a little, the Sculpting instructor liked Weed all the same.

“It is an honor for me to have seen an excellent Sculptor like you. What will you do from here?”

“Even I do not know that. Only that I may have to go to Dale Kingdom to meet my colleagues.”

“May the sculptures made by you be blessed. Come back sometime and make a sculpture for Iron Hand Village.”

“The many things I’ve seen in the places where I have walked, if I return to this place, I will definitely make them for you.”

Chapter 2: Undiscovered Dungeon

Ahn Hyun Do cleaned his sword with a clean cloth.

The famed sword that the craftsman had completed with his soul and by smelting even the purest part of iron. As famous swordsmen used it generation after generation, the sword’s value had grown.

“Through the sword, what makes a human capable of rising to the sky… is the sword.”

Ahn Hyun Do possessed many famed swords, but he never carelessly took out the Radiant Sword. Only when a big decision was ahead did he meditate over the resolve of his time of youth while cleaning the Radiant Sword.

“The years when there was nothing scary in the world. The years when I was so bent on just fighting that I didn’t have time to look around. I received my undeserved Radiant Sword at that time. This is the sword that let me realize that the days of the sword had no meaning, that in the end people were more important.”

Ahn Hyun Do gazed at the Radiant Sword that he had cleaned to a mirror-like shine.

The azure sky and the clouds drifting away that shone through the office room’s window were also reflected on the blade. The sunlight made him squint his eyes.

“Swordsmanship is learning the way to use the sword. If the motive of fencing is merely strong swordsmanship, what worth is there in learning it?”

The sword that nurtured a person.

Like the flourished weed of the rough wilderness, in the end, a human also had to pass through training. There was a need to learn not just in the small dojo, but the vast world.

“True fear, the drive for life… and also one’s self can be learned through the sword.”

Ahn Hyun Do slid the sword into its sheath and left the office.

“Yul Min.”

The one who took care of the secretarial jobs in the Dojo was named Yul Min.

“Yes, Uncle.”

“It seems like it is time to teach the youngest disciple the way of the sword.”

“So it has already come to this. Then I will book two tickets. On about what date should I reserve the departure?”

“Since he has to go to school right now… Around summer should be fine.”

“Though it appears he’s not ready yet… Might you be rushing it too much?”

“If he’s lacking, he should be able to earn something greater from his insufficiencies.”

Anyone can learn swordsmanship.

For a sword faster than anyone else’s, repetitive effort and studying are necessary. However, simply possessing such a fast sword doesn’t equate to winning matches. A heavier sword or developing muscular strength didn’t mean winning in matches either.

The reason for learning the sword was to see one’s self clearly.

In Ahn Hyun Do’s opinion, young people these days were weak.

“When they go to school and study, prepare for employment… If they spend ten or so years like that they’ll end up running into the world without knowing what they like or what they want to do.”

Once they are out in the workforce, there wouldn’t be a chance to change one’s self. At their workplace, after working in the store and earning money, they would see that the precious times had completely passed and were gone.

Time doesn’t ever come back. It would be great if you could cheat time, but that was an impossibility that only happened in movies.

You would discover yourself through the sword.

Here, there was also the reason of victory by the sword. Observation of yourself and your opponent!

As you compared each other’s might, you would crave for greater heights. Seeing themselves clearly, swordsmen fought with the appetite for advancement.

“A truly powerful sword. Why you must learn the sword, what a true swordsman is… I should be able to show him what those are through travels.”

* * *

As the Korean University’s festival approached, with less than one week left, Lee Hyun’s school life became really busy.

“Those of you who are preparing for the bar; since we’ve gotta win the snack contest, you must absolutely not do it carelessly!”

To make the snacks for the bar, they were abruptly thrown into culinary processes!

Though Lee Hyun didn’t need to learn because he was quite well-versed in cooking, there was no time to rest because he had to teach the other students.

“Lee Hyun-oppa, how do you break an egg?”

“It’s okay to clean the apples with the sponge. Right?”

“When you wash the dishes can’t you use facial soap instead of Dawn™?”

Every time a question was asked, Lee Hyun sighed heavily.

These days, instant and delivery foods were set up too well. There were many cases where kids who had been conditioned to only study never even once made their own meal until they enrolled to university.

“But who’s gonna make the rice?”

“The Cuckoo makes the rice.”

[T/N: A Cuckoo is a popular brand of rice-cooker in Korea.]

“…”

These kinds of conversation!

Lee Hyun controlled his frustration and endured as he taught the students the basics of cooking.

“When you fry an egg, you have to spread vegetable oil in the pan first. It’s probably better if you use olive oil instead of vegetable oil.”

“Peel the skin of the apple first so it’s easier to cut. Don’t slice pineapple with a fruit knife!”

“You don’t cut the bananas, if you just peel it…”

Truthfully, the students were enjoying watching Lee Hyun get upset and explain, so they purposefully asked about even things they knew.

“But can’t you make rice with flour?”

“I heard that originally, stew is boiled as ramen soup by putting this and that in…”

Lee Hyun’s patience hit rock bottom.

Nevertheless, Seoyoon was on the side of learning cooking quickly. Although she burnt the vegetable pancake (buchimgae) as black as coal, once he taught her the trick of it, her next attempt was beautifully fried.

With her chopsticks, Seoyoon held out a bite of the kimchi pancake she had fried to Lee Hyun.

“You want me to try it?”

When Lee Hyun asked anxiously, Seoyoon nodded with a similarly anxious face. As he stared at the kimchi pancake, Lee Hyun’s eyes became as sharp as knives.

‘Ingredients, flour, kimchi, kimchi liquid, egg, scallion, octopus, some others. There are no problems based on the ingredients.’

It was a kimchi pancake fried using normal ingredients.

‘Seeing as it’s been well grilled to a reddish color, there shouldn’t be any particular problems with the cooking process…’

After resolving his doubts, he received and ate the kimchi pancake Seoyoon was giving him.

The kimchi pancake went into his mouth, and the rich aroma of kimchi fully diffused throughout!

‘It’s fragrant. It’s the taste of local kimchi after all. The cabbage grown in neighborhood gardens with the pickled fish and red pepper powder mixed in well… And its fitting rebirth as a pancake, good! It’s a well-made kimchi pancake.’

Although his evaluation of the kimchi pancake ended quickly, Lee Hyun’s mouth was as hot as a fire.

There was no way it wouldn’t be hot since she had given it to him fresh off the pan.

‘I’ll have to be more suspicious after all.’

Lee Hyun’s eyes became more sharp.

Eyes with a look that could kill!

Even as he glared, he raised his thumb for the taste.

“It’s tasty. Keep making them like this.”

“…”

lthough there was no reply, Seoyoon’s eyes looked like they were laughing, if only a little.

‘Did she know how to laugh too?’

It was an expression that flickered past too fleetingly. However, the beauty she had shown for just a short moment’s instant was the smile he had imagined when he had made the first Goddess of Freya.

Seoyoon made the fruit salad well too, and the skill with which she arranged it in the platter was also excellent.

The cooking practice they did in the Department of Food and Nutrition’s classroom that they had borrowed ended like that, and they did the planning for the opening of the bar separately.

10 men and 7 women made up the personnel for the bar.

“Make it a tent bar. Doing that will reduce the expense, too. Looks like about 5 tents in an array will do, so what do you think.”

At Hong Sun Ye’s words, the guys nodded in unison. The festival wasn’t going to end in a day, so they also had to prepare for rain.

“Then 5 tents. We’ll be able to set them up before the festival starts, right?”

Hong Sun Ye looked at Lee Hyun.

She had seen the construction ability that used all sorts of materials at the MT as well, so she thought that at that level, a tent or the like would be nothing.

“It’s definitely doable.”

“But where should we get the tents?”

“There should be a specific place that rents them out.”

“Then the tents are fine…”

Hong Sun Ye swiftly drew the blueprint. She actualized the place where they would set up the bar and the tent size as she drew the blueprint on the spot.

“I think 20 tables will go in.”

“Then about 100 chairs should do. Is that too much?”

“We have to prepare for cases when customers come all at once, too. Since there are really a lot of students from other schools and people who are coming, many customers will gather. We can borrow the chairs from the classrooms so let’s get plenty of them.”

“In the morning before the festival, we’ll have to set up the tents, tables, and even the chairs.”

“The materials for the gas stove and cooking…”

“If we make an order at a supply house, they’ll send it to us by truck.”

As Hong Sun Ye and Lee Hyun conversed, all the jobs progressed like lightning. The guys merely occupied space; in truth, the female students and Lee Hyun took on the bar preparation.

“But what should we choose as our bar’s concept?” Hong Sun Ye went around asking everyone.

All the bars in Korea University progressed with their own concepts. To attract amiable customers, it was vital that they dressed up and put out their individualized bar.

“Should we do a club atmosphere?”

“How about a schoolgirl atmosphere. I still have my uniform…”

“I have my uniform too. But I put on a few pounds…”

Every time the female students chatted, the male students were speechless.

The short skirt, clothing that exposes her bare shoulders and back that Seoyoon would wear in a club.

Seoyoon dressed as a pure, innocent schoolgirl.

‘This is the jackpot.’

‘This is the jackpot.’

‘This is the jackpot.’

‘This is the jackpot.’

“…”

The male student’s fantasies were taking flight.

“What concept should we use?”

It was the female student’s greatest worry. If only to win in the pride competition with the other school bars, they needed to plan out a concept that stood out.

“For now, guys should come dressed comfortably. The girls will think about the concept more and try to choose.”

At the female students’ words, the male students answered earnestly.

“Alright. Hope you choose a worthy concept.”

“Don’t think about it too seriously, the ones you talked about earlier were also very good.”

“Ahh. If it was the festival today…”

“…”

The female students gathered separately and debated.

Club girl, schoolgirl, office uniform. Although they had initially chosen concepts that were enough to excite the guys, all of them were cancelled.

“We can’t just become eye candy for the guys!”

They were also considering Seoyoon’s position, as she was obviously troubled about the exposure of the clothing.

“What concept should we use? As we serve, a lot of people will see us, so isn’t there something that’s elegant yet alluring, that can bring femininity to life but never prods our conscience to wear?”

“Since it’s a festival of May, how about a bride?”

[T/N: May is known as the month of weddings in Korea.]

“Bride! That’s pretty good. Bride of May. With student brides in wedding dresses and even bridal veils, I think it’s gonna have a lively feel.”

“I approve too!”

“The idea’s good, but is there a place where we can borrow the dresses?”

“We would buy fabric or material and make them ourselves. Can’t we just look at a fashion magazine and make it roughly similar?”

The female students came to a mutual understanding.

Didn’t they say the clothing that made women the most beautiful was the wedding dress?

It would also be an opportunity for them to wear a wedding dress once before they married.

“Seoyoon-sunbae, is senior okay with this too?”

“…”

Seoyoon hesitated for a moment before nodding.

* * *

The dungeon exploration for the school assignment!

Because they had to complete the exploration before the festival started, they were really pressed for time.

“Please come here quickly.”

“I’m saying that the rest of us were all here.”

As soon as the group members gathered in the capsule room after finishing their morning studies, their complaints flowed out.

However, Lee Hyun also had an excuse.

“The traffic was severe.”

“Lies. You walked here.”

The group members weren’t deceived.

“It takes 3 minutes to walk here from the school, so why would you come here by car.”

“It’s more than one stop by bus so if you get on it takes longer.”

Lee Hyun’s eyes became mellow and moist.

Choi Ji Hoon, who uses the in game name Zephyr had taught the elder brothers this; Lee Hyun tried to use the method to pacify girls.

Lee Hyun wagged his finger, and spoke with his most sweet voice.

“These sly deer… Are you doubting my words right now?”

“…”

At that moment the female students’ expressions indicated that something from within their stomachs was urgently coming up.

‘Ah, the breast milk I drank when I was a baby…’

The queasy and greasy feeling!

Even if you mixed peanut butter and cheese and made ramen, it wouldn’t be this bad.

“Ah, we get it. For now let’s just hurry and start.”

Hong Sun Ye, who saw Lee Hyun a lot doing this and that these days, took his side for him. Though he was even harder to deal with than her hair-splitting cousins that her uncle left from morning to evening, she demonstrated patience.

“Oppa.”

Lee Yoo Jung addressed him before she went into the capsule,

“Hm?”

“You’re near Dale Kingdom, right? We’re already all gathered, and we also did a lot of exploration practice.”

Lee Hyun answered as if there wasn’t a problem.

“Of course. I’m almost all the way there.”

“Yes, then that’s a relief. We’ll go in first and wait. Please come quickly.”

“Just wait a little. I’ll be there soon.”

Lee Hyun went into the capsule, and as the sensors mounted he thought, ‘I guess I should leave soon.’

* * *

He had been busy selling the accessories and sculptures he had made in Kuruso Kingdom to merchants, so he was still at Nest Kingdom’s Herom Castle.

Even by riding a horse, Dale Kingdom’s Nekan Castle was over five days away.

‘In Korean terms, I’m almost all the way there. Since “soon” means “still gonna take a long time” now, they’ll probably be understanding even if I’m late.’

Herom Castle!

As the Kingdom had a position in the borderland, it was a castle bustling with Merchants dealing in entrepot trade. As a result of the users who were buying had wagons and goods. It was so disorderly it reminded him of the marketplace at dawn.

There were users who struck out at the prices as they bargained, and Merchants who weren’t going to cut down even a single penny were even having a fierce fight.

“Why, no matter how money-grubbing a Merchant ya are, how can ya do this? How can ya buy the wares that are like my own children that I created at the end of so much suffering with that price?”

“Look, elder. Please calm down for now and listen to my explanation. The current market prices of wares…”

“Market prices! What did ya say the wares I made were like? Is there even a wee scratch somewhere? Or are ya saying the quality of this ruby is low?”

A small Dwarf was in hysterics. Of course, the Dwarf’s true identity was Weed!

He became an obstinate Dwarf to the novice Merchants and was striking up the prices.

He sold crafted jewel ware accessories and sculptures, and even the Dwarves’ gifts. To be honest, when he sold the gifts he had received at the farewell ceremony, he felt a small prick of his conscience.

‘Even so, the market nowadays has changed. For the gifts I don’t need, I can just think of them as receiving a gift certificate.’

Gifts from the heart!

He had received the hearts of the gift-givers and thought that was good enough, and was selling them with overcharged prices to his heart’s content.

Since they were goods being sold by a Dwarf the credibility was high and the quality was good too, but because he insisted on the high prices, transactions weren’t made quickly.

* * *

“Ugh, when is he coming.”

“It’s getting too late… Should we just give up and go by ourselves?”

“We can’t. ‘Cause if there’s even 1 person missing from the group we won’t get points.”

Beneath the old tree by Nekan Castle, a party of people were waiting for someone.

A party composed of two Swordsmen, a Thief, Enchanter, Elemental Magician, and Ranger!

Hegel set the shield he had cleaned to a sparkling shine on the ground.

“It’s getting late. Though I pulled out Kudram’s Shield for a change.”

Kudram’s Shield.

A kite shield that could cover the whole body, it had a defense of over 70, and had the effect of blocking charges with its ponderous weight. Choe Sang Jun had borrowed the armor and shield from his older brother, who was a member of the Black Lions’ Guild.

When Enchanter Rumi saw the shield, she said with a curious face, “Sang Jun, no Hegel, who enchanted that shield for you?”

“The best magic user in Haven Kingdom, Perrier-nim did it. He’s the Enchanter of Black Lions’ Guild.”

“Ah, that famous person did…”

The party members’ gazes were bent toward Kudram’s Shield.

Even inside Nekan Castle, the attention was focused on Hegel, who was attired in outstanding equipment.

In the Versailles Continent, generally it was possible to show a person’s might with equipment. A Swordsman’s attack power could become the strength to support the whole party, and they could also be the root of enemy pulverization.

If you looked at the outstanding Swordsman, being envious was a given.

“Must be nice, Hegel.”

“It’s really enviable equipment. The armor isn’t a normal item either, right?”

“You guys wouldn’t know ‘bout it even if I told you, ‘cause it’s the Snake’s Bantis Armor Set. The boots and pauldrons, and helmet are a set item.”

“I’ve never heard about the Bantis Armor.”

“Of course not, though it’s not a famous item, no! It’s an armor that’s so rare that only the people who know use it, so it’s less well known. However its performance is more outstanding than Norman’s weapons.”

“It’s better than Norman’s weapons?”

“The comparison in itself is impossible.”

When Hegel was boasting about the equipment, the Elemental Magician Selsia’s eyes gleamed.

“With equipment like that, there’s really no need to wait.”

“Hm?”

“Won’t I be doing most of the hunting anyways? Then let’s just go between us.”

“But if hyung doesn’t come, we won’t be able to get a proper grade…”

“We can go first and start exploring first, can’t we meet up later?”

“Should we?”

Hegel had a tempted expression. He was also eager to hurry and try out the equipment he’d borrowed from his older brother.

Swordsman Bella also opened her mouth.

“There’s not much a Sculptor can do in an exploration anyways. So even if he isn’t there in the beginning, it shouldn’t stand out too much.”

With even Bella’s approval, Hegel made up his mind.

“Alright. Then let’s go between us.”

“But what’s the dungeon you decided to explore?”

The ones who had researched the information about dungeons and had made the choice were Hegel and Nide.

Nide gave the answer to that question.

“It’s not far. If you pass Plain’s Red Territory, a forest of dried up trees comes up; the entrance is there.”

“Is it a famous dungeon?”

“No, the only people to have discovered it is probably us.”

“Really?”

Hegel widely broadened his shoulders.

“Yep. It’s a location that Nide and I found by investigating the booklets of the Kingdom’s library. Though of course, Nide was the one who discovered the booklet.”

“Do you mean it’s a dungeon that hasn’t been opened before yet?”

“We’ll prolly be the first.”

If they discovered a hidden dungeon, not only fame would rise, but they would receive 2 times the experience.

“Even if there’s a trap, Nide can deactivate it, and I can take responsibility for the fighting.”

Enchanter Rumi looked worried at the talk of the hidden dungeon.

“What about Weed oppa? If it’s a hidden dungeon, shouldn’t we wait and go together?”

“Will that be necessary? We can just hide the booklet with the dungeon info in this old tree and go. Let’s just have him look at the booklet and approximately find his way to the area ‘round the entrance.”

“But since he can’t fight, he might not be able to come.”

“He shouldn’t be that bad. Then he wouldn’t have been able to travel all the way to Thor Kingdom. Then let’s hurry and go.”

Hegel dug in the ground and hid the book.

– You have thrown away Gildras’ Strange Story Booklet.

They finished their preparations at a simple supply stand and left for the Plain’s Red Territory.

* * *

With the sale of the wares in Herom Castle, penny pincher Weed had made 35,000 gold!

“The stagecoach leaving for Dale Kingdom departs the day after.”

“What’s the travel fee?”

“7 Gold.”

Although he had planned to ride there by transport stagecoach, not only did he have to wait, but the price was expensive too.

‘This won’t do.’

Weed left Herom Castle and went into the rarely visited forest.

The beginner’s forest where small animals like birds and squirrels lived!

Chik chik.

The squirrels, which had been picking up and eating acorns, gathered in the area around Weed. Though they were close, they didn’t think of coming down from atop the neighboring trees.

If he was a Human, they wouldn’t even have come near. Because Dwarves had the attribute of not enjoying killing, they had come this close.

If he was an Elf, they might have even come and rubbed their faces on him. It was because the Elves, who had an affinity with nature’s beings, were a race that were welcome anywhere.

It was then.

While standing motionlessly, Weed’s mantle fluttered and beamed with a brilliant light. The Wings of Light on his back had widely unfurled, displaying majestic allure.

The piled leaves on the ground were swept up into the air, and the squirrels covered their eyes at the bright light. Weed spread the wings in the forest and soared up.

The Verona River that flowed grandly next to Herom Castle looked like a stream. Herom Castle, which had been so crowded when he had been selling his wares, now looked as small as a sesame seed.

A Dwarf flying in the air; this was something unheard of.

“Light Wing, let’s go!”

The Wings of Light flapped gracefully.

Since he hadn’t thought to make it a body, the Wings of Light could only survive by existing parasitically off another body.

As soon as the Wings spread out in earnest, he moved at a fast speed. Before he could even catch his balance, he shot away like a bullet.

The acceleration was so incredible that it could be expressed as instantaneous movement!

– You are flying in the sky.

Wings of Light can give 26% of the maximum speed.

Due to a Dwarven racial characteristic, you might experience severe dizziness.

The Dwarven trait of not being able to ride neither a horse nor stagecoach well!

Since he was flying in the sky, that Dwarf race’s penalty was undoubtedly in effect. Like when he had guzzled beer and become smashed, his dizziness became severe.

Weed knew the most simple way to solve this problem. He just had to cancel the Art of Sculpture Transformation!

However, Weed was still enamored with the body of a Dwarf. Stamina was good, and an additional effect was granted to Handicraft, so he didn’t want to cancel it just yet.

“It should be fine if I can somehow bear with it.”

As he flapped the Wings of Light like an angel, Weed positioned himself southwest and dizzily flew forth.

Whether they were mountains or hills, he flashed past them like that in the sky that was above everything.

Occasionally he’d be heading towards a precipice or a mountain peak, so there were times when he’d come perilously close. They were emergencies caused by flying with dizziness and motion sickness!

It was a flight so overwhelmingly fast that he had to adjust his path to avoid eagles he would collide into.

* * *

The Hegel party passed the land of the red sand and went past the Forest of Dead Trees. Without a single leaf, a forest with an eerie feel.

It was a forest in which there would be nothing strange if a ghost came out at any moment.

The Thief Nide, who had a lot of experience traveling round the Versailles Continent, spoke.

“You can’t wander around here at night. When it becomes night, though only every so often, fierce Grollers come out and root around the forest.”

At that, Rumi put on a fearful expression. Simply imagining the Grollers plunging out from within the forest and raising an axe or bamboo spear in her direction just terrified her.

“If we meet ‘em, we probably can’t even escape?”

“Yeah. If we meet Grollers at night, we’ll have no choice but to give up our lives.’

They were able to find the dungeon after struggling amongst the trees for a long time. The entrance was covered with dirt and stones, and was buried together with animal bones.

“Let’s go inside.”

As Hegel went in the entrance first, the rest of the briefly hesitant party followed him inside.

Chapter 3: The Strange Booklet of Gildras

Korea University’s Student Council was tied up with festival preparations.

Each department secured a venue, and minor help was given for preparations. The cultural festival and events for the local residents were being prepared at the same time. They even busied themselves with stage preparations, and organising singers for the events.

“But who should we cast to MC the event?”

“How about Yu Jae Dol?”

[T/N: Spoof of Yoo Jae Suk]

The highly praised one, who was born for hosting, MC Yu Jae Dol. He doesn’t know when to stop when he starts chattering. He was praised as the national MC because of his kind and considerate nature.

“I tried contacting him, but they said his schedule doesn’t work out ‘cus of the We Must Challenge filming.”

“Then did you try contacting Kang Ho Eun? He hosted our school festival last year, too.”

[T/N: Referring to Kang Ho Dong, an MC who was just as wildly popular as Yoo Jae Suk when this LN was published. Before his years as a comedian and host, he was a champion ssireum wrestler, the traditional Korean national sport, which is often compared to sumo.]

The former wrestling athlete Kang Ho Eun! Although he had a body as big as a house, he pulled programs along with his naivety at times, and his charisma at others. With ample strength and passion, he was an MC who was like a big brother.

“That person went on a 3 night 4 day vacation. He said he was really sorry he can’t attend this time.”

“Dang it… Then who should we cast?”

Plays, musicals, performances, and concerts would all progress together at the Korea University’s festival.

It was a given that it would let the students worn out from studying enjoy the energy and university culture, and since it was a party for the local residents, they couldn’t be negligent. In the end, they couldn’t find just the right person, and it was decided that they’d go back to the idol Park Min Su, the eternal number 2, as the host of the main show.

* * *

Jung Hyo Rin moved her fingers fluidly on the piano keyboard.

A pure, lyrical melody.

She was in the midst of personally writing a song to put in a new album.

“The song has a really good feeling… but how will you choose the lyrics? Do you want to try hiring a famous lyricist? Teacher Kim Tae Hwan who you worked with last time was saying he wanted to work together again.”

When the manager asked her in the practice room, Jung Hyo Rin shook her head.

“No. I want to write it myself.”

“Is that so? Since Hyo Rin-ssi has a talent for writing lyrics too… you’ll make an excellent song.”

Jung Hyo Rin was actually in a state where she couldn’t make up her mind on what kind of feeling to use for the lyrics.

‘I’m going to write the lyrics for the song I want to sing.’

It didn’t seem like it would be easy to make the song.

Since the release date of the new album and the song’s live debut was still a ways off, she tried to write the song so she wouldn’t have any regrets.

Jung Hyo Rin, who had been playing the piano, raised her head.

“Manager, could you freed up my schedule in 3 days, right?”

“I cleared it up as Hyo Rin-ssi asked, but is there something going on?”

“It’s a matter of personal privacy.”

The manager was relieved because Jung Hyo Rin had never stirred up problems in her private life. However, he couldn’t help but ask of her destination.

“Where are you going to go?”

“Korea University. A person I know is a student there. I’m going to go together with my friends.”

* * *

You have become the first discoverers of the Kramado Dungeon!

Reward:

Fame has increased by 230.

Experience and drop rates have doubled for a week.

The first monster hunted will drop some its the best items it has.

“Yay!”

“We’re really the first. Just look at the fame that went up.”

The party members who entered the dungeon shouted out cheers of joy.

“With this, we’ve accomplished this assignment as a success.”

“Yeah. We’re probably the only ones who found an undiscovered dungeon.”

Swordsman Bella spoke with confidence.

As they had come through relatively safe hunting grounds, an adventure like this was enjoyable.

Even the other groups would have difficulty discovering a new dungeon for their assignment.

“Nide, well done.”

“I’ll treat you if we get a good grade.”

Like an expression from real life, Nide blushed as if he were embarrassed to receive praise.

“It’s nothing. It’s just that somehow my luck was good.”

Hegel patted Nide’s shoulder as if in encouragement.

“Nice work.”

“It’s nothing, We all did it together.”

The discovery of a new dungeon was an impressive opportunity to gain experience and items.

Hegel drew his sword.

“Then everyone get ready to battle!”

Their opponents were monsters that looked like white lizards crawling around inside the dungeon.

“Shield Bash! I’ll push them away altogether!”

While Hegel was holding the Kudram’s Shield in his left hand, he charged/rushed toward the monsters.

The greatest strength of a swordsman is their damage.

Attack power was maximized with the Twin Sword Skill and Great Sword Skill, so they could deal more damage than any other similar combat Profession.

“Shake. Ignite. Crumble!”

“Triple-Sword Strike!”

“Strengthen metal, Blessing of Flame!”

Elemental Magician Selsia, Swordsman Bella, and Enchanter Rumi had their share in the battle as well.

Enchanters can permanently grant an item a unique strength. The effectiveness of fortification spells that were applied to people was less than that of a Priest or a Shaman, but they could temporarily pull out the strength of a weapon many times over.

The Kramanoims that were attacked by the Shield Charge were wounded, pushed here or there, or flipped over. In that situation, as they suffered attacks from the Elemental Magician or the Swordsman, they weakly turned into grey light.

The thief Nide approached the Karmanoim with his stealth skill activated.

“Creature Identification!”

It was a profession skill only available to thieves, scouts, assassins, and adventurers. It was a skill to enable you to see detailed information of your opponents.

The information thief Nide found on Kramanoim was shared with the party.

Ding!

Monster Name: Young Kramanoim

Level: 234

A monster that dwells in old dungeons.

It has lived only inside a dungeon for a very long time.

Eyesight has degenerated to the point of being almost blind.

They detect enemies through sound or ground vibrations and they enjoy eating meat.

They can crawl very quickly through use of their 4 legs and from the mouth they can vomit out a weak paralysing venom.

Not only did it provide information on the Kramanoim, it highlighted its weak point, its neck emitted a bluish glow. The areas where you can get fatal strikes!

From Hegel’s fierce attack and Bella and Selsia’s united efforts, the Kramanoims lethargically changed to grey light.

In about 3 hours of fighting, they were able to clean out the monsters on the basement 1st floor.

Enchanter Rumi and Bella had their level increased by 1, and the dropped items were considerable as well. Thanks to the doubled experience, even Selsia looked pleased.

“It’s the best.”

“It’s a really good dungeon. For our assignment this time, an A will be no problem.”

* * *

By the time Weed arrived in Dale Kingdom, it had already gotten dark.

“The old tree….was it near here?”

He found a booklet in the place where there were traces of digged up brown soil on the ground.

Gildras’ Strange Story Booklet.

Weed read the book.

I, the cheerful wanderer Gildras, had a date with my new wife in the Dolne Village yesterday. The daughter of a farmer, she was overflowing with health… At night, the windmill was extremely cozy and the atmosphere was good.

The next day, I left Dolne Village and walked somewhere, but I wasn’t able to find the direction. For a traveler like me, who has wandered so much the soles of my shoes have worn off. to get lost, something impossible had happened.

Here, the trees were sucked dry of moisture, and when I look back on it, I think I also passed by red dirt.

What kind of scary event had happened here in the past?

However, these old trees didn’t seem harmful to humans. That’s because even a traveler like me was able to pass them safely. Ha. Ha. Ha.

While I was lost and struggling, I saw an entrance leading to somewhere. Although it seemed fairly well hidden between the trees, it couldn’t escape my sharp eyes.

Still, I didn’t try going inside. That was because I was searching for the village first.

Oh my God. Why in the world am I so good at finding dangerous places like these, when I can’t even find a village I’ve been to?

I want to find even a hunter’s lodging quickly. It would be nice if there was a lady overflowing with health in that place too…

It was the travel log of the traveler named Gildras, who wandered the Versailles Continent.

There were truly a lot of stories like these that bards would circulate around the Versailles Continent. In fact, even if you stayed in a tavern for just 1 hour, you could hear stories like these three or four times!

Nide had gathered information like that and had found the dungeon.

Gildras’ Strange Story Booklet was divided into 8 chapters.

1. The Hot Night with the Childhood Friend After Leaving Home

2. The Single Night Spent in the Windmill with the Farmer’s Daughter

3. The Stimulating Night with the Mermaid on the East Coast

4. The Short Night Within the Traveling Carriage

5. The Night with the Dream-like Woman Beneath a Region with a Prosperous Trail

6. Captured by a Slave Merchant, the Thrilling Night with the Slave Beast

7. The Night I Felt I Overcame my Stamina in the Barbarian’s Village

8. After Wandering Everywhere in Versailles Continent, the Affectionate Night with my Childhood Friend Again

Each chapter was named with titles that seemed like they were mostly profanity.

Moreover, there was something written clearly in red letters on the bottom of the cover.

Not suitable for minors!

* * *

Hegal and Nide took out and started eating the bread and fruit from their backpacks.

“It tastes really bad.”

“Even so, everyone eat up. It’s so you can keep up your stamina.”

“How far do you think this dungeon goes to?”

The party members turned their attention to Hegal and Nide, but they too just shook their heads.

“After entering a dungeon, no one can know if there’s something at the end of it.”

“Me too… as a Thief, though I’m on the side of having explored a lot of dungeons, predicting beforehand is impossible. Sorry.”

Rumi asked, “Then how many basement levels do dungeons usually have?”

“There’s no way to tell. Normally, there’s 2 or 3 basement floors. We can define it like this, but it’s not a certain thing. In severe cases, I’ve even seen dungeons with up to 12 basement floors.”

“There’s dungeons that deep?”

“Defining a floor in a basement dungeon is ambiguous. Though there’s times when you definitely go down a floor through stairs, in the case of dungeons that are gradually connected the basement, you’ve just gotta define a floor when the level of the monsters goes up or the atmosphere changes.”

“Then I guess you could even die when you’re exploring a dungeon?”

“It’s possible.”

After listening to Rumi and Nide’s conversation, Hegel grinned toothily.

“However, if it’s monsters of this level, there’s prolly no reason for me to die.”

Hegel personally held great belief regarding the armor. With materials that couldn’t be made without superior Handicraft skills, it was armor that couldn’t even be imagined by Blacksmiths of low caliber.

A work of art that could supplement a swordsman’s slightly lacking defenses because of the focus on attack!

A properly made Bantis Armor Set was over 5 thousand gold for one set. Although it was heavy, it had more than 5 or 6 times the defense of normal armor. Meaning he wouldn’t die, even from considerable damage.

Armor at a level where tolerable arrows or swords would just bounce off!

What swordsmen could call their dream was full plate armor. The armor Hegel had equipped was an item of first class, that had even been rigged with magic resistance. The handicraft or ornaments, even the form could be called a work of art without shame– it was that beautiful.

The best product that neared perfection!

Not only did the durability barely drop, for swordsmen, there was no better item than this.

On the 2nd basement floor, adult Kramanoims appeared.

However, it was just that their bodies were a little bigger. Their actual attack power was similar. A monster that had no development despite growing up!

Except, the dose of poison the monsters spat out had built up by quite a lot; for a party that didn’t have a Priest, it couldn’t be anything but hard work.

“Shit.”

Hegel was covered in revolting paralysis saliva. He couldn’t help but have a bad mood from fighting while getting hit by yellow spit.

Since Swordsman Bella was weak, if she got paralyzed by the adult Kramanoims, she could only die shortly.

Since his other party members didn’t consider themselves combat-related, there was no helping it — Hegel had to take on the role of the meat shield.

“Damn it. Why are these dirty monsters appearing.”

Hegel’s mail and shield were covered in saliva. Of course his equipment was getting dirty, but even a disgusting smell was coming off. Since he was equipping accessories that had outstanding magic and poison resistance, he was still able to move his body vigorously, but if it were someone else, they would have lost their ability to fight.

“Barrage!”

Twitter shot forth arrows like a shower, and the others were pouring attacks as far as the bounds of their mana would allow. The Thief Nide lured the Kramanoims as he walked with an elaborate step and landed. If not for the extremely Thief-like quick movements that drew their attention, the Kramanoims would have charged the other party members.

Even so, Hegel was surrounded by Kramanoims with no place to run.

“Damn it. I didn’t want to use my top skills in a place like this…”

Hegel snuck a quick glance at the other party members, then put the Longsword he’d been using in its sheath and pulled out a ponderous Mace.

Generally, the Mace was a weapon with an incredibly powerful striking power. Although Swordsmen mastered the Sword as their Profession, they acquired weapon skills of the Spear and Blunt Weapons separately at the same time. That was because the defense of the armor that Swordsmen used in fights was so impressive, it became efficient to use a Spear with a pointy tip or a Blunt Weapon.

Rupture’s Mace!

It was a weapon worth 680 thousand Won (~$680) in the cash trading market.

As an Option, it could spread a violent shock, even if it was blocked by a shield the destructive force penetrated through armor unhindered, so it could blow people away with strength alone.

Granted, it was hard to handle because it was short and heavy, but it was the best method when fighting monsters that had high Health and didn’t die easily.

“Hyaa!”

As he changed his weapon and raised it, an powerful, imposing aura surged out of Hegel’s body. Perhaps it was a characteristic of the Mace itself, but his Fighting Spirit was enhanced and the monsters were intimidated.

Hegel didn’t miss the opportunity to take advantage of the Kramanoims’ dulled movements.

“Earth Wave!”

With great strength Hegel smashed the ground using the Mace, the earth rumbled and trembled.

The bodies of the Kramanoims within the 7 meter radius turned to grey light due of the shockwaves.

The area of effect skill demonstrated by a Swordsman of over level 300 by overdoing it, that destructive power!

“Flash of Fighting Spirit!”

The Hegel who broke through the blockade hunted the Kramanoims as if he was slaughtering a flock of sheep.

Although he also had the help of the other group members,he was the leading player who hunted the most monsters.

Even so, Hegel didn’t seem like he was satisfied.

“Damn it. If the Earth Wave’s skill proficiency was even a little higher, it would have made at least half of them unable to fight in one hit…”

Even with the lacking skill proficiency, it was good enough to transfix Bella or Rumi.

“A level 300 Swordsman sure is strong.”

“I only saw ‘em on broadcast all the time, but I’ve never seen one myself. But just as they say, it’s like they were born to fight– they’re incredible.”

A Swordsman’s attack power was to the point of inducing awe.

After they finished taking a short break, they headed to the 3rd floor basement.

“Haha. If old Kramanoims show up, this’ll be a really good dungeon.”

Hegel lead them with confidence.

However, starting from the 3rd floor basement was not as they had expected. A damnable labyrinth blocked the way in front, and there was no end to the traps.

Something charming like arrows flying from walls! They stepped on the ground and had their feet sink right in, and were ambushed by venomous snakes. Thief Nide dismantled the traps and hunted the snakes, but they were delayed by a lot of time.

And then, in a moment while they were advancing like that!

*Rumble!*

A big boulder was rolling towards them from an alley they had passed.

It filled up the entire passage. The boulder that rolled forward without even a corner to escape out of.

“Run!”

The party that had seen the big boulder that was rolling forth behind them ran for their lives into the dungeon.

“We don’t know what might be in front!”

“Better than being crushed and killed by the rock.”

“The passage was getting narrower!”

*Rumble!*

The passage became narrower and narrower, so the big boulder was wedged in between the walls. The walls were considerably ravaged, and although it was a boulder that had rolled all the way here, it finally stopped..

“What a relief.”

“Are we saved by this?”

There wasn’t any time to nonchalantly express happiness. Thief Nide knew from experience that in cases like this, even greater crises would come find them.

Nide hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Hey, guys.”

“Hm?”

“There’s three things of bad news… there’s really bad news and less bad news. And there’s also one piece of unlucky news.”

Selsia beamed a smile. After repeatedly doing only boring hunting every day, experiencing this kind of dungeon exploration was very exciting for her.

“Tell us the less bad news first.”

“Ok. That’s that our way back is blocked. And the really bad news is, that we don’t know what kind of traps there are in the place where we’re standing.”

“Traps, you say?”

“Just now, I tried using my Trap Seeking Skill… this entire place is lit up by traps, blue light, so by the way, I think it’ll be better to stay put.”

“Dismantling the traps is impossible?”

“Yeah. This whole passage is marked with traps… this place is probably not originally a normal path, so it’s a passage connected separately. By the look of it, it seems like we chose the wrong direction ever since the boulder came rolling.”

“…”

Rumi’s skin turned pale. Still, before she gave up she asked hopefully, “Then what’s the unlucky news? Isn’t there nothing worse than this?”

“Yeah. Right now that the one who is coming to where we are, that the sole person who can help us… is Weed hyung.”

“…”

The party members who sank into despair, hopelessness, frustration, and dejection!

They could easily feel Nide’s drooping meaning from his tone.

‘It ends here.’

It seemed like they’d somehow be going back with the dungeon exploration assignment as a failure. The points for finding an undiscovered dungeon would probably be high, but if they all died in the middle of it, it would become a total failure in the end.

The assignment in itself was regretful, but the level or skill proficiency they would lose from dying could be nothing but extremely upsetting.

Then Hegel strode in with a detached step. After resting quietly, his exhausted stamina had been restored.

“What’re you all doing. Are you just going to sit here quietly and die?”

“Hegel! It might be dangerous.”

“We don’t have the freedom of choice anyways. Then we’ll press on. And it’s a dungeon where weak monsters like Kramanoims come out… even if you say it’s dangerous, it’s probably not that bad.”

Hegel’s remark was strangely persuasive.

Even if were still standing here, they would move forward. If they were going to die all the same, be it this way or that, they would not die standing still.

Although it was a Swordsman-like action, it was before he had even taken just a few steps.

“Hegel!”

“What?”

Hegel didn’t turn around to look and was only walking forward.

The party members could see the spiders clinging to Hegel’s back and shoulders. They were spiders the size of fists that furtively crawled over the walls, floor, and ceiling. Because of the armor he had equipped, only the person involved couldn’t feel them.

“Umm, you’re in danger right now.”

“What is it.”

“On your armour…..”

“Is something there?”

By the time Hegel turned around to look, the spiders had already spewed silk and had tightly encased his whole body in it.

His body was completely wrapped up so he couldn’t even swing his weapon.

The so-called airtight seal!

Every time he squirmed, trying to escape, the spider silk didn’t break and became more and more tight instead.

“Ah!”

A scream burst out of Hegel’s mouth. His Health didn’t fall by a lot because he was wearing good armor, but no matter how much strength he used, he couldn’t move an inch in the spider silk.

All the other party members were also tightly tied up by the spider silk that fell from the ceiling, wall, floor, and behind them.

The entire passage was filled with spiders, so there wasn’t even a place to escape to.

Even though Ranger Twitter’s arrows got in the way of the spiders’ approach, it wasn’t that much of a help, and even Thief Nide’s dagger only managed to cut a few spider silk strands.

“Kruuung!.”

A Demonic Spirit that resembled a huge spider appeared from the wall of the passage.

Elfin Queen Spider.

The boss level Demonic Spirit leisurely watched over the dying party members.

“Oh no. Looks like we’re dying just like this.”

“It was still a fun exploration.”

It was a point of comfort that at least they could still have a conversation since only their mouths weren’t covered by spider silk.

* * *

Weed was wandering the forest of dried up trees and was searching for the dungeon’s entrance.

The darkness had fallen deeply, and the forest gave off a gloomy spirit.

“Where the heck is the entrance supposed to be.”

If he were a Thief or an Adventurer, he could follow them just by looking at the preceding party’s footsteps. However, it wasn’t just that Weed didn’t have those kinds of tracking skills, but because he had flown in with the outstretched Wings of Light to the middle of the forest of dried trees, he was struggling even more.

*Hunnng hunng.*

He heard the rough sound of breathing from a living thing somewhere, and the chirping of grasshoppers died away.

The desolate and lifeless forest!

Something was thudding, charging towards him from between the trees.

“D-I-E, IN-TRU-DER!”

Growlers!

Monsters holding axes came rushing at him.

A group of a hundred. It was the advent of a Growler charge.

Instead of running away, Weed drew and raised his sword.

“These experience points and items! Come quickly!”

It was just that he welcomed the appearance of an enemy because he hadn’t hunted in awhile.

“Call Death Knight!”

With smoke, even Death Knight Van Hawk appeared.

“Master!”

Van Hawk quickly recognized the sight of Weed. Even though he was in the form of a Dwarf, he had seen Weed as an Orc in the past, so he wasn’t surprised. They weren’t simply in a relationship of training together for one or two days, either.

“They’re enemies. Fight.”

“I understand. Master!”

Van Hawk turned round and swung his sword. The earth was turned over, and Growlers were pushed and fell over.

When Van Hawk was fighting with group of savage Growlers, the rest of them made a detour and made Weed their target.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade.”

From within the forest of dried up trees, Weed scattered beams of light as he ran forward. He grazed past the trees at a rapid speed.

The dried up trees became obstacles, so the number of opportunities the Growlers chasing after him had to attack were limited.

“Intruder!”

“I’ll chew and eat you alive.”

Two Growlers leapt forward as if to intercept him.

The axe strike overflowing with energy! It was a reckless act to take the attack charged with all the Growler’s weight head on.

“Seven Celestial Footsteps!”

Weed’s body left an afterimage as it moved brilliantly.

A skill that could perfectly ignore the law of inertia! A skill that could move you in a completely different direction even at full pelt!

When he took the first step, his whole body faced backwards. In the next step, he moved to the right. After completely evading the Growler’s attack, he swung the sword as if to cut the enemy entirely.

It had been a really long time since he’d fought, but that much wasn’t a problem.

*Pow pow pow!*

The rampaging cut that pursued the intercepting Growlers!

When he had hunted two of the Growlers, Van Hawk had already cleared away at least five enemies. Van Hawk stood in place and was mowing down Growlers that rushed at him like moths to a flame.

“Seven Celestial Footsteps!”

Weed activated the skill without reserve. Quick skill use to attack the Growler’s openings, a useful skill even in the moments when he was picking up japtem. Since his Mana and Stamina were unparalleled, there was no hesitation in skill use.

At that moment, a whisper from Rumi was relayed to him.

– Weed-oppa.

– Yeah, what is it?

The calm voice even while crazily hunting and collecting japtem!

It was illegal to speak on the phone while driving. That was because it diverted attention and increased the probability of an accident.

Since whispering while fighting was incomparably dangerous in Royal Road as well, most people knew to restrain themselves.

However, Weed’s concentration was terrifying.

‘Experience point, skill proficiency, item!’

He was so blindly bent on these three that even if something totally unexpected occurred, he would not be shaken.

– Have you entered the dungeon yet?

– No, not yet.

– Don’t enter. We fell into a trap. We are all only awaiting for our deaths to come.

– …

– You shouldn’t come inside and die needlessly, so stay in town and rest.

*Skiiid!*

Weed halted on the spot.

Then, he surveyed the forest of dried up trees with dimmed and lowered eyes.

At some point, Van Hawk followed suit and stopped.

‘What kind of trouble is that master with a dirty personality going to raise…’

Since he had accompanied Weed from the time since Weed had only barely come out of the beginner stage, Van Hawk knew Weed well. That while hunting, there was absolutely no hesitation or wavering.

The truth that that kind of Weed had stopped was couldn’t be anything but horrifying for Van Hawk.

The Growlers that had lost their fighting spirit peered at Weed with fearful eyes.

If Van Hawk was based on an explosive attack power, Weed was on a totally different level. Movement that couldn’t possibly be chased.

Nimble, phantasm-like movements that rendered them helpless.

Users had to personally go through the process of fighting in Royal Road. Because of that, despite having the same level and skill, the gap between fighting level was enormous.

A character that had learned even Advanced Sword Skill that was controlled by a young child, and a character controlled by a real swordsman was the difference between heaven and earth.

Since Weed used the skills in the right places at the right times,it wasn’t possible for him to miss the place of even a single downy hair.

The concentration he showed in the fight, the skill he displayed while engrossed was giving of an awe-inspiring feeling.

Not only would normal users be shocked by those remarkable body movements, but monsters were also feeling it and were afraid.

His Leadership, Charisma stats made the effect even greater, for monsters lacking intellect, it easily made them fall into horror.

That Weed stopped during combat.

“You guys have really good luck. Something urgent happened, so it seems I’ve gotta go now.”

The Growlers expelled breaths of relief.

Could there be anything more joyful than this!

But Weed hadn’t finished speaking.

“Van Hawk.”

“Your command, Master.”

“Don’t let any of them get away and hunt down every one of them. Don’t forget to pick up all the japtems as well.”

“Okay. Master.”

Weed was not one to neglect and leave monsters.

After handing the duty off to Van Hawk, he searched for the dungeon entrance once again.

Fortunately, he was able to find the entrance in a place not too far from the place where he had fought with the Growlers.

Weed went into the entrance without even a moment of hesitation.

Chapter 4: The Ability He Shows

– You have entered the undiscovered dungeon of Kramador.

Bonus: Extra experience for one week, 2x Item drop. (6 days and 11 hours remaining.)

Weed did not receive the Kramador Dungeon’s first explorer message because he came after Hegel’s party, who discovered it first.

However, time had passed by and the monsters inside the Kramador dungeon had already respawned.

Slimy creatures similar to White Lizards were crawling about.

“Nide must have gone through a lot of trouble to discover this dungeon.”

Even for Dark Gamers who made money in Royal Road by tracking and investigating clues, it wasn’t easy to discover a new dungeon especially in the Central Continent.

He could imagine Nide suffering terribly in a dim, dark place.

Gildras’ Book of Strange Stories!

If it wasn’t for that book, it would have been difficult to find this dungeon.

The Forest of Dried Trees wasn’t a good hunting ground, and Growlers rampaged aimlessly at night.

“You’ve gotta read a variety of books after all.”

There was literary fiction, historical books, biographies, and economic textbooks. These kinds of book were not the only valuable works of literature. In particular, Weed couldn’t understand the common notion that famous foreign books were the only valuable ones.

Porn!

There were a lot of things you could learn from reading porn books, which ignited fires in the chests of all men. Is there any other book that makes one concentrate as well as porn does?

Of course there isn’t!

While reading a book, as the words flowed into the head, those situations were drawn intact.

Moreover, it was an impressive story that had been filled with the infamous seven passions of mankind!

However, even porn books have their varieties. There are a lot of things to learn from the protagonist’s agony, their inner conflict, and the development of their faithfulness to their desires. Gildras was a man who received his domestic education from erotic fiction!

Hasn’t everyone experience bitterness after finding out there were only a few pages left to read when they were young? There probably wouldn’t be any students who would be sad at not having many pages left to read on their textbooks. So from porn, you can learn the mindset of cherishing books.

“Books are truly precious.”

Weed felt pleased when he saw Gildras’ Book of Stories. These types of books were classified as miscellania, and were traded even by the Dark Gamer Union. Unexpectedly, these books were sold for a greater price than encyclopedias, and he couldn’t just ignore the book’s value.

Underneath Weed’s mantle, Wings of Light unfurled magnificently.

Although the wings were spread inside a narrow cave, the wings were not meant for flying in the sky, but for flying at a breakneck speed.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade.”

Weed swung his sword as he flew inside the dungeon.

In an extremely brief moment as he flew past the monsters, he slashed at their weak points.

Because he was flying way too fast, by the time he saw the monsters, they were already in front of his nose. He swung his sword continuously to cut down the monsters.

Completely disregarding the fact that Knights wouldn’t dare ride their horses inside a narrow cave, flying with outspread wings at a breakneck speed was reckless enough to call him crazy. At a speed where it was impossible to dodge, in a blink of an eye, he would receive serious damage if he were to collide into a wall.

Even with complete concentration, one had to be insane to fly in a fast pace inside a narrow place.

However, Weed was not someone who would reasonably consider something others knew as common sense.

There was no established method for hunting. Monsters had to be slayed by any means possible! Any method as long as it was quick and effective.

Even so, flying at a rapid speed with spreaded wings inside a narrow passage of a dungeon, while slashing away monsters, was a method Weed hadn’t considered before.

Although he didn’t have Wings of Light before, and though the monsters inside Kramador dungeon were relatively weak, it was not an idea someone would usually think of. Even if their reflexes and instinct were honed to a superhuman state, it wasn’t something a person would dare to attempt unless they had complete confidence in their control over their body and sword!

Even though this was the first time Weed had thought of this method and put it to practice, he found it fun.

If he muddled up at any moment, he could die.

Since the passages weren’t just in a straight line, there was a terror that made his heart plummet every time he had to change direction.

If he collided into a wall, it was possible that he might just turn into minced fish paste!

However, whenever he accomplished the impossible, his blood boiled with excitement.

And Weed was considering this kind of act with natural nonchalance.

“I’m starting to feel really dizzy. It must be because of my Dwarven body. It’s definitely not a good idea to fly rapidly while drunk!”

He was flying while drunk, even near-death situations couldn’t get him to sober up. Speed driving!

In an instant, he found his way to the second floor of Kramador dungeon by cutting through waves of monsters.

Weed sent an urgent whisper to Rumi.

– Are you okay? Are you still alive?

– Yeah. But well, we’re slowly dying.

– How much Health have you lost?

– About 55%. I think we’ll be completely dead in about 30 minutes or so.

– Really?

Instead of proceeding to the second floor basement, he turned around.

Back to where all the monsters had been annihilated!

“Then I have a few moments to spare.”

Weed unfurled his wings and flew faster than before, tumbling through the path he had traveled through not long ago.

He flew at mach speed to collect the loot! Weed wasn’t someone who would walk away even from trivial japtem.

* * *

Most of the monsters on the second floor basement weren’t any different from those on the first floor.

In fact, since the passage had become more wide, his flying speed became even faster.

*Swoooosh!*

By the time he saw a halo-shaped light discerning the exit of the passage, he had already flown through it.

Before the monsters could counteract by opening their jaws wide to spew spit, his sword had already pierced through them.

– You have delivered a critical hit.

– Your speed gave 382% additional damage.

Speed!

If it could kill with one blow to the fatal weak spot of any monster, it was a useful technique.

However, it could get problematic if the monster endured the attack. The attack was a method which could only be used with high level of skill and concentration. A narrow passage was enough to impede counteraction.

Weed grumbled as he flew.

“I truly am nothing but a mediocre Sculptor. If I had sculpted these wings a little sooner, I could have hunted in dungeons so much faster!”

However, this method wasn’t something that could be used all the time, as dungeons have different structures. In spacious dungeons, even though he would be free to fly, the danger would be greater.

Ranged monsters could attack him if he unknowingly flew past them. His speed would only urge him into their rain of arrows, and Weed would die because of his speed and suffer disastrous injuries!

In addition, for monsters who survived the first blow, it wasn’t easy to attack them again with his sword while trying to brush past them.

It was an idea that spontaneously popped into his head when he saw the monsters gathered within the dungeon of Kramador. Although it was a smashing success, Weed still berated himself for incompetence!

After he had cleared the second floor, he descended to the third floor.

Naturally, he made sure he did not overlook any of the japtems.

Since he was flying in midair, he was able to avoid many of the traps, even for traps that were activated magically. Before they even triggered Weed had already passed by and was long gone.

*Ruuuumble!*

From behind him, the boulder trap that had made Hegel fear for his life had been triggered.

Even though the boulder was rolling forward, Weed’s speed was much greater. He was flying at least five times faster than the boulder.

Weed waited for the boulder and allowed it to come close enough.

“Fortunately, that boulder will help me find my way through this complex labyrinth.”

He had heard from Rumi beforehand, how the others had fallen into a trap. While they spoke, he heard an interesting tale, all the while, he had been looking for a way to save them.

Within moments, he saw a passageway where a large boulder had destroyed part of the passage and was stuck.

“Rumi is probably on the other side of that boulder.”

Weed took a deep breath as he flapped his wings.

No matter how he looked at it, the boulder which looked to be about 10 meters in height, was impossible to destroy.

Even if he flew to build up his speed then crashed into it, though his destructive powers would greatly increase, it was obvious the boulder in front of him would not break, and he would only turn into a piece of beef jerky. And if he survived thanks to his Resilience and Perseverance, if he was crushed underneath the other boulder that was rolling towards him from behind, the pressure would spell his definite death!

“That’s no good.”

Weed reached into his pockets and pulled out a sculpture. It was one of the Fine pieces he crafted and kept when he was making sculptures in Thor Kingdom.

It was a sculpture of a young female adventurer laughing happily.

Weed mercilessly twisted the neck of the sculpture.

“Sculptural Destruction! Add additional stats into Strength!”

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

The pain of destroying a Fine sculpture! The grief!

5 Art stats have been permanently lost. Fame has been decreased by 100.

For a day, Art stats have been converted to Strength in a ratio of 1:4.

His Fame and Art stat were consumed and converted into Strength!

The muscles in Weed’s stubby legs and arms began to inflate like balloons. His chest became muscular and his thighs bulkier.

His Dwarven body was unusually muscular, it surpassed the body of a Barbarian. In fact, the only strange factor of his physique was his extremely short appearance.

“Let’s go.”

Weed unfurl his Wings of Light and flapped it slightly.

Since the boulder behind him was rolling closer and closer, he didn’t have time to hesitate.

Weed flew rapidly towards the boulder and struck it with his sword.

The spectacle looked liked a shooting star was penetrating through the passage.

*Claaaaang!*

In a single strike, half the boulder was destroyed. However, because it wasn’t completely destroyed, Weed’s body was hit with the recoil impact.

The recoil impact was not the end of his troubles. His body collided with the remaining boulder.

“Dammit! Nothing ever goes right for me.”

His Health was reduced by two-thirds.

If it wasn’t for his Resilience and Perseverance, as well as the Dwarven racial characteristics, he would have experienced death for sure!

As he flew as fast as a shooting star, Weed had faltered.

After all, he was still Human.

‘Do I really need to crash into it at such a fast speed? Wouldn’t it be fine if it was a little weaker?’

His fleeting hesitation reduced his speed, and as a result, Weed fractured his body instead of destroying the rest of the boulder.

If Weed was able to cast magic, he would have able have to destroy the boulder more effectively, but since he couldn’t, his body was forced to suffer for his attempt.

With his battered body, he spread his wings once again. Since the Wings of Light did not receive any damage, he was able to extract his buried body in an instant.

“Let’s try this one more time.”

The boulder behind him had rolled much closer, so he didn’t have time to do anything half-heartedly. Nevertheless, in that short space of time, he accelerated 30% times faster than he had before.

“Whatever happens, happens. If I die, so be it, but I will take down this damn boulder with me!”

Death was something all Dark Gamers feared most.

The agony of losing experience points and skill proficiency.

Weed felt the same way, however the current situation was ‘all-or-nothing’.

In order to completely destroy the boulder, Weed flew towards it at full power, reassured by the fact that he will get resurrected by ‘Power to Reject Death’ even if he loses his life.

In addition, Weed focused all his strength and speed at the point of his sword. The point of his sword started to quiver, and because of his Moonlight Sculpting skill, the sword was enveloped with beams of light.

*Claaang!*

Then the other half of the boulder was destroyed in a single slash.

* * *

“Hey Rumi, how much Health do you have left?”

“About 350.”

“We’re gonna die soon. After all dungeon exploration is dangerous. Looks like we’re gonna die without another squirm.”

“Damn. If we were in a wide plain instead of this narrow passage, there would’ve been no way we would’ve gotten caught in this spider web crap.”

Hegel and the rest of his party were tightly wrapped up in spider webs like mummies, with only their mouths free!

As they were awaiting their deaths, they heard an extremely loud noise — as if a thunderbolt had crashed down before them. Without delay, a shockwave swept past them and shook the entire pathway.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. Could it be that Weed-oppa has arrived?”

“Rumi, how could Weed-oppa know where this is and find us?”

“Because I told him.”

“That means he has fallen into the same trap as we did? Wasn’t the sound earlier was of a boulder crashing? It seemed like the sound came from the same direction where the boulder was…”

“No way. How could the likes of a low-level Sculptor come into this dungeon.”

“I’ll try to send him another whisper.”

“That’s a waste of time.”

Rumi sent another whisper to Weed, but she did not receive any response. At that time, Weed was preparing to unleash all of his strength.

“Maybe not after all.”

“Probably not.”

Then they heard another sound. An explosion so loud, it felt like their eardrums were going to burst!

The fragments of the boulder that had shattered flew everywhere as the passage shook. Their bodies which were bound in spiderwebs and suspended in the air, bounced from side to side.

The lump of rock that had blocked the entrance as a result of the trap had been destroyed.

They suddenly heard a voice.

“So I found you properly.”

“Weed-oppa?”

“Just stay still. I’ll free you soon.”

With a swing of his sword, Weed severed the spider webs that had immobilized the bodies of the party members in midair.

Although they had been lowered to the ground, there wasn’t a chance for them to regain their senses.

Weed continually swung his sword and cut away the heaps of spider webs that clung to their bodies. He was removing the thin silk on people’s bodies by swinging his sword.

Although it was hard to believe, it really happened.

As even the silk covering their faces was peeled away, they could see a dignified Dwarf of muscular stature standing before them. It was a Dwarf holding a sword that looked longer than his body.

Every time the Dwarf swung the sword, the silk on his colleagues was peeled away.

It could only be described as sword skill that verged on the miraculous.

Hegel asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice, “Is it really Weed-hyung?”

His mind was still muddled and his thoughts were in a disarray. Even so, since Weed had appeared and saved them while they were totally helpless, he felt grateful.

But just then, a huge lump of rock came rolling into the passage entrance.

It destroyed part of the passage, and once again blocked their escape.

“Weed-hyung, what about that rock?”

“Seems like it’s the trap I triggered.”

“We’re screwed! What did you come in here to do. Hyung.”

There was no time to even be relieved at receiving salvation.

The spiders that had withdrawn swarmed and crawled out of small holes in the ceiling and walls. Simultaneously, spider silk descended upon them like a curtain and completely enveloped the whole area.

A unique attack that rendered the body completely immobile like a mummy had begun.

Weed extended both arms.

“Thread winding!”

An Intermediate Sewing skill.

The technique for acquiring additional materials!

A technique that wound the spiders’ freshly spewed silk and made skeins.

The silk extracted from the spiders was wound into a sphere, sealed with cloth, and was being loaded into Weed’s backpack.

Hisss hisss hissssss!

Since their silk didn’t have any effect, the spiders made threatening noises and crawled down on their silk. However, Weed didn’t bat an eyelid.

A lot of strength was loaded into the Dwarf’s short and thick thighs. Right before his calves were about to burst!

The spiders chose the wrong time.

He was covered in wounds from breaking the boulder and his clothes were also considerably crumpled, but that was no problem.

“Sword Dance!”

The fourth of the Imperial Formless Sword Technique.

Weed’s movements became like flowing water. Sword Dance was a skill that added explosive power to the truly dance-like movements.

All the spiders that touched his sword was blown away. Each and every one, without end.

As the sword flowed on without stopping, the power of the skill was reaching its peak..

The sword that weaved forcefully and lithely between the spiders!

Although the sight of him stepping forward with short legs and swinging his long sword was amusing, it was impossible to laugh while watching his great power.

Weed was effortlessly swinging his sword as he leapt between the spider webs. The sticky and elastic spider webs were cut away like rotten string.

“Move. I don’t have time to waste on the likes of you!”

With the exception of the paralysis and spider webs, the small spiders weren’t threatening.

The Sculpting Blade that demolished the enemy’s defensive abilities. Thanks to the Blade’s special characteristic, the spider webs couldn’t do him much harm, and thanks to his Tailoring skill, he was even collecting spider thread at the same time.

Weed, who broke through the small spider swarm, faced off with the Elfin Queen Spider.

A powerful monster with a level in the late 380s!

Big hairs were heavily forested on its twelve legs, and the head portion was incomparably terrifying and grotesque.

It was this monster that forced Nide to give up resisting and left him to despair after confirming its stats.

However, Weed’s bounding steps became even faster.

“Don’t block me. I’ve gotta recover my expenses!”

He had increased his strength with Sculptural Destruction, and a Fine piece at that.

It was the Weed who even ordinarily despised piffling around while hunting, so in a time like this, he had to go completely crazy with hunting. If only for the sake of extracting the expense of the lost Fame and Art stat, there was no time to delay.

Then, the Elfin Queen Spider turned around and began to hastily scurry away.

*Scuttle scuttle scuuuttle.* (Sound of Spider Queen running away)

It wasn’t that it was funny just because it was a spider, but its fleeing speed was terrifyingly fast.

The spider, which took to fear especially well, characteristically chose to run away rather fight. Even if a prey other than Weed were to appear, it would initially flee if the prey tried to resist. Facing the prey after waiting until the prey had completely drained of strength was the Elfin Queen Spider’s method.

Even as it did so, it moved towards the opposite side of the passage as it spewed forth spider silk that was thicker than a forearm.

“Kaiser Sword!”

Weed used the mana he had left to fall back on his most powerful attack.

He swiftly pierced the vital point of the Elfin Queen Spider, the rear point where the spider thread came out.

– You have delivered a critical hit.

The Kaiser Sword that had its power maximized through Sculptural Destruction!

The horrible destructive power that equaled the ultimate attack skill of the Magicians, Mana Burn.

The Elfin Queen Spider’s huge body trembled.

*Claaaaang!*

An explosion, flash, and tremor even greater than when he broke through the boulder that was blocking the passage burst out.

The best that Hegel and the group members could do was to crouch down and block their ears. However, the explosions and light didn’t stop with that.

“Kaiser Sword, Kaiser Sword, Kaiser Sword!”

The final form of the Imperial Formless Sword Technique that he used even by consuming his own Health and Stamina after his Mana had run out completely!

He was hunting the Elfin Queen Spider relentlessly through the barrage of Kaiser Sword.

– You have delivered a critical hit.

29% additional damage.

– You have delivered a critical hit.

47% additional damage.

– You have delivered a critical hit.

82% additional damage.

– You have delivered a critical hit.

114% additional damage.

This was the reappearance of the single point attack technique– all those attacks were bombarded on a single point!

He was attacking a precise point through the invocation of an extremely difficult skill while mindlessly chasing the rapidly fleeing Elfin Queen Spider.

Although Hegel and the others weren’t able to see it because they had their heads ducked down, the attack technique that Weed was currently demonstrating could be called the strongest attack.

The damage that increased through Kaiser Sword with Sculptural Destruction and his Sword Grinding skill. All of this attack power was applied to the single point attack technique.

With its exponentially decreasing Health and increasing injuries, the Elfin Queen Spider’s movement speed was markedly diminished.

It might have tried resisting if it had the strength since escape had become impossible, but in the face of such incredible damage, it staggered a few steps forward and then died.

The Elfin Queen Spider’s body turned to grey light, and from it poured out sapphires the size of duck eggs and a waist-high pile of relics and gold coins.

Weed collected the loot with lightning speed.

“Wahhh, although he said he was a Sculptor…” Hegel moaned as he clutched his head.

It was as if his mind had gone dumb; Hegel couldn’t think. Though he said he was a Sculptor, what the hell did it mean that he could collect spider silk as Sewing materials.

“And those athletic movements… it wasn’t skill, but real sword technique.”

The majority of users fought while relying on in-game skill. However, special fighters used their own power and were able to optimize their fighting even with skills. In a case like this, the difference they could show in their fighting was incredible.

While holding the same sword, a normal human and a trained swordsman fight. The result would already be decided. Even if their bodies and equipment were on par with one another, with the practiced person’s judgment, sense, and experience, they could only show a world of difference.

Even in Royal Road, if an expert of fighting in reality and a normal person hunted monsters, of course the difference would be apparent.

Maintaining the optimal distance, making minimal evasive movement, and using an attack method that let them draw out their maximum strength! The mindset with which they hunted would be different, and fundamentally, just the way they moved was extremely and completely different.

The majority of people weren’t up at that kind of level.

From their days as a beginner, they would become used to the character and become experts at skill use as they developed more and more. As they hunted repeatedly, the method with which they fought with monsters would become increasingly proficient.

That you could catch a monster that you had hunted hundreds of times before much more easily than a type of monster you were fighting for the first time was this kind of logic!

However, Weed or the SwordNoobs didn’t need that process.

“All you’ve gotta do is knock it down.”

There wasn’t a speck of sympathy in those who ignorantly knocked down the monster.

* * *

“He must’ve succeeded in the hunt.”

“Let’s go and see.”

After about 20 seconds had passed, Selsia picked her body up. Following her, the other party members walked to where Weed was.

They felt something like awe.

The fact that they were feeling intimidated because of this mere Dwarf was laughable, but it was the truth.

If it was someone they didn’t know, they wouldn’t have even dared to approach him.

When they had neared him, Weed was wrapping a bandage around his body. He was using the technique of holding a bandage in both hands and winding it around his torso, arm, leg, neck, and back. He rubbed herbs on thickly and was deep in meditation with his eyes closed.

Skill mastery of Bandaging!

The skill that brought even competent Warriors esteem if they raised it to Intermediate — Weed had mastered it through his combat labors.

His Health and Mana were being steadily restored.

Although they’d approached Weed, upon seeing how he was so heavily wounded, Selsia couldn’t dare disturb him.

“What should we do… It looks like he got really hurt from fighting with the Elfin Queen Spider.”

“We can’t even treat him cause we don’t have a Cleric…”

It happened when they were fretting helplessly.

After he’d recovered just 8% of his Health, Weed opened his eyes.

They were narrow and sidelong, slitted eyes. Weed’s eyes weren’t originally like this; his eyes normally appeared bright and gave off a clear image. Now, his eyes were changed because of the Art of Sculpture Transformation.

The life in the narrow and slitted eyes was bleary.

“I don’t have time to play around like this. I’ve gotta recover my expenses!”

After taking a long, deep breath, he staggered as he walked to the passage where the Elfin Queen Spider had emerged.

His ankle must’ve broken in the thick of battle, as it was dragging on the ground. If not for his Perseverance and Resilience, it was an injury that would have already rendered fighting, even moving, impossible.

“Something like a broken ankle will probably reattach itself with time.”

Weed plowed on as he used his sword like a cane.

Since he had experienced a broken ankle or wrist over a hundred times, he knew the state of his body better than anyone. Therefore, he was going to continue fighting.

* * *

Choi Ji Hoon was having a date with Lee Hyun’s little sister, Lee Hye Yeon.

He fixed her electric appliances, and had become friends with her as he taught her the things she didn’t know in Royal Road. Although they weren’t on couple terms yet, their relationship was very close.

While drinking strawberry milk, Lee Hye Yeon asked, “Oppa, should I show you my personal talent?”

“Personal talent?”

“Yeah. I wanna show you my imitations, like what comedians often do.”

Choi Ji Hoon couldn’t control his considerable expectations.

“You’re really going to do it for me?”

“Yeah. First I’ll express the sound of a person walking from far away through imitation.”

Lee Hye Yeon spoke after slightly licking her plum-colored lips.

“Clop. Clop.”

“…”

“Next is the sound of a car starting up. Vrooom!”

“…”

“This is the sound of an airplane taking off. Swooosshh!”

The click of a picture being taken, the riiing of a phone call, the boom boom boom sound of a drum being played, the bark sound of a dog cry, the meow of a cat cry!

Choi Ji Hoon laughed himself to tears.

The imitations weren’t at all similar, but seeing a girl of such innocent and youthful appearance earnestly doing the gag was delightful.

‘This child, she has charm.’

Although he had met plenty of girls, the feeling of being sucked in like when he was with Lee Hye Yeon was a first. It seemed like he would have no regrets even if they lived their whole lives together.

‘I would be happy every morning when I open my eyes, hear the chirping sound of the birds, and be able to see the fully bloomed flowers.’

The figure of a man who was completely immersed in his fantasy!

It was to the point that he was worried that he might just be a normal oppa here by Lee Hye Yeon’s side.

Choi Ji Hoon asked casually, as if it wasn’t a big deal, “What’s your ideal man?”

If she couldn’t reply properly, he was prepared to ask her what she thought of him.

Lee Hye Yeon answered without hesitation.

“Height about 187 (6’1”) and weight 78 kilograms (172 lbs), it’d be good if his attire suited him well. His ankles have to be thin, slightly slim body and muscles. For hobbies, cooking and cleaning. Annual income around 200 million won ($190k), financial businessman. Will an age of about twenty-eight do?”

“…”

“I’m joking. I like a family man. Everything else is fine as long as he’s to my liking. If need be, I can work and feed the family.”

“A family man?”

“Yeah. A man who’ll only look at me and love me.”

Choi Ji Hoon was speechless.

In terms of eligibility, he had more than anyone. He had confidence in his appearance as well, and had the charisma to charm any woman.

However, those kinds of conditions held no meaning for Lee Hye Yeon.

‘Apart from the things I’ve had since birth… I’m really a worthless person.’

This had become an opportunity for Choi Ji Hoon to turn himself around.

Just then, he met a familiar face over Lee Hye Yeon’s shoulder. From the time he’d known, spent, and met with Lee Hye Yeon, this was the primary person he feared to even meet in his dreams!

It was the first among the SwordNoobs, Jung Il Hoon.

Jung Il Hoon, who’d come to the city to buy a present to give to Cha Eun Hee, had caught him red-handed.

“Oppa, what’re you thinking about?”

“Huh? Mmyeah.”

“Your face went really blue, are you okay?”

“I-it must be the lighting.”

“There aren’t any blue lights here… anyways, I’m going home now.”

“You’re going already?”

“Yeah. Because my oppa gets worried if it gets too late.”

“Should I take you home?”

Choi Ji Hoon spoke as if he considered that a novel idea he’d thought of himself.

‘No matter what, I have to leave this place.’

An instinctive struggle to survive!

Lee Hye Yeon got her bag and stood up.

“You don’t have to do that. From here, it’s only five stops on the bus. I don’t even have to transfer.”

“I’ll see you home on a taxi.”

“Save your money. Why would you waste money on something you don’t need? You would go back on taxi after dropping me off, right?”

Choi Ji Hoon couldn’t lie and say that wasn’t true.

Even if he tried to ride the bus, he’d never done so in his life, so he didn’t even know what the fare was.

In his preschool, elementary school, and middle school years, a chauffeur had dropped him off in a limousine.

In high school, he’d ridden his motorcycle. Although it was a dangerous ride with a high chance of an accident, his bodyguards and an escort of police cars were behind him.

The most frugal means of transportation he’d used was a taxi.

His imported cars at home were taking a long break in the garage.

Somehow, he’d become the inheriting son of a business franchise CEO. He couldn’t tell her the truth because he was afraid that she might become prejudiced or hostile towards him.

Although he didn’t dislike the time he spent comfortably on these modest dates, he’d never felt a painful regret like this before.

“I’m going first. Go home safely.”

“H-Hye Yeon.”

Just when Choi Ji Hoon stood awkwardly to take her home anyways, he saw Jung Il Hoon wagging his finger and stopped.

He was even saying something. The blatant words his lips conveyed were clear.

‘If you run, you’ll die.’

* * *

After he’d seen Lee Hye Yeon off, Choi Ji Hoon approached Jung Il Hoon, his shoulders cringing and his eyes trembling. Without a doubt, he was the picture of a prisoner.

“It’s hot. Let’s walk a little.”

“Yes, hyung.”

They headed towards a nearby park.

For Choi Ji Hoon, it was an incredible relief that they didn’t ascend into the back mountains.

‘At the very least, it’s better that I was caught by Jung Il Hoon and not someone else.’

He was the first instructor and had a strong sense of responsibility. Since he himself was courting someone, he was unusually considerate.

Fish were swimming peacefully in the clear, park lake.

‘I’m jealous of you guys.’

At this moment, even Choi Ji Hoon was jealous of the fish.

Jung Il Hoon moaned loudly with a drawn face, “Do you… like Hye Yeon?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Choi Ji Hoon didn’t make any excuses.

They might not be in a dating relationship, but he was certain that the feeling of love had blossomed in his heart.

“So that’s how it is.”

Jang Il Hoon didn’t speak for a long time.

Choi Ji Hoon’s body, which had been trembling like a leaf, gradually relaxed.

‘I survived.’

He hadn’t been thoughtlessly beaten. So with the optimistic hope that he would make it to the other side safely, he tried carefully moving forward.

After a moment of silence, Choi Ji Hoon gallantly straightened his chest.

“As long as Hye Yeon likes me, I want to try being in a honest, serious relationship with her.”

“In the end, you…”

“I’m sorry. Hyung-nim.”

“It’s fine. What reason is there to be sorry to me. Love is a matter for those involved. And if it doesn’t come to dating?”

“I’m in love with her.”

Choi Ji Hoon explained how some expressions of Lee Hye Yeon were so beautiful to him.

It was an explanation that spanned a long 10 minutes. He even spoke honestly of the empty feelings he’d felt while meeting other girls.

“I’m still young, but I think she’s a girl who’d be hard to find again in my whole life. More than anything… Even now, it’s like I can still hear her voice. I think of her when I sleep, too.”

Choi Ji Hoon realized something as he spoke.

Lee Hye Yeon was different from other girls. He realized that if he lost her, she was a precious person he would never be able to meet again, and also just how enthralled he was with her.

Jung Il Hoon clapped his shoulder with a thickset hand.

“Alright. It’s fine if you’re that determined. A man doesn’t have to talk pathetically about this and that.”

“Are you giving me your permission?”

“What do you mean, permission. I told you that love is fine if those involved like each other.”

“Thank you very much. Hyung-nim!”

“Ah, but you know…”

Jung Il Hoon spoke genially, “Come to the dojo starting from tomorrow.”

“What?”

“If you’re a man, you should pay a little attention to your muscle fitness too. Do you think a flaccid body will do.”

“It’s not flaccid…”

It was a body trained with basketball, soccer, swimming and all sorts of sports.

Jung Il Hoon shouted sharply, “It’s weak! With that level of fitness, could you win against about 3,000 thugs if they lunged at you while in the middle of a date?”

“3… 3,000 of them?”

“No matter the situation, you have to be able to protect your girlfriend. Even if a war broke out, a drought struck, a flood happened, earthquake, even if a tsunami were to rise, you have to save your girlfriend. Are you prepared for that much?”

“N-not yet.”

“I shall raise that kind of strength and courage in you. It’s too bad all I can do for you is this kind of small help.”

“Thank you very much.”

“If if they find out the truth that you like Hye Yeon, then even the students will diligently come to help you like it’s their own business. You’ll have no lack of sparring opponents, so come early at dawn. That way, you can receive the teachings from at least one more person.”

Sparring with the instructors and their 500 trainees!

Choi Ji Hoon’s face drained of color.

He thought he might understand the meaning of what it was to come to the dojo.

“Surely your feelings of liking Hye Yeon isn’t fake, right?”

“It’s real.”

“It’s fine if you want to run away. You can run away. That means you don’t have to come out to the dojo.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Since we can just go catch you.”

“…”

Chapter 5: The Pure-White Beauty

Kramado Dungeon.

Intermediate monsters called Kramanoims appeared on the 1st and 2nd floors.

That alone was enough to call it more than a beginner dungeon; a veteran’s hunting ground. However, dangerous traps and even monsters in the late 300s came out from the 3rd floor onwards.

They wouldn’t have met the Elfin Queen Spider if they’d taken a normal path, but it was still an asphyxiatingly dangerous dungeon.

If it was just up to Hegel and the others, they would choose the path that would take them back out!

“Huff huff.”

“Please slow down a little!”

However, they were now advancing even deeper into the dungeon.

Granted, the way in front of them was perfectly cleaned out by Weed. It was destruction that didn’t leave even 1 tiny baby spider alive. As for the monsters, they couldn’t even sightsee them, and the traps were completely destroyed.

That was because Weed had given Nide a separate task.

“Nide.”

“Yes. Hyung!”

“As you go forward, dismantle the traps.”

“What about the fighting?”

“I’ll take care of it. Just keep moving on ahead and dismantle the traps. Leave all the monsters alone.”

“Yes, hyung. Please leave it to me.”

For Nide, a Thief who explored dungeons and labyrinths as a profession, something like dismantling a trap was child’s play!

He had also experienced a near-death crisis with the Elfin Spider Queen, however it was merely because Thieves had characteristically low attack power. If he had created an opportunity for an ambush after hiding his body behind pillars of obstacles to fight, he wouldn’t have been able to win, he wouldn’t have lost either. Even when the boulder was chasing them, if not for his teammates, he could have somehow squeezed himself into a small crack in the wall and escaped, though there would’ve been no reason for him to get caught in the trap in the first place.

The Thief, Nide, was entrusted with a task appropriate for his specialties, and worked to disable or destroy the traps as he passed by.

Weed was assigned to the remaining monsters.

– Weed-hyung, there are a considerable number of level 300 Morron Chasers ahead.

Nide also performed the task of scouting.

– How many are there?

– There are around 65 of them. With this many of them, it’s going to be immensely dangerous…

– 3 minutes.

– What?

– I’ll finish up within 3 minutes, so find me another monster mob.

– I understand.

Short and sweet!

When he was whispering someone, he made it short and straight to the point, however the time he was in battled was far more briefer than that.

Run up, fight, hunt and kill, collect the japtem!

There was nothing more frustrating than grilling and eating meat at a restaurant than having the meat suddenly stop coming in the middle of it. For Weed, the most stressful problem was running out of monsters while fighting.

[This refers to Korean BBQ places where you grill your own meat, there’s nothing more annoying than running out of meat.]

In other battlefields, monsters didn’t come out like they did in this dungeon. Since he didn’t have to fight sparingly, it was something to be welcomed!

A week hadn’t passed since the dungeon discovery, so double the item drop rate and experience were applied. The first discoverers got to obtain discovery fame and the very best items from the monsters, but as long as you came in within a week, the experience and item drop rate applied to everyone.

You could say that it was the gift the monsters that had grown with warm and full bellies inside the dungeon gave to outsiders.

“65 of them…”

Weed could take on that many Kramanoims easily. With that many it would take a significant amount of time to dispose of all of them.

“Summon Dirtman, Fiery Pebble!”

Weed summoned the Spirits he’d personally created.

Since he had max intimacy with them, as long as his Mana held out, there was no limit to what the Spirits could do. It was a privilege only the Spirits’ creator could have!

The Dirtmen were mostly low-class Spirits, and many of the Fiery Pebble Spirits came as intermediate Spirits.

A part of the ceiling collapsed and the dungeon became a sea of fire.

Chaos!

The Dirtmen rode on the Morron Chasers’ backs.

“Get off!”

Although the Morron Chasers swung their spears, the Dirtmen didn’t budge. That was because the Spirits of earth had nearly infinite Health. They squashed the Morron Chasers with their weight and slowed them.

The Fiery Pebbles went into the Morron Chasers’ mouths. Searing flames spewed out every time they opened their mouths!

Every time Weed ran in, only the flames were left behind. He cut down the flame-engulfed Morron Chasers without using any skills and just his basic swordplay. That was because he needed to pool his Mana and use it for calling Spirits in this large-scale battle.

Dwarves had faster regeneration than humans, so thanks to their quick regeneration he could fight with basic swordplay and occasionally use Sculpting Blade.

When he was finishing the Morron Chaser group, Hegel, Selsia, Rumi, Bella, and Twitter ran into the nearby vicinity. The distance between them and Weed had shortened although they ran without stopping.

Thanks to being in the same party as Weed, they also received experience.

– Your level has risen.

– For being together with the party member who slayed a Morron Chaser with one blow, your Fame has risen by 1.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

A low grade boss monster, Morron General, has been massacred by your group.

Their experience was rising so quickly that they were terrified to check their information windows.

With the exception of Hegel, the level 200ers were electrified and couldn’t believe whether it was a dream or reality.

By the time they’d caught up to him, Weed was already running off again.

Running as he wrapped bandages, with eyes closed for meditation, and using the defense skill Close Eyes Tightly, he managed to save a little Health even in the middle of battle!

As long as you weren’t blind, it was normal to always keep your eyes open if you weren’t sleeping. Since he was raising the efficiency of his fighting as he forcibly closed his eyes, it was absolutely ridiculous.

If you carefully examined Weed’s fighting method, it makes you wonder if it was made for humans to imitate!

“He doesn’t rest.”

“He’s probably not human.”

“He’s a Dwarf.”

Hegel became irritated listening to Rumi, Bella, and Twitter’s admiration.

“What the hell.”

He really couldn’t wrap his head around how the situation had become like this.

Common sense!

Although he’d grown up since youth hearing often that he had no consideration, at the very least he had common sense.

Whenever he tried to use his common sense, his head just got muddled up.

“Though he said his profession was Sculptor…”

Hegel suddenly remembered something he’d said to the Black Lion guild members just 8 hours ago. It had been on the chat channel of the Black Lion Guild!

* * *

While they were resting after hunting Kramanoims on the 1st floor, Hegel had chatted with some people he knew.

Provence: Hegel, where are you now?

Hegel: Ah, yes. I spoke to you about this before. I have to explore a dungeon with friends from my school…

Provence: Oh, that was today?

Hegel: Yes. I’ve come to a dungeon in the Plains region of Dale Kingdom. Do not be surprised, hyung-nims, but I was the first to find an undiscovered dungeon.

Provence: Really?

Ject: That’s a bit surprising, Hegel.

Shen: Have you already grown this much?

As large as the Black Lion Guild was, there were many people who recognized Hegel.

Finding an undiscovered dungeon was a rare and glorious deed.

Shen: Approximately what level of dungeon is it?

Hegel: It’s a low-level dungeon. Although I had expectations, jeez. It’s about perfect for level 200s to come play. Whatever.

Hegel whispered quietly so his nearby group members couldn’t hear him.

Ject: Don’t disregard low-levelers. Even low-levelers get big quickly. You were also below level 200 not so long ago.

Hegel: I’m not disregarding them, I just mean it’s a dungeon for low-levels to play in.

Provence: You must be getting the appetite for exploring an undiscovered dungeon. You also get tense from not knowing what’ll come out…

Hegel: Ah, it’s fine. It’s a low-level dungeon anyways, so what would there be? I want to finish the dungeon exploration quickly and also return to the guild hunting ground.

When he was chatting like this, he heard a dignified tone through the chatting room.

Bindel: Are your friends strong?

It was the Dwarven Warrior Bindel, who ranked within the top 3 in the Black Lion Guild.

Hegel: No. They’re weak. There’s one Thief who has a higher level than me, but besides him they’re nothing special.

Bindel: Isn’t your level over 300 right now? A Thief that’s higher than level 300…that’s amazing.

Thieves were a tough job to raise.

If they joined a party, they could use close-combat, but they often died because of their weak defense. The risk of exploring alone could not be compared to hunting with a party.

Bindel: What kind of build of Thief is he? And what is his level?

Hegel: He’s just a little over 300. His build is probably just mainly party hunting.

Hegel cut his words short since he didn’t want to flatter Nide.

The Swordsman who shone as the battle’s flower.

He had some contempt towards other professions, and although he himself knew Nide wasn’t normal, he didn’t want to acknowledge it.

Bindel: At least with a Thief it will be easy to explore the dungeon. Since you said something about not having a Priest.

Hegel: Well, it’s just meh. Since I’m almost entirely handling the battle. And there’s still 1 Dwarf who hasn’t arrived yet.

Bindel: Oho, a Dwarf.

Bindel seemed to be quite interested since it was a Dwarf.

Bindel: Is he a Soldier or a Warrior?

Hegel. No, he’s a Sculptor.

Bindel: Sculptor?

Hegel: Yes. He’s a hyung I know, but he happened to be a Sculptor, so… he probably won’t be much help in the dungeon exploration, but I squeezed him in for the sake of the school assignment. You know, I wish I could just breeze through and defeat just enough monster. After I’m just about done with my work here, I want to quickly go hunting with you, hyungs.

Bindel: Is that Sculptor’s level high?

Hegel: It’s…I don’t know. I never asked. Wasn’t really interested. Why are you asking?

Bindel: Because I worked with an impressive Dwarven Sculptor some time ago.

Hegel: So he made an awesome sculpture?

Bindel: Though that’s true too… he was a Sculptor with an abnormal Charisma and ability to command troops. I also was following his orders mindlessly and before I knew it, we’d blasted through the dungeon in an instant. Not just me, but dozens of Dwarves were pulled in by his control.

Hegel: I’m surprised there’s a Sculptor like that.

Bindel: That wasn’t all. His cooking skills were also outstanding. If you just ate the food he made, the fighting became even more ridiculous. The miscellaneous ingredients that went through his hands became an invigorating meal that made you feel strength was surging into your body.

Hegel: For a Sculptor to have that level of cooking…

Bindel: It was really comfortable because he also repaired weapons and armors that were in bad shape. If that Dwarf repaired it for you, items that were damaged beyond its durability limits were also restored.

Hegel: What? Durability limits can be restored? What are you talking about… is there such a thing?

Hegel didn’t know that items past their durability limits could even be restored.

Provence: Bindel hyung-nim, does that mean durability limits can be restored?

Ject: So you can return completely ruined weapons or armors back to perfect condition?

The majority of the Black Lion guild members didn’t know this. Although the Black Lion Guild had a considerable number of high level users like a prestigious guild, they didn’t know much about repairing the durability limit.

In the first place, there were hardly any cases where the durability limit of weapons or armors lowered by a lot while hunting. On top of that, they had never met a Blacksmith who could repair durability limits.

In order to repair the durability limit, you had to raise the skill level to at least intermediate mastery. For a craftsman with that level of skill, they could earn a fairly large sum of money simply by making and selling weapons or armor. There had been no cases where someone was willing to repair the durability limit, which wasn’t much help in making money and was just cumbersome.

Bindel: Anyways, there was such a Dwarven Sculptor.

Hegel: Surely not, hyungnim! Versailles Continent is wide, so there can only be one Dwarf like that. But the hyung I know probably isn’t a Dwarf like that.

He had boasted to his guild members like this just 8 hours ago!

Hegel was devastated.

“This is far worse than than the case Bindel-hyung talked about!”

He was simply resentful that this kind of thing would happen to him, of all people.

* * *

They hunted a variety of monsters as they roamed about in the expansive third floor underground labyrinth. Once they entered the heart of the dungeon, there were dangerous traps, and boss-grade monsters were crouching in each place like that.

Weed and Nide deliberately fell into those traps and massacred the boss-grade monsters there.

It was a hunting method of complete monster annihilation.

If even 1 monster was left, it was somewhat galling, stifling. Like when you wash your face but don’t wash your forehead, you can’t feel refreshed.

Besides, there was a double experience bonus applied!

Weed was getting a large amount of experience and items from the boss monsters.

Thanks to Nide destroying the traps, they gained additional fame, skill, and experience as they safely cleaned out the dungeon.

Those who were following were also able to gain experience, fame, and the japtem that hadn’t been completely picked up.

In this fashion, the Thief Nide completed the dungeon 3rd floor map.

– The Kramado Dungeon’s third floor basement has been mapped for the first time.

Fame has increased by 75.

Mapping skill proficiency has improved.

Experience has been increased.

That means they have gone through every single passage there was. They had completed the perfect occupation of the Kramado Dungeon.

“Huff huff.”

“Thi-this exploration is now finally over with!”

Hegel sank to the ground.

A dungeon exploration spanning five days!

Even considering the time difference that was four times faster than reality, almost a whole day had steadily passed since they’d come into the capsule room at noon. It was midday in reality, when the sun was hovering in the middle of the sky outside.

“It was a really long day.”

Everyone could sympathize with Nide’s words.

They had never felt that hunting was this scary and gruesome before. They had also formed belief and confidence in themselves. Instead of always hunting safely with their Health bars filled up, they had chased down monsters like their tails were on fire.

Although they did it with Weed taking the majority of the fighting, when the others had enough Mana and Stamina, they had also participated in the fight.

‘Hunting is fun.’

‘Will I be able to try this kind of hunting again.’

Even though it was scary, the thrilling pleasure could not be denied.

Hegel’s legs were knocking together.

“Good job everyone.”

Twitter smiled as her dimples showed.

“Yeah, you too. Since the dungeon exploration is over too, I think I’m going to go home and rest up.”

They planned on catching up on the sleep they’d lost. However, Weed raised his sword silently and was walking away somewhere.

“Oppa, where are you going?”

“I have to hunt.”

“Bu-but the dungeon exploration is over.”

“The double experience time hasn’t ended yet.”

“But it’s already noon.”

“There’s no school on Saturday.”

“…”

Bella butted into the peculiarly flowing atmosphere.

“But oppa, if you keep going like this, you’ll ruin your body.”

“Body?”

“Since we’ve stayed up the whole night, you got to go home and at least have a nap. You also have to eat.”

“I ate earlier. And slept too.”

“When?”

“At dawn. I went home, made food for my little sister, slept for 2 hours, and came back.”

“…”

That meant when the group was taking a break and resting during the dungeon exploration, Weed had returned after eating and even sleeping!

In order to play Royal Road for a long time, body maintenance was essential.

* * *

“Come to the masquerade the Law Department is hosting! Freshmen can enter at a 30% discounted price.”

“There is Slavery Blind Dating in the Microbiology Department, which has lots of pretty older sisters. Only those younger than the older sisters can participate.”

[Slavery Blind Date is an event where one student ‘buys’ another and makes them do whatever they want as their ‘slave’, all in good fun.]

“The Social Physical Education Department is having a super strength show in the Recreation Club Crew.”

“Look here! An opportunity doesn’t come day in and day out! Bare-handed fish catching that you can do during the festival period!”

It was the day of the Korea University’s festival.

This could not be a more unpleasant moment for Lee Hyun.

‘In the end, this day has come.’

After finishing school, he usually had free time right afterwards. He would play Royal Road as much as he wanted. With sleep adjustments, he invested about 12 hours a day into Royal Road. Since he couldn’t help but play for less time than other Dark Gamers, it was essential that he spend his time sparingly. He even raised his level to level 358.

But to think that he was helplessly forced to stay at school for the festival duration!

It felt like a prison to Lee Hyun.

“Examination hell is no big deal. If a man is indeed ceaselessly imprisoned, then does that mean he is an existence that cannot help but live?”

A question about existence!

Lee Hyun was having a philosophical thought for the first time in his life.

Other little kids raised their sensitivity as they played with the neighborhood puppies. When they saw the napping dogs, they were also dipped into speculation about the routines of animals.

However, Lee Hyun had not lived a life like that.

The law of the jungle!

If he saw a dog, and it was an easy target, the first thing he thought of was doenjang.

[Doenjang, fermented soybean paste, is a brown, thick paste. Depending on how it is prepared, it can be savory, sweet, or spicy.

Japtem does not endorse the eating of dogs.

Remember the cultural difference — although the majority of new-generation Koreans frown on eating dogs, there are still a significant number of older Koreans who do eat dog meat.]

Dog and doenjang. Like the relationship of ramen and egg, it was a naturally occurring process of association.

The ten year old Lee Hyun who gazed with pleasure at the dogs that approached with their tails wagging if you threw them a few bones!

‘That puppy looks like its meat broth will brew well.’

Although it was a festival everyone was enjoying, Lee Hyun just waited for it to end quickly.

“Dishwashing squad, mobilize!”

Lee Hyun was in charge of managing the bar.

His responsibility had grown because he was older than his teammates and had shown ability since the bar preparation.

“Alright!”

Students used rubber gloves washed the cups and bowls. The bowls in the store were rented so they had to thoroughly wash them before use.

“When should we start receiving customers?”

“The girls will be ready in 10 minutes!”

Business would begin as soon as the female students, who were entrusted with serving, arrived. Even as they were making the appetizers, they heard music and the sound of firecrackers outside. Many people were coming and going past the outside of the tent bar. There were far more students from other schools and outsiders than students from their school.

Finally, the female students, who had changed in the dressing room and had put on light makeup, appeared.

The college girls appeared wearing a white veil and a wedding dress!

The college girls each walked toward their close friends.

“Don’t just stand there blankly. Take off my veil!”

For some reason, the male students felt their hearts thump as they took off the veils.

The female students had instructed them in advance.

“It doesn’t really mean anything. It’s just because the man is supposed to take it off to get that feeling.”

“I know!”

The male students threw back the veils.

“You look different when I look at you like this.”

“Well tomboy, you look elegant when I look at you like this.”

“Wanna die?”

The group members also exchanged jokes without reserve.

Since the female students’ wedding dresses had been personally handmade, they weren’t that pretty or the designs weren’t really impressive. Even so, they were similar imitations and gave off slight impressions of a young bride.

All the female students came out, and Seoyoon, who had gone in last, hadn’t come out.

“…”

The conversations in the bar stopped. Even the students preparing appetizers in the kitchen and the students cleaning the tables with rags were speechless.

It was because very many eyes were drawn to the dressing room as they waited for something.

Click.

Seoyoon carefully opened the door to the dressing room and walked out.

In that moment, the men were captivated.

She was the woman of every man’s dream.

The beautiful skin that looked like it could only be maintained by drinking dewdrops that were purified by about 8 filters!

Seoyoon had light makeup on her face.

This was a common misconception men make; they think that makeup is plastic surgery.

Makeup adds expression and color to the face. The light makeup on Seoyoon made her own beauty seem all the more beautiful.

The face that was extremely beautiful even in its normal, bare state, was now difficult to stare at for a long time.

Although her eyes, nose and lips were far too beautiful, they merged together and manifested in complete harmony. She was a beauty who made them wonder what the peak of natural radiance was. Their breathing stopped, and they felt like they wouldn’t have any regrets even if they died like this simply by looking at her face.

In addition, the thin fabric of the wedding dress evoked a stunning figure from the shape of her body.

It felt like a dream every time Seoyoon walked forward. Even if you knew that she was pretty even when she went plainly, after getting dressed up, her beauty was enough to make you lose your senses.

The men’s mouths went dry.

They were enormously moved, like a person who discovered water after not drinking for a decade, and not just water, but honey water!

The miracle of the century was here.

The line of the dress from the thin fabric that swept from the legs to the waist, chest, and collar bone was perfect.

With the enchanting beauty Seoyoon possessed, her forearms alone could be considered sexy!

The most beautiful face wearing the veil was flushed pinkly with bashfulness.

Every time Seoyoon walked forward, the dress made a swish, swish sound. She walked forward towards Lee Hyun with her head bowed.

“It’s a goddess.”

“She’s a goddess.”

Sounds of admiration came from around the room.

The female students murmured their envy.

“That dress, the works of a world-renowned designer Marie-Ange Chloe.”

“Ugh… It’s really too pretty a dress.”

The boys were deeply sympathetic.

“A world-renowned designer!”

“Impressive. Impressive!”

Then, just as enormous respect for the designer was forming!

Seoyoon went to Lee Hyun and raised her head a little. The clear light of her eyes were visible.

Anyone could see that it meant she was asking him to take off her veil.

Chapter 6: Slave Date

As soon as Lee Hyun took off the veil, the customers rushed into the tent bar.

“It’s time to start business, right?”

“The bar is open, yeah?”

They asked the customers who were waiting in line to wait for 10 minutes. Since there was no news after waiting 15 minutes, the customers started to push their way in.

“Whoa!”

“It’s Seo-Seoyoon.”

Seoyoon was a celebrity that no one in Korea University did not know.

“Your order, please.”

The female students in charge of serving were running around in dresses.

“Customer, please order!”

“Are you not going to order?”

Even after being pressed to order food, the customers were only captivated by Seoyoon and were just staring.

The visual shock from the stunning beauty!

When the female students brought the menus to them and urged them to order, they were once again surprised by what they saw.

“Live Sea Eel, Wild Sea Bass, Steamed Crab, Roasted Eel, Seafood Black Bean Noodles… Is this a real menu? It says spicy stew will be added when Sea Bass is ordered…”

“Yes. Today’s menu is primarily centered on seafood. The main menu changes daily throughout the festival. However, items like fruit appetizers, Korean omelette rolls, and vegetable pancakes can be ordered at any time.”

[T/N: Korean omelette roll is basically the Korean equivalent of tamagoyaki, the Japanese rolled omelette.]

“For now, please give us 3 servings of Live Sea Eel.”

“3 servings of Live Sea Eel here!”

A burner and grill were quickly set on the customer’s table. Then, the live sea eels were cooked along with seasoning. Every time the eels squirmed, they mixed with the seasoning. Once they were cooked, the nutritious and perfect sea eels were eaten piece by piece.

If they were going to do a bar, Lee Hyun wanted to make profit and bring out the quality of the food.

“Even though it’s a festival bar, it can’t be done half-heartedly!”

It was food customers would pay money to eat.

It couldn’t be made artlessly. It was a job that could only be done if he took responsibility for ensuring taste and nutrition.

Since no one but Lee Hyun could carve the sushi off the sea bass, he was the busiest one.

He was slicing things on the cutting board so artistically!

The sea bass that had its meat deboned flickered its eyes, still alive. It was skillfully cut so as to avoid damaging the nerves.

Today, the wild sea bass, snow crabs, and sea eels were delivered from market merchants with whom he was normally acquainted with. The freshness of the ingredients was guaranteed, and he could obtain reliable wares at a bargain price.

“You were really a college student?”

“Anyway, advertise us to the students. I mean, tell them to buy products from the market.”

Thanks to their generosity, he could use quality ingredients. But since it was a school bar, the prices couldn’t be expensive.

In Royal Road, everyone could make money by hunting, so it didn’t matter much even if you ripped people off. However, asking students to pay expensive prices was a problem of conscience.

In the end, he reduced the servings moderately and adjusted the prices so they weren’t too high.

Nevertheless, the customers were satisfied.

“Here you go.”

“Please go and take their order at table 9.”

Seoyoon also went around taking orders in her dress.

The force of a Goddess gushed out, even when she was simply walking around!

There were many cases where customers spilled their food while staring blankly. It was a frequent occurrence for them to just stare at Seoyoon for several minutes as they drank their alcohol.

Every time Seoyoon walked by, she left behind a sweet lemon scent.

She only applied a light toner and some lotion for makeup. Nevertheless, she was still overwhelming with just a bare face, but today, she had especially sprayed on some perfume.

Seoyoon held out the menu for the customers.

“…”

She stood still and waited for their order.

She was embarrassed by the gazes of the customers surrounding her, but she endured.

“Please give us a fruit appetizer.”

“…”

Seoyoon lightly nodded and turned around.

Even customers who had a considerable amount of appetizers on their table were scrambling to make a new order. It was attributed to their greed to try to speak to Seoyoon once.

“The customers have been waiting for 30 minutes.”

“Chef, when will the steamed crab be ready?”

“It will be out shortly!”

Only Lee Hyun was being worked to the point of death. Because of the other students whose cooking speeds were so slow, he had to do 2 times, no 3 times the work.

On the first day of the festival, he couldn’t sightsee the fireworks or the student’s songs, and wasn’t even been able leave the bar at all.

On the next day, even more customers pressed in early on.

“Please take our order!”

“We’re ready to order here!”

Although the kitchen and tables were still busy, they had more time to spare compared to the first day.

The cooking had already been finished ahead of time, and plenty of side dishes had also been prepared. The alcohol was stacked up by the box and the tent had also been expanded.

Since the department sent around 10 people as reinforcements to do jobs like washing the dishes and cleaning the tables, the workload had decreased.

Lee Hyun felt the work’s worth through the fun of making money.

‘The first day’s profit amounted to 700 thousand won (~$700). Even after deducting the rental fees of the bowls, etc., for five days, this much is left.’

The business right now was all experience for the future!

He knew plenty about how to treat customers and cook from his part-time jobs, but self-employment wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

‘If I can’t make a crazy success in special situations such as this, I won’t be able to consider any sort of career in business from on!’

On the day of the festival when everyone else was enjoying themselves and playing, he took responsibility of the bar with resolute determination.

They made a large profit on the second day as well, and, from the third day, at no time was a seat at a table empty. Even on the fourth day of the festival, it was impossible for Lee Hyun to sightsee the festival.

The sight of him must’ve been pitiful because his seniors grabbed the kitchen knife in his stead.

“Lee Hyun, we’ll take care of this place so you should also go have some fun.”

“But I have been entrusted with this place.”

“Is this the Silla Dynasty or what, that you’re displaying such a ‘show no retreat’ mindset? The festival isn’t some kind of battleground either, so go have fun. The other kids are playing like they’ve lost their senses, so you should also enjoy the festival.”

Lee Hyun took off the apron and straightened his back.

‘The festival… there’s probably a need to see what kinds of business the other departments are doing. Even restaurants need a lot of know-hows. The more diverse the information I have, the better.’

“Then I will leave briefly and return.”

“Just rest up today. It’s already 6 in the evening. Since the bar is only set to go until 10 o’clock, we’ll try and do the rest on our own.”

In order to avoid straining the festival’s energy too much, the bars closed at 10 o’clock.

“Alright.”

Lee Hyun looked around the tent bar.

The tables were full of customers, and the students were hectically taking orders.

For the last three days, Seoyoon’s popularity was definitely at its peak.

All the customers wanted to order from her. Due to that, the hardworking Seoyoon had received a break today and didn’t come out to the bar.

“Even if I’m not there, I’m sure it’ll run well on its own.”

As soon as Lee Hyun left the tent bar, he was swept along in the festival’s crowd— people who came with their families, students from other schools, and Korean University students who dressed up and were wandering around.

The campus that had been quiet was now clamorous. It was a place where the excitement of youth could be felt!

As if to breathe in that excitement, Lee Hyun took in a deep breath.

“Ah, how nice. The air is filled with the scent of money!”

A stage had been set up in the grass plaza where he had always unpacked his lunch, and bands were performing there.

Multiple teams from the Virtual Reality Department participated in the athletic meet, song festival, and play.

The results were disastrous!

They were eliminated in the preliminaries in the athletic meet, it was impossible for them to sing high notes in their performance for the song festival, and they said an audience of only a few elementary school kids had come for the play.

“Seems like those noonas didn’t practice.”

[T/N: Noona is a friendly, casual term for ‘older sister.’ Like hyung and oppa, it can be used for a non-family member.]

An elementary school kid wearing glasses with a sharp gaze even said something like this. “How sloppy.”

It was a play criticized by even elementary school kids!

That was the conclusive trigger that sent all the Virtual Reality Department’s support towards the bar.

* * *

It appeared that the other departments had done a lot of preparation in advance, as they were hosting a variety of events.

The Department of Veterinary Medicine brought the characteristics of their department to life and were selling beef.

In the Department of Social Welfare, the students were pushing the wheelchairs of the disabled and elderly as they guided them. It was said that the department accommodated them in a nearby hotel or in their own houses as they personally gave them a bath and performed a meaningful deed that gave the people a gift.

In the Clothing Design Department, clothes they had made themselves were sold cheaply.

The music students were on the side of always having high popularity. Since the pretty female students were performing, there was a swarm of male spectators and they were a big hit.

Stages were set up here and there, and even the small events were unceasing.

Even a flea market that sold off unused products was lively.

It was when Lee Hyun’s steps took him towards the flea market behind the main stage, someone beside him grabbed his arm and dragged him.

“Look, it seems like 1 more volunteer has appeared.”

An announcer was in the middle of conducting Slave Dating on the stage.

The event crew had been choosing Slave Dating participants from the audience, but Lee Hyun had pushed through the crowd and barged in.

A total of 30 male students were participating in the Slave Dating!

The announcer pulled the mic close and shouted.

“It’s time for them to show off their respective honed skills in the talent show. Your master can change depending on how cool a talent you show, so slaves, you should do your very best! Then let’s start with participant number 1.”

Lee Hyun received number 23.

He tried to resist and not go up on the stage, but because of the crowd’s jeers, he inevitably went up.

‘A fricking talent show, my luck today is the worst.’

What the hell was there that he was good at!

Well, the only thing he knew how to do was martial arts.

Lee Hyun’s face hardened more and more whenever the other participants showed off their singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, magic shows, or comedy skits.

He was scared of the frosty look in the audience’s eyes!

He wasn’t a person with an extroverted personality, and he didn’t have any individual skill, so his anxiety increased even more.

Stage fright. Since students from the same school were watching, it was more repulsive.

‘Let’s dance. Should I do the national gymnastics, at least?’

Participant number 6 did the national gymnastics first.

“Boooo!”

“Boring! Throw him off!”

Lee Hyun was relieved.

‘It’s lucky I didn’t do the national gymnastics. Then should I sing a song? Seems like the classic ‹ I will love you until the end › would be good.’

Participant number 14 sang that song first.

I could not even laugh~

I remembered your laugh each time, so I couldn’t even cry~

Since if I’m sad, you might be pained~

Although Lee Hyun thought the participant had an outstanding singing ability, he wasn’t able to get a high score.

Now the problem wasn’t getting a good score. He just needed to pass this situation somehow.

“Now we’ll watch participant number 23’s talent show.”

Suddenly it was time for Lee Hyun’s turn. Since it was a short talent show, there wasn’t time for him to think leisurely.

“Get me a knife…”

“What?”

“I will show you apple peeling.”

“An apple. Is there an apple prepared? Yes, they’re saying they can get one with a knife prepared for you shortly. Participant number 23’s talent show is apple peeling. Everyone, please enjoy.”

The nicely ripening apple and fruit knife the event crew gave him!

Lee Hyun rubbed the apple as he turned it around and around. Then, in a single moment—

Sliiiceeeee.

In a single breath the knife cut the apple and the peel slipped off.

When the blade grazed by, the apple peel fell, as if taking off its skin. There was no break in between or any residue left behind.

“Did you peel it already?”

“Yes.”

“You peeled it really quickly. In any case, we’ve seen a nice trick!”

The announcer praised him to drum up the amusement. It was because of the thought of seeing a new trick after only watching commonplace talent shows of songs or dance.

The audience also applauded moderately.

‘Phew. Looks like I was able to pass.’

7 more people did their talent shows after Lee Hyun, and then it was time to set the prices of the slaves.

The announcer lined up the slaves.

“Good looking people in the back! For those of you who think they look ordinary, please stand in the front!”

In accordance to the announcer’s words, Lee Hyun moved to stand in the front.

‘It’s probably better to be sold first.’

But other slaves had bounded up first, filling up the front.

A slave could be purchased by only one person from the audience!

The people with friends to purchase them already had prearranged the selection, so they went to stand in the front.

The people who’d come on their own were only Lee Hyun and a few others.

“Sold for 30 thousand won (~$30) .”

“Sold for 15 thousand won (~$15) .”

“The slave this time is quite valuable. 48,000 won (~$48)! As for words for the purchaser, today you can really work them and get your money’s worth!”

Lee Hyun’s turn rolled around.

The announcer looked over Lee Hyun and sighed deeply as if depressed. Then he said into the microphone.

“If I were to tell you able the slave this time… It looks like he has good strength. I give up on a price. We’ll start from 10 won (~1 cent).”

A slave priced at 10 won!

Although the other slaves had started at a few hundred or even thousands of won, at least… Even though he knew it was a joke, Lee Hyun felt miserable.

But even at 10 won, no one was raising their hand.

“Here. 20 won!”

A middle aged woman with a child on her back within the audience must’ve felt sorry for him, because she raised her hand.

Then a hand from another side went up.

“I’ve got 20 won and another 10 won more!”

When he looked at the place where the shout had come from, it was his little sister Lee Hye Yeon.

To call out 30 won with such emotion, all for the sake of family!

The announcer shouted, “Now, it is up to 30 won. Does anyone want to go for 40 won?”

“40 won!”

“55 won!”

“80 won!”

Since it was cheap, more people started calling out prices.

“175 won.”

“199 won!”

“390 won!”

“390 won! If there isn’t anyone who’ll bid more than 390 won, then the winning bid will be awarded as it is. I’ll count from nine. Nine. Eight… Seven…”

A miserable price of 390 won!

As no one who would call out a higher price appeared, the announcer was going to award the winning bid.

It was when the countdown had gone down to two—

A girl in jeans, baseball jacket, and a hat jammed on, raised her hand.

“2 million won (~$2,000)!”

“2 million won! I heard 2 million won. Did I really hear someone say 2 million won?” The announcer shouted excitedly.

The crowd’s eyes also moved as one towards that girl. They thought it was really definitely a joke.

However, when that girl took off the baseball jacket and sunglasses, sounds of wonder emerged.

“It’s Jung Hyo Rin!”

“Jung Hyo Rin came to our school festival.”

She, who sang on world-renowned stages and was called a fairy, Jung Hyo Rin, had called 2 million won in the Slave Dating. Lee Hyun was sold to Jung Hyo Rin like that.

* * *

“Slave, your arm!”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun hurriedly locked arms with Jung Hyo Rin.

They were so close that he could smell an alluring fragrance. They locked arms and cleared the crowd as they headed toward another location

There were constantly people trying to ogle at Jung Hyo Rin, and the attention was focused on them.

Jung Hyo Rin couldn’t stop smiling.

“Hey, you’ll show me through the festival, right?”

“But I don’t know it well either…”

“It’s fine. The fun part is trying this and that while wandering around together. Although I’m a college student too, I haven’t been able to come to school much. You see, it’s my first time sightseeing a festival, though there have been many times when I sang at a festival.”

“Why don’t you just go around with someone else. Since I’m a busy person…”

“Slave, shall I return you?”

“…”

An explicit threat to return him!

For the slave, there was no freedom of choice. He couldn’t get onto the stage again or return the 2 million won, either.

“I’ll show you around the festival.”

“You should have said that earlier.”

Jung Hyo Rin understood Lee Hyun well and had gotten used to the way to handle him.

‘A threat is the most effective!’

Jung Hyo Rin clung onto Lee Hyun’s arm tightly. Lee Hyun could feel her body every time he walked. Her body which possessed not a shred of fat and her cushiony chest kept bumping into his arm.

“Hey, Master. Is it alright to do this, even though you’re a celebrity?”

“Do what?”

“If we go around holding arms, it could create a misunderstanding.”

“What kind of misunderstanding?”

“In general, if you see a guy and a girl and attached like this…”

He heard people’s voices.

“Jung Hyo Rin-ssi, she’s really nice.”

“They say she donated 2 million won to the charity event Slave Dating.”

All the proceeds from the Slave Dating were to be used as charity donations.

“Just look at them holding arms.”

“Shhh! It’s fanservice. Fanservice.”

“Since it’s the kind Jung Hyo Rin, she’s treating him well like a boyfriend even though it’s a guy like him.”

“A newb slave that wasn’t even getting sold has completely grabbed a golden chance, jeez.”

Although there were reporters at the Korea University festival, they passed by them easily.

“We thought she had nothing to do with university festivals ever since she debuted and soared up from her first album, but for Jung Hyo Rin-ssi to be in a place like this… it’s surprising.”

“The fairy known worldwide is truly kind.”

She radiated plenty of dazzling charm.

Lee Hyun, who had left after working at the bar, didn’t just not suit her, but he really didn’t suit her.

It wasn’t possible to think otherwise, all the more because there had been times when she had brushed off proposals from Hollywood’s famous male actors. It was Jung Hyo Rin, who’d been far too clean when it came to scandals or things to do with men.

It was she who only loved songs.

“After holding arms with a guy once, it’s a little thrilling. I wonder if everyone holds arms for this kind of feeling…”

“What?”

“I am just talking to myself.”

Lee Hyun had heard what she had said.

‘Although it’s my first time holding arms with a girl too…’

As he passed over twenty-two years of age, his contact with women was solely with his little sister.

The life that had come in contact with women only in the faint age when he’d carried her around on his back when she was a baby, changed her diapers, and given her baths!

“Shall we play human whack-a-mole?”

“I don’t want to…”

“It’s 2000 won (~$2).”

“…”

Two crumpled sheets of bills emerged from Lee Hyun’s pocket.

‘So a date with a woman costs money after all.’

For him to use 2,000 won, it seemed like this would be a day he wouldn’t be able to forget for the rest of his life.

It might even be something that could resurface in his moments of death in old age.

Jung Hyo Rin raised the plastic mallet without releasing his arm.

“Ya! ya!”

Lee Hyun tried to stand by and watch, but as he kept seeing her plastic mallet only missing, he couldn’t help himself from focusing on it.

“A little more to the left.”

“Alright.”

“Now they’re about to come from the right!”

“I saw!”

“The second from the left! It’s not going in right now. Catch it quickly!”

“I said I’m going to do it on my own!”

The competitive spirit of the two was raging up.

“Dang, I missed 12 of them.”

“You should have moved quicker.”

“I’m saying it was like that cause you kept making me talk on the side. If you just hadn’t made me talk, I wouldn’t have missed.”

“Try it again.”

“I’m really going to catch them all.”

Even though Jung Hyo Rin was swinging the plastic mallet even more fiercely than before, she didn’t release his arm.

As he was trying to remove his arm because he thought it might be uncomfortable, Lee Hyun’s hand grazed her hand slightly. Then, Jung Hyo Rin grabbed Lee Hyun’s hand tightly.

It was something that happened so naturally and intimately.

“Che! I missed three of them.”

“You did well though.”

“What do you want to play next?”

The couple that had grown friendly while catching moles!

Perhaps because Lee Hyun also felt comfortable, he suggested, “Wanna get some plushies by shooting BB-pistols?”

“Sounds good.”

300 won (~30 cents) per shot!

Lee Hyun checked the prices and chose the cheapest game.

“Mister, please load ten bullets for each of us.”

This time, Jung Hyo Rin took out her own wallet and paid. It was an action that struck Lee Hyun deeply.

‘So she’s a nice girl…’

Jung Hyo Rin raised her pistol with one hand.

“I will shoot first.”

“Okay.”

The bullets Jung Hyo Rin shot missed the plushies exquisitely. Even when they hit a plushie by some chance, it didn’t fall over.

This game was originally like this.

It was a war between the owner and the customers who were recklessly coveting the plushies!

After Jung Hyo Rin’s failure, Lee Hyun didn’t aim for the big plushies.

‘A medium-sized plushie was roughly 780 grams (~1.72 lbs). It’s a weight I’ve felt countless times whenever I sewed eyes onto plushies. It won’t be easy to take it down precisely with a BB-pellet.’

Even if it hit the center of the plushie, the force was not enough.

It was only possible by shooting a barrage.

Since he was throwing away 300 won per shot, Lee Hyun aimed carefully at a small sparrow plushie and knocked it down.

‘Success.’

Lee Hyun planned to give the sparrow plushie to his little sister.

‘Looks like I can brush off this year’s birthday present with this.’

But Jung Hyo Rin snatched the plushie.

“Are you giving this to me?”

“…”

He couldn’t bear to refuse the sparkling eyes and beautiful expression that was asking him to give it to her.

“Y-you can have it.”

“Thank you.”

Jung Hyo Rin embraced the plushie preciously.

The two of them also rode the merry-go-round and watched a play by college students.

On the roof of Korea University’s main building they had the opportunity to see the night view of the city and the festival.

Even when the fireworks were embellishing the sky, Jung Hyo Rin didn’t let go of Lee Hyun’s hand. She didn’t confess her feeling for him; this was her way of conveying what she felt.

Lee Hyun thought, ‘She must really like holding hands.’

* * *

Jung Hyo Rin went up onto a small stage by the lakeside.

It was a shabby stage without much of an audience. There was only one master piano as an instrument.

“Shall we sing a song?” Jung Hyo Rin asked after sitting on the piano’s bench.

Since they were still holding hands, Lee Hyun also sat next to her.

“What song?”

“Any song… please tell me what piece you want. Any song is fine, but a happy piece would be nice. I feel so happy right now, I’m in a good mood.”

Jung Hyo Rin had toured around the world for concerts. With her magical voice, she made 60 thousand people go wild in her concert, and in some socialist countries, crowds of hundreds of thousands of people gathered in the plaza and fully enjoyed the freedom of music.

Although she was charming and shone incomparably bright when she was singing her song, once she left the stage, she went to sleep alone in her lonely hotel room.

Music was her only friend, a means to soothe her emptiness and loneliness. She sang of happiness, but she was actually very lonely after she sang.

She had the feeling that she would be able to sincerely sing happily if she was with Lee Hyun.

“Will you let me hear ‹ Dialogue of Eyes ›?”

Jung Hyo Rin’s debut song was ‹ Dialogue of Eyes ›.

It was also the song Lee Hyun’s little sister liked the most.

It was released when Jung Hyo Rin was still a sixteen-year old high school student, this song became a worldwide hit and she became a star.

Although her subsequent songs received even more love from the public, there were many people who couldn’t forget the ‹ Dialogue of Eyes › a youthful lady had sung.

“I’ll sing it for you. In return… I’ll play with only one hand.”

♪ For reasons, I didn’t want to let go of your hand.

There are no words in this world.

Just us repeating the meaningless murmurs.

Please say what you want to say.

Since I cannot listen. ♪

Jung Hyo Rin’s voice spread out like magic, amply rich and beautiful as it was enveloped in the melody of the slightly lacking piano which she played with one hand.

♪ No gestures allowed.

Dialogues does not exist.

Connections made by the glint of the eyes.

Please show me the light of your eyes.

Earnestness, pain, despair, anger, regret, desire, intimacy, love

Please express all these feelings through your eyes. ♪

A crowd, drawn by the music, walked towards the stage.

They found a place to sit quietly in order to avoid making even a slight disturbance.

Then they pulled out their cellphones and sent texts to their friends.

‘Jung Hyo Rin’s singing on the lake concert stage. Come quickly!’

♪ What shall we choose when we eat.

Please tell me if you’ve eaten well, and where we must go with your eyes.

If we look into each other’s eyes, we can read our feelings.

A world without misunderstandings and distortions.

So I can understand you, your feelings while looking into your eyes, we must make an effort. ♪

♪ Even so, we can never truly understand each other’s thoughts.

Even if you see an action you cannot understand, I can accept it.

Because I may also do the same.

Looking at the light of your eyes is an uncertain vagueness. ♪

♪ They aren’t words without feeling, please illuminate my happiness.

So that I can see myself in your eyes.

Even for just a short while, don’t divert your eyes from my face.

One heart in one glance.

Please illuminate my heart.

The closer your shining eyes are, the better. ♪

As ever, she sang with a magical voice.

She wasn’t the youthful high school student she had been, but a woman who was now learning to truly love.

The magical voice did not convey sadness and grief, but was weeping to be taught about love.

If hard words cannot make the heart quiver.

Then, I want to speak with the light of my eyes.

Hear the sound of your eye’s voice.

Because it will furrow far more deeply into your heart.

I will be able to convey what words cannot.

Speak with your eyes.

I want to see the light in your eyes.

Jung Hyo Rin did not look at the piano.

She looked at the Lee Hyun who was sitting right next to her, as she sang with her sparkling obsidian eyes.

Chapter 7: Smith’s Curiosity

Weed returned to Nekan Castle with a haggard face.

The hunting without breaks inside Kramado Dungeon!

He could still a gain considerable amount of levels and items, but with his exhaustion, he incurred an Overwork Hex and fell into critical condition. His current Vitality and stats weren’t even a third of what they originally were.

Weed entered a Tavern after purchasing a sack of peanuts, an onion, and garlic.

“Give me one half stout!”

He ordered beer and took a swig.

– A small amount of Vitality has been restored.

You are in a state of severe Overwork.

He felt he might live now.

‘It wasn’t just hunting; the festival was wearisome too.’

The first festival of his youthful college life and it was boring to him!

‘I can’t relax like the others when it’s time to make money. If I ate whatever I wanted to eat, played everything I wanted to play, and did whatever I wanted just like other people, then when would I be able to make money?’

These days, even little kids knew about the gap between the rich and the poor.

In Weed’s perspective, a child who comes to kindergarten riding the foreign car their parent drives is full of confidence and dignity. However, a child who comes riding a school bus is somewhat intimidated.

“You….”

“Huh?”

“You use a Monami ballpoint pen for writing.”

[T/N: Monami is the name of a Korean company. It’s a little more expensive to use a Monami.]

“My mom was laid off… Next month, I’ll replace it with a Japanese-made pen.”

It was a conversation between kindergarteners from Weed’s dream.

In truth, having money or not made a difference in even little things.

When eating the food on their lunch trays, a kid from a well-off family will dip their sausage in ketchup and eat it first. But kids from poor families ate their bean sprouts or vegetables first.

The obsession that the sausage needed to be saved for last.

Lee Hyun acknowledged his inferiority complex.

‘Kids who grew up drinking white milk can never be the same as those who grew up drinking strawberry milk.’

His heartfelt theory on strawberry milk struck a chord in his heart!

As he drank his beer, Weed recalled the things that happened in the festival.

Jung Hyo Rin’s live concert lasted until dawn.

It kept going as encores continued to be called out, and since she was grabbing onto Lee Hyun’s hand, he had to stay with her.

‘And that wasn’t all, was it?’

If it had just ended there, his vitality wouldn’t be so severely exhausted like this.

* * *

On the last day of the festival, the seniors spoke to Seoyoon.

“Seoyoon, you’ve gotta enjoy the festival too. Are you just going to work here?”

90% of the pub’s customers came to see her, but her upperclassmen gave her freedom.

“At least go out and take a look around. Everyone should participate in the festival together. Is there maybe someone you would like to go out and play with?”

In response to her seniors’ goodwill, Seoyoon reflexively stared at Lee Hyun.

Lee Hyun immediately smiled brightly for her.

“Alright. Don’t worry about the pub and go enjoy the festival.”

The pub was a success and since the orders went well, it seemed there were almost no ingredients left. If they closed early at 8 pm, he could go home and log into Royal Road.

Lee Hyun was one to refuse even a date with Seoyoon if he had 2 hours to spare in Royal Road.

“Lee Hyun.”

The reserve forces who came back from the army did not miss the delicate matter.

[T/N: In Korea, all able men are required to train in the army for two years. They come back as reserve forces.]

“Yes. Sunbae.”

“Although we can’t believe it, looks like Seoyoon wants you. Go guide her around the festival.”

Since he couldn’t refuse his reserve force upperclassmen, Lee Hyun was forced to take on the role of a festival guide.

“Argh, I envy him.”

“Ah, I can guide you well too…”

In the midst of the seniors’ and customers’ envy, Lee Hyun and Seoyoon left the pub together.

She changed from the wedding dress into casual clothing, but her beauty was still enough to make the eyes of the men who came to check out the festival pop out. The men who passed them looked back again with expressions of disbelief and did not move.

“Shall we go?”

Lee Hyun suddenly grabbed Seoyoon’s hands.

Jung Hyo Rin had liked holding hands to the point of not letting go, so he held Seoyoon’s hand first believing that she probably wouldn’t dislike it. It wasn’t manly courage, but the festival crowds were large, so his main reason was that it seemed they were going to get separated if they didn’t hold hands.

“…”

Soft and tender, her hands were surprisingly warm.

He felt Seoyoon’s body go rigid after he grabbed her hand, but she soon relaxed.

“Is there something you want to do?”

When Lee Hyun asked, Seoyoon couldn’t answer.

Although her voice got stuck whenever it came to speaking, it was also because she had never looked around a college festival before.

“Then I’ll guide.”

Lee Hyun went to play Whack-a-Mole with Seoyoon because the price was not very expensive and the reaction had been considerably good when he played it with Jung Hyo Rin.

The students of the mole event who had seen Lee Hyun before were resentful.

“Argh…”

“It’s the same guy from yesterday.”

“Sunbae! It’s that guy who came with Miss Jung Hyo Rin yesterday… And today he’s with Miss Seoyoon.”

The people from the moles event could not hide their severe jealousy.

As if it wasn’t enough that he was with Jung Hyo Rin yesterday, so today be brought Seoyoon.

Moreover, Lee Hyun’s behavior was incomparable and extremely despicable.

‘Yesterday when Jung Hyo Rin was holding onto his arm, he acted as if he was shy… but today he’s enthusiastically holding onto Miss Seoyoon’s hand.’

‘Pretentious bastard.’

‘He’s the player among all players.’

The moles surged in anger.

“You have to grab onto this plastic mallet and hit them.”

Under Lee Hyun’s advice, Seoyoon raised the plastic mallet.

Pyok pyok pyok pyok pyok pyok!

]T/N: A pico hammer makes squeaky noises on impact.]

It was extremely different from playing with the clumsy Jung Hyo Rin.

Even while holding Lee Hyun’s hand, Seoyoon didn’t miss a single mole with her swift strikes.

Compared to her simpleton personality, her athleticism wasn’t normal.

Every time they got hit by the pico hammer, the moles simultaneous felt bitter and sad.

‘It wouldn’t be as unfair if it was a guy with a handsome face or had a whole lot of money.’

‘What kind of charm does such an ordinary guy have…’

They also went to shoot plushies. Thanks to yesterday’s experience, he was able to easily shoot down a small carrot and a kiwi plushie.

“Gift.”

Lee Hyun gave Seoyoon the carrot plushie as a gift.

“I have to give the other plushie as a gift to my little sister, so you can only have one.”

“…”

Seoyoon grasped the carrot doll firmly in her hand.

Since it was the last day of the festival, Lee Hyun took Seoyoon to sightsee the festival until late at night.

They were such a sight that a lot of people stared at them with looks of wonder as they went around various events.

Seoyoon didn’t burst into radiant laughter, but she was blushing bright red. When passing a crowded place, she went where Lee Hyun led her, and she even grabbed his hand tightly.

“Would you like to dance?”

Lights were brightly lit on the grass lawn where the main stage was.

A ballad piece was playing and couples were dancing, so Lee Hyun also asked Seoyoon if she wanted to dance.

Seoyoon nodded slightly, with a face flushed red.

Lee Hyun held her hand and brought her closer.

Their bodies moved naturally in beat with the music.

The piece wasn’t extremely hard to dance along to, but they were both clumsy. They couldn’t determine who was going leading, so they both stepped on each other’s feet a couple of times.

“…”

Lee Hyun was very uneasy because he didn’t know when Seoyoon would explode.

* * *

“The accursed festival is finally over. Seems like I’ll be able to return my usual routine now.”

After drinking his beer, he stretched and yawned.

It was a restful and restorative when in an Overwork state. While in a Dwarven body, drinking beer and resting had a huge effect.

‘When my body goes back to normal, I think it will be the right time to release the Sculpture Transformation.’

* * *

Each race had its advantages and disadvantages. Dwarves were advantageous in terms of Vitality and Endurance, but because of their short limbs, they were considerably disadvantaged in actual combat. If one couldn’t adapt quickly, that alone would make a fight more difficult.

Barbarians had the best physical ability. With their vast height and muscle strength, made their bodies optimal for becoming a warrior. However, they couldn’t use Mana and have the disadvantage of being easily seduced by charms.

The Humans could be said to be right in the middle. They were good at using divine powers or magic and supplemented their weak points for each other while party hunting. Special races like Orcs, Elves, Fairies, or Hobgoblins were also in the spotlight, but the most commonly selected race was Human.

They also occupied the largest kingdoms and exerted the greatest influence in the Central Continent.

“They said the army of Demonic Spirits led by Daymond are currently engaged in a back-and-forth battle with the allied forces in Odin.”

“Fort Odin is showing its power, right?”

“Probably! Ain’t the fort notorious for being impregnable. It’ll probably be difficult to break through Fort Odin’s line of defense even if they’re giant Demonic Spirits.”

As the Versailles Continent fell into chaos, the allied forces gathered at Fort Odin to block Daymond and his Demonic Spirits.

Over 100,000 allied forces had gathered in one place, and another 100,000 reinforcement troops were concentrated on attacking them from behind.

Just the fact that some 10,000 attack spells were cast from Fort Odin each time the Demonic Spirits made a charge alone was magnificent!

“Heroes, come to Fort Odin!”

“We welcome Magicians to join the war.”

The Empire of Prosperity Guild was in Fort Odin, including the gathered mercenaries. They were desperate because their territory would be stolen from them if the Demonic Spirits were able to break through Fort Odin.

Even nameless high-level users joined. Since massive amount of mercenaries participated, Versailles Continent’s attention was focused on Odin.

The overwhelming battles occurred daily from the walls of Fort Odin to a point where it was difficult to make a hasty prediction of the victor.

When the Demonic Spirits climbed the wall, the allied force’s defeat was predicted. However, the Demonic Spirits were barely driven back by the miraculous fighting spirit of the mercenaries, Warriors, and Knights.

The allied forces had been able to push the Resurrection Army back, but soon additional Demonic Spirits joined the battle and the allied forces had to retreat back into Fort Odin.

Battles by the regular armies of every kingdom were dispatched as expeditions to recapture territory seized by the Resurrection Army were also raging.

Dark Gamers had plunged into Fort Odin with a sword strapped to their waists, so the market for weapons, armor, and combat goods was skyrocketing.

The whole Versailles Continent was raucous from the aftermath of what could almost be called the first large scale war.

* * *

Weed pulled out the statue of Death from his bosom.

This was the reward he’d earned by defeating Death Hand in Kuruso. It was an item he suspected was related to another chain quest.

“It probably isn’t a quest that’s related with the Resurrection Army, right?”

The difficulty of winning the match against Death Hand had been considerably high. He wouldn’t have been confident of his win if he had made a normal sculpture out of wood or stone instead of a light sculpture.

“It’s an evil sculpture holding a scythe…”

The appearance of the sculpture brought considerable suspicion.

The Resurrection Army had first appeared at a place not too far from Morata. As adventurers discovered the original location of the Resurrection Church, the shape of their symbol was revealed.

It looked exactly the same as the sculpture Weed was holding.

It was bad for Weed if the sculpture had any connection to Resurrection Army!

He never thought it might be a quest to fight against the Resurrection Army who was fighting 100,000 allied forces.

“Surely it won’t be such a ridiculous quest…”

Weed’s expression became serious.

In all actuality, Weed hasn’t been able to complete a difficult and ridiculous quest without any sacrifices.

Even though seriousness hardened in the wan-faced Dwarf’s expression, it made his wretchedness worse.

An employee approached him.

“Customer.”

“Yes?”

“The merchant sir over there have sent you a pitcher of beer to drink.”

“…”

His miserable attitude went as far as to induce sympathy!

It was Weed, who had virtue, power, and charisma far from what heroes possess.

After waving his hand to express his thanks, Weed drank the beer.

– Your body is becoming languid.

Taking a nap will increase the speed of recovery from fatigue.

His overwork and abused body kept demanding rest.

Weed made up his mind after careful consideration.

“Even though it’s a difficult quest, if I avoid it completely, I won’t be able to advance. Essentially, it’s because I’ve succeeded the previous quests given by Church of Freya that I’m where I am now.”

His battle with the Death Knight Van Hawk, Vampire Lord Tori, the war against Lich Shire and the Undead Legion, and even becoming the Lord of Morata were all related to quests he had accomplished.

If he hadn’t been able to find the Helain Cup in the City of Heaven, Lavias, he might’ve become a Dark Gamer who only knew how to hunt.

Even way before that, if he hadn’t received the quest from Sage Rodriguez, he would have become a Warrior or a Knight and progressed normally.

Iron becomes stronger the more you temper it.

Whether it was increasing his fame faster than others by becoming a Sculptor or the difficulties he faced as he acquired Sculpting techniques, they were all precious related occurrences.

He did not want to avoid any quests.

‘Even if it’s really difficult, I won’t know before I try. Nothing will come out of it if I just avoid it.’

Weed cast his skill with resolute determination.

“Identify!”

Ding!

– Your skill has failed.

You have failed to identify the item due to lack of concentration.

“…”

He was completely disappointed.

His elevated alcohol exhaustion had made the usage of his skill fail.

“Identify!”

Ding!

– Your skill has failed.

“Identify!”

Ding!

– Your skill has failed.

“Identify!”

Ding!

A wooden toy box.

The toy’s appearance had been sullied by dirt.

It is the appropriate size for children to play with.

Artistic Value: Too shameful to mention.

Special Options: You can stop crying children.

A child around seven years old with candy in his mouth left a toy hidden underneath the fence.

“Hyung absolutely can’t find out about this, because hyung will steal my toy again. Hyung is mean, he always takes my toy and breaks it. He’s a really bad hyung.”

The young kid hid his toy while uttering bad remarks about his older brother.

It was a heartwarming scene communicating the bond between families.

The wooden box was hidden between thorns underneath the fence so it wouldn’t stand out.

Then, Death Hand saw the toy as he was passing by and picked it up.

“This is… a wooden box worth using.”

Lost Toy

A toy a boy named Brave, who lives in Hagen Village in Sur Kingdom, used to play with.

If you return the toy to Brave, he will give you one of his precious candy.

Difficulty: F

Reward: Brave’s Candy

Quest Restrictions: If play with it instead of returning it and get caught by little kiddos, you’ll build up massive notoriety and receive the title ‘Toy Snatcher’.

“GACK!”

He was so shocking that he completely sober up from his alcohol daze.

A sculpture he had identified with resolute determination yielded nothing but a rank F difficulty quest.

“Of all the places, I have to go all the way to Sur Kingdom… What a pain.”

It was annoying to go find the place just to solve a minor quest.

“A candy…”

Weed heaved a sigh.

Although he usually avoided annoying and common quests, since he has heard bad rumors about them, he never expected a rare request from Kuruso Kingdom to be an F-rank.

“But since I’ll be able to get there quickly if I fly… It’s a little better.”

Flying was only possible if he has recovered from exhaustion. If he crashed because his Mana flow got cut off while he was flying in the air with the Overwork hex, then it would lead to his death.

Weed decided to rest up while drinking beer.

“The cost of the beer I’ve had so far… Ack.”

He drank his beer while cracking peanuts and peeling onions and garlics.

No matter what he did, there wasn’t time for any luxury or pleasure. Even as he drank beer in the tavern, he intended to recover his expenses.

* * *

Hagen Village, a village famous for its baking ingredients!

The town’s main products were sugarcane, flour, walnuts, grapes, corn, and the like. The quality of the produce was made to attract chefs. Now, homemade cakes, cookies, and sweet wine sold well.

It was a town where couples sought out intentionally to enjoy the romantic atmosphere.

“Oppa, eat a lot!”

“Honey, honey has to eat a lot too. Should I feed you?

Couples were scattered everywhere like cockroaches!

Weed ignored them and walked with level shoulders, like a person who had a lover; a man who would come to buy a cake for his girlfriend.

“Please take a quick look at the cakes before you go!”

He didn’t forget to glance at the wares the peddlers were selling, either.

While wandering around, he spoke to aunties he met.

“Do you happen to know about a child named Brave?”

The uncles might not know something like the names of children. However, he had a feeling that aunties who had kids of a similar ages would have a higher chance of knowing children’s names.

“Brave? Jeez, has he gotten into some kind of trouble again?”

“What?”

“Him’s a nasty, mischievous prankster in the town. He pays no attention to what adults say. My child shouldn’t play with that kid, but…”

“Where can I meet Brave? I have a toy to return to that child.”

“It’s still early in the evening, so it’ll be difficult to meet him even if you visit his house… You’ll be able to see him iffen you go to the backstreet or the playground.”

It was a small town, but finding Brave wasn’t easy. Although he found and looked through all the places the aunties had suggested, he was still unable to find Brave’s whereabouts.

Eventually, he found Brave in a warehouse behind a bakery. The rascal was in the middle of stealing and eating bread while smearing tons of cream and bread crumbs around his mouth.

‘Found him.’

Weed said gladly, “Kid, this sculpture is a toy you’ve lost, right?”

“Huh? It’s a Dwarf. A Dwarf is talking.”

“You see, I found the toy you lost.”

“Your mustache is really funny. Are your legs shorter than mine?”

“This is your sculpture, right?”

Brave took the sculpture Weed had handed over to him.

Ding!

The quest “Lost Toy” has been completed.

You found and returned the toy to Brave, a boy in Hagen Village.

Quest Reward: If Brave is in a good mood, you will be able to receive one candy.

That annoying quest was completed.

Weed waited patiently to receive the candy.

‘It was a quest that doesn’t even pay the labor cost, but I can get about 3 coppers if I sell the candy at the store.’

Instead of a candy, Brave returned the sculpture.

“Yeah, this is mine. Although I thought my hyung stole it… But I don’t need this anymore.”

“…”

“I’m no longer a kid. I’m eight years old. You see, I’ve passed the age to play with toys and the like. Mister can go play with it.”

Griiind!

The sound of Weed grinding his teeth could be heard. But he was patient, and remained patient.

The profits were greater the more you maintained the possible friendly relationships with the residents of Versailles Continent.

The basics of service mentality were friendliness, assistance, and dedication.

Endure even if you’re angry, and if there was something unfair, you must never bring it up.

You could call it a grievous ironclad rule of a Dark Gamer.

“Even so, you should take this toy, since it’s yours. Take it as a consideration of my sincerity; I came here especially to find you. Don’t you think you should give me a candy?”

“I said I don’t want to play with it!” Brave suddenly shouted. “Mister, do you want my candy that badly? How’d you know my cinnamon flavored candy was delicious…”

“Ahem.”

“Anyway, I’m not gonna give you my candy, so you can take the toy and play with it. Oh yeah, try giving it to the drunkard mister Smith, who wanted that toy.”

“Mister Smith?”

“He’s just an old uncle with nothing better to do. But well, I guess he’s better than a Dwarven mister who goes after a kid’s candy.”

Ding!

The Toy the Old Drunkard Smith Wants.

The toy the drunkard Smith from Hagen Village is asking for.

Smith who drinks in a tavern until he becomes dead-drink, wants Brave’s toy.

Difficulty: F

Reward: There may be none.

Quest Note: There is no penalty even if you abandon it.

Brave grinned as he added, “He’s an old, incompetent uncle who always pushes left his alcohol tab unpaid. He doesn’t have any family, either. I’ll never get old and useless like him. Hehe!”

Weed breathed out a sigh.

An F-rank difficulty chain quest.

Since the tavern was nearby, he’ll go in to see Smith at least once.

“Alright, Kid. I’ll see you later then.”

“I said I’m not a kid. And there probably isn’t any more reason to see mister anymore. If you maybe bring me the iron sword that I want, then we’ll see.”

Weed quietly put the sculpture in his bosom and disappeared.

Brave was intent on stealing another fresh bread from the warehouse.

After a short while, a dreadful Orc leapt out from the place where Weed had disappeared.

The Orc Karichwi!

A powerful existence that reduced even vicious criminals to gentle lambs with his face and body!

“KYAAAK, IT’S AN ORC!”

“Chwiik! Found you. Little human boy!”

Weed did not say much.

He gave him a scare, to engrave respect for adults into the very marrow of his bones.

* * *

When he showed the sculpture to the tavern’s drunkard Smith, a glimmer returned to his bleary eyes.

“Where did you get this sculpture?”

“It’s a sculpture a kid named Brave used to play with.”

“I did want to have the kid’s sculpture… Did you perhaps steal it from him?”

Weed shook his head.

After his transformation into Orc Karichwi, he cancelled his Sculpture Transformation and returned to his Human form.

“No. I found the lost toy with difficulty and tried to return it to him, but he said he no longer wanted to play with it. Brave told me an elder wanted this toy, no, this sculpture, so I brought it here.”

“Is that so. Will you lend me the sculpture to me for a bit? I wanted to examine it when Brave had it, but he only let me see it very briefly.”

“Here it is. You can have it.”

Ding!

The Toy the Old Drunkard Smith Wants has been completed.

The drunkard Smith got his hands on the sculpture he wanted.

Although it’s still midday, you will be able to get a drink from him.

Quest Reward: Get it directly from the drunkard Smith.

– Your Fame has increased by 1.

Smith examined the sculpture carefully.

“This sculpture… I’ve seen it once before while traveling during my youthful days.”

“What?”

“Did Brave ever tell you where this sculpture is from?”

“He did not say.”

“This is a story goes back from 20 years ago. The time when I roamed the continent as a mercenary… Ahem! Back then, I was an extremely prominent mercenary. You might not believe it, but I even commanded a mercenary squad.”

Of course, Weed didn’t believe it.

Drunks were one and the same— there was no one who hadn’t been a big merchant or first-class mercenary in the past. Their boasts didn’t encompass one or two days, so he agreed to his claims and let it slide.

“Under the command of Her Majesty the Queen, I executed the traitor Count Savoid together with the Royal Forces. There was a sculpture that looked exactly the same as this one inside Count Savoid’s warehouse.”

“I see.”

“It’s regrettable, but I didn’t know what kind of piece the sculpture was either. It’s not as though I didn’t have my suspicions… Do you think there might be a story about this if you went to check the local library?”

Weed somehow had a strong feeling the quest wasn’t going to end here.

“Why don’t you look into it a little for me? If you do, I’ll tell you the stories in my old days as a mercenary.”

Ding!

Old Smith’s Curiosity.

The former mercenary, Smith, has questions about a sculpture he saw in his youth.

If you gather information about the sculpture and give it to him, it appears he will tell stories he gathered as a mercenary.

Difficulty: D

Reward: Smith’s Story

Quest Restrictions: None

Chapter 8: Reconstruction of the Niflheim Empire

The linked quest already had 3 stages. It did occur to him that it was convoluted, however Weed continued on to the Kingdom’s Library.

It held a considerable portion of the general history of the Versailles Continent, but you would have to personally search for information on individual histories.

Count Savoid (Sur Empire Year 436~Year 479)

Received his Knighthood at age 17.

Returned from fulfilling Knightly duties at age 20.

Inherited his territory at age 36.

Possessed exceptional talent for swordplay and horseback.

Executed for rising in revolt at age 43.

There was only simple information in the Biography section. He also read the History and War sections, but parts involving Count Savoid were missing, as if someone had intentionally erased them.

“Found it.”

“Where is it?”

“It says there’s a treasure hidden in this area.”

Adventurers and Magicians who’d been reading in the library hurried to leave. There were almost 20 users who, like Weed, had come to obtain information in the library.

A jackpot was hidden somewhere, but he would have to invest a lot of time and recovering the costs was difficult— this was the situation while hunting inside the library for information. It was also a condition in where many basic information was lacking, or there was simply nothing to be read.

‘Seems it’ll be difficult to find it this way.’

Weed was submerged in labor.

Finding a clue through a book was hard even for Adventurers with vast experience, so it seemed it wouldn’t be easy for his Sculptor self to gather information.

‘Is the method of my approach wrong? Alright. Since I’m a Sculptor, it might just be that I was supposed to look at the Sculptors first.’

Weed sifted through the art-related books.

« History of Monuments », « Excavated Carving », « Sur Kingdom’s Proud Sculptures ».

He saw a book titled, « Ancient Sculptures » entangled among the many books he was reading. The contents of the book, although the name was different, there was information about the sculpture he currently had possession of.

Figure of Rest : Symbol of Religion

It is the symbol of the worshippers who followed the God Matallost, who guides the dead. They did not have a flag or pattern, but were famous for having a sculpture.

The Priests of the Matallost Church had strong holy power and can guide the dead.

After the birth of the continent’s official language, rather than using their God’s name, they also called themselves the Resurrection Church.

They weren’t very high in public favor because they were close to and conducted research about Death. It was assumed they used as sculpture as their symbol primarily for preservation of secrets.

There was a story of some Matallost faith idol being special and sacred artifacts, very different from normal sculptures.

– You have acquired all of the required information for the quest.

He did flounder a little, but still finished the quest.

He went to the tavern and reported to Smith.

“This sculpture was apparently the symbol of the Matollost Church.”

“Whaddaya say?”

“It said it was a symbol of an ancient religion. And it might even be an idol.”

Ding!

“Old Smith’s Curiosity” quest completed.

You have answered the former mercenary Smith’s question about the sculpture he saw in his youth.

Now he will tell you the stories he knew of during his mercenary days.

– Sculpting skill proficiency has improved by 0.4%.

– Your Faith stat has risen by 1.

Since he could raise his sculpting skill proficiency while completing a quest, these kinds of commissions weren’t all that bad either. Though it took up too much time for going to various different places.

“So that’s what it meant after all. Hiccup.”

The old drunkard Smith was very intoxicated.

“As promised, please tell me stories of what you saw and heard when you were young.”

“Ayup! I was, ya know, a really reliable and well mannered Mer-mer-mercenary. I made lotsa money, too. Though I did use most of it buying drinks and women.”

With a loose-tongued way of speech, Smith told of how he came to be a mercenary and roamed the continent while fulfilling requests as a free mercenary.

For Weed, of course, it went in one ear and went out the other— there was no end to listening to each and every word of a drunkard.

After a long while, Smith finally spoke of the the main subject.

“This sculpture, ya see, at that time, the Count was going to escape through the castle’s basement together with this sculpture. Haaah, I’m gettin’ drunk.”

“Why do you think he did that?”

“I dunno either. Anyways I thought it to be really very strange. Hiccup. The alcohol tastes real good right now. What were we talking about again?”

With a befuddled look, Smith babbled on about more irrelevant stories for a long while.

He boasted of his job as a mercenary, and a drunkard’s preaching about the continent’s drinks!

Smith’s attention was directed at the sculpture once again, and as if he had regained his senses, he asked.

“Though I didn’t see this sculpture after long while… you’re not busy, are you?”

“I am busy though.”

“Could you take me to solve this mystery?”

Smith pulled out a rusty key from his bosom.

“If I remember correctly… after that time, the basement was sealed, so you can probably only go in if you have this key. Can you take me there with you and solve the mystery for me?”

Ding!

Old Smith’s Second Curiosity.

The old, drunkard Smith has a question about the last time he saw Count Savoid.

In order to answer his question, search the Count’s mansion, find the basement, and dig up the secret.

Chain quest, leads to the long-cherished wish of the Matallost Church, which guides the dead, and the reconstruction of the Niflheim Empire.

Difficulty: A

Reward: A drink from Smith.

Quest Restriction: Limited to Sculptors. Quest failure upon Smith’s death.

If it was Niflheim Empire, it was a great empire that existed a dozen years ago in the Northern part of the continent, where Morata was part of, and Weed was her current Lord!

The castle and villages went up in flames due to the monsters around and Bone Dragon who descended from the Forest of Darkness. The emperor tried to seal them using the Serbian Beads, but it only resulted in lamentable freezing of the entire Northern area. Under the attack of the cold, the monsters, and division of the people, the empire collapsed.

If the Niflheim Empire were to be reconstructed right now, the North would stabilized on its foundation.

It was a little unexpected that a quest such as this would become available from a sculpture, and then linked to the Resurrection Church. But it wasn’t very surprising. The Resurrection Church and the Matallost faith were churches that had originated in the North.

If he solved mercenary Smith’s question, then he would also solve the quest relating to the reconstruction of Niflheim Empire.

‘I’ll be able to sell off Morata for a more expensive price.’

Weed nodded his head as he tore into a chicken leg as an appetizer.

“I will do my best to solve the mystery.”

– You have accepted the quest.

* * *

The Savoid County was made into an enormous hunting ground. Sur Kingdom was infested with level 150 to 200 monsters, so a considerable number of parties were out hunting.

“Recruiting people to hunt inside the mansion. Preferring People with experience or courage.”

Count Savoid’s Mansion was a region-class dungeon. The max level of the monsters was 282.

The astral Knights, Soldiers, and even astral maids spawns there.

Weed entered the mansion with the drunkard mercenary, Smith.

“Arghh. My insides are gonna die of heartburn.”

Smith complained as he followed.

“Won’t you give me just one bottle of booze?”

“I don’t have any.”

Weed firmly refused. There was, of course, a lot of liquor in his rucksack. All because he made brandy or whisky whenever he saw edible fruit or wheat, etc. There were a few cooking items that sold well, and easy to store like liquor. With its astounding taste, disinfectant properties, and since it even raised Health recovery speed, liquor received the most limelight among preferences.

Since well-distilled liquor could be priced expensively, it was no different from cash.

Although he distilled liquors in his spare time by plying his cooking skill, he was frugal with it to the utmost, to the point where if it wasn’t SwordNoob or the other elder brothers, no one would even ask Weed for it.

“Ahem, my mouth is dry.”

Smith grumbled as he followed.

In the old mansion, dust was piled thickly and pieces of furniture were scattered around. The mural was damaged to the point of unrecognition, and the chandelier had fallen to the ground, shattered.

“Fire Ball!”

“Cold Strike!”

He saw many other parties, but they were hunting ghost monsters.

Weed looked around the mansion a little before giving up. It was a colossal site, so it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it a castle.

Weed had wandered through many castles of Vampires when he was in Todeum, but this was different from those castles, even the estimate of the number of rooms in the powerful Count’s mansion was immense.

Weed asked, “Where is the basement?”

Smith just shook his head from side to side.

“It happened a long time ago, so I don’t remember. Though, I might remember if I drink a bottle of booze…”

Weed frowned.

‘Good-for-nothing alcoholic, drunkard!’

Other hunting parties were hunting all over the place in Count Savoid’s Mansion. If it was a basement they didn’t discover, it was either meticulously hidden or had to be an extraordinary place.

‘Even if it was discovered, it might not have been made public.’

They wouldn’t have been able to enter the basement even if they found it if they didn’t have the key. It was human nature to not want to do something that was good for someone else. Even if the basement’s entrance was discovered, it was possible it hasn’t been made public.

If so, Weed figured he had to cooperate with Smith to find it.

Weed opened his rucksack and pulled out a bottle of beer.

“Come to think of it, I do have liquor.”

“Harumph. Give it to me!”

“The basement…”

“… I do remember. It’s probably down by the staircase.”

The place Smith had pointed out was the bottom of the stairs, leading to two additional floors.

Weed tried going behind the wooden staircase. There was nothing there, except thickly piled up dust. However, when he probed around with his hands, he could feel an imperceptible crack.

‘So it’s here.’

Weed cleared the dust and found a small key hole. Then, he placed the key he received from Smith and turned.

Creeaaaak!

He had to push forcefully to barely open the old door.

Weed entered the basement together with Smith and closed the door. He didn’t forget to pull out the key, either.

Because it might be discovered by another party hunting in the mansion!

Weed was absolutely not one who would fall flat on his face when the prize is in sight.

You have discovered Count Savoid’s basement.

Fame increased by 50.

Through adventure, experience has slightly increased.

“Aha! So this is the Count’s basement.”

Smith had emptied his bottle of beer somewhere along the way and smacked his lips as if he was in regret.

“If it’s a done deal, why didn’t ya give me whiskey?”

“I absolutely do not have whiskey.”

Beer was at least common and cheap, but since decent whisky was at minimum a few gold, he had no intention of offering it.

Weed looked around the basement.

Many books were arranged in this place, which seemed to have likely been used by the Count as a secret study.

« The Basics of Flame-Based Magic »

« The Study of Wind Elements and its Affinity »

« Ten Law of Flatterly Elementalist Should Keep in Mind »

« Traveling the Versailles Continent on Foot »

« Money-Making Opportunities »

« Witch, the Sorceress Who’ll Read Books for You »

He could tell just from looking at the titles, a variety of books were adorning the bookshelves.

Weed stuffed every book into his bag.

‘I’ll make money if I sell them at a curio store or antique bookstore.’

Since the quest’s next chain was determined, he packed them away cleanly.

He also searched the Count’s desk.

There were gold coins worth about 300 gold in the drawer, and a carving knife as well.

‘I’ll have to sell this too.’

Weed was one to memorize the prices of a wide variety of items on the spot.

Even if a supermarket’s automatic price calculation system broke, if it was Weed’s store, there probably wouldn’t be a slightest reason to worry. It was all because Weed was the type who would thoroughly remember the buying price starting from the factory to the selling price, surtax, and even what applied to the “Buy 1 Get 1” marketing deal.

365 gold coins multiplied by 12 gold coins is 4,380 coins!

It was to the point where he made calculations in the blink of an eye.

When it came to money calculations, he beat math prodigies!

Weed saw a book spread open on the table.

« The Origins and History of the Matallost Religion »

He began to skim through it.

The ancient Matallost faith’s congregation was the largest compared to others who arose from rituals conducted by the people who held death sacred.

They considered death as returning to the embrace of their god… as the Matallost faith was adhered to as the Kingdom’s established religion, Warriors pay their respects to the Church before going out into battle.

However, the public perception of the Matallost church changed as the years passed.

Wars between tribes decreased, and a castle was built against invading monsters, establishing peace.

The Matallost faith became shunned as death was regarded with fear.

In addition, the Arpen Empire’s continent unification war, each kingdom competitively gave preference to the church in their own territory.

In particular, churches related to war received respect, and the Matallost Church was disadvantaged by its doctrine of being led and guided by Death.

Death became the last name the remnants of the Matallost Church yelled, and even mention of the name alone became abhorred in public regard.

Priest candidates of the Matallost Church decreased more and more, and the position became occupied by another Church.

The churches of Freya’s prosperity or of the God of Fighters, Belacus, increased.

…The Matallost Church lost its power, and the support of each Kingdom was severed. It was assumed they, who hid in the shadows, increasingly could not throw away their desire for power.

The power to guide through death!

They dreamed of revenge by using their strong holy power. Specifically what kind of revenge they’ve planned is unknown.

Ding!

– Intelligence and Wisdom have both increased by 5 from reading advanced information about the Matallost faith.

– You have acquired information about the Resurrection Church.

Weed found something else from the desk. It was the robe worn by Resurrection Church Priests.

Matallost Church. Since currently they were more often being called the Resurrection Church, it didn’t matter if you spoke carelessly about them.

“Count Savoid must’ve been a Priest of the Resurrection Church.”

Weed guessed judging from how Count Savoid had possession of the Statue of Death, the symbol of the Resurrection Church.

“Huuh, look here a bit!”

Just then, Smith discovered a wide room.

A magical circle was drawn inside the room, and in the middle, on top of an object looking like a tombstone, was a bowl where something could be placed inside.

An image of the Statue of Death was drawn into the bowl.

“Maybe this is where it should be placed in?”

Weed took out the sculpture from his bosom.

The Statue of Death he’d acquired at the end of his duel with Death Hand in the Dwarf’s underground Kingdom, Kuruso!

The second coming of the Matallost faith and the reconstruction of the Niflheim Empire.

He didn’t know what kind of effect it would have on the Versailles Continent, but when he recalled the contents of that quest, there was no reason for it to end here.

Weed placed the sculpture in the bowl. Then, as if it were given life, the scythe-holding malevolence flashed open its eyes.

Ruuuuummmble!

The mansion shook, as if there were an earthquake.

A damp fog filled the basement, and a black vortex formed above the altar. A gate to another place had opened.

Smith staggered backwards in surprise.

The black gate.

Not only had he never seen a gate of this color anywhere, but the scythe-holding malevolence figure was glaring at him. An incomparably terrifying look.

However, Weed was not afraid.

There was nothing as terrifying as an empty account balance. It was so scary he had nightmares of negative interest even in his dreams!

– A gate to the River of Lamentation has opened.

Access is impossible for general users.

The quest will proceed in the River of Lamentation.

The success or failure of this quest will affect the Resurrection Army accordingly.

The message window popped up to all the users in the Versailles Continent.

Weed swiftly approached the gate, and the black vortex swirled as if it were going to eat him up. However, Smith hurriedly shook his hands.

“Hey.”

“What?”

“In order to solve my request, won’t I also have to follow?”

“Of course.”

Weed desperately wanted to leave Smith behind, but he had to take him.

“I have a condition. If I go in there, you have to make it so I can drink five bottles of liquor every day.”

“…”

“If I don’t drink, I can’t fall asleep, you see.”

Weed nodded his head and agreed.

“Alright.”

He couldn’t look after Smith all the time. It would be better to put him to sleep even if it was by drinking liquor.

“Also, recruit a mercenary.”

“What?”

“You’re a feeble Sculptor, aren’t you?”

If Weed was feeble, then the majority of Warriors or Swordsmen would be crawling around on the ground for lack of strength.

Smith continued, “I don’t feel safe with just you. And we don’t even know where we’ll arrive if we go through that gate, so wouldn’t it be better to bring one mercenary?”

Ding!

– It has become possible to recruit one mercenary to progress the quest together.

Hiring a mercenary in a Sculptor-only quest!

This meant there was going to be an actual battle.

‘Even if it’s low, it is an A-rank difficulty quest…’

If he considered the chain quests that would occur as Niflheim Empire’s reconstruction or the Matallost faith’s second coming, the actual difficulty could be much higher.

It was to the point where it wasn’t the end of the chain quest that was a burden.

He had to find someone to do the quest with whom he could trust to some degree.

Weed immediately sent a whisper.

– Pale-nim.

– Yes.

Pale responded promptly.

– I’m doing a quest, but I need one mercenary.

– Really? Where are you?

– Hagen Village of Sur Kingdom.

– What to do? It’ll take a minimum of twenty days to go from the North all the way to there.

– Might there be someone else who’s in the Central Continent?

– Mapan-nim left towards Rosenheim Kingdom to trade, the others are all gathered here.

Mapan’s fighting strength was too lacking to bring him as a mercenary, so he was ruled out from the start even though he was a little closeby.

– Right now we’re also doing a quest called “The Secret of Manufacturing Ancient Breastplate.”

– Seems difficult. I understand.

Weed clearly had to give up. If he were to ask Pale to come, Maylon would be sad.

Irene would be a big help since she was a Priest, but there would be a lot of times when he’d have to protect her. In that aspect, Romuna was also in a similar position.

Surka was young and timid at times, so it was burdensome to go through thick and thin for a dozen days with just the two of them in a difficult quest’s dungeon.

Hwaryeong’s dance skill was good for increasing stats or putting monsters to sleep. Her usefulness was outstanding, but her actual attack power was weak so it was dangerous. Even if she was good in general hunting, it was a strain to bring her to a fight where he didn’t know what kind of difficulty might be waiting.

Zephyr was out from the start.

Though his Health was strong, Resilience was good, and he even had an AoE skill.

“Since he’s being friendly with my little sister, he is absolutely a no.”

Weed erased Zephyr’s existence from his mind.

How could he give his dearly raised little sister to a playboy. It was something never to happen even if the sky were to collapse.

“Since she says they’re just meeting, I’ll have to wait and see. Since my little sister has an eye for people.”

His little sister’s actions or demeanor hadn’t changed, so he was relieved for now.

A father’s ripping heart when his daughter when out on a date with her boyfriend wearing a short skirt!

Weed could also sympathize a little.

“Men are all wolves and thieves. If a man dies at the hands of a woman, she’s innocent. Because even if he dies, he was sure to have committed an inappropriate deed, or wanted to commit one!”

Even so, he couldn’t take Yurin either.

He sent a whisper to SwordNoob.

– Master.

– ……

– Master.

– Ahem! What’s up!

– What are you doing right now?

– I, I didn’t do anything. I absolutely wasn’t starting a conversation with a Dark Elf Lady. Disciple. There was just something I wanted to ask.

– Master…

SwordNoob’s honest reply returned after a while.

– Shouldn’t I also marry? It’s difficult, but I should try a late marriage, at least.

– The other elder brothers are also busy, right?

– Yeah. They’re in the Orc village, and many are in the Dark Elf’s village as well. The Dark Elves with their dark-complexioned skin are healthy, so they like them very much.

– How are the Yuroki Mountains?

– There are many monsters. It’s alright since there’re a lot of monsters worth fighting. Making a party together with Orcs and trying out their hunting style is also fun.

SwordNoob and the other elder brothers were enjoying Royal Road. Flaunting their hearty masculine beauty as they protected the weak Orcs.

– Master, Dark Elves also like flowers.

– Oh, really? Alright. You should work hard as well. And call me anytime if you need help.

– Yes, master!

Weed ended the whisper with SwordNoob.

‘Who should I take?’

The Travellers of the Wilderness Guild!

A minority elite group of Armen Kingdom. A guild he estimated as having many unknown high-level users.

It was a guild Weed was a member of, but he hadn’t looked at the guild chat window for a while. It was turned off because the guild members frequently chatted idly amongst themselves! It was also a burden due to fact that he didn’t know anyone well enough to invite just one person from the Travellers of the Wilderness guild.

Just then, a whisper from Pale came.

– Weed-nim, you said you were getting one mercenary, right? Will you perhaps take one Shaman?

– What kind of Shaman are they?

– Her skill proficiency and utilization are to the point of being ridiculous. She is the most famous Shaman in Morata. She’s being a really big help even in party hunting together. I said spoke about Weed-nim just now, and she said she really wants to go.

Weed recalled his time as a beginner, when he hadn’t been playing Royal Road for very long.

‘I party hunted with a Shaman in the City of Heaven, Lavias.’

An unforgettable name. Dain.

She was exactly his ideal woman. It was difficult to say what exactly he liked, but his time together with her had been enjoyable. They talked a lot while dungeon hunting with just the two of them, and they had clicked even when they were hunting.

‘Although she left to undergo surgery… is she doing well now?’

Since there was no word, he could only hope for her wellbeing.

Weed brushed off thoughts of the past and spoke.

– It seems too dangerous a place for a Shaman to come.

A Priest-type profession was fundamentally a big help in party hunting, but they couldn’t protect themselves.

– Please convey my apologies for not being able to do it together.

– No. It can’t be helped.

He couldn’t call Hegel. If he called him, the news would soon spread all over through the Black Lions’ Guild.

The Thief Nide wasn’t an alternative, either.

‘A Thief is a profession with a lot of uses in a dungeon.’

A stereotype where Thieves or Assassins were vulnerable in a melee match!

Since he was getting a mercenary to help him in battle, a hiding, ambushing profession was unsuitable.

‘If it’s the strongest person I know, there’s only her…’

Weed recalled Seoyoon in his mind.

She, whose blade sliced up most monsters! A Berserker who grew stronger as the battle continued.

She had an outrageous level, and her utilization of skills was rapid.

The Berserker Seoyoon!

It would be the safest if she was here.

However, Weed shook his head.

His trust in Seoyoon was kindling a little, but it was too much to ask her to help him with a dangerous quest that had absolutely nothing to do with her.

‘Besides, I don’t even know where she is right now, and it would take lots of time if she were to come all the way here.’

He couldn’t get anyone he knew from around Sur Kingdom.

Weed made his decision.

“Call Death Knight!”

Death Knight Van Hawk appeared with smoke.

Since he’d been with him for a long time, he was used to meeting even Death Knight’s savage eyes.

“Did you call, Master.”

“Yes. Work has arrived.”

“I will knock down whomever it may be,” was steadfast Death Knight’s cry.

Weed turned his head and looked at Smith.

“If it’s Death Knight, we will not need another mercenary.”

Smith had not been that alarmed even when Death Knight had appeared.

“Seems like Death Knight can protect us. But the alcohol?”

Weed briefly opened his rucksack and pulled out several bottles of beer. There were dozens of beer bottles, he also had considerable amount of whiskey and wines. There was no need to purchase liquor separately, and if it was urgent, he could distill alcohol at any time.

Since there’s always a chance he could be called to leave for an adventure, he prepared plenty of bandages, a whetstone, or herbs and the like.

He was done with preparation for departure anytime..

“Let us go.”

“Alright.”

Weed took the lead first, and Smith followed behind. The bodies of the two vanished completely with the black gate.

Ruuuuuuumble!

As the gate disappeared, the shaking of Count Savoid’s mansion gradually faded.

* * *

The scattered corpses of monsters!

Fragments of monsters fell whenever Seoyoon swung her greatsword.

The monsters who ambushed from hiding beneath the earth or assaulted by falling from trees!

Seoyoon simply swung her sword.

Every time her blade flashed, monsters turned to grey light.

In the past, she had fought to forget everything. While dripping wet with sweat, if she could fight, then it was enough, and she would blindly run towards a monster group.

The fate of Berserkers who grew stronger the more they shed blood!

‘This place is too weak.’

A Berserker had the characteristic of drawing enemies and monsters.

A group of monsters gathered in Seoyoon’s location. Her footsteps were naturally drawn to a place where there were increasingly stronger monsters.

The absolute sense of a Berserker who sought blood and battle.

When there was a Berserker, the place would quickly become a battlefield with ceaseless screams.

The high-level hunting ground renowned even in the North, Maban’s Forest!

Monsters were running en masse to Seoyoon’s location.

‘Nobody loves me.’

Although it was she who had thrown herself into battle so her past wouldn’t resurface, now her heart didn’t hurt compared to the past.

‘Friend…’

Whenever she recalled the friend she had, a part of her chest became warm. The time when they shared an adventure in Royal Road was not long, but they could also meet in reality.

‘I want to protect him.’

The sight of him dying quickly at the Bone Dragon’s Breath…

She was hunting for the sake of the feeble Weed as she amassed experience and skill proficiency.

Her level was 422!

Seoyoon entered an area with even stronger monsters.

Chapter 9: Sculptor of Hell

The place Weed and Smith arrived at after passing through a black gate was a jet-black stone mountain without a single growing tree .

It was definitely not going to be a normal stone mountain.

The stone was jet black with holes all over, and a river flowed through the area.

– Waaaaah.

– Save us. Save us.

– Let me escape from this pain.

The river cried out. It was wailing like a ghost.

‘Is this the River of Lamentation?’

There were quite a number of sculptures on the stone mountain.

Like evil, murderous antagonists, they were sculptures creepy enough to make demons tremble!

The neck of a mother embracing her child was cut off. The mother and daughter were not Human, but Orcs. The Trolls were stabbing each other with spears. Humans were waging war en masse. Even a scene of a village being plundered and burned down was expressed through sculptures.

Following the flow of the river, groups of sculptures were lined up, and continued on endlessly.

“Ahem.”

It was enough to make even the likes of Weed grimace.

Some sculptures only depicted negative scenes that weren’t positive at all. For a normal person, it was at a level where one couldn’t help but feel repulsed.

But the one sculpture Weed liked and could understand was provokingly depicting a slaver. The sculpture of the man was ignoring the scrawny kids and enjoying a steak by himself. The kids, who looked like slaves, were eating barley bread at most.

“If you don’t have money then you will starve! They must be treating them well to give them barley bread…”

It was a sculpture evoking 100% of Weed’s sympathy!

Those kids might be considered lucky to be enslaved under the wicked trader. Because if it was Weed, he might not have even given them a single bowl of porridge!

The procession of sculptures continued endlessly down the River of Lamentation. The river made more rough and raspy groaning noises as it flowed downstream.

– Waaaaah.

– Kill me. Kill me.

When Weed looked after approaching the river, he saw it wasn’t normal water. Deep inside the river, ghosts of all kinds of monsters and humans were intactly flowing down the river. They had expressions of distress difficult to see even in the chilling horror of a haunted house.

Smith approached and said, “Maybe it’s the influence of the sculptures?”

“What?”

“I’m talking ‘bout the artwork. The basics of artwork is to move emotions. These sculptures are making the river wail.”

They were words Weed could relate to.

The sculptor’s feelings were buried into a sculpture. They all looked like the same sculptures, but they were actually very different.

A person who keeps waking up at night will definitely look haggard. But there’s no reason for a girl who receives a confession from someone she really loves to appear haggard.

Hopes and aspirations. Feelings full of affection!

Even if the subject was the same, a sculpture will convey a completely different mood depending on the feeling it was sculpted with. It was something as natural as a poem written by a poet or an author’s writing conveying a different mood depending on their feelings.

A work of art can move the emotions.

If a person’s house was filled with gloomy drawings or sculptures, of course they would also feel depressed and wouldn’t be motivated, either. If their house was filled with negative sculptures, they wouldn’t even want to get up in the morning. It might be a momentary impulse or simply a feeling, but after several years, several decades, it could definitely change a person.

“It’s the topography.”

“Huh?”

“Shall I say it’s similar to how an apartment overlooking the Han River is more expensive?”

“What do you mean?”

“The better the view, the more expensive the apartment gets. Well, it’s something like that.”

Weed thought he could understand.

If artwork could convey emotion, it was hard to see sculptures made with evil intent, could have given the river a good influence.

Sculptures created by the topography!

Weed was experiencing just about everything as he lived.

“Traditionally, there’s nothing as accurate as an apartment’s price. Besides, we should find out where this place is.”

It was at that time.

Ding!

– The Entrance to Hell.

You have entered the River of Lamentation.

The end of the continent where living beings can breathe.

It is the place where the Priests of the Matallost Church lead the dead to hell.

“Oh my.”

Smith shrugged his shoulders.

“So this is the end of the human continent. I’ve never been here even while working as a mercenary… At least gimme a bottle of liquor. With this, the boasts you can make to your friends at drinking parties have grown. Haw-haw!”

Smith was delighted as he drank.

Weed exhaled a deep sigh.

After wandering here and there, he was now at the entrance of hell. And with a drunk, no less.

‘No wonder the surroundings looked so strange…’

The eerie atmosphere was slightly similar to when he went to Todeum!

He couldn’t feel any traces of humans, and it was incomparably desolate and bleak.

Weed tried pulling out a compass, but the needle just spun around and around without settling. He couldn’t even discern the position of the stars in the sky.

‘I won’t even be able to return like this…’

Weed walked along the River of Lamentation with Smith.

At least a thousand sculptures were grouped thematically along the river.

He couldn’t find any positive sculpture no matter how hard he looked. When he approached a sculpture of a beautiful and adorable lady, the moment he took a closer look, he was able to confirm a shocking scene.

That cute lady was spitting! She was also clutching a frog in her hand. It was an indescribable scene, plunging him into an emotional shock.

There was also a grotesque scene of muscular women playing soccer. Of course, the soccer ball was an Ogre’s head!

Weed identified to check the information of the sculptures.

“Identify!”

Ding!

Sculpture of Shameful Ogres

The work of a little known Sculptor. Ogres were Kings of the forests and mountains. With the pride they hold for their territory, they will show a savage attitude towards invaders.

However, because of a commission from the Matallost Church, they were sculpted in this manner instead.

If Ogres were to see this, it would make them seethe with rage and resentment.

Artistic Value: None at all

Special Effect: Stimulates the sadness of the Ogres.

– Waaaaaaaaaah.

The groaning sound of the River of Lamentations only amplified as they continued down the river.

On the second day at the River of Lamentations, Weed found some ruins. The temple of the Matallost Church!

The temple of the church which was thought to have completely disappeared from the face of the continent was here.

The building, which he estimated to be made out of marble, was completely no more than a ruin. It was hazardously built like it was going to collapse at any moment, so it made him worry about entering.

“Summon Death Knight!”

Death Knight appeared with a puff of smoke and raised his sword.

“You called. Master.”

“You, go in there. If there are any living humans or monsters, come out immediately and report.”

“Understood.”

It might lower his Intimacy with Death Knight a little, but seeing they had spent a long time in each other’s company, they were connected through sticky and tough situations.

After searching the temple interior thoroughly, Death Knight came out.

“There is no one inside. Master.”

“Really?”

Weed went inside the temple.

Inside, there were only stone statues worshipping the God who put the enormous temple’s entrance to shame.

“The temple remains but all of the Priests are gone.”

Weed soon came out of the Matallost temple.

There was not a single item left in the Priests’ quarters. His clothes only got smudged with a ton of dust inside the temple.

* * *

The third day on the River of Lamentation!

In a place not very far from the temple, Weed found over 100 Priests and Dark Knights.

“The Embinyu Church!”

A groan escaped Weed’s mouth.

Even in the region where the Bone Dragon had been, he had found traces of the Embinyu Church. He remembered getting rid of them, with the help of the expedition, Seoyoon, and Alveron.

Weed’s face hardened with seriousness.

“So the Embinyu Church is involved again!”

For him to find the Embinyu Church who had influenced the fall of the Niflheim Empire here, the situation was serious.

For now, Weed hid himself.

There had been over 1,000 Demonic Spirits gathered near the Priests and Knights of the Embinyu Church. Mighty power indeed!

Moreover, they were performing a grave ritual.

“Kehhh. Do not leave. Take revenge on those who made you like this!”

“Painful and agonizing feelings. Awaken the meaning of despair!”

“Return once more to take your revenge.”

They were performing a Ritual of Slaughter downstream the River of Lamentation.

The river sloshed every time a lamb or deer was offered as a sacrifice. The water spurted high like a fountain and surged like it was going to swallow them. Every time it happened, the Priests of the Embinyu Church hurried to escape the river.

“Erupt the bitter feelings, endless sorrow, and boiling anger!”

It was when the Ritualists offered the heart of a lamb.

Wooooosh!

The river’s waters sloshed like they were going to reverse direction, and gushed up 10 meters high. The dirty and murky waste water!

Ghosts made groaning noises while making extremely distorted expressions in the river.

“Looks like they’re doing something… Death Knight.”

“Speak. Master.”

“Defend Smith here.”

“Got it.”

He planned on leaving Smith and Death Knight to try infiltrating alone.

Smith came forward.

“Woah, no. I’ll help. It’s ridiculous to leave recon to a fledgling Sculptor like you.”

“…”

“Where do you think you’re going without me, a first-class mercenary. Trust me.”

Weed threw him the remaining whiskey, about half of what he’d had.

“Ahh! Luxury whiskey! Sure enough, it tastes real good.”

Drinking the liquor thoroughly erased Smith’s thoughts of following the recon. Weed solved the luggage lump problem and infiltrated the Embinyu Church area alone.

‘Infiltrating’ was an exaggeration. In reality, he was just climbing the rock mountain while slowly approaching them!

Every time he crawled, stone debris fell down. When the Priests and Dark Knights of the Embinyu looked like they were going to turn their eyes, he quickly crouched and hid.

The wind blew through the holes in the rock, letting out an eerie ghostly sounding wails. Weed climbed as near as he could towards the Embinyu Church at the top of the rocky mountain. It wasn’t enough to eavesdrop on the conversation or activities of the Priests, but he was able to hear what the Dark Knights on guard were saying.

“… Did what?”

“Today… seems like… reported they did that many.”

“To utilize the sculptures… It’s an excellent plan.”

“The Versailles Continent into misery… our goal.”

The words he heard in fragments! Bits and pieces were cut off because of the wind.

Weed tried putting the pieces together to get the meaning of the conversation.

He’d survived thanks to his senses. By simply seeing the boss’ expression, he could tell if his wage was going to come safely or be withheld.

‘They did that many. Dunno know what that is, but seems like it was about they what were doing with the ghosts in the River of Lamentations… Utilize the sculptures. They’re probably using them to give evil power to the ghosts in the River of Lamentations.’

There could be no other reason for them to be using the sculptures.

The River of Lamentations was becoming increasingly filthy downstream and the spirits were suffering. He had to assume they were interfering with the negative power the sculptures gave off.

“.. Time is like this.”

“Replacement… get a break.”

“Fresh sheep’s blood…”

The Dark Knights’ guard duty was rotated.

Weed silently waited as the next Dark Knights stood guard.

“The wind is strong.”

“The weather is bad… Caltrops emerged…”

They only spoke one or two words in an hour! And they were only talking about things unrelated to the ritual the Priests were performing.

Weed withdrew to the place where Death Knight and Smith were hiding. And when he took out the figure of Death, he saw it was shedding tears.

“No way… Identify!”

Horse-like in appearance, the relic of the Matallost church opened its mouth. The voice of an old man could be heard.

– Listen.

This is the history of the Matallost Church that guides the dead.

The Matallost Church lost its influence to the other churches. Then, it formed an alliance with the Embinyu Church while dreaming of revenge.

The Embinyu Church is a cult that worshipped demons knowing nothing but hatred.

“Use the power you have. Keke!”

“Make it so the Versailles Continent cannot help but worship the Matallost Church.”

“Our sole desire is destruction. We will help.”

The Matallost Church became corrupted.

They neglected their duty to guide the dead and became the eleventh sect of the Embinyu Church.

They trained Demonic Spirits, becoming an evil army that would trample the Versailles Continent.

Cleanse the River of Lamentation, the source of their power.

If the River of Lamentation is purified, the Demonic Spirits will lose their power.

Ding!

The Fight Against the Embinyu Church

Stop the deeds of the Embinyu Church, from attempting to stain the continent with evil.

As the Embinyu Church’s ritual progresses, the Versailles Continent will fall into chaos. In order to prevent the progression of their ritual, change the sculptures in the River of Lamentation basin.

Note, if you destroy the sculptures, you will be pursued by the Dark Knights.

Quest is linked to Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church, Eradicate the Embinyu Church’s 11th Sect, and the Matallost Church’s Long-Cherished Wish.

Difficulty: Sculptor-limited Quest

Reward: Will be recorded as a great work of sculpting. Favor of all the churches in the Versailles Continent, except the Embinyu Church, will increase. An honorable title.

Quest Limit: If the Resurrection Army and Embinyu Church destroy the Versailles Allied Forces, the quest will automatically be cancelled.

Weed’s eyes brightened.

“Looks like this is the start of yet another chain quest.”

A Sculptor quest!

it was a following quest he received after getting the Statue of Death.

If he accepted this quest and succeeded, a chain quest would continue after he interfered with and destroyed the Embinyu Church’s ritual.

It also meant this was really the starting point of the quest.

Weed did not reject the challenge.

“I will attempt it.”

– You have accepted the quest.

* * *

The River of Lamentation’s basin!

Monsters and Demonic Spirits were overflowing even a little way off the riverside. It was no exaggeration to say this was the worst hunting ground.

Thin physiques so scrawny, there were only bones left and monsters with dark blue skin radiating electricity!

Hellish monsters were wandering about en masse.

Since the monsters and Demonic Spirits were fighting, Weed couldn’t escape to a safe spot in the riverside either.

“Though the monsters are at the very least in their late 300s…”

The weakest monsters on the river bank were about that level.

The weather was drab, and if there was fog in the air, the electricity the monsters radiated would be formidable in power.

Weed tried an experiment.

“Death Knight, attack!”

“Okay. Master!”

He verified Death Knight couldn’t last 10 minutes before dying after engaging two or three of them!

Since he couldn’t leave the area near the River of Lamentations, it was impossible to guess what kind of monsters he would encounter if he traveled further.

Death Knight could keep reviving since he was a Knight of Death, but he was severely weakened for awhile.

Weed meekly raised his carving knife.

“I should do this slowly, step by step.”

He went to work on the mother Orc with the chopped off head who was holding the child.

The work of creating and attaching the mother Orc’s head!

Since he had to positively change nearly a thousand sculptures on the River of Lamentation’s basin, even Weed could call this a great work in history.

It was when he was making a warmly laughing mother Orc’s head.

The Orc’s eyes gained a sharp, piercing look, and hunger surged in the eyes as they looked down on the child.

Eyes that looked like it wanted to eat its own child!

Its head looked like it was going to make the baby Orc die of a heart attack while breast feeding it.

He had ascertained plenty of the unique sense of beauty with Orc Karichwi, but because his head was full of distracting thoughts, he couldn’t make the sculptures like he wanted.

“This won’t do.”

Weed set down his carving knife.

It wasn’t because he didn’t dare change the thousand sculptures on the River of Lamentation’s basin, or because the ghosts within the river were wailing and the sculptures looked terrifying on the foggy riverside.

The monsters!

He couldn’t ignore the Embinyu Church’s Priests and Dark Knights and while sculpting. It was like telling a growing elementary school kid in his prime to ignore the meat on his plate and only eat the vegetables.

Desire for experience and items. It boiled within Weed until he couldn’t bear it anymore. Copious strong monsters and items. He couldn’t leave those monsters alone and sculpt an Orc’s head.

With explosively rising thirst, Weed raised his carving knife again. His plan wasn’t to correct the sculptures on the River of Lamentations basin, but to create an entirely new sculpture.

*Slice* *Slice*!

He was making a sculpture by hewing the darkness.

Making a huge sculpture out of stone was the method he was used to. Unexpectedly, he couldn’t cut the brittle, porous stone easily.

“I must make a mount first.”

He recalled back when he had been a Skeleton Knight.

The Skeleton Knight alone had managed the battle he’d been transported to from the Tower of Heroes.

The tremendous acceleration he’d had while riding his horse on the plains in the historical Palrangka battle!

There was no obstacle for a Knight’s gallop.

When he charged, his attack cleaved through monsters. Given a horse, Knights became at least 3 or 4 times more powerful.

“I may be a Sculptor, but I can run.”

He didn’t have a special skill like a Knight did, but even if he didn’t have a skill that allows him to become one with a horse, he was still able to run.

It was also common for Mercenaries to have their own horse once they grew to some extent.

“Even so, I don’t need to bother to sculpt a horse.”

Weed did not want something weak like a horse.

A horse was fast, but didn’t have very high endurance. They behaved differently in variable moods. They were also often afraid of fire, lightning, ghosts, and the like.

He wasn’t a Knight specialized in horses anyway.

“The best of mounts is that after all.”

Weed was a Korean citizen.

The livestock that had appeased people’s pain numerous times in Korea’s lengthy, winding history!

There was no reason to sculpt a horse when there was a strong and firm livestock possessing immense, leathery muscular strength he was so familiar with.

Our cow.

Korean beef!

Weed sculpted the special rock, the jet-black darkness.

The legs were thick and solid. The thigh muscles were incomparably delicate, and the entire body was completely muscular.

If a normal cow raised on grain was dangling with fat for the sake of the meat, the cow he was sculpting right now was different.

This one could enter Versailles Continent’s Mister Bull Olympiad!

If hunk-loving heifers were to see him, they would immediately shake their short tails as they lied down.

“It won’t do to blindly develop muscles.”

Weed even demonstrated the virtue of self-control.

A muscular body might have strong bursts of power, but it had the disadvantage of lackluster endurance and agility.

“I have to minimize the unnecessary muscles and optimize the muscular strength and endurance.”

Weed paid attention to even the bull’s beauty.

Before he won his sculpting victory from Death Hand, he had intentionally made a failed bull to appear weak. He had gained experience while losing Fame. It was why he couldn’t help but be much more skillful as he sculpted the bull.

He sculpted the size of the horns to be around 30 cm (~1 ft) long with its tips sharp enough to penetrate a steel plate, and also made its face broad.

It was a muscular bull, but its butt was expansive.

“The face of Korean cattle must be broad. The bigger the butt, the better. The eyes have to be round.”

His deep-rooted bias concerning cows!

Weed finally completed the sculpture.

– Please set a name for the sculpture you’ve made.

“Yellowy.”

– Would you like to name it ‘Yellowy’?

It was a black cow right now, but he planned on dying it yellow afterwards.

Weed nodded his head as he looked at the 5 meter (~16 ft) mass of darkness inspiring awe and horror.

“The name ‘Yellowy’ really is perfect for a cow.”

Ding!

You have completed a Historic Sculpture, the Legendary Bull Yellowy!

A Legendary sculpture!

All that you have sculpted will be written in the Versailles Continent’s history.

With noble talent and abundant artistry, you have created a piece of work people cannot help but marvel at, time and time again with your unrivaled, delicate skill.

A work invoking the solemn charm and dynamism of a cow.

With its different interpretation and perspective, it will become a legendary sculpture of livestock.

Artistic Value: An artwork of the Master Sculptor Weed. 6,124

Special Effects: Those who gaze upon Yellowy will gain 15% increase in health and mana regeneration for a day.

Those who gaze upon Yellowy will gain 49% increase in obtaining meat products while hunting for a day.

Strength has increased by 80.

Perseverance has increased by 25%.

Production related skills are enhanced by 5%.

Breeding capacity of female cattle has increased by 38%.

Cattle gain weight faster.

Suppresses monster activity that threatens cattles everywhere.

Effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Historic Sculptures completed until now: 1

– Sculpting skill proficiency has improved.

– Handicraft skill proficiency has improved.

– Fame has risen by 412.

– Art stat has risen by 70.

– Strength has increased by 3.

– Perseverance has increased by 10.

You have created a Historical Sculpture of a cow. Intimacy with cattle has increased, and if you own a large grassland, they will start gathering naturally.

If talented Sculptors see this sculpture, it will be a considerable help in developing their sculpting.

– For creating a historic sculpture, all stats have increased by 2 additional points.

Weed was satisfied.

“There is no other livestock that understands our people so well and has rewarded us like the cow has.”

His gratitude towards cattle!

If cattles hadn’t existed in the past, it would have been difficult to farm and many people might have struggled with starvation.

Cattle had supplied the Korean food industry with endless assistance until the development of agricultural machinery.

Weed immediately returned the favor.

It was a waste to simply appreciate a sculpture this awesome. Plus, this was a place normal people couldn’t come to!

“Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

– Sculpture has been granted life.

The sculpture ability will be converted from the current art stat of 1316 accordingly to a level of 422.

Due to the effects of a Historic Sculpture, the level will be added an additional 15%, increasing it to 485.

However since the material of the rock is weak, there is a 20% penalty to the level.

The creature has been given three properties.

Depending on the sculpture’s level and form, the granted attributes will differ in level and ability.

Perseverance attribute (100%), Earth attribute (100%), Loyalty attribute (100%)

Perseverance will raise its patience no matter what kind of work it performs. With increased defense, it will not topple easily from poison or magic attacks.

Earth attribute slightly increases defense and weight. Can obtain special assistance due to familiarity with the earth.

Loyalty will make him follow its master’s words well. It does not choose its master easily, but when it does recognize its master it will profusely devote himself to the death.

Historical sculpture will be given special abilities.

It possess dominance over cattles. Bulls who have seen Yellowy will lower their heads and display obedience, while heifers will feel safe and bear offspring.

Wild Frenzy.

Yellowy possess a gentle, loyal nature. He does not anger easily, but humiliation, abuse of a young cow, or witnessing the death of his owner will make him run amok.

5,000 mana has been used.

The skill efficiency has increased, so the level and stats consumed when bestowing life have decreased by 20%.

Art stat has been permanently reduced by 6. The reduced stats can be recovered through sculpting or other art related activities.

Level has declined by 1. As a result of the level reduction, the stats you have gained have decreased by 5.

The reduced stats can be restored again by raising your level.

Please cherish the sculpture you have granted life to. If life is lost then it must be granted again.

In the case where it is completely destroyed, it can not be resurrected.

Yellowy!

Light flashed in its jet-black eyes.

He raised his cow head as he dug into the ground with his hind leg.

Mooooo!

It was the sound of Yellowy’s dignified bellow.

Weed was also very satisfied. It would have been more ideal if the rock material was good, but for a mount it was first-class!

“Yellowy.”

Yellowy blinked his innocent eyes.

He was an enormous bull full of muscle, but his eyes were good-natured.

Yellowy opened his mouth. Then he said.

“Yellowy is my name?”

“Yes.”

The bull communicated with his feelings. It wasn’t very surprising, either. Even if it was made out of a sculpture, Bingryong and the Wyverns also spoke.

Communication was possible because they had mental connection with Weed. They could understand the words of other people too, but there were many cases where they would ignore them or be unable to express their intentions.

Unless they had outstanding intelligence like Bingryong or Gold Man, communication with a Human or Elf was impossible.

“I don’t think the name is very good. Do you think it matches my rough behavior?”

Yellowy furrowed deeply into the ground with his hind leg.

The ground crumbled as pebbles flew back.

He was a bull with great strength indeed!

“But Yellowy is a good name with feeling. From now on, your name is Yellowy.”

“You are a master I really do not like,” Yellowy said roughly.

He was a loyal cow, but he displayed wariness in the beginning. He was inspecting Weed like a fearful baby calf. He gave off the feeling he was going to decide his attitude after looking at Weed’s subsequent actions.

“What do you plan to do with me from here on? I want to graze on a wide grassland, meet a pretty heifer, have calves, and live peacefully.”

Yellowy dreamt of grazing freely!

Weed shook his head.

“I’m going to ride you and hunt monsters.”

“…”

Yellowy’s brow furrowed severely.

It seemed he possessed reluctance to hunt or fight because of a cow’s nature.

Weed felt the need to teach this naive cow the way of the world.

“Do you think freedom is so easily obtained? Do you have money?”

“I don’t.”

“You spoke of grassland, but have you got land on a wide grassland?”

“I don’t.”

“No money, no land, but you think a pretty heifer is going to like you? Tsk tsk. Heifers these days are very shrewd.”

“…”

“How will you raise your baby cows. Do you want your children to grow up eating weeds their entire lives? You’re going to need something to feed them nutrient-rich hay.”

Weed was informing a cow about the bitterness of society!

Yellowy’s high spirits fell and he became meek.

“Looks like I will need money in life. I understand why I must hunt monsters.”

Yellowy was soon persuaded. He possessed obedience because Weed was his master.

However, Yellowy made a dissatisfied expression when he looked back at his own body. Because on the side of the perfectly muscular body, about one handspan of flab was attached.

Every time he walked, the flab jiggled.

“Master, what is this?”

“That’s rib-eye.”

“…”

Weed considered the rib-eye and shanks important!

Yellow furrowed the ground with his hind leg, showing his obvious displeasure. He was protesting with force.

It was a completely ineffective action.

Weed said in a low voice.

“Yellowy, I see there’s no end to your arrogance.”

“Gasp.”

“I’ll pierce your nose tomorrow and start dragging you around with it.”

“…”

“I’ll make you do field work. Do you want to farm? Wanna plow the wilderness?”

“…”

“I’ll butcher you, nom nom nom, and swallow you. You know soy paste isn’t spread on cooked beef, right? Just as raw beef…”

“How can you say such horrible things…!”

“I’m not one to leave behind a tailbone even for the broth.”

For Weed, making threats for 2 days and 3 nights was possible if he so desired.

At some point, Yellowy furtively bowed his head.

Obedience!

With that, Yellowy’s fate was decided.

* * *

Weed felt Yellowy alone was lacking and made another sculpture.

A sculpture made of light.

His proficiency had increased after making the Wings of Light, and it was a sculpture he attempted with painstaking care.

Blazing bright red color.

The concentration darkened as if flames were taking form.

He made a giant bird.

Since it was a sculpture made of light, making a small figure was much harder. His technique wasn’t perfect, so he won with size over details.

Phoenix!

He created a sculpture of red light and granted it life.

The sculpture came out as a Masterpiece instead of a Magnum Opus of light, but that alone wasn’t too bad of a success. The Phoenix’s special characteric was especially awesome.

Unquenchable Fire Attribute

Even if its Stamina is completely depleted, it can revive as long as a small flame remains.

Will have 50% of its maximum Health and Mana when revived.

The awesome appearance of the Phoenix Down!

[T/N: Phoenix Down is a revival item from Final Fantasy.]

Strength was important for sculptures made by Weed, but the durability of Health was more valuable than anything else.

Necromancers could steadily raise undeads if they had a bit of Mana and a corpse. But every time Weed gave life to a sculpture, it consumed his level and art stats.

So even if he carved a sculpture and made something stronger than an undead, it was over if it died!

Sculptures were faithful, independent individuals.

If they were destroyed, he wouldn’t be able to recover his losses.

Longevity.

Sculptures granted life weren’t consumables, but family he had to develop together while backing their shortcomings.

“The Phoenix is alright.”

Weed made a total of 5 Phoenixes.

Since they were sculptures with the same appearance, they only came out as Fine pieces when he sculpted them again.

Their final level was 400.

“You will be known as the Five Phoenix Brothers!”

“We understand. Master.”

The Phoenixes folded their wings and bowed.

Weed received the bow of the Phoenixes while atop Yellowy.

Chapter 10: The Bull Riding Sculptor

The Proam Allied Mercenary Guild.

The Black Sword Mercenaries had garnered the right to call themselves first-class Mercenaries.

“Heh. It was really difficult to get to this point,” said Michel, the leader of the Black Swords.

There had been a whopping one hundred and eighty-nine requests that led them to this point.

They were acknowledged within the Proam Allied Mercenary Guild, who had branches all over entire Versailles Continent.

The Black Swords even owned a castle and a village. They were the best mercenaries, and they lived up to their reputation.

It was a guild consisting of thousands of mercenaries. It possessed numerous Warriors and Magicians and even had connections to nobles.

The uniforms of Black Sword Mercenaries were embellished with their distinctive symbol, a jet-black crossed swords. Other Mercenaries who saw it expressed respect. Simply being a member of the Black Sword Mercenaries was enough to garner great respect from general players.

Michel had access to the Proam Alliance Mercenary Guild’s records.

“Unfinished commissions. If we can finish them, the Mercenaries will become even stronger.”

Michel glowed with pride.

Not only was he level 431, but a considerable number of other top-rankers also belonged within the Mercenaries.

He was a celebrity who appeared on television, and his relationship with other guilds was good. Whenever occasional conflicts occurred, even if he solved them with brute force, there was no complaint afterward.

In the Versailles Continent, there were many weak and endangered people. Countless people desired the power of the Black Sword Mercenaries, so their influence continued to grow.

While reading the Proam Alliance Mercenary Guild’s records, Michel stumbled upon a section that caught his eye.

“Former Mercenary Guild Master Smith. The man who made the Proam Alliance Mercenary Guild the best in Versailles. So no one has seen him since he retired?”

* * *

*Kyaaaaaaak!*

*Hehe!*

It was the desperate struggle between the Human army and the Demonic Spirits.

The Demonic Spirits were fighting at Odin’s walls.

The short and long-legged Demonic Spirits advanced unsteadily, looking like they were about to collapse, closely resembled zombies.

“Fire!”

A rain of arrows flew down from the walls.

The Archers fired without sparing any arrows.

The Resurrection Church Priests raised their wands.

“Regors, go forth!”

“Charge. Trample Odin.”

Demonic Spirits resembling huge elephants or mammoths ran forward.

The small Demonic Spirits in the Regors’ paths were kicked and went flying into the air, but they paid no attention to them and continued to charge forward.

*Kuuoooooooo!*

Small Demonic Spirits blew horns, shrieked horribly, and stamped their feet.

“Archers, what the hell are you doing, FIRE!”

“Stop those Regors!”

It was a nightmarish Demonic Spirit for Odin.

Many Human players had been trampled to death by a Regor on the Plains of the Great War.

*Twa-twa-twaaang!*

Arrows poured out from Odin’s walls, covering the sky.

The Regors deflected the arrows with their thick grey skin.

*Grawr rawr!*

*Kweeeeeee!*

Medium-sized Demonic Spirits kept rushing out from hiding under the Regors’ bellies and behind their rumps.

Saliva dripped as they let loose jaw-splitting shrieks.

There was only 200 or so meters left until they reached Odin’s walls.

The Knights defending Odin knew the Demonic Spirits they fought to exhaustion could cross the distance in an instant.

“Shoot more arrows!”

“Magician squad, what are you doing?”

“We’re replenishing our Mana through Meditation,” replied Kiam, the representative of the Fort Odin Magicians and a Magician of the Prosperity Wings Guild.

“What Meditation are you doing in a time like this! Don’t you know there won’t even be a chance to use magic if the walls fall? Quickly, stop those bastards even if you have to use all your Mana!”

The Magicians cast spells from the walls of Fort Odin.

*CRAAAAASH!*

The ground was upturned and thundering lightning came crashing down.

There was a deafening roar as flames, lightning, water, and magic arrows exploded towards the Demonic Spirits!

It was an attack so powerful, it transformed the terrain and razed the whole area.

The Demonic Spirits, including the Regors, didn’t survive. Where the magic had swept by, all that remained was japtem!

“Daaang… and we can’t even go pick them up.”

“I’m gonna die. There’s no profit since we can only guard the walls.”

The Mercenaries on the wall grumbled complaints, since there were definitely many good items among the japtem.

They had to suppress their greed because going down the walls was no different than a suicide act.

The Demonic Spirits’ advance was only beginning.

Although the magic had taken the lead, there was no sign of decrease in the huge Demonic Spirit Army. Due to the attacks of the increasingly fierce Demonic Spirits, Fort Odin was like a candle in a storm.

Daymond shook his Bone Staff.

“Your resistance will end here.”

Suban followed with a laugh.

“It is today at last.”

“Yeah. Deliberately restraining our offense so we could gather our forces has paid off. Today, we will penetrate Fort Odin.”

If they could take down Fort Odin, then seizing Aidern Kingdom would just be a matter of time.

Once they take control of the large granary and armory, the Demonic Spirit Army would be better fed and armed.

The Allied Forces may have been formed, but those who hadn’t personally faced the Demonic Spirits hadn’t yet realized the magnitude of the situation. The expeditionary force was said to have been deployed from another Kingdom would take a long time to arrive.

High tax rates and army training!

The prestigious guilds and lords hadn’t come to their senses. Before the Resurrection Army invaded, except for local siege warfare, every single one of the Kingdoms were peaceful and their only enemies were monsters.

They were deluded by the fantasy that Fort Odin’s walls would defend them!

Already, a deadly epidemic was spreading inside the fort. The Allied Forces were breaking apart due to the distress and horror.

Daymond pointed his Bone Staff at the castle.

“Keep attacking!”

More Regors ran towards Fort Odin. There were also Goblins were riding on their backs.

The weak Goblins were not easily motivated, but with money and the Demonic Army as bait, they had been recruited as medium officers.

As the Goblins led, the might of the Demonic Spirits became much stronger.

The Goblins raised their shoddy Spears as they danced upon the Regors.

Daymond, who led the Resurrection Army and was invading the Versailles Continent, was nicknamed the ‘Prince of Darkness.’

He an existence of chaos, seeking to stain the Versailles Continent with Demonic Spirits.

* * *

Jefferson walked in his suit and tie towards the conference room with a frown on his face.

“Today won’t be easy either.”

“Hello, Mr. Jefferson.”

“It has been awhile, Miss Johanna.”

Jefferson amiably received every greeting made to him by the passing women. However, after passing them, dark shadows returned to his face.

The company he worked at was Global J.K.I Financial Group in New York!

As was typical of America, they had one motto with their speculative funds:

‘Invest in places that make money.’

Resources, people, companies, and countries.

There weren’t any restrictions on their investments.

They had been quiet for some time because their endless greed had netted them a big loss. However, they were once again increasing their capital as of late.

Jefferson, the Executive Director responsible for Asia, presided over a meeting with the major shareholders who held the company’s wealth.

Their profit from investing on an American and European infrastructure company was excellent. Their investment on Egypt’s oilfields was gradually yielding profit, and the investments in environmental technology were also showing promise.

The problem was in Asia.

The shareholders were annoyed because the returns were too high.

“Our share ratio of Unicorn is currently approximately 7.2%. With current market price, it’s estimated to be 16.8 billion dollars.”

“The return of our investment must be over a hundred fold,” said Benjamin Chandler, who had served as a Vice President of the United States.

“Yes. The return on investment is exceeding 130 times. It has the highest return from all the companies we’ve seen until now.”

“Why didn’t you invest a greater amount in Unicorn beforehand?”

A profit of 130 times the investment!

But wasn’t enough for the greedy Chandler. The other Directors and Shareholders also criticized Jefferson’s mistake.

“We missed out on a chance to make money. Did you forget opportunities soon grows into profit?”

“I cannot believe you were careless with our company until Unicorn developed more maturely.”

Jefferson coughed up an excuse.

“We also tried to take action, but the stock value jumped too suddenly.”

“Stock prices have risen by 130 times. We should have invested more in the beginning!”

“Formerly, it was an unproven enterprise. The press and America’s academia treated it negatively, so a greater investment was difficult.”

“How much is the foreign investment for Unicorn?”

“It is about 19.4%.”

J.K.I. Financial Group, the California Government Employees Pension Corporation, and other investment companies had a combined total of nearly 19.4%.

“What do you think about combining forces and merging with Unicorn Corporation before it gets any bigger?”

Seizing control with the use of astronomical funds!

It was a remark no one but Chandler would dare to say.

The back of Jefferson’s shirt became drenched in sweat.

“We’ll only know by exploring the idea, but I think it will be a very difficult venture.”

“For now, we will get the funds.”

“Even with the money, it is close to impossible.”

As Royal Road hit upon its initial success, Unicorn was already experiencing unbelievable growth.

The stock price skyrocketed in a globally unprecedented manner! As soon as the stock market opened, it soared into higher heights.

There were no sellers either. Those who owned stocks were certain it will still continue to rise, so no one wanted to sell. The money they received yearly from just those stock dividends alone was enough to live off of for a lifetime.

In contrast, people who wanted to buy stocks were trying to buy them no matter the cost.

Stock traders worldwide tried to buy just one Unicorn stock, but exploded in anger because no one was willing to sell.

“How can there be a stock like this?”

Chandler felt like his stomach was overturning.

Even now, Unicorn’s stock was soaring with no limits, and the current price per stock had become the most expensive in the world.

“Even if we offer a high price, no one is trading. And if rumors spread of our plans to merge, the periodically occurring trades would atrophy.”

Jefferson was sorry he could only inform the major shareholders of the bad news, but it couldn’t be helped.

Moreover, Unicorn Corporation had a vast amount of money.

In fact, several finance companies had united and revealed their covert hostile intentions towards Unicorn. They shook Unicorn through the press and credit companies, trying to buy stocks.

Unicorn’s response to those actions were drastic.

They used overflowing funds to drastically expand their shares in foreign media and financial companies. They interfered in company management and forcibly replaced board members, so their opposers had to back down.

Foreign financial companies were swayed by the large losses they suffered because of the economic power Unicorn Corporation possessed.

Unicorn was the largest stockholder of a foreign investment bank.

A monthly usage fee of 200 thousand Won (~$200)! That was only possible because it was Unicorn Corporation, which was earning astronomical funds every month.

J.K.I Financial Group’s meeting concluded without any results.

The major shareholders pulled up their heavy bodies.

“I’m going home to rest.”

“Abigail, are you planning on connecting to Royal Road today as well?”

“Certainly. I even bought a villa near the sea.”

“What level are you, Mr. Chandler.”

“290. Do you want to go hunting together?”

“Sure. Please help me level a little. Hunting is really difficult after passing level 200.”

“It’s bound to be hard without know-hows.”

The major shareholders were also players of Royal Road.

They had accumulated wealth and power in the real world. Since they could live new adventures and experiences on the Versailles Continent, there was no reason to dislike it.

They lived new lives with slightly younger and more handsome bodies.

“I’ll see you in the next meeting.”

Jefferson even politely saw off the luxury cars from the door.

He was also a Royal Road player.

Since he was an investment company Executive, he had chosen Merchant as his profession. He was struggling to earn a lot of money through trade to acquire a land and a title as nobility.

After all, Royal Road was an alternate reality no one could help but be sucked into.

* * *

Moooo!

Yellowy bellowed ponderously.

He looked tired, as if he had been arduously plowing the fields all day!

It was because he had struggled to familiarize himself with strange footwork to be helpful during battles.

Weed pulled out his sword.

“Charge. Yellowy!”

Moooooooooo!

Yellowy stamped his hind foot and ran.

Wild Bull Rush. As they ran fearlessly down the steep rocky mountain. Their speed got faster and faster.

Weed’s mantle flapped wildly in the wind.

“This is the feeling.”

There was nothing cooler than a flapping mantle when you while running quickly.

Weed was fully armed in his best equipment.

His blade was the Daemon Sword he’d acquired in Todeum. It was the prized possession of the honorable Knight Kolderim of Kallamore Kingdom. The light-absorbing Talrock’s Armor, the noble Black Helmet of Elegance, Vampire Cloak, and black boots. He even had his Ancient Shield equipped.

Even if he were to ride a wild mustang in the wilderness, his appearance couldn’t be any cooler.

“Clothes makes the man after all.”

Although riding Yellowy was incomparably awkward, Weed was satisfied with his own appearance nevertheless.

“It’s only because I don’t dress up, but if I had paid just a little more attention, even actors aren’t a big deal, huh?”

His baseless confidence even actors couldn’t match to him if he changed his hairstyle and clothes!

It was classy; he was a Knight wearing elegant armor riding atop a bull over 5 meters tall!

He was extremely energized by the force of the gallop.

“Charge. Run faster!”

“This is already the top speed. Master.”

“Hya. Hyaa!”

Weed even made whipping noises with his mouth. He was riding a bull without a saddle or reins, but he had to do everything that needed to be done.

The Caltrops at the bottom of the rocky mountain noticed Yellowy charging in from afar.

“It’s a cow.”

“A Human. How did a Human get here.”

“Is he a Knight of the Embinyu Church? They can’t mess with us because of the agreement.”

“No. Their symbol isn’t on his armor. KILL HIM!”

The five Caltrops settled in their stances.

They charged their antennas and lightning surged out.

*BOOOOOOM!*

With the sound of crashing thunder, streaks of lightning poured forth.

MOOOOOOOOOO!

Yellowy wailed lengthily in alarm as he leapt to the side.

He had reduced his speed while changing directions.

The lightning streaks narrowly brushed past Weed and Yellowy.

The lightning streaks struck the rocky mountain and earth, shattering the ground. Broken rock debris flew in every direction.

“As expected of our cow!”

Weed did not save his praises.

It´s movements were agile and it´s superior stamina exceeded those of a horse. He hadn’t given any instructions, but Yellowy had avoided it on his own.

To think Yellowy avoided the approaching lightning in a fleeting moment! He exceeded Weed’s expectations.

“Charge again!”

Moooooo.

“It’s scary. I don’t like it. I don’t think fighting matches my constitution.”

Yellowy shook his head.

It seemed battle didn’t suit the innocent cow.

Instead of motivating with praises, Weed mobilized a stronger threat.

There should not be the slightest bit of hesitation in a fight!

“If you’re scared, run towards those guys. Grilled beef, raw beef, short rib soup, marinated beef slabs, boneless marinated beef, shabu shabu*, oxtail soup, cow heel, bovine bone broth soup!”

T/N: Shabu shabu is a Japanese dish consisting of thinly sliced beef boiled in water. It is served with dipping sauces. Similar to sukiyaki but more savory and less sweet.

MOOOOOOOO!

Yellowy ran with all his strength on all four feet.

Even though he had a heavy build, his strength and stamina were so great that he reached his peak speed again.

They closed in, coming within 100 meters of the Caltrops.

“Lightning Spear!”

Another lightning attack was fired!

Weed raised his Ancient Shield.

Because they were close, they couldn’t dodge the attack completely even with Yellowy’s quick reflexes. Even if they dodged it, attack power would decrease if their speed fell, so evasion wasn’t desirable.

The lightning attacks were blocked by the Ancient Shield. They were enveloped by the shield’s soft aura and the attack flowed off into another direction.

Weed felt great resistance, but he endured it and swung his sword.

They were already a stone’s throw away from the Caltrops.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

The moment Yellowy ran past the Caltrops, the Daemon Sword also sliced the Caltrops as it passed by.

He quickly struck the Caltrop on his right, then reversed his grip on the sword hilt and slashed again, upwards.

The Daemon Blade frolicked freely within his grip!

Weed’s movements didn’t stop.

He grasped Yellowy’s horn tightly with his left hand and twisted his body.

Moooo!

His legs and bottom rose slightly. He used the centrifugal force that was pulling the sword and twisted his body.

While doing a 360 on top of Yellowy, he sliced the neck of the Caltrop to his left.

“Gaargh!”

The Caltrops’ stances withered.

Although it might not be a Knight’s charge, but the damage he inflicted was immense because it was sword attack with enormous acceleration. And Caltrops weren’t monsters with much Health, either.

Their dry, sturdy skin blocked with formidable defense, but his Moonlight Sculpting Blade had the effect of ignoring the opponent’s defense.

It was when they had defeated two of them and were charging between the Caltrops—

*Lurch!*

Yellowy moved with his front legs in a zigzag manner. They approached the clumped Caltrops while executing steps in a much slower speed.

This was the biggest disadvantage of a Knight’s charge on horseback!

It became the strongest weapon on the plains, but once you grazed past the monsters, turning around again was way too hard. For a monster who knew long-distance attacks, it actually became a weak point.

However, Yellowy was not a horse.

Sidestep, backwards step. He was a cow who could perform directional changes smoothly!

He sharply reduced speed and changed direction as they grazed past the Caltrops. He even knew the perfect distance for Weed to swing his sword.

He was faithful, his efficiency was good, and like a cow sincerely doing the work it was entrusted, he didn’t make any mistakes even when doing something for the first time.

The Caltrops didn’t die after getting hit with one slash each, but since they had drastically lost fighting power. All he had to do was decisively slit the thin layer of skin on their throats.

The last remaining Caltrop was in front of Yellowy.

Weed stroked Yellowy’s neck.

“Yellowy, take it down!”

“Don’t want to. How could I do such a nasty act.”

He still had not thrown away his reluctance in battle!

Weed knew how to properly use the carrot-and-stick tactic. If he only fostered threats and horror, there would be resistance no matter how loyal of a cow he was.

“Take it down and I’ll give you one copper. If you kill it completely, I’ll give you two coppers.”

Another incentive in battle!

For Yellowy, one copper was a monstrous amount.

‘Things can be bought with one copper… A handful of highly nutritious hay. Ten buckets of chilled water!’

Apparently he could buy a handsbreadth of land if he saved and saved to gather ten coppers. If he planted at least weeds, he could eat them up whenever he was famished.

If he collected about 10 gold, he could supposedly build a shabby barn, which was Yellowy’s hope in life.

Dreams of owning his own home!

MOOOOO!

Yellowy’s energetic acceleration!

He flew forward to the point of plowing deep furrows in the ground and rammed the Caltrop with his pointy horns.

The Caltrop wailed miserably as the impact knocked it several meters away.

Weed hunted the Caltrops, acquiring savory experience, japtem, a sooty iron plate, howling plant seeds, a blue marble, and the like.

“I don’t know what the marble is used for yet, but if I collect it, there’ll be a place to sell it.”

Weed checked his income and laughed heartily.

The fruits of his labor, such as the smithing item, and the EXP was so savory.

“Hunting has got to be this flavor after all.”

The relationship between the Caltrops and Demonic Spirits was hostile!

Demonic Spirits’ very similar in appearance to Demonic Spirits of the Resurrection Army, and they were dispersed along the River of Lamentation. It seemed beasts who drank water from the River of Lamentation turned into Demonic Spirits.

Weed mainly hunted these Demonic Spirits and Caltrops.

“The Five Phoenix Brothers. Deploy!”

He also made the Phoenixes participate in battle.

The majestic Five Phoenix Brothers!

They vaporized the deep fog with a single breath. The ground glowed with heat and caught fire.

Once the moisture disappeared, the Caltrops’ lightning attacks weakened.

The Phoenixes flew long distances at once and pecked at enemy heads.

Since they were guys with almost infinite Health, they simply took normal attacks with their bodies.

They could self-recover, even if their Health dropped significantly! They soon rose again.

They could revive even at the brink of death as long as a slight flame remained; the Phoenixes’ contribution made the battle convenient.

“Huhuhu.”

Weed laughed wickedly.

He felt pleasure while watching the sculptures he had granted life fighting very valiantly.

The stronger the Phoenixes were, the more items and japtem he could obtain!

“Fight. Become stronger. Cover the world with your fire!”

The Five Phoenixes and Yellowy!

They became Weed’s powerful reinforcements.

As he hunted Monsters along the River of Lamentation, he increasingly expanded his activity zone.

However, he didn’t leave the riverbank and wandered around the wide areas because he didn’t know what kind of danger might be lurking.

Even so, as many as ten Caltrops could be hunted with just the Phoenixes.

However, he had to wait for a very long time.

[T/N: Weed had to wait for the Phoenixes to keep reviving.]

Chapter 11: The Sculptures Erected on the River of Lamentation

Weed raised his sculpting knife again.

It was the start of the monumental task of changing the sculptures on the basin of the River of Lamentations from negative to positive.

The sound of the ghosts crying in the river was now familiar to his ears. The sound surged forward like echoes, exhausting all strength in the legs and raising goosebumps.

“What’s an affectionate expression you would have while looking at a baby Orc?”

His first sculpting attempt had failed; this was his second.

When he posed as the Orc Karichwi in the Yurokina Mountains, he had seen quite a lot of Orcs. However, he hadn’t been interested in the weak baby Orcs. Even if he had seen them toddling around in the village, as long as they weren’t his quarry for a quest, he immediately forgot about them once he passed by.

Orc infancy was short, and they grew at a very fast rate.

“What kind of thoughts would a female Orc looking at a baby Orc have?”

It was an expression he could only understand if he was in the mother’s shoes.

Weed had a different idea.

Greedy female Orcs. They found meat. They would drool. But what if their bellies were full right now?

“They would have an absolutely peaceful expression!”

Weed made the female Orc’s head.

There was a splittingly satisfied smile on her lips, and her eyes were laughing, creasing into crescent moons. Her expression wasn’t really bright, but she was still quite pretty considering she was a female Orc.

At least there wasn’t a grievous feeling anymore, such as when she had been holding the child without a head.

You have altered “Bleak Baby Orc and Mother”, a sculpture of the Matallost Church.

You have purified 1 River of Lamentation sculpture.

Purification of the River of Lamentation: -100%

– Handicraft skill proficiency has improved.

Only one.

Weed had taken the first step, but the path he had to walk was very arduous.

Making one sculpture positive didn’t reduce the bitter wailing of the ghosts in the River of Lamentation. Looking at the sculptures all around the basin of the River of Lamentation, it was a bleak task.

The next sculpture he chose was the Trolls, who were fighting desperately while stabbing their opponents with spears.

Weed made a clear decision.

“It’ll work if I just get rid of the spears!”

He broke the spears and made them hold bowls of rice instead.

Now they were Trolls giving food as gifts.

You have altered “Slaughtering Trolls”, a sculpture of the Matallost Church.

You have purified 2 River of Lamentation sculptures.

Purification of the River of Lamentation: -100%

– Sculpting skill proficiency has improved.

The increase in Sculpting or Handicraft skill proficiency was almost insignificant.

“So slightly modifying someone else’s sculpture doesn’t raise the proficiency much.”

The strength went right out of Weed’s shoulders. Even so, he altered 10 sculptures in a day. However, there was no change in the purification value of the River of Lamentation.

“I need to recover my levels first.”

Weed engaged in desperate hunt to recover the levels he had lost by giving life to his sculptures! He repaired 13 sculptures daily, and led Yellowy and the Five Phoenix Brothers to battle.

If they went too far away from the River of Lamentation, the levels of the monsters leapt drastically.

Boars of Hell.

He estimated the Wild Black Boars to be slightly under level 400. Of course, he ascertained this fact through Death Knight.

“They can fight Death Knight neck and neck — they’re quite delicious prey.”

He didn’t even glance at the Caltrops anymore, since stronger monsters yielded more experience and items.

“I should leave the Caltrops to the Five Phoenix Brothers. Phoenixes.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Hunt the Caltrops. Be careful not to melt the items.”

“Yes, Master. Understood.”

The Phoenixes were handy for being able to be ordered to do various things.

It was similar to Military Discipline Training of new enlisted recruits in the army received! How well they performed in this training enormously influenced their army life.

For the sculptures as well, it was good to establish the hierarchy immediately after their birth, but there was no need to give them this mental training separately.

The Phoenixes had realized something while watching Yellowy.

‘Ah, we’re stuck with a really dirty Master.’

‘What rotten luck.’

The outstandingly intelligent Phoenixes became obedient.

They were Phoenixes who didn’t die easily and were incomparably tenacious! They dove with their outstretched wings to avoid lightning attacks unleashed by the Caltrops.

And the flame attack they discharged! The damage was weak, but the flames spread over a wide area. The heat wasn’t enough to melt the rocky mountain, but it was still quite hot.

They didn’t even die from area of effect attack skills, and they were quick on chasing land monsters, not giving them a chance to run away. As long as he cautioned them not to burn the japtem dropped by the Caltrops, there were no problems with the hunt.

While the Phoenixes hunted the Caltrops, Weed went with Yellowy to deal with the Black Wild Boars.

The Wild Boars ran through the uneven rocky mountains!

Moooooooo!

Weed hunted them while riding Yellowy. Together with Yellowy, he defeated the Wild Boars one by one.

Weed’s Moonlight Sculpting Blade and Sword Mastery skill proficiency were increasing rapidly.

“This method of fighting isn’t bad.”

Weed was pleased because the hunting speed was decent. Thanks to Yellowy, Stamina consumption was reduced and damage was doubled.

Sword Mastery did not accumulate uniformly by just swinging a sword. The proficiency rose when consecutively hunting monsters stronger than himself.

Weed’s Sword Mastery was currently at Intermediate Level 8!

It couldn’t be compared to the SwordNoobs, but it was much higher than normal users.

He had also modified a total of 262 sculptures in the basin of the River of Lamentation.

You have altered “Snakehead Fish Going Belly-up and Dying”, a sculpture of the Matallost Church.

You have purified 262 River of Lamentation sculptures.

Purification of the River of Lamentation: -98%

A hopeless purification level!

He was gradually reducing the level, but the point where he could bring the level to normal was still distant.

“This might not be the method to end this.”

Weed thought deeply. He had raised his level by 2 while hunting for a week in real time, proof that it wasn’t a bad hunting ground. Since monsters stronger than Weed were all around, he didn’t need to go looking for them.

It was also the perfect hunting ground to raise Yellowy and the Phoenixes! Even considering the time he spent on mending the sculptures, they were growing extremely quickly.

His level had fallen frequently from granting life to sculptures. Since his combat-related proficiency remained the same, it was gradually accumulating.

“The problem was purifying the River of Lamentation. It will take too long…”

His brilliant judgement emerged every time there was a crisis!

Normally, it would have materialized earlier, but his declaration was delayed because he was grinding. As long as stats and skills definitely increased, he could repeat the same grinding for hundreds of days.

After all, he had the experience of carrying bricks and going up to the 20th floor while others were still going to high school.

“There’s no wage as fixed as the one for a construction site!”

When he returned home in the evening, he received crisp cash as his daily pay.

“Grinding has never lied!”

On the other hand, sewing in plushie eyes and beards was calculated by unit.

A fixed job gave a more definite income. Grinding was boring and difficult work, but the reward had an exhaustive aspect.

Weed had trained in dozens of kinds of grinding, but the task this time was really hopeless.

“There’s at least ten thousand sculptures. Doing them one by one like this isn’t the answer. It’s a hopeless task that I don’t know when it’ll end.”

Weed carefully observed the sculptures he had to change in advance. He found out how much and what he had to modify! He meticulously examined and recorded the size, weight, and how much he had to match the balance of the body.

Then he made the necessary sculptures whenever he took a break while hunting. He utilized the division of labor method of taking sculptures made separately and attaching them!

As his method improved, he became capable of modifying 17 sculptures a day. He could fix an additional 4 sculptures, and the time he could spend focused on hunting also increased.

However, the purification level was still changing slowly.

“This still won’t do.”

While surveying the area around the River of Lamentation, Weed found a swamp. There were a few trees and clay.

“This is it!”

Using the clay greatly shortened the time it took to make sculptures. It became possible for him to modify about 45 sculptures a day.

Every cloud has a silver lining.

Weed increased his work efficiency like an incarnation of grinding!

– The work of purifying the River of Lamentation basin with sculptures, a great accomplishment of Sculpting, has progressed by 11%.

Weed was struggling alone to achieve a great accomplishment. While doing so, an idea suddenly came to mind.

‘Altering all these sculptures would really be an enormous achievement.”

It occurred to him the reward given to the Sculptor would be really big, because Fame and Contribution points to each of the Churches were very difficult to obtain.

Contribution to Churches or Kingdoms could be used however the player desired. They could earn a weapon or an item, but it was also possible to take an army or an order of Saintly Knights to battle.

‘Do I really need to cling to only modifying sculptures?’

At his level, Weed could tell the sculptures on the basin of the River of Lamentation weren’t great. He estimated them to be completed with an Intermediate sculpting skill or lower, and the finer details weren’t finished either.

He occasionally saw a few Fine ones, but the sculptures were generally just ordinary.

“How about if I made sculptures here instead?”

As soon as the thought came to mind, Weed began moving to take action.

A large Orc family’s meal! Over 20 Orcs made of clay were eating food. It was a moment where Orcs had no choice but to be happy.

You have made a sculpture on the River of Lamentation.

Orcs’ Supper.

You have made 1 sculpture on the River of Lamentation.

Purification of the River of Lamentation: -82%

He could also lower the purification need by making a sculpture.

The sculpture was capable of overwhelming the the negative effects of other sculptures!

“This is the solution!”

Weed moved his sculpting knife quickly.

Improving a sculpture was also considerably difficult since he needed to form an idea in his mind. He would rather make a work overwhelming the sculptures around it.

“I’ve gotta make a sculpture embodying hope.”

He made hopeful sculptures instead of the negative sculptures that were spread out on the River of Lamentation.

Each of the races who had been engaged in merciless slaughter was now laughing heartily. Money, weapons, and food made of clay were piled up abundantly in a warehouse.

– Ooooooooooooooooo!

The birth of a Fine sculpture!

The purification decreased by 3%.

The wails of the ghosts in the River of Lamentation were slowly diminishing. The volume wasn’t as loud, and the grieving had decreased too.

However, Weed could still hear screaming sounds in places far away from where he had created the sculpture.

“This time, I’ll make a sculpture to comfort the Humans.”

On the banks of the River of Lamentation, there was an unusually large number of Human sculptures being persecuted by the Nobility or Military.

A father hanged from a scaffold, and a mother being whipped!

There were even sculptures of children having their hands tied up together with the Soldiers’ hands while being dragged into the battlefield.

Weed changed their appearance a little and sculpted anew.

Nobility, Royalty, and Soldiers hung from a scaffold while being whipped by young children.

It was not an elegant or peaceful sculpture, and had very little artistic value. However, such extreme sculptures could bring great happiness to the those who had been treated unjustly in their lives.

It was a sculpture channeling humor and satire!

The young children were smiling brightly while the Nobles and Soldiers wore agonized looks.

It was completed as a Fine sculpture, decreasing the purification by 4%.

You have made a sculpture on the River of Lamentation.

The Great King.

You have made 43 sculptures on the River of Lamentation.

Purification of the River of Lamentation: 0%

2 Masterpieces.

17 Fine Pieces.

As well as miscellaneous sculptures!

Weed slightly changed the easy-to-repair sculptures and made the rest anew.

“The Great King” was a sculpture of a King leading Humans! The King sculpture was adorned with expensive jewels and his belly was well rounded; it came out as a Masterpiece.

In just two weeks, he was able to purify the River of Lamentation.

"Aaaaahhhh…"

The groaning sound coming from the River of Lamentation faded away.

The grievous wails had disappeared, leaving only the sound of serenely flowing water. The river was still incomparably dirty, but the ghosts made far more comfortable expressions.

Ding!

The Fight Against the Embinyu has been completed

The secret plot of the Embinyu Church to call forth ghosts and fill the continent with Demonic Spirits has been stopped by a righteous Sculptor.

It created a significant disruption in the Embinyu Church’s plans, but they will contrive another plot.

In addition, the darkness enshrouding the Matallost Church has not yet been lifted.

– Fame has increased by 720.

You have accomplished a Sculpting Achievement.

For demolishing the Embinyu Church’s plot, intimacy with all the Churches in the Versailles Continent has increased by 20.

Contribution to all the churches on the Versailles Continent has increased by 300.

With the Sculpting Achievement, you have acquired the title, ‘World-Changing Sculptor.’

Kings and nobles will treat you like a famous figure and be prudent.

– Level has increased.

– Level has increased.

– Level has increased.

He completely recovered the levels he used to grant the sculptures life and even went up by two more levels.

His current level was exactly 360!

“It must be done now.”

Weed pulled out the Matallost Church symbol, the Statue of Death.

The statue was holding a sickle, and opened it eyes. Then it spoke.

– The trial has not yet ended. The Embinyu Church’s plan has been disrupted, but they will conceive a new, more powerful ritual.

Ensure their ritual does not progress.

Interfere with the Embinyu Church’s Ritual

The Embinyu Church will not cease to interfere with the River of Lamentation.

Stop the ritual completely by taking away the articles necessary for the altar and the ritual.

The Guardian Knights of the Matallost Church who guides the dead will assist you in your endeavor.

Chain quest to Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church, Eradicate the Embinyu Church’s 11th Sect, and the Matallost Church’s Long-Cherished Wish.

Difficulty: A

Rewards: Relic of the Matallost Church

Quest Restriction: All chain quests will end if you are defeated by the Embinyu Church.

It meant if he were to fail the quest; Rescuing the Prisoners, Eradicating the Embinyu Church’s 11th Sect, and the rest would also end.

Weed’s eyes had already started sparkling the moment “rewards” were mentioned.

“As a righteous adventurer journeying across the Versailles Continent, I cannot turn a blind eye on the evildoings of the Embinyu Church. For the sake of the Matallost Church, I will ensure their ritual will be stopped for good.”

– You have accepted the quest.

Black smoke gushed out from the Statue of Death, and the River of Lamentation began to overflow. The water surged to the riverbank like crashing waves, and after a while, Knights walked out of the river.

Ghosts!

The 100 Guardian Knights who were hazily coming into existence were Weed’s reinforcements.

* * *

Weed put the Guardian Knights, the Five Phoenix Brothers, and Yellowy on standby where he stood and stealthily crept near the location of the Embinyu Church.

The Embinyu Priests and Dark Knights had suspended their slaughter ritual and were plunged into chaos. The over 1,000 Demonic Spirits who had been guarding them also looked somewhat weakened. The light in their eyes had weakened, and their steps were strengthless.

‘Seems like the purification of the River of Lamentation had an effect.’

Weed used the opening the Dark Knights on guard duty provided to inch closer.

There was a blood-red Skull and Coffin sewn on the robes of the Embinyu Church Priests. There were only 10 Priests who had Crows on their robes.

He could overhear their conversation.

“The River of Lamentation is not responding to our ritual.”

“Sacrifice more offerings.”

Priests with the Crow emblems looked like they were in charge. As they performed the ritual, hearts of lambs and deers were sacrificed.

The ritual showed a violent response, enough to flood the River of Lamentation! It had been potent enough to erode the rocks, and ghosts flew out helterskelter.

Weed watched the ritual nervously, but the river continued to flow leisurely.

The Priests, whose faces were barely visible due to upturned robe hoods, halted the ritual and said, “The strength of the ghosts has decreased.”

“What about the Demonic Spirits we sent aboveground?”

“They will also become increasingly weak.”

“The ritual must continue in order to make additional Demonic Spirits…. We’ll have to bring the Matallost Church prisoners and ask them the reason why.”

The survivors of the Matallost Church!

It seemed they had become prisoners and were captives of the Embinyu Church.

“If we are to bring the prisoners, we will have to report to His Holiness, the Pope.”

“His Holiness will lead us. Let us return to the temple for now.”

They left about half of the Embinyu Priest and Dark Knight troops behind and moved downstream.

The temple was at a place where Weed hadn’t scouted yet. He snuck behind them, and after following them for about two hours, a brilliant fortress made of gold and jewels appeared.

It was a high-class temple, entirely different level from the ruined temple of the Matallast Church!

The temple had been built into the natural terrain of the rocky mountain. It was equipped with a thick stone gate, a moat, ballistas, and even defensive installments for the deployment of Archers.

“Defend this place.”

Uuuoooohh!

At the command of the Embinyu Priests, the Demonic Spirits guarded the fort like an iron wall.

Weed couldn’t go inside the fort, so he turned back to the place where the rituals had been performed.

“If they’re to come back, there’s probably only going to be a day, maybe two days in between!”

Weed mounted Yellowy in his full equipment, the armor and equipment gave him happiness!

He stood in front of the Guardian Knights with his cloak flapping.

It was a decisive moment.

Weed raised his sword high and burst out with Lion’s Roar—

“GUARDIAN KNIGHTS, ATTACK!”

60 Guardian Knights ran forward in unison.

It was a charge made by only 60 party members towards over 500 Demonic Spirits, Embinyu Church Priests, and Dark Knights!

It looked incomparably reckless, but the reality was actually very different from the exterior.

The Guardian Knights who lead the dead were not living beings. As warriors of the Matallost Church, they were no different from ghosts. They would never die from normal methods, and they only received blows from the holy power of high-rank Priests or the black magic of the Dark Knights and above.

“It’s the remnants of the Matallost Church.”

“Stop them!”

30 Dark Knights and over 500 Demonic Spirits held the front lines, but the Guardian Knights broke right through them.

Grawr?

“Get them!”

The Dark Knights turned and chased after the Guardian Knights.

The Guardian Knights only had one purpose.

Eradicate the Embinyu Church’s Priests!

Just as Weed had commanded, they ran straight towards the Priests.

The Embinyu Priests uttered an incantation.

“O beastly and dark power, let merciless punishment fall. Dark Sword!”

Blessing magic! The Priests endowed holy power into the guarding Dark Knights’ swords.

Rawr!

“Wipe out the remnants of the Matallost Church.”

The Dark Knights intercepted the Guardian Knights. Demonic Spirits were surrounding them layer by layer, so they were really like rats in a trap.

*Woosh!*

Weed raised his hand. Then the Phoenixes outstretched their wings.

The Phoenixes breathed flames towards the ground as they flew over the battlefield. The Demonic Spirits were burnt and the Dark Knights were also wrapped in flames.

“Death Arrow!”

“Water Blaster!”

The Priests inflicted magic attacks on the Phoenixes, majestic magic creatures who soared in the air! The Phoenixes twisted violently as they dodged the magic. Guardian Knights were crouching down while on board the Phoenixes.

“NOW!” Weed’s voice erupted with Lion’s Roar at the exact moment.

Figures leapt from the flame-bodied Phoenixes! 40 Guardian Knights were falling to the ground.

“Let’s go. Yellowy!”

Weed matched himself to Yellowy’s rhythm.

Moooooooo!

Yellowy bellowed invigoratingly as he ran on all fours.

Weed cleaved through the weakened Demonic Spirits in an instant and advanced while the Phoenixes dominated the skies. They exhaled flames at Demonic Spirits in midair; wherever Demonic Spirits were gathered, the fires spread and became a sea of fire in all directions.

Weed and the Guardian Knights leapt within the sea of flames!

The 20 or less Priests were the first to be massacred in the fierce battle.

“Guardian Knights, protect the relic of the Matallost Church, fight the Dark Knights and leave the Demonic Spirits alone! Make a blockade and DO NOT ALLOW EVEN ONE ENEMY TO SLIP AWAY!”

Weed burst out with Lion’s Roar as he commanded the battlefield.

The battle was already won.

As long as there weren’t any Priests, he was confident he could win even by only mobilizing the Phoenixes!

‘I can’t just hand over my prey!’

The Phoenixes were still weak.

After surrounding the whole area with the the Guardian Knights, he hunted the Demonic Spirits and Dark Knights with the AOE flame attack of the Phoenixes.

Roaring, blazing flames!

Weed walked through the flames.

“Angry Pebble, Dirtmen!”

The Fire and Earth Spirits were protecting him. He had infinite intimacy with them, so even if their spiritual abilities were lacking, he could call on them anytime as long as he had the Mana for it. It was the benefit of being their creator.

Thanks to Dirtmen and Angry Pebbles, the ground where Weed walked was split open, and flames on his sides were diverted.

He arrived at the place where the Embinyu Church had been performed the ritual.

Weed picked up and looted the goods greedily.

– The Relic of the Matallost Church, the Copper Plate of Perception has been acquired.

– The Relic of the Matallost Church, the Promise Staff has been acquired.

Two relics!

There were also considerable amount of food for the lambs which had been offered as sacrifices.

*Chomp!*

Weed ate a baked apple.

While drinking its juices, Weed looked around for a place battle was still being fought.

The Dark Knights and Demonic Spirits were collapsing from burns.

Ding!

Interfere with the Embinyu Church’s Ritual has been completed.

The relics of the Matallost Church have been passed to you, the righteous.

The ritual of the Embinyu Church will no longer be able to continue. However, the Embinyu Church’s main force is still alive and well.

The head of the 11th Sect, Feylord, will seek your head to get revenge for this humiliation.

You must absolutely not be caught by the Embinyu Church.

To resist them, you must revive the promised alliance contracted by the Deliverers of the dead.

– Fame has increased by 220.

– Leadership and Charisma has increased by 10.

– Faith stat has increased by 10.

– Level has increased.

Quest success!

Weed took a breath at last. However, the linked quests were still continuing.

“I should go to a more remote location.”

Weed finished the ritual interference quest and made time to take the Phoenixes and Yellowy somewhere farther away. He estimated that even if something dangerous were to happen, the Phoenixes would be able to pull out quickly. Weed could also escape by riding Yellowy.

“Even in the worst case, I’ll have to save Yellowy.”

Moooooooo!

Yellowy’s innocent eyes watered in gratitude. He hadn’t expected it, but his master would sacrifice himself to save him.

While Yellowy was overflowing with emotion, Weed coldly finished making his calculations.

If Yellowy died, the sorry one would be himself, Weed. The damage would be severe if he created yet another sculpture and granted it life.

Of course Weed would throw the Death Knight first before dying.

“Since I’m here, rest easy, Yellowy.”

Moooooooo!

* * *

Weed passed the River of Lamentation with Yellowy and the Phoenixes and moved into a region full of Plains.

There, he saw monster legions! Legions of monsters he couldn’t even identify were wandering around in droves.

They were probably one of the the beast-type monsters, but since it was the entrance to hell, he couldn’t relax his guard no matter what kind of monster it was. Weed moved further back whenever he saw a monster horde.

“Mhm, where am I?”

Smith, who had gotten dead drunk and had fallen asleep, slowly opened his eyes.

He was riding Yellowy behind Weed’s back. Smith was one of the reasons why Yellowy had to be saved no matter what!

“We are on an expedition.”

“Eh. I see.”

Smith hadn’t woken from the alcohol and looked around with bleary eyes.

While conversing with him, Weed had gotten the feeling Smith had originally been a truly impressive Mercenary. The stories of adventuring everywhere around the Versailles Continent were impossible if not for a Mercenary of considerably remarkable skill.

However, he was now just a former Mercenary who was living intoxicated!

Nevertheless, Smith’s comprehensive knowledge of traps, terrain, and monster traits was a big help. If he was given a little liquor, he also stood guard well while Weed made sculptures. His sword skills had probably diminished, but he still had many uses.

His observation skills identified traits after merely a brief glance at the monsters! His ability to distinguish drinkable water and edible grasses was also excellent.

In any case, he was being very helpful in his own way.

Smith looked around and said cautiously, “This place seems too dangerous.”

“What?”

“The level of the monsters is too high. Even with the protection of the Phoenixes and Yellowy, this isn’t a place where a Sculptor can come.”

While Weed hunted, he gave Smith liquor and put him under Death Knight’s care. It might be the reason why Smith was still underestimating Weed.

“I see.”

Weed absentmindedly listened to his words.

“Anyway, let’s head back.”

The purpose of the expedition was to check the monsters and identify the terrain. Since going too far from the River of Lamentation was extremely dangerous and had no purpose, he was about to turn back.

But something white was flying towards them from the sky.

The dignified appearance of a monster flying towards them as if it was piercing the sky!

“ROOOOAAAAAAR!”

The monster roared, shaking the whole area. The faraway beast-type monsters were also standing nailed to the ground, petrified.

“It’s a boss-class monster!”

The boss-class monster dominating the area appeared. The monster was flying through the air was steadily increasing in size. Even from a considerable distance away, it appeared bigger than the palm of his hand.

As the distance gradually shortened, the body continued to grow! It was a huge figure easily exceeding hundreds of meters in length.

The monster closed in with formidable speed while permeating a cold chill all around it.

Smith’s face turned a sickly pale color.

“That’s an Ice Dragon. It’s an Ice Dragon!”

It was enough to intimidate and disperse the Phoenixes who had been circling above Weed in the air as if keeping guard.

“Hurry and run!”

Even at Smith’s urging, Weed stayed still. He narrowed his eyes and simply looked at the steadily growing Ice Dragon’s body.

Fierce eyes and long snout, a lengthy beard. A strong upper body and a weak lower body!

Even its broad wings comprised the majority of its body!

It was a look he had seen a lot somewhere.

“ROOOAAAAAAAAAAAR!”

The Fear hex from Dragon Roar broke out, sending shivers through the body!

In the face of the Dragon’s fighting spirit, Yellowy sank down, and the Phoenixes folded their wings.

The Ice Dragon flew in with its enormous power to defeat the Humans and Phoenixes who dared to intrude upon its territory in an instant.

The Ice Dragon’s large pupils glanced past Weed and Yellowy.

“You dare to intrude on my territor—…”

The words were suddenly cut short!

There was a slight spasm around the Ice Dragon’s eyes. Then, after examining Weed again with wide open eyes, it outstretched its wings.

Flap flap flap.

The Ice Dragon accelerated instantaneously, then displayed incredible agility while turning in a semicircle. It was going to quickly return the way it came.

Weed said casually, “Are you perhaps, Bingryong?”

The Ice Dragon’s body faltered in the air as if it had received a huge shock.

“You’re Bingryong, right?”

“Absolutely not.”

The Ice Dragon even shook its head while flapping its wings hard.

An action indicating its desperate wish to escape!

Although it was obviously anxious, since it hurriedly turned around, but it still didn’t speed up very quickly.

“Each flap of the wings is about 500 million won.”

The Ice Dragon’s wings stopped right away.

Although it was floating because of its buoyancy, it acted like it didn’t know what to do.

“You want to see the Wyverns, right? Wy-Three asked if you were doing well.”

“Wy-Three! Is Wy-Three doing well, master?”

“See. You are Bingryong.”

“…”

Chapter 1: Wanted

Within the Embinyu Church temple, Dark Knights were taking their positions in an orderly manner. The armor of the Knights on display was made of Mithril and Adamantium, shining like jewels as if they had never been used before. The floor was soft and luxurious, covered with the highest grade of carpeting, and on the ceiling was a chandelier made of finely cut emeralds and sapphires.

"The ritual failed? Even the tools necessary for the ritual were stolen?"

The Priests and Dark Knights bowed their heads before the rebuke of the Pontifex of the Embinyu Church 11th Sect, Feylord.

"We are ashamed, Feylord-nim."

The Pontifex, Feylord, was obesely fat, and his face was covered by his upturned robe. However, the golden Embinyu statue of their evil God stood out prominently behind the Pontifex. It was a figure holding a different weapon in each of its 12 hands while killing Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Dragons, and other races.

The golden statue, which exuded revulsion, was lightly shrouded in something like a gloomy fog.

"Mobilize all our forces to kill the man who interfered in our activity. Also, be sure to recover the items of the Matallost Church he took."

"We obey the Pontifex-nim's command."
The Dark Knights and Priests bowed deeply at the waist.

Ding!

– You are an enemy of the Embinyu church!

The Embinyu Church is a merciless group worshipping the most destructive and despicable evil God.

Because they do not stop at any method or means for seizure and propagation, their relationship with the other Churches in Versailles continent was to the point where they would not share one hands-breadth of land or one sip of water.

The 11th Sect of the Embinyu Church has publicly declared enmity against the man who interfered in their ritual and has mobilized pursuers.

Formation of the Pursuers:
10 Intermediate Dark Knights
3 Priests
100 Soldiers

Weed-nim, you are wanted by the Embinyu Church.
Pursuers will be on the chase for your trail.

Along with the message window, Weed could see an image of what had happened within the Embinyu Church.

"Pursuers.... this will be annoying."

If one's notoriety for murder became extremely high, there were cases where the Kingdom sent pursuers. Those pursuers came chasing the trails fairly quickly.

Even if the first group fails, a second wave of pursuers will quickly follow. The next group of pursuers will higher numbers and superior skills.

It was virtually impossible to escape from a group of pursuers!

He would definitely be caught at some point.

Even if his movement speed was fast, or if he was a Thief or an Assassin with 'Stealth', it would only make a minimal difference on how long he can run. As the number of pursuers accumulated, outstanding Thieves or Assassins would join the group.

Weed decided to think positively.

"I did expect something like this was going to happen at some point."

It was due to good fortune nothing like this had happened to him until now! Since he had accumulated many resentful relationships while solving quests, getting chased wasn't surprising.

Anyway, accomplishing the quest here came first, since it was a chain quests with countless enormous rewards.

By Weed's side were the useful Bingryong, Phoenixes, and Yellowy. Not only were the Guardian Knights of the Matallost Church unable to leave the area around the River of Lamentation, but they couldn't follow him to complete the quest because it was their duty to protect the Church's temple.

* * *

Once Bingryong entered the scene, the Phoenixes lowered their wings and bowed.

Proper treatment to an elder brother!

Yellowy also displayed obedience, like a docile Korean cow.

Bingryong swelled with self-importance.

"You guys are working hard."
"Not at all, senior. We are merely utilizing the path you have already cleared."

Yellowy acted especially friendly.

"So you understand. In our time, we always listened intently to the words of our seniors."

"Please tell us the ways of life and what we must do to endure living under our particularly evil master."

Bingryong was greatly satisfied by the seniority treatment and told them the absolutely necessary information for living.

"No matter how hungry you are, you must eat cautiously. Never eat around the master. You'll be abused for eating a lot. You must not recklessly eat meat dropped from any prey. You have to give the tasty and fresh meat to be sold."

Yellowy and the Phoenixes understood and nodded their heads in sympathy.

"In the end, we have to live while only eating the food the master gives? When can we eat tasty meat?"

"You have to eat in secret. Be it hillock or hollow, you must fill your belly in such a place. The master has a talent for constantly keeping us hungry. Jeez. Does a boat get lazy if you fill it with oil? Make sure you eat properly."

"As expected of our senior."

"This is the wisdom I learned in life. You guys will also come to know it all with the passing of time, but I'm telling you beforehand so you don't suffer. There are also times when you hunt with the master, right?"

"There are many occasions. We want some time to ourselves, but he always drags us along."

"Watch out for japtem. He gets edgy when there's less japtem drop. On such days, it's good to not stand out and you have to pretend you're hunting diligently."

"Ooh, so that's how it is!"

"He becomes extremely happy when a weapon or armor drops. Even if he was irritated just five minutes ago, he laughs mirthfully. When that happens, you must get close to him and imprint your presence."

"Why?"

"We must flaunt our roles to him. With how much he nitpicks and abuses..."

This was vital information for a peaceful existence!

Bingryong fully did his part as their senior.

* * *

Weed took out the symbol of the Matallost Church, the Statue of Death, to do the follow up of the chain quest. The Statue of Death opened its mouth.

In a place close to hell, the Matallost Church made a promise with three tribes. It was a promised alliance to fight together against any enemy that threatens them.

In order the take up the promised alliance, you need the Cane symbolizing the token of the alliance. Take the Cane and persuade those tribes.

Do your best to avoid pursuers and escape.

Ding!

Alliance of the Deliverers (1)

In order to retaliate against the Embinyu Church, you need the alliance contracted 130 years ago. However, your task to persuade the descendants of these tribes will not be simple, because all of the people concerning the alliance are long dead.

You will need the communication skills of an expert compromiser and a daring mind; if you fail, you might even be hung by the neck on a tree.

You must embrace the great danger and depart.

Before you face the Tribes of the Alliance, broaden the distance between yourself and the pursuers sent by the Embinyu Church

You must avoid being seen by the other tribes on this land, which are dominated by the Embinyu Church, so they cannot oppose you. You cannot relax in any place besides the three tribes of the alliance.

Revive the Alliance of the Deliverers and seize the fortress of the Embinyu Church.

If you bring about the alliance, you will be able to use the relic of the Matallost Church, the Cane of Promise.

Chain quest to Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church, Eradicate the Embinyu Church's 11th Sect, and the Matallost Church's Long-Cherished Wish.

Difficulty: S
Reward: Colossal Fame and Charisma

Quest Restrictions: A quest with a total of three steps. You must complete all of them successfully.

Occupy the fortress of the Embinyu Church to complete the quest's first stage. Fulfill the requirements of the quest to progress to the quest's second stage.

It will result in failure if the pursuers take the Cane. If you fail the quest, all chain quests related to the Matallost Church will end.

At last, the appearance of a quest with an S class difficulty!

"I've come this far."
Weed closed his eyes.

To bring about the alliance with the three tribes and destroy the Embinyu Church's fortress!

It will not end in a simple manner. It was merely the first step of a long quest!

Of course, the reward was probably immense, but he also felt a mental burden.

'Although it's true I'm not a normal Sculptor...'

A quest restricted only to those with the profession of a Sculptor!

Weed was the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, a profession granted to the only person who had unified the continent. Since he had underlings like Bingryong, the Phoenixes, and Yellowy, he was in a much more advantageous position than others.

Even the 'Interfere with the Embinyu Church's Ritual' quest possessed a high difficulty. It was a whopping A. Regardless of difficulty, a difficulty of B or higher impacted the Versailles Continent.

The ritual interference quest had been among the somewhat easier quests for an A-class difficulty, but leadership and the ability to command was needed in order to deal with the Guardian Knights of the Matallost Church.

If not for sculptures he had prepared in advance, his Charisma, and quick tactical decisions, the quest could have been extremely difficult!

How much he had suffered with other difficult quests such as 'True Blood Vampires' or when he fought the Immortal Legion! When he fought the True Blood Vampires, he failed the first hunt and died helplessly. He had also died in his fight with Lich Shire, and literally melted from the Bone Dragon's Breath. He didn't even have time to resist!

Sculpting Blade, Sculpture Life Bestowal, the Art of Sculpture Transformation, the Power to Reject Death. He applied every technique he possessed; his Resilience, Perseverance, and his polished swordsmanship to endure.

Although Weed completed those dangerous quests, this time an S-class difficulty quest had appeared.

A powerful Sculptor lord leading his sculpture army! It was Weed's vague dream for the future, but some of the sculptures he created and granted life to lost their lives.

He couldn't just blindly rely on the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor profession or the effects of his sculpture underlings.

For an S-class difficulty quest, without completing it with all his body and soul, it might result to the quest being marked as unresolved.

Others weren't even able to take a glimpse at an S-class quest, but he also couldn't see it as a blessing.

Weed submerged himself in thought with his eyes closed.

'If I abandon it now... I will likely lose a significant amount of Fame and trust.'

Stopping in the middle of a quest with a high difficulty, especially a chain quest, yielded an enormous loss. He would get hexed with a curse difficult to lift, or he could lose precious fortune, accumulated fame, or contribution.

Weed came to a clear decision.
'Let's accept.'

The penalty from giving up and the penalty for failing the quest probably don't differ much.

In worst case scenario, with the Power of Reject Death, he could only lose his life a second time!

He decided to give it a go while preparing for the worst case scenario.

He was able to strengthen his weakening spirit with confidence.

If he was weak, then he needed to be challenged until he gets stronger.

He had sewn buttons onto 500 sets of clothing, and stayed up all night to attach eyes onto dolls!

He just had to further increase the amount of grinding he had to do for the sake of success.

"A long time may have passed, but they will remain as friends who can be depended on. The promised alliance will surely be kept."

– You have accepted the quest.

* * *

Nehalles Metropolis — The capital city of Brent Kingdom, the long-standing enemy of Rosenheim Kingdom.

Peddlers selling fruit called out to players.

"Miss, have you heard about Weed from Rosenheim Kingdom?"
"Huh? Weed?"

Saerin, a Summoner, knew the peddler was just trying to make small talk and didn't pay any attention. Sometimes NPCs gave out information, but they were rarely helpful!

"If it's someone from Rosenheim Kingdom... I don't know any famous Adventurer or Warrior by the name of Weed, are you perhaps talking about Sculptor Weed?"

The famous Sculptor Weed who had made the Pyramid!

Saerin was sightseeing the East. She had known of Weed ever since she first stopped by Rosenheim Kingdom.

"So you know of him. They say Weed is undertaking an amazing quest!"
"What kind of quest is it? Did he meet up with another Kingdom's King?"

Other users who overheard them interrupted Saerin's conversation with the peddler.

"What is going on?"
"They said the Sculptor Weed is currently doing a quest..."
"The famous Sculptor Weed?"

Even in Brent Kingdom, almost everyone knew of Sculptor Weed, who made Rosenheim Kingdom famous.

"If you guys are talking about Sculptor Weed, he recently became the Lord of Morata."
"What kind of quest is he undertaking?"
"Shhhh! Let's listen."

Saerin was quite flustered because of the players who suddenly gathered around her. She didn't know Weed was so popular!

Players from Brent Kingdom often went on hunting expeditions in Rosenheim Kingdom. The effect of the Pyramid provided immense help. The popularity of Sculptors in Brent Kingdom was at its peak.

There were also rumors of players from Rosenheim Kingdom traveling all the way to Morata in the North and its Tower of Light.

Weed's delicious grass porridge and barley bread had already become regional specialties! Variations such as Seafood grass porridge, Mushroom grass porridge, Chicken grass porridge, Beef grass porridge had been produced. The highly nutritious and aromatic baked Barley Bread was also a popular snack.

They were legendary foods Weed, who was also well-versed in cooking, distributed to the workers who were helping built the Pyramid.

Although there were many imitations, none were as light and savory as the millet and grass porridge Weed had personally made for them.

Through those who had eaten Weed's porridge, the story had spread to the point of becoming a folk legend.

The peddler shook his head as if troubled.

"Do you know of the Embinyu Church, who is dominating the Versailles continent with darkness and fear?"

"What? Which church?"

Information of the Embinyu Church was coming from the peddler's lips!

The Brent Kingdom players, including Saerin, heard the Church's name for the first time.

"The Embinyu Church, dominating with darkness and fear. They say the ancient, sinister group is still active."

"Embinyu Church, this is the first time I've heard of them."
"Simply mentioning it is foul, so it isn't normally spoken of."
"What does it have to do with the Sculptor Weed?"

"It seems Weed is opposing the Embinyu Church. He gained knowledge about them while tracing the Origin of Sculpting, and it looks like he is fighting the Embinyu Church, a church only can be found in history. Despite being pursued, he is trying to reconstruct an alliance for the sake of the Versailles Continent."

An S-class difficulty quest.

When the highly famed Weed took the quest, almost all the NPCs of the Versailles Continent began to talk about it.

"Do you know about Sculptor Weed? I'm starting to want to know more about him."
"It's really too bad he's a Sculptor from Rosenheim."

"How beautiful do you think Morata is? Since it's an area ruled by a Sculptor with artistry and courage, it's definitely a city with magical adventures, don't you think?"

* * *

"You say you're an Elemental Magician? Your skills aren't outstanding enough to receive my quest." Viscount Boldman rejected her with a sneer.

Selsia smoothed down the collar of her robe in embarrassment. "I'm afraid I won't do."

Even after Hegel, Nide, Selsia, and Twitter finished their quest for the school assignment, they frequently travelled together.

In Hegel's case, he asked for some assistance from the Black Lion Guild, but asking for help every day was awkward. The Black Lion Guild consisted of only high level players, so there were no guild-mates who would travel with Hegel to hunt or complete quests.

He could show off his skills and become friends with the girls, so travelling with his friends was a chance to kill two birds with one stone!

Hegel walked up confidently. "After I receive the quest, I'll share it with you."

Since Hegel was a party member, Selsia agreed. Granted, if he was able to accept the quest, he could only share it with his party members if it was shareable.

"I will help you."

Boldman just snorted at him. "Your help? You've given up in the middle of many quests, haven't you? So there's a rumor you're someone who can't be trusted. The Nobles of Sur Kingdom won't entrust any kind of quest to you."

The humiliation he suffered from Boldman!
Hegel's face turned beet red.

However, Boldman had a few more words to add. "If you were as talented as Sculptor Weed, you would be able to solve my problem... But that impressive individual is busy and has many things to do, so he probably wouldn't be able to help me with my quest on top of it all."

"Weed-hyung?"

"Do you know about Sculptor Weed? He is worthy of being a good example to the Adventurers of Versailles Continent. There has never been a greater Adventurer than he. He is throwing himself into helping those who are hampered with difficulties and is righting the world. Why do you think there is still a fragile peace on the continent? Don't you think it's because of the Sculptor Weed?"

Hegel was dumbfounded.

Boldman, who had spoken nothing but offending words to him and his party, was sparing nothing to praise Weed.

"Weed blocked the machinations of the Embinyu Church, which no one could challenge. The Embinyu Church's pursuit has been organized, but I believe Weed will never been captured."

Hegel really wanted to say his two cents. 'I'd be overjoyed if he was caught and killed!"

Boldman continued his praises.

"Weed truly deserves to be called the great Sculptor who protects the continent's peace. From his long journey to find the origin of sculpting, he is stopping the Embinyu Church. It seems there are many secrets hidden in sculpting."

The Black Lion Guild chat window was flooded with messages.

Provence: It looks like Sculptor Weed is in the middle of challenging an amazing quest with the highest difficulty. All the civilians and Soldiers are talking about Weed.

Ject: Provence-hyung, I've been hearing about it too.

Provence: Where are you currently?

Ject: In a small village named Neria in Zen Kingdom. The NPCs are all talking about Weed.

Shen: I'm in the Britten Alliance Kingdom; they are also talking about Weed here.

Pine: I'm in a rural village in the Western continent. You can also hear talk of Weed here.

Shen: Mister Pine, is that true?

According to the Black Lion guild chat window, NPCs from across the Versailles Continent were talking about Weed.

Provence: For such an uproar to happen, what kind of quest is it?

Ject: Surely it's an incredible quest, a quest related to sculpting?

Bindel: A Sculptor... Nowadays, you can see many amazing Sculptors.

Provence: Bindel-hyung, what kind of quest could it be? And surely he's not soloing it, right?

Bindel: I don't know anything about it either. But he must definitely be sharing it with someone. I should have gotten friendlier with the Dwarven Sculptor I met in Kuruso. Then maybe I would hear more about sculpting.

The impact from completing an A-class quest and then receiving an S-class quest was enormous. Following Weed's actions in Kramado Dungeon, his name was now the rage all over the entire Versailles Continent.

Selsia spoke without knowing Hegel's resentful feelings. "So awesome. Weed-oppa must be doing a really amazing quest."

Twitter's excited look was also apparent. "I sent a whisper to my friends, and they said there's no one on the Versailles Continent who doesn't know of this."

Hegel's insides curdled violently. Now, there would be no one who didn't know of Weed even in school.

* * *

"Did you hear? A Sculptor named Weed is going to fight against the Embinyu Church using the power of sculpting."

A young Dark Elf lady in the Yurokina Mountains whispered like this to everyone who approached her.

"The Embinyu Church is our enemy as well!"
"They are the enemy of all races."

The cute and slim Dark Elves did not hide their hostility towards the Embinyu Church.

The SwordNoobs quickly used their heads. Ordinarily, the gears in their boxed in minds didn't turn, but they had now received training on how you had to live from Weed.

'We're definitely giving a fervent response.'
'We have to reply like we would give everything we have.'
SwordNoob360 nodded.

"We will eliminate the Embinyu Church. Since Weed has stepped forward, they are an enemy of ours as well."
"Do you know of Sculptor Weed?"
"We are brothers in arms. You can say we're like family."
"You don't say! You're so manly!"

Their intimacy with the charming Dark Elves increased!

The SwordNoobs were grateful to Weed. Their efforts to become stronger were increasing day by day. To master the Swordsmanship skill and advance their levels through hunting!

* * *

"Yellowy, let's take it slow."

Weed made a simple wagon and loaded it with the drunkard Mercenary, Smith.

The quest difficulty alone was very burdensome, but to make matters worse, the pursuers were gaining ground.

'It's not something that'll work out by blindly rushing.'

Weed coldly analyzed the situation and intentionally acted relaxed. To solve an S-class difficulty quest, he couldn't become hasty. If his vision becomes too narrow, a chance smaller than the eye of a needle would disappear.

In the end, the pursuers drawing near weren't just time with significance attached; it was an opportunity.

"It's scary to fall to the dredges of life, but the bottom is actually peaceful."

Weed actually felt at peace while undertaking a quest with the highest difficulty!

Bingryong was responsible for the recon and information gathering about the nearby area.

"By the way, Bingryong."
"Why are you calling me, Master?"

Bingryong and the Five Phoenix Brothers were escorting them from the air. Bingryong's physique, which had grown even more enormous, and the red blur left from when the Phoenixes passed by, were sights ordinary monsters couldn't help but run away from in fear!

"Where and what have you been doing until now to led you all the way here?"
"That's..."
"Sit down and explain. It's hard to keep staring up in the sky."
"Yes, Master."

Bingryong folded his wings and seated himself on the ground.

His body had been lacking because it was made of ice!

Bingryong had dripped ice water everywhere if it got a little warm. Needless to say, his abilities would weaken accordingly.

Although it was true the current weather was breezy and refreshing, Bingryong appeared to be in perfectly normal condition.

His frame had grown much larger than before and the strength he could exhibit had increased. Before, he had staggered around while walking on the ground because of his weight, but now he outstretched his wings and was able to lower his neck close to the ground by bowing his upper body!

Bingryong's well-made, dignified snout was wide open. His white whiskers shook with suppleness.

"Well that... it was after I left master."

* * *

Bingryong immediately headed north after leaving Morata. After the Cold Rose Guild retrieved the Serbian Beads, the temperature had cooled down slightly.

This was a positive thing for Bingryong.

"ROOOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!

It wasn't the peak of the strength he'd had when the North had been frigid with chill, but normal monsters were still no match for Bingryong.

Bingryong sucked in a deep breath, an inhalation so large it ballooned his belly. Not long afterwards, his jaws stretched open almost to the point of tearing.

*WHOOOOOOSH!*

An arctic chill blasted through the air and swept over the terrain.

Bingryong's Ice Breath!

Monsters froze together in groups. The earth, trees, and even the roots were frozen as tens of thousands of icy shards and silvery dust spewed forth.

"YIELD!"

Dragon's Fear!

Compared to a real Dragon's Fear, its power was minuscule. However, at Bingryong's roar, all ordinary monsters were paralyzed like mice in front of a cat.

"Kuhehehe."

Bingryong's body became larger as he grew, and his mind became increasingly intelligent.

He only attacked strong monsters from the air. It was so he could flee by flying at any moment if it looked like he couldn't win, his ulterior motive!

Whenever the battle looked a tiny bit dangerous, he would flee quickly.

In the first place, he didn't touch the high-level monsters that could fly faster than him or were dangerous ones who could use magic in mid-air.

He was a coward who would flutter to the ground and wait until the flying monsters passed!

Once he was in the cold region, it was completely Bingryong's territory. He grew rapidly by hunting monsters.

Weed and human players have a time limit. No matter how much time they invested in Royal Road, they still have to sleep and eat.

However Bingryong, who lives inside Royal Road, doesn't have such limit, so he grew while hunting continuously. He could become stronger and faster than any player as long as he didn't die; was a characteristic of a sculpture with granted life.

* * *

"But why are you here and not in the North?"

At Weed's words, Bingryong couldn't bear to give an honest answer.

"You were definitely trying to do something weird, right?"
"..."
"Do you wanna be hit and then talk? Or talk and then be hit?"

Bingryong was forced to give an inevitable confession. "To be truthful, I also wanted to try making a lair."

Bingryong wanted to do everything that real dragons did. As his level and intelligence rose, his behavior was becoming similar to that of a real dragon.

"While I was searching through the areas, I found a large cave beneath an iceberg difficult to access by foot. After hunting the ancient monster inside, I was brought here."

"Monster hunting?"
"When it died, something like a crack in space appeared and I ended up like this."
"But why are you still here? Surely it's not because you don't know the way back?"
"..."

Bingryong looked away. The sight of him silently preening his wings sure made him like a loser!

While Weed was conversing with Bingryong and leisurely chatting away, the drunkard Smith looked anxious. Seeing as he wasn't drinking the liquor he so liked, he was definitely recognizing the impending crisis he was in.

"Are you out of your mind?"
"What?"

"Didn't you say the Embinyu Church's pursuers are hot on our tail?! We have to flee quickly, how can you be wasting time here?"

If pursuers were coming, of course it was a wanted criminal's duty to hightail it!

But Weed's actions were considerably far from it. He did run while riding Yellowy, but trying to save time was simply on a different level; he didn't show even a slight hastiness.

Yellowy was also on the grassland lazily munching on grass. The nature of the slowly moving cow even when it was being led to the slaughter!

Weed didn't rush. "This isn't something that can be done by rushing."

"Don't you think we should move a little more before the pursuers come?"
"Why should we?" Weed actually responded in the opposite.

Weed was one to set up an entire schedule for hunting or quests and move thoroughly, but his laxness was currently unparallelled.

"Looks like I'll have to help."

Smith came down from the wagon, angered.

As expected from a former Mercenary, he erased the trails they left and disturbed them; extending the time it would take for the pursuers to catch them.

"Go eastward, I surveyed the terrain and there should be a creek to the east. If we move along the creek, we can considerably reduce our footsteps and smell."

The former Mercenary, Smith, used to have plenty of time. But as the quest progressed, he became more hurried, so he was voluntarily helping by going ahead and determining the route, erasing the trail, etcetera, and extending the distance from the pursuers with his diverse experience.

* * *

The pursuers emerged from the Embinyu Church's temple!

It was a group consisting of 10 Dark Knights, 3 Priests, and 100 Soldiers.

"The path they are going is predetermined. After finding the Cane, they will try and revive the alliance made by the Matallost Church."

Day and night the pursuers ran across the plains. The Dark Knights were on horseback, but the Priests and Soldiers ran with robust stamina. The pursuer group moved without rest! If their Stamina fell, the Priests cast recovery magic and blessings.

The distance between Weed and his pursuers was only a day away.

* * *

"Yellowy."

MOOOOOO!

"You're hungry, right? Let's eat."

Moooooooooooooo.

Whenever Weed came across a large grassland, he gave Yellowy plenty of time to rest and graze on the grass.

"Don't overeat and chew thoroughly."

The kindness was enough to make Yellowy rub his head against Weed in gratitude! It was treatment enough to give someone an illusion Weed was a master who truly loved his cow!

But Weed's eyes were gleaming frostily.

'He's fattening up nicely.'

The distance from the pursuers was quickly closing in. Since Weed was idly carving sculptures atop Yellowy, the pursuers approached even faster. The closest alliance tribe of the Matallost Church was still two days away.

Because they were taking their sweet time and moving slower than usual, the pursuers caught up to them in half a day. The drunkard Mercenary Smith, who struggled with all his strength, was still unable to delay them by much.

Even though he could see the dust cloud of their pursuers in the distance, Weed was not alarmed.

"So they're here now. Just waiting was boring."

Weed called Bingryong and the Phoenixes.

"Guys."
"Speak. Master."
"Wipe them out!"
"I see. I alone am sufficient." Bingryong soared into the air.

Each time Bingryong flapped his wings, he rose in a straight ascent high above the ground, until his body looked like it had shrunk to the size of a hand.

His belly bulged out and a snow-white Breath shot towards the direction of the pursuers.

The Dragon's Breath flew like a meteorite, leaving a long trail behind as it blasted the pursuers.

The powerful attack froze the ground and the pursuers all at once!

The Dark Knights were able to barely hold onto their lives by abandoning their horses and throwing themselves elsewhere. However, a part of their bodies was frozen.

The Dark Knights had lost all will to fight and were quaking like aspen trees!

Bingryong flew over to where they were and trampled them.

*Crack!*

Bingryong annihilated the pursuers in a single blow!

Bingryong inhaled another large breath and roared while looking all all round him. It let out a victorious battle cry similar to the King of the Dinosaur Era, the Tyrannosaurus Rex.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOAAAR!"

His roar echoed in every direction.

The frail, timid, and powerless Bingryong's level had now passed level 446. The grown Bingryong was boasting of his strength.

* * *

KMC Media's program 'Weed'.

It was on break for a while after broadcasting the adventure in the land of the Vampires.

— What's the meaning of 'Weed'?
— Are you not broadcasting these days?

Questions popped up once in a blue moon on the website's message board because the program 'Weed' had been a broadcast with low viewer ratings.

The Website Administrator, Oh Yun Sil answered their questions politely.

— The meaning of the title 'Weed' is a secret. It'd be nice if this became a show viewers can get involved in. It is difficult to tell you about the future broadcast schedule as it is adjusted according to the station's internal schedule.

The viewers who saw the admin's words were certain.

'This program will be cancelled soon. It might've even ended already without announcement...'

As such, the program 'Weed' was slowly being forgotten by the viewers.

However, the head honchos of KMC Media hadn't lost their expectations for the program 'Weed.' The Equipment Technicians, Production Director, Writers, and Hosts were just waiting to be called.

Then a rumor Sculptor Weed was doing an incredible quest spread throughout the Versailles Continent.

KMC Media immediately held a meeting for the broadcast.

"We've looked through histories of the Versailles Continent, but the true nature of the Embinyu Church doesn't appear anywhere."

"There are 12 sects within the church, and we estimate there is a separate order commanding them."

"How are the players behaving?"

"It's as if a nuclear bomb has exploded. They are talking about the Embinyu Church and the Sculptor Weed in every village."

"Since the inhabitants of Versailles Continent haven't stopped talking about the Embinyu Church, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it has become the most talked about topic in conversations."

It was a meeting personally being chaired by the Head Director.

A simple analysis had just been concluded after looking at the images from the circuit connected to Lee Hyun's capsule.

"It's an opportunity to once again see Weed's feats, like the Immortal Legion and the Palrangka battle."

The Head Director was a great fan of Weed.

Apart from the broadcasts, he was excited from just being able to see Weed's adventures!

Director Kang raised his hand to gain permission to speak, and moved his face closer to his microphone.

"Respectable Head Director and fellow colleagues, the matter is not as simple."

"What is the problem, Director Kang?"

"Well, Head Director. First, we cannot overlook the quest difficulty. An S-class quest! Is it not true not a single person has completed one? Considering it was enough to spread rumors, it is not an ordinary quest. It may attract attention, but we might end up disappointing the viewers."

"But we're talking about Weed's quest here. Wasn't he the first to ever complete an A-class difficulty quest?"

"That's right. He did do it, but..."

Director Kang took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on his brow. He felt the pressure of having to oppose the Head Director's words as a salaried worker!

In this desperately dangerous situation, his shirt was drenched in sweat, but he still had to say what had to be said.

"We have to examine the quests Weed completed. The Immortal Legion quest was an A-class difficulty, but he had the assistance of the Orcs and Dark Elves."

The Head Director nodded.

The battle where Weed had fought as the Orc Karichwi had been so impressive, he still hadn't forgotten it. The Immortal Legion broadcast was still at the top of the ranking for the number of downloads.

"Please go on."

"Yes. In large scale battles where he commanded these different forces, for a Sculptor, Weed had absurdly high Leadership and Charisma, instantaneous judgement in a rapidly changing battle, and the eye for detail and concentration to not miss even a small portion throughout the battle."

Director Kang thoroughly praised Weed. Since the Head Director was a fan, criticism of Weed was off-limits within the station!

"If players who only know how to fight had been presented the same situation, they would have likely fought while buried in the interracial Orcs and Dark Elves and would have been defeated. Even if their level was high, they wouldn't have been able to stop the Immortal Legion. Weed's strength shines in large-scale battles."

"His ability to command is difficult to rival; it is Weed's strong point."

"Yes. It is exactly as you say. Weed has an immense strong point in quests that provide military support. Other A-rank difficulty quests have shown it as well. In the quest related to the honor of the Niflheim Empire's Imperial Family, and the quest where the Bone Dragon emerged, how much did he suffer?"

The Head Director nodded since he understood what Director Kang was trying to say.

After all the troubles Weed faced while crossing the cold and desolate North, he rode a Wyvern and defeated the Bone Dragon at the end of a great struggle.

"So Director Kang thinks the likelihood of Weed failing this quest... will be very high."

"Yes. Though they say there's military support in his current quest as well, but I see it as being too much for him alone. If it was an A-rank difficulty quest, then he would have developed a resistance and the sculptures he made will have improved their skills on their own, so he would be able to complete it. However, I have judged the S-rank difficulty quest to be too much."

The heft of an A-rank difficulty quest was still as great as ever.

Their competitors, CTS Media, had broadcasted an eradication of Giant Forest Golems and a related A-rank difficulty quest, and their viewer rating jumped to 7% in an instant. For game broadcasting ratings alone, it was over 60% of the share.

"Also... if we broadcast the quest this time, Weed's identity might be revealed."

"His identity?"

"It will be quite difficult to hide the fact that God of War Weed and Sculptor Weed is in fact the same person."

"Hmm, there was that problem as well."

"Although we won't be able to hide it forever while continuing the broadcasts, but if we ignore the risk and broadcast it, we will lose a great deal. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion it is still a little too early."

The faces of the Head Director and the other directors turned serious. It was a quest overwhelming to manage even if Weed gave everything he had. He couldn't hide the skills he possessed on top of that.

"Though it was a chance to broadcast an S-rank difficulty quest, it's a pity."

In conjunction with the Head Director's words, the meeting was coming to the decision of forgoing the broadcast.

*Ring!*

Just then, the phone on Director Kang's table rang.
After hesitating for a moment, Director Kang pushed the button on the phone.

"I'm in a meeting right now... what's going on?"

He heard the staff secretary's voice on the speakerphone.

— I'm sorry. There's an important call for you, Director Kang.
"Who's calling?"

— A person named Lee Hyun.
"Lee Hyun? If it's Lee Hyun..."

Surprise swept over Director Kang's face. Then he explained to the Head Director and other Directors.

"I'm certain Lee Hyun is the person with the character Weed."
"Is that so? Then please speak with him."
"I'll accept it on speakerphone then."

After a while, Lee Hyun's call connected from the Secretary's room to the meeting room.

— Hello Mr. Kang.
"Oh no, I'm sorry, I should have called first."

— Not at all. More importantly, I received the money you deposited, thank you.

The salary from the Palrangka Battle had been deposited into his bank account. Since he was given incentives based on the ratings and even gained a profit each time the broadcast was downloaded, it was actually a considerable sum!

"Naturally, we have to pay you for your work."
— Huhuhu.

Lee Hyun laughed in a very satisfied manner!

— Actually, I have a question to ask. I contacted you because of the broadcasting of the quest I'm currently doing. How is it?

"It's...very difficult to decide."

Director Kang explained step by step. Since it was an S-rank quest and was the focus of attention, as broadcasters, of course they wanted to broadcast it. While earnestly expressing his very anxious feelings, he conveyed the difficulty of the situation.

"Therefore, we are currently in a meeting about whether we should do the broadcast or not."

Whether he understood Director Kang's mournful feelings or not, Lee Hyun's response was incomparably relaxed.

— You can broadcast if you want.
"What?"

— Don't you need to broadcast to raise the ratings? The rating needs to rise to get commercials.
"That may be so, but the issues are..."

— If there's a program you need, then all you need to do is broadcast it. If it's for the station and the viewers, won't your company's public relations be able to do a lot of marketing?

Lee Hyun was explaining the necessity of the broadcast to Director Kang, who was a veteran in the field!

— Please think about the viewers. What do the viewers want? Fun and the answers to their curiosity! And don't they want to enjoy it together?

"..."

— How can a station ignore the demands of the viewers? Is that okay? If you respect your viewers, don't you need to put swift coverage and delivery of information first?

It was a lecture only to happen in a broadcasting association's get-together!

— On the message boards, there are a lot of viewer's comments asking to broadcast what kind of quest it is.

Naturally, there were many comments asking to broadcast the quest on the station's viewer forum. Not only KMC Media, but the unanimous opinions of viewers in CTS Media and other stations were also being flooded.

Director Kang explained with concern. "As a station, of course we want to organize the program, but we're worried about what kind of disadvantages there will be for you, Lee Hyun-nim."

— Is there anything that comes without a price in the world?
"..."

There is no such thing as free money. Lee Hyun had known this from an early age.

"But the difficulty of the quest is too high."
— I'll have to do my best.

"We'll try our best in the editing process, but it may be difficult to completely hide the fact you're the God of War Weed. Despite that, is it still okay to broadcast?"

Director Kang and KMC Media did not want to inconvenience Lee Hyun with the fame from being the God of War Weed and the fact he was the main character of the adventure! For Lee Hyun's sake, the station had been on the verge of suspending or cancelling the broadcast.

— Yes.

Lee Hyun's answer was firm. However, immediately afterward he asked with a trembling, choked voice.

— Hey, by the way... Ummm.
"Please speak."

— The broadcast will have an incentive this time too, right? There was an incentive on the contract conditions.

"..."

That was the only thing he was worried about!

He didn't trust promissory notes, coupons, or anything like shares, whose values could rise or fall unpredictably. Only KMC Media held Lee Hyun's confidence, as they made sure to deposit the money on the agreed date.

'This station is truly reliable. They're a good station who succeeds on the trust of the people.'

After Lee Hyun's call ended, the mood within the meeting room changed immediately.

"Shall we try it?"
"Let's do it. He wants it, and... isn't this what the viewers' desire as well?"
"Director Hyun, the expected rating is?"

"Yes, Head Director. If we do the broadcast, we estimate the ratings will be considerable. Since it can also attract ordinary people who almost never watch game broadcasts, I'm confident of 17% at minimum.

"The commercials will be booked?"
"Of course."

The positive mindset was spreading!

This time, the Head Director asked Director Kang. "The quest difficulty is immense, but do you think he can pull it off?"

"I'm not sure either. However, is he not the Weed with the nickname 'God of War?' He will push forward somehow. Whether he succeeds or fails, he will make something out of it."

He was the God of War Weed who had always achieved surprising results, even results no one could have imagined. He had never been in an easy fight.

At other times, he didn't show the absolute authority or charisma from his time in the Continent of Magic. He went freely as a stingy person, grinding machine, Chef, Sculptor, Blacksmith, Tailor, and borderline scammer.

But when the battle broke out, with the appearance of the Orc Karichwi and the Origin of the Skeleton, he made the truth of who he was plenty clear to the viewers.

The station had absolute confidence.

They had just been indecisive about the broadcast because his enormous fame might be harmed. There was no one involved in the station who would hesitate to broadcast about God of War Weed.

The Head Director finally gave his decision.

"Prepare the program. Gather our best staff and get to work right away."

* * *

The Embinyu Church's Priests were able to detect the deaths of their colleagues.

The church formed a group to chase them again.

"Eliminate the man who interfered in our ritual!"

The pursuers composed of 20 Dark Knights, 5 Priests, and 300 Soldiers!

The Dark Knights were riding swift coursers, and the Soldiers and Priests rode carriages.

After improving their mobility, they pursued Weed again.

Chapter 2: Alliance of the Deliverers

Weed checked the information of the Matallost Church's relics.

"Identify!"

Copper Plate of Rest
Durability: 12/1,000

The copper plate with powers to lead the dead to the world of eternal rest.

An item absolutely necessary for the existence of the Matallost Church, it is in severely damaged condition.

One of the five relics.

Because it is a dangerous item, if it falls into the hands of the wicked, the probability of it causing chaos is high.

Although it was being protected by the Holy Knights of the Matallost Church, it was forcibly taken by the Embinyu Church. As damage is severe, there is a limitation to the power it can display.

While it is impossible to repair by normal means, it can be repaired with the holy power of the Matallost Church's Pope.

The durability will decrease even more if used.

Limitation: Must receive the recognition of the Matallost Church. Faith 2,000

Special Effect: Lead the dead to their resting place.

Can forcibly cancel Undead magic. Can specially enhance Undead to decrease damage taken from Holy Magic.

If an Undead has hold of it, it can reject guidance to the world of eternal rest and retain very high Health, Mana, and Strength.

Can create and command Demonic Spirits.

Can pronounce the sentence of death. Once sentence of death has been pronounced, Health and Mana will not recover for a day.

Copper plate able to guide the dead to their eternal rest!

With the copper plate, one could return the Undead back into corpses. It would be an incredible relic for Necromancers.

The sentence of death would have a tremendous effect on living beings as well.

"Still, it's pretty lousy."

Weed felt it was regretful as he looked at the Copper Plate of Rest.

The durability will decrease every time it was used. Since the remaining durability wasn't high, it meant it could only used a few more times!

If the relic was destroyed, a great misfortune or a curse would follow. Becoming an enemy of the Matallost Church would be a certainty as well.

"The next item is... Identify!"

Token of Alliance, Wand
Durability: 139/200.
Attack Power: 15.

This Wand is a proof of the alliance of the Matallost Church with its neighboring brethrens.

The Wand acts as proof of the contract between the Matallost Church and its neighboring tribes. Though it's a relic with a God's blessing, it normally only has a slight ability to aid holy powers.

Once you have fulfilled the promised alliance, you can utilize the authority of the Deliverer vested in the Wand.

However, you must pay the price for the usage of authority.

Restriction: Must receive recognition of the Matallost Church. Faith 2,000.

Special Effect: Holy Power 5%

The Copper Plate of Rest and the Wand!

They were relics of the Matallost Church he could use to win in the battle against the Embinyu Church. The battle's conditions would change greatly depending on the relics' use.

* * *

That night, Weed arrived at the village of the first alliance tribe of the Matallost Church, Vejague.

The tribesmen were closer to monsters than humans. They only had few strands of hair left, with their mouths were jutting out. They were also holding spears as weapons.

Weed and Smith were surrounded by the Warriors of the tribe at the village entrance.

"As an agent of the Matallost Church, I have come to request reinforcements."

Weed broadened his chest and spoke with pride.

Among the Vejague tribal Warriors who were murmuring amongst themselves, a muscular male with tattoos all over his body came forward.

"If you are an agent of the Matallost Church, you are our brother. Welcome, visitor. Could you please clearly state your business again about why you came to us?"

"I have come to request reinforcements to fight against the Embinyu Church."

The Warrior who came to meet Weed stabbed his spear into the ground.

"The Embinyu Church is strong. We don't like their actions either, but why should our tribe shed blood for your sake?"

Weed quickly glanced around.

A perfectly gifted conversationalist doesn't exist. It was important to survey with his own eyes. No matter how good words were, they would be nothing but nonsense to break the atmosphere if they didn't match the situation!

The Warriors were robust and their gazes were piercing. They had no qualms an uninvited guest had arrived, and they didn't have cringing expressions.

There were many prey such as Caltrops and Black Wild Boars hanging above their village.

"I would like to meet the representative of the Vejague tribe. Can you represent the Vejague tribe?"

"I am a mighty Warrior. While hunting fierce and strong beasts, I am the strongest in the tribe. I am enough to represent our tribe."

Weed explained in a slightly softer tone, "The mighty Warrior of the Vejague tribe has called me his brother. The reason you are listening to such a request is because you are among those who share difficulties with the neighbors and brothers living next to you. If a brother was to break a promise because it was difficult, the Matallost Church and the Vejague tribe would not be brothers."

Warriors nodded energetically.

"Brothers will win this together in spite of any difficulty. We, the Vejague tribe, will fight together with the Matallost Church."

"WHOAAA!"

The Warriors of the tribe shouted as they raised their spears high into the air and shook them.

Success in winning over the first tribe of the alliance!

Alliance of the Deliverers.

The Vejague tribe who hunts in the River of Lamentation has joined.

The negotiator's Fame has increased by 100.

Charm has increased by 50.

The Mighty warrior said, "Unlike the our Vejague tribe, the other two tribes will not be easy to win over. Although they value the promise, and brotherly loyalty equals to ours, each tribe has its own circumstances. In order to fight the Embinyu Church, we will definitely need the strength of the two tribes, especially the Salmere tribe."

* * *

Weed rode Yellowy and moved on to the location of the next tribe.

Slowly. The very slow gait of a cow.

The Vejague tribe promised.

When the 3 tribes gather, we will attack the Embinyu Church. We will help in destroying their fortress and freeing the survivors of the Matallost Church.

Because one tribe had given its promise to attack, only 2 tribes remained.

On the rocky mountain like a knife placed upside down, rare flowers and grasses hard to find in the Versailles Continent were considerable.

Weed was moving along a ridge as curved as a camel's back. Although the angle of inclination was very sharp, Yellowy walked on without slipping.

The Phoenixes spoke, "Master, the pursuers are at a distance 5 hours behind us. If we continued our current pace, they will catch up within 5 hours."

"What's the scale of the enemy?"
"It is 20 Knights, 300 Soldiers and 5 Priests."

"Still being underestimated. Finally 20 Knights... The crowd of pursuers did not increase as much as I thought."

Words couldn't be spoken by a normal Sculptor!

However, Weed was determined to purposefully draw out the pursuers and weaken the Embinyu Church's forces.

Even if it wasn't a huge help in siege warfare, he needed to reduced the enemies' numbers beforehand even if it's only little. As an S-rank quest, it would be an incredibly difficult battle even if he brings about the alliance of the three tribes.

Divide and conquer based on incentives! With the motive to weaken the enemy forces, he instinctively took tactical action.

'I'll crush them one by one for now!'

"Hurry and run before the pursuers arrive!"

Whether the drunkard Smith was fretting or not, Weed's mind rolled onward, flawlessly, and coldly.

"Bingryong. Phoenixes."
"Speak, Master."

"No need to wait until they come here. You guys go and wipe them out. Only, our side mustn't take any damage."

"Understood, Master! You need not have any concerns."
"Bingryong, you're the commander. You must return safely with the Phoenixes."
"Thanks for believing in me, Master."

Bingryong and the Phoenixes flew to the back as they flapped their wings.

Perhaps because of their fire disposition, the Phoenixes were quite aggressive and reckless. However, since Bingryong valued his body dearly, Weed had given the position of commander to him.

"They're my sculptures. If they were to abused, I'll be doing the abusing. I can't watch them get hit by some other guy."

If not for that reason, there was no other reason to give the stupid and timid Bingryong the position of leader.

After a while, the sky to the west lit up brightly.

Ice Breath must have been fired, since the temperature lowered significantly. Afterwards, smoke from flames rose into the sky.

Fire and ice attacks.

Even in the midst of this, Weed was strengthening Bingryong and the Phoenixes.

After the group of pursuers was decimated by Bingryong and the Phoenixes, the Embinyu Church assembled new pursuers once more.

This time the pursuers consist of 40 Dark Knights. 10 Priests, 3 Magicians, 300 normal Soldiers.

Weed swallowed his saliva with a gulp.

Not only were the pursuers were chasing them more and more rapidly, but their forces were improving as well.

With both burden and pleasure, the enjoyment was increasing.

Like when he dealt with the True Blood Vampires with Alveron, his energy was surging with appropriate tension.

The second alliance tribe of the Matallost Church, Lekiye.
It was a tribe with Knights and Sorcerers.

"We have not forgotten the alliance with the Matallost Church. However, too much time has passed. It's doubtful if the Matallost Church still has the qualification to act with us."

The Chief of the Lekiye tribe neither welcomed nor opposed Weed.

"How should I prove the qualification between allies?"

The Chief said to Weed. "The power of the Embinyu Church is fearsome. To see if you can fight against them, you will need to undertake a test of courage,"

A test to pass Valley of Courage in the middle of the night without any outside help!

It was the valley the children of the Lekiye tribe ascended when partaking in the coming of age ceremony.

Weed didn't think deeply and simply accepted.
"I will prove I possess courage."

As long as he didn't want to give up the quest, he had no choice but to continue forward.

The Valley of Courage!

Weed walked quickly under the dark night sky.

The sound of the trees rustling in the wind was frightening, and it felt like something would jump out at any minute.

A situation and place perfect for a test of courage. Without mistake, it was an actual place where courage was being tested.

Unnecessary thoughts would make the heart stiffen and contract.

If one is caught in fear, even footsteps became scary, and will be surprised by shadows. It would get more and more terrifying until one could no longer take another step.

The Valley of Courage was such a place.

Because the space of the passage in the narrow valley was only 50 cm wide, it created an illusion anything could jump out from between the bushes or trees. It was a place ceaselessly stimulated fearful thoughts, and made one's resolve crumble!

It would actually be a relief if a monster or ghost really appeared, however the place was only stimulating pure terror.

Walking in the dark, the path looked like it could lead to anywhere. Anxiety and panic-causing Valley of Courage.

Like a chant, Weed memorized something. "Spinach 2,500 won (~$2.50), sesame leaf 1,000 won (~$1), eggs 1,700 won (~$1.70), sausages 4,000 won (~$4)."

Calculation for a week worth's of expenditure!

Since it was dark and quiet, it was excellent for mentally organizing his household accounts.

"We're out of olive oil. I collected the coupon, so I should buy it the next time I go to the mart. The mart next door was holding an event for kitchen supplies... I must buy rubber gloves in a pretty pink color."

Calculating his shopping list. The part Weed loathed the most made its appearance. This time was the most difficult and painful.

"This month's total expenditures have risen to 8,000 won more than last month. It was because of the transaction on the 24th. Damn the rising prices! It was because the gas price rose."

Simply by thinking about the date, he could recall the sum he'd used during day. He could even list the fluctuations in price from last month and the month before last.

Savings, savings, savings.

Even so, the household expenses absolutely wouldn't decrease!

The biggest worries of housewives were difficult for Weed too. "House expenses: once it increases, it never decreases again."

The desperate battle against the household expenses. Having a large income didn't necessarily mean having money saved up. Thorough management along with limiting impulsive spending was necessary.

"I shouldn't have bought the expensive salt from the supermarket that one time... I needed to live frugally." He was assailed with bitter regret.

By gathering small sums, it will eventually become a large amount of money.

As he was thinking about the household expenses, he soon exited the Valley of Courage.

Weed's face was haggard and filled with horror.

Ding!

You have passed the Valley of Courage.

You have passed the Valley of Courage in the shortest time.

You have passed the ceremony much faster than young men of the Lekiye tribe.

Willpower stat has formed.

Willpower: Increases concentration. No matter how chaotic your surroundings are, your skill success rate rises and failure rate of magic decreases.

Damage in melee range has increased.

Warriors, Adventurers, and Magicians will admire those with outstanding Willpower.

Speeds up growth of Fighting Spirit. Points can not be distributed into the stat and it will increase by itself based on character's actions.

You have earned the title 'The Courageous.'

Fame has increased by 200.
Courage has increased by 80.
Fighting spirit has increased by 10.
Leadership has increased by 5.

The Chief and Warriors of the Lekiye tribe were waiting at the exit; after seeing Weed coming out of the valley, they ran to him.

With rings dangling on his nose, the chief outstretched his arms.

"Brother has passed the test. In accordance with the alliance, let us assault the Embinyu Church."

"WHOAAA!" The Warriors shook their spears and cheered.

The drunken Smith came close and patted Weed's shoulder knowingly.

"Seems like the Valley of Courage was extremely difficult."
Weed replied feebly, "It was truly horrible."

"At least it's all over now. Take it as a valuable experience."
"I have to suffer it every month."

"The Chief said the ghosts of the Lekiye tribe within the Valley of Courage are truly terrifying, but what do they look like?"

Weed shook his head. "I did not see ghosts."

Household expenses were much more frightening than ghosts.

Between the trees and behind his back, the ghosts moved stealthily. They weren't obvious, but you could feel something was there! Weed had been so immersed in mentally organizing his household accounts that he'd walked right past them without noticing.

Ding!

Alliance of the Deliverers.

The Lekiye tribe who hunts in the River of Lamentation has joined.

The negotiator's fame has increased by 200.
Charm has increased by 60.

* * *

The alliance of the second tribe taken care of, Weed headed towards the direction of the third tribe.

The pursuers caught up quickly and had set up camp on the plains and were waiting.

Without breaking through the Dark Knights and the Embinyu Church forces, it would be difficult to go to where the third village was located.

"Bingryong, Phoenixes! Get rid of them!"
"Got it, Master."

The fight between Bingryong, the Phoenix Brothers and the pursuers took place. Weed just watched them with folded arms.

The reason he made and granted life to sculptures based on aerial monsters was because aerial monsters had a high survival rate.

"They can't be compared to land monsters."

Land monsters could perish quickly if they were surrounded and received concentrated attacks. However, a flying creature couldn't be hunted easily without a Magician or Archer squad.

Later, he had to prepare a balance so he could afford both aerial and land creatures. But so far, he mostly had aerial monsters centering around Bingryong.

The Embinyu Church's pursuers were having hard time thanks to Bingryong and the Phoenixes.

The highlight of the Phoenixes' power!

"Fire Blaster!"

When the Magicians used offensive magic, the Phoenixes flew enthusiastically.

"It's mine!"
"I saw it first."
"I'm going to eat it first."

As if they were competing, they ate the fire magic with greedy gulps.

The ability to absorb fire to replenish Health and Mana!

They also spewed flames as they flew low over the flaming ground.

As the trees burned and the flames spread, the Phoenixes demonstrated nearly infinite Health and attack power.

One must use Holy Magic, Spiritual Magic, or Mana Drain skills in order to deal with the Phoenixes. Or bombard them with Ice magic. Otherwise, there was no way to defeat the Five Phoenix Brothers!

The Phoenixes flew to the ground and flapped their flame wings or spewed fire in front of the Knights.

"ROOOAAAAAAAAR"

They were doing far more damage than Bingryong's ruthless attacks. Bingryong went around with his massive weight, picking out the Priests and crushing them.

The force of the Embinyu Church's pursuers crumbled to at least half in an instant.

This is the power of the sculptures!

A thought of mass producing Phoenixes grazed past Weed's mind.

"I should make about 30 Phoenixes... then they probably wouldn't disappear and die."

With 30 Phoenixes, it would very well be a fiery hell!

With the characteristic of gaining strength from fire, he thought there would be almost no reason to lose Health!

If it wasn't winter or a rainy day, they wouldn't receive much effect from the environment either. While utilizing the most out of the fire characteristic, Bingryong couldn't compare in flanking capability.

However, sculptures have sensitive personality.

They were quite severely opposed to sculptures looking similar to themselves. What's worse was, they showed attitudes of wanting to fight each other.

The higher the Art stat, sculptures granted life were stronger, so the personality demands and egos became greater.

Due to the limitations of Weed's Leadership and Charisma, it was tough to handle over 10 of the same kind of sculpture.

"Yellowy, let's go!"

MOOOOOOOO!

Weed and Yellowy took care of the remaining forces together.

With each pursuer team, Yellowy, Bingryong and the Phoenix Brothers gained 2-3 levels each, and collected plenty of japtem and weapons.

* * *

Before arriving at the next village, the team of pursuers once again drew close.

60 Dark Knights.
10 Priests.
10 Magicians
400 Normal Soldiers.

This is indeed an extremely bloodthirsty army!

The large army came with the purpose of capturing Weed.

"Knights, Priests, Magicians, and Soldiers were all on horseback and chasing us with amazing speed."

The Phoenixes he sent in five directions to scout had returned and reported.

Weed stroked the back of Yellow's neck. "Yellowy, let's go quickly from now on. Any more laziness and dinner will be beef soup."

Even without Weed's threat, Yellowy was extremely worried every time food was prepared. He was getting stressed to the point of losing his perfectly good fur.

Weed's eyes looked like they really wanted to soak Yellowy's head or feet for a while whenever Weed boiled soup!

MOOOOOOO!

Yellowy increased his speed and charged forth with his supple body. With speed easily exceeding a horse's, downhill or uphill, he ran without rest.

"Bingryong."
"Speak, Master."
"Use Breath once and come back."

The Ice Breath he used after flying to the Embinyu Church's pursuers! Like drinking a glass of milk every morning, he was ordered to shoot out Ice Breath everyday.

The Embinyu Church's pursuers sustained injuries by the Ice Breath and were dying little by little.

"Phoenixes."
"We are listening to your words, Master."

"You guys go and torch them. If they ascend the mountains or woods, quickly set them on fire."

It was a strategy that didn't consider the likes of nature conservation. Attacking with fire! In the forests with many trees and flammable reed beds, the Phoenixes attacked the pursuers without fail.

"Bingryong, is there a canyon or large forest around here?"
"You need to move a bit to the west."
"Let's go there."

He chose a path difficult for a large army to move through and delayed the pursuers.

Fairly fighting one on one!

A duel of Knights fighting with their honor on the line!

Warriors fighting with their lives!

Weed was far, far away from those things.

Even though the Priests and Magicians used protective magic, they took considerable damage from Ice Breath, killing over dozens of people. The horses slipped due to the frozen ground, and the movement speed of the Soldiers were delayed.

However, once the Embinyu Church's pursuers came a certain distance, they ignored all obstacles and caught up by traveling in a nearly straight line. Since they were moving at maximum speed to catch up to Weed, the damage they have taken from Ice Breath had accumulated.

Even Weed could see the dust trail produced by the pursuers.

"We're screwed. They are almost upon us!"

The drunkard Smith, who had tried to help, gave up everything and was drowning in despair as he sought more and more alcohol.

However, Weed didn't think this was the end. He had already accounted for the pursuers catching up to them at this point.

"I'll make it more troublesome for them."

He used an underhanded tactic of deliberately going only to places where monsters gathered, making slight detours and causing fights!

An escape superior to that of mud eels, creatures who make streams muddy!

The Embinyu Church's pursuers advanced straight through Bingryong's Breath and while fighting monsters.

The Dark Knights and Soldiers went through as they cut up the ordinary monsters, but the damage to the troops were great.

The pursuer numbers gradually dwindled and their stamina also reached the limit. The horses frothed as they collapsed, while the Priests and Magicians became a wreck.

Then, Weed found an herb field where many yellow grasses bloomed.

The most expensive medicinal herbs!
A herb with the effect of giving boundless Stamina.

Weed positioned Yellowy against a hill.
"We'll have the showdown here."

The Salmere tribe's village was only a day away.

It looked like he could get there safely without the pursuers catching up, but he intended to hunt them down to the very last man. It was ridiculous to leave the herb field behind.

"Yellowy, let's use this quickly."
"Don't wanna. It looks weird."

Yellowy, who hoped to graze freely, instinctively showed a strong rejection.

"I heard that the price of beef rose a bit recently..."
"..."

Peaceful persuasion!

He made a plow and attached it on Yellow's body to harvest the herbs.

Truly an all-terrain Korean cow!

Weed took Yellowy to collect herbs, and prepared for battle. He sharpened his sword on a whetstone and also cleaned his armor with a cloth. He even had wine with premium steak. He also mixed the herbs good for increasing Energy and Stamina with soft grass and gave it to Yellowy.

Moooooooooooo!

Yellowy was grateful for his master's grace!

When they were completely prepared for battle, the group of pursuers appeared. After having their numbers been reduced to a third, they were no different from stragglers.

There were only about 20 Dark Knights, and only 2 Priests and 2 Magicians left.

"The enemy of Embinyu Church!"

"The Pontifex said there is no need to capture him alive. Kill him!"

The Soldiers lost their horses and ran while their armor rattled.

The Soldiers and Dark Knights attacked simultaneously. Even as they charged, their Stamina was exhausted and didn't seemed like they were gaining speed.

A situation where the pursuer's army would be massacred if they were harassed a little more!

"Bingryong, Phoenix! Launch the preemptive strike."
"Got it, Master."

Bingryong drew in a deep breath to use its Ice Breath.

"It's shooting its breath!"
"Cast protective magic!"

The Priests and Magicians cast a transparent circle covering the pursuers.

Before long, a white stream of Breath spewed from Bingryong's snout.

The tremendous force of the freezing breath crushed the enemy's transparent circle!

Over 100 Soldiers were frozen solid. The damage would have been worse if they did not have protection magic.

"Whooooooooosh!"

The Phoenixes broadly set the ground aflame.

"Kill the bastard."
"Let's kill him and sacrifice his heart to Embinyu's God!"

The Embinyu Church's pursuers pounced like little demons within the flames.

As he rode Yellowy, Weed's eyes became infinitely cold.

Like an air conditioner set at 18°C (64°F) in an empty bank*, the glint in his eyes was lonely, forlorn, and yet violent.

[T/N: We're not exactly sure about this idiom. We think it's something along the lines of the air conditioner feeling lonely because it's working hard in an empty bank.]

If the monsters were strong, he became stronger by hunting and any means necessary.

The words "cowardly" or "dirty" didn't exist in Weed's dictionary. He used any means to destroy those who blocked his path.

He always fought while giving his all, so there was no need to hear he was underhanded.

"Kill him." The Dark Knights rode their exhausted, frothing horses and were nearly up the hill.

Weed extended his hand forward. "Blessing."

You've used the High Priest's Blessing. Physical abilities will be enhanced for 20 minutes.

The High Priest's Blessing increased Maximum Health and Mana by about 30% and raised all stats by 20%! In the past when he was at a lower level, it raised his stats by nearly half.

He could use the High Priest's Blessing through the ring's power once a day anywhere. During that time, it was a moment where Weed felt like a Warrior, not a Sculptor.

Weed slapped Yellowy's rump with his palm.

"Let's go, Yellowy!"

Yellowy ran on all fours and sped down the hill. He accelerated as he went down the slope, making his flesh vibrate.

He wasn't just as fast as a horse. He was faster.

Power!

He charged with his heavy weight and speed.

A Dark Knight came stabbing straight at them. He was extremely fast and was delicately aiming for the neck. It was a sight of a truly skillful Knight of the Embinyu Church.

Weed ducked his head, narrowly dodging and grazing past a sword, and also raised his sword.

"Moonlight Sculpting Blade!"

He struck the neck of the armorless horse and toppled it along with the Knight.

Even before Yellowy took another two steps, another Dark Knight came at him.

"DIE!"

The enemy Knight swung his ax so fiercely, Weed felt the wind pressure!

If he blocked the weapons the galloping Knights swung head-on, he feared durability of his sword would fall or break. Weed's weapons were maintained at their maximum condition, but there was no need to clash deliberately.

'Make a gap.'

Weed moved Yellowy half a step to the side as he swung his sword.

A tactic using the short range of an ax and the length of his sword! He was able to decapitate the Dark Knight with the wide gap he purposely made.

The art of attacking in unity with the bull!

In a fight between Knights, the outcome sometimes depended on the steed.

Weed treated Yellowy like an extension of his hand as he engaged in battle.

*Neeiighhh!*

The horses the Dark Knights were riding on puffed breathless gasps as they rose up the hill. When they saw Yellowy's dangerously transformed eyes, they lost considerable fighting spirit.

M-O-O-O. Oo. Oo. Oo!

In the frenzy, Yellowy was on the verge of going crazy!

As he struck with his hind legs and rammed with his horns, the horses fell underneath him without fail. On all fours, Yellowy fundamentally combined offence and defence.

On the bull's wide back, Weed could use his sword favorably.

Like a wild raging beast, he swung his sword left and right between enemies.

Every time he grazed past the Dark Knights, spear and sword clashed. His sword flashed as Dark Knights undoubtedly fell to the ground.

Exactly one each for every breath!

"Yellowy, let's go!"

Weed rode Yellowy in between the Dark Knights.

For riders donning armor, just falling to the ground alone was enough to sustain a nearly fatal blow. Regardless of the excellent defense of the Knights' armor, it was a situation where the weight of the armor worked against them.

Weed was dominating the Dark Knights with effective and precise attacks every time their paths briefly crossed.

The Knights and the horses were exhausted, and on top of it all, their pace had slowed while ascending the hill. On the other hand, as Weed ran down the slope with his strength and momentum at their peak, comparable to the collision force of the Knights.

The use of strategy and tactics!

He lured in monsters to deal damage to them, and made it so they couldn't rest, to drain their Stamina.

It was a different method from the one he used while fighting with the Orcs and Elves. Orcs were easily lured by bait, while Elves disliked dirty things. Since they used archery, magic, and spiritual power, he had to lead them in close combat.

Each race's trait or code of action followed a method of fighting, deciding the strategy and tactics.

Even if it was a minor fight, Weed commanded it with an advantageous battlefield.

However, his blazing heart only wanted more enemies without measure. When he saw many overwhelming enemies, he became intoxicated in battle and his blood boiled, hungering for more victims.

The disposition of a wild beast.
Instinct of the body.

"UUWAAAAAH!"

Lion's Roar burst from Weed's mouth.

You have used the skill Lion's Roar.

The skill 'Lion's Roar' has increased the morale of all allies within range by 200%.

All existing Confusion hexes have been lifted.

Leadership will increase by 270% for 5 minutes.

"Hear my order! Bingryong, Phoenixes! Wipe out the enemies!"

The Embinyu Church's pursuers — a force so large, it was nearly an army.

In order for the troops to move in accordance with the Commander's leadership, morale was a very important element!

Due to the daily use of Ice breath, half of the Dark Knights had perished.

A situation where the control of the cavalry was weakened!

Bingryong leapt as he trampled, ravaged, and froze enemies.

The Phoenixes gave rise to frenzy, spewing fire and spreading their plumage to create a rain of fire.

As everything became a sea of fire. The pursuers lost moral and plunged into chaos.

While riding on Yellowy, Weed ran straight into the middle of the enemy lines.

He slid past his opponents' weapons and struck them down, like an arrow piercing through the enemies.

The Soldiers and Dark Knights who had been ascending the hill, ran in the opposite direction.

"UWAAAAAAAAAHH!" The battle cry sizzling escaped Weed's mouth.

After passing the Dark Knights, the Soldiers of the Embinyu Church he encountered next were merely easy pickings.

MOOOOOOOOOO!
Yellowy also let out a ululation. A bull bellow!

With the sound of the bull's cry ringing around him, Weed cleaved through the exhausted and wounded Dark Knights and Soldiers.

A fray among the raging flames and falling ice shards, the bloody battle of Salmere Hill!

* * *

The SwordNoobs had settled in the Yurokina mountains!

They had actively followed Zephyr's advice when they had first come to the Orc village.

The way to date a woman? First, meet their eyes.

The SwordNoobs stared piercingly at the Orc females.

"Uwaah, scary. Chwik chwik!"

The gleaming eyes made chills run down the spines of the Orc females!

The SwordNoobs scattered across the Versailles Continent were gathered in one place.

With their rough, muscular appearance and sharp eyes shinier than glass beads, the SwordNoobs flocked the Orc village.

The Orc females felt the pressure and avoided the SwordNoobs whenever they saw them.

Zephyr's second advice.

Next, naturally start a conversation. You don't need to force it to try and make a special moment. Naturally, do you want to go eat together? That'll be enough.

The SwordNoobs approached the terrified female Orcs.

After rapidly surrounding them with instant reflexes, making the female Orcs unable to escape—!

"Orc miss, shall we go to a quiet forest and chew on bloodily dripping deer meat?"

The Orc females came to Royal Road and chose the Orc race, were filled with a dream.

'Ah, now I'll happily have adventures.'

There were many college freshmen who were fresh out of high school and entered university.

They wanted to enjoy the cheerful and lively beginner life, but ignorant-looking misters approached them.

"Kyaaaaaah!"

The Orc females showed their broad backs as they fled!

They may be dull, but the SwordNoobs were able to feel it at this level.

"Something's strange."
"Seems like Zephyr's advice isn't having any effect at all."

When having a date, grasp the atmosphere and don't talk too much.

The third advice also only showed negative side effects.

They managed to get a date finally after a hundred attempts, but the SwordNoobs were just staring silently.

An awkward and uncomfortable atmosphere. The female Orcs were forced to stand and down their meals.

"I ate well. Chwik! We're going now. Chwit chwit."

The SwordNoobs waited anxiously, but they weren't able to see those females again.

"Something isn't right here."
"That bastard Zephyr tricked us."

Bitter retribution!

"He tricked bachelors because of lack of people in the world to lie to?"

"We worked so hard to create opportunities... But now the rumors have spread, so the female Orcs just run away at the mere sight of us!"

Zephyr came to the dojo regularly and received training, because SwordNoob2 had dragged him by the hand and he became a new member.

The amount of training increased by 3 times as much.

"We need a dating method that suits us." The SwordNoobs learned from their failure and reflected on themselves.

It was a good chance to realize one's shortcomings.

They asked Maylon, Hwaryeong, Romuna, Irene, and Surka about what kind of aspect they lacked compared to other men, or if they weren't attractive.

The very first one, Romuna spoke as if there was nothing to ponder, "First of all, your body is too thick. It's a bit burdensome because you have so much muscle."

"If you're a man, you gotta have this much muscle!"

SwordNoob3 flexed his forearm.

Forearms 52 cm (~21 inches) thick!

They were much thicker than a woman's thighs, and sinews wider than worms wriggled.

Their forearms weren't the only muscular ones. Their legs were thicker than a woman's waist.

"How's my manliness?"
"Urgh, muscles like that aren't manly, just gross."

Their likeability decreased through muscles.

Maylon pointed out their attire. "You have absolutely no fashion sense. What exactly do you usually go around wearing?"

Fashion was also important in Royal Road.

When wearing a robe, boots in matching color had to be purchased. The fabric was dyed, and even if the special effect dropped a little, matching as a whole was held in high regard. Pretty clothes or well-designed armor sold for especially high prices.

Since Royal Road was like a society in reality, going around well dressed was very important too. People even took care not to let their clothes or armor get dirty while exploring dungeons. It was a basic courtesy of a Knight to clean their armor until it sparkled if they had reason to go to a town or castle.

But the SwordNoobs equipped were not metal, but swords and armor made out of rotten bones.

Bone Breast Armor, Bone Sword. Advanced items made from the bones of the Bone Dragon!

Weed had personally produced and given it to them, but the disgusting, foul odor was no small issue. Chainmail pants, gloves and helmets with holes in them. It was completely wanton equipment.

"I usually only wear Martial Arts uniforms and sportswear."

The voices of the SwordNoobs became smaller.

"If it's sportswear, then you mean a tracksuit? There're lots of pretty tracksuits these days."

The tracksuits Maylon was talking about were produced by sports companies to match the top trends, or were jumpers released by famous brands.

But the tracksuits the SwordNoobs wore were thick, grey sportswear reeking of sweat! Having worn only uniforms and sportswear for over 10 years, their fashion sense was completely non-existent.

Hwaryeong also said, "Do you have a female friend? Do you have a woman you know and spend time with, but not a girlfriend? If you've got lots of friends you can comfortably hang out with, you'll be able to find a girlfriend quickly too."

The SwordNoobs could only heaved a sigh.

While focusing on training, how could they become close to a girl?

They were acquainted with Hwaryeong, Irene, Romuna, and the others, so they were on the level of being able to chat once in a while. In reality, they lived lives truly far away from women.

SwordNoob300 suddenly looked up. "Restaurant lady?"

*Mumble mumble.*

"Milk delivering lady."
"The next door lady and the kid in middle school."
"My lil' sis cousin."

All of the women they knew and spent time with!

While hanging out with a group of just men, they were living lives far from women.

Hwaryeong asked with difficulty, "Do you watch T.V.?"

"Huh?"
"A drama or movie, or dating program... even radio is fine."

She was asking if they were living cultured lives.

"I do watch T.V. sometimes..."
It was at least a positive sign!

"I mostly watch boxing, wrestling, and mixed martial arts broadcasts."
"I watched 'Memory of Violence' last time..."
"I did see soccer, baseball, and volleyball broadcasts too."

The SwordNoobs had lived existences too far removed from a cultured life.

Hwaryeong actually felt amazed. 'How can guys like them exist?'

Just then, Surka landed a completely unintentional critical hit.

"You look scary."
"..."

The key reason for disqualification!

The SwordNoobs had been living with a grave delusion. Their dating ability would only increase as they gained experience. It was a big mistake to naively believe a woman they loved would like them back!

They needed to meet a woman they truly loved, and also undergo trial and error in order to date her. Moreover, they also required an attitude to know how to lie and embellish.

Why do girls fall for bad boys or playboys?

A kind man is not attractive. He would only think of nice things. He couldn't understand a woman's heart as a boyfriend, and couldn't even approach her familiarly.

You can't like someone you don't even know!

They were beginners. They had to undergo love, dating, and getting hurt, but simply saying they had to stubbornly keep at it wasn't going to help.

Even so, Irene helped them.

"Elder bros, you have appeal too. If you get friendly, you'll be able to show off your appeal."

She then gave them practical advice: To show off the best qualities of the SwordNoobs to the max!

Women are bound to like reliable men.

Interact with the beginners while getting friendly with them. They were even encouraged, it would work if they slowly approached step by step.

The SwordNoobs who were most active in the Orc village received an offer.

"Chwiik! Humans, your fighting skills are pretty good. How about teaching the young Orcs?"

A formal recruitment as Instructors in the Orc village training center!

The masters were a granted, and the practitioners also had experience in dojo management.

'Since it's instructors teaching beginners...'
'It matches our aptitudes perfectly, and it's an area where we can show off our talents.'

The wage was 2 Gold a day!

It was nothing compared to the money they could earn through hunting, but they consented.

"I will do it."
"You'll be employed as an Instructor."

From that day on, the SwordNoobs became instructors and taught the beginners who came to the training center.

They taught things like how to use a glaive, a weapon unfamiliar to beginner Orcs.

"Welcome, all the beginner Orcs who have come to the training center. Then as an Instructor, I will first give you a demonstration on how to use a glaive."

SwordNoob5 showed a demo for the beginner Orc females.

Over 50 Orcs were sitting and watching in the training center.

SwordNoob5 powerfully kicked a tree. Then the leaves hanging on the branches began fluttering down.

*Chop chop chop chop chop!*

The glaive sliced through as if skewering the fallen leaves!

"There, too easy, right?" SwordNoob5 smiled brightly.

There was no way the beginner female Orcs could follow those actions and imitate it.

"Tchh, why's it so heavy?"
"It doesn't swing well either. Chwiiik."

It was hard to hit even just one falling leaf, but SwordNoob5 repeatedly showed them the demo while continuing to ask as if extremely puzzled, "You can't do this? Why not? It's really easy to do..."

*Chop chop chop chop chop!*

Chapter 3: Power of the Deliverer

When Weed finished the bloody fight on Salmere Hill, he only had 150 Health left.

While riding Yellowy, Weed broke through the enemy's line several times. Fully immersed in the battle, Weed threw himself into the dangerous battlefield. Faced with a life or death crisis, he barely survived thanks to Bingryong and the Phoenixes fighting desperately. Yellowy was also busy leaping within the flames to shake off the pursuing Soldiers.

Sculptures!

It was regrettable when he made the sculptures first and granted them life, but it was definitely worth it.

Even so, Weed didn't acknowledge them.

"Useless bastards."
"..."
"It's all because you guys are weak and foolish. Can't you do it right?"

The never-ending criticism of subordinates!

Nagging and criticism. He would usually say a few words when they won a battle.

"They can't go up against me after all. Daring to fight me, they were really reckless."

If they won, it was because of him. If the situation was unfavorable, it was because of his underlings.

Although it was said that great commanders do not blame their subordinates for their failures, Weed ruled over the sculptures with grumbles, complaints, and nagging.

Moooooooo!

The kind Yellowy submissively rubbed his head against Weed, showing the affection of Korean cattle. He was one of those Korean cows who didn't resent people even up till the moment it was dragged to the slaughterhouse, simply showing sorrowful eyes.

However, every night when Weed briefly rested or slept, the subordinates held a meeting.

Bingryong, the Phoenixes, and Yellowy were crouching in a corner.

It looked like they were scheming a treacherous conspiracy!

Afraid that someone might hear him, Bingryong whispered cautiously, "Be patient and eventually an opportunity will come."

"Will an opportunity truly come?"
"Senior, I think the opportunity you speak of will never come."

Bingryong flexed his neck and spread his wings wide for a moment. "No. Look at me. It was only for short while, but I was able to earn freedom."

"Freedom!"

Yellowy's eyes were filled with desire.

Free grazing.
What beautiful words they were.

"Freedom is truly an unspeakable joy. You can roam the wide continent while hunting monsters and spending time happily."

The Phoenixes silently nodded their heads.

They were accepting the advice of their heavenly senior as the gospel truth.

"Do you know how picturesque rainy days are? You can travel to the lake, and pass through the clouds as you go by a mountain range. The Versailles Continent is truly beautiful."

"We want to go to the Versailles Continent as well."

Yellowy and the Phoenixes had been born near the edge of hell, so they had never gone to the Versailles Continent before. They had only heard of it through Bingryong's words.

"There are many varieties of soft grasses on the Versailles Continent. Savory and refreshing grasses are sown in great abundance. The river water is clear and cool."

"Oh, grasses!"

"Phoenixes, do you know about sweet potatoes?"
"Sweet potatoes?"

"Eat it grilled and it's sweet like candy. It melts gently in your mouth."
"What is candy?"
"You don't even know about candy?! Candy is a snack Humans eat."

Bingryong had hunted to buy and eat many snacks with the money he earned.

When Weed hunted in the North, Alveron and Seoyoon had been with him. Alveron had taken a portion of his meal and shared it with him. This was how Bingryong was able to taste sweet potato. And the candy Seoyoon had thrown to him!

"Candy is a snack worth sacrificing your life for."
"Is it really worth that much?"

"The greatness of candy... You little ones still do not know. When you roll your tongue as you slowly melt it..." Bingryong licked his lips.

"There was a lady as pretty as a Goddess who went around with the Master... If you happen to see her, act cutesy. She's weak against cutesiness. If you do well, you might be able to earn a candy."

"Is she the Master's friend? Or his lover?" Yellowy cried out loudly with a strong look of disbelief.

"I can't believe the fact that Master actually has friends."

A nature which seemed like he wouldn't even have any friends!

Bingryong shook his head. "I don't know what their relationship is either. Human relationships are very complex. Anyway, the story strayed elsewhere for a bit, but an opportunity will definitely come. You cannot obtain freedom without sacrifice. Endure, and one day..."

"Some day..."

Yellowy spoke most dismally. "I definitely want to try eating candy."

* * *

After disposing of all the pursuers, Weed reached Salmere Village. The Salmere tribe's village was the biggest out of the three tribes and also had a wide territory.

The great Chieftain of the Salmere was a hunchbacked elder. He slowly raised his cane.

"The alliance with the Matallost Church? Our Hunters are not afraid of death. We will keep the promise regarding the alliance."

Against his expectations, the Salmere tribe readily agreed to stand by the alliance.

"There will be glory for the great Chieftain and the Salmere tribe."

Weed followed the actions of the tribe's Hunters as examples. He assumed the ambiguous posture of a wide open mouth and glaring eyes.

There were often eagles sitting on the shoulders of the Hunters. You could easily see people grasping prey in their hands or dragging prey around by a rope anywhere in the village. They had a lot of food compared to the other villages. The fact that they had abundant prey meant the Salmere tribe was strong.

The Hunters had many weapons hanging from their backs or shoulders, such as bows, spears, axes, hammers, and various other weapons.

"However, among our villagers, there are many who have not yet even left a name for themselves."

"..."

"Leaving a name is important. In our tribe, when we go on a big hunt, we carve their appearances and set them in the village. We make sculptures of the Hunters so growing children can know the greatness of their parents."

"So..."

"The amount of Hunters who will join the alliance in the fight against the Matallost Church will depend on the number of sculptures."

The sculptures would be the last memories of the Hunters. He needed to make sculptures to get the Salmere tribe to fight.

* * *

Weed examined the appearances of the Hunters in the village.

Savages wearing feathers and leather clothing! It wasn't difficult to sculpt them because they carried all sorts of weapons and had very characteristic appearances.

Since the sculptures had to be preserved for a long time, he had to use stone rather than dirt or wood. But still, Zahab's Sculpting Knife cut through stone as if it were nothing.

"Manly... as well as compassionate."

Weed made sculptures of the Hunters on the open ground within the village. After making the basic Barbarian shape, he made them different with detailed expressions. His mass-production system became increasingly fast.

Advanced Sculpting level 6 and Advanced Handicrafting level 6! Based on skill proficiency, it would be a while before he reached Master level, but the skill level he'd gained from grinding was helpful for the value and artistry of the sculptures.

"External appearance is important for sculptures after all."

The quality of the stone used to make a sculpture is as important as the finishing material for an apartment.

After having gathered so much experience, he could see an appropriate part or appearance simply by looking at the rock. He could effectively make sculptures while also completely utilizing the texture and design of the stone! Even though they were rocks from the same place, there were valuable rocks good for making sculptures.

"It's the same logic as shank and rib eye being different prices."

Weed used high-quality stones to quickly create sculptures!

Mass production was certainly not a virtue of an artist. Even so, if the sculptures gave happiness and were needed, so he wasn't against making them.

Salmere Tribe sculptures — over 3,000 Hunters sculptures were made over twenty days. It would have never been possible if he had to make them life-size, but it was feasible because they were miniatures. The experience he had of shortening the sculpting time while making many sculptures on the River of Lamentation was also helpful.

3,000 was the maximum number of people who could be mobilized in the Salmere Tribe! It was everyone except for the minimum number of Hunters to protect the village, the children, and the women.

The Chief and the Hunters of the Salmere Tribe appeared once the sculptures were completed.

"We recognize you, the holder of the proof of the alliance with the Matallost Church, as the representative. We will fight in the war."

"Uwaaaaaaaah!"

Ding!

The promised alliance of the Matallost Church has been formed.

The Vejague, Lekiye, and Salmere Tribes will call forth Hunters and Warriors for the war against the Embinyu Church.

The war to correct the displaced order of Versailles Continent has begun.

Honorary title, 'Representative of the Matallost Church's God' has been acquired.

You are now able to use the relics of the Matallost Church.

*The Token of Alliance; can utilize the authority of the Deliverer vested in the wand.
*The wand's attribute has changed.

Fame has increased by 450.
Level has increased.
Level has increased.

With the formation of the alliance, Weed's Fame increased again. Weed's Fame was originally one of the very highest. The great Fame he'd earned as an artist making sculptures! He also earned Fame while progressing with the quests.

In the Dark Gamer Union Guild and the program broadcasting the 'Versailles Continent Story', those who had higher Fame than Weed could almost be counted on one hand! There were only Merchants who had donated colossal amounts of money to a temple or people who ranked in the top 10 in Royal Road.

Since he'd gained a lot of Fame while progressing through this quest, it was enough to make him wonder what kind of changes there would be when he returned to the Versailles Continent.

Weed took out the wand in the middle of tribes' Hunters.

A wand filled with pure-white light! The dull wand which seemed suitable for the elderly to use, changed to be as graceful as the Staff of a High Priest.

"Identify!"

Token of the Revived Alliance, Wand

Durability 2,000/2,000
Attack 98.

This is the wand established as the token of the alliance the Matallost Church contracted with the neighboring tribes.

An item granted with a God's Blessing.

All creatures in Versailles Continent have a duty to answer to Power of the Deliverer.

Restriction:
One who has received the Matallost Church's recognition.
2,000 Faith.

Options:
+35% Magic Attack
+100% Divine Power
+1,200 Fame
Increased diplomatic negotiation ability.
Able to use Power of the Deliverer.

– Power of the Deliverer: Forcefully summons creatures of the Versailles Continent. Does not distinguish between races, monsters, and objects.

The power granted by the blessing of the Matallost God. With the current fallen state of the church, only the one who has the authority can use this power.

Can be used for a total of 3 times.

For a living summoning, it will take 15 hours after the authority's manifestation.

If you use the Power of the Deliverer in the quest, Contribution and rewards will decrease at a set value.

*Caution: There is a high possibility for summoned monsters not cooperate. Untamed monsters will make their own judgements and act upon them.

The power to summon any living creature, even boss-grade monsters! Weed now had the ability to summon any boss-grade monster from Versailles Continent.

* * *

The Vejague Tribe! 2,000 bald Warriors, that looked like monsters, gathered.

The Lekiye Tribe! 1,500 stern Warriors and Shamans were participating in the battle against the Embinyu Church.

The Salmere Tribe! 3,000 Hunters with deep gazes and familiarity with patience and victory were mobilized.

Weed moved with them to the Emibinyu Fortress' location for a long ten days.

"Warriors, fight!"

The group became a little more coordinated through fights with monsters during their journey. The Shamans of the Lekiye Tribe summoned ghosts to cause confusion, and the Vejague Tribe's Warriors put their lives on the line to block the Black Wild Boars. The Salmere Tribe's Hunters seized the opportunity to shoot arrows and throw spears.

In fact, the Salmere Tribe's specialty was setting up traps and the like, so there weren't many opportunity to use them in an actual monster hunt.

A combination of Shamans, Hunters, and Warriors!

However, the alliance tribes' weapons were far too poor. Many used chipped, rusted swords, and it was at the level where they were wrapped with thick leather and no armor.

"They're not savages for nothing."

Due to their poor defense, they had been in critical life threatening situations several times.
Whenever he had spare time, Weed repaired their weapons or touched them up, and he also arranged for their armor. Even so, they weren't in perfect condition because he didn't have much time. He smelted low-quality iron and passed out basic swords, and the armor was also just a combination of metal and leather.

"A greatsword like this...! It's sparkling with light, how amazing."

Even so, the alliance tribes were extremely happy.

They shot poison-covered arrows well and were agile, so they were optimized for hunting. Only, they were a pain because they ignored commands or control and tried to fight with monsters whenever they wanted. No matter how much he raised the Intimacy, the competitive spirit of the alliance tribes overflowed and they took damage.

Over the span of ten days, 42 allied tribesmen had died while traveling. It was probably partly because Weed made them stronger through hunts, but the majority had died by disregarding their low defense and fighting a monster to the very end without running away.

In that manner, he returned to the Embinyu Church's fortress with the disorderly allied tribes.

"As expected, this won't be easy."

Once more back at the Embinyu Church's temple! It was tightly guarded by Demonic Spirits, and the height of the walls exceeded 10 meters.

There was even an enormous and magnificent bronze statue of the Embinyu God set up in the middle of the fortress like the Statue of Liberty. The bronze statue was enveloping the Embinyu fortress with something like an ominous dark cloud. It was something he could only sense as a Sculptor, but it was probably the bronze statue that granted the Embinyu Soldiers and Priests considerable power.

He felt it was at least a Masterpiece or a Magnum Opus. Given its size, it was likely a Magnum Opus.

It would be reassuring to have if it was an allied Sculptor who had the Magnum Opus sculpture, but if it belonged to the enemy, so such a sculpture would only create psychological anxiety.

"I'll be able to turn the Demonic Spirits to our side if I use the Copper Plate of Rest, but..." Weed shook his head.

He had fought them while making sculptures on the River of Lamentation, but most of the Demonic Spirits weren't strong. He couldn't be careless just because he could pull the Demonic Spirits to his forces without knowing how strong the Embinyu Church was.

Furthermore, despite being a holy relic, the Copper Plate of Rest was in a low quality condition with only 12 durability left. The damage wouldn't be as great if the durability was over 100, but when it was this deteriorated, it wouldn't be strange if it broke at any moment.

'All secondhand goods are like this.'

The Copper Plate of Rest was an item he needed to use as sparingly as much as possible. If he used it carelessly, he wouldn't be able to use it at a crucial moment.

'It'll be tough to penetrate the walls with the Barbarians... what method should I use?'

Not only were the alliance tribes unskilled in a team battle, but they also didn't follow commands well. Furthermore, they didn't have a single siege weapon!

"I'll have to make siege weapons first."

Weed started making siege weapons with the bones, sinews, and wood he'd obtained while hunting monsters and chopping trees.

He set two huge logs in a line and used the thick and outstandingly elastic Black Wild Boar sinew to make a trebuchet.

A siege weapon created with Intermediate Blacksmith skill!

Ding!

Weed's Trebuchet

Durability 130/130.
Max Destructive Power 26.
Range 37.
Fire Rate 3.
Accuracy Rate 3.

A basic trebuchet made by a versatile craftsman.

It was made with overwhelming skill considering it was the first he had created, but the wood which plays a central role and must maintain the balance is of weak quality.

Because the accuracy rate is low, it is doubtful whether it can land a concentrated blow on the walls. It seems immense force will be necessary in order to use it.

Restriction:
Requires a massive labor force.

Options:
Low accuracy.
Almost no chance of an accident happening.

– Blacksmith skill proficiency has increased.

Considering it was his first, it wasn't a bad siege weapon.

"For now, I have to increase the numbers."

Weed produced 10 trebuchets.

Since he was making them all for the first time, it was impossible to predict their performance. He normally underwent multiple runs of trial and error while improving, but everything was a first.

The alliance tribesmen approached.

"It's an extremely large weapon. Are you giving it to us?"

Weed gave them a thumbs up. "Yep. I made it for you. You'll be able to destroy the fortress with it too."

"You're the best."
"As long as you've got this, you'll be unbeatable. You must definitely win."
"Thanks, brother!"

All Weed made were stone firing trebuchets, ladders, and ropes that could be hung on the walls by throwing hooks!

The trebuchets' quality wasn't verified, and they didn't even undergo a test launch.

Weed dumped the items he did not dare to use for the alliance tribesmen, whose weapons and armor had been mostly touched up while getting near the Embinyu Church's fortress.

Weed called Yellowy. "Come here."

"......"

Yellowy took a step back.

"Hurry up and come."
"Tell what you're calling me for, Master."

"I'm just trying to give you a pat."
"But why is Master holding a rope?" Yellowy's eyes were filled with suspicion.

"Why the rope? Can I not just be holding it? Come here for now. Just come."

"This doesn't feel right. I would like to refuse."
"It's nothing. I get it, so just come."

Yellowy approached very cautiously. Weed gently stroked his neck a few times and then wrapped his neck and torso with the rope like a flash of lightning.

MOOOOOO!

The sorrowfully bellowing Yellowy!

"Master, why are you doing this? What have I done wrong..."

"Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you. There are luggages, so shouldn't you move it?"

Yellowy's fate had already been determined ever since the trebuchets were made.

Bingryong and the Phoenixes had very little pity in their gazes.

'Lucky it's not me.'
'It's fine as long as it's not me.'

After finishing a hearty meal Weed had cooked from their prey, they marched to the Embinyu Church's fortress.

* * *

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In the fortress of the Embinyu Church, drums sounded to announce an emergency. Dark Knights, Priests, and Archers were deployed to the walls as they swiftly prepared for battle.

By the time Weed, Yellowy, and the alliance tribesmen drew near as they pushed the trebuchets together, Embinyu Church's troops were on the fort walls in full force. The trebuchets were so heavy, their movement was slow despite having put wheels on them.

To make matters worse, there was black smoke rising from the spires of the fortress.

The alliance tribesmen pointed at the smoke.

"Seems like they're roasting meat."
"Looks like they're gonna eat something tasty."

An ignorant response to the smoke!

Weed's face hardened.

'They're making the smoke to tell their surroundings that they're under attack. It's an emergency communication to summon their allies.'

It was a signal fire informing the start of a the war! The savages in the River of Lamentation basin who saw the signal would summon Warriors to subjugate Weed and the three tribes. They would have to fight the Barbarian reinforcements at the Embinyu Church's fortress.

Weed swallowed his saliva with a gulp.

It wasn't something he hadn't expected, but it was definitely tough.

"We'll have to attack before the reinforcements arrive."

Weed yelled at alliance tribesmen who had moved the trebuchets and were briefly resting.

"Load trebuchet!"

100 Vejague Tribe Warriors dragged the trebuchet and lowered the pouch. Then, after lifting a boulder into the pouch, they fired it.

Wooosh!

The powerfully ejected boulder drew an arc as it flew mightily. It was a rock attack with deadly weight.

However, the trebuchet was too far. The boulder lost most of its force and collided into the bottom of the wall, not the center.

In the end, it was a dud and it merely grazed the wall!

Durability of the wall has decreased by 49.

Total durability: 9,999,951/10,000,000.

"This won't work even if we hit them all day. No, we'll run out of stones to throw first. Trebuchet forces, advance!"

Weed pushed the trebuchet along with the Vejague Tribe. It was so they could fire from a slightly closer location!

Since he had to break walls much thicker than Odin Fort's, he decided to take the risk.

Yellowy powerfully towed the trebuchets forward, displaying the strength of a Korean cow.

The Embinyu Church's fortress also responded.

"Fire!"

They struck back by densely covering the sky with arrows.

"Hold your shield and block!"

Even without Weed's command, the Vejague Tribe lifted their shields in order to survive.

There was already a shield fastened onto Yellowy's brow, and his torso was wrapped in silk. Weed had weaved together a tangle of unusable silk pieces to block the arrows.

The rain of arrows poured down on the Vejague Tribe and the area around the trebuchets.

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bang!

"AHHHHH!"
"MY FOOT, AN ARROW HIT MY FOOT!"

The impact of the arrows was conveyed directly through the shields. Although they were holding shields, the Vejague Tribe's warriors were pushed back by the strength and fell to their knees. Some arrows even penetrated the shoddy shields and hit the tribe Hunters.

The Salmere Tribe Hunters also fired arrows but they could not go over the walls.

"Let's fire the trebuchet too!"

Weed approached about a hundred more paces and ordered the use of the trebuchet.

"Too many arrows are flying in."
"Jungbal... Jungbal died."

"Find cover. Hide yourselves behind the trebuchets, and Vejague Tribe Warriors, load the trebuchets quickly!"

It was a one-sided arrow attack on the plains without any cover! Over thirty Vejague tribesmen died from the arrows while moving 10 boulders. But when they put their lives on the line and used the trebuchets, the boulders surged towards the wall.

All but one failure were successful attacks!

Durability of the wall has decreased by 1226.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 751.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 956.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 2160.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 173.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 486.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 1198.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 3110.
Durability of the wall has decreased by 896.

Total durability 9,998,995/10,000,000.

11 Archers have perished and 5 Soldiers have been wounded.
8 Demonic Spirits have been severely injured.
3 Dark Knights have suffered minor injuries.
1 Priest has died.

The trebuchets' tremendous firepower!

Although there were boulders that hit the bottom part of the wall or aimed at the spires, it was a considerable gain. It was a moment proving siege weapons to be vital in siege warfare.

However, even as they fired, the Embinyu Church's forces continued to gather on the fortress walls.

Only the Vejague Tribe was taking damage from the arrows that came pouring down like rain.

"AHHHH!"

Some of the arrows were enveloped in a red aura. They were arrows granted with the divine power of the Embinyu Church Priests! It was a fire arrow attack, burning a whole body even if it was blocked with a shield.

The Vejague Tribe's Warriors were sturdy and didn't die easily, but once they were pierced with countless arrows, including arrows filled with divine power, they helplessly lost their lives.

The whole area where Weed and the Vejague Tribe were staying was becoming densely surrounded with arrows.

It was a spectacle overflowing with tension and energy when watched from the sidelines, but for those being attacked, it was enough to make them go crazy!

After Yellowy finished moving the trebuchet, the rope was broken at some point and he fled to the safe rear.

The high-ranking Priests were also on the walls.

"Show true power to these wicked group of people. Holy Buster!"

An attack of divine magic flashed at the walls before flying towards them and dealing great damage in the next moment. As if they had been hit by something, the Vejague Tribe around the trebuchet were sent flying.

"Those who do not believe in the Embinyu God, punishment will fall unto you."

Widespread curse magic! The alliance tribesmen hit with the divine power attack became unable to fight as they moaned with high fevers.

Weed's face became completely calm.

It was a face as serious as when he had mistakenly sold a 10 gold ruby gemstone for 9 gold!

'I expected some level of hardship given the quest difficulty.'

The Barbarian reinforcement troops, the tall, sturdy wall. Even the Embinyu Church's forces did not seem like they would lose even if they were to fight regularly!

Not a single thing was easy.

'The greatest difficulty in siege warfare is... you could say it's them concentrating their firepower while we approach.'

Even if he were to tell the shabbily defended Vejague Tribe or Salmere Tribe to try and go over the wall, it would cause nothing but a massive catastrophe.

In a battle like this, it was perfect for the blocking side to fight, whereas the side who had to penetrate was set up to make the worst-case result. Unfortunately, Weed was on the side that had to take the alliance tribesmen and occupy the fortress.

"We're never going to make it like this."

Weed shouted towards the Tribal Alliance. "Retreat!"

The frontline was announced to withdraw.

Weed left the 10 trebuchets and tried to escape with the alliance tribesmen, but arrows kept pouring down on them.

"Bingryong, fire your breath. Phoenix Brothers, cover us!"

Bingryong inhaled a large breath and launched Ice Breath towards the fortress. The enormous Ice Breath cut through the sky!

The results of Bingryong's breath had never disappointed before, but it was neutralized by the protective magic of the fortress's Priests. So although it didn't do any damage to the fortress, there was a brief lull in the arrow attack.

Under the cover of the Phoenixes, Weed and the alliance tribes were barely able to escape.

* * *

Cruel defeat.

It had only been a light skirmish, the allied tribal force had lost a full 104 people. Although Weed had hurried to bandage and apply medicinal herbs, that was the number who had died!

The alliance tribesmen who had been hit with divine power hadn't regained their senses.

"Mmm hehehe."
"Where is this place?"
"Leave me alone. I'm leaving to take my coming of age ceremony in the Valley of Courage."

Due to the divine power, more than 70 people were in the state of confusion.

Morale had also plummeted.

"Doesn't seem like an enemy we can win against."
"That was a useless fight. I wanna return to the village..."
"Warriors who have left home must fight until their bodies have been laid to rest. Even if they cannot win..."

The alliance tribes had lost much of their fighting will and were pessimistic.

A smile spread across Weed's lips. "It really has to be this tough since the quest difficulty is high."

The more difficult a quest it was, the greater the reward — it set his motivation ablaze.

He was relieved he had to suffer perilously. If it advanced easily, he would have been terribly suspicious.

"It'll be difficult to capture the Embinyu fortress. Since the recon battle is over, I'll have to make a sculpture."

Weed decided to prepare for a full-scale battle.

Since the alliance tribal force had left their homes, their morale would fall over time. However, as a result of the recon battle, there was a bleak sense of an giant enemy.

"First, I'll make a sculpture to provide some help."

He was fed up with rocks, and it didn't do much for his Sculpting skill proficiency either.

"For the sake of effects, this isn't the time to save materials."

Black Wild Boar and Caltrop bones. He decided to use the bones he'd gotten as japtem as sculpting materials.

"Though these are good bones for making broth..."

Although they could also be used as food ingredients or medicine, for a Sculptor, sculpting materials came first!

The price of bones wasn't fundamentally high, so he used them without being stingy.

"I'll sculpt the three tribes all at once."

He made the basic form using bones.

He intertwined broken bones to make the frame, applied clay on top, and baked it.

"I need to show the Barbarians' distinct look of cruel brutality."

Tattoos and scars were essential in expressing the alliance tribes. He even painted it with dyes and made the sculpture of the three tribes.

After spending time with the three tribes and waging a battle with them, he knew which faces and appearances were courageous and received respect.

"Something is still missing..."

Weed used light sculpting and made a bonfire.

A Shaman of the Lekiye Tribe, a Vejague Tribe Warrior, and a Salmere Tribe Hunter were gathered as they roasted meat on the bonfire!

– Please set a name for the sculpture you have made.

Weed spoke the name he had already decided on while creating the work. "Brothers of Faith."

The savage tribes who remembered the alliance and promised to shed blood together!

– Is "Brothers of Faith" correct?

Although they had showed a slightly insufficient appearance in the fight against the Embinyu Church, they were a group who had willingly come forth to form the alliance.

The technique of appropriately glorifying was essential for a Sculptor, but a thought born of sincerity.

Weed firmly nodded his head. "That's right."

Ding!

Masterpiece! Brothers of Faith has been completed.

A sculpture made from a foundation of monster bones!

The sight of the tribes involved in the alliance sharing and eating food together was sculpted. It is a symbol of their unity.

It is a work the three tribes will greatly celebrate.

A very detailed portrayal and expression shines through this work.

Artistic Value: 712.
A roughly made sculpture by the Sculpting Master, Weed.

Special Option: The 3 tribes who have seen the Brothers of Faith sculpture will have their Health and Mana regeneration speed increase by 17% for a day. Maximum Health of the 3 tribes will increase by 12% for a day.

Perseverance increased by 60.
Fighting Spirit increased by 30.
Intimacy with the tribes has increased by 30%.

The involved tribes will engrave pride and honor into their hearts.

Number of completed masterpieces until now: 12

Sculpting skill proficiency has increased.

Fame has increased by 125.
Leadership has increased by 2.
Charm has increased by 7.

For making a Masterpiece sculpture, All Stats have increased by an additional 1 point.

Now, even the sculpture was complete!

The preliminary preparations for the real fight were finished.

Chapter 4: Strategy of Invincibility

Weed agonized over discovering a method to destroy walls.

"There's a long way to go before the fortress walls collapse, so we can capture it."

As a blacksmith, he could create siege weapons. However, his proficiency to do so was still severely low.

"I don't know how many siege weapons I'd have to make before I can get a useful one, either..."

If it requires as much weapon production proficiency as making a Great-Sword, it would take several long weeks! Material supply was also a problem, and the alliance tribes might try to return to their tribes again.

"Well, it's not like I really have the confidence to beat the Embinyu Church's Knights and Priests even when the walls fall down."

Weed's mind was eased. Since the solution wasn't in siege weapon production, he had completely given up on it.

"A normal siege battle won't do. Of course there isn't an answer."

No one would dare to attack the high, thick walls of the fortress when the people inside were well prepared to defend them.

The alliance tribes were outnumbered and at a disadvantaged when it comes to a group battle. The greatest roles the individuals could play were only in dogfights and hunting.

Weed had used his Tailoring and Blacksmithing skills to touch their gear up a bit, but with the alliance tribes' fundamentally crappy armor, most of them would die from a concentrated attack even before they climbed the walls.

"Should I have listened to Smith's advice and brought another person with me?"

But Weed shook his head. It was too late to regret it, and he couldn't go back, either. Even if Pale, Zephyr, or SwordNoob were to come, the situation probably wouldn't change much. Having personally experienced the enemy's strength, it seems like the quest success would, at the very least, take a combat profession in the mid level 500s. It would take a force capable of destroying the gates with a sword blow or highly destructive skill, capable of subduing the Embinyu Church's Priests with an ambush!

As a Knight, he could command the alliance tribes by demonstrating the peak of his Leadership. Although the tribes have gathered, they were merely rag-tag troops, but he made the alliance tribes fight past their limits with his Leadership and Charisma. Even if the alliance tribes took a lot of damage, he had to bring out their maximum potential to use them and look for an opportunity.

It could become a mighty victory worthy of being left in the Versailles Continent's history.

Weed didn't rate his own ability to command very highly.

"I only won the wars I could win."

He didn't have a scrap of desire to fight a battle with only a tiny chance of victory with the alliance tribes. Overcoming the quality and quantity of his troops, the terrain, and the state of their equipment wasn't as easy as it sounded.

There was also a limit to granting life, a Sculptor's advantage. He'd want to give it a go if he just had 100 sculpted lifeforms or so. He'd be able to see a chance of victory, too. But if he did that, Weed's level would fall by at least 160.

"Even if I succeeded the quest, there'd be nothing left."

At best, the life-granted sculptures would die brutally in the siege war.

If he successfully completed the quest but over half of his sculptures died, it would be a tremendous loss! He'd also have to start again from the beginning with a level below 200. Even if the quest succeeded, there'd be nothing left.

"This is what they call an unprofitable business."

Weed decided to return to the basics and construct his plan again. Before starting the battle, he had to nitpick on many variables and choose a battlefield favorable for his forces. For now, Weed logged out for the first time in a long while to rest.

* * *

"Is this the library?"

Lee Hyun sought out the library for the first time since his admission into Korea University. He had neglected it until now because there weren't any comic books at the university library.

"Though it was my dream ever since I was young."

Reading comic books and making ramen to eat when he was hungry — it was a happy fantasy he'd wished for in his middle and high school days.

He was also a reader who diligently read the daily published comics while delivering newspapers.

"For a library to not have comic books, this school is truly rotten!"

Lee Hyun criticized the school library's policies without reserve. Many other libraries collected comic books, but Korea University hadn't put comic books out on their shelves yet.

The generous scholarships, study-abroad benefits, large state-of-the-art classrooms, and research facilities the school arranged to provide for the studying students were not subjected to his consideration.

"Seems like a backwards school if it lacks comic books. Rotten, it's rotten. Where are they using all the tuition fees?"

The number of novels, economic books, dissertations, history books, and books about art was enormous. The whole building was a library.

"Hello, oppa."
"You came, hyung?"

His classmates from the Virtual Reality Department recognized Lee Hyun and greeted him quietly. It seemed they were studying in groups of twos and threes in the library study rooms.

"Ah, yeah." Lee Hyun simply nodded his head lightly.

It was the most important thing he had to watch out for while attending university.

'I absolutely must not get close to those who are younger than me.'

If he became a senior, he would treat his juniors like robbers, because they'd have the impudence to chase him around asking to be treated to a free meal!

In Lee Hyun's case, he'd already been asked a few times by other students to buy them food, since he was older than his classmates.

"I have to consider my health. I pack and bring my own lunch from home."

He narrowly averted the crisis.

The views of the students had changed now.

'A family man oppa who thinks of his health.'
'He'll never buy us a meal.'

Nevertheless, Lee Hyun was always careful. He didn't know when someone would ask to be treated a meal. They could also ask for something to drink at the cafe or a snack at the cafeteria.

'This damn school, is it some kind of a restaurant? Why's there so much to eat?'

It was so bad he had to avoid the vending machines, located in every building.

"Did you come to study?"
"No. I came to read books," Lee Hyun replied as he lightly walked forward.

"Hyung, literature novels are on the 2nd floor."
"I didn't come to read a novel. There are just a few things I want to look for."

"What did you come here to find?"
"Strategy, tactics, warfare. Y'know where they are?"

"They're on the 7th floor, but..."
"Mm. Thanks for telling me."

Lee Hyun pressed the button for the 7th floor in the elevator.

The 7th floor held Eastern Philosophy, history books, and other old related books, so students didn't frequently visit it.

After Lee Hyun went into the elevator, the students whispered to each other.

"He must've been pretty interested in Eastern Philosophy."
"Though he's usually not talkative at all... his level is really high."
"He must have depth to him somewhere, and many good points to have even dated such pretty unnis."

Since Lee Hyun had a date with both Seoyoon and Jung Hyo Rin during the school festival, he had become a famous figure.

Rather than jealousy, many men had endless respect for him, and for women, he became a mysterious man concealing a host of charms.

"But he must be pretty good at Chinese, too."
"Huh?"

"I've gone to the 7th floor out of boredom before, but most of the books on the shelves were untranslated originals."

* * *

"Holy sh—!" Lee Hyun hurled out a swear.

"Why they hell would they have foreign books in Korea? It should be published once it's all translated!"

He couldn't make heads or tails of it.

About half of the shelves were filled with foreign books, and the rest were Korean, but written with many ancient Korean characters. Since they weren't written out in modern Korean, they were extremely difficult to read.

"I have to find a book on strategy..."

The books Lee Hyun was looking for happened to be rare and weren't well translated. As he rummaged through the bookshelves, of course it was difficult to understand. Despite seeing the titles, he couldn't find what he was searching for.

"Most bookstores order by title, but why is it so hard to find stuff in a library?"

It would actually be easier to find the strategy text Lee Hyun wanted in the novels section. Books such as «The Art of War», «Admiral Yi's Tactics», and «Wuzi» had been published as novels. With the Korean explanations, they were easy to understand and even had illustrations.

However, trying to find the book he wanted in the untranslated, original-lined shelves of the Eastern Philosophy section was hell.

"I need to find a strategy or tactic that can be used against the Embinyu Church to win."

It was obvious why Lee Hyun spent his precious time to come to the library. It was difficult to strengthen the might of his troops. He had to utilize his current force to the fullest. If strategy and tactics shone through, he needed plans at a high enough caliber that extraordinary generals might attempt them.

"I have to find a strategy like that..."

No matter how much he looked at the strategy texts, simply reading them was impossible.

The strategy texts he managed to find in modern Korean had phrases such as this—

— Know thyself and know thy enemy and you will be ever-victorious.

If you compared Lee Hyun's Weed and the alliance tribes with the Embinyu Church's forces, it was really too much.

"Ever-victorious, as if... looks like the quest is gonna fail." Lee Hyun grumbled as he looked for other books.

As he was doing so, he spotted a novel on the shelf.

«Romance of the Three Kingdoms»!

Apparently, someone had read it and then left it on a random shelf.

"«Romance of the Three Kingdoms»... other than the name, it's a book I've never read before."

Lee Hyun glanced through the «Romance of the Three Kingdoms». It was a story about the oath of the peach garden sworn by Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei.

[T/N: It is a novel written by Luo Guanzhong during the 14th century. It is a true story based on the happenings during the Han Dynasty with some fictionalization.]

He didn't read the mighty «Romance of the Three Kingdoms» in detail, but merely skimmed through the stories volume by volume.

The best part was where Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang three times to recruit him. It caused a complete reversal from a totally disadvantageous position.

Lee Hyun discovered the strategy to deal with the Embinyu Church from the «Romance of the Three Kingdoms».

* * *

The Embinyu Church's great army!

After Weed and the alliance tribes' attack, their vigilance had greatly increased. The personnel posted on the wall had grown considerably, and there were also more Archers with bows. It was evidence of the continuous growth of troops and the expansion of military weaponry even within the Embinyu Church's fortress.

"Bingryong." Weed spoke from behind a rocky mountain, a spot that couldn't be seen directly from the fortress.

"Speak, Master."
"Scout how many there are over there and report."
"Understood, Master."

Bingryong flapped into the sky. Without going near the Embinyu Church's fortress, he reported after observing them from afar.

"The humans on the wall alone are a little over 5,000."
"That's quite a lot. How about the ones wearing armor?"
"About 1,000."

1,000 Dark Knights alone! He had to assume the rest were Normal Soldiers, Priests, or Magicians.

Including the ones who weren't on the wall, their overall number had at least more than doubled!

Weed had anticipated the siege, so he had elicited and destroyed the pursuit forces in advance. The strategy of dividing and conquering! He had lured and annihilated the weak enemies first.

Despite it all, an enormous number of forces still remained inside the Embinyu Church's fortress. Moreover, given the great might of the Embinyu Church, it wasn't an exaggeration to say they dominated over the nearby tribes. As the battle wore on, reinforcements would continue to arrive from other tribes.

"It means the enemy's at least over 2 times larger... it'll be totally impossible like this."
"Master, surely you're not going to attack the fortress again?"
"Yes."

Since Bingryong had been caught in the middle of the quest, he didn't know what kind of quest Weed was doing.

The retired old mercenary, Smith, did not come and had remained in the Salmere Tribe's village. He refused to participate since he said that fighting the Embinyu Church was suicide.

"I want to listen to Master's plan. The fortress looks really dangerous."

Bingryong's growth!

His intelligence had grown, so he had the admirable thought of finding out what Weed's plan was in advance.

Weed gladly responded, "There's something called the Power of the Deliverer. It can even call forth an amazing Versailles Continent boss monster. Remember the Bone Dragon? I'm going to bring one stronger than him."

"You're going to bring another monster although we can't handle the current enemy?"
"Yeah. I'm going to call it here. And we'll fight together."

"But what if the monster you bring attacks us?"
"We'll have to be careful to not get attacked."

Bingryong nodded as if he was satisfied with the answer.

"Master is a genius."
"Well, it's true that I'm pretty smart."

Weed pulled out the Wand of Promise in order to use the Power of the Deliverer. Unlike normal magic, he had to recite a spell for a holy blessing.

"Thy servant desires to use the strength of the blessing the divine Matallost granted upon the world. I beg for permission."

Ding!

— You have used Power of the Deliverer.

At that moment, all of the Versailles Continent was projected into Weed's eyes.

Monsters!

He could summon any kind of monster if he looked through any area and chose a monster. Of course, with Power of the Deliverer, if he brought an unmanageable monster, there could be a negative effect.

"Uhehe."
"Kuhuhuhu. Humans are scary."

Goblins running around in the dark were passing by.

'Anyways, I have to bring a strong monster. Or an NPC worth making a comrade.'

Weed scoured canyons, mountains, and rivers.

As ever, there were many boss monsters and unconquered monsters in the Versailles Continent. Punitive expeditions were often made in the Central Continent, but in the East, West, South, and North, the likes of half-baked punitive expeditions were stamped out by boss monsters who trampled them lightly.

Monsters lurking in undiscovered dungeons.

The levels or characteristics of many such boss monsters were not known to the public.

'For the quest to succeed... the answer can only be a truly strong monster.'

Ridiculous, jaw-dropping monsters! He intended to bring a monster such that even a prestigious guild would have to gather over 500 people to fight it.

The minimum standard was Vampire Lord Torido or Bone Dragon-class!

Weed spent 6 hours carefully looking for suitable monsters.

A terrible, terrifying monarch recorded in the history of the Versailles Continent! It was a figure deeply related to a quest Weed had resolved before.

'I'll bring this to start the battle.'

The next was a monster which had become famous after annihilating a prestigious guild who had devoted themselves to attacking it!

The last was taboo to even be spoken of. A symbol of power and authority!

It was a destructive existence that could sweep away an entire Kingdom overnight.

"I've got to pick something of this level, at least."

Weed showed great satisfaction as he used the Power of the Deliverer.

Magnificent casting!

It was all or nothing for an S-class difficulty quest anyway. It was not a quest that could be completed through normal, non-committal means.

"The worse possible outcome is for me to die twice. Let's try it with all we've got!"

Weed felt his mind was at peace. He was only at conflict before the decision, but once he set himself to it, he didn't have any regrets.

"Well, with the little time that I have left, should I try making a sculpture?"

He was going to try and sculpt using the rocky mountain before the monsters were summoned. He couldn't hope for a Masterpiece since he was tight on time, but if there was another useful sculpture, it would help in its own way.

Weed pulled out his sculpting knife and headed towards the rocky mountain.

* * *

The station received and looked at Lee Hyun's video in real time.

There were parts that naturally lagged a little due to the time differential in the processing speed within the capsule.

Since there was so much they had to work with, staying up all night was a given!

However, the unnecessary parts, like when he was cooking or moving, were fast-forwarded, so they were seeing Lee Hyun's adventure in real-time.

Director Kang grabbed the back of his neck.

"Ugh!"

He was so dumbfounded that he was dizzy. It was all because he had seen the monsters Lee Hyun had summoned using the Power of the Deliverer.

Panic!

Not only Director Kang, but also over 50 of the staff were fascinated.

"Is he crazy?"
"He's completely insane!"

"UWAAAHH! What are those monsters...?! Even the one coming out first is ridiculous!"

Director Kang and the station staff thought he would summon a moderately strong and manageable NPC or monster.

The Royal Knights of Rosenheim Kingdom, if he asked them, were good, since Knights mounted on drakes would be considerably helpful on the battlefield.

Summoning a Royal Magician wasn't bad either. Weed could exchange the contribution he had with Rosenheim Kingdom to ask for help Or, since he had contributed to strong nations in the Central Continent, he could summon from there too.

Kallamore Kingdom's Knight Kolderim! For the station people who knew about the quest of the Vampire Kingdom Todeum, summoning the somewhat attractive- and currently on a winning streak; Kolderim, was a fairly good choice.

The Lu Church's Paladins and Priests would also have been an effective choice! The Embinyu Church were their enemies, so if they were summoned, they devote their strength without another word. Using the priest's divine power as a backup to raise the overall power of the alliance tribes and going out in an all-out war would have been the choice of a normal person. Of course, it would still be very unfavorable for the alliance tribes. Completely changing the war situation was difficult with a few Drake Knights or Priests.

Having to attack the Embinyu Church's fortress without even a proper siege weapon would leave an expectation of an atrocious amount of damage.

It was a situation where he could never raise the chance of victory, but you could still be a little hopeful.

But all of these were somewhat ordinary monsters and NPCs that people would normally summon. However, Weed only summoned the grotesque monsters that made you tremble.

"No, bringing just one of those monsters would be enough to cause an uproar..."

"Won't it be no problem to get 15% viewer ratings even if only one of those appeared?"

"One? Forget the ratings, they're enough to cause an uproar on the Versailles Continent."

The staff members chattered wildly.

However, inside the broadcasting station, a faint light of hope was beginning to bloom.

For those who had quested before in the Versailles Continent, they knew how hard a C-class quest was. If you had a high level and your team-mates helped, you could do a B-class difficulty quest. A truly outstanding user or guild could even try challenging an A-class.

Still, the only person who could progress through an A-class quest alone was Weed. Despite a favorable view, many considered the quest this time to be way too much and were in despair.

However, the station's atmosphere was changing now.

Anyone could feel that the indication of some kind of change was ripening.

Director Kang raised his receiver. It was so that he could report to the Director-in-Chief, but the phone connected and the Director-in-Chief spoke first.

— Director Kang? I'm looking at that video too.
"Is that so, Director-in-Chief."

— It's really amazing. Indeed... he's Weed. I envy his reliable image. Is it because he's young? There's something special about him.
"Yes. I think so as well."

Director Kang spoke while bowing as he held the phone.

"Yes yes, we will do that. Yes, of course. We will do as you say, Director-in-chief."

Ka-chak!

Director Kang put down the receiver and blew out a long sigh. "Pheew."

Tension was always high for a salary-man. But he then he vigorously rose up from his chair.

"Bring Supervisor Yoon from the Programming Department."
"Yes, Director."

At Director Kang's words, the station staff members focused their attention on him for a while. Then, Supervisor Yoon, who'd been in the adjacent office, opened the door and came in.

"Director Kang, what's going on?"
"Cancel all the regular programs from this moment onwards!"

"What? Then there would be massive grievances from the viewers."
"What program is broadcasting right now?"

"Tree and Monsters. It's a broadcast that introduces the peaceful monsters of the Versailles Continent and is popular among women and children."

"The average ratings?"
"It's 3.3%."

The popularity of Royal Road was growing to no end. As viewers who had never looked at game broadcasts before were drawn in, the general ratings had also risen considerably.

A rating of 3.3% was not bad for KMC Media.

"Stop it! I received full authority from the Director-in-Chief. An official document will arrive electronically in the Programming Department soon as well!" Director Kang urgently explained.

His sense of duty to cancel all the broadcasts before the quest's end!

Considering the monsters Lee Hyun had summoned, it was the jackpot. It secured the audience rating for sure.

The fight against the Embinyu Church would be interesting after all.

If the result was leaked after the battle finished, the excitement would be spoiled.

Even if the station completely maintained their security, with a quest of this size, you may never know what might happen.

Since it would impact the Versailles Continent based on the result, you could guess the quest's conclusion from the words of the residents, or a change in the situation.

From the station's viewpoint, it was a chance laid out with a feast— side dishes, richly roasted meat, and even the delicacy of soy sauce crab legs. A situation where you could starve to death while agonizing on what to eat! Though the meal was laid out, the dishes clamoring to be eaten would be your ruin.

Before such a disaster occurred, there was an order from the Director-in-Chief to immediately cancel all broadcasts.

"Production Supervisor Shin! Where is the starting point of Weed's linked quest?"
"It was the confrontation with Death Hand in the Dwarven Kingdom Kuruso."

"Broadcast that quest quickly. For the editing, just hide the truth that it's the God of War Weed... but can we hide it?"

"It will be possible until the battle starts for real. It could be difficult depending on how the battle goes."

"Broadcast anyway. Hand over the footage to Programming now, start broadcasting as soon as it's ready."

The main screen on the homepage of KMC Media changed.

A sign announcing a war!

The Undead were pressing in, and the Orc Karichwi, who looked like he flossed with iron bars, let loose a scream. Part of the extremely popular Undead Legion video appeared on the main screen.

There was also a change in the broadcast schedule.

— 12:30 Tree and Monsters
— 14:00 Exploration Team for Sabain's Treasure
— 15:00 Eastern Great Adventure
— 15:50 Adventurer Milestones
— 17:00 Versailles Continent Story
— 19:00 Challenge! Monster Hunting, You Can Do It Too
— 20:20 A Road to Money, the Life of the Merchant
— 21:30 People For Whom the Stage of Their Dreams has Changed
— 22:00 The Searoute of Captain Urgan
— 23:30 Continent's Home

The schedule occupied by the regular broadcasts disappeared, and a new schedule was registered.
An incomparably simple schedule.

It was the incredibly flashy revival of the program, Weed.

On television, a caption alerting the cancellation of Tree and Monsters popped up.

— A few words of information for the viewers.

Soon, Weed's adventure will be broadcasted.

As it is an emergency change, we apologize for not being able to inform you beforehand.

The linked quest of the Great Sculptor Weed and his war against the Embinyu Church will be broadcasted continuously.

This quest, which is currently progressing on the Versailles Continent, has a quest difficulty of S-class, and there are more linked quests left.

The broadcast end time is undetermined, our entire current production staff are doing their best, but as it is an emergency broadcast, there may be insufficient points.

We ask the viewers for a lot of understanding.

It was a rather lengthy notification, but it was enough to throw the viewers into a frenzy.

— Sculptor Weed? Isn't it the adventure of the person who built the Pyramid and the Tower of Light?

— They say KMC Media is broadcasting the fight against the Embinyu Church that made such a ruckus in the Versailles Continent not long ago. Apparently it's a chain quest of S-difficulty.

— I'll tell all of my friends too.

The news was conveyed through various Royal Road fansites and forums. People turned on their TVs and changed the channel to KMC Media.

3.3%, 3.8%, 4.2%, 5.1%, 7%, 7.6%.

In a moment, the ratings sky-rocketed!

The number of posts written by viewers on the forum increased by 10 times more than usual.

— Why aren't you broadcasting?
— You said it was a little later, but when are you broadcasting?

For smooth broadcast preparation and the viewers of Tree and Monsters, the content wasn't changing immediately.

— I have been a fan of Tree and Monsters since the 1st episode and seen them all without fail. Please turn on Weed's adventure immediately.

Even the fans of the show were clamoring for them to end it quickly and broadcast 'Weed'!

A 10 minute counter appeared on part of the broadcast screen. The counter decreased every second!

The competing broadcasters felt like their blood was drying up at their decreasing ratings.

While receiving enormous attention from the viewers, the broadcast of the program Weed began.

Chapter 5: Zhuge Liang's Strategy

Weed once again marched with the alliance tribes to the Embinyu Church's fortress. To ensure swift mobility, he didn't make any trebuchets.

"Waahh."
"That fortress is too strong. We won't be able to win."

Widespread pessimism among the alliance tribes! The number of alliance tribesmen had decreased by about 140 people. They were simple-minded people, who didn't lose hope easily, but it was an inevitable result, since they had been defeated after suffering one-sidedly and dealing almost no damage.

Weed didn't try to boost their motivation in order to encourage the alliance tribes members.

"Realistically speaking, it's hard to take them down and capture the fortress."

He deliberately didn't bring Bingryong, the Phoenixes, and Yellowy. He intended for them to get plenty of rest in order to maximize their power.

The spearheads of the Salmere Tribe drooped downwards. The decline in morale made their shoulders slump.

Nevertheless, as Weed and the alliance tribes approached the fortress, there was a response. Even more troops were posted to the wall, and smoke announcing the attack was rising from the spire.

Weed's eyes flashed. 'The Embinyu Church are calling all the savages under their command.'

After the initial recon skirmish, he had taken Bingryong and the Phoenixes for a light survey.

"The savages in this area under the Embinyu Church's command are very weak."

The other tribes near the River of Lamentation were much weaker than the tribes allied with the Matallost Church, the Lekiye, Salmere, and the Vejague.

"If we kill 10 and 5 of us die, there'll be a profit of roughly 27 troops."

A ridiculously absurd calculation!

As smoke rose from the beacon and time passed, the savage tribes flocked in. They were armed with bamboo spears, axes, and crude arrows.

Weed pointed not at the fortress, but at the newly appeared savage tribes as he instructed, "Minions of the Embinyu Church. Kill them."

Weed made a simple order the alliance tribes could perform, "Vejague Tribe, CHARGE!"

At first, the alliance tribes and the other savages both didn't show formation or tactical movements since they hadn't been trained.

"UWAAAH!"
"LET'S KILL THEM ALL!"

The muscular Vejague Tribe Warriors ran. Each Warrior was a 100-man army!

"Salmere Tribe, it's your turn."

Weed ordered the Salmere Tribe into action. As it was their characteristic, the Salmere Tribe scattered to find and hunt enemies. They were top-notch Hunters who shot poison arrows and had abnormally pointy, elongated spears!

The Lekiye Tribe took on the role of casting Confusion hexes on the savages. They bombarded the savages with AoE (Area of Effect) Confusion hexes and curses.

"I feel dizzy. The ground is shaking."

Though their surroundings were normal, the savages staggered around in the middle of the battlefield.

"My axe. My axe is heavy."

They couldn't even lift their stone axes, which seemed to have become 2-3 times heavier.

Such assistance from the Lekiye Tribe greatly augmented the Vejague and Salmere Tribe's roles.

Against the savages, the alliance tribesmen presented their rather outstanding specialties!

"Kill them all."
"Let's not leave a single one behind."

The 10 thousand neighboring savages were one-sidedly cornered by the 6,000 or so alliance tribesmen. The corpses piled up, and the alliance tribes were getting stronger and stronger as their combat experience grew.

To be honest, he had somewhat planned for the alliance tribe's growth, but it wasn't too important.

"It's too late to make them grow now."

Since there were over 6,000 of the alliance tribesmen, trying to kick them into shape now was too much!

If he couldn't maximize the power of his forces, he'd find a more dangerous battering ram.

"We'll break away from normal siege warfare. There's no need to fight a disadvantageous battle. Even if the enemies grow more...and even if it's a hellish battle, we will fight in a favorable environment."

Weed changed the rules of the battlefield and planned to overturn it with chaos.

The tattooed, scarred, and muscular savages, wearing bear and leopard leather, were fighting for their survival.

*Struum.*

Weed pulled out his harp and strummed it lightly. The harp's clear sound passed through the battlefield.

Ah. Something is sparkling in that darkness.
Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh!

This is bronze japtem.
If it's rusted, let's clean it till it sparkles~
You can sell it at the store.

Turn the lights on in your eyes and search~
You can't miss even a single one.
Let's collect japtem and make money~

We've got to save enough to buy barley bread for a hundred years.
Ah. Ah. Ah.

Item!
A Unique item.
So excited. Let's dance. Today really is the jackpot.

As Weed's impromptu harp performance reached its peak, the battle between the alliance tribes and the savages was also progressing.

The Lekiye, Vejague, and Salmere alliance tribes completely overwhelmed the savages. Although Bingryong or the Phoenixes weren't there, the increased power from the Brothers of Faith sculpture was likely a great help.

*Ruuumble!*

While the alliance tribes excitedly hunted the savages, a change arose in the Embinyu Church's fortress. The gate was slowly opening as it rumbled loudly. Through the gap in between the gate, Dark Knights and Soldiers could be seen readying themselves for battle. Their armor sparkled with light from blessings and protection imparted by divine power.

We'll hunt in a place no one has found~
The lonely Hunter's path.

Solitude is necessary for a rich harvest of japtem~
I don't hope for someone who understands.
What I hope for is just money~

As he played the harp, Weed's hand moved more flashily and quickly.

It wasn't just because the Dark Knights and soldiers were about to sally forth.

*Grooowwl!*

More accurate than a luxury watch worth millions of Won, his belly watch told him the time.

"It's finally time for him to arrive."

Weed gazed at the battlefield as he played the harp.

Like soldiers from historical war novels or films splendidly commanding the army! By handling either a fan or an instrument, Weed was directly copying the romanticized appearance of command. His actions reflected the naked reality of how films and novels devastated a person.

*Plunk plunk!*

By the time the gates were completely open, Lion's Roar was cast from Weed's lips with all his might.

Unlike the bad tune and song with horrible lyrics he'd been singing earlier, it was a roaring cry!

"ALLIANCE TRIBES, FLEE WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!"

The alliance tribes left the corpses of the savages in the field and backed off like a receding tide at the signal.

The moment when the Dark Knights and Soldiers were about to spring forward as the gate opened—!

Tremendous Mana flooded the battlefield.

A whirlpool and gale raged, as dark Mana driven by black magic pressed in.

GRAAAAAWWR!
Horrible shrieks and screams of ghosts.

The area darkened and was swept over by murky clouds.

RUMBLE— CRA-CRA-CRA-CRA-CRASH!

Thunder and lightning exploded.

Right in front of the Embinyu Church's fortress, the ground where the alliance tribes and the savages had been fighting was splitting apart. Weed extended his two arms widely.

"He's finally coming!"

He sincerely welcomed the first monster summoned by the Power of the Deliverer.

"Come quickly!"

A skeleton wearing a robe slowly rose from the crack in the ground.

The leader of the Immortal Legion. The worst Necromancer, who had probed into forbidden domain; it was the appearance of Balkan Demoph.

* * *

Balkan did not know of forgiveness or mercy. If the Embinyu Church didn't spare method or means for domination and propagation, then Balkan was an entirely different being.

Subordinate to the power of darkness, he did not tolerate any living beings. A fierce hatred for the living!

A frigid chill emanated from his appearance alone. A monster of the highest rank, just his appearance made the battlefield's atmosphere sink low. An overwhelming atmosphere rushing in like a great storm.

Weed carefully observed Balkan's appearance. An old lich with rotting bones. From his appearance, he didn't differ much from Lich Shire, who had been his disciple. He was slightly taller and his jawbone looked thicker, but Weed, who had personally faced Shire, could only distinguish tiny differences.

"You can really say he's a truly rich Lich."

Lich Balkan wore high-class attire. A bleak, black aura was flowing from his body. Made out of extremely good-quality material but shoddy because it looked like it had been used for over a hundred years, the robe would look as good as new with a little mending.

"All luxury goods are originally like that."

He wore a crown adorned with gems somewhere atop his head. The duck egg-sized gems embedded in the crown sparkled with light. There was an eagle's skull attached to the staff he was holding. The combination of crown and skull matched Balkan perfectly.

Even from a single glance, he could tell they were Unique items. Lich Shire had also been equipped with incredible items, but his master one-upped him.

"Magician families have a lot of money after all. But..."

There was one weapon in particular that drew Weed's gaze. A sword penetrating Balkan's chest! It was the only place the black aura could not cover.

Weed speculated, "Looks like the sword was stabbed in during the Versailles Continent war." Based on the design on the sword hilt, he guessed it was the relic of the Church of Lu.

It seemed the holy sword was restricting Balkan's tremendous black magic. Balkan was in the state of an incomplete resurrection!

"Did I bring a reject?"

While Weed was worrying a little, the alliance tribes were overcome by Balkan's charisma and were fleeing with their tails turned.

Hidden behind the rocky mountain, Weed scrutinized the battlefield. The alliance tribes had now fully retreated.

Balkan's gaze turned towards the nearby savages, "Worms. For the likes of you to have flowing blood and breath, I cannot believe it."

Balkan did not ask who they were. With an extremely unparalleled, arrogant manner, he extended one hand towards the savages around him.

"Thunder Storm!"

CRA-CRA-CRA-CRA-CRAASH!

Black clouds rushed in, and countless bolts of lightning plummeted towards the savages.

The bodies of the savages, who were once living beings, simply exploded. With almost no magic resistance, the savages were being massacred.

"Return to the ground on which you once lived and moved. This place is dark. A bad and rotten land. The law of darkness that will never disappear, let it be so they can all return. UNDEAD RISE!"

Balkan's chilling Necromancer magic began.

Doom Knights and Death Knights clattered as they rose from the pile of savage corpses. The Lich Balkan had summoned more than 100 Doom Knights over level 300!

"This land is ruled by my law of darkness. It will be dominated by an eternal, immortal strength. Dark Rule!"

The skull wand Balkan had been holding was stabbed into the ground. The earth turned dark red around that area. Then, the remaining corpses also slowly rose.

Each flash of thunder and lightning lit up a shocking scene.

There was a legion of zombies and ghouls. Countless Dullahans and Skeleton Soldiers!

"The Undead are rising. Run away!"

The few remaining savages scattered and tried to flee, but Balkan did not permit them to. He pointed a bone finger at the savages.

Then the Undead army began to slaughter the barbarians. The dead savages automatically rose as Skeletons or Dullahans.

The horrifying strength of the Dark Rule spell.

Weed, who had the Necromancer Magic Book written by Balkan himself, recognized the spell, "That's one of Balkan's three spells."

It was a spell that could only be used by a Necromancer of the highest tier, a special spell which dominated the entirety of hell with magic power and raised unlimited Undead.

The savages were completely hunted down by the Doom Knights, Death Knights, and Ghouls. Raising 10 thousand Undead did not even take 10 minutes.

It was the birth of an Undead Legion strong enough to put Weed's worries about the holy sword piercing Balkan's chest to shame.

"Balkan's aura. It's probably Death Aura."

It was indeed a spell only a Necromancer of the highest tier could use. It was a spell that strengthened the Undead Legion, improving Strength, Intelligence, Defense, Resistance, and Magic Power. Undead wrapt in the black aura became much stronger than a Skeleton Knight or an Archer. They probably weren't up to par with the high-ranking, monster-lined Immortal Legion, but it was a tremendous force indeed.

The black aura also had other truly terrifying points.

It did have the effect of strengthening commanded Undead, but the Health they captured while fighting was also absorbed by the Lich. In addition, it weakened divine power attacks and was the magic that acted as the source of a Lich's unlimited Mana and Health.

After slaughtering the savages, Balkan's gaze turned towards the Embinyu Church's fortress. The robe-wearing skeleton magician Lich's gaze overflowed with charisma!

Weed inwardly nursed great worries. 'He won't get scared and run, right?'

Though he was the leader of the Immortal Legion, Weed needed to confirm his true worth. If Balkan refused to fight because there was no reason to do so, nothing could be done.

'It's still an Immortal Legion in name, so... he won't leave after just saying hi. He won't. Yeah.'

Balkan Demoph willingly met his expectations. This time he pointed his bony finger at the fortress.

"Kua."
"KUUUEEEEEEL!"
The Undead rushed towards the fortress.

A fearless advance of Skeletons, Dullahans, Death Knights, Spectres, and Doom Knights! Tangling and trampling, they tumultuously went forward.

For the Undead, Balkan was a father-like figure. As soon as Balkan gave the command, the Undead advanced towards the fortress.

The Doom Knights yelled, "It's the supreme sovereign Balkan-nim's command! Do not leave a single stone of that fortress' foundation undestroyed!"

Balkan's great Necromantic army declared war on the Embinyu Church.

CRAAASH!

The Skeleton Mages shook their gathered arms. Green, blue, and white streaks of magic struck the fortress' wall!

The Skeleton Mages' magic didn't even have half the force of the trebuchets Weed had made. However, the magic of thousands of Skeleton Mages was more than enough to shake the wall. Pieces of broken rocks rained down.

There was finally a response from the Embinyu Church's fortress. The Embinyu Church was extremely arrogant and tried to dominate all the races and monsters in the world. The Priests and Dark Knights did not tolerate anyone who challenged them.

"The likes of the Undead dare to defile the Embinyu's land, fire!"

At the Dark Knight's command, the church's Soldiers loaded their bows. The arrows were fired from the walls and thickly covered the sky.

They struck the Undead Legion covered in black aura!

The advancing Undead fell to the ground as they were pierced by arrows. However, they weren't living soldiers so they didn't receive much damage from a normal arrow attack.

"KUO!"
Skeleton Soldiers pulled out the arrows penetrating the Death Knights.

It was a very emotional sight.

The skeletons bit the metal arrowheads with their yellow teeth.

CRUUNCH!

The skeletons didn't falter despite the shock of their teeth cracking. Though they were silver-plated arrows, they couldn't kill the skeletons who weren't hit smack-dab.

"Occupy the fortress."
"If we capture that fortress, we can increase our minions."
"Follow Balkan-nim's command!"

While their armor and shields were peppered with arrows, the Death Knights went forward. Doom Knights swung their greatswords and cut down arrows in midair.

"Keep firing!"

Countless points appeared from the fortress walls and flew in as arrows.

"Holy Buster!"
"Divine Strike!"
The offensive spells of Magicians and Priests materialized. Attacks with divine power.

For the Undead, divine magic was their natural enemy.

With each blow, scores of Undead were annihilated or lost their strength and collapsed to the ground. But even as they took damage, the Undead steadily went forward and soon reached the vicinity of the wall.

The Priests became desperate, "Let us sing. Let's sing a hymn!"

— The Embinyu God is he who lets us enjoy freedom and gives us strength.

The hymn sung by the Priests! It was a song that added Strength to the Dark Knights, Soldiers, and Priests.

Their bodies tangled together, the skeletons crawled up the wall.

"Cl-cla-clack."
"Go up. Go up."
The Ghouls rammed the wall with their bodies.

After the annihilation of the savages, an Undead Legion of over 10 thousand had been made. They swarmed thickly at the base of the wall and waged siege warfare.

On the wall, Archers shot directly downwards, and divine magic poured down.

* * *

Weed laughed heartily. "Nothing less from Balkan."

Just one Necromancer was able to present such a terrifying display of power.

"He have to be at this level to say he has the right to lead the Immortal Legion."

There was nothing more electrifying than simply looking at the fight, hidden behind the rocky mountain.

Moooooooooooo!

Yellowy bellowed his happiness as he raised his head and extended his tongue. The pure and simple Korean cow was, to some degree, in the process of taking after Weed's wickedness.

"Walls. Take over the walls."
"Get up and fight. It's Balkan-nim's command."

A skeleton who fell while climbing the wall soon applied itself again despite its broken bones. Even though it was pierced with hundreds of arrows and fell, the Ghoul also rose again.

"Kuuaaaah." It plucked out the arrows embedded in its body, stomped on the shafts, and pounded the wall.

The Embinyu Church Priests worked hard to use divine power. "O Emibnyu God, punish these who know not thy mercy."

Flames of divine power flared to life at the base of the wall. Purification by blue flames! The flames swept over the Dullahans, Skeletons, and Ghouls, melting scores of Undead. They were completely destroyed, unable to revive again.

The divine power of the Priests of the Church of Freya was also great, but the offensive power of the Embinyu Church Priests was enough to see them as upper-tier Magicians.

Archers shot their arrows and Dark Knights swung their swords. Undead clung to the wall in a swarm, but thanks to their much more favorable position atop the wall and the help of the Priests, the Embinyu Church was not pushed back easily.

The Demonic Spirits under the Embinyu Church's command were also taking orders and fighting hard. However, they only barely reduced the numbers of the Undead.

Even if Dark Knights or Soldiers shoved them and they crashed to the bottom of the wall, the Undead quickly rose again. They did not die unless they were annihilated by holy magic. When the Soldiers and Priests from the Embinyu Church died in combat and weren't purified with magic, they became Undead from Dark Rule. Allies suddenly became Undead while fighting with wounds!

Balkan didn't play around either and actively participated.

"Poison Cuffs!"

A deep blue malice emanated from the bodies of the Undead crawling up the wall. An evil Necromancer spell contaminated and corrupted the surrounding area!

The Embinyu Soldiers who had been deployed to the wall to block the Undead fell to the ground.

"Mass Curse. Mass Weakness."

This time it was AoE curses!

The curses brought misfortune on the holy magic casting Priests and weakened the Dark Knights and Archers.

Balkan was a Necromancer through and through. Rather than demonstrating his own offensive magic, he commanded the Undead and had a type of specialized profession focusing on AoE curses.

It made Weed emotional. "Indeed, the world is driven by specialized professions."

He was watching a fight that was much more fun than Go-Stop! He followed the scene between Balkan and the Embinyu Church with feeling from behind the rocky mountain.

[T/N: Go-Stop is a Korean card game. It often gets quite heated and is best enjoyed with friends and beer.]

The sight of the Undead persistently crawling up the wall gave him the chills, and the Embinyu Church's might was surprising. Though they had also participated in the siege of Fort Odin before, this was very different from what they had shown the players.

There was tenacity and intensity in the fighting of the Undead Soldiers.

"If only I could have a large unit like them..." Weed smacked his lips in regret.

There wasn't even a need for another plan in capturing the Embinyu fortress. After all, at higher levels, it was justified to call a Necromancer capable of leading an Undead legion a one-man army!

Among players, many Magicians job-changed to Necromancers with such dreams. It would take a long time for Necromancers to become mainstream on the Versailles Continent, but it was easy to find beginner Necromancers taking one Golem and shaking hunting grounds.

Weed observed the battlefield with cold eyes. "The Embinyu Church won't go down easily with this level."

The Undead raised by Balkan were really strong. It was indeed true that 10 thousand Undead were raised in an instant. There was nothing unjustified in calling Balkan the master of the Immortal Legion. Balkan's ability to create Undead with high magic power was incredibly thrilling.

However, there was fundamentally a big impact on the Health of living Undead. There was a limit to how the Undead could be made from low-level savages. Simply making an impressive Undead Legion from low-quality corpses as the foundation was ridiculous, but with the added disadvantage of their position, they weren't enough to capture the Embinyu Church's fortress.

"But the fight begins here."

Weed's belly was growling again. His stomach clock told him the exact time.

Satiety has fallen to less than 30%.
Maximum Vitality and Health will decrease.
You will tire easily and feel weak.

Weed gnawed on some pre-dried boar jerky, "It's time for number two."

At that moment, the space above the Embinyu Fortress distorted greatly. Similar to when the Lich Balkan was summoned, there was an enormous flow of Mana.

The crows that were flocking to feed as they watched the battle unfold flew away altogether into the sky. There was something even the ominous crows could not help but consider as a threat.

The summoning gate opened atop the fortress and an extremely large monster appeared from within.

It was the 9-Headed King Hydra.

* * *

Pale entered a tavern with his teammates, the 'Yurokina Black Skin.' The bar was run by Dark Elves.

Orcs who came were overpriced by more than 100%, but humans only received an additional charge of 30%. It was a popular tavern for Adventurers, Mercenaries, and Fighters who came to travel in the Yurokina Mountains to rest and eat.

"Looks like it already started," Surka said anxiously.
"Yeah, we should've come faster."

Romuna found empty seats for the whole party to sit at. They came to the tavern to eat food, but they also came to watch the broadcast. They could watch TV through the magic glass installed in the tavern.

There weren't many empty tables in the Yurokina Black Skin tavern because of the Adventurers, Dark Elves, and Orcs who came to watch TV.

An S-class difficulty linked quest. War against the Embinyu Church!

The news spread within the Versailles Continent. In fact, the bars of large cities, Kingdom capitals, castles, and large villages, currently had long lines from quests rushing in. It was a given that the insides of stores were full, and there were even temporary tables set up outside. As people crowded the taverns of the Versailles Continent, the beginner hunting grounds in front of castles and villages actually became peaceful.

"Hehehehe." Pale couldn't help but laugh as he watched the broadcast glass. Whenever the celebrity Maylon acted as the commentator, his eyes were glued to the broadcast. Wearing a blouse and looking intellectual, Pale's lips stretched to his ears whenever she smiled refreshingly.

Irene sighed. "We need to order first... but will we even be able to order properly when it's this crowded?"

Zephyr then lightly raised his hand, "Dark Elf lady with the gentle smile and sparkling eyes brighter than black pearls!"

The Dark Elf waitress immediately gave her attention to Zephyr's table.

"We'd like mugs of beer for everyone here and orange juice for Surka, please. For snacks, the Dark Forest Kebab set will be good. Of course, you'll bring it quickly, yes?"

*Wink.*

Zephyr instinctively smiled with his eyes even while ordering drinks! He possessed the talent of raising intimacy with women no matter the situation. With his handsome appearance, confident actions, and attention to even the smallest details, he easily earned favor. Of course, there was a severe side effect to it too.

Hwaryeong shook her head as she grinned.

"Zephyr-nim."
"Yes?"

"You still haven't been hit enough."
"Cough!"

Zephyr had become a punching bag for the SwordNoobs! Every time he showed interest in girls, he trembled whether the SwordNoobs were watching or not.

When they finished ordering, they focused on the magic glass.

Da'in, who had become their teammate from questing, was also with them.

* * *

The future of KMC Media was riding on this special broadcast.

The regular broadcasts had been canceled and they were broadcasting the program Weed live. If they failed, their image as a broadcaster would certainly fall and the hit to their credibility would also be enormous, so they were investing maximum manpower.

The special effects team, sound team, subtitle team, and camera directors all took part in supporting the broadcast. The writing team was also mobilized in force, but there wasn't a script made because they were pressed for time.

Since the broadcast was unscripted, they set up the qualified commentators Shin Hye-Min and Oh Joo-Wan and invited Lee Jin-Gun as a special quest.

Lee Jin-Gun was a famous player within the top 400 in Royal Road. He had also completed many quests as an Adventurer. Hastily casted, he was an invited guest for the broadcast.

The sculpting match with Death Hand, the sculpting of the Wings of Light, and the restoration of Dwarf Kendellev's water sculpture were broadcasted.

The viewers' response to the new look on Sculptors was also warm.

— It's beautiful.

— Is this a rediscovery of Sculptors? Please make programs like this more often.

— I'd like this to be an opportunity to bring interest to dismissed professions again.

Besides the main professions the majority of players picked, there were many professions in Royal Road. Professions were divided based on race and hidden professions! The responses of viewers who had chosen such professions were good.

— When will the actual content be broadcasted?

— Is the Embinyu Church coming out or not? You're not gonna keep going like this and broadcast the rest of it tomorrow, right?

— I want to see the contents of the chain quest soon.

— I'm guessing the sculpting match with Death Hand is one part of the linked quest.

— It must be. But how can a Sculptor do the quest? A Sculptor's combat strength is awful.

— The sculpture put out by Death Hand looks a lot like the symbol of the Resurrection Church. Anyone know about this?

The viewer forum buzzed with discussion and speculation. Since it was the first S-class difficulty quest, it was sure to attract a lot of attention.

— But who is this Sculptor Weed?

— He is the main character of a program called 'Weed' that was broadcasted not long ago. He also traveled to the Vampire Kingdom.

— Ah, the program with the low ratings... but I don't think I've seen many Sculptors.

— He is the Lord of Morata.

— He's the Great Sculptor who made the Pyramid and the Tower of Light.

There was a considerable number of people asking about the Sculptor Weed. Many people still didn't know about the Sculptor Weed. They knew of the Tower of Light and Morata, but actually, even after they heard the name of the person who made the sculptures, they had carelessly soon forgotten. The same sad fate as the creator!

Shin Hye Min had a slight smile on her face.

Anyone who'd watched game broadcasts even a little knew the God of War Weed — the charismatic individual who, after standing as the absolute being of Continent of Magic, emblazoned his strong presence in Royal Road as well. By the recognition he garnered and his fame alone, he was at the level of Bardray, who was guiding the Hermes Guild.

'What kind of response will there be when people find out he's God of War Weed?'

She was not the least bit worried. The response of the viewers would definitely be explosive enough to overload the broadcast station homepage!

As a commentator, it was enough to make Shin Hye-Min feel sorry she was still keeping this secret to herself. Even within the station, only directors and related staff members knew Weed's true identity. The one other commentator, Oh Joo-Wan, and the special guest Lee Jin-Gun were not aware.

After the release of Kuruso's broadcast, Shin Hye-Min said, "It seems like the quest this time will show us many new truths about Sculptors, but what do you think, Mr. Oh Joo-Wan?"

"It's surprising. Weed is the Lord of the Northern Morata region and the creator of awesome sculptures. In fact, can't you say he's the figure who represents Sculptors? For such a person to be doing a war quest, I'm anxious to watch it."

"The viewers also have of the same thought, right? But will Sculptor Weed be able to win a war against the Embinyu Church, a strange, fearsome force?"

Oh Joo-Wan quickly replied, "I wonder. It's hard for me to even imagine how he'll do it. It's true that it looks very difficult as of now, but I'm curious about what kind of method and means he'll use."

"In short, we can't lose hope, yes?"

"If he accepted the quest, I think he means to do his best. He could have gained some kind of power or authority during the quest, and even if he fails, there will be great meaning in the challenge itself."

This time, Shin Hye Min turned her attention to Lee Jin Gun, who was sitting to her left, "Mr. Lee Jin-Gun, what do you think about this quest?"

Lee Jin-Gun smiled as he made a conclusion. "Of course it's going to fail."

"What?"

"If it's the same Embinyu Church that I'm thinking of, it'll definitely fail. There is absolutely no way he can succeed."

"..."

"There'll be meaning left in the challenge, but even for that, he could've just gotten a hard quest from good luck. The Embinyu Church? It's an enormous unidentified force."

Lee Jin-Gun snorted as he ruthlessly cut Weed down. "Hmph! Moreover, the quester is a Sculptor. His skills may be recognized in the Sculpting field, but he'll fall short in adventuring experience and will lack ability as well. Failure is definite."

They were words prickling with his pride as an Adventurer and a well-known ranking player in the Versailles Continent. Lee Jin-Gun was so narrow-minded, he could not even imagine a person other than himself would succeed the quest.

"Oh my. Do you really think so?" Shin Hye Min laughed gaily.

Normally, she would call a break time and give him a harsh scolding for being such a downer in the broadcast. Speaking somewhat critically in the introduction did not disappoint the viewers and it could have a dramatic effect if the quest happened to succeed. However, Lee Jin-Gun had magnificently thrown a wet blanket on the broadcast. If viewers heard his words and decided the quest would completely fail, their reason to watch the broadcast would also disappear!

Even though Lee Jin-Gun hadn't been told of the Power of the Deliverer Weed had used because he was a guest, it was still no good. For the casting to fail in such an important broadcast, it could be nothing but a huge disaster.

But Shin Hye Min held back her laughter. In a little while he was going to get knocked down a notch!

Shin Hye-Min couldn't forget how he had belittled Archers and Rangers in the last broadcast.

— Archers? It's a good job for cowardly people, since they can kill the monster before it gets close. They're of a different standard from Adventurers, who leap into places with unknown dangers.

Shin Hye-Min was resolved to dish out retaliation on behalf of Archers and Rangers!

It was a broadcast full of ulterior motives, but even she was extremely curious about how Weed's war quest would go. Weed's real-time video was being taken and edited to the best of the production department's ability. Since she was following the broadcast and commenting and couldn't watch the live feed, she also wanted to see it quickly.

Chapter 6: Black Dragon

GRAAAAAAWR!

Stepping on the wall to stand, the supersized King Hydra's 9 heads sought prey. The heads shot around like arrows, swallowing up Priests and Soldiers.

GRA-RAWR!

It demolished the stone tower and gobbled up the Archers.

It was on a different plane from Yellowy's rumination of fresh grass, which was leisurely enough to make one blow up in frustration.

A sight inducing horror and vertigo.

In a bog three prestigious guilds united to explore, there was a legendary monster, the King Hydra. Then, in just a few minutes, the King Hydra ate up all the prestigious guild members and moved to yet another location to eat more prey.

An existence burning with an endless appetite, the King Hydra!

"F-fire!"

The Archers' target changed from the Undead to the Hydra. They loosed arrows towards the Hydra's body as it stepped on the wall and cleared away their teammates.

The Hydra's 9 heads saw the arrows. The majority of the arrows couldn't pierce its thick hide, and even if they left a wound, it only lasted a minute; its green blood would immediately stop flowing, and the wound would heal. It was thanks the Hydra's special characteristic of regeneration, which surpassed even Trolls'.

"The attack isn't working."
"Save me!"
"Dark Knights, protect the Priests."

The Hydra's heads each moved several meters to search for food. Each head boasted a snout bigger than a castle tower and even emitted a fire and poison gas attack!

On the fortress wall, there was a clamor of exploding screams.

"Dark Knights, come back!"

The Dark Knights, who faced the Undead on the front lines of the battle tried to gather to fight the Hydra. However, before they could attempt an organized maneuver, the corner of the wall the Hydra had stepped on crumbled down. Suddenly, a part of the fortress wall gave in all at once, unable to bear the Hydra's ponderous weight.

"Uhuhuhu."
"The wall collapsed. Let's go up."

Climbing the wall collapsed from the ground up, the Zombies, Ghouls, and Skeletons at the head of the Undead army pressed forward in a line. There were also many Embinyu Soldiers who were crushed to death.

"Fight!"
"Embinyu Soldiers, don't give up our holy ground to them!"

A mass of Embinyu Soldiers rushed out from within the fortress and charged at the Undead, including Dark Knights and Priests, they were the Embinyu Church's remaining troops! Unmobilized in the fight until now, it was the first appearance of the Embinyu Church's hidden forces.

Balkan did not let them eliminate the Undead.
"Core Explosion!"

Due to the ultimate evil Necromancer's magic, the dead corpses erupted in a massive explosion. As bones and flesh splattered, the terrain where the Embinyu Soldiers had gathered took enormous damage. More than several hundred people lost their lives, and far more were rendered unable to fight because of large wounds. Without shields and armor, they would have taken damage near to impossible to shake off.

Even normal Necromancer spells became chilling spells of mass destruction when Balkan cast them.

*Rustle.*

Debris in the collapsed wall moved. Living Death Knights who became Undead from the Dark Rule magic swung their swords to slaughter those who had been their allies not long ago.

"Holy power, protect us. Grant your servants wills and bodies like steel. Iron Armor."

The protective magic of the Priests encased the Soldiers. In addition, the High Priest Feylord, who hadn't shown himself, finally appeared.

Apparently, Feylord was also plastered with high-class items not falling too short of Balkan's. Jeweled rings hanging from each finger, a bracelet, necklace, and earrings! The peerlessly expensive accessory items sparkled in the sunlight. A high priest robe embroidered with golden thread was draped over his obese body.

Feylord yelled, "Servants of the Embinyu Church, your pain will disappear and joy will burn within you. Divine Bless!"

Feylord's propensity to bless primarily Soldiers was also strong. If Lich Shire or the Bone Dragon's overall force was undoubtedly explosive, then the High Priest Feylord did not show such offensive power. However, in the eyes of the Embinyu Church's army, he was so great that there was no wall sturdier than he.

A part of the fortress wall had collapsed, but the Embinyu Church's Soldiers filled the gap instead.

"Oh. Oh. OH!"
"We won't let our land be stolen."
"Eliminate the enemies. Embinyu God, give them eternal pain."

Covered in the blessing magic of Feylord and the Priests, the Soldiers easily overcame most of the attacks and their pain.

The footmen were perfectly equipped with shields and armor! They demonstrated strength firm enough to feel threatening. As they swung their hammers and axes, they pushed the Undead army back. Though a Dullahan was adept at battle, it wasn't able to penetrate the wall of footmen easily when three or four footmen defended together and counterattacked.

However, it was only after many of the Undead had already entered the fortress through the fallen wall. Doom Knights and Death Knights went around picking Priests and slaughtering them.

"I am Sowed Veron, Knight of the Embinyu Church 11th Sect."
"Ke. Ke. Ke. Ke. I'm Death Knight Teirum, Balkan-nim's minion."

It wasn't hard to see a Dark Knight and Death Knight having a one-on-one match. There were cases when the Dark Knight dominated and beheaded his opponent with a holy sword. However, when a Death Knight won, the dead Dark Knight immediately became the same Death Knight or Doom Knight and revived.

"A huge demon."
"Let's go. Let's fight."

Some of the Undead went after the King Hydra. With their fear removed by Balkan, the Undead tried to hunt even the likes of the King Hydra. However, there was no way the King Hydra would be hunted down by scores of impertinent Undead! Whenever the 9 heads moved in turn, Undead flew into the sky and scores of Soldiers and Priests were eaten.

The battle of the Embinyu fortress continued on as a grand dogfight.

Whenever the King Hydra moved, Soldiers and Undead were crushed underneath.

GRAAAAAAAAAAWR!

The King Hydra's fearless roar rang out in all directions like thunder.

* * *

Standing by with the barbarians over at the rocky mountain, Weed looked at the sky. The direction of the drifting clouds had changed. Of course, Weed's actions weren't for probing the secrets of nature, as legendary genius philosophers have done.

"The sun is at high noon. It's time to eat. Let's eat, everyone!"

Weed ate a meal with the barbarians first. It was time to give his stomach sturdy fuel.

"Your body can't endure if you don't eat up." Weed didn't spare the back meat of Black Wild Boar and roasted it.

The ultimate wild boar barbecue! It was the delicacy of all delicacies one could eat with a big battle ahead. As he turned the boar round and round, he sprinkled on plenty of salt and pepper.

*Gulp!*

The sound of the barbarians swallowing their saliva rang aloud.

The well-roasted barbecue was savory and melted gently in the mouth. As they ate boar, which boasted the most delicious taste, they watched what could be called the ultimate view.

"It's gonna take quite a while."

The King Hydra, Embinyu Church, and Balkan's fight was now kicking into high gear. The Undead army's numbers rose steadily, and the King Hydra ran amok while destroying the fortress as if it owned it.

The Embinyu Church's remaining forces all came out as well— it was hard to judge where the course of the battle would flow. It had seemed the Embinyu Church was briefly getting pressed back when the wall fell, but they blocked it with additional forces. Thanks to the service of the elite Dark Knights, the Embinyu displayed unfaltering might. Since they were fighting with the Demonic Spirits' aid as well, the Embinyu Church seemed to be alive and well.

"Since the fortress isn't completely destroyed, either."

Archers shot arrows while hidden in cover! The Priests also eliminated the Undead with Holy magic by using the narrow passages and structures. The Embinyu Church seemed like they could beat the Undead army in a moment if they could restore order!

The King Hydra began to spray poison gas as it leapt around hellishly. As was characteristic of Necromancers, Balkan raised the Undead army from the safety of the rear.

The incredible scenes, awful enough to make a watcher's eyes spin, did not cease.

A tower rising high into the air steadily tilted to the side with a roar and completely collapsed. The stone gargoyle mounted askew on the spire spread its wings as it flew towards another place. It seemed Balkan had also summoned the stone gargoyle and a harpy-like aerial monster at some point.

A fire broke out in the castle and was blowing acrid smoke into the sky; there were also many Soldiers falling on the wall.

The dogfight of all dogfights!

Finished with his meal, Weed spread his arms wide. "It's finally time for the last guest to arrive."

He was positioned to actively welcome the most precious guest. It was time for the last guest to be summoned by the Power of the Deliverer.

As the three groups leapt about in the Embinyu fortress, the space above distorted greatly and something black and lump-like bulged out.

The crystallization of dignity and nobility! With scales sturdier than mithril and perfect aesthetic quality, it was an existence possessing even beauty. The race no one on the Versailles Continent did not know.

There was a rumor that by simply consuming the Dragon Heart, their body would experience an increase of maximum Mana by over 5,000, and if a Magician were to eat it, it would raise their magic level up a step.

The embodiment of great authority, the Black Dragon.

At the tremendous flow of Mana, the King Hydra, Balkan, and the High Priest Feylord looked up at the sky. It was an existence capable of throwing them all into despair.

A monster with small wings in contrast to its 60 meter body appeared. Not only was it very different in appearance from a Black Dragon, but it was much shabbier as well. For starters, it didn't have a beard, and the head, which looked like a giant snake, and didn't exude dignity either. A real dragon's body exceeded 300 meters. However, the black lump which had appeared wasn't even 70 meters from head to tail. Its body was thin and long. Rather than calling it a dragon, it was more like a snake with wings.

It was a fellow trying to molt into a dragon by training a lot and eating tons of good food for a long time. The Black Imoogi!

[T/N: An Imoogi is a legendary creature in Korean mythology, said to aspire to become a true dragon. It is a large, python-like creature (Wikipedia).]

Weed had summoned a dragon, symbolizing its own kind of strength and authority. Only, it was just a fake!

Of course, it was something you absolutely couldn't underestimate for being an Imoogi. A monster at the level of a King Snake had to undergo hundreds, thousands of years to become one. This fellow was a big-shot even in the boss-class.

Even the fake was in a different class.

"Because it's not a normal fake, but a dragon fake!"

The Black Imoogi opened its maw wide.

MUUAAOOOOOO!

Dragon Fear!

The Embinyu Soldiers covered their ears with both hands as they staggered. The Undead also made groaning noises, as if they were in pain. Apparitions like Spectres and Ghosts were even forcefully unsummoned.

The Black Imoogi announced it appearance in an incomparably flashy way. Though it was an Imoogi and not a real, legitimate dragon, the force of the Dragon Fear it used was immense.

The entire castle was in its range, and since it was enough to deal a huge blow to the monsters, Weed's Lion's Roar was no match for it.

As they looked at the Imoogi, Balkan and Feylord's fighting spirits flared.

"This one is of an appropriate size to kill and make into a Bone Dragon."

"I shall sacrifice that one to the Embinyu God."

The Black Imoogi did not turn a blind eye to these challenges. 'Foolish humans, unsightly Undead, and a hideous Hydra! The bunch I dislike are all gathered here.'

The Black Imoogi scorned all three groups without reserve. The amount of pride it had was similar to a real Dragon.

As the Imoogi butted in, the Embinyu fortress fight entered a new situation.

Controlling the skies, the Imoogi used magic. It was a being which didn't even need complicated spells or embellishments. Lightning bolts the size of the Imoogi's body and huge insects were summoned and fell below. The fortress was crushed as Undead were exterminated, and Embinyu Soldiers also died mercilessly.

Though it was a fake dragon, it wasn't an Imoogi for nothing.

* * *

KMC Media's production!

Personnel were mobilized to analyze and edit the video that was being transmitted in real time. Including the director-in-chief, director, and the chairmen above them, the personnel were absorbed in watching the video.

"Oh!"
"Really!"
"How can that be..."
"So the King Hydra looks like that."

God of War Weed's war! It was the biggest war in Versailles Continent's history. A battle of overwhelming proportions that showed beings no one could even dream of, gathered in one place!

The station employees were, of course, Royal Road players.

'Yeah, skeletons are scary.'

'The monster army is really strong. If I were the commander, I would never go down the wall with those Soldiers.'

The area below the fortress was seething with the Undead army. No matter how you looked at it, descending with the Soldiers was suicide, but the Embinyu army had no fear. A group of Knights and Soldiers leapt down from the wall to 'punish' the Undead. Though they had briefly boasted of being the strongest force, when the Skeletons and Ghouls came in from all directions, they quickly reached their limit. Once they disappeared like a boat sinking in the middle of the ocean, they were born as Undead. It was even the cause of the Undead army's expansion.

However, it was a feat which could only make you say the Embinyu army was truly terrifying. Even as they took enormous damage, they swarmed forward and were opposing the King Hydra.

'Impressive.'
'Ah, if I were there...'
'I wanna fight too. My level is also over 320...'

The staff were energized. As they watched the video, the directly conveyed tension of life and death and the excitement of the scene hit them hard. From the perspective of making broadcasts, how long had it been since they had been this impassioned?

'If I could receive a quest like this once too, I'd have no more to wish for.'
'How awesome it would be if I could fight even one of the skeletons there.'

The personnel were standing in place. The vigor that had disappeared with age was boiling up. They forgot their hunger, and were unaware of the pain in their legs.

* * *

Weed took out a fan.

It was the 30 Copper fan he'd bought at the general goods store in case he needed it one day. Cheaper than cheap, it had almost no function.

As one day passed in Versailles Continent time, the Embinyu fortress fight steadily became more gruesome and intense again.

Sparsely Feathered Fan

Durability 3/5.
Attack 0~1.

A fan young children wouldn't even play with as a toy. It can make a little wind, but it is useless in cooling down heat.

It seems like it will incite rage and frustration if it is given as a gift to someone.

Weed gently waved the fan. Yellowy came to his side and suddenly shoved his head in, but he went back to grazing because it wasn't refreshing.

A full smile was on Weed's lips. "As expected, it's going as I planned."

Weed slapped the fan onto his palm, and consequently, two of the already scant feathers fell out. There were barely 11 feathers left!

"Zhuge Liang is also an admirable tactician."

The Embinyu Church had the advantage of overall might and geographic element. Balkan raised low and intermediate Undead as he fueled an endless war. The King Hydra agitated the heart of the battlefield with its nearly indestructible regeneration. The Black Imoogi was no different from an executioner. Though it was a fake dragon, it mercilessly destroyed the Embinyu Church and the group of Undead.

The Embinyu Church, Balkan, King Hydra, and Black Imoogi!

"This is truly a four-part division!"

It was an upgrade from the three-part division Zhuge Liang was said to have caused. Of course, those were completely only Weed's thoughts.

[T/N: The three-part division refers to the Wei, Shu, and Wu kingdoms warred in China's Three Kingdoms period. Zhuge Liang was a brilliant Shu strategist. Although Shu was much smaller and had far less troops than Wei, Zhuge Liang's genius kept the Wei on the defensive. He is a famous hero in Eastern Asia. (Wikipedia)]

The Phoenixes asked Bingryong. "Senior, what is 'four-part division'?"
"I don't know either. Yellowy, do you know?"
"I also do not know. Moooo."

The sculptures asked amongst themselves, but they were finding no answer! Despite it all, since he was the big bro, Bingryong thought about it and replied, "I think the four-part division means the four groups fighting over there. The four groups are divided and fighting as they attack each other. As in, they've been trapped and frozen even without my Breath."

The Phoenixes were in awe. "It's a really awesome plot."
"To think Master had such a good trick."

In a general sense, the Phoenixes were classified as birds. Unable to overcome the limitations of fowl, they were easily surprised by Weed's strategy.

Bingryong swaggered as he said, "Don't underestimate Master. He is a person who is shockingly smart at times."

"Yes, senior."

Having stayed mostly out of the conversation to nonchalantly munch on grass, Yellowy asked, "This, right now, how is it different from just summoning three more guys to make four guys fight?"

"..." Bingryong couldn't think of anything decent in response. With just a slight change in perspective, it could easily be regarded as such.

If Zhuge Liang had formed the three kingdoms Wei, Shu, and Wu from a foundation of genius resourcefulness and a tactical victory, then Weed was different. His foundation was the experience he'd gained while struggling a great deal and the combat ability of monsters his body learned while fighting to its limits.

He had chosen which monsters to summon through the various pieces of information he'd acquired through the Dark Gamer Union or Royal Road info forum. Consequently, he made four incompatible groups fight.

Unaware of the conversation between the sculptures, Weed fanned himself leisurely. "The true object of this four-part division isn't here!"

Zhuge Liang's plot was greatly admired even today. Though Zhuge Liang had been in a disadvantageous situation, he had restrained the Wei, one of the three kingdoms!

"However, Zhuge Liang couldn't bring about national unification in the end."

Even if he called forth incredible guys to arouse a fight, it was no use if he failed the quest.

"You can say this four-part division has a waiting aspect. When those four groups are tired from fighting hard, when their armies are weakened, we will attack. We'll become the final victor."

As they listened to Weed's words, Bingryong and the Phoenixes were perfectly appreciative.

"A truly outstanding plot."
"As expected of Master."

"We'll drive the Embinyu Church to the bottom, and catch all the other guys to top it off— this is the best approach."

The supermarket also lured in customers with buy one get one events. But because they had a basic margin, there was a limit to the giveaways. They also needed to make a living!

However, the merit of Weed's scheme was he could get one and an additional three. This could be called the resolution of a crook's wickedness.

Yellowy still didn't retract his cynical gaze. "Aren't you just planning to make others fight tons, then catch them all when they're tired? Mooooooo."

Though it was called a genius scheme, a great challenge, it was ultimately extremely simple! The difference between success and failure could be seen as paper thin.

Weed remained taut with tension, as if he were tightrope walking. 'This is gonna be damnably difficult. I expected it wouldn't be easy since it's an S-class difficulty quest.'

He assessed the Embinyu Church's power very highly. Since he had gone through an awful lot for each success in the quest, he had to keep plenty of hidden schemes in mind as well.

The remaining troops swarming out of the fortress were still existences to be leery of! If he had just taken the barbarians and fought, he could have never assured victory.

Even if Balkan won, it would still be tough. In order to succeed the quest, he needed to capture the fortress. Capturing the fort against the Undead army rather than the Embinyu Church would be difficult all the same.

"The time is slowly approaching." Weed's eyes sharpened.

If he just waited around, he would earn almost no profit even if the quest succeeded because his contribution was low. If only for the enormous reward of an S-class quest, he couldn't just watch.

The four groups were exhausted from fighting desperately. Balkan was a Lich with endless Vitality, but he was being harried by the Embinyu Priests' concentrated attacks. Just like how the Priests killed the Undead, hymns and holy magic flew towards Balkan. Even the High Priest Feylord launched offensives. Consequently, having come up the fortress with the Undead under his command, Balkan was struggling. The King Hydra's movements were slowed, and the Black Imoogi's Mana wasn't the same as before.

The fortress became a sea of fire from the tracks of the intense fight. The battle was precipitating towards the climax.

Weed pulled out his sword. "Now it's time to go."

The loosely relaxed and resting barbarians rose with gleaming eyes. They had rested up and eaten well, so their fighting will surged. Their recovery strength was fairly fast. Granted it was in part due to Weed commanding them to not pay attention to the fight and not showing them the sight of the Embinyu fortress. They would soon cower if they saw the Black Imoogi, King Hydra, and Undead army.

"It's time to hunt. All troops, advance!"

Weed advanced to the fortress with the barbarians, Yellowy, Bingryong, and the Phoenixes.

* * *

RAAAAWR.

The Black Imoogi was summoning and throwing down large rocks from midair as it flew around.

"It's close to the ground. Now! Shoot."
"Concentrate magic attacks on the dragon!"

The divine magic of the Priests and the Archers' arrows went skywards. Skeleton Archers and Skeleton Mages discharged fireballs and poisonous green auras into the air.

They were paltry attacks that could be neutralized and disabled with a mere glance if it were a real Dragon! However, the Black Imoogi had to flap its wings to dodge the magic attacks. Some of the spells crashed into its body directly. Every time it moved while flinging itself about, countless magic attacks chased it from behind. There were even Doom Knights and elite Dark Knights swinging blades on top of the Imoogi's body.

It was weaker than when it had first appeared was palpable from just watching it fight. It had easily deflected arrows with the defense of its scales alone, but now it took pains to avoid them. From taking the combined attacks of both the Undead and the Embinyu Church, there were scratches on the flawlessly smooth scales which had sparkled like jewels.

But an Imoogi is still an Imoogi!

In the beginning it had spewed searing attacks and sent over 7 of the King Hydra's heads flying, and it smashed half of the Embinyu Church's fortress. It ejected poison and melted about half of the Undead army as well. It was weakened because of severe Mana depletion, but the Imoogi's combat ability was outstanding.

"It's a tasty dragon. Let's eat it!"

Though it had already eaten up over 1,000 Soldiers, the King Hydra's heads flew towards the Imoogi with gaping maws.

"You dare? A tiny thing like you!?"

The Black Imoogi wheeled in midair to tear at the back of the King Hydra's neck. The King Hydra's head went flying in an instant, but the Imoogi's joy was short-lived. The King Hydra's new head was generated immediately.

Regeneration surpassing trolls!

Having exchanged attacks with Balkan, the High Priest Feylord commanded his Priests, "Recite the sacrifice spell."

"Noble Embinyu God, we dedicate our bodies; send down a blade to swing at the world."

Sacrifice Sword!

100 Priests lost their Health and collapsed. Immediately afterwards, a huge sword of golden light was formed above the Imoogi. Without delay, it plummeted down.

The Imoogi flapped urgently as it turned to one side, but the thin wing joint was cut.

"KUAAAAA! Cowardly bastards!" The Imoogi screamed in agony.

The Black Imoogi wheeled round and round as it crashed into the fortress. Hundreds of soldiers, Demonic Spirits, and Undead were smashed underneath.

"Hunt down the dragon."
"Catch that bastard!"

Soldiers and Undead swarmed forward. Despite losing one of its wings, the Black Imoogi totted as it fought fiercely. When its eyes flashed viciously, the Human Soldiers froze and were prickled with gooseflesh, rendering them unable to fight.

However, it didn't work on the Undead. Doom Knights sliced wildly at the scales, and arrows and magic flew in without giving the Imoogi a chance to use recovery magic.

The Dark Knights and Doom Knights came at it like a swarm of gnats, dealing damage little by little to the Black Imoogi.

* * *

Weed, Bingryong, the Phoenixes, and the savages descended the rocky mountain.

"Strike the undead first!" Weed targeted the Undead at the outskirts. "Hunt the undead far away from Balkan."

The barbarians shot arrows at the Ghouls and Zombies. Filled with the power of the Lekiye Tribe Shamans, Undead who were hit with the arrows burst into flames or froze.

"Completely obliterate them so they can't regenerate!"

Weed was completely eliminating the Undead little by little. He fought with the Vejague Tribe's Warriors in places where Bingryong and the Phoenixes trampled and passed. He cleaved through vital points with his Sculpting Blade and completely destroyed them so they couldn't revive.

He even acquired japtem. It was the most definite sign of the Undead being destroyed!

Bingryong went in first, trampling and tearing, and the Undead melted as the Phoenixes spewed flames. Flames were second best for facing Undead, next to holy magic! The Phoenixes' fire even had a slight purification effect, so average skeletons, Ghouls, and Zombies were dead meat.

MOOOOOOO!

Yellowy was also fighting hard around Bingryong. He had an admirable desire to earn money for the sake of buying hay to feed his calves, when the time came, and to build a cowshed to stave off the rain!

However, he didn't approach the area around the Phoenixes. There were a few fatty slabs hanging from his muscular, robust body. Yellowy avoided roasting his rib eye, shank, and prime ribs!

Weed was easily able to slice the weakened Undead at the outskirts of the fortress. The main force of high-leveled Undead were inside the fortress, so it wasn't so difficult.

"The size of both sides has really fallen a lot."

There had been over 10 thousand Undead and more than 20 thousand Embinyu Church troops. However, the remaining power of both sides was weakened to about 2,000 each.

The soldiers had been melted away by the Black Imoogi or eaten by the King Hydra! There was also huge losses from fighting between the two enormous armies.

It could make you realize how cutthroat the war was.

His contribution would be much less when he completed the quest, but he was forced to accept the loss!

Over the collapsed wall, the Undead and Embinyu Soldiers were fighting as they raised a turmoil. The King Hydra, Black Imoogi, Balkan, and Feylord were fighting a fierce battle there.

"Let's enter the fortress and sweep up the remnants!"

Weakened enemies!

Even so, Weed and the savages couldn't guarantee victory over any of the groups. Balkan would be as tough as ever, and the King Hydra was violent. The Embinyu Church was still hostile towards them, and the Black Imoogi was fighting so well that you had to see it to believe it.

There was no rule saying it couldn't be a life where shrimp were crushed in a fight amongst whales.

Weed shouted vigorously, but the savages just hesitated.

"It's dangerous inside."
"It's better if we don't enter."

Perhaps because they felt very uneasy, the savages stepped back. However...

"We must capture the fortress. If you retreat here, you will have to live as pawns of the Embinyu Church forever. Alliance of the Deliverer, let us fight courageously!"

At Weed's Lion's Roar, the savages gained the will to fight again.

But Bingryong, the Phoenixes, and Yellowy were also shrinking back.

"Master."
"I don't think we really need to go in."

The Sculptured Lifeforms' disobedience!

Even if Weed were to use violence, this problem would persist. No matter how much they were hit, they did not want to enter the dangerous fortress. Yellowy had already eaten more than one sack of japtem! Like a peace-loving cow, he did not want to fight anymore.

Weed nodded. "I understand your position as well. I was not considerate enough. I am really sorry."

A frank self-reflection and apology! These were things shouldn't come from Weed.

Weed, the man who always forced and insisted, bowed his head to his subordinates. "Forgive me. And forget about me."

"Master?"

"This will be the last time you see me. I will fight bravely with the alliance tribes and meet my end... Remember that and forget about me now."

"Master!"

"Forget about me and go to a safe place to rest comfortably and live well. I am especially burdened with deep regret because I won't be able to treat you well to the very end, Yellowy."

UMMOOOOOOH!

"Eat plenty of good grass and father many little cows. Even if you don't have money, you absolutely must not take any loans."

MOOOOOO!

At the words similar to a will, the highly sensitive Yellowy cried big tears.

"I'm sorry I just caused you to suffer without doing anything for you. The atmosphere will get weird if the parting is too long, so I'll go now. Live well."

And then Weed turned and walked away. However, his pace wasn't fast at all. He gave the sculptured lifeforms plenty of space to follow him. He deliberately hunched his shoulders and his head hung low to the ground.

"Master, let's go together."

Bingryong flew towards the fortress, followed by the Phoenixes.

Yellowy furrowed the ground with his hind leg and positioned himself to charge.

The Sculptured Lifeforms were ready for battle!

Chapter 7: Weed's Ideal Type

Vampire Kingdom Todeum!

Yurin's Painting skill improved as she painted the Vampires.

"How are they?"

"Very good. Pretty lady, would you like to go to a quiet spot for a glass of wine? We'll go to my castle and draw in the dark curtains to prevent sunlight from shining in. Then we'll have time all to ourselves until morning, in my coffin..."

"No way!" She refused the seductions of the Vampires coldly. Going along with the Vampires could end with sharp fangs plunged into your nape.

'Looks like I've gone through most of this place, too.' Yurin decided to conclude her journey in Todeum.

In Todeum, there were many paintings created by great artists. There were many works by masters that any painter would want to see at least once hanging here and there. Thanks to that, her Painting skill improved considerably, but she wanted to travel throughout the vast continent.

"Shall I move to a different place?" Yurin stood from her seat.

With a broad-brimmed hat pressed onto her head, she packed up her paint container and sketchbook. On her back hung a large brush.

Level 16.

At that level, it was impossible to even arm herself with good weapons. This brush was really just an ornament she had pulled out from the treasure trove of the Vampires. Its broadness was good for painting and it also had the effect of stunning weak monsters.

It was made of Mithril!

Since its durability was high enough for the hair on the brush to not fall out, it was quite useful.

"Well then, shall I go?"

Yurin roughly painted a picture onto the ground.

The scene she painted was one of the pub where Pale and the others drinking beer as they watched the video of Weed's battle. She drew things like Pale and the party members, the tables and the gathered people, and the interior of the pub.

When moving to an area she has never been to before, she had to make a fairly accurate depiction. If there was even the slightest difference in the portrayal, she could end up in a completely different place. However, when moving to a place with a person, she had to draw that person's portrait exactly.

If she roughly drew the party members and the location, she could use her Picture Teleportation skill.

After drawing the pub's scenery, Yurin drew herself sitting at an empty seat at the group's table.

After that, she was sitting in the pub.

"Kyaa. A King Hydra came out!"

"This is the best! Is he really a sculptor? The size of that monster really isn't normal."

The pub was ringingly noisy, almost painful to the ears, from the sounds of people ordering food and beer, and there was even an uproar of boisterous cheers.

Although Yurin had suddenly appeared, no one paid any heed.

"Come quick."
"Have you been well, sis?"

As expected, Hwaryeong was the very first to greet Yurin. With that, Yurin greeted Irene, Romuna, and Surka, whom she had not seen for a long time.

"So you were in Todeum until now....you shoulda come sooner."

"There were many things I wanted to draw. I was busy doing drawing quests. Now that I've come, please buy me lots of tasty things, sis."

"Sure. I'll buy you anything."

Hwaryeong and Yurin clicked really well. They chatted busily even while watching Weed's video. Because Irene and Romuna were also chatty, there was no end to the conversation of the girls.

"You changed your equipment?"

"Yeah. The last outfit was too revealing, y'know. This time I picked an elegant outfit. What do you think, is it alright?"

"It's really pretty. Where did you buy those earrings from?"

"They're a monster drop. They're from Goblins, do they suit me?"

"They suit you really well."

Da'in also introduced herself to Yurin first. "I'm the party's Shaman...Da'in. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too, Unni."

Da'in was pretty shy, but because they were really nice people, she opened up to them quickly.

Then, while they were chatting and watching the adventure video, after exchanging a few greetings, a question suddenly jumped out from Hwaryeong's mouth.

"Yurin, what kind of girl does your brother like?"

"What?"

"I mean... does he have a preference in a girl's personality, appearance, or stuff like that?"

"Are you asking me about his ideal type?"

"Yeah. Don't you know a lot about your brother as a little sister?"

It was loud in the tavern due to the battle video, but people's attention was more drawn to the table where Yurin sat.

The ideal type of Weed, who had never shown the slightest interest in women.

"I don't know either."

"Why not? Hasn't your brother dated anyone before?" Hwaryeong's eyes gleamed exceptionally.

"Not that I know of."

"I see. Still, there has to be an ideal type he likes."

"I kind of know, but I don't know how to explain it."

"For example, what about a girl like me?" Hwaryeong smiled brightly as she asked. She, who ranked number one as the most desirable date and wife in world-famous magazines! Hwaryeong was full of dignity, charm, and confidence.

Yurin slightly shook her head apologetically. "Unni... is probably not brother's ideal type."

Hwaryeong quickly became glum and asked, "What part of me is lacking?"

The party was shocked.

How could he dare to not love Hwaryeong? What kind of deep reason could there be?!

Could it be a painful story of the past? Or was it because he was worried about getting swept up in a scandal since Hwaryeong was a top celebrity?

"Sis, how many clothes do you buy a year?"

"About fifty or so. I also receive a lot of clothes from my sponsors."

"My brother hates spending money on buying clothes."

Hwaryeong, who was wearing brand-name clothes, brand-name heels, and brand-name perfume, could never become Weed's ideal type!

"Then what about me?" asked Irene, smiling demurely.

Since she had befriended Yurin through in-game whispers, Irene asked it half-jokingly.

Pale and Zephyr silently nodded. No man could dislike Irene. She had a devoted, kind, feminine, and had an austere personality. Plus she was pretty to boot.

"I don't think you're is his ideal type either, unni."

"Why?"

"He won't like that you'll probably get scammed later because of your kind nature."

"......!"

Romuna also asked, "How about me?"

"Since unni has a snappy, firm personality.... but because of your major...."

"What's wrong with my major?"

"You're a music student. My brother says he doesn't like that because it takes a lot of money to play music."

A deep-rooted prejudice against the fine-arts!

Hwaryeong spoke sulkily, "Does he even have an ideal type of woman?"

"Actually though, my brother probably doesn't even think about his ideal type. I don't really know about things like his preference, but it'll work with the right mindset."

"A mindset he likes, huh."

Yurin looked at Da'in and continued, "I think Da'in-unni is the closest to my brother's ideal type."

"Why?" Da'in smiled happily.

Sometime in the middle of hunting in the caves of the City of Heaven, Lavias, Weed had told her:

They had many conversations at the time-- they'd also talked about ideal type.

"I really don't know if it's okay for me to ask..."

"It's fine, ask."

"Unni, how do you manage your long, straight hair? Do you go to the salon often?"

"Nope. My hair is naturally easy to style, so I've been growing it for a few years."

"You don't like earrings, rings, and other accessories, right?"

"Yeah. I don't put on cumbersome metal things."

"As I thought! You also like to wear clothes modestly, right?"

"I buy them mostly from the supermarket. Only the goods on sale in February!"

Weed's perfect ideal type had appeared!

Da'in also realized this fact while answering, and her complexion changed as it paled. It was because she now realized why Weed had said she was very nice, and his ideal type.

* * *

Together, Weed and the barbarians took over the walls at lightning speed. The Undead had already pushed into the fortress so the walls were empty!

Weed took out the High Elf Yerica's Bow.

"Spirit of the wind."

Aided by the spirit of the wind, the arrow flew and penetrated the head of a Dark Knight in the blink of an eye.

The Salmere Tribe exclaimed, "Let's shoot arrows too!"

"Fire until your quiver is completely empty! The time has come for us hunters to act!"

The Salmere Tribe hunters took out their bows and fired. Despite shooting two, three arrows all at once, each shot was a perfect hit!

With arrows fired from above, they were utilizing the enemy's sieging advantage against them. Weed relentlessly only aimed at the Dark Knights.

– You have subdued Dark Knight Benson with an arrow.
- Experience has been acquired.

The arrow assault barraged the Dark Knights swarming below.

At a buffet, too, your hand went to the tasty foods first. "Pork roast and bulgogi are must-haves at a meat buffet!"

You had to fill your stomach with rapidly cooking meat. When Weed received his paycheck, he went to a meat buffet with his sister. They only stood after viciously eating meat to the point of nauseation.

The satiety he felt when his belly was so full it was hard to walk... there was nothing more beautiful and peaceful than that memory.

Weed's treasured memories of his adolescence.

"There are monsters everywhere!"

This situation clearly reminded him of a buffet. Attacking weary enemies to increase his experience and contribution!

Since normal soldiers weren't even worth the value of the arrows, he obstinately avoided them. Even if Weed didn't get them, the Salmere Tribe's arrows were pouring down like rain.

"Enemies have appeared."

"We have to stop the arrows..."

The Embinyu Church's army wanted to retaliate against Weed and the Salmere Tribe, but they didn't have a chance to because the Undead army was bearing down on them.

Atop the naturally advantageous walls, they fired arrows over the heads of the Undead. The Undead were involuntarily protecting Weed's troops while fighting. Thus, due to the unexpected storm of arrows, the Embinyu Church's soldiers took continuous damage.

Dead soldiers instantly revived as Undead. The Undead increased exponentially. Simultaneously, the balance of the previously closely matched battle broke and the Undead army pressed forward.

The Vejague Tribe warriors drummed their shields with their swords. "We want to fight, too."

Weed nodded gravely. The current situation could not be solved with arrows alone. They had to bring it to an end when the Embinyu's army was greatly weakened.

"I'll give you a hundred Salmere Tribesmen. For now, go towards the inside of the castle with them!"

"Inside of the castle?"

"Bypass the walls and enter the inner castle. There will probably be Priests and Magicians of the Embinyu Church there. Kill them!"

Using the observation skill he had honed through sculpting, Weed roughly estimated the fortress' structure. The Embinyu Church was still able to firmly hang on because of the fundamental strength of their Priests. Their soldiers took strength from the recovery and holy magic and fought on.

Their resting place had to be raided.

Then the soldiers wouldn't be able to heal anymore, and they wouldn't be able to take the poison attacks of the Imoogi and Undead, and thus they would fall apart.

There were probably Dark Knights protecting the Priests, but the Vejague Tribe was worth believing in.

"But we don't know where the Magicians and Priests are."

"The Salmere Tribe's pursuit skills will help you. Yellowy, you follow them too."

His command even considered the specialties of the three tribes.

"Yellowy, open a path from the front."

MOOOOO!

He wanted to summon Death Knight Van Hawk and entrust the command to him, but he couldn't call him as long as Balkan Demoph was nearby. He couldn't use stolen goods in front of its original owner. In addition, if Van Hawk sought to go away with Balkan then it would be nothing but an enormous loss for himself.

"Thanks for leaving it to us."

"We're going inside."

The Salmere Tribe and Vejague Tribe hunters ran from the walls with Yellowy and entered the castle.

Yellowy's gaze!

The ancient paintings, decorations, and furniture within the castle were on fire. A group of guards and zealots were spraying water to quench the fire.

MOOOOO.

Yellowy's previously naive eyes were filled with rage, resentment, and displeasure.

Some people were so poor they didn't even have a shack to protect them from rain, but they built and lived in a castle this big and magnificent! With now violent eyes, Yellowy struck the ground. The enraged Yellowy's battle speed increased far beyond that of a battle horse. Actually, for an ability acquired at a fairly high level, there was really only speed and unrelenting endurance.

Thud thud thud thud thud thud thud!

Yellowy charged through the corridor wreathed in flame and surrounded with artwork.

"It's a MAD COW!"

"For the likes of a COW to enter our temple! Hurry and slaughter it!"

"We should sacrifice it."

Yellowy rammed his head into the zealots and guards who were warding him off with spears. He fought by throwing his weight into his attack.

MOOOOO!

Yellowy bellowed as he opened a path.

While in the mad cow state, it was as if he had lost his vision and was just charging while ramming anything he saw. He threw his head up, kicked to the side, roundhouse kicked, and even kicked using his hind legs, demonstrating the incredible attack power of the bull!

He fought so well it was hard to believe it was really the meek Yellowy. After parting with Weed, Yellow's coyness had completely disappeared.

Part of the Vejague and Salmere Tribe were able to seize the opportunity and easily bypass the zealots.

Even if they died, Embinyu Soldiers were all revived as Undead because of Dark Rule. Since they had to clear away the Undead, too, it took a considerable amount of time to advance.

Because Balkan, Feylord, King Hydra, and Black Imoogi were all engaged in a fierce battle on the grounds at the center of the fortress, the shaking of the castle walls from explosions was also a frequent occurrence.

In places that had been cleared out, the Salmere Tribe's hunters set up traps. The Embinyu Soldiers who moved through the halls or gave chase took a lot of damage from the traps. Good use of the Salmere Tribe's trap-setting skills was being made within the castle.

The Salmere Tribe discovered the Priests' waiting room.

"It's an enemy invasion."

The Priests, Dark Knights, and Soldiers resisted, but the Vejague Tribe completely wiped them out, even while taking great damage.

The number of Dark Knights was greatly reduced, and above all, the Priests' holy magic was no more. Knights lacking the strength to even pick up their shields were helpless against the long-range arrow attack.

They were able to end it with the Salmere Tribe's arrow attack, and the Vejague Tribe's valiant rush.

With the slaughter of over 200 Embinyu Church Priests, the Embinyu no longer had reserve forces.

* * *

While reaping excellent results, Weed and the savages fired at the Embinyu Church's troops.

The increased Undead army was running to the center of the castle. The skeletons and Death Knights sprinted.

"Seems like we'll go up against Balkan."

Balkan, the King Hydra, the Imoogi, and Feylord were fighting fiercely at the center of the castle. At Balkan's command, the undead threw themselves on the King Hydra, Imoogi, and Feylord. There were times when one side would go on the defensive, but victory did not come easily. Balkan, the Imoogi, and the King Hydra recovered very quickly even if they were hurt. Their health and defense were also high.

The High Priest Feylord's Holy Barrier just neutralized most attacks. Even Balkan's and the Imoogi's magic were neutralized. The Undead couldn't even draw near him.

It was hard to concentrate because of the King Hydra's extended heads attacked in every direction.

"There'll be no end if it keeps going like this."

Weed thought that it was time to make a decision. The weak point of the four-part division was that even if one side weakened, it was hard to finish it because the attacks would just be concentrated on another side.

"There's no time. If this goes on any longer, I won't know who'll go down first. Feylord won't last long, but if Balkan wins or the Imoogi is left, it'll be really tough to get rid of them."

It was quite tricky to fight Balkan's Undead army, the flying, magic-casting Imoogi, and the King Hydra's high Health.

With the Imoogi's wings broken, this was his chance. Weed took out the Copper Plate of Rest.

"Deeeeeath Seeentence!"

A dark energy gathered around the rusted, broken and cracked copper plate and headed into the fortress.

The durability was low, so it couldn't be used many times.

Weed threw down equal sentences on the King Hydra, High Priest Feylord, Lich Balkan, and the Black Imoogi. A dark red stigma was imprinted on their foreheads.

– You have laid the Death Sentence on King Hydra. Health recovery and body regeneration has been sealed for a day.

– You have laid the Death Sentence on High Priest Feylord. He cannot recover Health, Mana, and Stamina for one day.

– Lich Balkan Demoph's ability to Drain Life and Drain Mana have been sealed for a day.

– Imoogi Freykis' Health and Mana recovery will not work for one day.

– The Copper Plate of Rest has 4 durability remaining.

Death Sentence applies critical restrictions on creatures! In return, the Copper Plate of Rest was on the verge of breaking.

Weed used the Copper Plate of Rest again. "Defiled dead ones, follow your true master!"

The Demonic Spirits that had become puppets of the Embinyu Church and were fighting the Undead and King Hydra! The Demonic Spirits rebelled and did not listen to Feylord. Weed used the Copper Plate of Rest to have them attack the Embinyu Church soldiers that were protecting the area around Feylord.

– The Copper Plate of Rest has 3 durability remaining.

With the dark red brands on the Imoogi, King Hydra, and the Lich Balkan, they were forced to take serious damage.

The Lich Balkan's endless Health and Mana absorption had stopped, so he could no longer spew nearly infinite magic attacks.

The one that the greatest blow was probably the King Hydra. The King Hydra moved its nine heads to devour its targets and spew venom, but its huge body was nearly motionless, so it was taking many attacks. It quickly healed when the Embinyu soldiers and Undead stabbed and slashed it with spears and blades, but it no longer recovered.

— KUAAAAAAAAA!

The King Hydra's scream rang shrilly throughout the fortress.

With the Demonic Spirits converted, a battle royal where friend or foe was indistinguishable was unfolding within the fortress.

* * *

"It's a success."

Whenever he used the Copper Plate of Rest, Weed couldn't suppress his nervousness. Since it was on the verge of breaking, the copper plate could be a defective item. There were more than one or two fake or defective items that looked fine on the outside but had unbelievable interiors.

He worried that if it broke even before he tried using it, what the hell could he do!

"As expected, I've got to use this carefully."

He only felt relief after he'd used the Copper Plate of Rest, however carelessness was prohibited!

A huge creature ran amok while destroying the fortress' towers. The King Hydra.

It was coming to attack him after discovering that Weed was the ringleader behind this whole fiasco.

— I WILL KILL YOU.

With Undead dangling from it, the King Hydra was coming at him with incredible force.

Weed clicked his tongue. The appraisal for what he could earn had dropped considerably in no time.

"It'll be hard to get a full price for the leather."

King Hydra had only 5 heads left, and the body was also riddled with wounds. After losing its regeneration ability, bitten by the Imoogi, and having a Balkan's curse cast on it, it wasn't in top form.

The huge monster was near death.

In comparison, Weed, Bingryong, and the Phoenixes were alive and well, and over 5,700 barbarians also remained.

Weed raised his hand.

"Arrow attack!"

The Salmere Tribe fired arrows towards the King Hydra. The sharply pointed arrows' penetration strength increased as they spiraled around and around.

— KYAAAAAA!

The King Hydra cried as it was struck by thousands of arrows.

Weed finally declared, "I've given up on even getting a second-hand price for you."

The King Hydra's leather was heavy and thick. Even so, because it was precious, it wasn't often used to make leather armor. Priests, Elemental Shamans, Summoners, and Magicians could not wear the King Hydra's heavy leather while fighting. The defense also fell compared to steel plate mixed with Mithril, so it wasn't an easy material to sell.

"At best, this material is only suited for making winter socks. Everyone, attack!" Weed made a violent command.

Bingryong immediately flew over and bit into the King Hydra's neck.

A massive body hundreds of meters long!

Bingryong, sculpted from a raw chunk of ice that was formed from gathering of ice and snow, blocked the King Hydra's charge with its hefty mass.

The Salmere Tribe shot arrows, the Vejague Tribe wielded their blades after returning from carrying out their task, and the Lekiye Tribe used magic to strike the King Hydra.

— Savages! To think insects like you would dare!

Nevertheless, the King Hydra leapt about courageously.

Even while entangled by Bingryong, it flung its tail as the heads shot forward and swallowed the barbarians. It even wrapped Bingryong's body with its head and pressed down.

It wasn't an ultra high level boss for nothing.

It was well over level 500, and it held its own in a fight against the Imoogi, Balkan's curses, and the Embinyu Church's attacks.

Weed waited a while. 'Despite resisting like that, it won't be long until it dies.'

For now, he took out the High Elf Bow and only shot arrows.

King Hydra was a stepping stone to his goal, and because there were a lot more enemies he must fight, he didn't deem it right to use up all his energy here.

Although he has the skill Power to Reject Death, he wanted to play it safe because it was only valid for one use.

He only had to wait for the King Hydra to kill itself from exhaustion!

More than 100 Vejague Tribe members had been eaten.

— Something like you can not kill me!

The King Hydra roared ferociously.

It opened its five mouths and shouted towards the sky.

Although it was pierced with thousands of arrows to the point of resembling a porcupine, and those wounds getting bigger and bigger, it refused to die.

"So was that... really true?"

Weed clicked his tongue as he stood before the majesty of a monster that would not fall.

The legend of the King Hydra.

According to the records of the Versailles Continent, the King Hydra would never die until its nine heads are cut off.

Now, they needed to cut off the five remaining heads.

"But there is a limit to King Hydra's vitality."

Thanks to the Sentence of Death, the decapitated heads wouldn't regenerate. It'd be extremely difficult to cut off all 9 heads, but now it was not impossible.

Weed spread his Wings of Light and flew towards the front of the King Hydra.

— KYAO!

The King Hydra stretched its head.

It opened its mouth and thick teeth that could crunch up iron were visible. Its strongly acidic saliva fell in drops and melted rocks. Anyone who gets swallowed up by this monster would face certain death.

"Master, dodge!" Bingryong cautioned. He was wrestling with the King Hydra, so he couldn't save Weed.

"Master, it's dangerous."
"Avoid it!"
"We're going to help you!"
"Master, come back!"

Yellowy and the Phoenixes' commitment were shown one after another.

They were all worried about Weed.

The Weed that his sculptures knew was someone was abused them, made fun of them, and only took the spoils of a battle at the drop of a penny!

The battle fought against Embinyu Church displayed a different side of him, but he almost lost his life because of the faceoff.

Perhaps it was inevitable because of limited vitality and mana, but all of Weed's sculptures apart from Bingryong saw Weed as someone they needed to protect.

'This is my battle.'

Weed folded the Wings of Light and fell from the air.

He dodged the King Hydra's attack and flew to the side of one of the heads to Bingryong's side.

— Kyaooooooo!

King Hydra's heads were aimed at Weed like vipers. The four outraged heads were shooting towards Weed.

Bingryong unfolded his wings to try and stop them, but two of the heads still threatened Weed.

Weed avoided the heads by a width of a hair by flying into the air.

There was no room for relaxed movements. Because of the close proximity, it was impossible to move like so without predicting the attacks.

"Bingryong, I need you to do something for me."

Bingryong replied while biting into the King Hydra's neck.

"What do you want at a time like this, Master."
"Let go of the heads."
"Then you will become its target, Master"
"It's okay. Let go, now."

Bingryong believed in Weed. During the battle of the Northern Expedition, Bingryong wouldn't have been able to hunt down the Bone Dragon without Weed.

As soon as the King Hydra's heads were free, with strong hostility, it attacked Weed. Weed took the priority rather than Bingryong who was right next to it.

— KUAAA!

King Hydra's attacks were menacing and dangerous.

Weed stuck close to it and avoided its thrilling attacks.

He flew below Bingryong and King Hydra's legs and between its armpits to avoid the blows.

When he finished avoiding them all, King Hydra's long necks were entangled up like as if it went through a washing machine.

Weed recalled his experience with his part time job at the laundromat. The ignorant people that were brutally using automatic washing for good clothes worth more than 100,000 won (~$100)! It was a big mistake to think that putting detergent in would solve everything!

"It is best to hand wash laundry."

Weed sat down on its neck and raised up his sword.

"Blessing!"

The Ring of the High Priest that he was wearing covered his entire body in light.

– The Blessing of the High Priest has been used.
- Physical abilities are enhanced for 20 minutes.

It's duration was brief but he decided to use the blessing for the critical moment.

The legendary sword that was said to have cut down an Inferior Demonic Ice Daemon fell and cut down on the Hydra's nape.

"Sword Kaiser!"

His strongest attack skill.

Weed used his sword to cut down the tangled neck of the King Hydra as if it was a ball of yarn. Of course, the thick leather didn't tear with a single cut.

"Sword Kaiser!"

Using his single point attack technique, he struck down his sword as if he was splitting firewood.

"There are no necks that don't get cut after ten strikes!"

Weed did not spare any health and mana for his skills and hit the King Hydra's neck.

Tied up with Bingryong's huge body, the King Hydra's necks were cut off one by one and were pumping out blue blood. It did not revive again.

Then, after all 9 of the King Hydra's heads had fallen--

– Level up.
- Level up.

The violent monster King Hydra, which dominated the Nopren Swamp, has gone into eternal rest.

For completing a great achievement, Fame has increased by 350.

– Strength has increased by 3.
- Vitality has increased by 10.

He had managed to level up two times for getting the finishing blow on the extremely injured King Hydra.

Of course Weed did not forget what he needed to do; to pick up the spoils.

– A large sapphire crystal gem has been acquired.
- A strangely shaped feather hat has been acquired.
- Sophia's Great-Spear has been acquired.
- A total of 3,140 antique gold coins have been acquired.

1 Gold and gold coins are usually exchanged at the same rate. However, old coins had antique value to them too.

"This isn't a bad profit."

He should also check the other items but the battle wasn't over yet.

"Yellowy, come here!"

Weed pulled out his sculpting knife after calling for Yellowy.

Slice slice slice.

His hand movements carefully cut the King Hydra for its leather! Although the leather had a lot of scratches, he still put it aside in case there was another need for it.

Weed even made sure to take the King Hydra's head.

– The King Hydra's severed head #1 had been acquired.

Five heads!

A normal monster's body only left useful parts and disappeared, but since these remained intact, he picked them up.

He made Yellowy drag the King Hydra's leather and its huge heads.

"As expected, there's a lot to gain from a big monster."

This must be how a fisherman must feel when he catches a whale.

The story of the old man catching a whale... There even was a famous novel about a man returning back to land after facing a storm and losing his whale meat due to sharks.

How great must have been the old man's regret that it could resound in hearts worldwide!

Chapter 8: Commander of the Battlefield

Weed, the group of savages, the Phoenixes, and Bingryong took a break.

The original plan was to seek more prey for contribution points and spoils. However, the Vejague and Salmere Tribes' Stamina was dropping, and the Lekiye Tribe was fainting from mental exhaustion, so a break was unavoidable.

Weed held bandages and ran around treating the Vejague tribe.

"First Aid!"

His hands did their utmost to tightly wrap the wounds. This wasn't because he was a devoted saint, but rather, for his objective to drag them further into the battlefield.

However, his saved up herbs soon began to run low. The Vejague Tribe's warriors were the size of mountains and they had many big wounds, so it couldn't be helped.

"Yellowy, we're running out of herbs. Spit some saliva out!"

The bull's thick saliva was used instead of herbs.

After treating the troops like so, they advanced once more.

Balkan, the Imoogi, and Feylord's fight was reaching its final stage.

— Kiyaaaaaaaoooo!

"I'll kill you and turn you into an Undead."

"I will not forgive any of you who have defiled the holy ground of the Embinyu."

They were waging a fierce battle with strong hostility against their opponents.

Balkan's robe was torn, completely revealing his skeleton. He was a high-ranking monster who had covered the continent in blood and corpses! However, his strength was limited by the holy sword in his chest, and because of Death Sentence, it was no longer possible for him to absorb Health and Mana. It could be said that his life had become wretched indeed.

"Evil Undead, return to the place where thou wouldst sleep. Turn Undead!"

Undead cleansing magic! The Embinyu Church's Priests' Turn Undead magic was focused on Balkan.

"Not yet... There is work left to be done here. There are too many living beings."

Balkan was the sovereign ruler of the Undead. He tried to eradicate the Embinyu Church while commanding the Undead, but they stubbornly held on until the end, so it wasn't easy. Moreover, the Imoogi was spewing magic so the damage to the Undead Army was also great.

At last, a problem arose with Balkan's body. Bright light erupted from the holy sword lodged in his chest.

Craaaack!

A large crack formed on his skull, and the Death Aura that had surrounded his body became thin and faded.

"This sword's curse is..."

The Holy Sword was inversely absorbing Balkan's mana.

Balkan's body was wrapped light as radiant as the sun.

"This... I cannot go on. On the day I clear this sword's curse, I will surely have my revenge."

Leaving behind words filled with hatred, neither the Lich Balkan or the Holy Sword remained.

He was not completely destroyed, but unsummoned! Lich Balkan had returned to the location of the Life Force Vessel where his life was sealed because he had no Mana left to compose his body.

The Undead were noticeably weaker after Balkan disappeared.

"Kuueell?"

The Zombies forgot about facing enemies and were in confusion. A part of the Skeletons even returned to piles of bones. The Doom Knights' Death Auras were also weakened, so they dropped like stones from the purification magic of the Embinyu Priests. Leaping ghosts and the innumerable Undead Army wandered about.

"It's too bad Balkan already left." Weed smacked his lips in regret.

Balkan, the leader of the Immortal Legion, was indeed the real deal. He had shown them an incredible sight, demonstrating that Undead worthy of being written in the history of the Versailles Continent had to be at his level.

The Undead Army Balkan made had to be dealt with in order to hunt him, so for most guilds, he was truly an enemy they could not even conceive!

"His ability to handle Undead is far more outstanding than Lich Shire's."

He mass-produced low-ranking Undead, made them fight, and even aided their abilities. If not for the Death Sentence and the constraints of the Holy Sword stabbed into his chest, he could have captured the Embinyu Fortress alone.

A chance to hunt Balkan was far and few in between. Weed would've won even if he had to sacrifice all the garish savages, so it was regretful that Balkan had left.

Even with Balkan gone, the situation was not looking good for the Imoogi. Riddled with wounds, it couldn't even fly due to its torn wings, and the Undead and Dark Knights were brandishing their swords at it. With its movements restricted, there was even a war being waged between the Undead and Dark Knights atop the Imoogi's back.

Indeed, it was hard for the Embinyu Church's situation to be any worse than this.

There weren't even a dozen priests left, and fewer than 100 Dark Knights were left to barely block the Undead Army! It was thanks to the High Priest Feylord emitting divine power and pushing back the Undead Army that they were able to endure.

Balkan, who departed and abandoned the Undead Army. The craft Imoogi, who reserved its strength to breathlessly save some Health. The Embinyu Church, who were trying to drive out the intruders.

This was the place Weed dragged the savages and the sculptured lifeforms to.

— Ringleader!

"Is he the lowly human who summoned Balkan Demoph here?"

"You're the culprit who brought all these monsters here!" The representative of the Undead was one among the Doom Knights.

Weed received violent castigation from the three groups. However, he spread his shoulders wide and spoke tenaciously. "As a rule, the popular guy receives malicious remarks."

His baseless sense of blamelessness!

Weed said towards the Imoogi, "If you were stronger, you would have been able to kill all those ugly enemies. Right?"

— ....

Next, it was the Doom Knights: "Who told him to appear with a blade in his chest? Even Balkan was unsummoned because he was weak."

Then Feylord: "I was originally enemies with you. Who are you resenting and to whom are you griping at?"

Such self-centered statements and endless self-justifications!

"History only remembers the winner. It doesn't even care about the cowardly excuses of the losers. Isn't that right, Bingryong?"

"Master's words are true." Bingryong, who was just as underhanded as Weed!

"The strong is not the one who wins; the winner is the one who is strong."

"You are indeed our Master."
"Smart."

Weed drew positive responses from Bingryong and the Phoenixes by citing the proverbs he'd picked up.

There was still a duration of more than 10 hours left on Death Sentence. However, there was nothing good about dragging the time on!

With the Undead Army Balkan left numbering in the thousands, the Embinyu Church's Priests and Feylord, and even the Imoogi, the battle was not finished.

"Wipe them out!"

As soon as Weed announced the start of the battle, Bingryong stretched his maw wide. Ice Breath shot forth as he expelled the breath he'd been holding in one go!

The pure white Breath shot towards the place where the Imoogi and the Undead were gathered.

While treading upon the earth, the Undead froze in place. The Imoogi covered its body with the one wing he had left to block it, but the Undead couldn't resist and became chunks of ice. The Undead that were outside the Breath's range came charging in.

"Block them!"

The Vejague Tribe Warriors went on the defensive, swinging their hatchets and hammers. They destroyed the bones of Skeletons and slaughtered Zombies.

The Dark Rule magic was cancelled with Balkan's unsummoning, so the Undead army no longer grew.

"Summon Death Knight, Van Hawk!"

At last, the Death Knight appeared with eerie smoke.

"There are... many enemies worth fighting here."
"Then fight!"

The Death Knight waged his battle as he fought on par with five Doom Knights.

* * *

Following the point where the King Hydra's heads were chopped off, there was a festive atmosphere at KMC Media.

"Hurray!"
"He did it!"

As he watched the transmission of the video in real time, Director Kang was as pleased as if he'd done it himself.

The content of the broadcast had passed Weed creating sculptures on the River of Lamentations and the part where Weed took the Guardian Knights to interfere with the Embinyu Church's ritual.

With Bingryong's appearance, the viewer ratings had already exceeded a record-breaking 27.3%. The Royal Road forums were flooded with questions asking about the Sculptor. Due to the appearance of Bingryong, there were also hundreds of questions regarding the Sculptor's connection with the God of War Weed!

"Now all he has left to do is wipe out the remnants."

The High Priest Feylord alone was a top monster, so he was in no position to be careless! Since the Undead army and the Imoogi were still there, the battle was not over.

* * *

Weed was most wary of the Embinyu Priests.

"Feylord won't recover, but it'll be dangerous if those Priests regain their strength!"

The Death Sentence only affected the High Priest Feylord. The Dark Knights and Priests could return to their normal states with the passing of time.

"They must be subdued."

In order to attack the Embinyu Church, the encroaching Undead had to be cleaned up.

"Vejague Tribe, take the lead! Salmere Tribe, lineup in the center! Lekiye Tribe will standby at the rear!"

Following Weed's Lion's Roar, the barbarians quickly fell into charging formation. He was going to bring the three tribes together in a union and use them in battle.

It was undesirable for the alliance tribes to conduct a siege of the fortress and the union had taken too much damage. Since they had neither Priests nor Clerics, the alliance tribes had basically only recovered with consumables.

However, in terrain that was littered with broken wreckage from the Imoogi and King Hydra rampaging, like now, the three tribes became a union with the optimal efficiency.

"Strike with spells and arrows. Attack!"

The Salmere Tribe's arrows and the Lekiye Tribe's spell attack was fired at the Undead group. When their formation scattered, the Vejague Tribe advanced step by step. The Undead rushed in fearlessly, but they firmly resisted like an iron wall.

Weed's sharp gaze examined the entire battlefield.

"Capture the high ground first. Salmere Tribe, fire a volley at the ridge on your right!"

After a concentrated attack of arrows, the Vejague Tribe seized the area. They occupied the terrain favorably and built their line of defense while hunting the Undead.

"The unit Serpic leads, fall back after 20 steps!"

Rather than pressuring the Undead more, Weed made the entire barbarian group turn like a cogwheel.

"Vejague Tribe, fall out and Salmere Tribe, get in front. Fire a barrage! Salmere Tribe, wheel to the right, and Lekiye Tribe, attack with spells. As soon as the spell attack ends, Vejague Tribe, charge as one!"

As he smoothly ordered charges and retreats, the entire army was made a living organism. The whole unit revolved as they adapted to the terrain, rapidly occupied the high ground and moved. It was a cogwheel tactic based on high stamina and mobility.

The Undead army, who had lost their commander, were slaughtered horribly by the arrow and spell onslaught, as well as the axe attacks of the Vejague Tribe.

Though it appeared to be a common tactic for reducing the number of sacrifices as much as possible, the results showed its hidden, gruesome, and destructive power.

If the Undead had emotions, they would have been driven into a state of panic and suffered additional immense damage.

"We can win."
"We'll be victorious!"

The morale of the barbarian unit led by Weed reached its peak.

"Phoenixes and Bingryong, strike the left flank!"

In places where the Undead gathered, Bingryong and the Phoenixes actively scattered the enemies. Their separate role ensured that the Undead were distracted. Balkan's departure robbed the Undead of organized direction, and they were rendered hopelessly cornered.

In this moment, the barbarian unit led by Weed appeared to be a unit of the highest caliber.

"Troops, divide!"

The barbarians had low intelligence, but their military learning efficiency was considerable. They found work that needed to be done faster than regular soldiers and fulfilled their duties.

Weed divided his troops into 3 cogwheels and fought the Undead. The 3 cogwheels made gaps as they intersected with each other, and when Undead were trapped in those gaps, they were crushed.

"Kiyooooo!"
"Doom Knights, advance!"

With the Doom Knights at their fore, the Undead pressed in.

The Vejague unit, which had soon reached its goal by advancing under concentrated arrow and spell attacks, had retreated far to the back.

Trapped within the cogwheel's vice, the front and sides of the Undead army suffered intense attacks and had their forces depleted.

The Vejague Tribe's Warriors avoided battle on the front lines and saved their stamina. When they spotted cracks in the Undead army, they had opportunities to reap fame for their bravery.

A strategy that maximized the advantages of maintaining the distance, the terrain, the concentration of firepower, and scattering the enemies' defence!

The Undead group melted in an instant.

"A path has opened! Let's go!"

Weed ran between the Undead with Yellowy. The goal was High Priest Feylord!

Bingryong and the Phoenixes guarded him from above, and 400 Vejague tribesmen broke away from the cogwheel formation to formulate the storming party.

Divided into small groups, the Undead group could no longer pose a threat. However, while they fought the Undead, the Priests would have recovered considerably. Weed couldn't help but be impatient.

'There aren't many Dark Knights left."

There were too few Dark Knights for the Priests to get the most out of their unique blessing or healing. Weed calculated that he could leave the Priests to the Vejague Tribe.

The Dark Knights were spotted.

"Salmere Tribe, arrow attack! Lekiye Tribe, support them!" Weed's Lion's Roar burst forth.

The arrows fired by the Salmere Tribe fell like rain upon the place the Dark Knights were blocking. The Lekiye Tribe's charms and flame spells were also unleashed towards the Embinyu Priests, while the Vejague Tribe charged towards the defensive wall the Dark Knights erected!

Plastered with blessings and equipped with good weapons and armor, the Dark Knights were extremely powerful. Nevertheless, the Vejague Tribe brandished their short axes and took up the challenge.

Sitting abreast on Yellowy, Weed stormed past the Dark Knights and flew onwards. He planned to simply pass through, even if the Vejabue Tribe took some damage. Towards where High Priest Feylord was!

The corpulently paunchy Feylord cast holy magic. "Oh, Embinyu God who reigns over all the world, we dedicate our bodies to thee. Bring down thy stern punishment on those who defiled this land."

Feylord's ultimate sacrifice spell!

– Embinyu Church's High Priest Feylord has dedicated his body.

Cracks have appeared on the statue of the Embinyu God.

Weed looked up and saw that the Embinyu God statue in the middle of the fortress was collapsing. The statue of the god with 12 arms shattered into thousands of fragments and rained down.

Weed and Yellowy, as well as the Undead, the Vejague, and the Salmere Tribe, were all within the attack range. With nowhere to run, the statue's fragments fell. The metal shards were even exuding a sinister aura.

Considering the size and weight of the several hundred-meter statue, it was a large-scale disaster.

"NO!" Weed cried out.

How the hell could his precious alliance tribes be damaged like this!

Even if Weed were to die, he could revive through Power to Reject Death, but only a few hundred would be left of the alliance tribes.

As large as steel reinforcement bars, the fragments were plummeting down terrifyingly. As if the sky was crashing down, finding a place to dodge was difficult.

Even the all-weather Korean cattle Yellowy would perish.

Terrible damage would be inflicted when they were on the verge of quest success.

"Sculpting Blade."

Weed spread his Wings of Light and took off into the sky. The Daemon Sword he held emitted a bright light.

He had absolutely no faith in whether he'd succeed or not, but he intended to blow away the falling fragments with his sword. For the sake of somehow saving Yellowy, he would try until the moment he died.

Just then, something hot approached.

"Master, we will try to block it."

The Five Phoenix Brothers flew in and wrapped their broad wings around the falling debris of the statue.

*BOOOOM!*

Fragments several meters large exploded onto the Phoenixes' heads, bodies, and wings.

Saturated with the negative divine power of the Embinyu, the statue debris dealt immense blows to even the searing Phoenixes!

In the wide range that the Phoenixes blocked, a great many fragments were falling.

– Phoenix 5 has suffered 3,859 damage to its Health. It recovered 759 Health thanks to the influence of the other Phoenixes.

– Phoenix 5 has suffered 10,112 damage to its Health. It recovered 1,029 Health thanks to the influence of the other Phoenixes.

– Phoenix 5 has suffered 7,326 damage to its Health. It recovered 817 Health thanks to the influence of the other Phoenixes.

...

"Master, sorry I could not protect you to the end..."

– From a severe blow of divine power, Phoenix 5's Health has completely disappeared.

One of the Phoenixes was destroyed.

Though the fire attribute Phoenixes had high Health and recovered quickly, they were helplessly destroyed by the combined physical and divine strength of the fragments.

– Phoenix 4 has suffered 2,905 damage to its Health. It recovered 315 Health thanks to the influence of the other Phoenixes.

...

Phoenix 4 was also killed by the debris. Phoenixes 3 and 2 could not endure the many fragments and also disappeared.

Before Weed's eyes, the 4 Phoenixes disappeared while blocking the fragments.

They could no longer be called the 5 Phoenix Brothers anymore.

"My Phoenixes!" Weed wailed bitterly as he fell to the ground.

Only one of the Phoenixes lived, and over half of the Alliance tribes were destroyed by unstoppable debrises. If Bingryong hadn't covered them with his wings, the damage would have been even greater. Bingryong's Health was also reduced by about two thirds.

On the other hand, the Embinyu Church's Dark Knights, Priests, and Soldiers were also destroyed by the debris.

— GRAAAAWWRR! I WILL PUNISH YOU.

The Imoogi shook his one remaining wing, raising an intense gust that swept up dust. The barbarians couldn't endure it and tumbled to the ground.

There weren't many enemies left. With Balkan, the King Hydra, and Feylord gone, the Imoogi wanted the world to become his!

— How dare you summon me? I will kill all of you and be reborn into a true Dragon.

The Black Imoogi roared fiercely.

The Dragon Fear's might swept through and passed the Embinyu Fortress, where violent fighting had taken place. It affected Weed, Yellowy, Bingryong, and the barbarians, who had lost their will to fight from the damage their comrades had suffered.

"Ughhh, I can't fight like this."
"We can't attack the Dragon. Something sinister will happen."
"It was too much to start this fight in the first place."
The barbarians fell into panic.

– Physical ability will be limited due to Dragon Fear.

There will be a 5% chance of paralysis.
Due to insufficient Wisdom, skill use is limited by 77%.

Since the the Dragon Fear caused this much damage despite Weed's fighting spirit, there was no need to say anything about the primitive barbarians.

'Even if I pull the barbarians together with Lion's Roar, it won't be much help if it's not the Salmere Tribe.'

The Imoogi was an experienced veteran that had undergone and survived vicious battles. It could get from a tower on one side to a tower far away by simply sweeping open one wing. The Vejague Tribe wouldn't even be able to chase it, and they would fall over exhausted because of their wobbly legs.

For a Dragon, which could be called a helmsman of magic, even spell attacks were useless unless they were of a very high level. It was a fake Dragon, but it was by far the strongest monster Weed had ever faced.

Balkan was definitely strong, but for individual force alone, there were none as great as the Black Imoogi.

'But there aren't many chances to use the alliance tribes in battle, either.'

Weed was about to hurriedly use Lion's Roar. Then, in the moment that was was going to utilize Lion's Roar while forcefully freeing his body, which was being suppressed by Dragon Fear—!

FLAAASSH!

A pure white flame emerged where the Phoenixes had been destroyed.

Purification Flames.

The surviving Phoenix 1 flew to that spot.

The Phoenixes possessed the attribute of Unquenchable Fire. Their Health had dissipated due to the Embinyu Church's divine power, but they had left Purification Flames.

Phoenix 1 opened its beak and consumed the Purifications of that Unquenchable Fire.

Its body became more and more slim and elegant as its feathers blazed brilliantly. As if a golden sun had risen, a blindingly beautiful Phoenix 1 was reborn!

– Phoenix has grown.

Taking in the life source of its brethren, its Health has increased by 2.8 times and its Mana has increased by 2.2 times.

– Level has increased by 67.

– The Unquenchable Fire attribute has changed; it has changed to the Power to Dominate Fire.

The Phoenix's mountainous, broad shoulders and large head became as slim as a crane's. It landed on the ground as its bright red tail feathers fluttered.

Arson had reduced the Embinyu Fortress into a sea of flames. The Phoenix glanced lightly the blazing citadel. When it did so, the flames subsided on their own!

It had expressed its Power to Dominate all fire.

— I will engrave into your bones the meaning of true violence, fear, and the horrible price of messing with a Dragon...

The Black Imoogi's words slowly trickled to a stop.

The majesty of the newly born Phoenix was not normal. Bingryong and the Phoenix. The contrasting two ice and fire monsters were glaring at it. It wouldn't be afraid if its body was in normal condition, but it was no exaggeration to call it a critically ill patient right now!

The Black Imoogi naturally continued to talk.

— It's not like I don't have the desire to beat it into you, but in this Versailles Continent where we live together, we must maintain consideration and care for the weak as well as the peace. Let's end this pointless fight here, I have something urgent to do, so I'm going back now.

The Black Imoogi turned around. It looked like it was obviously rushing off!

Before it could even take two steps, Weed spoke. "Hey, you."

The Black Imoogi ignored him and kept walking.

"Hey, come over here."

The Black Imoogi conveyed its words without turning its head.

— Say why you're telling me to go there?

"Where are you going."

— I'm going home.

"Are you joking? Come back here."

— There's something I have to do in a hurry...

The Black Imoogi really did not want to go back. However, when Bingryong and the Phoenix approached, it returned to its original location.

— To be honest, haven't I fought really hard after suddenly being summoned? I killed a lot of bad guys and helped you, so I shall go back now.

The Black Imoogi's sensible logic was this: it was going home since it had finished the work entrusted to it.

Anyone with a conscience wouldn't be able to treat a monster that had spent its body and helped out roughly.

Since the Black Imoogi was outstandingly intelligent, it conveyed an effective and convincing situation, but Weed cut him down explicitly.

"It may have been easy for you to come here, but you need my permission to leave."

— Such an unfair law is...

"The law is far and the knife is close. This earth was originally like that. You have a Dragon Heart, right?"

— I'm still young so I don't have such a thing yet.

A premature fake Dragon!

"You might have it, though. Has the area around your heart been warm sometimes, or have you ever felt strength coming from it?"

— Urk, don't even! I've got low blood pressure, so it's hard to rise every morning. Sometimes I have trouble breathing too...

"So you'll have no regrets even if you die."

Weed brought down the conclusion he had decided on beforehand. A chance to catch a boss monster was rare, so to simply send it off was out of the question.

'Bingryong has probably recovered a lot, too.' He had simply dragged on the time with conversation to give Bingryong a break.

The Black Imoogi's eyes flashed terrifyingly. It had suppressed its nature as a violent monster, and had endured more than enough.

— KUAK! I will kill you all!

The Imoogi raised its tail and struck out at Bingryong. It was a sharp surprise attack, but they were prepared.

"Sculpting Blade!"

Weed rushed in with his sword, and Bingryong and the Phoenix also assaulted. The barbarians had also recovered from their state of panic and were now supporting them with magic and arrows, which was much better than not having them at all. The Salmere Tribe showed the Imoogi a taste of their sharp, wedged arrowheads.

As the Imoogi leapt up and tumbled, it crushed the Embinyu Fortress' walls and destroyed its spire.

After about 30 minutes of frenzies combat, Bingryong tore into the Imoogi's nape, and the Phoenix pecked it torso with its beak.

The Imoogi's massive health was reaching rock bottom.

"Kaiser Sword!"

Weed stabbed his sword into the crown of the Imoogi's head, the fatal weak point Weed had discovered through the battle. That was the sole place where even the Imoogi's sturdy scales that were reminiscent of a Dragon's skin were ineffective.

— KYAAAOOO.

The Black Imoogi suddenly disappeared from their eyes.

Level has increased.
Level has increased.
Level has increased.

– The Imoogi Freykis has lived a long life and has entered eternal rest.

For an unsurpassable achievement, Fame has increased by 760.
The stats of everyone who participated in the battle have increased by 3.

Chapter 9: The Tyrant's Return

The muscular savages that were reminiscent of barbarians raised their weapons and shouted a battle cry.

"We won!"
"This is the result of combining our strength."
"Our great commander Weed led the battle to victory! Hurrah!"

– You have acquired a new title, Commander who Hunted the Imoogi.

Influence when commanding soldiers has increased by 35%.

Maximum loyalty has improved, the effect when training troops has been raised to a max of 20%.

The strength and mobility of the army you command in battle will increase by 3%.

When hunting monsters of a lower level than the Imoogi, soldiers will never cower.

It was a tremendous achievement, but Weed did not take credit for it alone.

"Bingryong."
"Speak, Master."
"You worked hard. It's all thanks to you."
"Thanks for the recognition, Master."

Bingryong had cracks on every corner of his body from the tough battle as he replied with a haggard look.

"Phoenix."
"Yes, Master."

"It's regretful that your brothers were lost. I was able to survive thanks to that, but it would have been better if I had been the one to die; my heart is torn. But because you did the work of your other brothers, I am comforted. You have truly suffered much hardship."

"I will continue to devote myself in the future as well."

"Yellowy."
"What is it, Master?"
"I am watching over you as you constantly labor behind the scenes. Yellowy, you are such a faithful and competent fellow."

Weed stroked Yellowy's head. Since it wasn't something that cost money, he made do with words of praise.

'I've got to at least reward them for their merits.'

There was no need to hold back on giving praise.
Of course, he monopolized the items from the Imoogi.

– You have acquired Jorudia's Signet.

– You have acquired 8 diamonds.

– You have acquired Isuren's Magic Weapon #3.

The Imoogi did not have many items. However, depending on the appraised price, the diamonds could go from 1,000 to thousands of gold.

"I can get roughly 10 thousand gold each for diamonds like these."

Jorudia's Signet was the seal of a now vanished Kingdom's lord. Owning it raised Fame by 150. Besides that, there was no telling if it had antique value or it was a quest item someone needed.

"If there is someone who needs it, they'll appear in the auction site sometime. Since I don't need Fame, it'll be good to sell it off when I need money."

Isuren's Magic Weapon was a product of the talented master craftsman and Enchanter, Jerome Isuren.

"Identify!"

– You have failed to identify.

It was a magic wand, but it was impossible to check even with Weed's identification skill. It was possible that its value could only be known if a Magician personally identified it.

"Must be something expensive."

For now, he had high hopes as he packed it away.

The Sophia's Great-spear he got from hunting the King Hydra was also good weapon. A great-spear suited for use by a Barbarian or Giant, it was way more powerful than spears used by humans. However, because the level requirement was 470, he was doubtful that there was a player who could actually use it.

"If I put it on the auction site then someone will probably buy it."

Weed packed the loot and then pulled out his sculpting knife. More goods to be obtained remained.

*Slice slice!*

He got the Imoogi's meat and leather. By utilizing his Cooking and Tailoring skills, he could get more meat and leather. He manually carved the meat and leather off the corpse.

– You have acquired Imoogi Leather.

– You have acquired Imoogi Meat.

Imoogi Leather: Durability 30/30.

An item related to the production skill, Tailoring.

The ultimate Tailoring material, it is an exceedingly valuable item for making clothes or equipment. Imbued with the power of Mana, it grants resistance to poison and amplifies darkness related powers.

Imoogi Leather can not be handled with ordinary Tailoring skills or tools.

Only a Tailor who has risen to the ranks of a Master Craftsman will be granted an incomparably precious experience and the opportunity to create a masterpiece.

Traces of battle are left on the leather, so its value has been slightly compromised. In order to manufacture it into a product, it requires additional repair.

It is a top-grade Tailoring item.

Options: Amplifies darkness related powers. Increases maximum Mana by 20,000. Has poison resistance, so will not be easily poisoned.

Very light material.

Imoogi Meat: Durability 7/7.

Food. It is also used as a cooking ingredient.

The fresh flesh of a recently caught Imoogi; even if it is eaten as sashimi, it doesn't seem like it will be fishy at all. Preserving the best nutrients, it is a food that provides a great boost to Stamina.

As a Chef, no matter what type of food it is, you'd want to challenge yourself by making some. This meat is highly recommended when one desires to make the best food on earth and when cooking for a lover who is dearest to you.

It is an extremely rare cooking ingredient, and its price is difficult to determine.

It will be an incomparable honor for the person who tastes this. The disadvantage is that it has a slightly fishy smell.

Meat of the highest quality.

Options: The effect of eating 1 kilogram through normal methods

Vitality increases by 20. Maximum health increases by 120. Strength increases by 7. Fame increases by 150.

Greatly aids towards obtaining the title of Gourmet.

There is a significant difference in effects depending on the food created by the Chef and the techniques used. However, there are no additional increases even if more than 1 kilogram is consumed.

The best food material. There was such a colossal amount of Imoogi meat that he had to store it separately.

"It's too bad there's no Dragon Heart, but the meat is quite helpful."

He didn't check it because he was busy, but King Hydra's meat also had the effect of slightly increasing stats.

The effect of raising various stats by 1-2 each depending on the cooking!

No additional effect occurred if you ate more because your mouth and body adapted. It affected the body only once, so only top Chefs should handle this ingredient.

Weed also packed away the Imoogi's head separately. Then he put the wand symbolizing the token of the alliance at the highest point of the fortress.

At that moment.

Ding!

– Alliance of the Deliverers (1) has been completed.

The Matallost Church's neighbors have won the battle with their burning loyalty and courage.

The Embinyu Church's sect has disappeared from here, and the land will be able to briefly enjoy peace until a new danger finds its way.

The scenario quest's 2-step 'Agent of the Niflheim Empire' will proceed after the Mercenary Smith's 'Second Curiosity' quest and the Matallost Church's 'Rescue the Matallost Church Prisoners' quest have been completed.

You currently lack the requirements to proceed.

– As a quest reward, Fame has increased by 3,200.
- Charisma has increased by 115.
- Leadership has increased by 25.

First of all, there was a change in the way the barbarians looked at Weed. There was much respect, deference, and adoration for him in their eyes.

Weed pulled out the Matallost Church's Figure of Death. The statue began to talk.

– Devout human.

Thy efforts have driven away the Embinyu Church and the High Priest Feylord who had persecuted the Matallost Church.

The Matallost Church's existence is not completely over.

Seek those in captivity in the Embinyu Fortress's underground dungeons. The experience and knowledge they possess will be a great help to restoring the future Matallost Church.

In order to accomplish this difficult task, go to the temple of the Matallost Church from the past. In a hidden room, installed is a huge portal by which you can go where you wish. It will connect to the place you want to go.

– Rescue the Matallost Church Prisoners

The Matallost Church Priests are absolutely necessary to complete the revival of the River of Lamentations.

Rescue the Priests who were kidnapped by the Embinyu Church.

The fortress's underground dungeon is a place inhabited by extremely dangerous monsters and the experimental subjects of the Embinyu Church. You must rescue the prisoners and take them somewhere safe.

Difficulty: B

Reward:
Contribution to the Matallost Church.
Large amounts of experience will be obtained by the purification of the River of Lamentations.

Quest Restriction: Failure if all the prisoners are killed.

"I will lead the prisoners to a safe place."

– You have accepted the quest.

* * *

By the time Weed took over the Embinyu fortress, KMC Media had mobilized all of their technicians.

"Put in all the CG effects where they were."
"Sound team, you have to put in the best background music."

"Camera team, why is the film setting like this? A more dynamic and intense dogfight! I mean, capture the King Hydra or Balkan being more active. Don't you know what the viewers want?"

The atmosphere was crazy with people cursing while being cursed.
The viewer ratings were exceeding 37%.

The viewer interest reached its peak when Weed exterminated the King Hydra.

— That guy... just who the hell is he?

— Is the rumor that he's Morata's Lord true?

— But they say he's Sculptor... Sculptors can't exhibit fighting ability like that.

— He's gotta be a Sculptor. He used sculpting techniques.

— It's certain that he is the same Weed who made the Pyramid. I can prove it. Those eyes that rise sharply and estimate the value when japtem drops! This is evidence that he is Weed.

The appearance of Bingryong and Death Knight Van Hawk, as well as the outstanding battle sense Weed showed in a brief moment made the name "God of War" show up as well. However, the broadcasters did not disclose the exact facts.

Even through a continuous broadcast of over 9 hours, Shin Hye-min was as lively as ever.

"At last, the King Hydra's necks have fallen! The monster that meets its complete end only when its 9 necks have fallen! The same monster prestigious guilds could not even deal with has come to die like this."

Even while watching it himself, Lee Jin-gun spoke disparagingly of Lee Hyun, as though it was hard for him to acknowledge. "It's thanks to that Ice Dragon. The mysterious Ice Dragon who had also appeared in the battle against the Bone Dragon. And he was able to hunt it because he came after it was extremely tired. He didn't even fight it alone. Thousands of barbarians assisted him."

"Well, it can be seen that way too. But even the viewers would not have guessed even the King Hydra would die like this. Mr. Oh Joo-wan, what do you think about this battle?"

Oh Joo-wan shook his head back and forth. "It is an absurd battle. The quest difficulty is awfully high. To think the Embinyu Church would be this strong! But to make a dogfight occur by summoning the King Hydra, Balkan Demoph, and the Black Imoogi on top of that... Would a normal person even thought of it? No, even if it had occurred to them, I don't think they would have dared to actually do it."

Shin Hye-min grinned as she replied, "Right?"

"Yes. The finest monsters on the Versailles Continent are gathered in one place to wage a fierce battle... I think this is the first time the viewers have seen a scene like this."

It was as Oh Joo-wan said. The flashy and terrifying battle shown by Balkan, the King Hydra, Feylord, and the Imoogi, overwhelmed and overawed the viewers. It instilled fantasies and dreams.

There are such strong existences on the Versailles Continent.

It made them yearn to become great Warriors like that by repeatedly going through quests and hunting.

"Just where did he get such ample forces! And is there no such thing as fear to him? I also want to meet that main character one day."

Oh Joo-wan expressed deep interest in Weed. Weed, who was fighting to the best of his abilities!

Lee Jin-gun shook his head strongly. "He was lucky. And it'll end here. King Hydra was the weakest monster— the rest are impossible."

However, just a moment later, Balkan was unsummoned.

Lee Jin-gun said rapidly, "The Death Sentence is truly fearsome. One could say it's decisive for a Lich with high mana consumption like Balkan."

He even applauded when Feylord cast the spell of destruction.

"Finally... Indeed, it's still impossible to beat an S-class quest. Those Phoenixes are dying too. The High Priest of the Embinyu Church is indeed incredible."

However, the moment the Phoenix transformed into a new appearance and was reborn, turning the bad situation around—

"Hu, huh?"

The Black Imoogi fought back, but Bingryong, Phoenix and Weed suppressed it.

Weed had completed the quest.

"..."

Lee Jin-gun couldn't think of anything to say.

Oh Joo-wan also had a blank look, as if he'd received an unexpected shock.

Even Shin Hye-min was quiet this time. Granted, she had believed in Weed from the beginning.

'If it is Weed, he can do it.'

It wasn't something that could be explained by common sense, but ambiguous faith.

Nevertheless, who would have believed he would really succeed just like that.

Even in the studio, there was silence. Though the cameramen and staff had heard the outcome beforehand, their shock couldn't be compared to the one they felt while actually watching the video.

The name that comes to their minds now.

'God of War Weed'.

A great many speculations and disputes were taking place in the viewer forum as well as on discussion websites related to Royal Road. It was a quarrel about whether one thought the person fighting the Embinyu Church was the God of War Weed or not.

Lion's Roar, Death Knight Van Hawk, Bingryong. The war against the Immortal Legion he had shown while handling Orcs and Dark Elves.

Disputes were extremely fierce despite all these facts.

— That is Weed. Those are the monsters Weed came out with in previous battles.

— Shouting to lead his underlings is a skill Weed used.

However, the objections were formidable, too.

— If you look at it simply, you could call him the God of War Weed because some of the monsters or skills are same. But isn't it just perfect to mistaken him since even his name is the same?

— I will explain it rationally, logically.

For reference, I have a doctoral degree in Economics from abroad, and I am currently a Fund Manager.

There is a considerable amount known about the God of War Weed. He started as a Paladin of Freya Church, and then changed class to Necromancer. Considering the skills he used when fighting the Bone Dragon, the proof is clear.

But now they tell us that he is a Sculptor?

If he's a Necromancer, then of course he would have fought using Necromancer skills. Rather than summoning Balkan, he would have raised Undeads himself and attacked the fortress.

— The person above, you have pointed out a very important part. You are indeed a doctor in Economics.

Let me tell you about Sculptor Weed.

Sculptor Weed started at Rosenheim Kingdom, and it is estimated that no more than one year and six months have passed since then. There are many people who saw him when he was becoming popular while making small sculptures in Rosenheim Kingdom. My friend also bought a sculpture from him.

The possibility Sculptor Weed and God of War Weed's similar aspects can be attributed to an undiscovered common skill or a monster that can be tamed in specific conditions or handled with intimacy is high.

Arguments continued.

— What about the combat sense that Sculptor Weed showed?

— Don't misunderstand because he is an impressively outstanding user who is the Lord of Morata, etc.. His current outstanding fighting ability may have been specially obtained through the quest.

— Then it makes sense.

— Sculptor Weed appeared a whole year after the God of War Weed from the Continent of Magic sold his account. Just considering the time, I judge it's not him.

Because the God of War Weed was such a big celebrity, seemingly credible false rumors spread extensively. Since they were now saying he was a Sculptor, it couldn't be helped that it was past all belief! Enormous disputes and questions were continuing on every forum.

The fact that the God of War Weed's identity could be unfolded wasn't easily accepted by the viewers. Though it was a completely unfamiliar name to the public, the God of War Weed already had the greatest recognition in Royal Road while being the most mysterious existence.

The God of War Weed who sought only the worst battlefields and passed over no impossible quests— Even though Sculptor Weed had shown several similarities, it wasn't easy to suddenly accept it. A situation amplified by doubts and shock!

Whether Sculptor Weed was the God of War Weed or not was becoming an urgent concern.

* * *

Goddess Versailles.

The name of the continent in the virtual reality, Royal Road. In addition, the balancing system that managed everything, an absolute authority.

The system created by Yoo Byung-jun, the heaven-sent genius scientist.

Royal Road was a perfect virtual reality without any errors.

Even though he had led to the legend, the miracle of creating a new world, Yoo Byung-jun was not happy.

"We just took the first step at last. Isn't that right, Versailles?"

[- Yes. You are right, Dr. Yoo Byung-jun.]

The symbol of Goddess Versailles, an enormous crystal, replied as it emitted a faint light.

The other scientists only had class 3 restricted access; they didn't know about the true functions or influential power of Goddess Versailles.

"Hehe, it took a full 40 years to get here. The project I poured all my dreams into..." Yoo Byung Jun's eyes shone.

* * *

At an early age, Yoo Byung-jun was a child in the countryside who was extremely good at studying.

"Today we are going to learn how to use 3 linear equations. Do any of the students know?"
"Me."

"Do any students know the root equation?"
"Me."

"How about the Pythagoras theorem..."
"Me."

Middle school, high school, and college mathematics and science were too easy for him.

"When is the next lesson, teacher?"

He was the fellow most disliked by the other students in his class! Even though he suffered group bullying, Yoo Byung-jun did not care.

"Idiots. Jerks who can't do anything if they don't group up."

From the time he attended a domestic school, Yoo Byung-jun had already become an academic celebrity.

No matter what mathematical formula or a law of physics it was, he conceived the answer the moment he saw it. He created more advanced new theories and defined laws for them that only he knew. Since high school, he swept through various competitions and even took first in an international mathematical contest. At university, physics, chemistry, bioengineering, mathematics ... He was on the cover of a science magazine whenever he published a thesis.

The genius of the century.

Called the Devilish Brain, a world prominent institute tried to recruit him by offering him an astronomical salary.

His life had only known success after success. Then one day, he felt frustration for the first time.

He met his first love.

He was always feeling apologetic towards her whenever they went on date.

"Sorry I can't buy something tasty every time. Let's go to a restaurant when I receive prize money."
"It's all right, oppa."

She who smiled brightly for him.

The amount of prize money Yoo Byung-jun won was never small. However, he could only live scantily in order to buy necessary equipment for his research. While thinking ahead of others and trying to commence research immediately, money could only leak out.

He didn't want to work under somebody else, and for Yoo Byung-jun, who'd had much interest in basic science, it was an aspect that he couldn't help but endure.

"I'll see you next week. No, the week after next."
"Are you busy?"

"Yeah. Materials I'm experimenting on are coming in tomorrow."
"Don't you know what day tomorrow is? It's my birthday. Is your experiment that important, oppa?"

"Of course the experiment is important. I'll throw a birthday party for you the week after next. Bear with me until then."

He avoided his girlfriend when writing theses or doing experiments. Even when occasionally meeting his girlfriend, he showed up with a shaggy head and in grubby attire since he'd made a little time.

"Did you wait long?"

Yoo Byung-jun always arrived late for their appointment.

Eventually, his nice and thoughtful girlfriend left him.

"I want to meet a man who really values... and loves me."

His girlfriend left him for the man who had comforted her in Yoo Byung-jun's place whenever he was gone.

Even then, Yoo Byung-jun wasn't greatly discouraged.

"Dating? I can go about it slowly after doing all my research."

The ambitious young scientist even thought of love as extravagant.

"After just a few awards and the results of my thesis come out, women will be nothing..."

Yoo Byung-jun achieved his goals. However, she didn't come back.

Although he could meet other women, they weren't as pure as her and he could not love them as deeply.

In such a fashion, Yoo Byung-jun lost the one love of his life. One comes to know the true value of what one has lost.

Too late, he tried to find her, but she was married, even had a child, and was living happily.

"Love? That is nothing. Let's succeed. Let's try to succeed properly in this world."

Yoo Byung-jun entered a physics research lab and announced the outstanding results of his research. He continued accumulating money and glory.

In the physics lab, he was critically betrayed by someone he trusted, and his research results were even stolen. As he grew older, he began to see the world as only unreasonable.

A dirty dark side that grew as he gathered money and government authority!

"Lies, tricks, and politics. There's nothing a mere scientist can do."

Even after rising to the position of research lab director, he had to live while bowing at the waist to politicians. If he developed a commercially valuable technology and presented it to a business, the business reaped the majority of the sweet fruits of his labor.

Yoo Byung-jun's research lab was developing promising technologies one after another, but he could not erase the feeling of helplessness and despondency.

"An award? I've won many since childhood. Fame means nothing to me."

Suffering from vicious loneliness, he wanted to truly succeed.
He even gave up on love to pour all his strength into research.

"A technology that can change the world, I'll develop a truly innovative technology. A technology without limitations or restrictions."

Yoo Byung-jun left his position as research lab director and returned to being a freelancer. Initially, he thought that 3, 4 years would be more than enough. However, as new challenges continued to appear, the time he spent researching alone grew longer. Even after countless white days without sleep, he continued his research because he could not give up.

The new world made at the end of a whole 40 years of research— Royal Road was born like that. Unopposed, virtual reality was attracting the world's money. Unicorn was growing as an unprecedented enterprise.

Not only that. From the last 10 plus years, Yoo Byung-jun used the enormous power of his money to back national politicians. Granted, Unicorn was not a business that required help from politicians.

The politicians built up debt while receiving money from the unknown source. Several political groups were in fact being managed through Yoo Byung-jun's representatives.

Managing army support and weapons supply stocks were among the Goddess Versaille's important functions.

Goddess Versailles was now expanding her boundaries by investing Unicorn's enormous income in places all over the world. Unicorn grew so much that no matter the speculative capital, its political force could not be carelessly threatened.

By combining the immense underground funds and the secret political authority that Goddess Versailles managed, there was really nothing they couldn't do.

"Hehehe."

Yoo Byung-jun smiled with satisfaction since everything was going as planned. The dream he had conceived 40 years ago was about to come true.

"In this unreasonable world... I will set my own law."

A new world was created based on virtual reality.

People would be excited and enthralled by that world, because they could escape the dreary city and enjoy rest, adventure, and challenges.

"Hehe. And the most outstanding guy will appear."

An Emperor with unapproachable dignity would appear in the world Yoo Byung-jun had created.

"He will have the right to inherit everything I have prepared."

The things he had prepared for that time.

Yoo Byung-jun asked Versailles, "How goes the development of the combat androids?"

[123,020 have been completed.]

Androids of small and medium size. Faster than planes and installed with weapons, they were flexible. Necessities in modern warfare, the androids were known to still only belong to two powers, the United States and Russia.

"The financial side?"

[26 commercial banks have been acquired. If needed, 106 international banks can be paralyzed.]

The deletion of client data was a granted, and preparations were even made for the collapse of payment systems. Even a great depression could be incited. However, what Yoo Byung-jun had prepared did not end there. What he had developed the most attentively was bio-engineering.

"Humans are weak existences with many faults. They have great potential, but they can't even use it all."

A renovation using bio-engineering technology! It evolved vision, hearing, cardiovascular functions, and motor nerves. Lifespan was also greatly extended, and antibodies could be made to instantly deal with any diseases. By activating unused parts of the brain, he predicted that intellectual abilities would also be increased manifold.

Moreover, the advantages did not end there.
Vigor, which could be called the most important aspect for a man!

"Hehe. It'll be able to satisfy ten women in one night."

Yoo Byung-jun was of a mind to create a superman.

He would give his heir powerful political authority, ceaseless money, and the right to manage Goddess Versailles. If an evil man became his successor, his false judgement could plunge countless people into agony and misery.

"It's not something I should get involved in. If my heir makes such a judgement, then the world just has to follow it."

Yoo Byung-jun knew that there was not much time left in his own life. Even though he could extend his life through processes like gene manipulation or organ transplants, he paid no heed.

Even if his own body took a hit in the course of preparing the birth of his heir, he planned to sacrifice himself. A man of absolute authority would become a god in the modern world, as well as in the Versailles Continent.

The Emperor conceived in the world he had created!

There was nothing lacking for the satisfaction of Yoo Byung-jun's self-righteous aspiration.

* * *

"Ow, I'm aching all over."

Weed's entire body ached. He even had a fever.

There has been an excessive consumption of Vitality. It is recommended that you rest until Vitality is recovered.

If Vitality is not continuously recovered, you may catch a cold or other complications.

You are now vulnerable to curses and your intellectual ability will be reduced.

While utilizing the Power of the Deliverer, the battle had been utter chaos.

Though the battle had been difficult, it hadn't been enough to be this afflicted. Among the battles Weed had gone through till now, there had been no easy battle without trouble.

"Cleaning up was more tough than the fight."

He had to clean up the collapsed remains of the fortress with Yellowy and Bingryong.

"Phoenix, don't even come."

He couldn't even put the obedient, puppy-like loyal Phoenix to work. The durability of japtem dropped and were destroyed from the high temperature if Phoenix drew near.

Bingryong even had to remove the wreckage while carrying the King Hydra and Imoogi leather and meat on his back.

"Master, why are you making only me work this hard. There are rascals who were born later than me..."

Bingryong had weak strength due to his huge stature. He was fast if gained acceleration, but normally, he was not even that agile. Even so, he wasn't able to refuse to work outright, he just wanted to push it onto Yellowy and Phoenix.

Simply put, he was asking for senior treatment!

"There's a lot of meat, so you have to carry it."
"That's an absurd reason. Yellowy's strength is good too, is it not."

Weed replied as if it was obvious, "We need to store it in refrigeration."

The method to extending the expiration date of the meat! The King Hydra and Imoogi meat did not spoil in the low temperature. It was a certain fact that putting them on Bingryong's back would cryogenically freeze them nicely. The meat would keep for a long time before it defrosted again.

"Move quickly. Work long and stretch your back only once in awhile."

At Weed's urging, Yellowy and Bingryong cleared the wreckage with faces full of only dissatisfaction.

The Embinyu Church's treasures and decorations were crushed underneath the rubble. Weapons and defense items were in pieces, but even obtaining those fragments yielded lots of money.

Yellowy sulked with his tail hanging down.

"Don't pout! Right now is easy. Back when I worked, I had to crawl to the bathroom! You guys, do you think that the chance to make money by digging in the ground like this is common?"

Bingryong and Yellowy could only resent being born by the impoverished Weed!

If you sit, you want to lay down, and if you lie down, you want to sleep. It was a sad life where you had to put aside even your frustrations and work, living according to that ironclad rule. Yellowy carved it deeply into his memory.

"Money is something really hard to earn. I should never spend it carelessly."

Weed and the sculptured life-forms found a large amount of jewels and metal scraps within the rubble. Because he was not able to fit everything into his pack, he had to make 5 new large pack using his Tailoring skill. Made by cutting a little Imoogi leather, the backpacks were lightweight, sturdy, and even had an option to halve the weight.

"It's a waste that the Dark Knights are dead. The EXP and items I'd have gotten by hunting them would've been considerable..."

Endless greed!

"Balkan, that scoundrel, fighting so hard when it wasn't even going to die..."

Blah blah.

"That bastard King Hydra, the hell was it trying to do by completely demolishing the fortress..."

Weed had his own secret method whenever he did difficult work. If he worked while resenting others, his efficiency rose and his fatigue lessened. He didn't need a sense of accomplishment while doing intense, hard labor. He just had to curse absently.

"I met the wrong master..."
"Bad master."

Bingryong and Yellowy worked while resenting him like that. Only Phoenix was loftily grooming its feathers atop a high spire. Even though Weed certainly made the sculptured lifeforms suffer, Phoenix became subject of Bingryong's and Yellowy's hatred.

"The guy that can play even though we have to work."
"Phoenix is the worst!"

After clearing all the debris of Embinyu Church, Bingryong and Yellowy were afflicted for a long while because of excessive use of Vitality.

Though medicines were useless, Weed forced himself to rise. "Before the prices fall... I have to sell them quickly."

He was anxious since he was carrying valuables. Cashing them in as soon as possible was the priority.

Weed went to the Matallost Church's temple. On the brink of collapse, the wall of the dilapidated temple shone faintly.

"So that's where the hidden room is."

When he pushed the wall aside and entered, he saw an inactive, large portal. It was like looking at a mirror made of white light.

In order to make a portal through which one could teleport to another place, an enormous sum of money, jewels, and Magicians were required.

"Still, once they're complete, it becomes pretty convenient to move between cities."

There were teleport gates in Versailles Continent castles and in big cities. Only, there was a limit of only being able to teleport the weight or size of what could be moved in one day, so they couldn't be used in businesses. Since they required mana stones as well as a team of Magicians, even maintaining them cost a lot of money.

Compared to a teleport gate, a large portal put two spaces in one. Of course there were some restrictions regarding weight and count, but compared to a teleport gate, the limitations were less strict. After it was first set up, there were almost zero maintenance fees as well.

"I've already chosen the location for the portal."

Weed immediately decided to open a portal into the heart of Morata Castle. He had made his choice without needing to think of other places.

"Connect portal to Morata Castle."

At that moment, the portal activated with blue light.

Weed strode into the portal without pause. Yellowy followed behind him, ambling along.

* * *

"Who is selling food! I'll buy all kinds indiscriminately."

"Specialties from the distant Belnine Kingdom have arrived. Who will taste this dried fruit peel! It's sweet."

"Come to the precious metals shop, the Goldrich. From specialize precious metals to rare ores, we stock all kinds."

Merchants had set up booths in the plaza of Morata Castle. There were tons of players who had moved to the North for hunting and quests. Having grown large as a city for them, Morata was acting as the capital of the entire North.

The portal that Weed connected opened in the center of the plaza. The blue light that fell in a straight line from the sky grew bigger and bigger, making a broad portal.

"Eh, what's that?"
"I've seen that before. I think it's a movement portal."
"A movement portal is forming in the plaza?"

The traders briefly stopped their commercial activities in surprise.
Onlookers flocked in an instant.

"Could it be a quest?"
"A monster might come out."

There were Warriors putting hands to their weapons and Magicians chanting spells in anticipation of a some kind of event.

Morata's plaza had been on the large side even before it had been developed, and it had grown enormous through city planning. Hundreds of Merchants were doing business, and players selling japtem and even people acquiring team-mates for quests were gathered.

The portal drew to completion in the center of the swarming, crowded plaza!

Weed didn't even consider other places.

'It has to be this place.'

The core of real estate speculation.

You had to invest in a place where people frequently gathered. Near a train station, a department store, or around a mall are the places where business is most swell.

Making a plaza had been necessary to collect movement portal tolls and increase the number of users, as well as to develop businesses.

Why was escalator rather than elevator use always aggressively recommended in malls or department stores? There was a reason for this!

[T/N: To understand this line of thought, you have to know that there are tons of escalators in Korea. Because of an acute lack of space, buildings are built up rather than out. While riding an escalator, you can see products on the side that may lure you into buying them. A plaza performs the same function.]

As soon as the movement portal was completed, Weed appeared from its blue light.

"It's Weed."
"The great Sculptor Weed! Morata's Lord has returned!"

It hadn't been long since the end of the broadcast, so there were many people who recognized Weed.

Weed appeared amongst enormous popularity.

"Whew..." Weed pretended to use his hand to block the stinging sunlight and glanced around.

There were at least several thousand people looking at him. They had come from the tops of the castle walls and even the shopping district buildings to look at Weed.

"It must be due to my fame that people are gathering around like this."

He was greatly satisfied!
Then he heard the words of young merchants selling japtem.

"Soo-il, is that hyung over there Weed?"
"Shhh! Watch your mouth. He might hear."

"Is that person really the violent Weed with the foul mouth and personality from the Continent of Magic?"

"..."

Weed from the Continent of Magic back in the day! In truth, there was no difference between him and a ruthless tyrant.

Chapter 1: Weed’s Notoriety

A huge crowd had gathered when Weed reached Morata's square through the movement portal. People were buying and selling goods in the square as well as recruiting party members. With the Northern part of the Versailles Continent being showcased as an adventure region, Morata was flourishing into an even larger city.

"Please look this way!"

"Weed, Weed! Come hunt with us."

"Are you really Weed from the Continent of Magic?"

There we many people who were trying to get close to him, causing a commotion, asking questions about the River of Lamentation quest, or if he really was Weed from CoM. People even went up onto the castle walls to wave and cheer at Weed.

They welcomed Weed's return like a hero coming home after winning a war.

This was different from the time when he sold cheap sculptures in Rosenheim Kingdom. Weed folded his arms, raised his chin along with his gaze, and emanated arrogance.

"Heh, there are a lot more people here now."

He had to act unconcerned and completely unalarmed, as though the amount of people gathered were a natural course of events.

Abruptly, Weed yelled with Lion's Roar, "I went. I fought. I earned!"

"WHOOOOAAA!"

Cheers loud enough to shake Morata Square to its foundations erupted at once.

"He said he earned a ton!"

"Imoogi! Please show us the items from the Imoogi you hunted!"

"WEED! WEED! WEED!"

His popularity was greater than that of a pseudo-religious cult leader, and the crowd was at the peak of uncontrollable delight. The hopes and dreams of the ordinary people in the Versailles Continent! After all, Weed had returned after hunting monsters others weren't able to kill, and accomplished a quest no one had ever experienced before.

Morata's Soldiers and the Freya Church's Knights mobilized to contain the situation. Only then was the uproar narrowly suppressed.

The Freya Church's Knights bowed their heads towards Weed politely.

"We would like to thank you for defeating the evil Embinyu Church. It is an honor to meet the adventurer who will go down in history as the benefactor of the Freya Church."

Weed replied with dignity. "It was nothing. I did not suffer in the slightest. The fight against the Embinyu Church was extremely dull. It was easier than going into a bank to take a nap on a scorching summer day."

He would take a nap in a bank and read comics in a large bookstore. Those were the excellent cultural facilities that had allowed Weed to spend his youth in peace. Since there were several banks in his neighborhood, they were places where he could go in at any time and comfortably utilize. They even arranged the latest magazines categorically for their customers.

The people at the banks would sometimes gossip, but he simply ignored such things! Weed was someone who had even shared deep conversations about today's youths over a cup of coffee, with one of the older guardsmen he had become friends with.

"He's talking with the Knights."
"They're talking to him really politely."

The crowd broke into whispers. The sight of Paladins speaking to Weed was enough to make their stomachs burn with jealousy.

That a portal would suddenly form and Weed would come out of it, was something the Merchants or Warriors doing business in the square had never expected.

"I think this is the first time I've seen the Knights of Freya acting this friendly."

"It must be because they're talking to Weed, right?"

"Of course it is."

With the Knights of Freya arranged in the plaza, there was no one who tried to carelessly approached him.

"Hmm."

As the ruckus calmed down a little, Weed glanced around the square. The crowd in the square was packed in tightly, like a bag of sprouts.

'The number of players here has really grown.'

The thought of taxes occurred to him as he looked at the Merchants sitting in the stalls they had opened in the plaza!

'Should I raise the taxes or not? Even if I only raise the income tax by 1%, the revenue would be enormous...'

Weed invested all his energy into performing calculations. He was bad at math, but when it came to adding and subtracting money, he had never once made a mistake.

'No, not yet. It's still too early. If give off the impression of being desperate for tax collection this early, I won't be able to unleash a tax bomb later.'

His face paled, and even his expression became agonized.

He needed a clever scheme that would make people feel like he wasn't raising the taxes even when he was.

At the sight of Weed's deeply tormented face, the players gradually quieted as well. Looking at his expression alone, it appeared as if he was tackling a truly enormous problem. When he occasionally grimaced, the players' hearts would drop in alarm.

There were people who had previously met Weed, as well as those who had only heard of him here.

"Was his clinging to coppers while selling sculptures all an act?"

"His incognito skills aren't normal. He went around hiding his identity like that even though he's a player with a high enough level to hunt the King Hydra, y'know."

"Wargod Weed. Look at his expression, is he gonna wipe us all out because his mood soured?"

"They say that in the Continent of Magic, he was a solitary Warrior who didn't welcome even a little fuss or hassle..."

Once the excitement subsided, the people were struck with an eerie mood.

It was because the Weed from the Continent of Magic was a figure with extreme notoriety!

* * *

In a corner of the square, Merchants were chattering thoughtlessly. They were discussing Weed's misdeeds from the Continent of Magic!

"Soo-il, did he really kill people ever so often?"

"Yeah. Weed's nasty deeds were crazy. I was killed five times myself."

"Why were you killed? Were you enemies with Weed then?"

Weed could also hear the conversation between the young Merchants. Since they were discussing his history during his Continent of Magic days, he was deeply interested. it was an important conversation because, depending on the crowd's opinion, he could change the taxes as well.

"There was no particular reason. Once for making him wait because I was taking a long time to buy goods at a shop, once for meeting him by a stream, and once for going into a dungeon he was hunting in. The remaining two times were because I couldn't take his misdeeds anymore, so I joined a coalition and died while fighting as a group."

"He killed people for reasons like that?"

"He didn't just kill people, either. It was literally a massacre. He didn't leave anyone alive, even the unarmed or wounded."

In the Continent of Magic, Weed's notoriety was not limited to monsters alone. Even to players, he was merciless slaughter embodied. With his extremely overwhelming level, amazing skill management, and unique items, he was the strongest player. He trampled on those who challenged him to the point where they couldn't recover, and he simply killed those who were eyesores.

'I didn't differentiate humans from monsters.'

Weed briefly recalled his Continent of Magic days. He killed so much that it was difficult to remember all his opponents separately. He had found absolutely no reason to leave humans alive just because they were players, when he was already killing monsters. He even purposefully sought those who put on airs because they were high leveled players, started a fight, and killed them.

The force of a large guild? He didn't care.

'No matter how well organized they were, everything worked out once I killed them three or four times.'

He used one guild as an example and thoroughly destroyed them. After that, the criticism against him became harsh, and the public opinion of him plummeted. Then he thrashed them again. Without any reserve, he tore them all apart.

After numerous repetitions of thrashing, other guilds also took heed and cowered.

Although coalitions against him were formed several times, he lured them into dungeons and annihilated them one by one.

Weed fought cleverly.

Fighting a group single-handedly was actually an extremely difficult task. He was a demon who took advantage of his surroundings, used items without reserved, and killed his enemies one by one!

The Merchant asked, "Even so, it seems like they don't think too badly of Weed. There aren't many players from the Continent of Magic who would curse Weed."

The Merchant who had been explaining nodded his head in agreement. "Because it was when the Continent of Magic was gradually losing popularity, something new was necessary. Who wouldn't feel satisfied watching him complete unsolved quests, breakthrough labyrinths, uncover the secrets of mysterious dungeons, and slaying extremely powerful monsters?"

People did not hate Weed.

Even in Royal Road, Weed hunted and quested with unmatched recklessness. Though in truth, he couldn't help but receive requests because of his high Fame. He barely finished them by suffering to near death, but others could only give up in the middle without making any progress.

For guilds raising excitement with power expansion or players tired of repetitive hunting, Weed was like a fresh beam of light. Even guilds or players who were completely hostile towards Weed could not help but acknowledge that, at least.

"Even the highbrow guilds completely avoided him because they were afraid of getting in a fight with Weed."

"Was it that bad?"

"He was someone who everyone wanted to become friendly with, even while staying away from him and dying. Someone you wanted to at least imprint your name onto."

"He must've emitted an incredible atmosphere."

"If you were hunting in a hunting ground and heard Weed had appeared nearby, you'd get a feeling of goosebumps prickling all over your skin. You wouldn't know how it feels unless you've experienced it."

You're getting pumped up while hunting with your teammates as you share a peaceful conversation. Then, Weed appears in the vicinity.

A silent and frightening atmosphere.

The problem was not the quest nor the monsters, you'd want to leave your party and go there because you were curious about what Weed was doing.

In actuality, it was to the point where it was difficult to count every individual who had been interested in Weed's actions and had died while following him.

"You'd hear about Weed challenging the quests in the Continent of Magic that looked absolutely impossible, and going into places no one had ever gone to before without even a shred of fear."

"But there must've been times when he failed, right?"

"Of course. He probably failed a ton of times. But eventually, he succeeded. Only monster remains were left in dungeons Weed had gone through, the most awesome moments must've occurred."

The records Weed had established in the Continent of Magic continued to spread for a long time.

"So that was Weed."

"The more I hear, the more surprising and awesome it is. It's definitely fun to hear it from a person who experienced it firsthand."

"The strongest in the Continent of Magic, Weed. That person is the one standing right there; Morata's Lord."

The crowd's eyes were filled with respect!

* * *

Weed folded his arms and looked up. As the movement portal quietly emitted blue light, suspense filled the air.

After excruciating agony and inner conflict, he had won over his temptations.

"Not yet. Taxes have to be raised stealthily. So that people can't feel it..."

If he suddenly raised the taxes just because there were more people, he would meet great resistance.

'It also needs justification. To make them think the taxes really had to be raised, that there was no helping it, I need a justification they can understand! Without it, they won't even accept a tax increase.'

Having overcome his greed, Weed put his rucksack onto the ground and sat down. Weed was the type of person who placed no value on luxuries. Unlike others, he had never gone to a fancy restaurant or bought a meal for female players. He obtained carving tools or even blacksmithing goods through hunting or gathering and used them self-sufficiently.

The sum he had to invest in Morata to reap a huge profit later was enormous, so he needed lots of money.

MOOOOO!

With a cry, a gentle-looking cow emerged from the portal.

Yellowy was being used as a luggage carrier. Even his back was strapped with countless backpacks filled with japtem, acquired from hunting near the River of Lamentations.

The backpacks he had prepared ahead of time had been filled to the brim, and the large bags he had made with his Tailoring skill were also full.

"It should be somewhere around here..."

Weed rummaged through his backpacks and pulled out a sword.

A sword sharpened to a keen edge!

"This is not ordinary japtem! I'm selling japtem, as well as clothes, armor, and weapons in small quantities!"

The start of his japtem sale!

It only took an instant for the heavy atmosphere in the square to dissipate.

"Ehh, what the hell, he's selling goods."
"I was alarmed for no reason."

Because Weed had accumulated such enormous notoriety, even Morata's Soldiers and Knights had appeared, creating a rigid atmosphere. When Weed pulled out a sword on top of it all, the crowd held their breaths in alarm.

Now, although their interest in Weed was just as great as before, the grimness had disappeared and the square's characteristic noisy and carefree atmosphere returned.

"Excuse me."

A Merchant who had been doing business nearby bravely spoke up. In front of the movement portal, Weed and Yellowy were positioned in the very middle of the square.

"Yes?"
"Are you really the Wargod Weed?"
"Heh, I'll leave it to your imagination."

Weed did not deny it. However, the Merchant who had asked nodded his head.

"Looks like you aren't him."
"He says he's not, right?"
"Yeah. He's not him."
"..."

That was the judgement the Merchants made on their own. On the other hand, there were quite a few people who believed Weed was the Continent of Magic's Wargod. The people who personally watched Weed's adventure through the broadcast thought differently, and they were also divided based on their judgements of his level or profession. However, the majority of people couldn't decide which side was right and were still on the fence.

The Merchants looked greedily at Weed and Yellowy's backpacks.

"But, ah, you have quite a lot of japtem."

"That's because I hunted diligently." Weed replied indifferently as he laid out his japtem. Customers hadn't arrived yet, and he was preparing to do business.

As he gazed avariciously at the laid out japtem, the Merchant proposed, "Would you be willing to sell all that japtem to me? I'll give you a good price for them."

Weed shook his head. "I will sell them myself."

"But it'll be better for me, a Merchant, to take care of them. Business is not so easy."

The Merchant gave him advice, but Weed didn't need to pay attention to him. He had become skilled at business since he was 10 years old. His learning had started by following a grandma selling vegetables in the marketplace!

"Caltrop Antennas! Black Wild Boar Fangs! I don't sell to just anyone. Since they're not cheap japtem, you can just take a look and go."

Weed began advertising his goods to the gathered players.

"Antennas? Fangs? What kind of japtem are they to be so expensive?"

The prices they reaped when sold at a general goods store were fantastic.

Weed had hunted and gathered japtem exclusive to the River of Lamentations. Since there wasn't anyone else who had gone to the River of Lamentations through the movement portal yet, it was not an exaggeration to say that these products were first-rate specialties right now.

There were truly many things the crowd had wanted to ask while looking at Weed after he appeared through the movement portal.

About the quest and the Wargod Weed!

However, once he started putting out japtem, the people wanting to buy goods rushed in before the curious crowd could start asking.

Both Merchants and Wizards were greatly amazed when they Identified the antennas. It was a material for a magic staff that could amplify lightning. If it was taken to an Enchanter, the antennas could receive a value greater than their weight in gold.

A Magician shouted out the greatest value that he could offer as soon as he checked the information. "I'll buy them! I can buy the antennas for 350 Gold each. All of them!"

"I'll purchase for 533 Gold."
"539 Gold!"
"I'll buy for 540 Gold."
"I'll purchase with all the money I have, 555 Gold."

The values of japtem were usually fixed. However, Merchants could use their Accounting skills to sell goods they had purchased from players for a better price in stores. They could even receive better offers depending on their Intimacy, public contribution, and the donations they had made for the village's development. Magicians could personally process them before handing them over to a Blacksmith.

"Buy for 570 Gold!" shouted a cheeky-looking Merchant with a huge potbelly.

"580 Gold!"
"I'll buy all of them for 600 Gold."

There was great profit in being the first to sell rare japtem to a store. A sale for the sake of raising Accounting skill and Fame!

Weed ripped off even the Merchants. He successfully sold off all the antennas he had for 620 Gold each, and 320 Gold for the fangs. He was satisfied since it was higher than what he could get from selling at a store.

It was also pricey for the Merchants, but since they could raise their skills and Fame without even selling a specialty item, it was a profit for them.

Weed pulled out another backpack.

"Now, this here is the Embinyu Church Headband. Trophies obtained while doing the Alliance of the Deliverers quest! Those of you who want it as a souvenir, please stand in line. I am selling them for 15 Gold apiece."

They were headbands embellished with the Embinyu Church's mark. Besides +3 Defense, they had almost no other bonuses. However, they were relatively cheap goods compared to the expensive japtem he had been selling just before.

"That looks good."
"I'll buy one."
"Please give me one as well."

Weed sold the headbands like souvenirs to the crowd. 'As expected, I have to sell them off when the crowd is excited.'

He made discounts and a buy five, get one free deal under the pretext of a special customer appreciation sale.

The headbands also sold out in an instant!

"Then the next thing is..."

The goods Weed put out one after another were japtem that fell greatly in importance! The spoils he had earned from hunting Undead were bones, tattered clothing, and weapons like rusty longswords. Rusted weapons had lowered maximum durability, and they became exponentially weaker if used by Undead.

The Merchants who had been doing business near Weed could only look on in envy at the sight of his goods selling like hotcakes.

"Please wait just one moment, sir."

Weed tidily used his sword sharpening skill and armor cleaning skill to make the exteriors all glossy and smooth.

"These are souvenirs that will draw luck to their owners! This isn't a chance that comes day in and day out. These goods will not be sold after I run out of stock today."

He was selling off items that would never, ever be used as equipment. The leg bone of a Skeleton sold for a whopping 1 Gold!

With the emptied backpacks on his back, Yellowy stealthily left. Then he entered a secluded alley in Morata Square for a secret rendezvous.

His face covered by a robe, a sly man was waiting in the alley.

"You must be Yellowy. I've heard a lot about you."

Moooooooo!

"Here are the goods. Please tell Weed the profit will be divided exactly 6 to 4."

Yellowy understood and nodded. Then his empty backpacks were filled to the brim with japtem.

The man waiting in the alleyway. His identity was Mapan.

"We can't miss the opportunity to sell off japtem at high prices."

The strategy was to disguise even normal japtem as souvenirs in order to sell and earn more!

Weed even inscribed his name into the bones with his carving knife.

Be happy. Weed.

I wish you happy hunting. Weed.

Remember the fierce battle against the Lord of the Undead; Balkan Demoph, Weed.

To be honest, he hadn't even fought against Balkan. He had only taken the barbarians to subdue a small portion that had broken off from the vast group of Undead!

* * *

Topics about the Wargod Weed were posted on Royal Road's forum.

There were a few people showing him respect for having solved the quests on the Continent of Magic. However, there were more people reporting his wrongdoings.

– He killed me for asking how much he bought his equipment for!

– He killed me for cutting in front of him in line at a store.

– At least there was a reason why the two of you were killed. I was killed for being in a dungeon that he was going to hunt in.

– He killed me for yawning.

– He killed me just for being a man.

– I died twelve times. In town, in the square, in the hunting ground, no matter where we met. Later, feeling wronged, I asked him why and he told me it was because he didn't like my name.

– What was your name?

– ShittyIdiotWeed.

– You deserved to be killed.

An enormous amount of Weed's misdeeds emerged.

The forum was centered around Weed. Topics that had always been of interest were buried.

– I was killed over thirty times by Weed. I went at him viciously, you see.

– Thirty times? You're speaking out over that amount? I died over fifty times. There are probably many people who remember the player who bothered Weed until the end; Chestnutty.

– Mr. Chestnutty. You probably never got within a knife's length of him, right?

– Heh. People above, don't fight. No matter how much you all died, is it as bad as me? As for me, I was a ranking player within the top 50 in the Continent of Magic. I even had the rare item Apejan's Circlet. After killing me, Weed took that Apejan's Circlet and equipped it.

– I'm jealous.

– To have gotten an item taken from you by Weed... did Weed use that item for long?

– It was an item he equipped even when he was hunting the Black Dragon. Waah!

Misplaced pride!

Because Weed was such a famous player, there were also many high level players related to him. Players who didn't often reveal their whereabouts in Royal Road made comments. Even players who had risen to the Hall of Fame, posted their experiences from their past days in the Continent of Magic, adding to the legends about Weed.

The record of a former Thief who had followed Weed, undiscovered through dungeon exploration until he died was the highlight.

– Dungeon clearing of the very fastest speed! The sight of him clearing away groups of monsters that surrounded him without fear was enough to give me the creeps. He certainly had fighting ability, but I had never before seen anyone with such efficiency, they didn't even have any superfluous movements. Even while wounded and falling into traps, Weed pressed onward endlessly.

– What dungeon was that?

– What boss monster appeared?

– I don't know it either. I died in the middle of it because I got discovered by Weed.

While wandering lonesomely through hunting grounds, Weed did not bother with right or wrongs. He would simply kill them if they were an eyesore. He even killed guilds that attacked him, and killed those who annoyed him.

His ruthless infamy had accumulated extensively.

* * *

In CTS Media, massive amounts of funding were lay out an information gathering system in the Versailles Continent.

"We can't fall behind in the news. News is far more important than broadcasts about celebrities."

The number of people playing Royal Road was growing exponentially. Not only in the Republic of Korea, but all over the world. People who did not enjoy Royal Road were treated as savages. In Africa, the Middle East, and in South America, the craze was amazing. There was nothing more to be said since even the royals of the Arabian lands and Brazil's drug dealers were addicted to Royal Road!

It would seem as though the international players pouring in all at once would cause a considerable amount of confusion, but they quietly enjoyed the new world. Only a portion of the populace clung to extreme growth, like leveling up or item gathering. They settled in the northern, western, and central parts of the Continent. There were many players who possessed no aversion to experiencing the new wealth of experience known as monsters or different races.

'Heroes of the Versailles Continent,' CTS Media's primary program, was even translated and broadcasted in countries all over the world. As Royal Road grew, the sales of the related broadcasts were also expanding rapidly.

"Nothing draws attention like news. A leading program can only become news!"

CTS Media made contracts with foreign broadcasters before their competitors and even had much better terms. They used the fact that their parent company was a global multinational corporation, to pull the strings with their personal connections.

Enormous sums of money flowed in through copyright contracts, and depending on the sales, they even received royalties at regular intervals.

It wasn't just the capsules that international players bought and utilization fees; as the broadcast industry expanded, Royal Road was about to become the Republic of Korea's greatest source of income.

Because CTS was decidedly foremost in commercial marketing, they reinvested the money they had earned into Royal Road. They wouldn't even dare to dream of influencing the board of directors by increasing their Unicorn stock share. Not only CTS, but even their whole company couldn't compare to Unicorn in sales or cash income.

Unicorn's status in the worldwide economy was increasing with time, so only those who had held stocks in the early stages had been struck with sudden wealth.

CTS Media dispatched reports and invested in players for acquiring Royal Road information. Including castle lords, they persuaded key players using lots of money.

"It would be nice if you did exclusive coverage for our broadcast station alone."

Most users were easily swayed in front money.

"Is it really okay... for us to take this much money?"

"Of course. And please supply us with information about things that happen within the territory you govern, and please block the actions of personnel from other stations, if possible."

For guilds that handled regions, they weren't hard requests. It was too much for them to completely blockade the movements of reporters from other broadcasting stations, who moved under hidden identities. However, public coverage acquisition for another station was something that could certainly be stopped. The guilds were only spoken badly for a few days, so it wasn't really a problem.

"We understand, please treat us well."

CTS Media entered agreements with many lesser lords on the Versailles Continent. However, negotiations did not proceed easily with guilds that had greater power.

One area's rulers had many sources of income. Taxes, bribe money from minor guilds, hunting ground fees, and weapon and armor sales were producing much profit. Prestigious guilds were already steeped in commercial activities, so they were actually managing rather sizeable businesses.

"The contract sum is small, I see."
"We do not move for sums of this size."

They had grown to the point where they even ignored calls from station directors. Even though it was a virtual reality, the big lords of the Versailles Continent held enough authority and power. Even broadcasting stations couldn't deal with such lords carelessly. If they were rubbed the wrong way, coverage wouldn't proceed well, so they had to deal with being in the shoes of the weak. They couldn't even report the misdeeds of huge guilds heedlessly.

"We contacted just about everyone in the Central Continent... how is it going with the South and West?"

"The casting will end for players we have contact information for sometime between today and tomorrow."

"How are their responses?"

"Perhaps it's because there were rumors about trade in the central continent, but they are deciding quickly. I think the casting will end soon because they are many large guilds."

"That's not bad news."

There were many differences between the Western Versailles Continent and the other regions. Powerful centralized nations were positioned in the Central Continent. They were nations that boasted rich lands, mines, and populations. Emerging nations with outstanding potential were positioned in the East, and the South developed magic. There was vigorous pioneering and adventuring in the North. Because the Versailles Continent's area was so large, there were still places where people had yet to set foot in, even in the Central Continent.

The West had a strong nationalist disposition, so it was mostly settled by guilds that recruited native people. In other regions, even if you started in a specific city or village, you could escape the region's influence simply by moving your hunting ground. However, you could not do so in the West, which had many grasslands and deserts. There were many strong Warriors who were tied by blood to nomadic people, so they boasted strong cohesion. Excluding wanderers in the Central Continent. For the most part, guild issues were decided by the native people. Their strength was inferior in comparison to the Central Continent, but the size and numbers of individual guild territories were not small.

"That's a relief. Who are we contacting in the North?"

The Executive Director was personally heading a meeting in the CTS Media conference room.

"The representative of the North would be Weed's Morata. In the past, we had a business relationship."

"Who contacted him? Who was the person in charge?"

"The President's Secretary, Yoon Na-hee."

"Oh? Why did the President's Secretary herself contact him?"

"There was the matter of the President personally deciding to purchase the Continent of Magic account. The casting for the 8 Heroes program was also entrusted to her."

"It's really such a shame. If we had just kept broadcasting, it would have been a big hit..."

The 8 Heroes had managed to bring in decent ratings. However, they had stopped starring Weed because the initial response hadn't been good. After that, Weed had then won the battles against the True Blood Vampires, the Undead Legion, and the Bone Dragon.

Because their competitor KMC Media had gotten to broadcast those instead, there had even been an incident where PD in charge had written a letter of resignation. CTS Media's President had inevitably noticed.

"For now, we'll have Ms. Yoon Na-hee contact Weed."
"I will take the steps to do so."

Chapter 2: Blacksmith of Magic Swords

Kuruso, the city of Dwarven craftsmen, had become famous because of Weed and was being visited by many players. They were impressed when they saw Kendellev's restored water sculptures and went around looking at the cool weapons and armor.

"Hah, I could buy it if I had a little more money... Mister Dwarf, can't you cut the price down a little?"

"Not even one copper."

Haggling players and Dwarves could easily be found. The goods sold by the Dwarves in Kuruso were extremely expensive, even for accessories. People couldn't easily decide to buy. For Merchants, accessories were more valuable trade goods than jewels or gold. They could be sold in any village, and they were good since one could receive a higher price by treating the residents well.

There were Dwarves who liked that Kuruso had become a bustling village, but some Dwarves didn't leave the smithy and were engrossed in their craft.

"Hmmm."

Fabio sharpened the completed sword on the grindstone.

*Raasp raasp*

The sword has been sharpened to a keen edge.
Sword Grinding skill activated!
Damage has increased by 41%

The Sword Grinding skill!

It wasn't a skill only Weed could use, but a technique that could be grasped by any Intermediate Blacksmith. Of course, since Fabio had never learned Tailoring, he didn't know techniques such as Ironing and Hand Washing.

"It has become quite sharply honed."

Fabio turned the sword back and forth, trying to find flaws. The blade was slick enough to perfectly reflect the bearded Dwarf's face!

The most famous player on the Versailles Continent among Blacksmiths was Fabio. His specialty was perceived as armor and shield production, but he was concealing the fact that he actually made swords.

Whenever one of his swords occasionally went out into the world, they created a sensation. They were to the point where people engaged in searches to find the Blacksmith who made the sword.

Weaponry of an entirely different level from the works of ordinary Blacksmiths!

It was normal to acquire weapons through hunting once you reached a certain high level, but the swords made with Fabio's devotion were enough to incite wars between countless players. Having an excellent blade changed the hunting speed. The obsession for weapons and armor in Royal Road was fearsome.

Fabio made swords and occasionally released them into the world for fun, but he thoroughly hid the fact that they were of his make. He moved so secretly that he could be mistaken for a Blacksmith in retirement.

"The Sword Grinding skill is really quite good."

Fabio set down the sword, satisfied.

It was only temporary, but the skill raised damage. At Advanced Blacksmithing 8 and Advanced Sword Grinding 6, he could even bring up a sword's damage by a maximum of 85%. However, the side effects were severe.

"If the sharpness is raised excessively, the sword's durability falls quickly and it goes bad easily."

Used conservatively, there was no problem with 40% damage or so.

"A finished sword is truly beautiful."

Previously an ordinary salary-man in real life, as soon as Royal Road appeared, he had been immediately captivated. There were many professions, but the one that had moved him was Blacksmithing.

One could say that, in the very beginning, Royal Road was chaos. The majority of the players didn't even know how to fight Rabbits well. The appearance of a single Orc would send them fleeing all the way to the village gates, and instances where scores of players died together were not uncommon.

It was a time when one ordinary longsword brought enormous envy and jealousy.

Fabio decided to choose the Blacksmith.

"It was a good choice."

He couldn't leap into the fray of battle, but he didn't regret his choice. He improved his Blacksmithing skill through concentration after making a decision faster than others.

After becoming the most outstanding Blacksmith in the Dwarven village, there was no end to his work opportunities. As his name spread to the city, customers sought him from afar to entrust work to him.

There was always more demand than supply in the field of Blacksmithing. For the best Blacksmith, there was nothing more to be said. He accumulated money while taking enormous service fees, which he then reinvested into acquiring ores to make armor.

A profession that handled and hammered red-hot iron in front of a blazing furnace! Though it was lonely work, he endured and continued to forge.

With the best materials as a basis, he made contracts with upper tier players and supplied armor to them. As he made appearances on television, his supporters increased enormously. He was an idol figure for beginner Blacksmiths.

It wasn't publicly known, but Fabio was the true leader of the guild called "Iron Road." He managed his guild while making them equipment. With more friends than enemies, he even wielded both tangible and intangible influence. Among players of the Dwarven race, there weren't many who could refuse a single word of his.

"Still, the worth of a Blacksmith is in making good weapons."

CLANG!

Fabio roughly tossed the sword he had just crafted aside. Swords were piled up like mountains around him.

"This time, again, the sword fell short of my expectations. The ultimate sword that can cut through anything, no matter what it is. I must make a sword befitting of being called the best in the Versailles Continent."

A Blacksmith's hidden skill set!

While walking the path of a Blacksmith, Fabio had learned unique techniques.

Mineral Smelting Advanced 3 (25%): A technique where ores made of various materials can be completely refined without impurities for use.

Can be called a technique that forms the basis of a Blacksmith. Must understand the will of fire, air, and metal.

Among Blacksmith's hidden skills, Mineral Smelting was the very first one he acquired. It was a technique Fabio had learned when he changed his profession to Ironblood Blacksmith.

"Aahh, it makes me shudder even now to think about that process of changing profession."

In order to change professions as a Blacksmith, he had suffered to death in the smithy. Though he could have gone to the Blacksmith Guild like other players did and made a few weapons or armor to change professions, he did not do so.

Wanting to see it with his own eyes and hammer with his own hands before changing profession, he spent more than a month of his precious time doing chores in the smithy during the initial stages of Royal Road.

The profession changing quest he came to obtain through gruesome process!

"I'll never be able to forget the 'Joys, Sorrows, and Tears of a Blacksmith' quest for the rest of my life."

In order to change his profession, he had to busily run between several villages with his short and stubby Dwarven legs to successfully complete requests. Then, he had to be formally employed by the smithy to receive the quests at last.

A Blacksmith could fulfil quests not only in the guild, but also in the smithy. He tried making not just one type, but many different kinds of equipment. He accumulated Fame as he completed quests as they came in and also made money. Through such quests, he acquired the Equipment Enhancement skill.

Equipment Enhancement Advanced 1 (16%): The potential of equipment can be drawn out in the hands of a Blacksmith.

Through countless failures, equipment can be modified.

The skill that made Fabio famous!

He learned this skill around the time when he reached Intermediate Blacksmithing.

There was a saying: "Never show all your cards." If one were to recklessly publicize their full skill on the Versailles Continent, where there were never-ending wars for supremacy, they could easily get dragged into a dispute or lose their life.

Fabio intentionally hid the fact that he could also strengthen swords in addition to armors through Equipment Enhancement. If he had also strengthened swords, he could have made money by the buckets at the time. He made more money in one day than he previously did in one month through armor enhancement alone. Even considering the fact that, besides Merchants, Blacksmiths enjoyed the most lucrative profession, it was an enormous profit.

However, if it was known that Blacksmiths had abilities to that extent, more people would choose to be Blacksmiths.

"My competitors would increase, and they would never let me be."

Fabio only enhanced armor to a sufficient level. After all, what he wanted was not money, but reaching the peak in his Blacksmithing skills and making the best weapons and armor.

After making money with the Equipment Enhancement skill, he was able to use minerals without limit. He went as far as to purchase the Thor Kingdom's mithril, iron, and silver ores in bulk.

His Blacksmithing skill reached Advanced.

And a hidden Blacksmithing skill he acquired through quests and his connections!

Ego Sword Production Beginner 8 (49%): Can infuse a soul into equipment. However, it requires a large amount of Mana and a special soul.

Results improve if made in a graveyard.

Ego swords.

Fabio experimentally tried imparting souls into the swords he had.

Ding!

All the Mana you possess has been used.

An ego has been granted to the sword. The sword's properties have changed.

17% reduction in damage. 65% reduction in durability.

It now has magical properties.

Depending on the Ego Sword Production skill level and the Blacksmith's magic prowess, the reduction to damage and durability will decrease and more magical properties will be granted.

Training Sword

Durability: 25/25.
Damage: 31-46.

A basic longsword. It is well balanced and made from tempering high-quality iron. As a crafted weapon, it possesses characteristics that can only be seen in a weapon made by a Blacksmith with advanced skill.

A work made by Blacksmith Fabio.

Ego Sword. A goblin's soul is sealed within. The soul is in an unawakened state.

Restriction: Level 180

Limited to Swordsmen, Knights, and Warrior professions.

Options: Lightning Attribute Damage +2. Luck +15.

He had great expectations as it was an ego sword. He had expected something amazing, something impressive to come out!

"It's a huge failure." Fabio scowled.

An ego sword possessed its own self awareness and was a weapon that steadily grew through hunting. For example, a sword with a damage of 40 could increase to 70 or 80 with hunting. It could also unleash certain defensive magic on its own initiative.

A skill that exceeded the limitations of a weapon!

However, there were severe downfalls. Compared to a normally made sword, the damage and durability were too greatly reduced.

"The magical property is nothing much either."

As a pure Blacksmith, Fabio invested most of his stats into Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Concentration, since it was important to be able to hammer strongly and accurately. Perhaps because his Wisdom and Intelligence were low, he had an insignificant amount of Mana, and he didn't even learn any magic. Maybe that was why, but a completed ego sword could only unleash basic magic, and possessed a low amount of Mana as well.

And most importantly, the ego couldn't talk or remember previous battles.

That was because his Ego Sword Production skill was low leveled and he lacked magical prowess.

"Still, since you never know..."

As an experiment, Fabio made his daughter sell the created ego sword in secret so he could keep track of the ego sword's growth. However, the sword met the fate of being thrown away after being used to some extent by beginner or intermediate players. Even if it was an ego sword, from the exterior it only appeared to be a magic item with one or two defensive options attached.

One person thought something was strange and posted on the forum.

– Something amazing has happened.

This weapon, which I picked up on the road, has the power of lightning. It has a maximum damage of 31 to 46. It's an item with lightning damage +2, but when I identified it to repair it after hunting for a week, the minimum and maximum damages had both increase by 1, and the lightning damaged increased to 3.

I'm now thinking of switching to another sword, but... what do you think?

The replies to his post:

– Short term memory loss.

– Don't drink too much alcohol.

– That sword, can you show it to me once? I'm not asking you to just give it to me, I'll be sure to return it.

– I'm a beginner without a sword, please sell it for 300 Gold.

"It'll be hard for Ego Sword Production to show any satisfying results if it's not at Intermediate or Advanced level."

Although the Dwarves were a race that naturally excelled at Blacksmithing techniques, he did think the skill didn't suit him since his magical ability was poor. An Elf or Human Blacksmith would have been able to make a slightly better ego sword.

It was really a shame, but Fabio was giving up on Ego Sword Production.

Magic Sword Production Beginner 1 (3%): You can create a magic sword.

The completed magic sword can show a special ability depending on the characteristics of the material. Can only be used if it is imprinted with magic.

The skill Fabio currently had the most expectations for!

"I'll make the sword imprinted with the best magic."

It wasn't impossible. Materials with magic power could be acquired in small amounts from places deep within dungeons or by hunting high-leveled monsters. He was striving to make the ultimate magic sword with those materials.

"A true magic sword is made by a Blacksmith, not a Magician."

A Magician could invest all their Mana into a sword to grant magic that could be used a few times. However, a Blacksmith created a sword imprinted with such magic.

It was a secret skill Fabio had earned after clearing a request he had discovered after finishing a fearsome number of Blacksmithing quests.

Blacksmith of Magic Swords

The secret art of a Dwarven Blacksmith who hated Akryong (Evil Dragon) Kaybern.

Normal swords cannot wound Akryong Kaybern's hide, and it is foolhardy to fight a Dragon with magic. The Dwarven Blacksmith believed the sole way to hunt Akryong Kaybern was to blast him with magic after piercing him with a sword.

In order to acquire the method of producing a magic sword, a Dwarven Blacksmith must explore the vanished dungeon.

Difficulty: Blacksmith Profession Quest

Restriction: Limited to Dwarven Blacksmiths

It was a profession quest he cleared by secretly leading his guild there.

A magic sword had greater damage than a regular sword, and it also grew by gaining bloodlust every time it absorbed blood. Since it had fewer ego sword-like uses, it could actually be a better method for creating a sword to be used as a weapon.

*CLANG, CLANG, CLANG!*

Fabio silently hammered the steel.

"An absolute weapon, nearly perfect armor; only with such works will a Blacksmith be able to stand at the center of the Versailles Continent."

Since other Blacksmiths on the Versailles Continent were hard at work, even at this very moment, he could not rest.

On the extensive Versailles Continent, Fabio was a great figure who was restraining and concealing his true self.

* * *

The Crimson Mercenary Guild.

A guild proudly showing off its force on the Versailles Continent. Only Mercenaries over level 280 were permitted to join. They operated Mercenary guild branches in every kingdom, and the entirety of the wealthy Nemere Lakeside basin area was under their control. They were the rulers of a vast region, possessing 5 castles and 28 villages.

The Crimson Mercenary Guild was meeting in Haryun Castle, the closest castle to the Nemere Lakeside.

"It's Wargod Weed."

"Guild master, shouldn't we subjugate him?

The Crimson Mercenary Guild's chief, Maren, nodded.

"There's plenty of reasons to subjugate Weed."

The glory of fighting the Wargod Weed and winning!

For the Crimson Mercenary Guild, which sought dominance over the entire Versailles Continent, it was something to be desired.

However, there were some Mercenaries who opposed it while shaking their heads.

"Since the Continent of Magic, he is an idol-like figure for Mercenaries. It's too much for us, the representatives of Mercenaries, to subjugate him."

"There needs to be a justification. If we attack him with no reason at all, how is it any different from thieves who steals from another?"

"How is a justification important? Think about the fame! It's a chance to gain the fame of having won a fight against the Wargod Weed."

"Only time will tell if it'll become fame or dishonor."

20 top ranking Mercenaries were arguing, without budging an inch from their opinions.

Maren, the Chief of the Mercenary guild, had been greedily considering subjugating Weed at first. But, after hearing the opposing viewpoints, he was a little hesitant.

There was glory in it. The title of being the player who had killed the Wargod Weed was very charismatic. On the other hand, they would earn the hostility of the players who revered Weed.

Even former Continent of Magic players didn't dislike Weed. His fame on Royal Road was reaching a peak among general players. As far as fame went, Weed had risen to the ranks of Bardray, whose Hermes Guild was officially the strongest. There was no knowing if striking Weed, who succeeded in impossible quests and was becoming an idol for players, would be profitable for their guild or not.

Naphgel, one of the top Mercenaries, said, "How in the world can you say that bringing out our whole guild and trampling Weed is a chance to gain fame? Is there anyone among us who is confident they can win a one on one fight against Weed?"

"..."

At that, the entire gathering fell silent. Even Maren couldn't say anything in response to that.

Weed had never publicized his level or skills before.

"It'll be tough if we assume he's a normal Sculptor. Who can fight like Weed in the Palrangka battle?"

"..."

No matter how you looked at it, his ability to swing his sword in a battle, with only a meager chance of success, was due to his mental fortitude. Regular players revered Weed because of his courage to throw down everything and take up the challenge.

"Just considering his fighting ability, there aren't many people here who are confident they can win against him. And his real profession may not be a Sculptor."

"Naphgel, you mean...?"

"We can't be off-guard just because he's a Sculptor. With his use of Necromancer magic and the physical fighting prowess he's shown, there's really no telling what his profession is."

Maren was also a ranker within the top 50 of all of Royal Road, but he didn't know his opponents' abilities at all. Considering the fighting ability Weed had shown when fighting the Bone Dragon and the quests he had completed, it was, honestly, daunting.

'We fight as a guild. But honestly... I have no confidence in being able to do a quest alone like that. And, apart from level, his battle sense is at least several times greater than mine.'

There wasn't much information known about Weed.

Being defeated in a one on one fight with many variables would be very damaging. If a ranker of Maren's level died, it would be extremely difficult to regain the lost level and proficiency. He could even be culled from the breathlessly tight competition between rankers. Moreover, a fight with Weed would definitely be put on broadcast, and videos would be posted as well. If he was defeated in such a fight, he had to bear the knowledge that he could also lose his fame.

The image was being drawn in Maren's head!

'He'd tear our guild members apart like tissue paper, and the Ice Dragon, Phoenix, Wyvern... and if he used that uber rare Necromancer magic too, it'd be a big pain in the ass.'

The might of Necromancer magic was publicly acknowledged. There were fierce complaints from the people who actually tried raising a Necromancer about how the class's Stamina was low and that they were hard to raise, but because of the terrifying sight Weed had shown in the broadcast, it was a profession many people aspired to be.

'A Necromancer's magic... his fighting ability is truly nothing short of being called a God of War.'

Weed, laughing brutally and slicing Maren's throat apart in the public eye...

"Ahem."

Maren couldn't take action recklessly.

"I've no thought of losing, but it's a difficult issue, since we can't ignore the 'what if' either."

"And, if we send an expedition all the way to the North, we could be giving the other guilds, who are waiting to pounce on us, a good opportunity."

As powerful as the Crimson Mercenary Guild was, they had as many enemies. They were in a position where they couldn't send out their main force indefinitely.

"Are you saying our guild could be attacked while trying to catch Weed?"

"It's a definite possibility. Our territory will inevitably become vulnerable while our attack force is all the way in the North. From the viewpoint of other guilds, don't you think it's more reasonable to aim for our large, profitable territory than the fame of catching Weed?"

They had many Mercenary guild competitors, and there was no law preventing them from joining forces to attack.

It was an issue with all sorts of worries for the Crimson Mercenary Guild.

* * *

Weed was left with just a few things after he disposed of all the japtem. He planned to find owners for the Sophia's Greatspear, Large Crystal Gemstone, Jorudia's Signet, the diamonds, and Isuren's Magic Weapon elsewhere.

"It'll be good to sell off the Large Crystal Gemstone to nobles after I process it with sculpting and make it a large ornament... it wouldn't be bad to use it when I'm Light Sculpting, either. I'll have to sell the other items through the auction site or the Dark Gamer's Union."

A dresser and dining table made with the large crystal! They would be hard to sell in the North, but they were luxury goods he could sell at extremely high prices in a Central Continent kingdom.

After selling the miscellaneous items, Weed walked along the streets of Morata with Yellowy.

The residents recognized him and greeted him first.

"Welcome, my Lord."

"My Lord, they say you have successfully completed an impressive request once again... Please be sure to tell us the story later. My son says he wants to be just like you when he grows up."

"Count of Morata, I am a Merchant from Rintle Kingdom. It is an honor to meet such a famous man."

Because of the enormous Fame he had accumulated in the River of Lamentations, even NPCs from the Central Continent responded to him warmly.

"The apples have ripened beautifully in our front-yard. We've saved the most delicious apples for you, my Lord, so please be sure to try them."

A woman handed him apples by the basketful! It was a fruit basket she had taken out to sell to the market, but when she saw the Lord, she had given it to him on the spot.

Weed received the fruit basket and took a big bite out of a ripe, red apple.

"Yellowy, you eat one too."

He threw Yellowy a worm-eaten apple. The bull stuck out his tongue to lick it, then opened his mouth wide and crunched into it.

Weed solemnly proceeded to give it a lesson.

"Yellowy, the way people are, they help each other when times are tough. Don't you think things like these are all because of our daily actions?"

Yellowy didn't believe him at all, but he just nodded; he was busy eating the apples in the basket.

Morata had become very different from the last time he had come. Mystical figures were sculpted on the sturdy bridge on the crossway to the Lord's castle. Sculptors, Artists, and Painters had come to Morata and were enriching the city.

"We're building a shopping district!"

"I'm a Painter, please take me with you."

"A Sculptor is participating, leave the ceiling to me!"

When a construction quest appeared, all the artists joined in to construct a beautiful building.

With its crystal clear river and lake, Morata's attractions continued to increase.

There was even a sizeable ornament hanging from Morata's spire, visible from the square.

Adventurer Spenson's hair ornament of Ankia!

Lady Ankia's Hair Ornament, City Ornament

Durability: 80/80.

A gold ornament with outstanding archaeological value.

Options:
The entire village's commercial development speed increases by 2%.
Adventure related experience increases by 1.5%.

Spenson was a very distinguished adventurer in Royal Road; the hair ornament he had excavated after coming to the North was displayed in Morata.

Adventurers could arrange or publicize a special kind of excavated item in a town. They sometimes sold such items for very high prices, but the adventurer received a massive increase in Fame if they donated it to a town. There was also the effect of their intimacy with the townspeople increasing instantaneously, and they could also buy goods very cheaply — at much better prices than an average Merchant would get. Moreover, their popularity with the employees at a tavern was the best! The residents would also go out of their way to find the adventurer in order to offer them quests.

Spenson had predicted that the future Morata would grow into the central city of the North and had left his excavated item here.

Returning to Morata after a long time, Weed could feel the vivid liveliness of adventure.

"It's beautiful."

"Aren't you glad we came here?"

"Yeah. The ambience is good."

One of the changes was the sight of many couples swarming like cockroaches in the vicinity of the bridge and buildings, which boasted great views. Ever since beginners began starting in Morata, many couples had formed. Love, which sprouted while hunting rabbits and foxes!

The consumption and sale of lots of goods by beginners became the pivot of Morata's economic development. There was no main cause for the influx of beginners that rivaled that of Versailles Continent's eastern Rosenheim Kingdom, and made Morata overflow with liveliness. It was a common sight to see beginners with their starting equipment and a wooden sword eating 10 pieces of barley bread sparingly while doing quests in the village.

Morata, a delightful city full of vitality!

The growth in Morata while Weed had been away was dazzling. As beginners appeared, the shops also multiplied quickly. They weren't sellers of cheap baubles, but decent, high class stores.

Merchants and people who wanted to build a house had been stingy with artwork at first.

"What help would such a thing be..."

"Just build it quickly, quickly. Make the warehouse a little wider as well."

However, buildings with outstandingly artistic design boasted much better business. Even if they were the same general store, people gathered in the beautiful building, and so in Morata, investing in sculptures and paintings was no longer just a luxury.

Sculptors, Painters, and Architects gathered to make the city incomparably colorful.

"The song that will be played today is called 'A Night in a Goblin Dungeon'."

Every street corner was decked out with a small stage for performances. In a narrow space, about five steps wide, Bards sang songs and played instruments. It was a sight that could normally only be found in the City of Artists, Rhodium.

In Morata, Artists, Bards, and Architects were respected.

It was the result of the haphazard investment of the money Weed had shed blood and tears for into art by the Village Elder. Other cities or castles spent 0%, or maybe just 1%, on cultural development, but Morata was committing several times as many funds.

There were many beginner Bards, and with the visits of Bards whose names were well-known throughout the Versailles Continent, the lively music became one of Morata's charms.

The tavern, smithery, weapon shop, and armor shop were crowded with beginners and players. There were many players in the streets, as though there was a festival.

"I wonder how much has changed while I away away. Region Information Window!"

Ding!

Morata Region

An area that once belonged to the Niflheim Empire.

This region is the most prosperous in the Northern Versailles Continent and continues to develop. Merchants actively carry out trade, and there are many customers in the stores. Art is spread throughout, attracting tourists. Due to culture, there is an influx of population and the creation of new jobs. The newly arriving population is showing boosts in all jobs.

Military

47

Economy

821

Culture

1,130

Technology

310

Religious Influence

89

Regional Politics

22

Influence on nearby regions

41%

The former Niflheim Empire's influence: 3.6% (Deeply influences areas related to military, economy, culture, technology, religion, population, and quests)

City Development

106

Sanitation

41

Security

69%

The water facilities have been cleaned, and new houses built. However, they are still inadequate to fulfil the needs of the explosively increasing residents.

New residents want a greater investment in security. They want to expand the village's territory to a wider region and increase the number of monster subjugations.

There are residents who vaguely remember the festival that took place a long time ago.

The large number of sculptures are bringing happiness to the lives of the residents. There is a slight insufficiency of paintings. The endless trust and support for Artists is heightening the village's dignity. The residents have become proud of having more artworks than other villages and want to continue to invest in related guilds.

The tailoring industry's techniques continue to be passed down. With the appearance of many new Tailors, the prospects for the future are bright.

Techniques for handling iron are still basic; Blacksmiths producing weapons or armor are very inexperienced.

The region believes in the Faith of Freya. The residents' faith is firm and will not sway easily. Moderate hedonism and fertility are increased as a result of the Church of Freya's influence; the people show a diligent nature.

Specialities

Leather and cloth. Art.

Total Population

168,101

Monthly Tax Income

178,045 Gold

Village Operating Expenses

Military

5%

Economy

32%

Culture

14%

Requests and Monster Subjugations

9%

Town Maintenance

31%

Offerings to the Church of Freya

9%

The explosive increase in tax revenue as a consequence of the population increase, commercial development, and the influx of Mercenaries and Adventurers!

"Heh."

Weed made a straight face. The corners of his mouth threatened to rise, and the muscles in his face spasmed as he tried to hold back a smile. He was so happy he wanted to roll around on the ground, but he had to maintain his lordly image, especially in times like this, to save face.

"It's nothing much. Tsk, tsk... It's such a primitive and rural village."

Weed, who was rejoicing with furrowed brows and quivering cheeks, revealed a rotten expression!

It was particularly good that the monthly offerings to the Church of Freya had been reduced from 15% to 9%.

"Seems like it was automatically adjusted as the income sum increased."

More was spent on offerings, but the percentage had decreased with the increase in income.

As the budget increased, there were steady investments into culture, military power, economic development, and village maintenance. Since there was also an explosive increase in beginners, Morata could now be called a respectable, mid-size city.

"Granted, I'm still not getting much tax money compared to the number of people..."

Even on the street Weed was on, 86 out of 100 people were beginners.

Low taxes, adventure, free hunting grounds, and the Tower of Light sculpture. Beginner players were skyrocketing thanks to the positive feel Morata radiated.

"The more these beginners raise their levels, the greater the tremendous growth in taxes!"

He had rosy hopes for the future. They were happy thoughts only a Lord could harbor.

Of course, Morata also had many disadvantages.

There were no other churches besides the Church of Freya. It was very unfortunate that players who wanted to become Clerics had a narrow selection.

Technological development was low, and the quality of weapons and armor was low because there weren't many Blacksmiths. Since the amount produced each day was also limited, all the weapon and armor stores were sold out by morning. The beginners had a lot of complaints because even the beginner weapons in stores had to be sold at premium prices. Mapan aimed for that niche market and was mostly importing weapons to earn big bucks.

Weed didn't worry too much. "To deal with the scarcity, Blacksmiths will probably increase later."

To do things like adjust weapons, maintain armor, or reinforce gear, a Blacksmith's existence was necessary! Since Blacksmiths were receiving as much respect as Clerics, there would gradually be more of them.

Despite many shortcomings, the beginners, who loved adventures, were growing while helping each other out.

Weed also stepped outside the village boundaries. In the breadbasket, wheat and barley were growing rapidly. The wheat, blessed with fertility by the Church of Freya Priests, had so many grains that their stems started to bend. There was also a significant number of people who held pickaxes and were going off to mine in the nearby mountains.

"I've got to earn at least a copper."

"We need money to live, dear."

"We can't even hunt as much as we want with the weapon prices this expensive."

"The weapon prices are still better — the armor prices are really unspeakable."

"Phew, maybe it wasn't a good idea for me to choose the defensive Warrior. I'm gonna be hunting with a Freya Church Priest anyways."

Even beginners were carrying pickaxes and were on their way to the mines. Even if one weren't a miner, pickaxing could be done by anyone, especially by Warrior, Swordsmen, or Knight wannabes with robust physiques. Beginners were going to the mines with slumped shoulders in order to earn money.

"This is a highly desirable sight."

The corners of Weed's mouth rose at last. The flawless re-emergence of that rotten smile!

That the exploitation was rolling smoothly was no different from evidence that Morata's economy was healthy.

Chapter 3: The Lord of Morata

The Lord of Morata

Yoon Na-hee was buoyant with expectation. "It's an opportunity to meet with him in person."

A meeting with Lee Hyun!

They couldn't make a contract with just three phone calls, so this time she was going to take the contract form herself after making an appointment.

Even though she was an employee at the level of working in a President's secretary office, she had never met someone who had made as strong of an impression as Lee Hyun had. Simply thinking of Lee Hyun was enough to make her heart tremble.

"He is someone who thinks of 3 billion (~3 million dollars) as chump change on the street."

In their first phone call, he had brusquely hung up even when he was told his account had been auctioned at a sum of 3 billion, 9 million Won.

Wasn’t he truly the ideal specimen of a man that Yoon Na-hee had always dreamt of?! She still couldn’t forget the refreshing shock she’d gotten then.

They had shared short conversations together as she took charge of the casting for the 8 Heroes program as well. At that time, Lee Hyun's level had only been 219. Yoon Na-hee was a player of Royal Road as well, and she had actually been at a higher level than him.

But even making light of him lasted for only a moment. The True Blood Vampire quest, the quest with the Immortal Legion battle, hunting the Bone Dragon, and even seizing the Embinyu Fortress!

Yoon Na-hee only saw him through the videos of another broadcaster — the manly, so very dashing sight of him commanding all the Orcs and Dark Elves as the Orc Karichwi! She was such an avid fan that she printed out an enlarged picture of Orc Karichwi and pasted it on her wall.

"Hmm, would it be okay to call him out of the blue?"

Yoon Na-hee abruptly decided to call him offhandedly. She did so because her position in the President's secretary office and looks of her caliber made her welcome to anyone and everyone. However, once she was actually about to have a phone call with Lee Hyun, she was so nervous that it was hard to speak.

Yoon Na-hee prepared herself and dialed in Lee Hyun's phone number. The receiver picked up the call before the bell rang twice.

Click!

"Hello, this is Yoon Na-hee. You remember me, right?"

She began speaking with an intimate, yet meltingly honeyed voice. She worried for a moment about what she would do if the person on the other end wasn't Lee Hyun, but fortunately it was the right person.

– Who is it?

Lee Hyun's curt voice came through the call. The already tense Yoon Na-hee could not help but be overwhelmed.

"That, I am Yoon Na-hee."

Since this was their third call, there was an understanding that he would at least remember her name.

– So what?
"......"

– I'm busy so please don't keep calling.

— Beeeeeeeep —

Lee Hyun had hung up.

* * *

On the hill where Weed had sculpted the Tower of Light in the past, was crowded with visitors even in broad daylight. There were tourists who were looking at the Tower of Light, while going as far as to wait for the evening to come. There were several sculptures Weed had made on the hill, and beginner Sculptors also brandished their skills to make works of art in the empty spaces.

It was worthy of being called an excellent sculpture park. This hill had already become quite famous in the Versailles Continent as the Light Park. Moreover, a fabulous view of Morata village and the Lord's Castle could be seen from the hill! The pretty buildings and the Goddess Freya Statue were visible from above.

Weed went up to that place with Yellowy.

"It's the Lord of Morata."

"Lord? Then he's the Sculptor who sculpted the Tower of Light."

"It's the Wargod Weed."

As Weed went up the hill, the tourists who recognized him shouted out. Weed went right past them, took a position on the hill of sculptures, and pulled out his sculpting knife.

'I have to make something necessary for the quest.'

He had felt his limitations even while doing the Alliance of the Deliverer quest. His stats were higher than others because he was a Sculptor, but his fighting ability fell somewhat short. Even if he were to make up for it with Sculpting Blade or other skills, he was in a shaky situation considering the quest he had in front of him.

'I can't even use the Power of the Deliverer anymore, and if another enemy like Balkan or the King Hydra shows up, I'll lose for sure.'

It was a battle Weed had used all his cards to fight in. He had entirely used up the Power of the Deliverer that had been in the wand, and the Copper Plate of Rest's durability had fallen, so he couldn't issue the Sentence of Death. He had to complete the 2nd and 3rd steps of the quest as well, but all his cards were exhausted.

He had suffered to death completing the 1st step of the S difficulty quest, so there would be nothing more mortifying than failing the 2nd and 3rd steps.

Slice, slice.

Rocks were cut with every movement of the sculpting knife.

There were many sculptures Weed had thought of making. The Church of Freya did not shun other religions. Therefore, he was planning on making a statue of the God of Lugh, who matched well with Freya. The Church of Lugh revered brightness and was the natural enemy of monsters that attacked under the cover of darkness. It wouldn't be bad to have an Idol of Lugh, even if only to improve public security.

[T/N: Lugh is pronounced as "Lu", he is the Celtic hero of the Sun God.]

'Durability has to be good for a huge statue, so I've gotta make the foundation with stone.'

Weed quickly cut the rock that would become the sculpture's foundation. A sculpture similar in size to the Tower of Light was being made! Statues of Lugh were set up all across the Versailles Continent. Lugh wasn't vague in appearance like Goddess Freya, so it did not take long to sculpt.

"The really important part starts from this moment onwards."

Weed took a deep breath. The materials were so precious that they made him bead up with cold sweat, but an investment in the sculpture was necessary.

He was at Advanced Sculpting 6. If he made just a few more sculptures, he would soon reach level 7.

"It's really a shame, but…"

Weed sorted the metal fragments he had acquired at the Embinyu Fortress. Excluding the blacksmithing materials with high solidity, he melted the broken metal shards.

"Aahhh, precious things..."

Glowing yellow, the molten gold was completed.

When a Blacksmith improved their skill, they could paint on a thin layer of gold. In technical terms, gilt!

"I won't even be able to paint half of it with this much…" Even after melting all the metal shards in Weed's possession, it was slightly insufficient to paint the entirety of the huge statue. "Should I try mixing in a few impurities?"

Weed shook his head. It would deal a blow to the sculpture if the gold's purity was lowered.

"The gold has to be 24k no matter what."

Weed melted in the ancient gold coins and the gold bars he had acquired from hunting.

"Aaahh, these precious things."

Every time he stirred with a rod, the molten gold was mixed as it let off an indescribable luster. For Weed, who had only ever stirred watery soup, it was a luxury among luxuries.

The tourists couldn't repress their astonishment.

"Is Sculptor Weed making an enormous statue right now?"

"It looks like he's gonna cover it all in gold."

They were curious about how the idol of Lugh would turn out. That was the way things were; no matter what it was, the expectant mentality would amplify right before something was finished.

As it was Weed, the tourists kept on increasing.

"How much tax did he scrape from Morata to be able to invest in a sculpture like that?"

"As expected, Lords must have a ton of money."

"I'm telling you, they're all scammers and thieves. How much money do you think he earned as players gathered in the North?"

There was even the appearance of those who saw him as a millionaire and envied him. However, Weed's fame was enormous.

"Do not criticize our Lord!"

"That's right, our Lord is maintaining a really low tax rate."

"He's the one who emptied his own pockets to make sculptures and raise buildings in the ruin that was once Morata. To such an awesome Lord…"

"You don't even know the reason why he was trying to squeeze out every last Copper when he was selling goods to everyone in the market, right? Sob, sob!"

The female beginners who saw him as kind even showed tears at the criticism directed at Weed as they defended him.

"He's trying to get just one more Copper to invest it in Morata. All for our sakes!"

The players who defended him while calling him a living saint; an excellent Lord who treasured his residents and players!

Weed was so taut with tension that he couldn't even give a shit about the the tourists' dispute.

"I can't spill even a single drop."

He poured all his attention into the business of gold gilding.

He had a background of papering the walls in his house since he was little. They had lasted a winter by pasting the newspapers left from his delivery onto the walls, layer by layer.

"Papering must be done quickly! It absolutely must not overlap. It'll be tough if there are bumpy raised parts or crooked portions."

He revived the experience of papering to perform the gilding. Of course, there was a considerable difference between the two. In gilding, gold had to be spread thinly and brushed on, so it had a far greater difficulty.

However, he received assistance from his skills to make up for what he was lacking. He had shitty drawing ability, but thanks to raising his Drawing skill beforehand, there was even a slight effect on his brushing.

At last, the head part was all painted on, and the idol of Lugh's head reflected the sunshine, sparkling golden. He put in blue jewels for the eyes. They were azure eyes gazing far into the distance on a golden head that looked like it would sparkle away at any moment.

The statue of the proud Sun God was being made steadily from the head down.

"Oooh."

"It's so cool."

The sight of the statue being completed was broadcasted real-time on the Internet through the tourists. The golden idol of Lugh made by Weed!

It was completed with a majestic appearance and was even holding a huge bow and arrows. For a normal Sculptor, it would have been too daunting to make just the idol, but Weed had a history of making huge sculptures now. He had kept some spare materials on hand, even when making such a large sculpture, and had even sculpted Lu’s equipment.

Ding!

You have completed the Idol of the Church of Lugh!

Yet another major work brought into the world by the great leader in sculpturing, the pious Sculptor Weed.

One of the Gods on the Versailles Continent, the idol of Lugh, who symbolizes the sun, has been completed. Covered in pure gold, this work will be regarded as precious by the Church of Lugh.

Artistic value: A work by the master Sculptor Weed. 9,112.

Special options:

* Those who have seen the Idol of Lugh, will have 23% increased Health and Mana recovery speed for a day when in a bright place.

* The divine power of Lugh Clerics is increased by 12% for a day.

* Reduces the failure rate of holy magic.

* By the power of their faith, the morale of Lugh Paladins will not falter, and Courage will increased to the maximum value.

* Strength increased by 12.
* Maximum Vitality increased by 20%.
* Maximum Health increased by 25%.
* Item drop rate while hunting increased by 7% for a day.

Effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of religious sculptures completed until now: 1

– Sculpting skill proficiency has improved.

– The Advanced Handicraft skill has become level 7. Abilities that utilize hands or tools are further increased by 8%, and a variety of different areas will be influenced.

– Fame has risen by 499.

– Art stat has increased by 35.

– Strength has increased by 3.

– You have made a religious sculpture. Intimacy with the Church of Lugh has increased, and you will receive their favor. The probability of Lugh Priests visiting Morata has increased.

– For making a religious sculpture, All Stats have increased by an additional 2 points.

He had succeeded in making a religious sculpture!

There was only about 17% until Weed's Sculpting skill proficiency reached level 7.

"A magnum opus or two should be enough."

Sculpting growth became slower the more it grew, but the situation was more than enough to make him ambitious. However, since he had sculpted Goddess Freya and the Idol of Lugh, he couldn't make other sculptures of Gods that didn't align well.

"This is enough for a huge stone sculpture."

An idol of Night, the Thief, or the Barbarian would took a long time to sculpt, and they didn't fit Morata. If he sculpted an idol for Thieves that ended up making the public safety fall and increasing the number of Thieves, it would inevitably be a big problem. An idol of the Barbarian was also out since their robust physiques scared residents unless it was a place where individuals of the Barbarian race lived.

"It doesn't matter. There's lots of things to sculpt."

Weed reversed his grip on the sculpting knife. Since many tourists were gathering to look at the Idol of Lugh, it was now time to cook before it got too late.

* * *

"Weed is the Lord of Morata!"

Among the players who enjoyed hunting and adventuring in Morata, a considerable number of the hunting parties had a great interest in Weed. They had come to the North from the Central of the Continent for stronger monsters and quests.

Tourists or beginners, who had just started, did not care much about the Wargod Weed. They knew Weed was a famous person, but they didn't have much interest in him.

However, for warriors, Weed was a subject of respect or a rival they wanted to overcome.

"Let's go see Weed."

"Do you happen to know where Weed is?"

The news got out early, but they were late to return because they had gone out on an expedition in a hunting ground that was quite far away, even for the North. A fighting party that had just returned from the hunting ground asked around about Weed's whereabouts in the village.

There was a Merchant who knew about Weed.

"Lord Weed?"

"Yes, that Weed."

"Ah, so you came to sightsee. He is making a sculpture on the rocky mountain over there."

"A sculpture?"

"Yes, it's an extremely time consuming and tedious process, so try going over there the day after tomorrow if you can."

At the Merchant's words, the Warrior, Hon, tilted his head. "He's making a sculpture?"

The Paladin, Billeo, replied in a slightly tense voice. "There is talk that his profession is a Sculptor."

"I heard that the Lord of Morata was a Sculptor too. But him being a Sculptor is ridiculous. At least, the Weed we saw didn't have such a personality."

They had died quite a few times at the hands of Weed in the Continent of Magic. Of course, their levels in the Continent of Magic had been a little over the medium range, so they could at least keep up when fighting with their guild.

The sight of Weed, who had slaughtered enemies with unparalleled efficiency!

Hon spoke in disbelief. "To say he's a Sculptor… unlike the rumors, maybe he's not Wargod Weed?"

The Warrior, Garrick, stepped forward first. "We'll know when we see him. Isn't it useless for us to be talking here like this?"

A hunting party of 7, including Hon, Billeo, and Garrick, left for the rocky mountain.

It was a party that gathered the players at the peak of even Morata! Even the Cleric's level was over 300, and his robes fluttered as he ran.

They had been in Morata for quite a while, so they knew easily the location of the rocky mountain where the sculptures were. Since the Tower of Light was there, even they always went there when they came to Morata.

"For the Lord of the village that we have been using as a base to be the Wargod Weed, it's really above our imaginations."

"More than that, for us to have hunted while looking at sculptures he made, should we be thankful or something?"

It was as confusing as being smashed by a blunt weapon from afar.

There were many tourists and beginner players on the road towards the rocky mountain. The beginner players were moving towards the mountain with laughter blossoming on their faces!

"Wow, this is really the best."

"Man, it was a really, really good idea to start in Morata. It's probably just us who can hunt while looking at sculptures such as these."

They could fully understand the beginner players' feelings. The village Hon had started in, was a desolate mining town. He had purposefully chosen the sparse mining town in order to grow faster than others. He did go to a big city later, but even there, he had no real memories of seeing artworks. After hearing the rumor that the Pyramid sculpture had been made in the Rosenheim Kingdom, he had even been a little jealous. For beginners who had lots of insufficiencies, how great of a help would it have been to have the awe of the sculptures at their backs?

"The Tower of Light alone is incredible."

The party, which included Hon, followed behind the procession that was climbing up the rocky mountain. There were many people going up the mountain, and it just happened to be when the sun was about to set. Since the Tower of Light at night could be called the king of specialties, players in Morata never failed to seek it. Magicians didn't stand in line and used flying magic to soar past and incite envy.

Garrick suggested, "Why don't we also fly instead of going like this?"

"Shall we?"

The Magician Easton cast flying magic and the party members floated into midair. At that, players swarmed over.

"Magician sir, can't you give me a little flying magic too?"

"Please float us up too! Magician sir, we beg you."

"Magician sir!"

Easton became popular with flying magic alone. His popularity was no less than a famous celebrities'! Seeing that countless players had gathered around Easton from midair, Hon nodded.

"We'll be going first." They had cleanly given up on Easton. "He'll probably come after us on his own, since he's a Magician."

The party members went up the mountain in midair with the flying magic.

Besides the Tower of Light, yet another enormous sculpture had been completed on the rocky mountain.

One of the party members, a Cleric of Lugh named Hines, couldn't hold back his deeply touched feelings.

"An idol of Lugh is here..."

The sculpture's effects!

Because of the effect that greatly increased Faith and holy magic, Hines' hunting efficiency in Morata would greatly improve. Clerics of the Church of Freya were already enjoying this benefit. Using blessings or healing magic around the Goddess Statue increased the effect to far greater than normal.

The Goddess Freya Party, the League of Male Priests, the Guild of Abundance. It was enough to make many related guilds and parties form within Morata.

"Lots of Lugh Clerics will be coming to Morata."

If the number of Clerics and Paladins increased, it wouldn't be long until a formal temple was erected.

"Where is Weed?"

Hon scanned the vicinity of the Tower of Light. On top of being the shadowy night, there were so many visitors or Morata players that it was hard to distinguish anything.

Billeo pointed his finger over in a direction.

"Isn't he over there?"

Oddly enough, only a place where people were standing in line to eat something was lit up with torchlight.

"Let's go see for now."

Billeo, Hon, and the others flew through the sky and landed there.

A large banner showing food menus was hung up in an eye-catching place.

"Just look at that."
"Huh?"

Dragon Soup

120 Gold

King Hydra Black Bean Noodles

100 Gold

Skeleton Bone Hangover Soup

13 Gold

Grilled Dragon (150g for 1 serving)

380 Gold

Grilled King Hydra (100g for 1 serving

80 Gold

Place of Origin: River of Lamentations Basin. We handle fresh meat only.

"Whoa!"

Extravagant as prices may be, but the contents of the menu was what threw the party into shock.

"Come, come! It's cheap, cheap! Everyone, you have never eaten meat like this. Dragon meat! This is a spicy soup made with Dragon meat. "

They heard the words of the chef who was advertising.

"But it's too expensive."

"Still, when will you get to eat meat like this?"

"Yeah, it's killer 'cause it's a frickin' Dragon soup. Right?"

Customers were standing in line to receive the cooking. There were no tables so it was a substandard business that ladled soup into bowls brought by the customers.

"Could Weed really be here?"

Hon shook his head to and fro, but unfortunately that speculation was the truth. After Billeo asked some customers waiting in line, he had told them the truth.

"They say that the chef is Weed."

"Wargod… Weed?"

"I dunno about that, but he's Morata's Lord Weed."

"Are you sure?"

"There’s a lot of people who knows about Weed."

The residents of Morata had been employed as labor for making the enormous sculpture called the Goddess of Freya. If you put it in good terms, they had participated in the quest, and, because of that, Weed's face was well known.

"He was supposed to be making a sculpture, so why the food?"

"Apparently a shit ton of tourists gathered while he was completing the Idol of Lugh. Morata residents and players came up here to look at Weed too. Isn't it true that an enormous number of players have gathered on the rocky mountain?"

Hon nodded. Even in his eyes, a crowd of this extent couldn't be beaten by a metropolis like the capital of a Kingdom. If there was a throng of people like this in the northern part of Morata, then it really was an incredible deal.

"So they said he's cooking from today onwards to 'receive' the people who came."

"Cooking… who the hell can buy cooking this expensive?"

"Weed tried to sell it cheap, but it seems like players said that he had to charge prices of this extent, at least. Don't be surprised. If you eat 1 kg of Dragon Meat, your Vitality will rise by a whoppin' 20, maximum Health by 120, and Strength by 7."

Hon's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you bullshitting me? Is something like that even possible with cooking?"

"Apparently there are a lot of people who've already seen the effects."

"If it's the meat of a King Hydra or a Dragon, then you can’t call spending this much Gold expensive."

Hon, Garrick, and the others thought it was reasonable. Rather, it was a chance for them to be able to eat precious food. If it raises their stats, they would be able to benefit from it for a long time afterwards.

"Shall we try standing in line too, for the time being?"

"Yeah. When else will we able to try eating Dragon meat? They said it also raises stats, so if we don't take a chance like this we're gonna regret it forever."

Hon, Garrick, Billeo, and the others stood in line. The greed for stats was intense no matter what your profession was. Intelligence and Wisdom were the most important for Magicians, but they would never hesitate to take a chance to improve their physical strength or Agility. Everyone was the same regarding their bodily well-being, regardless of profession, gender, or age!

In such a fashion, the customers waiting to eat the food were steadily increasing.

A soup that literally had a Dragon swum in it and left! Black bean noodles with sauce made using the King Hydra's incredible meat and noodles made of flour! There was barely any meat in the Skeleton Bone Hangover Soup, but it still raised stats like Strength, Agility, or Vitality by 1 or 2. It was because the effect possessed by the ultimate cooking ingredients, the Hydra and Imoogi meat, were supplemented by the Cooking skill.

Weed reaped excessive profits as he produced an enormous amount of food. It was such an amount that an army chef would be emotionally touched if they came and saw it.

"As expected, business is hard at first. Once it starts doing well, it's crazy because of the customers pressing in."

The greatest trouble for a business was taxes! But in Morata, even if he technically paid the taxes, it would all return to Weed's pocket in the end.

Weed employed Morata’s residents to help him with the kitchen tasks. A jackpot restaurant that drew in the customers didn't make food, it made money. As long as it was popular, there weren't many enterprises as profitable as the food business. Especially if you could totally rip everyone off like now!

– Cooking skill proficiency has increased.

His Cooking skill had also gone up twice from Intermediate level 6 to 8. He had worked hard to brew liquor at the River of Lamentation to accumulate proficiency. That had already put him at level 7, but because the King Hydra and Imoogi meat were fundamentally good food ingredients and so precious, his Cooking skill proficiency was still surging up.

The Imoogi meat was even causing a panic, hoarding phenomenon. Because the amount of meat was already fixed, there was an uproar of people trying to buy.

"Weed-nim, please give me just 7 servings."

"I'm buying 12 servings."

The meat frozen by Bingryong was being imported via Yellowy! The meat sold like hotcakes as soon as it thawed. The smoke of grilling meat was everywhere on the rocky mountain because of those who were personally grilling their meat by setting bonfires.

"We also sell Imoogi Bone Broth."

The lightning fast sale of bone broth that didn't even give off anymore grease, as it had been steeped a whole twelve times!

Drinks, which couldn't be left out when selling meat, were also prepared.

"Wangisul at 30 Gold, Baeknyunju at 80 Gold. Quantities are limited, so buy them quickly."

[T/N: Wangisul is a spoof of the popular soju Chamisul, and Baeknyunju is a rewritten form of Baekseju, a rice-based fermented wine.]

The flower girl, who had been captured by the Vampire Torido and turned to stone, Prina, was selling alcohol.

Weed was even selling off all the alcohol he had brewed in this occasion. Because he could get a higher price for restaurant sale than individual sale.

* * *

Adventurers arrived at the destroyed Embinyu Fortress.

"Hmm, so this was the ferocious battlefield."

"It has an eerie feeling, as if something is going to come out."

Hon, Billeo, Garrick, and the others had moved to the River of Lamentations basin towards the evening. They had emptied their pockets of even their change until their stats stopped rising from eating the Hydra and Imoogi meat.

"I see you are eating a lot. I will specially give you a 20 Silver discount for each plate of meat. Since it is very precious meat, please enjoy."

When they heard Weed's words, they were, of course, so thankful that they were moved to tears. It's not like they didn't think he was cheap, but he was the one holding the knife!

After eating the food, they went to use the movement portal. However, Morata's Soldiers and Paladins were blocking their way.

"You cannot use the portal."

Hon asked politely, "What kind of request must we take? Is there a quest, by any chance?"

At their question that was aimed towards getting permission to use the movement portal, the Soldiers shook their heads.

"You must pay a usage fee."
"A fee?"
"Each person is 350 gold."

Having used all the money they had to eat meat, Hon and the group fell into an embarrassing situation.

Looking at the group, Hon asked, "What to do?"

"What else? We've gotta get the money."

The Magician Easton rummaged through his pockets one by one. He had always had the pleasure of making lots of money through the production of magic goods, but thanks to drinking alcohol while eating meat, his pockets were completely empty.

"There's no helping it. Let's take this chance to get rid of things we aren't using."

"Shall we?"

"Yeah, we might as well organize our packs now."

In Morata, the group sold off things like swords and armor they had used in the past, and ores they had stored separately. They were scraping up the funds for hunting by selling the items they had treasured in remembrance. It was true that the movement portal fee was a bit expensive, but the sum was more than worth a better hunting ground.

Like that, they moved to the Matallost Church's temple and sought out the Embinyu Fortress.

The collapsed castle walls and tower, piles of skeletons that looked like they would rise at any moment. It was an eerie night since the riverside was foggy, too, but there were over 80 players who had come through the movement portal like Hon's group. With the excitement of starting a new and dangerous adventure, plenty of adventurers had come to the River of Lamentations, and were looking around the Embinyu Fortress battlefield they had seen in the broadcast.

"Selling goods necessary for hunting. Purchasing all kinds of japtem at high prices."

The Merchant Mapan had come to the Embinyu Fortress entrance and set up shop at some point. Since it was business that only dealt with high leveled players, the margin would be considerable.

"Anyone who'll take a Soldier? I'll fight without sparing myself physically."

"I'm Vittese. Only people who know me, please take me along."

Players who had come alone were seeking parties here. Hon's group didn't need another party member, so they were going to hunt with just their group.

Just then, Weed walked in from the plains. His black mantle fluttered as he walked straight to the Embinyu Fortress. Weed arrived and spoke to those who were looking around inside the ruined fortress.

"Everyone… do you perhaps need a quest?"

"...?"

"I will share the quest I've received. It's a B difficulty request."

It was a difficulty Weed may or may not be able to do. It was underground, so he couldn't drag a bunch of his sculptured life-forms along with him, and there was a labyrinth inside, so it would drain a lot of time.

"What quest is it?" A blond-haired female Elementalist asked in curiosity.

The Wargod Weed. Opinions on him were still divided, but it was the quest of a figure who was believed as a Wargod by many.

"It is the Rescue the Matallost Church's Prisoners quest. It's a part of the linked quest I am doing."

"Really?"

Even if Weed shared the linked quest, the people who joined in the middle wouldn't be able to receive the follow-up quest since they hadn't started from the beginning. If this one quest was finished, it would end with that. But despite that, it was an offer they could not help but be drawn to.

The majority of those who had come here had heard rumors before about the Matallost Church, which was related to the Resurrection Army.

"That's a place related to the Resurrection Army and Daymond, right?"

"Yeah. I think so."

While Weed was stopping the Embinyu Church's plot, the Resurrection Priests had become unable to raise Demonic Spirits with dead ghosts. It wasn't just a fight against the Embinyu Church, but it had been a chance for Weed to grow even more famous as an adventurer. Because of that, the Resurrection Army was currently unable to increase their forces and were maintaining their siege at Fort Odin.

"Where is the quest location?"

"Right here, it is an underground prison."

"Really?"

The players at the Embinyu Fortress, including the Elementalists, hurried to approach Weed. They were going to receive the shared quest since it was a very good quest!

"Please share with me, Weed-nim!"

"Thank you. Please share the quest you worked hard to receive."

Weed smiled as he spoke to those who were thanking him. "However, I will take a fixed participation fee. It's 800 Gold."

"..."

A B rank difficulty quest related to the Matallost Church! Even if the linked quest didn't continue for them, they could receive the reward of other quests, along with EXP and Fame.

Weed, who was making money off endless rip-offs and scam fees!

Chapter 4: 1 Deeply Touching Copper

While the expedition was dealing with the Matallost Church quest, Weed made sculptures. Because the basement of the Embinyu Fortress had turned into an enormous dungeon, it wasn't something that could be resolved in a day.

"There's no end to the world of Sculpting."

Sculpting had developed and changed over thousands of years. Along with drawing, it could be called the foundation of art.

Weed casually created sculptures of animals such as deer, rabbits, sheep, wolves, and foxes.

"They're guys I've made so much that I'm sick of 'em."

He vividly remembered the times when he sold them for just a few Coppers as souvenirs in Rosenheim Kingdom. Those were his beginner days, when he dreamt of making a mountain of Coppers and having fun. Back then, he had just taken the main features and had sculpted them cutely with his basic level of Sculpting.

"The simpler and more adorable they were, the better the souvenirs sold."

It was necessary for them to be light, so the weight wouldn't be burdensome. However, the deer and wolf Weed was making now were different.

"Now I have to try making a real wolf and deer."

Weed shaped the deer into a form three times its real-life size. What's more, he used precious stone materials such as granite and peridot. He sculpted the deer's simple, innocent bright eyes, round nose, slender body and legs realistically over two days.

Ding!

You have completed the Spotted Deer Statue.

A work imbued with the passion of a Sculptor.

An ordinary animal was sculpted, but it was made with a Sculptor's skilled techniques and sincerity.

It is somewhat regretful that it does not represent a creative idea or a new challenge. However, it is definitely worthy of being called the most outstanding deer among the countless number of deers in the continent. It is such a realistically portrayed work, that wolves will mistaken it for a real deer from far away and come running.

Artistic Value: A work by the Master Sculptor Weed. 72.

Special Options:
Those who see the Spotted Deer Statue will have Luck increased by 27% for a day. Increases the breeding rate of deer in the vicinity by 350%. Also increases the breeding rate of wolves by 230%. Improves the quality of leather and food ingredients from deer. The intelligence of deer has been improved and can not be easily hunted by monsters. Increases the likelihood of the appearance of large deer herds.

Sculpting skill proficiency has improved.

Fame has increased by 6.

Art stat has increased by 2.

The artistic value of the deer figurine wasn't great because he had sculpted it many times before and it was common. Still, the options were what Weed had aimed for.

"There was nothing easier to hunt than deers during those beginner days."

Deer would stay still even if you got close since they didn't have a fear of people, and it was a beneficial animal that you could even get meat and leather from.

Weed paid a little more attention when he carved the fox and black bear. He portrayed the black bear extremely fiercely thrashing a tree with its front paws, and the fox was a 9-tailed fox.

The fertility of the black bears roaming around Morata has increased.

The foxes have become more clever and numerous.

The monsters for beginner hunting have abundantly increased.

"The leather and meat will come back to better Morata's livelihood."

With Morata possessing outstanding Tailoring skills, the leather of characteristic animals fetched a high price. That was a very positive development for tight-budgeted beginners!

"Shall I call it a happiness that grows the more it is shared?"

The wealthier the players in Morata became, the more there was to exploit. Weed set up the animal sculptures with that line of thinking. By making full use of the Sculptor profession, he was bringing about an immense change to the city.

Mooooooo!

The number of cows had increased, all thanks to Yellowy.

Back when Morata was occupied by the Vampires, there weren't even any cows. Far from being able to raise cattle, the food situation was so poor that the Village Elder had to eat by digging up sweet potatoes. Later, the few cows brought by Merchants were raised by players who had chosen professions like Farmer, Shepherd, and Animal Handler. Barns were built, and there was a change in the cows who had grown up eating fresh grass. At night, the cows would mate in the barns. Moreover, if Yellowy went in and out of the barn, the heifers inside would get pregnant 100% of the time! Sturdy and excellent calves were born.

The cows that had roamed the North formed herds and even pressed into Morata. Yellowy was truly the Emperor of Bulls! The prey also increased because the bison and water buffalos multiplied.

However, the sculpture Weed was going to make with his true care and attention was not the animals.

"I have to make special sculptures."

A gigantic sculpture made out of bronze, copper, or mixed metals!

With his Intermediate Blacksmithing skills, he could easily extract raw materials by putting japtem or dirt-cheap weapons into a furnace.

Weed sent a whisper.

– Mapan.

– Yes.

– There is something I want you to procure for me.

– What is it, please speak.

– Please purchase an unlimited number of weapons, armor, and metal japtem, worth less than 1 Gold each.

– That's not difficult at all. But is it really okay for me to get as much as possible?

– Yes.

– And ah, what about the commission fee?

Mapan brought up the sensitive issue. Though they were on close relations, he couldn't do business for free! However, Mapan was well aware it was not easy to extort money from Weed.

– For the fee, I will give you information you can earn money from.

Good information was sometimes more valuable than gold for a Merchant. There was no doubt about it if it was information given by Weed, who even scammed little kids to extract money.

– Okay. You can count on me.

Mapan used the stores in his possession to purchase metal japtem. Since japtem could be sold comfortably at a decent price, the beginners welcomed it.

"But why is that Merchant buying this many cheap weapons and armor?"

"Apparently it's a request from the Lord of Morata. The Lord of Morata is doing it for the sake of the beginners."

"As expected. Morata's got low taxes and no territoriality about the hunting grounds. It's really worth calling it heaven, compared to the Central Continent."

Favorable responses towards to the Lord continued to increase.

Mapan piled up the japtem he gathered like that near the Goddess Freya statue at the artificial lake. The japtem was piled up like a mountain, on such an impressive scale that it was enough to remind one of a junkyard or scrapyard from reality.

Weed mobilized Morata's blacksmiths to produce a huge furnace.

Abusing his power as a Lord!

Although there were bound to be quite a lot of production requests for weapons and armor by players, there were no complaints at the rumour that it was for the construction of a sculpture. It was because they knew how helpful a sculpture was once it was finished. There were even a considerable number of people who made requests to make a sculpture relating to their profession.

However, Weed had already decided what kind of sculpture to create.

"I'm going to need a ton of molten metal."

He employed the Blacksmiths to extract the raw materials of the various minerals. Among the raw materials Weed pulled out, he decided to use the brass.

With its low price and nice color, it was a widely favored material for beginner weapons! Actually, it was normal to sell brass weapons at a general store or throw them away when you got to level 20. That was because they had poor durability and damage, so they would often break in the middle of a fight.

"But as far as sculpting materials go, it's a blessing."

Durability wasn't particularly important for a sculpture. A huge sculpture was extremely thick, so there was almost no worry about durability or damage. It was actually better if the color was more beautiful, like brass.

"Dirtman."

"Hail Weed, the man of absolute charisma! I have come at thy call, Master."

As its creator, the earth spirit followed Weed with extreme faith!

"There's something I need your help for."

"Simply command it, anything. Even if this body of mine is broken, I shall follow thee."

The Dirtman had received thorough mental training.

Weed ordered the Dirtman. "Collect mud."

"..."

"You have to get a lot."

The task he summoned the earth spirit for was just to gather mud.

"Yes, Master."

Dirtman acquired an enormous amount of dirt instantaneously. It was mud that was mixed from finely grained dirt and the lake's clear water. The mud it gathered could even be called a swamp.

Weed went forth with rolled up sleeves.

"Then let's make it."

"How would you like me to make it?"

"We should build up from the bottom. We must properly lay a foundation."

Mud was the material he was most confident about. As a child, he would use dirt to make a house or a dam and play whenever it rained. Playing with dirt could be called child's play for him!

'It doesn't even take any money, I could play with it as much as I wanted as long as it rained.'

The boy who silently played in the mud while getting hit by rain in the rainy season grew up and became Weed.

That work experience also proved its worth in the construction site. He had excellent ratio control when mixing cement, sand, and water! He was able to smoothly apply silicone into the bathroom cracks. They were experiences he had earned through playing in the mud.

"Humans develop all their potential when they're young after all."

Weed revived his experience to create an enormous mold with the mud. Its height was at the level of a 12 story apartment! It was a form that was made by building up the dirt through Dirtman, packing it in with a trowel, and smoothing it out with the sculpting knife.

The problem was that no matter how cheap the brass was, it would take an enormous amount of money to fill up the entire thing.

"Dirtman."

"Yes, Master!"

"Do you like saunas?"

"What is a sauna?"

"There's something called a clay sauna. And since you're an earth spirit, you won't die from the heat anyway... There's a first for everything, experience is important. Take your friends in there."

Weed threatened Dirtman, and instructed it to fill up the inside of the enormous mold. Then he poured in the brass material.

Pang, pang, pang!

The enormous brass sculpture that emerged once the mud was broken off! It was a sculpture made through the sacrifice of Dirtman.

It was in the shape of a gigantic and nimble lizard. A Black Imoogi with small, atrophied feet!

Since it wasn't complete yet, he had to make the form more detailed.

"It'll be a breeze to sculpt the head."

He sculpted the head delicately while looking at the Imoogi head that he had looted.

"Identify!"

Head of the Black Imoogi, Freykis
Durability 1,671/3,200.

The head of an Imoogi. Retains an unknown power.

It seems difficult to handle carelessly.

Options: Can respond to a special production.

In truth, he didn't know what the Imoogi's head was for yet.

"Because a high level monster like this has almost never been caught before."

It was hard to guarantee victory even when an entire guild went after a level 400 boss class monster. Even if they won, they would incur an enormous loss!

Even the likes of the King Hydra had never been hunted down before, so Weed was the first to have killed a Black Imoogi.

Weed finished sculpting the Imoogi's head, wings, torso, and even the toes with great detail.

An opponent that Weed had personally fought before, he even gave it a vicious and mean appearance. With its wings spread wide open, the Imoogi was twisting up its long neck.

A sculpture that looked down on those below it with its realistic eyes and snout!

Ding!

– Please set the name of the sculpture you’ve made.

"Hm."

Weed looked at the sculpture for a moment.

The sculpture felt so alive that it made him perfectly recall the fight with the Black Imoogi.

"Very Strong Imoogi."

– Is 'Very Strong Imoogi' correct?

"Yes."

Ding!

A sublime monster sculpture, the Magnum Opus 'Very Strong Imoogi' has been completed!

A Magnum Opus made by an Eternal Sculptor!

A sculpture created using metal. This is a work that will be an excellent example for Sculptors who learn the Blacksmithing skill in order to make sculptures with broader approaches.

The Black Imoogi, Freykis, that was hunted in the River of Lamentation, was sculpted. A work that perfectly restores the appearance of Freykis in life, the Imoogi that exerted its great wickedness on the Versailles Continent is now left as a sculpture. The sculpture will be a reminder of the Black Imoogi Freykis's might.

Artistic Value:
The work of one who is walking the path of genuine works. 10,921.

Special Options:
Those who have seen the Very Strong Imoogi statue will have their Health and Mana regeneration increased by 31% for a day.

All Stats increased by 15.

Wisdom and Intelligence stats rise by 54.

Spiked increase in the emergence of snake type monsters.

Reduces monster aggression by half.

Reduces the footstep sound of Thieves and Assassins in dungeons by 37% and heightens the effect of the Stealth skill.

Effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Magnum Opuses completed until now: 6

Sculpting skill proficiency has been improved.

Handicraft skill proficiency has been improved.

Sculptural Understanding skill level has risen by 1.

Fame has increased by 912.

Art stat has increased by 17.

Endurance has increased by 3.

Perseverance has increased by 19.

Wisdom has increased by 7.

For creating a Magnum Opus sculpture, All Stats have increased by an additional 3.

"Check Sculpting skill!"

Advanced Sculpting 6 (99%): Can sculpt. A beautiful sculpture will also sell for a high price.

You can spread your name on the Continent by making glorious sculptures.

Good for buying a woman's affection.

There was only 1% proficiency left until the Sculpting skill went up a level.

"A Fine or a Masterpiece sculpture will be enough to raise it."

Even though the Sculpting skill didn't rise quickly, he calculated that one more would be plenty. When his Sculpting skill, which was very difficult to raise, reached level 7, he would only have 3 more to go until he reached Master.

Weed made a sculpture of the King Hydra using cheap, common copper. A magnificently sized Fine King Hydra was made. Made next to the Goddess Freya statue, it felt distinctive.

A pet of the charming Goddess, it was a guardian creature that looked like it would save her from danger. Or it was a vile King Hydra that was threatening the life of the Goddess! The Black Imoogi sculpture was made on her left, and on her right was the 9-headed King Hydra.

Morata's specialties were further increasing as Weed's Sculpting skill level went up.

Advanced Sculpting skill has risen to level 7. Your sculpting will become surprisingly detailed and delicate.

As your eye for art develops, Wisdom and Intelligence stats increase by 52. Charm has increased by 39.

Sculpting was a skill that had never betrayed him. As he approached Master level, he gained considerable increases every time his skill went up a level. Besides the obvious changes, there were various effects in every field, like his color palette growing more diverse when using Moonlight Sculpting.

"Well, I guess I should just use the remaining metals."

Since they were already melted materials, Weed decided to make huge armors while he was at it. They were armors that could go over the King Hydra and Black Imoogi's torsos.

"I've got to make new attempts for the Blacksmithing skill."

His proficiency wouldn't rise much at all even if he made a simple longsword from the raw materials he'd made from melting the mixed metals. Rather than that, he made armors that huge monsters could use.

"If I need money later, it's convenient to melt it again and sell it."

This was actually a method frequently used by those among the Blacksmiths who were short on cash. They would make a sword or armor and melt it again. Though it seems like a waste of their effort and hard work, it was a way to get rid of something when they couldn't find a buyer or had made a disappointing product with precious materials.

Enormously Sized Armor

Durability 2,060/2,060.
Defense 269.

A work created by a Blacksmith of outstanding talent.

A product made by one with artistic sense. Though it possesses tremendous defense, it's too big and heavy so it doesn't seem like it'll be very useful.

With Silver and Mithril mixed in, it has slight magic resistance.

Restrictions:
1,980 Strength. Large monsters only. Torso circumference of at least 170 meters.

Options:
-210 Agility. Almost indestructible. Absolute defense against small weapons. +3% Magic Resistance.

– Blacksmithing skill has increased to Intermediate level 4. The attack and defense of created items will be increased by a set value. Siege weapons will have improved accuracy and range.

– While hammering, Strength has risen by 2.

– For making special armor, Fame has risen by 13.

The Blacksmithing skill had finally become Intermediate level 4.

After the King Hydra's armor, Weed made the Imoogi's armor thin.

"The thickness can't exceed 1 centimeter."

It was still thick and heavy even then, but it was for conserving the raw materials.

The mountainous pile of materials that Mapan had purchased was almost completely exhausted. The decreasing pile of japtem was enough to make the beginners, Clerics, and Paladins who came every day to watch him make the sculptures in front of the Goddess statue lose their nerve.

"He used all that japtem."

"A monster, he's really a monster. They say Morata's Lord is the embodiment of hard work; it really is true."

Beginners starting in Morata became determined as they looked at the Goddess statue and the two giant monster statues overlooking the castle walls. The sculptures that had been made using japtem were becoming examples of hard work for the beginners.

Now Weed had finished all the sculptures he'd planned on making in Morata. It was a refreshing feeling, as if he'd done away with the laundry that was piling up. However, he still hadn't gotten a task completion report from the expedition that had gone into the Embinyu Fortress' underground prison. It was a very complex labyrinth and there were many traps, so there were many casualties.

"Then, I guess I'll resolve the request I put off."

The request to make sculpture of a daughter for 1 Copper.

He had paid a whopping 4,000 Gold to the Dark Gamer Union to complete an investigation on the Ritten Kingdom's Mandol and his wife for this request.

"Even if the request fee is 1 Copper, I can't cut corners for this."

Weed planned to sculpt their child with the best materials. The material was the Imoogi and Hydra's leather!

"I won't be able to make armor or a robes with them because of the blemishes anyways."

He used an intact part of the leather to make an adorable girl's doll.

Blacksmithing skills weren't the only ones he used in Sculpting. He made life-like dolls using Tailoring.

There is no limit to sculpting. The source of sculpting was endless imagination.

"I'll put my pride as a Sculptor on the line and make a Magnum Opus sculpture at the very least."

Honestly, there was something else he was expecting.

"The 1 Copper request fee. Huehuehuehue!"

Mandol was a bourgeois player who had even been wearing Mithril boots. That meant he was originally from a wealthy family or had an enormously high level.

"It could even be both. Even if you have the money to buy Mithril boots, it's an item that can't be equipped unless your level is sufficient."

He was also a family guy who loved his wife and family dearly. Although he had only asked for 1 Copper, there was no way that was all he was going to receive!

If you do good deeds and humble actions, good fortune will come.

Weed was greedy for Mandol's Mithril boots.

Chapter 5: Seo-yoon’s Home Visit

The everyday life of Half Sauce Half Fried.

Clu-clu-cluck.

His comb had grown with dignity and he had the great presence of a Korean chicken. He strolled around the yard catching earthworms as a delicacy.

"Seo-yoon, your meal is here."

His life of peacefully living without any threats to his life while sharing Seo-yoon's meal was utterly joyful. The joy of sitting between well cultivated bonsai and drowsing off! With his belly full and his back warm, there was nothing more to wish for in his daily life. As Seo-yoon stroked him affectionately, he even rubbed himself against her.

He was living as happily as a chicken can live.

However, Seo-yoon was always sorry for him.

'I'm sorry I can't be here with you.'

That was because Half Sauce Half Fried was alone when she was in the capsule or at school.

Cluck, cluck, cluck, cluck.

Half Sauce Half Fried shook his head back and forth as he walked around in the hospital's yard.

Seo-yoon thought, 'I will bring... a friend for you.'

* * *

Midterms, the festival, and the sports meet had ended, and now there were just a little over 2 weeks until summer vacation.

Lee Hyun grumbled endless complaints. "What kind of university is like this. Can't university be shortened to 3 years, or 2 years, like with military service time?"

Seeing as he had to keep paying the expensive tuition for another three and a half years, his future was dark. A convict's feelings about reducing jail time in a concentration camp or prison would be like this.

"Even if I graduate university, it's not like I get graduation pension, it won't guarantee me employment by a foreign company, and it won't provide me with free lifetime medical insurance either..."

An endless reflection on the impracticalities of university was unfolding.

As he looked at the bars, capsule rooms, and the restaurants on the main street in front of the university, he became worried about the education world and the even the nation's future.

"There should only be farmland or a tidal flat in front of a school. When you're hungry, you can help with the elders' rice planting and get a snack to eat, and in the fall you can help with the harvesting as well. A tidal flat... is always valuable food storage. You can hitch a ride on a boat and go pull up the net, too."

On a tidal flat, a single shovel would secure food. You could catch things like fresh oyster and octopus and eat them dipped in chili paste. Since you could also catch fish by casting a net utilizing the ebb and flow, it was killing two birds with one stone!

"There would be no need to build a separate cafeteria..."

It could be called a symbol of rural education. College students enjoying fishing while reading, and friendships that blossomed while boiling spicy fish stew. In front of the university, instead of bars, salons, clothing stores, and nail art stores, a fishing discount mart would do.

As usual, Lee Hyun went to the grass plaza during lunch time and ate the lunch lying on his seat. Seo-yoon was sitting next to him, eating lunch together.

Lee Hyun picked up a side dish with chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

'Yep, it's delicious.'

The lunch that had started from kimbap had extended into sushi, and today it was grilled short rib patties.

'It's warm. It hasn't even cooled yet.'

Lee Hyun didn't even know about the lunchbox being installed with heat rays for keeping the food warm. He was just happy that he could try eating ribs without expense.

'So this is the taste of short rib patties.'

In his middle school and high school days, he couldn't use the school cafeteria because he didn't pay the lunch fee. Even so, of course he couldn't go without eating, so he secretly snuck in and took in a lunch tray. He had passed his school days surreptitiously eating the stealth food that didn't go down comfortably.

How envious he was when his classmates were tearing into lunches that their parents had made with their utmost.

"..."

Seo-yoon slightly bit her lips as she was watched Lee Hyun eating happily. It seemed like she would briefly smile. Her smiling face could make a person happy, but the chance to see it was truly rare. Still, Seo-yoon's cold and frozen expression, like when he had made the first Goddess Freya statue, had almost vanished.

Seo-yoon had even brought barley tea; she poured it into a cup and handed it to Lee Hyun.

"Mm, thanks."

After taking one sip of the barley tea, Lee Hyun spoke begrudgingly, "Don't just eat vegetables; do you want to eat 1 patty too?"

Nothing is given for free. She wickedly calculated to pretend kindness by pouring him barley tea because she wanted to eat the patties too!

'Though it seems she's become a little nicer recently...'

Unaware that the person secretly leaving the lunches was Seo-yoon, Lee Hyun acted like a person given an enormous power.

Seo-yoon shook her head to and fro. She was full just watching him eat.

Lee Hyun asked once again. "Then two patties...?"

"..."

"Should I give you th-three?"

Just how much was she aiming to squeeze out of him with a single cup of barley tea, she was frowning!

There was once a time when he had shared lunch with Seo-yoon and she had eaten his kimbap at random.

Memories of that time kept popping into his head.

Lee Hyun sighed. 'I'm not a petty person. I should give sometimes too.'

When he was a kid, he had once gone to his friends holding just a spoon and had gotten a meal. As he recalled that plaintive feeling, he was able to understand Seo-yoon's perspective.

"Just eat comfortably. Since I've never eaten much meat... I mean, because I don't like it that much. Eat as much as you want."

Lee Hyun picked up one of the patties and put it in on top of Seo-yoon's rice box.

Seo-yoon carefully opened her mouth and ate it.

It was such a lovely sight that it could snatch one's senses away.

After staring at that sight for a moment, Lee Hyun ate the patties too.

Munch munch.

He couldn't give her much of a side dish as tasty as these patties.

"Why is this so delicious? What kind of meat melts in the mouth, it melts."

The sight of him holding the ribs in both hands and tearing into them after telling her to eat as she wished!

Lee hyun emptied the lunch box cleanly, leaving not even a single grain of rice behind. Of course, he even left behind Seo-yoon's share of one patty at the end. He had finished it off so cleanly that he was pleased with himself.

'She'll have no complaints if she eats three patties.'

Then, as usual, he pulled out the note that had come with the lunch to read it.

"Will she tell me thanks for eating happily today too? Even if I don't know who it is, she is a truly warmhearted lady."

But the were words written on the note Lee Hyun pulled out were different from the usual ones.

I have a request.

Do you have time today after class?

It was the summons of the veiled mystery angel who made him lunch.

How tastily had he eaten the food she had cooked. His mouth filled with saliva when lunch time rolled around. Thankfully enough, he had even gotten to eat short rib patties today.

Seo-yoon was observing Lee Hyun's reaction with bright eyes.

"I was curious about who it is, this is good."

With a thankful heart, Lee Hyun wrote his reply.

My class in the business hall on the 3rd floor, room B07, ends at 4. Please come if you can.

* * *

When class time neared its end, Lee Hyun became a little wary.

"What kind of woman is she really?"

Looking at her cooking skill, she was impressive.

"Her faults are that she uses luxury ingredients too unsparingly and that she only uses a brand-name lunchbox, but I don't think she'll be a bad woman."

Lee Hyun had already created his mystery angel in his imagination.

"Huhu."

Including Choi Sang-jun, Park Soon-jo, and Lee Yoo-jung, others had heard of the mystery angel who packed Lee Hyun lunch. Since she would finally appear today, it was a prime chance to resolve their curiosity.

Choi Sang-jun shook his head knowingly. "C'mon, hyung! Can't you tell at a glance? There's no way a girl who brings lunch like that is decent. That's not normal in the world these days. Yoo-jung, aren't I right?"

"To be honest... it is strange that she hasn't shown herself until now even while putting a lunch box in the same place for over a month. Don't expect too much, oppa."

"Hyung, you heard what Yoo-jung said, right? A mystery angel is something that only shows up in fantasy stories. She could even be a spinster professor or someone who came from a social service community."

Even so, the smile on Lee Hyun's lips did not go away.

That she would make a meal for him had great meaning to him.

"A person who put her all into making a meal for someone else... there's no way that she's a bad girl."

Lee Hyun's personal relations weren't all that normal either. Give as much as you receive. Since she had packed him lunch, he had simply come to the obvious conclusion that she was a good kid!

"Then, good work today. Come back with all your assignments finished."

The professor left the classroom and the students organized their bags one by one. However, there were still students gathered in the area around Lee Hyun.

"What kind of person do you think will really come?"

"Just watch it be an old person. It might even be a student from the physical education department."

That referred to the martial arts students from the PE department who bowed to Lee Hyun whenever they saw him.

The students who were about to leave the area around the classroom door stopped stock still in their positions, as if frozen.

"Hot damn! It's senior Seo-Yoon."

"Huh, does she take her next class here?"

University of Korea's official goddess!

Seo-yoon was entering the classroom. Wearing an extremely gorgeous green dress, she was carrying a lunch box in one hand.

"It can't be..."

The face muscles of the students twisted. They knew that the person who had packed Lee Hyun lunch was coming today.

"Was the Goddess-nim's lunch mercilessly going into that hyung's mouth?"

"This tragedy!"

The shocked and distressed male students!

Lee Hyun also felt like he had been greatly fooled. While frequently meeting Seo-yoon here and there, much of his initial awkwardness and wariness had decreased. They had gone through the MT (membership training) and the festival, and he could even say that they had become friends of a sort while eating lunch together. Seo-yoon did often hit him on the back of the head, but now he could even let that slide with a laugh.

However, for Seo-yoon to be the owner of the lunchbox, he was inevitably tense.

'With what kind of secret design did she...'

Lee Hyun was suspicious from the get-go. He was guilty for not putting up his guard and being defenseless while eating lunch.

'That's right! That was no good. It was foolish, no different from being fooled by a loan company that says it'll let you borrow money for ten days with no interest.'

A fierce self-reflection on his careless blunder!

Seo-yoon approached and extended the note.

You'll listen to my request, right?

Lee Hyun trembled like an aspen. 'So she was aiming for this moment! And for over 1 month...'

Pigs are also slaughtered after feeding them well. She had made him eat many lunches planned on making an excessive request by seizing that vulnerability!

However, Lee Hyun did not want to live with a debt. Interest would grow on the debt, and eventually it would be a quagmire he could never escape.

"If it's a suitable request within feasibility... I'll listen to it."

As if relieved, she pulled out a note she had prepared beforehand.

Half Sauce Half Fried needs a friend.

"Half Sauce Half Fried?" Lee Hyun tilted his head.

Wasn't that distinctive name passed down from the chickens he raised at home?

He soon realized that she was talking about the chicken she had taken at the MT.

"You need a chicken?"

Seo-yoon nodded.

Lee Hyun didn't hide his breath-choking tension and asked again. "A female that can lay eggs?"

Seo-yoon had just wanted to bring him a friend. She hadn't thought of the gender divide in advance. However, since Half Sauce was a male, if it came down to it, bringing a female would be better. Seo-yoon nodded again.

At that, Lee Hyun's eyes trembled. He was forcing himself to resist an incomparably anguished expression.

'A laying female is more expensive... the one we're raising right now in particular is the whelp that ate up half the balloon flower root I picked up in the mountain last time.'

[T/N: Balloon flower root is a common medicinal herb.]

Even so, if he calculated the price of the lunches, a single chicken could be considered fairly inexpensive.

Lee Hyun answered in the affirmative. "Alright. Well... I will bring her tomorrow."

But Seo-yoon was shaking her head.

I want to bring her after seeing her myself.

At the contents of the note that she had prepared beforehand, Lee Hyun thought for a moment and agreed.

"Fine. You can pick her yourself."

He was under the illusion that their relationship lacked trust.

'It seems she wants to pick the best chicken since she's packed many lunches. The most nutritious and expensive chicken.'

The chickens had been raised well to an extremely high caliber. The laying females would even fly around flapping their wings soon after laying an egg. Since they all had about the same value as the market price, he had permitted her to come to his house.

* * *

Lee Hyun walked with Seo-yoon all the way to his house.

The men who saw her on the street stood dumbly and rubbed their eyes several times before staring at her again. Both men and women were unable to take their eyes of them. They looked like they couldn't believe their eyes as they stared at the far too beautiful Seo-yoon. Their gazes stolen by Seo-yoon, they couldn't overcome their curiosity and studied the man who was walking by her side.

'Just what kind of lucky person is walking around with a woman like that?'

Lee Hyun was extremely normal, and was wearing a well worn t-shirt and faded blue jeans.

'Why is a bastard like that... did he seize some kind of vulnerability?!'

'He's rich! His family is definitely rich. He's either a wealthy person with thousands of millions of Won at a young age or his inheritance is enormous.'

'The power of love is great.'

Looks of jealousy and envy shot at him, but Lee Hyun stood firm whenever that happened. "Appearance isn't everything in the world. The heart is important." He knew Seo-yoon's true identity. She was vicious, violent, and even underhanded. The worst, as far as her humanity went!

Even if her face was so pretty that it made breathing difficult, it was absolutely no good if you fell for her because of that.

"Even if a woman can cook pretty well, has a lot of money, is skinny, has a good figure, and is pretty, wears some pretty good clothing, and is smart, it's not necessarily good."

If she was bright enough to get into the University of Korea, then she had to be considered brilliant. Even though they took math together, Seo-yoon solved the practice problems in the workbook way too easily. She was even quick to understand and solve parts that the class was going nowhere with.

"In some ways, it's more regrettable for me." Lee Hyun walked with his head held high.

Seo-yoon was unexpectedly following him well. That she wasn't wearing high heels was part of the reason, but her stride was also quite fast. At the simple thrill of going to Lee Hyun's house, her face was flushed to the point where it was obvious. It was her first time visiting a man's house, and she had happy expectations on what kind of chicken she should bring as a friend.

"We're here."

Lee Hyun went into a secluded neighborhood opened his own house's door lock by lock. There were a whole 7 locks on the front door! A separate password and even a card key were required.

As Seo-yoon approached the doorway, Lee Hyun blocked the entrance with his body.

"I'll say this in advance, but you can't go into my house and just touch things. I know where everything is, okay?"

Lee Hyun was suspicious and even treated her like a thief! That was primarily because outsiders didn't often come into his house. Choi Ji-hoon had sometimes visited while meeting Lee Hye-yeon, but she didn't bring him that often after the electronics repairs ended.

Lee Hyun was on full guard.

Seo-yoon nodded. "..."

"Come in for now."

Seo-yoon walked through the door.

Woof, woof, woof!

A big dog the size of a calf swiftly ran over, lay on his belly, and barked cutely. His adorable bark didn't match his large physique.

The charm of Dogmeat, the name that Lee Hye-yeon had given him himself!

Lee Hyun explained hurriedly, "He's a dog we're raising. He's an extremely dangerous fellow, so it's safer to stay back."

When Seo-yoon extended a lovely hand, Dogmeat even wagged his tail fiercely.

A dog's sense of smell is 10,000 better than a human's. He smelled the subdued fragrance of the short rib patties and the smell of the previously departed Half Sauce Half Fried on Seo-yoon and was going to be friendly with her.

Just like when dogs become instinctively wary when they see a dog meat trader, when he saw Seo-yoon, he came running in at the good feeling she gave off and was writhing in welcome. He was prancing around Seo-yoon wagging his tail as he enthusiastically marked his greeting of welcome.

Lee Hyun shouted, "Hey, hey! Stop that, Dogmeat, you're gonna bite someone again, right? Just last week you bit someone and hospitalized them. No. Go away!"

Woof, woof.

Dogmeat just wagged his tail and quietly returned to his doghouse. Even after being falsely accused of having bit someone, Dogmeat was utterly docile.

'A chicken is a few thousand Won at the market, but you can get 200 thousand Won ($~200) for a dog! Not on your life!'

Dogmeat had extraordinarily plump flesh and was exercised, so his muscles were good. They hadn't even sold him when a dog meat dealer came and offered 350 thousand Won (~$350), so there was way too much of a shame to give him to Seo-yoon.

"..."

Seo-yoon approached a wire meshed enclosure with hasty steps. Within the wire mesh, rabbits were hopping around.

Seo-yoon quickly wrote on a note with a pencil.

Can I touch them? This is my first time being this close to a rabbit.

"Go ahead. Ah yeah, be careful 'cause it hasn't been long since the rabbits gave birth to babies."
"They're inside the pen."

Seo-yoon looked at the rabbits in fascination, like a kid eating a hamburger for the first time.

Lee Hyun was OCD about sanitation, so the inside of the mesh was very clean and in good shape. There was a generous heap of grasses for the rabbits to eat, and baby bunnies with bodies about 2 or 3 fingers wide were wriggling in a shaded corner. Even though they were just babies, they had long ears and their hind legs were moving as if to hop around on the ground!

"Aahhhh."

As if she were singing, an exclamation flowed from Seo-yoon's lips! It was like a pretty and clear whisper.

She clung to the rabbit hutch, peering in with sparkling eyes. Unable to touch the babies because they might get scared, her expression was one of extreme regret.

"You can touch them."

"..."

However, Seo-yoon was unable to readily touch them.

"It's okay. They're babies who haven't even opened their eyes yet."

That wasn't why Seo-yoon was worried, but Lee Hyun put his hand through the mesh and pulled out a baby.

"Here."

When he lowered it onto the back of Seo-yoon's hand, the baby bunny kicked weakly as it wriggled. Seo-yoon embraced the baby bunny as if it were precious and stroked it. But she soon put it back into the rabbit hutch, because the baby bunny might feel anxious.

Even afterwards, Seo-yoon didn't leave the rabbit hutch and squatted there to no end.

'Surely she won't ask me to give her one!' Lee Hyun became increasingly alarmed. His little sister hadn't returned from school yet. 'Alone at home with a girl... I absolutely must be careful!'

A guy and a girl.

It was a preposterous situation.

Lee Hyun said firmly, "Let's hurry and go see the chickens!" He did his utmost to make his intention to pull her away from the rabbits clear.

Seo-yoon wanted to keep looking at the baby bunnies that hadn't even opened their eyes yet. She had fallen in love with the adorable sight of them curled up with the mommy rabbit. The sight of nonchalant mommy rabbit with its cheeks stuffed with carrots! However, Seo-yoon left behind her great regret in order to let the rabbits rest comfortably and went to the backyard where the chickens were.

Clu-clu-cluck.

Cock-a-doodle-doo!

The Korean chickens were going up trees and flying around like birds. Chicks were toddling about on the ground.

As soon as Lee Hyun and the never before seen Seo-yoon came, they rapidly fled into a corner or above the trees. It was a sight of wholehearted wariness. As they hid in the corners, poked out their heads, and examined the movements of the humans, they didn't intend to come out.

However, through Half Sauce Half Fried, Seo-yoon was familiar with the habits of the chickens. She tore the short rib patty she'd prepared into small pieces and sprinkled it on the ground.

Clu-clu-clu-clu-cluck!

The chickens leapt out of the trees and from the woods like savage beasts and pecked down the pieces. Even the chicks dove in with their small beaks and were tearing into the ribs.

Seo-yoon patted the chickens and chicks. Despite the fact that she was a stranger, they had quickly became friendly through the patties and stuck to her side like burrs.

'They're taking a liking to me.'

Not knowing what to do, Seo-yoon petted the chickens with joyful eyes.

Lee Hyun was distressed. 'The same short rib patties that was in the lunch I ate...'

A life where he had come to eat the same food as a chicken! Even so, at the sight of the nearly expressionless Seo-yoon really having fun being with the chickens, he followed suit and felt good.

She, a girl who had silently stared without being able to approach, was being touched so deeply while being with the chickens that tears were welling in her eyes.

Even Lee Hyun was getting choked up for nothing. 'This feels even stranger than the first time I fried a chicken for my little sis.'

He knew that Seo-yoon wasn't a very bad person. However, that was not easy for him to acknowledge. 'Whether she's a bad person or a good person... she can't be close to me.'

Realistically speaking, they were living in circumstances that were too different. Lee Hyun could roughly estimate how expensive one of the clothes she wore was well enough. 'Even the brand name clothes that show up on television are over 100 thousand Won ($~100)... with fabric that good, a brand called Dior, and the design, it must be at least 150 thousand Won!'

There was too big a difference in their household situations. A girl like Seo-yoon would like a great guy who Lee Hyun couldn't even compare to. 'A qualified guy will show up.' It was the same with Jung Hyo-rin and other girls.

Lee Hyun made a big decision. "Just pick one. And if there's one you like... you can pick two."

Having been petting the chickens in bliss, Seo-yoon looked back at him with happy eyes. Eyes that asked if he really meant it!

Lee Hyun gazed far off into the distance as he spoke. "Something like a chicken... two or three are nothing."

Unusually enough, Lee Hyun was showing great generosity. That was because trying to make up for the lunch price with a single chicken still made him feel indebted.

Seo-yoon chose three chickens.

Every time she picked a chicken, Lee Hyun's face became bloodlessly pale. 'That one's a laying hen... and Boiled Chicken, and even the plump chick that shows promise for a great disposition later!'

A laying hen was of course a valuable creature. He intended on catching it when his little sister married and brought home a husband in the future. But the chickens would keep reproducing until then, and there were two other laying hens left, so it was okay... Even so, the moment Seo-yoon chose the laying hen, he felt a sadness and pain that broke off a piece of his heart.

Lee Hyun spoke mournfully. "I'll... package them for you."

To make it convenient for Seo-yoon to take them, he tied the chickens' legs and necks with string and connected them to each other. Looking like a chicken sled, it couldn't be any weirder, but Seo-yoon took the string.

She wrote on a note.

I'm truly grateful. Thank you so much for listening to my request even though it was excessive.

"It's nothing. This much is meh. If necessary, one more..." Lee Hyun hastily revised his words. "Next time you can take one more chick."
"..."

Seo-yoon, who wanted to take one right away when he said she could!

As Lee Hyun conversed via notes, he thought it was a little strange. 'Why doesn't she speak?' He'd originally thought that she was hiding the fact she could speak on purpose to fool with him, but she wasn't. In the MT and the festival, he hadn't heard her speak even once. Even as they ate lunch together, she didn't speak. To be honest, that they conversed through notes after she left a note in the lunch box could be called a tremendous advancement.

'She spoke just one word in Royal Road, but her voice was extremely nice on the ears... it's probably something like her actual voice is really dry, right?'

When Lee Hyun was about to leave the backyard to see Seo-yoon off, Dogmeat approached while whining. Seo-yoon also seemed to think Dogmeat was cute because she wasn't able to move away.

Lee Hyun spoke with a trembling voice. "D-do you happen to like this dog?"

"...?"

"Do you want to... take Dogmeat too?"

Lee Hyun's shocking transformation! He would even give Seo-yoon Dogmeat, who he had cherished and raised for the days of summer.

[T/N: Summer is a popular time for eating dog meat, which is said to energize and revitalize. As a reminder, this is a cultural difference we hope everyone will understand.]

Can I really take him to keep?

"You can. Because it seems like this dog likes you."

More than anything else, Seo-yoon looked delighted beyond measure at the words that it seemed the dog liked her. Surprised and touched, she went as far as to drip tears.

Lee Hyun spoke in a low voice. "This rascal eats a lot, so it's good to feed him often. He'll overturn a food bowl that's too small, so prepare a big one for him, and let him go play in the backyard on rainy days. Don't tie him up at night. He hunts things like mice and weasels. He takes about a 2 hour nap, but if you want to play with him just call his name. He'll wake up. He likes radish and carrots, so give him some now and then..."

Every single word of his explanation was like sending off his lover.

'It feels like my heart is being ripped out.'

Even as he suffered intense agony, Lee Hyun didn't retract his decision.

When giving a gift, you mustn't show a reluctant face. Giving properly was the way to bribe!

'The second and third S-rank difficulty quests... honestly, I think it'll be almost impossible for me to complete them.'

He was grinding to raise his Sculpting skill. However, he couldn't guarantee quest success.

'With the alliance with the barbarians, the Power of the Deliverer, and the Sentence of Death, and also a lot of luck, I was able to finish the 1st step of the quest.' He couldn't hope to have always such luck in the quest. 'The 2nd and 3rd steps will be even harder.'

From here onwards, he would be in a desperate and lonely position where he had to go up against the quests with nothing.

'If we could do it together...'

If Seo-yoon participated in the quest with him, it would be much more reassuring for him.

Luxury foreign cars had parked in a line in front of Lee Hyun's house at some point, unbeknownst to him. Seo-yoon's bodyguards had come and had been on standby. Bodyguards wearing black suits opened a car's back door. The chickens and Dogmeat boarded the back seat. The chickens and dog were enjoying the luxury of boarding a car worth hundreds of millions of Won that even came with escorts and a chauffeur!

Lee Hyun put a false smile on his lips that concealed his bitter inner feelings as he saw her off. "See you. Come play again next time."

At that, Seo-yoon halted from getting in the car, hesitated for a moment, and wrote something on a note.

Can I really come play again?

"..."

Lee Hyun realized that this was exactly what it meant to be 'lost for words.' Didn't that mean she still wanted more even though he had given her so much!

'Surely she won't come again. It's probably just something she's saying out of politeness, like a common saying.'

Lee Hyun nodded. "If you have time, come whenever you want."

Thank you. See you next time.

Seo-yoon got into the car and left with her bodyguards. Lee Hyun, who had been standing still in front of the door, blew out a sigh after the cars left.

He recalled the feeling he'd gotten when he met his wicked bosses while doing various jobs after dropping out of high school.

"Those who have the means are really too much." He had gained a valuable lesson. "Meeting women is really no good."

The expenses of dating! When you meet a woman, money is spent doing this and that. He hadn't bought Seo-yoon a meal or coffee, and it wasn't like they went to the amusement park together. However, there was the price of the chickens and dog!

"A woman is the enemy of saving money. Enemy."

Lee Hyun ground his teeth. Animosity towards her was kindling again.

* * *

Seo-yoon's hospital room was reminiscent of an animal farm. Dogmeat was stretched out after eating warm food and meat, and the chickens were freely flying around as they crowed. Even the yellow chick went around the room cheeping.

"..."

Seo-yoon sat on a chair and read books.

"Food Dogs Like"
"A Dog's Lot is the Life of Comfort"
"A Dog Barks for a Reason"

They were guides for raising a pet dog.

Not only did Seo-yoon's hospital room have a private exercise room attached, but it also had 4 rooms, a study, and was even equipped with a home bar where she could drink simple beverages. For Dogmeat and the chickens, it was no different from heaven.

Bark bark!

Dogmeat even barked while looking out the window. Though it wasn't big, he had lived in a house with a backyard, so he needed the fresh air outside.

Seo-yoon prepared to go out. 'The book 'A Dog's Lot is the Life of Comfort,' said you have to walk the dog regularly.'

Seo-yoon put a dog leash around Dogmeat's neck. Dogmeat obediently stayed still as he stuck out his tongue and licked her hand. He was promising his faithfulness to the owner who had dramatically changed his fate as a summer meal!

The nurses looked at Seo-yoon as if it was hard to believe.

"It seems like... she's become much brighter than before."

"Indeed. It feels like her complexion has really blossomed, huh? She was truly beautiful before, but now she could even make a girl fall for her."

The nurses hadn't known that Seo-yoon, who had been closing the doors to her heart despite their countless efforts, would suddenly become better like this.

Cha Eun-hee also had to acknowledge Lee Hyun's qualities on that point. "He's a truly kind man."

The teammates she hunted with in Royal Road didn't spare praises of him.

"His warm heartedness probably thawed Seo-yoon's frozen heart, right?"

She had also heard a lot about Lee Hyun from Jung Il-hun. How many men were there in the world who would be so dedicated to their families! That was why the fact that he spent his life engrossed in Royal Road couldn't be seen as only a fault.

"Seo-yoon forced herself to go to school, but now she's enjoying it. She's really much better."

That she was raising chickens and a puppy was a very positive sign. Cha Eun-hee guessed that if she was pouring out love while raising pets, the day her heart would completely open up wasn't far. Now Seo-yoon had risen to the level of readily expressing herself with notes. There just needed to be a decisive opportunity that would spring open the gates of speech.

"Is it finally time to report to the chairman?"

Cha Eun-hee had to contact Seo-yoon's father. He was always receiving reports about his daughter through her bodyguards. If he heard news that Seo-yoon's heart would soon be healed and that she would even be able to speak, he would definitely be happy.

Chapter 6: Sculpture of a Chil

"Weed-nim is truly a genius!"

Mapan was driving 20 large wagons past the River of Lamentation basin. He was moving the wagons to trade in the Barbarian village.

"Kyaaaao."

"Fresh human. You are prey."

Even though a great number of monsters followed the wagons, they were annihilated by Bingryong and Phoenix.

Mapan dragged the carts and safely arrived in the village of the Vejague Tribe. Vejague tribesmen and women of all ages gathered.

"Hurry up and buy! Cheap and reasonably priced goods for sale. Nothing will left if you are late. Buy lots when they're going cheap!"

The goods that Mapan had brought were weapons, armors, leather goods, and foods that had been made in Morata!

A young Vejague Tribe girl grabbed copper earrings that she seemed to like. "How much is this?"

Mapan made a severe expression. "That is very expensive."

"I know. It seems expensive. I only have leather. Or fangs ..."

The fangs and leather of the Black Wild Boar-- they were goods that could net a good several hundred Gold in Morata.

Mapan shook his head as if it were preposterous. "But you can obtain those any time if you hunt in this area."

Mapan, who was showing an example of a wicked Merchant!

The sparsely haired Vejague Tribe lass was on the verge of tears. "Hnng, but I really want to buy it..."

"Then, I will sell it to you for 3 leathers."

"Thank you, Merchant oppa!"

Mapan traded with the uncivilized barbarians to buy up leathers and material. As the first person to trade with them, he was reaping an enormous profit.

The method of extorting the uncivilized barbarians that he learned from Weed!

The leathers he obtained here were a very precious material. They would be treated as a speciality back in Morata because they were leathers that came from the around the River of Lamentation. In addition, splendid robes and armor would be crafted once they were processed by Morata's excellent techniques.

* * *

Weed sewed in his private room in the Lord's Castle in order to make a sculpture for the 1 Copper request. He bleached Imoogi leather white and made a child's body.

"Though a person's skin isn't white..."

He was stressed starting from making the skin color itself because of its dull color!

It was too much to consider Weed a real tailor, because although his ability to handle leather or cloth was quite outstanding, he had paid almost no attention to dyeing.

"Before, it was fine as long as the utility was good. Because color isn't that necessary!"

Even though the design was an important element for clothing, it sold quickly as long as the defense or a different option was good. Dyeing could also be done by buying the clothing and taking it to another dyer.

Because of that, it was difficult starting from the task of making the child's skin color.

"I don't have to make her too young."

A newborn. A child not even a hundred days old would just make them recall their sadness more easily.

"Some time must've passed, so let's make her two or three years old."

It was the age when they would start making trouble.

"Just seeing their face will make you want to give them a rap with your knuckles, and you also regret having the child, only to suffer... even so, it's the time when you love them most."

Since this was a sculpture he was making for the parents to sort out their feelings and say their final farewell to the child, a cheerful expression would be good.

Not a sculpture that had simply artistic value, but one that could move the heart. It should have a warm feeling rather than detailed expression. He needed a sculpture that could show warmth.

"Even though I don't have that kind of skill..."

Weed had learned by experience that in the end, something he wanted to forget or sadness were all made into memories by time.

To Weed, it was too much to expect a marvelous sculpture that would embrace all their pain and longing. He may be a truly remarkable sculptor, but even though he could express beauty, he couldn't erase sadness.

"What I can do is pave the way for them."

Weed attached eyes made from crafting obsidian onto the doll.

When his sister was little, she had enough toys to not be envious of others because of the dolls he made in the factory. If she were a little boy, she would have wanted all sorts of toys like planes, boats, cars, and robots, but she had cute tastes since she was a little sister. She was boundlessly happy when she saw a stuffed animal.

"She liked teddy bears to an extraordinary degree."

Children liked dolls because there was something about them that stimulated their minds.

"Not only a sculpture of child ... I'll have to make more dolls. "

Weed thought it was lonely for the child to be alone. He planned on making a Magnum Opus sculpture at the very least, but something would really feel missing with that alone.

They would have to share an eternal farewell parting, so if there was just a doll of a child, the parents' hearts would be torn with sadness.

"A sculpture that'll be rimmed with plenty of children's dolls. Looks like I'll have to make all sorts of things as long as children like them."

He would make all the things that a little girl would like. He would decorate it prettily with candles and could somehow even make a snowman.

"I can just peel off a bit of Bingryong's skin dust!"

Sculptors were surprisingly capable of doing many different jobs.

Imoogi Leather : Durability 30/30.

An item related to the production skill, Tailoring.

The ultimate Tailoring material, it is an exceedingly valuable item for making clothes or equipment. Imbued with the power of Mana, it grants resistance to poison and amplifies darkness related powers.

Imoogi Leather can not be handled with ordinary Tailoring skills or tools.

Only a Tailor who has risen to the ranks of a Master Craftsman will be granted an incomparably precious experience and the opportunity to create a masterpiece.

Traces of battle are left on the leather, so its value has been slightly compromised. In order to manufacture it into a product, it requires additional repair.

It is a top-grade Tailoring item.

Options: Amplifies darkness related powers. Increases maximum Mana by 20,000. Has poison resistance, so will not be easily poisoned.

Very light material.

He was using an ultimate Tailoring item to make a mere doll. A material that could net tens of thousands of Gold despite their holes and blemishes if it was made into a tunic for an Adventurer or a Magician's robe was cut without hesitation and reborn as a doll.

Ding!

You have created Rabbit Plushie.

A new challenge by a Sculptor, who brings out beauty with his hands!

Rare leather was used as a material to make a rabbit doll.

Weed, the creator of a new revolution in the field of sculpturing, will not stop his challenge.

Artistic Value: A work by the great master Sculptor Weed. 309.

Special Options:
Possessing the Rabbit Plushie increases jumping ability by 5%.

Showing the plushie to children is enough to raise intimacy.

Can increase friendship with the Giant Rabbits.

– Sculpting skill proficiency has been improved.

– Tailoring skill proficiency has been improved.

– Fame has increased by 12.

– Art stat has increased by 3.

– Luck has increased by 1.

The Giant Rabbits hadn't been discovered yet. Like the Yetis that were said to live in the snowy region, they were a tribe that only existed in the legends passed down the generations!

By making a sculpture with a plushie, his Sculpting skill proficiency went up by a whole 0.9%.

"I didn't think I'd be able to get this much proficiency even by making a Fine piece after my Sculpting skill level rose to 7..."

It seemed like concentrating on large sculptures or stone sculptures was a mistake. Sculpting could only develop by constantly attempting new changes. Themes or works you wanted to make would pile up so much that you'd have to make them without rest-- such was the world of Sculpting!

As a human, the sculptures Weed made were determined, to some extent. He tended to make sculptures he was familiar with, and he was gradually straying away from making new attempts. After making Seo-yoon sculptures for a while, he had switched to large sculptures, but there were limits to sculptures made out of habit.

Weed completed about 30 stuffed animals with tender and friendly expressions and laid them out neatly. Wild beast plushies like lions, elephants, bears, cheetahs, and rhinos were in cute poses.

"Though a doll is best made with evil looks and gleaming eyes..."

They were severely mismatched with Weed's tastes, but they were for children anyways.

Out of the dolls he made from leather, 5 Fine pieces emerged. As dolls made by attaching cloth and leather with the involvement of the Tailoring skill, the degree of completeness was considerable.

Weed's craftsmanship boasted tremendous durability. He created plushies that would remain fluffy even if a real elephant were to come and trample them; they would even be perfectly fine if they were burnt with fire magic. They were at a level where children playing with them unawares would be rendered agape with astonishment upon seeing the plushies that remained unscathed even as they burned in a fire!

"The bias that a doll shouldn't be sturdy has to be disposed of!"

As Weed made even more stuffed animals, he learned the basics of doll production. He also displayed imagination that truly went outside of the box. Leather squirrel plushies were turning a millstone to crush a big acorn-- they were going to make acorn jelly to eat. Rabbits made carrot soup and were swimming around in it.

"For the piece name, 'Squirrel and Rabbit Cooks' will suit it."

It was a Fine piece. If he used his Cooking skill later to make real acorn jelly and carrot soup and added it, it would be perfect.

Monkey plushies were peeling bananas, singing, and dancing in a group. They lit a bonfire and cavorted in a dizzying and sensual dance that would seduce monkey lovers. He even staged the comical scene of the playful monkeys falling over and slipping on the banana peels below them.

"The piece name will be 'Cheeky Monkey Festival.'"

This time, it turned out to be a Masterpiece. The sight of the monkeys handling instruments carved out of wood was adorable.

"Next will be..."

Animals, animals, animals.

If it was for a little boy, he would be able to make sculptures like cars, boats, and planes. However, they had to be sculptures for a female child.

"Because little girls like stuffed animals!"

He made so many stuffed animals that it was ridiculous. He had an immunity to hard work, so he didn't tire even after making hundreds of them.

"So I can completely fill up one room with dolls... I have to make it so the child will feel that she was happy and never unfortunate."

The dolls he was making right now were merely side accessories. He had to make a special doll for his ultimate work, a greater magnum opus than any other works Weed had made. He had to make a true masterpiece.

* * *

Trivan, a village close to Morata, was recorded as a territory that had been ruled by a viscount in the days of the Niflheim Empire. It had been a blessed domain that produced a lot of silk and cinnamon, and had even possessed an expansive granary region.

However, after the harsh winter of the North passed by it, all that was left was a wasteland and ruins. There were also many monsters, so the village was often plundered. After an attack by the likes of wild dogs, there was hardly any food supplies left in the village.

The Styrene Guild settled down here.

"Dig up the ground! We have to take out the rocks and plant the seeds, so we've gotta hurry."

30 guild members under the command of Styrene were working with pickaxes. It was so they could clear the earth and plant seeds.

"Dammit, at least in Norman Kingdom, even beginners recognized you if you said you were part of Styrene Guild... what the hell is this."

"There's no helping it since there aren't any residents to do the work. They're all earning in Morata right now."

Styrene Guild had settled in Trivan Village about 5 months ago in Versailles Continent time! Around the time when the North's pioneering was booming, Styrene Guild had moved their base early.

The villages and territories in the North were currently being governed for the players and guilds that were migrating over extensively.

When the Styrene Guild was choosing a village to settle, their conditions hadn't really been that picky.

"Real estate is all about location. Fertile land? Broad fields? Or terrain next to a mountain? They're all unnecessary. It just has to be close to Morata."

At that time, Morata had been rising as the North's famous village. Its future looked bright, even to Styrene.

"The benefit of being the center of the northern continent... Merchant trade is flourishing and players are gathering. In the future, Morata will become the North's hub."

It was as Styrene predicted. Morata developed at a frightening speed from the Lord's bold investment and the influx of people. Every time the Styrene Guild went to Morata Village to purchase goods they needed, they saw a world of differences in the changes.

Where there had only been the Tower of Light and a few sculptures, the ruin that had been Morata Village was paved with roads nice enough that a carriage could speed along on them and new buildings were built. Though it wasn't fancy, a wide central square with a fountain also formed. In the square, Warriors, Magicians, Knights, and Adventurers sought party members to quest and hunt with. As they looked at the Merchants who packed around the fountain doing business, Styrene was so envious that tears sprang to his eyes.

"Our Trivan Village will... definitely also become like this later."

Since the Lord of Morata's profession was Sculptor, there was hope.

"The sculptures will have the effect of drawing in people at first. But once our Styrene Guild publicizes the hunting ground information and stuff, they'll all come to our side."

Styrene Guild excavated a dungeon and publicized monster information. They meant for many players to come hunt and settle in Trivan.

"Wow, so this is Trivan Village? We found it properly."

"Let's hunt!"

Fighting parties visited in swarms. They were able to come quickly on horses because Trivan wasn't that far away from Morata. However, once night fell, they returned to Morata.

"Let's go look at the Tower of Light."

"I'm a bit hungry. Let's go to Morata and eat."

That was the nearby city's limit. The players made money from the dungeon and hunting ground and went to spend it back in Morata.

"Let's sell our japtem in Morata, too."

"Yeah, there are lots of Merchants in Morata so we can get a good price."

They didn't even sell off their japtem in Trivan Village.

Styrene's village operation suffered a loss, but they weren't frustrated and didn't give up. "It's the development of a village, so... we expected this much difficulty at the beginning anyways."

They spent an additional 100 thousand Gold to invest. They built new houses and even made a square so that there were no discomforts. However, players still didn't come, so it was no different from a ghost town.

"It's probably because it's not known. Let's go to Morata in person and try advertising there."

Styrene went to Morata Village with Duma, a guild member.

"Seeking people to live in Trivan Village. It is a village that the Styrene Guild is peacefully governing. We will support you with various conveniences and even provide you with a fixed resettlement fund."

They found other guilds that seemed to be in similar circumstances, as they were tearfully advertising.

"We welcome adventurers to come to Home Village. It still has many inadequacies, but our Faroe Guild will..."

"We invite everyone to Keatu Village!"

When Trivan Village had improved a little, Morata had grown in the number of buildings and people. The Goddess Freya Statue was completed, and an artificial lake appeared. The Lord personally expanded the tavern and even set up battle guilds. As it even became a starting city, the Morata region was growing bigger day by day. The expansion speed was so tremendous that the shops and houses were built on the empty lots beyond the Lord's Castle, village, and the stone castle walls. It was a shantytown that overwhelmed them on their first visit to Morata!

"Eurgh, it's really incredible."

Even then, Styrene was optimistic. The fact that Morata was developing meant that people's interest in the North was also growing! If Morata was getting better, Trivan Village would also gradually grow in residents.

"That's how a city's development is. If one place is intensively developed, the areas around it will also benefit."

Having learned things like city organization and administration before, Styrene decided to think positively.

Morata wasn't only a village with a Lord's Castle, but also an extremely large land that included the neighboring regions.

"The Lord doesn't even rule the region himself and he entrusted it to the elder, so that lack will probably show up somewhere."

Through Styrene's personal connections, he was clear to some extent on the situations of other guilds ruling castles and villages. The town's representative didn't leave his position unless there was a serious issue. That was because if you entrusted the administration to the elder or another noble, the expenses on useless aspects were severe. Morata's expenses in the field of cultural art were great enough that they were unimaginable in the central continent.

"Good. Even Morata has a hole to it. If it's investing in cultural art, then the waste will be severe and it'll collapse soon."

Styrene pulled together the guild's astronomical funds to increase the number of smithies and develop the related techniques, investing a whopping 780 thousand Gold. He was developing the town tremendously as a city for Blacksmiths. Building a battle guild and even a magic guild, he strove to draw in players.

"There's no place in the North that has a higher technological development level than Trivan Village. In time, this place will also become as big as Morata and grow in people."

Styrene and his guild mates simply waited for that day to come. They were so excited that they couldn't even sleep properly at night. While they were waiting, as culture developed in Morata, people began to enjoy the town. People tired from hunting, sightseeing, adventure, and quests comfortably enjoyed songs, sculptures, drawings, and art.

Culture didn't even take much money. There were keepers making bunnies act cutely, performers, and even players who displayed their japtem and boasted. Morata's players were happy.

Ding!

– 35 residents from Trivan Village are moving to Morata.

The complaints of the residents are intense.

The residents came complaining to Styrene.

"Why is our village failing to thrive like Morata, my Lord?"

"There's nothing for the village children to play with."

"Even after finishing hard work, I have no enthusiasm for life. I think this town is too desolate."

The residents were deeply dissatisfied over the lack in culture. Morata's residents were continuously growing, but Trivan Village's population of just 3,000 was continuously falling. The loyalty of the town soldiers also fell, and work efficiency didn't rise, either. As the residents decreased in number, silk production fell and the fields they had cleared with difficulty remained empty; they couldn't even collect resources from the mine. Following the decline in residents, there were even cases where quests naturally disappeared. Players would come after struggling to finish a quest, but the store owner who was supposed to give them the reward had gone and disappeared. Plunged into a shocking situation, the players asked the residents but the reply was really the last straw.

"The weapon shop mister? He moved to Morata the other day. It won't be easy to set up a new shop there, but they say it's a village that people really want to live in. Me? I'm going to Morata soon, too. If you want to fulfil the work that was entrusted to you, go to Morata."

Ding!

– 23 Trivan Village residents are moving to Morata.

The residents want a religious establishment.

"I want to see Goddess Freya. Thankfully there's a goddess statue in the village next door, so we will spend the rest of our lives there."

"How happy must our Morata friends be as they receive the blessing of faith? Going to Morata will bring one closer to the goddess!"

The residents continued to leave. Wanderers visiting the North had been settled in Trivan Village by giving them money and food, but they moved away. As a result, the village's population was just barely 3,000 and didn't grow.

Until now, Lords had worried over economy, technology, and military power. They viewed culture with scorn and paid no attention to it. If many Bards visited, they were even treated poorly for being noisy and annoying. What use was a rise in culture! Investing the maintenance fees or construction costs of culture-related facilities in other places was considered far more profitable.

There was no change in that way of thinking in other places in the continent, but Styrene was currently feeling an acute lack of culture. To make matters worse, he even received news of the issue he had worried most about.

"Guild master, they say Morata's Lord Weed has returned."

At the guild member's report, Styrene's head began to throb painfully.

"You're saying he returned without going off somewhere and dying?"

"Yes. Apparently he's making a Statue of Lugh now."

"Ugh...making another sculpture!"

Styrene shook his head. No matter how he thought of it, there was nothing as reckless as competing with a Sculptor in city development. But even if he were given a fortune, there was no other alternative. There were just no Sculptors as outstanding as Weed in the Versailles Continent; the whole area was impacted every time he made a sculpture. As a neighboring Lord, it was like hell for Styrene.

"But there's also a recent piece of news."

"What news?"

"The Lord of Morata's true identity is Wargod Weed."

"What?!"

Wargod Weed!

It was such a feared name that it sent shivers down their spines.

Styrene was also a player who had grown up in the Continent of Magic. He had personally experienced the Continent of Magic Weed's wicked charisma. He killed, stole, and was absolutely ruthless. Like looking at a mountain that could not be climbed, Wargod Weed had filled him with despair.

"Are you saying he's really Wargod Weed?"

"We can't be certain, but they say that possibility is sufficient."

"Did he say it himself?"

"Apparently so."

"..."

"Several news channels on broadcast are saying there's an almost 100% possibility that Wargod Weed is Morata's Lord."

Styrene was silent for a while.

Wargod Weed's nature was extremely brutal, and he didn't condone those who challenged him. He was a figure who would be furious even after razing everything to the ground by the simple fact that there was a territory in Morata's vicinity.

Styrene had fled the rough wolves in the central continent, but he ended up next to a tiger's den.

He was about to recall nightmares from the Continent of Magic. However, his guild member said something that was somewhat comforting.

"A rumor isn't always true. And there are also many opposing opinions."

"What are they?"

"First of all, he does have quite a few connections to Wargod Weed, like the evidence of the Ice Dragon and his relationship with the Freya Church. However, it's not certain whether it's actually him or not."

"Then..."

"Even if he's really Wargod Weed, there's not much he can do. Could he dare to challenge our guild alone?"

They were the welcome words Styrene had been waiting for.

"Right. There's nothing to fear even if he's Wargod Weed. And if his profession is really Sculptor, then we could even see it as a blessing and a stroke of luck, right?"

"There's a chance for us."

Styrene harbored grand ambitions concerning Morata. He would develop Trivan Village, draft soldiers, and seize Morata by force with his guild members! Styrene Guild had over 600 high-level players settled in the North altogether. If they acquired mercenaries from the central continent, they could field an army of about 2,000.

They were planning to take everything Morata had.

"Even if it's Weed... this time, it won't go as he pleases. His record from the Continent of Magic will end here. And if he isn't Wargod Weed, then it'll really be over for him."

"That's right, guild master!"

"Then hurry and go to Morata to lure in some residents so we can enact the plan."

"..."

* * *

Weed developed his Tailoring and Sculpting skills as he immersed himself in making dolls.

"Dolls can also be called a field of expertise, after all."

He could earn a lot of proficiency or Fame if a work he made for the first time exceeded a certain level. However, he accumulated professional experience after making several of them, so the effect on his skill level or proficiency grew as well.

It was like how it was awkward for a Swordsman to use magic, and how Blacksmiths couldn't make tons of different kinds of weapons. Of course, a Sculptor was the profession at the very peak of hybrid characters that could combine all of those.

"A doll of a child..."

Weed tasted failure dozens of times. He couldn't make a perfect magnum opus, a work that looked like it was carved from the light of the heavens. He could only dream of it because he knew his own humble skills well. However, it wouldn't do if there was an aspect that he found lacking.

"A young little girl. A doll of a lovable, bright, and peaceful child."

Weed tore at his hair. The King Hydra and Imoogi leather that had been stacked like a mountain was shrinking. If bronze or iron had been used as materials, then he could melt them down again and reuse them, but for the most part, he couldn't recycle the leather materials and had to discard them.

"It's hard enough making a child that's flawlessly bright, but darkness follows brightness."

In the eyes of the parents who couldn't have the child, such brightness would be pain that would chip away at their hearts. Even so, their sadness would be infinitely greater if he made a child that was shrieking as it cried.

"Magnum opus. I need to create a magnum opus..."

Weed fell into confusion. His worries on what kind of work he should to make were growing even more severe.

"Should I guess how Seo-yoon looked when she was young and make that?"

Escaping from reality!

He thought it'd be easy to sculpt Hwaryeong or Irene in their youths. However, Weed soon saw the error of his ways and shook his head.

"The player named Mandol believed in me and entrusted this to me. I can't just do a rough job."

It seemed like doing the quest would be way easier than agonizing over something that was so difficult to resolve.

The proficiency he accumulated while making dolls also amounted to 36% of level 7. Even if his skill level and expressiveness grew with experience, it was no good if he couldn't decide on the right subject.

"I'm not being too greedy... I just want to sculpt the best little girl that I can."

Weed's worries kept deepening.

Since there was no word from the expedition that had gotten the shared quest and had left for the Embinyu underground prison, he just kept sewing dolls. As he repeatedly experienced countless failures, he was trying to make that something.

Dolls, dolls, dolls, dolls!

"Gaaaaah!" Lee Hyun kicked away his blanket and stood. It was such a big issue that he couldn't sleep. "I thought I'd never have to suffer because of a doll again."

The dolls of young girls wouldn't leave his mind.

"Should I just make it as a bronze statue? If I make it using gold or silver, then..."

He came up with ways to escape, but he didn't want to run away from it like that. Such an action would be completely betraying the trust he had gathered in sculptures thus far.

"I can't just forget about it without even being able to make the requested sculpture."

It wasn't his way to give up because it was hard. No matter what, he just had to find the method!

Lee Hyun went to the market to cool his head. The dawn market was overflowing with liveliness from the people buying and selling things like vegetables and meat. But even within that liveliness, he couldn't think of the right sculpture for the young little girl.

"Should I try going to the maternity ward or a preschool?"

He could see little kids there, but it wasn't like he didn't know what a child looked like.

"They're sleepy little devils that get hungry and you have to frequently change their diapers."

No matter what kind of little girl doll he made, he wasn't pleased.

On his way home, Lee Hyun passed a photo studio. Photographs for the first birthday celebrations of little kids and wedded couples were on display.

As he looked at those photos for a long time, Lee Hyun gained enlightenment.

"For a sculptor, the subject can be felt and seen in the finished work alone. That's probably very different from a parent's perspective."

There was a life to a child even in an ordinary photo, and to a parent, that one photo would be a truly precious work.

Lee Hyun tried thinking of saying farewell to a little girl from a parent's shoes.

Just what was he supposed to do about a parent's breaking heart as they parted with a doll of a newborn baby!

"Making a doll of a child was wrong from the very beginning!" Lee Hyun suddenly shouted.

If he thought about it from a parent's perspective, then he already had the most definite answer.

Chapter 7: A Girl’s Life

Weed brought out the King Hydra and Imoogi leathers. Even after making stuffed animals and failed dolls of children, there was still quite a lot left. The very best of the leather was left, too.

For works of art, the first one made wasn't always the best, and the last one didn't necessarily have a high degree of finishing. However, a sculpture that didn't move the emotions wouldn't be able to impart any emotions to the opposite party.

He had saved the best materials in case he came up with a sculpture that he really had to make!

"I should be able to make 40 dolls. It's a shame, but this should be more than enough."

Weed cut the leather and started from making a sculpture of a newborn baby. It was a little girl who had just been born. Her skin was wrinkled, and she looked like she was about to cry, as if she had truly come into the world for the first time. She was small enough to be held in one hand.

"A living being within a few hours of being born. This is a baby that has made her first contact with the world after coming out of her mother's womb."

Having already received information about Mandol and his wife, Weed took a little of their features when making the doll. Even so, however, there wasn't a particular characteristic to the newborn babe.

"Alright. The first one is done."

Weed laid down the baby doll and raised the leather again. He needed to make the second doll now.

As he made the doll, Weed's hands were very careful. "It's a newborn baby. In her first year, she'll start toddling, and changing her diapers will be awful then, too. From a parent's perspective, it'll be a time when they can't help but be worried all the time."

Imagining the future of the little girl that Mandol's wife would have given birth to, Weed made the doll very tensely.

"She needs clothes, too."

He had covered the newborn baby doll with clean cloth, but now he used Tailoring to clothe her in baby clothes.

He completed the doll of a little girl gurgling into a laugh at her first birthday party!

"Now she knows her mom and dad... it's the time when she's growing up like that."

The doll he made next had grown a little more. She was taller, and her fingers and toes had grown longer. She also had hair in cute pigtails.

"The age when she'll learn how to speak and start acting mischievous."

He clothed the fourth doll he made in a kindergarten uniform. It was a doll of a young student wearing adorable clothes and even a backpack.

The fifth doll had grown up quickly; it was time for her to go to elementary school.

She had just been a baby-faced and cute kid until now, but from the sixth, she began to have a slightly feminine charm.

"The neighborhood boys will really want to flip up her skirt, and she'll have grown into a girl with a pretty smile."

The little girl who made mischief and ran around like the queen of the neighborhood would grow up charmingly. Her eyes would be as playful as before, but brighter, and she would be taller.

Every doll he completed after that was taller and had longer hair. The hairstyles also changed several times, ranging from long straight hair men preferred to a lively pixie cut.

"This is also pretty hard work."

He had to go buy hair from the sculpting material shop and sew them all in; even so, he didn't tire because his efforts were making something.

From the fourteenth doll, she had already graduated high school and had become an adult.

She had grown into a woman who seemed very energetic and talkative. As if she was going to suddenly bring her boyfriend over to introduce him to her parents, she had rosy cheeks and charming expressions. He even made pretty accessories like a hairband and necklace with through crafting. She only needed a book bag and a uniform in her high school years, but she was now a college girl. He had to make her a bag and heels, which were like the lifeblood of a woman.

"But luxury is still a no!"

He compromised with reasonably priced rabbit leather for the goods she carried around. Even so, she still gave off the feeling of a refined college girl. They were accessories that suited her expression, clothes, overall feel, and perfume. Like how a parent treasured their child, they were crafted with his utmost; the female student was as lovable as a real person.

It took an extremely long time to make the sculpture, but Weed was concentrating so much with every ounce of his effort that he didn't realize it.

From the seventeenth doll, as if no one could capture the passage of time, the small newborn baby that had to be cared for had found a job.

The eighteenth doll even went into volunteer work to help people in difficult situations.

In the nineteenth, she brought home a boyfriend, and in the twenty-first, she finally got married. He even made a reliable and thoughtful husband with her; they were a couple that matched each other like lovebirds. He made the wedding guests with materials like deer or rabbit leather, and they celebrated the couple's future.

The twenty-third doll even had a child, and she lived in a happy home. She did the dishes with her husband, the laundry and cleaning, and went to work as she lived happily.

Every time a doll was completed, the woman would age, and the passage of time became apparent as wrinkles appeared in her lovely visage.

Dolls that raised children and lived with her husband.

"It's too fast; they say that a person's life goes past as quickly as a growing sprout and can't be turned back, but even so, it's too regretful."

Past the young and immature days that had sparkled like jewels, the time that the doll experienced accelerated. From the thirty-sixth one onwards, the doll spent more time alone; her children had grown up, found jobs, and married. She became a grandmother and took naps, read books, and made yarn scarves for her grandson and granddaughter.

The Imoogi and Hydra leather that had been so abundant began to run out.

The forty-first doll happily and quietly closed her eyes. She was in a place with her family.

After making all the dolls, Weed sat still in deep despondency. The leather had completely run dry, and there was nothing more that he could do.

– Please set a name for the sculpture you've made.

The message window popped up when Weed stood still without moving his sculpting knife.

The sculpture that covered the lifetime of a doll was finished.

Weed weakly shook his head. "I will not set a name."

He didn't want to attach any name to the sculpture right now.

– If a name is not specified, then the name of the Sculptor might not be known and it may also be left as an unfinished work. Is that alright?

"It doesn't matter. This was a work that I was not qualified to make."

Ding!

Unnamed Mythical Sculpture

A gift thrown into the world by a Sculptor possessing talent and effort at the level of amazing a God!

The entire process of a human's life, from birth to death, has been expressed in a sculpture.

The Sculptor's perfect skills can even be felt in the meticulous needlework-- absolutely perfect needlework, without even a single loose stitch or missing hair.

It is not known what Sculptor was able to make such a magical work of art.

Artistic Value: A blessing to sculpting. It will become an opportunity to develop the continent's sculpting a step higher. 24,610.

Special Options:
Those who have seen the Unnamed Mythical Sculpture will have their Health and Mana regeneration speed increased by 32% for a day. Increases maximum Health and Mana by 30% for a day.

Strengthens the effects of blessing magic for a day.

Increases All Stats by 20.

Increases Agility and Courage by an additional 7%.

Increases movement speed by 30%. Can shorten the time taken because the farther one goes, the faster movement speed becomes.

Increases birth rate of the city or region where the statue is located by 100%. Reduces the violent tendencies of residents. It will be a very big help to security, but the natural increase of warriors and soldiers will decrease.

Permanently increases Health by 500.

Permanently increases the Wisdom and Intelligence of the Human race by a maximum of 15.

Effects do not stack with other sculptures.

An unfinished Mythical work.

– Sculpting skill proficiency has greatly improved.

– Handicraft skill proficiency has greatly improved.

– Sculpture Comprehension skill level has increased by 1.

– Because the artist who made the work was set to be unknown, Fame has increased by 2.

– Art stat has risen by 89.

– Perseverance has risen by 41.

– Charm has risen by 26.

– Wisdom has risen by 10.

In return for creating an unfinished mythical sculpture, All Stats rise by an additional 5 points.

A blessing to sculpting. For making a work about birth and death, stats related to combat will increase by 8% for one week. Maximum Mana and recovery rate will be increased by 65%.

The reward was enough to make Weed's mind go blank. It seemed that he would have to completely throw away the prejudice that a Sculptor wasn't as good as a Swordsman or another profession now.

"Check Sculpting skill!"

Advanced Sculpting 7 (65%): Can sculpt. A beautiful sculpture will also sell for a high price.

You can spread your name on the continent by making glorious sculptures.

Good for buying a woman's affection.

At the level of being able to lead the Versailles Continent's artistic community. It is regretful that there is no successor who can match the skills of this unique Sculptor.

His Sculpting skill proficiency had increased by a whopping 29%.

Thanks to putting in his utmost, Weed had ended up making a work that even he couldn't understand.

"I just made dolls..."

Weed came to a deep realization. There was a reason why children and women liked dolls.

It was their instinct to find goods with value!

He had made the dolls for a request barely worth 1 Copper, but there was still a fault. The number of completed dolls was considerable. He had made them inside the roomy space he was using as a workroom in the Lord's Castle, but he had to move them to another place so that Mandol and his wife could look at it comfortably. He could use an empty room in Morata Castle, but he didn't want to do so.

"There has to be a separate space for the child."

Weed mumbled quietly. "Whisper, turn off chatting restriction."

Ding!

– Whisper restrictions have been released.
– Guild chat restrictions have been released.

He opened up the whisper and chat functions that he had shut off while returning to Morata. With the restrictions turned on, he didn't see or hear the guild chat, and when someone whispered him, he could only hear them if he gave permission. It was a measure that he'd set up because there were so many people looking for Weed.

Sabrina: Hurry and hit it!

Edwin: It hasn't been hit quite enough.

Pin: It's resisting a lot, how annoying.

Edwin: But I think we've almost got it.

It seemed the Travelers of the Wilderness Guild was in a special hunting ground.

Weed ignored most of the guild's talk, because although the chatting restriction had been turned off, there were still as many lurkers as ever.

He sent a whisper to the Architect Pavo, who he'd met in the Northern Expedition. It had been a really long time, but he never forgot players that he could use.

'He was of a considerable level as an Architect.'

Pavo was the Architect who had been busy making even the stairs that were good for viewing for the Goddess Freya Statue in Morata.

Pavo hadn't forgotten Weed either. Since he was the Lord of Morata, of course he couldn't forget.

– Where are you?

– I'm in Morata. I heard the rumor that you returned and are making a statue. I couldn't go see you because I was setting up a store in the square.

– Are you almost done with your work?

– I just need to put up a door for them. If I hurry, I think can finish in an hour.

– What about Mister Gaston?

– He's working with me. Right now he's painting a ceiling fresco; he's finishing it.

– That's good. I have a request to make; I would like you to build me a house.

– The Lord of Morata needs a house?

Pavo looked like he didn't understand it very well. There was no reason for Weed, who had the Lord's Castle, to need a house. For things like item storage or resting in a bedroom, he could just use the Lord's Castle, after all.

– Actually... I need a space to leave a sculpture.

– Really? Then can it be a house with a large warehouse attached?

– Rather than a warehouse, I'd like you to build a house that isn't shabby so it can be displayed in a room.

– That's not hard, where are the sculptures?

– They're at the Lord's Castle. I will instruct the guards to allow you to enter the place where the sculptures are.

– Got it. I'll go there tonight at around evening. We'll decide on the request fee after I see the work.

– Thank you.

Around the time when Weed finished his conversation with Pavo, he received a whisper from a player named Hon.

– This is Hon of the underground prison expedition. The dungeon exploration is almost complete.

– Have you found the prisoners of the Matallost Church?

– Yes. We've found one for now, and the other prisoners are said to be in the vicinity.

– You've worked hard. I will also go there soon.

It was time for Weed to go to the underground prison for the quest.

* * *

The River of Lamentation basin that was connected to Morata by the movement portal! The second S-rank difficulty quest and the Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church would take place there. When Weed returned to the River of Lamentation again with Yellowy, he could see people gathered in groups nearby.

"That person is Weed..."

"He's the person called the God of War?"

"Shh! Talk quietly. He might hear, so be careful!"

They were people who had heard the news that Weed had stopped making sculptures and was leaving for the River of Lamentation from their friends in Morata and had been waiting in advance to look at him.

A considerable number of high leveled players in the North paid the toll fee and were hunting near the River of Lamentation. Considering its distance from Morata and the level of the monsters, it could be said that there was no better hunting ground. There were occasional cases where a party bravely ventured deep into the North, but instances where the entire party was annihilated from a slight mistake were numerous. Since help could be found from the surroundings at any time, the River of Lamentation was a fine hunting ground.

Weed looked around at the players with cold and frosty eyes. 'There are lots of people.'

In Morata, he had been a simple Lord who had sold food and japtem, but he couldn't be that way in the hunting ground, too. There were already quite a few figures who were staring at Weed with challenging eyes. If these high leveled players came at him all at once, then even Weed wouldn't be able to avoid death. He was even more sensitive because he had ultimate Unique items like the Necromancer's Magic Tome, Talrock's Armor, Ancient Shield, and Kolderim's Daemon Sword.

'This isn't Morata.'

In Morata, people couldn't even dream of challenging Weed because of the Soldiers or Knights. If someone raised a sword at the Lord, then they would either be subjugated by the Soldiers or the Freya Church's Knights would thoroughly destroy them. However, anything could happen in a hunting ground. He could meet murderers and even drop an item.

In order to not be looked down on, Weed feigned nonchalance as he looked at the people.

"Pieces of trash everywhere."

"..."

The crowd was silent.

The Wargod Weed they had imagined— it was an arrogance befitting of the strongest player in the Continent of Magic.

"Did they wait here without hunting to look at me? Though there are monsters everywhere... tsk tsk."

Weed tsked as he insulted them outright. Even people who had purchased food or sculptures from Weed in Morata couldn't conceal their shock at his completely different attitude.

The thoughts that occurred to them then!

'This might be the true Weed...'

'Is he acting politely to beginners or individuals alone? We're gathered in a group and he's actually criticising us... he might be a wolf in sheep's clothing.'

There were over 200 high leveled players gathered here, yet he disdained them all outright. A player's pride originally went sky high once they passed level 300. Their personal connections built from various places and the force they showed while hunting would become the object of envy. The number of players was immense because the Versailles Continent was expansive, but the higher you went up the ranks, the less players there were. A level 300 was at a level where they wouldn't be disdained anywhere. At that position, they could join a prestigious guild and speak out some in a smaller to medium guild. The pride and ego of high level players was as high as a mountain, but there was no one here who would dare to interfere with Weed. They might attack him if they were alone, but it wasn't a mood they could go forth in because the other people were staying put. Weed had dominated the atmosphere with a few composed words.

"How pathetic."

"..."

The people couldn't even say a single word in reply. At some point, it had become natural for Weed to speak like this. He was friendly in Morata, but he revealed his extremely arrogant nature before the gathered high level players. It was the might of the absolute strongest, something they had dreamed of since who knows when.

However, a few people harbored resentment towards the continuing disdain. Having become stronger while wandering the hunting grounds, their competitive spirit flared at Weed, who was acting like an almighty maverick. It would be an honor even if they died, and they felt like wanting to challenge him.

A subtle change in mood was flowing in the repressed crowd.

Just then, Weed burst out with Lion's Roar, "Bingryong! Phoenix! Why haven't you come to greet me even though I've come!"

A sound spread like lightning!

At Weed's call, Bingryong and Phoenix spread their wings wide and flew over from far away. With a size that rivaled a Dragon with his torso alone, Bingryong was fearsome enough to give people who were seeing him for the first time get goosebumps. Bingryong and Phoenix let loose a round of cries into the sky before coming down to sit on the rocky mountain.

ROOAAAR!

SCREEECH!

Cracks formed on the mountain's stone and sand was falling.

"Master, I came at your call."
"Master, I have come."

Bingryong was good-looking-- he had heft like a Dragon, refined eyes, and a deft snout! With an air of indifference characteristic of a bird, Phoenix was cold, yet explosive power that seemed like it would burn everything lay dormant within. That Bingryong and Phoenix courteously lowered their heads to Weed.

"Ooh."
"Incredible."

The crowd felt some kind of wall separating them from Weed, who had tamed and was pushing around those two seemingly wild divine beasts. The constantly complaining, timid and fearful Bingryong and Phoenix, who was so very stupid that it caused accidents! Unaware of their relationship with Weed, who enslaved them with frustration and bullying, the people could only see it as amazing. There would be no one who could challenge Weed even after seeing Bingryong and Phoenix bowing their heads to him.

"You idiots. I get angry just seeing you guys." Weed furrowed his brow.

Bingryong and Phoenix looked like they were accepting it without any resistance.

'What kind of dirty tantrum is he going to throw now...'

'Let's just ignore it. There's probably something we did wrong.'

Weed said, "Incompetent and useless bastards."

Bingryong and Phoenix rolled their eyes in pointless guilt and sorriness as they looked around. Every time Weed insulted them, there was some kind of decisive reason. If they talked back and snapped at him, this frustration and insulting would go on for much longer, so they didn't ask for the reason or argue. They decided to do the same this time, too, and just waited.

Weed shook his head towards Bingryong and Phoenix as if it was annoying. "I don't even want to see you pieces of crap, so fuck off!"

Thinking it was their liberation, Bingryong and Phoenix unfurled their wings and flew away. They had to get far away from him before Weed changed his mind. They fled so quickly that the rocky mountain shook and harsh winds blew.

The crowd's spirits sank even further. They were giving him looks of envy and respect rather than competitive or fighting spirit. With this much disdain towards Bingryong and Phoenix, whose matches were hard found even in the Versailles Continent, they were thinking that the disdain directed at them was somewhat natural.

Weed strode towards the direction of the Embinyu Fortress. The Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church-- monsters were gathered in hordes along with an enormous labyrinth in the underground the Embinyu Fortress.

'Two people are better than one for clearing a dungeon like this.'

Because of concerns regarding poisoning or curse magic, it was beneficial to have one or two teammates.

* * *

Holding a shovel, Pavo walked to the black castle with Gaston.

"Have you come to fulfil the Lord's request?" asked the guard watching over the Lord's Caste with a spear.

Pavo came to the Lord's Castle quite often because of his Architect license and had accumulated intimacy, so the guard had recognized him.

"Yes, I have."

"The Lord has asked you to build a house to store a work. I will guide you to the place where the sculptures are located."

"Thank you."

Pavo and Gaston followed the guard into the Lord's Castle. It was the Lord's private space, where people normally couldn't enter. Not even a single simple decoration was hung on the walls, and they couldn't even look at things like the valuables.

"There's nothing special," said Gaston with disappointment.

As a Painter, his Art stat or insight would rise if he appreciated impressive artwork. It was due to their natural ambition that art professions wanted to appreciate many works.

"This is the room."

The guard opened one of the Lord's closed chambers.

At that moment!

A brilliant light poured out from within the room.

You have discovered a Mythical sculpture.

Birth and death!

For the first time, you have discovered a work whose craftsmanship will be envied by Dwarves and kings will want to acquire even by going to war.

The Sculptor who made the work did not reveal his name.

– For a discovery that will cause a sensation in the world, Fame has increased by 1,290.

– You have acquired the title of Mythical Sculpture Discoverer. If you tell the story of discovering the sculpture in a tavern, you will be able to drink and eat unlimited food and alcohol for free. Nobles and royals who love beauty will welcome your visit, and they will want to hear your story in detail.

As soon as the door was opened, the Fame that was so hard to raise went up by over 1,000.

That was before Pavo and Gaston were able to come to their senses.

You have seen Unnamed Mythical Sculpture.

The flower of artistry, this work is worth being called a marvelous work of art.

An unknown Sculptor made the sculpture with birth and death as the theme to demonstrate his skills. Those who see his sculpture and understand will celebrate life with him.

Health, Mana, and Stamina regeneration have increased by 32%.

Maximum Health and Mana have increased by 30%.

All Stats increased by 20.

Agility and Courage have been further increased.

Movement speed has quickened by 30%. The effect will be even greater when moving long distances.

Having enjoyed the joy of being alive, Health has permanently increased by 500.

It is difficult to understand this work due to low Wisdom. Wisdom and Intelligence have permanently increased by 2.

You need to look carefully and frequently in order to understand this work.

Architects were a profession that required surprisingly high Wisdom. That was because they needed to know how to use simple magic in order to construct a building. However, even his Wisdom and Intelligence were insufficient to understand this work.

That was it for Pavo, but Gaston was as shocked as if he'd been hit by a lightning bolt.

– For appreciating a Mythical sculpture, Art stat has risen by 47.

A massive increase in the Art stat!

In the case of magicians, an apprentice who learned from a teacher could grow much faster. However, artists could only prove themselves with their works alone!

The dolls displayed in the light looked so realistic that it was unbelievable that they were leather dolls. The clothes they were wearing, especially the buttons, were made precisely; not a single thing was out of place.

"To think that these sculptures are Weed's true skills..."

The Sculptor who made the dolls was unknown, but who else could have made them but the Lord of Morata, Weed? They were sure of it because Weed had asked them to build a house for works that were in the Lord's Castle.

Pavo sent a whisper to Weed with a trembling voice.

– A-are you are busy right now?

Weed's answer returned quickly.

– It's okay. Please speak.

– There's one thing I'm curious about.

– What is it?

– Why didn't you publicize your name after making this sculpture? Though we were able to get discoverer's fame thanks to that...

It was something that Pavo and Gaston really couldn't understand, despite being grateful for it. If he had made a sculpture like this, of course he should boast and let it be known.

If Gaston had painted a Mythical work, he would have gone around running his mouth everywhere.

– Because I was ashamed.

– Ashamed of what?!

– I was too embarrassed to reveal my name because my skill was too lacking and faulty...

– *Choke*

He was too embarrassed to attach his name after making a Mythical sculpture like this!

Weed's modesty was enough to make them choke.

Chapter 8: Encounter with Da’in

Pavo had great ambitions as an Architect. He was now skillful at constructing houses and buildings for business.

There was quite the variety of preferences for houses in Morata. In other affluent kingdoms, you had to be a high leveled player or have a lot of money in order to own your own house. That's because they had to build a villa or some luxury residence in order to not be inferior to others. But in Morata, there was a representative style of house.

The shack!

It could be built easily, and it cost almost no construction and maintenance fees. The shoddy shack could only block the rain and wind, but there were so many of them that there was no reason to feel ashamed all alone.

Since even beginners could build one if they acquired lumber, they would prepare a house at just level 20 or 30. They could easily realize the precious dream of having their own house. After preparing a house, the beginners would leave equipment or goods they weren't using inside their houses and even call their friends to throw parties. Morata was their hometown and they even had a house; that was the main reason why beginners couldn't leave Morata even after growing.

Normally, permission to construct shacks wasn't often given because public safety and health would drop severely if many of them were built. The price of land was also high in other cities, so building a house took tons of money. But Morata's land was on the cheap side, and public safety and health were quite good as well. The Lord had made an expensive waterway and established a vigilance corps, and relief for the poor went on smoothly due to the Freya Church's influence, so there were hardly any thieves.

"No village idealizes the shack more than this one does."

Pavo had built a considerable number of shacks. The shacks he built were popular because they were sturdy and the inside space was also well designed. A shack that had just been built had a charm of its own. It would deteriorate after a long time, rotting or breaking and leaking, but it was more or less worth living in a shack that was like new.

Adventurers, Merchants, and wealthy players who crossed over from the Central Continent wanted high-class residences.

"Please build me a house on a place that looks down on Morata. You have to make the warehouse big, and please use expensive materials, too."

There was also a lot of demand for high-class houses or business buildings, so Pavo worked hard. The thousands of shacks, hundreds of luxury villas, Morata's bridge, and business buildings that he had personally built became landmarks.

"The Designing and Construction skill haven't been growing well these days."

The proficiency from shacks was paltry. The Fame he acquired and his proficiency growth from completing a business building or villa were also decreasing.

"I'll have to make a really awesome work."

Pavo's affection towards Morata was extremely high. Since he had built many buildings that were being used by Merchants and residents, as an Architect, he was as fond of it as if it were his own city.

"Let's try making a proper building."

With perfect timing, Weed's request set the fire of challenge blazing in him, as an Architect. He needed to make a work of construction for the sculpture about birth and death, as well as the countless dolls.

"Intermediate Designing!"

Ding!

The blueprint popped up as a translucent 3D image in front of Pavo.

By using Mana, he could try setting up walls, columns, and even decorate the interior, as if he were actually making a house. The beginner Designing skill had a limit to the overall size, and you couldn't use diverse materials either.

The Construction and Designing skill were inseparable. The materials and new styles that were applied in Construction were able to instantly influence the Designing skill and develop it. Things like the arrangement of furniture and the structure of the house were completed through Designing. After making a blueprint, you could even give instructions to laborers.

Pavo's Designing skill was Intermediate level 3. It wasn't at the level of being able to construct a castle, but he could certainly make a fairly large building and garden.

"They're the skills that made 3 deluxe villas at once."

Pavo made the blueprint with an enormous structure.

Weed said he had made the dolls for some child.

"That noble aim... I can't disappoint it."

Weed had permitted a budget of 1,980 Gold! It was just enough money to barely make one house. However, Pavo planned to invest in materials unsparingly for the construction.

"Let's bring in good trees and flowers from the continent to decorate the garden. We'll make the garden about one and a half acres, and the area of the building has to be at least 8 acres."

Envisioning the ultimate landmark building, it had a size and design that he had never made before. He intended to make use of his fortune as an Architect, the profession that was said to have the most money after a Merchant, to try making a building that was worthy of emblemizing Morata.

"As an artist, it's ridiculous that Weed didn't have a single space worthy enough to display his sculptures."

He would make it so that Weed's sculptures could be put on display, allowing the residents and adventurers to see them.

Pavo began construction. He dove right into production because the work was so tremendous.

* * *

Pale was in the middle of hunting with his party in a dungeon when a whisper came from Weed.

– I have to hunt in an underground prison. It might be a little dangerous, but please send me one person or so.

The Embinyu Fortress underground prison was very complex. There were parties hunting and countless monsters everywhere. Since there was apparently a monster that used poison as well, it was tough to fight recklessly.
After ending the whisper, Pale spoke to his party. "Weed asked that we send one person."

"Shall I go?" Hwaryeong stepped forward at once, as if she'd been waiting for it. There was no way she would miss an opportunity to be with Weed for the first time in a while.

"Of course Weed would welcome you, Hwaryeong, but he says he needs someone who can cure poison. Irene, do you want to go too?"

"What'll you do here if I go?"

"We'll figure it out somehow. It's fine since we have Da'in, too."

Pale's party fulfilled very many requests from Morata. They were hunting and doing quests side-by-side while getting the book possessing the 'Secret of Manufacturing Ancient Breastplate.' Even though the quest they were currently doing had a difficulty of C, it was dangerous dungeon hunting where they were attacked by monsters with very high damage.

"Won't it be dangerous for the people left behind if both Hwaryeong and I go?"

"Maybe. It depends on how long Zephyr can hold on, but it'll definitely be a bit dangerous, huh?"

As a party that lacked a Warrior or Knight, it was true that they were uneasy whenever they did a dungeon exploration. Even though Zephyr took charge of defense, it was tough when there were a lot of monsters rushing in. Hwaryeong harassed the monsters with her Confusion Dance or Seduction Dance, so if both she and Irene were gone at the same time, it would greatly impede the exploration.

"I will go." Holding a cudgel, Da'in stepped forward.

Shaman was the profession that could be called the jack of all trades! She had striking power, but it was also her specialty to soundly beat up the monsters when they went crazy.

As she swung her cudgel, Da'in occasionally murmured to herself. "Flogging has to be done by hand after all. There's no fun in hunting without the taste of giving a beating."

The most popular Shaman in Morata, she had been helping out in Pale's party.

Zephyr nodded. "Miss Da'in can be relied on since she can detoxify and even cure. Looks like Hwaryeong and Da'in can go together and help him."

After they decided on the people who would go to the underground prison, Yurin drew a picture based on Weed's explanation. In the picture, Yurin, Da'in, and Hwaryeong were standing next to Weed at the entrance of a dark prison. The advantage of Picture Teleportation was that multiple people could be moved at once. Granted, the teleportation of an absurd number of people was impossible since everyone had to be drawn on one sheet. They also couldn't teleport too deep underground due to the Mana limitation.

"Picture Teleportation!"

Yurin, Hwaryeong, and Da'in disappeared, as if they were sucked into the drawing. Then, as if swaying into being, they suddenly appeared in the place where Weed was waiting, the entrance to the underground prison.

MOOOOO!

Yellowy greeted them with a gentle face, as if glad to see them. He was a male, and as the special characteristic of an art creature, he liked beautiful people.

"Ohh, what a handsome and dashing bull."

Hwaryeong gently stroked Yellow's neck. It was a happy moment for Yellowy, who went slack-jawed with a naive expression.

"Oppa, how much does this fella weigh?"

"He's a top of the line Korean cow. I added a little more to the special parts, like ribeye."

"He looks tasty. Oughta be pretty good if you slow-cooked him and ate the bone broth mixed with rice."

Yurin, who was joking because she was in front of Weed! Yellowy's complexion lost all color.

In the meantime, Weed and Da'in saw each other.

Da'in's face had become hard to recognize due to the aftermath of the curse she had received in Morata. She could get rid of the curse, but she had left it in order to see how Weed was getting along.

Da'in bowed lightly at the waist first as she greeted him. "Hello. I heard much about you."

She greeted him while hiding her complex feelings from meeting him after a long time.

Weed introduced himself briefly. "I'm Sculptor Weed. So you're the Shaman introduced by Pale."

"I'm Da'in."

A spark flashed through Weed's eyes. Ever since he heard that there was a Shaman named Da'in in Pale's party, he'd thought it was a strange coincidence.

"Da'in... and you say you're a Shaman."

"Why?"

Weed shook his head as if to clear something from his mind. "It's nothing. It's just that I recalled an old memory for a bit."

"What kind of memory was it?"

"It's just... a memory I keep to myself. Now is not the time to share a long story." Weed spoke coldly because he had remembered the bittersweet memory from Lavias.

Lots of people were gathering in order to sightsee after hearing the news that he had arrived at the entrance to the underground prison. There were also people who had followed him from the Matallost Church's temple. It would be better to take the mercenary Smith and get to the objective quickly.

"Let's go into the underground prison first and chat later."

Weed pulled out his sword and advanced. He had used Sword Grind and Armor Polish in advance, so there was nothing holding him back.

Da'in swung her cudgel as she chanted a spell. Weed was encased in the effects of a spell that amplified Strength, increased Agility, movement speed, and attack speed, and even hardened his skin. The effect was to the extent that it was unbelievable that she was a normal Shaman. Weed's Strength increased by over 230, and his movement speed also became very fast. His whole body overflowed with strength, like he had dropped off heavy luggage. With his Stamina and Agility increased, he felt like he could run like the wind and leap from cliff to cliff. He felt as if he could run like a cheetah!

'She's an incredible Shaman,' Weed thought to himself.

One of the finest Shamans in Morata, the proficiency of her skills was far from average.

* * *

"What a tremendous underground dungeon. I didn't think it'd be this deep."

The Warrior Hon looked around himself. The Embinyu's underground prison boasted a massive size, as well as a complex labyrinth and various test subjects. The level of the monsters was also on the high side, and the traps were numerous too. The Thief players in the party tried to disable all the traps, but it still took them over twenty-five days of struggling on the path to the place where the priests of the Matallost Church were tied up.

There were over 40 players who had received the 'Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church' quest together, and their levels were fairly high as well. They were only able to comb this vast dungeon all the way to this point because they had the help of players like the Explorer and Elementalist.

The Paladin Billeo said, "Because it's an underground prison underneath the Embinyu Fortress... it truly wasn't a normal dungeon. About when do you think Weed will come?"

The Magician Easton lit a bonfire idly as he replied. "We heard he left Morata, so won't it take him about five days or so?"

Gallic looked unconvinced. "That fast?" He meant that was too quick compared to how much they themselves had suffered.

"We told him the path. Since we also got rid of all the traps, he should easily be able to get here in four or five days. Though it might take longer, y'know."

Hon made a decision as the party's leader. "Then since we can't waste our time either, let's hunt in the area while we wait."

"Shall we?"

"Look around you. The others are all hunting too."

There was a considerable number of monsters in the underground prison. Because it was a place where light didn't shine in, it was inhabited by hideous demons or creatures that had been cursed by the Embinyu. They were also at a pretty high level. For the most part, level 350 monsters emerged.

"He should be able to get here within five days if he hurries."

* * *

Weed closed in on the Dark Knights guarding the entrance to the underground prison. Since he was appreciating the effects from making a legendary sculpture and also had the Shaman's skill on him, he moved as fast as if he were flying.

"The enemy we have to face is fifteen Dark Knights."

They were the gatekeepers of the Embinyu Church. An excommunicated priest of the Demeter Church was also helping the Dark Knights, but they absolutely had to be taken down in order to enter the underground prison. It had only been a short amount of time, but it was common for people to fight the gatekeepers when a certain number of parties hunting in the River of Lamentation basin gathered. They needed at least 20 people in order to fight the Dark Knights at ease!

Weed was going to fight them with Hwaryeong, Da'in, and Yurin.

'It'll just be cumbersome if there are too many people.'

There were a lot of times when he also hunted alone, so he thought this many teammates was more than enough. If there were more people, he even had to distribute the japtem; the agony he would feel then would be indescribable!

"What, is he going to go hunt with just those people? Is he crazy?"

"You saw in the broadcast. He's super strong."

"He succeeded in the quest because there were a lot of barbarians who helped him."

"He'll only be able to go into the underground prison if we fight with him..."

"Let's just wait and see for now. He'll probably ask us to help if he needs it."

The God of War Weed. Without concealing their excitement at being able to become his teammate, the watchers looked on from afar.

Of course, they would leap up right away to help him if he called and would be able to show off their strength. That was because being in the same party as Weed was a tremendous honor.

Hwaryeong spoke as if worried, "Around what level are the knights?"

"In the early 330s. The Elite Dark Knights are about 380." There weren't any Elite Dark Knights here, but Weed explained for now. "If the knights have firm wills, the Seduction Dance probably won't work well on them."

Hwaryeong's Charm was enough to make Yellow wag his tail. Besides the Charm skill that was vital for her as a Dancer, with the combination of her clothes and accessories, there was no man who wouldn't fall over if she flirted with her flashy and evocative dance.

"It's just that my Health is low. I'll die pretty quick if I take a hit from a monster at the level of a Dark Knight; do you think it'll be okay?"

"I'll draw their aggro first, so please dance after that."

"I'll only believe in you, Weed."

The Dark Knights recognized Weed and reacted.

"Our church's enemy!"

"He's the conspirator who destroyed our religion's headquarters and caused the High Priest's death."

"The vicious guy who lured in the uncivilized barbarians with his cunning tongue and challenged us, the followers of a sacred purpose, has come."

The Dark Knights charged with fierce rage.

The charge of knights!

There were many cases where knights insisted on single combat. Because they had honor and pride, knights did offer to fight one to one. However, such a regulation didn't didn't apply to Weed. He had become an enemy who could not coexist with the Embinyu Church.

Clink clink clink.

Rushing in with the sound of their armor joints clattering, the charge of the Dark Knights was tremendous. A charge of the knights had been enough to deal a wound even on the former King Hydra's thick body. Because they carried the weight of their great armor, Vitality and Health would fall even if the charge was blocked with a shield. Cases where you were paralyzed from the impact were also numerous.

But Weed had a defense skill as well.

Close Eyes Tightly!

It was a Warrior technique that raised Perseverance and Toughness through the restriction of vision.

That wasn't all; he hardly used it, but the Moonlight Sculpting Blade was a skill that integrated attack and defense. When he used it as an attack skill alone, he could ignore the enemy's defense and deal a lot of damage. It was thanks to the characteristic of a Sculptor, who carved into actual materials, and the technique that was capable of handling light. It was also possible to use light to blind the enemy's eyes or to surround himself completely in light to use it for defensive purposes. There were the disadvantages that it couldn't block a physical blow as well as a magic attack and consumed Mana quickly, but the results Weed had gotten from experimenting with it had been fearsome.

His entire body covered in light and his wings spread out, he had penetrated the clump of monsters. A precise swordsmanship directed at the monsters that were approaching at rollercoaster-like speeds! He could have also shot out light and hit them, but the Mana consumption was too severe if he did that. Even when he tore them apart by swinging his sword himself, it only took a moment to reduce the monsters to ashes. 7 Caltrops! A battle against them would have taken a while if he fought normally, but they had been annihilated boringly in just 30-40 seconds with the Moonlight Sculpting Blade. Granted, he had to rest for a long time after ending the battle since he used up almost all his Vitality and Mana.

He could also use the Wings of Light that had been granted life to bypass monsters or assault them from behind. The fighting methods he could use were endless.

However, there was almost no occasion where he had to fight to the best of his ability. The biggest fighting opportunity had been when he was seizing the Embinyu Fortress, but the summoned Balkan, King Hydra, and Imoogi had fought better than he had expected. He tried to reveal his true skills for a bit when cutting the King Hydra's necks all at once, but he was so tired that it had ended all too blandly.

"I'm fed up with hunting, it's boring."

Following his own growth, Weed was at the point where he was bored of most battles. He couldn't raise Perseverance or Toughness in a fight where he had to do his best. For the ultimate hunting efficiency, there were things he needed to sacrifice out of necessity.

The underground prison was said to have monsters everywhere. Since he expected that the fighting would go on continuously, he couldn't rely on a skill that consumed Mana.

"Dirtman, turn the ground around me into mud."

The earth spirit was summoned in the blink of an eye. It was fresh since Weed had made it himself, took little Mana besides the summoning, and it was an obedient spirit. In his current state of very accelerated Mana recovery, he could use as many spirits as he wanted.

"I came because I received the command of Weed-nim, the most handsome man in the Versailles Continent. I will make the earth into mud right away."

Other spirits were arrogant and wasted a lot of time in responding to a summoning. Even with high intimacy with the Elementalist, it was rare for them to be obedient. However, Dirtman popped out as soon as it was called.

The ground the knights were charging on soon transformed into a mire that came up to the ankles. The armor wearing knights scattered and struggled on the place that had become bog-like.

"What's that spirit?"

"Is it an earth spirit? It appeared so quickly!"

That was the surprised reaction of the people who saw Dirtman.

"Hooray for Weed-nim, the being of absolute charisma! I have completed thy command. Do you have any more work for me? Please call me for anything."

Weed spoke as if being generous. "You may fight with us too."

"Thank you, Master. I shall not forget this kindness. I will treasure it deep inside my earth."

Dirtman raised a mound of dirt and attacked the Dark Knights. There wasn't much damage to speak of since it was dirt, but rocks were cleverly hidden inside so the Dark Knights had no choice but to fight it. Dirtman also didn't use much Mana, considering it was a spirit. Since Weed currently had overflowing Mana, there was no need to be stingy.

"Dirtman, you may use as much of my Mana as you want."

"I am honored, Master."

BOOOOM!

Lines of dirt flew into the sky like arrows.

Weed ran into the bog that where the Dark Knights were in mud up to their thighs and being harassed. The ground before his feet became firm, so there was no discomfort to walking.

"The foe of the Embinyu Church!"

"It's good you came; I shall rip you apart."

Even while being very preoccupied due to the mire, the Dark Knights swung their swords at Weed.

They were big knights, but their heights were about the same as Weed's because their legs were sunken in the mud.

The Dark Knights madly swung their dirtied swords. The sword Weed swung rang out with a beautiful sound as it flowed on the swords of the Dark Knights in succession.

Claaaaassh!

As if a blizzard was being split, a path was cut through the flock of Dark Knights.

"Bone Cutter!"
"Sharpness Blade!"
"Illusion Sword!"

The swords of the Dark Knights shined as spells were cast. A damage amplifying skill that cut through the opponent's bones! A skill that penetrated by concentrating strength into sharpness! The Dark Knights even used a skill that divided a sword, turning it into five.

The Dark Knights surrounded Weed and unleashed their attacks. Weed turned violently . He avoided the Bone Cutter that would deal a fatal wound if he took a direct blow to his bare body, and he twisted to the side to avoid the sword that came straight his way. After narrowly dodging them, the sword that was divided into five attacked him.

Weed's eyes flashed. 'There's always a weak point to skills like this.'

The decisive disadvantage that strength and damage would be dispersed!

"Sword Dance."

Weed agiley moved his feet as he swung his sword to parry all five of the attacks.

"Arghh!"

It seemed the Dark Knights felt great shame that their attacks had failed. That was because even though they had put away their high pride to try a combined attack, they hadn't been able to kill Weed.

"Bone Cutter!"

"Keep attacking!"

Among the Dark Knights, Weed sped about like a bog eel. After leaping into their midst, he used his enemies so they couldn't use their skills and moved in a range that was close enough for their skin to touch.

'Close combat can be called the ultimate fight.'

Swordsmen used their skills from the very beginning. They unleashed their swordsmanship without hesitation, and even used long-ranged attack skills like lunges. With flashy effects, they displayed as much might. The Swordsman was a profession that had more awesome damage the more high leveled they became. There was a reason why they took the center stage in hunting.

On the other hand, Weed believed in the single Sculpting Blade and made do with his body for most of his fighting. With the least Mana consumption, he had grown through close combat, which could improve his skills and Toughness. Though the knights were quick and sharp, he was experienced and could avoid them fairly well.

'And... they're much slower than the sahyungs or master's sword.'

One could roughly predict where an attack would land just by looking at the foot movements. Weed stored the placement of the Dark Knights and their attack directions in his head and moved amongst them.

'If you're fast and smooth, you won't fall apart even when fighting greater numbers.'

His sword flowed and burrowed in while parrying.

The Sword Mastery skill that had risen to Intermediate 7 became Weed's foundation in battle. As his Sword Mastery skill was higher than the Dark Knights', there were many cases where his opponent's attack skills were nulled when he beat them at a precise strike point.

"Triple!"

Weed used only the bare minimum of skills as he sliced past the Dark Knights as if sweeping through. He hid his Sculpting Blade, which could be called his patented move, in order to avoid the attention of the onlookers. That was because not showing a considerable portion of his skills would be helpful in a nasty situation. Sculpting Blade was effective when facing a monster that was much stronger than a normal one and it was particularly optimal for tearing apart Knights or Warriors.

"Ack!"

"He got through."

The Dark Knights groaned heavily, but they didn't fall. That was because they had immense defense and Health from wearing full plate armor, the reason why knights were so tricky to face. However, the damage didn't end with small wounds, due to Weed's sword, the Daemon Sword that was said to have cleaved the devil.

– Daemon Sword's Freezing Curse.

A part of the body has frozen, so Strength and Agility will fall greatly.

Will reduce Health by 35 every second due to the damage of the ice attribute.

– Daemon Sword Cracked Rock Curse.

A crack has formed in the equipped armor, causing the durability to fall continuously.

Decreases defense.

– Daemon Sword's Nightmare Curse.

Evil spirits will rush in to cause optical illusions; after willpower has been weakened, they will rapidly disintegrate the body.

The Dark Knights fell into chaos from Weed's intrusion. Hwaryeong used the instantaneously created opening to push into the knights.

"Seduction Dance!"

The sensual bubi bubi, which could only be seen in a club or a night stage!

[T/N: For those who may have forgotten, this is a dance that involves grinding and generally sexy movements, leading to the name, bubi bubi, which translates literally to "rub rub" — it is not derived from "booby booby".]

When Hwaryeong's body grazed past, the Dark Knights froze in their tracks. They drooled with hazy eyes and even lost their minds. Hwaryeong had grown enormously in the time while they had been apart, so as she danced, a butterfly flew around and flowers were strewn about.

"A dancer must always be graceful!"

She was even using the Flower Scattering skill!

As Hwaryeong danced, she left an inviting fragrance in her wake. Over 10 Dark Knights were charmed and lost their will to fight for an instant.

"Arrrghhh!"

Weed easily hunted down the Priest with weak defense first. Killing Priests didn't take long since their Health was low even if they were high leveled. By the time he got rid of the Priest, the Dark Knights attacking Weed had decreased by three thanks to Hwaryeong's work.

"Too easy."

Weed and Hwaryeong were perfectly in sync.

Weed slipped past the attacks of three Dark Knights with ease as he unfurled an aggressive counterattack.

– A fatal blow has been dealt.

The accurate blows that fell every time he did so!

Weed effectively used Kolderim's Daemon Sword, cleaver of the devil. The Daemon Sword allowed his skills to take flight. It was important to land fatal blows with Strength and damage, but he dealt many small wounds. He killed the Dark Knights after weakening them severely through the 7 overlapping curses of the Daemon Sword. Weed was moving so fantastically that even the armor he was wearing felt like a uselessly heavy load.

The jaws of the onlookers fell open.

"What the hell?"

"How can a person move like that? Is he seeing the attacks of the Dark Knights?"

"That's not something you can do just by seeing the attacks. He's striking the sword he's swinging in the center to change their directions."

Scenes they couldn't believe even after rubbing their eyes were cropping up one after another.

Beginner Warriors or Knights fought while getting hit by most of the attacks, trusting their Toughness, skills, and armor. Even if they accumulated a certain amount of skill, they were only at the level of using their shields or putting their weapons up front to block. Weed dodged the enemy's attacks by a finger's width, pierced the vital points, and slipped out. If they had known that Weed was restraining a lot of his skills, the people might have even fallen into severe self-doubt and frustration.

"Even the videos of famous Swordsmen on the Versailles Continent weren't at this level."

"Still, does he have no sense of fear at all? How can he run in front in a situation like that?"

"I recognized him when he fought riding the wyvern. A fight like that is really too natural for Weed!"

A battle on par with what the onlookers had thought of was unfolding before their eyes. They could only be fascinated by Weed's natural movements alone. They wouldn't have been this surprised if he had a high level or fought while using skills, but the movement of his body itself was a work of art.

Scenes of a fight that looked as if he was enjoying battle and controlling every movement!

The players knew how incredible Weed's current actions were.

"His stats and skills, all of it is optimized."

"He's putting everything he has into battle."

The ordinary standard for high leveled players was using their character's techniques well. They decided on various attack skills to match the situation and fought to win.

In comparison, like a person born for battle, Weed showed precise judgement and movements.

Even if the characters were the same, their performance in battle could only be different based on how they fought. In a brawling game, it was like the difference between heaven and earth even if characters with the same ability were used to fight.

A normal human wouldn't leap right into the middle of the Dark Knights swinging swords, and they wouldn't even try to strike those swords to slip past. No, they wouldn't overdo it by fighting the Dark Knights in the first place and would choose to safely gather more teammates.

When onlookers who had rushed over without reserve saw Weed's battle, there was something that made their blood boil. It drew them into wild excitement, and they were absorbed in the battle.

"There were over 10 Dark Knights, but he's really hunting them with 4 people. It ought to be possible if they were a party in the late 300s, but..."

"Just look at that Painter over there! She's wearing a tunic with a level 30 requirement."

"Is she really under level 50?"

"Her profession is a Painter. She's not even joining in the battle, just doodling."

Yurin was drawing the overpowering Dark Knights wearing the formal, solemn armor as no-good cavemen. With bushy beards and nose hairs sticking out, they were wearing elastic tights rather than armor.

"The weapon the Shaman has equipped isn't good either?"

"She's an extremely famous Shaman in Morata. I was in the same party as her once before, but... she's not even level 250."

"You mean she's hunting Dark Knights even so? It's ridiculous even if Weed is there."

"The Shaman is impressive too, and I've never seen a Dancer getting so aggressively involved in a battle. If only I could also dance with a charming Dancer like her..."

When the onlookers were spewing praise, Weed's expression was apathetic.

'This is boring.'

The ability of the Dark Knights was impressive. They were knights, and they rained down heavy and substantial attacks, so you couldn't be careless. If he was level 300 like before, he would have hunted with great excitement since they were monsters that were objectively stronger than himself. But since Weed was now level 370, he could defeat them fairly comfortably. Having grown while struggling in disadvantageous situations, opponents that were perfect for others merely made Weed sleepy.

'Too weak.'

Even after hunting several Dark Knights at once, he thought of this much as insignificant.

Even after entering the underground prison, Weed easily slaughtered the monsters. He was able to hunt the monsters so simply that it was futile since Hwaryeong put them to sleep. That was also because he couldn't take hits from the Dark Knights on purpose in order to raise his Toughness since there were many onlookers. Because this was after he made the sculpture, his Health and Mana recovery speeds were at a tremendous level, so he would be slow to tire even after fighting and fighting.

Monks of the Embinyu Church appeared before Weed. They were a very strong and rather quick mob that used punches or kicks as their main arsenals.

Weed overlapped another skill onto Sculpting Blade. It was a possible attack because Sculpting Blade was a technique that applied purely to Sword Mastery itself.

"15 Chain Strike."

Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bam!

He ran in without reserve and mercilessly beat them up with his sword. He had absolutely no mercy, and made no allowance for generosity, either.

"Hammer Fist!"

When the Monks were barely able to extend their fists, he stood and took that much. Weed's equips were considerable, so taking a few hits from the Monks' hits was fine.

"Did you hit me just now?"

Weed's eyes twitched. His Perseverance or Toughness didn't even rise from taking those fumbling hits. He didn't really need to bear it and get hit when his stats didn't even go up!

"15 Chain Strike!"

Pa-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-bam!

He violently beat up the Monks. He beat them here, beat them there, chased and beat them, and beat them once more because it was a waste to use a skill right before they died. His sword rampaged as he mercilessly thrashed the Monks. It was to the extent that the onlookers felt sorry for the Monks of the Embinyu Church.

His Mana recovery speed was so fast that it quickly refilled again even if he used a skill.

"Weed! For you to come this far...! I heard much about your dirty crimes. I will take the Embinyu Church's revenge."

The Elite Dark Knight approached him in the underground prison with his mantle fluttering. If it were someone other than Weed, an exciting and tense atmosphere might have formed.

"Elite Dark Knight, you did well to show up as well. Sword Kaiser!"

He dodged the Elite Dark Knight's attack and activated his ultimate attack skill head on!

"Argh!"

The Elite Dark Knight was flung to the opposite wall insignificantly.

– The Elite Dark Knight has fallen into a state of panic from a great shock.

Weed raised his sword and thrashed it.

"Then why'd you show up, hurry and die. Die! Die!"

The Elite Dark Knight dropped a shoulder guard and lost its life in vain.

"Equipment!"

Weed licked his lower lip with his tongue. This was a situation where he was wetting his lips with greed and thirst was rising in his throat.

"While you're like this, I guess I'll gather some Sword Mastery and attack skill proficiency!"

Babaaam!

Crunch! Boom! Whaam!

"EEEK!"

Powowowow!

Engrossing himself in just hunting without thinking of raising his stats for defense, all that was left were the gruesome remains of monsters.

The onlookers following him from behind drifted further and further away.

"Euu..."

"So this is why they say the places where Weed has gone through are sucked dry of monsters.

"To think his personality was this dirty. He isn't saving even a single one and just beating them again and again and again."

"Did you see just now? He hit a monster that already died another three times before it hit the ground."

"I've never seen a hunting method that kills monsters like that."

"His notoriety wasn't just false rumors."

The onlookers backed off quickly, fearing the human who was hunting with such a dirty nature! Even though they backed off a distance, they could still hear Weed's words. It was a conversation he was having after wiping out five mobs of Dark Knights and disciples of the Embinyu Church.

"Let's fight faster."

"How?"

"Angry Pebbles, come out."

Eight premium fire spirits were summoned with his overflowing Mana. The spirits with blazing, red-hot bodies went on their hands and knees before Weed and raised a fiery show as they acted charmingly. It appeared that Weed's control over the spirits had reached it's height.

"Did you call, our creator who is the most outstanding being under this sky!"

"You guys, go play with fire a bit. From the end of the passage on this side, set everything on fire in order."

"Understood, Master."

Weed knew about the blocked paths of the complicated underground prison from the expedition. There were traps in the passages and monsters were teeming as well.

"Make sure that you check and only choose the places without people to set on fire," Weed warned. If a place where parties were hunting was set on fire and they happened to die, he could become a murderer.

"We shall devote our lives to fulfil thy command. It is a great honor that you did not forget us and entrusted this task."

Dark Knights and monsters were piled up in the blocked passages of the underground prison.

"Rawr."

"Kekeke."

The dry air in the passages where the monsters were became hotter and hotter.

"RAAAGGHH!"

Spittle went flying as the monsters suffered! Once the flames rose explosively from the blocked passages, they screamed in anguish as they scrambled out.

"It's the harvest. 15 Chain Strikes!"

Weed killed every flaming monster that emerged.

Like a skilled farmer wielding a sickle, he precisely aimed for the throats, heads, and vital points of the monsters.

"This is the taste of hunting."

Monsters fell in swathes in front of Weed. When japtem and equips dropped as monsters turned to grey light, Weed sorted the expensive ones and put them onto Yellowy's back even in the middle of fighting. His hands moved with unparalleled business.

"Wah! That's really ridiculous."

"Is it even possible to hunt like this?"

The onlookers had never seen hunting like this. A normal hunting party would hunt camped out in one corner of the passage or clearing. They would also chat, make food to eat, and take breaks. If the speed of the monster appearances was slow, they would move while doing more hunting. When they did so, the party leader would entrust matters to a Thief, Adventurer, or Assassin, since they had to look for traces of monsters and chase them. Finding monsters well while considering the party members' states was the leader's responsibility. Therefore, knowing the geography and being aware of the characteristics of monsters while raising hunting efficiency was the standard.

However, Weed was different. His hunting range wasn't fixed in a narrow passage or a single spot. He took the characteristic of this enormous underground prison, this dungeon, into consideration and put the entire area around him into his hunting range.

"His EXP must be rising really damn well."

"Just look at the japtem. His hunting speed is fast so tons of items are also being dropped."

The onlookers could only be extremely jealous!

This was a hunting method that Weed could only show because his Mana recovery speed had quickened. It was Weed's way to fight while managing his Vitality and Mana well, but there was still an obvious limit. It was also comfortable since he took care of the tricky monsters that were daunting to deal with after Hwaryeong put them to sleep with her Seduction Dance. Thanks to Da'in having impressive skills as a Shaman, she gave very effective support in battle. His Agility increased and his Strength grew as well, enabling him to nullify the attacks of the Dark Knights more precisely. The fighting became comfortable and much easier thanks to Da'in.

* * *

One of the parties that had been hunting in the underground prison was taking a break.

"Phew."

A Warrior wiped the sweat dripping on his forehead. "The level of the monsters here is enormous."

The Cleric also plopped down without even thinking of smoothing his crumpled robe. "I've got to boast to my friends when we get back to Morata. We're seriously hunting in this underground prison."

"We oughta be able to hunt even better if we brought teammates..."

"Pft. Don't even say that, 'cause there shouldn't be many people who are hunting while raising their EXP as nicely as we are."

"We fought a whole seven times in 2 hours. That's an incredible combat record."

"It's the fastest battling I've had all year. Lots of monsters come out, so it's a really good spot for hunting."

"It is a bit lacking since we only have 7 party members this time. Next time, let's add another high damage Swordsman and Magician each and try a proper hunt."

They were chatting while taking a break when 11 vicious Heretic Hunters of the Embinyu Church approached them from the passage.

The party members took up their weapons and rose from their seats.

"They're not giving us a chance to rest."

"What should we do? There's still some distance between us, so should we run?"

Just when they were worriedly sharing their opinions, a huge creature and people approached the location of the Heretic Hunters. A man equipped with jet-black Talrok's Armor, helmet, and gloves ran in speedily. After him, an old mercenary and three ladies came riding in on a large and brawny black cow.

"Seductive Dance!"

A Dancer who got off the cow distracted the Heretic Hunters as she danced. The Shaman used magic.

"Wavering eyes, amplify horror to make them see what they do not want to see most."

The willpower of the Heretic Hunters was very vulnerable, and they were men, so their gazes were easily stolen by Hwaryeong's dance. Da'in's high-proficiency magic was invoked in that opening. Da'in didn't even come down from Yellowy's back.

"Embinyu God, hast thou forsaken me?"

"I am a heretic. Judge me!"

While the Heretic Hunters were screaming, Weed brandished his sword. "15 Chain Strikes!"

His swordsmanship didn't back away or halt. With swordsmanship that added to his strength as he advanced, he precisely sliced only the weak points of the Heretic Hunters. His Strength, Agility, and overall fighting ability were amplified due to Dain's buff magic.

"15 Chain Strikes!"

He used effective skills for group hunting without reserve as he bore down on the Heretic Hunters. The Heretic Hunters braced for battle and swung their weapons, but they were helpless. They were cursed every time Weed's sword sliced past, and their bodies burned in flames, insects crawled over them, or their hair turned into stringy snakes. At the end of the battle, Yurin got down from Yellowy and simply picked up the japtem.

"Run!"

Having cleared the Heretic Hunters in an instant, they ran off to their next destination. The party's appearance, hunting, and movement happened like a flash of lightning! Monsters collided with each other as they were ran over from afar with a wave of heat. The party headed towards that group of monsters, fought them in an instant, and went off to yet another location.

The people who had been hunting there originally muttered dazedly.

"What the hell is this?"

"For them to defeat the Heretic Hunters so fast... did you see the swordsman's footwork? Even if it's a skill, how can he run in at the enemy at that angle? He went around to the enemy's back way too easily and knifed 'em, though he did get hit a few times."

"Didn't it really seem like he was just letting himself get hit because it was annoying to dodge?"

Not 5 minutes since they had left, a swarm of people tumbled in from the passage in the direction where Weed, Yellowy, and the others had appeared. They were the onlookers who had been following since the River of Lamentation vicinity.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?"

"Did Weed and his teammates pass through here?"

"Weed?"

"Wargod Weed. He didn't come this way?"

A young Warrior spoke urgently and anxiously, as if he had missed something important!

"I don't know such a person... Ah, a party that came in riding a black cow did kill Heretic Hunters and went past."

"Heretic Hunters!" The other onlookers who had also come asked, "How many were there?"

"11 of them."

"11 of them! How many minutes did it take to defeat them?"

"Huh, how should I say how long it took... it really happened in a brief moment."

"Please tell us anyway."

"Roughly about 2 to 3 minutes?"

"So fast!"

The spectators cheered as they ran off to where Weed and Yellowy had disappeared.

"What was that just now?"

"Maybe... was Weed that Weed? Wargod Weed! He's hunting in the underground prison!"

* * *

As she breathlessly followed Weed, Da'in was able to feel it.

'He's really... grown a lot.'

She had offered to party together with the Sculptor she'd met in Lavias because the sight of him hunting alone without teammates had been pitiful. Despite the limitations to the Sculptor profession, she had been able to feel a strong will from him as he fought monsters with all his might. The Sculptor who had raised his Perseverance by going as far as to take hits from monsters on purpose now wielded Blacksmithing and Tailoring skills. He had made food for her in Lavias as well, but his Cooking skill had also risen to Intermediate in their time apart. He even dragged a bull named Yellowy along with him.

"This slow-witted cow."

Moooooooooo!

"Yurin, if you have any paint left over, paint him yellow."

Moooooooooooo!

While they were resting for a bit after repeated battling, the sight of them squabbling with the sculpture lifeform named Yellowy was also cheerful. Yurin and even Hwaryeong played while chiming in.

"Oppa, he's gonna be eaten anyways, so why dye him?"

"They say the black pigs of Jeju are very nutritious and tasty; just leave him black."

[T/N: Jeju is Korea's largest island, known for its tourism, scenery, and apparently its pigs.]

MOOO!

Yellowy wailed sorrowfully and pitifully. However, he wasn't always treated unkindly. When mealtime rolled around, Weed gave him very nutritious hay, even though there was no knowing when he had gotten it. Yurin fed him herbs that she had on hand, and kind Hwaryeong got water and washed his face and body.

* * *

The second day of hunting in the underground prison!

In the wee hours of the day, when others had gone to sleep, Weed woke up early and was logged in. As he moved deeper into the dungeon and logged off, the spectators weren't able to follow him any longer. Weed was practicing the handling of a light sculpture using the time away from the people. Da'in had also logged in early, so it was just the two of them.

Weed was silently engrossed in the light sculpture. There was a heavy mood between the two of them.

'This is a chance to talk with him.'

Da'in started speaking first, with difficulty. "Excuse me."

"Yes?"

Weed's response was blunt and rather guarded. He had been the same way when she had met him for the first time in Lavias. He was suspicious from the start, as if wondering if she was going to steal his japtem even though they had simply met by chance in the dungeon.

"What sculpture are you making now?"

Colorful lights matched every movement of Weed's hand. He wasn't using just one light, but diverse colors intertwined and mixed as they brought about countless changes. They grew when he flicked his arm, and the lights scattered brilliantly when he bent his wrist.

"It is nothing, just for practice."

The sculpture Weed was making was gradually taking the form of a person, like a mannequin. Da'in sat still next to him and only spectated the use of light sculpting. Since Weed was trying to make a shape by utilizing strands of light, it was no easy matter. There were countless colors, so it was also try to make them suit each other.

Da'in couldn't handle the heavy silence that followed the halt in the conversation and spoke up again.

"Is there a girl that you like?"

After asking that, she worried inwardly. She had asked something that she'd always been curious about after seeing that he had made the Goddess Freya Statue in Morata based on Hwaryeong's face. Da'in hoped that he would say that he still liked her.

Weed shook his head. "There isn't."

Stifling her disappointment with effort, Da'in replied, "Ah, is that so. Please excuse me for asking something unnecessary."

"No, it's fine."

Weed absorbed himself in the sculpture again. Though his concentration was strong and he made a sculpture even in his break time, his attitude was strangely different from usual. When there was another person with him, he had never ignored someone who tried to have a conversation. However, distressed by the words Weed had spoken, Da'in didn't realize that.

'We've already said goodbye once, so it's fine if he doesn't like me.'

Da'in contained her pounding heart and spoke up again. "Then... is there a girl you liked in the past?"

Though she sometimes acted unexpectedly and had many strange sides to her to the extent of healing monsters like Ghouls, she mustered an immense amount of courage to ask that question.

Weed's fingers stopped for a moment, trembling a little and tense. However, he soon suppressed it and replied.

"There's no girl that I used to like."

"Goodness!" Da'in smiled with an effort. "Then you've never told anyone that you liked them, not even once?"

"Yes, because there was no one I liked."

Da'in bit her lip. To think there was a guy who would discourage a lass so coldheartedly.

"I see. There's something I have to do for a bit, so I'll be leaving now."

Weed didn't even look at her when replying. "Please do so."

"Then..."

Da'in logged out.

"Phew."

Weed collected the light sculpting. The lights that had dazzled his eyes disappeared, and the dungeon became dark. There was only the crackling of the bonfire he had lit to boil water and prepare the food as it burned.

"Yellowy."

Mooooooo!

Sitting on the bare ground, Yellow raised his head and replied.

"Do you know who the girl was just now?"

Moooo!

Yellowy slapped his short tail on the ground as he tilted his ears. He might get a ton of nagging if he pretended to ignore Weed.

Weed spoke calmly. "My first love."

The first love that a man could never forget. He couldn't forget the memories made with his first love even with the passage of time.

"Her name is Da'in... her profession is Shaman. I met first met her in Lavias."

He hadn't been able to recognize her at first sight, as her appearance had changed greatly due to the curse. However, she was the one who listened to the other person well and had been so enjoyable to talk to that he had spoken to her about everything. He got the feeling of her from just her greeting and the few words she spoke. As a Shaman, the skill proficiency that could be called unequaled and the order by which she used various support magics were the same. She had simply cast her support magic in the order that was comfortable for her, like a habit. But from the perspective of Weed on the receiving end, he was able to distinctly realize who she was in the instant that she used the support magic.

"Da'in. It was her. How could I have forgotten someone so important?"

Those were Weed's inner feelings, which he hadn't betrayed when the girls had been present.

"I was glad to see her since it's been a while. Just that she is alive is... but does she want to forget the past since she finished the surgery and is living a new life? I don't know why she pretended to not know me, but there must be some situation or reason."

Yellowy stared at Weed with clear, large eyes. Reflected in his innocent eyes was the sight of one man being sad with his shoulders slumped.

Chapter 9: Lonely Wanderer

The SwordNoobs divided and got employed as Training Hall instructors for the Orc Village and Rosenheim Kingdom. The salary was low, so they were able to easily get the position because no one wanted to work there. After getting employed, the SwordNoobs were completely entrusted with the Training Hall's management.

"Those who want to learn the sword, come to the Training Hall!"

However, the majority of the players reacted indifferently.

"Training Hall? That's just a place to hit scarecrows."

"Why would you do something so annoying to learn Sword Mastery? If you just go out and fight, you'll learn it anyways."

The SwordNoobs were sneered at by even the beginners! Still, there were quite a few curious beginner players who sought out the Training Hall. They had visited the Training Hall because they couldn't leave the city and village for 4 weeks when they first started.

"You hold the sword like this, and... rather than swinging it powerfully, you must swing it accurately. Don't just blindly put your sword in front of you; you must watch the monster's actions and attack their gaps in their defense."

As they had a lot of experience from the dojo, the SwordNoobs taught the beginners with ease.

"If you go to the Training Hall, they teach you how to fight."

"Is there a need to learn?"

"It's definitely better if you do. People who've learned are completely different from people who haven't in hunting."

It was enough to change the cries for recruiting party members in the square.

"Recruiting Swordsman. Only taking a person who has learned from the Training Hall for at least a day."

It was true that the combat ability of the majority of the beginning players was lacking. There was no reason for them to have experienced intense physical activity or fighting, and it was easy for them to panic at speedy monsters. Once they learned how to use the sword from the SwordNoobs, hunting was definitely easier. Since the SwordNoobs taught them how to deal with facing different kinds of monsters, players even sought them from other kingdoms as well and waited in line.

Every time the SwordNoobs held a lesson, people gathered in swarms. There was news that 500 to 1,000 beginner players would sit and watch the demonstration of the SwordNoobs.

"The sword is sharp, isn't it? You don't have to be afraid of it, because a properly learned sword will protect you and your teammates."

SwordNoob501's lesson was smooth. He had his own charm because he was nearly the youngest in the dojo,and he knew how to serve his older brothers properly. To adults, he was like a nephew, and to the young students, he was as friendly as an older brother.

"So cool."

"He looks a bit intimidating, but I think he's a good person."

A man looked the coolest whent he was devoting himself to his work!

As they committed themselves to swordsmanship while soaked in sweat in the dojo, the masters and disciples were sufficiently attractive. It was just that the women hadn't had a chance to see that.

Working as an instructor in the Orc Village, SwordNoob419 showed a demonstration as he swung his sword. He had to move slowly so that the beginners could follow him.

"Chwiik. I can't do it right, instructor."

The movements weren't easy for the Orc females due to their characteristic sloshing stomach fat and rumps. Whenever that happened, the trainee instructors went right to work.

"This part like this..."

They would lightly grip a waist or hold a wrist and draw out the trajectory of the sword. Naturally occurring skinship! Satisfied smiles appeared on the lips of the SwordNoob disciples who were acting as instructors.

"Instructor, you're so reliable."

"If you have time, could you come hunt with us? Chwi chwit."

They readily accepted requests from female Orcs.

"Of course."

As they fought together, the instructors taught them how to fight.

"I'm Leiachwi. Chwik. Could we learn again next time?"

"I'm SwordNoob419."

Even the friend requests that the SwordNoobs had wanted so dearly came along smoothly.

"Can we come visit the dojo while you're on break?"

"Let's, have a date at an amusement park."

Due to the aggressive female players, there was even the birth of disciples who went and had their first meetings. Having bravely finished their dates, the disciples spoke of their heroic exploits.

"I went to the amusement park with her, and... huhu. Sahyungs, colleagues, don't be surprised! I grabbed her hand first."

[T/N: Sahyung is the polite way to address an older brother in training.]

"Noob419! You crazy? What'll you do if you get slapped for that..."

"Do you think I would have done that on purpose? We were looking at the fountain when our hands somehow touched, and she stayed still so I held it."

"She stayed still?"

"How should I say it, it was like I got the strange feeling from her that it was okay if I took her hand."

"There's something like that? It's not that you get slapped for just holding a girl's hand?"

"It's like, a feeling you can only know once you've experienced it."

The masters and disciples burned with their dreams of dating as they received the teachings of their dating seniors.

Female players weren't the only ones who learned swordsmanship from them. There were as many men as women who learned how to use the sword from them in masses. Women and men of all ages crowded into the Training Hall. It was because ever since their Sword Mastery skill rose to Advanced, there was a change in their ability as instructors. If they taught while showing swordsmanship demonstrations, the beginners would copy that swordsmanship. Even with that alone, the beginners' Sword Mastery proficiency grew rather quickly.

Beginner players who thought of themselves as disciples flocked over.

"Please teach me, instructor!"

"I want to hunt. Please lead us to the right path."

"At what time is today's lesson?"

* * *

At the news that the SwordNoobs would raise your Sword Mastery skill, tons of people gathered. Even people who had left the village after 4 weeks and had been hunting returned to the Training Hall. There were also a considerable number of middle-range players who were over level 200. The Training Hall where scarecrows were set up was changed into a learning ground for actual martial arts by the SwordNoobs. It was annoying for the disciples because there were more people, but they received people as their students as long as there was an enthusiasm to learn. Even though the complete beginners had no money, they were taken in as students.

"The admission fee to become an official disciple is 9 pieces of barley bread."

"Ack!"

"You cannot become a true fighter if you do not know hunger. Hunger awakens the fundamental strength of a human being."

The students of the SwordNoobs, men and women of all ages, were spreading throughout the Versailles Continent.

Their robust shoulders and piercing eyes, as well as the tacit conversations they held amongst themselves, circulated through Rosenheim Kingdom and the Yurokina Mountains.

A group with a sword inscribed on the left sides of their chests looked for teammates in the square.

"It's a pleasure."

[T/N: The speech from here on out is in a very manly, archaic style.]

"Long time no see. I believe I saw you once at the Training Hall. Shall we go hunting?"

"Sounds good. But how old are you?"

"Nineteen."

"We're the same age. What is your lineage?"

"My master is SwordNoob385-nim."

"I received the teachings of SwordNoob417-nim, sahyung."

The SwordNoobs were being called teachers of the sword in Rosenheim Kingdom and the Yurokina Mountains.

The SwordNoobs didn't forget their aspiration of hunting the strongest monsters on the Versailles Continent, either.

"We have honor to upkeep, too. Shouldn't we catch something like a Bone Dragon or Imoogi within one month?"

They occasionally hunted even while instructing, and they also strove to raise their Sword Mastery skill. The Sword Mastery skill could be raised pretty quickly if you fought and overcame monsters stronger than yourself. The SwordNoobs didn't even pay any attention to weak monsters that they could easily kill. Most of their Fame went up purely through hunting. Even a steep cliff was absurdly turned into a flatland if just two SwordNoobs got together.

"Sahyung, I'm bored; would you like to go up here?"

"Looks fun."

The SwordNoobs heightened their concentration as they climbed up the cliffs of the Yurokina Mountains. It was a chance for them to gain the precious experience of going through difficult, dangerous terrain on purpose. SwordNoob4 and SwordNoob5 went up along the ridge of the cliff, where it was difficult to take even one stride.

"Noob5."

"Yes, sahyung?"

"Would we die if we fell from here?"

They were so dizzyingly high up that there were clouds on the mountainside. SwordNoob5 looked down from the ridge and shook his head.

"We would live. We could grab the branches of trees growing out while falling and use the rebound to bounce up. Then should be able to lodge a short sword in the rock and slide down."

"Hm, we wouldn't die from this much after all, eh?"

"Of course."

"I'm bored, so do you want to try jumping down from here?"

They readily said words that would astonish others if they were to hear. Even though their skill proficiency would be reduced, their level would fall, and they could even lose equipment they were wearing on the one in ten thousand chance that they died, they had no qualms. SwordNoob5 took it in as if it was nothing as well.

"That seems like it'd be fun?"

"I'll jump first."

It was a short distance to the edge, but SwordNoob4 leapt off the ridge at full speed.

They were living as freely as the wind while having tastes of challenges.

* * *

After entering the underground prison, Weed arrived at the place where the prisoners of the Matallost Church were being held within four days. He would have been able to shorten the time far more if he had focused solely on breaking through. However, he sucked the area dry of monsters as he advanced, so it took longer.

It would have taken a little longer to destroy that many monsters with Weed's damage alone, but Yellow's participation in battle was a big help, too. When they were on the plains, there were many times when Weed mounted him and used him mostly like a horse because it was the innocent Yellowy. If he fought while speeding about like a horse, that alone would raise EXP and running proficiency. In a dungeon where there wasn't much space to run, Weed used Yellowy mostly for gathering japtem. But this time, Yellowy found a valuable use for himself. He would unleash a powerful kick with his hind legs on the Dark Knights that Hwaryeong had put to sleep with Seduction Dance.

A bull's back kick!

When he kicked them powerfully with his tremendous strength, the Dark Knights went flying brutally. It was as good as a Sword Kaiser attack. Having received an enormous blow, it was powerful enough to make the Dark Knights die in an instant if Da'in and Hwaryeong just stabbed with a cudgel or shortsword. As the girls started taking care of the Heretic Hunters, Disciples, and other monsters with Yellowy, their hunting efficiency improved even more.

Mooooooo!

Like a fighting bull, Yellowy savored his victory whenever he struck monsters with his hind legs.

"Well done, Yellowy."

When Da'in stroked his head, Yellowy enjoyed it while slapping his short tail. Weed had spoken a little of his sad woes regarding Da'in, but Yellowy didn't pay any attention to that and got along well with Da'in. There wasn't a proverb saying that speaking into a cow's ear was like knocking at a deaf man's door for nothing.

Weed briefly assessed that the battle speed had become faster.

"He's finally worth the cost of his grass." Weed was infinitely stingy with his praise! Since Yellowy was earnestly carrying around a bag and even taking part in battle, even slightly positive words came from Weed. "What's the market price of Korean cows these days? Before a person who'll buy meat at a high price shows up, it'll be better not to sell him."

Breaking through the underground prison! It was a very large labyrinth, but Weed didn't even struggle in the middle of it. It was a dungeon that others had already explored, so he had determined the overall path through Dirtman and had run over with precision.

The priests of the Matallost Church were emaciated and wearing robes black with dirt.

"Who are you?"

"I defeated the Embinyu Church and came to bring you back." Weed showed them a relic of the Matallost Church. Only then did the priests believe him.

"Why have you come only now to save us?"

"Dang, I thought us old guys would be locked up here forever and just die."

They were actually irritated that he hadn't saved them quickly. If you didn't go through a quest earnestly, these kinds of complaints would come up.

Weed also had much to complain about. 'I came here as fast as I could after making sculptures, selling japtem, and selling off the quest. I did the best that I could.'

He had pride that allowed him to justify himself in any situation! Other players would lack the patience and could've even gotten angry at the old priests for being so unscrupulous, but Weed wasn't like that.

"I apologize. It was because I was trying to convey you safely, as remnants of the Embinyu Church may have been hiding. For now, please come out with us." Since the old priests were also his clients, he didn't forget to put on a friendly smile.

"In any case, thank you for coming to rescue us."

The priests rose from their seats. Weed was able to easily release them from the shackle-like apparatuses on their ankles even though he wasn't a Thief. He used his Blacksmithing skill to get rid of them altogether. There was no way he would miss out on a chance to get good iron material.

"Please release us, too!"

Many other prisoners were tied up in the place where the priests of the Matallost Church had been held. There were 35 people from Dwarf, Elf, Barbarian, and hunter races who were scattered in the North on a small scale. Weed released all of them as well.

At around that time, the people who had received the Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church quest and had been hunting in the area gathered.

"What, he's here already?"

"How did he come so quickly?"

The participants of the quest that had dumbfounded them hadn't thought he would arrive so quickly, even if he was Weed.

It was now time to leave the underground prison. The path out of the prison wasn't very difficult-- they were able to leave quickly because the spectators who had followed Weed in were hunting in the important points of the underground prison and the players who were participating in the quest cleaned up the monsters.

"We give you our thanks for saving us."

"I simply did what I had to do."

"There is something we must do as soon as possible, so would you wait for a moment?"

"Yes. If it is a righteous deed, I will wait however long it takes."

Under the watchful gaze of Weed and the quest participants, the Matallost Church's priests went to the temple, cleaned, and lit torches. Then they performed a ritual that appeased the vengeful spirits of the River of Lamentation.

SWOOSH!

Then the stagnant and murky waters of the River of Lamentation flowed smoothly downstream.

Ding!

Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church

The River of Lamentation has been revived.

The river that flows with the tears of the souls who suffered unfair deaths!

The priests of the Matallost Church will repent their errors that sprung from greed and resume the work of guiding souls.

– Contribution to the Matallost Church has increased by 2,700.

– Level has increased.

– With the purification of the River of Lamentation, Fame has increased by 320.

– Faith has increased by 37.

– Luck has increased by 4.

It was quite a considerable compensation. The reward was from the Matallost Church that guided with death becoming active again.

Weed hadn't explored the underground prison to save the prisoners. He had left most of the annoying tasks to other players, but even so, his level went up by 1.

Yurin, Da'in, and the other players went up 10 to 20 levels thanks to the huge EXP they earned as a reward.

"Yahoo!"

"This quest is the best!"

To those who had participated, it was a quest that had given them a big reward that was tough to swap with any kind of treasure.

Weed didn't get butthurt over the level ups of the others. Naturally, you would get stronger if your level went up. However, stats or skill proficiency were more important than that. If you only raised your level quickly, then in the end, your stats would fall short of your raised level. That would make your growth lag, so it was actually faster to backtrack quite a bit.

As the change from the completion of the quest, the contaminated River of Lamentation that had been murky with yellowness slowly became clearer.

– As the River of Lamentation has gradually come to perform its role, the seed of unrest in the Versailles Continent has decreased.

Health will decline due to death and the chance of misfortune decreases by 13%. When raising Undeads, Necromancers will need a little more Mana.

The old mercenary Smith spoke heavily. "So this is what happened. The Matallost Church... I thought it was a church that had only harmed the Versailles Continent..."

Ding!

Old Smith's Second Curiosity Completed

The old drunkard Smith has come to know the truth about the Count Savoid's true identity and the Matallost Church.

The very curious old mercenary was able to resolve one of the not-quite-right memories of his past.

– Fame has increased by 260.

– The prerequisites for the Agent of the Niflheim Empire quest have been completed.

The A-rank difficulty quest was resolved. He had taken Smith and had proceeded with the River of Lamentation purification and the fight with the pursuers of the Embinyu Church. It wasn't just the resolution of Smith's curiosity about Count Savoid; it had to be regarded as the resolution of a part of the entire chain quest as well.

The old Mercenary Smith said, "Then come anytime to the tavern where I was. Since it's you who gave me lots of alcohol, I should be able to buy you a drink. I know quite a lot, so ask if there's anything you're curious about anytime."

That was the poor Mercenary Smith's absurdly scanty reward. How much wine and brandy had he gulped up until now... However, Weed didn't argue. He had received many unreasonable quests because of his uncontrollably high Fame. There were times when the reward was big, but there were also times when it was small.

He tried to be understanding with an open mind. 'Looks like I'll have a nightmare tonight.'

In exchange, he resolved to write a ton of insults about Smith in his journal.

"I gained many experiences because I was able to do this with you, elder. It is a pity that we cannot travel the Versailles Continent together anymore."

The Mercenary Smith laughed, revealing the gaps in his sparse teeth. "It's time for the old me to return to the tavern. It's enough that I did adventures when I was young. Even if I do have a curiosity, I don't think I'll be able to move in person anymore. That's right, I shouldn't need my mercenary card anymore, either. I'll give it to you."

– You have acquired an S-rank Mercenary Card of the Proam Alliance Guild.

Weed wasn't one to refuse a gift or bribe given to him.

"Identify!"

Proam Alliance Guild Mercenary Card:
Durability: 30/30.

A mercenary card made with bronze.

Grade: S

Option: Can carry out all Mercenary guild quests as desired. Can receive 200% more for request fees.

It was a mercenary card, which could be called a precious treasure for Mercenaries; even if they weren't Mercenaries, many people used the Mercenary guild to receive quests.

'It should be good if I sell it off.'

Considering the scarcity of mercenary cards on top of that, he would be able to get an enormous price for it. He could tell from the just fact that the players who had gone through the Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church quest with him were all astir over it.

The old Mercenary Smith gave him another gift. "Take this as well."

Weed took it as he was told again.

It was an antique seal that had a stamp made of jade and a golden dragon crafted with gold that could be used as a handle. A very old item, its color wasn't like that of goods these days. A part of the jade stamp was also broken.

"Identify!"

Unknown Seal:
Durability 3/20.

This is a very precious object made by an extremely exceptional sculptor.

It is an item that the old Mercenary Smith didn't sell despite his alcohol tabs that accumulated.

Having gone through war and a long period of time, there is slight damage to it.

Option: Grants special good luck.

Weed raised his head. It occurred to him that this was a remarkable item.

"What is this?"

"It's something I picked up in Count Savoid's mansion, back in my Mercenary days. I've been treasuring this seal because it seemed like good luck was coming my way after getting it, but... you can use it now."

"I will receive it gratefully."

Weed put the seal into his pocket.

Ding!

– You have obtained an imperial treasure of the Niflheim Empire.

It was as he expected beforehand. 'Looks like the Agent of the Niflheim Empire quest will happen with this.'

If he wanted to find out the exact origins of the item, he needed a slightly more powerful identification.

'There's something I have to take care of first.'

Weed looked around. There were many players who were fascinated while watching the transformation of the River of Lamentation. Since it would cause a historical change on the Versailles Continent, it also wasn't hard to see someone busily sending a whisper.

"My level went up by 4. I got a lot of Fame, too."

"Really? Damn. I should've taken the quest too. I heard the hunting in the underground prison was pretty good?"

He could also see the players who had gotten the Rescue the Prisoners of the Matallost Church quest being happy.

Weed spoke to them. "Everyone."

"...?"

"The quest did not end with the rescue of the Matallost Church prisoners."

"It was a chain quest?"

"Then will you share another quest?"

Like a generous man from the countryside, Weed put a big smile on his face as he nodded. "Of course. It's a quest we started together, so shouldn't we see it to the end together?"

Matallost Church's chain quest!

The priests of the Matallost Church were walking towards Weed.

"Though we have been relieved of a great anxiety, there are too many things that must still be done. We also have to pick out new devotees in order to right the church..."

"I get the anxious feeling that there are still those who follow the Embinyu Church in this area."

The Destruction of the Embinyu Church 11th Sect and the Matallost Church's Long-Cherished Wish requests were still left.

'The remnants of the Embinyu-- there ought to be quite a powerful group left over, so they'll probably have to be completely defeated. And for the Matallost Church's Long-Cherished Wish, they'll likely want to take in a lot of devotees and prosper as much as any other church.'

He could roughly tell what kind of requests were left from their names alone.

It wasn't bad for Morata, either. The Matallost Church was a militant group with considerable holy power! With the heal, blessing, and holy offensive magic they had shown when escaping from the underground prison, there would be quite a lot of people who would want to become devotees. If he allowed beginners to use the movement portal to the River of Lamentation as well, the revival of the Matallost Church would be good for Morata, at least! Even if it was a chain quest, the sweetness of the quest had been sucked dry after destroying the Embinyu Fortress and even rescuing the Matallost Church prisoners. Weed planned on sharing the quests to the others here instead of fulfilling them himself.

"WOAH!"

"The Lord of Morata, Wargod Weed will share the chained quest."

"Hooray for Morata's Lord!

The people who had been unable to hide their jealousy while looking at the River of Lamentation gathered quickly.

"Please share it with me!"

"Me! Me first!"

They were like baby chicks who were opening their beaks to receive a worm that the momma bird had caught!

Weed spoke. "However, a fixed participation fee of 998 Gold..."

"..."

"..."

There was a calm silence.

Weed's words just spread far and wide. "This is a chance that comes few and far in between. I will cut 30 Gold for those who have brought at least 2 friends or teammates. If at least 7 people apply, I will even give a group discount."

This was unmistakably a rip off.

Like making excessive profits at a beach in the summer holiday season, it was a rip off they really couldn't refuse!

Only Hwaryeong was smiling prettily as she rejoiced. "How awesome! Weed-nim is even sharing a quest that he got with difficulty to others; he is kind to a fault."

Chapter 10: III-Fated Relationship With Bardray

Destruction of the Embinyu Church 11th Sect was a B-rank quest.

"Woaah!"

"Are we gonna fight the Embinyu Church's fighting force?"

"Won't it be too dangerous?"

"Seems really fun."

Weed sold off the quest and made a whopping 130,000 Gold. He sold to the people who got word from Morata and came late until evening. An exhaustive cash business!

Yellow swayed his pendulous rump happily.

Moooooooooooo!

If his Master was rich, Yellowy hoped that Weed would allow him to chew a stalk of mugwort.

[T/N: Mugwort is an herb used as an ingredient in many dishes.]

However, Weed was heartless. "Even barley bread is expensive, so you'd only be able to pick up some crumbs on a holiday or something... but mugwort? I can't afford to give it to you. I'll mix it with your meat later. Korean cow with mugwort, veggie bibimbap!"

Yellow blinked his big eyes sorrowfully, but that happened every day. Even so, Weed always prepared hay for him, and he got fed herbs from Yurin or Hwaryeong, too. He had no other complaint, but purposefully acted limp, as if he was hungry and had no strength from hunger. He'd been forced to do so much work with his robust physique and strength right after gaining life. Even Yellowy was gaining wisdom about life.

"Looks like it's time to identify this now."

Weed pulled out the seal he had received from Mercenary Smith. He could basically tell its use from the appearance. It was probably a seal that verified Lords or Nobles as themselves, like Jorudia's Signet. Weed rubbed the dragon part as he examined the unique points of the sculpture.

"Identify!"

Unknown Emperor's Royal Seal
Durability 3/20.

A precious royal seal that has weathered the history of the Versailles Continent.

It was made by a sculptor whose limit of skill is hard to estimate.

It is damaged and not in perfect condition.

Artistic Value: 39,600

Options: Dignity +60. Charisma +25.

50% resistance to all magic harmful to the owner's body.

Can intimidate nobles and knights.

Ding!

For examining the Unknown Emperor's Royal Seal in detail, Art stat has risen by 49.

Weed was also a skilled Sculptor who had made many Masterpieces and Magnum Opuses. Every time a sculpture of his was completed, it noisily shook the Versailles Continent.

"Cough!"

A work so incredible that it could even make such a Weed go into convulsions!

The broad stamp made of jade and the golden dragon that looked like it was flying in the sky possessed liveliness and beauty.

"It's old... and feels worn because it's been touched very much, but it's an extremely outstanding work."

The parts that hands could reach were severely grimy, and much of the pattern had also disappeared. With the long passage of time, its natural dignity had grown.

Jade and gold. The seal had been made with a perfect understanding of the characteristics of the material.

The parts that weren't damaged were detailed and made with a level of skill that even Weed wouldn't have been able to achieve. It looked like a dirty golden dragon from afar, but up close, it felt as if it would come to life and move at any moment.

"I knew it wasn't a normal work, but who could really make such a sculpture?"

There was one person who vaguely came to mind.

If it was an emperor's royal seal, then it didn't need to be said more than once that it would be treasured preciously. Even so, the royal seal had endured so much time that it had become this worn.

A video of some kind began to play for Weed-- it was a memory kept within the sculpture.

An old man wearing ordinary cloth attire was sculpting.

In a huge royal palace, knights and magicians were lying prostrate with extreme politeness.

Slice, slice.

The form of a dragon was being made under the old man's sculpting knife. The knife moved slowly, as if time itself was holding its breath.

He shaved the places needing to be shaved and added to the places needing to be added. Only normal movements of the hand could be seen, but the golden dragon that was being created possessed such nobility that one could not tear their eyes away from it.

Whenever the sculpting knife moved, there was a worry that he might possibly make a mistake that would ruin this great work. However, when the sculpting knife sliced past, the figure was transforming into statue steadily nearing completion with such surety that the nervousness was laughable.

A treasure! A golden dragon and stamp that seemed as if they would heighten even his dignity with their radiant beauty!

It was the birth of the royal seal.

"May this be the item that symbolizes me," declared the old man who made the seal.

The knights and magicians then cried out. "We accept the will of His Majesty!"

It didn't end there. There were countless sculptures across the royal palace! They were similar to the humans, but the sculptures with superior physical conditions, the animal sculptures, the bird sculptures, and sculptures that looked like monsters all opened their mouths at the same time.

"We accept the will of our Master!"

* * *

SwordNoob let out a deep sigh.

"I'm really too old. Even meeting a woman is difficult because I'm old."

The instructors and disciples were meeting Orcs, Dark Elves, or Humans and more or less getting along. They made girlfriends and also hunted in parties.

"I heard even SwordNoob16 held hands with his girlfriend."

"When?"

"Within thirty-seven days, apparently."

"Woah, that's fast! Is it okay to progress so quickly?"

"The truly fast one is someone else. SwordNoob401 already went arm-in-arm to the movie theatre."

"Damn, all the way to the movie theatre! He's a fellow who unusually disliked things like movies, isn't he. Didn't he fall asleep snoring while watching the movie?"

"I'm told he watched an action movie. After the movie ended, he showed his girlfriend brick smashing and a two-tiered roundhouse kick and she liked it, calling him reliable."

The legend-like love stories that came from among the disciples gave them hope, though there were also many cases where couples didn't meet very many times and dropped contact, friend registration was cancelled, or were sent a text that said sorry.

"Phew, those things all happen when you're young."

SwordNoob envied the passion of the disciples. If he had just been at the age of the instructors or so, he would've been able to meet a woman somehow. After all, becoming an oppa from a mister took no time at all these days.

[T/N: Oppa is an informal way to call an older male, used for both familial and external relationships. "Oppa" indicates a lot more closeness than "mister."]

However, because SwordNoob was a seasoned middle-aged man, he was very awkward with young girls and women. Granted, his fighting ability was fearsome, so despite being only in the late 200s for level, he was welcome in any party. If SwordNoob just went to the square, everyone tried to recruit him.

Only, it was just that the atmosphere was difficult in the hunting ground.

"Um, SwordNoob-nim."

"..."

They would regularly use honorifics with him. The young and youthful party members used informal speech with each other and got along intimately, but it wasn't easy for SwordNoob to fit in with them. SwordNoob tried to find a woman in the same age group as him.

"It shouldn't be hard since all kinds of people gather in the world of Royal Road."

There were many in their early 30s or 40s, of course. They were very commonly seen in a city or village. If the men fished, the ones that looked like their wives would make spicy seafood stew for them.

"Honey, please eat some spicy stew before continuing."

It was a very heartwarming sight.

There were also cases where they set up a shop and conducted business, but their young children would occasionally come to buy a weapon, armor, or miscellania.

"Son, can you buy arrows from us for 20 Gold?"

"Mom, what kind of harsh joke is that?"

"Honey, our son says he's leaving the house."

"Alright. As his parents, it's probably our duty to at least call over a mover, right?"

There were affectionate scenes of children getting daringly ripped off by their parents.

SwordNoob went around cities and towns as he roamed. He massacred monsters that came at him in the wilderness, and also leapt into nests of monsters whilst holding one sword.

"When I was young, I did things like this so often."

He held a sword in his mouth and leapt into the river water. When he got hungry, he skewered fish in a deep part of the clear river. It was truly difficult to overcome the water's flow and strength and swing his sword to catch fish. However, SwordNoob actually succeeded easily. That was because he didn't push forcefully, but followed the current's flow to catch fish.

Ding!

Sword Mastery skill proficiency has improved.

His Sword Mastery skill went up even while catching fish. They weren't high leveled monsters, but it seemed he could gain Sword Mastery as a characteristic of the location. Like Sculpting, the Sword Mastery skill grew on diverse experiences.

"While I'm like this..."

SwordNoob floated to the top of the water, took in a big breath, and went into the river again.

Swiiiisshh!

The sword he swung in a single breath slid past the body of a fish.

Swordsmanship that was thinly slicing sashimi!

The fish was become sashimi while blinking its eyes, alive. And while underwater, as well!

Sorriness filled SwordNoob's eyes. 'Looks like I can't do this because it's cruel.'

It had been a long time since he had properly shown off his swordsmanship skills. After that time when life and death had been separated by a second, he had never done his best. Even Royal Road was simply entertainment. It was so that he could try testing his still-honed swordsmanship, but he was sorry for the fish. SwordNoob almost never even hunted herbivores like rabbits, squirrels, or deer in the Versailles Continent, either.

'Something I can't even eat... there's no need to take their lives pointlessly.'

Feeling sorry, SwordNoob wrapped the fish in bandages. They were still alive, due to his marvelous swordsmanship.

"Gasp!"

Then he rose to the top of the water and moved downstream. It wasn't that he determined his destination, he was just wandering randomly.

There were people downstream the river. He heard a conversation of a middle-aged man raising a fishing pole and his wife.

"D-dear."

"Hm?"

"We just... caught sashimi!"

A live catfish with its bandages almost fallen off had bitten their fishing pole's bait and was coming up.

"The world is truly difficult."

SwordNoob sat down under a large old tree.

His Sword Mastery skill was Advanced level 6 at 89%. With growth at an unbelievable speed, it was at a stage where Master level of Sword Mastery was not far. But what worth was there in raising his level and polishing his Sword Mastery skill?

"This is the vice of an old dog. Might there not be a middle-aged woman wandering around alone?"

Even trying to start a conversation with pretended friendliness with a woman he'd never seen before was awkward. A husband coming to take her away while he was observing and agonizing over whether it was fine to talk to her had happened to him a couple times, so he didn't even have the will to try anymore.

When SwordNoob was condemning himself, a girl who looked to be in her late teens approached him.

"Mister, what are you doing here?"

"..."

SwordNoob didn't reply and flicked his hand as if to shoo her away. Looking like a player, the human girl was considerably cute and pretty.

'She'll probably just ask me about the hunting ground.'

Normally he would answer her kindly. It wasn't because he wanted to do something bad to the adorable and young girl, but so that he could give her at least a little help.

'Zephyr also gave advice. It's important to have lots of conversations with women.'

Actually, a girl starting a conversation with him only numbered a few times in SwordNoob's life. He was big, so his appearance was one that women couldn't easily approach. But more than that, his eyes and spirit were on a different level from normal people, so even gangsters avoided him.

Right now, he wanted to be alone because he felt like wanting to quit it all. However, the girl sat down in front of SwordNoob with no intention of leaving.

"Hey mister, are you alone?"

SwordNoob only slightly nodded his head. 'Seeing as she's intentionally asking on, is she a merchant who's trying to sell something? Or does she want help? Guess I should give her a roughly useful weapon if I've got one left.'

The girl hesitated for a moment before asking again. "Would you like to hunt with us?"

At the words that differed from his expectations, SwordNoob was a little curious. "Are you inviting me to your party right now?"

Towards his disciples, he stuck to a short and stern way of talking. He tried not to alarm the girl, but his voice was even more low and grave because he didn't have much experience with talking to the opposite sex.

Spurred on by his not-adverse reaction, the girl's voice gained strength. "Let's hunt together, okay?"

"Maybe. It's a pain... if you'd like a hunting ground recommendation, I can do that much for you."

"We came all the way here from Rosenheim Kingdom. It's a little too much for us to hunt on our own, you see."

"Huh." In the end, SwordNoob couldn't refuse this cute girl's request and rose from his seat. 'Alright. I've got nothing else to do, so it won't be bad to hunt with them for a bit.'

Even if the girl had come acting friendly on purpose because she wanted help, he planned to let that much go.

SwordNoob asked without much thought, "Your other companions are?"

"There are two people, my mom and youngest aunt. Mom's profession is Elementalist and Aunt's profession is Summoner."

Women often picked those professions because the spirits or summoned creatures were cute.

'Elementalist, Summoner. And is this child a Magician? I guess it would be hard for the three of them to hunt.'

Even as they walked to the party, the girl kept chattering. "Dad is busy from work, so he can't play with us. My youngest aunt still doesn't have a boyfriend from graduating from college and studying abroad." For some reason, the girl was describing the youngest aunt in detail. "She's an accountant. She's thirty-two this year, but she's never dated 'cause she drowned herself in studying. She's pretty, skinny, and also has a good personality. There's a big age gap between her and my mom, so she also played with me like a sister since I was young."

"I see."

"But her standards are high, so... she went on a few blind dates, but she said she didn't even see most men as men and left right away."

"Her standards must be high."

SwordNoob listened to her words impassively. Then they reached the location of the girl's party. There was a calm-looking, middle-aged woman with a big dog-like spirit, and a lady with a graceful face in her early 30s.

The girl grinned as she said, "My aunt likes macho men. She also likes martial arts."

"...!"

* * *

The Assassin Steer was in charge of information gathering for the Hermes Guild. Using contact groups spread extensively, his task was to keep an eye on the trends of the Versailles Continent.

"There's a high possibility that the Lord of the North's Morata is Wargod Weed..."

Steer considered this a matter that needed to be reported to his superior.

Bardray was currently in the Ziubellin Dungeon of Haven Kingdom. It was not an exaggeration to say that the hunting ground poured out monsters. Not only in Haven Kingdom, but no matter where you went on the Versailles Continent, it was among the worst hunting grounds for players. Turning off his whispers and even the guild chatting window, Bardray had declared that he wouldn't come out before he hunted the formidable sorcerer named Ziubellin.

"What should we we do, Steer-nim?" asked his subordinate in information.

Bardray spent most of his time inside dungeons with his teammates. Nobody knew when their hunt would end.

Steer sighed. "We have no choice but go ourselves. Send a request to the guild corps. We'll enter the dungeon in order to meet guild master Bardray-nim."

Steer and 30 members of the Hermes Guild entered the dungeon. They were all over level 360, but the level of the monsters was too high in Ziubellin Dungeon, so they couldn't help but shrink back. After many complications, they finally reached the place where Bardray was at.

Bardray was resting and maintaining his weapons with his 12 Elite Guard. Monster corpses were lying around the place where they were resting, exuding a foul smell.

"Bardray-nim."

"For what matter did you come all the way here, Steer?"

"There is something I must report."

Bardray looked interested. As befitting of him, who dominated as the strongest in the Versailles Continent and was completely equipped with ultimate items, he had overflowing composure.

"It's about Wargod Weed."

"Weed, you say..."

Bardray nodded his head. "If it's about him, then it would be worthwhile for you to come find me all the way here."

"Weed's identity has been exposed. I believe he is the Lord of Morata. Though of course, there are still many parts about him that I still cannot understand."

"And those are?"

"It's estimated that he's a player who started in Rosenheim Kingdom, but it's that it hasn't even been a year and six months since he started Royal Road. That doesn't make much sense. And the more shocking thing is that he is sculpting as a side job."

"Side job?"

"Considering his fighting ability, you'd think that he wasn't actually a Sculptor. Even so, he made a Magnum Opus with the sculpting he did as a hobby, and he's good enough to shake the continent."

He had judged that the Pyramid, Light Tower, and the Goddess Statue were sculptures made as a hobby!

"Ohh, isn't that amazing?"

"Sculpting was a side job? Yikes! I was completely in awe after seeing a sculpture made by him."

Bardray's teammates all said a few words each.

"Come to think of it, if it's Weed, we could even call him our junior."

"Ah, in the Continent of Magic?"

"Since he became the best about 6 months after we left, y'know."

"We were once the best in the Continent of Magic. And for quite a long time, too."

The Elite Guard conversed gladly. They had known each other since the Continent of Magic. They had been noble lords ruling over famous castles in the Continent of Magic! Bardray had also been the best lord in the Continent of Magic.

"I do miss those times."

"Well. I don't really wanna go back; I don't want to lose the merit of this Versailles Continent's clear air and being able to fight while directly moving your body."

"I don't want to go back either, but... they were still really fun times."

The castle lords who gone through thick and thin with small wars and dispute heard of the creation of Royal Road and gathered in one spot. The popularity of Continent of Magic had passed its peak and was obviously in decline. As rulers of one region, they felt that very distinctly. An enormous amount of items and gold actually funneled to the castle lords. They earned sums that normal employees wouldn't even be able to imagine. Most of the lords were Dark Gamers who were raising their profits while maintaining their organization. They came to a conclusion through a meeting.

They would move to Royal Road.

The lords took their forces directly into Royal Road. That was the inside story of the birth of Hermes Guild.

"Weed became extremely famous after we left."

"He conquered quests and dungeons that even we gave up on, right? You don't know how surprised I was after hearing the news that he'd even gotten through Ivan Porte Island's labyrinth."

"He's a truly incredible player. Though of course, if Bardray had stayed in the Continent of Magic, he wouldn't have given up his spot so easily."

Bardray only smiled as he listened to the conversation of the Elite Guard.

The system of command that accompanied Hermes Guild's pecking order was strict, but it didn't apply to the Elite Guard. Bardray and the former castle lords, the Elite Guard, were the founding members of the Hermes Guild. Through their agreement, they decided that the very strongest among them would be the leader and govern the others. Their law was that if someone among the Elite Guard became stronger than Bardray at any time, they would then become the leader.

As such, the leader of Hermes Guild had changed a few times in the early stages of Royal Road. For both Bardray and the Elite Guard, it became an opportunity to become stronger faster through well-intentioned competition. Of course, there were also castle lords who completely fell behind during the competition. In Royal Road, you must directly move your body and possess very fast judgement and keen senses. The lords who became stragglers maintained the influence of the guild through deputies.

Hermes Guild was the best guild that originated from the Continent of Magic. They were also acquiring information about Weed through various pathways.

"The Continent of Magic and Weed..."

Bardray's face became lost in thought. Such an expression could not be found on him often.

"Steer."

"Yes, Leader-nim."

"Continue keeping an eye on the North."

"Understood."

"But there is no need to make it a bigger deal than necessary."

"That means--?" Steer's head jerked up.

Hermes Guild normally gruesomely crushed any opponents who showed even a little speck of defiance. They dispatched assassins to either kill or bribe the key people. They also didn't hesitate to commit cruel acts, like sending out the battle forces and setting a village or castle on fire.

"There's no need. Even before we step forward, he'll be caught and eaten by hyenas seeking prey first."

Surtr thought for a moment and nodded. "You're right, Leader-nim. The Resurrection Army led by Daymond will also go North soon."

The Resurrection Army's force was greatly weakened. They weren't able to take Odin Fortress in the end and decided to retreat; their territory in the Central Continent was rapidly shrinking. The Resurrection Army wasn't able to hold out in the Central Continent any longer. There was no strong kingdom in the North yet, so they were were withdrawing to aim for there instead. They also had a hostile relationship with Weed, because through the quest of the Matallost Church, it was he who achieved the great service that stopped the Resurrection Army.

Bardray said, "Weed is indeed famous. However, once he suffers a defeat, his fame will disappear as quickly as it came. Ruin takes but a moment."

The increase in skill and level through hunting, as well as power expansion! Bardray thought of those as the only things that should be shown in quests and broadcast appearances. That was because a high level and power made other players fearful and submissive to his commands.

After finishing the hunt with the Elite Guard, Bardray became deep in thought about the subject during his break time.

"The Continent of Magic, hm."

He had left the Continent of Magic with the lords who were of the same mind as him. They had to make their characters and prepare in advance while acquiring information about Royal Road early on. However, sometimes he secretly logged into the Continent of Magic as a pastime. It wasn't hard, since his character was still right there.

The Continent of Magic was the game that he had dedicated his youth to. It was on the decline, but he was deeply fond of it, so he couldn't quit. Then he encountered rumors about Weed in the game, a rumor that he had ascended to the position of the strongest after Bardray left.

"The God of War Weed. That Weed is currently the best on the Continent of Magic."

"Is he just having an easy time 'cause Bardray isn't logging in?"

"It's the opposite. We've got to see him as being way more outstanding than Bardray. Not only did he single-handledly catch a dragon that Bardray couldn't hunt, but he also explores dungeons alone."

"You mean by himself without anyone's help?"

"It's something Bardray could never have done."

Bardray's pride was wounded. He let it pass since he wasn't one to just believe a rumor, but it still felt nasty. And then, not long afterwards, he met Weed while hunting alone in a dungeon, like a joke of fate. When Bardray saw his equipment and name, he had a hunch that it was the Weed of the rumors.

In the Continent of Magic, speaking had to be done by typing on a keyboard.

"Are you We—"

Even before Bardray finished typing his question of whether he was Weed or not, his opponent activated an attack skill. Because it was Weed, who attacked ruthlessly if he met someone in a dungeon!

Bardray had to hastily use defensive skills and flee. He was barely able to escape with only about 300 Health left.

That was a day of shame that could absolutely never be washed away for Bardray, who had reigned as the strongest.

After fully recovering his Health and Mana and even cleaning his best equipment, Bardray challenged Weed again.

"I am Bardray. Weed, I shall cut your throat."

He quickly inserted the speech he had typed up beforehand, but there was no reaction from his opponent. That was because he didn't know who Bardray was, nor did he even care.

Weed just activated an attack skill, as per usual.

In the fight that started in that manner, Bardray felt a wall he couldn't put into words. It felt like facing a fortress that was so tall and thick that the current him would never be able to defeat.

Weed slipped past all the chain skills he used. There wasn't a big difference between their equipment and level, but the skill management decided it. No matter what kind of attack Bardray tried, he responded rapidly and unleashed a counter attack. Amidst despair that was like facing a boundless ocean, Bardray experienced defeat.

Bardray couldn't accept this fact.

His pride as the strongest on the Continent of Magic had been shattered. Even though he'd taken a brief break, with his history in the Continent of Magic, he had thought that there was no way he could lose.

Bardray secretly chased Weed and fought him again five times.

But the result was the same every time. Even when he changed his skill management or fighting method, he was destroyed so very easily.

Weed's level gradually went up, and his equipment was better every time they met, even though hunting monsters with severe differences in level gave you almost no EXP.

He surpassed the level that Bardray had considered the limit and pioneered hunting grounds on his own to achieve the ultimate stage.

"I will completely stamp you down. Not just you, but everyone you know as well, so that you can't even get a foothold again in the Versailles Continent!"

Chapter 1: Ahreupen Empire’s Sealed Memories

“Ahreupen’s seal!”Weed obtained the seal that the Ahreupen Emperor, one of the master sculptors, had created as a reward for the quest. The first emperor to create a unified empire in the Continent of Versailles.

The Seal of the Ahreupen Empire!

Weed wiped away the small tears in his eyes. Rather than the tears that he usually had when he was yawning, these were tears of joy.

“They say heaven helps those who help themselves. The words hold true to their meaning. I did not think I would get a reward this good.”

It was one of the few century old antiques to have appeared from the Continent of Versailles.

The Ahreupen Imperial Seal had more than one option on it, it was a coveted item that anyone would want to get their hands on.

“It took so much work and its still not in a complete state…”

As of now, the sculpture was at least a hundred times more valuable than jewelry.

Everyone wanted sacred items that had magical properties. He managed to repair the Ahreupen Seal to a nearly perfect condition so now its true power will be revealed.

Ttiring!

The Ahreupen Empire appreciated buildings from the Classical Era.

As a sculptor and the owner of this province, you can now construct buildings from the Classical Era.

Buildings from the Classical Era were known to be very solemn and elegant, as well as big enough to accommodate large populations.

The construction costs are very high but they give an effect of increasing fertility.

– You can now build special buildings.

Imperial Palace of the Ahreupen Empire

At least 8 million gold in construction costs.

Only one can be constructed on the entire continent.
Political influence extends to the whole continent.
Loyalty and morale of knights will soar.
Reduces the likelihood of betrayal from the nobility.
It has a lot of maids.
You will need a very large territory to construct.
If the Imperial Palace is constructed on farmland, then discontent from the civilians will increase dramatically.

Has a special effect over the city:

Increases the likelihood of wandering knights to pledge their loyalty.
Diplomatic effects.

He had gotten the skill Sculptural Memories from the quest. He could see the historical buildings of the Classical Era and build them. He was not expecting such a reward. Weed did not think about building this at all. It even had a cost to hire workers to pull weeds out of the castle gardens.

Large Colosseum

At least 300 thousand gold in construction costs.

A place for gladiators.
Watching the fierce battles will relieve the stress of the citizens.
Admission will increase the city’s revenue.
The Lord’s reputation will increase when built.
The Colosseum will create a lot of brave gladiators.

Special Effects:

Gladiators will come to test their strength.
Rapidly increase the training of soldiers.

Rock Fort

At least 500 thousand gold in construction costs.

Can serve as a citadel for the city.
Can be build in mountains and high cliffs.
Has essential shops and housing for soldiers.
Depending on the terrain, a number of blessings can be granted and it can be used as an outpost against monster raids.
The number of quests available to fight against monsters increase significantly and materials gathered from monsters will become available on the market.
If the fort falls, then the Lord’s reliability to provide the residents safety drops sharply.

Special Effects:

Expansion of territory.

Special Ahreupen Grainery.

At least 40 thousand gold in construction costs.

This is a very special building.
A very large building towering towards the sky!
The Ahreupen Empire created multiple layers inside the grainery to store large amounts of grain.
Can store large amounts of grain, alcohol, and fruit underground for very long periods of time.
Reduces the number of starving residents and stabilizes the price of food.
Residents will not need to worry about food and children like to look at the large granaries.
When the continent was united under the Ahreupen Empire, this was the most essential building for safety, fertility, and the economy.
City wide festivals can be triggered.

Special Effects:

Neighboring residents will immigrate because they will not need to worry about starving.

Mysterious Fairy Pond

Construction Cost: 1000 gold

A small, quiet natural ponds with clear water is a favorite for Fairies. It is difficult to find a place to build it. Once the pond is built, then fairies will come to play around. In most cases the fairies will not pull malicious pranks. The Fairy Queen may present unexpected gifts.

Special Effects:

Increase nature affinity and mysterious events may occur.

Ahreupen Houses

Construction Costs: 2000 gold.

A four story building made out of stone. Sturdy and does not break easily. These middle class houses can house many generations of residents together. It will become more popular if built next to a lake or a river. Increases public security and the satisfaction of the residents.

Special Effects:

Increase the resistance to natural disaster and reduces damaging to the structure.

Sculptor’s Cave Complex

At least 30 thousand gold in construction costs.

A place for sculptors to gather and learn new sculpting techniques.
Helps to develops the city’s culture.

Castle Ruins

At least 70 thousand in construction costs.

To build this structure the city’s culture, art, and technology must be evenly developed.
A special building from the Ahreupen Empire that spirits live in.
Spirits like to play tricks on young children.
Spirits can not be caught.
Spirits reduce the number of children attacked by monsters.
This building increases the development of magic.

Ahruepen Merchant Center

At least 25 thousand gold to construct.

The Ahreuepn Empire preferred artists and merchants.
Independent free traders can rest here.
Built in places with good public security so their wagons can be stored here.
It is possible to increase bargaining skills and the movement speed of wagons for a few days after resting here.

Tilted Leaning Tower

At least 150 thousand gold in construction costs.

Questions will be raised as to the nature of the Leaning Tower
Raises elemental affinity with mages.
Special Effects: Raises elemental affinity based on the nature of the surrounding area.

Leather Production Center.

At least 1200 gold in construction costs.

This place will sell leather and leather products.

There were as many as 300 buildings from the Ahreupen Empire that raised military, economics, or education. They required large amounts of money and stone by default as well as some needed jewelry and other precious metals.

Seeing as the large amount of materials that were required for construction, Weed as the Lord thought that they didn’t have much value because the levels of technology, culture, and economy were low. That meant the construction would be mediocre.

The Ahreupen Empire Imperial Palace required a monstrous amount of precious metals.

Weed looked through the list again.

– The Ahreupen Empire gathered information on blacksmithing skills to make weapons and armors. The Ahreupen Empire was in a ceaseless war of conquest. They had to fight humans for territory and hunt large monsters.

Despite their low skill levels, the Ahreupen Empire used padded leather to make heavy weight, high defense armors.

You can now make clothing and armor from the Imperial Knights and Guard.

– You have acquired the sewing skills of Ahreupen Empire clothing.

Clothing such as the wizard robes, royal clothing, the imperial chef, the palace maid, and a variety of other clothing.

– There are still things unknown to the Sculptural Memories skill because the Seal of the Emperor could not be read completely.

There are still parts of the sculpture that is damaged that require restoration.

It was true that hard work cultivated art!

Since Weed learned the Sculptural Memories skill, he could not earn more money.

He had learned the sewing methods for a large number of different types of equipment for his Sewing skill.

Weed had a twisted smile.

“Ah..to think that in this world that you can achieve things without having to give up on life.”

You could not go wrong living a life of hard work!

The Seal of the Emperor was a very old historical item so there were still things unknown about it. Even so, he still managed to get a way to earn a wide variety of income.

That much was going to be obvious!

“Kuheuheuheu!”

A crazed laugh came from Weed’s mouth.

Even more than the laugh when he found a sword or armor from hunting!

“If it’s this much then it’s going to be much better than the Demon Sword or the Ancient Shield.”

That is what came out when he finished his calculations.

For such a treasure to come to a sculptor was like a lifeline to increase the art stat.

However, somewhere along the line, the Ahreupen Kingdom collapsed.

He needed to restore the rest of the sculpture if he wanted to read the remaining memories.

Weed’s Sculpture Repair skill was significantly low since he hardly repaired sculptures!

“I need to break a few sculptures and repair them.”

He needed to raise his skill to finish the S rank quest but he expected a good reward.

“Well, I better go.”

The old mercenary that was with Weed finally left. In the River of Wailing, he drunk a lot of expensive alcohol. He would even sing while he drank. It was hard taking care of him and now he was finally gone. He had gotten the Imperial Seal from the mercenary. Now the mercenary was going back.

Weed’s eyes became sharp.

‘It was tough to obtain.’

Of course it was going to be difficult to contact the mercenary now. He could just check up on him some other time of course. Weed grasped both of the old mercenary’s hands.

“It was an honor. So it’s goodbye until we meet again? Try not to eat or drink too much. Here’s some snacks you can eat.”

He was pretending like it was a regretful parting that was both tender and heartwarming.

“I’m sorry to burden you, be sure to take care of yourself now old man.”

“Not at all, it was a good experience.”
“I better hurry back to the kingdom.”

“Send me a letter sometime. There’s still a lot of things about my life as a mercenary I haven’t told you about.”

The story of the mercenary’s life was surprisingly accurate. It was a realistic look at the history of the Continent of Versailles and a lot of it was connected to Weed’s quest.

“Huhuhu.”

The mercenary was comfortable so he chuckled.

It was a little bit of intimacy he got from talking with the old mercenary.

They got to know each other to some extent.

“Come by my place sometime, you’ll always be welcome. I’m going now.”

“Next time, I’ll let you meet my nephew.”

Weed looked around after the mercenary left.

Around the River of Wailing were the tribes that fought against the Embinyu Denomination.

Turn in the quest!

He collected his rewards so he could return to Morata.

Weed had the reputation as the best sculptor in the entire Continent of Versailles.

So he understood wanting to hide the sculptures he had made in the past.

“Wyvern. I’m disappointed that I didn’t make them correctly.”

He hurriedly made them to get them in time for the fight against the Undying Legion. He had undoubtedly brought them to life one after another.

“Still, I sculpted them myself…”

There was a lot to be desire of the Wyverns from Weed.
They were the first sculptures that Weed had given life to.
They had a sharp angular face so they had a lot of wind resistance.

Nevertheless, they were had a strong pride and they would follow his commands but they were arrogant.

“Hey, what do you think?”
“Where is the master?”
“Gone. We’re completely free!”

The Wyverns would seem like they’re betraying Weed, so he needed to teach them. Since he gave them life first, they had a duty as the eldest. There was a time to play and eat to get fat, but in the north they were now hunting and growing faithfully. Weed summoned them at the mountain to go back to Morata. The six wyverns lined up side by side and they looked like they just had a bath since they were glistening.

“Hey…how are you?”

Weed said in an apologetic tone.

He usually mobilized them for war so he didn’t think about them that much.

“Master we have been well.”
“Happy.”
“Unfortunately we could not see the master as often as we would want.”

Gyarurururuek.
He went ahead and rubbed Wah-1s face.
While he was doing so he could hear in on the Wyvern’s secret conversation.

“Why’s he being so nice to us?”
“There’s got to be a catch…”
“Be careful.”

Weed continue to stroke Wah-1’s face.

“Guys. It’s good to see you guys after so long.”

Weed was speaking gently now.

“I wanted to see your faces for such a long time.
“…”

The Wyverns remained silent.

Weed allowed them to spread their wings and enjoy flying around in the sky in his presence. Then Weed followed up with.

“You guys seem a little weak. I got some good food while I was hunting that you guys can try.”

The King Hydra and the Imugi meat that he was saving!

He split it up between the Wyverns the Geumini.

“I love you master.”
“Thank you.”

Wagu wagu.

The Wyverns ravenously tore through the meat with their mouths.

Geumini gracefully took out a small knife to slice it up and eat it.

After eating such delicious food, there was not part of the Wyverns that wasn’t satisfied. It was like a child that was proud of its parents.

“A few days ago we took down a bear centaur.”
“Bear centaur?”
“It was far away from Morata. We ate them. I wanted master to have a taste too.”

That meant that they were a humanoid species.

Even with expeditions, there was a large part of the north that was not detail and only known roughly.

There were many such places.

There were stories about these places too.

“How strong are you now?”
“Level 376.”

The Wyverns were over level 370.

When Weed gave life to them, they were only level 300 since they were only fine pieces.

It was Geumini’s turn after his meal.

“Master!”

Geumini was more difficult for Weed.

That was because he felt it was a waste to make him out of gold.

“I would like to thank you for the delicious meal.”

He was hungry and Weed was being nice today.

Geumini was very shy but he had excellent combat skills.

He could run fast and wield swords in both hands.

Weak monsters would be slain instantly and he worked well on top of the wyverns with his bow shooting arrows with archery.

A sculptural masterpiece!

He was made with a 20% bonus to his level so he was an elite at level 420.

It was the first superior statue that the had given life to.

Rover and Phoenix that he had made from rock were barely level 400.

“Master, I have passed my goal of level 446.”

“That’s good, you put in a lot of effort.”

While the Wyverns were out playing, Geumini went in dungeons alone and hunted. He did not take breaks so that he could help Weed how had given him life.

“I went to hunt the monsters in the mine when you were gone.”

The abandoned mines nearby Morata!

Since Weed did not develop the mines, they became monster lairs. Geumini hunted the monsters and then mined for minerals with a pickaxe.

Since he had ownership of the minerals, it went into the storage. Weed could use it to build buildings or as minerals to make items.

“I learned a new skill. Golgolgol.”
“Ohhh.”

Weed thought it was worth raising one of his own to be like this.

To think that Geumini would be this praiseworthy?

‘It’s too bad since all a sculptor would need is a hundred guys like Geumini.’

Mining skills were very useful to the economy.
Mineral discovery and pickaxe skills were useful skills.

“What is the skill?”
“Master do not be surprise, it is magic.”
“Magic!”

Geumini had high intellect.

Since he was made using blacksmith skills there were the properties of fire, water, and metal.

The other things weren’t bad but he was thrilled that he was able to learn magic.

“Well done Geumini, but let me check what kind of magic that you got. Geumini skill window!”

Weed was able to access the skill windows of the sculptures he made.

Beginner Level 9 Sword Mastery (26%): Sword wielding skills. The higher the level, the stronger the power.

Intermediate Level 7 Archery (88%): Has long range and increases the accuracy of arrows. You can reload quickly.

Intermediate Level 4 Fire Control Mastery (16%): Can create fire. The power is unlimited but too much heat will dissolve the body.

Level 3 Fluid Conversion (15%) – Can use heat to liquefy the body. Useful for repairing the body. However, some parts of the body may be lost permanently.

Geumini had ingenious skill with archery and sword-fighting. As he expected, magic skills had appeared!

Beginner Level 6 Jewelry Destruction Magic (69%): Can draw out the magic potential power of jewelry.

The magic power depends on the caster’s ability and the value of the jewel.

Magic consume a certain amount of jewelry every time.

Jewelry magic power.

It was a more comprehensive power than magic since it’s casting speed was extremely fast.

There was the decisive disadvantage of consuming jewelry.

Geumini was level 446 and he had high physical stats like strength and agility as well as wisdom and intellect. He had high potential as a wizard. He had developed an ability to use magic using his own body’s characteristics.

It was a very luxurious skill that defined him!

It was a skill that was suitable for Geumini, who was worth 17 thousand gold.

“Do not use it.”
“What? Golgolgol.”

“You can use this skill or Fluid Conversion in the future. But if you do I’ll melt you down into gold.”

If he was melted down he could not use any skills. That meant the only thing he was good for was to be sold.

“Master.”

Geumini couldn’t help but lament.

Geumini had the appearance of a bright and handsome young man, which was pretty impressive but not to Weed. Weed thought that the golden age of youth was in high school where young girls with money would eat tteokbokki, a spicy rice cake. Weed ignored Geumini.

Wah-1 came out and took one step forwards.

Of course he was doing something other than defending his younger sibling Geumini.

“Master.”
“Yea.”
“The situation in town is alarming.”

Then Weed’s voice became serious.

“What is it?”

While hunting in Morata, the Wyverns scouted their surroundings.

Weed had invested a lot of money, 300 thousand gold, in Morata as well as making a lot of sculptures. The Church of Freya had been appointed for a duration but that was not a reason to let the pressure off. They scouted the surrounding area because they could not simply rely on the Paladins of Freya.

“The quarry near the town has been getting more crowded recently.”

Wah-1 began to explain.

It was hard for them to understand what was going on because of their age.

But Weed could understand.

“It appears that there’s a large increase in soldiers.”

The construction of barracks and the conscription of soldiers.

There were not many residents near Morata. Immigrants would come to settle up in the north but not in such large numbers. Mercenaries and other conscripted units were a different story. There was a lot less prey to hunt because there were a large number of people that had to hunt nearby.

Chapter 2: A Man's Journey

Ahn Hyundo said.

“Who will go with the youngest?”

Ahn Hyundo was trying to get someone to go.

When he was young, he had wandered through many countries. He had spent a lot of his life traveling throughout foreign countries.

The atmosphere of the meeting was rather good because they was going to meet women in Royal Road.

The masters knew but they kept silent.

In the course of mastering the sword, they had traveled around to learn about the world.

It was disadvantageous to be the first one to speak so they all remained silent.

They just remained in their sitting position with their strong chests and wide shoulders.

Their kept glancing at each other as if they were begging.

Ahn Hyundo looked into the eyes of each of the instructors.

Chung Il Hoon looked like he was a stoic person but he had generous and benevolent qualities.

He was extremely competent and the best disciple to further develop the dojo.

‘If he goes then the amount of work is going to increase around here.’

Ahn Hyundo thought that it was a better idea to have the instructors teach. He did not want to remove them and waste precious time that was needed to operate the dojo.

He wanted to see the woman that he met recently in Royal Road and go to the beach again.

‘It shouldn’t be him either.’

He quickly decided against having the fourth instructor go.

Roi Lee was the youngest of the instructors and had many prominent accomplishments in the way of the sword. Royal Road’s virtual reality was as expected.

It was the thing that they were looking for in order to gauge their development.

The willingness to fight, the feelings of weakness within themselves, or learning the way of the sword.

They had lived by the sword and the world of Royal Road was formidable.

A world of magic.

A moment of carelessness will lead to a surprise attack from a horde of monsters in the night.

They could face a number of challenges in Royal Road and revive shortly after suffering the despair of failure. It was a place where they could they could train their determination through struggles.

‘Sang Bom has a lot to do.’

Ma Sang Bom spent most of his time training the other practitioners so having him gone would be a large obstacle to the dojo.

“Jong Bom Ah.”
“Yes Master!”
“This time you will take the youngest.”
“Okay.”

That concluded the discussion in the dojo.

The mission was entrusted to one of the Geomchis.

* * *

“The plane tickets have already been obtained and the rest will be provided at the location. It should sufficient for the trip.”

“When do I start?”
“Tomorrow.”
“What should I say to the youngest?”

“No need to tell him the truth, just be moderate and tell him its going to be Jeju Island.”

“I will be going!”

The Virtual Reality Department was famous for the challenges that they issue every year during vacation. He was not aware of this fact. Lee Hyun was busy with his semester finals for his major. Lee Hyun solved the problems furiously.

‘This is the third time. That’s a problem. The subject of the thesis on Royal Road that was written by a professor..

Aside from the subject, he did not even remember the name of the professor.

Many professors from Korea University had published several papers on Unicorn Corporation, but the thing that mattered was not the names but the content. The people that could remember that part could easily solved the problem.

‘I don’t know this. It’s been three times with the other two I couldn’t answer.’

He did not spend much time answering.

His answer was very short and it only accurately explained as much as necessary.

Lee Hyun told himself.

‘I didn’t do any of the assignments but I have good attendance. It’s not going to be bad since I impressed the professors during the MT so I must not get an F in this class!

Satisfactory enough to not receive an academic warning.

The plan was even if the grade was bad, as long as it was not an ‘F’ he wouldn’t need to retake the class.

‘I only need to graduate.’

That was the purpose that was placing him in a difficult situation!

Lee Hyun solved the test questions within the time limit.

It was the last major test and then there would be vacation.

For students, summer vacation was more than two months long.

‘In that time, I’m only going to be doing a single thing!’

He was going to play Royal Road earnestly to level up.

Lee Hyun put his writing utensils into his cheap backpack.

Then the classroom door open and Professor Ju Jong Hoon came in with his assistant.

The assistant was bringing in a lot of equipment, most of which were digital camcorders.

They were equipment that were used to shoot scenes to save as a movie!

With the development of digital media devices, the memory could record up to ten days of footage.

Professor Ju Jong Hoon walked onto the podium and said.

“It’s time for this year’s summer vacation homework.”

The students looked pedantic since they were looking forward to summer vacation after the final test.

“Oh, what a bother….”

“Another challenge? Is it going to be a challenge on some complex mathematical formula, or something like releasing something out of some sort of engine using physics?”

A lot of the students began to voice their concerns.

Lee Hyun began to worry.

‘An unexpected challenge has appeared.’

He didn’t do any assignments that were for the class. However, this assignment seemed to be extraordinarily different from the rest.

Professor Ju Jong Hoon began to demonstrate how to use the camcorder.

“You know that in order to create a cool virtual reality you need to have to know what it is like to live in reality right? This year’s challenge is to record with the camcorders how your life is during the holidays. You can go to the swimming pool, find a part time job, travel. Anything is fine. Be sure to record with your camcorders during your vacation.”

“…”

The lecture room became dead quite.

Lee Hyun noticed after a few moments.

‘Do you really not care?’

The student’s began to guess at what Professor Ju Jong Hoon was indicating.

“In order for you to know each other more, the department decided this summer vacation challenge to be required this time. You enrollment of classes for your major will be canceled should you not complete it.”

In order to graduate safely, this challenge had to be completed!

It was a very, very difficult task.

Other than going to the dojo to keep up his physical strength, Lee Hyun did not think of doing anything else outside of Royal Road.
The people around him quickly began to talk to each other.

“My family is planning to go to Phuket…so I could record there.”

“We’re planning on going to the South Sea Resort to rest.”

“I was planning on taking a modeling class so I could take it there.”

The students were already planning how they were going to spend their summer vacation. As a first year college student at the age of 20, they would not spend their first summer vacation poorly.

Then it was time for the long awaited vacation!

* * *

Weed felt like a baby chicken that was going to be fried.

“The break that I was waiting for is finally here.”

He did not need any fancy vacations.

He was going to spend his time on the Continent of Versailles to raise his level and skill masteries while exploring.

“I was going to restore the rest of the seals…”

In order to repair the Ahreupen Imperial Seal he needed to increase his skills. He needed to create masterpieces and deliberately destroy them so he can repair them.

It was a difficult skill to train since it required accurate memory and skill!

Weed had to devote his time to creating fine pieces.

“I have to gradually break it and fix them little by little.”

Restore Sculpture skill was considered a subskill. Even though it was cumbersome, the skill level would grow quickly. Weed’s goal was the intermediate level.

“By then I should be able to repair the Ahreupen Seal. But…”

Weed had an uneasy feeling in his chest and could not concentrate on his work to repair sculptures. Since it was a quest from the church about the lost artifact there was little chance of others ruining it. He had attempted to repair it once but it did not work.

“Yesterday, in town, when I was on the bus there was there a guy that was scratching a lottery ticket? Of course not. It was the guy in the bathroom with a button up jacket with a fire designed on it…”

Then he suddenly had a good idea!

“Come to think of it, it’s almost time for the Church of Freya’s protection to end isn’t it?”

Since it was going to be a few years it was supposed to feel very long, but it was only 4 months in reality.

“I’ll have to take a look….military status.”

Weed opened an information window.
Military Force of Morata Province

Beginner Knights

10

Average Level

219

Soldiers

1187

Average Level

45

Loyalty

98%

Training

79%

The level of knights is very low. Strict discipline is needed to keep knights from leaving. Morata’s soldiers have high loyalty but, with the exception of a few soldiers, their level is poor and they must seek the help of the police and vigilantes.

There are no siege weapons.
City Walls are in perfect condition.
The promised period of protection from the Church of Freya ends in five days.

In just five more days, the protection from the Church of Freya would expire. Because of his public contribution, Weed was able to meet with Alveron.

“I would like to meet with His Majesty the Pope Candidate.”

There were times that called for proper respect. He had significant intimacy with Alveron from the quests he had completed. To him, Alveron was like a friend. But it was because of his public contribution that he could meet with Alveron.

“To think that Weed nim would seek a priest such as myself. What can I do for you?”

“This is Morata isn’t it? The place where Alveron and I save the people by defeating the vampires right?”

It was a good thing. Under the pretext of suffering under a quest together their intimacy would increase.

“The goddess Freya has left her invisible mark on the province of Morata, a beacon of hope that brings the land prosperity and peace has it not? To Morata, The goddess Freya is the Goddess of Hope.”

“Weed nim, I am very grateful that you think so.”

“It’s a bit cumbersome to say so let me speak more directly. Please extend the protection of Freya over Morata.”

Weed wanted to say a bit more. However, Alveron spoke before he could.

“However this is not in the South is it not? Even as the Pope Candidate Alveron, the distance to Morata is too great…”

He couldn’t help trying one more time.

“We have fought and spilled blood together have we not?”

Kinship.

“The church of Freya has much to teach about life.”

Teachings.

The Republic of Korea had an inseparable bond for dragging things out, so Weed used teaching as an excuse! Especially since the overly honest Alveron would never accept a bribe.

“I’m sorry. The Goddess Freya would more than want to help. However there are people that are suffering elsewhere in more difficult situations so the Knights and Priests must leave at the promised date.”

They had eaten together as friends but it was like he had asked him to go buy rice without giving him any money and had refused, an unavoidable situation.

“To keep the protection of Freya on Morata for a longer period of time would cost the achievements that you have with the church.

Depending on the level of public contribution, he could get equipment or rare treasures. Weed felt it was a waste but it was his last resort. Morata had high development but very weak military force. It did not have enough soldiers and knights to fight a real battle. Alveron made the sign of a cross and bowed.

“There will be no problem if Weed nim since he has devoted so much to the Church of Freya but there will be some difficulty even if I ask. How much longer do you wish for the protection of the Church of Freya to be extended?”

Ttiring!

Public value points with the Church of Freya: 13290

For the protection of the Church of Freya, 110 public value points are consumed a day.

He could not help using a large amount of public value points to have the Church of Freya dispatch their tremendous forces of clerics and paladins to Morata.

Weed’s eyes began to moisten. He had been planning to use those public value points to buy high level weapons and armor from the church.

“Alveron, I would like the Church of Freya for as long as possible… to protect me.”

He needed to buy it!

“Do you wish to have the Church of Freya to protect the Province of Morata using your public value points?”

“Uh. Yea.”

“The Templars will remain for another 120 days but since Weed nim is asking me personally I will ask them for an additional 30 days.”

Alveron gave him a courteous bonus of 30 days!

Weed gave him a hug.

“My brother!”

The Church of Freya will keep away the other military forces.

But the time was approaching.

* * *

The next morning Lee Hyun began to prepare and put the camcorder in his bag.

“Jeju Island…the island of dreams. The best resort! I can’t believe that I’m going to Jeju Island.”

Ahn Hyundo had given him a phone call. They opened a new dojo in Jeju Island and he wanted him to go to see it. It was a good thing for Lee Hyun.

“I was worried about what I should be recording during vacation but to think that it would be Jeju Island.”

Jeju Island, even when compared to other people, it would not fall short.

It was a natural environment with the clear blue Halla Mountains with horses and the beach that he could record.

“This is such a success. Not everyone can go to Jeju Island. I better get my passport.”

Lee Hyun put his passport in his bag.

Ahn Hyundo said that he needed his passport to get on a plane at the airport. To he had the written documents and photos taken care of for him for the overseas dojo. Usually one would feel suspicious when they think about it but he did not have the slightest bit of suspicion.

The airfare, lodgings, and meals were all free!

“Oppa, take care.”

“Yes, I’ll be sure to bring back souvenirs.”

His sister went to see Lee Hyun off at the Incheon International Airport.
Stewardesses were busy running around and showing foreigners where their luggage was.

“Indeed…”

It was a whole new world for Lee Hyun.
He came thirty minutes ahead of the appointed time for Jong Bom Ah to arrive.

“So you’re here.”
“Yes sahyung, I came early.”
“Do you have your passport?”
“Passport?”

Lee Hyun was puzzled.

He didn’t understand since it wasn’t needed unless one was leaving Korea.

“You need a passport to go to Jeju Island?”

Jong Bom Ah quickly answered him.

“We need to ride a plane.”

Lee Hyun only roughly knew what it was like to go on a plane.

One would know what it was like if they see a drama or a movie.

“I see, so it’s different from public transportation like a bus and I can’t just ride it.”

“This is a plane.”

Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah did not have much luggage other than a small bag. Lee Hyun checked the tickets that he had and they said Cairo, Egypt.

“Sahyung!”
“What?”
“This plane is going to Cairo?”

Lee Hyun roughly had heard about Egypt once.

“Isn’t this plane going to Southeast Asia?”
“…”

The look on the faces of the other passengers was priceless.

‘How does he not know?’
‘Does he not even know where Egypt is?’

“As you know we are going to Jeju Island.”

“Exactly.”

“The plane directly to Jeju Island is expensive.”

“So you’re saying that… It’s like taking a bus and stopping in the middle.”

This sounded far too absurd to the other guests at the boarding gate.

To say that Jeju Island was a stop along the way to Egypt!

However, Jong Bom Ah looked very rough and had intimidating eyes so no one had the courage to tell the truth. So Lee Hyun took the flight to Cairo.

After the plane took off, a flight attendant began to walk around and pass out food and drinks. They simply passed by where Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah was. As soon as they got onto the plane they had fallen into deep sleep. The two of them crossed the sea past Central Asia and were on the plane heading to Cairo.

* * *

Cairo Airport.

Summer was hot in Korea, but it was incomparable to Egypt.

The hot air and scorching sun caused sweat to run down their foreheads.

There were not traces that this was a Korean airport since there were only Egyptians wearing turbans. He was not stupid enough to believe this was Jeju Island.

“Sahyung! I think this is the wrong place.”

There was deep suspicion in Lee Hyun’s eyes.

He had fallen asleep on the plane thinking that he would be in Jeju Island.

Then along with the other foreigners, they went to the immigration procedures.

Jong Bom Ah said.

“That was only part of the truth…it’s a tradition of the dojo to have its members go out to see the real world.”

“…”

“We deliberately planned this trip a long time ago.”

To think that he would be somewhere like this. From how it was explained, he could not be mad at Jong Bom Ah. There was more to learning the sword than just the physical part. Every cell in the body had to be alive in order to wield the sword.

Traveling overseas in order to properly learn the way of the sword! Even after leaving on the trip, despite the other troubles, there was nothing to regret.

Moreover, it was traveling abroad. He did not have any chances to see the world out of Korea.

Lee Hyun asked to confirm.

“This is…free right?”
“Of course it’s free.”
“Whew.”

Lee Hyun let out a sigh of relief.

Even if it was annoying and cumbersome, since it was free he could not be angry.

“Everything is free so just relax and enjoy. Kuehahahaha! It’s a journey and others are paying for you, enjoy!”

“Where do we go now?”

“For now, we get on a helicopter.”

A helicopter was waiting for them at the Cairo Airport.

They flew past the dry air and sand of the Sahara Desert in Egypt to see charming buildings of brick and stone.

* * *

North Africa.

Two four wheel drive jeeps were ready for Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah.

The jeep was opened on the roof and had a leather tent that could be opened and closed easily.

“Youngest.”
“Yes, Sahyung?”
“Do you know how to drive?”

“I have never driven before, but I have ridden a motorcycle a bit…”

He did not have a driver’s license. He had driven a motorcycle to deliver food for a chinese restaurant once.

“Do you have one?”

“It doesn’t matter since there are not traffic police, just don’t hit anything.”

Jong Bom Ah threw him the car keys.

“Go start it.”

Lee Hyun sat in the driver’s seat in the car. He put the keys into the ignition.

Kua aaaaaahhahahahahang!

The car’s engine started with a cry. An off road, four wheel drive vehicle for crossing the desert!

Even if it didn’t look like much, the jeep had tremendous power.

Behind the driver seat was filled with food, water, oil, a tent, and other materials as well as a book about Africa. There was also white medicine boxes piled up.

“Well, let’s get started!”

Jong Bom Ah started his engine and went out first into the desert.

The car’s wheels kicked up dust.

“I will!”

Lee Hyun slammed on the brakes.

The car did not move correctly!

“Was the accelerator on the left or the right?”

Lee Hyun released his foot and stepped on the right accelerator. The car bounced and went forwards.

It was a fantastic place for a novice driver.

There were no lanes and you could park anywhere you want.

They passed by many piles of sand, desert scorpions, and even an oasis.

The wind was mixed with the sand as the two cars moved forwards side by side.

Taaaaang!
Dodododo.

Groups were riding on horses and shooting guns.

Lee Hyun came riding along with Jong Bom Ah in a Jeep.

Lee Hyun asked on a transceiver.

“Sahyung, who are they?”

– They’re either bandits or the militia.

“Would they attack us?”

– It’s okay. The dojo has contacts in this place. They’re not going to carelessly attack a marked car.

Lee Hyun’s car had come with a red painted patterned flag.

The armed horsement did not attack as Jong Bom Ah said, but they did get closer. The two jeeps traveled along the desert and they saw travelers on camels. Lee Hyun took out the camcorder to record the ride in the car. Houses were built with mud and straw in the first town where he met skinny children. The children had black skin and they were playing with a ball, he could feel lack of vitality in their expressions! Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah went to see the doctor of the village to deliver books and the boxes of medicine.

“Good… sign here.”
“…”

The doctor thanked them when he received it.

An old lady walked by and gave them a necklace made out of wood and stone for helping.

Lee Hyun asked.

“When did this start?”

“Master came on a tour of Africa about 15 years ago.”

“How many people will these boxes cover?”

“About 600 people maybe?”

“That much?”

“In Korea, almost absolutely all drugs come in a bottle, but here there are children dying everywhere.”

In the small hospital tent there where children lined up.

All the children in line that received a vaccination shot thanked the doctors.

Children from the next town over would come for vaccinations and then return.

Then the second village and then the third.

In the village, the other villages received hospitality as they shared the medicine.

There were people on the lookout for intruders but not many outsiders come since for a v ery long time they had lived on the high cliff.

“Sahyung, the desert’s land is very hard.”

“Rocky terrain is very broken and its very much like the desert sand of the Sahara Desert. It’s not much compared to the width of the entire region.”

Jong Bom Ah knew about the world.

The sand of the Sahara desert was different from expected since it was a endless sea of sand. But the land was covered by sand. They would not sink very deep since there was gravel and stone underneath. There were a lot of large trees nearby and bushes as well as rocks the size of houses in the distance. A single visit to Africa could save thousands of lives!

Three days after they began, they went back into the desert and they were escorted by the armed militia. As the car passed over the hill, he looked to the horizon and then his body began to shake violently. At night the temperature suddenly dropped so he needed to very several thick layers of cloths. Lee Hyun put water to boil in a bot as he turned on the burner. Under the light of the Milky Way, he drank a cup of coffee in the desert!

“A few tablespoons of sugar.”

Lee Hyun turned on the radio receiver to listen in.

There was a talk show in an unknown language and soon music began to play. He had heard it a couple times in Korea and it was Jae Lynn’s song ‘A Dialogue of Eyes’ in English.

Chapter 3: Wings

They went past the deserts, rivers, and meadows of the south.

In order to cross the border of Africa to other countries, you had to pay an entry fee to pass which was quite expensive. At the border of the desert there were two rivers flowing of which animals came by to drink water. There were all sorts of creatures from the animal kingdom such as antelopes, zebras, cheetahs, jackals, buffalos, monkeys, and deer. The sky was filled with flocks of various colored feathered birds. Jong Bom Ah said to Lee Hyun.

“This is pretty amazing. It’s like a small zoo.”

Animals in the dry wilderness!

Lee Hyun nodded.

“It’s just as you say.”

Sparrows sitting on a telephone pole could not even begin to compare to the animal spirit he felt from the animals such as the pink flamingo. The jeep was safe from animal attacks since it was made of reinforced steel, but they still had to be careful of the vehicle being turned upside down.

Lee Hyun drove down a rough road with Jong Bom Ah. They could not get tired of looking at the animals.. Most of the animals in Korea were trapped in cages, but here there were herbivores grazing everywhere. There were giraffes that were looking around with its long neck for nearby dangerous wild beasts. Hungry lions looking for prey were wandering about. Crocodiles were swimming in the river.

At night they would sleep inside the cars.

Kuuueng! Kuuueng! Kueng! Kueng! Kueng!

Kihaaaaah!

It was shaking because of the wild animals running about crying noisily. Nights in Africa were dangerous.

They went to deliver medicine to African villages in the Prairie. They went to larger cities to deliver the supplies to other places. Lee Hyun would probably be pleased with what he was doing but there was something that was on his mind. The land was very beautiful, as were the animals, but he noticed the true painful nature was how deeply rooted poverty was in the people. Africa was the world’s largest ghetto and no one knew how many children were starving in a place like this.

A pair of shoes bought in Korea would be enough to save the lives of 10 childdren in Africa.

‘I, however, did not suffer anything. I have to reflect on this. From now on I need to put more effort and work even harder.’

Rather than complaining about his past, his real motivation was for the future.

Life, nature, fate, and dreams.

From seeing life in Africa, he took time to give it some thought.

The world was not fair.

While some people were laughing while watching TV, there were numerous people out there sick, hungry, and dying. Elementary school, middle school, high school, college.

They did not receive an education and could not dream of doing anything as adults.

Travel!

At first he did not want to go anywhere, but now he did not regret going.

It had been four days since they had been in Africa.

At the end of the day, they would finally reach the city of their destination.

Lee Hyun took off his face mask that was covered in sand. There was dust in his hair and all over his entire body.

“Sahyung, where is this?”
“This is the heart of Africa.”

In the heart of Africa there were many large buildings and shops. There were many tourists so there was a stable economy and the city dealt in multinational trade.

“We’re done delivering all the medicine so the rest of the day is free time.”

“I’m going to take a bath.”

Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah went to a hotel to clean themselves with a bath.

Then they toured the African city.

There were black people entering and hanging around the alley of the slums.

Travelers from all over the world could be seen here in Africa.

The city had very good security but people were careful not to come too close to Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah. From the way they looked and dressed, they looked like a group of desert bandits.

The next day they took a plane.

They went north of Africa into Europe. So they had to cross the ocean.

“Where are we going now?”

Lee Hyun asked Jong Bom Ah who was carrying a parachute backpack.

“We’re going here.”
“Yes?”
“Every real man should try skydiving once right?”

Lee Hyun looked out the window of the plane.

The houses in Europe looked like small dots and the road was drawn as if it were a blur.

“I’ve never skydived before.”
“You’ll get the hang of it.”

They recieved a small briefing from a French instructor on how to jump.

Fortunately the man had also learned the sword from the dojo so he was able to explain it quickly in Korean.

“Open!”

The hangar door of the airplane opened, causing their whole bodies to shake from the wind blowing on them.

Jong Bom Ah yelled.

“I’ll be going first!”

Jong Bom Ah jumped out of the hangar door fabulously and began falling towards the ground. Running as hard as he could, Lee Hyun jumped out of the airplane’s hangar.

At that moment.

He was in the middle of the blue sky.

He could feel the wind flowing past his body as he descended to the ground.

It was like when he descended from the City of the Sky, Lavias!

With his entire body in free fall, he felt like he had the freedom to go anywhere.

A five star hotel in Paris, France.

Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah were staying in a penthouse. After they checked in with the bellhop, the hotel staff gave them strange looks. They were being misunderstood since there were a lot gay people in Korea in comparison to Europe.

“Let’s drink!”

The hotel they had in France was equipped with a wine room.

Jong Bom Ah threw his backpack aside and took out a hand-knife and stabbed it into the high quality wine. He was not interested in using a corkscrew. Then he poured the cool wine into a cup and drank it.

“Ah, so refreshing! Is there any whiskey or soju here?”

As a typical Korean man, he enjoyed drinking his soju.

“There’s nothing like drinking soju!”

“Yea. It’s good to be honest! Aren’t there some middle school and high school students that drink wine? Soju is the best.”

They could not understand the taste and smell of wine.

It was just bitter!

For Jong Bom Ah, he could not enjoy drinking wine since it was distasteful.

“I don’t understand why its so expensive. Its the worst kind of drink.”

They had insulted all the wine lovers of the world!

Soju on the other hand was good with food like pork and together with friends, as well as creating a more sociable atmosphere.

“A bottle of soju is good in any country.”

Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah went to the terrace that was overlooking the Eiffel Tower as they briefly drank two cups of alcohol. Both of the men enjoyed their alcohol even more because it wasn’t costing them anything. Outside of the window was the Seine River and the historical buildings of Paris.

In Europe there was a saying that Paris had the most beautiful streets. In the hotel lobby there were statues and bright, colorful paintings in every corridor. Even the alcohol from the ice chest had a exotic feeling to it. Jong Bom Ah spun the bottle of liquor around as he said.

“Instead of feeling cooped up and watching TV, why do we take a night trip and walk around France.”

“All right.”
“Get a parachute.”
“Yes.”

The was a movie that was playing on the TV that was popular in Europe and the United States. The five star hotel also had Chinese and Japanese broadcasting, but the variety of entertainment did not have the many professional Korean broadcasts. Lee Hyun took his camcorder along with his parachute. Everything will be recorded by the camcorder!

“Huhuhu.”

Jong Bom Ah did a nasty laugh in from of the camera as he walked over to the terrace.

“You were promised that you would get to stay at a five star hotel. Come on, let’s go.”

They did not need elevators. Jong Bom Ah dramatically jumped over the terrace. It looked as if he wanted to commit suicide. The only other thing was the night sky of Paris.

“So these kind of experiences are a part of traveling.”

Lee Hyun quickly followed him. He climbed over the railing and jumped to the ground. He expanded the parachute immediately and he descended slowing to the ground in the night sky of Paris. The hotel they were staying in was very tall so he could view a little bit of Paris’s scenery. However, he was gradually getting closer to the ground! Because Jong Bom Ah was more experience with using a parachute, he had arrived at the ground first. People were looking at them since they had suddenly fell out of the air. Then a French beauty approached them. She asked in her native language.

“Tu es d’ou (Where are you from)?”

Jong Bom Ah did not know French. Of course he didn’t know English either.

He made a glance towards Lee Hyun, who was the same.

“…”

They were now stuck with a frozen expression.

In order to enter a university, GED required to have basic proficiency in English.

They were Korean and didn’t learn any foreign languages so they could not understand the French woman. Lee Hyun decided to ignore her.

“Sahyung, let’s go eat hot dogs.”

He came to help Jong Bom Ah out of the situation.

“Sure. How about over there?”

They ignored the French beauty and instead went to a hot dog stand.

Clap clap clap!

Nearby passerby began to clap at them.

They wanted to congratulate them for having parachuted down.

They went around like ordinary tourists for the rest of the day.

They went the the Palace of Versailles, Luxembourg Gardens, Place de la Concorde, and the Bastille Opera House. Using the attractions as backgrounds, Jong Bom Ah struck a pose and revealed the muscles on his forearm.

“Ready. One, two three!”

Click!

“Now you go and do it.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. Now let’s go.”

A typical photo shoot trip!

They would ask some French people or other travelers to take one of two pictures with them. They would then be busy eating hot dogs in the elegant streets of Paris.

“The hot dogs are good in Paris.”

“It’s very delicious. How about we eat some pork chops in the evening?”

“Yea, pork chops sound good too.”

After a hearty meal in the evening, they went to Germany. The dojo had went aheaed and rented them motorcycles.

“Let’s see the capabilities of the German produced Autobahn motorcycles.”

Autobahn motorcycles!

“There’s a highway rest area around here right? Eating noodles and baked potatoes sound good.”

Then they went to the Netherlands to ride high speed motor boats and then they went diving into the sea. They explored the ocean floor and saw some fish. Then the went across the United Kingdoms to watch soccer games. There were many Koreans travelers and students that they heard from time to time. On the Croyde Beach in the United Kingdom as strong wind blew from the storm.

“This is good weather.”
“This weather is a good thing?”

There were dark clouds in the sky and it looked like it could rain any minute. It was the kind of weather where you would not be surprise if lightning struck suddenly.

“According to the Master, I need to take you surfing.”

Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah changed into swimming clothing. On the beach there were a lot of people watching the waves. Every time the storm hit, the waves would suddenly increase in size. The storm that was blowing was apparently a strong one that came once every ten years. Large and high waves were going to the the beach accordingly.

“Have you never surfed before?”
“Yea.”

“It should be comfortable even if its your first time. Think of it like taking a dip and you should be able to do it like other people.”

There were few people trying to ride the waves. Jong Bom Ah and Lee Hyun tried to memorize their behavior and actions into their mind as they walked carefully. Walking down the beach were two Asians holding a surfboard. Usually one would wear a surfing suit to reduce the amount of water resistance. However they left their upper body completely exposed. The only thing they needed was their muscular upper body that they had developed earnestly. It was quite eye catching for the British people to see an Asian like Jong Bom Ah.

“Go first.”

Jong Bom Ah spread out his surfboad onto the sea and tried to surf. However the waves that kept hitting made him unable to. The sight of Lee Hyun following in gave the crowd greater courage. Swimming was one of the Republic of Korea’s favorite past times. Everyone knew how to do some basic form of swimming! He spread out his board and began to move his body, arms, and legs furiously.

“To think I would be doing this in the United Kingdoms!”

Severe wind and light rainfall began to create waves against his body. Waves that were a few meters high would catch him and his board every time causing him to be submerged into the salty sea. In fact, it was hard to move from the water pressure of the ocean waves. As soon as he got a hold of the board, another wave would strike him. This repeated twelve times as the meter high waves kept at him brutally.

“Damn.”

Lee Hyun was upset.

“It’s like the time I had a bath in the neighborhood reservoir on that stormy night!”

As a kid there was not many games that he could play without spending money. As a child, he would spend his time trying to catch frogs and crayfish from a ditch and as he got older he would find try to find better things to eat.

The nearby reservoir!

It was a notorious place because roughly 3 to 5 people drowned there a year. In the pouring rain that day, Lee Hyun went and tried to fish with his bare hands in the reservoir so there was no way he would give in to the UK’s sea.

“In the Republic of Korea more than 100 thousand people are swimming all over the country! British waters are not big deal.”

He went forth to challenge it once more!

Lee Hyun tried again and again.

The waves kept getting bigger but it never returned him back to shore.

“How dare the waves do this…I am Jong Bom Ah!”

Jong Bom Ah’s eyes burned with his willpower as he stumbled.

At first he was trying to enjoy the waves but now it was a challenge. His upper body muscles were wet from the water and greasy from sweat. He used his power to grab the surfboard and jumped. He repeated his to try and get into the waves. Through his failures, Lee Hyun realized the concept of it.

‘So it has to do with being balanced despite the confusion.’

The big waves would push against the board and disrupt the balance even if you were successful. You had to try and reverse the flow to stay on.

‘So instead of trying to push to waves…it might be better to ride it?’

So he had to get it floating without upsetting the flow of the waves.

‘I can do it. Think of it as if I were riding the Wyverns…’

Lee Hyun’s survival senses.

Compared to the fast speed of the Wyverns in the valley, the waves were more normal. You need to get the hang of nature in order to succeed. He had to adapt. He remembered his flight on the back of the Wyverns. Fighting on top of the Wyvern’s backs. Lee Hyun began to climb on top of the waves with his surfboard and tried to get balanced. Then he stood on top of the wall like waves with his board.

“Kya hahahahahahahah!”

Lee Hyun laughed out loud.

Then he finally came to a stop.

“I am one who has conquered the storm!”

Lee Hyun began to yell out loudly and repeatedly. He was completely immersed in it. Jong Bom Ah was gifted with athleticism and well trained so he was already riding a wave. These guy were riding the waves in the storms of the UK! There was a British woman on the beach holding his camcorder and recording the scene. Before Lee Hyun was riding the waves he had given her to record it. After some time at night, they had a beach party with beer in a shop.

“European hot dogs are good.”
“Sausage is delicious too.”

Lee Hyun and Jong Bom Ah began to drink beer heartily and went to sleep.

“Time to go to another part of Europe to go skiing.”

The two of them rode to the Alps in order to go skiing.

There was a ski resort that was officially opened but no one had gone because it was a reckless challenge! That was because the people that went could not find their way back to the hostel. Then they visited the Red Square.

“So this is the Red Square.”
“All sorts of people have been here.”

They had a brief moment of appreciation for the historical sites. Then they took a transcontinental train to Moscow and then China. Then after a short visit in China, then planned to return to Korea by plane.

“I bought some eggs…where’s the kimbap?”

Boiled eggs were an indispensable necessity for train travel. They went into an open place to sleep. They looked on past the frozen tundra and the surrounding area. Lee Hyun looked out the window and was at a loss for words.

He had met all sorts of people from Africa to Central Asia. The hot sun, the sand, the wind, and the waters of the East. European culture and the historical buildings were great. The sculptures and paintings gave out lifelike feelings. To think he only lived in a small town and that such a big world existed was a huge shock to Lee Hyun.

‘This spacious land.’

The Republic of Korea could not compare to a country like Russia. The real estate prices near cities shot up from the economic boom.

‘To think that there would be a place like this on earth…!’

Chapter 4: The Architecture of Ahreupen

After 23 days, Lee Hyun managed to return home from his trip to Europe. There was no one home since his sister had went to the library early in the morning so he began his daily cleaning of the living room and other rooms.

After he was done, Lee Hyun was tired so he laid down on the floor.

‘I don’t understand why people bother to go travel if it’s so tiring. I would rather loiter around at home.’

It was incomprehensible why foreign tourists would come every holiday season. He would rather relax at home than suffer outside! His idea of a comfortable summer vacation was to eat rice for breakfast and lunch with sweet and sour pork and chicken respectively, then go to sleep with an electric fan plugged in.

“Oh…if only I could lie around all the time.”

He was a little dispirited. No matter how fit he was, there was no way he wouldn’t be tired after he went all around Central Asia, Europe, and Africa. But he could not rest when there was money to be made. The golden age of summer! He had to dedicate himself fully in order to catch up to the level and skills of his competitors. There was a significant amount of money he needed to earn for the household and he was not going to let there be a month where he ran a deficit.

“There may be some changes in the Continent of Versailles and in Morata…”

23 days in real life was a tremendous amount of time in Royal Road. Considering that the time differed at a rate of 4 times, a total of 92 days have passed in Royal Road. This was the part that he was worried about during his travels.

“I don’t know if Morata is fine or not. Surely it is as I left it and its not in ruins.”

Lee Hyun opened his luggage. Then he poured out his souvenirs. They were items to prove that he had been to Europe.

Cyan Bell Hotel
Hilton Hotel
Paris Hostel

He had taken the towels, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, and shampoo from the hostels! He also grabbed a couple blankets from the plane so the inside of his bags were overflowing. In another bag was filled with French and Italian clothes, necklaces, handbags, and other things for his sister. For the sake of his sister, he went ahead and purchased all of these items. Lee Hyun did not forget to buy anything.

“90 euros you say? No, no, no no. 40 euros.”
“No deal goodbye.”
“40 euros. 40 euros. 40 euros!”

He did not hesitate to haggle in the shops. Lee Hyun was able to determine the value of items based on the description of the material. Even after considering the high labor costs in Europe, he persisted at 40 euros until he got it down to a reasonable price of 52 euros.

“The world is full of crooks.”

It was more expensive for foreign tourists to buy stuff. Because of that, he could not help but be a pushy in a poisonous environment. Lee Hyun’s hands would tremble uncomfortably as he finished paying them.

“Konichiwa!” -(he’s saying hello in japanese)

This was the pride of Koreas that travel!

Other than for his sister, he also got gifts for Oh Dongman, Choe Jihun, Jeong Hyo-Lynn, and the rest.

“It’s alright as long as I give them something.”

Luxurious European branded T-shirts!

He bought them in Europe as well as a mountain of stuff from Chinese markets.

He spent a total of 800 thousand Korean won with the most expensive thing at 60 thousand won. He checked every item over fifteen times before he began to negotiate over a fair price.

That was a real taste of shopping during a trip! Lee Hyun roughly organized all the items before he sat down and turned on the television. He was just in time for the broadcast about the continent of Versailles. He was watching in order to find out the current events in Royal Road.

* * *

“Oh Juwan-nim, do you know if the Kingdom of Haven has gone to all out war with the Kallamore Kingdom yet?”

“That is true. I have news that they have stopped the Kallamore Kingdom’s knights advancement. They are now waiting for the enemy soldiers inside the fort to surrender or else they will face an army of 20 thousand soldiers and the fortress’s supply chain has been cut so now it seem unavoidable.”

Lee Hyun had not known that the Kingdom of Haven had finally waged war against the Kallamore Kingdom. The Kingdom of Haven had a significantly high number of powerful users. There were an enormous amount of users on the central continent. That power had been strong enough to defeat the Kallamore knights which were said to be undefeatable.

Other than the Hermes Guild, the other large prestigious guilds were not mentioned. The Kingdom of Haven and its guilds were severely damaged when the Hermes Guild decided to not go to war. They were trying to find someone to point their finger at and blame. Of course there was no one else but Bard Ray. Even if it wasn’t known to others, Bard Ray was secretly the leader of the prestigious Hermes Guild. Even since he started Royal Road, Bard Ray had been strengthening his influence over the guilds. Since then, it has always been one of the strongest guilds.

“The Hermes Guild. Is it irresponsible to say that the Hermes Guild represents the Kingdom of Haven?”

“The Hermes Guild is not to blame. The other guilds are doing the same.”

The blame was distributed to all the prestigious guilds of the Kingdom of Haven. He did not know that the Kingdom of Haven had occupied the Kallamore Kingdom’s territory and that their army was getting stronger every day.

“There aren’t any enemies that can defeat the Kingdom of Haven at the moment.”

Bard Ray had make the decision to go to war. It was not a command of the Hermes Guild but an arbitrary decision that he had made. During the fight, Raybard ambushed the Kallamore Kingdom from behind with his group. The Hermes Guild troop assualted the enemy food supplies and wagons. Afterwards, a video of them looting the food and then selling it in a nearby town was uploaded to the Hall of Fame. Users that were part of the Kingdom of Haven celebrated whenever a video was uploaded.

“There’s no one stronger than Bard Ray.”

“The Guardian of the Kingdom of Haven!”

There were hundreds of thousands of commennts posted on each video. Since users were watching the broadcasts, Bard Ray’s reputation as the strongest on the Continent of Versailles were further increased. The strongest, highest level swordsman in the entire Continent of Versailles could not be ignored.

They were showing off in response to Weed’s actions in the Immortal Legion as Karichwi and the fight with the Bone Dragon. The other prestigious guild, the Lancashire Guild was also involved but it could not compare. The Kingdom of Haven blocked the Kallamore Kingdom’s supply routes and then began a two pronged assualt, leading to a difficult defense. The Kallamore Kingdom was forced to retreat to their fortress. Bard Ray and his unit played a crucial role in the war between the two nations. However, the Hermes guild handed down a punishment to Bard Ray.

Because you did not follow the decision of the Hermes Guild, Bard Ray and his colleagues have been suspended from the guild for 200 days.

The representatives of the Hermes guild handed down a punishment causing tremendous complaints from the users of the Kingdom of Haven. The Hermes Guild website was filled with complaints and insults protesting to cancel Bard Ray’s punishment. On the other hand, the opinion of the ultimate user Bard Ray on the Continent of Versailles was rapidly getting better.

“On another note, there is a lot of interest in the high level user Chase that went on an adventure with a lot of people into a dungeon, which is contributing to the kingdoms.”

“The news just keeps getting in. The price of velvet has increases significantly. What do you think this will do?”

“Shin Hye-Min, did you know that tailors can create items from velvet?”

“Oh, that’s possible?”

“After beginner level 6, its possible to combine materials such as fabric, wool, and velt. So its a good material for tailors to use.”

The Continent of Versailles had various types of news. The newsworthy ones were about the development of the kingdoms that had a lot of users so the news had to be varied. Then they opened up with a professional broadcast news about Royal Road.

“From the looks of it, the users in the northern region need to be very careful.”

“Oh Juwan, is something going on in the north?”

“The news in the north has been becoming increasingly more tense. There are mercenaries from the central continent being recruited to the north.”

Shin Mye-Min had a worried look.

“So a war is going to take place in the north?”

“Morata will be subjugated.”

“It seems that the God of War, Weed is governing Morata.”

“The north has become a center of trade and adventure. The Lord has been gone for a long time so it was bound to happen. Switch screen to the video.”

The TV screen switched to the northern villages. One thousand, two thousand, countless trained soldiers in units with blacksmiths creating weapons. Over 10 guilds were in an alliance and they were having the blacksmiths forge siege weapons. It was a magnificent thing to see the leaders training and commanding their knights. They had joined forces to take down the large city of Morata. Lee Hyun turned off the television.

“To think that they would mess with Morata!”

* * *

He turned off the television normally since this was not the time to be angry. Not to mention conserving the electricity bill! It was unthinkable for him to throw the remote or punch in the wall.

“How dare you try to take away my bowl of rice…”

He could not tolerate it. The Morata he had invested a large sum into was going to be taken. They were going to stain what is rightfully his. Even if there’s a cute and gentle looking chihuahua, the owner was not going to be the same. Lee Hyun was going to get his spoon into his bowl before anyone else!

“I’ll beat them up and then…they better be prepared for the damages.”

Weed stood and looked out the window of his castle. He looked from the users in the central square to the lakes and the statue of Freya. This was a good place for beginners and it was getting more growing even more every day. He saw young calfs lying leisurely on the side of the road. From the looks of it, they looked like they were Rover’s children.

“I put my blood and sweat into making this town.”

Weed had created a lot of sculptures and put in enormous sums of gold in order to get the city to develop quickly. Aside from everything else, there was something different. There was another building.

The Morata Center for the Arts!

It was constructed recently and it was filled with vitality. There was a large garden with flowers and trees. It was a source of pride for such a large building to be build and it could be see from all over Morata.

“Its the first time I’ve seen this place as the Lord.”

Weed had not been in this place for a significant amount of levels. There were a significantly increasing number of people that come to the north to adventure. There were people of all levels. As more users came, the developmental levels would increase. It was like the wonderful smell that came off when cooking. It would be a shame to put an end to the developing Morata! Weed thought of his country as a bowl of rice where the loyal knights and soldiers were all his.

“To think they were dare to take away my bowl of rice while I was on vacation…”

Weed had a total of 390 thousand gold. It was all earned from hunting the King Hydra, selling off weapons and other items. He never bought any expensive foods such as rum and never bought any precious metals. He was going to invest that large sum.

“Internal Affairs Mode!”

– The screen will now switch to the internal affairs of the last twenty weeks.

You have the ability to govern Morata.

Resources will be available immediately.

Military

51

Economy

989

Culture

1,512

Technology

338

Sanitation

41

Public Order

65%

Urban Development

121

Corruption

3

Reserve Funds

518,642 Gold

Morata was constantly expanding. To expand their land, they needed more money. Cultural and technology augemented economic development so a considerable amount of money accumulated. It was a region without much commercial corruption thanks to the people’s characteristics to be hardworking.

“View income history.”

Morata’s monthly income

Residential Tax

12,116 Gold

Housing Tax

918 Gold

Sales Tax

22,889 Gold

Merchant Trade

57,901 Gold

Mining Supplies

9,230 Gold

Land Taxes

6,373 Gold

Store Supplies

49,749 Gold

Food Sale Revenue

35,461 Gold

Tax on Merchants and Mercenaries:

3,051 Gold

People are constantly coming north to Morata.
Low tax rates for travelers.

Insufficient skilled craftsman(Blacksmith, Cooking, Sewing, etc.)
20,000 people are jobless.

Houses around the central plaza is extremely crowded. Low property tax.
Sales for cheap goods are growing explosively.

Production and merchandise sales are not good with only 9 stores staying open late.
Center of commerce for the Versailles continent if going by percentages.
Importation of low quality cheap stuff, but a very large variety.

Morata’s specialty of fibers/fabrics sell for higher price.
Morata is very attractive for merchants and mercenaries.
Merchants will buy goods from Morata and sell them to the rest of the north.

The central plaza is very cramped and crowded.
Good quality iron ore is being mines and copper and silver mines quality is increasing.

Morata need to develop more mines.
Pubs and inns business is booming.
Weapon Shop, Armor Shop, Smithy not doing much business.

Due to the high number of users in Morata, the economy is healthy and growing. Weed decided to invest all of his gold.

Ttiring!

A large scale investment in Morata.

The count of Morata has invested an astronomical fund into the area.

Productivity has increased by 45% for two months.

The area around the town will expand.

Population growth has improved.

He has now invested over 900 thousand gold into Morata.

“First, I need to develop the mines and farmlands so that they can expand.”

He injected a total of 320 thousand gold!

He was planning to develop the infinitely expanding argricultural area and the mines in the nearby mountain.

– The land has been cleared.

– Thanks to the knowledge of the Ahreupen Empire, the amount cleared has increased by 13%.

– Bulls have been cultivated for agriculture

– Workers and miners have been dispatched to 3 mines.

– Morata sends scouts to the nearby mountains to survey the land.

With the blessing of the Goddess Freya on the Continent of Versailles, Morata could produce food in three months. It was useful to have more people have jobs as farmers.

“That is the key to the economy.”

With grain and mineral production increases, monthly income would increase significantly. Weed preferred this strategy to making money than others.

“Money will not betray you.”

Unconditional money and resources!

Instead of spending money on luxuries, he would rather strengthen the infrastructure.

Morata had a lot of residents and money was going to grow exponentially. The villagers also gave out quests. Residents were dedicated to farming or business so economic activity grew. Even if the users left, the inhabitants of the Continent of Versailles could still hunt and make money. There were all sorts of quests that were given and the rewards varied. The wealthy people give higher quality quests and was vital to economic health. Fortunately there were a number of residents in the north that gave hunting quests and a large variety of information. Artifacts from the fall of the Niflheim Kingdom were common place. Thanks to that, there were a large quanity of high quality quests. The Lord had to consider the needs of the city for its growth.

“Construct a wizard’s tower.”

The price for a Wizard’s Tower was a whopping 100 thousand gold!

He had not build it before but now he had the money to build it.

“This is the cold north instead of the center of the continent so I need to decide on an Ice Wizard Tower.”

Ice Wizards gained more benefits in the cold. Weed sought out a good spot. Wizard towers were very beautiful. The location had to be good for the sake of the city’s beauty. In Morata Square there were many houses and businesses. The statue of Freya on the banks were more isolated.

“There we go.”

Weed was in Internal Affairs Mode so he could see the users near the Statue of Freya.

Weed built the Wizards tower near the Statue of Freya.

Ice Tower!

An inverted icicle of a height of 20 meters was constructed.

“This is!”

“Morata’s Lord has returned!”

When the Wizard’s Tower was completed, there was much cheering from the users and residents. Morata’s missing lord had returned. The residents and users had much respect for Weed, the god of war.

“Now to invest a bit more after the Wizard Tower.”

The number of jobs that beginners could choose in Morata were limited. Now with the tower mages could be selected as a profession. However many people were hoping for the Elemental Shaman class. It was a very popular class for those that were not very familiar with the game. Beginners chose Morata not because of its variety of classes. In order to change this, the elemental shaman guild was necessary.

“Elemental House construction!”

A screen appeared in front of Weed for him to choose a spirit.

There were dozens of popular spirits!

The arrogant looking spirits stood apart from each other.

“Next. Next…”

Weed skimmed through the spirits. Alone in the corner was the Fire spirit playing with fire and the Earth spirit scratching the ground.

“I’ll make houses for those two guys.”

– Depending on the nature of the spirit, the construction costs are at least 20 thousand gold. What would you like to spend on the budget?

“20 thousand gold.”

– House of the Fire Spirit has been completed.
– House of the Earth Spirit has been completed.

The sculpture spirit that he had shaped could now have a comfortable resting place. The characteristics of the building depended on the spirit. The stone spirit would have a stone house and the fire spirit would a cozy house.

House of Spirits increases the affinity based on the spirit within

A spirit can relax and play… but the effects are sensitive based on the size of the building. Contracts can be formed with the spirits.

A number of different types of buildings passed through his eyes. Considering the spirit he made he was going be be very frugal.

“Elemental Shaman Guild Construction!”

Elemental Shaman Guild was established

It cost 80 thousand gold but now beginners in Morata could start off as shamans. Elemental shamans choses an affinity and could summon spirits such as wind and water. But If there was a spirit house, then they could form a contract.

“With this, those guys will be able to enter into a lot of contracts.”

Spirits had difficult personalities and didn’t work well with other spirits. They were extremely moody, they pick fights, and they would ignore the Elemental Shaman and refuse their commands. They would waste a lot of mana in those situations. Understandably if there were going to be problems with disagreeable spirits. However his spirits were more docile. Elementals like these could not be found anywhere else.

“Its good that I made them.”

Even if they were not the best spirits, they still wouldn’t lose in power to other spirits.

Do not deny any contracts.

Treat all guests like kings.

Under Weed’s commands, the spirits could be contracted and summoned frequently. They would increase their strength through vigorous activity. Since the contracters could hear the spirits they could build familiarity. Weed wanted to take care of the spirits he had made.

“Now, only for the necessary investments…”

Now all was left was the special building! Of course he was not thinking of making the Imperial Ahreupen Palace. That would require too much money and precious metals and even living in it would be a luxury that he could not afford.

“Construct special Ahreupen Granaries.”

– Construction of the Granaries

Stores large amounts of grain.

Reduces prices fluctuations of food, and contributes to the economic development and child birth rates.

Economic power has increased by 7.

Hungry villagers will now migrate to Morata.

Next to the Elemental House, there was a large grain warehouse.

The stone building was like a towering skyscraper.

It was much larger than Morata’s largest building, the black castle.

A magnificent building made of 95% stone was built as a grain warehouse.

“This is a building?”
“What is it?”

People were gathering around the Elemental Shaman guild and the spirit homes. Everyone began to have high spiritss since shamans could now form spirit contracts in Morata.

“There are going to be a lot more Wizards and Shamans.”
“If I knew this was going to happen I would have waited before I chose a class!”

There were visitors in the spirit homes. The stone and fire home had unique appearances. The spirits were in a good mood.

“I will serve with absolute loyalty.”
“I can bury as many as 34 enemies into the ground.”

The spirits were soliciting users to visit them!

Suddenly the Ahreupen Granary was built next to the House of Spirits.

“Ahreupen Imperial Granary?”
“Where was the Ahreupen Empire? Its filled with grain. There’s other food too.”

It was the first building of its kind to be seen on the Continent of Versailles. It could hold food supplies in warehouses in enormous quantity.

“Did Lord Weed make this building?”
“Now this is going to end up on the forums!”
“News is that new buildings have been popping out of the ground in Morata like crazy.”

Morata was already considered the most beautiful city on the continent. Tourists often visit it because of the Hall of Fame. The photos of the scenery were all over the Internet. The grand appearance of the granary was a hot topic to the users.

“Construct Magical Fairy Pond.”

– The fairy’s pond has been constructed. Fairies will come to find the pond.

Just as he finished the construction, it was time to log off. His sister was coming home now and it was time for dinner. There was less than an hour until she was home.

“She needs to hurry up and find a good man.”

* * *

Lee Hayan could be seen coming home from the window.

“Oppa is back today.”

It was a big event for her since he went to Europe. Lee Hayan was walking through the streets with her handbag that had a newspaper in it. It was good to be aware of current events and it was impressive that she kept track of it.

‘It’s better to know things. At least I won’t be sorry that I didn’t.’

There was a period of time where Lee Hayan did not go to school. There were dozens of times a day where loan sharks would visit the school and she felt suicidal. Rumors spread quickly throughout the school. Meeting with her friends began to feel shameful. She did not want to born and live in such an appalling household. After the debt was cleared, it felt like they had finally caught a break. She chose to go back to school one day when Lee Hyun going somewhere.

‘Where is he going?’

Lee Hayan secretly followed after him. The place Lee Hyun was going was her teacher’s house.

“I’m sorry. I will make sure that it will not happen again.”

Lee Hyun had to bow and apologized to the teachers. Since school was a waste of money, he dropped out to find work despite his sister’s pleading. She did not forget the situation that her brother Lee Hyun had been through. She had a change of heart, stopped being a bully, and was studying to be a good sister. When she came in the front gate of the house she heard the sound of music. It was a cool feeling, not jazz but a song by a group of women in a music dance group!

♪ So pretty. Cute. Adorable.

Should I wear a short skirt for you?

I would wear sleeveless shirts to show to you.

I’m your girlfriend forever.♪

It was some sort of song!

In his small yard he set up and began to cook. Lee Hyun had eaten a lot of food in Europe so he wanted to make something from the ingredients that were there.

Pasta with red wine!

In essence, it was a combination of South Korean and Italian tastes.

Chapter 5:The Establishment of the Grass Porridge Cult

After Lee Hyun came back from his vacation, he began to play Royal Road earnestly. After making breakfast and lunch for his sister, he devoted the rest of his time to playing. He had to make up for the time that he spent in Europe and submerged himself into Royal Road. Of course he was very unhappy that Choe Jihun was meddling in his little sister’s life.

“It may see childish…but I will not leave this alone. That is my right.”

First, he made contact with a number of the kids in the neighborhood.

“Contact me if they meet and leave with each other. Let me know immediately if he tries to put his arm around her shoulder.”

With those words he managed to get the young children on his side. Kids these days were not so easy to persuade. But with a small bribe of 1000 won and a little intimidation, he managed to get the kids to be his spies.

“If you refuse my request…it will be difficult for you to live in this town. Don’t you know about the ones known as sixth graders?”

The faces of the young children would turn pale white.

“Think of what would happen if I told them your names.”

He used another simple technique at the dojo.

At the dojo, once he bought four hot dogs for some of the elementary students so he could get them to do as he wants. He told them about several locations such as the library, the Movie Theater, hotels, and karaoke and showed them the picture of the two.

“Call me immediately if you see these two.”

A total of 500 thousand won spent.

With this in mind, he sent Choe Jihun a text message.

‘If you do anything, I will not let you live and kill you. I will kill you. I will track you to the end of the earth and kill you.’

With all of this in place, Lee Hyun could comfortably access Royal Road.

“This is because it’s my sister’s life. I want her to go out and be happy with a man that she will love!”

News of the Ahreupen Imperial Granaries spread throughout all of Morata. They were the only buildings that existed from the Ahreupen Empire, the only empire that unified all of the Continent of Versailles.

“When did Weed perform the quest for the Ahreupen Empire?”

“That quest…perhaps it was really a quest about the Ahreupen Empire.”

“Does that have anything to do with the King Hydra being summoned? Usually no one would even think of bringing such a monster… when it was summoned there is no way that anyone could hunt it alone.”

The number of rumors constantly grew!

The number of rumors that appeared increased because of the specially constructed Ahreupen Imperial Granaries that Weed had made. In fact, many broadcasters had live conversations about that very topic. All sorts of people brought it upon themselves to satisfy their curiosity about the Ahreupen Empire.

Legendary Moonlight Sculptor.

If Weed released the fact about the Emperor of the Ahreupen Empire, it was obvious that it would heat up all of the Continent of Versailles.

However, more people would know then.

It was because there were not supposed to be any other professions that are supposed to know about sculptures. Among all the high level users, there were many that did not want others to known the secrets related to their class.

“Why did he decide to build the special granaries?”

“Maybe there’s a lot of money in it? Perhaps it has something to do with a quest.”

There was a lot of users chatting and speculating. The stone consumption was very large so he could not build such another large building.

Weed activated his intervention mode.

“Construct a scholar’s school.”

Wise men will sit down and study in this place.

Increases the city’s intellectual level.

The wisdom of wizards will permanently increase by 5.

Will trigger the creation of the Scholarship Guild.

Technology and culture has increased by 3.

Weed moved on the area near the square that had the portal that connected to the River of Wailing. In Morata, old wise men usually came to chat or sleep here.
“Construct the Astronomical Observatory.”

A precise stone building. You can observe the night sky.

Advanced study of the climate can be helpful in the development of magic.

The discovery of a constellation will bring good luck.

Morata’s astronomers can detect bad luck.

Technology has increased by 8.

All the stone was finally depleted! Buildings of the Ahreupen Empire consumed large amounts of stone. Now he could only construct buildings made out of wood.
“Construct the Ahreupen Merchant Center.”

A facility for Merchants

Enables access to more trade routes and controls the prices of goods.

Will be able to provide foods targeted towards wealthy merchants.

Actively involved in the art of trade.

“Construct Leather Goods Center.”

Specialized in the trade of special leather products.

Leather and skins can be made into common household products and traded.

Increases the number of skilled tailors and develops tailoring industry.

Morata’s sewing in relation to economy has increased by 10.

Technology has increased by 15.

“Construct Ahreupen terraced gardens, fruit trees, wells, and wagons.”

He spent more than 500 gold on intensive construction.

The buildings of the Ahreupen Empire were not the only things that were going to make Morata more prosperous.

“Open an accessory store, open a small theater, open a jewelry store, open a furniture store, open a winery, open a chicken farm, and open a sheep farm.”

He did not forget how lucrative users were in Morata.

“The money spent will eventually come back to me.”

He was building all sorts of facilities to extort money from the users. The creation of wineries will provide good wine and the chicken supplies will help towards the sales of pubs and inns. Aside from farming and mining, these were core industries and an important source of income. Of course he had to be careful of running a deficit, but it was worth it to extend its operations all over Morata.

“The square seems a bit narrow…”

From the influx of users and buildings, there open space now felt a lot narrower. In the fountain there was the merchant center and users went around obtaining quests and parties on a day to day basis. Morata was growing exponentially such that users had to wait in lines at store.

“This time I’m going to expand Morata to be larger.”

Weed began to build four more squares at the outskirts of the town.

“Contruct the Wyvern Square, construct the Bingryong Square, contruct the Light Tower Square, construct the Rover Square.”

It cost 40 thousand gold to have a square built with a fountain but it was a decent strategy.

Gravel was evenly spread along the spoil but it was still very spacious.

It was a much larger area compared to Serabourg, the capital of the Kingdom of Rosenheim. The Statue of Freya was surrounded by five squares in the shape of a diamond.

“Connect them so that you can make your way from one to another…”

He gave instructions to the building of roads through commercial buildings and residential areas. The city was now five times larger than it was before!

Looking from the sky, he could see the five squares surrounding the statue.

“Buy the land now and as the lord I will get money from all of them in the future.”

Reporters from each broadcaster were dispatched to the North. The reason was because there were no movements in the war between the Kingdom of Haven and the Kallamore Kingdom. Because of this, they focused their attention to the clouds of war that were stirring in the Northern region.

“This time, the God of War Weed will taste bitter defeat. It is reckless to think that he would be able to fight against several guilds.”

“Is that so. Are the various guilds of the north truly united? They have temporarily joined in an alliance in name but it was will hard for them to work together.”

Challengers appeared to counter Weed’s large quest.

Public interest was concentrated on the north from the broadcasters and the Internet. They were all thinking about who was going to win the upcoming war in the live broadcast. Many were anticipating seeing the God of War Weed commanding his troops and defeating the unified alliance of guilds. A female adventurer from the CTS Media spent four days interviewing over half of the villages. More than five villages were shown training their soldiers in preparation.

“Is the Styrene Guild really going to invade Morata?”

“Of course.”

The Styrene Guild Master replied confidently.

They were constantly training their soldiers and purchasing weapons and armors from the central continent. They had also gathered enormous funds to sign up several mercenaries and Dark Gamers. CTS Media had millions watching the new because they wanted to know what was going on in the world. At the time, the biggest news was the users and their guilds aiming in the North for Morata.

“May I ask how much preparations are being made?”

“We have roughly armed all of the soldiers and contacted a blacksmith in the Central Continent to create siege weapons as well. After the Protection of Freya ends, we are going to invade Morata.”

The Styrene Guild was preparing enormous amounts to war. Over half of the towns were dominated by the Styrene Guild and almost all of their troops were being used for the goal of occupying Morata. More than 100 thousand troops were being prepared to overwhelmingly occupy Morata.

Pale was maintaining his bow while Surka was looking over her gloves. Zephyr was checking his rod to see if the line was working well. They were hunting in Morata and they could feel the surrounding atmosphere.

“A big war is coming.”

Pale calmly said.

Archers had the opportunity of playing a significant role in the war. They did not fall as quickly as warriors since they did not make confrontation. Pale and the rest of the party fought in the battle against the invasion of monsters. He ran around the walls shooting arrows, aimed at the back of the heads of medium sized monsters. Because of this, Pale had a lot of combat experience and a high level. Hwayrung was checking out her dresses and accessories.

“I think this is going to be a big stage!”

Romuna said.

“This time, I’m going to sweep them all away with my magic!”

For the siege, a lot of money went towards hiring mercenaries to fight. You could drop dead, lose a few levels and items, but if you win then there was an opportunity to earn a lot. However, for Pale and his party, such a thought did not exist and they just wanted to protect Morata. This was because Weed was their friend. They were not even afraid if it was going to be a difficult fight.

“So how you think it’s going to go?”

“I’m sure Weed has something in mind…probably.”

“By the way, where is Mapan?”

Irene asked, to which everyone could only shrug their shoulders.

“I don’t know. I saw him trading near the River of Waling and didn’t see him much after that.”

Merchant Mapan ran a number of profitable stores. She probably knew where he was but didn’t reveal it.

Weed was left with a mere 260 thousand gold left! Morata did not have any defense facilities and could not recruit an army like the other guilds.

“I’ve been trying to live a good life but then you try to touch my rice bowl…”

Weed wet his lips as he said.

He did not know how to use this boiling rage!

At that moment he made a difficult decision.

“Open a military camp.”

On the outskirts of town, he spent 70 thousand gold in order to construct a professional military camp. It was a camp that was made to train infantry, archers, and spearmen. With training, soldiers could increase their levels. There could also be a center to train horses and cavalry. However that cost an enormous 200 thousand gold!

“Heuheuk this is better.”

Weed was alone in his room bitter as he tried to sooth himself.

At that moment he made his most heartbreaking decision since he had become a sculptor.

“Draft 8 thousand people as soldiers.”

He conscripted a total of 8 thousand soldiers.

Forced conscription of soldiers raised dissatisfaction amongst young people. It would also lower the morale of the soldiers that are drafted. 10 gold was consumed per drafted unit. There was also a monthly salary of 3 gold.

“Huuk huuk.”

Weed had to rest from shortness of break. Breathing became difficult from the high levels of pain and suffering.

“Now, I’m out of money.”

It cost a lot to upkeep soldiers. Each soldier costs 3 gold to upkeep and a wizard’s salary was at least 600 gold. To arm four horsemen cost 3000 gold. Intermediate level cavalry cost 10 thousand gold apiece. The military camp cost him 70 thousand gold and the draft cost him 80 thousand! He had to give money to hire soldiers otherwise the people’s complaints would rise. This cost 100 gold per household for each soldier. It was not easy to raise so much money. Knights required horses and they needed to train soldiers to be loyal to their lords. With an increase of soldiers and knights, the lord had access to greater power and influence. However Weed could only think of the costs.

“My lord has asked to recruit soldiers.”

“Come and join. Protect Morata with your own hands!”

In the Intervention Mode, he could observe the situation of sturdy young men running up to the camps to provide their services. The loyalty of the people was considerably higher than normal and the draft period ended quickly. But Weed still did not expect very much. Even with proper training, they did not have enough time to train and were only there to increase the headcount. These soldiers would drop very quickly in the war. Of course if the commander was excellent, then the deployment could alter the fight in their favor but that was different since 8 thousand soldiers was not much. However more additional unexpected situations occurred.

Peroyi armored infantry, a total of 160 residents, have come as support.

There are 197 archers in the town that offer their bows. Do you wish to enlist them?

In Morata there are 451 Hunters that have heard about the danger and wish to help.

People began to volunteer in large scales at the military camps for a total of 2680 people!

It was like exploiting human resources. As if he wanted to eat chicken and the chicken has shown up in front of him already plucked, seasoned and holding a lighter!

“Nevertheless, their lives will not be in vain.”

Weed gladly accepted them all.

“All of them are Morata’s authorized soldiers.”

Morata’s soldiers have increased by a total of 10,680.

Average level: 17

Training: 12%

There is some difference between the new soldiers based on their experience of combat experience.

The recruits that were assembled were just like a house that has nastily cut corners like the windows were made out of leather clothing. They had better training than the other villages but their behavior was different. Morata had lower morale, training, levels, and weapons in all areas. The Protection of Freya over Morata ends in 36 days!

“Where do these soldiers’s hearts lie…”

He still had some time left, but Weed could not be relieved yet.

The other guilds had many high level users.

Even after recruiting, the soldiers were no different than scarecrows.

They could be picked off by arrows over devastated from an enemy magic attack. Without the Order of Freya, the number of soldiers, weapons, and armor were not reassuring.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk!”

The Death Knight appeared in black smoke as he summon.

“I answer the master’s call.”

“I need you to go get your hoobaes(juniors)”

“Hoobae?”

“Kolderim. Go to Kolderim and use all of my contributions to bring the Kallamore Knights here.”

The kingdom of Kallamore had the best knights and they were known as invincible in the battle against the Kingdom of Haven. In the end, he got 23 thousand contribution from saving Kolderim in the Kingdom of Vampires.

“With Kolderim here, then the soldiers will grow a little faster.”

In effect, it was killing two brids with one stone by having Kolderim here.

“Take Wah-2 with you.”

“I will leave immediately.”

While Weed was in intervention mode, aside from building more buildings, he set up a new position in the castle.

“To take care of the department of taxes and financy, Geumini will represent the agency on his behalf…”

He could think of no other than the expensive life sculpture Geumini.

Wah-1 was the Deputy tax officer, Wah-2 was the tax collector, Wah-3 was the Bureau, Wah-4 was the Secret Service, Wah-5 was the special Tax Bureau.

“Bingryong will be the Minister of War. Phoenix will cooperate and be the deputy minsters of war.”

Rover was appointed to the department of Commerce. He appointed himself to the Agency of City Beautification. It was not an option to distribute the power.

He kept all the key positions in Morata to himself.

Morata had exceptionally small guilds.

It was rare for beginners to rent a shack, much less start a guild office.

Morata’s dawn!

There were many wandering the streets. In the distance, the light tower sprinkled the moonlight faintly. Morata at dawn was more beautiful than it was during the day.

“Soreuban, are we almost there?”

“Yes Huteo, it’s just up ahead.”

They were a novices that were wearing rabbit leather armor. It was made from sewing together a bunch of different pieces. Morata had the advantage that armor made from sewing skills was very good for low level users. Clothes that were sewn by craftmen were usually expensive so it was probably used.

“No one’s following us right?”

They stopped with an uneasy feeling of being robbed.

“Stop turning around to look. Even if we don’t check, they will.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look at the shack.”

The roughly built shacks had their windows open.

Within the windows was the glint of sharp eyes!

They would catch anyone that was following secretly.

The Soreuban said to the other in a whisper.

“Do not say anything of what goes on today outside of this place. One wrong word and then for me and you…we will be done for in Morata

Gulp.

Huteo swallowed his saliva from the tension of the meaning of those words.

“Of course, you said that you will never talk about the meeting or the place?”

“Yea, if we said it then it will spread and we won’t be able to get into parties or hunting quests.”

“You have to be careful of what you say in Morata.”

“Not only in Morata. Their power is becoming more and more widespread. It might as well be in all of the Northern part of the Continent of Versailles. In the worst case scenario then we may need to quit Royal Road!”

To be robbed of the charm of playing Royal Road.

Most people played Royal Road at least once a day. As newcomers they did not have the benefit of starting over.

“It’s such a powerful group. That the…”

“Shh, this is not the place where you can speak that name freely.”

“Oops.”

Huteo was urgently made silent.

Soon the two of them reached their destination without a word.

The destination was on top on a hill on a dense field of shacks.

Even though it was plain, there was in fact a basement that opened up to an incredibly wide area.

Hidden dungeon!

This Morata’s shack was originally a dungeon.

It was a large dungeon and with the contributions of a particular group that hunted down the monsters within.

At the entrance they had to perform a simple entrance test.

“Chwiik.”

The toll to get in by a user was to respond with a larger nasal sound.”

“Chwiyik!”

“Chwek!”

“Go ahead.”

Suddenly at the back of the dungeon there were a lot of people. There was a maze of shacks and a large number of people in them.

“Thank for letting me in. So…”

The two of them went around the dungeon. There were more than 20 thousand people gathered here. It much was evidence to the secret society in Morata.

Torches covered every wall.

“Here is the meat from the dragon slayer.”

“Oh, the dragon!”

“Here is your change.”

“Keep the change. Keep it.”

There were a bunch of people talking passionately. Most of them were beginners but there were also many high level users. They were the ones that were envious of Weed from the Continent of magic. He was a free as the wind but as destructive as a volcano. He did not tolerate the oppression of the big guilds. There was a large range of his supporters. Weed, from the Continent of Magic had built up a reputation and Morata was a good place to live so high level users were attracted there. That is how the underground society was formed. In the corner there were people that were handing out food for free. It wasn’t much so the people were eating it sparingly. The identity of the food they were eating was grass porridge. The group that Huto and Soreuban had joined was the Grass Porridge Cult. They had a total of 320 thousand members. The person that started the Grass Porridge Cult in the North was a user called Lemon. Lemon was a Saint from the Kingdom of Rosenheim. She had encountered the grass porridge for the first time during the construction of the pyramid.

“Oh cool.”

It was delicious.

Beginners did not eat much because they could not cook. In addition they were always hungry because of the huge physical labor they performed. When this happens, drinking the delicacy of grass porridge was exceptional. She had transported stones thirty nine times during the construction of the Pyramid and Sphinx.

She would never forget that emotional moment.

Thanks to the fame from the quest, it was a big help to her as a novice in and outside of Rosenheim. Lemon then began hunting and arrived in Morata. She remembers Weed exactly. He was an unscrupulous employer that exploited workers without any better treatment but there was the potential for compensation at the end! After the completion of the Statue of Freya, grass porridge spread through Morata like a wildfire.

New players would be given grass porridge to drink and then follow the group with respect. They would drink grass porridge after hunting. They would endure their problems with the Grass Porridge Cult. There were many advantages to grass porridge since it did not require many ingredients and it was filling. There was no need to eat at fancy restaurants since they had improved the grass porridge with sugar, ginseng, and moderates amounts of meat. There was plenty of it to eat and it tasted good.

Beginners faced a period of suffering. However, those that had participated in Weed’s quests formed close friendships. Lemon and the other players from the Kingdom of Rosenheim handed out free grass porridge to hungry players. Thus the Grass Porridge Cult formed with the shacks as the base which alleviated the sufferings of the beginners. Once it came to be known that Weed, the sculptor, and Weed, the God of War, were on and the same, then high level players started joining in Morata. They were disgusted with the unjust actions of the large guilds. Weed, the God of War was a symbol of power and freedom to them. Thus the Grass Porridge Cult grew rapidly in Morata. There were over 312 thousand low level users over level 50 and 8000 high level players!

Even if they left Morata for a quest, they would never forget their alliances to the province of Morata. The goal of the Grass Porridge Cult was to blindly follow Weed.

“In a moment, we will see a video of Karichwi.”

“Ohhhh!”

The atmosphere of the secret meeting became even more enthusiastic. Insteal of an unorganized rally speech, it was more like a festival. There were cooks that were making delicious grass porridge. In the center there was a bonfire with people dancing.

“Oh, there’s bamboo in it.”

“To think that I died once from eating poisonous mushrooms.”

The Grass Porridge Cult members were so happy from eating that they could die.

They were complete novices but they could still share their joys with each other.

After a lot of time, the sun started to come out.

In the center of the event a voice yelled out. He was wearing a thick robe on top of his head.

“Gentlemen, as you know there are many northern forces that intend on invading Morata!”

The atmosphere of the group was like a glass of cold water being spilt.

Beginners could only express hostility and anger from their eyes.

“They have spent a large sum of money on buying mercenaries to take over Morata. However, it will be like any other city. They will raise taxes.”

In order to regain their investment, they were bound to raise taxes. Especially if the guilds occupy Morata. Because of their greed to attack other cities, Morata was going to be caught in the vortex of war. The beginners were not deaf nor blind so they understood the situation. It had become very worrisome.

“We will lose our shacks. There will be a need to get licenses to hunt rabbits. This stops now. Let us protect Morata with out power!”

“Woooaaah!”

The beginners lifted their rusty swords and shouted cheers.

“Let’s sign up more members to the Grass Porridge Cult. Let us increase the number of people in Morata that believe in freedom and justice!”

To overcome the crisis, the beginners began to access the situation. The eyes of the man that started all of it lit up.

‘To think…that the technique that Weed taught me would work.’

Inflame the Grass Porridge Cult!

The user’s identity that conducted the event was Mapan.

Weed had handed over the production of fabrics to the Grass Porridge Cult for the duration of the war. With a minimal investment he would reap an maximum effect. Weed had concocted war preparations from behind the scenes.

“Hmm.”

“Ahem.”

“Cough.”

In a large clearing, Geomchi was sitting awkwardly. They had made a meeting with a group of female orcs. The one that organized it was Seechwi.

“This is Meru.”

“Please call me Meruchwi, chwiik!”

“I am called Geomchi.”

“My name is Chilcwhi. Chwichwit.”

“What a lovely name. I am Geomchi3.”

The Geomchis were busy introducing themselves to orcs. Favorable rumors were spreading amongst the orcs about Geomchi so the atmosphere was very friendly. After they came to a meeting, Geomchi132 sent a whisper.

– A war is going to take place in Weed’s Morata. We would like permission to go fight the invaders.

Geomchi’s thick eyebrows twitched since he was the representative of the group.

– What did you say?

– We would like to help with Weed during the siege.

– Siege? Are you sure that something so interesting is happening?

– It is. It’s all over the television about how they’re going to finally attack.

– It’s broadcasted on the television?

Geomchi jumped up from the spot.

“I’m sorry something urgent just came up. I’ll have to be going back now.”

“What…did I do something wrong. Chwit!”

“No, its just that the youngest is getting in a fight so can I have your contact info?”

Fighting a war was the most fun in the world. He had the opportunity to participate.

“Chwichwit, please just whisper me.”

Geomchi got up from the meeting with the orcs to gather everyone else.

“Is going to be on the television?”

“I was already on the television during the dragon fight so are we going to be on again?”

Geomchi opened his mouth to say.

“I have not seen a siege yet. Is it really awesome?”

“I saw one once before.”

“What happened?”

“It was like a movie. At the end we will have to bear with endless incoming enemies.”

“Keueu.”

“That makes me feel better about going to Morata now.”

“In what way?”

“Half of them are girls.”

“There are so many girls?”

Even if the orc woman look like pigs, he would still want a woman. In Morata, over half of the novices were woman. Geomchi50 said.

“After the battle with the dragon and dying, Geomchi16 got a girlfriend.”

“It was a very memorable day.”

The first Geomchi to have gotten a girlfriend was a great event. Since then, the Geomchis have been completely looking for their chance.

“It happened because he protected a woman against the dragon.”

Geomchi3 hit his knee. How could he not be excited.

“Come on and let’s go!”

“For the siege!”

The Geomchis from all over Rosenheim Kingdom and The Yuroki Mountains. They heard the news and headed to Morata on horseback. The disciples amongst the Orcs came along as well.

Chapter 6: Weed’s Song

Freya's protection over Morata has ended.

The Styrene Guild, the Puren Guild, and the rest of the guild alliance gathered their forces onto the plain. The users in the rest of the army were waiting to depart in the other villages.

Northern Alliance.

A total of 128 thousand units had been gathered. Of these units, more than 90 thousand were NPCs. They had been training in the north with swords, bows, shields, and other weapons for the war. They had prepared 40 armored units to siege the walls.

"Let us depart to Morata. We shall take it over."

"Looting is allowed. First come, first serve."

"We shall have the fertile land of Morata. Raise your swords!"

The Guild Masters were trying to boost the morale of their army. In such a large scale war, the morale of the NPC soldiers were factors that could not be ignored. The Northern Alliance were only 8 hours away from Morata.

KMC Media, CTS Media, and the CHN were the stations that were going to film the war live. The forums were packed with posts that were related to it.

– Everyone, its time for the show about Weed's war!

– I've been waiting for this.

– Simply been waiting for it to start.

God of War Weed.

Because of his huge reputation, everyone was gathered in front of their televisions trying to suprress their tension and excitement. They were going to show Weed fighting.

– The Northern Alliance has some really awesome power, don't they? It's not uncommon for such a large scale battle to happen in the central continent.

– How will Weed fight on such a magnitude?

– I honestly expect Morata to be defeated. Without the Church, no matter how many soldiers Morata has, they will all be low level.

– I was a mercenary in the Continent of Magic and the large scale wars in Royal Road are on a whole another level. It's going to be the Northern Alliance's unconditional victory.

– Doesn't Weed have a lot of experience with war? I remember seeing him conducting the Orcs and Dark Elves on the video.

– Having war experience does not constitute victory. I'm sticking with the army to win. You know about the Continent of Magic don't you? Weed never joins any guilds.

The war over the Internet had already started. With Weed's reputation, it was hard to think that he would lose. The war against the Undying Legion was a big shock. Weed had, by himself, conducted a war using the Orcs and Dark Elves on a never before seen scale. However the broadcasters believed in the overwhelming victory of the Northern Alliance.

"According to the information, Morata only formed a number of soldiers recently in small number and poor quality."

"This is the first time that anyone is going to beat Weed on such a large scale."

In real life, there were a number of high level users that gave their own unfavorable views. However, in reality, the greater burden was placed on the users of the Northern Alliance.

God of War Weed!

Weed had already built a reputation on the Continent of Versailles as the absolute fighter. Even though it was only one person, he had solved impossible quests and he had Bingryong, the Wyverns, and the Phoenix. It only made sense that the Styrene Guild was very tense.

"We have to watch out for Weed. We need to catch Weed. If we do, then we will surely win. We have power many times greater than that of Morata. You do not need to worry about the others. You will be able to drop them in one hit."

"Woooaaah!"

"Do you think Weed is scary? It's just a big monsters! Hunting large monsters is what large experienced guilds like us do. Just think of it like hunting. Simply catch the large monster and take its loot."

The Northern Alliance advanced!

Soon they came within the distance to see the Light Tower and the Statue. It was just a short 30 minute walk away.

The 11,,867 armed forces of Morata were waiting. The Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom were nowhere to be seen.

"Over there. Ready your weapons!"

"Ooooh!"

The Northern Alliance had prepared weapons to siege the walls with so they were going to go to another location. They were going to do this because they thought Weed had experience with war. The siege weapons slowly approached. The opponents thought that Weed was not anywhere nearby. That was because the gates to the walls were still slightly open.

"Go and attack the gates. Once we get the gate then its our victory!"

The full force of the Northern Alliance charged forwards. Then the gates opened wide. With the sounding of a trumpet, Knights galloping on horseback could be seen.

Shipppuuuwoooyu!

Coming out of the gate were the Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom!

Leading the charge was the Knight Kolderim.

"That, that crest."

"That flag with a shield on it...its the pattern of the Kallamore Kingdom!"

The Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom had been seen various times in the war broadcast of the Kingdom of Haven. Each of the Knights were at least level 350 and the named ones went all the way up to level 450! According to footage, each knight could beat high level large monsters on their own. The group of a the knights led by their leader began their assault against the siege units. The siege units were being handled by users. They were confused because they were divided into various different guilds. Those from the weaker guilds that saw them coming got scared and fled from the battle.

"Run!"

"I didn't know that there were going to be Knights from the Kallamore Kingdom here!"

The Northern Alliance, in their shock began to shoot arrows and cast magic.

"O Hot Flame, Burn Thy Enemy. Flame Blast!"

"Triple Shot!"

"Chain Lightning!"

A number of randomly aimed attacks poured out against the sudden attack.

"Scatter!"

The Kallamore Knights scattered into groups of 50. With their quick speed they were far away from the magical attacks to be damaged.

Kwakwang kue kwa!

The lightning struck, the earth shook, the flames soared.

The wizards that were planning to use their magic sparingly to destroy the walls used all their magic! Below the power of the attacks that had destroyed the ground could be seen. Since they had overlapped their magic in the same area, the Kallamore Knights had avoided it. The 150 elite knights of the Kallamore Kingdom that put all of the Kingdom of Haven into terror continued their charge. The mighty knights were wearing full plate armor that was capable of absorbing magical attacks without breaking. Weed did more than just that to make sure that the Knights did not fall helplessly. Every time the seasons change he could enact the Blessing from the Goddess Freya! Thanks to that, the Kallamore Knights were all blessed. The 150 Knights charged with their horses and instantly took down 130 people.

"Charge!"

Kolderim gave a command.

They had prepared magic attacks again for the fight, but they had not known that the knightmare of the battlefield, the Kallamore Knights would have appeared.

"Gahhhh! Help!"

"Hurry and avoid."

The enemy Kallamore Knights were so fast that they could not resist. The large armored knights appeared in the battle with the utmost majesty. They were being taken out miserably. The wizards of the Northern Alliance began to prepare their spells again.

"Water Storm."

"Triple Gravity!"

"Incinerate!"

They used their spells near the allied forces. The wizards of the guilds did not take into account the location of the Kallamore Knights and did not hesitate to use their magic. Wizards were useful in war because they could use magic to dispatch large groups of enemies crowded together. Because they were getting experience and fame, they did not hesitate to use magic. The leaders of the Northern Alliance were being brutally hit by large scale magics.

"Crazy Mages!"

"Stop it!"

But the wizards did not stop their magic.

– Level up

– Level up

– Magic has inflicted severe injury on allies.

– Allies have been killed.

– Infamy has increased by 350.

– Level up.

They were leveling up tremendously!

Users that were part of the Northern Alliance averaged between level 250 to 300. They still had to be concerned about the Kallamore Knights.

"Eternal Guardian!"

None of the Kallamore Knights died. Their weapons and armor had magical blessings stored on them that would trigger. Each of the group of 50 knights would rush and then scatter. Using their high mobility, dozens of knights would rush in and kill a single person instantly. In fact, many of the users had not been prepared to fight to the death. Instead of trying to fight against the knights, many were trying to escape the explosions. Multiple guilds were part of the alliance so it was hard to stop the mages from casting magic.

"Don't run away!"

"I didn't know that the Kallamore Knights would show up all of a sudden!"

The battlefield of the Northern Alliance was a mix of screaming and dying. There was not a command system set up and the wizrds were blindly attacking while others fled. The Kallamore Knights would rush in between the dust and flames as if they were Reapers of the Battlefield. However the situation would change for the Northern Alliance if enough times passes. The Knights would get tired eventually and then the enemy would aim for a counterattack. They could not imagine that a large enough army would appear from Morata's castle.

"Move! Advance! Keep marching!"

"Let's go! We can protect Morata with our own hands!"

They were wearing leather clothes and wielding old iron swords. The beginners began to enter into the war. The prestigious guilds were the revolting scum of the earth with their oppression and tyranny. They advanced to stop them and they would never give up Morata to them.

The Continent of Versailles was a harsh and rugged place to travel in!

Hunting a deer was like a boss monster to beginners. There was also the heart pounding feeling of wandering around a field and discovering a dungeon. People say that the central continent was a good place to hunt but they never got the chance to hunt. In various areas, beginners had to bow their heads to the prestigious guilds to avoid offending them. They had to pay money if they wanted to hunt. They couldn't say anything even if the hunting toll increased. A single dagger would have a 50% tax rate, and even a severe 70% tax rate. They wanted to have their freedom. Their reasons for traveling the continent were different. But now was the time for them to fight. They only had leather armor, a sword, and some barley bread that they ate sparingly as they traveled to the north.

Then a story passed through the beginner community a few weeks ago. Various beginners put their experiences together and shared information since they had all undergone the same tearful pains of trying to earn money from rabbit leather. These beginners began to read some posts. Here were some of the rumors.

– Grass Porridge Cult recruiting unlimited number of beginners at no cost!

– It's a organization that is secretly sponsored by Weed.

– The Lord does not exploit the Tower of Light, The Statue of Freya, or any of the beginners of their jobs or rights.

In the scale of four weeks, they gathered an enormous number of beginners from all over the Continent of Versailles in Morata. Tens of thousands would be fighting scarecrows since then.

"We can fight."

"Get up and defend our freedom!"

The city of Morata led a bitter battle atmosphere as they charged ahead. The people of Morata had absolute loyalty and supported each other. Beginners would have their leather clothes repaired for free as well as free packaged food. They had become stronger from relentlessly beating on the scarecrows. The Geomchi sword masters began lectures aimed towards beginners. It didn't matter if they had spend weeks of training. They had been waiting for this moment to fight.

"Let's go!"

"It's time to fight."

An army of beginners poured through Morata's gates!

Ten thouand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand...

Tens of twenty of waves poured out. They continued coming out of the gates without any sign of decline. Morata was the place that beginners gathered on the Continent of Versailles. There were people that had walked all the way from the central continent to those that started in Morata. They were lined up all the way to the castle. The entire area was filled with beginners! In the midst of the Northern Alliance getting attacked by the Kallamore Knights, the army of beginners suddenly attacked. Mapan rushed around giving commands.

"Do not let the front line break! Support as much as possible. Shoot to kill! Do not hesitate to die because the 1.2 million other Grass Porridge Cult members will avenge you."

The Grass Porridge Cult began to move in groups of 32 members to fight. The power in their beginner swords were very humble. They were barely wearing any armor unlike the Northern Alliance members. These common soldiers were formidable opponents. Their levels ranged from 30 to 50 but they did not have any regard for their lives. They were still complete beginners in the field of fighting.

"Get them in the chest!"

"Attack their legs."

"Chuck axes at their heads!"

Every time there was a successful attack a beginner would scream out in death! It was clear to them that they were dying. However, the users began to panic. The number of beginners did not stop coming. There was a severe level difference of 100 so it was not hard to kill them. However, once you kill one, then two would show up and then after than three more would show up. In such a large crowd they could not relax for a moment. The Kallamore Knights had the power of about half of the Northern Alliance with the exception of the ordinary soldiers. In the crazed battle, the organized beginners pushed them back with their insanity.

"Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!"

"Kill the invaders."

"Our lives are worth nothing. We can do nothing but benefit from killing them and taking their items that drop!"

Beginners began their frantic full body assault!

In the air there was a large number of units all over the wall. It was a frightening thing to see. There were a large number of containers filled with arrows!

"Shoot the arrows!"

Even though they were novice archers, mages, and clerics, arrows were still a big threat. The users with low defense would not be able to defend themselves in the confusion.

"Fireball!"

"Ice bolt!"

"Fireball!"

Novice mages magical attacks!

Mages all over Morata's wall began to ruthlessly rain down magic on the enemy units. The novice mages magical power could not be ignored. The elementalist started to show up as well.

"Faithful stone servant come forth and defeat my enemy."

"Shake the ground and churn the soil!"

They rained down stones that lowered the durability, defense, and attack of swords and armors. Archers also had their bows cracked and broken. Frequently, the ground would crack and swallow up the users of the Northern Alliance. Of course they could climb back up but the stamina consumption was huge. Moreover, the spirits listened to every command that they gave. Suddenly the earth changed into a swamp and an arm appeared dragging ankles into the soil. The users of the Northern Alliance began to curse.

"These beginners are getting cheeky."

"They're garbage. Slice them apart!"

"Just because you have all gathered together, what makes you think you can do anything?"

The difference in levels could not help much so around beginners would drop like leaves. It was difficult to kill 1 to 2 people of the Northern Alliance. However, it turned into a battlefield in other parts of the Northern Alliance. Not all of Morata was low level users. The prestigious guilds from the central continent did not pay close enough attention! The high level users fought together in the north. They had mobilized large numbers of beginners to hide themselves. They then began their assault alongside the novices. The users fought together in Morata to tie down the enemies. Even the Geomchis were mixed among the beginners.

"Why are there so many openings?"

Geomchi150 would appear everytime the beginners would launch an attack. He could precisely see the gap in which to stab his sword into.

– You have struck a fatal blow!

The users of the Northern Alliance would angrily wave their swords at Geomchi150 but they never even reached him.

"They need to learn how to swing a sword from scratch."

– You have struck a fatal blow!

Pale's party was also make moves.

"Hey what's up?"

Hwaryung approached and smiled as the users' eyes widened. She was wearing a dazzling purple dress that revealed her charming legs.

"Enchanting dance!"

Hwaryung began to use her fascinating dance move to free the users where they stood.

'No way.'

'You can't do this!'

It was unfair. While they paralyzed they could not help but be extremely angry. They didn't even get to keep watching her dance. Hwaryung left behind a faint flowery smell as they were forced to stand there. Pale and Maylon fired arrows at these enemies.

"Poison Arrow."

It was a sniper skill. They were moving everywhere while shooting arrows with extreme accuracy. She deliberately took the day off in order to participate in the battle.

– This is KMC Media's Shin Hye-Min in Morata!

There was equipment in her capsule that linked everything she saw to the relay stations.

"Please call me Maylon here."

– Yes Maylon. Can I transfer this onto the broadcast?"

Maylon said while pulling her bowstrings.

"Of course!"

With her permission, the immages from her capsule were transmitted to the station. People could see KMC's broadcast of a female Ranger pulling her bowstring. The tip of the arrow left the bow like a snake. You could see the weight of the arrow as it hit the forehead of a user. The user lost a lot of health and turned grey instantly.

"Twenty nine! Did you see that?"

– Are you having second thoughts now that you're involved in the battle?

"Yes. I need to keep fighting on Morata's side."

Aside from the two of them firing arrows, there was a storm of fire. Romuna was successful in casting a long powerful spell from memory. After a while black clouds formed over her head. She quickly moved out of the way to dodge it.

Crackle crackle kwagwa bashhaa!

Thunder bolts dropped from the sky simultaneously. A wizard took off his hood to see if the attack was successful. Maylon continued to fire her bow off. Her arrows shot into the upper torso of the wizard.

"Thirty! This time I didn't miss the wizard."

The breath of everyone that was watching was taken away from the sudden events. Multiple stations were broadcasting live at Morata. This was the advantage they needed to get higher ratings than the other stations.

Of the Northern Alliance there were many warrior and paladin users with high defense, but they did not hunt like the Geomchis. Boss monsters that Knights would not be capable of kill the Geomchis could hunt! The users of the Northern Alliance stopped panicking and grasped the situation. However, they could only realize the number of disadvantages there were. The guild chat was so congested that no one could find any decent information. The Kallamore Knights were still stronger than a high class boss monster as they engaged the field of carnage. Level 50 beginners, though small, was still something to be worried about. Users were going along with the beginners and hunting enemies as asssasins. Because they were low level, the beginners pressed on fearlessly.

"Morata's army!"

Morata's soldiers jumped into the war. They mainly focused on shooting arrows from a distance to intercept the Northern Alliance. Then there was a scream!

Dung dung dung dung puaaaa!

Music could be heard from all over Morata. Bard began to play all at once. Bards could help with aiding allies by replenishing their stamina. The bards gave a performance about the Morata Lord's might.

"Let the power of our souls play!"

The bards started to blow a horn. Soon the mood began to escalate rapidly. It felt as if something was going to show up!

"Keurwalalalalalala!"

Then they heard a huge roar. The soldiers and generals of the Northern Alliance began to feel weak at the knees as they collapsed onto the floor. The Peerless Dragon causes weak creatures to die. The aura began to fill the bodies of everyone in the Northern Alliance.

"What?"

"What has appeared?"

Looking up into the sky, at the castle the giant Bingryong could be seen flying around. He was too large to have good agility or stamina, and he was weaker than usual but the intimidation that he gave off was real.

"Its Bingryong!"

"God of War Weed is here with Bingryong!"

Weed was sitting on top of Bingryong's head. The Wyverns were flying around as escorts with the Phoenix.

"Weed!"

"The God of War Weed has descended!"

The users that had participated in the fight began to shake with fear in their eyes. Due to Weed's charisma, the users of the Northern Alliance were suddenly affected.

"There is no way we could have won against a famous adventurer like him."

"Weed was able of catching a dragon. We can never win."

Weed had colossal fame and fighting spirit that caused the enemy soldiers to lose morale. Morale was recognized as an important power on a battlefield. Weed smiled satisfied.

"This is a wonderful hunting ground."

Tens of thousand of people in the war!

If he won the war then he, the lord, would get a lot of fame and a title but that was not what Weed found interesting. Why would he risk himself if he could get more fame from a quest. He had struggled with an S rank quest for his class. Weed wanted the equipment that was worn by the Northern Alliance. On the item trading site, he could get 75 thousand, 90 thousand, 1060 thousand, 2.9 million and higher up to 10 million won for the items. There were a lot of users that were equipped with swords and armor.

"Alright. Alright. This is great."

He did not know how many Kallamore Knights and beginners were left since the fight had already gone on for 2 hours. Now that the Northern Alliance was exhausted and lost a lot of vitality it was now time for him to strike. He still had to be careful of the mages that were meditating to regenerate mana.

"Keulkeulkeulkeul."

Weed smiled and let out a wicked laugh.

From the very beginning of the war he had been waiting for this very moment. It was cowardly but he fought nonetheless.

"I can see the items that I'll get from killing."

It was not an exaggeration that Dark Gamers got a special bonus payment at least once a year. There was a jackpot all over the area. In this one battle he would be able to get a lot of equipment. Weed cleared his throat now that he was ready. The bards continued to play their music. It was to indicate the joy of the start of the song of war! Weed began to yell violently at the top of Bingryong's head.

♪ The music of the battlefield flows

Follow me now

I'm singing to the brink of death.♪

Weed had not practiced the lyrics beforehand. Weed turned his eyes to the floor.

♪ There are four warrior helmets.

Time for you to die.

Is that a knight I see over there.

Are you exhausted?

I'll give you twenty seconds to rest

I'll be taking your armor

Those are some very nice thing that you have

I'd like to have them!

You have such luxurious items.

I, Weed, will fight you.♪

While looking at the floor, he came out with improvised about looting items live on the screen. There were quite a few users in the mid-300s that he could sweep up. Last night he had spent a lot time to give life to two sculptures. The King Hydra and the Black Snake. The effects were not worth it to Morata but he gave life to them since it was an emergency. As a result Weed's art stats dropped and he gave life to a level 429 and a level 441 super monsters. Even with Weed's charisma and leadership, it was very tough to control these new creatures.

Chapter 7: Defending Morata

The complaints from the King Hydra and the Black Imugi were piling up and they seemed ready to explode. The sculptures were not even tired. However ever since they were given life they had only been told to wait even after the battle had started.

'Must wait until I can eat.'

'To become a true dragon I must eat these guys. But I can not move because of the command of the owner.'

The King Hydra species characteristics were brutality and voracity. When the Northern Alliance drew near, the King Hydra's eyes would enlarge.

'I want to eat. I want to eat.'

'Want to eat them.'

'We have seven heads to eat with.'

'It smells so, so delicious.'

Thick saliva dripped from each of the King Hydra's heads. The acidic saliva from the statue mixed into the nearby lake, killing the fish. The Northern Alliance still had not noticed the presence of the King Hydra because of the ongoing battle. However, once Weed showed up, the King Hydra reached the limits of its patience.

"Kaaaaaaaa!"

The King Hydra splashed acorss the lake and ate up the users of the Northern Alliance. With its heads, it swallowed up 9 users into its big mouths.

"It's a snack. Snack are delicious. A delicacy."

The sound of the crunching of users! The Black Imugi prepared to attack elegantly by summoning a Fireball. The large fire magic was poised in the air, ready to attack. The King Hydra and the Black Imugi were not the same as the ones during the fight against the Embinyu Cult. They were similar, but their levels were far lower and much more vulnerable than before. They magic was weaker, their vitality was not infinity, and they were weaker. They were lacking in all aspects, but the users of the Northern Alliance could not make such a calm judgement.

"Come on!"

The Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom was causing the users to panic. The King Hydra was randomly eating users with its heads and the Black Imugi summoned and dropped Fireballs. Instead of fighting, the users tried to escape from the King Hydra that ate dozens of people. The Black Imugi dropped its fireballs causing the genocide of more than 100 people. The flames spread widely around the debris. The wizards tried to cast protective magic and the archers tried to plan a diversion. However, more people thought about trying to run away to save their lives. The users of the Northern Alliance had not had any experience in performing a siege. Although, even if they had experience, it would not help them in such a situation. Furthermore this was not a normal fight about power that one could predict. With the fear and anxiety, the once powerful Northern Alliance was rapidly dismantling. Some of the guilds began to launch magic attacks at Weed.

"Fire Burst!"

"Frost Circle!"

"Thunder Storm!"

The spells were cast and attacked the ground. Powerful knights charged towards Weed. Archers fired their arrows. Their goal was Weed! They wanted to hunt Weed, the God of War.

'Either way, the winner of the battle does not matter'

'It only matter that I can become famous after killing Weed.'

The users that were over level 300, the core power of the Northern Alliance, launched their attack on Weed. There was a significant amount of users that were conserving their mana in order to aim it at Weed.

"Kaaaaaa."

The Phoenix flew forwards Weed, dedicated to protect the owner's life. There were magical and physical attacks from over 37 people were met with the Phoenix's wings.

– Burst Fire has been absorbed.

– Ice Circle has decreased health by 4269.

– Phoenix's body has failed to absorb Thunder Storm. 3210 health is gone.

Ice and water magic ate away at the Phoenix's health but the fire magic restore it. Arrows also stuck into its body. The Phoenix managed to stay strong in the face of the magic and physical attacks.

"Kieeee!"

Phoenix was suffering horrible pain. Even with his huge level and high health, the consecutive powerful strikes caused a heavy amount of damage. The continuous attacks could have possibly been fatal. He lost health until he was at 24%. Weed immediately started blaming him.

"This ignorant bastard!"

"Kieeg?"

"Nevermind, all birds are the same. Even if they have a head they don't know how to use it!"

If he had been hurt then he would have started to nag at the Wyverns and Bingryong.

That was prevented because of Phoenix.

'That was good.'

'He is able to take care of the owner better than myself.'

'That's our junior.'

The sculptures of life wanted to live a good and selfish life!

Weed did not want the last Phoenix to die. It was also the same for the other sculptures of life. Even if he won the war, if he lost a sculpture of life then it would be a big loss. To give life to another masterpiece or a bunch of classic pieces would cost him at much as 10 levels. He had told this to the Wyvern and Bingryong several times already.

"Do not die."

Weed's voice sank and sounded slightly moist and sweet. Bingryong began to have frozen tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"You have yet to break even."

"..."

"You need to work for the next 20 years to cover the losses I made on you, at the very least, right? Do not make any risky actions or you'll be wasting my money like this."

Even if you want to die, then you cannot die until you have made a lot of money.

"Let's prepare the magic attack again. Weed is still in the sky."

"Let's all attack at once."

You can not afford to give your enemies an opportunity on the battlefield. There was a dense number of users in the Northern Alliance so Weed could not miss an opportunity now.

"Phoenix, Bingryong. Start now. Do not lose against the youngests."

The Black Imugi and the King Hydra that Weed had made were already going around and attacking. The newly created sculptures were powerful but there were a considerable amount of level 300 users that were dangerous. He did not know about the Kallamore Knights and the Geomchis, but the King Hydra and the Black Imugi would be surprisingly easy to kill.

"Kiyaaaaa."

Phoenix began flying to the center at full speed. Everywhere he passed by a rain of flames fell down. With the Phoenix's power of fire! As the rain of fire fell, the knights and soldiers began to rapidly burn as the fire attached itself to them. Fire damage was limited to an individual but now it was on an incredibly large range. The ground was covered in flames. The flames could be removed with water related magics from wizards or from priests. But the flame rained down on such a wide range all over the area. This meant an enormous amount of damage accumulation.

"Take care when fighting Wyverns. Do not be too greedy!"

"Alright Master."

The Wyverns were much weaker in the early level 300 so a group of 10 wizards could easily defeat them if they were single targeted. They needed to avoid being defeated by magic and falling to their deaths. Luckily wizards were very difficult classes to level up. In the Northern Alliance, there were maybe only about 500 wizards and most of them have already exhausted their magic.

"Geumini, go help the Wyverns."

"Alright Master."

"I'll lend you the wings for you to hunt with."

To let Geumini fight with the Wyverns, he lend him the wings. He did not want the precious gold ingots that Geumini was made of to fall to the ground and disappear without a word.

"Bingryong, be sure to fight well. Help the Wyverns out."

"Leave the Wyverns to me."

Weed jumped off of Bingryong. The people that were watching his every move cried out. They wanted to kill the God of War!

"Weed fell."

"There he is!"

There were paladins, warriors, mages, thieves, assassins, and swordsmen. Weed checked the number of melee classes that were being engulfed by the flames and were running away. Weed fell into the Northern Alliance and hit the ground, smashing into a dwarf.

“This guy is!”

The dwarf yelled!

With Weed's weight, there was an enormous amount of damage done to the dwarf's health as well as inflicting confusion status. The users that were around Weed were greatly surprised.

“Sculpting blade!”

Weed took the life of the Dwarf with his sword easily. He quickly looted him as he turned grey. Loot! The feeling as something instantly enters into your possession!

‘Got it!’

He did not have time to check his message window. It was the feeling of robbing a place and not having the time to check in the jewelry was authentic or not. Enemies were everywhere.

"High Priest Blessing!"

He blessed himself with the Freya's Ring of the High Priest. He had prepared himself earlier with sword grind and armor polishing skills. There was a 20 minute time limit on the blessing.

"Heraim Fencing."

He continuously moved forwards without stopping with the sword skill! He had gotten the ancient sword skill at the fourth floor of the Hero Tower. The continuous increase in attacks raised strength and agility. Weed ran like crazy.

'Chest armor look a little cheap. Sword's cheap. The maximum level of that equipment is 210.'

He passed by those immediately.

'He's wearing a good helmet. The other stuff looks about the same. Around level 250. There a lot of armor so he must have high health but the durability is a bit worn out. There's a high probability of dropping.'

Weed used his sword to strike him.

Puuk!

The sword pierced into the seams of the armor.

– Two continuous attacks have been successful.

40% increase in Power.

His blacksmith skills he had learned were useful. Armor did not have defense equally in all locations. There were seams and thin sections that did not have much durability and were be penetrated more easily. Weed, as a hobby, was able to instantly tell the overall level of users through the equipment that they were wearing. The Dark Gamer's Union Board of item information as well as the auction sites were now working here!

The user turned grey as Weed gave the finishing blow to stop him from recovering. He began to single out users. Archers! He overwhelmed the bow users. There was a Blue Magic Bow among the archers!

– Three continuous attacks have been successful.

Agility has increased by an additional 40%.

It was possible for Weed to use Heraim Fencing up to eight hits. With each successful attack, power and agility was raised greatly.

Royal Road was a reflection of reality. Increasing the strength stat would slightly increase endurance. Raising the agility stat would improve accuracy and response time. Weight and speed made a difference when it came to running 100 meters. However raising 100 power stats did not unconditionally raise the 100 damage. There were many variable when it came to maximum attack damage. Of course these would show if a sword was not wielded properly. The weapon could slip and the damage would not fully be used against the opponent. More was needed than just strength and agility.

There was no point if the body only had high agility. There was also no point if the body was too big and heavy that it was difficult to fight. Bingryong had huge damage output but required a lot of strength to just hold up his body. This was a disadvantage. On the other hand, the dwarves did not have much body weight so they did not keep up well in battle. They made up for the lack of power by using weapons like axes and hammers.

Weed killed three more people with four more attacks. All that was left was a Knight! But the knight was using a good sword. That sword was an amazing weapon with strong penetrating power. It was a very expensive weapon for a knight to use! It was a good weapon to use against enemies.

"That's mine!"

Weed used the Heraim Fencing to attack. He struck the knight like lightning. The mighty sword fell down in a line. However, at that moment Weed was mistaken. A sword came from behind as the knight began to swing towards him.

"So it seems that knights are not so fragile!"

The valuable items!

He repeated the Heraim Fencing again, this time more powerful. The last of the eight attacks was 3 to 4 times more powerful than the first. Sometimes it would exceed the durability limit of the armor and weapons and break often. Weed jumped with his full power forwards. Heraim Fencing improved not only power but also agility. Thanks to his high agility, he could twist his sword and change his attack into any direction.

“Yes!”

Then he saw another knight. In the middle of his attack, he confirmed a weak point and changed the direction of his blade in a very short time period and stuck it into the knight. It was a big challenge for Weed to change the direction of his attack based on the situation because of his high attack speed and power. However, he naturally grasped the weight of the sword and spun his body into the air. The Heraim Fencing was still in effect. He spun to make his attack stronger to finish off the Knight's life and defenses!

Kwaaaang!

The sword swung accurately into the knight's side. The Knight didn't even have time to scream before he turned grey and died.

Syasyasyag.

Weed used his left hand to sweep up the items. Even if it was only one copper he would use his fast and accurate hand movements.

"Ueueu...."

"It's really Weed!"

The nearby users did not dare to move. The knight that had just died was one of the stronger users. The rest did not have time to react. None of the melee classes were holding up to Weed! The knights on horseback and other users began to step up. Even though they had good sense, there was no sense of unity and they had pathetic organization. Weed decided on another target.

'I have seen that ring before. It has a property that increases maximum mana.'

He had the talent to identify the item's characteristics! It was a very good item. He could not miss out on getting such an expensive item from the enemy.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk!”

Death Knight was summoned. He summoned Van Hawk because he was going to start fighting a large number of enemies and knights.

"I'll take this one Master."

"Heraim Fencing!"

He did not hesitate and did not stop his attack. Weed kept moving forwards the enemy. He had fell into the middle of the Northern Alliance and there were enemies everywhere.

"Weed is mine!"

"Take my sword. Lightning Sword!"

The enemies did not waste time and used their skills without hesitation. Weed took the offensive against the enemies that were between level 200 to 300. He killed the ones that were exhausted or heavily injured. After using up Heraim Fencing he managed to kill five people. However that was not enough.

"Sculptural Destruction! Convert into Force!"

– Sculptural Destruction has been used.

The grief from destroying a fine piece! The grief!

Five art stats have disappeared permanently. Fame has decreased by 100.

Art stats have been converted into Power.

His bodily muscles were boiling with strength! It was too big of a waste to use a masterpiece so he only used a fine piece. Even this much was a waste.

"Return me 15 times my amount!"

Weed cried out, screaming at his enemies. His increased strength with his accuracy further increased his lethality. Thieves and assassin neglected to use their ranged attack skills and they had pitiful defense. So the assassin and thieves, as well as other classes were easy to attak. Weed jumped and killed 25 enemies. Then a strong looking knight came running over with ten other people Weed could not overlook this!

‘That’s at least level 340.’

They were the core of the Northern Alliance's power. He could usually use Heraim Fencing to kill users in one or two blows and now a strong knight was approaching him. He tirelessly moved his sword towards his enemies.

– Four continuous attacks have been successful.

Power has increased by an additional 40%.

Kkwagwagwang!

The sword gave off deafening bursts as he struck the knight's shoulder armor. The knight was surprised by the power of the strike. Even with high vitality, the user was forced into a state of panic. Because of the high level armor and shield he had high enough defenses to not die in a single hit.

– Five continuous attacks have been successful.

Enemy is now confused.

Reduces enemy fighting spirit.

Agility has increased by an additional 40%

– Six continuous attacks have been successful.

Power has increased by 50%.

15% of the damage is dealt in a shockwave.

Seven continous attacks have been successful.

Agility has increased by an additional 30%

Power has increased by an additional 20%.

1500 mana has been spent.

A Knight was killed!

After he killed a knight, he killed three more knights.

The last knight took a total of eight hits to defeat.

"Its a strong skill. Don't block! Avoid!"

The Knights began to scatter. However, even though the knights quickly escaped, they were still within the range of his attack. Weed caused the weak players to run! His sword caused high amounts of damage but it ran out quickly because of its mana consumption. However, he could conserve mana and raise his skill proficiencies higher. Due to his sculptural destruction, he could deal high damage to the enemy's health and cut through their defenses. Weed was still surrounded by knights and other professions so he was in an unfavorable situation.

"Isn't this a little extreme!"

Weed did not lose his concentration as he looked around at his enemies. In the meantime, he was gathering the items that were dropped by the ones that had died!

“Ueueu...”

"I can't believe this. His level is too high."

The users were tired! After the magic attack and the arrows, more than 100 users would swarm at them each. Weed had jumped in after the arrows and spells were shot and used Heraim Fencing at the knights. The surviving wizards gathered to use their mana to cast a spell to attack Weed. He could not avoid a magic attack that attacked everywhere indiscriminately. He had lent the wings of light to Geumini so he could not escape into the sky. He had also sent Geumini to fight in a place that wouldn't attract attention but now Weed was exposed to be attacked.

"I wish my class had a few more combat skills to use....Moonlight sculpting!"

Weed's eyes were watering. He had learned this skill after getting advanced sculpting. The light sculpting! It required a consumption of mana but it covered the entire body in light and could act as a defense.

Cheuchyuchyuchyu!

Everywhere Weed fired off multi-colored light. Each of them were an absolutely beautiful hue. Various magical attacks and arrows bounced off and changed direction. However, his skill level was still low so it could only do so much.

‘Am I going to die like this?’

Weed felt fearful. It was not certain that he would live if he was hit with magic of this magnitude. He still had the option of reviving by the Refuse Death skill. In that moment he cold show the true power of the undead in a place like this. However, if he died than he would drop equipment and skill levels. The Moonlight Sculpting was not high, but his sculpting and production skills were really hard to raise! Weed had learned a large number of skills and the skill drop in each of them would be evident. He instinctually prepared for an unavoidable death. He wrapped as much of his body in Moonlight as possible. After he revived as an undead, he would have no need for mana.

"Cold Eyes!"

Weed increased his defenses by using the Cold Eyes skill.

"I will protect you, Master."

Death Knight Van Hawk blocked the front with a shield. The magic enveloped the area.

Chapter 8: War Negotiations

Explosions ripped the land apart and ice pillars formed and collapsed repeatedly! After the smoke and dust cleared, the Northern Alliance could see the results of their actions. In the area that was thoroughly devastated by magic, there stood Weed and the Death Knight. Only that one area was fine. Thanks to the Moonlight Sculpting, the trajectory of most of the magic was changed slightly. Thankfully none of the magic had been aimed at Weed directly when they exploded. Due to the different properties of the various magics, the result was quite destructive. The arrows shot by the archers had lost most of their attack power because of the aftereffects of the magical attacks. Even so, in the center of the explosions, it was a miracle that Weed and the Death Knight managed to survive. It was thanks to their vitality, endurance, defensive skills, armor, and the protection from the Moonlight Sculpting! With the Death Knight, they managed to prevent dying by dividing the damage from the explosion. However, the durability of the Ancient Shield fell by a staggering 25 points. It was not an exaggeration one of the best, unique shields but it could not be repaired. The durability of his Tallock armor had dropped severely and was now in rags, but thankfully he was lucky that it was not fully destroyed yet.

"My Ancient Shield..."

His precious Ancient Shield that he only wore sparingly! The durability had dropped by 25 and now only 261 was remaining. He felt unbearable anger that its price would fall. Weed was really angry.

"I would have rather died!"

He would earn back his skill experience but he could not get the durability that the Ancient Shield had lost back. Weed had 33% health left and 46% of his mana. Even if he wanted to cry, he could not stop now since he needed to break even. He had managed to survive the magic explosions.

'As for the items....'

Weed had been ambushed by the Northern Alliance. Naturally he did not forget to take the items from those that had died.

"Heraim Fencing!"

At the moment, he began to fight those that were left. Weed was the hero of the battlefield. Everyone was watching him as they were intent on killing him. The Death Knight began to act and strike down enemies. The wizards and archers began to attack but it was not as threatening as the first strike.

"Let's fight against those that wish to harm Morata with Weed-nim."

"Kallamore Knights, let's go!"

The Kallamore Knights were still fighting against the Northern Alliance. All of the high level users that went to fight Weed had died in the magical attack. Many of the leaders of the Northern Alliance had already died.

"Kill them!"

"We beginners will fight back against the oppressors."

Geomchi and the beginners began to break apart the enemy. The King Hydra, Black Imugi, Phoenix, Bingryong, and Wyverns were earning him a lot. Weed to focus his attention towards making the Northern Alliance crumble from within just as he had hoped and intended for. A single death does not lead to a significant lead to victory. Since he killed and looted a lot of the enemy leaders, the army was disorganized.

"Beat them!"

"Kill them all!"

The balance was destroyed and could not revert back to normal. The Northern Alliance was stuck in a situation like that of a wildfire. They could no longer trust their allies after having been attacked by their own magic.

"I give up. Help me!"

"It is own defeat."

"I apologize for declaring war on Morata."

The Northern Alliance users began to drop their weapons to show their intent to surrender. There was speculation that once Weed had begun to sing that there were already people surrendering. Once the soldiers of the Northern Alliance put down their weapons, the siege came to an abrupt, expected end. The beginners lifted their rusty swords and their wooden shields and began to cheer.

"Uwa, we won!"

"Morata wins. Hurrah!"

Weed shook his head.

"You started this war so you can not be the one that gets to decide when it ends!"

He used to mana to give off a Yell. This was not the end of the war. He had spent a lot of money to recruit soldiers and other expenses that would mean an economic loss. Of course, a defeat in war was the side that had substantial damages and could ransom prisoners of war, but that was not enough for Weed. He had not earned enough money from equipment. There were still the Kallamore Knights, the beginners, the Geomchis, Pale and the rest of the party against 30 thousand weak and tired users. There was money and experience scattered all over the floor! To say that you wanted to end the war was nonsense. It was like donating all of your money to charity after having won the lottery!

"Uwaaaa!"

"We won!"

"The Northern Alliance declared defeat!"

To the beginners that were giving off their victory yells, they thought that Weed was just being proude to show his pleasure in the situation. Weed yelled back.

"These enemies dare to invade and destroy Morata! Do not leave a single person alive, kill them all!"

The beginners had to be stirred up. Without them there was no telling how much damage the Sculptures of Life and the Kallamore Knights as well as Morata's soldiers would take. With the number of beginners they could exhaust the members of the Northern Alliance. The Geomchis would ninja in during the confusion and cut down enemies while the Kallamore Knights charged in unexpectedly. The shouting that the beginners gave off worked to lower the spirits of the users from the Northern Alliance. Weed the God of War had given off his infamous war cry and wanted to wipe out the Northern Alliance. The users of the Northern Alliance raised their hands.

"Praise to Weed!"

"He is indeed the Count of Morata. We admit clear defeat and will not attack Morata again."

"It is an honor to lose to Weed the God of War. We had learned from this. Thank you!"

Because it was so interesting, stations were broadcasting the war in Morata.

"The Northern Alliance seems to have entered Morata's territory. Haseungtae-ssi, what do you think will be the outcome of this war?"

"It can't even be called a war. The Northern Alliance has mobilized over 120 thousand units. The victory will definitely go to the Northern Alliance. The majority of the Northern Guilds had formed this coalition and it was successful."

CHN Media decided that the Northern Alliance would win.

"The scale of the Northern Alliance is amazing and they have generously spent on military efforts to take over Morata."

"There are a lot of siege weapons. Viewers are going to see the city of Morata covered in flames today."

"Will Weed's invincibility as the God of War end?"

"Unfortunately that is so."

CTS Media came outright and said that Morata would lose. Weed would suffer bitter defeat and the Northern Alliance would win so that their viewership would increase. KMC Media took a different stance.

"The Northern Alliance, despite having a massive force, does not mean much to Weed."

"Oh Juwan-ssi, what do you mean? Are you saying something like the Northern Alliance is not enough to Weed?"

"That's right. It is because he is that much of a threat that the other guilds target him."

"What do you think will happen in the war?"

"It looks like the Northern Alliance's victory may seem obvious, but that is unknown until the war finally starts."

"So you're saying that Weed can win this war."

"At this point it is difficult to say, but from the quests so far performed by Weed the God of War, there is no saying that he would definitely lose."

Oh Juwan was watching the fight carefully. Morata was not expected to win, so KMC Media as Weed's contractor would get reduced viewership. Still the Director was a dedicated fan of Weed and maintained his stance despite what others said. Then the stations showed the Kallamore Knights appear. There was not a single person there that did not understand the might of the Kallamore Knights!

"Do you think Weed brought them? Weed does travel a lot but I did not know that he had gone to the Kallamore Kingdom!"

"Kolderim is leading the knights. Kolderim is the Knight that directly leads the knights of the Kallamore Kingdom!"

"Is there some connection between Weed and Kolderim?"

The host of the station urgently raised his voice. Other than Maylon, the others did not know that it was Weed that had liberated Kolderim's soul and were surprised. The Kallamore Knights were battle knights that could take any role in combat and had the power to stop any force. They would ruthlessly wield their maces and swing their swords like lightning while maintaining maneuverability so they were like undying demons. The Kallamore Knights were very dashing, so much that there was significant increase of aspiring knights. The Kallamore Knights assault made a huge impact on the Northern Alliance users. The fear could be seen in their eyes. They had seen the Kallamore Knights' destructive power on the television but now they were subject to it themselves. With the sounding of a horn, the Kallamore Knights charge in rapidly. Many chose to flee from fear. Then the Knights began to dodge the wizard magic that led to allied damages, and then Morata released their large number of beginners. A level 300 high level users could simply kill 100 beginners. However, as the slaughtering continued they would get more physical exhaustion. Even if they killed a few beginners, they were still surrounded on all sides. The Kallamore Knights would finish them off quickly or a high level Geomchi would briefly appear. The Northern Alliance users had already abandoned the idea that they were in the advantage. Mixed among the beginners were Morata's mid and high level users. In the battlefield, the experience and melee combat skills of the individual were important. Weed then appeared with the King Hydra, the Black Imugi, Phoenix, Bingryong, and the Wyverns! It was true that the famouse Weed the God of War would sing before a fight. They had all noticed it in the battles with the Orc Karichwi.

'The real war begins now.'

'This is Weed's war.'

The song was about looting the items that the high level users of the Northern Alliance were wearing! That was exactly what he was singing about. The battle then progressed and magic began to strike Weed! It was an intimidating sight to see him survive that magic explosion. The Northern Alliance lost their motivation to fight and began to surrender to avoid further sacrifices. However the Northern Alliance was a coalition of builds rather than a guild under a single person so they did not have military efficiency. Due to the fact that it was a coalition of many builds, once one guild surrenders then the whole alliance collapses.

"..."

"So what happened to the war."

"Morata won."

The hosts were at a loss for words. It was difficult for them to explain what had happened once the beginners had begun to pour out. There were enough posts on the Internet community to cause the massive lag. Once you posted our own comment, you had to check 20 pages to see it.

– So the God of War did not lose today.

– I didn't think the Kallamore Knights would show up.

– He had the power to bring them.

– The Northern Alliance could not be called the main powers on the continent. It could not compare to the central and south eastern forces. However, after seeing the events of the war I am now unsure.

– How is Morata growing so rapidly? Last time I saw it was only on the level of a small village.

– Don't forget to keep watching the broadcasts.

– They don't see the broadcasts too often. Morata changes on a weekly basis.

– I started as a user in Morata. It's a place where art, culture, adventure, religion, and commerce co-exist in harmony. The church of Freya can't be ignored. The North isn't lacking in anything. But they just keep growing.

– Weed is more than qualified to be Lord there. The Northern Users were just bad at developing their towns. He had built many huge sculptures and now isn't there the Art's Center Building? If that's completed, I would be glad to stay there.

– I just finished eating my sandwich. Also Weed! He did not disappoint at all. It was a shame that he didn't get to fight much but he fought well didn't he?

– I am leaving with my friends to the North. There's no point in trying to take over Morata anymore.

– Wait a minute, I'm coming too.

The moment the war ended, a window popped up for Weed to see.

– The enemy has surrendered

– Loyalty of citizens in Morata has increased by 3.

For showing off the city's power, military influence in the area has increased by 15.

Theft will disappear and bandit invasion will be reduced.

Security has increased by 13%.

Consumption will temporarily rise in Morata. People will not spare money to celebrate this victory. Morata's victory celebrations begin voluntarily.

– The Sculpting Guild will now produce souvenirs of this victory. 5000 gold has been consumed.

The Bards Guild will now hold a music making competition in memory of this war. The prize will be 4500 gold.

– Morata's fame in the Continent of Versailles has increased by 75.

Current repuation: 469

The higher the repuation of the region, the more famous the ruler is.

Victory or defeat in war, as well as produce, trade, quests, expeditions are factors that work towards local repuation. With high repuation, users can get high quality quests and fame in Morata. The trading pose will purchase goods at better prices.

– Increase in the fame of Morata's specialties.

– Reputation of Morata's textiles and leather industries increase, Freya's blessing and agriculture will increase local specialties.

– Morata will become famous for wine if there are more wineries.

– Morata has formed a speciality for superior cattle.

– 89 Teuriban villagers migrate to Morata.

– 85 Noroma villagers migrate to Morata.

– 3600 northern residents have switched faith to the Church of Freya.

– Skilled craftsmen migrate!

The craftsmen will come to the Northern town of Morata and teach children their trade.

The children of Morata have great potential for the future.

– The Ekoban's town residents will now protest for 20 weeks.

They blame their incompetent ruler for not being like Morata.

If this condition persists, then Morata will become the lord of these towns.

Due to the defeat in the war, each of the towns were facing large scale resistance. It depended on the culture of each town and those that were defeated had to pay a huge penalty. Tears fell from those that were held in captivity.

– The warehouse manager hold the prisoner keys.

Their families will want to come to Morata to see them within two weeks.

Each of the lords had the responsibility of maintaining the morale in their forces. However, the Northern Lords did not see that and suffered huge damages.

"Half of the town has already deserted."

"Kerala doesn't have any culture. All the farmers have left the harvest in the ditches and ran away."

"Well, that much is evident."

"Bankchester guild is barely holding their own."

"Your town?"

"Us? There's nothing to buy. Who knew that culture and are are things that were actually important?"

There was not much unrest in the continent since there were cultural centers. Each town and city fulfilled the basic need of cultural level so that they could maintain hostilities with neighboring kingdoms. Morata had exceptionally great culture. Lords did not understand the meaning of culture and people satisfaction or a sense of art. So the Northern Lords reduced art as much as possible. They did not think they would lose so much from the war.

"Do you think that this is because we failed to raise culture?"

"This is where the real frightening part begins..."

The war negotiations were not over yet. Weed had gathered the lords and the guild masters into a building to discuss war negotiations. Basically it was reparations for the war. The number of prisoners from the Northern Alliance was perplexing. They had taken over 70 thousand prisoner. Of those there were 14 thousand users. The war reparations was bound to put them at a significant disadvantage.

The Styrene Guild took the first move.

"Morata lord, Morata is a well respected place. I have admired Weed-nim since the Continent is magic."

The beginners and POWs could witness the negotiations that were going on. With the amplification of sound magic the conversation could be heard from all over Morata. The stats were also covering the conversation live. They tried to smoothed over things politically. Weed saw that some of the players were on the Hall of Fame and were trying to make themselves sound professional. The Northern Alliance was at a huge disadvantage. However the Styrene Guild continued at Weed.

'This much is just?'

There was a need to understand the personality and taste of the other party. So they tried to praise him as much as they could! They wanted to start the negotiations off with elegant lines of praise.

"The monsters of the Northern part of Morata are scatter out, this must be because Lord Weed is dependable. However, have you seen the extent of damage on the other villages?"

"..."

The Styrene Guild mention the loss of their culture and art.

"Even though we invested a lot of money, our villagers keep migrating to Morata which is a big loss for us."

The Lords of the Northern Alliance nodded in unison since they were all sympathetic to the words being said. They did not have the kind of money for this and wanted to escape this suffering.

"The damage is done now and we will agree to no longer invade Morata. The defeat is ours and we would like our inhabitants bak. So the point is, could you please consider this agreement and we will not attack Morata again."

After the Styrene Guild finished, they finally noticed. Weed was the notorious God of War known as the worst of the worst. In the Continent of Magic, he would kill anyone that made noise in the dungeon and even those that ran away. Weed had no sympathy or compassion. He was burned into history as the unscrupulous user that kills and takes all! Weed had his arms crossed with narrow eyes. That much could show his attitude that he was not at all pleased.

'I didn't get all the items...I have lost more than I got. I can not sleep well tonight.'

Weed's face was contorted like a demon.

'Have to move on from the bitter memories and live the rest of life. I have to go on day by day. It's like an only man that's suffering from painful memories as he separates the trash'

Mapan went on Weed's behalf.

"That is your position as the Northern Alliance, but from Morata's perspective there is no reason to look at a single side of the war."

"But we don't have any money to pay."

"No, but that does not mean that the war reparations are done now does it?"

"..."

"Are you saying that you want to leave the war negotiations?"

Mapan gave them a suggestion. After a war negotiation are given up, the surrendered prisoners are given a trial. Of course the one that makes the judgement is Weed and the people that he appointed. Users that kills Morata's soldiers are usually thrown in jail and imprisoned. The penalty that had to be paid was by no mean trivial. If there was resistance, then that meant death. Even if the users was safely negotiated, the soldier would resent their Lords. Their side had to accept the painful reality of defeat in war.

"Weed was one of the contributors to the Dragon Hunt and created this warm climate. What about his adventure to reclaim Morata? Weed had to go to a number of achievements in his adventures to find out a number of towns want to invade once the Church of Freya's protection ends because they had gone blind with greed."

Mapan cooly began to criticize the lords of the Northern Alliance. Traders always took pleasure in taking advantage of the powerless. For war reparations, usually 70% was divided amongst the soldiers. The remaining 30% went to the Lord for developing the city. Mapan wanted to benefit as much as possible from the situation. Mapan emphatically demanded.

"One users is 900 gold and its 200 gold per soldier as reparations."

"This is ridiculous."

"I expected a large amount but this is too much!"

This situation was also within his calculations. It was a reasonable amount for the cost of their lives. The problem with the war negotiations was the at lords did not have that kind of money! In the center of the continent, those in power always had thousands of gold but the lords of the North were generally poor. They had used most of their fortune moving from the central continent to the North to form towns.

"We don't have that kind of money."

"Even if you cut it in half, we still can't pay it."

Even for the central continent, 120 thousand troops of the Northern Alliance was not common. The fact that they had been defeated as well has having such a large number of captives was a disgrace to the lords. If they could not afford to pay the ransom then it could lead to another war.

"A single user at 900 gold is the amount though. Until now, all the previous wars on the Continent of Versailles had done this so it is a reasonable amount."

Mapan raised an eyebrow at the opposition. Even if there was no money to pay, they could not move on without making negotiations. Weed had his arms folded and was silent.

'Even at around 70%, they would have to depend on credit and pay in installments each month, and then the amount would lessen each month. I would not gain much. Then the overdue interest would increase drastically...'

Weed decided to clean up the situation while Mapan was with the troubled lords.

"There is no need for compensation."

"What?"

Mapan was astonished. To think that Weed would out and say something like this. He could not believe that these words would come out of Weed's mouth. The Lords of the Northern Alliance did not understand about the war reparations and just looked onwards. They did not believe what he had just said.

'They would be forced to get a loan.'

The lords of the northern towns could not earn much income. The investments cost them a lot and there was nothing that they could earn from. There was no guarantee that Morata would ever see the money since it was such an excessive amount. If there was another war then Morata would not have the Kallamore Knights available. In the future there may be another lord that my decide to invade the North again. Weed, to the Northern Alliance Lords, would look like a malicious debt collector.

"There will be no compensation, the prisoners will be set free."

"Really?"

The Styrene Guild could not believe it. From Weed's position this could only be charity and there was no sense for it.

"Also a promise. Morata will not invade the other towns."

From Weed's position he did not need to occupy the towns to get benefits. Morata was not a small territory. Territory was not something that was fixed. There was a lot of ground between each state. Thus as culture grows, the boundary of the city expands.

"I suggest a trade agreement."

"What?"

"As you know, Morata has improved a lot as a beginner town."

The Lords of the Northern Alliance nodded. They had experienced it first had so they knew better than anyone else.

"In the future there will be a need for weapons and armors for the beginners as well as a large amount of resources."

The Lords of the Northern Alliance began to get uncomfortable. Morata was a place that beginners could grow easily at. They had watched Morata grow increasingly powerful.

"And?"

"The beginners will need the necessary resources. Morata has many things such as mines and fields. There are items that are obtained from hunting that would be useful for beginners that you could sell."

Commercial development, taxes and permits were the right of the Lords. To open up the Northern Lords would create a huge market for beginners. The Styrene Guild had a broad expression on their faces during this difficult negotiations.

"This is a very good proposal for us. Why are you give us so much?"

"The Central Continent is far way. The merchants would have to take too long to get their and the prices would be too high. The merchants need all the help they can get. Our biggest problems is the northern beginners not being able to use weapons at reasonable prices because of the central continent's prices. That sort of thing is wrong."

The lords considered by making eye contact with each other and nodding.

"We are also sympathetic."

"We as well."

Morata made a lot more trade than the rest of the northern towns combined.

"I heard that you have trouble developing culture."

"..."

The Lords well into despair. They had found it increasingly difficult to develop culture as more people kept leaving.

"Morata will send cultural advisors to live in each of the villages. They will work to increase the culture and the towns and reduce the number of villagers that leave."

Culture had the effect of significantly reducing the complaints of the people. Morata had a lot of bards and dancers. They could be seen around the day performing. They would earn money from going from town the town.

One of the lords asked.

"However that would decrease Morata's culture. That does not make any sense to me."

Weed glared at him for a moment. The look in his eyes made him shrink away to show that they were not equals. There was a change in the atmosphere which was sufficient to reverse the situation. There were people that loved to talk and then forget what they had said. He had to threaten them this way. This, in a sense, was more favorable.

"I am angry that there are a lot of sculptors in Morata. There are a lot of skilled sculptors in Morata particularly. They create a lot of sculptures and paintings."

Weed was aiming to export the works of art. There was the Light Tower and the Statue of Freya but the growing number of artworks in the city needed to slow down. He did not want it to be a city of artists like Rhodium. Weed sank into a low voice.

"There are a lot of novice users in Morata. They need to go out so that they can grow their skills."

"..."

"Morata feels like it is very large. However, there are more quests and hunting that can be done by visiting other towns more often. There is room to develop Morata and the other towns."

Weed broke off into another topic.

"First, as the lord you need to invest and treat the village with love so that many beginners will start in you town. Establish a general store and a square so business can flourish. You will be able to see beginners fill their water bottle at the fountain. There will be nothing against the beginners from this war."

This was the talk that took place with Weed. The Northern Lords rose from their chairs. Cheers could be heard from all over the walls.

"Waaa!"

"God of War Weed is the best!"

"Weed hurrah!"

The beginners and the users of the Northern Alliance cheered! Weed also showed generosity to the invaders coming to Morata. Mapan as well as Pale's party was showing complete shock. Like how they saw Weed differently in artistry after the Light Tower.

"No what is...that's not like Weed at all."

"He can't be a philanthropist, right?"

"Has he fallen seriously ill? Maybe he fell off of a sculpture while he was making it?"

A man could not change so much so they were concerned with Weed's mental health. It was very difficult to understand what Weed was doing. Everyone that was there and watching the broadcast was showing a different attitude. Only Zephyr seemed to know what was going on as he nodded.

'With this negotiation he's going to reap huge profits.'

The value of beginners! The Northern Lord was concerned with their futures! However Weed had calculated the damages into his head and that there would be endless benefits in the future. The northern towns would sell their foods and obtain many benefits but Morata would be the one gaining the tax revenues. They had trade with the central continent but now they could actively trade with the northern merchants. It would also get rid of the northern town's reasons for war. With culture they will reduce the number of people leaving. Digging a mine to gather resources will develop the city's technology and create more quality goods for the town. This peace agreement will accelerate the northern towns' development. It would so get rid of the tension and anxiety of beginners in Morata as well as make more people start in the North. The Northern specialties would grown and develop as merchant trade increases. In the long run, Morata as the center of commerce would be the one to benefit. There would be better items for beginners which would rapidly increases the amount of taxes being paid.

"After the war he can get rid of the excess art!"

For the time being, the economy of each village depended on Morata. He could grow their culture by selling off the art to each town. Nevertheless, the sale of the products gave big benefits despite the conditions to the northern lords. Trade with Morata did not give them any losses and there was no longer a need to war against Morata. So with these facts given to each town, a second war of Morata would not happen. Zephyr's thought more highly of Weed now. He had conquered the Northern Alliance. It was complex reasonable judgement and there was no need to make a hateful enemy.

"The strategy and the planning, as well as the policies. It's so scary that no one had noticed!"

While pretending to do this, he was actually waiting to exploit and harvest the benefits. Weed determination and concentration towards money was one of a kind.

"Fresh grass porridge."

The festival celebrating Morata's victory! The delighted beginners were excited. It was entertaining for Weed to watch them spend.

– The viewership has exploded. To think that viewership would rise this much from live footage of the war!

They were happy with Maylon's progress. KMC media as well as 12 other broadcast station had broadcasted Morata's war. They had footage of two perspective of Weed's war and earned a percentage from advertising with a small fee for broadcasting rights. They were rolling in money.

"The world is a truly beautiful place."

As thanks for those that participated in the war, Weed gave out unlimited rice porridge. The lord opened up the storages and the residents and users could enjoy themselves.

– Special Ahreupen Grain Warehouse opened with free grass porridge to eat.

– Morata festival uses 50 thousand gold.

The lord was considered generous. There was money being spent everywhere. There was wild boar on barbacue, deer being baked and barrels filled with liquor.

"Drink it all!"

It was a new recipe made from a mixture of fruits and other items. It was a bit bitter from the bark and it had nutritional value from lettuce and raspberries. Weed had constantly used herbalism and cooking in the intermediate levels to research alcohol. He had finally made a new drink that was a liquor full of mysteries.

'Alcohol is money.'

Alcohol had a long shelf life and it was easy to store so it wasn't uncommon that it was a best selling product. Professional brewing was a career that was held in regard on the Continent of Versailles. Food recipes, as well as drinks were traded at high prices. It had a good taste and nutritional value so it would be a recipe that was worth a lot. Weed had created a drink with high nutitrional value with low cost materials!

"This drink is amazing!"

"Is it that good?"

The beginners could taste the amazing taste of alcohol. It was not expensive compared to a bar and it was good for the price.

"Cheers!"

"We give our thanks to Morata!"

"Cheers to the 49th beginner division!"

The beginners were smiling brightly to show their joy. The festival was going on everywhere and events of all sorts. Others were getting ready to hunt since they had gained a significant amount of experience from the war. In order to get stronger the beginners needed to hunt outside of the city. Weed thought of it as a good thing.

"As you get stronger you make me more taxes."

The more taxes he got, the better. More users in the Morata created more positive effects in their own ways. Geomchis were off in the square consuming alcohol. The rest of the users that had survived the war were thoroughly enjoying themselves in the festival. Everyone was happy. Weed took out his lord mode and watched over the atmosphere.

“Increase city taxes by 2% for two days!”

Ttiring!

– For two days, a temporary tax is applied.

Items have been changed to a rate from 5 to 7% in the stores.

It was the festival season. There was a lot of stuff to buy and eat so there was a lot of consumption. He raised the tax moderately to cover the cost of his investments.

"I can earn a lot with this atmosphere."

The reason was the Grass Porridge Cult buying things.

In the real world, nothing was free!

Chapter 9: Sculptural History

The Central Continent's Lords did not like Weed.

"Just because he was a little famous in the Continent of Magic they say that we shouldn't carelessly fight him in Royal Road."

"Weed is the God of War? A little territory like his would be turned into ashes if it was in the Central Continent."

"Just because he finished a couple of quests that people thought were impossible."

Each of the Lords of the Central Continent had the same mindset from their long bloody history. They were the prominent users back in the early days of Royal Road and they had emerged victorious from several user based wars with various achievements. Each of the lords had an elite squad of at least 80 thousand units. Each of the territories that they owned were highly active with users.

"Morata is nothing."

Resentment and jealousy for Weed!

The war enthusiasts were quite annoyed with the reputation that the user Weed had gained from his quests. They also felt nervous over the number of beginners that were in Morata.

"Sculptures that are alive and can move...so is creating a sculpture similar to summoning a monster? To think that were was such a secret in the sculpting skill."

"With the level of growth that Morata is receiving, it might not be too far fetched that the northern lands will extend all the way down to the central continent!"

The Lords were in a rage. However, Bard Ray of the Hermes Guild simply waited for the result of the war. He deliberately did not watch the television. He went hunting as usual while waiting for news of Weed's demise. The Information Officer that was watching the Northern war reported the news. Even upon hearing the bad news that Morata won, there was no change in Bard Ray's expression.

"So It was Weed's victory."

"Yes, Morata was not damaged much either. The Northern Alliance was incompetent in many ways and they were far from united."

"But Morata's power was greater?"

Bard Ray did not understand what was going on. A few days ago, the stations had analyzed the reports on the power on both sides of the war. From what had been heard, the Northern Alliance should have had enough to completely overwhelm Morata.

"I'm guessing it is because of Weed's outstanding performance."

"Yes. That could be true. There are no words to describe his capabilities."

"..."

"Most of Morata participated in the war and with the show of power and tactics as well as the appearance of the Kallamore Knights will let them attract more people. The internet message boards are overflowing."

Bard Ray had a calm expression. To the Hermes Guild, there were only minor guilds in the North. Their total numbers could not begin to shake the top powers in the Kingdom of Haven. There was no change in his expression. But deep down it was not.

'Weed led the war and forced the Northern Alliance to surrender...!'

That was more than enough to ruin Bard Ray's mood.

"Selling Rotten Dagger. It cuts well and its best for hunting monsters."

"Selling Crooked Blade. It's a really good strong sword for beginners. I'll sell it for cheap."

"Selling Leather Armor. The chest area is a bit torn apart but other than that everything is fine."

Transactions between beginners were only in the numbers of coppers up to a maximum of 5 gold! Wyvern Square, Bingryong Square, Light Square and the Rover Square were all crowded with travelers. The four squares that he had created were now booming when it was once empty. However Morata had increased the number of beginners on a large scale because of the war. After the Royal Road's broadcast, it had opened its doors to a large number of beginners.

"Three pieces of barley bread for sale."

"Are they selling that to make a living?"

"I need to hang in there until I can buy a weapon."

"Huaaa, even though I can access a well, water doesn't help fill my stomach."

"Thank you."

Despite the cold air of spring Morata was very lively. Novice traders went around transporting 1 or two specialty products. Tens of thousands of beginners were hanging around as Pavo was building the Morata Center of Art. During this vacation, Weed had work to be done.

"I finished restoring sculptures, so I have to raise my level by hunting. I need to concentrate or else I won't have any peace of mind when winter comes by."

The trip he had went on had shortened his summer break

"Stat window!"

Character Name

Weed

Affinity

Eternal Sculptor

Level

368

Fame

29,726

Title

Dragon Slaying Commander

Class

Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Health

31,360

Mana

14,405

Strength

1,315

Agility

1,005

Stamina

159

Art

1,621

Charisma

260

Intelligence

184

Luck

215

Leadership

672

Attack

5,329

Endurance

695

Defense

1,761

Faith

135 (+435)

Fighting Spirit

419

Wisdom

189

Charm

210 (+30)

Mentality

25

Honor

95

Magic Resistance

Fire

27%

Water

31%

Earth

35%

Dark

50%

+All stats are increased by 20 points.

+Art is increased by an additional 80 points.

+30% increase in stats in the moonlit night.

+Able to learn all production skills up to the level of master. Able to learn all the subskills of each production class. High level skills can be learned.

+Sculptures with high artistic value will increase fame.

+A total of 113 stats have been raised from sculptures, skills, combat, and quests prior to having the title. Over 100 stat points have been increased from sculptures and production skills since getting the title.

+Bracelet that is currently equipped increases all stats by 15.

Weed had gotten his level back to 368 despite having given life to sculptures. Each time he leveled up he had put all of his stat points into strength and agility, while the rest of the points had been raised by quests, equipment and sculptures. His stat window showed vivid traces of the hard work he had put in. Looking at the website forums of Royal Road, his stats were something to boast about. There was no one with a stat window such as his.

"Not just Geumini, Bingryong, and the King Hydra but I'm even lower level than the Wyverns."

Because of the quests, his level had been at quite the disadvantage. That was because of the nature of the quests, in order to cling to success he could not focus on hunting. His level was too low to be strong. Instead of raising his skill proficiency, he had been raising troops for the siege battle.

"The users that are on the television are usually level 420 and above...I can't stop and wait so I need to first restore the seal."

Weed entered a small room in the Lord's Castle.

"Any sculpture will do as long as its not a great piece."

In order to level up Sculpture Repair he needed to repeatedly break sculptures. He had to go through the hard work of creating beautiful, gorgeous, and precious statues to break them and then restore them again.

"What is truly hard work, it seems that I do not yet know the meaning of hard work."

He agonized as he began to select the sculptures that he was going to break!

"This one will have to do it."

Weed chose the sculpture of the seven money demons. It had the work demon written on the forehead as it shamelessly extended its palm out to ask for money. It even had a smile on its face. A demon that was holding onto a bag of money! The fine piece had such precise meaning and was good enough to be praised. Weed looked at the completed sculpture.

“There!”

Kwagkwag! Wajangchang! Peoseog!

He took the sculptures and took a hammer to them.

He ripped out the eyes, broke the joints and then twisted the neck!

“This money demon!”

The bitterness and hatred of having to do this.

– You have damaged the sculpture.

Fame has decreased by 5 points.

Weed then reattached the pieces of the broken sculptures and then completely destroyed the newly made ones. The way to create the sculptures remained in his memory. He was able to restore the money demons quite quickly.

“This horrible money demon!”

Repeatedly breaking and repairing!

A lot of time passed.

– Sculpture Repair Skill is intermediate level. Durability and gloss of the sculpture will now be better.

Sculptural Memory has increased by 20.

It was a piece that greatly surpassed what a beginner sculptor could make. In order to get Intermediate Sculpture Repair he used the money demon.

"It needs a good sculpture to raise it aside from my passion and hatred!"

After the money demon was a statue of the Thirsty Hippo. It was a hippopotamus that was as large as Rover that was eating pieces of copper off of the floor. The hippose was so greedy that it was eating money with a wicked expression, a great piece with meaning! Aside from the matters of money, its artistic value was over 1400.

“Die!”

Weed hung the hippo upside down as he started a fire to burn the iron. Historically human had done all manners of atrocities against money and hippos. Rover who had come from the cow pasture and returned to sleep at the owner's side witnessed the scene. Geumini, Wyverns, Bingryong were outside the Lord's Castle as they watched Weed's behavior from outside the window.

"I will need to listen to the master's words more."

"We are very fortunate that we are not a hippo."

The Sculptures of Life swore loyalty to their master! Weed began to use the hippo for Sculpture Repair and managed to reach intermediate level 7. He had been working for over four days. Since he did not need to do miscellaneous things such as going to school, he was able to invest all his time into Royal Road.

"Now to restore the Ahreupen Imperial Seal."

Weed carefully pulled out the seal. He had wrapped the precious sculpture in a high quality cloth to avoid damage.

"I need to repair this sculpture..."

Aside from other skills, the sculpture repair skill required the user to use their hands.

"The memories of the Emperor Geihar Von Arpen are in this Sculpture so it'll be hard to fix."

The appearance of the sculpture seemed to be made of gold and jade. He was prepared to restore the ancient treasure.

“Sculpture Repair!”

He used his skills to mold the gold. He was trying to make it back to its original shape.

Paaaas!

He removed the parts that had crumbled with old age and repaired the worn out or missing parts. After years of abuse, there were no signs of cracks or completely broken pieces.

"Time to fix the bottom."

The seal symbolized the ruler of the continent but it was also a very important sculpture. Weed was careful to meticulously repair the pieces of the Ahreupen sculpture. Sculpture Repair depended on skill level but with an antique like the Ahreupen Imperial Seal it could bork at any minute so a lot was at stake. Thankfully he could repair the severe damage that had been down to the seal and the original appearance could be seen. He had managed to reproduce the full majesty of the golden dragon! He was even able to fix the embroidering.

– You have used the Sculpture Repair Skill.

The Sculpture Repair skill has greatly improved skill proficiency.

For restoring a lost art sculpture, Art has increased by 3 points.

It had an old antique look but it did not have the same feeling that large sculptures had.

“Was it successful?”

Weed was hiding the seal since it was difficult for him to look it. It was like eating rice without the crucial part known as kimchi.

"Identify!"

Unidentified Emperor's Seal: Durability 24/30

The Continent of Versaille's history of the Ahreupen Kingdom.

It is difficult to imagine the ability of the sculptor that made it.

A trusty sculptor had tried to restore it but it could not be fully restored because of the limitations of the number of years that have passed.

Artistic Value: 43100

Options : +95 Dignity

+55 Charisma

Maximum Loyalty and Morale of soldiers increased by 20%.

Reduces the harmful effects of all magic to the owner's body by 55%.

Intimidates nobles and knights.

“It’s still not completely restored.

The seal had been greatly fixed but it did not have the same feeling that the sculpture was supposed to originally have. He needed to fully restore the long and severe damage to the Emperor's Geihar von Arpen's sculpture.

"The gold dragon is supposed to be the symbol of imperial authority and government. The imperial seal that the Emperor made should emit light."

Weed began to resume his work, more slowly and cautious now.

"I need to reimagine the golden dragon as it would whole. It needs to have the same form as before to show the cold might of the Ahreupen Empire."

Sculptures were very sensitive to materials. Rocks have the basic natural beauty of being rough while marble and bronze were smooth materials. The object could be the decisive difference in a work of art. Gold was a very hard yet weak material. The finished product was very expensive to make. So you needed to make compromises. The sculpture was made of precious and special metal materials that were difficult to find but made it remarkably beautiful.

"There must be a reason that Emperor Geihar made this the symbol of the Empire."

Sculpting was a three dimensional art form and it was also influenced by the presence of light. Lighting could be used to change the impression and the construction of sculptures to make it more spectacular and magnificent. Rock sculptures were commonly left in places where people could see them. When dealing with light, it could give an entirely different feeling to the sculpture. A good engraver knows the importance of light and dark and learns light sculpting. The gold dragon was supposed to the one that rules over the light.

"Light sculpture. The Emperor rooted that authority into the sculpture!"

He had based it to be a golden dragon because of his own works. Weed began to use light sculpting to repair the seal. The unique light sculpture began to regain its form. He moved his hand more slowly. Every time his hand touch it, the history and glory of the empire would revive and the light would shine off of the sculpture. The brilliant Ahreupen Imperial glory and the resurrection of the golden dragon. Weed restored the sculpture to the best of his ability.

Ttiring!

– You have restored the Emperor's Seal.

The Seal of the Ahreupen Empire!

A symbol of the ruler of the continent of the long past.

– All sculpting skills have increased by 3% for restoring the royal seal.

– Sculpture Repair Skill is now Intermediate Level 8.

Handicrafting skill proficiency has increased by 9%.

Art has increased by 37.

Lord of the Continent: Durability 38/60

The seal of the ruler of the Continent of Versailles

A sculpture wrapped in mystery.

The memories of the ancient seem to remain within the seal.

Artistic Value: 49400

Options: +3000 fame.

+105 Dignity

+60 Reputation

+70 Charisma

The Authority of the Emperor is available

Maximum Loyalty and Morale of soldiers increased by 25%.

Resistance to all harmful magic to the owner's body is increased by 60%.

Nobles and Knights will be intimidated.

Golden Bird has memories of the past.

The historical treasure has generated a stat.

Dignity stat has been created.

Dignity: The Royal Family, the Nobility, and the Knight class.

A very important and dignified noble of society; residents will be respectful. Resident will have reduced complaints about paying taxes. You can increase this stat when you level up. Increases when the people are ruled wisely or whenever a king's command is fulfilled. Treasures, works of art, and even buildings can increase the stat.

He got a new stat, but until now Weed had only meant to distribute all his points into strength and agility. The dignity stat applied to various weapons and armor but he did not feel the need to raise it.

"I need to worry about how I'm going to eat for the next year instead of how dignified I am."

Weed then looked at the emperor's memories.

The thriving Ahreupen Empire!
They build a beautiful marble temple and there were many living creatures. Sculptures were man made pieces of art that all could share. He could see military birds fighting against monsters and large beasts scattering seeds onto the ground. In contrast, the human were lazy and inactive.

"No. No. I'm too old to play around like a young person."

"Bring me some beer over here, drink!"

In the middle of the day, in the Ahreupen Imperial Capital there were many humans that were relaxing. The Emperor Geihar von Arpen saw that his empire had gotten too great! The study of magic and swordsmanship were being neglicted because of an easier lifestyle. The Sculptures of Life were going exploited and abused so much that it was a joke. Then the Emperor Geihar von Arpen made a difficult decision.

"I call together my sculptures of life!"

The sculptures of life throughout the Ahreupen Empire were awaiting his commands.

"You are not longer obliged to serve the humans. You have no orders and now can seek your own freedom!"

The Sculptures of Life were given their freedom!

With the death of the Emperor Geihar, the Sculptures of Life did not follow anyone's commands. The birds formed their own kingdom. The Joinjok family. The City of the Sky Lavias was a tribe that originated from the Sculptures of Life! Not only that. Uncommon monsters with various appearances such as Trolls and Ogres could be seen living in the deep forest and jungles. The sculptures of life had been many of their ancestors. They left to live in caves and jungles to avoid human life.

"Where did you come from?"

"Emperor Geihar made me when he was 35 years old."

"Do not be rude. I was created when he was 25 years old."

"I am sorry to have been rude, Sunbae nim."

The rigorous system of the juniors and the seniors!

The Sculptures of Life built a world of their own and eventually found balance on the Continent of Versailles. Emperor Geihar made a number of monster sculptures of life that were well known. They did not feel a strong attachment to humans because they could not tolerate them. They began disputes and the destruction of the humans and would usually win the fights. The humans began to blame the monsters that Geihar had made. The Ahreupen Empire greatly declined and there was no longer an unified continent because the sculptures of life had left. Since then history books no longer talked of Emperor Geihar's sculptures of life. Their origins were soon forgotten. However deep in the east there were still some alive, far away from the humans.

Weed watched the video and trembled slightly.

“Sculptures of life were the origin of some monsters...”

It was limited to some monsters but it would be a fact that if it were known then sculpting would be condemned! It would increase the wariness towards sculptors. It would be even graver to the point that the awareness would cause the number of great sculptures to cease. Weed had a rotten smile on his face.

"It's not necessarily something that needs to be known."

The truth was not always good. Sometimes you want to bury the truth in history. The Emperor Geihar von Arpen had made countless sculptures and some of them were nothing more than monstrosities.

"It's not something to can be seen. Even less to be known."

Weed laughed like it was milk that was long past its expiration date.

“I’m fine. It’s better for you to eat.”

He had been eating herbs!

It would go unnoticed to others but not the this sculptor. Even if he knew, he decided to keep his mouth shut.
Eummeoeoeoeoeo.
Suddenly Rover cried out and came into the room.

The cow did all he could to remain quiet.

"The herb roots will make you stronger and more energetic."

Rover stood in gratitude as he rubbed his head.

He was weak to the owner's bribes and rewards. Weed had secretly thought this out so that it would have a profound impact on the Continent of Versailles.

"In the course of the sculpting quest, it's good to know the background information."

A simple sculpting quest gave skill proficiency and a bit of compensation.
But the one that he had in progress was an adventure with a much higher difficulty for a sculpting quest since it involved the history of sculpting on the Continent of Versailles.
It was possible to discover sculpting skills that no one knew before. Sculptures had contributed a lot to the history of mankind. In primitive times, a hunter would be bestowed a sculpture to encourage courage and faith. Sculptures were three dimensional representations of all things fundamental. Art is not necessarily bound by existence. The extent that it had on the Continent of Versailles was amazing.

Chapter 10: Ghost Ship

"Unless you advanced you skills and learned the Give Life to Sculpture skill, then there would have been no one to have found the memories and legacy that the Emperor Geihar had left behind. Identify!"Weed used his skills to view the memories in the seal once more. He could see the past of the Niflheim Empire. The Emperor Geihar had made the Imperial Ahreupen War Seal which made its way to the Niflheim Empire.

The Knights' Empire.

The knights were known to be honorable and loyal as the human territory continued to expand throughout the barren north.

Then quite a long time passed. The once flourishing Niflheim Empire was invaded by monsters. Weed could see the invading monster army destroying the castle walls of the capital.
The legion of monsters along with dragons began the decimate the human made structures and with it the genocide of its people. So far, it was as it was told in the history books of the Continent of Versialles. The magical attacks were being rained down on the capital. The Imperial Palace was covered in a rain of fire! The Imperial Knights came out of the flaming structure. They failed to defeat the monsters and had no choice but to use the Serbian Ice Witch's Beads as a last resort.

Ttiring!

Agents of the Niflheim Empire(2)

After the death of the Emperor Geihar, his descendants, servants and the rest of the Ahreupen Empire wept for four days in mourning. The seal was a symbol of the tension over power of the ruler of the continent was being disputed, so it came into the possession of many. The Niflheim Empire tried to retrieve the seal for over 200 years. However they could not avoid war. The invasion of monsters led by the dragons killed and burned the royalty. Many do not know that the sudden invasion of monsters was the true reason for the fall of the empire. However, the Emperor Geihar had granted life to Golden Bird who distinctly remembers the destruction of the Empire. The Golden Bird is chasing after those responsible for revenge.

Difficulty: S

Quest restriction: Second chain quest of a trilogy. Advanced sculpting.

The second stage of an S class quest!

– You can now appreciate the buildings of the Romantic Era of the Niflheim Empire.

As a sculptor that owns the town, you can now build buildings and castles. Buildings can be built. The artistic value of the buildings from the Romantic Era will spread culture among the nobility. You can now promote the birth of knights and expand political influence. You can build special buildings.

Gugugugugu.
The Golden Bird that he was looking for from the Niflheim Empire's Past had appeared. It was a bird that was made out of lustrous gold. You could take your eyes off such a creature stirring with energy. It had eyes made out of light blue sapphire and white platinum hair. There was a small crown on its head encrusted with diamonds. It flew around beautifully with its clear golden body. A sculptor would not be able to help but admire it.

"Gulp."

Weed swallowed.

If he could hunt down the Golden Bird then he could sell it for money!

'I could take apart the precious materials and sell it to the store...'

He looked with greedy eyes as if unique items were rolling down the street.

"This was Emperor Geihar's favorite. He has good taste in gold and jewelry!"

Weed had to hesitate from simply kidnapping it and running.

"Emperor Geihar's Sculpture of Life."

It was not a form of loyalty towards the emperor for having been his teacher of sorts. There was a more worrisome part.

“Golden Bird stat window!”

– Sculpture of Life stat window

It is not possible at this time to view more information

Name

Senolia Luseloni

Race

Bird

Type

Nature

Level

519

Fame

60

Title

Intelligent Bird

Class

The Tracker of Clear Skies

A creature made by Emperor Geihar. Made at the same time along with the Imperial Ahreupen Seal. Likes fleshy, ample worms.

+Can talk to birds.

+Very fast

+Can break various weapons such as swords with its teeth.

+Cannot be poisoned

+Unknown

+Unknown

It was a small cute bird in comparison to the giant armies of the Embinyu Cult and the King Hydra.

'I shouldn't touch it.'

Weed wet his mouth. He would not be able to tame Golden Bird like the others. As a sculpture of life, they devoted their lives to their parents. They were not accustomed to listening to others. The fact that the Wyverns and Geumini were still following him for so long and had not went to find another owner was proof.

Gugugu.

The Golden Bird flew out of the castle window away from Weed. It knew the identity of the enemy that destroyed the Niflheim Empire. Weed chased behind the Golden Bird. Golden Bird was leisurely riding on the wind's currents. Weed occasionally looked up at its location and raised his speed. He got Bingryong and Phoenix who were flying outside. It was handy when it came to moving over places like mountains and forests. It would be more difficult to tranverse such paths by land and wagon. After a couple of days, the Golden Bird flew northeast and arrived at the coast!

Kwaleuleuleuleung, kwagwagwagwang!

The sky was dark and cloudy and it looked like it was going to rain, making it difficult to seperate the sky from the ocean. The sound of thunder could be heard in the distance as the waves struck.

“Is that it?”

In response to Weed's question, the Golden Bird gave a cry.

Gugugu.

“Then where is it?”

Kkukku.

"It's up to me from here?"

Gugugu.

"So...the culprit behind the destruction of the Niflheim Empire is somewhere beyond here?"

Gugugu..
Weed could guess as much!

He had completed an S rank quest where the first step was to defeat the High Priest of the Embinyu Cult despite not gathering information through conversations. There was a need to have accurate background information to complete a quest. However, Weed had watched a lot of these kinds of experiences with his grandmother. They would kill time together by watching television. He had learned reasoning from watching drama!

"There was a trace of dragons in the fight against the Embinyu Cult in the River of Wailing. They must be related!"

Weed roughly noticed the identity of the Embinyu Cult. They were an evil organization on the Continent of Versailles. There were a number of quests involved with the destructions caused by the cult. Weed had a bad feeling about the Embinyu. The High Priest had not dropped any items because he had sacrificed his own life. He would have dropped something unique for high priests classes such as Saints.

"Miser. Worst ugly. Dirty bastard."

Weed went on about his idea.

"So the Embinyu Cult intervened and caused the invasion of monsters...but we do not know the identity of the other culprit."

There had to be someone behind the monsters. They had only been a supporting role in a drama. Villain, victim, intrigue, strife! The Niflheim Kingdom was the victim. The Embinyu Cult had supported the collapse of the empire. A long time passed. He stilled needed to wipe out the bad guys before the Niflheim Empire could reconstruct.

"Perfect. It makes perfect sense!"

Weed was impressed with his reason. He had never believed that the Embinyu Cult was behind all of it. There was no fun in a drama if the villain was alone. For there to be a great drama there had to be multiple large scale villains!

"Only then does it all fit together."

He waited on the beach until morning but the storm showed no signs of passing. He had read similar information on the board about the geography of the Continent of Versailles.

Holy City: Do not enter my colleagues. Character level 376.
Misty Lake Region: I had wanted to go to the lake to hunt the singing elves only to die. Character level 312.
Owl's Nest: Do not go even if you want to commit suicide. I barely escaped. Character level 389.

Poco's Cave: Don't come here. I died in this place. I went the owl's nest with five others and died. We all dropped a level. Character level 388.

In the north there were a number of places that gamers had adventured into at the cost of their lives. They had only explored briefly but they gave what little information they had to the next challengers.

The northeast coast of the North: Severe rainstorm and lightning bolt strikes. Not accessable by sea. Climate is very bad. However, this smells like a quest. There are a large number of monsters in the ocean. Character level 379.

Based on the board, it looked like the lightning would never stop.

“The sea...”

The waves were high as if they would topple a ship. It would be no easy task for the Wyvern to navigate across the sea. They had no time to relax as hostile monsters would appear.

"We don't have the skills to make a boat."

Weed was talking about the shipbuilding skill. It was associated with Intermediate Level 5 Blacksmithing which helps weave timber but it was impossible to make a large boat.

"Should I go back to Morata and start shipbuilding skills?"

It was a severe waste to build a Marines Guild in Morata just to learn the skill. Even if he managed to learn the skill, in order to get past the storm he needed at least intermediate shipbuilding skills.

"That would take at least a year..."

Weed was in pain from the headache. It would be very expensive to keep the Wyvern on the deck. He wanted to save money but he could not buy a fast boat and the central continent was also a problem. He needed to hire officer and a crew. It would all be very difficult to do.

"Master, there is something moving on the sea."

"The sea?"

Weed squinted his eyes to look at the stormy waters. Like the Wyverns had said, there was something little sailing to the north. It was calmly sailing despite the high waves! It had ragged torn sailes and the mast was split into two. The hull had a giant hole in it. It became more visible with the rain and wind but it was a very old medium sized boat.

"Is it possible to sail in that state?"

Weed was puzzled. He had seen trading ships in broadcasts before. They were always in top condition since they needed to maintain a heavy load. He did not understand how in that condition it could carry itself through the storm. The Wyverns flewy to observe more closely.

"Master, there are undead riding on the deck of that ship."

"Undead you say..."

An idea flashed into Weed's head. There was a ghost ship moving around in the sea.

"That means I can get a free ride!"

Weed took out a sculpting knife.

Seogeok seogeok.

He was cutting away at a piece of rock.

"A long skinny body with a robe and a red jewel lodged into the forehead."

He had fought a lot of skeletons. He was actually familiar with the appearance and body structure. However the skeleton he was making had a different feel to it. The Lich Shire that Weed fought in the Yuroki Mountains! It was completely different from the simple and ignorant Karichwi.

"It needs to be smaller and more compact. It is necessary for the lich to be a corrupt and insidious wizard using any means for the goal."

Weed's complaints poured out.

"I don't know what hell feels like. I lived a good life and its too difficult for me to work on various types of sculptures."

Each time his sculpting knife moved the lich began to reveal itself. The finger bones were vivid and lifelike and the head was that of a skeleton! The eye sockets were narrow and empty. All of the features, even the eyes, gave off the look of an actual lich. It was very similar to the Lich Shire in appearance. However it had a more cunning feeling to it. The skeleton's head was filled with teeth that were giving a rotten smile!

"No. There's something off. It has to be a lich that has lived for a very long time so there needs to be some cracks."

He split a crack into the skull. He even added in some holes.

"Now it looks a lot better."

On the forehead he mounted the ruby that he had gotten from a quest. Now it was a skeleton, the birth of a lich!

Ttiring!

– Please set the name of the sculpture.

"Lich Shire....no. That's not it,"

Weed tried to think of a name.

"It's going to be in the sea so it needs to be a strong name...not like like as Karichwi though."

The Orc Karichwi had powerful charisma! Weed had named himself very well thinking of that in mind. But this time the name needed intelligence and dignity.

"The name of the sculpture is One Eyed Lich!"

– The sculpture is not one eyed. Do you still want to use that name?

It was not a choice for Weed.

"Yes, it's absolutely necessary to have one eye at the ocean."

Masterpiece! You have completed the One Eyed Lich Sculpture!

A Lich is a wizard of dark souls!

It is a sculptor's work that is so amazing that it takes away the viewer's breath. It is possible to be confused with Shire since the lich resembles him. It is revolting to have a lich sculpture since it is difficult to have it considered as art. The name does not fit.

Artistic Value: 269

Options: One Eyed Lich will increase health and mana regeneration by 11% for a day.

Intelligence and Wisdom are increased by 20 points.

Agility has increased by 10.

Power has decreased by 75.

Casting speed has increased by 5%.

Control over the undead has increased by 3%.

Does not overlap with other sculpture effects.

So far, the number of completed fine pieces: 86

– Sculpting skills have improved

– Fame has increased by 12.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 1

– Intelligence has increased by 2.

"It's successful!"

The birth of a fine sculpture! Weed was not done with the sculpture yet. There was still things to do with it.

"Sculptural Shapeshift!"

– Sculptural Shapeshift has been used.

Weed began to grow thinner and his hair fell off. He was bald and in a flash the flesh disappeared from his body in steam. Weed had turned into the One Eyed Lich!

– The body has now changed to that of a lich so a number of equipment have become unusable and are recommended to switch them.

– You can not wear mithril or divine equipment and it may be necessary to obtain new equipment based on the species type.

– As a result of Sculpture Shapeshift, Intelligence and Wisdom have increased.

– Strength and agility has decreased dramatically and art has been reduced to a third.

– Health and mana have significantly increased.

– Physical limitations have disappeared.

– The transformation is not complete since Sculptural Understanding has yet to reach Advanced Level 3.

– Life Drain and Mana Drain can be used at 20% efficiency but is unusable in the sunlight. It can be used to recover health and mana.

– You are now fatally weak to divine power.

– This form will remain until Sculpture Shapeshift is removed.

It was easy to replace the equipment. He still had the Fallen Saint Staff that he got from the Lich Shire. A black magic item for controlling the undead! With the Saint's staff in the right hand, he held the Necromancer's Tome in the left.

“Kilkilkil”

Weed laughed with his charred teeth. His put his chin forwards and smiled as an unscrupulous lich! He was wearing a vampire cape and the robe of an Embinyu wizard he had looted. Items from the other churches were holy element but this one strengthened undead affinity because it only had 3 durability left. Weed covered one of his eyes with a black cloth.

"I shall be called Deorol!"

He called himself a looter! With that, Weed had turned himself into a lich.

"It's short and its good. It feels dirty and lethal so it fits a pirate well."

Eummeoeoeoeoeo

Wah-il came flying back only to see that Rover had been crying. He was crying because of that owner. Wah-il wrapped him in his wings.

"It'll be fine. There is nothing to be worried about that man for."

Eummeo, eummeoeoeoeo.

"Wait here."

Weed was going to walk to the beach in the rainstorm. The rain bounced off of his bony skeleton. The robe and cloaks were soaked in the rain but as a lich he did not need to worry about cold or exhaustion. Weed held out the Fallen Saint's Staff.

"Quick Water Walk."

It was a spell to walk on water. It was a basic spell written in the magical Necromancer Tome. The skeleton advanced by walking onto the waves. With its light body it did not need much mana consumption.

"Stat window."

Character Name

Weed

Type

Undead

Level

368

Class

Lich

Health

113,480

Mana

197,964

Strength

185

Agility

361

Stamina

Infinite

Wisdom

1,463

Intelligence

1,128

Fighting Spirit

479

Endurance

Infinite

Patience

695

Charisma

419

Leadership

672

Guilt

388

Charm

210

+Life Drain and Mana Drain can be used.

+Has the ability to command the undead.

+Vulnerable to Divine magic.

+Stats have increased by 3 percent for being a fine piece.

Weed had more than enough mana.

"I'm not going to die in the sea."

The Golden Bird and the Wyverns remained some distance away from the ocean. It was unreasonable for Golden Bird that rode on the wind to go into the rain and thunder to be blown away! Weed walked up to the ghost ship. It looked like the hull was over a hundred years old. The sails were not adjusted and the entire place looked like there was a haunted crew.

We are called the Crescent Crew.

In the morning and evening we drink rum

When we are drunk we are not homesick

The captain caused trouble by taking us to a deserted island.

The voice of seamen singing was heard. The voices of the men matched with the sound of the waves. The ghost ship war rocking significantly but it was also moving very quickly. Unlike a regular ship, the ghost ship itself was a living monster. As Weed approached the ship a ladder fell down. They had saw him coming. The One Eyed Lich then noticed a crucial error.

"This is the ghost ship. I welcome the lich wizard."

The crew of the ghost ship introduced themselves. There was an extreme respect towards liches. However, he did not have the important left arm. All captains are supposed to have a hook instead of an arm. It was a manly pirate romance to have one arm and one eye.

Morata had just completed its newest building. It was the Art Center that was built, a favorite of the beginners! It was built on an area of over 2000 square meters and with a large garden. Morata's sculptures were stored within. There were various colorful paintings and flowers and trees everywhere. There was an image of Weed sitting on a blue ice dragon. There were various paintings on the walls of him. There was room for further improvement but those pictures show the memories and light the way to the future.

"It's finally done."

Pavo placed a plaque at the front.

Weed Art Center

Two years since he arrivedl.

He probably died at least a few times

Morata Province

His sculptures are all over the Continent of Versailles

Through hard work he gained tremendous sculpting skill proficiency.

There is still work to improve on.

Statue of Freya and the Light Tower are all representations of his work.

The sculptures by the Wailing River as well

His sculptures are available to the public and are committed to the continent's peace.

A friend of Weed, an architect built the art center.

This is dedicated to the people.

The plaque was created to celebrate the moment of the completion of the two story building. It caused an increase in Morata's contribution, closeness and reputation. A positive phenomenon occurred in the city.

– Morata's cultural development has increased.

Artistic development speed has increased by 3%.

Culture further increases expansion.

Local fame has increased by 15, the Center of Art is designated as a monument.

– The art and wisdom of the people of Morata has increased. The probability of more artists and wizards being born is high.

The building was developed to be part of the city.

“Finally...”

Pavo felt a deep rewarding sense of self satisfaction as he closed the doors to the art center. Weed had not named the sculpture but the fact that a legendary sculpture was there was amazing. Soon it would be opened. They sent a messenger to get Mandol and his wife so that they could open up the art center.

"As an architect I have always been thinking that I've lived my life fully and confidently but now..."

Pavo confessed his thoughts to Gaston, his painter friend.

"I have always been trying to think of ways to get extra options or more money for my stuff. This is common for an architect. However to only accept a single copper to create such a work of art? The mind of a sculptor is hard to understand."

Gaston tried to think of some encouragement but only sat there in silence. He did not know anything other than trying to draw more beautiful paintings.

"Weed is special. He is young but he has the warm heart of a father."

"Yea. I can't help but think what he is doing now."

"You are the mean and petty archer Pale?"

"How is it that Irene, the lousy healer is here?"

"It's Romuna, the wizard that eats young children whole!"

After they came back from Todeum, Pale and his colleagues were getting bad reactions from the people.

"Wasn’t the original reward 200 gold? Now it’s only 30 gold."

"You completed the quest so quickly so you must have cheated right? I will not change my mind on this!"

Even though the people were being vicious, they were undaunted as they tried to build up familiarity again as recover their good faith with high level quests. Pale and his party went into the weapon shop.

"How are you doing!"

Irene smiled brightly.

"There's a lot more people here now. Business must be good."

"There are a lot of young people fighting monsters now. It would be nice if there were more children in the north...So what brings you here?"

"We're here to sell off our things."

There were now five weapon shops in Morata. The monthly income tax revenue had increased by a few percent which is then reinvested into the merchants. The supply of weaponry was large. Mapan greedily bought many weapons from their supplies because of their large surplus. When operating a blacksmith it was important to gather raw materials in large quantity. Pale and his party visited the first weapon store that was in Morata.

"We would not want to bother a benefactor of Morata with a request. However, these days there are a lack of weapons in the stores..."

As they entered the weapon store, Pale and his party stood still and listened.

'If anything it sounds like a quest."

It was possible that it was a quest to get weapons or hunt and gather materials. In fact many beginners were getting quests that involved getting weapons. They could obtain weapons from hunting goblins as well. If the delivery is made then the user could get a premium on purchases from the store. Even if they had bad fame, they could still get common quests.

"Back in the day, there were some very famous weapon smiths of the Niflheim Empire."

"What?"

"All of the royal family's armors were made by them."

From the description it smelled like a high level quest. Irene's eyes were sparkling.

"Manager oppa, could you please tell us the family's name?"

Irene was usually innocent but she was very interested when it came to quests.

"It was the Viteoleu family. With the fall of the empire they were never heard of again...but what of their descendants? They must still b e there and they would be a big help to the weapon shipments."

Ttiring!

Masters of the sword

There were many professional artisans and knights of the Niflheim Empire of the Viteoleu family. I want you to find their descendants and bring them here.

Difficulty: B

Quest limit: Will fail upon the death of the descendants of the Viteoleu.

Pale and party got a Rank B quest. It was a big difference in progress compared to the normal users. Ever since they been helping with Weed in Morata's defense, their familiarity with the people increased. Pale, Maylon, Romuna, and Irene looked at each other.

'Do it?'

'Let's do it.'

'I think it would be fun even if it fails.'

Maylon especially wanted to do the quest. Pale said as the representative.

"Can we go get them?"

"Will you? They were once in the capital but now its a haven of monsters. Ask around the shops. I have my pride but would you do this quest for me?"

You have accepted the quest.

Pale and his party accepted the quest. The quest could also be shared to more people.

"I'm getting a little anxious though..."

"Should we get Weed?"

The capital of the Niflheim Empire was a large hunting ground so they would be sufficient. However they could get more quests since Weed had high fame. Irene thought about it and shook her head.

"Weed is still doing his three stage quest."

It was an S class quest from the church. He needed to take care of that quest firest.

"Well, we could always get the Geomchi oppas."

Surka suggested that they get their help. However they were not sure the Geomchis would come. In this case, Hwaryung persuaded them.

"Would you like a quest?"

Since Geomchi and Geomchi2 were in the Yuroki Mountains on dates so Geomchi3 was the representative. Geomchi went on a long journey to Morata to go help the beginners. The lively little beginners needed help. He took them to the training center and taught them as disciples.

"I'm a little busy...."

"This is Jeong you know?"

"The actress?"

Jeong Hyo-Lynn was the heroine of the recent sensational drama on television. Her energetic personality made her perfect as an actress.

"My career is a singer. I'm called Hyo-Lynn there."

"You appear on television as an actress but still able to go hunting..."

"So are you busy?"

"By all means."

Her music sales was nothing compared to her appearance and atmosphere. To the Geomchis she was a perfect woman, not as a singer since they don't know about music. However it was because she frequently appeared on shows! The Geomchis decided that she was the one actress that they all wanted to go out with. They awkwardly gathered in Morata to go to the capital. Mapan got a wagon and joined in. Whenever traders traveled they would level up. There was no difference between fighting and trading. Mapan went to Morata and asked them.

"Aren't you going to get Weed?"

He suddenly proposed to which Hwaryung said.

"We're going to the capital to hunt. Let's see what's Weed doing."

"Okay?"

The party began to wonder what Weed was doing. Weed had gone to the ocean. After a few days on horseback they reached the place.

"Where is Weed?"

Pale had very good eyesight as an archer. He could see visibly in the distance.

"I can't seem to find him, let's send a whisper?"

It was then. A storm was coming in the distance as it was going to hit the ship. Each time the ship moved there was lightning striking. They shouted out.

"A ship is approaching!"

The wide stretched sails were torn, the deck and the hull had holes in them. The ghost ship passed through the waves. The ghost crew was on deck wandering around. Weed, the one eyed lich, was standing at the bow. Ghost Fleet Captain! Everytime the wind blew, his torn cloak would flap. The golden bird was sitting on the shoulders of the lich grooming its feathers.

Chapter 11: Captain Deoreol

It was not difficult to change from being a guest to the new captain of the ghost ship. All he needed to do was beat the previous captain in a mild sword fight.

– You have become the captain of the ghost ship.

– As the captain of the ghost ship, you can now decide how to navigate the ship.

– Leadership has increased by 7.

– Charisma has increased by 14.

"Where's the original captain?"

Weed's jawbone moved as he asked, so the former captain of the crew answered him.

"80 years ago I threw him off at a deserted island. He probably died of starvation by now. Kilkilkil!"

Soon after he became captain, something happened. A myriad of ghost ship quests!

Find the Treasure

Raid another ship

Cross the largest sea in the quickest time

Hunt the dolphins

Unfortunately Weed would not be able to receive 3 of the quests even if he wanted to. That was because those quests required the ghost ship to engage in battle.

"Ghost Ship window."

The Ghost Ship Maria

This ship was built in a port by a family of shipbuilding craftsmen. It's a medium sized sailboat, made with the intention of being a merchant ship. However the ship got caught up in some sort of unfortunate accident every year. For seven years, every owner of the ship met some sort of catastrophe and has become a symbol of bad luck ever since. On the ninth year, it fell into the hands of a crew of criminals pirates. That summer the ship got caught in a storm and sank. The crew died at sea.

Speed

3-5

There are a total of 35 crew members. All of them are undead.

There are 42 cannons. 39 of them are broken.

Cargo space

36/298

Sails

0/6

Durability of the Hull

350/1390

Wind

-49

Waves

-27

The poor excuse for sails does not allow the ship to sail properly.

Become slower when entangled in seaweed.

There is a large hole in the hull and the wood of the ghost ship is distorted.

The situation could worsen further.

Will encounter misfortune at sea.

Weed had placed the ghost ship entirely under his control. The ghost ship would never surrender to human but it was not hard to become the captain if you were undead. It was unreasonable for someone besides Weed to do this unless they had Sculpture Shapeshift or the Reject Death Skill.

"Do you wish to plunder?"

"Uooooo."

"Come with me if you want to go rob people!"

"Long live Captain Deoreol!"

"I will call you Deoreol."

"Deoreol, Deoreol, Deoreol!"

The Ghost Crew was soaked in Weed's charisma. However he did not have the necessary sailing skills to navigate. The Geomchis and Pale's party saw him returning from the ocean. There was a one eyed skeleton with a hook attached to its left arm. Mapan looked closely with his eyes.

"It's Weed!"

It was a trade in which you only tried to earn money and laugh in the face of new challenges. The Pirate Captain Deoreol who leads the ghost ship!

"It looks like Weed has been working hard."

Pale and Irene thought to themselves.

'So he's...a pirate. It suits him."

'Sometimes I'm ashamed to think that I'm his friend...'

The Geomchis were envious.

"Capain of a ghost ship...such a great success."

"Pirate Deoreol. Nicely done."

Weed went to pick up Pale's party and the Geomchis. This way the quest would be more enjoyable. However, he never did get the chance to say goodbye to Da'in. Weed had hoped that she would have approached him first but she did not seem to want to. They departed into the sea on a clear day. There were seagulls in the sky and dolphins in the ocean. They were kind of envious of the expensive ghost ship and its crew. Zephyr took out his rod.

"Fishing at the sea...I wonder if I could catch a dolphin."

The placed his fisherman rod along the ship. Weed was planning on increasing his fishing skill while working.

"I'm going to catch some fish and make some chowder."

"Weed hyungnim, I hope the ghost crew doesn't need to eat."

"It's useless for them, alcohol only keeps their morale up."

The Geomchis went to the deck of the ship to either sunbathe or diving into the ocean to swim. They were as fast as the Ghost Ship.

"Geomchi27 are you good at swimming?"

"It's a must!"

"I know a way to make this more thrilling."

"Really?"

One of the Geomchis gave himself a self inflicted knife wound to the side! They wanted to use the blood to attract sharks so that they could eat.

“Very funny.”

The rest of the Geomchis jumped in as well into the sea. The feeling of swimming in the ocean surrounded by shark fins! There would soon be no sharks left.

"What are all these people?"

Hwaryung friend Bellotte was puzzled. There was a lich pirate with all sorts of large men on a battered ghost ship.

"Girl, milk is good for the body."

The crew of the ghost ship were considerably rotting since it had been three years. In general, it was tough to be forced into this sort of adventure on the Continent of Versailles. Hwaryung gave her some encouragement.

“You’ll adapt shortly."

"Huh?"

"It's surprisingly fun."

She was going to the deck to enjoy sunbathing. She took off her colorful dress and put on her swim suit.

"I'll come along...I didn't expect that I would get a chance like this."

Maylon, Surka, Irene, Romuna also laid down. There was no need to be worried about the gaze of men. The Geomchis were too shy to make eye contact and the ghost crew was busy with this jobs. The awkward practitioners went around opening the doors of the rooms.

"Let's see what we can find?"

Exploring the rooms of the ghost ship! Originally humans would not want to wander around on a ghost ship in the middle of the sea. That's why there was a fear of shipwrecked boats and ghost ships would take away a person's breath in fear. There were all sorts of monsters and hidden traps. However Weed and the Geomchis did not feel this was serious at all or were the least bit worried

In fact it was the monsters that they felt sorry for!

"Liquor!"

"Let's binge and drink rum, this is a paradise!"

The Geomchis had already went to the bottom of the ghost ship and were drinking the rum that they crew had been saving. Since Weed was a high ranking undead, the lich, and with his charisma he dominated the Ghost Crew so they did not have any complains. They would still be loyal to their captain even if he abandoned them on a deserted island! They did as they were told. Weed didn't have to do anything so he was fishing.

"Captain."

"Yes, sir"

Weed called forth the fleet captain of the ghost ship.

"Are there boats close to here?"

Ships usually went along a river or the sea, so there weren't many trade ships in the northern waters. There was a significant amount of small fishing boats! In his eyes, the fisherman were probably only around level 20. The most he could get from them was some japtem.

"On the map you can go down here a bit. There are a lot of boats there."

Weed unfolded it. He was using the map of the sea that was on the ghost ship for quite some time. Each of the city's current developmental status was identified, such as the port facilities and terrain. It was the largest sea in the northeast. It connected to the seas of the central continent. The Mediterranean Sea bordered the various kingdoms of the European Continent. The area was swarming with merchant ships and pirate ships.

"That's a lot of prey."

"That's true."

"Pirates...huhuhu."

Weed hastily managed the ship. WIth a smile on his face, he needed to be careful for his jawbone to slip from his cracked skull.

"Back into the sea."

"Understood sir!"

The haunted Ghost Crew began to change direction at this signal. The Ghost ship entered back into the waves. Weed had anchored onto the island for four days. There were many beasts on the deserted island as well as sea monsters. Using his blacksmith and repair skill, he repaired the cannons while gathering food and water supplies. He took care of the wooden hull and used leather to make sails. WIth his carving skills and made a one eyed, one armed, and one legged pirate to mount at the head of the ship. Aside from the fact that it was dressed like a scarecrow, the shape of the ship had considerably improved.

"Ghost Ship window."

The Ghost Ship Maria

This ship was built in a port by a family of shipbuilding craftsmen. It's a medium sized sailboat, made with the intention of being a merchant ship. However the ship got caught up in some sort of unfortunate accident every year. For seven years, every owner of the ship met some sort of catastrophe and has become a symbol of bad luck ever since. On the ninth year, it fell into the hands of a crew of criminals pirates. That summer the ship got caught in a storm and sank. The crew died at sea.

Speed

11-19

There are a total of 35 crew members. All of them are undead.

There are 42 cannons. 6 of them are broken.

Cargo space

66/298

Sails

6/6

Durability of the Hull

965/1390

Wind

-16

Waves

6

The hull remains distorted but can now move at full speed.

Will encounter misfortune at sea.

Players will have 20 increased hostility to all country when offshore.

Pirates will respect you.

While on board, injuries will be slightly reduced.

With the Ghost Ship Maria, he took full advantage of the materials. Even without being a shipbuilder, he was able to fix most of the essential parts of the ship. Surka, Maylon, Irene, and Pale were off to the side having a secret conversation.

"But what's going to happen to our quest?"

"It's strange that we're taking a ghost ship around the sea."

"I hope we don't accumulate notoriety like we did in Todeum right?"

"Hopefully we won't..."

They were hoping that they didn't make the wrong choice by taking the quest.

Chapter 1: Captain of the Ghost Ship

Using sculpture transformation Weed was in the appearance of the Lich Pirate Deorol. There were limits to the Lich’s magic, health and mana absorption ability, but he was still a high-ranking undead. When Weed spoke, the ghost sailors trembled.

“Please, relieve your anger.”

“I implore you to not throw me into the sea, with a rock tied to my ankle.”

“The waters here are shark infested. Captain, don’t use me as shark bait, I’ll do anything you command me to do.”

“I only have 2 teeth left… Surely, you won’t pull them too? Are you going to make me toothless like the First Mate?”

With the crew in despair, Weed couldn’t miss this opportunity. With his shoulders raised proudly he asked.

“Who am I to you?”

“You are the owner of this ship, ruler of the 7 seas, and our Master!”

The ghost sailors, who were symbols of terror, rubbed their hands together and sang his praises. They went to their knees, and bowed down to Weed.

Appearing weak against the strong and strong against the weak was typical of Weed.

“Huhuhu!”

“Kellkellkell!” While Weed’s sailors were playing around, Pale’s party were surveying on the deck.

“We aren’t going any further from the reef, it the ship even moving?”

“It’s really slow.”

The Ghost Ship was originally a slow ship.

Weed touched up the ship with his blacksmith skill, but the Ghost Ship was an old rust bucket. The maximum number of passengers, that was allowed on this medium sized ship, was only 70 people!

Pale’s party, plus the Geomchis were on the ship; due to their weight, the ship sunk even lower below the water and could not move. Geomchis were people that could make a 12 people limit elevator, maxed out with only 8 people.

“The waves are really strong; and the wind is blowing in the opposite direction of where we want to go!”

Strong winds, heavy waves, reefs scratching the ship, and seaweed were getting tangled on the rudder. The Ghost Ship that carries misfortune!

**Kuhiiing**

With a frightful noise, where the ghosts of the dead congregate, it was surely a ship of dread. During sailing, all kinds of bad things were happening.

The Ghost Ship was going around in circles and Weed and the ghost sailors were chatting around and, “I am Deorol!” could be heard.

“Fiercest Pirate Deorol! He plunders from the rich then, then without mercy takes everything from the poor, women, and even children!”

“Kuheheheh!” Weed laughed proudly.

Where his left eye should be, there was an eye patch; and he had a red bandana tied around his head. Where his ears should be there was a hole, and around it hung a pair of earrings.

**Palang Palang**

The earrings that were made of a silver coin, and made noise every time the wind blew.

“This is what real pirates should be wearing.”

Pirates and a Lich’s romanticism! Pale and his party tried to keep their distance from Weed. The outfit even repelled Surka, the youngest of the group.

Twelve days of boring sailing passed.

Due to the speed of the Ghost Ship, the trip was 3-4 times longer then normal; but they finally the reached the Neria Sea.

Neria Sea is the Versailles Continent’s largest inland sea. From here all kinds of ships such and fishing, explorers and merchant ships go back and forth each day.

The ship was running out of provisions; Weed and Zephyr used their fishing skills to make up for the lack of food. Fishing skill intermediate level 4! It was lower than Weed’s other skills, since he could only raise them near a river, lake or sea. In the Neria Sea, morning, noon, and evening was fishing time.

“I got a big catch!”, Beside him, Zephyr raised his fishing rod. “Oh ho, it’s a clam this time. Wow, it even has a pearl inside.” He had caught a pearl oyster.

Weed glimpsed this occurrence, but a not one word left his mouth. Zephyr, with his fishing skills, could fish up a great white shark, small whales and antiques from the sea. Weed could get, cutlass, mackerel, or if he was lucky a red sea bream fish. This hurt Weed’s delicate pride. Weed threw his line deep into the sea. Moments later, due to a fish nibbling on the bait the line moved.

‘Looks like I’ll get a large fish this time’

In the sea, fish with high vitality and strength could be caught. If those fish are eaten, life recovery goes up. Furthermore if it was cooked and eaten, it raises maximum HP by 1. Of course even if the same meal was eaten, the effect is the same; but you could get stronger even while resting, so many users enjoyed food and rest together.

Weed pulled on the fishing rod with all his strength. “Big catch!” The fish with its mouth opened wide caught on the hook. It couldn’t really be called a fish, since it was a sea monster with nine legs and an ugly face.

“Kwaaarg!” The monster tried to threaten Weed with its roar. However Weed’s appearance was that of a Lich, his eyes were burning bright, and even his earrings stopped the monster from struggling.

In terms of cruelty, no one could top Weed. “ It looks pretty tasty!” Weed cut up the sea monster into pieces, and used it for an ingredient for the seafood soup. It wasn’t a bad catch, especially since he hadn’t prepared bait for fishing in the sea. During that time Zephyr pulled in a large tuna, one that he could barely carry.

‘Now I know what they mean by, “When a cousin buys land, your stomach hurts”(t/n: Korean saying for envy). Weed acted as if he didn’t notice the tuna caught by Zephyr.

“Your fishing skill is unmatched as always.”

“This isn’t much, Brother.”

“It seems you caught many valuables…”

Pottery, old bottles, even fish holding treasure in their bellies, were all caught by Zephyr. If you compare his fishing to hunting, he was making just as much. Zephyr had an advanced skill in fishing, and he used it to the best of his abilities.

The baits that could only be used for fishing in the sea struggled vigorously on the hook. When a fish came close the bait (worm, shrimp, and baby tuna) did their best to dance and tempt the fish. As a big fish, the temptation was too much, it couldn’t resist biting on the hook.

With his advanced level in fishing, Zephyr even had the bait tracking skill. By looking at the surface of the water he could see the hook deep underneath the sea, in a magnified view. He could even manipulate the hook to move, using mana. Using this skill he could survey the sea and find the fish to target.

There are rumors of one player who only fished in Royal Road, and his best find was a shipwreck filled with treasure. A fisher wasn’t a job to be ignored.

Zephyr had a great deal of good food, from fishing; so he used his high strength and health/vitality to participate in battles. When a large mob of monsters grouped together, nimbly sending bait that matched the monster; and then coaxing them to separate from the group, was a fisherman’s specialty.

“Once you get into it, fishing is something that has a lot of depth”, said a Zephyr, who hated long explanations.

“It’s mostly all luck. My luck stat is over 700, so that’s why fishing is so easy for me.” Weed had his Art stat as a sculptor, Zephyr as a fisherman had Luck. Leisurely fishing in the river while increasing stamina and vitality; Zephyr who had an incredible amount of luck! Even when hunting, monsters frequently missed, and they also dropped a lot of loot and equipment.

Zephyr was someone who looked like a lazy person but in reality tries really hard to be the best. He was a kind of cheeky character who you can’t hate! He cast his line and asked Weed.

“Umm... Hyung-nim, about Yurin…”

“Hmm?”

“I’m just asking, but if Yurin got herself a boyfriend, what kind of guy would suit her? I want to know what you think as her brother.”

Zephyr asked Weed for his opinion as if he wasn’t really curious.

“Yurin’s boyfriend…” Weed thought for a moment then answered.

“He has to be a kind guy, someone who really cherishes my sister.”

“That’s right isn’t it.”

Weed gained his knowledge about taking care of a girl, by taking care of his sister. Yurin was still young, but it was an important period in her life, where she could move forward in the world. She could meet a man, or set goals for her life. If she wanted to study abroad, then she should go. Living for a dream, or love; experiencing success, failure, regretting or reminiscing about the past, is what life was about.

“Even if they fight as a couple, a man who uses violence is no good.”

“Hahaha, of course of course.”

“When they’re dating he can’t even let one drop or water touch her hand.”

“…………”

“If I ever find a mark left from water; that is the day I’ll kill him”

“…………”

It was the heart of the brother who didn’t want his sister to suffer even a bit.

On the sea, Hwaryeong’s friend Bellotte, and other girls, became remarkably close and were chatting together. They bathed in the sunlight and lounged around the deck to share stories.

“I’m sure it must have been frightening, when Weed boarded the Ghost Ship alone.”

Surka imagined the scene in her head. The storm would have been raging, sky covered in darkness, and raining relentlessly. The Ghost Ship would have been covered in seaweed and broken in many places.

“He boarded the ship filled with undead sailors alone! It’s really scary you know.”

Most of the women sympathized with what Surka was saying. It would be like a scene from a horror movie, but probably worse. In the Royal Road forums, there were posts of users saying they saw the Ghost Ship pass by. Other posts talk about the Ghost Ship that passes silently by, undead sailors with no legs or arms, who will bring a scream to your throat if your eyes meet.

To board a Ghost Ship at night, and alone would have taken an amazing amount of courage.

Hwaryeong stuck her tongue out as she said, “Basically, instead of the victim in a horror movie, Weed is ….” Irian finished the statement.

“More like a horror movie’s monster.”

Weed was frightening in the fact that he had the ability to exploit the Ghost Ship and its crew. At that moment they could hear Weed’s skill ‘Lion’s Roar’.

“It’s time to work!” While on the sea you would think there would be nothing to do but rest, but that would be a huge mistake.

There would only be a moment of free time, as the sun rises from the East. Everyone spread out on the deck to let the undead sailors do their work.

The sailors let down nets from the side of the ship. “You could say the sea is nature’s repository; there is no need to buy food.” For meals, fish needed to be caught. When Weed’s order went out, the undead sailors frantically moved to do their jobs.

When Weed was in command of orcs, dark elf or undead he was a strong and a commander overflowing with charisma. Even dreadful monsters (and Weed) had something they truly feared.

Something that Weed could never forget in his life was the landlord, L-A-N-D-L-O-R-D.

‘Kuhuk!’

When he lived on a monthly rent, his mouth ran dry from anxiousness.

These were the times when he watched out to see if the landlord was in or not. Even if the walls were covered in mold, the boiler was broken, or the lights were out; not one word of protest would be made. The landlord didn’t talk very much.

“Are you going to vacate the house?” For some reason after buying his home, he dreamt up a nightmare that couldn’t come true. In the dream, after buying the house, the old landlord came.

“Since you moved into a better house, pay 20000 won more every month!” Even in the dream Weed instinctively pleaded.

“Just a few more days... There is money coming in, but I haven’t received it yet. I’ll properly pay on time next month.” The one being that could make Weed meek without a doubt was a landlord.

Weed surveyed the indigo sea on the deck.

The islands that could be seen with the eye increased, and merchant ships and other sailing vessels could be seen passing by.

“Anyway, We’ve arrived in Neria!” Even with the Geomchis’ weight, the slow/rickety Ghost Ship, undead sailors who are weak on the sea, and other negative influences; they arrived near their destination, albeit barely.

When a dolphin, which is a symbol of luck, appears even the Ghost Ship became a lot faster. The Ghost Ship was a ship, that even the dolphins out speeded in a moment. The Ghost Ship is called the calamity of the sea, but when ridden it was nothing more than a ridiculously slow ass boat.

“At this rate, if we want to go out into the far reaches of the sea, it will probably take two-No, three months!” After arriving in Neria Sea they realized the seriousness of the problem. Even a ship with one sail could move at a faster speed than the Ghost Ship.

Since the undead sailors don’t eat they’re fine, but to feed all the Geomchis fishing is necessary. If fish can’t be caught for a few days, it would become a situation where everyone would starve. There were times where they landed and explored islands in search of food and water.

Another problem was Weed being new to navigating the seas as a captain. With the blacksmith skill the ship could be repaired and sculptures could be made, but there were no navigational skills. Since Weed couldn’t get a grasp on the direction he should be heading; things such as the Ghost Ship heading in wrong direction, or getting caught in the ocean current, happened in frequent succession.

“Well, since it looks like we’ll arrive at the Island of Ipia in 2-3 hours, I guess I should prepare. Call Death Knight Van Hawk!”

“You called me, master?”

“I have something for you to do. Follow me.” Weed went down into the ship’s storage and got busy with his hands. “Drink, Drink!” The fish that were caught with the fishing skill were coolly stored. Weed was forcefully feeding the fish water.

**Gurururuk**

Death Knight Van Hawk was now nimble with his hands, and could fed the fish water. The reason was that a fish that was heavier and plump sold better.

The Island of Ipia was a known attraction for vacationing; the beach was crowded with users who enjoyed the waves and the sun.

“Sometimes, you need this kind of rest.”

“This is paradise.” People enjoyed the rest as if they were in heaven.

The Island of Ipia was one of the 8 islands on the Versailles continent known for its beauty, so it was full of tourists all year around. The island’s beachside lodges, that looked like they came straight out of a painting (and appealing food) were some of its main points that kept bringing tourists. The shining sun and the cool sea! Take a dip in the sea, bask in the sunlight, have a sand bath, and finally have a bar-be-que party, with beer at night. These activities makes for and enjoyable day, which is why people who are tired from repetitive dungeon grinding visit the Island of Ipia.

Suddenly, large sailing vessels appeared near Island of Ipia! The vessels looked so decrepit and unseaworthy, that it was hard to believe that the fleet of 7 vessels still floated! Most sea vessels have figureheads to avoid storms and disasters at sea; such as a statue of Freya, dolphins, and spirits of the sea. The vessels that just appeared had a statue of a one-eyed, one armed, and one legged pirate.

The fleet of Ghost Ships led by Weed had arrived at the Island of Ipia. The island was located near the edge of the Neria Sea, where it met the wide ocean, so there were many adventurers and merchants. It took a long time for the ships to arrive at the island, after it appeared on the horizon.

**Kuhiiing, Kwazizizick**

The reason was due to the contact with the seaweed and the reef, which slowed the ships down. The Ghost Ship lowered its sails and dropped its anchor then Weed’s party rode on a rowboat to shore.

“Selling all kinds of fish. Mackerel pike, cutlass, salmon, and tuna! You name it, I have it! It’s a chance you don’t want to miss! They’re very fresh, so have a taste! I am also selling shrimp and clam, very cheap!”

It was a business chance that Weed couldn’t miss. He caught a lot of fish from the 12 days on the sea, while raising his fishing skill.

“Oppa, is that person a Lich?”

“I think he is… Wow a real Lich.... Even a Lich sells stuff now.”

Weed was someone who makes profits, even from using his appearance. There were a lot of good looking people who came to the island, but there weren’t any people who brought attention with curiosity. Weed stuck out his skull head with pride.

‘I knew this day would come, where I would bring attention with my face. It was because of other people that my appearance didn’t stand out.’

Zephyr, who looks attractive, even from a male perspective; and Pale, who had a decent fashion sense. Ever since Weed associated with the Geomchis, he thought he was alienated by women.

In reality, if the girls who hunted with him, were excluded, like Surka, Irene, ones introduced by Mapan/Hwaryeong, and those whose relationship are ambiguous like Seoyoon; he wasn’t all that popular with girls.

‘Indeed, a man should present himself as he wants. All he needs is confidence.’ Weed laughed as he sold fish, the female users’ hands went to their weapons.

The people with the priest class saw the undead Lich Weed and thought ‘Experience!’

‘Will he really drop items?’ For those of the priest class, hunting the undead gives a lot more experience, fame and faith; so even the female priestesses flocked around Weed.

Everyone was itching to take out their weapons, but it looked like a human user, and not a monster so they were all hesitating. The reason was that if their name became red, they would be killed without a doubt.

“We only have 2 sardines left.” The fresh, tasty and nutritious sardines were caught from a sea to the Northwest. You can fry it, boil it, bake it, add it to a soup, or eat it raw since it’s that fresh. Special price of only 23 silver each, if you buy both, it’s can be yours for only 44 silver!”

If you buy it, you’ll feel like it was such a bargain, and if you don’t buy it, it feels like you’ll regret it. This was the feeling that Weed brought with his business ability. After selling all the fish, Weed took his steps in stride in the streets.

‘It’s probably the first time a Lich ever came into a town.’ Weed had confidence in his pride of being the first, but the island’s guards gave him looks as if he were a criminal.

People were shocked to see an undead. As those who use forbidden magic, necromancers are shunned in all kingdoms in the continent. A Lich is considered a higher rank of a necromancer, and as such Weed was treated the same. Users whispered among themselves and were amazed.

“He must be a really high leveled magician.”

“Is that a Necromancer’s second job or even a third job?” Weed walked by, keeping silent to maintain his stature as a Lich. The only thing left by Weed, as he passed by, was the stench of rotting flesh and fish.

Pale and the others had visited many vacation spots before. The reason was that they weren’t obsessed with hunting and raising skill levels like Weed was.

“I think this place was one of the best places I’ve visited. I’ve heard that spending the summer in the Island of Ipia was great, and they were right.” Surka said enviously.

How enjoyable would it be to spend a week on the Island of Ipia. The sea was full of coral and the island had a small mountain, that was full of palm like trees; the sight couldn’t be any wonderful.

“So cool.”

Even Romuna was impressed by the view of the Island of Ipia. You could experience many enjoyable things in the game, which you couldn’t see (or do) in real life; it caused many people to become addicted to Royal Road.

You could have endless peace and quiet, but it could also be dangerous. This is because you can have an adventure, go hunting, become intimate with other people, and be caught in the web of Royal Road’s appeal.

Looking at Morata, the amount of users increased, and they were becoming happier. Every time Morata was mentioned Hwaryeong smiles brightly and says,

“I think Weed always respects his people and the beginners; unlike the other lords.”The ones who knew Weed’s true self such as Mapan and Pale could only stay silent.

‘Why is it that we met the same Weed… Yet Hwaryeong’s view is so different from ours?’

“That’s what I call being ‘completely blinded’ Once they see his ‘good side’ it will be hard to convince otherwise.”

Bellotte made a suggestion. “How about we have a walk on the beach?”

“Agreed.”

“Let’s go!” Ipia Island’s beach was one of the most popular spots. Coming to Ipia Island and not taking a walking on the beach was unthinkable. There were many users in swimwear, and others had simple leather clothing. People were getting a tan, sand bathing, have a relaxing rest, or even jumping into the sea to enjoy the waters. In such a picturesque sight, a crowd could be seen gathering.

The Geomchis whose muscles were like bodybuilders came and were swimming or lying on the sand. It broke the pride of every male on the beach who were showing off their body.

Weed entered the Maritime/Navigation Guild.

The guild was used by players who owned a ship, merchants, fishermen and those whose livelihood was in the sea. Like other guilds it had an instructor and a training hall to teach essential skills. The guild taught skills such as how to drop an anchor, what to do in a storm, how to control the sail and other necessary skills.

When Weed came plodding along the instructor wasn’t surprised.

“You came here to learn Sailing skills?

“Yes.”

“What do you want to learn?”

“I want to learn everything that helps in quickening a voyage”

“You’re pretty greedy. You have the qualifications?”

“Of course.” The Sailing skill was mostly learned by working the body hard.

“Then follow me!” The Maritime guild was larger than other guilds.

Weed followed the instructor’s teachings on how to row, control the sail, and other skills. To travel fast on the sea, wind had to be used effectively. Therefore, the skill for controlling the sail was essential. All the ghost sailors, and the first mate Nick, didn’t know how to control the sails.

The Ghost Ship was a ship that travels slowly towards its target. Since the ship follows disaster, Weed had to learn the skill for using the sail effectively.

“A ship reacts differently depending on the direction of the ocean current. If you want to sail to the far reaches of the sea, you have to use the currents and know when to quickly turn the helm. To avoid sand bars and marine animals it’s a necessary skill.”

Weed followed his instructions and learned to turn the helm on a small ship. Every time Weed turned the helm the ship slowly turned in the direction Weed wanted it to go.

“You know how to swim? If you fall in the sea and you can’t swim you,die there and then.” The instructor pushed Weed into the water and he practiced swimming. Weed was a natural dog paddler expert. On the stage called a reservoir, Weed polished his art of dog paddling even in storms.

“It’s a weird form, but quick and effective. Even if you trip and fall into the sea you won’t die from it. With this much I’ll say you are qualified to learn the Navigation skill”

**Trring!**

– You have learned the Sailing skill

Sailing: Travel Affiliated Skill

General skill to use a ship on the sea or river.
As the skill level goes up the skill in handling ships increases and the ship gets bonus movement speed
Chances of meeting storms or hail decrease.
Long voyages, extraordinary discovery or sailing in ill wind increases the leveling speed of this skill
At intermediate skill level, the sailor’s discontent can be quelled and keep loyalty from dropping so it is useful for long voyages.

Current skill level: Beginner 1

The ship gets a 3% increase in speed.
Decrease of 1.5% chance of meeting storms.

– You have gained 4 Stamina from acquiring this skill!

– You have gained 6 Leadership from acquiring this skill!

– You have gained 3 Agility from acquiring this skill!

– You have gained 9 Luck from acquiring this skill!

Sailing skill was a skill so useful, that it was almost essential for users who started on islands or seaside towns. Even if they didn’t travel the seas often,you could raise several stats with this skill.

“Do you want to also learn the Chart reading skill?”

“It’s necessary to travel the seas, I want to learn it.” Weed learned how to read nautical charts. It was a skill to find a ship’s position from a compass and the ship’s speed by calculating. During a voyage, if a special discovery is found, or affection with marine life forms, an increases in the skill informs the position of their location. Of course the skill level had to be better than beginner for it to be possible. By learning the skill Weed gained 3 stats in Wisdom and Intelligence.

“If you want to learn shipbuilding I will teach you, with your handicraft skill you could learn it anytime you want.”

“I’ll learn it”

By acquiring a skill few stat points and gained. More the merrier was the saying when it came to skills. The shipbuilding skill could be levelled by constructing small boats using wood, since Weed had advanced handicraft and sculpting, it was piece of cake. For ships sailing on the sea the most central thing is functionality. Following that, Weed listened to the instructor recount his experiences of shipbuilding. After acquiring the shipbuilding skill Weed gained 5 Stamina, Strength and Endurance. Even though Weed was pretty much a jack of all trades he didn’t have the confidence to raise the shipbuilding skill to the intermediate or advanced level.

‘It takes too long to make a ship.’ There was also the limitation of only being able to sell and make one near the sea. ‘In that regard a sculptor is much better’

Weed found a positive side to sculpting.

*****

Hunting, hunting and more hunting!

Seoyoon killed all the monsters that attacked her and picked up the items. As expected of a berserker the more monsters there are the stronger they get. Seoyoon was the type of person to dive straight into a dungeon no matter how dangerous it was. Seoyoon cleared the Valley of Echoes, Spirit Ridge, and Cactus Gorge all by herself. In the North she was the first person to discover the hunting areas, so she received more fame, experience and items.

In the area full of high level monsters, Seoyoon hunted in the dungeons and completed quests.

– My fawn has run away from home. If you have the time can you find her?

It was the request of a deer Seoyoon met near a stream.

Seoyoon never spoke in Royal Road except for the time she sent a friend request to Weed. From not speaking, she gained a certain skill.

Soul Conversation: Can converse with animals, monsters, spirits and legendary beings.

Skill not only affected by skill level but also affected greatly by closeness, Charisma, and Charm.

Can send simple greetings, but cannot converse with monsters that have been hunted.

Seoyoon received quests from monster and animals. Quests for her occurred not in towns, but in far places such as a mountain spring.

Just because of the request by that deer Seoyoon cleared multiple dungeons to find the fawn.

Luckily, the fawn was saved by Seoyoon before it almost became food.

– Did my mother send you? Thank you. Since you were able to save me you must be very skilled.

The fawn gave her valuable information in return for saving her.

– There is a necklace with gems, that humans really like, and it was thrown away in that forest over there. If no one picked it up it probably is still there. I want to see that necklace again and mother would like to as well.

Treasure quest, get! Seoyoon headed in the direction of the forest with the necklace.

The Valley of Death, it wasn’t far from the place where Seoyoon and Weed arduously traveled together.

‘He was sick… I made him rice porridge. I wonder if it tasted good.’ At that time Seoyoon displayed great courage, since it was the first time she cooked for someone and personally feeding them.

She was trembling from nervousness so much, she didn’t season the porridge properly; she just concentrated on feeding Weed carefully. The porridge was salty, spicy and bitter! For Seoyoon that moment became a heartwarming memory.

‘I was happy that time.’ When she had travelled with Weed, she didn’t feel lonely, and at times had to she keep herself from laughing.

‘There was that sculpture in the cave.’ She remembered seeing Weed carving a loving couple that cared for each other in the extreme cold. Since she could meet Weed in school she didn’t miss him.

‘I have to be strong enough to support him’ She didn’t want to see Weed killed by a monster.

Everyday Seoyoon roamed the hunting grounds. She spent a lot more time hunting monsters. She was invited by the vampire to Todeum. When vampire lord Tori invited Weed at the Valley of Death, Seoyoon was there with him.

“Beautiful lady, you can visit Todeum anytime.” Tori gave a rose to Seoyoon while Weed wasn’t watching and invited her. Vampire Lord Tori was a very simple vampire. Whenever he saw beautiful women he tried to become intimate with them by saying,

“Beautiful lady, have you thought of becoming a vampire by any chance?”

**Triing!**

– Hidden race ‘vampire’ has been unlocked, do you want to become a vampire?

When you switch to a different race that race’s special abilities can be used.

But, the penalty for dying is 3 times the normal rate of experience, and skill.

There are restrictions on equipment that a vampire and equip and use.

The vampire race’s physical abilities are incomparably greater than a warrior’s and have great vitality, battle ability and they can use magic.

As long as you are a vampire you can promote to a Vampire Queen or a Vampire Lord.

But, if you are killed 7 times or a silver nail is embedded into your heart you return to being a human.

Without a doubt Seoyoon refused.

Seoyoon, who was wary of suspicious people, didn’t want her neck bitten by Tori. When she left Todeum the vampire kingdom, Tori followed her.

“Sure enough, you need to find a good master.” She was incomparable to Weed in her treatment of Tori. She didn’t scold or beat him up.

Since Tori was hunting together with the beauteous Seoyoon, there couldn’t be anything that could make him happier. Even the true blood vampires led by Tori hunted with Seoyoon and grew in level.

Chapter 2: Dinner on the island of Ipia

“The sea!”

“Alright! Then first, let’s start by building the foundation!”

Novice sailors starting in Ipia Island exclaimed from ashore. They were chopping wood to make a seaworthy raft. But a warning to all aspiring sailors in Ipia! The production of timber is actually quite costly. First you need to go to the forests in the mountains and chop down the trees yourself. Then you have to drag the lumber down the mountain to build your raft.

“Once you have the fishing skill, you can just eat whatever you catch. Later on I’ll be sailing the far seas.”

But many sailors had a different mentality.

“There’s been pirates on that island. If I find their buried treasure… fufufu.”

“If you’re going to have a large gathering, then of course it has to be by the sea!”

“If you’re going to go take a risk, it has to be in the sea!”

Novice users!
At first many set out in shitty boats made out of logs held together by knotted vines. They use a sheet of cloth for a sail as they begin their adventure!
(T/N: Every pirate’s first boat sucks.)

There were many names engraved on top of the flagpoles.
There were many names engraved on the sides.
Best Ipia Transport.
Shipping Federation of Versailles Continent.
Chateau de Balleroy Ocean Peace Corps.

The ships were just rafts, but their names showed huge aspirations.

Surka sighed wistfully.

“This island is really lively.”

She was sitting in a tavern overlooking the sea while drinking orange juice. Zephyr was sitting near her, searching through the women by swiveling only his eyes. Even if he tried to stop, his eyes would start roaming again subconsciously.

“This is a nice resort… it has a good atmosphere.”

He did not miss a single woman within a 100-meter radius.

‘Hmm, her thighs are a bit thick for her body. She has shoulder length hair. Her posture is that of someone with military training and it looks like she can high-kick. My conclusion is that she is someone who trained hard to overcome her petite body.’

An in-depth analysis of women!

‘It only goes to show that women are lonely.’

For him it was easy to become friends and lovers. Buy a drink for a girl who looked lonely and then… natural instinct would take over. After that it was easy to register them as friends and maybe even take them out to dinner.

Still Zephyr’s butt remained stuck to the chair. He was sick of these quick girlfriends who were so easily seduced by a few words. He wanted a real companion. Many women loved his appearance, academic background, and financial power. His possessions included designer clothes, a foreign car, membership to first class hotels and luxury watches. He was tired of using his assets to gain favor. He felt as if he was a fake, and he was tired of people getting close just because of his possessions.

If the heart was not moved, then it was meaningless.

‘I can heal their loneliness for a brief moment but it would never last.’

Zephyr wanted to meet a woman who he could really love. Could anyone truly be happy in life without sharing it side by side with a loved one? Surely not. However you can not judge a person without knowing them.

'… What would I like to do….'

Spending time alone on dates would be nice, but going out with others as a group also sounded attractive. Would simply spending time together solve the problem and make them feel closer?

Even amidst these complex thoughts, he was stirring the cinnamon around in his drink while his eyes turned fully back to the women.

“That? She looks fine but her neck is moving by itself… tsk!”

He muttered to himself.

“Because of that it won’t work out.”

Hwaryeong, along with Maylon and Romuna were just watching. Drinking soda from glasses, they were relaxing without a care in the world. Summer vacation on Ipia Island! It was supposedly the most heart-soothing place in all of Royal Road.

* * *

Weed floated on a boat just off of Ipia Island. He looked at the boats floating around with just a plastic sheet and a flag.

“They sure are putting a lot of faith into those little rafts.”

He felt sympathy for the novice users because the raft he was using was more than just a simple raft! It was a dugout Korean canoe! He felt like he could even kill a Kraken with it! He took the name from a mighty sea creature thingy! This was the first ship he had built with his shipbuilding skills. The ghost ship could be operated properly after advancing the beginner ship sailing skills to level 7. It was too large for his low skill to operate now, so right now if he tried to steer the ship it would just drift in the wrong direction. To raise his skill, he needed a smaller boat, so an one-person dugout canoe was perfect.

Sailing skills proficiency has increased.

Even just floating in the sea increased his skill. Weed had raised his sailing skills to level 3 just by going around the island and looking at the sights and views. As his skill level rose he became better and faster at getting around while feeling less and less of the waves’ impacts. The dugout canoe was easy to handle with low-level skills. He started to head back to one of the many ports on Ipia Island.

Due to sailing for a long time there is a 13% increase of proficiency.

- Sailing skills is now at Beginner Level 4.

- An additional 2% acceleration will be added.

- Probability of being of capsized in rough weather has been reduced by 5%.

- Endurance stat has increase by 15%.

Sailing skills level 4! (T/N: It actually said nautical skill level 4 but the word nautical made me laugh too much so I changed it)

“This skill is rising so quickly!”

Weed was quite delighted. It had a very fast growth rate compared to the sculpture and production skills. The skill grew fast during a short period, but Weed was determined to never be a sailor.

“Would the skill go up faster if my ship got damaged? I think it would give proficiency if I sunk the ship….”

He looked at a coral reef nearby and paddled furiously!

When the durability of the ship had reached zero, the repair ship skill was used. Sticks and broken pieces of rope were wound around the tree branch parts. He received food by fishing and fresh water when it rained; after its long journey around Ipia island, the little canoe was ready to fall apart at any moment. Weed returned to the harbor not a moment too soon!

Ship owned by Deoreo has sunk.

- Fame -35.

- 4 loads of seaweed have been lost.

He could just create a new boat. There was no use salvaging it since it was a cheap dugout canoe. Still, it was not your usual beginner’s ship.

“Sailing skills at level 4. Now I will be able to control small, high-speed boats.”

It was great fun building up his navigation skills to become a great sailor. Now he could get a high-quality boat, hire a crew, sail some more, and go on an ocean voyage. A real dream!

But Weed’s professional career with sailing skills was going to end here. He had only meant to enjoy a quick vacation on the Ipia Island. A few days off that his sister could enjoy!

However the ocean was really, very attractive. Different species of fish could be seen in different colored waters. The water was so clear in some parts that the fish could be seen flitting about. The coral reefs and the fish gave off mysterious and bright light effects. If you sailed around you could even discover uninhabited islands.

Marine trade was a very profitable form of commerce that most users overlooked. Most well-known trade routes could earn a lot of money on a single trip.

They could also earn a lot by providing transportation to people. Going by ship around the continent was so much faster than walking! The Versailles proverb went:

“The first on the soil will be the adventurers full of muscle. Then will the merchants.”

There was no place in the Versailles continent where merchants did not work. It may not be actual strength, but the power wielded by a merchant who traded vast amounts of goods across the continent could not be ignored. Aspiring merchants who utilized the sea had an advantage when they familiarized themselves with sailing skills.

“It’s certain that prestigious guilds would not hold out very long if there were no merchants supporting them.”

Instead of going with Weed to the Mariners guild, Hwaryeong and the others went together to the pub where they heard a quest related to Zahab. Quests relating to the remaining Matallost, and quests relating to the Niflheim Empire.

Ipia Island attracted many people with its specialty beers and you would often see parties eating barbecue on the beach. But Weed had another purpose in mind. He would collect information relating to the Niflheim Imperial quest.

It was said that Ipia Island was just a giant resort, but it was visited by so many people that it could also be called an important port. Every port has taverns and the waitress had the most information. In order to obtain information on sea quests you had to “capture” them. Treatment of the waitresses at the bars was a sensitive competition that often provoked rivalry.

“Getting on the ghost ship would be meaningless if I don’t have any information.”

* * *

Pirate Island Croix is located near Ipia Island! Small fishing boats which consisted of hunting parties full of warriors and priests floated around, completing quests.

“I hope ye didn’t run into too much trouble”

“Not at all. I enjoyed talking to you.”

“Shank’s, here’s the three gold ye were promised.”

Croix was a very dangerous hunting ground because the first half, it was a pirate base with various defenses that had been built around the fort. And the other half, it was filled with monsters!

Only users of level 340 or higher could enter and come out alive. On a narrow but safe strip of land, users were standing around gathering parties to carefully hunt and explore Croix!

However, seven ships sailing decrepit sailboats with an imposing presence arrived from the sea. It was the ghost fleet of pirate Deoreol. A one eyed, one armed, one-legged pirate held out a money bag in one hand and a great flag in the other.

“Tweeeeet! Pwap pwap pwap pwap. Sha! Invasion of the enemy!”

The pirates of the island promptly responded. Shouts of alarm and the sound of a bull horn cried out a state of emergency. Users attempting to hunt sat down in amazement.

“What should I do?”

“What else, just wait till those idiots die.”

No users were usually crazy enough to attack Croix Island. Croix was the gathering place for some of the most notorious pirate gangs. Even so much to hunt on this island that it would make users feel proud. (T/N: It took a lot of guts to hunt there.)

“Foolish bastards.”

The users were laughing as the pirates lined up one after another to protect their waterfront home. The decrepit ship sailed straight on without changing directions. Geomchi3 was sitting in the captain’s seat while the first mate Nickey was steering the ship. Nickey humbly bowed at the waist and said.

“Temporary Captain! At this speed, we will hit the coast. Do you want to slow down?”

Geomchi3 shook his head.

“Go straight at full speed.”

“Aye, sir.”

Going straight ahead without changing direction! Anchored on a sandbar. At Croix Island, raiders carrying scimitars and ropes with hooks were waiting as the ghost ship approached.

"Uwaaah!"

Emerging from a hole leading to the hull of the Ghost Ship, Geomchi came out.

A landing operation on the famous Pirate Island Croix was being carried out.

* * *

There were over 20 bars in the Ipia Island port. There were also many big name resorts, but for sailors who came back from a long voyage, they wanted to relax and wash away their tiredness with beer at their usual hangouts. It was classified as a cozy pub near the harbor and beach that allowed casual swimwear. Sailors usually went there for its quiet atmosphere. Hwaryeong had told him to meet at the bar because of its good atmosphere and the bar’s name “Girl Waiting at the Harbor”.

“Here is your glass of beer and dried seaweed snacks. Please tip over here.”

Weed finished ordering and sat down at the bar where gentle music was flowing.

“Not a bad atmosphere. Zephyr and the others haven’t arrived yet.”

Weed firmly put a piece of seaweed in his rotten teeth with bony fingers. Even after turning into an undead it was still possible to taste the fragrant flavor. Normally a skeleton wouldn’t have much of a sense of taste, but thanks to the effects of Sculpture Shapeshifting, he was effectively masking his real body. So he still had some advantages of a human body.

When he learned Sculpture Shapeshifting, it was unknown to him if those masking traits would disappear, but for now taste and aroma were meant to be enjoyed. While drinking beer, Weed listened to the circulating stories.

“I’m glad we came to Ipia Island. I am going to try to come again next year.”

“Then invite Oze and all the other guys to come on New Year.”

“Palowin’s team followed the Berwick fleet into this dungeon. There they revealed they were doing a really big quest, and the fame was amazing.”

“You know that you can transport cheese to the kingdom of Brent for big money.”

“… Do you really think so?”

“Information was from a minor source, but I think it could be a big draw.”

Users with multiple jobs and merchants talked freely and shared stories. You could benefit by listening, and they might receive help too. If there were no secrets to share, one could listen to the band. It was customary to pay for drinking expenses while gathering information. Weed eavesdropped on many other people’s conversations at the heart of the tavern while wearing a heavy robe. After about 10 minutes of spying, he heard.

“But every time I go to Morata, the lord is busy. I would have liked to see his face before I left.”

Every ear within the place must have heard and started talking.

“Where do you go to get in on a sculpture quest?”

“God of War Weed, Matallost quest… do you think he is only sharing with the users who helped him rescue the church?”

“I heard that everyone who did the original was included but they don’t have exclusive rights, so anyone can join.”

“That’s nice experience for the combat professions, such easy experience from one quest can’t be seen that often in large organizations.”

“Hundreds of people cooperating together for a quest… sound like fun.”

Weed suddenly stretched his shoulders wide even though they were only narrow bones. Users that completed the Matallost quest were resolved to beat the next request. In Royal Road it was not such an easy thing to take part in a big quest, it would also be a fun experience.

“Morata’s Lord’s obsession with earning money is certainly unique. He has done a lot more business than most traders.”

“Oh, by the way have you heard about this evening’s performance of Hairen Benti?”

They had quickly changed topics. When drinking there is no reason to talk too deeply of the lords from other regions.

“Do you mean that show that is going on in the central square?”

“Has it finally arrived at the central square? At this rate there’s gonna be a lot of people attending.”

“It is a great show.”

Hairen Benti was a female bard. Singing and dancing from Morata, she had gained sensational popularity. Thanks to the ongoing investment in culture, the bards were vigorously working. Many songs with a Morata theme were showing up all over the Versailles continent. Morata was full of fun adventures and included a robust commerce centre.

The fact that stories about Morata had spread into the far northern island of Ipia was an evidence that Morata was growing. Whenever Weed's quests are being broadcast, each bar always blossomed with conversations about it.

“Over here, waitress!”

Weed called out to one of the employees.

“Yes, sir?”

Soon after a waitress with pigtails came running.

"Rather, the bards at that table seem to be calling for me… can I just give you the bill now?"

“No no. Please send me two more strands of seaweed. I’ll calculate the bill later.”

“Sheesh! Okay, sir.”

He was ignoring the waitresses bad attitude. This is what happens when you have bad intimacy. Weed was an unknown and a skeleton, not even four drinks were enough protection for Weed.

“Thank you.”

Weed thanked the waitress with the bad attitude when he received seaweed with a gentle wave of his hand. And soon he walked up to the hostess with a swish of his mantle. The stretched lobes immediately crumpled.

“Do you girls like sculptures?”

Working to build intimacy! Weed talked to the female employees under the watchful eyes of the users. It was a bar by the sea, retaining a friendly relationship with the waitress could lead to the necessary information for a quest. The others sympathized as they kept watch wondering what sort of information the female employees would give out.

“My name is Delia, not “you”, and I hate sculptures!”

A sharp rejection! He didn’t even have to put this much effort into carving a masterpiece. If he had to build intimacy like this, it could take a long time to earn the information he needed for his quest. Weed was not going to give up because it was hard, how else was he be able to share the lunch with the instructor, and take away the elder of Morata’s precious sweet potatoes with only a resigned look left on the elder’s face?

Weed tapped his bony finger on the table and said lightly.

“You are beautiful.”

“Hearing such praise from a skeleton does not make me happy.”

“What kind of man do you like?”

“I like a man with a short head of hair. I hate a man with no hair.”

The sorrow of a skeleton! The one eyed, pierced appearance was met with severe antipathy from Delia.

‘A skeleton is not beautiful?’

It was not cool? How the hell was his outfit not wonderful? He could never understand the taste of women. Okay, the cracked part of the skull naturally gave off the inelegant appearance of a gaping skull. Since his appearance had escaped the Orc Karichwi charming effects with women, Weed decided to switch directions. (T/N: Weed has great talent in making hideous ugly things.)

Assuming one cannot gain familiarity from talking there was another special way one could gain favors.

‘Gifts.’

The fastest way to buy the favor of the female employees! However, intimacy gained from gifts did not last long. If the gift you give is not up to par, then the intimacy immediately dropped.

‘And then you regret the gift.’

Weed decided to ask directly instead.

“What kind of stories do you like?”

“Hmmm… I’m fond of adventure stories, especially adventure stories from the sea! However I probably wouldn’t have any interest in ones from a skeleton.”

Weed thought of an adventure that went with the sea and the surrounding regions.

“I’ve had many great adventures from around the sea.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you an interesting story.”

“It seems like a waste of time.”

“Once I’ve heard a certain adventurer from the kingdom of Rosenheim….”

The start of an adventure story to buy the female employee’s favor, impress the employees, and make the bar become more jubilant.

*Kkiruru!*

Just as he was about to unveil the story of the adventurer, a bird made out of gold flew onto his shoulder. The Golden Bird with its eyes made out of sapphire looked at Delia. A cute figure wearing a crown of diamonds. The Golden Bird showed exquisite timing!

The guests of the bar looked in surprise at the Golden Bird. Golden Bird made users stumble because they had never heard of such a thing.

“Oh my! Did you raise this mysterious birdie?”

“Yes.”

Strength of friendship with Delia, employee of the tavern “Girl Waiting in the Harbor”, has increased a little.

“May I touch it?”

“Of course.”

Since it did not cost anything to touch, plenty of touching was allowed. Delia lightly swiped a finger along Golden Bird.

“I did not know there were birds like this. You must be a great adventurer!”

Strength of friendship with Delia, employee of the tavern “Girl Waiting in the Harbor”, has increased significantly.

The tacky skeleton’s treatment rose greatly! If you miss an opportunity to gain a great deal of intimacy, you would surely regret it.

Even though now and then he fell into misfortune in the Versailles continent, he was now living the dream of adventuring at sea.

However now that he was able to own a medium sized sailboat, there was no need to worry about small disasters…. The commandeered ghost ship had no end to small disasters. There was no need to even talk about the habitual water leaks, the awful air filtration, the seaweed that twisted them up at the reef, and the group of dirty sailors and colleagues ready to jump into the mouth of any sea monster at the first word.

The only reason he came to sea was because the Golden Bird had pointed to the location across from it. Weed had been ready to kidnap Golden Bird with his silky voice. Yes, the atmosphere maintained a certain skeletal theme, and had left him with lingering expectations.

“The Golden Bird is pointing somewhere isn’t it? Is it supposed to do that?”

“Unfortunately I don’t know yet. However I am certain there is a connection to the collapse of the Niflheim Empire. Have you ever heard of it?”

“… It is the Niflheim Empire, right? That topic covers names from long ago, but I wouldn’t know anything about them. But if you’re talking about the North Sea then you should talk to Grandpa North T., he often sailed in the north. Wouldn’t it be better to go speak to him then ask me?”

“May I ask where I can meet him?”

“He lives near the island’s eastern Imperial Villa. It’s always easier to meet him in front of his house during broad daylight.”

Weed felt a premonition.

Sometimes the slightest clue could cause the greatest things to occur. There was a possibility that Thira did not know anything about the Niflheim Empire. However it was information that he did not have to pay for, so he accepted it as a gift.

Weed spread his shoulders wide.

“This is all thanks to my luck!”

*Kkiruru!*

The Golden Bird laughed along with Weed! The sculptures created by a sculpting master like the Emperor were really unique, they had a calming bond.

‘Life Bestowal sculptures like this guy are really uncommon. This guy is so much smarter than the guys I have to beat.’

Weed thought of all the inadequacies of large bird shapes.

‘In regard to shape there are many inefficiencies. Beautiful appearances and eye catching wings, but the feet are inconvenient to write, eat, and carry things with.’

While Weed contemplated the geometry of eating vs. carrying.

“Hyeong-nim, you came first.”

Zephyr appeared carrying a fishing rod.

His colleagues had previously gone their separate ways on Ipia Island, but Zephyr had been spending his time drinking at the bar.

“Welcome back, sir!”

Delia showed a bright figure of hospitality!

“Mister, you are incredible! You’ve caught a pretty big fish!”

One of Zephyr’s packages included a variety of rare fish.

“For a great angler like me, this is child’s play!”

“Oh, I’ve never seen such a big Sunfish.”

The female waitresses flocked around Zephyr!

“Isn’t this a Cinnamon Ganhan? I will personally give you a salted plate if you want to sell this.”

“There are also good seaweed, skin shells, and powdered pearl which might be good for you according to some medical journals.”

“This might be good!”

“Sir angler, come and sit down. Do you have any questions or need anything else?”

Zephyr’s popularity with the waitresses was explosive.

‘This guy… he didn’t even have to ask for seaweed.’

"Did you figure out some kind of secret?"

"Cinnamon."

Meanwhile Yurin was using her picture shift to travel around.

"Oh Yurin, I like to use cinnamon a lot. “

As if to answer his thoughts, Yurin showed up shortly after.

“Uh huh, such a nice system.”

He didn’t ask why she just showed up. Just that suddenly there were dark clouds in the background of Zephy’s love life; he felt like weeping.

* * *

A moonlit night party on Ipia Island the companions shared their stories while drinking beer. In the humidity, Hwaryeong shared her stories of how she composed her songs in various countries.

“I first saw the Eiffel Tower when I was 16.”

“The Eiffel Tower… you mean the steel structure in France?”

“Weed, when did you see that?”

“On my summer vacation trip. Do you want to see the photos of it? I have some other travel photos as well.”

France, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, England! Weed was able to converse with Hwaryeong about all of them.

“The taste of traveling abroad is very different….”

“Hey, I have to travel because of my band. I do my best work when I travel! England’s strip is really small but the most lively, right?”

Hwaryeong had attended mostly only major cities because her performances needed large spaces, so she had not seen much of the countryside. Talking about the band that harmonized with Hwaryeong’s talent left her with tears in her eyes.

"Do you think we have time to go now?"

Bellot's face was flushed bright red.

Mapan's eyes were frantically darting about as if he was waiting for something and then he nodded his head respectively.

He was holding an exquisitely designed set of playing cards.

Yurin especially was sketching the scene and the playing cards.

Drinking alcohol in a good atmosphere! There was just the perfect amount of people for a great party!

“It’s a bet, 10 gold.”

“It will be a fairly large plate. All bets are final.”

* * *

Dain was at the beach party under the moonlight escape.

“It looks like you’re doing fine.”

Weed looked happy with all of his companions. It was a picture she had imagined in the hospital.

‘Prior to the surgery I did not know if I would be leaving this world forever… I was afraid, so I didn’t want to admit that I thought of you so much.’

It was insane. What the mind tells you was not always what the heart wants to accept.

‘Ah, Royal Road was not very interesting. I did not know when I could even connect later. From the beginning, my family and friends would just worry. I felt so alone. I just wanted to quietly have the surgery. So I didn’t tell you about it until the very end. But at the end, I was given courage because I knew that someone would remember me forever, even without a candid confession. I wanted to remain as that special person without causing you to worry about other inconveniences. Then I was worried about what kind of story to tell you, so I deliberately did not change my cursed appearance.

Sorry.

However, Weed, now you look really happy with your close companions. I’m sorry that I could not properly talk to you. And now it’s impossible to ask if you liked me. It was my fate to meet with you again. I had a fantastic illusion. With the memories of us you carved into the earth, I was truly pleased.’

“But all that doesn’t matter now. Weed, now that you’re doing well, my mind is at ease. It means you can love someone else, right? Probably for the best… but… even if you say that now it’s okay isn’t it?… to stay by your side.”

Tears shimmered gently in Dain’s eyes. However, as she walked to another location they slowly were replaced with a vigorous laugh.

“First love…. In the end your first love was me though, right?”

Chapter 3: A Ship’s Performance

At sunrise Weed walked east towards the Imperial Villa to meet with North Thira.

Hwaryeong, Bellotte, and Pale followed him along the beach.

Dain had left the party and gone somewhere others could not see her.

Weed turned to face the shimmering cold morning sea air.

“1,190 gold and 690 in prizes winnings went to Hwaryeong. I trailed behind by some because of drawing to the lower yen provocation. As far as I know of the current gold prices and sales market… I lost 810 gold in just a few hours?”

Weed accurately calculated the amount of money that changed hands in the few hours they played Go-Stop. Hwaryeong laughed.

“Hey, we were just playing cards, it can’t be that bad? Right?”

“No, that 1190 could have lead to a really good investment. I could have saved that money for the inheritance of my future children!”

The money lost while playing Go-Stop! Weed swallowed his grief and stopped walking east and instead headed west to the detached palace. Fortunately they were able to meet North Thira on the street.

He was standing on a hill, being buffeted by the wind while looking outwards towards the sea. With the nostalgic sea in mind Weed approached in a friendly manner.

“Mr. North Thira, are you busy? Elder, you were a great sailor were you not? You don’t have much gold but you must have a great understanding of the ocean. Would you mind teaching this young sailor who dreams of the sea how he can become a great sailor as well?”

Blatantly asking for what you want. Sometimes dancing around the topic and trickily sneaking in the question does not increase your intimacy with NPC’s.

“Hue hue, You want to know how to navigate the sea do you?”

“Yes. I heard you mastered sailing the North Sea ….”

“When we were young our fathers would take us in their boats. We practically grew up sailing the sea. ”

“The Niflheim Empire was once part of the North a long time ago, is it possible that the people there traveled in the northern sea?”

“The Niflheim Empire? That was quite some time ago. They were part of the Imperial Age if that means anything to you.”

North Thira did not know. However, Weed did not give up. Even the smallest clue could be of the greatest help.

“Are the northern isles related to the Niflheim Empire?” Coarse gray hair and thick white sea bones; North T. was filled with knowledge far richer than others!

In Royal Road, no matter how high your intimacy with a NPC was, they could only answer to the limit of their knowledge.

“The small fishing village Mocon in the North Sea is said to be the remain of Niflheim Empire. It may even still be inhabited by the descendants of the first sailors and fishermen…”

“It hasn’t been discovered by the Ipia Island fisherman?”

“Due to the tremendous cold and the monsters that inhabit most of the islands, it is hard to navigate too. Only a person who is familiar with the sea could easily find the islands today. Do you have a chart?”

“Yes.”

“Take it out, I’ll show you the harbor points I know that still remain in the Northern Sea.”

North T. marked out several places on the map, on the land and the sea.

– Position of Port of Twelve Teeth has been recorded.

*Ttiring!*

The young sailor learned the basic story navigation. If you hurry the first turn into the cays, then the ship won’t get sucked into the vortex. If you get sucked in you can never recover.

Sailing skill proficiency has increased by 25%

Effective steering level goes up by 1.2% permanently (PR Note: cays are islands, banks and reefs.)

“Ah, there is a task I want you to do. If you happen to port by Mocon village, could you tell the head blacksmith there about me? Tell him that I’m doing well in my hometown. Also tell him that I can’t go out to sea anymore.”

*Ttiring!*

Contact for Grandfather North T.

Life is running low for North T. While sailing the ocean North T. created a brotherly friendship with the blacksmith from the town of Mocon. Deliver the news of North T. to the blacksmith. It is not a difficult task but the blacksmith of Mocon village will treat it as a great favor.

Difficulty: D

Compensation: Can receive something from the blacksmith of Mocon village

Requirement: Must know the location of the Mocon village.

Weed was really happy, blacksmith related items were the most expensive. Since he had to go to Mocon village it made it all the better.

The difficulty was low but the compensation was high; it was a perfect quest.

“Okay, we will be sure to deliver the news.”

The number of quest limits has been reached. You cannot receive this quest until one of the three current quests has been completed.

North T. shook his in resignation.

“It looks like you’ve already doing lots of work. Hoarding your works leaves no space for new thing, I’ll have to leave this to somebody else . . . . .”

Bellotte was the first to notice Hwaryeong, who had been quietly watching up till this point. She reached out and grasped North T. hand with the affection of a granddaughter.

“I will do this request in Weed’s place.”

“Sweet lady, you will become a good wife for somebody. I will leave this request to you.”

*Ttiring!*

You have accepted the quest Contact for grandfather North T.

+4 Luck.

Hwaryeong just wanted to complete the Contact for North T. purely as a favor she could clearly see how Weed saw it from his expression.

His skull was horribly stiff! Weed said.

“So you follow the trail of the loser eh. First you take 810 gold now you take my quest!”

This was an unreasonable assumption since Weed couldn’t accept the quest anyway. But such excessive stubbornness leads to unreasonable feelings. Hwaryeong said.

“Bellotte, you should take this quest too.”

“Can I?”

“Of course. Even if you don’t I will still have to do it so might as well.”

Bellotte accepted the quest with Hwaryeong. Weed mumbled words as they passed by.

“Have you also bought salt that was 200 won more expensive? I bet both of you bought salt as high as a mountain. The luxury of a sinner.”

* * *

After meeting with North T. Weed went to Linda port in the northern harbor to ‘prepare for departure’.

The ghost crew did not need many supplies since they did not eat.

The problem was the Geomchis.

Though fishing for their food was not an issue, excessive amounts of weight would slow the sailing speed of the boat significantly.

It was possible to double your carrying capacity if you had intermediate sailing but right now Weed was only at beginner level 4. It was impossible to use the ghost ship as a cruise ship.

Weed went up to Geomchi3 and said, “Sahyung, do you want to remain on Ipia Island?”

“Why?” Suspicion had crept into his voice. He had followed Weed to the island from Morata to help on his quest, why would he want to stay? Weed heartlessly thought.

‘You’re heavy and you eat a lot. Why can’t you understand!’

“Yesterday the beer was really good right.”

“Yeah the beer was really delicious.”

“I hear there is even finer beers here. I hear they have barbecues all throughout the day and night with tall, pretty girls in bikinis.”

“!??!”

Geomchi3 was concentrating on the story.

For the next five minutes Weed told him all about the benefits of Ipia Island.

“Ipia Island could be called a heaven on Earth, a paradise, you can accomplish anything here. The women are more aggressive after all the drinking with colleagues at the beach parties. And why is this? Because in a resort women are more relaxed. Why hitting on women is a common sight. Even I could get 5 friend registration.”

However, any woman Weed called out as a skeleton froze.

Though there were at least 5 women who sought to register friends with Zephyr.

“Uh, the Island of Ipia…..”

Geomchi3 awareness drifted as he looked down the fabulous long beach at the 5 supposed women…

Disciplining his body in real life made talking to women a distant dream. However, here in Royal Road there was ample opportunity to party and talk.

Among the Geomchis, 30 of them now had successful romantic relationships; there was a growing frenzy in the dojo.

Weed said in regrettable voice.

“It’s a great opportunity but what a pity. I have to go out to sea and who knows when I might come back to Ipia Island? The voyage might take several months."

“There’s great courage in self-sacrifice but do you need to miss every opportunity? This island will surely be an exhilarating and thrilling sea adventure … the possibility of love blossoming under the sun is supposed to be very high! There are even American women out there!”

Geomchi3’s eyes were locked towards where Weed was pointing to.

The primal instincts of a man cannot be denied! Geomchi3 was shaken by the presence of such beauty.

Honestly, who would want to sail at a snails pace. Weed, who could not really show expressions as a skeleton was struggling to appear sincere said.

“Sahyung, in Royal Road you’ve so far only been in battles. Don’t you think it’s time you took a hiatus? Enjoy Ipia Island, go sunbathing or even hunt for crabs.”

“Well, if it’s okay with you Weed.”

“Yes, Geomsachi3-sahyung. If it’s sahyung, then your loyalty can been seen with your words alone. Not just you but the other Geomchis should also share this wondrous opportunity.”

Weed stated seriously. It was a serious scam. Geomchi3 put his strong hand on Weed’s stiff shoulder.

“Thank you!
“You can truly be called youngest.”

The Geomchis were left on Ipia Island as the ghost fleet ran away.

* * *

While Weed was dealing with his troublesome colleagues, Mapan was buying enough supplies and trading properties to fill a warehouse.

In the northern port many things were very expensive so mainly focused on collecting local commodities and the necessities.

Departing from Ipia Island Again! The speed of the ghost ship was blown to 4 times faster than before. It cannot be compared to a high speed of course but compared to how slow it was before it was a pleasure to be creating a fast wake.

“Wow, cool.”

Out on the deck Surka took her hat off.
The light breeze blew her black hair back. Now there really was a feeling of starting on an ocean voyage.

Golden Bird has taken off from Weed’s shoulder and attracted a gaggle of geese that flew around and around. Birds sitting on the deck of full sails adds an effect!

– Because of seabirds sailing speed is increased by 16%

A small reef rose out of the sea like a trident that marked the first path marker. The passage to the North Islands was not a common path.

* * *

“Watch out for the reef. Full starboard!”Weed turned into the cay to avoid the reef.

Before it was still to early to completely control the Ghost ship with his deficient skills, so difficult banking and cutting maneuvers could not be used indulgently. (T/N: This sailing jargon refers to how the ship maneuvers. Banking refers to few things, pulling along things, sailing in shallow water, literally landing on a bank (thus banking), and turning while slowing down. Cutting refers to turning you ship to go faster. A sailboat usually cuts from one side of the wind to the other to gain more speed. The faster you can cut the more maneuverable your ship is. Also a quick reminder starboard is the right of the ship and port is left.)

However Weed was able to steer much better due to his improved proficiency. Weed sneaked a peek at the passing reef.

On top of the coral reef a charming mermaid waved.

A beautiful naked upper body and lower body covered in mermaid fins, she was something you couldn’t normally see in the sea.

It takes great fortune to be able meet a mermaid.

“Aloha!”

“Nice to meet you mermaid.”

Mapan and Pale enthusiastically waved.

You could hunt mermaids but it was hardly ever done. Mermaids are very pretty and are also high level monsters.

Plus once they dove into the sea it very difficult to track; mermaid hunting was practically impossible.

Weed only innocently stared straight ahead.

The monsters were like cut outs from a magazine. To female users, beautiful mermaids were like soul magic and a lofty dream.

Due to the sea mermaid the luck of the entire ships voyage is raised by 35%

Sailing speed raises 12%

It turns out mermaids could make the ship go faster.

Sailing skills proficiency has risen

Charisma +1.

The faster they sailed the faster the sailing skill proficiency increased.

When Weed’s skills hit Beginner level 5 he got a 8% increase in leadership and perseverance.

On the deck Bellotte blew her neatly crafted flute. The power of her playing as bard did not have much effect because beautiful melodies do not really suit the Ghosts ships’ atmosphere.

While the bird chirped, fish jumped out over the sea.

Mermaid had been swimming along side the ghost ship.

It could not really be seen well but water and wind sprits followed along the company in graceful lines.

Wherever a minstrel went there was a good show. Hwaryeong pull out a dress with a flap.

“Do you want to dance a little?”

“Wow! I want to see my Unni’s dance.”

Surka was really rejoicing.

The women sat around on the ghost ship having cutthroat chatter.

Chatter might not seem very deadly at first glance but don’t be mistaken; They talked about celebrities in recent television dramas, movies, music, politics, economy, society, business, foreign things, and perhaps a guild adventure or two thrown in the mix!

It was no exaggeration to say that there looked to be no end to the chatter.

Understandably Mapan, Pale, and Weed, all sat down by Zephyr to fish.

To top it off, as the girls sat around drinking beer the ghost crew quivered in guilty lust at the sight.

“Well I’ll start off with a simple dance.”

Hwaryeong complied and stood on her tiptoes, she started to lightly dance on her tiptoe round and round the deck.

It was a dance of grace and dignity like the nobles of the Middle Ages.

Dress, music and atmosphere seem to naturally suit Hwaryeong.

The music and dance made the atmosphere of the ghost ship lighthearted and jovial.

Morale of the whole ship is improved by the performance on board.

Stamina recovery will increase temporarily, the best luck will be granted to the voyage.

The effect of both Bellotte and Hwaryeong performance! In the blink of an eye the quality of the fish Zephyr caught began to differ from those he fished the previous month.

Rare fish that could be caught only every few months were being caught one after another; a line of mermaid and spirits flocked to the side of the ghost ship to listen to the musical performance.

From a distance it looked like a giant whale had come alive from under the sea.

Received the blessings of the sea spirits. Navigation speed will increase 17%

Received blessing of the water spirit. Voyage will be less likely to be disturbed by the elements. If an impact with a reef or vortex occurs the effects will be lessened.

Received blessings of the wind spirit. Able to use the maximum ability of the sails.

Suddenly the ghost ship became as fast as a high speed boat.

It was the power of music, dance, and culture.

“Wow!”

Everyone was thrilled by the effect of Bellotte’s music and Hwaryeong’s dance.

The clear high notes made you think of the nostalgic feeling of playing with your childhood friend.

The flute gave off a light and airy melody that Hawryeong interpreted with an elegant dance.

The friend who used to play with as lively childrens, became a young lady and a grown man who danced happily in a wedding atmosphere, surrounded by loved ones.

A diamond studded necklace and earring shook lightly; long hair swishes by leaving a deep aroma of flowers being carried by a fall wind.

“Wow! It’s beautiful.”

“The best! Bellotte playing is amazing.”

No one cared about money and applauded away.

A bard can engrave their soul into their song; the music and dance exuded charm.

The presence alone created a unique atmosphere.

No matter how tired or fatigued you were, the girls performance seemed to wash rejuvenate you. Weed seeing the voyage speed had increased with the performance was hyped up.

“Music and dance could do this much then… how much would it grow if I played the harp while singing."

Beads of sweat emerged on many foreheads. To keep up the wonderful atmosphere Hwaryeong had created the women had no choice but to say. (PR Note: Remember what happened when Weed tried playing the harp and singing at the jewelry store?)

“Unni, I want to dance.”

“Surka, you want to dance? What degree of difficulty would you like?”

“Degree of difficulty? I want to learn the dance you were dancing right now.”

The atmosphere changed to that of women learning to dance together. Hwaryeong taught the girls the simple dance and said.

“Do you also want to perform with me?”

“Can we?!” Romuna said. “I’m really interested in putting on a show.”

Mapan and Pale continued to look at the girls dancing. It was slightly awkward but cute, and the boys still enjoyed the view. However it was not a show to put on with a just a bard.

“…Instead of just music and dance we should perform the story as a play!”

The audience would be the mermaids, sea creatures, birds, and barely visible spirits.

Before the story was decided Hwaryeong picked her role.

“I want to be the world’s most beautiful and kind princess.”

A role that every woman desires. Nobody in the voyage looked as good as Hwaryeong in a frilly dress so the role was set. Romuna spoke up next on her desired role.

“Well I want to be the continent most powerful wizard. Isn’t that the best role for me to fill?”

“I want to be priest who saves people!”

They were picking roles not much different from their current classes.

It was a good thing since it means they wouldn’t need many special clothes as props. Maylon following along with the idea, said.

“To be a true enemy of injustice like in William Tell’s stories I want to be a ranger.” (PR Note: Swiss crossbow user, famed for his marksmanship. He refused to bow down to a hat, as a show of accepting foreign rule. As punishment he had to hit an apple from his sons head with his crossbow. Later he was bound, escaped and killed the villain with a bolt. That’s the cliffsnotes, feel free to Google him.)

She had dreams of the inevitable fairytail fight between hero and villain.

Bellotte was unable to follow along with the atmosphere.

“There's no such thing as a minstrel hero.”

The men jumped at that remark.

“Bullshit!”

But Zephyr scratched his head and replied.

“This show has a lot of memorable roles so I don’t know what I’ll do…”

Pale stated his and Maylon.

“I’m going to be a ranger with Maylon.”

Mapan also had a role he wished for.

“I want the role of the trader with most money in the world.”

Various hopeful roles! Perhaps a play in the middle of the ocean was not quite as romantic a setting as it seemed.

With the last of the roles being picked, all eyes wandered over to Weed.

They were worried about what he would role he would want.

Weed didn’t have to think about what role he wanted to play.

“A great scoundrel! The world isn't a nice place. I want to dominate the world as a great devil.”

There was a long standing play by Mr. Otou that was interesting enough.

They hurriedly modified the play to fit all of the roles.

It only took 15 minutes to write the script.

* * *

The first half of the play began with a sweet performance by Bellotte.

“La la la.”

Hwaryeong was dancing with flowers adorning her hair.

As she laughed the sound of ghost crew laughing was clear! The title of the first part of the show was .

The ghost sailors did a song and dance while drinking and eating meat.

“*Om nom nom* This is delicious.”

“Say whatever you please but please order something.”

After the awkward dance the ghost sailors brought out a carpet and placed a chair on it.

With a transcendent smiling expression Hwaryeong said.

“I’m going to get married to a great prince.”

Far far away Weed was watching the scene with Death Knight.

“Anti-Austrailian.”(PR Note: I swear this is what it says.)

“Yes, master.”

“What a beautiful lady.”

“Yeah.”

It was love at first sight!

“Would you be so kind as to escort her to me so I can marry her… gently.”

Death Knight diligently walked towards Hwaryeong.

“The master has ordered me to kidnap you.”

“Oh really? So you’ve come to take me away… I’ll go but don’t fight the crew.”

The ghost crew rushed to protect Hwaryeong.

"*Chuckle* You think you can take the princess.”

“We will be the ones to bring you down."

Death Knight only pulled out his sword in silence.

Amongst the undead Death Knight was commander, the princess' skeletons were quite inferior.

Poor sluggish ghosts! Death Knight returned to Weed after leaving not one intact. Rather than acting it was actual violence! Weed received a whisper from Pale.

– Weed, is this ok?

After the very realistic defeat of the ghost crew Hwaryeong was brought to Weed and said.

“Hic hic. I’m gonna end up married to the devil after all.”

Looking at the skeleton Hwaryeong mourned her fate.

She then got up and began to dance away. A thrilling chase scene right out of a horror film started.

Even as Hwaryeong threw daggers at him Weed refused to give up courting her.

“I’m not that much older and I have a lot of money."

“…I don’t want it. You got that money through violence!”

“Oh!”

The music changed tempo as the skeletal devil eyes moistened. Weed looked at Hwaryeong and said.

“There has been a change in this devil ever since he set eyes on a girl like you. You have not only changed my naughty mind with your body but also my mentality. I will give you all of my accumulated treasures. Though I have many shortcomings, will you please take me?”

“Whatever.”

After the devil caught up and gave his saddened confession, Hwaryeong the Fire Princess decided to marry the devil.

Hwaryeong was donned with all kind of jewelry and accessories.

The beauty and the skeleton began to dance!

It was supposed to be a graceful dance but Hwaryeong had a hard time not laughing as she danced with a pile of bones. The couple did not match at all.

The song that Bellotte play seem much too good for them.

And the allies of justice, Pale and Maylon appeared.

“Satan, our town has sent us to fight against thee.”

“Well.”

Weed only threw apples at them.

Pale and Maylon threw various lightning arrows at the incoming apple barrage.

Weed clapped.

“I admire your skill. You can be exempt from taxes for the next five years.”

“Thank you, Satan.”

The ghost sailors cheered for the righteous archers.

Then Romuna appeared and showed off her skills as a wizard and was was recognized as the best wizard.

Surka showed off her martial arts skills and was also recognized by Satan.

All the acquaintances got together prayed for peace.

Then an awkward song and dance about the previous drama started.

Suddenly Zephyr appears.

“The taxes of Satan’s village has been raise up to 7 times.”

Weed replied.

“Well done! Any person who can increase Satan’s money is a good person.”

The faithful henchmen appeared and began to exploit the ghost crew.

By the end of the play Mapan appeared.

“Your Majesty, Satan! I am the worlds’ leading merchant, Mapan. I have created a huge amount of money through many successful business deals. I am here to pay the taxes.”

It was a simple play of of a devils dream to earn large amounts of money through taxing successful traders.

You have successfully performed “The Ugly Vicious Dream of the Demon King.”

Audience response: 67.

Due to the moral propensity the performers of the unethical play will have -5 fame.

The audience of the sea has not been in contact with the outside and welcomes it warmly.

It was a passing grade from the audience of the sea.

“The human performance was awesome.”

“I think I want to be married to the cruel devil.”

The mermaids had a good impression of the play.

The nature of the play was not appropriate for those who aren’t very mature.

The mermaids gave boost in thanks for the show.

The Ship received maximum elasticity and maximum speed. The soaring bow sluiced through the waves as it moved forward.

“This absolutely cannot be shown on the Royal Road Hall of Fame.”

“Yeah, it’s too embarrassing.”

They decided not to get navigation bonuses through plays from then on.

Chapter 4: Weed Divers

“Hmm, the reef stretches out even further than I thought. I should take care not to get caught in the vortex.”

Weed remained vigilant in the open sea. It looked as if the sea spread all the way to the horizon, but the faster you sail more ground is covered and things pop up surprisingly quick. The ghost ship could easily become damaged due to the seaweed or the coral reefs.

“You can’t let your guard down while sailing.”

Weed, though wary of his surroundings, continued to fish with Zephyr. They threw the rejected fish to the birds. The birds ripped the fish to bits and pieces. An eating flock of birds increases the speed of the ship. Gone were the days of working diligently. Before they had to fish all the time just to feed the Geomchis. Compared to that, throwing an extra fish to the birds was too easy. Weed pulled out the chart with the route.

“Seems like there’s no need to stop at the port on our way, don’t you think.”

Because the ghost sailors don’t eat, and only drink a little liquor, there was an abundance food and drinking water. While docked on Ipia Island they stocked the ghost ship’s supply room with enough water for five days and enough food for two. Even in the worst situation they would be able to hold out for a week if the food was eaten sparingly. To slowly die of starvation was unpleasant; thankfully they could supplement their supplies.

“We can go directly to the destination!”

As miserly as ever, he did not prepare a lot of food on board. They would just have to keep fishing; if the fish was salted and dried then it could last for a month. When it rained the water was collected in the sails so there was enough drinking water to fill their canteens. (PR Note: Before chlorine and whatnot sailors gathered the rainwater in the sails then stored in barrels. Don’t drink seawater, you lose more water than you gain~).

“If a storm is blowing I’ll ride it so we’ll be able to reach Gotoba, the first island in the North Sea, in 6 days.”

In the middle of the long distance voyage, his Sailing Mastery skill reached Intermediate. Rather than short trips back and forth, it was better to perform one long continuous journey.

“Because huge, long distance traveling uses sailing skills quite intensely.”

It was the eighth day of their voyage. Weed was fishing with Zephyr, when a black image appeared under the sea.

A sea monster legion is chasing you. Sea monster legions are more likely to target ships on long voyages.

“Full speed ahead!”

Weed increased the ships speed to maximum. He wanted to outrun the monsters chasing the ship. The reaction of the ghost sailors was remarkable.

“Quick say something about sailing.”

“Does that mean to lower the anchor?”

“Retract the sails!”

Reckless ghost crew! It seems that their loyalty decreased due to the long voyage while their antipathy with Weed increased. But if the ghost ships speed did not increase then the sea monsters were going be the ones bullying them soon.

“It’s gonna be difficult to shake them off.”

Weed started taking ghost sailors and throwing them into the sea.

“If you’re just going to play around, go and fight!”

“Sir, please spare me!”

The ghost sailor that was thrown into the sea was wildly brandishing his swords but was quickly munched on by a sea monster. Panicked cries immediately emerged from the deck.

“*Sob* Captain don’t throw me to the sea monsters, they’ll rip me apart!”

The ghost sailors continued to be thrown to the sea monsters. Weed hoped to lose the pursuit of the sea monsters, and in turn, the ghost soldiers continued to run away from Weed hoping to evade his grasping hand. Both parties, however, were persistent.

“If it’s like this, who can blame me?” How could he bring himself to fight in the sea when he’s never done so before.

In the Versailles continent there were advantages and disadvantages according to the characteristics of each job. But sea fare was largely dependent of the performance of the ship.

However it is generally accepted that the angler was the strongest maritime profession, not the sailor or the pirate.

Holding a harpoon, trying to hook big game while a large number of sea monsters and man-eating sharks circled around the ship, boring holes in the bottom.

It takes tremendous courage and swimming ability, it was the dawn of the underwater dungeon exploration that only adventurous users do!

Weed got ready to set out with three diver girls escorting him. He had read in a previous forum post that taking 3-4 people was essential when diving.

However no one on the ghost ship had even been diving before and were not familiar with sea battles. Weed decided to pick out a quote to raise morale:

“There is no such thing as useless leather, you can savor the meat even if it’s about to expire. Oh, what I would give for japtem!

The Dark Gamers Union forums had a list of possible item drops from sea monsters that would make one tremble.

“Battle formation! Everyone get ready to attack as soon as the battle starts!”

Weed was waiting for the decisive moment for his colleagues to immediately attack.

“Lightning shot!” Pale continuously rained lightning arrows into the sea immediately those under water were struck by a powerful electric shock.

Maylon climbed on top of the mast and fired arrows into the sea. On board there wasn’t an opportunity to showcase the agility of Rangers, but if there was ever a need for a ranged attack, it was now.

“Whew. Waaaaaah. Ow!”

Lightning imbued arrows were sticking out of the sea monsters bodies.

Every time a big wave passed the sea monsters would writhe their bodies in pain. Even though they were being attacked with arrows the monsters chased them relentlessly. Due to their large vitality they did not suffer any major damage.

“Keep up the speed!”

The ghost sailors were in charge of controlling the sails, to maintain their speed and avoid slowing down even a little. It was not possible to confirm the exact number of sea monsters, but from Weeds calculation there were roughly 10 or so taking their attacks.

Romuna finished chanting her magic spell.

“Lightning Storm!”

Sea monster will immediately flee if they see you chanting for a long time, because when you gather up a large amount of mana you can create lightning magic! Lightning struck the sea around the ghost ship.

The bodies of the sea monsters convulsed. It was evident that they had been damaged by each lightning strike that hit the water. (PR Note: Just in case, even though the lightning bolts hit randomly, due to water being a conductor, they were still damaged even if they were not hit directly).

*Kuttun*

The boat had its first big shock as the pursuing sea monsters initiated their attack. People were stumbling and sliding from where they stood and several ghost sailors fell into the sea. Everybody started clamoring for something to hold on to as the ship was attacked.

The hull has been damaged, durability decreased by 36.

The ghost ship was too slow against the pursuing sea monsters and they were now attacking directly from below. The ghost ship started to slow down even more as the monsters leg started to wrap around the hull!

(L/N: The front of a ship is called the bow, the back is the stern and the hull means everything below the masts and sails, essentially the wooden body)

The speed of the ship was slowed down even further as more monsters stuck to the ship. If the durability of the ship kept dwindling they would sink and die.

“All reserved to the quarter deck!”

After taking one of Surka’s heavy punches the giant tentacle began to unwrap itself! The sea monster’s appendage was wrapped in flames due to Surka’s gloves. The twitching squid tentacles gave off a savory aroma. (PR Note: In DnD Monks can use gauntlets, necklaces and such to get more damage or special effect to their basic attacks).

Irene rapidly casted Blessing to increase the party’s defense.

“Rapid Fire!”

Pale and Maylon used their Ranger and Archer skills.

They concentrated their attacks on the sea monster. The head of the sea monster started to appear as it used its’ legs to climb up the ghost ship. The ghost sailors started to fight against the appendages of the giant octopus with swords and hatchets. Zephyr simultaneously attacked several sea monsters.

“Maybe the sea monsters are attracted to fresh meat from land.”

The monster of the sea did not want any more fish. Zephyr who was as knowledgeable as an encyclopedia about baits, hooked his rod with san-gyup-sal and cast it into the sea. Monsters hundred meters long were crowding around his line. This made many of the sea monster get tangled around the ghost ship until there were only two attacking. (TLC/N: San-gyup-sal is a type of Korean meat that is often grilled.

“Koooot JAJAJAK.”

The hull was being greatly destroyed by the giant squid. The durability of the ship was decreasing rapidly. After the ship was destroyed it would be quite easy for the monsters to feed. Weed chanted.

“Dismal darkness falls upon the spear. Spear born from the darkness, penetrate the enemy’s heart. Dark Spear!”

A spear as thick as an ogre’s thigh on horseback was launched toward the sea monster’s head. Powerful magic that was used against the Bone Dragon. It was more powerful than it was before as he could now properly use magic as a lich. The climbing sea monster was forced off the deck of the ghost ship. As the Dark Spear exploded and the sea monster fell back into the sea, the hull that had tilted under its weight, tilted back into place.

“He was pushed over the edge, yes!”

An undecipherable scream rose from the sea monster.

“Wow! Magic!”

“Since when has Weed been able to use magic?!”

The party members agreed that the spell was amazing. Most vanguards use melee weapons, so for Weed to have such a strong magic spell was uncommon. Although he could cast high tier spells easily as a lich, it also weakened his physical abilities.

*Khaa Boo Boo*

The hull has been damaged, durability decreased by 21.

The auxiliary sail has been torn.

He had dropped one monster back into the sea but there still another stuck to the ship. The ghost sailors attacked its legs with knives and swords, Pale and Maylon fired arrows, but the monster hid its head under the bottom of the ship. The vitality of sea monsters was much greater than of the monsters on land.

Zephyr suddenly cried out.

“Hyung, I need help on this side!”

Different lures attract different types of fish. As a result several shark-like sea monsters started to spring to the surface to eat the lure. Sea monsters generally have low intelligence and are a bit on the dull side, but if you use the same move on a party repeatedly even they will stop being fooled after a while.

“No wonder he’s in trouble. Summon Death Knight!”

Van Hawk was summoned.

“You called master.”

“Go fight the sea monsters.”

“All right.”

Death Knight leapt onto the deck with a small ax and sword in hand. Using his shadow skill, Van Hawk was able to cut the sea monster’s leg. The sea monster’s seemingly infinite vitality finally ran out and it fell away, squirming in pain. Its loss left the ghost ship with a significantly smaller burden, but soon a crisis came again. The sea monster that had hidden in the deep sea suddenly jumped onto the deck and started wielding its legs to knock ghost sailors over in rows. Irene and Romuna expanded their defensive magic so that Pale and Maylon who were on top of the sails were protected from the tentacles.

“Dark Spear!”

Weed attacked again with magic he had used so much he could cast it in his sleep. Attacking monsters that were under the sea was like playing a very difficult guessing game. It was easier to stand on the deck and wait for a tentacle to pop up than to fire randomly at the water.

*Aaaaaaaaaah, chwaaawo*

Tentacles rose from the water and entwined around a delicate set of lich bones. Weeds body started to rise above the deck of the ghost ship.

“Weed!”

“Weed is being pulled in by the monster!”

Hearing this Hwaryeong screamed, Maylon notched a magical arrow on her bow and started to aim, but she was too late and Weed was drawn into the water. The strong body of the sea monster squeezed his body with severe suction. The strength of the monster would exceed even the strength of the Orc Karichwi. Pure superhuman strength!

Paralyzing poison attack has been cast.

Poison rendered ineffective due to characteristics of the undead.

(PR Note: All squids and octopuses have a poison sac, usually not harmful to humans but, supersize me?)

The superhuman strength the sea monster was exerting was overwhelming. It was particularly strong in the water. Underwater, Weed was able to look around more broadly. After a brief moment he was able to distinguish the herd of sea monsters that crowded around the bait. There were regular-sized sea monsters, some larger than the ghost ship, and young sea monsters that swarmed around like bees. It was a gruesome sight! He could see the sea monster that he hit with Dark Spear floating next to him. The sea monster that captured Weed was turning a different color as it got a good look at him.

A monsters’ mentality is: ‘Eat till it can’t eat anymore.’

It was worried it would get an upset stomach if it ate Weed, who was meatless. Such was the advantage of being undead.

“Don’t worry you won’t have to think about that much longer.”

Weed tried to cut the leg wrapped around him with Dark Spear. However the leg was hard as steel and the attack barely made a scratch. The thickest part of the sea monster was grade A leather; there was no way to easily cut it without damaging it. Even if he were to cut off it off, it was just one of its legs and would only serve to piss it off. Attacking it this way was pointless.

He was aiming for the heart. The heart of a sea monster would probably be in the head. Weed was waiting for an opportunity to present itself.

If Weed was a human he would have long run out of air and died with his lungs full of water, but because he was undead he did not have to worry about that. His vitality was being reduced as monsters leg was slowly squeezed him but still he waited patiently. Finally Weed raised his left hand and said.

“Life Drain, Mana Drain!”

You’ve used the powers of the lich.

You will now absorb the sea monster's health and mana.

369 health has been restored.

112 has been restored.

291 health has been restored…

It was possible for the drain to hit the mob multiple times. Though his movements were impaired due to the water, it didn't mean he was powerless. As it started dying the sea monster did not know what to do and opened its mouth wide. Weed, who had not died by drowning, could not be paralyzed, and would cause an upset stomach would be eaten. Weed waited patiently for the right moment to attack. Just as it was about to chow down he threw his Dark Spear inside of the monster's gaping mouth.

You have attacked the sea monster Ortess weak spot.

You have dealt a fatal blow!

The leg that was holding Weed started to loosen as the sea monster tried to retreat.

“Leave it to freeze.” (PR Note: It doesn’t make sense to us either).

In the past Dark Spear consumed half of his mana, but now Dark Spear could be used any number of time with mana left over for other spells as well. The magic he used now was very different from the previous spells he’s used.

“Reverse gravity!”

Rather than the sea monster floating downward and away it started to float up toward the sky. Reverse gravity was a spell to make things fly. Then, the sea monster was pushed above the water surface! It hit the barriers created by Romuna and was riddled with arrows by Maylon. It was an easy target since it was such a large sea monster.

The Ortess sea monster has been killed.

You’ve gained experience points.

Swimming skill proficiency has risen.

It was quite a tough battle, but this was the moment he had been waiting for. A dark red glow nestled in Weed’s skeleton. Lich! It was time to demonstrate the real power of the undead wizard. With Balkans tome in one hand and the Staff of the Fallen Saint in the other, Weed began to chant.

“Rise, spirit who cannot rest in peace. Come alive and confront those who murdered you. Dead Rise!”

The water near Weed started to ebb away and in its place a mighty undead carp was summoned. (T/N: Hahaha, the BT translation called it a giant Guppy).

Mana flowed out of Weeds’ body like low tide. Since the undead sea monster was large, he needed a large amount of mana.

Due to being a lich, the power of the Necromancy skill increases.

The undead sea monster immediately attacked the sea monsters. The sea monsters were attacked from both the Dark Spear and the undead sea monster. Together it was an immense combo. The sea monsters struggled to identify which one of them was attacking them and soon enough they started to attack one another indiscriminately. The ghost ship was also indiscriminately attacking any animal that came within its range.

“This time I’ll try a 2nd stage necromancy spell…. Step 1, when alive attack the vulnerable parts with this spell. When it’s weakened begin step two.” ( T/N: I love how all of the necromancy tome spells read like cookbooks. Add two dead skeletons, one angry spirit, and compress for 10 minutes. When done should be big gruesome killing machine. Enjoy!)

“You’ve come alive, only to be stuck in a place of sorrow. Herbal black rot. Never disappear, engrave onto others the laws of darkness. Undead rise!”

All of the flesh from the bodies of the sea monsters started to separate from their bones. The sea monster did not know how to handle this little fellow. He rushed to one of the sea monsters and used it as a shield while the others attacked. It tried to shake him off but Weed clung to it like a leech.

“Life Drain, Mana Drain.”

Draining life and mana is a vulgar and cowardly action that cannot be expressed without certain words. (!%$**$&$!). A majestic undead lord of darkness and despair using this tactic cannot be found. He adapted to the environment in accordance to Weed’s Save Your Neck Survival Guide.

By endlessly absorbing the mana and vitality of the sea monsters, more undead monsters could be created. Undead with great vitality, undead with water attacks, undead that pulled enemies down into the depths. There were many varieties.

You’ve gained experience points.

Ortess sea monster is incapacitated.

The seven children of this sea monster were destroyed. If Undead Rise is used, mana cost may be halved.

Has gained 10 sea monster fins.

Sea creatures are very difficult and elusive, but because of his necromancy magic, he was able to easily hunt them down while gaining fantastic experience, as well as loot. As more and more undead were raised the sea monsters started to retreat.

“Wow!”

The party members on the boat sat down exhausted.

“Really hard.”

“They have tremendous vitality but they were not intelligent.”

Dungeon hunting was difficult but it was nothing compared to fighting on the wildly swaying and tilting boat. You can go back to pick up item in a dungeon, but in the middle of the ocean? That was impossible.

The durability of the hull decreased by a lot. Other boats attacked by the sea legion never escaped.

You have successfully navigated through the sea monsters' habitat, the Malvinas Mela.

Sailing Mastery skill has risen.

Fame increased by 160.

While hunting the sea monster they gained a lot of experience. Some got 3, 6 or even 8 levels of experience. Sea monster give great items. Coming out of the monster's stomach was pearl jewelry, undigested turtle shells, fresh oysters and edible seaweed!

“I would catch ten thousand sea monsters if only the hull didn’t take damage.”

Weeds eyes filled with regret as they continued on. It had been a long time since he was not bored when hunting monsters. Sea monster were a challenge. Mana was steadily consumed. Under the ghost ship there were still undead sea monsters. Every time they killed a fish a little experience came back to Weed.

Necromancy skill proficiency has increased.

It was during the time when he was shapeshifted, but increasing the Dark skills was what Weed wanted. Necromancer was very powerful class. Throughout the Versailles continent there were tens of thousands of object that increase the undead wizards’ ability. Their power and cursing ability were greater than a normal wizard. But, on the other hand, they had many weaknesses. The skills were hard to level. The more undead creatures you created, the more bodies you needed; to make a strong undead creature you sometimes had to prey on other users.

If you enter a large scale battle you can, do a lot of damage, get a lot of loot, and raise your level by a lot. But, as a result, you tend to be targeted by murderers and assassins. Necromancers have to deal with death and darkness, but because of their power over death, they take even more damage. If you die, it will lead to a decrease in level and a decrease in skill proficiency. If you are unable to be healed by a priest, you are more likely to die during battle.

The job requires a great deal of mana consumption and you need to frequently sit and meditate. Players who play in large scale battles are particularly shunned by the warriors on their side since necromancy uses enemies and ally parts to create undead. The Necromancer is a dangerous and lonely class.

Chapter 5: The Lost Pirate Fleet

After another nine days of sailing, they finally arrived at their destination, the port town of Kruger. Their speed dropped because the ship had encountered the sea monsters’ nests 3 more times, and thus they killed an additional 57 more. Their long distance voyage allowed Weed’s sailing skill to improve by a level. (T/N: I’m not too sure if he improved by a level or became intermediate)

“Land ahoy!”

An ecstatic Surka was the first to leave the dock.

Kruger was a small, charming harbor. The houses and shops were built like a picture.

Weed first went to the bar and collected information.

“You say you’re looking for people or groups related to the Niflheim Empire? It’s been a long time since we’ve had visitors from the outside so we don’t know much. You’re the first outsider we’ve had in awhile. Unless you’re an experienced sailor, most people don’t know about Kruger Harbor, you see.”

They made some money at Port Kruger, selling the necessities of life and then immediately took off. Two days later they arrived in the harbor of Runei. It was a harbor with slightly larger ships that Kruger. Collecting information in the pub was easier if you bought a round of drinks. While sipping cups, the sailor’s stories easily flowed out.

“Sailors don’t like talking about where they’re from. And you don’t even know the name, you say? Then finding em would be even more difficult!”

“If you are looking for sailors from Niflheim there’d be a lot amongst the pirates. Many fishermen can’t fish around here anymore because of the storm and changed to being pirates. Where we from? Thats…hehe, you’d report us if you knew wouldn’t you?

“Storm? I’m not sure why but the seas seemed to start to become like this after the fall of the Niflheim Empire....heard the sea used to be quite calm before that.”

There were also many unconfirmed rumors.

“In the northeast sea there’s an island infested with monsters. Don’t even think about landing on an island infested with monster for supplies. You’ll become monster food in an instant.”

“Did you see the fish with red fins? That one’s meat is tender so its great for eating.”

“The area the pirates mainly infest is the Perion Bay.” Sailors who traveled the extensive sea bragged an awful lot. One could only confirm the truth by going for themselves.

Still, even the smallest tidbits could be used for later reference. It happened while Weed was investigating in a very small port called Rejado. As he bought a drink for a very old fisherman, he drank with thanks and said.

“Young man who has the temperament of an Admiral, are you asking about the Armenian Pirates?”

“I didn’t ask anything about pirates.”

“A long time ago, I heard from my Grandfather about that storm hitting the sea. During the fall of the Niflheim Empire, a certain man went through the ritual of the pirates in that sea and took a ship. Later on, it seems he became the head of a pirate crew. Rumor has it, he was a great magician.”

Weed’s head started processing quickly. Rejado port is very close to the stormy seas, but it was found at the back of an island. Weed would have missed it had he not looked closer.

“Are the Armenian Pirates still at large?”

“Their forces practically ran the North sea.”

“What about now?”

“They’ve been missing for a few decades now.”

Weed decided there was no other way but to pursue the Armenian pirates.

“Is there any way to know where they went?”

“If you travel towards the north for a long enough time, there is said to be a beautiful Aurora that spreads across the night sky. It is said that even the very best sailors may or may not experience it once in a lifetime. If you go along the aurora you will arrive in the Northern Region of the continent.”

Morata was also part of the North and so if the old fisherman were basing the Middle continent as the standard, then Lezadra port was also in the North.

When he liberated Morata, it became the center of the north and supply for dry leather. But most of the north past it was opted out.

Then how much more North are you telling me to go. Weed’s complexion changed as fast as a flying car. This was because he was reminded of that place.

“No way.”

“There’s absolutely no way…..just no way. No matter how bad my luck is, it can’t be that.”

The words of the fisherman continued.

“The place that you must break through is in the cold ice, where the land breathes. Rumors has it that the Armenian Pirates went to the Las Phalanx area. I also heard from grandfather that their treasure lies sleeping there.”

You have obtained information on the quest.

Acquiring clues about the quest!

Las Phalanx. Even the name alone sounded ghastly. It was one of the 10 forbidden areas in the continent, for starters it is an area of fierce glacial cold! Volcanoes constantly explode and spew out lava. And the level of monsters that appear are mainly between 500 and 600, so just entering is impossible unless one was prepared for death.

Weed was greatly enlightened.

“There is a map of Las Phalanx which my ancestors went to. Would you be willing to take at least that?”

‘Ah finally, you are trying to kill me, Quest!’

It could be said that he was moments away from reaching his goal by walking on the path of death. The moment his coffin was made, the hole was dug and all that was needed was for his breath to stop.

Weed sharply asked.

“Is it free?”

“ I have no particular use for it now so just take it.”

The fisherman went to his house and left Weed the old leather map.

You have obtained a map for heading towards Las Phalanx.

You obtained Roughly drawn map of Las Phalanx #1. The Las Phalanx area could be said to be the end of the northern part of the Versailles continent.

The moment Weed looked at the map, images started to flow.

A Land of Frozen, Pure White Ice!

Mammoths, large polar bears, and yeti walk leaving massive footprints.

The eerie scene of furry bears laying dead and frozen was incomparable to the cold of the land above the North. If the North was like kids saying they were cold after eating ice cream, then this was just a freezer.

It was a miserable place to call a hunting ground. If you were not there for a quest or for treasure you would never have even ventured near it,. Even if he brought 100,000 soldiers, around 90,000 would die of the cold and about 8,000 would die of hunger. The smarter 2,000 would flee before they even got to the glacier.

However, if you went past to Las Phalanx, it was no longer as cold. The ice is barely frozen and you can feel the warm atmosphere waiting to flake away. Red light and steam rise up out of a large crack in the ground.

*Aaaannn Kwaaah booom!*

The mountains of Las Phalanx frequently spew out lava. Tropical monsters such as; the Borado Warriors of Chaos; Phantom Bolas that crawled on all fours; the winged Deabbedo, which looked like bats and were considered the weakest at around 380 were always being eaten by the other monsters. In the distance, Feyoumu fire giants wriggled in the center of the volcanoes spraying lava. The dangerous volcanoes and the shiny ores around dangerous dungeons stood out. There were a lot of veins of mithrils, gold, silver, and many other precious minerals for jewelry. Las Phalanx also had many rare stones just scattered on the surface. It was definitely a place worth going to for sculptors.

An extremely dangerous land he had never been to before and infested with all-powerful monsters. Even so Weed did not feel like giving up the quest.

“If failure was the first option in mind then fighting the Immortal Legion (I think thats what its called ie. can’t be bothered to check) in the first place was also impossible!”

Whatever the request, you can’t succeed without challenging it . Nonetheless, Weed decided to think positively instead of pessimistically.

“I’m not going to die of the cold air, dying by fire is a million times better.”

The durability of armor and weapon becomes significantly lower when scorched by flames. Though they can become wrecked to the degree of restoration being impossible once they melt, with his blacksmithing skills he could repair the damage to a certain degree so it was ok.

“Since it’s on the land instead of the unfamiliar sea it’ll be easier to endure.”

If it’s fighting on land it was also possible to call the sculptures of life pieces. However, it would take a long time to just to go back to get them though.

“For now, I’m a Lich and not a Sculptor so it’ll be more advantageous.”

Sculptors are able to increase their force’s overall power and contribute greatly to the development of a city. It was a job capable of empowering many other residents and users.

On the other hand, Necromancers could fight with corpses and mana. The sculptures of life had a similar effect, but the benefit of raising reinforced zombies and ghouls even in death was much greater. Combat-wise, the Necromancer is said to be the strongest career known to date. It was not like it had the broadness of a Magician’s ranged attacks, nor did it have the might of a swordsman or knight. However, looking at it from the side, it was a profession enabling you to handle legions of undead and becoming a one-man army which is an advantage incomparable to the other occupations.

“It’d be better to not use the Ancient shield”

Even the Ancient shield that accounted for about of 30% of his total defense could not be used.

“Nonetheless, all I can do is endure as much as possible”

All that’s left to believe is that his vitality is more persistent than a cockroach’s.

(imitation- I don’t think he should be proud of that)

* * *

In the little kingdom Selzium. Mandol, lived in a huge thousand square ft. mansion with his wife.

Some visitors had arrived at the mansion they lived in.

“The sculptures have been made in Morata. It’s difficult to move them so we hope you drop by there, that is the message.”

On the Versailles continent, There was a company that would give simple messages for others or deliver goods so long as they knew the address. Through them, Weed’s message had arrived. Only then had Mandol told his wife about the request he had made.

“You did something useless.” “Even if Weed is a famous sculptor how would he carve my daughter when he’s never seen her?”

“Well. . .”

“Alright. If you really insist, then let’s go.”

Even if it was through traveling, Mandol wanted to regain the happiness he had lost with his wife.

“It’s been a while since we’ve traveled together.”

“Let’s see many good things and eat lots of tasty dishes”

“Yes”

They made their trip while hunting and making their own food. Looking at Mandol giving his utmost best, his wife, Delfina, sometimes smiled.

“Here’s Morata.”

Unlike Mandol, who had a bushy beard and looked like a bandit, his wife, Delphi, was a slim and attractive beauty.

“There’s been a lot of development since the last time I came. There are a lot of buildings that have been built as well.”

Mandol once came to Morata to leave his request with Weed.

‘At that time, there weren’t this many people and buildings.’

A lot of large and ornate structures have been made too.’

It seemed like even a few days wouldn’t be enough to cover looking around all of Morata. Mandol spoke with an uneasy mind.

“Even if the sculpture is disappointing, please don’t be mad.”

“It’s alright. I mean it was great on the way here.”

Mandol deliberately approached Morata slowly trying to ease his wife on the way.

1 Copper for a Sculpture! ‘He couldn’t have made it terribly for being a cheapie, could he?’

Having traveled a long way, the distress would be devastating for his wife much less himself if the sculpture was unsightly.

“I can only leave it to his conscience. But he didn’t look too kind, nor that honest though.”

As they tried to pass though the gate, there was a girl waiting to pick them up.

“Are you perhaps Mandol?”

“Yes, but . . . . . “

It was a cute and pretty girl.

The girl named Freena had worked in several occupations after being saved by Weed. She sold flowers, helped make clothes, and even assisted with cooking in the cafeteria when the meat of the King Hydra and the Imugi was cooked and served.

At present she’d even been entrusted with the guide mission.

“My lord has urgent work to do elsewhere, so you can not meet him.”

Questions and doubts flew across Mandol’s head.

‘Did he really make a cheapie and run off?’

Freena continued.

“Instead I will guide you there.”

“There?”

“The location of the sculpture.”

Well, he definitely wouldn’t have thrown it just anywhere. Beginners in this city could be seen everywhere; the whole place was vibrant and lively. Drawn to its bright and cheery atmosphere, Mandol just wanted to go exploring the city already. New quests and hunting grounds were being discovered one after another, and there was also the nearby lake and mountain scenery that was out of this world. Delphi and Mandol receiving the guide entered the center area of Morata. There was a jumbo sized building surrounded by gardens and a live fishpond.

Weed’s Art Center.

“This is the place.”

“This is where the sculpture... that I requested of the lord is, you say?”

Mandol was slightly overwhelmed.

The Arts Center building was constructed grander and larger than many of the villas in the central continent.

“Yes, from here on out the architect, Pavo, will personally guide you.”

Pavo was waiting in advance at the entrance.

“I am the architect of this Arts Center, Pavo .”

“I’m Mandol and this is Delphi.”

Mandol politely bowed to Pavo who looked much older than the two

“You seem to be more of an elder than us, so please take it easy on us. But, it’s the middle of the day, so why is the Art Center’s doors closed? ”

“That’s because it hasn’t been opened yet. I’m opening the door now, so please take your time looking around.”

Weed’s Arts Center’s first guests were Mandol and Delphi. The official opening would be after the two come out. The locked doors that had been waiting for them sprang wide open.

* * *

After obtaining information from Rejado port they finally departed for Lal Phalanx! First, they stopped at Mocon village for the quest of meeting the blacksmith. Everybody had the quest except Weed. Weed did not say much as the others went into Mocon village. He just sighed seven hundred times.

“Sigh, huff, ehfuu, aarhus, shhhiii, wow, whew.”

“...”

“Call Death Knight!”

“You called master? Who must I fight ?”

“It’s me.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s fight.”

There had already been dozens of incidents of beating the innocent death knight in between fishing.

“I’m doing this just to raise my combat skills’ proficiency, so don’t mind me. It’s definitely not like I’m still holding some kind of grudge from Go-stop.”

(T/N: Weed…you still hold a grudge huh.)

By the way, the Mocon village blacksmith also issued a quest.

“There’s a lack of Iron ore and I can not make the stuff I need. Heard that near Mordred there were good mines, could you search over there for me? I can’t wait forever so I hope you can get it in at least 4 months.”

A Difficulty level C request.

Of course everyone accepted the quest. It was because they were in a situation where they had to do the Mordred’s great craftsman descendent quest anyway. And so they once again set out from Mocon village with sails spread wide.

“Las Phalanx area, huh. . . .”

The North of Versailles continent was a very polar region. To reach the Northern part of the continent by land, you have to cross large mountains and rivers, as well as pass through a dangerous forest full of demons. Even if it could be said to be far safer to go by sea, it’s a very far distance. “What’s more is that it’s said that the storms and currents aren’t so great either so the path is tough.”

Looking at Weed’s sailing skills or the state of the ghost ship, it wasn’t looking good. It’s said that going further North from here, encountering glaciers floating around was very likely and avoiding them would be difficult.

“I may sink before I even get to Las Phalanx.”

It was a situation where he had no choice but to freeze to death if he fell into the sea. The ghost ship was not a high speed ship, despite sailing for five days, they did not go so far in the north. Not only was it because of the influence of the headwind and currents, but also was there the fault of going through every island and port selling necessities and gathering info.

“To go to Las Phalanx that’s one crazy man.”

An aging old woman asked seriously.

“Are you going with a deathwish?”

Two days later Pale said.

“By the way, Weed the time limit on our quest is approaching.”

They originally followed Weed on their way to Modred. They were detained for a while so they had to do their quest too.

“Or should we just cancel our quest? Las Phalanx should be a really dangerous area. You’d need our help.”

Despite Pale’s goodwill Weed could not accept it with ease. Even on the ship, Weed was perpetually raising his skill proficiency as well as Fishing, Carving, Cooking and a variety of others. But the others could only sit around and watch the scenery on the way to Las Phalanx taking God knows how long. In addition, there was no way to guarantee that everyone would arrive safely at Las Phalanx now was there. He could not ask them to go as far as to give up a quest for that.

“No, I’ll go alone. I’ll try finding Lax Phalanx by myself.”

“If we leave, the battles at sea will get harder, won’t they?”

“I just have to bring the Sculptures of LIfe on board when I let you guys off.”

Getting the comparably lighter Golden Bird aboard was no problem.

Phoenix, Bingryong, and the Wyverns could not go together to as far as Las Phalanx. Hwaryeong and Irene strongly protested but Weed did not accept.

“Please first set out for Mordred’s quest. Even I alone am sufficient for my quest.

There is no need to feel sorry. If I really need help later you can always come to help through Yurins picture shift ability.”

This was when Yurin regrouped with them through the shift ability after painting a picture at Morata. Only after that was Pale’s party convinced. The ghost ship went full speed ahead for sure and docked at the pier.

“Hwaryeong, you have my 1190 gold, so luck be with you. Irene, do not donate that 810 gold, because I’m going to regain it from you later. And Bellote, who won 690 gold, could you remain on the ghost ship separately for a little while longer, because I have a favor I’d like to ask of you.”

“What?”

“It’s nothing grand and I’ll send you over to the others through Yurin”

“That so?”

Bellote agreed and was puzzled but decided to stay for now. Weed was a cheaty, petty man crazy for money. However, it didn’t seem like he would be harboring any dirty or underhanded ambitions. This is Bellotte, who had a considerably sober assessment on Weed that we’re talking about. Seeing her best friend, Hwaryeong have absolutely no worries was also relieving. Bellotte glanced at Weed’s face; a skeleton with a lonely expression having said farewell to his peers.

“Without the rest of us there it’ll just be him and the ghost sailors. It’ll be a lonely voyage.”

“I still feel a bit sorry somehow.”

Weed’s jawbone spread so far from the mouth it looked like it was going to fall off.

“Now I can hog all the treasure!”

And then there were the Sculptures of Life coming aboard the ghost ship.

* * *

“Moooo!”

Wyvern, Phoenix, Rover, Geomuni and Bingryong!

“Get on the boat Geumini.”

“Okay, master.”

“Wyverns, for starters try getting on.”

The Wyverns were too heavy to carry on the deck to the valley. If they tried to sit on the mast it would break under their force.

“Wyverns, come down.”

It was when the Wyverns were going to fly off the boat. Walking determinedly Bingryong was five times as big as the ghost ship! Shamelessly Bingryong was trying to get on the ghost ship. It seemed like he was trying to destroy it by stomping on it with his foot.

“Stop, right there.”

Just before Bingryong was about to step on the ship he stopped

“You just can’t get on.”

With those words from Weed, Bingryong, as if somewhat sad, turned away.

* * *

Lee Hyun connected to the Royal Road website.

“I need skilled sailors.”

If it was near the high-traffic Nelia there wasn’t much worry about getting lost. On the other hand, to get to Las Phalanx, you had to cross a great sea. If you didn’t know where the currents were, in the worst case scenario you could get swept up in the wrong current and it would lead to disaster. A little mistake in the wrong direction could lead to a few days in the wrong direction, which could lead to the loss of several days of wandering around to get on the right path again or going to the wrong place entirely.

“To get to Las Phalanx, a high level navigator is needed.”

Ghost sailors were high-level to a certain degree, but that was just to a certain degree in battle. When it came to adjusting the sails or handling the keys they were so clumsy that getting to the destination quickly and accurately was impossible.

“Famous Captains or navigators, huh…”

Lee Hyun was searching the website articles.

“Though it’d better to get anyone that does not belong to a guild or group.”

From among them he found a striking article.

Title: Dirty Navigator Bastards! They robbed me of everything in Lanetis Sea.

Timber! You dirty bastards! I was pressed into Eulra on 4teeth.

(T/N: Pressed is a old term that was used to reference people who where pressed “kidnapped” into the becoming sailors for the navy [usual an old British reference])

I hired some navigator, but he caused a mutiny with the other crewmen and I lost all of my trading goods and even got my ship stolen.

After I searched up their names, man these guys were famous.

Seems like Hye, Fractal, and Board Mir were friends. Don’t ever hire them.

The name was also posted about in several other articles.

Title: Accusing the armed mugger of Planatis sea.

Even while they have high levels they’re jerks who hijack others’ ships.

In order to access us they pretend to be goodie two shoes and after hiring them for their talents they stole the ship and I got a total loss. Don’t ever be fooled. They totally lust for women and their personalities are shit.

Main base Becky.

Let’s all be careful.

Lee Hyun was in a position where he had to use a pirate caught as a slave if he couldn’t get a navigator.

“For starters I just need to get the contract.”

When the sailor contract is fulfilled that person’s status belongs to the ship.

In other words, as long as the ship does not sink, they are revived on the ship. Therefore the right to decide the life and death of the seafarers belongs to the captain. However, it was always possible for the sailors to take control of the ship by rioting and overthrowing the captain. At sea anything can happen!

The Port city Becky! As a port city that was part of a small marine dukedom. Trade and the shipbuilding industry were developed. In order to enter the Neria Sea from the Planatis Sea, it was an island that must essentially be passed by. The Island had many good hunting grounds, and its ocean currents lead all the way to the eastern kingdom of Brenton in just four or five days.

“Hehe, please another bottle of wine here.”

Bellotte was dressed in a neat leather dress and was drinking in the hard drunk pubs. Cute rosy cheeks, clear eyes, and innocent impression; she had attracted all the men’s attention.

“Hmm.”

“A woman drinking alone…. Is she waiting for her colleagues to come?”

Many of the male users were taking a peek at her.

Because this tavern was near the port the ratio of male sailors was overwhelmingly high. As the men were building up courage, watching Bellote sipping a drink, there were three men who stood up first. It was Hye, Fractal, and Board Mir the navigators famous for bad taste. They loved hard liquor, women, and had experience seizing boats by betraying the captain. They had a notorious reputation for going in between as normal users and murderers. They also had the nickname “ Becky’s 3 Mad Sharks.” Now they sat next to Bellotte and spoke in light tones. The one with the job to break the silence was Hye whose appearance was the better of the three.

“Seems like this is your first time in Becky?”

“Yes. My friends asked me to come here recently. Hehe.”

It was important how the opponent accepts the first words. Hye thought it wasn’t a bad start. That was because she laughed good-heartedly without any repulsion.

“Where are your friends now?”

“They’re waiting in the harbor.”

For Hye there was no need to retire even if there was a friend. If it was a girl with a cutesy innocent impression like Bellotte anyone would want to go out with her.

“Your friends as in men?”

“Their names are Romuna and Surka. Would you like to see a picture?”

“Picture?”

“A little sis I know is a painter. She painted us each a portrait.”

“I would love to see it, by all means.”

Bellotte pulled out the images from her backpack below. The image contained A Sporty girl in a red wizards hat and charming dancer staring wide-eyed. etc

Hye, Fractal and Board Mir swallowed their spit and thought:

‘Jackpot.’

Hitting on Bellotte alone was already amazing. But along with her friends it was not an exaggeration to say it was a beauty corp. Hye’s smile thickened further.

“By the way why, is there no nautical officer in this picture?”

“Because none of them is a nautical officer.”

“I presume you got here with another’s boat or a liner.”

“No, we hitched a ride with a friend who has his very own boat. He’s a beginner Captain.”

“Oh my, it must’ve been tough coming here.”

The currents around Becky were extreme, thus unless sailed by a skilled sailor, there was bound to be trouble.

“Actually it was really hard. It took more than four days to get here.”

“Yes it was very difficult. It took us three days longer to get here.”

“My my that so? It would’ve been much better if some skilled navigators helped out….”

Hye peeked a glance at his mates.

As if written on a script Fractal asked the next question

“The sea is really beautiful, right?”

“Yes, it’s really beautiful. The clouds roll across, and the floating stars and clouds…. and watching the jumping fish and dolphins make me really happy.”

Hye gazed gracefully back at Bellotte again at the end of the eloquent words.

“The sea is a really nice place. Are you going to continue your voyage? If so then perhaps we can help out a bit…. Really?

“All the good views of Becky are in the palm of our hands. We’ve even got some drinks to drink while looking.”

“Actually there’s a place I really want to go….”

Bellotte suddenly tailored a guilty look. If one looked close it seemed like a frozen face doing something one really shouldn’t. But this was interpreted differently by Hye.

‘Is she being sorry for asking me for help? Such a nice lady.’

Going with beauties like Bellote, how much trouble could go over that. Given the chance, wanting to go together were the three men’s hearts.

“What’s the problem? If you’re worried about something like not having enough money there’s no worries.”

“Honestly I came looking for a crew and a navigator, but I couldn’t bear the shame to ask you. Will you really help me?”

“Of course. You should have asked sooner.”

Board Mir suddenly interrupted as well. He was feeling jealous at the other two for being the only ones to talk to Bellotte.

“Then will you make the contract?”

“Do you by any chance have a boat?”

“It’s a friend ’s, but it’s an old medium sized sailboat.”

“Oh, is that so.”

Nothing would be better than Bellote or her friends. However, if there was no sign of going well with them they could always steal the boat in the middle of the sea.

An opportunity to Bellote and her friends and obtaining the boat and items.

‘Great.’ ‘A gnarly opportunity.’ The three got hasty and said.

“Let’s first start with the sailor contract.”

”How much would we get a day from the sailing contract?”

All of them were thinking everything was theirs’ so there was no need to ask for a lot.

“We’re good with 5 gold a day. No, the even if we don’t get that much we’re good.”

A trip with beauties and the chance to take over the boat low wages were but a trifle.

“That’s great. I already have the contract as the temporary vice Captain.”

Documents, which had been prepared in advanced, were removed from Bellotte’s bag.

*Ding!*

Bellotte has proposed a voyage contract for the Maria’s issue, on the behalf of the captain.

Title: Sailors and Navigators.

Allowance: 1 gold per day.

Contract duration: until arrived at the destination.

The Navigators Guild of Becky’s oceans ensures this agreement. Sailors are disqualified if they deny the ship’s captain’s command, or conduct an unauthorized withdrawal from the ship.

The allowance was only one gold. Even it was only word of mouth, after saying they would even do service free of charge they would only be stingy men if they started nitpicking. By signing the consent forms Hye, Fractal, and Board Mir happily entered into an unreasonable sailors contract. If the Voyage contract was assured by the Navigation Guild of Becky’s oceans, it was impossible to leave the ship. If they deserted the ship without authorization, their licenses would be disqualified by the Navigator’s Guild of Becky’s oceans, so they couldn’t be employed on other ships. Plus, the ships they own would be useless because no harbor would take them making it hard to get any work. The three men twitched like tracking dogs ready for the hunt.

“Then shall we go see the boat?”

“Yes.”

With rosy imaginations they followed Bellotte to the harbor. However, when they got there, they were a little confused. Despite the clear signs of being repaired the medium sized boat was still badly damaged. While being dumbfounded Hye asked.

“This is your boat?”

“Yeah. Is there any problem”

“No, nothing. It’s just that it didn’t seem like it’d go with your style.”

Such an old ship doesn’t seem like it’d fetch a good price , but oh well, a medium sized ship is a medium sized ship.

“Would you go ahead? I’ll catch up later.”

“Got it. We’ll be waiting on the ship.”

They climbed up the ladder with pleasure.

“Now it’s our world.” “Pretty girls and a sea adventure, huh . . . . ”

And the continuing shock, confusion and despair! On the deck three men with deathly white faces could be seen. What they boarded was a ghost ship, and one with ghost sailors walking around at that. They vaguely thought it might not be a trip with all women but they could never imagine a disaster of this proportion.

“Excuse me, this isn’t the boat Maria’s that we got issued to is it? We just got issued to Bellotte’s ship.”

The ghost sailors laughed raucously and willingly answered Hye’s stuttered question.

“KYeekyekyekeye This is the ship Maria.”

“The curse, the disaster of the ocean, The ghost ship Maria! Hehehehehe”

“What are you talking abo … we’ve been cheated?”

As they were in a rush in making the contract there was a lot they didn’t ask.

“Umm, Where is the ship headed?”

“Khihihihi it’s going to the Las Phalanx region.”

“Las Phalanx? I think I’ve heard that name somewhere before…Oh, you cant be referring to that Las Phalanx?!”

Known to be a place where you have to sacrifice yourself just to get there, one of the 10 classified forbidden areas; Las Phalanx! As navigators, they had heard about it so they knew the name.

“Yes, we’re going to Las Phalanx. Are you scared? You’ll probably die and become like us? Hihhi.”

“Blessing! Blessing! Become a sailor and stay on this ship forever.”

Looking at the ghost crew Hye frowned. Nonetheless, as the voyage contract stated they could not cancel it until they fulfilled it. If they left without permission they couldn’t get any jobs at the harbor so the disadvantages were just too enormous, Fractal gave a small whisper.

“There’s no problem. We only need to kill the Captain.”

All they needed to do was kill the captain and grab the contract documents.

Then they would have no problems with the Navigation Guild of Becky’s oceans.

“Let’s just kill the captain like always and take the ship already.”

“ Though it’s an old antique... but we’ll still be able to get a so-so price for it.

Hye asked with hope.

“Where is the Captain of this ship?”

“Huek huekhue, our Captain, scary Captain, is fishing.”

“Where?”

“Go towards the front.”

The three navigators pulled out their knives and moved with bold fronts. They were planning on slicing the captain and selling the boat straightaway. However, the moment the three men saw the captain their faces turned a ghastly white. With the body of a Lich consisting of a skeleton and skull, Weed was fishing.

Chapter 6: DeRon’s Aurora

“For the sake of the quest Weed seems to have moved.”

“He followed the gold.”

In Morata spies were seen reporting to the Lords and the Guilds. In the north, the guilds and lords, as well as Central and Western continents sent spies to watch their movements. It was evident they were fairly conscious about the plans of Weed. Each of the stations also had sources planted in Morata to gain real time information.

“Is this the second part of the S-class quest?”

“It seems to be finally starting.”

Weed had the only S-class quest in progress on the Versailles continent. Even A and B class quest could influence the entire continent. The very difficult S-class is a step above that and a very big change was coming. Even just step one of the quest, devastated one of the Embinyu cults and restarted the secret Matallost cult.

“An S class quest that only be started out in the north, there shouldn’t be many cases that impact the Versailles Continent.”

“What if he acquires a rare sword that came out from the history books? A premium magic sword or maybe an outrageously fire resistant armor?”

“Since the north continent doesn’t have a nation, there could be a quest about establishing one.”

There were many who speculated what would happen, but if Weed completed the quest he would once again be the center of the worlds attention. If he was successful, he would be the first player to ever fulfill a S-class; with all the glory and prestige that every user yearned for. A fierce competition between broadcasters was going on behind the scenes. The views from the first part of the S-class quest were huge. King Hydra, Imugi, Balkan Lich: monsters that normal users couldn’t even find, were part of a fierce and massive battle. Balkan’s outstanding performance caused wizards to change to Necromancers in droves. However broadcaster did not expect for Weed to have a second success. According to Weed, part 1 was utilizing the Matallost relic to the utmost and a lot of luck. As the quest progressed each step would be more and more difficult. But even if the quest was failed, the viewers would still watch so they were preparing to broadcast.

“….seems to have disappeared from the waterfront.”

BardRay was also notified. Like a scalpel the Hermes guild focused on surveillance of Weed and were reporting directly to BardRay. It was a unilateral decision by the core guild members. The fact that the guild watches only the top 50 players in the Versailles continent which included Weed put BardRay in a very bad mood.

– What if it’s a sea quest?

BardRay asked in a whisper to his spy. He sent many high level spies to chase after Weed. Of course they ultimately lost Weed, but they were able to follow him to the water because Weed moved in a straight path there.

– There’s insufficient information on what the quest is.

– If the trail was lost, did you see if he rode the Wyverns and continued on?

– It seems he went to sea aboard a boat and not on the Wyverns. We’ve found traces of hunting around here that could be the wyverns but we also found traces of a boat landing on the beach.

– He rode a boat? What was the boat’s size?

– It was a small wooden boat but I can’t tell if he switched to a larger ship or not.

– He went out to sea without a doubt right?

– Not only the I but other guild’s spies are here looking for evidence here. We’ve found footprints of several hundred people from Morata. If you look at the characteristics of the footprints you can determine the equipment and they all belong to the same class. It appears it was that strong force during the Morata war. ( T/N: Signs of Geomichis)

– Roger that. Notify me first if there are any changes.

– Yes, sir.

Bardray’s forehead wrinkled slightly. That Weed could succeed in an S class quest before him was getting on his nerves.

“Should I just kill him?”

Bardray heart wavered. His equipment and levels were incomparable to anyone on the Versailles continent. And Weeds combat ability that he showed while hunting the dragon was surprising, but the same could be achieved by Bardray easily. Bardray had been hunting monster of similar levels while receiving the assistance of wizards or clerics. It was after his 3rd job change at level 400 he passed the advanced training center. Even in virtual reality he was getting accustomed to fighting. There was no obstacle or monster he couldn’t overcome. If you lack movement in some way, then with equipment, skills, and levels the gap could be narrowed. Bardray fought many opponents in the Hermes guild, until he held the highest position in the guild. (T/N: In this case there talking about how the BardRay faction holds the most power in the guild not that he is the highest seat, which is guild master.)

Even if he only used two or three sword skills, Weed was as good as dead.

“However now’s a critical time. Until we win full control of the Kingdom of Haven under the hegemony alliance I can’t leave. The time to show you the taste of true despair is not yet.”

Revenge would come with subjugating the Versailles Continent and exiling Weed; But Weed’s success in the chain quest and his growth annoyed BardRay.

“You probably used the Kallamore Knights for a quest, and they likely can’t be used more than a few times. More users are starting in Morata of late. You better savor it now because eventually I will be coming.” He hated users that surpassed themselves and rose up in the ranks. That Weed could some could somehow gain the same equipment of the same power level as him was terribly unpleasant.”

BardRay sent a whisper

– Navy Admiral Drinfeld.

– Yes?

An Admiral for the Hermes guild! Drinfeld was in charge of the Kingdom’s 2nd fleet.

– You’ve got work to do.

– Just send me an order.

– Take your 2nd fleet to the north. Your goal is Weed.

– You want me to keep assassinating him?

– No, it’s only important to kill him once or twice. Just to teach him a lesson.

– Yes, sir.

If Weed had left on a boat then Drinfeld was going to be needed. BardRay rethought about the command.

“It might not be enough. The sea is very broad. It’ll be tough for Drinfeld to catch-up to Weed.”

BardRay wrote a letter to allied guild master Laffe. It was a proposal to send a transmission to the Griffith pirates who occupy the largest sea area.

“Kill God of War Weed who’s out at sea….“

Griffith read the letter from the Hermes guild. The navies from the kingdoms in the continent were powerful, but Griffith’s power at sea was enormous. He had more than 400 small and medium Pirate vessels under his immediate control. Pirates also had an indirect sphere of influence. In order for sea merchants to transport shipments by sea, they had to pay a fee to the Griffith pirates. The deputy head of the pirates Colm asked.

“Who did they say to kill that you’re hesitating so?”

“It’s not a bad deal.”

The guild said that if they managed to kill Weed three times they could keep any equipment he dropped. They also could gain one piece of the equipment broadcasted by BardRay. Any equipment worn by Bardray was extremely powerful.

“It’s a very generous compensation.”

“It’s a fake though. The Hermes guild would not reveal their real equipment on air; its best kept a secret.”

“Then you don’t want to do it?”

“No opportunities like this don’t come very often.”

Griffith grinned. Not only the Hermes guild, but many lords and prestigious guilds of the Central continent had the same request.

* * *

The sailing speed of the ghost ship was significantly faster now. It was all because of the trained officer adjusting the sails and course. As expected, the anxiety of the three navigators grew with each new point they passed. It was a rare experience to work together with a ghost crew and steer a ghost ship. They now had a lot new tales they could tell at bars. Going to Las Phalanx was like waking up sleeping lion.

“Umm, I know of other hunting grounds.”

“Do you want to go somewhere with a better view?”

Board Mir and Hye proposed to Weed, despite that, he continued to fish! Deoreol was known as the captain of the ghost ship, so they did not know that it was Weed. A Mooo sound came from Yellowy. He was lying spread out on the deck along with Geumuni, who was fishing while wearing a straw hat.

“Why on earth did a lich suddenly appear?”

“He should be a high level… shit, we got caught up in this pretty bad. We can’t attack him.”

The Lich is not a class that can be easily killed by a surprise attack. Looking at the undead sea monsters that rose from the seafloor, the group felt exasperated.

“Is it possible to change jobs to Lich?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard of any users from the continent switching before. We’re so unlucky to meet the one who did.”

It was then, as Hye, Fractal, and Board Mir were wallowing in their despair,

“Large reef discovered on the port side! Turn.”

Fractal, who was monitoring the front, shouted out about the reef.

*tsu rurururu chwek*

Hye hastily turned the helm to the left. The turn was sharp enough to rock the boat from side to side, as they barely avoided the reef lightly scratching the side of the boat. They’d come quite a long ways from Becky Nin so there were no other boats in the vicinity.

“Whew. This is also a great experience, isn’t it?”

“Yes, my sailing skills have risen a huge amount.”

Hye and Board Mir were surprised. The more they moved along Weed’s route the more experience and skill proficiency piled up. This does not require the presence of the sea. The voyage itself gave off the experience, skill level, and fame of a user who discovered a new dungeon.

“I think it was a good thing to come along with this voyage.”

“I know what you mean, my navigation skills have greatly improved.”

“We can pretend to faithfully follow commands for now . . . but we’re the only ones who can steer the ship.”

“Well, don’t worry about it. We’ll definitely find an opportunity to take control of the ghost ship. We’ll desert them when we anchor on an unknown island. Captain of the ghost ship! Kuhuhuhu.”

The three men held a secret conversation. However Yellowy saw their scheming and could only feel sorry for them.

How daring to make such dirty conspiracies against Weed! Eumumu. ‘You don’t know how cheap, petty, and despicable master is.’

It was like little children trying to pickpocket professional gamblers. On top of that Weed didn’t even let the smallest amount of money slip through his fingers. Due to the north wind in their sails, they traveled quickly. Speaking cautiously, Hye call out to Weed.

“Captain, I have something to tell you.”

“Mmm.”

Weed fished on almost silently. His Fishing skill had risen to Intermediate 5 and 35% and his handicraft stat by 3%. There were millions of skills to improve maximum vitality, but they wouldn’t be gained by fishing.

“In about half a days time, we’ll be a third of the way to our destination. We can expect to arrive 2 days earlier.”

“MMMM!”

Modest praise from Weed. Even with an accurate map to Las Phalanx, without the three navigator’s skills, it would’ve been a harsh journey. Though their personalities weren’t much,, no one could deny their skills. Anyways, Weed was their employer.

“Keep up the good work. You will receive many rewards on our return.”

“Yes sir.”

Hye stepped back after the small conversation. While navigating for this long, they had been paid only a stipend of 1 gold a day, which was too cheap. He was trying to point this out to Weed, but Weed already knew that. Weed thought.

“I guess I will have to pay them 1 gold extra as payment for saving two days time.”

The waves became violently rough for the second half of voyage to Las Phalanx. As 7-meter waves met the ghost ship, it would repeatedly climb and fall.

“Whoooo! i guess I’ll have to hold on to something if I don’t want to fall”

“Ahhhh! Please let me live!”

The ghost crew that were struck were knocked into the sea. However, they soon reemerged in their assigned spots. If they were real sailors, they would either be dead or it would be very difficult to save them. Even the currents became harsh. They would be sailing calmly when suddenly a giant whirlpool large enough to suck in and shatter a large ship would appear.

“To the right! Turn wide.”

Without the utmost concentration, it was impossible to avoid them. The ghost ship teeter tottered through the stiff currents as they made their way north. After three days, they finally made it out of the whirlpool area. All Weed did was continue fishing. As they headed, north he caught rare purple fish species that raised his skills. On top of that, as the captain, he adjusted sails which raised his navigation skills.

“How much longer do we have?” Exhausted, Board Mir answered Weed’s question.

“We’ve traveled about 60% of the way.”

“We ought to arrive soon.”

“Work hard!”

It was not a short distance, so there was no choice but to adapt to the sea. With only navigation skills and their belief in themselves, they could only unite and weather the harsh sea. Strength, courage, and a challenging mindset were needed to hold out when the sea was this rough. Fortunately, the wind didn’t blow against them and the waves calmed down and for two days they had a calm journey. Their bodies suddenly felt cold. Instead of rain, thick snowfall came from from the sky.

“Now I’ve really come far into the north.”

Hye, Fractal, and Board Mir, who had never come this far, suddenly felt fear. However, it was too late to turn the ship around, so they ventured forward. The sky was clear during the day, and at night the moon emerged, with countless stars reflecting over the ocean. It was like sailing through Mother Nature itself.
*Ding!*

- You have entered The DeRon Seaway.

Sailing skill proficiency increased.

Due to risk strength, Endurance, wisdom, and charisma stat +6.

Fame +260.

Navigators who first discover an island or a geographic region will have an increase in fame stats.

“This is great! Normally it only climbs up one or two stat points but six?!. Its even for 4 different types of stats.”

“It’s because we came all the way from the harbor in Becky Nin without rest.”

It was usually the norm to stop one day for every two days of travel. This was to restock on supplies and to reduce the fatigue of the crew. Ghost sailors may not be the best workers, but they didn’t have the usual fatigue and homesickness.

*Chuckle* ”The Human sailors look delicious.”

“Let’s steal their bodies. Let’s steal their bodies. I’m so fed up with roaming the seas eternally. I want to enter a human’s body.”

“Shush. Those guys are the Captain’s prey. I’m sure the Captain will give us a bite to eat after he’s through with them.”

Weed procured food and water, so there was no need to worry about starvation. Plus, since he could repair the ship, was as good as it was in the harbor and there was nothing more needed on the voyage. As they headed north less mermaids were sighted and whales and birds had long stopped following them. After entering into the DeRon seaway, nippy cold air began to bite at them. And then the Aurora finally unfolded! A curtain of light and stars hung above the ghost ship in the middle of the night. It was beautiful enough to enchant the three hardened sailors. The natural light was so amazing that it caused shivers.

- You have found DeRon’s Aurora.

- Due to your amazing discovery Fame + 350.

Art stat +28.

All stats +5.

Due the power of nature all abnormal states are cured.

30% increase for five days in strength and heat resistance.

13% increase to the maximum value of all stats.

The maximum speed of the ship, turning ability, and ship’s ability to land will increase by 27%.

Due to the blessing of the aurora, you will be granted additional benefits in naval battle.

The Ghost sailors and the navigators were lost in admiration of the Aurora. Even Weed was mesmerized by the aurora . Like butterflies leaving their cocoons, tears swelled up in traveler’s eyes. Most natural beauty would not soften Weeds stout heart, but he softly said.

“I will have to memorize your exact look. Next time I make a light sculpture in Morata it’ll be of this sight.”

It was like the joy of earning money from recycling empty bottles when he was young. The aurora’s one and only role was creating a lifelong memory for the travelers. It paved a twinkling road in the sky.

Weed instructed.

“Let head toward over there.”

“Aye, sir.”

The officer steered the ship towards the path that the Aurora showed. There were no reefs, currents, or sea monsters that touched them; it was a calm sea. With the exception of the extreme cold, there was very little to be unhappy about.

“Uuugh, cold!”

While adjusting the sail, Board Mir body was shivering as his teeth chattered. They were the signs of catching a cold. Both concentration and stamina fell. Weed felt fine because he had caught a baby whale and had made a robe out of it in advance.

“Got to take care to not to repeat the same mistakes.”

He had already suffered twice before in northern explorations. After arriving at Las Phalanx, you would probably have to worry about the heat more than the cold. However, until then, you have to keep your body in the best condition possible. He wore the yeti clothes he had previously made with the newly made whale robe. He made hot fish soup out of the fish he caught and this made the cold a bit more bearable. The navigators gathered around Weed and watched him with pleading eyes. Hye, as the representative, said.

“Chatter. Chatter. Captain.”

It was as if a woodpecker suddenly appeared. The men’s teeth clattered in their mouths. They wore short sleeves and shorts because they were easy to move around in and they usually traveled in warmer climates.

“We may freeze to death in this state. Please give us some clothes to wear.”

“Why would I do that?” Weed replied indifferently.

Eating alone next to hungry people, fooling around as everyone else worked, wearing warm clothes as everyone else shivered! Weed did the cheapest things and he did three different kinds at once. Hye gave a frustrated look.

“Then, you want our report to freeze too sir?”

“You should always prepare for your own survival. What ship has their Captain provide clothing as well?”

Weed said that with no remorse. Welfare benefits are nonexistent for the sailors of the ghost ship. ‘The ghost sailors are just fine in the cold’ spoke louder than words.

“Please captain save us.”

“20 gold”

“What?”

“One day rental fee. It’s not like clothes grow out of the ground.”

“But, you obtain your own clothes by fishing and you can collect the scales of the fishes. I saw you do that.”

“If you don’t want it you go find another place.”

A new level of dirty cheapness, to get a rental fee from a person who would freeze to death! You have to pay the rental fee with a cup of tears.

“With a deposit of 500 gold for a week in advance.”

Once the clothes were rented, the officers got together and secretly whispered to one another.

– I’ll put up with it for now.

– Is he planning on us turning into popsicles? There is a contract, but our opportunity will come.

– It’s not like we’ve only killed once or twice, if there would only be a chance . . . .

If they seized the ship, they would maroon Weed and leave by themselves. Sailors have shipbuilding skills just in case they needed to build their own, but, for now, they suffered in silence.

– We will make him pay a hundred times over.

– Only a hundred times? No it needs to be a thousand. Tens of thousands of times.

Chapter 7: Adventurer of Las Phalanx

Weed’s Arts Center was officially open! The first guests were the Mandol couple who requested the sculpture. And the next day the doors properly opened.

“Weed’s sculptures are in here?”

Morata users were quite interested in Weed’s sculpture. The effects of the light tower and the The Sculpture of Freya were always benefiting hunting so the users looked forward to the Arts Center’s new sculptures.

The admission was 10 gold. For people under level 100 the price was three gold. Prices even applied to mercenary and subordinate NPCs. For groups of 30 or more, they got a 50% discount.. There was signage regarding admission fees starting at the entrance. Student or senior discounts were cold-heartedly denied. However the elderly and students of Royal Road are much more frightening.

“Nothing to do at this old age…Elder Shin what level are you?”

“Around Level 360. Hulhul.”

“You’ve leveled up a lot. Similar to Goo Grannie in the lower town nursing home.”

“No no, I’m a difficult to level magician class. You can’t compare me to her.”

The senior’s children don’t play with them and their grandchildren have all grown up. But that doesn’t mean they should go play all day. From Entertainment to Music, News to Dramas the elderly had experienced it all, but Royal Road was a new world. In reality, their backs would get more crooked and their health would deteriorate however, in Royal Road they could have a new body again.

Because of their overwhelming free time, grandmothers and grandfathers could easily hunt monsters all the time.

“But isn’t the entrance fee too expensive?”

“What kind of Arts Center charges 10 gold for?”

Morata users that had waited since the morning were full of complaints. It was because if they paid and there wasn’t much to see they would regret it.

“Well if its only 10 gold I guess seeing it once wouldn’t be too much of a waste?”

“Well Weed’s amazing sculptures helped a lot with hunting so I guess I’ll see it as repayment and look inside.”

The users bought their tickets and entered the Arts Center. The 5-story building had 2 underground floors and a large garden. The garden was a comfortable space where one could relax and view the sculptures. Sculptures such as bronze statues confessing their love, monster hunting, and bronze bear statues that children liked.

“Sandwiches and meat for sale.”

“Please try the Art Hall meal set.”

The restaurants also opened their doors. They advertised that families could relax as they ate. There was a stage for bards that was already completed, though it currently wasn’t being used.

“Let’s view the Art hall then let’s go.”

“We should see it fast and go hunting.”

Novices and users crowded past the entrance area. They wanted to skip everything and see Weed’s work. From B2 to the second floor was several exhibition space for the other general artists. Well known Morata painters and sculptors now had a place to exhibit their work. Artists up until now had to earn money by selling commissioned works. But with the opening of the Arts Center now it was possible to receive money from admissions. It was an opportunity to show their work to a large audience and artists and sculptors could get their name out.

“Here is my work.”

“Borahum, it’s this way. There’s a black pig sculpture from the east.”

The Morata’s artists at this moment felt a great deal of joy.

“You cannot find another lord that treasures artwork to this extent in all the Versailles continent.”
“Since he himself is a sculptor he probably understands our plight.”

When the Arts Center opened Morata’s fame went up by 60. Morata’s fame went up with winning the war, and dramatically raised its fame with all the cultural achievements. The affiliated artists from Morata that traveled to show off their work received special treatments and privileges.

“A bard of Morata’s production? It must’ve been a long journey. Would you like to come perform at our village? I’ll pay you 20 gold more than your usual rate.”

“If it’s a sculpture of Morata, then they are really popular so they sell well. If the original price is 7 gold, I will pay you 5 gold more.”

Although the north was not yet fully realized, artists felt the rewards from it. But the true value of the Arts Center was they could have their work appreciated. An artwork that is properly displayed gives off an additional 20% increase in certain options and price. It would be preserved in perfect condition so even if time passed they wouldn’t be damaged. Sculpture and paintings by themselves usually could not have cumulative effects, but it differed in the arts center. One sculpture increased the effect of the other, so when fully appreciated it created better advantages when paired. Featured artists had the opportunity to make new bold artworks. The users were content that they could view an array of artworks in one place and felt that the expensive admission could be justified.

“But there’s a lot of empty spaces.”

“Its only the opening so it probably can’t be helped.”

“Since there is empty slots, shouldn’t they have a discount on the admission fee?”

Morata’s artwork couldn’t be displayed without any distinguishing. Each artist only volunteered their work so there was only a few works on display.

The visitors went up to the third floor. It was full of Weed’s little sculptures from traveling around. Monster of every kind from each providence; there was even miniatures of cities. The city of Serabourg in the Rosenheim Kingdom, the Grava mountain range, The city in the sky Lavias, the free city of Somren, and the trek through the Bar Khu mountains. There was also the Yurokina Mountain range in the plains of despair. It was like a miniature version of the Versailles continent was created. Each piece was created during his travels so they weren’t all the same size or quality but each monster, tree, mansion and other works caught the visitors eyes. Since carrying them while traveling was getting harder, they were all put into the Art’s Center.

“A tremendous amount of devotion dwells in these works.”

“There are so many sculptures”

The visitor eyes were filled with wonder as they saw Weed’s sculptures. It was a display of one person’s maximum potential. On the fourth floor, one-third of it was a hall made of glass so you could see inside. There. they were able to view dolls. The sculptures of From Birth to Death, was shown inside the glass displays. It was an impeccable sculpture where a stitch wasn’t out of place. It was created by a large amount of concentration and focus. It wasn’t just about one child’s growth. The viewer could experience and connect with this life. Over time, the possibility of human and the potential for happiness shows life is precious. Looking at the dolls of a person’s life one had a vivid experience of the creation. Family, tears, pain and joy all naturally emulated within the dolls. Most of the visitors read the description of the work first. To fully understand the work, background was essential. Additionally if you wanted to tell others about the work, it would require information from the description.

– This works display was made by the worthless architect Pavo adjunct with art deputy
Gaston. This is the work of a sincere and humble artist who left no name. The hope is that you it will leave warm and worthwhile feelings that you will remember for the rest of your life.

At the end the description there was a paper sign probably from the first viewer.

‘I am the man who commissioned a sculpture of my unborn daughter. Though I asked the sculptor to make this, truthfully I didn’t have much hope it would be done. I was grasping at straws when I made the request. The commission fee was only 1 copper. The sculptor created this sculpture based on my wife and I. I do not know what everyone will feel as they see this sculpture. But this sculpture has left a moving impression on us. Before seeing this, I felt life could be too cruel and irrational. Thank you for spending this moment in life with me.’

Visitors saw the dolls with reverence. People naturally viewed with appreciation and gratitude.

*Ding!*

You have seen a mythical sculpture of an unknown name. Flower of art.
The work could only be called phenomenal. The Sculptor who did not reveal his name expressed his prowess by creating this work entitled From Birth to Death.
Looking at this sculpture will show the blessings of life to the viewer.

For one day:

Health, mana, and stamina recovery rate will increase by 32%.
Health and mana + 36%.
+24 in all stats.
In addition agility and courage will have increase.
Movement speed will increase by 36%. When traveling long distances this effect is higher

From savoring the joy of life vitality + 500 permanently.
Wisdom and knowledge + 2 permanently.
In order to fully understand this work frequent and careful viewing of this sculpture is needed.

The Arts Center’s first floor, second floor kept flooding visitors to the third floor. On the third floor visitors still kept going, but on the fourth floor no one wanted to leave. There was a line of people waiting for other people to leave. They looked at the dolls from birth, to school, to marriage, to having children, to death and heading back to the beginning. That cannot be resorted to life, the most precious things is those hours of happiness. Just like bright precious jewels the hours passed staring at the life. Nobody knows who started clapping, but soon the applause was thunderous.

“Darling, do you want to live here?”

Delphi first suggested after looking at the sculptures of her daughter. Even if she did return to the Central continent she had precious memories of the sculptures to cheer her up. Delphi asked concerned.

“Do you like this place?”

“Yes, I can feel the energy from the people. And it’s there’s adventure. The Central continent is under the concessions of the guilds who are endlessly warring. Considering the political stability the northern conflicts are small. The guilds are also new. People have lots of expedition, and exploration quests. The New products and hunting grounds are overflowing, and it’s really is too beautiful. I think I’d like to settle down here and hunt together like we used to do.”

They moved into a two-story stone house on the outskirts of the Morata district. There are many shacks in Morata so tenancy is high. For the first time parties of people could own a house. The first signs of moving people threw moving parties with food for the new tenants. Everybody who carries something gets something to eat. Houses with vistas were shockingly popular. The view was amazing even if the ceiling popped and cracked and leaked when it rained. Owning a poor shack was amazingly romantic. Women would come home from the Arts Center in tears.

* * *

“Starboard!

“If these conditions persist than we’ll be hit”

“Slow down!”

Las Phalanx had become bitterly cold. In the harsh cold, large pieces of ice floating around created a dangerous sea.

“Get your head straight. If the ship is damaged we’ll all fall in the water and freeze to death!”

“Fractal, where’s that glacier?”

“10 second, flowing from the right.”

“Preparing to turn to port. As soon as the glacier is past adjust the sails to the wind.”

The sailors hadn’t yet run into the thousands of glaciers only by the grace of god. The natural wonders were beautiful and dangerous at the same time. It was a dangerous voyage that had never been seen before.

*Mooooo!*

As the rest watched the incoming icebergs and fell into a complete panic Weed and rover were sitting and fishing comfortably.

“The Arts Center’s numbers of visitors are increasing exponentially.”

According to Pavo’s report the number exceeds 25,000 visitors a day. People are even lining up at dawn to get in.

‘In a sense the Arts Center is money. The construction cost for this time is significantly less. The other painters, sculptors, and performers should also share in the profits. Nevertheless, it is needless to say that there is a huge surplus from this. And the users in the north would all visit at least once because the sculpture of the girl’s life gave permanent stat increases. The 10 gold will be a burden on the novices but they will soon grow. And when they grow up more they will go to Art center before every time they go hunting.’
In the mean time the sewed leather armor needed by the beginners made money for the craftsman in the process. It was a key source of income and tax trade. However, for a piece artwork you could earn BIG money. For the first time in the history of the Versailles continent there was a revenue structure of the land based around art. It was not even an exaggeration to call it a revolution.

”The power of great art.”

The names of great artists stayed in history for 1 or 2 eras. More visitors creates more works, which creates more money. It was beautiful. Nice. Fantastic. Sublime. The sculptor profession was not poison! Weed laughed even as the icebergs raced towards him. (T/N: In this they keep calling the icebergs glaciers. But glaciers don’t float into ships)

“If you have visitors visiting once a month then if you raise the price to 13 gold even more money could be made.”

“HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa.”

The jawbone was in extreme danger of falling off the crazily laughing skull. Gumeni and Rover seemed normal in comparison, but none of the ghost sailors could approach the bony shoulder.

“A good one sir.”

“The ocean is a grave to no one but you.”

The ghost crew had thoughts of pushing Weed in the sea, even though he would probably think of it as taking a bath.

“Kueh, he brought the Maria all this way, We’ll just have to demonstrate our power.”

“The sea is deep. He could just slide out and go missing.”

“The Captain!”

“Captain I now offer you to the sea”

The ghost crew’s loyalty after sailing for a long distance! But they would not soon better the far superior lich out of fear. The Left side was hit! An iceberg plunged into the side of the ship and tore a deep gouge. It was not part of the ghost that was underwater, but the state of the ghost ship had steadily worsened as they went along the waterway. Hye checked the condition of the hull and then said.

“Captain, we might have to suspend navigating to the destination. More and more icebergs are floating along; it’s inevitable that a big iceberg will hit the ship and we’ll immediately sink.”

That an iceberg could hit was intimidating enough. But there was small and large chunks of ice floating in the sea that continued to hit the ship thus accumulating damage. Paradoxically, the seaweed that was stuck to them prevented more damage.

“What should I do then?”

The wide laughing mouth asked. With the admission fee from the Art Center, Weed felt like he was heaven.

’When the ship sinks we can just walk on the glaciers. This region is one big bowl of water. Of course there’s riding on the undead. This area is much more severe than the ice storm that erupted in Morata.’
(PR: I think that Riding on the Undead means Riding on the Large Sea Monsters that Weed can raise)

For tough roads, it is better to think positive thoughts.

“The icebergs are constantly coming from the sea, eventually they will have to stop.”

While laughing he asked.

“Well doesn’t that mean that we’re close to land? If you look at the chart you should see that a large river flows through the land. We’ll be able to get to Las Phalanx through there.”

“Won’t it also be frozen?”

Up north the glaciers are constantly growing. The cold they caught was evidence of the sea freezing. Then of course the rivers would be frozen as well. It would be better to walk than go by boat.

“Wouldn’t be better to walk?”

“I don’t know what the captains thinking.”

“It’s not like you can sail on a frozen river.”

Weed’s quick decision was made with the reasoning that:
‘If you cannot get to Las Pheonix by sea than go by land. Even if you have to skate over the river’

“Go to the river.”

So the ghost ship changed its route, heading for the mainland. They were busy with the increasing amount of icebergs, but eventually they were getting the timing down to avoid the floating blocks of ice. But when they arrived there was no frozen river to be found. Thick, white snow had piled up on the land like mountains, but the river remain unfrozen. The temperature around the ghost ship felt much warmer for some reason. Weed tenderly asked Rover.

“Yellowy, are you thirsty?”

Yellowy waited then nodded. He gave water from the warm flowing river a sniff.

“Thank you, master.”

Rover put his head in the offered bucket and drank.

“Glug,glug,glug,glug... kya, this water taste good.”

The water had a slight yellow color, but the eyes that were cast toward Weed had little resentment.

“This water is safe to drink is it not. Then is it coming from Las Phalanx?”

If one looked carefully at the Las Phalanx it could be seen that it was a volcanic region. The yellow color was run off from the volcanoes.’

“The sulfur taste isn’t too bad.”

“Good, now the boats water supply can be filled.”

After Yellowy’s report Weed started ordering the water barrel to be filled. With the unfreezing river flowing away from Las Phalanx would slow them down, but now there was no need to dodge ice, which was great. The three navigators gathered on the bow.

“He’s a monster coming to this region.”

“What are the levels around this region?”

“I don’t know but nowhere near the beginner levels. From the appearances, nothing is normal.”

Large bodies covered in hair with horns; the monsters were very intimidating. Wild tribes that ran around with axes and ice weapons, crying bloody murder. Users that wanted to land here to hunt would have to be insane. Usually the level of the monsters would be enough to turn one away, but you also had to fight the cold.

“There’s no need to fight recklessly.”

Weed passed by while watching the monsters. The high quality leather obtained would help insulate much better. He could also collect the loot, but it was better to avoid battles where it would be easy to slip on the ice.

“After riding Bingryong I couldn’t fight.”

After riding he caught a cold and was forcefully nursed by Seoyoon. Air combat was out.

“Don’t want to repeat the same mistake.”

Weed focused on fishing the occasional fish and ordered the ghost ship to move on. the closer they got to Las Phalanx , the hotter it got.. Steam puffed out and wrapped around them like a fog. It was like a natural sauna that prevents cold and the like. When the sun shone through rainbows would occur.

“Huh, billions of rainbows!”

“I’m so thirsty.”

The navigators whose strength was lacking from the effect of being frozen for a long time had a violent thirst. They drank water to replenish the sweat that started to flow frequently. Hye was fed up with the matter and said,

“I cant take it anymore. I’m exhausted from these symptoms.”

For the three sailors who did not have the advantages of being undead, the heat was unbearable.

“Tsk, deplorable.”

Weed wrinkled his forehead at the pathetic sailors. Because the navigators were at hand, the ghost ship was moving along pretty fast.

“Well, you do enough to let us live, I don’t think you're being a greedy guy.”

“So we can stop here?”

“Please let us anchor the ship in the river at least once.”

“The symptoms are getting worse and worse. We’re exhausted.”

Weed looked at the three. In the first place their bodies were streaked with sweat, and bony from the days of keeping up with advantaged undead. The three sailors were struggling to beat the heat because of their feeble endurance stat.

“Tsk, weaklings.”
(T/N: HAHA one of the Translation said -TSK TSK you suck. XD.)

Weeds forehead narrowed further. The three sailors so far had been invaluable since they kept the ship from harm.

“Well, it’s because of you guys that we’ve made it this far. A little selfishness could be indulged. We can anchor here for a little while. And you can get off”

“Then we can go back?”

“Once the ship is docked you can leave and take a look around.”

“I see. Captain!”

The three sailors quickly docked the boat. Weed said,

“You guys docked on the ice so well. Go ahead and get off to cool down.”

“Oh thank you very much”

Hye and Fractal would get off-board, than Board Mir would join them.

‘Once you landed on land we were preparing to escape.’

‘If we left it up to you we would have never been left off’

The three sailors had already made their decision in their hearts. So far they have had numerous bad things committed against them and very few pleasures on the boat. Without them, the ghost ship would have a hard time going anywhere

“Go drop dead while looking for us.”

“Let them suffer for it properly afterwards.”

The three sailors stiffly climbed down to the icy glaciers all while praying. Once they were on the ice the Maria sails grew wide and their ties to the land were cast off by Rover biting them. And the ghost ship began to move away! Weed was at the captain’s seat turning the helm. On the voyage his sailing skills had advanced 7 levels. Now he was at a level where he could comfortably drive the ghost ship. The normally only fishing Captain unabashedly drove the ghost ship!

“Why is the ship moving?”

“Oh man, Captain!”

The greatly persecuted sailors did not also cry out. They were here with the crew.

‘He can’t leave without us.’

“Captain this is the trail. KI hie hihi.”

“Away we go. We can’t count the number of times you helped. Thank you.”

*Sobbing*

More ghost sailors appeared and threw out dirty lines.

“What the heck. Are we going to be abandoned?”

“But what about our lives?”

The three sailors ran as if their feet were on fire. They ran alongside the ghost ship on the glaciers.

“Please save us!”

“Please give us a ride I’ll do anything that you say.!”

Shouted the three iron-hard sailors. The perpetrators felt for the first time that they had become the victims.

Weed said towards them.

“Don’t worry. We are not going to abandon you. Are you not sailors on my ship? Deoreol does not leave family behind.”

“Do you really mean that?”

“Thank you, captain!”

But the ship did not stop. In the end, Weed was not such a person to hold up to such pretty words. Particularly not the one-eyed lich pirate Captain who would not hold onto unnecessary numbers.

“Wait here and I will come back here at a later date.”

“But there are too many monsters!”

“It’d be safer to wait on the boat!”

Weed ignored their words lightly. Because he had an ulterior motive.

“When will you return…What!”

“HAHAHA we got you now! We would have tossed you in the water, but it’s entertaining to see that you’ll never be picked up for a ride. Kueh Ha Ha!”

The crew agreement had been revoked. And soon the new vice captain from the ghost crew was bending at the waist to greet him.

“Yes, captain. Ki hihihi I’ll take the helm.”

* * *

From the foggy area to the rainbow land Las Phalanx could be seen! Mountains sat spewing out smoke and lava.

“We are finally here.”

Weed quickly set out to observe the area's monsters. Just a short boat ride revealed many more monsters than the known kinds. Hairy bears roaming around with frozen white skin, leopard like rock-hard bollards that roared unexpectedly. Chaos Warriors, wielding large axes, waiting in the shadows for their prey. Lava spiked where the flame giants were. Their body consisting of mostly lava fire giants! Out of the land, cracked areas spewed out steam. There, fire salamander-like demons and other monsters subject to the firelights lived.

“I seem to have a general idea. The Armenia pirates may have come up the unfreezing river.”

There was no evidence of Armenia pirates in sight. Weed anchored the ghost ship and went down the rope to check out the monsters. It was at that moment.

*Ding!*

Adventurers have arrived at Las Phalanx.

Whether the heroic adventurers live or die is a gamble. This Land that has only remained as part of the Versailles history books has been practically forgotten. If you did not visit the goddess of earth you should leave rather than remain in oblivion for a long time.

Benefits:

Fame +800.
During this week 2x experience, and item drop rate. The first monster slain will give the best item.
Blessings of the earth goddess of the mines.
Soft and sacred energy welled up from the ground and engulfed Weed.
Have received the blessings of the goddess of the earth.
Mana recovery rate is 40% faster.
Increase concentration and greatly reduced the probability of magic failure.
38% of the enemies attack damaged can be absorbed by the earth.
Can help reduce the enemies defense.

Has a five day duration, Ten blessing remain.
Because of undead state 35 piety is permanently reduced.

The blessing of the goddess of the earth. Usually the goddess blessing are discriminating among certain races, and were considerably weaker. From the prosperity to abundance of crops, it can also help defeat enemy forces. In shows of display Freya is a bit on the downside. But the blessing given by the goddess of the earth had a very long duration.

“It’s extremely helpful for the next five days”

*Ding!*

A new route to Las Phalanx was found.

Because of pioneering Reputation +360.
All stats +12.
If the adventuring is successful + 3 to all stats.

– Sailing skill proficiency has increased.

Title “Unknown Ghost Captain who widens the sea.”

Maximum speed +7 on open ocean stretches.
Even after traveling you did not lose hope. When unearthing new islands, ruins, and lost treasure fame increases even further.
Kings and Nobles support your sails.
+20 charisma and leadership.
Increased probability of good things happening at sea.

Limitations:

Beginner level 5 Sailing skills or above.
Only applicable at sea

Weed, for once, was delighted by the rewards. He quickly moved his body looking among crevices.

“Cave! Need to find a cave.”

Obtaining a safe haven was the core of exploring and hunting.

* * *

The Black lion guild, Red Mercenaries chiefs, Red dragon guild, The Hammer and Anvil guild, the Pro-Am Mercenary guild union and 89 other large prestigious held a guild meeting.

“Then you all agree to the formation of the hegemonic alliance. Any against?”

It was a meeting of all the important guilds masters! All the other prestigious guilds nodded their heads.

“We approve.”

“…There’s no reason for us to reject.”

Hegemony alliance. All of the Versailles continent’s prestigious guilds trying to hedge under one fence.

“Next month the official proclamation will be stated on the first. The hope is after a week’s time the individual judgments will come forward. I will leave that up to each of you.”

All the guild masters held delighted smiles. Any guild included in the hegemony alliance was primed for supremacy and armed to kill any external threats; it was a secured timeout! The Alliance did not erase all the hostilities between the guilds, but now most of that would be handled behind the scenes. It secured that any guild not included in the alliance would have tough time attacking a guild or a castle. It would be difficult for any group to survive that was not included in the hegemony alliance; to survive once the full-scale territorial expansion began. There were two or three small prestigious guilds capable of attacking and winning over a territory, but they would almost never be able to hold on to it in the Central continent. This alliance was far more favorable for defense, since even if they have the power to take them over individually the result would be different the minute reinforcements arrived. Bardray and the Hermes guild lead this Alliance guild, as the most predominant and most prestigious guild. He became the chairman of the hegemony alliance and was given exclusive rights to the Kingdom of Haven. There were a lot of ordinary users who came for tourism in the Versailles continent. The prestigious guilds were in a position to take care of the exclusive rights of hunting, item trading, and commercial taxes. The raising of glass was heard all around.

“This year belong to the supremacy of the Hegemony Alliance”

The Masters of the prestigious guild raised their glasses a little higher

“For the Versailles continent!”

“For our Alliances supremacy!”

Chapter 8: The Sculpture’s Heritage

Weed found a cave to hide in with little difficulty. A cave that was not artificial, but natural. It was a hole that spewed lava when the tectonic plates collided.

If you went deep into the underground territory you could see lava flowing, emitting immense heat. Though there were monsters like dolphins and spearfish jumping out of the lava, Weed didn’t look for very long.

“No, who knows if just looking at them could burn me then there’s no way I’d want to fight with those guys!”

Golden Bird was confused and wondered why Weed was staring at him so intently.

“If I were as free as a bird, it would be a convenient way to scout. After all, flying would be much easier.”

Using Golden Bird as a reference, Weed created a new piece. Covered in volcanic ash; dark as night; a creature that blended with the current environment: he made a crow.

“Sculpture transformation!”

Weed’s body suddenly shrunk and doubled over. Feathers sprouted over his body and his mouth transformed into a sharp beak; his beady eyes turned jet black like coal.

In this form you will not be able to use your current equipment. A small winged creature will suffer a penalty when wearing heavy equipment.

Wearing heavy equipment has severely impacted your current agility

If you do not maintain the minimum amount of strength and agility it will be impossible to walk or fly.

The effect of sculpture transformation has lowered knowledge and wisdom to its lowest point. However, agility has improved for quick flight

His current stats were impacted as it imitated a bird completely, all feathers and no brain.

The crow’s bad luck status followed him closely too. The luck stat moved into the negative range, as if it was necessary to spread the misery around. Yes, it was sad, intrinsically the crow was known as a precursor to misery.

Mana, stamina, and vitality -25%.

Valid until transformation is undone.

Weed wanted to test out cawing once.

“It’s stuck in the AH Ah Ah Ah AAH.”

It was a very irritating, unpleasant noise that frightened golden bird a little, annoyed Rover, and made Geumini wince in resignation.

“Anyways, I’ll just scout around for a bit.”

A crow is not suited for battle. Even worse, it’s beak can’t be used for writing, and it is unable to use any kind of equipment.

“Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.”

Weed did a small series of steps to adapt to his new body. He sat down and stood up again, then folded and unfolded his wings. As a small crow, there were a number of things to adapt to. After staggering around for about 10 minutes in that awkward body, he seemed to get the hang of it.

“Well, I think it’s time to try flying.”

Weed sped up the vacant lot like a plane taking off.

*Da da da da da da da da*

Weed lifted off from the ground as he scooped up the empty air under his wings. It was unstable, but he finally left the ground, flying as a crow. It was awkward but successful.

Digging with his wings into the air, he soared higher and higher. From his place in the sky he could pick out firedrakes that circled around. Unfortunately, Weed was too weak to fight them.

He was great in battle, and would have easily prevailed in his human form, but as a crow he would surely die, as his current arsenal only included a beak attack. After one strike of that move, it would all be for naught; as he would instantly receive a counter strike. He would not be able to escape after attacking.

He adjusted his wings and changed direction. His goal was to look at the monsters’ formations. Almost every monster here could be called a natural treasure.

The video on the Royal Road homepage called this area a ‘really dangerous neighborhood’. Weed did not cry out, he slowly nodded his head back and forth, wary of his surroundings.

Since he changed to a crow, the highest points of Las Phalanx that could not be seen from ground level, came into view. Las Phalanx wasn’t an isolated island. The big and wide volcanic region, the unfreezing river, and the other parts of the glaciers were all connected.

Between Las Phalanx and the glaciers there was a buffer zone covered with snow and some hills.

“You’re either too hot or too cold.”

Both sides of the border had high-level monsters. On the glacier side of the island, monsters were often ready and willing to engage in a fight against the monsters that poured from underground on the other side. It was an area of strife that this half hearted crow wanted to be nowhere near.

“I have to find an Armenian pirate…”

Scouting as a raven in the nearby terrain was difficult. Hot air rose out of the mountain and the fire drake circled the volcanoes. The landscape was a valley full of cracks and coves where lava flows. In one area with several cracks, there was a unique old tower. A stone tower, drawing 20 meters high, was set in an area that was relatively untouched by the volcanoes.

“What’s that over there?”

Weed cautiously flew to the tower. There were monsters all around the tower spires, but they didn’t care about a crow so he arrived at the entrance to the tower in safety.

At the entrance to the tower, sculptures of the monsters in Las Phalanx had been vividly created. Since the Emperor’s death, the empire had disintegrated. Invasions spread across the continent and the empire was split up falling into chaos, leaving the pieces he made scattered.

With his passion for art and beauty, any person who had a piece was reluctant to give it up. In Las Phalanx, one could easily find all of the precious metals of the Versailles continent. Sculptors can turn those precious metals into living metal statues. So they mostly escaped during the split of the continent.

Before Weed arrived, the only person who knew of this place was the Emperor Geihar Von Arpen. Every sculpture was at a high level. But when they arrived at Las Phalanx even the advantages they had as pieces of life were not enough against the monsters of the natural environment, and they lost their lives. The tower was the legacy created by the pieces who came here. Anyone who creates sculptures would be convinced.

‘The Sculptor’s guild’s head and 13 pieces of life sculptors…’

You have made the great discovery “The History of the Sculptor.”

If you report these finding to the sculptor’s guild you can receive great rewards.

The reward for the Sculptor’s Heritage is to pick out a gift made here! A piece on the tower has engraved writing. The name is not known; maybe it is from a very famous sculptor.

(PR Note: Someone tell me what the Sculptor’s Heritage is!)

Geihar Von Arpen’s pieces of life. Weed had made five Magnum pieces.

‘In the Versailles continent, there is still no better sculptor than the emperor.’

The evidence was what he was touching right now. Weed admired the view for a while, then went up the tower.

“Call Death Knight”

The area in front of Weed shimmered and Death Knight appeared in front of the pitch black crow.

“Master, now that is a rare appearance, but it fits nicely.”

“It fits for now.” Weed said in response to Death Knight’s comment.

He sent Death Knight down to the entrance of the tower. The door had been created so that it could only be opened from the outside. There was a dangerous bell in the corner that he could ring, but he was fearful of the monsters it’d attract so he left it alon.

On each floor there were scary looking knight sculptures posed to attack. The sculptures actually seemed like a threat. They were covered in a thick crust because of the years of accumulated dust or perhaps it was the massive earthquakes that made the ceiling give off a fine powder. The number of monster seemed to be huge.

“Perhaps they are monsters that once lived in the past?”

There were insects and sea monsters in large numbers! Each of the kingdom’s soldiers, knights, and nobles looked vividly real. At the top of the tower there was a small comfortable sculpture of a fire. Even after a long time the bronze and gold of the sculpture was still intact, making it forever ablaze.

Numerous carvings depicted historic nobles and the like with a dreary radiance. Instead of legendary pieces, there were numerous fine and masterpieces, while there were only 4 magnums. While staring at the historic sculptures Weeds art stat increase by a total of 189 points. Sculpture skill had increased by 8%. It was a tremendous reward.

“But the people who left such great pieces might be nearby.”

Unfortunately no matter how much he searched the ruins of the tower he could not find any signs of the ones who created the sculptures inside. However he did find the bodies of 6 big pieces made of metal and crystal displayed in one place. Weed left the tower of the sculptor’s inheritance and started to search around Las Phalanx again.

When he investigated the other parts he found more created sculptures. However they were badly damaged by the lava and monsters and were far from their original appearance. It was an unimaginable scale. To find the sculptures he had to fly high to remain safe from the monsters but he could still see sculptures all the way in the mountains in the distance.

“But the way of the sculptor seems to follow down the same path… there’s some gold!”( He means the better you get the larger the statue you can make)

Even the smaller sculptures would take a lot of manpower just to lift them. It was necessary of course to get a closer look at the price of the sculptures. It takes a strong attachment to work, for mere pennies. Through the sculptures a rough path could be picked out when they first arrived. This land seems to stretch on forever!

The trail disappeared with the land in the distance. The third largest peak, filled with Drakes and Chaos warriors, came into view as the crow moved through the dangerous mountains. In the mountain’s valley, abandoned mines with unknown entrances supported by really old posts sat undiscovered.

“Think carefully…. Where would a sign of the Armenia Pirates be.”

He had to find a sign of the Armenian Pirates. If he only thought about where they sailed he couldn’t find them, but it could narrow down the scope of the search.

“Maybe they did not come up the unfreezing river and instead walked over by landing in the glacier region.”

Reconnaissance of the glacial boundary! Because it was so cold, frost formed on his beak and wings, but he keep up his meticulous reconnaissance. Thanks to this he was able to distinguish traces of human remains near the glacial area.

The place where the remains were, was barely visible thanks to the monsters that walked over them and covered them in snow. However the places that had many footprints clearly revealed evidence of frozen pirates!

The Armenia pirates had gone through over there. The pirates’ trail was hard to differentiate from the land but it was clear they moved from the snow filled region.

Several skeletons were shown where the snow filled skeletons left off into Las Phalanx. Where the Armenia skeleton bones were found there were also their last belongings. The pirates that headed over the seventh highest peak of Las Phalanx seemed to be mostly dead. They moved toward where the monsters mostly stayed.

“Straight from the glaciers to the monster’s dens. They must have tried to reach a place somewhere nearby.”

It was a very rough scout, but Weed deemed it was impossible to approach any further. The monsters would have shot him down. Weed flew back to the place where Geumini and Rover were. He undid the sculpture transformation and turned back into an undead skeleton.

“Geumini.”

“Gologologol, what did you need me for this week? You must know I believe in you the most,
right?”

“So what?”

Even though he abandoned the sculptures for a long time intimacy had increased. Absence does make the heart grow fonder.

“Get ready for battle. Call Death Knight!”

“Master, I’m ready to fight anytime.”

Death Knight was also summoned. Geumini riding Rover escorted by Death Knight were equipped with a wide assortment of basic equipment.

“Skill check”

Undead Summoning Intermediate 7 (65%): You can make use of the undead. The amount of undead and their skill levels is dependant on the users body.

- Step 1 of Undead Summoning: Understanding 1,187

- Step 2 of Undead Summoning: Understanding 450

- Step 3 of Undead Summoning: Understanding 11

Corpse Explosion Intermediate 3 (41%): Able to destroy a corpses body in a explosion. Very powerful magic

- You are currently under the effect of Transfiguration.

- Your skill and stats are affected by the current transformation. Based on that a penalty will be granted.

Sculptural Understanding Advance level 3 had considerable advantages. Besides various curse magic and escort golems, production of every undead went up as well.

“Okay, Undead Summoning is Intermediate level 7.”

Alcohol was useless in his transformed state so this was as far as he could get for benefits. Thanks to the sculpture transformation the majority of his skill of raising undead had improved, while his main attack skills had greatly reduced.

“I think its time to start hunting.”

Weed looked at the rest of his set up before turning to Van Hawk.

“I have no brother more reliable than you brother Hawk, you go first.”

“I get it master.”

Death Knight did not say a word as he walked toward the front. Weed’s hunting laws are usually different when Death Knight comes to the forefront to fight.

“Leaving everything to death knight in the front and fighting behind his back, I’m not use to this fighting style …. Well, it’s no big deal.”

One of the top thing’s to revitalize was the attributes of the job. Producing curses from the back!

“Dark Speculation!”

Around Death Knight’s body distinctive shadows jumped out of hiding places. Access a Weapon! Diet and Exercise! (T/N: -.- he’s testing out his skills on Death Knight but I have no idea why the author insist on using these weird references)(PR: I don’t get it T^T)

The shades that jumped out of the shadows started to attack Death Knight. Deer and chubby bats that were level 300 started to come out at the sound of the battle. Then 6 horses and 5 dogs and a whopping 23 cats came out.

“Master, your command.”

“The darkness descends, corpse soldiers attack!”

Death Knight swung his sword all over the place to prevent their approach and attack, hurling away the ones who came close away as they railed at him. However among the common monsters there were several uncommon:

Tairbeth

(T/N: In volume twenty these creatures were called TairBeth’s but in translating I’ve found that their called Tair Badgers, which I think is the correct name since they never give an explanation of what it’s body looks like. I think it’s a flying badger type creature. Since they use their teeth and claws to attack and can spit.) (PR I’m just gonna leave this word there as a reminder then)

The TairBadger quickly glued their body to Death Knight. Their saliva had a sticky mucus like quality that stuck to death knight like a kid playing with glue. It was toxic, and strong enough it melt the bones off your flesh, but the potent poison was of no avail to death night.

‘I think their physical attack power is weak compared with their level. Their saliva can suppress Death Knight’s movements. Then they attack him with attacks too fast for him to avoid. Considering Death Knight’s defenses (armor) he can hold out for a while.’

The TairBadger attacks were quick enough that it made it difficult to dodge, along with the movement sealing mucus, it was too much of a burden to deal with all at once. Assassin, adventurers and explorers have navigation skills. But no matter how much you scout you can’t find out everything hidden. For example, the hostilities of TairBadgers. It was better to throw Death Knight out there as bait instead of charging in like a fool. Weed pulled out the Fallen Saints staff and started summoning.

“Your flesh will be made undead. Ye shall be forever stuck in my hand. Necromancer’s Declaration.”

You have used Necromancer’s Declaration.

- When you create undead the effect is increased by 15%

- The target’s physical ability will be decreased 10%

- The targets mental suffering will be increased by 10%

- The target’s hit by Necromancer will have greater hostility towards you

Necromancer’s declaration. Before a full-scale fight, use the top tier spells to increase your powers. If your magical proficiency is high enough, then it can even increase the effect of unique techniques. Some TairBadgers turned and attacked Weed, even when they were near death or severely weakened. The 10 TairBadgers attacked his body with spit shots, scratches and bites. Weed’s bones made sounds as they absorbed the attacks.

“The fateful bitterness doesn’t feel. A narrow sight! The confusion and suffering is endless. No end to the pain! Even at dawn, just do as they do and fall in a deep tired sleep. With deep stinging in his eyes and yawning come forth. Increase in Fatigue!”

“Every inch of the body is tickled. The disease of the blood occurs! The body is rotting away from the corrupt air, spreading to anyone who drinks it in. Summon Poison mist”

A huge number of subsequent curse magics were summoned continuously. Weed had summoned up to 4 instantaneous curses a minute. In order to prepare a magic curse he has to constantly recite the exact summoning spell. But Weeds cursing did not falter for even one second.

During the battle he placed curses on the creature that attacked him and the sculptures of life fighting. There was a delay when using curse magic. The effect of using many curses in a row lead to considerable drop in magic concentration.

When the magic concentration drops the spell is more likely to fail, and the spells get considerable weaker. But all the blessings and curses were still recited properly so they worked.

Due to the curses, the TairBadgers were noticeable weakened. Weed drew a long breath as one of the TairBadgers stuck to Death Knight and died. He immediately ordered.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Cracks appeared all over the dead TairBadger’s body then exploded in great flash of light! Part’s of the Tair Badgers body bounced all over the place. The strongest skill of the magical skills, at the top of the necromancer class; the Corpse Explosion. The explosion happened right next to Death Knight, but he was saved from the blast by the Tair Badgers which were stuck to his body, thus mitigating most of the damage.

Due to continuous use magic concentration has severally dropped.

The front of Weed’s eyes suddenly grew cloudy, like cataracts in adults. Even if his wisdom and knowledge was very high for the moment he had still used too many high level spells.

“Chek, chek, chek!”

The TairBadgers now had a new enemy for their animosity. There were only two left on Death Knight. The other TairBadgers flew off as they joined up and came to attack Death Knight/Weed. Due to the effects of the curse they were noticeably slower. They bumped into each other as they flew up and down in the air.

“Geumini, bow and arrows!”

“GoloGoloGol!”

Geumini shot a bunch of arrows from the high elf bow that went straight for the target! For example (T/N: I hate when I see these words!) an African bow. The arrows are made from blessed stones and sprinkled with holy water to produce the best results when they are released. The spirits in action are a very beautiful sight, but the Tair Badgers had very little resistance, being just six meters from fight.

“Golden Bird, you go ahead and fight too!”

But the Golden bird only sat and preened its feathers. Weed had not been recognized with a measure of acceptable intimacy so it did not help with the battle. There was a bit of golden light shining up from the ground.

“Gologol, from the earth sparks will rise.”

Pillars of fire suddenly erupted from the ground. Only Guemuni who had a 100% fire resistance could exert his full potential in the battlefield now.

However in the extreme heat a little bit of gold was melted away. Geumini, who was fully intent on saving his lord, started to advance through the fire. But as he moved forward, the TairBadgers pierced through the fire. The monsters in Las Pheonix have very strong fire resistance.

The TairBadgers that had been hit by the initial explosion fell to the ground wrapped in flames, but then they casually flicked off the flames like they were annoying flies, and nonchalantly kept flying.

More than 15 of them pierced the air, flying toward their enemies. At the moment the TairBadgers arrived, Weed pushed Geumini to the side as a diversion.

Weed sword’s was quite accurate, but with the excess use of magic his eyes were clouded making the enemies hard to hit. Also most of his fencing skills had been turned into curse skills or skill to summon the undead. The liches’ strength and speed in battle was considerably lower.

The TairBadgers came back! They threw their steaming gummy spit all over.

Actions are blocked.

- Up to -80% movement speed.

- A 95% percent increase strength is required to move.

The TairBadgers attacked when it was physically hard to resist! They attacked vulnerable spots like the neck; it was the worst situation. The TairBadgers spit dozens of red seeds toward Weed.

The seeds of the Dymond flower have been planted.

- It would best to get rid of them as soon as possible.

- The Dymond’s flower plants have infected and spread throughout your body.

- The Dymond’s flower plants…

Dozens of red seed started to attach to Weeds body. Weed examined the attack of the TairBadgers and didn’t know how to respond.

The Dymond flowers have started to grow.

In Las Phlanax some special plants have organic attributes and are able to absorb nutrients very quickly. Weed quickly tried to pull them off his clothes with his fingers but they stuck to his bones. The flower seed grew in a matter of 5 or six seconds. They were sucking up Weeds life force and using it to joyously bloom and grow roots. They were beautiful colorful flowers.

The Dymond flowers that the TairBadgers have sown have started to bloom.

Each one of the seeds turned to different colors as they bloomed; yellow, pink, blue... The petals, long and sugary, gave off a sweet refreshing scent as they spread. Packed in a small space, they emitted light, and soon after came an explosion!

Weed’s vitality decreased. Here in Las Phalanx even if the monsters had a weak body they had a devastating fighting style. Though the TairBadgers had weak physical attacks, they exploited the weak points. But they did not expect the advantages of being a liche. If one exploits the advantages of being undead then they can be number 1 even in Las Phalanx.

* * *

The Kingdom of Haven’s captain of the second fleet Drinfield! The Hermes Guild’s admiral headed toward the starting areas in the port.

“On Ipia Island a ghost fleet was spotted with a Lich aboard as the captain. Chances are high that it’s him….”

Drinfield, the naval admiral, was covered in black with a sleek hip outfit and a feather in his hat. He gave a sharp click with his tongue.

“What kind of quest can’t be done by this military, Earl!”

Drinfield thought as he stroked his mustache.

He had heard about the old rumors of Weed from CoM. Nevertheless, Weeds exploits in Royal Road made the blood boil.

“But he is not a true man from the sea. From sea to sea, no matter how big, he is just another fish to fry.”

No matter what kind of quest he was doing it didn’t matter, Drinfield would proceed. Out of the Brent kingdom the second fleet sailed with 37 large sailing ships to demonstrate their gall.

“In Royal Road the first one to catch Weed will be me.”

The column of users that followed Drinfield was about 1,200 people! The navy command was focused on ability and growth so all the people were strong in one-to one duels as well. Every one of them were undisputed powerhouses.

* * *

“Golo golo golo.”

Gemuni was deliberately pushed, but this just recovered any fallen intimacy.

‘Master cares if I live or die. He doesn’t just abuse us. He would even turn into a mangled tree for me!’

Weeds thought process was that the value of Gold was more valuable than the materials and ingredients on Bingryong. ( T/N: so THAT’’s where bingyrongs been the entire time. Ingredient freezer) With that in mind he chose to save Gumeni the moment the enemies revived.

“Master hang in there! Gol golo golo.”

Gumeni rushed the TairBadgers in order to save Weed.

With Death Knight there, two more Tair Badgers died. Death Knights level was much higher, but the TairBadgers moved fast; whirling from side to side to avoid their attacks was not easy.

Most of the TairBadgers intensely attacked Weed. When he used the move corpse explosion he attracted the most aggro. They would have continued to spit Dymond flower seeds at him, but Weed rolled on the ground.

The fire might have doubled the TairBadgers attack but with the Goddess of the Earth blessing still active, it did not do much damage.

After being barely scratched Weed came up brandishing his staff. The TairBadgers attacked the bones of his shoulders and neck with viscous bites.

But Weed activated the exquisite defense skill “Stone Skin”. The skills that were gained and considerable strengthened during the Hero’s tower. Double hard!! Bones that can cut nails. What about their teeth? (T/N: Had to double check this line)

The Tair Badgers continued to chew on the solid stone bones. The other two also locked their teeth in Weed. Noticing this Weed said,

“I’m rather lucky.”

Biting meant they wouldn’t be shooting more flower seeds at him. Weed put his left hand or his torso where he felt the pain.

“Life drain, Mana drain.”

He aimed at the fiercely biting TairBadgers. Weed raised his arms at the same time. He sucked in both the mana and the life force from his attackers. The attack severely damages the attackers leaving them too weak to attack properly. Even when losing so much of it’s health and strength, the TairBadger didn’t stop chewing. It’s eyes slowly lowered as more of its life was drained by the moment.

“I failed to pick up the item during the corpse explosion. But the power of death can be used like this too.” (PR Note: I think this says that the power of the death aka corpse explosion was useful? Not too sure but then again I’m just a lowly Pr… TAT)

The Tair Badgers refused to give up chewing to avenge their fallen comrades.

*EM Mo moo moo moo moo*

Suddenly Rover roared and rushed over. Weed watched at the TairBadgers received the attack en masse. Due to the attack by Rover, several TairBadgers attacks could be avoided for a while. Weed was grasping at them with both hands and continuing to absorb their health and mana. And also many of them had been struck by Rover. Indeed many of them were rolling on the ground now shortly before death!

“Master.“

Geumini took out a blue sapphire he had been carrying.

“Gem Destruction!”

The gem shattered and blew out a magical wind.

“Sapphire Dust!”

The fine chipped sapphire dust started to blow around. The light blue wind started to attack he TairBadgers!

“Pretty solution.”

Weed, Rover, and Death Knight were also swept up in the sapphire pieces. First it reflects its master owners actions, so its behavior resembled Gumeni’s.

Freezing.

- Vitality is reduced by 190 every second.

- This rapidly reduces stamina, but has no effect if you are in undead state.

- It is impossible to move!

- It is impossible to use magic!

- You will not be able to use weapons.

The Geumini’s magic dealt a severe blow to the TairBadgers. The TairBadgers were frozen and could not fly and were lying on the ground! The TairBadgers had some magical resistance living in Las Phalanx but none against ice magic. But the TairBadgers chewing on Weeds body persisted; they did not know how to fall. Weed was also stuck under this ban.

“I am this judge. If you want to participate in this battle then….”

He started to grab at the clinging TairBadgers in their frozen state.

“Life drain, Mana Drain!”

Crazy biting! The Vitality of the Tair Badgers was on the weak side but they had high defense and tremendous endurance. The attack from the TairBadgers persisted until they died. If not for the stone skin absorbing most of the damage, he would have dropped a long time ago.

Even with the Stone Skin skill, it was barely tolerable to Weed; a warrior without high defenses would never be able to endure!

Meanwhile the much weakened TairBadgers were being split between Death Knight and Geumeni. Rover took 4 frozen ones and started kicking. The vitality of the frozen were reduced to 2 from the constant harassment.

Due to enduring many blows, Strength and Vitality goes up by 1.

Weed’s life force increased about 5%; there was an increase to a stat! In order to get this increase you had to risk your life. Death Knight, Rover, and Geumeni got rid of the remaining 8 enemies. Weed’s health was 5% and mana 8%; he had been hit all over.

Because the Las Phlanx was too hot the freezing restriction was quickly released and then his concentration and recovery rate went back to normal. It was a difficult first fight but it was difficult pleasure. With a sweaty smile Weed started to perform some magic.

“May you live and come back to this land. Come back to this place, a dark and corrupt land. Do not disappear. In the law of darkness engraved to you. Undead rise!”

From the ground, dead TairBadgers rose and soared. The wings were Broken and its’ necks were at a strange angle but the TairBadgers were alive (well undead). They had half of their original vitality and 1/3 of their original attack and defense power. Weed wearily went by the TairBadgers with Death Knight and turned them into undead too. By the end of the fight he had gain a whopping 25 TairBadgers. He made 3 air columns out of the undead TairBadgers.

“Your sovereign prince. I gave blood and flesh so these might never die without my permission, So they forever obey. Soul Submission!”

+15% to maximum health of the undead.

They will be a little more nimble now and will obey commands with absolute certainty . Using curse magic on the undead gave blessings. Now the real battle of the Necromancer could begin.

Weed, and Death Knight went back to the place where the Tair Badgers first pounced on them on the shadows. And were attacked by 15 more of them. But this time the situations had changed drastically.

“Fight! The enemy is upon you!”

Weed fell straight back into battle. While watching the battle he poured out curses and several magical attacks. Undead summoning casts wherever they fall, the sides are silently flipped. Death Knight was much freer, dealing destructive power with his strong sword skills as he tears up the TairBadgers. Geumeni was able to properly support from the ground by shooting arrows. The 25 undead Tair Badgers fell once or twice in battle, but they produced corpses and were quickly able to be resummoned. Infinite recovery and reproducible goods! This really did seems to be one of the top jobs. Weed fought five more groups and gained 89 undead TairBadgers. Indirect hunting gets far less experience. But the Speed is different. Driving two groups, he was able to split any incoming forces and hunt and track them using organization.

“I dedicate you to our glory. Form your sword with black.”

After collecting some bodies He summoned several Skeleton Mages and a few skeleton knights. Now you could say he leading an undead legion.

“No time to summon the zombies as well.”

After the following battle he collect the TairBadgers bodies and baked them together after a little rain. The Zombies turned out like the cheesy kind that walked slowly, but they had acidic venom and high defense.

Using the correct undead is very important. Their bodies were even intact because they had been made out of the best looking TairBadgers with the highest efficiency. In one night of continuous hunting, Weed had an enormous increase in his undead army.

He had 89 TairBadgers, 55 Skeleton Mages, 20 skeleton Knights, 40 baked zombies, and 5 horses. It took a certain amount of work to maintain all that undead, but the skeleton knight, mages and zombies were a bit easier than others because they were cheap. A Mana recovery + 10% speed ring, plus a 55% Mana mantle (T/N: I don’t know what this word is. It said garage:/), plus a 20% recovery rate increase from the bracelets; the treasure of the Nifleheim kingdom. All were worn. Plus he had the Critical blessing from the Goddess of the Earth which added an additional 40% to his Mana. IT was definitely powerful enough to keep up with the undead legion.

In the first day of the hunt he gained 27% experience. The next day he gained 29%. The Undead summoning skill and the Skeletons origins were being perfectly displayed and adapted for fighting for the first time. But in distinction Golden Bird stay far away circling from atop. The only thing that could be seen was Weed’s moving forces.

(T/N: I had so much trouble with this chapter Q.Q. Its so awful. I’m sorry *sobs*)

Chapter 9: Seoyoon’s Arrival

“The undead army legion has now increased 3 times in size. Now, I don’t need to go out with nearly as many skeletons, nor do I need as many troops.”

With Weed’s Lich skills, he can take advantage of every battle and create flying undead! But too much greed could be hazardous in hunting, so he did not increase the number of his undead, even though they were cheap. Because, increasing the number of undead would not necessarily increase the hunting speed and their numbers were definitely not infinite. To keep a steady pace, they needed constant maintenance and the hunting grounds needed to be navigated; wasting more time. Once the undead fell, it was time to attack with curse magic.

“Utilization of the Meiji era skeletons should increase.”

By hunting day and night, Weed had gained one level. However, the monsters also got stronger. The monsters gained a 30% stat increase at night. Since he was transfigured, the benefits of moonlight sculptor did not apply. However, the lich’s magical curses and black magic had a large area effect at night, so it wasn’t that bad.

“Finally level 370.”

The quests and giving life to sculptures had left his level rather lacking compared to his stats. Now he could raise his level through hunting as it was the optimal solution. But the monsters’ levels were very high, and it was very hard to sneak around in the sculpture heritage since it was so bare. In Las Phalanx massive earthquakes happened often.

“Again?”

Whenever there was a big quake, Weed would quickly duck into a relatively safe spot.

‘THakur ruka ruka ruk’

The volcanic ground shook, shaking everything off balance. TairBadgers, Bollards, and Chaos Warriors’ rushed out of their hiding places. Drakes flew all over the place avoiding the blow out from the nearby earthquake. Aerial and ground creatures all in unison ran around. It was a great and terrible sight. A great mole-like creature popped its head out of the ground, froze, then ran away. The creatures were quickly falling into a deeper panic. The tension was rising.
Geuminyi said,
“Gol gol go, the heat is rising. The origin is hot.”

“That’s not it.”

The lava was being excavated from under the mountains.

“That is surely……The lava welling up in reverse and the black smoke pouring out of the nearby north mountain range....Kuah. No way.”

“Volcanic Eruptions!”

The Versailles continent pageantry(display)! After the icy storm comes volcanic explosions! The fireballs fell down here and there. Large rocks melting, crushing and burning monsters.

“Stand down! Scatter!”

Giving orders, Weed lead the undead legion towards the river. As the volcanoes erupted, they sent tons of flaming rocks, that felt like comets, to destroy the area around them. It looked like the end of the world and it was such a lovely sight to see.

The volcanic lava mightily soared in upside down streams in the air. Massive rocks matching the top area of the volcanoes collapsed in ghastly balls of summer flames. It was a scary sight, enough to make one dizzy. Jets of steam came out of the ground and split the stiff land. From the cracks, streams of lava flowed. Weed and the undead hastily ran to the river.

“More than anything, dying by a fireball would just be too unfair. I can’t let that happen. Seeing this from afar though, I think I should eat some roasted sweet potatoes.”

He watched the volcanic eruptions while thinking about baked sweet potatoes. For 2 hours the earthquakes and volcanoes continued its blast and spurt. He could not escape quick enough and several zombies and undead got destroyed reaching a total number of 65 survivors. After the earth’s movement was stable and the lava flowing on the ground had become black and hard, Weed felt safe enough to venture out from behind the rocks he had been hiding behind by the river. The undead, Geuminyi, and Rover were all looking very shabby, due to the volcanic eruption and being covered in soot.

“Seeing such a display on the Versailles Continent, I have no luck.”

Picking a place that had such famous scenery and seeing a once in a lifetime spectacle, is being blamed on bad luck! Weed dragged out 800 objects that might be undead. By listening to the log system, he knew that several undead were completely destroyed even with the certain amount of pre-inserted mana he injected. Under a shadow, or hidden in a coffin or in a grave his undead were waiting. Due to the maintenance of the undead, a third of his mana was consumed.

“The blessing period lasts twelve more days. If I can gain three more levels than it should be more than enough to increase the undead armies efficiency.”

That day, the hunting speed doubled and he filled his experience bar by an additional 39%. Because of the blessing of the Goddess of the Earth, he begrudged eating and sleeping preferring to hunt instead. TairBadgers had a salty taste when unprepared. Groups with level 300 lurked in the shadows that could be hunted in large quantities. When TairBadgers died, they gave gems and rare magic items. When he got a bunch of little gems he could make a piece of jewelry that many people would pay lots of money for.

“I wonder what I can pick up from Bollards.”

He greedily thought about hunting high level Bollards while calculating the risk. If he were to die he may be denied the option to revive since he was already undead and he would lose the blessing of the earth.

“TairBadgers are lower on the food chain. The next step would be Bollards.”

Yet there were many high level monsters in Las Phalanx that he had not attacked yet. In addition to the creatures needing high level attacks, the terrain was also difficult to hunt in. Considering that the bottom of the food chain was the Bollards, it was gonna get tough soon. But Weed had enough confidence that using the TairBadgers would be enough to hunt them. Weed temporarily increased the undead army legion by 40%. Due to this, he was using too much mana and Weed couldn’t sustain it for extended periods of time but it was great for dealing a great deal of damage.

“Ah, I’m so proud of my undead army legion. Let’s go look for Bollards to hunt. Trample them when you see then. I will make more colleagues for us. ATTACK!”

Hiding behind a rock he gave instructions. The undead stampeded toward the Bollards. The Panther like creatures nimbly ran past huge flame columns. Changed to undead, the TairBadgers had a much lower fire resistance but they still easily clung to the Bollards. Weed looked as the Bollard jumped about and shook the zombies into the flames leaving burned chunks of meat.

“This fight right now. The Bollards are just addicted to burning the zombies.”"
“This shield!”
“This arrow.”
“Air Blaster.”
(The translation literally say this. Guessing that this is the actual translation and not some cool buff name)

More than 100 skeleton mages cast their magic spells at once adding various buffs. The TairBadgers clung to the Bollards for all they're worth. Thanks to that, the skeleton knights with swords could attack.

Weed used his Lions Roar.

“Fight! You are undead! Prove that you are the definition of loss to this land! Show your full power to the armed forces of this world. Attack those weak bastards!”

Bollards are strong and fast. However the skeleton mages had infinite magic attacks! More than enough, strength and power. Even more so than Weeds 480 skeleton knights and others; 900 in all. The Bollards that they killed were made into undead. Compared to when they were alive their balance was much worse and four died right off the bat in the next fight.

You have learned valuable experience

(funny alternate TL lines again- are you trying to earn experience points?. -Gain and take of experience points is an understanding. – you are the experience gaining master)

Skill proficiency of Necromancer has improved

You have obtained grade 1 sewing material leather.

“I lost quite a number of my undead army. But I gained 1.6% exp. And Bollard leather!”

Continuous Bollard hunting was difficult. Weed increased the number of dead while the rest were out tracking them. When they found some Bollards, they took them down. The undead level of a Bollard’s corpse had a much better quality. They had higher vitality and strength stats. After turning undead only the fire attribute was lacking.

Undead summoning skills Intermediate level 8

The ability to summon corpses has increased. You are now able to handle higher quality bodies.

Step 1 Understanding Undead Summoning 1,219.

Step 2 Understanding Undead Summoning 461

Step 3 Understanding Undead Summoning 17

Step 4 Understanding Undead Summoning 6

Undead’s maximum health and damage increases.
The amount of Mana consumed in maintaining the undead is slightly reduced.

The effect of increasing Understanding Undead summoning was acquiring a number of new skills.

Step 4 undead Summoning spells were deadly! Producing the haunting bodies of souls of warriors. They should bring excellent fighting skills and at the same time create fear. They were even scary to summon with the strength cap of the undead completely removed. The top skills of the Necromancer were much more difficult to perform than other magic related skills such as purification.

Black magic and curse magic, undead summoning aside, only increase in small increments, hardly gaining anything.

“The top 4 skills of Undead Summoning are the same. Perhaps when I turn back into a human they will increase in strength?”

To a certain degree, there must have been some penalties but the level up was not too bad. However, he would lose the undead advantage of having unlimited stamina.

“Fight! Kill! Dispose of everything at once!”

The undead had increased and now included TairBadgers, undead horsemen and Bollards all occupying the same space! The blessing of the Goddess of the Earth made it possible to hunt to level 373. Having the blessing for such a long time, there was no time to rest even for 1 or 2 days. He only concentrated on hunting. Weed took a break to compare his results and focus on the new tracking positions.

“This is a rare hunting ground.”

In Las Phalanx the region around the river had many experience and items but it was only skin deep. By networking he could work with maximum efficiency.

“Orders from the master. Annihilate your enemies.”

Death Knight Van Hawk was conducting a group of 30 Bollards! Because of a lack of the right magical ingredients a significantly massive Golem could not be created.

Raw black ore obtained

Fix obtained

Acquired 10 leather TairBadgers wings

Obtained the floral brush, Ripper

Acquired 10 dwarf Bollard leather pants

Obtaining several rare items.
“Identify!”

Dwarf Bollard Leather Pants

Durability: 65/70

Defense Power: 58

Somebody who came to Las Phalanx and hunted Bollards decided to make leather pants. Made by dwarf’s meticulous hands.

Options: 28% fire resistance.

Increase in hostility of Bollards

While exploring the area he occasional discovered the traces of carvings.

“Identify!”

Broken Sculpture

Durability: 3/25

Lava has melted down part of this sculpture. However some of Las Phalanx was made in the process. Knowing the original shape of the piece is impossible. A very small part is still intact but even the roughest guess can not pinpoint who created it.

Artistic Value: 2

Special Options: recovery is impossible

There were many sculptures around Las Phlanax that were impossible to pick up and were too damaged. But still they were created with someone’s heart and soul!

“This can't even be sold as japtem!”

Weed left the broken sculpture just as he saw them.

* * *

Seoyoon listened to the animal and like clients they gave her problems to solve.

“ …and this is required. Also can you get a little herbs? I have an appointment to keep with some friends but I should be able to get you some red flower. The red flowers help with child prevention right? I’ll have to wander around a bit, but once I smell it I’m sure I can’t miss it.

Every night she hears a strange wind. Please check out the reason.

The small and cute animals asked for resources.

“In exchange, I will tell you the location of the flowers. You will have the location of flowers that humans crave.

“I would like help in recovering of a wound.”

“Is there a water drinking fountain for cats?”

The animals were very informed.

“Keep in mind that several polar fleece foxes have passed this way. I’ll let you know of a safer forest.”

The forest jobs were much easier to take great strides when the proper knowledge was used. The quest rewards were also quite good as well. Animals who live in the forest and mountain were familiar with those areas as well. They also knew the locations of mines, monsters, rare habitats, and hidden treasures that were not directly available. Although Seoyoon did not talk back directly they understood her meaning and they had conversations. She increased the intimacy with the animals by stroking them. The Quest rewards of the fox furs and the cat fountain were led to something very curious.

– And beyond at the end of mothers’ territory. There is a dungeon that has a door, which was created by the fairies, that crosses dimension.
-Could you really go anywhere you wish just by passing through the entrance way? This fairy door was very astonishing.
It can only be used in a two month period. Mother knows that this is fact, if you’re curious. Is this a good reward? I heard that man always wanted that type of thing. Money is usually what humans are rewarded with.
-That’s not always necessary, what you gave me will come in handy.

Seoyoon decided to go to the dungeon.

“This smells dangerous but I think ll be okay.”

With the help of Tori, Seoyoon found the fairy door. The door that was opened for just two months was reached with success! While the door was opening, Seoyoon recalled where she wanted to go,

“Weed, I want to go to where Weed’s place is……….”

* * *

“Kill everything! All the successful people in the world are bad guys. TairBadgers! Sweep them away!”

Weed lead the undead legion, dedicated to hunting. Weed was restricted to fighting what was next on the food chain ladder, but he had TairBadgers and Bollards so he had no complaints. By using a connecting network for continuous tracking, his skill proficiency and experience were rising. Geuminyi, Rover, and Death Knight Van Hawk were hunting and tracking while trying to avoid the earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

“Although it’s difficult., it’s worth the risk.”

For now, this was the optimal time for hunting on the present hunting ground because of the Goddess of the Earth’s blessing made traveling through the hunting grounds easier.

“Unfortunately sculpturing, cooking, blacksmithing, and sewing are too difficult to advance at this point.”

The undead don’t eat food and sculpture effects aren’t applied. You must buy a good weapon for a zombie to upgrade it.”

He used the cheapest undead magic with the highest volume. He couldn’t worry about a low level soldier losing weapons.

“I cannot create clothes that has flame resistance, it’ll just be filled with holes.”

The materials from Las Phalanx were piling up, but he could not access them yet. Weed’s assets are his high stats and various productions skill. Yes, the Necromancer stood at the top of the magic class. You can play with undead and make military colleagues, but you can’t take advantage of the materials! It did not help that he didn’t even have the dexterity to use a hunting bow to command the battle. In addition to commanding the battle it is s important to know the additional effects. Weed pondered new methods to have better efficiency.

“Sculpture! A sculpture that won't be lost to the lava….”

Light sculptures were made in the air and were sculptures.

“But if other creatures are curious about it they might come up and destroy it.”

A gathering of monsters! He did not want that. Then he would make a sculpture that he could transform himself into. Weed enjoyed the sculpture’s makeover effect skills! Leveraging the synergetic effect of the sculpture he could take on even more advantages.

“The materials….”

What was around here? No trees or stone. The ground was full of holes and is open for bone cancer with the rocks hence they would have low vitality.”

Las Phalanx had many materials, that fell to the ground, that could be used for modification.

“Identify!”

Little rock crystal: Hardness 15/15

Picked up on a Las Phalanx mountain.

A little transparent. A kind of jewel that fetches a high price but is not that expensive.
Several types of magic weapons, accessories or sculptures can be processed with it.
Can amplify mana boosts effect

Material grade: 2

Options: low grade enchantments can be sealed in for a day.

“It’s too difficult to give up the liche race so I’ll just make a new skeleton”

Whole body modifications with the material.

“This material is almost invisible….”

Even it was only a little dark ,which was good, it could catch the light and refract it making it hard for monster to find him.. It would be hard to pinpoint the curse and attack magic and make it so the hostilities were not increased toward him. This was very valuable for necromancers since they are extremely weak at close combat.

“Now I can add many magical modifications. Now’s the time to take advantage of the strength and stamina of the undead and provide this skull with lots of concentrated magic.”

He made over 450 modifications. Because it was impossible to create the piece all at once he carved each bone and put them together. He created an assembly of bones.

“Quite a tricky thing, but that’s okay when I have the extra mana for hunting by using intermediate carving.”

He seemed to find other utilizations for the crystal.

“From the blacksmithing and sewing production perspective there are many uses.”

Created in a blacksmith shop, weapons would have high defense or other desirable options. There was also many other production of technologies that could be developed for the crystal

“If you change the characteristics in the blacksmith shop it could be made to be used as an instrument.”

Due to Weed’s high sculpting art stat he could make use of an instrument. Although his songs were the worst his harp performance was considerable. He looked at the trees and listened to the metal, looking for things to create an instrument with. The tendons of the monsters used for strings. For battle purposes you only need high defensive and offensive things so creating a weapons with this in mind is mainly a blacksmith’s job. But with the revolution of musical instruments, anything was possible. As a high level blacksmith himself, once a senior competitor appeared among the competition, his eyesight became narrowed. But Weeds art stat was too low, practically absent, alas Weeds life was too difficult.

“Getting the materials would be a waste, but looking at the long term, it’s more sensible to increase my drawing and sewing skills while I still can later.”

Weed’s herbology and bandage skill were in the advance stage along with his cooking which was at advance level 2. The right plants and herbs could be used as things to write on and dyes for clothes. It could even the increase the characteristics. Fortunately, the Versailles continent has lots of plant materials that could come in handy later. Almost nothing was useless as plants could be dried and sold later for money, but that is not the reason they should be kept.

“No matter where you go or what you do, while searching for materials on the Versailles continent there are endless possibilities.”

Weed was modifying the bones with the hunt in mind. If you look at the bone,s it was not hard to create them one by one. In the meantime the liches foundation came forth. A ghostly skeleton dismembered and separate came to life.

“Fixing them so they fit exactly to the size and proportion, can be a little tricky.”

Looking at the body modifications he measured the bones to himself.

“Perhaps a few more centimeters is key? No. The key is to look bigger and more fit, not be taller. I have to stick to the current body state and make as much amends as possible.”

While creating, one has to have a nice head for knowledge and wisdom stat.

“Should I experiment more with the sculpture shapeshifter skill? A ten times bigger head is not likely to be as good as a vaguely smart looking skull.”

Having a very large head, for more knowledge. A favorite!

“A supersized head skeleton and frame modifications.”

Unfortunately the biggest Weed could make the modifications to was only 1.5 times larger than the current one. Considering the proportions of the human body, it could easily be quite large.

“An 8 foot tall man wouldn’t necessarily be smarter... Guess I'll have to do without.”

The big headed skull was sculpted without a hitch. The hands that now sweeps away the shavings now has much experience with the material. Conversion and conception of imagination was essential to the creation of culture and art.

Go and play!

Adapting and sculpting the bones in the ribs, spines, pelvis, torso, arms, shoulder, and head. The teeth also had to be revised. The molars for the head had to be 1.5 times bigger.
Ttring!

The name of the sculpture is…..

“Modified Lich!”

Is this what you want to name the sculpture?

“Yes”

– A Masterpiece! The Modified Lich is complete!!

The modification and clean workmanship are rare manifestations in sculptures. The first of this kind can be added to his Art Center. With driving experience from his heroic efforts he has created a modified lich. However the process isn’t just amazing. To adventurers, there is a lot of unique artistic feeling. There were similar liches made in the past but they were prone to failure. Since it is an uncomfortable appearance to reach, having not a lot of beauty and luxurious appearance, it is hard to make! However the artistic sensitivity is still low, because there is already a shape of this sculpture made. There should be no more of this made in the world.

Artistic value: 219

Special options:

Increases vitality and mana recovery rate by 16% for those who see it during the day.
+ 42 wisdom
+10 agility
Decrease of attack by 130
Magic chanting is + 8% faster
Undead advantage + 4%

Does not overlap with other sculptors
Number of masterpieces completed: 87

Handicraft skill proficiency is improved
+15 fame
+1 Wisdom

The head had different proportions. The rest of the piece looked very similar to Weed’s one eyed liche pieces but the sculpture skill did not match. The one eyed liche was making an artistic sculpture and also had daytime states.

“The level of proficiency of the skill of dexterity only rose a little.”

But Weed was prepared.

“Sculpture Shapeshift.”

Body turns into the piece

Weed’s bones became transparent. And his head was rapidly growing larger in the process. The bones gave off a pale violet clear colored hue. On the other side it appeared transparent, but the shape of a mysterious skeleton remains.

The effects of knowledge and wisdom have increased slightly due to the effect of transfiguration.

+15% health and mana

Understanding of advance sculpture is at level 3 so you are not fully transformed into a lich.

Mana and life drain absorption and efficiency rate went up by 10%Understanding of sculptures has been increased due to engraving a bigger sculpture and transforming.

“Hueg hueg hue”

With the revision of the crystal skull created, Weed smiled in satisfaction. On the hilly terrain he could now drive a drove of undead! The one eyed liches proficiency, could only handle three legions at the same time, but now more could be summoned.

“Death knight!”

Zombies, that burn a huge amount of mana can now be sent to the forefront. The TairBadgers and Bollards hunting speed went up.

***
Shuffling through the door made by the fairies, Seoyoon arrived at her selected location Las Phalanx.

“Hot. And thirsty.”

Spilling lava came from the top of the mountain. Scattered all around were broken sculptures like a cemetery.

“Where am I?”

Seoyoon look around for Weed but he couldn’t be found anywhere in the nearby vicinity. A nasty trick by the elves, she was dropped close to her target and she was still considerably far away.

“It’s hot and there’s a strong smell of blood in this country.”

Tori picked his way forward.

“There’s a monster hiding here, I am going to take the initiative.”

He headed toward the dark shadows cast by several rocks. Tori of the vampire clan can smell the enemy blood. Hiding is useless! Tori and his rebuilt vampire clan forced a fight.

“The taste is not much!”

Tori and the vampires fought the shade with high defenses. With support of the magic fire items, Seoyoon pulled out her sword and began to hunt the monsters. Monster with strong blood when drunk tasted like snake fish pie! Tori, Seoyoon, and the vampire clan were at their max potential for growth. So with all of them there, hunting a Bollard came off without a hitch! Seoyoon with her high level damage, was able to beat it down with Tori.

“This is dangerous.”

Without the help of the clan to help heal, Seoyoon wouldn’t go after anything that came up. But Seoyoon wanted to immediately search for Weed. A fragile existence like Weed definitely would be troubled to reach his goal in Las Phalanx.

Chapter 10: Limits of the Necromancer

Lee-Hyun thought as he prepared breakfast and cleaned the house,
‘What’s the value of a university graduation certificate? People wanted a graduation certificate as if it was absolutely necessary in order to get a job.’

The life of getting a job at a huge company, getting paid every month, getting bonus every holiday, and getting an end-of-year bonus! Is this not the life of a businessman Lee-Hyun cries for?!

‘Dating, buying a car under monthly installment payments, going on a trip over summer vacation through the crowded highway too.’

The value of a university graduation certificate was limitless. However, not everyone who gets a good job at a good company has it because they have the certificate.

‘I have to have a high grade and be good at foreign languages. I also have to have a few licenses in order to be in a more advantageous position than others. I’ll have to run some internship too!’ He could only sigh more as he continued to think.

He was older than others, and to add on, he dropped high school and took Gum-Jung-Go-Si, so he can’t expect to live in normal ways like others.

“To think attending a university would be this painful.”

The certificate was more likely to become useless then helpful, besides being a nice wall decoration.

It was when Lee-Hyun picked up a camcorder, a few necessary notes and headed out.

He saw Seoyoon standing in front of the door.

Because summer vacation just ended, the weather was still hot.

She who wore casually with jeans and white T-shirts, felt strange. Compared to her blinding beauty, the clothes she wore were absolutely normal, and she looked even more innocent and beautiful.

When wearing a party dress she as pretty as a goddess, and even when wearing casual clothes, she still attracts attention.

Her beauty was on the level of shining even when wearing any type of clothes! Lee-Hyun brusquely talked to her.

“Going to walk to university with me?”

Seoyoon lightly nodded.

She put in a bit of effort by going to Lee-Hyun’s house solely for the reason that she wanted to go to the university with him.

Lee-Hyun replied bitterly.

“Fine, do whatever you want.”

He bloomed his imagination of having a snail bride.
(TN: There's a Korean folk story where a snail transforms into a human at nights and do all house chores for the farmer who treated it/her nicely.)

A innocent and kind girl who cooks for Lee-Hyun in secret out of love! But, when he looks at Seoyoon, he couldn’t help but have his dream be shattered.

‘She must’ve cooked for me without much meaning.

I cooked for her at times, so she must be doing this to pay back for what she received.’

Lee-Hyun could’ve waited for the bus at the bus station with Seoyoon and walked to the university, but after he started to hunt at Las Phalanx, he decided to ride on the bus to save time. The undead who have their mana supply cut from their necromancers weaken and turn back into a corpse or crumble away.

To hunt longer and save at least one more undead, riding the bus was necessary.

“L-Loo-Look at that girl!”

“So beautiful. I’ve never seen a girl as beautiful as her.”

When he was with Seoyoon, people who came to watch, crowded so much to the point that the road gets blocked.

Lee-Hyun got used to such attention, so he only felt uncomfortable.

“There’re too many shortcomings going to university with you. Too many people come to watch you.”

Upon hearing that, Seoyoon wore a cap and a mask. After that, people let out disappointing sighs and went about their ways.

Soon, the bus they were waiting for arrived.

Lee-Hyun used his bus card and moved to go to an empty seat, but Seoyoon only stood still.

“What? Don’t you have a transportation card?” Seoyoon nodded.

When would she ever get another chance to ride a bus? Since it was her first time riding a bus, she didn’t have a transportation card. She only now learned that she needed to use the card to ride the bus.

Seoyoon wrote on a paper and showed it to him.

It’s my first time riding a bus, you see...

Lee-Hyun paid for hers as well and they sat together at empty seats.

“Erm……”

“Next time, you have to carry around a transportation card, ok? If you have it, you can ride on a bus and you can ride on subways too.”

Lee-Hyun sincerely advised her.

Upon hearing that, Seoyoon opened up her wallet thinking, maybe.

An unbelievable amount of cash and three credit cards. Black premium, diamond, and platinum cards! Annual fee alone is over 1000000 won for the cards, so of course they had a transportation card option amongst their many benefits that they had.

When Seoyoon showed him those cards, Lee Hyun shook out of rage.

‘I got done in.’ Her cruelty of making him pay for the bus and showing him her transportation cards afterward! No one but Seoyoon could do such a dreadful thing.

It was about when they arrived at the university and Lee Hyun was headed to the lecture room to take his first class. Seoyoon followed him.

“What? Did you sign up for capsule engineering?” Seoyoon only nodded twice. They took a 3 hours long lecture together, and shared a lunch box together in a grassy quad under warm sunlight.

Seoyoon followed him when he headed to listen to his next lecture.

“By any chance, did you also sign up for social structure theory in virtual reality?” She nodded again. Seoyoon picked out the lectures Lee Hyun took and signed up for them only.

“Hyung, it’s been long.”

“Hello Oppa!” Back Soon-Jo, Lee Yoo-Jung, Min So-Ra, and Choi Sang-Joon also signed up for social class theory in virtual reality, so they could meet in the lecture room.

After the lecture was over, all students gathered in the great lecture room.

“As I have promised, we will check your assignments today.”

Lee-Hyun sat at the front line in the lecture room with over 300 students.

‘It’s hard to give an F to a student who always sits at a front seat.’ The seat to get the professor’s favor! Lee-Hyun, Seoyoon and 12 other students sat at the very front.

“Then, please come up one by one starting from the left.”

Professor Joo Jong-Hoon played the students’ camcorders in order.

The camcorder played a scene with a sunny sky and blue sea with parents and nieces laughing.

“Family trip at a resort…… Must’ve been fun.”

The professor gave short comments as he checked the videos.

“You worked hard at voluntary works. Must’ve felt proud.”

“Watching a play at a theatre…… Good for cultural experience.”

It seems like the students spent their vacation very fulfillingly. Well, at least for recording. And, it was Seoyoon’s turn.

When it showed Seoyoon’s vacation life, the students’ ability to focus boosted up more than ever.

Bright sunlight came through the window.

Seoyoon was sleeping on a bed with a quilt on, but soon raised, rubbing her eyes.

She did not have her make-up on, but with her perfect beauty, not even a hint of sleep layed on her face.

“Woof woff!” a dog that barked with enthusiasm, ran to her arms. The scene of Seoyoon patting the dog while holding it in her arms played on the screen.

Perked ears, quick legs, and a frivolously shaking tail. The dog seemed familiar.

It was Momn Boshin, the one Lee Hyun gave her.

Seoyoon held a towel on one hand and went into the bathroom. She just took a moment to wash her face, but her face shone as if a halo was behind her! Since nothing special happened over the vacation, she decided to just record her daily life and asked her nurse to film for her.

Seoyoon got up in the morning to cook. She took out ingredients to make omelet rice and chicken salad. She brushed her soft hair that came down onto her beautiful shoulders aside and started to cut ingredients.

All scenes were like CF.

The food displaced on the dishes were decorated beautifully like the ones from a very high-class restaurants.

Omelet rice, salad, and an orange juice that were placed very neatly on the white table! She ate with the nurse who was filming for her.

Lee Hyun thought,

‘Why do you cook so tiresomely so early in the morning? Just how much more delicious did you want to eat?’ If it wasn’t for his sister, he just ate simply.

Seoyoon’s cooking got better as she made lunches for Lee Hyun, but no one noticed it.

Boshin also ate below the table, and she started to wash dishes after finishing her meal.

Someone amongst the students let out an exclamation of “Wow!” as he watched her wipe a drop of water that splashed onto her forehead as she washed dishes.

It wouldn’t be a waste to make a movie from Seoyoon waking up, washing her face, cooking, and eating meals. But, Lee Hyun thought differently.

‘She only needed half of the detergent that she used…… She splashes too much water as she washes her dishes.’ After finishing washing the dishes, she sat on a rocking chair and opened a book.

The title of the book she was reading was “Art Museum Envoy Diary”.

It’s a book that lets you study about art pieces and artists as you take a glimpse at art museums all over the world.

While the other students thought ‘as expected from Seoyoon’, Lee Hyun, again thought differently.

‘It’s all just faking.’ He thought she was overacting with a camera in front of her! After reading a book, she got into a capsule, played Royal Road, took a walk in a garden, showered, and headed to the bed.

As she lied on her bed, covering herself with a quilt, with the light turned off, the video ended after giving a bit of silent space at the end.

The professor said,

“It was a brilliant art piece that described your daily life in a beautiful way.”

That was something that gave Lee Hyun great shock.

He went through hell of going to Africa and Europe to record, but to think Seoyoon would be praised for just filming her normal daily life!

“Next.”

Lee Hyun handed the assistant his video camera with a disappointed face.

They just saw Seoyoon’s so no one really looked forward to seeing Lee Hyun’s video.

Actually, it’s not an overstatement to say that most students only wanted to see Seoyoon’s.

The travel across Egypt, Africa, and Europe!

Crossing the desert on a four-wheel drive jeep, skydiving on an airplane and a hotel, an autobike, a motor boat, deep sea adventure, and even extreme sports! The Professor commented long after finishing the video.

“As professors give out assignments, there is a range to the expectation.
But, I never thought there would be a student who would experience such a special vacation!
If I had not given out such an assignment, we would not know about this student, would we? Please give a round of applause to Lee Hyun who experienced such a special travel that no one else could’ve done!” Some students even trembled.

“As expected from Princess Knight.”

“He was amazing at the MT too, you know.”

Lee Hyun was not happy as he got the applause.

Because he would’ve been happier if he could have a normal life like quietly eating at home, feeding animals he raises at the backyard, training at the Dojang, and going into the capsule to hunt.

Seoyoon was looking at him with eyes of envy and amazement.

Lee Hyun wasn’t so happy to be envied by her. ‘I’ll spend my winter vacation at home at any cost. There’s no way another assignment like this will be given, and if there is, I’ll just make a snowman. If I need more things to film, I guess I can just have a snow fight with the neighbor’s kids.’ Lee Hyun was promising himself to spend his winter vacation only at home.

Other student’s recordings were mostly simple and uninteresting, so Lee Hyun nodded off and ended up sleeping.

Seoyoon also was thinking rather than watching. She wanted to travel afar over the winter vacation.

If she could go on a trip with a friend she can trust and rely on, she thought it would be very nice.

* * *

“Ghost ships? If you’re asking about the ship a skeletal captain directs, I am not sure. I think it was going Northeast…”

“He bought a lot of dried fishes from here.”

“He also bought lot of dried apples at a very cheap price. He haggled over prices with amazing skill.”

The 2nd warship of Kingdom Haven that arrived at Iiffia Island had sent out trackers to gather information.

Since the ship carried over 230 users alone, gathering information did not take long.

“There’re not many places he can go to, northeast from here…… If he heads northeast after coming out from Neria Sea, he’ll be headed into a far sea.”

He can go to the southern place after going around the east of Versa Continue, but if that were the case, it would be better to just go through Neria Sea canal.

“Is he trying to hunt for monsters after arriving at the island? Or is he just doing a quest related to sea travel?” He did not understand his intent, but Drinfeld decided to chase after the ghost ship for now.

After going off into the Northeastern Sea, he himself asked sea creatures and birds for the direction the ghost ship went.

And, they arrived at the Planetis Port after chasing after the trace of the ghost ship.

“A hidden port at such a place…… as expected of Weed. All ships, full speed towards the north!” The warships of Haven Kingdom all set sail.

It was a grand view to see each ships set 16 sails.

Colossal war ships headed out to sea, riding on the wind.

Trace the ghost ship! They followed the trace of the ghost ship and headed north of the sea.

The most famous pirate on the sea, Griffith! Over 50 mid-sized sailboats and galleons that he directed were gathered on the Platis Sea.

Pirates must have enough bravery to fight until death even when armies come, and information gathering must be done fast.

They tracked the ships of Haven Kingdom the moment they left their area. “So, the admiral of the Haven Kingdom navy has come out himself, huh.”

Griffith and his pirates only needed to follow after the Haven Kingdom’s ships without much effort.

“So, they looked for even us to hunt down Weed, unsatisfied with only Haven Kingdom’s navy, huh? Now, now. I cannot let them have our prey with our pride as pirates on the line. Let’s go, to hunt the legend of this continent!” Upon hearing Griffith’s words, the pirates yelled loudly.

Pirates fell behind compared to the navy in supplies and equipments. However, they could cover for their lacking power with their numbers.

Through pirates’ secretive information exchange, the man of sea on the Neria Sea gathered under Griffith’s order.

This was a huge gathering for pirates that may happen only once or twice in a year.

* * *

Weed hunted at an amazing place commanding undead armies, but there were limits to mobilizing for the quest.

Because undead armies are basically cheap and weak, lots of sacrifices were required whenever fighting against Bollards.

“Not easy to explore.”

Undead armies unconditionally get hostile reactions from monsters.

Because of that, he had to fight without rest.

Now, he even summoned 40 Death Knights.

It was the biggest undead army Weed could make with his level, mana recovery rate, and necromancer skill.

Even so, 30 to 50 undead died whenever fighting against Bollards.

“For now, we have to head to the 7th peak where the Armenia pirates headed to. But, we’ll have to fight at least 20 times against Bollards…... “ Whenever fighting against Bollards, the number of undead reduces tremendously.

Mostly low-level undead dies, but if the number of low-level undead get too low, even Death Knights will die.

“Can’t help, but to keep on moving as we fight against Tairbeth.”

At where 4 Bollards are gathered, AOE curse magic is casted, Death Knights attack, and skeleton mages shootout magic.

A bunch of ghouls and zombies charged forward, and Deer that was undead-ized to the Bollards! Due to huge attack by undead army, battles were lead to victories, but 23 undead crumbled from burning, never to be summoned again.

Because they fought against Bollard after Bollard, at least 100 undead were unable to be re-summoned.

“At this rate, it’ll be troublesome.”

Weed moved to hunt Tairbeths, but the closer he went to the 7th peak, the number of Bollards increased and now, at least 5 or 6 of them roamed around together.

To add on, based on what he observed when he turned into a crow, even if he passes through Bollards, Warriors of Chaos will appear.

“Can’t be helped. I’ll think about it later, and use all that I can for now.”

Weed took out his last card, Mirror of Eternal Rest.

It’s an item related to the Matallost religion; it allows an undead to possess high vitality, mana, and strength.

“There’s only 3 left for the durability, so…… I’ll have to use it really carefully and give it back before it breaks.”

As soon as he took out the Mirror of Eternal Rest, black and blue energy flowed through Weed.

Ding!

– A hideous Lich uses the Mirror of Eternal Rest

The raised undead’s vitality increases by 25%.

Mobility increases by 38%.

They’ll use various methods to move. For example, crawling on four feet or jumping off of a wall.

They’ll possess deadly poisons.

Resistance increases.

Instinct becomes sharpened.

The undead that dug and hid inside the earth will be able to endure for longer period of time even without necromancer's mana supply.

You can use level 5 undead summoning skill.

You can summon a group of witches that will obey a necromancer.

Necromancer skill effect increases by 55%.

Able to use special skills:

Grim grave, Ghost Cry in Mid of Night, Acid Breath, Self Destruction of Anguish, Vitality Transfer.

– Not much of the durability of the Mirror of Eternal Rest is left.

Weed’s vitality, mana, and wisdom also increased by a lot. His intelligence and wisdom alone increased by 300, and his maximum mana doubled.

“For now, rest everyone.”

Weed stopped all mana supplies to the undead, and disabled undead summon magic.

Then, zombies, ghouls, skeleton, and Death Knights all collapsed onto the ground.

The only ones left were Death Knight Van Hawk and Geuminyi

“Rise again. I will save you from the tortures at the bottom of the hell. I will give you power, enough to rule the world. Summon Death Knight!”

He raised at least 50 Death Knights using the skeletons that turned back into corpses.

Originally, real Death Knights should only be raised using a knight’s corpse.

The effect is bigger if a corrupt, greedy, and unjust knight’s corpse is used to summon a Death Knight.

A penalty was put on to the Death Knights as they were raised using the bones that were originally of beasts.

Still, the magenta aura that flows on their bodies!

– With necromancer’s skill strengthened, the Death Knights’ strength and vitality also increased.

“At least level 270.”

Weed was very satisfied even with this much.

If their levels were 270, then they were stronger than most Death Knights.

Currently, necromancers are praised by majority, but it is not invincible. While you can bring around undead armies, the quality of each individual units sucked.

It is most suited for fast leveling up, mass production, and mass consumption.

“We want to know if you have the right to order us.”

The summoned Death Knights asked him.

To obtain their loyalty, he must prove his power and leadership.

Instead of inconveniently talking lots, he took out the Royal Seal of Arpen Kingdom.

“Authority of the Emperor.”

Luminosity that gently shone from the crystal skull!

– You have used the Authority of the Emperor.

When a lord or a king uses it, your diplomacy skill will temporarily increase.
You can suppress a citizen’s objection with your authority.
Knights and nobles will follow any orders.
Increases loyalty of commoners.
Leadership increased by 150%.
Charisma increased by 150%.
Stats irrelevant to battle will temporarily increase by 40.

Until you directly get involved in a battle, the Authority of the Emperor will be maintained.

If you battle without cancelling the skill, the effect of the Authority of the Emperor will continually decrease until its owner gets changed.

An emperor does not fight in front of the army!

The Death Knights, as the necessary condition to make full use of the Authority of Emperor was fulfilled, kneeled.

“We will follow your order.”

For now, he got the promise of loyalty, so they won’t betray him easily. Plus, since he, the lord of undead, raised them himself, the basic process was already done.

Weed showed a satisfied smile and cancelled the skill.

“Cancel the Authority of the Emperor!” The aura that decorated the crystal skull slowly disappeared.

“If I walk around the town under that state, it will be pretty useful.”

Weed raised more types of undead using Undead Rise. Undead were now a lot stronger and had their levels raised from 30% to 40% compared to before.

“Let’s go!” Weed ordered the undead to go toward the Bollards.

“Death Knights, mark one for each. Undead, focus on supporting them!” Ghouls and zombies got the mission of staying by Weed.

Skeleton mages used magic attacks, and Geuminyi shot arrows.

With Death Knights becoming the main forces, 5 Bollards could be caught with only minor damage.

There were times when Death Knights were in danger, but Weed gave them his vitality at the last moment.

“Now this is more like hunting!” Weed used Bollards’ corpses to summon horses.

The horse of terror that Death Knights can ride on!

After hunting Tairbeths, he summoned low-level undead to slow down monsters for a bit, and after hunting Bollards, he increased the number of Death Knights and witches.

He was on the stage where he must mind not only the quantity, but quality as well. As Derald’s witches were summoned, the magic used in battle varied more, and its power increased as well. The overall strength of Weed’s undead army was much higher than before.

“Charge!” Weed marched on saving as much time as possible before the durability of the Mirror of Eternal Rest ran out.

As he hunted Bollards, the overall number of undead did not decrease by much. As there were more corpses raised using Bollards, there weren’t much losses.

“Let bones grow and cover the body. Bone Armor!” With enough supplies of corpses, he made bone armors with magic for Death Knights.

They didn’t have much resistance or defence, but Death Knights could fight more easily with that poor armor.

“Corpses stacking and stacking, there is no lifeform existing here. Only the tombs of corpses made by time exists. Tomb of Deceased!” Tombstones raised where Weed battled.

It was a support magic that increases necromancer skills at a limited area and undead’ recovery rate.

Finally, he broke through the defense line of Bollards and arrived at where the Legacy of Sculptors were which could only be viewed when Weed transformed into a crow.

The cracked earth showed even 300 meters below, and lava flowed there. “Walk with caution.”

Weed fought monsters, avoiding the cracks.

Las Phalanx’s Evil Spirit, Daebans’ spirit, and lost angry barbarians! “It seems it’s better to avoid evil spirits as much as possible.”

They were weaker than Tairbeths, but it’s important for necromancers to leave corpses behind after battles. He avoided Las Phalanx’s Evil Spirit or Daeban’s Spirit and fought with barbarians.

The barbarians fought against Death Knights with equal strength, but they could not fight equally with Weed’s curses and witches attacks.

If you haven’t hunted monsters with overwhelming numbers, you won’t understand the feeling. He meditated at the Tower of Ruins for a moment to recover his mana to the max.

Now came the most difficult barrier, the Warriors of Chaos.

The Warriors of Chaos that hunts Bollards with a snort. If he can’t pass through them, he won’t be able to arrive at where the Armenia pirates are. “Kill them!” The undead army poured toward the Warriors of Chaos.

There were 8 Warriors of Chaos! Their levels are unknown.

“Rotten corpses, be cleansed with pure fire.”

The Warriors of Chaos swung their axe and whips toward the undead army. At the moment when the whip touched them, weak ones like zombie, ghoul, and skeleton melted from the high temperature fire.

It was a terrifying attack.

Even Van Hawk resisted against the joint attacks of three Warriors of Chaos for about 2 minutes and was finally called back. Even Death Knights were cruelly crushed to powders by the Warriors of Chaos.

Anyway, it was when Weed tried to cast a curse magic upon seeing undead get swept away. Whether they had to run or fight, cursing the opponent is very advantageous.

“Blink.”

The Warriors of Chaos flashed here and there. As they used short distance teleportation, they were massacring witches and Death Knights.

They were fast to the point where Weed could not dare to cast AOE curse magic. While he hesitated for a moment, the number of undead rapidly reduced.

“Moooo!” Yellowy hurriedly cried and ran.

“Let’s run, master.” Weed agreed very much.

“Geuminyi run!”

At times like this, the fast Geuminyi even let out Wings of Light to run! When he counted the units later, only about 7 zombies that looks like they’re about time to be burried, 2 Death Knights, and 10 skeleton were all that were left.

Even if the undead fought in however way they wanted without the necromancer’s order after Weed ran away, this was horrible.

Compared to that, the 8 Warriors of Chaos who were chewing on Daebet’s meat on the horizon looked fine.

“This won’t do.”

Weed had to increase the number of undead again.

At where the Legacy of Sculptures was, he hunted Tairbeths and Bollards. And when there were more undead, he tried again.

“We’ve come for revenge. Kill them all!”

He gathered undead and tried two more times against the Warriors of Chaos, but he could only hunt 1 with overly focused attacks. Overall, it was a failure! Even when he hunted down 1 Warrior of Chaos, Weed used Undead Rise.

When he did that, other Warriors of Chaos went berserk too much, so even his life was on the line. He couldn’t help but retreat.

“There’s too much gap in the levels, so even if I get reborn, it’s almost impossible.”

Even if Weed is resurrected with the Power to Resist Death, it will only increase the number of deaths to the count.
It will also cause a huge drop to the skill mastery, but he can’t stop fighting either.

Weed gathered as many of his undead army as possible.

“If I just kill 3 more and curse them, there’s a chance of winning.”

However, they moved too fast to cast curse on them.

With the undead army rapidly decreasing, he again retreated! At the fourth battle, he had to return once again, only after losing his undead army.

If he did not have the undead army as a necromancer, Weed, Yellowy, or Geuminyi would’ve died.

It’s the necromancer that’s praised as the best jobs ever existing…… Plus, since a necromancer can order around an undead army by himself, necromancers are by far the best fighters as an individuals.

Of course, they’d buy mercenaries with lot of money, but when looking at only levels and skills, the best battle job is necromancer.

It’s just it could be different if the level became very high and skill mastery almost at the master level.

Necromancers mostly used cheap undead.

There are high-level undead you can make like the bone dragon through specific methods, but even those undead are not invincible.

Swordmasters who have high attack and defence will beat up those undead, and if they are equipped well, they won’t die easily either.

High-level magic of magicians whose skill masteries are hard to raise is thought to have tremendous power.

Anyway, even the necromancer, so-far called best job, could not roam around freely on Las Phalanx.

Rather than fighting against the Warrior of Chaos, Weed decided to focus on hunting with the undead army.

For the next 10 days, he leveled up 5 times.

– Durability of the Mirror of Eternal Rest became 1.

In the end, the durability of the Mirror of Eternal Rest reached its limit, so he put it into his backpack before it broke.

– Effects of the Mirror of the Eternal Rest disappears.

The undead and their stats changed back. Their max mana and recovery rate dropped as well.

Some undead that do not get controlled by the necromancer roams around however they like and get destroyed by falling into the crevices or by monsters.

He cannot use level 5 undead summon skill anymore, but he could maintain the witches he previously summoned.

“I’ll have to hunt for Tairbeths or Bollards again.”

Weed fell in deep thoughts.

Necromancer had his leadership and charisma raised at all times. Still, it would be better to turn back into sculptor to raise various skill masteries, endurance, and patience.

If he makes at least 10 sculptures and give them life, it wouldn’t be so bad to hunt Daebit even if it wouldn’t be quite like now. While Weed was troubled, someone approached from afar.

“I’m pretty sure monsters don’t come here.”

Over the horizon, a man with a pale face and black cape, and an unbelievably beautiful girl was walking toward him.

The abandoned land, Las Phalanx. The two who walked towards the place where the undead were.

“Were there other users who were exploring this region? That girl sure is pretty like Seoyoon.”

Weed couldn’t understand that there could be a girl as pretty as Seoyoon. If there were at least 5 of such beauties, he felt like suicide rates all over the the world would decrease tremendously.

“Men especially won’t suicide.”

Looking at her from afar will make them burn with happiness of being alive and fill them with the motivation to live after all.

Savior from despair. Even the neets who do not step out from their room will run outside if they see Seoyoon through the window.

Death Knight Hawk also commented from the side.

“The black clothes, tall height, and pale face is just like Tori, Master.”

“Yeah, he sure looks like him.”

As Weed watched them with the undead army, the two walked toward them.

It’s been long since they last saw each other after fighting against the bone dragon and because their equipments changed, they didn’t recognized them easily. But, when their face came closer to the point they could see their face clearly, they were, in fact, Seoyoon and Torido.
***

The navy of Haven Kingdom Drinfeld followed exactly how the ghost ship sailed.

Using what sea creatures they witnessed, he arrived at the Deron Sea.

“Amazing. I heard he doesn’t know much about the sea, so how did he travel so far?”

Unlike what he expected, seeing Weed travel such a long distance, Drinfeld adjusted his opinion of Weed.

Weed came even to the Area of Aurora and Glacier of Deron Sea.

“Just where is the destination for the quest to make him travel so far?” The warships had to stop several times to resupply for food and rest.

Aside from Drinfeld, users of Haven Kingdom learned fishing skills previously. You can say it’s a must-have skill for a man of sea, but it wasn’t enough to feed the whole fleet.

“Captain, it’s cold!” As they sailed through glacier areas, many unprepared sailors caught the flu.

“I never thought he’d really come to the Deron Sea. The damage to the crewman will be huge.”

Drinpelt did not expect to travel such a long distance leading the navy of Haven Kingdom. If there was to be any damage to the ships or crewmen of the Haven Kingdom, he would have to take all the responsibility for them.

He needed periodic results to keep his authority, but if he doesn’t act carefully, he’ll be blamed for everything.

The vice captain opened his mouth worriedly.

“We can turn back now. Should we give up on tracking down Weed and return?” Drinfeld shook his head. “No, it is too late to turn back when we are already all the way here. Proceed through.”

Harben Kingdom navy passed through the glacier area. During the process, 273 of the crewmen had died.

It was mostly the crew members who had light clothing to adjust the sail and observe the stars.

If he had not changed their direction upon hearing that the path the ghost ship took changed because of the sea creatures, the damage would have tremendously increased.

‘Just where is he heading……’ Various conjectures and suspicion arose amongst the users of Haven Kingdom and Drinfeld.

“Did he find some treasure island? Like, some place covered with gold all over the place with high graded weapons.”

“That treasure that all users of sea dream of?”

“I think he’s looking for a sunken ship full of gems rather than a treasure island.”

“It’s Weed we’re talking about, so maybe he’s chasing after some legend of Deron Sea. Something priceless like legendary weapons or a crown covered with gems.”

“Let’s head anywhere!” Their enthusiasm ran high. The more they chased after Weed, the harsher their path became, and they believed that a worthy price was waiting for them.

The 2nd division warships that were full of simplified ships, for profit of the kingdom were often attacked when meeting ships of other kingdoms.

They were chasing after Weed, full of desire to take his equipment and even his quest.

***
The merchants of central continent who visited Morata had many complaints.

“The transit duty was only 3% before, so why was it raised to 5%?”

“Can he really just raise taxes like this just because he’s the lord?” The merchants gathered and sent in complaints, but they couldn’t get any positive support from Morata’s users.

5% for transit tax was rather cheap. In the Central Continent, 15%, 20%, and even 35% for the transit tax were often the case.

Plus, the transit tax was not for Morata merchants, but only for the merchants of other districts to pay. It was something for Morata merchants to welcome, so they did not support them.

“I can’t understand how he can raise taxes like this.”

“There’s limit to looking down on us. Does the lord of Morata not know who’s behind us? It’s the Merchant Union!” The merchants gathered and caused an uproar. Then, someone shouted.

“We shouldn’t talk amongst ourselves like this. Let’s go to the lord’s castle.”

“Let’s go and talk to him!” The merchants crowded to the lord’s castle. Of course, they were doing this while knowing fully well that the lord of Morata, Weed, was absent.

They complained to the guards.

“To suddenly raise transit tax like this. How could you do this?!”

“We came to meet the one responsible for this.”

The fame and authority of the Central Continent merchants were outrageous.

The guards politely brought them to the department that was in charge of the commerce inside the lord’s castle.

“This is the Department of Commerce where they look out for the merchants staying at Morata.”

Merchants bashed in. But, the floor was covered with straws, and female cows were looking after calves.

“Who the hell decorated the Department of Commerce like this?! Where’s the person in charge?!”

Next to the feeder in the Department of Commerce, there was a nameplate.

Representative of Morata Commerce - Yellowy

Yellowy was currently absent.

“We shouldn’t stand here like this. Don’t we have to complain to the person in charge of transit tax?”

“That would be the one to talk to.”

The merchants came out again and looked for the Department of Finance, but Geuminyi wasn’t present either. And, Wyverns were the ones who had the seat of the 1st deputy head of taxing! Wyverns sat at the top of the towers and sometimes revisited Morata.

Because of that, it was hard to meet Wyverns either.

The merchants tried to use their fame and conversational skill to persuade, but there was no one to persuade. Of course, it was a wonder if Wyverns would actually be patient enough to listen to humans talk.

“To think that all of the people in charge are absent… then how about meeting other directors of Morata? We’ll be able to sway them a bit about Morata’s government.”

“I agree.”

The representative of the merchants came out from the Department of Finance and went to the Department of Military.

Due to repairing and improving the lord’s castle, new departments formed, and there were directors for each of them.

The director of the Department of Military - Bingryong, Phoenix - hunting

Weed gave the seats to the sculpture lifeforms to gain practical dictatorship. Because of that, it was impossible for the merchants to lobby or persuade to pressure the government to change.

This was the true dictatorship! Later, the knights or merchants who stacked up contribution may be promoted into higher places, but currently, Weed ruled with absolute power.

Chapter 1: Emotional Reunion

Commanding a ghost ship, Weed arrived at Las Phalanx and was hunting with undead.

Along with the necessary tracking of the Armenian Pirates, he also had to find the acclaimed sculpture material, Helium.

However, due to the high level monsters, he was forced to use any means necessary to survive!

In this place, Seoyoon appeared before Weed.

‘How did she come here?’

The sudden emergence of Seoyoon made Weed wary.

Having changed into the Lich species, his appearance was that of a modified skeleton and there was no law against unexpected attacks.

However, Seoyoon quietly met his eyes.
There was not the slightest intent to attack.

Weed’s appearance had turned into a skeleton and there were many undead around, but he was immediately recognizable thanks to Death Knight Van Hawk.

‘At last we meet again.’

Seoyoon pushed through the undead while walking with a limp.

‘You’re hurt quite a lot.’

There was a slight bit of compassion in Weed’s eyes.
Even with the pretense, her status was not good.

In order to meet Weed in Las Phalanx, she fought countless life threatening battles. Her health was just barely over 7 percent.

Severe injuries, other users in fear of getting killed and wasting their lives would relax until they recovered.

However, Berserker Seoyoon continued the brutal fight to find Weed.

“Show me where your wounds are.”

After a long time, Weed decided to exert his Cold Bandages skill.

He properly applied the herbs and meticulously wrapped her wounds with bandages.

Weed’s Cold Bandages skill was at a level where as long as you were alive, it would suppress the aggravation of injuries and recover health to its maximum.

After the bandaging, unless you take drastic action such as combat or climbing, there would be no side effects.

“Tell me if there are any painful areas.”

Having been treated by Weed, Seoyoon also took off her helmet and armor and gave it to him as accustomed.

She took off the protruding equipment she was wearing until she was lightly dressed in leather armor.

“Keuheum.”

Weed cleared his throat as he received the armor.

He was simply entrusted to repair the armor, but obviously due to some of the items she was wearing, he was extremely curious.

Nonchalantly pretending, Weed gave an excuse.

“Well, let me check the information to repair it? To repair equipment, we need to know things such as what materials were used and how much durability there is.”

He was wearing armor received from the Church of Freya forged with Mithril by a famous dwarven blacksmith, Faith Talrokeuui Armor.

He was very proud of the armor he obtained.

“Identify.”

Mad Warrior’s Half Plate:
Durability 58/190.
Defense 167

The magical armor of the executioner of war once known as Bain.
Armor of unknown origins. Material is also unknown.
High wizards inscribed protection magic into it.

Lightweight and agile, the optimal armor for combat.
The longer it is worn to fight, the more strength and stamina it gives to the owner.
However, after the battle, sudden loss in physical strength will occur.

Wearing it for a long time causes tears to flow naturally, thus it also has the nickname, Sad Warrior’s Half Plate.

Restrictions:

Level 420
Strength 950
Berserker only

Options:

+75 Strength
+98 Agility
Magic Defense +59

Inhibits elemental magic damage.
During long lasting combat, Berserker characteristics double.
Maximum strength increases by 45%, stamina increases by 45%. Increased strength and stamina are maintained until the battle ends and more than 10 minutes of rest.

Fame -1500
Morality -30
Notoriety +690
Monsters are overwhelmed by fear.

Whenever you hunt a monster, a certain amount of mana is restored.
At night, you will occasionally shed tears in solitude.
When you cry, health and strength increase by 10%.

Laughter came from Weed.
“Heoheoheo.”

In all aspects it was flawless compared to the Faith Talrokeuui Armor.

‘Unlike the Faith Talrokeuui Armor that needlessly raises faith, charm and fame, this superior armor increases strength and stamina. Although fame and morality decrease and notoriety increases, that’s irrelevant.’

The armor has excellent ability to protect the core.

While protecting the owner, the armor gives you increasing strength and stamina as you go on!

Even the helmet, leather armor, boots and belt equipment Seoyoon was wearing were all unique items.

After being separated from Weed, the Berserker hunted a colossal amount while tirelessly raising her level.

As a result, almost all of the old worn equipment was newly replaced.

Every time Weed identified the remaining items, he felt regret and intense temptation occurred.

‘Shall I make away with it?’

If he could find a buyer and earn a fortune, he would hand the armor over without hesitation!

At the moment he was going to sneak the armor into his backpack, he stumbled at Seoyoon’s clearly staring eyes.

‘But you know my house, wouldn’t be able to escape.’

Weed’s tears faded as he repaired.

‘Farewell items.’

Putting plenty of sad feelings into it, he took advantage of his armor polishing skill, returning glittering light to it as if it were new.

“It works fine now, wear it.”

At the time he returned the armor to Seoyoon, the unspoken pretense of wanting to eat occurred.

It was an obviously hungry face.

“Don’t be mistaken by my current appearance.”

Weed lightly gestured. Then a tremendous gathering of the undead army!

As a Lich Necromancer, he used an undead army as his subordinates.

The period of the land’s divine blessing passed, as well as the advantage of the Copper Plate of Rest, severely dropping the quality of the undead.

There were many lesser undead such as ghouls and zombies but rather than the amount, it was the quality that worried him.

“I did not want to do this. But people have to have a conscience. After saving a man from drowning, get a four month regular pool membership, what’s the difference.”

Weed muttered in an evil tone as the undead assembled.

Demonstration of force.

Weed was overwhelmed by Seoyoon’s gaze and shrank back.
The intent of the scheme was to exude a sense of power.

It was a story every man faces somewhere along the way.
However, the new relationship was considered.

Suddenly, he yielded to the large difference between him and Seoyoon.

‘Sad Warrior’s Half Plate, its level requirement is 420.’

Due to the blacksmith skill, Weed was free from the job and level restrictions.

Only now did he notice the report on the armor.

The fact that Seoyoon’s level was honestly over 420!

For Weed, in addition to the significant level difference, he was well acquainted with her fearsome combat abilities.

Weed shook his head as if to deny the reality in front of him.

‘I’ve grown stronger through the sculptor’s heritage!’

But there was no guarantee that Seoyoon did not see the sculptor’s heritage either.
Decisively, the servants of Necromancers are incredibly strong.

Precious corpses are enhanced through the augmentation of darkness into undead.

Compared to the undead army, it is not an exaggeration to say that the physical strength of Necromancers is extremely weak.

It was justification to avoid being beaten by her.

If there was a problem with Seoyoon, raise his hands before feeling her blade.

“What kind of dish do you want? You want to eat sipeong? I made bibimbap in the past, fairly good, fresh sashimi also tastes nice. I have separately packed ingredients. Are you hungry? I’ll make it now, just wait a minute.”

Weed calmly motioned the undead to go back.

After becoming a Lich, he did not need to cook, but to draw out the expressions that remained buried in Seoyoon, he was compelled to.

Using the fish he caught aboard the ship until he arrived at Las Phalanx and the advanced ingredients acquired through hunting, he started cooking.

***

Drinfeld led the Haven Kingdom’s fleet northward through the freezing river.

As the mist opened the way, the mystical scenery of a rainbow ascended along the river.

“As it stands, where do you think we’ll arrive at?”

Several users in the fleet were speculating while suppressing their excitement and calmly looked forward.

Since it was an incredibly distant voyage of the Haven Kingdom, naturally they were nervous.

To the left and the right, monsters in the glacier region were also very intimidating.

Then they heard the sound of people shouting from the glacier region.

“Please save us!”
“Rescue us please!”

Drinfeld heard the commotion and went up to the deck.

“What’s going on?”
“There are castaways.”

The lieutenant’s report contained confirmation through the telescope, near the river Seointeu, Fractal and Bordomir were waving.

“Who are those guys?”
“I don’t know. How did they get here?”
“We’ll figure it out once we take them for a ride.”
“Set the ship’s anchor into the river!”

The flagship of the Haven Kingdom’s fleet, Eleanor Kane’s Great Ark stopped at the river and Seointeu, Fractal and Bordomir climbed up the ladder.

Unable to flee, they were confronted by the Haven Kingdom’s handpicked people with their swords drawn.

“Tell me how you came here.”

Seointeu stealthily noticed who he was and decided to tell the truth.

Haven Kingdom’s fleet was equal to a war god of the sea because of Drinfeld.

“We are innocent sailors of Becky Ninh. I am Seointeu and my two friends are Fractal and Bordomir.”

Then one of the lieutenants whispered Drinfeld.

– The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Ninh. Plainly put, they are quite the bad guys.

“We were just drinking in a bar when an incredibly beautiful woman appeared. Wouldn’t you have been tempted? After we were enticed to go over there, we signed a voyage contract with a Lich Captain, so we couldn’t run away and came all the way here. We labored away but he threw us the cold shoulder and abandoned us here all alone.”

From the rambling stories, it was concluded that the 3 Mad Sharks arrived at this place through Weed.

The lieutenant asked curiously.

“He really had the appearance of a Lich?”
“Yes, I’m sure. He used undead summoning magic. He was the captain of a ghost ship.”
“How were you thrown away and abandoned all alone?”

“We were momentarily caught off guard and the ship sailed off into that direction. We really didn’t know he acquired the sufficient sailing skill necessary for sailing a ghost ship. By then, we lost track of the back of his head, very cunning.”

“The pirates we were following disappeared into Las Phalanx, one of the 10 restricted zones.”

Drinfeld received information through the 3 Mad Sharks.

At that moment, the faintly veiled destination began to clearly identify itself.

‘Must be the difficulty of the S-class quest.’

The lieutenant continued to ask.

“How far until we reach Las Phalanx?”

“There’s still some degree of sailing left. The ocean currents to reach the harbor of Las Phalanx in the northern seas should be well marked on the navigational charts.”

“From here to Las Phalanx, how much longer?
“Almost there. The remaining distance shouldn’t take more than a day I think.”

Drinfeld’s face severely stiffened.

It was clear that Weed had already landed in Las Phalanx.

He wondered if he should follow him all the way to Las Phalanx, one of the 10 restricted zones.

‘Lich, he will be using Necromancer magic. In addition, the sailing skills might be related to some special quest.’

Rather than Weed, Drinfeld was more concerned about Las Phalanx itself.

Dragging the entire fleet and entering one of the 10 restricted zones, no matter what the result, there would be tremendous damage.

Due to that fact it was not an easy choice.

However, having traveled such far a distance, they could not return without having something to show for it.

Seointeu muttered.

“But what is that Lich’s identity for the Haven Kingdom’s fleet to come all this way for? So far, a high level necromancer presiding over a ghost ship, the only one relevant, is it really Weed? Somehow, the more I think about it, the more it seems to be true.”

Before the fleet heard the words Las Phalanx, they had an opportunity to return, but the fact that they were following Weed and the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Ninh was now known.

‘Track him to the end.’

Drinfeld decided to go to Las Phalanx.

“Now get off.”

“Yes? We told you everything we know to the fullest extent. Don’t do this. Will you please take us back to Becky Ninh?”

“If you don’t want to die right now, get off!”

Drinfeld headed to Las Phalanx as the 3 Mad Sharks continued to be abandoned in the glacier region.

On the Royal Road bulletin board, an exciting article and movie came up.

Title: Behold the great adventures of the Mad Sharks of Becky Ninh!

In their own way, those users had built up notoriety in the seas.

Plenty of people knew, but still, as if to reflect the popularity of Royal Road, the initial number of queries easily beat 300. Users with even the slightest degree of curiosity clicked on the title.

We are very capable sailors from Becky Ninh. Having learned of our skills, God of War Weed-nim asked for us. Seointeu, Fractal and Bordomir.

Us three friends readily accepted his proposal, his boat … Don’t be surprised keuheuheuheu.

We went out to sea driving an old ghost ship. Working aboard were ghost sailors, God of War Weed-nim was a Lich Necromancer.

Later we learned that in fact, Weed had been staying on Yipiah Island for a while and we quite enjoyed the honor of meeting him directly in person.

The destination of our long voyage was somewhere to the north.

One of Versailles Continent’s 10 restricted zones! Weed had a quest in Las Phalanx.

As you read the text, a movie was streaming.

Fractal edited the video directly and showed the scenes from the recruitment at the pub to Lich Weed’s appearance and the voyage of the ghost ship.

Avoiding the glaciers, the voyage entered the freezing river. In the white snow fields and glacier region, monsters could be seen.

We believed Weed’s quest would succeed.
Then dirty Haven Kingdom’s fleet and Drinfeld!
We were totally abandoned like rice to all the monsters from Las Phalanx.

PS. Weed-nim, we will depend on you for a ride when you go back to the continent.

The movie was perfect until the arrival of the Haven Kingdom’s fleet. Weed’s adventure in Las Phalanx and the Haven Kingdom’s fleet following behind!

The thread uploaded by the Mad Sharks of Becky Ninh resulted in an explosion of players posting articles referencing it on KMC media station’s message board.

– When is the broadcast of Weed’s adventure in Las Phalanx scheduled? Are you organizing a special close up again?

– Please announce a newsflash as soon as Weed-nim’s quest ends. And let’s not forget broadcasting it immediately. If you pointlessly delay the broadcast, I’ll never watch KMC media again.

– Can you not start broadcasting immediately right now? First of all, I at least want to see Las Phalanx.

– How is Weed doing there? Don’t tell me he already solved the quest.

Necromancers desperately wanted to see action scenes in Las Phalanx.

***

Weed and Tori awkwardly greeted each other at their reunion.

Once suffering at the end of a master and servant relationship until granting passage to the vampire kingdom of Todum and retrieving his freedom was the Vampire Lord.

“It’s been a while Tori.”
“Yes indeed Weed.”
“Your words are shorter.”

“Because I don’t feel the need to lengthen them.”
“That’s cruel, for old times’ sake.”
“Even the hateful feelings have long since disappeared.”
“During my absence, I wondered if you were doing well.”
“Lived better without you, don’t worry.”

Tori coldly confronted Weed with a distinctively arrogant look.

He completely escaped Weed’s charisma and dominating ability from the past master and servant relationship due to the hatred he bore for the humiliating discipline.

In the first place, because of Tori’s illustrious pride, he would not follow commands from anyone other than women.

Weed was also in a bad mood, but he had already considered this occurrence as something inevitable.

Although not expecting anything in the slightest from his hollow words, he tried talking to Seoyoon.

“Please pass me Tori?”
“…….”
“I’ll give you 1 chicken.”

Bargaining with 1 chicken, but Seoyoon shook her head.
It seemed hardly possible that she would consent.

Seoyoon then wrote on the ground with her sword.
1 rabbit

When visiting Weed’s home, she had seen with her eyes the young rabbits that popped out, the relaxing feeling still lingered.

“I’ll give you a rabbit?”

Coming from Seoyoon’s neck, the Necklace of Black Life that sealed Tori was handed over.

– You have received the Necklace of Black Life.

Ownership of the Vampire Lord Tori of the True Blood vampire clan has been transferred.

1 rabbit to restore the master and servant relationship of the past!

Weed considered what he said as half a joke, but he was amazed that she really gave him the necklace.

However, nothing could compare to Tori’s shock.

“Ah …….”

His point fangs visible, he was unable to shut his mouth.

Dark clouds gathered over the True Blood vampire clan at that moment.

And in accordance with the changing of masters, mental training was initiated.

Efficient corporal punishment learning that surpasses the ultimate punishment learning of talented instructors of expensive private education.

“Look, you realize I’m going to have to do something appropriate. You will be hit, that’s how life works, not a big deal. Once you have been broken, you will see enlightenment on how to roughly adapt and learn how to live after losing.”

The result of the mental training was revealed to be intact.

“To …….”
“Yes!”
“To.”
“Just say the word master.”
“Hey Tori, your shoulders are awfully sore. It seems you have been hit too much. Entirely your fault.”

*Peobeobeobeobeok!*

Heraim fencing, 15 chain combo!

Since transforming into a skeleton, an essential part of his strength came from striking only vital points with his pincer like hand.

Usually familiarizing behavior with domination is difficult.

“I should have beaten you on the spot. If you strike them at an early age, they’ll remember for a lifetime. The importance of corporal punishment at an early stage, that old saying is not wrong. Look at how punctual and responsive Van Hawk is. My level was just a little bit higher than Van Hawk’s and his beating was still incomplete, but he told me he recognized me as his master and didn’t even inquire about preferential treatment …….”

Receiving praise, the Death Knight coolly held up his head as he stood there.
After warming up, Tori’s beating reached the point where he illustrated a carcass.

“Hopefully you will be smarter next time. From now on, if you listen to my words closely, occasionally you will be beaten up less.”

In this way the mental training finished and Seoyoon joined the hunt.

Weed first firmly commanded.

“Here you will do as I tell you. I’m going to give the undead the role of the shield. It’s dangerous because there are a lot of monsters so wait until they are weakened from the battle and deliver the final strike.”

“…….”

Without having answered if she understood or not, Seoyoon simply stared at his face.

“Let’s hunt, starting with a group of TairBadgers. You two start first.”

Weed, Van Hawk and Tori observed from the shadow of a rock. Then a gathering of TairBadgers!

Van Hawk and Tori fearlessly fought among the undead. As the TairBadgers surrounded the perimeter, Witches and Skeleton Mages intervened by hurling magic attacks.

Although the TairBadgers flew about irregularly and dizzily like butterflies, they could not resist the concentrated attacks and moments later 1 of the creatures died. Seeing that it was an easy battle, Seoyoon returned without pulling out her sword.

“Hmm, with the addition of Tori, it’s by far easier.”

As expected of a vampire, Tori’s health and damage were extremely high.

Severing enemies into pieces with nails or attacking with magic, as well as using illusionary magic to speed up the hunt.

Facing the silently resting Seoyoon, Weed said.

“Don’t worry too much, because you’ll be protected by the undead. Wandering all alone in Las Phalanx must have been difficult right? From now on, you can believe in me.”

“…….”
Seoyoon only lightly nodded.

She believed the feeling she got from Weed was that she could rely on him.

‘As a woman, quite possibly she’s more timid. Indeed, with all the grotesque monsters in Las Phalanx, it’s bound to be scary.’

Weed continued to fight while chanting the mantra.

Curse magic, summon undead and corpse explosion!

Utilizing a variety of magic while hunting TairBadgers, he increased his experience and loot.

Seoyoon in the meantime though just stood near Weed.

“If the damage is to this extent, we can even hunt a group of 5 Bollards.”

Weed assessed the situation and chose a certain eradication method. With the return of Tori, he could proceed with more drastic hunting.

“Van Hawk and Tori, take the lead!”

Leading the undead army, they rushed to the place where 5 Bollards gathered.
A fight occurred against the black bodied, fire emitting Bollards.

Under their orders, Van Hawk took one, Tori took two and the undead assaulted the rest as a group.

“Concentrate attacks on one monster as soon as possible and shorten the duration of the battle, that’s the only way to reduce the damage to a minimum.”

The Bollards released fire into the surroundings, destroying lesser undead instantly.

General skeletons or zombies could not even touch, but by sending them, Skeleton Mages were granted peace of mind to use their magic.

The loss of undead was large for a short period of time, but it was able to reduce the damage across the entire war.

“Attack!”

The undead walked one after another beyond the ridge.

Van Hawk and Tori rushed to take care of their respective appointed enemies as the Skeleton Mages cast their magic to attack the remaining two.

Skeleton Archers also shot arrows as support.

However, Seoyoon ran like the wind toward the two Bollards.

Weed hastily warned.

“Danger! Bollards are much stronger than the TairBadgers. Even with the undead that’s reckless …….”

At that time, Seoyoon gathered dark bloody aura into her sword and swung it toward the two Bollards.

Kaeaeaeng!
Kaeng!

The Bollards made never before heard sounds as they rolled on the ground, their bodies trembling.

When Weed fought with the undead, they never displayed this sort of behavior.

After a single hit from Seoyoon’s sword, they fell into a state of confusion.

‘How much damage would be needed for the Bollards to fall into this stunned state? Even if you hit a vital point to stun them, you would need to reduce at least 20% or more of their health at once.’

While Weed was astonished, Seoyoon continued casting her attack skills and swinging her sword.

Different from Weed’s method of fighting that kept in mind defense while using a combination of several attacks.

It did not identify the opponent’s behavior or the weak areas of the defense.

Characteristically of a Berserker, she collected immense power and burst into intensely damaging continuous attacks.

A rapid, extreme and unmatched assault.

Death of a Bollard!

The other one was stuck in confusion whilst trying to recover from the large injury inflicted by Seoyoon’s unrelenting attack.

Furthermore, the eyes of Berserkers have a very intense atrophy effect on monsters.

Seoyoon’s unstoppable attack literally slaughtered the Bollards.
Once she started moving, she never stopped.
Tori in the meantime dealt with a Bollard by wildly launching his skills.

For Berserkers that jump into battle, there is nothing known as ‘moderation’. Even monsters at far lower levels than them were overwhelmingly beaten and hunted to the best of their abilities.

A quickly recovering job that fought endlessly without sparing any health or mana, the battles of Berserkers were indeed overwhelming!

Weed hunted quickly in hopes of conserving his undead army. In addition, he had to look and see if there were any surviving Bollards. It was likely to become dangerous with even one of them. Therefore, he slightly acknowledged Seoyoon’s attack.

Seoyoon crossed the battlefield of joy and sorrow toward Weed.

‘Now that Seoyoon and Tori have joined, we can overcome the Chaos Warriors for the quest and might even be able to find the map of unexpected sculpting.’

After hunting 3 Bollards, Seoyoon inadvertently looked at Weed. It was the same instinctive behavior you would see from a child that wanted to receive praise from his mother.

Weed’s jaw fell and his mouth spread into a forced smile.

“Well done Seoyoon. There is some hoedeopbap left from earlier, do you want to eat a little more? Oh, I will drop off the rabbit after I make it clean with a bath.”

Chapter 2: The Emergence of Uninvited Guests

With Seoyoon and Tori in the lineup, Bollards were no longer a threat. Whenever a battle was fought, the undead army was significantly reduced, but with the help of the two, Bollards became so easy to hunt.

Weed’s power more than doubled in level.

‘No tough guys eh? Even though the scale of the undead grows, the power available to concentrate on battle is limited.’

Weed ordered the last bastion of Ghouls, Zombies and Skeleton Knights to simply follow because they were not of much practical help.

‘Rather I would have preferred Skeleton Mages for an increase in ranged attacks.’

With Seoyoon and Tori capable of overpowering the monsters, it was better to increase the number of support troops.

Every time they fought with Bollards, the number of undead consumed shrunk and the army led by Weed also increased in quality.

‘The incoming experience and loot, not bad.’

Since half the Bollards were handled by Seoyoon, the experience decreased but the hunting sped up quite a bit.

The number of items that sprang up increased as well, garnering no apparent complaints from Weed.

“Hold!”

There was even an independently operated Ghoul unit carrying japtem as they followed along.

Hunting back and forth near the area of the Sculptor’s Legacy was extremely fast.

In Las Phalanx, Weed raised his level 10 times.

If he continued hunting with Seoyoon, he could quickly and reliably raise his level.

‘But skill proficiency won’t increase much …….’

You gain nothing if you lose, that is the law!

Weed wanted to continue staying in this place hunting Bollards and TairBadgers, but there was a need to move elsewhere.

‘Should we move towards the unfreezing river? Or look towards the 7 peaks for the quest about the annihilated Armenian Pirates?’

He challenged the Chaos Warriors four times with undead in order to hunt them, only to lose and run away beaten.

Now with the addition of Seoyoon and Tori who would be of great help in battle, the situation changed somewhat.

Due to the participation of the two, he had to change the configuration of the undead army to find optimal efficiency.

The Chaos Warriors fought in such a way that even when they were trapped in the gaps between the undead, they couldn’t be stopped.

“Chaos Warriors will be a fairly difficult fight ……. hunt for a day or two more. Also have to teach Seoyoon and Tori how to fight the Chaos Warriors.”

Weed did not know in the slightest how worried Seoyoon was for him, she hoped Weed would not die.

Hunting the Chaos Warriors was entirely due to Weed’s quest. She did not want him to suffer from feelings of guilt or sorrow if she was killed en route.

“For now I want to go back to the place where I landed, over there are more monsters than here. Hunting nearby, come okay?”

Seoyoon nodded her head to give consent to the proposal.

Weed was hunting with Seoyoon for a while, when he came back to the unfreezing river, far away there was the Haven Kingdom’s fleet.

“Even here that many boats come?”

From the center of the continent to Las Phalanx is an extremely great distance.
However, the ships were wearing the flag of the Haven Kingdom.
Dozens of accomplished ship admirals were approaching.

Weed was busy hunting lately so he did not know about the surrounding circumstances.
To command a large number of undead, he needed to turn off the staggering amounts of whispers and guild chat.

Weed still felt there was a problem.
“Well I can’t just wait around here.”

The approaching fleet of the Haven Kingdom would take notice if he brought the undead army to hunt. Ordinary users recognized undead armies as monsters.

“Let’s go back to hunting at the place we originally were at.”

In his hideout cave he pulled out japtem and items from severe cracks in the land and went toward the area near the Sculptor’s Legacy.

***

“Ooooo, were finally here at Las Phalanx. At the end of the north, one of the continent’s 10 restricted zones!”

Many users in the Haven Kingdom’s fleet marveled at the sight of Las Phalanx.

In Versailles Continent, there is publicly disclosed information on several combinations of monster types, arduous terrain, distance etc.

Specifically the 10 restricted zones. Countless powerful people challenged the restricted zones!

Just getting there filled them with pride.

In Las Phalanx not a single tree existed and black volcanoes gave off acrid smoke, occasionally, crimson lava flowed as well.

The brutality of the roaming monsters was to the extent that it was not an exaggeration to say it was beyond dangerous.

Regular users with low fighting spirit, just viewing the high level monsters from a distance and they were already atrophied with their strength and agility stats declining.

In particular, the state of fear caused skill mastery to drop by a few steps.

“Undead army!”
“Up front, there’s a tremendous concentration of undead.”

Even before landing scouts were tracking the movements of the undead.

“Undead army led by Weed? Meeting the army faster than expected. Zombies, Ghouls, Death Knights, Witches, Skeletons, until now first time seeing such a variety.”

“Indeed Weed. Fully adapted to Las Phalanx and hunting, that’s all the evidence we need.”

“Even as a necromancer … how can he control that many monsters? Does he have the ability to command each monster army individually?”
“Hopefully it’s true for us. If it’s Weed it’s possible!”

Users in the Haven Kingdom’s fleet were glad to have discovered the undead.

The senior officials of Hermes guild kept their feelings of resentment for Weed restrained to the extent that others did not notice those inhuman abnormalities.

They chased after Weed to as far as Las Phalanx despite not knowing his whereabouts. Some users considered the center of the continent where countless power struggles occurred more important.

Nevertheless, many users had to follow guild policy.
They were Weed’s enemies, regardless of personal feelings.
Still, the idea of possibly hunting Weed in Las Phalanx filled them with pure delight.

“Nice.”

After arriving at Las Phalanx, Drinfeld felt a little bit of the burden lessened.

“Once we have landed, we must take control of the region.”

He was greedy for dungeons, items and levels. In addition, he had members of the fleet to hunt with.
Even if the pursuit of Weed was delayed a bit, it seemed fine to him.

“There you are ghost ship.”

Waiting for Weed, the ghost ship was docked at the unfrozen river.

“Without going through here again, Weed will not be able to go back to the center of the continent.”

Drinfeld ordered 3 large vessels to lure out the ghost ship and take it over.

The lieutenant asked.

“There are a lot of high level users aboard North Star, do you want me to mobilize?”
“Better off not, don’t know what it could do.”
“I firmly believe mobilizing North Star will make taking over the ghost ship a piece of cake.”

High level users gathered en masse at the main axis of the ship North Star of the Haven Kingdom’s fleet.

“But they also want to land in Las Phalanx. Wouldn’t they complain?”
“First have North Star occupy the ghost ship. Afterwards have the NPC soldiers and knights secure it.”
“I shall take action then.”

Kkwagwang!
Kwaahahahang!

Shortly after, a bombardment between the Haven Kingdom’s ship and the ghost ship was initiated.

The ghost ship’s aiming ability was poor and soon received a blow to the bow of the ship, followed by an unrelenting assault.

It took longer than expected but the enemies finally stepped down. Users from North Star and navy knights then proceeded to cross over to the ghost ship and without much difficulty took control.

“Those Haven Kingdom guys are landing.”

Pirate King Griffith’s subordinates secretly followed Drinfeld.

The scouts’ report came to him.

“Landing in Las Phalanx … quite brave.”

Having been left behind, Griffith had no idea about the situation up front. On the other hand, the undead could not discover them either.

Thanks to the Mad Sharks of Becky Ninh, they were able to move quietly while avoiding the undead up to this point.

“Weed has already landed in Las Gigolo right?”
“Seems like it.”

Vice-Captain Corum replied.

Prior to this, the Griffith Pirates 2nd in command, the Vice-Captain had reached a compromise with a lieutenant of the Haven Kingdom’s fleet.

“What should we do now?”
“Currently, we can only wait I’m afraid.”
“Come to think of it …….”

Griffith was given a commission for Weed’s death.

Originally before an attack, pirates usually waited in rivers or seas.

But Griffith, different from any other pirate could not wait.

“Drinfeld has given us permission to land.”
“We have a hostile relationship with the Haven Kingdom’s fleet. Would they not attack?”

The kingdom’s navy fought with pirates whenever they met at sea.

As navy, catching pirates was the best method to quickly earn experience and achievements. Likewise, pirates also stormed Navy warships to acquire treasures and rewards.

In the first place, shortening the distance between navy and pirates was extremely difficult.

The number of users in the Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet was predominant over the number of pirates, albeit the lower overall quality.

Without even knowing the result of a battle on the seas, it would be difficult to fight and win against the users and soldiers of the Haven Kingdom on land.

“It’s ok for now. Bad Ray made the commission, if we use his name, they won’t attack us. Still, just to make sure, I’ll contact Hermes Guild on the side.”

After getting in touch with Hermes guild and obtaining approval, the Griffith Pirates were ready to land on Las Phalanx.

“We came all the way here, should at least hunt some strong monsters.”

***

Weed clicked his tongue at the Haven Kingdom.

The single ghost ship that brought him was incomparable to the enormous expedition.

“Is that the flag of Hermes Guild’s 2nd fleet?”

He was surprised not only at the power of Hermes Guild but also that they could afford to send their armed forces all the way to Las Phalanx.

It was practically the first time he encountered the notorious and acclaimed Hermes Guild.

“Why of all things have they all come here now? I just want to live and eat in peace. Things are going to get worst now.”

Returning to the area around the Sculptor’s Legacy, he felt quite a bit nervous.

He did not know the fact that Haven Kingdom’s fleet was hostile to him. However, hoping for good results in front of that many users was difficult.

“What in the world, are they even going to steal beans overflowing on the side to eat?”

He arrived at the place with the crack in the land, where Seoyoon was staring at a distant volcano. His heart flickered for a moment at the beauty that seemed to be waiting for him.

Weed’s favorite, her hair blowing in the wind, like a scene out of a movie.

“Ahem.”

As a result, Weed stood beside her.

In accordance with his undead state, the posture he held gave off a horrifying atmosphere.
Weed stood there quietly as wind brushed by his head.

As a skeleton, his hair was nonexistent!

To outsiders, this would look like an evil undead threatening the beauty of the century, Seoyoon.

Given the spontaneously emerging atmosphere, the scene shifted to look like Seoyoon, duty bound, preparing to eradicate Weed who had modified his appearance into a skeleton.

“Keuheum, time to hunt again.”

Weed took the undead army to attract Bollards.

The monsters gave savory experience as well as a lot of leather.

With the addition of Seoyoon, he could use curses and corpse explosion without discretion.

The hunting speed was very rapid due to Seoyoon’s Berserker characteristic that aggroed most of the monsters toward her first.

Using the total offensive of the undead, Necromancer’s curse and corpse explosion along with Seoyoon’s support changed the hunting pattern.

‘Necromancers usually don’t get along with other jobs, now with a Berserker, sounds about right.’

The Berserker job was also quite rare.

Just acquiring the job was difficult. After that, you have to hunt alone for long periods of time in dangerous areas to increase stats and skills and properly grow the job.

It was not a job available to those that wanted colleagues.

“In any case, we are going to continue hunting so irrelevant.”

After hunting in the area with the severe cracks in the land for so long, all composure was abandoned.

The biggest advantage of undead armies was the frantic hunting speed and loot.

“In order to hunt Chaos Warriors, we have to leave here and go to another place.”

Around the volcano crater, there was a dungeon.

At the large crack in the land, beneath the cliff terrain, lava flow occurred. In the middle of all that lay the dungeon.

He was about to descend down the created ladder to enter the dungeon when.

“No, no dungeons.”

As the first discoverer, he would reap the week long benefits of 2x experience and item drop rate.

But dungeon monsters are usually at higher levels than the roaming field monsters of the area by one, sometimes even two steps.

In Las Phalanx, given that the land counterpart monsters were already overwhelming, you couldn’t recklessly enter dungeon.

“If we entered the dungeon as intended and it was a narrow cave or labyrinth, I wouldn’t be able to drag the undead army and have to collapse it.”

Either way, there was not much choice for Weed.

“Short break. I need to make rice for my sister … regroup in a little while.”

It was time to eat dinner so along with Seoyoon, they logged out to rest for an hour.
Dinner was gangdoenjang, bibimbap and lukewarm bean sprout soup.

After sautéing the rice in the pot and eating dinner with his sister, Lee Hyun turned on the computer.

“Since there’s a list of new items, determining the price won’t be easy.”

The newer items were the ones obtained while hunting in Las Phalanx.

When you sew leather directly and create clothes, the price is set in accordance with the manufactured goods. The market price for jewelry also rose depending on color saturation and brilliance and yet many undiscovered items were revealed to be useless while there were numerous kinds of complex japtem.

“If there’s an opportunity, I must sell or trade the goods.”

Japtem was never sold, but you had to find a buyer for the items. He never sold to stores because dealing with them wouldn’t allow him to get a reasonable price.

“When I dispose of japtem through Mapan, definitely have to find out the item prices.”

In addition, he profited from the items he made while working as a tailor or blacksmith.

To receive a good price, you need to sell to the people who need, find the overall job orientation in Royal Road and understand the inner workings and situation of the current kingdom or village.

Originally a trader, Lee Hyun used surefire ways to collect money.

Items obtained from Las Phalanx were clearly organized and written into the household account book followed by information gathering.

Item prices were not fixed so depending on the situation, you had to be careful.

In order to earn lots of money, when hunting monsters, you had to concern yourself with the amount of experience as well as what types of loot to obtain and how many of each.

To gather information about items, he took a few moments to access the Royal Road forums.

Title: What kind of adventure is Weed having in Las Phalanx?

With one click, Lee Hyun’s story came out.

“How do they know I’m in Las Phalanx?”

Weed was always on an immense quest, so wondering what kind of adventure he was on was common.

Transforming into a Lich was beyond imagination, wouldn’t you think?

Many comments followed the post.

– I wish it would quickly appear in KMC Media’s the broadcast schedule.

– It’s the only reliable broadcast.

– Guys, will it be possible to hunt in northern Las Phalanx later?

– Above, just give it up. Historically, the north wasn’t originally cold. The temporary events simply masked Las Phalanx. Death is death.

– Is there any information on Las Phalanx circulating from Hermes Guild? Since Drinfeld and the fleet have already arrived there.

– News, Griffith Pirates have also arrived there. I heard from friends over there. During the voyage, the destination was kept in absolute secrecy and only when they started to land in Las Phalanx did they tell the other users.

– Incredible. Weed along with one of the 10 restricted zones and a large scale user landing, unbelievable.

On the Royal Road forums, the main story became about Las Phalanx.

Many users have fantasies about the adventures.

Setting foot on new lands with good hunting grounds scattered in abundance, the corresponding loot and experience as well as overcoming risk and adversity to acquire quest rewards!

Whenever legends and mysteries of Versailles Continent were to be revealed, users grew so enthusiastic that they rapidly posted on the forums to the point where you couldn’t read any articles.

For now, one of the 10 restricted zones, Las Phalanx, Weed, the Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the Griffith Pirates stood at the heart of those topics.

Title: The attitude of true adventurers is to challenge the mysteries.

Sir adventurers. In tombs and dungeons, let us not look only for artifacts and money, while wandering the wide lands, let us explore.

– Easy for you to say, you took a few minutes to write a post, go try adventuring yourself. All your life I bet you’ve never seen a region like that before. You would just encounter a useless death.

– You would be fortunate if you got lost on your way there.

– Is anyone beginning an adventure at their hometown?

Title: All this time we have been looking for another one of the 10 restricted zones.
I browsed through and processed a lot of data but I couldn’t match anything.

It was disclosed few days ago, but we couldn’t even figure out how he entered or how he was able to survive for even a few days.

But Weed was someone who did not know fear or abandonment.
I predict that someday, he’s going to leave footsteps in all 10 restricted zones.

– Until the day Weed goes to all the 10 restricted zones!

– Within a year, think he will go to three of the places?

Title: Guess the content of Weed’s quest.
He suddenly took a boat to Las Phalanx, for a quest perhaps? Whether or not he was a Lich I do not know, but given that the adventure is on Las Phalanx, you can imagine the difficulty of the quest and how awesome it will be. Las Phalanx, perhaps it’s something to think about. What do you expect Weed to get?

– I can only make a solemn guess.

– We have a dog at home.

– That was my younger cousin. Just 8 months old. I’m in charge of him during the birthday party.

– Success or failure, that will be an issue. And we inevitably will stay up all night to savor the broadcast!

Many stories about Weed’s adventures were written. However, stories about Haven Kingdom’s fleet and pirates emerged.

Title: Why did the user plundering pirates go to Las Phalanx?

Title: Haven Kingdom’s fleet arrived at Las Phalanx around the same time as Weed, what reason?

Title: Fact, Haven Kingdom’s fleet has been tracking Weed since the island of Yipiah!

Title: Haven Kingdom’s fleet and pirates, conspiracy? They are hostile why don’t they fight?

Users analyzed the posts and tirelessly occupied the forums with their speculations.
Bad Ray and Drinfeld, along with the Hermes Guild did not expect it would grow up to this point.
That sinking the ghost ship at sea and possibly killing Weed would lead to such a big commotion.

However, it was in the land of new adventure called Las Phalanx, the issue of the Haven Kingdom’s fleet and pirates chasing after Weed brought suspicion to other users.

No secret is eternal, that is law.
Posts came up that gradually revealed the truth about the Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the pirates.

– A friend of mine belongs to the Haven Kingdom’s fleet. He told me why, they followed Weed to interfere with his quest and kill him.

– A lie, right?

– My older cousin belongs to the pirate crew. He said he also got a similar commission.

– Hermes Guild is going to publicly order the Killer-Blade Army to execute Weed?

– There is no doubt Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the pirates are aiming for him.

– Wow, I want to come along. Snatching Weed’s equipment and items will mean jackpot.

– Even though they want to, I don’t know if it’s possible to intercept the quest. If it’s collecting limited materials then yes, but if they can find from anywhere then no. Furthermore, I heard that only if fame and several other conditions align will the special quest be offered to them and allow them to intercept.

– Dirty Hermes Guild! Above people don’t die on me. Do you want to be their slaves for life?

– So Hermes Guild and the pirates are in Las Phalanx to hunt Weed?

– That’s right. They went with every intention of doing so.

– Completely bad guys.

– Those heinous acts will happen in what, a day or two?

Lee Hyun’s eyes convulsed with rage as he read the forum.

“Why me …….”

He wondered why of the many people in the world did they target him who was barely scraping by just to feed a mouth and live with the bare essentials.

Hermes Guild, the center of the continent’s most prestigious guild known for their atrocities, it was best to avoid them.

Initially, Weed made his character in Rosenheim Kingdom. In the center of the continent, due to site taxes, it was difficult to even obtain a hunting ground.

The tax even extended to wheels and so forth, tyranny of prestigious guilds!

Frankly, Lee Hyun’s nerves were spent.

Hermes Guild formed the greatest force on the Versailles Continent, holding enormous influence in the Haven Kingdom.

In hunting grounds, they killed those who were eyesores and acted indulgently under the signboard “Part of Hermes Guilds”.

Backed by influence and power, high-level users were accepted as guild members, growing the guild.

When Weed first saw Haven Kingdom’s fleet at Las Phalanx, even though it was greatly inconvenient, he was forced to concede the hunting grounds to avoid them.

“Did you really chase me all the way here just to try and kill me?”

If it’s limited to the degree of the commissioned, you can’t steal the quest, so the only thing left is to impede its success.

In accordance with the ridiculous reason of snatching a quest, they sailed to the distant Las Phalanx.

If the blade swung quickly covers with rust, discard it.

Guilds must make good use of their power and fear, maintain the system of competition and be able to suppress the provocation of other guilds.

They wanted to sacrifice Weed. Hermes Guild’s ulterior motive was easily predictable.

“If we could avoid fighting, that would be nice.”

Contrary to his words, his forehead was distorting, to Lee Hyun, there was no other option.

The opponent chased him all the way to Las Phalanx to fight him, because of that, he couldn’t just go saying goodbye and leaving like that.

“If so, then the fight’s unavoidable.”

Lee Hyun riffled through information on the Dark Gamers Union’s forum.

“Know thy enemy. Even if I get injured, I need an escape plan.”

Many Dark Gamers have been dying under the tyranny of the Hermes Guild.

As Lee Hyun read the materials, he was put into deep thought.

***

“Lower the base supplies.”
“Come on, move without ceasing. We must create the barrier by the end of the day.”

Users and soldiers of Haven Kingdom’s fleet busily moved.
Information about Las Phalanx was in a darkened state.
They knew nothing about the monster or terrain.

Generally, an adventurer party of individual wanders around. To that extent, monsters don’t react significantly.

However, monsters are sensitive to large-scale landings of humans and attack in droves. Under no circumstances could there not be a boundary.

“Construct a base on the hill near the landing area and explore Las Phalanx.

Drinfeld and the senior part of the fleet in order to maximize the contrast between relaxation and exploitation, tried to create a fortress for maintenance as soon as possible.

You need to ensure a comfortable night’s sleep to quickly restore morale and stamina.

When you put a barrier around the hill, even against monster attacks, just considering the materials used to build the barrier, it is much safer than simple awning tents.

It was for the Haven Kingdom’s fleet’s main force of users rather than the NPC sailors, soldiers, etc.

For the users belonging to the fleet, it was not easy coping with the tedious voyage exceeding 1 month.

As seaman, it was normal for most of them to own their own ship. But when on a boat ride for a long time, due to the decrease in morale, all sorts of things tend to break out.

There were quite a few possible headaches such as rebellion, riots, homesickness, etc.

Commanding the soldiers and Navy knights, Drinfled had to pay special attention to morale and fatigue.

“We’re short on wood Captain!”
“Captain, I can’t get wood.”

Trees could not grow in the barren, unmatched environment of Las Phalanx.

Leaving the distantly visible monsters, Drinfled replied.

“To create the barrier, dismantle a ship and obtain a number of stones to pile up.”
“Yes sir.”

Users and the crew squatted down to carry the rocks.

Due to the distant voyage, extreme fatigue accumulated, but even in that state, they did not have the time to relax in order to make camp.

Carrying the heavy stone blocks and busily establishing the wall decreased stamina.

“Scouts, make observations on the surroundings.”

Drinfeld sent out the scouts to thoroughly prepare.

Five scouts quickly went around the vicinity to determine the quantity of monsters and the extent of their range before returning back.

“Special danger signs are visible.”
“The monsters roaming around seem to be under control of an intelligent boss class monster.”

The news put Drinfeld in a good mood. If it was just a massive raid of monsters, to some extent it brought your mind to rest.

“How is the terrain?”
“The terrain is very bad. Because most of the area is steep rock, it seems it will be difficult to move during a raid.”

As the battle goes on, it gets more difficult to fight systematically in the rugged rocky area.

Furthermore, for the Haven Kingdom’s crew, they were more accustomed the sea rather than the land.

“When monsters move around to bypass, it seems like it will take a lot of time. And even with scouts constantly on watch, I’m curious … is this place really safe?”

Part of the scouts could not be sure.

Nearby one of the volcanoes gave off black smoke and the land was shaken a little. Through the cracks of the cleft earth, lava flowed.

“Well, since Weed arrived much earlier than us, there’s no way it can be safe.”
“You’re absolutely right.”

The crew was committed to creating the walls well into the night.

Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet’s crew are said to be at least 250 in level.
But on average, the majority of the users were in the late 200s to early 300s.
Users were only 46 people, the soldiers numbered 590 people.

With tents and the barrier, they created a strong shelter as a place to rest.
Needless to say, they did not forget to establish appropriate alternating lookouts.

In the meantime, Griffith Pirates made contact with the leaders of Hermes Guild to land.

– Absolutely not allowed. Haven Kingdom’s fleet is more than enough to hunt Weed.

Persistent Hermes Guild was unmatched.

When the fleet landed in Las Phalanx, they did not feel pleasant at the thought of the pirates exploiting the hunting grounds or unearthing relics in their area.

Griffith came up with a concession.

– I will prohibit pirates from conducting hostilities on all Hermes Guild ships.
– Not allowed.
– Willing to concede 3 treasures excavated from dungeons.
– Las Phalanx is obviously a unique area of our Hermes Guild.

Having first landed just a few hours ago, Hermes Guild shamelessly claimed the vested rights!

The prestigious guild of the center of the continent, however, the word shameless was horribly insufficient for the Hermes Guilds.

Unfortunately for Griffith’s side, he learned he could not enter into negotiations as desired and would continue to be dragged around.

Griffith sent a final ultimatum.

– To save face, Hermes guild may take as much as 30% of the treasure. We are pirates of the sea. We are not afraid of Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet. Think about our concessions, I look forward to your sincere response.

Leaders of Hermes Guild unfortunately had to give permission.

Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet landed in Las Phalanx. After landing, the defense of the ships became weakened. If something as extreme as a pirate attack happened, it would be a big problem.

After getting landing permission, late at night the pirates put their first step on Las Phalanx.

“Pirate King-nim, shall we set up base?”
“We don’t have the time. Today we are obliged to stay on the other side.”

Around the fortress built by the Haven Kingdom’s fleet, the Griffith Pirates enclosed their bodies with thin blankets.

Chapter 3: Night of the Undead

Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the pirates got together into battle formation and embarked on the occupation of Las Phalanx filled with momentum.

The headcount for the lesser undead that Weed summoned was considerably lacking.

However, even if you call together undead such as zombies, there is not much meaning to it.

Drinfeld, users and even the crew, the fight between them would be unavoidable, so the extent of the summons would need to be at a minimum Death Knight class.

“The friends I seek are …….”

There are several monsters powerful monsters on Las Phalanx.

Even monsters cannot be ignored.

If you raise a lot of intimacy and friendship, they might help.

For monsters with low intelligence and severe gluttony, making delicious cuisine for them can lead to good impressions.

Things like gifts might also be required, but looking at the mechanics of a friendship relationship after that, fighting together in a crisis becomes a given.

“Um, you over there …….”

Weed decided to talk to the Bollards.

Kyareureureu!

Immediately their fur stood on end and the monsters attacked!

While hunting over 1,000 animals, he collected leather, teeth, tails, etc. and made the meat into jerky.

Because of their indelible enemy relationship, the Bollards didn’t even bother to listen.

TairBadgers, the bat type monsters did not understand human speech, but they accomplished their activities in collective groups rather than alone.

“Involving the TairBadgers will be useful.”

Even if he used Shape Shifter Sculpture to change into a TairBadger, since he doesn’t know their language, it was useless.

“But I can make them my colleagues I suppose.”

Weed confidently said.

Hunting in Las Phalanx for a long time creates severe hostilities which means they will unconditionally approach with anger!

The hostilities of the Las Phalanx monsters toward Van Hawk and Tori are also extremely terrible.

Even if they discover him outside their fixed area, they will still fight.

“At any rate, it seems bringing a minimum of 30 will be no problem.”

Consider the consequences afterwards!

“When you have been hungry for a long time, you cannot tell the difference between eating frozen pork and roasted pork. “

Even if it’s unintentional help from the monsters, it will be enough as long as they fight the Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the pirates.

“Still, leaving them alone after they chased me, unfathomable …….”

While hunting or questing and you suddenly get besieged, it’s inevitable that you get killed.
Even so, the only method to lessen the disadvantage is to launch a preemptive strike.
At the very least, the opponent could not possibly expect Weed to ambush first.

“Got to pick a good date to assault them. Thanks to coming to Las Phalanx first, I can figure out all the things I need to take advantage of. Summon Angry Stone!”

Violent and impatient nature. However, if they are the commands of the master, Angry Stone completely obeys.

In Morata, many Elemental Shamans contract with Angry Stone to hunt.

Thanks to Angry Stone, the force that can be exerted on the earth increased a bit.

With the advent of Angry Stone, the rising ambient temperature could be distinctly felt.

“Master, it’s been a long time since we met.”
“Long time no see.”
“Keuhihi, here’s my favorite person.”

After being summoned to Las Phalanx, Angry Stone rejoiced like a child.
Angry Stone could report on the area’s most optimal locations.

Weed did not summon Angry Stone when he was hunting earlier because of the monsters’ resistance and mana efficiency.

Angry Stone might have furthered strengthened the highly flame resistant monster of Las Phalanx.

Sometimes, flame properties restore the monster’s vitality instead of damaging it, forcing Weed to abandon that role.

“Summon Earth Expert.”

Along with the shape and good impression of a well-mannered adult, Earth Expert was summoned.

Earth Expert also listens to words well and dedicated to the protection of Elemental Shamans, even throws its body out there.

With many efforts to make a contract, the force you can exert increases as well.
Around Morata, the most popular Elementals were Angry Stone and Earth Expert.

“Did you call, Master?”

Weed went so far as to call the Elementals!
From his mouth came a vile smile.

“You touched me first. Really, I did not want to fight, but it can’t be helped. It’s all you fault.”

Shifting all responsibility.

Committed to mobilizing all despicable methods available.
A guilty conscience, confusion, etc. did not even originally exist.

“Keuheuheuheu.”

Seeing Weed imagining something and smiling, Rover, Van Hawk and Tori silently nodded their heads.

As people who have suffered, they knew that look. When a crisis situation arises, more of human nature was vividly revealed.

‘You touched a difficult bastard.’
‘How can such a sinister human being exist …….’

“Must be the original nature. If humans did not come, we wouldn’t be bullied. ‘

‘Truly a mistake to have met this master.’

As expected from the Admiral of the 2nd fleet, Drinfeld had great ambitions.

“Hermes Guild is increasingly expanding its presence … and I will be the ruler of this spacious sea.”

After leveling to the top 1,200 in Royal Road, he had a perfect standard to comply to. For such reasons he followed the commands of the guild.

He tried to faithfully follow the command asking him to hunt Weed, but he got greedy.

“Arriving in Las Phalanx, it’s an opportunity.”

He had no intention of opposing Hermes Guild ruled by Bad Ray.

Those who knew even a bit of the real power of Hermes knew there was no freedom even in the sea.

However, while fulfilling the command to hunt Weed, slightly collecting private gain was fine.

“People are now watching me and my fleet. I think it’s an opportunity to enhance the overall reputation of Hermes Guild.”

Through the guild’s internal network, he was persuading a senior official.
People had tremendous interest in Las Phalanx.

Showing the adventure through the internet and broadcasting would make viewership soar.
The leaders of Hermes Guild underwent the necessary discussions.

As the Royal Guards of Bad Ray, the goal they aimed to seize was a grand guild, as instructed by the overall exterior guild management.
Guild Master Rafael was determined.

– Granted. Reveal the power of Hermes Guild.

Negotiations were made with stations.

Several stations were keen on relaying the exploration and hunting of Las Phalanx in real-time.

But KMC Media did not accept for they fully understood the situation would risk the exclusive coverage of Weed’s adventures.

“The name Drinfeld will spread across the land like Weed.”

Haven Kingdom’s fleet got up early the next day ready to explore.

“Temporarily leave 200 people at the fortress. 10 users and 190 soldiers guard the fortress and complement the defense.”

Drinfeld along with the users and crew began to explore.
Elite sailors revealed their maximum ability at sea.

On the other hand, their combat capability on land was somewhat impaired, but dedicated in their own way, the sailor troops grew.

The Griffith Pirates were the first to hunt.

“Block over there!”
“Arrows! Fire arrows! It’s best to use ranged attacks against this burning heat.”
“Wizard?”
“Pirates, where are the wizards!”

Bollards brutally killed the pirates.

The pirates had remarkable sailing skill, but they were much lower level compared to the sailors of the Haven Kingdom’s fleet. Hunting the level 400 Bollards naturally produced continuous casualties.

Kyahoooo!

With the roar of the Bollard, a myriad of pirates dropped their weapons and sank down!

Whether Griffith or the pirates, there was one principal lesson they knew, prevent countries from putting out bounties on pirates, because unless you’re lucky, it becomes difficult for pirates to deal with the general population.

From pubs, piers, casinos, alleys, etc. pirates could easily be recruited and grow even faster, however, compared to sailors, their established loyalty was low and they had weak minds. If you neglected the ship for even a little bit, they would take it away, flee and discard it after stealing money and then secede and leave the fleet.

Therefore, Pirate King Griffith rather than raise pirates handpicked several pirates that confidentially admired him as his generals and left them to their own management.

Numerically dominant along with their savage pirate nature, fought the monsters.

Under the general pirates’ leadership and command ability, the subordinate pirates were required to quickly sacrifice themselves.

It was a similar way to dropping a lion cub off a cliff and raising the survivors.

“The level of monsters is high.”

At this spectacle, the countenance of Drinfeld and users of the fleet paled a bit.

“However, this degree of resistance was already expected when forming the plan.”

From the navy knight users were leisurely words.

“Of course. The difference between us and those rabbles, it would not be right to compare ourselves with the pirates.”

In addition to Drinfeld and Haven Kingdom’s fleet were several other high level users, making them decidedly different from the pirates.

They also decided to hunt down the Bollards.

“Commence attack!”

Within the fleet, only three wizards and twelve archers used long distance attacks.
Under attack from the pouncing Bollards, Drinfeld and the navy knights fought in a manner of ambushing them.

In the midst of the battle 2 sailors died, but compared to the pirates they were only slightly damaged.
For Drinfeld though the damage was very expensive because in order to raise 1 sailor you needed a lot of time and effort.

“As we battle again and again, we will become accustomed to it. Try to minimize damage. Forward!”

Drinfeld continued hunting with his subordinates.
In the end, you cannot come to Las Phalanx without taking a bit of damage.
Hunting Bollards helps reinforce the acquisition of loot and experience.
Every sailor was placed in the middle of users or navy knights to avoid being ambushed by Bollards.

“There’s a certain degree of merit from adapting to the Bollards.”

The lineup of several high level users from Haven Kingdom’s fleet allowed for the safe hunting of Bollards. This let the weary sailors easily train and raise their levels on the Bollards.

The faces of Drinfeld and the other users lightened up.

’10 restricted zones seems somewhat exaggerated. Come to think of it, until us no one explored them. Hunting in Las Phalanx has merit.’

‘When this battle is broadcasted, my popularity will further increase.’

Quietly they hoped for greater difficulties.

Piercing through Bollards, they entered a shady place when they were suddenly attacked by TairBadgers.

The surprise attack was somewhat too big for the sailors to handle in the battlefield.

Levels in the mid to late 300s, unless the TairBadgers were suddenly alone, they would be unable to withstand the attacks and die.

Although surrounded by 5-6 TairBadgers, it was possible to hunt without dying because including Drinfeld, they numbered 28 people. The pirates on the other hand were only 15 people.

The TairBadgers were exceedingly fast and flew around brilliantly making hunting extremely difficult.

In the sea they were well trained and powerful, but without it the sailors could only be grabbed and eaten in vain.

“Sailors withdraw to the back. Users take care of your own lives!”

Drinfeld restrained himself and gave the command, Griffith gave a similar command.

While preserving the safety of the subordinates, they decided to proceed slowly with the adventure.

Landing in Las Phalanx!

The real time relay coming from each station reported significantly higher viewership.

On the stations’ viewer forums and Royal Road internet forums, a lot of posts came up.

– As expected of the 10 restricted zones. Monster levels are amazing. Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet’s Drinfeld holds a key position in Hermes Guild. Truly a fleet of Hermes Guild. They are slow but are carefully advancing. I expect they will uncover all of Las Phalanx.

– Bravely fighting the Bollards in the name of the navy knights. Hermes Guild has truly outstanding courage and strength.

– To explore one of the 10 restricted zones, Hermes Guild’s power is overwhelming. Makes me want to follow their courage and confidence.

– Look at this, Alba only moderately acts.

– I’m really sick and tired of Hermes’ Alba. You think you can dominate the viewer forums?

– It’s their first time in Las Phalanx, they’re just following Weed.

– Bollards and TairBadgers are really frightening. They all rapidly died.

– Weed’s alone in dangerous Las Phalanx while they act as a group pursuing him and indulge in extreme self-praise.

The thrill of exploring the 10 restricted zones caused an overflow of higher viewership, but public opinion on the internet was not on the side of Drinfeld and Hermes Guild.

However, it was a fact that many viewers felt envious toward Hermes Guild’s exploration!

Drinfeld drafted a detailed plan.

Proud of their loot from hunting in the surrounding areas, the first day lightly ended.

Due to the distant voyage, the sailors’ stamina and fatigue risked a degree of damage occurring.

Easily arriving at Las Phalanx, at that time against the herd they took slight damage. They definitely had to demonstrate their prowess.

On the second day explore dungeons in earnest.
Dungeons possessing higher difficulty levels will not be so easy.

A lot of damage may occur, but when you safely finish the dungeon exploration, the compensation and broadcast effects will be amazing.

Drinfeld had the desire to increase his prestige by conquering the dangerous dungeons of Las Phalanx.

After conquering the dungeons, earnestly expand the territory in Las Phalanx. Explore the wider area and chase Weed in earnest.

In front of the watching audience, flaunt overwhelming force and kill Weed!

Send two or three navy knights to measure skill. If he was capable of dealing with him, he had a one on one match in mind.

‘Of course before that, need to get a lot of rest.’

By killing Weed, Drinfeld’s fame would pierce the heavens.

But he was greatly unaware of Weed’s confrontation and perfectly established plan using Las Phalanx.

The second day.

Through the sailors’ labor, the fortress on the hill became strong enough to not be immediately destroyed when ogres come knocking.

Nearby the pirates’ lair was built.

While hunting monsters, both parties suffered damage from 30 to 70 people. Users did not die, but the death of sailors or pirates was significantly expensive.

“Can be recovered when we return to Versailles Continent. Do not mind the damage to the sailors.”
“We will be able to enlist several people as pirates.”

For navy and pirates, fame was important.

When fame is high, lots of skilled sailors or pirates will volunteer.

They can be hired for next to nothing so in Las Phalanx, take some damage and concentrate on the adventure.

And so the dungeon exploration started!

“Have to conserve the sailors so we need to do something right now to demonstrate our prowess.”

Drinfeld picked the entrance to a big dungeon.

“Would be nice if it’s a modest dungeon. A bit regretful we didn’t bring our excavation team on the adventure.”

If the chosen place in Las Phalanx was too weak, the broadcast performance wouldn’t be good.

Although unconcerned about investigating the dungeon, only sailors and a few wizards were sent to enter the rough area.

You have become the first discoverer of Volcanic Heart Dungeon.

Benefits: 1,300 fame increase. For a week, experience and item drop rate are doubled.

The first monsters hunted have the highest possibility of dropping the best items.

“Oh, as expected!”
“We’re the first discoverers.”

Drinfeld and the users were quite pleased.

As the first, it created a fluttering chest.

“2x experience 2x items!”
“Admiral, I think we will be tempted to hunt here for a few more days.”

Already smiling like a fully bloomed flower.

If not for the outgoing broadcast, Drinfeld would have cheerfully and widely laughed at the good luck of discovering a dungeon.

“There are many dungeons besides here. Have to concentrate on the battle.”
“Yes sir.”

As the Admiral under many eyes, he had to give the command in a dignified manner.

And battle.

Wooreureureung!
Wajikkeun!
Kwagwagwang!

Inside the dungeon lay traps and monsters.
Monsters in the late level 400s and even 500s came out.
It was a dungeon with high level monsters and many natural traps.
The ceiling collapsed to attack and the ground completely disappeared.

Because of the broadcast the dungeon had some degree of difficulty, but they wished to keep the damage to the sailors at a minimum.

Despite the risk, Drinfeld and the navy knights did what was best and came forward.

“Let’s go. Attack. Dodge. We are the strongest Hermes Guild!”

Battling the monsters, seven to eight sailors lost their lives, but coming out of it they tasted the truly exciting tension and thrill.

In this way they advanced and emerged at a place in the midst of a lava lake circling around them.

At the heart were five Fire Giants sleeping.

– They don’t seem to be awake.
– Shall we prepare the wizards?
– Large monsters and inhospitable terrain, I don’t think this battle will be easy …….

Unfortunately, jobs with possible ranged attacks like wizards or archers were not many people.

The sailors could shoot bows, but their weak damage was not capable of causing any fatal blows to the fire giants.

Drinfeld and the navy knights were unable to walk on lava so they couldn’t assault the giants.

– Should pass them quietly.

In a half body bath with half of their bodies immersed in the lava the Fire Giants slept.

Drinfeld, the navy knights, users and sailors stealthily walked on narrow roads below the rock walls.

Opposite to them around the lake was the entrance destined elsewhere.

Then one moment!
Tududuk.

Along with a subtle sound, the end of the road the sailors were walking on collapsed a bit.

A piece of stone fell into the lava and sank.

Drinfeld and the navy knights reflexively observed the Fire Giants, but they were fast asleep without even a tremor.

‘Whew, lucky.’
‘Looks good. We can cross over safely.’

But then an accident occurred.

Sweating and staggering due to the heat, while walking the sailors’ legs loosened up and slipped.

“Euaaaaah!”

The sailors loudly screamed as they fell into the lava.

‘They won’t stay asleep this time.’
‘Please just sleep.’

The Fire Giants were already awakening and discovering the humans stuck on the edge.

“Feeble humans who have come here, you have not received permission. Having awoken me, you must fight and prove that you are qualified to pass through here.”

The giant immersed in lava lifted its arm.

In the hand with a thickness of 2 meters and a length of 30 meters held a sword.

It was an unknown sword, but by not melting in the lava, you could only assume that it had amazing strength and heat resistance!

Weapon damage is generally proportional to the intensity of its weight. Without sharpness, a fairly large penalty will occur, but the Fire Giants’ broadswords were weapons beyond such dimensions.

“Death to intruders.”

The five Fire Giants brandished their broadswords.
When the broadsword hit, the rock walls crumbled and chunks crashed down from above.
That was not the only problem.

Lying in the lava lake, the ground shook whenever the Fire Giants made large movements.

Lava splattered as their sharp blades ascended, covering Drinfeld and his companions with undeserved misfortune and the narrow road the sailors were passing by on was destroyed by the Fire Giants’ attack.

“Kkeuahahak!”
“Help!”

From the Fire Giants’ strike, 15 sailors melted without resistance.

Dreadful damage!

Comparison with Bollards was impossible. Such was the grandeur of colossal boss monsters.

“Forward!”

The wizards were ordered to prepare magic in advance.

Several kinds of magic were focused upon the Fire Giants, but there was virtually no damage.

Rather it seemed to provoke their anger and they wielded their swords even more vigorously.

After a user reported that the Fire Giants remained unscathed, Drinfeld exclaimed.

“Run away!”
“Let’s go! We have to get out of here!”

Against the slashing Fire Giants, the users abandoned the fight and ran away toward the entrance.

Drinfeld had no desire to fight and lose a considerable part of the treasured fleet he raised within minutes.

“Run as fast as possible and escape from here.”

On the narrow road they got tangled together and crashed into the lava. In the midst of this the Fire Giants’ attacks continued to pile up damage in succession.

From the chaos, they barely exited the dungeon with a staggering amount of 76 people dead.

Without assembling the subordinates, in order to live everyone ran away alone in ultimate humiliation!

A total of 7 users died.

In the place they died even locating the corpses was difficult so it was impossible to reclaim lost items.

“Keueuk.”

Drinfeld’s fists trembled.

But even though it irritated him, he would not dare enter the dungeon again to fight.

In the sea, unless the ship breaks, the sailors do not die so easily.

However, in the dungeon the sailors lost brutally and no longer wanted to fight.

– We need to think about the broadcast. A lot of people are watching.

From his lieutenant and other users came whispers.

Barely conscious of the broadcast, Drinfeld straightened out his expression and said.

“Las Phalanx dungeons have outrageous difficulty. Like us, nobody will be able to break them yet. Today’s exploration was difficult so for now we’re going to withdraw and relax.”

Running out of motivation to explore another hard dungeon, they returned to the fortress. The appearance of the pirates also showed they took great damage while exploring the dungeon.

Both groups took comfort in the knowledge that the other reported failure as well.

***

For two days Weed sat down and created sculptures while waiting.
In the meantime, Seoyoon did not get bored.
Weed made sculptures of things he saw like Las Phalanx monsters or the ghost ship.
Whenever the sculpture was a cute and pretty yeti or animal, her palm extended out.

“…….”

Meaning request!

Weed with a trembling hand passed over the sculptures.

It was a pity and he didn’t want to, but she sat down close to his side waiting until the moment the sculpture was completed, how could he refuse when asked?

Sculptures always make the best gifts for women!
Replacing words, every created piece of work took away sorrow from the job.

‘Damn job’s decent, but I still have minor regrets left behind.’

Weed purposely breathed a big sigh.

“Sculptor’s words, it’s a work of art sincerely made from the soul. Every one of my works has my heart imbued in them so I hope you will treasure it.”

Of course in his mind there was no such thing as freebies.

“And we’re quite intimate with each other are we not?”

Usually, Weed would not dare say so shamelessly.
Seoyoon clearly looked at his face.

“We listen to lessons together, we eat rice together … I gave you chickens and dogs and soon I’ll give you a rabbit.”

Lots of logic of the intimacy between them!
Seoyoon nodded as a means of affirmation.

From hearing this she became embarrassed thinking how intimate they were.
Her only friend, staying with him was comfortable and pleasant. That person was Weed.

“But you know something important, more than family members or close friends, I’m not careless with money transactions.”
“……?”

“What I mean is the sculptures can sell for more than you know so if you repeatedly ask, you can earn a lot of money.”

Feeling sorry, without wasting any time she hastily gave back the sculpture when he spoke.

“One of these precious sculptures is worth more than 100 gold and even though it’s regretful, I’m giving it to you. Still it seems strange that only I give something. We’re both adults here. If we just cleanly exchange money it will equal trouble later, well you’ll see. Rather than selling to someone else, I hope you will give it to someone you are intimate with. Instead, I’ll take care of the japtem later.”

Being intimate, it’s supposed to be given for free, but instead acquire japtem with some vague yet persuasive logic!

Even though items piled up from the incredible hunting in Las Phalanx, Weed could not forsake his greed for japtem.

So Seoyoon would give him her japtem, Weed diligently made sculptures.

‘Sculptures help reinforce the ability to earn money, not bad. Really, the lengths an artist goes to!’

Seoyoon had become very friendly with Rover, Geuminyi and Golden Bird.

Rather than Weed, Rover lied down on his belly next to Seoyoon with a relaxed expression. Geuminyi was the same and even Golden Bird blatantly refused to leave Seoyoon’s shoulder.

Against Necromancer Weed, it revealed severe aversion and did not even approach the subject, whereas it held its head with adoration as it touched Seoyoon’s head and chin.

Weed felt the need to improve familiarity with Golden Bird by a bit.

“But I can’t give up the Necromancer job.”

To endure in Las Phalanx, undead were essential, that was the thought.

Honestly, as a sculptor, dealing with several high level monsters appearing was difficult.

Through massacres, it was possible to collect a large amount of items, a wonderful job making it difficult to change.

“That’s for you. I myself will eat well and be wealthy.”

Similar to that excuse, Weed kept making excuses to keep the Necromancer job!

Eternally unable to get closer to Golden Bird, it seemed he crossed this river of no return.

While spending time carving sculptures, the summoned Elemental Angry Stone suddenly gave off a red light.

“The fire aura in Las Phalanx is getting stronger.”

Affected by nature, the power of Elementals grew stronger by association.

“Finally time for it to explode.”

Earth Expert anxious about something growled as he paced around.

“Master, land forces are in conflict.”

Essential to large volcanic eruptions, earthquakes!

When that happened, Weed stopped carving sculptures and left on the spot.

“Now it’s time to start.”

Defining a justification was not very important.

Often required to do bad things, he could have done something different that was even worse.
Indeed, Weed since the days of Continent of Magic had done a lot of tremendously bad things.
Busy making a living, he lived peacefully, but one’s nature cannot be abandoned, that is law!

“Undead get moving. Today will be your night.”

Drinfeld and the sailors settled in fortress on the hill all shook at once.

“This, what is this? Looks like the earth is shaking. An earthquake?”
“Don’t stumble, lower your torso and get balanced.”

The first earthquake was severe and sailors fell to the ground. Under the delusion that it would quickly pass by, they waited.

Drinfeld and the users were not greatly disordered.
Even though they fell, there was almost no loss of health.

Kwareureureureureu.

But from the second and third earthquakes, the vibrations gradually rose.

Rocks from the distant mountains simultaneously came rolling down. It was a difficult situation for those standing at this place.

With the collapse of the fence, clamor arose.

“The earthquakes are getting increasingly bigger!”
“Hold on to something!”
“The tents will collapse. Don’t stay inside!”

Fierce disturbance occurred.

Even the pirates’ lair built around the fortress became disoriented due to the aftermath of the earthquakes.

To find Weed, the pirates chose a cave made of several intertwining caves as their lair.

Because it looked void and easy to defend, they used the cave as their base.

But when the earthquake broke out, worried about it collapsing, they scrambled to run away.

Then the earth suddenly burst into a cry.
All of Las Phalanx was shaken by the earthquake.
And the volcanoes simultaneously began to erupt in lava.

The stations’ viewer forums and internet forums were all talking about the topic of the dungeon in Las Phalanx.

– The level of monsters in Las Phalanx is really high. When will we be able to go there and hunt I wonder.

– Won’t it take a long time until we can hunt in parties? Even in the future, I doubt people will deliberately visit since it’s too far away.

– Fire Giants, really great aren’t they? Just momentarily but terrible havoc.

– Drinfeld and the fleet getting crushed and then fleeing, keukeu.

– Even Hermes Guild had difficult problems.

– Las Phalanx of the 10 restricted zones, difficult to find at the end of the north, though considering it’s a restricted zone, I’m a bit disappointed.

Besides here, there were other places with similarly high level monsters.

– Above, did you imagine that they would die within minutes in the restricted zones?

– Will Hermes Guild even want to adventure tomorrow?

Viewership was high and while the live broadcast continued, users were chatting on the forums.
But then one moment, a post on the forums suddenly began to quickly climb up.

– Finally exploded, the volcanoes of Las Phalanx!

– Earthquakes cracked the crusts. Lava’s quickly rising from the land.

– Kkiya, got to watch this!

– Seems to be a scene you just can’t miss.

Chapter 4: Battle in the Volcanic Eruption

From the land vicious heat and steam came bursting out. Part of the crust sank underground. Due to the earthquake, Las Phalanx monsters scrambled for survival while almost simultaneously, many volcanoes in Las Phalanx launched lava into the air.

Erupting from the volcanoes lava rained down and seeped into the Cracked Lands until it overflowed. Las Phalanx, the grand sight of volcanic eruptions. The instinct of Las Phalanx was to be full of fearsome threats. Weed watching the spectacle from afar gave a satisfied laugh.

“Really a great scene!”

When he suffered through the volcanic eruptions, it was the worst. Hunting was interrupted and he had to flee far away. In the process he was deprived of his undead, truly an infernal calamity!

But when others take damage from volcanoes and earthquakes, there was no wonderful sight better than this. It was like a funny story of a cousin’s mountain land’s prices dropping.

“Never forget this for a lifetime!”

In the sky, fragments of the volcanic eruption fell everywhere like meteorites. Lava stained rocks spewing smoke in the clear sky hit the ground.

Syuuuuu – kwagwagwagwang!

A tremendous roar stirred as a blast to the ground made a huge hole. From the debris, the fortress created by Haven Kingdom’s fleet fell. The painstakingly made fences and walls shattered like pieces of paper and users and sailors died.

“This is dangerous.”
“Come on! Run to the edge of the river!”

The piled up fortress to prevent monster raids became an obstacle when escaping. In addition to toppling over onto the ground by earthquakes, chunks of lava could be seen falling from the sky.

“Euaaaaag!”

While yelling and screaming at their maximum, the sailors died gloriously!

Dozens of volcanoes in Las Phalanx began erupting at the same time with debris falling like rain. As though thousands of small meteorites were falling, it was a dangerous yet breathtaking sight.

Until now, Weed was in safe places every time volcanic eruptions happened, but they were not guarantees. Just dozens of meters away from him were falling rock debris.

“As long as one is here, there’s no safe place.”

Having experienced several volcanic eruptions, he confirmed safety zones for survival. Weed clung to the back of the mountain peak. The flying debris from the volcano eruption that hit the peaks did hardly any damage.

“At this rate we have to withdraw aboard the ships.”
“Let’s get out of here until the volcano calms down.”

The users and sailors fled to take refuge aboard the ships anchored at the Unfreezing River, but then they saw a massive undead legion. In the background of lava flowing in the Cracked Lands, undead legions consisting of Death Knights, Witches, Ghouls, Zombies, Skeleton Warriors, Skeleton Mages, Ghosts, etc. advanced.

“Undead!”
“All the undead legions are advancing. Let’s get ready!”

Zombie arms were swinging and shaking as they came running. Although they shattered from being hit by fireballs along the way, more undead followed suit.

“Keuheuheuheu.”
“Hikkeuk! Hikkeuk!”

Beyond the broken rock walls came the attack from the undead. Whenever lava debris fell, the bright light of flames rose. Every time it did, users and sailors could be seen fiercely fighting the undead.

Death Knights opened their mouths with predetermined words.

“Don’t flee, buried in this lava everyone will die.”
“The purpose of our lives is to catch your ankles. Don’t run away and fight us!”

With the words Weed gave the Death Knights, the enemy’s morale was destroyed.

“Volcanoes will explode even more greatly. The flooding lava will obliterate this place.”

Haven Kingdom’s fleet was at the top of the hill where the terrain made it easy to defend against the invasion of general monsters. On the contrary though, when the volcano exploded, a large number of debris covered it. Of course no matter how the lava flowed out up there, they would not be submerged, but suffering from a volcanic eruption for the first time maximized their anxiety and fear.

They had enough power to defeat the undead, yet they did not concentrate on the battle, preoccupied with escaping and avoiding lava debris. The Death Knights and undead obtained good results. Hit by the magic of the Skeleton Mages, the sailors were gradually led into the world of death.

“Keulkeulkeul!”

Weed laughed delightedly. Committing a bad deed and indulging in the misfortune.

“The feeling of eating spicy chicken next to a hungry person.”

Geuminyi, Rover, Golden Bird and Seoyoon watched this spectacle.

While commanding the undead, he constantly laughed with satisfaction. The misery of others was considered good luck, a wonderful delight. Because that was his original nature!

Rather if Weed suddenly became kind to strangers such as dividing money and items to give beginners, they would be even more shocked and worried. Still, it was hardly possible for Weed to have changed, but even though he was setting up more bad deeds, with their relationship it was understandable.

Because the volcanic eruptions became more intense, the sailors and pirates did not come out from their cover. With the undead, sailors and pirates entangled in combat, he couldn’t help but enjoy the sight. By lava debris, undead also died collapsing.

“Time to gently use new attacks.”

As the undead reduced, mana was restored. Weed held the Staff of the Fallen Saint toward the fortress and chanted curse magic.

“Though your bodies I will create undead. For eternity you shall never leave my hands. Declaration of the Necromancer!”

Weed casted 4 curse magics in a row. Physical abnormalities, itching, fear, stimulus!

Ever since the Las Phalanx volcanoes erupted, the morale of the sailors and pirates was shockingly low. Drinfeld and the Navy Knights did not make any preparations at all for volcanic eruptions. While dealing with the undead legion, the lowered morale dropped even more from the chanted magic.

“The first opponent that must be killed…….”

Weed targeted both the Priests and Wizards hidden in the fortress. The pirate users that could use divine power or magic numbered only 7. Ship classification, turning capability and cannon carrying capacity were critical offshore so Priests were not that necessary. Wizards too, but aboard when miserable battles frequently take place, it was not uncommon to turn the tide.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Weed while waving his hands gathered white mana and chanted the spell. The magic was concentrated on the Priests and Wizards treating the wounded. Where they gathered, Weed’s mana came into contact with a corpse and it violently exploded.

Necromancer’s Bone Throw was their basic attack magic, but the damage of Corpse Explosion was far more powerful than that of intermediate-grade Wizards.

“Keuaaag!”
“It’s a magic attack!”
“The Necromancer commanding the undead legion, where is he?”
“Weed! Weed’s hiding somewhere while commanding the undead legion.”

Unable to think clearly in the midst of the volcanic eruptions, only now did they finally notice Weed.

Corpse Explosion on the living, depending on the health the inflicted damage can be up to 10 times as much. With the chain of Corpse Explosions and the weak defense of Priests and Wizards, deaths en masse. More than 60 sailors suffered both large and small injuries.

Exploding a large amount of bodies at once, related magic mastery is increased.

Widely known name in the Navy Knights, Oleuban has been killed.
Notoriety increased by 13!

Wanted in the Kingdom of Norton, pirate Ballakal has been killed.
Fame increased by 5!
Notoriety reduced by 5!
You can receive a reward if you go to the Kingdom of Norton.

Innocent people killed.

Innocent people killed.

Innocent people killed.

Level has increased.

Notoriety will increase by 1980.

Due to the effects of the Staff of the Fallen Saint, the effects of black magic and Necromancer skills are strengthened by up to 70%.

For every single living human sacrifice, all stats will increase by 85 for one week.

Maximum mana increases by 270%.

Due to the Staff of the Fallen Saint, notoriety will further increase by 2010.

Have set a record as a Necromancer.

Most humans killed in the fastest time.

At Weed’s mouth, a wicked smile formed.
“Too bad, regrettable it’s only to this degree.”

Even bad things are ranked, that is law. Any bad thing Weed did was in another dimension. Whenever he killed sailors and pirates, he gained balanced fame and notoriety. Griffith Pirates, not to mention Drinfeld’s crew, about half had high notoriety or were in a killer state. Killing them gave more experience and fame than usual and the benefits of notoriety reduction could also be seen.

“Weed is up there!”

Weed was finally discovered. Users active in the seas were characterized by very good eyesight. They turned their attention to the exploding volcano and looked around to detect the scene of Weed chanting magic. The modified skeleton wearing robes and holding the Staff of the Fallen Saint! On his forehead, a vivid red colored name was revealed.

Weed

“Avoid the bodies, who knows when the next attack will come!”
“No, he is alone, just attack and kill him.”

In the midst of the non-unified opinions, Drinfeld made a decision. He heard that while avoiding the volcanic debris, Weed came out of hiding to attack.

“Organize the troops and catch Weed!”

He hid early on because the undead legions that dealt such great damage were not found until late. The image of sustaining major damage due to the sudden attack intensified the desire to catch Weed within his mind. But then in the northern direction, Death Knight Van Hawk rushed toward the fortress. And in the west Vampire Lord Tori came running.

The problem was the 50-60 monsters dashing right behind them! Bollards and TairBadgers had a degree of cuteness that could be felt at a charming level. Weed on the other hand ordered the undead legions to drag the enemies that repeatedly defeated them, the Chaos Warriors that continuously teleported short distances to chase them.

“This time it’s a legion of Las Phalanx monsters!”

The users in the fortress screamed in unison! Avoiding the lava debris, their spirit was nonexistent. Following the undead was the monster raid. Everything was going according to Weed.

He picked only the most detestable acts. Forced into this position of suffering, they went crazy.

“All hands prepare for battle!”

From the cover of the fortress they were forced to come out and fight. And after a while, the monsters of Las Phalanx overran them.

The elite users of Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet and the pirates in the worst situation brandished their weapons. Relying on their colleagues and the walls, they resisted the monsters. Despite the absence of Priests and Wizards, they stayed strong and endured with courage.

From the time they suffered through hard times during the adventure to the volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, viewership increased, and ever since Weed launched his attack, viewership won 1st, 2nd and 3rd simultaneously.

Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the pirates were attacked by monsters and a Necromancer!

– Never would have guessed Weed would encounter them alone. Still, without waiting, he attacked first as they abandoned their line.

– It’s not fair. As they suffered through a disaster, he launched a surprise attack. Isn’t that too cowardly?

– They’re stupid for not being prepared.

– Until they got familiar with Las Phalanx, they should have been careful. They’re not at the age where parents still change their diapers you know.

– Gathering in large numbers sounds fair?

– There seems to be something wrong with your expectations about Weed. Did you think of a Knight or Warrior appearing heroically? I’ll tell you the truth, during Continent of Magic, Weed was famous for thoroughly wiping out monster hunting grounds. Guilds that challenged them were indiscriminately trampled over and destroyed through his means and methods.

– That’s Weed.

– It’s useless to write about Weed’s notoriety. Quite a lot of users tremble at their bad experiences with Weed from the Continent of Magic. You think it’s a joke that people say Weed passing through is more frightening than a flying Dragon?

– Using monsters and the terrain is a classic technique of Weed. At the truly most contemptible tricks used without hesitation, the enemies cower so of course he’s stronger.

– Cruelty is fine by me!

Not only normal users, several guilds, nobility, feudal lords and so forth watched the broadcast.

“Keulkeulkeul.”

Weed watching the sailors and pirates fight laughed insidiously.

Although getting hit by lava debris and dying, they fought the undead and monsters to defend the place. He did not feel like applauding their sublimity, camaraderie or combat ability.

Weed was the villain here.

Noticeably, common sailors and pirates seemed unable to fight.

The aftermath of the curse gave evidence that morale severely dropped and combat ability was affected quite a bit. Drinfeld’s sailors and the Griffith Pirates’ power weakened a lot more than normal. In group combat, invisible morale was more important.

1,000, 2,000 people collapsed from morale alone, and for a couple hundred of them, the degree of power they could exert weakened further.

“Such evil deeds, from now on better just listen to what he says.”

Death Knight Van Hawk acted like a Dark Knight. Isolated between the enemies, he fought his way to victory against the attacking Navy Knights. Using powerful attack skills, he severed their lives before they could escape, and whenever Van Hawk’s health and mana fell, Weed used magic accordingly to restore them. As an undead under the command of a Necromancer, he was able to report his health and mana to him.

Vampire Lord Tori rendered himself invisible for the sake of unleashing surprise attacks. Grasping the nape of sailors, he plunged his sharp fangs in. In the midst of fighting monsters, they died from the suddenly appearing Tori. Filling his health and mana to maximum, the attack of Vampire Lords! Then appeared his subordinates, the True Blood Vampire Clan. Because they did not have to be worried about being completely destroyed by priests, they changed into Vampire Bats and attacked with their wings. However, hit by the lava debris in the air, they scattered like dust.

“The sacrifice of the True Blood Vampire Clan is huge.”

Most of the Vampires were still young. They grow through battles, but unavoidable sacrifice was bound to happen. Flying in the sky through the lava debris, they attacked from the air toward the ground. Breaking through the defense of the sailors and pirates, they plunged their fangs into their napes. For the Vampires, it was an opportunity to increase their immense power.

Weed was in a relatively calm place, but chaos surrounded the far too pitiful Drinfeld and Griffith.

Toward Weed, attacks occasionally made it through.

“Fire! Kill him!”

Blinded by fame or angry at the loss of their colleagues, users attacked with things such as arrows. Of course, such blind attacks might hit Weed so without any second thoughts, he hid himself and collected mana.

“Rover, as the one who created you, without knowing you have become truly handsome. Rover you want some snacks? Come closer and look.”

Rover sauntered over. Although dubious about Weed giving him snacks, he still moved his feet.

Weed violently grabbed Rover’s neck.

“Mana Drain!”

Eummeoeoeoeo!

Absorbing Rover’s mana. Thinking about it, the preferred method would be intimacy, but alternating between Geuminyi and Rover, he quickly absorbed mana.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Calamity spread throughout the fortress and the scattered corpses exploded. In the midst of the dense barrier formation, Corpse Explosion. Within the sailor’s eagerly made fortress, rocks scattered disorderly throughout and everywhere caught fire, making it difficult to properly find traces.

Mean, nasty, dirty attack method, but the effect was perfect!

“Now, let’s gently use another magic shall we?”

Weed chanted the magic to summon Death Knights. In the middle of enemy lines he summoned undead.

Drinfeld prevented the sailors’ formation from collapsing by commanding while striking and smashing the falling lava debris with his sword.

Leading the fleet as an admiral, he was proficient in naval warfare. Utilizing warships and weaving battle formations, bombarding and destroying enemies became a specialty. Thus, on the ground he had never seen such attacks that took advantage of monsters, magic and terrain.

There was also no way for him to imagine the reason why Weed would attack them first.

Even in the midst of getting his spirit crushed in various ways, he regained his cool and prepared a counterattack.

“You get out there and kill Weed!”
“Yes, sir.”

He sent a detached force made of 2 reliable users and the best 8 Navy Knights in the fleet.

In the midst of escaping the fortress, debris fell from the sky hitting the detached force, sacrificing 2 Navy Knights! They crossed over land flowing with lava and jumped over the chasms in the earth. Plowing through the flames, 3 more lost their lives. To avoid being discovered, they took a roundabout way over a far distance, taking greater damage.

“Now we’re almost there.”

The Navy Knights drew their swords and calmly climbed the mountain. Wizards and Necromancers were vulnerable to melee. They approached close to Weed intending to take his life.

But on the path they took, one person was blocking. Seoyoon, covered in armor up to her helmet was fully armed and waiting.

Seureureung!

Seoyoon without hesitation drew her sword.

Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, monster raids, Corpse Explosion, etc. decreased the power of Drinfeld’s fleet by more than half.

Number of survivors, 15 users, 219 sailors!

More than 30 sailors died from severe injuries, it was not an exaggeration to say they experienced a gruesome genocide. Over time, dead users can reconnect, but arduously trained sailors were inevitably lost forever.

Specifically at the end, Weed summoned the troublesome Poison Fog.

Priests and Shamans using detoxification magic were unable to detoxify the intermediate Necromancer magic, coupled with excessive injuries from battles and the inability to escape from the monsters led them to helplessly losing their lives.

Damage to the pirates was tremendous. The surviving pirate users barely exceeded 30, the pirate soldiers were only 152.

When landing in Las Phalanx, Drinfeld’s fleet numbered more than just a bunch, considering that point, this deserved the be called a swarm of death.

“Weed!”

Drinfeld and Griffith ended up like this because of Weed. Anger broke out at the gruesome loss of subordinates and their genocide was clearly revealed via the broadcast to the enormous viewership.

“Without fail, kill.”
“Betting my honor as a pirate, I’ll kill you.”

They resolutely decided to withdraw to the Unfreezing River for 4 days until the Priests and Wizards revived.

Weed in the meantime relaxed around the riverside and returned to sneakily hunting in order to raise the level of the undead legion.

Angry enough to cause shortness of breath, as if someone put hot red pepper powder in the water they were drinking.

“The goal now is to stab Weed to death.”

Drinfeld’s fleet and the Griffith Pirates decided on a definite goal.

In both guild chat and forums, many stories were mocking them so they were trying to restore their honor.

Weed was also familiar with vengeance.

“When taking revenge on genuine bad guys, you shouldn’t be concerned about them, that is law!”

Poor execution that gives bad guys space is a major mistake, be merciful to the opponent and you end up with a large hit to the back of the head.

“Time to quickly withdraw.”

At the time the dead reconnected, Weed shrewdly moved the hunting grounds from the Severely Cracked Lands to the Sculptor’s Legacy Grounds.

Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the Griffith Pirates did not recklessly follow. They did not know if some traps lay there, but more than anything, against the vibration of the large volcanoes of Las Phalanx, they broke down into tears.

“Beware of tricks!”
“Thoroughly investigate and prepare for volcanic eruptions.”

In contrast to their carelessness last time, their figures covered the boundary many times over. After a volcanic eruption occurred, they methodically widened the area they could chase to. Still, contrary to what was revealed on the surface, they had dispatched assassins with orders to take Weed’s life.

“Those intensely prideful guys aren’t going to retreat.”

Weed already expected retaliation to come in all sorts of manner. In Continent of Magic, fighting with prestigious guilds did not end with just one defeat. Weed was experienced, having suffered through many such battles.

“Master, humans are approaching.”

Vampire Lord, Ruler of Blood Tori managed to detect signs of nearby humans.

“How many people are there?”
“Ten. Coming from behind.”
“Strong?”
“Level of the guys we sucked blood from the other day.”

During a raid, in contrast your opponents shouldn’t be as powerful, that is law. It was far from difficult for the Undead Legions, Tori, Van Hawk and Seoyoon to defeat the assassins consisting of only 10 Navy Knights. As the assassins were lured into the trap and annihilated, Weed picked up the loot.

“Have to obtain Knight equipment and sell expensively to many people.”

Kingdom Knights’ gloves and a belt for holding daggers acquired!

In addition, two items, a venom dagger and steel armor came out. Steel armor’s level limit was 290, making it good for midlevel knights to wear.

“Here, this is your share.”

Weed gave the dagger and steel armor to Seoyoon.

The most expensive armor was his favorite equipment, but because the items picked up at this time had important options, so when selling, it would be difficult to receive a very high price.

‘Create accomplice beforehand.’

Weed did not forget the importance of cooperation. Bad things, with 2 you can do better.
Prior to the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th raids!

When the volcanoes erupted, Weed breakfast, lunch or dinner gathered undead and monsters and tormented Drinfeld and Griffith. Ambushing only when they were hunting monsters or scattered.

Hateful, unmatched attack. Dirty and lethal, but it wasn’t like Drinfeld and Griffith couldn’t handle the undead and monsters. However, with the Bollards and Chaos Warriors chasing, no matter how strong the defense, at least 10 people were killed. Once reduced, sailors and pirates were difficult to replace in Las Phalanx, so Weed concentrated his attacks on them.

Undead were toying with sailors while the Chaos Warriors fought Drinfeld and the other users. Drinfeld, users and the Navy Knights suffered anguish at the teleporting Chaos Warriors, but at the end of the fierce battle defeated them and continued hunting.

Groups of 1-2 users died neatly on top of one another.

“Outstanding combat skills.”

Weed carefully observed those scenes.

Drinfeld and Griffith only defended themselves without counterattacking to avoid taking damage.

“Kill Weed!”
“Seize him. I’ll give a generous cash prize.”
“Steal his equipment and quest!”

Griffith directly led his suicide corps organization and charged through a detour. Regardless of undead or monsters, the organizations only purpose was to stab Weed to death.

“Be ready to suffer damage. Unconditionally sever Weed’s life!”

Some remained as opponents to block the undead as the rest advanced. They had to make do with monsters attacking their bodies and two to three pronged roads that scattered them up allowing Weed to shake off his pursuers. The fight between the pursuers and the pursued!

Weed diligently ran with his clattering joints.

“I tell you I will never be caught!”

A good point about undead, stamina doesn’t fall. In addition, although his strength was weaker and his physical blow ability was reduced, his light body ran nicely.

“All Fours Run!”

Running around rocky mountains on all fours to escape, Skeleton Lich!

“Seize him!”
“What kind of Necromancer is fast like that!”
“Why isn’t he tiring out?”

The pursuit team ran up with all their might.

Until now, he virtually did not feel the need to use the All Fours Run skill, but even when moving he considered the situation and appropriated his skill mastery.

Once the skill level reached Intermediate, it changed, allowing him to move very effectively in mountain terrain. He was able to nimbly move around like a lion or tiger. In addition, when the skill level reached Advanced, a sound effect occurred.

Ttagakttagakttagak.

Those words he heard sounded of hoof beats stirring and galloping.

Weed knew the geography of Las Phalanx well and was familiar with the location of monsters. Larger scale tracking units naturally attracted the attention of monsters when the raids took place.

“Van Hawk, Tori! Fight!”

The men mobilized in the pursuit team were tormented.

“Harsh Wave Attack!”

Whenever Griffith used his skills, Bollards and TairBadgers sprang up everywhere. But in the midst of doing that, Weed could earn a considerable distance. With the gap between Griffith and the suicide corps, he cast curse magic that quickly depleted stamina. Griffith could no longer keep chasing him and returned to the Unfreezing River.

Despite the risk, Weed pressed on with the raids.

“Several times is a difficult road.”

The suicide corps went to great lengths blocking across the horizon even after dying. Repeating the chase through escape paths, they developed techniques day by day to elude monsters. Even when Weed tried luring monsters, rather than turning away some went forward in a straight line. The chased side had limited options to escape whereas the pursuing side increased their skills day by day. Damage of the sailors and pirates increased, but they quite literally with their dying effort chased him.

“You followed with appropriate force and incentive, but too bad you handled it poorly.”

Seoyoon, Rover and Geuminyi ambushed and ended them.

Only a handful followed to the end, clearly trying to kill and steal his items, unconcerned that it was tougher than expected. Even if he tried to take the undead and monsters on a raid, Drinfeld’s reconnaissance team in contrast operated in advance. Solid defenses like iron walls driving Weed into a trap with a seizing attitude evident.
Until the 6th raid, rather than closely matching with the undead, he dragged them around while using schemes! Weed smacked his lips.

“Easy and simple tactics, is this the limit?”

But going that far, he was not disappointed.

From Continent of Magic he had numerous ways of dealing with prestigious guilds in Las Phalanx and merely used tactics with the fastest visible effects!

“7 more remain but making preparations is time consuming for me and damage can also occur so…….”

Even if you kill 10 times, die once and you lose money.

Weed took Seoyoon and his men to the Sculptor’s Legacy Grounds and completely retreated.

Drinfeld continually failed on these grounds. He believed fighting head on and defeating the monsters and undead legion would be enough to kill Weed.

“This proves he’s a tanuki.”

He was clever enough to prepare at least half a dozen escape paths before attacking. Due to factors such as crowds of monsters, traps, terrain, etc. a large number of troops were working.

“Don’t chase the crowds. Broaden our area and catch him here.”

Drinfeld obviously had an ulterior motive.

‘When we just arrived in Las Phalanx he was here. Even if he is more familiar by coming before us, there’s no evidence he can wander in a very wide area. And above all, to return to Versailles Continent, he has to pass through here.’

Drinfeld’s fleet took total control of the ghost ship and the Unfreezing River.

“If we go out and broaden the hunting area in Las Phalanx, we will definitely meet him.”

Drinfeld’s reckless pursuit caused enormous damage to his subordinates. Because ultrahigh level monsters lined Las Phalanx, patience should be exercised, but his mind had no intention of forgiveness.

“In the end I will kill him. I will prevent him from returning to Versailles Continent ever again.”

For the sake of redeeming his shattered pride, Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet admiral had to kill Weed. Drinfeld requested reinforcements from Hermes Guild. With most of them now consisting of only Navy Knights or sailors, they could not effectively chase the fleeing Weed hurling undead at them.

– About the proposal to stab Weed to death, I request to be borrow support troops…….

After a short discussion, Hermes Guild sent a positive answer. They were ready for the soon to rise prelude of their Hegemonic alliance, but Drinfeld’s failure was instantly Hermes Guild’s failure.

– Weed’s acting as a Lich. I’ll send 15 Senior Priests, 10 Senior Wizards and 10 Knights as escorts.

The level of support troops was beyond the scope Drinfeld hoped for.

– Thank you. I’ll definitely get Weed.
– For smooth tracking, I’ll send 8 Assassins, 4 Thieves and 1 Excavator together. Be sure to kill Weed as well as dig up the dungeons of Las Phalanx.

In order to take total control of Las Phalanx on air with a show of force, Hermes Guild decisively dispatched troops.

“Those bastards, are they cursing me somewhere?”

Weed roughly scratched his ears. Although his cursing reduced much, not until 1-2 months of Royal Road did he finally start eating well.

“In Versailles Continent I have been living well-mannered but… your side touched first.”

Weed had been living much restraint. Overcharging and selling sculptures and several other products, relentlessly thrashing the price of goods others sold at, to the extent of handling beginners with the act of eating grass porridge, all done in order to live!

“Anyway, I will never be able to return without breaking through those bastards.”

From the beginning, it was not a problem that could be solved by asking for forgiveness. Not even entering with their waists bent bowing down would accommodate him.

“First, for the sake of preventing those bastards from catching me, I have to continue observation. Tori, Van Hawk, Rover, Geuminyi!”
“Yes, Master-nim!”
“Get combat ready.”

Increasing the undead legion to maximum, Tori, Van Hawk and the sculptures of life, fight preparations were completed.

“Finally, time to hunt Chaos Warriors.”

To solve the quest, exploration of Las Phalanx began at that moment. He instructed Seoyoon on how to fight the Chaos Warriors.

“These guys absolutely do not take defensive postures unless they are trying to teleport short distances. In particular, when several of them have most of their health lowered, they gather around each other, so you have to be careful.”

He sufficiently observed the combat preferences of the Chaos Warriors when fighting with undead and when Griffith fought against his traps.

“Dangerous monsters, but unless you make a mistake, you can catch. Even if all undead are sacrificed, hunt them down.”

Van Hawk aboard Rover boasted of his strong muscles, ready to exhibit maximum power of Knights. Last time Geuminyi fought the Chaos Warriors with Rover, but they were no longer committed so now he just walked.

Blocking the route to the place where the Armenian Pirates were annihilated, 8 Chaos Warriors!

To increase leadership, Weed’s Lion’s Roar exploded.

“Undead together with me, Blood Lord, Death Knight, those I’ve granted life to, Rover, Geuminyi! Everyone attack!”
“Keuaaaang!”

Weed yelled and the undead stirred their arms as they rushed toward enemies! To inspire courage for the difficult battle ahead, the Necromancer’s battle cry.

‘Pretty cool. If she sang along at this moment, it would be most wonderful.’

Weed stole a glance at Seoyoon. After many battles together, she was blocking her ears with both hands. For Seoyoon, it was just a loud noise only! After the yelling sound ended, she drew her sword and advanced. The prey was 5 Chaos Warriors.

Chapter 5: Seulroeo’s Story

“There are no monsters that do not die when beaten a hundred times. Attack!”

Weed commanded the undead legion to attack the Chaos Warriors while at the same time preparing to cast curse magic.

The axe wielding Chaos Warriors took down half a dozen of the undead, in order to successfully defeat them Weed must quickly cast the curse magic.

“Dark and damp air, blow the wind that carries the rotting stench of the dead.”

Curse magic that can only be used when there are a lot of zombies!

It reduces mana, stamina, and vitality as well as lowering immunity towards various negative effects.

Weed directed both of his hands towards the Chaos Warriors.

“Breath of Decay!”

The magic casted gave off a foul odor.

The Chaos Warriors were directly affected by the curse since they are within the full range of the Necromancer’s contaminating magic.

Seoyoon was unaffected by the curse since a spell immunity was prepared in advance.

The undead continued to charge but as expected they were slain by the Chaos Warriors.

But even so, the large quantity of zombies attacking steadily reduces the health and stamina of the enemy.

With their arms bent, the undead continues to rush blindly with no fear of dying which resulted in lowering the enemies’ morale.

“Cloud of darkness gather and take away their sight. Blinding Jinx!”

Weed directed the curse magic towards the Chaos Warriors but failed to affect them.

The Chaos Warriors used teleportation to avoid the curse as soon as it was casted.

“Cloud of darkness gather and take away their sight. Blinding Jinx!”

Weed didn’t gave up on using the curse magic on the Chaos Warriors and observed their movement each time they teleported to avoid the curse.

The purpose of the curse magic was to limit their sight.

By clouding their field of vision by darkness they will not be able to see the Necromancer.

Same thing with the movement of the enemy, position of their comrades, incoming magic attacks but the effect does not last very long.

Weed memorized the teleportation patterns of the Chaos Warriors while keeping a tab on the mana consumption of his spells.

“They are now separated!”

The Chaos Warriors suddenly set fire to the undead legion.

The undead are being destroyed from the hits of the flaming axes.

When the Chaos Warriors swings their axes to the ground blazing fire walls are erected.

With the combined offense and defense of these attacks, the battle had become even more difficult.

Casting curse magic while maintaining the undead legion had cost a lot of mana, Weed cannot afford to waste more of it.

“But now I know how to counterattack. Skeleton Mages, Archers attack!”

Magic and arrows were focused on the Chaos Warriors that produces the fire walls.

Seoyoon, Tori, and Van Hawk riding aboard Rover charged at the remaining 5 Chaos Warriors.

The moment the enemies use teleportation the curse magic had already been prepared to be casted.

The locations with high chances of them appearing have all been determined!

“Blinding Jinx”

The Skeleton Archers and Mages targeted the possible areas.

Those locations are now being bombarded by arrows, magic, and curses.

The Chaos Warriors received the curse as soon as they appear and a dark blue haze covered their eyes.

“Two!”

It successfully affected two of them.

“Concentrate attack.”

The Chaos Warriors that were cursed focused their attacks on the Skeleton Mages and Archers.

Though Necromancers fight using only spells and the undead, being able to assess the situation and fast decision making is also necessary.

The two cursed Chaos Warriors could not avoid the arrows and magic due to their clouded field of vision.

Attacks done by the Skeleton Mages and Archers are now showing their effects.

Fighting with 8 Chaos Warriors is quite difficult.

It’s scary at how they greatly reduced the quantity of the undead.

Tori and Seoyoon as well as Van Hawk fought one each while the numbers of the undead continue to decline.

Geumini commanded a Skeleton Archer unit to help by concentrating their attacks at one point.

“I guess now is the time.”

The health of the two Chaos Warriors had been drastically reduced.

“5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Now.”

As soon as one-third of their health is left Weed began collecting mana for casting the curse magic.

“Cloud of darkness gather and take away their sight. Blinding Jinx!”

The magic was casted again towards the weakened Chaos Warriors!

Though it’s hard to notice the effects at first but the curse magic showed its results when the Chaos Warriors teleported themselves towards the undead legion.

The curse magic had again successfully affected the Chaos Warriors!

Though one-fourth of the undead had been defeated along the way.

“Burn the Zombies! Do not sacrifice yourself pointlessly. Attack!”

They began to concentrate their attacks on a single area.

The Chaos Warriors showed a strong sense of camaraderie.

“Focus your attacks on one of the weakened enemy.”

“Okay, golgolgol!”

A method of attack that takes advantage of the behavioural patterns of the Chaos Warriors!

The Chaos Warrior Seoyoon was fighting against with is a named monster.

When the Chaos Warrior detected that its allies were in danger it immediately tried to use teleportation but failed to activate.

It was one of the Berserker’s job skills which binds the enemy to continue the fight and prevents them from escaping.

Seoyoon fought using her sword skills but then as the battle continues a blazing red was encroaching the area.

With health and mana declining, the Berserker continues its onslaught towards the enemy.

Blow after blow the sword continues to strike, an advanced sword skill that allows one to relentlessly attack.

The axe wielding Chaos Warrior was forced into defense.

The surrounding area had now become a sea of fire but Seoyun showed no care at all.

Until the health of a Berserker is reduced to zero the enemy must continue the battle unable to escape.

The same applies to the Berserker, the battle must go on until one of them dies, a very dangerous profession indeed.

– Chaos Warrior has been defeated.

– Due to the success of the hunt Seoyun and the party members’ Fame rises by 2.

– Experience has increased.

The Successful Hunt of Chaos Warriors!

At the beginning of the hunt Weed explained to his party that when Chaos Warriors received certain amount of damage they tend to regroup with other Chaos Warriors via teleportation.

“Have to stay vigilant, they are even more dangerous when they’re about to die. Carelessness will only lead to death. Although the undead can be sacrificed, they can be brought back to life again but if a sculpture of life dies then it will be a huge loss. Must prepare an escape route when fighting them.”

Weed repeated this lecture 17 times.

Seoyoon was now fighting another Chaos Warrior and when its health was less than half of the original value she launched a powerful attack.

A Berserker’s unique skill that increases the damage done by an attack but consumes twice the mana of an ordinary skill.

When they enter a state where it is hard to follow their movements the delay when using skills are reduced by half, such is the characteristics of a Berserker.

The damage done from the attacks had greatly fastened the hunt of Chaos Warriors.

Even if Weed doesn’t support her she can definitely clear up the monsters from dungeons and hunting grounds all on her own.

Seoyoon was quite resourceful but it is mostly thanks to Weed’s lecture.

He did not have to worry about her since he already explained things.

He was even secretly proud of her since she listened to him 17 times.

Now there is one less Chaos Warrior and two are in a state of imminent death!

Weed had the confidence that they can win.

‘The undead took less damage than I had thought.’

The undead legion has been reduced by 30% but the Death Knight and the elite units are still in good condition.

The corpse of the Chaos Warrior Weed obtained was very useful.

Step 4 undead summoning magic.

A large amount of mana is needed to resurrect a corpse.

“Soul of the warrior that fell to the depths of hell, come and take advantage of this flesh. Animate Dead!”

An undead Chaos Warrior had been produced from the corpse.

It looks similar to when it was alive but the eyes showed a deep blue luster.

A soul of a warrior, Nayideo, has been summoned.

Specter of the mercenary Nayideo, died without leaving a name in the history of the Versailles continent!

Nayideo had good skills and survived through countless battles but eventually lost his life in exploring a dungeon.

The nobles that led the dungeon expedition did not compensate the family of Nayideo.

Nayideo had been neglected and his soul harboured great hatred towards the nobles.

Characteristics:
Warrior Mercenary, fear of dungeons, aversion towards nobility, can use different types of weapons.

It has all the physical abilities of a Chaos Warrior!

Two of the Chaos Warriors stayed behind to protect the two injured allies.

The other three teleported between the undead legion and setting them ablaze.

Seoyoon was responsible for fighting one of them as well as Tori while Van Hawk with Rover was charging at another.

It was now time to give command to the named undead.

“I’ll just call you Chaos Warrior. Now go handle the one Vampire Lord Tori is chasing.”

“Yes. My. Lord.”

Nayideo the Undead Chaos Warrior used teleportation to instantly close in and attack the enemy Chaos Warrior.

Fire axe against fire axe, whenever those two weapons met sparks and explosions occur.

It is difficult to fight against a Chaos Warrior but the undead Nayideo has limitless stamina giving him the upper hand in the battle.

Even if the enemy teleports away, Nayideo will just follow him with teleport as well.

The two teleports while striking each other 5 to 6 times!

“Tori, you fight with Van Hawk!”

“But I want to finish off that guy.”

“Disobeying my orders during battle? Shall I beat you? Or shall I kill you? Which do you prefer?”

“I will follow master’s order!”

While Weed let Nayideo do battle with one of the enemy, he took charge of the rest.

Tori had difficulty fighting against the Chaos Warrior alone.

However, with the combined forces of Tori, Van Hawk and Rover the battle with the Chaos Warrior had become easier.

The summoned undead though they do not level up they still provide experience to the enemy.

“It’ll be much harder to defeat the Chaos Warriors later but I will definitely get more experience from this.”

Weed was overjoyed with the prospect of growth!

In order to increase the margin of safety, Weed added one more unit to attack the enemy.

Geumini leading a unit full of Skeleton Mages, Archers, and other undead hunted the enemy and soon Van Hawk delivered the final blow.

Riding Rover with tremendous speed, he demonstrated his swordplay and cut the neck of the Chaos Warrior.

“Well done!”

Now two more had died, Seoyoon had just defeated another one.

Only five more are left and two are wounded.

One of which has a serious injury, death is imminent.

The situation doesn’t even have the need to attack.

“Rupture!”

A simple curse magic.

Blood continues to shed from the injuries reducing both health and stamina.

“A little more of the mana I used for the Animate Dead has been restored.”

Weed’s five remaining battle is successfully nearing its end.

Excitement filled the area.

When Weed spread open his jaws, Seoyoon blocked her ears.

Weed was singing!

“Offer to me the corpses of my enemies! I am the Lord of the Undead! The glorious power of the undead will lead the battle to victory!”

The Chaos Warriors, in desperation, tried to run away but in the end they could not escape death after all.

Hunted a group of Chaos Warriors.

Reputation has increased by 24.

Pioneering in Las Phalanx had increase by 0.3%. Pioneers have a 100% increase in adaptability.

When dealing with monster on the area, defense and resistance are increased. Pioneering can be increased when exploring dungeons.

Due to the combat experience, fire resistance will increase by 1.7% for the next 100 days.

The increase in resistance will accumulate as you continue to hunt.

As the fire resistance increases, deterioration of health can also be reduced.

Hostility from the Chaos Warriors increases. Familiarity towards Fire Giants has risen.

Pioneering, very useful in hunting areas that it can even make you don’t want to leave.

But it doesn’t have enough significant effect yet and due to the volcanic eruptions, hunting had become even more tedious and difficult.

“Fire resistance and familiarity with the Fire Giants.”

Weed had seen a lot of videos about exploration adventures like being woken up in the middle of a dungeon only to see a Fire Giant in front of you.

The power of the Fire Giants within the lava streams combined with the volcanic eruptions is definitely beyond that of a King Hydra’s poison.

“Though I’m not sure, this might become useful later. It’ll be great if it does.”

Weed decided to think positively.

At the place of the dead Chaos Warriors, items are scattered.

“The most thrilling moment.”

When checking for items, one must remain calm and get rid of idle thoughts.

“Please hit a jackpot.”

From the spot where the first Chaos Warrior had died were some gold coins and minerals and a horned helmet.

It had a lot of decent options adding to strength and defense but can only be worn by Dwarves and has a level limit of 440.

“Secondly, we have…”

The equipments gained were not something to be desired.

Weapons and armors worn only by Chaos Warriors, torches and cooking utensils, and some fire balls.

“Identify!”

Flame Orbs

Durability: 3/3

Explosive Power: 205

Handle with care. Removing the seal and throwing it will make it explode.

It can cause a great deal of damage towards low fire resistant monsters and it can also be used to destroy buildings and terrains.

It was very valuable and it would be a waste to just divide it between Seoyoon and himself.

This item can be highly utilized depending on the situation.

“Hmm, this stuff should be distributed fairly. Since there are six flame orbs and six of us then we’ll each have one.”

Weed, Rover, Geumini, Tori, Van Hawk, as well as Seoyoon.

Even if divided like this, Weed didn’t hear any complaints from Seoyoon.

Though the distribution was kind of unfair, she seemed to have no obsession towards the item.

To have battled directly with monsters in the hunt but then showed no interest in the item.

Weed felt ashamed so he decided to give 2 to Seoyoon.

“You have fought hard so I will give you my share.”

Tori, Van Hawk, Rover, and Geumini recovered after awhile from gazing the received flame orb.

At the spot where the third and seventh Chaos Warriors had died, there were blue axes that shone.

Weed’s heart suddenly started to pound.

“Finally… Something tangible, an axe.”

I must not be careless while looking for items.

Weed picked up the rest of the japtem on the ground while approaching the axe bursting with emotions.

“Identify!”

Chaos Axe:

Attack: 175 – 191
Durability: 130/130

Axe of the warriors from Las Phalanx. This weapon created from the mixture of metals and minerals emits an aura of chaos.

Imbued.

Restrictions:
Limited only to combat related professions.
Advanced Axe Mastery is required.
Strength must be 1,300 and above.
Minimum level limit is 420.

Options:
It can deal a fatal blow towards enemies with weak defense.
Can launch a consecutive series of fatal blows.
Has a 3% mana absorption.

The chaos aura imbued in the axe allows teleportation within a short distance.

“Jackpot!”

A unique item has appeared!

The axe is a heavy weapon that has a lot of destructive force.

Though swords are versatile, an axe deals a lot more damage as a weapon.

Of course, it has its disadvantages as well due to its short length and difficulty to use but when a player use an axe it can speed up the hunting.

And among the players there are many axe users in the Warrior class.

“Excellent.”

With the addition of the two axes, only the flame orbs are worthy of mention amongst the japtems.

Animate Dead was used on the rest of the corpses.

In order to maintain the 8 new undead, 30% of the mana was consumed.

Weed skills consumes a lot of mana but he compensates it with increase mana regeneration from his equipped items.

Time to go up the volcano of Las Phalanx and hunt the Chaos Warriors again!

With his high class Undead Chaos Warriors and experiences points from the last battle, hunting became much easier.

Obtained an axe and 14 flame orbs!

But Weed was frowning.

“Axe of the Chaos Warriors, it is a great weapon but the drop rate isn’t very high. This is quite a rare item.”

The numbers of high-level users are limited.

If this axe didn’t have a low drop rate, its value may not have been that great.

“There’s only one way. Hunt and pick up a bunch of the axes then sell them as first of its kind.”

The first one to use, it’s the best way of selling to others.

While repelling the Chaos Warriors, the undead legion had been dramatically reduced.

For their replacement, high class undead were summoned using Animate Dead.

The level of the Necromancer’s step 4 undead summoning magic was still low. Weed still needed to maintain his undead.

The mana consumption was huge but quality was better than quantity.

Furthermore, the summoned undead retained the teleportation ability which was very useful for chasing the enemy Chaos Warriors.

Weed has now gathered 20 Undead Chaos Warriors around him!

Weed uses Shapeshifter to turn into a crow to observed the location where the Armenian Pirates were wiped out.

Originally, Golden Bird that was restored from the Niflheim Empire should have been the one to observe the area but for some reason it did not want to cooperate.

“This should be close enough.”

While Weed was wandering, Rover scratched and smelled the ground.

In the area where the land overlaps due the earthquake, corpses of the Armenian Pirates lay scattered.

Amongst the dead bodies one was wearing a high class robe.

“That’s the guy.”

Weed has good instincts.

He is the one he needed to find after coming a long way in his quest to Las Phalanx.

“This commission sure is ridiculously hard.”

While hunting for Chaos Warriors, the TairBadgers and Bollards are slowly approaching from a not too far distance.

“The degree of difficulty of this Sculptor quest is hard to comprehend.”

A Sculptor definitely could not have arrived this far without the assistance of high levelled colleagues.

At that moment, a thought went straight to Weed’s head!

“Could it be that I have to take advantage of the sculptures in this quest?”

Stage 1 of the quest had him fought against the Embinyu Church and he even had to make use of his Shapeshifter ability just to get to where he is now!

Even if a Sculptor had somehow managed to arrive alone in Las Phalanx it would have been difficult due to the profession’s poor combat ability.

But the Sculptor’s Heritage was here.

Give Life to Sculpture!

“So this quest made me come all the way out here to acquire the sculptures left behind by the late Emperor Geihar.”

Learning how to make sculptures through practising with wood was the norm but Weed must learn the art of sculpture from the late Emperor Geihar through Sculpture Memories.

Must give life to the Sculptor’s Heritage!

They were sculptures of life which sustained the beginning of the Versailles continent.

The sculptures that survived were all masterpieces.

Rover was sitting quietly while Weed walked over and rubbed his head.

‘This guy and Geumini are useless, 10-20 of those sculptures should be much more useful!’

Masterpiece sculptures.

The Sculptor’s Heritage, many of the late Emperor Geihar’s work were unexpectedly found there.

The sculptor who struggled to come to Las Phalanx with an exhausted body just to give life to sculptures and the conclusion of the touching story at the end of the quest.

But for some reason, Weed could not increase his familiarity with Golden Bird ever since he became a Necromancer.

“No, no, that can’t be.”

Weed strongly shook his head and denied it.

“That is just ridiculous. I’m just speculating things, there’s no way that in can be true, could it?”

The world would have definitely disliked the idea of getting close to an undead but Weed isn’t someone who could think like an ordinary person.

As a course of his actions, he had to shapeshift into the Lich Shire and named himself as Deoreol to become the captain of the ghost ship, and then later, he modified and improved his transformation of the Lich Shire.

He then used its advantage in hunting.

“That shouldn’t be the case. It is only natural that the sculptures of life be useful and should show gratitude towards their master. So what do those that I granted life should respond?”

Mooooooo!

Rover was dragging his feet across the floor while crying, Geumini suddenly stood guard holding a bow. They were the living proof of those granted with life.

Weed did not actively grant life to his sculptures due to the art stat penalty and the level drop but they were an absolutely necessary factor in this quest.

In order to solve the quest, the Sculptor’s Heritage must be given life but as to how much level must he sacrifice worries him.

Constant concern of profit and loss!

After suffering from this difficult quest, wouldn’t the reward be worth it when it’s completed?

“Keoheoheoheom! Anyway, I’ll see what happens when I arrive at my destination.”

As the old saying goes, if you are stupid, your body will suffer.

It’s quite pitiful that Weed fully realized the meaning of that phrase through his own actions.

Weed stretched his hands while erasing his worries.

– You have acquired Barb Robe.

– You have acquired Fire Giant’s Eye.

The robe was an expensive item. It was an item from the quest that means it will not disappear so it was necessary to loot it now since someone might take it later.

There was a figurine at the bottom of the robe.

Its figure was very similar to that of Golden Bird and it has accumulated a lot of dust and dirt.

Weed poured water from a canteen and washed the sculpture.

It revealed a beautiful silver color. The sculpture was made from a mixture of platinum and mithril.

Kkirururu!

Having found its lost partner, Golden Bird suddenly rushed towards the sculpture and rubbed its head. It then looked towards Weed with pleading eyes.

‘What?’

Weed decided to check the sculpture.

“The completion of the quest… Identify!”

Seal of the Ahreupen Empire, Mysterious Bird:

Durability 130/130

It symbolizes the authority of the Ahreupen Empire’s Imperial Household which ruled the Versailles Continent with grace.

It was made as a pair together with the Golden Bird Senoria Ruseroni. Made by a master sculptor.

Artistic Value: 51,300

Options:
Fame +4,500.
Nobility +150.
Honor +90.
Charisma +45.
Charm +100.
Affects the range of leadership and charisma.

Has an increasing effect. Increases familiarity towards female residents.
If used as an ornament, the loyalty of the nobles will increase by 15%.

Has a ruling effect. 5% increase in diplomatic advantage.
30% increase in luck when defending from a siege or from a large scale battle.

Can summon a mysterious fog. It cannot be damaged.

A historical treasure, due to having found one of the Seal of the Ahreupen Empire the Art Stat increases by 51.

Then the story of the cherished Seal of the Ahreupen Empire began to flow.

The Archmage Seulroeo.

He came to the Imperial Palace of the Niflheim Empire when it was being burned down by monsters.

Suddenly the Imperial Palace was covered by a dense mist!

The Honored Imperial Knights were waiting to start an ambush but Seulroeo, having a large amount of mana, blew them away.

The story from the Mysterious Bird!

Seulroeo can observe the whole area from his position.

Mordred, the glorious Imperial Capital of the Niflheim Empire, was being trampled and destroyed by monsters.

The Embinyu Priests and Barbarian Mercenaries were the ones that commanded the monsters.

Wandering around the Imperial Palace, Seulroeo found two swords that were sealed on the ground of the Imperial Villa.

A sword with clouds and thunderbolts drawn on it and a red sword without a scabbard!

After that, Seulroeo went to sea and became the captain of a pirate crew.

He then threw the sword that had the clouds and thunderbolts drawn onto it into the Black Sea, and together with his fully prepared pirate crew, arrived at Las Phalanx.

But then a sudden unknown poison attack wiped them all out!

The scene from the sculpture still continued.

After a long time had passed, a young Chaos Warrior had picked up a sword.

He then immediately went towards the entrance of a nearby dungeon.

*Ttiring!*

Completed the Agents of the Niflheim Empire (2)

The Archmage Seulroeo played a crucial role in the downfall of the Niflheim Empire by conspiring with the Embinyu Church.

He wanted to take revenge for his disciples and families that were killed but his actions still cannot be justified.

Seulroeo had taken the Red Star sword.

Made from the magic of a Red Dragon, as for the origins of how it came to the world, it is still unknown.

Fame increases by 3,600 as a reward from the quest.
All stats increases by 5 as a reward for the adventure.
Received 20 bonus stats. Can be distributed to any desired stats.

Title acquired!
Explorer of the Polar Region.

No one can stop you on the land you set your foot on.

Title is granted for the completion of a difficult quest in one of the continent’s restricted zones!

When walking on rugged terrains, stamina consumption will be reduced by 60%.

Whenever in a restricted zone, resistance is increased by 10%.

Effects of skills are also increased by 7%.

Increase in stats was given as compensation from the mysterious sculpture. The final stage of the S-class quest was also revealed.

*Ttiring!*

The Recovery of the Red Star (3)

The sword by which a young Chaos Warrior took is a very dangerous weapon.

Created by a playful Dragon, a vast amount of mana is sealed within it.

When taken to the magic circle left behind by an Ancient Wizard in Las Phalanx, the monster that possessed it will gain tremendous power.

Imbeol’s Circle is located in the deepest part of Las Phalanx..

Recover the Red Star before it absorbs the power of the magic circle as soon as possible.

If successful, you will be able to receive the appreciation of the northern races.

Difficulty: S

Quest Restriction: Last of the 3-stage quest. Limited only to Sculptors with Advance Sculpting.

If you accept the quest, you can view the story of Seulroeo.

Since Weed has come this far, he nodded immediately.

“I will make the Red Star mine… No, I will preserve the peace.”

You have accepted the quest.

In the Niflheim Empire, there was a rising genius, a young wizard named Seulroeo..

He succeeded in every research he started.

He was the first to have fought against invading monsters. He was also acquainted with many races that are not human.

He had a charming fiancée named Letia Evelynn.

“You are the only one for me. I will endure everything just to be with you.”

Seulroeo promised to marry Letia and join the Aristocracy of the Niflheim Empire.

He has the typical characteristics of a hero.

A handsome face, a good house, a beautiful fiancée, and gifted with magic.

Seulroeo had so many gifts that any of his friends would be enviable of!

“By the decree of the Emperor, Seulroeo will join the army to exterminate the monsters in the outer regions in one month’s time.”

“I accept.”

Seulroeo, together with the army, had killed a lot of monsters in the outer region using his magic.

Weed saw the giant and now extinct monsters being crushed by a display of powerful magic through the video.

Then Seulroeo went back to the capital hoping for a big reward for his meritorious deed.

“Letia’s family has been beheaded due to treason.”

His fiancée’s house had been cut into pieces.

Because the evidence was all too obvious, Seulroeo was helpless and could not do anything.

Seulroeo was sobbing in front of his fiancée’s grave.

Thereafter, due to his grief, he secluded himself in his laboratory together with his magic.

Rather than having thoughts of revenge against the Niflheim Empire he had cut off all attention towards the world and he immersed himself in his magical research.

And so, several seasons had come to past.

Within the shadows, voices can be secretly heard.

– He cannot move on with his fiancée’s death.

– Seulroeo’s despair will only make him more corrupted.

– Why would he still be on our side?

– He might try to overthrow Niflheim Empire, he and his disciples must be removed.

– Get rid of his families.

– Then we should go on with the plan.

While Seulroeo was still secluded in his laboratory, his family members had all lost their lives.

It was either caused by an unknown illness or an assassin’s attack.

Even if the Niflheim Empire had investigated, the cause was never found.

While Seulroeo fell to an even greater despair, his disciples had died having contracted a disease of unknown origin.

Amongst all this tragedy, an assassin tried to attack Seulroeo but he had caught him with his magic.

“Who are you? Tell me the one who ordered you to do this!”

“It was the Niflheim Empire!”

Then the assassin had suddenly committed suicide.

A necklace was found from the assassin.

Seulroeo started to doubt and quickly checked the back of the necklace.

And at the back of the necklace, he had finally found what he was looking for, a certain mark of a secret organization in the Niflheim Empire.

“Are they trying to dispose of me?”

A conspiracy led by the Niflheim Empire threatens the life of the Archmage.

Since that day, Seulroeo decided to run away and hide but this only led to a rumor within the Niflheim Empire that he was secretly planning for a rebellion ever since he had lost his family and fiancée.

“I see, they really were behind all this.”

The frustrated Seulroeo had settled in a place where there were no humans and lived in solitude.

All the while he continued his magical research.

Due to his grief, he would sometimes be on the verge of losing his sanity.

One day, priests of the Embinyu Church came to him.

“We would like to grant you the opportunity to take revenge on the Niflheim Empire.”

Seulroeo, due to him living alone and having no contact with people, had become sober.

“A chance to get revenge….”

“Seulroeo, even though you have not sinned, isn’t what happened to you unfair? According to our investigation, the fall of the House of Evelynn was staged by the Imperial Palace.”

The priests had provided a rusty necklace as evidence.

“This was found on the ruins of the house of Evelynn.”

“……”

“You, who loved that woman and your family, even after losing them together with all of your disciples, you chose to become a hermit, now decide whether you want to take revenge or not.”

Magic of the Embinyu Church was casted upon the necklace.

Seulroeo was dazzled by the necklace and then images of Niflheim Imperial Knights burning the house of his family and his fiancée were shown.

“Revenge… I want vengeance.”

“You have chosen well. Together we will destroy the Niflheim Empire.”
“But who are you?”
“The Embinyu Church.”

“I think I’ve heard that name before. Where… have I heard of it? Ah! Are you the ones that worship an Evil God?”

“People are misinformed. We are trying to correct their misperceptions about us.”

Seulroeo had been successfully brainwashed, the reason being his mind had weakened.

“I want to join.”

Seulroeo had joined the Embinyu Church. He took care of their weapons and armors and he had also given them all of his magical research.

War had been waged against the Niflheim Empire!

The Embinyu Church had made use of monsters as well as a regular army to randomly kill the citizens.

Having lost his reasoning, Seulroeo had become a pawn of the Embinyu Church and watched the massacre unfold before his eyes.

Seulroeo’s old friends had tried to protect the empire but they all lost their lives in his and the Embinyu priests hands.

“Finally I have returned.”

Seulroeo entered the now burning Imperial Palace.

Blinded by greed, he randomly stole the treasures while defeating the knights he encountered.

The magic barriers were all destroyed and the Imperial Palace is now being overrun by the invading monsters.

Within the Imperial Palace, two swords can be found.

It was sealed there by the Niflheim Empire.

The Red Star.

And the sword that caused a great disaster to befall on the Versailles Continent in the past, the Asmodian Sword Drawer!

Drawer:

Durability 96/180.
Attack 218-249

The material used to create this weapon does not exist in the Versailles Continent. It is speculated that it had been used by the Asmodians.

Imbued. Can summon lightning and thunder storm.

Restrictions:
No level limit.
Applicable to all professions.
When used in battle, it will exhibit curse magic attributes.

No fixed properties.
If an Evil God worshipper were to possess this weapon, then this weapon’s properties will change.

Options:
Can summon a monster from the Underworld by offering a sacrifice.
By offering a sacrifice, stats will increase.
Increases the power of dark magic by 200%.
Specializes in curse magic! Will be able to use all curse magic.

User will be immune to all curse magic. Can be use to rule over lesser monsters.

The moment his hand clasped the sword, Seulroeo face was filled with bitterness.

The brainwashing magic of the Embinyu Church was removed and his reasoning had returned.

“What have I done?”

Seulroeo had regretted his actions.

Joining the Embinyu Church that worshipped an Evil God then engaged in a conspiracy to destroy the Niflheim Empire and to dominate the continent.

His actions now cannot be undone.

Looking back, he realized he unknowingly joined the Embinyu Church when they visited him.

“The Embinyu Church must have been behind everything!”

From this point on, Seulroeo decided to devote the rest of his life in fighting against the Embinyu Church and reconstruct the Niflheim Empire.

“I must gather forces to fight against the Embinyu Church.”

He then threw away the Asmodian Sword Drawer to the sea but brought the Red Star with him to Las Phalanx.

In the history of magic, Imbeol was the most powerful master of fire magic. His magic was enough to melt down a whole castle.

He was one of the 12 greatest Wizards.

Seulroeo tried to go to Imbeol’s Circle and absorb the mana stored there using the sword but due to him not returning to the Embinyu Church for a long time, the dormant poison spell that was placed on him suddenly activated causing him to have a seizure.

“To actually die like this…”

Finally, Seulroeo’s demise fell into the hands of the incoming monsters from Las Phalanx.

“At last, the conclusion of the story.”

With the catastrophe that had befallen unto the continent, the name of the Embinyu Church had risen!

Weed finally learned the story hidden behind the quest.

Finally found the connection which ties the difficult S-class quest, the investigation of the fall of the Niflheim Empire which was caused by a large scale invasion of monsters.

“After fixing all the loose ends of the past, the reconstruction of Niflheim Empire can begin.”

In the process of completing the quest, details about the late Emperor Geihar von Ahreupen had came to light, as well as secrets of the sculptures of life, the Golden Bird and the Mysterious Bird, and having found the Sculptor’s Heritage.

It can only be commissioned to a Sculptor, what a great and intangible asset.

It would be perfect if a lot of gems and minerals from Las Phalanx can be acquired as a reward for the quest.

“I must reclaim the dragon’s sword from the hands of that young Chaos Warrior. Anyway, that should be the most pressing matter.”

Good thing that place is not too far from here!

“If the quest is successful, I can obtain that Dragon Sword.”

While Weed was imagining getting his hand on the sword, his heart started to beat fast while having a shortness of breath and saliva drooling over his mouth.

The Dragon Sword that wasn’t created on the Versailles Continent was better than any other swords he had seen.

“Identify!”

Weed did not forget to check the robe of the Archmage Seulroeo.

It can increase magical damage and reduce 30% of mana consumption of spells, with these effects, it can be considered a high class equipment.

“Jackpot!”

Weed had a wide smile but then he noticed Seoyoon. He suddenly felt pressured since he had monopolized the items.

But it was acquired through the quest, it was too valuable to be divided fairly.

Weed saw Seoyoon indifferently nodded her head.

There was an open hole in the torn robe Weed equipped that he obtained from the Wailing River.

Even if he repaired using the sewing skills, without the necessary fabric, although the increase in mana is fixed, there will be damage.

Weed had been wearing the robe for its effects but having his ribs exposed is quite unsightly.

“Thank you.”

Weed had never once felt this good when he had spent his time with Seoyoon.

Weed was very pleased that he could take all the items.

“Identify!”

Fire Giant’s Eye:

Durability 30/30

Superior magical material.

Can expand the range and power of a fire magic wand.

It is a raw material used as a magical reagent.

If one owns this item, Fire resistance will increase and will not be attacked by Fire Giants.

Options:
5% Fire resistance.
Receive recognition from Fire Giants.

Drinfeld had suffered huge damage from their attacks and was force to retreat!

It was an item that ensures your safety against them.

Weed then equipped the barb robe.

“With this, will I be ready for the last part of the quest?”

However, Golden Bird was still looking at him with sad eyes.

Kkukku kkukku kkukku.

Weed alternatively looked at Golden Bird and the other sculpture made from mithril and platinum, the Mysterious Bird.

As soon as he noticed, Weed was able to quickly judge the situation.

“You really like this guy, huh?”

The Golden Bird suddenly twisted its thin legs and wings feeling shy when Weed pointed this out.

The late Emperor Geihar sculpted the Golden Bird and the Mysterious Bird around the same time.

However, the Golden Bird was brought to life and had a mission of protecting the late Emperor Geihar’s artifacts.

Weed would be able to gain a lot of familiarity from it using the Mysterious Bird!

Graceful and elegant, having a high charm that only the Mysterious Bird can exhibit.

Emperor Geihar was already long dead and his sculptures in the continent continue to degenerate, but this one is different and is still in perfect condition.

Regrettably, Weed had transformed from a Sculptor to a Necromancer and due to this he could not increase his familiarity towards the Golden Bird.

Then in the midst of it all, it found the Mysterious Bird and begged Weed to grant life to it.

Kkuru kkuru.

Weed had already planned to take advantage of the situation.

He must have the upper hand in the negotiation since the Golden Bird is a tough opponent to persuade.

Then Weed began speaking his scripted lines.

“The art of sculpture is indeed a hard and difficult world. One has to suffer and must persevere in his constant search for beauty. A sculptor has to work for who knows how many night and days but still had a hard time making a living out of it.”

“…?”

Rover and the Golden Bird showed a puzzled expression.

Weed had a hard time in increasing his sculpture skill proficiency and he had to constantly make those cute animal sculptures along the way but only to be taken away from him by Seoyoon.

“I sacrificed a lot just to carve sculptures and you’re hoping that I would grant life to this sculpture if you just ask? When I’m in battle, you just stood there and ignore my situation, so why would I fulfil your request?”

Kku.. kkukku.

“Tell me, from the very beginning, was there anything wrong from what I said? Not once have you offered your help.”

Using a few words that delivered a threat but resulted to arouse guilt, truly a high level of persuasion!

The Golden Bird reluctantly made some noise for a while.

Weed nodded.

“Hmm, I can’t hear you well.”

Kkukku kkukku!!

Rover was happy that Golden Bird had now become his new colleague while Weed looked as if everything had gone according to plan.

He even acted to be meek.

‘To think that a hardhearted man like him could show such an expression.’

‘Maybe he might have a tender side after all.’

Rover started re-evaluating his owner but the sudden command of Weed cut off his thoughts.

“Lie Down.”

“…?”

Though the command was unexpectedly abrupt, the Golden Bird immediately lay down.

“Too slow. Do it quickly! Now roll on the ground 5 times!”

Orders were being issued by Weed!

The Golden Bird, trying to gain Weed’s favour, rolls on ground.

‘First I have to bring down his defiant side.’

Increasing the familiarity and at the same time having it work its worth, Weed had completely taken advantage of the favour.

“You can stop now and rest.”

Golden Bird stretched its wings while lying on the ground.

Seoyoon also wanted it to perform a few leaps but watching it lay down and rest was just too cute and adorable.

She had a firm belief that Weed would not order it to do something extreme.

“Chirp if I say one then tweet if I say two.”

Kkukku kkukku.

“One.”

Kkuwoo.

“Two.”

Tweet.

“Alternate!”

Kkuwoo – Tweet, Kkuwoo – Tweet.

Since Golden Bird’s level exceeded 500 it can swiftly moved tirelessly.

The bird heard Weed clapped loudly.

“Okay, you can stop and rise now.”

Golden Bird suddenly jumped up and within its sapphire-blue eyes showed an intense light of expectations.

The Mysterious Bird.

It had now been many years since the Emperor Geiher died and no one else but Weed can grant life to the long lost partner of the Golden Bird.

“I’ll grant you life, look forward to it.”

But Weed was still not satisfied and he plans them to work further from here on.

“Just like raising chickens, the taste of the meal will depend on how you raise them.”

Weed has acquired 1 more subordinate for battle!

‘Golden Bird’s level is 519… it is quite high.’

Emperor Geihar’s Sculptor’s Heritage will be granted life while on the quest!

Judging from the races’ special characteristics, they will have excellent combat ability.

Their levels would be definitely better than Rover and Golden Bird.

‘I must give life to the Mysterious Bird and have it do work later.’

They are the sculptures which symbolizes the Ahruepen Empire.

If life is given, they will definitely be high levelled.

Even if Golden Bird hadn’t requested it, Weed would still grant life to it since it is a part of his quest.

“I don’t feel like doing it right now. Golden Bird, depending on your performance I’ll grant life to it. So work hard from now on.”

Kkukku!

Chapter 6: Inferno Dungeon

Weed decided to go hunt first before tracking the young Chaos Warrior.

“I need to prepare before entering the dungeon.”

Fire resistance increases with every hunt of the Chaos Warriors in Las Phalanx.

The corpses of the Chaos Warriors were also valuable assets towards the Necromancer and Golden Bird, at the same time, was earnestly assisting in the battle.

As the battle goes on, Weed was surprised to see Golden Bird being surrounded by light and then its body and legs started to grow.

Its neck, wings, waist, all had started to enlarge!

It had transformed itself gaining a size of 3 meters and 20 centimeters.

Its golden flowing feathers were embedded with beautiful jewels.

A diamond crown was worn atop its head.

Golden Bird can use polymorph, the ability to change the body.

Mooooooo!

“Golgolgolgol!”

The other sculptures of life gave out a shocked reaction when they saw Golden Bird.

In a way, they were wondering why they weren’t created like that.

As sculptures made by Weed they have high pride when it comes to their appearance but they can only feel ashamed after seeing the difference.

“You guys are still good. Just do not forget what the Wyverns looks like.”

“…….”

Rover and Geumini became quiet when they heard about the Wyverns.

They were lucky that they weren’t as hastily made like the ugly Wyverns.

Weed then led the undead.

“Chaos Warriors, let’s go!”

The Chaos Warriors makes use of short distance teleportation during the battle making them hard to hit but then Golden Bird suddenly brandished its claws in an empty area.

“Keek!”

The moment the location of the teleporting Chaos Warriors had been predicted, the claws and beak was used to attack the vitals points.

*Ttadadadadadak!*

Golden Bird has launched a series of deadly attacks like a woodpecker!

The Chaos Warriors could not hold against the attacks and have quickly died.

Golden Bird soared into the air after tearing and discarding the monsters.

It had a terrifying combat ability.

The transformed Golden Bird then engages Weed in a conversation.

“Weed-nim, we have won.”
“Well of course.”

Monsters in Las Phalanx have their fire attribute magic and skills increase for almost two times.

For this reason, high fire resistance is required.

While hunting for Chaos Warriors the fire resistance had been raised up to 22%.

“If the 10% increase resistance in a restricted zone is included then it is now at 32%.”

Weed originally has good resistance and this is due to him having a high amount of fortitude.

Weed, Seoyoon, and the sculptures of life move along with the undead.

Resistance wasn’t the only thing that increased while hunting Chaos Warriors, 18 axes were acquired along the way and because of that Weed’s backpack had an increase in weight.

Due to Weed’s Skeleton status his power to carry the backpack has been reduced.

Items that are worth a lot of money are not meant to be left behind!

Weed usually hides and leaves his japtems in hidden caves and blind spots but he doesn’t want to do that to the expensive ones.

And with a large backpack against his shoulders and collarbone, Weed walked silently towards the dungeon.

It is now time to resume the quest and enter the dangerous dungeon.

“Tori, Van Hawk.”
“Yes master!”
“At your call master.”
“You two head first in the dungeon.”

Weed putting his servants to use!

Since this is an extremely dangerous dungeon there are sure to be a lot of Chaos Warriors together with their subordinates.

***

Meanwhile, Drinfeld and Griffith were expanding the area of their exploration in Las Phalanx.

Their reinforcements from the Hermes Guild in Haven Kingdom have yet to arrive at Las Phalanx.

In the meantime, they were trying to increase their adaptability in fighting in a terrain full of volcanic eruptions and cracks on the ground.

“Compose yourselves and let’s show them how the elites will conquer this land.”

The coalition of high level Navy Knights and Pirates has united themselves.

Although the hunting wasn’t very efficient, if they were to be ambushed again by Weed they could immediately launch a counterattack.

“I don’t care what means and methods you use just bring me Weed’s head at any cost. The Hermes Guild will give out a handsome reward.”

They no longer have the pride they once shown.

Drinfeld’s group then successfully hunted a bunch of Bollards.

Great volcanic eruptions followed awhile later.

***

CTS media and LK game broadcast aired the adventures in Las Phalanx live!

They have suffered great humiliation and intense mockery in the board but it soon calmed down.

The expedition led by Drinfeld advanced towards the fissured grounds of the Sculptor’s Heritage.

Excitement filled the viewers watching the footage CTS media broadcasted.

“The Sculptor’s Heritage, now this is a totally unexpected place. Do you think Weed came here?”

“It seems so.”

The expedition continued their hunting and due to the effects of the Sculptor’s Heritage it had become much easier.

“Drinfeld, you mainly use a large knife as a weapon same as with the other Navy Knights, why is that?”

“The damage it deals is big and it has high durability which is necessary when fighting against sea monsters and Pirates.”

“So that’s why you use it though it is still hard to fight here in Las Phalanx.”

“I agree. It takes a very long time to sail here and the levels of the monsters are quite high.”

“It was dangerous to fight while avoiding the volcanic eruptions wasn’t it? Seeing them directly sure is a terrifying experience.”

“I, Drinfeld, together with the 2nd Fleet was chosen by the Haven Kingdom because we can adapt well with dangerous environments.”

“What about Weed? He seems to have adapted well after coming here first.”

“In an adventure, having a large scale exploration group is different from going alone. The risks between these situations can’t be compared.”

Conversations between Drinfeld and Griffith’s Pirates were being relayed in the broadcast.

The live broadcast was aired twice a day and it took first place in the ratings.

***

Due to the contract with Weed, KMC Media have yet to show the broadcast of the quest.

Since the quest is still ongoing broadcasting it will increase the chance of Drinfeld and Griffith in interfering.

This is also done in order to hide Weed’s current location.

Windows of KMC Media’s head office were still lit late at night with the entire staff working overtime.

They were preparing to edit the video since they do not know when will Weed’s quest finish.

***

On the Versailles Continent, the citizens and priests began to speak.

“Have you heard of Emperor Geihar? He was the first emperor of the Ahreupen Empire that united the whole Versailles Continent. Anyone who has studied history would recognize him.”

“The Archmage Seulroeo, they say he would use any means and methods to achieve his ambition. The Matam Wizards are even talking about him and remaining records say he was a genius. There are also rumors about him that say he was the key to the collapse of the Niflheim Empire.”

“Wasn’t there a reason that gave him no choice but to do so?”

“You got to believe this. There is a land where only the courageous can go! In it there is a monster that possesses a very powerful weapon. This will definitely cause a huge disaster… and the only one who can stop it is a single Sculptor.”

Dwarves, Elves, and Fairy warriors were summoned. They were preparing for an expedition to go to Las Phalanx.

“If he fails that monster which threatens our peace will definitely begin to move. Dwarves bear arms for battle.”

“Elven Archers make preparations for battle, we will show them the true power of the fire spirits.”

Videos of the movements of Dwarves and Elven race were posted at the Royal Road homepage.

And with just closing the eyes players will be able to see what is happening within the Versailles Continent.

Weed’s adventure was definitely becoming a hot topic in the continent.

***

You have become the first discoverer of Inferno Dungeon.

Benefits:
2,100 Fame increase.
For a week, experience and item drop rate are doubled.

The first monster hunted will have the highest possibility of dropping rare items.

“Woah!”

Weed let out a surprised cry.

The Fame it gave out was ridiculously high.

“What the hell!? Just how dangerous is this dungeon to award such high Fame?”

It can be guessed that the next area will be quite formidable even with the summoned undead.

“Nevertheless, it is best to earn money while one is still young since that money will be useful when you grow old.”

Weed ordered his subordinates to move forward.

The internal passage of the dungeon was wide enough to be able to fit multiple troops.

Flames were gushing forth underneath the ground and were reflected by the cave walls creating a marvellous sight.

“Walk carefully and go through there.”

Weed took the right path were the flames are coming out while Seoyoon took the left side.

With this small act Seoyoon was very grateful towards Weed’s consideration.

But it was actually far from the truth, the motive was quite different from how a gentleman acts toward a woman.

‘There’s no way I’m taking the left side of the path. Who knows when a monster will come out there.’

Instinctive reflex for self-preservation!

The fire resistance Weed gained was quite high so that level of flame is still tolerable.

On the walls of the cave there were a lot of crystals, agates, and garnets.

Although classified as jewels, they were of the inexpensive and the common kind.

“This is a good place for making sculptures.”

Weed lingered for awhile looking at the wall.

“Soft skinned humans have come here!”

“I smell the rotting stench of the undead!”

On the other side of the passage, 6 large-sized Inferno Knights came out running and shouting.

The Inferno Knights were much larger than a Barbarian and their height rivals that of the Ogres and they were brandishing their swords.

Every time they took a step the dungeon shakes a little.

Weed immediately began to issue commands.

“Chaos Warriors, attack!”

The 20 high class undead was given an order to attack.

The risk was dangerously high since they were engaged in a close distance battle.

“The rest of you keep watch and prepare to retreat!”

Think before you leap, it is best to confirm whether a persimmon is ripe before taking a bite.

If the undead cannot match the Inferno Knights in the battle then they will be used as scapegoats for retreating.

Tori and Van Hawk did not join the battle instead they were on standby.

‘If we’re going to be chased by those monsters then I’ll use them to buy some time.’

The Chaos Warriors that were made from the Animate Dead skill made use of their teleportation to keep out of the Inferno Knight’s line of sight.

They also use their axes to deal damage.

And of course, those axes were equipments that came from Weed’s backpack.

In order to enhance the power of the undead Weed made them equip powerful weapons!

“Grrrr, abominable Chaos Warriors!”
“These rotting undead are annoying.”

The ongoing fierce battle between the undead and the Inferno Knights only irritated Weed.

Since the Step 4 undead summoning magic creates superior undead which has high intelligence but the most they could do in the battle right now was just simply to avoid.

Using his tremendous leadership over the undead Weed had thought of something to use against these strong monsters.

One bold plan.

A battle of attrition.

There were a lot of undead that Weed commanded directly, they were chosen to play an active role.

With repetitive battles these undead continue to learn.

The elite undead taught by Weed continue to annoy the Inferno Knights and pushes them back.

This was due to their numbers which were considerably much higher compared to the engaged high level monsters.

“Among the Chaos Warriors there are those whose decays are getting worse. Seems like the Chaos Warriors are starting to wear out.”

From observing the battle he had arrived at a conclusion.

Noticing such details are not that difficult for Weed.

“Tori, Van Hawk, what are you doing? Don’t just stand there, go and fight!”

“Understood master.”

Weed, being their owner, scolded them without remorse even though he originally ordered them to standby and prepare for retreat.

Van Hawk and Tori immediately rushed to join the fight.

While the two engage the Inferno Knights in a pincer attack Geumini was given an order as well.

“Shoot them with arrows from here.”
“Golgolgol!”

Golden Bird also participated in the battle and using its incredibly fast speed it was able to deal an attack at the vital spot of an Inferno Knight.

Seoyoon pulled out her sword and decided to join the battle as well.

Weed, not participating in the battle directly, started to curse the enemies.

Then one of the Chaos Warrior was defeated and the mana used to maintain it was recovered.

“Have to make them last a little longer.”

Relaxing while observing others battle, this was the privilege granted to the Wizard and Cleric class.

“Their large size sure isn’t just for show.”

Suddenly the marks engraved in the Inferno Knights’ armors started to shine and due to this they gained a great increase in defense.

With their excellent defense and high stature it was even more necessary to exercise caution in hunting them.

Though they were now mostly weakened due to Weed’s curse magic.

“This battle is rather long.”

8 minutes have now passed!

The Inferno Knights were getting tired and Weed’s mana has been depleted.

Large amount of mana was needed to resurrect the undead and the Chaos Warriors continue to deplete their mana every time they use teleportation.

The undead, Seoyoon and the others have now started to encircle the Inferno Knights creating a wall.

With Golden Bird luring one of them away the hunt had slightly become easy.

“Have to end this battle quickly. Chaos Warriors, seven of the bravest of you go and interject that Inferno Knight.”

Weed being the Lord of the undead commanded them with great charisma.

The Chaos Warriors that were pointed out by the Fallen Saint’s Staff and Bar Khan’s Tome were greatly honored and started teleporting immediately towards the isolated Inferno Knight.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Kwagwagwang!

Chaos Warriors that showed great valour and loyalty towards Weed were rewarded with an order to explode!

Using Corpse Explosion on the corpse of high level monsters would definitely result to high destructive power.

A bright red pillar of fire was erected from the ground up to the ceiling in just an instant!

Finally with the collapsed of the enemies formation Weed gave out a short and precise order.

“Kill it!”

Everyone concentrated their attack on the badly damaged Inferno Knight.

Due to the death of a comrade the Inferno Knights are now in a state of fear.

Curse magic effects are enhanced by 35%.

All resistance are now reduced by 60%.

Aggression is lowered but will be more focused on defending.

Only four out of the remaining enemies did not succumb to fear.

Weed focused his curse magic on the ones that entered a state of fear and launched a concentrated attack on them one at a time.

Weed did not conceal his joy whenever he catches the items he saw falling.

– You have levelled up.

– Your Fame has increased by 6.

– Necromancer’s skill proficiency has increased.

Pioneering did not increase unlike with the hunt of the Chaos Warriors. This was most likely because the race that truly dominates Las Phalanx were the Chaos Warriors.

“Anyway gotta check the items.”

Among the armors acquired there was one that stood out.

An exclusive item fitting the large physique of Barbarian Warriors!

Although the restriction was at level 460 Weed did not worry.

“It’s not that I have fewer things to sell. If it’s difficult to sell then just smelt it and recreate it later.”

The Inferno Knights gave out various minerals as well and also a small amount of Mithril and jewels.

Weed divided the items he collected exactly in half and gave it to Seoyoon.

While it is a fact that she took an active role in fighting together with the undead, if she had not come along to Las Phalanx then Tori would not have helped in clearing the dungeon.

Of course, hunting the Chaos Warriors would have been difficult as well.

Weed eyed the piece of Mithril with extreme greed.

“It is very hard to obtain the rare Mithril… Once I have gathered enough I’ll make them into armors, is that okay with you?

Seoyoon nodded.

“I’ll make the best armor later.”

Although Weed was showing his best good-natured smile, with the countenance of a skeleton it can only be seen as an extremely rotten smile.

‘Half of the jewels were given since she did a good job.’

Weed’s mood then brightens up when he took Seoyoon’s share of the Mithril since he does intend to make the armor.

Weed aims to increase his blacksmithing skill.

The amount of Mithril he might find here could speed up his skill by more than a few days than what he normally does.

He could gather a lot of Mithril in this dungeon hunt and then creating a sculpture made out of pure Mithril wouldn’t be just a pipe dream.

Of course for a Sculptor this would be quite an achievement.

“I’ll have to replenish the undead… Animate Dead!”

With the number of Chaos Warriors greatly reduced the corpses of the Inferno Knights were ideal candidates for replacements.

The 12 remaining Chaos Warriors then started teleporting to gather the rest of the Inferno Knights corpses to replace the fallen 8.

Inferno Knight’s body have resisted the dark magic.

Necromancer Skill must be at least Advance Level 2 to raise the body.

Summoning of the undead has failed.

The corpse did not turn into an undead but Weed’s mana was still consumed.

“At my current state I cannot use these corpses.”

Weed wasn’t very satisfied and decided to take a rest.

Mana and stamina must be recovered, same goes to Seoyoon and the other sculptures of life.

The party still hasn’t rested and recovered completely and yet another battle is about to commence!

“Humans and undead challenging this place, what a bunch ignorant fools. This is no place where you can just recklessly enter.”

“This is not a place for you lowly humans. I’ll have to eliminate all of you here.”

Inferno Knights have reappeared.

Due to Weed’s and Seoyoon’s name bearing a red mark other monsters in the dungeon were aggressive towards them.

Weed’s Infamy had already surpassed 6,000.

If someone has a murderer’s mark then monsters will most likely not flee in battle.

If you don’t kill them fast enough then they might even call for reinforcements.

And since your name will be exposed you will be chased all throughout the dungeon.

Thus with the sacrifice of 8 more Chaos Warriors the two Inferno Knights were successfully hunted.

Chapter 7: Fire Giant

Having ventured deeply into the dungeon, a flowing river of lava came into view.

An underground lava river having a width exceeding 400 meters!

Harsh high temperature were being emitted enough to exhaust anyone getting near it.

Seoyoon stayed as far away from it in contrast to Weed who was marching towards it.

If not for his high fire resistance he would’ve suffered high amount of damage by now.

While Weed and his undead didn’t show much change on their bodies, Rover and Seoyoon were sweating out a lot.

Also their stamina was now consumed at a faster rate.

After confirming that there were no alternative ways to go around the lava river Weed made an announcement.

“We will have to go across using that.”

Rocks and metals were found sticking out in the middle of the lava river.

The smallest ones were barely enough to fit a foot while the larger ones were around 13 square feet.

A lot of them have flat surfaces.

Though that was not the only things found in the lava river.

Fire Giants that made the expedition group run away with tails behind their legs were sleeping in it.

And what connects the two sides from the lava river was a rope bridge probably used by either Inferno Knights or Chaos Warriors.

Weed examined the rope which seems to be made of twisted Bollard leather.

“Hmm, not sure if it’s safe, better test it with the undead. Chaos Warrior 1, you go first.”

“Yes. My. Lord.”

With the undead Chaos Warrior’s rigid movements it started to cross the rope bridge.

It was rather easy for the undead to cross since it didn’t have any fear of death.

After having crossed three-fourths of the rope bridge it then used its teleportation to reach the other side.

“Good. Let’s get moving.”

The other undead then took turns in crossing while Tori fly over carrying Geumini and Rover.

Rover, after seeing the hot flowing lava, got frightened and started to struggle but after much effort they were able to go across.

Now it was Weed and Seoyoon’s turn.

Out of concern, Weed suddenly asked Seoyoon.

“Are you scared?”

Seoyoon shook her head and then walked quickly towards the rope bridge.

Weed walked along behind her. He then grabbed the rope and gazed downwards, what he saw was quite a terrifying sight.

Popping bubbles from the red lava were producing intense heat.

One wrong move means a one way trip to hell!

Weed, feeling anxious, started muttering.

“You’re a guy who has live through worst situations than this. Just keep going straight, there should be nothing to be afraid, right? Though crossing the rope bridge maybe risky and dangerous but the monsters here use it and there seems to be no problem. In a way, I should consider myself lucky.”

As soon as Weed finished muttering 10 Chaos Warriors emerged from the other side.

It seems that a group of Chaos Warriors were scouting the area.

“I can sense someone’s presence.”

“Undead!”

“Purify the invading undead. Kill the guy that defiled our fallen brethrens!”

The red axe wielding undead Chaos Warriors, Tori, Van Hawk, Golden Bird, Geumini and Rover got ready to attack.

They were the only ones that could directly intercept them for the meantime.

“Defensive formation! Chaos Warrior 1, 2, and 3 focus your attacks on one of them while using teleportation.”

Weed commanded the battle while staying on the rope bridge and got ready to cast curse magic but then giant eel like figures suddenly emerged from the lava.

These eel like monsters then started spewing fireballs.

And those fireballs blasted Weed’s robe and Seoyoon’s armor.

– You have received fire damage from the Baovant’s attack.

Immolation!

If the fire is not put out the damage will continue to accumulate.

While the two of them were recovering from the sudden attack another group of Baovants appeared and spitted more fireballs.

Due to the increase of fire resistance, the damage was light but the current situation proves to be much more dangerous.

Moreover, each time the fireballs from the Baovants hits them the rope bridge would sway making Weed stumble every 2 to 3 meters when he tries to run.

Balancing to stand is already hard enough and now crossing had become an even more arduous task!

“The master is in danger!”

Van Hawk yelled when he noticed Weed’s crisis.

Weed was dealing with different sets of monsters while staggering to maintain balance but he deemed the Baovants to be a greater threat and decided to deal with them first.

‘They’re in the lava so I can’t attack them directly. Dark magic is all I could use since I don’t have any spells that could counter their fire attribute.’

Water magic series, it would have been a great help in this situation if a water or ice spell could be used.

Though Weed would only be able to use the basic spells even if he had a spell book.

And since he is not of the Wizard class he wouldn’t be able to deal the maximum magic damage from using those spells so using that method cannot defeat the Baovants.

‘I do not want to jump down on the rocks.’

Though the protruding rocks have flat surfaces it was still very unreliable since it was possible to slip into the lava river upon landing.

Fighting the Baovants in the lava river is definitely not an option!

Even if things turn out as a direct battle while equipping the Daemon Sword, as a Necromancer the physical damage would be weak.

‘This is not good.’

Weed is very fast when it comes to decision making but Seoyoon acted first before he could decide.

‘I don’t want to see him die.’

The Baovants started carpet bombing them but Seoyoon blocked the attacks reducing one-third of her health.

Weed was surprised with Seoyoon’s actions.

Light Sword!

One of the sword skills of the Berserker class.

After receiving the damage, she immediately activated this powerful skill. This was the new sword skill she learned after gaining experience from the previous battles.

Seoyoon’s sword was now wrapped with bright red light. She then swung it towards the Baovants.

Kwagwagwagwang!

By consuming mana the sword created a powerful blast.

Light Sword was a simple skill.

It only needs mana to activate and it can directly reduce monsters’ health neglecting their defense.

Since running away from this battle would be very disadvantageous, the only option left is to face them.

So Seoyoon devoted herself in using the sword skill.

Though there were a lot of them the skill was still very efficient to use due to its fast attack speed and high destructive power but the Berserker’s mana is being rapidly consumed.

Keee.

Kkwaeaek!

Baovants that were hit by the blast fell one after another.

Even if they try to defend the Light Sword skill will still successfully hit them robbing away tremendous amount of health.

Now there was no need to directly attack the Baovants since the skill was a long range attack using mana.

And due to the characteristics of the Berserker class the monsters fighting them were now being pressured.

The Baovants then started retaliating using their long range attacks as well.

In the meantime, Weed was clinging on the rope bridge suffering from ongoing battle.

“Damn it.”

Each time Seoyoon attacks, the rope bridge would shake violently.

Baovants spewing fireballs were rapidly decreasing due to Seoyoon constant swing of the sword.

Since they were affected by the Berserker’s curse of madness, the monsters could not escape the barrage of the Light Sword skill.

They now have lost physical control and even if their bodies grew tired and collapse they will still unconditionally attack their surroundings.

A skill that will not stop until all enemies have been obliterated.

Seoyoon intended to stay in order to make a way out for Weed.

Even if the rope bridge was destroyed and she falls to her death, she will still continue using the range attack until all of her mana was depleted.

‘Run away quickly.’

That was the message she was trying to convey in her eyes but Weed interpreted it way too differently.

‘Somehow do something to make us win.’

Weed thought she was being unreasonable.

And the thought of Seoyoon staying behind so that he could go to the other side never came to his mind.

It was hard for him to accept but he must fight together with his colleague.

He must now devote his life to his colleague because he cannot run away.

Weed totally thinks that Seoyoon doesn’t want to be the only one fighting until the very end.

‘With the rope bridge swaying I can’t concentrate on casting magic. What the heck can I do?’

The High Elf Bow!

“Earth Expert, give me support.”

Earth Expert was resummoned then footholds were created on the bridge.

The undead were still continuing their battle with the Chaos Warriors but Weed cannot afford to use mana to help them.

“Water Spirit!”

Weed equipped High Elf Yeurika’s Bow and fired arrows towards the Baovants.

Arrows infused with the power of the water spirit hit the Baovants!

Though the arrows weren’t powerful since he was in the skeleton Lich Shire form it was still enough to help Seoyoon.

The Baovants still continues to attack Seoyoon with their fireballs.

And due to the loud noises they were making the Fire Giants woke up.

“Too noisy, can’t sleep.”

Fire Giants waking up can only mean trouble.

With their arms, measuring tens of meters, caught the Baovants and then threw them away.

Each time they moved the currents of the lava river would change and the ground would shook.

A Fire Giant then took out a sword in the lava river and pointed it towards Weed and Seoyoon.

Upon seeing the mighty swing that killed dozens in the expedition group escaping it would be impossible.

Weed then quickly pulled out an item.

He held out the Fire Giant’s Eye then the incoming swinging sword suddenly stopped.

“You…”

Weed swallowed his saliva with a gulp.

“Are not an enemy.”

Then it changed its attention towards the Baovants.

Weed approached Seoyoon to make sure it would not attack her.

Every time one of the Baovants dies a great number of unknown golden powders would fall into the lava river.

They were precious items but they were not worth the risk!

With the Baovants being disposed of Seoyoon stopped using her skill and was now free to move.

Seoyoon then quickly run across the rope bridge and joined the battle of the undead against the Chaos Warriors.

Only nine of the enemies were left, the undead were able to kill one.

Rover, Geumini, Tori, and Van Hawk were enduring the battle but now help has arrived.

Now that there were no more dangerous factors, Weed has no need to cross the rope bridge in a hurry so he began casting curse magic to aid the undead.

Curse magic that targeted large area were used since it was hard to target them due to teleportation.

And since the part of the dungeon the Chaos Warriors appeared at wasn’t very wide it was easy to hit them with those curse magic.

The current battle had made the Chaos Warriors fall into a state of panic because of the awakening of the Fire Giants but because of that Weed was able to take advantage of it and finish the fight.

Weed then heard the sound of the Fire Giants going back to sleep not too far away.

“I… shouldn’t make too much noise like the Chaos Warriors and Baovants.”

Fire Giants like to soak in the hot lava and doesn’t want to be disturbed!

Weed must now reorganize the undead since he had just lost a lot of undead Chaos Warriors along the way.

There were also new bodies to use for summoning but Weed did not yet leave the rope bridge.

“…?”

Seoyoon, Rover, and Geumini had puzzled looks unable to understand Weed’s current behaviour.

“I can’t just leave those precious ores behind.”

First class jewels and large chunks of ores such as Mithril, diamonds, ambers, and adamantiums, were protruding on the surfaces of the rocks in the lava river.

It’s not that often that one can see such large amount of ores and so Weed started climbing down.

Upon safely landing, Weed again took out the Fire Giant’s Eye and placed it in plain view.

He then equips his hammer and chisel and started chipping off the protrusions making a lot of noise.

Kkang, kkang, kkang, kkang!

Weed decided to work carefully but making noise at the moment was a necessary step.

After a while, the Fire Giants opened their eyes.

“Silence is the best.”

Words for sleep suggestion!

Weed continues extracting the ores while trying to hypnotize them.

Each time a Fire Giant is in a half sleep state he would try giving them suggestions.

“There are too many Chaos Warriors. Kill, kill as many as you can. Why? Because your race is the one that truly dominates fire.”

“This lava river flows on the entire continent. Surely this would lead to some of their bases.”

“Besides, the Fire Giants are the true rulers of Las Phalanx.”

“If you guys don’t make the initiative then this land will be taken from you.”

“Also those annoying Chaos Warriors are noisy. It would be best if their numbers are reduced.”

When they were about to completely wake up Weed would pretend to drowsily yawn and it would successfully suggest the Fire Giants to doze back to sleep.

During all this, 15 different types of high class jewels and ores were acquired and enough Mithril to create two swords.

A large profit was obtained in Las Phalanx.

***

Yurin was scattering paint on a clear lake.

A scene that would clearly shocked a nature conservationist!

Living near the lake were large and small herbivorous animals and monsters.

With their glossy eyes they were carefully watching Yurin.

The Aqualight Painter was painting and a crowd was gathering.

“What picture should I draw?”

Yurin was muttering to herself while trying to find a theme.

Pale’s party were on a quest related to Mordred, the Imperial Capital of the fallen Nilfheim Empire.

But she wanted to freely travel to many different places so left the party for a while.

“Animals and monsters seem to live in harmony here.”

Yurin began painting trees with abundant fruits on the lake.

Then a field with sweet potatoes in it followed, the idea was so that the monsters here will not starve.

Surprisingly the painting did not spread in the water.

By the time Yurin’s hair covered by her hat fell down to her shoulders, her brush had finished painting.

– Aqualight painting was used on the lake!

– You have completed ‘Nature’s Bounty’!

A beautiful landscape drawn on the lake, it depicts nature’s overflowing abundance as viewed by the artist.

A scene that calms the mind.

The precise coloring and delicate brush strokes shows that it was made by a maturing painter.

However it did not completely integrate with nature and when rain comes the painting will be disturbed.

Artistic Value: 98

Special Options:
As long as Nature’s Bounty is reflected in the water there will be a temporary increase in the nearby plants’ growth rate.

Animals will tend to gather near the lake.

4% increase in mana regeneration for Cleric and Wizard classes.

– Beginner Illustration skill level rises to 7. Drawing lines are much more accurate and can take advantage at the characteristics of drawing tools.

– Dye Painting skill proficiency has increased.

Yurin was now admiring her work.

She was glad that the animals were delighted.

But suddenly the water on the lake started to undulate.

“Uh, what’s happening all of a sudden?”

Yurin became flustered and tried to run away from the lake.

But then the ripples in the water calmed down and water droplets started rising.

Since it was night time, she relied on the stars and the moonlight to see.

And upon seeing the picture of the night sky reflected on the water she was mesmerized.

Then the water droplets that were rising from the lake surround her and started spinning around.

With the moon and stars reflected on the water, the water droplets were sparkling!

But the marvellous sight did not end there.

The painting drawn by Yurin was changing into something different.

A never before seen mountain and a castle beyond imagination appeared.

The water droplets that were now floating seem to lead Yurin towards the beautiful painting.

Yurin then approached the painting.

Even though the water in the lake was rocking, the painting was undisturbed.

“Where is that place?”

It was a very beautiful castle.

And its gates were wide open as if it was trying to invite her in.

Deciding to take the risk, Yurin painted her appearance in front of the castle and then activated her skill.

“Picture Teleportation!”

After a few moments, Yurin’s presence disappeared from the lake.

The power that kept the water droplets floating also disappeared and it fell down towards the lake.

At first, the castle in the painting could not be seen but then…

“Wow!”

Yurin uttered a voice of excitement.

It was the most beautiful castle in the Versailles Continent!

It was built on a windy hill of a mountain with a wide field in its background.

Yurin walked on the golden fields and head towards the castle.

It seems to have been built a hundred years ago and somehow had magic protection since the castle was clean and has received little damage.

It was the same as the majestic castle found in the painting.

– You have seen St. George’s Castle.

– Fame increased by 350.

– You have appreciated the beauty of the building, Wisdom increased by 10, Art Stat increased by 25.

It was an amazing gain for Yurin since both Wisdom and Art Stat got an increase.

If this was Weed, he would surely have a rotten smile on his face while looking at scenery.

“Excuse me.”

There were no guards guarding the opened gate.

“I would like to go inside!”

She gallantly exclaimed her intentions and walked passed through the gate.

There were many flowers and trees growing in the garden and fishes swimming on the clear pond.

One could even smell the faint scents of the flowers.

And now the awaited interior detail tour of the castle!

There were a lot of rooms inside such as a study, a library, the maids’ room, the guards’ room, and up on the second floor are the knights’ room.

On the second floor, there exist a large room with the name Petrov written on it.

Surprisingly, the room opposite to it has Yurin’s name written on it.

“Somehow this does not seem like a coincidence.”

Carefully, Yurin decided to look for the room’s owner and opened the door without letting out a sound.

Inside was a spacious living room with marble floors of elaborate designs worthy for a noble!

On the open windows one could see the castle’s garden and the magnificent sight of the mountains.

In the bedroom, there is a bed large enough to fit 5 people and sleep comfortably.

In the bathroom, a large tub filled with warm water had rose petals scattered in it!

The room was like a high class hotel suite.

And on the wall hangs a blank canvas.

It seems that she had the room of the fairy tale like castle all to herself.

Time seemed to have slowed down for Yurin but it was cut short for footsteps could be heard climbing the stairs.

“Someone who lives in this castle has just returned, too bad I can’t enjoy this place alone anymore. Since that person has received a saint’s permission to live here does that mean his not a bad person? But then again, there were no magical alarm devices installed in the castle against illegal entry.”

When Yurin entered the room she had left the door open.

And standing in that opened doorway is a man with shaggy hair and clothes dyed with various paints.

He then let out a loud discontented voice.

“Hey you, Aqualight Painter, don’t just walk in here as you plea–”

The moment the man saw Yurin’s countenance, his face stiffened and his heart stopped beating, he was utterly speechless.

Aqualight Painter Petrov!

He was a man that inconspicuously painted in Royal Road.

His paintings are known by the fairies and spirits but the rest of the world has yet to see them.

Though he had gained tremendous Fame, it was only limited to the fairies and spirits.

And all of his accepted quests were only related to increasing his painting skill proficiency.

It was also he who has found St. George’s Castle.

“I don’t give a damn about people’s recognition.”

Petrov lived his life only with pride and passion.

And now due to an uninvited guest he has a very awkward expression on his face.

“Hello, you are my neighbor Petrov?”

Yurin started talking to him but then immediately apologized as an afterthought.

“I’m so sorry I came in without the owner knowing, I’ll leave now.”

“No, it is okay. I am not even the owner of this castle.”

Petrov then anxiously explained the situation to Yurin in a hurry.

The St. George’s Castle was actually a castle not built on the Versailles Continent.

It was originally the painting on the blank canvas.

Marvelled by the painting, the fairies gave it a suitable space to be built and used dragon magic to level the land.

“I’ve been here for a year now, currently on a quest to restore this castle.”

“Uhm, I was painting on a lake when suddenly a painting of this castle showed up.”

“I see and since you’re an Aqualight Painter you were able to get here. Though the skill of the Aqualight Painter is one way to travel here, other painters should also have some other means of getting here but that’ll require triggering certain quests.”

“Hey, this room…”

“It’s Yurin’s room. It should be pretty comfortable inside.”

“It is possible to return to this room from anywhere in the Versailles Continent, you can also bring your own items and leave them here. In addition, you can also export the items you own from here.”

Petrov the painter that had reached intermediate painting skill took advantage of this castle due to his quest and he has no desire in revealing any of his known information to the public.

But whenever he would look at Yurin his heart would start racing.

Petrov normally had an arrogant and self-righteous nature and he would frequently ignore other people.

But from the moment he met Yurin he fell in love at first sight.

As a painter, it was natural for him to appreciate the charm and beauty of women.

Yurin’s soft and delicate facial lines and her clear deep eyes were just too beautiful beyond compare!

She is already very beautiful as is but she gave off an impression that she will be even more beautiful in the near future.

She was the perfect beauty a painter would want to continue painting for the rest of his life.

And so Petrov told everything he knows to Yurin.

“When you leave a painting in your room you will continue to receive its effect wherever you are.”

“What do you mean by receive its effect?”

“Ah, I’m sorry for saying that all of a sudden without any proper explanations. What I meant to say was the effects of the painting the grants blessings to players. Paintings drawn by other artists are exempted from this only from your own paintings will you receive its effects. For example, if you place my paintings in your room you will not receive any of its effects.”

Petrov had a pathetic expression on his face.

He wanted to look good in explaining things but got awkward and started hurrying up the explanations.

But every time he converses with Yurin he would occasionally observe her beauty especially each time she changes her facial expressions.

Petrov had completely fallen for her.

***

Having crossed the lava twice, they are now deep within the Inferno Dungeon.

They continue to fight the Inferno Knights and Chaos Warriors along the way and now they were experiencing a volcanic eruption.

Experiencing the volcanic eruption while deep underground in Las Phalanx gave off a new sense of excitement.

Even if one hides in a safe zone one will still feel the shaking like those in thrill rides.

“Keueeek!”

Rover, Geumini, and the undead were stumbling all over the place while Weed and Seoyoon barely manage by sticking to the walls.

“Summon Earth Expert. Provide support to the undead and the rest.”

Thanks to Earth Expert the party have stopped stumbling.

Wall collapse in the passages of the dungeon was also prevented guarantying their survival.

Weed had gathered a lot of information about Inferno Dungeon.

For many years, the inhabiting monsters were in constant strife against each other.

Since in Las Phalanx the various races of monsters were only born on their own respective dungeons. This had caused them to solidify their own group.

And Inferno Dungeon was the main passage that connects all dungeons of Las Phalanx. Things turned out that way because of the deformations made by the volcanic eruptions, either creating new paths or blocking them.

But the most frightening of all was the amount of lava that flows out during volcanic eruptions!

The lava that came from deep underground runs through the passages at terrifying momentum.

And right now a certain change occurred in Weed’s safe zone, signs of small cracks were appearing.

Hot air was coming out like that of a steamer.

It seems as though lava will burst out from it but it’s actually still relatively safe for awhile.

“It had erupted today so I guess it will be dormant for a few days.”

If one doesn’t waste this chance then one can freely explore the dungeon.

Though it was vague whether what occurred was a minor earthquake or an eruption, Weed was able to confirm that it was indeed an eruption through the various signs.

Weed being able to completely adapt to the volcano’s nature started sculpting a rock!

“If the world gets destroyed by tomorrow, I’ll be able to stop paying taxes.”

After waiting for the flowing lava to calm down, the speed of the exploration had tremendously increased.

Before letting the monsters settle down during the aftermath, the undead struck them first.

While continuing the hunt for Inferno Knights they battled a certain group of Chaos Warriors.

Among them, a Chaos Warrior uttered some strange words.

“Kubichya will avenge me.”
“You will definitely experience death in his might.”

Weed was intrigue so he inquired.

“What are you talking about?”

“What do you think? I have nothing more to say to you.”

The Chaos Warrior, even though held as a captive, still has its pride and refused to give information.

“Tori, go suck his blood.”

“No matter what you do I will never spill anything. Just kill me already!”

It seems that even with torture the Chaos Warrior still wants to keep its secrets to the grave.

So Weed changed his approach, though difficult, tried reading his opponent’s facial expressions and thus he started his provocations.

“Hooo, so you’ll even keep your mouth shut about Kubichya’s Dragon Sword. I guess it really is a fact that Chaos Warriors have high regards with each other.”

“You… How did you…”

“So it really is true.”

The Chaos Warrior flinched as if it was being stabbed.

While hunting in the dungeon, Weed’s party have been wandering for a few days.

Since the already complicated passages continue to change like upon reaching a dead end the path to return to the previous one would disappear.

They have been travelling for a long time so to some extent they should be nearing their goal.

“For a long time he had the Dragon Sword in his possession but why is it that he has yet to go to the magic circle?”

“…..…”

The Chaos Warrior closed its mouth once again.

“Chaos Warrior Kubichya, he had an incredibly fast growth. With the Dragon Sword in his hands there were no opponents that could match him.”

“…….!”

The Chaos Warrior could not conceal the look of amazement in its face.

Seoyoon and the other sculptures of life were also surprised of how clever Weed is in getting a reaction out of the Chaos Warrior.

“A lot of time has passed since then… Kubichya has now become the leader of your race didn’t he?”

The Chaos Warrior let out a derisive laugh.

Weed then changed his wording.

“No, preceding that he is the Daejeonsa. The most distinguished warrior among the Chaos Warriors!” (T/N: Daejeonsa – using endic.naver.com as reference this can mean as ‘a mighty warrior’, this is also the name of a Korean Buddhist Temple)

“…….!”

“So far the conflict between the Chaos Warriors and Inferno Knights has yet to cease to exist and the reason you guys are trying to invade the Inferno Knights’ territory is because the magic circle is located somewhere there.”

“…….!”

“That’s the main reason why your race wages a territorial war on them isn’t it? Even though the Inferno Knights have high fertility rate you must still struggle to kill them so that your race will get their hands on the magic circle!”

“Chaos Warrior, even if you don’t speak that exaggerated expression you have right now is enough to tell me everything.”

Weed then gave out a brief explanation.

“Anyone who has eagerly watched morning and evening dramas could easily guess it at this degree.”

“……..”

South Korea’s massive drama fan base!

Weed had watched a lot of TV dramas together with his grandma. In those dramas, it is common to see a storyline that involves someone about to die and another one trying their best to save that person. Since those dramas had a lot of emotional scenes, you don’t even need the dialogues, just seeing their expressions is already enough for you to know what’s happening.

“Anyway, I got to arrive there first before Kubichya obtains its power.”

“It is already too late.”

“What makes you say that?”

“When the volcano erupted a small passage heading straight to them has opened. Right about now, Kubichya leading the army of Chaos Warriors should be at location of the magic circle.”

*Ttiring!*

– You have obtained information relating to the quest.

A cinematic appeared in front of Weed.

In it there was a large cave.

Found in the corner of a boiling lava lake, it was the Inferno Knight’s largest settlement!

In the center of it was an altar with a magic circle drawn. A colossal amount of red mana is gathered around it which seems to continuously expand and contract.

“Kubichya has invaded!”

“Kill the Chaos Warriors! Protect our sacred land!”

Inferno Knights versus Chaos Warriors!

Both sides mobilized at least 500 troops for battle.

But the Inferno Knights fell one after another from the mighty swing of the Chaos Warrior that was wielding a red sword instead of an axe.

It seems that the Chaos Warriors were 1.5 times the number of Inferno Knights and were proving to be difficult to defeat.

An intensive battle was unfolding between the races.

– The quest The Recovery of the Red Star has been updated.

Goal: Stop the Chaos Warriors.

Kubichya aims to absorb the power gathered by Imbeol’s Circle from all over Las Phalanx and using it he intends to make the Chaos Warriors unstoppable.

Fight against Kubichya together with the Inferno Knights.

To see the battle in the Inferno Knights’ point of view, close your eyes for 4 seconds.

The quest will fail if Kubichya successfully absorbs the mana of the magic circle.

Weed still has the murderer’s mark and his Infamy has exceeded 7,500. His name was still in red and was exposed so he was thinking of ways where the Inferno Knight’s will not attack them but then a pattern of overlapping small and large circles emerged and was engraved in his forehead.

The symbol of the Inferno Knights!

The same symbol also engraved itself to Seoyoon, the sculptures of life, and the undead.

Weed was the one leading the quest but because they were part of the same party they also received the symbol.

– You have been engraved with the Inferno Symbol.

You are no longer hostile to Inferno Knights.

Weed then closed his eyes and watched the ongoing battle.

Kubichya showed an impressive display of skills.

Just by swinging the Red Star fireballs were hurtling towards his enemies.

Advance fire magic was casted freely.

No incantation, wide range of explosions, fire arrows made by the Red Star was a very powerful magic!

Chaos Warriors led by Kubichya were driven with great momentum.

Looking at the current battle, the Inferno Knights can probably last for about 3 to 4 hours.

If this has only been a one on one battle then they wouldn’t have been driven to a corner.

“Hmm… I do not have much time left. Angry Stone, Earth Expert, summon.”

“Is there still work to do, my Lord?”

“Lately, all we do is drudging.”

Without listening to their complaints Weed began to give orders.

“Angry Stone, locate the place where a large battle is occurring. Earth Expert, find the nearest shortcut to that location.”

“For us, that’ll be an easy task.”

Angry Stone and Earth Expert soon disappeared and then reappeared.

“I have located the place. It will take about 30 minutes to get there by running so follow me, I shall lead the way.”

Time is gold!

Even these 30 minutes is enough to make the tides of battle irreversible for the Inferno Knights.

But since there are physical limitations for both sides, there will most probably be intermissions during the battle.

They should be able to hold out for about 3 to 4 hours, the worst case scenario of reaching the magic circle will not happen just yet.

“Let’s go!”

Weed, Seoyoon, and the rest started to run.

But of course, Weed did not forget to kill the imprisoned Chaos Warrior and picked up the japtems.

Dadadadadak!

Weed, Seoyoon, and the rest of the party were making loud noises as they run.

It seems that all of the remaining Chaos Warriors and Inferno Knights were involved in the current battle so they did not encounter any of them along the way.

Weed closed his eyes briefly in the midst of running to check the situation of the war.

“This will be quite difficult.”

Kubichya and the Chaos Warriors were too powerful.

“A completely different race, they should be stronger than the Lich Shire and should be around the same level that of Bar Khan.”

Kubichya was a great warrior.

At the forefront of the battlefield, with near infinite stamina and superior battle prowess, the Inferno Knights were utterly crushed.

Fitting for the title of Daejeonsa!

The fire magic of the Red Star was used again but due to the high fire resistance of the Inferno Knights they did not fall easily.

“Before I arrive, I need to do something beforehand.”

Weed briefly stopped and pulled out the Mysterious Bird.

Immediately realizing what was about to happen, Golden Bird flapped its wings with delight.

“O seal of the Ahreupen Empire sculpted by the great Emperor Geihar, I shall share my life unto you, the soul of a noble artist. Now rise from your endless sleep and become my comrade-in-arms. Give Life to Sculpture!”

– You have granted life to a sculpture.

The level of the sculpture will be based on the Art Stat.

The Art Stat is currently 1,889, so the sculpture’s base level will be 447.

Additionally, due to being categorized as a historical treasure, the Seal of the Ahreupen Empire made by the Master Sculptor Emperor Geihar will have 35% of its level added. Level is increased to 603.

However, certain level penalties shall be applied.

There will be a 10% level penalty due to the monster being a flying-type.

There will be a 10% level penalty due to the monster having transformation ability.

There will be a 7% level penalty considering that the sculpture had a long history thereby having its durability reduced through time.

Three attributes has been granted.

The attributes will vary in power according to the form and quality of the sculpture.

Jewel Attribute (100%), Wind Attribute (100%), Art Attribute (100%)

Jewel Attribute is a special charisma that increases political influence.

Wind Attribute will increase the monster’s flying speed.

Art Attribute will increase the effects of sculptures and other works of art by 150%. This is applicable to all of the monster’s party.

Due to being categorized as a historical treasure, it will have extraordinary grace and dignity.

Since it is a work done by the Master Sculptor Emperor Geihar, health and mana will be increased. Other additional effects of the Master Sculptor will not be applied due to the lack of talent by the one granting life.

Additionally, being the seal that symbolizes the Ahreupen Empire, special abilities will be added.

Can summon a mysterious fog, favourable to use for defense during a siege.

Strengthens the ability to conduct soldiers and improves reconnaissance.

5,000 mana has been used.

Due to the increase of efficiency in the use of the skill Give Life to Sculpture, the consumed level and stats will be reduced by 20%.

6 Art Stat is permanently decreased.

The decreased stat can be recovered by creating sculptures or other art related activities.

1 level has dropped.

Due to the decrease of level, most recently raised stat will decrease by 5.

The stats can be raised again upon level up

Please care for the sculpture with life.

Upon death, the sculpture must be granted life again to return its soul.

The sculpture cannot be revived if it has been completely destroyed.

For hundreds of years, the Mysterious Bird had symbolized Ahreupen Empire’s Imperial Household’s majesty.

And now that sculpture that is made of Mithril and Platinum had began to move.

Kkirurururu.

The Mysterious Bird blinked its eyes and was greeted by the sight of Geumini and Rover.

Then it looked at Weed and Seoyoon alternatively.

Just like a newborn chick looking for its mother!

Weed caught its attention so he then started talking to it.

“I’m the one that bestowed life unto you. I am your father.”

The Mysterious Bird with eyes made of beautiful jewels walked unsteadily towards Weed.

But unlike the Golden Bird, it was able to immediately speak with its beak even at its current form.

“Father, please grant me a name.”

“A name… I need a good name…”

Weed then skimmed the figure of the Mysterious Bird and was able to come up with a name.

“I’ll name you Eunsae.”

In a way, it was a good name but the nuance was no different from the name Rover.

“Eunsae, it’s a pretty good name. I like it. Thank you, Father.”

After that, it immediately nestled itself on Seoyoon’s shoulder.

Weed was the one the granted it life but pretty much prefers Seoyoon than him!

From the looks of it, its nature seems to be that of a female.

“Anyway, let’s go!”

Weed can’t afford to waste time anymore.

“This way.”

With the guidance of Earth Expert, they didn’t have to hesitate in which path to choose when they encountered forks on the road.

After 25 minutes, they finally arrived at their destination!

The Chaos Warriors and the Inferno Knights were still engaged in the large scale war.

With deafening explosions, the flames soared through the battlefield.

Weed knew roughly the situation of the battle but Seoyoon and the sculptures of life had no idea.

Kubichya, wielding the Red Star, displayed tremendous battle prowess.

Under his leadership, the Chaos Warriors fought using different formations. Weed, at first, calculated that the Inferno Knights should be able to hold out for 3 to 4 hours but by looking at the situation now, it is quite apparent that they aren’t going to last that long.

If they fall here, the power balance in Las Phalanx will start to crumble.

“Keuheum.”

Weed was now quite hesitant.

But then Fire Giants suddenly emerged from the lava lake.

“Waking me from my sleep, I shall kill all of you!”

“Annoying bastards disturbing our sleep, you shall all face our wrath!”

The five intruding Fire Giants brandished their swords!

But in spite of that, the Inferno Knights and Chaos Warriors did not back away.

In addition, massive numbers of Baovants have also joined the fray.

They began spewing fireballs adding more to the confusion.

The chaotic battlefield has now gathered all of the monsters of Inferno Dungeon.

“The Inferno Knights seems to be still around 300. Ah, another two just died… Chaos Warriors seems to be getting more reinforcements and are now about twice the numbers of Inferno Knights. Though I knew that the Fire Giants will appear at some point but I didn’t expect for the Baovants to join in as well.”

Weed was able to estimate their numbers and has now been assessing the battle.

Rover was hiding due to fear while Geumini was losing his will to fight.

“Golgolgol, we’ll only end up dying if we engaged with the battle right now.”

Weed was being reminded of the impending death!

Seoyoon calmly watched Weed. She had decided to follow whatever decisions he will make in his quest.

The S-class quests had only been leading to extreme hardships one after another so is continuing it right now worth the risk?

Weed must now make his decision.

Chapter 8: Las Phalanx’s Race War

“Fight.”

Weed finally decided.

Golden Bird and Eunsae, the two shared the same opinion in disregarding Weed’s choice.

Since he is a human with lower level than them, they do not properly view him as their master.

However, Weed clearly expressed that he wants to join the battle so they have to voice their thoughts.

“That’s suicidal.”

“You just gave yourself a death sentence.”

They don’t have any faith in Weed at all!

“All of your opinions don’t matter, we are all in this together and there is not much time left.”

Upon realizing what was about to happen, both Tori and Van Hawk hang their heads.

‘I’ve met the wrong master.’

‘How could I have gotten myself involved with this man again?’

Weed’s servants fell into deep despair.

Geumini and Rover were both stricken with fear in contrast to Seoyoon who didn’t even show a hint of it.

That’s because the harsher the conditions the brighter Seoyoon shines on the battlefield.

Weed shifted his gaze from Seoyoon and returns back to observing the battle.

“Though I did say we will join the battle but for now let us wait here.”

The Chaos Warriors led by Kubichya that were fighting against the Inferno Knights were now divided.

Some of them broke off to fight the Fire Giants while others targeted the Baovants.

While the Fire Giants and Baovants retaliated to their attacks, the Inferno Knights were somehow granted temporary respite.

Each of the races was trying to dominate one another, truly a war to see who reigns supreme.

Whenever the Fire Giants displayed their strength, the entire dungeon would shake while the massive concentrated fire attacks of the Baovants were extremely hot enough to the point of melting the rocks.

If Weed were to make his move now together with his party and undead, influencing the flow of the battle would prove to be difficult.

Weed only has a handful of undead Chaos Warriors left and even if he has Golden Bird and Eunsae with him, they will still face enemies whose numbers are far greater than them.

“Will the Inferno Knights follow me if I command them? But even if they did, it is still not enough to guarantee our victory against the Chaos Warriors.”

Weed thought of using his Advanced Necromancer skills to produce an undead legion but they will most likely not last long if pitted against the Chaos Warriors.

Making the Inferno Knights emerge as the final victor at the end of this race war was truly difficult.

While Weed was brooding over the battle, 30 minutes have passed.

By now, about a hundred Chaos Warriors have fallen but at the same time 50 more would arrive as reinforcements.

Meanwhile, the Inferno Knights had gain 70 casualties.

It was quite clear to see which side is losing even if one watched the battle from a distance.

***

“Ah!”

“Why isn’t he doing anything?”

Ever since the start of Weed’s quest in Las Phalanx, the staff of KMC Media were always working overtime.

The Operations Team stayed behind to edit the audios and videos. Even the completely unrelated General Affairs, Human Resource, and other Department Staff also remained in the station.

No one wants to leave because they all want to watch Weed’s adventure.

The staff even have warm coffees and lap blankets prepared.

If Weed fails in his quest then the entire Versailles Continent will be greatly affected.

Therefore, everyone’s interests were only focused on the quest.

Not only was Royal Road popular to the young of both genders but also to the old.

“Kill! Kill them!”

“Destroy it!”

“Items! Just now, what items did they drop?”

“Jackpot!”

Pyeon Seong Gu, also known as the beautiful female mascot of the station, has been constantly filling the entire cinema room with her yelling, cheering, and whacking to the point that everyone present has already gotten used to it.

Even though the staff are just watching from a screen, the adventure in Royal Road is still too vivid.

It was a good thing that the time in Royal Road is 4 times than that of the real world since they could just skip the boring parts like when the party is eating, walking, resting, etc.

Since they were watching the live broadcast, they were getting a lot of video materials.

That is because it was Weed’s adventure so there weren’t that many parts to cut out.

Also, the adventure in Las Phalanx has a lot of sudden earthquakes which leads to disastrous events such as the grounds cracking and walls collapsing which does not fail to surprise everyone each time.

“Weed, why haven’t you attacked yet?”

Every one of the staff thought of the same question as Director Kang.

This was now the last stage of the S-class difficulty quest. If Weed succeeds then his name will go down in Versailles Continent’s history.

But the viewers in the room are now beginning to worry since the quest might end in disappointment.

KMC Media couldn’t help but place low expectations after seeing that the final adversary was a hard wall to break through.

But if it can’t be done by Weed then who else is there that can clear such difficult quest?

“Hmm, aren’t you going to make a move soon?”

Director Kang was feeling anxious so he tried calming himself down by guzzling his glass of water but his secretary that was watching beside him got him bewildered when she suddenly said a few words.

“I think he gave up.”

“Gave up?”

Director Kang asked in doubt.

“Weed having gotten this far, going to give up now? If he wins this battle then he will gain tremendous rewards so I don’t think there is any reason for him to just give up.”

“However, it is now certain that he cannot win. He has no options left except giving up.”

“That may be the case but……”

Director Kang had a bitter expression on his face.

Despite the hopeless situation, he can’t help but have these vague expectations that want to root for Weed!

Chaos Warriors, Inferno Knights, Fire Giants, and Baovants, if you look at the situation, it’s like Weed’s party is a group of lobsters challenging a sea full of whales.

“It’s best to abandon the quest and come back alive.”

Even a kindergartner would have arrived at this rational and reasonable conclusion.

But even still, Director Kang and the staff of KMC media were still feeling tense in anticipation for Weed’s actions in the video.

‘Quest is too difficult. Just give up on this one since there are still other quests out there.’

It was common to see players doing a challenging quest abandon it midway due to high difficulty but the current adventure right now involves Weed so they want to see it until the very end.

Because Weed would always produce extraordinary results!

***

Weed’s eyes never left the battlefield, always calculating his next course of action. He continues to assess the battle without taking any breaks.

‘Not yet….’

The Chaos Warriors led by Kubichya were slaughtering the Inferno Knights one by one.

The Fire Giants were still running rampant and swinging their swords fissuring the ground and making the ceiling and walls collapse.

Due to the ceiling collapsing, large numbers of Baovants in the lava lake were killed by the falling debris.

In the midst of this pandemonium, Weed still remained focused so as not to miss the opportunity to strike.

Kubichya’s skills in fighting were very diverse.

During the battle, he picked up an axe and was now wielding two different weapons in both hands.

He even performed a seven consecutive combo strike using the axe.

And whenever he swings his axe in empty air, a powerful blast would hit an Inferno Knight.

“Wrath of Fire.”

Fire magic of the Dragon Sword Red Star was used.

The Inferno Knights tried to block the fire magic with their shields but the destructive power was so strong that they were blown away.

Kubichya was even able to knock down a Fire Giant. He then launched a flurry of attacks by alternatively striking the Fire Giant with his axe and sword.

“RAAAAAAAAA!”

The moment the Fire Giant collapsed, the nearby hordes of Chaos Warriors shouted in unison signalling the charge for their attack.

The dying Fire Giant was rolling back and forth due to severe pain!

By the time one of the Fire Giants finally died, about less than half of the original numbers of the Inferno Knights were left guarding Imbeol’s Circle

The other Fire Giants rages even more intensely and the Inferno Knights wielding their swords and shields were yelling and desperately struggling.

Once Kubichya absorbs the mana of Imbeol’s Circle, he will evolve into an even more powerful monster.

Weed having superhuman patience still continued to wait even with the worsening situation happening before him.

“Still… It is not yet the time.”

Waiting just like a robber preparing to rob a bank, Weed culminated his concentration.

In the sea of fire, about a thousand fire attribute monsters were still engaged in the chaotic war.

After a while, Kubichya again was able to kill another Fire Giant.

Passing for even more time here will only let the Chaos Warriors gain the upper hand so it was now the time to act.

“Now.”

Weed finally made his move.

“Rover, Geumini, you two will not engage in battle so stay here. If things don’t look good then run away.”

“Understood, golgolgol!”

“All of the undead shall follow my orders. Undead Commander!”

Necromancer skill!

With the skill active, it was now possible to gain complete control of the undead ignoring their wills as if puppets connected to strings.

After waiting silently in the side line for more than one hour, Weed began his attacks.

“Blink!”

Raising their axes, the undead Chaos Warriors began to run.

Using their teleport skill, they went straight to Kubichya’s location.

But that was not the only thing Weed had in mind.

Before his undead arrives he aimed his magic towards the body of the Fire Giant Kubichya just killed.

“Corpse Explosion!”

From the body of the Fire Giant, a large deafening explosion occurred spreading all throughout the area.

“Keuaak!”

Kubichya got hit by the explosion and the other nearby Chaos Warriors was blown away.

– Corpse Explosion skill proficiency has greatly increased.

Hostility from the Fire Giants increases by 55%.

A lot of system message windows were popping out.

That’s because Weed has been casting curse magic to Kubichya in rapid succession. About two-thirds of those spells were resisted and only the Blinding Jinx and three other curse magic took effect.

Before the smoke and flames even disappeared in the area, the undead Chaos Warriors began hitting Kubichya with their axes.

“Kuaaa!”

Assault of the undead!

The undead commenced an all out attack before the enemy Chaos Warriors could intervene.

Kubichya was able to counterattack with his sword and burn some of the undead but not before taking some damage.

After all, Weed was very fast in conducting the undead.

“Golden Bird, carry me and fly. Eunsae, you go straight to Kubichya. Tori, Van Hawk, you two follow.”

““Understood””

Using both of its feet, Golden Bird grabbed Weed in the shoulders and began flying over the battlefield.

Passing through between the legs of the Fire Giants, superb flying that could even avoid the teleporting Chaos Warriors chasing them!

Tori with his black cloak spread out followed suit in flying carrying Van hawk with him.

“Put me down now!”

They were still 10 meters above were Kubichya is but upon hearing the order Golden Bird released its claws that was holding Weed.

Passing through the smoke and flames, Weed successfully crashed onto Kubichya.

Weed had used his undead to draw Kubichya’s attention while confusing him with his curse magic. This was Weed’s plan in order to take advantage of Kubichya’s huge build and successfully land on his back.

However, Kubichya also has long arms so he uses his axe to swing it upon Weed that was clinging on his back.

“Damn it! Equip shield, Closed Eyes!”

At this moment, Weed can only rely on his endurance.

The axe smashed through the shield and struck Weed.

An extremely powerful impact!

– You have received a heavy shock.

You lost 38,900 Health Points.

Until you have healed and make a full recovery, you will have a 2,590 decrease in your maximum health.

You are stunned for 7 seconds.

You cannot use magic due to the loss of sense of balance.

Even upon receiving such damage, Weed still persisted in clinging onto Kubichya.

He made a desperate struggle to stay there by grabbing Kubichya’s giant helmet.

If he falls here, he will die with a useless death.

Even if he was not killed by Kubichya it is still possible that he might be stepped on by a Fire Giant or get caught up in the bombardment of fireballs by the Baovants upon falling.

Weed was desperate to avoid the variety of death that awaits him.

To Weed, it was the longest 7 seconds in his entire life.

Kubichya was very fast, Weed could feel it due the intense movements of his body.

The undead continued their distraction making the target of Kubichya’s axe and sword switch to them instead of Weed.

With the support of the undead Weed barely manage to endure the 7 seconds!

Weed’s vision and his sense of balance have now returned to normal.

So far, he was still clutching on to Kubichya’s helmet.

And while his hands were still on the helmet he activated his magic.

“Life Drain! Mana Drain!”

These spells of the Lich were very useful but the downside is it can only be activated in close proximity but Weed just pulled off an insane stunt and was able to utilize these spells in battle.

Hanging onto the back of an ultra-high level monster, the Chaos Daejeonsa wielding the Dragon Sword, and absorbing its health and mana, a move no one would dare think of!

“Annoying and cowardly skeleton, you’re still not dead?!”

Kubichya was still busy fending off the undead unable to stop Weed.

If the undead weren’t there parrying and disrupting Kubichya’s attacks, Weed wouldn’t have lasted this long.

Weed chained down Kubichya on the spot with such a risky move!

Though Weed may have the advantage in position it was still hard for him to attack or activate offense magic such as Dark Spear.

“Kuaaa!”

Kubichya yelled as he channelled all of his anger on his attacks reducing the numbers of the undead!

It was never easy for Weed to maintain his position in Kubichya’s back.

Whenever Kubichya moves, Weed would need to apply more force to continue clinging and when Kubichya swings his axe at the back of his head Weed would narrowly avoid it by nimbly moving back and forth.

Like a cicada clinging to a rampaging rhino!

The act of riding on the back of Daejeonsa Kubichya was so full tension that the hair in one’s skin would definitely stand up.

Also, even just touching him is already enough to burn someone.

“Blink.”

Kubichya tried to use his teleportation skill but failed.

Since Weed has been constantly draining his health and mana, he could not use any of his skills.

“Damn skeleton! You dare make a saddle out of my back, I’ll kill you next!”

Kubichya now intends to focus on killing Weed but just like before, he was able to avoid his attacks which constantly annoys him.

Suddenly from within the smoke, Golden Bird and Eunsae appeared.

Using their transformation ability they turned into a spear and a sword.

Attaining their maximum speed, the transformed weapons were aimed at Kubichya!

The attacks were like two beams of light flashing through the air.

Though the attacks might deal a huge damage, the conditions weren’t enough to warrant a hit.

Kubichya would definitely try to evade the attack so Weed needed the undead to pin him down.

Weed calculated the time before Kubichya starts his evasive actions. Planning to be one step ahead, Weed shouted his command.

“Undead, rush him!”

The undead Chaos Warriors made a mad dash and crashed into Kubichya obstructing him from doing any necessary actions.

Unable to evade, both the spear and sword stabbed him in the shoulder and flank.

“View Status!”

While being a Necromancer, Weed was able to use a skill that can reveal Kubichya’s status.

Chaos Daejeonsa Kubichya

One of the boss class monsters in Las Phalanx.

By chance, he was able to acquire the Dragon Sword during his childhood. Since then, he was able to win myriads of battles in Las Phalanx and became the Chaos Daejeonsa. Possessing great power, he has a burning desire for domination.

*Able to use a part of the magic that was sealed in the Dragon Sword.

Whenever in a fire attribute area, health regeneration shall increase up to 3 times.

*Clouded vision, near death, tired, and confused due to the effects of curse magic.

* Due to severe injuries, combat efficiency is slightly reduced.

Health: 21%

Mana: 9%

Having high leadership, Kubichya was able to lead the Chaos Warriors killing two Fire Giants within just a span of one hour.

But the accumulation of damages he received from that fight plus from the Corpse Explosion, the pincers attacks from the undead, Tori, Van Hawk, Golden Bird and Eunsae reduced his health to 21%.

But even so, the boss class Chaos Warrior still proved to be a formidable opponent because of its insanely high recovery rate!

However, Kubichya was also getting desperate so he called for reinforcements.

“Kuaaaaa! Enemies are attacking me. Warriors, come here!”

Nearby Chaos Warriors responded to the call.

“Daejeonsa is in danger.”

“Annihilate the new enemies!”

Using their teleportation skill, the Chaos Warriors rushed to where Kubichya was however, Inferno Knights and Fire Giants obstructed their paths.

Weed needed to deal more damage to Kubichya before his reinforcements arrives since there was no guarantee that those monsters can hold them off for long.

But having taken the situation into account, Weed already thought up of a countermeasure beforehand.

“The situation is getting worse by the second. Corpse Explosion!”

The body of the first of the Fire Giants to die was used for the spell.

The shockwave shook the entire dungeon leaving behind smoke and flames to fill the area.

– Corpse Explosion has increased by 1 level.

Hostility from Fire Giants has reached maximum value.

The effect of items that lowers hostility will be weakened.

It is advised that you should avoid attracting the Fire Giants’ attention.

Some of the debris that came from the Fire Giant’s corpse flew towards Weed’s location.

Because of the huge explosion that occurred, six Chaos Warriors were killed.

And a lot of the other enemies were lying on the ground.

Weed has now gained more time so he cannot afford to waste this chance.

Van Hawk began his attacks taking advantage of the opportunity together with Tori.

Weed also manipulated the undead to charge at the wounded Kubichya while Golden Bird and Eunsae prepared another pincer attack at both sides.

“Cut him down!”

Golden Bird and Eunsae came flying down at an extremely high speed clawing Kubichya and dealing huge amount of damage.

“How could my warriors easily fall here? Damn dogs of the Inferno Knights! I shall thoroughly crush you and you’re undead here.”

The undead continued their attacks but this time Kubichya made a powerful counterattack with his axe.

The undead could do nothing but die in vain.

Only about seven undead Chaos Warriors survived.

“Aerial Bind!”

A tempest formed surrounding the area with Kubichya as its center. It was like a barrier that confined the area preventing Van Hawk and the undead from escaping.

“Keuheuheuheu, I’m going to kill you first!”

With Van Hawk trapped inside the wind barrier, Kubichya initiated a one on one battle.

Kubichya swung his axe with tremendous speed. Seeing the attack, Van Hawk focused into defense but he was unable to handle the power and was blown away.

Finally Kubichya, after disrupting Van Hawk’s stance, slashed him with his sword.

“Ku… uugh.”

After countless battles, Van Hawk finally died.

But since his body and soul was sealed by black magic inside a necklace it was still possible to resummon him after the item’s cooldown.

However, since he had died early, a major force in Weed’s party had disappeared from the battlefield.

But at the very least, he was somehow able to decrease Kubichya’s health by 3%.

‘We’re completely isolated.’

Weed already deemed that the odds of winning were now very slim.

Kubichya’s remaining health is still very high and he having a high level and high defense is only making things worse.

‘I should let Golden Bird and Eunsae retreat before it’s too late.’

With the situation as is, Weed is unable to escape so he instructed Golden Bird and Eunsae to fly through the gaps of the wind barrier before they join him in his impending death.

As for Seoyoon, she immediately rushed towards Kubichya passing through the dense smoke created after the Fire Giant exploded.

Her sword was now emitting an intense red light.

While Kubichya had his health and mana constantly drained, a meteor shower like barrage went hurling towards him.

A volley of attacks that ignores all sorts of defense.

***

In the cinema room of KMC Media, everyone was busy working.

“I want that part cut off. Focus at the direction where a lot of monsters can be seen on the screen. The view from the lava is too bright.”

“Should I lower the brightness?”

“Let’s make the lava part a little darker. We should avoid having the viewers hurt their eyes.”

An enormous amount of video material was being transmitted from Weed’s battle.

So KMC Media was trying to cut as much unnecessary parts as possible.

During this time, Drinfeld and Haven Kingdom’s 2nd fleet together with Griffith and his pirate crew were still hunting above ground in Las Phalanx.

A video clip was then suddenly aired on television showing a volcanic eruption then shifting the scene to where a lot of Chaos Warriors gathered.

“Chaos Daejeonsa Kubichya instigated a race war.”

“If they win this war then they will become the dominant race of Las Phalanx. Currently the Inferno Knights, Fire Giants, and Baovants are in engaged in a battle royal with them.”

Afterwards, two huge explosions occurred in the underground of Las Phalanx.

***

Underneath the sky of Las Phalanx war clouds are gathering.

“We are interfering with that skeleton.”

“Gather more of the troops!”

“We will not let him stop Kubichya.”

***

Everyone who saw the video immediately recognized it as Weed’s quest.

Audience of CTS Media flocked over to KMC Media’s forum requesting to broadcast the whole show.

Rumors of the continuation of Weed’s quest went viral on the internet.

***

Director Kang deemed that both Drinfeld and Griffith can neither interfere with Weed’s quest at this point.

“The problem is whether he will succeed or not……”

Whether the quest will be a success or a failure, it was still worth to broadcast.

And if he does not broadcast the quest soon, the viewers that kept on asking when the show will air will soon start flaming them.

But the information about the program that will feature Weed’s quest was still hidden with strict confidentiality, he even told the advertisers to just prepare.

Even enterprises that don’t usually advertise favourably complied.

“Our company is affiliated with several groups now… So which five should we advertise first?”

“How many hours will it take to finish editing? And what time can we start the broadcast? As for the ads, process the ones from our new sponsors, I would like to have them air first.”

“The ones with high advertising rate, understood. With this, our rival companies can’t beat us in the ratings.”

The advertising contracts were already done all that was left was to balance out the broadcasting time.

The program will start from where Weed’s party started exploring Inferno Dungeon to volcanic eruptions to eating stir fried beans and finally the participation in the race war.

After awhile, several teams were having difficulty doing the last minute editing of the broadcast.

“Begin the broadcast at part one. After the opening, insert the ads in-between every ten parts intervals.”

“Starting the show now.”

The program that was about to air was the one the staff prepared beforehand.

As for the rest of the quest, since it was still ongoing, it will be edited while they simultaneously do the broadcast.

“Hit!”

“Ahhh, it wasn’t enough to deliver a fatal blow.”

“Such a pity!”

The Operations Team were having a hard time while the other staff that had nothing to do were all busy watching the video.

***

President Jeong Deuk Soo was reading the report submitted by Dr. Cha Eunhee from the Saemaul Rehabilitation Hospital.

“She has made quite a lot of improvement. It’s like a miracle.”

The daughter that he had thought would never say a word again had spoken to someone.

Though it was awkward and short, the act of speaking has a special meaning in and of itself.

The doctor had written all of Seoyoon’s progress in the report. If she is able to put her trust on people again then eventually she will regain her voice.

It’s only a matter of time until she fully recovers.

President Jeong Deuk Soo was smiling upon seeing the results.

“Does Seoyoon really spend most of her time with that man?”

He had received all sorts of information relating to Seoyoon from the members of her bodyguards.

From the time she visited Lee Hyun in his home to any other relevant events were reported without exception.

“Yes, she does.”

“So, not once had they gotten into a dispute?”

“Seoyoon seems to have a friendly relationship with him.”

Without meeting Lee Hyun directly, the bodyguards did a thorough background check on him.

Lee Hyun had a miserable childhood due to the huge debts his poor family accumulated. He had developed a skinflint personality due to being constantly harassed by the loan sharks. But despite all that, he seems to deeply care about his family’s well being.

He seems to despise the prospect of dating any woman since he thinks it is just a waste of time and money. In a sense, his character was somewhat similar to Seoyoon in that he does not easily opens up to others but in Seoyoon case, she is just afraid of getting hurt so she tries not to get involve with other people isolating herself in the process.

He had trained in swordsmanship in a dojang. Has been raising a lot of animals at his home but rather than having them as pets they were raised as food supplies. Seoyoon seemed to have taken a liking to his dog named Mohm Boshin and is currently taking care of it and the vet didn’t seem to find any health issues concerning the dog.

He doesn’t have any particular hobbies and his life seems to be just a repetition of going to the dojang from his home then to school then to the market afterwards.

On a special note, he has a character named Weed in the popular virtual reality game Royal Road and seems to be quite famous.

The data gathered for his character was relatively huge and all the records show that he had performed quite a number of impressive and unbelievable feats.

President Jeong Deuk Soo played Royal Road a few times when he was on vacation but during those times he had never heard of the character named Weed.

“He seems to be a good companion for Seoyoon.”

“I think so too… So should we continue to allow them to meet?”

“I’ll allow it for the time being. I don’t want to forcefully separate them and end up hurting Seoyoon.”

President Jeong Deuk Soo does not wish to see Seoyoon getting hurt and suffer again.

However, he will put a complete stop to their relationship if that man decides to become a couple with her later on.

Appearance, wealth, lineage, there is a vast difference between the two in those aspects.

“According to the investigation, his weakness is money so I can just give him money as thanks for being her benefactor. I’ll give him enough money to last in his entire lifetime. I’m sure he’ll come to an understanding to never cross the line and just stay as being a good friend.”

Chapter 9: Weed does it again

Seoyoon’s salvo of meteor like attacks struck Kubichya in rapid succession.

Peobeobeobeobeok!

The high paced attacks bypassed all defences dealing a huge amount of damage.

“Keueeek!”

With the onslaught of attacks, Kubichya could do nothing but receive all of it.

Seoyoon, in a frenzied state, recklessly bombarded Kubichya!

As Kubichya continued to take dozens of hits, he slowly retreated.

A Berserker will continue to attack until all of its health and stamina are depleted. However, continuous use of the skill rapidly increased mana consumption as well as increased physical fatigue, yet Seoyoon showed no interest. Smooth and intense, the swordplay by which she poured all her might continued to remain active even though she was nearing exhaustion. And even in that state, Seoyoon still displayed agile movements which could already be considered to be at extraordinary levels.

– You are within the area of effect of the skill.

You lost 1,396 Health Points.

With Weed still clinging onto Kubichya’s back, he also suffered damage from the successive hits of the skill.

The battle then turned into a match of endurance, with Kubichya still at the receiving end of the successive blows however, Seoyoon was simply attacking in a fit of blind rage, not caring for her decreasing stamina, which could give Kubichya a momentary opening for a counterattack.

“Life Drain!”

Weed continued to struggle to hold onto Kubichya’s back while casting Life Drain.

He was scared of losing his life since Seoyoon was just rapidly and recklessly shooting off her skill at random. Added to that fact, Seoyoon bore the Murderer’s mark exposing her name, which was written in an intimidating red.

So each time Kubichya’s body received the shock from the impacts, Weed felt sorely terrified.

Typical for a Berserker, Seoyoon never thinks when she attacks!

Due to the relentless attacks, Kubichya was now in a precarious state, but even with that he still intended to retaliate.

“Fearless human! To think that you can drive me into such a corner.”

Though he treated Skeleton Weed as someone cumbersome, annoying, and dastardly, the way he treated Seoyoon was far too different. The Chaos Daejeonsa Kubichya venerated those that possess strength but clearly he despised the undead wizard. Weed was now a Lich and had very high Infamy, therefore it was normal for monsters to only show disdain for him.

At any rate, it was still necessary to avoid Daejeonsa Kubichya’s attacks at all cost.

If a character were to be struck by either his axe or Dragon Sword, the only outcome would be death.

‘This is bad.’

Weed tried to warn Seoyoon but it seemed that she couldn’t be swayed and continued to swing her sword. Her onslaught couldn’t be stopped. Mana had been gathering in her sword which by now was emitting a blood red light.

‘She is about to do something.’

Seoyoon had been preparing for a large-scale attack.

And when her blood red sword slashed through the air it wreaked havoc to the surrounding area, as if a storm had just passed through. Despite that, Kubichya just took a step back and then swung widely his sword, producing a force capable of repelling Seoyoon’s attack.

“Female Warrior, I commend your courage. Killing you here would be a great honor.”

Kubichya then kicked the ground and began running towards Seoyoon.

However, the blood red sword once again cut through the air slashing both Kubichya and Weed.

The blood red light had yet to dissipate and still she continued to attack.

A difficult skill yet easily executed!

Chaos Daejeonsa Kubichya did not immediately panic from the attacks but instead tried to block them using both his axe and sword.

“Kuaaaaaah!”

Kubichya screamed in pain but so did Weed.

“Euaaaaak!”

Upon seeing Seoyoon launching that many attacks without hesitation, Weed had been constantly regretting.

‘If I had known this was what would have happened, I should’ve cooked the long expired ingredients and fed that to her! No, I should’ve taken more of her japtems, since every time we finish hunting monsters she just goes stealing my sculptures, this is so unfair!’

Seoyoon concentrated on her skill in order to deal maximum damage. The skill formed from the condensed red mana was then unleashed.

“Kkwaeaeaek!”

Struck by the skill, Kubichya was blasted through the air. The situation was now reversed, with Seoyoon doing the chasing instead of Kubichya.

Kkwagwagwagwagwang!

Whenever Kubichya was hit, the same applied to Weed.

Left and right, up and down, Kubichya’s body was spinning like a top!

Weed then re-evaluated Seoyoon’s combat skills.

‘Very strong.’

She had been fighting together with Tori recently, but after experiencing countless battlefields alone, it had made her this strong.

‘Not good in cooking nor in creating sculptures, but she is extremely powerful at fighting.’

The characteristics of a Berserker, showing no hesitation in battle; the more aggressive she attacked the greater the increase in power to her skills.

Seoyoon was definitely in a league of her own!

As Kubichya’s health continued to decrease, Weed also suffered the same fate. But even with that much damage Kubichya’s remaining health was still at 11%.

“Save the Daejeonsa!”

Chaos Warriors that were blown away due to the detonated Fire Giant had then returned!

The devoted Chaos Warriors once again started teleporting towards Kubichya.

From just 10 enemies, it suddenly reached 20. They were growing in numbers and went to target Seoyoon and the three now remaining Undead. Other Chaos Warriors also gave chase to Golden Bird and Eunsae by teleporting; however, the two did not come down to attack on the ground, instead they flew even higher.

Unable to hold out against the numbers of the enemy, the undead were wiped out by the Chaos Warriors. From the beginning, the situation was never favourable for Weed.

“Seoyoon, just run away already!”

Seoyoon received several wounds from the Chaos Warriors but her focus in fighting never once wavered.

“Tch, I’ll try this then. Animate Dead!”

The battlefield was overflowing with hundreds of corpses.

With every current undead destroyed, 15 newly produced undead Chaos Warrior were there to replace them.

Weed didn’t have to worry about the mana cost for he was getting a steady supply of it.

‘Because of Mana Drain.’

After being relentlessly attacked, Kubichya was now unable to move his body and was in a state of confusion. Using this opening, Weed began casting his spells once again.

“Animate Dead!”

17 more undead Chaos Warriors were produced.

*Ttiring!*

– Intermediate Undead Summoning skill level 10 has converted to Advance Undead Summoning skill.

You can now summon the spirits of Elven Warriors on special bodies.

Undead are now more flexible and faster.

You can gain complete dominance over the lesser undead.

If you have high Fame in the Versailles Continent, you will be able to command myriads of undead.

– Your Undead Summoning Skill has reached the Advanced level.

Due to the influence of being a Lich, physical abilities of the undead shall increase.

The skills of the Lich, Mana Drain and Life Drain shall increase in efficiency by 15%.

– You are to proceed as an Undead for the remaining duration of the Dragon Sword quest.

However, if you cancel out of Sculptural Shapeshifting, you will lose the quest and never get it back.

– Due to the current condition imposed on Sculptural Shapeshifting, all stats shall be increased except for Fame.

Due to having high Art stats, the undead are now able to dance.

The undead can now perform a very bizarre dance underneath the moonlit sky.

“Of all the rotten luck! Why of all things did these appear?!”

Undead Summoning Skill was now at advance level.

But the current undead were produced while his skill was still at the Intermediate level.

It would be a complete waste of time to have them revert back and resummon them again.

“Fight! Kill all the enemies of your master!”

20 undead Chaos Warriors teleported to provide support for Seoyoon, the rest stopped the enemy Chaos Warriors in their tracks. Weed continued to absorb mana from Kubichya in order to maintain the undead but still saved enough to cast his spells.

“Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion!”

Corpse Explosions with extremely high explosive power were activated in a row.

“Get in there and latch onto the enemy!”

The group of undead Chaos Warriors exploded one after another.

Using the high quality corpses of the Chaos Warriors as walking bombs to create more havoc was Weed’s plan of desperation. With the help of the undead Chaos Warriors, Seoyoon was able to break free from the enemies’ assaults, and leapt towards Kubichya.

Unfortunately, Kubichya had already recovered from his confused state, and began chanting.

“O souls of the burning warriors that dominated this land! Give me the strength to fight!”

Warrior’s Rampage!

All of Kubichya’s muscles suddenly bulged.

Due to the induced rage, his heartbeat will now be faster, increasing his strength, agility, and stamina recovery!

“RAAAAA!”

In a flash, Kubichya struck Seoyoon a dozen times.

With his incredibly fast speed and power, Seoyoon was completely overwhelmed and her injuries from the previous assault of the Chaos Warriors added more to her disadvantage. Also, due to her skill consuming most of her stamina, she had become extremely weak.

“Human female warrior, I shall have you die now!”

Kubichya struck Seoyoon with his axe several more times and then dealt the last blow with the Red Star.

Weed regretted as he could only watch Seoyoon die!

Weed greatly roared.

“All undead attack Kubichya!”

It was already a hopeless situation.

Before her death, Seoyoon was the only one capable of dealing a great number of injuries on Kubichya.

Undead Chaos Warriors launched an omnidirectional assault against Kubichya!

“Aim for the left side! Five of you attack the upper right!”

Due to Weed being positioned at the back of Kubichya, he could see things from the same point of view. Thanks to Weed’s directions, the undead were able to put up a good fight against Kubichya.

However, that did not last long. While attacking with their axes, Kubichya counterattacked them by blasting a fireball, burning the undead.

“Blade Tornado!”

Tori charged towards Kubichya using his ultimate skill!

Golden Bird and Eunsae also came down to the ground to attack, but they were all repelled by Kubichya, and enemy Chaos Warriors pursued them while they retreated to the sky.

“Feeble skeleton, it is now your turn.”

Kubichya gloriously announced this, now that all the hindrances had been removed.

Though his body might be battered and was full of wounds, Kubichya still had amazing health regeneration.

With his life at stake, Weed continued to suck Kubichya’s life just like a mosquito.

“Die, skeleton!”

The moment the axe was brandished, Weed immediately retreated to Kubichya’s flank.

“Mind Hand!”

A Sculptor’s skill that enables one to create a third hand. With the hand grabbing Kubichya’s arm, the attack was narrowly avoided. Though the attack was stopped midway through, Weed still received some damage so he once again started absorbing life in order to recover. So each time Kubichya attacked with his axe, Weed would avoid it using tricks and movements just like a monkey.

“I’m going to continue harassing you until the very end!”

With Kubichya’s relentless attacks, Weed’s bones began to crack and when they broke his health drastically dropped.

’Am I gonna die like this?’

If Weed were to be thrown off from Kubichya’s back then he would definitely die from the spells that would come after.

“Golgolgol!”

In his near death state, Weed heard the familiar voice of Geumini.

Mooooooooo!

Even the cry of Rover was mixed in.

Weed remembered that he had ordered them to not to engage in battle and if things got worse, they were to retreat.

“I am Geumini. We will not let you kill our master, golgolgol!”

Riding on the back of Rover, Geumini charged in like a brave knight.

“You haven’t left yet?!”

“Halt!”

In order to stop them, hordes of Chaos Warriors went to tackle them.

“Charge, golgol!”

Geumini, swinging his sword, broke through the enemy lines.

Each time they passed through the Chaos Warriors, cracks and scratch wounds would be engraved on his smooth body. Some parts were chipped off while some areas melted, but that did not stop him from moving forward.

Rover took on the fireball attacks and plowed through the hordes of Chaos Warriors!

Geumini, using his jewel attribute pulled out five shining blue sapphires from his body.

They were high class jewels that could pitch a high price in the stores of the continent.

“Jewelry Destruction, Sapphire Orb!”

A blizzard of ice and snow centering on Geumini swept away the surrounding Chaos Warriors!

The storm of icicle shards then slashed through Kubichya.

“Keeek! What are these attacks…. Blink!”

Kubichya tried to teleport away from the blizzard but due to Weed still clinging onto him, the skill failed!

Engulfed by the sapphire’s blizzard spell, Kubichya incurred a high amount of damage. Weed was also included in the attack. In order to reduce as much damage as possible, Weed fastened himself on Kubichya’s back.

– Due to the extreme cold, your body is now frozen.

– Health is drastically falling.

– Physical ability is reduced by 87%.

– Extreme harsh condition! Due to being an undead, you are unable to resist the cold.

– Jaws and fingers are now frozen, you cannot cast any spells.

– You have now lost all senses in your body. Skin and nerves will undergo necrosis but since the body is only made of bones, the condition will not be applied.

– You body is now immobile.

– All casted spells are now cancelled. All protections casted from magic are now removed. Life Drain and Mana Drain are now cancelled.

System message windows were popping out in rows.

Unable to escape the area of effect of the sapphire spell, Kubichya’s health was drastically falling as well.

Amidst the blizzard, an ice fragment struck one of Weed’s eye sockets. With one of his eyes gone, Weed watched Geumini as he casted powerful spells against the Chaos Warriors.

Geumini then suddenly exclaimed.

“Master, I’ll show the world how grateful I am to you. Golgolgol!”

He then once again casted the magic Weed had prohibited him to use.

“Jewelry Destruction!”

Risking his life for his master, Geumini pulled out 5 more sapphires and activated the skill.

Anymore use of the skill and his body will run out of jewels.

Finally, Geumini used his body to create an explosion that filled the area with golden brilliance blasting away the Chaos Warriors and Kubichya.

This was his last resort; Geumini had blown up his own body just to save Weed and defeat the enemies.

At that instance, Weed’s head was filled with a kaleidoscope of memories of Geumini.

He then spoke his final words to him.

“Why are you so damn incompetent? You have yet to earn your keep.”

Like a brother, Weed had shared his equipment with him. Weed was not required to wear his beginner outfit and clay sword anymore, so he handed them down to Geumini.

“Who do you think made you painstakingly…. For you to end up like this, pathetic.”

“Golgolgol.”

Even though he was always treated harshly, he had hunted and grown together with the Wyverns without being dissatisfied. With his handsome face, he was occasionally smug but he learned to be submissive, he did it in order to receive praises from Weed.

“Kuaaaaah!”

Geumini died but Kubichya still lived.

“Kill, I shall kill you!”

Kubichya howled like a wounded beast.

Rover was still rampaging around while crying, killing the already injured Chaos Warriors in the vicinity.

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Weed immediately pulled out Zahab’s engraving knife and stabbed himself in the chest.

Personally reducing what little health he had remaining, but just before dying he took out his Copper Plate of Rest.

***

“Aahh.”

“How could this happen….”

The staff of KMC Media were devastated.

The last stage of the quest had failed and only genocide awaited Weed’s sculptures of life.

Tears of sorrow and sadness can be seen among the staff. Even Director Kang had a bitter expression.

“Weed’s undefeatable streak has come to an end.”

Even if it was Weed, the quest was still unsuccessful. Moreover, the difficulty of the quest was very high so no one could really blame him for the failure.

Being able to lead the undead in a fight against Kubichya and treacherously using the corpses of the Fire Giants as his powder kegs. The way he challenged the army of Chaos Warriors was truly remarkable.

“Phew, I feel so empty though.”

Director Kang was still idly watching the video feed.

Kubichya, having accumulated large amount of damage, fell to one knee and was resting, with Chaos Warriors gathered around him forming a heavily guarded wall.

The Inferno Knights still had sufficient numbers to resist the Chaos Warriors, though the Fire Giants were now weakened; but all in all, the situation of the war had changed little.

When Weed had joined the battle it was truly a breathtaking moment. As they continued to watch, more Chaos Warriors died in battle but many more would spring up and join the confusion later. As the Inferno Knights and Fire Giants continued to hold their ground, a lot of Chaos Warriors by then had gotten exhausted from the battle; some of which had even started to rest. This observation wasn’t that surprising; due to the game’s nature, such a situation was quite possible to happen.

“So this is how it comes to an end.”

Due to the dramatic moments, not only Director Kang but also the rest of the Operations Teams were all glued to the screen. In order to get everyone back to their senses, Director Kang clapped his hands.

“Wake up everybody. We still ought to finish our work. The quest has failed, we will have to put out this caption and choose an appropriate bgm. Programming Department, how is our viewer ratings at the moment?”

“Yes, please wait for a moment.”

The staff of the Programming Department looked at their monitors and surveyed the results.

“Right now, among the 17 game broadcasting companies we have 92.5% of the market share. Even with our program competing with news channels over the airwaves we still got 8.9% of the ratings.”

Home shopping, comedy, drama, these are what currently being aired on the tv channels but the ratings still reached 8.9%.

If you count only the ones doing game broadcasts then the ratings has reached a whopping 92.5%.

No other stations had ever recorded such high audience ratings, except for KMC Media that is.

Among a hundred people only 7-8 people were not watching the Royal Road broadcast of KMC Media.

“These ratings are absurd….”

Some KMC Media staff immediately checked whether there was some mechanical failure in their machines while the rest were already in an uproar.

A flood of calls was coming from advertising sales representatives of different companies, and even the International Division was having a field day due to the calls of broadcasters from other countries.

***

Users were now running out of control and were flooding every message boards.

– KMC Media definitely hit it big.

– Weed’s adventure is currently on air. Now, turn on your televisions and go watch it on KMC Media.

– For those who cannot view it on television, you can go to their website and watch the internet broadcast.

– Watching on the internet is not recommended. There are too many people trying to gain access making the video unable to buffer.

***

CTS Media and other broadcasting stations were very jealous of KMC Media.

Short intermittent rises in ratings may be dismissible but once a big issue is created, the increased number of viewers is secured. KMC Media even added effects in their program garnering an even more increase in viewership. Especially now that Royal Road was gaining more popularity to the public.

Initially, due to the high price of the capsules, people were reluctant in buying them despite the popularity and benefits of virtual reality. But right now, even if you have an expensive car and a good house to live in, it was still much better to have it, with the widespread recognition in Royal Road.

Families hunting together with their young children are now already a common sight in Royal Road. Royal Road had definitely brought great change, not only in Korea but all over the world.

With the increasing broadcasts of the game to the public, its influence in the media grew as well.

And on this day, Weed and KMC Media would be especially remembered.

Others stations were having increased difficulty trying to reverse their drop in ratings. This included CTS Media, Jachang and a certain number of other stations that were greatly affected. It’s because they chose to air the live broadcast of the expedition instead. At first, they held the interest of lots of viewers and had plenty to advertise. But as soon as Weed’s adventure was aired on television, the audience immediately abandoned them and flocked to KMC Media’s channel.

– Weed’s adventure is finally here.

– Time to go to KMC Media. Goodbye.

– Me too. Keukeukeu.

Viewers never missed any information, that was because the Internet was only filled with stories about Las Phalanx.

Everyone had payed close attention to the long awaited program of Weed’s adventure.

***

While continuing to watch the screen, Director Kang muttered to himself.

“It’s a pity that such a sensational quest ended up in failure.”

Weed just died a while ago after going through such an intense battle and with his death, took along a huge deal of the excitement away. But it was not yet the time to relax, not until Weed’s special program in Las Phalanx reached to the end of the live video feed. Though the battle had ended, many of the staff of KMC Media were still rooted in their seats watching the video.

As for the staff that went back to work, they once again glued their eyes towards the screen.

There was still plenty to watch in the race war that will determine who reigns as supreme in Las Phalanx.

Director Kang suddenly had a question.

“Weed already died, so why are we still receiving the video feed?”

The other staff had similar thoughts as well.

“Yeah, Weed definitely had died….”

“If he had died then the video would have been cut off by now.”

The staff that had become avid fans of Weed continued to watch the video without saying a thing.

Thump. Thump.

Their hearts were now racing.

Shortly after the scene, they had already guessed what was about to occur.

Ever since Weed took his own life, these anxious staffs had their eyes only at the screen with their chests beating loudly.

‘Come.’

‘Now is the time to get up….. Keukeukeukeukeukeu.’

* * *

Dense smoke was rising!

And then a huge beam of green light flashed through like lightning.

When Weed suddenly came to, he was looking down at Kubichya who was relaxing far below him. Weed was revived through the skill Power to Reject Death but somehow the way he felt with his body was far too different than when he was revived as Origin of the Skeleton.

He had bones thicker than a building’s steel frame.

Had wings and a tail, and an enormous head with a snout.

Weed had revived as a Dragon.

– You have returned from the darkness of the abyss. The skill level of the Power to Reject Death has increased by 1.

Skill has reached Beginner level 3. Strength and Health will gain an additional 2% due to the power of darkness.

Additional effect will be granted by fighting more wickedly.

The possibility to raise more undead increases.

After resurrection, the number of available race-specific skills increases as well as the skill level.

– You have been resurrected as a large monster.

Penalties will be applied to racial skills.

Because of your failure to match the basic stat conditions of this race, your body will deteriorate over time.

You will have relatively poor health.

A large amount of power will be exhausted in order to maintain the body weight.

Any sudden movements can cause damage to your body.

Before Weed could get used to his new body, he had began searching for Rover.

‘Good, he’s not dead yet.’

Rover, nearing his imminent death was running amok. Due to his last ditch resistance, the Chaos Warriors could not apply the final blow.

‘I can’t let you die yet.’

Weed took a one step forward, which measured more than 10 meters in length.

Kkwaaaaang!

Extremely large footsteps.

The large steps resonated, shaking the whole dungeon. Just by moving his new joints showcased tremendous power. But even with just a walking pace, a significant amount of his health dropped.

The suffering of a large monster!

Weed used his jaws to catch Rover.

Rover, not knowing what just happened was lifted into the air.

– Golden Bird, Eunsae, if you guys are still alive then take Rover away with you.

Jjaejaejaejaek!

Golden Bird and Eunsae burst out through the smoke with a loud cry. Flying in the air and navigating through the gaps, they both rescued Rover by swiftly grabbing him away. Weed then lifted his claw to shoulder height to help Rover, who he spit out in order to make him fly up even higher, as he blocked the path of the Chaos Warriors that might have taken to give chase.

‘Now it’s Kubichya’s turn.’

Weed then turned.

Inferno Knights and Chaos Warriors were stunned as they continued to look up.

Though Weed was hesitating for a bit, he must not waste more time. He must not give Kubichya time to recover, and it would be very effective to use his current body to fight against him now. But since there was a ceiling blocking him, Weed was unable to fly.

– Kuoooooooo!

Dragon’s Roar!

Weed moved instinctively, taking advantage of the stunned state of the Chaos Warriors.

Using his hind legs, he suddenly trampled Kubichya. It was an attack that he had put all of his weight in. Due to his severe injuries, Kubichya was unable to use his teleportation skill, giving him no options for escape. However, he did not die after being trampled and was slowly recovering.

But Weed then tossed him into the air like a ball before chomping him with his jaws.

“We must save Daejeonsa!”

“Attack the Dragon!”

The Dragon’s Roar effects did not even last for five seconds.

Chaos Warriors raised their axes, teleporting towards Weed and started hacking away at his body.

Neck, spine, flanks, and legs, all were being hacked by the Chaos Warriors’ axes.

The whole body of the Bone Dragon was burning!

Large monsters were strong due to their high strength and health. But being born with a huge body also had its drawbacks. Though they had enough power to kill enemies in a single swoop, they had slow attack speed. And their attacks were so full of openings.

In addition, Weed was still not used to the current state of his body.

‘It would have been nice if I could have practiced using this form first…’

He was feeling strange due to having a tail and a pair of wings.

Wrapping his front limbs around his body and covering his head with his folded wings, Weed hunched over.

This can be called as the best defensive position for a Dragon!

Enduring all of the attacks and unable to counter, Weed focused only on his goal.

‘The front fangs and molars seem to be pretty strong.’

Just like chewing a rock there were a lot of cracking sounds, but Weed didn’t care whether his teeth broke.

Becoming a toothless Dragon or not, he was desperate to finish off Kubichya!

Due to receiving simultaneous attacks, Weed’s health rapidly declined.

Since Kubichya was unable to use teleportation, he was still being grinded in Weed’s jaw.

And in the midst of crunching through Kubichya, system message windows popped out.

*Ttiring!*

– You have levelled up.

– You have levelled up.

– You have levelled up.

– Chaos Daejeonsa Kubichya’s ambition of dominating Las Phalanx has been put to a complete end.

– Due to the great achievement in battle, your Fame rises by 1,875.

– Achieved victory against Kubichya. The entire Versailles Continent will praise you and your adventure in Las Phalanx.

– Bards from all over the continent will sing praises of you. Every time your songs are spread, your Fame will rise and Infamy shall slightly decrease.

– Grace has increased by 35.

– You will receive the favour of most of the nobles and kings.

– Charisma has increased by 11.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 7.

– As a result of this glorious victory accomplished in Las Phalanx, all who participated in the battle will have an increase of 6 to all stats.

– Chaos Warriors now have an irreversible enmity towards you. Hostility is now permanently at maximum value.

Title acquired!

The Immortal Warrior.

Title is granted to the warrior who seized victory after defying death, surpassing his own limitations.

You have gained special respect from the Undead, Necromancers, and Dark attribute Knights. Death Knights will now favourably serve you as you lead them in battle.

When fighting against enemies stronger than you, health, strength, and agility will increase by 5%.

The effects of the skill Power to Reject Death will increase by 10% upon resurrection.

– You have acquired Chaos Daejeonsa Boots.

– You have acquired Chaos Daejeonsa Plate Armor Set.

– You have acquired Las Phalanx’s Underground Area Map.

– You have acquired the Dragon Sword, Red Star.

– You have acquired Seulroeo’s Pair of Wedding Rings.

The acquisition of items!

But Weed quickly realized that his remaining health was only 12%.

“Master, I shall to come to save you.”

“I can’t bear to watch anymore.”

Golden Bird and Eunsae came back for Weed after moving Rover to a safe location.

But Weed stopped them with his whisper.

– There is no need to worry about me. Go back to Rover. That is an order.

Weed knew that even if Golden Bird and Eunsae came back for him, he still cannot be saved. All of the remaining Chaos Warriors were now coming for him. Though the Inferno Knights were still busy fighting some of the Chaos Warriors, the group of Fire Giants changed their target and aimed to take Weed’s life.

Weed’s demise was inevitable but he had no regrets. Weed has already prepared himself for this.

– Damn bastards! I’m taking you all down with me!

Weed took a deep breath. He inhaled as much as he could. His Dragon chest bloated hideously.

After pouring all of his mana into it, he then unleashed his skill.

Acid Breath.

The Bone Dragon’s Acid Breath surged through the Chaos Warrior-ridden battlefield.

Chapter 10: Seulroeo’s Wedding Ceremony

KMC Media was so quiet that you can even hear the sound of saliva being swallowed by the person sitting next to you.

When Weed had revived, everyone focused solely on the video feed.

Even the departments responsible for video editing stopped working.

From the screens installed inside the General Manager’s office to the President’s office, all were showing the same footage and from the moment Weed resurrected as a Dragon, everyone watching the video was awestruck.

The Power to Reject Death combined with the effects of the Copper Plate of Rest had resurrected him into a Dragon!

“This is absurd.”

“H-How is this….”

Due to the effects of the Copper Plate of Rest, Weed had been resurrected as a Dragon despite the low level of his skill Power to Reject Death. But due to the huge penalties applied, Weed could not use the full potential of being a Dragon in battle.

Also being in an underground dungeon had been very unfavourable for the large flying-type monster.

However, despite the numerous shortcomings, his eyes still gleamed threateningly.

Weed’s resurrection as a Dragon had caused everyone to shudder.

Just watching it as it is had caused the station’s staff to be left in a daze but what about the viewers that will watch the enhanced version of the video after being edited!

Royal Road viewers will definitely be shocked watching this epic moment.

“Oh, how I envy you.”

“After all, this is Weed were talking about. No other person can go on such an adventure.”

The video was so full of excitement it had the station staff fully engrossed.

Director Kang, together with his assistants, was now deliberating on how they will configure the video for broadcast.

“Captions… no, we don’t need to put those in. It’s already good as it is.”

Placing captions doesn’t give the impression that it will stand out. It’ll just make it look frivolous.

Everyone was captivated as they continue to watch Weed as a Dragon but unfortunately, Weed still died a second time.

But with Kubichya finally defeated, the difficult S-class quest has been completed.

Soon, the inhabitants of Versailles Continent will start clamouring once more as the news of Weed’s success dawns upon them like a divine message from heaven.

To think that from the beginning, Director Kang and the rest of the KMC Media staff doubted the probability of success of the S-class difficulty quest!

After Weed had died, the video feed in the cinema room had cut off. There were no more images being relayed nor was there any sound.

All was quiet for a while.

And as if struck by lightning, they immediately began yelling as they return to their respective tasks.

“Change the title of the special program. ‘Weed’s Crusade’! No, wait! Not that one. ‘The Ultimate Undead’, how does that one sound?”

“We will have an increase in broadcasting time, facilitators are asking for consent to modify the broadcasting schedule in our homepage.”

“Calls from various companies are pouring in though we’re just lashing out with each other for the cover ads’ unit pricing.”

The advent of the Dragon was about 2 minutes and 56 seconds!

For just about 3 minutes, this will become a legend not only to the viewers but also in the whole game broadcasting industry.

***

Lee Hyun exited from his capsule and sat idly while feeling a huge sense of loss.

“Now I don’t have access till 24 hours have passed.”

He had used Acid Breath to take down as much Chaos Warriors as he could. But even if he was able to do a breath attack, he doesn’t know the full extent of damage it dealt.

In addition, he was resurrected as a Dragon but with skills only that of a Beginner level!

His Flight skill, Dragon’s Roar, and Acid Breath were at Beginner level 4, level 6, and level 3 respectively.

He could not afford prolonging the battle against the Chaos Warriors for his health rapidly declined so he resorted to use one huge breath attack.

“Anyway, it was quite difficult.”

Lee Hyun stood up and started cleaning.

If he had turned on his television, he would have seen the contents of his quest playing in full swing but he was only interested in watching the news and the show ‘Unveiling Versailles Continent’.

Watching television other than that is only a waste of electricity!

“Now that I’m done with housecleaning, it’s time to do some sweeping and polishing.”

Washing the bed sheets, cleaning the refrigerator, maintaining the chicken coop, there were many things that he still needed to be done.

The season was now in autumn with plenty of fallen leaves accumulating.

“Autumn sure comes by so fast.”

Lee Hyun had always been very sensitive and sharp to dry and bleak winds.

“I’ll need to start soaking kimchis soon.”

Before winter arrives, it is important to start preparing kimchis!

Just as he was about to do more maintenance in the house, he was suddenly interrupted.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong

Somebody was incessantly pressing the doorbell at the front door.

No Peddlers.

No Religious Solicitors.

The doorbell looks like it’s about to break.

I’m going to charge whoever presses and breaks it.

That person had definitely seen the warning sign but still continues to persist in pressing the doorbell.

Lee Hyun went to open the front door and was surprised to see Seoyoon there. It seems that she hurriedly came to his house as beads of sweat were forming in her forehead.

When she had first visited, she had taken the chickens but now it seems she wants a rabbit when he had asked for an exchange for Tori.

“Hello, how long has it been? Come on, step inside.”

Lee Hyun greeted her like a close friend and invited her inside the house. He then gave her a cup of naengnokcha. (T/N: cold green tea)

“Nowadays, the weather is starting to get cold and I should be serving others hot green tea but for now, this should help cool you down.”

“…….”

“Shall I bring some honey?”

Seoyoon had a very worried look on her face and showed little interest for the green tea.

‘Although I died… Why did he gladly welcome me?’

When Seoyoon had died, she immediately came out of the capsule.

Earlier, KMC Media had contacted her regarding the part of her appearance at the core of the quest. But of course, she did not do any direct negotiations but instead left it to the lawyer in charge of her.

Normally, they don’t need the consent of a person to air their appearance but since this was a quest concerning Lee Hyun, they needed her consent for the show.

Afterwards, they came to an agreement to limit her appearance to only where she had a mask on her face and had her thin leather clothes covered with her armor.

She had then enquired KMC Media about the situation in Las Phalanx.

Geumini had died while Weed experienced death twice.

Seoyoon by then had been far more concerned on how to console the grief-stricken Lee Hyun than to care about the drop in her level and skill proficiency.

But Lee Hyun just welcomed her when she had arrived.

“Don’t want to drink green tea? Oh, how rude of me. I haven’t served any fruit.”

Normally, Lee Hyun would display a completely different behaviour.

But in Royal Road, Seoyoon lost her life fighting against Kubichya. Her valiant efforts led to the successful hunting of the Chaos Daejeonsa.

Naturally, he was thankful but as he turns around his head, he quickly began to formulate a scheme for the item distribution.

‘I’ll feign ignorance for the time being.’

As he was peeling an apple, Lee Hyun was drooling over the idea of gaining more items.

Not even a shred of guilt as he began to scheme!

“Ah, damn it, he was broke. How can he not drop many items when he died?”

He carefully peels the apple as he speaks in guile.

Even if she were to watch the broadcast, she still wouldn’t be able to know what items he had acquired. It was because Kubichya died while he was inside Weed’s mouth.

‘Is it too much if I say only one item came out? But it was a boss…. it was also a monster related to a quest, she might doubt my claims later.’

Lee Hyun then spoke in a small voice.

“Still, it wasn’t all that bad. What came out were 5 equipment items, or was it 3? Ah, it was 4. Anyway, that’s what he dropped when he died.”

He originally got 5 items but thought of reducing it somewhat by 2. However, if there were only 3 items to split up, one person will only get one item.

Eventually, he compromised with 4 items so it can be divided by 2 while looking less suspicious.

“I think Kubichya was wearing very good equipments. But frankly, I think that it is unlikely that we will be able to wear those equipments.”

As Lee Hyun continued to speak, he was also feeling frustrated. It was because he wasn’t able to check the items that he had acquired.

‘In order to divide them, I needed to properly determine their value first.’

In Versailles Continent’s time, they had approximately spent a few months of hardships together. In the course of their adventure, Seoyoon had contributed a lot so anymore deceit would be unfair to the effort she had displayed.

After all, it is only common sense to divide the items equal to the contributions.

However, one item was removed so she only gets 2 items where 3 items would have been a proper reward!

‘Good. It seems she has no complaints.’

Seoyoon covered her mouth with the tea cup and gently smiled in relief. Her natural smile was like from a different dimension compared to Lee Hyun’s rotten smile.

When Lee Hyun created the Freya Statue, he had imagined the beautiful Seoyoon smiling.

And right now, in front of his eyes, her smile exuded such a charm that he can’t help but feel attracted to her!

But Lee Hyun could not even look at her straight in the eye.

It was not because he haphazardly lied about the items he acquired from Kubichya but because of her expression, the look in her eyes contained a sign of deep affection.

‘This is getting awkward.’

Lee Hyun then tried changing the topic.

“I’m going to return to cleaning… would you like to help?”

Not even entertaining her but instead gave a proposal to clean the house. Nevertheless, Seoyoon just nodded.

“Let’s sweep the yard first. There are so many leaves collecting.”

While sweeping the yard, Seoyoon was being playful unlike her usual self.

She even tried to sneak some piles of leaves to Lee Hyun’s area!

With the relationship they built up from attending lectures in college and going on to adventures in Royal Road together, she was able to play around.

They then went to clean the chicken coop and as they release the chickens, the smell reeked into the yard.

A perched rooster with an upright comb then went to attend the hens which were accompanying their chicks.

With a lot of cleaning to be done, Lee Hyun had realized that there would be a lot of water splattering so he immediately check the clothes Seoyoon was currently wearing.

‘Approximately around 200,000 won.’

She was wearing quite an expensive coat.

“I’ll clean up this place, how about you do the dishes? After you’re done putting them away, take out the pots and bowls and wash them clean.”

Seoyoon nodded and went inside the house.

With the windows open, the sound of water flowing from the sink can be heard.

A man cleaning the chicken coop and a woman washing the dishes, it was like a scene resembling a young married couple’s life.

‘Having her clean had been a great help so I’ll have to prepare something delicious for dinner.’

Lee Hyun then decided to make a large serving of sweet and sour pork.

CRASH!

Silence then returned, only the sounds of flowing water drifted for a while.

Then the sound of washing dishes could be heard again. But not even a minute has come to pass and yet it happened again…

CRASH!!

While cleaning the chicken coop, Lee Hyun had tears in his eyes.

“A-Are those my dishes?”

Without any sign of a reply, the sound of washing the dishes continued.

Seoyoon earnestly tried to wash the dishes. Although she made a mistake of putting them away with wet hands which had caused it to slip but fortunately, there were no longer any dishes breaking that ensued.

On that evening, Lee Hyun showcased his sweet and sour pork and ate it while watching television!

After watching art and drama programs, it was time for Seoyoon to go home. Lee Hyun then hastily wrapped a book in a newspaper and gave it to her as a gift.

“This book has a lot of life lessons.”

This was the first time in Lee Hyun’s life that he had given a gift to a girl aside from his sister.

“This is absolutely not for the items I obtained in Las Phalanx, just thought you might like to give this a read.”

The title of book was called <<Non-possession>>. (T/N: Probably refers to this book)

***

In the Versailles Continent, users were listening in the temples of the Dwarves and Elves.

“A divine message has descended upon us. An indomitable warrior had put a stop to the scourge that threatened the peace of the continent.”

“Damn, that’s one extraordinary human.”

“Warriors of the forest, let us go back.”

Warriors that were gathered to organize an expedition have disbanded.

KMC Media have achieved the highest recorded audience ratings and the people watching their broadcast couldn’t even fall asleep until dawn while Bards, in homage to Weed’s adventure, wrote and sang songs.

Oh, Great Hero

We will always remember that in the land of the forgotten was where you had an adventure

Your steps will become the milestones for those who wish to venture

Your sculptures that remained in the various parts of the world

Grants us courage to make our paths unfurled

While Weed reaches the highest of praise, Drinfeld’s reinforcements arrived at Las Phalanx. They were the elites of the Hermes Guild composed of Priests, Wizards, Knights, Assassins, and Thieves.

A representative Knight then began speaking with him.

“If these people aren’t sufficient enough to kill Weed then I shall message Rafael.”

Drinfeld confidently replied:

“These men are enough. With these many Wizards, we’re sure to make this land into Weed’s grave.”

“The pride of Hermes Guild is at stake, handle this flawlessly.”

Facing the Necromancer has been there constant worry but now with the additional Priests, the natural enemy of the undead, they will be able cleanse them.

Through the broadcast of KMC Media, they were able to know that Weed can transform into a Dragon so they were now extremely wary of him.

“For the honor of the Hermes Guild, we must kill him.”

“Wizards, Priests, and Knights…. we will certainly stab him to death.”

***

When Weed had reconnected, he was back at Inferno Dungeon where the race war took place.

The aftermath of the fierce battle has left the area disfigured with plenty of melted rocks and scattered remains.

“Ahem.”

After dying twice while in his modified Lich form, Weed has now returned as a human.

“I have to check how much level and skill proficiency I have lost as well as the items I acquired from Kubichya.”

Level and skill proficiency were confirmed first before the items acquired.

“Stat Window, Skill Information Window!”

Two levels had dropped making his current level at 383 while Sculpture Mastery dropped by 25%. Handicraft, Tailoring, Smithing, Sculpting Blade, and his other skills had a dropped between 10-17%.

While brimming with frustration and grief about the reduction of his skills after all the hard work that he has done, Weed immediately pulled out the items he acquired.

The heavy Chaos Daejeonsa Boots and Plate Armor Set, a map, and a sword with a reddish glow, the Red Star!

A smile escaped Weed’s lips.

“Identify!”

He had decided to check the armors first.

Kubichya’s Boots:

Durability 37/105

Defense: 68

The boots worn by the Chaos Daejeonsa Kubichya.

Imbued with a special authority that compels warriors into submission.

Restrictions:

Level 500

Strength 800

Chaos Warriors and Barbarians only

Options:

Able to use Blink spell.

Health +8,000

Can intercept attacks rising from the ground.

Warriors are forced to submit.

Depending on the level and the scale of subordinates, there will be a temporary increase in Leadership.

As for the Plate Armor Set, its Defense is 280 and had a level restriction of 550.

“I wouldn’t have died if I was wearing such armors.”

Next was the Las Phalanx’s Underground Area Map, it had a complex structure that much like of a spider web and had a lot of holes drawn on it.

There were a lot of other areas which leads to the underground passages of the dungeon. The entrances of the dungeons in Las Phalanx have special structures and midway through the passages, another passage would be created.

“Having a map is useful in various ways.”

Finally, the long-awaited moment of checking the Dragon Sword.

At this moment, Weed could not suppress his emotions any longer as his heart leap with excitement.

“I-Identify!”

Red Star:

Durability 192/210

Attack 190-215

A sword created by a Dragon.

The sword was made using a part of its bone.

A portion of the Red Dragon’s power is imbued within and is resistant to magic.

This sword was stolen from the Dragon and has been looking for it ever since.

Restriction:

Level 570 or higher

100% Fire Resistance

Must have the ability to control fire.

Options:

Very light.

Reduces the consumption of stamina when using skills.

Agility +10%

Durability does not easily diminish.

Attacks can pierce through armors.

Increases the chance of inflicting a maim status by 250%, reducing the opponent’s fighting ability.

Can penetrate through any magical defense.

Power of fire is amplified by 100%.

Absorbing the fire attacks of fire attribute races will increase your strength.

Magic Resistance +30%

Monsters below intermediate level will be extremely intimidated.

Enhances the power of sword based attack skills.

Can remove all negative buffs.

Grants the user the special skill ‘Red Star’.

Whenever you take out the sword for battle, there is a 0.01% chance that you can summon a Dragon.

Skill Red Star:

Unable to verify.

Difficulty in identifying.

Deeply related to fire attribute magic.

Seulroeo’s Wedding Ring (♂):

Durability 40/40

An emerald ring that symbolizes hope, youth, and eternal love. Crafted by a Dwarf artisan who had poured all his heart and soul into this work.

The ring obtained by Seulroeo filled with his aspirations to marry the woman he loved.

It is a set together with its other ring (♀) counterpart.

Restrictions:

Unmarried young man.

The female partner should be the one to place the ring.

Options:

Enhances mana concentration and increases magical damage of spells by 27%.

Speeds up the rate of learning spell incantations.

35% increase in Mana Regeneration.

Fame +1,200

Grace +40

Culture +40

Intelligence +40

Wisdom +40

Charm +150

Grants the user the barrier magic skill ‘Shield’.

Weed had mixed feelings about items.

“I didn’t think I’d acquire Seulroeo’s Pair of Wedding Rings. But as expected, I now have the Dragon Sword.”

The Red Star can deal high damage and has many Options. However, the level restriction is very high.

It was something that cannot be easily sold due to its fire resistance wearing restriction.

Furthermore, it would be difficult to put up a price for such extremely rare loot!

“I don’t even know who to sell this to.”

Weed felt greatly disappointed as he looked around the ground for his scattered items. He had died twice and so did the amount of his dropped items, among them were his Talrock’s armor, some sewing tools, and several sculptures.

Due to Weed having accumulated a lot of Infamy and having the Murderer’s Mark, he had dropped a lot of items more than usual.

As he was recollecting his items and the ones obtained by his undead during the battle, Seoyoon appeared having just reconnected together with the arrival of Golden Bird, Eunsae, and Rover.

“Good to see you are safe and sound.”

Weed caringly stroked Rover. Rover then heartily rubbed his face and licked him with his tongue, something that he would normally not do.

‘Master, thank you. I did not know that you were keeping an eye on me and saved me. Sorry.’

‘I would’ve died in at that place. How can I ever repay you….’

To the outside, this would’ve been seen as a very touching scene but never in their wildest dream would they be able to think of what was Weed’s true intentions.

Eunsae, flapping its wings, landed on Weed’s shoulder. It was a gesture of affection.

Among the sculptures of life, only Eunsae had a nature of that of a girl. And this time, it seems to have a change of heart about Weed.

“I should be distributing Kubichya’s item drops by now but since we can’t wear the boots and plate armor set, I’ll sell it first and give your share later, ok?”

Seoyoon nodded. Since she has yet to return to a town or castle, the number of items she had acquired in the fields previously and the ones she received here has been stockpiling, exceeding her current item capacity.

“But you can take this one.”

Weed handed over the male ring of Seulroeo’s Pair of Wedding Rings to her while he held onto its other remaining female ring half.

“I’ll distribute this equally between the two of us.”

“…?”

Due to the wearing restrictions, Weed must be the one to give a proposal and while he offers the ring to Seoyoon, his face had become bright red as an apple.

The meaning of a ring is never a small deal to a woman especially if its wedding rings!

*Ttiring!*

– Wearing Seulroeo’s Pair of Wedding Rings will fulfil his dearest wish.

If worn, the effects of the ring will let you act out his long-cherished and unfulfilled desire.

Seulroeo’s wish is to have a wedding with his fiancée, do you wish to proceed?

The unmarried man and woman will enact the part of Seulroeo and his fiancée Letia Evelynn in order to fulfil their wishes and release them from their regrets.

Weed, of course, had no other choice but to proceed.

The unique class item has an effect of increasing Mana Regeneration which is very essential to hunting.

And after a while, the two which were inside the Inferno Dungeon of Las Phalanx together with the sculptures of life had their surrounding area suddenly transformed into a majestic castle.

– You have arrived at Castle Evelynn of the Niflheim Empire.

This place is the manifestation of Seulroeo’s dream, an illusionary world called ‘Magus Phantasm’. Although illusionary, the items acquired here can be owned.

Weed and Seoyoon was then approached by butlers and maids.

“Ahh, this is what happens when I’m late in waking you up. Today is the wedding, we must prepare quickly. The clothes sent by the tailors have already arrived, come quickly Master Seulroeo.”

Weed’s appearance was the same way as before, just plain ordinary, but the maids see him as Seulroeo.

Weed was then forced by the maids to get moving. Seoyoon as well was led by the other maids to another room.

“Oh my, you have such smooth skin.”

“Just one look at Lady Letia and you can already tell that she is a peerless beauty. Master Seulroeo is truly one lucky man.”

Weed could hear the voices of the maids talking to Seoyoon while walking down the hall.

A maid then asked Weed.

“Are you properly taking care of your skin?”

“Ah, there’s eye-wax stuck in there. Hurry and go wash your face.”

Rover, Golden Bird, and Eunsae were left standing idly in the hall. But soon after that, a ranch manager and a garden custodian appeared and took them along somewhere else.

***

Weed was taking a bath inside a bathtub filled with hot water with his head swathed in a towel. In Royal Road, taking a long bath will make one feel refreshed.

– You will recover from fatigue much faster.

After the bath, if you eat a meal, you can recover up to 20% higher that of your maximum stamina.

After a comfortable bath, Weed then rested for 30 minutes. He had then put on the suit the tailor had sent though it was very uncomfortable to move on.

Taking advantage of the situation, Weed used his Identify skill to check the wedding suit during the era of the Niflheim Empire. The item grants an increase in Grace and Charm and gives a considerably good impression towards the opposite sex.

– You have acquired the methods for producing wedding suits for high nobilities.

For Weed who have the sewing skill, it was a great opportunity for him to learn how to make a new suit although what he learned seemed to be rather useless.

Defense is almost zero, it easily wears off due to low Durability and its special effect is to inflict a minor charmed status. To make matters worse, getting it wrinkled will lead to a drop in the Grace and Charm stat!

‘Collecting the suit materials and creating it is difficult.’

After donning the suit, the maids then started fixing his hair.

By applying a strange pomade, his hair had become smooth and shiny and was combed in a hairstyle that he had never done before.

‘Just apply shampoo on the hair and rinse it then dry it using a towel.’

To Weed who prefers a pragmatic way of life, this was an unfamiliar experience to him.

Combing through his forelocks, his hair was then parted in a 7 to 3 ratio.

Weed was very embarrassed as he looked through the mirror and awkwardly made a request.

“Wouldn’t it be ok to just let down my hair like normal?”

“Oh, would you like to have it done in the usual style, Master Seulroeo?”

“…….”

With that as the maid’s response, Weed was unable to reply.

‘I’ll revert back my hairstyle after the wedding. For now, I’ll just have to endure until this is over.’

In Weed’s entire lifetime, he had not once experienced putting on makeup.

The maids then let Weed look into the mirror.

“I think Master is looking very handsome.”

Hearing them speak about his appearance made Weed frown for he knows that everyone was forcing themselves in speaking words of praise.

And then, soothing music began to flow.

“The wedding is about to start, Master Seulroeo.”

“I should be going then.”

Weed wanted to finish this event fast.

Any man would definitely be able to sympathize with him. It’s like feeling the accumulated fatigue of accompanying a woman in a department store while keeping up appearance.

“You should go and exchange greetings with the guests but pay a visit to the officiant first.”

“Can’t I just have the wedding proceed immediately?”

“Lady Letia needs a lot of time to get ready. In a wedding, the bride must be distinctively beautiful.”

With Seoyoon still undergoing a bridal makeover, Weed was unable to hasten the schedule.

Weed’s wedding was going to be held in front of a blue fountain hall where the guests were currently standing looking at him.

‘Anyway, this is not even my wedding… I should go and greet the guests.’

“Seulroeo, your theory on the arcane arts that reduces the time of spellcasting is amazing. It’s already enough to qualify you in winning this year Matam’s Scholar Award.”

– You have acquired a magical ingredient, Blue Lizard’s Tail.

Weed hastily straightened his suit and offered a handshake.

“Thank you for coming to my wedding.”

“I can’t believe that Count Byron’s successor is already marrying, time sure quickly passes by.”

– You have acquired 800 Niflheim Empire gold coins.

Wizards and nobles came to attend as guests. From them, presents and congratulatory money were pouring in so Weed gladly and courteously greeted them.

After that, the officiant, Bishop Cyprianus, began the invocation.

“We are gathered here today to join this young and promising wizard-nobleman, Sir Seulroeo Byron and the gem of our Niflheim Empire, Lady Letia Evelynn in holy matrimony.”

The wedding ceremony was then started with a pompous musical performance.

After the first song ended, the officiant then introduced himself to the noble well-wishers.

A symphony expressing the joys and sorrows of life then played afterwards.

Weed was surprise to know that a wedding ceremony had so many processes involved. He had wanted to finish the ceremony as soon as possible but then the servers arrived serving the guests at their tables their dinner and glasses of cold drinks.

‘I guess it would be inadequate to brew Samdasoo Green Tea Bags during a wedding day…. The preparation process would be too long.’

Rover, Golden Bird, and Eunsae were among the guests.

Rover was served with fresh vegetables while Golden Bird and Eunsae were served with a meal of cooked eel and snake cuisines without any seasonings.

“Entering the groom, Sir Seulroeo Byron.”

After the words of the officiant, Weed gallantly walked into the wedding aisle.

‘I’ve gained a lot of profit.’

Weed had made a killing and now, all that is left to do to complete the wedding is exchange the rings.

There wasn’t anything to it apart from Weed putting the female ring in Seoyoon’s finger and receiving the male ring so it was easy peasy.

After presenting himself to the officiant and the guests, Weed now stood still.

“And here come the most beautiful bride in the world.”

The orchestra then began playing a clear melody. Slowly walking down the aisle was Seoyoon wearing a pure white wedding dress.

Her appearance right now cannot even be compared to when she wore a wedding dress during the school festival.

She could only be described as all the beauty in the world combined as she walked down the aisle.

Weed then began to reminisce.

‘Back then, I was the one who took her veil off.’

Their relationship already has come a long way.

‘Come to think of it, we have gone to many different places together.’

It all started with their chance meeting in the instructor’s cabin during his novice days in Rosenheim Kingdom. Then when he shapeshifted into Orc Karichwi, they travelled together in the Plains of Despair. After that, they went into an adventure together in the north, planting the Wood Elf Seeds and hunting the Bone Dragon.

And in Las Phalanx, she fought together with him though it ended up costing her life.

Although it had been difficult for Weed to do his work since Seoyoon is nearby.

But it is not an exaggeration to say that the many sculptures he modelled after her were by far the most beautiful creations that he had ever done.

After all, the first Grandmaster Piece that he had created was a sculpture based on her. Even his first Moonlight Sculpture was also based on her.

Upon realizing that the wedding dress-clad Seoyoon was drawing near, Weed forcibly stopped his recollection.

Through various coincidences, his fate is now once again intertwined with Seoyoon’s though he is still afraid to accept it. It was because he believes that another man well-suited for her existed somewhere. Weed then reminded himself:

‘Grandmother once told me, a woman’s appearance doesn’t mean everything.’

While these many thoughts were running through his head, Seoyoon was approaching closer.

With the words of his grandmother in his mind, Weed decided to calmly evaluate Seoyoon.

– If the girl is pretty then you’ll be happy for 3 years, if she is a wonderful cook then you’ll be merry for 30 years, and if she is smart then you’ll have 3 generations of bliss.

‘Seoyoon is extremely pretty so there should be an additional number of years. So 6 years of happiness?’

Even after becoming her boyfriend or husband, it would still be hard to ignore Seoyoon’s lovely appearance. You’ll even think you’re in heaven if you see Seoyoon’s sleeping face next to you when you wake up!

However, such dazzling appearance would wane in 6 years, although he wasn’t very sure whether this would even apply to her.

‘After 6 years, she would still be on her 20’s and I have this feeling that she will be even more beautiful as time goes by…. Anyway, marrying a woman that knows how to cook will have 30 years of happy life at best.’

He had already tasted the food Seoyoon expertly prepared complete with condiments inside a lunchbox with a note written from her. It was a meal done with considerable skill, not inferior to even Weed’s.

‘I guess 30 years of bliss since she knows how to cook.’

They would be able to cook together if Weed had such a wife and spend the rest of their years developing and improving recipes.

Seoyoon also has good enough grades in the University of South Korea even without attending a class, although when she took on a lecture together with him, she was actually a good listener and always taking down notes. During exams, she would give him the notes on the parts he didn’t understand and when he took a peek inside her bag, what he found were foreign theses and technical books.

She reads a lot of books during her spare time.

‘She has a good head on her shoulders.’

Even with his grandmothers evaluating criterion, he could not lower Seoyoon’s score.

‘Obviously, there are demerits. It is just simply concealed, every people has their bad points somewhere. Like snoring… and so on. Although, she was sleeping quietly during our MT.’

In a flash, Weed remembered that certain moment.

‘She leaned over to my side when she had fallen asleep back then. That is quite a bad sleeping habit. She also eats and drinks a lot of my meal, didn’t even exercise proper moderation of only picking up 2 side dishes with her chopsticks.’

Weed was somehow trying to nitpick at Seoyoon’s faults. He is even trying to point out any minor faults in her habits. Even way back when he hunted together with Seoyoon, his mind was fixated on misunderstanding her as a wicked person.

After Seoyoon did a light greeting they then held hands.

The officiant then clapped his hands to proceed with the ceremony.

“It is truly an honor to officiate such joyous occasion…. The groom, Sir Seulroeo, born at Herod’s Castle, came to an early realization on how to control the flow of mana and later became the disciple of Master Montau…. The bride, Lady Letia, born in the prestigious House of Evelynn, cultivating flowers and trees as an avocation…. This wedding ceremony holds great meaning for the Niflheim Empire…. The wedding of this virtuous man and woman….”

Weed let out a sleepy yawn as he endured the boring procession. There was no point in memorizing the contents of the officiant’s message like as if it was going to be on a test.

The shorter the officiant’s message was the better but it only got even longer when he started glorifying some kind of Saint who can make nature bloom flowers with butterflies flying before him.

‘In the end, it all just comes down to being honoured and blessed.’

Weed barely managed to endure as it finally reached the last portion of the officiant’s message. After that, it was finally the Exchange of Vows, the very highlight of the wedding ceremony.

“Do you take this woman to be your wedded wife? Do you promise to be true to her in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love her and honor her, forsaking all others and holding only unto her as long as you both live?”

For the sake of not ruining the wedding, Weed must answer properly and place the ring on Seoyoon.

“I do.”

Weed clasped Seoyoon’s hand.

As a Berserker, her hands have been accustomed to many battles but contrary to that, it was very slender and had a flawless complexion.

He even finds the nails on her fingers to be very pretty when he placed the ring on her.

This time, Bishop Cyprianus turned towards Seoyoon and asked her the question.

“Do you promise to be true to him in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, to love him and honor him, forsaking all others and holding only unto him as long as you both live?”

Having a well-groomed hair with makeup applied, Seoyoon wearing the wedding dress had been contemplating on a lot of things.

Her first meeting with Weed to up to this very moment.

They have spent a lot of time together. She became intimately acquainted with him through the animals he raised with Rover, Geumini, and the other sculptures of life included.

She has been scared and wary of others but with Weed, she was not.

Cha Eunhee once concernedly said to her:

“Are you going to continue living like this?”

“….…”

Seoyoon wanted to say something but she was still terribly afraid to talk. It was still yet not possible for her to have a conversation with someone and convey her feelings.

“Life isn’t just about grasping drifting clouds. As a teenager, you should go attend school and get involve in school activities. Go get yourself occupied with something to do every day. Don’t worry about what to tell to your parent even if your grades fell short of a few points.”

It wasn’t that she was saying to waste things after coming out of the examination hell.

“You should go experience the sense of freedom one gets when entering college. Although you need to start preparing for employment during your second year since competition is fierce in trying to land a job.”

The employment war only gets more intense every year. If you don’t prepare beforehand, you’ll only have a hard time getting a good job later.

“Look, right now, I am on my late 20’s and all I’ve been doing is work ever since I went out and fitted into society. But I’m still unmarried so I have to go through those annoying marriage interviews during holidays at my house to quickly find a prospective man to marry.”

Time will make you sensitive to aging, becoming conscious every day that youth is escaping from your body.

“Seoyoon, it’s still too early for you to give up and have your life expire in a cage. After all,”

Cha Eunhee tenderly smiled.

“Happiness can be found even on the simplest of things. You should live like the others and make friends while you’re studying, friends that will walk along with you as your lifelong companions. And if you find club activities in college to be lacking then you should immerse yourself with a hobby.”

“….…”

“Also, once you enter into a company, there will be times when you’ll feel stressed, angry, and irritated to the point of wanting to write a resignation letter immediately after but if you were to succeed, wouldn’t you develop a sense of accomplishment? As you get older, you’ll start looking for marriage and after that, raising a child during your 30’s and 40’s wouldn’t be so bad.”

“….…”

“Passing through the age of adulthood is where you experience most of life’s happiness. However, what I’m worried about is that you’ll miss that opportunity.”

Although her expression never changed, she still listened to what she said.

“You aren’t living an ordinary life. If you live in your own world without making any friends…. then you might not be able to make many happy memories. That’s such a waste. You must work up the courage when the time comes. If you don’t, the things that you really like and what makes you happy might disappear.”

Seoyoon understood Cha Eunhee’s words but her heart was rejecting it.

However, being together with Weed had greatly reminded her of those words. Especially during at that time when the destitute village of Morata held a festival, her heart felt warmth just by being near Weed and made her very happy.

That warmth was comparable to the warmth radiating from their held hands, not a stove running on fuel.

After eating the food that Weed made, going on adventures together and seeing his sculptures, Seoyoon felt that she wanted to become his companion, not just a distant spectator. She had a frozen heart, but she wanted to convey that she loved that warmth so much.

Although it was something she hasn’t prepared and could stumble, she mustered up her courage now that she had to.

Embracing the great fluttering feelings and the nervousness inside her, she spoke with a quavering voice.

“Y-Yes, I do.”

Chapter 1: The Secrets of Founding an Empire

“Y-Yes, I do.”

Seo Yoon was still very afraid of people, she spoke but her fear of love and reaching out made speaking a terrible task.

It was a shame to see her shiver while wearing a beautiful wedding gown.

It was seeing Hyun Lee die once from the Bone Dragon that had allowed her to break free and let the word ‘ friend’ be spoken.

This was only the second time she had found the courage to speak.

Weed remembered the first time he heard her speak asking to be a friend. He later figured out that dying as she was then, she had been desperate to retrieve her items.

He was confident that this time was very similar.

‘This is the only idea that fits the facts. Having the wedding in place of the Royal Magician Seulloeo is the only way you can equip the wedding ring. How much of a grudge would she have had for me if she hadn’t spoken up at this time, especially when you consider the degree of options for this item are amazing and it would be impossible to buy.’

Humans had to live a life full of endless distrust and misunderstandings, this Weed knew all too well, holding Seo Yoon’s warm hand he felt like he knew what she must be feeling.

“It’s alright, I understand.”

Weed too would do anything for the rare items in Royal Road.

“I even sing songs though I can’t really sing”

Ever since he turned into the Orc Karichi, he would sing a song at the beginning of every battle with the worst tone deaf singing possible and be proud of it. He would probably open a concert in a coliseum if he needed to do it for a quest!

“Anyway, there are lots of reasons for me to be sorry this time too.”

He had been wondering why Seo Yoon never spoke in school or in Royal Road.

When they were fighting the Chaos Warrior in the inferno dungeon Seo Yoon had lost her life, if it had not been for her using her beserker skills to cover for Weed that quest would have failed.

Seo Yoon’s mouth twitched and once again she trembled.

“…The reason why …I couldn’t speak up until now……”

The wedding celebration was loudly going on all around them but Seo Yoon couldn’t hear any part of it. Until now she’d not explained about the heavy burden she carried. It felt very painful to try and describe it.

Weed smiled lightly.

“I know.”

“….pardon…?”

“You don’t have to say anything. I understand.”

Weed gazed at her with a expression of warm bliss, the exact same expression he wore when he picked up expensive items.

‘Some people take a while to understand…it’s clear to me now how much she really loves loot.’

Had anyone who knew her heard her speaking, it would have been like a bolt out of the blue sky. Seo Yoon had opened a small part of her heart for the first time in many years and actually spoke words to another person. However, Weed knew nothing about this, Thus his image of her didn’t change at all.

Regardless of the brighter look in her eyes or her trying to speak attitude, on the surface it wasn’t very different from before so he didn’t feel the need to treat her any differently.

“……”

“We’re busy right now, so let’s talk later.”

The last event of the wedding was the dinner. Many rare foods reserved only for the royalty came flooding out.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk, Call Vampire Lord Tori!”

Van Hawk and Tori have been summoned to the wedding.

“Master, who must I fight?”

“You brought me to a place suits my nobility perfectly. You didn’t have to do so much just for the sake of feeding me this delicious food Master.”

There was no possibility that Weed would call up his servants just to invite them to a feast. Weed divided up his bags and backpacks and gave them out.

“Here guys. I want you to take all of it.”

He started to collect all the money and items given to him for the wedding, even gathering up the food perfectly!

He filled his bags with various cakes, cookies, fruits and desserts that was normally very hard to cook or in some special cases very rare ingredients.

These were new and unusually dishes that he would try to recreate later on after tasting them.

He knew that he would have to learn about these high-level recipes in order to increase his cooking skill. Seo Yoon was embarrassed, so she was carefully taking fruits one by one, when Weed came over to her.

“If you want to take a lot, then you need to start stacking from the bottom.”

There was a ton of food for the hundreds of nobles present. Van Hawk, Tori, Seo Yoon, Golden Bird, and Silver Bird went around collecting the various foods.

“To assure the food is not damaged you need to balance the weight from it’s center of gravity. This is based on all the experience I got while sculpting with big stone blocks.”

Weed constantly thought about how to stack food, and in which container it must go into.

His extraordinary thoughts allowed him to do the impossible. Weed had once built a fifteen storey tower out of various foods.

He made a fruit tower, cake tower and a cookie tower. He used Dishes, bottles of liquor, crates, using them all to make tall stacking trees.

Once, a veteran director of packaging, after seeing Weed’s skills had tried to recruit him!

“As expected, running a wedding is just like a running a military campaign”

There was no time to relax since they needed to leave the wedding dinner party once they’d finished taking everything.

There is a highly satisfying profit all gotten from the wedding!

Even the noble guest really didn’t mind since the groom and the bride were Weed and Seo Yoon.

Every fresh cooked dish from the kitchen was also targeted.

Finally, Weed could see sun setting, it’s fading golden light slowly disappearing from the town and fields far below the castle.

At that moment, the smiling nobles, the laughing magicians all dissipated into smoke….

*Ting!*

You have completed: Seulloeo’s dearest wish.

The seal on Seulloeo’s ring has lifted.

+ Seulloeo’s Wisdom

Your mana has increased by 3,500 permanently.

+ Seulloeo’s Blessing

Your luck has permanently increased by 20, also giving a small amount of magic resistance.

+ Marriage Vows.

This holy ring can share the life between the two holders.

If the other ring bearer has his HP down critically low, the other ring bearer may choose to deliver up to 50% of his or her health to the other ring bearer.

When you are low on life with this ring equipped, you are able to use the special skills of the other ring bearer at 70% proficiency.

Restrictions:

Because the elements of the ring have changed, it cannot be traded or given to any other person.

Destruction of the ring will break the Marriage Vows.

While they were reading the message, Weed, the living sculptures and Seo Yoon were returned back to the Inferno Dungeon.

Weed had a satisfied smile on his lips. It surely was a really profitable wedding.

They had returned to the dungeon where the final the battle of the jigolaths tribal war took place. They had fought over controlling this dungeon’s secret power; the magic circle that pulsed with pure power.

‘S’ Difficulty Quest level, the final stages.

He could see a faint shimmering around the place where Kubichya had died. Parts of Gold Man’s broken body were scattered around, gold sparks shinning in the sand.

He flew over there using the Wings of Light. A living sculpture parasite that Gold Man was wearing at that time and had since returned to live on Weed.

“Let’s search for Gold Man’s remains. Although I don’t know how much we’ll be able to recover.”

Weed hunted through the combat area picking up gold fragments. Golden Bird and Silver Bird went around collecting gold bits smaller than a green pea with their beaks.

Weed, Seo Yoon and the Birds all searched the entire day but could only recover roughly one third of the Gold Man’s original mass.

With difficulty Seo Yoon spoke again.

“Can ..you…. revive ..him….?”

Seo Yoon is heartbroken from this loss, Gold Man was cute and very brave.

Weed Shook his head.

“I can breathe life into him again, but repairing him is impossible because I don’t have enough of him left.”

Seo Yoon’s face took on a sad expression. Clear water pooled in her eyes.

Golden Bird, Silver Bird, and Yellowy have wet eyes as well, mourning their lost friend.

The quest will be completed the moment he speaks with the Inferno Knight’s Captain.

The end of the S Rank chain quest could finally be complete!

Yet Weed could not give up on Gold Man like this, he returned to searching.

“Gold Man, I can’t let you go so easily”

Using his hands as a rough shovel, Weed keep searching.

It wasn’t just because he wanted the gold, he kept thinking of Gold Man’s sacrifice and how grateful he was. Just as he was about to give up against the Great Warrior of Chaos, Kubichya, Gold Man rode in on Yellowy to save him.

The bravery and the loyalty Gold Man must have had, to run in attacking with his sword while being cut and melted! The thing that mattered the most was that Gold Man gave up his own life to save Weed.

He used his blacksmithing skills to make a sieve to filter the sand seeking yet more gold in his desire to search. After going through a large volume of sand, he was still only able to recover only a small bit of gold.

He finally had to accept the fact that the rest of Gold Man’s body was vaporized in the final attack.

“I’m really not sure if I can restore him to his old self.”

Even if Weed had all the lost portions it was still a big question with no assurance of success.

Not only did Gold Man lose his life, a large part of his gold body had mostly been turned into dust.

“That aside, I’ll have to get more gold back in Morata before trying this.”

Having sweep the grounds as well as he could Weed then finally approached the Inferno Knights and greeted them formally.

“ Your knight warriors protected the magic circle with great honor, I was only able to defeat the Grand Warrior of Chaos thanks to their brave actions. I and my companions are adventurers from the south continent.”

The Inferno Knight Captain, Ivan stepped forward and spoke.

“Thank you for your words, it would’ve been impossible for us to do this task alone. Thanks to your help, we were able to successfully protect the magic circle and defeat Kubichya.”

“What happened after Kubichya died?”

Weed was a bit unsure if he really wanted to open up questions around that event, still he felt like he had to know.

Since Weed was the appearing Dragon who had not only killed Kubichya but had also taken the Red Star Sword, it could lead to some tricky questions.

The conditions to complete the Quest were met once he had that sword. That conditional requirement, the Red Star Sword, was also the item that could be used to destroy the magic circle.

He was, however, very curious as to how the Tribal War had ended.

“After that filthy Lich died, a Bone Dragon appeared.” answered Ivan.

“…..”

Even though he had only used that form through sculpture transformation, an Undead Lich it seemed, was still hated.

Despite having rescued them Ivan directed looks at Weed that were not pleasant ones. Well considering that he had hunted a lot of Inferno Knights while a Lich it wasn’t a big surprise.

“After that Bone Dragon ate Kubichya, the Chaos Warriors lost their leader and became disorganized. Thankfully, we were able to team up with the Fire Giants and counterattack. We took those bastards and drove them away. Nevertheless, our losses were great.”

“I see. I’m sorry you had to suffer such loses.”

“We were just able to take on the Chaos Warriors after Kubichya had disappeared.”

“Looking at your muscles and the skills you possess it looks to me like Kubichya would’ve been no match for you, Captain Ivan.”

“Such praise is undeserved.”

This was, of course, a trick to getting friendlier with high level warriors, offhand remarks that they were so much stronger than their enemies.

He was pouring compliments as he asked about how far could he throw, or how much could he lift and had thus gotten friendlier with him.

He had also asked how much more they could do if they used special weapons and armor and a surprised look grew on Ivan’s face.

Ivan spoke in a softer and more thoughtful tone.

“You traveled over a great distance and a unknown road and survived!. Until now humans have found it too difficult to live here.”

They had faced countless hardships, however, Weed didn’t say anything as he collected his thoughts.

He was very worried about the quest reward thus his effort to raise intimacy with Ivan. Into that silent pause Ivan spoke again.

“This magic circle was created by the human Archmage Imbeol and it has been protecting the tribes since ancient times while keeping Jigolaths unstable mana in check.”

At the heart of the enormous underground dungeon, spanning hundreds of meters in diameter, are deep and complex engravings on both floor and ceiling. Suspended in the center, expanding and contracting was a glowing circle of Fire spirit magic endlessly spinning.

The circle in the dark cavern was like a blazing sun!

The fiery light was enough make you drip with sweat just from just being near it.

It was an amazing sight. It fascinated the viewer for the same reason that young children are attracted to playing with fire. The glamor, the feel of having control over the powerful element of fire.

This energy circle can be called the origin of Jigolaths, it’s blaze was more dazzling than the greatest of jewels. Had this magic circle not been there Jigolaths would’ve had volcanic eruptions tens of times larger and more massive in scale, it would have destroyed or sunk the land. The many tribes were able to live here because this magic circle accumulated that energy and used it to entwine and control the unstable mana that saturated Jigolaths.

Ivan continued to speak.

“Kubichya was planning to absorb the circle’s power and thus become powerful enough to dominate the land. He would have tried to rule over this land as the leader of all the Tribes. Yet stealing that power would have destroyed the land. So, at the end his ambition was his downfall.”

“Had he succeeded, it would’ve created a monster equal to that of a dragon. However, in the aftermath of the battle with the Chaos Warriors, the area around the magic circle was damaged.”

“Back then, some areas in the ceiling were already cracked, the accumulated battle damage then caused those areas to collapse. “

Weed could only watch the circle while trying to think.

Ivan spoke further.

“Up to now this damage has caused the circle to roll from side to side and convulse up and down, pulsing as if it was trying to escape. Now however, the damage is showing signs of healing, it looks to somehow be self-restoring the damaged areas. Look for yourself.”

Even as they watched the gaps and cracks were filling with earth and sand. The damaged engravings were also deepening and becoming crisp with magic again.

A spectacular and wonderful scene that left their mouths gaping. The spewing energy then turned pure white and collapsed into a perfect circle!

*Ting!*

You witnessed Archmage Imbeol’s Circle of Fire

This magic circle is responsible for keeping the unstable mana of

Jjigolaths in check, thus allowing the many tribes to survive here.

Health increases by 900.

Stamina increases by 35

Fire resistance is increased permanently by 7%.

Your understanding of the origin of mana has deepened. However, because you are not a Summoner or a spirit medium,it does not have a special effect

You’ve witnessed a amazing ancient magic from the past.

Your art stat was increased by 4.

Your wisdom was increased by 2.

This was the effect that Imbeol’s restored circle gave, immediately another message window floated up.

*Ting!*

Quest Complete: Retrieval of the Red Star Sword (3rd) .

The Great Warrior of Chaos, Kubichya has had his life ended and the Dragon’s Weapon, The Red Star sword, was safely withdrawn from circulation. It seems like this will not be the last time a Dragon’s Weapon will cause trouble for the world. The Tribal Races of Jigolaths will always have spirits that compete, but they can live in peace for now. The fact that a sculptor completed this quest can be called nothing other than a miracle.

Quest Reward: Dragon’s Sword: Red Star.

Golden Bird has the information about the duties and requirements of an Emperor.

Your fame has increased by 5,200

Due to the completion of the quest, you have gained the title: The Heir to the Niflheim Empire.

Due to the completion of an extremely hard quest: You have gained the trust of every adventurer.

You can now gather patronage by a King, Queen or those with nobility of Count or above.

In addition, you may choose to become the Steward of Adventurers for the Versailles continent.

If you have enough notoriety, you can also choose to become the leader of a revolutionary army or thieves guild.

Due to the completion of this quest your notoriety has decreased by 1,200.

Due to the completion of a heroic quest, all skill stats will increase by 7.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

You have leveled up.

………..

In Jigolaths, aside from the Chaos Warriors, your reputation will be replaced with either neutral or intimate for all racial tribes. However the Fire Giants may still harbor some hostile against you.

Intimacy with the diversified races in the Northern Versailles continent has increased.

The reputation of sculptors in Main Versailles continent has increased.

The sculptor class respect level is raised.

Sculptor’s now have the respect of the people and will be able to eat for free in restaurants.

The price and trade value of created sculpture works has increased all over the continent.

‘I gained 9 levels and an enormous amount of fame.’

“A sponsor.”

‘If I have the King as my sponsor, I could gain quite a few high level quests. Each kingdom will have many types of quests; mysteries, heroic, and treasure hunting.’

Weed had just gained a high risk, high stakes price tag for using these patrons but he couldn’t afford to throw this chance away.

Weed would go to the kings of every country, meet them and receive these new high level requests from them.

He tried to imagined how these new quest might play out

“Please, take care of this for me.”

“I’ll entrust this quest only to the best sculptor. You may not be able to do this alone so take these men with you.”

After meeting with the king, he’d go to the center of the square and use the lion’s roar.

“I have a Quest that all of you can join!”

From young children to the elderly, men and woman in the thousands would join the quest. He could see a vision of them exploited and suffering during the quest.

He had been requested to build something like a Pyramid in Rosenheim by a king before, so he knew that the royalties, or the high ranking nobles of the nation could pay compensation of a huge reward.

This wouldn’t only be about sculpting a sculpture but also collecting a large group of adventurers to go on a grand quest or even declare war against factions like the Embinyu Church.

“Hu hu hu hu”

Of course that wasn’t the only reward.

He’d won the Dragon’s Sword, Red Star.

He still didn’t know if he could use it in battle or when he would be able to use it. Anyway he’d finally cleared the S ranked quest, on his lips Weed had a peaceful and relieved smile.

“Finally, I’ll be able to wash my hair.”

Somehow he’d had this ominous feeling that keeping it clean would’ve cause the quest to fail. While due to his nervous fears, it had still somehow allowed him to do his best. Mostly it had given him some peace of mind while exploring in Jigolaths without having to worry too much.

Still, he hadn’t taken a bath since then.

“9 levels mmm… Display Stat window.

Character Name

Weed

Affinity

Challenger

Level

392

Fame

37,983

Title

Commander Who Hunted the Imugi

Class

Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Health

31,360

Mana

17,905

Strength

1,378

Agility

1,065

Stamina

226

Art

1,899

Charisma

414

Intelligence

198

Luck

75

Leadership

706

Attack

5,641

Vitality

172

Defense

1,820

Faith

115 (+435)

Fighting Spirit

497

Perseverance

753

Charm

210 (+30)

Mental Power

25

Resist Blows

455

Dignity

36

Courage

107

Strength of the Dead

268

Magic Resistance

Fire

0%

Water

0%

Earth

0%

Black Magic

0%

+20 to all stats.

+80 points Art stat.

During the full moonlit night, you will gain 30% increased stat boosts.

You have access to class specific items.

You can learn all production skills up to the level of the Masters. This effect is included in all item creation and refinement. You can learn highest quality in all skills.

Your fame will increase as you create more high level sculptures.

Due to your combat experience, sculptures, production and quest experience, all stats are increased by 132. You are now able to gain the Master Artisan title if you are able to increase your stats by over 100 with just production and sculpting alone.

Due to equipping the Barahanui Bracelet, all of your stats have increased by 15.

You have now gained access to the Necromancer’s special ability, the strength of the dead.

‘In this window I can see the ability of a construction worker to grind skill and stat points, but it won’t be so straight forward now that I’m getting toward the 400’s. ‘

Of course, it’s primarily due to the huge experience gained from quests.

“Huh? ‘Strength of the dead.’ When did I get that?”

There was a new and rather ominous unknown stat displayed in the stat window.

“I’ve never seen that stat rise up with a message window either.”

“Stat check, Strength of the Dead.”

Strength of the Dead

You automatically created this stat while transformed during the long time period as an Undead.

Distributing points to this skill is impossible, undead powers only rise as you spend more time in a Undead form.

This stat increases intelligence, summoning ability, and black magic strength while transformed as an Undead.

Undead raises intelligence and raise the dead abilities, as Black magic powers increase it will cause side effects for those with good alignment.

Strength of the Dead stat will grow rapidly depending on the battles. This stat may suddenly increase itself and will consume other stats in order to do so. Grace, Charm, Luck, Faith are the main prey as a resource used to increase itself.

If strength of the Dead’s stat is higher than any other stat points you will never be able to reverse the Undead effect.

‘Not just an ordinary undead, I transformed into a one of the highest, a ‘Lich’. Then I hunted for all those millions of EXP which were then piled into this new undead stat.’

‘Well, I did choose the Lich because it was that strong but the side effects are also strong.’

‘298, perhaps I should be worried about this stat.’

Even with faith being high, it was still barely suppressing the strength of the Undead.

“I’ve never even heard about this strength of the dead stat before.”

He had checked multiple forums regarding Royal Road, but there was no information about this stat. This was due to the fact that Weed is better at being bad than anyone else. This was the price he had to pay for being fascinated by the fighting powers of a Lich.

“When I return to Morata, I’ll just have to ask Alveron to bless me.”

This would not be a problem for someone from the Freya Church, especially since Alveron’s the Pope Candidate.

‘I’ve finished the impossible Quest,’ with a long deep sigh Weed then turned toward Golden Bird.

“Then… what should I do first in order to found an Empire? If I construct a Empire of my own, I’d image I will be able to collect taxes from the realm, even sell noble titles?”

The whole spirit of conversation was overshadowed with Weed’s nature of greedily wanting to eat the whole pie instead of a slice! Weed was only interested in profiting from the construction of an empire.

Although hesitant Golden Bird tried to explain.

“To ensure the creation of an Empire several steps are necessary to satisfy the conditions.”

Weed thought that was would be the case, after all the price of doing an “S’ level Quest had called for great sacrifices. Just solving this quest hadn’t been enough, it had only created a foundation for this empire building quest. He knew it would be a very heavy load but even so it won’t get done by saying it’s impossible.

“So what requirements must I fulfill in order to found another Niflheim Empire?”

“In order to build an empire, you must get the approval of the Versailles Gods. To gather this approval you will need to be blessed by three of the founding Gods churches.”

He already knew the Freya Church very well. He’d returned their relic and had completed all their Quest, so he thought it wasn’t going to be much of a problem to at least get one from them. On top of that he already had a good friendship with the Next Pope, Alveron, to rely on.

It was good to have some connections to those with power!

His relationship with the Matallost Church wasn’t bad, so he thought in return for allowing them to build a shrine in Morata, he’d get support from them.

If you added in that he had high fame, especially since fighting off the Embinyu Church, he should be able to gain the approval of other religions as well.

‘If that’s not enough I’ll solve a few high level quest for them, or maybe use the faster method of bribing them with donations and gifts.’

He knew the best way to create high intimacy was to use a bit of both tactics. A few gifts and quest’s should be pretty easy to achieve.

“I guess I shouldn’t have a too much of a problem with getting approval from the gods, I’ll make sure to be blessed by them when before I begin creating an Empire.”

‘Yeah, with the Freya Church’s blessing it’ll be easier to make it a rich Empire. Surely though Golden Bird’s terms won’t end with just that.’

“Furthermore, another condition is for you to gain the approval from several tribes of the northern continent. You must have citizens of more than Five different ethnic groups before the founding of an Empire.”

Dwarf, Elf, Humans, Barbarians, Orcs.

He knew that these five basic species were the most abundant, if he got more detailed about separating them by race, there were sub-races of elves, dwarves, spirits and monsters as well.

Currently, there are races that the players can choose, as well as races players aren’t able to choose.

“Does that mean in order for me to found an empire, all five races must be made available so players can have access to play as those races?”

There was also a chance of a living sculpture civilization needing to be included in those races. Perhaps like some forgotten legacy left behind by Emperor Geihar Von Arpen. Like the avian race of Lavias, city in the sky.

Well he just needed to be resolved to find a way to sweet talk a solution. He felt that he was about to get sent on yet one more high risk adventure quest, still that wasn’t a big deal in exchange for gaining an Empire.

“There is still more…. in order to construct an Empire you yourself must be free of all human sin. If your notoriety is too high, no Knights or Nobles will be able to follow you.”

He already knew how to decrease notoriety through capturing wanted criminals, quests and hunting monsters. He felt that decreasing or even eliminating the unwanted notoriety wasn’t too big of a deal.

“Wait…there can’t be any more conditions…are there?”

“Of course…establishing an Empire takes not only vast territories but a huge population too. ”

“Around 20 thousand people?”
Morata’s population was around that much.

“You’ll need at least 10 million subjects…”

“…furthermore…in order for the population to quickly raise their skill and hobby levels, which allow the public order stat to rise, several guilds needs to be established within your Empire. In addition… you must eradicate the surrounding lands of thieves and monsters periodically in order to increase the security of your subjects”

Weed frowned at the absurdity.

“So in order to defend from monster attacks, I need to build several fortresses as well?”

“But of course you will…”

“…Also another requirement you must fulfill ; you must gather at least 500 elite knights and 30,000 heavily armed soldiers.”

“I’ll ask once more… what else? You’re surely not going to end with just that.”

“Of course there’s more….Religious facilities are needed, along with high artistic and cultural satisfaction. It will be needed to develop the higher craftsmen skills.”

Weed’s expression was looking like that of a man who has just been swindled of all his money. Or like a child that had won money and promptly had it taken away by their parents! They then always say the same thing, “When you grow older I’ll give it back to you ten fold.”

Of course that money just disappeared, leaving behind only bitter disappointment. Even a child knows it’s never coming back!

“You can’t be done yet, you have more conditions, right?”

“Yes…you must have high-quality iron resources. There must be open roads in order to travel easily between villages so that the traders will have the maximum travel efficiency and therefore be able to establish solid commercial trade routes.”

There were many, many mountains to overcome in order to found an empire. Weed reached this simply conclusion.

‘I’ll need to take better care of Morata, check those results and then use that testing ground to begin building this Empire.’

It was technically very possible to re-establish the Niflheim Empire. This would mean that the small corner market would turn into a giant mall, inns would turn into large hotels.

Weed thought about this and then came back to reality.

He had been swimming in the fantasy that he would be able to build this Empire but he needed to face the harsh cold reality of the situation.

‘There’s no such thing as a free lunch.’

Even with the all the desire in the world, you still can’t force people’s hearts and minds., they have to choose it.

Nonetheless, these frustrations couldn’t be allowed to go unexpressed. Weed beckoned Golden Bird to come closer.

“Well now, I think I get it, so come over here.”

“Why?….what’s going on over there?”

“These virtues you have expressed have inspired me to want to have a closer and more intimate talk with you.”

Yellowy and Tori sensing the way the wind was blowing, flinched and backed away.

Those two have suffered from Weed for a long time and knew better than to ever get too close, they were especially careful not to ever approach him when he was in that kind of a mood. Golden Bird however, just nodded and walked towards Weed.

Weed ordered his two underlings.

“Van Hawk, Tori. Prepare for combat.”

“…The battle is over, so why?” Golden Bird slanted his head in confusion. At this moment he still didn’t have any sense of the ordeal he was about to experience!

“Sorry, although it’s painful for me and a real nuisance, I have no choice but to beat you, Hey guys… Get’em.”

Weed started beating Golden Bird soundly!

Dust flew as Weed began to truly give Golden Bird a double dose of punches!

Though reluctant, Van Hawk and Tori worked like a team combating an enemy. Under Weed’s guidance Golden Bird is granted a new perspective about life.

One way of creating a seamless command hierarchy is to train the subject by fear… perhaps not the best way yet the effects of a beating are very fast!

“This is so unfair… I was only stating the facts.”

“It seems you haven’t been hit enough!”

Weed realized something. Empires aren’t just created because you have some land and a castle. While doing these quests he had found out the history of the living sculptures and gained the trust of the northern races as well.

‘Both the Von Arpen Empire and the Niflheim Empire! I am their orthodox successor!’

‘Even if I don’t know the why of it, the reason must be a good one. I can’t see any real practical benefits right away but the value will have to be there at some point in the future.’

‘It’s the sculptor’s class, there’s got to be a connection since Golden Bird would only be able to pass on instructions to sculptors.’

‘Well whatever, what’s gained is gained, but having to endure such big disappointment is still disappointing.’

Weed thought it necessary to educate Golden Bird about how life is after the passing of Von Arpen’s Empire. He must be made to understand that the rice bowl is upside down in this new world, he must learn his place as an proper underling.

What’s sadder about this beating was Seo Yoon and Silver bird didn’t say anything except for. “Don’t worry,” and “ he won’t kill you.”

Seo Yoon and Silver Bird both had faith that Weed’s road was a straight and honest one, even if a bit hard to see at times. They believed that this military discipline would only serve to make Golden Bird stronger, better.

“Well, we don’t have any more time for this today.” Weed dusted off his hands after 10 minutes of non-stop beating.

Golden Birds health was significantly reduced and the formally perfectly groomed gold feathers were scattered everywhere.

Golden Feather: Durability 35/35.

The ultimate aristocrat of Feathers, Extremely Rare

You can trade it just like a semi-precious gem stone.

If you show it to an accessory shop you’ll acquire high intimacy with that shop.

Options:

Charm and Dignity will rise at a small but constant rate

You can use this item in tailoring or blacksmithing to create a new product.

All the fallen feathers went straight into Weed’s bags.

“It’ll be good money if we pluck your feathers from time to time”

Weed glanced at Silver Bird with an insidious gleam to his eyes.

“Well let’s move on.”

He opened the Underground Jigolaths Map and checked the location to where he should go next.

“Hellium, The raw material of dreams …”

That’s where sculpting Master Daycram had to have gone to.

“If this is the center of Jigolaths we should take the byway intersection while going down to the lowest point of the dungeon.”

‘We’ll need to cross the river of fire and get across to the short roads, but we need to endure those river steps.’

Weed walked forward, Seo Yoon and the sculptures following behind.

*****

Entrance to the Inferno Dungeon

“They’re here.”

Assassins, Thieves, Sappers and Hunters of the Hermes Guild had followed Weed’s trail to the end, The entrance to the Inferno Dungeon.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, no doubt, the monsters and terrain all match, it has to be here, I’m sure.”

Drinfeld, the Hermes Guild admiral, followed closely by his heavily armed sailors moved into dungeon. Griffith the pirate admiral and his crew were right behind them.

“We’re not the discoverers of this dungeon, so it must be right.”

Weed hadn’t discovered the dungeon right next to the unfrozen river but someone had discovered this dungeon.

The magic squadron and assassins came inside last, the sailors would defend them as a front defensive front line, just in case. If Weed was in here, he might be set up and waiting for them.

“How many more days ’till we arrive where the ‘Tribal Wars’ battle took place?”

As Drinfeld spoke, someone from the tracking team came forward to answer him. He was their most experienced dungeon explorer.

“From what I saw of the on air broadcast and judging by these lava flows, I’d say this dungeon is going to be huge.”

“How many days?”

“This dungeon is big enough to hold a giant lava lake. Also consider that large monsters are able to roam around down here, this dungeon must be gigantic. If we factor in the monster interference…. at least Three days.”

They were already sick of fighting the Chaos Warriors.

When they didn’t have enough mages or clerics, they took heavy damage each time. However, this time, the magicians were able to use their mana to create a field to make the Chaos Warriors unable to move.

“We’ll move as fast as possible from now on, 3 days, 4 days that’s taking too long. We need to be where this Tribal Wars took place, that’s where we’ll pick up Weeds trail!”

*****

On the way to the Hellium mine they took time for a break.

Seo Yoon logged out of Royal Road and came out of the Capsule. Sunlight shone throughout her room.

“Ah.”

Seo Yoon was afraid of people in the real world.

She had begun to speak in Royal Road, yet the fear of other people wasn’t going to be easy to overcome. It has been that way since she was very young.

‘ I don’t want to feel so alone …… again.’

With Weed from royal road, she felt relaxed, she felt she wanted to speak to him about many things. Hyun Lee was a friend apart from Royal Road too, someone who was good to be around, someone she could speak to in the real world.

Seo Yoon was finally finding some joy after many years of being afraid.

‘It’s hard, I’m scared…..but…I feel I want to move forward. ‘

Seo Yoon stopped trembling.

She felt ready to try speaking to people in real life.

The real challenge was to be able to speak freely in the real world

“Do…Dogmeat” [1]

She spoke to the dog Hyun Lee had given her.

Dogmeat was stretched out sleeping by the window where the sunlight could warm him. His ears pricked up and his eyes opened as he heard his name. Seo Yoon spoke again.

“Oh ..so you are there.”

His wonderful owner, she who grooms him, gives him delicious food and a warm place to sleep, is calling him.

“Woof!”

Dogmeat ran towards her, wagging his tail.

Translation Notes

1 몸보신 literally a ‘dog meat as a body tonic’, or Healthy restoration of the body via dog meat, usually in summer ‘dog meat’ is served as a health tonic.

Chapter 2: Sculptor’s Mine

Weed looked back at the road behind them several times. The distrust from Yellowy, Golden Bird and Silver Bird had built up into a permanent state.

“It isn’t here?”

“….”

“Well, let’s go back then.”

They’ve taken the wrong way more than dozens of times so far. Dead ends, passages that ended up blocked, tunnels that became dangerously narrow!

But Weed couldn’t locate the correct branching passage, since all the dark tunnels looked the same, it made it very difficult to judge the direction of north, south, east, or west.

In addition, the deeper levels had multiple connections, like a huge and overly complex ant tunnel. There are literally hundreds of crossroads, gaping holes and all of them lay out in a very complex way. Finding their way to a desired location was a ending up a struggle even to gain a short distance.

Moreover, the place where one would predict the Helium mine to be was not clearly marked on the map.

Seo Yoon hesitantly held out a hand.

“Can I look at the map?”

She had stuttered the first few times when she spoke but now it was becoming smoother and natural.

Weed handed over the map of the underground.

“Do as you please. But this dungeon is very complex, it won’t be easy to find the right path.”

‘If she was going to take over as leader she had better not try to pass on any failure on her part to him!’

Seo Yoon looked at the map for a while and then pointed to the right.

“I think we should go there.”

“You think so? Well, people can make mistakes. I mean, where are you…let’s go that way then.”

Weed wanted to say more, then thought he’d better show he was broad-minded and followed her.

“There are some very sharp stalactites in 200 meters.”

Seo Yoon gave careful attention to the details around her.

“No matter where you look there are tons of stalactites everywhere.”

Seo Yoon guided them to a turn at the place with a break between the sharp stalactites.

Commonly stalactites are seen hanging from a cavern ceiling in a single dripping cone of mineral, groups of them are not what you’d normally think of.

You can drink the fresh water that drips from it too.

As Weed had returned to his human form he now needed food and water again. Yellowy, Seo Yoon, Golden Bird and Silver Bird also would need a source of water as the lava flows created a very dry throat.

“Since the way ahead is blocked by lava flow I’ll go into the new gap here next to these stalactites.”

The lava flows in this side passage were less active and more solid rock was available to walk forward on. The passageway then opened up into a large solid dungeon.

Weed had gotten them lost over and over again trying to move in the right direction, in contrast, Seo Yoon was able to find the right path with her first try.

Trying to save some face, Weed spoke quietly to Yellowy.

“I was the one who found this path originally.”

“Moooo.”

“I’m only saying that I’m the one who really did all the hard work getting us this far.”

Yellowy opened his mouth in a huge, tongue flapping yawn and kept walking. It was perfectly clear that Weed’s words were going in one ear and out the other.

Thanks to Seo Yoon, they were finally able to stop wasting time and find the true path.

As monsters keep showing up there was plenty of food, there was a middle sized monster population in this part of the inferno dungeon.

In addition, since the new passageway was bigger, they could fight easier since Tori and Van Hawk could now join in. It didn’t compare to being a Lich and controlling an army of Undead but it was enough for this dungeon. Golden Bird and Silver Bird were able to contribute as a combat team even though Silver Bird’s skills were on the low side.

*Ting!*

You have viewed “Wandering Hope” by the sculptor Pieche.

Art stat increased by 2.

For appreciating an excellent artwork, sculpting skill proficiency has raised slightly.

They began to find sculptures in the new wide tunnel. The first statue was of a man holding a torch to explore!

The effect from the statue was an increase to Strength and Stamina recovery rate.

“These are done in the same style as the works from the Jigolaths heritage sculptures.”

Although the estimated distance to the Helium mine from this point was still quite distant. These sculptor’s were wise enough to have left these as trail markers allowing them to find the way through these complicated tunnels.

“Identify!”

Weed wanted to to take advantage of his sculptural memories skill… just in case.

Identifying weapons and armor was pretty straight forward, you just needed to have a high enough skill level. Using Identify on a sculpture would evoke it’s special memories and show him memories, somewhat dependent on where you touched them.

Weed was trying to find the memories of the sculpture and what it saw. Touching the hand holding the torch the embedded memories began to display

“It’s dark. So dark.”

“….”

The dungeon was dark and the sculpture had been made in the dark. It had never seen anything, so it did not have much in the way of memories.

When you create a sculpture from scratch you have no way to know how it will turn out, there is no sure way forward. Due to that huge amount of anxiety as you carve it’s easy to make mistakes which you sometimes can’t take back.

“Not sure about the next move. From here it’s hard to tell, which one is the shortest way?”

“I will do that.”

The Sculptors who found this place had carved outstanding works in the underground passageways. These works were like finding small treasures and so well made it was hard to not go looking for more of the hidden ones. It seemed like such a waste to just leave any of them these stone works undiscovered in this dungeon.

‘Well…it’s not just about obtaining more artistic stats. Even I wish to honor the spirit of these noble Sculptor’s.’

******

The users from the Haven Kingdom and especially Drinfeld were royally pissed.

The results from the Thieves and the other trackers ended up becoming a joke. Drinfeld was fed up with it.

The new reinforcements from the Hermes guild too, all of them had dark and unpleasant expressions.

“We were at this very same place just two hours ago.”

“You were confident in the beginning that you would catch up within three or four days. Now it’s been several days and you say you don’t know if it will be today or not.”

Meeting Weed outside the dungeon might be faster at this point.

The many battles they had to engage in have left them all tired, nervous and on edge. It was not hard to understand why, the Hermes Guild members had been constantly fighting with the inferno dungeon monsters.

After identifying the main target as the fire Giants, the wizards and shamans were used to methodically hunt them down.

These battles were all on a scale of a boss battle because of their super-size, making these battles physically and mentally draining. However, using ice based magic turned out to be pretty effective so they were able to hunt them with a relatively good success rate.

Fire giants and ice magic.

They ended up using the high attack properties of an magic ice bolt. When combined with all the mages attacking a single point on the fire giant’s body, this technique was able to completely destroy the targets.

Hunting in these large groups while destroying the super-sized monsters also allowed the Hermes Guild to make speedy progress and and do a good searching sweep through the dungeon.

So it went until the fifth day after entering the Inferno dungeon, that day they found the magic circle and a large number of stats went up putting a smile on everyone’s face.

“That alone made this adventure worth all this trouble.”

“It feels so refreshing to get this kind of compensation after trudging day after day through this super heated muck.”

Back in the Haven Kingdom hunting grounds it was largely dog eat dog just trying to raise skills and levels by a small amount. But since leaving those hometown hunting grounds and coming to Jigolaths they have all been able to experience great results at raising their levels.

But ever since they started tracking Weed’s back trail from the discovery of the circle of fire, the thieves and assassins have experience nothing but hardship.

“I’m sorry, but it all looks the same… as you know a lot of monsters live here, also the underground dungeon floor is mostly made of stone, then monsters walk over what little trial there is….so it is difficult to find the right trail…”

“I’ve heard that same thing twenty times already.”

“Give us a little more time.”

“It’s been ‘just a little more time’ for days now. Look, we don’t have much choice and all but all this extra time is making us look like complete idiots.”

Effectively the thieves want to end being responsible for this tracking, it was just too much.

Following Weed’s trail was no easy task, the dungeon was deep and wide with no natural light sources so you ended up relying on magic to see the trail.

Of course they did follow the footprints, but after a while the trail on the ground gets lost, or covered up and then you have to stop and discuss where to go, usually with some harsh curse words.

“Clearly he went this along this path.”

The other thieves and even the assassins would agree. Weed’s trail had come this way without a doubt.

“Then why have we returned to where we started from?”

The thief in the lead breathed a heavy sigh as an assassin came forward.

“I just don’t get it.”

The dungeons of Jigolaths were indeed complex.

Even Weed, who had a map, lost himself amongst the many roads and crossroads, backtracking many times.

The long trail would sometimes end up being completely blocked, with no way to go forward. So they would have to follow a branching trail which would then inevitable end up circling back to where they had started, annoying everyone in the process.

But this was not the real reason for their wandering while tracking.

Even with a cold trail, as long as you keep your head and carefully followed the traces left behind you wouldn’t end up in a circle no matter how complicated the trail was.

The problem was that Weed and Seo Yoon’s footprints were progressively changing.

Weed, with his blacksmith and sewing skills, made a number of counterfeit footprints that imitated the tracks of monsters like the Chaos Warriors and the Inferno Knights. They were wearing them in lieu of their normal footwear

Monsters and other traces were mixed up over the trail several times so that tracking them was giving the hunters stomach ulcers.

Even more fiendish was the clever idea to have Yellowy walk on two hoofs with the help of Silver Bird and Golden Bird.

“I think this is track is has the right look. That trails lead to the wrong way….”

As they traced the trails they continually drew a map of the dungeon and so discovered different parts of it. It did tend to be an erratic map as it snaked along various paths that Weed had taken or laid.

Then as they followed the path, the tracks disappeared.

“They can’t do that!, What the hell, how could he do something so ridiculous?”

The idea of trackers had been on Weed’s mind.

‘Since they broadcast the events of the Inferno Dungeon, it’s safe to assume they would chase me here.’

With the distinct dungeon terrain shown in the background of the broadcast it wouldn’t be hard to figure out his location.

Taking a few precautions wouldn’t hurt, if they did happen to come then it would make them have a much harder time finding him.

The danger of a meeting a sharp knife in some secluded tunnel was quite possible, especially with Griffith and Drinfeld hot for revenge.

There was nothing wrong with placing several misleading tracks in the dungeon, besides he also had the elemental spirits.

“Dirtman, get rid of the dirt blocking that tunnel.”

“All right, Master.”

“And make it seem as naturally as possible.”

“I’ll try”

“Hide the current footprints. Use the other set to make it look like I walked there.”

They opened paths or blocked the way forward, then using footprints they would lay a false trail.

Earth spirits were the best at doing this kind of dungeon path manipulation, it was like trying to track elves in a Forrest.

However, the trackers were good at their job, they were able to notice the smallest details. If the way was blocked, they would use shovels and would even track back, bypass the false trails and come back to the right ones, it was slow yet sure.

You have viewed “Watching the Flowers” by the sculptor Muruni.

Art stat increased by 1.

For appreciating an excellent artwork, sculpting skill proficiency has raised slightly.

You have viewed “Sculptor raising a Pickaxe”, which belonged to Ivance the Master Sculptor of Pierre.

Art stat increased by 3.

For appreciating an excellent artwork, sculpting skill proficiency has raised slightly.

As Weed and Seo Yoon moved through the dungeon they found sculptures done by the Helium miners.

These sculptures are a great way to raise levels without risking their lives, of course this was made easier due to Seo Yoon and the sculpture lifeforms finding a number of them along the way.

“I see that the headdress is made of silver. Since the craftsmanship is high it will sell at a good price.”

Every time he passed a sculpture, all the precious metals and expensive minerals that were there, disappeared completely!

Of course Weed was someone who would even pull the smallest gold teeth off a sculpture.

They finally reached the end of the path and found an old worn sign.

Helium Mine

It’s not too late, youth with dreams, to turn back. I learned too late that life too is Art.

They had reached the mine where the first sculptors to explore Jigolaths had come to find Helium.

The mine entrance looked like a open mouth, pitch black with rotting wooden beams for teeth, ready to swallow adventures. Even a party of mine explorers would hesitate to enter a Helium mine in this condition. They would need to break up their party, only 1 or 2 at the most would be able to safely explore the mine.

“What I wouldn’t pay to know what’s beyond this.”

Weed’s mine exploration was turning out to be a lot tougher than expected. A sculptor didn’t really have useful skills in tracking down top quality minerals so he in the end he would just be relying on luck.

Yet he couldn’t back out.

“This is something only the sculptor class can do, I don’t know how many days it will take to find it.”

He was determined to mine some Helium!

Weed looked in his open backpack.

He had 20 loafs of barley bread and more than 10 containers of fresh water to carry, he needed it to survive since he was in his human form.

They had already eaten all the food they had packed from Seulloeo’s royal wedding. It had a short shelf life anyway so that was fine. What remained besides barley bread and water was a large supply of dried foods. What food Weed couldn’t carry Yellowy should be able to.
“We’ll need to divide up the food.”

Using sculptural transformation to change to the Lich form would mean he wouldn’t need to eat. But if he needed to fight the undead were difficult to summon in a mine. Direct combat would only take you so far anyway.

As Weed prepared himself to go into the mines Seo Yoon too was checking her backpack.

Weed shook his head.

“I’ll need you to stay here to protect the entrance.”

Seo Yoon wanted to go into the mine, yet they needed someone on the outside too.

It was important to take control of the entrance and protect it from the trackers. However, Yellowy, Golden Bird and Silver Bird combined would not be able to kill all the trackers.

“If too many of those guys show up I want you to run away and hide in a safe place until I come out, I won’t know when I’ll finish though.”

Weed turned his attention to the sculptures of life. He needed someone to help in the Helium mine.

*Tweet tweet.*

Golden Bird sang, turning her head skyward, playing up the innocent bystander role. Silver Bird rolled on the ground, pretending to be sick. Even Yellowy did his best, showing a stagger while walking.

‘he wouldn’t choose me.’

The three sculptures of life shared that common thought. They did not want to go into the mines. They were more than sick of dungeons but to have to endure mining was worse!

“Yellowy, let’s take a walk together”

For Yellowy, the decision came like a bolt of lightning from the clear blue sky.

‘When your hungry even raw beef is…’ Weed licked his lips.

“Let’s go looking for Helium.”

Weed, leading a very reluctant Yellowy by the scruff of his neck, walked into the mine.

You became the owner an old and unused Helium mine

Reward: Fame +100.

Every day for one week, double EXP and double item drops.

Best possible items will drop from the first monster encountered depending of its type.

Weed and Yellowy walked along a narrow and crumbling path.

From somewhere ahead in the dark and murky air the eerie sound of water dripping can be heard.

Into this eerie atmosphere unknown footsteps dramatically ring out.

Weed found some dead bodies.

“A sculptors carving knife.”

You have acquired Pereun’s sculpting knife.

It’s not as great compared to Zahab’s sculpting knife yet as a sculpting knife it is an tool of great craftsmanship.

You also found precious malachite and moon rock materials!

“So the Sculptor’s are dead”

The atmosphere near the entrance to this Helium mine was as terrifying as a horror movie.

“It’s too bad Sculptor’s tools sell for cheap prices.”

The tools used to work directly on the materials sell cheaply since the money to made is also disappointingly low.

It would be good if there was a signpost showing the way but there isn’t, so he needed tracking skills in order to find the trail.

“Everyone who comes here will see this.”

The Helium mine was like a massive maze and gave an ominous feeling.

“Seems like many Sculptors have failed because of its difficulty. But if it was only at that level it wouldn’t be worth the effort to come here. “

An construction worker’s determined will to work hard !

The two of them had arrived at a mining area via a crossroad but the ceiling was collapse in one part and lava filled the other.

“I guess we’ll need to go look at all six sites.”

Occasionally, they were relieved to discover a sculpture. Their food and water was also getting used a up bit by bit. The tunnels lead them first to one branch path and then another branching path follows that one. As feared, the mine is an interconnected and seemingly endless maze.

“Master, what about us going back to where we entered this place?”

This was Yellowy idea, but Weed had already thought about that very thing.

Keeping track of your path from the start will allow you to not get lost in a maze. If, however, you start to feel trapped or imprisoned, from that point on you get so nervous that you just freeze up. That is very dangerous.

“I know, but I think we have already lost our way…”

Weed looked back. Only unrelieved darkness could be seen. While those paths were connected by forking branch tunnels, they were covered in darkness so you couldn’t tell where they went.

“Lets go with checking with where we’ve been.”

Weed and Yellowy were going to return back to get directions from Seo Yoon. Good as Weed is he was weak in mazes where finding your path was no joke, even so it was going to be hard to find the way back to get that good advice.

For them to try and map out a maze they needed special magic, even the people in the mainland would find it very hard. Even a narrow path that looked like a direct route soon became twisted. Besides, if you didn’t know where you were then you couldn’t be sure where to go to find Helium!

Weed never one to give up, ended up going back to the entrance.

“We’ve gone the wrong way more than once, without knowing exactly the way we can’t just go back to where we came from. That’s just as hard as going on to find the Helium.”

At that moment Weed looked at Yellowy sharply, the look in his eye was the look of just having spotted a copper coin on the ground.

‘This is where Sculptors and other humans came. But nothing seems to be here. This kind of atmosphere should actually have monsters in it…..’

If there were monsters you’d usually hunt them along the paths as you traveled. The monsters and passages work together to give you clues, a smelly small passage for instance would lead to a goblins etc.

‘This is a sculptors place with lots of valuable works left in place. So they also would have left a way to find your way.’

Weed thought this was a good idea. He didn’t know how difficult this maze designed by the other sculptors was but he knew they’d have to have left some kind hints behind.

‘They wouldn’t have wanted to other trespassers here only other sculptors.’

So they might have made the maze to defeat unauthorized intruders.

“They were sculptors….they left behind sculpture works!”

Weed knew there were sculptures occasionally off of every passage. This was something that worked with every idea he had so far.

“This was a sculptors way of extending an invitation. Identify!”

Weed could see the memories retained by sculptures. The sculpture from that branch path, the one carrying a torch had been pointing in a direction, he could use those as his direction!

“It has to be like that.”

Weed moved on confidently. There were sculptures that told the right way. Once he was done he would retrieve the memories from the next one. He road Yellowy for some number of hours. Due to Weed’s tenacity and patience, he could easily go without food for that long.

It is similar to cockroaches overwhelming will to survive. Even if the world was ending tomorrow, Weed would still go buy a large detergent at the store for buy one get one free deal.

With Yellow along as the pack animal they wouldn’t have to worry about food for some time. Dried meats and plants made up a lot of the food in the packs which would keep for a long time. Finally, after walking for a long time, at the end of a maze, they found a mining cart resting on mine rail tracks. The mine rail tracks led into a dark connecting tunnel.

“If we ride the mining cart, we can go a little faster.”

Yellowy was quite pessimistic about this cart idea.

“Master, it just seems to me like we would be better off walking.”

“We don’t know how much time more it would take us, a cart will be faster.”

“I’d rather you just rode on me”

“Trust me, it won’t be hard to do this…..I’ll ride in front.”

Weed tied Yellowy and the supplies in the back part of the iron mining cart.

A bull tied up in the back of mining cart!

There were some simple instructions that said that to move the cart, push the metal cross bar up and down.

Weed used the bar and the wheels started to turn slowly moving them forward under it’s power.

*Kkiiiiiing.*

The mining cart made a harsh sound as it moved.

As the bar was getting pushed harder the cart was gradually gaining momentum.

“It’s quite fast.”

Weed left off pumping the bar and using a luminous light box that was there tried to take a look ahead of them. It was hard to confirm much since the tunnel curved.

Well, this mine cart will for sure make it easier to get out of this maze!

Head down against the momentum, Yellowy spoke up

“Master, can’t you slow down.”

Weed didn’t know what lay ahead of the rail cart, he too had a ‘you need to slow down’ feeling.

“Let’s slow down then.”

A steel pole at the rear right was attached to friction plates that press against the wheels to make the cart slow or stop. Weed pulled that bar.

*Cha ka ka ka kang!*

Sparks flew out from underneath the cart in a tremendous shower, slowing them down a bit.

“Master you are so reliable. Just to make me comfortable……”

Weed heard those words just as the cart headed sharply down a slope. The speed of the wagon was quickly getting faster.

“Master, this is scary”

“Okay, I’ll stop us here!”

Weed pulled the pole as hard as possible. Because he invested enormously only in his strength and agility stats, the force used ended up being rather superhuman. The cart rocked from the force applied to the brakes. The old wheels and brakes plus the excessive speed made it unable to take the pressure. The brakes started to fail, breaking apart and becoming useless.

The cart trembled and swayed violently right and left then shot ahead to the front! Weed made a decision.

“hmm, a crash might just be possible.”

The risks needed to be calmly considered without emotions. Weed objectively analyzing the situation let Yellowy have full disclosure.

“I don’t think there’s anything I can do to stop the cart”

Mooooooooooooo!

“If the railway deviates sharply we’ll most likely fly off and hit something, we will die instantly…”

Even any hope was crushed by this hopeless description!

The iron mine cart kept increasing its speed as it ran along the tunnel rails going deeper and faster along the underground tracks.

“But hopefully…you won’t feel the pain when you die.”

A panic-stricken Yellowy wept like a cow being brought to the slaughterhouse.

The passage past wooden supports created wind as the cart accelerated through the underground mine tunnel at an even faster pace.

“Lower your body and hold on tight.”

The rails weren’t exactly straight they had a smooth curve to them. The ride was becoming increasingly bumpy making it seem likely that were heading for a fall.

It’s been a long time since since Jigolaths had given them such a heavy feeling to the pit of their stomachs!

There was no chance to even think about relaxing against this tension. After a while of this, the track then unexpectedly turned up a hill and that naturally started to slow them down.

Yellowy burst into tears of joy.

“Master, it now seems we’ll be able to live!”

With similar thoughts Weed spoke happily.

“But we were lucky. We didn’t cross any broken tracks along our path. Since no one has being using these tunnels for a long time it’s a miracle that it’s still this sound.”

At the top of the rise they could see quite a distance of the track, up ahead was a large crevasse of unknown depth, a iron bridge spanned the huge gap. Yet the story didn’t end there, 30 meters along the iron rail bridge and almost exactly in the middle of the crevasse, the bridge was broken leaving a large gap in the tracks.

Yellowy’s skin drained of color as he knew death was just ahead.

“Master, thank you for letting me experience this life so far. Please, I have a last request for my baby cows in Morata…”

Yellowy, left with only desperate feelings, wanted a last request. It was to take care of his young cows with love and not leave then to die alone.

Weed replied as usually, not giving an inch.

“So you are going to die pointlessly. Are you following Gold Man’s example, who died and is now forcefully making me recreate him?”

Yellowy was touched to receive Weed‘s kind words in his last minutes. Weed, at this closing stage moment, vented it all out.

“The flesh of the rib-eye will go to waste if you die. The fat content is just not high enough yet. You aren’t allowed to give up.”

Weed pumped the bar of the cart making them go much faster. They reached the broken parts of the railroad in the blink of an eye.

The mine cart sped along the track, then reaching a low dip in the rails they sped downward and then upward shooting into the air in a frozen moment of clenched teeth.

For a very short time they left the railway entirely and were flying in the air with a silent yet frightening speed. This pushed them back against the rearmost wall of the mine cart!

kwag wagwag wagwang!

When the cart landed back onto the farside railway, it created a huge spark shower. The cart, bouncing on the narrow track, advanced without leaving the rails.

‘I guess your not going to die here.”

Yellowy could only take deep breathes. Weed was quite happy.

“That was just fantastic.”

“…?”

“Think about it. It has been a long time since this track was maintained and everywhere except that place was fine. It was also in a place where I could do something to get passed it, unlike if there had been say, something actually blocking the track.”

At that moment, seeming like it fell from a mountain, a red crystal as big as a house could be seen blocking the way forward.

“Crash ahead. Get down!”

Weed and Yellowy lowered their body and the iron mine cart hit it at a tremendous pace.

kwagwagwang!

The cart smashed through the crystal breaking it into hundreds of shards.

Weed in order to have a view of the path used his light sculpture skill, making his whole body glow like a cloud with a silver lining.

The broken crystal splinters and tiny debris spun and shimmered in the light, it was an absolutely magical spectacle. It was almost a shame that they didn’t have time to see much as they were past it in an instant.

Weed couldn’t help but comment.

“Still, we only got lucky once…”

*Kwagwang!*

“Far better luck would be twice.”

“oh shit! …”

The cart, as chunks of its body mass were tearing off, was slowing down.

The front of the cart experiencing multiple shocks was crushed, Yellowy and Weed’s health was greatly reduced from the impacts.

Without his history of using eyes closed, Weed could have been is some real danger.

Weed who had taken the front took a lot of the damage, Yellowy’s health in contrast was in a much better state!

“Still, it’s all due to those small changes that we’re still alive……”

Just as he said this the mine cart tracks ahead were coming to an abrupt end. At the very end of the tracks was a very solid stone wall!

Mooooooooo!

Yellowy let out an anguished cry.

At the last it was all about how unfair life was.

“Light Wings fly!”

After Gold Man died, the Wings of Light returned to Weed.

Weed was able to believe they wouldn’t die because of the Wings of Light!

It was fun to tease the simple hearted Yellowy, yet he had always had the wings ready to spread for the right moment.

Weed having confirmed it was time, stretched out his wings made of light and escaped from the cart with Yellowy.

They flew over 40 meters, rushing past the ceiling and side walls until he could slow down and lower them to stand on that blocking stone wall.

The cart shot into the wall with a roaring crash as the last of the cart’s parts flew off leaving only the wheels to finally stop after hitting the wall.

Weed, flapping the Wings of Light, spoke up.

“Yellowy, on our way back, want to ride another cart?”

Chapter 3: Coffee Date

KMC’s live broadcast about Weed’s quest achieved the largest viewership ever recorded in the nation. Since the broadcast was so popular they were quickly organizing a follow up program.

“Weed’s adventures didn’t get completed as the broadcast had to be shown as a real time quest. Let’s put sufficient time and manpower into properly broadcasting the full chain quest.”

They celebrated with with a company dinner that night but devotedly got right back to work the next day which was Saturday. Thus, the full version of Weed’s chain quest was setup to be published in three parts.

=Part One : The River of Lamentation =

Weed cleans a river of souls and creates an alliance of tribes and monsters to fight an epic battle against the Church of Embinyu.

=Part Two : The Forbidden Land of Jigolaths =

Weed’s long voyage across a mysterious sea and his great explorations in the forbidden zone of Jigolaths.

=Part Three : The Dark Mage =

Weed leads armies of the undead in battle against the Chaos Warriors, Guilds and Pirates. Weed’s final fight, a Dragon vs. the Tribal Warlord to decided the fate of Jigolaths.

The main content of the quest had already been broadcast as the live, real-time quest, the full production would fill in all the missed details of the chained quest, starting with the river of Lamentation quest.

The bulletin boards were completely swamped with requests for both the full production and a re-broadcast of the original live quest.

“When will the full chained quest be shown?”

“Sunday afternoon.”

This decision was determined as the best time to ensure the highest ratings.

KMC media decided to broadcast the full version, the chained quest of Weed’s adventure on Sunday afternoon, before then they needed to hustle and sell the 30 second media ad slots.

Director Kang was very adept at producing advertising revenue.

“Part One is the alterations of the mass of sculptures and some short scenes of the fight between King Hydra, the Lich Barkhan Demoph and the Imugi. Part Two is the volcanic eruptions as well as the arrival of Haven Kingdom’s army fleet and the pirates, and the fighting scene. And part Three…”

…The Director objected.

“For part three…. the time allowed for advertisement is too short.”

“The third part will briefly show the head of a dragon. So that dragon’s roar can be used to go into the advertisement time.”

The promotional video was the work of KMC media department, it was very good considering the rather short time frame they had to make it with;

The fog of war drifts slowly over
the River of Lamentation…

An Army gathers for combat
with the faint strains of majestic music

Fire Giants moving through a lava lake
attacking human adventurers…

An Undead Lich Lord and a Dragon!

The viewers watching the trailer eagerly awaited the broadcast of the chained quest.

When they started the broadcast on air they had achieved a total of 63.9% of viewership. There was no better moment than that as it was the largest rating ever recorded. For now there isn’t anyone who didn’t know the name of Weed from Royal Road.

The story of Weed’s adventures in Royal Road was associated with every topic day after day on Internet message boards.

– I am curious about that sea voyage. How long would it take until you had skill enough to sail a tall masted ship and navigate? Those rowing galley seems like it would be very hard work.

– You can raise fish. There are a lot of unknown eggs; dolphins that were born 4 months ago, if you feed them well, they can also help raise the speed of mastering the sailing skill. You can keep birds to help too. You are not alone in the open sea. As you navigate, nature will follow.

– Is it possible to find adventure on the sea? Weed discovered an island, can we too go and explore a new continent?

– You can. Assuming that there are many lands unknown in the sea. It is the dream of all sailors to find the legendary Treasure Island.

After the broadcast of Weed’s chained quest, interest for the sea was triggered. Sailing into the vast uncharted ocean waters and advancing through its warm surging waves was considered romantic.

The desire to be a necromancer also spread like wildfire.

– I am asking you because you are a former necromancer. After you have gone through your 2nd Class change as a wizard, were there any major differences?

– A Lich! It is totally my dream job. Dark magic and mean… people under his command!

– Building intimacy with others is hard as a Necromancer, if you kill someone, notoriety will pile up fast, that’s the story, thank you. Originally, I did not have any friends.

– Why not create a party of necromancers for adventure? Make like 5,000 skeletons, and kill all when exploring a dungeon.

An Undead Army is strong especially when you consider how they can use just the fear of them to hunt more effectively. Of course this hunting style gets used mainly at night and mostly alone. Some of being alone may be due to the foul stench and flies that go along with raising the dead.

Still a solo player which can boasts of having the strongest power as a Necromancer was becoming a popular idea again.

In order to become a Lich, the existing Necromancers were eagerly exploring and leveling up.

An adventurer that makes the impossible possible.

Creating his own path step by step.

The God of War, a hero who won’t give up.

Weed was being praised with many grandiose headlines.

Within the Versailles continent, heroes are made quickly. The Bards and Dancers of the continent spread the word by performing about them. They would dress-up as Weed and monsters and hold performances to entertain people in the streets.

In Rosenheim Kingdom, the feelings and therefore the value about the sculptures Weed created had changed.

Before the change;

A Fox Sculpture : Durability: 9 / 10

A finely carved sculpture of a fox.

The carved target is a fox that can often be seen outside of Serabourg Citadel.

Made in large quantities in a short time, the work is one of many. Is made from wood that can be easily found in a forest.

Despite the age of the work, it has maintained a vivid appearance since it was well cared for.

Artistic Value: Negligible

Options:

You can use it as a gift to raise intimacy

Sold cheaply for only a few silvers before, there was a surge in the value of these sculptures.

After the change;

A Fox Sculpture : Durability: 9 / 10

A finely carved sculpture of a fox.

The carved target is a fox that can often be seen outside of Serabourg Citadel.

Ordinary people might not know but it was made by the Versailles continent’s sculptor Weed.

A sculpture created in his early years, it seems to be quite valuable among enthusiasts looking for crafted work by this famous Sculptor.

Is made from wood that can be easily found in a forest.

Despite the age of the work, it has maintained a vivid appearance since it was well cared for.

Artistic Value: Seems to have considerable collectible value.

Options:

You can use it as a gift for a very big favor

Intimacy will also be raised.

Charm +2

It was not a big change, but Weed’s sculptures were coveted by collectors. His sculptures prices in the stores tripled and the Sculptor guild’s requests to commission Weed to create sculptures multiplied.

“How much do you know about the adventurer Weed? There is work I’d like to have him do… you’re not reliable enough.”

“The risk’s are high, but… I will place my hope in Weed as a truly great adventurer.”

“The Warriors of Chaos are a very strong tribe. You need to be a warrior of great courage to fight against them.”

“In the North, Morata’s great lord successfully completed that expedition. The people in this area are glad to be able to follow such a courageous lord. We also worry less about the threat of monsters.”

Knight’s, soldiers and residents were all talking about how they felt about Weed.

Even the town drunks would talk about it.

“Hic! There’s ‘s no liquors leftt. I wants ta drink more ….but I don’t have no’s money ‘ss. When ‘ss I gets home….my wife would ask w-here … where is ‘s ta money… is today, I’ll have ta shleep outside. I ‘d sure give mah las’ drink to hear Weed’s story though … ”

The praises for Weed reaching new heights for completing the first S-level difficulty quest only incensed his enemies. Drinfeld, Griffith and other users of Hermes guild were burning with motivation to kill Weed.

“Weed…he must die by our hands.”

“Weed and those comrades of his will not get out of Jigolaths alive.”

“That cow… will not just be killed, it will also be made into wonderful beef-rib soup.”

*****

The iron mining cart having finally stopped, delivered Weed and Yellowy safe and somewhat sound to the mining area!

*Ting!*

A sculptor has arrived in the area to excavate ore in the mine

Rewards: reputation increased by 460.

For one week, stamina consumption is slightly reduced while mining.

“fhu fhu fhu .”

Weed had a smile on his lips. He could sell the land of this mining area since it was a spacious place and he was not forced to keep it.

“My prediction was right.”

On the map this place had a ‘mine’ in it’s name therefore it was a possibility that they could ‘mine’ there and not hunt monsters or receive additional quest.

This was the type of moment when you get to say ‘Full speed ahead, roll up your sleeves and get to it. It won’t dig itself’!

You could easily tell that the previous sculptor’s had dug up ore all over the place here.

For work like this Weed consider it necessary to employ Yellowy as a beast of burden.

You have obtained the ore: feldspar

The smooth surface will make a luxurious stone sculpture.

“All right Yellowy, here you go.”

You have obtained the ore: Moonstone

It will emit a fragrance on moonlit nights. If you place a sculpture made from this in a secluded pond; fairies, butterflies and fireflies will be attracted to it.

“Yellowy, carry that.”

You have obtained the ore: Malachite

This is a popular sculpting material, it’s demand makes it a good choice for barter with sculpture supply shops or you can sell it for a good amount of gold.

Of course using money was the almost the same as bartering.

“Yellowy, put that away carefully.”

The minerals were sweep clean and they all went into Yellowy’s backpack.

*****

On the wall of the mine, a previous sculptor had chiseled in these words;

The sculptures from the continent are declining.

New materials and new craftsmanship are needed to challenge and surpass this decay.

Creating new sculptures made of Helium will bring back the great honor that sculptors once held.

Is the legend of Helium really true?

Or is it just a man-made myth generated by greed?

Helium that is an endless source of mana.

Could it really be made into a sculpture?

Dig, endless digging always.

Here, time seems without measure, you just age.

Now our songs no longer empower us

Why is the pursuit of art such a foolish thing?

Something was uncovered by my pickaxe.

I was expecting Helium……but it was a rock.

What the hell…. how many rocks have I mined?

I think coming here became pointless…

These words are filled with regrets.

There were no sculptures made of Helium but there were a few very rare items made with blacksmith skills.

In the continent, several items such as swords, armor, holy relics and certain sacred stones made with Helium were able to emit limitless mana. The value of such things is enormous.

Unless it’s completely broken or crushed it will produce mana endlessly.

The ancient legacy of Helium was also thought to be tied somehow into the Dragons power, the eldest Dragons were known to have hoarded it.

Weed was certain that the Helium was here.

“It just needs a construction worker like me to make that story come true!”

It’s not hard to dig, it’s the finding that’s difficult.

“It’s sorta like dragon hunting, you can’t just ask a dragon to show up, Helium mining is more complex than that.”

It’s like going to a wedding dinner yet you somehow come home starving and there’s nothing in the house to eat but food stamps. Weed could not even imagine things working like that, since that contradicts the laws of nature!

Ox bone soup, breaded port cutlets or a cold buffet spread, basic common sense would tell anyone to at least provide drinks and a hearty meal for guest who would attend your wedding.

“Let’s take a look at what the other guys dug up.”

Weed assumed that the sculptor’s might have left something important and was searching for it. There was a sack of rotted wood handles with blunt ends whose use seemed questionable.

“For this work I’ll need a tool…”

Weed, using his blacksmith skills created a pickaxe with a mixture of steel and a small amount of Mithril. He was using high-quality materials but it could be recovered by just melting it again so there was no loss.

*klang! klang! Klang!*

Weed’s digging was top notch. Endless hours slipped away.

He had been digging the ground for at least a day but there was no Helium.

You have obtained tier 2 iron ore.

You have obtained a small amount of copper ore

Sometimes finding some minerals was the only consolation.

*Ting!*

Skill earned due to repetitive tasks

Beginner Mining Level 1(0%): a miner’s skill.

Skill needed to dig in the mines’ grounds.

Slightly increases the effectiveness of pickaxes and shovels.

Will increase in strength and perseverance as the skill grows.

If you find high quality minerals, your luck and fame will increase.

“Shit!”

Weed while continuing to use the pickaxe was reflecting and feeling full of anger for being so stupid.

There were a huge variety of ways to raise skill stats with drudgery. Digging in the ground did allow you to earn the mining skill, yet he should have leveled it up a long time ago.

“I am still lacking.”

Weed was caught off guard for that moment and his heart felt despondent….so he just needed to work harder. He could make a sculpture to increase his stats for the day but they would only go up once.

“If I only had a few months to mine what I wished out of the earth…”

With that much time even his low mining skills would become useful!

Minerals, by the way, are consumed by a sculptor and blacksmith. Both professions need to experience mining at least once.

After the skill was generated,Weed had improved it a little. It slightly reduced the consumption of stamina, while it also widened the range the pickaxe could dig.

But this was a big mine with just this much skill it was going to be very tiring.

“I guess I should slightly improve the efficiency.”

Weed with the remaining Mithril made a plow for Yellowy.

“It’s all about the people close to you. With my support you can eat a lot. But, you can’t just eat for free . If you work diligently you’ll get two coppers each day.”

Food… for the sake of eating Yellowy allowed Weed to harness him.

“Master takes such good care of me. You don’t use me on a real farm and have my nose pierced.”

Using bribes was a sure way to use Yellowy to increase the efficiency of the operation. However, the mining areas were broad enough to build apartment buildings.

“Nevertheless, humans have limitations.”

It had been a long time since Weed made the statue of the Orc Karichwi. The unmatched ugly face remained the same but it had grown in important ways. His robust muscular shoulders and strong legs were at least 50% bigger.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

The Orc has a lot of work muscle which is why he wanted to transform.

“Let’s give it a try! Chwiik!”

In the undead state, there were two advantages, infinite stamina and no need to eat food. However when it comes to strength, Orcs were better.

An Orc’s main trade was it’s superior strength, as a clan they were ignorant and blindly moved on instinct alone. When transformed into such an uncivilized tribe he would not be able to take advantage of many skills.

However the strength levels when using the Orc Karichwi allowed mining to become much more effective. So he was better off using that form since he was constantly searching for Helium.

“I’ll just have to have hope and eat a lot more food.”

The Orcs weren’t just wanting to eat sooner, since they were dramatically consuming stamina they had to eat constantly. Since he couldn’t really eat Yellowy he’d have to find other ways to keep it within reasonable limits.

Due to Weeds new body size he felt that while his head was smaller his digging got better. He was definitely able use a lot more power when hitting the earth. Weed was able to gather quite a lot of ore.

*Ting!*

Mining skill has reached beginner level 2.

When using pickaxes and shovels to aim at the gaps of the rocks,stamina consumption is decreased and you will be able to increase the speed of mining operations.

Perseverance and luck are increased.

The skill proficiency was increasing at a very fast speed.

Since robust strength is required for repetitive tasks, to be equipped with indefatigable stamina is one of the most important requirements for a miner.

Mining skills has reached beginner level 3.

Mining skills has reached beginner level 4.

He did not know how much time had passed. Weed sang as his sweat ran down his whole body. Ignoring the beat was of course key, only finding joy in the motivation to work was important for his singing.

“When you dig, money comes out,
food comes out, rice comes out.

When Helium comes out, it’s a jackpot.

With the money, where should it go.

Spend it on delicious food? Of course not, it’s such a waste.

Spend on clothing? After a few years it won’t fit it anymore.

I should keep it to myself and take it to my grave.”

A song of love for money and thrift!

The mining skill was increasing and it was now possible to see and determine roughly where they were buried. If you dig more and find better minerals, you could improve the mining skill proficiency. Weed’s strength and perseverance stats were also phenomenal and in Jigolaths, if you had high levels they would plainly give you an advantage as you dig in the mines.

“We could probably dig up a lot of ore. Gotta earn money like you love money.”

Together Weed and Yellowy keep digging.

*****

In between his hunting and adventuring in Jigolaths, Lee Hyun had his midterm exams at Korean University.

The second semester soon drifted into November. Along with the fall leaves the winter break was coming, he was looking forward to it.

“Tuition really is meaningless. The last few days have disappeared so quickly it’s like they were thrown away.”

Lee Hyun was walking with his backpack slung on drooping shoulders. Although he trained everyday in the studio, his shoulders were the result of thinking too deeply about money.

At times Ahn Hyun-Do’s dojang was about one thing; tales of when they had been young too.

“The Hidden potential that mankind has is scary. Nothing is impossible if they take heart to do it. You can literally feel the cells coming alive one by one when they want to live between the border of life and death.”

Like describing life in a jungle, you’d have to say that there a person’s life is under constant threat from animals and insects.

“Hello sir.”

In Korean University, Lee Hyun only needed to walk and Martial Arts students would greet him politely and bow. Even the seniors would bow respectfully, but Lee Hyun didn’t feel awkward about it.

The disciples where formally trained in the large dojang and they would encounter each other at the same place. They were showing respect and would bow their head to Lee Hyun according to the ranking system.

After Lee Hyun had gone the talk about him would start.

“He is one of the best with a sword… after he beat you didn’t you say he was invincible.”

“Come on, don’t talk about that. At first I thought I would win, then I thought I was going to die for no reason at all. The only reason I didn’t was because he just didn’t choose to complete the blow to finish me. I heard the others got the living crap beaten out of them since they all froze up. There’s a good reason he learns directly from the master ya know.”

Even though he was a regular student Lee Hyun’s name was becoming famous.

“I heard he jumped from planes and crossed deserts last summer.”

Amongst the students there were the odd students who enjoy extreme sports and they were the ones spreading the rumours about Lee Hyun’s trip to Europe. It was also difficult to hide the fact that at one point he was well known on the internet as the ‘Princess Knight’.

“Be quiet. I want to receive a scholarship.”

Lee Hyun sighed angrily and let it rest.

Why was the university so rigid about a perfect attendance, that would be a good question. Lee Hyun was just waiting for the time to pass and then go home quickly after school.

But he was a stuck here listening to a professor’s lecture.

He was sitting there with a twinkle in his eye.

The key to all classes was to understand that you needed to come early and sit at the front of the class with a ‘I want more’ look on your face. That basic attitude is what will you get you credit for scholarships and who knows what else.

Underneath Lee Hyun’s fake shell was the fact that he didn’t really study much at school. He believed in study in his own way, not the kind that the world believed you needed.

He needed most of his time to make money. He’ll most likely need to drop out from school at some point anyway.

However several of the lectures at the University did have useful international content. The trip during the summer when he went to Africa and Europe had opened his eyes to the poverty in the world. Even a one year old should be thinking of seed money and the ways he’ll need to invest it.

After class began, Seo Yoon passed him a note.

[Would you like to drink coffee after class with me tonight?]

Of course for Lee Hyun, this note was extremely troublesome.

He wanted to get home early and play Royal Road. A few days was needed for that body to get accustomed to the feel of the pickaxe. He needed time to dig and collect minerals, he didn’t have time indulge to drink coffee and eat with a woman.

It was Lee Hyun’s completely depraved standards.

He did not care for either women or extracurricular activities.

‘I’m not really sure why I’m being asked fill my belly with coffee.’

It’s not normal, but with Seo Yoon’s sword cutting skills you really should grant even difficult requests.

‘Would she kill them?…… is it that sort of business? Golden Bird and Silver Bird are to be used as hostages…..or perhaps they’re waiting to ambush me if I don’t comply?’

Seo Yoon’s was of speaking was primarily by note, even if they meet in real life she still would hand Lee Hyun a hand written note. She gave him another one.

[I want Job’s Tears tea]

After the lecture, Lee Hyun got Seo Yoon’s attention and headed for the vending machines.

“That tea is 300 won, where do I put the 300 won, in here?”

It was crowded with many students putting in coins to get coffee. When he tried to pull out his coins, Seo Yoon took charge, grabbed his collar and tugged.

“What?, they have Job’s Tears tea, don’t you want it now?”

Lee Hyun raised his head, conscious of the stares from the other students as he was still getting tugged by his collar. This meant she wanted to drink at some other place.

“Don’t tell me, you don’t want it now?”

He looked at Seo Yoon spending patterns, and took a guess. This means a place that was well-decorated, suited for conversation and with a better atmosphere!

Guessing from Seo Yoon’s spending habits, this was a clear message to move on. This was a skillful way to get him to another place. One that would be good for conversation and a nice atmosphere…some sort of a pricy place!

“Don’t tell me…a coffee shop?”

Lee Hyun did not understand why people went to the coffee shop. Spending over 3,000 won for coffee was just throwing your money away.

‘Coffee isn’t worth drinking….just like it’s not worth drinking a beer with too much foam. I don’t have a nose like a dog so I don’t enjoy the smell. When I used to drink it I needed at least three spoons of sugar in it.’

Just thinking about it made him angry, Lee Hyun did not want to pay the price of the overpriced coffee. His daily life was better now, but just 2-3 years ago, he did not even have enough money to buy rice. So Lee Hyun stayed in front of the vending machines despite the fact that Seo Yoon was still holding his collar.

Seo Yoon took out her wallet. There were money and credit cards inside!

“What? You’re buying?”

Seo Yoon Nodded.

As Seo Yoon was clearly in charge of where they were going, Lee Hyun shook his head and followed her.

“People should add some culture into their life. Anyway I am now starting to feel like drinking some coffee in that kind of place.”

*****

Seo Yoon gave a written note to the taxi driver for the destination. As they rode the taxi it arrived at the foot of a hillside for a five-star hotel where the view was very good, a famous place. Here too the gap between rich and poor was made clear to Lee Hyun. In the hotel there was a space for a coffee shop and a movie theater.

“I can understand why people come all the way out here to drink coffee.”

Of course, if you were eating outdoors, it is especially superb if you were eating outside on the deck of a ship. For coffee too having a good atmosphere is better for enjoying it that much more!

“My stomach is starving. If you starve for few days, whatever you eat is going to be delicious.”

Lee Hyun muttered certain words but sat down in the coffee shop chair. The view from the window overlooked a river with a nearby bridge, the lights from the cars and highway sparkled in the evening twilight. A waiter laid a menu on the table.

“Are you ready to order?”

Lee Hyun wanting something to drink froze after reading what was written on the menu.

Americano 13,000

Hazelnut 13,000

Espresso 13,000

———————–

Herbal Tea 14,000

Iced coffee 14,000

Coke 8,000

———————–

Fruit juice 15,000

Cocktail 19,000

———————–

Tax (10%), service charge (10%)

“Keoeok!”

Taxes and services charge are not included in the listed price, the official price for a cup of coffee was more than 13,000 won. One slice of cake with strawberry jam was priced at over ten thousand won, and hard liquors were priced at anything from hundreds of thousands to even over one million won as well.

A small meal with a side was around 30,000 to 50,000 won. A bottle of mineral water was 6,000. Of course that was excluding the tax and service fee. Lee Hyun was rapidly gaining the utmost respect for the rich. The people who ate dinner at such places were clearly not ordinary humans.

Lee Hyun gave his order while looking at the menu.

“An Americano and put an egg in it”

“Excuse me?”

“I want an egg added.”

An expensive coffee that does nothing to fill you up was unfair.

Seo Yoon pointed with her finger at the menu entry and ordered a set of coffee and waffles without speaking. The warm rich scent of coffee filled the air, pleasantly soft ambient music played in the background. This was the perfect moment that Seo Yoon wanted to exploit.

Since there were people around Seo Yoon found it difficult to speak. She really wanted to speak with Lee Hyun. Over time she had learned to adjust and was comfortable with him.

An attitude with a look from the eyes didn’t really convey enough and that was frustrating. For the frequent meals that were cooked for her in royal road she managed to find ways to be expressive.

When she was hungry at the end of a tough battle, he would give her special meals since he knew what her favorite dishes were. He would give her the delicious and tender parts of the roasted meat to eat.

In a fight, he would take the lead since his defense was high. It was difficult to know the warmth of that man. Seo Yoon wanted to take it a step further and forge a dialogue with Lee Hyun.

She opened her mouth and spoke with a lovely voice.

“Hey, do you want me to tell you how they’re doing now?”

“I don’t.”

“Half Sauce half fried and the other chickens?”

“Didn’t you eat them yet?”

“The eggs have hatched and newborn chicks came out.”

“A good earthen pot of chicken soup with ginseng.”

The conversation was running in completely separate lines.

Chapter 4: Mithril Angel

“Within a couple of days, I think we’ll locate him.”

“That ‘couple of days’ has already been three weeks.”

“We’ve narrowed the potential areas, so this time for sure.”

Drinfeld’s tracking team, made up of high-level Thieves and Assassins, ended up desperately trying to restore confidence. Having to follow behind Weed and trying to follow the trail he left behind had also used up a lot of patience.

In spite of all that, having made it to Jigolaths the backup Assassins and Thieves had proven themselves to be very skilled users.

They had changed their search method, the eight Assassins and the four Thieves each split up to search separate areas and any information obtained through this process was noted on a single shared map.

As a result, a lot of information on the underground dungeons of Jigolaths was obtained, nearly 23% of the entire map was ruled out. 23% is nothing to scoff at as they were then able to exclude passageways and dungeon areas that they were certain Weed wouldn’t go.

This gave them real information about Weed in terms of insight of locations and likely directions, they were getting close.

“Four days, even if we hit an unusually variable it would still mean no longer than six days at the outside.”

There was a lot of talk from the Assassin’s and Thieves who believe this was their big chance since they narrowed the range of where Weed could be. Hermes Guild’s combat troops and Griffith’s pirates were hunting in a nearby dungeon, they were fully prepared to mobilize at a moments notice.

Seo Yoon was also aware of the trackers who were chasing them, including the Thieves and the Assassins.

Excluding KMC Media, the other broadcasting companies used some troop videos to look around Jigolaths via the Hermes Guild.

On the Internet, they were already looking forward to seeing the 2nd showdown between that Weed and the Hermes Guild. In the broadcast, Drinfeld didn’t even try to hide that fact that they were chasing him. He also had the entire area around Jigolaths blocked by the Hermes Navy and Griffith’s Pirate ships.

Even if Weed went deeper into hiding it was only a matter of time until they’re found. Especially since the greed for a splendid victory through combat is relentless.

Fox hunting or rabbit coursing, those are the two styles of tracking they use. In a fox hunt, they use hounds breed for tracking by scent. For rabbit coursing, they use greyhounds, breed for keen eyesight and speed. Hunting by sight or by scent.

“We seem to be finding a lot of tracks mostly because they want us to find these tracks.”

Seo Yoon, who Weed had guarding the entrance to the Helium mine, moved to a new location.

The trail left by Seo Yoon was designed to mislead the Assassins and Thieves, yet with their skills they quickly grasp the correct trail by noticing that it was now just a single track.

‘I need to reduce the enemy.’

Seo Yoon had work to do.

If it were just the Knights, she would’ve lead them into monster lairs. This method didn’t work on thieves or Assassins. Seo Yoon deliberately used her single track to lure them to her.

“She went that way.”

“I just found this…fresh prints…hurry.”

With the presence of fresh tracks the pursuit speed up. The Assassins and Knights were disbursed to the various teams to help protect them…yet it wasn’t enough.

“I’m sorry.”

Seo Yoon unsheathed her sword and waited for them.

“It’s the enemy!”

With no real armor to slow them down the Assassins got ahead of the other team members. Running into the new section of dungeon they saw a figure standing in the shadows. Without hesitation they threw daggers.

Chou! Chou! Syuk!

The thrown weapons flew cutting through the gloom!

The three Assassins never thought to see a thrown knife struck down or avoided. These Assassin weapons, coated with highly toxic paralysis poison, were very difficult to deal with.

Seo Yoon ran forwards at full power. The thrown daggers brushing by her body.

One of the strong points about Berserker’s was their high resistance to critical hits. Even when struck they won’t easily fall into confusion.

When a Berserker’s health decreases, their attack increases, becoming more powerful while mana consumption drops. Entering a Berserker state also increases their resistance to poison.

Seo Yoon just swung her sword in a wide and deadly arc.

“Keuheok!”

Backpedaling quickly, the Assassin’s still couldn’t avoid the wide ranged attack. Fast as they are, it was not enough to avoid getting hit from Seo Yoon’s head on attack.

“How dare you!”

“We’ll cut you down.”

The Naval Knights arrived and hurriedly drew their swords, Seo Yoon, facing the other way didn’t see this.

Seo Yoon continued to wield her sword at the Assassins in front of her. She wielded a continuous attack designed to neutralize the enemy’s resistance and beat down their defense.

“Is this it….?”

“What… the…!“

“Why do I always end up in fights like this…”

These were the hand picked, high level Naval Knights of the Hermes Guild.

Before the Assassins could take advantage of their appearance, heavy blows cut into their vital organs from another wide ranged attack, leaving them cut down and dying.

Occupied with her attack, Seo Yoon didn’t discover the new combatants for almost 10 seconds.

The Knights rushed forward swinging their swords in a group attack on Seo Yoon. As the armored Knights attacks struck Seo Yoon, her armor absorbed the blows but her vitality started to drop.

The longer a fight like this went on the more dangerous the dropping vitality would become for a Berserker.

Still, Seo Yoon didn’t care about hunting safely.

She had died many times while hunting monsters in her early days in Royal Road. One of the reasons her class was so rare was the fact that you couldn’t advance the Berserker class unless you were willing to die…many times.

Seo Yoon’s counter-attacks overwhelmed the Navy Knights killing two of them. The last remaining Knight began to hurl curses after seeing his comrades downed.

“What a foul and vicious bitch you are…….”

Having been called every foul name possible, Seo Yoon looked up at him. In the past Weed had given her a mask to wear, she hasn’t worn it for a really long time.

“My god!”

For as long as he had lived even the TV celebrity beauties, though he had never met them face to face, didn’t even come half way.

She was beautiful without compare.

It seemed like pure pleasure to just share the same air and be under the same sky with such beauty!

As Seo Yoon delivered her last attack the Naval Knight thought he would be able to die happy.

‘Why did he stand so still as he died?’

Seo Yoon didn’t understand, she couldn’t stay to figure it out, she had to move on to another place.

“I’m……sorry “

Another Assassin was still following her track, they would only be delayed by a few minutes.

Seo Yoon still had work to do.

*****

Klang! Klang! Klang! Klang! Klang! Klang!

Weed had slowly yet steadily been gaining more skill with the very heavy Mithril-Iron pickaxe.

Currently for each strike, his pickaxe would now unearth more material and dig a much deeper trench with each overhead swing. His skills had also been extended so he could now also use a side to side mining strike.

To preserve his strength he took off his armor and sword wearing only light and simple clothes. Mining is not a pleasant task deep underground and these light clothes soon became weighed down with black dirt and mud.

‘I’ll just change later.’

For every strike his muscles would bulge up with tension as if they would burst at any second. Every trick, idea and available skill was getting used in his all out effort to find Helium.

He even summoned Dirtman for help, but as he searched through the rock, the only result Dirtman could show was a puzzled expression on his face for his failure. He tried blinking his eyes in a cute way at Weed.

“Your completely useless.”

Helium was either buried too deep or it was protected with divine magic. Some kind of blocking had to be in place since even the earth spirit was unable to find it.

In the end , Weed made the most progress by just working his body hard.

*Ting!*

Your skill level has reached beginner 10 and it will be changed to intermediate mining skill 1 [0%]

You will be able to dig without damaging minerals.

You will be able to see and feel the special properties of minerals.

+2 additional points will be given in all stats.

Since your profession is not that of a miner, your vitality will be increased by a maximum value of 300 and your rate of recovery of vitality is permanently increased by 0.4%.

Your fame has risen by 30.

Strength stat has increased by 5.

“Finally, I reached intermediate mining.”

As a result of his hard labor, beginner mining had silently advanced to intermediate. It was also hard not to quietly drool over the number of minerals buried in the mine.

Growwwwwwl.

Your belly hangs empty all the way to your back.

You can strongly feel the effects of starvation.

Your movement speed is decreased by more than 25%.

Only up to 65% of your normal strength will be recovered.

During a battle, by becoming brutal, Orcs can temporarily exert a strong force in a emergency.

Warning: When the brutal battle is over you will then experience tremendous hunger.

Weed crushed the barley bread in the water and drank it. Due to the nature of the ever hungry Orcs he had to eat steadily. Holding the hunger back allowed him to focus on his continuous work with the pickaxe.

Yellowy slowly chewed his cow cud while he continued to plow the soil for mineral ore.

As Weed and Yellowy mined the area endlessly they would occasionally speak.

“Yellowy, aren’t you happy being able to share this work with me?”

Yellowy thought it was nonsense to want to share anything with the owner.

“Next time, when we have other adventures to do, I’ll make sure you get to share in those too.

“Moooooooooooooooooooooo!”

“I’m happy too!”

The speed at which Yellowy could drag the plow was colossal. Yellowy’s ploughing skill quickly reached the intermediate level, so if he was needed for farming Yellowy would be very useful! Of course mining was still a dirty mindless task that you would pay good money to avoid. Yellowy had a few things to say about that.

“By the way…Master…are you sure it should take this long to find this Helium?”

Every time Weed advances his skills the quality of material he is able to mine notably increases. He obtained many minerals and gems and sometimes even excavated large monster bones. However, no matter how he searched for it, no Helium was found.

“No Way! You can’t be saying there might not be helium here?”

It’s better to avoid thinking like that.

It was understandable if you think about it from a certain angle. A partial story about a determined sculptor of the Versailles continent came here despite the hardships to find Helium. Yet there are no sculptural memories of anyone finding the Helium!

In fact finding out about Helium had not been a request, there was no prior information about it. After coming to the Jigolaths he had found the Heritage Tower of the Sculptors. While examining the sculptures there he had found a partial memory which had started the ball rolling for this deep mining expedition to find Helium.

“That sculpture memory, that had shown a very strong feeling about where the Helium might be.”

After five hours, Weed stretched.

The Orc body has a good recovery rate, the intermediate skills were showing a good profit, the pickaxe had also became efficient. Yet even with the good results, he still needed a break from the work.

Body aches and exhaustion for the Orc was overdue.

Seeing Weed stopping his work, Yellow furtively glanced at him before collapsing onto the ground for a break. Forced against his will, Yellowy had suffered greatly.

“Will I need a full year to mine it?”

If the answer was to just use his pick endlessly, he had plenty of time to do so.

During all this Yellowy was staring at the back wall. Weed following Yellowy’s gaze walked to that section of the wall.

As you work intimately with the earth during mining naturally you get very familiar with it’s qualities. There are subtle differences between the types of rock layers and clay that you learn to identify and categorize.

Weed can see that part of the wall is unnatural, it looks to have been done that way deliberately.

“I think there’s something wrong about this.”

Weed touched the wall lightly with his hand. The feeling from the wall was refreshing, like getting a magic blessing from the pope candidate Alveron. With intermediate mining skills, just touching a section of rock will tell you a lot about the nature of the minerals it contains.

“This is not just a thick wall, there’s something going on here.”

Weed choose a fast sure way to check the rock wall. He drove his pickaxe through it.

*Klang-crump!*

Beyond the broken wall of rock and clay lay an inner chamber, within that space stood a sculpture.

“That there would be a sculpture hidden in a place like that.”

Weed pushed past the rubble and went inside to the sculpture. Standing in the chamber is a statue of seven descending angels, their wings and forms are gracefully extended as they lightly touch down on the earth.

You have viewed, ‘The Advent of the Seven Angels’

A Magnum Opus from a Versailles Continent Master Sculptor!

Created from pure Mithril. It shows the full scope of this metals exquisite properties.

These angels are sculpted. Alighting apon the earth at the very moment of their arrival with amazing detail and beauty.

You have discovered a hidden treasure of the Versailles Continent. This work is destined to not only become famous it will also be known as a great gift for mankind and all the ethnic species within the continent.

Health, mana, and vitality recovery speed is increased by 40%.

All stats increased by 45.

Faith is permanently increased by 15.

Your footsteps are lighter.

Reduces the damage from black magic.

Reduces armor’s weight by more than a half.

Increases physical strength and enhances the probability to get items.

The brightness of the sculpture weakens evil monsters, making them reluctant to approach it.

The Angels’ blessings has been granted.

All your status ailments have been lifted, race traits have been doubled.

Even if vitality and health are reduced, you can still continue fighting in your optimal state during the battle.

The divine force will block the special attacks from monsters affiliated with black magic.

Weed’s over all body strength and condition was fully replenished. Due to the degree of the effect from the statue he was overflowing with stupendous muscles!

“This has to be work by the master sculptor Daycram.”

Viewing the seven holy angels descending to earth was more than just amazing, each detail shown with a crystal like shimmer. It was almost like a silver aura surrounded them as they stood in the dim underground mine. Heroes tired from a long battle to save the continent would be able to recover their energy from gathering in front of these angel’s. Though it might me more useful in a palace or a temple.

“It’s amazing that he made this using Mithril.”

The entire mass of this sculpture was formed completely from pure Mithril. With a single piece of Mithril being so rare, you’d normally melt it into your metal as part of the blended mix to create items. Here a whole sculpture was made from it!

Weed thought that buying wood from a sculpting store was a waste of money, so he cut his own wood. Obviously for stone, it was dug up from the vicinity and used. He could only envy the high level skills of Master Daycram. He had refined and created this sculpture from material he mined himself.

Being able to create these angels using Mithril meant that he had excellent blacksmithing skills, similar to but most likely a great deal higher than Weed’s current levels.

“A rich man, a master sculptor, he must have high intermediate to advanced blacksmith skills!”

What was even more astounding is the fact that there are no more than five master sculptors on the entire continent! Weed was pleased, he needed more information on his seniors and now he knew where to look.

“Identify!”

The Advent of the Seven Angels

A Magnum Opus work from sculpture master Daycram!

The world is not yet aware that this magnificent work exist.

If a sculpture of such beauty and with such amazing effects becomes known the impact will deeply affect the world.

It was made by perfectly by refining Mithril without any impurities. Nothing is known about the method used to refine Mithril to such a perfect state

Mithril’s distinctive brilliance and strength are revealed here in it’s most pristine form.

Hidden in the dungeon of the Jigolaths, it was discovered by the sculptor Weed.

Artistic Value: 57,900

The work of a sculptor with godlike skills:

Options:

During the day, the recovery rate of health, mana, and vitality are increased by 40%.

All stats increase by 45.

Movement speed increases.

Various magic resistances increased by 25%.

Black magic resistance gains a temporary 80%.

The damage of black magic is reduced when you are hit.

Increases the effect of scared power near the sculpture.

A highly valued religious work: paladin’s and priest’s skills are permanently increased by 3%, may also affect others.

Depending on the profession, the faith stat is permanently increased from a minimum of 15 to 40.

Luck increased + 50

An increase in drop rate for items and a higher chance of getting rare items.

Due to its high durability, it cannot be destroyed.

Bequeaths the angel’s blessings.

Enjoying the artwork has raised the art stat by 87

Art stat has exceeded 2,000.

When challenged to create noble art, it will slightly add some additional effects and reduce the chance of failure.

By appraising a higher artwork, your sculpting skill has increased by 3.5%

For discovering the Advent of the Seven Angels your fame has increased by 1,450.

If you disclose it to the public it will increase the influence of art in the world.

The work of Daycram gave enormous status benefits.

Most of the sculptures located here were either damaged or so heavy that moving them was not worth the effort. However for Daycram’s the Advent of the Seven Angels, even if it was hard, it would be more than worth the effort to bring it back to the Versailles continent.

“We hit the Jackpot!”

Weed moved the angel statue to a makeshift wagon he built. Then he made Yellowy pull it. Yellowy could only hope his burden didn’t increase more than this.

“The other sculptures scattered about will only sell for a few gold…no, better yet, they should be melted down and get sold as weapons!”

Weed thought nothing of dismantling works of art.

“As expected in any field, reliable seniors lead and the juniors follow. Master sculptor Daycram must really has some amazing techniques to teach.”

On the back wall of the chamber where the statue had been hidden was a written message.

I am Daycram.

I arrived here at the end of a long journey.

I came to revive the sculpture work in the continent.

Here I found Helium.

“You found it, Daycram, you found the Helium.”

Weed had yearned to be the one to first sculpt with Helium. Being the first, not just for sculpting but first in any new technique, brought that user a high level of fame. He had wanted to be the first to present that wonder to the world, Still, he was even more curious about what Daycram had created from the Helium. Weed had already acquired four of the master sculptor techniques.

Sculpture Life Bestowal, Sculpture Transformation, Sculpting Blade, Elemental Creation Sculpture!

Daycram was one of the last master sculptors remaining and he wanted to acquire his skills. He could then obtain something that was an important foundation for his sculpting class.

Weed continued reading.

However, before the story of the Helium, I’ll try to talk a little about myself.

Being a master sculptor my time was filled with demands. I came alone to the Jigolaths to escape those demands on my time and be alone with my work in this new land.

No longer would I be sidetracked by the hundreds of distractions and could focus on advancing my sculpture skills.

I learned how to listen to wood, stone and pieces of metal, as a result using them now feels like a sort of war with friends. Destroying nature to create a sculpture, is that really the right thing to do?

Magic and the technology used in sculpture work today didn’t exist in the past and many sculptures were created without damaging nature.

Those ancient sculptor’s didn’t destroy nature, they regarded nature as a friend.

Weed never once had any worries about this. He was greedy and therefore obsessed with freely obtaining stone and trees from the dense forests and mountains of the best quality. Weed muttered bitterly as he kept reading.

“I worry more about putting food on the table and having a roof over my head.”

Destroying nature to create art, this is no longer acceptable to me.

The materials I will use for sculptures can not be made by destroying it’s nature.

Using branches from rotten trees that were eaten by insects, those are the kinds materials I can choose.

Using things like fallen petals, or natural clay from the earth, that is how I will work from today on.

Of course, the more delicate the materials are, the harder it is to complete my work.

The rotted wood sculpture was shoddy and the petals dried up and withered away in an instant.

I didn’t even attempt to make magnificent sculptures by cutting into stone or cliffs.

Since I burn wood for cooking I can melt iron and create my work from that natural process.

After, listening to my sculptures made from metal, I was very satisfied.

I would melt the metal again since I didn’t want to destroy the earth by digging for it. I wanted to create with the least amount of damage to the beauty of nature.

I was also no longer commissioned by the royal family and the nobles, so every thing I owned was sold in the struggle to survive.

I had 1 gold per month, I had to quit drinking and reduce meals too.

Without the help of the people around me, I might have died of starvation.

The rumors around Daycram were on the odd side of things. He didn’t have a lot of famous pieces. Because of his low profile it was difficult to find any detailed information about him.

“So that’s what happened to him, the master sculptor became an environmentalist.”

Weed almost let out a long deep sigh.

Daycram was showing his fall into poverty and Weed mostly wanted to look away from that. Seeing the angel Weed had thought him rich, it looks like that judgment was completely wrong.

Still, since it’s Weed, he won’t give up on his dream.

“He should have something stashed away.”

As the other sculpting masters were amazing, he believed that Daycram also held great power.

I even created sculptures from the materials discarded by farmers, like straw and manure.

When people saw me stacking up shit and dried grass they called me mad, not recognizing my true work as a sculptor. For me, beauty is in everything around us.

So I made sculptures that weren’t sculptures.

At the beach I built with sand and shells, allowing the tide to wash it away, leaving behind only broken shell fragments.

As it rained I found sculptures in the traces it left behind on the ground.

During that time I saw sculpting in a new light.

If the sculpture is made from nature, that abundance is returned by Mother Nature.

Even a fallen tree or rocks lodged deeply within in the earth, they all had the story of nature in them.

I became aware of the power of the smallest things with my whole being.

*Ting!*

You have learned the Nature Sculpting skill.

You can now create nature sculptures.

A high affinity with nature and sculpting is required.

This will raise the longevity of the sculpture’s materials.

Even with carvings of stone or wood, the remaining force of nature will not disappear quickly.

If you conserve nature as much as possible the sculpted material will be preserved longer.

– An affinity with nature has been created.

Since that day, it occurred to me who knew nothing before, to become friends with it

You can create a sculpture and at the same time stay in tune with nature.

I realized that when you are hitting, cutting and breaking to create a sculpture, you are not using a art technique that is having a conversation with nature.

While sharpening a rotten piece of wood, I could still capture mana from the surrounding world.

However, people did not care to learn this type of sculpting from me.

It was hard to understand my sculptures as they were not of standard beauty, they were dirty and crude so they did not see why they should learn it.

The way of mana in nature and using that to create sculptures is very hard work.

There was no one who would believe in me, they thought my words were the ravings of a lunatic.

I decided to come to the Jigolaths in order to show the world that I was no mere madman, I have a true gift from the gods.

While digging in the mine I collected Mithril, I plan to make a humble sculpture from it.

I know from listening to the Mithril that it’s mana is strong and pure, it wants me to make the attempt for something beautiful.

I have hidden my finished Mithril work.

It most likely will never be discovered, this work by an old man who wanted to show the world his skills will, perhaps, be lost forever.

The legend of the Helium is precious information known only to a few of the most resilient sculptors.

My own sculptures were hidden for the simple reason that there is no longer anyone who would understand their true value.

Fortunately, sculptor Weed found it.

“Finding something so carefully hidden was hard, still, it sounds like you had to needlessly suffer your whole life.”

Weed’s heartwarming respect towards his senior effort for leaving the hidden angel statue didn’t even last more than 1 minute, 20 seconds.

The challenge of sculpting requires harmony and patience.

Mastering the technique is very difficult but sculpting within the mana of nature lets you feel it’s enormous power directly.

I hope more sculptor’s will learn this art from me. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Sculptor’s Guild teaching these techniques freely to all.

I will leave for the Great Debkart Mountains to sculpt the Helium.

I, Daycram, have also discovered an unknown sculpting skill, any sculptor may learn this new skill Disaster Sculpting.

If you wish to learn my sculpting art, climb up the Great Debkart Mountains.

“Shit! so in the end he took the Helium and left.”

Remorse and unsurpassable greed. After few deep breathes Weed decided to check the new skill.

“Skill check! Nature Sculpting!”

Nature Sculpting beginner level 1 (0%):

A sculptor’s common skill. Can be obtained earlier by Sculptors themselves by worshiping nature.

The sculptor master Daycram created an additional method for sculptors to acquire it.

Requirements:

Must have Advanced Sculpting.

Must have a high affinity with nature or the power will not manifest.

You can only create sculptures base on nature’s source material.

Humans will need three times the effort to raise skills compared to Elves and Fairies.

Current Affinity with Nature: 470.

+Nature was made the subject of many sculptures. +153

– As a result of the Dark Elves shooting fire arrows on Yuroki Mountains, affinity is reduced. -79

+Due to climbing Horom Mountains, affinity is increased. +15

+You persevered with great fortitude through ice and snow storms, plus volcanic eruptions. +29

+You adjusted the distorted climate of the northern continent. +106

+You created Elemental Spirits. +80

– Damaging the natural environment for sculptures. -32

+Due to constructing a mystic pond that preserved nature, you gained the favor of the Elves. +9

– Nature damaged from building the shanty town and forts, etc. -47

+Sailing the ocean. +15

+You saw the Aurora Borealis. +21

+You have preserved the Jigolaths ring of fire. +61

+You have hunted many monsters harmful to nature. +139

A word of note!

At your current level of affinity with nature sculpting, you can use the cloud sculpting skill.

Cloud Sculpting:

Will be based only on sculpture and affinity nature skills

Depending on the level of your sculpting skill and affinity with nature you can cause it to rain.

You may incur the wrath of many people since even something like a heavy rain will be considered a disaster.

Weed’s numerous acts of the destruction of nature had been recorded in detail. The various quests, explorations, his perseverance and his sculpting experiences were all accounted for.

“I thought I would only suffer more hard work. It wasn’t as I expected.”

After getting his class he had thought he was going to be left far behind, instead it had left behind warm memories.

“If you have to be out in ice and snow, or even a ice storm, collect some ice and have your self a ice cooled juice drink!”

Even if you’re famous, life will always be a long hard walk, you still have to endure it without closing your eyes, so far the achievements he has made far outweighed the hardships!

“Should I go to the Great Debkart Mountains?”

For the sake of obtaining Disaster Sculpting, he needed to follow Daycram. It was fortunate that it was was within an easy two days travel from Morata.

Disaster Sculpting!

A name that’s bad for your heart.

There was no way of really knowing what was meant by disaster sculpting or what natural apocalypse it might recreate. Tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, landslides, snow and ice storms, volcanic eruptions, if you could recreate such things…

“That would be a unbelievable sculpting skill!”

There was no other skill more fulfilling than this since becoming a sculptor.

“Right now, I’ve not even a heard a whisper or read anything about a sculpture made from Helium being completed.”

Perhaps some kind of physical aliment might have overcome Daycram.

Weed had never met the elder sculptor, who frankly speaking, has not been eating well nor living life in a healthy manner. When you have to scrimp and save every penny, the world in a harsh and merciless place. If there were no news, the probability of something bad happening was extremely high.

“If your dead then the Helium will be all mine! Fhu Fhu Fhu Fhu.”

On Weed’s back Light Wings fluttered and grew restless, Yellowy who had been on a break from the exhausting work started to tremble with fear.

An instant later, Weed was feeling very bad, he was full of regrets and reflections. A great deal of repentance too.

“No…It’s that damn Helium. It’s so beguiling that a mere human’s heart has a snowballs chance in hell against it .”

Relived by this Yellowy flattened his ears. This was a cow behavior, something they only do when they’re very happy. Light Wings lit up with some very nice bright colors.

“It’s not natural to be corrupted like this…well it sorta is, after all I’m only human.”

“I have to admit, humans can be temporarily dragged into temptation far too easily.”

“The chance to learn nature sculpting from a master it’s almost like a blind monster showing up just in time for you to kill it.”

“Well….”

“Even more ridiculous things have been known to happen, it must be the will of heaven, God most likely just said,’ hey…it’s your turn to die blind monster.’ “

“I’ll just have to breathe deep and grab this chance while I can.”

“…”

“Even though I didn’t find the Helium I did get the nature sculpting techniques, I even got clues about where to find the master sculptor Daycram.”

Having seen all there was to see within the mine, Weed and Yellowy prepare to go back.

Chapter 5: Message In a Bottle

In just a few hours three tracking teams, made up of Hermes Guild Thieves and Assassins, were completely wiped out.

“We’ve lost touch with them. Our latest report is that they were being attacked by a very strong warrior who is with Weed.”

“They have to be nearby. We’ll send troops to guard the Thieves and Assassins so stop the search until they can reinforce those teams.”

Drinfeld was sure he was only a few days away from reaching his objective, He made sure his new wizards and paladins, the Hermes Guild reinforcements, were placed and ready to fight with his other troops.

The Navy, plus their Assassin’s and Thieves. Then the Pirates, who were mostly made up of wanted men, were forced to work together as a group. Normally the navy and pirates are sworn enemies. They had decided to endure it for the sake of attacking their mutual enemy and the Guild’s power to influence them.

The tracking teams had traced the footprints close to the Helium mining region but the track was hard to read because of the previous fights in the area.

“Look at these fresh footprints, It hasn’t been long since they passed through here.”

“Whose covering the other end of that passage?”

“Rutiel-nim and the others have sealed off that section.”

“Those guys won’t be beaten back so easily.”

Rutiel, a Navy Knight of the Kingdom of Haven belonged to the top 30 group of the most powerful Knights in the game.

“I’ve heard that Rutiel-nim has gone through and crushed a huge number of dungeons, he should be able to quickly chase them down no matter how far they run.”

In the first wave the Thieves had run ahead of the Knights. They have a high level agility, lots of speed, the drawback being they have a low endurance. They were no longer in a place to care about that now.

Seo Yoon.

Three Assassin’s and one Thief had died by her hand.

If you include the escorting troops sent to guard the tracking teams, no fewer than 21 members were slaughtered.

This was all done by just a single person.

Roa: Stay sharp. This woman is so strong it’s scary.

Travis: Don’t worry about asking after Weed’s location, just kill her on sight.

Alawin: Just hold out until the main troops arrive to support you.

The Hermes Guild users in the Jigolaths filled the private chat channels with endless talk.

The Guild users still back in Heaven found the reading exciting, the hunt was a popular hot topic.

Gochem: It’s a fox hunt.

Strauss: She’s quite the ferocious fox.

Jaigeo: It’s too bad the Jigolaths is so far away, I’m starting to wish I’d gone.

*****

Seo Yoon’s once pristine armor was now covered with large cracks and dents. Her vitality and strength was very low but she couldn’t afford to stop moving.

Trackers were swarming everywhere as they narrowed their search net and gathered to build their siege.

Attack Force.

Berserkers fight until their very last thread of vitality is left.

The way they gain even small amounts of levels and skills is different from the other classes. Normally you gain less experience when hunting with a grouped party.

You can rest as needed within a party hunt, this makes for a slower paced monster hunt but you still gain some experience.

If however, you place yourself in a dangerous room filled with a large amounts of monsters or other enemies and fight until you feel your very life is danger…you will gain more experience. You will also see your associated battle stats and skills increase significantly.

It’s a hunting style of constantly overcoming your limits and facing stronger opponents, fighting until you’re down to your last drop of blood. This is the Berserker class style of combat and it undoubtedly makes you stronger than other classes.

From all the current signs Berserker Seo Yoon is in a very bad state.

‘To hold on much longer will be hard.’

Up until now, Seo Yoon had defeated all of the enemies using her Berserker skills alone. However more Assassin’s and Thieves were on their way and this time they were bringing the knights with them.

Various types of Assassin’s poison were currently coursing through Seo Yoon’s body, her ability to resist them was reaching it’s limit.

“It’s her!”

“Get her!”

Seo Yoon didn’t know if she could afford the time to resist or escape.

Seeing her hesitate the enemies grew bold and came forward.

‘A fight.’

In the end, Seo Yoon, doing her best to dodge the attacks, managed to kill 31 enemies with her sword. Knocking out these enemies Seo Yoon’s strength and vitality went through the floor. For any other class the state of the injuries would have left them unable to fight let alone survive.

After the battle Seo Yoon was able to rest for while.

For a Berserker the aftermath of combat carries a terrible price, their whole body aches with impairments that leave them nearly crippled.

A day earlier, before the enemy trackers had appeared, Seo Yoon sent Weed a whisper.

He had sent back a reply.

> I’m on my way out.

Seo Yoon felt it was good luck to have such timing.

After battling with the enemies for 10 hours Weed again sent a whisper.

> We’re delayed, the loads very heavy. Should be there in 1 hour.

Another 5 hours passed.

> We’re almost there.

2 more hours.

> Just a matter of seconds now.

‘We need to lure them away. We’ll have to move.’

Golden Bird and Silver Bird were waiting inside the Helium mines. For the sake of Weed’s safety, Seo Yoon decided to leave. Holding her sword Seo Yoon stared at the entrance of the mines, hoping to at last see Weed.

‘Will we soon see each other again?’

Her feelings about Weed were not clear, showing her emotions was difficult and Weed himself didn’t display many.

Feeling so at ease with Weed, Seo Yoon felt she wanted to tell him things but her fear got in the way.

Seo Yoon knew that Weed worked as hard as he did because he couldn’t stand seeing other people die.

‘We can’t wait any longer. We’ve got to go. The pursuers must be drawn away before they get any closer.’

Seo Yoon turned and started to walk away…

Rattle…clatter…rattle.

Sounds could be heard coming closer to the Helium mine entrance.

Together, pulling a cart, came Yellowy, Weed, Golden Bird and Silver Bird. Showing up as part of the load was the sculpture, ‘The Advent of Seven Angels’.

Seo Yoon’s face is full of dirt and sweat, yet like a sun breaking through the clouds a piercing smile lights up her face. Seo Yoon was completely unaware of it.

‘Weed you’re here.’

In spite of her fears and current condition, Seo Yoon, at that moment, was feeling blissfully bright inside. Her brightness filled up her heart making her shine from an inner glow.

Weed’s heart was empty.

On her forehead, showing up brightly in a neon red glow is her name and the diamond murder mark. She had once again been sentenced.

Just how many enemies did she have to fight for her armor to hang in shreds like moth eaten clothes. Even her thin leather worn under her armor was battered and torn, letting much of her slim form be exposed.

“We have to leave.”

Thanks to Seo Yoon’s killing off the tracking teams, the Hermes guild was still unable to pinpoint their exact location and as they were still some distance away it gave them a bit of extra time before they would arrive. They might be able to escape if they could use an opposite direction from the tracking teams.

Even then the risk of encountering a group of the Hermes Guild Knights or troops was high, it would only take a single encounter for them to be quickly found and overwhelmed.

Just one look at Seo Yoon’s Berserker figure told you that it had reached it’s limits a long time ago!

“I know you can’t take anymore…so please, let’s go…there is another place we can hide.”

*****

Drinfeld along with Hermes Guild’s military elite composed of Wizards, Priests, Knights and the crack troops all had finally arrived at the Helium mine entrance.

The tracking team now consisted of a Naval Engineer, an Excavator and one Thief who had survived. The Thief looking at the footprints left behind reported to Drinfeld.

“So far, the traces look like Weed’s prints. Just keep in mind that he’s extremely adept at erasing or changing these tracks.”

Seo Yoon had been left in charge of misdirecting and trapping the knights and troops. Drinfeld knew this and felt he was prepared for that fight.

It was clearly a Helium mine, there was no doubt it was the correct location. However the fact that Weed had returned to the mine was highly suspicious.

“Somehow this bothers me, I certainly wouldn’t have come back here… is he really still in there?”

“I don’t know, they might not be in there. Yet with that cart slowing them down they couldn’t have gotten too far away…still with monsters leaving trails that cover the marks it won’t be easy to track them even with the wheel marks to follow.”

Since they don’t have a perfect map of the dungeon it would be impossible to block every passage and trap them inside.

In fact with the ant farm of connecting passes it would be very likely that he could slip past them.

“like a rat in a trap….but the trap itself is too damn big.”

Their teams were exploring the many chambers of the Jigolaths dungeons and they were near to creating a full map.

They suffered many disadvantages in their pursuit. But once the map was complete, they could extend the range of their search and even send soldiers ahead to barricade important pathways.

“As you chase your quarries, they will often panic and even be willing to jump into the jaws of death just to avoid the trap. ‘You never know’, they think, ‘there might be another way to escape.”

There was also this, some members of the Hermes Guild began to lust after this legendary Helium or as they were starting to call it, ‘the Sculptor’s treasure’.

“Come on let’s get inside. The first group will stay back and cover us… just in case.”

Drinfeld together with half of his forces, entered. It was just as Weed predicted. The easy target was too tempting for the famous Guild to let go of the chase.

After struggling with being lost for a while they finally reached the end of the trail, the place with railway tracks and mining carts.

“Is riding this the only way to keep going forward?”

Carefully four users climbed up and boarded the mine cart.”

Unknown to them was the fact that Weed had completely covered the mine cart wheels with sesame seed oil.

*****

The traps you installed have killed three people and seriously injured one person.

Notoriety increased by 29!

Weed and Seo Yoon used the time it took their pursuers to enter the Helium mine to create as much distance as possible between them. By transforming themselves into their Avian humanoid forms, Gold Bird and Silver Bird were able to help Yellowy move the cart fast enough so he didn’t fall behind.

“What happens next?”

Due to the aftereffects of Seo Yoon’s Berserker mode, all of her current stats and skill levels were continuing to decrease.

Even walking was difficult for her right now.

Recovering from her injuries was a very painful process, like having swarms of bees constantly stinging, Seo Yoon didn’t allow any of her pain to show on her face.

“ We’ve gotten everything we came here for, now we just to need to escape Jigolaths.”

Moooooo!

Yellowy let out a good loud cry as it helped him pull with all his strength since moving the heavy cart took everything his legs could muster.

Since coming to Jigolaths Yellowy had thought he was going to die many times, it had been like going to hell and back, hearing they were finally going to leave made him flatten his ears with the news!

He just wanted to graze on the early morning dew soaked grass that grew on the Versailles Continent. The kind hearted Yellowy also missed Bingryong and the other sculptural lifeforms.

“Once we leave here we are going to be surrounded by our enemies…we’re going to have to kill them all.”

Weed Often felt like he was just like some character who appeared in a romance action movie. In the film the hero and heroine get thrown together as they are forced to run for their lives. As they are chased, they have all kinds of bad things happen to them. Their situation was now safely passed that point in the movie, thus Weed was in a calm state of mind.

Still, it was never easy to be on a quest and have to do battle with a guild. Moreover, when Haven Kingdom’s fleet had arrived Weed and his army of the undead had attacked them while their guard was down…well Weed basically ambushed them.

Mining Helium and luring the enemies into traps.

It was good for the bad guys to experience only the kind of hell Weed can teach them.

“I’ve got to do some reconnaissance. I’ll go out alone. You need to wait for me in here and stay hidden.”

“…Be… careful.”

Seo Yoon and Yellowy will rest, stay hidden and leave it up to Weed.

Once they were away from the dangerous Helium mine dungeon, Weed had no worries about being seen by any of the groups from the Hermes Guild.

Well….In the Jigolaths he did have to worry about hunting plus keeping the Angel statue safe, really if you think about it, it’s obvious that there’s plenty to get nervous about!

Weed was nervous and couldn’t keep from speaking aloud, of course it was spoken in such a small and soft mutter that only Weed could hear any of it.

“Shouldn’t we write up a will before we go out there?”

“No, I should just get my items and get out of here.“

“Of course I was hoping to go to the Versailles Continent to sell off my items. “

“With all that weight I don’t think Yellowy can move another step though. “

Fhu fhu, I am not that much of a doubtful and narrow minded person.”

Weeds mutterings had ended on a better and higher note, they had started dark and ended with a positive spin. Weed had lots of practice cheering himself up from his past of many long lonely hours of working in a factory.

“Still the sooner we get back the sooner I’ll get paid.”

He grabbed a block of black stone that was lying about and started to sculpt a crow.

“The art of sculpture transformation!”

Weed’s body shrank as he changed into a crow.

Weed spoke with whispers to Golden Bird and Silver bird, who were resting quietly on Yellowy’s broad pack laden back.

> You two guys, why don’t you come with me.

> I got it. Master.

> You can’t go like you are, you guys stand out too much, go ahead and get dirty.

Using some coal powder Golden Bird and Silver Bird made themselves black, this was the disguise they had used once before… the ‘crow’ look.

Once they looked black enough, Weed directed them to grab backpacks from Yellowy’s back with their beaks.

> Let’s go.

The two birds, Weed and with the backpacks in all their beaks, flew quickly down the dungeon passageway almost flying past the opening they needed.

Kayu!

Monsters did see them on their way out and waved their clubs about frantically but the ‘crows’ fast flight skills let them slip by easily.

All three of the completely fake crows were able to reach a small exit in a rock passage. Finally, Jigolaths dungeon exit!

For Weed it had been a long time since he had been able to see such a cool and crystal clear blue sky. Clear except for the smoky trails of ash blown out by the flowing lava, which extended in snaking trails out to the distant snow covered fields. You could see all the way to the Jigolaths snow line from this scenic bird point of view.

It gave you a real sense of freedom to be able to see so much clear open space around you after being confined for so long!

The bad feelings left over from having to work a pickaxe in a cramped dungeon completely disappeared. With all the force he could muster, Weed let out a huge cry.

Craww! Kriawww Krawww!!

> That was a very evil cry you just made.

> Our luck must be turning bad.

> I’m sure that everyone who hears it will become very angry.

These complaining critics of Weed’s roar were, of course, from the viewpoint of Golden Bird and Silver Bird. Weed feeling rather full of himself didn’t even notice.

Weed’s beady black crow eyes were scouring the landscape of the Jigolaths.

‘Well, you have all that too.’

From his vantage point Weed can clearly see the Haven Kingdoms Fleet sailors and Griffith’s pirates hunting for them on the land.

The Hermes’s Guild reinforcement crews have arrived as one large force. Weed is going to have to deal with both Drinfeld and the new reinforcements though the sailors do lack combat experience.

As the unfreezing river came into view scores of warships and pirate ships could be seen at anchor. Weed’s current advantage is that he alone can use the sculpture transformation, that’s something he plans to exploit.

‘It might work out if I was to get some help using Yurin’s Picture Teleportation.’

Although one thing to kept in mind is that among his enemies are high level Wizards with skills that could easily overwhelm and distort Yurin’s teleport level making that idea a very risky one to use.

Therefore getting rescued by Yurin might put her in danger.

Moreover there was no way to know if the teleport could move all of his loot, he absolutely had to hang on to that angel statue. He didn’t like the idea of taking risks that might get his precious people taken hostage.

One way or another, getting a ship to take everything and everyone was the only good solution.

> Follow me.

Flying through the sky Weed passed over the warships anchored there. Once they had passed the ships they then flew low over the river following it toward the ocean. The temperature difference between the river and the air created turbulence at the higher elevations so flying low, close to the river, was far easier than being higher up.

They took a brief rest on a rock outcropping and then flew on, they repeated this pattern many times!

Northeast of where the unfreezing river met the sea was a beach, they headed toward it.

“Cancel Sculptural Transformation!”

Returning to his human form Weed then opened one of his backpacks. Inside were glass bottles, filling the backpack to the brim. Snake Wine, Whiskey, herbs and more, Weed had many bottles filled with several different types of alcohol he had worked hard to prepare.

They would have to be dumped.

“It’s like throwing money away, what a waste!”

Weed put small rolled up notes inside the glass bottle. If you’ve ever watched a movie about castaways on a deserted island you’ll know that the one thing they all do is send out a note in a glass bottle. Weed was just making use of a clear and established procedure.

To all Undead,

Ye are hereby summoned.

Attend on me at once.

We will stain the world in shadow, the living will be forced to accept our invitation of death.

Heed my call my comrades.

– The Immortal Lich Warrior, Weed.

As a final touch he added a coal blackened stamp of his palm print as a way of creating a personal seal for the note.

“Just in case…”

Weed got to work looking for wood that he could cut up and use. He stumbled across wood from his old Ghost ship that had washed up on the beach. Some of the hull and a huge section of the main mast.

Old Reeking Mast : Durability 4/49

Made from a very strong tree.

Steeped in salt water after having spent a long time floating in the sea as a phantom ship. This wood is certain to bring bad luck. Inappropriate material to create anything with.

Options:

Luck: -15

Will make you constantly thirsty.

Reduces the chance for successful attacks on targets while at sea.

The longer it is kept close the more chance that you will gain a minor curse, like an itchy rash or boils.

With this old mast, Weed started carving small skeletons and a small sculpture of a Phantom Ship.

“Just like my old wooden sculptures that I used to sell.”

Hundreds of bottles were filled like cookie jars with a skeleton sculpture and a note each, they were then tossed into the water so that they would drift far out to sea.

His tiny Phantom Ship was detailed right down to the black sails, once it was placed in the waves it sailed away quickly.

“Time for a new experiment with sculpting…”

Weed plunged both his hands into the seawater.

“Sculpture Material Comprehension.”

*Ting!*

Unnamed Coastal Seawater.

The seawater has a very strong life force, it’s nature is very tolerant.

Between Weed’s cupped hands the seawater began to glow and shine like it had been somehow infused with an inner essence.

“Using the natural mana of water to sculpt with…it’s good to sculpt without damaging anything for a change.”

Collecting seawater without destroying it, as it was collected it still contained the power of it’s original essence and could be manipulated into a sculpture.

“Nature Sculpting!”

From between his hands the seawater started rising into the air, Weed hadn’t intended that to happen, the water seemed to lift itself into the sky.

Gushing water swirled and becomes a beautiful flowing sphere, silent and serene in it’s watery colors of green-blue.

Weed let the water rise to the height where Yellowy could have taken a bath in it, he then took out Zahab’s sculpting knife and started to trim the water.

“I will have to make a good sculpture.”

He could have left it rough, but Weed wanted to perfect this technique.

Shown standing on the deck of his Ghost ship looking off into the far distant unknown, with a patch over his eye and a hook for a hand it’s Weed’s Lich form, the Lich Pirate Captain Dereol.

*Ting!*

A sculpture of a Phantom Ship

A phantom ship is captained by a Lich Pirate on the Open Sea!

Can safely be called a poorly done and quite evil sculpture by any standard. Carved using natural seawater

Artistic Merit: 179

Special Options:

Enhances all abilities of the Undead

Increases the top speed of Ghost Ships by 5%

Leadership skills increase by 2% while at sea.

Well, it was the best he could do for now.

“Cloud Sculpting!”

The sculptured water evaporated into the air.

You used the Cloud Sculpting Technique.

Your affinity with nature level was used for your skill level with cloud sculpting.

Cloud skill level is too low, unable to set cloud rain properties.

High above them a dark cloud formed and began to draw in the other clouds nearby, growing larger and blacker as it absorbed the smaller clouds.

A phantom ship filled with ghost pirates looking almost perfectly real, it’s as if Dereol and crew were sailing in the sky!

This enormous black ship made of clouds was Weeds first cloud sculpture. As it is must go where the wind pushes the massive cloud phantom ship was forced down into the sea.

*****

The Flying Dutchman, Calamity of the Planetes Sea. [1]

“Cap..tain! I.. pulled.. this… out. from… the sea.”

The dirty, ragged dressed crew member brought the item to his captain.

The captain wore a frayed sideways hat, while below he had a single eye-patch leaving him just his single eye to read with.

“Ooh..early…the boss is calling us…sail…quickly….you…must…voyage.”

On board the ship the ropes that bound the sails were untied as the ship was made ready to depart. It was then that the sad and bitter truth was revealed, these sails were black, tattered and full of holes, still, the phantom ship, the Flying Dutchman and her undead crew had to make do with what they had.

Nevertheless, this was the time of year that the northeast winds were at their peak and the Dutchman caught that fair wind and somehow sailed forth.

The infamous phantom ship the Flying Dutchman had received a nasty note in a glass bottle from Weed but they were not the only ship getting notes and setting their sails.

In the Neria Sea another phantom ship received a message in a bottle and they quickly changed course.

“Let’s…Go…”

“Called us…a…Lich..it’s….orders…..we…..dare…not..refuse.”

“Mighty…chaos…warriors…honorable..fighters…we…must…..die.in.battle…”

After sending out the bottles Weed had once again revived his Lich, the higher grade Lich of course which came with the high level undead summoning skills. Carved from local rock on site…it looked worse than the last two, he didn’t forget to add the hook.

The higher level summon skills had an unexpected effect on the notes in the glass bottles…they were all delivered to the phantom ships.

If you also add in the fame Weed had earned in the quest with the chaos warrior, the ring of fire and the skill levels he had gained while hunting as an undead Lich. It shouldn’t be too surprising that with the passage of time Weed’s name was very well known not only on the Versailles Continent but also to all of the Undead ranks.

Even for those humans and other races with no interest in the undead were talking about Weed as their main hot topic!

This vast amount of fame and gossip was having an effect.

Not only nearby but also in far away oceans phantom ship captains were moving.

“Faster…….we.must.cut…..a…huge…wake..through..the..sea.”

That year in the Planetes Sea, out of nowhere phantom ships started appearing there, where they had never been seen before.

In the Neria Sea a phantom ship was sucked into the vortex of a whirlpool. The phantom ship hull was damaged as you might have guessed but it was not destroyed.

This very same phantom ship, sucked down into the depths of the vortex, reappeared much later…. in the west.

“This…is not…where we…were.”

Other phantom ships at the time of Weeds bottles were also being drawn into other vortex’s. They’d be sucked in and the reappear…in the northeast, near the Jigolaths.

Things were Moving!

Elsewhere, in the calmest and deepest waters, sunken ships which had been lost and never seen again, started to rise up as new phantom ships.

These new phantom ships started sailing and the bodies aboard these ex-sunken ships began to wake up as Undead and recall their skills.

“Kee kee kee, we all know that to turn up like this…is to turn up for a fight.”

Some 200 years ago there was the pirate ship ‘Jabricha!’, famous for it barbarity. The captain was dumped without mercy by his men onto a desert island, he held a big grudge and after dying of hunger became an Undead.

Onto this desert island’s sandy shore a bottle was delivered but the undead captain had no way to travel and answer the call.

“Kill Kill, Kill Kill Kill!”

Driven mad by his odd urges he nevertheless, hung out on the beach. A passing phantom ship offered him a ride.

“Where..you..going?”

“To…Weed.”

“That’s..where..we’re..going..too.”

Through the rough waves and storms, these ships kept sailing on, the phantom ship pipeline was in full production.

Anything that would float would do, dugout, canoe, raft, they even clung to logs or jumped into barrels, as long as it could move the Undead towards their goal.

******

Pale and his friends were resting in the ancient city, Mordred, the former capital of the old Niflheim Empire after finishing the party’s high difficulty quest.

“Whoa…that.was.one. really hard quest.”

It had been a very difficult quest for Irene though she didn’t want to say that out loud, what she’d really like at this moment is to have a chance to just sit down as it is all she can do to just remain standing.

“They didn’t exaggerate when they said this was a monster paradise.”

Hwaryeong was worn out too, still catching her breathe she couldn’t speak even if she wanted to.

If she had done this in front of a large audience she would have had a great time. Someplace with a huge seating capacity where she could give her all in a passionate performance, yet even there she could take a break, unlike having to perform for endless monsters. That kind of performance really was something to try and avoid.

They had overcome many difficulties and were able to bring about getting the sword technology to come to Morata, the Biteoreu Clan had been the original creators of the Knights Sword.

You have done great work in being able to complete the request from the house of the Great General.

The craftsmen Clan of Biteoreu will move to Morata as permanent residents and open up a shop there.

This will quickly increase Morata’s level of weapon technology.

As part of the quest compensation they would be allowed to keep the Biteoreu jewelry that they had already been given.

“Later on I’ll make your equipment in the clan workshop for you. My clans sword production level is really high, the protective gear isn’t at the same level but even so it’s still of very good quality.”

It was really paying off to be able to bring the survivors back to the House of Biteoreu, killing all those monsters was worth the massive effort.

Mapan the merchant was acting as a gem trader for the group, he had sea trade routes and was getting a chance to make large sums of money. They were even speaking about him on the streets of the city.

“Merchant Mapan made a good amount of money out of exchanging jewels this time.”

“…”

“Say, what’s up with that broadcast?”

The whole group of Weed’s friends had been taking a leisurely break when a big news event popped up all over the media channels.

“The reinforcements sent by the Hermes Guild to kill Weed, have arrived at the Jigolaths.”

“Don’t you think we should help him?”

Everyone was watching with interest all the programs associated with Royal Road not just the KMC channel, they decided that they didn’t want to point this out to Maylon.

After the first fight, everyone had been following Weed and the progress of the Haven Fleet reinforcements since they had arrived at the Jigolaths. It was simple to see other video because the high level Hermes Guild users also were uploading video scenes from their game.

There was a lot of hot debate across the Versailles Continent due to all of that.

Since the quest that had ended the life of the Chaos Warchief Kubicha no one expected that the Guild would have an easy time of it, they did wonder why Weed had not been fighting as expected.

Anxious about these events Pale spoke up with his concerns.

“Weed’s whisper channel is blocked…I’m not sure how he’s holding up with all this going on.”

“Should we ask Yurin?”

Hwaryeong decided to go ahead and talk with Weed’s sister about the current conditions and find out directly if there was any trouble. She got in contact with a whisper.

> Yurin, where are you right now?

> I’m in a painting

> A painting?…er…I was wondering about your brother…Is Weed alright?

> I think things are hard for older brother right now.

> Hard?

> Yes. When he ate at the house his face somehow looked tired and angry.

At that time Weed had been in the middle of using a pickaxe all day long while looking for the Helium, not a great quality of life time for him. The outlook at that time had been pretty bleak since no matter what he did there had been no end in sight.

> I really don’t think you need to worry, I’m taking care of things on my end so you can just do as you like.

Even when his enemies were meddling with him, a firm belief that it would not matter was clear from Yurin’s attitude.

From the earliest age to now the good older brother role had never been broken.

As a young girl, whenever she had wanted candy or toys, she had always been given them. Though, some of the young boys in their neighborhood might have had to do without. A deep trusting bond was built from such simple things and it had never been betrayed.

On rainy days an umbrella would show up, if the weather was hot an unopened package of ice cream was delivered.

The wild and young neighborhood boys who were always getting up to tricks like little devils, never came near her and if they did happen to see her they would turn away shivering.

Hwaryeong, who couldn’t keep up with the rapid delivery of these stories finally had to speak up to the others who couldn’t hear the whispers.

“What should I do? Yurin says things do look hard for Weed.”

Her rich and vivid imagination built a lot of long faces and big problems.

“I think our Mr.Weed is going to need some help kicking that Hermes ass, we’re going to join in.”

“Weed does?”

Maylon was asking since she wasn’t sure she believed this.

“Well yeah, think about it, there he is sad and alone, running for his life until his back is up against a wall. Then they kill him.”

“Ehhh!”

This story was seen quite often in shows or movies like The Fugitive. A scenario where a hero needs to flee the country, suffering hardships along the way. not even able to find a moment of peace for a quiet drink of water.

Soft hearted Irene, could picture this easily, her eyes were already getting watery.

Either it was going to be Drinfeld or some pirate, it didn’t really matter who, the chase was going to go on. It wasn’t about any quest either, it was about running down a target and giving it no chance to rest.

“It’s the Jigolaths, that’s where we need to go and help Weed, and we need to go right now.”

Hwaryeong made a strong case, the party headed to the harbor at a run. Once there, they looked for a boat that could sail to the Jigolaths.

“We’re looking for a clipper ship, we need one quickly, do you have one you could show us?”

Halfway through looking at a ship Bellot suddenly spoke.

“I just thought of this, why not use use picture teleportation? that would be much faster, right?”

Even after Bellot finished saying this she stopped and shook her head.

“No, you didn’t just hear that. I shouldn’t have said anything.”

That choice might lead to a fight with the enemy directly, it is much better to avoid that rather than try to use a method that could alert a powerful enemy like the Hermes Guild.

The high level wizards at the Jigolaths would have been careful, they would have put up magical barriers preventing anyone teleporting there. Especially since Weed is well known for his tricks, they would be on alert for any magic getting used.

The Hermes Guild is afraid of the Wargod Weed, for good reasons. Weed has earned a huge amount of fame and that kind of thing gets noticed. It might seem like just another minor detail but part of being a warrior is learning to not take risks when you don’t have to.

So the reason for Bellot to swallow her words was simply part of using her head, calmly assessing the risk factor of using picture teleportation before committing her friends to a dangerous group tactic. A cool headed review is not the same as being callous.

Whatever a fellow’s reputation only close friends get to know the real story behind the reputation. This was especially true for Weed.

Weed’s systematic and steady approach to any job leaves him almost unable to give up, it’s just not in him.

Hwaryeong and Zephyr could still vividly remember the nightmare hunt they had experienced with Weed in the Basara Lair Dungeon.

That hunt had run for almost 29 continuous hours, toward the end of that they had been on the point of welcoming death just to escape the flesh grinding hunt.

Keeping them alive by forceful applications of his bandage skills, Weed had not only healed the party, fixed their weapons but almost at the same time proceeded to slaughter every monster within reach.

The only time that they had a chance to take a break and try to recover was when Weed’s backpack was too full of loot to continue and he was forced to go to town to sell it.

Even when everyone else took a break, Weed acted just like the construction worker he used to be in real life, always keeping busy. He was making sculptures nonstop even during the breaks.

Since Jigolaths has no merchants or towns, Weed’s system of selling off full back packs had to be changed to one of storing the loot, It wasn’t great but he was out of options.

“I couldn’t even imagine giving up my hard earned loot.”

“Without items to sell my life would have no meaning…”

“If I had to make their loss I’d be forced to hunt nonstop until I passed out.”

The painting teleportation skill has severe limitations, the hunting loot that had been collected in the Jigolaths was piled as high as a small mountain. There was just no practical way to teleport that amount of loot.

You’d also have to factor in the need to have every single item drawn onto the painting with exact detail and shown in it’s new location. No way would they have the time needed to complete that before the enemy tracked them down.

In the end this was the conclusion reached after much discussion. To reach Weed and eventually extract him and his loot from the Jigolaths nothing else would do the job except a medium sized clipper ship.

The party and the newly purchased ship set sail for the Jigolaths.

How much a burden Weed would have to travel under is an unknowable factor, on that basis the best tactic they can use to fool the enemy is to keep the rescue mission as secret as possible, not even letting Weed know.

It would take at the earliest a day or two before they could arrive in the Jigolaths area, at that time they could let him know.

Pale was no sailor but since he was the default leader of the group when Weed was absent. He had, a least, tried to learn a bit about the job when they had sailed on the phantom ship the ‘Maria’ with Weed, which was more than any other member of the party had been able to do.

“Heading off to the Jigolaths with no voyage navigation charts…”

“Weed has the only map I know about, I did look at it several times but I don’t remember it well enough to have confidence that I can get us all the way there.”

Mapan in his effort to be efficient had hired a fully qualified NPC Captain and crew to sail the ship, yet they were all worried about the Captain being skilled enough to handle a task like an unknown sea route.

After sailing to the best northeastern route marker they could, the party was shocked to encounter a huge procession of phantom ships on the water ahead of them.

These phantom ships were all sailing on the exact same course heading.

Quite erie to say the least and it was the last thing they expected to see.

Not only phantom ships, there were plenty of rafts, barrels, logs, and other odd broken bits of flotsam that could have been parts of old shipwrecks.

Sea Monsters too had gathered and were swimming along the same course as the motley phantom procession, almost like they were the guards or escorts.

It was a completely amazing scene!

If Pale and the rest of the party had not been there in person they would have never believed it had they heard such a crazy tale.

They had their ship turn to the northeast which wouldn’t be too wrong a course since Pale and his party had seen the spectacle of the phantom ships using the same direction.

It was pretty safe bet that Jigolaths would be on that northeast heading.

This sight was so odd and yet important for Pale and the rest, clearly something momentous was being enacted right before their eyes. It was quite cold in this part of the world but that is not why they were all shivering.

“He did this…I don’t how or why but it has to be him…”

“It’s like a giant wave of destiny is getting ready to break on the Jigolaths shore.”

The phantom ships piloted by a mix of ghost and the undead were also accompanied by huge birds.

Soaring along with the ships with a 300 cm [10ft] wingspan, evil looking and black as coal, dozens of Condors[2] flew in the updrafts of the wind, drafting along without moving a feather.

A very evil and totally appropriate garnish to this unearthly scene.

The ship Pale was in, followed the phantom ships with a careful distance between their ship and the dreadful hodgepodge fleet.

From the sea, coming up to the stern of Pale’s ship came a great watery swell, sailing up behind their ship was the first ship of a convoy of black warships.

Not an ordinary ship these multi-masted vessels towered over all other ships around them. It was the first ship in a line of warships that was cutting through the water with fearsome speed. It had sailed up to Pale’s ship without hail or warning and now looked ready to ram them.

“Hard over to port!”

The hired ship’s captain, spun the ship’s wheel completely to the left, turning the ship quickly to avoid the collision.

The much smaller clipper ship barely managed to get out of the warships way.

They were missed by the narrowest of margins, so much so that Pale’s ship was caught in the turbulence left behind in the battleships wake.

So close was the huge ship that the white foaming waves broke over the deck and caused Pale’s ship to experience serious rolling.

The large dark warship was crowded to bursting, not just with undead but also with many Dark Knights, Witches and a full crew of phantom sailors.

The line of sailing warships never even gave Pale’s ship a glance as they stayed on their course, not one inch did any of the line ships turn from their heading of reaching the Jigolaths.

“Christ!, we’re damn lucky to be alive.”

“It’s like having a god damn near-death experience.”

Everyone aboard Pale’s ship breathed a huge sigh of relief at the sight of the military ships moving ahead of them.

Maylon pointed toward the flag of the speeding battleship.

“That flag… It seems really familiar, I can’t be sure…where did I see that flag before?”

The flag rippling in the wind was black with a stylized skeleton’s white skull, the skulls jawbone was hugely open with what looks like a pure scream of agony.

Without a doubt, they had all seen it before. The symbol on that flag gave each of them the feeling that it was very important.

“I think I’ve seen it before too”

“I also remember seeing it once.”

Surka and Pale were certain they had seen that symbol before.

“Where did I see it?”

As they all racked their brains striving hard to remember, Mapan gave a tentative answer…

“Er..it seems to me.. wasn’t it when Weed was transformed into that Orc Karichwi?[3]”

“What?”

“As I remember it, that was the flag that the Serpa Witches and the Lich Shire used. Well..no..really those flags marched at the head of the Undead Legion [4]. I believe it’s the symbol of that black army of the Undead; The Undead Legion’s Flag.

Mapan shuddered as he spoke.

Those were the days as a merchant that he faced near-death experience countless times.

Whenever the tactics of that war had changed, the saliva would dry in your mouth, you didn’t dare look away for fear of missing a moment of that Battle!

Of the all videos posted in the Hall of Fame, the video showing the battle of the Orc armies of Karichwi, The Dark Elves and Humans has remained within the top 5 videos even today.

“Ah! That’s right! It was the Undead Legion.”

It was only then that Maylon clapped in recognition.

The flag that represents the Lord of the Undead Legion, the immortal Lord who commands all the Undead…

“Then, those warships, they came from the Undead Legion?”

The party all caught each others gaze at once.

“Let’s go!”

“Go!”

“Captain! Make sail [5]!”

Even with sails spread to their maximum, the distance and speed of the warships ended up leaving Pale’s normally much faster clipper ship lagging quite a distance.

The undead aboard the Legion ships had no need of sleep, which was not the case for Pale’s crew and Captain. The taller ships could also gather more of the current winds. Under these adverse conditions even a fast clipper ship would eventually lose sight of them as the voyage went on.

They had no option but to lose sight of the convoy.

Translation Notes

1 This named Sea is new to us too, I would have to guess it’s the waters near Jigolath’s. We do know the name itself comes from the Japanese anime series ‘Planetes’.

2 Sort of like a giant vulture, bald headed with a white ring on it’s neck, they are one of the largest birds in the world.

3 See LMS Volume 07

4 Also written as the Immortal Legion.

5 Nautical term for ‘full speed ahead’ this was the real order given to increase the amount of sail already set on sailing vessels.

Chapter 6: The Miracle of Life Bestowal

Having gone back to the underground dungeon of Jigolaths, Weed spent his time carving sculptures. Weed knew he would need more than just his army of undead to defeat the tough enemies he currently had to overcome.

“I have to use the sculptures. Using the power and strength of sculptures, I think I see a way to escape this situation.”

Since learning Nature Sculpting, all of his raw materials looked different to his eye. On the surface of the material and within the core, the material was alive with vibrant and pulsating mana. The look and texture of the mana also had a lot of variety to it. The difficulty of sculpting climbed dramatically with the need to create a sculpture without damaging these dancing forms of mana contained throughout the material.

The act of striking, beating or cutting the ore with a tool can damage ore, even though it’s very hard. When the ore was hit or struck the resulting shock wave traveled all the way to the core.

“Smoothly and accurately.”

*Ting!*

Sculpture Completed!

Does not effect of the artistic value of the sculpture, durability has risen significantly.

For the contribution to the arts notoriety decreases by 2.

Another advantage for the sculptor class!

By creating a sculpture, your fame goes up while notoriety falls. Weed laughed satisfactorily.

“Yep, a sculptor shows his true spirit through his sculptures.”

Weed spoke to himself while hard at work mass producing sculptures. Since his fame was so high doing quests with high difficulty can drop his notoriety easily. Notoriety also drops by creating sculptures.

“I can even commit some crimes later if I have to since I can just lower it again.”

Rather than turning over a new leaf, for Weed, this was like a golden ticket to continue engaging freely in even more rotten behavior.

“To drop notoriety even faster, I’ll make sculptures of angels and little children. Maybe Daycram made his mithril angel sculpture to lower his notoriety after committing a crime too.”

Weed, who was almost as good as a master sculptor, began working!

*Sparkle Twinkle Sparkle*

Pure and innocent, many young children with bright beaming smiles were carved.

Weed’s hard working persona was operating at full speed, he had already created over a hundred innocently smiling little girls.

“Good bye notoriety stat!”

*****

When Seo Yoon was not online, Yellowy, Golden Bird and Silver Bird spent their time watching the sculptures being made.

Since they were sculptural life forms they gained small amounts of EXP just by watching the process of a sculpture being made.

Golden Bird, Silver Bird and Yellowy were quietly talking amongst themselves.

Golden Bird; “Owner’s been sculpting for quite a while now. I haven’t seen Owner with such a happy expression except when he’s beating me and when a good item drops.”

Silver Bird; “I admit I was reluctant about Owner since I thought he was just a foul smelling Lich, but it seems his sculpting skills are pretty good. The most important thing about a sculptor are their sculpting skills.”

Yellowy; “Not only does Owner have good sculpting skills, Owner has a good personality.”

Golden Bird; “Yellowy, does Owner really have a nice personality? Do you think that the day will come where we will think of him as a nice person too?”

Yellowy; “So far my life is; being beaten, being threatened to be eaten, and being ridden into battle against scary monsters, but Owner told me that I’m lucky to have a such good master like him.”

Golden Bird; “Umm… Yellowy, I don’t think he’s being truthful.”

As the sculptures of life were conversing about their unfortunate lives, the little girl sculptures looked at Yellowy and suddenly licked their lips. It happened so quickly that no one could have seen it, but it was unmistakable, it had really happened.

Growing by itself, Weed’s Power of the Dead stat had started to affect his sculptures. Weed usually didn’t give much attention to the many sculptures he made. Only when the sculptures turned out decent did he briefly inspect them.

“Identify Sculpture.”

*Ting!*

A Sculpture of a Young Child Smiling Delightedly

A sculpture of a young girl smiling so innocently that it would be impossible to view her as a troublemaker.

Created by the famous Sculptor and Adventurer Weed. While it has no special abilities, it would make a fine gift.

Artistic Value: 6

Option : Charm +2

It was hard to see the changes, they were so small and quick that if you blinked you would miss it. As the pure and innocent sculpture transformed itself, its expression and description completely changed.

*Ting!*

A Statue of a Young Child Saturated with Fiendishness.

A statue of a creepily laughing little girl.

Made by the hands of one who is reported to be endlessly corrupt, the sculptor Weed. Whoever owns this sculpture will have continuous bad luck.

Evil: +15

Options : Escaped Convicts, Wanted Criminals, Smugglers, etc, these classes will receive an increase to all stats +2

Good Luck: -10

Dangerous disasters that are normally unlikely will have a higher chance of occurring.

After completing the sculpture, the notorious murderer state showing Weed’s name in red above his forehead completely disappeared.

“Great. Finally.”

The notoriety wasn’t completely gone, but the murderer state was removed. There are many awkward things about being in the murder state. Morata, speaking frankly, was not too strict about security.

Unlike Morata, other cities have castles and religious buildings whose guards will deny entry to those in the murder state. Of course, it’s obvious, that you couldn’t meet with Kings or Nobles.

No matter how high your fame is, if you couldn’t be trusted, you wouldn’t receive requests easily.

“Now to expand the range of the sculptures.”

As part of his plan for getting away from Jigolaths he needed to be rid of the murder state. His preparations were just about complete.

“I’ve sent out a ton of floating glass bottles but I’ve no idea how many of them arrived.”

Seo Yoon and Yellowy were coping well having to endure hiding in a small space. Seo Yoon watched the sculptures being made, Yellowy could bear it if he could just somehow survive all this.

A furious and determined desire to survive!

Hiding deep inside the dungeon, sparingly eating provisions while making sculptures, their current appearance looked no different than refugees. Weed made sculptures while occasionally also making time to utilize his tailoring skills to make preparations

“For clothes, twenty should be enough. Even if I use lower quality fabric the clothes will… no. There’s no need to use the poor quality fabric and leather for these clothes.  I can always sell them later to recover the cost. However, since it will be difficult to make the clothes that I will wear exactly the same, making them look close will be important.”

Weed was making articles of clothing and aristocratic outfits from the Niflheim Empire era, he had learned the style while in Morata, mainly to increase his sewing skills. Based on the era clothing of the Niflheim nobility, slowly only a bit at a time, these clothes were ready to conquer the pirates.

“I don’t know why Pirates bother dressing so well, Pirates should just be Pirates and wear cheap rag tag clothes.”

Weed’s sewing skills, already high, reached new levels while making these outfits making its final look a bit excessive. Well, it wouldn’t hurt to look a bit refined.

Money, skills, and levels, such things will never betray you in life.

Between sculpting and sewing to continue lowering his notoriety, Weed used his crow form to make daily trips to the sea. On the day when there was only a little notoriety left, the distant horizon of the sea was filled with phantom ships.

“They’re here. Now I can really get started.”

When it comes to text messaging, glass bottles had Weed’s undivided and absolute faith. However, since a phantom ships duty was to idly wander at sea they had no reason not to come.

Even if the ghost ships hadn’t come, Weed would have just proceeded with his much more difficult backup plan, but since the ships had been seen as soon as they arrived, the plan became a lot easier.

Of course this plan did not include having phantom ships enter the Unfreezing River, that was only asking for problems.

Although the number of ships isn’t exactly known, having a large number of phantom ships enter a narrow river is not a recipe for a success. They would just be eaten on one side by the Haven Kingdoms 2nd fleet or on the other side by the Pirate fleet. You truly don’t want to feed your enemy.

*****

The day Weed escapes Jigolaths with Seo Yoon and the sculptures of life.

Weed along with Silver Bird and Golden Bird landed on top of the Sculptor’s Tower. Standing besides him as escorts were the coal covered Golden bird and Silver Bird.

“It can’t be right.”

They had come here to check out one last thing that Weed was suspicious about.

“There’s no way it’s possible.”

Even among Weeds adventures, the hardships that occurred in Jigolaths had been particularly severe.

When Weed had arrived he knew a normal approach wouldn’t work so he used his Lich and the Undead, along with every trick he knew… yet it hadn’t worked.

Weed had tried the Copper Plate of Rest, but it had fallen short of success. If Seo Yoon hadn’t made her timely appearance the quest might have failed. If it had failed, it would have failed in a very public way!

The combat difficulty of this sculptor quest was extremely high, Weed had then reasoned that perhaps he was supposed to, or needed to, make use of Emperor Von Arpen’s Sculptural Life Bestowal skill.

A shabby sculptor that came to the Jigolaths empty handed by following the old Emperor’s creation, Golden Bird. This sculptor then bestowed life to a another sculpture belonging to that Emperor to create the subordinate Silver Bird. How could all that not be leading to an epic quest accomplishment.

If you don’t do at least that much it would hardly be a quest. The problem was the point of that understanding came only after the middle of the quest.

“Some of the sculptures are on the low quality side, not worth very much. Still even if you leave the lesser work there are lots of sculptures that are just too good to leave.”

The Sculptor’s Tower is filled with amazing art, it contains masterpieces several times over.

Except for within the private palaces of Versailles or within the Dwarf nation, nowhere else would you find a collected treasure of sculptures like the ones within this forgotten tower in Jigolaths. There are not many places like this in the world, an abandoned tower full of treasure and no one with a claim to it, a treasure with no heir.

If he couldn’t take all of them, Weed wanted to at least take several of the good ones, even if he had to give up levels.

Weed thoroughly searched the surrounding area near the tower for any Hermes Guild members. Fortunately, there were only two pirates keeping watch at the tower.

To receive the benefits of the Sculpture Tower members of the Hermes Guild would come here every morning. However, since looking at it more than once does not duplicate the effect, they did not come more than once a day.

The Sculptors Tower is eye catching by its very nature and was located on a flat terrain where it was difficult to hide yourself, so there wasn’t any suspicions that Weed would show up here.

Weed was, however, paranoid and he had plenty of experience fighting against guilds. Killing him by  using tricks, traps, or surprise attacks was fairly difficult.

So far hiding in the Jigolaths dungeon had been hard but they endured and were able to avoid their enemies successfully.

The Hermes Guild, if they understood Weeds personality, had a new plan. Instead of mobilizing a large amount of personnel and trying to drive Weed into dead ends, there was a fool proof way to catch him. They would put outrageously expensive items on the ground.

A trap that could put Weed into a tremendous turmoil!

*****

Weed with Silver Bird and Golden Bird, stealthily approached the pirates standing guard around the tower.

“Yaaawn! I’m sleepy and bored”

“Weed will never come to this place so I don’t know why we even bother to guard it.”

Weed heard the pirates’ grumbling. Weed was approaching by using a bird’s hopping way of running when a Pirate nonchalantly turned his head.

Weed and the Pirate’s eyes met.

“A crow?”

Weed was scratching his wings with his legs, then burst out crying *kaw kaw*. He also looked at the pebble next to him and kicked it with his feet. Silver Bird and Golden Bird were also rubbing their bodies and doing other bird like things as well, while pretending to be indifferent to the pirates.

“They sure are having fun. Jus’ look at ’em.”

Weed was going to approach again when the pirates lost interest but since sentry life was boring, they watched Weed for a rather long time. Weed finally let out a long drowsy yawn. Silver Bird and Golden Bird quickly did the same, the Pirates soon turned their gaze elsewhere.

Weed then lead the way approaching with Golden Bird and Silver Bird!

*Pick Da-da-dak!*

After striking first at the top of the foot they climbed straight up while continuously pecking!

As the average level of Pirates was low, the three high level birds delivered an unbelievable amount of damage in a coordinated attack that dealt with them easily.

Weed released his transformation and returned to his human form

“It won’t take them long to discover that the Pirate guards are dead so we’ll need to hurry.”

Within the tower are many Masterpieces and Magnum Opus’s which are the only ones Weed intends to give life to. Right now Weed’s level is at almost 400, he can’t afford to grant life without limits, in the long run his level won’t grow itself.

After first seeing the tower full of sculptures Weed hadn’t used the bestow life skill, since the quest’s difficulty level was so high, he worried that it would be a waste of his levels as the the sculptures would most likely die.

Just inside the entrance to the Tower, Weed carefully placed his hand on a masterpiece sculpture of a Knight.

“Should I bestow life on this Knight?”

He wanted to at least have a Knight as a subordinate. Since it would consume levels and art stats he was left with no choice but to be very cautious.

Finally, Weed reached his decision.

“Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

Sea creatures, large living organisms, monsters without names, the Knight sculpture in the midst of this huge variety stored within the tower was without a doubt the real prize and was thus, granted the miracle of life.

‘A Knight has high loyalty level. I must be sure to make some amazing food for him and get him hooked.’

*Ting!*

This masterpiece sculpture was made by the 8th Sculptor’s Guild Master, Jenbarin and members of the sculptor’s guild.

‘A Serene Tower Waiting for a Hero’ has been waiting for life bestowal.

“Huh?”

Weed was sure he had bestowed life on the tower’s Knight sculpture created by the sculptor Villas. Yet the system window message saying ‘A Serene Tower Waiting for a Hero’ has been waiting for life bestowal, was still floating open before him.

*Ru-um-um-um-umble!*

A huge sound is heard from the Sculptor’s Tower and it starts to shake, thick crusty dust that had been piled up for ages crumbles away by the force of that sound and it’s vibrations.

The encrusted dirt breaks away to expose an ancient sculpted stone Tower!

A miracle created by bestowing life!

Images flowed into Weed’s eyes. It was, by this time, a very familiar event.

*****

The Sculptors arrived by boat to Jigolaths. They not only bravely set out to find helium, they even made their sculpture masterpiece’s here. The sculptor’s all had the strong will to never back down in face of any hardship.

Jenbarin was exemplary, a ideal model that inspired this group of sculptors.

He said the following in a very determined voice.

“This treasure trove of sculptures can not be stored in a poor or common way. We may not be the last sculptors that come to Jigolaths.”

Welcoming their end at Jigolaths, they even thought about other sculptors that might come here.

“We will plan and create architecture that will hold our treasured sculptures. This structure that we build will reflect and hold all of our hopes and dreams.”

It was of course very important to find Helium, but here at the end of their lives, making a place to leave the treasured sculptures was their top priority. They will need to find a safe place from earthquakes and the volcanic eruptions, all the sculptors cooperate in working toward that goal.

“Let us create a place that can withstand any threat, but is still artistic.”

The Tower was entirely carved from a massive rock. The floors were cut out, an entrance was tunneled, the rocky outside surface was sculpted

It’s hard to see that Sculpting and Architecture are completely different branches. The sculptors made it by sculpting it completely out of the massive rock

A grand sculpture. A Tower to keep their treasures safe.

Masterpiece!

‘A Serene Tower Waiting for a Hero’ has been completed.

These sculptors who came to Jigolaths made a Wonder!

A sculpture made by Jenbarin and his comrades by combining talent and effort. Several secure rooms and spacious showrooms were made inside. The tower was divided into four separate themes; the Sun, the Volcano, The Sea and the Sculptures.

Artistic Value : 17,695

Special Options :

Sculptors who sees the tower will receive double their maximum value of health for a day.

Improved intimacy with monsters that have been sculpted.

You can learn method to hunt monsters.

You can restore your health and mana at a faster rate by rest in the interior of the Tower.

Increases the ability to adapt to the environment of Jigolaths.

Decreases the effects of temperature and weather.

55% rise in resistance to flame magic

Increased resistance to fire type monsters.

All stats increase by 39 as long as one has the sculptor class.

Increases effects of sculpting skills by 8% for a day.

If sculpture is displayed inside the Tower, sculpting achievements are easier to obtain.

A Masterpiece sculpture completed by Jenbarin and his comrades.

While exploring Jigolaths they had died, but other sculptors had come and created work here.

Sculptures were stored inside one by one, thus ‘A Serene Tower Waiting for a Hero’, became a marvelous and wonderful work.

*Ting!*

A ‘permanent preservation’ magic has been applied to the sculpture;

‘A Serene Tower Waiting for a Hero’.

Among the more versatile sculptors there were those familiar with magic. The tower has powerful protective magic encasing it, thus the many sculpted artworks were able to be safely stored away.

Over hundreds of years the tower and sculptures became as one.

*****

The video that Weed was watching ended.

“This tower was a sculpture and I didn’t notice.”

The tower had been covered with crusty dust of at least a few centimeters. Because of that the exterior of the tower didn’t give away that it was in fact itself a sculpture.

*Ting!*

You have granted life to a sculpture.

The level of the sculpture is based on the level of the art stat.

The sculpture ability will be converted from the current art stat of 2,041, so the sculpture’s base level will be 461.

Since the sculpture is a Masterpiece with the added bonus of being a  Historic Sculpture, the level will have added an additional 32%, increasing it to 608.

Three attributes are bestowed upon the sculpture lifeform

These attributes will vary in power according to the form and quality of the sculpture.

Attribute of Art (100%), Attribute of Guardian (100%), Attribute of Life (100%)

Due to the Attribute of Art, The Tower likes sculptures and painting, and 150% of the work’s effects can be drawn out.

This applies not only to you but to all colleagues as well.

Due to the Attribute of Guardian, this sculpture will attempt to safeguard the owner and all colleagues from danger.

Due to the Attribute of Life, sculpture is born with overwhelming health

Due to being the work of Jenbarin and his comrades this sculpture is bestowed a special courage

Due to the protective magic the sculpture has a strong defense.

5,000 mana has been used.

The skill efficiency has increased, so the level and stats consumed when bestowing life have decreased by 20%.

Art stat has been permanently reduced by 6.

The reduced stats can be replenished through sculpting or other art related activities.

Level has dropped by 2

Due to the decrease in level, 5 points have been reduced from your most recently upgraded stat.

The stats will be regained once you regain the lost levels.

Please cherish the bestowed life given to the sculpture.

Upon death, the sculpture must be granted life again to return its soul.

The sculpture cannot be revived if it has been completely destroyed.

Before the now animated tower asked Weed for a name, something happened.

– A sculpture is made with blood and sweat. No different from one another, we are of one body.

‘A Serene Tower Waiting for a Hero’ is using the power of Art. The life force has been distributed among all of the sculptures.

As Weed watched, numerous small cracks appeared on the Knight’s sculptured surface which then opened and split apart.  After a while, the statue started moving announcing that it was alive. Watching a sculpture lifeform being born was captivating no matter how many times you witnessed it.

But the process wasn’t finished. From the Knight more cracks were spreading to the other sculptures .

“Perhaps this is?”

Giant creatures, numerous monsters, insects. The dust covered sculptures were starting to move. The large number and variety of sculptures bestowed with life took their first breath.

The sculptures had come to life as if the long time spent rooted to one spot was just a lie. It’s not just the tower level where Weed was located, all the sculptures in the tower were coming to life.

Due to life bestowal skill the sculptor has given life to all the sculptures in the Sculpture Tower.

Due to ‘A Serene Tower Waiting for a Hero’ sharing its life force, it will have its health decreased by half.

Towards Weed, each of the many variety of sculpture lifeforms showed him their gratitude for the gift of life in different ways. Some showed him an open mouth or snout, others wagged their tails, a few waved swords, or made a roar that filled the air.

In the midst of the electrifying spectacle taking place, the Sculpture Tower discontentedly said.

“Why is my body so dirty?.”

The artwork that liked to stay clean was busy brushing off the dust. The other sculptures also diligently cleaned off the dust stuck on their head, shoulders, and body.

Weed would have been more than willing to take them to a hot spring. Hell, he’d even scrub their backs.

The sculpture lifeforms all spoke out at the same time.

“Master, grant me a name.”

“Master, thank you for letting me be born. I will faithfully serve you with all my heart.“

“Master, what will my name be?”

“Keu keu keu. Who should I fight with you.”

It’s clear that with so many just giving them a name each is no easy task.

Rolling about on the floor is a huge sea monster that resembled a dolphin, a fire giant masterpiece belches fire whenever it spoke.  There was no single size or similar looks, every lifeform was spread about in such a disarray that it was chaos.

“Your name is…”

Weed decided to postpone making names. With such a huge variety of sculptures it will be hard to match the characteristics of each, more time and careful consideration for each name would have to be done later.

“Names will come later.”

“That will make it difficult to call on us.”

The knight lifeform spoke up politely, he wanted a name. A name was important for the sake of honor.

“For now, I’ll just call you, Hey you, Dude, You there, and so forth.”

“…….”

Since the Weed was not the person that sculpted it, the Knight sculpture did not start out with high loyalty towards him.

Knights consider honor very important, treating it lightly was hard for them to endure. Yet Weed really didn’t have much time.

“In a little while we might have to fight a battle soon so let’s put off proper naming till later.”

The idea of upcoming combat caused the eyes of the sculpture creature to sparkle.

For now, Weed got ready while keeping both land battles and sea battles in mind.

“Anyway, presuming this area gets damaged, there probably won’t be any pointless deaths . For now I’ll continue as planned.”

******

Pirates were guarding the temporary marina. Docked in long rows in the Unfrozen River are the Pirate ships and the ships of the Haven Kingdom’s 2nd Fleet.

“This is totally boring.”

“When are they going to catch Weed? We are only guarding these boats, even if something happened, we wouldn’t even know.”

“Just wait a bit. Good news is sure to come soon. Weed just has to die, then once we get back home we’ll have something to brag about.”

The discontented pirate complaining had to draw a card from the deck. In the dead of night gambling was a way to pass the time when there was nothing else to do.

When they had first come to Jigolaths it had seemed that Weed’s capture would be imminent but that did not work out so well. Weed proved to be quite tricky and could slip away from them easily. The extremely large and extensive underground dungeons of Jigolaths was utilized to lure them into traps.

There was chance that the Thieves and Assassins might be able to track down Weed but they most likely wouldn’t. Going by the traces left on the ground was one of the best ways to hunt down a target. However the false trails Weed left had made tracking so difficult the net had not been able to close around Weed.

The traces left by the monsters, users, sailors, and pirates have completely mixed together.

“Still, because he’s confined it’s just a matter of time till they catch him. They’ve completed the map of the underground dungeon, so now each area can be quickly searched.”

“Yeah ok, but will that be enough? I don’t think Weed’s reputation is just talk. It looks like the Hermes guild is experiencing some real pain right now. ”

“Ah hem hem!”

One Pirate suddenly loudly cleared his throat and stood up from his seat. The other Pirates took the hint and also quickly got up.

Head of the Pirates, the Pirate king Griffith hadn’t been seen walking up to the temporary docks.

“Reporting! No problems while on duty sir.”

Griffith walked and clapped each of them on the shoulder.

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Not at all sir.”

Griffith was wearing a Pirate Admiral’s hat. A hat with a known restriction of over level 400 which the other Pirates have no choice but to envy.

“What brought you here sir?”

“It was stuffy so I came out for some clean wind and fresh air.”

Griffith’s voice was deliberately deep and husky like it was fake.

“Are you going to board your ship?”

“Yeah, my ship…”

Griffith stopped speaking and hesitated for a moment.

The amount of ships anchored in the unfrozen river is massive. A shocking scene of tall ship mast looking like a forest stretched out on the river. The temporary dock on the river was lacking space. More than half the ships were still not anchored in the docks.

Officers were always greedy for overly large and luxurious ships, The Jungfrau was just such a ship. However, it also would require a lot of manpower to operate.

“Should I order The Jungfrau to be prepared?”

“You don’t need to go to such trouble, I just need some air.  I’ll just go out with a fast sailboat then return.”

“Should I prepare a crew? We’d all like to sail with you.”

With a Pirate King on board a sailing ship can experience the fastest sailing speeds possible. That’s precisely why the Pirates were looking hopeful.

Griffith shook his head, rejecting the offered help.

“Too troublesome for a quick trip. I’ll be going alone.”

“Yes, understood sir. Please take us with you next time!”

“I’ll definitely give you a ride if the chance comes up.”

Griffith departed sailing a mid-sized ship that had been moored at the temporary dock.

Watching the ship sail with the speed of a snail, the pirates grumbled in disappointment. They couldn’t understand why he was sailing so slowly.

“When you can smash into enemy ships at full speed like Griffith can, then you can comment on his sailing speed.”

“As much as I hate those rowing galley ships, no one commands one better or faster than Griffith.”

Instead of following the Unfreezing River towards the sea, the medium sized sailboat ’The Quail’ turned around and headed upriver towards Jigolaths.

The volcanoes were spewing smoke all the way to the white fields of snow. Since the fresh air and view at that spot on the river was something to be admired the Pirates didn’t harbor any doubts.

However, the moment they were out of the Pirates’ line of sight, the mid-sized sailboat turned to the Jigolaths river shoreline. It was hard to anchor the ship due to the rocks but Griffith was able to anchor close to the shore.

“You can come out now.”

*Moooooo.*

Yellowy popped out from the exit of the dungeon that was nearby and galloped toward the sailboat. Then came Seo Yoon, Golden Bird and the other sculpture life, they all emerged in rapid succession.

They were boarding the ship under the cover of darkness.

“Hurry up and get aboard!”

Griffith was actually Weed in disguise using sculptural transformation.

By making a lot of sculptures he lowered his notoriety and got out of the murder state. Of course there were those in the Navy and in the Pirates that were also in the murderer state or wanted criminals. It was quite common for both crews. The hat and the uniform Griffith usually wore were all fabricated in order to improve the disguise.

If it had been daytime,  the difference of the clothing stats and options would have been like heaven and earth, but it was hard to tell the difference at night. Intermediate sewing skills could easily create fake materials that looked on the surface very close to the original!

The humanoid sculptures used rope and started climbing aboard, the ones that could fly grabbed others and flew aboard As more of the living sculptures got aboard the mid-sized sailboat the heavy weight caused the ship to ride much lower.

“Well, let’s go. Good bye.”

Weed took off his hat and waved it in farewell to the Sculpture Tower in the distance.

It was too big to take the Sculpture Tower by ship.  It was made in Jigolaths and it would have to remain there. It had completed its mission of guarding the other sculptures, so it will remain as a guardian of the land to the very end.

“Farewell.”

Weed regretfully said farewell once again.

‘I wish I could’ve taken you to Versailles Continent, I would have put you to good use.’

The Sculpture Tower’s choice is resolute.

Rather than live in the wide continent, the Tower had decided to live in Jigolaths to honor the memory of those sculptors who had vanished from the land, it was not possible to change its mind.

‘The future Jigolaths might get to see a new boss monster.’

“Guoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

The Tower cried out loudly urging them to leave quickly

From the Towers lowest floor rising to its highest came a sound that emitted a mysterious resonance. The Sculpture Tower had succeeded wonderfully  in keeping all of the sculptures safe but now it was time to say good-bye.

“Well, let’s go.”

Weed gave all the living sculptures directions at last raising up the anchor so they could leave.

Golden Bird and Silver Bird flew up to the mast and untied the ropes allowing the sails to unfurl and spread wide open.

‘This is our parting from Jigolaths.’

It was a big increase in weight for a mid-sized ship. Living sculptures filled the cabins, corridors, and the deck.

Maximum capacity was more than exceeded!

Even with the wind completely filling the sails it was almost not enough to get them moving, but slowly, they started to pick up speed. Weed took the helm, as the ship was heavy and slow he needed a lot of room to make the wide half circle turn in the Unfreezing River.

They sailed passed the pier, then they passed through the Haven Kingdom’s 2nd Fleet and the Pirate Fleet. Those fleets did nothing to block this since they had been notified that Pirate King Griffith was sailing that ship. With the fair wind they were getting they started to speed up as they sailed the Unfreezing River.

Just a second later, users from the Haven Kingdom Fleet reported to their superiors.

– The Pirate King Griffith has taken a ship and is heading out to sea.

– What for?

– It’s nothing. The Pirate guard at the marina said he wanted to get some fresh air.

– Okay.

A report was made as it helped control ship traffic, yet neither the Hermes security team or pirates gave the report any real consideration. Since the person reported was their ally the Pirate King Griffith, the ship didn’t require special permission or attention.

Then after some time passed.

The Navy Knight that received the report urgently sent a whisper.

– Didn’t you report earlier that Griffith was headed for the sea?

– Yes, I did.

– Was it really Pirate King Griffith?

– The Pirates are the ones who confirmed it.

– Damn! This is bad!

– What’s the matter?

– Pirate King Griffith is together with Drinfeld right now. The person on that boat isn’t the damned Pirate King.

– Wha-what? You’ve got to be joking…

– It’d take too long to explain. Hold on to that ship!

– It’s not here.

– Then sail after it!

“Hurry! get to the ship.”

“Move faster!”

The personnel who were guarding the docks and the battleships boarded the nearest  ship and sailed after them. But among the living sculptures were sea creatures who were lying in wait for them to move.

Despite the arrows and cannon fire they were eventually sunk!

The users along with their Guild and Pirate teams were angrily returning to the docks when they found their road blocked by the Sculpture Tower.

“Guoooo!”

The Sculptors Tower trampled on the users and soldiers. It was blocking them in order to protect Weed and the sculpture lifeforms’ retreat.

The majesty of a powerful destroyer!

The soldiers were about to counterattack the Tower when Admiral Drinfeld shouted out with his orders.

“That thing can be taken care of later. Get to your ships! catching Weed is the number one priority.”

The main force of the Hermes Guild and the Pirates boarded their ships while avoiding the Tower Sculpture. They had taken some tremendous damage but they set their sails and sequentially left the marina.

“Guoaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

The Tower Sculpture that had interfered until the end turned away and started moving towards the steaming volcanic regions of Jigolaths.

Chapter 7: Death Aura

“Mmm, it’s a good wind.”

Weed’s lips formed a crooked smile.

While the speed of the overloaded medium sized sailboat was horrendously slow, it was also relaxing.

“After all, we don’t want to get too far ahead.”

Golden Bird was continuously giving updates on the enemy’s location and Weed planned to match that timing. Once they reached the wide open sea the enemy had much better mobility, so it was the Unfreezing river that would determine how this battle would play out

“The place is all set, so…”

Weed assigned a task to the sculpture lifeforms that were able to fly.

“Bury this under the nearby ice. Be gentle, don’t bite too hard or try to eat it.”

Weed had acquired a lot of Fire-Orbs while hunting monsters in Jigolaths.

At each side of the river the winged sculpture creatures were using their beaks like woodpeckers to drill into the ice and put the Fire-Orbs into the holes.

Watching this intense labor was Yellowy.[4]

‘I’m so glad that I can’t fly.’

Weed was happy with his investments in the sculpture lifeforms.. No five day school week, or bonuses, no monthly salaries, no other types of benefits of any kind.

When Yellowy’s first calf was born in Morata he was denied time off and had to work without a break.

Parenting was also banned!

The idea explained to him was since he was constantly eating that meant he had to constantly earn, even under the worst working conditions like that of a mine shaft.

The sculpture lifeforms went through a lot of suffering to place Fire-Orbs into the walls of the gorge.

“it’s a waste of my items…”

Weed said this with a sad look. If Weed were to watch a sad movie or read a sad book he would just yawn, but now he was sad enough that tears were spilling out. For now he decided to be honest with his feelings.

“A single drop of my tear is at least 800 gold, no, more like 8,000 gold. A discount or group discount will never be allowed!”

One should never hold in these emotions

“With this much stress comes eating disorders like binge eating, could cut into our food supplies too. I must guard my health. I must address this and swallow antidepressants even though they cost money.”

The ship was getting closer to the sea. Weed who was looking at the direction of Jigolaths saw the massive fleet appear. The warships from the Haven Kingdom fleet and the Pirate fleet combined .

“A bit later than expected. If they had been any slower I would’ve had to wait.”

The Tower sculpture didn’t know how helpful it had been to this impromptu plan. Weed released the Sculptural Transformation from the appearance of Griffith as it has lost its meaning. He took off all the clothes he had made with his sewing skills. He wanted to keep them clean so he could sell them back in Morata.

Since it was going to be needed he went back to the modified Lich from. The power of the undead stat is a serious problem, but it’s absolutely needed if he wanted to take command of all those Ghost Ships.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

Weed transformed into the sculpture of a Lich he was holding. This Lich had the classic skeleton form but with some skillful changes. The Weed Lich skeleton floats lazily about 30 centimeters above the ground. It was surrounded by a black aura that swirled in a continuous flow.

Seeing this Lich with it’s huge intimidating appearance would make anyone gulp with fear.

You have used Sculpture Transformation.

This sculpture skill uses boundless affection to make the sculptor resemble the sculpture.

Since the body shape has changed, new equipment can be used.

You can also summon armor and weapons dedicated for use by the Undead.

As a result of this Sculpture Transformation wisdom and intelligence stats have greatly increased.

Unlimited stamina

You have acquired an additional 25% effect when using necromancer skills.

Floating in the air works automatically.

Magic has become stronger.

Death Aura is triggered due to the high artistic skills, sculpture transformation and summon undead.

Except for leadership and charisma all the other stats are reduced, the luck stat is reduced to its lowest.

Health and Mana is significantly increased.

Lich exclusive skill of absorption and efficiency of the absorbed mana rises 47 %.

—————————Warning!—————————

As a side effect of using a Lich Sculptural Transformation all activities done in this form may be taken as actions against humanity.

——————————————————————

Level of current Lich Form Completion: 19.3%

By using Sculptural Transformation into a Lich you’ve increased sculptural understanding skill level by 1

This transformation was much closer to a genuine Lich!

“It’s too bad I’m still only at the lower levels.”

Still Weed was quite satisfied with the change. He had transformed into an absurdly average skeleton Lich. He was a lower level when compared to Lich Shire and far from being able to compare to the higher level Lich Bar Khan.

He did have the necromancer ability Death Aura and by practicing the dark arts he can now amplified undead summoning in exchange for their deaths. One of the disadvantages of the Death Aura is that its range is relatively short. He would need a better way to utilize this restriction.

“Height, I guess I don’t really even need to wear shoes.”

He was able to float up to 30 centimeters into the air. Even though it was only 30 centimeters it did change what you could see. For a Lich even in the darkest night they can still see, just like it was daytime.

“Hmmm.”

That aside he still needed to worry about the fleets chasing them!

“They’ll catch up to us within the next 5 minutes”.

Keeping in mind their relative speeds, Weed tried to calculate how much time it would take for them to be within magical or shelling range. Magical flames hissed by Weed’s boat and buried itself in the water.

“We’re Here!”

“Over Here!”

“Mr.Weed Sir! We’ve been Waiting! Pleeease take us with you!”

A bit away from the banks of the river a frantically waving trio could be seen. Heinten, Fractal, and Boardmir were desperately waving clothes and calling out for help. Still alive somehow thanks in part to the single minded desire to survive these glacial regions. They had been waiting at this spot for Weed to pass by.

They could see Weed at the rear deck of the ship and they shouted loudly in desperation.

“Eh, What’s that you say? Drinfeld and a whole fleet of SOB’s are coming.”

“Oh wait, that’s wrong, you’re saying you’re looking for a ride.”

“Mr.Weed Sir, listen!, we’ve tried to find a way back to the continent, it’s impossible from here, we need a damn boat…”

Common sense would suggest that running from a massive fleet would mean there would be no way Weed would turn back to get the three of them. Besides, Weed had no obligation or interest in saving them.

After Weed passed them, the three ran across the glacier on foot, hoping to find someway to reach the boat. There were no trees around to build a raft. They were also in a predicament since the levels of the mobs were beyond their levels.

They ran downstream, getting ahead of the boat they found an ice shelf on the water’s edge. Quickly cutting it they dog paddled it with their arms towards the boat. Of course, in the middle of the warm river water, ice tends to melt and break apart. Even a blind man could see they were in a miserable plight.

“Pleeeassse for pity’s sake give us a ride!”

The triad tried, desperately shouting, to reduce the speed of the sailboat as Weed came close. Weed stood next to the deck railing.

“Going to the Mainland?”

“Yes, of course. We’ve changed, all our bad qualities are gone!”

Maybe if they lived here isolated for a few months to a year they won’t be so arrogant anymore and would change their ways. In Royal Road, a place full of joy and happiness, to be trapped in a remote place for so long is the same as being in prison!

Tears were shed with a running nose as they pleaded, Heinteu, Fractal and Boardmir were like lost lambs. Weed spoke again at a leisurely pace.

“The fee to board my ship is expensive…how much have you got?”

The desire for a little more money did not decline even after Weed turned into a Lich. As a cunning villain, Heinteu knew obedience was the only option, still he could not help but roll his eyes as he replied.

“The three of us together have 2,759 gold.”

In other words the amount was so small that Weed could just easily walk away. But in reality he had barely half of that proposed amount.

Weed shook his head at the offer.

“The toll is 7,000 gold … Sorry that price is not negotiable.”

“A..are you sure? I mean, your going home anyway and we waited for you like you asked us to…”

You can’t just leave us here, there’s no way to escape!”

“There are many other ships coming this way. If you have no money, catch a ride with one of those ships.”

“You scoundrels have already given me a hard time! I highly doubt that anyone aside from me would give you a ride, although I could be wrong.”

“Discuss it amongst yourselves, I’m sure after much thought you will agree with my persuasive logic.”

Thinking to speak Yellowy lifted his head but fell silent at a nod from Weed.

If you get into deep water you’d better be able to swim.

Weed decided to cut this short.

“Well, this is your problem.”

He spoke as if this was just a trivial thought!

“Right, at this distance 7,000 gold or no ride.”

“If you don’t like it find another ship.”

There was no need for mercy for ship thieves like them. Weed had just one goal. Since he was leaving anyway and the destination was the same it would all work out. With that in mind and their bad attitudes, why not overcharge, he didn’t care if they decided to refuse!

“Hey, come on, it’s time to swing the bat”

“If we don’t go we will stay trapped here”

Drinfeld’s fleet came into view. There was no time left to bargain. At this rate, everything will come to nothing. Watching the oncoming Drinfeld fleet, both Boardmir and Fractal became more anxious than Weed. The trio took out all their money, jewels and other valuables and calculated. It came to 7,425 gold.

“Weed, 7,000 gold we’ll pay the fee!.”

“In advance.”

Between the three of them they barely produced 7,000 gold and sprang quickly onto the mid-sized sailboat. On the deck they saw a huge army of living sculptures.

“Where the hell did all these monsters come from!”

“They’re damn scary things.”

All the living sculptures were gruesome and cruel looking, the kind of appearance that would frighten anyone.

“You will be stuck on board for few months. You might want to shut up.”

“They might decide to give you a hard time.”

They suddenly felt like the didn’t dare take a breathe.

“From now on crew and steer the ship.”

“yes sir, right away sir.”

The trio was going to do everything he said. Even though Weed’s sailing skills had improved he didn’t think he was up to handling the overloaded ship. He judged the professionals could do a far better job.

The trio were well know as the 3 Crazy-Mad Sharks of Becky-Nin, since despite being notorious they had never been caught due to their astounding sailing skills. The enemies were the privileged Haven Kingdom and Pirate fleets, but you could bet on their skills against them.

“Set full sails, this ship’s gonna fly!”

“Set course for the current, redress the sail angle to maximum!”

The ‘3 Crazy-Mad Sharks of Becky-Nin’ busily ran back and forth setting the medium sized ship ropes and sails for the best running condition for picking up speed.

In the back of their minds they still had a heart full of pride.

"Anyway all is not lost."

"We have 425 gold left. Despite the disadvantaged situation, we’ve been able to lie to Weed, we are the three crazy-mad sharks of Becky-Nin and we are going to be even more famous."

"For now just go along with things we’ll hit this rat when it’s coming home full of treasure, he’ll have forgotten all about us by then."

*ku ku ku*

The three were whispering to each other while working.

On the deck looking at the Haven fleet and the flames shooting past Weed spoke up.

“Oh, guys…”

“Yes ?”

“Food costs money.”

“Ehh?”

“Its 3 gold for a sip of water and 5 gold for a piece of raw fish until we get back to the continent.”

Excessive profits based on unspeakable tyranny!

“How can you do something like that!”

Fractal started to protest strongly, paused and then using a much milder voice said.

“We’ll navigate and steer the ship until we arrive at your destination. Won’t you acknowledge the wages due for such work.”

Yellowy nodded his head. It was well reasoned and smart, a counter-proposal for compensation. There was no way to refute such a compromise.

“1 copper per day.”

“Ehh?”

“If you don’t like it get off.”

Totally robbing them at knife point.

A small amount of power used to efficiently squeeze an opponent by applying it only at the exact point needed. Weed had learned a lot while dealing with the sculpture lifeforms.

‘Life is money. ‘

*****

Drinfeld was watching when the 3 Crazy-Mad Sharks of Becky-Nin appeared and were let onto the ship.

“Dear God, a truly royal asshole. He sold them passage, is this a devil or a man we’ve been chasing?

Even Drinfeld felt sick after having to watch that. There was going to be a accounting this time, even if it was land or the sea getting away was going to be very hard in his judgment. The leaders of the Hermes Guild had harsh reminders daily to quickly catch Weed.

Through the broadcast everyone got to see Weed complete an ‘S’ class Quest for the first time in all of Royal Road. Meanwhile, even with the reinforcements sent to them they were unable to show any results.

However, if it was the sea rather than land, the story is different. He had to admit to himself that his lack of experience fighting on land had led to many mistakes, but on the sea he was king.

“He’s just an arrogant jerk who knows nothing except how to run away to save his life.”

Drinfeld wasn’t worried about winning because of the huge difference between their ship’s combat forces, he was worried about the reaction after he won.

“Should I finish him off in a single attack?

Armed with the latest high powered artillery weapons, a single medium-sized sailing ship won’t stand a chance.

“With naval warfare it will be an easy victory for me without a doubt.”

Seeing as they can win without resistance he needed to prioritize recovering fame which is a much more pressing matter. Because it’s naval warfare he did not want to show the pirates getting any sort of credit.

“Alert! The stern of the target ship is coming into range.”

The noncom officer shouted in a loud voice. The 3 Crazy-Mad Sharks of Becky-Nin had been unable to increase the speed because of the ship’s excessive load. Drinfeld hardened his resolve and gave the command.

“Forward Guns commence fire.”

“It’s still a bit further before they come within range.”

“Fire immediately, don’t directly target the enemy just shake them up.”

Sinking the medium-size sailing ship too quickly would make it look far too easy. Using the power of their bombardment would give them the upper hand by getting rid of the enemies ability to navigate. Next, he planned to use the elite ships to assault the opponent. A flawless victory that should make them remember the name Drinfeld!

Drinfeld’s order was passed on to the entire fleet. The Haven 2nd fleet moved forward turning to an angle that would reveal the side of their ships. The gun ports opened, sequentially the cannons were run out, fire blazed forth.

Ba-boom, boom, boom, boom boom!

The firepower of more than 160 cannons were launched from 5 vessels. The cannonballs fired from the artillery cannons flew in a parabolic path falling into the water not far from Weed’s ship. Water pillars up to 10 meters high roared and plummeted, the booming sound echoing out over the river.

“Reload!”

The warship guns were run in and the guns reloaded. If the Captain and crew receive high level training then the loading speed and accuracy will improve. The majority of ships carry many mounted guns, though mobile with the added weight they are very slow to turn.

Despite this weakness Drinfeld’s ships were still able to rejoin the chase without falling behind. This time it was different, seven ships turned to expose their midship and prepared to fire.

“Fire!”

238 cannons discharge![5]

The launch angle was high into the sky raising the speed at which the shells shot into the river. Within the area of the artillery bombardments the entire river churned, the power of the rapidly surging water could easily tip you over!

The shells were slowly approaching closer to Weed’s ship.

“We’re getting closer. Full speed ahead!”

“She’s already at her top speed!”

Watching from the shaking deck the 3 Mad-Crazy Sharks of Becky-Nin struggled hard to increase their speed. Weed could use black magic to form a protective shield using dark aura, but didn’t feel the need for it. With all the shells falling into the area it was difficult to see much of the surroundings.

Getting missed by such close margins, it was like undergoing the tension of a top school entrance exam.[6] Full of fear and dread, Yellowy hid in the cabin with the masked Seoyoon.

“These guys are too rich!…each shot has got to be at least 3 gold.”

Weed of course wanted to be able to boast like that too, he was full of envy! Showing that they have pockets deep enough to send many ships, equip them and send them all to the far after him made his stomach hurt. Only a Kingdom like Haven that was fully developed with a central infrastructure and huge population could afford to equip and arm a such a fleet.

Like most sea going users Weed was at the back[7] of the ship since that was where you could see the most from and of course be seen by Drinfeld and other users. Weed had a bad habit of deliberately provoking his enemies. It would be good not to take him too lightly, his success so far as a hero was not built from straw.

If he loses his life he would lose his precious items, his skill proficiency and a hard earned level. So he was constantly examining and analyzing his enemies. Of course great courage is also necessary to live this way.

Having spotted him the Haven Kingdom and the Pirate’s moved forward at full speed down the Unfrozen river.

“Let’s start gently.”

When the enemy ships reached the correct location, Weed shouted.

“Now, burn them all!”

One of the sculptures made by Guild Master Jenbarin of the 8th Sculptors Guild was a Fire Giant! The Fire Giant had complained endlessly about the misfortune it suffered from not being able to ride on the ship with the other sculpture lifeforms.

The fire giant ended up using a very different sort of conveyance.

*****

While Weed was on the Ghost Ship voyage, Bingyong, the Wyverns and the Phoenix were busy hunting and at the same time raising their levels.

“kueeek !”

Bingyong used ice breath, the Wyverns used air drop attacks and Phoenix used fire to make the monsters experience a life of hell. They were already powerful just one on one so hunting the monsters on the ground as a group was a piece of cake. They were living and eating well, being that satisfied resulted in a special occasion where they all felt kindly about Weed. You might say they had a love hate relationship.

“I wonder where owner is and what he’s doing.”

“You think owner is sneaking delicious food?”

“Well we’re eating delicious foods without him.”

From time to time the Wyverns would feel the need to tell Weed stories, ever since he had disappeared from the continent for the 3 months ago the story telling need has gotten worse.

“I wanna to eat the food made by owner. When he comes back I should ask him to make delicious food.”

“kueeek !”

“I miss owner. I wanna be together and eat together, even with the abuse.”

The Wyvern’s[8] were born first and had spent the longest time with Weed, almost like he was their parent. Even though they felt in the depths of their heart that he made them look ugly, they still can’t betray him.

“I really want to go to owner.”

Phoenix had been born with five other brothers, but had lost them. Loneliness can be overwhelming and quite contagious, they all ended up sharing a sea of tears about Weed.

“Can we truly go to where owner is?”

“Flying to the owner sounds good.”

The Wyverns had a lot of experience traveling long distances to and from the northern continent’s mountains. They had the freedom to wander about enjoying the natural world.

“Let’s go to where owner is.”

“A trip. kiyah ahahak.”

Bingyong, also decided to join them since he did not want to be left all alone.

“I’ll go with you guys.”

Flight to the North!

For this trip through the glacier areas Bingyong had a lot of experience and flew ahead to act as guide.

The Wyverns and the Phoenix flowed close behind. They could almost be mistaken for migratory birds, yet they were just lonely sculpture lifeforms looking for their owner.

“Go here.”

“Stinks.”

“I can smell something disgusting too, something gross like an unwashed ugly brute is clearly nearby, must be owner.”

The sculpture lifeforms had flown over land and sea to reach the land of Jigolaths.

“Keu-woe-oe-oeo! I can feel my strength coming back to me”

Bingyong’s health and strength increased tremendously because of the cold glaciers in the area. Wyverns were weak to the cold but they were able to bear with it because of the clothes that Weed made for them, also by flying close to Phoenix they avoided freezing to death.

“Do you think owner will want to see us?”

“What if he gets angry and hits us?”

“No hunting, bullied every day, not to mention endless labor. Do you think I’ll get anything to eat if I work hard?”

Wy-three rolled his head and spoke. “I can live with that much. But what if we get told to go back where we were and hunt there!

Having already spent far too much time with Weed, they knew him all too well. The sculpture lifeforms decided to hold off for a bit and go hunting in the nearby Jigolaths.

The power of Phoenix did not weaken even if it was in an area filled with glaciers. This was also a location with blazing hot lava flows everywhere. He grew up fighting monsters that had high fire resistance, so fighting monsters that only had resistance to ice was easy. The monsters in the glacier area are high leveled and gave good experience, also the meat was awash with nutritional value.

The Wyverns are meat eaters that enjoy hunting, getting the experience on top is like a win win. You got to eat the meat and gain the EXP too.

The Phoenix, Wyvern, Bingyong hunting party![9]

On their search to locate Weed they paused when they saw the figure of a fire giant striding along the ice. As a sculpture lifeform themselves they were able to easily recognize a fellow sculpture lifeform based on their high art.

“Do you know owner, Weed?”

Seeing Bingyong, Phoenix and Wyverns blocking his way to the river, the Fire Giant nodded his head and answered.

“He who granted me life.”

“We were born before you.”

“That makes us family then.”

Sculpture Lifeforms are rather simple minded but that made establishing the pecking order extremely important to them. Due to Weed’s high Charm, high Command and his dictator personality, Bingyong and Phoenix were able to get on like a house on fire. Even though they both had opposite affinities they were able to become good friends easily.

Since the Phoenix had lost its brothers and it was still feeling lonely it spoke up.

“We are very similar so I’ve taken a liking to you.”

The Fire Giant holding a fire sword in its black hands looked up with a fierce gaze.

“I like you too.”

“Where are you going in such a hurry?”

“Master asked me to go hide and wait in the place where the river gorge is narrow.”

“That would be a very hard and long walk.”

The Fire Giant was heading along the Unfrozen River. Though the sculpture was not life size it was not much smaller and could move tens of meters with its long pace yet it had not been able to make much progress.

The glacial ice would melt due to the heat from its body at every step. Steam too would rise whenever water was reached making the surface slick from the heat and vapor. The Fire Giant had to move incessantly over the ice to cover the distance.

Phoenix made the offer first.

“Get on my back. You can’t ride others because of the flames but that won’t matter with me.”

*****

The Phoenix flew low along the Unfreezing River with the Fire Giant riding. The flaming wings spread wide over the river almost filling the gorge. Unfamiliar with flying the Fire Giant couldn’t help but shout with excitement.

“Ki-yaaaaa!”

Their practice flights had shown they could return at tremendous speed at Weed’s command. Phoenix lowered his head between his wings and beating furiously quickly got up to maximum speed.

They looked like a blazing comet from high in the sky then coming down to follow the river.

“Griffith sir, an unidentified monster has appeared behind us.”

The Pirate fleet trailing at the back were the first ones to discover the Phoenix and the Fire Giant. In the clear night sky they were easy to spot even from far away.

The Pirates engaged in the chase had been told to stay at the back of the Haven Kingdom Fleet for a good reason. The truth was no one can predict what will happen during a firefight but it would be a big problem if the kingdom fleet made a poor showing in the battle compared to the pirates.

The Pirate’s priority was the loot but they wanted to wait until they had much more room to maneuver. Griffith was just waiting for that chance.

“You did well with your hit and run tactics in Jigolaths but running blindly without preparation for the river won’t cut it this time. How could you be so stupid. You had to know Drinfeld’s fleet would give chase so you should’ve had a backup plan ready.”

Griffith tighten his ships formations as he was ready to begin his attack. Griffith gave a fleet wide command.

“Fire the cannons!”

In an instant every loaded Pirate cannon ignited.

“Ka-Boom!”

To escape the shells the Phoenix folded it’s wings and went into a spin. Most of the cannonballs missed and fell into the river. Even if they had hit the Phoenix has amazing health. One ball bumped against it’s wing and triggered a powerful magical explosion of flame and heat.

“Kiyaooooo!”

The Phoenix wasn’t damaged. With both the Phoenix and the Fire Giant having flame properties it is very difficult to harm them that way. They were able to re-absorb this magic explosion and use it to restore their health. Griffith using his telescope, the essential tool for any sailor, carefully observed this.

“That Phoenix has a surprising ability.”

Weed knew that situation would fit them. He’d seen this before while fighting the Embinyu Church, it was quite hard for fire magic to damage this type of creature.

“Reload the magic cannonballs!”

Magician Guilds sell cannonballs with built in explosion magic, making them several times more expensive than an ordinary cannonball. When facing a formidable enemy like the Phoenix the extra cost was worth the damage they could deliver. The Phoenix was passing between them just as they finished loading the cannons.

“Should we attack?”

When the Pirates asked Griffith he just shook his head. Targeting them at this point would just be wasting their magic ammo.

“Ki-yooooo!”

The Phoenix scattered it’s feathers over the Haven fleet. The feathers fell downward accompanied by massive heat, it was a rain of fire.

“What’s that!?”

“Divine shield.”

“Guardian of the Sea.”

The priests, paladins and mages used various protection magic, they called upon spells and divine intervention to protect their ships. The divine power and water barriers thus created would prevent or weaken the rain of fire.

“Furl[10] the Sails!”

The warship crews hurried to roll up the sails and get them tied them to the yard arms. The ships were also protected with a combination of sorcery and special wards that help keep the wood ships from burning. However, even  one small sail was vulnerable enough that it would be able to give fire a chance to start burning.

Though it was a strong monster the rain of fire was relatively weak, they were prepared for this since they had experience with several different types of monster hunts. The paladins, soldiers and support priests of the Hermes Guild were protected inside the wide Mana Shields.

“Prepare for subsequent attacks. Magicians should prepare their corresponding counter-magic. Rather than offense be ready to use defense to take on these bastards.”

Drinfeld believed that the fleet had the clear advantage in terms of defensive power. Though these measures did limit the ability of the ships to maneuver it still allowed them to fire magic arrows and cannons to attack the Phoenix with.

The Fire Giant riding on the back of the Phoenix was not aware of any of this.

“Why am I the only one owner picks on.”

Nevertheless the Fire Giant slashed his fiery sword towards both sides of the river canyon.

Peop-eo-peop-eong!

The buried flame-orbs receiving stimulus to their spirit of fire exploded under the ice!

The ten thousand years of thickly layered ice on both sides of the canyon were cracked by the shock and heat with a terrible sound. The long fissure became so big and wide it was unable to hold, after ten thousand years ice began to fall down the canyon.

“An avalanche! No, it’s a ice avalanche!”

“The ice from the canyon walls is breaking!”

“Stop! Stop! “

Without warning a bomb had gone off in the canyon over Drinfeld’s fleet. Blocks of ice dominated and distorted the waters, at present they were small but larger blocks were coming. The wizards, paladins and priests had enough strength to hold the mana shields causing the chucks of ice to bounce off when they hit at an angle. However getting a bulls eye hit from a huge block of ice would result in sinking a ship.

An attack that takes advantage of natural features usually leaves no choice but to suffer helplessly since there is simply no way to prepare in advance for it. Blocks of ice continue to fall from the canyon wall pouring down over the fleet one after another.

“Make sail![11] Maximum sails, get us out of here.”

Drinfeld’s warship with every sail spread led the way. Giant blocks were now starting to fall from the canyon, all the ships nimbly moved forward working to avoid the worst. One ship was hit while preparing to move, it was split into two sections and began to sink. The ammo on board the ship then exploded spreading panic.

Protection magic, special wards, fire-resistant material for the hulls all proved useless as the heavy ice broke through shields breaking ships.

“Sailing at top speed!”

Drinfeld’s warship advanced with the other ships. Weeds buried Fire-orbs had already exploded, without more to continue the chain the ice blocks were running out.

“Admiral! We’ve taken too much damage. For now we need to turn back.”

“That damn guy is almost in our hands we just need to grab his throat.”

Despite the advice of his subordinates Drinfeld continued the chase steering the ship himself. An Ice block fell into the river creating a huge water column, a mixture of soil and ice rubble continued to fall from the canyon walls. Even after taking such a disaster and despite of all the damage, Drinfeld’s Fleet continued to press forward. It was hard to believe this all started from the simple attack of Phoenix feathers.

“Use the emergency battle sails.”

The crew was well trained to deal with fire and hung a small head-sail made for battle conditions. The battle sails provide less wind power but they are special as they are fire proof and strong. The fleets of Drinfeld and the Pirates looked like wounded wild beasts yet they continued to chase after Weed’s back.

Translation Notes

4 I would like to see more of Yellowy, he always makes me laugh.

5 I just ‘had’ to calculate this number, 7 ships fire 238 shells, that is 34 cannons per ship per a single broad side.

6 This is another one I just have to scratch my head over, though it was closer to top school inspection, which seemed a bit lacking so I went with entrance exam.

7 Well we all know this is of course the ‘Stern’ of the ship. Which also tended to be much higher and did afford a good view of the area.

8 I had to look up a “Wyvern” after my gf asked what it looked like. Well, I really didn’t know. Turns out this thing is a two legged dragon. Think Ostrich legs, Dragon Body with wings. Pretty odd looking.

9 The PWB party!

10Furl Sails- Nautical term; To roll up and neatly bind a sail to it’s yard.

11 Make Sail- Nautical term; To spread sail to get underway from a stand still.

Chapter 8: Counterattack in Rain, Wind, and Fog

Bardray recovered the sword from the body of the monster.

As soon as the sword was removed the monsters body turned grey.

“Finally today.”

He had achieved level 465 with today’s hunt.

Using shortcuts would provide relatively easy gains in levels, However Bardray didn’t choose to use such methods but opted to battle with his own abilities.

The public posted level was not his true strength.

“The time has come for the Hermes Guild to open your eyes.”

Bardray had created the Guild, it was time to show their power to the whole world.

A hegemonic power created from a combined force of 93 Guilds along with the prestigious Hermes Guild had already completed its preparations for war.

It was needless to point out that any guild, castle or city outside of the hegemonic alliance will have a sword pointed at them.

Of course the supremacy alliance was a temporary one.

The moment the coalition dissolves war will take place between them since each guild has boundless ambitions.

Bardray had been waiting for that day.

“There isn’t room at the top for two.”

In the fierce battle for control of the central mainland continent the other power groups have been waiting with bated breath to take down the prestigious guilds. They desire to claim the exclusive hunting areas with their equipment and rare items.

Now that the war was starting everyone will soon come to understand and know the true power of the Hermes Guild.

*****

Wellston Fortress, Haven Kingdom

The users of the Berisa Continent were watching the combat between Weed and the Haven Kingdom fleet at Jigolaths in real-time.

“Kill him!”

“It’s no joke playing cat and mouse in that river. Another bottle of beer over here please.”

Some of the pirates had signed contracts with the broadcasters and were transmitting images from them. Thanks to the media agency you could watch within game from a pub or restaurant.

KMC media had decided to air Weed’s battle since they didn’t want to fall behind. With the Pirates and the Haven Fleet users already on the scene there was no reason to delay the broadcast, especially since other users were also being broadcast

KMC Media was able to show Weed’s point of view which allowed the viewers to enjoy the suspense of being chased. Of course in broadcasting the time difference of Royal Road vs real-time can be difficult to handle, the key to solving this problem is using advertising to fill in those gaps!

The consistent increase in viewers watching the game broadcast was more than enough to cause a profound effect in the growth of this market. In order to avoid the Royal Road TV viewers from getting bored music and other news about the continent were also shown.

Those parties that had been out hunting or doing quest couldn’t get inside a pub ended up watching or listening from the street. Weed’s battle was being broadcast to pubs that were as crowded as if a favorite football team was playing.

“ kyaa! The taste of strawberry milk is to die for. “

“Drink it sparingly. It cost 30 coppers.”

For beginners, there were drinks tailored for underage student available like special milk or juice only cocktails. Even in the loud hubbub atmosphere of shops the stories about Weed would be broadcast as customers continued to shop.

“Will Weed be able to get away safely? It’s so hard to watch that it’s giving me goose bumps.”

“The way things are going right now I don’t feel like he can.”

The collapse of the canyon didn’t outright sink more than a few warships of the Haven Kingdom Fleet. Those hit directly by a block of ice sank, others had their hulls crushed making navigation next to impossible.

Nevertheless Drinfeld continued advancing, closely chasing Weed despite the setbacks of the fleet.

Though it was a considerable distance from the canyon that collapsed the haven kingdom fleet was moving faster and had a better firing range, the chase was heating up.

*Rumble -rumble -rumble*

A thick misty fog enveloped the Unfreezing River, raindrops started falling.

Although no one else knew about it there was a reason why the rain started so suddenly, Weed was using the cloud sculpture technique to call the rain in order to help them escape.

“Will the rain give them enough of an edge to escape?”

“I’m not sure. Aren’t we all going in the same direction anyway?”

“I think it will depend on how high the waves rise and the ship types, in general our sailing ship will run smoothly while the pirate galley type ships will be handicapped.”

“It will also weaken the power of the cannons. At the same time they won’t be able to use those bombs like they used before, our cannon range will also drop.”

The raindrops became large drops, the large and medium ships crowded their sails. As the ships sailed through the mist on the Unfreezing River you could not help seeing their classical grace and dignity. After experiencing an intensely stressful battle a scenic view will become even more breathtaking in contrast.

KMC media which had been broadcasting scenes from the Jigolaths river warfare was interrupted and the screen cut to their studio.

Miss Hye-min Shin quickly spoke.

“We interrupt this program for this current breaking news. Fighting has simultaneously commenced in the central area of the Versailles Continent.”

The users in the pubs were more interested in eating and drinking than this news story. In the Versailles continent combat could take place at any time with ongoing attempts to gain territory. This meant invasion from either Lords or monsters.

This was a every day occurrence here.

The adventures of Weed are well-known for it’s various effects, the most important from the standpoint of the users was the scale of changes they brought to the Versailles Continent.

“More than 200 castles from the center of the continent are involved in these battles, affected areas include; Tullen Kingdom, Haven Kingdom, Madsen Kingdom, Thor Kingdom, Aidern Kingdom, Britten Alliance and others.”

“What, over 200 castles?”

“What happened to create so many battles?”

The scope of the battles was so large that it left the users in the taverns confused. The size of the central continent is immense, yet there are many cities and castles that are not controlled by users.

Many of them were also without Lords.

“There is a battle between Guilds and Lords over the ownership of a mountain mine, a town and the surrounding fields.

So Mr. Oh Ju-wan, Didn’t you say there was something very special about the battle?”

“That’s right. So far the specific information is that only a single large group that has made an abrupt declaration of war.”

“How large are they?”

“By the end of the siege it will be likely be over 10,000.”

“That included the number of soldiers trained right?”

“Of course. This battle is over the control of the resources, hunting areas and dungeon ownership. What we know up to now is this, the fighting is spreading and becoming more violent in the combat zones. Users who are making travel plan will need to exercise caution when going and returning from these areas.”

“The current areas experiencing battles are expected to widen and change over time, We’ll keep you up to date on those changes as they occur.”

In the wake of sudden war the central continent has been engulfed in chaos.

*****

“Everyone toss everything!”

“Dump the cannons into the river.”

Heinteu, Fractal and Boardmir threw the cannons, cannonballs and any loose materials on the deck into the river. The plan was to speed up the ship by reducing the weight even if the gains were small.

“There’s nothing the three of us can do in a fight like this, there’s nothing else to do but run!”

The sculpture lifeforms followed this and helped them in dumping the cannons overboard.

The Haven Kingdom fleet and the Pirates were following right behind, with the tension to get away all mouths were left completely dry.

Weed continued to make clouds as he watched the Haven Kingdom fleet and Pirate ships. The Phoenix and the Fire Giant by flying through the air continuously turned water into vapor and the vapor added to the rain.

After a while the power of the Phoenix weakened and it climbed higher until it was above the clouds and then stopped.

“This rain is really big.”

The sails were tightly straining from the winds that blew strongly. When the clouds suddenly took a turn for the worse even Weed had not expected it.

The climate near the Jigolaths area was subject to severe changes. This place experience a mixture of cold and warm winds, this mixture created severe storms. Yet for all that even if that level was a lighting and thunder-storm it was still possible to sail.

Weed then asked Heinteu.

“Will the rain help us get away?”

Sailing down the Unfreezing River Heinteu was turning the helm at key moments his sharp eyes measuring their slowly increasing speed.

“There are more chances to get away in bad weather but it depends on some variables. One thing is the cannon accuracy will decrease because of the wave motion, we might live if we could disappear from their view. However there’s no real chance of that since there is no place to hide on a river.”

Many years of doing bad things and getting away prompted these insightful comments. Heinteu and the trio had considerable experience sailing in bad weather. Each of the triad then spoke up one after the other.

“Somehow we need to get away from the glacier area. Otherwise we’ll eventually be caught.”

“Even though you avoided damage in Jigolaths, the nickname of Drinfeld’s fleet is the Spanish Armada. When they attack there are no survivors.”

“The nightmare of the sea is called being chased by pirates, they allow no possibility of escape.”

A Pirate Galley, once in the sea, is weak in heavy seas and the sails don’t have much power. Slaves are then used to row them. To resist pirates in a close chase is very tough to do.

"Lets make a plan to get away."

"We can use those wooden planks."

"We’ll need some rope."

They were going to tie themselves to the planks. Then after reaching the ocean the trio would then use the material and throw themselves overboard. Drifting while holding on to a wooden plank was something they were prepared to do.

Even if they only lived for a few more days in the waves, they would be happy if they could gain just that.

The mid-sized ship was sailing in a downpour filled with large raindrops. Due to the swollen river the more than 18-year-old ship rocked dangerously as it followed it’s course downstream.

Due to the thick fog and rain they could barely tell that they had almost reached the sea. Narrowly avoiding rocks while sailing was a wonderful display of good seat of the pants navigation.

The moment they entered the sea the rain began to lighten, the fog also lessened giving them a much wider field of view.

*Ting!*

You have had the misfortune to encounter a phantom ship.

The ship is infested with rats.

There exist a high chance that it carries a plague.

Major increase in the probabilities of attacks from sea creatures.

The morale of the crew will drop to the lowest level.

If morale stays at the lowest level insanity or mutiny is highly likely to occur

There, spread out in the sea, was a colossal fleet of phantom ships that seemed to have no end in sight.

These were decrepit, time-worn phantom ships but the scale of the gathering was massive. Furthermore, they were continuing to arrive.

Weed had brought the rain and clouds for these phantom ships. It’s important to gain even a small advantage when dealing with weather at sea.

“Woo.”

The trio was surprised when Weed held up both hands. Written in Barkhan’s Magic Tome was the Advanced Undead Summoner Skills.

Now was the moment to use it.

“Souls of evil spirits that were asleep, take this offering and arise from your wandering beneath the green sea.

“Summon phantom ship the Maria.”

Weed’s mid-sized sailboat rapidly turned decrepit. Her mast, keel and hull distorts and ages. The white sails become dark and tattered, fluttering in the wind. From the bottom keel moss and mold grew climbing up the hull and into the rigging transforming into an aged phantom ship!

“Ke Ke Ke. Long time no see, Cap’tain. It looks like ye’ve been doing well. Good ta see ye keeping yer bones looking so sharp and regal.”

A phantom ships captains true wealth is in the ship and the size of it’s ghost crew.

Back in Jigolaths the Haven Kingdom Fleet had sunk the Maria to the bottomless abyss but now with Weeds favor it has been called back.

The strategic point where the Unfreezing River intersected the sea was in chaos, there a close square formation of phantom ships had gathered.

Weed burst out with his advanced level 7 Lion’s Roar.

“Prepare for battle!”

Skill; ‘The Lion’s Roar’ has been used.

The Lion’s Roar has raised moral by 200% for all allies within range.

Any present state of confusion will be cleared.

An extra 285% increase in Leadership will be applied for five minutes

*****

“How much longer now?”

“We should reach the Unfreezing River this morning, that means we’ll make it there with plenty of time.”

Pale and his companions were currently sailing towards Jigolaths.

It was a long way to sail but they had plenty of supplies and were able fish. They only had to follow the phantom ship so there was no worries about losing their way.

The raindrops were coming down harder as they got closer to Jigolaths.

Bell cupped her hands together to catch some rainwater.

Mapan gave a firm nod.

“It falls into an empty sea yet it is still, somehow romantic.”

In the magic orb that the merchant Mapan owned they could see Weed watching the fleet of Drinfeld while fleeing.

They hoped their boat would arrive just in time.

*****

“Lookout, give precise and detailed reports in a calm manner.”

“Take extra care to not allow the ship to be hung by those rocks.”

The Unfreezing River had risen.

It was confusing for anyone even on a clear sunny day to locate and avoid being caught by submerged rocks.

Drinfeld’s fleet and the pirates nautical skills were not up to the task at hand.

The 3 crazy-mad sharks of Becky-Nin steering the ship like their lives depended on it had been able to quickly pass through. They simply had too many ships, they got tangled trying to get passed the rocks that had been covered with water making it far more difficult.

Out of several boats one would hit a sunken rock, each of these vessels would take a while to move costing them a great deal of time.

“Incompetent bastards. This is completely absurd!”

Drinfeld’s temper went through the roof, thus far Weed’s mid-sized ship had not been allowed the chance to run away. Drinfeld was in a tearing hurry.

“In the open sea if we go full out with every sail crowded it’ll be really easy to get him.”

The Vice-commodore had some advice for Drinfeld, unfortunately it did not reach his ears.

"In Jigolaths they played tricks and ate heartily."

"Several ships sank in the Unfreezing River."

"The fact the Weed is somewhere ahead of us hidden by mist in the sea is very disturbing."

“Contact the high-speed ships. Have them pursue Weed without delay.”

“Yes, Sir!”

On board the large warship Drinfeld had time to prepare for hand-to-hand combat, since they carried so many cannons the weight meant they were not as fast as the high-speed ships.

Built for speed and lightly armed like a dutch trader they had the speed of a clipper ship, these speed ships could bridge the current gap to Weed.

Drinfeld assigned this duty to 13 small to mid-sized speed ships. They had been following the fleet at half sails but now they spread them out fully.

“The Admiral’s given the order! Crowd all sails, full speed ahead!”

The high-speed sailing ship’s Captain shouted out the orders.

Filling with their sails with wind the high-speed ship accelerates quickly down the Unfreezing River. The leading ship passes through the rocks with a display of exquisite sailing.

Moments later the first report from the high-speed ship was received.

> Our current location is near the river. The ship we’ve been chasing is here in the fog.

Drinfeld patience was wearing thin but Weed was not that far away. Even with their slower pace at this distance he can move the main fleet and catch up easily.

If your boat is faster than those of Drinfeld’s fleet you can outrun the range of his cannons and escape. The ship Weed stole won’t be able to do that since it is not a high-speed type.

"It will be within targeting range of the cannon soon."

The cannons mounted on the high-speed ship were small and lightweight but they had enough of them to overwhelm Weed’s ship with their attack.

Still, Drinfeld didn’t want to hand Weed over to others.

"Shoot him. Don’t sink him though, just damage him enough so he can’t escape me."

"Yes, Admiral!"

As the high-speed ships advanced the mist started to break up and lighten.

As the mid-sized sailing ship became clearly visible to the eye they could only gape in astonishment.

Not too long ago the mid-sized sailboat had been clean and bright, now it looked like it had been worn down by the sea for over a hundred years.

In place of the Haven Kingdom Flag flew the black flag of a one-eyed skull sitting on piles of coins.

“It’s a phantom ship?”

“Such an enormous amount of ships. Why are there so many suddenly here at the Jigolaths?”

“They’re all phantom ships. With all the phantom ships gathered this is a disaster. All hands, prepare for battle!”

The huge fleet of ships behind Weed’s ship were all Phantom Ships.

After reporting to Drinfeld the high-speed ship tried to turn back to the fleet but couldn’t veer off in time, seconds later the bow of the ship was hit.

Weed’s Roar of a Lion rang out over the sea.

“All Phantom Ships! Prepare to fire!”

“Aye aye,….run out all cannons.”

“Was that run out the guns? My ears ain’t young no more, hey is that something trying to eat them?”

“Why isn’t it working?”

It was quite a sight to see the same scene was happening on board every ship of the phantom fleet. Seaweed had gown over the cannons after 50 plus years and the ghost crews were trying to cut away these tangles. Slashing at the seaweed with their knives sparks flew about and landed on the primed wicks.

“Fire!”[2]

Kwang Kwang Kwang![1]

At that moment some of the cannons exploded since maintenance is not something phantom ships take much care about.

“Was that proper cannon fire?”

One of the crew, a skeleton, then stuck its head into a canon to check conditions. This was after the wicks had already been ignited.

Kwang Kwang!

The cannon fired with a normal discharge and the skeleton’s head disappeared.

“Success. The cannonball fired properly. By the way, where’s my head? ”

The skeleton then wandered around on deck as a body looking for whatever might remain of it’s head!

“There’s no cannonballs. Did somebody get the munchies awhile ago and eat them? Or maybe they were lost while playing with them?”

“There are no cannonballs here, this is a merchant ship.”

“Lets use dried fish instead.”

Amongst the phantom ships were those that had once been merchants or passenger ships, those types never had cannonballs to begin with. Of course it was always possible to capture guns and ammo from other ships at sea if they didn’t have them.

“I’m going in. ku ku ku! Ok, Here I go!”

The ghost crews were entering their own cannons and firing themselves like cannonballs. This crazy kind of behavior is relatively normal on board a phantom ship.

The cannonballs fired by the phantom ships flew in concert over Weed towards the high-speed sailing ships. Columns of water soared high in the water around the high-speed sailing ships, the accuracy rate was very low. Cannonballs also exploded like fireworks as they hit each other in the air.

“Take evasive action!”

“We can’t avoid this many! Prepare the guns for a counterattack!”

The Captains of the High-Speed Ships had to try to prepare the cannons while their ships used zigzag course patterns. But the Phantom ships had just fired randomly without bothering to aim.

Most of them hit nothing but the sea but those that hit the High-Speed Ships exploded. The cannonballs that pierced through the deck and hulls lit up the ships with blazing hot balls of fire.

Sections of the hulls broke off and flames began to start.

“Fire!”

The High-Speed Ships were trying to fire back yet with every cannonball explosion their ships would shake violently causing the ships to roll from side to side.

“Ku-he-he-he! Hu-mans.”

Even in the chaos Ghost crews began to board. Giant slippery tentacles sprang up from the sea snatching sailors off the decks. Clinging to the hull the octopus-like-head of the Sea Monster began to rise out of the water.[3]

The Captain of the high-speed mission urgently sent a message to the Hermes Guild chat channel.

Stringer: We’re being attacked by Phantom Ships. This is an emergency we are being destroyed.

The Vice-commodore of the Haven Kingdom 2nd Fleet replied.

Pache: How many Phantom Ships are there?

During the Jigolaths engagements the Hermes Guild and the Haven Fleet shared a single chat channel, currently this channel was a hot topic and so had a lot of listeners from the Guild.

Stringer: Right now…there’s not much time to explain. This will be our last message as we’ll most likely be sunk. Our mission target; Weed’s ship, has transformed into a Phantom Ship, we now assumed that he is therefore also responsible for the fleet of Phantom Ships that are attacking us.  All our ships will be destroyed in this battle! This is an A1 emergency request for aid!

Pache: How did the situation suddenly beco…acknowledged. We will be there A-sap.

By the time Drinfeld’s Main Fleet left the Unfreezing River and arrived at the high-speed convoy location they had all either sank or were on their way to becoming sea monster food.

They had gone looking for the High-Speed Convoy expecting to find Phantom Ships and Sea Monsters but even so they could not hide their shock.

“Well, though they told me ahead of time I didn’t believe it would have gone this far.”

High-Speed Ships that had Sea Monsters enclosing them looked to have had no choice but to give up. Ghost had boarded and were engaging in hand to hand combat on the ship decks. The hulls spat out flames and rolling clouds of black smoke. They had gotten here too late to prevent them from sinking into the sea.

“We won’t be able evade a battle of this scope.”

The tough part for the users of Drinfeld’s Haven Fleet was that they had only just left the mouth of the Unfreezing River. The position of the Phantom Fleet was waiting at the ideal location to open fire from the surrounding sea.

This meant that under the circumstances moving forward meant becoming nothing more than easy targets.

To gain his title of Grand Admiral, Drinfeld had fought his way through hundreds of maritime battles. He had the skill to bring about a complete reversal.

“Phantom Ships couldn’t hit a barn door. All armor reinforced ships to the front. Do not use evasive actions, bear straight ahead. 1st squad and 3rd squad will attack on the left and right flanks. They will attack from outside the Phantom Fleet range.”

Due to the huge number of Sea Monsters and Phantom Ships they were ready to hold their location and take them head on. Based on the sheer amount of firepower from the Phantom Fleet they were all hungry to annihilate the oncoming battleships.

Drinfeld felt this engagement would lead to a huge naval victory that could make up for the past public failures.

Phantom Ships had only one way to gain rewards, that was through victory in a naval battle. Also they could earn fame just like the land users did when they looted dungeons.

It was also fairly commonplace for all Phantom Ships to house treasure and antiques.

Translation Notes

1 I’m sure you all got that this is the sound of ‘boom, boom, boom!

2 I think its more like ‘fire in the hole’ not sure. It only said Fire.

3 This was what it translated to, I triple checked for other words/idioms etc. but nope, octopus like head was it.

4  As always please keep in mind, this will not be a ‘perfect translation.’ I use machine translators and my reading of Korean is very minor at best. I do learn more all the time and I am always checking and consulting the Korean Dictionary. With all such translations I work very hard to stay true while also trying to bring some of the flavor of the characters and settings. All copyrights of this material belong to the author, Nam Hee-Sung.

Chapter 9: The Great Battle at Sea

The Phantom Ship line was pouring cannon fire in the thick of the remaining high-speed ships, five Battleships  rushed forward in a triangular formation.

“Oh he he he, here come the hu-mans’

“Send them to the bottom!”

The Phantom Fleet guns targeted the high-speed ships.

“Fire! Why isn’t it working?”

Ghost[1] being able to hit a target they are aiming at is stretching reality to the breaking point.

“I’m blind as a bat. Can’t see nothing. That big Ka-boom and pop sound scared me. I think that’s the sound our boat makes when it’s about to sink.”

Ghost fire the cannons with eyes tightly closed. Discipline aboard an unruly Phantom Ship was completely nonexistent.

How a ship is sitting in the water in relation to the enemy is important, even if you fire without aiming it’s more than enough if your ship’s guns are roughly pointed in the direction of the enemy.

Water columns billow up all around the high-speed ships, a cannonball splinters a mast and then smashes away a small part of the deck.  Many of the cannonballs were duds that failed to explode, even so the speed and weight of these balls did plenty of damage.

You really had no luck when these duds would some time later suddenly explode.  Of course you can only expect bad luck when fighting against Phantom Ships.  Bizarre events would also occur like a swarm of rats that would scamper from the cargo decks and spread a plague.

“Bear straight ahead! All sails! Admiral’s orders!”

The captain and crew of the battleship were assaulting the center of the Phantom Fleet formation.

Since NPC sailors trained by the Haven Kingdom have high loyalty, even a mission with a high risk of death would be performed without hesitation.

The center group of battleships had to endure heavy fire as they charged forward, Drinfeld’s two flanking combat squadrons took damage as they were struck by rocks and reefs as they navigated their way through the shoals to gain the open sea.

“Open gun ports. Fire. Fire. Fire!”

Cannon fire from the flanking squadrons blasted out red flames and smoke. These well-aimed broadsides struck the Phantom Ships easily.

“Ke ke ke, the ship’s on fire.”

“Pour the Grog. Let’s put out that fire. Eh? It just got bigger. Ah well, it was a bit too cold but now it’s nice an’ toasty.”

With the escalating flames you could see the phantom crews running around uselessly as their ship was sinking.

“Fire!”

When the combat squadrons opened fire they easily overwhelmed the Phantom Ships.

“Don’t spare the ammo. Load the flame-shots!”

These flame-shots were custom made to explode in the air creating a dazzling ball of exploding flames. The flames continued to spread out in ropy thick trails covering the Phantom Ships with fire.

With the rain getting weaker these fires were not easy to put out.

The flanking 1st and 3rd squadrons drew more attention from the Phantom Ships, they began moving off station sailing toward those squadrons.

At the very moment of this new tactic, a piercing horn sounded from the battleship of Drinfeld.

“Main Fleet Advance!”

Holding back in the river until that moment Drinfeld took now took the rest of his ships and headed straight for the center of the Phantom Fleet.

Under constant fire from the Phantom Fleet some ships ran aground on the rocks, others recklessly braved the rocks in the Unfreezing River charging ahead using their full sailing speed.

“Once you reach the sea open fire. Fire as fast as you can load!”

Looking like they were spitting out flames the combat ships opened fire. Phantom Ships to the left and right of Drinfeld’s main fleet were hit and began sinking.

Meanwhile, Weed precious sculpture lifeforms were able to sail to safety on board his Phantom Ship.

“We want to fight. Didn’t you say we were needed for a big battle earlier!”

A large sculpture lifeform form holding a bamboo spear and carved to look like the goblin hero ‘Kerra of the North’ was objecting. One of the few sculpture lifeforms of a monster hero. An aggressive type it held little affection towards it’s parent.

Weed just shook his head since there was no chance of that happening.

“Let me ask you, do you know why I granted all of you life?”

Yellowy, Golden Bird and Silver Bird all came up with the answer at the exact same time.

“To make money.”

“Isn’t it for the money?”

“Is there any other another reason except for money?”

Though currently a skeleton Lich and a complete miser, Weed nonetheless put on smile like a loving brother.

“You guys, right now you are just like newborn babies.”

“No that’s not true!”

Kerra of the North was objecting once again.

The other lifeforms that resembled famous creatures from well-known stories felt that they too were being needlessly slandered. If you damage the pride of sculpture lifeforms you end up losing intimacy with them, if it falls low enough they could declare independence and leave.

The current appearance of a Lich was also very unpleasant to look at.

The sculptural lifeforms had a clumsy obsession with appearance and were starting to see Weed as unworthy, but of course all of this was part of the plan.

“Did you know that the broad continent of Versailles is a beautiful, fun and blissful place?

You guys are lifeforms that I consider to be my own children. If you were to fight in this battle for my sake and die it would leave me nothing but endless days filled with grief.

I would do anything protect and defend all of you . Even if it is something worse than having to become this Lich, I would be happy to do so.”

The heart of a parent for their children!

“This battle is my responsibility. So just plan to watch it from far away.”

“I don’t want to. I still want to fight.”

Even after hearing this story the sculpture lifeforms that had been carved to look like large ferocious creatures were still insistent.

They have very prickly personalities but once tamed they’re very easy to keep happy and loyal.

Yellowy and Golden Bird began to think aloud.

“Now they’ll get a beating!”

“He’ll suggest they go to a private place and have a talk!”

Weed could tell his warm words hadn’t be able to move the sculpture lifeforms.

He next asked with a kind loving voice, like a mother who’s child has just gotten into medical school what they would like for breakfast.

“I’m going to build a house for all of you. I’ll also make delicious food. Isn’t that what a family is all about? This way we can all live together and enjoy a wonderful life forever.”

“I want to fight.”

“Ok, alright. You will get plenty of chances to fight as much as you like later on. At that time I’ll lead you myself.”

“This is your Oath.”

“Of course. For now take a break and build up your strength, once we reach land then you can fight with me.

I”m your parent. My only dream is to help you all achieve great things in life.

This is a job I’m resolved to do no matter what, or do you believe those words that I only care about money?”

“Of course not.”

The Sculpture Lifeforms were impressed by Weeds concern for their lives.

“Oh, We’ve met a good owner.”

Being able to show his deep concern Weed was able to acquire more intimacy.

If it were just a few Sculpture Lifeforms it was easy to employ blackmail or violence to handle everything.

Sculpture Lifeforms are difficult to manage so allowing the feelings of respect and appreciation to grow in their hearts made giving them any kind of orders later much easier for them to swallow.

A natural swindler ability honed and polished!

This sudden transformation wasn’t awkward or indecisive. Weed had prepared for this well in advance, even as they were leaving.

Even Seoyoon was taken in.

“I’m happy seeing such a good father.”

Weed responded with gentle humility. “Well, I did hope, you do understand? I just want to see things done right, perhaps it’s my soft nature but I want to take proper care of them. I’m not looking for any kind of reward.”

Yellowy and Golden Bird felt ready to puke.

In naval warfare close combat is less important thus there is less use for Sculpture Lifeforms.

‘They’ll earn me lots of money over the next 20 years, so they are not allowed to die here.’

If the ship were to sink most Sculpture Lifeforms can’t swim and they would drown, wasting all that potential!  Furthermore Sculpture Lifeforms have tremendous power to change the outcome of a battle. Truthfully it was also too soon to reveal them!

All of the Sculpture Lifeforms were ordered away from the battlefield except for those that could fly or swim.

Only once all of Weed’s Sculpture Lifeforms returned to the ship did he turned his attention to the battle behind him, Drinfeld ships were now rapidly closing the distance to Phantom Fleet.

Each successful cannonade was able to hit below the water line and begin to sink those Phantom Ships.

The sea looked like it was on fire, cannons boom out loud enough to tear your eardrums.

On their own the Undead have a very low intellect unless they are under the direct command of a Necromancer.

Weed aboard his Phantom Ship now took command.

“Form up into a defensive line in front of the advancing enemies. Phantom Ship unit ‘Magellan’, bear off then come about!”

Ordinarily phantom ships used in attacking or sinking ships are mostly on the medium to small side, on the other hand large passenger ships also become phantom ships.

The Magellan!

The Magellan, a 590 passenger ship that had disappeared only to reappear as a phantom ship, just now it had been sailing away from the fleet at an acute angle only to suddenly change course to intercept the 2nd squadron.

“It’s bearing down from our left!”

One battleship Captain cried out and tried to avoid the Magellan but the still floating sections from other phantom ship wrecks was blocking them. Ghost in small boats also appeared, they acted like fishermen and even spread fishing nets out into the sea.

“I”m going to eat all these fish myself.”

“I really don’t like sharks, I can’t stand them. A shark once gobbled me up. Scared the shit out of me.”

The fishing boats delayed the battleships allowing the Magellan to ram the battleships causing a three ship chain collision.

A serious traffic accident at sea!

The crash caused gun crew sailors to fall into the waters, now not only could they not use their guns but the hulls took a lot of damage. Just as the captain and crew where about to get back up after being thrown to the deck, the ghost crews from the passenger ship flew over.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve gone outside.”

“Come on, down on your knees. His Excellency the Marquis!”

On the passenger ship the Knights, Ladies, and Nobleman had all turned into ghosts.

“A new ship. The passenger ship we were sailing was captured by ghost on our voyage too, we’ll be stealing this ship and keeping her till the end.”

“Oo ki ki ki!”

Ghost swung like monkeys boarding the ship using the mast ropes. The passenger ship was haunted by a huge amount of ghosts. While the whole fleet was being blocked, from every direction came more phantom ships to ram them.

After being rammed a ship was not captured, Ghost would have to board in order to take over the ship, once they did it would rapidly change.

*Ting!*

All personnel of this sailing vessel have died. The ownership of the battleship ‘Decker’ will be transferred over to the ghosts.

It is a requirement under this transfer that the ship be transformed into a phantom ship.

The battleship underwent a sudden aging progression. New ghost begin to work the navy gun.  Battleship cannon fire started towards Drinfeld’s squadron.

With the high-speed ships already sunk Weed now cleverly took advantage of the newly created combat ready Phantom Ships. Using the natural abilities of the Phantom Ships Drinfeld’s fleet was left with no choice but to use the only open path.

In the sea you could travel in many directions. The more the cannons fired the slower a combat ship could turn.

Purposely allowing them to advance in the only open direction, the Phantom fleet was waiting and bombarded the oncoming battleships.

The heavy fire caused the advance to come to halt.

“You guys fight too!”

Weed summoned Van Hawk and the proud Vampire Lord Tori.

“I can feel my master’s power has grown stronger.”

“Kau-raaa ! The old lost power has returned. I would love to find out what that blood taste like.”

The skills levels of Death Aura and Summon the Undead were higher now and it had affected both Van Hawk and Lord Tori.

After being summoned their Undead bodies could detect the Death Aura flow. [2]

Both Lord Tori and Van Hawk had originally been underlings of the Undead Lich Lord Barkhan, they were both exceptionally strong boss class monster. Their current levels had grown from the early days by something like 200 to 300 levels.

However without a Necromancer to support them the Undead won’t be able to utilize that strength fully.

They could fight on their own without support due to the Necromancer abilities to enhance the Undead

Of course there had been many pitiful scenes when Weed would beat these underlings without mercy, yet without the advanced Undead skills he had no choice if he wanted to be able to make use Van Hawk and Tori.

“Bear-away the ship.”[3]

The three mad-crazy sharks of Becky Nin came alive with the command. They changed current sailing tack bringing them closer to the Haven Kingdom battleships fighting the Phantom Fleet.

“Go!”

Van Hawk jumped onto the enemy’s deck. The Death Knight also took 100 underlings with him.

Weed’s higher abilities as a Necromancer had increased the Death Knight Van Hawk’s mana and he was now able to control a large number of subordinate Undead.

Some of the Death Knights force were able to summon phantom steeds which they rode as they scoured the enemy deck with blood.

“We’ll take care of this fight. We, the True Blood Vampire Clan, will drink of the blood that lies before us.”

As Tori’s spoke his eyes became red as he transformed into his bat form. As the night became darker the Haven Kingdom cannons fired less as if it was growing weaker, yet for the Vampire Lord Tori the dark only made him stronger.

Vampire bats are rather difficult to fight against in a naval battle.

The other members of the True Blood Clan also transformed into bats and with Tori leading them attacked the nearest battleship.

The gun crews loading the cannons, the officers and the even pilots at the helm were violently bitten in the neck.

“You are now my underlings.”

“Yes my Lord.”

“Attack all those still living.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

These puppets fired their cannons against their former navy battleships.

“What the hell? Is this some kind of crazy mistake?”

“Another! Return fire!”

Nobody could understand what was going on in the midst of this chaos. The True Blood Vampire Clan then used their enchantment magic captivating them within a world of illusion. With the night sky theirs to command the Vampires could now easily fly about without having to worry about enemy fire.

Since Weed as a Lich was now a proper superior, Van Hawk and Tori’s combat skills became an unbelievable sight to behold.

Weed had prepared for the sea by having Bingyong and the Wyverns circling the area at a distance where they couldn’t be seen.

“You guys over there, you fight too.”

Golden Bird, Silver Bird, Phoenix and sea creatures without names were also committed to the battle.

“Use hit and run tactics for this fight. Bingyong and the Wyverns will be in command of the battle.”

“Roger, Master.”

Bingyong and the Wyvern’s were very happy. They have a lot of younger brothers so being born early was a special reward they never got tired of!

“They all have to follow us.”

Many of the lifeforms in the sea got drawn in to the battle along with the sea monsters. Above them flying in an accomplished formation was Bingyong, Phoenix and the Wyvern’s.

They flew through the dark sky with a fiery glow and with claws ripped the canvas sails into shreds. They would grab the gun crews and drop them into the sea.

“The battle situation isn’t looking too good Admiral.”

Drinfeld’s ships were shrinking. The problem was the sunken ships were being changed into Phantom Ships that would rise then turn and attack them.

Everything in the surrounding water was being saturated with bad luck which spread out like radio waves from all of the Phantom Ships. Even though there was no specific spells being used Weed’s Necromancer skills caused the sunken ships to become Phantom Ships over time.

“That bastard really pisses me off.”

Many of the Phantom Sailing Ships were very old. They were slow and the gunnery wasn’t much but they had excellent battle formations. Weed’s control of the sea meant that he could defend his vulnerable supply ships from attack.

“The combat has changed to close quarter hand-to-hand free for all, Admiral.”

Drinfeld’s fleet was centered on their tactical ability to be able to out gun the enemy. The Navy knights and crew were trained by default for cannons, since guns were better than swords at sea. They had never lost at a ship to ship firefight but against this army of sea monsters it was all hand-to hand combat.

Drinfeld’s flagship combat troops had been reinforced from the Hermes Guild, they were brought on board since their holy magic and flames spells could sink the Phantom Ships. The Phantom Ships excelled at hand-to-hand combat while the rank-and-file battleships did not.

Having protection of sacred power was very limited since it was mostly nonexistent, the fact was that there were too few priests traveling with them. When the ghost boarded their ships they were left with no choice but to panic.

Weed brought his ship in at a sharp angle to be side by side with a battleship. High-toned moral justifications have been used throughout history thus it goes on without saying.

“They’ve prepared a feast!”

The natural state of human beings!

Weed’s eyes just can’t see anything outside of experience and items. He wielded his sword with the ghost who fought against the sailors. Weed was afraid he might miss some items.

“A Lich!”

Seeing Weed many sailors would lose their fighting spirit and run away.

This was the Lich’s ability to create fear and it showed how effective his Death Aura had become.

In fact even thought the battle was difficult it wasn’t enough to excite him. Except for being weak against a priest Necromancer class is one of the very best available.

Using his smooth flying glide Weed grabbed sailors by scruff of their necks.

“Mana drain!”

Taking mana from the crew he then used it to re-summon Phantom Ships which had previously been sunk. Bubbles rose up from underwater then an instant later many Phantom Ships bobbed to the surface.

There is a real reason to fear a Lich’s absurdly powerful abilities. With the Death Aura increasing their health, fighting skills and mana, the Undead are able to take more of the enemy lives.

The health and mana strengthened the Undead while at the same time was able to raise the sunken Phantom Ships. As the central pivot for the Undead, a Lich was able to rule like a King.

Drinfeld watching this from a distance was worried. Their allied battleships were mixed up in the middle with the Phantom Ships making them unable to fire, as far as the magic users were concerned it was far too chaotic to do anything.

Even the sporadic raindrops now put his teeth on edge.

“No way.”

“Eh?”

“Did they deliberately wait for us just to set up this hand-to-hand combat?”

“…”

If they had remained at the mouth of the Unfreezing River they likely would have had no problem overwhelming their enemies with their cannons, though it would have taken time. With that much time Weed would have gotten away.

Whatever it took it had been made abundantly clear that they needed to catch Weed in a bold and decisive battle. Had Weed been able to predict this battle and rather than being on the run had instead allowed Drinfeld’s battleships to follow him to the sea.

If so, his plans had not allowed for this and that meant he would need to re-evaluate Weed again. Not only on the land but on the sea too, he knew how to fight making the best use of his power.

Conducting this amount of planning and strategy while commanding the Undead, it was outside of Drinfeld’s expectations.

Ships are vulnerable fore and aft, while the sides are strong. More than 90% of the cannons were located along the length of both sides of a ship.

In a fight between two ships the position was the most important, Phantom Ships ability to maneuver varied widely.

Weed jumped into the middle of the melee battle.

A number of Battleships had been turned into Phantom Ships causing a tangle of ships clustered together while taking damage from the cannons, with no way to sail clear Drinfeld could only stand and fight.

If you are equally good with artillery and hand to hand combat people have no choice but to admit that your experience and skills are very good.

In the Jigolaths the accusation was the tactics had only consisted of surprise attacks, creating chaos then running away like a coward, but now they have to acknowledge the enemy general.

This has firmly established him as a great Admiral of the sea.

It was very clear he was strong in not just 1 or 2 areas but at least 3 which gave him a wider perspective and better judgment.

“Hey, you morons! Get a move on, who told you to count the gold? Do you want to go back to the deep dark sea and be wrapped up in seaweed? Ragged one-armed guy in the hat, why are you lowering the anchor? We’re going to start moving in a moment so no more messing about!”

The only way Weed could command any sort of order was by being a colossal, nagging, backseat driver, otherwise the Phantom Ship wouldn’t listen.

“I can’t take this anymore. This chaotic hand-to-hand fighting is perfect for pirates, get in touch with the Pirate King Griffith. They have permission to go wild in this fight.”

The Pirates were still anchored in the Unfreezing River, they were being watchful.

Drinfeld was afraid of seeing the Hermes Guild lose respect due to his fleet.

“We’ve finally got our chance. Raise anchors!”

The Pirates, with their massive amount of oars no longer had to wait and just watch.

A union of Navy and Pirate!

Any Phantom Ship that was latched on to a Navy ship in hand-to-hand now had a Pirate Ship targeting them.

“Get’em!”

“Wipe out the Ghosts!”

After hooking up to the Phantom Ship the Pirates began to board and attack.  Their actual goal was to rob the Phantom Ships but their attempts were thwarted and they were driven back.

The place where the Unfreezing River met the sea; on one side was the Haven Kingdom Battleships and Pirates, for the other it was Phantom Ships and Sea Monsters.

Cannons and hand-to-hand combat had two likely outcomes, Phantom Ships could be sunk, but with a Death Knight on board they had a chance to be able to capture ships.

Then with perfect timing Weed’s cavalry arrived.

***

“Weed! We’re here!”

Pale and his party had finally made it to the Jigolaths.  Heavy rain began to pour down in the area.

In her cabin Hwaryong applied cosmetics made from pure natural ingredients to her face.  Her skin is clear and radiant, smooth and soft like that of a young child.  It was essential that make-up appear like none had been used at all!

Dancers use cosmetics to enhance their abilities to draw in a viewer’s eye.

“With the rain just a touch of blush, eyeliner shouldn’t be used.”

She untied her waist-length hair allowing it to flow naturally. One of the special skills of a dancer is being able to grow their hair quickly. This allows them a wide range of hairstyles they can use to create different effects.

Today the usual proud and charming Hwaryong has transformed into a glowing spirit of innocence.

*Ting!*

You have successfully completed your make-up.

Charms + 21%,

Charisma + 15%,

Good Luck, + 29%

Dance skill effects + 31%,

The act of holding or picking flowers will raise the effects of your skill.

These special effects will be active as long as the makeup is maintained.

Since childhood she had displayed several looks to the audience, today’s look was the closest so far to her true natural features.

“After not having seen Weed for a long time I want today’s show to be unforgettable.”

Checking her reflection in the mirror Hwaryong decided to not wear the earrings and necklaces, with that she was satisfied. The accessories had good options but they did not fit the dance. Her clothes glowed slightly, from far away it would be easy to see the full length white dress.

Pale was at the helm as the ship slid into the middle of the battlefield.

“Damn, my magic wanes in rainy weather. Well, it can’t be helped. Whirlwind of Flame!”

Romuna cast her magic at the center of the sea battle.

The center of spinning fire expanded quickly growing like a wild-fire on the sea. The spinning vortex lifted with the wind high into the sky.

A spiral vortex of fire floating in the sky!

From within the vortex, fireballs spun out toward the battleships.

“Targets set….go go go. Multi-shot!”

Pale targeted the many ropes securing the sails. The already difficult task of cutting these swaying ropes was made even harder by the pouring rain.

Each arrowhead had been custom made with a wide sharp hook attached, as the ropes were cut they would continue tearing through the sails.

Not a large contribution in the conflict, yet it had a major impact by cutting down the sailing ships mobility.

‘There he is, that’s got to be the Captain, in that red hat.’

The Captains and Officers were all targets for his sniping arrows!

Zepinen, swinging his fishing rod kept incoming Pirates in check. Not a big role but it kept the Pirates from being able to board the ship. Surka swinging her fists, was able to put down any that did make it on board.

Pale muttered as he notched another arrow while moving.

“I wish Maylon could have been here, she’d have loved this.”

This was an adventure Maylon wouldn’t want to have missed, she would be full of envy. Because of her position as a host of the special programs she had been forced to give up on taking part.

The woes of the working class.

“Fire! Sink Them!”

Pirate Ships also had cannons.

Pale gave orders to raise sail to avoid being sunk by the Pirates who were now within range and starting to fire at them.

ta la la da ta la

Above the sounds of the cannon fire and swords clashing was the sound of a harp being played sweep out over the battlefield. In the crow’s nest was the bard, Bell, she was playing her harp. It was a haunting and powerful sound.

“What…”

“What are they doing to play like this on a battlefield?”

The Pirates all burst out laughing.

In the heavy downpour of rain it was no exaggeration that the majestic sound could easily be heard even in the midst of the fierce battle.

The sound was dreamy, soft and friendly leaving every listener stunned by the performance.

Hwaryong had been sitting quietly on the main sail yardarm while the music started, she now stood up. She spoke quietly to herself.

“Where else would I have the chance to be able to play to an audience like this?”

She walked softly along the yardarm of the main mast. The dark clouds of the night sky and the vortex of flames together created a warm sunset glow effect.

As Hwaryong walked the rain soaked her white dress making the wet fabric cling to her body.

Usual the Booby-trap Dance[4] was performed much closer to the targets in order for it to be effective in catching the minds of the viewers.

When to use the Booby-trap Dance, how to introduce it without looking out-of-place is a very important point!

Yet such on a large battlefield in the rain you couldn’t just use a standard dance.

On a rainy day no matter how fierce a dance Hwaryong performed if it couldn’t reach the audience it might as well be a billion light years away.

“Having an audience watching me on stage is something I’ve experienced many times. Now I’ll give them my dance.”

When she was very young she thought rain was worms falling from the sky. The land would absorb the water and create life. Dancing in the rain was a desire and a daring dream for anyone.

Standing on the tips of her toes, Hwaryong gracefully moved and turned like a ballerina.

The wind was gusting as she weaved and spun, yet the strong winds only cooled her generated body heat making the dancing easier.

The joy of dancing to the sound of falling rain.

““La La La La La.”

Singing a tune in time with rain and wind.

Her hands and feet paint graceful lines and the intent look on her face had enough charm to stop the audiences hearts.

It felt like you were about to be drawn in and never be able to leave. A magnet that took control of the entire stage. A look that was beautiful and splendid.

Like a fairy that loved the rain and gave it her dance of joy, as if she would never be able to see the rain again.

The soaking wet dress added allure to the gentle curves, a sensual experience. A slender body that was hot enough to raise a devil, a graceful full neckline, an innocent face with stunning eyes.

Her long hair left sparkling jewels of water in the air as it swayed.

The pouring rain was a glittering backdrop making a perfect contrast to her decorative dance. She loved to dance, her world was a stage that could not constrain those feelings in that moment.

The joyful dance became passionate and full of powerful flows.

The stage was her world, at that point the audience was not something she was even aware of. Like the sparkling charm of Goddess just out of reach.

“Oh.”

The Pirate and Navy crews mouths dropped open.

The Dancer; Hwaryong is dancing

Your eye can not look away from the dance.

Because of the distraction all skill success rates will be reduced.

Your strength will be reduced.

Hwaryong’s dance had trapped the eyes of all the Pirates and Naval personal in the area. Pirate users, Navy users, all fell helplessly in love with Hwaryong.

Translation Notes

This translation is completely new, it has no other source except for the original Korean publication. Translated by Jzar

1 Ghosts are included under the general term ‘Undead’ From what I can tell ‘Undead’ gets a broad category of monsters; Skeletons, Ghosts, Zombies etc.

2 Death Aura; As a Lich type Weed is able to exude a black aura of decay that causes a within range Undead to increase their abilities. It also creates fear in weaker enemies. Source; http://the-legendary-moonlight-sculptor.wikia.com/wiki/Weed/Abilities_and_Powers

3 Sailing Terminology ; Bear, To- Make the vessel go in certain direction. Ex; Bear-Off; Avoid something, Bear-Down On; go towards something, Bear-Up; to slow down, Bear-Away; to change course.

4 This translates, lit; 부비부비 (booby booby) from the slang ‘shake your booty’, afaik. I’ve coined Booby-trap Dance, a trap for the eye and spirit, you can’t look away. I tried to keep a sort of tongue in cheek naming idea, Booby-trap seemed to work for me anyway.

Chapter 10: Friend

“Hurry up and fight them.”

Despite the Pirate Captain’s cry the Pirate crews could only stand and watch with drool running from their open mouths.

“Oh, we want to avert our eyes but…we just can’t look anywhere else.”

“She’s not just beautiful, She’s perfect. Oh man, it would make everyday worth living if I could have a smok’n hot girlfriend like that. Koo-weee! After looking at nothing but this Pirate Ship and a sea full of damn fish it makes you want to cry with joy to be able to see her.”

“It’s not just her pretty face, what about that body? Drop dead gorgeous. I wish I could have her on my friend list….”

Even with the distance separating the Sailors and Pirate’s they could see Hwaryong like she was cut out and projected right in front of them.

One of the skills of a Dancer class is the attention skill!

They could see a view of Hwaryong from the top of her fine soft hair to collarbone, It was so quiet while watching her that you could hear a pin drop. Hwaryong’s dancing was especially effective against the middle-aged users, the temptation of the dance couldn’t have even been a hair better.

“I have to watch this no matter what! Even though my wife will without a doubt beat me to death.”

A sense of urgency could be felt. The people outside the range of Hwaryeong’s dance, who were not stupefied, broke out into a violent battle.

“UwAhhhhhhhhh!”

“Kill the sea monster!”

A Pirate ship rammed a squid like sea monster that resembled a Kraken with the front of their ship.

Kaooooooooooo!

Enraged, the kraken stretched out and wrapped its tentacles around the Pirate ship and squeezed it with force.

“Charge! Charge!”

The Pirates climbed aboard the tentacles of the kraken and brandished their swords. The kraken continued to fight while swimming, even as parts of it’s body that was cut, fell into the sea.

The sailing ships converged together towards the Ghost Ships, the cries of the Undead did not stop at the sea. The Pirates even boarded onto the ship that Weed was on.

“I don’t care what happens to the rest of the war. We must capture Weed.”

“Kehehehe, We are going to become the heroes that caught Weed. What should we do with the item that drops?”

“Find the ship’s captain. Let’s sneak up on him so that he won’t notice us.”

The Pirates approached Weed stealthily while he was engaged in fights. There was no way that Weed did not see them. After all, This was the home of excellent items, especially during battles!

‘They are wearing a cheap Pirate coat. The only good items are the boots and the belts, that were limited to levels over 300.’

Belts are generally not items that are often dropped. As the Pirates often boarded and plundered other ships for loot, they did not wear as good of an equipment compared to the Navy Knights.

‘Even If I sell them, I probably won't get much out of it.’

The Pirate equipments were not even good enough to save them. Weed completely ignored them and continued to focus on his fight.

“Keuhahahaha! Give me all your health & mana and die. Hmm, I get vulnerable when I use health & mana drain, but there is nobody who is a threat to me, so it’s fine.”

A poor performance by Weed.

He wanted to wipe them all out once the Pirates got closer. But when the Pirates were sneaking in closer to his back, there was another person blocking their path.

This whole time Seo Yoon has been circling near Weed, when she saw Pirates coming towards him she drew her sword.

“Tch. We’ve been discovered.”

“Kill her!”

Seo Yoon confronted the oncoming Pirates, by silently wielding her sword.

“.....”

Seo Yoon cut down all the Pirates without even feeling sorry for them.

Weed looked out of the corner of his eyes at the woman who was considered as pretty reliable.

Even though there was a strong girl protecting him, He disliked missing the chance to get rid of the twelve Pirates personally

‘She is a sensitive girl with a soft corner in her heart and...in her own way she’s taking good care of me.’

Just when he was quietly praising her, Seo Yoon bent down to pick up the items that dropped from the Pirates.

Boots and belts!

Some Pirates even dropped Emeralds and handcrafted jewelry, that appeared to be from an aristocratic family.

“So that’s the case.”

Weed was so annoyed that he couldn’t speak.

Both the sea monsters and the living sculptures were involved in a fierce close combat in an artillery battle.

Although many of The Ghost Ships sank, The price was heavy, as numerous warships and Pirates ships also went under.

The sight of the Drinpelts’s Pirate alliance locked in a deathly struggle with Weed’s Undead was a sight to behold.

“Kekekeke. I want to drink some Lime juice! My throat feels really dry.”

From the cries of the Undead, one of the Pirates instinctively took out a lime juice and gave it to him.

The Undead swallowed loudly as if he drank the juice.

“Did that work? I even gave you a drink so can you go back to your own ship now.”

However the Undead once again started fighting with even more vigor.

“My thirst has finally been quenched, now it’s time to kill you. Ohehhehehe!”

As they fought mindlessly with one another, they accumulated heavy physical damage with each fight.

Weed thought that he had participated in too many large scale battles recently.

“I just want to live a long and simple life, but there are no days to rest.”

Therefore, he had no intention of being a hero.

I just want live comfortably by getting good rewards while doing several quests and hunting!

The war that’s been going on since dawn seems to be near it’s end, as the artillery fire reduced showing the declining state of the User’s stamina.

Doung! Doung! Doung! Doung! (drum roll sound)

In the rain, the navy fleet of an immortal legion adorned by a fluttering flag with a screaming skull came towards them from the sea.

The battleships fired a volley of cannons at Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the Pirate ships.

“What the hell is that?”

Drinpelt was dumbfounded.

As far as he knew, in the open sea, only trade cities and Kingdoms owned battleships.

But dozens of battleships with armed fleet suddenly appeared before them!

With their excellent eyesight they saw the Undead that were lined up on the deck.

Zombies, Ghouls, Burning Skeletons, Lesser Undead along with Witches and Death Knight, there were even Archmages and Dullahans.

They started casting black magic towards the Haven Kingdom’s fleet and the Pirate ships.

“That’s the flag of the Immortal Legion that Weed had to deal with!”

“What the, why would they attack us? Isn’t it normal to attack Weed, against whom they hold a grudge.”

Both Drinpelt’s fleet and Pirate’s felt completely overwhelmed.

Even when they haven’t done anything wrong to the Undead yet, for them to have gathered their strongest naval power against them.

Weed was also uncomfortable in many ways. He had many interlaced ill-fated relationships with the Immortal Legions.

“With my own hands I lead to the eternal rest of Lich Shire. During that time, with the help of Orcs and Dark Elves I defeated many Immortal Legions, I even summoned Bar Khan to fight against the Embinyu Church...”

The Immortal Legions were neither friendly nor enemies.

The fleet consisted a total of 45 black sliver battleships! They were similar level to Drinpelt’s ship of the line battleship, It had tremendous amount of firepower. (ship of the line is a type of naval battleship constructed in 17th to 19th century to take part in the naval tactic known as line of battle.)

In addition, lined up on the deck were the Undead that were usually not easy to deal with.

Weed, who had previously fought with the Immortal Legions, knew full well about how powerful they were.

“Even if there were no Necromancers it would still be difficult to deal with the Immortal Legions.”

It was ridiculous to fight the Immortal Legion when they were not prepared to fight.

There was a possibility that one of the Ghost Ships from his fleet might not follow his orders and attack the Immortal Legion.

Although Bingryong, Phoenix, and the living sculpture did not attack, they were ordered to check them out.

The Immortal Legion that brought over their warships struck first with cannons and magic at Drinpelt and Griffith’s battleship.

Fire blazed forth on the battleships that sank due to the shelling!

The fight that The Immortal legion started has been going on for the past 2 hours ended when both the Drinpelt’s and Griffith’s fleet retreated from the battle.

They could still restart the battle since half of them were still near the others still in battle, but now it was not possible to catch Weed anymore.

Once they all withdrew, the war completely stopped.

As the sound of the deafening cannon fire entirely diminished, the flagship of the Immortal Legion approached Weed.

The Ghost Ships parted through the middle and a path was cleared.

It was not because of Weed’s orders, some of the Undead were so afraid that they avoided the Immortal Legions.

That’s how dreadful, the Undead fear their seniors.

“Hmmm.”

Despite the long battle Weed’s mind was processing very fast.

‘I want to live at all cost. But if I were to die it needs to be with very minimal damage.’

The odds of him getting out of this situation alive was like finding a winning lottery ticket on the side of the road.

Hwaryeong stopped dancing, and all the attention was now on Weed’s ship.

As he was standing at the bow while it was rocking, Weed projected a very strong Death Aura.

If it was on land, he could have chickened out on his responsibility and ran away, but this was on the sea.

‘Seeing as they haven’t directly started attacking us, there might be a possibility of having a minimum amount of dialogue with them. Maybe now that I am in a same Undead state as them, they might look over me right?’

In the midst of the battlefield, Wyverns and Bingryong were steadily collecting the items that were left out.

His Talrock’s armour, equipments and treasures were left with Golden Bird, Silver Bird, and Yellowy so now he was penniless! Weed muttered with his yellow teeth.

‘Its fine if I die. 2 times or 3 times I can catch up by doing 2x or even 3x more grinding. The Immortal Legion! I will surely get my revenge.’

If the Immortal Legion kills him, he will get his revenge later.

‘5 years, no...i’ll see you in 20 years. By then I’ll have an enormous amount of levels and I will have my revenge.’

There is no time limit for revenge!

Weed waited on the bow with his chest proudly open and his shoulders pulled back. In any case he did not want to fight with the Legions of Undead.

Even though his level is much higher than before there was no chance to do it alone, even if he uses his friends and a bunch of subordinates they will all still take an enormous amount of damage.

If all the Living Sculptures were to die, there really won’t be anything left, he didn’t take such a dangerous risk.

‘I’ll die for those guys so only kill me.’

In his heart he became solid in his resolution, even in front of the Immortal Legion he didn’t even feel a little bit of inferiority.

On his face and in his eyes, the Immortal Legion were not worth anything to him, he arrogantly gave off the impression that he had the authority and charisma to easily stomp them out and die from him.

> Everyone leave here. Step back and wait where Yellowy is. Bingryong and Wyverns land and protect Yellowy and others and make sure that what happened to Geumini won't happen again..

As the battleship stopped close by to Weed, an Undead human that looks like a reptilian frogman stepped out.

You have seen the legendary monster Hashilsa

Ruler of the Ghost Ship on the sea.
A promising admiral was born in the free city and he loved to go on adventures. During one of his travel, looking for legends of the unknown sea, he unfortunately received a terrible curse that transformed him into frog.

His appearance turned hideous after he became too obsessed for more power, he tied his crew’s leg on a stone bridge over the ocean and didn’t even hesitate to drop them while committing atrocities.

Finally he was driven back by the other naval fleets. He was reborn again by the Undead Overlord Bar Khan as a dark mage, to become his underling.

During the Undead great war vast amount of Undead went missing, but since the resurgence of Bar Khan, they appeared once again.

Due to The appearance of Hashilsa, one begins to slip into a state of fear. Physical ability decrease.

The moral of the crew drops to the lowest level. It is impossible to bring back order.

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Ninh, the navy knights, and even the large Pirate’s body stiffen Due to the appearance of Hashilsa.

Weed’s Fighting Spirit was high enough, so there were no effect.

‘The necklace of Ellekaye, it is a treasure necklace that still seeks for its frozen owner. Contained in the Magician Guild’s treasure book, it clearly states that the item’s attack skill scope and effect increases by 35%. And supposedly the Mana consumption is also reduced by a half. The one that he is also holding is the Kingdoms Knights magic sword. Even if you do say it’s a magic sword, just the necklace is over level 600.’

If you look it at in a certain way, the reason that Bar Khan can not exercise his full ability must be due to his heart being pierced with a sword! Just by identifying the item in his mind he felt more comfortable.

‘Come and attack. I am not afraid to die. If he’s at that level, even I will die quickly.’

Even Weed couldn’t identify most of the items that Hashilsa was wearing.

It’s possible to say that all the items were unique treasures, anyone can guess Halshilsa’s strength is formidable! But Weed arrogantly began talking to him first.

“Hashilsa, You came to find me for a reason, What did you want to talk to me about?”

Of course Hashilsa could not manage and control the whole Immortal Legion Fleet alone.

Yet, Weed continued to talk with a cold tone while emitting the Death Aura.

Even if he were about to die, he still had the chance to say his last words and even ask questions.

Isn’t this what being a men is all about.

One of the important motto of being a Dark gamer was that even if one was to get attacked by a dragon they had to stay attentive so they can collect as many items before they are killed.

Hashilsa raised one of his arms to his chest and slightly bowed forward.

“I give you my greetings. The reason I am here is to let you know that Sir Bar Khan Demoph is calling for you.”

A heavy hearted predicament! Weed was even popular with the monsters, this was something he did not want.

Weed rolled his eyes as he asked Hashilsa.

“Did he come here too?”

“…No, he did not come.”

Even if Bar Khan didn’t come, it still wasn’t a joyful situation.

If it was just Hashilsa, Weed would have been able to kill him.

Having a big level deference toward Hashilsa made it difficult to avoid him and he made him feel like he had a duty to continue to converse with him.

Also there are often a lot of boss level monsters that have their own back stories.

Rather than trying to blindly fight, it was necessary to speak and learn as much as you can.

‘They may even let me live. I’m even using honorifics right now.’

However he can not just believe in just that, there is a possibility that Hashilsa could transform into a weak personality, and use honorifics to weaker individuals.

Weed put on a rotten smile on his lips.

“Really? Then, are you not here to attack me?”

He asked an important question right from the start.

All of a sudden, an idea brushed his mind.

‘Ah, by any chance?’

He was currently in a Lich form.

Of course, It didn’t make sense to his fellow colleagues when he suddenly started getting unlimited respect from a senior Undead.

But when he sculpted his Lich’s sculpture to transform his appearance, it was modelled after Shire. Even though right now he wasn’t even wearing any of Shire’s equipment.

‘Huhu, I don’t think it is possible. Even if one accidentally see me as a Lich, how is it possible for them to be that confused.’

However Weed’s imagination was proven to be true by Hashilsa’s next words..

“How can you think that I can attack Bar Khan’s protege Shire?”

“.....”

“Sir Shire, Bar Khan is urgently looking for you.”

Weed’s skull face turned askew. To come this far he could not pretend that he didn’t know any such Lich.

“Right now I’m a little busy so I’ll come later.”

He only told him that he will go to Bar Khan so that they could hear exactly what they wanted to hear!

Being called to the monster legion is a huge headache.

“Sir Shire, you are an important apprentice of Bar Khan, so you must come to Bar Khan’s calling. Sir Shire, I can personally give 120 days for you to come and join him, I hope its enough time.”

*Ting!*

Bar Khan’s Call

The call of the Undead overlord Bar Khan Demoph.

All Undead must obey his command.

Level of Difficulty: C

Reward: Start of a chain quest to meet Bar Khan.

Quest related to Lich Shire has occured.

A Secret Quest has been triggered!

Background Explanation

As a second in command under Bar Khan, Lich Shire was a sly evil lich that is unparalleled. He conspired and corrupted his mentor with his darkness and lead the Immortal Legion into war.

Become an agent and infiltrate into the legion.

One needs a high notoriety and commanding ability, and also needs to have a similar appearance to Shire.

You are forced to do the quest.

As a Lich you can not refuse Bar Khan’s Request.

‘How can they do something so underhanded to me.’

He wasn’t even given the chance to politely refuse.

While Weed was still complaining about it, Hashilsa started speaking again.

“Then I shall leave first and head towards Bar Khan. I’ll see you there, Sir Shire.”

Weed wanted him out of there as soon as possible

“I get it, so leave.”

He wanted to curse furiously at them, but he was in a situation where he would not dare to open his mouth.

There are people that are level 200 or higher that go around showing off their strength.

But Weed, who was close to level 400 is even now constantly being entangled with high profile monsters.

This time, Bar Khan must be planning to trample all the Kingdoms

Weed felt that it was his fate.

‘Just my rotten luck. There probably aren't any other users in Versailles that has to go through all this just like me.’

But the people who were watching him, like always had a different idea.

‘Weed got another badass Quest again.’

‘To be the only one to have been commissioned a quest related to the Immortal Legion once again, he is truly awesome.’

‘I’m so envious. Unlike him, we are only doing piracy to live and eat off of others.’

‘Don’t tell me that he will succeed and then throw away the Immortal Legion Quest? I’m sure that it wouldn’t just end without even meeting Bar Khan.’

Players who were of slightly higher level, changed their minds.

‘Hmm, I was thinking about killing Weed and stealing the Quest, but now, it might be better if I don’t steal it.’

‘If it’s a quest related to Immortal Legion then one might have to continually die. He might even have to die at least five or six times.’

‘I’m going to have many troubles. Here at Jigolaths I had went through quite a lot…..It’s better to just live moderately and comfortably.’

They all lost interest in Weed’s high sea adventures.

When Hashilsa came, the Ghost Ship that sunk rose up from the sea as if nothing happened to it.

While Drinpelt and Griffith battleships were damaged badly that they could no longer continue to drag on the naval warfare.

The worst possibility was that they could lose everything, though it will be even more difficult to return back to Versailles Continent.

*****

After Naval Warfare concluded and it was finally time to return back to Versailles Continent with his friends. It’s gonna be a pleasant voyage.

The living sculptures divided amongst themselves into the three Ghost Ships. Weed, his friends, and Seo Yoon all rode on one ship.

“Kahem! Silver Bird come here and say hello.”

Peyoc, tweet, chirp. Silver Bird folded her wings and greeted them cutely.

Zephyr was using his fishing rod to catch food, while Weed cooked his special seafood soup.

While they were eating their food, Hwaryeong began telling the story of their arrival when they came after the Ghost Ship fleet.

“This taste delicious! When we saw the Immortal Legion, we were worried that we might have arrived too late….”

Their ship’s speed was so slow that they arrived just in the nick of time.

Irene added to the explanation.

“Now, Mermaids would always come over, thanks to Bellot singing and dancing. Zephyr also helped out a group of captive dolphins.”

Bellot sang with her voice in precise and fine tune, singing a sweet song joyfully. After gathering the Mermaids, Zephyr did not waste his bait for fishing and instead he tossed and fed the dolphins making them gather.

Thanks to that, they arrived just on time.

Weed introduced his friends and Seo Yoon to each other.

They worked and hunted with her and Seechwi for a brief period in the past, so it was not like they didn’t know each other.

“....”

Seo Yoon face was like a mask, since she usually doesn’t speak with other people.

If it was not something she needed to say to Weed, it was difficult for her to talk.

After all the greetings are done, Weed spread out a cloth on the floor, that he uses when sewing.

“Come on let us begin.”

“huh?”

“Hwaryeong who won 1, 190 gold, please play the game.”

To pass time by playing Go-Stop during the voyage!

Weed proposed to Hwaryeong and Bellot, While Irene, Zephyr and Romuna exchanged glances.

‘As expected It seems he was planning to play again.’

‘that must have been his plan all along…..’

‘There can be no mistake.’

Normally, It isn’t a good idea to take sides in advance and do fraudulent gambling. But now, It was just the opposite!

They were going to satisfy Weed by losing to him. Weed even drew Seo Yoon into the game.

“Don’t just watch come over and play.”

“......”

“Do you not know how to play? I’ll show you how to play. Its easy all you need to know are a few rules.“

Weed knew the truth that Seo Yoon was rich, so he dragged her in because of his greed.

“All you need to do is to collect a lot. There are several important things having a lot of Sangpi (junk tile) is good. Its even possible to get Gwangman (bright tile).”

They went around in circles a couple of times.

The party that was trying to lose lightly, and Weed who is trying to earn easy money from others their face was very tense as they played.

Bellot and Irene folded their tiles, while Weed, Pale, and Seo Yoon continued to played GoStop.

In front of Seo Yoon, a lot of tiles were stacked on her side. Weed and Pale had light amount of tiles stacked and they were going after the bonus, on the second rotation a hit has occurred.

And it already it came to a point where a hit was called out twice.

‘Pibak and Gwangbak (another game term), on top of that two GO were called...’

Weed and Pale concentration were sharper than ever.

They had little amounts of tiles, while in front of Seo Yoon there were a lot.

Even the people on the side were immersed in tension, It was finally Seo Yoon’s turn.

Chak.

Chak!

As Seo Yoon took PalGong (go-stop card term), she flips the card and out came Sangpi. (another go-stop term.)

Silence fell on the group.

“Are you really going to choose to go to th...three Go?”

Weed asked with difficulty.

At this moment it concerned him more than anything else.

‘If she has a least bit of conscience she won’t possibly go to three.’

Changdong (game phrase) can earn 10 gold (1st hit is called) and one can win up to 2, 000 gold in one game (when third hit is called).

Seo Yoon nods to Weed’s question and shows him three fingers.

During the whole day Weed lost 6, 290 gold to Seo Yoon who continually wiped the board clean.

*****

KMC Media relayed the Battle of Jigolaths for the whole day. Of course they had the highest rating, but it was not as big an issue as they thought.

– I already thought and expected it would be such a fight.

– Weed knocked down a Dragon while riding on top of a Wyvern. In the continent of magic, God of War slaying a group of users was a very common occurrence.

There were a lot of players that had never experienced the High Seas of the ocean, but now their interest quickly fell and everyone were now concentrating on the Central Continent.

Prestigious Guilds have waged war and conducted a series of raids.

It was a battleground between multiple territories, villages and castles.

Everybody were fiercely involved in the war and previously unknown strong players emerged one by one.

High level users from the prestigious guild were actively fighting in the dark inflicting blows to their opposition.

On the Game television station they were broadcasting it live for 24 hours in an emergency mode, Royal Road was heating up again.

*****

“Sigh, the real Autumn is really short.”

As Lee Hyun saw the leaves falling, he was feeling uncertainty towards his tuition fees.

“For the semester to be over so soon and to be so expensive, After winter vacation passes I’ll have to do another semester.”

He let out a sigh as he quickly walked home to rest.

They were currently in the midst of a voyage from Jigolaths to Morata, even though they were in no danger, he employed his friends who were stationed at specific position as a precaution.

“I should focus on making sculptures and make some leather robes until we arrive.”

The only person who was excited to do the grinding was Lee Hyun. However when heading back towards his house, he saw that there was a black car and people wearing suit waiting in front of his house. As he was trying to avoid them, they came forward and spoke to him.

“Excuse me, but are you Lee Hyun?”

Lee Hyun answered nonchalantly.

“Yes? And you are?”

If an incident were to occur its best to feign ignorance!

He pretended he didn’t hear any of them. But couple of the guys that were there were Seo Yoon’s bodyguards he has seen a few times before.

“We came here to discuss about what happened between you and Seo Yoon. The president is waiting, do you mind sparing a few moments?”

Lee Hyun stopped walking.

Seo Yoon’s father had called for him.

It was great and wonderful, yet strangely foreboding

He wasn’t surprised because he knew that something like this would happen one day. Which was the reason he was being nice to her.

Everytime she gave off a friendly gaze he roughly predicted that a day like today would happen.

“I see. Let’s go.”

Lee Hyun followed them.

*****

Accompanied by several bodyguards, they arrived in front of a luxurious Mansion with an impressive garden.

“Is this Seo Yoon’s house?”

When Lee Hyun asked, the security flinched but replied as if they didn’t think of it as a secret.

“Seo Yoon does not live here. This is a summer house that the President uses sometimes.”

This is how he met Seo Yoon Dad, President Jeong Deuk Soo.

He offered a seat to Lee Hyun.

“Come on in. Did you have a meal yet?”

In this situation, Lee Hyun would have usually replied to this question that he hadn’t eaten anything at all.

That was his creed.

He felt awkward eating so early as it wasn’t even 5 pm and in any case he didn't want to embarrass himself.

“Thank you but that’s okay. I already ate a lot for lunch.”

“Then we shall have some light refreshments while we speak.”

“If you have anything to say to me please say it, it’s alright.”

“Oh no, you're not in any trouble. To me you are an important guest so don’t worry about it.”

President Jeong Deuk Soo got up and brought out some light refreshment.

“You are the best friend of my daughter Seo Yoon at the Korean National University and I also have heard that you have been going on fun adventures together in Royal Road. What kind of adventures do you mainly do?”

“I just did this and that.”

“Your adventures were even on TV shows, is it famous to that extent?”

President Jeong Deuk Soo was very interested Lee Hyun’s work.

Lee Hyun briefly told him about the Freya’s church Quest, Lich Shire quest, and the fights he had been in.

Although President Jeong Deuk Soo had only been briefed for about 10 mins of the story, it was too vague and he was losing interest.

The only thing that Jeong Deuk Soo was thinking about was his daughter.

“Does Seo Yoon…..occasionally smile?”

“Seo Yoon does smile sometimes, but it only lasts for a brief moment.”

“I've recently heard that …. Seo Yoon has started to speak again. Yet, I have been told that she only speaks with you.”

“Yes.”

“What do you think of my daughter？“

Lee Hyun thought that their talk suddenly took a dangerous turn.

‘From the moment I came here this must have been what he was thinking about.’

Any parents, to be honest wants to know about the guys their daughter is meeting with.

In Lee Hyun’s case, he would show the same urgent concern when it came to his little sister.

It’s best that the guy she met was not a bad guy, it was also best to check the possible opponent to make sure he is not a player.

Lee Hyun had to take care of his younger sister since childhood, so he understood the position of a parent.
And he understand and guessed the thoughts of the President Jeong Deuk Soo feeling for his child.

It’s wasn't much but he did knew a few things nonetheless.

“Just as you said….I see myself as her friend.”

The meaning behind Seo Yoon’s first word ‘Friend’ was ambiguous to Lee Hyun. All he could offer to her was being a friend.

“I heard my daughter relies on you a lot. Nevertheless, are you sure you don’t have any other feelings? You are after all, a man.”

“I just see her as a my friend.”

Seo Yoon is beautiful, smart and kind hearted almost to the point of being angelic.

Although he underwent such a merciless defeat in GoStop, still…..

‘She is someone who is kind to me.’

In addition, she comes from a wealthy household.

Lee Hyun thought that there was nothing that he could give her that she didn’t already have.

Since he was a child he had to face many hardships.

In school, all his classmates boasted about shopping with their parents to buy shoes, and whenever they show off their clothes and toys he had to stay hunched over his desk. While he had to worry about electricity bill, water bill, and rent whenever he came home.

Now Lee Hyun doesn’t have to worry too much about the problems with living expenses, and compared to others his age, he had a considerable amount of savings on his own.

Nevertheless since he was young compared to others he went through many different experiences.

To be a male friend with her, who has everything, was no simple matter.

Even if she wishes for it. It was best to avoid it.

Seo Yoon heart has always been distant.

The distance was not something that could be easily narrowed.

“My daughter, when she was young, she experienced a trauma and for a very long time she could not speak. Only recently, since she has been with you, has she started to speak again. But she still only speaks with you… Lee Hyun”

He heard many thing he didn’t know about Seo Yoon’s life from his father.

‘She really couldn’t speak...’

For 10 years she lived closed off inside a building from the world. Seo Yoon was in a pitiable state, her families that have been seeing her become unspeakably sad.

“To me you are a benefactor. So I have prepared a reward for you. I know this is not remuneration for all that you have done but take this and continue to be Seo Yoon’s best friend and I shall reward you again. Please continue to help heal my daughter’s wound. But beyond that, it would be difficult so I hope you understand.”

President Jeong Deuk Soo put a white envelope next to the teacup.

“I have heard that you have a lot of things to pay for so I have put money in it.”

Lee Hyun raised his head and made eye contact with President Jeong Deuk Soo after he looked at the envelope.

“I’m sorry I can not take this. The reason why Seo Yoon is able to talk is because of her own will. I have done nothing for her.”

“Its not a small amount….. it should help you in your current situation.”

“This is not because of my pride.”

Lee Hyun started thinking about this month expenses.

Living expenses and food cost, his younger sister’s insurance and savings.

Also his grandmother’s hospital bill that he needs to pay continually.

A chronic arthritis, and her treatment for cancer had decrease her vitality making her weak.

During the hospitalization and rehab for a few months, he had hang out with other elderly people.

His growth of his thoughts and speech he learned from sitting in the corner of the market talking with people.

Even though he could go home, there was a bit of treatment and ongoing management to do at the hospital so he stayed.

Every month the amount of money that needs to be paid was a lot, Lee Hyun continued to earn more money through Royal Road.

“Money….is really a precious things. I think that one does not need to stand up for his pride for money. It’s true that I need a lot of money for my family. However I can provide my family with the money that I have earned.”

If it was in Royal Road, he would have deliberately rejected. Just so he could extort much more money!

However in reality he did not want to receive such money. He could provide for his family with his own power. If it was for this reason, he could achieve anything.

The secretary standing next to President Jeong Deuk Soo began to talk.

“This is the money that the president is giving. Think of if as a token of gratitude for all the things that you have done till now.”

“I can not receive this because I think of Seo Yoon as a friend.”

“What?”

“I do not want to earn money by selling my friendship. As a friend, you are there to help when they go through difficult times and I also think that one should not expect anything in return.”

If he was to receive the money, it would have been an immense help to him.

He knew the suffering of being in debt for a long time. He did not want to feed his family by the money earned through selling his friendship.

Lee Hyun thought to himself.

‘The one thing I know is how to earn money.’

President Jeong Deuk Soo did not have any more advice.

“My belief in you, young man is strong. From now on please help Seo Yoon not to get hurt anymore.”

“I’ll try my best.”

After Lee Hyun finished his conversation, he got up from his seat. He followed the bodyguards out of the villa, and looked back at the impressive house owned by Seo Yoon’s father.

Seo Yoon’s father only presented him the money to clarify his motives.

Even though it was a meeting that left a bad taste, he was envious of the fact that she still had her parents.

Since the first time they met, his existence was ignored. Then he created the Freya’s Sculpture that resembled her, which the people were in awe of. She was a type of person with a redoubtable worth you only watch and protect from a distance.

‘Its must have been a single 10 million won. It’s a good thing that I have not taken it. From now on I’m going to commit myself to do more hunting and grinding to make up the money I just turned down.’

President Jeong Deuk Soo drank from his wine glass.

“The impression that I got from him was he is a good man. In order to heal Seo Yoon's heart, I can see that he is the best person to do it. Still to turn down 1 billion won …. was the report that he needed money wrong?”

*****

Powerful forces has been expanding their territory quickly throughout the Versailles Continent.

Since it has been a long time, Hermes Guild’s master, Raphael was welcoming his guest happily.

”Its been a while since we split ways in the Sky City Lavias. Why have you come back now?”

“I have just been wandering here and there. I did various adventures and hunts”

“Welcome back. There are lots of people who, if they knew, would be happy that you are back.”

Dain put down her staff and sat on the chair.

Since the beginning of Royal Road, the core players of Hermes Guild, Raphael and many others who have hunted together were all present now.

Chapter 1: Mermaid's Bag

They were finally hitting the high seas to return back to Morata after their adventures in the Jigolaths!

Dolphins, symbolizing good luck, as well as thousands of birds and a group of Mermaids were following the ship Weed was riding. Bellot was playing a soothing tune, and Hwaryeong was dancing sexily to the tune. She was certainly doing a good job to attract gazes from the Mermaids. The marine animals were gathered behind the ship because of that.

“Wow, how pretty.”

“I can see straight through the sea water. Oh my god, look at the turtle swimming down there.”

Romuna and Surka exclaimed, when they saw the beautiful sparkling sea that they were sailing through, made one want to dive right in.

Small and pretty schools of fish roamed below, and they could see crayfish, shrimps and other crustacean organisms crawling through the water.

An indescribable, colorful beauty lay below them, consisting of seaweed growing on the boulders, clams, and hundreds of other organisms!

The party members were all clinging to the edge of the deck, and were busy marveling at the sea.

“Look at it jump. Wow!”

As if showing off, the dolphins jumped into the air, and the Mermaids were swimming with fluid motions.

Weed smacked his lips.

“They look so delicious!”

Every time he looked at the marine animals, he was constantly reminded of endless seafood dishes.

Isn’t a hot pot with every single ingredient down there broiled altogether the greatest seafood dish ever!

But Weed wanted to believe that he had some decency.

Mermaids were an oceanic race that was similar to Humans. They possessed high intelligence and communication was possible thanks to their linguistic skills.

But most importantly, they all had the appearance of beautiful women.

A pure and peaceful race.

“And how could they slaughter these Mermaids ruthlessly? That’s just simply unacceptable.”

So Weed decided to do some business.

“Now, now! A day like today won’t come again. Take your pick, everyone. Window shopping’s free! There are many new and beautiful clothes here.”

The Mermaids were suspicious of the Humans and were on high alert around them.

“Something smells dirty.”

“A foul smell. Just like an Undead.”

It was indeed true that Weed gave off a strange smell after playing as a Lich.

However, Weed was able to lessen the Mermaids’ suspicions, as his Fame stat, which he gained through countless sculptures and requests, was very high.

The Mermaids boarded the ship, being unable to trust any other Human apart from Weed!

Weed displayed the clothes that were made from the leather of Tairbeths and Bollards in the Jigolaths.

He also displayed bags, shell earrings and sea-stone rings, that he started selling to the Mermaids.

“Mermaids are still women. And clothes can definitely be sold to women.”

When he bought some sleepwear for his grandmother while she was hospitalized, she complimented him for bringing a pink one with floral patterns, rather than a dull gray one.

“These bags are even useful at sea! You might fall out of times compared to others if you don’t own at least one or two bags. Having a good bag will make your trips more enjoyable.”

Meanwhile, Mapan was blaming himself for his short-sighted thinking.

“Ah, as expected!”

One could say that Mermaids were a race that lived in the sea. They could definitely be customers.

It was Weed’s ideology to split people into either prey or guests in a monochrome fashion!

“I still have so much to work on to catch up with Weed’s business skills.”

The Mermaids’ hair swayed like damp seaweed, while they browsed Weed selection.

"I like this one."

The Mermaids’ voices had a serene ring to them that echoed in his head.

The voices were as vibrant and clear as a chime of bells.

Hearing the voices was like a sign of them warming up towards him, and Weed quickly crunched the figures in his head like a top of the line computer.

“That will be 1520 Gold. But since it suits you so well, I’ll give you two pieces of clothing for the price of one. Why don’t you try on this hat as well? It would be a great pity if you don’t try it on, when it suits you so much. Believe me, I’m not trying to rip off such a beautiful Mermaid like yourself, but I just want to help bring out the best in you.”

A great selling technique of praise, inflation and quantity!

The Mermaid tilted her head left and right, as if she couldn’t comprehend what he just said.

"Gold? Is such a thing necessary to have these clothes?"

Mermaids were an innocent race that didn’t often ask questions. They held great interest in the human world, but they were not well-informed because of their reserved nature.

“Gold is necessary to trade between humans.”

Producing an old Niflheim Empire’s gold coin from his chest pocket, Weed showed it to her.

“Do you have any gold currency like these? If not, I’m more than happy to barter with jewelry, antiques or any other equipments.”

If the Mermaids had no money, then establishing a deal would be impossible.

However, Weed was not bothered at all when he couldn’t sell objects due to the race barrier.

There should be at least one or two legends floating around out in the sea.

There must have been numerous shipwrecks in this area after a fierce storm, and these

Mermaids should have witnessed those ships many times.

Even picture books tell of such things!

The story of a Mermaid who needlessly saved a prince from a sinking ship.

"Please wait for a moment."

Mermaids who had already decided on their choices jumped into the sea, and after a long time, they resurfaced carrying bags of gold.

Some Mermaids came back with very old antiques.

There were specially made potteries, gold, weapons and armors, old maps and even magical pendants!

“Hmm, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to re-sell these because of the rusting. I’ll be actually making a loss by bartering with these… but since those clothes suit you all so well, I’ll agree to it.”

"Thank you."

Weed was able to rip them off by a satisfactory amount.

These Mermaids in the far sea certainly were not creatures of low intelligence.

Not only did they have control over the marine animals, all shipwrecks were theirs for taking.

There were no other better customers than them.

"I don’t think this one fits me."

Some of the Mermaids shook their heads, and placed the clothes back down after trying them on.

This type of occurrence was quite common, where the texture or the shape of the clothes didn’t suit the buyers, as the clothes in Weed’s possession were made for humans.

Every time something like this happened, he wore a concerned expression and took the clothes back.

“These clothes now have the lingering traces of your beauty rubbed off on them… so it would be great if you purchase them anyway.“

His flattering words flew out like he was reciting times tables!

And so, Weed was able to sell the clothes from Jigolaths without a hitch.

There was always the option of taking them back to Morata and selling them there, but selling armor-type items was unprofitable because of the set standards there. So he was able to reap greater profit by selling to the Mermaids.

of course, There were some poor Mermaids too.

“Don’t you have any money?”

"No, we have nothing."

The young Mermaids, who appeared to be no more than little girls, were pacing up and down in regret.

Weed liked these young Mermaids, they were great customers.

A good merchant must be able to sell while understanding their customers’ urgency.

The last thing Weed wanted to do while selling these items was to force the weak to buy anything from him.

The soft spot that he had for these customers made him want to give them discounts or special deals.

You already bought this item!

This is the unique item that was specially made just for you in this entire continent!

Forget about your life until now. You will be reborn as soon as you hold this bag.

Let’s see how well you’ll be off without buying this bag!

This motivation that will drive my sweet talk!

Weed’s thoughts were reflected by his actions and words, so the Mermaids had no choice but to grab the bags.

Addressing the young Mermaids, he spoke as sweetly as he could.

“Hey, you girls can cry, right?”

"Well, we don’t cry often, but only sometimes."

“Collect some of your tears for me. Then I’ll let you have the bags.”

"We understand."

Mermaid’s Tears was a rare item.

Letting them Crystallize will transform them into pearls and after craftsmanship, there won’t be anything that could be compared with it.

They were truly the treasures of the sea that would yield high Fame and Trade stats when sold on the mainland!

He even told the young Mermaids some tales, like a friendly uncle.

*****

Once upon a time, there lived a prince in a kingdom called Nephyllos.

Tall, handsome and good-mannered as he was, all the women in that kingdom couldn’t help but fall in love with him.

Those ladies were satisfied by simply watching the prince whenever he walked around the towns.

Because they could literally see their prince shining thanks to the smart clothes he wore.

A lady who sold apples at the market, Helen, also loved the prince.

She was an innocent lady, whose smiles were quite cute.

However, she wasn’t able to let those feelings come out.

Because it was her job to do everything, from making a living to housework under her foster mother, as her mother had recently passed away from a disease.

She would often wake up to pluck apples at early dawn, and she wasn’t able to return home until late at night that too only after she finished selling all the apples.

While snacking on disfigured and unripe apples that couldn’t be sold, she had to sell the good apples.

“Fresh apples. Selling ripe apples.”

The apples that Helen sold were as sweet as honey, as they reflected her heart.

Even the spirits of the forest blessed the apples she picked.

And when Helen’s apples became popular and more people wanted to buy them, she had to wake up even earlier to pluck the apples.

Even the prince who was walking by at that time, visited the apple store.

“Young miss, you have to pay your taxes regul…. no, I came here after hearing great praise about the delicious apples that you sell.”

So Helen wiped a well ripe red apple with a tea-towel, and gave it to the prince.

After eating the apple in a satisfied manner, he said this.

“I will be holding… a ball, this Saturday. However, as I have not yet decided on my partner, may I invite you to join me?”

The prince tried to pick her up… no, he asked her for a date.

Helen didn’t know what to do, so she replied.

“I’m sorry, but I have some things to do, so I don’t have any time.”

Because the girl had stepsisters and a foster mother who despised her.

The prince spoke again.

“But you won’t have to work on that day. Everyone will be resting as it is His Majesty, the King’s birthday. Who is making you work so hard?”

Not only was the prince handsome, he was wise as well. Helen’s background was quite famous throughout the kingdom, so the prince was well aware of her situation.

“No one should be able to order you to work, Since they can’t ignore me as I am the Prince.”

Her foster mother and the stepsisters became as pale as ghosts. They wouldn’t dare to keep

Helen at bay and ignore the prince’s warning.

Eventually, Helen was allowed to attend the ball, and the promised date of

Saturday came.

The prince liked this gentle lady, and Helen was sure she could live happily with the prince.

But unfortunately, Helen wasn’t able to attend the ball.

Just because she didn’t have a good bag to bring to the ball.

*****

A third-rate story that he made up on the spot!

The young Mermaids that reached the peak of their emotions started to weep.

"Whaaaaa."

"Sniff."

Weed diligently gathered the tears that fell onto the deck in a bottle.

In exchange for the tears, Weed’s clothes, bags and accessories sold like pancakes.

Excluding the things he could sell normally, he was able to rip off a profit of at least over 35000 Gold!

The antiques received from the Mermaids could only be truly valued on the mainland.

The rusty swords that couldn’t even be drawn were worthless, but they could be melted down to create other weapons.

Mermaids’ handiwork or their accessories could fetch a high price on the mainland.

The 35000 Gold was the lowest estimated profit, so his profit for the day was an astronomical one.

"Thank you. I’ll use it well."

“Come back whenever you want.”

"I’ll be back tomorrow."

“I’ll have a lot of new products waiting for you then.”

Dressed in leather clothes, hats and holding bags, they jumped into the sea.

Players often envied rich Mermaids, but were unable to attack them.

According to the legends on the Versailles Continent, Mermaids were the children of the God of the Sea, and friends of Sea Dragons. So hunting them would bring divine retribution on the hunters. Also, as they had authority over marine animals, angering them would bring headaches.

But on the contrary, Weed received their thanks.

This was because Weed stayed true to his principles of ripping off the customers while satisfying them at the same time.

“Mermaids are also women, so they should like shoes, but what a shame. I could have sold new heels for a really expensive price…. I know, I’ll make some webbed feet and sell that!”

Weed was busy trying to corrupt these innocent Mermaids.

Whether on land or at sea, people were victimized wherever Weed passed by!

*****

Navigating back to the Northern part of the continent, where Morata was placed, was faster than the trip to the Jigolaths, with the help from the winds and the sea current.

The mysterious sunrise and sunset of the sea, and a distant singing voice that could be heard.

A sea journey is great for creating those special memories and romance.

Hwaryeong and the other members were enjoying the rare ship cruise by sunbathing or looking at the view.

Yellowy was also resting on the warm deck, lying down on its stomach.

Mooooooo!

They were taking a break while eating some hot octopus chowder.

The bull normally wasn’t able to eat such delicacy, but all of that would be deducted from his pay!

Yellowy closed his eyes and rested comfortably.

He had worked hard in Jigolaths, so it was now time for him to rest.

On their trip back to Morata, Weed’s party and the Living Sculptures had boarded on three different ships.

But then, there was a large island-like fish that was continuously following behind them.

It was a palm-sized Living Sculpture when they left the Jigolaths, but after diving into the sea, it suddenly grew in size as it consumed coral reefs and other fish.

Its scales sparkled along with the sunlight and the seawater.

Judging by appearance alone, it seemed to possess gigantic strength!

Due to the Wyverns’ weight, they were perched on top of the Living Sculpture and followed behind them.

The Wyvern with stretched out eyes, Wy-Seven, slipped off the scales and fell into the sea with a splash. It then resurfaced.

Even Surka, who loved water, jumped on top of the fish to enjoy the sea, despite being acrophobic.

“What’s your name?”

The fish sank slightly below the surface, then resurfaced saying this.

“Turtle.”

“Your name is Turtle? But you don’t have a shell and you don’t look like a turtle.”

“Turtle, Turtle.”

The turtle Living Sculpture named itself to be Turtle.

This was one of the few existing masterpieces in the Jigolaths by Latcherry, who had only sculptured extinct creatures all his life.

This creature’s original name was Maleins Airnoto Turtle!

It was a Gigantic turtle that lived in the deep sea, and when matured, a shell would form in areas apart from its head and tail.

There were a lot of extinct and rare lifeforms that were given life in the Jigolaths, as well as handsome and artistic-looking ones.

*****

Weed was sewing buttons on the clothes of the dolls. He was attaching doll eyes and this job was a very sensitive task to do!

He was sick and tired of doing it, but he couldn’t make a single mistake when sewing buttons or eyes onto the doll.

“I should grind down shells for the buttons. The product value should rise if I sew different colored shells on it. There obviously won’t be any material fee, and they’ll sell well as they’ll have some uniqueness to them.”

Weed believed business was all about cutting down the production fee and ripping off customers!

He also checked some old maps that he received from the Mermaids.

“Identify!”

Map of Somewhere in the Sea of Planetis

Durability: 3/10

A map with illegible records

Created based on astronomical positions, wind and sea currents.

Treasure Grade: D

“A treasure map, huh?”

There was a good chance of it leading to the hidden treasures of Pirates’ or a shipwreck.

Or, it might contain information about a valuable marine animal.

It was a pity that the map had bits and pieces of it rubbed out from aging.

“I reckon Yurin should be able to restore this.”

Map Restore was a skill that only Adventurers or Painters possessed. Weed obviously did not possess it.

His Painting skill was low, and he was only capable of mixing paint with his skills.

That was because he needed the paint to dye the clothes that were created, unlike armors, which could be colored by mixing different colored metals.

“A normal D ranked map wouldn’t bring enough profit to even cover the effort that’s needed to complete it.”

Weed knew that there were numerous variety of adventures out at the sea.

There was a pile of maps that he collected from the Mermaids.

There were maps that pointed to locations with marine animals, whirlpools and underwater caves!

There were a lot of things to be done out in the sea, just as there were on land.

However, adventuring out in the sea with Weed’s current level of navigation would take far too long.

Getting his head wrapped around the information regarding the sea, underwater landscape and rocks, as well as the sea winds, would take at least 1~2 years.

He did travel to Jigolaths because he ended up receiving the map and the request, but sea adventures were a whole different story.

“I should just use these maps to make clothes instead.”

Clothes that motivated people to long for adventures. He was making clothes that actually pointed towards real treasures.

Using the leather and cloths of the old maps, Weed fashioned some clothes and bags.

“Some lucky people should find them somehow.”

Weed was going to sell the clothes with a tag line of ‘Leading Towards Treasures’, so he wasn’t making a loss.

There wasn’t much to do on the ride, so he made all of the oceanic maps into clothes.

Zephyr immersed himself in some proper sea fishing, while Pale and Maylon hid themselves away from everyone else’s sight, and sheepishly fed each other some raw fish (hoe).

Hwaryeong and Bellot were sunbathing first along with Surka and Romuna, but were now performing in front of the marine animals.

Seo Yoon had been standing on the deck, watching Weed work, but was now gazing at the sea while seated on the mast.

Her face wasn’t seen during the fights because of the Warrior’s Helm of Courage that she was wearing, but the current sight of her hair swaying in the wind was like something out of a painting.

She couldn’t talk to anyone apart from Weed, and didn’t even let anyone hear her voice.

She was still uncomfortable and had a lot of awkwardness remaining.

Weed couldn’t approach and talk to her, even though he could see her being alone.

“I’m really indebted to her for what happened in Jigolaths…. I was able to do the request and fight the Hermes Guild thanks to her as well.”

He was obviously very grateful to her, but he couldn’t treat Seo Yoon like before, because he was constantly reminded of her father each time he looked at her.

The only form of communication between them was the occasional glances when he passed some food to her.

“I should just make a sculpture or something.”

Weed gathered some sea water and floated some clouds up into the clear sky.

White clouds and dark clouds.

The sea was the optimum place to familiarize himself with Cloud Sculpting.

It was such a beautiful and mystifying sight, so it would become quite a hot topic when they return back to the Versailles Continent.

Seo Yoon was looking up at the sky.

Weed was sculpting a sculpture very seriously, with the aim of increasing his

Artistic skills, but he ended up creating a surprising sculpture.

He ended up sculpting the scene when they ate some grilled meat at the instructor’s log house.

Considering it was a cloud sculpture, it had to be sculpted fast to include the details, but
Weed’s Handiwork skill was good enough to sculpt something where people were recognizable.

But of course, it was worthless as a sculpture!

Seo Yoon was wearing a mask, so it was hard to tell what kind of an expression she wore, but Weed thought that she was happy, looking at the cloud sculpture.

“The clouds are really floating across the sea well. And the sea products in this area should fetch a high price. I wonder how much I’ll make if I catch loads of giant crabs and sell them on the mainland. If I fish up some fresh red sea-breams and dig up some cockle on the beach…”

The sea was a storehouse for natural resources. Catching and selling off sea products would all be turned into money.

“If only I could speculate at sea like I would on land.”

So, they cut across the sea like that and headed to the Northern part of the continent.

*****

In Morata were some users, feebly dressed in leather armor, were busily walking around.

“Mr Blacksmith, when will the longsword that I ordered be ready?”

“Could you tell me your name?”

“It’s Anchovy Stew.”

“You’re 23rd on the list. I’m afraid you’ll have to wait for around 2 days.”

“Aww, can’t it come out any sooner?”

“Look at all those people who’re waiting.”

The line of customers who were lining up to make a request to the Blacksmith!

This wasn’t the only place. Blacksmiths and Craftsmen were almost crying at the overflowing number of requests.

“Selling Purple Arrows. They’re arrows made with the poisonous plants from the hill near Morata. You better hurry, because there are only 2000 of these.”

“I’m a skilled Magician and I’m looking for a party to join. Please invite me if you’re willing to hunt seriously for around two days. I can grant some magic as well, guaranteed to last for three days.”

“We’re 3 Warriors that will run straight at monsters upon seeing them. If there is anyone who wants to heal us, we can head to the dungeons right away.”

“Selling 80 Swords of Flios. I’ll be selling them at a fixed, clean price of 150 Gold.

Users who want to hunt together are welcomed as well.”

“Need a guide to lead you to the dungeons?”

The vibrancy that was present all over Morata!

People weren’t hesitant in advertising themselves for finding trips, adventures and hunts, or showing their happiness.

After buying and selling some items from the plaza, users formed parties and departed for dungeon crawling or hunting.

“This way.”

Mooooo.

A unique trait around this place would be that it was common to see users dragging along at least 1 calf, even if they were not merchants.

Riding a cow had a greater movement speed than walking, and there was also the convenience of being able to have it carry the luggage.

There were a lot of cases where families played Royal Road together.

“I need to buy my brother a longsword… I suppose I should sell a cow.”

As cows could be sold to secure equipment, it was a necessary commodity for new users.

Some users even posted a thread in forums, titled “How to Grow in Morata”.

Title: Oh, you newbie users of Morata!

My name is DeIlbell, a user who started off from the Central Continent, and finally settled here after gaining a shack.

I’m writing this to inform the newbies of Morata about a few things.

1. Appreciate the Sculptures

- There are sculptures in various places that are created by the lord of Morata, who happens to be a great Sculptor.

- Depending on your profession, seeing the sculptures will be of a great help to you.

- A great fortune that can’t even be found in the Central Continent, really.

- There are fairies that roam around the Tower of Light at the dead of night, and faithful clerics can be found near the Statue of Goddess Freya.

2. Gather Enough Money and Enter the Art Hall

- The Art Hall of Morata that can be only found here, in the entire continent, is a place you must visit. There is nothing else like it.

- The stats that you’ll receive in this Art Hall during your newbie days is a huge help.

- How good is it, that this Art Hall is placed right at your doorstep, when users from across the Versailles Continent have to travel all the way here?

- The entrance fee of 3 Gold is quite a large sum to pay for newbies, but you won’t regret it.

- When you see the artworks, you’ll really start to respect Sculptor or Painter class users and you’ll treat them nicely.

- Don’t forget, the more great works there are in the Art Hall, the more beneficial it is for us.

3. Don’t Go Too Far Away

- Morata is an ever-evolving city that is growing daily.

- There probably isn’t another city in the entire Versailles Continent that is similar to this one.

- But on the down side, there are many undiscovered areas in the Northern Continent despite the continuous parties of Explorers.

- So your chance of survival is slim if you try to wander off too far away from the city without being properly prepared.

- This might be quite a basic fact, but I’ve only written this down because there were so many users who died in hidden places.

4. Stick Close To Your Party Members

- There are many users who are of a similar level to you, here in Morata. Try going on adventures with them while growing.

- you can make many friends and later on, it can be very helpful.

5. Choose Your Profession Freely

- The profession that’s under the spotlight recently is, without a doubt, Elementalist.

- The joy of hunting with obedient Fiery Pebbles and Dirtmen!

- Elementalists’ appearances are attractive and flamboyant.

- But a pooling of professions in Morata is boring.

- The lord of Morata is a Sculptor, is he not?

- Trying out a non-combat oriented profession such as artistic ones or production ones should also be popular.

- Priests of Freya can be said to be the best by everyone.

- Isn’t roaming around the Versailles Continent, with the profession that you really want, what you really desire?

6. Own Your Own House

- It is easy to own a house in Morata.

- Having even a shack would draw your heart closer to this city.

- Houses can be used for resting or storing items, and trees can be planted in the garden.

- Try gathering some Holy Water from the Temple of Freya after completing an adventure and growing a tree. Trees can grow really fast and bear a lot of fruit.

- Not only can those fruits be sold at the marketplace for money, but they carry the blessings from the Goddess Freya, so you can benefit Luck and other effects from them.

7. Gather Some Items That The Civilians Need

- Gathering leather from beasts and monsters from areas around Morata can raise the Friendship Points with your neighbors.

- You might even receive some good items in the process, so it’s a good way to sell them and buy some newbie equipment.

8. Use The Public Order Forces

– The passage is dragging on.

- But this is the most important part of Morata, as well as what I want to inform you about the most.

- I’ve been to many castles and cities in the Central Continent, but this is what really sets Morata apart from any other, along with its artistic advancements.

- I would assume that the lord of Morata has a high Fame stat, thanks to the many challenging quests that he had succeeded in.

- And this city is surrounded by yet-to-be mapped out dungeons and hunting grounds.

- Armed forces of Morata have been continuously cooperating with the Priests of the Church of Freya to maintain order in the surrounding areas through subjugation.

- If you join the expedition team and hunt diligently, your Friendship and Contribution points will rise. Not to mention, it’s an advantageous way of raising stats and experience points.

- Everyone should know that the lord of Morata, Weed, is very friendly with the soldiers and the civilians.

- Coincidences are not that common in the world.

- People who have raised their stats by appreciating the sculptures should know how helpful these built up stat points are.

- We can become like Weed.

9. Let’s Embark On Quests

- A lot of the scattered civilians of the North are gathered in Morata.

- And amongst them are those who have historical antiques or particular stories.

- If you follow their quests, it might lead to different linked quests.

- Let us continue till the end instead of giving up at the start.

- We should enjoy every bit of this Versailles Continent.

- I tried to keep it simple, but I got far too worked up while writing it, and it became so long.

- If you happen to spot Dellbell, wielding a spear in Morata, please do say hello.

It was a post made by a high-leveled ranker who was living inside Morata.

Tens of users who were ranked in the highest percentage of Royal Road were adventuring in Morata.

Dellbell was one of them, and his post had attracted over 7000 comments.

Iche and Eira were Priestess of Morata.

They were part of the Church of Freya, yet they also went on adventures.

Although difficult, even Priests could go on Party Huntings. It was the best profession to be when fighting alongside Holy Knights.

The old Priestess of the Church spoke.

“They say that the Sculptor Weed is a trustworthy person. Word has it that no request is impossible for him.”

The Public Order Forces voiced their opinion.

“The Church of Freya will never cease to thank Weed. He was the one who recovered the lost Holy Treasures of the Church of Freya.”

“You should know that the Sculptor Weed completed another respectful adventure. I’d like to take part in an adventure like that. Or even hearing about his adventure would be nice.”

Civilians who gossiped about Weed were quite common in Morata.

That was because he was the lord, and the requests he completed had a great impact on Morata.

“How special must this Weed be?”

“A fearless, smart man who will never back down.”

The passion for Weed was shared not only by Iche and Eira, but by all female users of Morata.

Chapter 2: The great construction

Weed’s ships were approaching the northern continent by the sea.

Having already sold most of the japtem that the mermaids were interested in, Weed was currently concentrating on his cloud sculpting, raising it’s proficiency.

“The clouds are quite tricky. It’s very hard to define the sculptural theme that I am trying to create and even portraying expressions are not easy...”

Normally he would use large quantities of stone and wood when sculpting to cover up the lacking parts in art, but it didn’t apply to Cloud Sculpting.

Using water he made thousands of cloud sculptures on the ship as they were sailing the High Seas. Weed didn't take any notice of apparent mistakes that obviously stood out because every time the wind blew, the sculptures dispersed and scattered away.

It was a type of sculptural art that could only be used for a brief moment and was a very difficult subject to understand, let alone master.

“I should create some fish. Perhaps I could also create some basic flounder, rockfish, shrimp, crab or even a whale.”

True artwork does not compromise!

He began making random things, raising his cloud sculpting proficiency through grinding.

After he made hundreds of clouds, a mysterious natural phenomena occurred.

The ship had veered towards the bad weather, where white and dark clouds clashed.

It was Weed’s cloud sculptures that moved in the direction of the blowing wind as they mixed with the oncoming storm and the clouds enveloped the sky.

It wasn’t bad weather, however a misty and light rain started to drizzle down on the sea.

"Amazing......"

"This has to be the most beautiful sight in the world."

The rest of the group that had been lazing around rushed to their feet and headed towards the commotion at the bow of the ship.

Though the dark sky, a heavenly light broke through from in between the clouds.

Triling!

You have made a Sculpture of Nature.

Mother Nature’s Marvel, the picturesque scene of light rays falling onto the sea, has been reproduced by a talented sculptor.

Sculpting skill proficiency has improved.

Nature Sculpting skill has increased to Beginner-level 3

Fame increased by 145.

Art stat has increased by 7.

Nature affinity increased by 15.

Wisdom, intellect and luck increased by 3.

All Stats increased by 2.

The light rays that fell down upon the sea looked absolutely majestic.

It was still difficult to produce any cloud sculptures as it required a great amount imagination and focus.

However wonderful light and cloud sculptures are not easy to create.

Mother Nature’s Marvel gave a substantial increase in stats based on the user’s profession.

In Weed’s case this phenomenon increased all of his stats, especially artwork, by a modest amount.

While his friends, that had been watching in awe, realised that they had gained various stat increases. Irene’s Priest class had her Faith increase by a lot, in Romuna’s case being a mage her Wisdom stats increased by 5. For Hwaryeong it was her Charm that increased due to her dancer class. Everyone acquired different stats as they enjoyed the nature sculpture.

"Wow, this is so epic!."

His friends were unable to conceal their surprise.

Weeds face drew a big rotten smile.

“All this from just the beginner level of cloud sculpting.”

When all is said and done all that matters are the results! Yellowy stumbled backwards from astonishment into the living sculpture Griffin.

The ruckus lead the other living sculptures that Weed brought to life at Jigolaths to come out onto the deck of the small ship and see the light that shone brilliantly through the clouds.

Trling!

Living Sculpture’s stat increases.

Even the living sculptures that were created with art were affected just like any other species.

*****

They were approaching land. Their long voyage was finally coming to an end.

The living sculptures quickly got ready while Weed and his friends prepared to disembark.

The fishing rods and cooking tools that were left out were put away with the other luggage and they grabbed their full backpacks.

However the living sculptures that were made after rare and extinct creatures had their own distinct instinct to survive.

They continued to disobey Weed and kept saying that they wanted to leave to breed with their species.

“I want to look for females. I want to bear children. If I go to a far away places I would be able to meet my fellow species.”

“If you were to give us freedom, we want to live and create a family in this large world.”

Strong demands from the Living Sculptures!

They were worried that they were slowly going to die, living their whole pitiful existence alone, without a mate.

These were not just the demands of one or two, nearly a third of the living sculptures that were created in Jigolaths brought up these demands.

"Keheum."

Weed was in a sticky situation.

Originally, from the moment the living sculptures were born, he had to earn their respect and he must be held in high esteem at all times.

But this time, he gave life for too many sculptures at the same time, so it was not easy to rule them by force as he normally does.

They were staring at Weed with sparkling eyes.

They believed that Weed was a benevolent and kind person that will give them permission!

But in Weed’s mind his thoughts were totally different.

“I should have beaten them all.”

If he were to force and hold them up like slaves they might start a rebellion, or they might even escape because of the loneliness.

Managing Living Sculptures was not an easy task.

Because of Weed's high leadership status, Wyverns and Bingryong couldn’t just walk away from him. Yet living sculptures were bound to keep pursuing a free-spirited life due to their strong personalities.

Just as it was in the beginning, when he tried to control an army for the first time it was very difficult as he had to win their trust through doing many chores/jobs for them.

This was the time for sacrifice.

Weed had a difficult time actually dismissing the sculptures that had strong personalities.

"In this broad continent..."

Why are they trying to leave me! There were still a lot of things I needed them to do.

"What you guys desire..."

In life, It isn't possible to live in the world doing things that you want to do, while hoping everything turns out right.

"Life..."

Weeds struggle was to the point to where he wanted to put a nose ring on them, just like on a cow, drag them and make them work.

A sculpture would not expect to gain anything from working for Weed, Furthermore they would need to take a lot of time to find their counterpart and raise a family, so he could not expect them to stay.

“You may go and live your life...”

Tears welled up around Weed’s eyes as those last words escaped his lips.

The Living Sculpture’s sincere heartfelt regret was shown on their faces.

From another owner it would be tears of love, but since it’s from Weed it was evident that it was tears of loss.

"We will be leaving now."

Rare creatures of life left by riding on the giant sea turtle and headed back out to sea.

Even though Weed anxiously watched them leave until they completely disappeared, they did not even leave any gold or compensation behind!

“If we continue at this rate we should arrive in Morata within a day or two.”

Heint got up and he slightly bowed his head muttering under his breath as they neared the shore.

At long last the trip up and down to Jigolaths was finally over.

Even though they did not properly tour Jigolaths, atleast they pioneered new routes.

They had passed through the northern oceans while discovering various hunting grounds, they were able to find safe passages and even though Weed took all the profits that were earned there.

Finally, it was time to depart ways from the devil Weed.

"Heheh. I owe you a lot. Thanks for the fun adventures.”

"In the future, I will be really nice to others players and try to not get into trouble with anyone.”

“Weed, we hope that you do well. We will continue to watch over your adventures.”

"I would live my life like I were to be reborn anew. If you go out to the sea again please call for us.”

Even though the crew started out contracted in a bad way, looking back they visited many places and the overall outcome wasn’t such a bad adventure.

As the 3 mad sharks of Becky Nin politely said their farewells to them, they also replied their goodbyes.

Of course, they did not have the slightest bit of feeling of wanting to come back to Weed when he called.

"Sigh.”

Weed made an exaggerated sigh.

As he received their farewells on land, he felt a bit disdain towards them and he did not know where to start giving them advice.

Weed asked with a scowl.

"Are you sure that you’re not going to harm others and be considerate to others in the future?"

"Of course we will. We will help newbie players and live a fair and honest life.”

Heint slyly rolled his eyes and replied.

He honestly didn't know what was going to happen later on. But right now his feelings were sincere.

Weed had repelled Haven’s entire 2nd royal fleet, Heint would never forget the memories of fighting with pirates and the naval army.

They did not know that they were aired and became enormously popular.

During the events between the Haven Kingdom’s warriors and the pirates, it was as if a key had unlocked something inside themselves and they felt exhilarated.

They got fed up with minor thieving.

They wanted to travel through the seas with their own strength. As they returned from the far seas in Jigolath, their grand aspirations rose.

Weed thought it was silly as he shook his head.

"You don’t need to live a kind and stuffy life.”

"Huh?"

"Its a total waste. Receiving praise from being good has no benefits. Being vicious, mean, cowardly and shameless will make you grow faster than others.”

"Ooooh, that’s true!"

This is the absolute truth of the God of War Weed!

"Always try. Don't lose any of your things and make sure to take dibs first on your enemy’s things. Don’t state that its not yours from the beginning. If you get a bit greedy a chance might appear. And always try to settle affairs.”

Weed and the 3 mad sharks of Becky nin were in fact the same type of people.

"This asshole."

"He is a normal asshole that we have real admiration and respect for.”

"If I tried hard would I be as successful as this asshole?"

This was not profanity but he was an asshole who had their respect.

To the people with villainous dreams, he is an existence that people have admiration towards.

"Well, it’s time for us to go."

"Take care now. Make sure to pick up money off the ground.”

Becky Nin's three crazy sharks once again bid farewell to Weed’s party.

"So this is how we part ways.”

When Bellot said her farewells, Heint got sad.

Even though he got entangled with them through meeting Bellot at the bar, he had lived through tough times in the rough seas, as he looked at her, a rush of courage rose swept over him. He forgot the resentment he had towards her in his heart, The thought of never seeing her again drove him forward.

Heint nervously gulped as he asked.

"Bellot, If you don't mind I would like to register you as a friend?"

It was an spontaneous friend request.

Bellot hesitated for awhile and nodded her head.

"Yeah, it's okay."

"I will contact you later on."

Heint was delighted beyond measures and he exchanged his farewells with the others.

As Fractal and Bodomir watched the scene gawking, they had the same thought, they couldn’t leave without talking to Hwaryeong.

"I fell in love with your beauty at first sight, Hwaryeong. I just couldn’t tell you how crazy I was about you, but if you would give me the opportunity, I'd like to show you a manlier side of myself. Please register me as a friend."

"Please register me as a friend too Hwaryeong. You are the most beautiful person I ever seen in all my life."

Pale, Irene, Surka and Romuna looked at the two sympathetically.

They didn’t know the fact that Hwaryeong liked Weed!

"They will probably get dumped pathetically.”

"I’m Sorry. Hwaryeong get’s pretty picky if she doesn’t like the person.”

But Hwaryeong readily nods her head.

"I'm honored to travel with wonderful people. I’ll register you as a friend.”

Fractal and Bodomir silently cheered and this was how the party separated with the Becky nin’s 3 mad sharks.

They decided to take and leave with the three ships that they rode in since Jigolaths. They didn’t have any money so they bought it with small amount of their valuable good equipments.

If Weed wanted to trade the ships, he needed to take it to the port, making him spend great amount of time and he needed to dispose of them quickly.

If the 3 mad sharks returned back to Becky nin and sold it, they could salvage something out of it.

The ship they were riding disappeared into the fog.

Bellot asked Hwaryeong about what had transpired.

"Why did you accept their friend request?”

"Its awkward and embarrassing to reject in front of everyone. After I accept them I just delete it later."

"I do that too.”

The two are quite popular so they get a lot of friend request. They usually tell them their numbers and later change their numbers or blocked their calls.

"We are almost there now."

Weed rode on Yellowy while the rest rode on other living sculptures and Morata was just beyond the next hill.

The streets were busy with Merchants traveling back and forth, and groups of shabby clothed newbies were energetically walking together.

They were finally back in Weed’s city.

"Since childhood I raised a puppy in my house so i’ve always liked dogs. Cerberus, I will give you a bath in the stream later.”

Surka thought it was a cute dog and patted its head while riding on the three headed dog.

Living sculpture Cerberus, ‘The Gatekeeper of Hell’ felt like a dog to her!

It wasn’t as bad as Weed, they traveled to many places hunting monsters and they were not frightened by them. On the way back riding the boat, horribly looking frogman holding a spear attacked them and they were not even intimidated.

"Monsters are food, items and experience!"

Thanks to Weed facing such monsters, they were natural to this party now.

Cerberus wagged his tail and acted charmingly. Its tongue even licked Surka’s hand.

It was a spitting image of a large dog, if a battle broke out, no one knew how its temperament might change.

As they traveled to Morata, after a long time they wanted to eat meat so at times they played hunting games.

As Cerberus sniffed the ground, it jumped into the bushes and in under two minutes it came back with a wild boar in its jaws. At that moment Weed gave it a name.

“You are going to be named Hunting Dog.”

He just gave a name that randomly came to mind! But his friends couldn’t stand by for such atrocities in naming.

"What the hell is that? You’re giving it such an ambiguous name.”

"It resembles a Cerberus. Name it Cerberus."

Bellot and Romuna protested, but Weed did not listen.

"No, I don’t want too.”

"Why? What is the reason you don’t want to give it the name Cerberus?"

"Because it’s annoying to call it that."

To him, dogs were just dog meat and when summer arrived, their loyalty could decrease.

Because it’s an hunting dog it was perfect to just call it Hunting Dog!

Nevertheless his friends called it by the name, and it wagged its tail hard stating that it liked it. Eventually it was named Cerberus.

Weed gave the other Living Sculptures their names during the middle of the night.

"Let’s call you Countryside Snake."

The elegant snake with dozens of patterns was given a name called Countryside.

"Let’s call you Worm."

Death Worm. When it digs into the ground, its body can become a colossal monster that can grow up to 200 meters.

When it was given life in Jigolath its size was only about 1 meter.

As it consumed food, it grew up to 8 meters. While fishing, Zephyr wanted to use it for bait, but now it was so big that it could even swallow a whale.

So far, Death Worm was a monster that has never been caught before.

"Should I call you Dolsoe?”

He was about to give the knight the name Dolsoe but he asked for its opinion.

“Knights are detached and have a strong sense of pride, if I give just any name, the knight will ask for his freedom and might possibly leave.”

The knight directly gave his own name.

"I would like my name to be Silver BlackSun."

"And the reason?"

“This is for the remembrance of the creator who created me.”

Loyalty is strong, it was a name that he would not be indebted to the sculptor.

"Alright. Silver. I look forward to working with you."

For the sculptures that were tagging along, he gave them any names.

From the time the living sculptures landed, they hunted together in the forest with the Wyverns separately. The Fire Giant who left Jigolath first riding on the Phoenix and Bingryong arrived before them and were hunting together at the large forest.

"As the living sculptures become stronger, I can make them do a lot of things and make a lot of money!"

Weed had arrived back to Morata.

The Tower of Light on the eastern mountain, a wide lake with the Statue of Goddess of Freya, and the Grand Art Center in city.

Players were crowding the streets everywhere.

In the past, in front of the giant black castle was where the vampires once lived. There once were collapsed buildings of a humble village. But now there are brick roads, sidewalks and residential areas are built.

"Let’s quickly go. If we are late there’s going to be too many people.”

"We will be returning in the evening right?"

"Yeah. The Tower of Light light show will begin.”

The finalized parties for hunting and adventuring rode on cows as they headed towards the nearby dungeons.

The people who passed by the hills on the road saw the formation of the tightly formed shantytowns.

As Weed looked at the shantytown, he felt like he returned home.

"There are quite a bit of increase in people and homes.”

In the 5 squares, the people were doing business and selling japtems.

The increase of the number of players since Weed left could be easily seen.

He knew that Royal Road’s bulletin board and various broadcasts from KMC and other stations helped Morata grew. To him, it felt like the increase of players was only a matter of time.

It even became difficult to remember the humble village that it once was and the stores grew larger about four to five times their original size.

Mapan explained it from his side.

"Because of the war in the Central continent, the city got a huge influx of newbie players. In Royal Road, a survey for newbie players about their most wanted place to start in showed that Morata is the favorite one.”

From the newbie’s point of view, the war over the Central Continent was shrouded in chaos, So they choose Morata over the other Kingdoms from the Central Continent.

Weed walked with his group to the gates, the newbies that were hunting foxes and rabbit stopped what they were doing. Their eyes became enlarged as they saw the group enter.

"That guy... No way, isn’t that bull Yellowy?"

Rather than knowing the major level players, they instantly recognised the famous muscular cow Yellowy!

Weed was not in Lich or Orc appearance but in his casual appearance even so he was caught out by the gate guards.

"It’s the Lord! Morata's lord is back!"

Newbie players gathered around and rumors spread throughout the squares. Merchants put away their business, dancers, bards and the architects that helped build Morata gathered, sculptor and painters converged around Weed too! Ten percent of the people that were gathered there were players that have been staying in Morata, and Weed did not have enough room to step around.

Players gathered around him just like when they would welcome back a hero.

"Weed, we want to hear your thoughts on what happened in Jigolath!"

"Tells us the story about the feud with the Hermes Guild!”

Weed's popularity far exceed that of a cult leader, even though they watched it in a broadcast they all wanted to hear directly from the source.

"Everyone is waiting for me to speak."

Weed thought for a quick second and used his Lion's Roar.

"I went! I fought! I earned!"

It was like the time when the Embinyu Church was beaten and an artificial form of alliance was created!

Among Morata players, Weed’s phrases were very famous.

Players shouted their congrats, as their hype died a little, he shouted with the Lion's Roar once again.

"I went! I fought! I earned so much money!

“Woooooahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!“

It was the peak of the frenzy and jubilation.

There were thousands of players congratulating his victory and the success of his quest success.

They wanted to become friendly with Weed. It was because they wanted to join in on his exciting adventures.

Weed withdrew himself into the lord’s residential office and begun his most important tasks.

Counting money!

“If I add up the money made from Jigolaths, trade with the Mermaids and the selling of the quest I have 249,720 gold, 35 silver and 14 copper.”

Even though his income was savory, it was poor in the comparison with the the effort he had to make when he went around as a necromancer for a few months in Jigolaths. It was difficult because he was hunting and mining to obtain minerals to make equipments to sell.

He wouldn't sell the Moon rocks and Malachite that he possessed because using valuable materials increases the quality of the sculptures and sculpting experience so while the minerals were processed, It was an excellent choice to stock up on medicine that he had used.

In Weed’s case using his sculpting skill he can make something simple and etch intricate details on it to make it worth more.

Perhaps a bowl or a ceramic would suffice, because of his high handicraft skill there would be some decent ones that came out.

If there was any Moon rock material leftover, he could make accessories to sell, making a savory profit margin.

"I wonder how much Morata has changed. Regional Status Window!"

Triling!

Region of Morata

This region once belonged to the Niflheim Empire.

Currently under the rule of Morata’s Count Weed.

Morata has become the representative city that showcases the best in the North, becoming the center for arts, trades and adventures.

New specialty and art products have been made, performances have attracted people to Morata’s thriving culture.

As there are a lot of young workforce, engineers start to concentrate in the northern areas.

A wide range of various weapons are being manufactured, a call for business for housing has risen.

Military Force

91

Economic Power

1737

Culture

2261

Technology

592

Religious Influence

82

Regional Politics

63

Influence on Nearby Areas

59%

Influence from the past Niflheim Empire

7.1%

(Influence is deeply rooted to the military, economics, culture, technology, religion, population, quests etc.)

City Development Rate

171

Hygiene

37

Public Order

52%

The increase of northern migrants settling in Morata has deteriorated Morata's public security.

The population of Morata Village has expanded.

In the areas near the high seas, political, economic and cultural influences are exercised.

The people are happy due to the festival that occurred recently after a long time.

The residents have a great amount of pride due to the famous God of War Weed. They have a strong belief in their lord, they do not believe in the recent rumors about their lord doing bad things.

Even though the lord is often away, they understand that he does many things for the Versailles Continent.

There are no disquieting action taking place right now.

There are only a small amount of monsters in the surroundings that the army can keep in check. Talented cadets don’t want to train and are playing around.

Famous sculptures are making people happy.

Illustration pieces are highly increasing.

An endless confidence and abundant support of culture is being the major driving forces of development.

A concentrated amount of Morata’s art is spread throughout the Art centre, many of Morata’s new products that are made are in its possession.

The Art centre’s fees have made great financial gains for the village.

As the residents enjoys their culture and improve chances of children being born with higher intelligence and cleverness.

There are many smart kids that will dream of their future in being a merchant or magician.
Morata’s past specialty in the sewing industry, has meant that the Morata’s sewing skill is continuously improving with a larger variety of clothing being produced.

Seamstress is using leather and cloth to make a abundance of clothes.

Blacksmiths are still learning to treat iron. The materials are used sparingly when creating weapons for the city’s defence.

The district’s faith has increased their belief in Freya.

By turning the barren land fertile, they are developing the granary.

This year’s crops are plentiful.

Aurephen Empire’s special grain warehouse permits businesses to maintain cheap prices to the people.

A harvest festival occurred because of excellent quality of grain harvested.

In recent years Lugh’s Order has been regularly doing missionary work, but the resident’s faiths has been slowly taking hold.

Under the proper and abundant influence of the Freya Order, their hardworking features can be seen. But the deterioration of public order means that thieves have been causing trouble around the town.

Specialties: Arts, leather and fabric, tomatoes, grapes, rice, cow, milk, cheese, wine.

Total Population

491,898

Monthly Tax Income

574,006 Gold

Village Operating Expenses

Military

4%

Economy

34%

Culture

16%

Quests and Monster Hunts

10%

Village Repairs

30%

Offering to the Church of Freya

6%

“Keuheuheu”

A satisfied grin formed on Weed’s face.

During the time he was away at Jigolaths, tax income had increased significantly due to the increase in population!

In addition to the northern migrants that were roving around, there is an exponential increase in newbies.

“I really am a good judge of what inherent qualities something possesses.”

A good lord that knows how to gather large amount of population!

While the lord was away, houses and commercial buildings were built.

This is why setting up zones was very important. If it was left alone to do whatever they wanted, complex roads would have to be built, making movement for carriages difficult. But Weed, in advance, made several plazas and expanded the following areas around the main roads, keeping the side effects to a minimal.

In the city, Weed lived in a nice neighborhood. It was not in a city where he lived in an apartment that looked over Han River with a lake and a park. The city was spread out like a checkerboard and one can see off into the distance mountains.

In short, it was like living in his town!

In the early evening, the fire lights turned on brightly, he could see the night view of the city.

In the morning, as he ran through a long alleyways set with fog, as he delivered newspapers.

In the middle of winter, it was very difficult and dangerous to travel on the hilly streets.

Based on the experience he had gained through living in the hilly area, it was easier for him to grow and plan his city to make it better.

The placement of commercial area in the center with parks, plaza and residential areas surrounding it.

Later on private residential areas were made near the river.

Of course right now it was filled with the shantytown, but it wasn’t a big problem.

Weed was not aiming for the high level nor medium level but a lord that thought about the newbies.

“Newbies need to buy houses. So I can tax them later!”

In the beginning the newbie players will be satisfied with the shacks, as they level up more and have more money they will be interested in luxury houses. They will fall in love with their house in Morata and they will pay more taxes.

Weed did not think that the shantytown looked hideous.

The shantytown buildings next to the great sculpture looked charming.

“This is all for tax!”

Trilling!

Morata’s cultural development are enhancing the region's capabilities.

Morata’s cultural propagation.

Morata has become a flourishing cultural area due to the influence of its art, because of its abundant art and technology, trading between different races or monsters is now possible. If you make them a little smarter, it will ease their aggressive side.

If you teach them language and numbers, trade will be possible, humans and other tribes will become intimate.

Degrees, culture and art, the technique for warriors or any related fields with intermediate skills, in some cases knowledge, wisdom and language skills will be sought after.

Due to improved cultural development one can now construct grand architectures.

Construction for unique buildings can be started, the result will depend on the skill levels or ability of the architect or architects working on it.

The main architect of a great architectural building will receive high cultural value and possibly a promotion in their job field.

A cultural job that can thrive without the need of a warrior is a very good job.

If there is an increase in the amount of the tribes that can trade, they can trade for the development and technology. Commercial goods will also increase.

There is a definite possibility that job specific Quests can have variety of benefits.
In the future, cultural jobs will eventually be the best job to have.

Weed decided to begin the jobs that he had earlier decided to put off.

“Later, I should be able to raise taxes by three gold.”

He looked forward to raising taxes even more than hearing about the increase of newbie players.

As he waited patiently, enduring the short term tax break so that later, he could truly enjoy reaping the greater benefits by exploitation!

As thing stand, the Art Center fee, tax, trade tariffs and the property tax for houses is miserably low when compared to the Central Continent kingdoms.

“Lord’s Mode”

Monitoring the screen through internal affairs mode

Military Force

91

Economic Power

1737

Culture

2384

Technology

592

Hygiene

37

Public Order

52%

Own Funds

1,202,890 Gold

Corruption

11

City Development Rate

171

Function available to the Lord who rules over Morata.

‘Internal affairs mode’ Was designed to handle small scale things within a village, for example if residents needed infrastructure or goods such as pubs or cows he can build them and even establish necessary guilds.

In the early stages, the development the village needs to be watched over by the lord, now that Morata has become a big city. Architects are designing and building places that Weed would have otherwise had to build himself, the size of the city is increasing exponentially.

It’s difficult to make larger profit margins on buildings such as bars, restaurants, inns and grocery stores because of the competition in keeping prices down between players.

Up until now, Buildings could be built and make money as they would give a good return on investment, Presently the city of Morata the trade hub of the north and had a huge number of newbie merchants gathered there. Right now, rather than operating inns and bars, it was time to expanding mines and increase taxes in trading.

“But still, there are a lot of things that needs to be developed first.”

Weed was going to invest all his money into Morata.

The Art hall fee’s had generated a huge 210 thousand gold. Including his 1.7 million gold, Weed had accumulated a huge sum of money!

Weed first used his money on minor things.

“It seems that I need to plants some trees on the side of the road.”

Weed was being environmental friendly!

It didn’t seem to be a bad idea to plant trees as he was learning more about Nature Sculpting.

If there were players with a Landscape Architecture profession in Morata, they could nurture the trees on the side of the road and gain experience that way, although such professions were very rare.

He invested 1,298 gold to plant trees!

“Trees need to grow diligently.”

He sprinkled cheap seeds on the side of the streets.

Apple trees, pear trees, grape vines and peach trees, he only picked trees that bear fruit!

Because the seeds were blessed by the Freya Order, the moment the scattered seeds hit the soil, it began to take roots and quickly grew.

Weed quickly made some orchards along the streets!

“I feel proud doing good deeds!”

Weed was satisfied on his contribution to the environment.

Since he became the lord, he aggressively invested in the agricultural area to make sure no one went hungry, as a result, Morata had a vast amount of food.

Together, Morata’s farmers and the Freya Order began to clearing the land, planting, growing and harvesting a variety of food such as strawberries, tomato, rice, wheat and sweet potatoes.

It was too far away and expensive to import food from the Central Continent in the other parts of the northern areas, due to monsters ambushing remote towns it was difficult to farm.

The farmers that gathered in Morata, celebrated a harvest festival with their crops.

The northern warriors also gathered to celebrate the festival.

Chefs would cook all kinds of delicacies that could be enjoyed, also the farmers competed against one another for the best crops.

If a harvest festival occurs, the city and surrounding villages will have an exponential increase in birth rate. Food production in Versailles Continent has a close connection to the birth rate, in turn it brings public trust and brings intimate connection between people.

Because it is rich in food production, Morata’s economy grew in size, and to some extent the security was able to safeguard it. Any crop failure due to drought or flood would produce a failure of crops and shortage of food, more people would slip into poverty and become homeless resulting in a decline in Morata’s public security.

“I should start making buildings now.”

Weed no longer bothered with minor buildings.

“Finally, I can start construction a great architecture…”

Creating a magnificent and striking architecture!

At the lord’s request, all the residents and the players will work together to build it.

It was bigger and grander than regular buildings, in fact many people with the architect profession have to come together to build it.

If you looked around in reality there are Parthenon, Chartres Cathedral, Notre Dame and the Lighthouse of Alexandria!

A huge structure can be built at the Lord’s command.

Construction funds were even directed to the astronomical construction, the construction period of a grand scale project is at least a couple of months, and because of that the Central Continent lords did not attempt to make them.

“Let’s decide what to start constructing.”

Even though Weed is a newbie in creating buildings, he could now create great buildings and he didn’t waste any time since he had enough funds to start.

“Even if its ambitious I'm going to see this through till the end.”

As he built and destroyed all the ice sculptures, he had many disappointments!

If someone waited for the perfect time for preparation one would not be able to do anything.

For some reason, if someones mind is concerned with failure then they could change their mind.

If he wanted to make it, it was better to do it sooner rather than later. Even if it’s rough and unrefined, it is best to make it now.

It would not make sense if the promise was to do it later!

“I need to put more effort into this now.”

There was little that Weed could do during the process of making monumental structures, so he had no choice but to leave it to the players.

To experience failures through trial and errors it can potentially become a great success.

“It’s not gonna be a failure anyway.”

As the lord, he had confidence in the players and the residents.

“If they fail, I am going to just raise the taxes.”

Weed had a strong desire to raise taxes!

He picked out two buildings that he wanted to make first.

Freya’s Cathedral!

And a vast Library for Morata!

Once the Freya’s Cathedral is completed, Freya Order of Paladins and Priests could formally take the 2nd tier job advancement.

They would not need travel far away to the Central Continent in order to do that.

“I can not send them away. They could even get a contract and be assigned there.”

There is a saying that if you let someone step outside, They may come back with a change of mind.

In addition the cathedral also had the added effect of enhancing the abilities of the Priest and Paladin classes.

The order can use the cathedral to keep cherished and sacred holy items. Also the building has other benefits as well.

The Freya’s Cathedral in the Central Continent empowered the people’s faith and prosperity.

Farmers can pray at the cathedral to bless the surrounding area to ensure good crops and a better harvest, The cathedral could also be a powerful deterrent for the invasion of monsters by using the stationed paladins of the order.

Even towns or castles sometimes held one or two libraries. The development of knowledge is quintessential for any city, It could even help in the development of magical classes.

When a request(quest) is in progress one would need to go to the Versailles Continent to research, even though it was even possible to find private monster’s stories out in the field.

But Weed was going to build a vast library!

In an hunting adventures, when get the Quest, there may be a clue on a phrase or a piece of paper, books, vases and other pebbles and a map and find most of time.

These important items that involved them compared to their true value were quite precious, and majority of these items could be found cheaply in the general stores.

It was for building a vast library for the Versailles Continent books, the books could be displayed and can give clues about different hunts.

As people got a lead on their quests, the experience is shared equally with the original owner of the book. The region, the year and the different rank level of difficulty could be easily categorized.

There can be up to ten clues in five different case needs to be combined!

In the Northern Continent, many different unexplored areas were still has a lot of different monsters lurking around the frontiers hidden. In all other unexplored areas the areas surrounding could be safely explored. Building the vast library would unlock various quests on finding artifacts, and a great boom of hunting and adventures would happen.

In the Central Continents kingdoms, there were only a few cities that have a vast library.

“This should also raise the housing prices.”

A tax increase is his ultimate goal!

“Construction of Freya’s Cathedral and the Morata vast library!”

In Internal Affairs Mode, he built it next to the the Light square and the Bingryong square.

Instead in the plaza he built it on a vast land.

Triling!

Freya Northern Order’s part of the Cathedral!

If the Cathedral was successfully built, the former ministry over the Goddess Freya followers would greatly increase.

Architecture cost: at least 900 thousand gold.

Construction period is at least 5 months.

Depending on the personnel, if there an accident occurs during the construction, it will increase the construction’s building period.

Skilled builders are needed. Architects that participate in making it will be able to gain special experiences.

A large number of artists and sculptors needs to be mobilized.

Participants who worked with art will be able to have an increase in opportunities for their names to be known.

Great Architecture!

Would you like to begin commencement of Freya’s Cathedral?

“Start.”

By the Lord’s command the construction of the Freya’s Cathedral construction begins.

This was the first huge investment in nearly two months for Morata.

It didn’t matter about the decision of the lord, if the resident and the players did not go through with the plan, the architecture would take a long time to complete or it would not be built at all.

The lord needs to have a foundation of confidence and support!

In Central Continent there are no trust between the residents and the players, because the lords only built things to help themselves and for their own image.

Morata’s Library!

It will promote the development of learning and adventuring.

There is a possibility of restoring lost magic spells.

It can aid quests related in large amounts of relics and antique books, gathering up vast amounts of works of arts it can help build the continent museum.

Architecture cost: At least 700 thousand gold.

Construction period is at least 5 months.

Depending on the personnel, if there is an accident during construction it will increase the construction’s building period.

Skilled builders are needed. Architects that participate in making it will be able to gain special experiences.

Great Architecture!

Would you like to begin commencement of the Morata’s Library?

“Hurry up and just build it.”

By the Lord’s command the construction of the Morata Library begins.

Depending on the amount of players that will participate, the precise results would not be known in just one day.

Weed built simple buildings with the rest of his money.

There were five guard post on duty.

If they patrolled around a bit they could catch thieves. Security was required to build these buildings. If there was a sharp decline in security, the loyalty of the residents would drop and thieves would steal bit by bit the merchant’s items. If the security deteriorated, traders would wind up, avoiding the city.

Weed deployed plenty of security posts around the plaza and the shantytowns.

He also established a simple soup kitchen.

Every month, the operating cost for ingredients was formidable.

Money was needed for social service business!

“Hmm.”

Weed bit his lips to the point where his health dropped.

For high level players, they did not agonize over what they were going to eat.

The joy of traveling as they went around all over Versailles Continent to look for all sorts of tasty restaurants!

However during the time of being a newbie they are struggling to keep up with their equipment, so they often did not eat properly. Weed even ate barks and raspberries, but this did not always managed to maintain his sense of fullness.

He even became friendly with the training hall instructor by flattery just to get something to eat.

“During difficult times, I should help so that it stays in their memory forever.”

Just having the soup kitchen presence alone increased a lot the loyalty of the people. In Morata he wanted to at least prepare a minimal welfare system.

“All I need to give is food! Then they might work harder to give me back through taxes.”

The players needed to eat and grow well so that later he would be able to tax them regularly.

Welfare was also essential for economic growth.

"By the lord’s command, the great architecture Freya’s Cathedral is being built. Participating residents will get a daily wage and city public service points will be granted."

"By the Lord’s command, a job for building a great library for Morata has been launched. Participating residents will get a daily wage and public service points will be granted."

Merchants doing business in the squares whispered to one another.

“What is this Cathedral of Freya?”

“What is the lord building this time?”

While the merchants were talking they exchanged information.

Mapan was also conducting business in the square. He purchased vast amounts of weapons from the players and the residents and sold it to other northern towns.

Mapan explained the information from the bulletin to the people around it.

“The great architectural constructions need skill, art, culture and requires certain conditions to be built. It is quite a formidable large project.”

As a trader that was over level 300, he had traded in many places for goods and knew about a lot of things.

“The great architecture cost a lot of money and needs tens of thousands of manpower to do the work. It is something that can not be easily done.”

When Mapan explained, the merchants who came from the Central Continent nodded their heads from understanding.

“Ah. So that was it. I heard about it but isn’t it still premature to build it in Morata?”

“For Morata to be the center of trade for the North that brings a lot of money, I think it’s still to early for it.”

The merchants, for their trades, had traveled to many different kingdoms and villages.

As they traveled to many places they had never seen any amazing piece of architecture done by the lord’s instructions except here.

Doing the construction takes a few months and a lot of money was needed.

“The Cathedral and the Vast Library. Just doing one is very difficult but to build both, the lord is very greedy.”

“Just because he’s a lord, he needs to understand that everything will not just go his way. It is completely different than just hunting high level monster, getting quests, or getting a piece of land.”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

Central Continent’s merchants were mocking at him this time.

The players in the Bingryong Square that were looking for parties to go hunting suddenly stopped shouting. They all came to an agreement.

“Let’s go do the hunting next time.”

“If there is time to do the quest let’s do it later.”

“Alright guys thanks.”

The players all ran towards the site of the construction of the Cathedral and the Vast Library.

“Come on, let’s Go!

“Let’s get to work. Work.”

“It’s the construction project.”

“I’m going to do it first.”

The enlisted men looked at the guide and started digging, they also went to the Lord’s warehouse to get supplies. The players were moving like an mobilized army.

“Let’s go cut some trees.”

“Wooooow!”

The merchants experienced something that doesn’t happen often.

Axes and many other items ended up selling out in a flash.

Players flocked through the merchants stalls buying up axes.

Hand axes and anything that was appropriate to cut down trees were sold quickly.

Players who purchased axes sprinted towards the nearby woods.

“Let’s go gather a lot of trees!”

Going deep into the forests in the mountains, they could find good trees that could be used for building materials.

They removed the branches and hauled it back whole.

There were six people hauling one tree back to Morata.

Merchants that were selling nails, hammers, saw and any necessary things were quickly without merchandise.

Pavo heard the news and quickly came running over.

Since the construction of the Art Center, his name was well known as the best architect in the north and he was overseeing many construction sites.

He built villas, roads and bridges that connected to another town!

As he heard the news from his friend in Morata, he quickly ran over.

“Is this the workplace?”

Pavo and the 35 other architectures that worked together with him checked around the scene.

An estimate of more than 500 people were digging holes with spades.

The ground was flat, so digging was done in an instant.

“The foundation is pretty good!”

“Upon completion, it will overlook the surrounding area. Let’s start working right away.”

The architects got together and immediately started the design work.

For them, building a Cathedral and a Vast Library was a golden opportunity!

Architects order’s were the law in the construction site.

The general players were not the only ones that committed to the construction site.

“This is our lord’s command.”

“Let’s go build the library!”

Even Morata’s resident’s came out of their homes and started to carry dirts and stones.

“Gather together and build the Cathedral using art!”

Many Sculptors who were sitting down on the ground and painters who were painting on the walls all ran towards them.

After the Morata Art hall was constructed, they made a considerable amount of money.

In the Cathedral or the Vast Library, they would need a lot of artwork.

By default there would be decorations of artwork praising the Goddess Freya!

Walls, ceiling, floor sculptures and painting that are ranging with different art of their own desires!

In Morata different kind of art were mobilized.

“It is Weed’s large request.”

“Come and attend. You will be able to eat grass porridge.”

Morata is well known for the Largest group called Grass porridge.

Vast majority was made of newbies, but they all have an extraordinary bond.

It was created by the girl named Lemon, who carried stones to build the Rosenheim Kingdoms Pyramid, and the many players in Morata that worked together with Weed.

They even help to move stones to create the lake of the Statue of Goddess Freya.

They were able to get a lot of public value with the villagers giving them closer intimacy, this allowed them to get a lot of quests, which made life more enjoyable at Morata.

Morata’s performance will be different compared to other towns when this is done.

Even though the city was poor and insufficient, with the players and the residents working together hand in hand, it was possible to quickly drew up a plan and to build it.

A large construction project that has been mobilized and the players with warrior classes waited impatiently for Weed to make it!

Even after the clamouring ended, just in case, the players hanged around excitedly, waiting for Weed to start cooking.

“We have a job!”

“Let’s go to work.”

When the construction began, in the distance, the players hurriedly ran towards the construction site yelling in excitement.

“Weed set up a soup kitchen!”

“Woooooooooow!”

*****

The day Weed arrived back at Morata it became a big festival.

After a long time, he came back from his travels, they voluntarily brought things to the lord, because the people’s level of loyalty and intimacy were high.

“I brought fruit for the Lord.”

The fruit merchant brought actual apples, pears and pomegranate.

“I would like to give you this Sword to you, Lord. If a monster invades please use it to protect Morata.”

35 points were gained with the weapon store owner who gave him a long sword.

As the migrants wandered aimlessly around the north, they had finally settled down and delivered their thanks to the Lord.

Weed held on to their warm hands.

“You don’t have to do this...I am just a person who live in Morata. But I shall make Morata an even better place and be the first to do it. Thank you. I will not forget this.”

He did not refuse the items.

He shook his hand because it encourages the man to work even harder in the future.

He had learnt this method on TV by watching the politicians shake their hands with the warriors!

"If there's anything you need, please tell me at any time. You can tell me now, we are like a family.”

“There are a lot of people here who need weapons but I am in short supply of iron.”

The blacksmith that was wearing two piece of armor that requires level 150 asked him.

Trilling!

The Blacksmith is urgently in need of iron ore.

In the mountains surrounding Morata, there are unexplored mines that have iron ores. Due to the threat of monsters, the mining will not be easy.

The blacksmith named Salloam has received too many orders and is afraid he will not be able to fulfil them all. You have 13 days to get the required amount of ore.

Level: D

Quest restriction: need to have mining skill

Occurrence of a quest!

As Weed came back to Morata, he went to the River of Despair through a mobile portal.

It was a quest that was related to the Matallost Order, and he had one spare quest space, so he took on the Blacksmith Request.

“But my Lord, you are very busy and famous, and it is not something you should worry about.”

As his fame was high, it was a quest that did not have any penalties.

If there were such quests stories, there were always an exception.

“What are you talking about? If there is such a job, the Lord will definitely help you out.”

You have accepted the quest

Weed from his knapsack took out iron ore and gave it to him.

“Here you go.”

“Thank you very much Lord. With this I am able to get through the orders.”

“I had made preparation on iron ore in case of something like this happened, and it's a relief that I have some.”

“I know this isn’t much but I’ll go home and bring you an armor that I have made.”

A Blacksmith that was in a urgent need of Iron Ore is completed.

Salloam was able to obtain very quickly the Iron Ore that he needed.

You have acquired a little bit of experience.

Fame increase by 13.

There is an increase in the loyalty of the residents.

In the achievement of the Lord quest, an additional compensation is given: a suit of armor.

The farmers also came and told him about their problems.

“My Lord, I know this is a difficult request, I heard stories that you have came back from Jigolaths. I heard there is something like a Sol Reaper flower there. I would like to try planting some of it, would it be possible for me to acquire some? Later, when it grows, I will pay you back.”

“I have it, so I’ll give it to you.”

Weed kept analyzing through the bullet board for information on Morata’s quests. Even though it was a common quest, he was able to receive good intimacy and fame in compensation.

For someone like Weed, who has high fame, it was a rare sight to see him do small quests. If he wanted to receive more loyalty from his people, he needed to do these kind of quests.

Even though he was a lord, the additional compensation in loyalty was small, but it was still a savory quest.

Items from other residents, japtems gotten in Jigolaths, and fishing while sailing, permitted him to acquire foreign goods. Due to these items, he was able to complete quests on the spot..

While he went on adventure through the unknown land, the quest so far that has not been completed in Morata were quickly resolved by him.

If there was a chain quest, even if Weed did not go further with the quest, other players were able to finish it.

“I am trying to turn a barren land fertile but I am in need some money. Would you be able to invest in me?”

He even proceeded with the quests where the crop could be shared with the Lord.

He immediately achieved the quest by giving them money, only during harvest the result could be seen for the crops.

“I need you to do your best so that the people of Morata will be able to have food to eat.”

Weed even welcomed those quests.

The farming was very likely to succeed because Freya’s Order resided in Morata.

There wasn’t any monsters that came and devastated the area, thanks to the player increase, the damaged has receded.

“Thank you very much. I will never forget your kindness, belief you gave me, and the money you have invested in me Lord.”

The resident’s in Morata has increased in loyalty to the lord.

Weed who acquires quests through people trust!

For a long time the Lord has not taken his position, there were a lot of quests related to the Lord.

“I feel uneasy during the night because of no security. Would you be able to invest in a little bit of security?”

“At night we will catch the thieves, and I will increase the number of soldiers.”

Weed stationed lookouts and guards around the buildings, this was also a part of a quest.

As he broke apart from the party, he did his quests that were back up and it soon became night.

As it became night, the Lord’s castle venue that looked over the city was brightly lit with fire.

When Weed came back, a festival stated, stating that the lord was back, enormous amount of players came to town.

The players that were scattered through the nearby hunting grounds also came back to enjoy the festival.

A large scale performance began, he could hear the amused audience laughing.

“It’s not such a bad thing seeing people happy.”

Protecting the residents, city construction, economic, quests and a lord that has absolute authority in military.

After he came back to Morata, he really felt like he was ruling the land.

“This is all mine.”

Chapter 3: Teuresec’s Horn that signals Victory

The festival took place near the statues, the squares, and the Tower of Light.

Newbie elemental shamans were running around dragging their contracted Dirt men, Fiery Pebbles, Wind spirits, and Water spirits.

“The water spirits are performing right now. Anybody who wants to be doused with refreshing water please come and join us.”

“Musicians who can only be found in Morata are performing! They will start in 10 minutes.”

The streets were filled with musicians and dancers performing together.

The Merchants’ businesses were thriving, and even the players that came back from their hunt opened stalls and were selling their Japtem.

Hwaryeong and Bellot chewed on sweet grass as they toured the festival.

They could have become very popular if they performed together as a dancer and a bard, but they did not.

They wanted to play and relax instead, after working for a long time.

“This is really beautiful.”

“Eunnee, It looks really good on you.”

(Eunnee- Its a formal way when a female calls another older female sister. Regardless of blood relation.)

They were fired up about shopping.

It wasn’t just Hwaryeong and Bellot but other players too, as they traveled around the market square they were fired up buying things.

“Those are some cute furry shoes!”

“Weed makes a lot of cute shoes. Why didn’t you buy it from him earlier?”

“I didn’t want to be seen as a shopping addict.”

"....."

Hwaryeong’s house is 120 square meters. Her master bedroom was extremely large and gathered in it were a lot of shoes.

“Eunnee, If Weed told you not to buy shoes will you stop buying it?”

Hwaryeong’s face turned white.

She wouldn’t be happy if she was to only wear sandals and sneakers for the rest of her life.

“I’ll….do what Weed wants.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Instead I can buy purses!”

"......"

*****

“The night view is quite pretty isn’t it?”

“Try eating this for me. I just bought this.”

“You eat it first. I’ll feed it to you.”

Pale and Maylon were sitting on a rock near the Tower of Light.

They were doing lovey-dovey stuff while enjoying Morata’s night view!

There were crowds of other couples sitting together around them as well.

In Morata this area has the best atmosphere, and a good view so it is visited by many couples.

It was an area where singles could not possibly enter.

There were a few hundred pairs of couples sitting on the rocks under the moonlight.

A sculptor, who clearly did not have a girlfriend, was among them. Sculpting a large chicken from memory.

“The wind is making me cold.”

There were couples that could have went back to the city, but they were the type of couples that would still bare the cold.

Then the man will ask.

“Would you like to share my cloak?”

The couples shared their cloaks and the cozy atmosphere together.

There were many cases where couples would go hunting and adventuring together.

“Old man, by doing this don’t you feel like we’ve gotten younger?”

“Ahem! Well, It’s okay.”

It wasn’t an unusual sight to see old couples being intimate as well.

In Royal Road, people were able to feel as if they were young again and fully enjoyed the experience.

*****

“We sell anything. We are willing to trade. Come over and check out our specialities from the sea. You may even find some items leading to quest or items needed for your quest. Looking is free! There are many precious things and by browsing through it for long periods of time you might even get to earn some money. Mapan’s store is now open and ready for business!”

Mapan traded with the mermaids and received special products from the sea such as corals, seaweeds, pearls, and glimmering fish scales that he was selling now.

Since Mapan has been selling in Morata from the beginning he had a lot of regular customers.

“Excuse me, Is it possible for you to cut the price a little?”

Female players who wanted the pretty sparkling pearls tried to get deals.

However Mapan shook his head and did not give them any chance to lower the price.

“No, I can not. It is because of the low supply.”

Even then he slily glanced at them and said, “I’ll lower it down by two gold.”

“Kyaaaah. Thank you!”

The female players who bought the items asked, “when will you be selling again?”

“Right now I’m not so sure. But please stop by, we handle anything from protective equipments to weapons.”

“Can I register you as a friend?”

“Of course.”

Mapan thought these were the best moments for him. This was the time to build friendship with other players.

From beginners to high level players, extensively meeting with others. Even as the Merchant profession, it was rare to meet so many people.

The money that Mapan earned was continually invested into his trade and shops.

*****

“Hey, do you have a party?”

Zephyr was constantly asked this by women.

He was in a square where a lot of lonely women sat and gathered together.

Zephyr told them sadly.

“I… have a party.”

“If you have time later. My name is Elaine…”

“I am sorry. I have someone waiting for me.”

Still, Zephyr was having a good time at the festival of Morata. The streets were full, it was bustling due to the festival! But Yurin, who he liked, was not there with him.

She had cold-heartedly refused to visit and was traveling around the world using Picture Teleportation.

At the cost of his pride, Zephyr pulled up the whisper window and contacted her first.

> When will you be back?

> There’s still a lot of sightseeing to do.

> Do you have time tomorrow?

> I’m hanging out with two of my friends tomorrow.

> How about the day after?

> Sorry, I will be busy drawing.

> Will I be able to see you this week?

> I can’t promise you as I’m busy...when I have the time I’ll tell you.

After that he didn’t hear anything from her.

Obviously, Yurin used her Picture Teleportation to travel the Northern towns, but also after that she went to Rosenheim Kingdom, Brent Kingdom, Central Continent's biggest cities and towns, and drew in Tiananmen Square’s making friends doing easy requests. If Zephyr saw the requests he would have scoffed at it.

The quests involved getting Kobold’s toy figures or getting poisonous serpent teeth.

But with a level difference of 20, she gave the requests to other people.

Even if he was to do something great, they couldn’t share with each other what mattered the most.

“Ahhh, without Yurin here the festival feels boring.”

Zephyr watched as the crowd dissolved into the festival.

Having given his heart away to Yurin, his feelings had grown so large that he easily became embarrassed and it made him tremble.

*****

“Huck huck(sobbing), will she not be coming back?”

There was one more person who fell head over heels over her.

The artist who hung many paintings, Petrov!

Reflection of an elf in the creek(stream or river).

Evil spirits scouring the land.

The view of the stars in the night.

A Young crazy orc.

Petrov expressed these magnificent and mysterious landscapes by using warm colors.

They were all either Masterpieces or Magnum Opus works!

He made his paintings with colorful expression which clearly showed an unique story that would make other painters jealous.

When Petrov showed his drawings to Yurin.

“How did you draw the elf in the stream?”

“When I was invited to go to the elf village, there was an elf girl who asked me to draw a picture of her.”

Yurin admired the painting of the elves that were running around freely between the trees.

Petrov was very familiar with the Elf and Fairy tribes. When he visited villages, he painted and gave some away, and the others he kept for himself as his own collection.

“The night view with the stars is very pretty. I have never thought to draw something like this before.

“As a child while I looked at the stars, I dreamt about moving them into the canvas. It would be very hard to just think about moving it, but when I painted it I had a really fun time.”

There are a total of 10 paintings in the Stellar Night Views series, they were pieces of art that express the exotic night.

The stars high up in the sky even had expressions. As the stars grouped together into constellation they even expressed themselves as monsters.

There were many different star images like the boy who looks at the stars, the women, the priest, and the magician.

An young boy looking up while working at the rice field, a young boy who climbed a tree on a hill that look down towards the ground and a young man who was fixing something in the stable looked up towards the sky for a brief moment. The girl who woke up early at dawn to make rice for her family looked out the window, and the swordsman who was training in the castle was tired and laid on the ground looking up towards the sky.

When expressing a thief, he was sitting on a person’s home wall and looking up towards the sky!

Petrov’s small work of art were not negligent, it had composition, volume, and it also stood out.

Until this point Yurin’s atmosphere was bright and cheerful.

“I have drawn a lot so please take your time looking at them.”

“Do you have more?”

“That’s correct. I haven’t even showed you one third of my work.”

Petrov couldn’t stop himself from talking every time Yurin admired his work.

Everytime he heard her voice praising him, he felt like he was flying away into the clouds!

He even talked about the art that has not even been released, but he did not think it was a waste.

Art stat has increased by 21 for appreciating a Magnum Opus painting.

Your art skill and proficiency has risen.

Wisdom and Knowledge status has risen by 2.

Whenever Yurin listened to him talking about different things a lot of her art stats increased.

For Petrov it wasn’t just the drawings he drew, he also obtained them through requests and had a large amount of art collected, his illustration skill level was to the point of being over two level higher.

“This picture has quite a good feeling to it. Did you make it with purchased paint, or did you make it yourself?”

“I have things that I made, and I also have things that I have purchased at the art store. I have also made homemade paint that are still kept fresh, and the color is still maintained for a longer period of time. But because you need to do it a lot I don’t recommend it for you miss.”

As Yurin looked at the pictures, she started to want to go to the land of high Seas.

“You have quite a skill in art, it’s pretty good.”

“These are my drawings. There are a lot of things that I drew like the elves, spirits, and the people and You are the first one to see them.”

“How were you able to get to their place?”

“There are pictures drawn about spirits. I used picture teleportation to travel there. At first, they avoided me because I was human, but now whenever they see me, they ask to be drawn.”

Using the picture teleportation by traveling through dimension, he was able to do quests and act as intermediaries.

He tried to keep as much secrets as possible, but Petrov told Yurin without any restriction.

“I thought only sculptures were able to get it so I didn’t know that painting could also get Magnum Opus. This is my first time ever knowing about this.”

“In art, painters and sculptors are often compared to each other. Even though there are a special connection to one another when sculpting, but in drawing you can capture everything. In this piece it includes a majestic sunrise, an aesthetic of odd colors, and you will be able to draw nature pictures of magnificent beauty. Nothing is impossible in art.“

Yurin was curious and asked him a question.

“You have done many great works but Petrov, I have not ever heard your name at the painter guild.”

In Weed’s case it wasn’t just in the Sculptor guild, but if you were a player in Royal Road you knew about them.

But no one had heard of Petrov’s name before.

Even if he did not do many quests, if one had excellent command over painting normally majority of their work will become famous.

“When I was offered quests, I did not like the rowdiness so I did not give my name. When I finished the quest as an anonymous my picture’s fame will become relatively low, if I normally gave my name Petrov, it would be known throughout the Versailles Continent.”

Petrov was hiding in Jeongnyeong and he was the most outstanding painter.

[T/N: Jeongnyeong: Spirit world(Castle inside a painting)]

His extraordinary work was only known by the nymphs, and his works were equally outstanding.

“The painting is such a waste, are you going to continue painting under a different name?”

Petrov laughed and was embarrassed.

“There are a couple plain ones that are left.”

“Which one is it?”

“Well… the paintings become the best in the world. It’s a burden to become famous. My goal right now is to show the strength of an artist at this time.”

“Then what do you think of the Sculptor Weed of the High Seas? Sculptor Weed is already making sculpting famous right now.”

Petrov did not know that Yurin was Weed’s little sister and he truthfully replied.

“I have never seen Weed as a competitor. Drawing is so much better than sculpting. He seems to think that he is getting all the respect right now, but if I were to make my presence known right now to the world, he would be humiliated.”

After that Petrov was not able to meet Yurin again.

On one side of St. George's Castle’s wall Yurin left a graffiti.

Petrov is an idiot. A dog.

*****

Even during the festival in Morata Weed did not play around.

“During the festival it’s a must to do food business.”

Foods made for special occasion sold well and it was also a good way to increase the skill proficiency.

It won’t matter even if he overcharges them!

Cooking skill is intermediate level 8! He had about 4.3% left for it become level 9.

“I need to quickly raise my cooking skill to advanced.”

Even when hunting, people made and ate three meals a day diligently.

Cooking is regularly utilized and is very useful, not only will his skill proficiency increases, but his food will taste good and it also increased stats.

Sewing, forging, fishing, sculpting, fencing(sword skill), herbal medicine, bandages.

There were many areas he had encompassed.

If one were to acquire advanced cooking skill, the intimacy with soldiers and the local people(NPC) would be easier to obtain.

What’s amazing was he would be able to make a tasty soup from two anchovies and three pieces of seafood.

When Weed was returning from Jigolaths, he caught squids and anchovies and made it into fish sauce, thanks to the food that he had fermented, he was able to complete various dishes.

Sooner or later he had to raise to advanced in cooking skill.

“Fresh seafood house. If there is anyone who wants a taste of the sea, please come this way.”

Weed only cooked the fish and other seafood because it was easily perishable.

There aren’t really that many Morata player that go fishing to the remote seaside, this allowed him to properly sell different variety of seafood.

“Please get in line for whale, tuna, and sharks because it will be gone soon. If all three of these fishes is gone, please do not worry. There are other menu like the giant squid slice that are ready.”

Weed was able to make spectacular moves with his sword and slice the flesh of the whale.

The ability to focus on cooking, and the talent to concentrate on cutting them with the sword into sashimi.

“I should make it thin. That way, it would look like there is a lot....and I can make more money!”

Even when Weed was boiling spicy stew pot, there was a difference in Weed’s cooking compared with others.

If other cooks were cooking in the same pot, they would make about eight servings, while Weed can make ten servings!

Once again, he used plenty of inexpensive vegetable and accurately distributing bones, head, and tails

He did not waste anything even dishing out the last cold serving, made him popular.

Since the hunting trip at the Lair of Litvart where he cooked food for the soldiers, set him apart, by dishing out 20 servings by the time it takes other cooks to do 10 servings.

“This looks amazing. Will you cook and make shark sashimi?”

“What does it taste like? Will it rise our stats by a lot?”

The mere rumors of Weed, who appeared several times on TV, made customers gather around him like clouds!

“If both of us eat it together it’ll taste amazing.”

“Shhh, I am cutting up large squid tentacles right now.”

All of Weed’s cooking at the High Seas were posted on the internet through video, and pictures were edited for the players to stimulate their appetites. It made people want to try eating them.

Weed was able to exploit them more easily.

“How will I be able to cook something this good?”

When young newbie cooks asked questions, Weed gathered them around and answered while cooking spicy fish soup.

“Use fresh ingredients and clean water, and be conscious of your seasoning that you make yourself.”

The people who ate sashimi loved the taste so they ate it quickly, and since there were a lot of people that wanted more, scorched rice and stew broth were offered as extra service!

If they drink just the soup, their mouth became scalded, then they would drink fruit liquor, with no other choice, they would order sashimi.

This was the 2nd and 3rd time where Weed slily outdone them!

“As you usually drink crab soup, it includes baby clam soup! For your information there are less toxin in this puffer fish. There is a chance that if you eat it you could die, it’s only being sold to people who have resistance to poison and high health, we are not responsible for your actions.”

When Weed’s intermediate cooking skill is level 8. He was able to sell high quality cooking. A vast amount of menu of seafood cooking!

It’s not because of the guest, it was because of his return from Jigolaths in catching fish.

Triling.

Cooking Skill has reached intermediate level 9. You will be able to draw out deep flavors.

“Finally, I reached level 9.”

Weed's cooking tent was always full with no available seats. The festival restaurants were always busy and crowded.

While simmering the soup, he also made sculptures in the brief moments he had in between.

If you have something interesting to watch while you're having your meal, there is a feeling that it will taste even better!

While cooking, he collected the leftover shells and used them to make a large crab sculpture.

“I would like three servings please!”

“Would they be mixing the food for us as well?”

Making menus relevant to the sculptures became popular!

Crab soup with crab chowder, with some gratings from its shell, together with fried rice, made the perfect one course meal.

Spreading around that irresistible aroma that made everyone wait in the long line.

“There quite a bit of Adventurers now.”

Players of Royal Road all saw the advertisements on the bulletin board, and widely known Adventurers have joined in as well.

Many Adventurers came to explore the Northern continent. These players had deep pockets and would spend so much money eating and enjoying the cooking of the famous player.

"There are still many dungeons that the players didn't know about in the northern continent. We are many parties gathered together and have collected considerable amount of information."

"......"

Adventurer’s offered themselves up to Weed.

"Do you want to go together and explore Pareubek Valley? I like hunting and my top priority at the moment is to use the weapons from the warriors in the high seas."

"From your time in the High Seas, have you heard about Count Valdez's tomb? Right now only formidable warriors can face the equally formidable monsters coming out from that den. The emerging monsters' levels average is 400. We know that Weed-nim's strength can handle this, but when combined with ours, it will raise our success chance even more."

Weed's video of his legendary expeditions were broadcasted in the Internet and were seen by millions viewers.

The broadcasts became famous and gave plentiful proceeds every time, there were so many skillful Adventurers that he would decline the proposal without hesitation, he saw the potential harm it would cause.

Even for Weed, there weren’t many bad offers from joining others. There were other players that had the ability to come to the Northern continents adventures and those with the experiences too. It was also a good place to make parties, there were plenty of hunting and exploration.

They tried to seduce Weed by proposing to give him warrior gear.

“Adventuring can be dangerous so I don’t trust it.”

There were also reputable parties asking him. They said that the hunting will become pretty fast with Weed and even he wanted to join with them.

However right now Weed’s situation was not that good.

It was because of the quest associated to the Immortal legion.

Adventurers and warriors were sniffing around with outstretched hand due to temptation of the food.

There were two people who heard that Weed came back and quickly rushed towards him.

Mandal and his wife.

He gave the 1 copper request, to whom Weed made the dolls as a remembrance of the life of the young girl and many interested parties arrived from everywhere to look to at them.

“Weed you are back.”

Mandal grabbed Weed’s hand.

Weed saw the furry gloved hand grabbing him and saw a bright smiling face.

He enthusiastically smiled back.

Of course, this is because he had already noticed Mandal the warrior running over wearing sparkling mithril boots.

“You haven’t forgotten."

Not only were mithril boots hard to come by, in order to improve agility enough to make it, the blacksmith must be really skillful. Making weapons would have been simpler, as not even a general would have found it easy to get his hands on mithril boots.

It was an expensive and rare item.

Weed carefully asked him.

“What did you think of my work.”

Weed had put all his efforts into fulfilling Mandal’s request to make the dolls. For other quests, it would have been okay if he failed and just tried again, but this time he could not do that, so he put all his attention into making it.

Mandal gave him a thumbs up.

“It was the best. It exceeded my expectations even though it was only a 1 copper request. I really did not know you would put this much effort into it. My wife also....really liked it as well.”

His wife Delphina slightly bowed her head in greeting.

“Wow!”

“Those people requested the sculpture.”

The customers that had lined up waiting for the art center door to open already knew about the story.

The Lord of Morata made the sculptures for the sake of a couple!

People were doubtful whether this was a scam or not, but parties came forward themselves.

“If it were someone else, they would have been crazy for money, but you only asked 1 copper and made a Magnum Opus art piece?”

“But I am not handing over ownership of it.” (Weed)

“Regardless….If it was me I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

“If you think about it our city is really nice. It even cares about the newbies.”

“If you look at the shacks and all the other things, this really seems like a good place.”

Weed did not personally get the ball rolling.

“I tried really hard, but despite my efforts I was not skilled enough so I apologize.”

“That is not true, we are really thankful”

“Still I apologize for making you come all the way here.”

Truthfully, Weed did that with other things in mind.

Normally once the sculpture job is done he just need to send it to them!

But since Versailles Continent is huge, you never know when you can meet someone again.

In addition to making the surroundings of the artwork perfect, in order to receive the request fee, he needed to make them come.

Delphi brightly smiled and talked. She is a very kind and gracious woman.

“Since we came to Morata a lot of good things have happened. Take a look at this.”

Delphi handed him a small quail looking egg.

Weed received it and checked it out.

“Identify.”

Fairy’s egg:

Durability: 10/10

An easily breakable egg.

A possibility that a fairy gave this to someone once in its life.

If you keep it warm for a duration of time a baby fairy is born from the egg.

The fairy’s gender is fixed to a female.

Although fairies have a higher nature affinity than elves, they also have an immature side.

Acknowledging the first thing they see as their parent, who can name them. The baby fairy will follow the parent’s words only for the first 6 months as the fairy grows very fast.

Depending on the environment of the village and surroundings, there will be differences in growth.

Based on these differences in its appearance, personality and ability changes its future.

Restrictions:

The egg must not break.

If you give the baby fairy too much stress, it may decide to return back to the land of the fairies.

If an evil fairy is born, notoriety will extremely increase.

Since the mysterious fairy fountain was installed at the castle, fairies flew around every night.

Mandal and Delphina had become friendly with them by giving gifts and food and received the egg in turn.

Weed gave the egg back carefully.

“It’s a very difficult thing to get, congratulations.”

The number of players that had obtained fairy’s eggs were even below 20.

Weed couldn’t just ask them to give this item to him for their request.

To the Mandal and Delphina couple, the fairy will of course not feel like their real child. However, as they take care of the fairy, if their wounds could heal even a little bit, it would be good.

They will be able to decide the problem at hands Amongst themselves, in reality even if they are not its birth parent, they can adopt it and raise it as their own.

Mandal took out money from his pocket.

“Here is the 1 Copper as per the commission.”

For a split second Weed’s face turned blue to the point of wanting to beat up Torido.

“Thank you. I have received your request fee.”

Weed hand trembled as he accepted the 1 copper.

A rule to watch as he received the money. The promised amount of money that he asked for and he could not ask for more money because there were too many watching eyes.

However, for Mandal this was not the only reward.

“Weed I’ve got an item you could use. This is really worth two small castles, please accept it.”

A legendary horn that announces victory, The Teuresec’s Horn.

An Item that belongs to a knight Teuresec

The horn is used when commanding an army.

When the sound of the horn is heard the moral of the soldiers will increase.

Among the knights, the former knight Teuresec blew this horn and, with the soldiers on his side, traveled to many places in the Versailles Continent leading his warriors to victory.

Requirements: Leadership 850

Class: Knight

Minimum Level: 400

Can lead more than 300 warriors during battle

Option: It draws out the hidden strength of the warriors.

Can use Healing Hand three times on soldiers

Fame +600.

Receive a bonus when Razing a city.

Soldiers will receive a strong will to fight the enemies while it make the enemies lose their will to fight.

Increase the experience points gained by the warriors at the time of victory.

Demoralization of the enemies.

When the horn is used by the lord instead of a knight the effect increases by 20%.

Weed gulped.

It was an item that knights and nobles were searching for with eyes ablaze.

It was so rare that on the item trading website, people even tried selling fakes--that famous item!

To call to attention, to educate the soldiers to a higher standard, it was to the point where people feigned hearing someone calling out their.

“What do you see me as….I didn’t come and seek for such a reward.”

Mandal said with his earnest tone, if he didn’t give him something in return it would have been as if he didn’t have any manners. It seemed evident to him that he might have seen Mandal having a bit of doubt so he slightly refused.

“I couldn’t think of anyone else but Weed to have this. Please accept this.”

“Huh, oh dear me. I couldn’t just refuse them…”

Weed gave him an awkward frowning face as he stretched out his hand towards him.

Mandal understood what it meant, so he gave the horn to him with palms up.

Triling!

You have acquired the Teurseuc’s Horn announcing victory.

Weed’s mouth smiled widely as he talked.

“When the fairy is born...I shall make her some clothes.”

He received a precious treasured horn, so he wanted to make her clothes, it doesn’t cost much to make a pair of baby clothes.

It’s a necessity to be more friendly and close with players like Mandal!

“It’s seems like you are a generous thief with loose ends. It’s true what people say that you should not judge a person just by their looks….! Not only did he have a rough face, he was vicious to the core.”

Having emotionally received the reward, more than anything, he couldn’t help but be proud.

He was as happy as a warrior who had trained his swordsmanship skill and killed the monster he couldn’t before.

When they looked up, Pale who was eating the food at the restaurant, with Maylon, Hwaryeong, and other party members, saw a new side to Weed.

The stares that the others gave him made Weed’s facial expression contort with satisfaction.

*****

Hermes Guild headquarters.

“The application for the Agolta region is over.”

“After applying for the occupation at Anaborasmaul we are checking the damage on the buildings.”

Hermes Guild recent performance of taking over by force the Haven Kingdom.

Everyone knew that they were strong, Hermes Guild was extremely strong beyond imagination. If one were to compare their level throughout the Versailles Continent, Hermes Guild will be at the top among the rare few who are up there.

New powerhouses above level 400 appeared one after, another leading trained knights and soldiers into magic battles, defeating the armies of other lords and nobles and then putting their flags on the conquered territories.

Hermes Guild’s sphere of influence was increasing daily, as their symbolic yellow flags went across the other kingdoms conquering them.

“I’d like to apply to join Hermes Guild, are there any requirements?”

“Would we as the whole guild be able to switch the whole thing around??”

Thousands of really strong players with levels of at least 200 were attracted to Hermes Guild and knocked on their door every day.

In Haven kingdom, at the branches in the castles and cities there were long lines of players who wanted to apply for membership from early in the morning. Well armored mercenaries, anti-magicians, and other medium sized guilds were the only things that could keep the anti-Hermes guild coalition away.

The Hermes Guild and the anti-Hermes guild coalition were the two major forces in the Haven Kingdoms and through war, both of their forces became stronger.

The thousands of scattered guilds reorganized and split their strength into either side but whenever the Anti-Hermes guild coalition would send out their armies their warriors would have a series of victories!

Due to the repeated defeats despite the late deployment of more troops and high level players, at this moment the state of Hermes Guild’s honour had a major collapse.

Now the final divisions were taking place before them.

“We do not have long until we annex the Haven Kingdom.”

Raphael and the governing body of the guild had a constant meeting.

The warriors would check the situation every hour and respond immediately. Though Bard Ray was the real leader of Hermes Guild, he did not want others to know yet. He could have at least served as a warrior but he was bent on hunting.

“What about Frieg province? The player called Gusweneb who shows us a lot of hate on the high seas is its lord, right?”

“They refused to surrender. They said they would not recognise the jurisdiction of the Hermes Guild.”

“And the nearest troops are?”

“A group of journalist and 2 legions a day away from Teperon.”

“Wipe them out. Show them the meaning of fear, tell the Warriors that we will not accept surrender.”

If a lord surrendered to the Hermes Guild they would be undamaged, if they did not surrender they would be completely trampled. They would destroy everything on their land and the revived players in the Haven Kingdom would be kicked out.

They would show by example on why they should surrender by swinging a weapon called fear. Players were trapped by the strength of the Hermes Guild.

“Now only the capital needs to be captured.”

The king, his royal family and the elite were all in the capital.

Hermes Guild’s warriors needs to crush Haven Kingdoms by their own hands. But they did not have to worry about the cost of the life and death struggle.

It was something the warriors prepared long in advance, and the balance of strength was tipped towards Hermes Guild.

In Haven Kingdom, Hermes Guilds warriors had demonstrated their force.

This time it was not due to the warrior in United Supremacy that made it happen, but it was all planned out from the beginning.

When the Hermes guild rose as the biggest force in the Haven Kingdom, Raphael felt nervous.

Inside the Kingdom, there were many forces that did not acknowledge the power of Hermes Guild.

In Central Continent, compared to Hermes, there were other prestigious guild no less in size furiously guarded.

Also the fund for the base dropped to the ground and inside the guilds, the core players were also exhausted. Hermes Guild who were not properly put together needed to give duties to their members.

Of the guilds that manipulated and held them together from the darkness, half of them were Hermes Guild included in the founding of the Union.

The two competing forces were endlessly racing with each other to create a foundation in Haven Kingdom by recruiting players.

They had to give up some territories when the Anti-Hermes Coalition was founded, but it did not cause any visible damage.

In the darkness they joined the guilds and the players, those who had hostility towards the internal affairs of the Hermes guilds were gathered up and divided.

Currently, the fights took place in the Haven’s Kingdom were according to Hermes Guild's plan

"As you can see… Once we have full control of Haven Kingdom, we will have to do the coronation ceremony. How are the preparations for that?"

"Everything is going smoothly. We will occupy the city in three days."

Raphael was thinking Haven Kingdom was already his.

Half of Hermes guild already decided on the union.

The guilds who knew about the plot were absorbed into submission, and they accepted those who had a special agreement in secret.

To take control of the capital, the union of the guild would fight one large scale battle and destroy them.

If Hermes Guild showed their difference of strength then the Union would surely be torn down.

As Hermes Guild nurture and follow this scenario, they had enormous power and influence.

They have secured vast amount of territory that other prestigious guilds could not follow, they even made warrior troops.

“But Weed is in the High Seas...are we going to leave him standing?”

One of the governing member suggested this.

The current Hermes guild strength and influence was the greatest. In every part of Royal Road they were scared or envious of Hermes guild.

Every time they had their own story to talk about.

– Weed broke away?

– That’s pretty useful. But it might not be good for Weed.

Even when Hermes Guild had not barred their teeth at Weed, comparatively it was not an objective to considered now. Right now their level was not worth mentioning.

Still the Hermes Guild’s honor has been damaged, and the parties had taken great offense to it.

“We can not leave Weed like this. He could get really big and it’s best to stamp him out.”

“As Hermes, we need to show the people that we can easily kill Weed.”

Everyone who were in the top brass had something to say.

Drinpelt and his fleet were originally from the sea.

There were less players who went to sea, even when they were on land they had a lot of disadvantage on land and when fighting they took a lot of damages.

The powerful Hermes Guild sent ground troops for revenge against Weed to capture him. But at that time they went off shore.

They couldn’t show off their strength properly and lost in which it shook up Hermes Guild’s pride.

“We need to catch Weed.”

“We need to show everyone in Versailles Continent that he is not an hero or the God of War with undeniable proof.”

The core leaders group decided to accept Raphael’s decision.

Bard Ray didn’t tell the others about his personal grudge against Weed.

Bard Ray had sent Drinpelt and Griffith to kill Weed, the fact that he hated Weed was apparent!

Raphael walked around the conference room.

“Then who should we send?”

After occupying Haven Kingdom with other Kingdom’s elite guild’s warriors they need to continue, but now, only a fixed amount of warriors remained.

Unlike in Jigolaths, they could send more than enough troops as they needed to catch Weed.

“How about Polon?”

Compared to the knights, Drinpelt were not as strong. Also the private knights were there as well. The Knight of Crema.

Polon was a knight, this time he was a significant contribution in combat power as a warrior.

“I guess Polon and his band of knights should be good.”

“That’s a good idea. Currently the area they are occupying is inside our sphere of influence so there should not be any more life and death struggles.”

“It will happen between sieges when we hit the capital, even if they escape the knights will move heaven and earth to catch them so problems will not arise.”

Nevertheless, the core group still wanted more reinforcements.

“This time if we make any mistake we will be in trouble.”

“We might be able to create an opponent equal to Weed.”

“If there was the battlemages wouldn’t Polon be able to do it safely?”

“Then they would be strong enough to even smash the castle and catch Weed.”

Polon and his division thought it was definite, but they had reinforcement ready just in case he escaped.

This was because he left a memorable impression from the extreme battle in Jigolaths.

“Polon and his knights plus seven battlemages….”

He ordered 200 knights and seven battlemages with 130 deputy magicians.

For these warriors, catching Weed was easy.

In addition to Polon’s division that he commanded, he could also take one thousand rangers with him.

“It seems a bit overkill….but it would be best to rather handle it perfectly. It is to show the power of Hermes.”

Raphael ordered Polon and the battle mages to take care of Weed.

“According to the information, Weed will be going to do the quest of the Immortal legion. It’s best not to let him be successful on his quest and become the buzz again.”

After Raphael ordered Polon to handle this situation.

“Is it alright if I kill him?”

“The goal is to completely destroy him. If he had any colleagues destroy them, do anything you can to disturb him.”

Polon had also thought about fighting against Weed before.

They were waiting for such orders as they were biding their times for an opportunity to strongly pursue.

“Sure. I’ll take care of it cleanly.”

Polon got his knight’s and rangers ready, and as soon as the battle mages joined, they left.

They arrived late to Jigolaths and its terrain was a huge disadvantage. And no one thought that the geographical location would be used against them both in the land and sea.

So right now they went undercover first to collect information on Weed’s arrival while hunting.

*****

Morata’s night festival was not yet over.

Lights were kept on in the brisk night and the market was still open.

Weed made specialty seafood soup using leftovers for his party.

“You guys eat a lot. Also this is liquor was made from Jigolaths.”

In general, he took out liquors that they could not tell the difference in prices.

Plenty of those ribs used came out for Bollard and Terbet.

Even if they didn’t eat for two days, their stats would still temporarily increase by 20 and his cooking this amazingly brought up 30 more.

However, above all the flavor they had made to be able to gulp it down.

Surka naively asked.

“You really are not selling this? I can really eat this?”

“Yea. I purposely just cooked it so eat a lot.”

The words that Weed said made him look like an elder brother!

He did not predict to get the horn, if it was now and if he read it last year he would still be extremely happy.

“Thank you, I shall eat well.”

It initially started with Surka then Pale, Mapan, Zephyr, Hwaryeong, Irene, Romuna, and finished on the air with Maylon tearing through the ribs.

Seo Yoon also ate ribs on the corner of the table with forks and knife.

If they were the Geomchi’s they probably couldn’t keep their imagine of dignity.

They would break apart three ribs for each to eat and still wait for more to eat.

Weed had a firm belief that he would not give any free ribs!

“He should be soon talking about it….”

“Would he say to pay for the ribs? But if the taste and nutrition is this, there should be a lot of guest that would want to eat it?”

There were no need to create more troublesome work.

But for Weed, he just continued to grill the Korean Barbeque.

“This is for the colleagues that stayed with me to this point.”

He didn’t even imagine that they would come to the High Seas in Jigolaths. It was for all the faith and caring they given him at the High Seas, so this was what he was doing in return. So back in Morata he purchased seasoning to give better spice for the ribs.

“What kind of difficult favor is he gonna ask…”

“What do you think is happening right now?”

They knew that there was no way Weed would give away free food, so it made them more uneasy when he kept on cooking the Korean Barbeque.

*****

Geomchi’s were practising by the seashore. They swung their swords towards the waves, and ran up and down the beach through the waves with heavy rocks on their back.

“Hey! Look at those muscles.”

Females players yelled as they passed by.

In Royal Road, the people who knew the name of Geomchi that were at the resort, listened to them on training their own body shape.

“Our fame is not so bad.”

“Today is the last day to exercise, at night lets go to the bar and order ten times the amount of fruit juice to drink.”

“Yep!”

Trainees were spurred on to start training for their Vitality.

Even when doing hunting, it was to the point of them being ignorant enough to it.

However during the former struggle at the sea, it was much more difficult to fight the sea monsters.

Taking lesson through extreme ways to train the body throughout the ancient ways by yourselves. It will allow physical growth through training.

Difficulty level: Profession training quest.

Compensation: For 200 days interning in accordance will grow one’s former combat skill and stats

Quest restriction: Quest Limited to Martial artists.

Whenever the Geomchi’s saw monsters, without even caring about the level they fought, they repeatedly won or lost. Their hidden growth was associated to martial arts.

“With my physical fitness...there a chance to be strong. From today on there is gonna be special training.”

Since that day Geomchi’s plunged into training.

Even similarly fighting the sea monsters, the trainee and the instructors nearly did identical quest.

The Geomchi ordered his trainee.

“You need to eat the barely in two days. Provided that you don’t die.”

Even the full training was extravagant.

“When the sun rises do a light two laps dragging logs on the beach, and wear a weights to do 400 sword swings.”

“Do you think that should be enough for the morning? For the master Geomchi’s it might look a bit too lazy. so adding breaking the rocks with the bare hands 500 times would be good as well.”

“How about we climb that wall with only our left hand and right foot? If we fall from the wall and hit the floor Resilience will probably also improve.”

A stream of innovative ideas were created!

No matter how fast morning training went, it was already noon by the time it was finished, and afterwards more training continued.

“Let’s also fight off hunger. I’ll use Willpower to overcome this damn hunger”

The instructors and practitioners carried two swords in each hand and when a big wave came, used all their Strength to swing their swords.

It was like the waves shattered into many pieces and splashing fresh cold water upside down!

The training that seemed to have no end, used up a lot of strength but it gave a cool sense of accomplishment.

Their task was not over until they collapsed at night one by one when their vitality fell from being exhausted.

“The body is like gum. The more you chew it, the stronger it gets. We’ve been too weak.”

Geomchi3 gathered the practitioners and scolded them. He also wore heavy armor and even carried a rock on his back and ran across the sand.

Training for 200 days like this regardless of day and night, it was unthinkable training!

They felt like they were going to die from their hearts bursting.

‘Run. I am running. I can do it.’

Making the body run made it difficult for the body.

Limit!

It was not a physical fight, but an internal one.

Since the quest appeared, they have been doing extreme practice it has made their body sensitive. It was to the point where they could feel their muscles screaming in distress.

- I can give up now.

- You’re good. That’s pretty cool. We can take a rest now.

Take a sweet rest.

Actually a voice could be heard ringing out every time they underwent the training.

They understood it was temptation, but it was to the point where everything became difficult and painful, and now they would rather worry about it actually being the case.

However the Geomchi’s ignored these thoughts and kept running.

“I cannot stop here. Sa-hyungs are running. There are priests to cure us, so I cannot quit running first.”

The man’s pride would not let him quit, so he had to keep running.

In reality there were many things to consider.

Bone and muscles, nerve damage and breaking of the nerves! Reckless exercise implied that it was impossible.

Even if you sleep one night it doesn’t mean the broken bones will heal.

Even if the amount of training increases, the body cannot handle it and a permanent loss of function in the body can occur.

But in Royal Road it was possible.

Just suck up on the pain and keep taking another step.

They kept believing as if the society is white in this world and they kept running forward.

You have overcome your limits

Strength had increased by 2.

Sometimes there were unimportant messages window that showed up.

It was not just the flesh, but also to train the mind. Every time they saw it, they felt happy.

“Training and dying are fun experience. Guys, lets roll!”

Geomichi’s not only did physical training but mental training was also conducted.

Training intensity gradually became harsher each day.

There were times when they were overworked and died, but they did not decrease the amount of training.

Geomchi’s were training at sunny Ipia Island and other different islands!

Today finally, their training was complete.

Mud were plastered on Geomchi’s face as they gathered around.

“For today’s death penalty what would we be doing?”

Their bodybuilding training has increased their strength, vitality, and agility.

Their minimum sword skill level was at Advanced level three, there were also some that were level 5.

But to master the fencing skills, they did basic training and worked hard to gain it.

Geomchi asked as he wildly swung his sword.

“I’m fed up with looking at the sea. Since we have achieved everything here so why not leave.”

“Should we go back to the continent?”

“That should be good too.”

After completing the training the Geomchi took four days as they went on a vacation.

On the beach they showed off their muscles, enjoyed sunbathing, and drank orange juice. In the bar they drank fruit drinks and relaxed.

In some case there were some that were close to women.

“By any chance do you have any parties?”

Geomchi’s gave off a mooney look when asked this.

If anyone were to hear what they were saying in such situation!

At a time like this they have learned from Zephyr.

They could never tell them that there were 500 more of them.

“No. The three guys are here now.”

“It seems we match well with each other would you like to go with me to go to the beach?”

“It would be an honor...if you would go.”

It was really good for them to rest, and they had the chance to talk to girls.

Even though the recreation was short, when they were registered as friends there were times when they were able to meet again.

In the sea they were able to hang out with professional female divers.

“I heard that Ipia’s is pretty famous.”

“Hahaha, is that so?”

“Would you like to eat it with Seaweed soup?”

Women divers at the High Seas has exceptional skills in cooking seafood. However tourist enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere, but for born fighters it did not match with them. They went around island of Ipia and finally decided to return back to the continent.

“Let’s go back to the continent.”

Not just masters but the trainees too, they wanted to explore areas where there were a lot of monsters. They went around Ipia’s island and they finally wanted to return to the continent.

“Should we go catch a kraken for the final?”

Players who supposedly hunt monsters usually first ask and answer.

Level, major attacks, habits, warriors product, and was able to get many things smartly.

However for the Geomchi’s they didn’t have much to say.

“Will it taste good?”

“Well, It’s just for commemoration.”

Large sea monsters.

The whole group decided to fight, catch it, and eat the Kraken.

Without the support of magician and priestess they went after the kraken.

“If we cook it would it taste good?”

“Brothers, I even brought some spices from the island.”

Chapter 4: Visit to the Main Office

[Ahhhhhhh. So tired...writing this by myself...I think I’m going crazy…] (TN: These are most likely Author's notes.)

The story of the Versailles Continent can be considered as KMC media’s headlining program.

Dungeon and hunting ground discovery, merchants that specialized in retailers trade, rumors about a hidden races and legends, and they even informed about the famous Players or like the Quest that become successful even in the High Seas.

Recently, the Central Continent battle news about the war had become the all-time high.

“The area around the Tibot hills was seized by the Xenia magician’s forces. The Maple guild looked for mercenaries to block it but the difference in power was too big, and in the end their defense failed.

“Miss Shin Hye Min, I heard that you acquired/obtained the video of the battle?”

“Yes. Currently, we are here to convey the urgent news about the battle on the hill that took place two hours ago, and in a sec we'll give you a brief view. There was a fierce battle front put up by the warriors and how they were swept aside by their enemies.”

“People who like magicians might also be interested in it.”

The war was actively going on and there are large-scale fights that’s happening very often as the mercenaries or the soldiers were marching.

This age was the time for the rise and fall of guilds, and also determined the awakening of sleeping heroes.

“Hermes Guild became the full owner of Haven Kingdom. Oh Ju-Wan, but I heard that half of the members of the Hermes Guild surrendered to the Union?”

“The Knights of the Iron Blood, enemy Magicians, and a lone mercenary, that made up half of Hermes Guild were defeated in battle, unable to afford withdrawal, the players declared unconditional surrender.”

Hermes Guild has taken over 147 among 169 parts of the present Haven Kingdoms.”

“What about the remaining 22 parts?”

“Hermes Guild formed an alliance of guilds in guild cities. The difference between the forces is so large that they would barely do any harm. Major plans are underway for the complete occupation of Haven Kingdom.”

“For the first time, there is an event for the coronation of the Kingdom. It seems there are many people who are wondering about it.”

“The Fame of a Castle is just as an important as the Fame of a Kingdom, it is very important to have diplomacy and foreign affairs to act in different areas of intervention. A Kingdom’s Fame is very important on its food production.”

“The Hermes Guild has made all the necessary preparations.”

“Just like you mentioned. Banners were posted inviting everyone to come to the Central Continent. Arendelle Castle in the capital will be open where we are holding a party for a week.”

“What about the eligibility?”

“Hermes Guild still did not reveal the name of their new kingdom, Saerong, to the press. Only current Haven Kingdoms Players can attend.”

“I think it would become an exciting place.”

All the guilds and individual players of the Kingdom were able to participate.

Competition between players and guilds had a massive parade. The Hermes Guild showed off how they were beyond others capabilities.

Including KMC, as well as all the media broadcasters which covered Royal Road, decided to televise all the related to the coronation ceremony of the Hermes Guild.

“Do you know who is being coronated as the king of the kingdom during the ceremony?”

“According to the news obtained, it’s Bard Ray.”

Bard Ray had the best Fame, Strength and Force.

He recently became the king of one nation.

“I suppose this shows that the Hermes Guild has more wings.”

Gaining control to Haven Kingdom, his name has ascended to the top, whether it was in real world or virtual world.

“How did the Hermes Guild make more than half of them do an unconditional surrender?”

“They abandoned their hostile attitude, and became a part of the Hermes Guild while the other guilds prepared to move to other kingdoms.”

“We overheard that this was just a front to recover from the honor that they lost in Jigolaths.”

“Yes those high-leveled players were a part of the guild, but that doesn’t mean that they represent their guild.”

“Isn’t that the same situation as Haven Kingdom’s subjugation? How is it different from a guild member fighting in a distant land?”

“Well, that still ended in a deadlock.”

In the other kingdoms besides the Haven Kingdom, there were still on-going wars. Millideon and other lesser guilds have expanded their reach and entered the Union. High level players one after another have discarded the charm of the prestigious guilds.

*****

After the Festival ended, the Advent of the Seven Angels was placed into the House of Art and Sculptures.

Sculpting Master Daycram made Dori a great sculpture treasure of the Versailles Continent. It can be evenly compared as on the same level of a Holy Item.

Ding!

The Advent of Seventh Angel was displayed in Morata's Art Hall

The news about the sculpture has become sensational and widespread like a pandemic in the region

The cultural development speed of the area has quickly increased by 5%

This made a huge impact on cultural influence

Due to revival of art, popularity has increased for those who are engaging in art related jobs

Morata has become the sacred place to those who engage with art

The fame of the area has increased

The angels’ blessings have greatly improved the stats and faith of priests and knights.

Players in Morata have flocked to the Art Center to see the miraculous art

“Was this work fetched from Jigolaths? I can't really believe this mithril carving’s intricacy”

“Will I reach Weed’s capability of this degree?”

“No one among sculptors has reached the master level.”

The Arts Hall’s daily visitors have increased by threefolds, and it was obvious that they were there to visit Daycram’s work, due to its favorable comments spreading widely.

Weed increased the official admission fee of the Art Hall to 5 gold. But to the newbie players, he only increased the charge by 1 gold.

By merely exhibiting the Seven Angels that descended from the sky, The Art Hall which is in Morata has increased its work by a lot day by day. Players Challenge the new sculptures and get admission to come in. Sculptors and Painters compete with each other which made their works improve gradually

Nevertheless, there were still many protesting players.

Booo! This is the Lord’s tyranny

“Before going on the hunt every day, I used to come to the Art Hall, but now I must pay 15 gold to receive its effects.

Morata Art Hall, is a important in every hunt, which is why they ought to lower the price!”

“This insane price increase did not take into consideration the residents’ side at all!”

Some Players protested fiercely in a loud voice from the entrance of the Art Center.

The residents taking advantage of any form of protest against the daily increase of the entrance fee of the building is never an unwelcome action.

Weed therefore announced 3 lengthy statements.

The increase to the admission fee has been minimized, but we still need this increase due to the rise of prices of raw materials, and not to mention the maintenance of the art and the building itself…..

It was the same shameless logic that the government used when they increased the costs for electricity, water and the subway!

There were many protests, but the Newbies were quiet because 4 gold was not that expensive.

On the other hand, there were those who actually looked down upon the complainers. The Tower of Light and the Statue of the Goddess Freya were free to watch, and there still were those with thoughts of sympathy towards those with professions in Art.

Before Weed emerged, the mood of the Sculptor profession was darker than ever. They received insults from everywhere, and they were only able to eat the cheapest food or beg for scraps on the streets.

Even if they strive to do their best with their artwork, there was even no marketplace which would compensate them fairly.

Having a battle based Profession was in fact what was expected of most players, but they had to accept that the right admission fee felt wrong in mind. The more good works that fills the Art Center, the bigger help it will be to the non-combatant players who are only able to work in these field.

By increasing the entry fee using these stereotypes was a trademark exploitation of the firmly packed Weed!

“One should definitely raise prices by a ton. After all, you can’t make a fortune by simply raising 1 gold at a time.”

Morata’s player level was gradually increasing. Players from the Central Continent will soon be hunting in its grounds. It won’t be long until the number of players exceeding level 100 increase.

Not raising the taxes at all, and then raising it abruptly would just make him eat more insults.

By the time you do have to adapt, you will have forgotten the given increase.

*****

University of South Korea in the second semester.

Early on campus, chilly winds came. At first glance it was unusual that the Royal Road Ltd. Unicorn would schedule a tour for the Virtual Reality Department.

They scheduled a visit to the Institute that would last two nights and three days to be stuck in school.

All college students had their own companies in mind.

However, most of them wanted to be in the world’s largest revenue and creative company from its first three years of establishment. Students from the Virtual Reality Department of Korea University and other universities were invited.

“I can’t wait to see it. We have to stay for two nights and three days?”

“I wonder if the company is really as great as they say it is.”

In order to secure the degree of media coverage, the students were thoroughly screened and their anticipation rose.

Of course, Unicorn’s field trips came at a cost, and made the Royal Road Players drop their responsibilities in the game. Lee Hyun thought that all of this was futile.

“Yes, and if you write within the circle of the exam form then you’re eligible to get a job!”

The entrance exam that students take for Mills elementary school was harder. It was not clear if being hired in this company was something to be proud of.

It didn’t make sense. The Unicorn Company could afford the best doctoral talent, and was only hiring mediocre applicants.

The Virtual Reality Department itself was not established when he graduated from High School and got various jobs.

Since the place was crawling with personnel from the tour, the news about the job opportunity quickly traveled through word of mouth.

Lee Hyun’s spirit fell because of the tour schedule.

Being away from Royal Road for 2 nights and 3 days was a great financial loss.
However, this was not as greatly felt in the North when compared with the Versailles Continent group that was covered in catastrophe.

There were many things that needed the attention of Morata’s Lord. There were plenty of things that needed to be caught up on.

“By the way, students, these three-day and two-night tour is important in our academic calendar!”

“This is slavery.”

Lee Hyun raised his hand abruptly as soon as the lecture was over.

“Student Lee Hyun, Do you have any questions?”

Because Lee Hyun had never asked questions in his class, Professor Ju Jong Hoon asked in wonder.

“I have a really busy schedule at home, so can I skip the scheduled tour?”

He couldn’t stand to lose any money, Lee Hyun quickly pulled out various reasons such as Society’s demands over class and other schedules that he has to meet.

Exceptions are only exceptions when they're once or twice, but now it felt like he was a wanted suspect!

The Professor replied sharply.

“You may not skip the tour.”

“It’s really important, I have personal reasons that I must attend to...”

“Tours are also classes. If you’re not going to attend them you would need to take supplemental learning during the vacation period.”

Eventually, the reluctant Lee Hyun became involved in the tour.

The students from the University of Korea rode the bus, and stopped in front of the high-rise building, Unicorn headquarters.

There were students from other University who had arrived earlier.

The Unicorn Company authorized a total of 230 students to attend the tour.

Lee Hyun looked up at the building of the headquarters as he got off the bus.

"It’s been a long time."

The last time he was here was when his character climbed the top of the Hall of Honor.

He came straight for the money that was made from all the promotions and advertisements.

Unicorn was already aware of how good Lee Hyun was.

“As sharp as a razor, an honest company violating a payment date has never been seen.”

Money was always well spent by the best of companies.

The public relations staff met the students, and they looked back and saw several departments in the head office.

Their workers were either having a pleasant meeting or a conversation about their wonderful view of the world.

In addition, there were special facilities for the staff!

A Music Hall, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a cinema, and of course the capsule rooms were a given.

The female Public Relations employee who guided them to the restaurant said.

“You can make a saga about meals here with the fresh ingredients prepared by our professional chefs.”

The cafeteria was on par with that of a five star hotel.

“Do the employees have maternity leave?”

A female student had raised her concern. Maybe having a family and raising children were a problem for the company.

"Only once for a year, but as a rule, the holiday is a nominal fee. When you give birth you will receive a paid leave for one year."

The one year maternity leave was very generous. They also gave the child a college tuition fund of 40’ days worth of salary.

The difference in the working conditions to Weed’s sculpture Yellowy from Royal Road was like Heaven and Earth. Here they had proper food and were well pampered.

Sang Jun Choi asked the female Public Relations officer about other useful employee information.

“How… how much is the salary of a new Unicorn employee?”

All the students’ attention were fixed on the Public Relations officer.

“It depends on the department. As company policy, the specific salary cannot be disclosed to outsiders. However, the bonuses and profit allocation is in the excess of…”

In the end, the most important information, the annual salary was not told.

But the students knew from the news organizations that the new employees of Unicorn receive a ton of salary.

Even after all the welfare the company gives to its employees it still receives astronomical profits from its different businesses. As long as you qualify they will give you a lot of money.

Lee Hyun had to have more tangible evidence.

Since the contract in the Hall of Fame, the unicorn company had sent him four ribs and a fruit set every time it was the holidays. Packaged individually in times, and department store receipts were still stuck showing how much the Unicorn's wealth was spent on the gift package.

"If this is about money... How much money did the company spend on the many toilets with the embossed toilet paper?"

A world-class company which was truly differentiated, can be said that they cared about its staff.

The last time he was there he met with Yoon Soo Jang, Lee Hyun wasn’t able to meet him now because he was dedicated to a long-term project within the Project Relations Department.

There was no employee there who recognized Lee Hyun.

That was the end of their first day at Unicorn Headquarters!

The next day, they were scheduled to visit the factories and laboratories.

The University of Korea students were placed in a resort like hotel with dinner and other accommodations.

The next day, also in accordance with a fixed schedule as if it was a school trip on the employee's description and move with it.

“This is the factory that creates the core system of the capsule.”

Eight robots are assembled and tested simultaneously. It can walk, perform basic commands, and can move the equipment.

The robot which has been inputted by various processes was directly produced by a subsidiary company of Unicorn, Node.

The company had a wide array of products. Be it robots intended to guide blind people, robots designed for cleaning, or an industrial robot that sliced meat for a fish company

The size of the company was indeed colossal

The net profit of this company is so huge that it can't be rivaled by two or three companies combined revenue

Lee Hyun is hostile to these business firms.

“It is my most formidable rival”

When you work in a construction site, you will see how robots are heavily involved. They are substituted for the purpose of carrying heavy materials, cleaning the windows of tall buildings, or any dangerous field of work.

Even though they are just subsidiary company of Unicorn, they still reap huge monthly cash earnings. In fact, 9 years ago before the Royal Road capsule was released, the production cost of the capsule was astronomical and with that, they didn’t reap a profit. But Unicorn’s advanced control technology was developed further. Now, Unicorn has firm grasp of various sectors like electronics, machineries, chemicals, banking, and retail.

With a perfect virtual reality and aggressive maneuvers of company expansion, everything was taken over by the Empire. Lee Hyun can only just sigh.

"In the end, the company is trying to brag about its name. In this way, the past, two nights and three days grudgingly flew away all for the company’s sake.”

Following the guided tour he couldn’t play at all, and it wasn’t working for him.

The Unicorn's Guide of the public relations staff worked hard detailing each department, but just not visible outside her pride.

The factory and the research center were attached to their close proximity

The institute researchers had a villa overlooking the sea which was just a walking distance from their head office which also served as a laboratory. Even though the office was quite small, the various utilities were quite good.

“Woah…”

“I wish to work at a place as good as this”

Having glimpsed the luxury cars in the parking lot, you could roughly estimate the social status of the researchers.

“Unfortunately, the institute does not disclose what is going on inside”

Even the staff of the research institute could not go within the facilities as it is being shutted down when the schedule is over

“You’re all welcome to stay at the hotel Unicorn had gotten you while you’re in town. After dinner, you’re free to relax. Enjoy your free time.”

As I went there, the atmosphere was thrilling similar to school trip

“A generation of well bodied men have gathered here, 12 for 12!”

“All the girls from the other schools made dates with the boys from our school. So, I’m all that’s left.”

The students of Korea University were out together with the representatives from the other schools and were still out on their dates.

Lee Hyun was tired so he left early to sleep at the hotel.

Early in the morning the next day,

Lee Hyun got up early for his habit of morning exercise.

"The air is not bad."

The many trees that made the air refreshing.

It could be seen that the researchers and staff unwind in the morning by using the exercise facilities. There were also many scientists from overseas around.

Lee Hyun noticed an elderly man during his light jog around the hotel, sitting alone on a bench.

Lee Hyun approached the man.

"What are you doing?"

"Move along now."

"You seem bored old man. Who are you waiting for so early in the morning?"

"I don't have anything to say, so go away."

Lee Hyun was experienced enough to see that the old man was suffering. And that due to his pride as a man, the old man remained stubborn and refused to speak to others.

"I was going for my morning exercise but should I play with you for a moment?"

"Don't give me that crap, begone."

"Did anything bad happen to you or something?"

"Don't sit down."

Lee Hyun sat beside him on the bench.

There was a poisonous feeling coming from the old man, but after a brief moment, it became the loneliness of longing to talk with someone.

They both fell silent for a while.

"Have any children? You look lonely old man."

“What do I have to do in order for you to disappear?”

The two were sitting in thought.

The old man adjusted his position on the bench. For a long time he avoided Lee Hyun.

Only a few more leaves were remaining on the trees, however the leaves were still gradually falling. They watched their surroundings for a long time.

The old man's identity was the scientist who lived in a castle of his own genius while ridiculing the world of men. He was Yu Byeong-jun!

He recognized the face of Lee Hyun through the goddess of the Versailles.

He was aware of this fact before he sat down next to him.

He only pretended not to know.

Yu Byeong-jun saw him as only one of many players he could recall having observed.

Only Yu Byeong-jun knew about the true end objective of his own plan.

Finally, Yu Byeong-jun was the first one to speak.

"What is life?"

Yu Byeong-jun was dressed in plain clothes that resembled what the paid workers at the institute wore.

It was a costume.

There were only a handful of people at Unicorn who knew his true identity which was generally limited to executives and a few scientists.

Lee Hyun would never be able to imagine the true identity of Yu Byeong-jun.

He thought it would be a good opportunity to ask questions.

Lee Hyun was trying to think of some profound answer to say to the old man.

Yu Byeong-jun realized this fact and said,

"Relax, just tell me what comes to your mind immediately."

Lee Hyun replied quite simply

"I don't know. I just live. To eat, live, and make money."

Lee Hyun gave an answer that Yu Byeong-jun expected.

It was a simple answer with unmatched clarity.

"Emotions are like the falling leaves in autumn. Have you felt the cold winter come to empty the leaves from the trees?

"Fall and winter are just cold. So I make sure to wear thick clothes. And also good underwear."

"Young guys aren't supposed to wear underwear because fashion dictates you shouldn't wear any."

"It's best to live warm."

"What do you think is the most important thing needed to live?"

Lee Hyun didn't need to think twice.

"Money."

"For money?"

"Are honor, friends, and family not important?"

"Is Honor which is splashed on me by what others think is important? You need money to even maintain a friendship. You've got to take care of your family. There are too many times where if you don't have money, then you won't be able to take care of your family. Money is needed to keep order so that you have something to fall back on."

Yu Byeong-jun slowly nodded his head.

"I don't know that many people who only think of money.”

There was no longer anything left to say but Hyun continued to remain sitting on the bench.

Little by little there was an increase in the number of people starting to walk past them.

No story could keep Lee Hyun from skipping breakfast so he stood up from the bench.

"It's cold here old man, so you should leave here soon as well."

"My nerves will tell me whether or not to go."

As Lee Hyun took a few steps toward the direction of the hotel, he looked back.

"Here help yourself to some hot cocoa."

He then took out 200 won and placed it in the hands of Yu Byeong-jun.

Yu Byeong-jun remained silent because it had been the first time he had received such treatment.

He did not know that there was a field trip scheduled for the students from Korea University, and that Lee Hyun would be mixed in this group as well.

If he hadn't gotten up for his early morning jog, they would not have met each other.

The Unicorn corporation had been alive and behind the scenes for decades.

But underneath Yu Byeong-jun's skeletal physique, there seemly flowed sympathy.

"Ha Ha. Unbelievable."

The coldness he felt could never be felt by other people.

The scientists that knew about him as the director of Unicorn were afraid to look him in the face.

But Lee Hyun gave him a coin and treated him like a poor old man.

'The last time I drank something from a vending machine was over 20 years ago.'

Yu Byeong had a sudden desire to drink the cocoa.

He saw the vending machine and looked into it to see the price of cocoa was 300 won.

*****

After the 3 day and 2 night tour, Lee Hyun returned home!

"Finally it's the weekend."

A fresh smile was painted on his mouth.

He cleaned the laundry and dishes then turned on the computer.

Calling ahead in their last march of greed, the guild advanced forward as they got caught up by the whirlpool of war that drove them to Central Continent

Legends in Royal Road were created from its never ending conflicts and various special programs that broadcasted those legends live on air.

“There seems to be a massive war going on in the Central Continent.”

Instead of videos about hunting or quests in the Hall of Honor, there were only videos about the war.

Lee Hyun watched a couple of videos, each for a short amount of time.

A massive army charged toward the fort like a wave, and rolling their wheels, the siege weapons approached as well. At this, the defenders resisted fiercely by firing arrows and casting spells.

Although some managed to heroically defend and stop the invaders, most fell to the invading guilds.

It was because they did not fight unless they were sure of their victory. The fact that they prepared for a long time helped as well.

“Where do we have to go in order to escape the war?”

“Merchants from the Moldroon region please be careful. The armies that have lost their supply lines have begun to raid the trade routes.

“Due to the strengthening of control over the dungeons, the cost to enter dungeons in the Central Continent is continuing to rise.”

“Did you not know? The price has already doubled.”

The notice board was in uproar with information about the war.

There were many recruitment notices as well.

“Those who wish for battles and victory, join the Bane Guild! We promise that we will provide you treatment fitting for your level.

“We deal with players who aren’t in any guilds. When high level players join, we will provide fitting equipment for you.”

The price of weapons and armour in the Central Continent jumped up to twice its original price, and the cost for other war related equipment had shot through the ceiling.

For the Merchants who dealt with weapons, a golden market had opened. It was heaven for Blacksmiths and Tailors as well.

On the other hand, there were many cases where the merchants were raided by other guilds and couldn’t transport the materials.

Lee Hyun logged onto the Dark Gamers Union.

The request board was filled with requests for mercenaries to help in combat.

On the information bulletin, you could find combat situations of each region and the power of each guild.

In the Central Continent, there were many castles, towns and fortresses that were occupied by guilds.

Although the prestigious guilds were powerful, the so-called grass root guilds had superior numbers.

Each guild would had a minimum of 1~2 high level players, and there were small guilds filled with only high level players.

Those without guilds banded together to form Guilds and resist the scale of the great war which was growing out of control.

Title: The end of the war in the Central Continent?

Title: The relationships between all the guilds?

Title: Top Secret Information. The war with Haven is not over.

Although there were many worthwhile stories to read, Lee Hyun did not think that any were relevant right now.

“Item price is going up, you have to jump at this opportunity to earn money.”

There were many people looking for mercenaries but there weren’t many applicants.

Dark gamers used items to explore unknown dungeons and to hunt in the heat.

This made it impractical to enter the war, it was futile to die only to be thrown away and betrayed by the guild. However, level, skills, and equipment can be relied on as it is your property.

Many people wanted to hire Lee Hyun as a mercenary, but he wasn’t interested since they only wanted to take advantage of him.

“I shall go into Mt. Debkart right now."

Chapter 5: Nature Sculpting

The grey mountains were dangerous as many monsters were breeding at this time.

Without a skilled ranger in your party to safely navigate through the mountains, it was close to suicide.

Because of the steep slopes, monsters could surprise attack you at any time.

Weed was riding one of his Wyverns in large circles.

“It really is a huge mountain range.”

When he fought with the Orcs and Dark Elves in the Yuroki mountains, he thought that was already considered a huge mountain range.

“The sculpting master should be somewhere at the foot of the mountain!”

He was expecting to find a wooden house.

“Though, a nature lover might be opposed to building a wooden house.”

Sculptors excel at handling stone and minerals, however finding such a house seemed unlikely

“A poor hermit would obviously live in the mountains!”

Weed was convinced that such a poor man would be living in the mountain wilderness.

He opened the quest information window to check the quests remaining time.

“Quest information window!”

Bar Khan’s Summons

The undead’s Bar Khan has called for a demonstration.

Many undead will surely follow his orders.

Days remaining: “84 days”:

Quest difficulty: C

Compensation: Chain quest start, meet with Bar Khan

You are now an undead and may not cancel the quest..

Anyhow this quest which would normally only be granted to the Lich Shire, was obtained because of shape-shifter sculpture.

There was no need to rush the situation as he would much rather take his time and come up with a favorable solution.

Instead of hunting, he would take his time and learn about natural catastrophe sculpting.

“Which direction should I go?”

Weed had to follow his instincts. The bottom of the mountain just didn’t seem right.

“That area just doesn’t look right!”

He wanted to go at least halfway up the mountainside!

“He’s looking for an ideal high class view.”

If you wanted a home you would look for somewhere with an unobstructed view.

“A place where the valley water was nearby.”

Weed on the Wyvern, flew in close proximity to the mountains.

The mountain was huge and lush with trees.

Long tailed monkeys, and other monsters were shouting and waving their clubs but they were not able to reach them.

Diving through the long arms of the branches and vines. Picking up various kinds of fruits such as bananas and chestnuts along the way.

Sometimes unusual metal items could be worn on the body depending on the circumstance and when he was extremely low, he could grab strong monsters off the ground.

“There is nothing here for me. From the perspective of a sculptor, this place is filled with loud and annoying monsters. If I was to work here I would constantly be disturbed, we need to find a quiet place.”

Weed was very close to the monsters in the area, except he couldn't see how people could live in the tough rocky area as he passed by.

Dekarte was an enormously huge mountain by any standard, the possibility of finding DayCram in such a place was small.

You even had to look through the leaves of the forest, trying to scour the woods looking for some obscure target could take quite some time.

So Weed made a decision!

“Golden Bird, Silver Bird, and Wyverns.”

Kkiya Aaaah!

Weed followed Golden Bird and Silver Bird on his Wyvern. They gave out a long cry.

“From now on, you search!”

To supervise troublesome work like this, he had to distribute the workload.

"Keep looking until you find him, even if your search leaves you wondering all night long, find him."

At this point he didn’t mind pushing his minions to obtain the results he wanted.

The Wyverns, Golden Bird, and Silver Bird were dispersed throughout the Great Mountain Dekarte. The Golden Bird brought back results within 30 minutes.

He worked a lot more effectively now that he had been beaten.

“The human lives near the big tree.”

“DayCram, right?”

“There are many sculptures in the area. The sculptures are all amazing.”

“That’s right. Let’s go!”

Weed reassembled the Wyverns, and headed towards civilization.

Both hunters and rangers carefully stayed away from Tebkart as it was a very dangerous place.

Due to a lot of monsters and dangerous terrain, the isolated grey mountain range was considered a bad place by users too.

“It’s that house!”

Looking down from the sky, through some trees, he could see the house where DayCram lived.

The house was made from weaving branches together.

The roof was made of dry grass, held together with vines and covered with wide leaves.

It didn’t seem like a house from a fairy tale, but it looked like a thatched cottage.

Weed got down from where the Wyvern had landed and headed for the house.

“Is he still alive? If he’s already dead, then the helium would be mine……”

Hopes for meeting a Sculpture Master!

Since a large amount of time had flowed by on the Versailles Continent, DayCram could be dead.

Like the seven angels he made from mithril, could he not have made a sculpture and passed away.

‘Since there are a lot of monsters on this mountain, it would not be suspicious if he had died.’

Weed went to the house full of hope.

Near the white bearded man’s house, there were sculptures of deer antlers.

As if they were alive, they stood there patiently.

Just by looking at the carving of the elaborate horns, he could feel that they were made with great skills.

The moment he saw DayCram, he knew why he was called that. From the clothes he wore, he looked awfully poor.

‘If I sell the clothes I am wearing, it would certainly help. Even though he would not be able to wear them while was cooking.’

He was wearing such dirty clothes that it would have had an adverse effect on the cooking he did.

DayCram didn’t even look at Weed and started speaking.

“Are you the sculptor that has come to find me?”

Weed politely replied back.

“Even though I am insufficient in a lot of areas, I am a junior engraver walking down the path of a sculptor.

I saw some writings that were left by a senior in Jigolath, and made my way here.

Even though it was a long journey, to see you alive, I am thrilled.”

“I see, I was waiting in this mountain for an engraver to come and learn my skills.

What do you think engraving is all about?”

“Engraving is about……”

He could think of a lot of flattery words about engraving, but had to take his time to rearrange his thoughts.

“It is to show the natural beauty of something.

In fact, there is nothing as beautiful as natural beauty.”

DayCram nodded his head.

“Engraving is a skill to bring out the beauty in the earth, water and wind.

Nature sometimes becomes violent. Even when doing such violent things there is still beauty in it.”

“Of course, I even love those violent behaviors.”

Weed could empathize with those words, had he not been affected by snow storms, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes! If only he wasn’t affected by it, it would have been very beautiful.

“My skills would be able to show the ruthlessness of nature. Even so, do you still want to learn my techniques?”

“Of course, in order to become a better sculptor, I believe your techniques would be required.”

Now He can learn the catastrophic expectations of nature!

A massive attack skill.

But I have to use it first to know how much I can use it!

After leveling the skill a bit, the problem was whether it was to be used on a monster or landscape.

“However, you have yet to see the beauty of nature with your own eyes.”

“Am I still lacking in skill?”

“When you are enlightened of your true strength, only then will you be able to learn my techniques.”

“How am I able to get enlightenment? Please tell me the way.”

“You would have to make a lot of nature sculptures. Would you like to learn my teachings?”

Ttiring!

DayCram’s Teachings

Engraving Master DayCram wants you to build a sculpture of nature with him.

He will help to create a sculpture.

Difficulty: Unknown

Quest Li
5mit: Sculptor Only Quest

Compensation: None

Only an idiot would refuse this quest!

Of the four engraving skills passed on, the last one would have to be the best.

Furthermore, while learning shape-shifter sculpture, he learned many other things working next to a master.

“I want to accept the teachings of great master DayCram.”

You have accepted the quest.

“Let’s start immediately.”

Creating a sculpture of nature was not a tremendously ambitious idea, anything could be used, falling leaves or petals in the wind, anything could be used.

Nature’s own byproducts could be used for the job!

Because nature sculptures can bring the overflowing vitality out, the petals do not dry or rot.

Bees and butterflies flew to the sculpture that Weed and DayCram made.

Affinity with creating nature sculptures has increased by 2.

It was his first successful attempt.

Far away from the water and on dry land, birds collecting branches to make their nests

Affinity with creating nature sculptures has increased by 4.

DayCram was really familiar with beasts, He lived together with nature and was very friendly with the wildlife, it was as if the deer came along to eat and play. Weed soon became friendly with the deer as well.

“That looks nice. I think I’ll start with the horns.”

‘It looks delicious. If I sell the horn, I’ll be able to get hundreds of gold!, If only DayCram wasn’t here, then I would have cut off its horns because it would be able to buy meat for the family! If you light a fire, cook it whole with a clear drop of oil and a bit of salt…’

DayCram didn’t eat meat, he lived off fruits that dropped from trees, grass, or tree bark.

“He likes people who don’t hurt nature.”

Even though he didn’t achieve high level cooking skills, like a rabbit, he lived eating grass, and by doing this when he sculptured he was able to be in more affinity with nature.

* * *

Winter was closing in, and the end of the semester of Korea University was coming to an end.

“Fleeting Tuition, … Like this I’m totally letting you go.”

The students had many reports that they had to turn in as the professors got more and more enthusiastic.

It’s more about the theories of virtual reality in first year, but they have the chance to experience with the virtual reality equipment after they start their second year

‘The more difficult the lectures get, the more time I have to spend in school’

Lee Hyun was unable to achieve his goal to collect money due to his studies interfering ..

“Haaahh...”

Lee Hyun sighed and stretched, Seoyoon who was seated beside him was in deep thought.

‘Winter vacation will start in about two weeks...’

She would not be able to meet Lee Hyun every weekday like now.

Even in Royal Road, they remained apart as Weed went to Great mountain Dekartel

Though Seoyoon had spent a lot of time without words, she wanted to spend more time with Lee Hyun.

She plucked up her courage, and wrote something on a piece of paper.

Would you like to go to the beach with me?

Seoyoon displayed real courage in suggesting that they travel together considering her situation

If it was another man, they would have made done a happy little dance, and doubted whether it was a dream or not, but Lee Hyun was apathetic

He didn't understand going to the beach in the middle of summer, so there was no way he would understand going in winter

“It's cold so wouldn't staying in home be more comfortable than going to the beach? There’s no need to worry about catching a cold and there’s no need to worry about health insurance”

"......"

The attitude of a man who has no comprehension of romance!

“Traveling takes a lot of money, do you have any idea how harsh it is to go to an overpriced place”

Money. Money. Money. Money.

Traveling will cause him to spend more money

Going to the beach in the summer or not, it still costs money.

However, the idea of Seoyoon traveling by herself was not allowed by her father.

Seoyoon wrote another message

“I’ll pay for the travel costs.”

Lee Hyun shook his head.

“Did you earn the money yourself?”

Seoyoon was a student, and as far as he knew she never had to work in her life.

"No."

"Money in this world is something terrifying. The costs of movie tickets for the theater rise every year, and public transportation is even scarier."

"......"

"If you have never earned money yourself, then you have no idea what it is worth. Do not carelessly offer money."

Lee Hyun had never voiced it, but he was jealous of them.

Rich college kids!

They were families which he envied.

Lee Hyun spent his childhood delivering newspapers, he worked hard at his part time jobs delivering milk, something rich kids would never experience.

Mom, please give me some pocket money, last month you only gave me 50 million won.

I'm putting together a trip to go overseas soon.

Mom have you forgotten, I want to go to France. Tell your secretary to make it 100 million won. We don’t want to eat only packed dinners after all.

That’s how the conversations worked for the rich in Lee Hyun’s head.

Either the successor of a rich company or the inheritance from a rich family and they never knew the hard work that was involved.

Like that a heroes' personality was that of an ordinary scum, complicated relationships with women, and being poor as well.

Of course, they too were human and must have suffered once or twice.

With bad parental relationships or a couple of wishes that had not come true, different degrees of anguish occur.

But without that anguish, few people would survive in the world

Like a sudden twist in a good daytime drama, the show is then well received by the public.

Eventually the sons and daughters of rich families can never be hated

If you anger the public and swear at them, all you have to do is show them money, and their forgiveness will show.

Until the end of the lecture, Seoyoon was in deep thoughts.

‘Looks like I really don’t know about the value of money’

While Lee Hyun lived diligently, she never seriously thought about it.

Just as Lee Hyun imagined, she had lots of real estates, trust funds, funds, stocks, and many others, therefore she was never inhibited when it came to money.

Seoyoon wrote her thoughts on the piece of paper while reflecting on her actions.

"I will work and earn the money, will you travel together with me then?"

Lee Hyun didn’t expect this reaction.

‘It’s winter vacation soon’

Less than three weeks were left till the end of the semester.

“How much will you be able to earn?”

I never tried it so I still.... How much do you think I need to gather?

Seoyoon’s eyes were sparkling as she was expecting him to answer.

She did not understand society and being unfamiliar with the world she would receive the bitter taste of the world

Lee Hyun, emphasized on an ordinary travel, and replied

“If we’re talking about the sea it will definitely be in the South or Jeju island. In that case transportation will take at least ₩450000 while food should be about ₩800000. Are we gonna stay there?”

Even if they ate sashimi every meal, it was highly unlikely it would cost ₩800000, regardless Seoyoon nodded. Since they couldn’t just spend their time just traveling there and back. She wanted to spend the night talking while drinking wine.

“The hotel room would probably cost us ₩50000000, we’d have to grab two rooms. Also, if we were to eat Cider(Sprite) and eggs on the train as well as get some souvenirs, we would need at least ₩5000000 or ₩6000000.

Lee Hyun suggested an amount that was absolutely unmanageable.

‘A part time job over the winter break will not be enough to collect that amount’

Even though the said amount was ridiculous, Seoyoon nodded anyways.

Lee Hyun had said, in order to make a promise. “You have to earn the money by yourself through hard labor, otherwise it doesn’t count.”

"Alright."

* * *

Weed spent the last 20 days making nature sculptures in the mountains of Dekarte.

“I’ve spent a long time just focused on sculpting.”

The quest didn’t let him hunt, he could only create sculptures, now he was running short on time.

Alone in this environment he could create many great sculptures, however he couldn’t create classic or masterpiece sculptures without taking his time and working at a relaxed pace.

“A sculpture made of Dew!”

Weed made sculptures early in the morning.

He collected the basic materials needed for the sculpture.

While squatting down he ripped up the grass to collect the dew off of them.

With his ever growing nature affinity, he could make a much wider selection of nature based sculptures.

Weed made a water elemental, this was his first masterpiece made from nature sculpting.

Masterpiece! A Water Elemental Made With Dew

Creation and nature was a means to improve the level of sculptures, so he only collected clear dew.

In the trees and on the ground, mixed with the scent of flowers, he was actively playing with the different methods of creating the water elemental. It was a lively expression and deserved high praise.

Of the sculptures within the Versailles Continent, very few depict nature!

However, because he was an undead sculptor his work suffered and he was going crazy.

Artistic value: 898

Special options: People who see the water elemental made of dew will have their health and mana regeneration increased by 12% for one day.

Reduces mana needed to summon water elementals.

Will satisfy your thirst for a long time.

Does not overlap with other sculptures.

Number of Completed Masterpieces: 89

Sculpting proficiency has increased

Dexterity proficiency has increased.

Nature Sculpting proficiency has increased

Reputation has increased by 263.

Stamina has increased by 1.

Intelligence has increased by 1.

Art has risen by 8.

Creating a masterpiece has increased your nature affinity by 9. Increasing nature affinity will improve the scope of nature sculptures you can carve.

Due to creating a pure sculpture, the power of undead is purified and reduced by 6.

Weed was committed to working on his sculptures.

He gained proficiency with animals and plants, particularly with the plants.

While in his undead form, he worked hard. As a side effect of being an undead he could work without rest.

However, as good as that was, nature sculptures had purification properties.

“Divine power reduces the power of the undead.”

One good thing was that he didn’t have to give as much money to the Freya Religion’s Pope Candidate Alveron.

“Unfortunately, this sculpture is a masterpiece.”

He had collected Dew to make a water elemental sculpture.

Owing to the natural heat granted by the reflected sunlight, it would soon be ruined and disappear.

But it was too wasteful to leave the Sculpture in its place at Daesan in Tebkart.

There was no raw material cost, but it had been very difficult, collecting the dew had taken a lot of time

”Creating a natural masterpiece for the first time, I’m not able to leave the sculpture.”

Free sculpture!

Weed decided to write on the water elemental sculpture.

By releasing the water elemental, it could be summoned by writing, there will also be an increase in the degree of affinity with nature.

Elementals also help with growth, though currently useless, after a while, by managing a few, one or two could be formed on the ground as food to eat.

Weed uses his skill on the sculpture.

“Create Elemental!”

Ttiring!

New elemental created.

160 art stats are consumed.

Sculpting proficiency has increased.

Elemental creation is now at beginner level 6

Elemental creation sculpting will improve the abilities of new and existing elemental abilities.

Nature affinity increases by 75.

Reputation has increased by 440.

Attractiveness has increased by 74

The cute looking water elemental growled loudly

“You are the sculptor who made me! How dare you make me look this weird, are you prepared to die?”

It was the most spoiled sculpture ever created by Weed.

He acted like a little kid, a jigging kindergarten.

“Identify!”

Name has not been given yet

Water Elemental

He was born as a nature sculpture.

Created with a bad attitude. The water elemental has no patience.

Looking at him from top to bottom he didn’t understand.

Can exert 71% of its power from the elemental plane.

It is possible for it to become a greater elemental.

Through the Elemental Shaman’s summons and earthly life activities, summons more elementals as well as increase the force exerted.

Specialties: Water shield, providing purified water, has extraordinary intellect.

Creating the elemental itself was successful. He didn’t feel that the personality was a big issue.

New born elementals have to learn a lot of things when they first come to life, simply talking with it a little should win it over.

“I suppose we should talk a little”

The elemental was completely ignoring him!

Weed gently pulled out his Saint Staff.

Peobeobeobeobeok!

Painful, fast, and efficient.

Hitting and smacking it over and over again, he lacked any sympathy and continued hitting the same sore spot.

“You’re supposed to say thank you to the person who made you.”

Puck peok peok!

“Apologize for a minute ago......”

Puck peok peok!

“MY HONORABLE MASTER!”

There was a sudden change in the water elemental's attitude.

Weed put the Saint’s Staff away in his backpack.

“I will become your teacher so you will have good education.”

His personal thoughts were that he was a fine educator!

The water elemental was the unlucky student of Weed’s Elementary School.

“Your name is Droplets.”

He named the elemental Droplets because it was an elemental made of dew

“Thank you for my name, my honorable master.”

A slim and cute water elemental was summoned and tempered by Weed like a blacksmith using a furnace

“I’ll need to grant life once more to the Geumini.”

He was not confident he would be able to grant him life.

Be that as it may, to keep putting it off was only delaying it. Someday he would have to try.

The sculptures were created at Tebkart in Daisan. In his current situation where his sense of sculpting remained high with water, he decided.

“Let’s go and try now.”

DayCram was going someplace to create nature sculptures.

Weed collected fallen branches to light a fire in the furnace for heat.

The Masterpiece Sculpture Geumini was created from melted gold.

“To make and form...”

The mold of Geumini’s body was simple as it was formed by putting together soil

Art found in the city of Rhodium were detailed memories that remained, but as for Geumini, it was a memory that would last for a long time.

Pouring the gold onto the mold, waiting until it was sufficiently cooled, Weed was impatient to make other sculptures!

Worries often emerged thinking about the operating design of Geumini.

“Geumini does not listen well to words and he is also not that pleasant. Having so much work, how am I going to manage...”

Waiting for gold to pour into the mold took a while.

“It’s done.”

Removing the mold by breaking it out from its place, Geumini’s appearance was formed once again.

Weed’s memory was extremely accurate. Comparing it to the original, he felt that it was a waste that the new Geumini was cracked and a little short, but otherwise it was still the same.

‘It’s fortunate Geumini was created using gold. Granting life to wood or stone, the physical materials would have to be gathered, the hold on the original body would also be very weak.’

Weed’s eyes, nose and mouth were meticulous after the repair skill was cast.

“Grant life to sculpture!”

Stats have been reduced, 2 levels have been lost, and 6 art points have been consumed.

The Sculpture with life has obtained the use of its body. Due to the water attributes possessed and found in life, new life will be gained.

Memories of Sculpture skill is invoked.

Sculptures will regain memories of their life, but will be confused.

Again, at that point in time, the increase in Art stat and sculpture effects did not apply. The Sculpture before, would have had a 5% level decrease.

Sculptures that are granted life slowly awaken, but unlike them, Geumini instantly opened its eyes.

When Weed was looking at him, Geumini shook his head and started talking.

Please give me my name.”

A dry and rigid tone!

“In the end you didn’t recover your memories.”

The friendship they had cultivated was over, this was Geumini’s eternal goodbye.

“Rover will grieve a lot. So will Seoyoon.”

Rover treated Geumini like family. Seoyoon would be sad and shed many tears.

Hwaryeong and his other friends will be saddened as well by Geumini’s death.

“Your name is Geumini”

“Yes, master.”

“Sleep comfortably”

“Yes.”

Once again Weed began making nature sculptures.

In the trees far above, Wah-il, Wah-thul and Wah-sam were sitting.

Geumini was diligently trying to shake hands with all of them. They all burst out laughing.

“Golgolgol!”

Weed inquired.

“You are Geumini right?”

Geumini shook hands and bowed respectfully.

“A little while ago I was given that name, master”

“That’s a bit weird.”

Weed was feeling awkward near Geumini.

Chapter 6: A Sculptor who wanders the Continent

Everything's alright now... and Seo Yoon's speech problem is already gone as well...

Seo Yoon decided to get a part time job to save up money.

‘Getting a job isn’t easy...What kind of work can I do?’

Because of her school schedule, the easiest part time job she could get was probably going to be a cashier.

The only problem was that her lonely life made the idea of socializing very difficult.

‘I guess it’s true that people change and work harder because of money’

After the lecture, she wrote her resume and headed towards a restaurant that was hiring part timers.

It was paying 5,300 won with a bonus depending on how much they sold

Seo Yoon held out her resume for the manager.

Name: Seo Yoon Jung

Age: 21

Occupation: Korea University Sophomore

Skills: English, Chinese, Japanese, International Law, Accounting, Business Administration, Psychology.

Never had someone applied to a restaurant with such an impressive resume!

The store manager laughed while asking, “Have you ever worked in the restaurant industry before?”

“I have not. Does this mean I can not work here?”

The manager felt almost 50 years younger as he listened to Seo Yoon’s voice.

‘This world is really nice, isn’t it?’

A pretty female college student with a voice like an angel.

Just her voice could make anyone smile.

“How long do you plan to work here?”

He wanted her to work the entire winter break.

“I have a lot of things to do...but I would like to work evenings during the week?”

Because of the job’s focus on service, a lot of people applied to restaurants which made getting a job very difficult.

But every now and then there was an exception.

“Can you start work today?”

Immediate pass!

Starting immediately Seo Yoon’s job was to greet the guests at the entrance of the restaurant.

“Welcome.”

“Is there a long wait here? Heuk!”

Seo Yoon stepped out of her comfort zone and into a new world.

For a long time, she had closed herself to both curiosity and romance.

“Rib eye steak and sirloin steak please.”

“Would you like anything to drink?”

“Orange juice and soda please.”

The guests dining inside kept glancing at Seo Yoon..

They didn’t even notice the taste of their expensive food.

‘Pretty. Pretty. Pretty. Pretty. Pretty.’

‘Oh, if only she would look over here once...’

*****

"Blazing flames will instantly vanish but the afterglow of the flame will remain. Try making a sculpture of fire"

Following Daycram’s instruction, Weed made fire and smoke appear in the air

"Nature Sculpting!"

The flames danced as he moved his hand.

He was so close to the fire that he was sweating and everytime he got too close his health would fall sharply.

Sculpting the fire with his bare hands was both showy and difficult.

“Still, Nature Sculpting is very versatile.”

Each time he touched the fire, his Nature Sculpting skill rose considerably.

Trusting his Resilience and Perseverance, he made both a fire dragon and a flaming boar.

The effects of fire manipulation varied based on one’s level in Nature Affinity, so to raise the affinity even more, he made a Spirit of Wind as well.

Woosh Woosh!

The Spirit of Wind was cheap to make and had a bright and wandering personality.

Weed kept creating pieces in order to rebuild his lost ‘Art’ stats and raise his skill expertise.

Undead Power has dropped to 190!

“Quest Information Window!”

Barkan’s call

The Lord of the Undead, Barkan, calls.

All undead must follow his orders.

Time Left: 46 days

Difficulty: C

Reward: Will trigger the start of a chain quest

Although there wasn’t a lot of time left, Weed decided to continue focusing on making sculptures out of nature.

Just making a lot of sculptures out of nature wasn’t enough to make the skill ‘Nature Sculpture’ improve though.

Weed was at Debkart mountain which had a lot of trees, birds and blue skies.

In the distance there were also lakes and rivers.

If you go in towards the gray mountain range you can witness the magnitude of the mountain, it was heaven’s natural environment.

"Sculptures made from nature......"

Weed thought back on all the hardships he had endured during his adventure so far.

He had suffered from the cold in the north, ran free as an Orc in the Yurkina Mountains in the east, and had never stayed long in one place.

He didn’t hunt in one place for a long period of time.

Having experienced so many sides of nature helped in creating sculptures.

Water, wind, earth, clouds, ice, fire, grass and flowers.

Grasping at all those memories, he made them each into sculptures.

Plants growing up the side of a boulder could become a nature sculpture.

A strong flow of water through a ravine could also become a sculpture.

While he was mass producing sculptures using the power of nature in the Debkart mountains, Daycram gave a word of advice, “It is not enough to just sculpt the materials, you must carve nature as it is.”

The materials used are not the only thing that matters in a piece of art.

As he made more, he began to see more.

Sculpting was his way of thinking.

Gathering fallen leaves to make a tree, planting trees that were burnt by wildfires.

The more he sculpted nature, the faster his proficiency grew.

Then one day, Daycram motioned to speak with him.

“It seems I have taught you enough of the basics of Nature Sculpting. Sculpting is a way to get in touch with yourself, I can teach you nothing more.”

Ding!

You have completed ‘The Teachings of Daycram’.

Master Daycram has finished educating his junior sculptor.

He accepted an apprentice thinking that he was a exceptional sculptor and taught him everything he could, but he was disappointed.

“The continent’s sculpting is indeed dark. Many talents in sculpting are lost.”

You have not properly accepted the teachings of Daycram

Fame decreases by 580.

Daycram said a few words during the early stages, but eventually he only watched from the sidelines and didn’t interfere at all.

Allowing students to use their imagination was an important part of teaching!

Weed was familiar enough with cramming education that he could be considered a mentor in the field.

While he was growing closer to nature now, it had never really been a part of his life before.

‘I may still be new to this, but in the future as the skill grows I’ll be able to control the forces of nature!’

Nature Sculpting is currently Intermediate level 2!

For once, Weed respectfully bowed his head.

“I’ve learned many things from my teacher”

Daycram spoke.

"Wherever you go, don't say you learned this from me. It would be shameful."

“I see. So, you'll teach me Disaster Sculpting now?”

"Have you realized nature's true power?"

"I don’t understand it yet. But given more time and I will be able to grasp it."

"This is for you then. Once you have learned nature's true appearance you will be able to learn my techniques."

You have acquired Daycram's wooden carving

Having Daycram's wooden carving allows the owner to naturally raise their skill level faster.

"You're a great teacher. I'll remember this forever."

‘I have to be careful with my words so I don’t promise to actually give a reward’

“Will you be traveling around the continent?”

"I must. Since I must walk the path of an artist and save those suffering from the wicked!”

Weed continued hunting and making money as he traveled the Versaille continent.

He thought to himself. Even if in the North, there are a lot of places I haven't been to. I must find dungeons and earn items.

He remembered his last conversation with Daycram.

“While you’re traveling to different places, always remember to advance your Sculpting skills.”

“Of course. I will continue to work hard on Sculpting for the rest of my life. ”

“As you should.”

While Daycram stared blankly at the sky, Weed activated his skill.

“Appraise!”

It’s always important to check even the items people give you in case they aren’t what they seem...

Wooden Sculpture

Durability: 1/1

Daycram made this product to teach Disaster Sculpting, but in order to learn one must first know the true power of nature.

Requirement: Intermediate Nature Sculpting Level 6

‘The product contains the techniques of Disaster Sculpting.’

Just as Weed was putting the product away Daycram gave him another gift.

“You should also take this.”

Daycram took out a shining sky-blue mysterious substance.

“As you probably know, this item can only be found in Jigolaths. But, since you need a vast amount of heat and I’m against cutting down trees I’ve never been able to use it.”

Helium!

“How can you give me such a precious item? Daycram-nim could surely make an amazing sculpture with this.”

Weed’s actions contradicted to what he said though, as his hand shot out faster than it did during battle.

Helium was acquired.

Mana source.

Even talking about Helium is expensive, and I was able to obtain it.

“Be sure to create a good sculpture.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Then have a safe trip.”

*****

“Here's 340,000 Won. For your week of hard work’.”

While obtaining the normal wage, Seo Yoon was able to get a little more money.
Seo Yoon got a sizable bonus because while she was working during the evening the place was packed, but even though the manager hoped it would encourage her to stay for longer than one week she still quit.

“This is the first time I’ve earned my own money.”

Seo Yoon took out her money from the envelop, and counted each won one at a time.

While brightly welcoming customers, seating them to their table, and telling others to wait for their turn she had learned that you could make money by making people happy.

While working she had seen families, friends, and lovers having loving conversations which lightened her heart.

“Working can be really fun.”

She would even sneak food whenever the staff wasn’t watching.

At first, she had a hard time interacting with other people, but as she kept on working she felt herself change.

“With this money, I can buy all the ingredients.”

Hyun Lee had told her that it takes a long time to get any real money from a part time job so she had decided to try selling packed lunches.

Seo Yoon woke up early in the morning and went to the market..

“Pretty lady, what can I get you?”

The Ahjussi vendors always gave her plenty of extra meat and vegetables when she bought from them. (T/N: Ahjussi is some older men)

Then she made rice and side dishes. She carefully stuffed the plastic lunchboxes with kong-na-mul guk(T/N: beansprout with dashi soup) inside a thermos.

“Now I have to go earn money.”

Seo Yoon carried the heavy bags with both hands, she traveled by bus and went to a street near many offices.

She was already tired from being up so early, but her thoughts were focused on selling the lunchboxes.

Seo Yoon set up next to a skyrise, she took out the lunchboxes from and stacked them neatly in a pile.

Office Workers drinking their coffee were rushing to work, but stopped once they saw her.

Pretty.

'Ah, such an angel. Why is such a beautiful lady here...'

‘Today’s a lucky day. Even if I get reprimanded by my team leader, I’m sure I can take it. ’

That was only possible reaction after seeing Seo Yoon!

Seo Yoon used to be shy and stiff, she avoided making eye contact.

Subconsciously, she started avoiding people, but her frozen expression had changed after she met Hyun Lee.

The inexplicable feeling that the men felt after seeing her pure facial expression was enough to drive them mad!

The office workers saw the lunchboxes and approached her.

“Are you selling this?”

“Yes.”

Seo Yoon’s short answer mesmerized the 30 year old office worker!

“How much is it?”

“It’s...”

She didn’t know what to say since she hadn’t thought about what price would be enough to make her money.

“I haven’t decided on the price yet.”

“Really? Then, how about 6,000 won?”

Said the man who opened the lunch box. Given how cheap the boxes were to make that price would yield a lot of profit.

“I, I am okay with that.”

“Here, we'll take three.”

The office worker paid 20,000 won and received his 2000 won change.

Other office workers formed a line and bought Seo Yoon's lunchboxes.

The taste of the food was not important. They would have bought them even if the lunchboxes only had soy sauce or red chili paste!

That said, the lunch boxes came with carefully designed side dishes and tasted good too, which made the office workers smile.

“Did you make this all by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“It must be hard making so many lunch boxes...”

Seo Yoon was every man’s dream girl.

Beautiful, kind, has a great cooking skill, and is able to manage her life.

There was nothing more that they could ask for in a woman.

All of them were in awe that they met her this morning.

“This is really tasty. Will you be here tomorrow?”

“Probably.”

The office workers stood around as they ate, even after they finished they didn’t leave.

They didn’t care if they would be late, they just wanted to see a little more of her, which is why they lingered so long.

“I’d like two more boxes please.”

Even office workers who were full from breakfast ordered two more lunch boxes.

‘I’ll eat this for lunch and dinner.’

Even if he didn’t eat his hunger faded after seeing Seo Yoon’s face.

‘I don’t care if I have to pay it for it, as long as I can see her beauty.’

They didn’t care what kind of reprimand they would get when they get to their offices.

They thought that if they had a girlfriend like Seo Yoon, they could handle any kind of harassment at work.

The office workers were reprimanded for an entire week and they still felt happy.

Except there was one small problem that she didn’t know about.

Because the place was a business area with a lot of offices, police officers would pass by too.

“There are a lot of people lining up, someone must be selling something. Come on, let’s drive them out.” (T/N: The police generally just drive out “swindlers” or people who block the flow, so they probably went to drive her out because she was blocking the flow.)

The officers rushed over, but left after eating one lunchbox each.

Another morning Seo Yoon had run out of coins to give as change.

The new customer was in a hurry and started yelling.

"Jeez, how can you be selling here and not have change? I have to eat fast and go back to the office! You aren’t prepared at all. If you really need money go work at a bar instead."

Seo Yoon was surprised by the angry outburst and froze, but the problem was fixed in less than 2 seconds.

In less than two seconds the situation was about to be resolved.

“What’s up with that guy?!”

“Get him out!”

“Can we kill him?”

Before the male customers could rush in, a voice called out.

“Lee Chun, Jin shi”

“Yes?”

The Director and General Manager of the company were both standing in the line.

*****

“Wah-il, let’s go!”

Weed left Debkart mountain on his Wyvern.

"Identify!"

Helium

Durability: 3,000/3,000

A metal called the Tear of God.

A source of infinite Holy Power and Mana.

Can be refined into weapons and armor as well as sculptures.

Restrictions: A high level furnace is required to refine.

Requires Advance Sculpting Level 6.

In order to refine into weapons and armor, Advanced Blacksmith level 8 is required.

Because Helium is not a common object, it needs a furnace.

“I guess I’ll use the furnace back at Morata.” Weed said to himself, since it required both a large furnace and careful tempering. (PR/N: Tempering - is a process of heat treating, which is used to increase the toughness of iron-based alloys making it less brittle.)

It needed to be placed in a large furnace with constant high heat, but Helium has similar properties to gold and needs careful tempering.

“I’ll just have to hold onto this for a while.”
Although he had been aiming to get the Helium for a while, his current Sculpting skill was still at Advance level 7.

So he made fire sculptures continuously to raise his Sculpting proficiency.

Soon his Advance Sculpting skill would reach level 8.

Even if the improvement was slow he still decided to wait until he was able to make use of the rare material with his raised skill level.

“Hurry up sculpting skills, I need to learn Disaster Sculpting.”

Weed ignored hunting and exploring and only focused on sculpting.

Nature Sculpting required a long time to learn and it only got more difficult as the levels increased.

‘I can’t delay learning the 5th Sculpting skill any longer.’

“Let’s go to the depths of the Grey Mountains.”

‘Isn't there a saying that even a village dog can learn new tricks after 3 years?’(T/N: Another one of Weed’s sayings.)

This means how important it is to be in a conducive environment.

Weed entered the mountains near the valley to work on his sculpture.

He trained his skill using water and dirt to make sculptures. Nature Sculpting became Intermediate Level 3.

At night, he could hear the monsters’ loud noises as they were fighting outside.

There was even harsh winds and it often rained.

When the mountain becomes silent that’s when the monsters come out.

“I’m still making sculptures.”

He had 43 days left until Barkan’s Quest.

Yurin whispered to him while he was sculpting.

> Oppa, What are you doing?

Weed was making a mermaid out of rocks and water.

He had found that making sculptures of things with a high affinity to nature like elves, fairies and mermaids would result in a better sculpture.

Human, Dwarves, and Barbarians races didn’t make good subjects when making nature sculptures. Even if it was made, the end result was not desirable.

> I’m making sculptures. Where are you?

> I’m at Bardem’s mountain

> How did you get there?

> I heard the scenery was good so I came out to paint.

She had been using the Picture Teleportation skill to travel freely across the Versailles Continent.

An idea struck Weed’s head.

'There are plenty of large mountain and lakes in the Versailles Continent. If you could make art in those locations the experience would be way higher.'

Nature Sculpting greatly depended on the environment so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to wander around while sculpting.

Ma-Sen Kingdom's Bardem Mountain.

Overlooking the scenic capital city they could see Novice Castle and wide plains, it was a beautiful place.

With Yurin's help he was able to get there quickly. After Weed arrived he saw many users that came to play.

‘Its bourgeois'

The most active place were still mainly in Rosenheim Kingdom, when compared with Morata’s Players their higher levels were unparalleled.

A third of the players were over Level 200!

There were also many people wearing Level 300 equipment.

“The war never ends.”

“I think they’re trying to end it this time.”

“30,000 soldiers died, there were really that many casualties?”

"They got slaughtered while trapped inside their castle. Their spirit must have been broken. Still a lot of the army is left."

The news of the Central Continent’s war even reached the Bardem mountain.

"Get your portraits drawn. Couples should make fond memories."

Yurin was making money while sketching.

Like the fairy tales drawn in warm and cute colors, she was popular among the Players.

Weed sat down on the ground and made preparations to sculpt. He wore old clothes on purpose so he wouldn’t draw much attention from other users.

‘I’m going to try and make the Novice Castle.’

The mixed water and the dirt became dough in his hands.

He stacked the mud in the form of a mountain and used the dirt to make the large open field.

Novice Castle was made carefully with his hands.

It took four hours but the king's garden, road, market, carriage, and the people were captured with exquisitely accurate detail.

The users who were waiting to be drawn by Yurin and even the tourist started to take interest in Weed's sculpture.

The sculpture’s size was about the size of a queen mattress and it was an exact replica of the Novice Castle's surrounding.

Even the park where they were currently in was included. It even had replicas of Yurin drawing and Weed sculpting.

“Look at that. It’s incredibly well made.”

“I think he’s a Sculptor.”

Sometimes he would grab the shaped mud and use his knife to cut it.

The Players were impressed and surprised at the swift speed.

While watching the mud sculpture on the stone slab, Weed was slightly satisfied.

Unlike sculpting trees he didn't need skills to shave the corner, it was even easier than sculpting with water.

"I think its made pretty similarly. Nature Sculpturing!”

After lightly starting the skill the mountain he had made with stacked mud hardened and even grew small tiny trees on it.

In the plain region wheat fields began to spread. It’s gathering Nature’s power and magically transforming the sculpture!

Choose a name for your sculpture.

“Bardem Mountains where my sister and I used to play.”

Is “Barden Mountains where my sister and I used to play” correct?

“Yes.”

Ding!

Fine Art! “Bardem Mountains where my sister and I used to play”.

Borrowing from the earth the Sculptor expresses his feelings through the land as a sculpture.

The power of nature is infused in this sculpture.

Artistic Value: 559

Special Options: Looking on “Barden Mountains where my sister and I used to play” grants 11% increased Health and Mana Regeneration.

The force of nature improves nearby elementals.

Plants grow 4% faster.

Increased grain harvest.

Only one sculpture effect can be active at a time.

Current number of Fine pieces completed: 95

Sculpting Skill has improved.

Handicraft has improved to Advanced Level 8. Skills using hand tools improve an additional 8%, this skill affects more skills.

Nature Sculpting has improved.

Fame: +197

Willpower: +3

Art: +7

By creating a Fine Piece Nature Affinity has increased by 8. Nature affinity impacts the impact and scope of nature skills.

Creating a pure sculpture has reduced Undead Power by 4.

Weed’s Sculpting Skill was still 17% away from level 8, and his Undead power had dropped to 186.

"Waaaaa!!!"

“A Fine piece like that has never been heard of. What Sculptor can make such a work?”

“It causes plants to grow like magic! That’s great!” Players around the area began saying in surprise.

Weed then made a magical backpack to carry around the larger sculptures he created.

“Come on, let’s go to the next place.”

Yurin painted herself and Weed on the picture.

“Picture Teleportation!”

The skill made Weed and Yurin slowly disappear from the area like a mirage.

Snake Ravine of the Harpan Kingdom.

Peter Castle of Haven Kingdom.

Loin Plaza of Britten Kingdom.

The Street of Fully Blossomed Flowers of Aidern Kingdom.

Artian Fountain and the surrounding area of Bacuba Kingdom.

The Vanetta region and Spring Palace of the Ritten Kingdom.

The Pyramid of Rosenheim Kingdom.

The Mirror Lake of Brent Kingdom.

Weed put his all into the trip with Yurin and made sculptures everywhere that other players saw.

“Wha... what is that sculptor doing?”

“I think he just finished his work.”

But as people flocked to Weed and Yurin they would disappear using Picture teleportation.

So people searched on the forums instead.

Title: Today there have been a few appearances of a Sculptor.

I was hunting at the Snake's ravine when I saw one sculptor. He looked like he was playing around with dirt but he was making a sculpture.

Since he was wearing beginner's cloth and making a sculpture, I didn't see it as a big deal and ignored it. However the dirt that was piled up was made into a realistic representation the Snake's ravine.

I think these are really amazing.

But how the hell did he get the water to flow like that? It’s not like any of other fountains.

– Eh, thats nonsense.

– Think you were just dreaming. Wake up now. And go to sleep at night.

Title: I saw sculpting at Snake Ravine as well.

I’m not sure if it was magic, but water was flowing from a mud sculpture.

And the finished piece was a Fine sculpture.

I wanted to have a conversation with him, but he left really quickly…...

– Did water really flow from the sculpture? Who is this Sculptor?

– Does Harpan Kingdoms have a player with intermediate level Sculpting?

– Is it the magic of a Sculptor?

– Is that a sculpture that can only be seen when it rains? There is no one who can replicate that, but...

It was a user that had a rare amount of experience that couldn't be found even if you searched the Harpen Kingdom.

Then the info started connecting!

Title: I saw a certain Sculptor at the Bardem mountains in Masen Kingdoms.

I saw him making a sculpture on the spot for the first time, and it was the best.

Trees were growing all over the place.

– If trees were growing, does that mean he used spiritual magic?

– I don’t really know. But the trees were growing so fast that you could see them grow.

– It’s almost as unbelievable as that story of water flowing.

Title: Is there anyone that could describe the outer appearance of the Sculptor?

I am a player from Bacuba Kingdom.

Did the person that all of you saw have a rather normal face with clothes smeared with grime?

And the Painter that was with him had a large green hat and was really pretty.

– That's true. I saw them at Snake ravine.

– The Sculptor that came to Masen Kingdom was the same.

– That makes no sense. Harpan Kingdom, Masen Kingdom, Bacuba Kingdom. The distance between all of them are immense.

– Even when using a magicians teleport or gate to it’s full potential, it would still be difficult.

The Sculptor that makes miracles!

Someone posted a video of Weed making a sculpture in the Masen Kingdom with that nickname.

The players from multiple Kingdoms in the Central Continent replied that they saw as well.

Title: The identity of that sculptor is Weed.

I’m a player currently active in the Rosenheim Kingdom.

Everyone should know that Weed came from our Kingdom. And yesterday I saw Weed making a sculpture on top of the pyramid.

I recognized him because I worked on the pyramid as well.

I was really lucky to have returned to Serabourg castle after partying up with dark elves and orcs in the Yurokina Mountains.

Since I’m not a Newbie anymore I am heading to Morata.

Towards the second home, Morata!

– So it was Weed.

– It’s self explanatory since it’s Weed.

– How high is his mastery in Sculpting right now?

– Did he master that skill?

– How could he master the skill when he was adventuring so busily? If he did get the Sculpting mastery he would be the first person to master a Profession Skill.

– Combat skills are difficult to raise, Sculpting would be even harder.

– If he did master the skill it would have been a huge issue and the villagers would have spread it. That really is a huge issue you know?

*****

The fact that he made a sculpture on top of Peter castle reached the Hermes guild too late.

“Weed must have a death wish. He dared to come to Peter Castle?”

Peter Castle was an old castle built on a mountaintop. It was a strategic stronghold, but it was also a beautiful place that was the pride of the Haven Kingdom.

“If we knew earlier, we would have wiped him out with our elite squads!”

The top leaders of the Hermes Guild were upset at this and grinding their teeth.

Their pride took a mighty blow when Drinpelt’s fleet was obliterated near the Jigolaths, and now it took another hit with this.

The Haven Kingdom had been completely conquered and Bard Ray with his considerable strength was promoted to king.

During this time when other users and guilds were on their knees and bowing their heads while all the high level players were getting in, Weed, the enemy of Hermes guild, had made a sculpture at Peter castle and left.

The players couldn't help but stick out their tongue at such a grand action.

Chapter 7: The Grand Cathedral of Freya

Weed did not just make Nature Sculptures while traveling around the Central Continent.

"Sculptor Weed right? Your works are superb."

"It seems my reputation precedes me. Your Majesty, I've travelled across the High Seas to come meet you."

He energetically visited the residences of the nobles.
Weed was wearing Talrok’s armor, his best equipment to raise his Charm and Dignity.

The King of Ritten sat on his throne and asked.

"Lord of the northern lands, famous adventurer, what is the reason for your visit?"

Weed spoke words of flattery respectably while in his best armor.

"As I was travelling around your kingdom, I was deeply impressed by your rule. Your majesty, I had to come visit you to pay my respects."

"Seeing you, I seem to remember all the things I've forgotten till now."

“I’d like to listen to what’s going on?”

Weed's reputation and dignity stat were really high, making it very easy to meet nobles of a kingdom and even the king.

It was even high enough to be able to receive a King's Quest!

However, when meeting nobility or royalty, he still had to adhere to proper etiquette.

"When I was young, I had a really attractive appearance. Princesses and noble ladies from all around would line up for a chance to dance with me."

However, the reality was that the King of Ritten's looks would now only appeal to female Orcs.

But in the ways of the world, silence is sometimes better than the truth.

And Weed was a person who took pride in living realistically.

"Indeed. Your Majesty has probably stolen the hearts of many young maidens. Now, the noble young ladies of the Kingdom of Ritten must be very unhappy because of you.”

"Adventurer, what do you mean they are unhappy because of me?"

Currently, there was not even one young person of nobility. There were only knights with heavy lips as well as the King and Weed himself.

"Yearning for Your Majesty, they would not be able to sleep soundly at night."

"HAHA!"

The King of Ritten Kingdom laughed out loud. His cheeks jiggled around obscenely.

Weed did not miss a beat and said.

"As expected, your smiling face would charm the people's hearts!" (TN: originally I wrote ‘As expected, your smiling face is very charming!’ but that sounds like Weed is coming on to him)

It was like praising a snake that it had beautiful skin, or telling a frog that it's legs were stunning.

He had the insight and skills to become a superb treacherous servant.

"I'd like you to erect a statue of me in my youth! I'll provide you with anything you need to create this statue."

Ding!

King's Statue

Erect a statue of the King of Ritten Kingdom in his youth, in the royal palace.

Create a statue that would satisfy the king.

Only one of the leading sculptors in the entire continent would be capable of creating a successful piece.

Necessary materials can be found in the royal palace.

Difficulty: Profession Quest

Reward: Emerald, Sapphire, a minimum of 10 or more

Quest Restrictions: Only available to Sculptors.

Thanks to flattery, a sculpture was commissioned.

Weed bowed at the waist at once.

"It would be my honor to carve the likeness of Your Majesty. I hope my work will be able to satisfy." (TN: not sure about the second sentence)

Quest Accepted.

In the royal palace, top grade carving stone, snow white in color, was prepared!.

Weed took out Zahab's Sculpting Knife. It would make his work a lot easier.

"The sculpture shouldn't really portray the likeness of the king in his youth."

Looking at the portraits of when he was younger, the King of Ritten Kingdom definitely looked like a baby Orc.

"It is better if I make it handsome instead."

He increased the height slightly, and raised his nose.

To hide the defects he transformed the morbidly obese figure into a sturdy figure.

To harmonize the sculpture he had it wear only a piece of armour and carry a sword.

It had similar characteristics to the King of Ritten, but in truth it was a completely different person!

The difference in the sculpture was even more pronounced than pictures of celebrities. (I think its talking about touched up photos)

Although only 3-4 hours were invested into the sculpture, the result was very good.

Weed increased his sculpting skill and also his nature sculpting skill.

The gathered Nature energy clothed the sculpture. The shiny statue splendidly spun around as it was showered with the energy.

And to top it off, there was the flattery.

"My skill is insufficient, Your Majesty's glory and generous spirit I failed to fully capture. I deserve death!"

Finding defect where there was none, it captivated the heart of the King of Ritten.

"It's fine. In my mind, there is no need for self-reproach. It takes a lot of effort to make something so precious."

The sculpture was made in such haste that it was a waste of materials. In fact, the original form (of the king probably) wasn't good, so even with Weed's skills and extra time, it would have been difficult to have gotten a better result.

“Even Zahab or Daycram would have a hard time with this one.”

The artistic level of the result was not always proportional to the success of the quest.

"The road of an artist is really difficult."

So the quest was completed, but he did not come here simply for the commission.

He came to see the royal art collection on display in the castle.

Long story short, it was a house visit!

Looking at artwork was a fast way to recover Art stats.

Weed and Yurin toured around the castle shamelessly taking advantage of the art.

"Oh, what a wonderful sculpture! To think you have so many great works of art, Your Majesty. This truly symbolizes your power, strength and dignity. By the way, are there any leftovers?"

You have seen the work The Wolves at Dusk by Royal Sculptor Martino.

Art Stat increased by 2.

Sculpting skill increased by 0.1% from appreciating an excellent work of art.

You have seen the painting The Palace In Springtime, by the Royal Painter Perril.

Art stat increased by 3.

Appreciation of the exceptional painting has increased mastery of Painting skill by 3.1%.

While looking at the works he also had a meal and chatted with the knights and the aristocracy.

Users who can meet nobles or the King were few and far between.

It was thus impossible to find information about the king of a kingdom on the Royal Road Information Bulletin or the Dark Gamers' site.

They could learn a lot here about art trends(TN: maybe art styles).

The huge collection of artworks definitely displays the greatness and absolute power of a King.

Weed's reaction when seeing the vast collection of gorgeous and sensual works of art was jaw-dropping amazement.

“You have such a luxury with all this money.”

Intimacy had increased with the king.

The Kingdom had many dynamic and unpretentious Art that were all lined in a row.

“Wrong. It’s Poor!”

He travelled around many kingdoms while sponging off them and viewing their artworks. His art stat was restored to 2089.

If you visited the manors, palaces and religious churches in all the kingdoms on Versailles continent, then you would be able to raise the art stat massively.

However if your familiarity was low then the kings or lords would not let you see the more prominent pieces of artwork in their collection, even if your fame was high.

You might be able to glance at the artwork hanging on the corridors or placed in spacious gardens.

If those lords and nobles do not hold sculpting in high regard then even high fame is useless.

Weed’s fame was raised primarily through sculpting and adventuring, if the nobles did not care for either, they refused his request for a meeting.

"I'm afraid I have never heard your name in fashionable society."

"You've made a lot of sculptures? I prefer the sword. If you are not a master swordsman then a meeting is impossible.”

"This free city was able to grow greatly thanks to trade. Your prowess as a merchant is sorely lacking."

Unless one was well-known among aristocracy, was a good trader, an expert in the sword, had magical prowess or possessed ability in various other fields, they would not meet the requirements to visit many kings and nobles.

Players were increasing their favors to the feudal lords who were natives to the Haven Kingdom. Of course, this did not matter if you had the same Fame as Weed.

The Castle dominated the Art supplies. Even if you went to visit a warehouse it would all be in vain because the would be sold out.

Only the Kings of Ritten Kingdom, Aidern Kingdom, Rosenheim Kingdom, and Britten Kingdom enjoyed Weed and took out their private art pieces without reserve.

Visiting the Orders of the Continent was even harder, only the Order of Freya, the Order of Lu and 3 other Orders that respected Weed's fight with the Embinyu Church allowed him to visit.

He traveled around the Versailles Continent and experienced scorn towards sculpting from the nobilities.

“Can you make a massive army of monsters retreat with sculpting? Sculpting is only for those who are carefree and bored.”

"You say that you can find beauty from sculptures? Ho ho, there's nothing more beautiful than magic that comes from those who have improved their knowledge and understanding of mana."

In the continent the status of a Sculptor was very low, given that there was no one as proficient, exceptional or famous as Weed. Thus, people’s awareness of sculpting was low and was often ignored.

With the exception of swordsmen and magicians, the recognition of professions changed with the actions of the players.

A baron arrogantly pointed towards a ship and spoke.

"A sculptor? That's nice but I prefer listening to stories of adventure. I have heard rumours that you have had a great adventure in the lands to the north called, Jigolaths! I would really like to listen to the story of what happened there. If you were a fraud-like painter with paint all over your clothes I would have never met with you!"

Painters were treated as rivals, the only consolation was that both professions were in a similar situation.

"Even so, it's still bearable. Since both Painters and Sculptors are looked down upon equally!"

After creating Nature Sculptures and visiting castles, there were only 24 more hours until the start of Barkan's Quest.

But Weed was able to raise his skill mastery in Nature Sculpting to 89% of Intermediate Level 5.

A little more and he would be able to learn Disaster Sculpting!

Yurin asked.

"Oppa, where are we going now?"

"For now, lets go back to Morata."

Yurin started to paint the Tower of Light.

It was Morata at night time. After painting the tower, she added brilliantly radiating light and then put herself and Weed in the scene.

"Picture Teleportation!"

Both of them disappeared from the surroundings.

*****

"I'm here to register as a worker."

"Can I just start today?"

Morata's construction site was crowded with people wanting to join in the construction.

500 people, 2,000 people, 7,000 people, 8,000 people, and then 20,000 people.

As time passed more people gathered with interest in the construction like ants gathering around a piece of cake.

"Those who will gather stones get in line!"

"Looking to recruit party members to mine iron ore! Mining skill is an absolute plus."

The building materials piled like a mountain as well.

They mobilized for the quest from the Lord!

To create great buildings Morata's users joined en masse.

Building materials were gathered from nearby mines, mountains and rivers, by fleets of users.

Users swarmed like ants around the Cathedral and Library, while piling up bricks on a pillar.

"At the center of the Cathedral make the chapel, as well as 12 towers."

"Add the building where the school will be."

"Don't forget the accommodation for the Church's Paladins and Priests."

“Shouldn't the chapel be at least 150m high? We also need to place a dome at the top."

"The height should be at least 230m. It makes sense that it's bigger than the Statue of Freya."

The architects in charge of the design were at the construction site debating amongst themselves.

A staggeringly magnificent Cathedral was being planned to be built in Morata.

The line of people who had gathered building materials from nearby mines and rivers stretched further.

"Kkeungcha!"

“Heoeoeoeoeog!"

The beginners carried stone and lumber with wobbly legs!

So far all of the works Weed was involved in has succeeded. The Great Pyramid and Statue of Freya were visible evidence.

This was a golden opportunity to gain contribution points in Morata, as well as the Church of Freya, that could not be missed.

Raising contribution to a city by aiding in its development can be very useful. You can reduce your taxes, borrow soldiers for expeditions or get a house. You could also get equipment from the Lord's arsenal.

For those beginners who started in Morata, who would stay in the Northern region for a long time, this was an absolutely unmissable opportunity!

Mapan, Irene, and Pale were discussing this topic while watching the scenery of the mountains.

"Indeed it is as we thought."

"Users who started in Morata are going to grow really fast."

"I can't let my guard down."

Surprisingly, Weed did not have to do anything to get users to join. The users joined voluntarily to be exploited by Weed.

Holding on to grand dreams, there were a lot of beginners in Morata.

Even though it was difficult moving the building materials for the beginners, it was done without hesitation.

As society dictated doing well on your first job was of prime importance.

Weed did not force this Quest on them.

After working hard to create great buildings in Morata and helping evolve the city with their own hands, it will be harder to emigrate to other areas.

Given the great undertaking, Weed should expect to reap great monetary returns!

"In the whole world, is there as good a man as our lord?"

"Taxes are low, necessary buildings are available, there is good security, and road planning and urban development is going well."

Although no official facts have been released, exaggerated rumours hit the online boards.

"The money that has been invested in Morata exceeds 2 million gold? A substantial amount was from his own pocket, and not from public funds."

"Morata was a completely ruined village. He rescued the residents, and grew it to this degree. Even now he is building great architecture."

There was high praise for Weed among users and residents. He might be the most popular lord on the continent.

They were brainwashed to the degree of praising Weed, even if Weed were to drag monsters and slaughter them.

"We've rested enough, time to go back."

"Come on, come on! Let's go."

Mapan and Pale, Irene pushed the wagon packed with decorative stone. The remaining colleagues were running up and down the stairs carrying stone to work on the library.

*****

Weed and Yurin arrived at the Tower of Light.

Observing from a high place, Weed realized that there were way more people than when he left for the Debkart mountains. With the news that there was a grand architecture being constructed, there was a massive influx of both Newbies and wanderers from the Central Continent.

"Hmm. Need a change of clothes."

When he sold his work, he deliberately wore the shabby clothes of Newbies.

It was not because there were no special options required to make a sculpture.

“Cause it looks cool!”

Art means hunger.

Some parties from the Central Continent wearing unwashed Newbie clothing had that meaning behind it.

Weed opened his guild chatting window as well as his 'whisper' after changing clothes.

He occasionally opened the chat window in order to obtain information so that he could create sculptures in Morata.

However, it seems that something was up if they did not hear at any gossip at all.
Members of the Wilderness Traveler Guild had socially rich oriented Professions and their Levels were high. The Guild often spoke worthwhile information. There was a lot of talk about the grounds of the Square.

That was also why many Merchants knew about it.

The Merchant Guild contained rumors, market information, and necessary goods needed for adventurers.

"Well, see you later."

Weed separated from Yurin and walked the streets of Morata.

Looking around the square there were players of various levels.

Many of them were looking for members to make hunting parties.

From this sight one could see the future was bright for Morata!

A satisfied smile was beginning to form on Weed's face.

"Get meals free of charge. Our Lord is providing the food. Those who are hungry, come and get it!"

There were hundreds of people standing in line for Morata's Soup Kitchen!

Free meals that people could eat without restriction. A teenage girl was talking to someone who was about to receive food.

"Our lord truly is the greatest."

"Indeed. No where else would anyone give out free meals."

"Also the beef soup being served is so tasty."

"How can there be such delicious food in a soup kitchen? The menu changes daily, even people with levels higher than 300 come to eat here."

Weed's tongue quivered in anger. (TN: I'm not sure how a tongue quivers in anger, I might have translated wrong, or it might be a Korean saying)

He held back a million curses from spewing out of his throat!

As a result of the free meals players would be able to work hard in hunting, which would increase taxes paid.

However, in Weed's mind all of it was at his own expense.

Female Players devour their Mana without regard for budget usage, thereby the hoped to increase their limit by having more side dishes.

"I would like three servings, please!"

"I have to go hunting, so two more bowls please."

“Is this enough?”

Five female users greedily devoured the food without restraint.

Their job was that of a warrior which was physically demanding! The combatant professions must move their body a lot and thus had to eat a lot as well.

Weed felt as if his own flesh being torn every time he saw food disappear into the women's mouth.

"This must be what it feels like when a girl orders steak, drinks and salad on a blind date?”

Just imagining that hell, he felt like suffocating!

The popularity of the soup kitchen was great and people constantly came to dine before heading elsewhere.

Newbie’s were brandishing flimsy swords, not decent against a fight, wore wide brimmed hat with no options, accounted for the vast majority.

When their levels rose, even though some would still return for the soup kitchen, but most of them would have more money and then search for better food.

“Shouldn’t be so stingy over food. How much food is being eaten by people? Soup Kitchen Information Window!"

Lord's Soup Kitchen

Provides food for free to residents of Morata as well as migrants(players).

Prepares meals for a great number of people every day.

Chefs Employed

603

Number of Meals prepared daily

191,800

Gold consumed in a week

Chefs' Salary

1,809 Gold

Ingredients

18,794 Gold

Effects:

Increases loyalty to the lord.

Instability is reduced.

Birth rate increased to double.

Lowers the price of food.

Improve skills of novice cooks.

In a single month an astronomical sum of more than 80,000 gold was being consumed due to the soup kitchen.

"Keoheuheuheuheug."

Weed could not help but to weep.

When he was still a kid and his parents were still alive, he remembered when the elder kids would bully him and take his candies!

His unusual behaviour attracted the attention from many players who passed by him on the street.

"He must be really moved by the soup kitchen."

"Did that guy come here from another region? When he sees other parts of Morata he will really be pleased. It's a fun and interesting city."

"Doesn't his face resemble the Lord of Morata?"

"It's not at all alike. There’s no way a poor looking man like that would look the same as the god of war Weed."

Weed was seriously considering closing down the soup kitchen.

To be honest, he would rather turned it into a restaurant instead.

However, thinking long term, although the soup kitchen costs a lot in maintenance the benefits are huge.

Morata was becoming a big city. Public security and birth rate will increase as well as promote economic development. The most important advantage is that Weed's reputation as lord will greatly increase.

"In order to reap large profits, now is the time to cultivate."

The residents and the players need to increase a lot.

The technology of the Orc village had no degree of development whatsoever, which was why they partnered with other villages and produced one thousand helpers.

In the shops, limitations to sell stuff were too difficult. Nevertheless, the money of the Orc mountains began to fluctuate. The amount of an object changed at a fearsome pace.

Orc Traders were mostly saying.

"We don't try to sell a 100 gold item. Since we can sell 1,000 1 gold items instead. We'll exchange the ones that were made wrongly, which we think will be about 300."

The Orcs showed no regret in quantity before quality!

Through Weed’s researched information and based on his experience when he changed to Orc Karichwi. In order to foster the economic power that the people could feel most effectively.

"No way would I eat a meal at a soup kitchen for an entire year, around festivals and attractions that you yourself don’t want to attend! "

Morata’s reputation in the Arts was very high, but listening to the Bard and Dancer performing for an entire year was a horrible thing to imagine.

Of course, it wasn’t unusual for some Players to get sick and tired of the act altogether.

Weed went to visit the theater. In order to learn more about Morata, he went to watch a play.

"Culture is valuable. Let's see how mature the level of the performance is."

Weed was interested in work related to instruments such as the harp.

At the place Weed went to watch there were 38 other people watching; the bards played and dancers danced. It was a musical that combined song and dance!

It was a popular play in Morata called 'Oath of the Wizards'.

The audience filled the seats and watched.

Weed sat watching, focusing on the performance. But then his eyelids started to droop.

"Snore!"

The play ended after 20 minutes.

You have seen the play 'Oath of the Wizards'.

Strength is reduced by 3%.

Agility is reduced by 4%.

The recovery rate of stamina is lowered, maximum reduced.

11% increase in wisdom.

Knowledge will increase by 6%.

The recovery rate of mana is increased temporarily.

Duration of effect is 3 days after watching the play.

Does not overlap with other performances or dance.

The vast majority of the audience were Wizards, Summoners and Elementalists.

After the performance the actors came out onto the stage to greet the audience and were met with thunderous applause.

Then, each made their own way to the exit.

"Now, where are you going to hunt?"

"A dungeon next to the river. And you?"

"Its pretty far from Morata. Its called the Tomb of Mainz... Monsters level is quite high. Although it's difficult, the party is quite capable. Its a worthwhile hunt."

After watching the show, the people returned to their parties as they had predetermined beforehand.

Warriors and Knights also viewed plays associated with their professions.

'The boy who challenged the tower of Warriors.'

'The dragon's assault'.

The first attempt at creating a performance by a bard or dancer will not be perfect.

Countless performances were being attempted based on empty conjectures, creating many terrible works.

However, despite the challenges, gems were being unearthed in the process of creation.

Out of all the attempts 99% resulted in failure, and only 1% resulted in success.

Jjakjjakjjak! (TN: sound of clapping I think)

Weed also applauded.

"It was a really great show." (TN: LoL, even though he fell asleep)

He came out of the theater, and as he roamed around Morata he could see people performing.

Bards were playing musical instruments and onlookers paid money in coins.

Although the sum of money was not large, their levels increased and they were happy to perform on the street, and so continued playing.

Everywhere in Morata this sight could be seen.

"What a great profession!"

Weed thought that the job had good points.

The only cost of materials was the instrument which was a rare expenditure, and there were no disputes caused by haggling with customers.

Above all, the greatest advantage was that the money received was classified as donations and thus were not taxable.

Now, even in the dungeons with the party members they continue to play and raised their skills proficiency, there was no better Professions for those who have a cheerful personality.

Hwaryeong’s role always created a lively atmosphere when it came to a hunting party.

Bathed with the Dancer’s Charm, the hunting Knights sometimes gains indomitable Strength when they exert their attacks. When Weed was going on a hunt, his other party members were not directly combat-based Professions, such as women like Surka but Hwaryeong had experience.

Immersed in music or dance, but it was still in a dangerous situation. Surrounded by monsters, anything could occur. The Bard played songs that were pleasant and even made these moments of such annihilation enjoyable.

"There are many sculptures and paintings as well..."

You could see a lot of sculptures in every store.

If you can't afford a house in the suburbs, you worked to make decorations or gifts, Sculptors and Painters had increased their source of revenue. Morata’s cultural investment cost
was related to the amount being spent and increased their salary and levels brought about by the many side Quests created.

In fact, Art in the city of Rhodium had always been the representative of the Versailles Continent.

For people dreaming to become artists, Rhodium was the first place to go, and due to that it became completely filled with only artists. Eventually the ratio was ruined and the opportunity for jobs decreased.

However the amount of opportunities for artists in Morata were wider.

Artists of Morata preferred to grow their skills in Morata, before leaving to travel the Versailles continent to grow their skills further, as Weed did.

Even if it was dangerous, artists must travel in order to learn more about the world.

Weed had thought about this as well.

"One to two amazing works would be nice. Even when it is very steady progress a
Magnum Opus would be worthwhile, albeit made with continued support. "

There were many things about Royal Road that were not disclosed, part of that was the Culture stat. A place where the Lord was a Sculptor, Bard's with high Art were entertaining boldy increasing Morata’s Culture, making his investment worthwhile before he went to the High Seas.

He had thought it was just a waste of money, but in the last war residents and soldiers from other regions had forsaken their villages for Morata, so culture had a great impact on local politics.

It even helped in public security and economic development, either directly or indirectly.

If culture was not developed, burglaries would increase and risk of rebellion would go up.

"Construction work is also steadily progressing well."

The Cathedral and the Great Library that were being built in the Tower of Light Square and Bingryong Square, had the basic framework laid down.

"Wowaaah!"

"Bring more bricks, as soon as possible."

The sounds of thousand of people diligently at work in construction could be heard.

The construction was done in accordance with the form of three-storey house built in the size of the model.

Merchants were leading ox-pulled carts filled with materials necessary for the construction.

Morata's sculptors and painters also mobilized.

Working on the cathedral meant honouring the prestigious gods, which can increase fame and faith.

Working on the cathedral was a great challenge for the artists.

"There are no decorations here."

"The walls? And the ceiling? What colour should go where?"

"The ceiling should have a painting, or a sculpture? A painting should be better, right? For the ceiling, at least 3 skilled painters should be assigned in order to create the best work.

In the construction of the cathedral more than 100 outstanding sculptors and painters were working on both the internal and external parts of the building.

From the columns to the floor, working everywhere, the task of decorating progressed really quickly.

For the construction of the cathedral the cost of materials and labour had already exceeded the already reasonable budget.

Clerics and Paladins paid money into the project and were doing further fund raising.

"If the cathedral is completed Morata is really going to be a great place to live. Nowhere in the central continent does the lord invest selflessly like this."

"Whenever someone gets a good quest, would they want to live by making offerings to the ruling guild? The lord lets us participate in the development plan."

Cases where the loyalty to the lord was so high that they would actively cooperate in the development plan was really rare.

Broadcasters came to report on the development of the cathedral that was being built by users.

"The settlement started only 6 months ago in real time. At first there was a lack of a lot of buildings and things weren't easy. However now things are different, many of the necessary buildings are available. Also the ones that are not available are quickly being built."

"When I started playing Royal Road, I chose Morata. Then listening to the stories about how the other cities were thriving, I was envious. But now I do not regret it one bit."

"Morata’s Players will improve more. In each hunting area in Central Continent there is a lot of competition, but here there’s exploration and competitive Quests. Although, hunting is a lot more dangerous. The danger is real. But I prefer to live a risky life with my fellow residents. "

"Why stay here and not go somewhere else? Because Morata is a lot of fun."

Morata established itself at a fearsome pace as a center of trade within the northern continent.

Users attributed this accomplishment to the leadership of the lord.

Being the Ruler of Morata, Players had the upmost respect for Weed.

Weed did not use city funds for personal reasons or try to create a slush fund to accumulate wealth.

"Every profession can realize their potential; technology, commerce, and art and culture has blossomed because the people's taxes has been correctly invested."

Users were growing in full swing, buildings were being built, and economic power had increased, thus tax income was also going up. In conclusion, this was the dream of the vicious lord!

However, there were also other Players who pointed their fingers and cited out the leadership problems of the Lord.

The cathedral was the culmination of the efforts of the Architects, Sculptors and Painters.

The chapel’s ceilings and walls had huge windows. It was difficult to find the mysterious and solemn atmosphere with the dark coated glass, which was why they asked to install stained glass.

As Painter’s painted the stained glass turning into the downward the passage of light which symbolized the divine power, the Charm of the picture displayed the combination of Architecture and Art.

Inside, the stairs were decorated with absolutely wonderful carvings and artwork.

Although the ability of the Sculptors, Painters, and Architects involved were not the best, everyone was going to give their best effort.

Chapter 8: Rejecting Destiny

The Geomchi had no choice but to give up on the hunt. The Kraken swam the wide open sea so, lest for a designated time, it was difficult to find.

Only if you had excellent sailing skills you could pursue and catch marine organisms like the Kraken, but trying to catch a Kraken with a boat would take too much time. (T/N: Sea of Life - Name of their ship.)

"Let's just go to Morata."

The Geomchi, holding in their hunger, went to the harbour of Bellona Island, looking for a ship that was heading for Morata.

All of the sailors he met shook their heads.

"I will not go as far as Morata."

"I'll pay twice as much."

"During this time the sea is very dangerous. There are high waves and violent winds blowing around. The access route just north of the continent is blocked by storms as well."

There was also another route from the sea, but a lot of things were depending on the season the boats route to Morata from the Central Continent would be blocked.

If you met a skilled captain even sailing through storms wouldn’t be a problem.

The only problem was that, there weren’t that many good captains, and the chance of them sticking around drinking alcohol and taking a break on an island was low.

A player who was a sailor said that if they wait about a week, a luxury cruiser from the Kingdoms would come.

He also told them that they could go to Morata by passing by 3 kingdoms on the cruise.

More than 400 of the Geomchi found themselves stuck on the harbour.

In order to depart they sold all the small boats that they had.

Waiting for the cruiser would be faster than buying another ship and sailing.

Then one day, Geomchi 405 spoke.

“Though the waves are strong...I think it would be fun to swim, Sahyung!”

Geomchi 405 spoke thoughtlessly due to wanting to play around and swim in the sea on a stormy day.

However, the eyes of the instructors had changed.

“Indeed, sounds like fun.”

“It sure does Sahyung. Instead of talking here, let’s go swim.”

“The reason we came here was to ea…. no, to challenge ourselves against everything, wasn’t it?”

All the while, when fighting monsters in Royal Road the Geomchi had also further improved their sword skills.

Tension, which was hard to experience in real life, Life and death struggles and in spars, reminding of actual battle.

Although it was different from reality, it was possible to find the parts where you were lacking.

The Geomchi, rather than solving Quests requiring to solve mysteries, prefered simple battle so they had been fighting constantly.

In order to strengthen willpower, extreme conditions that were challenging were necessary.

Examining the gathered practitioners, Geomchi spoke.

“Let’s swim to Morata!”

If there was a sailor there, they would have tried to stop them at any costs, even by giving them free sushi.

If anyone had even the slightest information about the sea, they would haven’t done such a reckless act.

Even haenyeo (T/N: Korean traditional divers; generally women, and they are known for being able to dive for extended periods of time as well as being extremely proficient at swimming in general) wouldn’t do such a thing.

“Since the weather’s hot as well, should we do that?”

“Master, that’s a brilliant plan.”

“Let’s hurry over to Morata and have some beer and a roast boar.”

The trainees enthusiastically agreed and joined in.

And then without any other preparations, they jumped into the sea, even when it was pouring.

The people in the harbor could not help but to be awed.

“To do something that crazy, that doesn’t make any sense.”

“Wow, are they really going?”

They saw something which they would never forget.

The first night of the swim towards Morata was easy enough.

It was all due to Geomch i3 and the Priests, as well as the monstrous vitality that the trainees had.

“It’s nice and cool.”

“We should have done this earlier.”

However, the next night, the Priests could no longer keep up with the Geomchi’s Vitality and could no longer send out their support.

At least they got used to and a lot of sailing and swimming in the water of the High Seas.

While swimming, do not go against the flow of the wave and match your breathing with it.

The leading Geomchi had a contest, Geomchi 3 and Geomchi 5 were like fishes
and went together.

When you swim for a long time, your strength and concentration easily deteriorate.

The slightest slip in this deep ocean could turn to a disastrous mistake and lead to drinking seawater and then drowning.

The Geomchis prevented themselves from dying by performing a group dog paddle.

Even the seagulls in the sky could not help but look over the Geomchis as Geomchi 2 ordered the 503 similarly named Humans doing a dog paddle!

‘Fresh fish? I gotta grab it and eat it, shouldn’t I?’

Monster birds hesitated attacking them time and again. Rain suddenly fell from the sky.

The Wind grew stronger and the birds became terrified of the huge waves.

Vitality has decreased by 15%.

Body movements are slower due to cold waters.

You are under attacked by carnivorous fish.

You are being swept away by waves.

The neverending stream of warnings were a given!

Even though they gained a lot of Vitality from passing extreme martial arts quests, crossing the sea was impossible.

The Geomchi were not exactly in decent condition when they were attacked, despite being tired and exhausted they had to deal with the attacks of the man-eating sharks.

From a distance, pointed shark fins were approaching atop the waves.

Ttudung…. ttudung... ttudung... ttudung.. ttudung. ttudung! (TN: jaws anyone)

It was a scene that could have been taken straight from a horror movie.

Geomchi 3 started to feel ecstatic watching the sharks approach.

“Hey guys, I’ve found something delicious!”

The best dishes could be made from shark fins.

They had heard of this through word of mouth, but never had a chance to taste it.

But were not the shark fins now coming to them?

“Attack!”

“Let’s pick them clean!”

The extraordinary act of humans attacking sharks for food started and 15 practitioners died in the process.

If they were attacked on land it would have been easy to hunt the sharks but because of the rolling waves it was difficult to control your body in the sea so they took damage.

"You rascals, you'll be eaten for sure."

"I agree, the punishment is death."

They landed on a nearby island and made shark barbecue, and continued moving forward when the dead practitioners revived and rejoined.

Hunger was satiated by catching fish, and they gathered fresh water when it rained on the sea to relieve thirst.

Indeed, it was swimming under extreme hardship.

Various sea creatures came at them, pushing them to the brink.

Most of the Geomchi exceeded Level 300. Four to five times they came close to death, but still welcomed the challenge!

So far they were not even half way to the northern continent where Morata was situated.

At this point, it would have been normal to hear someone say to go to the nearest continent or island to ask for help, but they weren’t just anyone, they were the Geomchis.

With their strength, they would choose hard and dangerous quests to improve themselves.

“Isn’t it fun?”

“It’s fun!”

“This is how you should be risking your life.”

“Let’s go to our destination without stopping!”

While they were swimming along the vast open sea they came across something.

Far away, they could see a trading ship and approached it.

"Look! Its a shipwreck, let's go inside!"

The captain and his crew quickly threw a rope to save the victims.

Geomchi 317 yelled out loud.

“This place is… *gurgle gurgle*, don’t worry us go on ahead guys.”

“I think you are mistaken, we are not pirates. We will take you to land so get on board.”

The captain was actually a merchant. Trying to save what he thought were victims of the sea, the sea merchant acted out of the goodness of his heart!

“We are just… *blub blub* enjoying swimming”

“Just what are you saying. I don’t even see another boat around here.”

The place where the trade ship met the Geomchi was actually the heart of the ocean.

“Where is your destination that you are trying to swim to?”

“Mo… rata.”

Since Geomchi 417 was talking while continuously swimming, he ended up drinking quite a bit of sea water.

Though this was a mistake that he wouldn’t have made in the past, it caused his Vitality to drop to the point where he couldn’t swim well anymore, all he could do was flail his arms and leg around.

“What, Morata? Isn’t that the northern part of the continent?

The captain had an expression like an Orc had just hit his forehead with a glaive.

“Are theywe really going to Morata?”

“Where exactly did you start swimming from? There was even a wild storm two days ago.”

“Yo, there are no harbors nearby, let alone a place to have started swimming from… not to mention there’s not even any harbors until you get to Morata from here.”

The sword practitioners were rambling amongst themselves.

Difficult to believe that the captain of the merchant who is leading the boat for a few hours saw them.

But they really were endlessly swimming towards the direction of Morata.

He was surprised by their enormous vitality and again when he noticed some of the practitioners were unable to endure it any longer and sunk into the sea.

‘If they have that much vitality then they should be very high leveled warriors....’

As a merchant, his insight on things were on another level.

Even though the Geomchii’s were quite a high level, despite wearing light armor and leather, some of them were capable to wear lvl 340 Equipment.

For these high level players to attempt to swim across the continent!

Warriors gain fame and stats from hunting difficult monsters.

But those stats could be lost if they died needlessly, this was truly a difficult adventure to take on.

It was common knowledge among the Royal Road Players, even if the person was uninterested they would still know that Stats and Skill proficiencies were important in the game.

The men in the High Seas were the same, even if the sea had large flesh eating monsters they still raised their proficiencies.

The captain was envious and breathed a heavy sigh.

“These are truly happy men.”

During the weekday, he would accumulate considerably large amount of stress when he was working the company.

But sailing in Royal Road and looking for fun and trading goods, and now seeing the Geomchis he felt himself humbled.

"I think I was too comfortable."

The Trader’s cabin which served as a warehouse had a lot of high priced glass and precious metals. Throughout the Versailles continent he was included in the top 300 merchants. Traders were more or less similar to the Warrior class but leveled up by Trading.

The logbook in the High Seas was an opportunity to look back at yourself in the future.

“After we finish this trade, let’s get a new boat and crew and depart to that place!”

He pulled out the ocean map he received before. The probability that they could swim out of the sea was paper-thin, but their determination was very high.

In addition they were headed towards the place where there were pirates, uninhabited islands, or other places that no one had ever returned from.

The Captain decided then that he would embark on his own heart-racing adventure.

If the Captain saw how the Geomchi would occasionally drown in the ocean or get eaten by sea monsters, he might have realized how extremely they were adventuring and how much they were risking to do so.

And if he only knew the truth that the Geomchi had started swimming from Bellona Island on the inner Neria Sea, passing the Ocean Gateway to get all the way here.

No, perhaps he didn’t even need to have heard their stories or realized how far they’ve come. If the Captain were only a little more manly and brave, he would have stripped on the spot and started swimming with the Geomchi.

*****

Weed took a corner in the Square of Light and was focused.

The sculptures of Nature drew a lot of attention to the female players. Clouds, wind, and dirt turned into a magnificent landscape.

“Just because it’s big doesn’t mean it’s a Nature Sculpture.”

It was no surprise that the whole Versailles Continent was talking about the Nature Sculptures that Weed had been creating on top of mountain peaks all over the continent. Broadcasters were getting reports from witnesses, and there was still much debate about what actually happened on the High Seas.

Now, the Trade classes were breaking new grounds. It wasn’t only the Blacksmiths who were doing well in the bracket, there were Tailors and most especially Sculptors.

What people thought of these classes was quickly changing.

Weed’s Nature Sculptures were made to show the leaves that fall in autumn and go through all the extreme seasons until it sprouts again in spring.

That made their appearance grand. Even if artificially, but for true beauty, the sky's the limit.

"I'm going to continue making these small little things. This is what I get for the sake of Fame, stats, and skill proficiency. Because small things are where big things come from. "

Weed sat down and rationalized with himself. Something was off about this mission.
He got stuck in the mood.

"A saying about money goes, that even bullies are abused by bad people when they have loads of money... I just want to make something, but not too perfect that it’ll attract too much attention."

It was great working mainly on scenic places with his sister, whom he had not traveled with in a while. A younger sister was always a great company to her brother, he planned on giving Yurin some equipment that best fitted her.

“This is expensive. Give me more of a discount."

Weed used his high Fame to pressure the store owner.

“If I do that, I won’t be able to make a profit…”

“Selling isn’t something you do for money. It’s for the people! And it is done to gain virtue.”

“Hmm, since these are words from a very famous adventurer, I will do as you say.”

Hunting and Adventuring were simple, unlike purchasing clothing or armor at the store, things were not as direct.

His sister painted brighter pictures as they traveled around, she had the appearance of a relieved and smiling child.

‘She grew up well, even if I have not been able to take care of her properly.’

Without parents, Weed had to take on their role.

Ever since she was younger she acted properly, but he was always suspicious of outsiders. Yurin had a good smile and had always been popular.

Weed recalled telling bedtime stories to Yurin.

Fairytales occupied a very important part in building emotional young children!

Today I will tell you the story of the “Three Little Pigs”.

The three little pigs who left their parents built houses for themselves.

The first pig built one out of straw, the second pig built one out of wood and the last pig built his house with sturdy bricks.

But then, a wolf invaded them.

The house made of straw was blown down by blowing through his nose, the wooden house was hit until it broke.

In the end, the three little pigs were able to chase the wolf away by living in the third pig’s house made of bricks.

Do you know the lesson of this story?

In Weed’s memories, his little sister said with bright eyes.

“That you have to make a sturdy house, brother?”

Weed firmly shook his head.

“This is just a children’s story. There is no lesson. The real estate is all about the location!”

“Aha.”

“Ohhh.”

“Tomorrow I will tell you about the story of “Hongbu and Nolbu”(Korean fairy tale). It’s a story about the hard-working Nolbu getting tricked by his brother, Hongbu.”

She was home schooled, thanks to Weed’s situation!

Weed was also concerned of all the people who were constantly watching Yurin and he couldn’t have any peace of mind.

"It’s time to make a Nature Sculpture in the city."

The original plan was to leave a masterpiece in the northern continent, outside of Morata.

There were many dangerous monsters haunting the untouched areas and no man dared to go beyond them.

While Weed explored areas like Debkart Mountain making Nature Sculptures, he tried to level up his Disaster Sculpting.

The worst natural disaster situation will emerge!

“To Do: Learn the skill quickly, sweep away the debris, cook a meal.”

“Gotta level up my skills quickly so I can blow everything up together.”

Forest fire, flood, lightning, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, storms of ice and snow.

There were many choices for the Disaster Sculpting to increase its experience.

“A mixture of all to make the best sculpture.”

But looking back on Morata his mind changed a little.

“Do I really have to go to a place without people to make a Nature Sculpture?”

There were a lot of trees on the streets of Morata. Weed had planted fruit trees.

But aside from such trees, between the flowers and a squared-off Stone Road, grass
were growing.

“People pass by them without noticing, but every single blade of grass can be considered a Nature Sculpture.”

Weed secured about 20 meters of space in the corner of Square of Light.

Since Square of Light was a newly created place, as well as the fact that there were many people working on construction of the cathedral, there were many Players that would come through this area.

But there were a lot of who set up shop traders because of the large crowd that gathered around the fountain. There was a corner seat with wide enough free space.

In fact, Players have been gathered in the square. There were several reasons for this.

For one thing, because players reorganized their items here and setting up a shop was easy, it provided a big advantage

Not only that, but, since back in their Newbie days of hunting around the castle. Everyone had a habit of filling the water from the fountain in the square.

No wonder people rushed around the fountain, and thanks to that commercial establishments have been formed.

Weed was working in his corner draped in black clothing creating flowers and grass from dirt.

Weed’s Undead Strength was slowly decreasing, when there was 3 days till the quest had to be fulfilled, the stat dropped below 140.

The sculptures Weed had been making till this point had gradually decreased his Undead stat neatly.

It was a refreshing feeling like going to the bathhouse on a holiday.

This was a feat he accomplished by making Nature Sculptures and sculptures related to nature for over 100 days.

“It is finally time to finish this sculpture.”

With only one day left for Balkan’s Quest, Weed put the finishing touches on the sculpture.

Even though Weed could’ve leisurely cancelled the quest, he was curious to see what kind of quest it would result in.

Since Weed was making every blade of grass and flower one by one, the sculpture wasn’t as large as other pieces he created.

If one were to come close and gander at the sculpture, they would be surprised by how realistic the sculpture looked, however he borrowed a carriage from Mapan and used it like a fence, preventing people from seeing.

It was thanks to the hustle and bustle from the construction and trading going on in the area that he was able to finish without being disturbed.

“With this, it is done.”

Weed made the last flower with dirt.

Please set the name of the made sculpture.

This sculpture was a compilation of all the flowers that Weed saw as he traveled all over Versailles Continent with his little sister.

Since it was a sculpture of wildly growing flowers and grass, it reminded him of when he was putting the eyes on the doll.

But since he had just completed a totally different sculpture, he didn’t want to leave any evidence of how much he had struggled to make it.

“A flower bed I made goofing around? No. For some reason, I feel like I’ll get flamed by people saying I named it poorly after having worked so hard on it. How about just, The Square’s Flower Bed? It doesn’t really stand out.”

After working so hard on it he gave it such a bad name, this was Weed’s specialty!

It was without a doubt that there would be tons of people looking at the sculpture since it was next to the cathedral being built in Light Square.

Though there was no way to know how the sculpture would turn out, Weed felt like it wouldn’t be bad.

Among the wildflowers and grass were butterflies and bees, there were even carvings of birds as well.

Butterflies fluttering in the flowerbed, bees gathering honey, birds building nests in bushes.

Someday, he’ll plant trees in the area and create and nice, peaceful forest.

“I’m definitely going to plant fruit trees but… anyways I’ll name this Nature Sculpture ‘A Simple Flowerbed’.

Are you sure about A Simple Flowerbed?

“Yes”

Being Morata’s Lord, he wanted to show off to his citizens that this degree of work wasn’t even that hard.

Kind of like when a friend asks how much you make and you say ‘Oh it’s not much’ and then tell him the amount before taxes and social security is taken out.

Ding!

Masterpiece! A Simple Flowerbed

A garden where flowers are blooming.

This is a sculpture showing overgrown brush and wildflowers.

Even though it is disorderly, it is overflowing with life.

The books stated that there were little of this rare flowers left. It strengthen its population even if they are sculptures.

Each one expresses the beauty of flowers in full bloom at the hands of the Sculptor.

A work of flowers worthy of being recorded in history.

The strength of Nature Sculpting dwells in it.

Artistic Value: 3871

Option: Having viewed A Simple Flowerbed, Health and Mana regeneration increased by 23% for one day.

Maximum Health is increased by 37%

Having appreciated this sculpture, Herbalism skill gains proficiency faster.

Farmers and gardeners skill level effectiveness increase by 3%.

The growth also triggered Plant Monsters in the area. Plant Monsters are born.

Mainly forests grow from them, and it is pretty likely to have high agro tendencies to human beings.

This field will blossom with alpine tea.

Seasonal festivals may occur, in accordance with the tourism and agricultural harvests.

Other Sculpture effects do not stack.

So far, the number of completed Masterpiece: 15

Sculpting Skill proficiency has improved.

Handicraft Skill proficiency has improved.

Skill Level of Understanding Sculptures has increased by 1.

Fame has risen by 625.

Art has increased by 12.

Vitality has increased by 4.

Health has increased by 380.

Perseverance has increased by 3.

Endurance has increased by 3.

For making a Masterpiece sculpture Sculpting Mastery has increased by 1.

Nature Sculpting has increased to Intermediate Level 6

You have learned the skill Disaster Sculpting.

Sculpting the Last of Divination with a radiant beauty, a related Quest has been created

Sculpting the glory of the earth, the Quest will begin to keep a dialogue with the people there.

The chain Quest gets exceedingly difficult as you go higher. In order not to fail, It is recommended to increase your Sculpting skills.

Sculpted the Last of Divination!

Sculpting Blade, Sculpture Life Bestowal, Sculpture Form Shapeshifting, Elemental Creation Sculpting, Disaster Sculpting!

"One by one, until eventually I’ll complete the whole set."

The Last Divination.

This felt similar to when he was younger and sold newspaper all through autumn, and saved up his money to have a full piggy bank!

Of course I'll get it in case you can not be free, and it will need a lot of preparation.

"Quest Received: but it will fail if not completed within a year..."

It was a similar situation when the shopping district received new shipments and he had to part with his piggy bank's content in Dongmeng(T/N: Korean shopping district).

"Huck keoheok heoheo!"

Weed’s image was disturbing to watch.

In many ways his eccentric personality now was a reflection of his childhood days when only pure water was clear.

Back then it was difficult to eat Korean pork cutlet and even harder to find a peace of mind.

"Anyway, soon my skill will be Advance Sculpting Level 8."

Currently the skill was at Advance Sculpting Level 7 at 99.3% with only a 0.7%
short.

Completed the sculpture with sprouts, flowers and grass. There were animation facets on stone, soil and water.

Gently swayed by the wind, the leaves turned green and the rich aroma scattered everywhere.

The sculptures of butterflies and bees attracted the real butterflies, bees and other flying insects that take the nectar and pollinate.

Weed’s creation changed the scenery from the old days when compared with different species of flowers and grass.

But the countless flowers and roots between the soil near the fence, spread some more, as soon they grew stems.

Charming and pretty flower buds burst.

The number of colorful places in Morata covered with flowers expanded!

Petals flew from the Square of Light and drifted away into the deserted cities.

The Library, Mercenary Guild, Market were near the frames of the unfinished Cathedral. There, the gathered Merchants and other Players saw the petals drifting in the wind.

Ding!

Wildflower festival has started.

Wildflowers signaled that spring is here, for friend or foe.

The Fields and hills of the northern Versailles Continent are filled with blooming flowers, even near the river. Residents in love chose this place to confess.

During the festival, the residents’ happiness is increased.

Increase of Vitality restoration.

Increase of Fame in the area of Morata.

Increase visitors to promote the development of the tourism industry.

Honey production increased by 800 %.

It is a time where either friend or foe happily spend time in one place with their peers.

“This is good. The flowers are beautiful and they smell amazing too…”

Their courage was increased by the flowers. Regardless of how high the Player’s level was, they remained newbies in their heart.

They even used Charm accessories that had precious stones!

Weed’s Wildflower Festival was unintentional.

“Flowers are really useless. I really don’t understand the people who buy them and then just give them out. Be it for graduation, entrance ceremony, or any occasion where flowers are present. Later, everything comes in vain when they’re placed in the garbage bag. Their value is gone.”

Weed’s mind was more parched than a dessert where even a cactus cannot survive.

The festival was unexpected, but he thought that one time would be alright. He remembered the time from long ago when Yurin watched a flower garden. This would be even better as the flowers spread throughout the land.

"Well, not bad, the group will not. It spreads out naturally, and there is no cost to maintain the flowers in Morata. Because if it's not this it also will be fine if the residents are happy. "

The place where the sculptures of butterflies and bees were became a drop off point.

He knew that it was only a matter of time before the Players made something like this.

Weed found an open spot near the butterfly and bees sculpture, so he could greet the incoming Players.

*****

The Quest of Balkan's Call was about to start.

Weed’s sculptures were left in Morata.

Exactly at midnight, pictures of the Immortal Legion and related images began to appear in his eyes

The cold fog blocked the damp valleys with running water.

Old trees have been grown spontaneously and broke the dark and damp places.

There was sparse sunlight and they barely heard any sound.

Deolgeuleog Deolgeuleog. (T/N: Rattling/clattering noise)

There were Burning Skeleton troops that came up from the valley below.

They cared for nothing and rapidly encroached over the valley, the wide fields, and went through the forest.

A staggering number of Burning Skeletons formed ranks and marched.

Unbelievably, their destination was a crevice in a big rock!

As the Burning Skeletons struggled to enter the crevice, it arrived. The Doom Knight from the days of old.

"These smelly things, get off me, go away!"

A short legged Dwarf came and wielded an axe.

Burning Skeletons were smashed, then scattered every time he swung the ax.

Barbarians, Elves and Fairy tribes, also build their defenses and fought with them just like in past.

“The Undead are here, Shoot!”

Beautiful Elven maidens waited for the right moment. When the Doom Knights were in sight, they placed their arrows of light into their bowstring and attacked the monsters.

The Immortal Legion made an example out of the several tribes that stood against them, the screen changed again to Balkan

Sitting crookedly on a throne made out of dragon bones was Balkan!

His chest demonstrated his divine power, thick black smoke rose and Balkan’s purge aura suppressed them.

Balkan spoke, which rattled his jawbone.

“Arise my Immortal Legion… soon you will obliterate everything.”

Ding!

Dark Mage, Necromancer’s call Balkan Demoph.

He led the Immortal Legion, and challenged the several Righteous Orders of the continent. His men teemed with strength.

This was the fight between the Living and the Dead!

In the past, the defeated Balkan had his Health and Mana sealed because of a sword lodged in his flesh.

In order to survive, Balkan absorbed the lives of the beasts and monsters. They prepared themselves. Teney, the Fairy Queen and her patron Dwarves.

He challenged the Dwarves and Teney, the Queen of Fairies!

Fairies honed their talents on fun, with their free-spirited nature being to blame. They failed to raise any significant military forces.

In the land of the Fairies, Humans and other creatures stood no chance before them, and their numbers were greatly reduced.

There were hundreds of wounded Dwarves. The Fairy Queen, Teney and the other fairies were treating them, with their fluttering wings all over the place.

When the old Lich Balkan absorbed Teney’s life, he would be able to reclaim his old strength, with Teney serving as his new source of Mana.

Balkan continued on eating away the fairy Teney’s strength. Her strength compensated for the damage from the sword stuck in him.

Balkan was in need of his disciple, the Lich Shire.

Acquired Quest of Balkan Demoph

With his Black Magic, Balkan created a portal for his disciple Lich Shire.

Weed stood in front of the opened gate, with the Dark Lord in the room in front of him.

“If Balkan regains his original strength, he’ll be even more terrifying.”

All of Versailles Continent’s Holy Orders prepared themselves. Holy Knights and Priests, formed their armies against the Undead monsters!

Standing in front of the opened portal, Weed could feel Balkan’s intimidation through his skin.

"If a portal appears here, then Balkan probably thinks that I’m his disciple. I guess that Teney and the Dwarves have been defeated. Even with these many tribes. "

In his legion, gaining the immortality spell will increase their forces.

With his Sculptural Shape-shift, he could only proceed with the Quest with the identity of Lich Shire.

"Balkan’s treasure, they're an awful lot put together."

Weed moved as he stepped into the portal.

The only thing in his head was ' money money money money money money, treasure treasure treasure '.

Suddenly, he stopped momentarily as he stepped in.

“But in the past, the treasure from the defeated side of the war is always looted.”

However the Undead have almost conquered the continent, as they only kept on trying.

In this case, it did not look completely hopeless!

Unicorn's public relations team members were gathered in the video room.

They watched scenes from certain Players to see their progress in Royal Road, in real time.

As a result, their Yoon Soo Jang's team and the other staffs of the Operations Department gathered for talks.

In the screen before them they could see, the appearance of Weed contemplating whether he should not go into the opened portal.

The Deputy asked how long it has been.

“What’s Weed’s decision?”

"I don't know yet. I can’t figure out what choices he’s thinking about. "

Yoon Soo Jang couldn’t predict his decision before as well.

If you based your analysis on Weed, his motivation was always largely about money, and compensation.

Even one copper was a sensitive subject.

On the outside, it was difficult to determine his decision because this was his own Quest and no other player had this kind of adventure.

While watching Weed’s long awaited decision, the Unicorn’s staff sat on their chairs like statues. They had to endure their urges to go to the toilet.

There was little time difference between the real world and Royal Road.

There were also problems when Broadcasters went on live, but the people watching didn’t care.

The Video’s speed was increased four times, the volume was enhanced, and the unnecessary parts of video were deleted. Soon, they will hand over the video.

"Please hand this over to the next phase."

They returned to their seats after they handed over the video of Weed sculpting the flowers and they resumed watching his progress.

It's not quite just making the sculptures, centipedes and caterpillars were added to the sculpture. Perhaps to include in the flower bed, not something you would expect to be a mediocre work!

"I'll take a while."

"Balkan's Quest is very important for the Undead Necromancers, but still I can’t decide on this rashly."

At the moment, Weed was probably the only Dark Magician who was an Undead Necromancer among the Dark Magicians in the Versailles Continent.

Balkan called all of those Dark Magicians and Necromancers. If he went to the place, Weed was the only who would fit Lich Shire’s profile. The central axis of power could have unpredictable changes.

The Quest was of a massive scale. Balkan’s Quest was exclusive to those of the Necromancers in the Versailles Continent.

The Unicorn employees liked Weed.

Sculpting the Last Divination and acquired the five pieces, this was a Sculptor’s adventure of the century!

The number of players from Bard Ray’s guild was always fluctuating. Word of mouth of the Players made them transfer from other prestigious guilds.

"The decision making takes a long time. Let’s look at the other screens."

The staff have launched the video of somewhere else on the monitor.

Land of Shadows.

*****

For the first time in the Plains of Despair, there were on foot Adventurer parties from Rosenheim Kingdom.

In recent times, the iconic adventures of Weed had risen. Since then Players departed from Versailles Continent to search for Adventures of their own. With most of them gathering a large number of Adventurers and formed a party. For a while, people noticed that they have achieved a hidden Quest, and there were 13 steps as degrees of difficulty for this S-class Quest. Now, they were nearing the final part of the Quest.

"Hmm, be careful and not come up here to the ruin."

“Cough! Why is there so much dust?”

After they battled with the Ghoul, a Thief from the Silver Ring Mercenaries found something, as he rummaged through the antiques and stacks of paper.

It would make anyone run, If they could have any clue about any Quests in Versailles Continent.

This strengthened their previous clues.

"I really didn't know that the level of difficulty would come up here to C-class Quest."

"Yeah, you said you progress in a year and now it’s been nearly two years."

On the other hand, receiving related accessories to chain Quests always helped solving the Quest.

This also meant that if the difficulty of the Quest increased then so did the goods involved.

In the profound history of the Versailles Continent they never met someone that wise.

Finding the end of the journey was what made an Adventure an Adventure.

They had to infiltrate the Embinyu Church's Aura, in order to regain an item that belonged to the Valhalla order. This was Shin Yejon’s Quest!

The Knights of the Embinyu Church which they currently fought were powerful enough to exceed the Levels of 420.

Of course, if you look over to the shadow party on the ground their levels were not inferior.

But the moment they were caught by the Embinyu Church, the Priest of the Order and the Magician, Mage, Dark Knight, they came flocking in large numbers.

As they searched for a path that couldn’t be bypassed, the Silver Ring Mercenaries faced the enemies. Shin Yejon was trapped. After he infiltrated inside and was searching for the item. He couldn’t handle the Priests and Knights that were coming closer. He hid into the archives as they came.

They remained faithful to their ancient God. The Knights and Priests were formidable enemies.

“Guys, I don’t know how soon you’ll arrive, but I hope you come as soon as possible.”

“Why is it only when it’s full of dust and ancient monsters that you come and ask me to do it?”

"I do not know, but find the enemies. We’re in deep trouble as far as I can see. There's a lot of dangerous enemies so be careful. "

The NPC’s intelligence felt funny and considered the situation to be bad. Also, their long-term explorations and excavations in the past gave him a hint that escape was not possible.

“We just have to make through Levels 2-3 and climb up. Our skills will considerably grow a lot.”

"By the way, was Shin Yejeon Quest's on finding Valhalla’s missing item a success?"

Full of antiques and Historic relics stacked haphazardly, the items crowded the floor and they
tumbled.

Silver Ring Mercenaries searched for the incomparable treasure, the precious relics and they got it.

Not knowing if this was all associated with the Quest, it still paid to investigate the place and increase their Archeological skills significantly.

Adventurers often found this skill necessary in Quest and history investigation. They quietly lit their magic lanterns.

As they searched for the clues of this quest, they placed the golden candlestick holder and other golden items into their backpacks.

The joy of moments like this made them an Adventurer’s rush!

"Identify!"

Beni took the torch that was housed in a steel box.

Torch of Justice:

Durability: 23/102.

Attack: 49 ~ 91

Defeating the torch in the dark. Valhalla stood at the forefront of the anti-Warrior Embinyu Church Order's heard a projection was held by Daratesuga.

Restrictions: Honor & Leadership must be over 600

Options:

+25 all stats.

+2 level to Projection Skill.

Enhanced skill of Disruptive Accuracy improved.

Recovery rate from injuries is increased by 40%.

It is possible to use the blessings of Valhalla.

Suppresses monsters with dark alignment.

Black Magic Defense effectively increased by 83%

Enchanting and deceptive, it created a mental manipulation which followed the will of Valhalla.

Daratesuga was the best fighter the Valhalla Order had to offer!

According to the literature Beni found, he died later in the fight against the Embinyu Church and his items vanished.

Suddenly, sounds of commotion came up from the storage.

“There’s a total of 27 Mercenaries who appears to be in need of treatment.”

"I was told it they only were able defend... up to 10 minutes otherwise they won’t survive."

"The Mercenaries are right. We need to save the stationed guys. I already found the stuff come on!"

Beni pulled out a scroll he had been saving. Scroll of Return! However, he couldn’t use it before because the magic of the Embinyu Church disabled it.

Shin Yejeone will be dropped to a point near the 500 meters, there is a circumstance to flee from the light into place on the soles of the feet.

"Let's go!"

Beni tore the scroll. Simultaneously, the doors of the Archive Department were opened and incoming monsters squeezed in along with Embinyu’s servants and reinforcements. Then, the Knights kicked in anger, the three of them disappeared with the light.

"Don’t worry, I found it."

*****

Unicorn's staff are on hand to take the sweat and watched the scene. Shin Yejeon road block drilling a narrow gap, and put them in hiding to find the Secret passages mercenary holding workmanship was excellent enough to want to give a compliment.

Whilst proceeding to Step 13 of prestigious chain of Quests, the Quest's pace exceeded far beyond their expectations.

“How about we call it Quest party of the shadows of the earth, are you okay with that?”

Yoon Soo Jang was asked to Il Kang Son. In the operating room before the other team does not know, except omit information about Quest, even though there was only invited guests.

"It is not over yet, but certainly difficult to be more careful in the future of a challenge by now I'm not sure I can go further into the future."

"What would result in the success of the Quest?"

"In the future, not only in the past disputes between the Player Embinyu Church emerged as a formal and will also be able to choose according to their own evil will."

“I must create a new ad.”

Unicorn launched an advertising company in the stations of the world in the past.

In fact, after Royal Road climbed to the top spot, they didn’t need any more publicity. So, the yield of capsule sales followed, and nothing else could be said about a corporate’s tactics to earn money.

So, they actually played the role that their ads are displayed to the Player of the changes taking place in the continent. Would that tell the game stations and a number of exchange of information alone is unknown continent of Versailles Player timely manner.

Of course, the number of new Player each time you send in a few months once advertising has grown enough to really ignore ignore. The vast desert! While hyenas are hanging was after the prey.

A Hyena individually is weak, but for a group of armed attack, the need to collect half a dozen lions should be avoided rather than the tail. Are going to go back to the old laying erect tail, was a tribal village were built there away.

The Strength and home of the River Iron-Two ruling War-Four. The screen was lit environment to be crystal clear lake before.

The fearful fog covered most reflections on the water, but trees were still seen on the surface of the lake at dawn!

The scenery shifts to the next scene. Fairies and Elves riding the huge leaves around, and the soldiers appeared on the next scene. All dressed up in a sword and shield and armor.

This is the old never-ending Central Continent! Was built on conquest and ruthless breakthroughs!

Under the leadership of the heroes, they yell at the soldiers in the fort and castle to use their arrows, magic, and they will surely emerge victorious just like from long ago.

The view was like in the war movies of hundreds and thousands of soldiers fighting like never before, and some where a figure of a Priests dressed in black robes increased in numbers.

They opened the crypt by beating the old monster. Here, Shin Yejoeon hid inside the body of the monster. Then, the seventh Sheikh Saheurani of Embinyu Church declared something.

"Preparation is over. Foolish and feeble Humans, Elves, and Dwarves. We'll govern the law and spread destruction!"

Central Continent was in a dispute among the former Honorable classes, Embinyu Church will be exposed to view this formally. The face of evil forces has appeared once more! The frightening image was spread over the many destroyed areas.

On top of the Versailles Continent, there were many strategic hunting grounds or quiet peaceful areas. The mountains and the rivers and lakes, sea, castles, towns, were defended by fort Heulleugadeut.

If you also took a short walk to the northern parts of Morata, one could see black giant sculptures. There were also housing which showed less dirty shanty towns are far away, Player have been enough to recognize a magnificent view of the cathedral and asked to be built for the library.

"I'd also better to cancel."

Weed decided not to enter the black portal. The immortal Legion swallowed up too many land and created bad relationships. Having that sustainability will be hard.

Forget the bread after the seven-year-old live the moral conscience or something is not just because of a sudden come up. And the largest city in the northern part of the Versailles Continent is thriving in Morata!

The production base case law does not take the brain leads the undead legions that have invaded Morata. "Balkan and is not better side end here. It gives up the Quest.

"We'll double check again. 'Do not want to accept the Call, ' Balkan's Quest?Immortal Legion and has only one of Lich Shire, Balkan Demoph and associated Quest. Warning! If you reject a Quest Balkan relations deteriorated due to the hostilities, and also because of an increase in beneficial, may occur. The dreaded message that should Weed did the shake.

“I will not.”

You have refused the quest.

Faith increased by 50.

Dignity, Courage, Willpower has increased by 10.

Fame has reduced by 2,439.

"Nevertheless, he has to live with the good work."

If the penalty of this magnitude Is not much less than I thought Weed! Beyond the level that can not afford enough, it was rather glad about.

This video came on to the end of line knew Weed. kkwagwa gwangwang! tourgh!(T/N: Sound effects) The sky is covered in clouds all over, there was lightning striking down be stuck into the ground.

The old Trees in the field that withstood the time from a hundred years were torn apart. Even larger raindrops came. Balkan Demoph, the Undead monarch stood on top of a hill.

Each time the lightning hit, his sleazy bony skull was shone from under the robes he wore.

"Lich Shire, you dare run away from me? I will make you pay for your treachery. An Eon will be too short for your eternal suffering! "

The thunder sounded like a howling scream that slap to the ground shook as the Undead rose up.

The Quest was triggered by the Undead Monarch.

The Undead were given the opportunity to live their old sinful lives as Balkan had commanded them.

“Kill me, so I can be free from this eternal torment!”

They were headed to the land of the Undead. The night Balkan meant from a year ago.

The Undead from different graveyards threatened to go to Morata as punishment.

Weed had just learned of the bad news!

His relationship with Balkan as Lich Shire created a fiasco, again he read the message window.

The Roots of deeply burrowed of depravity were not easily removed.

Undead Strength the power that belonged to the Undead!

The main boundary between life and death.

When the sun had left it signified the death of human beings. The Undead's strength grew exponentially.

The night was for the Undead.

Necromancers were Humans with Strength of the Undead. He himself by looking at it a lot and sometimes summon undead off my foot on Taking the field.

It was a curse stat that naturally grew on its own, but you can also develop other relevant skills.

Now, daylight was over!

His body went stale and dried rapidly.

The Undead were reinforced by Strength of the Undead.

Weed's sculptural transformation of Lich Shire and other high ranking Monsters walked around. There were also Burning Skeletons carrying a rusty swords from the common graves.

Call of Darkness!

Balkan will summon the undead for a special Quest.

Undead can not deny the summons.

Weed was sucked into the black portal by the compulsory Strength of the Undead.

Chapter 1: Low Class Skeleton

“Tak! Where is this place?

Weed grabbed his rusty long sword and woke himself up.

In the waste land where even weeds couldn’t survive, there were skeletons wandering around.

“Chuckle.”

“Kooehhh.”

Skeletons just passed Weed without attacking him because his body was also turned into a skeleton. Balkan Demoph’s Summon brought him here as an Undead.

“So I finally ended up here.”

Weed was pretty used to Undead regardless of its figures.

As he looked around calmly, he caught voices of surprised skeletons.

“Whoa, what is this place?”

“How did we even get here? I was hunting with my golems…”

“Skeletons? Who can summon this many skeletons?”

Similar to Weed, these skeletons near the graveyard were having a conversation.

“I came from a graveyard near Vitum Castle, you?”

“I came here while hunting in Xerathium forest.”

“I got dragged suddenly from Bisbek dungeon.”

“Xerathium forest… Is your name perhaps Jeanne the Necromancers?”

“That is correct.”

The skeleton with a little bit of hair claimed her name to be Jeanne. Jeanne was the first one to choose an occupation after Weed enabled Necromancers occupation. She was a famous user as a corpse summoner in Xerathium forest.

Jeanne admired Necromancers. The power of raising up so many dead bodies and commanding them.

She fell in love with the Undead plays of Weed, that she recorded the quest and watched them over and over. After changing class as a Necromancers, she turned small animals into Undead and swiped the hunting grounds. As an advanced Necromancers, summoning abundant Undeads and ruthlessly hunted.

“My name is Bohram the Necromancers.”

“Wow, all celebrities. My name is Otem. Anyone perhaps know me?”

“Who wouldn’t know about the golem of Otem? You are one of the best Necromancers as well.”

“I’m Rashi, just turned Necromancers only one month ago. Nice to meet you all.”

Skeletons having cheerful conversations often be seen in a coffee shop!

The short, narrow skeleton introduced herself.

“Hello, my name is Harien.”

“Didn’t expect to see you here.”

Harian, was a female user, who had different bone structures from male players.

“Why do you think we are all gathered here?”

“We were summoned for some Undeads out of sudden… But I don’t know what’s really going on either.”

“Whoa, there is something wrong with status. Class changed, stats all different. Everyone check yours.”

As Otem finished his sentence, skeleton players brought up their status window.

Weed checked his as well

“Stat window.”

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Undead

Level

390

Affiliation

Undead Legion

Class

Resurrected Skeleton

Health

87,389

Mana

41,821

Strength

1,453

Agility

1,293

Vitality

766

Wisdom

663

Intelligence

655

Fighting Spirit

541

Endurance

453

Perseverance

753

Physical Resistance

455

Charisma

414

Leadership

706

Power of Undead

165

+Death Aura is Active

When becoming Undead, Weed’s Art, Faith, Charm has been converted to combat related stats.

‘Class seems understandable…’

Gathered Necromancers must be surprised.

Because Weed is the only one with ‘Power to Reject Death’, a skill only higher Blood Necromancers can get. Weed have revived a lot from death enough to not be surprised at having his class changed.

“Death Aura, huh.”

One of Balkan’s three skills.

The might of enhancing Undead is active in him.

A skill that shares a part of life, giving monstrous power!

“What’s with the class? It says Resurrected Skeleton.”

“Isn’t this some kind of a quest?”

Then a message popped out suddenly!

Undead Legion Outskirt Guard

In the Navir’s wastelands there are many monsters looking for food.
To protect the Undead Army, take care of the monsters.

Difficulty: D
Limitation: Undeads Only

– Quest cannot be refused.
You have accepted the Quest.

“Balkan?”

“Isn’t Undead Army the most powerful group among Undeads?”

“Oh, it’s the Undead Army from Weed’s adventure. Balkan is a man, no, a Lich known as the best among Necromancers.”

“Before I came here I saw a message saying that Balkan is calling… We must be summoned by Balkan.”

Necromancers finally realized why they were all gathered here. He couldn't blame them for being so slow. They were fine having fun and hunting, then out of sudden being dragged to this place as Undead because of Balkan’s summon. It would sounds absurd to anyone!

Instead of chatting with them, Weed scouted around on the hill of the wasteland.

‘There are so many monsters wandering around’

The place where the Undead Army resides is full of atrocious monsters. Monsters like sharp beasts, rhinos are moving around in a lane. Not far from the waste land is a river. Way past the river, there is Vargo Fortress where Undead Army stays.

Witches, Death Knights, Ghosts, army of Slayers born to battle. Order of Bentler, once a glorious order that came back from the grave after being abandoned by the king and annihilated. Because Undead Army was the best army among the Undead, they consisted of many legendary knights, sorcerers, and monsters from Versailles Continent.

In Vargo Fortress, the Bone Dragons from the Valley of Death were seen. 3 of them!

‘Anyways, what I should do right now is…’

Monsters as big as rhinos. Morghis and Nukalis were drinking from the river, and some were moving to the place where Undead Army fortress stood.

‘It must be to block them.’

Skeletons near the river found monsters. Raising up their rusty long swords, they ran towards Morghis and Nukalis.

“Kueeehhh!”

As they advanced roaring out loud, other skeletons ran toward the river as if something was swaying them.

“For the great Balkan!”

“Undead Army, kill them!”

Weed was able to see the scene from afar. Skeletons ran, getting rammed by Morghis and Nukalis, flying in the air. Morghis and Nukalis ware very vicious gigantic grey beasts! They stomped skeletons and lifted them with horns. But as long as their body isn’t completed crushed, they stood up again and ran in!

“What the, a battle?”

“The quest started already? I’m not even prepared…”

About 450 skeletons, all Necromancers players, reacted as well. It’s hard to see a single Necromancers in a castle and village but when all of them from the Versailles Continent are gathered, they are relatively many. They didn't even get to see each other. They only knew or heard some famous Necromancers. While they were busy talking about Undead and Necromancers, the skeletons already started a battle.

“Shouldn’t we fight as well, for the quest?”

“Let’s go!”

Necromancers joined the battle at the river.

“I’m unable to cast any magic…”

“It’s because we are skeletons now. What should we do?”

“Let’s slice them with swords.”

Necromancers were in the form of standard skeleton Undead, therefore they have to fight with basic swords. Necromancers had characteristics of normal magicians. But because they fight alone along with golems or skeletons under their orders, they learn basic swordsmanship. Because it’s hard to get the very first corpses and sometimes enemies break into the rank of Undead, Necromancers were also excellent in running away!

Necromancers was once a best occupation because they could quickly hunt but monsters were adverse to Necromancers. Because enemies swarm in with such a hostility with intent to kill, Necromancers required combat skills and responsiveness.

“Chaaaa!”

Players attacked but they got rammed in and flew for a moment due to the Morghis and Nukalis. Some succeeded giving damages with swords and the monsters were soon surrounded by players and skeletons.

“Block them!”

“If they get through, we all die!”

On the other side, unsurrounded Nukalis were going rampage. Out of chaos, skeletons were swinging long swords!

“They are fighting pretty well.”

Weed didn't join the Necromancers group rashly. It was more convenient to fight alone and it was advantageous in picking up items. He hated non-party people having to compete for drops with each other.

“If I accepted Lich Shire’s quest…”

It wouldn’t have turned out like this. He would have lead Undead Army’s overall strategy and tactics as Lich the commander not joining the battle as low rank skeletons of Undead Army.

Maybe he shouldn't step into a battle like this.

“Regardless, I should participate in this quest.”

Weed picked up the rusty long sword as if it was a treasure and stepped out

“Kieeehk!”

Following other skeletons, he moved toward the monsters. One thing he was different from others is that he didn't leave the other rusty long swords lying on the ground! Rusty longsword’s attack point varies by monsters and active poison or curses. But they valued at least 3~4 golds. If Weed uses his smith skills to melt it, cleanse with fire and forge a new sword, he can get 1000 golds.

– You obtained a Rusted Long Sword.

– You obtained a section of a Skeleton's rib.

– You obtained a Rusted Long Sword.

– You obtained a bone from a lower limb.

It was vital to pick up any items around. From his past experience as a skeleton, he knew that when you take damage, your life gets reduced along with losing bones. By filling in with other skeleton’s bone you can heal some portion of heath, and it can be used for a unique skill, Bone Throw. It’s nothing compared to arrows of archers but in a short range, it’s very powerful!

Weed ran next to the monsters, butting them from sides and slashed with the Rusted Long Sword. Morghis and Nukali become more violent when they take many damages but they get narrow sighted at the same time. Watching how other Necromancers players and skeletons fight, figuring out monsters’ weakness, and attacking Morghis with their life barely gone was hunting 101 for Weed.

– You gained experiences.

– You obtained a Morghis' skin.

Weed didn’t stop, he continued moving. These monsters are fast and rammed a lot so it’s important not to face them from the front. This place was flat area near the river but because there were so many skeletons, it wasn’t so smooth for the enemies.

“Quadruped Run!”

Even if he ended up a skeleton, he was still able to use his movement-type skills. Circling around the outskirts instead of being at the centre, Weed assaulted the damaged monsters! He joined the battle a bit later but achieved the most. Not to mention 120 Rusted Long Swords and bunch of bones.

In a place only known being closed to the Undead Army. Skeletons succeeded in killing all Morghis and Nukalis.

“Kwaao!”

“For our father, Balkan!”

Skeletons picked up rusted swords, broken swords or pebbles and roared in triumph.

Weed followed the skeletons, and Necromancers did so as well.

Immortal Legion Outskirt Guard Successful

Monsters wandering around the wasteland has been eliminated.

Skeleton’s can get some rest now while standing guard.

– Fame risen by 71

– Power of Undead risen by 19

– You gained a bit of experience.

– Promotion of rank in the Undead Legion.

Your new rank: Rotting Skeleton

Depending on your rank it is now possible to get weapons, armours, and magic skills.

As Weed completed his quest with the other skeletons, a captain skeleton appeared.

“Well….Done… A new…. Battle….. will….begin….”

With his jaw clattering, the Captain Skeleton spoke annoyingly slow. He said that until next battle begins, they could rest.

Necromancers players sat down on the ground.

“Phew. We barely won.”

“I thought I was almost dead, although physically I’m dead since I’m Undead.”

Even though you get used to the battle, it’s hard to adapt to the energy used during a fight where your bones got crushed in close range. Although it’s was piece of cake for Weed.

“Based on position, I can get better items huh.”

Weed was interested in the item itself rather than his new rank Rotting Skeleton. Of course he can create his own weapon, but who wouldn’t like free weapons?

Even after the battle was over, Weed scouted the movements of other skeletons. Most of them were roaming in certain range but some entered a crater leading to a basement. Dragging his rusty longsword, Weed infiltrated in the group and walked toward the crater.

‘Even if I put my head into lion’s mouth…”

As long as you focus, you can get lion’s skin. That’s a famous quote among Dark Gamers.

– -- Tombstone: Soldiers’ Graveyard ---

It was a huge graveyard these skeletons were entering! Inside the grave, skeleton guards were standing as well as skeletons selling stuffs.

“Hurray for the great Balkan! You are skeletons with sands still sticking.”

If you are looking for something, come and look.”

Weed looked around.

Traditional Rusted Spear:

Durability: 13/23

Attack: 9~31

Sword that survived over 100 years.

The body is bent a little, the centre of gravity isn’t balanced.

Because of low durability, don’t be surprised when it breaking suddenly.

In the hand of an Undead user it will gain poison attributes.

Restriction: Undead

Option: 3% poison damage.

Dugged up Axe

Durability: 6/33

Attack: 6~11

This axe was discovered after it has been buried in the ground for a long time.

The blade is as old as it can get and no longer function as a weapon.

Perhaps you are better without this.

Option: When you have dual handed axe skill attack will increase by 230%

Power of Undead 4%

Rusty Shield of Misfortune

Durability: 17/29

Defence: 14

Still usable shield.

As long as you can watch out for the holes, you can still block arrows.

Though unknown there is a feeling of misfortune coming from the shield.

Restriction: None

Option: -15% Luck

Decrease resistance against magic

Weak Rusty Armour

Durability: 17/44

Defence: 19

Wrinkled and full of cracks

Can be equipped for battle but not safe.

Will become the laughing stock of all.

Restriction: 20 Strength

Option: Decrease reputation, charm and charisma.

Of all the shops he’s been through, he has never seen such useless items.

Despite all those garbage, there were some better-looking weapons with unexpectedly strong poison and curse attributes on them.

‘It really is for skeletons.”

As Weed went in without buying anything, a ghost handed him a breastplate.

– You must be the skeleton with most contribution. Take this.

The breastplate these ghosts gave was little bit better than what can possibly bought from these store.

Besides rusty parts, the steel shined a bit!

‘I guess I’ll be given better items if my position elevates more.”

For now he is a skeleton but if you can at least become Dullahan or Death Knight, you can get much valuable equipment sometimes.

Since Weed can melt, remove impurities and recycle, this can be a business beneficial in many ways.

“So this is the shops?”

“Let’s see if they hand out some materials.”

As Necromancers players came in, the shops became crowded.

Some players saw Weed wearing a breastplate and pointed out with fingers.

“He already has a breastplate. Is that skeleton a player as well?”

There were no reason to keep distance between them, so Weed tried to say hi to them.

Suddenly,

DING!

Continuous Battle at the Outskirt

– More enemies appeared at Navir’s wasteland.
– Either kill the monsters looking for prey or drive them out.
– This is a tough mission for skeletons but if you kill many monster you will be acknowledge more in the Undead Army.

Difficulty: D

Restriction: Undead Only

– Quest cannot be refused.

– You have accepted the Quest.

Another battle!

With his breastplate, Weed swung his rusted long sword and fought among the skeletons.

At first, he only knew Death Aura but around this area, Balkan’s Undead summon magic Dark Rule was widely spread.

Taking corpses as nourishment, more and more skeletons arose.

“Bone Throw!”

With waves of monsters coming, Weed gained substantial experience. Because this was not some hunting party in a safe dungeon with teammates, you need to look at the whole forest, not a single tree. To obtain a lot, one needs to figure out either the formation of skeletons or monster’s main attack paths.

While busy fighting and picking up items, Weed saw Necromancers players taking an active role with decent achievements. They took out monsters by forming a party among themselves, protecting each other, attacking together. Although their appearances looked all the same, these Necromancers players spent money on almost every rusty equipment in the shop!

When they succeeded driving these monsters out, Weed’s position got promoted. Not only was he able to obtain a bit bigger sword, he picked up a cape.

“It’s going to take a lot of sewing to fix this.”

He didn’t get any hopes up for skeleton equipment. It is impossible for lower rank skeleton to be wearing high class equipment.

But because monsters continuously came to Navir’s wasteland, it was overflowing with monsters.

Monter’s levels varied from late 200 to early 300 and it was well distributed.

Every time he succeeded the quests, he gained decent experience and rewards so it was becoming a better hunting ground for Weed.

Also he was able to get information about Undead Army that went to Morata, which he had vested interest.

“Enough strength to turn human city into a ruin right away.”

“Undeads with about 4 armies’ worth.”

“Sufficient to make sure humans breaths doesn’t touch the great Balkan’s land.”

Relatively well-shaped skeletons talked easily about what he knows.

Their pride as Undead and loyalty to Balkan was extraordinary.

“This is going to be a pain.”

Thinking about all the Undead that went to Morata made him sigh.

According to the skeletons, about 4 armies worth. Then it was going to be approximately 120 thousands Undead. Even though most of them are going to be skeletons or zombies, it’s still huge. Too much army for trying to punish a single individual Weed.

“But Morata will be able to defend.”

They had Sculpture Lifeforms and an army guarding the area. Players will be safe and by the time the Undeads arrive, the Holy Knight from Freya order should be there too. As long as highest rank monsters like Hasilis isn’t coming, it’s fine.

Hasilis who is the same rank as a weakened Balkan, is currently leading battles against united army of dwarves, elves and fairies.

“Undeads are super strong when gathered together, but without a Necromancers to command them, they are bound to fall apart easily. With priest and holy knights at the centre, they will be able to defend.”

Weed was relieved. If Morata turns into ashes by Undeads, he wasn't the only one that would be doomed. Thousands of players will fall all together and the trade network in the northern continent would be destroyed.

Hermes Guild’s combat army stayed more than a day’s distance from the Undead Army. Even for them, keeping a close distance between Undead Army is too risky. They sent a scout to see their movements from an unnoticeable distance.

“So Weed isn’t coming?”

“We haven’t heard from him yet. If he went past, someone would have noticed him.”

“The lord said he hasn’t come out for two days now.”

“Two days… it’s too short to be certain.”

Since he’s class is a sculptor, he could be stuck in a small room making a sculptor, or wandering around continent focusing on his pieces. Leaving straight after the order from the Hermes Guild’s executives, Polon was worried if he was wasting his time as afterwards he heard news about Weed travelling the continent, making sculptures.

After all Weed didn’t have to accept the quest from Undead Army.

Chapter 2: Sword Master Ash

Weed reached level 392 hunting in the wasteland.

“Have to admit. This is a pretty nice hunting ground.”

The place was now swarming with skeletons.

Since monsters came to wasteland often, all you had to do was to fight with all you got among all these skeletons.

When these poor skeleton fight and end up hurt, Weed took their places, kills the monster and monopolized the items not caring whether the other skeletons had their bones crushed.

“Now this is what I call a hunting ground.”

Even decent hunting dungeons wouldn't be this good.

“Stat window!”

Character Name

Weed

Alignment

Undead

Level

392

Affiliation

Undead Legion

Class

Battle Crazed Skeleton Warrior

Health

87,411

Mana

41,829

Strength

1,463

Agility

1,293

Vitality

766

Wisdom

663

Intelligence

665

Fighting Spirit

541

Endurance

453

Perseverance

753

Resilience

455

Charisma

414

Leadership

706

Courage

127

Power of Undead

264

+Death Aura is Active

With continuous battles, Weed’s rank became a Skeleton Warrior.

‘Regardless, skeleton is low class in Undead Army.’

Opportunity for class promotion was given again.

Weed chose skeleton warrior among the choice of skeleton soldier, skeleton mage, and skeleton archer.

Few more battles later, Necromancer players gained qualifications for promotion as well.

“Phew, it was really hard, but finally I can become a mage.”

Jeanne, Otem, Bohram, Harien and players named Gruzed, Varenna who fought with such passion chose to be skeleton mages and could now summon Undeads along with most of players.

“I accept the power of intellect from the great Balkan.

With great loyalty to Undead Army, I shall fight for the great Balkan.”

By taking an oath of loyalty, they were able to finish the promotion process.

Because skeletons were able to change class freely, some chose to be an archer for a moment. Newbie Necromancers needed to fight with intellect and mana but in early stage, they weren't able to achieve a lot.

Therefore they just supported Undeads with bows and chose to be archers.

Skeleton mages also obtained spell books.

“We can use basic attack spells that skeleton mages use.”

“This is a curse spell I haven’t heard of… It would be nice to use on summoned Undeads.”

“Let’s try these in hunting.”

Players threw combined fire or ice balls and performed Undead summoning in a battle.

In a simple battlefield where only skeletons existed, there were flames, glaciers, with ghouls, zombies and basic skeleton being summoned.

Their physical appearances were of skeletons but their levels and skills remained same. Thanks to that, they were able to perform their true power and achieved greatly in the skeleton army.

In the early to mid phase where battle is fought directly, Weed monopolized all the monsters but Necromancers showed their skills as if was a fierce competition.

“Gather hear, skeletons!”

As their ranks went up, players gained authority for giving commands to skeletons in Undead Army.

Necromancers players loved this as they can now control skeletons in a battle.

Jeanne, Bohram, Otem, Harien, Gruzed and Varenna excelled in battles.

When they first came, they revealed their whole body structure but as they obtained rewards and items, they wore grey robes.

Weed just watched their hunt and did his part.

‘Ordering Undeads is way too slow at the critical moment.’

As number of skeletons increased, the difficulty of quests raised to C.

Big boss-material monsters appeared often but when they were about to die, ordering ghouls and zombies to attack it slowed things down.

Weed used his entire body hunting for experience and drops.

Because he was dressed similar to normal skeletons, it was hard to realize that it was Weed wiping out monsters cunningly from far distance.

Weed’s title became from ‘Skeleton Knight with Painful Past Memories’ to ‘Purely Rotten Skeleton King’ which was the highest rank for a skeleton.

It was when he finished the quest ‘Skeleton Guardians of Navir”

– You have earn a qualificatioin for higher ranked Undead position.

He could now become a high rank Undead and not just a simple skeleton.

But Weed continued with his skeleton-related quests, waiting for other players to get the qualification.

Of course it wasn’t some sympathy for those far behind from him.

‘You never know which could be better’

He assumed he can decide after seeing the other players make their choices.

Additionally, this is a satisfying place due to continuous large scale battles.

“It says I can be a higher ranked Undead.”

“Really? Congratulations!”

“How did you manage to get it so early? Give me some tips.”

“I don’t know, maybe because I controlled the Undeads so well?”

Necromancer player named Jeanne left after obtaining a qualification but Weed didn’t go with her.

‘I’m pretty sure it not to different from the skeleton quests.”

It was obvious since the ranks of Undeads are fixed.

Other players left one by one after getting qualifications.

From then on, he gained informations from conversations between the other playerse.

“Harien told me secretly. Jeanne and Otem became Banshees now.”

The roaring ghost Banshee.

Spreading malicious energy, with a bit of supernatural skills, they were able to cast magic.

“Where do they hunt?”

In a village where no one lives. There are haunted houses and a fortress but they haven’t looked in too in that much.

“How about the monsters?”

There were many players trying to get information about monsters besides Weed.

Since Necromancers handle corpses, they especially wanted many information about monsters.

“It’s awesome. Undead Army store their battle supplies in the fortress storage and so mass of monsters invade more than 30 times in one day.”

“Holy… They must be getting all the monsters they can ever want.”

Necromancers preferred place where many monsters appear.

Rather than waiting for few strong monsters, it was much better to gain experience and raise Undead summoning skill level from the swarming monsters.

“If that’s true, I guess it’s ok to change hunting grounds.”

Weed chose his class when 4 player chose their class.

Everyone chose Banshee but he chose to become a Ghost Skeleton Warrior.

*****

Over 30 thousand players were assigned in building the cathedral and library in Morata.

Not all villagers and players were involved in the construction. Some contributed by bringing materials while hunting or proceeding their quests.

I have found a place rich in Eplyn stones in Navi forest.

– Adventurer Kashoo

Adventurer’s announcement was placed at the wall of the lord’s castle.

“It seems there are many stones in Navi forest.”

“Let’s dig them out.”

Players gathered with pickax and dug up all the stones.

After they left, Navi forest was devastated!

“Stones”

“I brought wood.”

Beginners brought materials they could at their level.

Thanks to swarm of architects and stonemasons, towers and walls of the Grand Cathedral and Grand Library was built. At the ceiling of cathedral, they put a huge dome, making it high enough to be seen anywhere in Morata.

“Did we really build this?”

“How in the world were we able to build these buildings by stacking up bricks and rocks?”

A grand structure even those participated in the work couldn’t believe with their own eyes!

At the ceiling of the dome, they inserted stained glass so that light could enter inside the cathedral.

“It’s not over yet. We still have a lot more to work to do.”

Magicians helped sculptors and painters with their works.

With flying spell, it became much easier to paint and sculpt at the ceiling and higher part of pillars.

Since they were able to participate in a large-scale project with robust supports from all levels of society, Artists didn’t save on their efforts.

Holy knights from Freya order were built as sculptures and paintings were drawing on the ceiling.

Goddess Freya who has endlessly wide grove and granaries!

Men were sitting on their knee and making confessions to the Goddess.

With top-class paints, not being thrifty about it and painting fully, with hundreds of colors, they expressed scenery of grains, Goddess Freya’s dress and even men in a colorful, detailed manner.

Showing richness and beauty with confident.

Of course, Goddess Freya’s appearance was based on the statue of Goddess Weed built.

Painters also paid attention to the exterior of cathedral.

“Let’s paint the origin of Morata here.”

The origin of Morata. Painters from the Central Continent or who started out their career in here have only heard about it.

How Weed saved this village by defeating vampires with Alveron, the pope candidate of Freya order.

Defeating the Northern cold, Weed officially became the lord.

Freya statue of Goddess was sculpted, the population increased, the village expanded.

The history up till the building of the Grand Cathedral and Grand Library was drawn as a mural.

The library lacked in artistic beauty but it was built with huge and sturdy stones to be able to store enormous resources in it.

For now, the only books available for display are common history books sold in a general store or books of folktales of northern Versailles Continent.

But when it officially opens, it will be filled with scrolls or pieces of map from hunting monsters and books of adventurers’ stories.

If information of Northern part of the continent is gathered, more quests will be active and it will be much convenient to resolve requests. This made players in Morata to get thrilled for the completion of the library.

“I heard something weird thing from the flower lady before… Could it be a hint for a quest?”

“I gave up a quest due to lack of information. Maybe once the library is complete, I can try it again.”

Everyone had few quests that was difficulty and made them quit.

Quests only occured with special triggers or sometimes meaningless requests lead to linked quests. Therefore they can’t help getting excited for the completion of the library.

Players from the Central Continent liked it as well but players who started from Morata had their pride and self-esteem.

Morata lacked in many ways compared to other metropolises but the fun of achieving things one by one with their own hands cannot be explained in words!

The attachement of living in a shack, and the energetic square and streets.

“This is truly the best city.”

“No other city is exceptionally beautiful or developing so fast.”

“I’m gonna make sure my friends start in Morata.”

“I’m bringing everyone to Morata.”

*****

Geomchis that decided to swim across to Morata!

“I think we just passed half point.”

“Whooaa, already!”

If they got in the ship, they would have arrived already but the fact that they are half-way from their destination made them so happy.

“It’s kinda exhausting swimming for such a long time.”

“It’s hard to swim exactly how I want to because of the strong waves, sahhyeong!”

These Geomchis must learn obvious things the hard way with their bodies.

If it’s rainy or windy, it was a harder fight for them!

But still, the distance they have come is fairly long.

Few days later, they could see a land.

“Did we arrived already?!”

“The tides in this area helped us a bit, eh?”

“Yep, it was much more convenient swimming for us.”

As they get close to north, they were able to swim faster thanks to tides even though the water got cold.

To say that they are near Morata, it seemed like they arrived way too early as the beach and trees were a bit unfamiliar.

“Sahyeong, let’s go get something to eat. Who cares if it’s not the continent? We can just swim again.”

They couldn’t worry when they were hungry.

Geomchis had a value of worrying only after filling their stomach.

They gathered around, ate some clams and fish on a bonfire.

“If Weed was here, he would have cooked us delicious foods.”

“Don’t forget alcohols.”

“One sip of Weed’s fruit liquor and you are done for!”

It was Malaska Island they were taking a brief rest on.

A swordsman staying in the island first smelled them and walked to the beach.

His name was Ash.

One of the nine sword masters in Versailles Continent.

Unlike the Sculpting Master, they were nine Sword Masters.

Three of them were very famous that their whereabouts were well known.

Croma the head of the knight order, Evirathan the paladin of Lugh and Percia who left to search for the treasures of the kingdom as promised with the king.

To meet Croma, one needs to a great reputation, elegance, honor and loyalty.

Since it was easier to meet the requirements as a knight rather than as a swordsman, many met Croma and learned his swordsmanship.

His skills were an honorable promise. It enabled one to have triple the combat power briefly and contained unique horseback swordsmanship.

Evrirathan was easier to meet since he was one of the paladin of Lugh.

The only downside was that because his skills were based on holy power, paladins from different orders could not learn his swordsmanship.

Percia was searching Navier Lake for the lost treasure, so anyone could meet him there.

His skills were unknown to normal players but it was on the bulletin board of Dark Gamer Union.

Another Sword
– Sword formed from mana fly around and defend the player.
– Cannot control it directly and the size, durability, defence varies by the skill level.
– Low mana consumption.
– Effectively blocks arrows or targeted magic.

Dark Gamers who didn’t fear adventures and players of the highest-rank learned Percia’s swordsmanship.

Other than these three, no one knows about the other six.

If by any chance one finds them, they kept it to themselves as they had no reason to tell others about it.

But right now, these Geomchis encountered Ash a new Sword Master right in the middle of the ocean.

“You came here to learn swordsmanship?”

Ash spoke with low-pitched tone.

Just as expected from a Sword Master, he released a fierce aura of a beast.

“If you want my swordsmanship, you must be qualified for it.”

Clang!

Ash drew his sword, posed for a combat.

But these Geomchis eating roasted fish didn’t reply.

Nothing is more annoying than someone showing up and talking while they are eating something.

Their personalities became violent when someone bothers them during a meal time!

“Those who look for extreme of swordsmanship, shall see what the strength of a sword is through me, Ash!”

He was the sword master Ash. Anyone who wanted to master the sword desired to meet him.

He couldn’t possibly be someone to be treated so coldly but Geomchis just kept ripping off their fish.

“What on earth is that guy talking about?”

“I don’t know, I think he is challenging us?”

“Geez, why is he bothering us when we are eating? Ask him if he has salts for the fish.”

To be honest, this was a chance of a lifetime for them.

Because they were martial artists, they were able to learn any skills related to any weapons.

Sword, spear, axe, bow, dagger, you name it.

Attack skills depending on a weapon types had things in commons so it wasn’t necessarily good to learn as many skills as you can. As by focusing on using a single weapon the attack skill level and proficiency increased.

Of course for Geomchis it was swords!

As their weaponry skills reached advance level 6, the destructive power of their swords increased scarily.

They are able to decide the amount of mana used on skills freely.

They can increase the power of skills up to five times and if mana is low, they can perform skills with low amount of mana.

Also, they can run faster, jump higher or even form mana barriers with their swords.

If they showed it to other players or take a video and upload it in internet, they could get pretty famous but for these Geomchis, it wasn’t interesting.

Anyhow, it was truly a great event for them to encounter Sword Master Ash.

Geomchi17 spoke.

“Well, since it’s a challenge, I’ll accept it. Geomchis505, good luck.”

“Yes, sir!”

Geomchi505 tooth dropped his fish stick and stood up.

“I request a match. My name is Geomchi505.”

“Come, I will awaken you to the world of swords.”

Geomchi505 bent his knees a bit and posed defensively.

‘Guard first, then counter.’

Since it was a sword match, one needs to bring out one’s full potential even when not knowing enemy’s abilities.

While Geomchi505 was waiting for enemy’s attack, Ash’s body cloned one by one, ending up with thirty bodies.

As thirty Ashes lifted their swords and posed attack stances, Geomchi505’s tension rose even more.

*****

– WOO HEE HEE HEE HEE

– OOKIKIKIKIKI!

Creepy laughs were heard in a village where ghosts lived.

Weed got assigned to this village with ghosts in United Army and other players.

Ghost of Kapua
– Ghosts are treated as a nuisance in the Undead Army.
– If you succeed protecting the war material in Kapua, you will gain a bit of trust.
Difficult: C
Restriction: Undead Only

– Quest cannot be refused.
– You have accepted the quest.

“Wheeeee, arrrrrrrr, issssss, thisssss, playyyy ceeeee?”

Players who became ghosts even sounded like one with echoes.

“Weeeeeee, arrrrrrr, attttttt, Kapooooo, ahhhhh, caaaaaaa, stleeeeeee.”

Players such as Jeanne, Otem, Goshu who arrived here first were relieved that the reinforcements came.

Weed moved his ghost body around.

If you consume mana, you can fly high and move faster.

‘Will this be possible to?’

He went to the wall and reached out with his hand. It didn’t stop at the wall. It went through.

‘So it’s possible.’

Weed moved forward and completely went past the wall.

– You have passed through the wall.

By moving through an obstacle, health and mana decreased by 200.

A Ghost’s specialty.

Weed have summoned many ghosts among the Undeads so he knew.

“Whaaaat, theeeeee?”

Players paid attention to Weed’s behaviour.

It was hard to distinguish who’s who when they were all skeletons but now that he was the only Ghost Skeleton Warrior among the Banshees, he stood out.

It’s not uncommon for a ghost to pass through obstacles since it’s their specialty.

But Weed, he’s adapted way too quickly.

Plus, ghosts’ legs didn’t touch the ground so they float around in the air.

Because it feels like they are walking in water, they feel physically unnatural.

Jeanne and Otem were still getting used to the feeling but Weed adapted to the changed body fast.

Weed’s longswords and armors turned into ghosty appearance as well.

Legendary Rusted Sword

Durability: 34/51

Attack: 29~41

– Monster slaying sword.

– A sword bestowed by the Duke.

– Used for a long time without any maintenance by the Undead. But it still has sharpness.

– It will be difficult but if repaired there is a possibility to return to its former state.

Restriction: Undead

Option: Fame +34

Elegance +30

Notoriety: +170

Attack grades of Undead in the Undead Army increases.

He already had the best sword among the rusty swords.

It was same for armors but he repaired it to the minimum and equipped it.

But as it ghostified, his sword and armors’ status have changed.

The attack got reduced to more than half but when it hit the critical points, the critical chance increases and did double damage.

Not being able to be destroyed anymore was an obvious change.

Suddenly sounds of ghosts wandering around in the castle and village disappeared.

Jeanne spoke.

“Gettttt, reaaaa, dyyyyy, theyyyy, areeeeee, commmmm, ingggg.”

Grotesque green monsters appeared and advanced on Kapua castle.

Banshees screamed in a hard-to-understand way and initiated the battle.

Necromancer players fighting with summoned Undeads!

Weed performed great achievements in a battle that took place in haunted houses in the village.

Only he moved freely even when Undeads, ghosts and monsters were in a dog fight.

“Assiiii, milateeeeee”

Weed’s body went through the wall as if to hide.

Using the ghost’s specialty, he hid and ambushed for a pre-emtive strikes against the monsters!

Using covertness as a main tactic, he took care of few monsters but the real event started when the battle became more intense.

Weed rushed through the building and walls.

– You have passed through the wall.

By moving through an obstacle, health and mana decreased by 200.

– You have passed through the wall.

By moving through an obstacle, health and mana decreased by 200.

His vision completely changed every time he went past walls.

Swinging sword on every monsters on sight, he kept moving.

– Critical strike!

Slashing at the very short moment, and he even took items!

Monsters came after him but obviously failed as Weed just went through the walls.

Not only was it very effective ambush, it turned the geographic features into his shield.

‘I knew it. It’s much better to play solo in a place where Undeads and monsters are rampaging.’

Injured monsters were everywhere. Therefore he was at the upper hand in drops and items when he was alone.

A fortress and a village, now this is a best battlefield for ghosts.

When he succeeded defending for the seventeens times, he obtained a horse.

Neighhh!

A ghost horse!

Weed’s armor was grey resembling deep darkness and he also wore a helmet to conceal his face.

Among rampaging ghosts and Undeads, he rode his ghost horse, sweeping experiences and items.

In Kapua, not only monsters came more often, they were at higher standard compared to when he was a skeleton.

It was such a great hunting ground to make achievements without not being seen.

His title elevated greatly from Ghost Skeleton Warrior.

Pale Rider

According to his title, he gained 500 fame and a skill that fiercely intimidates enemies emotionally by releasing his mettle.

Unfortunately but obviously it could only be used when he was a ghost.

Chapter 3: Kapua’s Ghost

Number of Necromancers players, turned ghost, protecting Kapua village increased.

“Looksssss, likeeeee, weeeee, didddd, allllll, theeeee, workkkkk.”

Otem spoke with a hint of discontent but he didn’t hate it so much because many players looked at them with envy and admiration.

Magicians respect high wisdom and intelligence.

It allowed abundant mana and magic spells that others couldn’t use!

In case of Necromancers, it was directly related to the number and types of Undeads that could be summoned.

Summoning dozens of Dullahans or Death Knights in rank and file seemed much better and awesome compared to an unorderly line of skeletons and zombies.

Number of ghosts that swung skeleton sceptor along with companion golems increased in Kapua village.

Weed promoted again, becoming Untangible Slayer.

Monster Assault of Kapua completed
– Furgol’s invasion was repulsed.
– Undead Army will revalue the existence of Ghosts.

Revaluation: Still noisy, annoying and useless but can be helpful sometimes.
– Fame +101
– Power of Undead +14
– Gained experience.

Obtain permission to enter Kapua Castle.

Since other players weren’t talking about entering the castle, it seems like Weed was the first one.

“Battle supplies are stacked in the castle…”

An expectation that it will be filled with full of Undead weapons and equipment!

But Weed couldn’t leave the village this easily.

Less than five players chose to become ghost knight so he stood out.

Not only did he battle atop his ghost horse, his mettle and charisma made monsters shiver in fear.

It wasn’t that much when he was a human but now that he was a ghost that spread terror, weak monsters couldn’t even fight back.

The scene of monsters trembling in fear of death when Weed was simply staring at them on top his ghost horse!

Other Necromancers couldn’t help but get curious.

– HUEEEEEEEE

– EEEEEEEEEEEK!

Therefore Weed went to the castle by mixing in with monsters when the battle was about to be finished.

THUMP THUMP THUMP!

Monsters hammered on the castle gate with steel hammers.

Skeleton soldiers in the castle killed the monsters by shooting arrows and pouring boiling oil on them.

The battle wasn’t easy even with the increased number of players and summoned Undeads.

As more supplies head to the castle, more monsters were attracted to it.

‘Oh you lovely experience and items.’

Monsters that managed to reach the castle were fairly high in level.

Green creatures with their heads bulging out like crocodiles, they were either Furgol’s mid-commander or assault captains.

Every time Weed swung his sword on his horse, these Furgols fell spraying green body fluids

“Iiiiii, Loveeeeee, youuuuuu, exxxxxxxx, periiiiiii, enceeeeeeee.”

Weed made a confession and killed them without any hesitation!

As a Warrior and not a Necromancer, his stamina didn’t drop at all.

On his horse, Weed rushed forward with 15 chain strikes.

It was extremely hard to hit with a continous pin point accuracy when riding on top of the ghost horse running full speed and passing by the monsters.

It required terrifying focus, momentary judgment, wide vision, and control of breaths.

‘Items, items, items, items, items.’

Weed slashed continuously in a rhythm.

15 chain strike cannot be stopped in the middle. Therefore you need to handle your horse precisely.

His ghost horse wasn’t a legendary horse but it gave absolute obedience to him as a high-rank ghosts and also enjoyed the slaughter.

So it followed Weed’s lead.

– Maximum charging speed reached.
Ø With speed the enemy cannot resist you have inflicted a critical hit.
Ø Attack increased by 245%

Because he was slashing monsters at while moving at a high speed, most of attacks lead to critical strike with additional increase in attack points.

Spear on the other hand could release a super strong destructive power with a penetrating force but it was not useful for a continuous attacks.

The sword slashed the monsters around in arcs was a truly beautiful sight to behold.

Increasing the mana consumption and energy he slayed any monsters near him, riding in synchronization with his horse.

“Runnnnnn!”

Weed and his horse, united as one, ran towards the steel gate.

He could get fatal damage due to the crash!

But Weed and his ghost horse turned into mists and passed through the steel gate.

– You have the right to enter Kapua Castle
Ø The castle defenders will not attack you.
Ø You have passed through the thick castle gate.
Ø By passing through an obstacle, health and mana decrease by 2000 each.

NEIGHHHH!

Beyond that castle gate, he could see ghosts of skeleton soldiers in a line.

It looked like they were in a defensive formation just in case the gate was penetrated.

Weed pulled the bridle with full force gradually slowing down the ghost horse to a stop.

NEIGH

After riding hard the horse breathed heavily, snorting and clopping the ground with his hooves. The skeleton ghost soldier approached and spoke, raising his broken rusty sword.

“Welllll, comeeeee, toooooo, Kaaaaaa, puuuuu, ahhhh, caaaaaa, stleeeeee.”

*****

Taking a look around Kapua Castle, Weed was able to see all kinds of ghosts.

From ghosts of noble and dukes to ghosts knights, soldiers, archers, and villagers.

Even a ghost of a maid was moping a hall.

“Ittttt, keepssss, getttt, ingggg, dirttttt, eeeeee. Mayyyyy, beeeee, Iiiiiii, donttttttt, haveeeeee, tooooo, moppppp, ittttt?”

It was annoying to listen to them but Weed strive to converse with the maids and the villagers.

Soldiers kept complaining about monsters invading and the duke was getting all warmed up for battles at the king’s command.

In this context, the king was Balkan Demoph, the King of Undeads.

‘I thought they were all screwed but having ghosts defending the castle, the Undead Army is pretty an amazing force.’

Weed felt sorry for a bit as with several quests he may have been able to take all of this if he came here as Lich Shire.

It wasn’t an easy decision to give up a quest that was assigned to only one person, Weed.

But the possibility of Shire’s quest being tilted to the evil side was most likely.

Even though he was fighting for the Undead Army he could still stop and quit any time.

The body of Undead could be fixed by benediction at the Freya order.

Regardless, hunting grounds here, flood with monsters, were excellent and Undeads were constantly enhanced due to Balkan’s Death Aura.

For Weed, he was able to wield much stronger power and that was reason he was still continuing with this quests and hunts.

‘It’s definitely not because of the money I have to pay to the Freya order.’

Weed went up the tower.

Seemed like monsters were invading as there was an ongoing battle.

If monsters got through the village, their next objectives would become this castle.

If the castle collapsed completely, the chain quest would failed, and who knows what would happen next?

‘Anyways, I should get back to the village after a quick look.’

There were more opportunities of fighting monsters in the village than inside Kapua castle.

You couldn’t let your guard down just because more players were showing up.

As battle supplies were piling up in the castle, more and more monsters swarmed toward the village.

*****

In the village, players hunting the monsters were having a conversation in their party chat room.

Bohram: I haven’t seen the ghost skeleton guy since a while ago.

Harien: He chased the monsters going towards the castle but I guess he hasn’t come back.

Varenna: I don’t know what that guy is thinking not choosing a class with Undead summoning skills when he is a Necromancers. But he seemed pretty strong.

Bohram: Still, that’s a wrong decision. It looked like he hasn’t been able to hunt that many monsters.

To be honest, these players didn’t really have a chance to spectate Weed’s hunt.

First of all, they had to make sure that their summoned Undeads don’t act as they please and obstacles blocked their view of Weed.

Also there were many ghosts in the village so they couldn’t keep their eyes specifically on Weed.

If there was a cleric who is supposed to grasps the party members or battle situations, they would have noticed Weed’s sneaky movements but Necromancers just had too many things to do.

Harien: By the way, Jeanne is truly amazing. She is performing more than two of us combined.

Bohram: I just saw her summoning seven additional Death Knights, meaning that her Necromancers skill has reached intermediate level 4.

Gruzed: the golem-related skill level looked high as well.

Since these Necromancers had same occupations, they were more a competitors rather than co-operators. So they were busy spectating the best Necromancer, Jeanne.

Bohram: Is it just me did the experiences increased a bit?

Harien: I had the same feeling. Even the items, they are more useful items drops now.

*****

Lee Hyun wanted to yell out in joy.

‘Finally it’s over.’

With the last exam taken care of, it was the start of the winter breaks.

The campus was covered with romantic white snow but he was just happy that he didn’t have to come back here until spring.

Other students were chatting in the hallway.

“How was it?”

“Introduction to virtual-society was way too hard. I totally messed it up.”

It was all irrelevant to Lee Hyun.

‘As long as I don’t fail.’

He was pretty optimistic about his grades.

Lee Hyun saw Seo Yoon sitting on a bench as he was trying to head home in a hurry.

Even in her winter outfit, her beautiful looks drew the male students toward her.

Incomparable lineage, outstanding looks, attractively tall and guaranteed future lying ahead.

Lee Hyun didn’t feel at ease hanging around with Seo Yoon.

“Some freshman named Lee Hyun in faculty of Virtual Reality is having a meal with her?”

“He is a freshman but I heard he’s a little too old to be a freshman.”

“Why in the world is she hanging out with guy like him?”

There were so many rumors floating around the campus.

Even the seniors in the faculty of Virtual Reality looked at Lee Hyun with discomfort.

But Lee Hyun wasn’t someone who gave in to these kinds of views about him.

He just hoped this dream of her wouldn’t last so long.

‘She doesn’t deserve a guy like me.’

Someday, an awesome guy that would be perfect for her will appear.

All he had to do was making sure she talks and protect her until she did not fear human interaction anymore.

Seo Yoon spotted Lee Hyun and stood up.

She walked toward him with rosy cheek perhaps caused by cold weather.

“Were you waiting for me?”

Seo Yoon nodded at his question and then spoke.

“Because of the winter trip.”

Her words were becoming more natural.

Lee Hyun didn’t mind it so much but to her he was the very person who grabbed her hand and pulled open her heart to the world.

Every time Seo Yoon spoke to him, she embraced the expectation and romance.

“Yeah, trip, huh.”

Lee Hyun clearly remembered what he said before.

Seo Yoon said she want to go on a trip with him.

It was a simple trip heading to seashore but he told her it would cost a million Won, which was complete nonsensical excuse to avoid the trip.

“Well, promises exist to be kept.”

Seo Yoon nodded in agreement.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I wanted to take a trip anyway. Plus I’m on a break now with plenty of time.”

She smiled in a happy, yet awkward way.

Of course Lee Hyun was planning to devote all of his time in Royal Road.

The hunting speed in Kapua Village was super fast compared to any other hunting grounds.

With plenty of quests, it was the best place to raise experience.

Lee Hyun continued softly.

“A promise is a promise. I’m just as sad as you are but I guess I’m going have to give you a rain check.”

Lee Hyun was trying to delay this trip indefinitely.

Suddenly, Seo Yoon opened her bag and grabbed out money.

“I earned expenses for the trip.”

It was at least 600 million Won.

To think that she earned this much in just little bit more than one month!

“Did you sell your items?”

He didn’t think of it when he made his promises but if Seo Yoon sold her equipment in Royal Road, it would be a piece of cake to earn that much.

“I earned by selling packed lunches.”

Seo Yoon earned this money purely with labour.

On her hand where she was showing the money, he could see blisters.

And some scars from getting cut and burning herself while cooking.

A woman who never had a hard time got hurt and exhausted for money.

“Will you go with me?”

With mixed feelings Lee Hyun couldn’t possibly reject her.

*****

Lee Hyun decided to go on the trip after 4 days.

Now that he was really going, there were so many things to pack.

“A frying pan, a pot, a burner… It would be nice to make Kimbap and boiled eggs in advance. And sikhye in a plastic bottle just in case we become thirsty.”

If he was on a trip alone, he could just bilk a restaurant. He didn’t want a way-too-luxury trip.

She earned the money in a hard way. He couldn’t possibly have the luxury of wasting it.

Sesame oil, kimchi, seaweed, fresh vegetables and a fishing rod should be enough.

If he catches some fish on the spot, then meal was ready.

“I should prepare some more just in case I think of something.”

Even in a deserted island, it was more than enough to survive!

Leaving your house was suffering, it also costs money.

He couldn’t possibly understand why she would want to take a trip but to save as much as he can, 4 days later was just ok.

“Monday should be less expensive avoiding the weekend peak prices.”

After he arranged everything, he went into the capsule.

It was time for Royal Road.

*****

Weed spotted scibbles while wandering in Kapua castle.

I saw something shiny.

Why are there… so many things that humans enjoy, dumped?

There is a path next to the bookshelf…

It was an enigmatic scibble about hidden treasures in the castle.

If you can solved the mystery then you could find the treasures!

‘I guess it’s worth coming here first.’

Before other players came, Weed scouted the castle.

Collecting information from maids and servants, finding treasures in chimneys, sewer, and stable.

These relics were as old as it can possibly get so you can call it antiques if you wanted to!

Treasures worth hundreds, thousands of gold gave great satisfaction to Weed.

‘Ghost’s body is just perfect for a scavenger hunt.’

As long as you knew the exact location, it was easy to find it since he could just go through any obstacles.

He found items in between bricks and behind a staircase using ghost’s specialty.

The girl I saw at dawn, what did she lose that she cried so sadly?.

With this quote in mind, he met a female ghost child running down the hallway fast.

And by finding her lost doll, he got an enchanted necklace in return.

Necklace of the Undead
Durability: 29/43

– Necklace that contains strength of Undead’s growth

Restrictioin: Necromancers Only
Option: Necromancers skill level +1
Effect of Summoned Undead +8%

Items that benefits Necromancers were very rare.

That was why Necromancers often equip magician’s equipment but Weed just obtained an item that increase Undead summoning skill.

After sunrise, Weed turned into human and came back to Morata with Yurin’s help.

After making sure Kapua castle was safe, he used Picture Teleportation in a small room to move about.

But as he gained more Power of Undead, he stayed as Undead longer even after sunrise.

“Power of Undead increase a lot with the quests and battles.”

Weed didn’t consider Power of Undead to be a burden except when he was making sculpture it was a minor discomfort.

But in fact, it was truly dangerous stat that made the Necromancers special.

He learned exactly what the Power of Undead did in a conversation between Necromancer players.

“My Power of Undead increased again.”

“Already at maximum? At first I thought it was an awesome stat…”

“The dizziness made me fail Undead summoning spells.”

Not only does Power of Undead enhance Undeads, it strengthens the power of black magic.

Black magic was much stronger and complicated compared to normal magic.

That is why Black Mages are treated with more respect among magicians.

In case of Weed, it enhanced his strength and agility when he was hunting as Undead.

Superior stat that grows on its own with quests and battles!

Necromancers had Powe of Undead and Black Mages living in their own world had authority of darkness. That made them much stronger than normal magicians.

But both Power of Undead and Authority of Darkness causes serious curses and illness if it exceed one’s faith and willpower.

In worst scenario, one became wicked, raised up Undeads without being able to control their own spells and body and hurt those around them.

In case of Dark Mages, devils could steal their bodies!

When one reaches that point of ruin, not only did they loses substantial amount of mana, they suffer from all kinds of curses that were hard to cure.

That was why you need to raises stats such as health, strength, willpower for overall balance.

If you didn’t raise enough faith and willpower thinking it was a waste of points, it would seem fine at first but as time goes, side effects will be critical.

Necromancers and black mage become stronger quicker than normal occupations but they are moving back and forth on a dangerous border.

Weed felt it was a waste to invest stats into faith or willpower so he collected floral and grass leaves and built a sculpture.

Petals weren’t a fit material for a sculpture.

It was too tender and it withers fast. But if Nature Sculpting was used, materials’ freshness stays unchanged for a very long time and it challenge Weed with a new kind of work.

“Looking at just the materials, this sculpture is harder than any of my previous works.”

During night, he hunted and in the morning he sculpted.

The completed work created with such an effort was a real-sized chariot led by eight horses.

Even horses and horseman were decorated with pretty petals. It expressed a beauty that only existed in a fairytale.

Inside the chariot, he sculpted his little sister when she was a little lady.

The finished sculpture was truly romantic and beautiful.

– Set a name for the sculpture you just made.

“Birthday present for my little sister.”

He created this piece of art as a birthday present for Yurin.

It will be unforgettable birthday present when she rides this chariot in Morata.

Of course production cost of this sculpture made of petals and leaves was zero!

– ‘Birthday Present for my Little Sister’, correct?

“Correct”

· Magnum Opus!

You completed a ‘Birthday Present for my Little Sister’.

Ø Sculpture made from the petals of wild flower spread around Morata!

Ø Created by connecting leaves with excellence patiences, it was a sculptor who knows how to use the power of nature.

Ø Creativity is outstanding but due to the characteristics of the materials, it will be hard to maintain for a long time.

Artistic Value: 9, 814

Effect:

Anyone who see this piece will have 30% regen of health and mana for a day

All stat increase by +15

Elegance and charm +45

Once a day, an extraoridanary luck will occur.

Movement speed in flat area increase by +25%

Increase propagation of wildflowers used in this sculpture.

Talking to someone about this sculpture you intimacy will increase.

Maximum life of sculpture: 3 months

After expiration, this piece will be recorded in the history of sculptures

- Number of Magnum Opus created: 7

– Advance Sculpture Mastery reached level 8
Your sculptures will now become amazingly delicated and detailed.
Your insight for arts broadened, wisdom and intelligence increase by 37 each.

Charm increase by +62

Using Nature Sculpting, affinity with nature increase by +31.

– Handicraft skill improved
– Fame increase by +1,841
– Art stat increase by +13
– Endurance increase by +9
– Fortitude increase by +21
– Charm increase by +7

Weed’s sculpting skill level finally reached advanced level 8.

“That was really hard.”

With every skill level the requirement for the next level of proficiency increased exponentially, the master piece he created now only increased his proficiency by 3.7%. Even then there was still 2 level left until Sculpture Mastery.

“Once I sculpt Helium, I won’t be too far!”

If your reputation hits high by sculpting, you can easily receive sculpting quests from nobles and kings.

By gettint these quest they gave best materials to work with and will be easy to increase his workmanship.

“Also, I will be able to increase with Disaster Sculpting or Elemental Creation.”

He will soon be mastering sculpting skill, hardest skill to increase among arts-related skills.

“I couldn’t have done it if I tried to get this far if it was all for arts.”

To make the pieces, he collected complicated materials through many adventures and quests.

He devoted a long time on sculpting his work, suffering for creativity.

It was all thanks to money that he got this far.

*****

“Finally… our hard works will come into fruition.”

“This moment will be broadcasted on gaming media for at least one month.”

“Thousands, no millions will see this.”

Villagers and players of Morata stopped working and came out to streets, square and roofs.

They were holding hats and flower petals.

Players with wood and stone plates on their back came from outside the city.

With sweats pouring down, they moved step by step.

Last materials need for the Grand Cathedral and Library. Just a few steps away from the finish line.

“Cheer up.”

“Just a little bit more.”

Cheering each other, they head to the Square of Light and Bingryong Square.

Construction materials were stacked up and where villagers and players have been working together, there was the sight of the Grand Cathedral and the Great Library.

The Grand Cathedral was magnificent, with colorful beauty and the Great Library had solemnity and grandness.

These great architectures in huge scale had been built by the village’s own people and players.

They placed decorative trees on empty spots in the garden and placed refined block of stones.

At last, with last materials finding its own places, the Great library and Grand Cathedral have been completed.

The completion date has been deliberately managed to finish the buildings jointly to make it a commemorative day.

Not only Morata players have been waiting for this moment, but many tourists as well who came from northern and other area.

* Grand Building, Freya church’s northern continent Grand Cathedral has been completed.

Total construction period: 5 month and 11days.

Cost of construction: 1 million 678 thousand 291 gold and 25 silver.
Number of participated worker: 299 thousand 362 people.

* Building Value: 189, 614

– From the Cathedral the religious denomination will spread in the Northern Continent.
– The gaze of Goddess Freya is focused here, chance of a golden harvest increased, natural disasters will be prevented.
– The priest and paladins of Freya in the Northen Continent will receive a greater divine force.
– Priest’s can now be placed in the 2nd tier, Cardinals can now be elected.
– Paladins will now live in the Cathedral, suppressing monsters in the vicinity.
– Morata residence are now qualified to participate in Freya churches business.

* Grand Building, Morata’s Grand Library has been completed.

Total construction time: 5 month and 11days.

Cost of construction: 1 million 074 thousand 412 gold and 78 silver.
Number of participated worker: 218 thousand 302 people.

* Building Value: 127, 939

– Can collect adventure related text. Can help with the recovery of lost magic through the excavation of dungeons.
– Magic and academics will develop faster.
– If you display or publish found items, maps, historic facts, monster records, you can receive fame and compensation.

· For the need for library archives a quest has activated.
– Archeologic quest is now possible to find rare records.

– As the archives grow, the residence knowledge will increase.

“Hooray!”

“It’s finally finished!”

“From now on let’s party all night!”

There was no need to mention the greater convenience thanks to the completion of Northern Cathedral and the Great Library.

A message popped up for players who participated.

– For participating in the construction of the Northern Cathedral you have received an achievement and experiences points.

– Proficiency in building skill increased.

– You gained knowledge of special building, stats will increase.

– For the achievement of leaving behind a painting in the Grand Cathedral

– Fame increased.

– Proficiency in related skill increased.

Due to the religious experience, however marginal you can now paint Freya churches holy figures.

– For the achievement of leaving behind a sculpture in the Grand Cathedral

– Fame increased.

– Proficiency in related skill increased.

You can now sculpt Freya churches holy figures. But you have to use the wood blessed by Goddess Freya.

* Morata’s Freya church influence has risen

– The intimacy with Morata’s residence increased.

– The people who participated in the construction are now religious.

The 2 Grand building will now represent Morata.

By telling stories about the Northern Cathedral and the Grand Library in faraway cities and castles you can receive fame.

They were rewarded fairly for participating in the construction of great buildings.

And a message popped up only visible to the lord.

– Morata’s regional political influence increased.
– Morata’s regional fame increased.
– If the conditions are met, three special product of Morata will spread fast through word of mouth.
– Villagers looking at Freya Cathedral can find peace in their heart.
– Public order is increased.
– Plague is suppressed.
– Morata’s culture is being spread throughout the continent. This helps the art created in the city to gain additional fame and influence.
– Tourism industry is developing, wealthy tourist will come to the city.
– Due to the Northern Cathedral the number of art orders increased.
– The contribution to the Freya church increased by 1,639.

Ø You can now receive the title, ‘The Call of the Goddess’. If you receive the award you can now represent the Freya churches paladin.
Ø Elegance, charm, faith, charisma will increase.

Weed felt mentally exhaustion while working on the construction.

“I never imagined it would cost this much…”

It was impossible to build the Grand Cathedral and the Great Library as planned with the assigned budget.

Weed assigned a very wide area for it to be built on and suggested high quality materials. So it was impossible not to have gone over budget even with astronomical budget of 900,000 gold and 700,000 golds for the respective buildings.

“It would have been ok to take out some steel frames and unnoticeable pillars…”

Weed desperately wanted poor constructions.

However, Morata’s architects tried to build sturdy buildings that could last hundreds of years.

Because so many people were participated, workers made frequent mistakes.

Rain leaking through the roofs was nothing.

Often, pillars would tilt and stone plates would collapse.

Every time this happened, construction cost increased and even if they did fund raising in the city, the projecct always lacked money.

Morata’s three months worth of taxes had to be put into the construction budget.

“It’s ok. It’s at least completed now.”

Weed looked at the buildings and let go of any lingering attachment.

It was a grand building built by a decent architect Parvo along with noob sculptors and painters and a lot of novice players’ efforts.

Because of the leakage in the roof, the artwork on the ceiling was partially blurry and engraved corner parts on the walls were shattered.

There would be hundreds of things to find fault with but the Great Library and Grand Cathedral looked awesome and majestic overall.

“Not bad. In fact, it will be a building with history and tradition after a long time.”

Weed grinned with delight.

It’s because these great buildings will bring a lot of money in.

His Power of Undead grew and his title became much higher in the Undead Army.

Death Knight!

It was a high rank in combat ranks it would be similar to a commander.

“Hehe, I guess I’ll be getting more tax income.”

Weed, the Death Knight, cackled evilly in his castle while looking at the Grand Cathedral.

*****

“Let’s begin the recital.”

“Light the bonfire!”

A bonfire was lit in the square and bards performed on their instruments as celebration of completion of Grand Cathedral and the Great Library began.

As it got darker, the lights and music made the city Morata even more beautiful!

· Morata’s residence started a commemorative festival

– The residence are praising their hero Weed.
– All credit are given to the lord for the religious race, solid public peace and food production in the Northern Continent.
– They do not doubt about the bright future of Morata.
– The Villages crime will drop by half.
– The children’s academics increased.
– The productivity of the Village residence will increase by 330% for one month.
– The residence are happy, they can now get better jobs.
– You can participate in the festival.

There were several festivals in Morata.

But players from Central Continent considered a festival in a city to be weird.

There isn’t a single place in the continent where villagers’ loyalty and moral toward the lords are so highly maintained.

In the Square of Light and Bingryong Square where the Grand Cathedral and the Great Library stood, people continuously gathered.

“Here comes the wild boar and deer.”

They roasted them on bonfire, seasoning them with salt, and shared it with the onlookers.

“Those who participated in the transportation of wood, please come here.”

“Grass porridge! Grass porridge!

“We Grass porridge religion is leaving for a group hunt in two hours. No level or class restrictions. Those who want to join, come to the east gate after two hours.”

While players were having fun, merchants were devastated.

“I should have bought it early…”

“If I built a building this side, it would have been a jack-pot.”

“This area will continuously increase in population.”

As more players and villagers increased in Morata, there is no doubt it will lead to greater commercial supremacy in the region.

It was nice for merchants but the only lingering attachment they had was on the lands near the cathedral and the library.

Priests and paladins would visit the Grand Cathedral often and people preparing for adventures and quests will visit the Great Library frequently.

It was obvious that people will come to the Great Library for information about quests, maps and monsters.

“They said these lands are already owned by someone. Who in the world has the ownership of these lands?”

“The land is just way too good…”

While merchants were dispirited, buildings popped up suddenly from the empty lands next to Grand Cathedral.

Rapid construction in Domestic Affairs Mode was something only the lord could perform!

The Original Northern Cathedral Priests Shop

Original Paladin Store

Cathedral Souvenir Shop

Also, buildings popped up next to the Great Library

Pre-adventurers Closest General Store

Dungeon Exploration Shop

The landowner was Weed who was waiting for the right moment for to strike.

Chapter 4: Uncollapsible Sand Castle

“Geez, what’s taking her so long?”

Lee Hyun was waiting for Seo Yoon at the train station.

Having just turned into a Death Knight, he was extremely busy hunting.

He was able to wear iron plated armors, use dark energy and enhance his swordsmanship.

The strength of the knight class was tremendous!

Many players choose this class as it was well balanced with many advantages.

With his outstanding horse-riding, his movement speed was pretty fast.

Maintaining his horse was inconvenient but being very helpful in battles it was worth taking care of.

The only disadvantage would have been that the stamina droped too quickly compared to a different class such as swordsman but it didn’t matter as Death Knight was an Undead.

“It was perfect timing for levelling up as well…”

Lee Hyun decided to keep his promise and left his house a little bit early.

Seo Yoon arrived ten minutes before the 8 am meeting time.

She brought two travelling bags with her.

Even wearing a simple white T-shirts and jeans she was gorgeous.

People at the station couldn’t get their eyes off of her.

Glimpsing at her face briefly, he was left with impressions of clear beauty.

He couldn’t help look at her face again, staring at her piece by piece.

The phrase, ‘the eyes are the window to the soul’ was absolutely right.

Her eyes were deep, pure and dazzling.

It was like her eyes were the world’s most clear jewels.

Her eyebrows were straight, nothing to find fault with.

He couldn’t find any flaws in her nose, lips, cheek, forehead, ear lobes or anywhere on her body.

When looking at her, it felt like everything was in its place.

Her body expresses an unbelievable beauty.

“Were you waiting for me?”

“No, I just came. Let’s get the tickets firsts.”

After arriving in train by the big city in the north by the seashore, they planned to rent a car.

Seo Yoon said she had a driver’s license.

“When did you get your license?”

“I received it just yesterday after passing the test.”

“………"

*****

On the train heading to the seashore, they had kimbap and soda which he brought from home.

Lee Hyun fell asleep while staring out at the window.

Travelling relaxed his tension and stress.

“I…….”

Lee Hyun was muttering in a low-pitched tone. Seo Yoon brought her ear close to listen.

“…tem….”

Lee Hyun was sleep talking!

Seo Yoon didn’t get enough sleep because she was busy preparing early in the morning.

She leaned her head on Lee Hyun’s shoulder and fell asleep as well.

Every time the train stopped, passengers saw that scene while getting on the train.

‘That guy doesn’t deserve her.’

‘Why is she with a lame guy like him…’

‘This is so unfair! What is this!’

When the train arrived at their destination, they picked up their bags and got off.

The car rental place was found near the train station.

After renting their reserved car, Seo Yoon sat on the driver seat and Lee Hyun on the passenger seat.

“Shall we go?”

“After starting the car.”

Seo Yoon started the car and then spoke.

“Let’s go now.”

Lee Hyun was nervous but Seo Yoon seemed strong in real life as well.

Now that she started the car, she drove very smoothly.

But then suddenly the wiper activated!

“Where is the signal lamp for turning?”

“On the other side.”

Lee Hyun regretted not getting a driver’s license before hand.

After leaving downtown, North Sea of Korea became visible along the national highway.

East or west seas had their own charming points but North Sea had a lot more to take in with its warm climate. Also it wasn’t as expensive.

By driving along the seashore, they were able to go around the big islands.

There were flowers growing on the crooked roads right beside the sea.

When they arrived, Seo Yoon took out her camera.

“Can we take a picture here?”

“Of course we can.”

Taking pictures was a must-do while travelling.

“I’ll take a picture of you.”

Seo Yoon took picture of him with the sea as the background.

In the photo he seemed like an awkward tourist stuck on a beautiful scenery.

“Ok, now it’s your turn.”

Lee Hyun received Seo Yoon’s camera and pressed the shutter.

Every time her picture was taken, it was a like a photo shoot.

She just stood still like Lee Hyun but it was a whole different kind of images.

He felt like the sands were shining and a gentle breeze coalescing around her.

She didn’t smile or held many poses but she looked great with the winter sea as the background.

There were also many tourists at the seashore.

Lee Hyun asked the tourists for a favor.

“Excuse me… Do you mind taking a picture for us?”

It looked like they were on a graduation trip.

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

These men took a picture of Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon standing together.

SNAP!

They put their focus right on Seo Yoon, blurring out Lee Hyun!

‘What an unmatched couple.’

‘That guy must have saved the universe in his past life.’

Going to several places while riding in their car, they went to popular tourist spots and took photos.

They spent plenty of time together in Royal Road but this was different, no hunting, no quest, it was like two of them were dating.

Soon, it became dark.

The temperature dropped fast after sunset so they began looking for a place to stay.

“I’ve found a place… Was it this way?”

After roaming around in their car, they arrived at the camping site.

With minimum price, they were able to use this place freely.

There were groups of families having set up their tents already.

“We are late. We better hurry.”

Lee Hyun took out the camping equipment from his large bag.

He borrow it from Ma Sungbum from the dojo,

After setting up the tent, he took out the burner to boil water, which he was able to obtain in the camping site, and prepare dinner.

While Seo Yoon was washing the raw rice for cooking, Lee Hyun grabbed a fishing rod and head to the coast.

“I’m going to catch some fish for dinner alright?”

There were middle age men concentrating on fishing while their wives and daughters watched on.

“Geez, not a single fish.”

They wanted to show off in front of their families but unless you were some natural-born fisherman, it wasn’t easy.

Lee Hyun opened a small container.

These energetic worms were caught directly from his yard this morning.

Every time he threw his fishing rod with the baits on, he was able to catch the fish quickly.

63cm flatfish!

“What a waste of worm.”

49cm rockfish!

“I needed something for fish stew. This will do nicely.”

The rockfish were known delicacy of this area.

“Aren’t you guys tired? Stop taking my baits.”

Fish were crowded in the bucket Lee Hyun brought.

Middle age men comforted themselves thinking about their wives and daughters.

‘As long as I have a happy family…’

‘Even if my wife nags often, the joy of going on a trip with her is…”

Lee Hyun murmured holding his fishing rod.

“I should be getting back for dinner… It would be nice if a black porgy took my bait. What are they doing, geez.”

The men thought in their heads.

‘Hey kid, black porgy isn’t some kind of carps that you can just catch easily.’

‘I’ve been here for twelfth time now and even I haven’t seen it.’

At that moment, Lee Hyun’s float sank a little bit.

Picking the right spot was the heart of fishing, shaking your fishing rod slightly and make it look like the worm was wriggling was advanced skill!

And with that, another fish took the bait.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a black porgy. It was a sea eel.

“This will be nice when roasted.”

When Lee Hyun was about to return, Seo Yoon came out from the tent.

“Did you catch a lot?”

“Not enough in my life time. I caught just enough to be full.”

After Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon went back to their tent, the men’s eyes were moist with tears.

“Daddy, there are so many mosquitoes biting. I don’t like it here. I wanted to watch TV at home.”

“Honey, can’t you do this hobby of yours alone?”

They could barely get to talk with their daughters after school and their wives left their home frequently to take a trip with their friends.

These men reminisced their golden age when they were in high school or university.

‘Sigh… If only I could go back.”

*****

With his nimble hands, Lee Hyun made charcoal fire and placed a grill on top of it.

Until the fire was stable, he made doenjang soup and when the fire was hot enough, he roasted, not pork of beef, but variety of fish!

“Do you want to trade for a rockfish?”

Roaming the other tents, he traded for clams, crabs, sausages and even some cheap wine.

Flipping the fish, he also boiled fish stew.

With gentle crashing of waves in the background, they saw stars shining from the clear sky.

“Let’s eat.”

Eating fish outside was excellent.

After the filling dinner, Lee Hyun even cleaned the dishes.

“You want some coffee?”

“Sure.”

They sat on the beach, savouring a cup of coffee.

When it was completely dark, they could hear chirps of crickets.

All other tents had turned their lights off.

“We should go to sleep as well.”

It was a tent for four so there was sufficient place for two people to sleep in.

Despite that fact, it still felt cramped.

Once in their sleeping bag, they could hear each other’s breath coming from the other side of the tent.

Seo Yoon’s nervous heart was beating fast.

Even in the tent, in a separate sleeping bag, it felt like they were sleeping in the same room.

Seo Yoon was worried that her heartbeat might be heard along with the crash of waves and chirps of crickets.

However, she could soon hear snoring from Lee Hyun.

*****

Lee Hyun woke at dawn to the sound of bird chirping.

Even in an unfamiliar place, he didn’t toss and turn. Rather, he slept soundly.

Lee Hyun turned and found Seo Yoon was still asleep facing in his direction.

Getting out of his sleeping bag, he went outside quietly.

‘Should I make some crab stew for breakfast?’

Lee Hyun preped the ingredients and waited for Seo Yoon to wake up.

Thinking Seo Yoon was still exhausted from the travel, she didn’t wake up even after sunrise.

But the truth was, Seo Yoon slept late staring at Lee Hyun’s sleeping face.

Her first impressions of him, the thoughts she had every time seeing him in Royal Road, the appreciation of going on a trip together.

She opened her heart out and speak about it, but Lee Hyun had no clue as he was busy snoring in his sleep.

“Maybe I should take a walk.”

Lee Hyun walked alonged the sandy beach breathing in the fresh morning breeze.

‘The weather is really nice.’

Birds were chirping as they looked for foods.

And there were a gathering of childrens on the beach, building a sand castle.

‘I want to give it a try.’

Anyone who went to the beach did it at least one time or another.

Lee Hyun never did have a chance to do it but it would be nice way to kill some time.

Ten minutes later the other kids were gathering around and looking at Lee Hyun.

The sand castle he was building was becoming life size reaching about 1.5 meters.

Adults came as well as they watched the ramparts and towers getting built.

This was all thanks to the skill he had mastered in construction sites and sculptures in Royal Road.

An hour later, the sand castle was complete.

People around him complemented him for the perfectness, but their words didn’t reach him.

‘Not like I can trade this in a real estate… or get money from it.’

A complete utilitarian!

Once the tides came, it would collapse and get wiped out.

It was just a sand castle that would fall even against a little bit of strong wind.

With the sand castle finished, people left one by one, leaving for breakfast or going home.

Lee Hyun watched the coming tides and the sand castle in vain.

“We’ve gone on a trip together now… But someday, she’s going drift apart to the point where I can’t even get close.”

Lee Hyun was willing to let her go for her own sake.

All the time spent with her will remain as memories later.

That was why he wrote something under the castle.

Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon’s house.

*****

When he came back to the tent, Seo Yoon was cooking with the prepared ingredients.

After a filling breakfast they planned to take a look around North Sea a little bit more, before take a train going back home in afternoon.

Lee Hyun packed his stuff and spoke to Seo Yoon as he was tidying up the space.

“I’ll take care of this. Why don’t you get some rest?”

Seo Yoon walked toward the sandy beach.

Once she got back to the city, she would most likely will not be able to see it anymore.

As she barely went outside she decided to pick up some kind of small souvenir, such as conches or pebbles.

“After today, I’ll be going back to my normal life.”

Walking on the sand, she noticed a particularly giant sand castle.

She had no idea who built this but it was a very well-made and sturdy sand castle.

Seo Yoon headed toward it.

*****

Four armies from the Undead Legion advanced toward Morata.

But only two army’s worth made it to the one week distance away from Morata.

Due to some of them having no legs and walking uncomfortably, majority of them were coming late.

Not to mention some of the Undead going off the main route, falling into a well, or circling around a forest.

Because Undead armies disperse a lot when they are on the move, more self inflicted casualties arose.

And with the many ordinary monsters in the north, they disappeared as monsters like goblins, trolls or ogres protect their territories.

“An Undead army is coming this way.”

Players on adventures and hunting ground spotted the Undead army and raised the alarm in Morata.

It was a huge event for the novices and merchants.

The church knight from Freya order was dispatched right after they were assigned to Morata.

“Looks like the church knight is moving out to hunt Undeads.”

“Lu’s order and Freya’s order jointly commissioned an Undead-hunting quests.”

Parties hunting in Morata joined priests and the paladins on the quest.

In the lord’s castle, a punitive force was organized to eliminate the Undeads.

There were weak skeletons among the enemies so anyone over level 30 could participate.

“Let’s go have some fun.”

“Let’s beat those Undeads!”

For novices, this was a good event and they could get a lot of experiences for participating in a large-scale suppression.

450 units of the paladins from Freya’s order gathered.

These holy knights were unbelievably strong compared to Morata’s knights.

Because they do not belong to a city or a village, not even the lord can give them orders.

They only fought for the church when there was a religious crisis or a threat from monsters.

Additional 840 men joined from Lu’s priests and Freya’s priests respectively, to fight the Undead army.

The manpower was somewhat excellent but there were over 3,000 priests in the punitive force comprised solely of ordinary players.

People with priest class in Morata participated in this quest as it could increases their faith.

Those who were busy or on some quests rushed toward the battlefield.

“Yay, Undeads!”

“God, I love the Undead.”

Priests were filled with joys when they saw all the Undeads.

Priests came fast, almost at the same time as paladins, riding on horse to engage the Undead first. There were many other priests in the punitive force who would come later.

Because of the fairly high reputation compared to other cities because of the Goddess statue and the Grand Cathedral, tens of thousands of players chose to become Freya’s priests.

It became the reverse with them advancing on the Undead Legion!

Paladins were mobilized, along with players with class like mercenary, warrior, magician, summoner and bard to joined the punitive force and defend against the invasion from the Undead armies.

Compared to the high-level players across the central continent, their overall average level wasn’t very high.

This was due to the high number of novices starting out in Morata every day.

Due to such advantage, Morata became one of the greatest city next to other metropolises.

Early players of Morata had memories of their village being silent and secluded but now, even in the middle of night, merchants were camping out in every square.

Anyone could feel that the village was changing day by day.

Fifty thousand men in the punitive force came early!

It lacked the manpower compared to the two Undead armies, which was approximately over sixty thousand.

But being camped on the hill they had geographic advantage over the battle.

Their morals were striking high with area-of-effect blessings from the priests.

Zaffran, who was assigned as the captain of the punitive force for this quest shouted loudly.

“Let’s defeat theses Undeads invading our new home, our land!”

“Attack!!!”

Paladins, the punitive force, and the Undeads charged each other.

More players in the punitive force were arriving continuously and the Undead Legion were flowing with Undeads.

The war between two armies, had finally begun.

*****

Polon obtained information from the Hermes Guild.

– Necromancers were summoned by an unknown force and are now fighting for the Undead Legion as Undeads.

Even Necromancers from their guilds were aligned with the Undead Legion.

They had great talent filling in several occupations in the guild but unfortunately, the Necromancer was a recently created position.

The Necromancers who were part of their guild didn’t even have high levels and their hunting speeds was slow. They were currently still stuck at the rank of High Level Skeleton.

Zabrin: Seems like every Necromancers in Versailles Continent have been gathered there.

Zabrin reported all the information through the guild’s long distance communication channe.

Polon, knights, magicians and rangers in the army including the executives of the Hermes Guild could listen to the report.

Zabrin: I’m seeing every famous Necromancers such as Jeanne or Bohram.

Polon: What is their current quest?

Zabrin: I’m not so sure but they are continuously on battles related quest for the Undead Legion.

Zabrin felt good reporting in.

In Hermes guild, they were given full support if they thought it was necessary.

Not to mention the guild providing good equipment and hunting grounds, they even provided troops for quest and other needs.

If he achieve something this time, he just might be able to participate in a hunting party that was above his current rank!

Since he reported that with his current rank he could not join the other Necromancer who advance further then him on the quest, any help from the guild would be huge help for Zabrin who wasn’t even level 300 yet.

The only reason Zabrin joined the Hermes Guild was the greed of receiving support to easily level up.

Zabrin: If you need any kind of information, I’ll look into it. I’ve made many Necromancer friends so I should be able to get any information you want.

Polon: It would be nice if you can create some influence among the Necromancers.

Zabrin: Ok, I’ll try. But the most famous and strong Necromancers got promoted to higher rank and is fighting some place close by. Unfortunately my level is low and I cannot follow them right now.

Polon: Can you wear equipment for magicians?

Zabrin: Yes I can. It’s much better if it’s a cursed item.

Skeletons and ghost could were able to wear equipment without any race limitation.

For example, a cursed item that reduces life and increase mana, could increased both for the Undead.

For Zabrin the cursed items were much better off.

Polon: Whatever you need, you will get it. But you must provide daily reports and inform me immediately if you hear anything important. Any information on Weed takes priority.

Zabrin: You can trust me. As a member of Hermes guild, I will not let you down.

*****

After coming back from the trip, Weed reconnected and was at the canyon where the Undead Legion was situated.

With successful promotion to Death Knight, he was placed in the canyon for battle.

Garrison of Kilizar

Ø The Undead Legion have great faith in your abilities.
Ø Having succeeded every mission so far, the Undead Legion expect you to annihilate the enemy in Kilizar canyon.

Difficulty: B
Restriction: Undead Only

The difficulty went up drastically.

Luckily 33 other Necromancers including Jeanne, Otem, Bohram, Harien, Gruzed, Varenna and Goshu came before him.

As they were magicians or summoners before becoming Necromancers their level was already high.

Jeanne would have leveled up many times after becoming a Necromancer and her current level was presumed to be about level 408.

Because each individual had different stat and skills, it was difficult to assume one’s level just from the number of Undeads one could summons.

Also taking into considering the possibility that they were hiding their true power, it’s was much more complicated.

Varenna revealed her level to be 390 and considering her enormous mana consumption when summoning and casting black magic, Jeanne had to be at least level 408 in comparison.

‘No wonder they are considered as one of the best Necromancers.’

Weed acknowledged the Necromancers standing before him.

Not only were they excellent in controlling their Undeads, they didn’t hesitate using their perfect skills in battles.

Weed chose a class with direct combat skills while in comparison their class specialized in summoning Undeads.

Death Wizards and Death Witches!

The other players chose class as wizards and witches.

To control the Undeads, corpses need to be raised up and enhanced before battle began.

Also all kinds of curses need to be cast on the enemy, weakening, slowing and confusing them.

Necromancer was a very busy occupation, exploding corpses or summoning guards to defend them.

Compared to other magicians and clerics who could depend on their party members to protect them in battle while steadily setting up magic, Necromancers had a lot to do all the while observe the battlefield.

As a one-man army, they had to support the Undeads, with variety of stats and skills also needing to be increased.

Necromancers’ strength differs a lot depending on their own sharp observation, quick reaction time and abilities to grasp the situations but their overall capabilities were beyond expectations.

‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

Weed was very satisfied with him being Death Knight.

‘It’s nice to have great allies.’

When these Necromancers brought the Undeads into the fight, all he had to do was killing off the monsters and obtaining experience and drops.

With thousands of Undeads and monsters tangled up in the fight, there were so many enemies to kill.

‘They are coming endlessly.’

This place is what people would have call a paradise of strong monsters.

There was a reason the humans couldn’t come here to hunt.

The monsters reproduced fast and had the intelligence to move in groups.

Undead Legion were extremely strong but these monsters were of high standards as well.

These Undead wore the weapons and armour plundered long ago after the fall of Niflheim Empire.

Monsters considered the Undead Legion as a serious threat and continuously attacked them. And it was not like Balkan could come and rain endless spells on the monsters.

This was how the chaotic and fierce battlefield for Undeads and monsters was prepared.

Weed hunting deep inside the monsters side, levelled up to 394.

Less than ten minutes later, groups of monsters were coming again.

He saw the rising sand dusts and felt a warmth of life approaching far from here.

“Enemies are coming soon. Use enhancing spells on Undeads.”

As Jeanne spoke, they woke up from their mana-charging meditations and quickly got ready for the next battle.

Necromancers acknowledged Jeanne as their captain.

Because Undead armies needed to cooperate every time they battle, they were specifically given their duties.

“Fight! Do not retreat!”

“Kill them all!”

Undeads summoned by Otem, Bohram, Harien and Gruzed picked up their weapons and shields.

“Bone Strike!”

“Ice Field!”

“Poison Cloud!”

“Unholy Weapon!”

On the canyon, Jeanne, Varenna, Goshu and other players continued to casted offensive spells.

All kinds of curses and spells from high-level Necromancers struck the army of monsters heading toward the canyon.

Skeleton mages and archers rained their respective ammunition.

Another battle starting deep into the night!

Undeads had their geographical advantages but these monsters were impressive as well.

They were breaking through, slicing Undeads with axes.

“Sumon Ghost Horse!”

Weed got on his horse.

– Horse’s morale is at its maximum
Fighting spirit, charisma and agility increase by 10%.

As his ghost horse appeared, it increased his stat as Death Knight.

“Go!”

NEIGHHH!

On his horse, Weed ran down the cliff.

His horse-riding skills weren’t that great at first but it continue to improve when he was a Skelton Knight and Death Knight.

Even so, the courage to run down a cliff on a horse!

“Here I come my experience and items!”

He charged into monsters trying to climb the cliff riddled with arrows and spells.

Chapter 5: Canyon of the Death Knight

Weed hunted over 45 Barit monsters.

Running down the slopes of the canyon on his ghost horse, every slashed dealt a precise killing blow on these Barits!

“Who is that Death Knight?”

“I don’t know. Choosing to be a combatant rather than an Undead summoner and still coming this far. Does anyone know that guy?”

“I think I’ve seen him in Kapua. There was a ghost knight that made monsters shiver just by looking at him. Could it be him?”

“Oh! That ghost knight.”

The Necromancers stared down at Weed’s action from the end of the canyon, admiring his movements.

Sword rotated freely in his hand as he slashed every Barits in his way.

On a horse, the knight’s charge was one of the most useful skill available.

The skill increased the attack multiple times thanks to the additional speed and weight.

However, attacking with a sword or skill while riding on horseback at full speed was extremely hard.

And this was not a flat plain, but a canyon with uneven surface.

One needed a perfect balance between the riding the reckless horse and measuring the attack distance to the enemy.

This was difficult even for players who chose to be knights and spend thousands of hours practicing horseback riding.

“How can he fight so well?”

“It’s like he has eyes at the back of his head. That’s absurd.”

“His combinations of skills and dynamics, word can't describe it. I am really curious about who that person is.”

Horses weren’t always helpful.

Even if your charge attack was successful, it created a backlash.

If the backlash couldn’t be withstood, there is a chance of falling off from the horse.

If heavy armour were worn when thrown off the horse, the impact caused confusion or paralysis status so it could become highly dangerous.

To fighting like that on a horse… The Necromancers were amazed.

It looked as if they were watching a beast.

Barit was a tough monster.

They were big as a bear, these aggressive monsters lived in a herd and their level even exceeded 350.

With their excellent instinct their sense of combat was outstanding making them difficult to hunt.

Most hunting parties avoided facing groups of Barits exactly for this reason.

But Weed, he charged the Barits with no fear or hesistation.

In the battlefield littered with Undeads and Barits, he fought with most optimal movement.

Of course these Barits were dangerous and often inflicted serious damages but Balkan was someplace close from here.

Due to this the effect of Death Aura was more powerful allowing him to fight continuously as it constantly regenerated his health.

After defending the canyon for the third time, Necromancers were finally able to catch a break with the coming of the dawn as the number of monsters appearing dropped.

As Weed was coming up the canyon riding on his horse, Otem spoke to him.

“Hey, excuse me.”

“Yes?”

Weed answered with his face still covered by his helmet, this was out of courtesy since his face was just a skull.

It was not only him, most Necromancer players concealed their body with robes. It made for a pretty weird scenery.

“Not many people chose combat related class… you are very nimble. Do you like fighting in such manner?”

“……..”

Weed was not used to complements.

‘Is he saying that I fought well? I shouldn’t have stood out so much, it’s going to affect how much items I can pick up.’

In his conscience, he only picked up items from monsters he defeated himself.

But to be honest, he did kill plenty of near dead monsters.

Under the canyon it was a cluster of mess and craziness that attacking Barit one-by-one with full health was an impossibility.

So fighting the Barits that were distracted by the other Undead, the curses and Corpse Explosion spells flying about helped immensely.

He didn’t know exactly which Necromancers decided to help him but calculating the mana use, there were about two.

While he was charging in between the Barits, they frequently summoned Bone Shields or Bone Walls to block the incoming attacks.

Truthfully many of the Barits he defeated were already near death.

In return there were many other Barits that were left stuned in his wake that he couldn’t finish off.

Regardless he was on the constant look out for the boss Barits to kill.

Since he was fighting down the canyon, it was different from Kapua village where it was impossible not to stand out.

“I observed the whole thing.”

“……….”

“You seem pretty strong. Wouldn’t it be convenient to join forces in this canyon?”

Otem suggests to team up and fight together.

One of few female player Harien also chimed in.

“That’s right. You should join us there won’t be any harm in it. We could use some help and it looks like you need some summons there too.”

It seemed that as Weed was a combat class rather than a summoner they did not think he was part of the competition, with their expression lacking any jealousy or anger.

In this canyon co-operating with others was key to successfully completing the quest, also the Necromancers need to be on the constant look out for corpses to raise up a first rate Undead.

Usually Necromancers tried their best to recruit any level of mercenaries, even low-level ones at a high price. Even so as Necromancers had bad reputations in general it was hard to recruit mercenaries.

They did this as if someone could fight for them in the front line it was a tremendous help to them.

It was same for Weed, with monsters swarming all over the canyon it was hard to block everywhere.

Though it was called a canyon, in terms of size it was only wide enough to allow seven chariots to pass at one time. And if he was to fight alone even after 24 hours of non-stop fighting, it would not be enough.

With the monsters also flinging arrows and stone at him, it was too much to handle alone.

“In the best interest of defending this canyon, I think it would be best to help each other. You never know what is going to happen next, so why not team up?”

Even Jeanne was saying her piece, so Weed could not refuse the offer.

“Alright.”

Deploying the Undead equally it was agree that Weed would fight freely just as before.

Necromancers weren’t fit for a party in the first place and this method allowed the best tactic considering the geographic features of the canyon.

*****

“Uuhihihihih.”

Zabrin arrived at Kapua village equipped with items from the Hermes Guild.

“They sure have a lot of items.”

In Hermes Guild’s safe there were piles of rare and cursed items.

Zabrin was in a state where cursed items were useful so he picked the most effective ones.

A ring that reduces luck by 140 but protects the user against specters, armor that spreads rotten mephitis in a body, necklace that creates mana and strength by sacrificing health and a denture for skeletons!

It was too bad that he couldn’t take everything he wanted but these items for Undeads were truly excellent.

Zabrin managed to double his weak magic power.

Even the rod he was holding was an item specifically for Necromancers!

It made the summoned Undeads rough and fast while shortening their lifespan but in here where corpses were plentiful, it wan’t a problem.

‘Now it will be a bit easier.’

Joining the Hermes Guild was truly an excellent choice.

Siding with a guild of terrifying strength, power and authority came naturally.

Even after he was promoted to a ghost, Zabrin did not stop participating in quest using Undeads.

There were so many items he could get if he could just be qualified for it.

*****

“Arrg!

Geomchi287 fell down on the ground.

“I lost again.”

The match that started with Geomchi505 continued on with higher ranking trainees participating but they continued to lose.

Sword Master Ash’s Sword-cloning skill!

Once it was activated, the player’s body multiplied up to 40 times.

It was hard to distinguish the real from the fake bodies, as the clones had mana and about 15% of the original’s strength.

It was a fantastic skill proving the reason for player’s eagerness to get a hold of the Sword Master’s skill.

Every time Ash won, he spoke.

“To master my skills, you need supreme swordsmanship. You have met the qualification. I shall teach you my Sword-cloning skill.”

It was an unbelievable offer.

Though they could not defeat Ash, they lasted a long time against him. With their combat response, instinct and weapon skill they met the qualification to learn the Sword-cloning skill.

Geomchis also respected the strong.

“If you will teach me I will learn it.”

No reason to refuse someone who was willing to teach a strong skill!

– You learned the Sword-cloning skill.

They didn’t have to fight seriously but the Geomchis wanted a fair fight.

Fighting with all their strength and skill a lot of time had passed.

Geomchi5 fought Ash evenly.

After a while of attacking the clones who had low life, he struck a direct hit on Ash.

Though he succeed slashing Ash with his sword, Ash’s unbelievable defense and life made barely a scratch.

However, Geomchi5 wasn’t an idiot that only touted his strength.

Before he became an instructor he spent all his teenage year fighting.

When he reached his twenties the fight became life or death battle so he knew how to fight well.

‘Damage the real one to weaken the clones.’

CLAAAAANG!

Geomchi5’s sword clashed with Ash’s blade and continued to slide down.

The moment the swords clashed and joined, he twisted his wrist in a split second and crushed Ash’s blade.

Not even a legendary sword’s durability would survive when a thick sword pressed passed it.

In reality, it would be fine as long as it was not completely broken but this was Royal Road.

– You reduced Ash’s sword durability by -4%
Ash’s attack is reduced by -11%

And then he pressed the attack!

– You have inflicted a critical strike.
– You have slashed Ash’s chest.
– You have slashed Ash’s knee through his armour.

With Ash’s sword becoming dull, the clones weakened as well.

Geomchi5 proved that the Sword-cloning skill was not an almighty skill.

“You are truly an amazing swordsman. I would like to remember your name.”

“I am known as Geomchi5.”

– You have shown excellence in your duel against the Sword Master Ash.

Ø With an outstanding duel that would be enough to be recorded in the history of swordsmen, all combat related stats increase by 6.
Ø Fame increase by +5,800
Ø Proficiency in weapon skills have increased.

– Having fought Ash with lower rated weapons and armour, all stats will increase additionally by +3.
– Through the match you learned the swordsman skill, Sword cloning.

Geomchi4 inflicted critical strikes six times in a row.

Geomchi3 left a hole in Ash’s armor.

They chose different methods of reducing Ash’s life so they could take care of clones faster.

They all acknowledged Ash after their fight.

“That guy is really strong. No matter how many times I hit him, there is no mark.”

“Yes hyeognim. His stamina is endless.”

“Even without his skill, it would be hard to win against him one on one. Unless you level up 200 more times.”

Ash always managed to adjust his strength and fight them on an even level.

If he didn’t do so, they wouldn’t even be able to clash their swords with Ash.

“But I don’t think it will be impossible to beat him.”

Geomchi487 spoke after fighting Ash.

His sword and armor have become like rags.

It reached a point where the swordsman had to fight with his bare fists.

If all the Geomchi’s jump on Ash at the same time, no one could promise if Sword Master Ash could survive.

When hunting a high-level monster with a guild or party, it was obvious double up on the enemy.

All kinds of blessings and rear supports from clerics were compulsory.

But these Geomchis fought one by one fairly and were satisfied with it because their opponent was a swordsman.

“Well, we had a good time. Anyways, I think had enough rest. Let’s get back to swimming.”

Geomchis jumped into the sea to start swimming across to the Northern continent.

They received an ardent farewell.

They became really close enough to catch and eat fishes together.

“Farewell. Please you my skills to good use.”

“We won’t use our swords on those weaker than us.”

But they didn’t reveal what was going on their minds.

‘I need to beat this guy someday… But I don’t know where this is.’

‘Next time I am definetly going to kill you with my sword.’

*****

Co-operating with the other Necromancers, Weed was able to defend the canyon successfully for the eleventh time.

The contents of the quests kept changing bit by bit but the main objectives always remained the same, to defend the canyon.

‘The central station of Undead Legion is located behind here.’

By getting information from the quests, Weed was able to assume its whereabouts.

As reinforcements came sometimes from their central station of the Undead Legion.

Weed raised himself as a front line fighter ever since he was a skeleton.

That was why he didn’t have a high expectation for the Undeads.

But as battles continued, he was given underlings.

“Please give your command, lord!”

Every time he made received an achievements, nearby Death Knights, Dullahans and Skeletons were swearing their obedience to Weed.

With every successful quests, either his rank got promoted or he obtained a Death Knight.

“Hmm!”

Weed had zero attachment to his Undead underlings.

No matter how much you raise them, it’s over once they die.

“It’s a dog eat dog world.”

Thus, Weed’s true colours came out.

“Fight in the front line. Do not step back. Fight until you crush them. Kill them all!”

“Yes, lord!”

“We will follow the lord’s command.”

“We will carry out the orders of the commander of the dark army.”

With Undead underlings in front of him, Weed killed monsters left and right.

“Attack, attack, attack!”

The tactics he would often employ was no where to be seen here.

He just encouraged the battle onward.

The fiercer these monsters and Undeads fight, there were more chance of rich hunting opportunities.

These Undeads could be revived by Necromancers players anyways and there was the Undead Legion nearby so there was absolutely no need to value them.

All he did was ordering them to fight fiercely but something suddenly happened that even Weed didn’t expect.

-

As a Death Knight by ordering an aggressive assault on the enemy, Knight’s leadership is activated.

Ø The item you are storing, Emperor of the continent’s seal is activated.
Ø By the emperor’s authority, maximum loyalty and morale of the Undead increase by +25%.
Ø By supplementing the Undead’s morale their attack increase by +17%.
Ø Your command to assault is sent to the Undead Legion.

With the Emperor of the continent’s seal, which was the royal seal of the emperor of Arpen, Undeads were fighting the monsters with amazing attack capabilities.

Compared to when Weed was a sculptor, these commanding skills didn’t activate fully.

But now that he was a Death Knight a type of a knight class, his commanding ability increased by 100% with the activation of its effects.

“Lord, I offer you my loyalty.”

“Everyone, attack on the order of our commander!”

More and more Dullahans and Death knights swore their loyaty to Weed.

With that the Undead army, on Weed’s orders, managed to take down monsters with monstrous strength.

The Undead could only show their full potential while attacking.

- Leadership increased by +1.

Infrequently, Weed’s leadership related stats increased as he fought alongside his underlings.

There was no doubt that the summoned Undeads from the Necromancers and the reinforcements from the Undead Legion made the bulk of the army.

But under Weed’s presence, the entire Undead army became a whole new force.

They were so loyal to Weed that they carried out his orders immediately.

“Death Knights, fall back.”

“Falling back my lord!”

Weed instructed a withdrawal.

As soon as the Death Knights withdrew, the heavily wounded Barit leader swung around its whip insanely.

“You are mine!”

Weed satisfied his selfish interest and desires!

Just like other stats, a sculptor had uniquely high charisma, leadership and fighting spirit.

Though the Emperor of the continent’s seal was active he did not bother to stack up the effect by taking out the Demon Sword of Kolderim or the Horn of Treserk.

So far, Weed collected almost every good item drops possible in this hunts and quests.

He could just imagine what could happen if he put all these high value items on auction!

But for now, he decided to wait.

‘I’m not wasting these on the Undeads!’

Power increased proportionally to the equipment. Weed didn’t even need to use the Lion’s Roar skill, these Undead who lacked intelligence followed his command loyally.

They did whatever Weed told them to do and gave their loyalty even after the monsters vanish.

Before Weed came to the canyon, not every quest was successfully accomplished.

When these monsters broke through the defence line and entered the Undead Legion’s central station, the quest failed and fame and reputation decreased.

When they were begging in their minds for strong allies, Death Knight Weed arrived.

They had no expectations of him so they were amazed at Weed’s fighting skills.

When they had free time to gather mana by meditating once they were done with their duties of summoning more Undeads, strengthening the defensive line with bones or using Death Plant spells, they all watched Weed’s actions.

Every time Weed gave a command, the Undeads responded as fast as possible.

He desperately resisted against these monsters with his Undead underlings!

He was truly a king of Undeads! Or could it be said knights of knights?

The horse riding knight! Whose class was characterized by strong defence, attack, loyalty and honour.

It was amazing to see him lead such battles even though Undead had very low intelligence.

“GULP!”

“Wow, amazing.”

“How can he be that strong? Was he originally a Death Knight?”

“If he commanded humans rather than the Undeads… There is a no doubt that he would be able to control tens of thousands soldiers. If someone like him initiate a siege warfare, it would be a sight to see.”

Undeads listened to Necromancers fairly well.

Even if their leadership or charisma were low, the summoned Undeads had to listen to them.

But still, they didn’t understand complicated instructions such as battle formations.

In contrast, Weed fought even while considering the dullness of the Undeads.

A combined force of Death Knights, skeleton archers and a skeleton mages.

Using them to their individual strength and taking them deep into the enemy line, he would use them remorsely as a sacrificial goat to shoot spells and arrows at full power.

Chasing after the retreating Barits and instilling fear into them.

The focus in attack, baiting of enemies and demolishing anything in their advance… The whole thing proceeded very fast.

Having experienced many large scale battles, his usual tactics melted into his attacks.

“His really amazing.”

“With a person like that how far along the quest could he go?”

Necromancers were half jealous and half curious at the same time.

No one knew when the Undead Legion’s quests end.

The only thing that was known was that by succeeding more quests, the rank in the Undead became higher.

Looking back, they were gradually given more important quests. How far would it go on for?

There were so many Undead summons and Undead related skills that these Necromancers players haven’t been able to master yet.

Necromancers were considered a sin and with whole schools of guilds were called to bring them down, the only magic that could be learned was the ones recorded in books long time ago.

But being in the Undead Legion, depending on the achievement they received gifts from Balkan which sometimes contained Undead related spells.

It was after all Balkan Demoph who mastered every Undead related spells.

Players wanted to meet the legendary Lich.

Therefore while there was a great competition between the Necromancers, it was Weed the Death Knight that was making the greatest achievements.

“I am beginning to slowly hate this guy…”

Gruzed casted spell near where Weed was fighting down in the canyon.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Corpse Explosion at close range could inflict damage several times the value of the health of the corpses.

Casting the spell on purpose and seeing how strong Weed was, he was confident the spell wouldn’t kill him.

‘Have a taste of this.’

A spell casted purposely on Weed to inflict a huge damage on him.

But it was as if Weed knew that already, he hid between the Barits and avoided all the damage from the explosion.

The awesomeness of Weed hunting bravely even with corpses exploding!

Weed was aware of the hunting methods among the Necromancer players.

To supplement the reducing manpower, Undead needed to be summoned endlessly to replace the number from the increasing number of corpses.

But with corpses piling around him and not being raise up as Undead again, he was on a caution and when the spell was activated, he hid between monsters right away.

It was an obvious event for Weed, who hasn’t been welcomed for a quite a while due to his superiority.

*****

While continuously defending Killizar canyon, Weed’s quest changed with it.

- Rise of the Death Knight’s Leadership

Through battle you need to raise up:
30 Elite Skeleton Archers
5 Big Dullahans
15 Royal Death Knight bodyguards.
By completing this mission you will gain a deeper trust with the Undead Legion.
Reward: Undead’s loyalty.
Qualification for the next rank in the Undead Legion’s hierarchy.
Restriction: Death Knight Only

“The babysitting never ends!”

Because it didn’t have a deadline, Weed didn’t care about the Undeads.

“Fight, no charge, charge!”

After giving a command, he actively attacked the Barits with a squadron of Death Knights and Dullahans.

Undeads around him collapsed but he didn’t feel anything for them.

‘They can always be revived anyway.’

Once Necromancers players re-summoned the collapsed Undeads, they could be revived.

If that happens, they were no longer Weed’s subordinates but he didn’t feel a smidgen of sympathy for them.

Who gave a mind when this place was already filled with Undeads?

“I want to follow orders from you commander.”

“I heard about your reputation and came from the Undead Army. I, the Death Knight Tedra, want to fight with you.”

He accepted every incoming Undeads.

– A Skeleton Archer has been promoted as an elite.
Additional skills, ‘piercing arrow’, ‘poison arrow’, ‘high-flying arrow’ has been added.
Skeleton’s agility has been increased by 15%.

With each battle, Weed’s Undead underlings promoted to an elite and he completed the quest.

“Now I understand the commander’s orders.”

“I lost myself in the rage while fighting but I will prioritize commander’s orders from now.”

- Death Knight’s wisdom and intelligence increased by +2%

- Dullahan’s field of vision expanded.

Their overall combat abilities increased.

Weed’s army comprised of 142 Skeleton Archers, 57 Elite Skeleton Archers, 11 Dullahans, 29 Big Dullahans, 9 Death Knights and 24 Elite Death Knight bodyguards.

Considering the enhancement caused by Balkan’s Undead blessing spells and Death Aura, it was a significant force to be reckoned with.

It was similar for in the canyons, as the time passed more and more players appeared and the number of Undead that was summoned increased.

Barits were tough but as number of one-man army Necromancers increased, their hunting rate became extremely fast.

Except for the players that just turned into Necromancers in Versailles Continent, every other long time Necromancers was gathered here.

Undead’s Furgol Expedition

Ø Witches in the Undead Army are getting annoyed by the invasions of Furgol.
Ø Advance toward the Furgol habitat, this quest will only end once they have all been killed and turned into Undead.
Ø However, according to the information these witches obtained, the Furgol warriors noticed the suspicious behaviour of the Undead and will only arrive a week later.

Difficulty: A
Reward: Either a magic spell from the witches or promotion to the next rank.
Restriction: Undead Only.

A party quest for players in the canyon!

Weed and the other players wondered how far these chained quests from Undead Legion would go.

‘Wouldn’t it lead to unbelievable rewards?’

‘Maybe I can learn forbidden Undead summon spells or black magic from Balkan himself…’

‘It would be nice if I could get a unique Undead from the Undead Legion!”

Necromancers wanted high-level Undead summon spells or a unique Undead that could be summoned anytime like Van Hawk.

“As the quest difficult is so high, I suggest everyone need to team up now.”

The gathered Necromancers voted Jeanne as their leader and captain for the expedition.

“Having given me the responsibility for this difficult quest I will do my best.”

“With Jeanne-nim in charge, I’m feeling relieved.”

“First of all, I believe we should all decide on the time.”

They decided to start the quest nine days later, when most Necromancers were able to connect.

They also talked to remaining players in Kapua, helping them out so many players could join them 9 days later.

They didn’t waste any time waiting till the agreed for the quest. Jeanne, Otem, Harien, Goshu along with some players went on ahead to scout out the Furgol’s habitat.

Their plan was to target the spam the Furgol’s habitat with as many people and Undead as possible!

It seemed simple but nothing more could be done.

Weed heard about this later but he could not find fault with the plan.

‘High level players sure know how to take care of themselves.’

Until then, all he has to do is keep himself busy with hunting.

‘With so many gone scouting my share just become bigger!’

*****

Kaaaa-ak!

Kerururararara!

In the mountains and forests pretty far away from Morata, it was filled with monsters.

Some players from Morata came to hunt in a party but no one dared to go deeper. High level adventurers gave it a pass as they were only interested in dungeon explorations which brought in treasures, fame and experience.

As monsters in the mountains or forests reproduce, they came down to the village, sacking and degenerate public order.

But one day the monsters have been hit by a bolt out of the blue.

Several living sculptures such as a Bingryong, Wyvern and a Phoenix started their hunt.

“They are yummy.”

The monster devouring savagery.

“They give a lot of money as well.”

No one could resist the allure of money.

“We must survive.”

They cared about their safety especially.

When Arpen Empire still existed in the past, there were many Sculpture Lifeforms around the continent.

As time passed, they lost their origin, became monsters or settled down as a new race with new culture.

Some didn’t prosper and disappeared all together.

With such history behind them, these Sculpture Lifeforms put everything into their growth to save themselves.

“Gol Gol Gol Gol, I’m here!”

Riding on Yellowy, Gold Man appeared to the place where Bingryong, Phoenix and Wyvern were.

“Gold Man!”

Wy-3 came first and welcomed it rubbing against its face.

Wy-3 assumed it lost his memory after being reborn but Gold Man embraced the Wyverns with joy.

“It’s nice to see you Wyverns again, Gol gol gol.”

In fact it was all an act to fool Weed that he lost his memories.

While these Sculpture Lifeforms were having a touching reunion, Wyvern sharp eyes noticed the change in Gold Man’s appearance.

“Gold Man’s eyes have changed.”

It was bigger than before. It even had double eyelid.

It was a special reward from Weed for throwing his body out to save him.

*****

Necromancers scouting the Furgol’s habitat came back.

“This will not be an easy quest. It’s not a habitat. It’s a kingdom.”

They said it was a fortress protected by warriors, guards, magicians, shamans and the great Furgol king as well.

“It was built on a cliff. Climbing all the way up will be impossible for the Undeads.

One thing good about the Undeads was that as long as there were corpses, their numbers could be infinite.

However, not only was it hard to revive completely shattered Undeads that fell from the cliff, they would have to climb back from the start.

It was a quest where Necromancers had to initiate a siege warfare and take the fortress!

“For now, it’s impossible we should find another method.”

Jeanne and Necromancers were in a serious discussion.

At a time like this, Weed just watched as usual.

‘Do just enough, just follow what others are doing!’

If he shows great abilities, he would be assigned to a tiresome role.

“I was just lucky.”

“I have some power to control Undeads. But all these Undeads lack intelligence so anyone can do this much.”

“Me? Fighting in the front line? Not at all. I was just supporting standing beside so many Undeads. Even if my horse-riding skill and attack looks strong, it wouldn’t be a match against the might of a united Undead.”

Even though they saw it with their own eyes, by keep repeating disparaging remarks and his weakness it was hard to acknowledge him seriously.

To be honest, these Necromancers thought Weed was a great Death knight but they thought he could only achieve this thanks to their summoned Undead.

Weed cleverly used modesty to avoid any tough duties!

Their debates continued.

“Can’t we collapse the fortress completely with a spell?”

“I only developed Undead summoning spells, Corpse Explosion and curse spells…”

“Anyone here with high level attack spell or black magic?”

“I don’t have a strong enough spell that could collapse a fortress or destroy walls…”

Necromancers were able to learn black magic.

But the moment they learned it, it came with many penalties.

Among them was high notoriety and faith reached zero.

Reputation and morality went into the negative, and it was also possible to partially lose wisdom and intelligence.

The process of mastering black magic was unique compared to other magic.

As proficiency in black magic increase by using live animals as offerings, notoriety increased while other stats decreased as black magic level advanced.

Necromancers already had several side effects just by Undead summons. It was rare to find a Necromancer players with black magic.

“I did learn black magic up to level 2…”

“That wouldn’t be of any help in a large scale battle. Is there no one with more powerful black magic?”

Out of 43 Necromancers, only 12 knew black magic.

A simple black magic was good enough for enhancing their Undead summons so they learned it.

But there were only two players among them that could use it directly in battle and inflict some damages.

“I guess we have no choice but to bring all our Undeads and fight.”

“If someone reaches there and bait them, maybe these Furgols will open the gate and come out.”

“That would make things much easier… First, let’s set up a time and when most Necromancers are gathered then we will all go.”

With no one assigning any role, Weed just stood and watched.

He could raise blacksmith skill by creating siege weapons but it wouldn’t be very useful at this point.

He could gather all the necessary material around here to build it but on one could operate the siege weapon.

There were too few Necromancers and it was not like they could make their Undead handle the siege weapon.

Skeletons had low intelligence and they only move on their instincts. They were completely useless outside battles.

Dullahans didn’t have their heads in the right place. They move around with their heads in their hands so it was impossible to aim for them.

Death Knights with their, relatively speaking, high intelligence would be useful but they were busy enough leading the other Undeads into battle.

On top of that, once the siege weapons were built, there was a problem with logistics.

Necromancer’s critical weakness was that they lacked any decent shielding magic, so these siege weapons were vulnerable to enemy spell fires.

Siege weapons were completely useless if there is no one to operate it or protect it.

In general, a siege warfare was a battle where the attacking side was at a disadvantage by three fold.

Chapter 6: Furgol Fortress

Otem was leading the way with the other Necromancers following him while dragging along their Undeads.

Looking from far away, the sight of large contingent of the Undead following them could be seen.

Weed and his Undead underlings also followed from the rear line.

Skeletons, Dullahans and Death knights marched with Weed, who was riding boldly on his ghost horse.

It could not be said that they had a large number but they were elite soldiers forged through difficult battles.

Elite Skeletons and Elite Death Knight bodyguards!

“Keuuu, the Lord has ordered us gather up and follow him.”

“Everyone move faster.”

Undeads were afraid of Weed.

It was not only due to his charisma and leadership but the strong will he demonstrated in battles!

It was also because they witnessed his reckless behavior in taking down enemy forces even if it means putting the Undeads in danger.

– Fear felt by the Undead contingent: 87%

Exerting just enough fear helped motivate them in battle and made them follow Weed loyally.

In large battles when one point collapsed, it could cause a chain reaction and collapsed the entire formation. Though this didn’t happen often, fear helped prevent such situation from occurring.

“Cough, the distance is quite far.”

Just hearing Weed cough caused the Skeletons to shiver like trees in winter.

Skeletons walked dragging their swords on the ground, while the Dullahans and Death Knights protected the sides and rear.

It wasn’t necessary but looking at it he judged that it would be better to move in format so he ordered them to do so.

Other variety of Undeads were scattered about or gathered around, lagging behind the others and generally doing as they please.

It was uncommon for Necromancers to drag their Undead with them.

They had set hunting grounds and did not move around far from it.

Necromancers had to focus several times in controlling Undeads.

Weed told them to gather up follow him but there were still few breakaways.

“Hurry up, get moving.”

“The lord has spoken. Do not get out of your position!”

Death Knights and Dullahans repeated Weed’s orders and commanding them.

While on the move, they spotted Furgol search party but the Necromancers poured their magic to clear them out.

“We have to save mana so please fight moderately.”

As they encountered more scout parties, Necromancers reduced their use of attack spells to save mana.

As a result few Furgols survived and ran away.

“Alert the castle about the Undead invasion!”

“They are coming!”

There were some distance between Furgols so they had to attack with them with magic.

Weed frowned while looking at the surviving scout fleeing back.

“Nothing good will come of this.”

The Necromancer’s tried to calm their worries.

“Don’t worry about the search party. No matter what we do, there is no way they wouldn’t know we were coming.”

Otem was in charge of the march.

Other high level Necromancers were riding on wagons dragged by the Undeads and refilled their mana with meditations.

Beside the quick mana regeneration, meditations also doubled the player’s maximum mana temporarily.

It could be said it was a must-have skill for using a high rank spell or preparing for a huge battle.

“When the scouts are close, send out a unit of Undead to hunt them. For now, let us save mana while on the move.”

Following Otem’s instruction, Necromancers focused on advancing with their Undeads and left the Furgols alone.

Some search party came too close and got hunted down but most of the time, they kept their distance and just watched the Undeads move.

‘We shouldn’t have let the Furgols aware of our approach.’

Weed had a bad feeling about this.

The Undead army moving right now was humongous in number.

Their advance were slow and they did not know the terrain well enough to camouflage their movement.

Even so if they prepared well it would have been possible for the Furgol Kingdom to be aware of their advance much later.

They were not humans who would light a signal fire on top of a mountain when they noticed the enemy’s advance. By hunting the scouts as fast as possible so they won’t be any survivors left, the Furgol Kingdom might not have noticed.

Letting the survivors go was something that would have never happened under Weed’s watch.

Even if the search parties weren’t that strong, once the war began they would be facing them again in the fortress.

There was no need to increase the number of enemies.

Hunting them when you can and wiping out everything, that was Weed’s method.

‘Whatever, they can manage by themselves.’

Weed just kept on following them silently.

Necromancers were competing among themselves to be the best, so the rivalry and jealousy was beyond normal.

It wasn’t a favourable time to join in and the majority of the force here were Undeads led by the Necromancers.

‘Compared to overall composition of the Undead, I am on the weak side.’

Being constantly observed by Furgol search parties, they arrived at the location of the fortress.

The Fortress wall were stacked with bricks made by baked mud, and it was situated on a steep slope making it very difficult for the Undead to climb up.

Furgol soldiers were already preparing for battle on top of the walls.

When the battle began it became clear which side was stronger.

Jeanne stopped her meditation and opened her eyes.

“Undead armies, attack!”

Following the command of the Necromancers the Undeads ran forward.

Skeletons, ghouls, zombies, Dullahans and Death Knights!

Weed’s army followed after the Undeads but never went up to the front.

It was because Weed ordered them to not fight and wait.

It’s was easy to revive Undeads but when they were revived, all the abilities developed till then would disappear.

He had to prevent losing his forces in a reconnoitring skirmish!

The arrows shot by Furgols rained down on the Undeads.

A small portion of Undeads with low life such as the Skeletons died but the rest arrived at a narrow corner leading up to the fortress.

“Kiyauu!”

“Advance!”

Undeads ran uphill.

The Furgol’s arrows were focused on the narrow path and boulders rolled down, crushing the Undead in its way.

While trying to avoid them some of the Undead fell down the cliff.

They only suffered huge casualties with none of them being able to reach the fortress.

“Forget the path, climb up the cliff!”

Jeanne screamed.

With her current leadership ability, it impossible to command the Undead army as a whole.

But other Necromancers gave the same orders and the Undeads started climbing up the cliff with their two arms and two legs.

The Undeads had excellent physical abilities and they still had a semblance of instincts remaining so it wasn’t impossible for them to climb up.

Jeanne and other Necromancers thought of attacking the fortress through the path where the enemy’s attacks was concentrated was impossible.

Even if they reached the end of the path, it would be difficult to get pass the gate without suffering huge casualties. So they ordered the assault by climbing the cliff to divide the enemy’s attack.

“Let’s buy some time so the Undeads can climb up.”

Necromancer’s casted attack spells toward the fortress.

Fireballs struck the fortress and dark smokes of black magic arose getting bigger every time it touched a Furgol, draining their essences.

The attack spells were on the weak side and it didn’t have the power to destroy the walls.

It was only strong enough to make archers in the fortress dodge for a moment and after a while continue shooting arrows again.

The black magic state was also low, stopping and disappearing after a short while later.

During this time many Undeads were able to climb up the cliff but as their hands slip or they lose their footing, they fell off the cliff crashing to the ground below.

When they fell down, they bumped into other Undeads. As they were blitzing the enemy many of the Undead were crowed below.

The defensless Undead received damages every time they are hit by arrows, when one fell down, tens of them bumped into each other, all falling down and getting crushed.

Climbing walls clearly wasn’t a bad tactic and it was worth trying agin but they just lacked the preparations.

It would have been nice if Undeads wore helmets, armours or at least a wooden shield but for Undead it was the same without it.

With all the adversity, the Undeads tried to climb up to the fortress but it was impossible for Skeletons, Dullahans and Death knights to use their bare hands to climb this tightly stacked brick walls without ladders.

They slipped a lot and when they were tried not to fall, they were hit by arrows and died.

“It’s not possible. Retreat!”

Jeanne at the end gave up and recalled the Undeads with other Necromancers.

Coming down the cliff wasn’t easy as well as the Furgol did not just stay still.

Counting the number of Undeads that came back safely, about third of the army was damaged.

Of course Weed’s unit barely had any casualties and had to take glares from many others but they were not in a situation to quibble about it.

*****

“Are we going to give up the Undead Legion’s quest like this? At this rate the Furgol warriors will be coming back and it will become much harder.”

“Well, we should definitely try few more assaults. But without any good plans right now don’t have any big expectations on the outcome.”

“It looks like the quest will be cleared if we have more Necromancers. Was it not enough with us?”

“Maybe this is our end.”

It was just too much to let Balkan’s Undead Legion quest to end like this.

Because it was a quest that were given to all the Necromancers, it was not a simple quest with the difficulty being that much higher.

If Necromancers grew up fast and number of Necromancers increased, it would be a lot easier than now. However, the situation wasn’t like that at all.

While these Necromancers lost their will and were discussing what’s going to happen next, Weed sewing up a fallen button like usual.

“Really getting a free ride is not possible.”

It would be really good if he could just observe and the quest ended like that but the situation was not that favourable.

Necromancers were very clumsy in cooperation and group battles.

It was suffocating to see them judge that by summoning as many Undead as possible to fight was enough.

“What naïve people they chose to be Necromancers and yet haven’t even invaded, sacked or carried out an arson…”

If Weed was a Necromancers from the beginning instead of a sculptor, it was possible that he would have gathered Undeads and devoured few industrial cities already.

These naïve and conscientious Necromancers didn’t know a basic thing about invasion, it was clear to see with their clumsy actions.

When the Furgol’s fortress gate opened the first thing he planned to do was count the treasures, starting from a spoon. But he had to worry about how to conquer the fortress first.

“There are many possible options.”

Thanks to his experiences from many battles, he came up with tactics exploiting the weakness of the fortress right away.

Weed murmured one of his tactics near Harien.

“… have to do that.”

“Pardon?”

“Even if the main objective is to conquer the fortress… There no need to hurry until their supports arrive…”

Weed was not starting a conversation, he was murmuring, pretending to talk to himself.

*****

“Move faster! I heard news that our kingdom is being attacked by the Undead.”

Furgol’s reinforcements!

The Furgol warriors that dispersed to hunt were running back to their kingdom.

Their number was over 9,000!

If all the Furgols gather, their forces would be able to surround the Necromancers and eliminate them.

“Attack!”

But instead of losing their forces on the siege warfare, the Necromancers ambushed the Furgol warriors on their way back.

They used the best places to hide the Undead and ambush the Furgols, wiping every single one of them.

When the Furgols died they were revived as Undead inflating Necromancers’ forces.

The best part was the number of reinforcement heading back decreased.

“Knowing that the reinforcements were coming, rather than falling in danger trying to conquer the fortress as fast as possible, just hunting the reinforcements first was right!”

On flat lands, it could be said that the Undeads strength were extraordinary.

It was possible to overwhelm the enemies with the number of Skeletons and every time Furgols died, they could inflict more damage using Corpse Explosions or turning them into Undeads.

Necromancers lead their armies from every direction and eliminated the Furgol warriors.

Not just for the purpose of the quest, they gave fairly good experience and items.

“Catch them all. There are many other places to go so hurry up.”

Weed led his forces, hunting down Furgol warriors while getting experience.

The strategy he told Harien indirectly was not a genius strategy or anything like that.

“Hunting the monsters fast or slow, there is no difference. Leave nothing behind!”

Not caring about the front and rear he only saw them as experience and items!

Necromancers were able to hunt down about 80 percent of the Furgol warriors.

They complete recovered the force they lost and added more on top.

They reorganized them as light yet tough Skeleton warriors, mages and archers suitable for siege warfare.

With no reinforcements coming the Furgol’s trapped in their fortress could not hold out forever against the Necromancer’s siege.

They spread contagious diseases inside the fortress and by repeated battle the walls collapsed little by little.

When the Furgol soldiers came out to repair they continued to attack, causing casualties and finally they managed to conquer the fortress.

Quest completed!

The bigger the battle the difference in tactics was like heaven and earth.

“Thank you. With your advice we were able to win the battle comfortably.”

Harien came and gave her gratitude but Weed was watching dried logs and fruits piled up in Furgol’s treasury with despair.

He turned around chewing on the dried skins of the fruits ruefully.

*****

Weed ranked up as one of the leading commanders in the Undead Legion.

It was a position allowing him to lead a unit of Undead in the Undead Legion!

“I’ve heard about your great achievements in the battle and came here. I give you my loyalty.”

More Undeads came to become one of Weed’s underlings.

It was annoying for the Skeletons to walked up to him with the joints rattling.

“You guys figure it out yourselves and line up.”

Even about Dullahan level were becoming slightly tiresome.

“Do you know how to draw a sword? If you can fight well enough its okay.”

Weed didn’t even blink when even Death Knight came to work under him.

“Oh, you came.”

Just so-so!

No matter how much effort was put into raising them, he wasn’t a Necromancers and the Undeads couldn’t be made into his real underlings.

Weed was someone who washed disposable chop-sticks to reuse, but once the quest ended it was not known if they would turn back into enemy Undead.

Actually, the first army sent by the Undead Legion to conquer Morata were annihilated.

It was a huge armies of 120 thousand Undead but the number that wondered off were staggering, with the rest of them stopped by the church’s paladin and Morata’s players.

Players were happy as they could raise their faiths and obtaining long-time-buried antique armours, swords and items.

But according to the rumours from the Undead Legion, a larger force of 190 thousand Undeads were mobilized and dispatched.

The war between Morata and Undead Legion was ongoing.

If Balkan ever get back his full power, Morata would turn into ashes and the city conquered by the Undeads.

The public order of Morata was dropping at a fast rate, feeling the unease the inflow of beginners and residents decreased.

If it weren’t for the Grand Cathedral, they would have be in a much worse situation.

Anyway, Weed’s Undead army wasn’t so bad either.

Although there were a discrepancy in ranks or classes, the number of Skeleton reached slightly over 600, Dullahans 123 and Death Knights 89.

From then on the quest Weed received was about leading his forces into battle.

Orders were given to him, such as to suppress monsters on hills or in caves and securing a path for the Undead army.

As Weed’s charisma was high the Undeads obeyed him well, there was no problem solving C ranked quest.

“One way or another this is doable. Not much good about the reward compared to straight out hunting.”

While Weed was solving the quests, a Necromancers player dragging his Undead contingent came up to him.

“Greetings.”

Seeing that the other side greeted first, Weed nodded back.

“Hello.”

Usual Necromancers cover themselves up with robes up till their heads and carried around staff with skull on top.

Weed was wearing a full armour with a sword clasped on the side, and a person dragging around their Undead greeting normally was a bizarre sight with no comparison.

but it was very awkward to say fresh hello to each other

‘Did he say Marey?’

Compared to the other players in the canyon, Weed was a new arrival so he only knew their name.

Necromancers did sometimes cooperate but most of the time they were in competitions, hunting and questing endlessly. They did not have any party and so knew very little about each other.

Marey, in a quiet voice, introduced himself first.

“My name is Marey. I am sure you have seen me many times passing by, when we were Skeletons and Ghosts and now once again in this canyon.”

“Yes, I know that.”

“I see. But my original occupation was a bard.”

“Yes?”

Weed was of a personality that didn’t get surprised easily but this time, he was greatly surprised.

Marey Stanbard, if his original class was a bard than it was no mistaking it. The Ranker who had a position with the Halsburg Kingdom, known as the very best among the bard class, he was a very famous player.

“How are you here….”

“I guess you are curious? Explaining it complicatedly there would be no end to the story, but should we say that I arrived here riding a breeze and now am composing a hymn for the Undead?”

“…..”

Bards often took enigmatic adventures.

Unlike the adventurers who dug deep into legends or dungeons, bards wandered around aimlessly.

It was a class that knew all kinds of stories and rumours, while playing instruments!

Even if they had low fame, they could draw out sympathetic feelings towards them and make villagers’ tell their stories.

When the quite a quest halfway through even their penalties were few.

Many chose this class for its charm and even in Morata, the bard was really a popular class.

Marey in wonder asked him curiously.

“But are you by any chance Weed the God of War?

If Weed uses a Sculpture Transformation skill to conceal his identity, his appearances completely changes. Even if the other had keen eyes it was difficult to notice.

Right now he’s not using the skill but even when he was turned into a Death Knight, Marey noticed him.

“How did you know?”

“One thing good about bards is that they have very good ears. Even through the sounds animals make and vibration of grounds we can hear stories. We can eavesdrop information this way. Right now, you are making the greatest achievements incommensurable with other Necromancers.”

The competition between the players were on an incredibly fierce side, intending that the one advancing ahead the most was Weed.

Necromancers were busy focusing on their battles and dragging their Undeads that they weren’t able to pay much interest to others.

But because Marey had a lot of experience in adventure, just by listening to the background stories about a person with the most distinguished exploit he realized that it was Weed.

“The naive Necromancers can’t show movements like that in battle. The only person who could advance so far without summoning Undead is Weed. I’ve been watching you for a long time and was completely sure it was you.”

Even among Necromancer players, there was rumour that Weed was working on the quest was spread widely.

By continuously completing the chain quest they were curious if they would meet Weed as well next to Balkan!

But really, they weren’t aware that Weed started from the bottom as a Skeleton with them.

“Your deduction is most impressive.”

Weed’s hand slowly reached for his sword.

Truthfully he had built up grudges almost everywhere, anywhere vacant that wasn’t a village or a city he could not be so absentminded.

Even if the other person was the best bard, he himself was one of the most brilliant sculptor among players.

A bard was more agile and could equipped more armours or swords, so it was closer to a combat related class. But that much disadvantage was easily blown away.

Also he was a Death Knight right now and had many Undead following him.

‘Should I take him out?’

In the wide continent of Versailles, with so many people in it, Marey approached Weed in friendly manner.

But in Weed’s mind, the temptation was getting closer.

‘If I kill him, he will probably drop some good items. At least one unique item that can be used by level 380 will drop?’

Weed already made an estimate!

In fact, Marey was on the side of good reputation among rankers in Royal Road.

While travelling liberally he occasionally had accidents, but he was very friendly to novices and has an outstanding abilities with instruments.

‘Must be all groundless rumours. How can I believe all that?’

It was a deep swamp of mistrust that was hard to swim out of.

‘Yes, even if it’s not unique there will be decent item drops. With the money I make selling it, I can buy rice and cook it, then I will be happy while eating it…’

In his mind he already disposed of Marey and was deciding on the duration of the internet auction for the items.

But murdering other high level players was ultimately not Weed’s way of earning money.

It was much better to earn a steady income while hunting and raising levels.

But in front of him an incredibly delicious prey appeared.

Marey’s life was being threatened every second he came closer.

But Marey stretched out his hand first.

“Will you not hunt in a party with me?”

“What?”

“To be honest, compared to Weed-nim and the others here I have a different aim. Do you know about bards very well?”

Of course Weed knew about bards as well as other people.

The class characteristics, the instruments they used, the price of equipment, even to the point about the income of their performance based on the singing and instrument skills.

“My aim is to make a hymn about Undeads. And if possible, I can make an epic poem if I stay beside a person on a big quest. So, I will give up any rights regarding items obtained from hunts and quests.”

If their hymns or poems became famous, it will spread all around the continents.

Bards can earn fame and money and if their songs becomes popular, stats such as charisma and charm also increased.

It was bard’s romance to roam around the continent and experience quests and battle, they were able to receive quests beyond their abilities and limitations.

Marey held his ragged cape with his right hand to cover his upper body and bent his body down a little bit.

“Wandering around continents and writing a songs, it could be said that it’s the destiny of all troubadours. I don’t know what you request you want to accomplish but I won’t be of any distraction. Will you form a party and hunt with me?”

Bards could gain rewards just by watching others’ adventures with their own eyes.

It was an offer that wasn’t disadvantageous to Weed at all.

But Marey approaching to Weed first was like getting an instalment fund from a bank robber!

“Alright, let’s go together.”

Just by looking at their class, it was the birth of a very awkward combination of a bard and a sculptor.

*****

Zabrin raised his accomplishment abundantly in Kapua village.

As he got promoted to a ghost, Hermes Guild delivered any item he told them were needed.

“Itemmmmm, arrreeee, theeeeee, besttttt.”

Although his level was low, he was able to get great effects from items.

Two black magicians arrived from Hermes Guild and casted a blessing spell on him, Zabrin was able to hunt monsters in bulk.

He actively made use of the ring of lightning and ring of destruction only usable by Ghost or Undead.

About half of all Necromancers in Kapua Village gathered.

“Iiiiiiii, willlll, shareeeeeee, itemsssssss, yyoooouuuu, nnnneeeeeddd.”

Through the generosity of the items, Zabrin was able gather the players to him.

It was true that Polon, knights and mage troops came to catch Weed.

But different to their intention, the Necromancers became their interest.

It was not an ideal class for party hunting or adventures.

There were times they couldn’t enter villages and the villagers abhorred them, complaining about the smell.

Necromancers had great powers but had comparable experience in discriminations.

But in a battle, they were the most useful.

In the Central Continent there were endless battles still ongoing, large and small.

Hermes Guild, after conquering the kingdom of Haven, was taking a break supplementing their forces but it was known widely it would not be a long wait.

Even if Hermes Guild didn’t act first, the guilds from nearby kingdoms would form a union and strike first.

If they could bring in the Necromancers into Hermes Guild in a situation like this, they would become great assets in battles.

In the meeting of the chief executives of Hermes Guild, they instructed Zabrin to give out items to recruit as many players as he could.

“Could we obtain… the Undead Legion?”

Of course the Hermes Guild desired Balkan’s Undead Legion as well.

Armies of Undeads already completed!

The endless number of soldiers that didn’t even need to food.

According to Zabrin’s reports, after they arrived here there were endless number of quests.

They didn’t know what will be at the end of the quest but they had their hopes up.

Becoming the best Necromancers and heir to Balkan.

And then inheriting his Undead Legion.

“If that happens, there won’t be any problem hunting down Weed.”

There is a high possibility that Weed was somewhere in this area but it didn’t matter if he wasn’t.

They could bring the Undeads and turn Morata into ashes, inflict heavy damages to those opposing the Hermes Guild.

It was a reckoning that could give wings to Hermes Guild, supplying the items to Zabrin was worth every bit.

Polon talked frequently to chief executives from the guild.

– How do you want to handle the advance Necromancers in the canyon?

– Such as Jeanne and Harien?

– Yes, that’s correct.

– If it is possible recruiting is most ideal. They will be closer to the authority controlling the Undead Legion than Zabrin.

– I will try to recruiting them then.

Most Necromancers players, including Jeanne, were already in guilds.

But you never know what would happen when Hermes Guild gave out a recommendation to join them.

– If they refuse to join the Hermes Guild…

– Then I will handle it appropriately.

– Also there will be Necromancers that are not completely checked out. The possibility is high that one of them could be Weed?

– Yes, it’s possible. Necromancers are active while intentionally conceal their names.

– Look into it and kill anyone who’s unidentified. It will make a good example to those who won’t follow us.

Hermes Guild hated passing things over vaguely.

If they couldn’t have it, they destroyed it.

It was one of the reason why their evil reputation was inflated but in the kingdom of Haven nothing existed that could go against them.

Even if there was dissatisfaction, there was not one case of anyone daring to come near Hermes Guild and take revenge on them.

Chapter 7: Song of the Death Knight

Marey was a cheerful, incessant prattler.

“Having to mingle with the Undead and hunt… ah, it reeks! But if I tell this experience in a bar later I could become really popular. Have you ever been to Vannosa castle?”

Though Weed didn't reply back, he chattered on well by himself.

“In Vannosa castle, there are many restaurants with delicious foods. If Weed-nim check it out you will be enamored by it. Anyway, it was not an important point, but I met a lady named Cedrian there and we became close… She told me many useful information. Unfortunately my bar tab increased so I can’t go back there now.”

Marey did not stop telling stories about the places he wandered to on the continent.

Weed thinking it was important information tried to remember them but it was impossible when his words came out of his mouth like a flood.

“Because of the war right now the Central Continent is chaotic. Even among bards the competition is fierce, they spectate these wars and try to make songs out of it. But I am different, rather than these tiresome wars it’s a necessary adventure for me. To be part of this passionate adventure in the North, how joyous is that?”

Seeing he couldn't can’t just let Marey keep talking on his own, he replied out of politeness.

“Yes.”

“I am sure that there will be many jealous people if I tell stories later on of how I went on an adventure with Weed-nim. Also the ongoing quest related to the Undead Legion is already very famous.”

“Yes.”

Necromancer players reported to broadcasting networks and uploaded videos on internet so it was becoming a big topic.

In fact, if the news that Marey and Weed was hunting in a party together was revealed it would become another big situation.

Not everyone playing Royal Road knew Marey, but he was one of the names that appeared often.

The songs composed by Marey, the collection of his performance and the adventures he went through were put together into a video that was extremely popular.

Freely wandering bard Marey already had the qualification to upload his videos to the Royal Road’s Hall of Fame and was a figure that had news broadcaster hired often.

“Oh, what kind of woman do you like?”

“Yes.”

“What’s the specialty of a Death knight?”

“Yes.”

“The Embinyu Church are making frequent appearance on the continent and is causing havoc. Did you know that?”

“Yes.”

“The joy of hunting a King Hydra must be extreme, right?”

“Yes.”

Retorting back was getting tiresome after ten times.

Even if Weed did not pay attention when he replied, Marey just laughed as if it was funny and kept talking.

The naïve, enthusiastic and positive person Marey Standbard.

Listening to Marey talk, Weed led his Undead unit toward the monsters.

They did hunt in the canyons but it was the first time coordinating the battle together with Marey.

Weed reluctantly watched the videos of players with combat related classes but he never saw any scenes of Marey fighting.

Weed asked first.

“How are you going to fight?”

“It feels like you have much more experience in leading Undeads than me. Also as Death Knight have outstanding leadership abilities so I will hand over my right of command of the Undead to you.”

“Then what about Marey-nim?”

“I will play a recital like a bard.”

– You have received the right to command Marey’s Undead units.

There weren’t many high rank Undeads in Marey’s army.

Nor were there elites or bodyguard Undead, but there were at least 200 Undeads in number.

Compared to the other Necromancers who entered the canyon, this was on the very low side.

“Let’s go!”

While Weed, radiating dark miasma, advanced with his Skeletons, Death Knights and Dullahans, music started playing from behind.

It was a heavy and majestic sound of a viol.

– A requiem is being listened to.
Ø While listening to the music all regeneration abilities increase by +43%
Ø Physical abilities increase by +21%
Ø Surviving a battle by the skin of your teeth, you gain additional 7% experience and fame.
Ø The morale of the Undead unit is rising.
Ø Your leadership abilities increased.
Ø If the music stops, the morale will decrease sharply and all the effect being received will disappear.

– With your deep interest in art, while appreciating the music you will receive additional 25% benefit.

While Marey was playing a violin like instrument a bright golden light appeared, like when a noble, holy spell was casted.

Marey was playing the viol frantically.

The brilliant movement of the bow and passionate music that instilled burning passion in the heart!

Marey’s performance far passed preeminence, wonder and admiration was about to be poured out.

He was proving that his reputation as the best bard was not just public opinion as a famous player.

It was just misfortunate that the person listening was Weed.

Marey’s performance anywhere was transcendent and people have enormous interest and appreciation for it, though sadly Weed wasn’t an average person.

‘It’s noisy.’

It was a bad preconception that listening to a good performance would make one sleepy and nod off their head in drowsiness.

“Kyao!”

“Kill that noisy sound first!”

Weed wasn’t the only one that thought like that, the monsters came running in response to the sound.

Every monsters in the vicinity came targeting for Marey.

Besides the performance giving huge effects to allied unit, it seemed to seriously offend the monsters.

Weed opened his eyes wide.

“Skeletons, prepare for long range attack, Death knights and Dullahans, spread wide in two lines. Do not step back!”

The Death Knights and Dullahans in straight line, collided with monsters.

“Attack! Do not retreat, advance!”

Weed treated the Undeads as expendables so he pushed them to fight without retreating a single step back.

“No matter how many monsters come, do not retreat. Fight where you are and move forward!”

Weed fought at the very front line.

He wasn’t just leading the battle in a reckless way that withstood the enemy’s attack and advancing forward.

From behind the Dullahans and Death Knights, the Skeleton archers threw bones and arrows, damaging the monsters.

A destructive force pulverizing the swarming monsters!

There was no need to chase after them, by fighting in close range the Skeletons with limited abilities did not need to worry about accuracy.

– Through a bone breaking battle, the Death Knight’s level increased.

As Undead survived more and more vicious battles, they only became stronger.

“Let’s go in deeper.”

Weed together with Marey, entered the heart of a mountain seething with monsters.

In the dead of the night as Marey’s music spread loudly, many monsters leaped out from between trees or jumped attack on top of boulders.

Barely winning, only about half the Undead they fought with were left.

But after successfully winning the battle, the news of their bravery was spread by word of mouth in the Undead Legion.

He could preside over more Undead subordinates.

*****

Experience, items and merciless attack!

This was Weed method of leading the Undeads.

It seemed the partnership with a bard wasn’t so bad.

‘Even so having a bard in a hunting party doesn’t feel so efficient.’

In an average exploration of a dungeon, the party consisted of 5~6 people each with their assigned roles.

This was the reason why it was hard for a sculptor, a bard or a dancer to join, as only needed classes were filled in to create a party for high efficiency.

But as battles got larger, a bard’s presence was absolutely necessary.

Performing battles and requests perfectly, Weed was given an authority to officially command over 2,000 Undeads.

Death Knight Commanding Officer

He could ask for a dispatch from the Undead Legion for lower ranked Undeads like Skeleton for him to use.

If rumors about his fame or battle skills spread further, he could even call in higher ranked Undeads.

Compared to Necromancer players who were given more important roles as they polish their magic skills, combatants just had to fight to the letter and win.

“To the place with more enemies.”

Weed supported by the Undead, did not hesitate in the slightest and went into monster’s den that he wouldn’t have dared before.

“Fight!”

None of his business whether Undeads died or not!

Only by engaging in a large-scale battle he could obtain more experience and items, that’s why there was no reason to dawdle with indecisiveness about battles or requests.

‘I can just run away if we are about to lose.’

He did not find the penalties, demotion or reduced fame that important.

What was more important for Weed was to initiate large battles without dawdling to raise his levels and obtain more items.

With endless battles, Weed’s level became 396 and he gained enough experiences points need to level up again.

Indeed he jumped into risky battles, enduring it with the Undead while surviving and leading them onward.

· New Title! You obtained the title, ‘Glorious Undead Commander’.
The person who lead many impossible battles to victory!
You can bring out fierce horror and obedience from the Undead and continue the battle.

Ø Leadership increased by +5.
Ø Luck increased by +5.
Ø Limited to Undead, your commanding ability increased by +21%.

While performing, Marey occasionally check out Weed’s activities.

‘Just like the rumor, he fights really well.’

It was his assessment after the first battle.

When monsters made him into a target, he could evaluate Weed highly as he didn’t run about in confusion or hesitate to deal with the situation.

But his assessment kept changing after observing each battle.

‘The rumour was true that he is a God of War. He fights battles really well.’

………………..

‘My experiences is keep on rising? What short method does he use to speed up his experiences? No, when did he kill that many monsters?’

…………..

‘Is it even possible to make the Undead obey like meek sheep?’

Ever since he was a beginner, Weed’s stat was far high than others at his level.

Maintaining high skill proficiency and stacking up his stats, the disparity manifested.

The hunting speed especially surprised Marey constantly.

If many monsters were gathered, he commanded tactics to the Undead reminiscent of those found in military text books.

He made Death Knights ride ghost horses.

Weed led the Death knights directly, splitting enemies by penetrating their formation and then deploy the Undead units!

Skeleton unit’s concentrated firing, using the spell attributes to fire a circular magic attack.

He didn’t focus on one idea about battles but had all kinds of knowledge and experiences, using it naturally in battle.

Usually, one would only fight when they have tactical advantages but Weed would try many things to figure out must-win strategy and then fight fiercely.

There were battles that even Marey didn’t want to fight.

‘There is no way he can win this one.’

However Weed dragged his Undead units, showed excellent tactics and won. It was a superb battle that made congratulations come out automatically.

After supplementing his Undead units, he initiated fights with group of much bigger monsters.

‘This is really impossible.’

They lost many Undeads and Weed suffered seriously, but they won.

Fight and survive, finally winning and getting stronger.

It was a battle that naturally broke Marey’s common sense and his fixed ideas.

‘Okay, this much is now suicide.’

Group of much bigger monsters!

It was not like Marey did not have heart to stop Weed, but he also wanted to see how Weed would fight so he continued to follow along.

After a battle that took over a day, Weed suffered unbelievable hardship but grasped his victory.

Marey also helped, but it was an intense battle without compare that only 8 Death Knight survived, but they won.

After that battle, it felt to Marey that Weed was so awesome that he did not look human anymore.

Marey saw a lot of battles as a bard but no one ever fought to the brink, pushing everything aside.

Marey had to give his all to survive mobilizing all his abilities to endure, thereby they managed to win.

Not only did they obtain tons of drops, they were able to raise corpses into Undeads.

Weed recruited from Undead Legion and went back to the hunting ground with Death Knights that survived till the end.

Marey now knew the reason why Weed was so strong and received high praises from people.

‘This is why his so strong.’

With a force of 10, it was sensible thinking to fight an enemy with a force of 7.

But when Weed had 10, he fought 11, 12 or sometimes even 15.

With maximum focus, leadership and judgment that dragged Marey’s gazed to the point of making him forget his performance, Weed showed nimble movements and won.

The reason he was able to win 15 with 10, of course it could be because of his excellent decisions, but it was due to him fighting radically.

It was because they were fighting against bigger enemy that they could win.

‘Following Weed was truly the best judgement I made.’

Marey started to feel relief and a sympathy.

He felt sorry for Necromancers. He was convinced that if they were to compete with Weed in a quest, they would never be able to win.

*****

– As a reward for this quest, you received the authority to command up to 8,000 Undeads.

Current position – Death Knight Commander

Weed’s rank rose many times, his equipment and rides changed as well.

An armour with demon attached, branded iron of a wanted man, boots of a desolator.

He obtained reward items that Death Knights could equip.

“Van Hawk would like this if I give him this later.”

He couldn’t summon Van Hawk or Torido.

They once were affiliated to Undead Legion and he could not estimate what could happen if he summoning them here.

“Come here.”

Kyaaaaak!

A horrible shriek was heard from the sky and gargoyles descended, sitting down on the ground.

Weed and Death Knights evolved their ghost horse and were now able to ride gargoyles made of bones.

Undeads were commanded to fight on the ground while the Death Knight scrambled in the air!

Even the Skeletons were elites, with at least 3~4 sword cuts on their skull.

“Hunting sure is fun.”

Marey was barely able to follow.

Composing and performing weren’t the only things bard did.

They adventured, enter dungeons and fought a fair amount of battles.

But following Weed he had eager thoughts for small breaks.

“This place is cleaned up. Let’s go.”

“Can’t we sit down for a short break before we go? We’ve been fighting for almost two days now.”

“I rested plenty just now.”

“When?!”

“I yawned twice.”

If this was a break than did this mean that the nap that workers took briefly during lunchtime was a vacation?!

“There could be monsters remaining in other places, we have no time to delay.”

Because Undeads have infinite stamina and didn’t need to eat, Weed lead them into endless amount of battles.

Fighting battles like this the Undeads developed and Marey felt that Weed’s unit were becoming stronger.

The Death Knights became extremely strong by fighting by the skin of their teeth and winning.

Level was a level, but surviving battles beyond their ability their combat capabilities increased exponentially.

With help of Death Knights the overall skills of Undead units were extraordinary and even if they were in a dangerous situation surrounded by monsters, they could withstand for a long time and their defence became extraordinary.

It was the Undead’s best units.

Suddenly, crows came to not only Weed but Marey and other players hunting on and over the canyons, and gave a small piece of paper they were biting on.

Another quest occurred.

· Monsters of Natalia plains

There are barely any groups of monsters large enough to challenge the Undead Legion in the vicinity.

The last remaining monsters joined forces and are heading toward the Natalia plains.

If you drive them back in four days, you will officially enter the Undead Legion’s encampment and will be able to meet the Balkan Demoph, the king of Undeads.

Also Death Knight can go one step further and qualify for the last promotion.

After four days the main force of the Undead Legion will mobilize and depart. After that day the quest cannot be cleared.

Difficulty: A

Reward: Promotion, Undead summon spells.

Quest Restriction: Undead Only

Limited Time.

Quest will not occur again.

A quest requiring a cooperation between Necromancers players.

It was the final request that need to be done before entering Undead Legion.

“Let’s head there right away.”

Weed and Marey led their Undeads and head straight toward the canyon.

The connection rate of Necromancers players were very high side.

“Hegigigig”

“My, my head, I don’t know if I was holding it with my left or right arm.”

“Undeads, line up, for the great Balkan-nim!”

As they were getting close to the canyon, they were able to see unbelievable amount of Undeads.

Among Necromancers, some preferred summoning small number of high rank Undeads to fight but the opposite was true most of the time.

It was safer to fight by throwing out curses and summoning Skeletons and Ghouls generously.

Each Necromancers players could lead from the smallest amount of hundreds, up to 2,000 of Undeads.

They summoned them directly or gathered roaming Undeads split from the Undead Legion.

To Marey it was a really hard scene to experience as there were every kind of Undead around them.

“At the least it must be about hundred thousand in number.”

Weed spotted skeletons laid down neatly like piled up bricks.

As the space was few they were using this method to save space like that.

“It looks like it’s more than that.”

Necromancers did not leave their summoned Undeads far from them so around the canyon was a world of Undeads.

But as Weed’s units came closer these Undeads, as one, step back far away from them.

The Death Knight, who surpassed life or death situations more than ten times, flared their miasma and the Skeletons, as if instilled by fear, were busy trying to hide.

Kyayaaaa!

Some portion of Death Knight that were part of Weed’s unit followed riding on their gargoyles as they flew in circles.

The sight of all Necromancer in the canyon was toward Weed as he made a majestic entrance as a Death Knight.

“What is that? Are that many Undead units led by those two men?”

Including Weed’s and Marey’s Undead there were about 9,600 Undeads.

Weed was able to have more than the quantity allowed by his rank because of his high leadership and charisma but for efficient control, he limited his capacity strictly.

But in the sight of the Necromancers that number felt extremely large to them.

“It’s really a lot.”

“There are plenty of Death Knights… and all variety of Dullahans and Skeletons prepared. It would not be wrong to call it a real Undead army.”

“If only we could command such an army… Should we have tried to promoted to a warrior-type class?”

Looking at Weed, many players regretted their past decisions.

They, not able to take their eyes off in jealousy, approached Weed and Marey.

“Hello.”

Harien noticed them first and greeted lightly.

Weed looked around and noticed that Harien, Jeanne, Otem, Gruzed equipment was largely changed and some held crystal orbs in their hand.

He couldn’t identify many of the variety of equipment.

‘They must have tried hard as well.’

The current quest from the Undead Legion wasn’t given to Weed only.

Each and everyone did their best on the quest and grew.

There were 58 Necromancers gathered in the canyon.

“7 more are coming. It’s getting late… Once they arrive we will be heading to Natalia plain.”

Harien explained the situation to them briefly.

The number of players that came here from Kapua village was 65 people.

‘A co-operative quest with 65 Necromancers…’

Those participating in the quest were high in levels.

Taking the Undeads each Necromancers possess into account, it could be seen as a relatively large armies.

*****

Zabrin made it to the canyon few days before and started hunting there.

While wearing better equipment and levelling up, he gave small gifts to fellow Necromancers he was hunting with.

“This is some items that was left over. Please have it.”

“But still it’s too much….”

In this world there were other people than Weed.

No matter how useful the item, Necromancer players found it difficult to receive something for free from someone they were not close with so they refused it.

“It’s ok. The guild I am part of hands out items like this often. They give special preference to Necromancers… I have plenty of other to use here already.”

Winning other players over with items was easy work.

Unlike other classes, there are many occasions of Necromancers not joining any guilds.

Zabrin didn’t hurry and sorted them one by one while making them his allies.

‘This person identify is clear.’

Releasing their name while hunting in a party or adding them to their friend list, completely proved their identity.

Decent Necromancers were well known in Versailles Continent as well.

Average players were shocked when they encountered Necromancers by chance who were hunting in a mountain or in a forest with Undeads.

Finding the Necromancer a novelty, they recorded these kind of scene often and uploaded to forum boards.

By comparing with it, he cleared out anyone with solid identifications.

But it was hard to recognize people hunting by themselves who did not reveal their identities.

‘I only have to look for 7 more as they come.’

He investigated Jeanne, Otem, Boghram, Harien, Gruzed, Varenna and Goshu to recruit them into Hermes Guild and found that they all exceed at least level 380.

He judged that Jeanne, Harien and Otem to be over level 400.

These were figures that were excellent magicians even before they became Necromancers.

When class was changed, the original magic abilities weakened drastically.

It was not learning similar magic once more but learning conflicting black magic and Undead summon magic so existing magic abilities retrograded.

It was not an easy decision for the Necromancers to start over, but they were steadily increasing their proficiency in curses and Undead summon.

‘If I can bring them to Hermes guild, it will be acknowledged as a great achievements.’

Zabrin was spying patiently for a solid opportunity.

If they became members of Hermes guild, they will recognize Zabrin’s meritorious deed.

By becoming part of the same guild, he could receive variety of help and follow them around in this canyon.

By joining in the Undead Legion’s quest and working together it was a chance for him to gain level, fame and Undead summon spells together.

After winning over those around him, he gathered information while hunting and at that moment co-operative quest to eliminate the monsters in Natalia plain occurred.

And then a bit later, Weed together with Marey arrived with their Undead army.

Other players had Undeads as well but the Undeads Weed and Marey’s brought were conspicuous.

With the flushing of miasma from the Death Knights, even decent Undeads tried to get as far away as they can.

The Death Knights riding on their gargoyles, standing guard while flying around them looked strong beyond ordinary.

‘Maybe Weed is among them.’

Weed and Marey were unidentified players!

There are other five that were suspicious but their Undeads were lacking and few in numbers.

‘Anyway I should report it.’

Zabrin reported to Hermes Guild Polon and the Mage troops about heading out to Natalia plains, about a suspicious person who could be Weed, about how Jeanne and Otem did not belonging to any guild.

Chapter 8: Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster

It required a lot of time for Undeads to walk to Natalia plain.

Skeletons were really good at marching as long as they had perfectly fine legs.

It was because they walked as they were ordered to, while dragging swords on the ground.

But with Zombies and Ghouls they staggered and they kept going in the wrong direction.

“Get back in the line!”

Necromancers were busy managing Undeads.

Over 110,000 Undeads!

Skeletons had high attack power so they were useful in battles.

They could be revived and if necessary, curse spells could be activate through the corpses so their departure was delayed as Necromancers tried to bring as many Undeads as they can.

“No matter how many monsters are in Natalia plain, we should be able to win easily.”

“With our forces, we can even kill any boss-material monsters.”

Necromancers were relieved looking at their Undeads force reassuringly, but Weed waited for battle anxiously.

‘I have to hunt more, I have to take more items. With this many Undeads there could be less monsters for me.’

A source of endless greed!

Any expectations of clearing the quest with impractical ease shattered right after they arrived at Natalia plain.

[El Vance Monastery]

It was a place of monastery established by the Imperial family of the Niflheim Empire.

Ø This is a placed embedded with sacred power.
Ø Weakens Undeads body and cleanses any curse spells.
Ø Necromancer’s magic abilities decrease by -24%.
Ø Destroyed Undeads cannot be revived.

Faint wisp of holiness was rising from rapidly from the ground.

As holy power touched his body, warm feeling spread and strength fell from his sword bearing arm.

Ø Strength decrease by -3.
Ø Health decrease by -240.

With the effect of Balkan’s Death Aura, his health was supplemented again but on Natalia plain an enormous aura of divine energy was rising up.

In the dark night the streams of holy energies rising up looked very beautiful but to the Necromancers it was a serious horror.

“Ku… At this rate how are we supposed to attack with the Undeads?”

“Magic?”

“Curses or Black magic will get weak as it tries to penetrate the holy power and it won’t even be in range.”

“Let’s try it first.”

Jeanne and Otem combined their power and activated their Black magic, calling up a cloud of poison.

Monsters immediately went hiding inside the wall of El Vance monastery.

Even if it was a monastery its wall were really high and its structure wide, so it could be possible that tens of thousands monsters could have gathered there.

These monsters’ reproduction rates were beyond imagination.

“Go! Pour down vicious poison rain!”

The poisonous cloud headed toward the direction of monastery but the rode up the rising holy energy and disappeared.

“This is really headache inducing.”

Weed’s expression soured as he also looking at the monastery.

‘This is not just a quest given out in vain to meet Balkan.’

They had to penetrate through the most horrifying thing for Undeads, holy energy.

The holy power outside of Natalia plain wasn’t as strong but inside the monastery lights were shining bright.

Far away from the plain was scene of gloomily gathered Undeads, their expression souring at the light.

When they were human holy power felt slightly bright, now they stung the eye with its brightness.

‘Undeads seem to feel holy power more sensitively.’

Necromancers couldn’t come up with any definite solution and just stood behind where the holy power couldn’t reach them.

Weed considered time as money so he gave an order.

“Youngest skeleton.”

“Yes, lord”

“Run straight forward.”

The shortest skeleton from Weed’s unit run limpidly along his way to the monastery.

Even though they were Undeads, they still had their instinct about death so they feared the holy power.

But the great, peerless Weed perfectly controlled the skeleton with his charisma and leadership.

Tadadadada, tuktuk, boom!

The Skeleton ran forward hard while getting hit by the holy power here and there.

About halfway to the wall of the monastery, it looked like he was burning from the holy power.

With reduced health, it collapsed while walking down without even swinging its sword once.

Before long it purified the Skeleton with even leaving a corpse, leaving the Necromancers with their tongues hanging out.

This time, Weed lifted his finger and pointed at a Skeleton warrior.

“Advance.”

“Yes, lord”

The Skeleton warrior was able to withstand a few more steps but he still couldn’t make it to the wall.

“Skeletons can’t seem to go.”

Necromancers were disappointed bitterly by the fact that the majority of their Undead armies were completely useless as it was composed of Skeletons.

Only thinking vaguely about the fear of holy power, they now could feel keenly after seeing the sight of melting Skeletons.

“Dullahan, go forth as well.”

“Yes, I will follow your order.”

Dullahans were very fierce warriors.

With their standards they were able to make great achievements in battles but Weed carried out his experiment freely.

The Dullahan reached the wall that looked like it was about to collapse, but died under monster attack as it was about to go over it.

Looking at Weed Death knights were pierced with horror.

As next time, it was their turn.

Undeads were shivering in great fear as underlings of Weed as he was a remorseless liege.

‘Hmm.”

But Weed didn’t deploy any more Undeads after sending out the Dullahan.

‘If about a Dullahan, then Death Knights should be able to fight, at least for a short amount of time…’

Even if he gather every Death Knights from other players, it would be hard to gather over 2,000.

If they send that much to fight the monsters, they will be able to achieve something but they would melt completely like ice creams in hot summer.

‘Quest will fail after that.’

A quest with four day limitation!

They spent seven hours trying to get here because Undeads weren’t nimble.

If all their Undeads got eliminated, they wouldn’t have enough time to gather the current quality and number of Undeads.

‘There is only one chance.’

Weed was locked into a deep thought as he looked behind the enemy lines.

They needed varieties of meticulous strategies.

“Don’t you think this quest difficult is way too high?”

“Did the quest really say to destroy them? This is completely impossible.”

“There are no solutions with the Undeads. Maybe it’s a quest that can only be succeed at high level? To be stopped like this here…”

“Maybe we should have hunted monsters in advance so they wouldn’t gather here. Even in the canyon I let some monsters run away, they must have all ended up here eventually.”

The Necromancers could not get the point right now.

It was when Necromancers were in panic.

Harien came to where Weed and Marie were.

Last time she heard a great method from Weed so she came here for advice.

Weed was murmuring intently on his own.

“Japtem… Leathers not so good… If there are treasures left in the monastery…”

He look like he was struggling hard, locked in deep agony!

“Perhaps are you thinking about solution to clear this quest?”

“Guessing monsters tendencies… the possibilities of gold, silver and treasure… but definitely the treasures…”

Jeanne and Otem came along while Harien was waiting for her reply.
While observing Weed, they did considered Weed as a great player as well.

It was hard not to acknowledge his abilities, with him coming all the way here not with a magic class that could summon Undead but a combat class.

It’s hard not to acknowledge him.

As a single power Weed’s Undead was quite strong.

About ten minutes elapsed, Weed was writing words and numbers on a ground with his finger.

~Leather, very rough and defective so 1,750.

~Japtem, variety of items. Less relevant to the quest, dispose as lump-sum to Mapan-nim.

~Monastery, information about Niflheim empire history’s past holy weapons, not enough.

– Decision postponed.

It was difficult for Jeanne, Otem and Marie to understand how the cipher like phrase related to the monsters at all.

Harien waited, waited and finally asked.

“Is there really no way to clear this quest?”

Weed while looking at the phrases piercingly, lifted his chin.

“Yes?”

“Weren’t you trying to come up with solutions for this quest?”

“No I was calculating something else.”

“Ah….”

Realizing that she was waiting and expecting for something great out of Weed’s irrelevant actions, she backtracked quickly.

Harien was dispirited to think that she was expecting something from Weed’s weird behavior.

“Huu, some hope he would rekindle… I shouldn’t have waste my time.”

Jeanne and Otem were about go back to other Necromancers.

Even if they go to them it was a hard problem they were trying to solve but if they agonize it together they might find a slightly better method.

They were in a position where they needed to find a solution fast.

But Weed talked as if there wasn’t any problem.

“We just have to beat the monsters in the monastery.”

“Yes but how?”

“There are many ways.”

Weed had no need to waste any effort in thinking about monsters.

He made decisions immediately and was now estimating for after the hunt.

He took number of monsters inside and their approximate levels, item drops and rough schematics on the monastery and even the whereabouts of potentially hidden treasures into consideration!

‘Since it’s filled with holy power there must be something there. The probability of it being in the basement is high.’

As that treasure might high extremely high value he was in serious thought about it.

*****

Necromancers pass over their authorities for their Undeads units to Weed.

“Please just go.”

“Just walk a little bit, hmm?”

It was because the Undeads wouldn’t listen to the Necromancers.

“Forward.”

“Yes, lord.”

“Death Knight shall follow the commander-nim’s orders.”

Undeads didn’t resist against Weed command.

Part of it was because he was a Death knight but his absurdly high leadership ability and items influenced a lot.

There were many occasions where he suffered many damages from large-scale battles but in the end, Weed achieved victories and obtained a title of glorious Undead Commander.

When he was a Lich he killed Kubicha in Jigolaths and obtained the title of Immortal Warrior.

Because of that Undeads believed and followed Weed even if it leads to their deaths.

They were Undeads maintained by Necromancers’ mana but they moved according to Weed’s order.

“Full attack, run forward!”

Weed shouted out in a loud voice.

Skeletons and Dullahans ran towards the monastery as one.

A major offensive of 11 thousand Undeads!

Once all these Undeads disappear, there will not be enough time to collect Undeads again.

“Kuaak!”

“Too hot, too hot!”

Through the holy power the Skeleton’s started caught fire and started burning, but even so the other skeletons continued running, stepping over their fallen allies.

In the middle of night the burning skeletons were running down the plain.

It was like the Undead were making a flaming path, even the Necromancers were awed at the sight.

“Let’s open paths for them, Bone Wall!”

“Dark Crow”

Necromancers supported the Undeads move forward by summoning walls of bones and growing plants that grew by feeding on darkness.

Skeletons and Dullahans were able to move forward a bit more by stepping on the bones and plants.

Of course it didn’t last long and burned because of the holy power rising from the ground but Undeads used it as stepping-stone.

Under unbelievable suffering, Undeads move steadfast while taking damage. Weed’s plan was to move in with every Undead and fight a final battle with monsters.

A position of Undead armies’ Chief Commander with heavy responsibilities.

Usually it was difficult task if it was shared, but there was no better method than this.

If the Undead closed the distances with the monsters, Necromancers can fight with Corpse Explosions and curses.

Streams of holy power rising randomly from the ground dealt a lot of damage to Undeads but mobilizing every Undead at the same time so they can step over each other was the plan.

“This is impossible.”

In a situation in when their joined strength was lacking, there were Necromancers complaining rather than casting supporting spells that could increase movement speed or defense of the Undead.

They disagreed with Weed’s plan in the first place but as Jeanne, Otem, Harien agreed, other Necromancers followed with them.

But now as the Undeads were crossing the plain and incurring massive casualties, these Necromancers started to protest.

“It’s still not too late. Let’s stop here and find another way.”

“I’ve been telling you it’s a reckless plan from the beginning. If it proceeds like this and even if they get to the monastery, they will all die before they can even fight. We know about monsters’ strength very well. We must cancel this idiotic plan now.”

Players who agreed with Weed’s plan started to doubt themselves.

It was understandable because all they could see were Undeads burning and getting purified by the holy power.

It’s true that their chance of success were looking smaller.

But if they stopped or retreat the Undead now, the quest would end in complete failure.

They should have spoken before Undeads moved out, right now it was seriously late.

They already invested over half Undeads!

After the Necromancers started protesting, the Undeads agreed as well.

“If we go forward we will be annihilated.”

“I don’t want burn to death like this!”

As bulk of the Undeads disappeared by holy power, a situation arose where the remaining Undead tried to disobey Weed’s order.

They had to keep pushing additional Undeads forward.

If the deployment of Undeads stop like this, the forces currently running forward in the plain will all burn or melt down.

Riding on his gargoyle Weed raised up his rusty legendary sword.

And then opened his jaw.

♪ A smell… There is a smell

I am singing but I still there is a smell

Even if I stop, the smell won’t stop. ♪

“…..?”

With no tune and no rhythm, definitely a song that was sung as the lyrics just popped up.

Sound of Death Knight with slightly hoarse voice spread widely across the whole plain.

Jeanne, who was using magic near the vicinity of Natalia plain, turned her head around.

“The person who sings this kind of song…”

Harien, Otem, Bohram, Gruzed, Varenna and other high-rank Necromancers also stopped what they were doing and shifted their gazes to where Weed was.

It was a song they never heard before.

There is no way a reckless song like this would ever be composed.

But they knew a person who would sing a song like this in a battle.

♪ Today is a dark night, very dark night

I am a Death Knight

I am a Death Knight who doesn’t wash his face

I don’t have to wash my feet as well ♪

“God of War...”

“It’s Weed!”

They had some suspicions as he chose a combat related class and was far ahead than any other.

But that person, singing a senseless song that no one could absolutely mimic, singing a ridiculous song.

Even senior granny players in Versailles continent knew him, watching palpitating videos of him through the night.

It explained everything now.

“That Weed was with us…”

“Use magic. Invade the monastery and kill every monster!”

The loud mouth Necromancers sprouting it was impossible started to do their tasks.

Marie was just waiting for Weed to sing.

He took out a harp made by dwarves and matched Weed’s song, improvising a performance.

‘It’s harder than composing a new song.’

A best bard was matching Weed song.

Keuheu, keuheu

♪ Price for melon rose

Strawberries are really expensive

Mandarins are too precious to eat

Don’t eat anything at night

Sleeping early is fine

Undeads gathered here, start singing

My dear Undeads who knows no hunger, or exhaustion.

You shall go forward ♪

As soon as Weed finished his song, he took out a horn.

A horn announcing victory in Treserk.

A unique item that can bring out incredible abilities in soldiers.

It was a treasure that could make someone famous just by having in his possession.

Weed put the horn to his mouth and blew it with all might.

TOOOOOOOOOOOT!!!

Ø Undeads’ morale is rising.
Ø Undeads are craving for victory.
Ø Temporarily boost physical potential by +120%.
Ø Bad things will happen often to the enemies.

“Advance!”

Weed suddenly gave Lion’s Roar.

Then the rebellious Undeads started rushing toward the monastery in unison.

Even the Undeads suffering under the holy power sped up and ran forward.

They were weakened by holy power but they were acting beyond their potential capabilities.

The loss of skeletons was at an unspeakable level but they got close to the monastery.

Fierce and strong skeletons stepped over their allies’ heads and shoulders to jump out to the front.

“Time to deploy the Death Knights.”

Weed flew high on his gargoyle.

The underling Death Knights also got on their gargoyles and flew up beside Weed.

“Phantom steed summon!”

Death Knights commanded by other Necromancers got on the phantom steeds summoned by their owners.

Holy power from Natalia plain to rose up till the sky but the Undeads were fully covering the ground.

The Undeads became shields.

Either piercing through the Undead, or avoiding the stream of holy power rising up, it was possible to approach from the sky while flying.

“Let’s go!”

Weed flew with his Death Knight units toward the monastery.

About that time Undeads arrived as well, taking down the walls in three different places and were fighting with defending monster.

As the Undead’s health was almost gone they collapsed to the counter attacks.

‘But they are very weak.’

As he expected, monsters weren’t normal as well.

It was not as much as the Undeads but the monsters were also overwhelmed by holy power.

Multiple of Undeads ran into monsters and about 3~4 Undeads clung to one monster.

“Let’s go down to the ground.”

Weed went inside the monastery riding on his gargoyle.

He was able to see bright lights gathered in a bunch on the ground.

The gathered light pierced the ground and a thick stem of holy power rose up threateningly.

Some Death Knights fell from their gargoyles but most of them avoided with sharp turns and landed safely inside the monastery.

– You have arrived at El Vance Monastery.

Ø Due to the abundant holy power physical abilities reduce by -45%.
Ø Health decrease by -300 every second.

It’s difficult for Undeads to be active in a church or a shrine.

It was not a place that Death Knights could withstand for a long time.

Monsters came unceasingly toward Weed.

“It’s the Undeads. Kill and eliminate them.”

“It’s the Death Knights commanding the Undeads!”

Monsters had capacity for rational thought so they targeted Weed first.

If they took Weed down, he would not die alone but shake up every Undead underling for losing their commander.

Its influence would be lower for humans or elves but losing a commander was a hopeless situation for Undeads!

Of course for orcs it didn’t matter if their commander died or not.

Whoever held the glaive and shouted first become an orc captain.

“Heriam Fencing!”

Weed while performed attack skill, slashed monsters.

His level for Heriam Fencing went up, enabling him to strike 13 times consecutively.

And every time the strike succeed strength, agility and destructive power increased.

Because he wasn’t far from mastering the skill the swordsmanship skill proficiency rose steadily.
Weed’s Death Knight underlings fought together while guarding him.

*****

“Wow…. He really is amazing. Even if he’s Weed and trying to clear the quest, how could he just jump into a place swarming with monsters?”

“I doubted him until he got on his gargoyle but he really went in. Does he not find his life valuable?”

Necromancers were deeply impressed by Weed’s brave action.

A commander jumping into an enemy base full of dangers just to win!

‘Just like the rumor.’

‘There is chance of really victory in this battle.’

Weed rekindled hope and bravery to the Necromancers.

Necromancers recovered health to the Undeads that weren’t completely destroyed and strengthened them with supporting spells.

“This front is relatively safe now let’s advance as well.”

The land was polluted by the corpses of the collapsed Undead.

The holy power couldn’t rise up and just burned up the wreckages of the Undeads.

Necromancers got on the ghouls’ backs and headed toward the monastery, close enough to throw spells.

*****

“Attack!”

While Weed was provoking monster and putting more effort into hunting more, he glanced sideways.

He was attacking the inner area of the monastery with his fearless Death Knights, preventing any chance for the monsters to become more active.

Rather than being heroic by being in the forefront, he was making the Undeads fight and waiting behind for the perfect chance!

“I’m sure there are great treasures somewhere in the monastery.”

His craving for items led him to the inner side of monastery.

If he comes with other Necromancers after the battle ends, he would have to share the treasure.

But there was no need to share treasures he picked up secretly!

Now was the only chance to search the monastery.

Pushung!

In front of his eye the holy power gathered and erupted skywards, far away the ground was hit with magic casted by Necromancers and Skeleton mages.

After deploying the Undead and judging the place to be slightly, the Necromancers advanced toward Natalia plains.

‘There must be a treasure somewhere. I need to look for a collapsed structure or stairways to downstairs.’

Even for Weed it was difficult to find clues about the unknown treasure with the monsters and the wreckages.

Because monsters were heading to Weed he was also busy fighting with his Death Knights.

“Cut them all!”

He gave an order to raise the Death Knights’ morale.

“I follow commander’s order.”

“Kill the monsters!”

Weed’s class was a combat related Death Knight.

Even if he had underlings with same class, there was nothing like being outnumbered by monsters.

As Undead who found it hard to withstand the monastery, the Death Knights could not win over the holy power and began the collapse.

Weed’s health was decreasing scarily fast.

To others’ views, it was either fearless bravery or completely craziness.

‘There is no reason why this old and desolate monastery has so much holy power left.’

If Weed didn’t get the feeling that there was enormous treasures here, he wouldn’t have started such a reckless battle.

“I guess I have no choice.”

Weed took out a sculpture from his sides.

It was not a Fine, Masterpiece or Magnum Opus sculpture.

Made out of woods, it was a sculpture based on a storm he encountered coming back from Jigolaths on a ship.

· Dark Clouds and Thunders

Sculpture made from dismantling woods from the mast and wine barrel on the ghost ship.

With the two wide wooden board representing earth and sky, in between lightning and whirlwind is blowing.

Due to the limitation of the material, it lacks many artistic expression. An inerasable scent of wine still permeates.

Artistic Value: 49.

It was worthless to sell it as a sculpture anywhere.

But Weed stored it preciously, waiting for someday to use this sculpture.

‘The day has is today.’

Weed decided to use a secrete Sculpture skill and acted immediately.

“Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster!”

– Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster has been used.

Ø Art stat disappeared by -20 permanently.
Ø 20,000 health and mana has been consumed.
Ø All stats reduce by -15% for four days.
Ø Affinity to Nature dropped.
Ø Nature Sculpting - Great Disastercan only be used once per day.
Ø When dangerous disasters are called upon, depending on the damage fame or notoriety can increase.
Ø You can die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

Even though there were many monsters left, Weed disarmed his sword and laid down on the ground.

“Death Knights get rid of your sword and lay down!”

Death knights couldn’t follow the sudden change of command while battling.

Weed ordered again.

“Throw away your swords and defend with wooden shields.”

Death knights threw away their rusty swords and raised their basic wooden shields.

It was broken and rotten so no one knew whether it could function as a shield but it was better than nothing.

Taking one-sided attacks from monsters for about ten seconds, Weed raised his head up slightly.

“Did the skill fail?”

Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster differs in its strength based on Affinity to Nature but didn’t have to raise it separately through skill proficiency.

While Weed was all confused, the wooden sculpture that was used in the skill dismantled like soft sands and spread out everywhere.

“Kaoh! Kill the Death knights!”

Monsters were fighting Death Knights with axes.

CRAAAAAK!

Lightning struck monsters!

The aftermath was incredible, the 6 monsters in the vicinity was burned charcoal black.

A great disappointment descended on him as Weed was expecting something incredible force.

“So should I have used a Masterpiece or a Magnus Opus as the basis for this skill?”

Even though it was a secrete Sculpting skill, it was disaster that felt empty.

It was the same power as a simple lightning bolt used by magicians.

Even though it was not something that completely changed the battle situation, there was no need for Weed to suffer so much in learning this skill if it was at such standard.

Suddenly, although no one noticed it because it was early morning, stars in the sky gradually hid themselves.

Soon, dark clouds completely covered the sky and unusually loud sounds occurred.

ZZZZAAAAAAPPP

Instinctively it gave him the chill.

“It just comes late.”

Weed hurriedly hid his body in a pit.

Chapter 9: Hermes Guild’s Assault

From the sky lightning struck towards the ground.

ROOOAARRRR

BOOM, ZAP! ZAP! ZAP! ZAAAAP!

In the direction of the dark clouds’ movement, it looked like lightnings was scraping the ground with its sharp claws. With a force to scorch the earth it demolished buildings, ripped trees apart and incinerated monsters.

KUWAK!

KUYAO!

Necromancers’ saw pitch black clouds over the monastery, blasting the ground with incredible lightning strikes. Every time lightning struck the ground the area lit up so brightly it blinded the eyes. Hearing the sound coming from the monastery, they could guess its incredible power.

“Incredible. Was that Weed’s attack spells?”

“Its power surpass any large-scale magic… there must be an unbelievable number of monsters dying.”

Just as the Necromancers’ thought, there was tremendous amounts of casualties for the monsters in the monastery. The swords they were holding acted as a great target for lightning to conduct through. Monsters hit directly by the lightning turned immediately into grey light and disappeared. But the lightning with surplus power spread to its vicinity, electrocuting many other monsters and doing additional damage to their health.

Usually it was only after the Great Magic spread out that the Magician’s were satisfied spectating the effect that their magic displayed. But Weed did not have the luxury of doing such a thing.

‘I have to survive.’

CRAAACCCCK!

As soon as he heard lightning strike, he used his both hands to dig deeper to make sure he wouldn’t get hit. The endless instinct for survival. He was digging faster than a dog trying to dig out snacks he hid few a days ago!

He never knew the lightning would be this serious. It was as though the lightning was trying to prove the ‘great disaster’ part of Natural Sculpting.

The screams of monsters as they died!

The structure was being viciously torn apart, filling the surroundings with the sounds of explosions. The monastery was already reducing the life of all the Undead, the day that Weed was struck by lightning was the day his life was not guaranteed.

Art of Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster, it was an extensive display of attack in battle, it exceeded his expectation by several times. The only problem with the skill was that Weed had to go through it as well.

“Weed is fighting in a place like that.”

“Not everyone can become the God of War.”

“How could he think of jumping into a fatal situation and starting a battle? ”

Necromancers gave several thumbs up in the direction of the monastery. They imagined Death Knight Weed, slaughtering monsters with his cape flapping in a place they can call a hell of lightning.

“It's a scene several times more incredible than a movie.”

“Let us also fight harder!”

Necromancers drew closer to the monastery and cast support magic on the Undead. Fortunately, the lightning stopped within three minutes, but for those who were experiencing it directly, the time dragged on indefinitely.

Most of the monsters had to withstand the thunderstorm with their bare bodies. It inflicted damage to life and stats and what could be said the most important for battle, morale decreased sharply.

“Ku… Is it finally over?”

Weed popped out only his head from the pit after the sound stopped. Without fail he looked like a good impression of a mole, but surviving was the foremost priority.

Zzaap….

Sok!

As soon as he heard a sign of lightning he covered his head with his cape and hid back in the pit. Some streams of lightning still struck intermittently. Breathing in deeply couple of time, Weed checked the situation was calm and only then did he come out from the pit.

“A lot died!”

Corpses of monsters were strewn about. About a quarter of the Death Knight were gone. Unluckily, some were struck by lightning and the others kept fighting monsters while Weed was hiding.

But far off a great whirlwind was blowing. The Art of Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster was not completely finished. The whirlwind devoured the monsters and Undead in Natalia Plains and then flung them everywhere. Weed tried to avoid on his gargoyle but, swept up the whirlwind, it changed its direction, passed through some place way far from the monastery and soon disappeared.

– Art of Nature Sculpture - Great Disaster has expired.

By creating a disaster against monsters, you have gained 3,459 fame.

For destroying a currently unused monastery, your faith has decreased by -25.

A title ‘A Disaster-Steering Sculptor’ has been given.

Luck decreased by 10.

Just by using Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster, he could become way more renowned than now.

Of course, in a bad way though!

“For now, get on your gargoyles and retreat!”

Weed was able to withstand more by himself but the condition of the Death knights wasn’t good so they left the monastery. The Death knights had hunted many high-rank monsters but the aftermath of Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster was way beyond their class so it was hard to say that the Death Knights achieved something.

With help from the Necromancers with restoration and curse spells, they attacked the monastery again. At that time, the main forces of the Undead leapt over the wall and were already fighting. Monsters and Undead were in fierce engagement and some perished due to the holy power. Glancing far and wide the battle could be seen everywhere. There was complete pandemonium as the monsters and Undead battled.

– A Skeleton Warrior has destroyed the altar of El Vance Monastery.

The Skeleton Warrior that axed the altar vanished in a burst of blue light but the holy power was reduced.

“Destroy everything!”

The Death knights yelled and motivated the Undead. The ruins of the monastery were completely shattered by Undead. Weed’s faith dropped following the destruction but he had to risk it.

– Holy power protecting the monastery has weakened.

The reduction of Health has been reduced.

Undead can use abilities now.

Magical abilities are returning to the Necromancers.

“Sweep away all the monsters!”

Weed was in the forefront hunting monsters and Necromancers came after him, raising corpses into Undead. As the holy power protecting the monastery weakened, Undead forces reinforcements increased scarily. The Death Knights also regained their combat strength and the monsters decided to run away instead of fighting anymore. They judged that the monastery was no longer safe from the Undead.

“Chase them!”

The greatest achievement could be made when hunting down escaping monsters. Weed chased the monsters fleeing from the monastery with Death Knights and hunted them down. He was able to gain a significant amount of experience.

DING!

– Monsters in Natalia Plains cleared.

All monsters disturbing The Undead Legion have disappeared.

El Vance Monastery is a thorn to the Undeads’ side, thus the Death Knight who brought down this place cleanly deserves to receive a great reward.

You can go to Balkan Demoph and claim your final promotion.

– Fame has increased by +2,937.

You will be renown as a new Undead leader in The Undead Legion.

– Power of Death has increased by +64.

– Leadership has increased by 25.

– Fighting spirit and charisma have increased by 12.

In fact, over 110 thousand Undead were deployed in the battle and only 14 thousand monsters were fighting against them. Against such a huge obstacle of holy power, the Undead were grievously wounded but were able to claim a victory.

“I can finally meet Balkan.”

Weed took a deep breath.

His preliminary objective of meeting Balkan, King of The Undead, was complete now. While Morata became a target of The Undead Legion, its public order, industry, agriculture and birthrate was heavily damaged.

Balkan was a threat to the Northern Continent because he may regain his strength at any point in the future. The reason Weed was clearing quests from The Undead Legion and raising his rank with such sincerity was to make Balkan rest in peace forever.

All his works has been a preparation for rebellion!

He eavesdropped Necromancers who approached the monastery on ghouls.

“I can finally learn a higher tier curse spell.”

“I learned the Undead Summoning spell… What’s your reward, Orbo?”

“I decided to get a Robe of Corpse.”

Seemed like their quests and rewards differed based on their achievements. No one was talking about being able to meet Balkan like Weed.

Marey and Harien entered inside the monastery.

“Let’s get out and have a celebratory party.”

The monastery was still piled up with holy power so it still was a bad place for Undead. The Death Knights mounted their gargoyles and waited for the order to withdraw.

‘I need to find treasures…’

With some lingering feeling of regret, Weed left the monastery with the Undead. He led the Undead into a huge victory and was returning back to the Necromancers.

“Hurray the God of War!”

“Thanks to Weed-nim, we were able to clear the quest easily. Thank you.”

Players one upped each other trying to thank him. It seemed easy now that the battle was over, but everyone knew that without Weed’s capabilities of command they wouldn’t have been guaranteed to win.

It wouldn’t have been easy to deploy their undead forcefully and if the the monsters in the monastery were persistent, then they all would have been wiped out by the holy power.

However, Weed infiltrated the monastery with Death Knights and dispersed the enemies’ attention, shortening the time. If the monsters held on for at least an hour, then surely the Undead would have died.

In the end the Undead won the battle against time.

The Necromancers felt that it was very close and were thankful to Weed for his reckless decisiveness, which barely managed to clear the quest. Weed didn’t appreciate lip thanks.

“What I did wasn’t much.”

On a birthday or a graduation, you get presents. It was frustrating, all they did was say thank you for clearing the quest for them. A disappointment that they did not know amity cultures such as bribery or reception.

‘Well, I couldn’t have done it by myself.’

After all, Weed was only able to clear the quest with full supports and co-operation from the Necromancers. Beside Marey who had been hunting with Weed recently, Harien listened to Weed’s opinion and actively persuaded the others.

He was able to clear the quest because Jeanne and Otem fully understood the possibility and participated in his plan so he couldn’t possibly ask for something from them. Weed made the greatest contributions, but it was only accomplished with the help of the other Necromancers.

*****

“A truly amazing amount of Undead.”

Polon brought along Knights, Mages, Spellcasters and rangers on standby to a place far away from Natalia Plains. It wasn’t easy to arrive because the Undead from The Undead Legion were wandering around but, thanks to Zabrin’s detailed guiding, they arrived safely.

“Can the Necromancers win?”

He waited for the battle with interest.

Bringing the assault armies of the Hermes guild here was a covert operation so they haven’t been revealing themselves. But a few moments after the battle began, Zabrin talked in a whisper.

> Weed the God of War appeared!

Polon was trying to get the Undead Legion into his hands and recruit Necromancers one by one but his original target was Weed. A man known as the rival of Bard Ray from Hermes guild. From that point, Polon used the Hermes guild’s communication network so that rangers and spellcaster players could hear as well.

Polon: Is he really Weed?

Zabrin: He sang a song. The Necromancers all said it was Weed. He was among the unidentified players.

Polon: Are you certain about this?

Zabrin: He blew a horn. The Horn of Treserk!

It was an item known to be in Weed’s possession. If it was that, then it was enough evidence to believe it was the real Weed.

‘A battle with Weed.’

Polon’s hand shook in excitement. He was a high-level ranker and a Grand Master. He experienced tons of battles but he had never killed a big shot like the God of War. The Hermes guild’s communication network got busy. The players, who were instantly recognizable by their names, showed interest and asked for the situation.

Zabrin: Just now, Weed got on a gargoyle and went inside the monastery.

Polon: Didn’t you say it’s a place where Undead can’t go in?

Zabrin: Well… it’s an extremely dangerous place but he went in.

Polon: If that’s the case, then get the Spellcasters, rangers, knights and mages ready for advance. If Weed survives and comes out, we will attack him right away.

Polon was on standby listening to what Zabrin was saying.

Zabrin: The Undead can’t break through the monsters easily. This place is by far the worst place to fight.

Zabrin reported to Polon everything that was going on in the battle through the Hermes guild’s communication network. It was a moment where famous rankers were paying attention to Zabrin. He was busy chatting with no time to cast a spell.

ZAAAAAP!

When the thunder hit the monastery, even Polon’s place got bright continuously. Polon could imagine how tense the battle was from Zabrin’s reports and the sound of thunder.

‘To enter a place like that, leading his Death Knights.’

Even if he was Weed, surely he isn’t immortal. But he hoped Weed wouldn’t die in the monastery.

‘I’m the one that has to take away his life. That’s the only way to achieve my mission of coming here.’

He waited and waited until he heard from Zabrin that the Undead had besieged the monastery. Zabrin said it was an extremely difficult quest but Weed succeeded yet again.

Zabrin: You can come now. He went out.

It was convenient to have someone giving you information.

“We are moving out.”

Polon led the knights, rangers, spellcasters and moved out.

“Raise the flag”

One of the Knights raised a flag with the symbol of Hermes guild on it. The emblem of the Hermes guild containing a crown and a castle!

Raising this flag had the effect of raising morale and fighting spirit. Primarily though, it overwhelmed the enemies emotionally with the fact that it was the flag of the strongest guild in the Versailles Continent. Unless it’s an outside enemy guild’s influence, it was a flag that made enemies step back.

“We entered in range of the Undead.”

There was some distance between the place they and where Weed and other Necromancers were but they were easily within the Spellcasters’ range.

“Do not give them time to recover. Attack right now.”

The Mages among the spellcasters swung their hands and cast spells.

“Fire Circle!”

Huge fireballs were created and flew straight into the Undead armies. A spell heading into Undead with bright light and dark smoke!

“An attack!”

“Magicians are here!”

Necromancers shouted in surprise but fire circles had already blasted the Undead. The flames spread as though they were alive and devoured Undead.

Rangers with high mobility advanced and got in position.

“Shoot at once!”

Whoosh!

The arrows the rangers shot poured down on where the Undead gathered like rain.

“Kyaoh!”

The Undead suffered exceptional damage. A large ghoul with high health vanished with two hits of arrows from afar. Their arrows were made out of holy silver blessed by priests, not to mention dipped in holy water. They took reference from Weed’s previous battle with Shire, they came here fully armed to fight against the Undead.

The Undead didn’t even have time to respond and were struck by spells and silver arrows.

“Wha… What is this. They are players. There were other players besides Necromancers?”

“What quest did they receive to come here? Why are they attacking us?”

“The flag they are holding is Hermes guild. How did they come here...”

“A ranker. Grand master of Crema, Polon. He’s attacking us.”

Necromancers had no clue an assault team from Hermes guild would come for them and didn’t know what to do.

*****

“Get in lines. Pick up your wooden shields and defend!”

The Undead took up a defensive formation with their shields at Weed’s order, but taking a surprise attack their damage was unbelievable because they were already weakened by holy power.

It was difficult for skeletons to block silver arrows from the rangers and the area-of-effect spells took out thousands of Undead laughably. It was better to step back rather than block.

But their retreat path was blocked by the Natalia Plains, which were still filled with holy power.

Even though the Undead were reforming their positions at Weed’s command, the magic attacks devastated them. Because it was an ambush, they had no choice but to receive a lot of damage.

“Death knights, get on gargoyles. Detour in the air and make it look like you are trying attack them.”

Weed used an emergency measure in a hurry to contain the magicians. They were elite Death Knights that were beaten to a pulp in the battle of the monastery, but they had to be expended to protect the other Undead.

Polon looking at the scene and raised his sword high.

As a knight, his fighting style was to injure enemies with arrows and spells and then a frontal charge with the knights. He was in a bit of a hurry as he wanted to confront Weed face to face.

“Advance!”

DU DU DU DU!

200 men of the Crema Knights galloped. Their steeds were legendary horses, they who were small as a speck of grain were getting awfully close.

“As a defense formation against the knights, ghouls take the front line and skeletons gather and resist. Do not split apart.”

Weed prepared rapidly as soon as enemies appeared in his sight. Usually, the skeletons would follow orders even if it meant getting their spines crushed but the Crema Knights’ charge had an effect inducing panic. Because it lowers morale and fighting spirit, it took some time for Undead to get in their assigned formation.

Necromancers snapped out.

“They keep attacking us.”

“Shouldn’t we fight back instead of just watching?”

Necromancers cast curse spells towards the Knights and created walls of bone. But due to the knights’ magic resisting armors, the curse spell wasn’t so effective. They also crushed the walls instantly and continued charging. The Necromancers were able to summon thorn vines to make a swamp area and disturb the Knight's charge.

Polon shouted in a loud voice.

“I have no grudges against the Necromancers. We only want Weed so get out of our way!

If anyone tries to help Weed, you will also be compelled to die by Hermes guild.”

An order of death by Hermes guild!

It’s impossible to step a foot in Haven kingdom, and you can’t enter territories of it affiliated guilds as well. There was not a single safe place in the central continent.

Hermes guild has been operating assassination units to take care of whoever’s on the order of death list. They were so very well-known for their infamous actions that the Necromancers couldn’t help but hesitate.

But Weed just smiled.

“Yeah, life is alway meant to be lived alone.”

He predicted that Hermes guild would target and fight him again. With all the wars of the Haven kingdom and establishment of the kingdom, he assumed the Northern continent was safe. But if they arrived with full preparation against Undead, it meant that they responded very quickly.

Usually, there were living-sculptures or trustworthy allies beside him. There was no way he would have reinforcements on par with Hermes guild around him because if something happened he was willing to forfeit the Undead Legion quest itself.

If there are at least ten magicians over level 350, it would be difficult for Weed unless he could close in the range with them. Mobilizing strong forces like rangers and magicians in an army unit just to hunt down Weed!

In contrast, Weed was by himself.

When you are fighting against gigantic mighty guilds, you have to expect to be in an unfair situation.

“Way better than the increase in gas price in winter or ice cream with decreasing size and inflating price in summer.”

Criticizing dirty society, he took out his sword. Focused his strength in his fingers and grabbed the sword tightly. The Knights were approaching like the wind.

‘My body is at its worst condition.’

Even though as Undead his stamina did not decrease, only one third of his health was left. Even though he got out of the monastery and Natalia Plains, his reduced combat capabilities from the holy power hadn’t fully recovered yet. They were still reduced by approximately 15%. He considered getting on a gargoyle and escaping but then all arrows and spells would be targeting him.

There was not enough time to call the Death Knights again and if many were gathered, they would surely be attacked by attack spells.

Weed exploded with Roar of the Lion.

“All Undead, listen!”

Weed didn’t speak quickly while the Crema Knights were rushing towards him. Instead, he was taking a breath.

500 meters, 400 meters, 300 meters.

With no interference from the Necromancers, the Crema knights closed the gap instantly.

“Dismantle defensive formation, get in offensive formation!”

To stop enemies’ rush, the defense of ghouls, skeletons or zombies was way too weak. Even Weed’s affiliated elite Undead would be no match for them.

Then if defence did not work, choosing offence was Weed’s method!

If the Undead blend in with knights, they won’t be targeted by arrows or spells.

“All attack!”

Undead from every side except the rear clustered against the knights. They were all injured and limping but the number was tremendous.

Polon shouted with disappointment.

“Oh, Weed. What a disgrace to your name. If you think you can hold our feet with this shallow numbers it's really laughable!”

Only warriors and soldiers with proper armor can stop the Crema Knight's charge.

Undead with weak defense would just be easily penetrated.

“Charge!”

The clash between Undead and knights!

Skeletons were demolished and their bones flew off and ghouls turned into grey light. Every time knights stabbed with spear and slashed with swords using their speed, Undead died. Even their spears and swords were covered by silver so they could not hold out.

They were smart enough to use holy power, holy water and silver against the Undead. The Veteran Undead that Weed and the Necromancers worked to difficulty assault the El Vance Monastery with were being slaughtered mercilessly.

While the knights were taking care of Undead, Weed moved.

‘Of course I knew Undead wouldn’t be of any great help.’

It was impossible to stop the enemies’ rush with half-dead Undead. Even so, he had to try using the large number of Undead.

Weed blended in with the Undead.

About 130 Death Knights, who could not ride gargoyles, that were summoned by other Necromancers were still alive. When the Dullahans and Death knights rushed at the knights trying to break through the bunch of Undead, Weed blended in with them and attacked.

“Dark Energy!”

Approaching with a skill of a Death Knight that consumes mana for increased attack.

“Heriam Fencing!’

When a knight was busy stabbing a dullahan beside Weed with a spear, Weed aimed at his horse.

– 1st stage of consecutive attack succeeded.

Agility increased by +20%.

NEIGHHH!

As the horse collapsed, the knight fell to the earth with it.

Danger followed a knight’s charge!

Not only does their health drops down sharply, they fall into confusion when they fall from their steeds. Because the other knights might attack Weed to try and save their ally, Weed couldn’t finish off the fallen knight.

His next target was the knight trying to stop his horse so he wouldn’t trample over the fallen ally in front of him.

While the knight was using his spear hand to grab the bridle with all his might, Weed jumped and struck him twice.

A consecutive strike that continues like a shadow!

“Two, three.”

– 2nd stage of consecutive attack succeeded.

Strength increased by +40%.

– 3rd stage of consecutive attack succeeded.

Agility increased by +40%.

Right after the knight fell down from his horse due to the attack, Weed flipped twice in air and stole the knight’s horse.

“Four, five, six!”

– 4th stage of consecutive attack succeeded.

Strength increased by +40%.

– 5th stage of consecutive attack succeeded.

You instantly killed a horse.

– 6th stage of consecutive strike succeeded.

You struck the enemy’s helmet.

Enemy fell into confusion.

You have disabled mana-consuming skills for 25 seconds.

Riding his horse in the same direction Crema Knights were moving, he attacked the knights.

A Death Knight chasing knights of Hermes guild from behind!

“He’s coming from behind.”

“Turn your horses around!”

“He keeps chasing!”

Weed was like a leech as he followed closely behind and attacked the knights. The speed of horse was much faster for a Death Knight with light armors. Every time Weed swung his sword, knights either fell down from their horses or died.

The overwhelming prowess of a Death Knight!

Weed hoped that his Death Knights would hop on the riderless horses and follow him quickly but unfortunately they were busy finishing off fallen knights. Because he was by himself, he didn’t have time to open his mouth and command Undead.

“I waited for this day. I, Infore, shall claim the glory of killing you!”

Crema’s knights turned their upper bodies around and swung their swords and spears.

If they don’t put their full weight on it, their attacks won’t be fully activated. It was incomparable to Weed who can just ride his horse forward and slash with full power, but they couldn’t resist their greed.

Infore’s greed and pressure caused his shoulders to tighten and his motions weren’t smooth. Making sure their spears didn’t pierce him, Weed twisted his body around and then slashed the knights. It wasn’t hard avoiding their strikes because they were stabbing backwards but he would be grievously wounded if he gets stabbed even a little by those holy spears coated with silver.

Infore dropped a relatively decent shield and died.

It was Weed raising his earnings quite highly.

Polon: He should be exhausted but he’s resisting annoyingly. Stopping the horses will let them get smashed in a row and he might run away to the other side.

Number 4 to 6, keep running forward.

Number 1 to 3, follow me.

Under Polon’s command, the knights being chased split in two ways.

One drew Weed in with continuous attack and defense, the other with Polon in turned around drawing a circle. Undead littered the ground but they moved as if there were no obstructions. The intersection of two units of knights was getting closer.

Polon and his knights, and even the Necromancers opened their eyes wide to not miss a single action of Weed. Weed was inflicting heavy damages in a split second by himself using Undead exposed to holy power.

Is he trying to ditch the chasing knights and trying to blend into the Undead?!

Weed’s eyes went up to the sky. Death Knights on gargoyles were flying around but with the concentrated fire from arrows and spells, they burned and crashed into the ground.

It’s was impossible to cause some damage by penetrating through guards of rangers and magicians.

‘This is hard. With what’s left of the Undead... I won’t even be able to take down all the Knights.’

Weed kept chasing knights and slashed them.

“Heriam Fencing!”

He dropped knights to the ground where Undead wandered or killed them on horseback. While he was showing off his tremendous ability with Heriam Fencing, the other units of knights behind Weed arrived.

“Time to die, Weed!”

Polon went past Weed, stabbing a spear from the side.

But Weed was able to barely twist his body so his spear only grazed Weed’s shoulder.

– You have been hit by a fierce charge of a knight

Due to heavy damage, your armor’s durability was reduced. Defense reduced by -7%.

The active Heriam Fencing skill has been cancelled.

As the skill was interrupted, you lose sense of balance for 1.3 seconds.

You have been attacked by a weapon coated with holy silver.

Loss of health increase by 2x.

Power of Death decreased.

Temporary paralysis status can come, but it’s not active now.

Chapter 10: Great King Avannah

Crema’s knights arrived as well.

Weed drew his sword and blocked but he wasn’t able to defend against multiple attacks at the same time.

– You received a critically hit.

With tough resilience, you receive reduced damage.

– You received a critically hit.

With tough resilience, you prevented the effect of confusion from extreme pain.

– Your sword's durability has reached its limit and broke.

Weed’s sword completely shattered.

Though it was a ‘Legendary Rusted Sword’, he’s been using it well by repairing it but after the battle at the monastery and defending from the knights’ fierce charge, its durability fell sharply and got broken.

– You received a critically hit.

After five consecutive critical strikes of holy silver weapons, his resilience reached its limit and caused a paralysis on his whole body. And after three more strikes, his health was almost gone and he tumbled down his horse. Falling from a galloping horse caused heavy damage even for a death knight with relatively light armors.

– Your life is dangerously low.

Getting helps from life-sharing partner.

– Seo Yoon shares your agony.

Maximum life 114,290.

You can use Berserker’s Skills up to 70% of partner’s mastery.

– You can use a Skill ‘Dance of Insane Warrior’ at Intermediate Level 8.

You can use ‘Berserker’s Swordsmanship’ at Intermediate Level 4.

You can use ‘Death Executor’s Swordsmanship’ at Intermediate Level 6.

Defensive Skill ‘Endurance of Battle’ is activated at Intermediate Level 7.

During battles, prevents sharp drop of life and inhibits injuries.

With some of Seo Yoon’s health passed onto Weed, he was barely able to stand up.

“‘Dance of Insane Warrio’r and ‘Berserker’s swordsmanship’…”

He didn’t have time to check how many Skills were in each swordsmanship branch and what effects they might have. He could only try using it. He’s been hunting with Seo Yoon for a long time but the skill she usually used were not that many.

“Live or Die.”

– You are armed with the sword of a vengeful ghost knight.

He armed the sword in hurry and activated a Skill.

“Dance of Insane Warrior!”

Weed activated his Skill towards the oncoming knights. Every time he blocked their swords he flew back a few meters, leaving trails of mana that was red like blood.

“Die!”

Every time Weed defended against their attacks, he stumbled and lost life.

‘I’ve seen this Skill before.’

It was a Skill Seo Yoon used against Kubicha, the Great Warrior of Chaos. It happened in a split second but it tied up Kubicha and even put Weed in danger. When these red, blood-like mana trails spread around, they formed a special symbol, turned into strong energy and exploded outwards.

– ‘The Dance of Insane Warrior’ begins.

A large explosion that turned the ground inside out occurred.

A Death Knight increase his attack with dark energy during a battle. It was a skill heavily depended on fighting spirit and even Heriam Fencing didn’t consume much mana. But the ‘Dance of Insane Warrior’ was an unbelievable attack that consumes more than 70% of Weed’s unused mana.

– 6 knights of Crema died.

Fame increased by 469

– Obtained small amount of experience.

It was an attack of sharp energy so they couldn’t fully guard against it with their armors. Weed lost his sense of balance from the repelling power of the Skill but he immediately kicked off the ground and ran away. There were enemies everywhere so he needed every chance he could get.

‘First Skill in the Swordsmanship of Aggressor, The Seal of Prisoner.’

Running through the dust, he spotted a knight fell from his horse due to the ‘Dance of Insane Warrior’. Weed targeted his vital point and swung his sword at his neck.

– The Seal of the Prisoner hit on target.

Until the target dies or gets healed by a cleric, the seal won’t disappear.

Continuously bleed out and health decrease by 160 per second.

Weed used the ‘Seal of the Prisoner’ on eight knights. He was able to strike four points on one knight alone.

‘Second Skill… Sword of Fighting Spirit.’

The ‘Sword of Fighting Spirit’ was a skill that increase Weed’s attack in proportion to the damage the he received. Attacking another knights, he activated the third Skill, ‘Sword of Slaughter’. It was a skill that could only be used when the player’s life was very low.

But it was a desperate swordsmanship that either the player or enemy must die.

By giving up all defense to kill the target, it increased the destructive power exponentially.

*****

As Weed was active beyond extraordinary against the knights, Polon and the Crema Knights were very puzzled. With those harsh injuries, he should have already died but he kept resisting till the end.

‘How much health does he have?’

‘His Skills and movements changed a bit.’

The fact that his resilience and attack grew larger than when he started the battle was a reality that could not believe.

Polon had a planned to ask him for a duel. Drive him into a dead end, then fight one on one and claim a perfect victory. To be honest, killing Weed was could be claimed as the greatest glory so he really wanted to have a duel.

‘But killing Weed is top priority. I can’t afford to give him time to heal.’

His overall evaluation of Weed improved. Not only was he at a high level and fully aware of his Skills, he knows how to fight and dominate a battle with lesser force. Even high-rank officials in the communication network of the Hermes guild instructed him to kill Weed no matter what it took.

‘I can’t give Weed an opportunity to escape and I can’t afford to take casualties anymore.’

Polon trained the knights of Crema Knights directly. As the battle dragged on, they were suffering and getting killed by the gradually recovering Undead.

Polon: I authorize magicians and rangers to attack Weed directly.

After giving an instruction to the Spellcasters and Rangers, he withdrew with his knights.

Morning was coming.

Weed noticed something suspicious was going on and clung to Crema knights to prevent any chance of attack.

Polon: Just do it. Even if there are casualties, it’s better to kill Weed fast and end the battle.

A spell was casted with some knights in the range of the spell.

Just when spells were casted and arrows were shot towards the place where Weed and knights were entangled.

‘Now.’

Weed quickly stole away on a horse and rode with all his power.

He was observing the facial expressions and behavior of players in the Crema Knights. Then he turned around to the direction where magicians were and ran away without even looking back.

An animalistic survival instinct.

CLANG!

Behind the direction Weed was riding in, Crema knights died from spells and arrows.

“Keep attacking. Kill him!”

In range of Polon’s loud cry, Weed had to make a decision. There was no place to run in Natalia Plains full of knights and Undead. To escape this place completely, he had to keep avoiding attacks from rangers and magicians but that was truthfully impossible.

There is no way he can dodge sky-filling arrows or fire balls, icicles and covering of dirt.

‘About 32% health left.’

Based on his estimation, he will die instantly if he gets struck by the consecutive spells.

The rush of knights were hard to handle as well. He can use the characteristic of Berserker to resist them escaping was another problem. With the dispersed knights chasing him in many directions and support from the magicians and rangers, he would die before getting anywhere.

‘If so, the only place I can run to is….’

Weed drove his steed towards El Vance Monastery.

“Let’s go!”

It was the only place without blockades and opposite of where rangers and magicians were standing. El Vance Monastery was a fatal place for Undead and going back there was an unimaginable or idiotic choice.

“Chase him. Do not let him get away!”

Crema knights began their chase but because of their comrades who died in the long-range attack, they hesitated and the gap was getting wider. However, they soon started closing the gap.

As Weed got closer to the monastery, he was affected by holy power and his strength and health kept decreasing. Even though he had the occupational characteristics of Berserker, his weak points as an Undead remained.

It was a bad combination for running away!

“Trying to make a living is not easy.”

Looking around the vicinity, there were corpses of Undead and monsters everywhere. It would be useful if he could use Necromancers Skills but all he could do was efficiently controlling Undead armies.

He could only continue forward.

He was in such hurry that he didn’t get a chance to give other commands to Undead. About ten seconds later, the other knights will arrive, so he had no time to hesitate. There were many signs of natural disasters and the destructions wrought by the Undead.

Weed found a dark crack under the altar. Normally it wouldn’t stick out but as an Undead, he was sensitive to holy power. There was enormous holy power coming out from the crack.

Weed started drooling.

“Truly I really have no choice.”

Even in a situation where his life is at stake, Weed just followed his instincts regarding items. Weed dug through the altar and entered.

*****

“He’s not here.”

“He just entered here. He might be hiding so keep looking!”

“If he prepared an ambushes, it might be dangerous.”

“He’s an Undead. He wouldn’t be able to endure holy power for a long time. We need to find him quickly.”

A few seconds after Weed disappeared he Crema Knights arrived.

While the holy power was a disadvantage to Weed, the holy power gave them a blessing effect with regeneration of vitality and health. Compare to their usual they were able to perform with double their original abilities, it was a only a matter of time before they found Weed and killed him.

*****

You have become the discoverer of a dungeon, the underworld of El Vance Monastery

Privileges: Fame increased by 900

Double experience and item dropping rate for one week.

Very first monster you hunt will drop a best item it can possibly drop.

Coming here after escaping from the enemy, Weed was unhappy as he looked at the dungeon privileges. This place is categorized as a dangerous place for Undead so he can’t even log out.

When he logged out during battle or when health was decreasing, the body remains and ends up dead eventually.

“I guess I have to keep continuing.”

Weed raised his sword and started running forward. Berserkers are good in a battle but when you stop and begin resting, he become much weaker than usual.

“Let’s find where this dungeon ends!”

It was only a matter of time before the knights found the entrance to the dungeon.

Few seconds if fast and few minutes if late. Weed ran down the path of the dungeon. Even without the Undead’s vision, the inside was brighter than daylight. It was because every wall and corner, and even the embedded crystals were shining.

He did not look at the mystical sight and kept running.

“Intruder. After a long time, there finally is a intruder.”

A monster that looked like a moth that has been grown to two meters jumped out.

The name was Avannah.

As a monster feeding off holy power, its average level was about 300. There is always a scramble for dungeons with Avannah because they had low life and they become much easier if its wings were targeted first. It was not an exaggeration to say that it was an exclusive hunting ground for top guilds. It was icing on the cake that there were large amount of holy power in the environment where Avannahh dwelled.

However, Weed didn’t have time to face him so he just kept running forward.

“Quadruped Run!”

Weed increased his speed. He leaped streamlets flowing in the dungeon and when there were pits, he stabbed his sword on the wall as a run-up.

It was motions wild beasts would show.

It seemed like Avannah had certain area assigned as it stopped attacking and chasing and went back as soon as he leaped a streamlet. Even so, it was only it managed to take out 11% of Weed’s life.

“At this rate, I won’t even be able to fight.”

Only 8% of his health was remaining. Because he’s in a place with holy power spread around, his combat capabilities were weakened and his strength and mana started escaping.

“If only there is a teleportation gate leading to somewhere safe.....”

He had his hopes up but the possibility of finding it was less than one in ten. In a very rare occasion when the dungeon was fully cleared, was there a teleportation portal leading to the next area. But right now, he was just hoping and he didn’t even know the geographic features of the dungeon.

“But holy power is getting stronger this way.”

Weed followed the Undead weakening holy power. He could die in a multitude of ways, death was always nearby so he just wanted to confirm with his own eyes what lied at the end of the dungeon. And at the end of the path, he found it first.

Great king Avannah Lordriam!

Unlike normal Avannah, not only is it rare, it uses powerful holy spells and has high attack. Usually, one would form a party composed of players with alot of experience when a Great King Avannah appears. Because it is a monster over level 450 and if it appeared accidentally the hunt usually failed.

Considering its Skills such as blinding ray, binding and self-recovery, it’s extremely hard to hunt. The great king Avannah Lordriam in front of Weed was holding a small jewel in his fingers. Holy power was released from the jewel.

A Diamond of the Blessed Sanctum.

When held by priests and holy knights, it increases their faith sharply as well as the effects and range of holy spells.

Weed gains courage in front of items.

Jewels were easy to bargain with.

As though he was in a 100 meter race, he ran on four feet and jumped high onto Lordriam.

‘The only way to fight and win easily is to cut off its antennae.’

Lordriam has atrophied eyes so it read small signs with its antennae. The antennae could be said to be its only weakness.

‘The Dance of Insane Warrior.’

With Weed’s attack capabilities weakened, the only Skill that could inflict a damage to Lordriam was this one. Squeezing out his mana, he swung his sword at Lordriam’s eight antennae and then stepped on the ground. The energy of blood-like mana moved around and hit Lordriam’s antennae.

– You have inflicted a critical strike.

His concentration grew stronger the more danger he was in!

With moves he wouldn’t normally be able to perform in air, he cut Lordriam’s antennas.

SHRIEEEK!

Lordriam started struggling. Even though the antennas were cut it wasn’t over yet. It can heal itself with holy spells. Weed had to put out as much damage as he could while it was writhing at the pain of getting its antennae cut.

“The Seal of Prisoner. Sword of Fighting Spirit!”

Using his Berserker Skills, he attacked Lordriam. Usually, he would prepare his heart or come up with plans in his head when he encountered boss class monsters.

But Weed jumped up on his four feet, hitting it as much as possible as soon as he spotted Lordriam. As if he was trying to prove that no monster can stand in front of a beating, he circled around it and swung his sword.

Lordriam activated a holy spell.

Purification of Silence.

A holy spell that turns an evil creature to nothing. The Diamond of Blessed Sanctum magnified the effect. As Weed’s bones broke, it only left him with 2% health remaining.

‘I need to kill it no matter what…’

He tried to keep slashing Lordriam but another holy spell was used.

Turn Undead.

A spell incompatible with Undead!

Normally, an Undead higher than a Death Knight won’t collapse right away from Turn Undead. But Weed’s life was way too low so he couldn’t withstand the holy spells of Lordriam.

– Health has depleted. You have died.

Skill level for ‘Power to reject death’ is low. Due to holy power permeated to the body, the Skill hasn't activated.

You are unable to log in for 24 hours. Because of your death, your level and Skill mastery declines.

*****

Not only three minutes after Weed died, Crema’s knights arrived.

After they came into the dungeon they encountered the Avannah and hunted it as fast as they could and came here.

“It’s the great king Avannah.”

“Its antennae are cut.”

Lordriam was already injured with many scars.

The Crema knights hunted Lordriam whose antennae were not fully recovered. They weren’t inflicted as much as the Undead by holy spells so it wasn’t that hard. Polon finished off Lordriam and picked up The Diamond of the Sanctum which Weed was craving.

“This rare item…”

After the battle, they were able to find many things besides items dropped by Lordriam.

“This must be the item Weed dropped as he died.”

A nearby knight picked up the item first.

– You obtained 3 old barley breads.

– You obtained rusty broken helmet.

– You obtained a wriggling worm.

– You obtained a molar of a skeleton.

“I can’t even remember the last time I picked up such poor items. Why was he even holding these?!”

The knight couldn’t resist his irritation and threw the japtems. As an Undead, their tendency was bound to lean towards misfortune and evil side. If you have a bad reputation, the possibility of dropping good items among the items in your possession multiplied several fold. But Weed died dropping bunch of useless items.

This was thanks to Weed’s thorough preparation

“There are many Necromancers. First of all, these Necromancers who like Undead aren’t normal.”

Ever since he received the quest from The Undead Legion and seeing there were many people, he didn’t trust them. The original sword, armor and expensive item he usually equipped were stored in the lord’s castle in Morata. He only had necessary items that increase leadership such as the horn or the royal seal and as soon as Hermes guild showed up, he hid them.

“I’m gonna lose the items anyway if I die….”

He entreated Marey and left it to him.

“You must give them back to me later.”

“I will do so.”

“If you look at the bottom of the items it written in small, ‘Weed’s item.’”

“………”

By preparing for his death in advance, he was able to not lose important items.

Of course, from Weed’s point of view, it was a matter of great regret that he couldn’t hide even japtems.

*****

After confirming that Weed got killed by a monster, Polon and the knights came back to Natalia Plains.

“Necromancers, decide whether you will join Hermes guild or not.”

The Spellcaster and Ranger armies posed in preparation for attack. It was a little coercive but Polon clearly showed to Necromancers that if they don’t join Hermes guild, they would be killed right here.

“Wa… What should I do?”

“I like staying alone. But if I do join Hermes guild, there may be advantages.”

While the Necromancers were agitated, Jeanne straightened her shoulder and stepped forward.

“I will not join Hermes guild.”

“You must be Jeanne.”

Polon heard about the Necromancers through Zabrin.

“And the reason for not joining the guild is?”

“It could be said that the reason we could become Necromancers is thanks to Weed.”

“That’s it? If you reject Hermes guild, there will be a lot of dangers coming to you. Even now, I’m sure you have a lot to lose if you die here. I will give you another chance to change your decision.”

“My position stays unchanged. From the moment I became a Necromancers to these quests, every Necromancers owed Weed a great favor. I will not be a part of Hermes guild.”

Polon laughed with ridicule.

“You really think the other Necromancers think the same way as you do? Let me make it clear. If you stay there, you will die. Come to this side if you are willing to join Hermes guild.

Zabrin and the Necromancers that planned to join Hermes guild walked to where Polon was.

But more than ten Necromancers stood still.

Jeanne, Otem, Harien, Gruzed, Varenna and other players that fought together in the canyon. Some were already in guilds but they voluntarily rejected Hermes guild. Marie stood on Hermes guild’s side because he had to protect Weed’s items.

“The story will not end like this… Looks like a song with good story will come up.”

*****

From KMC Media, adventures of Necromancers was being broadcasted live. Mainly because Weed was in the adventure, they started broadcasting live from the moment he revealed himself. Other broadcasting networks were broadcasting a program about Necromancers and The Undead Legion so there weren’t any changes to ratings.

This was due to CTS raising their ratings high with prodigious amount of funds from the parent company; LK gamers that broadcasted professionally with their established digital media system that was available 24 hours.

Beside them, new broadcasting stations and online broadcasting stations were established within a month.

As tons of people became interest in Royal Road and derived their joy from it, specialty channels also appeared.

Royal Road fishing channel.

Royal Road golf channel.

Dungeon chef.

Child of Versailles Continent.

Bard’s old boots.

As the influences of online game broadcasts grew larger, the competition got fiercer. KMC Media was a channel that secured a lot of fixed viewers based on support from a variety of players.

“Weed and The Undead have finally occupied the monastery.”

When Weed’s adventure went on air, general viewers visited the message board and responded. Besides game broadcasting channels, it was so popular that popular that it was republished on portal news sites. It was not only because Weed was a living legend of Continent of Magic, but he also kept having exciting adventures in Royal Road.

“Hermes guild suddenly appeared and started attacking. Ah, its an incredible force. There’s Polon, Crema Knights, ranger armies and Spellcasters.” When they were about to cut the broadcast with the scene of Weed clearing his last quest, hosts explained the sudden change of situation and even floated a subtitle.

▷Appearance of Hermes guild.

▷Attacking The Undead led by Weed.

They decided to prolong the broadcast until the dispute between Weed and Hermes guild ended.

The second round of Weed and Hermes guild.

Hermes guild sent out an assault team to a place where The Undead Legion stood in force just to kill Weed.

A battle!

Ratings went up dramatically.

However, Weed’s condition was too poor to make any meaningful variable. They announced that Weed performed remarkably but then went in the monastery and was eventually killed.

Although he wasn’t killed directly by Hermes guild, it still broke the record of undefeated God of War.

Soon, the viewers’ message board was filled with comments regarding Weed’s death.

– Those cheap dirty bastards. They lost at Jigolaths and chased him all the way to there.

– These heartless cowards are all the same.

– They brought that much forces and ambushed only after the quest was cleared and he was exhuasted.

– Those guys were always way too far from fair and square.

– I don’t like a single action that Hermes guild makes.

The board was filled with comments criticizing Hermes guild harshly.

*****

There was a beach east of Morata.

When the Northern Region was barely known to people, no one came to this place. But now, there are always players because there were many monsters worth hunting. On a rainy day, players with mud on their faces were working.

“How many did you dug up?”

“About 1,430. 400 more clams and then I can buy a longsword.”

These were players digging up clams and cockles to earn money. As Morata became a metropolis, the resident population inflated dramatically.

Food could be obtained by harvesting wheat and barley but novice players earned money by doing quests supplying the seafood market with fresh ingredients. When they were taking a rest stretching their backs, people came along with tide from the sea.

The Geomchis had finally arrived at the northern Versailles Continent.

– You have discovered a new sea route adjacent to Morata, the Northern Region.

By pioneering a sea route, your fame has increased by 420

By succeeding in your adventure, each stat has increased by 3.

Courage increased by 7.

Mastery of Sailing Skill increased.

– You have become the first person to cross the ocean by swimming.

You have successfully led a near impossibly reckless challenge.

Perseverance increased by 24.

Endurance increased by 31.

Vitality increased by 15.

Every stats increased by 9.

– Fame increased by 2,980

Every time you tell your story about crossing the ocean in a tavern, you gain extra 40 fame

If you talk to sailors or people with a special attachment to the ocean, you will be able to form very close intimacy.

– Ability to understand water increased.

Water-related magic resistance increased and affinity to spirits of water has been created.

– You’ve obtained a title ‘Legendary Iron Man of the Ocean’

After experiencing the rough ocean with their bare bodies they left a legend in the ocean no one can dare to follow.

Combat capabilities on the ocean increased.

You bring out unconditional supports from sailors.

Level of Sailing Skill increased by 3.

Among qualifications of admiral, an ability to read flow of currents increased.

Chance of assault from sea monsters reduced.

The Geomchi obtained achievements and titles that players with the ocean as their base only dreamed of.

“It was a good thing we swam?”

“Yes, well, let’s swim again if we ever get to go back someday.”

“I’m hungry. Let’s go get some food.”

The Geomchi headed in the direction of Morata.

They achieved a great feat in the ocean but ironically they couldn’t make any promise on when they are going to return to ocean.

*****

KMC Media progressed with ‘Story of Versailles Continent’ after Weed died as was originally planned. It was a popular show hosted by Shin Hye Min and Oh Joo Wan.

“A lot of things happened today. First of all, there was the celebration of the establishment of a new country in Haven kingdom.”

“That’s right. Many viewers were looking forward to this event. The celebration of establishment of Hermes guild was held today.”

“Looked like a lot of people participated”

“Would it be an exaggeration to say that participants completely filled the capital, Aren castle? Besides players from Haven kingdom, ambassadors from each guild and other kingdoms visited as well.”

On the screen, the celebration of Haven kingdom newly reformed by the Hermes guild was seen. The fancy palace, interior castles and exterior castles were crowded with people. Bardray put a crown on his head, wore clothes representing the king and placed a sword around his waist.

“I appoint you as the count to rule Doria region.”

“I will devote myself loyally.”

“I appoint you as the viscount of Borask.”

“It’s an honor.”

He officially appointed high-rank players from Hermes guild as nobles.

Haven kingdom was going to be re-established under centralism but by being appointinted as nobles, various stats could be earned. In case of Bardray, he gained the most fame in the kingdom and a considerable amount of nobility, leadership, dignity and honor.

The king had a separate governance power.

The higher it is, the more loyalty they received from the nation and the morale of knights and soldiers increased. Governance power wasn’t not a stat that could be increased normally. It was depended on governed territories, population of residents, knights, magicians, business, and the development of technologies.

It could go up or down even from winning or losing a war, accomplishing a large-scale trade, or suffered a flood or drought. If he governed excellently, many positive events would occur and he could even get the blessings of gods.

Bardray became the player with most level in Versailles Continent and the highest authority.

“It is a truly a spectacular scene. There were many spectacles of knights’ duels at the end of the celebration. We will bring it to you shortly.”

“I think many of the viewers are wondering about Embinyu Church. We have news ready today about the Embinyu Church, isn’t that right Oh Joo Wan?”

“Of course its prepared. There seems to be inquisitors wandering around the regions held by the Embinyu Church.”

The Embinyu Church that appeared like a storm and brought the Versailles Continent to chaos. The Embinyu Church was an evil influence that occupied several castles and possessed huge armies in the central continent where each guild was vying seriously for territories. They were an influence that represented malice but players were able to chose whether to join Embinyu Church of not.

With players’ joining their forces, the Embinyu Church spread around like wildfire. In the lands owned by Embinyu Church crops withered and rivers dried up. While the Versailles Continent was suffering with measles, only Thor, the kingdom of dwarves and the Northern Region have remained fine without the Embinyu Church’s activities.

What exactly happened in Thor kingdom was unknown but the Niflheim Empire in the Northern Region collapsed because of the Embinyu Church. Weed drove the Embinyu Church out and began re-establishing the Northern Region and Morata. It was only an assumption that if they dispelled the power of Embinyu Church in advance, there wouldn’t have been damages from sudden rage.

“If you get caught by the inquisitors of the Embinyu Church, they will attack you in the name of judging heresy.”

“I heard if you are a paladin or priest the harassment will be harsher?”

“That’s right. If you get captured by them, you lose fair amount of faith so please be careful.”

“Fix your channel as a guest will talk about the Embinyu Church in our second part! Do not forget about this. Let’s continue with other stories.”

“Yes, next on the news….”

*****

Lee Hyun went out of the capsule and went to the market.

There was no rest for a Dark Gamer. Versailles Continent was always open so to stay ahead of everyone else, they can’t afford to take a break. The only opportunity was when they lost their lives and could not connect for the next 24 hours.

“Let’s make some Kimchi.”

It was a day for him to make kimchi for the winter period. Lee Hyun stacked delivered chinese cabbage and ingredients in his yard and started making kimchi.

Every time he ripped cabbage off, he whispered.

“Polon”

RIIPPP.

“Hermes guild…”

RIIIIPPPP.

“How dare you touch me.”

BUUUWWONG.

“My japtems.”

PUK!

“Experience….”

RIP!

“To upend my rice bowl.”

More grudges stacked up as he soaked about 200 chinese cabbages!

The impact was too severe. His valuable items could be taken too.

He turned on his television and watched KMC Media as he was making kimchi for winter. Even though he was fairly aware of many things happening in Royal Road through the board, he had little interest in the accidents happening in irrelevant lands. But as broadcast program usually selected important incidents it was watched in detail.

“Expansion of Embinyu Church...”

They were a force that even Alveron, the pope candidate for Church of Freya, kept strict vigilance. The strength of Daymond from the guild ‘Predators of the Land’ that put the Versailles Continent in danger was actually from the Embinyu Church. Lee Hyun was able to know about this by getting close to Daymond through the chat room of Dark Gamers Union.

When members of Predators of the Land’ die, their bodies are offered to the god Embinyu forever as sacrifice. It meant the complete deletion of a character so they had to start over as beginners and they chose to start in Morata.

It was said that Daymond and his people seem to take quests covertly. Someday he will die too but until then, he has been living his life as a Dark Gamer faithfully to get as many items he can.

“Well, Embinyu Church is not what I should focus on right now.”

Morata was being invaded by the Undead Legion and the Hermes guild sent out an assault team to bother him.

“This won’t be resolved peacefully.”

Lee Hyun killed every guild that was in his sight in the Continent of Magic so he was well aware of how useless it was to discuss a cause or justification.

Power!

It was a world decided by the rule of power.

His sister came back from library, helped him make kimchi and ate boiled pork with him at dinner.

“Eat up, brother.”

As she became a university student, his sister was more grown-up lady feeding him some pork and peeling fruits.

‘I never knew a day like this would come...’

Just five years ago, Lee Hyun had some extreme thoughts.

But what always made him change his mind right before the final moment…

‘This current situation… I can’t even die.’

He didn’t have any relatives to collect condolence money and to build a coffin and holding a funeral cost money, so he couldn’t afford to die.

It was a moment when he desperately craved for a free fish cake soup from a cart bar. But now, he was able to cook things from purchased ingredients and he has his own house in his name. Lee Hyun was living his life feeling small happiness every day.

“I should sleep early today.”

Early next day, he went grocery shopping and didn’t forget to train his body at the dojo.

‘Hermes guild….’

Lee Hyun swung his sword gnashing his teeth carefully in anger, there was no industry like the dental industry that charge the most feese.

It was a murderous sword filled with his grudge.

After finishing his agenda for today, he came back home, cleaned, and watched some television to pass the time.

And then time for Royal Road had finally come.

Lee Hyun entered the capsule without any hesitation.

*****

The Geomchis visited eight restaurants in Morata.

“This place is delicious too.”

“There was a reason why this place is doing good business, Sahyung.”

It wasn’t that they had expensive taste that they sampled food and came out right away. They ate generously from the eight restaurant that they cleared out the ingredients.

Overeating and gluttony!

In Royal Road if a player ate a lot they could get fat, but that was something very far from these Geomchi that often fought and moved around. While wandering around, eating to their heart’s content they heard something from a passerby.

The second advance of the Undead Legion!

It seemed that the combatant-class players were deployed to protect Morata and the arts-class players were cheering them on voluntarily. Not only did they draw symbols on armor, bards and dancers followed them in the battlefield and performed.

Most requests from the lord’s castle, Church of Freya, Church of Lugh, and mercenary guilds were about hunting down Undead. Due to the emergency situation, Morata was operated on the war basis.

In front of the castle gate, there were many novice players that just started and the square was still filled with players selling things. Visits from tourists weren’t affected but anyone in Morata felt a sense of crisis due to the advance of Undead Legion.

“It’s outrageous that the Undead are advancing to the land of our youngest.”

“Looks like we were too careless.”

“Shouldn’t we return the favor for all the free food?”

“Let’s get warmed up.”

With their hands full of food, they headed to the battlefield where The Undead Legion was approaching.

The Undead soldiers brought chariots with blades on their sides and middle-sized Undead made out of corpses of Morghis and Nukalis were on a rampage. The Armies of Morata, the Priests of the Church of Freya, Paladins, and players placed in a long line fought Undead while maintaining their defense formation.

There were tremendous amount of players holding flags of Grass Porridge religion and high-level players from across the central continent.

It was not an exaggeration to say this place was a true battlefield.

“I like this place. Disciples, let’s go!”

“Yes, Sahyung!”

The Geomchi walked towards Undead. The Undead jumped in fiercely without knowing anything and the Geomchi simply slashed them and walked across the battlefield.

‘Everyone bring it on.’

‘Stronger, the better.’

Combat chariots, Morghis, Nukalis, Dullahan, Death Knights.

There was no need to differentiate them. Whatever comes into the Geomchi’s range, they would just beat into a pulp. As they entered the area swarming with Undead, they split from each other and all they could see was Undead everywhere but that was okay.

The Geomchi slashed every Undead they could see.

A complete trance!

In reality, they were many frustrating situations for them. Even if they master swords and train their bodies to a high level, they barely got to use it in real life. When someone messed with them, they had to pretend and tolerate like nothing happened and just pass on by.

They trained themselves taking patience and self-control as a virtue. Their hot blood pumped hotter than anyone else but there was no place to blast it.

Royal Road was a small outlet for them.

Only thinking about strength, they looked for stronger men and fought. They don’t have to hide the wild nature hiding deep within their masculine instincts.

“Bring it on, Undead! Bring someone stronger than you!”

The Geomchi were extremely excited.

They swam across ocean and trained but nothing was better than using their bodies to fight like now. The irresistible pleasure coming out when you forget about everything and purely focus on each ongoing battle!

“Not enough, I want more!”

The Geomchi slaughtered undead at random.

They hop on rhinos and fought, they killed every undead they saw. They mainly used swords but they picked up any kind weapons like blades, iron maces, axes and chains and used them. Because the Geomchi mastered Weaponry skill, they can use any kind of weapon they wanted.

There was a difference in the center of gravity and striking point for each weapon, but the power of rotating the waist while heading the weapon to slash enemies in half remained the same.

Melting into the fight with techniques forged in wild battles!

– Undead Legion is retreating.

The battle ended with a victory for Morata’s defense force.

While the Geomchi were taking care of the main force, Paladins were able to kill the witch named Bianca that controlled the Undead Legion armies and claim victory.

Chapter 1: Doom Knight Rebellion Plan

Weed logged back on and appeared in the Undead Legion’s stronghold. Until the quest was complete then he would continue to be revived in the area. High class level 300 to 400 undead were casually walking around this dangerous place! Two dragons were standing on the towers of the wall while one was flying in the air.

“The Elven army is putting up a strong resistance.”

“As long as we have Bar Khan then I could quickly wipe them out…but it will be difficult to handle a counterattack from the Fairies.

“I’m afraid of the Dwarves.”

The Fairy Queen Tania entering into the battle was a topic of interest among the undead. In the garden of the deserted fort was thousands of elite undead and a few of them were having conversations.

Weed sat near a tree.

“First, I need to check the military forces.”

Since he was going to fighting as an undead, he took the time to see how much harm they could do. He had been level 398 but he dropped a level and was now 397.

“What did I lose…”

Weed remembered the japtem he had lost the other day the most. He wasn’t unfamiliar with the exact name and worth of each item. That was because it was the most fundamental skill in the business.

“Wheat bread and green onions, a helmet, a ring, and skeleton molars.”

Weed felt cheated since the items that could have been used in various ways were now gone.

He wouldn’t be able to make up for the lost items unless he killed a lot of people in this place. After having regretted losing the items for a moment, he checked his skills.

Advanced Level 8 Sculpting was back at 0% while the other skills had dropped 4-13%.

Since he was undead, the cost of the death penalty was unjustly higher than others.

“To cause this degree of damage, I will never forget even after I’m seventy years old.”

He would never forget his grudge against his long time enemy, the Hermes Guild! Stationed in the large fortress were some famous undead knights.

‘A lot of these are named undead that have shown up in the history of the Continent of Versailles.’

The Undead Legion was packed with the best undead. Weed was a Death Knight, but since he was high level he could do a quest to get promoted to a higher rank undead.

Weed went from place to place, snooping around.

Then a ghost servant came to him.

“Bar Khan is expecting you.”

He was now meeting Bar Khan in order to get his undead upgrade. So now, Weed went with the ghost servant. The Undead Legion had heavily expanded their territory. Weed was an undead now, but he would not be able to approach the place if he was alive.

‘This is going to be quite difficult.’

The ghost servant led Weed into the basement. The basement of the fortress had many unopened oak containers of sealed alcohol stored within.

‘The finest wines and brandy.’

Just from the smell Weed could imagine how expensive the price of all of it would be. Well made liquor could be easily sold and was worth its weight in gold.

‘Since its placed here, he must not know the taste of alcohol.’

Certain measures had to be taken in order to maintain high grade alcohol for long periods of time. The old fortress used to be famous for its alcohol, but now it has become the property of the mana spirit lich Bar Khan.

Alcohol was very sensitive to its environment so drinking it when its complete gave a tremendous impact. If you were an undead then there would be no use for alcohol, and even the ghost pirates at the ocean had only pretended to drink alcohol but none of the quantity had actually decreased. Furthermore, since Bar Khan was staying here then no normal undead would come here to drink.

‘That’s a lot of money.’

Weed kept a greedy eye on the stocked wine cellar as he was led through two large open doors to where Bar Khan was staying. Cold air surged throughout the room. Water had flowed underground and were being channeled through blackened rocks as it played a role in the altar. Bar Khan sat like a king in a very colorful chair. It was made of the highest quality materials but it had acquired a lot of dust on it, there was also a jeweled crown on his head and an eagle mounted on his staff. The place where he had been stabbed by the holy sword still pulsed with divine power.

“Death Knight, come closer.”

Bar Khan’s voice echoed throughout the room!

“My lord…”

Weed walked forwards politely and knelt down before Bar Khan. The Undead Legion had attacked Morata’s army with a bombardment undead that made him want to swear at him. However that would have to wait until another day.

As Bar Khan got up and started walking around, Weed looked at the various things around the room. There were history books on the Continent of Versailles that describe a bit about the fortress. It had existed in the Northern Province and was historically on the map. However it was now in a state where it was heavily damaged and almost collapsing, but the undead were not very much interested in that which is why they occupied it.

However, looking at the rooms and halls as well as how they connected to the stairs could be used as a reference to identify its structure. Thanks to his work and knowledge in sculpting, he could now perceive the building’s structure.

“I thank you Lord, for the honor of seeing you directly when all I did was do as you had ordered.”

Since Weed was considered an inferior Death Knight, he did not hesitate to suck up to him.

“I heard you took care of those annoying monsters.”

“What else would I have done? All is for the Lord.”

“The Undead Legion need more undead of you ability and talent but your body of a Death Knight is lacking so I will give you a new body.”

Bar Khan recited a spell. Weed could feel the sin bearing down on his chest and restricting his lungs but he remained still.

“You have returned to the world of the living. This dark, black, and corrupted world. The laws are such that darkness will never disappear so let us carve it into everyone. Undead Rise!”

Black smoke came out of Weed’s body and after awhile his physical features changed and became more muscular. His legs got longer and his arms thickened. He grew another 40 centimeters and had the large physique of a Barbarian.

Bar Khan has now used his undead summoning spell to change you into a Doom Knight

The Summon Undead Spell has increased all combat related spells by 15%.

You can now wear bone armor with excellent defense.

All Advanced Combat skills has increased by at least two levels.

Enemies attacked by a caster’s black magic will suffer eternal torment and will not stop screaming.

State has been changed to that of Doom Knight.

Now under Bar Khan’s direct command.

You now have direct command over many undead.

The ultimate combat undead was the Doom Knight. The only undead that was stronger was the Abyss Knights, born of despair. They were capable of hunting the absolute monsters known as dragons. That at least, was according to the legends of Bar Khan. However, Abyss Knights were not undead that could be summoned by a Necromancer but they had to be born from certain conditions being met. They had yet to exist and were only a legend on the Continent of Versailles.

“Defend the fortress. Fight against the Elven counterattack.”

The Elven Killer Blades Army

The Wood Elves and the Fairy Queen had launched a surprise attack on the Undead Legion. The arrows infused with spirit energy can completely destroy the undead. Prevent the Elven infiltration and show them the fear of the undead. Because of the status report, Bar Khan has provided twice as many undead than usual.

Difficulty: A

Quest Limit: Limited to the Undead.

Bar Khan had given him a quest!

Now he had direct command, so he had a larger amount of undead and the quality had increased as well. He was now capable of bringing and commanding the troops of the Undead Legion to participate in the war. This was not familiarity with skeleton soldiers and ghosts alone, but as a Death Knight he had shown great performance and that helped to gain him more ground.

‘I have to take care of the military here.’

Weed thought about killing Bar Khan instead of taking the Fairy Queen’s life. The slaughter of elves and dwarves would not help to fight Bar Khan. Rather he thought about rebelling against the Undead Legion. Weed decided to hunt down Bar Khan and his army.

“I don’t stand a chance outside.”

Whether or not Bar Khan has regained his strength, it did not change the fact that he was going to attack Morata. The question was how to get rid of Bar Khan now that he was in a position of power to receive help from the Undead Legion! It would be too difficult to defeat the Undead Legion outside of the fortress. But it would be impossible to hunt Bar Khan unless he took care of the undead. Weed would need to become an Abyss Knight if he wanted to take on Bar Khan, so he needed to get rid of Bar Khan’s hostile undead.

“Morata can’t dispatch any troops…”

Bar Khan was the lord of the undead forces and could always increase their numbers. Bar Khan would only rejoice if the fragile human army came to attack. That was also why he didn’t bring any sculptures of life.

“It would be as if I presented him with a full corse of food in a fancy restaurant, with season meat, beef, crab, abalone, salad, and soup!”

The risk of having all of his forces controlled by Bar Khan and assimilated into the undead army was too great. This would be even more dangerous for the sculptures of life to fight against Bar Khan’s undead forces.

“Then to hunt Bar Khan…”

Weed came outside after he had changed to a higher tier undead. He walked around the fortress to meet the other undead.

“Gelgelgel. We look forward to the Doom Knight that was created by Bar Khan.”

“There is nothing that can stop us now. Not even the elves.”

“Keulkeul. It has been a long time since humans have shown up.”

Watchmen and guards had been placed to determine if any troops were coming. 24 hours a day, the undead stood watch. He could take advantage of the fortress being very old. If it wasn’t a human watchman, then Weed could find a loophole.

“It’s possible to use a silent break in then a surprise attack.”

It would not be too hard to sneak in whenever they were changing the guards. There would be an opportunity to attack from the dungeon when Bar Khan was busy with the elves, barbarians, dwarves, and fairies.

Bar Khan had entrested him with the mission of leading the Undead Legion so he could now leave the fortress to hunt secretly. The fortress was swarming with undead and to defeat the Undead Legiion he needed to eliminate Bar Khan.

“There would need at least 100 more high levels to take him down.”

It would not be possible for Weed’s plan.

Then he heard the chat from the Wilderness Travelers Guild.

Sabrina: One more floor and then its time for the boss.

Edwin: This hidden dungeon is really tough. Anyways, its almost the end.

Pin: I want to finish resting.

Hermann: I hope I can find some good metal here…

Weed had joined the guild of the uncommon Wilderness Travelers that enjoyed hunting monsters. The Travelers Guild was small itself and eccentric but they all had high levels. They were a large combination of various jobs that hunted monsters together.

‘Boss Monster hunting…’

They were in a very influential party on a large scale hunt. He would not be able to get their help since they were hunting. Weed sent a whisper to Pale first.

> Pale nim, do you want to hunt?

> Of course, where are you?

The answer came back pretty quickly. They were worried about Weed since the Hermes Guild had killed him. Weed thought on the large scale of revenge so he had to be calm and paid attention to his friends.

> I’m at the place where the Undead Legion is.

> We’re going that way. Which monster do you want to hunt?

> Bar Khan…

> What? Then that monster…you mean the Lich Bar Khan?

Pale had heard about the Undead Legion that was being led by the immortal Bar Khan. Morata had fought against the first and second wave of invading undead.

Legendary Monster!

They were on a whole another level compared to the dungeon bosses that they usually fought.

> Is Bar Khan even a monster than humans can catch?

> That’s what we’re going to try now.

> What a minute. Geomchi nim is here as well.

After a short time, a whisper came from Geomchi3.

> Weed ya, I heard that you’re going after Bar Khan yea?

> Yes. I’m going to catch him.

> It’s funny that you didn’t contact us earlier.

Geomchi3 was confused as to why he had not asked him first.

> Are we going now?

> It’s too dangerous right now.

> The danger can’t be that bad. Are there lots of monsters?

> There are a lot of strong monsters. There’s also three dragons.

> A dragon? I can’t miss that.

> What about the other sahyungs?

> Wait, let me ask.

Geomchi3 asked Geomchi5 to tell the other 500 Geomchis if they agreed.

“I’m not going to miss out on catching Bar Khan.”

“…”

“Normally its dangerous. If something goes wrong then you die. Then there would be nothing left of you but bones. Do you want to die and become an undead? There’s also 3 dragons there.”

“…”

“You know the Undead Legion? There are a lot of strong undead that you are going to fight against.”

Geomchi’s body was itching to fight.

> So how are we going?

> I’ll be unable to take you myself. I’ll tell you the location through Pale nim.

> Okay.

Pale had good eyesight so he could show them the way. It was not as much as an adventurer that could look to the starts for navigation but he was experience with reading maps and could easily find where the Undead Legion was.

‘Sahyungs are coming here.’

The Geomchis could definitely break into the fortress just to fight with the undead.

Although the Undead Legion was strong, if the battle occurred on a narrow region instead of on a great plain then he could benefit greatly. The Sahyungs would come running anywhere to fight with Weed!

“I want priests and paladins…”

Having only Irene as the priest was not enough. Unfortunately the Wilderness Travelers Guild was currently monster hunting and he didn’t want to bring in anyone outside of Morata. Weed sent Mapan a whisper.

> I am going to try and hunt Bar Khan, are there any priests or paladins that can help?

He was asking Mapan since he was in Morata Square and was well acquainted with many people in his line of business.

> How many people and priests do you need?

> The more the better.

> I’ll contact you once I find out.

*****

Mapan was in the square and asked the priests that he was familiar with if they wanted to go hunt Bar Khan with Weed.

“Yes of course.”

“Where and when are you going?”

Users from the central continent had come because of Weed and wanted to go on quests and hunt.

‘Hunt Bar Khan you say? He must have some sort of plan.’

‘Bar Khan will kill you.’

‘That’s only because you’re thinking of Weed. We’re only going to be responsible for healing.’

Weed’s plan to hunt Bark Khan began to become more known.

“Since you’re a senior priest of Freya can I come too?”

“Nuna that’s not my choice to make.”

“So it’s 6 in the morning at the vineyards near the large tree.”

“Just go then.”

Mapan contacted the user priests that he was close to.

> Hyung, Weed nim is going to hunt Bar Khan…

> Then I want to go unconditionally. Morata’s Weed is the God of War. How can I not take this chance?

> If you decide to go then gather in the vineyard by morning. 6 is when we will leave.

> I’ll wait an hour for you to arrive.

The priests he called saw this as a very unique opportunity and he only chose the best people.

> Did you know that Weed nim is going to hunt Bar Khan?

> Really?

> We’re trying to recruit priests and paladins.

> My job is a Paladin. Even if its dangerous, can I come?

> Yes. Come with me.

Paladins began to spread the news around.

> Weed nim is going to go hunt the Undead and Bar Khan.

> I’m going to get ready.

He called only the people he knew, but in under an hour more than 200 people knew. News spread to the Grass Porridge Cult. The second largest group that reigned in Morata! There were over 800 thousand users in it now.

Although the majority of them are beginners, there were also high level users included that hunted and adventured in the north.

“Weed is going to hunt and he’s recruiting priests and paladins.”

“Perhaps people of our skill level may be helpful?”

The next day in Morata, in front of the vineyard was Pale’s party and the Geomchis, along with a large crowd of 330 priests and 223 paladins. Since Weed was so influential so the word of Bar Khan’s hunt spread quickly.

“Mapan nim, what do we do about this many people?”

“I do not know. I only called 14 of them…”

Senior priests and paladins from Morata had gathered to hunt Bar Khan. They frantically wanted to go hunt with Weed. Pale could only sigh.

“It would take too long to kick all these people out and it would look bad. We don’t want to be like the Hermes Guild.”

“Let’s go!”

The Geomchis, paladins, and the priests from Morata rode on cattle as they left. Their destination was the fortress of the Undead Legion.

*****

Weed went around the fortress looking around.

“There’s a lot of repairs going on!”

In places with a lot of monsters, the fortress had high thick walls. However there were places that were missing stones where people could hide in. Countless undead flocked to repair the walls.

“The Elves are going to attack…”

The undead were weaker during the day. The elves would show up and attack like the wind. The army of the Undead Legion was mobilized but they could not catch up to the elve’s mobility. If you continue to chase the elves then the dwarves and barbarians would ambush and wipe out the undead!

However, with Bar Khan’s dark magic they would only be revived and return to battle.

“I would hate to fight the elves.”

Weed thought of the elves as formidable opponents. Even if they were not high level, it would be hard to chase after an elf on horseback. They shoot arrows from their bows like a ghost and they were hard to hunt as they jump from branch to branch. The undead were much funner to fight even if they were difficult.

Elves and Fairies were highly aligned with nature so it was difficult to attack them.

“There is a better target to fight than daring to fight the elves.”

In his view, there was another target location that was closer and with better loot and experience.

“Wizards, Rangers, Knights, and Paladins was it? It’s time for some revenge.”

*****

Jyangwa, Otem, Helen, Golujda, and 30 other were complaining since they had decided to not join Hermes Guild.

“Go away from this canyon. Hunting is prohibited!”

They couldn’t do anything but watch as the wizards and rangers prepare to strike. Then the attack started and killed them all. They did not want to join the Hermes Guild and now they had felt the pain with their own bodies.

They had tried to recruit the necromancers but it was hardly ideal for them.

There were a total of 34 necromancers that were killed by the Hermes Guild. Before they had arrived, the necromancers had fought and raised their level and skills in the canyon.

“Damn it. Those filthy bastards.”

Otem spit out a complaint. The other necromancers felt the same.

“How can they do this to us?”

They had originally received a quest for the Undead Legion and they thought it was a good chance to increase their skills. The Hermes Guild had tried to get them to join after Weed had revealed who he was.

“There’s no point of joining the Hermes Guild since they wouldn’t even treat us as real members.”

Even if they joined the guild the situation would not change. Even if they were in a certain area, they would prevent them from hunting. The entire center of the continent could be considered the Hermes Guild. Those that were Necromancers were afraid at this time. Helen was fed up and said.

“I would have prefer that we died while fighting.”

They didn’t even get to kill anything and they were upset by the fact that they dropped items on death. They looked around the users in the valley.

“But what do you say? You want to go fight them?”

“Fight?”

“I want show them something that would make them shake in fear.”

They wanted to show that the Necromancer power was superior but they could not. It was like trying to break a rock with an egg, where they were the egg and the Hermes Guild was the rock. They were be ready to fight against the undead and there was no reason why they would not watch for their movements. The major disadvantage of the Necromancers is that it took time to summon undead. They needed a large number of corpses and they need to hunt a lot. Even if they attacked the Hermes Guild, it wouldn’t be noticeable and their death would be insignificant. Instead of causing any significant damage, they would likely not even care about it.

Marein just laughed and said.

“Just wait and we’ll be fine.”

They asked hopefully since he was relatively famous.

“Do you have a mission?”

“I’ll keep watching for good news.”

Many users suffered a number of different kinds of situations. There would be no one that would beat Weed in deception. An unmatched intolerant mind!

He had obviously not learned such things like reconciliation, forgiveness or tolerance from grade school. Weed was someone that never forgets no matter how long he had to wait and alway return his aggression back several fold.

Chapter 2: The Clash With the Hermes Guild

Weed organized the troops of the Undead Legion. The skeletons that were gathered on the ground below have heard about his reputation! With the glorious title of the Warrior Commander of the Undead Legion, gathering soldiers was an easy task. Weed went around the fortress speaking to the undead.

“Come with me.”

“Yes sir.”

Death Knights have joined.

“Let us go fight.”

“I have heard that Bar Khan has great confidence in you so I would like to play an active part in the fight.”

Doom Knights have joined.

“Stop playing around and let’s go fight.”

“I have been waiting.”

The Balkan Undead Knights have joined.

Since he had the status as Bar Khan’s direct subordinate, he could easily recruit the knights. He gathered as many Death Knights and Doom knights that he could. It was a very powerful force.

“I need to gather as much power from this place that I can. That way the chances of success are higher.”

Under his command, Weed expanded the number of undead troops he had available. The Necromancers and Doom Knights regularly summoned more undead. He was thinking of annoying the Hermes Guild with the undead. He was supposed to command the undead to fight against the Elven and Barbarian Alliance. Since he was acting contrary to his orders, his reputation with the Undead Legion would drop and their trust in him would be reduced.

“I need to hunt down Bar Khan anyways…”

He was thinking of betraying them later on. Weed organized a group of over 700 elite undead knights.

Aside from the main force, there were an assortment of low rank spectres and other undeads.

“I don’t think they have an unlimited number of arrows.”

Spectres were best to use once all the the wizards’ mana and the rangers’ arrows were depleted. Aside from magic, in order to deal damage against them they needed to buy a lot of silver, which was a limited resource. Weed had Intermediate Blacksmithing but it was not easy to find enough users in the Continent of Versailles with the skills to work with the material.

“They will never see the real purpose to the Blacksmithing skill.”

For people that had easy access to weapons there was no need to bother raising the Blacksmithing skill!

* * *

“Come!”

Weed took the undead troops and went to fight against the Knights, Wizards, and Rangers. Marein had expected that Weed would come back for revenge and it was true. Last time it had been a small battle skirmish, but now it was a full fledged war. Since leadership was encouraged in the Hermes Guild to some degree, Palon and his men had readied a defense on a favorable hillside.

“He’s charging this way to us with the undead.”

“There are Death Knights, Doom Knights, and others. There is a formidable amount of power in his forces.”

“There is a significant number of knights than I can count. I have never seen so many knights before in a army.”

The Hermes Guild had a much different outlook on the situation. Weed had come rushing back, impatient and angry, which meant that they could kill him once more…

Looking at it as nothing more than a game, the users of the Hermes Guild thought themselves to be in a fortunate position.

“Even if the undead knights come, then we will just break their forces with arrows and magic.”

“They have come into our attack range!”

The users wet their dry mouths in anticipation of the undead advance. They would show their might by covering the sky in arrows and magic attacks. Magic had a great power and a large enough attack would mean the difference between victory and defeat in combat. Weed knew about how troublesome it was since a lot of the high ranking Doom Knights were nervous.

“Fire!”

Once in range, the rangers drew their bows. The wizards hurled magic accordingly. Silver arrows and fireballs came flying through the sky towards the group of undead. Weed had commanded his minions to charge through the barrage of attacks.

“Fall back.”

Weed then quickly backed out with the undead. Since most of the group was made of knights and spectres, their mobility was strong. The area was blown apart by magic and the ground became littered with silver arrows but most of the undead did not die since they were out of range. Weed stopped the undead outside of the strong attack and waited. Then he spread out his undead troops and began to march on them again.

“Get ready to attack again. Fire!”

The Rangers and Wizards had to distribute their attack over a larger area now.

“Rangers target the center, Mages should focus on attacking the left and right sides.”

The armed troops’ concentrated power was very strong but now the damage had to be spread out evenly.

Their firepower was terrifying so Weed would back out with the undead whenever the time was right. Since the damage had spread out evenly and with the undead regeneration speed, only about 90 undead were injured.

“Uwaaa!”

“Do not let the undead come close!”

The morale of the wizards and the rangers increased. If the enemy came closer then they would cause significantly more damage. Even with the fast mobility of the undead knights, once they entered attack range they were focused upon and struck down with several attacks. This way, a similar situation repeated itself four times. Weed was using the Undead attacks to consume all of the Rangers’ silver. The Undead Legion was not budging even though they were being attacked with a modest amount of silver. Thanks to Bar Khan’s Death Aura skill, the undead had high resistance to magical attacks and faster health regen.

“We got a lot. Be sure to collect all of it.”

Weed had the spectres go around and bring in the silver into a stack so he could sell it. He was going to supplement the loot that he had lost with the silver.

“Lullulu.”

He was humming a happy tune because of the silver.

“If the fight continues in this way, then I think I’ll be able to collect tens of thousands of gold.”

It didn’t matter to him if the undead died.

* * *

The next day Weed came back after he recruited more undead. There was little difference in the futile battle and the undead lost a lot of their units. Unfortunately the moral of the undead dropped frequently. By luck the enemy would always have slightly greater attack power. Weed found this to be inevitable. The amount of time that was spent looking around the citadel for good knights increased.

“It’s that fledgling Doom Knight. Without us the undead cannot hope to get any great achievements.”

The dragons saw him as ridiculous. They felt their lives were more valuable than the rest. Pollon and the Hermes Guild had been staying on that hill for the last day. It was a very defensive location where they had good mobility. Their objective was to murder Weed. If that was not possible, then their goal was to interfere as much as possible with Weed’s success rate with his quest.

“Today he came back with more undead.”

Since they had spent most of their silver arrows on the first day, the attitude of Pollon and the Hermes Guild users had changed.

“Use arrows. Hit them with magic and wipe out those knights!”

Today they decided to change their tactic to use their mana for magic while using enchanted arrows to stop the charging knights. Divine magic was the natural enemy of the undead knights. Blessings, Protection, Magic, Recovery. The four groups of divine magic began to hunt down the undead knights. They had confidence in their power to kill Weed and win.

“Attack!”

“Trample them all!”

This was the proof of the bravery of the the Kingdom of Haven’s Knights! The Knights refused to stop their advance even after being hit 10 times. The power of the magical groups that backed the knights could not be ignored. They were known as the 10 best knights that they had. Their level exceeded 380 and they were fully equipped with the best items. While mounted, the knights had twice as much power. The Knights were known to have amazing speed and destructive force to destroy their enemy.

“Weed is only one person and compared to the rest of the undead he is slow. Charge and wipe them out!”

“Uwaaa!”

The Knights’ charge was very intimidating for Weed. However, he was not going to let them chase him on horseback

“I have to win this fight.”

Weed ordered the Doom knights to assault the Knight Templars. The power of the undead that he had brought with him from the fortress was significant. The Knights of the Central Continent were known to shrug off magic and arrows to some degree and have won every fight. However, there were over 9800 undead among them were many Death Knights. When a fight broke out, they had more than enough power to inflict damages.

“The Knights are to focus on attacking and killing only one person. The goal is at the far end away from their knights. Do not care about the other foes and only head towards the goal.”

“Yes, as you command.”

Weed fell back. He used his ability to manage the undead as well as he could. Weed did not stay behind to let them rain magic down on him and busied himself with commanding the undead that were rapidly collapsing. There had been 27 Knights that were killed in that battle. This was thanks to Weed who had commanded the knights strictly through the arrows and magic. Due to the characteristics of the Knight class, it was difficult for them to help their allies that have fallen during the charge. During the fight, he had minimized the damage taken and the magical explosions did little to the undead as it fell, since the Death Knights continued to advance.

“The profits are alright.”

He had a lot of weapons and armors that the knights were equipped with. It was like in an elementary school where the teacher scolded the child and not the snitch!

“The human have us at our physical limits. I cannot help but think what the honorable Bar Khan will say when he finds out. Do not let the humans leave this fight. Go to battle.”

At that moment, he used Yell to command all the undead that he had gathered from the fortress.

“This, these humans must be eliminated.”

“I fight for Bar Khan.”

The Death Knights and the Doom Knights continued to rise to fight.

Pollon’s unit wiped them out again. However Weed did suffer some losses. From the consecutive defeats, his reputation with the Undead Legion’s had deteriorated considerably.

“I heard that the undead unit had to return again.”

“I hear that there’s an incompetent Doom Knight. He’s not reliable enough to take care of some humans. He must have no pride.”

Weed was not handling the undead forces delicately. He simply came back and collected more undead. The original task of hunting down the elves and dwarves would have been nice if Bar Khan or the dragons had come along. The excitement of being known as a dragon knight. There never had been such an entity on the Continent of Versailles. Leading the undead army, with a dragon to burn down human villages would have been exciting and aggressive!

“It would have been nice if we weren’t so close to Morata…”

Unfortunately the closest large city was Morata. However, all of it would become useless once he betrayed Bar Khan. He properly utilized the undead for this purpose. Once they had scrambled the Knights, they had no longer bothered to fire silver or magic.

“Thankfully there’s a lot of silver. The skeletons I summoned were beaten! Such a waste of mana. They couldn’t manage to killed one or two knights before they died.”

For trying to fail his quest, Weed was paying back their cowardice back a hundredfold!

One Silver Arrow, two Silver Arrows, he was collecting them to make silver bullions. Weed laughed as the silver continued to pile up.

“Keulkeulkeul. This is the best hunting ground.”

Pollon and the Hermes Guild could not manage to kill Weed.

“We can’t make any mistakes when it comes to catching him…he ran away the very moment I saw him.”

“We need to take advantage of the rangers’ and mages’ attack range. To take him down we need to move into another formation.”

Weed only watched the undead battle from the back and then returned to the Undead Legion camp. Weed’s only goal was to get more knights. Pollon led the vanguard but he could not stop the undead from leaving. Every time they were left with less knights and Weed only came back with more undead. It was having a cheaper lunch than your friends in preschool!

“Keulkeulkeulkeul.”

Weed provoked them by having a wagon filled with the silver dragged along by skeletons. They deliberately slowed the pace of the undead to gather silver. Sometimes they would be dancing or walking backwards. Compared to a villain that showed up on TV and movies, Weed was the worst. Still they continued to watch Weed on the TV and supported him.

“This is a bad situation.”

As the battle continued, Pollon’s forces began to accumulate damages. The knights were all high level and very experienced players but there were still damages. Since there were more NPCs than user, their size had reduced considerably. Even a lot of Pollon’s valued knights were gone.

“Our job is to hunt him so a surprise attack would be better.”

Pollon: It does not make sense to stay here. Weed will not allow us to kill him in this situation and will retreat if we try.

Pollon opened the communication channel with the Hermes Guild leaders. He was calling for immediate aid from the magical division. Without commands they were not allowed to make a move.

Rafael: Controlling your area is important. They had already recruited the necromancers and there are many people watching the battle on TV. How are you incapable of killing Weed? Do not move your unit until you succeed.

Pollon: We are in plain sight. Even with magic and arrows we only have so much range. There is no benefit to this order. We do not have a large enough force for that.

Rafael: I command you to stay. Continue to interfere with Weed’s quest.

The Hermes Guild no longer cared about stopping with Weed’s quest. It was enough for the guild leaders to hold Weed in place.

* * *

“It’s strange that they’re not avoiding battles.”

Weed continued to attack Pollon’s Hermes Guild unit with the undead relentlessly. Meanwhile Pale’s party and the Geomchis had arrived from Morata to hunt Bar Khan. When they heard news of the endless battle they came riding their bulls.

“Keoheom, so we’re here now.”

Geomchi3 descended from his bull and looked at Pollon’s unit of archers.

“It’s still not over yet?”

“Sahyung, that must be our share that’s left behind.”

Pollon had suffered a lot of damage since he was only focusing on defense. They had used magic and arrows to attack the undead as they came closer but they suffered a lot of damage from the undead as the fight went on. Their total of 200 knights had now decreased to 127.

Out of the one thousand mage and archers, they only and 130 left intact. Comparably, Weed’s Undead Legion was not badly injured while 73 of Pallon’s units were in bad condition. The very same Knight units from the Kingdom of Haven that could occupy a castle were now in such a state. Geomchi got off of his bull and took out the food ingredients.

“Weed, I’m starving. I want to eat some grilled meat.”

Delicious, quick to eat grilled meat. The Geomchis had brought food over from Morata in order to eat. It did not matter if they wanted to eat rice in the middle of the fight with the Hermes Guild! Weed made some marinade for the meat as the Geomchis handed over their weapons and armor.

“It’s a bit worn out.”

“I just came back from the ocean. Can you fix it?”

The Geomchis took off their black armor that had less than 20 durability points left.

“It will not be that difficult since its not completely broken.”

Weed repaired the equipment to maximum durability and set a whetstone on the floor.

“Hello. You look good as a Doom Knight.”

“Long time no see, I’m Belotte.”

Pale cautiously made his way around Pollon’s camp to scout and returned.

“Euheum, the rangers of the Hermes Guild…they’re not going to be that challenging. By the way, Maylon is on today.”

“At such a time?”

“Let me see if its time yet”

Maylon was busy everyday so she decided to take a vacation for this major battle to go hunt Bar Khan. The priest and paladins from Morata watched as Weed, that they looked up to and admired, carried on in ordinary conversation with his friends.

“At such a time…! In front of such a large battle, how can they be so relaxed.’

‘Are they not scared of the Hermes Guild?’

Weed worked the whetstone as the paladins and priests came by to say their hellos.

“Hello.”

“Nice to meet you Weed.”

High level priests and paladins! They could not read the expression on Doom Knight’s Weed’s face. Weed began to contemplate his possibilities with the priests and paladins.

“Do you have everything you need?”

“Yes?”

“Would you like to have a bargain?”

Inside his backpack were all sorts of japtem and rusty weapons such as maces for priests to use. For priests, it had many divine stats that would help them in the fight against the undead. Weed had used the undead to keep fighting against Pollon’s Hermes Guild unit regularly.

“Who are they?”

“Weed’s colleagues?”

“I don’t know why they came here. Surely they’re not here to help Weed attack us?”

From the report that they had on Weed, he mostly moved alone and only had a few friends. However there were more than 1000 priests and paladins with the Geomchis that have arrived. Weed was not the type to ask for help in a personal fight. There was no way that Pollon had thought that he had called them from Morata to hunt down Bar Khan.

“I’m in trouble.”

Pollon and the users of the Hermes Guild could not believe it.

* * *

Every board associated with Royal Road had topics about Weed and the Hermes Guild Battle.

- The shining star known as Weed has descended.

- Isn’t the Hermes Guild the strongest guild on the Continent of Versailles?”

Time after time, Weed appeared before Pollon’s unit. Public opinion began to change.

- Weed’s true ability.

- Hermes Guild finally meets their match.

- Pollon’s prided magic, ranged, and knights group are going to fall to the undead.

- Is there really a limit to Weed’s leadership skills?

In more ways than one it was an urgent concern. The number of users that cheered for Weed was overwhelming. Broadcasters were forced to side with Weed in every battle. Just by doing that their ratings would increase 2-3 times more than usual! The broadcasters had smiles hanging from their faces.

“They just keep fighting all day.”

“Quickly finish the advertising…people want to get back to the broadcast.”

More people began to hope that the undead defeat Pollon’s unit. Every time a Hermes Guild unit died, then the audience had a heated reaction.

Weed’s reinforcements had arrived. They had a large amount of priests and paladins for healing combined with blessing and other abilities that were crucial to a prolonged war. The hosts of the stations covered this pivotal point live.

“Even if the Hermes Guild is high level, we can not ignore the fact that the priest and paladins are wearing the professional equipment.”

“Their equipment looks a bit worn out. Will this make a difference to the battle?”

“Undead and divine power will conflict with each other so it will be difficult for Weed. Could it be that the Hermes Guild holds the advantage?”

“The result will be seen from the fighting. Out of the two sides, the Hermes Guild is expected to win.”

“The undead are comprised of non user units so Weed will not retreat anymore.”

Each station had a different perspective. Most of them thought that Pollon’s unit was higher level and thus had the advantage.

* * *

The priests and paladins from Morata had a meeting.

“Are we going to fight?”

“I thought we were only going to hunt Bar Khan…”

The prestige of the Hermes Guild was more horrible than a legendary monster. It would result in immediate retaliation and then they would get in trouble with the Hermes Guild. It would be difficult for them to fight a guild of a large kingdom.

“But I like Weed’s adventures. We came here to hunt Bar Khan anyways.”

“Yea, we should fight anyways. I never like them anyways.”

Most paladins started out in the central continent so they knew better than anyone about the power of the Hermes Guild. Of course when they decided to follow Weed they never thought they would fight the Hermes Guild. The Hermes Guild was known for its cruelty.

“We’re already here so the Hermes Guild won’t leave us alone.”

“It would be better for us to participate in battle than for us to be alone. We should fight together.”

The priests and paladins made their decision to Weed.

“We will fight here.”

The users had made their resolution to Weed. In the inspiring atmosphere like that of a movie, Weed shook his head.

“It will be difficult.”

“It’s fine. We understand what it is like to be the ones at a disadvantage, especially if its from the Hermes Guild…”

“They’re mine.”

“What?”

“I will not concede their executions. You came late so you are not eligible.”

Weed left the priests and paladins and headed back. He shamelessly was not going to share with them. It was the same as not sending a wedding invitation to a friend that you have lost contact with for over 5 years. The Geomchis were blessed by Irene and headed over from the priests and paladins. The volunteers that came to help Weed went to an emergency meeting.

Taleukin: The armor that they’re wearing is quite expensive. It’s at least level 200.

They were analyzing the Hermes Guild as they were watching the video. KMC Media as well as other broadcasting station began live coverage the instant they found the out the information from the weapon merchants and blacksmiths of the Hermes Guild.

Pollon: Ignore it then. Their level is around 200 so their magic resistance is weak and we can just sweep them with magic.

Taleukin: That’s not what I mean. You need to understand…they are definitely wearing lower level gear. However it is significantly worn out.

Compared to the nice armor of the knights, the Geomchis looked incomparable to it. Several parts were considerably worn down or broken. It went to question how long they had been using that armor.

Pollon: Level 320 then?

Taleukin: It looks like it has high strength and agility restrictions for level 320 but their sword looks even more. At least level 350.

Weed had raised his stats through sculpting while the Geomchis had raised their through intrepid hunting and physical training. Except for special cases, that stats of most of the Geomchis were comparable to at least level 350.

Pollon: Level 350, to think they could get this kind of force.

They were only judging the Geomchis by their looks. They could easily been seen as high levels. It looked as if Weed would get more reinforcements. Even going against the ranger and mage unit had not been easy but now the power balance was tipped.

Pollon: It will be very difficult to continue to be stationed here. Please give new command from the guild.

Pollon’s orders had been to interfere with Weed’s quest by attacking him. However they had not known that their safety would be jeopardized.

Rafael: Okay. Are you thinking of moving?

Pollon: That’s what I’m thinking. Since they have poor mobility I was thinking of using magic to defeat them.

Rafael: Do you think you can win? We can not send more troops since that would mean that the Hermes Guild was having a difficult battle.

Pollon: That’s what the fight seems like. But that will be to our advantage…

Pollon believed that the priests and paladins would not help Weed so it would be an easy battle.

Pollon: Attempt to get the Necromancers’ cooperation with the Hermes Guild. If they help then we will have a significant power. They can help without having priests to waste mana on them.

Rafael: Magic and Ranged Unit with Undead…Not bad. It is allowed.

Pollon thought that if he beat Weed then the Necromancers would join the Hermes Guild to avoid hostilities. Since that was Pollon’s intention, Rafael accepted. The fight was going live on every station! They hurriedly contacted the Necromancers to come. The battle had slowed down quite a bit but that was because the Geomchis were grilling ribs to eat. Many viewers and users waited for the battle to start.

Chapter 3: An Estimate More Terrifying than Life.

“Time to see if it’s done.”

The Geomchis began to fight over eating the roasted meat and soup. They were happy spending every day waking up, eating, sleeping, and fighting. Pollon took this time to ask the Hermes Guild to recruit the Necromancers reinforcements. Weed refused the help of the priests and paladins because the Geomchis and the Undead Army would be enough to go up against Pollon.

“Just the sahyungs will be enough.”

The Geomchis could fight anywhere on the continent of Versailles. The Geomchis were people who would jump into a dragon breath attack out of their own free will. So he took care of the grilling for them.

“Can you win? You’re not going against a dragon but the Hermes Guild…”

“It would be better to run away and fight against the undead. Even with the undead, what are you going to do if they get help from the Necromancers?”

The paladins were anxiously waiting. They had come to hunt Bar Khan. They believed in Weed but ever since they saw the Geomchis accompanying them, all that they seen them do was eat and sleep.

That was because they were all proud high level users with good skill levels and equipment. Only after the battle would they know the true value of the Geomchis. Weed stood by his plan.

“The undead…there is more than enough of them left.”

Until now he had only fought and retreated, but now it was time to conduct battle.

Weed began to prepare for the battle once more.

“Back in that temple, my levels, skill proficiency, and my japtem…”

Deeply rooted resentment for the Hermes Guild! Murray was secretly returning along the trail with the items.

“Let’s start the fight.”

Ttagak. Ttagak. Ttagak.

As Weed gave his command, the Death Knight and Doom Knight horses began to move accordingly. Thanks to his items, he had regained the authority to command and control the undead. Geomchi5 asked.

“How are we going to fight?”

Weed said that anyway was fine.

“Sahyungs can fight anywhere you want. You still need to be careful of magic and arrows though.”

“Then there is no need to worry. We’ve recently learned a new skill that lets us change the trajectory of arrows.”

Weed got onto horseback as the undead began to approach Pollon’s camp area. Pollon’s unit of knights, mages, and rangers were mainly composed of users so they looked at Weed, Geomchis, and the undead lightly.

“Looks like the paladins and priests are not going to move.”

“If they’re not joining the fight then this will be easy.”

The power of a priests was in high demand for victory. The Hermes Guild wanted to use their battle to show their capabilities against Necromancers. They decided to change their tactics against Weed’s undead since the Geomchis were there now. This time the fight was starting for real. One of Pollon’s knights came forward alone on horseback.

“I am one of the Knights of the Crescent. Is there anyone that would fight me!”

The Crescent Knight has requested a duel. Would you like to accept the duel?

The winner of the duel will receive fame and boost morale.

If the duel is rejected then morale will decrease.

Instead of full-scale combat the knights wanted one on one fights. The Crescent Knights had noticed that there were not many users on Weed’s side. This was their chance to kill Weed again. It would be a great honor for the knight users to cross swords with Weed.

“I’m coming out!”

Geomchi350 went to the sword match riding his bull.

Both sides of the duel have been established.

After the duel you can move into full-scale war.

The opponent must be killed in battle. Otherwise the loser will be branded a coward and the loyalty of soldiers will be reduced greatly.

Weed and the Geomchis decided to relax and enjoy the show. In Royal Road, Geomchi350 had a high level and skill proficiency. There was only one thing they needed to worry about.

“One month of cleaning the toilet.”

“Five thousand practice strikes a day.”

Cruel punishment was awaiting them!

The match was between the knight and his horse against Geomchi350 and his significantly bigger bull. He was trying to grasp the opponent’s movements! He watched the enemy’s breath in and out roughly. Then almost simultaneously, they rushed forwards with their bull and horse.

“Come on!”

Puhihihing!

“Let’s go.”

Eummeoeoeoeoeo!

They charged at each other and Geomchi350 lightly raised his sword from its scabbard. Knight jousting duels were very dangerous. Defense did not matter since the attack that was coming had a lot of weight on it. Since they were running in the one direction, they could only rush towards each other so usually a duel on horseback was decided instantly. Right as they passed each other, the knight fell onto the ground and died.

Ally has won the duel.

Fame, morale, and loyalty has increased.

“…”

Pollon’s camp was dead quiet. There was no shouts of victory from Weed’s side either.

“Guess he’s not going to clean the toilets.”

“I was going to have him wash the dishes…”

They had no signs of surprise from the victory. In Royal Road, Geomchi350′s talent for the sword had blossomed. It was better to hunt monsters and raise their sword skill level than it was to just simply train.

The Geomchi had just defeated a level 380 Crescent Knight as if it was completely natural. From their breathing and slight movements of the eyes and shoulders they could tell where the enemy was going to attack and precisely respond to it.

“I’ll fight until your cowardly leader comes forth.”

Geomchi350 shouted to Pollon to come forwards into the match. He had gotten stronger motivation since it was going to be broadcasted.

‘My little brothers will see me.’

His little brothers were also big fans of Royal Road.

He wanted his family to think of him in a better light.

“My name is Balmer! I will take you down a notch.”

“Necker is my name. You will have the glory of me killing you!”

Geomchi350 took on four more challenges in a row and won all of them. It ended with either the death of the users or his horse. Three people had died and two others were dying and the Crescent Knights could still not come out the winner.

Pollon had not said anything about the duels instead of a full-scale battle since he did not think they would beat his knights. Now they had lost a considerable amount of power and the Crescent Knights were dead while the others were not going to fight in the duels.

The other side has given up on the duel.

All allies have maximum morale at the start of the battle.

Geomchi350 received charisma, fighting spirit, strength, agility, and other various stats as well as increase in his sword mastery and a lot of fame. Pollon exclaimed anxiously.

“Now is the time to fight! March against the undead!”

It was not a good start but now the real battle had finally taken place. They were trying to fight against the undead using only rangers and wizards.

He deployed the mages and rangers in the back with him against the undead.

Weed used his yell.

“All undead listen!”

Pollon and the rest of the users from the Hermes Guild guessed that Weed was going to use all of the undead from the Immortal Legion to fight. But then he struck a blow to them.

“The Necromancers are not on our side. Should you fall in combat only answer to my call.”

The Geomchis were very high level but they were all melee classes. If any of their bodies fell into the hands of the Hermes Guild necromancers then the situation would become more favorable for them.

“As an undead of Bar Khan, you must honor the name of the father that summoned you!”

Weed’s Lion Roar swept across the entire camp.

At this point, the Hermes Guild began to fell a little uneasy. They did not want the situation to turn into its worst.

“To fight against me would be to deny your existence as undead and as well as Bar Khan. Darkness rules the laws of the legion. You have made me your enemy. Fight for Bar Khan. Kill them!”

Yell has been used.

Yell has increased the morale of all friendly units within range by 200%.

All confusion has been removed.

For 5 minutes, leadership will be applied at 285%.

Weed was using his status as an undead directly under Bar Khan! It was a status that was well above any necromancer. In the range of Bar Khan’s Death Aura, any undead will be affected by his power and influence. Weed used his leadership to abuse that power and loyalty. The Death Knights were first.

“Bar Khan’s commands are to be followed.”

“We can not go against our respectable lord Bar Khan that grants us eternal life.”

The Necromancers tried to summon Undead troops, but at Weed’s words they began to attack the rangers and wizards.

“What is this? It looks like the undead are crazy!”

“Weren’t these summoned by the Necromancers!”

Rangers had to use bows so at close range it was difficult for them to fight since they had weak defense. Various explosions came out to prevent the undead attack. However they weren’t doing much better. Wizards had high attack power with their magic but it took a long time and they had low health and defense. By raising their wisdom, they had the side effect of having low strength and power. These classes received the undead attacks and died instantly.

Pollon could not tell what was happening amidst the explosions from magical attacks and the death of the mages..

“The summoned undead are not listening.”

“This is crazy! How could his words change the summons?”

“This is Bar Khan’s area and his power keeps the undead on his side.”

In order to stop the undead, the Crescent Knights rushed in.

A wizard’s magic was very valuable and even a single person was a big loss.

“Undead forces, advance forwards!”

Weed showed the force of the Death Knights and Doom Knights. It was a race against time. They planned to submerge the enemy in chaos and attack before they could reorganize.

“You need to eat it as soon as it is ripe. Take this chance to strike a blow.”

He realized that it was difficult to pass this up. There was nothing as wasteful as finding food in the refrigerator that had long passed its expiration date. The undead knights charged at the enemy with full speed. Pollon’s side had very little fighting experience and could not respond quickly to Weed’s actions.

As the fight continued, they quickly chose to abandon their defensive formation. The troops were caught in a bad position and could were not working at maximum efficiency. Pollon ordered his troops.

“Knights, defend the mages from the undead. Rangers use your arrows to shoot down the undead troops. Follow the commands that I have given.”

Weed had fought many enemy that were stronger than himself and was able to use this experience to accomplish his goals. All the units were given clear duties and he used them to produce results. He had learned about how Pollon fought and was managing his troops accordingly.

“About this much.”

Weed watched and made estimations as the undead picked off the Pollon’s rangers and mages. The Sahyungs were suited to this kind of work in Royal Road! When the Crescent Knights were not being mobilized for war, they were usually being used to commit atrocious raids on merchants. They were various high level, notorious murderers that maintained their marks.

Even when they joined the Kingdom of Haven, the murderer mark still had side effects so they would drop a lot of items on death. They may even drop their expensive full plate armor.

“I might be able to get Yurin and Grandma winter coats…its also good to start depositing into a bank.”

Weed was going to establish a savings account.

*****

KMC Media as well as other game stations kept receiving higher viewership.

Game broadcast audience has reached over 80%!

More than half the stations were broadcasting the battle.

It was hard to find a user on Royal Road that did not know about the fight!

It was the hot topic for the day. Many viewers had expected a battle between Weed and the Hermes Guild, so they had been waiting. The advertisers had made reservations for satisfactory advertising. The undead under Weed’s command broke down the formation and inflicted damages.

Before the battles did not take very long but now Pollon and his units seemed to be bewildered. They failed to stop the Geomchis overwhelming assault with their forces. It was one of the best scenes.

“Let’s kill them fast so we can get our bowl of soup.”

“Shall we use the new skill that we learned? Bungeomsul!”

“Those that live get to eat and those that die don’t. Do your best.”

The Crescent Knights fought with valor but were relentlessly crushed when they were caught by the Geomchis. The knights were completely overwhelmed by the Geomchis frontal attack.

The situation was chaotic and their combat capability came as a big shock to the Crescent Knight.

“Why are these guys so weak.”

“The King Squid we killed before was harder.”

“Compared to when we were fighting in the sea, this is like fighting a camel.”

The viewers were surprised to see the Crescent Knights fall to the sword masters. Within minutes, the Geomchis had killed two of four of them each. They were very experience in fighting large crowds without skills since their wisdom and knowledge were very low. Nevertheless, the knights could not get into formation with the rate that they were falling.

They were lucky that the knights were collapsing quickly because they had low skill proficiencies. The average level of the Geomchis were not that far behind that Crescent Knights and they also had much higher sword skills, fighting spirit, and combat experience. They were people who roamed the most hellish of places looking for strong monsters and fighters! Weed played an integral part as well.

“That piece of armor!”

Without hesitation, he picked out the high level knights from the group.

“Heraim Fencing!”

He was not fighting all alone. Thanks to the Geomchis, he didn’t need to pay so much attention to defense since he was not alone.

“You’re making me wait to eat!”

As if they were born to fight, they cut their way through the Crescent Knights. Due to Bar Khan’s magic, Weed and his horse were very quick and ferocious. It would not be joking to say that he looked like a monster. He looked as if he was a strong warrior that was accustomed to the battlefield. The appearance of the unstoppable Doom Knight was engraved into the eyes of the audience. He overwhelmingly dominated over the knights.

Weed took his time while checking on the undead army.

After finishing off the Crescent Knights, the Geomchis went to attack the rangers which would soon end the battle. Historically, wizards and rangers had great strength when used together but they were eliminated instantly before they could do anything. It was a one-sided slaughter and Weed made it look easy!

Pollon thought the sanctuary would be useful against the undead, but the Geomchis were human. They could not hope to think that such an opponent as the Geomchis as they headed towards the wizards, rangers, and necromancers. Pollon’s units tried to fight the Geomchis, but they were only killed by the Geomchis.

There were a lot of people who were used to killing and fighting, so they were not scared to die. However, the Geomchis were not opponents they could fight against even if they flocked together. No matter how high level Pollon could get, it would not be enough to last in a duel or a battle against the Geomchis.

“This is the cost of cleaning and washing the dishes.”

“There’s also a lot of laundry that’s piled up, sahyung.”

Weed charged the Geomchis after the battle as he began to roast the horse meat. The broadcasters and viewers of Royal Road began to post comments on the board.

- That was pretty amazing.

- This is one of the coolest things I’ve seen this week.

- Ever since my boss screwed me over and forced me to quit, I’ve been depressed. However, now I’m excited for once.

- I’ve been getting shivers every time I remember what happened on TV.

Several people were saying all sorts of things as they watched on the stations. There were countless requests to the stations to rerun the edited version of the battle several times throughout the day. Since the atrocities of the Hermes Guild and other prestigious guilds were well-known, more viewers began to side with Weed.

*****

The President Jeong regularly receives reports on his daughter Seoyoon’s health.

“She still isn’t talking much but luckily she’s adapting quickly and it won’t be long.”

It pleased him to hear that Seoyoon was recovering and having a social life.

“But she’s getting a little close to the young Hyun man…”

President Jeong heard from the guards that they even travel home together. Since he was trying to be a good parent, he didn’t want Seoyoon’s heart to be broken again. Aside from being a good father to his only daughter, to his business and community he was a cold-blooded man.

“I would have prefered if it was a man with a good status, but isn’t he only an ordinary person?

Doctor Cha Eun Hee looked through and put down some papers that were about Seoyoon on the desk.

“As you know, Seoyoon has recently stabilized her psychological state but if you force anything then it would be difficult to tell what will happen.”

“I am aware that it’s the top priority to not hurt my little baby’s heart.”

However, President Jeong could not just sit around and do nothing.

“I am aware that you are concerned. How about you introduce a good man to her?”

“Is that so?”

“President, you can tell him to go to a place where he could run into Seoyoon.”

“So a place that she goes to often. Good!”

So it was about trying to force a meeting and getting Seoyoon to talk.

‘The eldest son of the H group has been doing well lately.’

President Jeong and the H Group had a close business relationship and the males were known to have a meticulous nature to take good care of woman.

‘A guy that’s good enough for Seoyoon.”

Cha Eun Hee could only smile and laugh.

“It’s not going to be so easy to change Seoyoon’s mind…”

She didn’t know the secret as to why Hyun was good enough, but Seoyoon would smile brightly and laugh when she was with him. Seoyoon was able to laugh. It was an appearance that Seoyoon rarely showed, and only to Lee Hyun.

“But right now their relationship is too awkward.”

Quite a lot of time had passed since they had first met. Normally, they would be holding hands or even walking arm in arm by now.

“Both of them must be unfamiliar with love but with a slight stimulation it should progress further right?”

*****

Pollon’s unit of knights and rangers were completely defeated and only about 25 people barely managed to escape. Their group of wizards and necromancers did not live and were completely defeated and annihilated. With the Geomchis and Pale’s party they achieved an overwhelming victory that would have usually been impossible.

“Well, now its time to hunt Bar Khan.”

The only thing left to do now was to hunt the undead lord Bar Khan. Even after being weakened by being stabbed in the chest with the holy blade, he was still a legendary monster. Now that he had finished his revenge, it was now time for him to use the paladins and priests from Morata to stage a large-scale hunt. Weed was going to encourage the priests and paladins when he heard a noise.

“Oh, that was a really cool fight.”

“Did you see how they ran? I wish I could change directions while running during a fight.”

“They’re so strong.”

Thanks to his sword fighting as a Doom Knight, he received praise and admiration. He wanted them to continue with their praise! He could flick his hair aside if he had any but unfortunately he had a bald skull.

‘Keuheum. Heraim Fencing performs consecutive hits and it also looks elegant when used. It doesn’t hurt to have a few deserving moments of praise.’

They did not know how to describe how the fight had gone and how powerful it was.

“Wasn’t oppa really handsome back there?”

“It was really cool fight. Each of the remaining units were killed in a single hit, one after another…”

Right then, Weed was getting more attention from the female priests then Zephyr. Zephyr stretched out with a yawn since he was finally alone.

“That’s a really cool jaw isn’t it?”

“Yea it is…I think so as well.”

“Should we go register friends?”

It was a little embarrassing for Weed to hear praise from the women for quite some time.

‘What men…to fight like they did.’

That was the focus that was held by the male paladins.

“Geomchi nims…to fight like that so freely. I want to fight like that.”

“Also there was a very beautiful dancer wasn’t there?

“A dance during an iron battle, so amazing that I can’t take my eyes off of it. The knights fell one after one during that dance.”

“There was also a very pretty girl. Her voice was very sweet.”

The Geomchis, Hwaryung, and Bellotte received a lot of attention from the paladins. They had heard a lot of stories about Weed but they were surprised to see his friends. Weed laughed in relief as he watched.

From the battle he had gotten four magic robes for wizards, a full plate armor, rings, bracelets, boots, necklaces, ranger armor, and other equipment. There were also an assortment of japtem and gold, silver, and copper. The Geomchis got a bunch of high level equipment, swords, armor, and money.

“I don’t need to worry about heating costs this winter.”

This was the reason behind his peace of mind.

*****

Weed began his work to prepare to hunt Bar Khan.

“Sahyungs, give me the swords and armor that you got from the fight. Those that came to fight the undead please entrust me with your equipment briefly.”

The Geomchis got powerful weapons by dissolving the undead equipment. The thick armor of the knights were not suitable for swords but with a small amount of mithril mixed into it they could create a composite sword. However, after they fought the undead they would need to dissolve it again and it would decrease the sword’s power. Weed used his blacksmith skills to create a generic sword to solve the problem.

“Are you going to make the sword better?”

“I’m not going to do anything bad.”

They were hesitant to leave their weapons since they were doubtful. The paladins considered their equipment to be valuable no matter how incredible Weed’s reputation was.

“Oh this is better than before! The damage went up and there’s now an option to deal more damage to undead, but its now a little more difficult to repair durability so it’ll be more expensive.”

After he made enough weapons for the Geomchis, the paladins decided to trust him. Weed’s blacksmith skills were high enough to get the respect of anyone in the land.

‘I wish I could check it…’

He drooled whenever he saw a good sword but he did not know if it was better than his. Weed converted the equipment while he waited for Mapan.

“It’s about time…”

Mapan had come from Morata with the priests and paladins, along with a bunch of different materials. He dissolved the Helium into the large furnace. With his spare time after the battle, he dissolved the helium and formed a mold. It was God’s tears. Using the large fireplace, he dissolve the mana source of the divine power of helium into the completed sculpture as he got ready to fight Bar Khan.

Chapter 4: Helium Sculpture

KMC Media, CTS Media, On Station, Digital Media, and LK gaming.

These were the stations that obtained footage for Royal Road.

Weed is going to hunt Bar Khan, the King of the Undead.

Priests and Paladins have crossed over from Morata to fight the Hermes Guild.

No one cares about the Hermes Guild.

Because of the Undead Legion quest and the fast growing ranks of the undead, Weed is going to hunt Bar Khan.

Weed’s plan had already spread to the users in Morata. Though it was true that the priests and paladins had been gathered for a long time now, Pollon’s troops did not bother to keep it a secret and were talking about it already. Each of the stations focused on the facts that had been revealed so far.

“Everyone, I have amazing news. God of War Weed is going to hunt Bar Khan.”

“A few days ago a lot of people say Weed wipe out the Hermes Guild’s force. However, it looks like in the future he’s going to hunt the Lich Bar Khan.”

“Bar Khan! The Leader of the Undead Legion and Weed who was famous for having completed the Lich quest. A monster that Weed has a history with…it’s going to be a very challenging hunt.”

It was the breaking news on several stations. Groups that would go and hunt boss monsters was a common occurrence but this time the ratings would go up a notch if it was a legendary monster. Weed had shown his fighting ability in the battle against Pollon’s unit.

The battle had not happened yet, but the fact remained that there were going to be countless amazing scenes. It was enough to say that the fact that Weed was going to fight the Lich Bar Khan would amaze the audience. Entire families were waiting in anticipation!

- Oh my god. Weed is finally getting into a real fight. Hunting down monsters likes its nothing and raising his level…I am so glad to be able to see it.”

- I don’t know who Weed is, it’s like I’m listening to a bunch of rumors.

- You’re here a bit late. I’m at the Hall of Fame and I’m a complete fan of the Orc movie.

- Guess what I have? I was lucky. I started out in the Kingdom of Rosenheim when I was a beginner and I bought one of Weed’s early fox sculptures. When I bought it, my friends thought that five silvers was overpriced but now it’s my greatest treasure. My girlfriend and I are so proud that we met him.

- So now the items must be worth….sell me that fox sculpture for 10 gold.

- A few minutes ago it was worth nothing. Now it’s worth over 100 gold!

The board was filled with various tales of Weed’s bravery. Aside from being a famous adventurer to the users in Royal Road, he was also had high popularity amongst the public.

*****

Shin Hye-Min and Oh Juwan were holding an ongoing series called ‘Story of the Continent of Versailles, and was holding a telephone interview with Lee Hyun. Since they were paying Lee Hyun salary, he was willing to do it.

“Today we bring you a story about the Continent of Versailles that many people have been wanting to hear about, and with us on the phone is the God of War Weed. Weed?”

"Yes."

A short and annoyed answer came back!

“You’ve had a lot of adventures. What was the most challenging adventure?”

"Adventuring is tough."

“Modest words that you’re saying. But people want to know what was the most memorable one that you suffered through, can you tell us?”

Lee Hyun thought for a moment before he replied.

"When I became a sculptor…"

“…”

Shin Hye-Min had to sympathize with him. Aside from when he was cooking and hunting in Royal Road, she did not see his hands stop from making sculptures. You could not just close your eyes and create a sculpture; it was very difficult to raise the level of sculpture beyond level 8 without good art skills. Sewing, fishing, cooking, repairing, bandaging, sailing, herbalism, and many other crafts were the true legend behind his hard work.

It was as if Lee Hyun had lived a lifetime of making toothpicks and wooden chopsticks. Oh Juwan thought it was a joke and asked the next question.

“Weed, it seems that you do not know about the message boards. Viewers admire you for a lot of things…people can not climb to high places as you have and instead climb steadily because of the growing fear of failure. What is your trick to not get tired of facing challenges?”

"Complete the challenge."

It meant exactly as he had said. In his life he had been caught up in all sorts of adventures. He did not go into the details of his visit to the City of Heaven since saying more wouldn’t benefit him.

“Seeing as others do not get special quests that are really hard there must be a secret. Do you have any advice for those that are wandering for adventure on the Continent of Versailles?”

"Be very thorough. Do not accept a quest carelessly."

Those were meaningful words that came from his own experience.

After Lee Hyun came out, they began to interview other completely different people.

‘Story of the Continent of Versailles’ appears to be a popular show, and it looks like a lot of people decide to watch it.’

Instead of boasting about pride, Lee Hyun had only spoken briefly.

‘It’s not like I receive any additional payment for a longer interview.’

Letting others know more about him would only make his mouth sore.

“Finally its time to think about how to hunt down the Lich Bar Khan. It seems like a difficult question to answer isn’t it?”

Lee Hyun thought back to his past fight against Bar Khan. It was going to be difficult since he didn’t have enough combat power and the odds were against him. Each of the stations were debating about how to increase the success rate of hunting down Bar Khan.

Bar Khan had a huge damage potential as well as being a Necromancer. With enough dead bodies the battle will be endless with tens of thousands of monsters along with one legendary one. The undead army was a disposable resource. The Undead Legion was only part of Bar Khan’s power and it wasn’t a big loss to him if he lost it. The hunt had too big a risk. Lee Hyun calmly replied.

"If it’s too much I’ll immediately have a plan to escape."

Aside from the item drops, the experience and skill proficiency lost when he died was a lot of damage. He did not care about being courageous but instead sought to see this fight to the end! Lee Hyun had a very realistic idea for his battle.

*****

The Pollon’s Hermes Guild unit of rangers, knights, and mages accessed Royal Road. They appeared at the place where Weed had attacked them before.

“What about the surviving Knights and Rangers?”

“They escaped in the direction of the central continent. The number of people that escaped safely are less than 20.”

“Too many had died.”

All but two of Pollon’s Crescent Knights had died. The Hermes Guild users could connect again after some time, but the knights were all dead.

It took a lot of training, time, and money to raise the quality of the knights. Due to the fierce competition within the Hermes Guild, you had to suffer until you had recovered your losses.

“It would be preferable to return to the central continent instead of taking more risks.”

Because Weed’s forces of Geomchis had turned the battle around they were in no position to fight back and could only flee or else they would die.

Many of the users from the Hermes Guild force had lost a lot of items and equipment. They had lost and they would not fight a battle they could not win.

“To think that we lost on a blessed sanctuary.”

“Wasn’t it fun to fight against Weed though?”

“Yes, he was much stronger than our famous Crescent Knights.”

Pollon did not have any regrets. It was a difficult experience but he had the opportunity to battle against Weed.

“The Hermes Guild will have its revenge. The real power of the Hermes Guild is many times stronger than this.

Pollon roughly knew how much power the Hermes Guild had at its disposal. He had joined the Hermes Guild and gradually obtained a higher position only to find out the true reality of the guild’s power. The full strength that had been released towards the Kallamore Kingdom. They then caused a great war and began the occupation of the central continent. The Hermes Guild would surely seek to battle again with Weed and saw it as nothing more than entertainment. Of course with their aloof pride broken, they would become angry.

“Weed, you have managed to smoothly travel through the Continent of Versailles up to now, but in the future there won’t be anywhere you can be safe.”

Pollon ordered his troops to withdraw.

“Wizards make a teleport gate. We’re going to return.”

*****

Ttungttangttungttang!

Weed handed the warrior equipment that he made with the blacksmith skills to the Geomchis when he was finished. It was similar to it was before but it had taken a significant amount of labor to dissolve the materials and recreate it using the blacksmith skills. Weed was Intermediate Level 5 in blacksmithing and could use the raw materials to their best.

“A person can not stand idly by. If there’s a heat wave and a drought, then I would make a pool.”

That was way of life for Weed!

“Weed, long time no see.”

“I appreciate all the trouble you went through.”

Mapan had brought over two large furnaces to liquefy the helium for him.

“For the cost of transportation, would japtem be fine…”

“Weed nim, japtem is the best.”

“There is a lot of japtem that I need to take care of so could you also take care of its price? I’m sorry that you had to come all the way out here to take care of this for me.”

“It’s always a pleasure to be doing business with Weed nim.”

Weed had placed Mapan in charge of disposing of the high quality loot japtem from the Necromancers. The Necromancers had levels that exceed 300 and some even past 400. He had made the undead hunt a lot and had now piled up a colossal amount of japtem. Weed gave the japtem to Mapan so that he could directly sell it to the store for an additional 15% of its value. Then he calculated 5% to be taken as profit. When trading in town, merchants that bought japtem usually got a small margin and 10% was usually the default amount .

“Isn’t he a really good merchant?”

“I know. I’ve dealt with traders a few times in the past but I’ve never seen a good a deal as 5%. Is it because he’s a professional?”

They wanted to sell of their items they got from the Necromancers. They were very nervous to walk around with the burden of carrying japtem. Weed took a guess and then went over to introduce Mapan.

“Say hello here. This is Mapan, a merchant I’m close to from the past. If you want to get rid of your japtem then I could ask him to take care of it for the same price he got for me.”

“Can I really? I don’t have the time to go to the shop to find a merchant since I want to go with Weed nim.”

‘5 percent isn’t much compared to all the trouble I went through to come here…’

It would have been bad if Mapan had met with the Necromancers. Transportation costs were high given how high the risks were.

“This is fine. Mapan is a very good merchant. He used to trade a lot in the past with japtem but now he rarely has the chance since he needs to manage his trade store.”

Mapan then went to say.

“I like adventures so I came here to watch Weed. I would also like to take care of the japtem as an extra. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to take.”

They came with Necromancer japtem. They could sell it for 2 or 3% in Morata but this was the best price that had seen yet.

‘How much is all of this.’

Mapan could earn a lot of money from the trade of japtem if it was in bulk.

They were offering their Necromancer japtem!

There were accessories as well as rusty, broken weapons and armor. Weed had deliberately let Mapan deal with classifying the japtem since he could repair it for more profit.

Weed could dissolve and rework it into respectable equipment with his blacksmith skill. Mapan earned a lot more through the 5% profit margin and had an excellent opportunity to get a lot of customers.

After finishing the japtem deal, Weed and Mapan walked back to the carriage quietly. They had been partners the entire time! They only talked to each other secretly with whispers.

> Here’s the referral fee…

> Thank you. Please allow the identifying of the materials to be handed to me. I’ll dissolve the equipment there.

> You’re welcome. If you have another opportunity like this be sure to call me.

> However, do you have a lot of people to sell necromancer stuff to?

> Warlocks. The Necromancer items will easily sell in Morata.

Not only did he plan to sell the Necromancer items, he had planned to use them.

*****

He stoked the fires of the large furnaces that were set up temporarily.

“I have to be careful…failure is not allowed.”

Weed was nervous because he was using the precious metal helium.

“It would be nicer to have higher blacksmith skills.”

If he was a master blacksmith then he could make the best items from the helium! With the holy materials he could make a piece of armor that could represent a kingdom. However Weed decided to make the helium into a sculpture.

“A sculpture has no level limit. Later I can melt it down and make it into a sword.”

Weed thought of sculptings with a practical sense rather than an artistic one.

“Once the mold is ready.”

He had created countless molds in advance when he had been hunting with the Death Knights as a Doom Knight. Since Weed was working with the large furnace, Pale’s party along with the paladins, priests, and Geomchis went to hunt in the nearby area. They were wondering what he was doing with such a large furnace. Weed made the fire have an even higher temperature. He stocked the large furnace full of firewood to gradually increase the heat. To increase his chance of success he used more firewood to increase the firepower as much as he could.

“Still not enough. Needs more firewood.”

Weed had given money to Mapan to transport a significant amount of wood in his wagon. Because he was working on helium he could not conserve on the amount of trees used.

He used the strongest, finest burning trees for it. The firewood that cost over 300 gold in total was used up in 10 minutes.

“Still not enough.”

Weed focused entirely on the fire.

“I wonder if he’s making a mithril sword?”

“I suppose that would be a good weapon to hunt down Bar Khan.”

The priests and paladins were waiting for Weed in order to hunt down Bar Khan. They were currently in high tension while wondering what he was doing with the large furnace. The majority of them had went on hunting parties to fight against necromancers.

Noel: Weed is trying to make something in the hearth’s fire. Since he brought a large furnace from town, it must be something important.

The Grass Porridge Cult was able to watch in real time because the videos were on the internet.

This was the reason why Weed did not go with other users to hunt frequently and that was because he didn’t want to divide up the spoils but also because he valued his privacy. The advantage of fighting by himself was that he could hide his production skills and sculpture secrets instead of putting it out in the open for others to see.

“Now the temperature of the fire is suitable.”

Weed pulled out the massive helium. The metal known as the Tears of the Sky God. He put the prestigious helium into the furnace. The furnace was large enough to melt many metals at once but he concentrated solely on the helium.

He watched over the fire!

Weed was muttering to himself.

“I had to give up being greedy to get better results. If only they had given me Herrera’s Cup or the Crown of Fargo…”

Weed had recovered two of the three treasures of Freya. Using either one of the holy items would have been good. Unfortunately Weed was making the helium into a sculpture instead of a piece of equipment with that in mind.

“Fargo’s Crown, when worn is good for hunting. Herrera’s Cup has holy water that can flow out of it like a river.”

He put aside his endless greed and waited for the Helium to heat up and melt. Weed waited five times longer than normal before pulling the helium out. In the middle of the stone was filled with a sky blue liquid. The helium had melted safely.

“Now for the real part.”

He had used a large furnace to make sure that the skill was less likely to fail. From now on it was time to sculpt.

Weed poured the light blue liquid into a mold and waited for it to cool.

“I can not make a single mistake…”

It was frustrating to wait. He was familiar with making a sculpture with blacksmithing since it had been the same with Geumini. He could not help but be nervous though. He did not have the faintest idea of what the completed work would be like. The helium could be melted back indefinitely but if he failed to create a decent work then it would be a significant loss of materials. In the worst case then the magic in the metal would be lost.

If repeatedly refined then the divine power of mana in the helium would gradually weaken.

“Now.”

Weed took it out of the earthen mold faster than usual. It was time to work on the helium. Torches that illuminate the darkness! He was going to form the clear azure helium into a torch.

“Still…its a bit lacking.”

His blacksmith skills were too low to properly handle helium so he needed to work on the details. Weed had to make the sculpture more carefully and with greater detail to ensure that it does not fail. Weed took his Zahab Carving Knife.

He used the Zahad Carving Knife to work on the Helium since it was going to be a precious item for Morata’s castle that Yurin was staying in. Talrock Armor, Bahalan Bracelet, Kolderim’s Demon Sword, as well as Weed’s personally crafted equipment that he made for himself and Yurin often.

“Time to sculpt.”

Seugseug.

Weed scraped the surface of the helium with the sculpting knife. He boldly cut away the protruding parts.

You are in contact with Divine Power

Strength has been reduced by 35.

Health has dropped by 950.

Undead power has decreased by 4.

Since he was a Doom Knight, the helium made him suffer enormous damage every time he touched it.

‘I don’t have much time, must make it immediately.’

He needed to finish the piece before he died. Helium had huge durability and took a lot of time to cool before it could become a sculpture.

Hot metal has been used

Vitality has been reduced by 318.

Divine Power!

There were two types of pain that Weed had on him as he held his sculpting knife. The thing that set a professional sculptor apart from other art professions was that he had to shoulder all the physical suffering.

“Better works come from suffering…”

Weed said these words as if he were dying. He did not have the time to make the sculpture leisurely.

’This is nothing to me.’

Weed began to trim and create the entire mold with his sculpting knife. He had to watch the torch through the whole creation process with all of his experience is the sculpture was made of dissolved metal. As the helium became more cold and solid, it began to emit more mana and divine power.

“What, maximum mana is increasing?”

“I’ve gotten skills that make holy magic stronger. But never to such an extent.”

“My mana regen is going crazy at a 50% higher rate.”

As the sculpture began to near completion, the priests and paladins began to feel a change in their bodies. Weed was making a helium torch. The divine powers of the priests and paladins were being enhanced.

The body is vulnerable to divine power

Defense has disappeared.

Resistance has been reduced.

The divine power gradually wrapped around Weed’s body and weakened him. Strength began to rapidly fade from his bones.

“Just a little more…”

He had to remain calm and hold the helium with his hand, even if his health was gradually being put at risk.

“It’s complete.”

He stuck a rod under the torch to complete it! The bar was made out of Mithril and Adamantium. When he had hunted the Undead Legion, he had collected a lot of old weaponry.

Please set the name of the sculpture.

Weed had to name it quickly. This was because he only had 20% health left.

“Torch Left by a Sculptor.”

The Torch Left by a Sculptor, right?

“Yes.”

Many sculptors had lost their lives without any help like in Las Gigolos. This was the legacy of Sculptor Weed’s works. It was a very good work that he used blacksmith, handicrafting, and sculpting to make so that he would not regret it.

Masterpiece! You have completed the Torch Left by a Sculptor sculpture!

A sculpture made out of helium! This sculpture is a work that will be recorded in the history of the continent. It would not be an overstatement to say this was the greatest and most famous piece created by the sculptor Weed. This piece, created by God’s noble metal, will bring glory and radiant light.

Artistic Value: 18619

Special Options: 8

Those that see the Torch Left by a Sculptor will have their health and mana regen increased by 52% for a day.

Additionally, the owner of the sculpture will receive an additional 30% mana regen.

All stats are increased by 29.

The mana consumption of all skills have been reduced by 75%.

Magic power has increased by 33%.

Mana based combat skills have increase in strength by 14%.

Will keep enemies away.

Mana Barrier(Advanced Level 4) will prevent ranged attacks within a certain range.

Has the ability to drive away darkness.

Prevents abnormal status.

Increases the morale of troops.

Strong magic resistance to curses and black magic.

When viewing the sculpture Faith, Wisdom, and Intelligence will increase by 10 permanently.

Can not be used with other sculptures.

So far the number of completed masterpieces: 8

Sculpting Skills have improved.

Handicrafting has improved

Smithing has increased to Intermediate Level 6. You are now better at smelting unique metals.

Smithing has increased to Intermediate Level 7. You can now create light armor with high durability.

Fame has increased by 4924

Art has increased by 51.

Wisdom has increased by 7.

Endurance has increased by 3.

Stamina has increased by 4.

Charisma has increased by 13.

Charm has increased by 25.

For creating a masterpiece, all stats have increased by an additional 3 points.

This sacred sculpture has the ability to reduce the powers of the dead.

Weed’s eight masterpiece sculpture!

Since it was a sculpture that could be carried, it as going to be a great help in the fight.

“Nevertheless I was able to make another named sculpture…this much is good.”

Instead of sword or armor, it was a great sculpture that increased stats and lowered mana consumption.

It was some of the best options for a cleric or wizard. Thanks to the process helium, his blacksmith skills increased another two levels. There was not much left until it was level six and the reason it raised so much was because he was a human that was dealing with the highest grade metal.

“It’s so reassuring to create such a good sculpture…”

Weed moved his jawbone.

A sculpture made out of the legendary material helium has been created

You can go to the Sculptor’s Guild to receive additional rewards.

Very nice things kept happening but as a Doom Knight the options were very negative things since the power in his body kept dropping. If he held onto the sculpture too long then he would die there holding it. Weed wrapped the sculpture in a white cloth and added it to his bag.

You are no longer in contact with the Torch Left by a Sculptor

The aura of Divine Power is leaving the body.

Once the energy completely disappears then it is possible to regain original combat capability.

The scenes of Weed creating the Helium Sculpture was broadcasted live on the internet and seen by many. However this was hardly anything to hide. The people of the Continent of Versailles had spread news by mouth. Whenever a A class or S class quest succeeded the effects were great.

The Relics of Freya were also made of the same Helium material.

“Such an amazing sculpture was made in the world. It is a sculpture that is very artistic but also imbued with magical powers.”

“The number of treasures created by human hands on the Continent of Versailles has increased by one, but this one is very powerful because of the effort that was put into it.”

“His Majesty, the King is very anxious to meet this sculptor. Keep the palace doors open and tell the guard to see if they can contact the sculptor…”

Chapter 5: Turn Undead

Weed’s battle preparation ended when everyone had a full stomach from his cooking.

“We must…”

Having prepared already, the paladins and priests waited for Weed’s speech.

“He will make the speech really long. I would if it was me.”

“Yeah, and it will also get re-broadcasted. After all, Weed is enormously famous.”

Many broadcasting stations including KMC Media were broadcasting it live. Today, not only in Versailles continent, many people would watch Balkan being hunted through many broadcasting stations.

It would be a lie to say they were not tense and thrilled at the opportunity. The paladins felt great shivers to be under Weed’s command and fight against the Undead Legion’s Balkan. Before the battle it was mandatory to remind themselves of the justification and worth of what they were trying to do by listening to their commander’s great speech.

Weed cleared his throat and continued.

“We must hunt Balkan down and take every treasure he has.”

“.....”

“.....”

A precise target with clear consciences!

And with simplicity that did not mindlessly clutter the audience attention.

“Well then let’s all do our best.”

“…..”

For Weed time was too precious to waste on speech.

‘We just have to kill all of them.’

As plans were already set up the only thing to do was fight cooly. So an enormous assault team including paladins, priests and Geomchis was deployed immediately after. Pale’s companions and the Necromancers including Marey moved with them.

Marey, as a bard, came along to compose and sing an awesome song while he spectated Weed’s battle against Balkan. The Necromancers also decided to fight with Weed. There was no small amount of spells and items they could receive under Balkan’s command but their notoriety and Power of Undead would increase.

Balkan was the Necromancers’ blessing and curse at the same time. And with their alignment toward the Undead Legion, it was difficult to enter any villages or castles so they decided to fight for their freedom.

*****

Paladins’ morale was unmeasurably high. Their attack and defense capabilities were at their maximum when they were against the Undead.

‘With Weed-nim I will be able to fight a heart pounding battle.’

‘Even if I die, I won’t regret a tiny bit.’

Because they were on a live broadcast, their wills were on fire for the battle.

Heading toward the Undead Legions’ troop headquarters in Vargo fortress!

Shaking and their hearts surged with thrill, they marched under the dark sky with heavy rains.

“You need to enter this sewer.”

But the place Weed led to was a dirty narrow sewer!

SPLASH SPLASH!

Paladins, priests and Geomchis walked down the sewer in the direction Weed told them earlier. Pale’s group and Mapan the merchant was with them too. They went past the complicated paths of the sewer and came up above ground, Weed the Doom knight was waiting for them. As Weed was aligned toward the Undead Legion he simply walked past the gate opened and manned by Undead. They could not be jealous of his slightly wet cape and armour.

“This is the kitchen located in the exterior fortress of Vargo fortress. This is a safe place because Undead don’t eat.”

As priests entered the fortress, it felt like their bodies were shivering due to the tension.

Pale asked, “The place Balkan is residing, is it nearby?”

“From the inner fortress we need to go underground.”

They infiltrated the exterior of the fortress easily but the path still left would be tough. It would be just impossible to reach Balkan without getting noticed by so many Undead.

“I’ll enter first. Please follow after some time.”

Weed led in the front, searching the Undead’s movements. It was best when there were no Undead nearby and he frequently reported information on his reconnaissance.

“Seven of them. There are no other Undead in the vicinity. We need to assault them quickly and move on.”

“Holy Might!”

“Recovery!”

When they had to hunt, they cleared the enemy using holy spells from the priests.

Priests’ healing magic, blessing spells and Turn Undead were very critical against the Undead.

“There is no time to take a break for mana regeneration. The Undead move around Vargo fortress freely so we need to keep moving to where Balkan is.”

Weed kept moving without any delay. Because he grasped the exact path leading to Balkan, they were able to move fast even if they had to stop to kill Undead. They moved in fear that once they were revealed by Undead, the tremendous force of Undead would come after them.

Weed promised them an opportunity to fight all they desired, they also wanted to fight Balkan so they followed after him quietly. There were many monsters in the exterior of the fortress but Weed used his position in the Undead Legion to at least reduce the guards.

He took the loitering Undead in their path as his underlings and threw them out of the fortress. But most of theUndead squatting in the corner with their bodies crouched were over level 300 and three Bone Dragons were flying around in the air. Vandal knights on their ghost horses roamed between interior and the exterior of the fortress so even Weed, who knew the current Undead circumstances, couldn’t be completely at ease.

“Keeak, humans!”

Priests and paladins channeled their holy spells and used it immediately but sometimes the Undead died screaming. Every time that happened, nearby Undead came in and they had to quickly repeat their subjugation and escape.

“Humans! Humans are invading.”

“Ring the bell and alert everyone.”

“There is a fight going on somewhere.”

“I smell blood. Living creatures are challenging us.”

RING! RING! RING!

Somewhere from the towers of Vargo Fortress, a loud chime rang.

“We have to assume we are revealed now. From now on, there will be no more scouting instead run straight to the interior of the fortress.”

Following after Weed, the paladins and Geomchis ran after him. Even the physically weak priests held their staffs and the scriptures in their hands and started running.

“We kill every Undead blocking our way and break through.”

It was a battle against time now. If they were surrounded by Undead crowding in from the whole Vargo Fortress, they would only face a miserable death.

“Sahyungs need to go forward now. We need to break through as quick as we can. It may be dangerous but please.”

“Don’t worry. That much is easy.”

Geomchis destroyed every defending Undead soldiers they encountered.

Dedicated attack and breakthrough using their bodies unsparingly!

If it was not the cleansing spells of priests, then the Undead return as corpses through normal sword or physical attacks. But due to Balkan’s Dark Rule magic, they would rise again as Undead as time goes but they were not in the circumstance of taking measures.

Weed took the front and ran through the hallway. Because he was a Doom Knight, he didn’t get attacked by Undead.

“Intruders!”

Weed screamed and drew the Undead attentions.

“Humans approaching from the right hallway.”

Every Undead ran to the direction Weed told.

Weed performed his duty of confusing Undead besides scouting and guiding the paths. Running straight through, everyone besides straggling priests behind them arrived at the gate leading to the interior of the fortress.

“We need to get across here. There are way too many Undead on the other paths.”

The path Weed picked was connected with the inner fortress through bridges over the moat. Under the bridge, crocodile Undead licked their chops at the sight of humans.

“Let’s go.”

Priests and paladins ran across the bridge.

Behind the exterior of the fortress they ran from, Undead soldiers were gathering.

“Attack! Kill them all!”

“They are rebelling against Balkan-nims goal. Let’s make them into Death’s companions.”

Undead ran what they could and chased after them. There were so many varieties of Undead and gargoyles assaulted from the air.

“Divine Shield!”

Priests spread out their protective magic and blocked the attack.

“Hurry to the interior of the fortress.”

“Quickly, quickly.”

Ever since they entered Vargo fortress, they kept facing battles without time to gather their senses. Not only they had to take care of Undead quickly, they had to move swiftly. Players had questions about how Weed would lead the battle but now they knew.

Weeding them out, falling behind or disobedience was deaths. Because the difficulty of battles were beyond their imaginations, they had to put a lot of efforts trying to keep up with Weed.

Weed looked up in the sky. Presently he couldn’t see three the Bone Dragons.

“Really, I chose a good day.”

Since few days ago, elves and barbarians didn’t attack Vargo fortress. There were sightings of rare high elves in the forest near Vargo fortress, there were indication of another large attack rather than a withdrawal.

“We must fight a big battle with elves.”

“If we raise great achievements, the Balkan-nim will be happy.”

“If we kill many barbarians, do you think we can get accepted into the Vandal knights?”

“Seeing tonight is calm, they must be coming to attack tomorrow. The Undead Legion is planning to counter-strike after defending from Vargo Fortress. This time, we will follow elves into the forest, its a chance to gain great accomplishments.”

Through the Undead conversation he predicted the day of the possible assault. If Vargo fortress was seen from afar, on one side there was humans brought by Weed that were fighting through the path leading to the interior. And near the walls, there was a united army of elves, barbarians and dwarves fighting the Undead.

*****

Pale and Maylon shot arrows without any interval. They entered the inner fortress shooting gargoyles foreheads with their silver arrows. They stood by the entrance and protected the priests by continuously shooting their arrows. It was because unlike Geomchi and paladins who had a decent level of defense, priests could die easily.

Priests usually support the battle from the safe and comfortable rear. They were in charge of healing and blessing which was a core part in party quests so they did not move around a lot.

“Huk. Huk!”

Breeman, a celebrated priest from Morata, immediately sat down on the ground as he came inside the inner fortress and was breathing heavily. He was priest Breeman that would receive adulation wherever he went, but joining a raid under Weed he had to run as hard as he could voluntarily. He thought that he would die by the Undead chasing them if he flapped and walked slowly because of his fat stomach.

Breeman finally felt relieved after he entered the inner fortress.

“Weed-nim, is this place safe?”

Weed just pointed toward hallway in front of him without any words. The inner fortress was filled with much stronger monsters than monsters in the outer fortress!

Three Vandal knights on their ghost horses charged against humans.

“Be careful!”

“An assault.”

Priests alerted one after the other.

Geomchi were already getting ready for it.

Instincts as martial artists. Although they couldn’t sense variety of dangers like adventurers or thieves, a chilling aura flowed and warned them when a strong enemy appeared.

“It’s been a long time since facing someone worth fighting.”

“Be careful. If you let your guard down, you will die right away.”

Vandal knights were presumed to be over level 430. Each of them were high rank Undead, who were given individual names, and they were further enhanced by Balkan’s Death Aura.

“Sword Cloning!”

Geomchis used their secret sword skill. Because Vandal knights seemed strong, they decided to give it all they got from the beginning. Each individual Geomchi19, Geomchi56, Geomchi101 and Geomchi147 cloned their bodies 10 times.

“The Balkan-nim wants living offerings.”

“You can only be used as sacrifices.”

Vandal knights, in a split second, rushed the Geomchis’ clones and slashed them. Each slashes made the clones disappear. But Geomchis didn’t prefer taking away enemy’s life slowly by using their clones.

It was only a method used to create an opening in their enemy so they could attack.

“Taa!”

Geomchis attacked Vandal knights’ weak spots that were exposed while they were attacking.

“Kyaaah!”

Due to their armour and Death Aura’s defensive capabilities the Vandal knights did not receive heavy damages from Geomchis’ attack. Despite the fact their joints such as backs and knees were struck, they only took normal damage.

“Healing Hand.”

“Warrior Healing.”

“Sun God Blessings!”

Priests and paladins’ holy spells struck Vandal knights a little later. It was healing and blessing magic that inflict horrifying damages to the Undead.

“Endless Brilliance.”

“Vitality Regeneration.”

While Vandal knights were weak, Geomchis attacked them indiscriminately.

Hwaryeong danced in front of two newly approaching Vandal knights.

Her own booby booby dance!

Vandal knights had an ingrained hatred of humans and attacked right away. But the closer the range of the dance the more influence became powerful so she continued to dance while barely dodging their strikes. It was difficult even for Hwaryeong but she managed to succeed.

“This is pretty nice.”

“They are worth beating.”

Those who were directly participating in the battle were beyond expectation as the knights had high defense. It was a nice opportunity to raise attack-related skill mastery and stats!

When Vandal knights died, Weed went to the corner.

“It seems I cannot stay as Undead from now onward.”

Vargo fortress was a place even a Doom knight can’t wander around freely. Not only was it impossible to give commands to Undead like in the outer fortress, he would also be under Balkan’s command. If Balkan tells Weed to attack, he could lose control of his body and fight the Geomchis.

“Time to change my body again.”

Weed took out a sculpture from his backpack.

“I need to get back to my original appearance.”

Combining the already sculpted head, legs, arms and body, it looked similar to Weed’s original face but slightly different. The sculpture had a high nose, squared chin, dark eyebrows and a nice symmetry. Not only was it handsome, it was about 12 cm taller.

Technically speaking, it could only be classified as the same human otherwise it was a completely different person altogether. The plastic surgeon would admire his well define fixes, and if he would go to the alumni reunion no one would recognize him.

“It feels comfortable like I’m looking at a mirror after a long time. Sculpture Transformation!”

Weed came back from an Undead body to a human. There were some physical differences but the height was similar so he had no problem adapting. He equipped items he used to wear as a human and Kolderim’s daemon sword and finally held the ‘Torchlight left behind by Sculptors’.

“Bit more comfortable now.”

Even though his body wasn’t enhanced in combats like when he was a Doom Knight, he was able to equip much better equipment. Also he was able to receive healing and blessings from priests so there was no negative side to it.

When Weed stood again in front of other people, Pale’s group and Necromancers were already in the inner fortress.

“Huh?”

“The effect of a sculpture…”

Due to the torch Weed held, users’ capabilities went up dramatically and their faith, intelligence and wisdom increased by 10 permanently.

“It’s the sculpture he made last time.”

“The sculpture from Weed-nim can do this much? A sculptor is a really awesome profession!”

While getting respects from the players, Weed spoke his plan.

“We will continue moving to the place where Balkan is. The monsters in the inner fortress will continue gathering… You must use holy spells unsparingly here.”

With just Geomchis fighting, the casualties from the Vandal knights would be huge. In Vargo fortress filled with Undead, they needed to do their best to break through.

“Undead will be coming from every side. What should we do?”, one of the paladins asked.

Right now, they were inside a perfect sealed barrier created by consuming all the mana from eight advanced priests. They were taking a brief break in an alley leading to the inner fortress, though this barrier could only last 3~4 minutes. Monsters entering from the outer fortress were a problem, but the strong monsters attacking inside the fortress were also troublesome.

“If we keep going, there is a stairway going to the basement. Balkan is beneath it. After holding off the stairway, we will form a defensive parameter.”

On the only stairway going to the underground, they would fight the Undead on the narrow path. The paladins and priest could take breaks there, afterwards they would leave behind some defending forces and gamble their lives fighting Balkan.

It was a very simple and basic plan, but it all depended on arriving to their final destination with minimum damage. Knowing the interior of Vargo fortress very well, Weed did not struggle finding his way and could act as a guide faithfully.

“Whew...”

Players were taking deep breaths out of anxiety. They were about to confront the legendary monster Balkan. If they won it was a relief, but if they could not and retreated, they would be completed annihilated without even getting out of the inner fortress.

Priests nodded.

“Let’s go.”

“We came this far so might as well see the end.”

After taking a break to recover their vitality, they kept moving on. Undead endless jumped at them but holy spells from paladins and priests blasted them. Evil spirits came at them from the ceiling, walls and floors, and sometimes Vandal knights appeared.

Weed advanced onwards with the torch and Geomchis, Pale’s group, priests, paladins and Necromancers followed closely behind.

“The Undead keep coming, do you think we can succeed?”

“I don’t know. But it’s Weed who’s leading us so I’m pretty sure we can succeed.”

“But first to be defeated maybe us….”

They could only follow filled with pessimism and irritation.

Monsters even came out from old paintings, Vargo Fortress dangerous dungeon was of impossible standards.

“The wall!”

“Ghosts coming out from the wall. Avoid them.”

“Look out for the monsters on the ceiling!”'

Despite the fact that there were a lot of paladins and priests gathered, victims due to the Undeads’ ambushes increased. If there is some health left, they could be saved by using a lot of healing spells but Undead with unbelievable levels killed about six Geomchis and paladins in a split second.

As a top priority, Priests were protected from every dangers but even so, there were many casualties among them. There were dangerous situation where they were attacked simultaneously back to front, but finally they were able to arrive at the wine cellar which was their destination!

If they just opened the door Balkan was waiting.

*****

“Ah! Now the fight against Balkan is waiting before them. It is the moment we’ve all been waiting so long for.”

“It is a battle with tremendous stakes for Weed.”

The scene of Weed bringing players to invade Vargo Fortress was broadcasted live across many stations. Having advance warning before hand, the regular programs were cancelled and they made it into a special program.

On top of that many of the players were writing in the Royal Road message boards, that it became a large festivity. To express it in one sentence it was, ‘an event that was crazed with joy.’

Viewers’ response were beyond the expectation various broadcasting stations had. It was possible to say that the reason was because it’s Weed’s adventure which was never disappointing.

But there was another reason beyond why the viewers like it.

- It’s totally reckless.

- His guts swollen. How could he order 1 portion of sausage and ask just for the meat?

- Person above that is a tasteless joke. Weed-nim is known to eat a 5-man portion.

- Vargo Fortress! How can he go hunting in such a place?

Weed was unpredictable.

Weed did dangerous things that other users would never do without hesitation.

The feeling of tension and stress that was released at these moments!

Many stations broadcasted at the same time but depending on the disposition of the host, they all said different things.

“Ho Gung, according to the analysis there is high chance that the hunt will fail?”

“That’s right. We’ve completely analyzed their known military strength and as for me, I don’t see any chances of winning.”

“Even though there are priests and paladins, natural enemy of Undead?”

“You can’t just take Balkan’s spells out of your consideration. What is the reason why Necromancers are the most feared? They continuously create allies from corpses. But if that many men go in, it will only end up as a great disadvantage. In the worst situation, everyone will become Undead.”

“So how can they defeat Balkan?”

“I say take a small, very high level group. Currently there are no players at a level to hunt Balkan so you must see it as an impossible monster to hunt. And to be honest, I am very worried what kind of battle will proceed.”

Viewers turned away from such negatively-broadcasting station. Their viewer message boards were empty enough to cause snores.

“Considering Weed’s battles, I’m sure he has come up with a lot of strategies and therefore will fight well. Watching and learning tactics Weed brings out one by one will be something many of you can enjoy. Of course all those tactics might not work.”

“Weed is in the situation where he can’t afford not to hunt Balkan because Undead Legion is attacking Morata right now. If he fails, Morata’s existence will be in danger.”

Objective and neutral broadcasts had low ratings as well.

“Last time I checked, they just entered the inner fortress and now they are already one step away from Balkan. Aren’t they absurdly fast?”

“Normally, a legendary monster like this has many titles. Moving siege weapon or emperor of Undead and so on. But right now its not matched well with its opponent. As Weed is the God of War after all.”

“So the reason why Weed has been called the God of War ever since the magical continent is being explained now?”

“I do not need to speak many words about it. I think you can just look at the screen. Who other than Weed could possibly fight so efficiently and systematically with perfect strangers?”

The stations that complimented and cheered Weed, their ratings exploded!

Because it was being broadcasted by many stations, the ratings were much more sensitive. The broadcast official while speaking celebratory words could not avoid being critical.

Ever since they started programs about Royal Road, broadcasting staffs haven’t seen a single player with such popularity regardless of gender and age. Most players were just well known because of their authority, strength or higher level than others but none of them were a match for Weed in popularity itself.

In an objective way, Bardray and even the heads of any guilds had much more influence and authority than Weed. Despite all that, people were cheering for Weed because he made sculptures, showed many kinds of skills and went on thrilling adventure.

An adventure that everyone dreams of, rather than formation of corrupt force.

An adventure that they themselves couldn’t go on.

No one could hate a sculptor playing in the wide Versailles continent as his stage.

“If people love it this much…”

“I guess we should consider creating a program featuring Weed?”

“I think it would be okay to orientate information about the sculptures Weed made or his prefered hunting ground.”

“He’s been on TV several times and he always drew high ratings.”

Broadcast officials only saw how to use Weed’s popularity. But watching the recent broadcast, more and more among them were siding with Weed.

They were all players as well that travelled Versailles continent.

*****

“I’ll open the door. Get ready for battle and charge immediately.”

As soon as Weed opened the door, they were able to see Balkan Demorph sitting in a huge chair.

You are falling into a state of fear

Your body is temporarily stunned.

Maximum health and mana is reduced by 20%.

Strength reduced by 45%.

Agility reduced by 23%.

Wisdom reduced by 40%.

Vitality reduced by 28%.

You are becoming unlucky.

You have a mental breakdown, falling into hallucinatory state

You feel dizziness.

The chance of skill or spell failure increased.

You are seeing visions.

Vitality is declining fast.

To be honest, he predicted the situation somewhat and was resolute in his heart.

But just looking at Balkan caused this many effects!

Weed’s fighting spirit, willpower and faith were evenly high but the effect was still tremendous. When he came as a Doom Knight, he was on the same side so it was okay but now that he’s completely an enemy, he had to confront the great power of Balkan face to face.

“Arrgh!”

“Don’t do this. Don’t come near me!”

Priest even had great physical damage and were threatened by vision. It was a legendary monster that threw humans into chaos in a split second.

Geomchis were only slight harmed.

Through many reckless challenges, their willpower and fighting spirit were extremely high and as their class was martial artists, they fought strong enemies by scraping all their strength from the bottom.

TARARARA!

Marey took out his instrument and performed on it. Music was a useful method to win over the fear.

‘Let me show you why I am the best bard in the continent.’

They were being broadcasted live on many stations so this was an opportunity he was waiting for. To the bards, the moment where Weed sang before the start of battle was incredibly awesome enough to cause jealousy.

A palace hall was nothing compared to the stage that was Balkan hunting.

Place where the God of War treads on.

The Frozen lands, legions…

He sang in a quiet voice the composed song he was pleased with.

Starting off in a calm, soothing melody.

And then about halfway, Marey singing was known to change in an explosive manner.

However!

Too strong. The tough looking Undead!

Weed for his own song, cried out a Lion’s Roar.

Trying not to be pushed aside, Marey tried to match the song while playing on his instrument.

Steps making history…
Looking strong enough for me to tremble
But you shall die today
What priced item are you wearing
JJJJAAAAPTTTEEEMMM

Following the blowing wind.

Robe is expensive
How much is the crown on your head?
Even Your skeleton scepter is mine
JJJJAAAAP,TTTEEEMMM

It was much crueler than someone just taking away the mike when he had prepared his best song in a karaoke!

Marey’s epic and grand song was buried deep by Weed’s off-the-beat and out-of-tune yelling.

Simple yet addictive song that was easy to follow!

By listening to a music, effects of fear and hallucination reduced by 58%.

Marey, in despair, desperately played his instrument at least to protect his dignity as a bard. He brought out Weed’s random singing by exquisitely following with his instrument.

‘When will he end? How will he compose the ending?’

Because they didn’t have any consultation in advance, Marey followed along his instrument anxiously. However, Weed’s song suddenly ended without even a proper closing.

“Attack!”

As Weed’s orders fell, paladins ran toward Balkan as they planned. Above them, the Vandal knights including the Undead Legion continuously tried to come downstairs. Whether they fail hunting Balkan or prolonging the Undead Legion from coming down, it was a situation where they face annihilation.

Balkan stood up from his chair.

“You scums. You did well coming here to end your lives early. I don’t need your worthless heads. I’ll make all of you into headless Undead and make you obey me forever.”

Necromancer’s Declaration has been used.

Paladins charged in but they all headed in different directions.

They thought they were running toward the right direction but they were trapped in Balkan’s vision.

“Frost Wave!”

As Balkan snapped his finger, freezing surge swept in.

Even though paladins were coated with bright holy power, the effect of freezing slowed them and made their body rigid.

“Kill the humans.”

From the ground, fifty Doom knights rose as one. They were Balkans protective guards.

“There are Undead here as well.”

“We need to take care of them fast. We must not give time for Balkan to cast another spell!”

To get closer, paladins had to fight Doom knights first. If the battle proceeds like this, as soon as there is a corpse, the balance of the battle will immediately be on Balkan’s side and give him the advantages. But the paladins weren’t surprised.

‘Weed told us this kind of battle had a high chance of probability.’

He said that once paladins rush, Balkan will focus his attacks on them. As a Lich, his physical capabilities weren’t all bad but as a magician if the paladins closed the distance, Balkan would be in an extremely difficult position.

As a typical Necromancer, Balkan will cast several critical curses and create Undead using paladins as sacrifices.

But the paladins were baits.

Due to their unique defense capabilities and body protection, they will get relatively less damage from Balkan’s magic attacks. If they were to fight defensively, they could even withstand attacks of Doom knights for a very long time.

The real attack was prepared by the priests.

“Turn Undead!”

Priests casted Undead cleansing spells in unison.

Many visions of Balkan disappeared and huge impacts cause the dark auras to undulate.

“Kuaak!”

Even if he is Balkan the legendary monster, it was impossible not to get damaged from an attack that was completely incompatible with him.

Balkan’s body and his surroundings shone brightly with holy power.

Romuna used a spell quickly.

“Sprouting life, show me everything of it. View Life Force!

DING!

Lich Balkan Demoph

Sorcerer of darkness. A black magician that exceeded the limitation of human being.

Raising Undead, he tried to conquer the continent.

Has a body of a Lich. Due to the sacred sword stabbed in his chest, his physical activities and magical strengths are restricted.

As a legendary monster he is the public enemy of all kingdoms and churches.

Health: 87%

Mana: 99%

Chapter 6: Three Bone Dragons

Though the priests attack's were successful, Balkan’s life was far away from death. A Lich was an existence that could survive infinitely long as it could create an army if there were corpses and living creatures.

“Awaken, my servants…!”

As Balkan shouted, a 5-meter high Stone Golem stood up from the ground. It was so high that it could almost scrape the ceiling with its thick looking pairs of arms and legs! Higher-rank Necromancers usually had at least one Golem type guardian and in case of Balkan, it was a stone golem.

Dudududu!

As the Stone Golem swung its arm, paladins were thrown back. Every time the Golem ran, the ground shook and small rubble fell from the ceiling. It had vitality, defence and attack like a steel wall. And as it is a guardian created by magic, it didn’t take damages from holy spells.

“Be careful. It’s not certain but it must be mid to late level 400.”

“We have to breakthrough the golem first to get to Balkan.”

“Let’s take down the golem.”

They thought the battle to be simple because they were against Balkan but the battle became chaotic instantly.

Usually, when magicians are hit by one or two small attacks, their spells got cancelled and they experienced fluctuation in mana. But Balkan was fine even with continuous hits from Light Sphere and Turn Undead. With the Lich’s high magic resistance, the spell casting didn’t get cancelled.

“Chasing Arrow!”

Pale and Maylon concentrated their mana in arrows and shot it toward Balkan. As a magician, Balkan could not take drastic evasive movements while chanting a spell so the arrows hit without missing all the time. But it felt like he did not mind the minor attacks at all.

A Lich’s nature was to drain health and mana from living creatures so Balkan was not in a desperate situation.

“Silent Atmosphere.”

More than 200 paladins in Balkan’s curse range were surrounded by dark and blue energies.

A very strong curse that disturbs the targets breathing!

“Bone Destruction.”

CRACK!

This time, about 30 paladins’ bones in their bodies were crushed. Even though they were wearing armor, they couldn’t overcome the curse because of low resistance.

“Fire Hydra Summon.”

Balkan even summoned a Fire Hydra. Sprouting from the ground head first, it breathed fire from each of its head. Balkan casted three spells consecutively with ease.

After a very short break, Balkan began casting attack magic on the paladins.

“Frost Ring!”

Rings of freezing air were created and covered the paladins.

The priests’ healing spells were focused on Balkan and paladins. Because of that they were able to prevent mass slaughters from the continuous spells. Also it was due to the nature of paladins’ magic defence and resistance being comparably higher than the warrior class.

Weed observed the situation cooly.

‘Balkan’s curse magic, Necromancers’ magic are on top standards. Looking at his unbelievably strong Undead, I’m pretty sure he can create a bunch of Bone Dragons if he has the required corpses. He can use summon magic quite well but his attack magic is fairly weak.’

Up to a certain point, Balkan’s magic was relatively weak compared to other magicians. Balkan could cast attack spells faster than advanced magicians over level 400. If one considered not only the magic strength but the casting speed as important in battle, it could be said to be a considerable forte.

On top of that, paladins were extremely overwhelmed just by looking at Balkan. The summoned Doom Knights and Stone golem were in even more rampageous and Balkan interchanged between lightning and ice spells and some of the paladins fell victims to the attacks.

According to Romuna’s check, Balkan’s health dropped to 73% after the continuous attack by the priests using Turn Undead, but it was not hopeful news. There were already 19 newly dead corpses. Assuming Balkan would create higher-rank Undead with his Undead summoning spell, it’s only right to say that the current hunt will fail.

Currently, though it was not aggregated, about a million people were estimated to be paying attention to the live broadcast. The quest of Weed with his companions, not only was it watched by the players but the viewers as well who were watching with variety of different emotions.

‘Just fail.’

‘Perish.’

‘Get killed violently.’

‘Weed is finished now.’

High-level rankers and players in top guilds wished for Weed’s failure as one.

But humans still had a moving force, the Geomchis.

Even though the battle had started, Geomchis had to endure the urge to fight because Weed told them to wait for Balkan’s response against the paladins.

“Wooah!”

“Yes!”

Geomchis pulled strength in their bodies and yelled out a war cry. Based on their resilience, willpower and courage, they fully overcame Balkan’s fear effect. Now Geomchis could fight like usual, without any restrictions. That was already enough of an advantage when fighting Balkan.

“Let’s go!”

“Kill these bastards.”

Geomchis jumped out and swung their swords at the Golem and Doom Knights. The standards of Balkan’s handmade Undead were different. Doom Knights with Death Aura effect were almost as strong as semi-boss monsters but using their skill, the Geomchis were able fight evenly. And because they were under the blessings from priests, they were able to fight even more rough and recklessly than usual.

“Destroy them completely!”

“Do not let your guard down until priests cleanse the monster you defeated with their holy power.”

Balkan was kept in check by the paladins. Using this moment as an opportunity, Geomchis destroyed Doom knights and purified them.

While everyone was fighting with all their might, suddenly a soothing melody was heard!

Bellot was playing her instrument on the battlefield. She sang a sacred song raising priests’ faith and paladins’ strength.

Romuna occasionally flung spells and Surka fought the Doom Knights with Geomchis. Zephyr and Hwaryeong took care of the Undead coming down the stairway with other players. Because of Zephyr’s wide range attacks and Hwaryeong’s monster sleep skill, they didn’t join the hunting of Balkan themselves.

“You uncivilized humans, what a foolish resistance. This land is ruled by my commandments of darkness. Experience the power of the eternal Undead Legion. Dark Rule!”

One of Balkan’s three great magics, a spell that turns every corpse in the vicinity into Undead was cast. Balkan Demoph was a high-rank Necromancer and as a magician, he could use three special magics.

Dark Rule, Death Aura, Absolute Magic defence!

Absolute Magic defence blocks the sources of any attack spells that endanger him. Unless it was the standard of a great magician, they could not even touch the tip of Balkan’s bones. Of course Romuna’s capabilities were far lower than Balkan but she was already useful just by casting spells on Undead.

By the Dark Rule, the basement and the whole Vargo fortress turned dark red. If Balkan creates Undead based on corpses of paladins and Geomchis, his war potential will become a lot bigger. With Death Aura, he could automatically drain health and mana these Undead gain by fighting.

But Necromancers waited for this moment and moved faster than Balkan. They came bare handed because it was obvious any Undead they brought here will be under Balkan’s command, but they did not come here to play around.

“Arise. Souls who have yet to close their eyes, who have yet to slumber. The living here and the ones that killed you, take revenge! Dead Rise.”

Paladins‘ corpses turned into low skeletons and arose.

“Kiririk?”

“Humans… They are attacking Balkan-nim.”

Skeletons looked around and then immediately started fighting for Balkan.

“What’s this, these gnats.”

As Geomchi487 pushed them by, their bodies broke futilely!

These low rank Undead created by Necromancers and not by Balkan’s Dark Rule were annihilated by the priests’ purification magic in no time at all. The Necromancers made a great achievement blocking Undead summoning, Balkan’s strongest point.

Mapan took off the white cover off his carriage he forcefully dragged here.

The 'Advent of the Seven Angels' sculpture. He brought Daycram’s magnum opus from the Art Center.

Abusing the authority as the owner of the Art Center and the Sculpture!

He actively used the delivered sculpture that magnified the effects of holy power and increased mana regeneration speed. Of course if they lost, the Seven Angels sculpture made out of mithril will be Balkan’s so it was a huge gamble for Weed.

*****

“We need to go this way.”

Weed, together with 150 top order Geomchis and 30 priests broke through the basement and headed toward the inner fortress of Vargo Fortress. At first the Undead chased after them, but soon after as if they realized they needed to protect Balkan in the basement they stopped following.

‘We need to destroy the Life Vessel that is sealing the Lich’s health.’

Balkan is a legendary monster that even using holy power was difficult to kill. His magical strength was severely restricted by the sacred sword in his chest but it’s impossible to estimate his level. To completely destroy Balkan that didn’t even die with a sacred sword embedded in him, Weed needed to take out the Life Vessel first.

If Balkan with low health got reverse summoned near the Life Vessel, he will be able to control the Undead Legion again and kill every players that came inside the fortress.

‘It might possibly be there.’

There was a place that Weed was suspicious of the Life Vessel being when he was taking a look around the inner fortress as a Doom Knight.

“As there is not much time let’s run.”

“Alright, let’s go faster!”

Weed and Geomchis ran down the hallway fast. They had no time to hesitate as many people keeping Balkan in check would continue to die.

Priests have never suffered physically so much in their lives.

They had been raising their stats for wisdom or faith so they got exhausted easily just by walking for a long time. Just trying to keep pace with Weed and Geomchis was enough to make their legs tremble.

“Hop on me”

Geomchis crouched and stuck out their robust backs.

“But that would be discourtesy….”

“The reason why a man’s back is so wide is because of these situation. We’ve never got to use it so far but it’s ok.”

Priests hopped precariously on the masculine Geomchis. Weed who only brought along female priests for Geomchis!

“Undead!”

Monsters guarding the hallway frequently showed up but Weed and Geomchis broke through with their extraordinary actions.

“Hey, over here. Heriam Fencing!”

When Weed stuck out the Sculptor’s Torch, the Undead were exposed to holy power, wrapping their skulls and suffered. Using these moments, he decisively slashed with his sword and kept going.

As they were heading on the upper part of the inner fortress, Weed who could see far
saw that there were fierce fights going on everywhere outside the fortress. Flames and smoke were rising, skeletons running around the fortress wall, ghosts flew around in the air.

“For the glory of Balkan-nim!”

“Kill the elves. Welcome these elves who came to become one of us.”

“Head toward the basement and help the Balkan-nim.”

In the passages Undead gathered in groups and moved about. Every time they approached, Weed, Geomchis and priests hid in empty rooms or behind the path and waited for them to pass.

“Sahyung, let’s continue.”

The destination Weed chose was on the third floor of the inner fortress. Through the steel gate guarded by 20 Vandal Knights, he speculated there will be Balkan’s Life Vessel behind the gate.

‘It’s probably the right place.’

Liches conceal their Life Vessels very thoroughly. Weed wasn’t able to enter but the possibility was high with severe protections.

“Intruders.”

“Humans rebelling against Balkan-nim.”

As soon as they arrived at the steel gate, the Vandal Knights confronted them in battle. While priests were casting blessing and healing spells and Geomchis were fighting them, Weed confronted one Vandal knight.

“I am the knight Elliot.”

“I am Weed. To meet like this is an honor.”

By instinct, Weed tried to raise his intimacy with him. The habit of flattery on higher-rank Undead still remained in Weed’s body.

“By coming here you must die. Farhead Fencing.”

The Vandal Knight stepped forward. When Weed was an Undead, he wanted to try fighting a Vandal Knight. The equipment they used looked unordinary and with Weed’s current level, killing a Vandal Knight would give him tons of experience.

Weed who learned the blacksmith skill, just by looking briefly he was able to figure out estimates of price or specs of equipment. Vandal Knights covered their bodies with heavy armor so their defence was very high but in return, they had less flexibility.

“Leave the land of Balkan-nim!”

Every time Vandal knights swung their swords, dark energies got released and swept everything within a 5-meter radius. Just a scratch took away a lot of Weed’s health.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Weed swung his profound, shining sword against Vandal Knights and started his attack. He preferred close-range combat but it was difficult to hit them directly so he used Moonlight Sculpting Blade.

“Wow, amazing!”

“It’s really pretty!”

Even in this desperate situation, priests managed to get impressed by Weed.

It was the most beautiful skill that they had ever seen!

Compared to the simple flushing of white, black or reddish lights according to a swordsman’s speciality, his was profound and full of splendor. But the damage itself was weak compared to its effects. It had a great benefit of ignoring the enemy’s defence but it wasn’t like it could push the enemy with a strong force and the range was not so wide. Even so, it cost triple the mana consumption compared to the Sculpting Blade skill.

After he mastered Heriam Fencing, he used it barely and even then, it was for a short while but now he could use it as much as he wanted. He was holding the torch sculpted out of helium that supplied mana. It felt like receiving his first salary from a company and going out to eat with his co-workers!

“Right, let’s beat them evenly.”

Weed started to beat the Vandal Knights into a pulp. The Undead Vandal Knights that were much higher in rank than a Doom Knight!

Both sides neglected their defence and a slugfest erupted where they only focused on beating up each other. Weed took some damage as well but besides the healing he received from the priests, his resilience, endurance and defense from his equipment were quite high.

With priests behind him, he was able to fully focus on hunting quickly without caring about things.

You obtained Elliot’s boots.

You obtained Elliot’s cape.

You picked up 81 gold, 34 silver and 58 copper.

Acquiring unique items!

When he finished off the Vandal Knight, the Geomchis finished their battles as well. Geomchi’s who fought in a group with a large number ended up with all kinds of injuries.

“Huk... That was a really hard battle.”

“But everyone fought well.”

They fought with everything they’ve got to show off in front of female priests and intentionally received injuries to feel the healing hands just once more.

“Now, if we open the door….”

Geomchis and priests weren’t fully recovered but Weed went straight to the steel gate. There were still Undead wandering around Vargo Fortress so he couldn’t afford to take a rest. Geomchi15 took out a key from among his drops from the Vandal Knights, he inserted it in the lock and turned.

CLINK!

The lock was released.

‘We can now kill Balkan completely. The final moment of Lich Balkan Demoph the legendary monster has come.’

Weed with all his strength opened the steel gate with both hands.

And then he was touched.

“Ohhhh, what a wonderful place!”

He predicted the Life Vessel would be standing by itself in a room but the room was filled with mountains of antique swords, armors and all kinds of treasures.

The place Weed and Geomchis went in was the treasure room of Vargo fortress.

*****

“How much is all this.”

Weed’s smile stretched out till it felt like it could be torn. Golds in pots and chests looked like it was worth more than hundreds of thousands gold. But if only market value were taken into consideration the swords and armors were much more valuable.

“There are some of Balkan’s magic items.”

Due to their specs and rarity, magic items made by Balkan himself would bring in a lot of money.

A scepter that magnifies spells of certain attributes. Boots that allowed you to fly in the sky and walk over water.

“A jackpot!”

Overjoyed Weed’s first negative thought!

‘I should have came here alone….’

Geomchis, priests and Marey who followed along so he could compose a new song, because of them he had to share. As Weed was the one who led the quest, he had the ownership of 30% of all treasures that were found, the rest were divided based on the number of participants.

In a world where it’s heart-breaking to share even a small pea, how can you share mountains of gold, silver, treasures and items!

The second thought that came up in Weed’s head was that the sharing of treasures wasn’t even a problem. They could only take the gold, silver and treasure if they won the battle.

Weed’s face hardened.

‘Balkan’s Life Vessel isn’t here.’

Based on the fact that this place was in the center of the inner fortress with very heavy guards, he was certain this was the right place.

However…….

Weed sent a whisper to Mapan in haste.

> What is the situation with Balkan?

A reply came back without delay.

> Balkan’s withstanding by continuing summoning Undead.

> His health?

> Priests are almost out of mana, he drained health and mana from Geomchis and paladins so he’s still fine.

As long as he couldn’t destroy the Life Vessel, they couldn’t kill Balkan and will fail the battle as well. It became possible that all of the humans that entered Vargo fortress might be buried in here.

‘We must find the Life Vessel. It's definitely inside Vargo Fortress. There can’t be any other places. This place was the most safe and heavily fortified by the Undead.’

In critical situations, Weed’s brain only worked faster! In the room Balkan was, there was no apparent place to hide. Even so, the Life Vessel would not be hidden in a wine bottle in the basement.

‘It has to be a place where Balkan feels much safer and secured than this place where it is guarded by the Vandal Knights.’

Looking back through his memories calmly, he came up with a possible place where the Life Vessel was. There was a place several times safer than the outer or inner fortress. It was the top of the central tower in Vargo Fortress where Three Bone Dragons were flying around!

Everyone was exhausted from infiltrating the inner fortress of Vargo Fortress and breaking through the Undead. But now, they were in a situation where they had to fight against the Bone Dragons.

*****

United army of elves, barbarians and dwarves could not collapse the outer part of Vargo Fortress and continued to fight. If every warriors of each races came, they would have conquered the outer fortress already but their main forces didn’t get deployed as they had to protect the fairy queen.

Fortunately for the united army, the Undead force was divided as well. In the inner fortress, there was a limitation to number of soldiers that can fight due to the narrow hallway.

“Kill them all.”

“For glory!”

From the ground in the hills nearby, the Undead arose and headed toward the outer fortress like a tide.

“Drive out the Undead, gain courage knowing that you are reclaiming freedom for our land””

Elves, dwarves and barbarians fought fiercely. From the chaos occurring in the outer fortress, Weed felt a serious chilling.

‘Three Bone Dragons…”

Normal Bone Dragons were already scary enough, but these Bone Dragon were masterpieces made by Balkan himself.

‘I guess we have no choice.’

Indomitable will that burned when he was driven into poverty and stepped on!

“Sahyung, we need to fight the Bone Dragons at the central tower to kill Balkan. What do you think we should do?”

He asked the Geomchis for their opinions just in case they had a good idea.

“We beat them down.”

“And leave perfectly good swords lying around?”

Instant agreement!

Truthfully, Weed also felt something was missing when he considered not going after the Bone Dragons.

“This way.”

There were more Undead reinforcements in the hallway as they moved toward the central tower. If they keep taking care of the approaching Undead on their way to the central tower, it will take a lot of time and they may be annihilated.

“We have to take a shortcut. I’ll go first. Please keep some distance and follow me.”

Weed broke a window and went out to the outer wall. Outside where the cool wind blew, gargoyles were flying around.

“A human.”

“Kill it!”

Skeleton archers standing guard on the fortress wall or lookout towers started shooting arrows towards Weed. Weed grabbed protruding parts and climbed along the wall.

“Quadruped run!”

SHASHASHAK.

He moved like a spider between the raining arrows, jumped on a destroyed part of the fortress wall or the portruding stones and hung on to it.

“Shoot the human first.”

“He seems like the worst guy. We must kill him first for Balkan-nim.”

Skeleton archers focused their attack on Weed.

KEEEEAK!

Even gargoyles approached and pecked Weed with their beaks.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

In a disadvantageous situation, hanging on the castle wall, Weed used his handicapped left hand to swing the sword. He drew the focus of the enemy so Geomchis, Marey and the priests could reach the top safely.

“Kill the man hanging on wall completely.”

“Let’s show the greatness of Undead.”

On the ground, skeleton mages gathered magic on their hands and shot also. Messages indicating he’s been hit kept popping up.

Remaining health 36,789.

‘I am gonna die at this rate.’

Weed reached the roof of Vargo Fortress through climbing the wall. The roof of the inner fortress is was skewed and tilted. He was able to see many other large towers standing taller than the roof.

Following after Weed, gargoyles and bats attacked him with spells and arrows continuing after him. Only about 15% of his health was left. He had to buy enough time for Geomchis and priests to reach the top of the central tower from the other direction.

“With the situation as it is, I guess I have no choice..”

Weed took out a sculpture. A fine sculpture made of bronze called, ‘Japtem Embracing Merchant’.

“I didn’t want to use this again... but I’m not in the position to be picky when I have to fight the Bone Dragons. Sculptural Destruction! Let everything turn into agility.”

He crushed the sculpture with his own hand.

At that moment.

Weed’s body shone with light.

You used the Sculpture Destruction.

Sorrow! Agony at the destruction of a fine sculpture.

5 art stat disappeared permanently. Fame decreased by 100.

Art stat transformed to agility with 1:4 ratio for 24 hours.

Because your art stat is too high and agility stat is low, the conversion will not happen instantly.

850 agility is converted into advance level 8 skill, ‘Wind Sprinting’. By consuming your mana, you can ride on the wind and run.

650 agility is converted to advanced level 8 skill, ‘Avoiding Art’. You can dodge enemies’ attacks completely. It draws more capabilities out of leather armor.

410 agility is converted to advanced level 4 skill, ‘Lucky Intervention’. Coincidental lucks occur frequently and you can use three-times stronger attribute attacks.

520 agility is converted to advance level 6 skill, ‘Accurate Attack’. Chance of critical hit has risen and attack increased.

Proficiency in sculpting increased.

Weed’s body literally felt light as a feather.

“It good enough to run a 100-meter race.”

In Royal Road, changes in stats also result in physical changes. At beginner level, it takes nearly 30 seconds to sprint 100-meter. If you are wearing armor, it may take more than a minute.

But by raising strength and agility, speed would gradually increase and later it was possible to get 10 seconds like the actual athletes, and as the level increase the running speed would become even faster than that.

His endurance changed as well. He was able to complete a marathon as long as his vitality keeps up with him.

An arrow passed by causing a scratch.

Health decreased by 130.

The flying arrow from skeleton didn’t hit Weed precisely and fell. It was the effect of agility where he naturally evaded without moving much.

“Then should I counterattack now?”

Weed took out a bow of high-elf Yurika. The price for arrows was regretful but now was the time to use it! If wood and steel was available, using his blacksmithing skill he could produce arrows so he premade 300 of them.

Weed ran on top of the tower and roof. He was too fast for bats and gargoyles to chase after him. He placed arrows in the string and shoot them towards skeletons. They seemed to be flying in completely wrong direction but they slowly changed their direction and precisely hit the enemies!

Spirits of water inflicted additional damages.

A whirlpool of water appeared and swept the skeletons.

“Hit him!”

“Kill that human first.”

Weed slashed approaching gargoyles and shot arrows toward the skeleton archers while he was running around the roof. Arrows from skeleton archers all focused on him and gargoyles sitting on the fortress walls and towers flew in unison for a battle.

A thrilling pleasure coming from reckless speed!

Weed ran around the incomparably dangerous Vargo Fortress freely. As Weed pulled out his hand, an arrow shot from a skeleton archer was unbelievably caught.

You obtained a steel arrow.

He shot the arrow immediately and returned it.

*****

Pale looked at Balkan with his eyes filled with fear.

“This monster, really its too much!”

Even though there were Necromancers, they weren’t able to summon every corpse as Undead before Balkan. The Undead summoned by Balkan were at least at the level of a Doom Knight.

Elite Doom Knight.

Captain Doom Knight.

Slaughterer Doom Knight

Plague bringing Doom Knight

They were all at the level of named monsters.

Even five Vandal Knights were summoned. Rather than attacking Balkan, paladins and Geomchis had to keep fighting Balkan’s royalguards while suffering from all kinds of curses.

Balkan was even withstanding Turn Undead spells from the priests. Due to Death Aura, he drained health and mana through Undead to survive. The paladins could not help but feel daunted.

“I think the number of Undead are continuously increasing.”

“Is Balkan going to die soon?”

“Can we even kill him? I think we are the one who will be annihilated!”

Romuna was deeply touched.

“If it’s not too late, should I change my profession to a Necromancer? Even if it’s difficult, if I become a Lich…”

The strength of a Lich that can control a kingdom even when being restricted by a sacred sword was revealed beyond doubt.

*****

At the same time the broadcasting stations were engulfed in pleasant worries. The battle in the basement where Balkan was, Undead versus paladins, contesting priest, it was enough to call it a battle of good and evil.

Geomchis were making great plays but Balkan’s Necromancer spells were so terrifyingly powerful that when there were casualties, his Undead force slowly increased. Another problem was that they had to block the Undead Legion coming from upstairs so their forces were divided.

On the other hand, Weed was running around rooftops of Vargo Fortress and fighting. Shooting arrows while sliding down the roof, leaping without any fear and slashing gargoyles with colorful Moonlight Sculpting Blade. A heart pumping battle scene with Vargo Fortress as a background.

It would be enough to reach the top place in the Hall of Fame. With them showing the best moments the viewers could not keep their eyes off.

“Which side do we have to broadcast?!”

Overall they felt the battle against Balkan was clearly important so they broadcasted that side but due to opinions of viewers curious about Weed, they changed the scene again.

- What is happening with battle against Balkan?

- Show us Weed moving around the roof.

- How can he fight in a monster filled place as if he’s in an open area? Is it because he is Weed? I’m getting bored of dungeons, if I become a high level player, will I be able to fight like Weed? But still, I think fighting against the swarming monsters in a place like Vargo fortress is suicide.

- They can only win the battle if they kill Balkan… Show us Balkan.

- What are you doing, I was watching it! Turn back to Weed!

With fiery requests from viewers, broadcasting stations were bound to be sweared at with whatever they did.

Chapter 7: Calling the Storm

Weed gave himself to the blowing wind, shooting arrows as he slid 5, 10 meters.

“This must be why archer class are so popular.”

Weed mumbled while shooting arrows.

100% on target!

Not only were the shots unbelievably precise, being a high elf bow it inflicted additional spiritual damage.

SCHWAAFF!

Consecutively fired arrows pierced the skeletons manning the castle wall one by one. Fire spirit caused fiery explosions and water spirits created hails. Spirit of earth covered its surrounding in muds and wind spirit push the skeletons to fall toward the ground.

A scorched earth tactic!

He thought he understand the fun the players had by choosing as an archer or ranger. But he did not know that the ranger or archer players who were watching through an actual television had their mouths gaping at the sheer absurdity.

“But still, an archery class doesn’t suit me.”

Hitting a monster at a far range with an arrow had a great pleasant feeling. Some Undead vanished without even knowing why they were dead. But he realized as he was shooting the Undead far away, it only consumed arrows and he couldn’t even pick up any drops.

He had great regrets at the items he could not get even by stretching out his hands. Unless he was hunting independently in a secure place, he considered an archer to be the wrong class in a battlefield like this.

“Really, you need to use a sword.”

Killing enemies directly insured certainty in picking up items. Weed was learning the importance of collecting his money.

Meanwhile, Geomchis, Marey and the priest also went up to the roof. Skeletons standing on top the Vargo Fortress towers and roofs shot arrows towards them. The felt themselves trapped like on an isolated islands, with monsters surrounding them on the ground and skies!

“Alright, let’s get started.”

Geomchi3 swung his sword and slashed a nearby gargoyle. The counter attack finally began on the gargoyles that covered the area like a dark cloud.

“Kill them all.”

“Clear these guys first and then let’s get the Bone Dragons!”

Geomchis caused countless number of reckless accidents, but the goal they were pursuing was to get stronger and nothing else. The method of their venerated strength was to break through their own limitations.

“Just start beating and they will die!”

“Destroy them all!”

Geomchis ran around slashing the gargoyles with their swords. With the enormous ruckus caused on the rooftops of Vargo Fortress, the Bone Dragons descended toward the ground from their flight.

“Humans are here.”

A single Bone Dragon, with its height that dwarfed the tower, approached them flapping its flesh-less wings. From the head of the Bone Dragon, a black miasma streamed out.

You were falling into a state of fear, but you overcome it

Agility reduced by 4%.

Wisdom decreased by 25%.

Bone Dragon could also infect them with its fear but its power was less than half compared to Balkan’s so they could withstand it.

The Bone Dragon opened its mouth wide and took in a deep breath. A pose for its infallible breath attack!The distance was really close and there wasn’t any good place for humans to hide.

Weed cried out a Lion’s Roar.

“Fight me first! My purpose for coming here is to kill Balkan. If you can’t kill me on than its impossible to take on anyone else.”

A macho display that even surprised the Geomchis!

If by any chance Weed dies, it will cause a huge problem. He could revive as an Undead by the ‘Power to Reject Death’, unable to disobey Balkan’s command. He might end up on Bone Dragons’ side and be coerced into fighting Geomchis but he still yelled in a loud voice.

“Without a doubt, I knew you were the most evil human here.”

Weed, some distance away from the Geomchis, ran on top the roof with all his might. The scenes passes by frighteningly fast with every step he took!

“Even if you flee, its useless.”

Choosing Weed as its precise target, the Bone Dragon opened its jaws wide. And then blew out its specialty, Acid Breath.

SCHWAAH!

Acid Breath that pushed onward from the sky. Weed ran on the roof with amazing speed but it seemed impossible to run away from the breath.

“Sprinting Wind.”

You used a skill ‘Sprinting Wind’

Health and mana consumption rate tripled.

Weed’s body accelerated as if his body was being flinged out. It was unbelievable speed fast enough to pass a horse with full speed in a split second. Soon, he disappeared as if he casted a teleportation spell.

He dropped into a hole on the roof he’s been keeping his eyes on ever since the Bone Dragon appeared. The Acid Breath swept the spot Weed was on and melted the outer wall of Vargo Fortress as well. As parts of the building got destroyed and melted, its shape became disfigured enough to see old carpets, furniture and painting inside the building.

“Teehee. There is a cool breeze coming inside,” a young skeleton stuck its head with joy.

When Weed came back up to the roof the Bone Dragon was flying low, stomping the place where the Geomchis were gathered.

“I ask you of your sins of invading Balkan-nim’s land.”

The fortress shook as if was under an earthquake, destroying the fortress walls. Because Geomchis were bunched up, some couldn’t avoid it and got stomped by the Bone Dragon.

When the Bone Dragon were in the air, it was extremely difficult to catch it. If it shot it’s breath and used magic high in the air, the Goemchis had no chance at all. If the Geomchis tamed gryphons or wyverns, they could have been able to fight in the air but that wasn’t in the option either.

Due to the structure of towers and buildings in Vargo Fortress there were no place to cover but because of its wide area, Bone Dragon’s area of effect spells were less effective. But the Bone Dragon sat on the rooftop purposefully to prevent Geomchis from advancing forward.

The other two dragons didn’t leave the central tower.

That means only one thing!

“It’s certain now. Balkan’s Life Vessel is in the central tower.”

Every time the Bone Dragon moved, the fortress cracked and its surrounding were being destroyed. The ferocious Bone Dragon without compare, did not care about such happenings.

“Disperse.”

“Beat it to death!”

Geomchis hiding behind cover suddenly jumped out, surrounded the Bone Dragon and attacked.

“Attack its wings first.”

“Break its ankle!”

Geomchis clung to the Bone Dragon, stabbed, slashed and hit it.

“Its bone is really tough. The attacks are not hitting properly!”

“It’s health is barely getting reduced.”

Getting hit by its front legs, health would go down perilously and if stomped on the chances of dying was high. There were chances of surviving through sheer luck, but it was just the result of the building collapsing first and blocking the attack.

Weed used ‘Sprinting Wind’ and swiftly ran behind Bone Dragon’s back. He stepped up its tail bones as if it was a stairway and stood on its neck.

“Heriam Fencing!”

He used a an attack skill, targeting a single point that was small as a sesame seed. Geomchis, fighting against the Bone Dragon were also using single point attacks. But beacuse the Bone Dragon was moving violently, their attacks weren’t effective.

“Let’s hit it together.”

“Attacking from here should be comfortable.”

Geomchis hopped on the dragon’s body just like Weed.

“Humans, kneel before the magnificence of Balkan-nim!”

KUUNG!

As the dragon shook its body fiercely to get the humans off, Vargo fortress was severely destroyed. Some caused chain reactions and destroyed second and third floors as well.

The Bone Dragon’s body, fore leg, snouts and tail attacks were a problem but the collapsing buildings were causing the Geomchis greater damager.

The dragon howled wildly after devouring one Geomchi.

“ROOOOOAAAR!”

Dragon Fear!

The Geomchis followed Weed’s example and scurried about the Bone Dragon’s back, wings and neck like ants, bringing down their swords without rest. Hitting the incomparable Bone Dragon’s body, the swords durability reduced rapidly.

The sword struck the bones of the Bone Dragon, durability of your sword decreased

Attack reduced by 3.

Gathering all their strength to strike the Bone Dragon harder, the durability of their sword decreased. It would be much better to use a heavy weapons like an axe or a mace to reduce the Bone Dragon’s health.

When durability of the weapon drops following suit the maximum attack drops as well but they did not have time to be hesitant about it. In no time Health of the Bone Dragon was less than 50%. The Geomchis on the rooftops evaded when they were about to be stomped on or eaten, and attacked from the sides.

“Sahyung, do not let your guard down. Bone Dragon has absurd health regeneration rate!”

“We will keep hitting it until it’s completely shattered.”

Weed with one target in mind kept hitting the spot.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade. Heriam Fencing!”

Mastery of sword skills increased.

Bone Dragon was an ideal target for raising sword skills.

Skeleton archers and mages crawled up to the roof of the fortress. Fire arrows and ice magic fell on the Geomchis and Bone Dragon without distinction.

An arrow was dodged.

Acid arrow passed by causing a scratch.

Due to the effect of Weed’s high agility, the attacks could not hit him properly. Geomchis withstood the attack with resistance and perseverance. They were able to endure a little bit more due to their increased perseverance from swimming across ocean and continuous swings of their swords.

“With this much, it does not disrupt us from swinging our sword. Me dying first, or you dying first, let see who does!”

Geomchis fought with no fear of death!

They were attacked, shaken off from the Bone Dragon and trampled upon. Some could escape the situation if they were lucky enough to be healed by the priests, but those who died were revived as Undead and attack their comrades.

As Weed was situation on the neck he could see the variety of situations.

Every time the Bone Dragon pulled up its head and roared, it felt like he was on the top of a high mountain and widen his field of view. Riding on the Bone Dragon on the rooftop of Vargo Fortress allowed him an unfettered view of the whole surrounding. He could even see the battle outside the fortress if he wanted to.

‘Sahyungs took too many casualties.’

Based on active Geomchis, it looked like at least 30 of them died. With so many of them injured and the fortress collapsing, many more could die instantly.

The dead Geomchis were revived as Undead by Dark Rule. With Undead like Doom Knights and Vandal Knights coming up to the rooftops and the tower, situation was spreading worse unchecked. Their primary objective was to protect Balkan but as they came closer to the central tower where the Life Vessel is, more Undead were deployed.

‘The problem is time.’

Not much of the health remained on the Bone DragonWeed was hitting. After a short while he could continue the hunting. But it had to be done faster with no casualties on the Geomchis.

“It’s regretful but I have no choice. Sahyung, please take my place.”

Weed got off from the Bone Dragon’s neck which was the most ideal place to attack it. And in his place Geomchi4 came.

Weed started running towards the central tower and cried out a Lion’s Roar.

“I am going to the central tower to destroy Balkan’s Life Vessel!”

It was a loud, resonating voice that even Undead at the outer castle could hear.

“GRRRRRR.”

The Bone Dragon attacking Geomchis reacted immediately and turned around to kill Weed. The Bone Dragon ran fiercely after Weed, destroying the building in its way. The other skeleton archers, mages and witches changed their target to Weed.

A countless number of arrows and magic attack!

Weed dodged arrows and spells one by one. When he had no time to dodge, he let it just scratch him. Weed’s health recovered back to 87% thanks to the helps from the priests.

An arrow scratched passed your right shoulder.

A fire spell was dodged.

A Glacier Spike was dodged perfectly.

Arrows and spells could not attack with their full power because of Weed’s high agility and dodging skills. Even if his health reaches 0 by any chance, by receiving significant help from Seo Yoon, he could withstand for a little longer.

“Dodge. I can dodge it.”

Weed looked straight forward and threw his body in a thread like space. While throwing his body he evaded the snout and the foreleg of the Bone Dragon, and barely dodged the unmeasurable number of magic attacks and arrows.

His incredulous movement looked as if was practise over a hundred time to pull it off.

His graceful movements were framed by an explosions in the background caused by the collision of fire and ice magic, Weed was moving as if he was dancing!

“He really dodges well.”

“When did our disciple’s capabilities reach that high….”

Even Geomchis were momentarily in awe.

Recognizing one’s surroundings with his sense and dodging consecutive arrows and spells flying toward him, that kind of evasion skill was one step beyond the limits of what humans were capable of.

Of course most of it was Weed’s own abiliites but advanced level 8 ‘Avoiding Art’ skill helped. With certain low level attacks, moving in a flow he could avoid many of them naturally. Weed’s own actions and the skill mixed together.

In between so many attacks his movement was so elegant, no one could forget it in their life time. From the observer’s point of view they could just gape in amazement, just one twist would end in life or death.

“Well, let’s try everything while I can.”

Weed activated a skill with his remaining mana.

“Moonlight Sculpting!”

His whole body was covered with a dim light. The lights reacted on threatening magic, where it stretched out and intercepted the spell. These kind of skill consumed mana exponentially but to a person who did not know if he would die today did not need to worry about the cost of the card!

Weed shouted while running backwards in the direction of the central tower.

“Bring it on! I’m not going to lose to some skinny, dried bony corpse of a lizard!”

A taunt!

From the nose of Bone Dragon, a smoke came out.

“I’ll kill you with complete certainty.”

It wasn’t a breath attack. The Bone Dragon smashed with his frontal legs and tried to stomp with hind legs. Weed swiftly rolled his body and dodged the feet.

Because the size of Bone Dragon was too large, Weed had to focus solely on dodging. At the same time, he had to dodge attacks from Undead without missing a beat.

CRRAAK.

The snout of the Bone Dragon got stuck in the place Weed threw himself into to dodge. One part of the stone wall collapsed in its mouth. In the vicinity where Weed was, arrows hit in clusters and magic passed by destroying the place.

“ROOOAAAR!”

The Bone Dragon hit by the stone wall, arrows and spells cried out in pain. But instead of trying to protect its own health, it attacked even more wildly to kill Weed.

But Weed only focused on dodging its attacks. It looked like he could die any moment if he tried to sloppily counter attack, so he was committed to dodge the attack and survive.

“Power of the holy spirit, grant salvation unto the one in suffering. Healing Hand!”

The priests supplemented Weed’s health with healing spells. This was why combat related class always appreciate and were flustered by the priests in these situations.

While Weed was getting back dodging and defending, he got ready to move his body in a split second. This is a real battle. It was not a fight that was fought by being higher level and preparing better equipment than the monsters. It was a fight where he used all his abilities and where split second decision could result in life or death.

The Bone Dragon took a deep breath.

Breath!

It was preparing for a final strike that Weed, who could dodge disgustingly well, could not manage. But before that, the bones in its bodies were separating and collapsing. The Bone Dragon’s health has finally reached its end.

It was a fight to shoot a breath attack before it died!

“If its like that then I won’t dodge.”

Weed stepped on the foreleg of the Bone Dragon and jumped up high enough to reach its face.

“Heriam Fencing!”

Weed stepped on the Bone Dragon’s nose, aimed its forehead and slashed his sword. Whether or not the durability of the sword dropped, he struck consecutively using his high agility.

A crack appeared on the Bone Dragon’s head. Every time Weed’s attacks struck, the gap got bigger. The breath gathering inside its mouth was getting bigger as well.

“Enchant Holy Weapon!”

One of the priests casted a spell that embeds holy power into a weapon. Weed continued to strike the Bone Dragon with the sword blessed by holy power. The crack was spreading over its whole head!

CRAAAACK!

The bones where Geomchis beated were starting to break down as well. When Weed’s sword fell again, the power that sustain the Bone Dragon’s body suddenly disappeared. And starting from the head, the bones in its bodies fragmented and fell toward the ground.

At the same time, a message window popped up on Weed.

Your level increased.

Your level increased.

Your level increased.

The Bone Dragon Dyark in Vargo Fortress has return to its eternal rest

Through this great achievement, your fame rose by 915.

Charisma increased by 1.

Fighting Spirit increased by 4.

By playing an important role in hunting down the Bone Dragon affiliated with the Undead Legions, every stats increased by 2

The death of the Bone Dragon!

You have reached level 400.

Weed finally became level 400

You obtained a Glyph of Destroyer.

You obtained a secret of Necromancer, method of Bone Dragon creation.

You obtained bulks of rotten dragon bones.

You obtained an old book, an ancient history book of Versailles continent #19.

You obtained an ancient cloak.

It was very unfortunate that, unlike the drops from regular Undead, the drops Bone Dragon were shared equally based on the participation in the battle. As the body of the Bone Dragon got destroyed, Weed and Geomchis leap off from the roof.

“Kill the humans!”

“We must protect the Balkan-nim from the humans.”

Undead were in full swing to climb up to the roof. In terms of terrain, Weed and Geomchis had a small advantage but Undead were climbing up all sides.

“Now everyone advance to the central tower. Priests, please do your best to follow, if you think you are going to die please, as a last act use all your holy power on the Bone Dragon.

It was unreasonable requests for the priests but Weed had no choice.

“We understand. Let’s go!”

Seeing the bloody battle that Weed and Geomchis fought, the priests agreed and followed.

“Let’s go.”

Running on the rooftops, Weed and Geomchis took care of any Undead blocking their path. From behind, priests’ holy power healed their health and vitality continuously.

“Our destination is right ahead of us.”

Running on the rooftops, in no time there was only 60 meters to the tower that stood loftly in the center.

The two Bone Dragons were staring at the invaders.

And then Breath as if they were waiting for the moment!

Two streams of Breaths fired with some intervals between them pierced through them powerfully. It melted parts of the castle wall and buildings and even eliminated Undead.

Weed and Geomchis dispersed everywhere and hid inside the fortress. Without even knowing how many died, they gathered again and ran toward the central tower. Several spells cast from the Bone Dragons flew and exploded.

“Use the buildings as our cover and keep moving.”

Weed and Geomchis could only move forward.

Spreading its wings, the Bone Dragon flew up into the sky. It was obvious to see that one was using magic and the other was using the ground to fight.

“Humans. Kill the humans.”

“They are heading to a dangerous place where they are not allowed.”

“Fight to protect the Balkan-nim!”

Taking the Undead on the rooftop into consideration, if they delayed to block the Bone Dragon they would be surrounded in a moment and annihilated

Weed took out another sculpture.

“In the end, I have to use this as well. I really did not want to use it...”

It was a sculpture made from Weed’s several different traumas.

Cold Storm: Durability 20/20

An extreme natural phenomenon that struck northern Versailles continent.

It expresses the glacial storm that brought ice and snow.

A Fine sculpture with vivid expressions based on the event that the sculptor experienced.

It expresses a beautiful yet adverse attributes of nature.

With increased population in the north, the chance of another glacial storm is very low.

The sculpture’s historic value will rise as time goes.

Artistic value: 854.

Option: Improves the effects of glacier spells by 3%.

Life +200.

Charm +13.

“Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster!”

Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster has been used

Art stat disappeared by 20 permanently.

20,000 health and mana has been consumed.

Every stat reduced by 15% for four days.

Affinity to Nature decreased.

Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster can only be used once per day.

When a dangerous disaster are called upon, depending on the damage fame or notoriety can increase.

You can die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

Chapter 8: Master of Vargo Fortress

A glacial storm retaining strong reminiscence! Atmospheric temperature dropped sharply. The Undead did not realize this as they could not feel the cold, but Weed and Geomchis could feel the freezing wind seeping into their skin.

One or two snowflakes started drifting but soon thick shards of ice struck the ground heavily. Tens of thousands shards of ices that covered the whole of Vargo Fortress! Some ice shards big as icebergs could be seen. Whirlwinds and fierce winds blew, sweeping the fortress and heralding the start of the natural disaster.

Among the Undead, the Skeletons with the weak resistances were the first to frost and began to stiffen. The Bone Dragon winging in the air was completely swept away by the glacial storm. Struck by the ice pieces in the glacial storm, it could not control its huge body and spun around madly.

“Kyaaaooo!”

Thick layers of ice covered the Bone Dragon, seemingly trying to soar higher it suddenly crash into the fortress. It caused an incredible impact that felt like an earthquake! Some structures of the fortress that has been stressed, weakened and barely withstood till now collapsed.

“Re, really freaking cold.”

Weed, seeing how fast Vargo Fortress was turned into a land of ice, he had a new mind about the destructive power of the natural disaster.

“It must feel extremely futile to freeze to death in a middle of a battle.”

Right after he activated the skill, Weed wore a coat over his armor. Geomchis and priests also wore thick cloth and evaded the ice shards by entering a building. They reacted quickly as Weed told them he might call a glacial storm.

Escaping the storm and looking out into the scene, the Undead, with feeble clothes and equipment that were lost while embroiled in the glacial storm, looked naked.

“Everyone keep hiding. You must not go outside right now.”

“If anyone’s health dropped suddenly and you are about to die, let me know. I have some extra blankets.”

Even in the middle of this ruckus, the Geomchis took care of priests. The duration of Art of Nature - Great Disaster was pretty long. With the glacial storm still billowing, Weed got out of his hiding place on the roof.

“Th… this situation. Re, really…” Tak! “It can’t end like this. Huk, or I will suffer.. for the rest… of my life. ”

The word did not even come out properly due to the cold.

Weed, avoiding the furious storm of ice shards, ran toward the central tower.

An ice shard slanted pass your forehead.

A spiked shaped ice tried to pierce your shoulder, but Avoiding Art has been applied.

An ice shard has embedded on your back.

A lump of ice grazed your knee. Movement speed decreased.

Even though with his high agility and Avoiding Art, it was impossible to completely avoid the rain of ice shards. For Weed running hard as possible while avoid getting flung by the wind was priority.

Then a Whisper from Geomchi3 was transmitted.

> You have any plan to eliminate the Bone Dragon?

Lowering his head and evading the storm, Weed answered. Just as he feared his body was hit by the cold winds and ice fragments, stiffening his body.

> There is one way. But at this rate, I think I will fail.

Even if the glacial storm ended, it will be difficult to fight as his body became frozen. If this happened, he would not be able to go further and will have to hide again.

> You are trying get to the tower right?

> Yes. That was the original plan but it’s difficult now.

> Let’s go.

Geomchis came out from their hiding place. Raising their wooden shield, they ran toward the central tower.

Weed could not move fast as he surveyed the situation and advanced as he felt that if he ran with all his might, he would be hit by the ice shards. But the Geomchis held their shield and ran with maximum speed. Even if they were wounded by fragments of ice and lumps they kept on running! They caught up to Weed and covered him with their shields.

“Lets, go, fa, faster!”

Geomchis held their shields and enclosed the surrounding from the glacial storm, through the coverage Weed received less damage. With this situation they ran toward the central tower. The Geomchis’s health was dropping; some had their bodies frozen and were left behind where they died but they held their cheap shield to the end.

It was like the allegory of four brothers piercing through a never to be seen glacial storm! Thanks to them, Weed was able to ride through the fortress wall and jump in successfully into the central tower.

Waiting for them in the central tower was the last Bone Dragon. The dragon was struggling against the glacial storm, hanging on the opposite side that it did not see Weed entering the tower.

Suddenly at that moment a message window popped up!

You became frozen.

Even with the Geomchis’ protection, Weed’s armor and body was layered thick with ice and the injuries he acquired was also severe. Though his health was supplemented by the priests’ holy magic, if the injuries were not completely healed it would still remain and affect him for a long time. It was due to Weed’s perseverance and resilience that he could survive for so long

Outside the fierce winds were winding down and the glacial storm’s influence was waning and disappearing. Soon the Undead would move again and the Bone Dragon buried in ice would rise up. Some of the Geomchis that perished would also become Undead and attack their comrades.

Marey, who came along priests while playing his instruments, saw all this and began thinking.

“This time, the legend will end in failure.”

The sight of Weed and Geomchis advancing toward the central tower choked up his feelings. And they, battling after entering the Vargo Fortress was an amazing scene. Unlessit was Weed and his comrades, no one else could have fought the Undead Legion and Balkan like this.

But Royal Road was a world where only the result mattered.

“This is really unfortunate. If they killed Balkan, it would have been something spectacular.”

*****

“Ah…..”

The team in KMC media broadcasting who were broadcasting live were bemoaning the state.

“Will it end like this here?”

At different broadcasters, after the glacial storm appeared the anchors were tight lipped. No one could imagine they would fight so lamentably.

A lot of time has passed since humans have entered Vargo Fortress, but they were not aware of how much time has flown by. But Weed’s situation wasn’t as deplorable as they thought.

In the left hand holding the ‘Torchlight left behind by Sculptors’ is transferring a warm aura

Frozen status has been alleviated.

Mana is being recovered.

As the glacial storm was winding down, Weed received strength from the sculpture. And with the Geomchis effort in protecting him, he recovered enought that he could move after a short while.

“ROOOAAAR!”

The roar of a Bone Dragon!

Dragon Fear could be heard from outside the central tower. The Geomchis must be throwing their lives in their fight against the Bone Dragon.

From Pale, he received the battle situation with Balkan.

> It getting harder as we speak. I don’t believe Balkan’s mana is dropping at all. Even if we lower his health, a lot of it is recovered very soon… But we can still hold on.

The side fighting Balkan was not in a good situation as well.

Even after piercing through the glacial storm, he did not have time to recover his health but he still dragged his non-moving leg up the stairs of the central tower.

“How could humans come here…”

“I’ll take your life.”

Even here the Undead guards were defending the place. Usually Vandal Knights would be guarding the gateway but as they were all deployed into battle, the Doom Knights were standing guard!

Weed, swinging his sword, nimbly passed them by.

You have inflicted an accurate strike.

You have inflicted a critical strike.

You have successfully pulled off a chain attack.

With incredible swinging speed of his sword that the Doom Knight could not defend against, he passed by them and entered the top.

The top floor of the central tower was a very wide area. Through the window, broken by the glacial storm, he could see the Bone Dragon attacking the Geomchis. Every time the Bone Dragon moved, the tower vibrated.

And in the corner of his eye, Weed could see a amethyst pot! It was the Life Vessel holding Lich Balkan’s health.

“I have finally manage to come here.”

It took only a moment, Weed entering the central tower and the Doom Knights crying out as they collapsed. And the Bone Dragon, fighting outside, pushed his front feet and flew toward the central tower in a hurry.

“You thought I was going to die in a place like this?”

Weed swung his sword at the pot.

It was the moment that would be recorded in the history of Versailles continent, a moment that uncountable number of viewers were watching with astonishment.

Even his insignificant quotes would become engraved into legend.

“I can never die so long as I have to protect my rice bowl!”

His sword, heavy with his responsibility as leader, destroyed the pot. Then a dark aura came out wavering and disappeared into the surroundings.

*****

Suddenly, Undead’ were sapped of their energy and their strength was weakened.

“I, I can’t disappear like this….”

“Arrrrrrrg!”

Ghosts disappeared under the sunlight, Undead like skeletons and ghouls collapsed to the ground and disappeared in a flash of grey light. About half the Undead in Vargo Fortress returned to the ground and of the Undead Legion that was occupying the region, over 80% of them disappeared.

The aftermath of Balkan’s Life Vessel destruction was spreading all over.

“The corpses are not turning into Undead!”

“I think the Undead became weaker. They die immediately under holy magic.”

Of Balkan’s Three Great Magic, the influence of Dark Rule and Death Aura disappeared. The extremely strong Undead turned back into average status. That in itself was formidable, but their capacity to resist holy power has plummeted.

“Where… Where should we go?”

“I feel life energy over there.”

“Let, let’s try going….”

Majority of the Undead that left to conquer Morata collapsed, the remaining few all but scattered. But the greatest changes was seen on Balkan and the Bone Dragons. Curse spells casted by Balkan dissolved automatically. And on top of that, when Romuna looked Balkan’s health suddenly decreased greatly.

“Balkan became weak!”

“Let’s focus our holy power and attack.”

Player’s hope were once again burning high.

Balkan’s overflowing mana was dropping low. As a Lich he could drain health and mana but because his near limitless mana pool were becoming exhausted, Balkan was suffering.

Even the weakening of the Bone Dragon could be seen with the eyes. It’s wings and body movement were becoming slow and was having difficulty controlling itself.

“Let’s bury them!”

“I will slice every one of your bones.”

Geomchis jumped on the Bone Dragon. And threw spears towards the other Bone Dragon stuck in the central tower. Their ability to use any kinds of weapons due to their Weaponry skills was a huge advantage in this situation.

“Kyaaa...”

The Bone Dragon roared but it’s Fear effect was too feeble. Because these dragons were created by Balkan long time ago, they consumed a lot of strength and mana to maintain their shape.

“Kill it!”

“Destroy it!”

The Geomchis barely had any health left but they jumped in for the last attack.

Priests’ holy spells exploded off the Bone Dragon’s body as well. Now that they knew Balkan’s Life Vessel was destroyed, they used whatever mana they gathered and cast holy magic unsparingly.

There were still Undead left on the roof but their numbers decreased greatly and were weakened.

Weed exited the central tower and returned to the path he took. He was targeting for the Bone Dragon that was swept by the glacial storm and became buried in ice.

“This guy is stubborn.”

“Just how large is his health.”

Already 20 Geomchis were there, hitting it with their swords. The Bone Dragon tried to break through the layers of ice but without the Death Aura and mana supply from Balkan, but it was impossible.

“Just die like that!”

Weed along side the Geomchis attacked the Bone Dragon. Every time it squirmed, the building and towers of Vargo Fortress got destroyed and the buildings collapsed with a thundering sound.

Some Undead could be spotted such as the Vandal Knights that lost considerable amount of power, but in Weed’s sight there was only the Bone Dragon.

“Let’s make some sizable profit.”

And then finally, the Bone Dragon turned into a grey light and disappeared.

The Bone Dragon Voturia in Vargo Fortress has returned to its eternal rest

By playing a small role in hunting down the Bone Dragon affiliated with the Undead Legion, every stats increased by 1.

Weed didn’t get much experience and fame because most of the damages were done by Geomchis. Even so, he appreciated the stat increase. By winning in a difficult, large scale raid, the participants could receive great rewards.

“We got the Bone Dragon here!”

“We won. We took out all Bone Dragons.”

A shout came from the direction of the central tower.

More Geomchis went over there but they hunted a bit slower because the Bone Dragon moved to the base of the central tower.

“The Undead in Vargo Fortress are good as finished now.”

Many Undead were lying on the ground, unable to stand up and Bone Dragons have all been hunted. And even Weed did not know how many Vandal Knights were left...

“However, if the battle continued with the United Army under the elves the Undead would not be able to withstand anyway.”

It was safe to say that the Undead Legion gathered in Vargo Fortress has been taken care of now.

Weed ignored the limping Undead that were sapped of their strength and ran straight toward the basement. Thanks to his agility Weed was running at an incredible speed. Not knowing what he could acquire from Balkan, he ran as fast as he could.

Having lost their strength, tons of Undead clogged the basement entrance!

Few Undead spotted Weed. He just took their attacks with his body and continued to hurry as fast as he could toward the basement.

“Welcome!”

An exhausted Hwaryeong greeted Weed.

“Balkan?”

“Not yet, but he’s nearly dead!”

With his efforts it seemed like he wasn’t late after all. Weed entered the place where the battle against Balkan was taking place.

“Get him!”

“Let’s attack all at once again.”

“Priests, cleanse the Undead first! Leaving Balkan for last would make the hunting much faster!”

The hunt for Balkan was ongoing as Weed came. There were quite a few Undead Balkan summoned with the corpses of Geomchis and paladins so there was a never ending battle clearing them out.

“Return to your rest, Turn Undead!”

Priests’ holy spells struck the Undead bodies.

The Advent of Seven Angel Weed had Mapan bring, nearby the sculpture the effect of holy spells increased and incredible brilliance could be seen. It boosted the humans’ strength and recovered their vitality while damaging the Undead.

“It cannot end like this. Humans needs to be trampled and this continent needs to be brought to ruin.”

Eerie voice of Balkan echoed in the basement.

“Blink!”

Teleporting in short ranges the paladins, priests and Geomchis health and mana was drained. But from the sacred sword pierced in Balkan’s body a black smoke poured out.

The basement’s mana density increased.

Mana regeneration rate has increased.

As his sealed life force was broken, Balkan’s health and mana poured out uncontrollably.

Balkan chanted a spell.

“I… I will be back. Gate Open!”

It was a spell that allowed one to teleport to another place.

They could not let Balkan escape from this place. As he was now a mortal enemy of Weed, Morata will be in danger if he escapes now. The priests focused on their holy magic and the teleportation spell failed.

The enemy’s teleportation spell was cancelled.

“Sprinting Wind!”

Weed advanced toward Balkan and closed the distance between them in an instant.

“Kaiser Sword!”

It was a skill he was saving. Weed used his sword to pierce Balkan’s body with all his might. The faster his speed, the damage would increase with it.

Geomchis and paladins arrived as well, slashing and stabbing Balkan. Already the Undead that Balkan summoned lost all their strength and were lost, he was the last remaining enemy.

It was an all out attack that could not be left out in a raid.

With loss of his health and mana and with no capability to chant a spell, Balkan started losing his strength. Weed, Geomchis, paladins and priests forgot about everything and only focused on their attacks.

And finally.

Ruler of the Undead Legion, Sorcerer of Darkness, the Necromancer Lich Balkan Demoph has returned to his eternal rest

*****

Weed and the survivors went up to the central tower, the highest tower in Vargo Fortress. They welcomed the breeze as it fluttered their capes. They were sharing in the complete sense of isolation and freedom.

It was a place where they could vividly see the trace of damage on the fortress during their unmatchable battle.

The places that were completely destroyed by the Bone Dragon’s struggle. The fire still burning in the buildings and towers. The Undead defending the outer fortress were being annihilated by the United Army of elves, dwarves and barbarians.

“Hm.”

“Huh.”

“This… It’s this kind of feeling.”

This feeling right now, it was not joy or gratification but something that could not be expressed by words.

‘I’m still shivering to death.’

‘I can’t believe the battle is really over.’

‘Will there ever be a battle like this?’

‘If I didn’t start Roya Road, I would have regretted for the rest of my life.’

‘I am going to boast it to my friends, my parents, my colleagues at work.’

‘I made it. I survived.’

Standing on the central tower, everyone enjoyed the best feeling they ever had. They shared the joy of surviving till the end of a large scale battle. The sight of Geomchis, paladins and priests adding each other to their friend list could be seen.

Weed was pleased about the victory as well.

‘I made a lot of profit.’

Usually in a raid with many participants, just by winning the battle the reward was enormous. After they defeated Balkan, depending on their contribution their overall stats increased at maximum 5 and a minimum of 2. Weed’s overall stats increased by 3 because he didn’t fight Balkan from the beginning.

As a matter of fact, it was Geomchi121 that took the last attack on Balkan. His level increased by 12 because of it. Just by participating at the last moment, Weed’s experience increased by 24%. That itself was considered a huge profit.

But to the participants who personally prepared all the works could have some regrets, so he decided to show generous magnanimity.

“This is all thanks to everyone here.”

After finishing the difficult battle, he worried about others first.

“Sahyung, are you hurt a lot? Let me put some bandages on.”

He took care of Sahyungs and approached to other players unreservedly.

“Our comrade's sacrifices were huge… Fortunately we obtained treasures in the inner fortress so we will share it all together. I know this won’t make it up but… I’ll split some of my share as well.”

Players were happy just by achieving a victory.

“How could we? All this success, it was all thank to Weed-nim.”

“You can just give us our fixed shares. I noticed that if you hadn't destroyed the Life Vessel, we would have not been able to win.”

These players had a sense of shame!

Fame, stats and battle experiences. With their victory, their mastery of skills increased quite high. And now they would also received their rewards and Weed was willing to put up his share, their admiration for this commendable person came naturally.

‘I don’t usually trust others but… Weed-nim is truly an angel.’

‘There is no difference to a saint that came out of an ethics book.’

‘Exactly who was spreading bad rumors about Weed-nim being stingy and shallow? Really, the only way to know a person is by experience. There is going to be trouble to anyone who is spreading these groundless rumors. ’

A hypocrisy that completely deceived the players!

Regarding treasures, Weed did not regret yielding small portion of his share if he could give a favorable impression.

The items from Balkan had to be sold and distributed equally to the participants and Weed’s share, similar to the treasures, was 30%. In case of the sacred sword of Lugh’s church, they were able to receive rewards depending on their contributions if they return the sword.

And there was one other satisfying reward for Weed.

You have conquered Vargo Fortress occupied by the Undead

Morata’s domain has expanded.

The area around Vargo Fortress has been incorporated into your territory.

Your influence and fame as lord increased.

Lands could not betray. The area is barren and full of monsters but there would be many relics buried under it. Many adventurers and hunting parties could flock toward it.

Vargo Fortress could be repaired and opened up, residents could come to farm and harvest food. With gradual development, beginners could start in Vargo Fortress.

In the near future, over the hill behind the place the Bone Dragon rampaged, a vivid scene of a shanty town was drawn right in front of him.

*****

Message boards on the broadcast stations and internet exploded!

It was no different to a foreseen situation. Because they were up against Undead, anchor explained it from a human’s point of view and cheered him on.

It was not an easy hunt. Players were killed by Balkan, by the Bone Dragon and the casualty from the Undead were enormous. Anchor’s lips became dry and tensions rose as they explained the scene of the Undead coming in waves into Vargo Fortress,

Grasping beyond their ability, this unbelievable victory!

“We saw this clearly. When do you think we could see such battle again?”

“Rather than speaking a hundred words, I think just being content is enough. It’s really regretful I could not be there right now.”

“They are feeling the breeze in the place of the fierce battle. This will be a great gift for the Christmas tomorrow.”

Receiving passionate response from the viewers, the anchor continued their broadcast.

Watching the broadcast of Vargo Fortress battle, in no time at all, it was early morning in reality.

And it was Christmas Eve!

And on the next day it was Christmas, with white snow falling outside the window.

Chapter 9: Snowfall on Christmas Night

Snow heaped up on Lee Hyun’s yard during last night. He woke up early in the morning and mumbled while looking at the scene out of his window.

“The roads are messy. More traffic accidents, more people slipping on the ground. Doctors must be getting a lot of money now. A doctor is the best profession in Korea…”

After sweeping snow in his yard, he began to cover the cages with blankets so his chickens, ducks, rabbits and dog could spend winter comfortably. He freed the animals while working to cover the cages and they became excited as they began to play on the snowfield.

“It’s not good to let food wander around by itself… but I will make today an exception.”

Lee Hyun granted them a large amount of generosity!

Even though it was Christmas, Lee Hyun had been spending his time playing Royal Road. But today was special, he decided to go into town to buy clothes for his grandmother and sister.

“My sister is a female… It will be difficult to have her spend winter with only two coats to wear.”

She was no longer a high school student and was old enough to style herself but he rarely bought clothes for her. When he gave her money to buy her own clothes, she would save it instead so Lee Hyun decided to buy it as a present for her.

“I will buy something expensive for her. ”

Lee Hyun hurried his preparation to go out. He succeeded in his hunt for Balkan and there was a lot of money to be received from various broadcasting stations. This was the reason why he was determined to buy a good, expensive coat for Lee Hye Yeon.

“I hope winter clothes are on sale right now!”

*****

“Rather than a street market, I should go to an outlet with popular designs...”

Lee Hyun took the subway and headed downtown. The street was bustling with couples linking their arms.

“I just can’t understand why they link their arms when they aren’t even criminals. It’s as if they are going to run away if they let go of their arms.”

Meandering like that Lee Hyun went and carefully observed woman’s clothes.

Women were very sensitive to trends and styles. Even in Royal Road, no matter how good the defense options of the clothes were, if they did not like some part about the design or if it did not fit the owner, they did not not wear it much.

“I should buy her something that is popular right now.”

He was determined to buy her a whole set rather than just a coat now. Birthday or Christmas, he wanted to see his sister smiling after receiving his present for her.

“I just can’t understand women!”

Even in the middle of winter, even when it was snowing, he could see many ladies wearing mini skirts.

“Can women even feel the cold?”

Generally, more women seem to wear pretty clothes rather than something warm. It seems they were willing to endure a lot of discomfort and cold for their fashion.

After a long time of looking around, Lee Hyun realized it was difficult to pick something by himself. In Lee Hyun’s point of view, the best choice would be a hiking jumper and heated underwear. But choosing clothes for his sister, it was completely beyond him.

‘A woman would know more about woman clothes...’

Lee Hyun’s social circle of girls was not large, so he did not have many people who he could ask for advice.

“Well, I should try contacting someone at least.”

The very person that came to his mind that might know a lot about clothes was Jung Hyo Rin, so he sent a text message to her. As Hwaryeong in Royal Road, she wore a variety of clothes and in reality she went to many fashion shows so she could be called a professional.

His phone was an old model that could not even do video chat but there was no difficulty in sending text messages.

‘I am trying to buy clothes for my sister, if you have the time could you come check them with me?’’

Besides his basic fees, Lee Hyun paid less than 2000 Won per month. When he had to call his sister, the phone was enough to get a few simple words across.

“Where are you?”

“Are you coming late?”

“Let’s go home together.”

“Did you eat already?”

10 second call was plenty enough using 300 minute free rates. Those who chose the 400 minute rates were people who could not end their calls and fell asleep on the phone, it was an unthinkable call pattern!

After sending his text, a reply came back not even a minute later.

‘My schedule is full today. It’s a concert so what can I do?’

Lee Hyun sent a reply saying it’s ok and tried to come up with someone else. Kim In Young. Who played as Irene, was the same age as his sister and could be helpful picking out clothes for her.

‘I’m sorry! I’m watching a movie with my friends today.’

The day before Christmas, everyone already had plans. His female friends in university either rejected saying that they were meeting their boyfriends or didn’t even reply.

“There is no one to send a text message to...”

Lee Hyun worried for a bit, before sending a text message to Seo Yoon. It wasn’t that he did not remember her, he just did not want to ask for such a favor.

‘If you have the time, would you like to help buy clothes for my sister and my grandmother?’

*****

It was Seo Yoon’s first winter after getting out of the hospital and moving to a house. She was lying near the automatic furnace, warming herself up.

“Weed claimed another success with his adventures, I heard praises from the people are never ending?”

“Yes, that is right. This time, it wasn’t by himself. He took along many allies with him and played an amazing role in the subsequent battle, claiming a victory. The admiration for Weed is amazing.”

“Apparently there were some famous priests and warriors that participated in the battle. Do you know who?”

“It’s the female player playing as a dancer and muscular warrior types, they…”

Seo Yoon was watching the TV. Watching the scene of Lee Hyun on television, her heart was shaken and caused her enormous worry. At that moment, a text came from Lee Hyun.

‘If you have the time, would you like to help buy clothes for my sister and my grandmother?’

Today, she was planning to just rest at home but she prepared to leave immediately. As Seo Yoon was leaving the house, the university student next door was playing basketball with his friends.

Park Jin Suk.

He moved in one week later than her and she first met him when he was handing out rice-cakes. She met the first son of H Group coincidently!

She regularly saw him jogging, passing by her house early in the morning or seeing him playing tennis or basketball with his friends.

Though they still have not shared any conversations, whenever she came out of her house they went past each other often.

*****

Lee Hyun stood in front of the department store. Couples went to the rooftop while the entrance of the department store was filled with guys or girls waiting for someone.

“The department store isn’t that bad.”

Since it was for Christmas, he went to a department store rather than an outlet store. The price difference wasn’t that different when you buy brand products and Kim In Young informed him with a text that there is a special sale going on in that department store.

“You need information in shopping as well.”

While Lee Hyun waited, Seo Yoon approached at a quick pace and stood in front of him. As it was snowing with cold winds, she was wearing a long coat with a scarf.

“Did you wait long?”

“No, it’s cold so let’s go inside.”

Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon entered the first floor of the department store.

“By the way, where did you get those clothes? They looks really nice.”

Seo Yoon’s clothes, while not eye catching, the color was really beautiful and the texture seemed superb. Normally he would not ask, but because he had to buy clothes for his sister he asked anyway.

“I think I bought it from a different department store.”

“Really? How much was it?”

“I don’t remember clearly. I think it was about 400 thousand Won?”

“……..”

It was words that thickened his fear about department stores. The department store was more ghastly than the Bone Dragon.

The first floor of the department store was filled with miscellaneous brands, bags, luxury goods, jewelry and cosmetics. Lee Hyun’s worries were abated as the price was not outrageous as long as it wasn’t a premium brand.

“This price is something I could never forget in my lifetime… It’s enough to buy 80kg of rice and still have change, it’s enough to give nightmares.”

It was a world where even a small headband costs several tens of thousands of Won!

“Whoever invented the yellow elastic band should win the Nobel prize.”

The astonishing price of the female accessories confirmed his fears.

They looked around the second and third floor to check out female apparels.

“I think my sister’s size is the same as yours… could you try it out so I can choose?”

“It’s alright.”

Lee Hyun made SeoYoon try out clothes he thought were pretty, especially those on the mannequins. First, he was trying to buy jumper or a coat so just simply hanging it on her shoulder he could decide.

“Customer, this thick jumper really suits you. This is my last stock. Since I started my business, you are the prettiest lady I have seen.”

“These days, products with slimline sell well. Even in winter it discreetly reveals the figure... However you look so pretty.”

“It’s a style that is comfortable and you will never get tired of it. Its texture is really premium with a nice feeling. By the way, are you a celebrity?”

Seo Yoon looked pretty in whatever she wore. Blouses, skirts, t-shirts, caps and even hiking jackets made her beautiful. If the designers of these clothes came and saw, they would never believe that their clothes would look this appealing.

“What is the price?”

“It’s not much. It’s 540 thousand Won and the item is on 20% sale.”

Lee Hyun was wearing a thick jumper and jean that he randomly bought from a market. Even the watch on his wrists was worth 20 thousand Won.

‘I’ve seen a lot of rich people but the real affluent people do not have such tell tale signs.’

‘He must have been out of the country a long time. It must have been ingrained in him to live frugally while studying abroad.’

‘Really, how much money does he have to have for a girlfriend like this?’

If it was personal clothes he would wear, he would never dare to get it but because it was a present for his sister, Lee Hyun was resolute in his decision and purchased it. One set of coat, three blouses, a skirt, pants, boots and even a headband! He picked clothes that would suit lively twenty year olds.

“You, you think she needs a handbag as well? Probably, right?”

After a moment of hesitation, he bought a handbag on sale from some less well known brand. The clothes for his grandmother also cost him much more than he anticipated from the department store.

‘But it’s something you need.’

Through Royal Road, he was making an enormous amount of money so with a big heart he decided to spend. Of course, he was worried that he would fall into a shopping addiction if this kept on.

“And this is a gift from me.”

Lee Hyun gave a present to Seo Yoon. Thinking it would be meaningless to buy something for her from the department store, he gave Seo Yoon something he crafted by himself.

Lee Hyun carved many wood pieces to become proficient in sculpting even in real life. He started watching sculpting related documentaries and read books about it as well.

And then he started to put effort and devotion into his sculptures.

The day he met Seo Yoon for the first time, the day he left on an adventure with her, the tears he saw falling from her eyes as he passed by riding on his Wyvern, the time they struggled together as they explored the northern continent, the time they met in university and recently the scene he saw when they took a trip together to the sea.

There were 15 sculptures about her. Every moment had different attire and hair styles. After he sculpted them, he put them in his storage with other items. But he put them into a cardboard box and gave it to her.

“Sorry it’s not expensive. It’s something I made when I was bored.”

“… I will keep it safe.”

Seo Yoon received the sculptures. To her it was the best Christmas gift she received.

Two of them went outside the department store and walked on the street. They did not have any place in mind. It was a day were music was flowing and couples were playfully pushing each other!

Because he circled around the whole department store to purchase the most beautiful yet inexpensive clothes, he was getting hungry.

‘It’s getting dark now.’

The mood felt like he had to buy Seo Yoon dinner before they part.

‘Restaurants rip off during Christmas season…’

There weren’t many places to go to on a day like this. Anywhere they go it will be expensive and crowded with people that it will be uncomfortable. Lee Hyun thought it would be better to take her to his house.

“You want to go to my house? My sister is watching a movie with her friends so she’s coming late.”

“…….”

It was words that could be easily misunderstood. But Seo Yoon nodded and followed him. It was because she fully trusted Lee Hyun.

Right after they arrived at his home, Lee Hyun prepared dinner.

‘Sister will be coming late so I guess I only need to buy ingredients for two.’

Outside, a small amount of snow was still falling. It was weather that made him want to eat pork rib or pork backbone stew.

“I don’t have ingredients.”

He was trying to cook a simple miso soup tonight but he didn’t buy any meat.

‘Then what else could I cook…’

Lee Hyun thoroughly searched through the refrigerator. And then he found ingredients sent from a broadcasting station. Salmon, caviar and champagne!

“There is stuff sent by KMC Media.”

It was ingredients sent from KMC Media as a year-end gift. It would have been a better meal if they sent him a set of Korean cattle ribs and a box of sprite but he did not know why they sent such things.

“Whatever. It could make the flavor weird if I put it in the fish soup so let’s finish if off!”

Lee Hyun handled the salmon and caviar and brought it with champagne. And he also brought some leftover cookies he baked for his sister this morning.

“There isn’t much but please enjoy.”

He set up a magnificent supper with salmon salad, caviar, cookies and champagne, then turned on the TV.

The program on TV was, ‘Alone on a Deserted Island’, purported to be a must watch on Christmas. It was about two kids trapped on a deserted island on Christmas!

It was a story about being chased by dinosaurs, defeating the evil villain, finding the treasure and through greed beginning to fight each other. When the two were about have their last match, they receive contact and their mothers come to the deserted island to save them. They get scolded about making trouble and go back home to study again.

The movie was such a huge hit they were in the filming process of the next sequel, ‘Alone in a Dungeon.’

After finishing their meal, they saw that a huge amount of snow had piled up outside their window. He ate a meal for two with Seo Yoon while watching the movie on the television.

*****

Cha Eun Hee met with President Jeong Deuk Soo on Christmas Eve. It was because he received reports saying that Lee Hyun and Seo Yoon were on a date, had dinner and were spending their time together.

On president Jeong Deuk Soo’s brow was a heavy frown.

“At every chance there was I made sure there was an encounter but apparently there is no progress yet.”

The first son of the H Group. He was manly, audacious and had a lot of experience in dating. He wanted for them to naturally encounter each other and gradually attract Seo Yoon, but there was no reaction from her.

“I am utterly lost. Exactly what kind of man do I need to introduce to detach her from this Lee Hyun?”

Cha Eun Hee thought this was the time to solve President Jeong Deuk Soo’s puzzlement.

“We need someone warm.”

“Warm?”

“It was warmth that melted Seo Yoon’s frozen heart. We need someone with a warmer heart than Lee Hyun… If you are going to introduce someone, we need that kind of person. It will not be easy to find someone like that.”

*****

Lee Hyun, Seo Yoon and Lee Hye Yeon laid out a board in the living room. They ate dinner and also watched a movie. Now they were playing Go Stop, something that could let 3 people pass the time.

‘There are two pairs of misfortune and I already got two of them… One person can use the max point card. Then I need to get Three! ’

Lee Hyun made someone shiver. He thought about a variety of situations, even when he grabbed the misfortune card, he already prepared for the next turn.

“It’s Three Go”

Lee Hyun yelled it out without revealing anything.

“Without getting a card, getting Go now is fun right? Go!”

At the end, Lee Hyun swept everything. As they were playing for actual money, his concentration could not be compared even to Royal Road.

Lee Hyun was extremely happy whenever he could earn money.

*****

The power of Bardray and the Hermes guild rose sharply after they dominated Haven Kingdom. Absorbing the other guilds and accepting players in the Haven Kingdom, their development was great.

“If you are not a member of Hermes guild, leave this hunting ground now!”

“Those who are not part of the guild, there will be an extra 35% trade tax.”

“No hunting party of more than five allowed in the dungeon.”

They squeezed the ordinary players dry by creating a variety of regulations. If Weed saw this, he would feel admiration and ask to learn one or two things!

Criticisms about Hermes guild were rising high but they didn’t care. They held the position of lords and nobles so even if the players caused dissent they could quickly suppress it. There was no place in Haven Kingdom that was not being influenced by Hermes guild.

“If it’s unfair, leave Haven Kingdom. But vagabonds will not be welcomed by any kingdoms.”

“As we are the strongest guild on Versailles continent we need this much concession. We are managing Haven Kingdom we cannot run it as a charity.”

They applied high tax rate to villagers of Haven Kingdom. Wealth was stacking up in Hermes guild!

From the forge they made weapons of war and multiplied their army several fold with conscription. It was at a rate that it was difficult to predict Hermes guild’s current force. While the central continent was in panic because of Embinyu church, Hermes guild was preparing a war to establish an empire.

But currently Polon, the knights, spellcasters and rangers all got defeated! The chief executives opened a council.

“We need to make a genuine counterattack against Weed. Let’s make Morata into a field of ashes.”

“Not even a single ant should be spared, every villager should be annihilated. The sculptures? We can break them and make them into powder. If there are any that are useful we can bring them here.”

"Give the order and kill everyone.”

In the chief executive council the resentment from the rankers flooded out as if a dam burst. No matter how great Weed’s personal fame was, Hermes guild never raised him on the same pedestal as Bardray.

In the central continent, where the strong were in fierce competition, it was disgraceful to compare Bardray who was called the god of weapons to someone like Weed. And to defeat Hermes guild, it was a sin beyond what was tolerable!

When Bardray did not give the direct order, it was an issue handled by the guild master Raphey.

*****

Hermes guild Homepage.

There was a new announcement on their webpage with an enormous number of visitors checking it every day.

Title: Death Order #296

Hermes guild has assigned Sculptor Weed as a top priority target for death.

Whoever cooperates with Weed will become a target of Hermes guild.

Whoever reports Weed location in Haven Kingdom or anywhere near the Central continent will receive 130 thousand gold.

And also, whoever kills Weed will receive 400 thousand gold as bounty.

The power of this special announcement from Hermes guild was truly amazing. They went beyond hindering Weed’s adventure and made an actual declaration. The only time a death order got cancelled was when the target is no longer worth killing or the target surrendered to Hermes guild.

- So will there be a full-scale war between Hermes guild and Weed?

- In terms of forces they cannot even be compared, how can a full-scale war erupt? It’s a war between a single city in the north against the whole Haven Kingdom.

- Weed has a spell that he can use whenever he is in a difficult situation.

- If they were going to dispatch their army, they wouldn’t have issued a death order. It’s just proof that Weed is an opposition they can recognize.

- But will Weed be safe from the assassination squads?

Hermes guild operated an assassination squad just for targets on their death orders. Whenever a person on a death order appeared, the nearby assassination squad was deployed to kill the target. Nowhere in the central continent was guaranteed to be safe if they got on the Hermes guild’s death order list.

Assassins could approach their targets stealthily without being revealed. Even decent players from an above average enemy guild could not avoid getting killed if 3~4 assassins set their traps and made an assault.

Chapter 10: The Old Handmaiden’s Request

Scientists from the Systems Department in Unicorn Corporation were checking up on Royal Road’s status.

“Hermes guild’s strength is really massive.”

The hidden armies of Hermes guild that could be seen on the monitor were far superior to Kallamore Kingdom’s forces.

“I never knew human development would be this fast.”

Scientists were looking at the large central screen. The map of Versailles continent could be seen as a video. Each individual castle and village was marked and it could be zoomed in to see the herd movement of monsters. It was a system that could check the whole continent in real time.

They could even use the Artificial Intelligence System to see any quest that occurred or find the player with the highest achievements. Of course, the scientists could only watch without interfering.

To become the Emperor of Royal Road that would unite the world! There were secrete battles to become the absolute ruler of every races in this virtual reality. By taking control of castles and cities, enormous wealth could be gained. But by becoming the Emperor, astronomical authority and wealth could be acquired.

For this, many players increased their levels and formed their own forces. There were those who excelled and those who experienced innumerable setbacks. Even watching the humans who were spread out in the world of Royal Road was fascinating.

But the crimson dots blinking on the large screen expanded a lot more than last month.

“Don’t you think the Embinyu Church is getting way too big?”

Regardless of central, northern, eastern, western, southern continent, the crimson dots representing Embinyu Church were expanding. They did not know about the players, but the scientists knew they were converting the villagers, nobles, kings and were growing in strength. And especially in the Central Continent the Embinyu church spread faster as it was swept up in chaos by the guild wars.

“It can’t be helped. The players are playing hopscotch with sieges instead of fighting the Embinyu Church.”

“But if they don’t get stopped, it will become really difficult...”

Embinyu Church was historically an evil force that sunk the whole continent into peril. The leader of guilds were picking easy targets nearby like castles and cities rather than fighting the Embinyu Church.

The usual alliance made up of coalitions were becoming increasingly competitive in trying to increase their influence and were rather indifferent to the whole situation.

Thanks to the current situation, the Embinyu Church was spreading like a wildfire and their evil spirits were secretly nurtured. To the scientists, it looked like the whole continent would be covered by the Embinyu Church at this rate.

“We can’t do anything about it. It’s the choice of the players.”

“Even if one of the continents is ruled by the Embinyu Church, it’s Royal Road’s policy to give the player’s free will to do so.”

A Continent of Darkness!

If it was another game, they would have tried to actively stop the Embinyu Church and sound the alarm for the players but Unicorn Corporation had no intentions of doing so. The players had to acquire the information and decide what to do themselves.

Once it became a Continent of Darkness, it will be much more difficult to live but fighting to be free of Embinyu Church’s oppression might become a part of Royal Road as well.

*****

The creator of Versailles Continent, Yoo Byung Jun, was shifting through Royal Road with the Artificial Intelligence System.

“Ultimately, everything will come to an end through the Embinyu Church.”

But the humans still had their chances.

While they were blinded by their own greed and looking the other way, the Embinyu Church grew in strength. As they became bigger, their appearance on the world stage would cause greater havoc.

“There’s nothing to do even if it ends like this.”

There were some players that Yoo Byung Jun kept a special watch on. Adventurer, discoverer, warrior, knight, magician, paladin, priest and a sculptor! They all played separately, but once they developed to a certain point their greed was always the same, pursuing more money and power.

To be honest, Yoo Byung Jun often watched the activity of a character name Weed.

“This guy is different.”

From beginning till the end, it was all about the money. He was a person who valued money as his number one priority and it never changed! He gained the people’s popularity and praise through his exciting and enviable adventures.

“Maybe it’s better this way.”

When Yoo Byung Jun first met Lee Hyun, he had gotten a bad first impression of him because of the fact that he was given 200 Won. In the end, he was short 100 Won so could not get his coco.

“Continue with your quest, let the jealous people hinder you… Because at this rate you will not be able to accomplish anything.”

But he couldn’t help but admire Weed’s capabilities. Using the Artificial Intelligence System, he watched Weed since his beginning, he was always making a sculpture or hunting. With such perseverance he was able to sculpt Fine, Masterpiece and Magnum Opus pieces.

To say the least, wandering the continent and collecting all 5 secret sculpting legacies was truly impressive.

“Yet, not going to meet the Sculpting Master Zahab or trying to learn the final sculpting skill… Kukuku. Live in the delusion of people’s praises.”

*****

Weed logged on to Royal Road again. Vargo Fortress was shrouded in darkness! Sitting on the leaning tower, he reminded himself of his solitude.

“A death order from Hermes guild….. so they finally decided to kill me once and for all?”

It was impossible for Weed, who was sensitive to information, not to know about this. The death order was Hermes guild’s pride, once on the list, they used any means and methods to kill. They could not even trade with merchants regularly or share quests with other players.

Being active in Haven Kingdom would be impossible and very difficult in the Central continent. The people who wanted to gain Hermes guild’s favor were spread far and wide, on top of that, there was a bounty on his head.

Until now Weed was not specially recognized as people passed him by, but now every rumor about him would be reported to the Hermes guild and the bounty hunters.

“Doing quests will now become difficult.”

If the information about Weed’s location or his quests became widespread, the assassins and bounty hunters would come to him in droves.

“Well, all quests have their good and bad points.”

He went through many hardships by taking difficult quests.

There were people who just focused on hunting to try and reach a higher level faster. But unlike them, Weed solved quests and was able to obtain items and treasures others couldn’t have. He could also make money through broadcast stations. He could even say that he earned fame and the territory of Morata through the quests.

When he went to the City of Heaven, the quest of finding the sacred artifacts for the Church of Freya, participation in the siege of Fort Odin, building a pyramid and his activity as Orc Karichwi on the Plains of Despair. The memories of his many adventures suddenly popped up in his head.

Weed murmured to himself in a low voice that only he could hear.

“I won’t be able to do quests or hunt properly if I get attacked by others… I am going to get left behind by others. If I can’t earn money as a Dark Gamer, I will have to look for another job.”

Everyone knew about the current, serious unemployment crisis.

“I will find work in a factory with ridiculous income. Becoming exhausted from working 17 hours a day… Be exposed to some toxic chemicals in the factory and get sick. Getting treatment and doing everything possible not to get fired, I will also have to deliver milk and newspapers in the morning. And if I suddenly collapse…”

Weed was already drawing a depressingly grey future!

“But I am still healthy, no matter how painful it is I need to get up again. But because of the illness, I will continue to lose my money. Getting fired suddenly after working 15 years in the company, with a severance package as small as a rat’s tail. Looking for temporary work everyday, then suddenly I would become an old man without even getting married. Our country’s pension fund by then would be in bankruptcy, my whole body would be aching, riddled with sickness. If I die like that, will there be anyone to even prepare a meager funeral for me?”

A future filled to the brim with despair, drawn out from the Hermes guild’s death order!

But Weed still tried to find hope by himself.

“In the worst case scenario, I can collect wastepaper and scrap iron will be nice too. If I don’t have any family to support, I will be able to receive a minimum living cost. And in a truly desperate situations I could sell of one of my kidneys…”

Anyways, from now on, it would become really dangerous to do normal quests or hunt in the northern area, especially outside Morata or Vargo Fortress. Even in Jigolaths, where it was across the sea, he experienced significant interference and even died in the Undead Legion quest. This proved how large the Hermes guild’s influence truly was.

Even if he was accompanied by a large number of Geomchis and companions, if a large army suddenly appeared, it would be difficult to contend with.

“I will have to be really cautious from now on. I won’t be able to do all the quests that might reveal me to others.”

The known quests, like what happened previously and now, as they took a long time to do it was now too dangerous to do them.

‘Depending on hunts and large quests isn’t the proper way to raise a sculptor but….”

Even though he was a miscellaneous character, his main profession was a sculptor.

Then, suddenly, a memory popped up in Weed’s head. It was a memory that was in the back of his mind for a long time.

“Quest Info Window!”

Continue Zahab’s Legacy

Zahab did not die that day. To test his sculpting skills he went to a faraway continent. After advancing your sculpting skills, search for Zahab, learn his song and sing it to the old handmaiden. Zahab has last been rumored to have left for the Grapass region.

Difficulty: A

Quest Restriction: Must be cleared before the old handmaiden dies. Quest cannot be cancelled.

It was a quest to search for Zahab! The quest came from the handmaiden from Rosenheim Kingdom, but at that time his level was low and he thought it would take too long to accomplish so he did not start on it. Also one of the main reasons was that he was in a phase where he was very disappointed by the sculpting skill.

Later on, he asked to check if the old handmaiden died by posting on the Rosenheim Kingdom Serabourg Castle information board and kept on postponing the quest.

‘The quest I received from the old handmaiden a long time ago. If I meet Zahab, learn his song and progress onto the quests related to the final legacies of sculpting skills…’

His sculpting skill remained at Advanced level 8. Mastery was not far off.

“A Sculpting Master and the final sculpting skill!”

As long as Hermes guild exists, he would be chased by them for the rest of his life.

‘Then this quest should be done now….’

The road to mastering the sculpting skills!

In fact, one of the biggest reasons for fighting the Undead Legion was to protect Morata.

Weed fell into deep thought.

“If Hermes guild is as powerful as they say, and they try to interfere with me till the end...”

He was wondering whether he should bow and beg or get on his knees first.

*****

Weed resumed his fight against the Undeads in Vargo Fortress. After Barkhan died, Undead in the Undead Legion were seriously weakened. And by joining forces of the United Army of elves, barbarians, dwarves with the humans, they were able to drive them out.

When the last Undead in Vargo Fortress was killed, a video played in front of Weed’s and the players’ eyes.

Hashilis, who had green skin like a frog, led the Undead toward his ghost battleship.

“As Barkhan Demoph-nim disappeared, so I shall return to the sea also.”

Pushing past the mists, the ghost ship disappeared ominously. Balkan’s subordinate Hashilis returned to the sea with the Undead, going back to becoming the ghost admiral of the sea. The unlucky would probably be able to meet Hashilis and trigger quests related to the legends of the ocean.

In the video it gave hints saying that Hashilis left to look for a sunken kingdom in the sea, but Weed just didn’t care about it.

“Now I can get a feeling for things just by looking at them briefly.”

Getting swept up by the quest and suffering through deathly toil, it felt like the quest would lead to storms and reefs.

“Those truly unfortunate would probably take that quest.”

With that, Weed rid himself of his interest in Hashilis. As right now, the United Army of elves, dwarves and barbarians were sojourning in Vargo Fortress. The paladins, priests and necromancers were conversing with them in a blink of an eye.

Only Weed’s companions who were worrying about the Hermes guild’s death order and Geomchi who were too shy to talk to the elves kept their place.

“Be gone. You necromancers who summons the obscene Undead dare to talk to us?”

“I cannot smell any scent of earth or the sound of nature from you. I cannot converse with you.”

“You human who are more worthless than their armor.”

The barbarians, elves and dwarves’ response changed depending on the person talking to them. While they were united when they fought the Undead, but now it was difficult to befriend them since the tribes all had different conditions.

Fame, class, level, skill, equipment, past quest accomplishment, many different variables influenced it. While humans were always favorable to the priests, the dwarves, barbarians and elves who believed in other gods saw them as a burden.

“Huk, the elves are really pretty.”

Geomchi199 got close to Weed and said loud enough for him to hear.

Unlike the short and dark skinned dark elves, the wood elves had golden hair with slim bodies and were considerably beautiful. With a single bow on each of their shoulders, they wore light outfits without armor.

Their response changed depending on who talked to them but to their allies, they shared quests and had favorable impression toward them. So Geomchi199 was hoping for Weed to talk to them first.

Weed approached the closest elf to him.

“The blessings of nature are with you. You are the human that returned nature’s growth in the North.”

Fame increased by 34.

Affinity to Nature increased by 25.

Amity with the Woodland Elves rose to 17.

Even elves living in the woodlands were able to recognize Weed’s fame. Through hunting Balkan, not only did the NPCs like the elves, dwarves and barbarians, but many players admiring Weed appeared. The influence of each broadcasting station competitively trying to create a hero and calling him the God of War was large.

“I am a human, but I am also an adventurer that respects the life and richness that is nature. I only did a small task that I thought was necessary without any hesitation.”

“With your help, many elves in the North are really grateful. And with the co-operation from the humans, we were able to return the Undead back to the earth.”

Amity with the Woodland Elves rose to 25.

Weed had a honeyed tongue and the elves were a naive race that believed people readily.

“It was truly by chance that I heard the news about the Queen of Fairies being threatened by Balkan while I was on an adventure. As an adventurer that takes the responsibility of protecting the justice in Versailles continent, how could I have not come and fought?”

“You are an admirable human adventurer. If only all humans were like Weed-nim, then we would be in peace.”

He also met with the barbarians and dwarves, hearing stories and getting information from them.

“Hunting grounds? I think you are already famous as a warrior but you still want to get stronger? There are many places near here that one needs to go through to become a strong warrior. But still, don’t go behind Ogot hill. It’s a dungeon you cannot just enter casually.”

“It makes me want to fight more. If the monsters are strong, then I can just get rid of them.”

“You have a very good mindset. But your vigilance against the monsters must not waiver. Monsters will invade this place often so you should first rebuild the castle walls.”

Fame increased by 21.

Intimacy with the Barbarians of the wasteland increased.

“Fruits in the forest? They are very sweet and delicious. Elves do not eat a lot of them so if you want them, we could trade for the items we need.”

“If you can tell me the items the elves need I will look into it. Making alcohol with the fruits from the elven forest… I mean, I want to allow the little children to eat some of it.”

He also obtained information about trades. Because Weed was not a professional merchant, he did not wander around to trade but knowing it would allow him to profit from it someday so he permanently memorized it.

“This fortress was very much favored by the dwarves, but now it’s occupied by the humans. Why were the dwarves envious about the place the Undead lived? Keep it to yourself. You must not tell anyone I told you this. A long time ago this place was flourishing with high quality iron and silver mines.”

“Iron and silver mines, digging up resources would bring in money! The property price for Vargo Fortress would rise exponentially… I mean, if there are ores the dwarves need then it should be mined.”

Intimacy with the Dwarven tribe of Hardened Earth increased.

Weed gained favorable impression by the dwarves after he told them he was mastering his blacksmith skill above the intermediate level and they clamoured him to make something together. If he accept their proposition, it would be a valuable opportunity to cooperate with the dwarves in making swords and armor. It would also help increase his mastery in blacksmith skill.

Weed believed that pretense and hypocrisy were essential to survive in society! He believed that if all primary and high schools taught this in their ethics class, the country’s competitiveness will dominate the other developed nations.

The specific elves, dwarves and barbarians Weed talked with, the Geomchis and other companions were able to easily approach them and start a conversation afterwards. They saw the people coming with Weed favorably and thanks to that they could share conversations more comfortably. This was why adventurers, who compared to warriors lacked combat strength, received such special treatment.

Then Weed went onto meet the leader of the elves, Lonserk. To other players, he only gave a cordial greetings without any special response, but he started a conversation with Weed.

“You are the human that played an important role in defeating Balkan.”

“It was what I had to do. It brings me great joy to know that this brought peace to Versailles continent ”

“The Queen of Fairies, Teneidon would like to meet the human that helped her. Could you come with me?”

Lonserk gave him an offer. The Queen of Fairies was a high position that commanded the race.

Weed glanced around quickly and saw that Geomchis, Pale, Irene, those who have known him for a long time, along with the priests and the paladins, had their eyes wide in excitement as they eavesdropped. That one race, and to meet the queen of the race that was difficult to meet had even Weed excited by the prospect.

Truthfully, the only reason that Weed could even meet the Queen of Fairies once was due to hunting Balkan.

“Am I the only one going?”

“The Queen of Fairies, Teneidon has invited everyone.”

Shouts popped out from players!

“Wah!”

“Are we really going to see the Fairy Queen? It’s unbelievable.”

“It’s good thing that we fought Balkan.”

“Weed-nim asked if we could come along.”

Besides treasures that they obtained after hunting Balkan, they could receive a reward from the Fairy Queen as well. Weed decided to accept the invitation from the Fairy Queen.

“When can we go?”

“You can go right now.”

“I would like to see my reward… I mean, I would like to see with my own eyes if the Queen of the Fairies is safe, so let’s go now.”

*****

Weed, Geomchis and other players were guided by the elves and the dwarves.

“Please follow us.”

Following on the forest path, they could see female elves staring at them from behind the trees and bushes.

“I never knew a place like this even existed.”

“I should have came here to meet the elves a long time ago.”

Geomchis whispered to themselves, trying not to betray their masculine pride. But the elves had sharp ears which could even hear the slight rustling of the winds.

“Those humans seem to be interested in us.”

“They are not our types”

“They look idiotic.”

To receive an elf’s love, they need to be of a similar nature such as a ranger or a mage rather than a warrior. As their race did not see the humans favorably, there was a limitation on how much intimacy the humans could stack. Even the elves’ village, which was close by, had a limited access that only allowed the merchants to enter.

They passed the forest and climbed up a mountain. From this point on it was the dwarves’ territory. It was a place where small houses and braziers were seen and hammering sounds were heard.

Each dwarf village had a different technology or specialty so Weed was curious about their skill, but for now he entered the dungeon nearby.

Dungeon, you are the first discoverer of, ‘The Resting Place of Teneidon’

Privileges: Fame increase by 890.

Double experience and item drop rate for one week.

Very first monster type you hunt will drop a best item it can possibly drop.

Even though it was called a dungeon, there were only little fairies flying around. As they couldn’t hunt the fairies, the effect of double experience was useless.

“Be careful. There are many traps in here. If you go in the wrong direction, you will wander endlessly or end up someplace else on the continent.”

With the warning from elves, the players suppressed their curiosity and kept following. The fairies had abilities that allow them to ignore the landmass and leap through space. Because of that, through the slightest of slips, the person could end up in the middle of the desert or in a den of hungry monsters.

They followed the elves resignedly and finally arrived at the queen’s resting place. It was by the root of a large tree. The small body of Fairy Queen Teneidon was perched on the root, resting.

"Welcome, humans."

The Fairy Queen Teneidon’s voice was tiny so they had to strain their ears to hear. The queen was badly injured with one of her wing torn. By receiving the life force from the tree, she was recovering little by little but it was barely enough to keep the injury from deteriorating.

“I am known as Weed.”

Weed showed proper decorum as he knelt on one knee. He had enough qualification as lord of Morata and being a noble to hold a conversation with her. With his fame right now, he could meet anyone he wants.

"You are the human that helped me. I’ve heard about your achievements through my fairies."

You are conversing with the Queen of Fairies, Teneidon

Due to the feeling of reverence, some stats has risen.

Elegance, dignity, honor and art.

There was small tremor on her torn wing as Teneidon spoke. She looked like she was in agony. An unexpected thought suddenly past by Weed in his head.

‘Her injuries seem severe, could the priests heal it?’

As long as it was not an Undead, the power of healing magic could be applied to any race or to those who believed in different god. And because fairies were very kind natured, Weed never heard of any adverse effect of holy power on the fairies. Also in the history of Versailles continent, the stories of heroic figure travelling with fairies were mentioned.

“Your injuries seem severe…. My companion is a priest so I think she can cure you. What do you think Queen Teneidon?”

As Weed asked courteously Teneidon and the fairies that suddenly appeared, were very happy.

"Thank you. Thank you."

"With the human’s help, our queen will be able to heal faster."

"Human healing spells. They cure injuries quickly and feel warm."

Playfully glowing like fireflies, the fairies covered Weed’s whole body. Some shifted through his hair, some sat on his shoulder and one of them even clung on to his nose. Fairies liked to play tricks on people they developed intimacy with. Because he defeated Balkan, the Undead Legion and offered to cure their queen, he obtained the maximum intimacy with the fairies.

"If you can help me, I will be really thankful."

Teneidon gave her permission.

“Irene, please come over here.”

Irene, who was observing from behind the crowded players pushing to see what was happening, slowly walked forward to avoid colliding into any playful fairies.

“Could you try healing the queen.”

“Huh? Can I do that? Isn’t it dangerous?”

“Fairies gave their permission so there won’t be any problem. Try casting simple healing spells first.”

Irene took a moment to breath deeply, performed the signum crucis and then casted a holy spell.

“Power of the holy spirit, grant salvation unto the one in suffering. Healing Hand!”

It was a simple holy spell but it refilled health quickly.

Fairy Queen Teneidon’s health has recovered by 735.

The injuries have soothed a bit.

Irene’s holy spell was successful. By healing the Queen of Fairies, her experience and skill mastery increased. Although Teneidon was not in any shape to fly, she was an amazing figure that even appeared in history books. By helping her, Irene’s fame increased as well.

“Wow, the healing spell works. And I even earned experience points!”

Irene was deeply gratified by the fact that she could heal Teneidon.

“Please keep healing her.”

From Weed’s direction, Irene used all the mana she had to heal Teneidon. Irene was a priest that dedicated herself to learning only healing type magic.

Through this sacred act, your faith increased. You have become righteous.

By healing the Queen of Fairies, you have experienced a special event related to the cleric class.

Your relationship with fairies has become friendly.

To them, you are remembered as a human who has provided a great assistance.

There was no greater and more precious time as a priest than healing Teneidon right this moment.

“Weed-nim, my mana ran out.”

The extent of Teneidon’s injury was unknown but she was still severely injured even if Irene used her healing spell until her mana ran out. Since the beginning her injury looked serious, though her body was small her health was enormous.

“The other priests, please try healing as well.”

As soon as Weed finished speaking, the priests immediately chanted their healing spells. They were quite envious of the Irene who was healing Teneidon before them.

“Healing Hands”

“Heal!”

“Recovery.”

“Round Heal!”

“Complete Recovery”

It was literally a great festival of healing. From low-class holy spells to advanced healing spells that can be only used three times per day, were used on Teneidon. Because even paladins were also able to chant healing spells, they helped as well.

Teneidon’s health is at 43%.

A concentrated healing is progressing.

It could only be described as solemn but sublime light of healing that was focused on Teneidon. The priests without ceasing, cast holy spells as soon as their mana was refilled. They received special experience, faith, skill mastery and contribution to the fairies.

“More experience points are getting stacked than when I was fighting.”

“Look at that contribution and skill mastery going up.”

“Faith is going up slowly but surely. So far, I have gained more than when I was promoted one step higher as a priest.”

Weed was getting cramps in his belly. It was because the interlinked web of connection between the Undead Legion, the priests and Teneidon.

‘Churches in Versailles continent would have desperately tried to stop the Undead Legion from becoming active again..’

It was the same for Weed. As Balkan looked to regain his strength and showed signs of invading Morata, he tried to hurriedly put out the fire by fighting. But if he did not fight, the news of the United Army of elves, dwarves and barbarians fighting to keep Balkan and the Undead Legion from draining Teneidon’s life would have spread widely.

If so, it was certain that a quest to defeat Balkan would have been created.

With each church and kingdom putting this as their central focus, they would have promised a great reward to come fight in Vargo Fortress instead of just hunting like Weed. If the situation devolved till then, hunting Balkan would have been much more difficult, but they might have had a chance as each kingdom might have sent their royal knights to fight together.

After defeating Balkan and his Undead Legion, receiving a great reward and being able to meet Teneidon. It could have been a story about priests helping Teneidon recuperate while playing an influential role and gaining huge profits!

‘It’s totally possible.’

But what happened was Weed mainly fighting the battle, but the ‘might have been’ quest to kill Balkan might have needed paladins and priests to form the core. Even now, Weed’s stomach was aching as he looked on at the scene of priests and paladins healing Teneidon and receiving many rewards.

It was harder to endure than suffering from acute appendicitis, the pain that poked his sides!

Weed took out a bandage. He wanted to use his Bandaging skill but he had to refrain himself from doing that. The bandage was big enough to suffocate the Fairy Queen.

Even with the full concentration of holy spells from the priests, Teneidon was not able to restore her full form. Her bodily injuries were healed but the torn wing did not restore itself.

"Thank you, humans."

Teneidon’s voice was clear now so everybody could hear. The fairies clung to the priests and even tickled their nose. They were playful as they were happy to see their queen in better condition. The priests and paladins who participated in healing were now friends of the fairies and could press for special privileges.

Weed approached Teneidon and spoke.

“I am relieved to see human healing worked, your highness.”

Weed tried to discretely share in the achievements of the priests and paladins.

"I will not forget the kindness the humans have shown."

Contribution to Teneidon and the Fairy race increased by 164.

As an evil grin almost appeared on Weed, he heard the other priests talking.

“My contribution increased by more than 600.”

“Mine is over 800.”

Weed’s expression became stiff again. His stomach twisting and turning with pain! It was more comfortable to be criticized by others than this.

“You think we can get items with the contribution?”

“Can’t the fairies give spirit weapons or something similar?”

“Well, I do need a necklace…”

“With this much contribution, I can make a fairy friend. I heard having a fairy around in a hunt helps a lot.”

These comments stabbed Weed’s aching heart with a sharp drill!

The pain he experienced in battle when his health was lower than 100 to increase his resilience felt way less painful. However, Weed continued to speak to Teneidon as the representative of the humans.

“But your highness, your wing didn’t seem to have recovered.”

"That is because I am cursed. To repair my wing, I need to go to the Red Reed Forest and bring a certain object."

As he heard Teneidon’s words, the smell of quest waffed thickly in the air.

Weed thought to himself.

‘Even if it kills me, I must never do this quest.’

With the continuation from Balkan, Teneidon’s position, Weed’s level and fame it was most likely he could receive this quest. No matter what hardship it would be, the chance of it being another impossible quest was high.

By struggling through near death hardship, there would only be some benefits if it was successful. But expending the effort only to die was sheer mockery!

"Humans, I have a great debt to you and already I dare to ask another difficult favor. I do not know if you could help me a little further."

Due to Fairy Queen Teneidon’s curiosity, she entered the dragon territory. And while playing to her heart’s content on the dragon Latuas’ territory, one of her wing was cursed without her knowing.

The curse of the dragon.

Latuas appeared before the Fairy Queen that insulted his dignity and spoke.

“A queen who likes to play tricks… I do not like intruders. If you want to free yourself from my curse, bring me the keepsake of the dragon that disappeared in anguish.”

Just as Weed predicted, it was a death quest related to dragons.

DING!

Curse of the Dragon

To heal the Fairy Queen Teneidon’s wing, you need to appease Latuas’s fury. Fairies ran about gathering clues and found the first step in the Red Reed Forest.

Difficulty: C

Quest Restriction:

Only those who are trustworthy.

Only those who helped the fairies.

‘Difficulty of C. But this will lead to unbelievable chain quests and it will be difficult to cope with later on. Even this scene will be known through broadcasts on the internet and TV.’

Weed finished his internal calculations.

Usually if he thought he could not manage a quest, he did not accept it in the first place. But there was the adverse effect of souring his relationship with the fairies by rejecting the quest.

In the battle against Balkan, he didn’t bring any Sculpture Lifeforms because of Undead Summon. It could be said it was because of his affection for them. He did not want to see his Sculpture Lifeforms reviving as Undead and fighting against him.

In the worst case scenario of accepting this quest, he could find himself and all his Sculpture Lifeforms being slaughtered. It was common sense to never accept such a quest and he did not have any heart to.

“Will he accept the quest?”

“It’s Weed-nim the God of War.”

“This will leave another record of Weed-nim amazing quests.”

The sound of envy could be heard from other players.

‘But on the other hand, those numerous people who are after me will know about me taking this quest. If I take the quest for now, I won’t be interrupted and will be able to take care of other things.’

Weed nodded his head.

“I will definitely cure the Fairy Queen’s wing.”

You have accepted the quest.

“Wow, he really accepted the quest!”

“Weed decided to carry out the request from the Fairy Queen!”

“My word! I can see the message boards going crazy already.”

It was obvious these players were surprised. They had no idea what Weed’s true intention was.

‘There is no time limit to the quest anyways so maybe I should try it next year? No, it will still be dangerous then. I might just roll myself off the cliff. Maybe the year after? Or maybe after my sister has graduated from university…”

Chapter 11: Weed’s Call

Weed and the players were invited to a feast by the fairies. Versailles continent, the Spirit World and their own settlements, the fairies come and go bringing specialties from different regions.

"Eat up."

"Thank you for healing our queen."

The Geomchis exchanged glances and left the dungeon first. While the flavor was good, the portion size was way too small for them so they thought it would ruin their appetite. They went outside to roast some meat and eat more comfortably.

But Weed stayed till the end, eating the fairies’ cooking.

You tasted a new sensation

Mastery has increased because your cooking skill is over Intermediate.

These rare foods from the Spiritual and the Fairy world increased cooking skill.

“Hmm, this is edible.”

When the food he tasted was based on ingredients he used a lot before, he was able to grasp the recipe. It was really difficult to create new recipes with unique spices and herbs that humans didn’t even use. This was a rare opportunity that he had to take advantage of.

Because if he wanted to be satiated with the fairies’ food, he would need to eat at least 250 of their dishes.

‘If I advertise spirits’ food, I will be able to rip off customers.’

Hwaryeong and Bellot ate the different dishes in a refined manner. They changed to appropriate attire for the feast and even ate and drank the less than pleasant food with elegance.

Through the Fairies’ feast, your dignity and manner increased.

After the end of the feast, they returned to Vargo Fortress.

*****

Weed laughed dismally.

“Ahahahaha.”

He calculated the amount of treasures and items dropped after hunting Balkan and his share was only about 680 thousand gold. The treasures would take time to sell, so they decided that when merchants come to Vargo Fortress they would sell as much as the merchants would buy and split the gold.

“The bonus is quite good at least.”

Vargo Fortress was now his territory. Right now, only the piles of stones, destroyed towers and wreckages of buildings were left. The damage was relative to the huge battle that had taken place.

“I wonder what kind of place this is? Region Information Window!”

Vargo Fortress

Once a fortress occupied by the Undead.

It’s only recently that humans have reclaimed it.

In the past, it was a fortress occupied by the Niflheim Empire where it serves as an important gateway.

Vast swaths of forests and jagged mountains are part of the territory.

Currently there are no residents.

Through war, the fortress is heavily damaged and needs extensive repairs.

The river is contaminated and it’s hard to obtain drinking water.

Due to monsters the region is not safe.

Specialty: None

It was much worse than early Morata which was filled with houses that looked like they could collapse at any moment. The quiet downriver or the peaceful hills would be much better than the fortress, whose public order was under threat by the monsters.

Like Weed, it was common for people to become lords by gaining the trust of the king, nobles or villagers through their own adventures. But occasionally there were people that became lords by raising their own village.

As Versailles continent was quite large, anyone could build a house nearby a mountain or a river and start farming and raise livestocks. After a while by accepting nomads and expanding the village, they suddenly found themselves as lord of the village.

“But the fact that there is this huge fortress here means in the past it must have been quite active. This must have been considered an important stronghold.”

Vargo Fortress was large enough for the whole Undead Legion to stay in. An expansive fortress that even allowed Bone Dragons to rampage on its rooftops. Because of that, the destruction was even greater.

“The grounds filled with buried Undead… If the priests cleanse it, it should be enough to plant some grains. But still with the contaminations there won’t be much harvest, this place will be useless for at least 2 years. ”

Even the river was wide and its flow was majestic. It was proof that there was no signs of draughts and it was quite bountiful. The nature scenery, with its mountains and river was on par with Morata.

For Weed, he gained new lands so he might as well develop this place as well. As he already raised Morata, the experience from it should be a tremendous help.

“Morata Region Information Window!”

Region of Morata

A region that once was part of the Niflheim Empire.

Currently, by the strength of lord Weed’s excellent choices, the development is continuing.

Morata has become the representative city that showcases the best in the North, becoming the center for arts, trades and adventures.

Two great structures, the Freya Cathedral and the North’s Great Library have been completed.

Military Force

259

Economic Power

2,969

Culture

3,129

Technology

843

Religious Influence

87

Regional Politics

69

Influence on Nearby Areas

74%

Influence from the past Niflheim Empire

16.5%

(Influence is deeply rooted to the military, economics, culture, technology, religion, population, quests etc.)

City Development Rate

269

Hygiene

39

Public Order

88%

Recently the Undead Legion has been repulsed without any severe damages.

Influx of population is continuing but as roads and enough residency has been prepared in advance, the residents do not feel any discomfort.

With the active trades and commerce, a high income bracket is being created.

With the increase of Morata’s regional fame, three specialties have been added: silverware, palm wine, luxury textiles.

The Cathedral and the Great Library are the resident’s pride.

Morata heavily influences the nearby region in terms of politics, economics and culture.

This year is expected to yield a bountiful harvest.

Thoughts of rebellion cannot be imagined.

Enough military forces have been retained to fight the monsters.

Through the increase in military spending, the soldiers and knights have greater loyalty.

The magnificent sculptures are bringing happiness to the residents.

The standards of paintings are rising.

The artist’s endless trust and financial support has become the dynamic for cultural development.

Morata’s Art Center has become the cornerstone for new artists in the whole of the Northern continent, storing many of their created pieces.

Due to the Great Library, education, magic and adventure is robust.

Through education and high culture, many children who are smart and wise are born. If you teach them 10 things, they will only forget about 5 at the end of the month!

The tailoring industry’s skill is being inherited. The tailors can use leather, fabric and lavish products to make clothes.

Blacksmith’s iron wielding skills are at a level that they can heat up iron and hit it with their hammer. Master craftsmen have appeared and are leading the skill development.

Regional religion: most residents believe in Freya.

The wastelands have been cultivated into a fertile granary zone.

This year is a bountiful year for crops.

With strong faith and steady public order, crime rate has reduced greatly.

Specialties: Arts, leather and fabric, tomatoes, grapes, rice, cow, milk, cheese, wine, silverware, palm wine, luxury textiles.

Total Population

1,175,704

Monthly Tax Income

953,290 Gold

Village Operating Expenses

Military

5%

Economy

36%

Culture

14%

Quests and Monster Hunts

16%

Village Repairs

25%

Offering to the Church of Freya

4%

You have received a title from Morata’s resident, ‘The Greatest Ruler in the North’.

It prevents the residents’ loyalty from dropping.

Increases population influx.

Morata was a great city that he could boast about anywhere. Without him doing anything, it expanded and developed day by day.

When the adventurers in the north excavated an item and discovered it was an artwork, they exhibited it at the Art Center. They offered religious items to the Cathedral and displayed other items in the Great Library. Through items brought by adventurers, the north was in the grip of adventure fever.

The influence of the great constructions was huge, as well as the word of mouth from the players that started in Morata, more and more people gathered there everyday. With the inflow of players and residents, Morata’s technology developed daily with greater competition in business leading to a stronger financial position for the city.

Looking from high above, the buildings were widely spread out, there was the statue of the goddess, the tower of light and the great constructions making a scene of grandeur. It was an unimaginable change compared to the early Morata, filled with shabby buildings under the dark stars and the tower of light.

*****

Merchants who were doing business in Morata came to Vargo Fortress in droves.

“This is my spot.”

“What nonsense are you spouting? I already drew a line and sat down before you!”

Weed and the players obtained a tremendous amount of drops and japtems through their battles with the Undead Legion. The drops from the Bone Dragons and the Vandal Knights were not something that could be acquired easily.

Merchants from Morata came here in droves to trade for those items.

“I am Dapala, I professionalize in selling general merchandise. Please add Dapala to your friend list any time and browse my wares comfortably.”

“Weapons trader Cormac is here. From simple repairs to appraisal and trades. Please come, I will give you a good deal.”

“Ingredient specialist, Hapote. I picked these fresh from a neighbor's house, I sell these ingredients at the smallest possible margin. Please cook yourself delicious meals!”

About 100 merchants came to Vargo Fortress and prepared their shops for business.

“Did they pull their wagons to get here?”

“At best, there are only about a 1000 of us here… there are just too many merchants.”

Although it was convenient to use their services, the players felt sorry for troubling someone who seemed worse off than themselves. Trying to do business in a place with few customers, the competition must be really harsh. They were even able to meet merchants who were famous in Morata.

But on the afternoon of the same day. Other players crowded into Vargo Fortress!

“We arrived!”

“There are no paved roads so it’s really difficult to come here. But still, they say there are so many hunting grounds here.”

“I heard you can meet the elves. Let’s hurry and go talk with them.”

“Wow, it’s completely in ruins! I am going to build a new house and live here.”

As soon as players who leveled up in Morata received the information about Weed obtaining a new territory, they all pushed toward Vargo Fortress. Because Weed was the lord, they assumed Vargo Fortress will be the next to experience an unbelievably fast development.

By coming early and preoccupying their spot, their privilege later on will be greater. Just by building a brick houses near Vargo Fortress to live in they could boast about it to their friends. It was a place with a lot of land to pioneer and many unknown hunting grounds that were spread out.

“I’m going to take a look at the land first.”

Farmers searched around the river to look for fertile flood plains. Adventurers chatted with the elves and barbarians, looking for any decent dungeons in the vicinity. There were many priests and paladins going to dungeons and the Geomchis enjoyed their new found popularity. They fought well and were trustworthy as they tried to protect the priests completely, everyone wanted to have them in their party.

The fortress built from stones was covered with wreckages but many people were already crowding it. The merchants sensed this and ran here in a hurry. Before the sun set, a second and even a third wave of settler groups arrived.

Because there were no magical lamps in Vargo Fortress like Morata, they used bonfires and torches.

And as there were no inns or restaurants, they laid on the stone rubble near the fire to take a brief nap. It was the romance of roasting meat while staring at the stars!

“Hm! Beer that wafts a nice aroma!”

Dwarves were drawn by the smell of beer.

“Please sit down. Do you want a pint?”

“Sure.”

Sharing their drinks with the dwarves they became closer. And as queen Teneidon was healed, the fairies became more active.

In Morata and other places they could catch an occasional glimpse once in a blue moon, but here in Vargo Fortress there were many fairies flying around in the vicinity, fluttering with their mysterious silver wings.

In between the business and drinking their beer, if they paused for a bit, they could even hear the fairies talk.

"It’s meat, meat."

"The aroma is so good."

"Eat. Eat. Nom Nom Nom."

The fairies were eating the ribs the people were holding.

Geomchi27 became friendly with a female priest, they walked on the cobble road while they dated.

“This place has a nice atmosphere, don’t you think?”

“It’s scary. The collapsed brick wall… It feels like a monster is going to jump out at any moment.”

“Then I will protect you no matter what.”

Geomchi27 showed off his trustworthy masculine charm.

There were fairies following them as well. They followed behind them like seagulls following in the sea. When the female priest gave them something to eat from her backpack, they even performed aerial stunts!

After spending the night like that, in the morning there were even more people in Vargo Fortress.

Sometimes fairies brought whole orchards or farmlands from the other region, saying they were repaying their debts.

“Two paladins, three priests wanted for a party. We are aiming for a dungeon.”

“Looking for a party member for a nearby dungeon hunt! Level 310 or more, it’s still dangerous so I am gathering as many players as possible before going.”

“Anyone fish? Let’s trade information about fishing and catch some real fish.”

Resident population in Vargo Fortress has exceed over 2,000.

This was the population that came from Morata in just one day.

Due to the active commerce, there is now tax income.

All taxes will be used to repair the fortress.

If the lord’s office is prepared, the tax distribution can be adjusted.

With the immigration of residents, the major repair of Vargo Fortress started. As the fortress was quite large, there were many places that needed repairs. With the collapsed towers and buildings, it looked like they had to be completely rebuilt.

But as immigrants continued to come and with players looking for new adventures, the fortress was filled with new life.

Human merchants weren’t the only ones selling their wares in Vargo Fortress.

“Selling tree fruits, medicinal herbs and seeds.”

Female elves came to trade as well. They sold goods brought from the forests and purchased what they needed. Dwarves came as well, sold quality war materials and went back with wagons full of beers. Barbarians had lots of items they needed as well. They brought in leather and japtem.

This was proof that Vargo Fortress, as an important gateway of the Northern continent, was regaining its previous form.

Weed was hoping for it.

“Make alcohols with fruits from elves, rip off barbarians with hunting goods and shove around dwarves as laborers to make weapons, armors and houses….”

This was the utopian city he dreamt of!

*****

“ROOOOOAAAR”

Bingryong was hunting on the mountain near Morata! Every time he roared, monsters hurriedly flatten themselves to hide from him. When he flew around the vicinity of the mountain, his large form struck fear into the monsters.

“This guy is mine!”

Wyverns divided the forests and were hard at work hunting. If a monster stronger than them appeared, the Wyverns could bunch up on it together.

“We should go further in.”

“Further than here?”

“I want to kill something big.”

The large flaming Phoenix flew over the sea and hunted a variety of large monsters. Compared to them, Golden Bird, Silver Bird, Gold Man and Yellowy moved quietly.

“This way. The birds told me.”

They hunted in the hunting ground the birds told them about and hunted together. It was a friendly, happy time!

Sculpture Lifeforms from Jigolaths also hunted in their own territories. Unfortunately there were some who died due to monster attacks but most of them adapted well and were growing up.

Suddenly a Whisper was sent to all of them.

> Are you guys doing well?

It was their creator who gave them life!

Bingryong responded too quickly.

> I was really hap… I mean, I am doing well

Wyverns also greeted their owner.

> My back is warm and my stomach is full.

> Ate a delicious animal today.

> Wy-Three ate more.

Wyverns had a difficult time not tattling everything.

Golden Bird, Silver Bird and Gold Man responded haughtily that they are fine

Yollowy answered in a friendly manner.

> I missed you master.

Weed also had favorable opinions of the docile yet brave Yellowy.

> I was the same.

> I am relieved now that I can at least hear your voices.

> We can all be together again. You guys all come here.

It was now time to see some action together with the Sculpture Lifeforms.

Chapter 1: Bardray’s Ascension

Treasures were piled up like a mountain in front of Weed, the Geomchis, priests and paladins.

After the decisive defeat of Balkan and the Undead Legion, they acquired vast sums of gold, silver, treasure, antiques and equipment.

“Wow, are you really dividing the spoils?”

“Must be tens of thousands of gold. Including all the armour, it will be over one hundred thousand gold.”

The players were extremely happy hearing the news.

“Getting some of this is awesome. I could build a Villa in Morata.”

“It’s all thanks to Weed-nim that we enjoyed such success. We must never forget this generosity.”

“Please add me next time as well. If it is Weed-nim I will come whenever you call.”

Weed’s anger boiled inside as he heard the thanks from the paladin and priest players.

‘This is the reason why kind people do not live long!’

To share the riches evenly, their hearts must be filled with unfairness and misery of it all, shorten their lifespan.

“Everyone please take your share.”

Mapan with several famous paladin players began weighing the mountain of treasure, gold and silver and distributing it to the other players. They could not do anything about the item drops the individuals collected during battle but the treasures in the Undead Legion’s fortress were shared fairly based on the contribution each person made.

“We won’t need to grind for money now. Let’s eat and drink a lot today.”

“I can buy a bunch of magic arrows for hunting. Hurray!”

Overjoyed by the gold and silver they received, the players expressed their gratitude to Weed.

‘This is a nightmare. If I close and open my eyes they will all disappear.’

Weed’s insides were burning pitch black at the sight. Closing his eyes tightly and opening them, there were still players with happy smiles on their faces as they receive their gold, silver and treasure.

Sharing the spoils killed a person faster than drinking, smoking or doing drugs.

Weed could feel his blood drying out every time the pile of loot became smaller. Regardless, a 3rd of the treasure looted from the Undead Legion was his share which was still an astronomical amount.

And everyone congratulated each other on winning the difficult battle.

*****

Lee Hyun turned on the television to watch while he ate his dinner. For a long time the channel he watched was KMC media. Not only were there many media appearances of him, the schedule was neat and the shows told a lot of useful information.

“Look at the pile of treasure over there. It has been decreasing since morning. The players who fought together with War God Weed are receiving their shares from it.”

“So Weed really kept his promise.”

“Yes. No matter how many times you look, this is a heart-warming scene. The War God sent Balkan to his eternal rest and completely routed the Undead Legion! You can’t say this isn’t amazing.”

Lee Hyun lost his appetite right at that moment.

*****

The distribution of the Undead Legion’s treasure became the biggest topic on the Versailles continent. They originally agreed to do it, but to actually share it was another story.

Lies, scams! Such honesty did not exist in the world that fanned distrust. So this was an inspirational story that people could be proud of in the Versailles continent.

Weed’s true desire to keep everything for himself burned fiercely like a furnace in winter.

His only relief was that he received the rights to Vargo Fortress and temporarily gained the Church of Lugh’s holy sword.

“Identify!”

Sword of Lugh

Durability: 140/140

Attack: 165~317.

Sword sent from the god for the humans.

The sword has been impaled inside the Lich Balkan for a long time, suppressing his dark magic.

If the sword restores its Sun Power, the Church of Lugh will be able to recover a weapon of god.

Restriction: Church of Lugh’s Paladin.

Faith: 1,350.

Can only be used with the permission from the Church.

Option: Suppresses dark mana.

During a crusade it can create a miracle.

Cannot be destroyed.

Dominates monsters lower than intermediate level.

*Remaining options impossible to check

This was an item that had to be returned to the Church of Lugh.

“There is a Church of Lugh in Morata, I can return it there.”

Weed received it from Geomchi121 who landed the last attack on Balkan and was keeping it for a short while.

“If there is an item to grab and run, this is it...”

Greed churned vigorously in Weed again; but this type of weapon could only be used by a paladin or with the approval of the church. Stealing and using this would instantly turn him into the Lugh Church’s public enemy, the sword could even become cursed because of it.

“Anyway, I need to return it!”

Inscribing this magnanimous act into his heart, he decided to return Lugh’s sword! Weed decided that he would go to the Church of Lugh in Morata personally to return it. Once he returned the sword, even the players who participated in the battle would receive contribution points.

“For the time being I don’t think there is any pressing work in Morata.”

The drops from Balkan’s death were mostly Necromancer exclusive items. Balkan’s skull, boots, cloak, robe, ring and necklace that formed a complete set of Balkan’s items! These truly were items that had an unfathomable price.

These were things that Geomchi121 did not need. Combining with the magic book Weed had, it completed Balkan’s full set.

A complete set of Balkan’s items have been gathered in one place

If you are a Necromancer, a special skill, Lich’s Power can be used.

These were items that allowed one to succeed Lich Balkan’s legacy. By becoming a Lich in Vargo Fortress and using Balkan’s skull it was possible to use his 3 Great Magics. They were frightful items that had no equal!

But due to the items having adverse side effects, it would be difficult to change back into human form after he used them. Of course only by agreeing to provide Geomchi121 a lifetime supply of free meat, weapons,armour and 2000 oak barrels of alcohol, did he receive them from him.

But wearing the Necromancer exclusive gear constantly permeated bad feelings so he could not use it. Weed decided to just keep it for now.

“There are more than one kind of people in the world. There is definitely someone out there who wants to be like Balkan. The Necromancers will not always be peaceful, when that moment comes I can sell it off.”

When a person dreaming of becoming an evil Lich appears, Weed would be the first in line to bargain off the items rather than restricting them from it. However Balkan’s equipment was restricted to high level and skill so there would be no chance to sell it to someone for some time.

Those who did not have the blacksmith skill like Weed had to be at the minimum level of 460 to use Balkan’s items. The boots at least were on the low side of the level restriction, however with the robe, ring and necklace they had to be over level 520.

Since these was equipment that Necromancers desired, they would have to curry favor with Weed. They were firmly trapped by their own desires.

*****

The goods brought by the merchants to Vargo Fortress were all sold out. It was thanks to the share of the gold, silver and treasure that the players received and they were spending freely. Vargo Fortress became more active as the elves, barbarians, dwarves, and fairies came causing more people and players to gather there.

With a swift decision Mapan set up an exchange station, exchanging ancient gold coins and charging commission.

“Ah, I have so much money how can I spend it all?”

“Should we change swords?”

“Could hunting become easier then? In the morning I am going to try changing most of my gear to dwarf equipment.”

Vargo Fortress was bustling with players wanting to spend money. The vicinity was filled with hunting grounds no one found yet. Mountains, hills, forests and valleys, the local area had many hunting areas. The reason for many different tribes of barbarians living near Vargo Fortress was for the battles and hunting.

Weed conversed with the elders and the chieftains with his high fame and intimacy, acquiring information about the nearby dungeons.

“According to the dwarven tribe of the Hardened Earth there is a dungeon nearby…”

“Go a bit further. It’s what the dwarves said so it’s certainly there.”

Weed with Pale, Irene, Romuna, Hwaryeong and Surka searched for the dungeons in the vicinity.

“They were not drinking beer that time so I am certain the information is right.”

In between the boulders they found the entrance to the dungeon.

Dungeon, you are the first discoverer of, ‘The Hidden Pit’

Privileges: Fame increases by 415.

Double experience and item drop rate for one week.

Very first monster type you hunt will drop the best possible item.

The search for the dungeon near Vargo Fortress! If the hunting ground was doable with their levels, they swept through it. Recklessly exploring an unknown dungeon was truly dangerous. Traps were installed, with some areas that had an abnormal standard or quantity of monsters.

Of course during those occasions Hwaryeong with her dance could put them to sleep, and with Balkan dead, Weed could summon Death Knight and Vampire Lord without any trouble.

“Van Hawk, Torido, to the front!”

Their long holiday was finished.

“Thank you for calling me after a long time, master.”

“I was longing for hot blood.”

It was time for Van Hawk and Torido to do their part.

“Wipe them out completely.”

Those two were teammates who have been synchronizing their fights for so long that their hunting speed was very fast.

Weed also alternated his hunting party and went with the Geomchis, levelling up with them.

Barbarians or dwarves, they wanted to talk to Weed so it was easy to find hunting grounds.

“I want to fight monsters.”

“For a long time these guys were bothering us. Their tracks are somewhere in the north… Our warriors followed the tracks but they disappeared by the tree in the groves. If you can find it please help us.”

“Don’t we need beer?”

“If it is for beer I will do it anytime”

“There is no difference between us brothers and the dwarves who fought against the Undead. I want to know more about what’s troubling you.”

“Hmm, recently good iron ores are hard to find. If you have good iron ore at this time the price would not be a problem. In the old days when the fortress was normal the mountain behind it had a mine that we extracted a lot of iron ores from… If the humans could help us dwarves we would like to mine those iron ores.”

“Of course we’ll cooperate. With a lot of iron ores you dwarves can make weapons and armor and market them at Vargo Fortress while paying heavy taxes… I mean, it would be good if you took back lots of beer.”

At Vargo Fortress there was much work to do as well.

“Excuse me, I know you are busy but I brought materials. Is it possible you could make a sculpture for me?”

“This is gold with many impurities. If it isn’t pure gold the sculpture is not easy to make… Well, I will do it specially for you.”

“Thank you very much for considering my order. When will the sculpture be done?”

“There is a backlog of orders… please wait a while.”

The precious jewels of Vargo Fortress were Weed’s share. Selling sculptures he made, the leftover materials went into his pack! It was a method of bringing 3 rabbits into a restaurant and getting 3 rabbit soups but with another big pot left over!

“It’s definitely faster to become rich by embezzling materials than by making money by selling sculptures!”

Weed’s fame as a sculptor was so great that they gave him expensive materials to make sculptures without hesitation. Usually he made sculptures out of wood in between hunting, now they brought the best gold or silver, sometimes mythril to sculpt as well.

He had to make a sculpture that fit the person’s taste so he could not attempt any daring pieces. But doing this still increased a small amount of mastery in the sculpting skill. Once or twice a masterpiece with high artistic value did come out. But as his sculpting skill was at advance level 8 the mastery rose slowly.

“It’s fine. There are only two more levels left. I don’t need to rush.”

They even celebrated the New Year during their hunting. Hwaryeong, Bellot and Maylon had work so they missed it, the people that left prepared a small cosy amount of food as they watched the sun come up making their wishes.

‘I wish to earn a scholarship so I can travel with Maylon.’

‘My hands became better at hitting monsters. I am going to hit them many, many times. ’

‘Should I change to a Necromancer? But I also want to see the final flame magic…’

‘This year I am going to wish for no one to die from a botched surgery.’

‘Please help me date Yurin in this New Year.’

‘To rake in money following Weed-nim…’

They all had a variety of wishes, but compared to them Weed had a simple wish.

‘Let’s stay healthy. Or else there will be hospital bills. ’

Being healthy is best.

*****

The Sculpture Lifeforms arrived at Vargo Fortress after being called from Morata.

Mooooo.

Yellowy dragged his feet as he forced himself to come closer. It was plain to see he did not want to come!

“I am pleased to see you as well. If you really missed me, let's never part ways again.”

Moooooooo!

Bingryong and Phoenix had large bodies so they could not hunt in dungeons. But Gold Man, Golden Bird and Silver Bird fought together through the dangerous dungeons and nimbly broke through them. Level 440 dungeons had particular themes or put out an ominous odour in their vicinity.

Nest on Kildeke Mountain!

The whole area was a hunting ground. The large area had a scenery filled with mountain peaks and flying monsters.

Compared to his other party members, his connection time was longer. During the time Pale and his friends did not come he hunted with the Geomchis or partook in aerial battles at the Kildeke Mountain ranges with Phoenix, Wyverns and Bingryong,

KUNNNNG!

There was a sound of lightning far away with the sky flashing brightly for a moment. Even when the rain was about to pour from the sky, Weed was flying on Wy-Three.

“Master, at this rate aren’t we going to get hit by lightning?”

“It’s going to be okay.”

“But getting hit still hurts…”

“If we want to make a living we can’t afford to take a break even when the weather is bad.”

Weed and the Wyverns were not the only ones flying in the sky, it was also filled with monsters protecting their domain on the Kildeke Moutain. While Weed could not see properly, he still brandished his sword about.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Coordinating with Wy-Three the monster’s wings were sliced off. Slightly higher up was Phoenix and lower down was Bingryong, who was fighting carefully without risking himself.

Van Hawk was also summoned, riding around on his phantom steed. Vampire Lord Torido was there fighting with a swarm of bats.

“They are all fighting well.”

Weed collected many Sculpture Lifeforms as underlings in Jigolaths, but he felt greater sentiment towards the sculptures he carved as they had been doing things together for a long time.

“Give treats to the bastard and order the docile ones to hunt a hundred more times.”

So forgetting about everything and focusing solely on hunting, his level went up 3 times. Weed’s current level was 403. Players with level 400 were overall few in number and were recognized by everyone for their strength.

It was an accomplishment that got delayed by giving life to the sculptures, but with manufacturing skills and making even more sculptures, he reached the level with an enormous stat boost.

*****

1 month passed in real time and during that period Vargo Fortress saw a tremendous amount of development. The population reached 30 thousand and the collapsed walls were gradually built up. But the Fortress did not earn enough money to maintain its walls or operate, so Weed’s recent windfall went into the fortress without leaving him with any spare change.

Along the twisted roads where the walls were repaired, houses were built. Following the cleanup of the Fortress it was found that the knight’s drill hall, basic training centre and warrior guilds could be rebuilt where they originally were.

Although only half the place where the Bone Dragon rampaged was cleaned up, more players came and now there were tens of thousands of them.

“It’s night already?”

The players in the central square looked up at the sky. In no time at all the sun settled down and became dark and the moon and the stars appeared.

“It’s about time, they are starting to come.”

The person resting and checking on his weapons stood up. The soldiers eating something in the restaurant came outside in full armour. Knights and soldier’s equipment were quite heavy so when there was no battle they hardly wore it.

People changed their tune when they searched for people to party with.

“Looking for people to protect the west wall together.”

“Fighting monsters climbing over the north gate. Specially looking for someone with intermediate level 6 Shield Bash.”

“The collapsed wall south east from here needs a priest. Priests please come with me.”

At the Square combatants were recruited in large numbers. Magicians’ lit lamps, where the lines of torches were erected.

Swarms of monsters are approaching to plunder the provisions.

Monsters advanced every night! Monsters that the Necromancers fought before in the Undead Legion quest were now invading Vargo Fortress.

Although now, with the wall as defensive support it was easier to hunt. The players joined forces, the residents shot arrows and stones against the enemy.

Battle erupted every night in Vargo Fortress. No where else in the continent did the monsters so frequently swarm together to siege a fortress. Because Vargo Fortress was quite far from Morata and with the mountain ranges in the west and north that provided breeding grounds, the monsters attacked in quite large numbers.

When the Undead Legion existed Balkan turned them all into Undead. Now that the Undead Legion was gone the players had to defend the fortress. And if the monsters broke through Vargo Fortress, they would pass this area and spread all over the north.

To defend the fortress and prevent mass breeding of the monsters Weed had to continually invest the taxes into repairing the fortress and its walls as the destruction from the monster’s attacks were endless.

It was the lord’s duty to provide help to the players by repairing the walls. It was only due to Weed’s fame and his position as lord of Morata that the players were flocking to Vargo Fortress.

If he left the crumbling fortress because of the monster attacks it would leave the players exposed to danger that would grow exponentially. The whole Northern continent would be affected if people left Vargo Fortress as the monsters would spread out unchecked and create turmoil.

Weed cried blood while standing on top of the central tower in Vargo Fortress.

“Residents increase and hunting happens but no tax is left.”

Income tax disappeared scarily fast. Holding on to the taxes for even a moment was difficult as the fortress’ extensive network of walls was being repaired without stop. His precious money was being scattered to the wind and all of it went into military spendings.

Vargo Fortress Military Power

Novice Knights

58

Average Level

196

Soldiers without battle experience

4,312

Average Level

52

Loyalty

91%

Training

46%

An army has been created with immigrants from Morata.

Army’s recruitment was focused on hunters or sturdy young men.

The knights are becoming stronger in order to survive.

Soldiers respect their lord and are honest in their service. But they are worried as they are thrown into battle without proper training. But as they are fighting defensively behind the fortress wall, they have some confidence.

They do not provide public order, but the situation is dire without them.

The fortress wall has to be fixed as fast as the frequency of the monster invasions. Putting one eye on another work could turn the whole Vargo Fortress into a monster village.

An army had to be created as the Church of Freya did not provide protection as it did with Morata. Weed’s method of growing the armed forces was, if they live they become stronger!

All soldiers were archers and to make them learn how to use the bow they were all deployed on top of the fortress wall.

In the future as detachments of archers were settled in, there was a plan for a large scale enlistment of infantry for an expedition to the monster’s habitat. If the army could subjugate the monster’s den they could earn treasure and also the frequency of dangerous monsters coming near the fortress would be reduced.

While shops and guilds were necessary, public order was also an important factor for beginners to start at Vargo Fortress.

“If they come we can exploit them to our heart's content.”

There was much work to be done in Vargo Fortress and it required a lot of manual labour forces. He was eager to start the exploitation so his main priority was increasing public order.

There were fights that erupted in between the fortress wall and occasionally the situation was almost perilous. As many players left for dungeons or for adventures, there were many occasions where the defending forces were too few in numbers. But the players fought hard and resiliently.

Fortresses in the central continent were well prepared against monsters with strong walls, they even had moats dug up in case of sieges. The mere thought of monsters invading a village was not even considered.

There was never a dull moment in Vargo Fortress as small to big swarms of monsters came to attack it constantly. In the worst case, it could be said that Vargo Fortress itself was a hunting ground.

“Where do I hunt here?”

“One good bow, also pack many arrows and go up the fortress wall.”

For swordsmen and knights different advice was given.

“If you want to fight as much as you want go outside the fortress wall and wait for a while. Death or fame, at the end it will be one of the two!”

That many monsters came flocking toward the fortress.

If seen this way, the Undead Legion could not be mocked. They had no stockpile of provisions to steal from and just by coming close would turn the monsters into Undead. Just the news of human occupation of the fortress spreading to the monsters energized them into attacking, as they could steal the mass provisions that were being transported to the fortress.

Weed could bring Morata’s army here, or otherwise as lord withdrawing massive funds to invest into Vargo Fortress.

“I don’t know if this might just become a bottomless hole… Still its too early to decide.”

Morata was the more impressive city and it lacked for nothing. So the residents and players crossed over to the fortress and helped with the development. There were even skilled personnel that came from Morata and helped accelerate the development of commerce on an incomparable scale. If only the development rate was compared, excluding Morata, Vargo Fortress was the next best place in the whole of the Northern continent.

The daily battle in Vargo Fortress was at such a degree that it popped up on the message boards.

Title: For the best place to level up, don’t hesitate and hurry over here.

Increase your level and also take advantage of this chance to increase skill mastery.

Come and see! It’s everywhere. It’s even stacked up.

Make friends and hunt together.

Title: Today was really dangerous

Hello. This is Liz once again uploading the daily battle against the monster invasion in Vargo Fortress.

The video uploaded today was 2 hours of dizziness. During today's battle, the east wall that was built several days ago collapsed.

The speed in which the walls are constructed has sped up these days, could it be the foundation that was weak? Or the lord using cheap construction methods? However I was suspicious about the possibility of the wall collapsing for a long time so I was able to avoid it without any danger to my life.

But monsters entered through the breach and the battle erupted inside the fortress… It was frantic.

I am sure you are asking, why should we struggle so much? Why not just go to a dungeon or a hunting ground?

Well, when the morning comes and the monsters are repelled, people are hugging and are filled with so much joy. It’s happiness that only people who were in the battle can know.

Videos related to Vargo Fortress pull in a lot of interest as it was the Undead Legion’s previous base and presently Weed was the lord.

At first, even if it was Weed, the people thought that he would give up on the region because of its dangers. But as they watched on, they could not help but feel admiration from the constant videos of the players and residents coming together and defending the fortress.

There were no safe days, they had to continuously fight and defend the fortress. It was a region where their survival was a daily battle. It was a fortress and a hunting ground.

Regardless of Vargo Fortress’s development it was a place that drew in popularity. It was the forefront where warriors from the Northern continent gathered to fight perilous battles with the monsters.

*****

Baran village was located south of Rosenheim Kingdom. It was a famous city where a player could gain a seed for doing the elder Ghandilva’s request and use it to ascend to the City of Heaven Lavias. There was also the statue of goddess Freya that Weed made in his earlier days with immature workmanship, but the piece he sculpted in Seo Yoon’s image made the village widely known!

“Really, it’s a well-made sculpture.”

“If this woman really existed, it would be great. Just seeing her face I could live happily forever.”

“Perish the thought. This kind of woman does not exist in this world. It’s Weed’s sculpting skill that is unbelievably advanced.”

The visitors’ went to sightsee the sculpture once before leaving to hunt or they conversed with the residents. Meeting the residents allowed them to hear stories about quests, hunting grounds or talks of new dungeons.

There were pre-established dungeons but monsters could, later on, gather together and create a new one. The residents or the hunters could spot such signs beforehand and if the players built up intimacy with them, they could hear about such stories.

However one day the village people started becoming slightly strange.

“I will serve wholeheartedly.”

“Yes?”

“Listen to the teachings of the great god that will protect this worthless continent.”

“……”

Some residents were looking at the sky blankly. When the players got closer and engaged them in a conversation, they told a story.

“I have to offer my money to the church. To create a bigger army! Half of my income is no great loss.”

“What…”

“That army is going to save us.”

“Which army is going to save you?”

“Ack! I cannot tell you anymore. If you don’t have a holy heart then leave the village now. Only Embinyu god can clean this sinful world…”

The players coming to Baran village seeking its quest were amazed by the unfamiliar response from the residents. Wasn’t the Church of Embinyu the ones plunging the Central continent into disarray?

And one day the village elder Ghandilva no longer gave quests.

“The people who believe in the Church of Embinyu will receive the seeds for free.”

It was a difficult choice for the players to make. But there was an undercurrent that suggested many changes were coming.

And one day, the sculpture of goddess Freya that Weed carved was destroyed.

*****

Bardray prepared for battle.

“It’s been a long time since I went out to the battlefield.”

After establishing their foundation, Hermes guild no longer needed to fight obstinately.

Hunting monsters, or receiving recognition from the Tower of Warriors, they were ahead of the pack. They did not lack any military subjects in Royal Road.

But the reason for them to start this war, this fight would define Hermes guild.

“We have to show our strength to everyone. We must achieve victory.”

In the fort by the border, Bardray prepared his weapon and went outside. The infantry and knights, mages with siege instrument prepared to march. Their target was Kallamore Kingdom!

With the Haven Kingdom secured, Hermes guild gathered their military forces to occupy the Kallamore Kingdom, initiating a war to conquer them.

The shape of the Black Knight Bardray appeared. The players and the soldiers welcomed him with silence.

He was the one that represented Hermes guild’s absolute and ruthless power. The showed their respect to the person who climbed to the Versailles continents strongest position. Without saying anything to them Bardray climbed the horse that was prepared for him.

“Advance.”

Following their commander's words the fort gate opened and Haven Kingdom’s army advanced toward the Kallamore Kingdom.

“Haven Kingdom’s army is approaching.”

“Ring the emergency alarm!”

The Kallamore Kingdom’s border garrison responded immediately. To repel the enemy invasion, the fortress gate opened and the defense force came out.

“Attack! Attack!.”

Bardray on his horse, ran ahead.

“Bardray is participating in the battle!”

The soldiers and players affiliated with the Hermes guild were focused on Bardray who was at the forefront. The mere fact that he was participating in the war was enough to boost morale to the friendly forces.

“The Black Knight Bardray is at the Haven Kingdom’s side, fighting against us?”

“How can we fight? Should we just surrender?”

At the Kallamore Kingdom’s castle, the mere fact that Bardray was approaching Kallamore Kingdom was enough to instill fear. Bardray’s valor in battle, his achievement of becoming the top player was so great that it struck fear into the soldier’s hearts.

“Unblockable Assault!”

Bardray and his Black Knight guards rode together.

A Knight skill that could only be learned together! Currently in Versailles continent, it was known as the best assault skill. Not only did it increase the horse’s speed, it was an assault that pierced in a straight line, smashing through any enemy obstructing their path.

Bardray and the Black Knight guards pierced through the crumbling enemy defense line and established a breach. Like people possessed, the Haven Kingdom soldiers gave a loud war cry.

“Everyone attack!”

“Occupy Vatten Castle! Let’s push on toward the Kallamore Kingdom’s capital and trash it!”

The players and soldiers of the Hermes guild raised their swords and shields and charged. As the siege weaponry broke down the castle wall and gate, Bardray was the first to go in.

“Kill Bardray.”

“To protect Kallamore Kingdom Bardray must be killed. Attack!”

Enemies lunging at Bardray were felled by 10, 20 people every time Bardray swung his sword. This was strength that no broadcast or video ever showed!

Bardray displayed a force of arm in a different dimension compared to the other rankers on the Versailles continent, conquering Vatten Castle on the Kallamore Kingdom's border.

Afterwards the Hermes guild followed their set battle plan, leaving behind a supply train and repair corps and advanced onward.

Chapter 2: Grapass

“The feeling of isolation while travelling alone… roaming freely and clearing out monsters, it’s the best feeling!”

Wyverns, Bingryong, Phoenix, Gold Man and Yellowy followed after Weed.

“There, don’t drop it! Pick up the japtem properly!”

Wyverns had to use their claws and beaks to pick up japtem. Every time there was a battle, it created new and pointless agony for them.

‘Isolation?’

‘To be exploiting us like this…’

While they were by themselves they hunted lazily, but as they followed after Weed the amount of work they had to do increased. Hunting, picking up japtem, doing chores, helping with cooking and being a flying transport.

“KIIIINNG!”

The Silver Bird sitting on top of Yellowy made a groaning sound, flapped its wings and suddenly collapsed. This did not work on Weed.

“You can’t die of exhaustion after this much. Get up quickly.”

Weed had experienced cold fatigue through overwork so many times that he was tired of it, pretending to be ill would never fool him.

Near Vargo Fortress there were plenty of dungeons around that no one dared to enter. There were also many monster dens, villages and hideouts.

On occasions other parties were the first to come and hunt but as the area around Vargo Fortress was in an establishing phase, it was more common for Weed with his companions or with the Sculpture Lifeforms to be the ones to take the first step.

What was good about having fixed party members or hunting with the Sculpture Lifeforms was that he did not need to waste time looking for trustworthy people or spend time trying to coordinate in a new party.

Usually conflict occurred when hunting with new party members due to different opinions and methods to use, but Weed never experienced such occasions.

“Everyone sleep.”

Until Weed spoke to finish up the hunting in the dungeon, Yellowy was in such a constant state of alert that he was unable to lower his tail. As each of them had their roles to play out in the dungeons filled with strong monsters, there was no time to be careless.

Even when a number of weak monsters appeared, they increased their speed so that they could hunt just one more in an hour.

“Today’s weather is cloudy and rain could come, so let’s spend the whole day hunting inside a dungeon.”

Only Weed had the power to make the absolute decisions regarding hunting or taking breaks.

“The sunlight is really warm. In this weather let’s pack some lunch and go hunting in a dungeon!”

He was a complete tyrant of hunts.

*****

“Found a new dungeon two days ago and looking for people to party up with. People who can dedicate the whole day, people who are already prepared and can leave now.”

“Hunting for treasure, looking for someone with a combat class. I am an adventurer. I have the first clue about the treasure but it’s not so trustworthy. Even then I would like to find people who can share the hardship with me.”

“Any explorers looking to go west? A party of 6 with an average level of 330. Looking for someone to draw a map while exploring.”

Not only was the repair work done in earnest at Vargo Fortress, the current situation attracted many players who wanted to hunt and have adventures near the frontier. As the monster attacks were so frequent, the standards of the players were also high.

“If you are not busy can we go hunt together?”

“Cough, I am not really that busy…”

The Geomchis were constantly popular. Seeing their brilliance in battle, the knights and swordsmen learned something from them. They, the Geomchis, fought fiercely so that the efficiency of the hunting was maximized. Always being at the forefront on the dangerous dungeon paths.

Thanks to them the adventurers were having fun.

“Together with them we can go anywhere.”

“Even if bad things happen they don’t despair.”

During adventures death occurred frequently. The Geomchis lost their lives to monsters or by falling into traps, but their disappointment lied in the fact that they could not protect their party members to the end. They were true men!

Mapan thought of how to level up fast as a merchant.

“Hyeong-nim, I brought wine and meat.”

“Oh!”

“If you are bored can we go hunting? I improved my cooking skill, and I brought two carriages worth of alcohol and I don’t plan on returning till all my stock is finished!”

“Let’s go!”

For merchants they had a rule, to use any methods possible. As Mapan partied up with the Geomchis his level rose up easily.

“That fruit, it’s a herb!”

“We refine steel and strengthen blades. Anyone who needs it, please come!”

The residents and players had confidence in Weed, who after conquering the fortress had become its lord, and migrated to the fortress. Repair work was constantly underway inside the fortress as businesses were restored, the elves and dwarves nearby came daily to trade their goods.

Looking from afar the fortress was constructed using eerie, black, contaminated rocks that made the place feel like an Undead would pop out any second. But the vitality and life within the fortress was coming back.

Once the crumbling fortress was fully repaired, construction of new buildings would take place.

Starting with Parvo, other architects who polished their skill in Morata now flocked towards Vargo Fortress.

“I think residential buildings can be built later.”

“Yes, I think so as well.”

The residential buildings were not a problem as many shacks could be built on the hills leading up to Vargo Fortress. Of course, later on more luxurious homes would be necessary but right now the priority was on repairing the fortress.

The builders who lacked skill were stuck being safety officers on the work related to repairing the wall. The 1st class builders who were involved in building Parvo’s Art Center and Morata’s business districts were the ones responsible for repairing the buildings inside the fortress.

“Let’s restore this building to its original image.”

“A lot of black stone will be needed.”

“The lord invested such enormous funds into repairing the fortress that it generated quests to gather building materials here. The residents and the amateur merchants are constantly bringing the materials so we have enough to use right now.”

Weed had invested an immense amount of funds into the repairs of Vargo Fortress. In Morata when immense funds were invested it resulted in a festival, here the corruption among soldiers rose and any random residents came to do repair work.

“The place the Bone Dragon rampaged is really problematic... upto how much could we renovate it?”

“As much as we can. We should try our best. The area was melted by the Breath attack and a lot of the support columns are broken, so half of the whole area has to be rebuilt.”

“Hmm, if the scale is that big then this will become a real construction project.”

For the builders, the work of restoring Vargo Fortress was a large project that would leave a mark. Their excitement was growing as funds from the lord and taxes were appropriated for the repair works.

“The tower that the Bone Dragons were in, looking at it, it’s tilted a lot.”

The central tower that was the main attraction of Vargo Fortress! Looking at it from afar or even close up, it was so tilted that it created a strange feeling nearby. It was amazing that it did not collapse or fall yet.

The builders explored the ground and found that due to the firm ground with well-constructed foundations, there was no danger of the tower collapsing.

“Weed-nim instructed us to leave the tower as it is for now.”

For Weed, restoring Vargo Fortress completely to how it was before would cost too much money.

“Doing the interior or any construction, once the money starts going in, unimaginable things will happen that will leave me penniless.”

Not only did the central tower pull people’s gazes, it was a historic place that protected Lich Balkan’s Life Vessel. The tall and enormous construct was too precious to demolish and rebuild.

“Let’s just leave it.”

The best method to preserve the historic building was to leave it without spending any money!

Like the leaning tower of Pisa, the slanted central tower could become Vargo Fortress’ new attraction.

The magicians with high levels and those who became affluent, built their own towers. But compared to those, the height and slant of the central tower was incomparable.

“The feeling of imminent collapse like that of the central tower cannot be found in Versailles continent!”

Presently, most of Vargo Fortress was destroyed and it looked void. The monster invasions, while facilitating easy hunting, were hampering the development of the area.

If there was a method to soothe the depressing atmosphere, it was a sculpture!

Weed made his Wyverns carefully transport boulders to the top of the slanted central tower.

“If I make a sculpture here, then everyone in the fortress will be able to see it.”

It was without a doubt, the best place to exhibit a sculpture. As it was a place that a sculpture would have to withstand rain and wind, a fragile and delicate piece would not suit it very well.

“I have to make a piece that suits the feeling of Vargo Fortress.”

As always, Weed did not think long on the piece he wanted to make.

“There is a piece that has to be made in this place.”

He started to carve the firm boulder into a sculpture. The residents and players who were coming back from their work or hunting were able to see Weed making a new piece.

“He’s also making a sculpture here. I am really curious to see what it will turn out as.”

Whenever Weed started making a new sculpture, there was always a great interest from the people. If he created a good sculpture like in Morata it would help in many ways so they counted the days on their hands for the completion of the sculpture.

But as Weed came and went from hunting in dungeons, the progress on the sculpture was slow.

“It must be because the sculpture is made with blood, sweat and toil that it’s taking such a long time. ”

“A work of art is not something that you can just make easily.”

The players waited happily!

Weed made a 6 meter high sculpture that could be seen from anywhere. As the time Weed invested into the sculpture increased, the sculpture was becoming more and more distinct with completion in sight.

And finally a clear figure of the Lich turned Weed, wearing Balkan’s items as ornaments took shape.

In the past he played as a Lich in Jigolaths, but he wondered if he could also have become Balkan’s heir, inheriting and leading the Undead Legion. With his greed, he would have earnestly followed Balkan’s command and in the blink of an eye, betray him and take the Undead Legion for himself.

It was an unknown future that could have happened! If he did not walk the path of a sculptor for such a long time, it was an almost certain future for him.

“I don’t know what effect this sculpture will have, but it will definitely come out as a Historic.”

Sometimes sculpting created great events. As he completed the Lich sculpture, the negative thoughts of a failed sculpture or even the Undead in the vicinity rising up again were in his mind.

The Lich on the slanted tower was telling of Weed’s sculpting skills as it lacked nothing in its details. Looking at the central tower from afar, it was difficult to tell if the Lich was real or not.

“Still, it’s missing something.”

Seeing that he already made the sculpture, Weed decided to continue it and try to grow the work a bit more.

“A Lich cannot be without a single bodyguard.”

Having made the big Lich sculpture, he sculpted additional 2 meter tall Doom Knights and Death Knights. Even then the Lich was lacking in splendour. Comparing the sculpture to Balkan’s Undead Legion, the Lich was too isolated and lonely.

“It needs something more special.”

Weed pulled out usable sculpting material from his backpack.

The rotten dragon bones!

If it was real dragon bone it would be more precious than gold or mythril, but as it turned into an Undead if it was used as a smithing material it’s ability and durability as an item fell dramatically. And as the Bone Dragon of the Undead Legion was resurrected long ago, the bone’s durability was so low that it was no longer usable for anything.

The item drops from the Bone Dragon were shared among the players, but the bones did not look like they could be made into anything good so they were not popular.

The Geomchis in the past used equipment made from a Bone Dragon crafted by Weed, but the paladins and priests could not equip anything made from bones of the Undead. That’s why Weed could claim two sets of dragon bones that the players avoided.

“I have to use these precious materials.”

Weed used the same method as melting steel to connected the dragon bones. There were three sets of head parts, but some players wanting souvenirs kept small bones from the body. By melting brass and supplementing those parts, only 3 Bone Dragons could be completed on the central tower.

“Now it looks like something.”

Like ramen with kimchi, soondae with tteokbooki, and jajangmyeon with tangsuyuk, it was a fantastic chemistry.

DING!

Please set a name for your sculpture.

“Well, Serious, Cool, Handsome, Rich, Tall, Lich Weed with many Undead underlings!”

Is ‘Serious, Cool, Handsome, Rich, Tall, Lich Weed with many Undead underlings’ correct?

“Wait, it’s too long so calling it out will be difficult…”

The sculpture was more than a Lich, as Doom Knights, Death Knights, ghosts and other Undead from the Undead Legion were sculpted and placed with the Lich. As Weed was personally part of the Undead Legion’s chain quests he could reproduce the Undead’s image with amazing skill

“No. The sculpture’s name will be ‘The Lich who commands the Undead.’”

Is ‘The Lich who Commands the Undead’ correct?

“Yes.”

Magnum Opus! Sculpture, ‘The Lich who Commands the Undead’ has been complete

The resting place of the Undead Legion, the Lich sculpture created on the eternal resting place of the legendary monster Balkan!

Balkan was the one that committed many atrocities in the Versailles continent. But without a doubt, he has influenced the flow of history.

Amidst the barren wilderness of the Necromantic skills, he is recognized for the great magical achievement of developing said magic.

Highly respected for his towering artistry and fame there is no one who can criticise Weed, who brought eternal rest to Balkan, for the sculpture he created.

Artistic Value: 8,980.

Special Options: Anyone who sees the sculpture of, ‘The Lich who Commands the Undead’ will regenerate health and mana 32% faster.

All stats increase by 16.

Intelligence and Wisdom increase by 3 permanently.

In the neighbouring area, Necromancers enjoy a +2 increase in their skill level.

Undead gain a bit more intellect.

Prevents attacks from stray Undead.

Reduces mana consumption by 6%.

Power of dark magic becomes 2% stronger.

When health is lower than 50%, the feeling of being indomitable will rise and attack power increases by 14%.

Effect does not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Magnum Opus created till now: 9.

Mastery of Sculpting skill increased.

Mastery of Handicraft skill increased.

Sculptural Comprehension skill increased by 1 level.

Fame increased by 875.

Art stat increased by 33.

Charisma increased by 3.

Wisdom increased by 2.

For the completion of a Magnum Opus, all stats increased by 3.

Weed’s advance level 8 sculpting skill mastery increased and it inched up slowly from 6% to 14.6%.

The players watching below, as they waited from the beginning till now, as the sculpture began to take form yelled out shouts of joy.

“It’s a Magnum Opus!”

The Necromancers who usually pressed for better privileges were the happiest amongst the players. Necromancer’s were destined never to stray far from Vargo Fortress.

*****

The battle against Balkan Demoph, had a record 24.3% rating on its reruns. Weed’s fame could pierce the sky, he was Versailles continent’s number 1 most popular player.

Weed, the wise lord of the Northern continent.

Game broadcasts continuously showed special programs on Weed. They had a stable rating and the viewer’s response was good.

There was news coverage of the daily change in Vargo Fortress as well. The players of the Northern continent had massive interest at the sight of the fortress, once occupied by the Undead Legions, changing into a human dwelling,

Compared to the many regions in the continent, the amount of players in the North was still small. But compared to the beginning, its expansion was nothing to sneeze at, with the players from the Central and Eastern continent having great interest in the north as well.

Also, as it was the region that War God Weed ruled, even if nothing happened it still remained in the spotlight. It was because of the self cultivation and development of the barren castle and villages that pulled endless inspiration for adventure.

And so the number of players visiting from the Central continent increased daily.

“People going to Leserite Mountain, please come quickly. We’re leaving right now.”

“Organizing for Tanroa mine hunting. Estimating about 200 people to come. It’s a request from the dwarves to clear out the monsters in the mine.”

It was a much better environment than what was expected so the people coming for the first time to Morata found it hard to adapt and were often left bewildered. They came knowing about the Great Cathedral and the Library and similar historic buildings. They heard many stories about the Statue of Goddess Freya and the Tower of Light. Looking at them for themselves, the sculptures and artworks were exactly as they had heard, with so much artwork lying about.

Compared to other regions, art and culture was given preferential treatment in Morata and plays happened frequently. There were sights to see with the paths filled with entertainment. As the region was under the blessing of abundance from the Church of Freya, there was an endless amount to eat.

Festivals erupted regularly and when the merry and playful atmosphere struck, the players flocked to the squares early in the morning for hunting quests. Merchants who did not even know the proper price for japtems were selling their wares on the streets and the beginners were playing gleefully among themselves.

It was loud, bustling, and filled with a pleasant atmosphere. It made for a splendid city.

When an expedition called for a hunting quest, 100 people gathered in no time. The players had joyful expressions as they headed out to hunt.

“I understand why people say Morata is like heaven. There is so much hunting occurring.”

“The prices are so low compared to other places. There are so many places to visit and with business booming, you will lack for nothing here. I should have come to Morata earlier.”

No matter where one went on the continent, the other regions were filled with the slight feeling of oppression and exclusivity. In the square they had to be conscientious of the ruling guilds, always minding what they did as not to go against them.

In comparison, Morata was free spirited and actively encouraged adventure. Weed not only focused on artists but also provided equal treatment for the adventurers.

Development related to adventure and compensation for commissions took 16% of the fiscus. Searching the other regions inside out, this was incomparable and overwhelmingly the best figure. Other villages were at a level where their best was only at about 2%, 3%. There were cases in some cities where other players ruled that did not even provide compensation.

The regretful thing was that the lords did not feel the need for adventurers and spent their funds stingily. But Weed thought otherwise.

By bringing back the buried equipment, treasures, discoveries, artifacts, and books of the Northern continent the city would develop faster. Developing the city allowed for more taxes in the future so this path was seen as a shortcut. Even after Morata had become big, money was spent without spare for the adventurers.

Quests in Morata appeared as if a dam had burst, many people received quests and left.

“There is no need to dissuade people who are willing to take the risk of death and suffering.”

It was a development oriented taxation!

Weed, Morata, and Vargo Fortress were changing in the blink of an eye even under monster invasions and the game broadcasters reported a lot of news about it. But recently there was an event that engulfed the Versailles continent in a greater shock.

Hermes guild’s blitz of Kallamore Kingdom!

Local wars happened frequently, but they conquered forts and castles and absorbed them into their territory.

“Hermes Guild is charging again.”

“The current situation is amazing. Hermes Guild’s army overwhelmingly crushed the Kallamore Kingdoms border defense garrison.”

“Bardray can be seen with the vanguard. He is participating personally in the war.”

“The Black Knights forces, their inestimable strength! Watch Bardray’s action yourselves.”

“Around 100 thousand Hermes Guild players are part of the charge. The magician’s spells are spreading and pouring on the enemy’s position!”

Hermes Guild’s giant strength was being broadcasted. Due to the Haven Kingdom’s hostility towards the Kallamore Kingdom, they tried to fold the whole region into their territory. By getting the vast breadbasket and technology from the Kallamore Kingdom, Haven Kingdom would become the strongest nation on the Central continent.

Hermes guild started a war to recreate themselves as a nation that no one could stand up against. Imagining the future strength of their armies, no player could hide their astonishment.

*****

Weed heard the news of Hermes guild’s conquest and triumph over the Kallamore Kingdom in Vargo Fortress.

“Here, it’s complete. 34 gold.”

“Thank you. I will use it with utmost care.”

For Weed, it was business as usual as he made use of his blacksmith and sewing skills. If he did not practice the blacksmith or sewing skill for a long time, it could reduce his skill level.

While making a sculpture, he heard the voices of the chattering merchants from nearby.

“Hermes guild really has a massive army, their fire power leaves your jaw gaping and they are taking over all of Kallamore Kingdom!”

Weed, right at this moment, was using a special wood to sculpt an eagle. He was trying to capture the feeling of life in the eagle, requiring delicate carving to express its exclusivity of the sky and its freedom. While he focused his ears on the conversation of the merchants, his hand was completely tense.

“How long can the Kallamore Kingdom hold out?”

“They can’t. I really didn’t know Hermes guild was hiding such massive strength. Presently the Kallamore Kingdom’s border garrison was completely wiped out. Among 60 thousand people, not many survived.”

Creek!

Weed made a mistake with the carving knife making a long scratch on the side of the sculpture.

“The level 400 powerhouses of Hermes guild went forward, they destroyed and occupied Hosran fort in less than 2 hours. Even the media did not know that Hermes guild’s army was this strong.”

“Do you think they are really that strong?”

“It won’t be an exaggeration to say they have the strongest infantry, even the number that participated in the war… sigh, words just won’t come out. Just hearing the names of the participants you will recognize the rankers, they are lined with strong players.”

“But against Weed-nim?”

“Well… even Weed-nim would have to fold at least once against Hermes guild.”

“Weed-nim is the War God, he already defeated Hermes guild twice.”

Weed just made his sculpture in silence. The sculpture that was created during this confused moment was a downcast bald eagle!

As a famous sculptor, a disappointing piece was created

Fame decreased by 15.

It was a relief that he was making the sculpture in a corner away from the prying eyes of the merchants.

Vargo Fortress still did not have a tavern so the video of the broadcast could not be seen. But the grand appearance of the Hermes guild could be felt.

The finances necessary to fund the troops to occupy just a castle or a city was enormous. Even for Weed, the monthly income tax was tremendous only after the huge development of Morata. And Haven Kingdom is said to be the yolk of the Central continent and just conquering it whole spoke volumes about their strength.

As Hermes guild became bigger, Weed’s influence could only become smaller. It was a situation where he could no longer roam around the Central continent freely, but to just imagine if Hermes Guild completely conquers the Central continent!

‘It will only be a matter of time till the underdeveloped north, east, west and south will be seized.’

Then Weed would only be able to hunt in isolation. Even now an assassin could come at any moment for him. As Vargo Fortress was filled with players who would side with Weed, the assassin’s activity was limited. But in other regions, they would smell his bounty and cause an uproar.

‘The only thing left for me is the Sculpture Mastery quest and the final secret sculpting legacy! If Hermes guild or other famous guilds become bigger than now, peace will be impossible. Then the only thing I could do is roam the continent, hiding my identity through Sculpture Transformation and changing my appearance often.’

So Weed prepared to leave for a trip. To master the sculpting skill he still needed a bit more time. Retrieving the final secret legacy would be good, but mastering sculpting was becoming a priority so he planned to meet the master sculptor Zahab.

*****

The Red Reed Forest.

At the quest area the queen of fairies Teneidon spoke about, the assassins waited and prepared for an ambush.

As a rule they did not talk aloud but only in whispers.

> When do you think Weed will come here?

> If you wait he will come.

The assassins deployed themselves in the grass and above the trees. They were used to the boring waits. High level assassins preferred killing stronger people rather than doing normal hunts as it gave them more experience and mastery in skill went up a lot more.

To kill Weed they went ahead to the quest starting area and waited for him.

“They said Weed would come here, right?”

“If we just catch him we can definitely receive a reward from Hermes guild. I am going to change all my equipment and also ask for a skill book.”

“It’s the War God Weed. When he appears we must attack him together.”

“There is no need for honour. When we kill him we will share the reward equally.”

Even bounty hunters, trying to make a fortune through the bounty, were roaming around the Red Reed Forest.

Truthfully there were not many righteous people among the bounty hunters. They usually laughed as they betrayed or deceived their partners without feeling a smidgen of guilt. They knew the cynical nature of the job but for now they decided to join their strength.

“If he just comes…”

“He’s already dead!”

“Kuhuhu, let's receive our bounty and sign up with Hermes guild.”

“Will they accept us?”

“They say Hermes guild accepts anyone if you have the strength.”

“Then we have to get in. Just by signing up we can live in a grand style.”

*****

Lee Hyun logged into the Dark Gamer information board. He was trying to gather information on Grapass, one of the 10 forbidden regions of the continent, which was the place Zahab went.

“Will there be any good information here?”

It had been a long time since he received the quest from the old handmaiden. He expected that more people would have explored the region and more information had built up since then.

But in reality, many players actually challenged the forbidden regions in the early days. As they were level 100 and 200s, he nimbly skipped their stories. Just from skimming them, there were many stories about being completely wiped out by the strong monsters and that they would try again later.

I regret coming here. The morning hunt is okay but at night, it’s really scary.

Adventurer level 351. Came with a party of 7 with similar levels.

There are big larvae in the wasteland.

When you try get close, large worms pop up and try to eat you, so do not go near it.

Adventurer level 369.

The Grapass region is not well known, so we planned a party to level up where we would not be crowded with others. We were 7 Dark Gamer veterans.

The plain where stone piles are, the hunt is doable. At night the evil hands swarm about, so to hunt here you need exceptional senses. If you win, they drop magic seals and jewels.

Adventurer level 382. 7 party members.

It looks like there was still occasional hunting in the Grapass region.

There comes a point in time, after rising to a certain level, where it became crucial to find a new hunting ground. This was especially true for Dark Gamers, where both their personal growth and monster drops were important. So there seemed to be many tries at adventuring in the Grapass region

In the early days the level 100 or 200 players entered the region fearlessly and were cleanly wiped out. Presently, a level 300 could handle the region with some difficulty.

Among the Dark Gamers there were many players who were above level 400, but they did not post information on these boards. At their level, the information on hunting methods or hunting grounds was too important so they did not share much. As it wasn’t difficult to maintain their Dark Gamer Union’s ranking by providing simple quest or dungeon information, it wasn’t a problem for them.

“At level 400… seems it’s manageable at that point.”

In the Grapass region, the magic seals and jewels that could be acquired through monster drops were as expensive as mythril. It was said there were several specialized hunting parties that searched Grapass for these jewels that granted magic.

Saying these specialized hunting parties were the best Dark Gamers and warriors was not an exaggeration. The opportunity to meet them was rare as they only stayed near the area where the monsters frequently appeared.

“There still seems to be no information about the master sculptor Zahab…”

Someone who met Zahab, or even knowing the address of the house he’s living in would be conclusive information! He could then finish the quest easily, but even without such luck it did not feel like finding Zahab would be all that difficult.

“A human staying among monsters in the Grapass region would be quite noticeable. I could ride on a Wyvern’s back and scout out the region… or if the sky is filled with monsters I could change into a crow and search like that.”

Lee Hyun praised himself. Since he accomplished impossible quests from the beginning, he was no longer hesitant or fearful about going to Grapass, one of the 10 forbidden regions.

“It’s closer and much better than sailing to Jigolaths.”

In the face of any adversity, whether the sky fell or the ground collapsed, he had the amazing self-confidence he could survive!

*****

Weed called the Sculpture Lifeforms. Due to the recent hunting Bingryong, the Wyverns, Phoenix, Gold Man, Yellowy, Golden Bird and Silver Bird were all exhausted. Bingryong’s level was 470, excluding the Wyverns, the other Lifeforms were all around mid to late 400’s through their continuous effort.

“I want to tell you some good news.”

Weed wanted to raise the morale of the tired Sculpture Lifeforms.

“For the time being let’s rest from hunting.”

“Gol Gol!”

Gold Man, although extremely happy with the news, could not show it. If he showed any signs of happiness, it could be seen as some fault or another that would cause more agony in the future.

“Moooo. If this is master’s order then I have to obey.”

Disciplined by a foul natured master, they had learnt basic pretence and treachery. Yellowy pretended to be disinterested as he ate some grass nearby, but his ears were flapped up to listen for any lies.

“Don’t worry. This is not a joke or an empty promise.”

Up to now Weed scammed, embezzled and exploited them hard but he was not one to lie.

“Rather, let’s go on a trip.”

A trip!

Leaving the road and meeting new people, the joy of leaving the daily routine. Phoenix spouted fire from its beak in joy.

“Kurarara. Are we really going?”

Having not travelled much with the master and other Lifeforms, Bingryong was also happy.

“It would be good if the place had fresh grass.”

For Yellowy if his back was warm and belly was full, anywhere was heaven. It did not seem like a bad idea. Travelling around and eating delicious food while resting.

Golden Bird and Silver Bird, as they had the nature of birds were also happy that they could roam around freely.

Weed continued to speak.

“Where we are going, it’s Grapass… one of the 10 forbidden regions on the continent. So let’s all go together!”

It was not a trip, the phrase ‘leaving home is suffering’ was proven right. The Sculpture Lifeforms suddenly lost all desire to go.

“I will become strong by diligently hunting here. So master, why not go alone?”

Bingryong spoke while he blinked his eyes innocently. But to Weed it was useless.

“We have to go together. You can’t possibly skip this fun trip.”

“There are many monsters here. I think I have to protect the new land the master earned. I, Bingryong will thoroughly defend this land against the monsters.”

“You don’t need to do that. The monsters also need to eat and live. They are doing this to survive, so don’t look down on them.”

Sudden benevolence towards monsters appeared.

“Morata is well protected by the Black Imugi and the King Hydra, so I am going to call other Sculpture Lifeforms to this place.”

The Black Imugi and King Hydra were sculpted in the past to fight against the Northern coalition.

After that they cleared the monsters near Morata and silently contributed to the public order.

They quietly raised their levels by a lot and also became rich.

The Black Imugi had a side of cunning and shrewdness. Silver Bird tattled everything about how the Black Imugi was using his status as a rare monster, he took over a cave and started to pile up his own treasure.

“It’s a pure, evil black snake with wings. If it was small I would swallow it whole like a worm. Cheep cheep! I thought I would gain weight so I stopped myself. When I ask him to give me some of his premium meat, he doesn’t. When I try to build a nest in his lair, he doesn’t let me in. I think he's hiding something.”

“Right, right. Golden Bird how is it?”

“I don’t really pay attention but! He treats me very well. I think he hunts monsters. Also I think Yellowy’s gotten lazy.”

“Keep me posted on your friend’s activity.”

To prevent the public order from becoming worse, it would be good to have the Sculpture Lifeforms defending Vargo Fortress. And there was no need to make new ones as he could leave it to the Sculpture Lifeforms brought from Jigolaths.

It could be permissible for them to join the residents defending on the fortress wall, rather than having them hide in isolated forests or search and destroy monster habitats.

Weed glanced at Vargo Fortress.

The fortress walls were slowly becoming firmer and thicker, with more military facilities built to protect it from siege. The soldiers were being trained to protect the fortress and drive out the monsters. Rather than developing the economy, safety was the priority right now.

The players also received hunting quests so the monsters flocking nearby would be reduced slightly. They would level up and start stacking up the drops from their adventures. And as the army readied their strength, the wastelands and mines could be conquered and developed.

At that moment Wy-Three grumbled in a defiant way. It was purposefully done so Weed could hear.

“We have a desire to live freely. For how long must we follow master?”

Wy-Three spoke of his hope of wanting complete independence.

“Let’s all live happily together. Hunting and even going on a trip like this… It will be lifelong happiness. And don’t you think we should go to one of the 10 forbidden regions at least once?”

“…”

Weed was daring the Sculpture Lifeform to decline his scam.

*****

“I heard Weed-nim was staying here these days.”

“I need to ask him to make me a sword… Other blacksmiths in Morata can do it, but if Weed-nim makes it, it will come out better.”

Players deliberately came from Morata to Vargo Fortress to improve their equipment. The equipment Weed made had a subtle sense of aesthetic decoration. Using sculpting skills the swords, armour, and boots Weed made were carved with special patterns.

Of course the labour fee was more expensive than other blacksmiths. But with advance level 8 handicraft skill, there were no flaws and the durability was high. They could also flaunt that their equipment was made by Weed so they spared no effort to come here.

When the smiths or tailors had basic skill and became famous they did not need to worry about getting additional work afterwards. But as this was tedious labour the chance of being fed up with it was high.

“What? Weed-nim left?”

“We came all the way from Morata… Did he leave for the quest in Red Reed Forest already?”

Weed had disappeared from Vargo Fortress.

But according to the builders the repair work was still continuing and the paladins, priests, Geomchis and new players were all busy doing quests or hunting together.

For the residents who came over from Morata, their simple needs were met by the merchants. But with elves, barbarians, dwarves, and fairies visiting Vargo Fortress often, there was a variety of quests that were created. And as adventurers completed many battles, the merchants started to cater a general store, weapon store, armoury, herbalist and a jeweller.

“It’s Weed-nim’s land, we have to spread faith to the migrating residents of Morata.”

The Church of Freya began construction of their new shrine.

Players did not have exact information on Weed so they could only speculate.

“I think he went for the Red Reed Forest quest.”

“He has no fear of Hermes guild.”

“Weed-nim really is different.”

This rumour spread and the bounty hunters waited in greater suspense. Hermes guild, who prepared for all situations, sent an attack force to the Red Reed Forest as well, thinking a third defeat was impossible.

*****

Seo Yoon was hunting and wandering deep in the north. She felt her strength was lacking when she was following Weed in Jigolaths.

‘I have to become stronger.’

She experienced the difficulty of hunting alone while exploring dungeons. As a Berserker she was alone most of the time so it was nothing special. Falling into traps, raided by monsters, and intoxicated by poison. The Berserker class had to surpass the fear of death, fighting stronger monsters to grow.

Seo Yoon went into places full of monsters, battling them and coming out alive.

‘I must return.’

With these feelings Seo Yoon increased her level while also perfecting her attack skills. It was all to protect Weed when something dangerous happened. She was also thinking of following him on the quest from the Fairy Queen Teneidon.

Sometimes she sent off whispers to Weed.

> I found a new dungeon. There are many monsters. Their levels are high so it is a really good place to hunt.

When Weed was not busy, he responded quickly.

> Congratulations.

And at that night’s dinner.

> While hunting monsters I found a short sword. It is much better than what I used previously.

> Glad to hear it.

And at next morning’s breakfast.

> I hunted a boss monster,

> Sa...Safely?

> It was difficult, after taking care of the rear guard monsters I succeeded.

Facing indescribable hardship, Seo Yoon attracted monsters and risked dangers until her body was covered in bandages to achieve victory. If she did not have thoughts about Weed, then it would have been impossible for her to giver her all in the hunting.

> Items?

> Sharp Shooter Helmet… I got something I don’t need. I am going to throw it away when I arrive in Morata.

Sharp Shooter Helmet! It was an item that all archers searched for with passion. It increased accuracy, range, and penetration, there was no better item for an archer than this. It was said the high level players who were over level 400 would even sell their own bows to buy this.

There was no need to say twice how expensive it was. If it was sold in Morata all the merchants would jump at it.

> Ri...Right.

Besides this daily routine, whenever something good happened Seo Yoon told Weed.

> My level rose.

> Already?

>I picked up an item a short while ago.

> Again?

> My ‘Dance of the Insane Warrior’ skill level increased.

> This fast?

> Congratulate me. I just completed a quest.

> …

Seo Yoon enjoyed conversing with Weed so she went on even more hunts. The dungeons she visited were one or two tiers higher than what Weed could handle. It was not an exaggeration to say Weed’s hunting speed was the highest in the Versailles continent. But Seo Yoon was not far behind.

Starting from the entrance of the dungeon, skills were used to rampage till the end and break through the dungeon. There was no class that was as tenacious as a Berserker.

But fighting arduous battle alone, the chance of dying was high. The only way to maintain attack power was to fill up on health and fight without rest. Words could not describe how difficult this was. Finishing a dungeon sapped all the strength from the body and it took time to recover.

During this recovery time, Seo Yoon searched for other dungeons or did simple quests.

> What is the jewel of Jukbora? It’s constantly dropping here.

> W...Well you picked up another one? It’s a jewel you can sell to the enchanter.

Weed knew almost everything and when they talked, it was a great help to Seo Yoon.

After finishing up a dungeon Seo Yoon leaned on a tree for a rest and asked.

> Are you going to stay in Vargo Fortress?

> No, I finished my sculpture so it’s time to leave.

> To the Red Reed Forest?

If he said he was going to the forest, Seo Yoon would have went ahead and wiped out all the bounty hunters and assassins. The chance of success in the huge battle that would occur was not in the equation for her.

> I already left for Grapass, one of the 10 forbidden regions. I have a quest there that I need to finish.

As soon as she heard the destination Seo Yoon took out a map from her backpack and headed for Grapass. As Weed was heading there, she had to go as well.

The Undead Legion chain quests were done by the Undead and at the same time, she was too busy levelling up and trying to earn money for their trip so she could not join him then. But now, Seo Yoon headed towards the Grapass region to meet Weed.

> I am heading to the Grapass region. Let’s hunt together later on. I will prepare delicious hot shark soup then.

Through whispers Weed also told Pale and his party.

Hwaryeong changed her high heels to boots.

“I have to go to the Grapass region as well.”

“Unni, really? That place is really dangerous…”

Bellot tried to persuade her otherwise, but Hwaryeong was tenacious.

“Eating with Weed-nim after hard labour… We need that kind of moment.”

Her plan of getting Weed infatuated with her, using a seductive dance every night was complete. She also wanted to show him first the dance she created with her choreographer during the preparation for her new album.

For this, Hwaryeong hoarded the most beautiful dresses and accessories across the Central continent through the merchant channels.

“Then we should go as well.”

Pale thought to go with her for her safety, but Hwaryeong shook her head.

“You must never come!”

“What?”

“It will become a nuisance to our quality time.”

“….”

Even after saying it’s one of the 10 forbidden regions, in front of Hwaryeong‘s passion it was little more than a dating area.

Riding a horse Hwaryeong left for Grapass.

*****

Geomchi’s path was one of loneliness. He was currently wasting his time by going back and forth between Rosenheim Kingdom and the Plains of Despair.

“Currently there is nothing to do.”

He built up a lot of sentiment with the family of the female player he was friendly with.

But not long ago she left to study abroad for 3 month, so they could not hunt together.

“Second is also busy…”

Geomchi2 was with orc Seechwi up in the north playing to his heart’s content.

Orc Lord!

Accompanying Seechwi with her quest, mingling with the Orcs, he was frolicking at the Plains of Despair and Yurokina Mountains.

If 3 Orcs were fed and grown up, after 1 month it became 20. After another month it expanded to almost a hundred. But with Seechwi’s low leadership, there were many orcs who wanted freedom and left.

But most who stayed in the North fought together and their territory grew. These orcs hunted together with Geomchi2 and Seechwi, and sometimes they did get killed. But those who survived got stronger and became Orc fighters and Orc warriors.

There was no race that grew as quickly and as large as the Orcs.

“I am kind of jealous that they are having fun.”

In the Northern continent of Versailles, his disciples participated in famous battles and appeared on television. Geomchi felt a bit bitter. It was a mistake to think that old people wanted to spend their time silently and alone!

“Moving your body and using your strength to break things is the best.”

– Discipline of the heart was important.

– Rule over the strength stored in the blade.

It was something he taught to the disciples constantly. But acquiring the strength and not using it was the true path.

“I should take advantage of the free time I have right now.”

Geomchi went to the capital of Rosenheim Kingdom to prepare for his trip. Many people gather there to go to hunting grounds, dungeons, or even to travel to nearby kingdoms.

And in one corner someone was crying out.

“Anyone looking for adventure in the North, let’s go together! Let’s settle together in the North under the leadership of Weed, the War God. First we go to Morata, then people willing to go will head to Vargo Fortress”

The merchant was trying to win over the players. It was a route consisting of travelling to Rosenheim Kingdom by carriage, then riding a boat to the North. They could earn extra travel fees and be protected from monsters if they brought along players interested in Morata while shipping goods to the North.

During the travel it was possible to talk with them or even convert them into loyal customers, so they searched proactively for travellers heading for the North.

“Should I go have some fun?”

In addition, Geomchi could also go meet his disciples so he agreed to go with the merchant.

Chapter 3: Zahab’s Artwork

“Kuuaaak!”

The flock of Wyverns flew on their stretched wings. Bingryong, Phoenix, Golden Bird, and Silver Bird followed behind them. While their flights looked free and lighthearted, their level was anything but.

Flying above the white clouds, they often passed by large birds. Weed rode on Wy-Three, with Yellowy and Goldman on Wy-One and Wy-Two respectively.

“Can’t we stop to eat for a bit?”

“It looks delicious!”

Wy-Five, Wy-Six, and Wy-Seven who were flying without any burden could chase and snack on these birds before coming back.

“Yum yum, it’s really good.”

“These don’t have any fishy smell.”

Wy-Three’s accumulated grievance was beyond its threshold.

“Master.”

“Yes?”

“There are other Wyverns but why do you always ride on my back?”

“Do you hate it that much?”

“It’s not that, having a person ride is heavy and takes a lot of effort. It also feels unfair…”

Weed was speaking while lying on the Wyvern’s flat back.

“When I was making you it was annoying so I just made the back flat.”

“Keeaak.”

“It is as comfortable as lying on a mat so it’s impossible to ride the other Wyverns. You are the best.”

Learning the secret of it’s creation, Wy-Three became more miserable.

Grapass was located within Aidern Kingdom on the Central continent. It was an area swarming with monsters. Due to the large distance away from Vargo Fortress, Weed decided to fly on the Sculpture Lifeforms and was able to arrive in a short amount of time.

“Thinking about it… 20 days should be enough to find him.”

Reflecting on his miserable time at Jigolaths, one of the other 10 forbidden regions, Grapass was not as large. He had not heard any rumors of the stifling maze like underground dungeons found in Jigolaths, so Weed thought that it would not be difficult to meet Zahab.

Weed pulled out the mission item he received long ago. The old handmaiden said the mission item would guide him to Zahab’s haven. And on the mission item was a drawing of a water spirit.

“I should start my search near a body of water. But this area is extremely dangerous with these monsters around, so Zahab might not even be alive!”

The original residents, who were not players of Royal Road could die. While the players revived after suffering a penalty, NPC deaths were permanent! If Zahab was already dead, the quest would have to be abandoned early.

When certain masters of the class died or went missing, the quest and its related skills disappeared. Of course other skilled people could become masters, create new secret skills, and depending on the situation, new quests could be created. But this was not a certainty.

Truthfully, it was dangerous for Weed to have prolonged the old handmaiden’s quest for so long.

*****

“Let's get started. You all had a nice, long rest right?”

At Weed’s words Yellowy’s stomach trembled.

“Mooo, everyday hunting and adventuring… what have you done for us till now!”

The Sculpture Lifeform’s reasonable protest. Was it right to endow life just for the child to labour through a hard life? Yellowy, who toiled endlessly since he was given life had the right to protest.

Weed began to think on it seriously.

Till now, he had not done anything special for Yellowy. Dragging him to the dangerous Jigolaths, forcing him to participate in battle, always making him carry burdens, he must have felt neglected.

“When you are young it’s normal to experience hardship. Eating and playing are not the things you should strive for. Regardless, I’ll start planning for your retirement now. As you become older you need to live more comfortably right? Is it fine if I can prepare for you a palace with fresh grass for you and your family to eat?”

Yellowy was persuaded immediately due to his high loyalty.

“I was not expecting that much… but I am satisfied.”

“From now on pay 200 gold every day. I will take that and add the remainder with my own money so later on you will have a large retirement fund to draw on. Oh, right! I also have to add the marriage expenses with the heifer you like so much.”

“Thank you master. I will work and fight harder.”

Yellowy liked the idea of living comfortably when old and Weed was immensely satisfied with the 200 gold windfall.

“Phoenix, Bingryong. You attract too much attention, wait someplace where you can come to our aid immediately.”

“I understand, master.”

Bingryong and Phoenix were large lifeforms, if they came close to the ground they provoked the monsters nearby. That’s why the search had to be done by Weed, Wyverns, Yellowy, and Gold Man.

“Golden Bird, Silver Bird.”

“Yes.”

“Father, talk to us.”

“Are you safe here?”

Golden Bird and Silver bird nodded their small heads. The birds were not affected by the monsters in the forest. No matter how famished the monsters were, the birds did not even constitute as a nibble.

Even if they were attacked, they could immediately fly between the trees and escape. Or they could turn into Avian Humanoids and the situation would reverse, where the hunter became the hunted.

“Finding Zahab is the priority. You two move independently, search inside the forest.”

“If it is a request.”

“I will do as father ordered me to. I might return a bit late, eating all the delicious bugs in the forest.”

Golden Bird and Silver Bird flew into the forest. The mission item signified water, but as Zahab’s trail could be anywhere, those two were deployed separately to find that trail.

“Then shall we be off?”

Weed with Torido, Van Hawk, Yellowy, Gold Man and the Wyverns planned to start from downstream.

In case of emergency, Phoenix and Bingryong could be called to fight against the monsters in Grapass. But, while the river and its vicinity had a variety of monsters, not many of them were a threat for Weed and the Sculpture Lifeforms.

The monster Kellkog flocked to the river for water.

“Yuga. Yuga!”

Kellkog were reptilian in nature and their habitat was close to the water. They walked like humans using spear like weapons while submerged or on the ground. They had the ability to jump frighteningly high, had sharp movements and usually moved in a herd. With their average level of 400, it was no laughing matter!

To hunt steadily in the Grapass region, it was absolutely necessary be above level 400. Of course, maximizing the party’s strong points could also overcome the disadvantage in strength.

“Wyverns circle around us and fight. When the Kellkog appears, hold it down.”

“I understand.”

The Wyverns who had to totter on the ground could finally take to the skies.

“Summon Death Knight Van Hawk, Summon Vampire Lord Torido!”

“Did you call, master?”

The frequent battles trained Van Hawk and Torido to be aware of their surroundings immediately as they were called.

“Go and fight!”

“Yes.”

“The smell is pungent. I don’t think the blood will taste very well.”

As Torido was nobility, he was slightly reluctant to feed on the reptiles.

“You can’t always eat tasty food. I will cook some sunjihejang soup for you later.”

“If so then I will fight.”

The charge of Death Knight and Vampire Lord! Van Hawk attacked riding on his Phantom Horse and Torido flew with his cloak spread out.

“Kiyaho!”

Noticing Van Hawk and Torido, a group of over 20 Kellkog prepared to fight. They waddled like chickens while holding their spears, the best possible posture for a throw!

‘It could be dangerous.’

Van Hawk and Torido could receive critical hits from those spears.

“Summon Dirtman! Build a wall out of mud.”

The moment the Kellkog threw their spears, the Earth elemental Dirtman was summoned. Opening his bleary eyes, Dirtman thrust his hand forward and from the ground a wall rose up.

A large wall to protect Van Hawk and Torido.

The spears momentum was reduced as it pierced the earth wall. But it continued to fly, emitting silver light. Van Hawk and Torido were fortunate enough to dodge it quickly, but the spears continued to fly and pierce through the trees and exploded when they struck the ground.

“Getting hit would hurt.”

These packed a punch! If not for the high defense of their armor, the attacks could kill them in a moment! Feeling the high level threat of the enemy, Van Hawk and Torido attacked more furiously.

Weed followed after them, jumping into the Kellkog’s line.

“Heriam Fencing!”

With a tube that stored 12 spears on their backs, a Kellkog could attack multiple times. By fighting up close, Weed could prevent the Kellkog from maximizing their throw. Weed brandished his sword, weaving through the Kellkog line crazily without stopping.

“Kakaho!”

But Kellkogs were good at slashing and piercing with their spears.

A spear has grazed your shoulder

The injury has reduce your strength.

Your high endurance has cancelled the reduction in attack points.

Health reduced by 2,980.

Over 7 Kellkogs aimed for Weed, Van Hawk and Torido! As Van Hawk was attacking on top of his Phantom Horse, most of the spears flew towards him.

“Gol gol gol. It’s our turn!”

Gold Man riding on Yellowy attacked like the wind. Sculpture Lifeforms were too valuable to lose so only after the frontal assault did they join in!

Circling above in the air, the Wyverns disrupted the Kellkogs attacks.

“Dark Energy.”

“Tornado Blade!”

Van Hawk and Torido used their special attacks unsparingly!

After some time they managed to win the battle, but barely. Weed’s whole body was covered in wounds with three short spears sticking out of his back.

“It’s more doable than I thought.”

After the battle Weed had over 19,000 health left. But the Wyverns injuries were extensive and Yellowy was limping on his forelegs.

“It could be more dangerous from now on.”

It was not dangerous like the natural disasters in Jigolaths but the monster standards were definitely higher.

“If it becomes difficult I can stop Golden Bird and Silver Birds search and call in Bingryong and Phoenix as well. There is no need to stop here.”

Fortunately, right now when Yellowy and Gold Man were in danger they could escape the battle field on the Wyverns. But if they entered a dungeon in Grapass, even that option would be barred from them.

“Right now let’s just continue. Bandaging!”

With no priests to support the Lifeforms, Weed wrapped bandages on the Wyverns, Yellowy and on himself.

Acquired 2 blue gems.

Acquired 3 black gems.

Weed picked up the gems that granted magic. Hard battles equalled rewarding items! He could sell the gems to the enchanter but if he made a sculpture out of these gems, the sculpture would emanate a brilliant lustre depending on the magic held within.

*****

Watchful of any monster movements, Weed was heedful in his exploration of Grapass. Though Kellkogs were dangerous, the fight was manageable. But if even 1 escaped it would come back with a flock of over 200, 300.

To prevent such situations, he rode on the Wyverns and hunted them down till the last member. Poisonous insects and savage beasts also lunged at them in single numbers, and they could only win through combining all their strength.

“Every time, if you adapt then everything will be alright.”

Weed’s skill and level was enough to explore Grapass. Of course the Sculpture Lifeforms took most of the burdens, but they could level up as much in return. By fighting in Grapass, Weed was able to raise his proficiency in sword mastery, perseverance and resilience stats. His bandaging skill was already mastered making Weed frustrated that he could not raise it up higher.

“Keeping this course I am sure something will pop up.”

Following the course of the river, Weed searched the vicinity as he went further upstream. Golden Bird and Silver Bird were tasked with exploring deep within the dangerous forest.

At the point where the forest and the marsh blended together, was where all the top predators of Grapass were located. Compared to these monsters, Kellkogs were scavengers trying to survive near the river bed.

“Bingryong, go left and stir things up a bit.”

“Yes, master.”

Bingryong and Phoenix supported the battle in between. When too many Kellkogs bunched up Bingryong’s breath or Phoenix’s flames spewed out before they fought.

“There is a house further up, master.”

Wyvern reported his aerial surveillance.

There were three rivers flowing through Grapass. There was no definite rule that Zahab was still living in Grapass, so he had to go and check personally.

Advancing carefully ahead with his Sculpture Lifeforms, a wide lake appeared at the upper reach of the river. The lake was beautiful, with clear water reflecting the trees and the evening sun. And near the lake was a picturesque log cabin.

“Somehow, it feels like Zahab might just be there…”

Weed looked at the quality of the logs and their cuts. It was beyond normal workmanship.

“Now the standard present before visiting…”

Weed took out the gift plate prepared for him by Mapan from his backpack. Even if it was someone other than Zahab, the item could still raise intimacy! Any residents of Grapass would be beyond ordinary, so it was necessary to build favour beforehand.

Time to time, when out adventuring it was possible to meet the original inhabitants. Certain tribes could be hostile. The elves, dwarves, and barbarians were usually on the friendly side while the humans were aggressive. At that time by showing shiny marbles or a set of plates as gifts, it was enough to placate them.

“Is there anyone here?”

Weed called out loudly in front of the house and after a moment the door opened. Without a doubt, 100%, the person coming out was elderly.

“It’s the first time anyone visited my house. Yes, what is the purpose of your visit?”

Weed thinking it might be Zahab, continued.

“I came here to find a person.”

“I have been living here for some time now and I have never met any other humans. The forest over there has 1 hunter, and two sinners that ran from the law… but who did you came looking for? ”

The whiff of poverty could be felt from the eyes and below.

“I came here looking for Zahab of Rosenheim Kingdom.”

The old man stroked his beard while nodding his head.

“My name is Zahab. You found him correctly.”

Even with Golden Bird and Silver Bird, Weed felt that he would waste around 20 days searching for him. But fortunately he was able to find Zahab early.

‘This quest is not as difficult as I thought.’

His level was considerably higher since the time he received the quest from the old handmaiden and with the Sculpture Lifeforms, Zahab was conveniently found.

If Weed was alone it would have been unfathomable hardship and defeating a Kellkog would not even be possible.

‘But at least I found him now.’

Weed’s heart became restless as he finally met a Master Sculpture. With the title of a Moonlight Sculptor and distinguished as one of the central figures in early history, it was a historic meeting.

A boy and a girl.

A sculptor who kept his promise to the girl who became queen, to show her the most beautiful sculpture on earth.

Weed only needed to learn the song he sang back then.

“I came here with a request from a fellow sculptor. But coming this far, I am quite famished. Could I trouble you for some food?

*****

“Oh, I finally reached civilization!”

Petrov walked around the market in Cotten village. He waited for a long time to see Yurin again at St. George Castle. However he came to a painful realization that she was not coming back.

Petrov is an idiot. A mongrel.

The graffiti was just painful.

“I will definitely meet her again if I roam around the continent. I will go anywhere where there are signs of her.”

Petrov’s world was filled with weird ambition.

“If I make everyone in the continent know my name, then won’t Yurin come to see me?”

Drawing could make you instantly famous. Having basic painting skills allowed one to receive commissions from the painting guild. Painting nobles and kings, making new brushing techniques was an easy way to get fame.

But Petrov decided on a more proactive method.

“Morata is known as a famous art city.”

Weed, through his sculptures, developed Morata to an amazing height. The artists there were happy with it as if it was their own works and stood proud of it.

“Then I could do the same with my paintings.”

Petrov watched the broadcast of his fated enemy, Weed, acquiring the territory of Vargo Fortress.

“I have to start there.”

Vargo Fortress was a region that lacked sculptures made by Weed. If he showed his paintings there, could he not surpass the Lord’s influence in the region?

“Through my paintings, I will take Vargo Fortress from Weed. There won’t be greater fame than this.”

It was also a good opportunity to show that painters were superior to sculptors. There was no organization in the North that could take Weed’s territory. But this was a declaration of winning the territory through art!

“I must go to Vargo Fortress.”

Petrov packed his painting supplies and walked briskly toward an area bereft of human presence. It was to use Picture Teleportation to go to Vargo Fortress in an instant.

*****

Gulp, gulp.

“The baked potatoes are really tasty.”

Weed ate some of the potatoes Zahab placed in a basket. His intermediate level 9 cooking skill allowed him to taste many luxurious foods but the most tastiest was free food.

“Mooooo. Eating only grass since yesterday has left me hungry.”

“Me too, give me some too. Gol gol!”

Zahab shared some potatoes with Yellowy and Gold Man.

Wyverns were fighting among themselves outside.

“I am the tallest.”

“My beak looks the best.”

“Whose wing is the widest?”

“My back is flat.”

A display of childish quarrel!

Zahab stroked the Wyvern’s angled shoulders.

“Eat plenty. The sculpting knife and the wooden statue I left behind with the maid has been passed on to you.”

“Yes, it is as you say.”

“However I have never heard of lifeforms like these… Their forms are not well defined but their proportion are relatively right. Could they possibly be lifeforms made out of sculptures?”

It was the first time that anyone could figure out they were lifeforms made out of sculpture at a glance. Weed threw another potato in his mouth as he answered.

“Yes you are right.”

“The legendary skill of Emperor Geihar has appeared once again in this world. What an amazing occurrence. To see the sculpting skill passing through generations without disappearing, this is truly a fortunate event.”

“It has been hard. However, as I take care of the Sculpture Lifeforms and cherish them, there is a feeling of satisfaction that swells from my heart. I think Emperor Geihar’s sculpting skill is really amazing. Of course your Moonlight Sculpting Blade is one of the most beautiful sculpting skills in the world.”

This is what you call indiscriminating flattery!

“To have learnt Emperor Geihar’s and my sculpting skill, your talent is outstanding.”

“I have a great love for sculpting. Through my adventures I have also learnt other sculpting skills.”

Weed was a person who had already learnt the five secret sculpting skills. Zahab showed admiration as he listened to the various stories of how Weed acquired his skills.

“Having inherited my sculpting skills and learning Daron’s sculpture transformation, creating spirits and even able to call disasters, amazing!”

By telling recollections of sculpting skills, fame increased by 469.

“To collect all 5 sculpting legacies that were created after the existence of the first sculpture, it’s truly a miracle.”

Weed ate the potatoes till he was full and packed the rest into his backpack.

“But more importantly, the handmaiden in Rosenheim Kingdom wants to listen to the song you sang when you sculpted the moonlight before she departs.”

The most important business that called him to Grapass! To learn the song from Zahab and singing it to the old handmaiden in Serabourg Citadel.

“Did such a thing occur? I was making sculptures here and never did go back to Rosenheim Kingdom… Well, since we are talking about sculptures, do you want to see mine?”

“Absolutely. I absolutely want to see them.”

Weed as a sculptor obviously wanted to see Zahab’s masterpieces.

Perhaps there would be greater rewards here than the reward that the old handmaiden would give for completing the quest.

*****

Zahab led him to a cave behind the lake.

“This is my workshop. Go in and take your time.”

Inside the cave, the trees, boulders and walls had sculptures on them. Flowers and moss grew, widely disfiguring some of them. Weed observed the biggest and the most stylish sculptures first.

You have observed ‘Mankind’s Last Moment’

A piece made by the Master Sculptor Zahab.

A scene of humans making a last stand as they fight against the monsters was sculpted.

A sculpture that is extremely elaborate and minute in details, without high comprehension of sword skill it’s impossible to fully understand the piece.

Regenerate health and mana 35% faster for one day.

Stats related to battle increase by 12.

Warrior related skills improve by 2 levels.

Fighting Spirit increased by 2 permanently.

For 1 month, health increased by 450.

Art stat increased by 4.

By observing the sculpture with great discerning eyes, mastery of sculpting skill increased slightly.

Masterpiece sculpted near the entrance wall! The scene of 10 soldiers crumbling while fighting against the monsters in Grapass was vividly sculpted.

‘A Masterpiece… and that one is a fine piece.’

Weed walked swiftly. Every time he observed a piece, his art stat and mastery in sculpting skill increased.

The workshop had over 70 different works ranging from Fine pieces, Masterpieces and Magnum Opus.

You have observed ‘The Moon, the Stars and the Wild Flowers’

A piece made by Master Sculptor Zahab.

This piece has been engraved on the ceiling and the floor of the cave.

Animation of nature has been realistically portrayed.

After completion, not much care has been given.

Art stat increased by 1.

By observing the sculpture with great discerning eyes, Affinity to Nature increased by 5.

There were nature sculptures as well.

“Seeing that you can’t take your eyes off that piece you must really like nature.”

“Yes. I really love nature.”

Weed was grinning evilly as he saw that the majority of the sculptures in the workshop were works that expressed nature. By increasing Affinity to Nature, the power of natural disaster sculpting became much stronger.

As Weed’s standards were high, even if these were sculpted by Zahab, his mastery in sculpting skill barely rose by 4.9%. Currently his skill was at advance level 8, 19.8%. Art stat increased by 137, with a variety of others skill also increasing by a bit.

The completed Masterpieces, Magnum Opus in the workshop of a master was much better than the ones found in Morata’s Art Center.

Sublime sculptures, delicate sculptures, graceful and elegant sculptures, and sculptures made from light that were shining brightly to great heights!

Zahab created things freely without a set theme or form.

“How is my sculpting testimony?”

“It’s admirable. It feels like all the outstanding sculptures of Versailles continent have gathered here.”

The sculptures would all get a hundred points. It was not like the mass produced rabbits or foxes that Weed used to make to polish his skills. Every single one of these art works was created with heart and soul.

*****

“Ahem, wandering around like this is really great.”

Geomchi stood on the fore of the ship. It was a fast boat that was currently heading toward the Northern continent.

The wind pushed against the wide open sails. As the ship was orientated for passengers, it did not have heavy cargo, so sailing speed was very fast.

“Getting fresh air from a different place is nice.”

Sitting behind Geomchi were 5 early 20 year olds that were getting along with each other.

“The wind is really refreshing.”

“This is the benefit of coming out to the sea.”

“I heard that the number of passenger, freighter and adventure ships increased after Weed’s adventure. Looks like it was true.”

While on the voyage, many other sailing ships could be seen. Even a romanticist was sailing with a sail full of holes!

The newcomers to the sea might not know, but the experienced seaman could feel the increased interest in the sea on their fingertips.

The harbour was crowded with noob captains and sailors. The sea was filled with the sight of sinking dinghies as they struck the reef. Weed gave them a simple taste of sailing, but it became a chance for the seasoned sailors to spread the charm of the sea to many.

Even if they weren’t fishermen or sailors, Royal Road allowed them to come to the sea whenever they wanted!

“Did you hear what happened to the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Ninh that sailed with Weed? That Heint, Fractal and Bodomir?”

“What happened?”

“I heard Becky Ninh returned and is now operating a large pirate force. They are accepting every pirate and plundering every trade line without care…”

“They are truly evil.”

“Yes. They are unspeakably evil people.”

They applied Weed’s teachings imparted on them in their partings and became remorselessly evil.

But, pirating was a very poor profession. They could not step onto any harbour if their notoriety with that nation was high. When sighted by naval forces, they had to escape till their tails fell off, and on top of that, they only earned the ire of all the players.

They could not sell their loot at market price and more often than not were disposed of. They had to be aware all the time so it was hard and fatiguing work.

But the sea was wide and free. There was joy in adventures that only pirates could do.

*****

“Because of the war a lot of people are dying these days.”

“Save yourself. Don’t join carelessly, the situation is about to explode.”

“Just shut yourself quietly to a hunting ground. Levelling up is more beneficial right now.”

The tavern Dark Gamers gathered at! They were resting with cider or beer in hand. As once they entered a hunting ground, they did not come out for a month and ten days. So taking the chance to enjoy themselves in the city was important.

Cooking skill was a necessity for Dark Gamers, but unlike Weed they did not learn it properly. They could only do simple grilling or boil meat. So for them, if they had access to beer and appetizers it was enough for them to unwind.

“When I entered the second dungeon…”

“The secret entrance is to the left of the fireplace and leads outside…”

They also shared high-end information.

The tavern’s location was the Brent Kingdoms capital Nehalles. The most active Dark Gamers gathered there so it was always crowded.

Clunk!

The tavern door opened and a player wearing a dazzling purple dress entered.

“When I was hunting then…”

“Next time I am thinking of crossing the Rozend route…”

The player’s conversation suddenly died down. The player that just entered was a dancer.

The dancer class that always needed dazzling clothes and accessories. Dancer was a hard class for Dark Gamers to choose as there was always a greater demand for battle optimized classes such as swordsman, warriors, mercenaries or magicians.

‘Must be a requestor.’

She was beautiful, and looking at her equipment, she was high level as well. If so, the number of Dark Gamers that could receive a contract from her were few.

The dancer moved around each table and spoke softly in a voice that other players could not hear.

“My request…”

Before the content is known, the level, reliability of mercenary, the time required to complete the request was thoroughly checked.

And as the dancer was leaving, Bade, Pason, Yumero, April, Volk and Daerin followed after her. The best and the most active Dark Gamers of Bretten Kingdom went with her. As they left, the Dark Gamers resumed their conversation. Seeing as it was none of their business, no one really cared.

Chapter 4: The Sculptures Zahab Wants To Leave Behind

Weed was in Zahab’s storage, observing for a long time.

“If only I could secretly hoard them all somewhere…”

And store them at Morata’s Art Center. Then he could charge way more for the entrance fee.

‘If I create a special Zahab sculpture gallery, I could charge 10 times more and everyone would still pay to come.’

Weed’s eyes burned with passion as he looked at the sculptures.

“You must really love sculptures.”

“Of course. Selling these amazing sculptures… I mean, they are precious treasures whose value cannot be estimated.”

Weed glanced at Zahab.

‘If only a monster would appear…’

As a sculptor, Zahab could not be weak. According to the rumours from the old handmaiden, he defeated the assassins while he was sculpting moonlight.

The Moonlight Sculpting Blade!

It was still Weed’s first choice as an attack skill in battle. Seeing how Zahab built a house and was living in the middle of the Grapass region, his strength was not impossible to imagine. At the minimum, his strength must be superior to the knights who guard the king.

‘A freeform sculpture. It has to be made through imagination, so the usual sculpting method’s impossible. But nothing is impossible to make with the sculpting skill.”

Weed was an old hand in sculpting sculptures based on symmetry and precision. As he travelled around Versailles continent, he sculpted anything that caught his fancy so he was proficient in both observational and sculpting skills.

But Zahab’s sculptures excelled even at expressing common emotions.

A shy youth, stammering his confession to a woman. The sculpture body was well proportioned, hands and feet were ordinary. But the fretful and happy emotions were captured thoroughly by the expression and the posture of the sculpture alone.

A fawn looking around a field of flowers, expecting someone. The image of the small and cute fawn waiting, anticipating, for its mother could be imagined naturally just by looking at the expression on the sculpture.

With passion, the sculptor could express the subtle emotion to the finest point!

“These are really expensive… I mean, excellent sculptures.”

“For you think like that, then I am really grateful. If you are not busy then could you help me with some of my own sculptures?”

“What kind of sculptures are you still making?”

“There are two pieces of work I wanted to do for a long time. I must make them before I die… I just cannot leave this place until I can complete them. With your skill, it will be a big help. So do you want to work together with me?”

Zahab’s Assistant

There are sculptures that Zahab was longing to make for some time.

Help him complete those sculptures!

There is no greater honor as a sculptor than this.

Difficulty: Class Quest

Quest Restriction: Limited to sculptors. Must be in the process of mastering advanced sculpting technique. Until this quest is complete, Zahab cannot leave Grapass.

If you refuse this quest, you cannot receive it again.

There was no reason for Weed to refuse this quest. It wasn’t his sculpture so he wouldn’t even care if he ruined it!

“Yes, I will do it.”

You have accepted the quest.

“But where is this sculpture you want to make?”

Zahab pulled the sheet off covering something inside his workshop.

A white marble sculpture with a basic outline of woman!

“I am sure it’s the same for every other sculptor, but I lived under the captivation of beauty found only in sculptures. One of these days, I want to make a sculpture that expresses flesh and life, with the best proportions and ratio. It’s my dream to express a woman who has divine beauty.”

In art, women were the dominant theme for the majority of works.

“But staying in Grapass for so long I seem to have completely forgot about womanly beauty. Presently, this sculpture is the most difficult work I have undertaken so I was hoping you could help me with it.

“What about the other one?”

“I have chosen a topic for it, but did not start on it yet. We should do one at a time, so after completing the first one, I will tell you about it.”

Zahab prepared his tools and material from his workshop for Weed’s use. All of it was premium material, when used sparingly, you could produce 16 to 17 sculptures from it.

Though it was Zahab who originally asked for help, in reality, Zahab was the one assisting Weed who was sculpting the outline and the subject matter. Even then, this was a great opportunity as Zahab was aiding in the creation of a sculpture designed by Weed.

‘What can I make that will satisfy Zahab?’

Creating an average sculpture would only create trouble. Zahab’s standard of beauty would be high, as his first love, was Queen Evane. While Weed was deep in thought, Zahab grabbed the sword hanging on the wall of his workshop.

Weed had seen the sword while he was observing the sculptures. There was nothing special about it, the sword was just ordinary with average attack.

“I will be out for a short while.”

“Where are you going?”

“Going out to get some air, acquire some sculpting materials and catch some monsters.”

Weed could almost scream in delight!

‘Now if he could just get himself killed...’

Weed couldn’t wait around forever. But on the other hand, he was curious to see how Zahab fought.

“Could I come with you?”

“There is nothing urgent to be done, so you can come.”

Weed hurried after him, filled with the expectation of seeing how Zahab fought. As it could be dangerous, Gold Man, Yellowy and other sculpture lifeforms were left behind to rest in the cabin.

‘If possible, the more dangerous the better. It would be nice for the boss monsters in Grapass to appear regularly...’

*****

Zahab passed through the forest and entered a hidden cavity.

It was an entrance to a dungeon! A dungeon in Grapass that Weed would have never dared to enter.

“You will have to follow after me carefully.”

Dungeon, you have entered the Karajak’s habitat.

“Kueh!”

Weed screamed like Orc Karichwi. Karajaks were monsters that had long, thin legs like an ostrich. It was a monster that could kill someone before they had the chance to laugh at its comical appearance!

It’s amazing attack strength was compounded by its high hostility against humans, it had lightning fast speed and the ability to change directions in split seconds. Karajaks travelled in herds so no guilds as of yet hunted these monsters as their primary quarry.

There was occasional success hunting 1~2 that were isolated, but even then the casualties were too high. And no one could find the dungeon where Karajak appeared so it all blew over.

‘Of all things it had to be a Karajak’s habitat, there won’t be 3~4. No, there will be an awful lot more than that.

Looking at the dungeon name, it was obvious that a lot of Karajak’s lived there.

Baby Karajak, grown up Karajak, mother Karajak, father Karajak, uncle Karajak, grandpa Karajak, the Karajaks next door and all other sorts of Karajak! Two humans were just delivered as food to a family of Karajaks!

Weed did not know if he should be happy or upset, there was too much ambiguity with the situation.

Then far away, some Karajaks appeared and ran toward them in an instant.

“Sculpting Blade!”

But as Zahab brandished his sword they collapsed easily. It felt like the Karajaks passed them by, but somehow they just disappeared in a flash of grey light.

SCREECH!

As the Karajaks discovered the scene, they cried louder and more of the herd gathered. Zahab slashed his sword that was covered in a sheen of light and they collapsed like scarecrows.

Zahab was effortlessly slaying the lightning fast Karajaks.

‘Are these monsters weaker than I thought? Then again I never did fight against Karajak before. After all, not all the information on the message boards is correct anyways.’

Weed was curious and walked a few steps away from Zahab.

BATABATABA!

He was kicked by Karajaks all over. They came running and hit his head as well.

You received a critical hit

Dyspnoeic condition emerged.

Not even a few seconds later his health dropped 20%. If he stayed like this, with his laughable defense, he could die any moment. After a sufficient beating, he returned to Zahab’s side.

Zahab’s sword was slaying Karajaks without mercy.

‘His swordsmanship is as impressive as his sculpting skill.’

The incident with the assassins was not a coincidence.

‘To be this strong...’

Weed was waiting to scrap for any chance, but Zahab’s hunting speed was so fast that it was impossible to squeeze in. As Zahab defeated the Karajaks he picked up rare leather, meat and jewels.

Following the hunt like this, Weed made a decision.

‘I need to be more friendly with him from now on.’

*****

After coming back from the observational hunting, Weed picked up his sculpting knife.

“The shape of a woman possessing divine beauty...”

It was a theme artists, in ancient and modern times, sweated efforts and debated fiercely about without any results.

Even if it was one person, the judgment of womanly beauty changed as the person got older. To say one woman possessed every aspect of beauty was an impossibility. There were infinite varieties of preference by a host of different people. How could he shape a woman who possessed divine beauty?

But there was an evil grin on Weed’s face.

‘There is Seo Yoon.’

In outward appearance, there is no one perfect like her. There was even a time he used her representation to improve his sculpting skills. The harmony created by Seo Yoon’s eyes, nose, lips and skin, it was enough to make his heart beat faster when sculpting her!

Even if it was a sculpture of her, it was so beautiful he kept wanting to see it. Other people who actually saw Seo Yoon, couldn’t believe if what they saw was real or a dream and couldn’t keep their eyes off her.

He could never fail a sculpture of Seo Yoon and she would be the perfect subject matter.

“Right, this will do.”

Overflowing confidence as a sculptor!

‘Considering Zahab’s standards, the theme and pose of the sculpture will be really important.’

If he took a real life object as the background subject matter, there wouldn’t be any problem.

“For now, let’s get my hands warmed up...”

Using Zahab’s sculpting material, he made sculptures.

Karajak, Kellkog.

They were sculptures of monsters he met in Grapass.

In this, he was making use of Zahab’s method. Rather than sculpting a singular piece, he created many.

He first sculpted a small boy then surrounded him with Kellkogs and Karajaks. The menacing scene was expressed like a fairy tale. In the scene, the boy did not give into his fears as he stretched out his hands to touch the monsters.

He created a Fine piece named, ‘Tiny morsel for the Karajaks and Kellkogs.’

This was merely practice.

After that Weed decided to start on Zahab’s request.

“Wouldn’t it be better to loosen your hands a bit more? I will also give you sufficient time to imagine a theme. I think you can start after 1~2 month of thinking.”

“It’s okay, I can start now.”

He began to make a sculpture in collaboration with Zahab.

“The forearm must be smooth like this… the jaw line is difficult so I will do it.”

While Weed was proposing the precise shape of the overall sculpture, he was also leading Zahab expertly.

The beauty of the woman was not only on the outward appearance, the personal appeal was more precious and could achieve far more. Weed stealthily revealed the hidden charm found in Seo Yoon, even he couldn’t help but think it was beautiful.

These days, he was with Seo Yoon often so there were times when he thought she was just pretty. But as he meandered while shaping the sculpture, she was significantly more beautiful than before.

‘She’s getting prettier.’

He felt he could understand why Master Daron continued to sculpt only one woman. Now as he sculpted Seo Yoon, a variety of emotions surfaced within and he wanted to capture Seo Yoon’s precious expressions.

He thought he found the joy of being able to sculpt a person.

‘But for now, let’s finish the quest...’

While regretful, his meeting with Zahab could not be broadcast to the media. Hermes guild could give him trouble by watching it and coming after him, but more importantly, sculpting was Weed’s money maker. He needed to protect this secret.

Of course he also had no desire to broadcast a sculpture of Seo Yoon.

Every life was precious!

“Oh, this beautiful woman… this truly is a divine beauty!”

Sculpting the piece, Zahab was falling enamored with the unimaginable beauty.

The sculpture of Seo Yoon was portrayed in a stately dress. It was an attire that reflected Weed’s impression of her.

‘Seo Yoon looks really good in a dress.’

If she wore different cloth, her personal beauty could not be hidden even if she wore dirty armour. But if Seo Yoon wore an exquisite dress that not just anyone could wear, it would flaunt her beauty completely.

Using his background skills in sewing, Weed idealized the shape of a smart dress and with Zahab’s near transcendent sculpting skills, the fluttering of the fabric was perfectly sculpted!

She was stepping on a high pedestal, her gaze somewhere far away. The light in her eyes, longing for warmth!

It was a sculpture that made the observer spin endless imaginations. But Weed knew the secret behind it.

‘It’s the expression of befuddlement she made at breakfast while travelling together. ’

It was a meaning only the creator would know.

“Let’s name it, ‘Sculpture that Expresses Beauty.’”

Zahab and Weed combined their thoughts and named the sculpture.

Magnum Opus! ‘Sculpture that Expresses Beauty’ has been completed

A collaboration between the great sculptor Weed and Zahab, who is sitting at the summit of sculpting skill.

They managed to express a woman’s beauty.

Comparative to their fame, the completion of this supreme piece is enough to be considered as one of the top aesthetic works in Versailles continent.

Artistic Value: 16,290.

Special Option: Anyone who sees the, ‘Sculpture that Expresses Beauty’ will regenerate health and mana 40% faster for one day.

All stats increase by 35.

Magic resistance increase by 37%.

Maximum health increase by 14%.

Intelligence, Wisdom and Charm increase by 15.

Increases the morale of soldiers.

Grants additional mastery to adventurer’s Appreciation of Artwork skill.

Sculptors, painters, dancers and scholars Charm increases by 14 permanently.

Birth rate of the city near the sculpture will increase by 80%.

The sculpture has been blessed by goddess Freya for portraying aspects of beauty.

Effect does not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Magnum Opus created till now: 10.

Mastery of sculpting skill increased.

Mastery of handicraft skill increased.

Sculpture Comprehension skill increased by 1 level.

Fame increased by 968.

Art stat increased by 48.

Intelligence increased by 12.

Wisdom increased by 6.

Charm increased by 25.

Goddess Freya has granted a blessing upon the sculpture for portraying aspects of beauty. Paladins and priests from the Freya denomination will receive special strength and courage when they see the sculpture.

By making a sculpture recognized by goddess Freya, faith increased by 19.

For the completion of a Magnum Opus, all stats increased by 3.

Weed’s achievement was great, but this sculpture would have been impossible to make without Zahab. Discounting his ‘Torch Left by Sculptors’, his 8th Magnum Opus sculpted using helium, this would count as his greatest work yet.

While a variety of stats increased generously, none of them were directly related to combat stats. Strength and agility hardly increased, while intelligence and wisdom rose rather highly. Weed was similar to the Geomchis that he did not distribute his stats on intelligence and wisdom, but increased them purely by making sculptures.

Regardless, the quest of being Zahab’s assistant was halfway complete.

“You have exemplary skill. I did not expect that you would be able to do this well… The one other sculpture I want to make is something that represents myself.”

The sculpture Zahab wanted to leave behind was of himself.

“Some day, after a very long time has passed, this county and even the Versailles continent would be forgotten. But I want to leave behind a vestige of myself within a sculpture. Your skills are great enough to create a sculpture of myself.”

Now Weed had to sculpt personally with Zahab as the subject matter.

‘Even this won’t be that hard.’

By creating the sculpture of Seo Yoon, he raised Zahab’s satisfaction level to the highest. And having experienced and observed Zahab live, it was just a matter of making the sculpture! It was like taking candy from a child, and their gum, and their lunch money, and drinking their milk on top of it.

Zahab wanted him to make seven different sculptures of him.

“My life cannot be defined by one sculpture. There are poses of sculptures I already thought of.”

Zahab directed the pose for the sculpture. While he had to make several sculptures, Weed had nothing to complain about as he could just sculpt as directed.

The first pose was Zahab working on a sculpture! It was pretty obvious that a sculptor would want to leave behind a scene of his main profession.

“I should make it as good as possible for the reward I can get after I complete the quest.”

As the model was an old man, his hands were very wrinkly.

Sak Sak.

There was no need to have decal like details on a sculpture.

‘This is not a work of art, rather, the person needs to love it on first sight.’

Color control was done on Zahab’s face to make it look like it had a touch of make up. The numerous wrinkles were adjusted, the disheveled hair style was fixed to give a natural feeling.

“Your skills are really not so bad.”

“I just needed to represent the good model in front of me.”

“Then I shall anticipate your best for the other sculptures as well.”

Next, he had to sculpt Zahab strolling through a forest. There was nothing especially difficult about it, but as he took care of the minute details he needed a minimum of two-three days.

Zahab in the evenings, usually hunted within the dungeons in the vicinity.

“Later, one of the sculptures you will need to make is about me battling. So I hope you observe me carefully.”

“I understand.”

As it was impossible to make Zahab hold a stance during battle, Weed had to follow him around and observe. Much could be learned by watching a battle. Weed could fully comprehend the unreachable strength Zahab had with his sword.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Weed, using his tact, hunted only when the monsters were being meek. Putting faith in that Zahab will dispose of all the monsters swarming them, he explored the dungeons with him.

*****

‘It might be this way.’

Seo Yoon was searching for Weed in Grapass. She wandered alone, killing any monsters that attacked her.

‘I will finally be able to meet him here.’

Even within one of the 10 forbidden regions, Seo Yoon had very little problem as she normally fought high level monsters. She only hid from large groups of monsters, but most of the time she kept moving in order to find Weed.

She entered the main forest in Grapass and fought her way through. Her hopes of meeting Weed allowed her to forget all hardship and forge ahead!

Under the moonlit night, the roar of a large flying monster could be hear from far away.

“ROOOAAR.”

Dragon Fear!

The large silhouette shining under the moonlight was Bingryong! He was hunting with the other flight capable Sculpture Lifeforms.

“Bingryong...”

Seo Yoon called out but as Bingryong was flying high above, he passed her by. The tree tops hid her from Bingryong.

A wasted opportunity!

She picked up a stone and threw it.

“Kek! Who dares!”

As soon as the stone left Seo Yoon’s hand, it flew at top speed and hit Bingryong’s head. Reacting to the hostile action, Bingryong returned and scouted the ground. And then he found Seo Yoon.

“It’s Master’s friend...”

He remembered the time he travelled with Seo Yoon.

“Did you come here to meet master?”

Seo Yoon nodded her head.

“Then hop on. I will bring you to Master.”

Bingryong started his landing. With his large body, he crushed and felled many trees on his descent. As he lowered his head and took utmost care for her to hop on, Seo Yoon spoke in a quiet voice.

“Could you please call Wy-Three?”

*****

“Caw Caak!”

Riding on the rebellious Wy-Three, Seo Yoon arrived at Zahab’s cabin.

“What brings you here?”

To meet her like this in Grapass, Weed was really surprised.

Seo Yoon’s face reddened as she could not bring herself to say she wanted to see him, or be next to him. For the first time since she was able to speak, she did not talk and avoided all eye contact.

Weed only nodded.

“Well, it’s good that you came. It’s nice to see you like this.”

Greeting confidently but hiding his suspicion!

‘To come all the way here, what treasure did she think I was mining in Grapass? At least she has some sense of shame, with her red face and all.’

Seo Yoon came when he was having good time with Zahab, but her presence was not much of a disturbance.

“A woman possessing a similar appearance to the goddess of beauty.”

Zahab already had the best, first impression of her. Sculptors, painters, fundamentally all artist as one favored beautiful woman, so Seo Yoon received high intimacy with Zahab easily.

“Before I die, please allow me to sculpt your image. Will you let me?”

Zahab asked Seo Yoon to become the model for his sculpture.

A Quest!

The reward was unknown, but as it was a request from a Master Sculptor, it had to be something good. But Seo Yoon shook her head and showed clear rejection.

“I can’t do it.”

“I will give you any jewels or sculptures you ask for.”

“I don’t want to do it.”

Seo Yoon rejected the quest till the end. For her it was a thorny issue as Weed sculpted her often.

“Truthfully, I made a sculpture of you here...”

Weed confessed that he made a sculpture based on her. The sculpture of her was stored in Zahab’s workshop, so later if she found out about it, it was much easier to tell the truth now rather than making a scene later.

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“For sculpting me.”

“...”

Weed thought women were existences that could never be understood. His grandma said she did not want to eat cutlets or sweet and sour pork as they were oily food. Later, when he earned a lot of money and brought her to her favorite diner, she complained about not ordering cutlets and showed disappointment!

His little sister, when she was feeling immense dissatisfaction with how her hairdresser styled her hair. He tried to console her by pointing out how bad they were at styling her hair. Afterwards she shut herself in her room and did not come out even for dinner.

“One must never trust or believe a woman’s words.”

Zahab’s hunting trip now included Seo Yoon as well. After coming back from Jigolaths, Weed leveled up and became strong. He experienced a lot of battles, but Seo Yoon was way stronger than she was at Jigolaths. It still could not be compared to Zahab, but the Karajaks Weed was having such difficulties with, Seo Yoon could hunt them easily.

*****

The second sculptures of Zahab , of him strolling through the forest was completed.

“There are times I enjoy exploration. Going to uncharted territories, have you ever went to a place where no one had set foot yet?”

He sculpted Zahab exploring a dungeon.

“When you are enjoying a solitary lifestyle, you become enamored to create something endlessly.”

A sculpture of Zahab deep in thought was completed.

“Battle against monsters, it has been a part of my life.”

Zahab was a white haired senior, but he was overflowing with energy and his battle skill was outstanding.

Weed sculpted Zahab fighting against monsters. He already sculpted 5 pieces and only two were left.

“One… I want at least one sculpture from that moment long ago. Even for you, it will not be easy to make… It must have been fate that you,who knows about the incident back then, came to find me.”

The sculpture Zahab wanted was the scene of him repelling the assassins that tried to kill Queen Evane. For Zahab, it must have been an unforgettable memory when Queen Evane was moved by his promise of making the most beautiful sculpture on earth for her.

“I will try.”

Weed had the opportunity to enter Rosenheim Kingdom’s castle. So he first sculpted a scaled down castle. It was not a job that required meticulous handwork but he put his best effort into the piece. A quest given by Zahab was not something that he could do halfheartedly,

“Make the assassins look villainous… I can probably choose some Sahyungs for this, the expressions Sahyungs make when they see a guy holding hands with their pretty girlfriend.”

Sak Sak.

“The viciousness of the assassins were really well expressed. This is the exact expression of evil villains.”

The knights in the castle weren’t important so he sculpted them lying about.

Weed had seen Queen Evane in a video that showed a recollection about the past. But he also took the time to observe the portrait of her in the Rosenheim Kingdom's castle. Walking in the passage, it was just another portrait he could have ignored. But as it was related to Zahab, he took note of it and it was becoming a great help now.

‘Elegant and noble… but with a charming side. Not sure if it is befitting for a queen but it gave off a good impression.’

Then, it was time to sculpt Zahab.

“Moonlight Sculpting!”

Using the moonlight sculpting technique, Weed sculpted young Zahab. Wearing cloth that wouldn’t impress any royalty, Zahab defeated the assassins and sculpted moonlight using his blade.

Without a doubt, one of the best settings!

‘Kind of romantic as well.’

Weed looked furtively at Seo Yoon. While not family, if she was threatened by assassins...

‘I won’t waste any time killing them all!’

When the sculpture was almost finished, Zahab who was observing him began to sing.

I am here
But wherever I go
My heart will always remain with you

I will make you a beautiful sculpture as I promised in my youth
But how can I?
When you are more beautiful than any sculpture I can make

I cannot forget the time I spent with you
I want to leave my heart here, like my sculpture
So I will put my heart into this moonlight, and sculpt

As the song that could give goosebumps resounded, the sculptures began to move.

The sculpture of Zahab, Queen Evane, the royal knights, and assassins moved and fought as if they were alive. As young Zahab slashed, his sword moonlight descended, broke apart, and gathered in a resplendent dance.

A Fine sculpture was completed.

Level increased for Moonlight Sculpting skill. Skill is intermediate level 3. Sculptures made of light will have greater effects.

Moonlight Sculpting Blade skill increased by 1 level.

Moonlight Sculpting Blade skill increased by 1 level.

Sword Mastery increased.

You have gained the required information for the quest, ‘Continue Zahab’s Legacy.’

Zahab’s song while touching was also cheesy. But finally, the chain quest accompanying him from the beginning was about to pay off.

‘Just need to go to the handmaiden and sing the song.’

And make the last sculpture Zahab wanted.

Zahab was silent as if he was reminiscing about the past. Weed did not know if it was about Queen Evane or if he was missing his bygone youth.

“Then the final sculpture that’s left...”

Weed estimated that the final sculpture would not be something simple.

‘Regardless, I can make any sculpture.’

He just needed to make the sculpture as Zahab described.

“The things I am good at are sculpting and the sword.”

As a sculptor, Zahab was peculiar as he was also good with the sword.

“After leaving Evane and settling here, I needed to use my sword as much as my sculpting skills. The sword became as important as sculpting to me.”

Zahab must have needed to battle a lot to protect his life from the monsters.

“Your sword still does not look strong.”

“Many aspects are still lacking.”

Weed’s Swordsmanship was currently on intermediate level 9.

Attack skills did not allow sword mastery to increase much. As attack skill wasted a lot of mana, when Weed was out hunting alone he tried to minimize the skill usage. But even than, his mastery increased slower than a swordsman or knights.

A Swordsman’s 1st and second class change, they could awaken the potential within the sword. Their sword attack strength doubled so they could increase their skill mastery comfortably.

Through the enormous amount of stats he stacked up, he complemented his attack strength. But compared to the classes that used the blade professionally, the skill mastery did not increase as fast.

He was constantly polishing his sword skill, but the reality was that the skill was stuck at intermediate level 9.

“If you sculpt my stances, you might just realize something.”

Chapter 5: Secret Sword Skill

Weed was making sculptures of Zahab’s swordsmanship. The final theme was to sculpt several individual sculptures to create an image of the consecutive movements of a specific swordplay sequence.

Sword Mastery increased.

Sculptures showing swordplay. They were also based on Zahab’s swordsmanship so while making the sculpture, his mastery of the sword skill increased easily. As Weed could possible receive a one of a kind sword skill from Zahab, he sculpted day and night without stopping.

“Sculpting requires physical labor compared to all the other art forms. But Zahab also dedicated himself to the sword, so maybe among painters someone might have similarly dedicated himself to magic.”

He pondered on this baseless speculations.

Sculptors had endurance and fitness, painters had high wisdom and intelligence. There was nothing that prevented the Art class from such happenstance.

*****

“Sigh. Just when I was finally getting to live life.”

The chilly and windy month of March!

Lee Hyun saddled his bag like a turtle and slowly waddled to the bus taking him to university.

“To go back to university, can there be anything more terrible than this?”

There was no tingle of excitement and the cold weather only added to the misery of going to university.

“I heard they only gathered prodigies for this years freshmen.”

“Especially the virtual reality department, they said the competition for entrance was insane.”

“Well, it is the most famous industry right now.”

Gossip about the freshmen floated around the bus. Lee Hyun believed that it was good manners for a university student to be absent for the first week, when all entrance ceremonies were occurring.

With the new students, a gentle spring breeze blew through the campus.

‘This has absolutely nothing to do with me.’

Even though the fresh juniors with their awkward makeup and mini skirts entered, Lee Hyun gave them no mind and continued on his way.

“Ah, hyung you came?”

Coming into the lecture hall Choi Sang Jun pretended to be friendly.

“Hello, Sunbae-nim!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you for the first time.”

Beside him there were two well mannered female students sitting together. With their sophisticated looks and charm these two who could be picked as the most popular freshmen were currently talking with Choi Sang Jun.

“This guy is my peer, but he's a hyung who’s a bit older.”

To the freshmen, Lee Hyun did not look easy to approach.

‘They pretty themselves up like that and pretend they did not eat anything and beg the Sunbae to treat them. First they would be satisfied by the university’s cafeteria, then at the end they would ask for a shot of alcohol and drag you off to a spicy stir fried chicken restaurant. They are not some malnourished college women… therefore I must never buy food for the freshmen.’

“Ah, yeah that’s right.”

Lee Hyun just nodded and sat in the empty seat nearby . But their chattering could be heard clearly.

“Sunbae-nim, I watched the scene of Black Lion’s guild capturing Bison.”

“Yeah, I was very active in that war. Did you see the knight that destroyed the castle gate with his spear?”

“Yes. It was so cool. The knight was riding on his horse and the spear just destroyed it. Oh, could it possibly be Sunbae-nim?”

“No, he's my hyung, one of the founding members of the Black Lion’s guild. My horse died recently, so I had to climb the siege ladder.”

Choi Sang Jun had a lot of pride when he was talking about the achievements of the Black Lion’s guild. In Versailles continent, if one had the symbol of the Black Lion’s guild on their armor, they received preferential treatment. Even murderers who were part of a great guild were overlooked.

That’s why a lot of merchants joined famous guilds, paying portion of their income willingly for the benefits they receive. Guilds operated castles, villages, mines and through the activities of the merchants earned income to grow their strength and influence.

In truth, Royal Road had every different kind of method to survive and there were many players that enjoyed playing it casually. They could level up through hunting and become known for their bravery, or just wander through the tourist spots and make enough money to live by.

Royal Road was full of things to enjoy and many players did not try to stray far from the city. Hunting in a dungeon for several days was difficult and did not fit the aptitude of many players. After struggling with their studies in reality, they connect to Royal Road and stayed in a vacation spot with many alluring women, what more could they hope for?

But there was something about fighting monsters and increasing territory in Versailles continent that made the heart beat faster.

“Hyung, you are here?”

Park Soon Jo came into the lecture hall and rested his head tiredly on his table on Lee Hyun’s left side. As there was some time left before the lecture started, Lee Hyun also laid his head on the table.

“Ah. These days it’s really, really hard.”

It was not easy as he needed to pick an exact stance from the swordplay sequence for Zahab’s requested sculptures. He also needed to pick and sculpt the moment the stance changed and the transitional phase of the sword swing. If he had never learnt swordsmanship, trying to emulate Zahab would have been extremely hard.

Park Soon Jo grumbled with him.

“Hyung, it’s also hard for me.”

“What are you doing these days?”

“Since winter, I am struggling with explorations and quests...”

“It’s not working out?”

“It’s a chain quest so I have to meet lots of people and have to gather tons of materials. But slowly, it's progressing.”

Park Soon Jo’s character was a thief with quite a high level. His current chain quest would even keep Lee Hyun interested. But Lee Hyun’s fame was already at a level that he could do any king’s quest in Royal Road.

“Yeah, keep trying hard. If nothing works out, just leave it alone for some time and do it later.”

“I think I am almost there. I want finish it to the end.”

“Have faith. If it doesn’t work, give it up early before it’s too late.”

“Yes hyung.”

The two sharing a quiet conversation could hear Choi Sang Jun’s loud voice from the back.

“The Black Lion guild will hunt the Elemental Lavastorm this weekend. The IBC network will broadcast it so please watch it live.”

“Really?”

“Will Sunbae-nim also be there this time?”

Choi Sang Jun stuttered hesitantly.

“My qualification is still not...”

“...”

*****

Morata’s development rate could amaze anyone.

PABABABAT!

Residential houses were built several months ago. Shacks and mud houses were sprouting up fast, symbolizing overdevelopment!

“I came here to join the Grass Porridge cult.”

“We finish up the registration process on the same day, your application number is 18639.”

“Is there that many new applications today?”

“It’s Monday so the number is on the low side.”

Through Morata’s main gates, the beginners slung their bags and went to hunt in the nearby dungeons. They gathered by themselves and chummed up with each other before they left for hunting.

“Maybe we should start considering moving on to Vargo Fortress?.”

“I heard that that place is well established so there is plenty of information about the hunting grounds.”

“If we go together, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Let’s go before it’s too late. I want to spend my time in the regions lord Weed reigns rather than any other villages in the North.”

Many people moved to Vargo Fortress, but the effect of players migrating away from Morata could not be felt. After a day or two, new players appeared. The number of merchants doing business continued to increase.

In addition to the large, central business district in Morata, people gathered in pioneering villages to explore and hunt. Morata’s influence continued to grow and merchants from all over the North came to trade. With Morata’s influence, Vargo Fortress’s transitional development phase was shortened.

In no time, the non-existent population was expanded through the influx of residents and players, allowing for more commodities to be created. Warriors gathered for hunts and adventures, bringing item drops. Many merchants traded with the elves, dwarves, and barbarians, while they lacked technology and production capacity, the volume of goods that were traded wasn’t so insignificant.

The merchants who manage to trade successfully with these tribes could bring in lots of profit. The merchants became more ambitious and brought in goods these tribes needed to trade with them. With Mapan and the other big merchants in the North, after their initial success in their trades they established stores in Vargo Fortress.

“One month. After one month there will be fully developed commerce here.”

There was the danger that monsters could completely destroy everything, but they pinned their hopes and dreams and invested in Vargo Fortress. Weed had invested an enormous amount but even if he hadn’t the people believed in the potential for growth and began to settle in Vargo Fortress.

It was a place for strong warriors to display their strength. When monsters came, they could rely on the sturdy wall and fight together. After claiming their victory, the warriors could have a beer fest.

The indispensable components were built fast and were taking their places.

“This is the place. It’s huge size is making me doubt if I came to the right place.”

Geomchi crossed the sea and arrived in Morata. He had seen it in the past, on the way to the Vampire Kingdom of Todeum, where he had come to help with it’s subjugation. At that time it was a rural village that adventurers avoided, but now it could be said to be the capital of the entire Northern continent.

“This is really amazing.”

While Geomchi was standing in front of the entrance, merchants were busily dragging their carts this way and that.

“Excuse me, it looks like your level is a bit high. Would you like to hunt with us?”

Geomchi spun his head, a party of 6 adventurers were calling for him.

“Me?”

“Yes. Our party needs one more swordsman. Trying to find someone in the Square is inconvenient… So perhaps if you don’t have a party let’s hunt together.”

The rumours of Geomchi couldn’t have spread here.

The great warrior of Yurokina Mountains. Although he only partied with few people, he cleared out the most diabolical and dangerous monsters in dungeons. The people who saw Geomchi’s achievements were few, but the Orcs and Dark Elves spread the rumour in secrete.

“A hulking man. Orc, queek! He's not an orc. Human! Too strong. Checheek!”

“As a human he’s proficient in multiple weapons. The day he appeared, the monsters couldn’t even leave their nest.”

“He is the best warrior in the Yurokina Mountain range. We acknowledge Orc Karichwi’s leadership, but no one can match his valour.”

Geomchi fought in the Yurokina Mountains because he was bored, but he became a legend and myth amongst the Dark Elves and Orcs.

*****

“It would be nice to have various artworks here like Morata...”

“We can see the Advent of Seven Angel sculpture but it’s only here temporarily. They are moving it back to the Art Center. It would be awesome to have something like the Tower of Light or the statue of goddess Freya.”

The players in Vargo Fortress had access to the necessities but they were feeling the inconvenience when culture was sterile.

Morata was fresh and new everyday. People could take a break with their friends or lover while observing the artworks. The happy and joyful atmosphere could be felt from the highest attraction point where all of Morata could be seen.

In life, money, fame, and power were important. But on the other hand satisfaction could be found through poetry, novels, or songs! Culture and art made one conscience of life. It was a necessity that made people happy and quenched spiritual thirst.

“Nothing much we can do. This place is still dangerous. The artists will probably move here when it becomes safer and richer.”

“I need a sculpture that increases magic. Isn’t there any other Magnum Opus?”

“Also a sculpture that can boosts a warrior’s defense skill. I wonder when he will make it.”

Players were hoping for Weed to come back and make more sculptures. In Morata’s Art Center, Weed’s works were the best but there were many other good sculptures and the players were hoping for some of them to be moved to Vargo Fortress. Then another Art Center could be constructed In Vargo Fortress as well.

“I need to work harder and make more money. I am going to hunt here for a long time and I don’t believe my tax money will go to waste.”

“I heard bards will come tomorrow for a performance. Let’s go watch.”

There were many players in Vargo Fortress feeling the loss of culture. But at the entrance of the fortress a man wearing a green hat appeared.

“Who is that guy.”

“Check out his crazy cloth.”

Players were jeering at him. As he was wearing a green hat and yellow travel wear, it was easy to think he was a complete nutcase.

“My legend shall start from here.”

The person coming to Vargo Fortress with the painting equipment was none other than Petrov. Taking out his brush and paint, he began to draw on the wall. Without any sketches, he started the coloring immediately. He drew over the broken and discolored castle wall.

“I never saw something like that before.”

“The painting looks so real.”

“There are varieties of sprites playing with the fairies.”

On the castle wall, Petrov completed his specialty ‘of Sprites’ artwork! Petrov was talented when it came to painting fairies, sprites, elves and monsters. He was also close to the races in his artwork so the value of the pieces were even higher.

‘Huhu, be amazed. This is only the beginning.’

It was only the first step in filling up Vargo Fortress with his painting. Next, Petrov drew pictures of food on the wall. Basing it on a most scrumptious feast, he drew vivid pictures of whole roast barbecue that monsters liked.

‘When the monsters come, even they will know the greatness of my paintings...’

A picture of temptation!

Battles could erupt anytime in Vargo Fortress. But now they could attack the instinct driven monsters as they tried to eat the food. And so everyone in Vargo Fortress began to know Petrov as the amazing painter

“I want to eat. The color of the painting looks much better than the real thing.”

“But his attire is barmy.”

“Yeah, can’t argue with that.”

Even when the monsters were trying to come over the wall, Petrov stayed to paint till the last second. He quickly became one of the most famous persons in Vargo Fortress.

*****

Sword Mastery increased.

Everytime he made a new sculpture, his mastery in the swordsmanship skill increased. He was on the later half of the sword play that Zahab showed him when

Intermediate Swordsmanship reached level 10 and changed to Advanced Swordsmanship.

Attack power using a sword increased by 25%.

Each time Advance Swordsmanship skill increases by 1 level, attack power increases by 9%.

Destructive power of mana consuming attacks improved by 45%.

All stats have been given an additional 7 points.

Weed’s swordsmanship finally reached the advanced level. The difference between intermediate and advance was like heaven and earth.

“Looks like Zahab’s sword mastery is on a quite a high level.”

While Weed was making the sculptures he was in a trance, mulling over vague memories. Zahab was a considerably powerful person, he remembered Zahab’s continuous movements or swatting of the monsters. And so he completed the sculpture Zahab wanted.

Please set a name for your sculpture.

Weed set a simple name. It was not a sculpture made with a theme, it was only a representation of Zahab’s swordsmanship.

“Zahab wielding his sword.”

Is ‘Zahab Wielding his Sword’ correct?

“Yes.”

Masterpiece! The sculpture, ‘Zahab Wielding his Sword’ has been completed

Sculptures of Master Sculptor Zahab made from white marble.

A special sword skill is hidden within, those with potential can realize its secret.

Artistic Value: 2,472.

Special Option: Anyone who sees the sculpture of, ‘Zahab Wielding his Sword’ will regenerate health and man 26% faster for a day.

All stats increase by 11.

Swordsmanship power increases by 15%.

By observing the sculpture, mastery of swordsmanship increases slightly.

A sword skill is hidden within the sculpture.

Effect does not stack with other sculptures.

Number of Masterpieces created till now: 16.

Mastery of Sculpting skill increased.

Mastery of Handicraft skill increased.

Strength increased by 1.

Agility increased by 2.

Charisma increased by 2.

For the completion of a Masterpiece, all stats increased by 1.

With this final masterpiece, he completed Zahab’s request successfully.

Zahab’s Assistant Quest Completed

You have completed the sculptures Master Sculptor Zahab wanted to make.

You have actualized Zahab’s long cherished desires.

As a quest reward, your friendship with Zahab is now 81.

‘Zahab’s sword skill within the Masterpiece.’

Weed was in the process of mastering the sword, but through the use of normal sword skill, sculpting blade and heriam fencing the skill level did not increase much. But learning one more wouldn’t hurt.

After the completion of the sculptures, Zahab spoke as if some burden had lifted.

“These are nice works. Now I can finally leave Grapass.”

“Are you going to some other regions?”

Weed asked so he could gain any more information about the Master Sculptor Zahab.

“I should do so. I want to wander the continent with the little life I have left.”

“What are you going to do about the sculptures in your workshop?”

“I am going to sell them to fund my travels. Or if some of my friends are still alive, I will give it to them as gifts.”

The sculptures of Master Sculptor Zahab would now be spread out throughout the continent. This change in fate occurred only because Weed came and completed Zahab’s quest.

“Can I ask how far you have mastered your sword?”

Usually he would not ask such a question, but Weed had to asked as he felt something was off when he was sculpting. No matter how much he thought about it, this could not have been an ordinary sword skill so he asked the question.

“One late night, I saw the finality of sword mastery.”

“Yes, if you saw the final then...”

Weed was dumbfounded. That meant Zahab mastered not only sculpting but swordsmanship as well. If one observed any traces left by Master Sculptors, they were not ordinary people.

“I reached a state where I can no longer become any stronger with the blade.”

Zahab confirmed it clearly that he was a Sword Master. This was shocking news that could cause a raucous all over Royal Road!

‘What is this...’

Weed’s brain spurned quickly like the times he tried to get a free meal.

‘That means that the hidden sword skill within the sculptures is one of the secrets sword skills?’

Zahab’s swordsmanship was displayed by the sculptures so it did feel like something was hidden within. Weed shook his head excitedly and began to flatter him.

“That is amazing. Seeing that you have mastered the sculpting skill, something like mastering the sword can’t have been difficult.”

His voice became more coquettish than usual. Speaking in a charming, flattering manner while hiding his greed.

“You possess many talents and skills so if you had the opportunity I believe you can reach it. The sculptures of me, please cherish them.”

“Of course. These expensive admission fee… I mean, I will cherish them and keep them safe.”

“Then if our fates cross, we might meet again.”

After Zahab finished speaking, he prepared to leave. But Weed did not want to part in such a hollow manner.

“Please wait a moment.”

“Do you have something left to say?”

After completing the quest he received friendship points. If he were to leave now, there was no guarantee he would meet him ever again in Versaille continent.

“I was wondering if you could help me more with my hunting.”

There was no such thing as free sculpture. If he could receive something from a Master Sculptor, then he would get it.

“I know you went through hardships to complete the sculptures. I, as a sculptor understand your efforts and struggle, so that much I can at least do.”

Zahab joined as a free mercenary.

Weed could now wander around Grapass with a Master Sculptor and Sword Master Zahab.

*****

“Are you sure this is the right path?”

“I think it might have been the one we passed by...”

“Pay close attention to the monsters, remember we lost our way yesterday when we were running away.”

“I am keeping a close eye on them this time.”

Hwaryeong with Bade, Pason, Yumero, April, Volk and Daerin entered Grapass together. Hwaryeong wanted to surprise Weed by appearing suddenly, so she hired Dark Gamers to come here.

After the Dark Gamers received a request, they kept strict confidentiality. The Dark Gamers Hwaryeong picked were so good that even a country boasted about them, there was no chance that they would divulge the content of the contract.

But they were lost in Grapass without even being told that the reason for coming here was to meet Weed.

“If he sees me unexpectedly I am sure he would be happy.”

Just to surprise Weed, Hwaryeong was going through unnecessary torment. Pason had the tracking skill so they followed after the tracks Weed left behind.

“There is a deep depression of a cow’s footprint. Seeing the markings it looks like it was moving energetically, I don’t think it suffered any injury but the footprints are quite deeply pressed in. It seems like it was carrying a heavy burden.”

“This is definitely the cow of the person I am trying to meet!”

Grapass was dangerous, but tracking was easy. The Dark Gamers avoided the strong monsters through the shared information on Grapass and took maximum care as they progressed forward. They finally reached the lake where they discovered Weed, Yellowy, Wyverns and Gold Man.

“Weed-nim!”

Hwaryeong yelled energetically, running toward him while fluttering her dress. And just for this moment, she had a sense to wear a long straight wig.

“Ah!”

“It’s that sculptor.”

Volk and Daerin recognized Weed. He was the one to sculpt the bouquet for Volk and Daerin’s marriage proposal, and there was also the time they hunted together during the Northern continent expedition.

“That Weed-nim… It’s that War God Weed!”

Many in Versailles continent were anticipating the clash between Weed and the Hermes guild. But to meet Weed in the Grapass region was a surprising and welcome event.

“Hello.”

“A pleasure. I am Yumero.”

They exchanged simple greetings. When Seo Yoon guessed there were people around she immediately wore her mask again.

“This side, he’s Gold Man. And here is Yellowy.”

Dark Gamers looked in amazement when the Wyverns were introduced, when Gold Man and Yellowy were presented they were filled with deep seated interest.

“This guys weight...”

“I think it’s pure gold.”

“Ribs are expensive these days.”

But their pure astonishment came later when Weed introduced Zahab nonchalantly.

“This person can be called my Sunbae in sculpting, but he is also the one who reached the final stages of swordsmanship.”

A Sword Master!

This was a secret among secrets, but Weed acknowledge the abilities of the Dark Gamers. For Dark Gamers to come here, they had to have curiosity and inquisitiveness beyond ordinary people. It would not take them long to figure out Zahab was a Sword Master. And these people had good reputations.

“A person who reached the final stages of swordsmanship...”

They were drooling already.

Chapter 6: Radiant Sword left behind the Sculptures

“Let’s hurry.”

Weed did not feel that there was a need to give special treatment to the Sword Master. Friendship declined whenever he ordered Zahab around and points fell slowly the more they were together anyway. It was only right to use up the friendship points he raised and exploit Zahab as much as possible.

Clearing the Penfils Dungeon.

Hunting the great monsters in the Dark Wood Forest.

Completely annihilating the monsters in Geithner Dungeon.

Completing their search for treasure in the Carmel Lair.

These were the accomplishments Weed achieved with Zahab. Of course, Yellowy and Gold Man were always next to him and the Wyverns followed him to the hunting grounds.

“There is the enemy. Fight.”

When Zahab was wielding his sword, Weed could relax and attack as much as he wanted. Grapass boasted a ghastly level of difficulty. When he judged it was dangerous due to the monster’s high levels or attack power, he hid far away and shot with his high elf bow. When he thought he would get by, he fought next to Zahab.

‘He fights really well.’

There was no better method than fighting with a Sword Master. Even though he was Zahab, he was not invincible and suffered injuries.

“Oh dear! There are so many wounds. Let me wrap some bandages around them. I will apply plenty of herbs as well.”

The Master Bandaging skill!

Weed tried his best to slow down the declining friendship through cooking and treatment. The Dark Gamers continued to watch on in astonishment.

‘That stingy bastard...’

‘This is typical conditioning, giving medicine after exploitation.’

‘If I get ensnared, he’s going to bleed me dry.’

Weed chased for the most optimal efficiency. He searched around for boss monsters and led Zahab into dungeons overflowing with monsters.

Zahab could only miss the days of living in Grapass, devoid of human contact. Seo Yoon and Hwaryeong knew Weed’s tendencies and were more accepting.

‘Weed-nim must not get hurt.’

Seo Yoon was not inferior to Zahab and fought the monsters directly. Her Berserker battle potential was active so the monster lairs that Weed was leading them to were the ideal hunting grounds. Hwaryeong danced captivatingly, luring the monsters and causing disarray. But the dance had a lower effect on monsters with minimal human contacts.

The Dark Gamers also got involved and did their part to increase the efficiency of the hunt. The tasks they undertook suited their class and they earned acceptable gains.

‘I can’t help but be envious. Leaving no stone unturned in Grapass with a Sword Master... ’

‘This is such an awesome hunt, my level is going to go up easily here. It’s fortunate he’s allowing us to join in.’

‘Monopolizing all the items and treasures in the dungeon. Ah, there is a reason why Weed is known as the War God.’

The Dark Gamers had to pay a daily hunting tribute to Weed.

“We did a lot of hunting yesterday, I plan to do the same today. I also want to enter a new dungeon today.”

Dowry, cost for food, bandages, herbs, Yellowy’s birthday, repairing weapons and armour, they had to pay it all. Weed was sucking up everything like a flea! And so, together with Zahab, they wandered the whole of Grapass aimlessly hunting and exploring.

Friendship with Zahab has fallen to 25.

Zahab sheathed his sword.

“I will leave to roam the continent now. I will not forget the time we have spent together.”

Zahab’s contract as a free mercenary has been terminated.

Zahab said his farewell. Friendship was low so Weed could not hold Zahab for much longer.

“It’s sad that you have to leave like this. It would be nice if we could learn more about each other .”

He tried to offer food and simple gifts again but Zahab did not accept them.

“I am exhausted and want to rest for now so let’s keep our farewell short.”

Weed had no choice but to send him off and asked some last minute questions.

“I think it’s tragic that we might not be able to meet again on the continent. Where will you go from here?”

“For now, I shall depart for the Bryce Highlands. I do not know how long I shall stay there for, but if you need to find me search for me there.”

“Yes, I shall do so. Then please take care.”

Zahab was limping on his left leg due to an injury and departed using his sword as a cane. Weed truly regretted this separation.

‘It would be nice to use him again. I am sure we will meet again.’

His level increased twice while hunting with Zahab and his sword mastery reached advanced level 2. This was all thanks to hunting together with a Sword Master. Moonlight sculpting blade also reached intermediate level 9.

Hwaryeong asked Weed.

“Where will you go now?”

She wanted more time to spend comfortably with just the two of them.

“I have to return to Zahab’s house right now.”

He had to report to the old handmaiden in the Rosenheim Kingdom. Grapass was a difficult region to return to so he was going to make sure he saw all Zahab’s sculptures before leaving. Zahab used a special magic bag to store about 80% of all his sculptures but there were still some left.

*****

The contract that the Dark Gamers and Hwaryeong agreed on was to help and protect her while she looked for Weed in the Grapass region. After concluding the contract Hwaryeong told them they could go but no one tried to leave.

“There was no other work and it was a boring period...”

“The world is a dangerous place where anything can happen, we will keep protecting you.”

“I am going to make sure you’re safe till the end. How can I, in good conscience, leave a beautiful lady alone?”

The Dark Gamers made excuses and tried to stay longer. Hunting in Grapass was not bad and they felt that if they stuck around Weed they might gain something.

“Oho, a Sword Master’s storehouse looks like this. There are a lot of sculptures.”

“The quality of the sculptures is extremely high.”

“Huk! Look at how many stats it gives. My Art stat just got created.”

The Dark Gamers received a once in a lifetime opportunity in Zahab’s workshop. Weed carefully observed the sculptures Zahab made with all his being.

“Identify!”

Hunter Aiming his Bow

Retired Master Sculptor Zahab’s piece.

The bow is aimed at a snake preying on a deer.

Artistic Value: 871.

Special Option: Increased population growth of deer.

He could read the memories held within the sculpture.

“This is a good piece.”

Weed observed other sculpture.

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter.

He could feel the seasons changing during the construction of the sculpture.

There was a video embedded into a special mud sculpture.

A village created from baked mud.

A village established on a highland, people were coming and going restlessly.

A scene never seen in this day and age.

You have acquired the first clue to the lost traveler

While the quest is active, clues obtained earlier cannot be used.

“Which quest video is this?”

The chance that it could be a sculpting related quest was high. Still, there were still a lot of sculpting quests, he did not know if he should do it or not. Even after that, several sculptures showed videos of Zahab’s hidden sculptures around Grapass.

“It will take way too long to find all of these and the monsters are troublesome.”

The sculptures could have been engraved onto a dungeon wall or kept as treasures by monsters.

“More importantly, the sculptures I made are the problem.”

Weed took out the sculptures he made and observed them. The sculpture of ‘Zahab Wielding his Sword’. It was almost a certainty that there was a Sword Master’s secret sword skill hidden within them. If Weed’s guess was right, this sculpture would become a treasure to all swordsman.

But no matter how much he examined it , it was only a well sculpted piece. As he sculpted it personally, he knew the piece extremely well, even reading the tangled memories of the sculptures did not reveal anything special.

“I have to solve the sculpture’s secret.”

While other people would be left bewildered unable to do anything, Weed tried to tackle the serious problem.

“Hm.”

Weed searched every nook and cranny of the sculpture.

“Could it be that I failed to reproduce Zahab’s sword skill perfectly?”

He matched each body size, ratio, and even the angle of the sword’s motions perfectly. It was difficult to portray each complicated motion on the sculpture but, with his many experiences and observational skills, Weed managed it.

He could make sculptures while imagining the product, to fail while actually seeing the subject matter was an impossibility. It would be utterly deplorable if there was a small mistake preventing him from learning Zahab’s sword skill.

“Should I just smash it?”

He was even contemplating extreme methods like using Sculpture Destruction. But he stayed his hand as it was too valuable.

“Solution, there must be a solution somewhere.”

If Zahab showed him the secret sword skill during battle, it would help identifying the skill. But such a thing did not happen and he could only rely on the sculpture to gain enlightenment.

Weed stopped all of his hunting and focused on the sculpture. He thought he might need more sculpting skill so he started making sculptures of the monsters in Grapass and of Hwaryeong to increase his Sculpting Mastery.

He wasted 3 hours with no clear solution in sight. The Dark Gamers and the Sculpture Lifeforms were hunting in separate groups nearby, Hwaryeong was offline as it was night. It was only Weed and Seo Yoon.

“Sword skill. I need to understand the sword skill… I am close to mastering the sculpting skill so I can continue as is. But if I can’t learn it because my sword mastery is low, then I might lose my chance to learn this sword skill.”

While Weed was puzzling his head over it, he heard a noise that sent shivers up his spine.

SHEEK.

The sound of a sword coming out of it’s sheath.

Weed turned around to look and saw it was Seo Yoon holding the sword with a cold expression.

“Wh, what’s up with the sword?”

With no Sculpture Lifeforms around, could it be that Seo Yoon was getting ready to attack?! It was an old misconception but there were times when Seo Yoon was really scary. Her voice, due to lack of speaking for so long, was devoid of intonation and she acted without explaining herself most of the time.

Like right now!

Seo Yoon twirled her sword. She was aiming at the sky rather than Weed. Before they knew it, it was the middle of the night with the moon out already.

Seo Yoon’s sword lit up under the moonlight and scattered. She began to move lightly, swirling her sword in movements that were familiar to Weed.

“The movements from the sculpture!”

CHARARARA.

Seo Yoon softly enacted the sword skill. She followed the sculptures’ motions like a dance. Weed analyzed the sculptures’ movement deeply and emulated them as well, but the flow was halted in between.

But Seo Yoon did not follow the order of the sculptures, she followed the motion of the sculpture lit by the moonlight.

HUWOOONG!

Seo Yoon’s blade scattered an intense light. It was like holding a light sword!

You have grasped the secret sword skill, Radiant Sword.

Seo Yoon learned the secret sword skill first. Her body was wrapped in light as if she was under a special blessing. Weed questioned her as soon as it stopped.

“Did you perhaps learned the secret sword skill?”

Nod, nod.

Weed smile exuberantly as he saw Seo Yoon’s head move up and down.

“Great.”

But the pain that was slowly creeping within!

“Hmhm, well, it’s manners for ladies to go first. It’s my turn to learn it now.”

After seeing Seo Yoon’s actions, Weed followed the same movements of the sculptures. With his sword mastery he was able to follow the movements much better. Following the intention of each individual motion, sometimes he put all his weight behind a swing or softly like a gentle wind. Weed felt this was a true sword skill as he emulated the movements.

‘Rather than a specific skill, the sword skill is more like a set of fixed, consecutive movements.’

He was puzzled by how this sword skill would be used in actual battle. Battle situations were completely different when fighting against monsters, flying creatures, shamans, summoners or magicians.

You have grasped the secret sword skill, Radiant Sword.

Radiant Sword: A sword skill created by the sculptor and swordsman Zahab.

A sword skill that is used by gathering light.

Depending on the skill level, it forms light sculptures in the form of animals or monsters.

Monsters captured by the light, fall under an illusion and cannot move.

If the sword skill is halted, the effect disappears.

Moonlight sculpting skill increases the power of the skill.

Class and other skill traits will have more power at night than in the morning.

It’s effective against monsters of a dark nature.

Sword Mastery increased.

“Let’s try hunting.”

Weed, with Seo Yoon, went to the place where the Kellkogs appeared.

“Radiant Sword!”

This was not a sword skill that was instantly activated by consuming mana so the exact movements had to be followed.

“Keeeek?”

The Kellkogs threw their spears but the bright light blinded their eyes and their accuracy fell by a large margin .

A short distance away, Weed finished performing the sword skill. He felt ridiculous moving alone rather than fighting the monsters up front, but looking from the outside it was anything but. Weed swung his sword twice, jumped to gather power and performed a downward strike.

As he struck, sparrows made of light appeared. The sparrows circled Weed, then, beating their wings, they flew toward the monsters and exploded.

KABOOOM!

Threads of light split heaven and earth!

Every time Weed flourished his sword, birds of light flew toward the monsters. The Kellkogs became confused under the illusions and spun around trying to catch the birds. As the sword skill fully unfolded, only item drops remained where the monsters were.

Mastery of Radiant Sword increased.

It drained over 8,000 of Weed’s mana, but equipping various mana recovery items supplemented some of the drain.

“There was this kind of sword skill.”

Weed’s lips trembled. Till now, it was difficult to contend with monsters that shot arrows at long range. It was very frustrating for him to deal with monsters that attacked from long range and escaped quickly. Even if he took out his high elf bow to attack, it was not enough to attack with just one bow.

“I am going to kill all the monsters!”

*****

Kolderim, the knight of the Kallamore Kingdom!

Hermes guild prepared several contingencies to deal with him. One time, Kolderim led his army and pushed on toward the Sistar Fortress in Haven Kingdom. Of course, it was a battle that the Hermes guild was not part of. Rather, it made it easier for the Hermes guild to utterly crush and seize the regional kingdom.

“Even then the knights Kolderim commands are fearsome. We will continue to invest in military power and annihilate them completely.”

The Hermes guild destroyed the Kallamore Kingdom's border force and seized 6 castles, 2 fortresses, and 14 villages. After they heard that Kallamore Kingdom’s Kolderim became the supreme commander of the war, Hermes guild split their main force in two.

“A detachment will turn around and occupy the Yorun Fortress, the main force will meet Kolderim’s army here.”

The army Kolderim was leading was composed of the elite forces of the Kallamore Kingdom. It included 7 contingents of knight orders and over 10 thousand cavalrymen. On the Hermes guild’s side, their main forces dug in and laid traps to make it difficult for the horses to move. They brought in massive numbers of magicians, archers and even catapults to disrupt the knights’ charges.

On the day battle erupted between Kolderim of Kallamore Kingdom and the Hermes guild, all of the stations did a live broadcast and all of the players’ interest was focused there. Depending on the outcome of the battle, the territory between Kallamore Kingdom and Haven Kingdom would shift on the Central continent.

With the various traps that the Hermes guild planted on the plain, the confrontation between the two armies was monotonous. In between, the detachment of the Hermes guild’s army penetrated deeply into the interior of the Kallamore Kingdom. Made up of a large number of cavalrymen, a contingent of gryphons, rangers, and magicians, the force was great enough to easily occupy any moderate castle.

Kolderim had to make a difficult choice. He could not leave the main force of Hermes guild alone and chase after the detachment. To do so allowed the enemy to seize Kallamore Kingdom’s third biggest city.

“We are attacking the Haven Kingdom.”

Kallamore Kingdoms great charge! the Hermes guild responded with their magicians and catapults, starting the large scale battle. The fate of the two Kingdoms was hanging in the balance.

*****

Geomchi joined Pale’s party late.

“I hope this won’t needlessly indebt yourself to me.”

“That’s not true. We needed someone to take care of close combat.”

Pale spoke courteously. He briefly stopped in Morata to peruse the stores and receive quests and met Geomchi.

“Did you try hunting in this area?”

“Some people did take me to several places called dungeons.”

Geomchi gave a yawn as if it was nothing but a trifle.

“There was nothing that could give me a good fight.”

“Well, it should be like that. The dungeons near Morata has been wiped clean by paladin order of Freya church, and many players are hunting there as well.”

As a dungeon became well known, many people flocked to it. Even after the experience and good item drop rates declined, the players still went. This caused some difficulty in hunting for decent monsters.

“It’s as you said.”

Surka spoke as she pulled on steel tipped gloves.

“We will provide as much help as we can.”

“Right. Then let’s go.”

Geomchi joined the group and Pale’s party left through Morata’s gate. As they left, the merchants doing business in the Square began to whisper.

“Was that the guy that completely cleaned out the exhausted dungeon?”

“Apparently he attached himself to a party and hunted all the monsters by himself. ”

*****

They arrived at the dungeon and Geomchi lightly stepped forward.

“Ey… the old should die.”

All the monsters that were struck by Geomchi’s sword disappeared in a grey light. Critical hits happened as if they were a regular occurrence and he slashed the weak points that appeared when the monsters attacked like it was a joke.

“With my age, I can’t seem to move as easily as I did when I was younger.”

PAK! WACHANG!

PABABABAK!

Geomchi’s weapon skill was Advanced level 7. It was a state that was impossible to reach by facing only monsters. After Advanced level 5 of a martial artist’s weapon skill, one had to overcome the barrier to their own limits.

Every time Geomchi advanced one level of his weapon skill, he realized the subtle changes to his mastery and chose the most optimal path for his development. This was the reason why his skill developed faster while hunting less than the others.

Pale and his party had to hurry before Geomchi killed off all the monsters.

> I have a new opinion of how strong Geomchi-nim really is.

> That strength and weight all focused on the tip of the sword for the keen attacks. He makes it look so easy but I don’t know how he attacks so accurately.

> And there were over 500 of them.

> …

Surka could pummel a level 350 monster into paste. Zephyr whirled his fishing pole and threw himself in the thickest part of the battle.

But looking at Geomchi, they could only stand in awe.

“It’s annoying to use the sword.”

He picked up the spears and axes the monsters dropped and attacked. Weapon skill allowed any weapon to be used proficiently and maximized the damage. Whatever weapon he handled, there was no hindrance in killing monsters.

Sometimes he looked like a warrior and other times, a soldier from a savage tribe. Seeing Geomchi changing weapons frequently Pale asked a question.

“Are you okay with the difference in handling different weapons?”

Pale asked as he was amazed by what he was seeing. Even with the weapon skill, every weapon had different centers of gravity and their application in battle was vastly different

“Whatever the weapon, battles are fought by personal taste .”

The personal preference of pummeling monsters! Such as the Orcs, the blight of the Yurokina Mountain range, when equipped with glaives they immediately started breaking things for fun, even their armor.

Zephyr asked in disbelief.

“Isn’t the sword suited toward your taste?”

Geomchi lived practicing the sword. He might have practiced other weapons, but he did not reach the state with his sword by catering to other people’s approval. Surely he would admire the way of the sword.

“My greatest preference is not the sword...”

Geomchi stealthily observed the others. It was a story that could negatively affect the emotions of minors and young school children.

“It’s rare for weapons to measure up to the steel pipes and poles I used when I was young.”

“...”

“The sword is a method for one to temper the heart. A great swordsman has a heart that is polished like a mirror and as still as water, whatever may come he will not fear or tremble.”

At the moment, a swarm of monsters flocked towards them from the dungeon passage.

“Humans have invaded.”

“Kill the tall, bulky, and ugly human first.”

“Captain, what do you mean. Is it the old looking guy?”

“Yes.”

“Kekekekel!”

Before the other members of the party could react, Geomchi was running towards the monsters.

“Your death will not be merciful. Hahahaha!”

Chapter 7: Old Handmaiden of Rosenheim Kingdom

Hwaryeong came online and the Dark Gamers joined in as Weed gathered the Sculpture Lifeforms to continue hunting.

“This is the dungeon I frequented with Zahab-nim.”

The Dark Gamers hesitated in front of the Geithner Dungeon entrance. Zahab, alone, had brought enormous firepower, using his sword he blocked the enemy’s assault and attacked with significant force. With him gone, the whole group’s fighting potential had substantially declined.

“It’s okay to enter.”

After Weed and Seo Yoon entered first, Hwaryeong followed after them.

“Weed-nim must have some idea of what to do.”

The Dark Gamers briefly discussed it amongst themselves.

“Will it be alright to enter the dungeon? Considering his character until now, he does not seem to be a deceitful person.”

“I think so too. The War God Weed wouldn’t die so carelessly while hunting.”

“Even without Zahab I don’t think this place will be so dangerous that we will get annihilated. Shall we go?”

For Dark Gamers, their bodies were their income so they took great care of them.

“It’s meaningless to abandon them and return to the city like this. I have never once left a hunt so treacherously.”

“I am going to enter.”

Volk and Daerin entered the dungeon first and the rest of the Dark Gamers followed.

Weed used his sword skill against the flying monster Pekoils.

“Radiant Sword!”

A sword skill that made light gush out from Weed’s body! The light birds with a rapturous beauty flew toward the Pekoils. Seo Yoon also used the secret sword skill and attacked with light swords.

“Where did they get this skill… I’ve never heard of such a technique.”

The Dark Gamers’ eyes popped out. They had experienced all sorts of battles but this was the first time they had seen such technique.

“Radiant Sword!”

Whenever Weed used his skill, the Dark Gamers observed it closely, even in the middle of their battle.

‘Hm, it’s strong.’

‘The lights split into several strands and slaughtered the monsters. It was really cool.’

The difficult hunt they expected against the Pekoils was made possible with Weed and Seo Yoon using their sword skill.

It was a secret sword skill that used an unbelievable amount of mana and stamina but the monsters here were exceptionally strong so they had no choice but to use it. They could earn plenty of drops and a lot of experience points by beating these monsters. It was life or death difficulty hunting, but, with the mystical light shining inside the dungeon, it was also beautiful.

Weed and Seo Yoon used their Radiant Sword to reduce the monsters health and then finished them off at close range.

*****

Real time: 4 o'clock early in the morning.

Weed had connected earlier compared to his usual routine because there was no need to go to the market and he planned for a simple fried rice for breakfast. But it would be awkward to hunt with just the Sculpture Lifeforms so he planned to rest while making sculptures.

“It’s master.”

Yellowy, who was slumped and sleeping gave off a yawn. Unlike Van Hawk and Torido, the Sculpture Lifeforms needed sufficient sleep.

“It’s alright. Here, eat all you want.”

Weed gave some boiled fodder and sat.

He was in deep thought, wondering what kind of sculptures he had to make to become a Master Sculptor.

‘Sculpting takes a whole room… Should I scrape together all my money and try making a proper, expensive, and fancy sculpture?’

With his authority as the Lord of Morata and Vargo Fortress, he could withdraw the taxes and make a gigantic sculpture made out of precious metal. Of course there was no guarantee a good sculpture would be created by throwing money at it, but using good materials did produce results.

Hwaryeong logged in while Weed was taking out materials for sculpting. She wanted quality time for just the two of them so she planned to connect early in the morning and wait. Fortunately for her, Weed was already here. Hwaryeong laughed softly that her dimples could be seen.

‘Nothing can withstand fate.’

AWOOOOO!

From far away, the howling of a wolf could be heard.

“Ah, why is today so scary? ”

Hwaryeong jumped closed to Weed. She, who could hunt over 5,000 wolves simultaneously pretended to be weak and took the chance to move closer so she could get a clearer look at Weed’s sculpting.

Weed’s eye quickly glanced over her body. Hwaryeong, who had experienced countless gazes from men, did not miss it.

‘Weed-nim is still a man.’

She became happy after seeing Weed’s pupils becoming large.

‘She’s wearing a different dress again today.’

The price of the jewel dress was no less than seventy thousand gold! Not only that, she matched it with boots, necklace, and bracelets. Looking at the items Hwaryeong was wearing, Weed was extremely envious.

‘She really has a lot of expensive clothes.’

‘He’s infatuated with my body.’

Hwaryeong felt that something was amiss.

‘I haven’t put a lot of effort into my make up today… should I have worn a less appealing and more revealing dress? No, Weed-nim would prefer a more pure look.’

As a Dancer, rather than a tight dress with a lot of options, if it felt good it was alright. She still had the dress from back when she was a novice and had separate bags for clothes and accessories.

“Um, I want to try a new dress I bought. Can you check it out for me?”

Weed had no reason to refuse Hwaryeong for saying she was going to wear her own clothing.

“Yes.”

After 30 minutes Hwaryeong felt the complete, pure glamour had returned. She gave off a pure look with her long hair and white, one piece dress.

“How is this?”

“It’s pretty, it draws attention naturally.”

After a short while, she changed into a different dress. Showing off a lively female traveler!

“What about this outfit?”

“It looks comfortable and beautiful.”

Hwaryeong continued to change her dress and showed off to Weed.

“The bag is quite fashionable. It looks like it used premium leather.”

Weed also made sculptures of her. Spending quality time together, Hwaryeong asked.

“Do you like the mountains?”

“Mountains? Well, I don’t dislike them.”

It wasn’t like Weed lived in the mountain town for a day or two, there was nothing to like or hate.

“My birthday is in spring, when the weather is good do you want to go hiking together?”

Hwaryeong bravely asked for a date. If they met up in reality, it would be difficult to avoid a scandal. But she wanted to be with Weed in reality as well. It would be especially great if they could go to the mountain where she felt freedom and comfort.

“If it’s your birthday, then okay.”

In a party, Hwaryeong put Weed first and always tried to be of help to him.

“Yes. Well, let’s buy some pajeon and makgeolli and go have some fun.”

*****

Hunting with Seo Yoon, Dark Gamers and Sculpture Lifeforms was productive, but every night a loud cry could be heard from someplace. Every time this happened, a flock of birds flew off from the forest and the tribes living in Grapass moved their habitats.

“Master, this place looks dangerous.”

Bingryong sensed something was off.

‘That might be the boss monster of Grapass.’

In Jigolaths he suffered all kinds of toil and wrapped it up killing Kubicha, the Great Warrior of Chaos, by playing both sides. Weed set himself a rule to avoid such a situation and so when he reached level 406, he decided to leave the Grapass region. While it was regretful that he could not continue to hunt ceaselessly, meeting Zahab and surviving the forbidden region was still a great success.

“For now I need to send off the items to Morata.”

Weed instructed the Wyverns to carry the sculptures to the lord’s manor in Morata.

“Wy-One.”

“Keewk. Kaawak.”

“Don’t try to fly off to eat something, this needs to go immediately to the lord’s manor.”

“Kakakaw. As master commands, I won’t eat any fish and go straight away.”

“If I see any bones between your teeth, you're dead.”

“I will go straight to Morata.”

He appointed Bingryong and Phoenix to support the Wyverns while they were moving. With this many Sculpture Lifeforms, they should not encounter any trouble on their way to Morata. And it was a given that they had to handle the cargo preciously as it was the sculptures containing the secret sword skill.

The Dark Gamers and Hwaryeong agreed to meet in Morata later on.

“Then let’s meet again later. Please contact me when you come back!”

“Yes. Hwaryeong-nim please go safely.”

They decided to ride on the Wyverns who were bereft of any load. While it was obvious Hwaryeong would return to Morata where the rest of her party was, it came as a great surprise that the Dark Gamers would abandon Brent Kingdom, their original gathering point.

‘That sword skill, it looks formidable.’

‘It’s truly magnificent. It would be a great help when fighting against monsters and our opponent will be confounded when they see it for the first time.’

Whenever Weed and Seo Yoon used the Radiant Sword, the Dark Gamers’ eyes became covetous. Of all the sword skill they knew, it was a technique that was not known at all!

‘They said Zahab was a Sword Master so they must have learnt it from him.’

‘There is a high chance it’s one of the secret sword skills.’

The Dark Gamers became overly friendly.

“I am out of bandages.”

“Weed-nim, here use these bandages.”

“This is a bandage set I have never used before, please have it.”

“I also don’t have any arrows left.”

“Here, please take my quiver. It’s an enchanted quiver so it can store up to five hundred arrows. Please don’t feel any obligations and use it as you will. You don’t have to return it. ”

When Weed spoke of his needs, they offered it to him immediately. It was because they had hope that maybe, Weed would teach them the secret sword skill. Of course, due to Weed’s greed he wanted to keep Zahab’s secret sword skill to himself.

The sculptures he made, that allowed the secret sword skill to be grasped, were a treasure that he was only going to allow the Geomchis to know of. No matter who else asked, he could not expose the secret sword skill to anyone. But the possibility of someone else appearing, knowing the Radiant Sword was high as Zahab was out in the world. When that time came, he could bargain a good deal with the Dark Gamers.

In the case of Seo Yoon, she said she had something to do in Rosenheim Kingdom and decided to go with Weed. It was time for Wy-Three to lift his heavy buttocks to fly, so he was tottering unsteadily as he got into position.

“Wy-Three.”

“Gyaruk?”

“I am going to go with you.”

“Gagagak!”

Wy-Three prostrated while crying. And so Weed, Seo Yoon and Wy-Three flew toward Rosenheim Kingdom.

“Wy-Three, should I make you a set of clothes?“

The third Wyvern, Wy-Three’s beak stretched to the breaking point as he nodded his head.

‘The master puts me under a lot of hardship but I am the one he takes care of the most.’

“I will make it out of thick fabric as the weather is cold.”

“Master, I am grateful that you even considered making me cloth.”

“I found your back cold and hard while riding on it for a long time. At least it should have a cosy blanket on top. Ah, I should make pillows as well.”

“.....”

Wy-Three was getting concerned that if there was sufficient space on his back, he would be forced to fly while carrying tables and chairs!

While flying to Rosenheim Kingdom, Weed made moonlight sculptures. Seo Yoon’s hair fluttered in the wind while she watched him work. There were moments when men who were absorbed in their work were attractive.

But Seo Yoon was as beautiful as a goddess even when she was absentminded. She was sitting there with the stars and the moon shining high in the sky as her background. Her hair fluttering in the wind. Whenever Weed used the moonlight sculpting skill, it even added unnecessary light effects. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it transformed her already beautiful face into a precious treasure!

“As I explore the breadth and depth of sculpting I feel as if it has endless potential.”

While Weed used his sculpting knife, he was deeply moved by the originality of Zahab’s sculptures.

“The world where sculptures can be sold expensively is coming.”

For sculptors it was a future where they truly could not hope for more. If they could eat and live on sculptures, if they could hang all their hopes and dreams on their path as sculptors, it would be true happiness.

*****

Rosenheim Kingdom!

Compared to the past when Weed started, there were many changes. High-end stores were established and the general attire of the beginners was of high quality.

“Rosenheim Kingdom has grown quite big.”

Weed and Seo Yoon, riding on the Wyvern, landed on the mountain some distance away and walked the rest of the distance to the kingdom’s capital, Serabourg Citadel.

There were even some merchants and adventurers passing by that could recognize Weed.

“I am back in my true hometown. ”

The time he sold off a considerable amount of sheep sculptures and the equally enormous number of victims who bought his pieces at exorbitant prices. And the players who suffered carrying heavy boulders for the sake of building the pyramid! If he looked back and recalled the good memories, they were a very welcoming people.

Weed and Seo Yoon hurried their pace.

“There is so much I have to do in the city.”

The item drops from Grapass filled four bags to the brim. He had to dispose of the needless items and meet up with the old handmaiden.

“Finally, I get to sing that song.”

Seo Yoon had a somewhat worried look on her face. The reason she had such a look was that she had heard Weed practising that song. Compared to Zahab’s euphonious, dulcet voice Weed’s talent was a thousand light years away! It was an odd sound like a rooster crowing timidly in the morning.

‘Will it be alright? I hope nothing bad happens.’

Seo Yoon worriedly followed after him.

Weed had just entered the castle gate of Serabourg and was about to go to the Square when the knights and soldiers guarding Rosenheim Kingdom’s gates came and surrounded him. The players nearby started pointing fingers and became rowdy.

“Ara, what’s happening with that guy?”

“Did he commit some crime and is trying to come back into the city?”

“Alright. There’s finally something to see. He’s going to be beaten to death by the soldiers.”

“Looking at his equipment, he's not a complete novice but could he stand up to the soldiers?”

“So what. Then he would become a public enemy of the Rosenheim Kingdom and they will dispatch the army to kill him.”

Weed felt the situation was completely unfair.

“What crime did I commit...”

He could only recall a miniscule evil he committed recently.

‘There is only the small amount of time I played as Undead, conspired with pirates and fought Hermes guild’s Polon with the Undead Legion but...’

They were actions that reduced reputation. But if he wanted to work and eat, this much was necessary!

The knights and soldiers did not draw their weapon and threaten Weed, rather they raised their hands to their chests and greeted him respectfully.

“Welcome travelers.”

The players who were expecting an enjoyable spectacle were perplexed by the soldiers actions.

“Huk.”

“I have been doing business here for over 2 years and it’s the first time seeing the soldiers acting like that. Even the knights are bowing their heads!”

“Who is that person?”

“Do you think rankers from the central continent came here to play? But seeing the response from the soldiers their fame must be...”

The gazes of people coming and going from the castle gates were on Weed and Seo Yoon. Weed tried to ignore them and enter but at that moment the knight spoke.

“His majesty wanted to welcome the travelers and directed me to lead them to the castle.”

The effect of fame and achievements! He could meet any kings in the Versailles continent, but seeing as Rosenheim Kingdom was the region Weed started in, the treatment he received was vastly different. If he stayed behind and remained active in Serabourg Citadel, it was possible that Rosenheim Kingdom would experience tremendous development.

“There is work I have to do to keep the peace on the continent. Meeting his majesty, who rules over Rosenheim Kingdom is a great honor even for me. But there is an urgent matter I have to attend to so I must pay my respects later.”

He had dragged on the quest from the old handmaiden for so long that he wanted to do resolve it as quickly as possible. He could always meet the king of Rosenheim Kingdom later.

“Well if it's like that then there is nothing we can do. His majesty will be waiting so please attend his audience.”

“I shall do so.”

Weed and Seo Yoon under the gaze of many players entered Serabourg Citadel.

*****

“I am buying and selling items. I do procurement or resale.”

“I can make any equipment you need.”

“Before you go to hunt please check your necessities. I sell them here.”

Weed decided to head to the Square and take care of his bags. An unusually obese man with a parked carriage was waiting there.

“Are you perhaps Weed-nim?”

“Yes, you are right.”

It was the merchant waiting there after being contacted by Mapan. He was ‘Gimme The Money’ an up and coming trader in Rosenheim Kingdom known for his refusals.

“Did you bring the items?”

“Money first.”

“Here. I am being uselessly cautious but these definitely are the goods?”

“Check for yourself.”

If people who did not know the situation listened in on Weed and Gimme The Money, they might have mistaken it for illicit dealing.

“These are definitely the goods. The quantity is without a doubt correct. I receive them in good faith.”

“It was a good deal. If we have a chance then next time as well...”

“Whenever you have the goods, you can search for Gimme The Money anytime in Serabourg Citadel.”

The scene was giving off a bad influence like the crime movies shown on cable.

For Weed, the faster the transaction the better so he received the money bag and turned around with no regret. The leather pouch didn’t look like anything special but inside was 168 thousand gold! As these items were from hunting in Grapass, he received quite a sum. It was also thanks to the japtem Seo Yoon collected as he sold them for quite a good price. It was good practise to not only collect japtem but also to sell them for the right value.

“Right, let’s go now.”

They went to the residence of the old handmaiden. In general the street was filled with similar looking houses but Weed spotted her house quickly.

“I haven’t delivered milk for 3 years and newspapers for 7 years just for nothing!”

When Weed entered the old handmaiden’s house, he noticed that she looked much older than before.

“The adventurer finally returned I see.”

“Yes. I braved the cold wind and morning dew, wandering the continent to keep the promise I made to you.”

“Then did you meet Zahab-nim?”

“You were correct about him. Also he made more amazing sculptures.”

“Regretfully I do not know much about sculptures. For me I only have memories left of Zahab-nim whom the Queen loved. I want to listen to the song from then.”

Weed pulled out a harp to accompany his singing.

“Then I shall start.”

KEEK… BAAK… QUAAK… CREEK...

As soon as Weed finished his song, the handmaiden’s tilted her head.

“It’s strange.”

“Yes?”

“I don’t think it was this noisy when I heard it then, but it also doesn’t seem different...”

It was on a level where the tune was made up! It would possibly be easier for Weed to go back to Jigolaths than singing.

“But I was happy that I could recalled the memories from the past. Do you know? As you get older the happy memories from the past are like jewels.”

“I think so as well.”

“Zahab-nim and the queen really did make a good match. I really want to see a scene of them making sculptures while travelling together...”

Tears dropped from the old handmaiden’s eyes. Weed became weak seeing the old granny shedding tears.

Weed took out 3 small blocks of wood.

Saksak.

One in the shape of young Zahab, another of the queen and he even sculpted the young handmaiden from the video he viewed in the past.

Please set a name for your sculpture.

“Handmaiden… No, Grandmother’s Memory.”

Is ‘Grandmother’s Memory’ correct?

“Yes.”

‘Grandmother’s Memory’ has been completed

A sculpture made by Weed, who is close to the highest level of sculpting.

Has been sculpted in a very short time.

Artistic Value: 289.

Mastery of Sculpting skill increased.

“This is a gift for you.”

“To have received such a great sculpture! I do not know much about sculptures but it seems to be made with great skill.”

Weed had an idea that it would increase friendship with the old handmaiden greatly. While he did not do this with expectation of receiving something from her, he did think he could perhaps get a free meal at least. Wyvern’s movement speed increased with his level. Therefore Weed and Seo Yoon flew over from Grapass in a moment and could not eat anything on the way.

Seo Yoon and Weed looked upon the old handmaiden with a warm gaze.

“Thank you. To have received such a present before I die. I have enjoyed listening to your song.”

DING!

‘Continue Zahab’s Legacy’ Completed

Zahab’s song awakened the handmaiden Elzase’s memory. She will tell you a story you did not get to hear last time.

Quest Reward: Gift from her and information on the next quest.

Fame increased by 569.

Experience increased by a small amount.

‘The quest doesn’t end here....’

This was the quest that started from the training center and gave him the chance to choose the class , Moonlight Sculptor. Weed did not expect a big quest reward, which reflected on the 3.7% worth of experience he earned due to his high level. But more surprisingly the quest story that covered Zahab and the Queen was still not finished.

“This is something that I have saved for the person who would allow me to listen to that song again.”

The old handmaiden stood up from her seat and pulled out a small box from the drawer.

“Please open this. It’s a jewel the Queen gave me, I want to give this to you now.”

Weed opened the box and saw 3 diamonds sparkling brilliantly.

‘This must worth at least 70 thousand gold.’

Weed estimated the price the moment he saw it.

“This reminds me about the story of the Queen from back then. When Zahab-nim left, the Queen fell into a great sorrow. As the Queen of the nation, she did not show any grief outwardly and appeared to be well. But something happened back then and she died of a mysterious sickness a year and a half later. I know for a fact that there is a diary she wrote during that period…”

The woman who had to live as a Queen after sending off the man she loved since her childhood! As a Queen of Rosenheim Kingdom she was noble and virtuous, but at a young age she contracted an illness and crossed the great divide.

“There should be many other stories of Zahab-nim in the Queen’s diary that I couldn’t tell you. Please ask around for Fabiane, she is another handmaiden who knows more about what happen back then. I do not know if she is still living. I am not sure if this will help but she really likes the melampodium paludosum flower.”

DING!

A Suspicious Diary Somewhere

Written by Queen Evane, the presumed diary is said to have records of secrets of the kingdom.

To find the diary, you must meet Fabiane the handmaiden who has served within the castle.

Difficulty: D

Quest Restriction: Must first complete the quest ‘Continue Zahab’s Legacy.’

To receive the quest reward, the quest must be completed before the old handmaiden dies.

Quest cannot be cancelled.

A chain quest! It was difficult to calculate how many levels it has been since the training center.

Weed could smell the wafting suspiciousness surrounding the death of the Queen.

“For now… I understand.”

You have accepted the Quest.

Quest reward aside, he came this far and was curious how the quest would end.

*****

Hermes guild and Kallamore Kingdom's great clash! People were drooling as their eyes were glued to the screen.

The knights of Kallamore Kingdom increased their speed as they broke through the chaotic battlefield. They perforated the Hermes guild’s main army and raised their momentum.

The sound of the horn, the trampling of hooves and the shrieking of people as they collapsed filled the battlefield. The broadcasters wanted to capture every minute detail, but because of the grandness of the battle they could only show the aerial view to the audience.

Each battle arrangement had tens of thousands fighting and in the rear of Kallamore Kingdom, over 100 thousand militia were organized and running toward the city.

“Knights of Kallamore! This is truly amazing and frightening. The knights Kolderim is leading broke through the magic attacks and are charging.”

The knights of Kallamore Kingdom were armed with high magic resistant equipments. The weak magic attacks did no damage and disappeared into thin air. But the spells the advance mages of Hermes guild were using impacted the knights as intended!

Here the knights expertly controlled their horses, riding like the wind as they scattered and changed direction, driving back the Hermes guild. Words could not describe how awesome the scene was, just watching made the heart faster.

“Ah, they are getting killed out there.”

“It would be great if Hermes guild gets utterly ruined by this.”

The viewers sitting in front of the television and the players watching in twos and threes in Royal Road taverns hoped the war would end like this. They were all of one mind and heart for the Hermes guild, which symbolized the prestigious guild in the central continent, to have their power and influence be cut.

Soon after, Kallamore Kingdom and Hermes guild’s total command got involved and the war front became larger. To win the war, one side needed to occupy a minimum of 10 castles and cities. Or if analyzed further, the existence of each surrounding kingdom could be in jeopardy.

On the wide plain where the two kingdom’s overflowing forces collided, causing the battle immersed viewers to forget about time. It was a complete, full scale war!

After a small amount of time passed, the size of the Kallamore Kingdom’s army became smaller and smaller and it retreated to a corner. Many of Hermes guild’s high level players were involved and their average foot soldiers experience, equipment, and level was higher than their foe. Each commanders archers, magicians, swordsmen, spearmen, shield men and cavalry were operated efficiently.

Kallamore Kingdom, whose force of cavalry and knight orders were high, began to show their weak point and were pushed back in the overall battle.

“March.”

“Control the western side and capture the center.”

It was the sight of the Hermes guild, who had prepared for a long time for this war, winning. The infantry cut off the Kallamore Kingdoms flank and encircled the main force. Battalions of archers sniped the famous knights of Kallamore Kingdom one by one.

Kolderim was busy all over, dragging his knights to glory. But the Hermes guild straggled the surrounding knights and killed them off.

“Our share is over there.”

Bardray and his Black Knights who were, for a time, looking over the battle, sortied. They were aiming for Kolderim, who was fighting alone in the midst of Hermes guild infantry. They were planning to declare Hermes guild’s victory to everyone after they killed Kolderim.

*****

Weed and Seo Yoon left the old handmaidens house and were walking on the street of Rosenheim Kingdom.

“Ah, this miserable world...”

“Ah, this is annoying. Why is the sky so clear. Just rain damn it.”

“I feel depressed so let’s go drink some alcohol.”

“Sure. Let’s just drink.”

The atmosphere of the players in Serabourg Citadel was not good. It was because Hermes guild utterly destroyed the Kallamore Kingdom’s defense force. Not only the players who saw the broadcast in Rosenheim Kingdom but all over Versailles Continent, the tavern saw a jump in customers.

Even for Weed, the news about Hermes guild was extremely important.

“In the end, they won.”

If the Hermes guild became completely ruined, it would have been a heaven sent gift but he did not even hope for such an outcome. Weed had a feeling that Hermes guild would win from the start.

“In this world, the bad guys always live well in a grand style.”

These famous guilds were no different. If Hermes guild fell, someone else would take their place. No matter who, they would not leave Weed in peace. To be successful in life and to make money, one had to live completely opposite of written ethics.

Even with that thought aside, Weed was troubled about searching for Fabiane. Serabourg Citadel of Rosenheim Kingdom was as familiar to him as Morata. From his poverty stricken time as a novice, to the period of running through every nook and crevice to search for people to buy his sculptures!

“I even remember the alleyways.”

The wide paths where the carriages went through were packed with stalls and during the time when people crowded the street, Weed used the alleys to reduce travel time so he knew the alleyway like the back of his hand. Since then a lot of time has passed and some new buildings were erected, but the residential area did not appeared to have changed much.

“A melampodium paludosum...”

Weed had memorised a lot of facts on herbalism so it was a flower he knew.

“It’s just a yellow flower!”

The flower was modestly pretty, average in size with split flower petals.

“I think this alley had some of the yellow flowers growing about back then.”

Weed fumbled through his memories as he walked through Serabourg Citadel with Seo Yoon. Even though the castle had many players, the alleys without stalls were devoid of people.

Bees and butterflies flew over the many flowers growing charmingly on the street. Weed and Seo Yoon were walking through the most scenic alley in Serabourg Citadel.

“It’s kind of far right?”

“Not really.”

“It should be close to here. If we had the time we could try to look for a beehive. There is nothing like honey to bolster the body.”

“....”

Weed found the melampodium paludosum in the alley and visited each of the 3 houses with the yellow flowers blooming on their porch. The first house belonged to a gardener who was a flower enthusiast.

“You have amazing hand skills! If you have come here to learn flower arrangement, I will teach it to you leisurely from the basics.”

If it was Weed from the past who considered flowers to be useless, he would have turned around and left before he heard the entire proposal. But as he learned sculpting and other skills, he felt that nothing was useless in the Versailles Continent. And so he listened to the gardener's words and learned how to pluck out the withered flower petals and cut off the dead twigs.

DING!

Skill Flower Arrangement Learnt

Flower Arrangement: A skill used to grow and appreciate flowering shrubs and trees!

Skill level and affinity to land and plants increases when flowers and trees are grown properly.

Fully bloomed flowers can be put into a vase as an ornament.

By learning Flower Arrangement your affinity to nature increased by 3.

It was an important affinity in manifesting a bigger Natural Disaster Sculpting. Seeing Weed learning it, Seo Yoon copied him and learned Flower Arrangement as well. Weed’s skill was at beginner level 1.

“I should plant a lot of flowers at the Morata’s lord manor later on.”

Through the effect of a Masterpiece that Weed made, a Wildflower Festival occurred in Morata. Of course just looking at flowers was enjoyable but if left unattended weeds and vines could grow ruining them. But when a person applied his hands, plants could find their proper place and become more beautiful.

Weed’s Handicraft skill and Art stat were at a surprising level, and with his refined taste through sculpting, if he started cultivation from the seed he could grow breathtaking flower beds and trees.

“To commemorate learning Flower Arrangement let me give you a present.”

You have received a white woodsorrel as a present from Gardener Jenkins.

The gardner gave Weed and Seo Yoon a bouquet of flowers with white petals.

“This could become my first Flower Arrangement.”

For Weed, making a vase or a flower pot was like a piece of cake.

“But cultivating flowers during the middle of an adventure is difficult, wait right there for me.”

Weed took a white flower and pinned it on Seo Yoon’s hair. There was no big reason for it other than wanting to try it once. Seo Yoon furtively touched the white flower and looked slightly embarrassed by it.

DING!

Flower Arrangement skill increased to beginner level 2. Flowers and trees become more vibrant. Growth speed becomes faster.

Affinity to Nature increased by 2.

Fame increased by 25.

The flower the gardner gave was of a kind that grew easily and with the intervention of Weed’s Art stat and Handicraft, the skill level increased in a breath of a moment. Also the flower suited Seo Yoon really well and it was one of the reasons he received a lot of skill mastery.

With the white flower pinned in her hair, Seo Yoon looked really beautiful and gave off a feeling of loveliness. Seo Yoon also pinned a flower next to Weed’s ear. A message window also popped up for her.

Mastery of Flower Arrangement rose slightly.

The white flower pinned on Weed’s hair, withered in the blink of an eye. It was as if some unseen force was sucking up the nutrients!

“I don’t think that flower was healthy.”

Weed thought as such. Even if it wasn’t the truth, his heart wanted to believe otherwise.

To find Fabiane, they went to the second house. But inside were children waiting for their parents to return.

“They went to sell some flowers in the market. My mom knows a place in Serabourg Citadel where a lot of pretty flowers bloom.”

“The evil goblins are appearing frequently so it’s difficult to pluck flowers these days. It will be nice if someone defeats them… For us it’s really important but I think it would be too easy for you to do. I don’t have anything to properly reward you with if you clear out the Goblins so I will ask someone else to handle it.”

Weed’s fame was so high it was difficult for the children to give him a quest. As long as Seo Yoon with her high fame and level. did not deliberately ask to accompany him on the quest, there was no reason to accept it.

And so the third house! A granny with deep wrinkles was sitting by the window sill, looking at the yellow flowers.

“Are you perhaps Fabian-nim?”

“For a young man to come looking for me, what did you come here for?”

“I came here to learn more about Queen Evane.”

“It’s not a story that should be told on the street. Please come inside the house.”

As the door opened Weed and Seo Yoon entered her house.

“Please have this while you ask all your questions. You mustn’t skip your meals when you are young.”

The food Fabiane brought them was poached potatoes!

Completing quests in Serabourg Citadel blessed them with meals. Truthfully, one of the most developed businesses in Serabourg Citadel was the food industry. There wasn’t any old traditional food but the restaurants, steakhouses, and seafood buffets were famous. Through the development of a Chef’s daring menu, they could even open a speciality restaurant serving monsters as food.

“Nom nom, this is shockingly good.”

“It’s nice to see you eating it deliciously. I have plenty of potatoes so eat as much as you want.”

“Is it too much to ask if you could pack some for the road?”

“I heard you are quite a famous adventurer… it won’t be a problem to pack you a basket.”

Even while sharing such conversation, Weed was peeling off the potatoes skin fast like a ghost.

Translation Notes

Woodsorrel or 사랑초 in korean might be a double meaning. As (사랑)초 means (love) and also the meaning behind the flower is ‘늘 당신과 함께 하겠습니다’ or ‘Always with you’

Chapter 8: Diary of Queen Evane

“I heard that Queen Evane had written a diary.”

“Where did you hear that… There were only a few people who knew she kept a diary.... Ah, did Elzase Unni tell you this?”

“Yes, she did.”

“I see, you were sent by Unni. Thinking about it, it’s been so long since I lost contact with her. Though, sorry to say, I don’t know what’s written inside the Queen’s diary.”

“Then do you know where I can find this diary?”

“I need to search my memories.”

Fabian closed her eyes seemingly viewing into distant memories.

Wagu Wagu.

The only sound reverberating inside the room was Weed munching on potatoes. After his fifth potato, Fabiane opened her eyes again.

“It’s been a long time so I can’t be sure, but the diary won’t be at the Star Palace where the Queen was staying. A month before she died, she went to her hometown. After that, I never saw that diary again. Perhaps she hid it someplace?”

You have acquired information regarding Queen Evane’s diary.

Weed had a reasonable idea of the location of the diary. It was probably hidden at the hometown where the Queen used to play together with Zahab.

“Then, please take care.”

Weed really did take a basket full of potatoes with him and went over the mountain behind Serabourg Citadel. He arrived at the village Queen Evane used to live in and went to the big tree where Zahab used to make his sculptures.

“It’s probably this place.”

When Adventurers used the Detection skill they received a slithery feeling from places related to the quest objective. As Weed did not have such a skill, he had to actually dig the ground up to find out.

“Let’s get started.”

He took out a spade and began to dig the ground. Through the effect of his Mining skill, the ground was dug up quickly under his spadework! After digging 1 meter deep, he found a wooden chest.

You have unearthed Queen Evane’s hidden chest

Fame increased by 265.

The excavation of Queen Evane’s chest improved the adventurer’s record. If you report this to the Adventurer’s guild you could receive a small reward.

Weed opened the wooden chest. Inside was a pair of rusted keys, a small hand mirror and a book.

You have obtained a key to the Star Palace.

You have obtained a key for a secret room.

You have obtained a mirror that shows the truth.

You have obtained a tear soaked diary of Queen Evane.

Weed checked the keys first.

“Identify!”

Star Palace Key

Durability 2/4

Key to allow Queen Evane entrance to the palace.

Option: Bravery +1

It was the key to open the sealed palace of Queen Evane. Currently the rumors mentioned that after it was abandoned, monsters began to live in the palace.

“I never heard of anything suggesting the Star Palace is open. Then this must be the key that opens the palace. Onto the next item… Identify!”

This time, Weed placed the key to the secret room on the palm of his hand.

Secret Room Key

Durability 1/4

This is the key to open a secret room somewhere.

There is nothing that especially distinguishes this.

It is greatly damaged so it will be difficult to use this several times.

Option: After 4 uses, it will be destroyed.

“Identify!”

Truth Showing Hand Mirror

Durability 14/25

A hand mirror encrusted with precious jewels.

Made of special material, divine power is flowing through it.

Reveals falsehoods and visions, leads one back to the way of truth.

Could be used at a particular place.

Restrictions: Cannot be used by murderers and evil men.

When dancers, bards or priests equip this item, the effect of this item doubles.

Option: Intelligence, Wisdom +7.

Charm +23.

Maximum value of mana increase by 11%.

Faith increase by 38.

In a specific place, it will lead you the way.

“This doesn’t look ordinary...”

Weed sniffed up the many satisfying scents coming from the quest items. Then he opened up the last item left, the diary, and began reading. The diary was not written consistently everyday. There was an entry every one or two months, written whenever it was necessary. There were some parts that were unreadable due to the tear marks, but overall they were not a hindrance.

16th January

I would rather live free than be a queen.

With Zahab...

Like back then… The happy OO ti OO me…

19th March

Will Zahab come to see me again?

The happiest m O ments in my life was seeing him making those sculptures.

If only I could return back to the time when I was young and innocent.

7th April

I want to see Zahab.

My heart will always follow him.

If only I was not OOO then I could be ha OO py OO with Zahab…

6th June

I am gathering trustworthy people to protect Rosenheim Kingdom.

We are prepared to die.

Though I am queen, I will tie my fate with them.

1st September

Embinyu Church.

I think I have rushed too much.

They figured out my involvement.

11th September

The spy ‘Yiorlin’ who is providing information on the Embinyu Church has sent a message.

Assassins have been sent to kill me.

I want to se O Zahab one last time.

14th September

I am burying this diary at the place I have many happy memories with him.

You have acquired information regarding Queen Evane’s death.

Reemergence of Embinyu Church!

Weed was still as he chewed over the content of the diary. But his brain spun faster than when he tried to scam for Yellowy’s feed. All his perception was in agreement.

‘Queen Evane and Zahab. This chain quest is connected to the Embinyu Church.’

Weed came here after meeting Zahab first. The friendship he had earned then was to be used for a situation like this.

‘It’s to fight the Embinyu Church with Zahab and bring them into account for the death of Queen Evane!’

Although the story was different, there was a time when he had fought with the Embinyu Church in the North. When the Queen’s death was all but forgotten, and when meeting the guy who loved her, it was all a scenario that pointed toward the sculptor gaining vengeance against the Embinyu Church!

‘This was a rushed action, it’s like going to a meat buffet and eating only 5 rolls of gimbap before the meat is ready.’

He was sorely regretting his past actions.

‘I should have guessed that the quest would not end with meeting him!’

There were many different thoughts in his head but it was pointless regretting it now.

Weed took the items and returned to the old handmaiden Elzase.

“The Queen’s diary! I could have never imagined it would be found again. Did you meet Fabiane?”

“Yes, I met with her. She was living in the alleyway behind the market district.”

“Oh, is that so. Even though she is living so close by, after I left the castle I never contacted her so I never knew. The reason was because somehow the handmaidens serving the Queen were dying one by one.”

DING!

‘A Suspicious Diary Somewhere’ Completed

The diary of Queen Evane was buried in the ground where she was happy with Zahab.

Fame increased by 17.

Experience increased by a very small amount.

Seeing Weed’s level was so high, the easy quest did not even give experience worth mentioning.

The handmaiden opened the diary and read through it.

“My word, how could something like this...! So there was such a secret behind the Queen’s death. But I think it’s too late now.”

“What?”

“It would have been alright if you came 3 month ago… The royal knight Yiorlin died due to a monster attack.”

“.....”

“It’s too sad what happened to the Queen. Except for this diary there is absolutely no proof about the tragic death of the Queen… The relevant people are not even around now. There is only little old me and Sculptor-nim so I don’t know how we can avenge her.”

DING!

Quest, ‘Deliver the Diary’ did not materialize.

Suspension in the chain quest!

There was a great emptiness that came upon Weed.

‘I came too late.’

The Embinyu Church was already spread widely in Rosenheim Kingdom. Also the related incidents already occurred. Because he came too late, the quest disappeared halfway.

“But if it wasn’t for adventurer-nim, then this old lady would have always just brooded about what happened. Although the Queen and Zahab-nim loved each other, they couldn’t be together and in the end we couldn’t even avenge the Queen.”

"……."

“Perhaps this was for the better. The Queen and Zahab-nim would not have wanted revenge. You must have experienced a lot of hardship because of my unreasonable request.”

Fame increased by 13.

Weed feebly left the old handmaiden’s house. He couldn’t even pack the poached potatoes this time.

*****

On the street, Seo Yoon asked.

“Will you return to Morata?”

“No. We came all the way here and also got the key, we should try going to the Star Palace.”

Weed went to the castle and with the key he opened Queen Evane’s Star Palace. While the castle in Rosenheim Kingdom had many players visiting to meet the nobles and officials, no one went close to the abandoned Star Palace.

Dungeon, you are the first to discover the Star Palace

Privileges: Fame increased by 1,700.

Double experience and item drop rate for one week.

Monsters hunted for the first time will drop the best possible item that it can.

Bravery increased by 3 for entering the Star Palace.

“Let’s hunt to our heart’s content.”

Inside the Star Palace, old artworks were hidden like treasures and there were rooms hidden with gold articles. This dungeon was luxurious!

Usually in dungeons where only low level monsters appeared, the whole place had to be searched to earn a piece of bronze but here it was filled with treasure. After the death of Queen Evane, the palace was left to rot and turned into a dungeon through a mysterious curse.

The Star Palace was littered with souls of maids, knights, and soldiers who died with regret. The reason was unknown but there was a lot of grotesque monsters called Burgle.

“This is quite a dangerous dungeon.”

At Weed and Seo Yoon’s level, the lingering souls were easy to handle. But the Burgle monsters charged with incredible speed and thrust themselves into battle, not only was their level mid 400, they were extremely dangerous. Fortunately the monsters didn't rush them all at once, so compared to hunting in the Grapass region, it was considerably easier.

“Call: Death Knight Van Hawk, call: Vampire Lord Torido!”

Weed summoned Torido and Van Hawk and fought together with Seo Yoon. When Seo Yoon wasn’t with him, he cautiously hunted the outskirt of the dungeon with Death Knight Van Hawk using Radiant Sword.

“KIEEEEK!”

Radiant Sword was effective against curse type monsters, also the skill mastery increased easily but nothing new came out of the light yet. But still, the Burgles had great strength which made them difficult to deal with. Even if he used his skill, the Burgles bashed in with their shield and pushed in, whirling their great swords.

In the morning when the Radiant Sword became weaker, Weed went to the Square and made sculptures.

“Doing this reminds me of back then.”

Lost in his memories he started making sculptures of deer, foxes, and rabbits. Truthfully, these were the shapes he sculpted the most, but it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say these shapes laid the basis of his sculpting skill.

“Tsk tsk, you don’t make sculptures like that.”

While Weed was carving his sculptures, a player who looked the same age as him approached.

“Yes?”

“I am also a sculptor, shall I teach you some tricks?”

This player’s class was also a sculptor!

The place Weed was at was a good spot where people had to cross to reach the Square’s fountain. Blacksmith and seamstress were a given but especially, there were many sculptors sitting there and doing business. While players with other classes wouldn’t be interested, Serabourg Citadel in Rosenheim Kingdom was like a holy land to the sculptors! It was to the point that making and selling sculptures here was recommended in message boards as a way for sculptors to grow.

“My sculpting skill is beginner level 4 but my specialties lie in making deer, foxes, rabbits, and wolves. I have made over 10 thousand of them.”

“Why did you make so many of the same images?”

“This is a secret only the sculptors in Rosenheim Kingdom know, this secret is from the peerless hero birthed from Rosenheim Kingdom! The War God and the Great Sculptor Weed did the exact same thing.”

Weed’s eyes were bleak and for the first time he looked around his surroundings, observing the different sculptors all making foxes and such sculptures. These were the many unfortunate sacrificial lambs copying his growth method.

Truthfully, sculptures were sold as souvenirs in Serabourg Citadel so the sculptors financial situation became better. But compared to the sculptors, artists were still scraping by as they had to continually buy paint.

“While the public wouldn’t know, sculpting is a path that is harder than they can imagine.”

Weed nodded his head. Just continually making deer and foxes had truly no bottom or end, it was like walking perpetually to the same spot.

“Most people give up after only a few days, but to become like Weed-nim this is a phase that must be passed.”

“So after you make the basic sculptures in the city, what happens next?”

“After we gather 1,000 sculptors, we are planning to make a pyramid and a sphinx.”

The wrong path of suffering and hardship that Weed laid down, was now walked on and expanded without any change by the next generation.

*****

Park Jin Suk met with chairman Jeong Deuk Soo.

“I don’t think Seo Yoon even notices me. She is so indifferent it’s hard to talk with her. Is there any good method that I can try?”

When she came back from university, she did not go out again. There was no reason for Seo Yoon to accept his proposal for a date at a sudden notice. He had to try and get to know her gradually but Seo Yoon had no openings. Rather Park Jin Suk became more fretful.

“Then how about playing Royal Road?”

“Royal Road?”

“My daughter spends a lot of time in Royal Road, meeting her there might be more comfortable. Perhaps you haven’t played it yet?”

“I am already playing it. These days there is no one that hasn’t played Royal Road.”

Park Jin Suk thought this was a brilliant idea. His class in Royal Road was a hunter. While hunters could not wear heavy armor, they could use a variety of weapons, do archery, and install and dismantle traps. It was a versatile class with comparable strength and vitality.

“You could go hunting with my daughter at least.”

“Then we could easily become closer.”

Royal Road was a game that made and broke apart many a couple. In Park Jin Suk’s case, just getting to talk with Seo Yoon was all he could hope for.

“But there is one person my daughter frequents with...”

“I heard she had a man. But from my understanding, they aren’t deeply involved. I can understand that with Seo Yoon’s beauty many men would follow after her.

“Isn’t it? However she plays Royal Road often with that man.”

“Do you know who he is?”

“The character name is said to be Weed.”

“Weed? It’s really a common name.”

Weed was a name spread out and used so commonly in Royal Road, it wasn't much of a help to Park Jin Suk. Truthfully, Park Jin Suk was an ardent fan of Weed. But he was a bit disappointed learning that this rival copied the name for his character.

“I think he was called the War God in Royal Road.”

“What?”

“He became quite famous after beating some monsters.”

Chairman Jeong Deuk Soo didn’t think it was important and spoke unassumingly, but Park Jin Suk was a diehard fan who liked all of Weed’s adventures so much he memorized them. The name highlighted in stations broadcasting Royal Road dozens of times per day was Weed, Orc Karichwi, Undead Legion and Morata.

*****

Park Jin Suk waited for Seo Yoon at her front door, arranging for the time she came back from university. Seo Yoon was approaching from afar and when she reached her door and tried to enter he spoke.

“Excuse me, I have a request.”

“......”

Seo Yoon did not ignore him but also did not enter through her front door, she did not even turn to face him. It was because she already knew the reason why he approached her.

“Um, I heard that you hunt with Weed-nim in Royal Road. Is it possible that I can meet Weed-nim at least once?”

Rivalry was a rivalry but Park Jin Suk as a fan in Royal Road wanted to meet Weed at least once. However Seo Yoon shook her head in a negative manner. This could cause her inconvenience as nothing would expose Weed into the open as this.

“I really want to know what kind of person he is, I just want to meet him for a brief moment and chat with him.”

“.......”

“With my character level, I would definitely lose but I want to ask for a duel with Weed-nim and kinda learn some tricks from him as well.”

Park Jin Suk also wanted to sincerely date Seo Yoon. Through this he thought he could establish a connection with her. While the start would be rocky, afterwards he thought he would have a chance to become closer with her. It was a calculated proposal with a multistage plan.

When Seo Yoon heard it was for a duel, she gave a small nod.

“Rosenheim Kingdom…..”

“I need to go to Rosenheim Kingdom?”

Hearing Seo Yoon’s beautiful voice, Park Jin Suk’s happiness went through the roof.

“Come to the mountain behind Serabourg Citadel.”

“I am currently with some friends in Brent Kingdom. It’s not far from where I am. I will get there as fast as I can. ”

*****

“Robin, is it really true?”

“I am telling you, we are going to meet War God Weed right now.”

Hunter Robin. He brought a lot of his friends to the mountain behind Serabourg Citadel. Tingling with excitement at the prospect of meeting War God Weed! He was a figure that was harder to meet personally than the head’s of famous guilds.

After hearing that they could meet him personally, Robin, who wanted to see Morata, and his friends stopped their dungeon hunt and came immediately. When they arrived, Weed was no where in sight except for Seo Yoon who was standing in full armor.

Robin and his friends were grinning as they approached her.

“Weed-nim hasn’t arrived yet?”

They were tolerant of Weed’s lateness as they haven’t set an exact time,. And if they could talk to Seo Yoon while waiting for Weed, it would be even better.

However Seo Yoon hadn’t even told Weed someone was coming to see him.

As a rule, one should think deeply about the reason for a meeting behind the mountain!

SHIIIIING.

Berserker Seo Yoon unsheathed her sword.

*****

Weed was waiting at the entrance of the Star Palace for Seo Yoon.

“She’s a bit late today.”

She was someone who kept the exact time for a meeting, so he started making sculptures leisurely believinsg she wouldn’t be too late. Weed was making sculptures in the depth of the night but he did not feel any fear. Because if a ghost appeared he could hunt it in a instant!

Sabak Sabak.

He lifted his head as he could finally hear the footsteps of Seo Yoon approaching

“You are a bit late…..”

And when he saw Seo Yoon his heart skipped a beat in surprise. Seo Yoon’s name was indicated in red. It meant she was a murderer.

“Did you go somewhere to kill some people?”

Nod, nod.

“How many?”

“8 people.”

With one stroke, Seo Yoon killed Robin and his friends.

“Wow, you killed a lot. How did the fight start?”

“We had different opinions.”

“Was it a problem that couldn’t be solved by talking about it?”

“Ah…..”

Seo Yoo exclaimed in a subdued voice as if she realized something.

“You haven’t tried, have you?”

“.......”

A slight side effect that remained even if they talked about it! When a conflict in opinion arose between Seo Yoon and someone other than Weed, rather than persuading otherwise she went back to her previous habit. If Geomchi was here, he would praise her for such an attitude.

“If you want to remove the murderer status, you will have to do quests or give donations, hunt a lot of evil type of monsters. If you killed 8 people, it won’t be easy to remove the murderer status.”

With the murderer status, she could be attacked by players. They could only tread carefully as her death penalty became more serious.

“Well, let’s just think about how to remove your murderer status while hunting.”

As other players did not come to the Star Palace, he tried to enter and start hunting. But at that moment, something monumental was occurring in Rosenheim Kingdom.

Chapter 9: Embinyu Church Invasion

"Down with the King."

"Kill all the nobles."

"It's Embinyu god's will. Kill all the heretics opposing the Embinyu Church!"

In the vicinity of Serabourg Citadel, an army of 400 thousand appeared.

The emergence of the rebels! It was composed of both peasants from nearby villages and whole armies from the kingdom, converted to following the Embinyu Church. They came under pretense, waving the Rosenheim Kingdom’s flag while being under the banner of the Embinyu god of destruction.

A message window popped up for all active players in Serabourg Citadel and Rosenheim Kingdom.

DING!

The Embinyu Church has begun an incursion into Rosenheim Kingdom’s capital, Serabourg Citadel

A siege has broken out in Serabourg Citadel.

Through magical disturbance, the teleport gate and long range teleportation cannot be used.

“What’s happening?”

“What’s this disturbance in the middle of the night?”

The players buying goods in the market for a hunt with their party members rushed towards the castle wall. Beyond the walls of Serabourg Citadel was the Embinyu Church army, which stretched beyond what the eyes could see.

“Did a war break out?”

“Are we safe here? What is the status of Serabourg Citadel’s defenses?”

The players could not hide their anxiety as they looked around Serabourg Citadel. While it was the capital of Rosenheim Kingdom, it was not prepared for a sudden siege. Even the castle gates were hurriedly closed only after the Embinyu Church appeared. The loyal forces were hastily dispatched but could be seen emerging without even equipping their armor properly.

“Ah, really. I even prepared a great house in Serabourg Citadel.”

“I have a business in the Square!”

“Can the Rosenheim Kingdom repel the enemy?”

“There is no kingdom that has yet driven back the Embinyu Church.”

“What will happen to us when Serabourg Citadel gets taken over?”

The players fell into panic. When there was a monster raid, the monsters were easily eradicated by the kingdom’s forces. It was unfathomable for a flock of monsters to even reach Serabourg Citadel. But with the Embinyu Church, it was a different story. They possessed shamans, priests, summoners, warlocks, and dark paladins. Not only that, beyond the castle wall, the end to the crowds of tamed monsters and cultists couldn’t be seen.

The cultists of Embinyu! They were composed of ordinary residents of Rosenheim Kingdom. They were at least level 200, and by believing in the god of Embinyu, they possessed demonic strength! They feared no death, and by increasing their faith through battle, their level rose fast.

The moonlight revealed the shape of large demons that would be critical in the siege warfare. Along with them the 9th High Priest Belloni, from the 11th sect of the Embinyu Church could be seen.

The army of the Embinyu Church that the players could only see on television, was gathered in front of them.

“Apparently the Embinyu Church is regarding everyone who does not believe in their god to be enemies.”

“Are they going to attack us alongside the Rosenheim Kingdom’s forces?”

“They don’t show mercy to beginners. They are a group that destroys everything in their path.”

Panic was radiating from the people behind the castle wall. The sudden message of siege caused people to run in panic in the streets and about the square. In the Rosenheim Kingdom’s palace, the soldiers and knights finished their battle preparations and were moving out to the castle wall.

“Will they let me live if I surrender and convert to the Embinyu Church?”

“You could join the crowd outside and be safe there, but that is probably the worst possible choice.”

In reality, there were many players in the central continent under Embinyu Church occupation that chose to convert.

“In the beginning, they give you items and teach you Embinyu Church magic for free. But afterwards, you can’t go to other kingdoms, and you start to get notoriety or other bad stats. In the end, you can’t ever leave the Embinyu Church and become one of their minions.”

Death or conversion, only one of the two!

“Then what will happen to us now?”

“Just wait and see. The Rosenheim Kingdom’s forces could drive back the Embinyu Church.”

*****

“Check out Serabourg Citadel. It’s a scoop!”

“Did we dispatch anyone there?”

“There is a female player, Lendelina.”

“Then get us connected to her!”

Every broadcast station was in an emergency. Rosenheim Kingdom was under attack by the Embinyu Church. This was a rare event that couldn’t be seen often, and on top of that, it was about the Embinyu Church, which had spread like a wildfire throughout the continent. That’s why the officials in the broadcast stations were watching the situation with mixed interests.

“Broadcast it live as soon as we are ready! Any station out there that’s already on air?”

“CTS started broadcasting 20 seconds ago.”

“Last time I got into a lot of trouble with the boss for being 4 minutes late… Anyway, switch it on as soon as we are ready. Just show them the video and let’s worry about the rest later. Contact the programming department and call any available support from other teams. And why are the presenters coming so late!”

Every broadcast station erupted in commotion. While they couldn’t suddenly switch to a different program during an important broadcast, most of them initiated a live broadcast because it was a huge incident of the Embinyu Church invading the capital of Rosenheim Kingdom.

Even KMC media’s staff was hurriedly jumping around, but they had a reason for it. They specialized in broadcasting Royal Road, and through their coverage of many incidents from the game, they received recognition from the viewers.

“Our preparations are complete.”

“Get the exact location for each of the delegates, make sure the program switcher transitions the video correctly. Just remember, we are going live without rehearsal so get it right from the start.”

KMC media also initiated a live program. When the broadcast started, the viewers gathered and began to post about Rosenheim Kingdom in various message boards.

“How many players contracted to us are active in Serabourg Citadel?”

“Including Jenkins and Roads, about twenty.”

Information continued to flow to KMC media. It was necessary for them to contract for exclusive information from active adventurers, warriors and magicians for paramount situations such as the invasion by the Embinyu Church.

“Um...”

The head producerPD 1 hesitated in front of Director Kang.

“What got you on edge during a live broadcast?”

“Before Shin Hye Min went behind the host desk, she told me something.”

“What was it?”

“Apparently War God Weed is in Serabourg Citadel right now.”

“Are you sure?”

When the staff of KMC media heard that War God Weed was in Serabourg Citadel, rather than expecting something amazing they couldn’t settle their nervousness. No matter how they saw it, the Embinyu force was too formidable for Weed to do something great.

*****

Weed heard about the Embinyu Church invasion near his rest time.

> Weed-nim, there is war in Serabourg Citadel!

Mapan sent a whisper like he was screaming and other party members sent him a whisper nearly at the same time.

> Where are you? I heard that the Embinyu Church is attacking Serabourg Citadel, are you okay?

> This is Pale. I hope you are safe and what’s happening? I will go there right…

> Did you hear the news? The Embinyu Church...

This wasn’t much, because the number of people on Weed’s friend list that had permission to whisper him weren’t many.

Sabrina: This time, Serabourg Citadel.

Edwin: The Embinyu Church is growing scarily big.

Pin: I think it will be difficult to block them off at Serabourg Citadel.

He also received information from the Travelers of the Wilderness Guild. And...

> Little brother, are you okay?

> I just heard something right now…

> Disciple, people are telling me the place you are at is dangerous.

> What are you doing right now? Are you perhaps in Serabourg Citadel?

The Geomchis sent lines of whispers.

Weed sighed deeply.

“They said scumbags were expected to pay hospital fees when they simply tripped.”

It has been a long time since he came to Serabourg Citadel, but it was truly ridiculous that the Embinyu Church had to attack the moment he was visiting.

“The only thing I can do right now is to observe… Rather, there is one thing that I can do only at this moment. I will regret it for the rest of my life if I miss this chance.”

Weed rushed toward the Square. Seo Yoon followed after him even though she could be attacked by other players in the Square for her PK status. For a PK’er like Seo Yoon to be running around while the Embinyu Church was encamped beyond the wall was unheard of. Nevertheless, the soldiers nearby still took caution and avoided her.

“I need to purchase some items first.”

Weed bargained for items from the stalls.

“With the Embinyu Church outside if you are not careful you could lose all your trade. Take my offer and sell it cheaply to me.”

Buying below the cost wholesale! Weed currently had a capital of over 160 thousand from selling japtem. After seeing Weed’s activity, the merchants soon changed the crowded Square into a wholesale bazaar.

“Selling weapons for cheap.”

“Try putting on some armor. It’s armor that will protect you from the Embinyu Church’s attack!”

“I have general goods. This is an opportunity that comes only once in a lifetime. I am clearing out all my stock.”

Rather than getting all their goods plundered, the merchants were adamant on making just one more penny. The players also crowded to buy necessary items for cheap. The Square was overflowing with passion as people tried to buy and sell.

“Huh, a PKer?”

“There is no time to fight such a person. Just hurry and find the items you need.”

Rather than picking up items by killing the PKer, the goods were being sold for so cheap that the players did not want to miss this opportunity. The merchants also wanted money, because if they died, they would lose less in currency as their goods could be easily looted or lost.

Weed also cleaned out the grocer.

“Give me everything!”

Seo Yoon could not understand how Weed could visit the grocer when Serabourg Citadel was surrounded with battle that could erupt right in front of their noses. Weed’s next action was to go to the castle wall and yelled using his Lion’s Roar.

“Peanuts, squid and soft drinks. Cold soft drinks! Warm potatoes and sweet potatoes to eat while watching the battle!”

This opportunity was too valuable to waste while being swept away by the tension created by the Embinyu Church, an opportunity to make a fortune!

“Please give me two packets of peanuts.”

“Serabourg Citadel is bigger than you can imagine, will two packets do?”

“Then give me four packets please.”

Weed received the money after he gave the peanuts. At the grocers he cleaned out the nuts and other snacks and made massive amounts of profit.

“The characteristics of a natural born merchant.”

The greatest joy for a merchant was to make and swim in money. This magical fun of charging exorbitant prices to the customers during business!

*****

Nom Nom.

“When are they going to attack?”

“The Embinyu Church is kind of amazing. How did they manage to gather such a large force?”

“I think there will be a stunning battle here.”

The players in Serabourg Citadel sat on the wall and the roof of the stores eating snacks and waiting for the battle to start. There were players who chose to watch the spectacle and some unknown number of people participating with the Rosenheim Kingdom’s force.

Impregnable defense of Serabourg Citadel

Fight against the Embinyu Church.

If you stand up for Rosenheim Kingdom, fame and glory will be yours.

Reward: Depends on your achievement in battle.

You can earn the right to become the soldier of the kingdom.

Quest Restriction: If Rosenheim Kingdom disappears, the reward is impossible to claim.

There were many players who joined in the defense as the Embinyu Church indiscriminately looted, slaughtered and caused arson.

The quest also popped up for Weed.

“I need to reject this one.”

With his enormous fame, if he joined in the defense his duplicity with the Rosenheim Kingdom’s force would soar. He could easily be forced to take on the captainship of the castle gate or become an important figure for the defense force. Playing a central role in fighting against the Embinyu Church by taking command of a force of hundreds, or a thousand soldiers.

Weed judged that at the most, the number of soldiers defending Serabourg Citadel was around 20 thousand. However the opposing force, the Embinyu Church, was composed of over 400 thousand cultists and monsters. In addition the Embinyu priests, cursed shamans and paladins could exploit the monsters by depending on their power of evil spirits.

“It will be extremely difficult to defend against that.”

While they could rely on the castle wall to prolong the siege, in the end they would have to face the enemy heroically! If Weed equipped Balkan’s items while under Sculpture Transformation he could have become pivotal to the battle, but due to it’s side effect he could not make an appearance so recklessly. Also, due to the incident at the River of Lamentation, he was sure the Embinyu Church was just waiting for a payback!

“Living comfortably is much better than being immortalized as a hero after death.”

If he accepted the quest to defend Rosenheim Kingdom and deserted it afterwards finding the situation untenable, he would be branded with lasting dishonor. Weed, Seo Yoon, and many others who decided not to participate in the battle adopted a wait and see approach.

Weed’s face was laden with apprehension.

“I hope Rosenheim Kingdom wins...”

Sudden recovery from seriousness to happiness!

“Well, at least I made some money.”

When he thought of his pocket he became happy, but the current situation wasn’t optimistic.

Both the players trapped in Serabourg Citadel and the players affiliated with Rosenheim Kingdom were frustrated.

“Fire!”

At that moment, the vicinity of the mountain top that could be seen far away started burning brightly. It was the signal fire calling for reinforcements from all over Rosenheim Kingdom when Serabourg Citadel was in peril.

The dense crowd of the Embinyu Church army that stretched beyond the pyramid and the sphinx, came closer and closer, dragging their siege weapons with them. Soldiers formed from monsters clanged their weapons and roared in rough voices.

“This is insane.”

“I am getting more worked up from this than from watching a horror movie.”

In Rosenheim Kingdom, knights rode dangerously atop the castle wall and clanged their swords with the soldiers in encouragement.

“For the king!”

“Defend your positions. We just need to endure for one day. Reinforcements are being sent from all the regions in the kingdom.”

It was a scene that lit fires in the heart, but it caused as much fear.

“They are coming.”

“It’s starting.”

Players drooled. At last, the Embinyu Church started firing their siege weapons. While boulders and projectiles were being shot toward the walls, the demons, cultists and Embinyu soldiers charged the castle.

The battle between Serabourg Citadel and the Embinyu Church had begun.

“Fire!”

“Fire everything toward the enemy. Kill them all!”

The Rosenheim Kingdom’s archers and crossbowmen were firing their arrows and bolts. But some of the spells from the Embinyu Church managed to slam the wall.

“Concentrate your fire.”

The forces of Rosenheim Kingdom focused their fire of silver arrows on the charging horned demons, seeing it as a greater danger than the monsters or human enemies.

– GWRAAAR!

The archers on the wall shot enchanted and fire arrows that struck into the ponderous demons that lumbered toward them. After a flurry of attacks, the massive demons collapsed, losing their balance as they tried to take another large step. Pandemonium erupted as the 20 meter tall demons collapsed on the Embinyu Church’s soldiers.

“Honor the sacrifice for the gods of Embinyu!”

“Kill the enemy and take your own life.”

The cultists and monster troops darkened the castle walls.

“Endure!”

“We can fight them off.”

The cultists and monsters of Embinyu stacked their ladders and threw vines starting their climb of the wall. Magic attacks like Frost Wind and Sand Vortex flew at the soldiers on top of Serabourg Citadel’s wall.

The magicians of Rosenheim Kingdom entered the fray.

“River of Endless Fire!”

As the magicians thrust out their hands, the ground split and set the path into conflagration.

At that moment, a screech was heard from above and the Embinyu Church’s Wyvern Riders made their appearance. Unlike Wy-Three whom Weed sculpted, these Wyverns were extremely fast, sly, and brutal without compare. The Wyvern Riders descended from the clouds, throwing their spears and used their swords to attack the magicians and the soldiers below.

If it wasn’t for Royal Road, this battle would have only happened in dreams.

A small part of the players in Serabourg Citadel did feel exhilarated as they could watch the battle up close, but they were also electrified by the magnificence before them.

As time passed, the demons of the Embinyu Church became more aggressive. The large demons that were over 3 meters swayed their horns as they bashed into the castle gate. Some monsters climbed the walls like spiders. The Embinyu Church cultists clung to their spears and sword like weapons, pickaxes and cleavers and came like tidal waves. Warlocks made fireballs fall from the sky and filled the walls with agonizing cries.

*****

Weed stealthily backed away from the place where he was watching the ongoing battle.

“The wall won’t last long.”

Being the capital of Rosenheim Kingdom, Serabourg Citadel was quite large. The knights and soldiers were resisting the enemy advances, but the waves of the Embinyu Church were too colossal. Here and there flares soared up and walls gave a rumble as they collapsed.

But the Embinyu Church who was waging war in this place was not a power that could win against the whole might of the Rosenheim Kingdom. Along the border with Brent Kingdom and monster infested territories, Rosenheim Kingdom set up fortresses and outposts with permanent garrisons. But in Serabourg Citadel, the royal knights and the guards were being driven back by the Embinyu Church forces.

“At this rate Serabourg Citadel and the palace will be toppled and then...”

The whole public order of Rosenheim Kingdom would collapse. The Embinyu Church would spread everywhere unchecked and the Kingdom would be on the path to ruin. The whole of Rosenheim Kingdom could become a hunting ground seething with monsters like the few regions on the Central continent and mountains of quests asking to defeat the Embinyu Church would be generated.

Either voluntarily or under the command of the king, famously difficult quests were generated in Royal Road that concentrated on the rebels but not one kingdom has yet to successfully drive off the Embinyu Church. Rather there were mass exodus of players from the kingdom, leading to it’s downfall.

“I should escape before it’s too late.”

Weed rolled his eyes. Outside the castle were the Embinyu Church army with hundreds of Wyvern Riders controlling the sky. To survive he had to escape the castle but there was only the perilous way out.

As Weed looked around several guild members or friends bunched together looking for an opportunity to bolt outside.

“Looking for people to escape together. Calling for Warriors.”

“Anyone know how to ride a horse? Planning to get away on a horse through the South gate. Looking for people to come along. Preference to people over level 300!”

“Anyone who can protect a merchant? If anyone could give safe passage I will give a 2000 gold protection fee. I am giving up my carriage, I just need to come out alive!”

The Square and the street were in a pandemonium as players sought for refuge. Even the ordinary NPC residents planned to escape. As the Embinyu Church slaughtered everyone with indifference, once all the residents were killed it would be impossible to re-establish Rosenheim Kingdom. Countless quests would disappear, technology would be lost forever, and manufactured goods would decrease leading to irrecoverable loss.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the appearance of the Embinyu Church is a true catastrophe.

“With the situation like this, we should escape as well.”

“Yes.”

Weed and Seo Yoon decided to squeeze in with the most influential group.

“Excuse me, two Warriors...”

“Our party is full.”

“Is there a place for two people?”

“We don’t accept strangers.”

Even at this moment, the people were lording over the newcomers. The high level players grouped together to survive by themselves. If people wanted to join in, they had to pay for admission and there was a chance that they could be abandoned during critical moments.

“Excuse me, two warriors that know how to contribute.”

“Ah, it’s the merchants that sold peanuts for an exorbitant price.”

“......”

This way, that way, it was difficult for Weed and Seo Yoon to join any group. With Seo Yoon’s PK status it was like entering the eye of a needle. Back then Weed had received PK status after hunting in Todeum, but in extreme cases a PKer could be attacked by soldiers so their movements were restricted.

All heads of the groups and guilds had a meeting.

“In a short while the wall and the gates will collapse. When the Rosenheim Kingdom’s forces are fighting, let’s rush out all at once.”

“Everyone rushing to a different direction.... Then we will head east.”

“Then we will head west.”

“Us, the south. The Embinyu Church will be to preoccupied with seizing Serabourg Citadel, if we penetrate through the encirclement I don’t think they will chase after us.”

All groups coordinated their escape plans. But the group of 8 people that Weed and Seo Yoon were part of only looked around.

“Which direction should we run to?”

“I am going to the east. Karless-nim is part of it, so the chances of survival are highest there.”

“I am heading out through the south gate. Doesn’t look like many monsters are gathered there yet.”

The beginners were all forsaken to themselves but they had no choice but to be part of the escape plan. They would receive no protection as each group departed Serabourg Citadel. Rather the chance was high that they would be used as monster bait, but the beginners had very little options left to them.

“Sigh, we don’t have the capability to follow after them.”

“Us under level 100, let’s just die fighting the Embinyu Church when they break through.”

The beginners sat at the Square in self-abandonment and each group separated, leading their people according to their favorable escape plan.

Weed fell in deep worry.

“No, never like this...”

If he revealed himself now, no group would reject him. He might be called a coward behind his back but something like that was a natural progression of life, something to endure and overcome. A sacrifice that liberates the underdogs!

Any end of the world movie had a touching moment where through the actions of a few heroes, many survive. But rather than becoming a hero, Weed wanted to be that one person who survived till the end. Sentimentality with devotion and sacrifice just made life difficult.

“I must avoid falling into that temptation. Must never fall into temptation.”

Weed saw many people sitting helplessly in front of him. Befitting of the capital of Rosenheim Kingdom, there were many beginners. There were youths, heads of households and even elderly.

‘If I ignore them, then most of them will die.’

Weed closed his eyes tightly.

‘Let me just take the coward's way out. Besides, not one person gave me a helping hand in my time of desperation.’

Chapter 10: Escape from Serabourg Citadel

Translated by EE, Proofread by Bloodadept, Britsch, Froshi, Shadowlink, MrBaconator

“Yeah, you only live once. Receiving condemnation for being manipulative and stingy is nothing!”

Weed made his decision. He would escape together with Seo Yoon.

At that precise moment, Selina who owned a flower store in Serabourg Citadel approached him.

“I beg of you, please save us!”

“I don’t have that kind of power...”

“I heard it from the flowers and the trees. You are the one that can save us.”

DING!

Evacuation of the Civilians

From the plants, Selina has found out the truth of your many achievements. While it is a difficult task, the only person who can defend the denizens from the Embinyu Church is you. In Serabourg Citadel, the only person who can save the civilians in this perilous situation is the one who has experienced the most adventures.

Difficulty: A

Reward: A bracelet made of flowers from Selina.

Quest Restrictions: Fame decreases every time a civilian dies.

If you reject the quest, infamy will spread.

After this, it will not be possible to perform quests from Rosenheim Kingdom.

Just by accepting the quest your reputation will improve.

Quests that came round the clock. His fame and quest achievements were at such a level that not only people, but flowers and trees were delivering requests!

“Huk, this path is fraught with difficulty...”

Weed furtively glimpsed at the flower bracelet Selina wore from the corner of his eyes. Selina’s flower bracelet was exactly as described, a bracelet weaved from flowers. The flowers looked to be made by children in their playtime, but as Weed observed carefully it was not an ordinary item.

These precious flowers were purported to be found only in the High Elves’ forest. The flowers had special strength as they did not wither or die after they were plucked and even now, they were still alive on Selina’s arm.

‘I heard of stories about this kind of items being worn by the High Elves.’

An adventurer who visited a High Elf village reported seeing it in their store. It was said that the price was astronomical but imbued within was a generous amount of Elemental and Power of Nature. If he could equip Selina’s flower bracelet on top of Baharan’s bracelet he was wearing, then he would no longer want any other bracelet.

Weed changed his tune.

“Even though I lack the strength, I was planning to do my best to save the people. Though I don’t know if it’s within my power to do so, I will still give my all regardless!”

You have accepted the Quest.

Your reputation among the people of Rosenheim Kingdom has been revised to ‘Savior’.

While the quest was unexpected, the number of civilians Weed could take with him while facing off with the Embinyu Church was not many. How many people could he possibly lead beyond the wall to somewhere safe?

The square of Serabourg Citadel had tens of thousands of newbies who lost their will and just sat around. With their low level, it was easy for them to succumb to the feeling of helplessness in this large battle and give up. The same newbies who threw themselves into the bush as they got scared of a single deer running toward an apple tree far away!

But there were some who did not depart due to family members being novices, some who were ill prepared to evacuate, and some who were lost and wandering around looking for their party members. It wasn’t just the NPCs, but players as well that were both floundering around hopelessly. But there were about 200 high level players staying behind to fight due to their guilty conscience.

Given the uproar of battle that could be heard from the walls, there wasn’t much time left.

Weed canceled his skill.

“Release Sculpture Transformation.”

His form changed back from the transformation and returned to it’s original state. It would be impossible to lead the people to safety with a general form.

“I will have to craft it quickly.”

Taking out his sculpting knife, Weed went toward the ornamental statue nearby. It was a big, decorative dragon statue.

Sak Sak!

Every time Weed’s sculpting knife moved, the stones chipped away revealing an existence that would ring out and abandon men, women and children.

*****

Every station was relaying the scene of Serabourg Citadel, centering around the wall and the Embinyu Church.

“It’s astonishing. At this rate, it will only be a matter of time till the Embinyu Church gains control over Serabourg Citadel.”

“With the Embinyu Church’s influence spreading from even Rosenheim Kingdom, they can only become a huge threat in the future.”

“In the Central continent many players are especially flocking to Haven Kingdom as it has largely avoided the Embinyu Church’s wave of destruction.”

“Another Rain of Fire Stone is being cast! The walls and the houses nearby are burning..”

The hosts were explaining their concerns on the expansion of the Embinyu Church. They chatted about the spells being cast, about the race and level of monsters comprising the Embinyu Church and their attack methods.

As the show continued, the NKS station switched their view to the square to show the despair and misery of the players.

“The players need to set up an escape plan quickly. Once the wall of Serabourg Citadel falls, death is inevitable. This is really cruel to the beginners.”

“Death is unavoidable for these people gathered at the square bereft of all hope whatsoever.”

As the host was speaking, it was not the same scene of people slumping weakly just a few minutes ago. Tens of thousands of people were now standing, looking over at something.

“What is that?”

“It seems like something is being shaped. The person is using a sculpting skill.”

One man was making a sculpture. The decorative statue of the dragon was being transformed into something else. With never before seen, astounding elaborateness and daring handling of the sculpting knife.

*****

“It’s a sculptor!”

“Perhaps… But no, it couldn’t be.”

“There is no way it could be him. But this is his starting place...”

The person who the players all hoped for, the War God Weed.

Once Weed started sculpting, few people nearby became curious. Then as the sculpture progressed, everyone forgot the impending disaster and watched.

Sak Sak.

The sculpture Weed was creating was far from being beautiful. Weed was only known to make breathtaking sculptures, but still the people hoped against hope that this sculptor might be Weed.

“Something ordinary won’t do. I have to completely relieve the battle. It must be something tenacious and durable. Something with the vitality and health to survive till the end.”

After agonizing through several choices, the form of the sculpture he chose was a troll. An ice troll. Compared to an orc, it was twice as big with longer arms and well developed muscles. But it also had a large pot belly.

“Power comes from the belly after all!”

Furthermore the limbs were thick and sturdy like a polar bear.

When a sculpture was expressing a particular race, it’s appearance and figure could be made more distinctive. The unused sculpting skill Weed developed while making figures of the male orc warrior endlessly was being re-discovered while he was sculpting the troll.

“This won’t do. The face is way too placid like that of a goat. There is no way a face like this would cause terror on the battle field.”

Weed really didn’t like how the face of the Ice Troll turned out. The eyelids were too sunken making the cheekbones look to protruding. It had a large head with equally large teeth reminiscent of a crocodile. Because of the size of the head, there were a minimum of 6 knife marks gouged on the forehead and chin.

If Orc Karichwi was to be picked as the number one thug in the nation, then this appearance was enough to take the heinous Orc Karichwi’s lunch box!

“Waaaa!”

“Sob sob.”

The women and children among the denizens of Serabourg Citadel started crying as they saw the sculpture. Due to Weed’s sculpting skill, the troll look like it was alive and animate.

“It’s truly a shame that this is a rushed work.”

If he could have made it as he imagined, the forehead would be more bumpy, the chin would be further jutted and distinct in its two halves and the ears wouldn’t have looked so normal.

“It would have been better if the tongue was split into three strips and darted in and out repeatedly.”

The sculpture was already the sum of the best traits picked from the whole Ice Troll species to give the most menacing impression, but Weed was striving for a higher state of artistic mastery.

Please set a name for your sculpture.

“Battle Hungry Ice Troll.”

Weed chose such name as it was possible he would have to fight till the bitter end.

Is ‘Battle Hungry Ice Troll’ correct?

“Yes. Let’s fight till I die.”

Sculpture ‘Battle Hungry Ice Troll’ has been completed!

A reinterpreted work created by deconstructing another sculptor’s piece.

The Dragon has been converted to an Ice Troll.

The previously completed work was not so substandard, but a sculptor that has ascended to mastery state has had his hand on it.

Still, leaving it as it was might have been better.

Artistic Value: 3

Special Option: Anyone who has seen the, ‘Battle Hungry Ice Troll’ will regenerate health and mana 8% faster for one day.

Healing of any injuries will be 7% faster.

Intelligence and Wisdom decrease by 25.

Charm has disappeared.

Strength increased by 41.

Agility increased by 5.

Mastery of sculpting skill increased.

For the completion of the beast monster sculpture, fame increased by 16.

For the insolent destruction of the original sculpture, fame decreased by 143.

Dignity and Art stat decreased by 1 each.

Weed was okay with whatever criticism people had of him.

“The most important thing about art is self-satisfaction.”

The completion of the sculpture was seen by many people gathered in the square and those who were watching through the live broadcast.

The noise of mayhem and chaos coming from the walls was indescribable. Each group was readying themselves to escape. With this frantic activities in the background, Weed hid himself in a large fabric and activated his skill.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

Sculpture Transformation has been activated

The endless love for sculpting has created the bridge between sculptor and the sculpture!

Weed’s body became bigger, his belly bulged out. His skin became completely white. The white, rather than giving off a noble or pure feeling, just made him look more dangerous due to his fierce expression.

Because of the mismatched size of your equipment with your changed shape, most of your equipped weapons and items cannot be used.

You can now wear the intermediate steel armor.

Please acquire necessary equipment based on your race or appearance.

Due to the effect of Sculpture Transformation, your strength and health has increased greatly. Because of the race trait, your health regeneration became faster. Intelligence and Wisdom has been reduced to an insignificant level. Failure rate of battle related skills has been steeply increased.

Intelligence, Wisdom, Art, Faith, Charm, Dignity has all declined greatly.

Applicable till Sculpture Transformation has been released.

Affinity to Nature has been applied, strengthening the cold effects emanating from the Ice Troll. +239%

Weed liked the change to his physical condition.

“With this overflowing strength, the only thing left to do is fight. Status Window!”

Character Name

Weed

Disposition

Monster

Level

406

Race

Ice Troll

Health

376,271

Mana

1,650

Strength

1,428

Agility

1,395

Vitality

1,684

Wisdom

15

Intelligence

11

Fighting Spirit

719

Endurance

662

Perseverance

959

Art

70

Charisma

462

Leadership

751

Luck

3

Faith

5

Charm

8

Resilience

881

Dignity

6

Concentration

152

Courage

170

*Ice Troll race traits are active.

Health and Vitality regenerates faster, cold is emanating from the body.

Following the change, skill mastery has been adjusted to beginner level 8.

Such one sided conditions! Stats increased proportional as level went up and it could be increased further with effort. Through questing, Weed had managed to raise his battle and sculpting stats quite high. But all that was converted to strength, agility, vitality, resilience and perseverance.

“This is good.”

Weed’s voice changed, becoming deeper but still resonated loudly.

When the fabric was pulled off people became shocked in finding that the number of Ice Troll sculptures increased to two. The new Ice Troll’s skin was snow white and even began to move. This was a huge reveal to the rest of the world on the secret of the Sculpture Transformation but it did not matter as others could not use the skill until they learned it.

Weed shouted loudly rather than using the Lion’s Roar, due to the mana expenditure and the possibility of failing the technique.

“I am Weed!”

“Uwaaaaaaaaaaa!”

*****

Surka, hearing the news about Serabourg Citadel, was restlessly worrying with her party members.

“What if something bad happens to Weed-nim? Moreover, Weed-nim has many enemies already.”

In Royal Road, it was a common occurrence for the auspicious players to find a knife behind their backs or be ambushed in dungeons. And for a player that Hermes Guild was publicly targeting to be trapped in a castle surrounded by the Embinyu Church! Could there be anything more awful than this?

Pale patted her softly.

“Someone of Weed-nim’s caliber can escape from anywhere so don’t worry too much. Even if someone wants to kill him, he won’t die.”

“Yeah, you are right. No matter how many weeds you pull out they just grow back, even if you spray insecticide on cockroaches they just don’t die.”

“Yes, you are totally right.”

If it was Weed, he would be perfectly fine. He was a person who would try to make money by creating a hot spring in the fiery pits of hell!

The party was currently hanging out in Morata’s tavern, watching the broadcast about the situation. Though the Embinyu Church’s invasion force was tremendous, they were confident that Weed, a user of any unscrupulous methods, could escape easily.

But as the view turned to someone who was making a sculpture, people in the tavern turned white.

“Could it be Weed-nim…..”

“Maybe?”

For a person to be making a sculpture where all the newbies were!

“I just can’t imagine Weed-nim to be doing something so out of character.”

This was the same Weed who grumbled about how hard it was to exploit the newbies, they remembered this vividly. Was it really this Weed who stayed behind for these beginners?

On the screen, it showed Weed turning into an Ice Troll and shouting.

“I am Weed!”

At that moment the deafening cheers of newbies and players gathered at the square of Serabourg was shown on the broadcast.

“Haccck!”

“It’s Weed-nim. Weed-nim is in the Rosenheim Kingdom!”

“War God Weed is on right now.”

The streets of Morata were in a pandemonium.

“Since when did Weed-nim go to Serabourg Citadel?”

“As expected! There is no way he would leave the weak behind and run away by himself. I knew it.”

“Do you think he knew the Embinyu Church would attack and went ahead? You know, to save the people there.”

“Yeah, it might be like that.”

“We don’t respect Weed for nothing.”

The players in Morata were once again misled about Weed!

Pale, Zephyr and even Mapan were becoming uncertain.

‘Is it really like that?’

‘I don’t think I knew Weed-nim’s true character till now, he’s a soft hearted and very kind person.’

‘I thought he was greedier than me. Now I know that’s only the disguise he wears with the intent to value and save the people.’

Seeing how Weed’s closest associates, those who met with him regularly and thought they knew all about him were so shaken in their beliefs, there was no need to speak about the state of the players of Morata.

All development of Morata was started by Weed and a staggering number of policies for the players were currently in progress. Even though he was a sculptor, no one who specialized in Arts and Culture could compare to his planning!

‘Weed-nim has a big heart, he can definitely pull it off.’

‘He did not spare anything and used his own funds to develop Morata from the ground. Other lords only cared about taxes.’

No one could help but admire Weed if they saw the various successes in Morata.

“How could such righteous person exist in this world...”

“It’s because there are people like Weed-nim that the Versailles Continent is not swept up in darkness.”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

*****

Weed gathered the players who were over level 300 in the square. With their current strength it was suicide to fight against the Embinyu Church so they had to find a way to escape.

“How about going through the South? A lot of them are assembled there, if we break through their encirclement I think we will be fine.”

“There are less Embinyu Church forces arrayed on the Western side. If we just avoid the demons then I think we are clear.”

These were high level players who could not bear to leave. But as they saw a smidgen of hope of survival, they began to earnestly speak out their way to escape.

Weed was sympathetic to their plea.

“South or West, they are both dangerous. We are too many and too burdensome for the other escape groups to include us.”

“What if we follow the path they clear?”

“Then the monsters chasing after them will target us. There are many of us so our movements will be slow, and it is difficult to protect everyone from the monsters.”

While the number of players was high, there weren’t many who were skilled enough to protect the players and fight off the monsters. If demons came scrambling in, the casualties would be catastrophic. No one could easily decide where to go as many lives hung in the balance. They were all waiting on Weed. Though they may all die in this place, their heart was consoled by the fact that Weed was trying to save them.

At that moment, Seo Yoon sent Weed a whisper.

> There is a secret passage that can lead you outside the castle.

> A secret passage?

> A secret passage in the royal palace. I haven’t actually been there, but I received this from a knight earlier.

Seo Yoon gave him a piece of a map.

You have acquired the map to the secret escape route in the Rosenheim palace.

Weed hurriedly scrutinized the map and saw that it was an escape route used by the royal family when a crisis arose in Rosenheim Kingdom.

> How did you get this map?

> When I was heading toward the Star Palace with PK status, the knights in the palaces attacked me. I got it after I killed them.

> …

Usually, beating a palace knight to death in retaliation was something completely unheard of. And on top of that, to receive such a map suggests multiple opponents at once! But discounting the process of acquiring it, the map was absolutely necessary right now.

‘It’s a passage that leads outside Serabourg Citadel. There are even six escape routes.’

He felt there were many escape routes as it was for the king or the royal family to evacuate through.

‘The main problem is that the passage doesn’t take you very far away from Serabourg Citadel...’

Even if they did escape through the passage, the distance was short enough for the Embinyu Church to find them. But the most urgent thing right now was for them to escape the castle.

Weed decided to give hope to the despondent players first.

“We are now going to proceed toward the secret passage in Rosenheim palace and escape through there.”

He was confident that no matter the slim chance of survival, if there was weight to his words people would follow him.

The news spread through the crowd one by one.

“Weed-nim said he’s going the save us all!”

“What are you talking about?”

“We are escaping through the secret passage of the royal palace.”

“I trusted him from the start you know. I just knew, Weed-nim would save us.”

“Ah, what are you worrying for when Weed-nim is here. He's just not Weed-nim. He’s the War God!”

The crowd had unquenchable faith in Weed. Usually, with such significant decisions where the lives of tens of thousands hanged in the balance, heated arguments arose and everyone had conflicting opinions. But as one, they all decided to follow Weed. The NPCs of Serabourg Citadel followed suit due to Selina’s quest.

“Then, let’s proceed.”

Weed, Seo Yoon, and other strong players ran ahead, leading the way to the palace.

“Uwah.. we are going.”

“Let’s go!”

As one, the players gathered in the square and ran toward the palace. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the situation looked like a riot.

“Hyung, where are we going?”

“Weed-nim is rescuing us. We just need to follow him.”

The players in the square ran as one and the residents of Serabourg Citadel followed as well.

Guards were still posted at the entrance to the palace, but they were too busy mobilizing to fight off the Embinyu Church. The knights guarding the palace were no where to be found, but they probably left to escort the king or the royal family to a safe place.

“Look, they ran away first!”

Weed had the map open in front of him as he moved. It was not difficult for him to navigate through the palace since he frequented the Star Palace recently to hunt.

“There are many escape routes, let just go toward the closest one...”

In any palace where the royals were staying, there was always an entrance to a secret passage.

“We will now proceed toward the third prince’s palace.”

“I understand. I will go ahead and scout the place out.”

As Weed laid out his plan, the high level players who stayed behind and the average players who could not join any other groups, volunteered to scout the place.

Through the scouts, they found out that there was no one in the palace or even any valuables left.

“Let’s go!”

While the third prince’s palace was considerably smaller than the others, it still had a well kept garden with several pieces of artworks. Even while leading the players, Weed still checked on the artworks and ripped off the expensive ones for himself.

“We can enter through here.”

In the prince’s bedchamber, the secret passage was located in the wardrobe. The players with adventure class had scouted out the place and had already opened the entrance to the passage.

“Let’s hurry.”

Dungeon, you have entered the Underground Passage of the Palace

Privileges: Fame increased by 315.

Double experience and item drop rate for one week.

Monsters hunted for the first time will drop the best possible item it can.

“Ara, it’s a dungeon. Please wait a moment, I will check it out.”

Adventurer Nadal stepped forward and looked around.

“Identify Dungeon!”

Dungeon, Underground Passage of the Palace

An underground passage made for the royal family of Rosenheim Kingdom, for use in times of crisis. As the kingdom has not experienced any upheaval for a long time, the royal family has been using the passage for questionable activities. The wide underground passage has been occupied by monsters for an unknown period of time, but as they consumed the emergency rations they multiplied rapidly.

Difficulty: Extremely High.

Dungeon Size: Immense.

It was an identification skill that could be used after acquiring a certain amount of information about a special area through reading and conversations! Adventurers had an easier time of finding facts and information.

“Oh my, this says there are monsters here. Considering the difficulty, I feel the monsters here are around mid level 300.”

The adventurer spoke worriedly.

There was nothing for this, as Weed's allies had already informed him of the situation.. A group of fairies glowing like fireflies, appeared before him once he entered the dungeon.

"The Queen sent us."

"This way is dangerous. That way is dangerous."

"Even then, Weed-nim here should be able to easily clear the way. Kyaa, the Ice Troll is cool. It’s so lovable. "

"I think you can go this way… Or was it this way?"

The fairies flew around engaging Weed in conversations. Only a noble person could see the fairies, and if they wanted to, the fairies could even hide their appearances from the Spirit Shamans. Though Weed’s morality went back and forth, it was fortunate that it was currently on the good side. Also, because of the quest he accepted from the Fairy Queen, they appeared before him and offered their help.

Chapter 1: The Underground Passage

As an Ice Troll, Weed strode into the dungeon.

“We just need to exterminate all the monsters in the way.”

The dungeon felt empty without monsters. One of the reasons he turned into an Ice Troll was so, rather than wasting time on thinking, he could use that time productively in beating monsters to death.

The quest required as many refugees as possible to be led to safety, away from the invasion of Serabourg Citadel by the Embinyu Church. Speed would define the success or failure of the quest.

The fairies glowed like fireflies, prattling as they followed Weed.

"Awesome. He’s so awesome."

"He’s totally my type. I want to marry him."

Weed equipped the large leather armor he made with his sewing skill just in case. With his level and strength he could wear steel or mithril armor. But he did not make them beforehand as, considering the weight of the armor, carrying them around was too much and the material was too precious to waste.

Weed squared his shoulders and entered the dungeon first. The players following behind him felt secure in the knowledge that Weed was ahead of them.

“To be able to follow after the War God, Weed… I am salivating to see him fight.”

“I’m going to drink in the sight.”

Among the players, the skilled and capable ones stood right behind Weed. The refugees of Serabourg Citadel and beginners continuously lined up at the end of the queue to enter the dungeon.

Weed walked forward calmly, without a care for the dangers ahead.

Slither.

He heard a small, strange sound.

"It’s here. It’s here!"

"Be careful! Its bites are painful."

"The snake that ate that rabbit yesterday. It’s hiding here."

The glittering fairies that flew around the vicinity alerted Weed.

SHICK!

A mottled snake flew toward Weed. These monsters were known as Elixa, they lived within the cracks of the walls and hunted the animals passing by.

“Ah! Weed-nim! Be careful.”

“Weed-nim!”

The players cried out in surprise. The Elixas were a species of snake monsters around level 300. Their levels were high and they slithered around at a frightening speed. Although an Ice Troll did not constitute as a tempting prey for the Elixas, the cold radiating from him must have been unpleasant for them so they attacked preemptively.

In the face of the terrifying Elixa’s surprise attack. Weed casually gave a word.

“You look delicious.”

And then, he swung his disproportionately short stick of a sword.

KANG!

Elixa has received a huge trauma, it has fallen into confusion.

Due to the cold aura from the Ice Troll, Elixa’s speed decreased by 14%.

Struck by the sword, the Elixa crashed into the wall and rebounded. The unfortunate Elixa temporarily fell into paralysis. Compared to other species, the unusually high strength and agility that the Ice Trolls possessed amplified it’s direct combat potential rather than it’s magic or skills. And with a casual swipe, the Elixa had become helpless.

So Weed continuously struck down the Elixa mercilessly into the ground.

“I am going to roast its meat and take its skin as leather. Should I pack its head to make snake wine later?”

Words that could strike fear into every Elixa!

As Elixa were snake monsters that were early to mid level 300, they died quickly under Weed’s barrage.

Durability of the Demon Sword decreased.

“Let’s continue.”

Weed packed up the drops first before heading off.

From the entrance, several Elixas could be seen groveling on the ground. The slippery monsters moved fast and when they spotted Weed, the Elixas shot toward him like arrows. The Elixas could sink their fangs in before the victim knew it and spread their poison, putting even high level players in a pickle.

Weed swatted these Elixas in the air and knifed them without remorse.

“I can make plenty of wine out of you. Come, come every single one of you!”

This Ice Troll was made for battle. Its arms and legs were long with well defined muscles and the soles were made unusually large. And with the cold pouring from Weed, the snakes became sluggish as soon as they came near him.

"It’s a monster!"

"Kyaa! It’s scary!"

"You must win. We can’t fail to get past."

Weed leisurely took care of the Elixas all the while listening to the ruckus caused by the fairies.

As they plodded deeper and deeper into the dungeon, the mid 300 level monsters, Rigglers, Voichis, and Guldogs started appearing. These were the most dangerous types of monsters that appeared in this dungeon.

Their attacks were stronger than their level suggested, making it difficult to defeat them. But Weed was indifferent.

“Come at me.”

Weed took full advantage of the Ice Troll’s traits. In human form, he hunted using a combination of precise swordplay and skills. But right now, he did not have enough mana to use skills, only overflowing strength! He could unleash unlimited carnage and destruction. He did not even try to dodge the monsters’ attacks.

“Kill that troll!”

“Everyone, let’s attack him together!”

You were struck by the Voichi’s whip

Additional 26% defense was applied due to the Ice Troll’s resilience.

The Riggler’s dagger nicked your leg

Vitality and Health decreased.

Weed’s health dropped rapidly. But even then, with his colossal 370 thousand health, he was in no danger of dying anytime soon. And on top of that, the Ice Troll’s traits allowed rapid health regeneration. The regeneration was faster than resting and bandaging untransformed.

He relentlessly pushed the monsters back with his unceasing beatdown.

“Gyaao!”

Weed gave a bellow. With the cold emanating from the Ice Troll, the monsters became sluggish and turned into ice.

“Ah, he fights amazingly well.”

“He’s really brutal. How can he just charge forward like that?”

Players were stunned in disbelief at Weed’s superb battle ability. Weed indulgently received the enemies attacks and returned them sevenfold. The Ice Troll was brutal, smacking the enemy with his sword, pummeling them with stupidly oversized fists and even punting them with his feet.

While the Ice Troll’s body was extremely heavy, the inflated strength and agility allowed Weed to move as freely and softly as a feather.

“Strike! Die! Strike! Give me my Items! Strike! You’re still not satisfied?!”

Weed acted like a villain. He ran forward in the dungeon, mercilessly striking down every monster that appeared. In the heat of the moment, he accidentally showed his true character!

They broke through the dungeon in the blink of an eye.

"That one on the left is still alive."

"Weed-nim, please trash him more!"

"Ah~ he really is my type."

Weed paid no mind to the excited fairies chattering behind his ears as he broke through the dungeon swarming with monsters. His level was over 400, and he had even transformed into an Ice Troll. There were no monsters in the dungeon that could dare to challenge him.

In the level 300 dungeon with a fairly high difficulty rating, Weed animatedly flaunted his strength. The display in front of the players was not a half hearted attempt, rather, it was an overwhelming display of Weed’s prowess.

“It’s an Ice Troll!”

“How did it get here...”

“Go for a pincer attack! ”

Monsters all ran at him at once. But for Weed, they were only tasty treats.

Pa Pa Pa Pa!

Monsters turned into a grey light and disappeared in an instant. Even if someone else used the Sculpture Transformation, they would never be able to fight like Weed. This was because battle instincts became ingrained through practise. Others fought conservatively, trying to save their strength while defending or just dodging the monster's attacks on instinct.

On the other hand, Weed’s strong point was that he could adapt quickly to any new form. Regardless of whether the monsters were attacking him or not, he steamrolled the dungeon with crushing force. He was hunting even faster than usual, and the refugees were huffing and puffing as they tried to keep up.

“I feel so assured because Weed-nim is here with us.”

“Compared to others, he fights much better. Ten people combined can’t match him. ”

“What do you mean ten, more like twenty.”

The players leading behind Weed had lower levels and were fighting much more carefully. Seo Yoon felt she did not need to show her full prowess as everything was going fine and there were a lot of people around as well. That’s why only Weed’s actions were especially distinguished.

As the players gazed at the Ice Troll, they couldn’t even fathom the crisis happening in Serabourg Citadel as they were brimming with energy.

*****

The current scene of the dungeon was being broadcasted by every station including KMC Media.

“To fight so recklessly…! This rash battle doesn’t follow any tatics. Players starting the game, please do not try this in Royal Road. That kind of fighting is a shortcut to suicide.”

“Weed cannot seem to manage his sudden increase in strength and is fighting sloppily. It’s disappointing to call this one of Weed’s battles.”

Hosts were pouring out their disparaging remarks. Only KMC Media was siding with Weed and positively analyzing his actions.

“Weed is maximising his advantages in strength and resilience! It’s a great strategy.”

“Yes, up until now, I have seen many videos of how other players fought. But I have never seen anyone clear out a dungeon this fast.”

To fight without taking full advantage of an Ice Troll’s strength and resilience would be foolish. Weed continued to fight while being hit and returning the hits with vengeance. This kind of exhilaration cleared up the fear of the Embinyu Church forces and was enough to relieve the pent up stress.

“And for our viewers, we have a treat for you.”

“What is it?”

“Don’t be surprised. It’s about the War God Weed! We have managed to get ahold of some party members who are close to Weed. These are the same party members that appeared in our broadcast of Todeum. The four of them are on the line right now, please introduce yourselves.”

– Am I really on TV? Wow, this is exciting!

– Ahem! Hi, it’s nice to meet you.

– Hello.

– Cough. Whenever you are in the Northern Continent, come visit. If you have the money, I can get anything you need.

All the voices were female, except for the last one. But the third voice was very familiar and had a charming tone, not so dissimilar from all the songs and music videos that were shown.

“The War God Weed is playing an amazing role right now. As this is being broadcasted in real time, I apologize in advance that this interview is going to be brief.”

– Sure! It’s fine, don’t worry about it.

– I understand.

– Please don’t worry, I have been on shows often enough to know.

– But we are still getting paid the agreed amount, right?

“I think, you must have spent a lot of time with the War God Weed. Let me ask, how does Weed usually fight in dungeons?”

– It’s just like now. Those poor monsters.

– It’s difficult to get the first shot in.

– He’s always diligent.

– I only calculate the japtem at the back so...

“There are a lot viewers who are envious of your position, getting to hunt with Weed. What kind of feeling do you get when you hunt with him? Excited? Nervous?”

– It’s hard to keep up with him because he fights so well. You can literally feel the energy seeping out from you. It’s so fast and dizzying… But the taste of your fist smashing the enemy…. it’s fun.

– After a successful hunt, confidence just swells up, like you can do anything.

– Watching his fight is really awesome.

– Well… I just calculate money....

“As the lord of Morata, Weed is praised by the people. Did you know from the beginning that Weed could handle his heavy responsibilities as a lord so well?”

– Even I am amazed. I thought he would kill off all his people through starvation.

– He might not look like it but Weed-nim is a really kind and soft hearted person. I just knew he would do well.

– Nothing is impossible for Weed.

– The taxes I have to pay… Ah, nevermind. Everyone please come to Morata and please browse through Mapan’s Store.

“Weed’s battle is still ongoing right now, we will cut this interview short and continue later if we have the chance. Any shout outs for Weed to encourage him in his quest to save the people of Serabourg Citadel?”

– Don’t put everything into your fist.

– I have faith that you will come back safely.

– When you come back, please bring me a pair of boots… And please look for the tailor Vitori, his backpacks are quite popular right now.

– We provide the best service with the best quality goods. Call Mapan Chain Store now for franchise opportunities!

*****

The NPCs and the players kept crowding through the pass Weed opened up.

Even though Weed was an Ice Troll, it couldn’t be helped that after a prolonged battle, his health and vitality dropped to a low point. Fortunately, there were many priests among the players. They continuously chanted spells to recover health and vitality, so Weed could focus completely on decimating the monsters.

“It’s all thanks to Weed-nim that we are getting out of here.”

“I am so touched, I never knew he would go this far for us.”

“I am really proud that Weed-nim came from Rosenheim Kingdom.”

The admiration players held for Weed grew by leaps and bounds. But Weed had other thoughts...

“This still isn’t so difficult. There is no need to exert myself excessively to save all these random strangers.”

Weed was already prepared to slip away, naturally abandoning the other players if the situation became too impossible to manage.

*****

Doctor Yoo Byung Jun, sat watching his television in rapt attention.

“The Embinyu forces have already scaled Serabourg Citadel’s walls. It’s now only a matter of time till the walls fall to them.”

“The East gate has finally been breached. The Embinyu forces are now heading deeper into the Citadel.”

“The stores and stalls have been set alight. It seems the Embinyu Church is planning to set the whole Serabourg Citadel on fire.”

The presenters were in a brouhaha about the current situation.

All castles seized by the Embinyu Church were often scorched to the ground and every player was hunted down. These areas became void with only grass growing wildly over the vestiges of the crumbling stone walls. The fate of Serabourg Citadel was no different.

“The Embinyu Church is expanding quite fast.”

Just watching Royal Road gave Yoo Byung Jun great joy. From the shadows and monsters, human greed, growth, and prosperity, the Embinyu Church took every opportunity to expand. Monsters or those who followed malevolent gods, Royal Road did not bar them from their freedom of choice.

There was no limit to the monster's strength as they became powerful by proliferating or through their struggle for survival. They were not bound to their designated areas, monsters in dungeons could roam freely outside in search of prey. Sometimes, boss monsters even migrated their horde to more fertile areas.

Humans could take over villages and castles, and it was even possible to accumulate skills and knowledge.

With his authority, Yoo Byung Jun could watch any happening on Royal Road as he wanted to.

“Mr. Oh Joo Wan. At this speed, how much further could the Embinyu Church expand to?”

“As you know, because of the Embinyu Church the Central Continent is in turmoil. There is still no statement from Unicorn Corps. about this issue. ”

Employees of Unicorn Corps. were deeply worried. They worried that the complete destruction of cities and devastation of Kingdoms were too excessive. Still, while the Kingdoms and cities held vestiges of their original form, it was upto the players to continue forging the future history. They could clear forests and create dwellings along the riverside to create cities. But it went both ways, if their defenses were ill prepared, it could easily be ravaged by monsters.

Yoo Byung Jun murmured to himself as he continued to watch.

“With this, the chance of the Embinyu Church bringing ruin to the continent became higher. ”

At it’s current course, this was a distinct possibility. Nothing was set in stone in the Versailles Continent, there were still countless monsters and dark forces that could plunge the continent into ruin. Machiavellian plots were hatched and were progressing everywhere.

If the players growth became slow or they started to feud among themselves, then the Versailles Continent would be forever swept up by the dark forces. It was possible for the players to connect to Royal Road after this. But they would either live in servitude or create new cities and fight there for a brighter future.

If Royal Road was a simple game, Unicorn Corps. would have put a stop to the Embinyu Church to retain players interest. But in this world where Unicorn Corps. existed, they were cleaning out the money from all corners of the globe.

The fate of the Versailles Continent was decided by the players self determination.

“With Bardray being groomed as the next emperor, it’s most likely that he would contend with the Embinyu Church as his territory and influence grew. But more so....”

For some time now, one name rubbed Yoo Byung Jun in the wrong way.

Weed!

Weed’s title of War God was largely decorative, and through his observations he concluded that many of Weed’s portrayals were greatly exaggerated. But as he rewinded the scene of the first time Weed started Royal Road, he was continuously baffled and surprised.

“Isn’t the usual response for humans in face of their adversity to be disillusioned from reality by their lack of ability? Do they not start to procrastinate or to despair?”

But Weed made a theatrical display out of his suffering while overcoming his difficulties. Discovering the Secret Sculpting techniques one by one and then somehow, Weed met Zahab. In the expansive Versailles Continent, Weed prodigiously searched out and set foot in one of the most difficult of places.

“And Morata...”

Weed even possessed a city. It was not something that fell out of the sky as a divine gift. It was a place he obtained and developed personally. Weed did not command troops under a guild like Bardray. But somehow he was popular throughout the continent.

Yoo Byung Jun’s was now quite wary of Weed.

“He’s quite clever. I am sure it will become another special event when he rescues all the players and NPC’s in Serabourg Citadel.”

The Embinyu forces encircling Serabourg Citadel weren’t normal. It was close to impossible to even fathom evacuating the beginners and the refugees from the Citadel. But even if Weed failed, this righteous act would earn him the hearts and minds of the people.

“The Embinyu Church should already be blocking that way… If he escaped by himself, I wonder how far he could go.”

*****

Chairman Jeong Deuk Soo was using the weekend to read a book at his house.

“They said it will rain the whole day.”

Rain was beating outside the window since the morning.

“I think with the weather like this, it will be a good opportunity to log into Royal Road.”

His talk with Park Jin Suk rekindled his interest in Royal Road. It was a useful tool to him as he used it to relax to his heart's content during his leaves.

“I should log in before I change my mind.”

Chairman Jeong Deuk Soo went into the room with the capsule. The character Chairman Jeong Deuk Soo logged in as was Bart. He only had starting equipment. And as his hobby was mountain climbing, the last point he disconnected at was a valley where rangers were residing.

“Wow, the water is really clear.”

“Try drinking it. It’s refreshing.”

The valley was a couples heaven! As this was a famous valley in the Versailles Continent, there were even more couples.

“I should go somewhere else.”

Bart walked manly down the mountain.

“It’s so nice that connecting to Royal Road makes me feel several years younger.”

But after several steps, he had an unfortunate encounter with a cute, red eyed rabbit.

“Eek, a rabbit”

Bart cowered, making sure not to utter a sound as he waited for the rabbit to pass by. As he was only a level 3 beginner, even a rabbit was frightening to him. Bart had no battle experience and the three levels he raised were through simple quests that could be ended with conversations.

“I should head back to the village first.”

Bart was not at a level where he could travel anywhere confidently. The valley within the mountain was safe for him as there were many people here. Also it was right behind a major city so no dangerous monsters appeared.

The city in La Salle Kingdom was overcrowded with players, haggling and looking for people to travel with.

“Looking for people to harvest blue medicinal herbs! Anyone over level 25 is fine! You can make a tidy amount of money for just 1 hour of hard work.”

“Looking for party members to hunt in the newly created goblin fort in this area.”

These were the yells coming from beginners, but for Bart the levels were impossibly high.

“Everyone seems to really enjoy Royal Road.”

Wandering around the city, Bart saw the joyful expressions of the people enjoying themselves. The sky couldn’t have been any clearer, the surroundings were no different to reality and the game gave realistic feedback of walking. The feeling of excitement of walking through a new world!

Bart nodded to himself as he watched the birds nesting on the roof.

“There is a reason why this is so popular.”

As a businessman he only paid attention to the technology and the opportunities related to Royal Road. Currently Unicorn Corps. was growing at an unprecedented scale, the turnover or the net profit of all the companies he managed could not even compare. Even the difference in operating profit of Unicorn Corps. to the the top companies in the world started from single digit figures.

“Times have changed. Playing more Royal Road might prove beneficial in the future.”

He thought Royal Road was just simple entertainment, but seeing people being so crazy about it, he wanted to experience the game fully. Fortunately, he had plenty of money saved up. The company's secretary had set aside a lot of money for him to enjoy his vacation days.

“First, get some proper weapons for battle...”

Bart had a modicum of common sense and acquired starting equipment without any level restrictions. As he still did not have a class, he acquired basic garments and a light longsword.

Excited voices from the players could be heard from the shop with the weapon sign.

“Did you hear? The Embinyu Church is attacking Serabourg Citadel right now.”

“Right now?”

“There is a siege going on and everything. They say the demons are huge!”

“Ah… I was going to go hunt in Bolog dungeon...”

“Is hunting all you think about? Watching this at the tavern is more important.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right. I am going to regret it if I don’t get to watch.”

“Hurry. There won’t be any space left in the tavern if we are late.”

It was all nonsensical to Bart. But it seems like he could see something if he went to the tavern. Perhaps that’s why the street suddenly felt devoid of people and the once crowded stores felt empty.

“I should also head toward the tavern.”

Bart entered the tavern and ordered a whole chicken with beer. And on the large crystal a video was being reflected. On it the siege of Serabourg Citadel was shown just as the player had spoken of before.

Players were riveted to the large crystal as they ate and drank.

“Kaah, beers good. War God Weed really is different.”

“Can there be any other person who would stand up to the Embinyu Church alone?”

“Ranker? You think high level is everything? They can’t even touch Weed’s footstep.”

“Look at his hunting speed. It’s faster than our walking speed! He doesn’t even blink an eye when the monster appears.”

“The Embinyu Church is mincemeat to Weed.”

Listening to the chatters of other players, Bart continued to watch on the large crystal. The large crystal could relay the exact broadcast from the stations. And the huge time dilation in game and reality could be solved by showing advertisements or other programs in between!

The display usually showed the Embinyu Church destroying Serabourg Citadel, it did frequently change to Weed clearing the dungeon with other players.

“The War God Weed...”

The name was quite familiar to Bart. It was the male character that his daughter Seo Yoon usually spent time with!

“That Weed fellow is someone I know.”

At his mumbling the other people turned and faced him.

“Ahjussi, that person is the War God Weed. Do you really know that kind of person?”

“Yes, it’s definitely him”

“Well, there are lots of people with the same name.”

“I am telling you, it’s that Weed.”

“Ah, Yes…”

Due to Bart’s age, they didn’t hackle him further, but the atmosphere in the tavern told all. For a newbie, who was wearing starting equipment, to know Weed personally was a joke.

“That ahjussi’s is too much.”

“He should at least say something believable.”

Bart became the pompous fool who lied about knowing Weed.

*****

“Gyaaa!”

Weed’s roar reverberated throughout the underground passage. While this had the effect of luring in monsters, it also was a not so small reassurance to the players following behind his back.

“Hurry!”

“Those at the back won’t slow down. If we slow down, it will become more crowded.”

The NPCs and the players followed one after another in the secret passageway. The mid-sized guilds who were originally planning to follow after the larger guilds, also put their faith in Weed.

Over 100 hundred thousand people needed to be evacuated. People all crammed in at once, with many who had yet to even enter the passage.

Weed accepted Selina’s request as he fell into temptation for the flower bracelet. But in truth, this was an extremely difficult quest. This was not a quest that he could prepare for beforehand, and on top of that the moment to moment judgement would decide the fate of hundreds of NPCs.

“Allow us to fight with you.”

“Kill them all! Make them disappear!”

The players with high levels went past the NPCs and helped with clearing out the monsters.

“Forward!”

With the danger biting at their heels, it was a fight against time. Even then, the players felt more fun than danger. They were enraptured in the excitement as they followed Weed.

Even from the far back it was easy to see the large and tall frame of the Ice Troll, swinging his sword with strength! The muscles flexed as Weed grasped his sword, the Ice Troll’s long arm making it look like he was handling a spear as he sliced through the monsters.

“Wahahahaha!”

Laughter leaked out from Weed as he devoured the good loots whole.

The players' bodies tingled in excitement as they watched the Ice Troll, hell-bent in charging the enemy. To them it felt like Weed was presenting them with a question, rather than fighting to escape Serabourg Citadel.

Why should they live a weary and hard life full of pent up stress? The world was filled with fun that shook the body with excitement! It was a great blessing to even be able to use your body to fight, tussle and just live an exciting life.

"You need to turn right."

"There is a clear stream flowing there. If you are thirsty, please drink before you go. Weed-nim."

"3 monsters approaching! Please give them hell."

"There is a trap if you go a bit further. You will just break through right? I think I will fall in love at the sight of you breaking through!"

Fairies flew around, directing him where to go. Archers came close to the forefront and fired their arrows before the monsters could approach Weed. The players had never coordinated with each other in dangerous situations before, but they still stepped forward and did what they could. Thanks to this, even though the number of monsters increased, they maintained their speed.

“Heal people.”

As soon as Weed commanded, the priests stepped forward and healed the players fighting upfront.

“Fix.”

Weapons were sent to the back immediately and the blacksmiths fixed them on the spot. Weed naturally maximized the efficiency of the group.

The treasures and lost items left behind by nobles were scattered about in the underground passage. While fighting monsters, Weed opened up 4 treasure boxes.

It’s empty.

It’s empty.

You received three gold coins.

You have found an Royal Ornamental Sword.

As Weed acted ahead of every other person, he obtained a fancy sword decorated with gold, silver, and jewels.

“Identify!”

Royal Ornamental Sword

Durability 45/45

Attack 24~39

At one point, the sword hanged as a decorative piece in the palace of Rosenheim Kingdom.

It has been lost for a long time and has been completely forgotten by the populace.

Restriction:

Must be over 3,500 fame.

Must be over level 240.

Option:

Charm increases by 4%.

Charisma +35.

Dignity +40.

Art +15.

If this sword is equipped while purchasing goods from a store, you must pay 5% more.

This sword was meant for showing off, rather than for battle. With the jewel encrusted at the pommel, he estimated that his could fetch a high price if he sold it at the store or to a noble.

“Not bad pocket change.”

The underground passage had an expansive tunnel network with many intersections. There were even traps to delay the pursuers but Weed just bashed through them. The traps that maintained their effects were disarmed as quickly as possible at the risk of the adventurers and explorers.

"This way, it’s faster."

"That path is blocked."

"The king is escaping that way. You mustn't go this way, the evil soldiers are coming down through there."

There were many exits in the underground passage. Under the guidance of the fairies, Weed moved around the blocked passage and headed east. They advanced, defeating the monsters in their way and finally, they reached the exit to the surface.

“We will be resting here, before heading out the exit.”

As Weed transformed into an Ice Troll, his health and vitality recovered quickly, but the other players weren’t so lucky as they lied exhausted and panting for breath. Even following him up till this point was extremely difficult for the players.

Now as they headed toward the surface, anything could be waiting for them. The warriors who fought beside him weren’t feeling well. But as they caught their breath, they resolved themselves to face what's to come.

‘I will become a hero, if I die fighting here with Weed-nim.’

‘I am so going to brag about this at work. To boss-nim, supervisor-nim, director-nim, and even to the deputy. If I die fighting in Serabourg Citadel... Kakaaka! Everyone will be jealous of me.’

‘Am I on TV right now? I didn’t even wash my face today. If my ex-girlfriend who broke up with me for spending too much time hunting and leveling could see me now.’

‘My legs are shaking. The excitement is driving me crazy.’

The players were mad with excitement being able to save the newbies and earn their keep next to Weed. Their hearts were beating fast, their mouth dry with exhilaration. If they followed the other groups in their escape from Serabourg Citadel, they would have never experienced this much fun.

Information continued to stream from the players who were broadcasting or those who were defending Serabourg Citadel till the end.

– The palace is on fire.

– The West gate has been destroyed.

– South wall has collapsed, the defenders are retreating.

They were also notified that the other groups composed of large guilds and high level players were beginning their escape. All the castle gates and walls were destroyed. Their only means of survival laid beyond the lines of the Embinyu Church forces. That’s why they desperately tried to breakthrough towards their chosen direction.

“They should at least draw some attention from the Embinyu Church away from us.”

Weed waited until the right moment before he spoke to the players.

“As we head out to the surface, we will face the Embinyu Church.”

GULP.

Players gulped as they waited for Weed to continue. They would have the chance to listen to Weed’s speech before they head out to the big battle, where they would have to fight tooth and nail for their survival.

Even against weak monsters, the newbies were overwhelmed and fumbled around. But right now, they were running for their lives away from Serabourg Citadel which was under attack by the colossal forces of the Embinyu Church.

What words could instil courage into these players?!

“Death from monsters, losing items, drops in skill mastery and level… It’s something that happens quite often in life.”

Weed experienced many deaths up till now.

“Especially as a newbie you die a lot. Then you quickly feel like your friends and party members are way ahead of you. The starting days are when the gap widens quickly. When you see strangers prosper, your inside boils up and you feel miserable at the unfairness of it all. And then, you friends start to disappear.”

"...."

“You become anxious to catch up. You start going into dangerous dungeons to level up and find yourself dying again. You lose money and items, you become poor, adventures become impossible and your quests don’t go according to plan.”

".........."

“Even then, let’s all try to be positive as we head out.”

"..................."

Without leaving out a word, this message was communicated one by one till the end. All the players and NPCs became subdued.

Chapter 2: Refugees of Serabourg Citadel

The players’ eyes were brimming with determination,

‘I must not die.’

‘Whatever happens, I will follow Weed-nim.’

‘Focus. I will come out of this place alive. I can’t die like this or I will be stuck being a newbie. I won’t even be able to get a girlfriend!’

Weed yanked the wooden lever affixed to the wall.

Du Du Du Du!

The stone gate blocking the exit began to rise, slowly unveiling the path leading to the surface.

“Now is the time. Let’s head out.”

The break was brief, but it was enough for the players to recover some of their vitality. Weed headed out first, wriggling his large frame through the opening. As soon as he surfaced, the rest of the players began to jump out through the clearing one by one.

“Don’t leave any humans alive.”

“It’s just for all who do not believe in the gods of Embinyu to die.”

“Purge Serabourg Citadel!”

Upon surfacing, the players were struck by the piercing cries of the fanatics and dark forces of the Embinyu Church. Even though the exit was well hidden with overgrown bushes, it was a mere 2km away from the Serabourg Citadel. A horse could cover that distance instantly.

Weed’s gaze turned to the Citadel. Swarming with Embinyu forces, the area now resembled a large black mass at a distance. Smoke billowed from the buildings as they burned fiercely while large demons could be seen encroaching the Citadel.

The soldiers of Rosenheim Kingdom were slowly being forced back into the palace where they would make their last stand. Weed noticed various groups still within the Citadel’s using this moment to escape.

It was absolute pandemonium! This was a true battlefield.

‘Please come out. Now is our chance.’

Players continued to materialize from the exit. Even nearby escape routes began to spew out players. Over tens of thousands newbies and NPCs had followed Weed, and for all of them to escape would take time.

The first group of players that poured out from the escape route had a fairly decent high level and could fight. Over 200 of these warriors exited, followed by the newbies. The group tried to covertly escape as they possibly could, but with so many people it was inevitable the Wyvern Knights circling in the sky above would detect them.

“Humans!”

“Kill them! Use them as sacrifice for the god of Embinyu!”

Players cried out in surprise.

“It’s the Wyvern Knights of the Embinyu Church!”

“We are spotted!”

Archers, Rangers, and anyone else possessing a bow began loosing their arrows at the Wyvern Knights. A chaotic stream of arrows flew from newbies and high archers alike, and rained down onto the enemy.

“Humans are offerings!”

“Praise the Embinyu Church!”

The Wyverns gracefully evaded the arrows as they dove toward the ground.

The mobility of the wyverns was astounding! To strike them in the air would be difficult, and spells were practically useless against them since they took too long to prepare.

“Evil Spear!”

The critical situation was when the Wyvern Knights came closer and closer as they primed their spear skills!

Weed accelerated furiously and leaped high into the sky.

‘Will it work? My strength and agility have increased radically so it just might be possible.’

BANG!

The ground cratered as the Ice Troll jumped with unbelievable might!

Weed suddenly thrust his sword mid-air. The low flying wyvern attempted to evade the Ice Troll that had abruptly appeared before its eyes, but its efforts were futile, it was already within range of Weed’s sword.

“Gyaak!”

You have dealt a great blow to the Wyvern Knight

Wyvern Knight is unable to participate further in battle.

The overflowing strength of the Ice Troll!

Weed had not aimed for the Wyvern, instead striking the knight riding the Wyvern. The Wyvern Knight plummeted to the ground as Weed’s attack had toppled him from his steed. In a swift and smooth motion, Weed quickly snatched the reins as he mounted the Wyvern. To display such incredulous quick and fluid movements despite having the massive body of an Ice Troll, one would think the scene had been choreographed.

“Gyaaa!”

The Wyvern staggered, nearly crashing, from the sudden brunt of the full weight of the Ice Troll. This was the Ice Troll’s weight attack! As the Wyvern came closer to the ground that its underside could literally scrape the surface, it gave it a one last ditch effort to fly back up.

Weed peered down. The high level players had scattered and were resisting the Wyvern Knights’ attacks but the beginners and the NPCs were still being slaughtered.

The resident Darium, living some distance behind the palace has died

Fame decreased by 2.

Vortuga the blacksmith has passed away

Fame decreased by 6.

While he didn’t mind the players dying, every single NPCs death affected Weed personally. The nature of the quest to lead the refugees to safety had the potential to earn or lose an enormous amount of fame.

Weed could have never imagined the astronomical magnitude of this quest when he was first approached by Selina. The scale of the quest grew exponentially as the abandoned residents of Serabourg Citadel gathered and placed their faith in Weed. Fortunately, Seo Yoon was finally displaying her true ability as she slaughtered the Wyvern Knights, sending them into the grey light.

“Let’s go. We’ve more bastards to hunt!”

Weed pulled the rein on the Wyvern with his left hand. To tame a Wyvern, a player would need high strength and fighting spirit. In these aspect, Weed already qualified. And he had a lot of experience taming a Wyvern through Wy-Three.

But to completely subdue and tame a monster, high intimacy and time to understand one another was required. Weed did not have any of this. But the Wyvern Weed was riding on top obeyed his command and flew towards the other Wyvern Knights.

“Faster!”

Pa-dak, Pa-dak, Pa-dak!

The Wyvern flew as fast as possible. It wasn’t due to its submission and obedience to Weed, but a silent plea to the other Wyvern Knights to knock off the heavy Ice Troll on it’s back. Furthermore, the cold emanating from the Ice Troll frosted the wings, causing fear to seep into the Wyvern from the possibility of crashing.

The Ice Troll was heavy and it was cold. It was truly evil.

“Well done.”

The Wyvern’s desperate measure to save itself went up in smokes as Weed exchanged several blows with the Wyvern Knights and emerged victorious. Weed was used to aerial battles where attacks were exchanged in a flash.

The Wyvern flew toward its other brethren for salvation, but Weed came out victorious in every single encounter.

GYAAA!

The Wyvern Weed was riding on was quickly becoming exhausted as it flapped its wings harder and harder to prevent its fall. But because of the cold coming from the Ice Troll, soon the whole body of the Wyvern was covered in ice.

Weed waited for his Wyvern to completely freeze over before hijacking another Wyvern in mid air. The sight of a massive body leaping in the air was a truly mind boggling and dazzling performance. The players were dizzy from the heart dropping display above.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk! Call Vampire Lord Torido!”

Summoning of Van Hawk and Torido!

“Master, I want to fight.”

“This place has the lingering scent of blood. Nothing is refreshing as the blood in the air, it’s much better than any exquisite perfume.”

“Kwaaak!”

The Wyvern was in greater agony as the number of passengers on it’s back increased.

Weed gave them a simple command

“Fight however you want”

Back when they were battling in the Yurokina Mountain, he had to constant supervise and direct them. But now, these two had experienced all kinds of battle with Weed.

Before the weight could overwhelm the Wyvern, Van Hawk and Torido jumped off. Van Hawk flew around, fighting on his summoned Phantom Horse while Torido spread his cape and became one with the darkness. Torido would then appear out of nowhere, behind the Wyvern Knights, plunging his fangs into their unprotected necks.

Woosh!

The pure blood vampire clan that obeyed Torido was summoned as bats and attacked the Wyverns Knights. The Wyverns did not fear the bats, but their movements were hampered as the bats clung everywhere on the Wyverns, sucking out their blood.

“It’s that Ice Troll. Retreat to the base!”

“We need to come back with more troops!”

Eventually the Wyvern Knights retreated. Van Hawk and Torido gave chase and returned with considerable amount of loot.

The Wyvern was spent and crashed to the ground with Weed still on top.

BOOOM!

The combined mass of the Ice Troll and the Wyvern ploughed through the ground as they crashed. Because of the extensive injuries the Wyvern sustained during battle and the additional trauma of the crash, the Wyvern turned into a grey light and disappeared.

Weed’s health also dropped considerably but thanks to the priest’s Healing Hand spell, he recovered in an instant. The novice priests and all alike who could use healing magic darted toward Weed and a cascade of Healing Hand spells was used on Weed.

The players continuously streamed out from the two exits points, clearing out the overgrown thickets as they took flight away from Serabourg Citadel. Already, several thousands of refugees were out of the tunnels.

Even though the Wyvern Knights retreated, in no time at all, another contingent of cultists were heading toward them.

“Torido, Van Hawk, did you have enough?”

“The scent of blood is delicious. My thirst has not been quenched yet.”

“I want to keep fighting.”

Weed sheathed his Demon Sword and took up the long spear he snatched from a Wyvern Knight. Because his arm was longer and his body became bigger, Weed was able to exert greater force with a spear rather than a sword.

He did not have the Weaponry Skill like the Geomchis, as Weed’s spearmanship skill level was low the attack damaged followed suit. Even with the spear’s negative points, it outweighed the sword basic attack damage and Weed’s strength stat as an Ice Troll further increased the damage. Also Weed thought that it would be much better to confront the early to mid level 200 cultist with a spear.

Weed with the spear in hand marched forward. The cultists of Embinyu numbered more than 500! The cultists were a scant group equipped with long pickaxes or bastardized bows, swords and axes without any armor.

“Van Hawk, Torido. Take the front.”

"The throng I wanted."

“This is the dawn to get drunk.”

Van Hawk charged the cultists flank on his Phantom Horse.

Pooo he hing!

The Death Knight on his Phantom Horse galloped into the cultists and slaughtered them. Torido with his pure blood vampire clan clung onto the cultists back and sunk their fangs into their necks. The pure blood vampires had to drink human blood for quick growth. This was a once in a life time opportunity for the vampires as such opportunities were few and far between since they started following Weed.

“If it’s only 500 cultists, it’s easy.”

Van Hawk and Torido had the characteristics of an Undead for limitless stamina, no matter how long it took, they could take care of it. But right now, time was not on their side. Before Embinyu Church sent a greater force, they had to clear out the cultists and allow as many refugees to escape as possible.

“I tried my best not to use it, but… Sculpture Destruction! Turn everything into strength!”

Weed took out a Fine sculpture, ‘The Evil Merchant Holding A Beating Stick’, he carried around in his backpack and destroyed it.

Sculpture Destruction has been used

The pain! The agony of destroying a Fine sculpture.

Art stat decreased by 5 permanently. Fame decreased by 100.

Art stat transformed into strength with 1:4 ratio for the next 24 hours.

The additional converted strength has been applied to an unaccustomed body due to Sculpture Transformation, 30% penalty has been applied.

Your Art stat is too high. Because your original strength stat is too low, the conversion will not happen instantly.

870 strength has been converted into Advance level 8 skill, ‘Crushing Blow’.

The enemy will be flung far if you hit it precisely with a full powered strike.

Increased chance of enemy falling into paralysis and confusion.

950 strength has been converted into Advance level 6 skill, ‘Piercing Spear’.

This mighty attack will completely destroy the opponent's armor and shield.

1,430 strength has been converted into Advance level 9 skill, ‘Momentary Herculean Strength’.

For a short period of time, it will triple your maximum strength. Requires immense amount of vitality.

690 strength has improved the Ice Troll’s traits.

The cold will now affect up to 15m.

Mastery of Sculpting skill increased.

Weed greatly increased the strength of the Ice Troll with Sculpture Destruction. Indeed strength was the only thing to put trust in. By using the strength properly he could leap through the battlefield with ease!

“Well, let’s have some fun.”

Weed twirled his spear. The spear felt disproportionate to his body and was light as a feather. He felt he could do anything.

“Hyaa!”

As Weed whirled his spear, he leaped into the cultist’s flank.

Pa Pa Pang!

Everytime he spun his spear, the enemies flew several meters back! But, at the same time, all sorts of weapons the cultists held were targeting the large Ice Troll. As the enemies had him surrounded, defending was impossible.

But defending was not part of an Ice Troll’s dictionary. Only attack. Weed swept away the enemies with a whirl of his spear. Every cultist within the range of Weed’s spear turned into grey light. Weed’s attack was foolish, daring and full of fighting spirit!

The weak cultists could not content with Weed’s high level and strength. It was like watching the strong violently suppressing the weak! The eyes of the low level newbies were wide as they watched in disbelief.

“Ah, I also want to be like that.”

“The Ice Troll is so cool!”

“How many times do I have to level up to fight like that?”

Watching Weed reassured the players, some even momentarily forgot about their escape and began to eat peanuts as they watched the spectacle.

Seo Yoon began to flex the frightening temperament of a Beserker. The cultists within her vicinity were swept up in a mana explosion and disappeared.

“Go!”

“Let’s increase our level quickly to eat a gourmet meal and find a boyfriend!”

The great escape!

While Weed, Seo Yoon and the other players halted the cultists of Embinyu, they had to flee as far as possible. The players and the NPCs came one after another from the underground passage and continued their escape beyond the hill.

The residents of Serabourg Citadel who have managed to escape gave their heartfelt gratitude

Fame increased by 34.

The residents are in your debt, your reputation among them improved.

Your intimacy with the residents of Rosenheim Kingdom improved.

Texts kept popping up on Weed’s message window.

The number of refugees were enormous, even now only several thousands had managed to pass the underground passages and climbed over the hill. Weed had to buy more time for the rest of the refugees to escape to a safe area.

‘I don’t know how much longer I can withstand this.’

Looking toward Serabourg Citadel, he saw that it was covered in an inferno and was burning brightly. Soon, the Embinyu forces would chase after the king and his knights and would discover the refugees. It was only a matter of time till the large army of the Embinyu Church would come after the refugees Weed was leading.

“Sister!”

In the chaos a newbie slipped his hand and was caught on the edge of the rock, struggling to get out. At that place, a seriously wounded cultist was standing with his pickaxe.

“Death is the only option for those who refuse to follow the Embinyu Church!”

For a newbie, a cultist was no different than a boss monster.

“Chad!”

The moment the sister who cried out upon looking at the scene, the cultist who was about to bring down his pickaxe turned into a grey light and disappeared. Behind the point where the cultist was standing was an Ice Troll holding a spear.

Weed who was fighting at the front line saw the boy Chad was in danger, he ran toward the scene at an extreme pace.

“Please hurry.”

Weed personally grabbed hold of Chad’s hand and raise the boy up. The players escaping in a flurry saw this scene.

“Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. I did what I had to do. ”

There was no hint of hypocrisy or pretense on the wicked looking Ice Troll’s face.

‘Whew, that could have been a disaster!’

Weed never missed a japtem! He found himself fortunate that he spotted the sapphires at the place Chad fell before anyone else.

*****

The refugees did not move as fast as Weed wanted. The newbies could logout if they moved far away from Serabourg Citadel and the war zone. But the same did not apply to the NPCs of Serabourg Citadel and there were quite a lot of children and elders among. Not only was their stamina low but so was their morale, so the marching speed was slow.

Even though Seo Yoon, Van Hawk, Torido and the other players were fending off the Embinyu cultists, Weed’s expression was dark.

“The end of Serabourg Citadel is nigh.”

From afar, it was now possible to see the fire and the smoke rising from Serabourg Citadel. The defending forces were just a step away from total annihilation and portions of the palace gave deafening sounds as it started to collapse. And from some distance away, another contingent of Embinyu Church forces was heading toward Weed and the refugees.

“They sent the Karaclops this time!”

These monsters were rhinoceros that were mammoth sized. Their height was 6 meters and their level was about 360. On the back of the Karaclops were watchtowers in which the Embinyu soldiers rode on.

This was the contingent of Karaclops troops sent to attack the refugees after receiving the report from the Wyvern Knights.

“Kill all those who have rejected the Embinyu Church and are fleeing!”

The archers riding on the Karaclops readied their bows.

Weed stepped forward to draw their attention.

“Not one of you shall pass if you can’t go through me!”

As Weed had overflowing strength and resilience, he heroically baited them into attacking him.

Pu shushuong!

In response, immeasurable number of arrows flew towards Weed and blackened the sky.

With both hands Weed spun his spear as fast as possible. Like in the movies, the arrows ricochet from his spear.

Chararang!

But arrows still managed to find their way through the gaps and pierced the Ice Troll’s large body.

You have been struck by an arrow

Health decreased by 275.

You have been struck by an arrow

Your armor mitigated some damage.

Health decreased by 89.

You have been struck by an arrow

Your armor mitigated some damage.

Health decreased by 327.

........

Weed’s body was riddled like a porcupine!

Your body withstood an arrow from a high rank enemy, resilience increased by 2.

Weed successfully managed to draw the enemy's attention. It was thanks to the Ice Troll’s absurd health, he managed to survive. But if there was any slip-up the situation could have turned very serious.

Skills existed whereby it allowed the players to cut an arrow in mid air with a sword, or block them by creating walls. Weed could only regret that he did not have an opportunity to learn such skills. Though even if he had those skills, his mana was too low to use them anyways.

“Stomp them!”

The Karaclops thumped the ground as it dashed toward them.

The NPCs and players began to lose their courage.

“Ah, do we really have to fight with those things?”

“I am scared.”

Other than a battlefield, such a rush of attacks was rare and far between. The players who had only fought against common monsters couldn’t help but be overwhelmed.

“Healing Hand!”

Priests urgently healed Weed.

Weed, Van Hawk, Torido and Seo-Yun stood side by side on the hill.

“What a joyous day for battle. I am going to fight to my heart’s content on this day.”

And with that, Weed moved back a step.

“When I was still alive and well in Kallamore Kingdom, I used to have battles like these every day.”

Even Van Hawk took a step back.

Seo Yoon didn’t want to stand out alone and draw the enemy’s attention so she also move to the back.

“KARURURU.”

Torido who was facing the charging enemy with his fangs out only noticed now that everyone else had pulled back. But to retreat was out of the question in the face of the Vampire Lord’s dignity. And as the pure vampire clan was flying around as bats, it was beyond unacceptable.

“Blood! I yearn for blood!”

As Torido scurried forward, he unfurled his cape and jump up high to the top of the Karaclops.

“Vampire!”

“Let’s use the vampire as a sacrifice for the Embinyu Church as well. Nothing is too precious as a sacrifice to him. For the complete destruction of this continent!”

The Embinyu Archers fired arrows toward Torido and the Shaman casted curses and binding spells.

“Blade Tornado!”

Torido used his skill. The keen edge of the blood sword devastated the surrounding, causing huge damage to the Karaclops that were within the attack range. In that time, Weed’s health was restored and vitality recovered.

“Let’s go Van Hawk.”

Weed raised his spear and ran forward. The Karaclops tried to stomp him and the Embinyu soldiers attacked with spells and arrows. Because of his huge size, Weed could not completely dodge all the attacks. Just a graze dealt huge damage to his health. But with his outrageous strength he toppled the Karaclops by bashing its front leg.

“Ka-ang!”

With a roar, the massive Karaclops toppled!

Seo Yoon also used her Berserker skills in earnest and began fighting. Once she started to fight in earnest, her class specialty was hard to halt. Up till now it was difficult to get warmed up, but now it was enough for the Berserker skills to be activated.

She weaved through the battlefield, showing off her incredible strength as she turned the Karaclops and Embinyu soldiers into grey light en mass.

Van Hawk riding on his Phantom Horse, subdued the soldiers with his mobility. Torido flew on top of the Karaclops with his pure blood vampire clans. Morning has yet to come, so the vampires were still frighteningly powerful against the humans.

The Karaclops and the Embinyu Archers ensnared by Torido began to fight against each other.

“Those speaking heresy must die.”

“The vampires were sent by the Embinyu to lead us toward the right path!”

The players who have yet to log out gave support with spells and arrows, and the warriors bravely fought the dangers together. Even though they were killed by the Karaclops hooves and the Archer’s arrows, they fought till the end.

“Mom, I’m on TV!”

“I’m going to brag to my friends that I died fighting next to Weed.”

“Ah! I could have taken that item!”

Magic exploded all around them and arrows poured down like rain.

Weed did not target the Archers, rather he only preyed on the Karaclops.

Koong! Koong! Koong!

A Karaclops charged toward Weed and tried to trample him.

Momentary Herculean Strength has been used

Strength increased.

“Aaaaaaah!”

Weed held onto the Karaclops leg and flipped it to the side. Whenever the humongous Karaclops fell, large number of Archers and Shamans died as a bonus.

In a war or a siege, Karaclops played a major role against soldiers. They had the ability to lower the morale of the army, so they could be useful in many situations. Once a Karaclops started its charge, the body of the players with low fighting spirit froze up and were killed without being able to escape!

But Weed, Seo Yoon, Van Hawk and Torido had even fought off a Bone Dragon before. With their fighting spirit, something like the Karaclops was not enough to make them lose heart.

Chapter 3: Weed’s Decision

Among the players that escaped through the underground passage were Harma, Margo, Glen and Lewis. These were the ones that crossed the Bark Mountain range with Weed and Mapan.

The four of them tried to lure Weed and Mapan into a trap, but the situation turned on them and the quartet perished instead! These four then crossed over into Rosenheim Kingdom and continued their activities, robbing even the Geomchi’s unflinchingly.

These four were part of the Ica Guild, living the life of criminals and thought of new creative ways of committing evil! They were a perfect fit for the Ica Guild, lead by the Guild Master Darius.

“I never imagined such a Guild existed. They don’t care for anything other than fame and they start Guild Wars without care.”

The Ica Guild. When they hear rumors of good farming spots, they call on their guild members to seize the spot by force. They took over dungeons discovered by others, charging high fees like it was an everyday occurrence and expropriating hard to acquire items.

“This is the guild we were looking for.”

The quartet quickly rose up the ranks to the Head Enforcers of Ica Guild. As time went by, however, the growth of the guild stagnated. Because of their comparative guild size, they committed the heinous crime of trying hostile takeovers of famous guilds on the Central Continent and soon found themselves shunned by the people.

The weak should commit enough crime so as not to be caught, but the Ica Guild overextended themselves. Members of the Ica Guild were given the finger wherever they went and their recruitment naturally dried up.

The guild collapsed soon after without achieving their dream of becoming one of the great guilds. The Guild Master Darius fled Rosenheim Kingdom for the Central Continent due to so many people hating his guts.

The nefarious four also wanted to head for the Central Continent. But there were too many grudges there so they departed for the Brent Kingdom.

In the wide and open Versailles Continent, there were opportunities for crime everywhere!

They terrorized the Brent Kingdom with their evil ways and soon their situation became tenuous. Seeing that Rosenheim Kingdom was calmer, the four decided to return.

These four were feeling out the situation in Serabourg Citadel and searching out the street corners with the most merchants when the Embinyu Church invaded.

“What are we going to do?”

“We can just try to squeeze in with some group and escape. I am sure we could get out of here alive.”

When these four tried to join the escape groups, they were found out as the backstabbing quartet and were refused.

“The world is too cruel.”

“I hope to never have to see you again!”

The four backstabbers had nothing, and were left to fend for themselves against the Embinyu Church.

But then, the War God Weed appeared in Serabourg Citadel with talks of rescuing all the refugees. The mid sized guilds threw their lot in with Weed. The relief and happiness passing through the players of Serabourg Citadel.

Just one person managed to change the mood so drastically.

“Oh, man. We are totally screwed.”

“It’s the War God Weed!”

Harma, Margo, Glen and Lewis were shattered by Weed’s sudden appearance. In hindsight, they did not know that Weed was an incredibly famous figure and only found out through their time in Rosenheim Kingdom.

“We scoffed at that he was a sculptor, but at least we got had by someone better than us.”

“Well, whatever. I got some fun memories out of it.”

The backstabbing quartet let the bygones be bygones just like that.

But after that incident, Weed went onto various epic quests! Weed was plastered all over the Hall of Fame, forums, and game channels. The four also wanted to go on adventures like Weed.

“I am so jealous.”

“Nothing is impossible for him. I’m sure if it was the War God Weed, he could demolish the Cloud Guild in an instant...”

“Even famous Guild Masters won’t dare do anything against Weed when he passes by. Do you think they could coax the dungeon toll out of him?”

“Who would try ask for a toll fee from Weed? When a person reaches that level, everyone else should be mindful of themselves.”

The backstabbing quartet exalted the War God Weed and complimented his adventures, of course, this was only after finding out that War God Weed and Sculptor Weed were one and the same.

“Do you think he still remembers us?”

“Let’s sneak past him. If we mingle with the people, it should be okay.”

The backstabbing quartet mixed in with the residents and escaped through the underground passage. As soon as they surfaced, loud roars could be heard with the sight of an Ice Troll fighting against the Karaclops. The sight of Weed commanding the Death Knight and Vampire Lord over the battle was too epic to describe.

“Hurrah for War God Weed!”

“We are eternally grateful for him rescuing us.”

*****

Weed recklessly thrust himself into the Karaclops flank. He looked as if he had lost his sense!

“Aaaaah!”

“Weed-nim, Nooo!”

Players screamed out in fear.

The mere sight of these massive Karaclops thumping on the battlefield was dizzying. It was terrifying and awful to just think about being grazed by the horns or being flattened by its broad legs. The players thought Weed would be quickly run over and get killed, but Weed was perfectly fine between the gaps of the herd of Karaclops.

“Move out of the way!”

“The Ice Troll went that way!”

The Embinyu Archers and Shamans were powerless to act as it was difficult to target Weed with the Karaclops in the way.

“There was this method!”

Weed was a person who lived comfortably in this world through petty tricks. Even the Geomchis acknowledged this point, that Weed adapted to any battle quickly and improvised fantastical battle strategies and tactics.

“Catch me if you can!”

Regardless of Weed’s large size, he cleverly moved in between the Karaclops’ sides. Weed moved underneath the belly of the Karaclops as they dashed toward him with their horns lowered.

KUEEEEH!

With the Karaclops hustled together, they impeded each other from showing their full might. And on top of that, whenever Weed passed by, the cold aura spread to their legs and hindered their movements.

Even then, Weed did not just scamper around dodging the attacks. This was what they call the perfect opportunity to hunt and grind for experience!

‘There are monsters spread out everywhere, I have enough strength and vitality, and there are plenty of priests backing me up.’

While this wasn’t a party, when Weed’s health fell into critical levels there were over 100 priests ready to use Healing Hand.

“Let’s have some fun!”

The spear in Weed’s hand shook as if it was about to break. Through the Sculpture Destruction supplementing the Ice Troll’s strength, the steel spear began to bend as it was swung with incredible power.

You landed a critical hit!

Crushing Blow!

The Karaclops collapsed.

You landed a critical hit!

Piercing Spear!

Karaclops defense has been ignored and it’s leg has been pierced.

“Hyaaa!”

Weed used the abundant strength of the Ice Troll and fought viciously in between the herd of Karaclops.

You landed a critical hit!

Momentary Herculean Strength has been activated.

Crushing Blow!

Karaclops is no longer able to battle.

Seeing the Karaclops beaten to the ground by Weed, the boss monster came running. Compared to the other Karaclops, the boss monster was massive, at over 9 meters and its eyes and horn shone dangerously. It was the alpha male Karaclops at level 420! The ground shook from its steps and they could be felt by all.

“It’s just a bigger version. The bigger they are the more sluggish them became.”

Seeing that Weed was currently an Ice Troll, it was hypocritical of him to say so. Regardless, it was now a match between him and the boss monster. Prolonging the fight held no advantage and no matter how risky it was, he had to win as fast as possible.

Weed stood on top of the hill, waiting for the right moment when the galloping alpha Karaclops would slow down.

‘I only need to dodge at that one moment.’

When the alpha male was within range, Weed ran into the herd of Karaclops. The alpha male couldn’t bear to trample on its own species and came to a stop, shifting its upper body.

This was the moment Weed was waiting for!

You landed a critical hit!

Momentary Herculean Strength has been activated.

Piercing Spear!

Alpha Male Karaclops has been wounded.

As its name suggested, a single blow was nothing to a boss monster.

Weed rounded the alpha male and continued to attack.

PU-UK!

PA PA PA PA!

You landed a critical hit!

Additional 29% damage was inflicted.

You landed a critical hit!

Additional 58% damage was inflicted.

You landed a critical hit!

Additional 93% damage was inflicted.

You landed a critical hit!

Additional 127% damage was inflicted.

A consecutive critical hit attack!

The Wyvern Knight’s steel spear shattered as it’s durability ran out.

The spear that endured till now broke and shattered. Weed quickly packed the broken pieces into this backpack and took out two different spears. The one he acquired when he fought the Wyvern Knight. The other was the Fire Lance spear he received as a gift from the elder Exper at the farewell party at the ancient dwarf city Thor.

“Enjoy your beating, you bastard!”

Still, the boss monster’s defense was formidable. After dishing out a few attacks with the spear from the Wyvern Knight, the tip quickly broke off and the attack value dropped.

Weed took the Fire Lance spear and leaped into the air near the alpha Karaclops. Taking the spear, he stabbed it into the monster’s body, stomping on it to force the spear deeper into its body and using it as a springboard to propel himself higher on top the alpha male.

“This is the end!”

The alpha Karaclops finally succumbed to Weed’s barrage of attacks at its back and died standing. The monster had extraordinarily high health,defense, vitality, and agility, but it was no match for Weed’s tenacity.

Your level increased.

You have laid the Alpha Karaclops of the Embinyu Church to rest.

Through this great accomplishment, your fame increased by 285.

Charisma increased by 1.

Strength increased by 2.

Faith increased by 2.

Weed’s message window kept peppering him with notifications.

You have acquired the Karaclops large horn.

You have acquired the Embinyu symbol.

The horn could be used to make a good bow or a sculpture out of it.

KUUUUU!

As the alpha male perished, the herd of Karaclops began to retreat. Though the Embinyu Archers and Shamans tried to force them to fight, the Karaclops didn’t look back as they continued with their mad escape.

“Whew, we barely escaped from that crisis.”

Weed turned back and saw that only a fourth of the refugees had managed to escape yet. Their speed slowed to a crawl when they had to climb over the hill.

“At this rate, it will take about a day or two for these refugees to reach a safe haven under the Rosenheim forces.”

In the distance, the Seraboug Citadel was slowly being demolished and soon the massive army of the Embinyu Church would be hot on their trail. When this happened, it would become considerably more difficult to help the refugees escape.

The number of refugees that needed to be rescued for Selina’s quest to be successful was unknown. But just saving portions and leaving the rest to fend for themselves against their pursuers left a bad taste in Weed’s mouth. He had too many bad memories of being hassled by creditors and loan sharks!

Van Hawk, Torido, Seo Yoon, and the players all gathered around Weed. Residents of Serabourg Citadel who were soldiers or hunters in the past, also came forward.

“Weed-nim! We entrust our fate into your hands. We are prepared to lay down our lives, so please lead our family to safety!”

“I am the Knight Odgar! It’s been a long time since I have picked up a blade, but I shall pledge myself anew to the lord of Morata. I shall fight against the Embinyu Church with you.”

Hunter Jenkins and 430 others have joined the battle

You can lead them in the fight against the Embinyu Church.

Retired Knight Odgar, 7 other senior knights with 894 former soldiers have pledged themselves for battle

You can now command soldiers with high loyalty.

Weed’s face, which was already dark, fell further. The hunters had nothing to defend themselves with. A few had hunting bows but most were empty handed! Even the old knights and soldiers, had virtually no armors or shields or swords. They were only armed with basic farming equipment and kitchen knives.

“With my luck, what else could I expect?”

“Yes?”

“It’s nothing.”

For the elite forces of Serabourg Citadel to be made up of such a ragtag band...

‘They would be of no help against the Embinyu Church.’

Weed soberly dissected the current situation.

“At the current rate, not many people will come out alive. The first to be killed will probably be the elderly and the children when their stamina runs out.”

There was a limit of how many Weed or Seo Yoon could protect under their wings. And the Embinyu Calvary or the demons would cause a wholesale massacre.

“I need to think outside the box. Something big to pull the attention of the Embinyu Church someplace else.”

The king and the royal family had surfaced from the underground passage and were fleeing elsewhere, escorted by the Knights and Magicians. They had already managed to shake of their Embinyu pursuers and were some distance away. Very soon, the Embinyu Church would turn their gaze onto the refugees.

Weed needed to somehow to make the Embinyu Church give up their chase...

“I need a bait. A bait that would make the Embinyu forces forgot about everything else. A bait strong enough to buy as much time as possible. Hmm… I wonder where I can find something like that?”

Weed reminisced his ill-fated relationship with the Embinyu Church. Not only did he crush their plot in the Northern Continent, he rid the world of Feylord the head of their 11th sect. The Embinyu Church must be sharpening their swords for revenge.

“If I show up in front of the Embinyu army as bait, would they call it a divine intervention?”

The Embinyu Church would definitely go after Weed. The great army formed in part by the forces that burned the Serabourg Citadel to the ground, the cultists, the demons, the Embinyu’s Dark Priests and Shamans would all be after Weed.

“I never knew he would come up with such an idea…. ”

“As expected, he is Weed-nim.”

“Weed-nim is going to sacrifice himself as bait to save us!”

“Uwaaaaaa!”

Weed murmuring to himself was inadvertently heard by the players and spread throughout the entire refugees, raising their morale.

Hope is surging through the refugees of Seraboug Citadel

Morale increased by 89%.

With renewed strength, the refugees ran faster over the hills to escape.

“Please hurry grampa.”

“Yes, dear child. I must not waste this precious life that Weed-nim sacrificed himself for. Let’s hurry!”

It was confirmed. Weed was now the bait to entice the Embinyu Church!

"....."

Refusing now would reduce morale to rock bottom and make their escape even more difficult. Weed could feel the heavy weight of all these eyes sparkling with hope on him.

The young players and newbies did not have much to lose even if they died. They were acting similarly to the spectators Weed sold peanuts and squids, it seemed they were staying behind to watch.

“This will be exciting!”

“I was always curious how good Weed-nim was in a fight.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. The cultists and the Karaclops were only warm ups for Weed-nim.”

This was the side effect of exaggerated false rumors! The players had huge expectations of Weed.

‘Well, for the quest to succeed a bait was needed anyway.’

Thinking about it, Weed knew there was no better decoy than him. He had the skills to survive and had a finely honed battle senses. But, to become a live sacrifice was against everything he stood for.

‘Snap out of it. If I get shaken by this much, I will never become rich. I need to throw away these kinds of thoughts if I want to succeed.’

Weed gazed at the the inferno that was Serabourg Citadel.

“See how he’s looking down at the Embinyu forces with such cold eyes. I think he’s really going for it!”

Weed shook his head left to right.

“He’s stretching his neck now. Is he going off to fight now?”

Weed fingered the Fire Lance spear he was holding. Because of the fight with the alpha Karaclops, it’s durability fell considerably.

“It looks like he's going to fix his spear before going!”

There was no excuse left for Weed. If he turned back now, the disappointment will be palpable and people would curse him. Of course, he could live on ignoring what society thought of him.

‘They do say that if they heap curses on you, you live longer… What if I just accept all their criticism...’

That’s that. There was nothing more to it.

But for the quest to succeed, Weed would need to step forward and save the refugees. It was only a matter of time till the Embinyu forces would be after the refugees. And with Weed’s identity being exposed, the confrontation between him and the Embinyu Church was inevitable as they would throw everything against him. The results were the same in the end whichever direction he took.

“I will lay down my life first.”

“It has been an honor that I could die gloriously on a battlefield.”

The hunters and the knights chimed in.

Weed shook his head.

“You do not need to fight next to me. Escape to a safe haven.”

“We cannot do that! If it’s not because we are weak then let us choose an honorable death.”

“The most important thing right now is protecting your families. Return to your families and live happy lives.”

Are you giving up command of the hunters and the soldiers?

“I alone, am enough for this battle.”

The hunters and the soldiers have rejoined the refugees.

Honor stat has been created.

Honor: As a noble, doing righteous acts will increase this stat.

Honor has a great influence on the resident’s loyalty and diplomacy.

It will also be a great help when trying to recruit free knights.

Honor stat increased by 2.

Weed decided to fight alone. But Seo Yoon, Van Hawk and Torido accompanied him down the slope.

“Protecting the citizens is an obvious duty for a knight.”

“I will be able to drink all the blood I want.”

"......"

*****

The Embinyu Church looted and burned Serabourg Citadel.

“Take everything! These are treasures to be offered to the god of Embinyu.”

“Rosenheim Kingdom that has forsaken Embinyu will fall.”

The Dark Priests of the Embinyu Church were looting with their demons before all of Serabourg Citadel burned down. Thanks to the demons the historic palace of Rosenheim Kingdom disappeared from the face of the earth.

Once this job was done, it was most likely the Embinyu Church forces would scatter throughout the surroundings, hunting down the escape groups and the refugees.

Then, a loud voice was heard!

“I, Weed, have come. Embinyu Church, bring your best against me!”

Belloni, the head of the 9th sect was looting the private office of the king. He was peering through the window, looking down from a high place with the palace burning all around.

Over the collapsed walls, stood Weed, Seo Yoon, Van Hawk and Torido. Weed had fearlessly returned within the boundaries of the Serabourg Citadel! While it wasn’t a far distance, it was still smack dab in the heart of Embinyu forces.

“Weed is the highest priority target for the Embinyu Church! Servants of the Embinyu Church, kill that human!”

*****

The Morata’s artist’s eyes were sparkling as they couldn’t keep their eyes off the crystal orb.

“Ah, this is amazing.”

“My hand is getting sweaty just by watching this.”

“I even forgot to drink my beer!”

The excitement began the moment Weed started to lead the refugees out of Serabourg Citadel. As always, Weed’s adventures sucked people in. Thus, even though Weed was a Sculptor he was still one of the greatest figures for all the artists.

‘If I make this scene into a sculpture...‘

‘Drawing this will be awesome. This composition is to die for.’

This became a great source of inspiration for the painters and the Sculptors. Already the Sculptor Guild was discussing their plans to erect a huge statue of Weed. If they could just make it, there would be no greater fame. It could even become the next attraction of the city!

And from a single battle, poured out countless scenes for the painters to draw.

“I think the scene where he was battling in the dungeon was cool.”

“The speech he gave to the refugees as an Ice Troll wasn’t bad.”

“What about the part where he fought in mid-air while riding on the frozen Wyvern?”

“Well, that was spectacular. But there is going to be something much better from now on.”

“Yeah! Declaring themselves in front of the Embinyu army. If only I was with them there...”

The Painters immediately planned their concepts they wanted to draw. Considering the huge amount of paintings about Weed that would be produced, they were already planning to host an exhibition on this.

And in a small part of their hearts, they were lamenting. They could just imagine the excitement, their hearts beating as if they were in Weed’s spot right now!

Besides the artists, players with other classes were also focusing on the crystal orb.

These were Bards and Dancers!

“Observe carefully. This will be our next play.”

“What would the title be?”

“Weed’s stand against the Embinyu Church?”

“No, no. ‘The Saint of the Continent Weed’ sounds better.”

The Dancers and Bards in Morata were preparing to host a grand play of Weed’s adventure. They never ran out of idea’s when they chose Weed as the main topic as wherever he went, thrilling events happened.

The residents of Morata were also watching the crystal orb.

“Our lord is really different.”

“I hope he comes back safely. He mustn’t get killed by the Embinyu Church.”

Morale of Morata’s residents increased.

Loyalty of Morata’s residents toward their lord is at the maximum state.

Chapter 4: Flood and the Sphinx

Weed bellowed out a Lion’s Roar.

He stood there, with his chest pushed out. His right hand grasped lightly on the spear he had stabbed into the ground earlier. Standing firm and tall, his body language screamed danger.

“Kill Weed!”

“We have to kill that bastard first! Our Lord Belloni commands us so.”

Demons started to emerge from the flames that were burning down Serabourg Citadel. The large army encircling the Citadel broke away. Their only goal was to kill Weed.

The effect of Lion’s Roar was more than plenty in pulling the Embinyu Church’s attention.

“Hmm.”

Even Weed did not anticipate such a reaction.

“My popularity is pretty amazing.”

The realization of his fame at such a crucial moment!

"......."

Seo Yoon stared at him with a blank expression. She wondered just what kind of plan Weed had that he would so confidently provoke the Embinyu Church like this. She couldn’t help but doubt his sanity.

“I will be able to fight as much as I want.”

“Let’s start a festival of blood.”

Van Hawk and Torido prepared for battle. And Weed, turned his back without a second thought.

“Run for it!”

Weed’s decision was to run.

Of course, there was no way that Weed would have planned to die, fighting the Embinyu Church till the bitter end. Such a thoughtless plan, was for Weed, the same as pouring out all his life savings on lottery or gambling.

Seo Yoon gave a small sigh of relief and followed suit. To her, running away seemed like the right course of action after successfully managing to draw the Embinyu Church’s attention. And especially, what purpose did stabbing his spear into the ground or giving out a Lion’s Roar serve?

But there was a huge leap in logic between the two.

‘For that few seconds, I must have looked cool.’

As a man, he also wanted to try that pose.

Now that the whole army of the Embinyu Church was mobilized after him, the only thing left to do was run.

The Dark Paladins, seeing that Weed was trying to flee, chased after him on horseback.

“Time to run. Van Hawk, open up a path.”

“Understood, Master.”

Running ahead on his Phantom Horse, Van Hawk pulled out his sword and gave a large swing.

Houyhing!

The Dark Paladins, together with their horses, fell.

This was the Van Hawk that Weed treated coldly for reducing his experience points and being useless. But after levelling up, Van Hawk was showing his use as he made short work of these Dark Paladins. Wherever Weed was, people instantly pictured the Death Knight next to him on reflex. The Death Knight had become quite famous in his own right.

“Forward! Continue pushing through!”

The Embinyu Church army moved in groups, trying to block their escape. The beginner players watching on the hill could see groups of Cultists and Demons moving in perfect order as they slowly closed in on Weed.

“Ah… I thought he said he was going to fight alone... running away also works!”

“It must be terrifying. Just imagine, tens of thousands coming to kill just one person.”

“Uwa! It must be electrifying!”

Watching the Demons all gathering in one spot gave a feeling of grandeur.

“We cannot stop here!”

Weed swung his Fire Lance Spear furiously.

Crushing Blow!

The enemy’s head flew off.

Crushing Blow!

Dark Paladin has been paralyzed.

The defensive lines formed by the Dark Paladins and Demons were smashed into the air by the Ice Troll. Though most of the enemies could withstand such a blow, there was no time to follow up and kill them.

“It’s bad form to leave prey alive… what a waste”

It was a miserable situation for Weed, when the monsters were stacked up for him to destroy he had to run away. But the progress of the battle was changing within the breath of a moment. The high ranked Demons were pulled back from the siege to come after him. In the vicinity were many Cultists, Dark Paladins and Witch Doctors as far as Weed could see.

“All who cannot follow the will of Embinyu are cowards!”

The curse stimulated fear, Fighting Spirit decreased by 56.

“These foolish heathens will suffer in agony forever, without a hope of salvation.”

Agony has been instigated, this will cause an additional 17% damage to your health on every attack.

Witch Doctors casted various hexes on Weed, Seo Yoon, Van Hawk and Torido. All over Weeds body were small skulls floating around dizzyingly, on his back were large burning hands that came back and forth. The area was thick with fog, like a riverbank at dawn, limiting the groups field of vision.

It was as they said, the Witch Doctors of the Embinyu Church were hard to deal with. In an instant, seven different curses were cast on the four of them.

“Gossiping about others is the most fun when there are plenty of people.”

Especially when you are talking behind their backs, 3-4 hours, time just flew by!

Before Weed and Seo Yoon went on to engage the Embinyu Church, they received as many blessings as possible from the priests. But because of the curses, the blessings were counteracted, causing malaise and overall battle effectiveness to decrease.

“Don’t stop running, we need to get past the Dark Paladins!”

Curses could be purged faster by receiving blessings or having holy artifacts. Depending on the Resistance and Will Power, Dark Magic effects disappeared naturally over time. But right now, they had to focus on clearing past the Dark Paladins that were attacking the four persistently.

“I, Knight of Darkness Van Hawk, challenge anyone to a duel.”

“The loyal servant of Embinyu, Derikda, accepts your challenge.”

Van Hawk skillfully defeated the high ranked Dark Paladin! Weed was finally reaping the benefit of levelling up the Death Knight till now. Weed, Seo Yoon and Torido also pitched in, clearing off the other Dark Paladins approaching them.

Seo Yoon was fully awoken to her Berserker state. Her attack strength was beginning to increase greater than normal and her vitality barely dropped. She was killing off the monsters before they could approach Weed.

The four of them managed to break through the Dark Knights, but after them was a line of Cultists holding their weapons. Having already faced them before, the Cultists did not offer much of a challenge. But having been slowed down by the Dark Paladins, the main Embinyu army that torched the Serabourg Citadel had gotten closer.

The Cultists would most likely delay them further and with the Embinyu forces encroaching in, soon they would be completely boxed in with no way to escape.

“This is the same feeling as getting all 6 of your credit cards declined.”

It was a situation that was stifling to breath in, with no way out in sight!

Weed looked at Van Hawk and Torido. Thanks to the experience they had following him around in dangerous regions, they fought well. Seeing that they were Undead, their tolerance to curses and poisons was high. Van Hawk had serious injuries due to his fight against the Dark Paladins, but he could still hold his ground.

Seo Yoon, in a show of strength, finished off the remaining Dark Paladins and Demons before they could come close. The Berserker’s ability caused her true offensive potential to awaken as she defeated strong enemies.

Weed with his Ice Troll traits to emit a cold aura to his surroundings, slowing down the enemy.

Due to the enemies low resistance to the cold, they are frozen.

Weed whirled his spear, crushing the frozen Cultists and turning a high number of them into grey light.

Curses became weaker over time so their current situation was not as severe. But the biggest problem was what they had to do next.

‘I can’t positively say that we can outpace the pursuit, no matter how much we run. But then, if we slip away too early, the Embinyu Church army would become spiteful and target the refugees.’

They had to buy time, pull the Embinyu Church’s attention continuously, and had to stay alive on top of everything else. There was nothing more vexing than this.

“I could have slept in during the weekdays. I could have dumped jajangmyeon and ganjajang into one bowl and ate to my heart’s content. I could have watched television on the weekend and loafed my time away. Just my awful luck, and now I have to deal with this...”

*****

“Oohhhh!”

“Kahahahaha.”

“Just like I told you. This is Weed we are talking about. Only Weed could have adventures like this!”

The tavern Bart was in was rowdy with merriment. The tavern was crowded with customers who forgot about their beer and appetizers and instead decided to watch Weeds adventure on the large crystal orb.

Of course, Bart was watching with the crowd.

‘How is this any fun to watch? They got scared of some monsters, went through some dungeon and now they seem to be escaping in a group.’

But after a small amount of time had passed...

‘Huh, this is a bit exciting, it strangely pulls you in. It’s nail biting how close the refugees are skating with death.’

And a moment after that, watching Weed with just one companion and his underlings going forward to act as bait.

‘Oh! Such a decision…...’

The tavern became as quiet as a dead mouse. They watched the large crystal orb as if they were hypnotized, forgetting to even refill their beer. The crowd forgot about everything as they were swept up by the tension of watching Weed, Seo Yoon and his subordinates fleeing as the Embinyu army dogged their every steps.

Bart, having no knowledge or experience of the battle mechanics, could not gauge how well Weed fought. Besides the wolves, foxes and rabbits, he had no idea how strong other monsters were. He accepted, at face value of what he heard, the people’s praises for Weed’s greatness on the battlefield, of his prodigious skills, and his movements that no one could imitate.

He could just feel that Weed was planning something. The meeting he had with Weed was short, but he had come out with the impression that Weed was not someone who would jump in front of the whole army of the Embinyu Church without a plan.

“But, that woman wearing the mask next to him… She seems familiar… It couldn’t possibly be my daughter, could it?”

*****

“Torido, take the left.”

“Understood. Master!”

Torido called upon the Pure Blooded Vampire Clan. The vampires increased their levels as they attacked the Cultists. In a way, the Cultists were the best suited enemy for the Pure Blooded Vampire Clan as they had ‘pure’ blood.

The showdown between the Vampires and the Cultists was taking place everywhere. While there were also many Embinyu Priests, they tried to avoid the Vampires and only came after Weed. Killing Weed took priority before anything else.

Turning left, Torido was faced with a flowing river. This was the place where the Pyramid and the Lion Monstrosity stood towering over the landscape.

“Those who profane the Embinyu Church cannot escape!”

The Wyvern Knights joined in the pursuit, flying low to attack with their spears. And from afar, spells and arrows continued to rain down on them. The Embinyu army was getting closer and closer. From the other side of the Pyramid and the Lion Monstrosity were groups of Demons and Cultists, trapping them in.

They could no longer move freely, being completely encircled and isolated. The Embinyu forces were closing all possible escape routes. Because the Demons were so fast, they were too preoccupied beating back the Demons and Cultists to clear away from the Embinyu Church’s encirclement.

‘I failed to protect him again.’

Seo Yoon was prepared to fight till the end. No matter what happened, she decided to die first, fighting to protect Weed till the last moment.

“Don’t stop now, climb.”

Weed began to scale the Pyramid. As it was built as a Step Pyramid, Weed had little problem climbing up.

Seo Yoon had some doubts as going up was a dead end with very little advantage in terrain.

“Ah!”

Having had an epiphany, Seo Yoon climbed the Pyramid.

“We are vulnerable to the enemy’s spells and arrows up here.”

“Abandoning our escaping and choosing to fight till the end, it’s not bad Master.”

Torido and Van Hawk stepped onto the Pyramid’s stone and began climbing up.

The Demons, Cultists and soldiers of the Embinyu Church were still after them. They were harassed by the the Wyvern Knights with every step they climbed. But with Weed and Seo Yoon, who was awakened to her Berserker ability, the Wyvern Knights were not much of a hurdle. With a third of their numbers left, they were even more persistent in their attack.

Finally, Weed reached the capstone. It was the king’s tomb he built by pouring out his heart and soul. While he was the anointed lord of Morata now, before he was a vicious entrepreneur that tapped into his latent potential for business to ruthlessly exploit people without regret to build such an immense structure.

Seo Yoon, Van Hawk, and Torido arrived at the stones right below him.

“Impressive view.”

It was like looking from a mountain peak. Seeing from above, the Embinyu forces were swarming the area. The landscape was blackened by the Demons, Dark Paladins, Witch Doctors, Priests and Cultists crawling down below. Even the High Priest Belloni had left behind the flaming Citadel and was leading a personal force to the Pyramid.

“I guess with this, I managed to buy half the time I need.”

This was enough time for about two-thirds of the refugees to escape safely without any problems. But now with the old and the weak having to march the long distance, they refugees would move slower. Therefore, it was even more crucial for Weed to hold the Embinyu forces attention, now more than every.

"Release Sculpture Transformation."

Weed shifted from the body of an Ice Troll to his original form. He took off the leather armor he equipped temporarily and also put his spear into his backpack.

At this climax where Weed had to fight the most, he threw away the physically advantageous body of the Ice Troll! The players watching the broadcast wondered why. The viewers thought that in his rush, Weed made a tactical error and climbed up the Pyramid by mistake. Suspicion creeped up in the mind of the viewers, that perhaps, Weed already gave up.

“There is one advantage of living in a mountain town. No matter how much it rains, it’s safe!”

Weed took out a sculpture from his backpack. It was the Fine sculpture, ‘Heavy Rain and Flooding River’. The sculpture was carved out delicately from rocks and with Nature Sculpting, Weed carved rain and river water for the finishing of the Fine piece.

“Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

You have used the ‘Great Disaster Nature Sculpting’ skill

Art stat decreased by 20 permanently.

20,000 health and mana has been consumed.

Every stat is reduced by 15% for the next four days.

Affinity to Nature decreased.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once per day.

When a great calamity is called upon, fame or notoriety can be increased depending on the damage.

You can die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

Weed used the Great Disaster Nature Sculpting at 1,005 Affinity to Nature he had steadily accumulated till now.

“Well, I am sure we are high enough to avoid the disaster.”

Till now, having used the skill twice, he learned his painful lesson. The Great Disaster Nature Sculpting was the perfect skill to kill the user if not activated properly. Having completed his strenuous climb to the top of the Pyramid, he could now use the skill without any worry.

Dark clouds started to gather in the sky and burst with rain. It was as if someone punctured the sky, causing a sudden downpour.

The rain soaked Weed, Seo Yoon, Van Hawk, Torido and the Embinyu forces.

“It’s getting started.”

The rain continued without abating. Until the Great Disaster Nature Sculpting was fully active, the four of them had to fight off the Demons clambering on the Pyramid through the rough weather.

“The Embinyu god is waiting for sacrifices.”

“Climb! Show them the bravery of the Embinyu Church!”

Demons and Cultists were crowding around the Pyramid. Witch Doctors, Magicians and Embinyu Priests sent spell after spell.

Weed pulled out the Helium Torch he had sculpted. The Helium Torch erected a Mana Barrier that blocked long range attacks, casted tolerance limit against dark magic and curses on the user, and increased mana recovery.

“Radiant Sword!”

From Weed’s sword, birds made of light formed. The birds purifying the Demons and intercepting the spells mid-air exploded. Like the Berserker she was, Seo Yoon fought in front and center against the Demons.

Lights and magic exploded, bathing the top of the Pyramid in radiant glory. But to those holding the line at the highest point of the Pyramid, it was living hell.

Only 3~4 minutes in, Van Hawk was spent.

“Master. This is the end for me. I regret that I cannot fight with you to the end.”

Van Hawk, having reached the limits of his health, was unsummoned.

If Weed could have afforded the time, he might have bandaged Van Hawk and sent him to the rear. But there was just no opportunity to take his eye’s off the situation. Arrays of spells from the Embinyu Magicians were sent toward him and he barely could dodge and block most with the Radiant Sword.

Magic Attack. You were hit by Nurun’s Spear

Health decreased by 869.

Weed’s health fell below 34,000 and Seo Yoon was only staying afloat due to her Berserker endurance. Seo Yoon was heavily injured as she went forth against the Demons rushing for Weed and became target for curses and spells. She fought without a care for herself, delivering more attacks than Weed.

Rain beat down heavily, slightly weakening the spells and arrows and helping them endure a bit longer.

“At this rate, we are all going to die....”

Droplets of rain fell down from Weed’s face. The Head Priest Belloni and his personal forces were coming within attack range of the Pyramid. Below, were the cries of Demons and Cultists as they stumbled on the wet surface of the Pyramid and falling on their own troops on the ground, causing the air to be filled with shrieks of agony.

Then, the disaster that Weed had been waiting for, finally started.

The place that the Pyramid and the Lion Monstrosity was built on was nearby the Rosenheim Kingdom’s Arud River. The Embinyu Church thinking that the heavy rain was just raising the river level slightly, began to notice that it was over flooding.

“Aarrg!”

“Water. Water is rushing towards us!”

Water began to overflow, expanding everywhere. Soon, the Cultists, Demons and the Priests ankles were submerged. The rising water level didn’t show signs of stopping as it began to rise even more quickly. From the upper reaches of the Arud River, a frightening amount of water rushed by. The lowlands covering the mountains, hills and the plains around the Pyramid began to flood.

Great Disaster Natural Sculpting. Great Flood!

Waves the size of a house, slammed into Embinyu forces.

Kueeik!

The violent waves toppled Karaclops with its strength. The masses of the Embinyu forces were scattered, each trying to look for a way to survive. But the whole vicinity was flooded with water.

The water level quickly rose passed the knees and engulfed the enemy. Buildings toppled and the siege weapons, rocks and, trees were wrecked and floated about. The previous roaring Embinyu Cultists and Demons drowned under the flood and were swept away.

Weed grinned happily as he watched the proceedings.

“This really is the most satisfying sculpting skill.”

But, Weed was still uncertain about the damage the flood caused to the Embinyu army. He was certain that the relatively weak Cultists would have no hope of surviving the flood. The Cultists could even have been killed instantly when they were swept by the torrent.

However the powerful Demons, Dark Paladins and Dark Priests had high health and resistance. The probability of most of them surviving the flood was high.

With the Embinyu army in disarray and swept up by the flood, now was the chance!

Weed used his skill toward the Lion Monstrosity.

“Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

You have bestowed life upon a sculpture

Based on your current Art stat of 2,281, this has been converted to 469 levels for the sculpture. As this is a brilliant Masterpiece level sculpture, the Lifeform receives an additional 10% level increase.

Four attributes are granted to the Lifeform. The attributes grade and abilities differ depending on the sculpture’s appearance and quality. Stone Att. (100%), Fire Att. (80%), Art Att. (100%), Glory Att. (100%).

Stone Attributes grants special defense to the Lifeform.

Fire Attributes can be used to burn away the enemy.

The Lifeform has been granted immunity to all forms of curse spells.

The Lifeform has gained strong resistance against Dark Magic.

Through the Art Attributes the Lifeform has gained appreciation of sculptures and arts, granting additional 150% effects to work of arts. This includes the Lifeform itself and all nearby artworks.

Glory Attribute grants dignity and charisma to the Lifeform. When fighting with a large army, it will increase loyalty and morale of that army and the knights leadership skill will increase.

5,000 mana has been consumed.

Mastery of the skill increased. The required level and stats consumed during Life Bestowal has decreased by 20%.

Art stat has decreased by 6 permanently. The reduced stat can be recovered by sculpting or doing other art related projects.

Level has decreased by 2. Stats, in response, have decreased by 10 comparative with the levels that have been lost. The reduced stats will be recovered when level increases again.

Please take care of the sculpture you have bestowed life upon. If killed, you will have to bestow life once again. When the sculpture is completely destroyed, it can no longer be resurrected.

Weed’s level was reduced to 405, and his Art stat was consumed. But the end results was the Lion Monstrosity of Rosenheim Kingdom coming to life.

“Graaar!”

The Lion Monstrosity woke up with a great howl.

“Gro-rol?!”

When it tried to step forward with it’s front limbs, it slipped and flopped in the water that came up halfway to its body. It was a less than stellar first introduction, but it wasn’t the first or second time Weed saw such acts from his sculptures.

“What is my name?”

The now living Lion Monstrosity stuck it’s head toward Weed as it asked. The Lion Monstrosity was similar in size to the tall Pyramid. It’s body was that of a lion but it’s head was a close resemblance to the previous king Theodrin.

“Your name is Sphinx.”

“It does not matter if my name is Sphinx. I have no plans to be loyal to a master who knows nothing of honor.”

The Sphinx had a strong tendency to it’s own identity and independence, and did not think highly of Weed as it’s master.

Weed had no plans to fight such matters right now.

“Let’s sort this problem out when we have time. Right now, we fight.”

“The sea I desired.”

The Sphinx gave a bellow as it jumped into the water. It crunched the Dark Priests being swept away by the fast torrent with it’s mouth and crushed them with it’s forelimbs.

“Destroy that lion!”

“The culprit Weed is over there. We must sacrifice Weed as an offering!”

The Embinyu Priests rode upon the swimming Demons. But some of them were swept away by the torrent or disappeared under whirlpools. The Embinyu Priests were in complete disarray and under the mercy of the overflowing river current.

The Sphinx, which was the same size as a large building, splashed around the river and preyed upon the Embinyu forces.

“Twenty. Twenty one. Twenty two.”

Weed armed himself with the High Elf Yurika bow and shot at the floating Demons. Seo Yoon and Torido stabbed at the Demons clinging onto the Pyramid. The great flood was sweeping away the Embinyu forces.

Grooooar!

The stroke of lightnings briefly showed Weed’s figure on top of the Pyramid. It showed the appearance of Weed, taking aim with his bow while being pelted by rain. Weed, fighting under the darkness with occasional light created an awesome scene.

Weed continuously shot arrows, this time changing his target to the Embinyu Priests. It was much more profitable to target the Priests which gave more experience than the harder to kill Demons. But the good times were quickly passing by.

The effect of the Great Disaster Nature Sculpting was slowly receding and the rain was stopping. But the water level around the Pyramid was still rising and the torrents were becoming more violent.

“With this much, I have done what I could.”

Weed was not satisfied with the amount of Embinyu Priest he farmed but felt that it was time to leave. The number of Embinyu forces had decreased significantly due to the siege in Serabourg Citadel and the flood. But if they stayed here any longer, there was a real possibility that the remaining forces would engage themselves fully.

Even Seo Yoon was spent, as she fought against the Demons alone.

“We should have bought enough time for the refugees.”

It would take significant time for the Embinyu forces to reorganize themselve to chase after the refugees. A large number of Cultists and Demons were cast adrift to the lower reaches of the Arud River. Even if not many of them perished, the backwash was great.

In a war between Kingdoms, the Great Disaster Nature Sculpting would cause unimaginable havoc. The only small side effect was that the skill didn’t distinguish between enemies and allies.

“Sphinx, time to go.”

“I want to keep on fighting.”

“The enemies are reorganizing themselves. We need to escape now before it becomes impossible to escape.”

Head Priest Belloni and his personal forces, the giant Demons that were scattered by the flood. When the disaster ended, they would recover and come in full force. It was wise to hurry out of where they were, when considering the kind of enemies coming after them

“I do not wish to depart from this place.”

“Why?”

“I have to protect this place. I will protect king Theodrin’s tomb till the end.”

"......."

The Sphinx chose the Pyramid over life.

A side effect of bestowing life on a sculpture! When it was a sculpture, it was meantassigned to protect the Pyramid. It was the symbol of the king’s majesty. After being bestowed with life, the Lifeform did not forget it’s duty and had planned to fight the Embinyu forces till it’s last breath.

“You will die if you stay. This precious life you received, is it not a waste to throw it away?”

“There is a meaning behind protecting what you have to protect.”

“Even then, come with me. If you do, I will prepare meat for you everyday and give two days breaks every year.”

But of course, there was no way he would keepcould guarantee his promise!

“I have already chosen my path. Go, I will protect this place.”

At the Sphinx’s faithful declaration, Weed’s eyes became wrinkled and wet.

‘It’s good that the rain didn’t stop yet. It can hide my tears.’

The tears were definitely not because Weed was touched by the Sphinx’s words. His precious Art stat and level! Weed had invested his precious experience in bestowing life on the Sphinx and now due to its extreme stubbornness, it was planning to die fighting.

“I should have thought this out before bestowing life. I should have granted it life when I had plenty of time and then beat the education into him.”

It was too late to regret now. Staying here any longer to convince the Sphinx otherwise would put him and Seo Yoon in a dangerous situation.

“Wy-Three!”

Weed activated the Lion’s Roar. And a moments later, Wy-Three could be seen flying from afar. Wy-Three woke up at the crack of dawn without being able to wash his face so he could reach them.

When Weed and Seo Yoon got on Wy-Three’s back, the flood current was weakened. The Embinyu forces that were swept up in the flood could now touch the ground. The ground was a shamble with the half drowned Demons and Cultists.

The Embinyu Magicians and Priests began to ready their attack but the Sphinx protected them with it’s own body.

“Go now!”

Weed and Seo Yoon fled on the back of Wy-Three and Torido flew away from the battlefield with his own power. Looking from far, the Sphinx was fighting bravely but soon, it would be encircled by the Embinyu forces and would fight an uphill battle.

“It looks like he won’t make it.”

Trying to escape with a Sphinx that couldn’t fly might have been impossible from the beginning. But thanks to the Sphinx, Weed could escape without any problems.

“Wy-Three, don’t fly to the refugees. Rather, fly around and take a long detour.”

“Understood, Master.”

To prevent any possible pursuit, Weed commanded his Wyvern to take a detour before heading towards the refugees.

Pass the hills and slopes was an endless procession of refugees! Seeing Weed and Wy-Three above, the refugees cheered and waved their hands.

‘Doesn’t look like the Embinyu army gave a major chase.’

There were some attacks by the roaming monsters but that much could be handled by the players and the soldiers. After Weed left to bait the Embinyu Church, many players had already logged out. But still, a decent number of players stayed behind to disconnect from another area.

Weed continued to follow the refugees on Wy-Three’s back.

“Here, I have some bandages. Roll back your sleeve a bit.”

Weed wrapped bandages around Seo Yoon’s arm, who was suffering the aftermath of the Berserker skill even after the battle had ended.

Following after them long after the sun had rose, the refugees at the forefront finally met up with the Rosenheim Kingdom’s army. This was the army that was dispatched to Serabourg Citadel after detecting the signal fire.

‘I can finally rest easy now.’

Weed logged out, after feeling a bit fatigued.

Translation Notes

Lot’s of backtracking done this chapter. I just found out there was a proper terminology for 흑마법사. It’s an actual class in Heartstone, it’s the Warlock. Every chapter has been adjusted to reflect the change in terminology. Especially vol 23 and 24. I apologies for this and the change it would cause to the reading experience.

흑마법 - Dark Magic

흑마법사 - Warlocks

Food mentioned in this chapter:

자장면 - jajangmyeon

Jajangmyeon is a noodle dish and if you are in Korea, try it. Cost about 6~7$ and fills you up.

간자장 - ganjajang

Another skill terminology that has been changed:

대재앙의 자연 조각술 - Great Disaster Nature Sculpting
This makes me scratch my head whenever it pops up, I think I already spent over an hour deciding how to make it sound ‘cool’. I already changed it 4~5 times but still doesn’t sound good. So I just decided to go with the most literal translation: 대(great)재앙(disaster) 자연 조각술 (nature sculpting)

Another title that I changed around:

전쟁의 신 - War God/God of War
Apparently there is a character called 전쟁의 신 도카 in World of Warcraft or in English, War God Dokah.
Also, the author’s blog: blog.naver.com/wargod80.
I have been debating about this for about two month, to change or not. One of the proofreader Xandaar pointed out how I should mix it around to make the sentence sound better.

War God - 2 syllables. God of War - 3 syllables. With ‘War God’ the sentence does flow more naturally as it is less ‘wordy’. I have decided that ‘War God’ will be the ‘title’ and God of War will be used when the context needs to be more descriptive.

사자 괴물 - Lion Monstrosity

Rather than translating it immediately into Sphinx, it’s been translated to Lion Monstrosity, which honestly sounds awful. But if you read through now, you should have noticed that Weed actually names the ‘Lion Monstrosity’ as Sphinx. Therefore, the distinction between the two terms and the use of the awful, ‘Lion Monstrosity’.

Chapter 5: Church of Lugh

Shock swept through the Versailles Continent once more.

The burning of Serabourg Citadel. An incident where more than half of the players and the villagers perished within. Although the players could revive after receiving a penalty, the Citadel and its people were lost forever.

The siege of Serabourg Citadel

The exodus of the villagers, lead by Weed

Replays of the Royal Knights battling their foes

The great fire of Serabourg Citadel

And a mysterious sculpting skill that could summon a flood

These videos were trending on the top throughout the day.

After the burning of Serabourg Citadel, the Embinyu forces scattered rather than facing the Rosenheim Kingdom's army straight on. Using this opportune moment, every region in Rosenheim Kingdom erupted with insurrection.

and in every region of Rosenheim Kingdom, insurrection occurred.

“Even Rosenheim Kingdom is unstable now.”

Lee Hyun was eating his seafood noodles as he watched the television.

“This is the place where Serabourg Citadel once stood. The place has been burned to the ground and the only evidence that this place was once a Citadel are these remains of wreckage and rubble.”

“Mr. Oh Joo Wan, I just cannot believe that this place was once the flourishing capital of the Rosenheim Kingdom.”

“Yes, even I was surprised when I first saw this scene. Have you ever visited Rosenheim Kingdom before Miss. Aring?”

“Not yet. It has been a place where I dearly wished to visit at least once, but now it seems it will be impossible to see its previous grandeur.”

This was the aftermath of the fire of Serabourg Citadel that soared brightly into the sky. Before the flood quenched the fire. Only burnt outlines of buildings were left in the ruins of Serabourg Citadel.

Currently, Miss Shin Hye Min, the KMC media’s anchor was on leave so the new star anchor Aring was in her place.

“The players that have logged in after a week are standing in the square, looking around with a stupefied expression.”

The players who had logged out before the battle of Serabourg Citadel took place, logged in only now, after the army of the Embinyu Church had departed.

“I am currently in an interview with a merchant. How do you feel right now?”

“I don’t know. It’s just depressing.”

“The damages caused by the Embinyu Church seem significant, what will you do now?”

“Go to another place and continue my business there. It’s not the first time I have been ransacked.”

The merchant left, dragging his wagon behind him.

Afterwards, she interviewed several other players but the majority gave the same answer. Departing for another castle or Kingdom.

“Still, Mr. Oh Joo Wan, many players are claiming to have seen light of hope in Serabourg Citadel.”

“Yes, I am sure there are many viewers out there who have also seen it through the live broadcast.”

“You are right. It’s the person I want to meet the most, the person I want to go out with! Apparently it was thanks to him that many were saved.”

“It was a strange coincidence that Wargod Weed was in Serabourg Citadel. I thought he had left for the Red Reed Forest and was sidetracked as there were no news about him for sometime. But to my surprise he appeared in Serabourg Citadel and played a major role in the incident.”

“I heard that through this event, Weed’s popularity has risen higher.”

“This is nothing new. You can say that the viewers have more interest in Weed’s distinct progress compared to the other Rankers. Weed has this unique charm about him.”

“Kyaa! Yes, especially when he chwiks! He makes these adorable chwick sounds that make me swoon.”

“Weed was the vanguard for the streams of refugees fleeing from Serabourg Citadel. He literally fended off the Embinyu Church with just one party member. All of Rosenheim Kingdom are praising Weed, and through this incident the surviving players are using this opportunity to move to Morata.”

Lee Hyun felt embarrassed due to all the flattery about him on tv.

“It’s been a long time since I have been complimented. The last time was in primary school, when the teacher told me that with a little bit of effort I could improve my dictation after receiving 65%.”

Just now he received a public confession from Yu Aring. She was an idol singer and worked as a tv host as well. In Royal Road, she tried to increase her popularity by posing as an eye catching priest and she had just publicly declared to him to contact her.

Of course Lee Hyun wasn’t so naive and had no plans to contact her. There was a huge difference between what was real and imaginary. If she was really interested and what she said wasn’t a telescript, she could always use the station’s contact lists to phone him first.

“More importantly, I need to get out of Rosenheim Kingdom as fast as possible. You never know when the Hermes Guild could come after me.”

From the news he learned that the King had escaped safely with his Royal Knights. The King had already gathered an army and began the counterattack, also commanding the nobles to subdue the Embinyu Church.

The Kingdom was embroiled in a civil war, with most players choosing to side with the King. The event to save the Kingdom was the perfect opportunity to stack up Contribution Points.

“There is probably going to be a large scale battle against High Priest Belloni. Belloni hasn’t revealed his abilities yet, but he definitely won’t be a pushover.”

It was at the point that Lee Hyun almost finished eating his seafood noodles.

“And now, we will continue with our coverage of the Central Continent. Mr. Oh Joo Wan, apparently it was another great victory for the Hermes Guild?”

“Ah, yes. If it wasn’t for the appearance of the Embinyu Church in Rosenheim Kingdom, this would had been the first thing I should have told the viewers. The greatest guild in Versailles Continent, Hermes Guild! They have once again defeated the Kallamore Kingdom’s army.”

“What happened to the supreme commander Kolderim? ”

“The knight above all knights, Kolderim, had participated in the battle today as well. After suffering defeat from the previous battle, he barely managed to escape but……. ”

In the previous battle, Kolderim and his knights fought desperately, piercing through the Haven Kingdom’s encirclement and withdrew. The Hermes Guild players tried their best to block Kolderim’s escape, but he managed to escape by the skin of his teeth.

Overall Kallamore Kingdom could not manage to avoid its scheduled defeat with their repeated failures, reducing the army size to insignificant numbers.

“Regrettably, we might not be able to see Kolderim ever again. Bardray has won a one-to-one duel against Kolderim.”

Several battles erupted daily in the war of Haven Kingdom against Kallamore Kingdom. They could not stand by and let Haven Kingdom conquer Kallamore Kingdom and Kolderim’s fiefdom. Even though Kolderim lacked a sufficient force, he continually went forward to defend his Kingdom and barely managed to return alive.

In this battle, Kolderim was fatigued and seriously injured. In this state, he accepted Bardray’s duel and was killed in action.

“We will now show you the duel of Bardray and Kolderim.”

Lee Hyun watched closely. Kolderim had many serious wounds in difficult to see places while also suffering from negative effects from curses. On the opposite, Bardray had various blessings and looked as if he just woke up from a refreshing nap.

“Bardray probably had an energizing meal as well.”

With the duel taking place with these unfair conditions, Bardray was the clear winner. Even then, just because it was Bardray, it did not mean that Kolderim would have certainly lost. Even in this dire situation, Kolderim used his peerless skill to battle the enemy.

At the last moment when the winner was decided, Bardray put his sword by Kolderim’s neck and showed one last mercy.

“Join Haven Kingdom. If you swear your allegiance to me, I will let you live.”

Bardray wanted subordinates like Kolderim. But Kolderim rejected the offer.

“Do not insult a knight before you kill him. I came back from death so I do not fear it. I only regret my lacking ability to protect Kallamore Kingdom.”

Such was the end of Kolderim. Even the tv hosts felt remorse at his passing.

“Such a regrettable death. There were many fans who liked Kolderim.”

“Yes. But then, the damage done to Haven Kingdom by Kolderim isn’t so insignificant. If you take that into account, it would have been difficult to let him live.”

“Whenever Kolderim participated in battle, the soldiers and knights morale increased to maximum. Drawing out their best potential and allowing them to fight like the devil.”

“It’s now impossible to see Kolderim once more on the battlefield. I predict that the Haven Kingdom will occupy more regions with greater ease.”

*****

The event of Spring in Korean University that would leave you disappointed if you missed it. The MT! Last Spring, Lee Hyun became quite famous and everyone, regardless of year, wanted to go with him. The place that was booked this year was said to surpass last years popularity.

“Sunbae, please take me along, please?”

“There are lot’s of ladies in my group, the Unnis said that they will not manage without Sunbae.”

There was a scramble in the various groups to make Lee Hyun join them. If one of the groups managed to land him, they would have no problem with meals, with sleeping arrangements and would have an advantage during sporting activities.

To Lee Hyun this was troublesome.

Though the place for MT was a secret, it would be an island or a mountainous location. He would need to take enough building material and just make a roof and lay down some blankets. The end. No matter the place, humans were more frightening than any animals.

“If they really wanted to make MT hard, they should just make them carry bricks on a multistory building or sew eyes on dolls for 4 days.”

Lee Hyun would have to sweat a bit in MT, but ultimately it was more of a holiday. In the end, he thought it was a waste to go to MT yearly and decided not to go. Of course, he was also absent for the new student introduction ceremony!

“It’s not like they won in lotto and they have to pay expensive registration fee every year to attend. Why do they even hold these ceremonies?”

He also decided not to attend sports day.

“These days my heart isn’t so good, so running above my limit leaves me dizzy and faint.”

Even saying that, when he practised his sword, he put in all his effort that his whole body was covered in sweat.

Lee Hyun was a person that no one knew existed in lecture hall if they did not deliberately search for him. The only reason people found him easily was that Seo Yoon was always with him. This was a great speculation among the juniors.

“What’s so appealing about him? I just don’t know.”

“Maybe we don’t have eyes to see men properly.”

The female students were despondent about this issue.

This year, Lee Hyun applied for many liberal art classes on top of his major. Just because it was a university, there was no need to focus only on the major. Coffee making, politics, film studies, the age of the world. These were all subjects that did not link well, but after learning about them, it gave a strange, swelling feeling.

“This subject doesn’t check attendance regularly. I can skip this lecture later on and they did say it gives a lot of credit.”

Lee Hyun researched the various courses. It felt like the university did not offer subjects that were too difficult to learn.

“I shouldn’t attend university with no reason. Completing a teaching degree later on feels like a good plan.”

If Lee Hyun taught students in the future, the parents would bring in bribes naturally.

“Presents are devotion. Complete devotion.”

Lee Hyun had a small desire to become a teacher that would tell unabridged stories on life lesson.

*****

The place Weed connected to was Highland Fort. It was a safe haven he reached with the refugees and players that had escaped Serabourg Citadel.

“Welcome.”

“Weed-nim is here!”

The players that survived thanks to Weed, greeted him warmly. There were also many players that stayed in Highland Fort as they wanted to tour the fortress.

Weed was the most sought after person in Rosenheim Kingdom. An ordinary person would find it bothersome or awkward when a crowd surrounded him. But Weed acted naturally as he even shook some of their hands.

“I have arrived. Did everyone have a good rest?”

“Yeah!”

Some time in the future, he might have to ask for their participation in a large scale quest, sell sculptures expensively or scam them so Weed had to maintain his popularity. This was his outstanding talent as the high priest of hypocrisy! If Weed ever entered politics, he would completely abuse his position. And with Morata and Vargo Fortress growing daily, it was almost ripe for harvest.

Weed hurried to the flower shop owner Selina to report his quest.

“I tried my best but I could not save everyone.”

The casualties were great for the villagers of Serabourg Citadel and not all villagers followed Weed. Some villagers chose to stay behind, believing the soldiers could protect them. Few were caught by the Embinyu Church as they were following Weed and were sacrificed. Some few were also taken as prisoners and were converted.

The villagers of Serabourg Citadel who followed Weed to Highland Fort were around 98,000.

“There were many deaths. I feel a heavy burden due to their death.”

“No, I must thank you for taking on such unreasonable request. I am sure the people who survived due your courage feel the same.”

“Thank goodness.”

“You have showed us unbelievable courage, determination, sacrifice and support as you led the refugees from Serabourg Citadel. Thanks to you, I believe many people were saved.”

DING!

Evacuation of the Civilians Completed

You have led the villagers, trapped in Serabourg Citadel by the Embinyu Church siege, to a safe haven. They will never forget this for the rest of their lives.

Fame increased by 10,236 due to the completion of the quest and your actions.

Courage increased by 9.

Honor increased by 21.

Charisma increased by 8.

Your level increased.

Your level increased.

Intimacy with the villagers that were rescued increased to maximum.

Selina unwound the flower bracelet and gave it to Weed.

“Please handle it carefully. Then the power of plants shall always be with you. ”

You have acquired Selina’s Flower Bracelet.

“Identify!”

Having finally acquired the item, Weed used identify straight away.

Selina’s Flower Bracelet

Durability: 18/20

Defense: 19

A flower bracelet gifted by a High Elf. The Roseum and the Anthurium are still alive. The flowers enjoy sunny places and require sufficient watering. When damaged the flowers can recover themselves and vitalize the wearer’s health and strength. This bracelet is made of two different flowers, if one dies so will the other.

Restriction:

Must be over level 450.

Option:

Power of Elements dwells within.

Mana +2,500.

Elemental Shaman skill +1.

Magic skill +1.

Archer skill +2.

Durability recovers by 3 everyday. Blacksmith skill has no effect on this item. If you have a good relationship with plants, in forests and grass fields, you can receive their help.

Affinity to Nature +7% .

Growth item. As the plant grows, it’s effect will increase. The item’s effect is amplified by three fold to the Elf or Fairy race.

“Awesome.”

Weed was so happy that he wanted to dance a little jig right there. He could sell this to an Elemental Shaman, Mages or Archers and they would dump everything they had for a chance to buy the bracelet.

Also items that increased Affinity to Nature was especially hard to acquire.

“Disaster Nature Sculpting’s power will increase considerably!”

Careless use of the skill was virtually a suicidal move, but he would think about that later. Increasing the power of the disaster came first!

“I will give you plenty of water and sunshine so grow bigger everyday.”

He already equipped Baharan’s bracelet crafted from precious stones on his left arm. It was a treasure of the Niflheim Empire that increased magic abilities. He equipped the flower bracelet on his right arm and departed through the Highland Fort’s gate.

The bounty hunters instigated by Hermes Guild could strike anytime so he had to escape as quickly as possible.

“Is that person Weed?”

“Look at the equipment he's wearing. It’s amazing. It gives off a completely different feeling. It feels like he's wearing only unique items.”

“I’ve never seen such equipment on forums. He’s the War God so his equipment must be good.”

Players looked on as they followed after him.

Villagers were praising Weed’s achievement everywhere, not only in Rosenheim Kingdom but all over the Eastern side of Versailles Continent.

The players entering the Fort were speaking.

“That guy, is he really Weed? Nevermind, he's really handsome. See Oppa, it was worth coming here.”

“Daeun, he looks ordinary. Why are you....”

“.......”

Couples could be seen fighting here and there.

In Royal Road, it was commonly accepted that equipment makes the man. Weed was wearing the Tallock’s Faith armor together with his Demon Sword. On his head and feets were handmade helmets and boots. He finished off his ensemble with a swirling cape. He also had the Horn of Treserk hanging loosely on a thread around his neck. Weed looked dazzling just by standing still.

‘With my looks it’s difficult to live in this world.’

He usually didn’t wear armor or weapons within villages, but since there were many people who recognized him already he decided to wear it just for the show.

“Wy-Three!”

As soon as Weed called, from the setting sun, a Wyvern was flying toward him with it wings wide open.

“Wow, a Wyvern is really coming.”

“That’s the Wyvern Weed usually rides on!”

The players became more ecstatic as Wy-Three landed in all its glory. Weed climbed on top of Wy-Three and prepared to leave.

“Wy-Three, let’s go to Morata.”

“Kiaaak!”

Wy-Three prepared for the long distance flight with a powerful liftoff. Wy-Three was so used to this that it did not even try to avoid it anymore. It could just think of this as a trip with his Master, separating the wind with their fast speed as they fly through watching the amazing scenery. When he arrived in Morata, he could relieve his troubles to his Wyvern brothers.

“Oh, I remember, Seo Yoon is coming tomorrow.”

“Kuek?”

“Come here tomorrow for her as well.”

“Kuek kuek kuek.”

Tears fell from Wy-Three’s eyes as he flew off in front of the Highland Fort’s gate.

*****

In the Red Reed Forest, the bounty hunters gathered to kill Weed were hunting by themselves.

“Damn, is Weed even coming.”

“Apparently, while we were waiting, he went to Rosenheim Kingdom. This was a complete waste of time and effort.”

The bounty hunters gathered about were composed of Warriors and Magicians. As there were no Priests among them, they could not help but suffer in the Red Reed Forest. The Hermes Guild’s Assassins were also spending their time contending with monsters. Even the additional reinforcements sent by the Guild were having a hard time with the herds of monsters in the forest.

“We just need to be patient for a bit longer. Weed finished his business in Rosenheim Kingdom so he must be coming here soon.”

“There is no other place for Weed to go to next. If we wait here, we will definitely catch him.”

The Hermes Guild did not know when Weed would come, but they separated to their established spots to prepare for an ambush. They set up comprehensive traps and waited patiently to kill Weed.

The Red Reed Forest continued to attract mercenaries, bounty hunters and assassins. So much so, that the forest was overflowing with them.

Even now mercenaries, bounty hunters and assassins continued to flock toward Red Reef Forest.

*****

Vargo Fortress specialty, the monster rush!

“They are coming.”

“Deploy the archers!”

The starving monsters came at them from far away, kicking up dust clouds in their wake. But the soldiers of Vargo Fortress were trained and had actual battle experience. The 1,500 archers were deployed to the walls and fired their arrows toward the monsters.

Pu-shuuung!

The arrows only caused slight damage to the monsters. In terms of their level to the monsters, it made the soldiers of Vargo Fortress look feeble, making it impossible to cause large damage. If Weed was here, he would have wept bitter tears at the arrows they wasted.

“Prepare for the assault!”

The knights commanded the archers to continue their barrage while also deploying swordsmen up the walls.

The swordsmen began fighting every kind of monster that was scrambling up the wall. Cavalry was set as reserve, waiting, just in case the wall was breached.

Players also fought next to the Vargo Fortress army.

The Mages immediately prepared their attack spells when they saw the dust cloud the monsters were kicking up. They readied their spells in a safe place with plenty of time, increasing the power and the success rate of completing their casting. The Mages used magic attacks that were optimized for a wide area of effect.

‘This is the time to increase mastery and get more experience, who knows when I will get another chance like this? ’

The news of Vargo Fortress attracting monster swarms everyday was already spread widely, causing Mages to continually flock toward the fortress. Not only were swarms of monsters assured to come everyday, they could also stack up Fame and Contribution in Vargo Fortress.

GYAAO!

Just before the swarms of monsters reached the wall, the few abnormal ones gave off a burst of speed and reached it first. But the monsters suddenly stopped and began to snarl at the wall.

On the wall were paintings of Barbarians, their natural enemies, holding spears. The painting gave off a sense of realism, making the monsters take the wall painting seriously.

Such scene could be seen occasionally elsewhere. Painting of steaming barbeque that monsters found mouth-watering were also drawn on the wall that was built in the middle of the wasteland. These painted walls became a focal point to the monsters.

The person responsible for all of this wall art was Petrov. His name was famous all over Vargo Fortress as a person who could paint masterpieces that could even make the monsters mistake it as being real.

“Attack!”

Arrows continued to rain down on the monsters while the Mages used their spells to eliminate the monsters that were staring vacantly. It was a victory for the soldiers and players fighting valiantly behind the wall.

When monsters rushed in, some of the defenders would make a blunder and fall into a dangerous situation, but the soldiers and players protected each other. The players could earn a lot of experience points and experience, this was a rare situation. It was so good that every player who came to Vargo Fortress demanded to participate in the monster defence.

“Once again, an easy victory thanks to my paintings.”

Petrov could earn enormous amount of Contribution in Vargo Fortress due to this. But this was not the only thing Petrov did.

Country Snake, Cerberus, Worm and other Sculpture Lifeforms that were given life in Jigolaths were at Vargo Fortress. They came under the orders of Weed to protect the fortress and destroyed monster dens one by one far away. The Death Worm that acted in conjunction with the Knights to defeat the monsters. Petrov built up a friendship with these large sized Sculpture Lifeforms.

It happened one day when he was painting a new piece. The Death Worm that Weed named simply as Worm, popped up from the ground, observed and left. From that day, several other Sculpture Lifeforms came and introduced themselves.

“You are quite a friendly bunch. Let me draw something for you.”

Petrov sometimes drew for them or showed them the work he’d done till now, increasing his friendship. And as the Sculpture Lifeforms were birthed from art, they quite liked it as well.

“What an amazing talent.”

“He’s much better than our Master.”

“You are right. Our Master gave us strange names and just abuses us. I am beginning to like this painter.”

Petrov sought friendship with the 47 Sculpture Lifeforms, also buying them food every so often.

“Eat. I will bring some more if it’s not enough.”

“Nom nom. Delicious. It tastes like honey.”

“Bring some more meat tomorrow, and also, I want to drink grape juice.”

“I want to chew on some bones.”

Petrov fulfilled all their wishes.

‘Soon they will abandon Weed to follow me.’

*****

On his way to Morata, Weed gave a surprise visit to the place the King Hydra and the Black Imugi hunted at.

“You guys!”

Using his 9 heads interchangeably, the King Hydra was stampeding through the forest, hunting.

“Master.”

“Long time no see.”

With it’s 9 head ramrod straight, the King Hydra approached Weed. It’s mouth could swallow Weed whole in one gulp. The King Hydra stopped once it stood in front of Weed.

“Move, I was here first.”

“4th head, you ate more yesterday, remember?”

“Me! The Master likes me the most!”

King Hydras were ferocious monsters who were vicious and did not heed orders. That’s why it was difficult for Weed to handle the Hydra. It had a large body; did not listen to beating; and even doing the utmost to persuade one head, it easily became corrupted by the sly tongue of the other heads.

The wisdom of ‘making sure not to meet the wrong kind of friends’ applied here as the King Hydra became crooked. Nothing could be done as from the beginning, all the heads were attached to one body.

Weed did not need to say anything, as he could clearly see the King Hydra’s belly protruding out.

‘This guy became a glutton.’

King Hydra’s personality was unscrupulous and sceptical that no amount of compliments would help it listen to Weed.

Weed frowned.

“Who told you to eat so much?”

“..........”

“You, did I not tell you not to hunt like that everyday?”

“4th head, I am talking to you. You better listen properly.”

“7th head I know it’s you.”

“From now when I am gone, make sure not to gorge yourself on monsters. They are also precious living beings.”

“I understand.”

“I will eat less from now on.”

The King Hydra acquiesced quickly.

But Weed knew.

‘When I am gone, they will hunt more diligently.’

Reverse psychology! When you tell them not to eat, they will want to eat even more!

“You, when I see you next time make sure you loose some fat.”

“I will try. But just breathing in air is making me fat.”

“We have 9 heads, even eating small morsels each will make us fat….. this is unfair.”

“I don’t care, make sure you lose the fat. Also, the purple tree, it’s dangerous so make sure not to get too close. At your level, you won’t manage. But I did hear the monsters there were really scrumptious...”

“Really?”

“Are they that delicious?”

“It tastes heavenly. Once you start eating, you won’t even know if one of your head’s disappeared. One monster has a complex mix of 6 different flavors, its sweet, sour, spicy, hot… and what was the other two again? No matter, the taste is unbelievable. It’s something you need to try out rather than listening about it.”

Gulp!

Each of the nine head of the King Hydra was drooling at the thought.

Using this method to direct the King Hydra to it’s most suited hunting ground, Weed pretended to leave, intending to watch what would happen. The 9 heads murmured quietly among themselves and went hurriedly toward the forest with purple trees.

Weed found the Black Imugi bathing at the lake located on top of the mountain.

“How have you been?”

“I been doing great. I have been enjoying the life you have granted me to the fullest.”

“I heard you made a new lair...”

“It’s just a small hole in the ground.”

“Should I call Bingryong and Phoenix for a housewarming party today?”

“Master!”

Black Imugi, who treasured his lair above all in this world, gave a small amount of jewels to Weed to keep his lair a secret. Weed even took pocket change from Sculptures whom he bestowed life upon!

After completing his simple visits, Weed flew toward Morata. As he had no need to hide himself in Morata, he decided to fly straight there while riding on his Wyvern.

“I should use this chance to visit the Church of Lugh in Morata.”

The Sword of Lugh. He still had an errand to return the sword. Weed could have made a simple detour to return the sword while on his way from Vargo Fortress to Grapass Region. But he was reluctant to part with such precious sword.

*****

Church of Lugh. The Church was comparatively new in Morata, but it employed many Paladins and Priests. While it did not reach the height of the Freya Church’s reign in Morata, it was gradually developing.

The Church of Lugh was one of the 5 major religions of the Continent. It was quite popular for it's application of light related holy magic. Church of Freya on the other hand, was more related to blessing harvest and birth. Freya Church also improved Charm and other such applications, having more holy magic that had no direct battle applications. Rather there were many people who chose the Freya Church as they became more handsome and appealing as their Faith increased.

Weed could see the many buildings he placed in Morata.

“The high buildings around the square are quite a sight.”

He could just feel the enormous amount of rents and taxes coming from these buildings.

The panorama of Morata he saw as he descended toward the ground on the back of his Wyvern… Morata clearly had become a great city. Shanties covered the entire hill, the statue of Goddess Freya gave off a feeling of magnificence around the whole area, the elegantly built Art Gallery with its massive garden, the Lord’s Black Castle, the Tower of Light located far on top of the rocky mountain.

And the streets were bustling with players. Many carriages were seen, pulled by cows and horses, carrying people and goods.

“A Wyvern is attacking!”

Someone cried out and everyone looked toward the sky. Then, they could see Weed riding on top his Wyvern, descending towards them.

“Lord Weed has arrived!”

RING RING RING RING!

The bell from the Black Castle began to ring as the news spread.

Weed couldn’t help but grin.

“These are definitely the perks of piling up goodwill. Such enthusiasm at my arrival....”

Weed was still far away, so he couldn’t hear what the players were saying.

“I have yet to see any city as good as Morata. But, maybe… you don’t think he has come to raise the taxes?”

“I was part of the expedition that fought the Undead Legion in Vargo Fortress. With the lack of news, I thought he ran off with the Sword of Lugh… but he’s here now.”

“Are you stupid? There is no way Lord Weed would run off with the sword.”

If Weed heard this conversation, part of him would be shaken by it. As he already considered the worst case scenario of running off with the sword and selling it! But seeing as there were no players with the qualification of using the sword, there was no chance getting away scott free if he sold it.

The players on the street were waving both arms, cheering Weed.

“The Lord returned!”

“Hurrah! Three Cheers for the Lord of Morata, Weed!”

Players were enthusiastic in their greetings!

As Weed flew over the shanties, players shouted in a loud voice.

"Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

Villagers also gave courteous bows.

“Wy-Three, let’s fly straight toward the Church of Lugh.”

“Kwaeek!”

Tired from the long distant flight, Wyvern forced its wings to fly toward the Church of Lugh.

*****

“I have come to meet the Bishop.”

From the rooftop of the Church of Lugh, Weed called out to the Paladin below. Wy-Three had landed directly on top of the wide rooftop of the church.

“Oh, it’s the esteemed Lord of Morata. I shall lead you directly to the Bishop.”

The Paladins were polite and courteous. The effect of Fame applied strongly here as Morata was Weed’s territory and was the base for most of his adventures. Compared to other places far off, the effect of Fame was on another level.

Weed was escorted by the Paladin to the personal room of the Bishop within the church.

“Thanks to your leadership, Morata is growing daily.”

It was the first time meeting the Bishop.

“Not at all. It’s all thanks to the diligence of the villagers and the upstanding soldiers. I am fortunate by what little I could assist with.”

The humility was all lip service. After wetting his lips, Weed continued.

“I have visited many places as an adventurer that explores the unknown. Through this, I have something to report to the Church of Lugh.”

“Have you come to report a discovery? We welcome such reports. Where did the Lord return from?”

Weed could have reported this discovery at the Lord’s castle. But, to do so, Weed had to pay a compensation. Rather than paying money out of his own pocket, he decided to report the discovery at the Church of Lugh.

“I have returned from the land of Jigolaths, a land that has not been tread on by any man for long time.”

If he reported this to the Goddess of the Earth, Mine, he could have earned a bit more Contribution Points and Fame. But, through this the Church of Lugh in Morata would become bigger and so will the benefit for the city.

“Jigolaths? I find it difficult to believe that you have returned from a land that is only found in legends and fables.”

“Here, this is the stone I have brought back from Jigolaths.”

Weed brought forth a piece of hardened lava for the Bishop to see. After the Bishop used his Holy Magic to observe the piece, he nodded his head.

“The light of Lugh shines on places on this continent that man has yet to reach. This piece of rock is definitely from Jigolaths. Congratulations on returning successfully from adventuring to the unknown.”

DING!

You have reported the discovery of the island, Jigolath to the Church of Lugh

The Church of Lugh’s primary interest is their sacred duty to bring righteousness to the Continent. While Jigolaths is not a great interest for them, by increasing their enthusiasm for adventure they will reward you handsomely.

Fame increased by 850.

Your Contribution Points with the Church of Lugh has increased by 192.

You can check your Contribution Points with Churches under the Religion tab.

Total Contribution Points with Church of Lugh: 315.

Weed, as Lord, earned small amount of Contribution with the Church just by having them in Morata. As the population became larger, the number of trained soldiers increased, the monsters in the vicinity subdued, quests completed, Weed earned small amount of Contribution Points. This could be seen as a privilege of the Lord, but the Church of Lugh did not even pay for the land or pay any other taxes.

Even then as the churches provided Public Order, support of their Paladins, change of class and quest, every Lord thought of them to be important.

“And also, there are several other things I have discovered.”

Weed reported everything he discovered on his way to Jigolaths, the Sculptor’s Tower and the dungeons. He increased his Fame and Contribution Points by reporting about the mermaids, monsters and peculiar geographical features.

Faith increased by 9, Courage increased by 6, Strength and Agility increased by 2 each.

There were many other places he visited like Grapass, the Vampire Kingdom of Todeum, the River of Lamentation, but he only reported on Jigolaths. This was because the Church would use the information, dispatching their Paladins and giving quest to other players to reclaim the land.

“There is a new dungeon that appeared near the vicinity of Morata. The Church of Lugh has assessed the situation to be highly dangerous. We are planning to dispatch our Paladins to wipe out most of the monsters and I was wondering if I could have the cooperation of Morata’s soldiers in this operation.”

Use your authority as Lord to command the soldiers to cooperate with the Church of Lugh to raid the dungeon?

Knights and soldiers will be dispatched and a quest will be created.

“Of course.”

Weed even accepted their appeal. Morata’s soldiers were not properly trained or were on a level to be useful. Through this investment into military power, the soldiers would be re-equipped and raid monsters as well.

“Truthfully, there is a special reason for coming to the Church of Lugh.”

It was time for Weed to expose the most important reason of coming to the Church of Lugh. Weed’s lips trembled with tension. By returning the Sword of Lugh, he knew it will be difficult to find a better sword.

“Here, I have brought evidence of Lugh Church’s virtue and justice.”

From his backpack, Weed pulled out the Sword of Lugh and gave it to the Bishop.

Translation Notes

- MT - Membership Training. For more info click: MT

- Seafood noodle. Not really mistranslated but in English there is one word to describe the various ‘noodle’ dishes in asia. Actual Korean is 해물 칼국수 or seafood kalguksu.

The best way to describe it is taking the pasta, cutting it more thinly and cooking it in a soup base rather than sauce.

- “Bardray probably had an energizing meal as well.” - In Korean: "밥도 북엇국에 잘 먹었을 거야." which in literal translation is “He must have ate a good meal with dried pollack soup. ”

북엇국 - Dried pollack soup. If you want to try: how to make pollack soup it’s a refreshing soup usually enjoyed at breakfast.

- The usual Korean cultural titles that can’t be really translated literally.

선배 - Sunbae
Urban dic: A Korean term which means senior or elder. It uses when a female is speaking to an older male than her in professional or scholastic context.

Urban dic: 언니 - Unni
A Korean term that means older/big sister that females call a female relative or a older girl they admire or respect. It is sometimes used as a honorific or to replace a person's name.

Urban dic: 오빠 - Oppa
A respectful Korean term used by females to call older males such as older male friends or older brothers
Though take point, Oppa in the context that is used in this chapter is meant as boyfriend. And yes, it is used like that.

- On topic of the translation on the Flower Bracelet:

The Roseum and the Anthurium is still alive
Korean: 엑시리움 - phonetically it’s alicium. But I cannot find the equivalent of what it is in English. So it’s guess as: Anthurium? Could also be Alyssum? Or some obscure scientific name.

- In Royal Road, it was commonly accepted that equipment makes the man.

The equipment makes the man: 장비가 날개 is playing on the idiom 옷이 날개다 literally translated as: Cloth is the wing. Or idiomatic translation: Clothes make the man.

- On Petrov, the Painters name. In Korean: 페트 which is phonetically: Petu

Not sure if it’s Royal Road or Jawz or whoever started Petrov, but it sounds much better.

- Cerberus has been mentioned here. Thought it will be interesting to share that it’s written as 켈베로스 - Kerberos greek for Cerberus. Phonetic for Cerberus would be: 서버러스, but most of the times Korean language derive these phonetically from their original source.

- On point of Jigolaths. I am translating this phonetically from 지골라스. Previous translation wrote this place as Las Phalanx. 지골 can be translated as: Phalanges which is the digit bones and no, it’s not the Greek Phalanx formation as if you see the chinese basis of the letter: 指骨 or more specifically it’s 骨 gol for bone. 라스 - Las does not really mean anything specific.

For me, Las Phalanx feels completely wrong. Google translate also puts 지골 (should be 지골로) as Gigolos, I could be completely wrong but I believe it’s derived from Royal Gigolos which someone translated as 로얄 지골라스 and Google indexed it as such.

- Going to be changing Art Hall/Center -> Art Gallery from now on.

- 영주의 성인 흑색 거성 - Lord’s Black Castle. This is surprisingly difficult to translate. If you read it, it’s: Lord’s Castle the Black Giant Star. 거성 is usually used means ‘Giant Star’ like a 적색 거성 - ‘Red Giant’. I think the author used two different words 거(거대한-gigantic) 성(Castle) it might or might not. I will probably need to go to Volume 3 and check when it was first mentioned as it could be that the Lord’s Castle is named as Black Star. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

- 주민들 - Basically the NPCs, been translated as residents in past volumes. Will change to villagers as it’s more appropriate for fantasy setting. But as a translator I really don’t like how it sounds in most contexts. Villages are usually people who live in villages, putting villagers in context with something large as Serabourg Citadel doesn’t fit. Residents make it sounds they are not NPCs but actual players who live in the city permanently. If I could, I would probably translate 주민 as NPC but the author in some places actually use the term NPC sporadically, differentiating the term slightly.

Chapter 6: The Genesis of Sculpting

“I have come to deliver the sword and tell you about the bravery of the people who fought and bled to rid the world of Balkan.”

“Oh, the God Sword! Never could I have imagined for such item to be returned to the church!”

The Bishop accepted the Sword of Lugh.

“I have heard tales of Balkan’s defeat. Warrior, you have achieved a great feat for the peace of the Continent.”

You have returned the Sword of Lugh

The Church of Lugh made tremendous sacrifices in order to stop the King of the Undead, Balkan Demoph. Balkan’s body was ultimately pierced by the God Sword, successfully sealing off the nearly unlimited magical power of the Lich. In the end, Balkan was defeated by a group of warriors and the sword has now been returned into the hands of the church.

Fame increased by 1,700.

Friendship with the Church of Lugh is now at 32.

Your Contribution Points with the Church of Lugh increased by 1,950.

You can check your Contribution Points with Churches under the Religion tab.

Total Contribution Points with the Church of Lugh: 2,573.

By upholding such sacred act, Faith increased by 13.

At this very moment, the Priests and Paladins who fought with Weed against the Undead Legion experienced a change. Their Faith and Contribution Points with the Church of Lugh increased significantly. Although majority of

Morata’s population were believers of Freya, the Priests that fought against the Undead Legion were made up of many denominations.

For the Priests and Paladins from the Church of Lugh, their increase in Faith was especially high. Even then, the increase of Faith to players from other denominations was not small either. Some Advanced Priests found their Faith increased by 30 and even Paladin’s attack skill, which was based on Faith and Strength, increased slightly.

And of course, the Geomchis who played a vital role in the battle against the Undead Legion, had their Faith and Contribution also increased.

“Ara, Contribution Points increased.”

“What’s a Contribution Point?”

“Sa-hyung, could this be something bad?”

The Geomchis, who were gathered in Vargo Fortress eating meat, were bewildered by the message that suddenly popped up. In their midst, Geomchi127 who pretended to be educated, as he had a computer proficiency certificate, explained.

“If you have a lot of Contribution Points, you can go there and receive a free meal.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes. I saw this before somewhere. If your Contribution Points are high, you can use them to get items and free meals.”

“Are you sure that a church would actually give meat?”

“I don’t think they even have beer.”

“Then this is completely useless, isn’t it?”

Even though their Contribution Points rose, the Geomchis could not find any use for it. Truthfully, the Geomchis, by accepting a difficult quest, had increased their friendship with the NPCs and also had slightly raised their Achievements and Contribution Points.

“Geomchi3 Sa-hyung, what do we do with this Faith?”

“No. 8, does it help with battle?”

“No, not at all.”

“Then, that’s useless as well.”

For Warrior like Geomchis, Faith actually did not help them much at all. Warriors could apply to become guards for a temple. They could be part of temple’s subjugation force and fight monsters and receive quests. If Warriors had faith and were on a quest for the temple, in a very rare occasion a special blessing or a small miracle could happen. But overall, Faith was not important for them.

Faith could increase the resistance against curses, but like before, it was not by a large degree. Even for a Sculptor like Weed, he only gained a slight benefit from Faith while wearing parts of equipment or doing a religious quest. Unless the player was a Priest or a Paladin, Faith could not be used proactively.

“I got excited for nothing. Let’s just eat.”

“Yes, Sa-hyung.”

Starting from the residents of Morata, the people of Northern Continent spoke concurrently.

“The hero that defeated Balkan has returned to Sword of Lugh to the church today.”

“No matter how far and wide you search the continent, no one has undergone such amazing and mysterious adventures like the Lord of Morata.”

“I heard he accomplished every duty assigned to him.”

*****

The Bishop continued to speak.

“Lord, this patronage to the Church of Lugh, this monumental achievement shall be recorded in our annals forever.”

“I only followed what my conscience directed me to do. I do not know if this is the righteousness that people speak of, but I just could not turn a blind eye to Balkan, who believed might makes right. I did what I thought was right, without any thoughts of reward or glory.”

In truth, it was all brazen hypocritical words, but the Bishop ate up everything Weed told him.

“You have truly accomplished a great deed.”

Weed hoped there might be more, but nothing materialized. While he did play a critical role, many other players contributed to the quest as well, making it impossible for him to receive something exclusive for himself.

‘Looks like I need to be satisfied with the Contribution Points.’

But just the increase in Friendship with the Church of Lugh had a positive effect. Because Weed was the Lord of Morata, the Church of Lugh would dispatch greater number of Paladins and invest more into the city.

The Bishop passed his hands over the blackened spots on the sword.

“Unfortunately, the Sword of Lugh has been corrupted by Balkan’s magic.”

“I am truly sorry to hear that.”

“It’s not too late for us to lose hope. The divine power of the sword can be recovered in the land that dwells in calamity, Argoldia.”

Argoldia was one of the 10 Forbidden Regions on the Continent. It was a desolate landscape of where it was impossible for even a blade of grass to grow. The Church of Lugh maintained a sanctum there but the Magicians of Dark Wood released Chimeras and monsters, making the region uninhabitable.

“Brave adventurer, the Church of Lugh is planning to lead an expedition to this sanctum with its finest Paladins and Priests. Will you not join them and lead them in the right direction?”

DING!

Become a Guide to the Sanctum

The Bishop of the Church of Lugh plans to send an expedition to Argoldia to restore the power of the sword.

Will you not become the guide through the treacherous rocky mountain path to the sanctum?

Because you can command the ever faithful Paladins and Priests, you will be primarily responsible for the failure of the expedition.

Difficulty: S.

Quest Restriction: Those who have murderer status or evil alignment cannot receive the quest. Requires Faith stat.

If the quest fails Faith will decrease, Friendship with Church of Lugh will decline.

‘Just my luck it’s Argoldia…’

Jigolaths, Grapass, it felt like he had some kind of connection to the 10 Forbidden Regions. And on top of that, the extremely high difficulty rating!

“The door of suffering is opening automatically for me.”

Weed shook his head.

“Unfortunately, I have an appointed duty I must take care of and cannot spare the time for this.”

“Adventurer, restoring the God Sword is a crucial task!”

“If it’s the Paladins of the Church of Lugh, suppressing the monsters should not be a difficult task for them.”

Argoldia was vastly different compared to Grapass. It was located deeply within the mountain range in the Central Continent, with concentration of terrifying flying monsters. Although hunting was done once in awhile in Grapass, there was virtually no information on Argoldia.

Even then, if the Church sent its finest Paladins and Priest, an expedition to Argoldia was possible. It was only that Weed thought doing the Sculpting Master Quest or trying to find the last sculpting secret legacy as more important.

“But Adventurer, I have heard of your reputation. I know for a fact there is no one who puts their faith in others like you. Are you really thinking of rejecting the position as the guide?”

“More than my duty to the Church of Lugh, there is work I have to accomplish for the peace of the whole Versailles. I must accomplish this task first.”

“Well, if it’s like that…. then there is nothing I can do. It’s not a task I can enforce but if you have a change of heart, please come and talk to me. ”

You have rejected the Quest

Friendship with the Church of Lugh fallen by 7.

Your Contribution Points with Church of Lugh decreased by 149.

Faith decreased by 2.

*****

After Weed rejected the Bishop’s proposal, a quest was created by the Church of Lugh.

Expedition to Argoldia

After the demise of Balkan, the Sword of Lugh pierced into his chest has been returned to the Church.

But the power of the sword has been corrupted by the Lich’s Dark Magic.

The Church of Lugh is looking for people to participate in the expedition lead personally by the Bishop with 80 Elite Paladins and 45 Elite Priests.

Those who are dependable will be presented a great mission by the Church of Lugh.

Difficulty: A

Quest Restriction: Those who have murderer status or evil alignment cannot receive the quest.

The difficulty decreased by a rank and the expedition to Argoldia was opened up to the players in Morata.

“Wow… it’s unbelievable.”

“Just imagine succeeding the quest.”

“This is like a real adventure. Not only that, it’s in one of 10 Forbidden Region, Argoldia.”

“This will definitely be covered by the news network.”

The players who started in Morata were envious as they could not participate in the expedition. Majority of them were still beginners so only players who had crossed over from the Central Continent could participate.

“Do you know any who accepted this quest?”

“Don’t know. But I heard the high level players who are in dungeons and hunting grounds are coming back in large numbers.”

“I just saw Spencer entering the Lugh Church to sign up for the expeditionary force.”

One of the most brilliant adventurer in Royal Road, Spencer! He was one of the first to come to Northern Continent. He based himself in Morata and also showed off his excavations once in awhile.

As the rumor of him accepting this quest was spread widely between the players, the number of knights and warriors accepting the quest exploded. The players could receive support from the Priests and even in the case the quest failed, the expedition would only deepen their connection to the Church of Lugh so there were quite a few players who thought positively about the quest.

*****

Weed left the Church of Lugh and entered the Sculptor’s Guild in Morata.

On streets leading to the Bull Square, variety of Guilds were built based on the services that players required the most.

“I heard that Weed-nim returned today. Do you want to go have a look?”

“You can’t. We can’t delay our schedule on the exhibition of clay pieces for the coming festival.”

Other than the citywide, official festivals, there were many festivals planned by players themselves. The Merchant Association that held business on the different Squares hosted the festival on the appointed dates.

At these festivals, the Bards performed at the amphitheater and the players with Art classes held exhibition of their works. The cooks came out to the streets and sold food cheaply, with the favorite being the grass porridge boiled with beef.

Morata was a city with uncountable joys! The players weren’t overburdened by heavy taxes. The city followed proper planning and just staying in the rapidly developing city was fun. Recently, fairies came to play in the city and pulled the player’s attentions.

The players who had just begun Royal Road and haven’t even left the city yet, experienced the fun that was to be had in the city. Because of this, later on when they had to chose a class, the beginners chose to become merchants or related art classes rather than classes related to battle or adventures that would take them out of the city.

“Whew. Looks like another all-nighter.”

“Let’s work hard and go for a beer afterwards.”

“Sure. With deer barbeque on the side.”

For the anniversary festival of the erection of the Goddess statue, the sculptors planned an exhibition by making clay sculptures of Weed. Even a single theme of Weed had variety of topics. Orc Karichwi, Undead and the Ice Troll that made a huge impact in the recent event in Rosenheim. As Bingryong and Wyvern were extremely popular sculptures, they were added to some of the works.

Conversation among the sculptors could be heard.

“Weed is kind of amazing.”

“You mean a sculptor that can accomplish great adventures?”

“No, I mean look how much work there is for us. How does he make most of his sculptures alone?”

“It’s Art. It’s because of his burning passion and focus for Art that allows him to do so.”

Weed was a master at doing menial work most efficiently! If it wasn’t for the discipline that was tempered by doing drudgery and sewing buttons in real life, most of his sculptures in Royal Road wouldn’t have been born.

There were sculptures of Weed in his human form as well, with its equipment having close resemblance to the real thing. While the minute details of Weed’s face weren’t known, the attire he wore could cause heat waves among the players.

“This isn’t well made. Looks like it’s a bit shorter than me.”

Weed passed by the sculptures nitpicking the details. But truthfully the sculptures were so tall that their head parts couldn’t even be seen.

“Ah?”

“No way…...”

Weed approached the instructor while he walked among the sculptures that were spitting images of himself.

“Isn’t that Weed-nim?”

“It’s Weed-nim! He must have some business with the Sculptor’s Guild.”

The sculptors who were queuing up for their turn opened up a path for Weed. It was like the Red Sea opening up a way for him.

‘According to the rumors, he's quite eccentric.’

‘In the Continent of Magic you never knew when his temper would erupt.’

The power and authority of a Lord! If Weed truly was a good and kind person, he would have waited for his turn. But convenience was on the better part than discretion so he walked up to the instructor.

“Greetings to Weed-nim, establisher of the path for all sculptors.”

The instructor gave a respectful bow. Even this happened because it was Morata.

Weed opened his mouth to speak out the promised phrase. It was a phrase written in the Sculptor’s primer. It were the words that could only be spoken by a Sculptor who wanted to ascend to the top.

“I have made radiant sculptures. Now, I want to attempt a legend.”

*****

Forums that posted about Royal Road were soon swarming.

Thread: Weed is attempting the Sculptor’s Master Quest.

The quest has been started at Morata Sculptor’s Guild.

At once, comments began to steam in. In mere minutes, several thousands of replies were posted.

> No way! Who could possibly be doing a class mastery? And on top, it’s sculpting.

> If it’s Weed, it’s possible.

> Even the fast rising Horse riding skill is hard to master. But mastering the sculpting skill that’s famous for it’s devilish slow mastery? Are you playing Royal Road for the first time?

> Horse riding is easy to level up? Did you at least manage to get to Advance level yet? At that level, you can skip through rivers on horseback and your horse rides like the wind.

> Weed is making another miracle.

> Is this for real? Is this a lie? A joke?

> I just barely managed to raise my Sculpting Skill to Beginner level 5…. but this, seriously!?!

In the broadcast program on Royal Road, ‘The Stories of Versailles Continent’, had mentioned about class mastery once before. The program said the Class Master quest could lead the player to do something for the Continent and there were some connections between each Race’s quest, but no one knew what direction it would take.

Unicorn Corporation, who were extremely reluctant to disclose any information about Royal Road, only revealed one additional information.

> Whatever class it is, the very first Master Quest will be a bit more special. You will be able to earn great rewards and it will be slightly more difficult.

To do the very first Master Quest, players competed against each other to increase their skill level. But there were only a rare few that continued to play sorely to increase their skill level. After a certain point of hiding their skills, the players either created guilds or entered one and then created a struggle for power.

Some died trying to increase their skill mastery by wandering battlefields or fighting and some gave up depressed after their skill mastery stopped to increase.

Representing anyones class by doing a Master Quest was a great glory, which lead the player to step into the unknown.

*****

The Red Reef Forest.

A great commotion erupted among the bounty hunters and players of Hermes Guild who were preparing an ambush. They were the ones who were wondering and waiting for Weed to come.

‘To go somewhere completely different. Why did he go to Rosenheim Kingdom...?’

‘The only place he can go next is here. Weed will surely come here.’

‘He’s in Morata? His next destination must be here.’

Even a lover wouldn’t have waited this nervously.

The Red Reef Forest was a dangerous place and hunting monsters was also very difficult. They had waited a very long time for Weed and now he was going off on a Sculpting Mastery Quest?!? This meant it was truly hopeless to even predict when Weed would come here now.

“No!”

“Listen, let’s just go back to the Central Continent.”

“I should have never left home, this was a colossal waste of time and suffering.”

Most of the bounty hunters, frustrated by the setback, decided to go their separate ways. The players from Hermes Guild were also at a loss. They came here after being tasked by the Guild and could not return empty handed.

“Can’t he hurry up?”

“Is he coming or not? If he’s not coming, he should just say so!”

As Weed never made any definite promise of coming to the Red Reef Forest, they could not really argue about it.

*****

Weed was slightly confident about doing the Sculpting Master Quest.

‘No matter what type of quest it is, there shouldn’t be any major problems.’

He was a jack of all trades, whether it was battle or adventure, he was confident he could succeed in whatever task Royal Road threw at him! He already collected 5 secret sculpting legacies, the Master Quest itself didn’t feel like it would be extremely difficult.

It was merely that his Sculpting Skill was stuck at Advance level 8, clearing the minimum level requirement to receive the quest. On the quest, he would need to focus everything on increasing his sculpting skill mastery.

“Then I will tell you the old legend that has been passed on between sculptors.”

The instructor began to speak. As this would become a personal quest, Weed opened his ears and the sculptors in the guild listened in, curious about the quest.

“It was before sculpting skill was developed as an art form, as culture. This was when the monsters covered the whole continent. No matter the race, Human, Elves, Orcs, Dwarves or Barbarians, they were devoured by monsters.”

In front of Weed appeared a video only he could see.

It was even before Geihar Von Arpen unified the Continent. The gods created the Versailles Continent and soon after the various races began to appear. It was still an uncivilized era where Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs had to unify their strength.

Humans stood guard against monsters, Elves cultivated crops and produced food and the Dwarves mined caves and sharpened stones for the Orcs to use as weapons. With the Orcs' fertility, Humans’ leadership, Elves’ green thumb and Dwarves’ talent for creating items, the four races managed to survive. The four races lived in harmony within the cave and together they developed law and culture.

After the video ended, the instructor continued:

“It was said that at this moment, the very first sculpting skill was born. It’s a difficult tale to believe, but this legend has been passed on by the long lived elves who have exceptional memory. I think, perhaps the Elven Elder Randelia might know more about the oldest sculpture ever created.”

DING!

The Genesis of Sculpting

The sculpting skill that was invented when the races just began to work with sands and stone.

As this is contrary to the history of the four races, investigate the truth about the very first sculpting technique.

Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest.

Quest Restriction: Sculpting skill must be at Advance Level 8.

Must have friendly relation with the Elves.

If another sculptor did the Master Quest before him, Weed would have a reference to work with. Although Weed did not have any information to work with, he thought it was better to struggle rather than following a guide written by other people.

“Then, I shall go meet her and find out.”

You have accepted the Quest.

*****

Hermes Guild obtained information that Weed was on his way to meet the Elven Elder Randelia.

“Weed is attempting his Master Quest?”

The Hermes Guild had already conquered two-third of Kallamore Kingdom. It was a blitzkrieg that gave no chance for the other famous guilds to take advantage of. It was worthy of its name as the greatest Kingdom on the Continent.

Hermes Guild was trying to become an empire, but also leaving Weed alone to do his Master Quest rubbed them the wrong way.

“We have to stop Weed. We should dispatch troops immediately.”

“We must stop him at all cost, even if we have to turn the Elven village into wasteland.”

It was decided in a meeting between Lafaye and his close associates that Hermes Guild would send an attack force. The Elven Elder Randelia was known to live in a small village within the Forest of Life. They decided to stop Weed’s quest even if they had to attack the place.

“I give permission to kill all the elves if you must.”

In hindsight the Hermes Guild should have been a bit more patient. But right now they considered every method in order to stop Weed. They knew that public interest on the Sculpting Master Quest was high, but Hermes Guild did not even bat an eye on public opinion.

*****

Immediately after leaving the Sculptor’s Guild, Weed met up with Yurin. He planned to travel directly to the Elven village or somewhere close by with the Picture Teleportation skill. Even after all this time Yurin’s level was still at 80, but that was because she spent most of her time in Royal Road wandering around famous resorts and doing sightseeing.

“I’ve been to that village before as I heard they had the most delicious fruits. The village entrance is fine, right?”

“Yup.”

Yurin began to sketch the village from her memory. It was a sight to behold; her long hair let down with a charcoal pencil in her hand as she sketched the picture.

Even commonly beautiful celebrities had some flaws in their beauty. They could be short or their chest flat, fingers or legs could be thick, too. There were always one or two flaws in their beauty.

But at every angle or any view it was impossible to find a flaw within Seo Yoon’s beauty. Observing her silently for an hour would reveal another, newer aspect of her beauty. Even after all the sculptures of Seo Yoon he has carved, this aspect about her allowed Weed to attempt something new every time. Even Seo Yoon’s voice and the atmosphere around her was beautiful in and of itself!

Looking at his sister, Yurin did not lack of beauty.

‘It’s a shame that she is my sister.’

Excluding the poor situation at home, his sister could only be popular with the guys.

Weed spoke in a sober voice.

“You are coming home late these days.”

“I am studying late at the library.”

“Last month the cellular bill was a quite high.”

“I borrowed it to a friend for a bit and that’s what happened.”

Shashak

Yurin retorted while she was sketching

“Few days ago, I saw you putting make up before leaving.”

“I was curious how it felt with make up.”

“You were wearing a skirt yesterday...”

“It would be a waste not to wear what I have.”

Sha Sha Sha Sha Shak

Yurin’s sketching speed became even faster. While she did draw many pictures till now, it was the first time she drew this fast. But it couldn’t be helped because once Weed started lecturing, it would go on for an hour or two. The only way to avoid it was to to draw as fast as possible and escape…….

The picture of the Elven village was completed in a blink of an eye.

“We are going now! Picture Teleportation!”

The moment Yurin activated her skill, the picture began rippling like water. The picture shook more violently as the distance increased.

Then, Yurin drew herself and Weed standing by the Elven village.

Translation Notes

- Fun fact:

사형 - Most commonly mean capital punishment or death penalty. But context used is 師兄. 師 - ‘Sa’ meaning teacher/master and 兄 - ‘Hyung’ older brother

- First time noticing this: 공헌도 공적치

공헌도 - Contribution
공적치 - Achievements

In the overall context, the Contribution Points fits better than Achievement Points. But the difference exist. Not sure about the raw before Vol.23, but as far as I read, most translators used Contribution Points. I will stick with Contribution but as above, will judge it case by case basis. In this chapter, both been used: “Geomchi’s by accepting difficult quest, had increased their friendship with the NPC and had slightly raised their Achievements and Contribution Points already.”

- “He was a jack of all trades, whether it was battle or adventure, he was confident he could succeed in whatever task Royal Road threw at him!”

잡캐 - Japkae as far as I can understand thanks to the wiki is a character with stats that is randomly and awkwardly distributed and becomes useless.
In the raw, it says Weed is a Japkae that did not dug water only in one well. And contextually, it did say he was confident so the term, jack of all trades.

- Hermes Guild Master Raphey name will change to -> Lafaye due to real life connotation of the word 라페이 and 라페이엣. Apparently 라페이엣 or Lafayette is a municipality in Colorado.

Chapter 7: The History of the Four Races

The Pavroa village was located on the outskirt of the Forest of Life. The village drew in many tourists for its famous fruits.

“It feels like we came here for a nature walk..”

“Honey, this place feels much better than our honeymoon resort.”

There were many couples holding their hands throughout the forest. Light filtering through the gaps on the towering treetops, small forest critters running about the forest floor, all contributed in creating a charming vacation spot.

Rabbits, deers and foxes roamed around, drinking from the stream close to the village. The animals did not flee even when people approached them. Dangerous beasts like lions or bears acted tamely to receive something to eat. Because this was the village of the elves, hunting of animals was prohibited. Some time had passed under this edict, so man and animals could live in harmony.

Suddenly at the entrance of Pavroa village, Weed and Yurin appeared in a wavering manner.

“Hmm, there are so many things to eat here.”

Weed concluded simply after seeing all the animals roaming about. Yurin nodded next to him.

“Oppa, there is so much we could eat here when we are hungry.”

“I already ate, but I am becoming hungry again.”

They only saw the animals as food. Ignoring their hunger, Weed and Yurin entered the Elven Village. In the village under the tree numerous Elves could be seen patrolling. There was a Elven weapon shop, a restaurant specializing in their famous fruits and even a guest house built atop a tree.

If he came to the village when he just started, Weed would have had a great interest in the weapon and armor shop, but now he went directly to Randelia. Through his Blacksmithing Skill, Weed could use Elven weapons. But in truth, trying to find a good weapon in a store was next to impossible. Of course, there were rare items in the shop, but none of them were decent enough for Weed’s level. Moreover, as this village was a popular travel destination, this place was a tourist trap!

“I have come here to learn about the oldest sculpture in existence.”

The Elven Elder Randelia was sitting at the village center by the pond. True to her Elven heritage, she had long hair with an appearance that belied her true age.

“Oh, I am visited by a human sculptor. I have heard of you, Lord of Morata. Of your fairness to the Elves, a great love for the arts and protecting the peace of the Continent through your adventures.”

Because of the various quests Weed accomplished, the Elven Elder Randelia was quite hospitable to his approach.

“Yes. My Path of Art has lead me here to obtain knowledge from the Elves.”

“The oldest sculpture, the creation of the very first sculpture is a tale passed on between the Elves. The humans, with their proficiency of record keeping, did not leave behind any history. The Orcs, with their short lives, could not tell its tale. The forgotten memories of the Dwarves, who live for their passion. There is no reliable evidence of this. Do you still wish to hear it?”

“Yes.”

“It was a time when the four races lived together in a cave. It was said that many sculptures were made then.”

Again, a video began to play in front of Weed.

It was the early days of the Continent, when monsters roamed around with impunity. The harvests of the four races were instantly pilfered. Without any recourse, they settled deeply in the cave, living their days in hiding.

The Dwarves with their prodigious abilities in burrowing the ground, created a network of caves to handle the monsters threat and the races continued to survive due to the Orcs. Who, as competent warriors, withstood the world filled with the violent, incommunicable monsters.

“Gyhaaa.”

It was a period before even the language of the humans began to take form. But, as the four races combined their strength, their number began to slowly increase and they learned how to fight against the monsters.

The Orcs were impressive soldiers, who did not back down against any monster. They saw it as their duty to sacrifice themselves for the continued survival of the Elves, Dwarves and Humans.

Eventually, they managed to leave their cave and establish a city close to a river. It was Versailles Continents’ very first city and it was called ‘Ratzeburg’.

You have acquired information on the origin of the Ancient Civilization of Versailles Continent

Knowledge increased by 15.

‘Ratzeburg…..’

This was a story that was never recorded in the annals of the Versailles Continent, because records were only kept after the Kingdoms were established.

The image of Ratzburg was shown in front of Weed. Surrounding the city was a firm, wooden barricade created by the Dwarves. Inside the city, were houses made of mud and stone strewn about. Elves sometimes slept atop trees, and a vast difference in size could be seen just by glancing at the entrance of a Dwarf’s or an Orc’s house.

Flocks of birds could be seen flying above the wide plains that were filled with harvests and fruit trees, with the sparkling river that ran leisurely next to the city.

DING!

‘The Genesis of Sculpting’ has been completed

The Elves had passed on a tale from generation to generation about the cooperation between the four races and the sculptures. Perhaps now you can assume some semblance of truth concerning the very first sculpting skill.

Quest Reward: You can receive your reward from the Elven Elder, Randelia.

While Weed completed his quest, he was not in the least happy. The Sculpting Master Quest did not simply end here, but continued on as a chain quest. The Elf Randelia continued to speak.

“Although our race is long lived, there is still a limit to oral tradition. Right now, the sculptures they spoke of, the location of the city that the four races lived in, are all unknown.”

“I assume so.”

The Continent was rife with the perpetual rise and fall of Human Kingdoms. The races migrated depending on the movement of the monsters, and even a dense forest could be changed into a great plain over time. The age of the Versailles Continent was 10 million years since its creation!

The birth of each race and the monsters were way after nature established itself, even then, it was still in the darkest, unrecorded part of history. Since then, tens of thousands of villages perished due to monsters and each race had migrated to their own secure territory. It were merely thousands of years since the current composition of the Continent was established.

“I believe only a sculptor, who can create from the impossible imagination, can find the location of Ratzeburg. You, the human sculptor, you who walks the resplendent Path of Art, will you not go and uncover, if us the Elves, have been speaking the truth about Ratzeburg?”

DING!

City of Ratzeburg

Purported to be the city where four races lived in harmony.

Presently, the city cannot be found anywhere.

Go and discover Ratzeburg!

Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Restriction:

Minimum Advance Level 8 Sculpting Skill

Requires Sculptural Memories Skill

Continuation of the Sculpting Master Quest!

Weed replied with confidence.

“Even I believe that Ratzburg existed. I shall go and discover more about the city where the four races lived in harmony.”

You have accepted the Quest.

And then, Weed glimpsed at Randelia speculatively. He was wondering what kind of reward he would receive for the quest.

‘It would be brilliant if it was an Elf Bow. It doesn’t have to be a bow, even an Elven item that raises elemental power is fine. Or even something with Affinity to Nature wouldn’t be bad.’

Any Elven item was considered valuable. The players who chose to play as Elves, rather than Humans, received a huge disadvantage due to this. There were only few Elven blacksmiths in each Elven village, and while hunting, very few Elven equipment dropped. And when it did drop, it was usually the basic equipment that were used by the beginner Elven players. This was why, great effort was required in acquiring Elven equipments. It was with that the Elves were good with basic physical abilities and were experts in Magic, Elemental Powers and Archery, so required light leather armor for mobility.

At last, the Elf Randelia opened her mouth again to speak and the reward for the first quest was.......!

“If you go to the house I live in, there are many fruit trees on my backyard. It will be impossible for me to eat them all, so please take as many as you like.”

You can now harvest fruits from the tree in Randelia’s backyard.

"Huk!"

Weed’s expression turned gruesome. It was like going to a rich friend’s house and only receiving ramen! Without eggs even!

“Thank you. This is quite fortunate as I was craving for some fruits recently.”

“Then I pray that you will become a great sculptor. As us Elves do not have any more information about Ratzeburg, please feel free to quit this unreasonable task anytime you wish.”

You can give up this quest

If you give up this quest, your friendship with Elf Randelia will drop and you will have to restart the Sculpting Master Quest from the beginning.

Rather than wasting time, unable to solve the quest, the game gave the option to give up at this point.

*****

Weed went to Randelia’s backyard with Yurin.

There were apples, pears, oranges, figs, pomegranates, chestnuts, apricots, Jujube and Elven fruits. On the vast variety of trees, fruits could be seen hanging on it’s branches.

“Those look good.”

“Oppa, fruits are expensive these days.”

“That’s why we need to take everything, without leaving a single fruit behind.”

Compared to players who just took a small nibble for a taste before heading out for the next quest, they were different.

“Shake as hard as you can!”

They picked up every fruit that fell. As they laid down fabrics below the trees, they swept up the fruits into their backpacks without worrying about the fruits bruising. The two even filled up the extra backpack they carried around and soon, the trees Randelia was cultivating was bereft of even a single fruit.

Weed spoke as he took a bite out of a ripe apple .

“Then let’s head out to Ratzeburg now.”

As no clues has been given, the situation could only be described as hopeless. The chances were high that even asking the Elves or Dwarves would yield no results. But Weed watched the video on Ratzeburg. He could use that as the clue to find the location.

“The last thing that would change due to time, is the river and the rock types.”

He saw clearly the types of rocks used as materials for the houses. With his sculpting skill, Weed had experience in carving all types of rocks throughout the Continent.

“Well, I can approximate the scope of the location at least.”

Rocks and river, birds and a wide plain, putting these variables into his calculation, Weed could approximate the location more precisely.

“I need to calculate a bit more for a pinpoint location....”

He needed to gather more information to process everything. As Weed hesitated, unable to pinpoint his next destination, Yurin spoke.

“Then should we return to Morata?”

“Not really, we came from Morata so… Let’s go to Vargo Fortress. Pale, Master and Sahyung are there eating together so let’s visit them.”

“Okay, then I will start drawing.”

Shasak

Vargo Fortress was drawn with precision and beauty. With the Fortress changing and developed rapidly, there was no need to draw it precisely to its present shape. It was as if Yurin was flaunting her skill, built on the experience of countless drawings, as she was sketching a first-rate picture.

“But didn’t you say you were studying at the library a few days ago? I tried to deliver your lunch box, but I couldn’t see you there.”

Shashashasak

Yurin’s sketching speed increased once again.

*****

Petrov became a celebrity within Vargo Fortress, where almost everyone in the vicinity recognized him.

He was known as the Painter, whose paintings were only second to reality and could confuse monsters. While he was not widely known, it was only a matter of time till he would be known as the greatest Painter on the Continent. His fame was to the extent that there were tv coverages of his paintings, with masterpieces plastered on various walls and buildings.

“This new building we are trying to construct… we want to draw a painting on it’s side, do you have the time?”

“Hmm, with the current placement, I don’t believe my painting will make it look better..”

“Then please let us hear your opinion. We will adapt our plans immediately.”

The planners working on the restoration of Vargo Fortress eagerly sought out Petrov’s paintings.

Petrov was the Painter that was rising like the morning star.

Vargo Fortress Influence

Lord Weed: 43,198.

Aqualight Painter Petrov: 3,239.

Petrov’s aim to surpass Weed’s influence in Vargo Fortress was still very far off. Weed had gone through a fierce war against the Undead Legion to recover the region, and commanded extremely loyal residents and soldiers. To surpass and take over territory in a short period of time from the current Lord was by no means an easy feat. It did not help that there were only few residents in Vargo Fortress that enjoyed arts and culture, slowing the rise of his influence even further.

“If it was easy, it wouldn’t be fun. But in the end, my will will be done.”

But as Petrov’s painting covered important parts of Vargo Fortress, that day would come. Even now it sent a shiver of delight that the Painter Petrov, not the Sculptor Weed, was spoken of first when the players of Vargo Fortress spoke of art.

“Eat as much as you want.”

“Wof Wof!”

He gave food, clothing and even bought houses for the Sculptural Lifeforms. The watchdog of Hades, the great Cerberus, wagged its tail like a cute puppy whenever it stood before Petrov. Even the Fairies that played around in Vargo Fortress came to praise his skill.

"You draw really well!"

"Can you see me? Gyaaru."

"Draw me! Draw me! Quickly!"

The Fairies would sit on his shoulders or mischievously pull on his hat.

“Truly my skills work anywhere. Well, it’s a sure thing, so there really isn’t anything to be especially happy about.”

Nothing could impede Petrov’s progress in Vargo Fortress.

The Fairies responded positively to his drawings of them. With their ability to manipulate space, the Fairies surprised him by entering his painting and played hide and seek. The high level players even queued up to commission a painting from him. When he revealed the next location of his painting, thousands came to watch. He reigned as a Painter, controlling the crowd.

Right at the moment when Petrov was becoming elated with his success, some people approached him, asking for a drawing. It were three tough looking guys.

“I heard you draw well, I will give you 20 gold so won’t you draw the three of us?”

Petrov was about to scoff at them.

‘Who would so brazenly approach me and demand to draw them a portrait?’

And they were offering a paltry 20 gold! These three must have heard the rumors wrong. For a novice Painter, this would have been a great commission. But for Petrov, it was several hundreds of gold too short for him to accept.

It was just a moment before Petrov was about to rebuke them for speaking such preposterous nonsense and chase them away…

“Geomchi 3 Hyung-nim, did you hear that one of our lads nabbed a guy?”

“Of course. Didn’t the new guy get 3 ribs broken and 2 teeth knocked out in that fight?”

Petrov immediately stopped what he was about to say and momentarily reassessed the situation. Thought rose unbidden in his mind that this was some kind of conversation between gangsters.

“That kid just can’t contain his temper.”

“I only heard the basics. But when a man starts lifting his hand, he can’t leave it half finished! You should have made sure to finish him properly.”

“I understand what you’re saying. I sincerely apologize for this lapse of education on the boys. We should have completely shattered both his legs and left the guy to crawl.”

The Geomchis were talking about the new trainee in their dojo. The trainee had come across a rapist and before anything could happen, fought the armed rapist and prevented an incident.

“He should at least have broken both of that bastards arms, he’s not even scuffed up!”

“Yes, he should have shattered the chin so the bastard can’t swallow soup.”

“Teach the boys properly. Doing it roughly won’t do.”

“I swear it.”

“When you need to step into such situations, you must not think of your opponent as a human. Just think it’s a talking animal. Don’t mind the jabbering, you need to beat him down until he’s on his knees begging for you to end it.”

"I will make sure this mistake doesn’t happen again.”

As this wasn’t a socially polite conversation, Geomchi3, Geomchi4 and Geomchi5 talked softly amongst themselves. But Petrov, who was curious about their muttering, eavesdropped on the whole conversation.

“Ah! Painter! Are you perhaps busy right now?”

“No, not at all. I am free right now.”

“If 20 gold is too small, we can give you more.”

“No, no. It’s enough. I shall start on the portrait immediately.”

Petrov stopped his work on the mural and started on the commission for the Geomchis.

*****

Weed and Yurin appeared together on top of the Central Tower. The vista over Vargo Fortress could be seen from the top. Down below, the repair works on the destroyed buildings caused by the battle were at its peak, the walls were being built thicker and higher. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say the whole fortress was one gigantic construction site.

“My precious money...”

As Weed saw that Vargo Fortress was starting to enhance the overall vast scenery with the flat slope of the mountain base nearby, he was overcome by the sudden inexplicable feeling of the loss of his precious taxes. There were plenty of tragedies in movies, novels, poems and dramas, but the greatest tragedy of all was pouring money down the drain.

Just thinking about the money invested into the repair of Vargo Fortress could make him cry like a baby! But still, looking at Vargo Fortress following similar development as Morata was not so bad. Currently, it was shaping up to be a romantic Fortress city and players flocked to the region expecting the place to be completed soon. At the gates the thumping of footsteps could be heard, as players gathered party members and departed for the unknown settlement.

"The Lord has returned, ‘Gyaruu’."

"What was he doing?"

"Troll, Troll! I was with him in Rosenheim Kingdom."

The Fairies that hid within Weed’s collar came out occasionally. The Fairies surrounded him and engaged in endless chatter and mischief. When Yurin lifted her finger, several Fairies came to sit or cling on it and played around.

“First, let’s look for the Sahyungs.”

Weed and Yurin went to the place the Geomchis were having a meal. The Geomchis were underneath the shade of a building that had yet to be repaired, preparing their food.

“I am going to have a proper meal thanks to the humans.”

“Thank you for the food. But it would be nice to have beer to wash it all down.”

There were Dwarves and Barbarians with the Geomchis. The Dwarves and Barbarians of Vargo Fortress found a kindred spirit in the Geomchis.

The Geomchis and Barbarians moved from comparing their strength and bulk, to hunting together to becoming fast friends.

“There is a really hard monster to kill...”

“Let jump to it and cut it into pieces.”

“The warriors who can clear that dungeon will receive the recognition and respect of our village! This will become a point of great fame for the humans.”

“Dungeons are nothing. Let’s go!”

The Geomchis and the Barbarians hit it off extremely well.

Drinking beer with the Dwarves, the Geomchis became amiable with them. The Geomchis were able to acquire weapons and armors, increasing their friendship with them to the point of becoming drinking buddies.

Since the inception of Dwarves and Barbarians in Vargo Fortress, their number had increased greatly. And so the meal was prepared in a somber atmosphere, because excluding Surka, Irene, Romuna, Maylon and Hwaryeong, there were close to 800 males. It was at this moment that Weed and Yurin came.

“What! Sayhungs! How can you eat like you are at a funeral?”

“Weed!”

“I will prepare for you a magnificent feast.”

Weed’s master was there, and to repay for the toil they had to suffer fighting the Undead Legion, he decided to take over the whole preparation of the meals.

“I won’t spare anything as this is food for the Sahyungs.”

Staple foods in Vargo Fortress weren’t plentiful as all of it was imported from Morata. But within the current company were the Barbarians who had brought back over 4 thousand kilograms of various meat from their hunt.

“At the most, with this amount, every person will only be able to eat 5 kilograms of meat. Running out of meat during the feast won’t do.”

While the ordinary person would be satisfied after eating 1 kg, the Geomchis were gluttons who eat till they are almost at death's door. Mindless with their food, and also mindless with their fights, that was the Sahyungs. And on top of this, eating meat with the cool breeze gently blowing in their outdoor setting made them even hungrier than usual.

“I will need to use my authority as Lord.”

In Vargo Fortress, many residents were part of the repair works. One way or another, as he had to provide food for the workers, he decided to willingly go all in.

“Region Information Window!”

Vargo Fortress

A region that once was part of the Niflheim Empire.

Just recently King of the Undead, Balkan Demoph, and the Undead Legion were stationed in this Fortress. Through the endless tide of monsters attacking the Fortress, there is a high chance that this fortress will be destroyed. Under the miraculous leadership of Lord Weed, restoration of the Fortress is underway in this hopeless situation.

Military Force

432

Economic Power

268

Culture

192

Technology

71

Religious Influence

67

Regional Politics

7

Influence on Nearby Areas

11%

Influence from the past Niflheim Empire

2.9%

(Influence is deeply rooted to the military, economics, culture, technology, religion, population, quests etc.)

City Development Rate

33

Hygiene

24

Public Order

41%

Many residents from Morata and other parts of the Northern Continent migrated here, believing in the ability of the Lord.

Through the dedicated and outstanding builders, the castle, residences, roads and the wall are being constructed and repaired. A large scale repair is under progress, collapsed parts of the Fortress are by large being repaired.

This region still has many dangers in store. Through the repeated monster assaults, the soldiers’ real battle experience is rising quickly. They are especially adept at firing arrows.

The security situation outside the fortress is grave, the residents cannot start any economic activities. They want to start farming, mining and breeding livestock. But they are satisfied about the rapid improvement of their lifestyle as the facilities within the Fortress are being restored. While the residents are uneasy about the monsters wandering outside, they feel slightly secure within the strong fortress.

There are Fairies abound, and bustling trade with the Elves, Dwarves and Barbarians. Most of the taxes of Vargo Fortress are collected from trade. The buildings, culture and artwork provide some comfort on this barren land.

The regions religion is dominated by the Church of Freya. The resident’s faith are steadfast, they want a church built for their religious activities.

Specialties: None.

Total Population

6,892

Monthly Tax Income

24,978

Fortress Operating Expenses

Military

47%

Repair Work

34%

Quests and Monster Suppression

19%

The current situation was incomparable to Morata. With the current development rate of Morata, its economic growth of a few days was similar to the whole economic activity taking place in Vargo Fortress. But if the bustling trade with the other races was taken into account, with the extremely difficult hunting grounds scattered within the vicinity of the Fortress, the economic potential of Vargo Fortress was enormous. If only the Public Order was set straight, the overpopulated Morata would’ve lots of migrants to Vargo Fortress and development would explode.

Weed thought that ruling over two territories rather than one was much better.

‘That’s how I gather more taxes.’

If Vargo Fortress was considered as a preparation period, the current speed of its repair was at an unbelievable pace. After the battle with the Undead Legion was concluded, it was rare to find a serviceable building. The walls were at a state where it couldn’t even prevent a starving wolf from entering, but now the Fortress was becoming close to impregnable.

“Lord’s Command!”

Use your authority as Lord to command the residents

Forcible commands can reduce the resident’s loyalty and could destabilize the Public Order.

“Release the meat from the stores in the Lord’s castle and let them eat as much as they want.”

In Vargo Fortress, relevant buildings like granaries in Morata were prioritized for construction.

Are you sure you want to release the stockpile of meat in the storehouse to the residents?

“Let’s just eat already.”

Following the Lord’s command, the meats are being distributed.

The doors to the food storehouse were opened, and the residents took as much meat as they wanted. As there was a lot of game in the area, there was quite a huge stockpile of meat.

Weed built up a 20 meter tall meat tower. For any ordinary people, this amount would make them sick and tired of meat, but it had the different effect of whetting the Geomchis appetite.

“Let’s barbeque and eat everything!”

“Uwaah!”

“As expected of Weed.”

“The human Lord of Vargo Fortress is quite generous.”

Only by showing off his generosity would the people express their gratitude.

Irene came and asked him.

“Um, excuse me… If all the meat from the storehouse is finished, what will they eat tomorrow?”

“Well, you know what they say, ‘never put off to tomorrow what you must do today.’”

“What?”

“Moral of the saying is that, we should think of tomorrow’s work, tomorrow.”

“.......”

Weed interpreted the saying however he wanted to. Regardless, a meat party erupted in Vargo Fortress. The merchants doing business stopped to roast some meat, the players who were about to depart for an adventure gathered in groups of two and three and started fires. Nowhere else other than Vargo Fortress, would the sight of ten thousand players all roasting and eating meat be seen.

Weed was quickly cooking up stew and other dishes that complemented well with meat. Cooking that filled up the whole wide table for 10! As many varieties of food covered the table, the players all began to think respectively.

‘With his high Cooking Skill, just the aroma is making me drool.’

‘I need to get married to a guy who's good at cooking. Someone like Weed-nim, who would always prepare breakfast, would be perfect.’

‘He can cook so many dishes so quickly.’

As the main course, the meat was still being cooked. No one had sampled the other dishes yet. While the masters and the trainees fidgeted a little, Geomchi had yet to touch his food and was sitting on his chair like the elder he was and waited calmly for it to be done.

Weed was cooking massive amounts at once so that it could be placed and shared on each table, with that, his preparations were extremely quick. Fruits and japchae, even the fish that Zephyr brought were prepared and placed on the table.

Seeing the abundant foods placed on the table, one would have the feeling they could eat until their stomach bursts. Even the players who came to see Weed began to drool at the sight. Once the table was brimming with food, the meat was cooked and added to the table, too.

CRAACK!

The table could not withstand the weight and with a great sound, its four legs buckled and broke. It was because Weed had weakened the table before hand by cutting it slightly. Nothing whet one’s appetite like the table breaking before a meal!

Geomchis lifted their forks.

“Let’s eat!”

“Dig in!”

A meat party began in Vargo Fortress.

Translation Notes

- 태초의 조각술 or Genesis of Sculpting, I have been having trouble translating this. This term will probably change in the future as the wording suggest it might be a sculpting skill.

- 밥도 머는 사이 translated as drinking buddies. Not really correct literally, it says the Geomchis and the Dwarves are close enough to eat on the same table together. But in terms of context and seeing how Dwarves likes their beer, ‘drinking buddy’ felt like the perfect translation.

- 베풀 때는 티를 내며 베풀어야 얻어먹는 사람들이 고마워한다: Only by showing off his generosity would the people express their gratitude.
I am really not happy with this translation. It follows along the line: that you don’t just give for the sake of giving, but only by showing off giving away the people will express their gratitude.

It’s written like a punchline to a joke and the translation failed to deliver.

Chapter 8: The Location of Ratzeburg

In the middle of his painting, Petrov learned that Weed has returned.

“Finally, my fated enemy has returned.”

In his time painting in Vargo Fortress, Petrov was coming to like the place. Compared to other regions, Vargo Fortress had many high level players and just past its gates were the sights of a great prairie. The number of players and residents grew rapidly and as time passed, the place began to gain a presence of oldness and ancientness about it. Petrov thought, he wouldn’t mind being the Lord and a Painter in this place.

“I just heard the Lord is hosting a meat party!”

“Really?”

“He opened up the storehouse for everyone to take meat for free. You can eat as much as you want! And if you go to where the Lord is right now, they said that he will cook the meat for you personally!”

“Then what are you waiting for?!?”

Just the simple arrival of Weed caused a ruckus greater than when an army of monsters was attacking Vargo Fortress. Players were on a wild spree as they grabbed meat from the storehouse. While the players did not take to much as it would become a burden, they also could not refuse what has been given to them by Lord Weed.

“Khya! The experience of eating rich boar meat is amazing every time!”

“Yeah! I think the quality of the meat is higher because the game are so healthy, running around the mountain.”

Gulp.

Petrov, who was painting a ceiling mural, unconsciously swallowed his saliva.

‘I can’t bear it anymore. Should I just eat first and continue then?”

He did not want to be in Weed’s debt. But he would be challenging Weed soon... and wasn’t getting to know the competition important?

‘Let me just have a taste.’

Petrov walked to where they said Weed was roasting the meat personally.

At the place, there was already a long line of players and residents waiting eagerly for just a morsel of food.

“Do you think we will have a chance to eat it today?”

“The line is shrinking fast so… I think in an hour’s time we will get a chance to eat.”

Petrov gave a huge sigh and queued up at the back. He would have to wait a long time, but seeing how so many people were lining up, he couldn’t help but wonder how the meat would taste.

Without him noticing their approach, the Sculpture Lifeforms also dropped in. Trays were brought outside the Fortress for the Lifeforms that were too large, but at this place was the Cerberus alongside the Knight Serbil Prestin, who were already receiving meat from Weed.

“Wof! Wof!”

Seemingly taken by the taste of the meat, Cerberus wagged its tail and when that didn’t work, it rolled on the floor begging for more. It was intimacy that Petrov never saw from the Cerberus before.

“The taste of the meat is phenomenal. I think that Weed-nim’s cooking skill is better than my swordsmanship.”

Even the Knight Serbil Prestin seemed to have a heightened respect for Weed. With his exceptional control over the fire, the meat Weed roasted was still rich and juicy, with just a dash of garlic salt.

All the effort Petrov put in to earn the hearts and minds of the Sculpture Lifeforms was washed down the drain.

‘No, no. Everything is still alright. If I put in more time later, I will get another chance.’

As he was waiting in line with such a conundrum, he listened to the chattering of the people around him.

“Lord Weed seems popular with the ladies.”

“Yeah, they are also really beautiful.”

The line had shrunk and where Petrov was standing, he could see Weed. Weed had summoned the Fire Elemental, Hwadori, to roast the meat en masse. His motion of sprinkling pepper and salt, carving the meat was fast and natural.

“Cough! Can’t be that beau… beautiful?”

At that moment, Petrov caught sight of Hwaryeong. She was a seldom seen beauty that was sticking right next to Weed and helping him cook. Her face seemed aglow from the blaze of the fire.

‘How could such a beauty be next to someone like him?’

This just threw more fuel on Petrov’s hatred for Weed.

And right at that moment! Petrov saw Weed picking a portion of meat and putting it into a woman’s mouth. A woman Petrov could never forget about, Yurin whom he had met at St. George Castle was eating meat cooked by Weed. The time the two had spent was short but she had left a fiery impression in his heart

‘It’s Yurin.’

Seeing how Yurin was giving such an affectionate smile to Weed pierced his heart. Petrov wanted to dearly meet her again, but not like this, when he was waiting in line to get some meat.

‘I should man up, turn around and leave Vargo Fortress completely.’

Petrov wanted to bury everything and leave. But the reason his feet wouldn’t let him was that he knew, the image of Yurin sticking next to Weed would be forever ingrained in his mind. With his mind perturbed by the event, chattering seeped into his ears.

“Who is that woman?”

“I heard she was a painter……”

“Don’t you know? She’s Weed’s younger sister. She was with him when he was adventuring at the Vampire Kingdom.”

“She’s really cute. I wouldn’t mind having her as my girlfriend…...”

“If Weed becomes your brother-in-law, I am sure opportunities would just open up.”

Petrov’s half turned motion stopped and he turned straight in the line again.

“So she was his sister...”

He finally understood the graffiti Yurin drew on St. George Castle.

*****

The cost of all the food and drinks the Geomchis consumed was paid for by Weed.

“Uuuuh.”

“I, I think I am going to die, my stomach is going to burst.”

Through their gluttonous eating, their health actually fell drastically. But even then, they cheered when fresh meat was brought for them.

“Meat!”

“It’s rib stew.”

“It’s rib stew that has been flavored with herbs.”

Weed continuously provided food and the Geomchis couldn’t refuse it without being seen as impolite. It was a situation where all the 504 people could die due to overeating!

‘A Cook is a dangerous profession.’

‘I never knew people who didn’t even know the meaning of tiredness when they were fighting the Bone Dragon could be defeated like this….’

Even just looking at meat made the rational minds like Pale and Zephyr sick and tired of it. They couldn’t help but be amazed that the Geomchis could continue to gulp it down and clear their dishes. Just at the moment when the tower of meat was almost finished, the Barbarians returned from their hunt and stacked up another higher tower of meat with fresh game.

“Meat!”

“Wa!”

The other players sat near the Geomchis and ate.

“Let’s eat!”

“Look at you director Kim!”

“Don’t overburden us. We want to leave work early!”

“We need rest on weekends. Forget humans, even machines would break!”

“Exams, work, qualifications, exam, work, qualifications. Rwaaar! I can’t handle it!”

Through their voracious gorging, the players relieved their stress they built up in real life.

– Let’s eat as much as we can.

– The meat Weed-nim roasted is the best!

The Fairies flew around, tearing into their meat. They were so gluttonous that some of the Fairies couldn’t even fly anymore, no matter how much they flapped their wings.

When night was about to settle, several bonfires were started and the Geomchis huddled around them. They were roasting chitterlings for a last meal. Then Geomchi spoke:

“There seem to be many enemies targeting Weed these days.”

Geomchi3 replied:

“I saw on the news that Hermet or something is trying to kill him.”

Geomchi4 and Geomchi 5 put in their own observation:

“I heard those bastards were no good at all. They are vicious and greedy lots.”

“They are apparently the strongest bastards in Versailles Continent. No one can seem to stand up to those bastards.”

The Trainees were quiet and listened attentively. Geomchi was setting the mood of the talks and their masters were talking in a serious tone. It was not a conversation any Trainee could just jump in.

Geomchi nodded his head.

“There is no absolute need for us to step into our youngest’s fight. He probably has ideas already.”

Weed, of course, had countermeasures against Hermes Guild’s plots. The Hermes Guild had yet to conquer the whole Continent and he would resist until the end. At present, Weed could use the Sculpture Transformation to sneak around so his main priority was to find the last of the secret Sculpture legacies and finish the Mastery Quest. Even after all that, if he couldn’t escape the clutches of Hermes Guild… he would play the bedfellow.

Geomchi3 was of the same thought:

“Correct. Our youngest must have an idea so leave him to his own devices….. But, I, as a Master, cannot bear to see our youngest fighting alone like this.”

Geomchi3, hurriedly corrected his thoughts in the middle.

“I am sure if we leave him to his own devices, he will perform exceptionally. But us, as Sahyungs, we must help. You spoke correctly.”

Geomchi lifted his head and looked to the night sky filled with stars.

“This Versailles Continent is truly a mysterious place. But also filled with freedom. I have learned the way of the sword my whole life, but even I could have never imagined a day would come when I had such freedom to explore.”

“........”

The Trainees and the Master could all sympathized with Geomchi’s words. Even if they had trained their body and mind to the extreme, it had little practical use in reality. There were all sorts of complicated variables like stats, levels, skill mastery and such, but Versailles Continent was a place where they could live with their swords in their hands. They could fight against strong enemies, have adventures and meet new colleagues. This was a world all men dreamed of.

“If a man is strong, I believe he has the right to conquer the Continent. But one thing I cannot stand is them, gathering these weak, vulgar bastards to tyrannize the Continent.”

“We are of the same mind.”

Geomchi gave them a big smile.

“We had plenty of fun at this place, right?”

“Yes.”

“We enjoyed our time.”

The Geomchis weren’t ordered by anyone to defeat monsters and train their swordsmanship, it was something they did by their own motivation. Sometimes, they did crazy things and enjoyed the full measure of freedom given by Versailles Continent.

“I think, it’s time to become strong. Strong so that no matter what kind of gales blows against us we will not fall. Let us test if an individual’s strength, not the strength of a group, can change the world.

The ability to resist a storm came from strength. Geomchi and the Trainees swore in their heart to increase their levels according to the framework of Royal Road and become strong.

*****

Ratzeburg.

Lee Hyun was on his computer searching for the city, but it was not a name that had been mentioned once in any forums related to Royal Road. Rather, it was like a dam had burst and the forums were awashed with players trying to join Hermes Guild or organize an opposition against the Embinyu Church.

“It’s most likely that I will be the first person to discover the city.”

If he searches the whole Continent resolutely, he might just be able to find it. He would have to deduce the location and reduce the search area.

“Fortunately, it’s nowhere close to the polar regions.”

Using nature for his inference, it would not be anywhere tropical, desert or glacial regions.

“An area in which the four races lived together before they dispersed… The probability of it being an island is low.”

He might have to explore those moderately large islands, but that would only be after not finding the city on the Continent.

“A place with a wide river and a plain.”

Lee Hyun got a map of the Versailles Continent and began to search. Places that had not been explored fully were still clouded by fog of war and the information had to be taken with a grain of salt.

“It has to be a geological area that is flat enough for the four races to establish a great city.”

Even with this much, the number of regions he had to search reduced considerably. While forests could grow, it was impossible for a large mountain to be built.

“They built their houses out of stone. I am sure they had methods to build their houses out of sand or wood… Wait, maybe the Elves rejected such methods? No, no, the important point was that there were stones nearby for them to build their houses in such ways. There would have to be a ready deposit of the maroon stones they could mine for their houses…..”

As Lee Hyun dissected further, the Free Cities of Britten Union and the Ritten Kingdom had many such geographical features.

“If I take into consideration the migration of birds and the regional flowers and trees.... the chances are high the city is in one of these Kingdoms.”

It was closer to the south from the centerpoint of the Continent, but not by a large margin. The land there was quite fertile, and there weren’t so many monsters roaming its plains. The extensive region also had 24 great rivers flowing in between the Kingdom and the Free Cities. Using his talent for stones and based on the geographical data, he managed to reduce the number to 130 possible locations near the river basin.

“It’s not so easy trying to find a city that existed in Versailles Continent several thousand years ago.”

Just the detailed analysis of the map took three days. Even then, he still had to search the possible locations manually.

“I should look through the tourists photos.”

When a player explored a new area or visited famous places, they captured the scene and uploaded it onto the internet. Lee Hyun could just search for the places he wanted and most of them popped up.

“This is not remotely similar. Even if you count on the fact that trees and grasses grew over the period of time… the flow of the river and the direction the sun is setting is all wrong. The plains are filled with rocks and it would be impossible to grow crops there. It must be a place where, when the wind blows, the crops give off a brilliant golden hue.”

The land he searched had no trace of any agricultural activities.

Lee Hyun even joined groups to view the photos in Royal Road.

The farmer's dream in Royal Road. The Royal Farmer.

From the seed to harvest. Farmer’s Guild.

Looking at a well cultivated flower brings joy to the heart. Honey and Butterflies.

Invest in land speculation. Become rich without doing any work. The Land Merchant Guild.

It was groups with interests in land. He used the photos uploaded onto these groups, and any places that couldn’t be confirmed as Ratzeburg with certainty, he discarded them without remorse.

“Huk, deductive reasoning is not easy. It’s not an easy job at all.”

Checking every photo one by one was difficult, but it was a much better alternative than going their personally to investigate. After sifting through and deducing for two days, the number of places that were left was down to 68.

“The city must be at one of these locations. It’s a puzzle game now. A game that will require all my brain power.”

From the 68 places, 42 locations had human villages or cities. Lee Hyun shifted his thinking. Ratzeburg should be in a region where it would be suited for all the races to live in. A place where the river twisted like a snake, a geographical area that could be easily defended from monsters.

“If I would ever build a house to live in then…..”

Deducing the place by imagining where he would actually want to live in! There was no need to think of the price of land back then, so he could choose any location he wanted.

“I should look for the best place possible.”

To Lee Hyun, the Albas region seemed preferable. There was a wide, fertile plain and at the area that looked perfect for a village, it was surrounded by a large river that protected the area from three sides against the monsters. On top of that, beyond the plain a rocky mountain that could be seen jutting out in the landscape.

“If you stationed a contingents of Orcs here, you could fight quite efficiently. Because no matter what happens, the granary cannot be raided.”

It looked like a fairly easy place to defend when the monsters came to raid the granaries, and there was an abundance of maroon stones in the vicinity. The other five locations weren’t so bad and all were habitable lands.

“It’s fairly certain that the city will be in one of these locations….”

Lee Hyun fell into deep, mental agony. The 6 locations were all very far from each other, and to visit each place one by one would take a considerable amount of time. The possible locations of Ratzeburg he scouted out in Ritten Kingdom and the Britten Union had cities built on top.

“I should visit the Albas region first. It will be difficult to navigate back, but I might get lucky and find it on my first try.”

He finally made his decision after pondering for so long. In his pondering, he still attended University, and in Royal Road he stayed in Vargo Fortress plodding away at sculptures to raise his skill mastery.

“Oppa, you are still awake?”

In the middle of the night, the door to his sister’s room opened and Lee Hye Yeon walked into the living room, still wearing her pyjamas.

“Yeah. I have many things to think about right now.”

Taking out milk from the fridge, Lee Hye Yeon asked as she began to drink.

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s that I received a quest to find the very first city in Versailles Continent.”

Lee Hyun explained to her the whole story in detail. The information and resources he printed out from the computer were equivalent to three volumes of a thick book. He had also brought a glass blackboard from somewhere and it was filled with scribbles and sticky notes here and there. It was like Lee Hyun had recreated a scene from a drama to find the location of Ratzeburg.

“And this is the video I saw of the city. Using the video, I gathered all these materials to pinpoint the possible location of the city.”

Lee Hyun spoke in a low, subdued voice. He had perfectly captured the mood of an older brother that wished for his younger sister to realize how smart he was all over again.

“Ah! So this picture is the image of the city?”

“Right.”

With Lee Hyun’s drawing skills, he drew frogs into dinosaurs, worms into rivers, and ants into transforming robots. But from the video, and using the various photos of Royal Road he had made an accurate topographical map.

“Isn’t this Boronis in Aidern Kingdom?”

“What? No, it’s probably among the Free City in Albas region.”

“No Oppa. I went there once to look at the Butterfly festival they held.”

Yurin moved around the computer mouse and the video of Boronis popped up on the screen.

“Look here. It’s this place.”

It was exactly like Lee Hyun saw on the video back then. The river that twisted like a snake, and a wide plain with birds and flowering trees… it was as if all of it was untouched by time. Even if the river course changed slightly, the mountain range that could be seen far away was exactly the same.

“Look, there is the Olgoro plateau and the Great Plain of Iles, Oppa?”

“......”

Glaring at the monitor, no matter how much he scrutinized to find a flaw in the video the resemblance to Ratzeburg was uncanny.

“Hmph! Then, we will make a small detour before heading to the Albas region.”

Translation Notes

- 화돌이 or Fiery Pebble, as have been translated by others has been changed to ‘Hwadori.’ Fiery Pebble is not a bad attempt, 화 is probably 火 the fire ‘hwa’, 돌이 or ‘pebble’ is… well 돌 is translated as rock but 돌이 is usually a suffix added to make a nickname cute and stuff. So I am just going to translate ‘Fiery Pebble’ phonetically and call him/her/it ‘Hwadori.’

- The farmer's dream in Royal Road. Royal Farmer

Here, it’s not farmers but I can’t make the sentence sound short and good otherwise. The actual korean used is 귀농. And this brings up the difference between 귀농 vs 농부, 농부 is the actual representation for a farmer. 귀농 is like a city boy going to a rural area and becoming a farmer. The difference is still there, contextually.

Chapter 9: Discovery of the First City

The First City, Ratzeburg, was supposedly where the Four Races settled and lived peacefully. Weed had come to Boronis to find it, and as Yurin had visited this place for a festival before, they could simply use the Picture Teleportation skill to get there.

‘There is quite a lot of people here.’

Weed climbed the Olgoro plateau and looked at the surroundings. Above, the birds flew in flocks and below, travelers and tourists could be easily seen.

Fish were just biting on the fishing pole as soon as he cast it into the vast Tinus River.

“It’s a big one!”

“Oppa, how many did you catch now?”

“I think a bit over 20!”

It was a rich and abundant river that was half water, half fish! A river that fishermen crowded over frantically.

On the great fertile plains of Iles in Aidern Kingdom, all kinds of crops were cultivated to feed its people. Having developed their economy and industry early on, Aidern Kingdom had built the Boronis Castle in this place. But 200 years later, they built a greater and grander castle further back on the Olgoro plateau and relocated there.

In present times, Boronis Castle was an abandoned castle converted to house tourist.

“I am sure Ratzeburg is located somewhere around here.”

Weed followed along the riverside. He wondered if their motive was to defend against monster attacks, as the city was built so closely to the river.

“According to my memories, it should be nearby here...”

The amount of time that passed by had to be considerable, as the place was a heap of sand!

In the morning Weed cast his fishing pole.

“I should just use this opportunity to increase my Fishing Skill.”

If he started making sculptures, it would attract people’s attention, and the worst thing that could happen would be Hermes Guild sending people over to chase after him here. So in the morning, he did something ordinary like fishing.

“Mister, fish don’t bite in that spot.”

Putting the female players who gave him friendly advice to shame, Weed seamlessly pulled in his fishing pole from the river.

“This guy is too big to put in my pot.”

He kept catching fish that were large enough that they had to be held with both arms.

“I should eat is as hoe? If I fry its flesh, its taste should be edible.”

Though it was said that the Tinus River was overflowing with fish, not all were of the enormous size that Weed was catching. With his Intermediate Level 5 Fishing Skill, his bait moved in a special way underwater. The bait, gently swayed its tail with the current, almost as if it was enticing the fish to try it! Weed had better catches compared to others as the large fish fell for the ruse and quickly snatched up the bait.

There were plenty of people diligently raising their Fishing Skill along the Tinus River. There were even 3 players with Intermediate Level Fishing Skill, but the number of people who caught their fish on the first try like Weed were few. Using his Advanced Level 8 Handicraft, he deftly handled the struggle with his catch by using just enough strength to prevent the line from snapping and sapping the stamina of his catch quickly.

Having raised his mastery at the sea, in a few short days, his Fishing Skill rose to Level 6.

Fishing Skill increased to Intermediate Level 6. The chance of catching a rare fish increased greatly. Maximum health increased by 1,800. A deep flavor is added with all your fish dishes.

Fame increased by 35.

Perseverance increased by 4.

Endurance increased by 3.

You have received the title of, ‘Tenacious Fisherman’

When residing in one spot for a long time, the effect of the Fishing Skill increases by 4%.

Reduces consumption of vitality.

Even at night, the Tinus River was swarming with fishermen. So Weed had to excavate in hiding.

“Come on, any relic is okay, just appear already. If you are going to appear anyways, something expensive will be nice while you are at it.”

If he was going to find a relic from Ratzeburg, it had to be the best of the best antique! It was not all because of the quest, Weed was in a frenzy for money.

The hole Weed was digging in secret under the cover of the night, was truly deep. It helped that he had invested a significant amount of time in Jigolaths digging.

“If I had never learnt Fishing or Mining, I would be bored out of my mind.”

Having opened the door of agony and hardship so many times before, this much was child’s play! If he compared what he did in Jigolaths with carrying bricks, what he did now only amounted to waving warning lights.

Weed was in between the thickets using his spade to dig. He let the dug up sand drift into the river. Strangely enough, the place where Ratzeburg was did not seem to be a good fishing spot. It also helped that people were scattered all over the Tinus River as it was so vast.

Like this, Fishing Skill and Mining Skill increased day by day.

“Really, it’s true what they say, a sculptor is talented in everything.”

While meandering as such, by chance in the middle of the morning, something caught on Weed’s fishing pole.

“A fish?”

The thing that pulled firmly, did not feel like a living being. While a proficient fisherman would cut off his fishing line, Weed struggled for about 10 minutes before finally lifting it up. As Weed was using a fishing line he made personally with his Sewing Skill, which had a higher durability than those sold on the street market, there was a possibility he could salvage it.

DING!

An Old Relic, Stone Hammer has been fished from the Tinus River

Luck increased by 1.

Mastery of Fishing Skill increased.

“One lousy stone hammer increasing my mastery… this can’t be a common occurrence. Identify!”

Cracked Stone Hammer

Durability: 7/19

Attack: 2~9

A hammer made from broken stones.

If feels like it could be used in hunting.

Restriction: None.

Option: When an Orc uses this hammer, attack increases by 20%.

“This is it!”

The relic was nothing compared to what he was expecting for, but Weed received a definite confirmation that Ratzeburg was here. Usually he would throw it away as it was a useless stone hammer that couldn’t even be sold as japtem, but he stored it away safely.

“You never know, I could sell it off as a relic.”

Weed had a renewed sense of expectation of his morning fishing runs, as there was now the possibility of fishing out relics. He wasn’t just fishing at a random spot on Tinus River, he was fishing at the heart of the past city Ratzeburg!

He discovered copper shields, broken arrowheads, pottery and dishes. While the majority were useless knick-knacks, some were evidently created by dwarves.

“I only need to dig in this spot!”

In the morning, Weed’s eyes were squinting in laughter as he fished and at night, he hummed as he dug.

“The more I dig, the richer I become. Money, rice… I am going to become rich any day now!”

Like a tone deaf person, his notes become longer. With his scattered humming, it was beginning to sound like a noise coming from a graveyard.

‘This being the First City, I am sure plenty of extravagant items are buried here. Perhaps, I might just find a massive burial sites with gold, silver and treasures inside…...’

The hopeful dream of a grave robber!

But reality was a cruel mistress. After several days of digging, the only things he dug up were stones and sands, his desired treasures were nowhere in sight.

Burururu!

Even then, with the hope of earning big, Weed carried on, pouring his strength into digging. Finally, he found a sculpture carved from a rock! An arm and a leg were missing, but it was clearly a work depicting an Orc.

“Identify!”

Weed used Sculptural Memories.

*****

“It’s all thanks to you that we managed to drive the monsters back again and stay safe.”

“Chwick! I did what I had to do. Warrior Ulchi, I do not need any praises. Chwick.”

“Oh right, I heard you had a son?”

“He follows after me, with his big head. I am happy. Chichick!”

“Ulchi, I tried to make a sculpture of your seventh son. Here, take this home.”

Ulchi was an Orc, whose body was littered with scars and tattoos. He looked down on the sculpture given to him. It was a sculpture of a young and an adult Orc. It was an Orc’s fate to reach adulthood in a blink of an eye and disappear into the battlefield. To them, sculptures which allowed them to remember their family were one of their most precious items.

“Thanks, I will keep it safe. Chwick!”

Holding the sculpture in his fur covered hand, Ulchi bent his waist to leave the Dwarf’s workshop. On the street of Ratzeburg were slower maturing human children, who were running around and playing.

“Hi, Ulchi Ahjussi!”

“Did you catch many monsters this time as well? My dad told me to tell you that he's really thankful.”

“We are proud to have you with us Ulchi.”

The Humans treated the Orc with friendliness. Whenever they engaged him in a conversation, Ulchi would stop momentarily to chat before heading home. As Orcs were frequently engaged in battle, they lived in the outskirts of the city.

“Oh, come quickly. Chichiwik!”

A female Orc, Juichi, came out to welcome him home. Ulchi gave her a fierce hug before going in. The Ulchi was a large family, with 13 of them just accounting for his sons. There was no suitable furniture in the house at all, rather the only decoration that could be seen were sculptures hanging on a rope near the door.

The Humans and the Elves cultivated the fields and worked in the construction of the city. The Dwarves created weapons and armor for the Orcs. The Orcs laid down their lives to defend the city against any monsters that might attack them. The Orcs were the last line of defense. If they failed, Humans, Elves, and the Dwarves would all perish. Therefore, no matter how many casualties they suffered in battle, they never once retreated.

Ulchi’s sons grew up, opened the doors hanging with sculptures and left for the world. One, two… never to return again. Where the sculptures were, more and more were added.

Orcs withstood their difficulties and continued to expand throughout the generations. In that time, the Humans, Elves and the Dwarves also advanced and developed.

The Humans not only became proficient in farming, but also weapon crafting. While Human’s strength could not match the potential the Orcs held since their birth, they could overcome it with their superior comprehension and handling mana.

As the Elves began to make their bows and contract with Spirits, they no longer required the protection from the Orcs. The Dwarves furthered their development of weapons and armors. With the sharpness of their weapons and the solidness of their armor, they no longer feared any monsters.

It came to a boiling point, where the Four Races could no longer contend with each other.

The sculpture had listened to the various tales from the world around it.

“The Humans do not respect us. Chichichwik!”

“The Orcs eat too much! No matter how much we grow, it all goes into the Orc’s stomachs. We don’t have enough food for ourselves.”

“For how long must we Elves guide the other races, ignorant to the power of nature?”

“They are mindless in handling the equipment we created. Without the Dwarves prowess in metal handling, they would not have been able to battle or farm properly. I get so angry when I see these fools using the tools we crafted without any care!”

Hostility erupted between the Four Races. The Orc’s left the city first. It was because of their ability to reproduce quickly that they found it impossible for them to continue living in a single area forever. While the area far away from Ratzeburg was still crawling with monsters, the brave Orc Lords lead their clan to a new settlement.

Shortly after the Orc’s departed, the Elves soon followed, leaving for their much desired Forests. For some time after the departure of the other races, the Humans and the Dwarves remained together out of necessity. But as the Dwarves advanced their blacksmithing skills, they departed for the mountains searching for more minerals to further refine their skills.

The Humans struggled for some time after the Elves departed as their harvest reduced by half. But having learned farming techniques from the Elves, they managed to increase their crop yield to previous levels again. They had also consulted with the Dwarves to prepare against monster attacks, building a Fortress and walls.

And so, in the last days of Ratzeburg, the only race that lived in the city were Humans. But as the city was built up with mishmash of planning by the four races, the Humans found it difficult to live among the many homes and amenities built for the different races.

In the end, the Humans also abandoned Ratzeburg and departed to create their own Kingdom.

The first city was abandoned by all four races. After several decades the Tinus River began to flood and Ratzeburg was slowly swept away. This was one of the reasons why the Great Plains of Iles was so fertile.

But a time came when there was a greater flood than before. With the city abandoned, the buildings were swept by, flooded and ruthlessly knocked down. The current swept up rocks and trees, the mud sunk to the floor bed. With the rain, river and the passing of time, the buildings completely disappeared and Ratzeburg was sunk and buried.

The sculpture of Ulchi’s sevenths son was preserved under a large rock.

*****

City of Ratzeburg Complete

The historic find of Ratzeburg!

This find will make the historians rewrite the entire history of Humans, Dwarves, Elves and the Orcs. By reporting this discovery to any Kingdom or a representative of a Race, you will receive recognition and your achievement will be recorded.

Quest Reward: By reporting this to any Kingdom or a Race representative, you will receive rewards for your achievement in this quest. If you return to the Elf Randelia, you will receive a small reward with the next quest objective.

Fame increased by 4,300.

Your level increased.

Your level increased.

All stats increased by 4.

You have learned a historic fact. Through this special experience, Intelligence and Wisdom increased by 5.

Through this exploration, your Mining Skill increased by 1.

“I don’t know if this is because it’s the Sculpting Master Quest or not, but the quest rewards are amazing.”

Even though Weed’s level was over 400, the experience he earned in this quest was colossal that his level increased by two. If his level was lower, his level would have jumped by 10 at once like it did when he defeated Lich Shire and his Undead Legions.

“I am sure the Sculpting Master Quest wouldn’t end after this much. If the mid chain quest gives this kind of reward, how good will the reward be at the end?”

Weed had an evil grin on his face. By finding Ratzeburg first, any others that attempt the Sculpting Master Quest could no longer receive such a large reward. By being the frontrunner, the rewards befitted it.

“Without a doubt, you need to be one step ahead of the others. In heavy snow, it’s the footstep of the lead that becomes the guide for the people following behind.”

While his thoughts were positive, Weed’s heart was completely black.

‘I need to make sure to pack everything good while ahead. Who knows what kind of jackpot the late comers could scavenge.’

The one who pioneers could monopolize quests and treasure!

After discovering Ratzeburg, Weed returned to the Elf village through Yurin’s Picture Teleportation.

*****

The Hermes Guild’s forces were in battle at the village of Pavroa in the Forest of Life. The Hermes Guild deployed a significant force to quickly subdue the small village. But the magic protecting the Elf Village was triggered, lengthening their campaign, while at the same time they had to fight off the Forest Spirits and the Trees that resisted their advance. Even monsters and animals came out to attack them, causing havoc on their forces.

In the midst of the current battle in the Forest of Life, the Elven Warriors began to arrive and fight off the invaders. Even though they were the vaunted Hermes Guild, with the Elven Archers attacking from the trees and with the Shaman’s flinging magic attacks, they struggle to gain an inroad with their attack. Hermes Guild could not even enter the village and were only fighting off the Elves.

Players were disgruntled by this turn of events.

“These bastards, Hermes Guild is sinking their claws in everything.”

“Were they not satisfied with Kallamore Kingdom that they have to bother the Elves now?”

“Just seeing those bastards makes me angry for several days, for now, I am not even going to leave the village.”

Weed entered the village entrance guarded by Elves. The Elven Warriors were solemn in their vigil, while the Hermes Guild’s forces had to, for the time being, retreat some distance from the village.

“I have returned with the discovery of Ratzeburg. This sculpture and these artifacts are the evidence of my discovery.”

Weed reported his success to Randelia.

“Astounding, the existence of such old relics…...”

The relics shown to Randelia were the stone hammer, accessory made of teeth and pieces of a ceramic pot. These were disposal items no one would want, but they held a deep history within them.

“I never truly imagined that you would discover Ratzeburg based on my story. I do not have much in what I can reward you with but... ”

Weed gave a small sigh. He had already picked most the fruits from the trees, so there was not much he could receive from Randelia. If he had went to any Kingdom on the Continent or a Representative of a particular Race, he could have received a greater reward.

“Here, I shall give you a map.”

You have acquired the map detailing the Forest of Life

The followings are marked, the Elf Village, Monster Habitat, Grove, and places sprouting with herbs.

“Thank you. I will treasure it.”

Weed thought it was a decent quest reward. The Forest of Life was quite a vast area that even players who played as Elves got lost. With a detailed map adventuring would become a lot easier in this area.

“But to see this sculpture in such a state is truly woeful.”

Randelia looked on regretful at the woeful state of the old relic uncovered after aeon.

“I believe that the history of Ratzeburg is something everyone must know. If we could just restore the sculpture to its original condition, I think it can become a good gift for the Orcs.”

DING!

Sculpture of the Orc’s Seventh Son

Many Orcs had bled for Ratzeburg. Without their noble sacrifice, it’s possible that the Humans, Dwarves and Elves would have not survived. Tell the Orc’s about the truth of Ratzeburg! If you can restore the sculpture to a like-new condition, it can become a gift of gratitude to the Orcs.

Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Restriction: Sculpting skill must be at least Advance Level 8.

Must have friendly relation with the Orcs.

“I will tell the Orcs the truth about Ratzeburg.”

Weed then left the Elf Village.

*****

“I can’t believe it. Something absurd just happened!”

All of Versailles Continent, the Residents began to chatter about.

“Have you heard? Apparently the Humans, Elves and the Dwarves lived together with the primitive Orcs in the past.”

“Apparently there was a discovery so great that we might have to rewrite the history books. Even a greenhorn like you must have heard about it! The discovery unearthed by sculptor adventurer Weed!”

“Only Weed could have discovered something so earth shattering! No matter how difficult the task, we can trust him with it. We might have to pay him a lot, but it will be worth every penny. ”

As Weed successfully completed another super sized quest, other players were filled with envy.

“Ah, when will I ever do a quest like that?”

“I think the quest this time is something super big. Something that includes, not only Humans, but Orcs, Elves and Dwarves as well.”

“With this, Weed’s fame will spread to all the Four Races.”

After the discovery about the Four Races, the relationship between the Races began to improve.

“There is a commission I want to entrust to the Dwarves. Not sure if they will accept it or not, but could you maybe acquire seven swords made by the Dwarves?”

“Recently I saw many monsters lurking in the forest. If only the humans could take care of it, it would be a great help… If you could bring this request to the Humans, I will repay you in full.”

The relationship between the Races began to warm up and more interracial quest was generated. Before, when a difficult event occurred, the Elves tried to handle it by themselves. The Orc’s with their pride and ego had nothing to say to the Dwarves either. But now, the door to interracial quests has opened wider.

In terms of Weed, with his unmatchable renown and success, he could receive a quest from any of the Races. This change in stance did not impact him much, but to the players it was a paradigm shift.

The Residents continued to gossip among themselves.

“It’s amazing how Weed found the location of the city where all the Four Races lived together. I heard he reported his discovery to the King of Aidern Kingdom. As a reward, Aidern Kingdom will recognize his position as Count in Morata and granted him the sword of the state. I heard this from the guards so it must be true.”

“I heard that he received a send off from the King himself at the royal courts as he flew off on one of his Wyverns. That amazing scene….. it makes my heart excited just imagining it! If it wasn’t for my work as a baker, I could have set off after him immediately.”

“It seems that he also reported his discovery to the Bakuma Kingdom, Harugan Kingdom and the Britten Union. He seems to have received no small reward for his effort.”

“Did you hear? Weed also travelled to Ritten Kingdom. He made a sculpture for the King sometime back and apparently they became close acquaintances. The King personally greeted him and requested a sculpture of the Queen, the Prince and the whole family.”

“Any King on the whole continent would beg to have a sculpture made by the great sculptor Weed, who constantly amazes the whole continent with his adventures.”

*****

“Moooooooo!”

Taking the opportunity of his long begotten freedom, Yellowy enjoyed the free time to his heart’s content by loitering around Morata. With his majestically rising horns, sensually created muscles, and his strength and figure, his appearance could not be rivaled by any other bull.

“Moo!”

There were many heifers who looked at Yellowy with lustful eyes like a piece of meat. After Weed bestowed life onto Yellowy, there was a sudden surge in the population of cows in Morata. Even heifers, still too young to have discarded their childlike form, looked at Yellowy with desire.

‘I finally understand why the residents often say the world is a beautiful place.’

Yellowy strutted confidently around Morata, like a solemn sovereign emperor of all the cows. Though there were times when other bulls challenged Yellowy, he did not hide away but faced it head on. Clashing their heads together in a bullfight! Butting their heads together and crossing their horns as each bull tried to push the other! A bullfight required unparalleled strength and stamina to win, and Yellowy had it in strides, experiencing straight and easy wins.

‘This is all thanks to Master.’

Yellowy, for the first time, could now understand why Master insisted a bull needed good strength and required him to lug around heavy luggage on his back.

‘It’s all so that I could become what I am.’

There was a reason for having him sleep on cold or hot places, and hunting even while being buffeted by hail. When the number of bulls and cows increased in Morata, he still clearly remembers Weed leading him to a back alley. How Weed stepped back to observe his bullfight against a strong opponent.

‘There was a deep meaning behind it! The only way to gain affection from the heifers is to win in bullfights!’

In a bullfight, Yellowy could not turn his head, but he could always hear Weed cheering for him.

“Yellowy, you must win! Push him away! I raised you to be strong. You can do it! The only thing you need to win is the faith that you can push him away!”

Yellowy always won, hearing the cheers filled with sincerity. While he might have been mistaken, now and then he thought he might have seen officials and other people exchanging money, but…..

‘I miss Master.’

Yellowy really wanted to see Weed right now.

Translation Notes

- 회 - hoe in Korean and Sashimi in Japanese. I am sure there is a deep, cultural difference between the two but to me, it has the same definition, raw fish sliced into thin pieces.

- 이슬을 맞아 가면서까지 - “hunting even while being buffeted by hail”, 이슬 is dew but that doesn’t make sense in the context so I think the author made a mistake. “Training while suffering morning dew” doesn’t fit the theme going on there with Yellowy.

Chapter 10: The Glory of the Orcs

While staying in the Ritten Kingdom, Weed made the sculpture of the King as desired. Weed's sculpture level has reached 32.7% of Advanced Level 8. The increased sculpting skills reduced the time needed to create a sculpture.

"Maybe in the sculpting, could it be possible for you to illuminate me enough to make me sparkle?"

"I think it expresses the beauty of the princess with just light itself. Oh by the way, I am lacking a little gold to create the sculpture."

"I will give you some now."

Weed made a golden sculpture of the king's whole family. This cannot even be considered as work, as this was going to be a piece worthy of the extra income generated.

Also, since his Blacksmith skills were not that high, there's a probability that this could even result in a failure. Standing by the window of the jewelry inlay, he worked with his heart and made it look easy. The Queen looked and praised the feats of Weed.

"You're also excellent with your jewelry skill."

Weed's face smiled which looks almost like an embarrassing smile.

"Seriously, since day one I become involved with sculptures, it is unthinkable for me to compromise or concede."

"So if you want other jewels added, I would be happy to take a look at them."

Even as he almost finished, he was still up keeping the momentum in order to get more from the Ritten Kingdom! He has been commissioned to create a sculpture of the King, Queen, Prince, and Princess all holding their hands. The the nobles were positioned and were carved bowing down to praise the Royal Family.

This increased the amount of work done, however separately the backpack Weed was carrying was becoming even heavier from the unused materials.

To be able to make a sculpture of such a glaring light. It was a piece of pure brilliance and the light was combined with effects of alcohol to further its brightness. It was one of the most luxurious and extravagant works that was carefully made. Weed did not even miss the meticulous or delicate parts, and there was not a single blemish.

Eager to see the moment of its completion, the King, Queen, Prince and Princess came together.

Ting!

Please set the name of the sculpture made.

Weed said aloud, and called to them on purpose.

"With respect to the glory of his Majesty, the King of the Kingdom of Ritten, I shall name this Sculpture "His Majesty Of Immortality and His Family"

His Majesty Of Immortality and His Family right?

That’s right!

A masterpiece! ‘His Majesty Of Immortality and His Family’ has been completed

The King of the kingdom of Ritten, this signifies the position to those who are responsible.

You who lined the palace of treasures, gold and gems to create sculptures that blend into the kingdom that created a special tax to the king.

You cannot escape from the historical criticism.

Nevertheless, the two statues of gold and jewels is an exquisite piece and are likely to remain for a very long time.

Artistic Value: 923.

Special Options: ‘His Majesty Of Immortality and His Family’ increases their loyalty to the royal family of the nobility.

Ritten fame increases strong growth in the kingdom's reputation.

The Kingdom in the south's discontent is growing.

Increases the appearance of bandits in the mountains of the Kingdom.

Carving skills have been enhanced.

Mastery of the skill has improved dexterity.

Blacksmith skills are enhanced.

By creating a sculpture of the Royal Family, reputation has risen 514.

Art stat raised by 5

Luck rises by 3

Attractiveness rises by 5.

Until now the completed number of masterpieces: 106

The King of the Kingdom of Ritten was greatly satisfied.

"It's really is a good piece."

"Yes. It was an honor as an engraver to be able to express His Majesty the King."

"Here let me prepare a dinner for you."

"Thank you, but no sir. I do not need to eat to understand His Majesty's kindness, thank you."

Though uncommon, Weed refused a free meal. Delicious food was available throughout the making of the sculpture, and plenty of food was placed in his backpack.

In addition while working, he managed to come out with gold and jewels left over, its best to hurry and escape as soon as possible!

"Wy-3!"

Wy-3 has come down from the heavens as voracious as ever. The Kingdom of Ritten was known for strong long-distance trips.

"Well, good luck."

"I will await for the next opportunity."

"His Majesty will welcome you, anytime you need him!"

Weed jumped on the Wy-3 and whooped up as he soared over the kingdom. On the ground, the soldiers and nobles who were crossing an active area looked up at the sky and gave weed astonished looks. Weed waved his hand and gave a rotten smile.

I feel bad I could not catch you going hanmitcheon properly.

"Kkueeek!"

"This is heavy"

"That's all the money. Later I will feed you some horse meat."

Having been deceived too many times, Wy-3 was too dumb to say this. But…

"I will only feed it to you"

"Kkueeeeeeek!"

Wy-3 flanged with joy.

"Let's go! Now to the Orc Territory"

*****

Orc Land.

There was no official meaning to the name. Since the Yuroki Mountains, the mountains further east were collectively referred to as Orc Land. It was very common among the Orcs.

"Chwichwit!"

"Chwiyiyiyiik!"

Deep in the mountains, there was a new sound other than birds echoing in the mountains. Ever since Weed defeated the army of the Immortal Legion in the Yuroki Mountains, users were able to choose the Orc race.

Since that day users have had outstanding performances up in the Yuroki Mountains. Of course there was still some suffering starter Orcs. Other Kingdoms or those in the Central Continent built walls and were prepared against monsters.

The Orcs had to survive against a lot of strong monsters in the Yuroki Mountains. Their weapons and armor were poor, and food was not very plentiful. It was a much more difficult start compared to other races.

"Ooh, my town is gone. Chwichwi! "

There are many monsters that preyed among Orc Villages in the mountains. Then either a few thousand or even tens of thousands of Orcs would gather.

"Chwiik, Revenge!"

"Chweeeeet!"

Fearless Orcs went out to secure the supremacy of the Yuroki Mountains.

"This time, plenty of food was looted, chwichwichit!"

Orcs were able to multiply their numbers quickly by breeding. The breeding speed of the Orcs and their strong fighting ability is said to be the best privilege given to them. This is not an exaggeration. In addition, Orc users fought without fear of death thanks to their strong bodies.

Revenge, food, securing areas, quests, and exploring dungeons, because of these things mining development continues to occur. The Orcs are currently on a quest to take a mountain passage that was reaching out to the east and south indefinitely.

For those who enjoy a massive battle, and based on the magnitude of the Orcs, one would usually choose them. But if you talk about complex strategies or tactics, the Orcs did not accept them.

"What did you say? Tell me again from the beginning. Chwiyiyiit, "

"I went into the mountains in the valley and secured a passage way for the merchants to trade ... Chwichit."

Simple words made understanding very effective.

"He abused our tribe, chwiik!"

"Kill, chwichwichwi!"

Stress that other such species would have could not accumulate. Eating, playing, and gathering together to go and fight, such were the ways of the Orcs.

*****

Weed visited an Orc stronghold named Flame at Burucia, an area east of the Yuroki Mountain Range. A metropolis for the Orcs was created on the plains. You can expect similar types of culture from a human or dwarf, but the futures of orcs are very different. For Weed it is not an exaggeration to say that there is an extraordinary friendship.

Orc Karichwi! Whether it be in the Yuroki Mountains or anywhere else, no orc was ignorant to his power.

Ulchwi's sculpture of his seventh child has been fully restored. It had a familiar look to the Orcs, after all it is a fine sculpture.

"But the goal here is the look."

Transformed as Karichwi he had to report to the Orcs on the discovery of Ratzeburg.

“Your good looks, not slimmed down, chwichwit. Didn't even see more between the skin."

Orcs looked at him in envy. Karichwi is exceptionally exposed and stands out in appearance among the rest. His protruding buck teeth and his selfish dirty looking face! His personality was larger than other Orcs, popular for leading the war of victory against the Immortal Undead Legion.

"If you want to become popular like Ulchwi,! Eat a bunch! You will gain more fat that way Chwiik"

"Thanks for telling me, chwiit!"

"I'll tell you about Ratzeburgh chwichichi. You better dig out your ear and listen!

Everyone was talking about Ratzeburgh! Weed did not care for gossip or explanations. In the human kingdoms, the king would meet him, and just as with any other mission they would talk about how they had trouble finding the meaning of the story. But there was absolutely no need.

"We Orcs guarded the other races!"

"Surely our ancestors are great Orcs, chwiit."

"Ulchwi was also great, chwichichwi."

"I hear there were loads of strong Orcs, I want to be so as well, chwiyiyiit."

"Ratzburgh we all lived together in harmony, chwichwichwit."

"Split the food, Chwiyiik."

Orcs who divided the rice to eat meant that they are recognized as key associates.

"I ate! Orcs have more meat chwichichichichiyiit!

Reported the discovery of Ratzburgh to the Orcs

Due to the achievements for reporting the discovery of the ancient city, reputation with the Orcs will increase 690.

Orcs need courage to demonstrate their lack of law and order to protect.

As a reward your intimacy with them will lead to increased courage.

Courage is increases by 13.

Leadership increases by 9.

Charisma increases by 7.

Fighting Spirit increases by 6.

Humans, Elves, and Orcs are now into a friendly state.

Orcs and Dwarfs friendship that was in a wild state, has now rather improved.

This quest has a tendency to give out huge compensation. Even when reporting to kings, elegance, fame, charisma, charm etc… all rise significantly. The adventurers will have another reason to become envious when the findings are reported.

Weed took the sculpture to complete the quests given.

"It's time, chwit. So this is the sculpture."

"It seems to have the markings of a brave Orc Chwiyiyiik."

Ulchwi completed a sculpture of his seventh child.

After a long time the sculpture returned back to their arms.

Orcs will be able to watch the sculpture and think about friendships with the other races.

"Chwiyiyiyiik."

Weed waited while looking around. Well what he is really waiting for is the compensation. This amount was enough for the master sculpting quest. Whether or not this chain-quest will continue keeps him curious.

"This sculpture I cannot get free, chwichit."

"This is the behavior of the right Orc"

Orc honesty is a virtue; Weed could also ask him for something.

"Come, follow me Chwiyichwiik." Weed took one last look and followed.

The Orc Chieftain Bulchwi leads Weed to his tent. When he arrives, there are plump young female Orcs preparing lunch.

"Let's eat together. Had trouble. Chwichwit."

"......"

This compensation! This was a fancy rice meal that was a great honor for tens of millions of Orcs. 'That's right, how can I expect much compensation from the Orcs.' Weed wavered for a second before taking a seat and started to eat. Anyway, all that remains at least is to be seen eating the rice.

The Orc Bulchwi was a great glutton, and it was the same with the other young Orcs as well. Weed with the appearance of Karichwi ate several dogs and barbecued deer.

Meal finished, this time I got to go seriously bulchwi said.

"I will give away only 10 Orcs. Chwichichichit"

"Chwiik?"

They spoke English!

Weed did not know English and was puzzled. He wondered why all of a sudden.

"They will go along with you Karichwi their love for you is great, you can cancel if you want Chwichwichwiyiit!"

Weed now had an understanding

As a reward for the Quest it seems he was offered a bunch of Orcs!

"No never mind its fine. Profit! Chwiyiik!"

He never refused! But imagining the hungry hordes of Orcs is terrible. Only 10 alone, but a large number of Orcs are truly powerful. Orcs usually settle a village and raise a family in order to eat well and spend quality time at night.

"And Karichwi I have something I have to show you, Chwichwichwit! "

"What is it!"

Bulchwi went into the space behind the barracks floor and removed a clogged straw. Then he entered the cellar down below.

"There is a need for absolute secrecy, chwichit only you will know of this place.

"All right. My mouth is sealed, chwichiik!"

Bulchwi pulled out a helmet from the edge of the cellar/basement. There was ancient writing next to it.

"This is the most ancient Orc loaded steel helmet... Chwiyiik, Chwiik"

Weed gently wiped the dust and dirt off with his fingers and sat down. Maybe it's enough to say this wasn't the final product, the iron smelted was not made properly. It was half fused together, but it is still iron. Made with a rugged texture, there are bumps made in the pitches and three short dog horns.

"I'll find out, chwichit!"

Identify!

Orc Loaded Steel Helmet

Durability: 24/60

Defense: 129

The Legendary Orc Parachwi took the gift from the Dwarfs who had created this helmet. The first four races lived in the great city of Ratzeburg where this was produced. Dwarf craftsman made the heavy helmet with the most solid pitching.

Despite the age, the steel helmet still has life preserved by the Orcs.

Restrictions: Orc Race only.

Level: 570

Strength: 2,300

Special Options:

Complete immunity to magic.

Rules over all the Orcs

Orc Birthrate increased by 50%

Resistance to Magic

If targeting a stronger monster, can deal 40% increased damage.

All combat skills increased by 35%

Impossible to Repair

+ 25 all stats related to combat.

Due to the historic feel of the goods Blacksmith skill proficiency increases.

"Chwiyiyiyiik!"

Weed snorted roughly. Such a wonderful item! This really is equipment that can be called luxury.

"Parachwi is the king of goods, chwichwichwi!"

"Have you never heard? Parachwi was the best Orc, everyone always followed whatever he said. chwiyichwiit"

Orcs told tales about how they grew up listening to Parachwi. Each generation has tried to come just like him. Weed really is no different when it comes to old treasures or selling. It is impossible to repair the limit, but still it would be sad if during a huge battle it breaks.

The Orc race really had a ridiculously high power limit, but whoever used this was a force to be reckoned with. Having been made roughly around the same time, a part of it stood out to weed. Looking like it has been made out of iron; it instead seemed to have been carved out of the bones of some animal.

"Perhaps this section… Chwiik. Identify!”

Steel Helmet Horn

Durability: 14/25

Horns are made out of Manticore bones.

It symbolizes the dignity of the Orc Race.

Orcs successful in hunting horns have been made by artisans.

Artistic Value: 59.

Special options: Attack while wearing this helmet increases by 7%

While reading the story behind the sculpture it activated Weed's memory skill. Images from the eyes of Parachwi came into view.

*****

Parachwi was in control of the Orc Race! With clear eyes looking down below at the Orc hill, the area was expansive. The Four races were currently living inside the buildings of Ratzburgh.

"Come on, chwiyiik!" Parachwi is taking out monsters with a ton of Orcs while a war is being waged in the vicinity of the city. In Ratzburgh City the size of the land for cultivating crops has grown and monsters have been invading constantly.

Parachwi has countered instead by taking out the monster strongholds rather than defending when they come to the lands. Because of this, Ratzburgh City was growing bigger day by day, and was also becoming safer.

"Chwiyiit, lets plant more corn tonight! chwichiik! So let's all eat and share."

Orcs, even humans, elves, and dwarfs all respected Parachwi. He has widened the scale of appointment with orcs, and established a flat bank by the river. Rahtzburgh was being kept in order. That made the four races able to establish the current parameters.

*****

"Chwiyiik!"

Weed spewed a loud and long snort. In the video it showed the Orc Race Parachwi leading the battle. The Orcs back then were hunting the Manticore bones, an impressive accomplishment. And back then the Orcs were incredibly brave, unlike now. He and his Orc brothers were devoted enough to the task and were willing to die for the people of Rahtzburgh.

Parachwi was the commander and because of that they were able to familiarize themselves with various combat methods. A true Orc!

He held a foundation that grew under his Orcs, and it later grew more than 40 times that number by the time he died. He even leaded a monstrous force before he was killed.

"I'll get to have fun!"

He wouldn’t have any place to lead the Orcs when they go hunting. This wasn’t something very new either. Looking back at the Old Continent and how things changed, Weed became frustrated.

Orcs do not currently walk around as freely as the humans that rule the continent. Only on the fringes in the east and far south could they actually breed. But in comparison to the past, it was unprecedented, with a much larger liberty at hand.

"I have forgotten the appearance of Parachwi, I wish I could remember. Chwiik, if you could remember can you possibly carve Parachwi?" Bulchwi said as he took the helmet back.

"I could sculpt Parachwi. Chwit."

"Well son, let me thank you. chwichichichik!"

Ttiring!

A Sculpture of the Orc Parachwi

Orcs will quickly forget the facts they learned. After a few years they may not also remember Rahtzburgh. Parachwi made sculptures of Orcs to show his bravery. Through the Orc Carvings and forgotten instincts you will be able to learn a strong power.

In the history of the continent of Versailles the Orcs were selected late, however through the quests of the species they were able to find the glory of the past.

The completion of the Sculpture will increase Orc Birth Rate.

Difficulty: Master Sculpting Quest.

Quest limit: Level 8 Advanced Sculpting.

Must have created a Masterpiece.

Must have a close relationship with the Orcs.

"I will make, chwichichik!"

You have accepted the Quest

*****

Yu Byeong-Joon was feeling a sense of old age.

But every morning he wakes up with a thrilled heart."Indeed, today, what will the adventure be?" Since playing Royal Road, he has watched a lot of people. Yu Byeong-Joon saw that people could not help having been limited mainly to ranking in the top of Royal Road.

For a beginner, it is difficult even for those who enjoy light adventure. He had seen Weed's adventure from the very beginning. He saw him as narrow at first, as he explored dungeons and completed quests.

But suddenly he seemed to be watching him every day about his adventures. Of course it was not in a position to support the pure-hearted. 'Maybe I should saenggosaengeul today?’

When we see suffering it is just as enjoyable!

*****

The Hermes guild could not believe the recent raid.

"For what have we been here, really?"

They came to the village of elves to attack, but the success of Weed was already clear. Even with the extremely hostile elves, as well having users and soldiers die, all of these were all terrible outcomes that were for naught. Moreover Weed was touring the various kingdoms while leaving no trace!

While the inhabitants of the continent of Versailles praised Weed, they were able to gather the news. Rumors said that Ritten was a kingdom and they were to arrive at the same time as Weed. But as soon as we were told to attack weed we were wiped out by a Wizard of Ritten Kingdom.

And between absently circling, when we came close, a Wyvern flew into the sky and left.

"Wow! Long live Weed!"

"Please defeat the Hermes Guild."

Users and residents cheered by lifting their hands.

Weed is popular damn that guy! Users of the Hermes guild were forced to watch while hiding their identity.

"Now where else should we go?"

"Through the guild, we were asked to keep track of him, don't take the opportunity to look after.

He was moving fast, but if you keep trying the opportunity will come. In fact usually when leaving a kingdom there are people hunting, who would then chatter about the events in that kingdom.

There are constant hunting grounds for each level in the Kingdom. And the person you want to find usually can be found pretty quickly just by poking around and moving through the kingdom. But it's not just any one Kingdom in the area, but the whole continent keeps saying he was just there.

"Did you hear the news that came from the East? The Orcs seem to be very happy.

"Perhaps could it be Sculptor Weed?"

"The Orcs have a higher self-esteem about their past.

“I tend to disregard the stupid orcs but we have to admit there could be something going on there.”

"Would this not be thanks to the discovery of Weed?"

The Hermes guild raid was devastated.

"Shit. Next up is the Orc Land."

"When are we going to get there?"

Chapter 11: History of Orcs

Sakaksakak~

Weed confidently moved his carving knife.

‘I am somewhat familiar with the Orcs.’

It is really difficult to create a sculpture of something you’re unfamiliar with. And it’s also hard to find balance between these distinctive races since they reveal different personalities. But because of Weed’s adventures as Karichwi within the Orc tribes, he actually knows a lot more than anyone else.

‘Parachwi was an Orc known for being charismatic.’

T/L: [This is that ancient Orc I called Parachwi before]

Although he had little selfish and evil looking eyes, this was only just part of his appearance. Their past ways of living kept the 4 races alive in the Versailles Continent. They were tough creatures and took control of many frontiers. They would go past the cliffs and head towards the wilderness the monsters are. They will hold chest up high and would seem to have control with their freedom living as Orcs.

Parachwi held a glaive on each of his hands, roaring and was showing a great scene. Weed was making a sculpture at the Orc Stronghold Bursilia high above in a gateway.

“Chwiik!”

“Karichwi is making something, Chwichwit!

“Your talent seems to be good, Karichwi Chwichwichwi!

“Chwiichiig! Let’s go hunting Karichwi.”

The passing Orcs were giving a short look as they pass.

If it was another human sculptor, the pressure would have been very substantial. The Orcs were being recognized as barbaric and heinous creatures that’s why having a certain degree of fear will never allow you succeed this.

On the other hand, it was totally different in the case of Weed.

“Chwiis, don’t bother me. I need to completely boil it before taking out some, chwichik!”

“Chwi, chwiig, Karichwi that would be great.”

“Frightening, chwichwit!”

“When you get back from hunting, bring me something to eat, chwiik!”

“Oh, Roger. Chwichik!”

Weed was extorting the Orcs even from what they eat.

Karichwi’s face is rather different as it was already enough to scare other male Orcs. While the female Orcs, they were secretly looking at his face as they blushed. The brawny female Orcs will then throw dried horse meat to him then show their shyness and run away.

The Orc that surpasses the world’s most popular idol!

*****

The large sculpture of Parachwi was about 4 meters in height. Whether it was the Orc’s strength or their dignity, it would be recognizable even from afar.

The Hero of the Orcs was standing on Bursilia!

This sculpture of Weed looked like it was made using a sheer amount of force. But if you looked closely, you will see that it contains very fine details.

The sculpture’s eyes and chin were brown in color even though it was made of stone. Even the wrinkles on the neck was neatly reproduced. Its rough leather armor and crude iron boots gave the same feel as what those Dwarven Blacksmiths makes. The thickness and length of his round glaive along with its sharpness seems good for grinding. There was also a knife that goes well with Orc Parachwi, but it might have been of little use for him.

“This is good enough… chwiik!”

Please set a name for the sculpture.

“Name, chwiik. I’ve already decided. Orc Lord Parachwi.”

Is Orc Lord Parachwi correct?

At first, he did the sculpture because of the quest. But after learning the history of Parachwi, he wholeheartedly wanted to do this sculpture no matter what. Although in his heart, he still regrets having the lack of skills.

“The work of Karichwi, Chwiichwiit!”

“Keuuk! After this, I also want to be an excellent warrior Orc, Chwiichichwiik!

“So handsome, Chwiik, he looks like dependable.”

Seeing that the Orcs cheered as they looked towards the sculpture of Parachwi, Weed suddenly felt like his heart became lighter.

At least, the sculpture has captured the hearts of the Orcs.

“Orc Lord Parachwi, right. Chwichiik!”

Ting!

Magnum Opus! You’ve completed Orc Lord Parachwi

Hidden Heroes have played an important role in the long history of Versailles Continent. This is a sculpture of Orc Lord Parachwi that was brought into this world. The sculpture was created by a sculptor who is discovering the history of the continent by utilizing his full talent. It is an embellished and accurate depiction of Orc Lord Parachwi which gives the Orcs an endless sense of pride.

Artistic Value: 21,328.

An artwork based on the history of the Orcs.

Effects: Increases the Health and Strength of all Orcs by 4%.

Increases the Charisma and Leadership of all Orc Lords by 14%.

Increases fertility rate.

Reduces the phenomenon of Orcs weakening when fighting stronger monsters even with lower stats.

Increases the growth speed of young Orcs who sees Lord Parachwi by 20%.

Increased birth rate of Orcs Lords and Orc Warriors.

Increases the recovery rate of Orcs around the statue by 65%.

Number of Completed Magnum Opus: 11.

Sculpting Mastery has improved.

Handicraft Skill has improved.

Sculptural Understanding has increased by 1

Fame has increased by 2,178.

Art stat has increased by 49.

Charisma has increased by 22

Leadership has increased by 22

Stamina has increased by 25

All stats has increased by 3 for completing a Magnum Opus.

“Chwiiik!”

Weed felt good that he sniffed and was about to shed tears. His Orc Lord Parachwi sculpture was a successful Magnum Opus. And this time, his Sculpting Skill has also increased by 6.2%.

‘The reason has got to be the big size of Parachwi’s sculpture. Though, I also did well because it was easy to begin with.’

Everything that happened went well!

Bulchwi approached Weed.

“Good work. Chwiiik!. The Great Orc is holding some puny knife used for peeling leather, Chwiik. And I actually wondered if it was gonna be quite fantastic, chwik! Is this what Orc Parachwi looked like? Ch..Ch..Chwik.”

“That’s right. Chwikk!”

“It looks like it could even eat a hawk in one bite! Chwikk.”

“Chwikk. Easily.”

“I like this stone. Great Job. You really are Karichwi. Chhhhhk!”

Orc Lord Parachwi’s Sculpture completed

Through the appearance of Orc Lord Parachwi, the historical legitimacy, strength and courage of the Orcs is being shown.

The Orc’s eyes will now be open to art. Orcs who see this sculpture will understand the mysterious power of Culture.

You have finished the sculpture of Orc Lord Parachwi during the first Sculptor Master Quest.

This work will be registered as a treasure among Orcs.

Culture will be created in Orc cities and villages.

Due to the benefits of culture, Orcs will be able to enjoy and learn from seeing a work of art.

Friendship with the Orcs has reached the state of “Brothers”

Orcs will never stand still when crisis befalls their brothers.

The Orcs will celebrate the completion of the sculpture and will hold a festival within the entire tribe.

The festival will take place for 25 days having increased birth rate of 300% during this time period.

This news was like a blessing for all Orc users!

The Orcs were multiplying at a scary rate. By the end of the festival, there’s probably going to be a ton of Orcs for sure.

Users who chose the profession Warrior Orc usually handle the heavy jobs especially when they are in a hunting party. But also among users, some usually gather youth Orcs in the town when going hunting to give them the heavy burden jobs. Now that young Orcs are growing much faster due to the Orc sculpture, it will make the users really happy.

The Versailles Continent is a vast place and there’s still far too many frontiers. Except for the extremely northern parts, there are several places around Morata where a variety of monster hunting grounds exists.

If this culture reached out to the stronger Orcs on the east and south, then someday an organized Kingdom of the Orcs might be built.

‘Look at that fast power breeding of these Orcs, they may not take so long to finish.’

Up until now, great rewards have been reaped from the Sculpting Master Quest.

Weed waited for Bulchwi to return.

“Karichwi, I thought you were just a normal Orc chwichichis. But it seems otherwise. Chwichiig.”

“I was just a little bit on the superior side, chwichwichwi. Still, there’s no need for you guys to be so timid.”

“Thank you. I will give you a bunch of Orcs, about 250,000 of them chwichik!”

Weed absolutely did not want this compensation.

“Chwichichiik. There is no need so don’t bother.”

“Just take it, chwichwi chwiik! And when I saw the sculpture of Parachwi, I heard the young Orcs sing about a song I really didn’t really know about.

“What is the song, chwik!”

“I really had no idea about it until just recently, chwiik.”

Bulchwi bashed together the glaives in both of his hands which caused sparks to fly up as he sang.

Outside the cozy cavern, Clang!

It’s too hard and high to invade in, Clang!

With a blocked rock crevice, Clang!

I walk against the wind, Clang!

As the winter passed, Clang!

I moved through the petals, Clang!

Place where we live, Clang!

To obtain precious water, Clang!

You can sow the seeds, Clang!

You can sow the seeds, Clang!

But monsters are scary, Clang!

We will fight till the end, Clang!

In order for Orcs, Clang!

Orc don’t know how to walk towards enemy, Clang!

Blindly goes along, Clang!

His pronunciations were not only inaccurate but also, during the middle of the song, the Clang sound was where the important words were at. Each hit of the glaives was overflowing with excitement between its stones as it violently strikes down and gives a reminiscent look as that of a drummer.

Despite having a lot of difficulty on hearing the song, Weed still clapped even though Orcs were actually tone-deaf creatures.

“Great singing! chwiik!”

“Any Orc knows how, chwichwichik. Although I sing better, Chwiiig! But of course still not as good as you Karichwi.”

You have gathered the information about the four races who lived in the cave.

Bulchwi then continued.

“Karichwi, no matter what you do, chwiiig! We are always here for you. About the songs that the young ones are singing, chwiik. Could you go and find it out?”

Everyone knows about the song of the Orcs!

Ever since the users has been able to use the Orcs, the Orcs have been singing some songs. But the question is, whether these songs actually points to a quest or to a treasure. But, if you actually didn’t know the exact location of Ratzeburg, it was actually an absolutely useless song.

The Orcs were not leaving any writings for the future. And with their frequent battles, they could just thin out and die. Their only means of passing important information to influence their race was through singing.

Ting!

The Sanctuary of the Four Races

Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs lived together in a cave! The four races teamed up and were able to survive together.

Report on how they lived together inside the cave.

Difficulty: Sculptor Master Quest

Quest Limit: Sculpting Skill Advanced Level 8 or higher

“Chwiik. Of course, I’ll learn about it.”

You have accepted the quest.

*****

“Ugh.”

Lee Hyun’s hair was messy and his body ached badly. He was as tough as steel, but he’s recently going in between attending school and playing Royal Road so he accumulated a lot of fatigue.

“Maybe I should take a break for a day.”

He recently suffered a major event in the Rosenheim Kingdom and after that, he’s been stuck on doing continuous quests.

His head was particularly painful; searching for information about Ratzeburg these past few days seemed to have exhausted his mental power. The body important and must be conserved like a treasure. When he was young he didn’t know anything at all about how precious the body is as getting sick gets increasingly harder as one age.

“Young people need to stay healthy or else they would end up paying hospital bills.”

Hospital bills are more dreadful than a dragon!

It was Saturday. Lee Hyun jumped out of his blanket then started eating breakfast.

“Zzzzzzzz.”

Straight to sleep!

It did not even took 30 seconds for him to fall asleep again completely. The moderately humid room is full of hung up laundry and by placing pots with plants and herbs, would it bring the room a feeling of relaxation.

“Ah. I slept well, it’s already lunch.”

Lee Hyun got up for lunch and ate rice then right back into his cycle and went under his blankets.

“Zzzzz, Fuhyuhyu.”

He slept until evening then ate rice again.

“There are nights where I need to sleep soundly. Worrying too much about things can cause problems. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.”

He lied down and slept deeply as soon as the lights have been switched off. After sleeping the whole day, he was woken up by the chirping birds early in the morning.

Lee Hyun jumped up right out of bed.

His body felt lighter and fresh, he was even considering on going for a cold bath to clear his head.

“It has been a restorative sleep.”

This was the best medicine since it did not cost any money.

Now that he has his mind relaxed and have eaten, he was already in the mood to start a good day. He logged in into his computer to check the finances for the house. But then, he suddenly remembered a promise he made.

“Oh, is today the day to go hiking?”

The plan he made with Hyo Rin Jung to go hiking was today. [T/N: Hyo Rin Jung is Hwaryeong]

Lee Hyun suddenly forgot that he was looking towards their household budget schedule.

He needed to climb up early on a mountain in the morning since she needs someone to look out for her.

“Sigh~, I need to get ready.”

Lee Hyun immediately informed his sister to wash up and prepared a meal for her to eat later then wore T-shirt and pants.

Hyo Rin Jung was born to be a musical genius.

For Hyo Rin Jung not to be put in an embarrassing situation, even though Lee Hyun did not really want to go climbing, he just thought of it as an exercise and feeling fresh air. It would be healthier to wake up early on a regular basis for delivery than to hike occasionally. Lee Hyun was not really in the mood for hiking as he had delivered 500 newspapers and milk by running up and down steep hills on a snowy day in the middle of winter.

“I do want to know a little bit of the good view of the mountain, but I don’t really know where to go.”

Lee Hyun just waited while he was on his computer. Before selling equipments, he went and confirmed the market price first.

The transaction price for swords are steady right now while the price is dropping for the staffs. The price for mage equipment were originally expensive, so for it to sometimes decline should be normal.

Recently in the Hall of Fame, videos of independent adventurers were being more popular compared to the users that shows a guild war during the recent week.

While in the forums most of the time, people talks about three trending topics. It includes their boasts about the Hermes Guild, The Embinyu Church and other guilds. But right now, what dominated were the stories about Weed’s adventures and his quest.

Weed felt proud as the Orc Boards were full of praises for him. The female Orc users says that their ideal guy was Karichwi and should dependable while others say that day by day he was becoming more brutal.

‘It seems a lot of users are picking the Orc race now.’

Maybe it was somehow due to the inconveniences in the Yuroki Mountains and the city being not that developed that the users does not usually pick this race. But this is actually the appeal of the race itself since it allows things like raising your own young Orcs which allows other people to appreciate the Orcs more.

Owning a tribe of young Orcs, it will steadily grow and grow until it became thousands in numbers. Due to the nature of their species, they are being able to rapidly expand in an area. Some popular users actually include Orcs that have quite achieved a large amount of forces.

Kkokkiyo! Kkokkiyo!

[T/N: And yes this is a rooster crowing.]

He goes between the internet and boiling the sauce then waited for it to cool down. It was 6 am and the promised hiking is almost approaching. Lee Hyun made a pajeon and was only preparing a kimbap and makgeolli.

[T/N: Pajeon is a korean pancake with green onions as its main ingredient along with other ingredients.]

Kimbap is rice with various ingredients usually covered in seaweed like sushi.

Makgeolli is the korean wine made from either fermented wine or wheat.]

‘Then, I’m going to eat.’

As he was making a cheap lunch, he jumped over to look out of the window and Hyo Rin Jung’s car was parked in front of them. She got a show until dawn then came straight there. She was wearing a hat and sunglasses and actually fell asleep on the driver’s seat. Lee Hyun gently tapped her window and Hyo Rin Jung woke up then greeted him with a fresh voice.

“Good Morning.”

“Is that drool in your mouth…”

“Ah!”

And before the sun came up, they went right off into the mountains.

*****

The car was parked in a parking lot near the entrance of the mountain and Lee Hyun brought their lunch in his hand.

“Shall we?”

“Yes. I think this will be enjoyable because it has been a long time since I went hiking.”

The city was not that far from the mountains. But since they came early, it was very quiet in the parking lot. Hyo Rin Jung was in her hiking boots with his backpack along with her climbing gear and was perfectly ready.

“How’s school life?”

“I attend just not to drop out.”

“Just asking out of curiosity so please don’t misunderstood, are you planning on having several kids?”

“These days when raising a kid, you need to make money. It is a must to do.”

“Don’t you think it’s good for extended families to have harmonious relationship?”

“I’d rather cherish my family rather than cherish someone with a lot of money. Rice is already enough to feed someone so what you need in life is someone that you really love, am I right?”

“But, you still need money……”

They went up the trail as they had a 20-minute conversation of that kind. Hyo Rin Jung was hiking with the desire of being with Lee Hyun as long as possible which took around 4-5 hours.

“This is more like a test.”

Even though she had physical training like stage dancing, this sudden hike in the mountain still forced her down to the ground in the morning.

“All my makeup is already erased…..”

Hyo Rin Jung stopped and catches her breath.

As they climb up, her heart beating fast as her body temperature rises was evident enough that it’s already unreasonable to continue!

That’s why after a while of climbing they rested. Although she wanted to get going, the way she looked she might go down if forced to go on.

“Wait a minute, let’s get some rest”

After climbing for another 30 minutes, it was already hard for Hyo Rin Jung.

She relaxed on a stone near Lee Hyun as she waited for supplements then he said.

“Is it hard? Do you want to come down now?”

“Absolutely not! I’m saying we go up to the top. The fog at the top is floating so if it lifts up I will be frustrated since I want to feel it.”

Lee Hyun waited for Hyo Rin Jung who was sitting next him to get up and depart. But at some point, Hyo Rin Jung’s head gently leaned to his shoulder.

She lacked sleep because she prepared right after her concert and could just sleep for a little bit during dawn.

Lee Hyun sat there and felt the breeze as he listened to the sound of the birds. Hyo Rin Jung continued to lean on his shoulder as she slowly fell asleep then Lee Hyun tried to wake her up.

“Hmm, it’s cold to sleep in a place like this. You should take your medicine or else you’ll catch a cold.”

Lee Hyun took his sweater off and carefully wrapped it around the back of Hyo Rin Jung. She was so deep in sleep that even waking her up couldn’t even do anything.

“If that’s the case, I’d rather carry you on my back then.”

Lee Hyun pulled up the arms of Hyo Rin Jung.

“Now, where should we go?”

At once, he started to climb the mountain again.

“I remember when I used to deliver rice in high mountains like this.”

Back then, he had travelled 20 kilometers bringing 3 sacks of rice so Hyo Rin Jung was rather light. Carrying a girl up a mountain is not easy, only because he did had a lot physical training could he easily do this.

He could go and carry her without even resting.

Drops of sweat came from his forehead along as it was drenched along with his t-shirt because of the sweat and fog. It was really hard to move without giving her discomfort.

“Today I don’t have any need to go out, my whole day will be solely on Royal Road.”

Lee Hyun piggybacked Hyo Rin Jung and strongly believed in his body due to his past experiences of carrying heavy sacks of rice.

Hyo Rin Jung was having a dream.

Whenever she is having her hard times, there would be a man that would back him up. Although poor at academics, he was caring and warm like a family man! Although he has an eccentric personality, he’s still funny and trustworthy. This was her dream marriage life.

“A guy who does the laundry, wash the dishes, cleans the house and earns money.

Then have kids and share hardships as they grow up.”

Hyo Rin Jung’s dream family was perfect in everyway. On the television are apartment commercials, refrigerator ads, and washing machine ads. All of it put together has a sweet dream-like atmosphere.

Hyo Rin Jung then wakes up from her dreamland and slowly opens her eyes. A snapback to reality, she was on Lee Hyun’s back going up the mountain.

‘Oh… he’s giving me a piggyback ride.’

Hyo Rin Jung tried to ask why but then thought it would be difficult for Lee Hyun and might surprise him if she did. Secretly deep down she felt warmth from Lee Hyun. She did not feel that the scent of a man drenched in sweat was disgusting or dirty.

“I want to get up to the top, could you do that as a favor to me?”

Hyo Rin Jung was getting all warm inside to the point that she can’t even imagine.

The warmth was indescribable.

His breathing was getting heavy and his whole body started to sweat while silently climbing up the mountain!

“I don’t really know what you’re going to see at the top of the mountain. But as soon as we’re up there, we will eat kimbap and afterwards go back down.”

He would have never imagined what she was thinking.

Hyo Rin Jung buried her face onto Lee Hyun.

‘I am glad we came to the mountains, today seems like it will contain many happy memories.’

And Lee Hyun…

“Heavy, heavy…….”

*****

Weed connected back to the place that what was Ratzeburg. Based on the songs of the Orcs, the sanctuary of the four races was located in a cave.

“I have to look for places with mountains or mountain ranges in the surroundings.”

Beyond the Great Plains of Ilsu was a steep and mountainous terrain.

“Going against the wind, so it must have windy parts. Walking with the blooming flowers, though it might be spring at that time. There are lot of areas with blooming flowers….”

Weed who was in Ratzeburg decided to go towards the most probable place with the same topography, towards the east.

He could’ve just took the Wyverns and went to the possible mountains. But, they might pass something and go beyond it so he chose to just directly walk until the end. Also walking allows you to see more, think more and also experience many things.

Vanessa Gardens

Because of the Butterfly Festival, there would be lot more people in this place. The flourishing flowers were all in full bloom, that’s why Weed was so careful not to step on them.

“Let’s not destroy nature.”

He slowly walked on the ground as flowers that swayed by the wind could be seen.

“Beautiful.”

A lot of people who were attending was endangering the flowers on the roadside.

Some of the flowers which took the Lord trouble of putting them in the roadside were already dying.

For having a good treatment with the environment your Flower Arrangement skill mastery increased

Affinity to Nature has increased by 1.

A smile flashed from the Weed’s face.

“Well, not really expecting something like this… But, this is also not quite bad!”

Even though he could not pull out flowers because of Affinity to Nature, he could still make a landscape map of the area and sell it to Florists.

He continued to walk on the garden and found a place where rubble was piled up. It was strangely old and was the type of thing that you would pass by without regard. But Weed still wanted to go closer the rubble just in case.

At that moment….

Ting!

You have found the historical place of Petra Walls

Your Reputation has increased by 230

Your Intelligence has increased by 3.

You can now build Petra Walls on your governing cities.

Petra Walls reduces the morale of the of monsters with low construction costs.

A vision appeared in front of Weed.

Dwarves were splitting through big rocks. They were cutting the rocks to an appropriate size and let the Orcs build. The rocks then became a barrier to prevent monsters invade the Great Plains of Ilsu

“If it was back then, I would have not come here.”

Weed stood near the rubble as users nearby frequently passed by. The users went to the hunting grounds and stepped into the rubble then just went away, Weed prayed right after. But someone like Weed, discovering something or having special experience was not what he was looking for. He was considering on joining the festival but then what Weed only really wanted was historical knowledge about Ratzeburg.

‘I have to know the equipments that they used to know their topography’

Weed goes around and find what he could on the Ruins of the Great Plains of Ilsu.

What he got was not very significant. He got weapons of Orcs stored in their storehouse along with seeds that belonging to the Elves found on a hill made of stone. Because it had been too long since Ratzeburg had existed, what he found was only broken pieces of pottery along with some metal debris. He also then fished on the Tinius River.

Fishing in Ratzeburg

This was the location that the humans used to catch fish.

When there’s no meat around, Dwarves also often come here.

Your Fishing Skill proficiency has increased.

Using this fishing spot to fish would increase the probability of catching fish by 37%.

After these minor discoveries, Weed gradually walked towards the east.

After a long time of searching, he arrived in a mountainous area. With his level, Weed does not need to worry about surviving from the beasts residing there. Beginners who starts in Boronis also sometimes come here. It’s rough terrain was by far still normal and also almost desolate.

“It seems to be around this area.”

He arrived to a place with blooming flowers after walking down a path in the mountains of Ratzeburg.

“It is very high and indeed difficult to break in. I’m going to have to do a search in the higher part of the mountains.”

Through inspecting several mountain peaks, it alone would reduce the area to be searched.

“Wy-Three!”

Weed rode the his wyvern while looking on the mountains.

“I’m exposed too much; monsters on the high mountains would quickly discover me. The four races must’ve chosen a place that would keep them away from unwelcome forces.”

He went and looked at these peaks.

“The terrain must be very steep. If you rolled in this cliff you will die.”

The place has a normal amount of trees while the closest place to this valley also seems to be good. In this quest, Weed gathered a lot of knowledge regarding its location from the store houses.

“This is too narrow. Even though it is a large cave it will be too hard to…. pass through!”

A cozy sanctuary yet hidden!

A lot of trees grew up here while large and small rocks were located down below. A lot of beasts do not dare to come here but that might be also because there are other monsters that were hanging near the gorge.

Weed walked around and checked the rocks.

He was also pushing larger rocks and look for hidden spaces that might not have been explored yet. There were a lot of pieces of unusual rocks on this peak. But sadly, there was only one rock that was useful for a sculptor. Even if a sculptor was lacking strength, he could just use a good trick in this rock and just chip it away and break it down. Many of the materials used was here, although he just find it a little strange.

“There are some signs here, looks like hit marks…”

Some scratches were found around the rocks!

“Identify!”

You could see hit marks of Orcs.

“It’s nearby.”

Weed looked around with keen eyes.

A suspicious area where large trees are conveniently located. The trees are very tall, and there are many stones and rocks below.

‘I never thought it would be located here from the beginning’

Weed started from above and cleared the stones one by one.

Tuda dadak!

A squirrel jumped out from a hiding place and startled Weed.

Weed pulled out a stone that seemed to look like it was artificially placed among other stones of proportional size.

“This has been worked on.”

With all of the stones removed, there was an entrance to a hole that was big enough to accommodate two or three people.

Chapter 1: Sculptures Made From Earth

“Could this place really have something? I have not seen anyone enter this huge place at all.”

Weed saw a glowing light inside the cave and picked up a magical stone.

Inside the cave, Weed held a magical stone which releases light. Although he could use a torch to light up the cave, but if this place really was the one, the heat from fire could possibly damage the ruins.

Weed walked inside the cave.

Ting!

You have found Montvertruria, the sanctuary of the Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Orcs!

You have arrived at the cave where different races together had lived and overcome challenges before they scattered around the Versailles Continent. The origin of this place, was said to be the remain of a blessing from the gods.

Benefits: | Fame has increased by 12,000.
You have received the ‘Adventurer Who Explored the History of the Continent’ title.

You can report about this discovery. Nobles and knights can’t afford to hide this great discovery, you must directly report to the King.

| – Due to your successful adventure, all stats have increased by 7.
| – Courage has increased by 12
| – Due to this historical discovery, Intelligence has increased by 9

Finally, the cave in which the four races lived has been found. His Sculptor Master Quest to find Montvertruria after Ratzeburg has led to a successful discovery!

“Kehehehe, I have come to the right place!”

Using the magical stone, he found his way in the dark and found out that the interior was pretty broad and forked off to a six-branch path.

“I’m going through all of it. Not going to every path would be ridiculous.”

His Sculpture Master Quest is right on track so far and he was also excited on finding something about the history of the races. It was better than expected.

Weed’s imagination unfolded as he thought that it was like buying a winning lottery ticket then his life suddenly changes like the people who he cares about.

‘The first cave contained gold ingots while the second one gave out ancient diamonds and lots of rubies; rubies have increased in value lately. The third cave contained different weapons and minerals. The fourth one gave out silver ingots. Well, it would’ve been great if the silver was not tarnished. And now the fifth cave…’

Even one antique vase would already have a tremendous value itself.

“I did not know I would be selling antiques for money. Life is blind once a lot of money has been coming in. Kehehehe.”

Weed’s heart palpitated and trembled.

“The Sculptural Master Quest has never been this good. Going here first, even beggars could get rich on robbing this place.”

The oldest place on the continent, naturally he is going to sweep everything and leave nothing behind since you won’t really find anything here except for best treasures.

Weed saved the largest one among the forked paths for the last. If one relied on his instincts rather than greed, this would naturally be the better choice.

“I think that in there, it will just give me gold. But anything is also fine.”

Jewelry, gold, silver, antiques and ornaments! Any of those, unless there are also other valuable goods.

Clink Clink!

However, there was only a little that remained in that cave and only one broken steel weapon was left on the ground. The greedy Orcs took everything when they migrated from Ratzeburg. It was as if a moving company was called and left it desolate!

Weed was not yet done. He looked at the whole cave and tried to find a secret passage that might also contain goods.

“This must not have seen yet by anyone. Or else I would have not even gotten any chopsticks nor rice bowls.”

Hope has slightly decreased.

***

They were eating meat from Vargo Fortress when Geomchi1 decided that their group needed to be stronger!

In the Yuroki Mountains, Seechwi and Geomchi2 were having a date as figures of drunk people hastily arrived. The Geomchis, all of them have gathered including idiots starting from Geomchi2 to Geomchi5.

Geomchi1 said.

“Let’s kill all the monsters in this region.”

“Yes master, let us prepare then.”

Geomchi2, who was a teacher about tactics and combat readiness of the Orcs in Yuroki Mountains realized how important it is.

Based on experience, these dojang instructors of the Orcs could barely take a hit.

Geomchi1 shook his head.

“You guys could just barely fight monsters and we need to do something about it. Let’s go.”

“The Master’s words are right. We are in the wrong.”

The Geomchi instructors and practitioners went to the gate of the fortress and headed to a dungeon. Without a plan, they headed forward with only rough terrain on their way.

They always fight this way since it included high risks which was the only way to win big.

Martial Arts was a profession where you must overcome your limitations. You must have the courage to jump down from a cliff in order to get stronger.

“There is a dangerous place nearby. You will notice Barbarians when you enter while there’s also a lot of monsters that will come.“

“Then let’s go!”

Even though the Barbarians were just outside the Hairen Nest, they still did not risk going in.

But, Geomchi1 led his disciples and went in without hesitation.

“Kill all of them!”

They only chose monsters which looked strong when they were fighting.

During their beginner days, a lot of them died because they lacked barley bread.

“Why are you leaving yourself in a good shape when your mind is having hardships.”

“Do as the Master says!”

When one’s mind is poor, the body also suffers. Conversely, if the body is weak, the mind will also suffer.

He pleasingly smiled as he watched the monster legion since ignorance can always be attributed to bravery.
.
“Hehe, these guys are fast and strong.”

“Refurbish your skills. Sword-cloning Skill!”

“Concentrate your attacks!”

The Geomchi practitioners struggled and fought from their respective positions.

However, monsters still continued to emerge and jump out of Hairen Nest.

In the surrounding areas, hunting did not occur that much. That’s why the monsters there have been breeding for a long time now. It’s also why such an uproar have arisen as they flock like a swarm of bees.

The monsters that attack the fort in order to obtain food were the small and weak ones of the herd. And because of that, the level of monsters that they were currently hunting has already entered a whole other level of monstrosity.

The Geomchi practitioners then realized that they haven’t really met a lot of crisis that often.

Eventually, the practitioners died one after another. The seniors risked themselves in saving each other; at least they still have their spirit even if they lost the battle. Even though they have the Sword Cloning skill, it was still very difficult to deal with the monsters. Since with their low mana, they could only use this skill a few times.

“Well, I guess that we need to invest a little more stats on Knowledge and Wisdom in order to increase our mana.”

Every time the practitioners level, they were putting only one point on Wisdom.

They underestimated their skills even though it would actually help them to lead a fight and also be helpful for their body.

Geomchi5 shouted that the scouts that went out before already came back.

“Master, monsters are coming!”

“Really? Then let’s go and find a good place to defend.”

The Geomchi practitioners from Vargo Fortress ran away towards the surrounding ridge and hid under it. The group of hungry monsters who just came back from the outside had flocked towards the instructors.

“Eat humans!”

“They are fools to have come out of their city. Also, their weapons are mine!”

The monsters dripped with their drool as the black land surrounding them was covered by it.

The Geomchi practitioners felt a surge of tension and excitement.

“I never thought we would be able to fight up wholeheartedly. Monsters who fight up to this extent should be tasted.”

Even though the Geomchis already sustained some injuries, they still went in and fight.

“Keh! Human, die!”

“Get the skin off the snake and it could be eaten!”

Monsters shoot poisoned arrows and even used magic.

Suddenly, people suddenly emerged from the ridge around them and out came a surprise.

It was the Geomchi practitioners that were located on the surrounding ridges. It looked like a war as the fighting broke out.

“Seniors, go ahead already.”

“We’re coming!”

And again, the practitioners died one after another.

This time, there were a total of 143 who died. With the current strength of the Geomchis, they sustained enormous damage. After the battle ended, the surrounding corpses and loot that piled up could already fill the surrounding mountains.

“Master, should we pick the items on the ground?”

“Just bring those which looks sellable.”

“Yes!”

The merchants who would hear this conversation would be shocked.

Usually, the Geomchis only takes swords and weapons that look good and the rest of it will just be
left because it’s tiresome to bring it.

“And also, look for rings and necklaces. Be sure that I will get the one with the most Knowledge and mana.”

“We need it so that at least we could use our skills at least once. We need to become strong now so pick up all the equipment around.”

Geomchi1 was a man who ignored rings, necklaces and other accessories that he wore until now. There were even rare jewelry items among the things that he abandoned since it did not get his interest. The collected value of them was actually already enough to buy a collection of luxury villas in Morata.

“Master, I have seen Barbarians around a dungeon entrance .”

“The let’s not just watch and go find it.”

“Yes!”

The practitioners split up and found the Barbarians along with the dungeon entrance based on the description.

“Let’s consider it first.”

“Let’s go in!”

You have discovered a Dungeon, Favlo Mountain Den.

This is the borders of Barbaric Kana Tribe.

This monster den is very important to the monsters. Stories says that this place contains hidden treasures of the monsters, but someone has yet to enter and discover it.

If you conquer this dungeon, you will receive honor from the Barbaric Kana Tribe.

Reward: | Fame has increased by 1980.

Double experience and item drops for one week.

The first monster to be killed will drop out the best item.

The level of monsters in this den must be very high, they might not even have average level monsters.

“Let me see your battles. Inside is the lair of the monsters so until you beat them, meat is prohibited.”

“Yes, Master!”

Geomchi1, Geomchi2, and Geomchi3 explored the interior of the den and led half of the practitioners into battle.

Geomchi4 and Geomchi 5 along with the rest fought with the monsters who were coming to the entrance of the den.

From childhood, even though their school did not feed them rice, they are still full with over three meals a day. Even though their test scores were bad, they still eat well and receive warm praises from their parents. That’s what the practitioners have to remember!

And whenever they are dungeon hunting not only did they not eat meat, they were also not eating rice. Even though it is difficult, they still overcome the battles.

“I will take the lead.”

“Master, we’ll follow right behind you.”

Geomchi1 along with Geomchi2 and the practitioners, head straight and fought all the monsters that emerged.

The levels of the practitioners were not very similar; and in particular, there were low level people. However, the instructors and seniors watched each others back and perfectly cleaned up the dungeon with only 47 deaths.

“Well, a lot died.”

“I’m sorry, Master!”

If you compare it to the difficulty of the dungeon, what they got was actually just a minor damage. They fought without a priest and just used bandages to cover their wounds and they still performed an incredible performance.

Ting!

You have cleared Favlo Mountain Den.
You will be respected as a true warrior by the Barbarians of the Kana Tribe.
| – Fame has increased by 2.
| – Charisma has increased by 1

The practitioners did not insist on using swords during hunting. Basically, using swords was an excellent idea, but Martial Arts with the Weapons Master skill made it possible to use all kinds of weapons.

If you have a long range opponent they could use bow and arrows to attack while if the opponent is tough and has a high defense then they could use axe as a weapon. This way, you could take advantage of the weapons whenever they are needed. That was their huge advantage.

The Geomchi practitioners could change their equipment to become different types of combat professions so that they can do a precise hunting when fighting Bosses.

“Is it already the end?”

“Yes! The treasures have also been taken already. It turns out that these monsters have quite a lot of weapons and coins that piled up from the fortress of the Niflheim Empire.”

“Among the equipment, is there anything I can use?”

“They are all very old stuff… Just a bunch of armors. But it looks like it could be fixed.”

“Let’s just show this to Weed later on. Now to eat rice, let’s go to the next dungeon. There must be at least one strong one there.”

“Yes, Master.”

The Geomchi instructors and the practitioners just ate barley bread to fill their stomach. They went to a nearby dungeon without even going back and repair their equipment at Vargo Fortress.

And again, 39 became victims of the place after cleaning up the dungeon.

“There are really a lot of good monsters and dungeons around this area.”

“It seems like they are for us, Master.”

“Also, where is the nearest dungeon in the vicinity?”

“According to the words of the barbarians it is located straight ahead.”

“If it’s close then let’s go so that we could eat rice.”

The Geomchis entered into a nearby dungeon again. This was the third dungeon they have entered and also the hardest one yet.

In this place, 53 people died while 130 people were wounded and it would be difficult for them to battle for the next 2 days unless treated by divine magic.

“Send the injured kids to Vargo Fortress, we are going to the next dungeon.”

“Yes, Master.”

Geomchi wanted them to grow stronger that’s why he decided they continued on.

Their levels also exceeded 300 because as their comrades die, it also increases their XP.

Many of the victims were practitioners so they have to cooperate more

So far, the monsters that they were fighting was far stronger than the average monsters. And currently, there seemed to be a growing tension and seriousness on the fight.

Even if arrows suddenly show up and hit the seniors, they would still have a lot of health left.

“The 350 of you, retreat to the sides!”

One of them was injured badly on the ground and one senior still helped him as they were attacked from everywhere! The teachers and practitioners stepped in and used their skills in battle. They should become more cautious when they are hunting inside the borders of the monster den; but instead, they still fought riskily and hastily.

When they see a weak point on the monsters, even though no one is saying anything, they would unite and focus their attacks until they break through. Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4 and Geomchi5 with the teachers, other geomchis and the older practitioners cooperated their attacks and broke through like they sharp fangs.

With years of sufferings with each other, they could just exchange glances and they will never lack anything in battle.

“Geomchi2, Is it hard?”

“No, Master. It’s actually quite fun. Let’s go to the next dungeon.”

“Let’s go!”

Geomchi1 was then followed by the instructors and practitioners as the mood changed. They got
excited as their enthusiastic selves remembered the fights that they’ve fought.

This was the Geomchi way.

In Royal Road, when monsters die,they don’t really die. In reality however, people die and knowing it will help them to move one step forward.

Inch by inch and step by step, they tediously hunted and collected EXP to build up their proficiency on their skills. They also trained masochistically but, they practiced like this in order to become stronger.

Despite of having an impossible battle, they still adapted to the situation very well. And their crazy hunting speed was already enough to give goosebumps! Even though they have injured legs and there are monsters at a distance, they still tried to fight.

The Geomchi practitioners have then already used up all their strength and raised their levels.

***

Weed was currently at the entrance of the forked path and just came out from the fifth cave.

Even though there was only one place that contained gold and silver, the other rewards made him smile that it was already enough to reach the heavens.

Weed then ran into another cave as soon as possible.

The entrance to the cave was a little smaller this time so he guessed that the ones who lived here are no other than the Dwarves.

“If it is the Dwarves, what they have will probably be something expensive. I only expect the best from these races.”

Although the entrance to the cave was quite narrow, the space that it was connected to was significantly larger. Inside was dug up places and stone pillars etc. The foundation for the whole cave was also inside.

It was the first city in the continent that the Dwarves created and in there, was a miniature version Ratzeburg.

As a sculptor and a person who owns a city and a castle, having sufficient artistic and archeological knowledge by observing the shape of the city was enough for him to build buildings and areas from the ancient times.

Buildings from the ancient times require a shorter construction period at a low cost. With its high historical value as well as its cultural aspect, even if one’s city development is low, this will help raise it.

Rather than creating a new building, he could restore the shape of a building that once existed and its properties should also be granted.

You can now build Special Ancient Buildings.
Art, Knowledge, and Luck has increased by 13

The Dwarves would stand and look at this miniature version of the city of Ratzeburg that was made. The Humans, Dwarves, Elves and Orcs lived in harmony because the model showed that they used a variety of different buildings and structures.

Maroon Colored Street

The paved stones in the city will make it easy to move.

Helps horses and people move quickly.

Special Properties:
| Historical Value: 3580
| Artistic Value: 498
This helps promote commercial development.

Orcish Bathtub

Sometimes after going to battle, the disgusting Orcs go home early and use this while dressed.

It is even wide enough to drag it down to the river for a swim.

It ‘was’ great pride for the Orcs to finish having their baths and looking respectable.

You might die if use this with low health.

Special Properties:
| Historical Value: 1935
| Artistic Value: 179
| After bathing, your physical recovery rate will increase by 45%
| Orcs increases their Charm by 3.

The Ancient Amphitheatre

This was made so that the races could discuss the threats surrounding them. But soon, it turned to a place where the Orcs and Dwarves boast their strength. While the humans create musicals as the Elves showed their proudest Elemental Magic.

Special Properties:
| Historical Value: 7410
| Artistic Value: 2930

This will cause a significant impact on culture and local politics.
Increases the loyalty of the people.

The Great Trees Square

This place symbolizes the unity and prosperity of the four races.

This is a square with fruit bearing Kota trees at the middle.

A lot of Orcs, Humans, Dwarves and Elf mothers spent time to care for the children. When a mother is raising a kid, they need to give them meals. They very much do anything from selling their unnecessary stuff to helping on hunting and construction.

The most enjoyable sight that happens here is when husbands get in trouble and their wife scolds them that tree.

Special Properties:
| Historical Value: 9340
| Artistic Value: 689

The Kota tree is needed for construction.
This showed a very large impact on the formation of the earliest commercial cities.
Helps in stabilizing peace and order and reduce conflict.

What Weed wanted was that yellowish gold.

But instead, what he acquired was knowledge about a lot of buildings and structures in Ratzeburg. The ancient city buildings had low cost. Whether it was culture or technology there were no limits overall. So rather than creating new forms of architecture, the buildings were just restored and in addition, will also have historical value.

Weed then recalled the content he has seen in the information boards post in the past.

“Historical Value of a city….. They found a lot of ruins of a city called Antika.”

Ratzeburg is already beyond comparison to the human city of Antika which was built far off to the future. Having historical value on a city brings tourists from all over the continent. Depending on its commercial development, the cultural growth will also be faster.

“Anyways, where is that hidden gold?”

Weed looked all around the cave of the Dwarves and it looks like there’s nothing to grab there. Except for the miniature scale of Ratzeburg, there are only vague traces where a furnace was installed.

“I’m pretty sure there’s no treasure here. No! It’s too early to conclude it. There must be something that I missed, they might have left a map or something.”

Weed used his hand to touch and observe the walls and ceilings. He also looked at the material the stones were made of. Perhaps because he was blinded by jewelry that he did not abandon his expectations until the end.

He held on and just grabbed onto his will to not give up!

“I’m sure. Clearly, there’s no way that this place will have no remaining items anymore.”

Weed walked away from the model of Ratzeburg. He took a stick and walked as he poked the ground.

We do not know if someday there will be another sculptor that would come and discover this cave. How depressing would it be if he would hear a rumor that something else was discovered here that Weed missed. It was more terrifying than having chicken and pizza past its expiration date along with undercooked pork belly then riding a public transportation with a sick stomach.

Tung Tung~

At that time, something rang on the ground.

“What’s in here.”

Weed carefully dug the ground and looked. He found 12 kegs that were sealed.

“Identify!”

Aromatic Dwarven Keg
Durability: 4/25

This drink is made by brewing different fruits and grain. Back then, it was forbidden for the races make liquor and the Dwarves sneakily brewed and drink some.

The barrels were made of elven wood that’s why over time, its deep flavor permeated into it.

But since too great of a time have passed already, the question was whether the alcohol actually tastes delicious.

“It’s alcohol. But I don’t really know if I want to drink that.”

For Weed, everything that’s free is quite a good thing. But that was really just as much as rotting already.

Even if he sold it to others and they accidentally died, he could just deny the facts and eat their insults. What only prevented him from doing it was having a lot of people being ripped off, tarnishing his reputation.

“I’m just going to see the seniors and give this to them.”

The Geomchis would not possibly regret it, even if they died due to drinking.

There were several caves where the Dwarves stayed, but he only found some pieces of broken bowls in addition to the barrels. Other than that, his other discoveries weren’t really that important.

“If anything else, these barrels… are gonna be worth the same as great antiques.”

With this, Weed’s face finally brightened up a little.

The barrels was made from Elven wood so he could assume of its archaeological value. While the material of the barrel is good, the materials used on the alcohol was fresh so it’s also expected to be good.

Weed having a lot of background in alcohol making learned the recipe which corrected some of his assumptions about alcohol making and increased his cooking skill level.

This ancient treasure that the Dwarves made, could help him reap huge profits using the recipe. It could also allow his cooking skills to level up and gain more popularity.

“The alcohol, I would’ve immersed it a lot if it was me.”

Weed had collected fruit while he was hunting on certain regions. He had a lot of experience on manufacturing alcohol because he was using those fermented drinks to sell or give them to the Geomichis.

Especially when there is a need to increase the amount of alcohol, a suitable ratio of water is needed to dilute it perfectly. In the Versailles Continent, no one was able to best him in this.

Chapter 2: A Ceramist

Weed entered the cave of the Elves.

The cave was warm as if it was outside and not deep underground. There was clear running water inside the cave along with an abundance of trees and flowers.

You have enjoyed the garden of Elves that was created at Montvertruria.

It was a garden that the Elves planted and grew!

It was an important source of nutrients for the races when they hadn’t caught anything and food were insufficient. Even though the Elves have departed and many long eons have passed, this garden has grown and endured on its own with the blessings of the spirits and nourishment from the earth.

– Due to the adventure, all stats has increased by 6.

– Luck has increased by 7.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 3%.

Weed lifted the vines that were draping through the trees and stumbled across a pond in the center.

The plants that grew in the pond looked like emeralds. It was filled with lush and overgrown trees and flowers which makes an atmosphere that makes him feel desolate. They were growing high enough to reach the ceiling. Although there was no one to watch it, the flowers had already budded and started to bloom. With no one to eat them, the tasty fruits had just fallen to waste on the ground.

“How unfortunate that these would just be thrown out like this”

Because he had brought 70 leather bags with the expectation that he would perhaps obtain some items, there was plenty of space remaining to store them. Weed gathered various seeds and nuts then classified them by flowers and trees, and then put them into the bags.

If there was anything there at all, he packed it up without exception.

“If I were to plant these in Morata, nothing bad would probably come.”

Weed was excitedly collecting the seeds and putting them into his bag when the flowers and trees suddenly shook gently.

Furthermore, they gave off a strong and mysterious scent.

Ttrring!

We welcome visitors to the flowers and trees.

These long-lived plants seek fresh air, water, and sunlight.

If planted safely, and the trees and flowers are unharmed when the tree grows you will be able to receive a reward.

He was going to take them either way, but to think that he ’ll also receive a reward!

Weed took an axe from his backpack

“I don’t know whether to use this to make a table, chair, or something else.”

It would have been fine to just cut up the bottom trunk of the tree and bring it. But he still dug up the ground with the flowers and also the tree roots including its soil and put it in a bag.

The value of Elven wood whether as a building or as a material is very high. It was ultimately the best material when dried under the sun. If the tree does not die and is planted on a fertile soil, then it shall grow into a very big tree.

Although the garden of the Elves had different kinds of flowers and trees, many of them were common except for 7 seeds.

“Identify!”

Brond Tree Seed
Durability: 1/1

The favorite fragrant wood of the elves.
Once grown to 2m in height the tree will bear sweet fruits, and the leaves can be used as medicine. It has a very clear spirit and so it grows well in unpolluted lands.

Snowflake Flower Seeds
Durability: 1/1

It can’t be easily picked up since they are very small seeds!
It grows easily in shallow soil so it’s recommended to instill to the ground. It’s blooming flowers look like a snowflake and the seedlings spread relatively fast.

Jackal Tree Branch
Durability: 22/22

A steel-like solid wood.
It has an excellent growth rate.
It blooms only during the spring and does not bear fruit.

Pyrud Tree
Durability: 10/10

A hollowed tree.
Usually used as habitats for small animals.
If a dense forest is created using this, it will increase the fertility rate of wild animals.

Creating a flower garden and forest and putting them around Morata and Vargo Fortress was not a bad idea.

“Seems like a lot of tourist attractions are going to be put on this year. Since I only have my sculptures there, it’s a little empty. I also need to create a place for couples to go out without spending a lot of money.”

With Morata and Vargo Fortress, his future plan of ripping off couples would have a lot of places to exploit!

The old people like forests especially mountains and valleys. Those rough and rugged mountains on Vargo Fortress would most likely be one of the top tourist destinations with that outlook.

Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter; tourists could fully enjoy the landscape with the changing environments. Especially now, since continuous renovations were being made to Vargo Fortress, it could now accommodate tourists with excellent and alternative buildings.

But there was also a slight problem that bothered Weed. And that was that outside the gates, it would be too dangerous. When the beginners go out for a walk, they couldn’t have imagined that they would meet a monster and have no time to escape then die. It was truly a dangerous attraction.

“I guess this is enough for now.”

Weed packed a few more items into the bag which included seeds, trees and also fruits.

Because there were so many items he had filled 45 bags with the items from the current cave.

“The caves are not yet fully explored. There’s also still the humans’ place, got to fill these bags from the place I’m going to next.”

Weed went into the next cave.

Inside the cave where the humans have lived, he found that there were a large number of paintings there. He found inexperienced workmanship of past humans and also found traces of art that was just created for the first time.

Dwarves could have made better quality arts due to their high dexterity, but the dwarves instead made practical and durable items such as equipment and weapons because the dwarves valued such practical and strong ones since it was necessary, and so it was the humans who made the first artistry on flowers.

They even had clay figurines, bowls that were made from baked clay, and even sculptures that represented Gods. There were even images that were painted on the ceilings and walls.

You have seen the statue of the Goddess of Land Minne.

You have received the blessings given by the statue.

Your affinity to nature has increased.

You have seen the statue of God of War Ahtrok.

Combat Mastery has increased by 3.7%

Strength has increased by 3

You have seen the statue of Goddess of Cooking Hestia.

The fire when you are cooking will adjust on its own for 30 days.

You have seen the statue of Goddess of Abundance Freya.

Art, Charisma, and Luck has increased by 9

It was the oldest remains of the Versailles Continent. It was also the beginning of sculptures and artworks being born in this priceless place.

“There were over a 100 sculptures here. But, the paintings were painted on the wall… Too bad the paintings already went through time and its color already changed and even has cracks.”

Weed admired the old sculptures which were not even recorded on history books. There were sculptures of 32 Gods and 11 Goddesses which had a very smooth and aesthetic appearance that was much better than what Weed could have made.

The Statue of Freya had excessively large breasts while her sides and thighs were not the usual sizes. Each of their standards for beauty was different during that time frame. Because the orcs liked fat and large bodies, there were some statues and sculptures that were fatter and wider than normal.

Between the circle of Gods, there was no difference between the great religious statues since they all had historical values. There were also some significant things to this. When a priest has been found at certain conditions, one could revive its religion.

“I guess even I won’t be able to take or sell these unique items”

Weed, no matter what his strength or stats were, could never have been able to take on such a terrible curse to that extent so he just viewed the items.

Most of the sculptures were a replication of their own appearance rather than having various themes. The sculptures expressed scenes of hunting or cooking around a bonfire.

Most of them were made by baking clay.

It may be because in the past, the technology of carving stones was not as developed as it is now.

“These types of sculptures doesn’t seem bad as well”.

Weed did not prefer baking clay when sculpting.

Clay is to be avoided when sculpting very large sculptures. If a hard stone was used for sculpting, a chisel could be used for various exquisite expressions and it is also easier to adjust the sizing accordingly. The stone is also favored in a way where it is less likely to be damaged after finishing it.

The larger the clay sculpture is, the more likely it is to have cracks or end up crumbling due to its weight. However, clay is a wonderful material in that regard because it is made by a sculptor’s hands.

In other words, the clay sculptures were done with feelings.

***

A historical day to the Versailles Continent.

The Hermes guild completely swallowed and picked up the Kallamore kingdom.

The Kallamore Kingdom ceased to exist.

The King has died.

The honor and respect of the nobility and aristocrats will be lost.

The Kingdom Knights affiliation disappeared and received new identities as free knights.

They will not be able to swear loyalty for 5 months to other nobilities.

The citizens still remain loyal to the King and Kallamore Royal Family.

The wickedness that the invaders of Haven Kingdom displayed shows that they might undergo severe hardships in the future.

The Security has decreased by 96.

The Productivity has decreased by 87%

The Culture has decreased down by 79%

Commercial activity has shrunk severely.

Monsters are rampaging in every direction.

Fall of the Kallamore Kingdom!

The broadcasting stations and most of Royal Road users leaned to the side of the Hermes Guild.

Because people would have a better impression from the Hermes Guild which gained even more power and territory. Users who are not within the Hermes Guild circle of influence will not be able to be symbolized as a power. In addition, the guild brings many significant benefits, for example, private hunting grounds, weapons and armor, and even support for magic books.

Following the might of Haven Kingdom, there will be a possibility of them raising taxes in order to raise a more powerful military force. But the fact still remains that there were remaining areas in the Kallamore Kingdom that were still not neutralized.

Resistance armies rampaged from all locations, residents burning villages and fleeing.

Petrov appeared on the occupied territories of Kallamore Kingdom.

“There are still traces and signs of the war.”

The military that fought seemed to swept devastation towards everywhere in the city. On the streets, there were fragments of broken weapons, arrowheads, etc. Although, there were still many users that were active residents that lived there.

“That vile Haven Kingdom. I will take revenge on them.”

“Bardray. There might be no one that would be able to compete with their military force. And now, Kallamore Kingdom is just going to be forgotten in history.”

“In the occupied territories of Haven Kingdom, double taxes will probably going to be imposed. Ugh. I have abandoned the mill because of this war. How am I going to prepare for those taxes now?”

The suffering voices of the residents could be heard.

Residents of Kallamore Kingdom in the area have lost their properties from arson and looting. After the knights and soldiers lost their lives in the war, the monsters from Senbain Mountains came down near the village and jumped in.

Even though the users could protect it, a lot of them still left and just went away to another Kingdom.

“Let’s go to another kingdom. There’s not much help we could do here.”

“Yeah. I’d rather go down to the South.”

“Let’s just depart anywhere as soon as possible. I just want to get out of here already.”

For the beginners, it is a necessity to move and choose a place that is more stable in order to hunt.

Although to a certain extent, most users are already at a level where they are able to receive lots of requests. However, due to residents living in poverty they do not get the deserved reward. In order to avoid severe persecution from the Hermes guild in the future, they would rather move to a different kingdom.

***

Petrov looked at the Kallamore Kingdom.

The cities were so devastated that they were already incomparable to anything.

“The state of Hermes Guild does not interest me.”

The strong military force that headed off to war!

They were occupied at the capital enjoying a rest. The hardships of the residents is already evident while a lot of the monsters are still around the kingdom increasing their suffering.

“They seem to be doing this intentionally…..”

Hoping this could raise the level of their soldiers, they are increasing their force by utilizing the large scale breeding of monsters. Petrov was suspicious and uncertain on whether the confusion was created to make the recruitment of soldiers easier or whether to make the army stronger and more energetic.

As for the Haven Kingdom users, they planned to save them for later so that they could easily get fame if the capital rebuilds.

But right now, the fleeing residents were already killed by the monsters.

“I’ll draw these scenes into a painting.”

Petrov focused into it after looking with his eyes and painted the ruins of the buildings.

A painting that represented the horrors of the war!

Thanks to Petrov being not yet famous, he was not found out and also not disturbed.

From the fine pieces that were drawn, sometimes a masterpiece will come out.

The residents approached him.

“Hey, are you a Painter?”

“I’m just a little decent, but yes.”

“I need a favor… I want to have of painting the tranquil old days in my house. I can only give you the description of the life back then.”

“That is enough, I can make the painting based on your description”

Petrov also receives commissions from people and resolves it for them.

He looks at the bulletin board of the old village and looks at the photos there then draws a painting based on it. He also secretly draws the paintings of the banner of Kallamore Kingdom and the knights that died in the village.

He was placing the joys and sorrows of the residents into the paintings as his fame rises while also gaining intimacy.

Petrov still has not yet drawn anything in his canvas when he suddenly recalled the unforgettable face of a person.

“Yurin……”

She might have even known that he had appeared at Morata.

But, her brother was Weed.

He had a brief encounter with Weed, but he was greater than what he expected. The conversation they had before splitting up flashed before him again.

– There’s a lot of meat, freely eat what you can.

– Thank you.

Weed was so kind-hearted that he even extended his own hands towards strangers!

Actually, the meat that was brought out into the festival was just be eaten mostly by the Geomchis and as for the other users, they would just think of it as an act of kindness….

Petrov remembered the grilled meat made by Weed, it was juicy and chewy while the flavor remained intact.

“He’s also good at cooking.”

After he had learned that he was Yurin’s brother, Petrov had reevaluated his opinion of Weed to a better light. Weed’s Sculptural Lifeforms, being Lord and leading Morata and Vargo Fortress were all amazing deeds.

On the day his adventure happens, the ratings of the stations would soar in unison.

“Doing sewing or general work. I can’t be compared to him on fighting or even in just levels.”

Petrov suffered a wound in his heart.

He wanted to impress Yurin by showing off his painting skills.

But even though he had a lot of confidence, it was hard to compare his skills as an artist to a sculptor’s.

He also has a quite a lot of organized people that could intervene. Weed was also the one who made the specialty landmarks located in Morata which are the Tower of Light, Freya Statue, and more! Weed’s accomplishments were impossible for anyone else to achieve or follow.

Although Petrov does have the skills to compete, it still seems that he was unable to win the respect and affection of people like Weed. He was constantly creating works of art so it’s still nothing even if he took away Vargo Fortress from him. Petrov just realized that the sculptor profession will still be more respected compared to a painter after being snapped out of his arrogance.

“I know why Weed’s sculptures were amazing. They were created through adversity and that way, it will receive recognition. When there was nothing during the early days of the town and even stars were not even present in on the place, he made the Tower of Light which gave the residents courage and when he created the Freya Statue he united the people. It was then when culture and development started of the now flourishing Morata.”

Each sculpture has a story and each one also endured their own trials. Petrov actually also toured the continent and created pieces based on his own adventures.

But it seems that only after receiving the recognition of the people will he be able to proudly walk in front of Yurin.

***

The Grass Porridge Cult had already surpassed 3 million people!

In the continent, they are considered the largest force in the north.

But, most of the beginners over time had committed some dreadful things.

I don’t want to go alone since I’ll be bored. I am hunting at the Chaotic Rocky Area anyone who wants to hunt together can come along. I am a girl.

Someone at the entrance of the shack left behind a post.

Then, a hunting party of 20,000 had been formed!

If not for this bulletin board thing there wouldn’t have been such an uproar.

“There’s so many people together. Anyways, shall we?”

“Lets run. I’m excited.”

“It feels like this is just a group picnic.”

In the chaotic rocky area, the large amount of monsters who lived up there were exterminated.

Does your Grass Porridge members always visit a map and the usual is what always happen? I was in the midst of traveling when I saw Herd Plains and there were delicious and full grown grasses in there. In Morata, it’s a little freezing. However, the Grass Porridge Members would have not much trouble if we do something about it right?

At that day, Morata’s Grass Porridge Cult moved extensively. Day and night people went to Herd Plains and because of it, the number of people there was already impossible to estimate! But only one thing is for sure, after three days, the Herd Plains has been renamed to Herd Wastelands.

This is Rebecca, a merchant from the Central Continent and its my first time in Morata. I say hello to you all and for travelers that needed large open spaces outside the east gate, 20 silver each one is enough. It’s on a first-come, first-served basis so don’t come in late. Huhuhu.

Merchant Rebecca continued on interacting as she held her empty pockets then sadly cried.

When the Grass Porridge Cult was just starting they were just a poor group of beginners. Initially, they were just alternating on hunting rabbits, deers and wolves. But as they grow in Morata, they would introduce quests to each other that gives out at least 1 silver.

During the early days of Morata, the city wasn’t even fully equipped with necessary things and people didn’t even go outside the gates since there was the risk of the bandits. However, as Morata was developed day by day, the members of the Grass Porridge Cult also grew.

They went as a crowd when hunting as they also actively participated on other quests.

Although they were doing boring and easy quests, their motivation was great.

“In Morata, there’s a lot of requests related to the Niflheim Empire.”

“Can we succeed on those quests?”

“We can’t. But if we obtain leathers even without having commissions, then one day we’ll be like Weed.”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

As they were enjoying the arts and their adventures in Royal Road at Morata, the Grass Porridge members were gradually growing and we’re not even aware of the big change happening.

In a brick house shack.

They wore cheap clothes and decent equipment. The Grass Porridge cult members were also eating decent meals from restaurants. The average levels of the beginners were climbing up step by step each time Morata’s production and economy increases.

***

Weed found the suitable clay on making a sculpture in Montvertruria.

Clay pieces could express any subject. You could create the work very well even though you only know the certain characteristics of the race.

The effect of having good Handicraft mastery was also a big advantage.

The color and texture of the clay is an important part of every sculpture and made it possible to create something as if it was alive.

Looking at the finished product, its viscosity was unsatisfactory.

“The facial lines and fine clothes is the tricky part since it needs to be delicate.”

Collecting clay for making sculptures has a new feel even for Weed.

“When I was a kid I played with mud and created one or two things with it.”

During the rainy day season, did not have the leisure to joyfully play with the soil. During his childhood, he created a dam using the clay that prevented rainwater on seeping through and sold it for 300 won to his friends!

He had not needed toys, instead he had used materials such as water and dirt to build it.

“These pieces that I created are already okay. The materials also vary depending on the representation that I want to do. In particular, the soil in this area is really good.”

The soil particles in Tinius River are double in number and also pale white in color. If he gathered the mud and small pebbles and filter out those foreign materials in it, it will be an excellent material to make sculptures.

Sculpting was an art closely related to life.

The materials in his surroundings easily absorbs moisture and becomes clay and shaping it allows you to create a piece comfortably. To create something beautiful or create something you cherish is the natural choice to do.

There was no need for heavy burden jobs like cutting gems or stones.

Weed then turned his eyes to the other clay works.

There he saw a collection of past eating utensils such as crude bowls that were made from clay. It still has artistic value, but it’s still not much, what matters is the historical values of these amazing antiques.

“I wonder what it’ll be like for me to make such pottery out of mud and clay?”

Instead of simple dirt plates, he wanted to make a ceramics!

Even though celadon and white porcelain had been around for many years, people were still impressed by them. [T/L: Celadon is a Korean porcelain with a translucent and pale green glaze.]

Producing things like that seems to be a good way to raise his sculpting skills

“It very easy to transport but still costs a fortune if sold. The material costs for creating this does not even exist. Kehehehe.”

Weed came out laughing as he thought about the money he would earn. The requirements to make ceramics were Blacksmithing Intermediate skill level 7. Along with his ability to deal with fire, he could create excellent pieces.

He thought about retiring from making sculptures and instead make a living through blacksmithing, if he decided to change to a blacksmith he would not have to worry about food and expenses.

“Now, where am I going to start. I’m not yet familiar with it so I’m going to start making the bowl from the inner side.”

Making sculptures has such a broad domain. In here you need to shape the clay using the hands and then bake it in fire since there also different fields in sculpting.

Blacksmithing Skills are better related, but the basic forms and appearance is a work of art so one needs Handicraft Skills, Engraving Skills, and Blacksmithing Skills in order to make the ceramics.

Weed shaped using his mud-covered hands but creating a round bowl using his fingers was not comfortable for him.

“Someone have to help me in this. Dirtman!”

“What makes you bring me here.”

This Dirtman that he summoned looked drooped and tired.

During the old days, it was always delighted whenever it was summoned to the world. But very often, they were being summoned primarily by Morata users. At first they were steadily doing their good work, but then they slowly became foul-mouthed. Some say that it’s actually charming in its own way then they even gained popularity.

While assigning work they would often repeat a phrase or comment.

“It would have been better if I had not been born…. Why do I have to suffer as soon as I was born?”

“Oh, my back. My back hurts but I still have to keep working.”

“This task is very easy. If you finish early should I give you a break?”

“They say that the Lord of Morata, Weed is the most handsome person in the continent. But I don’t really know whether to trust that.”

When the Dirtmans were working diligently, these spirits would even receive more work. Their different personalities became strong and carefree compared to Weed’s which was the result of the steady eduction that the spirits received from him!

The created spirits of this abusive sculptor had no choice but to bear their orders.

“There is work you want me to do.”

“We may be a little tired but if master asks then we will work hard for master.”

“Its an easy task, just make this turn for a bit.”

Weed stretched out wide stone tablets to Dirtman.

He realized that he needed a rotating bottom plate when piling the mud in order to make pottery comfortably.

Weed was very focused.

“Rotate it and maintain a constant speed. Don’t shake it or else it will stop.”

“If it’s just something like this, it’s easy.”

The tablets were not a little bit lighter than wood, but Weed still did not care.

It was not his task to do work, but the Dirtmans’!

“Remove any debris or stones that are caught in the mud.”

“I’m going to pick it out.”

“Summon Fiery Pebble!”

“Weed hurray!”

“You, make a fire.”

“Keuhi, I know.”

“It needs to be hot and strong. We also have to maintain it at a constant temperature.”

Dirtman and Fiery Pebble were given their tasks and fully undertook their work.

Weed also summoned other spirits.

“Droplet summon!”

Then, a pretty spirit made from water dew mysteriously appeared.

“I want to do what you’re doing, Master.”

“You sprinkle some water over that heap of earth over there.”

Usually, because of his mana shortage, he limited summoning of spirits to a minimum. Even though the spirits were called separately, his skill proficiency on Elemental Shaman skill still did not climb.

Now, with Seulroeo’s Wedding Ring, Baharan’s Bracelet and Helium Torch, that level of mana consumption was pretty easy to bear. With sharing his work with the spirits, the structure of his workplace in making pottery was now roughly equipped.

“Forming a simple bowl would probably not be that difficult.”

Weed used his hands and bashed together the wet soil.

In the rotating stone plate, he started to create forms using the heap of mud. With a keen sense in his fingers, he made sure that the mud do not get crushed and get built little by little.

Chururururuk..

As he molded the clay the shape of a plate was being made.

“This method of crafting is actually pretty fun. Since the material is free and easy to acquire it won’t matter if I fail”

Weed made items ranging from bowls to plates.

His first attempts were crude, like a dog bowl, then later he managed to make more acceptable bowls.

“Should I bake it now?”

Weed put the plates and bowls into the fire. While putting the items into the fire Weed thought that they would heat like ceramics, but instead the water evaporated and shattered the clay.

“I guess I’ll have to wait for the clay to completely dry before I heat it”

The ‘dog bowls’ had already dried and because of that, he could use them for experiments. Weed created a furnace and put heaps of dirt into the furnace and heated the dirt.

If you are cold and hungry, you could solve it by eating hot sweet potatoes. It’s like killing two birds with one stone!

After burning the wood, I could use the ashes to cook the potatoes, sweet potatoes, and meat deliciously. Just telling the Geomchis that I would cook these for them would be enough to make them drool enough drool to cook ramen in.

“Now then, it’s time to check how my finished project looks.”

Weed turned off the fire in the oven and looked at the ‘dog bowl’.

Adjusting the temperature suitably for the mud must have been what he had probably done wrong since approximately 1/3 of it has cracks. Some parts of the rim were cracked, but the rest has a well-baked appearance that he initially wanted.

– You have made 29 bowls, Sculpting Mastery has increased.

– Blacksmithing Mastery has increased.

“Not very pretty but anyways this is my first work. Identify!”

Roughly Made Bowls
Durability: 11/11

A pot that is wide enough to hold food. Made by the famous artist Sculptor Weed!

The thickness of the bowl is very thick and there are no significant tacky burns due to strong fire.

The practical usage of clean clay as a material was very excellent!

If this work of Sculptor Weed emerged to the continent would be wanted by a lot of people.

Artistic Value: | 27
Special Options: | Storing in this should improve the taste and aroma of the food.

Considering that it was his first work, it was already good. The thickness of the bowl had made it rather heavy and the size of the bowl was pretty big. His failure was written all over the product.

“Not only this bowl, I want to also make ceramics.”

It could be seen the only thing to do basic pottery is just using mud and fire. He made the bowls simple, rough and just how he wanted. In order to make a piece, he needs to refine the soil particles until it becomes fine enough and that is when he could make a form into it.

“To the next piece…”

He continued his work as Dirtman, Droplet and Fiery Pebble helped him.

He created a little more delicate form of pottery and continued to experiment with the temperature of the fire. After doing the form of the pottery and completely dried it in the shade, he put it in the oven and did biscuit firing.

He finely adjusted the fire.

He then proceeded and put glaze on it. He made several types of glazes by crushing stones mixing with ashes of burned plants. He also created a variety of colors in the process. Weed mostly prefer color white or transparent blue.

He applied the glaze then went back to baking using a strong fire as the inner glassy glaze beautifully melts down and the ceramic was completed.

Weed experimented on different types of glazes as he uses his Mining and Herbalism skills and used it on practicing on baking ceramic.

“My hands have quite a lot of work to do.”

Pottery is very meticulous. Even though he was successful, this work is not very easy. Any little mistake in the whole process will change its color. Weed has made numerous burnt bowls and only broke the bowls if a failed piece is produced.

Hailed by the Artists as the continent’s best sculptor, his pride has been instantly crushed.

“This is fine. The materials are almost free!”

Weed was very positive.

Sculpture and Ceramics were deeply related, but their methods of making largely differed that’s why he failed to learn it. Creating a form with clay and going through a number of steps was also fun.

“Let’s make it more diverse. I think it’s still early but I’m still going to try and undergo with it to see if it’s alright.”

Things that Weed could create using his imagination was endless.

A jug that resembled the shape of an animal!

Ceramics is not just for dripping water to the mouth. If he tried to make a turtle, he could demonstrate his skills as a sculptor better. Weed already made a lot more of complex sculptures.

“As an ornament it is already selling well, as an artwork it’s going to be worth even higher.”

He united the mud into a solid and then chose how to sculpt it using his carving knife. Because he was unfamiliar with using wet soil and doing complex shapes, he had to considerably suffer. Even though the carving knife was only swerving into the mud, there were still parts that were mashed.

“I want you to grab and hold it just to be sure not to shake the mud, Mind Hand!”

Weed having Advanced Handicraft Mastery, used his hands showed skills that only appear on legendary craftsmen. Because of his full concentration, the physical contacts did no damage to the ceramic.

Meanwhile, his sculpting knife was able to trim the shape up.

“The number of work is a lot. Call Death Knight Van Hawk, Call Vampire Lord Torido!”

“What’s going on!”

“Where is the fight, master!”

Van Hawk and Torido was also summoned!

“If you guys can’t always have fun! Hurry up and break this!”

Weed made them break stones and mix charcoals. Their duty was to make glazes.

Van Hawk and Torido did not strongly resist their tasks. While traveling with Weed, they had already grown familiar with Weed’s chores such as crushing garlic, peeling potatoes and onions.

“At least today’s task is easier.”

“I hope I can finish early and rest”

Weed made the ceramics with the three spirits along with Torido while Van Hawk is also given a lot of work in the process.

– 42 special types of ‘dog’ jugs has been created. Sculpting Mastery has increased.

– You have succeeded on adjusting the fire delicately.

– Art has increased by 1.

– Affinity to nature has increased by 2

This time, it seems that he somehow managed to produce a decent work.

“Identify!”

Duck Water Jug
Durability: 14/16

A water jug represented by a mother duck.
This piece is an excellent sculpture made by Master Weed in a different area. This is going to pitch a high price as the duck is incredibly and clearly expressed. But this was not managed to be glazed evenly because of some insoluble materials and there were also slight cracks inside because of its complex structure. A rare luxury, it seems like the high nobles and royalties are going to like it.

Artistic Value: | 361

Special Options:

+26 Dignity
It will enhance your dignity to the kings and nobles.

Given the fact that Weed is still inexperienced, creating a good piece of pottery like this is already on the successful side.

“Now that I’m familiar with glazing, I need more practice on making ceramics.”

Torido, Van Hawk and all of the spirits were on the move and had work to do. But there were still unexplored caves in Montvertruria

“Maybe I should fill the entrance to this dungeon with a bronze door to have a nice atmosphere in here.”

Weed sent a whisper to his sister.

– Yurin.

– Yeah, brother.

– What are you doing?

– I’m currently feeding Yellowy grass.

Yurin particularly like Yellowy more than the other sculptural lifeforms, she especially paid attention to and stroked his rib area.

– I found a place during my quest right now. I’ll explain it so could you hang out here? Many of the sculptures and paintings are going to be helpful to you.

– I’m feeding grass to Yellowy.

– Oh, and bring the others. I feel that underneath this place will be a dungeon.

***

Yurin used Picture Teleportation to teleport herself along with Pale, Maylon and Surka, and so they arrived together.

“There is actually such a place like this! I’ve never seen something like this. Can we look around here?”

“It’s okay, help yourself around.”

Weed said generously.

The place is quite okay for him anyway since he have certainly packed everything he wanted.

“This place in the history of the four races is marvelous.”

“My art stat also increased by quite a lot. Thanks to you Weed my art stat have exceeded 300.”

As they enjoy Weed’s sculptures and go for an adventure, the art stat of their party grew steadily. Even those with a non art professions was already enough to be considered as an expert. Morata users had much higher stats on the artistic side compared to others who belonged to other cities. With the development of Morata through sculpting, painting, singing, dancing and performances, residents would find that a lot of requests has a lot of connection to arts.

“Is this is what you made with clay?”

Hwaryeong showed an interest to the bowls and jars that Weed made.

She saw his experiments used different glazes and that each of the bowls was made with different colors. Among them was a clean and clear white bowl which caught her eyes.

“It’s beautiful.”

“The hardness of the glaze is not that good, but it is among the best of-of the good pieces I’ve made.”

It was fine, but there were some parts underneath that was not glazed although his works are becoming increasingly better and more durable.

“I really want to have this bowl. Can I have at least one?”

“Feel free to take anything as much as you want.”

There were many bowls and since they were being mass produced, giving away a couple of it would not be a huge waste.

Mapan arrived late and looked at the bowls with shining eyes.

“Weed, Hi. I would like to have a few….”

“Of course I’ll sell.”

Weed cut him off coldly.

It was because Hwaryeong’s purpose was just for collectibles while it’s obvious that this Mapan will use it on his eight trading posts.

“Oh, I think I would be able to attract great popularity for you.”

Mapan who was watching the pottery did not hide his admiration. In the Versailles Continent, ceramics were precious pieces. Only wealthy nobles and royal families could use something like this since this art is of high quality yet he was able to sale this luxury.

Dwarf Storehouse
You are the first discoverer of the Dwarf Storehouse

Benefits:

Fame has increased by 680
Double experience and item drops for a week.
The first monster killed will drop the best quality item it can drop

As expected, they have discovered a dungeon!

It was a dungeon where the dwarves kept their goods.

“It was just as I expected.”

Seoyoon who was also staying at Morata also joined them through Yurin’s skill. The efficiency of that party has reached a terrifying level.

“Van Hawk, lead the way.”

“All right master.”

Weed along with Death Knight scouted the dungeon that allowed them to have a perspective of it at the beginning.

He pulled out and held Kolderim’s Demon Sword as he entered the dungeon. He kept Seoyoon on his right side as she vigilantly observed. Pale and Maylon hold their bows as Zephyr, Hwaryeong, Surka, Bellotte , Irene, Romuna and Yurin go along behind them which was the elite squad. Mapan came along while dragging a cart for holding japtems or loot.

“We will never give you the treasures. It is ours!”

“Kiee, its a thief! There are thieves!

There were graverobbers that roam and appear frequently in the dungeon.

Whether poison, magic, sword or arrows, it was very tricky to use it with the endless graverobbers that came. The traps that were installed by the dwarves inside the dungeon was also very complicated.

“The graverobbers that roam are in the mid 300 levels.”

Weed was a little disappointed.

Seoyoon and his friends are already at level 400 so doing a dungeon of this level was a little unreasonable. Because this place has a deep historical meaning with it that’s why he had hopes regarding the difficulty of the dungeon. If it’s like that then the treasures here would probably also have a relatively small value.

The grave robbers compared to other monsters has higher health thus also giving more experience and with their low speed, they could be hunted comfortably.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

He used his brilliant sword freely and was very overwhelming.

This happens when the skill proficiency is improved and then later on it could be properly used!

– You have acquired a saw from the graverobber.

– You have acquired a key from the graverobber.

– You have obtained a bag that contained little things.

Graverobbers have dropped considerably different kinds of loot. Weed along with Torido, Van Hawk and Zephyr just put on a defensive at the beginning as the other people on the rear and sides support them. Their hands and feet were always tied because otherwise they would fall into danger. Then, they found Dwarven boxes in between and opening them was a fun activity to pass the time

– You have acquired old books and the Diary #2 of a Dwarf.

– You have found a bronze sword
Fame has increased by 310

– You have found a stone blade
Fame has increased by 195

– You have obtained a drinking glass of the Dwarves.

The weapons and armor of the Dwarves back then were too underdeveloped that’s why their performance was not that good.

The bronze and brass swords were not properly made and it was just suitable to leave it as antiques!

“It’s gonna be alright if I just brought this into the Art Center.”

Contributing the antiques inside the Arts Center was what he is thinking. They discovered lumps of iron ore, silver ore and mithril inside a box and expected that their income is going to be great.

What Weed was feeling was already enough for the corners of his mouth to creepily rise.

Weed was hunting together with his friends except when he was drying the wares or it was already time for the glaze. He was also accumulating experience as his ceramics were becoming smoother and its gloss was improving.

Although there were no Masterpiece or Magnum Opus, there were still Fine pieces of works that appeared.

“Kkyaah! It’s so wonderful.”

As Weed created Ceramics, Hwaryeong looked and watched every time. In fact, one of the reasons she liked Weed was because of the appealing expression he made as he worked. She was mesmerized when Weed’s expression becomes serious as he created sculptures. She focused only on Weed’s mesmerizing figure while he worked.

While Weed was sculpting his wood sculptures, he was silently thinking.

‘How much can I sell this for if I succeed. It does not have a lot of material value. Oh, these days the value of the trees is very bad. Apart from this since I have not bought a tree. If I have moderate to large stones, I could create large sculptures. Creating sculptures is important, however, it also needs packaging. And there will be a line of rich people out there who will look…..’

Weed was busy with clay on making pottery as his hand was stained by earth all over. A dirt-stained person sitting there in the workshop was definitely not ugly. It creates a subtle atmosphere which immerses the women.

Irene, Romuna, and Hwayreong blankly stared at him while he worked.

“I want to learn pottery”

“Later, I will do pottery with my boyfriend…..”

A guy needs to be close to the body of a girl and place his hand to guide on creating pottery. It was a very subtle and strange atmosphere!

Then, Weed stretches out his hand through the waist and gently touched and shaped the pottery.

“Kyaaa!”

“Whah!”

The face of the women blushed as their eyes shined.

‘Who the heck…..’

‘Who could it be?’

Weed checked behind him but saw no one there.

One of the sculpting skills for his profession was Mind Hand!

With the hands of a craftsman he began to carve a variety of sculptures with his hands and the Mind Hand..

It was a weird and different experience from what he had expected.

Chapter 3: The Orc’s Quest

The Hermes Guild had no choice but to devote their time on maintaining rule over Haven Kingdom for the time being.

With the rebels around Kallamore Kingdom jumping around, they must supply materials to be used on the war. In some villages, there were also rebellions happening because of the heavy tax. If a cease fire doesn’t happen soon in the surrounding areas, the embers of the war will be carried around.

The Hermes Guild was prepared and put countermeasures for all possible events. They were actively sending out troops to stabilize their occupied territories and defeat the rebels.

Bard Ray was having complete control over the guild with the work of the executive leaders while he alone, was watching all over it from behind.

“Now, it’s finally time to start what I have been delaying for some time.”

He decided to go visit the Black Knights Guild in the capital of Haven Kingdom.

The Black Knights Guild along with Hermes Guild had many users hanging around a crowded place. When Bard Ray appeared bringing with him his Royal Guards, the crowd became quiet as mice in a dike.

The King of the Haven Kingdom, the strongest person in the continent.

He who owns both authority and power, Bard Ray. Both sides went out of his way as soon as possible.

Bard Ray went up to the instructors and said.

“I want to make all my enemies be on their knees and use the Path of the Sword for justice.”

The users were all silently astonished.

‘Is this the his profession’s Master Quest.’

‘Bard Ray issued the first challenge to become a Master Black Knight!’

The instructor looked at Bard Ray and slowly opened his mouth.

“As a Knight and a King who wants to learn the way of the glorified sword, you must first accomplish a task, it is rumored that there is a massive amount of monsters that is marching towards Evoque Town. Block those monsters and visit the old veteran Kuhlra[Kolla], he will teach you the ways of the Black Knight.”

Evoque was a small mountain village that did not belong to any Kingdom.

Fighting there to confront the monster invasion was his first given task!

‘This should not be too hard.’

A Knight could choose whether to focus his profession skills on either spear or sword.
Bard Ray selected the sword and his current skill level had stayed at Advanced Level 7.

Although his level was up to 480 and his fighting skills were highly destructive, simple hunting couldn’t improve his basic sword skills, much. In other words, his basic skills wasn’t developing much.

But this was definitely not slow compared to other people.

Unlike others, the swordsmanship of the Geomchis also progressed very fast because they only focused on hunting with their basic sword skills.

“Go to the village of Evoque.”

With Bard Ray’s quest, he went to the village of Evoque along with his Royal Guards and the military force of Hermes Guild.

“Let’s raid the village. Keee.”

“Uhihi. Kill them all!”

“Take vengeance on the humans!”

More than 3,000 monsters had flocked towards Evoque village.

“Huh, What?”

“We’re dead. The monsters are going to kill us all.”

The residents were engulfed in a state of panic.

Given the area of the Versailles continent, there was no respite at that very moment; new villages were disappearing at the wake of the monster raids. If a kingdom does not send any reinforcements then, it means the death of them all.

“We will handle them.”

“No. This is my quest. Remain and defend the village.”

“Yes!”

Bard Ray left his Royal Guards and his army in the village. The Evoque village had already become an impregnable fortress.

Bard Ray was admired by the attending users along with the broadcasting station officials. The spectators that have flocked in was already uncountable.

A bunch of monsters shot at him with black magic as he pulled out his sword.

He received a whisper.

– The location of Kuhlra has already been found.

Hermes guild’s intelligence group was running around the place, unseen.

He needed to be alone when facing the monsters for his first quest. Although, his Royal Knights could always be mobilized at any time.

The fact that Bard Ray started doing his Master Quest had reached the internet and had spread everywhere.

***

As Weed peacefully explored the dungeons and made sculptures in Montvertruria, another incident took place inside the continent.

Orc Stronghold Bursilia!

After the sculpture Orc Lord Paracwhi was completed, there was a big change that was happening.

“Chwichichis, it is dark today.”

“Let’s go to sleep, chwiiik!”

Orc male and female couples disappeared and went into their camp in the night.

And not a long time later, adorable young Orcs were born!

The population of young Orcs in Orc Stronghold Bursilia had grown enormously.

“Chwiiik. I am going to be a great orc like Parachwi. Chwichiik!”

“Humans are not that detestable, chwis. We also have something to learn from them. Chwiichwiig.”

“Sculptures are nice, chwichichis. We have to have a lot.”

The birth of young Orcs!

Due to the exceptional characteristic of their fertility rate, the Orcs were massively growing in number. Because the Orcs have grown quickly to fight monsters the inhabitants of Bursilia have continued to expand to the south.

Even though a lot of orcs died as they advanced, many new Orc’s were born afterwards.

Food and gold were found, Orcs also became interested in and started hoarding cultural artifacts especially sculptures. The Intelligence of the Orcs was gradually increasing with the effect of arts and their trade had also improved and increased a lot.

“7 Glaives for 30 gold, chwik! And 2 belts for 25 gold? Chwichit! Then give me 450 gold.”

“Thank you for selling me this cheaply, chwiik!”

Trading between Orcs have also been actively ongoing.

The price calculations of these greedy Orcs are very complicated and tend to be more expensive by several times. That’s why the most accurate price they have paid for an item is 1 gold each.

Orc Lord Bulcwhi was with large Orcs who were carrying huge sacks on their backs.

“Goodbye, chwichis.”

“Chwiik, see you later.”

The Orcs have shared their farewell greetings inside the square.

There were 150,000 Orcs!

They had to leave to search for new settlements.

“Go to Karichwi, chwichichiik!”

“Will there be tasty food and also a warm bed, chwiik!”

“Of course, chwichiiig. That’s why you have to go to Karichwi, chwik!”

After Weed succeeded his quest, the contribution points that he obtained was already enough to command over 250,000 Orcs.

His familiarity with the Orcs was already at the level of Brothers.

Although Weed had refused the compensation of receiving a bunch of gluttonous Orcs, these Orcs had chosen him.

“Karicwhi would be glad to see us, chwichik!”

“Chwiik, I want to meet him as soon as possible.”

And the Orcs set off from the Bursillia Square.

Even though they were carrying a lot of food, by the time they arrived at Morata they would be very hungry

***

Weed made a large number of ceramics as he also hunted with his companions. His Sculpting Mastery was currently Advanced Level 8 at 43.8%.

They ranged from large to small with contrasting thickness, he produced a variety of ceramics as he accumulated experience. Then, later on, the more he created the more the quality improved and became remarkable.

It was already at the level where the Kings and Nobles would covet it and everyone would want 1 or 2 of the ceramics that he made. In addition, he also used Moonlight Sculpting a little and used light into the ceramics.

“This time I’ll create the glaze.”

Yurin also worked and applied glaze she also took care of painting the ceramic.

– You have drawn a painting on the ceramic made by Sculpting Master Weed.
Fame as a painter has increased.

Yurin’s Painting Mastery had increased quickly and above all, her Fame grew enormously. This is by simply collaborating with Weed since it’s still a great achievement for novice artists. As the ceramics were overlaid with various colors, their value as a luxury item would be worth much more.

The ceramics made by Weed were already satisfactory.

“I could really rip off a lot with this!”

The special type of ceramic he created which was elegant and charming was a great one. Even the pure features of the ceramics, the smoothness and spontaneity has been ingrained it it.

“It seems exciting. Please teach me.”

“Could you not learn by looking?”

His other companions looked at the ceramic accordingly as he gave an introduction introductory on making pottery.

When Weed was creating the pyramids, they just watched it and looked as if they had no interest. But when he was making pottery, it had a nice and simple atmosphere.

“I need some help back here.”

Hwaryeong looked for opportunities that would lead to physical contact.

‘If I used my spare time to learn about this stuff, then I would be popular to women. Yurin would also come one of these days to learn pottery.’

Zephyr learned the process of making pottery without abandoning his habits as a playboy.

‘With ceramic, you could also make money.’

While Mapan’s motive was still greed and money.

‘I will give this as a gift to Maylon.’

‘I want to make this for Pale.’

Weed hunted and also created ceramics. It was a very enjoyable and pleasant time.

“Do not force it when you are stroking it, try to feel it.”

“Like this? Maybe not. Weed, press my hand because it looks like it would help me learn this feeling.”

Weed and Hwaryeong made pottery as Seoyoon stood in a distance while watching them.

Seoyoon also learned how to make pottery. Possibly because she had a keen eye, she created a narrow bottleneck vase easily.

Whether Hwaryeong needed help from Weed because she was actually bad at making pottery or whether she was using it as an excuse she(Seoyoon), nor anyone else, could not tell.

“……”

Seoyoon got up from her place and went into the depths of the dungeon.

Her other teammates were busy making ceramics and because they thought she would just briefly step outside and come back, they did not follow her.

Seoyoon continued entering the dungeon.

“Kihihihis, that seems to have a lot of money.”

“I’m going to rob you of everything.”

The graverobbers arrived and began to taunt her.
.
Krrung.

“Kkuek!”

“Please, spare me.”

“Aaahhh!”

It was a massacre of the graverobbers!

Seoyoon usually did not use her full abilities to share experience with other people and level up their skills.

But now, she revealed the true strength of a Beserker as she continued to enter the dungeon.

“Kkhahaha, I couldn’t find any treasure, but look what walked in!”

“It looks like we are going to get our drinking money for tonight… Kkweeeeg!”

***

Seal of Vulcan
You are the first discoverer of the Seal of Vulcan
Benefits: | Fame has increased by 1298
| Double experience and item drops for a week.
| The first monster killed will drop the best quality item it can drop

The last remaining dungeon in these caves!

Seal of Vulcan was a place where devils were confined. The levels of ordinary monsters were already at level 500. There were also some that were at boss levels at some areas.

“Uh, could we really hunt in here?”

“Let’s herd just one over here to see. Torido, get going.”

Even though there was Weed, Seoyoon along with the summoned Torido and Van Hawk, the hunt was still quite difficult. Although the divine power of Irene was not weak, the damage of the Vulcan Protectors was too high making the task riskier.

The deeper they went into the dungeon, more Vulcan Protectors appeared, until they couldn’t move on further without taking risks.

“I guess we should stop here for now”

Weed looked regretful as he said those words, but the others were happily agreeing.

Whenever they stayed with Weed they always hunted strong monsters, but as long as they were with Weed it felt easier and faster.

But in their hearts, no one wanted to really wanted to hunt the dungeons with the Vulcan’s Demons.

“Then, let’s go back to the Dwarf Storage Area.”

The time for double experience and 2x item drops had already passed but since it was not really a bad spot to hunt they continued to hunt.

But all they have discovered were boxes of dwarves as graverobbers continued to appear. They dropped a lot of Adventurer, Excavator and Professional Thief items. Sometimes, even magic equipments that was fairly decent compared to the level they were hunting.

“Well then, I’ll go see my quest for a while.”

“Yeah. See you later.”

Weed reported on his Sculpting Master Quest and with the help of Yurin, they headed for Bursilia.

***

“Chwiik. The song only continues down to the Orcs, it just mentioned that the four races lived together in a cave.”

“Well then. Chwichiiig. Karichwi, I will believe in your words then.”

The quest has been reported to Orc Lord Bulchwi.

Ttring!

You have completed The Sanctuary of the Four Races.

Through the song of the Orcs, you have discovered the cave where the four races lived together.

Now that they are separated, did they vary between being in good terms or in dispute. But, if a big crisis approached, the past historic friendship between the four races might then someday be binded again.

Quest Reward: | Deeper ties with the Four Races.
| Each great choice you make will make some impact with each of the races.

– You have gained historical knowledge.
Due to this special experience, Wisdom and Knowledge has increased by 2.

‘The Sculpting Master Quest is to create a good order among the four races.’

And finally, he has completed another step of the quest.

After transforming to Orc Karacwhi and returning to Burslilia, the street have changed by quite a lot. The Orcs on the streets were steadily increasing while the Parachwi sculpture had became a valuable treasure to the Orcs.

‘The fertility rate of the Orcs is really scary.’

And the status of 150,000 Orcs leaving towards Morata was something that he did not know of yet!

Bulchwi has released a gallant snort.

“Karichwi, the young Orcs that are interested in sculpting has increased, Chwiiig. Although it is useless, but do you think you could teach them how to make a sculpture? Chwis.”

Ttring!

Sculpting Master of the Orcs

Orcs are currently thristing for art.

Teach the very forgetful and greedy Orcs to make sculptures.

Difficulty: | Sculptor Master Quest
Quest Limit: | Sculpting Skill Advanced Level 8 or higher

With the own power of the Orcs, they must create a work that has artistic value of more than 70 and they should create more than 50 pieces.

| Must have a close relationship with the Orcs.

“I will teach, Chwichichichichichis”

– You have accepted the quest.

“When will you start, chwiiig.”

“Right now will be alright. chwis.”

***

As Weed taught sculpting, a lot of Orcs flocked around like a cloud.

Young Orcs filled the whole plaza to the point that some were even standing behind!

It was because Weed’s intimacy with the Orcs was strong and along with his large fame.

“At least 70 artistic value, finishing up this quest should be pretty easy.”

The Orcs have received commissions to create sculptures. Weed did not truly have the motivation to teach the complexity of Sculpting.

‘I don’t need to tell them about the aesthetics of sculpting and the value of art.’

With the intelligence of the Orcs, you can only expect them to do damage. Furthermore, Weed had no idea about things like that.

It was enough to just create what your heart wants you to create. Afterwards, they will accumulate their proficiency and they will desire to create greater things on their own.

If one tries to accomplish too much from the beginning then they will fail.

Orcs users also came to learn from the lectures of Weed.

“Cwhiik, feel the knife.”

The young Orcs felt their knives, swords and glaives wilfully and did what was told.

Human castles also did not have many users who carried sculpting knives; Orcs would also probably not have the knives or skills either.

“Sculpt with that knife, Chwichwichwichwi. You should, chwiis. Create any look that you want to create. Chwichik!

He described it with simple moral lessons that was good to live by.

Actually, rather than describing it to the Orcs using words, it would be better to just show it to them.

“I will make a sculpture, look at it well and create with your own accordingly. Chwichwis!”

Since the Orcs were interested, it allowed them to make sculptures and easily make a good deer sculpture.

With Weed’s skills in carving deers, he created one which was proportional to it’s real size and it was very excellent that you cannot already distinguish if it’s real or not.

And because of this, there came a lot of deer pieces.

The Orcs were at the level where they could only wish to be like him. They were even hardly worth the quarter of what Weed makes.

“Chwis. Sculpting is hard.”

“I will never learn, Chwiikchwiik.”

“I’m hungry, Chwirik.”

“Let’s go hunting, Chwichichichik.”

More than half of the young Orcs who were in the square did not try anymore, got up then scattered. The very faint eagerness to learn sculpting in their minds have disappeared.

With the urgent nature of the Orcs to learn sculpting and his sloppy teaching is what made this quest fail.

But, Weed have experienced and saw enough of these Orcs to learn about their nature.

“By creating a good sculpture, chwiik. I will give money. Chwis. And give meat. Chwichichis. And also drinks. Chwiichwiiik!”

He was so desperate that he even put on a reward just to achieved his objectives.

The young Orcs were blinded by greed began crushing stones and cutting trees then began to make sculptures.

“I’ve made a deer, Chwiichik!”

What the young Orcs have brought were hardly deers and couldn’t even be seen as one.

Their legs were at different lengths and what’s more is their legs were also too thick.

Rather, it was better to say that they were bears on their four feet!

“Karicwhi, the one I made looks the same as yours. Chwiik.”

“Chwichiiik. It does not resemble at all. Identify!”

Chopped Wooden Barrels

A work of a young Orc trying to make a bear using wood.

It looks like one can’t imagine that this was actually a sculpture.

Artistic Value: 2

At least those poor things made of wood was much better.

Those sculptures made of stone which were not even finished was smashed then dumped away. Because the young Orcs used axe or glaives with their power to chop stones did their sculptures break.

“Do it seriously. Chwiik!”

All day the ‘dog’ pieces that were produced did not even exceeded by one.

The only tolerable thing that happened that he didn’t even need to use Identify to look.

The wastage of materials was absurd, the trees were all cut badly with many scratches and grooves marring the form.

“Tomorrow will be better. Chwiiik!”

Possibly that it was because it was their first day of the learning process and it was too broad to be easily understood.

When he also did not know much about sculpting back then, he also had a lower possibility of creating a good work.

Since Orcs could make better sculptures with a lot of practice patience was needed.

Weed’s tone grew louder.

The night of the second day.

“Just do it like you learned it, chwik”

Night of the third day.

“Why won’t it go straight, chwik.”

Night of the fourth day.

“These hopeless guys, chwiiiiiik!”

As the days go by, the Orcs have not yet adjusted their strength on the materials and still even had that poor aesthetic sense.

Weed wanted to teach that everything was not to be beaten and bashed.

“Chwis. I’m hungry. Let’s eat rice.”

“Scultping is boring. Chwirik.”

“I want to money alreay. Chwichwichwik.”

The appearance of Weed’s lower jaw in Orc Karichwi made them quiveringly tremble. The young Orcs were also quickly growing day by day. The majority of the Orcs were already tired of sculpting and just went out for hunting.

Only some Orcs remained and steadily learned sculpting.

“If you learn how to sculpt, Chwiichwiik. You will get out money and food and you will be popular with female orcs as well, chwiik

“These are the words of the esteemed Karichwi, Chwiichwik. What Karichwi only tells us are real. Chwiichwik.”

“Chwichwis. Sculpting is so good, chwiiiik. Let’s continue learning.”

“Yes, Chwiiiis. It’s just tough at the beginning, chwichwis. Like when it is difficult to eat meat when it’s chewy.”

Weed convinced them by sugarcoating his words as they go on.

Although the young Orcs were very stupid on sculpting, they bit by bit gradually got used to his teachings.

Even though it was not refined or clean, the Orcs were producing more than one sculpture.

Boar Wooden Doll

A wooden product made directly by an Orcs that is wanted to be played with.

Surprisingly, the eyes, nose and the mouth was rushed.

This work was a result made from the competition between the young Orcs.

Artistic Value: 23

Well-carved stone with smooth cuts
Artistic Value: 5

Stone Axe for Young Orcs
Attack: 7

Actual stone axes that was reduced to a small toy. It looks like it could hurt and possible to be used for hunting.

This is a useful work when young Orcs are going to do a mischief and do group fightings.

Artistic Value: 28

“Phew~, chwiik!”

Just a snort came out.

Weed complimented and urged on the young orcs. The talent of the Orcs were visible. To avoid getting distracted, he was giving them foods as he taught them.

“Mastering sculpting could allow you to do things. Chwik. An Orc that could do a lot of things are loved by females. Chwiik.”

And finally among the Orcs, some artists stood out and emerged.

The subject of their sculptures did not vary that much. The Orcs made their sculptures in accordance with their interests like hunting.

Or a sculpture of themselves being an Orc Lord!

Some Orc with a Glaive

The appearance of an adult Orc on a sculpture.

There is a lot of mistakes due to inexperienced handicraft but within a short period of time still developed an excellent work.

The attitude of an Orc scout in the bushes was well represented.

Artistic Value: 72

A sculpture which barely passes the beyond 70 Artistic Value mark has finally been made.

Weed continued to the side where he did not taught yet while full-blooded orcs that just makes sculptures by smashing have already quitted.

The savage and hurried nature of the Orcs was something that made teaching them not an easy task.

– The Orcs have made 50 sculptures with Artistic Value more than 70.

– Your Sculpting Mastery has increased.

– Leadership has increased by 4

– Wisdom has increased by 2.

Weed felt like he had finally passed a big mountain.
‘The difficulty of this Rank A Quest was much more difficult compared to others.’

The young orcs would forget everything that was taught to them once they turned around being ingenious and having a strong personality, they only made things they wanted despite the advice he gave them.

As for Weed he doubted if the Orcs will be able to develop and the sculpture may be questioned.

The personalities of the Orcs meant that without using the skills they learned would disappear. Weed worried about this possibility.

However since there were now some orcs who had the skills and sculptures, he felt that things would work out.

Weed’s job had been to plant a seed.

The rest was up to the orcs, whether the seed would grow or not.

“The sculpture. Chwiik. Orcs are smarter easily. Chwi Chwi Chwi Chwi.”

“Made an effort, chwik.”

Sculpting Master of the Orcs has been completed
You cannot predict at all what they are making, not even the orcs themselves are aware.

Quest Reward:

Orcs has increased reputation as a sculptor.

Your Contribution Points has increased by 34.

You have acquired a new skill!

A Summoning skill has been acquired.
Summon Sculpture: Summoning type skill

By consuming mana, you will be able to call and summon the sculpture you have made.

The consumption will become larger according to the size and artistic value of the sculpture.

If you try to summon a sculptural lifeform, the consumed mana will be 10 times higher.

It was a very useful skill for Weed.

“I could use this anywhere, but I don’t really need it.”

Even though this time it is only a petite size Wyvern.

1-2 times the mana was discarded the moment when he tried to summon the dead.

I can just order them to go and wait, i don’t have to use mana.

‘I don’t really know but summoning Bingryong at the start is probably going to be hard. Since the wyverns have a low artistic value, this skill would be occasionally be helpful.’

Bulchwi handed over a map that was made of leather.

“We found this, but it’s just gonna be useless for us to use anyways. Chwichichis. So I’m giving it. Chwichwiiig. To you Karichwi.”

– You have acquired a map of a hidden gem mines in the Versailles Continent.

It was very precious for someone who has jewelry skill. He was as cheerful if he’s a female student getting a luxurious bag.

“No, there’s no need to give this to me, chwiik, but since it’s your wish for me to have it I’ll take it gladly.”

Unfortunately, when Weed looked at the map, it belonged to the Kingdom of Harpan.

There is no doubt that an excavation for the gem mines have not yet started.

If you beat the monsters and developed the mines, he could get a great return. But also in the vicinity, there would be prestigious guilds that would interfere and used it for exploitation!

‘I’m just going to sell this to the Miners Guild and people who might be interested.’

He could also sell it to traders. If not, finding people who would want to give this to Harpan Kingdom to raise their contributions would not be hard.

“If you have something more to say then say so, Chwichiig!”

“Karicwhi, there is a little dangerous task that I want to ask. Chwiigchwiig!”

“What, chwis”

“Chwichwichwichwiik!”

Then, images started to pour out in the eyes of Weed.

***

– Gyooooo.

A Chronodon opened huge wings was flying through the sky. It passed quickly through clouds, mountains and rivers.

– Kiyaooo!

The Chronodon was going on a rampage and breathed flames onto the ground. It burned the land and made rivers of fire.

The Chronodon was flying and created a sea of fire on the ground!

The Orcs built a stronghold on the mountains.

Although they primarily hunts monsters and animals, they also raised fruit trees for a living. The young Orcs and female Orcs looked after the fruit inside the stronghold. The Orc Warriors were holding glaives and spears as they guard the fort.

The Chronodon could be seen on the sky and its fire breath rained down onto the stronghold and mountains.

– Kuwaaaaa.

A huge blast came down from the skies towards the Orcs which caused the stronghold to be caught on fire.

“Chwi, Chwiiiiiis!”

The Orcs tried to stop the fire and was jumping up and down but it was useless.

The Orc Warriors fired poorly made arrows towards the Chronodon but with its poor accuracy and specifications, it almost did no damage.

The fire even moved towards the skinny trees in the mountains and created an enormous wildfire. Eventually, the roaring fire burned off by itself. After that, what remained was just the black ruins of the stronghold and not even 1 orc survived.

After the Chronodon did its devastation, it expanded it wings and flew to another place as every one of its own kin joined and gathered altogether.

Soon, hundreds of Chronodons covered the sky.

“We have to get rid of the Chrodons, chwiichwis. It’s going to be a lot of hard work. Even so a lot of Orcs just went and cowered back to the bosoms of their mothers.”

Listening to the words of Bulchwi, Weed had other thoughts running through his head.

The disgrace and plea of the orcs did not garner and sympathy or empathy.
‘Chronodons are usually around level 315.’

They belonged to the monsters which are very difficult to hunt.

“That one is, the biggest Chronodon there is, chwichwiiig. That bastard really is. Chwit!”

It was really bad when it comes about the Boss Chronodon. It leads the crown and the level of is this leader is known to be more than 480.

“Karichwi, one of your friends Orc Gelchwi also died. Chwichwichwis!”

“Gelchwi is… chwiik!”

Whenever Weed is around Yuroki Mountains, the one who helps him during hunting is Orc Warrior Gelcwhi. But later on he received his jealousy because he was very popular within female Orcs, he was a very thickly muscled orc.

“The orcs did not just die, chwiik, they found out what the Chronodon’s like, they like big bird eggs. Karichwi will you help us?

Battle Against Chronodons!

The Orcs met a bunch of Chronodons during the process of expanding their territory.

The Chronodons is a very ferocious race and prefer to just destroy things rather than talk about it. Each time the Orc’s settlements were burned, it was done by them.

As long as the Chronodons are live, not just the orcs, but other living things will not be able to live at the El Nath Mountains and the Grey Lakes.

Countless of Orcs were defeated by the Chronodons and they start their expeditions only to be wiped out every time.

Difficulty: | Sculptor Master Quest

Quest Limit:

Sculpting Skill Advanced Level 8 or higher

The Orcs must fight and finish a victory against the Chronodons.

At least 35 Chronodons must be killed.

– The Battle Against Chronodons Quest has started.

Background information

The Orcs found out that Chronodons were very frantic about large bird eggs. However, these large birds avoid the Chronodons by fleeing to other places and never left anything away. You could create sculptures of bird eggs to persuade the Chronodons to go into the ground so that the Orcs could fight them.

Not just tactics and sculptures were needed, but a tight collaboration with the Orcs is also required for the quest!

‘If this quest is to succeed, the forces of the Orcs is going to increase a little more.’

As the Orcs continued to expand more, he was commissioned to get rid of this great obstacle in front of them.

“I Karichwi, will have the Orcs do this. Chwiiiig.”

– You have accepted the quest.

Chapter 4: Bird Egg Sculpture

The Chronodons were monsters that most people didn’t often meet in the Versailles Continent. The information boards and various message boards didn’t have much information about them around.

Title: Meet the Chronodon

It’s the worst, really the worst!
Today was so unlucky.
A Chronodon herd was flying in the Habis Plains.
It was a place where merchants and users pass by. Except for a few lucky people, it was now deadly silent. The town was on fire and has been burned down.

Title: I died

I looked as I died. I watched as I died.
I had the chance to run up against the Chronodon. It will attack unconditionally.

Title: How to live after meeting a Chronodon!

You can’t.
It’s really awful.

Even though he had never fought them directly, looking at the boards and clips would still equip Weed with the basic knowledge about the Chronodons.

“It’s not that hard to hunt them one by one, but they are usually in groups and anyone can get overwhelmed by their retaliatory actions, and their numbers……”

If you missed even one Chronodon during hunting, they would bring all their companions and come back later to take revenge.

It was a flying creature that flies and can breathe fire on everyone that’s why they were mostly avoided during huntings.

Although the humans who lived in towns or on the mountains sometimes encountered the Chronodons, it could be said that the only safe method to avoid them was lay low and out of sight. Hunting them to gain loot or experience was a waste of time since it was too dangerous, and had a high likelihood of death.

“As flying creatures, placing good traps would certainly catch groups of them.”

Weed scouted out the El Nath Mountains.

The reason he directly looked at El Nath Mountains was because its terrain seemed like it would be an important element to the battle.

Creating a place with fake eggs through sculpting and using it to lure the Chronodons would make the aspect of battle different.

“If the Orcs fight on ridge of mountain or canyon they are good as dead and there’s gotta be a place where soaring is blocked by trees..”

Weed swiftly hopped on to the El Nath Mountains.

Thanks to his Quadruple Run skill, the stamina consumption to climb the mountain was lessened considerably.

Of course it was uncool. But one should not only focus about his appearance!

The El Nath Mountains was quite rough and its slope was steep and the road was also considerably high.

“The terrain in this place seems to be quite favorable.”

Due to the Chronodons, areas of charred and burnt trees could be found.

There were also not many monsters and mountain beasts so perhaps it could be guessed that it was an area often visited by the Chronodons. Sometimes, there would be 1 of those Chronodons that would fly through the sky, its size was much larger than that of the Wyverns.

Whenever there was an unexpected sight of a Chronodon, Weed would hide underneath the thick trees.

“Only by placing a good trap will the Orcs be able to catch them in groups.”

The goal of this quest is the victory of the Orcs. Although it was difficult, with their excellent fertility, even if they fail at first, they could still drag it on to continue and this was their tremendous advantage, the ability to continue and challenge them and prolong the fight.

They could only do it with tactics!

Of course, if his first attempt fails, his intimacy, contribution points, along with the trust of the Orcs would also decline.

***

Choi Sang-jun fell on his desk during break.

“Ah, it’s difficult. It seems like I fought all night yesterday at Pormos Castle.”

Choi Sang-jun was very popular in his department as part of the Black Lion Guild.

The Black Lion Guild fought a battle on Pormos Castle of Tullen Kingdom last night.

The industry of Tullen Kingdom has developed well due to its paved roads and rich materials. Since merchant wagons could move quickly through the paved roads, trade was being done actively and as a result, its population was quite large.

The Kingdom of Tullen is where the Black Lion Guild has its greatest influence and the Beden Guild was centered around Las Boa Castle!

In the Versailles Continent, they were in the top 20 favorites when it comes to the two-sided guild wars that’s why the people were very interested.

Girls came near Choi Sang-jun.

“Sunbae-nim, tell us what happened.”

“Didn’t you see it on TV?”

“I have, but I want to hear it directly from the people from their experience. It was really an unbelievably great battle!”

“I did a lot of running about….. I don’t know whether it came out nice in the broadcast.”

“As an elite player of the Black Lion Guild, didn’t you go beyond the walls?”

“Ah, that’s right, I did!”

Regardless of the department, stories about Royal Road were the most popular.

There were a lot of people that was playing Royal Road, so it is expected that if you belong to the elite players of the Black Lion Guild, you would easily be a celebrity.

There was also a much superior user known in every department, and that was the name of Lee Hyun.

Stories in the past about Choi Sang-jun, Min So-ra, Lee Yoo-jung, Park Soon-jo, Joo Eun-hee, Hong Sun-ye’s adventures exploring a dungeon that attributed with him had spread. Turning in the adventure tasks, Lee Hyun did not really care. The unrealistic stories about his outstanding success as a Dwarf Sculptor have quietly spread among the students.

And the name of his character was actually also Weed!

As he couldn’t help but doubt, Choi Sang-jun told the other students.

“Does being God of War Weed near us making sense? You can’t be saying that that Hyung is Weed? Plus, he’s also a dwarf.”

“Although.. I don’t think Lee would look like it too. You’re kidding me if you tell me that this oppa that I meet in school that cuts class and sleeps during school is the charismatic Weed.”

“There’s also the time when I answered him when he asked whether a certain professor did not check attendance.”

“Look. This must be some mistake, I’m telling you.”

Thanks to Choi Sang-jun, he was able to bury the topic regarding Lee Hyun without having the gossip become larger.

However, the party who participated in the adventurous tasks were still continuing to harbor doubts about Lee Hyun.

***

The broadcasting stations were trying to record a large surplus of broadcasts in Royal Road for the crowding ads.

Their fierce competition for audience ratings became like a war now.

“Are there persons who have newly completed quests?”

“A quest to find the master of the Broken Sword. It managed to become a hot issue on the boards, but no one could complete it.

“Learn more who has completed it and see if we could put it on air.”

“Yes, I will send someone.”

The broadcasting stations established an extensive research and spared no effort to inform the viewers about the affairs in the Versailles Continent.

“How are the ratings on the Battle of Pormos Castle?”

“We are at 3.4%. If combined with other stations, it would be at 25.9%.”

“How did the KMC Media do?”

“They are at 7.5%”

The KMC Media has very good sound effects and camera control. This further strengthened their benefit of having a quick-reporting system. The other broadcasting stations were late by one step and a part of them could only envy them.

But the staff of KMC media actually hated that fact.

“We’re working overtime even today?”

“There is currently an invasion being led by the Embinyu Church. The director mobilized the broadcasting station and has gathered us!”

The sudden live events that were taking place on Royal Road must be relayed immediately and depending on the response of the other broadcasting stations, certain improvements were being made.

Each of the broadcasting stations had their own competitive staff. And with their insufficient personnel, they rarely leave their work on time.

“This month, there will be specialized programs on hunting dungeons every Monday, not on a Tuesday. Aren’t there any knowledgeable persons about it in here? ”

“The Almighty program director took care of it and directed that one.”

Then leave it at that, and what happened to Basic Quest Guides for Beginners?

“It will start next Wednesday afternoon throughout the country.”

“The advertisements?”

“It’s already slightly more than half, it seems it will be able to fill up to 80% before it starts in the country.”

The day of the broadcasters had their minutes and seconds flying by as they competed. As the 24-hour broadcast system was equipped, the scale of the stations also increased.
Even though the viewership of the Royal Road in the night was high, the broadcasting team were always prepared with a backup program in addition to the regular one for emergencies.

KMC Media, CTS Media, LK Games, On Studios, Digital Media, CHN Broadcasting.

Each of the stations having a high share of audience and spared no expense for equipping themselves with the best staff.

“Weed! Weed has started his adventure; Start broadcasting, immediately.”

“I don’t care anything about the other broadcasts. Disconnect the current broadcast, circumstances will be explained later.”

A dedicated team was created for the special program called ”Weed”.

When Weed’s adventures were broadcasted in this program, the audience would always jump for joy. Advertising sales were the additional parts of income, once the viewers count grew up.

If the adventures of the Weed weren’t broadcasted by their stations immediately, it’d be no wonder that they’d lose viewers to other stations.

The owners of the eateries and pastry stores near the stations would also await the day Weed’s adventures would be aired. Because on days like that, dozens of the station staff would buy toasts, and bread to prepare.

***

“Chwiik! The day after tomorrow after the sun goes out, Chwichiwchwis. When the moon comes, we’re going to go to Grey Lake. Karichwi, you get ready until then.”

The Orc Warriors were preparing to leave El Nath Mountains for the Chronodons. The elite Orc warriors that were mobilized in Bursilia were numbered 120. Flashing glaives and leather armors could be seen upon the Orc Warriors. Having survived countless battles, they boast of being the surviving veterans.

Once the quest returns as a failure, the Orcs would also be receiving a considerable blow.

Even with their vigorous breeding capabilities, they wouldn’t be able to repair the damage since these experienced Orc Warriors have been repeatedly battling as they were being raised.

Other than some invited users, the progress of Weed on his quest regarding the Orc locals was not known at all.

‘There’s little time.’

Weed prepared for the quest and even went back to Montvertruria to make ceramics with his friends. As their experience on making ceramics was being increasingly solid, decent works are also being produced en masse.

“So this time, you’re doing a quest for the Orc Stronghold. Have fun!”

“Isn’t catching Chronodons dangerous? They are flying monsters that’s why they’re pretty hard to catch.”

They could just leisurely talk when they were making ceramics as Irene and Surka were interested in Weed’s said quest.

The girls visited places from here and there and most of them liked the adventure.

“Can we also go?”

Hwaryeong had an idea and would try to secretly follow. And Bellot who was watching from the background, it looked obvious that she wanted to also go. Nowadays, she was having occasional dreams about their adventures on Jigolaths. In life, she did have much opportunity to experience thrilling moments.

One of the best reasons why Royal Road is popular among people is because you could enjoy adventuring here.

For Weed, those hints of wanting to go were all around and already out and wide open.

“Well, you guys couldn’t interfere with the quest. Because it requires for the Orcs to fight so just watch.”

“Kkyaa, really!”

Yurin used her Picture Teleportation from Bursilia without having to go along with the Orc Warriors towards the El Nath Mountains since they could not wait.

“Ah, maybe it’s alright. Sure, I also wanted to see.”

Despite of the good news, Maylon held her two hands together and was restless. She was on a dilemma since on that day, they have a program in the broadcasting station.

Going to the station would get her bonuses while going with the wind and going to El Nath Mountains would get her what she really wanted.

She was a live broadcast host and her mood was different since she was leaving her other co-workers with her assigned tasks just to be involved in the adventure.

Pale calmed her down.

“Don’t worry about it and just do what you want.”

Maylon showed a tearful face.

“Huhu, my vacation days this year is already spent.”

She felt bad for her co-workers that’s why she decided to just work. As host and for the sake of the viewers, she thought it would just be better to go.

“Hunting Chronodons…..”

Weed was hunting on Montvertruria and decided to modify some pre-made plans. Originally, his quest was about creating sculptures perfectly enough to be mistaken as a bird egg and to entice for the Orcs to attack.

Needing to seize 35 Chronodons. If the sculptor here had no ability to fight, there will be no guarantee to do this quest even how many times he did this. It was indeed a difficult request.
The trust will decline and with the deaths, his level will also fall a lot.

But Weed was not some common sculptor since he also developed a lot of offensive stats and skills.

“The leather of the Chronodons should rather be on the expensive side when sold… probably. A herd of the Chronodons usually has about 90 of them. If these guys disappeared, the Orcs would even have a larger area to expand.”

***

After two days, Weed returned to Bursillia and met Orc Lord Bulchwi.

“I need a favor, chwit!”

“What happened, chwichwik!”

“I need Orc Warriors. Chwiiig!”

“Chwiichwiig. If you ask, how many Orcs will you need along the way. Chwiichwi!”

Orc army can be mobilized with the current Contribution Points and Intimacy.
Orc Warriors 240,000
Orc Champions 80,000
Orc Shaman 5000

Orc’s contribution was crucial and the Orc armies had a high intimacy with Weed, enough to be referred as brothers. Karichwi had built up his contribution and familiarity with Orcs, after he led the Orc army in the fight of Undead Legion.

‘I think it’s still little compared to the enemy.’

Weed thought that the Orcs were stingy in providing him support, considering his massive contribution towards the Orcs.

He thought like that because he didn’t know that majority of the Orcs had already left for Morata.

“It’s going to be around 10,000 Orc Champions. Chwichichi!”

“Alright, chwiik! I’ll get them ready”

– Contribution Points towards the Orc has been reduced.

If a huge number of orcs died in the battle, a lot in his contribution points would be reduced. Battles could build up the experience of the Orcs and if the battle is won, Contribution Points would also increase. Chronodons are obstacles to the prosperity of orcs. So if the quest is cleared, his Contribution Points would increase a lot.

“Gotta get rid of these things quickly. Chwiiik!”

***

The Sculptural Lifeforms fought fiercely with the monsters every day in the vicinity of Vargo fortress.

“Keuoooo!”

The contribution of early-born wyverns and the big bodied Bingryong in the battle was no less. They would hide and head out, doing the scouting as they go around in groups and hunt monsters.

The strongest is the Pheonix and Goldman who mainly shoot arrows and Yellowy who was always being overlooked. While those Sculptural Lifeforms who were given life on Jigolaths were on Vargo Fortress and reducing the monsters there.

Thanks to these night and day activities of the Sculptural Lifeforms, the risk of getting swept by these monsters has decreased.

“Kkieeeeg! I’m back.”

Wy-3 who went away just came back and the Wyvern went and welcomed him.

“Thanks a lot, Wy-3.”

“Kklugkklug. This, time I went very far.”

The Wyverns who have their time for themselves did not really envy him. Because of the dirty nature of their Master, Wy-3 like it more when he gets lots of free time.

Wy-3, who sitting on the ground, laid down on his stomach and said.

“He said that he needed more personnel now. Master is calling us to go to Bursilia.”

For the Wyverns, those words were like lightning!

“Kklugkklug, when are we going?”

“We have to come by tomorrow evening.”

Considering the distance between them and Bursilia, they could arrive if they flew overnight.

“Too bad.”

“Golgolgol. There’s a lot to do.”

“Mooomooomoo.”

Bingryong, Goldman, Yellowy and the others were all watching from the sidelines.

“Bingryong, you have to come.”

“Kwaaaaeeg!”

“And as you come, go and bring Goldman.”

“Golgolgol!”

Yellowy’s eyes narrowed down and his tail swayed as he tried to cheerily laugh.

“And Yellowy, you come with Light Wing.”

“Mooooo.”

The cries of Yellowy rang out.

***

El Nath Mountains.

Weed along with the 120 Orc warriors arrived at night and commenced operations for the Quest.

Kkang! Kkang! Kkang!

“Shall I make it properly now?”

Sculpting stone sculptures of birds and eggs. It was already enough for Weed to call it a cinch.

“Real art has got to be demonstrated here.”

Indeed, making fakes is what could be said Weed specialized in. Because he had already saw all kinds of quality of work since he also started from a lower proficiency in Sculpting. However, he needed to place it until morning that’s why he needed to hurry up on preparing since time wasn’t really on the generous side.

The Chronodons have a low night vision that’s why they go and hunt for food when the sun is up and not when it’s evening or dawn.

Having excessive workload on a tight hour was indeed something that every worker in the Republic of Korea have experienced and was tired of. He was already familiar with the culture in elementary school when he cram his studies and it’s not impossible for him to do.

“Then, I have to make a shady place rather than a bright place so that they would not notice that the eggs were fake from a distance. And the others would find it hard to flock on us. It must be a well-hidden place.”

A few Chronodons would appear and would pretty much ignore to be cautious.

It was not an exaggeration that Weed’s stone sculptures were excellent. Those round white stone sculptures then using tree branches to make a bird’s nest and spread it naturally.

The Orcs prepared 8 large stones!

Since he needs to create big bird eggs, The Orcs brought stones which size was already enough that it couldn’t be hugged by the arms.

The Orcs, who were preparing to fight came heavily armed and so they couldn’t bring a lot of heavy stones because they were already tired from wearing their gear.

“I guess it would be better to make more bird eggs than I need. I think having them distracted would make it easier to hide and camouflage.”

Due to the lack of stone, Weed just made the bird egg by baking the soil and putting glaze on it.

Making ceramics includes sophistication and artistry but he just made it so that it had a similar form.
Weed made a perfect nest for the birds to lay their eggs this morning.

If this trap works then they would not be too bad to eat!

A new way on how to use sculpting!

Romuna admired while stroking the stone.

“Wow, excellent work. This big round thing really looks like a bird egg.”

Bellot wandered around the sculptures looking for any flaws.

But she saw they were appetizing bird eggs.

“Sculpting in this type of style, I never thought it was possible. I didn’t know too much about sculptures, but it appears there really is no limit to sculpting.“

Whenever the sun rises, the Chronodons will start to come in flocks. His friends already became excited about what would happen.

A Chronodon was flying over the El Nath Mountains.

Weed and his friends, along with the Orcs are completely disguised and hid their bodies in a large pit around the bushes.

Weed wanted the Orcs to follow his orders better so he changed into Karichwi. The body of the Chronodon was visible from the sky as they hid stealthily between the leafs.

‘Come on down.’

Anxiously waiting they sat down on the ground as the sounds of the Chronodon crying echoed through the sky.

The Chronodon was looking for its breakfast and noticed the bird eggs that were placed under the valley. It checked if there were any other hostile monsters or other Chronodons on the ground as they would contend over the food.

“Charge!”

“Finish them.”

When the Chronodon went down to the ground, the Orcs who were hiding rushed in.

The steel snare activated and threw a steel net to capture it.

The Chronodon emitted flames, but the more experienced Orc warriors carefully sidestepped the fire and attacked the trapped Chronodon.

The Orcs have succeeded in the hunting of the Chronodons.
Remaining Number for the Quest: 34

You have acquired a Chronodon leather.

“Good start!”

After a while, Chronodons came back and Orcs started hunting.

Because of the excellent position of the traps and the combat abilities of the Orcs, the hunt went easier than they thought it would be.

By noon, a total of 7 Chronodons were caught!

Weed was fighting as an Orc thus their hunting speed was very fast. The best moments for the Orcs to attack the Chronodons was when they opened their beaks to tear apart the eggs and swallow them.

The sun was in its zenith floating up high as Weed and the Orcs ate a meal of dried jerky at noon. There was no damage to the Orcs yet, and the quest was safely proceeding.

In the afternoon, the Chronodons entered as packs of 3s or 2s.

‘To prevent damage to the Orc army, we need to rest a little.’

Regardless if it was a pack of 2 or 3 Chronodons, they were beaten down to the ground by the Orcs without hesitation.

With Weed’s Charisma, they quickly threw the nets in order to poke them with a spear using close combat.

The hunting was easy, due to the best Orc warriors present in the hunting tribe. Weed’s level was high and the chronodons which were fallen and trapped in the nets weren’t a threat anymore.

Then, things started happening when only 21 were left to finish the quest.

In the sky, a total of 5 chronodons appeared at once.

And then he turned around to scout the place, after which 3 chronodons landed down to earth.
Pale who was behind and came along as a spectator, gulped.

‘You might get caught this time.’’

Weed’s friends were nervous.

The problem would arise if the three Chronodons realized that the eggs are fake. A greater crisis would then occur if the Chronodons in the sky also joins the battle after Orcs start attacking.

Weed didn’t find the whole quest as difficult, but he found it problematic if the Orcs would be roasted by the fire and couldn’t get out.

‘They should start eating it now, isn’t it? They would notice it that the eggs are fake.’

‘Quickly hunt those 3 Chronodons and step back to wait for the next opportunity……’

Romuna and Surka became anxious when they saw the Orcs at risk.

Since Weed had not signaled the Orcs to run out, the Orcs still hid and did not come out of their hiding.

The Chronodons approached to eat the eggs.

It’d be wiser to use the opportunity rather than doing nothing.

The Chronodons pecked out the bird eggs with their beaks.

After the outer shell of the fake egg was broken, the fragrance of meat started leaking!

Chronodons swallowed up the small eggs as whole, that were scattered around.

– Eukekeke (Delicious)

– Ukkyakkya, ukkyalu (Gives taste. It’s the best taste. I haven’t eaten such a delicious egg in the history of my flying around.)

– Kiyalululu (That is why we won’t break the eggs).

The two of the Chronodons which were flying in circles landed down to eat the eggs.
Weed cooked these.

The Chronodons landed on a place closest to the eggs without stepping on them.

The outer shell was made using baked soil, and the inner contents were egg and ostrich egg contents.

– The Chronodons have praised you on how delicious the food that they ate was.

Cooking Skill proficiency has increased.

He got through the monster by using his mastery in Cooking Skill.

For Weed, this is not a very good news since the monsters were eating without paying!

He could not forgive free eating customers.

‘No one will get away.’

Weed gestured the Orcs to go for a sneaky approach.

They went to the nets once the Chronodons were caught in order to bombard them.

The Chronodons ate as their minds became occupied and did not already know what was happening in the vicinity.

“Attack!”

Weed along with the Orcs, struck at them all at once.

They cast a snare into their wings and legs then covered them with the net.

A perfect surprise in the middle of eating!

And Weed used his skill.

“Sculpting Blade!”

A simple but effective skill with destructive power!

Although he could use Moonlight Sculpting Blade, he has low mana with his state as an Orc.
Chronodons breathe fire as they were trapped in their nets and snares. However, they also placed hidden water on the rocks to the place where the bird egg were set up in advance.

Weed was prepared for the situation, just in case things didn’t go as planned he had set even more traps to counter the Chronodons.

In some of the large clay bird eggs, the Orcs smashed the shell and jumped out which surprised the Chronodons.

Due to your outstanding commanding ability, Leadership has increased by 1.

After hunting 5 altogether, only 16 Chronodons were left to be killed to complete the quest. Even though the bird eggs that they created has slightly decreased, more than half of the target monsters were already killed.

“Karichwi, you really have the qualities of an Orc Lord. Chwiichwiig!”

“Many of your Orc tricks are cunning. chwis.”

Weed received a lot of praises from the Orcs to himself.

“Today, before the stars comes up, chwichiwchwis. We can do it in no time, chwichwichwiig.”

“If these guys get away, chwichwig. And bring their kin. We’re all dead. chwischwis!”

“Karichwi is the pride of the Orcs, chwiiig. Karichwi, I assure you that we are like brothers even if we are going to go away and live together, chwiiiiik!”

The Orcs talked among themselves.

Weed was gazing at the sky and was effortlessly waiting for the Chronodons to appear.
Then, when he was listening to the stories of the Orcs, he suddenly got a goosebumps.

He’s even more shocked compared to when the 5 Chronodons appeared.

“What do you mean when you said you leave and live with me, chwiik.”

“Moratna, chwik.”

“Going to see Karichwi in Moratna. Stupid chwiiichwichichig.”

“Tell me about it, chiichwii. I’m going to be happy.”

“Karichwi living with his Bursilia brothers. North of the Continent, where some went to find the house of Karichwi. Chwichichwiig.”

Weed’s face turned yellow.

“And, a few of them went? chwichwis.”

“It’s only 150,000, chwig. Don’t you like it. Chwiik!”

“If Karicwhi is glad, chwichichwis. you can tell by his face, it is very obvious.”

“Congratulations, Karichwi. Chwichichichwis.”

The Morata that he cherished and raised was eventually going to be visited by flock of Orcs!

Since Weed also experienced the life of an Orc, he had no extreme prejudice against them.

He was proud of the culture and architecture of Morata and he did not have any discrimination against Orcs.

The Orc species itself is already attractive enough. But, with the nature of the Orcs species, they do not pay taxes on their city or kingdom.

‘I heard that if the Orcs were forced to pay taxes, they would do riots…..’

That was paying no taxes on Weed’s territory. What’s worse is when the Orcs did a large scale breeding. It’s too painful to imagine!

‘’No, they’ll still never safely reach the far north. The sense of direction the Orcs are really poor. With their sense of direction, if they met dangerous monsters, they would die. And I did not hear the news so how are they going to go access the land up north.’

If the Orcs does not have any Sea Navigation Skill, it would be more dangerous. These 150,000 Orcs residing there would already be a tremendous power but it is already a given that this long-distance migration is not going to go smoothly.

‘At best, they would make a log raft, take it with them and go. They may reach the wrong place and the ocean currents will sweep them away. With the poorly made raft, the rope would unwind then they would be swept and will not even have the chance to swim through the waves hitting them. At least one whirlpool and storm would sweep them away……’

Weed was hoping for the annihilation of the Orcs.

***

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin.

During the trip to the Jigolaths, Weed had met the three sharks during his trip and had enjoyed the company of the pirates on board for the most part. The ghost ship sailed, the first mates and rowers travelled widely around the seas, plundering and trading at random places here and there.

“Hoist up the sails. Let’s go plundering!”

They were people who enjoy the freedom of the sea!

The damage between the fleets of Pirate King Griffith and Drinfield have grown extensively.

Previously, Griffith had observed etiquette and admitted his wrongs in small doses, but now the pirate ships within Griffith’s influence have expanded to a point where his desires grew as well. By using the treasure map he found by chance, he was able to find buried pirate treasure.
Whenever he raises his pirate flag, he was able to command a kraken.

In most kingdoms, a price was put on their heads as the three mad sharks of Becky Nin became the deities of the pirate world.

To consider only those ships in the pirate fleet, there were now more than 30.

“What are those?”

“Seems like Orcs, Captain!”

They discovered an Orc group which was cutting trees in the seashore. Young and old, there were many Orcs who were making a raft to get a ride across.

Orc Lord Seechwi!

She and Geomchi2 both joined on this to head North with a bunch of Orcs .

Seechwi had been tasked to lead the Orcs and was meticulously preparing by taking massive amounts of wood.

In order for the Orcs to travel to the North, the imported food they brought was insufficient. They are unable to hunt while moving and other kingdoms do not have open borders for the Orcs.

The Orcs could only inevitably choose the ocean.

Some Orcs were glad they were lucky enough to go to Morata.

“Orcs attack and hoard experience by doing things constantly. I do not know if there will be any loot.”

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin were looking at the thousands of Orcs that were going to the sea, they looked at all of the chieftains that could raise their levels.

If they shot the rafts made by those Orcs, they could easily earn experience points.

However, Seechwi found them and kindly advised them.

“We’re going to go to Morata, chwichwichis. Please don’t disturb us, chwiim!”

Unfortunately, the 3 Mad Shark Becky-nin did not have any sympathy for the female Orcs. But they were very curious as to why Orcs are going to go live in Morata.

“What’s going on?”

“Orc Karichwi, chwis! No, Weed-nim, we’re going to migrate to Morata with Weed-nim. Chwichwichwiig!”

Hye, Fractal and Board Mir always recalled Weed whenever they were drinking.

“Our teacher is actually not different from God of War Weed. We learned the bad things from him. Yet, we can’t even go toe-to-toe with him.”

Now looking back, bad things happen whenever their destiny tries to meet with Weed. They could become famous and do their wicked deeds properly because of what they’ve learned.

Although, every time they do wicked deeds to Weed they still lived so it doesn’t really matter at all. Unfortunately(?), the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky-Nin are not really evil by nature. Becoming famous among the pirates, Drinfelt and Griffith were thinking they had a great debt to Weed giving a weak point in the seas and allowing them to dominate.
[TL: That question mark was left by the author]

“Lets let them ride on our ship.”

“Aren’t those Orcs too much?”

“I know some people among the sailors and the crew who knows how to make ships.”

“Most of us knows a little bit.”

If one lived long enough on a ship, their Shipbuilding skills would naturally increase its proficiency until Beginner Level 3.

“All of you go and help the Orcs make their boats. Even building a simple raft would also increase your Shipbuilding Skill. “

“Is that a good plan?”

Hye, Fractal and Board Mir did it as if it was their job and helped with the migration of the Orcs. The time to create the rafts has been greatly reduced and they gave a course guide about voyaging in the sea as well.

Chapter 5: The Birth of Ceramists

Ever since the hunting of the Chronodons by the Orcs started, there were no still accidents that happened. The bird eggs were so well made that they were already enough to attract the Chronodons. There were also the skillful warriors and hunter Orcs to take into account.

When there was only 4 left for the completion of the quest, 6 of them suddenly appeared all at once.

Every second was a dangerous moment.

‘This is the end.’

All six of them descended to the earth as Weed and the fearless Orcs waited for a surprise attack.

“Chwiiik, Catch those bastards.”

“Don’t forget the revenge for the Orcs. chwis!”

“Let’s defeat these guys and go back to Bursilia. chwiicwhiiiig!”

Although it was the final attack, the Orcs were still not careless and distracted. While there was also some mild behaviors, Weed’s leadership and nagging while keeping an eye on them kept them from doing so.

– Kkaeraek Kkaeraek(It’s a trap. Let’s escape).

– Kkiet (Let’s eat the bird egg)!

A struggle between the Chronodons!

After the 4 climbed up the beautiful net, it was already easy enough to hunt the remaining two.

The Chronodons breathed flames as they were caught on the net. But, it was a slow process.

It’s like there are spoon and chopsticks on the dining table for this quest. There were different ways to handle the situation!

Then, a voice was heard from the skies.

– Kkukkkyeeeeee(The Orcs are attacking our kin)!

There was 1 Chronodon that was passing by and witnessed the spectacle.

– Kyalalululu!

– Kukekyaaaaalog!

– Keukikeuki!

The Chronodons who were in the net and the Chronodon in the skies were having a conversation. Given the circumstances, their words were probably asking them to be rescued.

But the Chronodon who was flying through the sky changed its path and did not come down to land. Perhaps it was going to go back and lead a bunch of its kin.

“Weed! What do we do?”

Pale and his other party members who were hiding and just sightseeing sprang out in surprise.

They saw that their own kin was being hunted so the Chronodons would probably come back for revenge.

A huge crisis might fall upon them.

“Once I deal with these guys. chwiiig!”

Weed thoroughly eliminated the Chronodons who were hanging on the net.

The Orcs killing all 35 Chronodons has been completed.
You have accomplished the terms of the quest.

Sculpting Mastery has increased.

The reputation of Orcs as Sculptors will improve.

Leadership has increased by 4.

Quest complete!

Weed commanded the Orcs.

“Orcs, go back first. chwiik!”

“Karicwhi, no way… chwis.”

“Chwichwichwis, please could you…..”

The eyes of the Orcs turned fierce.

“It’s not going to be fair to leave you alone to eat these delicious eggs, chwiichwiiiik!”

“If it’s really bad for Orcs, chwichichwig. Then we should split it and eat them with each other.”

The Orcs’ thinking was just up to that level.

Bellot just sighed dramatically.

‘Idiot Orcs, I’m just trying to tell them I’m going to send them first. To protect them from being caught by the Chronodons…..!’

Weed became stuck thinking about how to deal with the situation when his face suddenly toughened.

“You guys, go first, chwiiik. I’m going to guard the back of my brothers, chwis!”

The Orcs were really going to fight to the end that’s why Weed encouraged them twice to thrice harder. When they all had disappeared, he dispelled his Sculptural Transformation. The Orcs were surprisingly sharp, that’s why he was quite surprised.

“Whew, they almost got caught!”

“Weed-nim, do you have any plan?”

Pale felt something and asked.

In this situation, when Weed sent the Orcs first, he’s got to have some ulterior motive.

“Let’s just first eat these bird eggs together.”

There were still remaining bird eggs that were not broken!

The flames, discharged by the Chronodons during the battle, had cooked the eggs perfectly and deliciously.

He sprinkled the salt, that he created in his journey to Jigolath and ate the eggs together with his party.

***

1 of the Chronodons flew back to their lair.

‘The Orcs killed them all. I’m not going to leave even 1 of them alive.’

If the leader of the Chronodons led them, they could surely avenge their resentments.

When they arrived back to the nests as quickly as possible, their kin was nowhere to be found. It was only filled with traces of the battle that took place nearby along with the lingering scent of salted eggs.

“Kkuwoo?”

The Wyverns, Goldman and Bingryong were at the nest looking at the Chronodons.

At that time, it was projected that there were 10,000 Orcs that raided the nest of the Chronodons.

The Orcs suffered considerable damage while Bingryong and the Wyverns had succeeded in their activities to wipe out the Chronodons.

***

“Chwik. Karichwi, you are just too great. Chwichichig. Without a doubt an incredibly amazing and exceptional Orc.”

Weed went back to Bursilia and lots of praises poured in from the Orc Lord Bulchwi. The fame of Karichwi and his fame with the female Orcs had increased further as well. It was an obvious fact that the males felt nothing but envy towards Karichwi.

“First, I spoke to all of the Orcs, chwichichik. And many of the Orcs believe that sculptures, to the Orcs, are also extremely important, chiwchichik. I, Bulchwi, must also admit it as well, chwik.”

Battle Against Chronodons completed
It is shown that the Orcs are born warriors and have great physical strength.
The flying Chronodons have showed their weakness and you achieved victory based on sculpting.
The territory of the Orcs will expand out on Gray Lake and El Nath Mountains.
Although there were a lot of unknown monsters, the Orcs will think you can overcome any crisis well.
Orc Lord Bulchwi will have respect for sculptures and Orc Sculptors within the tribe will be given more preference.

Fame has increased by 2960

All stats has increased by 3

Friendship with Orcs has increased.
Orc sculptures will be respected better.

The Orcs will develop the culture and knowledge about Sculpting.

Among the innumerable sculptures they are able to create, there would be a high possibility that there would be unique pieces that the Humans and the Dwarves are unable to create to be born.

This Orc culture made their inner unity become even more firm.
The birth rate of Orc Shamans and Druids has increased.
Through sculptures, they will be able to pass their skills on hunting to their young Orcs.

The Orc Heroes created solidarity between the Orcs species.

Weed solved the quest but rather than rejoicing, he felt as if something was off.

With his Sculpting Master Quest, in the end, he felt that it was somewhat empty!

“This sculpture, chwis. Seems to have improved. Ratzeburg, I’ve been thinking a lot about it. The Orcs have laughed at and played with the Dwarves as if they were toys. Chwiiig!”

Neither past nor the present story between the Orcs and Dwarves was good. Orcs were the most disliked race and were bad with relationships, the Dwarves were also the race the Orcs particularly hated.

“Though in fact, chwichichwig. I want to apologize to them. Karichwi, I’m trying to give them sculpture as a gift, chiwchichwig. We want you to take this job, chwiiiig.”

Relation Improvement of the Orcs and Dwarves

Orc Lord Bulchwi have known the truth about Ratzeburg and replaced his thoughts about sculptures. Their narrow-mindedness and intolerance caused a division between the disagreeable nature of the Dwarves and them. Apologize first to reconcile with the dwarves.

Because of the generosity of the Orcs, you would probably reach out to the dwarves.
Difficulty: | Sculpting Master Quest
Quest Limit: | Sculpting Advanced Level 8 or higher.
| Must have a close relationship with the Dwarves.

Weed then nodded.

“The Dwarves has beer already embedded in their loud and boorish beards, chwichichichichig! I guess meeting and talking with them is really going to be a bother, chwik!”

– You have accepted the quest

***

“Kehehehe, finally done!”

Mapan was riding his wagon and arrived at Hilswade Castle.

The big shops in the capital of Aidern Kingdom were often selling a lot of luxury goods!

“Hmmm, I don’t really whether could I get a reasonable price for these.”

Mapan bought the ceramics made by Weed along with the ceramics made by their friends in Montvertruria.

His merchant wits felt something, he seemed to be a little salty about his earnings on buying those ceramics.

Weed’s ceramics cost 30 gold each!

Bargaining and selling artwork was difficult; errors could easily be made and the price wasn’t even certain. With Weed’s prior experience in the past on making proper ceramics, it ended up getting sold 30 gold per piece.

Of course, the ceramics that the others made did not even hit outside 5 silver.

“I wonder if this can really sell. I don’t really know, but the market price is going to be a big adventure.”

Mapan carefully steered his wagons containing full of ceramics and headed for the shopping district.

The trading post was surrounded by the residents while bustling sounds could be heard.

“The world is truly difficult to live on.”

The most notable traders that could be seen were importing glass ornamentals and were earning a lot of money. What will I be able to buy with that kind of money?

“Floor carpets are a very rare sight these days. If it was to be sold today, a lot of people would still buy even though it is a little expensive…”

“In the next few weeks, wine created from grapes will come out. In this neighborhood, although it is popular, wouldn’t it be better to bring and sell it on a further location? Oh yeah, there’s also wine that comes from Morata of the north. I wonder what is the taste of wine there. In Aidern Kingdom, the flavor is rich, although a little distasteful but the wine still sells well.”

The words from the residents were a very valuable source of information for the merchants.

Looking at the small portion of the goods in the Versailles Continent could help set what the trend would be.

For Mapan to have an increased prestige and charm, he wore commercial expensive clothes and got out of a carriage.

“The ceramics would probably sell better…..”

His heart was pounding as he opened the door to the bowl store and entered.

With Hilswade Castle being a fairly large place, more than 20 users were picking bowls. Merchants, cooks, there were such a huge variety of people that were purchasing house bowls.

“What brings you here?”

“Just came to sell some things.”

“Let me see it.”

Mapan took out three water jugs and bowls Weed made from his bag.

The shop owner carefully looked at the bowl and shook his head.

“If you did not know, there are also shops in the mountains where you could buy these products.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Mapan felt embarrassment about the bowls as his face reddened.

“Hihi!’

“Look at him. He’s completely embarrassed from importing cheap bowls.”

“I agree. How useless must it be that a store doesn’t buy them. If it’s passable, I might just give it a shot.”

“When people can’t use it, is it not supposed to be sold to the Goblins?”

In the Versailles Continent, most of the novice traders are a pain in the ass and would just indiscreetly laugh at you!

The merchant attire that Mapan was currently wearing was acquired by going around with the Geomchis and was a rare equipment that’s why users would usually not recognize it.

But, the shop owner of the bowls continued and said.

“I don’t really know much about art. This valuable work is supposed to be used for holding food or drinks, right?”

“Yeah?”

“You could see these kinds of artworks in luxury good shops and art exchanges.”

With your high valued goods, Fame has increased by 2.

Mapan’s heart rate accelerated.

‘Jackpot!’

Considering the deceptive nature of Weed, what he brought was quite sensitive. But it seemed to be worth at least 30 gold.

Mapan went to see the store owner of the luxury shop of bowls by looking for the store name. If he had any expensive items, this was where they supposedly did business.

He showed the ceramics to the owner to find out their prices.

“Well. This bowl… The color is beautiful and the finished quality is quite excellent. It’s going to be noticed by a lot of nobles. Merchant Mapan, I have stumbled on your name quite a few times. I heard that you were oftenly trading quality good products and have a good reputation in this particular field, I would be generous and give 220 gold for each one.”

It’s already 7 times the amount he had paid Weed, and as for the profit one gets for specialty goods, it was a huge amount!

Besides, Weed created it using dirt, water, fire so the price to produce it is even second to none. Right now, selling and trading it would reap benefits since this it was considered as a profitable business and merchants embraced something that would give tremendous experience and fame.

But, Mapan grabbed the opportunity once it came into view rather than sell. Since he has good items to sell, it was possible for him to ask for more money.

Of course, in the worst case scenario, his intimacy will fall and he would not be able to make another transaction then just go to another kingdom to trade.

“Did you know who did this work, how could it be that the best selling price is at that? It upsets me that you believe that it was a good price for what I brought.”

Mapan slightly noticed that he will come out strongly if he sold out Weed’s name.

“Let’s see. What the… I made such a mistake! It’s the work of the most famous sculptor and adventurer Weed! My whole life, it was my real desire to see Weed’s sculptures.”

Your first trade has succeeded.
Due to selling items, your accounting skill has increased by 0.9%.

The price of Weed’s sculptures was influenced by his fame and received an increase in its price.

Due to the numerous adventures of Weed, it was already something normal that he already had a certain level of intimacy with any resident. As the merchants always have wanted, it was their dream to sell trading goods at an overpriced price.

Mapan swallowed his saliva and was thrilled.

It was an exhilarating moment like when a warrior is hunting for a dragon.

“Considering the person who created this, I’m not going to sell this stuff if I was you! These rare bowls of yours are difficult to come by. 280 per piece would be fine. What do you think? Would you sell?”

The gold offered was 50 gold more than what he originally expected. However, the greed of these merchants would always want themselves getting the premium.

“It’s not what I expected. I will go and investigate on five other places.”

“315 gold! For anything more, look for His Majesty the King, it’s not really practical for a house. What do you think? I think this is fine so would you sell it to me at this price?

Your second trade has succeeded.
Due to selling items, Accounting Skill mastery has increased by 1.2%.

Mapan was also now getting rejected at luxury stores and since it’s difficult to deal with the shops, the correct decision should be to come back to Hilswade Castle.

But, his greed was still the one who took over.

“Well, I think it is a little lower than the ideal price… Didn’t you know that these goods are priceless?”

“Hmmm. Even so, I could only purchase it until 326 gold.”

Your third trade has succeeded
Due to selling items, your Accounting Skill mastery has increased by 1.7%
You have received the ‘Clever Merchant in Selling Valuable Goods’ title.
As a well-known merchant, you would be able to receive and increase in price from the shop owners.

The third trade which was quite tricky also succeeded.

Those were the success stories on the merchant boards are on this level that week.
The weekly success stories on the merchant boards If the conditions for trading goods was good, a positive reputation should spread. With high intimacy, there would be an increased possibility of frequent buyers but rather, there’s also the risk of failure and it would be difficult to even attempt to bargain.

The presence of him being Merchant Mapan was not really on the bad side, that’s also why he succeeded on bargaining a deal even on his third attempt.

‘Where is going to be the fourth?”

Of course, if his 4th bargain is to be successful, not only his accounting skill but he will also be able to get a tremendous reputation and trading gains.

He wasn’t even sure whether they could receive special titles, since other merchants hadn’t until now.

“I will sell.”

“Thank you very much!”

Mapan had to stop here.

Merchants knew very well that people with excessive greed can only be called as madness.

Right now, Weed’s ceramics is currently more valuable than a priceless treasure. If afterward a lot of pieces has been released, the prices will fall and would even have a stricter quality check. For now, this level of fine luxury was alright.

You have sold works of art and reaped massive profits in the trade
Fame has increased by 3697.
Art has increased by 2.

The traders looked at the message window that floated.

A new trading item, ‘Ceramic’ has been registered in your inventory.

Since that time, they paid close attention to the what the residents of Aidern Kingdom were saying.

“Have you seen my ceramics? Have you? It has a very clear color and an elegant appearance…
Believe it or not, this is the best jug!

“Sculptor Weed created another great work of art. Ceramics! They were favorite artworks of nobles and rich people that’s why each of the merchants was currently contesting.”

“They said that there is an opportunity to have one of Weed’s works in Hilswade Castle. I think that Merchant Mapan is going to be the next person with great wealth. It would be awesome if you could get regular dealings with him as in the position of those shops.”

– Ceramic is creating a trend.
In Versailles Continent, Kings and nobles desire ceramics.
Although you can sell this in any shop, you can receive a specialty product treatment.
If you sell in large quantities, you could get contribution points for the city.

And furthermore, a new thing happened.

– The Ceramist profession has been created.
A sculptor can change his job to a ceramist, having to make ceramics professionally his profession.
Knowing how to handle clay and fire, this is a job that belongs to the hands the fastest growing handicraft.

New artworks could now be created by this new profession.

***

“Whew….”

Lee Hyun went to his school on foot.

Listening to lectures, eating lunch then going home was his university life!

“This University has no romanticism!”

Actually, Lee Hyun never attended MTs, Club Meetings, sports competitions, or conferences. He never attended all the non-required activities, that’s why he wasn’t really worthy of saying these words that came out from his mouth.

But the truth was, Universities were already being caught up in winning employment wars.

The second year students were already preparing for their future on certifications and language studies. It was ordinary to build up experiences in the related companies. Students preparing for the Civil Service Exam were easy to find and could be found everywhere.
[TL: Civil Service Examination is like exam boards but for those who wants to be government employees which is implemented in a lot of countries.]

“It looks like the era of working to become slaves of the government and companies is growing and the era of living as beggars has come nearer..”

“The world is still land.”

Land Investment!

There was a celebration next week in the Korea University since each of the departments had been readying for the season. Even though the freshmen were tired and not in their right senses.

“I will not go to school during those days, I will just go and play Royal Road.”

Lee Hyun strongly decided.

At that time, the students were reminiscing about their memories when they had enjoyed the festivities, but Lee Hyun only thought about the money people earned and how he could earn money as well.

So far, he was consistently earning considerable amounts of money in Royal Road from the auction items. He was piling up his savings from the salary he was receiving from the adventure videos relayed by the broadcasting stations. Recently, he was being just a little envious about those wealthy kids who had been born wealthy.

Not even a funny comedy program could make him show a very heartwarming smile compared to his hidden account deep inside his drawer.

“Hyung, Hello!”

Park Soon-jo pleasantly greeted him.

“You’re early.”

“Yes. Not long ago, I just finished the quest I was doing.”

Nowadays, it could be noticed who were suffering on quests and Park Soon-jo must be finished on his since his look turned brighter.

He had successfully completed his Thief quest with several stages which is what he called the greatest adventure.

“Hyung, would you like to know about my quest?”

“Oh, the lecture is going to start so if there’s still time then tell me about it.”

“At first, it just started from a simple request from the Thieves Guild. Then I was asked to deliver one gray cloak.”

Sometimes, chain quests lead to quests with a whopping eight times significant increase in scale and difficulty. After finishing a chain quest, the residents of the Bansen Area would usually talk about Thief Nide and talk about him. But it was such large quest that it had already grown larger than usual and was spreading far.

“Have you ever heard of Thief Nide? If Joo Yung-nim finds that thief, he would definitely kill him.”

“Joo Yung-nim had one of the most prized magic items, but someone stole it. The thief fled to some dungeon with it!”

“A great deal of trouble has been done by that thief called Nide. In the dungeon, it seems Nide discovered something great and has it.”

Because it was a quest obtained from the Thieves Guild, after completing the quest, he also gained notoriety. Not only that but he also got a thief class exclusive item which is the Pelwi Thief Gloves.
[TL: Park Soon-jo is Thief Nide, it’s weird how he didn’t tell the story of him being Nide.”]

“Wow, I’m jealous. I am telling you, the items you get are very high level.”

“Hyung is also high level.”

“I’m what? I need to earn just to save my family and feed them.”

Seoyoon laid down her bag and sat next to Lee Hyun.

It was as if suddenly, that was a fixed seat for Seoyoon as it was the only place she sat on.

“Good morning.”

Park Soon-jo greeted her and Seoyoon merely received it by nodding her head slightly.

This overbearing and the natural beauty!

‘Elegant, she’s actually prettier today compared to yesterday.’

By her simply accepting his greeting, Park Soon-jo was already feeling glorified. Just the fact that Seoyoon knows about you was already enough to give boundless joy.

Thanks to being friends with Lee Hyun he could also sit near Seoyoon.

For most people as long as they were given lunch boxes for lunch time for a year by her and have a warm bonding time, then it would be the happiest memories of their living life. But as for Lee Hyun…

“Yesterday, the bacon omurice was tasteless.”
[TN: Omurice is Omelette-Rice]

“I slept late that’s why I did not have the time to prepare it. Today is the seafood nutrition meal with boiled potatoes, is it alright?”

“It’s delicious.”

Some people were murmuring in the distance as they saw and heard the conversation between Lee Hyun and Seoyoon. Lee Hyun was sometimes seen as the best hyung, but he was also infinitely hated and envied.

***

During the start of the class, the assistant came.

“Okay, okay! Today, your professor is going to be a little late.”

“Then, is it canceled?”

“No. Because of the academic calendar requirement, it couldn’t be canceled so please just wait for 40 minutes!”

Lee Hyun did not really have any love for studying. But, the more they did this, the more his college tuition will be wasted!

But it was not like the time when if the train arrived late, you would get a refund fee. When the classes get canceled or end early, the fees were not even being returned.

“This is an unreasonable and pre-modern system. Also, with the corruption of the foundation of the school, it’s like digging for underground water and when water surges, they are not prepared!.”

How come that the irregularities regarding the school foundation could only be seen by Lee Hyun.

Some of the students said.

“Now is the time for the Stories of Versailles Continent… isn’t it?”

“Yes!”

The students turned on the big TV that was installed on the classroom wall.

The program just started, Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo Wan described the contents of the broadcast.

“Today, we sure are to tell a lot of facts. Mr. Oh Joo Wan, is there any news that you prepared for us?”

“Yes, if you’re curious about the best, this is the video of the Battle on Bard Ray’s Quest and it will continue until it is live for Part 1.

The eyes of the students brighten as they looked forward to it.

“Wow, we can see the fight of Bard Ray?”

“Last time, him fighting with the army of Kallamore Kingdom was a big hit.”

“He is undisputedly the Versailles Continent’s best user. Giving him that is already pretty much by default.”

He is the King of Haven Kingdom and Hermes Guild.

It’s not even an exaggeration to say that Bard Ray’s military force belongs to the best and majority people are just afraid or jealous.

“I think there’s a lot about the Black Knight’s Quest last week. And it’s also about the invaders and I think that the majority of the contents is about that fight.”

“Yeah. Bard Ray doing his Profession Master Quest is already a thing that a lot of the viewers probably knows.”

“Profession Quest of a Black Knight, due to its background, would have a lot of challenging battles that would be needed to overcome. I’m currently working on the story regarding the background of this war. In a few moments, we’ll watch that part of the video for more information.”

If everyone wants to see the battle of Bard Ray, then they would have the right to organize and broadcast it off time.

Even Lee Hyun was usually seeing a lot of videos of the battles of Bard Ray.

The enormous strength and skill of a Black Knight was well executed and it showed a flashy fight for the eyes of those who watched!

There was one who always used excessive force who was nicknamed “The General” but his efforts was all for nothing since it was still not enough to prove it.

“Then, about the recent trends of the Embinyu Church. These are the videos of the result of the wars in these past three days. Now, are you prepared on the news for the merchants?”

“Yes. And this news leads to surprising events. Ceramics is being extremely popular among the nobility recently. And Ceramist as a new profession has been created for the art department.”

“There was a lot of rumors that this tremendous impact was produced by the ceramics made by Weed. Whether this part is a fact or not, we will let you know through the reporters. We have information for those novice users who will select the Ceramist profession which we will be covering along the way, so don’t miss it.”

“An introduction to hidden dungeons and hunting grounds, still unresolved high difficulty quests, bizarre events that are taking place every day in Palemo Castle, and also the recent news about Monka and Morata will be continued in Part 2. We will continue after these advertisements.”

The students were hoping for the lecture to start late as long as possible. They were not in the mood to study since they are immersed on the television.

“Solaya, we are telling you now to go to Morata. It’s great. There’s a lot to be noted at today’s broadcast.”

“Are you coming to Morata? Come and see, send us a whisper Prudin. I’m currently in Morata.”

“Since when were you there?”

“A pretty long time now! It’s also the place being governed by God of War Weed. I’ve really been originally interested in the North.”

The adventures in Morata were also being enjoyed by the students.

Chapter 6: Forge of Hestia

“At this point, I need to endure this.”

During his quest, Bard Ray was teleported and sent to the middle of a battlefield.

In the history of the Versailles Continent, it was The Battle of Kelton Kingdom and Mapon Kingdom!

Bard Ray was currently wearing the suit of the Kelton Kingdom.

“Not bad. Fights like these…”

Bard Ray pulled out his sword.

Soldiers of Mapon Kingdom rode on horses as their gallop resounded on the earth. Dust clouds and long ringing sounds of the horn that they produced also caused them to feel excitement and fear towards the war.

“Cut up those guys”

“Kelton Kingdom, let’s counterattack and recover our lost ground.”

Bard Ray thrust his sword through the ground.

“Sword Awakening.”

– Turns the potential of the sword to power.
Durability will fall rapidly but the skill effects and damage will increase by 68%.

Since Bard Ray had an absolutely unbreakable sword option, he didn’t need to care about its durability declining.

“Strong Will.”

– Prevents physical deterioration due to damaging of equipment during battle.
Suppresses confusion, paralysis and skill failure.

“Black Knight’s Strike.”

– The first attack and each successful 10 consecutive attacks would activate a lethal wide range skill.

“Summon Sword of Dalun Hana.”
[TL: That actually meant Other One Sword or Different One Sword but then it looked dumb so I just kept the Korean name]

Around the body of Bard Ray, a translucent sword consisting of Mana has been summoned.

– In accordance with your skill level, mana is reduced by 70 per second.
The Sword of Dalun Hana is itself an offensive and defensive move.
It could cut off arrows and magic ranged attacks.

Bard Ray used a Secret Sword Skill. That fact alone was already shocking which also made the users thrilled.

In the continent, there were some Secret Sword Skills users but their masters were very picky in teaching the skills.

Although this fact was already known to some extent, If Bard Ray was the one who used the Secret Sword Skill, the power of its skills would be exhibited properly because of his level and equipment.

“This is just in order to deal with these guys.”

Bard Ray referred to as Royal Road’s “The General” just finished and ready to fight.

Although the soldiers of Mapon Kingdom was the one attacking, it seems to have been short-lived.

***

“Such extravagance!”

“Bard Ray is currently sweeping away the soldiers.”

“That appearance, that mighty power! Bard Ray is showing the viewers the show that they just really want.”

Each of the hosts of the station was raising the heat by their descriptions.

There were series of amazement each time Bard Ray’s attack skills hit, bringing out its destructive power.

Soldiers being killed, even knights, were just being passed and grazed through a few times by his sword before turning into gray.

The army of Mapon Kingdom had been collapsed by just 1 person, Bard Ray.

“Now, it seems like we’re going to give you, the viewers great news.”

Oh Joo Wan conveyed the message.

Not only to KMC media, but this information was also delivered in all of the stations at the same time.

“The Unicorn Corporation said about three minutes ago. That currently, the users that are doing their Profession Master Quest is said to be at 27 people.”

“That many?”

“Yes. And a lot of them are hidden.”

Some of the Versailles Continent’s top players were not deliberately disclosing their information since in some cases, there were some that were falling from their rankings due to disputes.

The users who were proceeding in doing their Profession Master Quest usually proceeded on doing it secretly since it will be troublesome and to avoid interference.

You don’t need to say the same about Dark Gamers and reclusive type high-level players.

“This was released by the personnel of Unicorn Corporation since the nature of each Profession Master Quest does not really overlap nor interfere with each other. Of course, they made sure that the person who was currently conducting it is kept secret. But, the people doing their Profession Master Quest by themselves was said to be at five people.”

“Do you have a clue of these other famous people who is not Weed and Bard Ray?”

“For those people who are doing their Profession Master Quest, I’m about to say a couple of them. I know a person who is currently active in a famous guild. Among them, some of the viewers might know who this is, is Adventurer Chase.”

“Wow! Chase-nim is currently doing his Profession Master Quest! Somehow, his name is not something that is often heard in the taverns lately.”

“He was an adventurer that has frequently been rising and has been the talk of the people because of his special discoveries and commissions that he must complete. For a while, Adventurer Chase did not appear that easily even in the famous cities in the continent since he was proceeding with his profession and its nature.”

Chase was very active on the Hall of Fame in the past.

Although the people who played an active part on the ruins could only be counted on one finger, it was already enough to be called a great adventure.

Shin Hye-min was checking a monitor for the reaction of the viewers in the boards while she followed his words.

“Then again, let’s go back to the contents of the announcement of Unicorn Corporation. Mr. Oh Joo Wan, are there any more stories to be unveiled?”

“Yes. This information would likely be useful to the users who are currently doing their Profession Master Quest.”

“There would probably a lot of difficulties for the users who are first to try. I’m happy if we could help them a little. What kind of news is this?”

“So far, with the operating policy of Unicorn Company the detailed material about it is not yet known. The users must find about it themselves. However, each Profession Master Quest is said to consist of at least twelve stages to twenty stages.”

Shin Hye-min had a charming face mixed with a face about to cry.

“Oh my. Those series of quests are so many, I think it made me dizzy.”

“The quest could just also easily proceed even though they put a lot of stages and might actually progress faster than we thought. Also, depending on the contents of the quest and profession, it may also take longer.”

“Then, what is supposed to be the disadvantage?”

“Given that the quests are in accordance with the characteristics of their profession, it would not really help them having different quests. Rather, the Unicorn Company said an important information about the Master Quest…..”

“What is it? What is it?”

“I’ll let you know after these advertisements. It seems even Ms. Shin Hye-min wanted to reveal it as soon as possible. As the Profession Master Quest is progressing, the secret skills for each profession could be obtained one at a time. In addition, the latter half is said to lead on quests that are relevant to those secrets.”

“Wow! Then, I’d like to do my Ranger Master Quest soon.”

“The same is true to me too. It’s only a shame that my profession skills still have not reached it yet. Note that for one to start his Profession Master Quest, one must be at least Advanced Level 6 for the Combat classes, Advanced Level 7 for the Adventurer classes, and Advanced Level 8 for the Art or Production classes.”

“It seems that Combat classes have a little advantage?”

“Even though they would be the first on the starting point to finish the quest, they still need to master their profession skills, so I don’t really see it as much of a benefit. Rather, breaking it down, having insufficient skills, then hoping for an early quest start, then dying during the quest would significantly drop your skill proficiency.”

“If you really are to die in the midst of mastering your profession skills, it would really hurt my heart.”

In order to analyze the impact of the information stated by the Unicorn Company, they deliberately needed a little time off.

The viewers on the boards were already in an uproar.

–

The Master of their Profession. Who will it really be in those 27. Ah, it would be nice if I was one of them. When I connect to Royal Road, I’m too busy playing in eating that my character only increased its Belly Fat.

– | It is going to be a fierce competition behind-the-scenes.

–

I never really had much to talk about until this Profession Master Quest. The news about Weed had already spread even before qualified people appeared and started buzzing in.

– | But perhaps the most ahead are Weed and Bard Ray. The first master should come out from one of them.
– | And ignore Chase-nim? Just how great do you think the adventures of Chase are.
– | Chase-nim is the world’s most outstanding excavator.
– | Now that’s not a problem. In the Profession Master Quest, they’re supposed to acquire their Secret Skills one by one.
– | Bard Ray who now has a Secret Sword Skill will be even more incredible if he gets another one.
– | My point exactly. Right now, he’s stronger than ever.

–

Now that they will receive those in their Profession Master Quest, isn’t it just excessive if they also receive rewards after the quest is fully finished?

– | What could be the rewards?

–

Mastering the profession skills is usually not difficult. Although on intermediate or higher levels, trying to raise their skills even by a step would be very far off to reach. If you consider that there’s probably something…. I don’t really know.

The news made a commotion between the top-ranked players in Royal Road.

***

“Pretty good.”

“I thought so too, Master.”

“Why are we not as great?”

The Geomchis were at Vargo Fortress. They disposed their japtem then had their moment of relaxation as they eat at a tavern.

Then, through a crystal ball, they were watching a video of Bard Ray’s battle.

“That guy has a brilliant technique.”

“He is fighting with ranged attacks quite comfortably.”

“His slash hits their shoulders then pushes through and throws them away. He doesn’t even need to step back for a single time.”

“He has a stiff leg. If he fought while moving a little more, wouldn’t it be more advantageous in terms of skill effects or defense?”

“If he just went 25 meters to the right, then break the sieging machine as he fought along, that would be the best course of action.”

He exhibited his enormous military force and took an active part in it as arrows hit his body. The instructors were clicking their tongue as they were busy watching Bard Ray on what he was doing next.

If the battle was Bard Ray fighting with monsters and 1 versus 1, they wouldn’t be able to find fault with him to that extent. However, because they were judging the situation of this complex battlefield, his mistakes were eye catching since they were considerable.

“The combat ability of Bard Ray is really magnificent. It seems that the soldiers of Mapon Kingdom who were supposed to be attacking are terrified.”

“He’s like a commander of Mapon Kingdom brandishing his whip onto the soldiers. It looks like their attack is not retreating against Bard Ray.”

“The soldiers killed by Bard Ray have already reached over 300 in the news!”

The Geomchi instructors and practitioners were drinking beer and eating chicken as they continued to watch the crystal ball.

“We’re only fighting with the monsters and it’s really boring. If we fought like that, it would rather be fun.”

“Then even come out on television…. are we going to be famous? It looks like they’re strong.”

“Ahem, if it really is just not far away, it really looks thrilling and fun.”

The practitioners were badly yearning for it.

“Just really how much sword skill does Bard Ray have? Just seeing his power, it seems like he’s almost in the state of Master! ”

“A Sword Master! A state that’s really like a dream.”

“In the Versailles Continent, he’s by far the strongest user.”

Geomchi put down a chicken leg on the table.

Of course, none of the meat has remained.

“Geom3.”

“Yes, Master.”

“This so-called Profession Master Quest, can’t we get it?”

“I think we can get it. Geomchi17 have met a samurai who is a Martial Artist on the way as he was wandering around. And he said that once we’re able to deal with any kind of weapon, we need to find him.”

The Weapons Master skill of the Geomchis were already at least Advanced Level 4 reaching up to level 7. Originally, they were not using their attack skills properly and just deals damage purely with their sword up to the utmost limit. The result was, they were able fought with stronger monsters.

“Master, then shall we come for our Profession Master Quest?”

“We’re not. We’re just going to focus on hunting in the vicinity. The disciples should be brought along to form them.”

Although with the level of the Geomchi instructors they could already start the Profession Quest, among the practitioners, there were still some that had a quite low level in their Weapons Master skill.

“Let’s give the boys a little more push until we put them in order. We will not have the quest until they master their Weapons Master skill first.”

“That’s a good idea, Master.”

“Let’s get rid of all the monsters here”

“Come on, we’re going to go to the hunting grounds so let’s fill our bags with dried jerky and barley bread.”

***

The Part 1 of Stories of the Versailles Continent just finished and the classroom was noisy.

“Ah, It’s really amazing.”

“It was really a huge fight. I could just see those fighting stuff on fantasy films.”

“Bard Ray knew that he was going to lead the fight to victory.”

The flagship of Kelton Kingdom was placed in a situation where they needed to endure until Bard Ray returns. But instead, he slaughtered the knights of Mapon Kingdom and did a huge war achievement.

The Kelton Kingdom along with the King greatly praised Bard Ray after he came back. Not only that, while defending the legitimacy of the royal family among the knights, he was very Black Knight-like who was merciless to his enemies and was then given the Sword of the Royal Knight.

It was already enough for those scenes to be imprinted deep into their minds even for those people who did not even like Bard Ray.

“To receive the Sword of Kelton Kingdom, I wish I was Bard Ray.”

Anyone at that moment would have wanted to be the hero himself.

Despite of the bustling noise around, Lee Hyun just quietly watched the television. Suddenly, he felt a slight tingling sensation on his stomach. That sensation was not really pleasant.

His appearance looks well but it seems like his belly seems to have given a more honest response.

“There are 27 people in their Master Quests. There’s really a lot of users that are stronger than bosses.”

“It is Bard Ray yet, my heart does not really want to follow my mind.”

“I want to see or get near Weed at least once. God of War Weed is really cool.”

“Why not go to Morata then?”

“Meeting Weed in Morata is difficult.”

“But still, it’s also an adventure if you walk around all over the place.”
The students felt a trembling chatter.

‘I need to go home to Royal Road’

‘Wait. After properly finishing today’s hunt, I will be level 277.’

‘If I use the item that I received yesterday, it will be easy for me on the future huntings, very easy.’

His motivation to see himself on a broadcast being on Royal Road was being ignited by these students even more.

“Hyung….”

Choi Sang-jun was the type of boasting person.

The professor shortly came, and the lecture took place within the remaining time.

“Today’s lesson ended quickly, seems like I need to give an assignment.”

“Booooo!”

“Professor, that’s too much.”

Lee Hyun just left his Korean Business assignment since for him, it was like a story from a foreign country. In the University, you could get yourself as much as you want to get.

But, Lee Hyun was a bad student and just wanted to receive his diploma.

***

Weed connected again and he appeared where he was at Orc Stronghold Bursilia and the female Orcs needlessly went towards him while sniffing their noses.

The very popular Orc Karichiwi did not go anywhere yet.

“Chwichichwiiiik, It would be nice if they broadcasted the Sculpting Master Quest.”

Weed just had to put up with the inconvenience.

Each of the broadcasting stations was very eager to contact him. There was a competition for the Profession Master Quest of Bard Ray and Weed since if they could broadcast it, it would give a great effect on their publicity.

But Weed’s stance was, his adventures on looking for Ratzeburg and Montvertruria could not be revealed in the broadcast. The information of his Sculpting Master Quest that will be shown is him helping each of the races and restoring the history and art rather than the battles.

In the case of the Black Knight, it was alright since there were a lot of portions of battles that could be broadcasted.

While, the Sculptor Quest on its own was located in historic places that’s why it needs to be a hidden.

If Weed’s location is to be known, the Hermes Guild Team will interfere with him and it’s going to be very burdensome.

The Hermes Guild who attacked the Elf Village has already traced and heard about Weed being in Orc Stronghold Bursilia.

However, there were far too much Orcs in the Orc Stronghold. There were only a bunch of them spying and was looking for an opportunity to invade.

That’s why Weed had to leave the Orc Stronghold.

“Chwichichwis, Those guys are bad for us Orcs and are always insulting us, chug! Chwichichwis, These bad guys are looking to taste us especially our young Orcs!”

Weed told Orc Lord Bulchwi to dedicate himself on telling lies about the Hermes Guild Team and then left Bursilia.

After that, he did not really had any interest on what happened next.

***

Weed arrived at the place after asking for Yurin to bring him to his castle in Morata!

Since he obtained Vargo Fortress, he frequently heard Morata oftenly become a hot topic in the broadcasts and boards.

As he reinvested his taxes to the maintenance of the town, A lot of unique Arpen Empire style buildings were built in Morata.

4-storey Stone Townhouses and Luxury villas has been built that overlooked the lake shores. Rich merchants and high-level users then will have the ability to show off their wealth if they wanted to live a nice and convenient life.

The housing policies of Morata that was given will surely fulfill their desires!

But, there were also a lot of cheap shacks for beginners while the experienced architects were building villas centered on a lot of scenic places.

Weed and the other artists created sculptures and paintings. The architects create the Arpen Empire Buildings with their heart and soul and paid attention to the structure and foundation.

Due to the blessings of Goddess Freya, there were vast blooming flowers along with the dense trees. The birds, butterflies and bees flying around, their very beautiful culture and trade, the City of Adventure!

Both the residents and users were feeling that their life was just changing in Morata. At the same time, Weed used his authority as Lord to be able to accurately see and observe it.

“City Information Window!”

Morata
Morata’s local area belongs to the Niflheim Empire.
Currently, the best ruler that is reigning the North is Lord Weed.
He has the best city to represent the North as the center of trade, art and adventure.
Morata as a noble land of the north is respected and is called a majestic city.

With its great architecture, the completion of the Grand Cathedral and the Grand Library in the northern part of Church of Freya was an opportunity to widely spread the culture of Morata.

Military Force: 316 | Economic Power: 4329
Culture: 5241 | Technology: 997
Religious Influence: 91 |
Influence to the neighboring areas: 82% | Regional Politics: 74

Influence of Niflheim Empire: 22.4% (Military influence, Economy, Culture, Technology, Religion, Population, and the related areas)

City Development: 322 | Hygiene: 44
Public Order: 91% |
The economic influence and politics is growing throughout the north as being the center of trade and commerce.
The population growth and trade has an astronomical increase and more resources are being put on city development.
The residents are given opportunities to pick on several profession guilds.
Morata is leading in development in the North of the continent.

Due to the expansion in culture, the area has been extended to the nearby shores. If the number of merchants that deals with fishermen and marine transport reached a certain extent, you could build a harbor.

The farmers have obtained their confidence with their successive harvests to grow Tea Trees. When you begin to successfully harvest the grown Tea Trees, it will be able to raise the cultural level of Morata as well as an increase on the major exports.

The chances of techniques in Sewing being forgotten to history is decreasing.
It is scrupulous and a challenge for the tailors trying to recreate its glorious past in history.

The current cloth wears, leathers and leather armors is of good quality and fine clothing is being made to be wore by the nobles.

With the technological development and financial commitment, the Tailors and researching on ‘Silk‘.
Blacksmiths are producing steel swords from smelted iron.

Inexpensive and reliable quality goods are being sold in a lot of shops such as Golden Jewelry, Steel Swords, Leather Gloves, Fine Clothes, Sheep, Ale and Olives.

A lot of other goods are being produced in Morata and trade is actively progressing.
The surrounding cities are also improving little by little.
The residents are proud with special buildings and the wide streets in the city.
The merchants have requested for a road that leads to another area!
As a place of adventure and exploration, the remains of Niflheim Empire is currently being traded in the stores.
The young ones love Lord Weed.
If you go to alleys, you will not be able to find scribbles denouncing the Lord.
But when there is a massive war going on, the morale seems to not be high.

Although the finances of Morata does not occupy a large portion for military expenditures, a lot of the money has been committed to it as the tax revenues increased by quite a lot.

You have a lot of loyal knights.
The driving force to the developing culture is their endless confidence and rich support of the artists.
The artworks in Morata Art Center have antiques and artifacts on display which includes sculptures.
Residents are hoping for more Grand Buildings.
Due to the continuous economic development, this place is now in the state of middle class.
Due to the demand of moving away from shacks to get new houses, housing constructions are active.
Freya is the most believed religion in the area. They hold a vast granary around the city.
There are a variety of agricultural products that are being grown.
The army fights with the monsters regularly and due to the economic development, crime rate has dropped.

Specialties:

Artworks, Leather and Cloth products, Tomatoes, Grapes, Rice, Beef, Milk, Cheese, Wine, Silverworks, Palm Wine, Fine Fabrics, Gold Jewelry, Steel Swords, Leather Gloves, Fine Clothes, Sheep, Ale and Olives.

Entire Territorial Population: 2,423,932
Monthly Tax Income: 2,311,627 Gold.

Village Operational Expenses:

6% Military, 36% Economic Development, Culture 14%, Monster Subjugation Commissions 19%, City Maintenance 22%, Offering to the Church of Freya 3%.

The tremendous wealth of Morata!

While it is where the beginners gather together and is just developing city in the north, it is becoming wealthy and is being equally famous as those famous cities in the Central Continent.

What’s more is its population had already far exceeded the size of a big city.

Even though the number of residents and beginners are steadily growing, the tax was also increasing steadily.

“Now, grass porridge is the only thing worth to be put on the mouth!”

In Morata, his current savings amounted to more than 3.7 million gold.

If it was a Lord in the Central Continent, the typical thing to do was raise an army using the funds.

For it to not be taken away from them, they were raising their armies then invade a lot of the surrounding villages.

This was because there’s also a lot of commercially developed cities which are wealthy there.

Morata was mainly devoting itself to the internal affairs that’s why the city grew itself from ruins.

“I guess I need to build more Grand Buildings. I also wish to make the active trading come true.”

The Lord could build even more different types of Grand Buildings which is due to the result of adventuring, culture, technology and population.

He was struggling when he built the Grand Library and the Grand Cathedral since he was mobilizing a lot of the funds and resources of Morata but now, he can afford things of that degree.

If he built two more Grand Buildings in Morata, then it would be the largest city in the Continent.

“And the sun will shine for more taxes!”

His endless greed!

The belly of the goose that lays golden eggs is not something you could separate from it.

Without selling the golden eggs and hatching himself will he be able to exploit all of those goose families.

“Construction of Research Tower!”

It was designated to be built on a vacant lot in the outskirts of Morata.

Ttring!

Research Tower!
This tower is where the mages stay to study about the truth of the world.
It would allow to study the four different branches of magic.
Developed magic could be taught to qualified mages and in exchange, the mage will give research or jewelry.
It will create a rapid growth in training among mages and will be able to teach unique experiences.
The research capacity of the Research Tower will vary depending on the abilities and number of the staying Archmages.
A lot of money is going to be spent to support the mages with their grants and remunerations.
Construction Cost: At least 1.8 million gold.
Construction period of at least seven months.
The construction period may increase depending if there’s any accidents with the personnel involved.
Experienced Architects are required.
The Architects who participated in this work will be able to get a unique experience.

Multiple sculptors, painters and mages have to be mobilized. The artists who participated in this work will be able to have additional opportunities with their name.

– Are you sure you want to start the construction of the Grand Building, Research Tower?

The money-eating Tower!

Weed knows from experience that the normal construction costs could increase.

But as he saw it, it also has very large operating costs that was not there until after the construction of the buildings in Morata.

Once the mages grow, the hunting speed of the users will increase while a market for magic items will be formed.

Magic items are made with rare materials and are very expensive when traded.

From the perspective of the Lord, it is worthy of his little investment.

“Though it is expensive altogether… This is good compared to the much worse situation back then when I built the Grand Cathedral. Start construction!”

– The construction of Research Tower will proceed with the command of the Lord.

The residents in Morata has increased and the skill of the architects have improved a lot.

There are even some users in Vargo Fortress who wants to increase its foundation by building a Great Building since they were not satisfied with just the Fort.

It’s only a small money to spare compare to how this investment will be able to earn big money in the future!

“Grand Buildings on testing the Ranger Class is not bad to put in there. Buildings for Adventurers also seems to be not too bad.”

The fate of more than 100,000 users has been mixed up with the conflict of Weed on choosing between those professions.

“Would 2 more be alright? If I continue to invest, it seems that I would be a little short for money even if the taxes come. No, I’ve got to build something solid rather than increasing their number.”

Weed decided to build another one.

It was among the Grand Buildings of the ancient architectures!

He was to build the unique heritage that the Dwarves made in Ratzeburg.

“Construct Forge of Hestia!”

It was designated to be built outside the gates of Morata.

Ttring!

Forge of Hestia!
The Dwarves liked the warmth of Goddess Hestia’s embrace just like a furnace.
They built a very large forge to extract iron from iron ore and named it the Forge of Hestia.

Sometimes when the blacksmiths are smashing the iron, little sparks which were said to be blessings from Hestia would come and emerge.

The items made in this place is said to contain with special powers.
Construction Cost: At least 950,000 gold
Construction period of at least five months.
The construction period may increase depending if there’s any accidents with the personnel involved.
The Architects who participated in this work will be able to get a unique experience.
A number of blacksmiths have to be mobilized.
Blacksmiths who participated in the work would be able to get the opportunity to learn about fire.
Once the Forge of Hestia is completed, you will receive a gift from a blacksmith.

– Are you sure you want to start the construction of the Grand Building, Forge of Hestia?

“Start!”

The construction of Forge of Hestia will proceed with the command of the Lord.

In Morata, there were still a lot of users that were lacking in ability.

The beginner blacksmiths were making swords and armor with the provided good-quality iron.

“As Lord, it’s unfortunate that this much is only what I could give!”

As trading is conducted, the products that comes from the forges of Morata is going to be sold out more.

Also, if you wore good equipment, even as a warrior, your body will just feel like an itch and being in Morata will be much safer.

The time to increase the tax payments is coming soon!

Weed was investing while overlooking the distant future.

“I guess I’m gonna make some ceramics.”

With the rivers, lakes and the fertile land of Morata, it comes with several types of soil. The city then has a large flame furnace that is not being put out by the blacksmiths and just let it blaze.

The Lumberjacks around the vicinity of Vargo Fortress were also been shipping fine quality timber.

Those were the optimal conditions on making ceramics.

Currently, each Profession Master Quest has an ongoing fierce competition.

The number of people in the quest spiral is not that many since they were the best users in their own professions.

To complete his Sculpting Master Quest, he needed to work in his spare time to increase his skill level to the maximum.

“The others, they only get regular Combat Quests while their skill level also increases and even gain items. This world is really unfair…..”

The Sculptor also complained for a moment.

Weed had stacked his contribution points of each race to a massive amount that others would find unreachable.

In terms of having a background on Ratzeburg, there’s a large possibility that only him, the sculptor, was the only one who needs to find that place.

He also came to increase his skill to acquire the Secret Sculpting Skills till the end of it.

“I must firmly keep and see to it that they are popular and be shared to the nobles!“

In the Versailles Continent, although ceramics was not originally an unprecedented thing at all, it was still classified as a luxury for the crowd with its artistry.

Weed just created a sensational trend through Mapan making the sales.

“Also, I got to sell and drag this valuable and popular trading goods through the merchants.”

Ceramics has better conditions compared to other works of art since you could get the amount 3-7 times better.

It’s a good chance for the beginner sculptors since without the having the sculpting skills, everybody was just figuring out how to make ceramics.

Ceramists will also quickly blossomed after making works and sell them in the city.

Although they were just simple vases and water bowls that were made using the hands, it still attracted great popularity among the girl users.

At this rate, if he failed to sort things out, he’d obviously feel sick in his stomach!

“I have to make true ceramics and roughly figure out its laws on creating a failure. The soul of the artist is a huge platter with plenty of luxuries and their works must be indefinitely overpriced!”

***

A post in the Royal Road forums has reached 17 million views in just one day!

Title: It really sucks if you’re not living in Morata.

Uh, I’m a newbie that started in Morata!

My level is now 19, please understand even though what I’m going to say is a little rough.

I feel so good in the inside right now.

Originally, every beginner will find it unbelievably difficult and having no money is tough.

Honestly, what can I start to do with just 10 barley bread and 1 canteen of water?

But, I was just shared with a delicious Grass Porridge on the streets!

I’d do hunting outside on the day and if I’m hungry, I could eat the given grass rice cake.

While traveling, it’s best to fill one’s belly with grass rice cake.

And the quests… there’s a huge variety of quests that could be found only in this city too.

Having errands for Weapon Shop owners? Who are like this in Morata?

The lost legends of the Niflheim Empire or, requests for finding items or, connecting and talking with several people, you could have a lot of commissions to complete.

Originally, it was hard to get quests without Fame and Intimacy.

But the loyalty and satisfaction of the residents to the Lord of Morata with their current life is so high that the people are friendly enough to trust in you.

Talking to some people could help gather some fragments of stories and completing it would sometimes lead to major quests.

Commissions with difficulty level C or D.

I’m a beginner that’s why naturally I couldn’t yet.

Because of putting records about quest information on the Grand Library, other adventurers would reward me after giving them info.

That’s why I have been out collecting artifacts made by them for the quests.

The lost people from the Niflheim Empire have flocked in as Morata have been filled with them.

So they create the quest while I am out collecting the artifacts.

And, invest my money in equipment whenever food does not need it anymore.

But apparently, what I did first was to find out the cost of equipment sets in the boards and try to buy it from the merchants who were selling in the square or stores.

I feel bad, the price was much cheaper than the outside.

Morata’s tax is so low that the profits remain from what they sell! Whereupon the one that the merchants are saying that they stay and sell in Morata since the tax also remains the same. There’s just a lot of users that sit down and could earn a fortune.

That’s why I don’t like to be a merchant later.

Customers are too many and too busy making money that I can’t even roam around to have fun wherever you like

As for trading, you are supposed to manage those who complain about how expensive your items are and very tedious to deal with customers that you need to smile, thank and greet.

I spend money to admire a lot of artworks scattered in Morata, and saw a novice works in the inexpensive Arts center, which collected lot of money. I saw lots of it.

From the benefits of Art to the Bard performances then, I went to see the hunting grounds and fight with monsters.

Also, being on hunting grounds with a lot of people is exciting and the forest is wide enough to see that the beasts are indeed diverse. The public security is also good for beginners since those difficult monsters do not get near the city.

When I walk and meet with the Paladins and Priests of Freya, they give blessing and healing magic every time we meet.

Why am I saying things like this?

If you’re a beginner here, you must’ve been shocked since it’s so fun and comfortable.

Then with the money collected, you will be just in time to have a good outlook of your shack.

Due to the level distribution in Morata, I am not really worried about me going elsewhere.

Not only the Art Center or the Grand Cathedral, but I also visited the packed guild buildings and the Grand Library.

But what’s more is, the Lord is building another 2 Grand Buildings.

Do you think the Lord of Morata is really crazy?

Yet in the Central Continent, aren’t they living by being heavily persecuted under the rich guilds?

We’re really enviable. Only by living like this will you really feel like you’re living in this world.

I also have some tough times, those times where you feel like it’s very difficult and painful to live.

Comments have furiously spurred out.

– | Morata was like this… so this was the reason people wanted to go here.

–

It is heaven. I started on Lyps Castle. Sigh, the bad guys there. My heart has been always the same and I want to kill them to the point of death.

–

I feel so sad with this bad writing. I went here since the other place was troublesome. All the time, I’m always feeling alive. Morata is an absolutely good place to live on!

– | Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! There’s hair that came from the Mushroom Grass Porridge.

–

The Lord has been going on creating a lot of Grand Buildings.
Wealth. Love. Almost everything. Maybe, I should go to Morata.

–

I’m a highschool student who has not yet started Royal Road, I would like to play it now. Won’t I regret it if I go and started in Morata? Is it really particularly like that?

– | The one above me is so naive….
– | The one above, please be careful. If men and women kiss, there’ll be babies.

Chapter 7: A Country’s King

It’s probably because of the 2 Grand Buildings being built in Morata that there was a continuous crowd of people.

There was an expansion of the city boundaries such as road widening and opening squares. There were residential districts that emerged on the outskirts. At least, it’s a little distributed now.

“Woah, so this is Morata!”

“These enormous buildings are unbelievably large, larger than I thought.”

“It looks just as it was shown on the broadcast, there’s really a lot of artworks. This, this is the sound of music… there’s a concert there, look.”

“Let’s go there fast!”

Due to the spirit of the beginners and their large numbers, there was really no space to move very much.

– Morata’s population and economy are growing rapidly.
Due to the active trading along with the production and consumption, the economy is booming.
This boom increases the production volume by 25% and you will reap 10% more tax from the residents.

Weed desperately wanted to increase the taxes very much!

Although the boom gave temporary effects, after all, the fact that he was going to increase the tax was something crucial.

***

Weed went to the nearby lakes and rivers to gather dirt for making ceramics.

Meanwhile, maintenance work was currently being done inside the Lord’s Castle.

The rooms were full of broken windows, cobwebs, and dust, and many things that needs to be cleaned. The available rooms were the weapon and food warehouses, stables, wine storehouse, the study, and his comfortable Lord’s private bedroom while he also cultivated the plants on the gardens.

“Well, let’s start with it gently.”

He was in his room in the Lord’s Castle and did not dispose of the scattered pieces of wood, stone sculptures and japtem since they might be related to a Quest. There were also a bunch of soil heaps that was categorized by type.

“I’m going to make it as usual!”

Hwaryeong and Bellot, who seemed to have become attached to Weed’s ceramics, were eagerly anticipating to have fun with them so they went to the Lord’s Castle along with Irene.

The others, who had different intentions, arrived in Morata through Yurin’s Picture Teleportation. Some had their equipments checked while the others visited the squares.

“Well… I’ve got a reservation at a restaurant, wanna come?”

Zephyr offered to buy Yurin food on a delicious date.

“I’m really hungry so… okay.”

And so, both of them went and disappeared into the crowded streets and shops. Of course, Weed as Lee Hyun wouldn’t leave them to have their quality time alone and sent someone.

Weed asked Seoyoon alone for a favor.

“Stealthily follow them, if you catch them holding hands or entering a desolate alley or if you suspect any funny business being done, just kill.”

If she were to kill, she wouldn’t do it without plenty of suffering.

Weed wanted to relieve his worries and dedicate himself just to creating ceramics.

The curves were well molded and were made quite elegantly. The glaze blended in as it transformed into elegant colors as it was shown on the ceramics. It was something that didn’t lack of what was called as art!

“Use the hands slowly. I should press gently rather than use force.”

Weed was shaping the ceramics as Dirtman was turning a stone tablet.

“Mind Hand!”

Although those three hands were a strange sight, he did not waver and just focused on making the ceramics. His finger motions changed depending on the type of soil he was using. Putting in too much force would most likely crush it by accident.

Meanwhile, mistakes like these could hardly be seen on the ceramics made by Weed. The handle-free jar ceramic was completed along with the beauty of its proportions in the underlying structure. The ceramics also had a large interior that could easily fit something when needed.

“There is no limit to the imagination, I’ll try and also create something unusual.”

Sculpting just like a master, the durability of his works were quite high and thanks to his Handicraft Skill, not much of the clay has remained.

Even if he created it to be narrow and thin, it did not break down. There were really no limitations to the variety of shapes to create.

He even created a Wyvern that had water coming out from its mouth, while it’s honestly stupid that the Yellowy that he made in a form of a jug was actually also eye-catching. He even made pieces with low artistic value that were popular with the public.

In particular, limited edition ceramics!

The price would rise the more scarce it is, so he would probably release 12 ceramics for each design. The exact depiction of one of Weed’s tricks has also appeared in the Ceramics.

“It’s a really pretty jug. But isn’t this part too wide?”

Hwaryeong, who was next to him, also gave tips. According to her words, the jugs were beautiful but they didn’t necessarily need to suit the tastes of the poor people.

Bellot was calm and managed to create earthen bowls fairly well with her talent. However, she had no Handicraft Skill so it was still quite difficult for her.

While on the other hand, Irene could only create simple flower pots to grow flowers in for the shacks.

“This basic shape should be able to support itself, now to form the rest.”

Weed used different temperatures of water depending on the type of clay and ceramic he wanted to create.

The clay that had just completely dried in the shade was still unglazed. As the water and the ceramic dirt came into contact, its color mysteriously changed. Weed used the glaze that he had obtained from natural materials to make white ceramics and blue ceramics.

Roasting it in this way wasn’t something usually done when making ceramics. Although, nothing significant really changed compared to the ceramics he had made before.

“It seems fine to draw additional paintings or engravings.”

He used the pile of clay to form a jug then he used his knife to put carving patterns afterwards.

Although he tried to carve it in a straightforward manner, the characteristics of the exterior part of the piece became different after the heat had warmed and baked it.

After baking it again in the furnace, the color of the soil was still attached while the paintings on the ceramic changed.

Although Weed was unable draw on it as if it was white paper, the etchings on the ceramic along with its shape made it quite an exceptional piece. This sculpture and painting was different and broke the usual methods that are known to the people.

Weed realized that he could create variations in any of his sculpture works with Painting.

– Painting Skill proficiency has increased.

“Indeed what any worker will know, one should always work with humility.”

At that moment, Painting became one of the goals of Weed.

It was then the final stage of completing the ceramic in the furnace.

“Something really pretty, maybe something like that is what would come out?”

Bellot and Hwaryeong’s eyes brightened as they looked at the ceramic.

A glossy milky-white clay like snow came out.

The blue green ceramic with flowers and animals released a vibrant expression as it was just coming out from the furnace!

Finally, after multiple tries of rough glazes, they used water to clean it well with the help of his earth and water spirits. The two could only look with their eyes in the beauty in front of them.

The Sculptors, Ceramists, Painters. It’s not even an exaggeration to say that magic happens at their fingertips.

“I’m still a little short regarding how I do my paintings…. how could I do it a little better?”

With this sculpture of Weed, he now climbed to heights that were being looked from by Masters.

It was best to carve patterns or put paintings on the clay whenever it was moist. But nevertheless, ceramics couldn’t be said to be pure sculptures.

“The balance of the clay and fire…. It should have the feeling of being alive as those Sculptural Lifeforms…..”

Weed was contemplating on how to make different styles and types of ceramics. The way the color was inscribed on his current ceramics was too monotonous. The glaze couldn’t be felt and was unnoticeable since it was buried in the patterns and drawings.

“I should try and use different colors on the ceramic paintings. Rather than forcing the clay’s color to change by painting it with glaze and colors, let’s just use the nature of the ceramic itself.”

He used his carving knife to etch fine patterns nimbly and made them in just some parts of the white clay. The clay was roasted in fire as it became reddish and darkened. And after baking it in the furnace, what appeared was a clear blue ceramic with black and white colored patterns.

“Kyaaaa!”

“This is just too pretty!”

Even though Weed was inexperienced on painting, the colors of the ceramics could still be seen as beautiful even by those without eyes to see.

The illustrations engraved on the ceramic work were strengthened by its sleek and elegant curves.

Celadon for Flowering Plants:
Durability: 33/33
A work of Sculptor Weed that portrays the beauty of clay.
The geniusness of his versatility produced a new art on the continent.
The painting carved into the ceramic is very deep and is not shallowly inscribed.

His talent in dealing with soil and his ability to control the temperature of the fire was shown, though there’s a bit of disappointment on this created artwork.

The whole process of making this was done by Sculptor Weed himself.
This work is worthy of being counted as the best among the ceramics in Versailles Continent.
Artistic Value: 3,986

Special Option: | An artwork with high artistic value.
| It will give you a special good luck everyday.
| If you own this in your home, Dignity, Charm and Luck would increase by 5%.
| You could only apply up to a maximum 10 effects of ceramics at a time.

– Sculpting Skill proficiency has increased

– Handicraft Skill proficiency has increased.

– Your Painting Skill has increased to Beginner Level 5. The lines of your paintings are going to be more accurate while you can also utilize your tools better.

– Blacksmithing Skill proficiency has increased

Since the ceramic was subjected through various processes when making, several of his skills leveled up at once when it was completed.

Hwaryeong also did not ask it for free as a gift this time.

She really wanted to have that work very much, though as a friend she couldn’t just ask him to give her free things every time, it was not really polite to trouble him by getting it for free. She also felt that giving Celadon for Flowering Plants to her for money was very rude and senseless.

‘I don’t really know how much I could get from this. I would just find a good owner for this later who would take this and would buy it at a high price.’

‘Ah, I think I really couldn’t buy that work of his with just money.’

She also looked at the other works of Weed that was baked in the furnace.

‘I will buy them right away after they come to the stores.’

Bellot also had her eyes on some of his ceramics.

‘This is beautiful. That’s just so cute. How can you make pretty patterns like this? The form is good and harmonious and also life-like. Maybe it’s okay! I really just want to have it.’

Although it was not really for fashion but rather its artistic value, it would still be likely to enjoy a storm of popularity if the stores sold something like this.

Weed did not really make ceramics by utilizing the beauty of the drawings.

He also created ceramics with special forms such as large bowls and angel figurines. As with creating sculptures, he was also looking to train and develop his techniques as he created these ceramics with his endless materials.

“Identify!”

Flower-shaped Jug:
Durability: 17/17
Made by the great artist Sculptor Weed.

This ceramic is already enough to say that in the Versailles Continent, even though it was just a meeting of clay and fire, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it still gave birth to a miraculous work of art.

Wide open flowers with delicate thin stems would bloom in this.
A fascinating and expressive work that has been created with a certain degree of Handicraft.

Rather than the artistry, the mysteriousness of the work is what seems to be attractive in this work and will make it more and more popular.

Artistic Value: 598

Special Options: | If this is close to the plants, they wouldn’t dry out even without water.
| It will even create a good taste in wine and tea.
| Dignity: +16
| Charm: +22

Weed not knowing the time, got hooked on doing his works.

Making ceramics is a very complex process and you need to pay attention even to smallest detail.

However, no matter what hardships you recieve, one would always admire looking at the ceramic after it’s out of the furnace.

“With this, it’s not over yet.”

Weed also made bowls and small plates that were at least intermediate size.

Doing the simple processes doesn’t really take much; and that includes engraving patterns and painting figures.

“Morata also has a lot of beginners who don’t have a lot of money. They also would be able to buy ceramics if I could create small ones for quick production.”

Despite of his spirit as an artist, he was still thinking of extorting money from the rabbits caught by the beginners!

His other party members also came and didn’t leave for a while since they were also making their own ceramics. He was peacefully immersed on making ceramics and continued to make them tirelessly, which made him look attractive.

“Its material value isn’t really what’s going to determine its price, but rather its nature as a specialty product….”

Day and night he was producing artworks; he produced some Masterpieces and even produced a Magnum Opus!

Ceramics have now piled up on the empty rooms of the Lord’s Castle.

He was only focusing on making ceramics and by the time he finished more than 400 ceramics, his Sculpting Skill had increased its proficiency by 9.5%.

Because his Sculpting mastery was at Advanced Level 8, his proficiency did not increase that quickly.

And with the basic form of ceramics, Sculpting really has less involvement in it. But instead, whenever he successfully adjusts the fire accurately, his Blacksmithing Skill really increases its proficiency by a lot.

Sometimes, he would also fail when he was in the process of creating the form. In such cases, what would come out was something that was almost hard to look at.

Soon, Weed had then made 700 ceramics.

At that time, his Sculpting Skill proficiency was at 52.6% Advanced Level 8.

Not only that, but his Blacksmithing Skills has also increased its proficiency to 75% Intermediate Level 8.

His Painting Skill has also increased to Beginner Level 9.

If one pondered about how difficult it is to make ceramics, they would find that it is really difficult. However, Weed made a lot of good works while also enjoying it.

***

Park Jun-suk was missing Seoyoon on a daily basis.

“Ah, how long was she sick in her heart.”

Although Seoyoon was very brutal when he and all of his friends were thrown and killed in the backwoods of Serabourg Castle, he could still understand it.

Anyway, it could be seen that her heart wouldn’t easily open. He honestly feels bad about it but the common sense in this world is that any behavior of a pretty girl could be easily forgiven.

“So, she was actually the Berserker girl who’s always going around with Weed.”

Seoyoon was also beautiful to the extent that no one could rival her beauty. Not just that, but she was also very strong in Royal Road.

Park Jun-suk was already more than happy with those characteristics of hers.

“I’m going to explore the various parts of Versailles Continent. I wish I was going around far longer than Weed.”

She seemed really happy as if a love arrow was shot into them whenever they were adventuring and this alone, proved that she was out of reach from anyone including him.

“I’ve got to keep up with their levels even if it would take me a lot of time.”

“Please give me four herbs.”

“Those who have a lot of broken swords. Those beginners who are looking for someone to repair it, give it to me and you could use it in a minute.”

Hunter Robin reconnected back on Pallet Kingdom where he was mainly active.
[TL: To those who forgot, Robin is Park Jun-suk]

A lot of users were actively trading with the merchants in places such as equipment shops. Everyone gave their attention to Robin for a brief moment.

“Wow, he’s really high level compared to me. Look at the equipments he’s wearing.””

“Aren’t those made by Berbang?”

“Look at his torso, I think that’s actually his golden signature mark.”

“I heard that they’re unbelievably expensive….. The money needed to create clothes made by Berbang is no joke.”

Robin shrugged lightly.

‘I can’t get enough of this feeling.’

He wore equipments that could already be considered the best at his level 355.

It included polished shoes, tanned light leather armor set, jewelries like necklaces and bracelets to raise his profession skills, and a ring.

Of course, he didn’t collect these equipments by hunting or finishing quests.

Even for Weed who did the best of quests, although he succeeds in them, his Sculpting profession equipments still doesn’t come out lined up like that.

Of course, Weed would actually be more disappointed if the item that is obtained after doing a difficult quest was used for Sculpting.

Robin bought high-level accessories and equipments by spending a huge amount money. He didn’t spare any cost in wearing the best equipment right from the beginner level. So his power level always rose by a level.

He was very satisfied whenever the people were surprised after seeing his high-level equipment.

“I want to go to where he hunts.”

Robin headed to a restaurant to buy food.

A guild chat window floated along with a message.

[Kuvera]: You came, Robin. We connected just now.

[Ritz]: We’re in the capital. Where are you?

Robin joined a guild called ”Cool Guys”.

Consisting only of the sons and daughters of millionaires, they spent money like rain in a rainforest.

[Robin]: Where? Me too.

[Kuvera]: Then, it’s great. Have you received any quests?

[Robin]: Nope. I’m just going to hunt. I don’t have time to bother talking with these people..

[Ritz]: Then let’s go together. Let’s meet at the Central square.

Kuvera and Ritz arrived at the Central square.

Both of them were knights wearing full platinum set armor along with peacock feathers that were plugged in the top of their helmet.

“Heya.”

“Let’s buy some food and then get busy hunting.”

“Then let’s go? Which mercenaries should we hire?”

“We can look for the Favela Mercenary Guild.”

“Shall we take them with us? We are too weak. It’s hard to raise a level…….”

“Nowadays, people are begging others to let them join a party”

Robin, Kuvera, and Ritz were in levels of mid-300s.

Their equipments while being beginners were great that was why they hunted quickly back then. With just the help of their equipment, they were able to hunt higher level monsters without much difficulty.

However, as their levels grew higher, it also became harder for them to increase it. Problems like instantaneous judgement errors and lack of teamwork couldn’t be covered by their high-level equipments.

This resulted in them being overwhelmed by the monsters in spite of their basic skills and stats.

Although their level was on the mid-300s, their fighting prowess itself was really on the weak side. So to overcome this, they hired mercenaries and Dark Gamers.

***

In Morata’s Jewelry Exchange, a great thing was happening. The owner of the shop politely greeted the people who were looking at his stuff.

“Are you really going to sell these pieces?”

“Yes. How much might be the price?”

“The prices for these artworks are difficult for me to decide. It is even in the level where anyone would covet its worth. These would probably be sold out to the kings of the entire continent. Please tell me the value that you would like to receive.”

The store owner was asking the person to determine the price of the things to be sold rather than doing it himself.

The items to be sold were either white or blue in color.

There were drawings of various plants, and depending on one’s taste, there were also colorful patterns like golden dragons, Wy-3 who was spreading his wings through the floating white cloud and as well as Bingryong.

Weed didn’t sell the Masterpiece and Magnum Opus ceramics that he created since he was planning on putting it up on the Art Center. Since there’s a lot of residents in Morata, that fact is already enough to see that his income for the entrance fees would be on the increasing side.

Those common ceramics were really just intended to be disposed of and only gives a good price with the treatment of specialty products.

“These ceramics… determining their value is so difficult that it made me sweat blood. Going to the wide world, a lot of people are asking and hoping if they could just buy these for 798 gold each and would mean a lot to them if they receive it at that price.”

Speaking of it as 800 gold would give it a feel of being too expensive so that’s why he decreased the price by 2 gold!

Although ceramics wasn’t Weed’s specialty, most of the skills used were on a very high level.

If you also consider their artistic value, that price is what it was probably going to get.

” It’s 798 gold… could you get it at that price?”

“You know Weed, the gap between us is really high so naturally I’m unable to get it.”

“But, that money could just buy your armor there.”

“If its cost is like armor for beginners, then I would buy. This level of work isn’t really going to cost a lot of money as you said.”

If the offered price was excessive, the trade was being cancelled. Sometimes, if the money that he asks for is more than the reasonable amount, he was being given penalties as an artist along with lowering of his reputation.

Weed was really sensitive about that fact and that’s also why he is very reluctant sell it at that.

A shop owner said after a moment of contemplating.

“If this was under normal conditions, I would buy this for the correct value. But ceramics such as this are currently being seeked out by a lot of people. Although it would take time to separately sell them, needless to say, it’s already enough for me to get it. We would now be able to put specialty products that hits the prices at 500 gold. Thank you for selling your ceramics, my Lord!”

– Your first trade has succeeded.
Currently, whenever you sell goods, you would get 3 Honor stat.

The value of the ceramics was actually worth more than he thought.

However, the shop owner said as he continued.

“However, once I buy a bulk of these art pieces, I’m going to be lacking in funds. How about I give a downpayment of 220 for each of them first, will it be alright?”

“I will sell them.”

The shop owners were being meticulous in checking each of the ceramics. They were looking for cracks or if the colors of the entirety was uneven or even if the patterns were displaced. Either way, the prices were being slashed more and more.

But still, these items were a little hard to find. And with his works, some purchased them at a higher price than others.

– You have reaped massive profits from selling large amounts of artworks.
Fame has increased by 3589.
Honor as Sculptor has increased by 9.
Charm has increased by 7.

The Local Reputation of Morata has increased by 1.

He received a profit of 268,000 gold!

As for Weed, he already created enough clamor with the residents of the other regions and Morata.

Now that his ceramics were being sold, it is going to be scattered in each of the regions within the continent and would meet their new owners.

There were even some people who were looking for Weed’s ceramic plates.

Perhaps a lot of people that are to be born in Morata will have big dreams of becoming a Ceramist. This is because of the abundance of the good soil just scattered about and also with the Forge of Hestia being created along with a lot of investments in culture for the city which were also better than anywhere else you could found in the continent.

Since Morata will now sell a lot of good quality ceramics, it is going to be registered as a local specialty product. Now that precious items will receive a specialty product treatment, it would create a temporary trend within.

“Esteemed Lord, I thank you for your trade.”

“You’ve done your business well.”

Weed just came out from a trading post.

After the users heard the news that he appeared, they visited him together like a bee swarm.

“You must’ve earned a fortune from those trades.”

“It’s just pretty decent.”

“Since its Weed-nim, it isn’t something special, right? You can’t be pleased by a deal like that.”

Weed indeed sold ceramics and gained a large amount of money. He put his hands onto his mouth trying stop himself from laughing.

Even if it was just for a precious medicinal root, he would be slightly pleased by it.

“Kehehem!”

While trying to maintain decency, he also still managed to look dignified and solemn.

The popularity of Weed in Royal Road has already reached the top. It is very rare to see people in Morata that don’t like him.

The village elder of Morata walked with a cane.

“My Lord, I am here.”

Weed established himself and toughened his expression.

This village elder who became the Earl of Morata brought back so much painful memories of spending a lot of his money!

“Due to the rule of this great Earl, this village has become a city and truly became a great place to live in.”

“Of course, that’s what we need to be doing.”

“This land is now….”

The village elder stopped for a moment and had a look of having filled with regret.

‘There’s no way he’s going to ask again…’

Given the economic scale of Morata, Weed was no longer that poor anymore that investments will shake him up. Although he achieved a lot of profits with it, making your hard-earned money disappear in an instant would also make one cringe.

And now, he didn’t want to lose even one gold.

“This land has been welcomed by good development with the indomitable leadership of its Lord. The people who lived here were also hardworking and loyal. After the fall of Niflheim Empire, the people who were suffering from the monsters and cold still enjoyed an abundant and safe living, and all this thanks to the Lord.”

“Ehem.”

Weed was becoming more anxious as he received more praises.

Surely enough, he had some request, trying to explain their background for very long.

From an early age, rather than praises, he was more familiar with scoldings.

“As long as it is with their Lord, even if it is a monster lair, they will follow you without hesitation. I say this on behalf of the residents. To ensure that the development and glory of Morata will continue, I am making an earnest request as Earl for the army to go to the higher place and touch the entirety of the North.”

Ttring!

The Small Kingdom that Began in the Land of the North.
The population and economic power of Morata has already succeeded that of a size of a city.

The residents have faith that does not easily shaken the security and also enjoy religious freedom and cultural prosperity.

After the collapse of the Niflheim Empire, you are considered the most developed city in the North.
All the adventure and trade in Morata is already enough for this to be accomplished.
Bring back the stability of the fallen lost people.

The beginning of your Kingdom is going to be a small territory. It’s going to be haunted by a bunch of monsters and due to the unknown dangers, it may not go as smoothly as expected.

But, the residents are willing for this request because they believe that their Lord will dominate for the better future.

Can you bring the big burden of leading Morata onto your shoulders?
If you accepted the Elder’s proposal, you will rise in place as the King of city states after your rough coronation.
Morata and Vargo Fortress is going to be declared as a region of your Kingdom.
Other than the town areas, the territorial expansion in the surrounding place will accelerate.
Your political power will increase in the nearby areas.

Although the size of your army is increasing, the residents will still feel anxiety. However, if the size of your army is too small, feeling this anxiety is much worse.

You can arrange diplomatic actions with the other Kingdoms.

In the internal affairs and construction areas, you could exercise your authority to be more powerful. You can now build the new buildings that are added.

The result of these diplomatic negotiations may vary according to the King’s Fame, and the event that will occur in these affairs will be depending on your Luck.

The Country’s King!

Because of the birth of Haven Kingdom, some small countries that will belong to users will rise in place.

The difference them is, the Kingdom was already equipped, not like Morata that needs to be cultivated by the people in position.

Weed finished the calculations in his head.

This thing that came wasn’t just a blessing for this person.

Entertainment, bribes, blind money, high status.

These things are indeed what was believed to bring spicy elements in life into this world.

“I will go forth and break through difficulties with the people of Morata and devote a lifetime living with it.”

The dream of being a permanent dictator!

– You have accepted the King’s seat.
All your rights are born of after your coronation.
The form of your Kingdom from a small city state could become a formal Kingdom depending on the size of your territory.
Choose the name for your Kingdom.

“A name for the Kingdom…”

There was no apparent name that was quickly rising on Weed.

Yet, what he was thinking as the usual names of Yellowy, Wy-1, Wy-2, Wy-3, it would be best not to name the capital this way.

Probably, he’s the first user to create a Kingdom in the north and is going to be ridiculed with a name like that.

But, Weed immediately decided for the name of his kingdom.

The Sculptor who unified the continent and created the Arpen Empire!

Even though their glory has passed for a number of years now, you could still raise something that is fallen if your mind pursued on achieving it.

– You have chosen ‘Arpen’ as the name of your Kingdom.
The activities of your kingdom officially begins after the coronation finishes.
Please decide for the amount of funds to be used for your coronation.

A more luxurious and magnificent coronation would lead to a high Fame of your kingdom alongside with a high loyalty of your army.

Weed did not like those formalities.

Substance is not really important for him, if he is to calculate the up and downs of this coronation he’d rather have Morata be as it is.

“The cost of the coronation…. still anyway, I suppose 30 gold is what the ceremony just needs.”

In his thinking, he just wanted to put and leave a glass of water to them. But still, its scale is significantly increased being a national event.

“I think that’s just too small. His Majesty the King have an extreme strictness as Lord so the residents also have a certain bar of expectations from him. The diplomatic envoys from the foreign lands would also laugh at us and it’s not even enough to inform the entire north about our Arpen Kingdom.”

“I cherish the residents either as King or Lord of this place and that fact would not change. I’m simply paying the coronation at the minimum. And if there’s even 10 gold that remains on the money, please use that money to pay for the maintenance and jobs of the poor residents of Morata.”

“Okay then. It will proceed according to the Lord’s will.

– You have chosen 30 gold for the cost of your coronation.

Weed then finished his day in Morata and with the help of Yurin, they moved to Vargo Fortress.

“I must use this money from those ceramics to build buildings.”

Vargo Fortress was yet to be touched.

The Great Trees Square, Orcish Baths, Maroon Colored Streets were made.

He ordered for the building of the buildings of the the city of Ratzeburg where the four races lived together.

In addition to the advantage of their low construction costs, the different races also liked it. The Barbarians, Dwarves, and Elves living together could raise the effectiveness of these buildings.

“This is nice for its cheap price!”

The construction of the buildings in Ratzeburg had cost 150,000 gold while the remaining money was used to build markets, commodity exchanges, etc.

The lots of tradings from between the races increased the trading tax income.

He also built forges where the Dwarves could stay.

With the characteristics of the elves, he built the Archery Training Center for them to use. It made it possible for the improved accuracy and change of profession to Archers and Rangers.

“I suppose it would be best to level up as an archer here.”

With monsters flocking to the city walls, an archer would be able to shoot unlimited times which was the best condition for their growth. The Archers are also able to increase their proficiency as much as they want in their skills like Penetrating Arrows and Tracking Arrows.

In order to give the Barbarians something, a Warrior Arena was also made. It was a place for teaching them things such as learning how to control the body and learning different skills.

“I guess that’s roughly enough.”

Weed then moved towards Thor, Kingdom of the Dwarves.

***

The Largest Dwarven City in the Norn Mountains.

Iron Hammer!

It is the capital of Thor Kingdom and also the largest producer of steel in the Versailles Continent.

After watching the little dwarves that were running around the fountain, Yurin said.

“The Dwarves are so cute together. They aren’t even slow at running.”

“Hadn’t Dwarves shown up in the city before?”

“Even though sometimes I’ve seen many Dwarves in the tourist spots, this is first time I’ve seen them like this.”

Together with Yurin, Weed headed to the authorities of Thor Kingdom.

In the Thor Kingdom, there are no kings, only alternating Dwarf Elders.

“Human adventurer. We have also heard about your name, do you have any important business? You may enter.”

The Dwarves guarding the entrance willingly moved out of the way, due to Weed’s high Fame.

Due to his virtues, he was able to immediately meet the Dwarf Elder.

“What brings you to come and see me?”

“I’m here to speak about your relations with the Orcs.”

“Those orcs. There is no way we can get along with those dirty bastards who spout smelly snorts. Don’t try to accomplish such a fool’s errand.”

Ttring!

Friendship with Dwarf Elder
Dwarf Einhand is annoyed about the Orcs.
Dwarves and Orcs would fight with each other whenever they faced each other during their journeys.
But if you became friendly with Einhand, he will lend his ears to listen to you.
Difficulty: D

Quest Limit: | In order to do the Relation Improvement of the Orcs and Dwarves quest, you must complete this quest first.

“Please try to listen a little more to my story. It’s an important story.”

– You have accepted the Quest.

Weed came to know about the character of Einhand through the boards.

‘He really likes jewelry, custom-made armor and alcohol.’

If Weed wrote a thesis about flattery, he’d definitely get a Ph.D!

It may be recognized in a prestigious international journal.

He simply took out and showed him a ceramic cup.

“Although this is not really much of a big deal, I am offering this as a gift to Dwarf Elder whom I always admired.“

“This thing… recently, these ceramics became very popular.. I can’t believe you made this wonderful stuff. I really respect the skills of humans. But it’s really a pity that Dwarves love metal more.”

Einhand’s evaluation in Weed has slightly increased.

The Dwarves has extraordinary Handicraft so if they saw an excellent piece, naturally they would like it.

“I’m not talented much. I think that putting your soul into the sword that you create is what truly makes it an outstanding masterpiece. And also, this is an item that I have discovered accidentally. Let’s try it just once.”

Weed took out a bottle of wine.

Inside it was the ale that he found in Montvertruria.

Several types of fruit were contained in the barrels and the Wyverns carried them over to Morata.

He made Wy-3 send a barrel to the Geomchis to look if it really tastes like wine. After that, he was immediately sent back for more.

Actually whenever the liquor bottle was opened, animals would gather responding to its smell. While Weed came to see the Dwarf, he purposely brought a bottle of the wine

The wrinkled eyes of Einhand frowned.

“I can’t really understand those habits of people on drinking wine.. Who the hell is going to drink this thing that tastes sour?”

“I think so too. I only put the contents in this wine bottle because it’s worthy to store it here.”

“I am actually very strict about drinks. If you dare insult me with this and my tongue the tasted nothing but poor liquor, it’s going to be regrettable that stories about this moment will be known.”

Weed pulled out the cork.

‘Ttak!’ And the clear sound spread out along with the pungent aroma of the ale.

“Kueueuee! This, This smell…..”

“This ale was found in Montverturia. If you want to, I could just tell the story later. I just hope you could taste a little of it. ”

“So you say that this smell is what it really tastes like. This is my first time smelling this kind of fragrance. Is this drink really alcohol?”

This drink, wouldn’t you want to drink it?

Weed poured the ale into the glasses that he brought along.

When he saw the bubbles rising up in the drink, Einhand’s eyes trembled violently.

“Thank you! Keueuk. It’s really a taste that kills.”

– After drinking the ale, Einhand is in a good mood.

Friendship with The Dwarf Elder has been completed.

After the completion of this Friendship with The Dwarf Elder, the stubborn Einhand now finds human adventurers as favorable.

Although he did a wonderful job, but the stories will seem to show something contrasting, about talents of human adventurers and ale.

The Dwarf being excessively praised and then the gifts, then a bribe liquor to top it off!

Even in Republic of Korea, bribery and alcohol weren’t things that could be stopped.

Then, Weed started talking stories about the Orcs.

“Long ago, Dwarves, Humans, Elves and Orcs lived together by cooperating with each other.”

The person who was listening to these words had differing expressions than normal. Weed was explaining about Ratzeburg.

Of course, It’s centered largely around the Dwarves.

“It’d not be an exaggeration to say that Dwarves worked with iron just to feed the remaining three races.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing that happened long ago. I’ve complete faith in your words”

“The Orcs are also aware of this and plan to get along with the Dwarves by sincerely apologising.”

“So, I guess Orcs too have conscience in them.”

Ttring!

Relation Improvement of the Orcs and Dwarves has been completed.
The Dwarves have accepted the peace request of the Orcs.
In the future, fights between the two would be reduced a little.
– Friendship between Dwarves and Orcs has increased.
– Fame has increased by 157.

Einhand said.

“Us generous Dwarves are going to also send a little present to those barbaric Orcs. I’ll ask our blacksmiths to make glaives for the Orcs and send it to them.”

“Orcs would also love it when they received the gift. Indeed, the Orcs could forever try but they would never catch up to a Dwarf’s ability to create weapons.”

The production and transportation of the glaives along with sending it to the Orcs became a quest that the users could take. If you think about it, this should probably bring the true sense of being successful in the relation improvement.

Of course, if this important transportation quest failed, it’d revert back and would be difficult for the two races to get close again.

Einhand said.

“Given the circumstances of the Orcs, I think it would be already enough if you teach us Dwarves about the way of sculpting.”

“Among the humans, my skills are fine as well. How can I dare to keep up with the skills of Dwarves anyway?”

“No. Your name is well known among a lot of Dwarves. You’ve made considerable amount of work to lead the art of Continent Versailles.”

Weed was becoming very proud about his skills and was about to praise himself but Dwarf Einhand continued.

“But whenever I see a sculpture, I feel disappointed.”

“Yes?”

“How much do you know about iron? To process and strengthen iron by using several kinds of materials is an easy task for us. It’s no exaggeration to say we Dwarves bring prosperity to the human civilization.”

Iron was an important material in the world.

It was used as the material for making most of the weapons and as a construction material too.

Iron is an essential material used for the development of a country.

“Most of the sculptors use materials, like trees and rocks that are easy to handle, to create sculptures. One can make a beautiful iron sculpture if he is skilled. As a sculptor, if you could create a sculpture that expresses the beauty of iron, you’d gain recognition among dwarves.”

Ttring!

Dwarves Love Iron.
If a sculptor wants to be recognized by the dwarves, he must be able to handle iron.
You must possess remarkable skills to deal with iron.
The level should be significant to the eyes of the dwarves.
Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest.

Quest limit: | Advanced Sculpting Level 8 or higher.
| Blacksmithing Skill must be Beginner level 8 or higher.
| After the completion of this quest, familiarity with Einhand will increase.

“Ah, well, did I drank too much beer last night? I’ve been seeing the wrong people. Quite a lot of people know that you already have the knowledge even regarding blacksmithing. There’s no need for you to be doing this!”

– You have completed the quest

– Fame has increased by 350

– Blacksmithing Skill proficiency has increased.

– Intimacy with the Dwarf Einhand has increased. It is already enough for you to share beer with him all night.

Weed was able to solve the quest immediately because of his high Blacksmithing Skill.

‘So this was the destiny of being a Jack-of-all-trades Sculptor.’

Only a Jack-of-all-trades person could handle a variety of Sculpting materials.

Einhand spoke again.

“Kehehem, with your ability as a blacksmith, you are pretty comfortable to talk to. On top of us being Dwarves, there’s also story about our weakness….”

“Is there something you’re concerned about?”

Weed, who was cunning with his flattery and sweet words, changed his face with a serious expression and showed that he was seriously concerned.

His acting skills would even overshadow the real actors.

For money, he could even pull off an act of crying.

“Do you know about Kaybern?”

“Yes, I know about him.”

Akryong Kaybern!

He’s the longest resident of Thor Kingdom.

Dwarves have been living in these rugged mountains, and this region was in the territory of Kaybern.

Chapter 8: The Offering Work of the Dwarves

“We dwarves have to regularly give jewelry and gold bars to Kaybern. Kehehem. We couldn’t help but do it if we want to keep on digging iron in the caves inside the territory of the Dragons.”

“I understand. Though, Kaybern really is a bad guy, making you bribe him like that.”

“I think so too… well, anyways we actually need to devote a tribute to him every three months.”

Despite the vigorous production capacity and trading activities of the Dwarves in the Thor Kingdom, they still hadn’t become one of the powers in the continent. This was because they were limited by them needing to devote a tribute for the dragons on a regular basis.

But, thanks to the protection of the Dragons, their mine development became faster since they didn’t need to worry about monsters or outside aggressions which gave them the advantage of being safe.

“Also next month, we are to devote the offering… the other dragons aren’t really a problem when it comes to receiving reasonable amounts. But for Kaybern, he is always very sensitive.”

In the Thor Kingdom, the one who always brought a lot of trouble to the Dwarves among the five dragons was Dragon Kaybern.

Unless the Human, Elf or Orcs users were adventuring pretty recklessly, the times when they would see a dragon were very rare. Because Weed knew very well the damage they could do, naturally he never wandered about and he had also never met a dragon.

However, the Dwarves had undergone tremendous difficulties many times due to the Dragons coming to the villages demanding this and that. The Dwarves couldn’t help but settle to the haunting of the Dragons which brought in a chaotic atmosphere.

“The demands of Kaybern have been getting worse. Although us Dwarves could just take out and give a large amount of the gems and gold that we dug from the mines, wouldn’t it be better to give it to them as beautiful pieces? Whenever the Dragons are not satisfied with the offering of us Dwarves, we suffer a lot of hardships… Fortunately, you, Sculptor, I think that you could go and do something about it.”

Ttring!

Treasure Offering to Kaybern
Produce 2800 pieces of jewelry and golden sculptures to be offered to Akryong Kaybern.
Einhand will send four of his fellow dwarves to help.
The sculptures should meet the taste of the dragons.
If you are successful, you would be recognized by the Dwarves as a sculptor.
Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Limit: | Sculpting Skill Advanced Level 8 or higher
| It should be completed by the next month on the 25th.
| If you fail, Friendship with the Dwarves would decrease and you would lose their trust.

To receive the whole quest again, you must increase your intimacy with the Dwarves by getting their trust back through commissions.

From today, there were still 52 days remaining.

‘I just need to create 60 of them each day.’

A unimaginable workload!

“How could I just go and watch the Dwarves suffer? As a Sculptor, I will exert all my strength to carry this through.”

– You have accepted the quest.

“Then I’ll put my trust in you.”

The gems have various sizes and the quality of the craftsmanship will also vary depending on its raw form. Then, he was going to create the golden sculptures by using the method of filling molds with melted gold.

“Since the Dragons like glistening stuff, the pieces must be eye-catching.”

Weed then got into work.

In Iron Hammer, he borrowed basic equipments from Einhand that he could use.

A hammer that increases durability and a furnace that increases the sturdiness of the iron for purification of impurities was used.

Einhand, including some great blacksmiths of Iron Hammer also helped him.

They also had the work environment that was just suitable for it.

They just dug from the mines and carried the wagons that were filled with gems in their gemstone state.

“The first batch. Normally, I would be able to dig till about five wagons each batch..”

Weed was greedy.

“Gulp! If I run away swiftly after gathering everything….”

While in the quest, this sculptor was trying to run away with all the treasures of the Dwarves!

But then, the only thing that forbids him from doing it is that Kaybern will pursue him and Morata will receive the Dragons then a lot of people there will die. However, as he was in agony and having a tough expression from thinking about running away, the Dwarves passed by while nodding.

“Considering you’re just a human, you really have enthusiasm regarding your work.”

“I agree with those words.”

To end this awkward moment, Weed finally took out Zahab’s Sculpting Knife.

“Allow me to make one.”

Ttang! Ttang! Ttang!

Weed looked back on all types of sculptures he made so far.

“Rather than particularly enhancing its artistic value, it’s still important to satisfy the quantity in the end.”

While maintaining the proper quality of the work, he also needs to meet the needed amount.

Weed made molds of animals and monsters.

He had made lots of molds for clay ceramics that were used for production. If he created the mold for the gold in a manner where it just needed to be filled in, the other blacksmiths could be assistants to help him with his work.

By pouring in the gold, they were able to create brilliant golden sculptures.

For a sculptor, it was a really enchanting experience.

“They say that no one could ever get tired of gold, it would never be enough, and anxiety would also creep in. Even if one is an owner of a jewelry shop, one still might not know happiness in life.”

If Weed became an owner of a jewerly shop in the future, he would not know how to be calm and would always have unsleeping eyes in the shop from being worried about the thieves.

The gems were cut finely using the knife.

“For the gems, even a little margin of error is alright since you could just create it again.”

Although Einhand said those words, making mistakes would degrade his reputation and credibility as a Sculptor. Once a gem had been cut, it couldn’t be restored to its original state.

Diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and others, the majority of these gems were being cut to create a constant angle on their surface. Depending on the size and angle of the cuts in the gem, it would also have varying brilliance.

Weed was already an expert in sculpting sculptures with glittering lights since he had also practiced a lot regarding Moonlight Sculpting.

“What could be the preferences of a dragon: they’ve always loved the appearance more than the artistic value itself.”

Since the Dragon likes glittering gold and jewelry, he focused on satisfying that point.

As a sculptor, it was rather close to just simple labor.

However, opportunities like these, where he could handle this much gold and jewelry, were very rare.

Although his Sculpting mastery increased a little, his Faith stat also fell. Whenever he looked closely at the gold and gems, somehow, the dwarves’ trust in him suddenly diminished.

While being in Iron Hammer, he was also provided with unlimited food but that was only whenever he was working.

***

The Hermes Guild called up their raid team to eliminate Weed again.

“It seems like this method is not very effective.”

Weed was like a mudfish and was very difficult to catch, freely wandering around the Versailles Continent.

When their raid team had arrived in Bursilia, the Orcs had jumped on them on a large scale. Rather than them hitting Weed, it was them who badly received the counterattack of the Orcs.

Although with the power of the raid, they could have defeated the Orcs easily, it was because in just over an hour, they’ve already been attacked by the enemy 17 times that they lost.

“Revenge, chwichichichwis!”

Perhaps their idea was to fight while looking for Karichwi since they might not have known if he was in that mix of Orcs. As they were just looking for him while fighting, they didn’t even know that it was already their end as a more fearsome Orc army came, pushed them out, and wiped out the raid. No matter how high level they were, their force were not capable in competing against that number of Orcs.

Eventually, the raid team gave up and was wiped out.

If from the beginning they chose to retreat from the Orcs, the results wouldn’t have been the same. Although in the stance of the raid team, they were fighting aggressively as they didn’t know what other strategies to use against Weed. In the end, they couldn’t deal with the continuous attacks of the Orcs.

After the raid team was wiped out, the Orc Commanders gave some words.

“A lot of Orcs died, chwichichichwis. Go home and eat your meals then sleep, chwichichig!”

“Not only sleeping, waking up and eating, also, create lots of baby Orcs. Let us thrive, Orcs! ”

And once again, Hermes Guild had suffered another disgrace. This time, they’ve neither defeated nor even fought with Weed. With that scene around the Orcs, the raid team had been pretty much annihilated. It was quite different from the situation that they had expected.

Because of this, a consensus had been made between the chief executives of the guild since it was extremely difficult for them to harass Weed.

“Send an assassination quest as what was planned, this information must not be known. If you see him, follow behind and pursue him since currently, he’s like a ghost…..”

“The location of the raid team has been already been known, they should just escape since it would be difficult for them to try and counterattack the Orcs. Wouldn’t that be a much better idea for them?”

The chief executives of the guild were currently in a point of embarrassment.

They are one of the the great powers that rules Haven Kingdom and Kallamore Kingdom. Depending on the policy that they decide, the situation in the Central Continent would also vary.

However they were annoyed of the fact that their hands are always tied about this trivial thing of harassing Weed.

“How is Bard Ray-nim currently?”

“Currently, he’s proceeding on his tenth quest.”

“That’s really quick progress. Isn’t that even faster than Weed?”

“Information says he’s being followed by his Royal Guards. They help behind the scenes which causes the time needed to be shortened by a lot. And Weed, according to the words of the spy we planted in Morata, he’s staying in Morata for a while now. Regarding his whereabouts, it seems that he’s just making ceramics for the meantime.”

“I suppose his time is going be delayed by a lot. What about the activities on having Bard Ray obtain a new armor?”

“We are currently proceeding in it smoothly. There are no apparent obstacles in the dungeon excavation.”

“If necessary, we are going to add more men to the tomb of Black Knight Teru in the Kallamore Kingdom region.”

“Thank you for that. We hope to dig into it this week.”

The Hermes Guild had gathered information about a certain dungeon in Kallamore Kingdom.
Adventurers, Thieves, Knights etc. were organized as excavators to actively dig and identify the location of the treasures.

As an adventurer who has the backing of the Hermes Guild, it would be easy for him to raise his skills along with finding treasures. Although of course most of the treasures are to be given over to the guild and are not to be his own possessions, even that degree of support is already pretty good for adventurers.

“However, the adventurers were also hearing information about rumors that are not good for our Kingdom.”

“What is it?”

“Although we can’t really help it since it’s a war, but it seems that plundering the cities of Kallamore Kingdom has decreased our reputation more than what we had thought. And after the occupation, rather than being stable, there are increasing complaints and uprisings happening every time with the rebels.”

“We can’t help it. An arrow that is shot somewhere could never be stopped. How about the movements of the other guilds?”

“There are about 5 large Guilds that are following us on our backs. The Cloud Guild, Lion Star Guild, Roam Guild, Black Sword Mercenary Guild, Black Lion Guild. It seems like they have accepted and soon, they will belong to the Kingdom.”

“In the end, it seems things are flowing just as expected.”

There were also numerous of prestigious guilds that belonged in the Hegemony Alliance that was why their overall strength was still unclear.

If you included the Hermes Guild, these six large guilds built up a colossal power.

“The next Kingdom we are going to aim for is La Salle.”

“Among our neighboring countries, their forces are rather weak.”

“That’s right. We will invade it like lightning then after the occupation, we will strike Britten Alliance Kingdom at once.”

The chief executives were already preparing for the next war.

If they were to be successful in absorbing La Salle Kingdom and Britten Alliance Kingdom, they were definitely going to be an empire with absolute power.

“The Britten Alliance Kingdom probably wouldn’t have a formidable resistance.”

“Although it is just made up of several free cities and principalities, they are historically unified. As you know, that area also has a branch of the Cloud Guild.”

“A confrontation is inevitable and we have already deliberated about it beforehand with the Cloud Guild.”

“It is being prepared. I don’t think they are going to expect us.”

“The forces of the Britten Alliance Kingdom, what are they like?”

“The level of their elementalists and mages are great. Even their army has a lot of users.”

“If their users resist us, then I guess this is going to be a long fight. Currently, it is not really recommended for this war to be a very long one.”

“Once our guild has started its attack, the smart high-level users are going to surrender.”

“While Bard Ray-nim attracts their attention, make sure that we are not careless with our preparations for the war.”

“Well of course.”

The chief executives went on with the meeting until late at night. They were the ones who frequently made the important decisions in their huge kingdom.

“Indeed, speaking of Weed…”

“What we just need is to use our numbers. However, only chasing him on the back like this isn’t going to be really effective.”

“As a mudfish, trying to get close and catch him is going to be impossible.”

With the Sewing and Blacksmithing skills of Weed, he’s been able to wear most armors. While using his Sculptural Transformation even for a moment would change his expression which was already close to being impossible to find.

It was really a difficult thing for them. Because with his ordinary face along with its bounty, it was hard for them to see him casually walking around.

In addition, he was fast enough on noticing their groups intercepting him. Even if the raid teams go around as the assassins follow behind, he would still not fall into their trap.

Among the the chief executives of Hermes Guild, Butler, a user who frequently used and came up with wretched and cruel ideas and plans, said.

“If we wish to eliminate Weed… and are having difficulty about it, why not stir up Morata and its residents?”

“Stir them up?”

“Send thieves and assassins to catch Weed as we send people to Morata to pillage and sabotage them….”

“We might deal substantial damage to them then.”

“Although the other side has a much higher reputation, our Hermes Guild will give compensation to them for it. And if this assassination was to be committed secretly, they should be hidden in the capital.”

Rafael made the decision.

The external affairs or operations of Hermes Guild is mostly influenced by his hand.

***

“Chwiiig!”

The Orcs crossed the sea and arrived in Morata.

“That smell just now smells good, chwichiiig!”

Weed was hoping for them to have a bad time on the sea and decrease their number.
However, they received a very kind care from the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin. With the commercial activities going on near the harbor of Morata, the users and fishermen actively cooperated.

“These Orcs have come for the Northern Continent… And helping them, we would do Weed a great favor.”

“Let’s see to it that the Orcs have fish to eat. The Orcs might love some fish stew.”

Fishing ships and trading ships moved as they followed the fleet of Heint.

The Orcs rode into the the ships as it went back on forth from East to West. The outgoing ships carried a lot of weight as it was full of Orcs. Although their sailing speed slowed down, in any case, all of them arrived safely.

“Kyaaa! These Orcs. They are so cute.”

“It’s really good to see Orcs here in the North.”

“If you guys are hungry, would you like some Grass Porridge?”

The beginners of Morata and the Orcs have met with each other.

Although it was a meeting of Humans and Orcs, there was no prejudice between the races.

“I wanted to became an Orc.”

“Yeah. we chose the Orc Race because we wanted to, there wasn’t much places to go so we had to go to Morata.”

The Orcs blowed off a snort as they came to the gates of Morata.

Since they ate well, their population has boomed to 175,000.

“There’s a lot of stone sculptures, chiwchwis!”

“The Humans here sing so bad, chwiiiig!”

The Orcs haven’t adapted that well yet with the culture of performances and arts.

“Cheap stuff, chiwchis!”

“I need to buy, this thing. chwiiiiig.”

In the squares of Morata, they were selling according to the market price.

Because of the greed of the Orcs, they would even try to sell one wooden sword for 4000 gold that’s why they thought the items there has a cheap price.

“I’ve bought it cheap, chwichichig!”

After the Orcs purchase the equipments, they have been trying to resell it for more than 70,000 gold. Of course, there would be no person who would buy that.

Currently, it was the time for the Orcs to have a settlement.

The Orcs who were on the square and streets of Morata, sat down and crowded around the gates.

Although the day had been difficult for them, the Orcs had been given some good news.

– In Vargo Fortress, there’s a large statue of Orc Karichwi!

– The settlement of the Orcs made up of soil and stones is already completed.

– There are also camp for Orcs with baths and dining rooms.

Weed, using his authority as Lord, made an Orc village for them to live near Vargo Fortress.

It was on a perilous mountain area, a dangerous place where monsters show up and was usually avoided.

“Let’s go, chwiiig. If only Karichwi was here, he would be able to help.”

The Orcs moved to Vargo Fortress with the command of their commanders.

Vargo Fortress compared to the big city of Morata was far inferior to it.

Even with the completed buildings from Ratzeburg, from culture to commercial development including their buildings still paled in comparison.

“Good, we could run around freely, chwiis. We need a place to live, chwiis!”

The Orcs rather liked the rough ground, away from the city. They just hoped to live even in a hard place just enough to plant crops and fight with monsters.

Even if their survival was at risk, it was a place where they could enjoy their freedom!

The Orcs wanted to live as they overcome the environment with power of their race. And, they decided to settled down in Vargo Fortress.

The Dwarves, Barbarians, Elves, Orcs and Humans were seeing each other face to face in Vargo Fortress.

***

Weed continued to work along with the Dwarf Blacksmiths as they created treasures to be offered to the Dragons.

Kaybern’s Sword Demand
The Dwarves must demonstrate all their skills to create and offer swords that the Dragons have demanded.
If you do not meet the deadline for the demand, you will incite the anger of the Dragons.
Difficulty: A

Quest Limit: | Blacksmithing Skill Advanced Level 4 or higher.
| Also, you must create swords of the highest class that is currently existing.

The best of the Dwarf Blacksmiths were involved.

If the Dwarves failed this production quest, the most dangerous thing would be those dragons.

Although, the reward for this is that they would be able to fully utilize the materials of the Thor Kingdom. Except for the fact that their properties are completely given up to the dragons, as a blacksmith, they are able to walk with both of their arms with the offerings.

Since Weed was not eligible to participate, he just learned techniques that might help him in creating the sculptures from other blacksmiths.

Although there were a lot of pieces he needed to make, the Dragons usually didn’t take the artistic value as of importance. By focusing only with the quantity, he was able to help out in the work of the other Blacksmiths and be able to learn some techniques from them.

“You are pretty devoted. Well, I don’t really have any reason not to teach you.”

The Dwarven Blacksmiths didn’t give him any of the high level secret methods, just those common techniques.

However, Weed who could be said to lived his life on flattering people, worked in the same space as Master Abu and taught him simple things one by one.

– You have learned to refine steel from Dwarf Ronhand.
Your Blacksmithing Skill proficiency has increased.
You can now produce a breastplate with higher defense.

The techniques he could learn from the Dwarves seem to be not that bad.

From how to create a brazier to techniques of beating the hammer, there were a lot of great things he learned regarding the production.

Since the Blacksmithing Skill has a very broad usage, learning it would help in a variety of aspects.

“You’re not a dwarf. Well, the ale tastes quite good…..! I can’t teach you my techniques… These side dishes are amazing. Where have you learned your cooking techniques? Although I don’t recklessly accept disciples, by looking at your passion, I will just give you only the gist of the basic parts.”

***

In Iron Hammer, the capital of the Thor Kingdom, there were no monster raids which was why there were no battles happening amongst the Dwarves.

Rather, the competition among the Dwarf users mainly took place inside their forges.

Selected users that dream to be the best Dwarf Blacksmith also created the swords.

Norn Mountains, Ulta Mountains, Saigorn Mountains. In these three mountains were where the high quality iron ores were being collected and what was raising the Blacksmithing Skills of the Dwarves.

“These freaking iron, I’ve already been beating these things until dark. Forhand, how many swords have you created?”

“I’m at 17. You?”

“21. Today, I’m gonna need to buy ale.”

“My throat is pretty thirsty too, let’s finish this up and go.”

In Iron Hammer, the Dwarf Blacksmith users that have gathered together numbered quite a lot.
Gazing at the furnace just like every other day, hitting iron was usually something that didn’t really require perseverance.

However it is really rewarding for a Blacksmith to have his weapons become a world famous product along with his name engraved on it. To be able to create outstanding weapons or armors would give one a sense of accomplishment!

However, with this tedious and repetitive work, one would go and get himself some ale. With their racial characteristics to blame, they would feel longing for the taste of ale whenever their satiety drops. As the dwarves long for ale, they would treat themselves in the capital. They would occupy all places including the taverns, trading posts and forges in the squares of Iron Hammer.

“Kehe… Good.”

Weed drank his ale.

In Iron Hammer, Intermediate Class Blacksmiths and above in particular, were provided two glasses of ale for free.

“Finally, it’s today.”

It was the day when they would offer the treasures to the Dragons!

Fortunately, the required number jewelry and gold sculptures had already been done. Weed gave the gold sculptures that he made which were shining and glittering. Einhand also gave it a compliment.

“If it’s this kind of work, even that strict Kaybern would also like it.”

“Is it alright?”

“This much is good even for the eyes of a Dwarf.”

Einhand and the Dwarves departed to give their offerings to the Dragons.

By now, they should’ve arrived to their destination, the lair of the Dragons.

After completing this commission, he would’ve completed his tenth stage of his Profession Master Quest.

“When is it going to be done.”

Weed was gradually eating his share of the peanuts along with two glasses of ale which was given free of charge.

Over the past 52 days, he was doing nothing else but create sculptures. Naturally, one would also want to give a reward to himself.

“I need to take a break until evening. My blacksmithing skill has grown further and have also gained considerable earnings!”

For some time now, he never got any hunting experiences nor loot.

However, while he didn’t want to use these expensive materials for his sculptures, his Sculpting Skill proficiency has increased.

His current Sculpting mastery was at Advanced Level 8 at 61.1%.

As his Handicraft Skill has also increased a lot, his Blacksmithing Skills even rose one step further.

“Well, I’m actually like an honest laborer. I think it’s actually good if in the future there are only quests such as these.”

Like this, he spent his time on a tavern waiting for a message window to float.

Treasure Offering to Kaybern has been completed.
Kaybern did not praise the efforts of the Dwarves.

But still, with the treasure transported by the Dwarves, they were also quite satisfied that’s why they didn’t kill them.

The arrogant Dragons ignored the contributions of the Sculptor who created those art pieces.

Quest Reward: | You will receive it from Einhand.
| Your reputation as a Sculptor will increase for the Dwarves.
| Contribution Points has increased by 61.

Title! You have received, ‘The Great Sculptor the Dwarves Acknowledge’.
The Dwarves are the most demanding race with regards to pieces.
Even they wouldn’t disregard the sculptures you’ve made.
The Dwarves will regard your works with 6% higher of their original value whenever you trade.
Your Fame will spread very fast among the Dwarves.

His quest was a success.

In any case, once you see them, you would know that the Dwarf race was very pitiful!

“It was really for the best that I did not chose to be a Dwarf.”

While they do have the ability of dealing with iron and their god-like Handicraft, these Dwarves were living as they received the persecution of the Dragons.

Even the users of Royal Road, as their levels continued to climb up, they still didn’t even know when it was possible for them on promising to hunt these Dragons. Although the Dwarves of the Kingdom of Thor could try and go together with all their power, if it fails, they would not be able to avoid the punishment of the Dragon.

In the worst case scenario, their Kingdom would also be gone, that’s why they don’t even try and gamble their hard work.

“Anyways, although this quest is taking a long time, this quest should be coming to its end now.”

Weed was flattering a pretty Dwarf girl that was working in the tavern.

“I am hearing the compliments and words of a Master Sculptor who knows how to see beauty.”

There was a female Dwarf who was sitting and whose height was smaller than Weed.

“Do you want some more peanuts?”

“If the lady would want to give some.”

Giving Weed even just one glass of beer would make him cheerful.

***

The Dwarf transport came back safe and sound.

Weed met with Einhand and heard about the result of the quest.

“Kaybern… whew, he’s really frightening.”

“Did he look really scary?”

“Not really, it was his words that scared me. I couldn’t even properly look at his face. That bloody voice and the surrounding atmosphere, it was already enough to make my heart tremble!”

The Dwarves that were included in the transport didn’t really mind just cowering and looking into the ground. Due to the nature of the Dwarf Race, even though they were the only enemies of the Dragons in the vicinity, they could only cower from the horrors since they didn’t really know what to do.

Even though the Dwarves normally have the characteristic of bravery, the Dragons were an exception. If one would look at the history of the Versailles Continent, the capital of the Dwarves never committed any riot against the Dragons.

They would be working till their death in the coal mines, or they would dig and create then decorate the jewelries to be offered.

All Dwarves who did not comply would become snacks for the Dragons. It was already an instinct of the race itself and it couldn’t be denied that this fear was already carved within them.

“I didn’t know that my sculptures were actually received easily.”

“Well, If you look at me, he allowed me to live so it was alright I suppose. Anyways, a lot of you really worked hard.”

“Not really. I did this work for the Dwarves.”

“I’m giving this to you, a reward from our Kingdom.”

Einhand handed over 3 white cloths to Weed.

– You have received 15 Mithril Piece.

– You have obtained 6 top-class Adamantium Piece.

– You have acquired 35 first-grade Iron Ores

“This is so much…..”

Even Weed was surprised with his rewards.

“Us Dwarves will not forget this favor.”

Even though they were persecuted by the Dragons, the Thor Kingdom was still basically on the rich side.

Also, since there were a lot of mines, the Dwarves could just hand over refined stuff that they mined.

‘If I used this, I would be able to replace a lot of my defensive equipments.’

Weed could now create a better armor to wear.

This will make hunting on the battlegrounds be a bit more on the dangerous side.

While he could have higher defense it would lower agility while the lighter weight would help increase the effect of Agility but lower defence.

It would help to have his life not decreasing that much, if a person was less nervous on fighting whenever he attacks, one would be able to concentrate which will make his hunting speed faster.

‘Why did they even select to play as the Dwarf race from the beginning?’

Weed’s heart was even lighter than dry grass.

He decided to use the materials and set it up once the Forge of Hestia had been completed.

“As a Dwarf, I am very interested about your creative works. I have heard a lot of stories about you.”

“What stories?”

“Legends say that you turned iron into gold.”

“Eh, Einhand-nim!”

“Oh, this kind of thing is just necessary for our blacksmiths, I don’t really need to say these stories to you. About sculpting, I know some strange stories regarding it. Us Dwarves have learned a secret…. I could tell you one.”

Einhand seemed to be talking about where the quest will lead next.

“There are legends about sculptures that came to life from long ago. This story is about the birth of the elementals and I don’t know if this leads to something that might be related to the supremacy of Sculpting or Swordsmanship. Do you still want to hear more of the stories?”

It was the story about the three Secrets Skills of Sculpting.

Weed was of course well aware of those three since he had also acquired them.

“Long ago, the sculptures have been given life and I’m very curious about this legend.”

He looked and met with Zahab with his Radiant Sword, he could go and meet him again later.

He would probably be much welcomed for the things he had done for Queen Evane.

The elementals also created sculptures, it’s not really not much of a question since they’ve already know it.

“From a distant past. There was the Arpen Empire that was built by the power of Art. During a time when war was repeated time and time again, he unified the continent into one glorious empire…..”

This led to Einhand’s long description about the history of Arpen Empire.

Weed was already bowing as he doze off.

It was like during middle school. This was how he was listening to the stories in class!

This technique was being used during his classes in the University and was also used in front of Einhand.

“It was just a barren land, where they prevent the invasion of monsters. There were a lot of things there that were made based on Sculpting. Could you even imagine it. The Emperor of Arpen Empire was actually said to be a Sculptor!”

Einhand shouted intensely with excitement.

Weed even tried made himself looked surprised at some times.

For a person with a profession of being a Sculptor, this splendid legend was enough to evoke a sense of pride!

“Ah! Is that so?”

Weed replied rather uninterested.

Before, he already knew a lot of information about Sculptural Lifeforms that’s why things like these was not really that new to him at all.

It was just like those TV Specials with those films or comedy shows that were repeated each time on holidays every year.

“The great Arpen Empire very much liked the Dwarves. Since we also preferred being artists and engineers, we stayed and enjoy the flourishing empire that the humans have built.”

Einhand then slowly said in a low gentle indifferent voice.

“The Emperor of Arpen Empire! He might even be the most amazing person in the history of the continent. His Sculptures are very special. If you want to find out more about the Sculptures of Life, try to find Raihand who studied the Arpen Empire in his lifetime. To where his current location is, I don’t really know. Perhaps he is somewhere in the Ulta Mountains and Norn Mountains.”

Ttring!

The Sculptures of the Arpen Emperor
The moment his sculptures were written in the history of the Continent, the Arpen Empire was born.
Geihar Von Arpen.
If you want to know more about the sculptures of the former emperor of the continent, find Raihand first.
You will be able to hear more about the story.
Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Limit: | Sculpting Skill Advanced Level 8 or higher.
| Sculpture Repair Skill needed.
| Sculptural Memories Skill needed.

His 11th quest had already started.

However, another message window rang out.

Ttring!

– Secret Sculpting Technique, you have already learned the sculpting technique of the Emperor Geihar Von Arpen.
Since you already know the sculpting ways of Emperor Arpen, you can now proceed without needing to resolve the quest.

The Sculptures of the Arpen Emperor has been completed
As the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, you already know everything.
The sculpting of Geihar Von Arpen was already led through you.

Fame has increased by 1,980

Due to knowing this historical knowledge, Dignity has increased by 12.

Due to your relationship with the Emperor Geihar you would be able to receive the respect of those who respect the Arpen Empire.

All stats have increased by 2.

Chapter 9: A Meeting with a Sculptural Lifeform Race

Weed said to Einhand.

“The Sculptures of the Arpen Empire Emperor haven’t disappeared yet. I have already learned it.”

“Ah, that’s great!”

Einhand had burst out an exclamation just like when he drank the delicious ale.

“If you are what you said, then you really ought to be called a Great Sculptor. Then, if I could ask you for one more favor, do you know the place called Ugoth?”

Weed have somewhat seen the said place.

In Thor Kingdom, it’s the name of the region south of Saigorn Mountains. The Dwarf Warriors block the monsters in the border regions while there are also a lot of high-level adventurers visiting this place because of the numerous undiscovered dungeons that are yet to be found here.

A message window flashed in front of Weed.

– You have chosen Sculpture Life Bestowal for your Sculpting Master Quest
The rest of your Profession Master Quest is going to be determined by commissions related to Sculptural Lifeforms.

“Anyway, some Dwarves there have talked with the Goblins.”

“What did they say?”

“They said that whenever they walk as they sing songs, they would occasionally see small creatures among the bushes.”

“What was their size?”

“About half of a squirrel? They’re probably not monsters, though, we Dwarves have actually never met them. I think it would be better if you investigate what’s in there. I don’t really think it’s something major so just look it up whenever you’re not busy. If you have the time, then just check it out.”

“Well, I’m going to go look at it whenever I’m not busy today.”

Although Weed answered like that, he thought that it was something that is needed to be found.

These kinds of hints are sometimes connected to huge events or rewards. Of course, although that is very much unlikely to be the case, it was still worth to check it out.

“And in Ugoth, because there has been a swarm of monsters recently, a lot of Dwarves are currently in danger. If you could make strong Sculptural Lifeforms as if they were made of steel like in the past Arpen Empire, I think you would be able to regain peace and order in Ugoth. Although, yes, it is a shameless favor, but could you give a little bit of help to the Dwarves in Ugoth? ”

“Of course, I’ll see to it and do my best.”

Weed thought it was just a simple Combat Quest.

Although it was something rare for a Sculpting Quest, it may be a commission that will give him a heavier burden as it was a quest regarding Sculpture Life Bestowal.

“And also, you would do a great deal of help for us by doing this. So if you help Ugoth, us Dwarves won’t even know what valuable gift we would give.”

Ttring!

Protectors of Ugoth
A hidden force of the Arpen Empire!

If a Sculptor knows how to use Sculpture Life Bestowal, he would be able to do a great deal of help for the Dwarves of Saigorn Mountains.

Enter with 10 or more Sculptural Lifeforms and lead them to help restore the peace in Ugoth.
The Dwarves will reward you for this favor.

And, you may be able to find something else in Ugoth. Although, it might also be one of the lies of the Goblins as well…..

If you encounter these strange creatures, it will lead to the next stage of the chain quest.
Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest.

Quest Limit: | Advanced Sculpting Level 8 or higher.
| Sculpture Life Bestowal Skill needed.
| Playing Skill Level – It requires the cooperation of a Bard with Singing Skill of Intermediate Level or higher.
| You need to hunt 500 monsters to complete the quest.

Weed didn’t actually remember anymore the levels of the monsters in Ugoth

Even if the place would have quite a high level of difficulty, if it were those Sculptural Lifeforms, it wouldn’t really be a commission that would take a long time. However, in the long run, having taken Sculpture Life Bestowal for his Profession Master Quest, he was a little worried that the Combat Quests are going to be more and more difficult.

In fact, he didn’t really have much faith about continuing his quest with his Sculptural Lifeforms.

“As incompetent guys, bringing them all here would just do nothing…. If I want to move forward with these guys and in my quest, it’s going to be difficult.”

“Kwaegwaeaeg!”

“I don’t really know why was I even born. Meooooo.”

“Pick Light Wing. He’s loyal to master.”

The Sculptural Lifeforms were gathered together by Weed as they were being scolded.

***

All the Barbarians around Vargo Fortress were anxious about a certain place.

“No Warrior has gone in there and come out alive.”

“Legends say that a devil lives in there.”

“That place has an awful smell of rotting corpses along with an ominous aura flowing around it. If you want to take your life, there are much better ways to do it.”

Therefore, the Geomchi instructors and practitioners received a quest from the Barbarians.

“Uh, can we do this?”

“Even if we fail, we’re not going to die.”

“Your brains aren’t on your foreheads, so use it as we strike them.”

“We will follow the words of Master.”

The Barbarians said that they were difficult monsters that is why they would flock them and defeat them with sheer numbers.

Since there was no need for all 505 persons to do it, they divided their number and was scattered through different dungeons.

“ABSOLUTELY DO NOT ENTER THIS PLACE. Well, those words are something we should worry about.”

“Where is the entrance located?”

“Some human warriors even say that the trees above prevent us from calling out.”

“Then that would be fun. I will fight first!”

“Those guys have awfully strong claws. At least it weakens them when it rains since its sight is not that good in the rain, if you use that….”

“In any case, is it just that way that I could kill it? Even if the rain does not come, I’m still going to fight.”

*Fight* *Fight* *Fight*

“Go faster!”

“Let’s welcome the monster gladly.”

The Geomchis rushed in as they endured and clutched their injuries.

They run, crush, and fight as they do each dungeon and overwhelmingly reduce the time to accomplish it in the shortest time possible.

“We don’t need to complicate things. Just kill everything that is an enemy.”

“The idea of Master is right!”

As usual, they exceeded being heroic in battle as they died one after another.

Geomchi489 is a person who belonged to what could be said as an elite class of the society.

From an early age, he had demonstrated the characteristics of being a promising genius and it continued till middle school, high school until early graduation.

And, he left the best University in the Republic of Korea and became an exchange student to study abroad for a government scholarship. He won mathematical championships; he was also well known in the academic community to the extent of publishing his own journal paper.

He was guaranteed to be employed as one of the chief executives in a company and had even mastered the art of overspeeding on a highway without getting caught by surveillance cameras!

Geomchi489 has a lot of self-distress in his life.

‘Like this, I’m going to be promoted by the director which is earlier than others even than the vice director…. also the director. Earn salaries of hundred millions and also earn bonuses that will depend on the stocks. The companies will also give out personal cars, and later on I would climb up to be the CEO or Vice president of the company.’

Although he seemed to live a successful life, he never felt the joy of living. On the television, what appeared wasn’t that interesting as it showed something about a group.

It was about a dojang where they could come for exercise, and grabbing the chance would allow them to see the path of the sword.

His whole body felt a burning passion to welcome the sword.

Since then, the sword became his hobby and he started attending the dojang. Although drops of sweat came out as he worked hard, he still enjoyed training his body.

However, there were some minor side effects.

Being with the other practitioners or just wearing his uniform gave him a habit of using violence more than his head.

“Kill them!”

He didn’t care about the knowledge he accumulated from the society. If someone grabs the sword along with the practitioners, then one would naturally become ignorant.

The correct and wrong decisions are what matters little thought is given to other matters.

If one had the courage to throw one’s life away, giving importance to the body rather than the knowledge, a life in ignorance could be rather fun.

“Look. If you try, it’s possible isn’t it!”

“Yes, Master.”

“Being under command of Master is really…. a blessing of the Versailles Continent.”

The surviving instructors and practitioners were busy flattering Geomchi.

The seniors cooperated with each other while raising their levels at a high speed. They also gained and distributed information about the new hunting grounds around Vargo Fortress.

Geomchi3 saw Zephyr and his colleagues as they wandered around the shops.

“Hey, Zephyr.”

“Yes, hyung.”

“Are you doing anything?”

“Uhhh….”

Geomchi3 was gritting as it was really urgent. Although Zephyr had a challenge that was needed to be completed by tomorrow, he was unable to make himself say it.

“I’m not.”

“Then, let’s hunt together.”

“Well… Let’s do it then, hyung-nim. But, there’s also Pale-nim and the others.”

Zephyr knew that the Geomchis were very ignorant as he saw it whenever they were hunting.

But, they were not strangers who didn’t know things about Vargo Fortress.

When the Barbarians said a word to them about a place, the Geomchis went along with the practitioners and completely swept the monsters in there!

They exhibited their combat skills and hunting speed which was enough to cause the Barbarians to be amazed.

Like this, whenever they take part in hunting, it was an obvious fact that one would likely die.

If he came alone without Pale, Surka, Irene and Romuna, and got sandwiched between the practitioners, he might collapse because of exhaustion without having any partner to share his pain.

“Alright. Then, we will start when we are all together.”

Like that, they have decided to hunt altogether!

Geomchi2 has been reunited with Seechwi who was surrounded by Orcs.

“It’s been a while, chwiiig!”

“You did a lot of effort just to come this far.”

Both of them hugged each other tightly as they shared their warmth.

Looking at it, although it was awkward as it was a display of affection between an Orc and a Human, it was an affectionate feeling for the two.

“I have to go for hunting now….”

“Let’s go together, chwichichwiik!”

Orc Commander Seechwi led the Orcs and joined the hunt.

Elite Orc Champions entered the dungeon and hunted. As the Orc Champions traveled beyond their Rugged Mountains, they grew while fighting with monsters.

And Seoyoon also hunted along with the practitioners. In other words, they were a disaster.

Anyway, since she has only been making ceramics and sculptures for a while now with Weed, she wanted to raise her level by hunting along with the Geomchis.

The profession of Seoyoon, the more she fights the more powerful she becomes, a Beserker!

Not only does the power of her skills were great, as soon as she finishes an entire dungeon, she would immediately go to another dungeon. She goes around attracting a large number of monsters while the Geomchi instructors and practitioners just watched from the sides looking at her ability to slaughter.

“That girl is stronger than us…..”

“Our hunting abilities seems to be unable to keep up in comparison with hers.”

“No! This can’t be! Even if we lose to her at eating meat we can’t lose at fighting. Let’s go!”

Geomchi, the instructors and the practitioners became more ignorant.

***

In order for Weed to complete the Ugoth Quest, he needed to call 1 Bard.

“So I must not do this alone and also need cooperate with a user of different profession. And the Bard should also be a fairly high level and must have at least Intermediate level of skill.”

He could always ask for help when regards to Bards since they dominate Morata more than in any other city. Although there were lots of talented people in Morata, people would run towards him even barefooted if it was Weed who called. Unfortunately, his skill level wasn’t that high yet.

“If it’s Bellot, she’s going to be enough since it just needs to be Intermediate.”

Weed sent a whisper to Bellot.

– Excuse me, are you free right now?

– Heek heek.

– Bellot-nim?

– Whew. Sorry, did you just call me?

She still had her usual charm, though the only difference was she was in a hurry which was not the usual Bellot.

– Right now, if you have some time….

– Weed-nim! I have time, I absolutely have!

– If I could just have a moment, I need you to help me on something

– Just so I could escape here. Then… I would have a lot of time.

It was the first time that something about having lots of time for a man came out from the mouth of Bellot.

At her current situation, she was interrupted as she was fighting with Hwaryeong and the Geomchis.

Although her level rose quite easily, she was still quite pleased. Their hunt will not end even after their current hunt while she was already exhausted and wobbly on playing and singing songs.

– Then, I will ask and contact Yurin to take you with her.

– Please do, and come a little faster.

***

Weed, Bellot, the 6 Wyverns, Goldman, Yellowy, Silver Bird, and Light Wing arrived together in Ugoth. Gold Bird also came along because of Silver Bird.

Ugoth was located in one of 6 areas of the Dwarves, he rode a Wyvern to the sky and overlooked the buildings where the Dwarves lived. Of course, the Dwarves became even smaller. However, this is also where they built lots of armors, weapons and others.

The Adventurers who visited roamed around the busy streets away from the races.

“First, we’re going to catch monsters, you alright with that?”

Bellot sighed deeply.

“So. I’m going to hunt again?”

She just escaped from the tigers and actually came to the lion!

“It’s just 500 monsters, we should be able to get this done and catch them easily.”

“Did you just say 500?”

Bellot took out her instrument and was ready to play.

The combat abilities of a Bard are actually on a decent side. However, the bodies of the Sculptures of Life didn’t move from their places. She was just playing something that would significantly boost the potential of the Sculptural Lifeforms when…

“Kaeaek. Somehow, what I hear are just noises.”

“……”

The Wyverns didn’t like music because of their brutal and hurried nature. However, Silver Bird liked it enough that she danced about as she chirped.

As the strings of Bellot’s instrument strummed, Silver Bird did an adorable dance.

However, the adorable and cute movements of Silver Bird weren’t appreciated by the insensitive Weed.

“Are you drunk?”

“Twit twit!”

Silver Bird turned her head and showed a sulky look.

The Wyverns were suspicious and thought that they had been left behind while the others got to drink.

“In any case, let the battle begin!”

The price he needed to pay for the Quest was mobilizing his Sculptural Lifeforms.

The Wyverns, who could also be called the Lord of the Heavens, flew even on the low mountains.

Weed and Goldman were armed with bows and shot any monsters that were wandering in the woods. If their arrows just grazed though the monsters and survived, the Wyverns would immediately follow them with an assault.

“I’ll play a quick rhythm.”

Since Bellot played at a higher speed, the Wyverns felt that they were lighter along with enhanced agility and moved quickly.

The monsters of Ugoth were suitable prey for the Sculptural Lifeforms. Occasionally, when he found places where lots of monsters gathering around, Weed would jump to the ground.

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed rode Yellowy as they rallied in and win battles.

– Remaining Monsters: 264

The hunt progressed quickly.

Although there are high-level monsters in the areas of Ugoth, they were quite fragile from the combination of the Wyverns.

“Kyalulululu!”

Silver Bird called up a mysterious fog.

Although it was normally used in a siege, it was still possible to use it even in these high mountain areas. It was a technique that endangers the monsters by confusing which also boosts the morale of the soldiers.

In Vargo Fortress, this technique of Silver Bird was something that is used very often for the soldiers and Sculptural Lifeforms for them fight with an advantage.

Bellot, who was riding Wy-1, showed a clear smile as she was playing.

“So pretty.”

The mysterious fog shrouded the Saigorn Mountains and stretched out as the monsters lost their sense of direction and wandered around.

Although Bellot had a lot of combat experience, she was still isolated in the fog while the Wyverns had the great idea of assaulting anyone with the shape of a monster.

However, Weed said casually.

“Hey, I cannot look for japtem… cancel your skill.”

“Kkyaruk!”

“Anyways, I didn’t tell you to do this.”

Since she cast her skill needlessly, Silver Bird could only suffer the scolding.

Silver Bird, who considered Weed as a father since birth, twisted her beak in dismay and sulked. In time it actually became crooked now.

And so, they ended up fighting 500 monsters until the evening.

Ttring!

– You have completed the target number of monsters in the Guardians of Ugoth quest.
You can receive your compensation for your commission by going into town to look for the Dwarf.

Although it was also a fact that they hunted more quickly, it still took some time for them to distinguish the monsters.

Because it was related to the quest it was better to hunt higher level monsters than lower ones since they might receive better rewards from the dwarves,.

“Now Bellot-nim, I’ll be needing your time.”

“What’s the matter?”

Weed’s Quest was probably just getting started.

Since, if he didn’t find the small creatures that the Goblins have told about, then it wouldn’t lead to another quest.

***

As Weed hunted around Ugoth, he looked carefully at his surroundings.

It was a place of lush greenery and yet, it is said that the Goblins are living in a nearby cave.

“Then, I’ll start here.”

Bellot sang as she played her instrument.

Going for a walk in a deep dark mountain path~

Stepping on the falling leaves making a rustling sound

And as I walk I lost my way

This trip will lead me somewhere

I don’t know what’s coming out

I tremble as I sing a song

Whenever I hear the wolves

In the night, her voice spread in all directions.

Although Bellot’s ability to handle instruments was considerable as a Bard, her voice was the one which was particularly beautiful and clear.

But occasionally, some creatures, except for the Goblins, would take a look and peek on them then escape. And the small creatures among the bushes also didn’t show up.

Bellot thought to herself.

‘This is embarrassing.’

Of course, although they had Sculptures of Life with them, the idea of singing while being alone with a man brings a pretty strange atmosphere.

She felt nothing but shyness and throbbing!

“Even now, there’s still nothing that’s coming out. I’ll just continue to sing.”

As Bellot continued her singing, she hoped that something would occasionally hear her music and show up.

Since they were near the cave of the goblins, other monsters don’t usually come out which was why it had quite a desolate atmosphere.

Yellowy and the Wyverns fell down and dozed off as they fell asleep.

Eventually, Weed intruded.

“There seems to be something wrong with the song.”

“Yeah?”

Although her job in reality wasn’t really a singer, Bellot was still a proud Bard inside Royal Road.

“The tone accuracy and my playing, I don’t think I really had any mistakes there?”

Weed shook his head.

“I didn’t mean it like that. Let me just recall and sing the lines in the song once again.”

“….. Let me have this one.”

Weed’s singing was the worst of the worst.

Although Bellot also knew this very well, she just decided to follow him and didn’t react even after he tried to sing some of her songs.

Weed just changed the lyrics of the songs that she will sing.

“The song will be like this.”

“The lyrics are a bit… How will I put this?”

She can’t bear to say it since the lyrics were already embarrassing enough to even try and just say it on its own!

However, there seems to have a high probability that the Wyverns and Yellowy will like them upon hearing them.

“Well, let me sing it then.”

A jewel is buried in a deep dark mountain path~

The fallen leaves below make a rustling sound

I cooked a bunch of delicious food.

No one also comes here.

A song that nobody listens to.

A song you mustn’t hear.

Don’t come here to hear.

Weed was thinking as he listened to the beautiful song of Bellot.

‘This will make the Goblins come….’

Her singing skills were quite on the decent side.

The song has a refreshing feeling to it without any messy tune nor any careless high notes.

It was very nice to listen to along with her clear playing. If her proficiency is already enough, Weed would most likely find those little creatures.

‘Maybe there’s a problem with the lyrics?’

Weed immediately saw something that moved.

When Bellot already changed the lyrics of her song, the reactions of his Sculptural Lifeforms also changed.

“Mooooooooo.”

Yellowy who was down with his sleepy eyes dug into the ground using his hind feet.

Pabababa!
(T/N: Digging SFX)

Yellowy was trying to find if whether or not there was really a gem.

Of course, it was also true for the Wyverns, even Silver Bird and Golden Bird chirped and released their hunger chirps.

*rustle* *rustle*

And then, a gentle shake resounded from the bushes.

Weed was able to find the creatures that were smaller than a pine cone that were squinting in the bushes.

Ttring!

You have found the Ellyons, a Sculptural Lifeform race that was given life by the Emperor Geihar Von Arpen.
Ellyon is a race that belongs to the fairies.
Since they have a very long life, it’s hard to find a case where someone dies of old age from them.
Their body size is very small while they also love music and sculptures.
The foods that they eat are mainly dew and grains that they gather during dawn.

They are peaceful creatures and aren’t interested in fighting. They don’t even have a territory that separates them from others.

They love this place and didn’t seriously damage the nature.

– Due to this rediscovery, maximum Health has increased by 1000.
Mana has increased by 500.
All stats has increased by 2.

– You can report this new race that you have found to a King or Lord.
If the cities and countries knew about the Ellyons, your Knowledge and Affinity to Nature will increase.

Guardians of Ugoth has been completed.
Goblins being honest, that fact is something that one would find hard to believe. But what they said was true.

– Sculpting Skill proficiency has increased.

– You have a good reputation with the with the Goblins.
If you talk with them, they will give you stories about what they know.

– Luck has increased by 7

– You have completed the Protector of Ugoth Quest.
You can now proceed to the next stage of your Sculpting Master Quest.

***

Bard Ray had to pay 400 defensive troops to take defense in Kraton Castle.

Even if the castle fortifications could be used, the troops fighting for the other side was 10 times greater than them.

The soldiers were being trained and had brought out their new equipments like throwing spears and swords!

There were only 20 days till all of their enemies marched towards them.

During that time, the soldiers were being trained and the residents were either forcefully recruited or being commanded to do renovations.

Of course, since they lack war supplies, it was just barely possible for them to increase their production capacity.

“I made a mistake, I’m sorry.”

Even though Bard Ray was the one who directed their training, the soldiers were still unable to follow along easily.

“If you do not listen….”

Bard Ray took out his sword then brandished it.

Then, the soldier who made the mistake changed into a gray light then disappeared.

“.. you will die. Keep it into your mind.”

– The soldiers of Kraton Castle has been reduced to 399

– The fear of the Lord has spread among the soldiers.
Notoriety has increased.
The effect of leadership is going to temporarily improve.

“Yes!”

BardRay was already in the eleventh stage of his Black Knight’s Quest.

As the difficulty his quests gradually rose, the support of Hermes Guild also increased accordingly.

The preemptive soldiers for the next quests were given simple items to wear with low-level restrictions such as magic rings, magic daggers, leather armor which was given to them for them to own as their payment.

Although most of his Black Knight Quests are just nothing but blindly fighting to survive, being able to manage troops was a common thing.

He even has his status as the King of Haven Kingdom and along with his charisma and leadership, he was already on a level where you can’t even envy him.

However, it was not enough to immediately turn those soldiers into Elite troops.

In preparation for the upcoming battle along with the plans, a lot of things have changed.

“Have the residents focused on the production of bows and arrows. And, add more people to the wall to repair it overnight.”

“The complaints of the residents will increase.”

“This work is for themselves.”

Although the fatigue and complaints of the residents kept on increasing day by day, Bard Ray could only manage to suppress the rebellions.

The accumulated information that he gained as he ruled the territories of Kallamore Kingdom became useful here.

All of the residents were already dying as they are being abused, unable to take a break.

The soldiers also, those who didn’t follow the proper training were being sent to the hazardous walls to do repair work.

When the 20 days passed by, the enemy was already done preparing for battle.

Soldiers of Kraton Castle: 620 People
Discipline: They may engage in war out of fear of their King
Morale: Low

The enemies came marching towards the castle and the soldiers had put on a strong resistance.

As they dropped stones and shot their arrows, they also fought the enemies who came up on the wall.

That moment of Bard Ray’s Quest was being broadcasted live on every game broadcasting stations.

“Once again, he’s literally just massacring them as if they were monsters!”

He is currently demonstrating an even more overwhelming strength in comparison with all of the combat capabilities he’d previously shown as he dominates the battlefield.

“The soldiers, who are not that quite suitable for fighting are giving a pretty good fight.”

The soldiers who rushed towards Bard Ray still fought while tying him in place in spite of having to sacrifice themselves.

Although they backed off a little bit since they don’t want to get injured, only by killing the Lord would they put an end to this fighting and it’s either they will be killed or be lucky enough to survive.

Eventually, Bard Ray was safe and kept his Kraton Castle which will probably start new legends. A status window appeared and he has obtained the Lightning Spear and a Lightning Armor Set.

His Black Knight Quest proceeded to its next step.

Of course, the part in which BardRay accepted the quest wasn’t disclosed in the broadcast.

“Thy Knight, thine cruelty couldn’t be told as inevitable for peace. For thy sword of the Black Knight, there is a monster near Melbourne Mines on Treipeak Fort. If you have thy sword, you are able to learn the swordsmanship known as Destruction. To wake up this monster, thou must seek the gem from the Earth Shaker.”

Bard Ray laughed coldly.

“Melbourne is… in the area of Black Lion Guild.”

***

“Ah.”

Bellot was tightly clutching her two hands.

The Fairy Ellyon was wearing green clothes along with a hat which was so cute and really adorable.

“This is so nice.”

She twinkled her eyes as she didn’t know what to do with this cute thing.

Also, having discovered the Ellyons together with Weed, she was also given similar rewards.

As a Bard, she will be the first one to sing a song about the Ellyons. And through this song, she would earn greater fame that which would make it possible for her to attract more audience.

Ever since their biggest day of adventure when they visited Jigolaths, she has pretty much been standing by till today.

Weed went down to the Ellyon and lowered his body.

At first he thought that there were only 1 of it, but inside the bush, there was actually more than 30 of them.

“Hello.”

Weed spoke and said hello to them.

During the era of Emperor Geihar Von Arpen, there were lots of Sculptural Lifeforms in his Golden Age of Sculpting.

Since he had discovered one of the Sculptural Lifeform race, he couldn’t help but be excited.

– A human.

– He has spotted us.

– Shall we hide again?

– He doesn’t give a good impression. I think he’s a bad man.

According to the reports of the Goblins, they do not run away. But looking at Weed, it looked like the Ellyons were trying to run away.

However, someone among them said.

– Look at those. They’re the same as us.

– They are like art created by children.

The Ellyons came and cheerily jumped up and down on Yellowy and rubbed their face on the bodies of the Wyverns.

“Moooooooo. They smell.”

Yellowy and Wyverns felt ticklish and shook their bodies.

Silver Bird jumped off as it look towards the little fairies, showed a prim air, then flew away as it smiled and went up to the branches.

Weed raised an Ellyon with his finger.

“Ellyon Information Window!”

– You have observed the Sculptural Lifeform.
You cannot check some detailed information.

Name: Ronnie Ellyon
Race: Fairy
Preference: Nature
Level: 51
Occupation: Dew Drinks Leader
Title: The Secretly Wandering Rascal
Fame: 2
A creature that was created by Emperor Geihar.
They are good at farming and also have the ability to dig for minerals.
They love music and arts.
Although they have a few combat skills, it couldn’t be seen by the eyes of the wicked.
+Unknown
+Unknown

Weed looked at the Ellyon closely with his eyes.

As he looked at it closely, the more that it looked like an innocent kid.

It was a fairy girl that was dressed up like a little girl.

– Let me go.

Weed put the Ellyon to the ground.

Suddenly, the Ellyons gathered together and there were 100 small creatures that surrounded Weed in a circle.

Weed and Bellot didn’t run away as the Sculptural Lifeforms did a mysterious thing.

– I’ll let you know something about us.

They heard the voice of the Ellyons.

Then, a vision flowed in the eyes of Weed.

***

Ever since the death of Emperor Geihar, the one who unified the Versailles Continent, the civilization of the Arpen Empire crumbled rapidly.

Due to the disputes between his children and his Knights, the great empire has scattered away and each of the Sculptural Lifeform had to leave.

“Let’s search for new grounds to live on…..”

“The day will come when the arts and culture in this Continent will bloom again.”

“May peace always be with you.”

The Sculptural Lifeforms, who left the Empire to collapse, experienced dangers and stayed hidden on the continent.

The Dwarves who lived in their underground world, deeper than a subterranean city, ascended to the skies and prayed.

They went to the seas, large islands, mountains and forests that the Humans have not yet explored and even swamps.

Although the Sculptural Lifeforms that Emperor Arpen created were tenacious, they became completely dispersed out.

The Ellyons was in charge of the Empire’s farming, mineral extraction along with its lakes and ponds.

Even without fighting they still had the ability to adapt to things.

They adjusted to the mountains with those rocks and earth while avoiding monsters and managing to stay alive so far.

***

We have been waiting our days for Sculptor who would be the successor of Emperor Arpen to visit us.

Despite the friendly statement, Weed didn’t feel very bad.

The way of speaking just reminds him of when dust gets caught in his eyes.

‘Sculpting Master Quest. As I’ve discovered Ratzeburg, my reputation as a Sculptor and creating Sculptures had a positive effect and have spread towards each of the races. Back then, when I chose Sculpture Life Bestowal, I’m really going to meet the Sculptural Lifeform Race.’

– We could live a longer time compared to the elves. However, our strength have weakened a lot. To return us back into our original selves, we need the strength of the Sapphire of Melbourne.

Weed flinched as his body trembled.

“Wait you can’t possibly mean…..”

– Wouldn’t you obtain this Sapphire for us and make a sculpture with it?

Ttring!

The Ellyons Wants Sapphire
In the Haineph Mountains of the Tullen Kingdom, there is the human-made Fort named Treipeak.
This fort served as a protection of the Melbourne Mines from monsters and other kingdoms.

While angry spirits haunt the mines, this is also where you could enter and excavate the finest of sapphires which could be used in creating sculptures.

Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest.
Reward: Loyalty of the Ellyons

Quest Limit: | Advanced Sculpting Level 8 or higher.
| Mining Skill is required
| A Magnum Opus Sapphire Sculpture

The Melbourne Mines boasts to be the the continent’s largest depository of iron and sapphires.

If a person gains ownership of these mines, that person will gain astronomical wealth and power.

As a place of never-ending war between the guilds, it has its famous Oden Fort.

Currently, that territory belongs to the Black Lion Guild.

– We have already lived for a long time and we also miss the art and culture of the Arpen Empire. If you then decided to create this sculpture for us, I could only believe in your words then. If you give fresh fruits to the spirits, they will not actually fight.

Weed nodded his head.

“Then, don’t worry about creating the sculpture and just wait for it.”

– You have accepted the quest.

– Thank you.

“No. Only this much is what can I do for you guys….”

The Sculpting Master Quest, he would give his best efforts to the Ellyons since he might be repaid tenfold for his efforts.

Chapter 1: Melbourne Mine

Weed used the teleport gate to arrive at Treipeak Fortress in the Haineph mountain area..

“It is just my luck that there are hardly any people around.”

The Versailles Continent felt narrower as he travelled around it. He couldn’t feel the pleasure of travelling around to dangerous places in order to obtain gold.

“Iron ore is needed.”

“Discount sale! This is the last bargain for iron ores!”

Many users were trading at Treipeak. Even though they weren’t merchants, the users were selling minerals obtained from hunting in the Melbourne mine.

Melbourne Mine Entrance Fee

Underground 1st Floor 300 gold

2nd Floor 850 gold

3rd Floor 1,800 gold

The 4th Floor is a guild restricted area

Users had to pay the Black Lion Guild a fee to access the hunting grounds so users were also selling any loot they obtained. Sometimes they obtained precious items but they had to split the share with the Black Lion guild so they obtained almost no profit from hunting. But the Melbourne Mine was popular with users whose priority was raising their levels instead of earning money. Miners digging for iron ore were also common so they needed to pay a separate fee over time.

Weed shook his head.

“They really have a lot to learn about governance. If this was a dictatorship than it would be perfect.”

He had just become the king of the Arpen Kingdom. It was only a small kingdom but if he learned advanced ruling techniques then he would become a vicious king later on.

“Looking for people to hunt on the 2nd floor. You can hunt until late at night!”

“Black Lion Guild is forming a party. They will keep all the items but the admission fee will be free. There is a profession and level restriction.”

Weed spent a short time at the peak of the mountain watching the people and the drifting clouds. There was an admission fee so he sent a whisper to Hegel who belonged to the Black Lion Guild and who was willing to listen to him. Users were gathered at the walls built along the mountain ridges. It was a necessary structure for comfortable walking.

“Aren’t there people completing the Class Master quest these days?”

“Isn’t it Bardray? He is being actively supported by the Hermes Guild.”

“Phew, the God of War Weed-nim is a match even without the support of a guild.”

“Do you know what the reward will be for the Black Knight Master Quest?”

The Class Master quest was a popular topic among users. The scale of the quest would be enormous considering they needed to master a skill. Based on the information revealed by the Unicorn Corporation, a special reward would be given for mastering a profession skill so it became a hot topic among the users as time passed. It was enough to make people who were indifferent to skill levels start grinding their skill proficiency.

“I saw on the bulletin boards and news broadcasts that the Black Knight completed a class quest.”

“I heard from CTS Media that he obtained a legendary spear and armour.”

“Bardray obtained that with the eleventh quest.”

“When did he do the eleventh quest?”

“He succeeded yesterday and it was broadcasted live all night.”

“Wow. Then I should watch the reruns.”

“The CTS media broadcast is good because CTS has a cooperation with the Hermes Guild on their screen time.”

Weed’s eyes filled with jealousy. He didn’t receive any special rewards for his Sculpting Master Quest except for an increase in the friendship of each race and the discovery of ancient ruins.

Meanwhile Bardray who was a competitor with a similar quest, the master quest, received the best equipment to continue his adventure. The thought of it caused a pain in his stomach!

Hegel finally arrived through the teleport gate while Weed was agonizing about it. Weed shook his hand.

“Ah, you’re here!”

“Weed hyung?”

“Yes, it’s me.”

Hegel tilted his head to one side.

“Eh, wasn’t Hyung a dwarf?”

Weed had the body of a dwarf the last time Hegel saw him. Weed roughly explained it.

“There were circumstances so I briefly changed by body in order to enter the Dwarf Kingdom for a quest. But why were you late?”

“I’m late because I dropped in at the guild office. Ah, do you know my colleagues here from school?”

Hegel pointed towards 2 girls who bowed.

“Hello Sunbae-nim!”

Dine and Alice attended school along with Choi Sang-jun. In Royal Road he was known as Hegel.

“It’s great to see you again.”

Weed greeted them roughly.

“Yes, me too.”

“Hyung wanted to see the Melbourne Mine….. I called these kids here to accompany hyung. Is that okay?”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

Weed only cared about entering the Melbourne Mine for free.

“The Melbourne Mine isn’t a simple dungeon so a bit of preparation is needed. Follow me.”

Hegel was a member with the mark of the Black Lion Guild stamped on his armour so he received enormous benefits on Treipeak. At every store he visited he could buy things at a low price without any tax. The prices were cheap enough to make him envious and the items had a high rating.

“I hope you enjoy your visit Sir Hegel-nim.”

The soldiers politely greeted while lifting their spears.

“He is a member of the Black Lion Guild.”

“Look at that great equipment.”

Even Hegel’s arrogance was natural based on the reactions in the surroundings.

“Sir Hegel-nim, good luck. There are a lot of monsters in the mine.”

“Thank you for coming to this place Sir Hegel-nim. Please come in.”

It was to the extent that the guards gave them VIP treatment at the entrance of the Melbourne Mine. This respect was realistic to Weed.

When he was a child he had been envious of children from rich homes. But it would be difficult to succeed in this tough world with such a narrow mindset. That’s why he actively used flattery!

“Hegel you really are big.”

“Hehe, this is just something basic.”

“It seems like you’ve gained a lot of levels and your equipment is also better.”

“This time I’ve received the best equipment from the guild so monsters of this degree won’t be much risk.”

“The Black Lion Guild is really amazing!”

“Hyung isn’t in a guild?”

“I’ve also joined one.”

The standards of the members of the Travellers of the Wilderness Guild was quite high. Whenever he opened the guild chat he mainly heard talk about treasure hunting or boss monster hunting.

In general small guilds needed dozens or hundreds of people to hunt a boss monster. Hunting boss monsters increased the guild’s reputation, causing more people to want to join and then allowing them to hunt stronger boss monsters.

The Travellers of the Wilderness Guild never summoned their members for a reason like that. They were a hermit type guild so they would just quickly gather a few people if needed for a boss hunt.

“If it is difficult at any time than just tell me hyung. Everybody in the Black Lion Guild receives this treatment.”

“Yes, thank you.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

People arrived one after another at the teleport gate of Treipeak.

“The air is truly refreshing.”

“This is the Tullen Kingdom with a high teleport fee so you need to hunt eagerly.”

The users who arrived were prepared and scouted the surroundings.

- Turok: The Black Lion guild doesn’t seem like much.

- Arkhim: Is the area around the teleport gate safe?

- Turok: Yes. The group can move here.

The 10 users scattered around the fortress reported back. They were secret scouts belong to the Hermes Guild. A bright light continuously occurred at the teleport gate.

Papapat!

Bardray, his Royal Guards and the assassination squad had moved here with the teleport gate. The dark ruler of the Hermes Guild, Bardray the King of the Haven Kingdom had arrived at Treipeak.

His group disguised themselves by wearing equipment of a much lower level. Bardray and the Royal Guards had recognizable faces so they needed to take precautions. The assassination squad that followed them wore plain clothes and make-up that hid their faces like dancers.

- Kasim: We will split up after arriving at the Melbourne Mine. If we are detected by the Black Lion Guild then it will become difficult.

Bardray, the Royal Guards and the assassination squad dropped by the stores and bought useless items to buy some time. 500 people were moving to Treipeak so the teleport gate was a lot more active than usual. In order to avoid suspicion they arrived at different times throughout the next two hours. Scouts were placed on the main street in order to observe the military personnel of the fortress and members of the Black Lion Guild.

- Greiden: I’ve confirmed that there are 60000 infantry, 20000 archers and 3000 knights at the fortress. There are members of the Black Lion Guild at the fortress but they think that other areas are more important so most of the users have been deployed elsewhere.

- Turok: If a battle starts then reinforcements will come very quickly.

- Kasim: If we disrupt the power maintaining the Melbourne Mine then those guys won’t be able to come in time.

Bardray’s quest was taking place in the Melbourne Mine, an area under the control of the Black Lion Guild. His Class Master Quest attracted a lot of attention so he had to hide while fighting the boss monster hiding in the mine. There was no way the Black Lion Guild would allow the Hermes Guild to dispatch troops to the Melbourne Mine. Instead of requesting cooperation, he decided to just use all his power to sweep through it.

- Reikina: The scouts have arrived at the mine. I’ve checked the entrance but haven’t seen anything special. I will pay the toll and enter first.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed and Hegel entered the underground 1st floor of the Melbourne Mine.

Kang kang kang!

The scene of users mining was common. Good quality iron ore could be obtained in large quantities at the Melbourne Mine. Iron ore could be easily changed into money and if they were lucky enough then some people could obtain gold.

‘There are a lot of people here.’

Weed usually hunted with a small handful of colleagues or alone. The Melbourne Mine was a popular hunting ground so it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that people were flocking in groups. There were buried miners, lost soldiers and people hunting monsters in parties. Alice asked in a cute voice mixed with charm.

“Sunbae-nim, what type of place is this?”

“It is a good hunting place for level 150 and loot often drops here so some people stay until level 250. You can even become intimate with blacksmiths in this place.”

Hegel kindly explained to his juniors. Parties who came first could occupy a decent hunting spot but they averted their gazes whenever they saw a member of the Black Lion Guild.

“Then what is your level?”

“Both of us are a little bit over 220.”

“Then you could just move straight to the 2nd floor.”

“Really? Thank you Sunbae-nim.”

Hegel brought his juniors down another floor.

“Is Hyung okay?”

“I don’t care. You know better than me what to do in the Melbourne Mine.”

Weed followed without any complaints because he could dig sapphires from the 3rd underground floor. The problem started from the 3rd floor because he couldn’t go down further without any identification. That’s why he was going to adhere himself to Hegel.

A member with the mark of the Black Lion Guild descended to the 2nd underground floor. There were a lot of people hunting but there were some empty sections. Hegel brought them to an empty place.

“This is a place where only members of the Black Lion Guild can hunt. I’m here so you guys can hunt here as well.”

Dine then asked like she noticed something strange.

“Thank you Sunbae-nim. By the way, are you going to run around hunting?”

“Yes. I’ll be guarding the passage from any monsters that might run out. You don’t need to move around so hunting should be easier.”

“Ah, I see.

The Black Lion Guild had secured all the good hunting spots. This was one of the benefits of being a member of a large guild who owned hunting grounds. The problem was that these people were weak in long distance adventures despite their high levels. This was because they weren’t used to improvisation when encountering a problem.

“Now let’s get started. A lot of monsters may appear but just remain calm.”

“We’re going to be hunting here?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll watch for any dangers.”

Hegel blocked the front of the passage. He was wearing high defense armour that exerted a strong power in combat. It was an armour that absorbed most destructive attacks. He even had a Kite Shield that protected his whole body so he could defend against a lot of monster attacks. The high defense ability of the equipment made it possible to fight on the front lines. Hegel stood while holding his shield.

‘This is tasteful armour.’

He felt his heart pound. He was excited to start the hunt and receive attention for his armour.

“Sunbae-nim, you look so cool!”

“Please show me how to hunt. I think it will be really helpful if I see you fight first.”

The girls’ cheers increased Hegel’s good mood.

‘This isn’t that hard.’

Weed observed the surrounding parties fighting monsters. The 2nd floor was mainly infested with a monster called Menchura. They were level 210 so Weed just had to swing a fist and they would die! Even if several hundred monsters suddenly appeared, he could just move forward and wipe out all of them by wildly swinging his sword. Sometimes a Menchura would summon flames that roamed around. The flames lit up the mine and shiny minerals, making the surroundings look beautiful.

“Now!”

3 Menchura that had long feelers like a cockroach appeared. They attacked Hegel all at once but couldn’t deal any significant damage because of his high defense. Hegel easily defeated the 3 of them with a few swings of his sword.

“Sunbae-nim, you’re so strong!”

“This is just a basic level. I will worry about blocking so just attack it.”

“Yep!”

Hegel, Dine and Alice worked together to deal with any Menchura that appeared.

Weed was in an ambiguous position. He accumulated almost no experience from hunting the Menchura. However he was a master at grinding in any situation!

“3rd grade iron ore. This is what I need. If you have any items you want then just tell me.”

Hegel generously split up the loot with the two girls.

“Sunbae-nim, that magic didn’t seem to work just now. How much resistance is there?”

“Approximately 39%. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that even fire won’t damage it.”

Hegel’s equipment came in handy when fighting monsters with Dine and Alice. The Black Lion Guild knew a lot about the monsters they were hunting. While the three of them were hunting harmoniously, Weed was bored.

He was level 400 so he couldn’t help feeling safe and comfortable in this dungeon. The Melbourne Mine was a popular hunting ground so any monsters that appeared were taken care of by other users.

‘It should be more dangerous. This method of hunting monsters is inefficient. Instead of a mixed buffet style meal, they are just adding water to rice and eating it.’

But it was difficult to go down to the 3rd floor when considering the other peoples’ views. Rather than trying to hunt, Weed just sat down and started making sculptures. He would make some profit rather than waste time.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The members of the Hermes Guild were arranged in the Melbourne Mine.

- Turok: The scouts have finished being placed around the mine.

- Reikina: There is nothing unusual around the entrance of the mine and the 1st floor.

- Kasim: The Black Lion Guild’s troops?

- Turok: It seems like the level in the dungeon isn’t that high. According to the reports from an agent we dispatched 3 days in advance, a total of 160 people over level 300 entered the mine since yesterday. Among them are 75 members of the Black Lion Guild.

On the 3rd floor the level of the monsters exceeded 300. Therefore quite a few high level users tended to visit there. Of course that was nothing compared to the invading forces of the Hermes Guild.

- Kasim: If it is only that degree then we can quickly obliterate them.

- Arkhim: It won’t be good if we drag it out for a long time. They can notice at any time so we’ll start immediately once Bardray and his guards arrive.

- Kasim: I’m asking for final confirmation. Are we only fighting against the Black Lion Guild?

In the current guild chat channel, those given a special mission were given permission for a separate chat channel by the Hermes Guild. It was in order to maintain the security of the mission against other guilds.

- Arkhim: Our goal is the success of Bardray-nim’s quest, even if that means the death of everybody in the Melbourne Mine.

The Black Lion Guild was one of the prestigious guilds. It is because they were the Hermes Guild that they could make such a drastic decision.

- Arkhim: I’ll briefly tell you the plans. The Melbourne Mine belongs to the Black Lion Guild but they are also fighting in 11 other places. Even if the Black Lion Guild notices our intentions, it will take some time for their troops to arrive.

The Hermes Guild had sent teams to attack several places at the same time to act as a distraction. They also entered an agreement with the Beden guild for a siege mission.

The Black Lion Guild was completely rattled because of their calculations.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Hegel boasted of his strength while fighting the Menchura on the 2nd floor.

“Most of the monsters are vulnerable to continuous attacks. They will fall into a state of confusion so just keep hitting them.”

“It’s hard Sunbae-nim.”

“I’ll give you a demonstration.”

Hegel’s aim was to spend quality time with his juniors. Meanwhile Weed yawned as he made simple sculptures. The sculptures were completed in no time. If he sold the sculptures for an extravagant price than he could make money!

“Hyung should hunt as well.”

“No, I’m fine. I’ll do it later.”

Weed sometimes raised his head to watch the hunt while creating sculptures. He needed to go with Hegel to the 3rd floor anyway. The petty rules meant he couldn’t go downstairs without being attacked by the Black Lion Guild. Flattering Hegel was the price he had to pay for it.

“Hegel, you are really cool when fighting.”

“No, it’s nothing.”

“You seemed to have gained many levels while fighting.”

“Ah! Hyung, I got to level 330 this time.”

Occasionally he would throw out words of praise!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Melbourne Mine’s underground 4th floor!

Here users more than level 360 hunted in parties formed by the Black Lion Guild. The 4th floor had the form of a seven branched tunnel. This was the territory of the Black Lion Guild and they even manufactured maps of it. Many monsters emerged and users enjoyed hunting here.

“Today we’ve hunted quite a lot.”

“If you’re tired do you want to go out and get some fresh air?”

“It’s okay.”

One Black Lion Guild party was preparing to return to the fortress. Then the mine started shaking.

Kurururung!

“This earth is shaking!”

“Is it going to collapse?”

“It would be tough for a big mine like this to collapse.”

“But the ground is shaking… Watch out, rocks are falling from the ceiling!”

The Black Lion Guild members hunting in the Melbourne Mine started clamouring in the guild chat. It was like an earthquake had occurred through the entire Melbourne Mine.

The earth shook, revealing the hidden dungeon Belkain’s Lair.

Currently all users who enter the dungeon connected with the Melbourne Mine will receive 2 times the experience and item drop rate for one week.

The best item will drop from the first person to hunt the monster.

“What’s this? The entrance to a dungeon suddenly appeared.”

“Should we enter through here?”

“It seems to be connected to Melbourne Mine’s 4th floor so the degree of difficulty won’t be ordinary. Should we contact the guild first?”

A hole had suddenly appeared in the wall, revealing a huge cave. Users from the Black Lion Guild gathered and consulted with their guild. And prompt reports starting flying through the guild chat.

- Kamaras: Many holes were created in the dungeon. An identified force came to kill the users! A member of the Black Lion Guild tried to stop them but came under attack and died. Other people appeared and also died. It is impossible with just us so we need support.

It took only 1 minute before other users reported.

- Ject: An unidentified party enter the dungeon en masse, killing all users. A battle ensued and they mercilessly attacked our guild. The power of the enemy is beyond imagination.

- Pum: A battle has also started on the mountain range. The guard posts and fortress has also received fire. This is an urgent request for reinforcements!

The Black Lion Guild’s members hunting in the dungeon were suddenly attacked. The situation didn’t end there.

- Mirnak: Large scale combat troops from the Beden Guild are approaching Kurun Castle. Judging by all the magicians, it seems like a siege is about to occur!

It wasn’t difficult to recover when the peace of a dungeon was disturbed. Unless the monsters stormed out and slaughtered the inhabitants, it wouldn’t deal substantial economic or security damage.

But if they lost the siege then the castle and surrounding area would be passed to the Beden Guild. The Black Lion Guild had invested a lot in the development so it would become extremely unstable. If the residents were reduced then it would take some time to recover.

That’s why most of the central area of Versailles where the war was concentrated had a reduction in inhabitants, agricultural areas and technology. They would still receive a loss if they surrendered to the enemy.

- Nechak: I’m now in Kurun Castle. I’ve observed that the number of Beden Guild members challenging us is quite significant. The Black Lion Guild is convening an emergency meeting for the first time in its history.

- Koka: All users engaged in hunting, questing or business are ready for battle and waiting for a command.

The Black Lion Guild entered into an emergency system. The guild leader quickly grasped the situation and urgently sent reinforcements to Kurun Castle. It was a priority to prevent their castle from being taken away.

While the Black Lion Guild was waking up, the massacre of the Melbourne Mine by the Hermes Guild had begun.

Chapter 2: Bardray and the Royal Guards

- Sakain: Clean up the 1st floor as quickly as possible then proceed to penetrate a path for Bardray to go down to the 2nd floor.

The Royal Guards and 2 Night Blade assassination squads from the Hermes Guild had been mobilized to fight in the Melbourne Mine. The Night Blade Assassin Guild had at least 300 assassins. 2 groups of 80 elite assassins with terrible power had been selected. Those two groups from Night Blade were enough to completely dispatch a smaller guilds. The assassins rushed out holding their weapons.

“Kyaaaak!”

“I’ll leave the dungeon so spare me.”

“Everybody is indiscriminately being killed. Run away!”

The users hunting in the Melbourne Mine were being wiped out. Some begged and some cursed but the assassins from the Hermes Guild were merciless. It was a source of decent income for them so they thoroughly slaughtered everyone.

Bardray walked through the dead towards the 2nd floor with the Royal Guards.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Hyung, what do we do? There is a sudden attack so are we going to die?”

“What’s the big deal? We’ll just step carefully.”

“That……”

Hegel explained the contents of his guild chat.

“Oh, they’re really bad guys.”

“Completely unlucky.”

Alice and Dine had annoyed him but Weed was the type to drink every last drop of milk even if it was two months overdue. Therefore he had stayed with them and discovered the serious problem too late.

“Can’t troops from the Black Lion Guild stop them?”

“The event is occurring in many places at the same time. A war is occurring so there is no guarantee they will send help here.”

The Black Lion Guild had experienced many wars. Hegel was also experienced in many sieges upon the enemy but now it was the rare situation where they were being attacked!

Usually if there was a hunting ground or dungeon then a village would naturally be in that area. Sending a raiding party was a dangerous tactic because there was no guarantee they could return safely.

Weed sighed as he discovered that the Black Lion Guild was too busy to control the situation.

“The hospital bill had just decreased and now this happened.”

“Eh?”

“There is such a thing.”

He thought this would be easy thanks to Hegel, only to have an accident like this happen again.

“I couldn’t guess it at all. For an incident to occur in the dungeon while the Beden Guild is attacking.”

Something like this happened when they didn’t even know the identity of the enemies. It would be too late by the time they figured it out. Weed stopped making his sculptures and stood up.

“What did the Black Lion Guild members in the mine decide to do?”

“They tried to fight back but I heard reports that the enemies on the 1st floor are no joke. So we decided to gather on the 4th floor.”

“Is that so? Then can I go there?”

“It won’t matter if I bring you with me.”

“Thank you. Let’s go.”

Weed checked his backpack.

He had stored some of his equipment in case he needed to meet a lord or noble. But Kolderim’s Daemon Sword, Talrock’s Armour, the Ancient Shield, Saint’s Staff, Barkhan’s full set, Baharan’s Bracelet and Seulroeo’s Wedding Ring were present. If he lost even one of those items then it would be a huge psychological impact.

‘Even if the forces of the Black Lion Guild are spread, the invaders’ power truly isn’t ordinary.’

Weed couldn’t imagine that the people in the Melbourne Mine were Bardray and the Hermes Guild. Still, they needed to be of a very high level if they were stepping on the Black Lion Guild. Judging from Hegel’s expression and the great number of intruders, this was a really big crisis. The entire Melbourne Mine was a combat area so logging out was impossible.

“Let’s go down the stairs to the lower floors.”

Weed also had a map of the mine so he knew the approximate route.

“Hyung, I will open the way.”

Hegel said while holding his sword and shield.

“There’s no time for that now.”

Weed drew his Daemon Sword.

Then there was an eerie feeling! Weed jumped across the gap and attacked the Menchura that was frozen by Weed’s charisma and fighting spirit. It couldn’t even attack Weed and kept on trembling pitifully.

Seokeok!

– The Menchura has died from the devastating attack.

He hadn’t aimed for a vital spot yet it had died just from a graze of the Daemon Sword! All the Menchura blocking the route died from just a touch from Weed.

“Uh?”

Hegel was outraged. He had diligently raised his level to 330 thanks to hunting with his guild. The Menchura was still scary even if he was this level. But just lightly wielding his sword like it was a joke and killing the Menchura was an impossible task.

‘Even one of the hyungs who founded the Black Lion Guild can’t do this much.’

Hegel couldn’t demonstrate his full ability in fights because of his own lack of judgement and senses. But many users included Hegel were weak compared to their level.

When Weed was level 330, he had been fighting against dragons and touring Todeum. This was because he increased his stats more than others and he persistently raised his many skills. Compare that to other users who were accustomed to wearing good equipment and facing moderate monsters. While Weed was eating barley bread, other users were living while eating well cooked beef steak.

Weed disposed of the Menchura and asked.

“When will reinforcements from the Black Lion Guild come?”

“I don’t know yet. Right now other places are more urgent. I won’t be able to tell you the time.”

Weed continued fighting while surveying the area. Some parties were still hunting because they hadn’t gotten the news yet and some users were talking in loud voices.

“Do you have any information about the enemies that struck?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then you don’t know how many there are?”

“A little more information just came from the Melbourne Mine. There are at least 300 people.”

“Their estimated level?”

“It’s outrageous. A user from our guild who hunted on the 4th floor fought one of them on the 1st floor and died. That’s despite the fact that he is level 367.”

When it was this degree, it wasn’t just the hospital bill but the insurance expenses as well.

‘It is really dangerous.’

Weed moved at a faster pace.

He had learnt how to live a proper life when he was a child. He had learnt different things from society as he grew older. How to endure injustice. What to do when work wasn’t easy. The way to tread on other people to take the ball away.

“It is really hard to live honestly….. No wonder good people like me have no choice but to suffer and resent the world.”

“Eh?”

“It’s nothing.”

A bunch of Menchura had gathered at the entrance to go down to the 3rd floor. The monsters in the Melbourne Mine happened to breed very fast. Usually it was a condition for good hunting but it was just an obstacle in situations like this.

“I’m going to drill a path.”

Weed had many sword skills. Although he trained in all the skills, he focused on some exceptional ones.

The Imperial Formless Sword style!

It could be properly utilized for hunting as long as he didn’t break the opponent’s weapons. He might win the battle but there was no telling what loot he might not obtain if he recklessly broke equipment.

Sculpting Blade, Heriam Fencing and Radiant Sword, Weed had diverse skills that could be used depending on the characteristics of the fight. Radiant Sword was a ranged attack skill that used beautiful light.

“If I eat the entire roast chicken as a midnight snack then I won’t be able to eat grilled rib eye.”

A knife used to catch a chicken couldn’t be used to catch a cow.

Given the level of damage dealt to the Menchura, using Radiant Sword would just be abusing the monster.

“Huh?”

Hegel, Alice and Dine couldn’t understand the meaning of the words Weed kept on muttering.

“Hyung, let’s fight together.”

“No. I’m going to eat alone.”

Weed steadily walked through the congregating Menchura towards the 3rd floor.

Kyahaoo!

Kuyayang!

The Menchura didn’t have the capacity to threaten him. Instead their eyes were filled with deep fear. Weed’s fighting spirit was strongly emitted when a battle started.

The God of War.

He had fought countless battles with the strongest monsters on the Versailles Continent so the Menchura found it difficult to attack against his fighting spirit. The Menchura willingly fled to the rear to retreat. It was only 1 person approaching but 17 Menchura were running away. However it was impossible for Weed to just leave the obvious experience and loot to descend to the 3rd floor.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s sword plunged towards the Menchura. It was the mass death of all monsters within the radius of the sword! It dealt a mental shock to anyone who watched the Menchura simultaneously disappear.

Now the Menchura desperately fought back despite the pressure from his fighting spirit. Weed generously welcomed their attacks with his body. He was in the state where he wasn’t wearing proper armour since it was packed.

– The Menchura’s attack has grazed you.

Health has fallen by 46.

– The Menchura’s attack has hit a vital spot.

Your Perseverance has increased from the pain.

You have tolerated the damage thanks to Resilience.

Health has decreased by 159.

Weed felt ticklish!

“Let’s clean this up.”

The monsters gathered around the entrance to the 3rd floor quickly disappeared. Weed had been completing his Master quest not just in the Melbourne Mine so he hadn’t been able to fight as much as he wanted. He made sure to wipe them all out without leaving even one behind.

“Wah! Sunbae-nim, you’re the best.”

“So strong! What is the name of that attack skill?”

Alice and Dine started talking in appealing tones. Hegel spent that time being shamed and it was a repeat of a nightmare.

‘Ah…. This happened before.’

The Dwarf sculptor Weed! He remembered Weed’s surprising actions in the Kramador dungeon. When they went down to the 3rd floor, the users there were aware of and preparing for the attack.

“Where are those guys?”

“I don’t know but they seem to be fighting furiously so we should prepare for a battle.”

The Black Lion Guild members were guiding users down to the 4th floor. The Melbourne Mine’s 4th floor was a tunnel so the entrances were narrows when plenty of obstacles. Therefore it was a good terrain for a fight. The members had faith that the Black Lion Guild would send reinforcements even if it took some time. So they were bringing users from the 3rd floor down.

“Hyung, let’s go quickly as well.”

Hegel would feel more relieved if he was with his guild members so he wanted to rush. But Weed had work to do on the 3rd floor.

“A lot of people seem to be descending… This is a great opportunity.”

“What type of opportunity?”

“I don’t care if you go down first.”

Weed took a pickaxe out of his backpack and headed towards the mining area. The deeper it was in the mine, the better the iron ore that emerged was. Of course he also dug out sapphires.

Kang! Kang! Kang!

A lot of sapphires came out thanks to the skilled use of his pickaxe. It was a technique that controlled the power in accordance with the pickaxe weight and aiming for the exact spot. It was similar to the attack used when fighting a large enemy.

– Kuhehehe.

– Let’s release our grudge. Those bad guys left us locked up here to starve to death.

– You must be the servant sent by the Tullen King.

Angry spirits appeared on the 3rd floor every time someone started mining. They were dead knights with a hatred for invaders. A battle would occur whenever they appeared so the soldiers needed to protect the miners. Of course, most miners moved with a hunting party. This was also a good place for priests to hunt with their purify magic.

“Wait a little bit.”

– What is he saying? Our desired vengeance……

“Take this and eat it.”

Weed threw the spirits an apple.

– Apple.

– It is ripe and delicious.

The evil spirits attached themselves to the apple. The coveted apple disappeared in a few bites.

– Sweet.

– A few more.

– Then we won’t kill you.

“Whew.”

Weed sighed while moving his pickaxe and started throwing them fruit one by one.

– Your friendship with the spirits has increased.

A relationship of mutual trust is generated with the Melbourne spirits

.If he had time then catching the Melbourne spirits wouldn’t be difficult. Sculpting Blade and Radiant Sword were techniques that could even take care of spirits. But right now dangerous forces had entered the mine so he wasn’t in a position to do that.

“Live and offer up fruits to spirits, their fate…..”

Weed sang as he focused on his pickaxe.

– Sway sway, look over there.

– Are you looking for the sparkling blue jewels? There are some on the right side.

He dug where the spirits told him to with his intermediate mining skills and sapphires came pouring out. The spirits liked the fruit and gave him valuable information about where to mine.

– A medium sapphire gemstone has been unearthed.

Luck has increased by 1.

– A large sapphire gemstone has been unearthed.

Luck has increased by 2.

The degree of proficiency of the Mining skill has increased.

“For mining skills to be used in a Sculpting Master Quest…..”

It meant a character needed to be a jack of many trades to complete the quest. He needed sapphires to complete the quest so finding a lot was good. He needed to make a sculpture so different quantities of sapphires were needed. Weed continued digging despite being satisfied with the quantity of stones.

“I don’t know when I can get such a quest again.”

His mining skill also continued rising as he continuously dug out quality sapphires. Sapphires were beautiful so they could be processed into jewelry or when given to a senior magician, it could add attributes to swords and armour. Jewelry that increased attack damage could be sold for an expensive price.

“Hyung, let’s stop now.”

They didn’t dare leave Weed so Hegel and his two juniors were restless. Weed who was surrounded by spirits just kept on mining.

– It’s there, right there.

– There is a huge gemstone…… If he wanted to eat something sour then shouldn’t he buy a pomegranate?

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Hermes Guild had no difficulty wiping out the 1st floor of the Melbourne Mine. The Night Blade assasssins wiped out all parties. The assassins’ names were flashing red.

But they had the skill to hide it so that their infamy didn’t show when entering a village. Of course, if the other side had excellent observation or surveillance skills then they would be exposed and difficulty would ensue. However the territories dominated by the Hermes Guild granted amnesty to them so they didn’t care about their infamy.

“Let’s go.”

Bardray and the Royal Guards went down to the 2nd underground floor. A portion of the Royal Guards had already gone ahead and slaughtered the users with overwhelming force. Some users tried to escape to a tunnel but the Night Blade assassins caught up and ended their lives.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin felt like he became a lot older every morning.

“In retrospect, my youth passed by really quickly.”

He didn’t know how precious time was when he was young. He spent the entire time inventing Royal Road. Now his body had grown old and it wasn’t the same any longer.

Virtual reality drew a clear line in human history. There was so much potential for future development but Yoo Byung-jin thought that he probably wouldn’t see it.

“One day I’d like to live quietly in a place where people don’t know where I am.”

Looking back the ambition that had burned in him just increase the burden and made living life harder. Yoo Byung-jin wanted to find his successor so he watched what was happening in Royal Road on a daily basis.

“Tsk tsk, greed is never ending. If it isn’t stopped……”

The greed of a giant guild. The greedy humans moved in a herd and caused endless disputes. This could also be called human nature so Yoo Byung-jin watched it thoroughly.

“Morata… The Arpen Kingdom will probably become quite big. The growth is surprisingly quite rapid.”

There hadn’t been anything left in the Northern Continent so it was a poor area. Weed’s adventure had truly been beyond expectations. He had gone through many adventures since becoming a Legendary Moonlight Sculptor and raising a kingdom. His actions were amazing in a world dominated by monsters, swords and magics.

“If I played Royal Road then I would probably start in Morata.”

If people gathered together than a huge power would naturally be formed. Yoo Byung-jin saw the variety of events that happened daily in Morata.

Adventurers triumphantly returned with new discoveries. Warriors going out to increasingly distant places to hunt and bringing back news of the defeat of a dungeon. Bards succeeded in putting on great peformances. Tailors carefully wove fabric to develop their skills and it was the same for blacksmiths. Sculptors and painters created pieces of beautiful art on the streets. Gardeners pulled out weeds while carefully growing their prized flowers and trees.

Morata didn’t have sudden changes. All sectors were gradually getting better every day. This ordinary miracle would eventually lead to a kingdom. That’s why Yoo Byung-jin often watched Weed. While the war-torn cities on the continent were hard for beginners, Morat was a surprisingly good living area. In addition, Weed was currently part of the competitors ahead in their fields who were completing the Master Quest.

“He might meet Bardray in the Melbourne Mine.”

The two people didn’t know that they were in the same dungeon. Normally millions of people watched Bardray and Weed’s adventures but the nature of the incident meant that it couldn’t be broadcasted live. The only person who saw the surrounding circumstances was Yoo Byung-jin.

“What will happen……”

Yoo Byung-jin curiously watched the monitor. And he became more impatient as he watched Weed continue mining sapphires.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“There’s this much?”

Weed’s eyes twinkled as he looked at the sapphires in the basket. He also obtained quite a significant amount of 2nd and 3rd grade iron ores. The minerals had quite a significant weight but he didn’t think they were heavy.

“In order to make money in this land… It is worth learning the mining skill.”

It was one of the skills that made money in Royal Road.

“Now I should do a little more digging.”

“Hyung, we should go quickly. There’s no time to waste here anymore.”

Hegel said from the side. He had been upset since finding out the Melbourne Mine was attacked. Meanwhile the Black Lion Guild were gathering the users on the 4th floor. Hegel was anxious and wanted to join them soon but Weed was doing something unexpected.

‘This Hyung’s level is significant. I can tell that his combat ability isn’t ordinary just from the little bit of fighting I saw. He will be useful for today’s war. However, if I can’t pry him from the sapphires…..’

Weed had completely fallen under the spell of the sapphires. He could obtain plenty of gems and minerals by listening to the spirits. If he combined his sculpting and blacksmithing skills in the future to earn money then he would be really satisfied.

“Sunbae-nim, come quickly.”

“You can’t do this here!”

Dine and Alice couldn’t hold back their words anymore. The memory of Weed’s charisma when fighting against the Menchura had vanished. It was annoying since Weed was busy.

“Kekekeket. A sapphire. It is a top of the line goods without any scratches.”

He couldn’t just mine recklessly. He needed to be careful whenever he found a sapphire. If he didn’t cause any damage to the surface of the gemstone with his pickaxe then the price would climb higher.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yurin met many people as she freely travelled around the continent.

“This beautiful lady painter, can I request a favour?”

A man wearing a magician’s robe approached.

“Your sense of colour is very good.  I’d like a picture….. I’ll even buy you a drink so we can talk.”

A knight also approached.

“Can I entrust this picture that I excavated to Yurin-nim?”

An adventurer brought a picture that had been painted a long time ago. She liked painting pictures of cities and scenic views while talking to people. Users and residents sometimes told her stories of hidden trails and valleys with flowers blooming.

“This place is also hidden. Draw it as soon as possible.”

While drinking milk with barley bread, the painting remained in her mind not just on the canvas. She remained lost in thought while drawing a picture of a beautiful landscape, and enjoyed the free and satisfying time until it was completed. She also talked with people while drawing portraits. It was to the extent that her friends and connections couldn’t be ignored.

But Yurin was happiest when she was in Morata and Vargo Fortress. She went hunting with beginners and gave out small amounts of paintings. Her ability to paint also progressed rapidly.

“Do you want to have a meal together? I know a good cook. I think you’ll love it.”

Sometimes Yurin met Hwaryeong who was having a difficult time hunting with Geomchi.

“Okay unni.”

The two of them had a meal and saw a performance. Morata was a city of art and performances so the ratio of female users was high compared to other areas. Morata was a city of art and performances so the ratio of female users was high compared to other areas.

“Was Weed-nim cool even when he was a child?”

“He… He made sure I always wore 2 layers of thick underwear even in the house.”

The two women often discussed Weed. Yurin had a good sibling relationship with Weed while Hwaryeong was interested in him.

“But can I ask if the two of you ever fought?”

“When I was young I used to misunderstand Oppa but now he is the one I love most in the world.”

“That’s right. There probably isn’t anything to fight about. I asked something unnecessary.”

Yurin and Weed had a positive relationship like Hwaryeong expected.

“No unni. I also got annoyed at Oppa… Although it happened some time ago.”

“Did you?”

“It was last winter.”

Yurin’s eyes were already wet just thinking about it.

“These ugg boots that I really wanted to buy….”

Girls liked wearing ugg boots in winter because they were cool and cute. But the larger reason was because they were warm and big so they were convenient to wear. Yurin wanted to wear the boots when studying in the library.

“I asked Oppa to buy me those boots.”

“So?”

Hwaryeong’s eyes flashed once she realized the story was about shoes.

“Did he buy you pretty ugg boots?”

Usually men didn’t have a very good response to women’s shoes or bags. In particular there were many men who didn’t like ugg boots.

“He didn’t buy it. He took it as a declaration that my feet were cold and gave me socks…..”

“Keeek!”

“But they were thick socks that can’t be easily worn with shoes. He assumed that all boots were identical even when explained about the ugg boots… Euheuheuk.”

Hwaryeong patted the devastated Yurin on the shoulder.

It was the saddest story she had heard recently.

Chapter 3: Woomba Belkain

Bardray and the Royal Guards arrived on the Melbourne Mine’s 3rd floor.

“They’ve been informed that we were coming.”

“It seems like that.”

The 3rd floor was empty of users. A few thieves searched the area but couldn’t find anyone in the vicinity.

“There is no time to delay. Anybody who is hiding here will be allowed to live.”

“Let’s go.”

The Hermes Guild split into two parties after dealing with the users on the 1st and 2nd floor. The Magician Hit Squad took the thieves to set traps to prepare for when the Black Lion Guild’s reinforcements arrived. They created a perfect layer of trap fortifications on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd floor to buy time. Meanwhile Bardray, the Royal Guards and the battle group continued going down.

“Now it is a little bit exciting.”

“How strong is it really… It will be an exhilarating fight.”

The battle group pulled out their weapons. They had to get rid of the remaining users in the mine and complete the quest. It was Bardray’s Master Quest so it was natural that they mobilized all the capabilities of the Hermes Guild.

They figured out that Belkain was hiding in the Melbourne Mine. Belkain was classified as a medium to large sized monster. Its level was estimated to be more than 620! According to the history of the continent, it was said to have climbed out of the bottom of hell. 100 years ago it caused terrible damage to the Tullen Kingdom until the High Elves eventually defeated it. It escaped while wounded to the Haineph Mountains and hadn’t appeared since.

“According to a report someone found Belkain’s tail feathers in this part of the mine… There is a high possibility that we will have to fight it soon.”

“I’ve heard its cries once or twice but never figured out the location. I decided to leave it alone.”

History stated that Belkain had a very destructive power over the earth so it was dangerous.

“Get ready for battle.”

They had reached the entrance of the 4th underground floor so heavy resistance from the Black Lion Guild and the users gathered there was expected. The knights with high defense went down the stairs while covering themselves with shields. But unexpectedly there were no attacks from the Black Lion Guilds and hunting users.

- Kentrio: The enemies aren’t visible. Come down and see.

Originally the Black Lion Guild had planned a line of defense at the entrance. But they felt it was too reckless since  the dungeon was revealed after the earthquake.

Belkain’s lair!

They could buy some time when moving there and if lucky then they could find an exit for the mine on the other side. The trails around the entrance was investigated.

“They aren’t in the area. And the footprints have continued into the dungeon.”

“How pitiful. Did they enter just to die?”

Krobidyun said.

He was a level 446 Necromancer in the Royal Guards whose original profession was a senior magician. He hadn’t changed to a Necromancer while Barkhan and his Undead Legion were still alive. He had been watching Weed defeat the Undead Legion on the broadcasts and started to wonder about the potential of Necromancers. He had the basic skills of a magician and the full backing of the guild so his abilities as a Necromancer quickly grew. A Necromancer was active in large scale battles which is why he came along this time.

“Leave some troops behind while we enter Belkan’s lair.”

Bardray began to take the lead. He changed his armour and sword to his original one. It was armour he got from the Royal Knight of the Kelton Kingdom while completing his class quest.

The Black Knight’s full set!

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that it was one of the best items that had appeared in the Versailles Continent to date. The Royal Guards also changed into their equipment for fighting boss level monsters. They used spears, maces and axes with destructive power to fight against medium and large sized monsters.

“We’re going to smash that guy.”

“The battle axes will move forward first.”

Bardray walked faster than usual. Rather than feeling burdened at the possible appearance of the Black Lion Guild’s reinforcements, he welcomed it because he could show a strong appearance in combat. He could show off the power of the strongest warrior on the Versailles Continent. No one could touch the mighty Bardray.

“Kukukuk, come with me.”

Krobidyun started summoning the undead. A Necromancer’s role was to create an undead army as combat troops. He raised the corpses of the users hunting in the Melbourne Mine so a minimum of Death Knights and Dullahans were summoned. There were also a few people with the power of a Doom Knight. If he used the Black Lion Guild members on the 4th floor then his undead would grow even more.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– What should we do? I think they’re coming this way.

– Shhh, be quiet.

– Hyung, do you plan to just wait until they pass?

– Maybe they won’t see us and will just pass unaware.

Weed and the other 3 people were hiding on the 3rd underground floor. Hegel had been eager to go down to the 4th floor but when he calmed down, he realized that there was no point.

The intruders weren’t idiots so they had probably come with enough power to attack the Black Lion Guild. Hegel heard about the situation on the 1st and 2nd floors so he knew the users on the 4th floor didn’t have the level to stop them.

He had lost his sense of judgement when he panicked but that was when Weed’s survival instinct shone. He decided to remain on the 3rd floor that most users had abandoned.

‘It doesn’t seem like there are a lot of people here. Therefore the intruders would only leave a small amount of people behind to search.’

He had learnt to quickly calculate money under a vicious boss so his head came to a quick conclusion. But the other 3 people didn’t understand that Weed’s judgement was that good based on their expressions.

‘I dug sapphires until it was quite late……’

There was no denying that he was greedy for gems.

“Kuaaak!”

“We didn’t commit any crime……”

“Banish!”

The sound of users hiding elsewhere and being caught could be heard. The users couldn’t hide from the enemies who had assassin or thief classes. Weed was hiding in a recess at the end of the long tunnel where he had been digging the sapphires.

Now some assassins were heading this way. Professional assassins could hear any low breathing as a loud sound and determine minor temperature differences. Meanwhile the thieves specialized in dismantling traps in dungeons. But when it came to installing traps or surprise attacks, the assassins were the class with the superior ability. They had high destruction capabilities but low stamina so they couldn’t fight for a long time on the battlefield.

‘If they come closer than they’ll find us.’

The assassins could use stealth technique when walking. Although their movement speed would increase if they released stealth. The assassins thought the enemies were weak so they didn’t feel the need to hide and searched in pairs. Two assassins were also coming to scout the place where Weed was hiding.

‘There are two of them so I need to end it quickly.’

Weed pushed Hegel forward when the assassins approached.

“H-huh! Hyung!”

The two assassins who discovered their prey kicked hard across the ground and ran forward. Both foreheads were tagged with the mark of a murderer. Hegel could tell that they were at a reasonable level just by looking at their equipment. This was a clean-up strategy so they didn’t bother informing the other assassins.

“Guardian Wall!”

Hegel struck a defense pose with the shield in front of him. His body was frozen and he didn’t even dare strike back. The assassins used the momentum of their speed to execute a jump attack. Suddenly birds of light came down on them. It accurately aimed for their heads!

“Keuuuuk!”

“T-this…..”

One of the assassins suddenly had their health rapidly reduced. They raised their dagger to try and defend from the continuous attacks. But the birds of light just changed trajectory and attacked the assassins’ vital spots. There were seven consecutive critical hits! The two assassins disappeared into the grey light.

The assassins had offensive capabilities but their health and fitness were significantly lower. They also couldn’t wear heavy armour so their defense was low. Therefore they were weak in a frontal confrontation.

Weed used the perfect opportunity to make Hegel bait. The assassins were careless while expending their power on attacking. They never expected that someone with Weed’s sword skills would be hiding in order to take advantage of it.

“Hyung, what skill is that?”

Hegel was more interested in Radiant Sword than being resentful. The sword technique was very flashy and powerful.

“It’s no big deal. We’ve caught two of them so that will buy us some time.”

“Now we will be safe?”

“No, the other assassins will probably flock here when those two don’t come back after a period of time.”

Weed said while picking up the loot the assassins dropped. They were murderers so it was possible to obtain gold coins, jewellery, a poisonous dagger and a ring that increased the critical strike chance.

“Too bad. These aren’t expensive.”

A lot of people chose to play assassins. The items could be easily sold despite not being worth much so he couldn’t complain.

‘I wonder if these guys belong to the Beden Guild.’

If the Beden Guild had this power then they wouldn’t have been successively defeated by the Black Lion Guild. A great power was needed in order to simultaneously attack the Melbourne Mine and other places.

‘Right now they’re unidentified. Did someone join forces with the Beden Guild in order to deal damage to the Black Lion Guild?’

Of course, this raiding operation could cause quite a few losses since it involved hundreds of users. The reinforcements from the Black Lion Guild could confine them and deal damage in return. In addition, they indiscriminately slaughtered users so the Black Lion Guild wouldn’t be the only ones hostile to them. He didn’t understand the reasons but he had become involved in it anyway.

“Now I see no other methods besides fighting.”

The God of War.

Weed’s combat instincts were unleashed.

“I’ll just dig up 2 more sapphires……”

“Hyung, please!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The assassins moved quickly. They laid their traps while searching for users and killing them. 25 assassins were executing their mission on the 3rd underground floor.

“It has been some time and no. 43 and no. 44 haven’t come back yet.”

“Are they just delayed?”

The mine was complicated so it would take different amounts of time to return. Despite the degree of error being taken into consideration, all of the assassins had gathered except for 2.

“There was no indication of it earlier.”

“Call them in the guild chat.”

The assassins called the colleagues that hadn’t appeared. There was no answer.

“They’re not even responding to whispers.”

“Perhaps…..”

They either terminated their access or died! There was a battle occurring in the Melbourne Mine area so they couldn’t log out.

“They’re dead. Someone strong is lurking.”

“What was no. 43 and no. 44’s search direction?”

“The coal mine area.”

“Let’s go there.”

6 assassins moved to that area to search for their colleagues.

Sneak sneak.

They used their stealth skills to become invisible when walking! The assassins also wore camouflage clothes so they assimilated with the surrounding landscape. They also wore boots that didn’t make a sound when stepping on leaves or gravel. The only indication that something was moving was a transparent afterimage.

– It is this area.

– Look carefully and don’t forget to check the boundaries.

The assassins slowly moved forward.

Rumble!

“It is a trap.”

“Twieot!”

The assassins thought there were traps installed in the ground so three ran forward while the remaining three retreated. The assassins were good at discovering traps because they installed it themselves. Normally traps had a minimum size and were interlinked.

‘If a small trap is installed then we won’t be able to notice it……’

‘Is it a user with the same class? Then no wonder why no. 43 and no. 44 didn’t return.’

The assassin had a brief thought. Those with higher skills could install smaller traps with intense power.

‘Pop.’

The assassins scattered and crouched down. They were prepared to defend against explosions, arrows, poison or anything else!

“Van Hawk, strike!”

“Understood Master.”

Instead of a trap, a Death Knight was waiting in the dark to strike. Van Hawk’s attack power and level wasn’t something that the assassins could endure. Two assassins were killed with consecutive attacks! Meanwhile Weed had taken care of one assassin.

“It was a fake trap!”

The three assassins that escaped to the rear realized their mistake. They were assassins so they reacted more keenly to traps compared to other people. They had also been tense because two of their colleagues had disappeared without a trace. Now three of them had died without a proper fight.

“Let’s retreat and return with more numbers.”

The remaining assassins weren’t fools and tried to retreat after three of them died. They had already announced in the guild chat that there was a surprise attack. It was reasonable for the assassins to consider their safety and retreat.

“This fragrant smell. I’m feeling thirsty.”

Torido appeared behind the assassins’ backs. He used the vampire movement skill Nobility of the Night to suddenly appear behind an assassin’s neck.

“Yum yum yum!”

The body of one person became paralyzed by Torido’s attack. The two remaining assassins that were still free made eye contact and nodded at the same time.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’ll see you afterwards.”

The assassins realized how difficult the opponent was when the monster Torido appeared. The ring he wore indicated that he was a Vampire Lord. They would rather live with regrets then die trying to save their colleague. But the vampire servants that appeared completely blocked their escape.

“Death Blade!”

Van Hawk’s black sword flew towards them. The assassins split to either side to avoid it.

“Sword Kaiser!”

Weed’s Daemon Sword became absurdly large and split apart an assassin. It was a skill that burned all his mana to deal one blow. It was a bit excessive to use on one person but he chose it when considering the assassin’s ability to make a rapid escape. Van Hawk had also taken care of the remaining assassin.

“This is a decent item that dropped.”

Weed acquired boots that increased agility and movement speed. The level limit was 320. These boots would have a wide usage on the Versailles Continent. It was also useful in battle so it was an item that anyone would desire.

“Ah… Hyung!”

Hegel said after emerging from his hiding spot. He saw Weed’s ability in a fight so he knew Weed was a high level user with great skills. Yet he had summoned a Death Knight and Vampire Lord as his subordinates. They were the famous Van Hawk and Torido.

If someone didn’t know about Weed then it wasn’t possible to call them a fan of Royal Road. Hegel considered Weed the War God as a hero. Hegel personally envied and admired him despite belonging to the Black Lion Guild.

“Omo, Sunbae-nim!”

Alice and Dine’s eyes also changed. They looked like brightly shining lanterns. Anyone who knew they were with the God of War would envy them!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray and the Royal Guards safely arrived at Belkain’s lair.

“Strengthen the boundaries.”

The 220 Hermes Guild members raised their tension. The thieves and scouts in the Royal Guards went to check the situation and returned.

“There are traces of a battle. We also found 7 bodies around Belkain.”

“There’s already been a fight since they entered.”

The users hunting in the Melbourne Mine had an average level of 380. Once there were no more monsters then they would move to another hunting ground to obtain profits. The monsters in Belkain’s lair were level 440 so there would be casualties even if the users teamed up. Separate users had to suddenly form a team so it was difficult even if the class configuration was good.

Krobidyun used those bodies to produce Doom Knights. Necromancers who raised their skills quickly could participate in boss fights with the Hermes Guild. That’s because Necromancers wearing class exclusive items could summon undead creatures from friends and foes.

They discovered less monsters and significantly more corpses of users as they entered deeper into Belkain’s lair. Krobidyun counted the number of undead created so far and shook his head.

“If it’s like this then they should’ve let us wipe them out first.”

The users seemed to prefer going to the end of the dungeon than to be killed by the invaders. Little by little they discovered the corpses of the Black Lion Guild members.

“Well we shouldn’t pay any regard to it. They were already destined to die.”

Arkhim said with a laugh. Power and strong forces ruled on the Versailles Continent. It was natural for the Royal Guards to think that the weak would die.

“Let’s continue.”

Krobidyun continued summoning Doom Knights. The Elementalists used a skill to transfer mana to him so he could keep summoning an undead legion. Bardray and the Royal Guards continued deeper into Belkain’s lair.

“If an enemy appears now……”

“I can see why those that entered recklessly died.

Belkain’s lair wasn’t a long dungeon. They finally arrived at the last location where the boss monster was.

– Kuuwaaah!

A huge roar!

– You’re stupid for trying to find me when I’ve been living quietly… You made me decide to enter the world once again!

The Woomba Belkain was fighting the Black Lion Guild and general users who seemed like they were going to die.

“Unbelievable……”

Kasim’s jaw dropped at the sight of the surprising battle. The Woomba Belkain had sturdy arms and legs as well as a head with big, menacing horns. He held stones that he rotating viciously to bump into users. It lived up to its reputation in the Tullen history books as it slaughtered the users that came to its lair.

– Humans, you are savage beings that need to be stepped on. I don’t know how you came here but I’ll kill you all.

The brutal Woomba Belkain swung its paws and tail, killing 5~6 users. That wasn’t the only thing that froze the chests of the battle company. The loud noises of the users hunting in the Melbourne Mine drew the monsters.

They entered the dungeon to find a way to somehow live. But the monsters’ levels were too high than they ran into the boss class monster Woomba Belkain.

“The intruders are behind us and the monsters in front so how can we win?”

“I won’t surrender and die if there is even a slight chance of living.”

“If it is like this then I should at least have a clean death.”

“I can’t just die like this.”

The users chose to fight and die. The intruders or the boss class monster! They chose to die by the hands of Belkain instead of the Hermes Guild. Belkain had also drawn the wild monsters wandering the dungeon. They headed towards the place where Woomba Belkain was.

Thus the Hermes Guild were welcomed by various monsters and were plunged into pandemonium.

Chapter 4: Approaching Danger

“Sunbae-nim, I really wanted to meet you. Can I ask you to sign my leather armour?”

“Me too. I wanted to see you. My dream is to be able to see and listen to Karichwi!”

Weed’s adventures were often shown on TV and as reruns. Alice and Dine were fans that watched the live broadcasts of all his adventures.

Records of Weed’s Adventures

They even joined the fan cafe that spread stories of Weed’s adventures. The girls liked Weed so much that they connected to it every day to write something. Of course, Weed had no interest in such popularity.

“Well, I’m busy now……”

“Kyaa! Sunbae-nim’s voice really lifts the atmosphere.”

“This is my opinion. I’m sorry. Later on… No, when it is a more comfortable time.”

Weed coolly accepted it despite his annoyance. His eyes changed the moment his true identity was known.

“Wah! Hyung, can you also sign something for me in the future? It’s such an honour to be friends with the God of War…..”

Hegel was also jumping with joy They were in danger because of the intruders in the Melbourne Mine. But even if he died, he thought it was more important that he met Weed. Weed didn’t agree of course.

“We killed them quickly this time but the remaining assassins will start to move.”

The assassins would come like a swarm of bees once communication was cut off with their colleagues. This trap worked well but he couldn’t hope that such luck would continue. Weed sighed.

“This is always my fate. Although I hesitated for a while……”

Van Hawk wiped the blood off his sword and said.

“Don’t worry Master. I’ll fight against them.”

Torido stepped forward as well.

“My throat is still dry. I’m going to soak my fangs in their blood.”

Weed felt it was worth training them as subordinates.

“I can throw them if I want to live…..”

“…….”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The assassins who had gone searching for their colleagues were ambushed.

– How many are there?

– They seem strong so shouldn’t we be especially vigilant?

Usually a report would’ve come in by now. But this time there was no news. That could mean an early death in the battlefield.

“Were they careless?”

“It doesn’t seem like it. No. 21 is very prudent.”

“It seems like a formidable enemy is hiding.”

The assassins had all types of means to fight against their enemies. Stingers, poison spray, smoke and curse magic were the basic items! Relentless attacks and surprise skills that lowered stamina and health. The assassins’ weak point was that if they encountered someone with high defense then they wouldn’t last long. But the assassins’ critical hit probability and attack damage was much better than other classes and they were excellent at causing confusion and paralysis. The remaining 17 assassins tried to develop a methodical way of fighting.

“We don’t know how many there are.”

“We need to pull out our weapons in case the Black Lion Guild members arrive.”

The assassins equipped a crossbow on their arms. It took a longer time to reload than regular bows but the enchanted arrows were fired faster and dealt more damage. This was the combat equipment for assassins. The preparations for battle quickly finished. The assassins also prepared traps. Just before the 17 assassins were about to start moving, a message appeared over the guild chat.

The Hermes Guild chat was also filled with members not active in the Melbourne Mine.

- Steer: Weed the God of War has been discovered in the Melbourne Mine.

- Reikina: What?

- Steer: I was told the news by a spy who sneaked into the Black Lion Guild. Weed seems to have killed the assassins on our side in the Melbourne Mine.

The assassins panicked. The damage to the Hermes Guild after they entered the mine was negligible. There had been no deaths on the 1st and 2nd floor. Given the circumstances, the assassins that disappeared must’ve been killed by Weed.

Steer was an assassin who specialized in overseeing information for the guild so there was no doubt he was correct. Hegel had expressed his delight at Weed’s appearance in the Black Lion’s guild chat.

- Steer: I just received more news from my spy. Weed is on the 3rd underground floor while hiding his identity.

- Teurok: Then this is a golden opportunity to kill Weed.

- Credun: We need to use this chance to get rid of Weed who has been causing our guild headaches.

The chat window for the Hermes Guild was in an uproar. Bardray and the Royal Guards were already fighting in the Melbourne Mines and now new information had come up. They could finally kill Weed for the guild’s honour. The users in the Hermes Guild were all excited.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Members of the Black Lion Guild gathered one after another at the teleport gate.

“What is the power of the Beden Guild that attacked the castle?”

“More than 70,000.”

“They’ve collected a lot more than usual.”

“This time it seems to be life and death for them.”

Carlise, the head of the Black Lion Guild received the reports. He made the decision to fight the enemy.

“Siege weapons have been installed in Kurun Castle and the battle seems to be starting in the evening.”

“There is a little time. If we can’t stop them then the Beden Guild will be one step closer to occupying the Tullen Kingdom.”

That’s why the Black Lion Guild sent temporary reinforcements to Kurun Castle. The Beden Guild had insufficient troops compared to them. If they expanded their defense using the castle walls then the Black Lion Guild could hold out for one day. The time was limited but it was enough to defeat the party invading the mine then return to win the siege. That’s what the leaders of the Black Lion Guild thought.

“For Weed the God of War to appear in the Melbourne Mine… Why is he there?”

“Is he working with those guys?”

“There are no reports that Weed attacked us. They’re saying that he is fighting the assassins that attacked the mine.”

“Maybe he came because of his quest.”

“The Melbourne Mine possesses sapphires with the best clarity as well as good iron ore that might be required for a sculpting quest.”

If it was any other time than the Black Lion Guild would be sensitive about Weed entering their area. Weed had a huge reputation as the God of War so they would either react hostilely or cooperate when meeting him. Now an urgent problem has occurred in the place they controlled so that couldn’t care too deeply about it. A magician called Tefest suddenly pulled out a crystal ball.

“Guild Master! You should see this. KMC Media is currently broadcasting live about the Melbourne Mine.”

“It isn’t good that the surprise attack is being broadcasted.”

The Black Lion Guild didn’t find it pleasant that the attack on a major hunting ground would be known.

“That’s not the problem. Look at the broadcast.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

KMC Media was suddenly organizing a live broadcast. Oh Joo-wan was speaking some exciting news.

“A great event has just occurred in the Melbourne Mine. I told you about the attack on the Black Lion Guild and was going to organize some videos for the viewers about the siege.”

“Oh Joo-wan, are you saying that isn’t the case any longer?”

“Yes. First, we have determined the identity of the intruders. Surprisingly we discovered that Bardray is among them. As you can see from the video.”

– Kuoooooh!

The Woomba Belkain’s paw hit the ground. The earth moved like a wave and attacked the users. It was an attack that buried them in earth! The Woomba Belkain continuously waves its large paws and hit the users. It was a procession of death in front of the monster!

Bardray and his Royal Guards were also engaged in the battle against Belkain. It wasn’t a situation that could continue for a long time as monsters kept on gathering. Originally they wanted to get rid of all the users in the Melbourne Mine before starting a fight with Belkain. But the users had started the battle first and monsters were gathering in the lair.

“It will be difficult if we delay any longer. Let’s go!”

The Royal Guards and their combat group armed themselves and fought against Belkain and the wild dogs of hell. The undead summoned by Krobidyun rushed towards Belkain. They didn’t have that many expectations from the undead but it would be good if they blocked Belkain a little bit. Bardray showed off his battle skills.

“Sword Awakening, Strong Will, Power of Birth, Black Knight’s Strike, Summon Another Sword!”

Four reinforcement skills. And sword techniques! Bardray ran towards the Woomba Belkain despite the rippling land. The video was forwarded by a user hunting in the Melbourne Mine who entered Belkain’s lair. The user was associated with the KMC Media so the video was sent to the station. The broadcasting station had seen it while analyzing various videos. And the Head Director made a decision without taking the time to hold a separate meeting.

“Broadcast it now.”

The user from the Melbourne Mine had sent an approximately 7 minute long video before dying. The user’s job was a thief so they managed to avoid attacks until they were killed by the Royal Guards. The users belonging to the Black Lion Guild lacked experience in melee fights so they died quickly. Belkain and the various monsters caused a large scene of confusion.

“It’s really is amazing. Bardray and members of the Hermes Guild has appeared in the Melbourne Mine. Is the Black Lion Guild aware of this fact?”

“The possibility it high that they didn’t know until now.”

“It is difficult to think the Hermes Guild would attack a hunting ground belonging to a rival guild.”

“Presently we can only make guesses about their current state. I will let you know as more solid information comes in but based on the current situation, the probability is high that they are the suspects.”

Oh Joo-wan continued talking while looking at the footage. Bardray had taken members of the Hermes Guild to hunt a boss monster. Sweeping through an area until the Black Lion Guild’s influence was an event that would have a large impact. It was a short video but the sight of the Woomba Belkain slaughtering the users made it obvious that it wasn’t an ordinary monster.

“News has come in again and the monster in the video is the Woomba Belkain! It is the legendary devil like monster that swept through the Tullen Kingdom.”

“A tip came in. There is a user still alive. A video is being sent and I will connect the video as soon as it is ready.”

CTS Media and LK Game Broadcasting didn’t fall behind KMC Media and also broadcasted about the situation in the Melbourne Mine. The PDs were sent videos from users who died fighting against the Woomba Belkain or from users still alive. The Woomba Belkain’s lair was a hellish battle zone but users who stayed far away in a corner could survive. However the monsters and Hermes Guild were both enemies so there was no guarantee how long they could last.

Yoo Ah-ring suddenly screamed.

“Ahhh!”

“Yoo Ah-ring ssi must be really surprised by Bardray’s force.”

“It’s not that… Another man is also in the Melbourne Mine.”

“Who is it that made you so surprised?”

“Weed! I received information from a reliable source that Weed the God of War is in the Melbourne Mine!”

The news made each broadcasting station even more frantic.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A painter in the Black Lion Guild was upset after watching the broadcast.

“Hermes Guild… They dare do this when they haven’t even disbanded the United Supremacy Alliance yet! They have violated the agreement.”

“We can’t forgive them for entering our area and slaughtering our members.”

It wasn’t just the Melbourne Mine. If the Hermes Guild was behind it then it explained everything that happened today. Carlise had a cold smile on his face.

“The attacks on the other places were just to disguise that they were coming to the Melbourne Mine.”

The Black Lion Guild had sustained considerable damage in various hunting grounds. But if they looked at the reported numbers than the invaders of the Melbourne Mine were absolutely overwhelming.

“An earthquake occurred in the Melbourne Mine the moment they entered and then we received reports that a dungeon entrance appeared.”

“What is the target they are trying to obtain in the Melbourne Mine?”

“It must be something really valuable if they dared to worsen their relationship with the Black Lion Guild.”

“Even Weed the God of War is inside there. He is with Allen’s younger brother but we also need to consider him.”

The opinions of the Black Lion Guild were divided. Carlise wanted to lead a giant guild that could step on the Versailles Continent. He fought and raised his military power before gradually expanding his territory. He had raised a successful guild so far. Now was the time to make a serious decision.

“All reinforcements sent to the other hunting grounds will be cancelled.”

“What about the Melbourne Mine?”

“I will take some warriors and go there directly.”

The Black Lion Guild suddenly moved away from what the Hermes Guild predicted.

Their original plan had been to take care of all the users in the Melbourne Mine first. But users had entered Belkain’s dungeon and the news about them was discovered too early.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed started wearing his armour.

– You have worn Talrock’s Armour.

Defense has increased by 102.

Faith has increased by 100 due to your pious heart.

Fame has increased by 300.

Strength has increased by 20.

Agility has increased by 30.

Charm has increased by 25.

Fighting Spirit against an enemy has increased by 40.

Maximum mana has increased by 15%.

Magic damage reduced by 10%.

You are immune to Confusion and Fear.

You can acquire favour from the Dwarves by wearing this armour.

It was the armour he received from the Freya Church. It was a valuable equipment that increased his combat ability and magic defense. Although it was a snow white armour, it changed into black armour thanks to mithril’s light absorbing properties.

‘I have to set the groundwork.’

Weed use his skills like Sword Grinding and Armour Polishing. He needed to create an optimal physical state in order to escape.

“That armour looks cool.”

“Where did you get such armour?”

Weed just walked forward instead of talking about pointless things. If the opponent didn’t move then finding hidden assassins was extremely difficult.

‘They could pop out anywhere.’

Weed grasped his sword lightly for a quick response. Van Hawk and Tori were to his left and right while Hegel, Alice and Dine were behind him. They wouldn’t be much help even if they participated in the battle.

‘There might be 1 person or 3 people hiding in the area.’

Weed didn’t slow his pace even when he came to a place with of rubble and stone scattered around. He suddenly stopped moving when he sensed that he was being watched. There was a large gap when walking through for several people so the assassins intended to attack there.

‘If I go past then I’ll be more nervous about a possible attack from behind.’

Now was a great chance to get the jump on them. He would rather fight the assassins head on with the element of surprise. He instantly came to a conclusion the moment he sensed it.

– Weed-nim, are you in the Melbourne Mine right now?

The whisper came from Pale. Weed had never told him that he was going to the Melbourne Mine. Pale and his other colleagues had gone hunting with Geomchi. Weed hesitated before sending a reply back through a whisper.

– I am in the Melbourne Mine.

– I’m watching the broadcast right now and they’re stating that Weed-nim is in the Melbourne Mine.

Weed thought that he needed to leave this place as soon as possible. He wasn’t interested in how it was discovered. Hegel might’ve said it through the Black Lion Guild Chat or Alice and Dine might’ve spread it. The dead assassins also might have recognized Tori and Van Hawk and mentioned it before they died.

– And the people indiscriminately killing everyone are the Hermes Guild.

Weed was still walking while on the lookout for assassins but he was finally able to understand.

‘As expected… It needs to be a large organization to do something like this to the mine controlled by the Black Lion Guild.’

Pale’s whisper continued.

– And it was mentioned that Bardray and elite troops from the Hermes Guild are in that place.

Weed stopped moving.

‘Even if my fate is to be entangled with that guy, this is just too twisted.’

It was to the extent that he wanted to yell at the developers! He hadn’t doubted that the assassins had a high level but he never thought they were with Bardray and the Hermes Guild.

‘It will be tough for me to survive.’

This had become a serious problem of survival. Weed knew it was inevitable and that he couldn’t avoid a large fight with them anymore. Judging by this situation, he would even have to destroy a Masterpiece sculpture.

“It is valuable but…..”

Weed didn’t carry Masterpiece sculptures with him so he pulled out the Fine piece, the Last Warrior. The sculpture showed the courage of a warrior standing up to the King Hydra.

“In the end it became like this. Sculptural Destruction! All of it will go to agility.”

The sculpture was crushed and scattered like sand. He gave priority to agility over strength because he was fighting assassins.

At that moment.

Weed’s body became lighter.

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

The pain of destroying a Fine sculpture! The grief!

5 Art stats have permanently disappeared. Fame has decreased by 100.

The Art stat has been converted to Agility for one day.

Since your Art stat is too high and your Agility stat is too low, the conversion won’t be converted all at once.

980 Agility has been changed to the level 9 advanced skill ‘Wind Sprint.’ You can use mana to run with the wind.

This will be more useful when travelling long distances outdoors than indoors.

650 Agility has been changed to the level 8 advanced skill ‘Avoidance.’ The enemy won’t be able to attack accurately.

The efficiency of leather armour has also increased.

430 Agility has been changed to the level 5 advanced skill ‘Lucky Help.’

Enhances the probability of a critical hit to increase damage.

1,040 Agility has been changed to the level 2 advanced skill ‘Excellent Experience.’ Reduces the activation time required for an attack skill.

It is also possible to grasp the weak points of the skill that an opponent users.

760 Agility has been changed to the level 6 intermediate skill ‘Distance Reduction.’

Stamina and mana will be consumed to strike the enemy with extremely quick movements while ignoring distance.

– The proficiency of the Sculpting skill has increased.

Weed felt his lighter body become steady.

“This is the taste.”

He was so light it felt like he could fly freely. Both feet were on the ground but he felt pushed whenever the wind flowed. Of course it consumed mana. Weed walked quickly without paying attention to the assassins anymore. The situation had changed so there was no need to worry about the time anymore.

‘He is suddenly walking faster.’

‘An opportunity.’

The assassins made preparations to move from their ambush spot. One strike would mean the difference between life and death! They just needed one hit to paralyze him for a short period of time. If their surprise succeeded than an assassin could catch someone stronger than them. It was a great honour that their opponent was Weed the God of War.

‘Now!’

4 assassins came running out of the shadows. Two of them came from the land while two jumped down from the ceiling of the dungeon.

“Die, Weed!”

“This is your end.”

The assassins had been through many fights but they had never been as thrilled as they were now. They aimed their crossbow at Weed the God of War. Torido and Van Hawk were there as well. But Weed was the only thing visible in their eyes.

“Fire!”

Syu syu syu syuk!

The arrows loaded on the crossbow fired in a straight line. The arrows seemed to go straight through Weed’s body! At that moment, Weed popped in front of them at an unimaginable speed. Thanks to his high agility and evasion skills, the arrows only hit his shoulder, left hip and right leg.

– Poison! Poison! You have been poisoned.

Your health has decreased.

Your mind and body will be damaged unless you detoxify quickly.

– You have suffered injuries in battle.

Your vitality will drop quickly.

Your health has been reduced by 2,180.

– Damage has been decreased thanks to the faith given by Talrock’s Armour.

The arrow that hit his left hip did quite a bit of damage. But Weed was unconcerned about it and just rushed at the assassins with a terrible speed.

“Wah!”

“So fast……”

The assassins quickly pulled out a dagger as he approached.

“Heriam Fencing!”

Weed struck the assassin.

– The 1st consecutive attack has succeeded.

Agility increased by 20%.

– The 2nd consecutive attack has succeeded.

Strength increased by 40%.

His accuracy and destructive power rose greatly thanks to the increase in Agility from Sculptural Destruction. Radiant Sword was a ranged attack skill and Sculpting Blade a moonlight sword skill that the assassins could avoid. It also consumed a lot of mana despite its strength.

Thus he approached so quickly that afterimages were created and used Heriam Fencing on a nearby assassin with low defense. Unfortunately even if the consecutive strikes succeeded, his Agility was already increased from Sculptural Destruction so there was only a basic rise in the stat.

– The assassin has received a crucial impact.

Health decreased by 31,760.

Maximum health will be decreased by 2,110 until a complete healing is accomplished.

Stun has been caused for 2 seconds.

Stealth techniques can’t be used.

The appearance of a blurry assassin became clearer.

– The 3rd consecutive attack has succeeded.

Agility increased by 40%.

– The 4th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Strength increased by 40%.

– You have killed an assassin on the Tullen Kingdom’s wanted list.

Fame has increased by 15!

If you go to the Tullen Kingdom then you can receive the reward.

– You have gained experience.

An assassin died due to the continuous attacks! Weed didn’t stop using Heriam Fencing and maintained the maximum power while hitting another opponent. He picked the vulnerable areas with low defense to deal more damage.

The sophistication of his destructive power was completely different from when he fought the Menchura. The benefit of Heriam Fencing was that attacks would increase exponentially when the consecutive attacks succeeded.

The first assassin couldn’t escape from it and died instantly. They were equipped with a dagger in one hand and a crossbow on the other. They didn’t have any shields and meagre armour so they were easily damaged.

– The 5th consecutive attack has succeeded.

The enemy has become confused.

The enemy’s Fighting Spirit has fallen.

Agility increased by 40%.

– The 6th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Strength increased by 50%.

The damage of the secondary shock wave has increased by 15%.

– The 7th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Agility has increased by an additional 30%.

Strength has increased by an additional 20%.

These attacks used 1,500 mana.

Weed took care of two more assassins. He acquired a cloak, dagger and crossbow as loot. The experience and items dropped was large because the murderers were wanted in a kingdom. Torido had also sucked the blood of one person.

“It really is worth drinking corrupted human blood.”

“Let’s go!”

Weed took out his bandages and did simple emergency aid before advancing openly. He wasn’t concerned about being seen by assassins.

Hegel continued to boast about Weed in the guild chat. Dine and Alice’s hearts were pounding excitedly. They didn’t know Weed’s inner thoughts at all!

‘If I’m going to be fighting then I should show the world a confident strut.’

It was like how those who took a minicar to a hotel would receive worse treatment than those riding large, foreign cars. He didn’t know if it was true but the outer appearance was necessary.

‘I need to make the assassins hesitate. They are moving systematically but they will be tense.’

In a battle, the side that cowered first would be more disadvantaged. Weed smiled like an office worker returning home with his favourite cake. He had polished his rotten acting skills while watching morning shows with his grandmother.

Surge!

Something rolled under Weed’s feet as arrows fired from the left and right.

“This…..”

Weed stopped as he was about to take out the Ancient Shield. He had used it too much and there was only 31 durability left. He shouldn’t use it unless he was really desperate or there was an important purpose.

“Torido, Van Hawk! Unite!”

“Understood Master.”

All three of them tolerated the arrows with their bodies. Van Hawk had high health because he was a Death Knight. Torido also had a tenacious health because he was a Vampire Lord. Weed’s resilience didn’t need to be mentioned. He also had high agility and evasion so he could avoid flying arrows by shifting his body.

“I am loyal and will happily obey Master’s command.”

“I have to quickly catch one human and drink from them. Beautiful lady over there, I will prepare a bunch of flowers for you……”

Van Hawk and Torido had different ways to endure the pain. Weed just wrapped more bandages around his body. There was nothing like a bandage to restore health in combat. It was a bandage made with advanced Sewing and Herbalism so these trivial injuries were quickly treated.

Snap!

“Hey, over here!”

Kwaaaaang!

“Is everybody okay?”

Weed, Torido and Van Hawk had been caught in a trap. But the situation wasn’t that dangerous. It was mostly due to Dine who was a shaman so she gave them healing potions that recovered health. However, it was impossible for the assassins to have left after installing the traps.

“We really managed to catch Weed?”

“We made perfect use of the timing.”

“It is difficult to deal with him ourselves. We should wait until reinforcements from the Night Blade or the battle company arrives.”

Weed had been caught by a trap and ambushed by assassins in the immediate vicinity.

Chapter 5: Excavated Ice Beauty

5) Excavated Ice Beauty

Bardray, the Royal Guards and the battle company heard the news about Weed.

‘This is a really good chance. We can finally catch the ankles of the guy irritating us and execute him.’

‘The heavens are helping the Hermes Guild. If we defeat him today…..’

The assassins had secured the Melbourne Mine’s 1st, 2nd and 3rd floors. This mine contained the power of the Hermes Guild so they could turn to Weed after completing Bardray’s class quest.

‘This has become interesting.’

Bardray was also thrilled at the thought of Weed. He had wanted to meet Weed again in Royal Road to get revenge. Unfortunately he was in the Woomba Belkain’s lair and he needed to get rid of the Black Lion Guild first. He would show Weed the colossal gap in power and defeat him. The Black Lion Guild was coming here but this dungeon was under the Hermes Guild’s control.

“The monsters are continuing to gather!”

“I’ve sealed the three back passages. There are additional monsters in the passage.”

The Woomba Belkain’s lair was a huge cave with many passages connected to it.

– Kiiek!

– I’ll eat the humans who dare attack my mother.

Users had run away from the Melbourne Mine only to intrude and annoy the boss monster. They had dragged the monsters only to die but it caused difficulty for the Royal Guards and battle company.

“Stay here. Endure and don’t leave even if you have no health left.”

The priests belonging to the Royal Guards and battle group became busy. If they were kicked by the Woomba Belkain or stabbed by its horn then it was no different from death. Belkain’s children and the wild dogs of hell were also tough. They were at least level 400, with skin as hard as steel so they didn’t suffer much damage.

“Wounded Heal!”

It was a 4th stage magic used for absolute recovery. The level of the priests wasn’t ordinary so if they didn’t die then their health would be half recovered. Bardray walked to the side of the Woomba Belkain. His legs sank into the ground whenever he moved a step. The ground changed into a swamp due to intensity of the technique to increase his strength and vitality.

“Shock Wave!”

“Thunder Arrow.”

The magicians and archers indiscriminately attacked the Woomba Belkain. Its health steadily decreased despite there being no change in the outward appearance. The Woomba Belkain continued attacking users with its horns and paws. The surrounding stones were also thrown at people so the collateral damage was significant.

“Heavy Blow of Satisfaction!”

Bardray walked towards and Woomba Belkain’s side and dealt several attacks in a row. If vulnerable areas with low defense was hit in succession than symptoms of Stun or Paralysis would occur. The Woomba Belkain wasn’t so weak that it would suffer those effects but it still lost a considerable amount of health. He used his sword techniques and repeatedly struck the Woomba Belkain. It was a medium sized monster so it wasn’t pushed back by the intense attacks.

– You’re the strongest human here.

The Woomba Belkain showed fierce hostility towards Bardray. He had struck its flesh more times compared to the other Hermes Guild members so naturally he would attract its hostility.

– The Woomba Belkain has unleashed its Fighting Spirit.

You have overcome it due to your high Honour.

Bardray stood facing it. Meanwhile pieces of stone, arrows, magic and even axes were flying about in the surroundings.

– Kueeeeek

The Woomba Belkain stumbled as it experienced attacks from all sides. But it was a boss class monster so it tightened its stance without falling down.

“I guess I have to use this. Hero’s Sword!”

Bardray’s Sword emitted a pale light. It was another sword technique! It was useful when the hero’s fame was high and the opponent was a legendary monster. Once the skill was used, the sword would break and it would be impossible to recover. The Hermes Guild obtained many of the best magic swords so Bardray didn’t regret losing the weapon.

– Kuaah!

The Woomba Belkain jumped and twisted its front paw. Bardray swung his sword towards the paw.

Pwaaaaang!

There was an enormous noise as an explosion occurred.

Strength vs. strength.

While Bardray confronted it head on, the Royal Guards continued reducing its health with magic and arrows. Over 14 Hermes Guild members were sacrificed to the Woomba Belkain’s paws and horns. Their deaths were a shame but it was because Bardray used his command skill.

Black Knights had a skill called ‘Brave Conductor’ that raised the combat power of his subordinates when he was the leader. All the Hermes Guild members belonging to the Haven Kingdom needed to fight against the Woomba Belkain directly.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Flames rose once Weed was caught in the trap. Arrows flew from every direction.

“Now.”

The assassins didn’t miss this opportunity and started to attack. Hegel, Alice and Dine were in the back but they didn’t care about them.

‘I’ll kill them later.’

‘It isn’t worth dealing with those guys.’

The assassins’ goal was Weed! They concentrated their attacks on Weed in order to kill him. Despite his high resilience and evasion, Weed lost 30% of his health the moment he fell into the trap. He was also previously injury and had bandages wrapped around him so it had the effect of weakening his vitality. Weed closed his eyes. It was the Close Eyes Tightly skill that increased defense!

“Van Hawk, forward.”

“Understood Master!”

Death Knight Van Hawk dashed forward with Weed, it was a risky move. Weed had his eyes closed so he had to believe in Van Hawk. He used his improved agility and the Wind Sprint skill! He exquisitely avoided the arrows and spears fired from the trap. Some hit but he endured it with his resilience and perseverance. Van Hawk then reached the assassins. Weed flew at an alarming rate and opened his eyes in front of them.

“Heriam Fencing!”

The assassins’ form was completely weak. Their secret was to hide in the darkness until the moment they could inflict maximum damage. Weed fell into the trap so the assassins had decided it was time to attack. Now there was a frontal confrontation with the assassins so his chances were good.

Of course, if he was attacked in his vulnerable spots when surrounded then it could be dangerous. When he decided on a place and time to fight the assassins, he had wanted a war of speed. The front two assassins tried to defend but Weed’s attacks exploded on their body. Heriam Fencing hit 6 times as it became stronger!

“Our chance is still here.”

“He is weakened so we can kill him.”

The assassins’ attack with the trap was in vain so they had to chase after Weed. Weed struck with the much stronger Heriam Fencing.

– The 7th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Agility has increased by 30%.

Strength has increased by 20%.

The destructive power of a fatal blow has increased.

– The 8th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Agility has increased by an additional 15%.

The enemy will be pushed away.

– The 9th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Strength has increased by an additional 25%.

Enemies are stunned.

A fatal blow has been dealt.

There was a total of sixteen consecutive attacks! It was a high level sword technique that the enemy couldn’t stop. Weed used the chance to press and knock down the assassins with his swordplay. His heightened agility shortened the skill activation time and Heriam Fencing proceeded from the beginning to the end. Weed’s feet, lower back, shoulders and hands were in a perfect posture like an action figure performing a skill.

– The skill proficiency of Heriam Fencing has increased by 0.1%.

– The skill proficiency of Sword Mastery has improved.

– The durability of the Daemon Sword has decreased due to the violent movements.

Van Hawk and Torido also attacked them from behind. The battle that began since the trap was activated proceeded at a lightning fast speed.

“Kuooh…..”

“So strong.”

The assassins hit by Heriam Fencing were either killed or suffered significant damage to their health. His agility was also high from destroying the Fine sculpture. He suppressed the assassins secret attack with his defense and attack speed.

“Weed, you disturbed the Hermes Guild so you will surely die here today.”

A wounded assassin then said. Weed killed him and took his items. The acquisition of smoke bombs!

“I am honoured to fight Weed the God of War today. Let’s have a great battle next time……”

“More troops will come to kill Weed. It’s a shame I can’t see how long you last.”

Weed swung his sword at another assassins without any regrets. The assassins were fully exposed and slower than Weed so they couldn’t escape. Their escape routes were also blocked by Torido and Van Hawk. The last assassin begged him.

“Spare me just once. My wife is playing at the beginner’s hunting ground and my children are crying for barley bread……”

Weed struck with his sword. This was a battle where lives were risked so begging for mercy didn’t make sense. He also couldn’t give up the loot and experience.

“This area seems to be almost cleaned up.”

Weed had exterminated all the assassins from the Hermes Guild on the 3rd floor. In addition to Sculptural Destruction, the help from Torido and Van Hawk ensured his victory. But Weed’s body was a wreck from falling in the assassins’ trap.

The big disadvantage of Heriam Fencing was that he couldn’t avoid enemy attacks because it would stop the sword’s movements. His health had fallen to 57% by the time the attacks ended.

“I’ve gained some time but they will soon be swarming like bees.”

Just when Weed thought about escaping.

The Black Lion guild had passed onto Hegel the information gathered from the broadcast and he received a communication saying that they were the Hermes Guild.

300 people had entered from the Hermes Guild. The assassins had also covered the 1st and 2nd floor with traps so he needed to take that into consideration. Weed didn’t have a skill to release traps so the chance of fleeing through dozens of assassins and traps were unlikely. In addition, there were still the general soldiers of the Hermes Guild waiting.

“If the assassins are preparing traps for a raid then there is no way to sneak out. I’m not about to risk my monthly salary on being reckless.”

If his health was reduced a lot then he could use Seo-yoon’s Berserker skills. If he fell in many traps then his chances of survival would become much slimmer.

“If someone enters then the assassins would gather upstairs. Even if I hide again, those guys will be searching so I’ll just be detected.”

Weed looked at the items he obtained.

Assassin’s camouflage clothes, dagger, crossbow, boots, gloves, belts, masks, he came across quite a few decent items.

The assassins dropped more items than usual because of their murderer state.

“Now that I have this……”

Weed disarmed his Talrock’s Armour, Daemon Sword and other equipment.

“I need to get dressed.”

He wore the assassin’s equipment! Users with the Blacksmith skill could wear clothes of different professions. Weed’s level in the Blacksmith skill meant he could wear level 409 equipment.

“Well, this much should be similar.”

The equipment obscured his face so he couldn’t be distinguished from the Hermes Guild’s assassins.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Dante was a beginner user just getting started in Morata. He was the classic beginner grown on grass tea. He had to decide on a class.

“I’d like to be a sculptor like Weed-nim… Although I’ll never exceed him.”

He first felt admiration when seeing Weed’s sculptors in the Art Centre. There wasn’t any wasted materials. They had simple and concise forms that were expressed clearly. There were also no mistakes. Weed wasn’t afraid of failure so he tested various possibilities.

“The challenge is becoming a sculptor everyone respects.”

That was the reality that came to his mind when thinking of Weed. In the worst case situation, he needed to have confidence to rip people off! Dante chose not to become a sculptor. If he couldn’t be the best then he didn’t want to do it.

“I should get a different job that suits me.”

He also engaged in business by the square and learned basic ice magic. There was a time when the north was covered in the ice. There was a high percentage of ice magicians so the magic related to it developed a lot.

Dante read the books in Morata’s library to boost his knowledge and wisdom and admired the artworks. Morata’s knowledge, art and religion was a lot higher than other areas.

“You don’t have enough money. You can eat for free until you gather enough money.”

Dante turned to construction to earn money. Morata had a lot of construction of villas, houses and commercial facilities. Right now there was the construction of Research Tower and the Forge of Hestia. Beginners earned money by carrying stones and sand. Sculptors, painters, architects, magicians and blacksmiths all participated so the great work of architecture was carried out smoothly.

“I need a job…..”

After hunting in the area nearby, Dante returned to the village and read a book related to adventures. He still had a general profession despite passing level 47. Some fellow novices only obtained a good job when their level exceeded the 60s’. Then a Morata villager called Karen approached him

“Ajusshi, hello.”

Dante happily received the greeting.

“I have a question. Do you know a lot of things from reading books?”

“It’s nothing. Still, I might be able to answer your questions so please ask it.”

Karen had been a Morata villager since the days when they were turned into statues by the vampires. Currently the users’ interest in them was receding.

That’s because they could get larger quests and more rewards from those that immigrated to the north compared to the natives. But Dante didn’t care about that and liked conversing with all users and residents.

“Morata in the past… There was only winter in the north. A cold and hungry hunter told a story about seeing an ice sculpture.”

“Ah, wasn’t there something like that?”

Dante said with a laugh. This was a city that Weed established. So the story about the sculpture was right. Residents often told useless stories like these so to more users it was a waste of time.

“Those who were tired could take a rest when they arrived at the sculpture. Surprisingly they couldn’t feel the cold anymore. The hunters really valued the sculpture.”

“There is a special power concentrated in the sculpture.”

“I also think so. After all, we are Morata villagers so we are proud of sculptures. There was a giant ice dragon and…..”

Something flashed in Dante’s head.

‘Wait! This story isn’t just about Bingryong?’

Bingryong who followed Weed was already a celebrity and there was no one in the north who didn’t know about him. Users would after chase after Bingryong when he was hunting at Morata to see him use his Ice Breath on monsters. In particular, young children really liked Bingryong.

“There was the ice dragon but also a sculpture of a mysterious beauty.

“A beauty?”

“The hunters and travellers who saw the sculpture were suffering from fever so I don’t know if it is attractive but…… Can you find out a little more about the sculpture?”

Ddiring!

– Ice Beauty made for Morata!

The master sculptor Weed made a number of sculptures for Morata. One of the pieces was praised as a work of beauty!

Level of difficulty:  D

Quest Restriction: Be acquaintances with the Morata villagers, miscellaneous knowledge, walking around many areas in the surroundings and acquisition of ice magic.

“I’ll look for it.”

– You have accepted the quest.

Dante willingly received the quest. He couldn’t help feeling excited about a sculpture of Weed’s that hadn’t been discovered yet.

“The quest restriction is a complicated. Aren’t I the only one who can do this quest? Ah, that can’t be.”

Dante used his remaining money on a map of the area that cost 14 silver. There were many novice painters so he could buy a drawn map for a cheap price. Dante looked at the map of the mountains that he spent his fortune on.

“Where is it? I heard that Weed made Bingryong in an icy storm.”

If he looked at Weed’s history behind his sculptors then he really admired him. There was a philosophy that those who lived a righteous path could cut costs. Sculptors were always spending money like water while struggling with deficits. Weed lived with strict moderation while making sculptures so he could make a profit. Dante looked at the map and muttered.

“It would be nice if I could get information about Serbian Witch’s curse that covered the north.”

In those days it was rare for users to come here because of the environment impact. The quests were low value and likely to fail. Then the painter Aiels who sold him the map asked.

“Are you looking for a specific place?”

“That’s right, I’d like to know the place where Weed-nim created the Bingryong sculpture.”

“Not a lot of people know that. You should go to the top of Painter’s Hill. There is a painter there who draws Bingryong professionally.”

Morata had a separate place called Painter’s Hill. It was a place where 1 and then 2 painters gathered until a village of shabby shacks were created. People wanting to buy paintings also gathered so the place was called Painter’s Hill.

“I’ll draw the painting you want. You’ve just finished a dungeon hunt. I’ll draw your moment of glory.”

“Professional portraits! I can also draw pictures of you hunting monsters. Even if you are level 1, it is possible to have a picture of you hunting a dragon!”

“Paints for sale. The colour will slightly vary when it is used.”

Dante climbed up the hill and saw many pictures of Bingryong. Bingryong, the Wyverns, Yellowy, Golden Bird and Phoenix. They were popular subjects so there were main products containing them on Painter’s Hill. People who loved Weed’s adventures collected pieces about these creatures as well as the orc Karichwi. Tori, Van Hawk, Lich Shire and Lich Barkhan were also popular pieces. Users sightseeing in Morata often bought these types of souvenirs.

“The contents of Weed’s adventures are really valued. He’s gone to various places.”

There was a painting of lava erupting from the volcano in the Jigolaths. Some painters professionally drew scenes of Weed’s adventures. There was also paintings of several places in the Versailles Continent. Dante headed towards the area filled with Morata scenes.

Among the pictures was one where Morata was covered with snow. The mountains and hills were covered in ice and snow and looked completely different to now. He automatically felt cold as he saw the imagines until he observed one of Bingryong. A few days later, Dante climbed up the mountains with three miners he made friends with.

“It’s really here? It is too close to Morata.”

“It is true. There were many ice storms in those days so we have to dig to prevent ice and snow from covering the village.”

“Well, even if you don’t believe it… Let’s just try it.”

The miners had a lot of work these days. They dug iron, copper and jewels from the mines nearby as well as participated in the construction of a Grand Building. It was an important time but they accepted this request because of the intimacy Dante built with them.

“It might seem a bit ridiculous. But Weed sculpted his pieces in this area.”

“Soon he shall be the king.”

“He might be the king but he is ruling over a narrow land.”

A road was being built between Morata and Vargo Fortress that was wide enough for 4 carriages to pass at once. Morata had invested quite a lot into road construction. Once the road was completed then the merchant’s carriages could move more easily. This would reduce that rate that vitality was lost.

If a monster appeared then the carriage could easily escape so it was a big benefit to merchants. An expansion of trade would naturally occur and fresh products could be obtained. It was also possible to receive fame and money by completing quests to procure goods. In the north most roads were to connect long-distance cities. It was started quietly but that wouldn’t last long since it was Morata.

“Let’s dig quickly.”

The miners carefully dug at the ground. For a while they didn’t find anything.

“Phew, it was in vain like I expected. If we can’t find it here then I’ll have to give up the quest.”

Dante said in a bittersweet voice to the miners. Morata was quite wide and quickly growing so he couldn’t go around searching different areas. Then one of the miners suddenly shouted.

“Wait a minute, there’s something here!”

There was a piece of ice protruding from the surrounding stones and soil. It was hard to recognize the shape because it was melting. Dante quickly cast a spell.

“Cold Spray!”

It was a simple magic that caused a chill so it wasn’t suitable for fighting monsters. However Dante considered it a good magic to know and learnt it.

“Please take it out.”

“Understood. We’ll have to dig by hand without using equipment since this might be a sculpture.”

The miners removed the earth with the hand and started excavating a lump of ice. Unfortunately the hands and legs of the statue had been melted in the meantime.

“Well, I don’t know what value this will have since it is melted.”

“Didn’t you want to find it to complete a quest?’

The miners continued digging until they saw the sculpture’s face.

“A sculpture of a beautiful girl……”

“Kuuuk! This is worth the lifetime I spent solo. I feel comforted just looking at the sculpture’s face.”

Weed’s work was worthy of being called an Ice Beauty. It was an ice sculpture so it should be cold but the sculpted figure caused a warm energy. But when the Serbian Witch’s curse was broken, this portion of the land was pulled down. The Ice Beauty was buried in the ground along with snow and ice so it was preserved.

Bingryong also remembered the Ice Beauty that was born with him in the past, like a chicken and its eggs. It was fortunate that the face and body shape was left. This was the second sculpture Weed properly made after the statue of Freya at Baran village.

“This sculpture isn’t just for us… Now other people can see it.”

Dante decided on a class. He decided to didn’t want to wait for a noble profession. Right now he could feel the excitement of a class.

“I will be an Adventurer. There is still a lot of mysteries and legends in the Versailles Continent that will take a lifetime to discover.”

A warrior, magician or even merchants could comfortably go to a resort area to rest. On the other hand, there was a lot of work to do for the Adventurer’s quests so it was a highly competitive field.

Discovery, excavation, searching and limited terrains were all areas difficult to find in another job.

Chapter 6: Special Reunion

Weed secretly descended to the Melbourne Mine’s 4th floor. He was fully equipped in the assassin’s costume so he wouldn’t easily be suspected.

“As expected, there is no one here now.”

There didn’t seem to be anyone protecting the entrance of the 4th underground floor. They had completely moved into the Belkain’s lair. They never imagined that the assassins upstairs would fail!

“As expected from my cheap tricks…..”

Weed briefly became conceited. The other assassins would be searching the 3rd floor. In the end they would come down but he had earned some time.

“The 4th floor is also dangerous. There isn’t anywhere to hide so I have to keep on moving.”

He slowly walked towards the Belkain’s Lair. Things had turned out like this so it was meaningless to rush. The assassins were hunting upstairs while nearby, Bardray and the Hermes Guild were hunting monsters. Either way he was surrounded by enemies so he had no choice but to improvise.

– Come down now.

Weed sent a whisper to Hegel.

– Thank you, Hyung.

Hegel, Alice and Dine chose to go a different way from Weed once they came down to the 4th floor. They decided to hide in the tunnels until the Black Lion Guild’s reinforcements arrived. They couldn’t help in a battle against the Hermes Guild so they could only wish him good luck.

“I’ll only believe in you.”

Hegel declared proudly. The monsters on the 4th floor were daunting opponents. The two women, Dine and Alice’s hearts were also towards Weed.

“Sunbae-nim, no Oppa, be careful!”

“Oppa, I’ll cheer for you in my mind.”

His heart pounded with excitement as he entered the Belkain’s lair where Bardray and the Hermes Guild were fighting.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Ah, unfortunately the video isn’t showing anymore. If it lasted a bit longer than I think the many viewers would be delighted.”

The user who communicated the video died so the broadcast of Belkain’s lair stopped and changed back to the studio.

“Bardray’s combat ability is really frightening. Have we ever had such a strong user on the continent?”

“The power and techniques that battered Belkain like a storm is truly outstanding. He is the warrior that can pull out all the potential of a sword! The sword techniques shown in the video is brilliant.”

While the host was commenting, there was a war going on behind the scenes. The broadcasters were trying to secure various contacts for the videos of Belkain’s lair. Bardray’s quest wasn’t the only significant thing.

“If the Black Lion Guild enters then a war will occur between them. I’ve heard reports that Guild Master Carlise is already there… If we broadcast it then it will be a ratings jackpot.”

“Contact the advertisers. Ask them to put advertisements during the late night dinner time and the reruns in the empty hours.”

The advertisers had to wait in line as well as pay a premium. Weed was in the Melbourne Mine. His rivalry with the Hermes Guild was well known so it was difficult for the broadcasting officials to predict what would happen. The broadcast officials were hoping such a situation would occur in the Melbourne Mine.

The Master Quest competition between the Hermes Guild and Weed were the viewer’s favourite material.

“What are the ratings right now?”

“It is at 12% and rising. It is the highest daily value in recent months.”

“The bulletin boards?”

“It is paralyzed. The pages can’t move quickly and the title can’t even be read properly.”

The bulletin board was filled with requests to quickly show the videos. The video had stopped at such a moment! CTS Media, KMC media, Digital Media and LK games were all annoyed. While they were trying to contact the general users who survived, an official reply came from the Hermes Guild.

They had accepted an offer to broadcast a video!

The Hermes Guild would provide the best audience ratings in return for some of the proceeds from the advertisements. It might seem a bit excessive but the broadcasting stations didn’t dare refuse.

Other stations played regular programs so they couldn’t obtain game scoops. Every station organized regular programs throughout the week related to Royal Road. But the regular programs could be put on hold or cancelled based on the audience ratings. Royal Road had many adventures that could occur at any time and stimulated excitement in people’s chests during the live broadcasts.

“Today will require working overtime into the night. Deputy Park, have you ordered toast?”

“Yes! I called and the auntie is already making it.”

“Order some kimbap as well.”

“I’ll also call the lunch bento place.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed slipped into Belkain’s lair. The Hermes Guild users were fighting like crazy. Various magic effects raged while weapons were raised with violent cries.

‘It really is spectacular.’

This was the combat power of the Hermes Guild that was said to be the strongest on the continent. Even the Baby Belkains were at least level 450. The demon species were usually strong. They had exceptional physical abilities and could even use black magic. There was also their resistance to magic, arrows and spirit magic.

The Baby Belkain and the wild dogs of hell frantically ran around killing the Hermes Guild members. Sometimes some users were unfortunate enough to be surrounded by monsters and killed. They wore great armour while high level priests used their recovery magic in a magnificent fight.

The Hermes Guild had brought their elites so not one user was lax. Their level, skills and equipment all played a role in the battle. Everybody here had a level that would raise a great fuss if they were in a city.

‘As expected, the Hermes Guild is brilliant.’

Weed watched the battle from an inconspicuous corner. It was the skill of finding a quiet corner that he polished in middle school, high school and university! There were a few people here that were also assassins.

The assassins fought by aiming at the monster’s back but it was a risk in a large scale battle like this. Those in a crisis situation could only watch. Weed looked similar to the assassins so they weren’t interested in him.

‘No. 19.’

‘Weed must’ve been stopped on the 3rd floor so he ran here.’

‘This will result in censure from the guild….. Right now there is a battle so I’ll leave it be.’

The Hermes Guild had a simple marker on the assassin clothes. The identification number would be written on the pants or coat. Weed used the Sewing skill in order to repair the clothes and create a disguise. It was impossible to consider him as anything other than a fellow assassin.

‘He’s fighting well.’

Weed primarily observed Bardray fighting.

He was fighting equally or even had a slight advantage with the Woomba Belkain. His body was fast and his finesse and strength were overwhelming the monster. Of course, he also received blessings from the shaman, priests and other attack support. But the Black Knight at the front was still considered the most dangerous one.

‘Fight to your heart’s content.’

Weed waited quietly for the battle to finish. Time passed without any special incidents and it seemed to be Bardray’s victory. Arrows, axes and spears were driven into the Woomba Belkain’s body. The body became a wreck as its health suddenly reduced.

– Kuooh. You won’t be safe either!

Stones flew and a minor earthquake occurred from its death throes. The Hermes Guild had a lot of experience with boss class monsters so the priests had already formed a protective layer. After that the warriors backed off and long distance attacks were used until the Woomba Belkain collapsed.

The Baby Belkains and wild dogs of hell were completely wiped out by the Royal Guards and the battle group. The knights drove them into a corner while the magicians used mass destruction magic on the group. The Necromancer Krobidyun also systematically raised his power by calling more undead.

‘Undead……’

Weed had a close relationship with them so he wasn’t disturbed. In fact some zombies even seemed cute if he looked at it for a long time! He couldn’t help admiring the Hermes Guild’s Necromancer summoning Doom Knights.

‘Summoning so many undead would consume enormous amounts of mana. His equipment is also excellent.’

Weed felt a stab of jealousy whenever he saw a user with a higher level than him. His relationship with the Hermes Guild might be hostile but he still admired them. They had been together for a long time so they knew their roles in catching the monster.

The strategies to fight in a group in Weed’s head were implemented at quite a high standard here. The Hermes Guild optimized every aspect, including power and loyalty.

‘If I was in command then I would quickly take care of the boss monster before sweeping through the dungeon.’

There were many boss level creatures in the Versailles Continent that hadn’t been caught yet. There were monsters that dominated an area as well as legendary evil monsters. Elves, Fairies, spirit monsters, their difficulty was much higher. In Jigolaths and beyond Vargo Fortress there were bosses that transcending imagination. There were those like Kubichya the Chaos Warrior who had a great ambition to rule.

Such creatures would also hunt to raise their level and gain rare items. Weed had no interest in users that were a little stronger than him. He just wanted to challenge himself and hunt every type of monster. Yet in reality he was a Sculptor!

“It is almost going to fall!”

“Be strong until the end. Archer unit, don’t save your arrows and don’t miss. Magicians prepare to deal the final blow.”

Bardray and the Royal Guards moved without hesitation. They had brought weapons suitable to hunt a boss monster. They systematically hunted the Woomba Belkain.

‘My body is itching.’

Weed desperately wanted to barge into the battle. But if he moved then his plan of hiding in a quiet corner and not attract attention would fail.

– Kkueeeeeee!

The Woomba Belkain gave its dying shriek. The Hermes Guild had sacrificed 35 people from the Royal Guards and battle company. A boss class monster had more resistance as it approached its end. Its attacks were focused on Bardray so the other warriors threw their bodies.

“Kuwawawak!”

The warriors shouted in order to attract the Woomba Belkain’s attention. The Hermes Guild thoroughly defended Bardray through the crisis. The commander was the pillar that supported the Hermes Guild. The Woomba Belkain howled as it was wounded by Bardray.

– The Woomba Belkain in the Melbourne Mine has entered its eternal rest.

“Success!”

“The Hermes Guild has done it again!”

“The Woomba Belkain. With this we’ve accomplished another myth. We are the strongest on this continent!”

The Royal Guards and battle group raised their weapons and cried out. Weed watched the Hermes Guild with envious eyes. They were so happy about causing another legend.

‘They played a firm part.’

Hunting boss monsters allowed them to obtain difficult items as well as increase their fame and stats. That’s why every guild periodically hunted monsters in the dungeons. Boss class monsters were fairly limited and were quite dangerous. But if they thought of the sweet fruit of victory than they would have no choice but to grab their swords and depart.

Bardray picked up the equipment that the Woomba Belkain dropped. Many viewers were probably seeing this through the live broadcast!

‘They can even get a transit fee.’

Weed counted the number of Hermes Guild users still alive. The number of Royal Guards and battle company still alive were 160 people. They were sitting down to rest as well as maintaining their weapons.

‘Let’s just settle down and watch. I’ll just the moment they’re fighting against the Black Lion Guild to escape.’

The cave that the Woomba Belkain and the Baby Belkains hadn’t been explored yet. The Hermes Guild would probably be able to obtain a treasure chest there. Weed didn’t think that he could obtain anything. In this world, guys like that wouldn’t leave anything behind. Among there were people with the Adventurer class who would clean everything out.

Weed was watching with a pain in his stomach when the movement of the Hermes Guild subtly changed. Users who had been relaxing got up one by one and headed towards the entrance. Weed’s nerves became sensitive. The Hermes Guild blocked the entrance and were then gradually approaching him.

‘Was I discovered? Indeed… By now they should’ve finished searching the 3rd floor and might’ve come downstairs.’

However it wasn’t definite that he was discovered. He had worn the assassin costume obtained from the ones he fought on the 3rd floor and sneaked onto the 4th floor. Weed didn’t change his attitude and just stood there calmly. Only his eyes were rolling around while calculating ways to escape.

Then Bardray who had been resting after defeating the Woomba Belkain walked towards him. Bardray spoke first.

“How are you?”

“……”

Weed’s mouth slightly opened. It was difficult to answer but he couldn’t pretend not to understand. Bardray would discover he was camouflaged as an assassin. But the movements of the Hermes Guild seemed to suggest he was already discovered.

“I knew you had escaped from your pursuers but I didn’t expect to meet you here.”

“……”

Weed was definitely discovered. He didn’t know how to react.

“How did you know?”

“I received word that the assassins searching upstairs couldn’t find Weed. And you’re not a murderer.”

The assassins had slaughtered the users when they entered the Melbourne Mine. So most of the users’ names had the murderer status. Weed might look the part but there was no way to camouflage the murderer state.

‘Of all things… He also noticed pretty fast.’

Weed was in a difficult situation. Normally it wouldn’t be that bad even if it was a great power like Bardray and the Hermes Guild

‘I really have no luck.’

Weed couldn’t deal with them in a place like this! The archers and magicians were ready for battle while the armoured knights were narrowing the distance. The earlier scene where the Woomba Belkain received a concentrated attack crossed his mind. Bardray also hadn’t put his sword into his scabbard yet.

‘They’re almost fine after the hunt because of the treatment from the priests.’

Bardray said arrogantly.

“Anyone who rebels against the Hermes Guild will die. Weed,  today is the day you’re going to be trampled.”

He was qualified to be the strongest person on the Versailles Continent. If the opponent was anyone else then Weed would either fight or reconcile peacefully. But there was no way to escape from the dragon’s claw or bite. If he had to die anyway then he chose to die fighting.

“This will be a fun day.”

Weed slowly took off the clothes of an assassin. The equipment didn’t match him and it was also low level so it wouldn’t be good in a fight. He wore the Talrock’s Armour and other equipment while the Hermes Guild watched.

‘They have no choice but to watch.’

Bardray and the other users had already changed their armour and weapons. It made no difference to the power of the Hermes Guild here. The archers and magicians could easily take care of Weed with their ranged attacks. They were some of the highest ranking users on the Versailles Continent!

This was basically saying that Bardray agreed to fight the opponent alone. He had received the blessings of the best shamans and priests on the continent so his health and mana were already recovered. The effect of blessings, even when it was low levelled meant the situation wouldn’t ever be fair.

Bardray thought he couldn’t defeat Weed unless he as in the best state. Bardray would gain great honour from Weed’s death and he would gain a lead in the competition to complete the Master Quest!

Weed grasped the Daemon Sword and took deep, short breaths.

‘I need to cause chaos and scatter the enemy.’

Even if he couldn’t prevail against the power of the Hermes Guild, he had no intention of just dying. Weed was about to use Wind Sprint when the hiding place behind Belkain shook.

Kwarururururung!

It became difficult to keep his foot steady on the shaking ground. And a monster appeared!

– My dead wife here……! You humans dare commit such a reckless thing.

The body was even larger than the Woomba Belkain. He had intimidating horns and the body was covered in dark red hair. In addition, the eyes and mouth showed its vicious natured. It was the Woomba Belkain’s husband, the Red Belkain!

“W-what the. There is still one left.”

“This guy isn’t ordinary.”

The Hermes Guild moved quickly. The troops that had surrounded Weed prepared for battle with the Red Belkain. The Necromancer Krobidyun used magic to confirm the monster’s information.

“Blooming health, show me everything. View Life Force!”

Ddiring!

– Red Belkain

A devil that personally dragged himself out of hell. The husband of the Woomba Belkain, he rules the Haineph Mountains.

– He doesn’t take damage from steel weapons.

– Very high magic resistance.

– Not affected by black magic.

– All spirits summoned below intermediate level will be sealed.

Health: 100%

Mana: 100%

“T-this…..”

Krobidyun’s complexion became dark. Bardray’s quest was to hunt the boss monster of the Haineph Mountain region. Judging by the description, he was the real monster. He was at least a minimum of level 620 and judging by the appearance, stronger than the Woomba Belkain.

The most challenging thing was that steel weapons wouldn’t do any damage to him.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Carlise and the soldiers from the Black Lion Guild arrived at Treipeak’s teleport gate.

“We have to go as quickly as possible.”

The rode their prepared horses from the fortress to the Melbourne Mine. Dust was raised in the mountain area as hundreds of horses sprinted. The Hermes Guild had placed intelligence agents in good positions to observe the mountain area so they reported the situation in real time.

– They’re currently at Treipeak, the Black Lion Guild has arrived faster than expected.

– Guild Master Carlise is accompanied by a large number of members.

– They passed point 3 without any hesitation and 20 magicians were visible.

The Hermes Guild also left rangers and archers to ambush them in the forest.

“Multiple Shot!”

Arrows poured down on the moving Black Lion Guild.

“Surprise attack. Just go through without paying attention to it!”

The warriors struck the arrows with their swords. They bombarded the rangers’ hiding spot with magic attacks but ran through without confirming the result!

They quickly arrived at the entrance to the Melbourne Mine. All the attempts from the Hermes Guild to contain them were ignored. The Black Lion Guild members were still gathering at Treipeak so they were assigned as the rear-guard unit.

“Are we really going to fight? It will be irreversible once we enter the Melbourne Mine.”

A magician called Rondal asked Carlise.

Rondal was one of the founders of the Black Lion Guild. Their hunting party became famous as they rode through the Tullen Kingdom until Carlise, Rondal and a few other members formed the Black Lion Guild.

“The Hermes Guild was the one who broke up the United Supremacy Alliance first.” They have to pay the price for that.”

Carlise had decided to fight. Bardray and the Hermes Guild had invaded the Tullen Kingdom so his pride couldn’t let them get away with it. The military forces at Treipeak were also moving to this area. They restored peace and order to the vicinity of the mine as well as taking care of the remnants of the Hermes Guild.

“Enter.”

The high defense warriors and paladins of the Black Lion Guild entered the Melbourne Mine.

Chapter 7: Inferior Duel

Weed moved at the same time as the Red Belkain attacking the battle group.

‘I’m alone so it is too disadvantageous.’

The entrance of the lair was being blocked by the Hermes Guild.

‘If so.’

Weed decided to believe in the intelligence of a monster.

“Those are the guys. They attacked your wife!”

He immediately ran to the Red Belkain’s side and attacked the knights of the Hermes Guild. It was a difficult tactic to choose but he had no choice if he wanted to live!

“Heriam Fencing!”

“This is…..”

The Hermes Guild members were astonished A boss class monster appeared and now he was fighting on the side of that monster! His actions were ridiculous.

– Burial Ground!

The Red Belkain sank to his knees on the ground and used a wide area skill. Those wearing thick armour had their agility reduced and were buried in the ground. Weed was close to the Red Belkain but he wasn’t affected. This was the amazing intelligence of a boss class monster!

‘I will fight this little guy after killing them.’

Weed also had similar thoughts.

‘If I survive here then can I kill him and collect his items?’

The two of them attacked without hesitation. The Red Belkain ran and thrust his shoulders, making a warrior’s body bounce back. The defense of the shield and armour meant the warrior didn’t die but Weed attacked again. He used Wind Sprint from next to the Red Belkain to move at a speed that was difficult to follow and attacked the warrior.

“Strong Shield!”

The warrior decided to withstand it. Weed’s damage might be great but a warrior with high defense and the priest’s healing wouldn’t be easily killed.

Meanwhile the Red Belkain was dashing around and using attack skills on the users. A boss class monster recklessly used wide area skills.

– You have heard Belkain’s cry.

Fighting Spirit has decreased.

Morale has decreased.

The probability of a skill succeeding has decrease and mana is consumed faster.

The Red Belkain’s Phantom has appeared. Any attacks will damage it instead.

Arrows and magic furiously attacked the Red Belkain. The Hermes Guild had changed to an active offense. If the Woomba Belkain and Red Belkain appeared at the same time then they would’ve received more damage. But each one was hunted separately so the battle became much easier. The advantage of a large scale hunt was that each class could play a role in restraining the boss monster.

‘The Red Belkain needs more strength. Right now he is my ally.’

Weed used Wind Sprint to chase the melee classes.

‘If more time passes then the Red Belkain will become easier to hunt.’

Even if dozens of Hermes Guild users died, their damage still accumulated on the Red Belkain. Krobidyun was already summoning a doom knight to attack the Red Belkain. Other users would find it hard to judge because of the danger but Weed wasn’t scared of the undead.

Huge explosions and attack skills ran rampant in the dungeon! In the midst of this hectic scene, the Hermes Guild was focusing all their attacks on the Red Belkain. They were experienced in hunting boss class monsters so even minor attacks hit the Red Belkain’s leather and slightly reduced his health. That damage would accumulate and he would eventually collapse.

The Red Belkain had the largest power but the close combat users received the priests’ help and persistently held on. Warriors at the forefront of the battle held up their shields and took the attacks head on. Weed had to shake this balance of power.

“Radiant Sword!”

Birds of light flew from Weed’s sword and struck the warrior from behind. This sword skill consumed mana but he wasn’t in a position to worry about that. The Red Belkain was suffering from huge attacks! The warrior’s health was reduced from Radian Sword.

– You have killed the warrior Wabulla.

– Experience has been acquired.

– Fame has increased by 169.

– The Knight Burgulleo has been killed.

– Your level has risen.

– Fame has increased by 369.

– Due to the cowardly act of targeting the back during a battle, the Honour stat will decrease by 1.

A master of turning over the situation! Weed was also level 410. The Hermes users’ level started in the early 400s and some users were beyond level 430. He gained a lot of experience from putting these users away. Usually it was difficult to meet  so many high level users in common dungeons.

“Kill him! The damage is greater because of him!”

The cry was heard and the long range attack unit started aiming at Weed with arrows and magic. If that much power hit his body then it would be impossible to live! The archers and magicians aimed their tremendous firepower from the Red Belkain to Weed. Weed kicked the ground and ran from side to side as he kept on changing directions.

Kwang! Kwa kwa kwang!

Pusyu syu syu syuk!

Every place he passed had arrows, ice chunks and flames narrowly land on either side of him. The arrows chased behind him. The Hermes Guild’s extravagant long-range firepower was aimed at Weed. Weed’s health dripped out as the arrows grazed him. He moved suddenly and was able to avoid being damaged by every arrow thanks to his evasive measures. However Weed still lost 20% of his health in an instant.

“This degree isn’t enough!”

Weed went in front of the Red Belkain. The long ranged attacks then stopped as they worried about hitting the warriors and knights. The little bit of damage he received was nothing compared to the power of the Hermes Guild. There was no way to escape this dungeon anyway and it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the Red Belkain was rampaging wildly.

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed used Radiant Sword while the priests prepared shields and health recovery spells. The Hermes Guild’s iron wall was to such a degree that anyone would feel despair.

This was from the perspective of the battle group and the Royal Guards. Usually they were at a standard where monsters could only do minor harm to them. That’s because they prepared the best equipment and manpower before they went. That’s why they could endure it when the Red Belkain appeared after the Woomba Belkain. But Weed’s interruptions made it much more difficult.

They were worried that his cunning would make the battle more hectic! The warriors whose health fell into a dangerous state sighed with relief as they managed to interrupt the Red Belkain’s attacks.

“I barely lived.”

“I almost fell into a critical condition. Please treat me quickly!”

The priests’ mana wasn’t infinite so they couldn’t use healing magic continuously. Weed’s Radiant Sword exploded during that short moment of carelessness! Weed used a powerful attack skill so there were almost no players who could escape unscathed.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, Calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

“You called Master.”

The Red Belkain fired sharp needles from his skin as Weed’s subordinates were summoned. Van Hawk grasped his sword and tried to attack the Red Belkain as soon as he appeared.

“I’ll fight with this guy.”

“Not this guy.”

“Master, what should we do then?”

“Those humans and the others. Along with the barbarians…… And that big monster is on our side.”

His subordinates quickly understood that the Hermes Guild were the enemy without the need for a long explanation.

“As expected from Master……”

“I thought it would be like this.”

Van Hawk and Torido were easily convinced by Weed so they commenced the fight against the Hermes Guild. Whether it was a good or bad command, they just believed in Weed’s instructions.

Despite that, Weed’s complexion didn’t brighten. Not a lot of people had died from the Hermes Guild despite Van Hawk and Torido being summoned.

There were the warriors, priests and ranged attack troops. It would be impossible to change the military situation if he stayed faithful to this method. The melee users also changed their battle formation and tactics when dealing with the Red Belkain. Weed needed to try more active and colourful attacks.

But to be able to steadily block a strong monster deserved praise. Long distance classes like archers, magicians and shamans were good at pouring out firepower. The effect of the monster was nullified by long range attacks.

Weed had previously seen a video of the guild hunting a bone dragon. The Hermes Guild was filled with high power individuals faithful to the basics. He had never seen such a massive, stable hunt. There were also 30 Royal Guards in the background that hadn’t come out yet. They stayed back in order to defend the archers and magicians from the boss monster.

‘The Hermes Guild is certainly worthy of being called the strongest power on the continent. They can hunt monsters effectively even when being disturbed.’

Bardray walked over to Weed with some knights. He hadn’t participated in the Red Belkain hunt. Most of the damage had been done by the battle company and the Royal Guards. The Necromancer Krobidyun only increased the number of undead for the hunt. So Bardray decided to do what he wanted on the battlefield.

“Resistance is futile. But as a minimal courtesy, I will give you the opportunity to fight me alone.”

Weed had no intention of fighting Bardray. He had seen Bardray’s destructive power and swordplay when fighting the Woomba Belkain. The level difference was quite obvious so it would be difficult to deal with him. It was inevitable that he would be lacking in power and die!

Weed’s Heriam Fencing wasn’t suitable for fighting against a strong soldier. It was a series of consecutive attacks aimed at any gaps! The skill took advantage of any holes in the enemy’s defense.

Moonlight Sculpting Blade might be gorgeous and beautify but it wasn’t enough in a 1 on 1 battle. There was also the Emperor’s Triple, Back Stab, Sword Break, Sword Dance and Sword Kaiser. But even if Triple or Sword Dance succeeded a few times, it wouldn’t deal that much damage to a knight. Sword Kaiser was a very powerful skill but the level difference and equipment meant there was no guarantee the opponent would die. In addition, it would consume almost all his mana.

The only sword technique Weed had left was Radiant Sword. It was very convenient so he used it a lot in battle. But the skill proficiency compared to the mana consumption meant it was largely useless now.

It was okay when dealing with other users but it wasn’t enough for Bardray. He needed to take advantage of the terrain of the Belkain’s lair. When he took into account Bardray’s support army, Weed was inferior in all aspects.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“If it is inevitable then I’ll have to fight.”

Weed checked the Daemon Sword with his eyes. He had been using this sword for a few battles. If the durability was reduced than maximum damage couldn’t be exerted and the accuracy would become poor.

‘If only I could use repair, Sword Grinding or even Armour Polishing……’

They wouldn’t give him time for that. The fight wouldn’t be easy even with the Red Belkain still alive.

“I’m going to start. If you want to fight than follow me.”

Weed ran next to the Red Belkain.

“He’s moving. Get ready to fire!”

The archers and magicians tried to respond. But the Royal Guards used their jurisdiction to stop them.

“Weed is Bardray’s. Don’t touch him and focus on the monster!”

“Understood.”

The ranged troops didn’t attack Weed. Weed’s movement speed was fast enough to confuse Bardray.

“He really is an irritating guy.”

Bardray shook his head as he spoke. Then a magician summoned his horse, Rindullin!

It was a horse with the best blood handed down from the Royal Family of the Haven Kingdom. It possessed elegant white hair that was beautiful like a jewel and was worth more than a greatsword. It was a horse with wise intelligence and good luck!

He also held the legendary Lightning Spear that was an item he obtained from the Black Knight Master quest.

“Let’s go!”

Bardray pursued him on horseback. Weed, Van Hawk and Torido ran across the confusing battlefield the Red Belkain created. And Bardray willingly followed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“To the rescue!”

“It isn’t a problem if we die. If a friend is in danger then of course we have to go rescue him.”

Pale, Irene strongly argued to Yurin. Weed had fallen into the worse danger because of the Hermes Guild so they couldn’t just sit back and not fight. Even if they were just eggs being smashed against rocks, they still decided to go to the Melbourne Mine.

“Yurin, please send me there. I’ll risk my life to rescue him.”

Zephyr also didn’t miss this moment to gain Yurin’s heart.

Previously he had gone to play at Yurin’s house. He came to her house to fix some home electronics but he received a formal invitation to lunch as a friend. He wanted to see many sides to Lee Hye-yeon as she prepared rice for him.

‘This is a chance for a date……’

Choi Ji-hoon felt like this was a time to become closer to her. So he had paid more attention to his attire than usual and also sprayed perfume.

‘It will be nice if we can carry on a dialogue over sweet rice. If we’re alone than the intensity of the conversation will increase. If this is a success than maybe……’

He even brought a ring as a gift when he went to Lee Hye-yeon’s house. A wolf with a lot of experience was visiting. And at a time when Lee Hyun wasn’t there!

“The house’s ceiling is a bit lacking. Oppa is busy these days… Can I entrust it to you instead?”

“Please leave it to me.”

He had to fix the sink in a luxury shirt. In return Lee Hye-yeon gave him delicious soybean soup. The atmosphere was completely different from the food he normally ate like steak.

‘I will aim for my chance after eating the food.’

A chance for love could pop up at any time. He was eating fermented soybeans but Choi Ji-hoon’s nature as a player was too durable. He was silent for a while.

“Is there anything to drink?”

Choi Ji-hoon had to drink something in order to get rid of the soybean smell.

“There is cinnamon tea.”

“That…..”

“You don’t like that drink?”

“It is a good drink.”

They watched television while drinking cinnamon tea.

‘This atmosphere is difficult. The sweet moments……’

Choi Ji-hoon was proud of his ability to talk to women. He was just thinking that when Lee Hye-yeon stood up from her seat.

“I’ll bring some snacks.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Eating snacks would ensure a better flow of conversation than watching television.

Yurin brought out kudzu roots!

“What is this?”

“Snacks. Oppa dug up a lot of them.”

They watched television while chewing on the bitter kudzu roots.

“Isn’t there any coffee?”

“I have some Heotgae Tree Juice if you want to drink it?”

“Ah, no. It’s okay.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed’s spine was cold.

‘Left side.’

He changed directions and plunged to the right. A sword descended on the spot where he was! He freely attacked and defended with his sword as he ran.

– You are inside the sword’s attack radius.

Avoidance has been applied.

You haven’t received a serious injury but your health has reduced by 4,324.

The skill had a wide radius so his health has suffered a major blow from just being in the area. Of course, he was fighting in the area where the Red Belkain was so they both naturally got injured.

“Healing Hands!”

The priests urgently used healing on Bardray. Bardray continue chasing after him on Rindullin. The horse didn’t miss its target despite the chaotic battlefield.

Kwarurung!

A colossal explosion occurred every time he thrust the Lightning Spear. Weed moved between the Red Belkain and the users he was fighting so Bardray ended up dealing damage to the Hermes Guild instead. The Red Belkain was also cooperating so it helped Weed play an active role. Bardray just ignored the Red Belkain as he rode past.

“Wind Sprint!”

Weed used his maximum speed and ran up the wall towards the ceiling. The eyes of the watching Hermes Guild users widened.

“What amazing speed. How can he run so fast?”

“I wouldn’t be able to keep up if he runs like that in the field.”

It was to the extent that Bardray couldn’t chase him on Rindullin. He ran between users and monsters as well as jumped up complex obstacles.

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed attacked from a distance but the blade of light passed Bardray to hit another warrior. Bardray was insensitive to the damage dealt to his guild. He didn’t pay attention no matter how many people from the Hermes Guild died.

The Red Belkain stomped the ground with his strong hind legs.

– Earth’s Wrath!

A massive shock wave spread in all directions at once. Weed’s excellent agility and being in a place that wasn’t affected beforehand meant he barely received any damage. The Hermes Guild continued using melee skills in order to keep the Red Belkain in check. But this time they were disturbed by Weed and the aftermath was colossal.

Belkain’s lair shook like it was about to crumble from the tremendous skill.

“A warrior died. The monster has broken through the line of defense!”

“Knights stand in until another warrior arrives! Archer unit, use your powerful arrows to stop the Red Belkain from escaping the encirclement.”

It was easy to see why formations and specific roles were important in hunting a boss monster. That’s why Weed focused his attacks on the battle company instead of Bardray.

Weed and Bardray’s game of tag!

Usually a knight riding a horse had more of an advantage but Weed utilized his agility and the terrain around him.

– Lightning has been summoned with the Lightning Spear.

Your health has reduced by 2,892 due to the electric shock.

Your movement speed has decreased for 9 seconds due to temporary paralysis.

‘The odds aren’t in my favour at all.’

If the situation continued like this then it would be impossible for Weed to survive. Bardray’s attack range was wide and the confined space meant he couldn’t completely avoid it. Apart from his rapidly declining health, his vitality and mana were also at its limit thanks to the use of Radiant Sword and Wind Sprint. Bardray quickly rode Rindullin up to him.

“Hero’s Sword!”

Bardray’s attacks strengthened even further as he used another sword technique.

‘As expected, it is impossible to get out of this. It might’ve been possible if the Black Lion Guild arrived early…..’

The Black Lion Guild was currently being detained on Melbourne Mine’s 2nd floor by the traps and assassins. Weed looked at the Red Belkain and decided to give up on finding a way to live. There was hardly any ways left visible.

‘Now it is a plan of desperation.’

“Van Hawk, Torido! Attack.”

Weed ran to the place where Bardray was. Van Hawk and Torido who had been half watching the Red Belkain’s battle followed his command. The two of them were ranked quite highly among the boss class!

Van Hawk flew towards Bardray with his sword while Torido called a Blade Storm. Weed then struck using Radiant Sword. The sum of the combo caused Bardray to suddenly experience a moment of great crisis. Then the priests gathered in a corner started singing.

– The hymn of the god Tyr has been used on the battlefield.

Bardray has temporarily gained an invincible state!

For a brief moment he will experience no loss of health and his power will double without any side effects.

“You can’t resist the assault of the Black Knight!”

Bardray combined his power and Rindullin’s speed as he charged.

“Tahaaaat!”

Van Hawk tried to block the horse with his sword.

Jjaeng kang!

Van Hawk’s sword broke and he fell into a ghost state.

“Master, I’m sorry.”

The Death Knight Van Hawk groaned with pain before he was recalled with a burst of grey smoke. The damage received from magic and arrows had accumulated then he received Bardray’s attack directly. Weed watched it with regret.

‘If only the sword didn’t break……’

It was an equipment that he had handed to Van Hawk. Of course, the standard of the equipment was low compared to his level but it was broken in the fight against Bardray. Bardray also just rushed through Torido’s Blade Storm. Tyr’s Hymn was applied so he just ignored the attack.

“Heavy Blow of Satisfaction!”

The small birds made with Radiant Sword were destroyed. Bardray ran up on Rindullin and swept his sword from the bottom to the top.

“Sunset Sword!”

A flow of mana was shot out of the sword.

‘This is dangerous.’

Weed was stuck in one place because he used Radiant Sword. Bardray was combining his power with Rindullin’s acceleration so the destructive force would be huge if it hit him directly. The range of the mana flow was broad so Weed couldn’t find a place to avoid it. The skill was now being used against one person but it was originally used to slaughter an enormous number of people or to destroy castle walls.

“Close Eyes Tightly!”

Weed closed his eyes, took out the Ancient Shield and threw his body to the left. The Daemon Sword could also be used as a means of defense against the enemy’s skill. But the durability had fallen so he needed to rely on the shield to reduce the damage. However Bardray’s skill had reached him before he escaped.

– You have become Stunned from the huge impact.

There is a sharp decline in health!

Your high Concentration overcame the Stun.

There is a chance that your body may receive paralytic symptoms.

All skills aren’t available for 22 seconds.

The enemy has absorbed some of your mana.

2,795 mana absorbed.

Fighting Spirit has temporarily been decreased by 29%.

The Sword of Holy Power has been received.

You aren’t a monster or wicked person so no additional damage is received.

– You have received a large injury.

If you don’t heal it quickly than your resilience will permanently decrease by 2.

– The durability of the Ancient Shield has fallen.

The durability of Talrock’s Armour has fallen.

The connection to your chest has weakened.

Defense reduced by 17% until it is worn again.

Chapter 8: Armour Taken Away

Weed’s health was only just over 40,000 at best. He had low health and resilience compared to his level but he overcame it with perseverance and his armour.

Bardray’s attack was powerful enough that he lost 17,000 health. The Black Knight had high level equipment and various blessings placed on him so a frontal attack was extremely successful.

“Kuook.”

Weed was thrown back and fell to the ground.

“Master!”

Torido rushed out to oppose Bardray. He could attack and defend but Torido couldn’t fight in a one on one battle without getting injured. Fortunately Torido was in a good condition compared to Van Hawk because he could suck blood to recover.

‘This method won’t work.’

Weed touched his chest where his armour was crumpled. Bardray’s level was definitely higher than his own. His attack skills were also superior. Aside from Radiant Sword, he didn’t any useful skills to fight against Bardray with.

The thing that differentiated Weed from other users was his much higher stats. The stats stacked due to his sculptor skill, blacksmith skill and sewing skills so they were a big help.

Bardray raised his stats by clearing dungeons, hunting boss class monsters and completing difficult quests with the Hermes Guild.

If compared than their stats would be at an almost equal level.

Right now Weed needed a drastic measure. Disaster Nature Sculpting!

‘A volcanic eruption, earthquake, landslide, mine collapse or even filling it with water would be nice.’

But Disaster Nature Sculpting required an appropriate sculpture to use it. Even if  Weed had a sculpture of a volcanic eruption then it was also likely that he would die as well. If the disaster was too big then it was highly likely that he would break his own rice bowl! If he caused a volcanic eruption then he couldn’t escape the cave so he would be caught up in it.

‘There’s also Summon Sculpture but I don’t want to use that.’

He could summon some sculptural lifeforms as reinforcement. But this place was too confined for Phoenix and Bingryong to play an active role. The wyverns were too weak so he couldn’t bring them. Goldman and Yellowy had struggled in the Jigolaths so he would feel sorry if they had to struggle on the brink of death again. The King Hydra would but suitable but the Red Belkain was here so it might turn into a situation where they fought each other instead.

“I need to do this by myself.”

Weed decided to fight alone. In the worst case situation he would just lose a bit of experience, skill proficiency and an equipment.

“I have to gather myself and try again. Bardray, I can truly feel the power of the person called the strongest on the Versailles Continent.”

Weed had never met a rival before. He had a few exchanges with people from prestigious guilds on quests but he had always been stronger. Now the target he wanted to fight was Bardray! His life would fly away if he was defeated but for now he had courage. If a drop of soy sauce was buried with bean sprouts then it wouldn’t be afraid to sprout anywhere on the Versailles Continent.

Weed wound a bandage around his body at a fast pace. Torido’s health was rapidly falling as he duelled with Bardray. This was due to the holy damage received from the priests’ support.

“T-thirsty.”

He fought a lot harder when his health fell. Weed inwardly thought ‘Torido, I’m going now.’ He was thinking of landing a surprise blow on Bardray. The surprise attack wasn’t effective.

“Oheok!”

“Bardray-nim, danger!”

The Hermes Guild’s priests watching the battle noticed it seconds before he struck. The fight against the Red Belkain had become stable so many eyes were turned towards Bardray. The Red Belkain was losing health and vitality under the onslaught.

Weed ran to Bardray’s side.

“Seven Celestial Footsteps!”

It was a technique that could change the direction of each step! With Wind Sprint also activated, he moved so fast that afterimages could be seen.

“I’ve been waiting for you to come.”

Bardray blocked with his sword like he already knew about it. Weed knew that there was a limit to his attacks.

‘The performance of his armour is really amazing. I’ve barely done any damage to him.’

If a strong attack was about to be used then he needed to take advantage of the time required for Bardray to activate it. Weed immediately turned sideways and continued his offensive.

“Sword Dance!”

Brandish, stab, slash!

The continuous swordsmanship made it difficult to even respond. He was looking for a gap in Bardray’s defense.

“This isn’t enough.”

Bardray said as he blocked the sword. Some attacks he missed while some he blocked brilliantly. Weed moved to the side and continued attacking. Although Bardray tried to take one or two steps backwards to counterattack but Weed just struck more harshly.

‘The differences between level and equipment is somewhat reduced in close combat. If it doesn’t take one or two hits then I will hit him a hundred thousand times!’

Weed’s speed was so quick that Bardray couldn’t stop everything.

– Your sword has been blocked by the defense.

You have hit the shoulder armour of your opponent!

An accurate attack has succeeded.

The armour has absorbed a lot of the sword’s destructive power.

Vitality has been reduced by 149.

– Your sword has clashed with the other sword.

– Your sword has pierced the enemy’s chest.

An accurate attack has succeeded.

A fatal blow!

The opponent is wearing an item that gives immunity to confusion and paralysis.

Health has been reduced by 617.

Weed’s sword was incredibly fast. The attack speed was almost impossible to believe. Bardray blocked with his sword at an angle and aimed for a counterattack.

“Quite good.”

But Bardray grasped the fact that Weed’s offensive power was weaker after their swords clashed. Weed’s movements might be fast but Bardray didn’t have to stop every attack. Bardray fought back and the battle between the two of them became even fiercer.

He remembered something Geomchi said when sparring.

– Look at your opponent. If you look straight at the opponent then you won’t lose.

He looked at Bardray’s eyes, shoulders and muscles hidden by the armour. The sound of swords hitting each other rang out through Belkain’s lair like a musical instrument. Weed concentrated his nerves as he battled carefully.

Flames flew forcefully as the two swords clashed. The flames were like a tumultuous wave! Bardray didn’t see a message window.

‘It really is enough to make me nervous.’

Weed’s level was definitely lower and Bardray was overwhelming in many aspects. The difference between the power and skill when handling a sword was obvious. However his continuous, aggressive attacks meant Bardray lost the initiative and was forced on the defense.

‘It is good that I met him now. It might’ve been dangerous if I met him later.’

Weed would grow very quickly while continuing his adventures. Bardray considered it fortunate that they encountered each other right now.

‘I will thoroughly defeat him. He will be unable to face me again.’

His level was high enough to bully people. He wanted to prove that the Black Knight had the ultimate power so Bardray’s sword dealt some serious damage. He estimated that they were trivial attacks and his armour absorbed most of the damage.

He just needed to defend his weak points and counterattack against Weed. Of course, if he used his wide area skills than this fight could end more easily.

“If this is the extent of your skills then it is time to die.”

Bardray strongly wielded his sword.

“Spatial Destruction!”

Spatial Destruction occurred in the entire radius around them!  A colossal wind swept through the area.

“Kuuuk.”

“Treat us faster!”

The Hermes Guild members fighting the Red Belkain also received damage. The priests hurriedly used healing magic. Usually a boss monster hunt would get all the attention but the top priority was Bardray’s battle with Weed.

Weed passed behind Bardray’s back. Thanks to the ‘Excellent Experience’ skill and his agility, he was able to grasp the direction of the attack as soon as the skill was used. He was able to move quickly because of the rise in agility gained from Sculptural Destruction!

Until now he hadn’t been that tense about the series of attacks. It might be difficult but he also felt that it was fun.

‘My vitality won’t hold……’

Weed’s vitality stat had reached 423 points thanks to making sculptures and production skills. Wind Sprint and Seven Star Form meant he could quickly change directions. Unfortunately his speed decreased as his vitality fell. It would be difficult for Weed to continue fighting Bardray with low health and vitality.

Then the Hermes Guild magicians secretly gathered together and chanted a spell.

“The caught body will be held and can’t move. Twilight Pressure!”

It was a magic to restrict movement!

Weed’s magic resistance was decent but it failed to block the spell from a coalition of senior magicians. Breaking the binding would require a significant amount of time and magic items. In the meantime, Bardray turned towards him.

“The time has come for you to die.”

Bardray’s sword was covered with a pure white flame.

“Noble Sword. Saint Flame.”

Weed tried to avoid it but his foot wouldn’t move.

“This! My leg……”

He tried to stop him but it was meaningless. Weed tried to call Torido but he had changed into a bat and was too busy avoiding the arrows to come and help.

“Close Eyes Tightly!”

Weed covered his body with the Ancient Sword and struck a defense pose. Bardray’s sword was swung. The warrior’s sword struck Weed completely. It wouldn’t be easy to catch Weed again if he missed so Bardray poured all his power into this attack.

– Your strength and vitality has decreased and you can’t properly defend.

A fatal blow!

– You have received a massive attack and died.

Additional damage is caused by the flames.

You don’t have the help from high rank healing magic or water spirits so your health will decrease by 475 every second..

Your waist protective piece has received a blow beyond its limits and has been destroyed.

– The effect of Seulroeo’s Wedding Ring isn’t applied due to the drastic drop in health.

– Your health has decreased and you have died.

The skill level of ‘Power to Reject Death’ is low. The skill isn’t activated thanks to the holy power entering your body.

It is impossible to log in for 24 hours. Your skill level and proficiency has declined due to your death.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed disappeared into a grey light after Bardray’s attack.

“Hooray Bardray-nim!”

“He won! Bardray-nim is the strongest in the continent!”

The Hermes Guild members cheered at the historic victory. Congratulations poured over the guild chat.

Bardray had made his competitors kneel in many battles. But their chests trembled at the thought that millions of people would be watching it through the broadcasting stations.

“This armour.”

Bardray picked up the Talrock’s Armour that Weed had dropped. The size of the armour wasn’t different from some of the other japtem dropped from the monsters in the Melbourne Mine.

‘This armour isn’t that good. He was wearing something like this to fight?’

The Talrock’s Armour didn’t even register in Bardray’s eyes. He found the best items and wore legendary equipment so this armour was just disappointing to him.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Black Lion Guild had dismantled all the traps and arrived on the 4th underground floor.

“Those guys should be in the dungeon. Let’s go.”

Carlise and the elite members of the Black Lion Guild moved. Hegel, Alice and Dine had already been discovered by the assassins and died!

When they arrived at the lair the Red Belkain was almost dead. The continuous attacks from Bardray, the Royal Guards and the battle company meant the momentum of the hunt was in their favour. Even the assassins helped by hitting the Red Belkain in the back.

The Red Belkain cried out as he continued dying. He would exert more power as his life decreased but the users were experienced in fighting boss monsters.

“Fire!”

The prepared arrows and magic were launched. The Red Belkain was interrupted and couldn’t concentrate on using his skills. There were also shamans in the battle company that helped in decreasing the monster’s attack, defense, vitality, strength and concentration.

– The Red Belkain in the Melbourne Mine has entered its eternal rest.

The hunt was a success! Bardray delivered the final blow and also monopolized the loot. A recording of the Black Knight’s swordsmanship was obtained.

“The 12th stage of the Black Knight Quest has been fulfilled.”

“Congratulations Commander-nim.”

“There isn’t much left in the future.”

Carlise had brought 750 people from the Black Lion Guild. They came to reclaim their territory from the Hermes Guild running wild in the Melbourne Mine.

“Strike!”

The Black Lion Guild fired off magic attacks. The conflict between the core power of two giant guilds started.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The special KMC broadcast with Oh Joo-wan was in progress!

“Ah, look at the Black Lion Guild.”

“Today is certainly an unforgettable day. The magician Puroyan is now using the large scale ice magic, Ice Storm.”

“The ground has frozen so that will be a problem for the knights of the Hermes Guild.”

“This is still too premature to judge but from Oh Joo-wan ssi’s view, who do you think will win?”

“It’s really hard to know before the results come out. The Hermes Guild generally is much more powerful than other guilds and they have Bardray……”

“Are you saying the Hermes Guild will win?”

“Yes. I will give it to the Hermes Guild.”

Many broadcasters reporting on the battle between the two guilds predicted that the Hermes Guild would be superior.

The battle group was filled while outstanding users and the Royal Guards had a large number of users with their level unknown. They also weren’t busy hunting the Red Belkain anymore. There was no chance if Bardray and the Royal Guards came out.

“Ah! Now assassins have showed up behind the Black Lion Guild and are attacking. It is an ambush and they assassinated the priests first.”

Even if the host didn’t talk, the video looked incredibly violent. The Hermes Guild sent a video and the Black Lion Guild also agreed to cooperate and send in their side. The location of the battle kept changing and the sight was enough to make someone’s mouth drop open.

The elite of the high level guilds fought together in the midst of explosions, lights and noise. Meanwhile shamans and necromancers were summoning the undead and spirits.

The team were editing the video in real time and adding effects so they had no time to go to the restroom. The production team also talked about Weed’s battle with Bardray while working.

“Weed died……”

“Oh, Weed the God of War is no match for Bardray.”

Bardray’s victory was also discussed on Royal Road’s various bulletin boards.

Many people talked about Bardray’s use of various blessings and fighting against the tired Weed, calling it a cowardly victory. A few people mentioned how Weed tried to use the Red Belkain to conquer the disadvantage of the battle.

The audience rating already wasn’t a concern anymore. There was no doubt that today would have the highest ratings. It should’ve been a happy day from the position of the station but KMC Media who often reported on Weed’s adventures was disappointed.

CTS Media and LK Games were also talking more about Weed and Bardray’s fight than the battle between the Hermes Guild and the Black Lion Guild.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon went to the beauty salon to do her makeup and hair. She also bought clothes at the department stores.

‘I should cook a dish.’

She wanted to go to the mart in order to cheer up Lee Hyun.

Bardray and the Hermes Guild had defeated the Black Lion Guild. The Hermes Guild had elite members and were tactically superior compared to the hastily gathered Black Lion Guild. The priests, magicians and warriors all cooperated together after the Red Belkain was killed. On the other hand, the rushed Black Lion Guild couldn’t cooperate properly so they couldn’t demonstrate their full abilities.

Bardray and the Royal Guards. Bardray overwhelmingly won in a confrontation with the head of the Black Lion Guild but he was out of mana afterwards. In a perfect trap, 200 more reinforcements from the Hermes Guild had showed up on the 4th floor.

Pale, Irene, Surka, Hwaryeong, Romuna, Zephyr, Seechwi and Seo-yoon belatedly arrived as the Hermes Guild were leaving the Melbourne Mine. Needless to say, they were killed by the wide range attacks from the archers and magicians with Bardray.

Seo-yoon could penetrate through the large number of attacks to kill 7 knights but she eventually died under the concentrated firepower. The Hermes Guild then strolled to a special teleport gate and disappeared.

Seo-yoon was more worried about Lee Hyun than dying in Royal Road. He had a high pride as the God of War only to be killed. In fact, it was difficult to win every time. She had failed many times when participating in quests or hunting monsters. But he had died and even lost armour so his heartache would be too big.

‘I need to be beautiful and give him comfort.’

Seo-yoon headed to Lee Hyun’s house with a shopping cart. Then she saw a neighbourhood grandmother dressed in shabby clothes and pushing a cart full of recyclables.

“I’ll help you.”

Seo-yoon took the handle from the grandmother. She wanted to see Lee Hyun but the cart looked heavy.

“Young Lady, you don’t need to do something like this….. It is quite heavy so pushing isn’t easy.”

Syu syu syu syu syuk!

The cart steadily moved! Seo-yoon gently pushed the cart and said.

“Where are you going?”

“To my house to finish some work.”

“Then let me know where your house is. I’ll take you.”

“You don’t have to do that……”

“I want to.”

“It is pretty far Young Lady.”

“It’s okay. I am able to take you.”

If Seo-yoon told Lee Hyun about a good deed then he might feel less sad. She didn’t want to see Lee Hyun with a sad face. She felt the need to quickly go and soothe his pain so that he wouldn’t be sad. If he had only died then she wouldn’t worry so much but he had lost the Talrock’s Armour.

Seo-yoon guided the grandmother up the slope.

‘The place isn’t too far……’

When she climbed up the slope in Lee Hyun’s neighbourhood, there were narrow and shabby houses gathered together which was where the grandmother lived.

“By the way Young Lady.”

“Yes, Grandmother.”

“Are you heading towards the house where there is a pomegranate and fig tree in the courtyard?”

Lee Hyun had several fruit trees growing at his house. There were apples, pears, peaches, chestnuts and even oranges.

“How did you know?”

“I’ve seen you a few times.”

The grandmother pushed the cart with Seo-yoon while they climbed the slope.

“Are you dating the young man living in that house?”

“No.”

“Then why are you visiting his house?”

In the grandmother’s point of view, there was no need to say anything else since she kept on visiting his house.

Seo-yoon’s face turned red.

“I’m glad he seems to have met a good woman. It has eased my heart a little bit.”

“…….”

“That young man, he is very famous since our neighbourhood is filled with elderly people.”

“Huh?”

The fact that Lee Hyun was famous in his neighbourhood was new to Seo-yoon. She was worried that he might’ve done something wrong or committed extortion.

“That young man really lives a tenacious life. He tries to raise his younger sibling decently…..”

“Yes.”

“He delivered the milk and newspaper to everyone in the neighbourhood. He even carried all the bags from the market despite the fact that I can’t pay him. Another time he helped me while I was doing a trade at the market. He chased after some thieves that stole something when I wasn’t looking and I really felt sorry looking at his distant form……”

“Ah…..”

Seo-yoon was finding out how Lee Hyun lived in the past. He lived a hard life so he was diligent even now.

“That young man was able to later buy a house…. It turned out really well. Has it been 1 year and a half since then? I didn’t want him to live like that. Sometimes his body was so sick yet he still conducted business. Even now he is still collecting scrap items in order to live.”

Seo-yoon just listened to the grandmother’s quiet words. The grandmother seemed to be choked up with emotion. She was getting good information about Lee Hyun so she couldn’t say anything.

“Is it difficult for you to come around here? There are a lot of empty bottles and cans in that park.”

The grandmother gave her valuable information about her life. She talked about Lee Hyun again as she looked at the distant mountains.

“Although he could receive various benefits from going to the government’s office, he still needed to raise a sibling.”

His grandmother was in a really difficult situation at that time. He didn’t know when the welfare benefits would come in but survived the winter thanks to support and advice.

“Last winter he placed an electric blanket and kimchi rice in my house at dawn. It wasn’t just me but every elderly person in the area received it. It would’ve cost quite a bit of money…… But there was an old man who saw him place it in the middle of the night.”

“He did.”

“It snowed quite a bit last time so there wasn’t too much work. But the young man still made boxed lunches with seaweed wraps and took it out of his house every day.”

“There is no reason to make it if people don’t eat it. If you like it then please take it. Because I made it just now.”

“Thank you. I don’t know how to pay you back.”

“The food would just go into the garbage bag anyway.”

Lee Hyun and his sister made a lot of food for half a month.

“And he also gave us some medicine. If he sees us become injured then he won’t leave without treating it… The hospital bills are quite high these days but it makes me feel warm whenever he tells me to be careful.”

Tears gathered in Seo-yoon’s eyes. She understood. Lee Hyun had experienced many pains in the past so he could understand the pain of other people.

“He even helped one grandmother to the hospital and paid for the bill when she was worried about it. There is no elderly person in this neighbourhood who hasn’t received the help of that young man. He also bought books for children living without parents and helped them study. His good deeds……”

Seo-yoon headed to Lee Hyun’s house after taking the grandmother home.

Bark bark bark!

The dog was barking in front of the strangely silent house.

‘Don’t tell me……’

Seo-yoon felt her heart sink as she opened the gate. There were 7 different locks on the gate but fortunately she had all the keys in advance. She walked through the yard on trembling legs and stood before the front door. She dimly saw someone lying down in the living room.

‘No!’

Seo-yoon opened the front door and entered the living room. Lee Hyun was lying collapsed on the living room floor.

“Heu heu heu heu heuk.”

Her heart jumped like crazy as tears emerged. The makeup she did in the beauty salon became a mess because of her tears. Seo-yoon’s heart ached as something she never considered happened.

A door that had been closed in her mind broke open.

‘When I was a child… It is the same.’

When Seo-yoon was a very young child, she had seen something she really didn’t want to see. It caused a huge wound in her mind until she met Lee Hyun…..

The person who helped Seo-yoon was lying there collapsed.

“I-I…..”

She staggered as her legs seemed to lose all power. She was scared to even approach Lee Hyun. Something precious had been taken from her while she was pushing the cart.

“W-why did he do this? Why……?”

Seo-yoon whimpered. A huge wave of sorrow rose inside her and she thought that she might never be able to smile again.

Then Lee Hyun started moving and twitching. He was still alive so the idea of calling an ambulance passed quickly through her head…..

“Keeeeeeok!”

A long yawn came out.

She suddenly saw traces of kimchi fried rice and jjapaghetti (black bean instant noodles) on the table in the living room.

Lee Hyun touched his stomach.

“I carelessly slept after I ate too much and now I need to go to the bathroom.”

Seo-yoon stared at him with tear stained eyes mixed with a violent anger.

Chapter 9: Second Secret Sword Technique

On the road to Korea University.

Lee Hyun was disgruntled.

“I really can’t understand the heart of a woman. If a formula to understand a woman’s heart was published in a global journal then it would be the best discovery.”

Yesterday Seo-yoon had went to the kitchen without saying a word. She prepared the ingredients and had cooked a dish with a light smile. Then she committed an atrocity by forcefully feeding Lee Hyun curry.

Seo-yoon still looked beautiful despite her tear streaked voice and cruelly sat next to him. Lee Hyun was reminded of his bad relationship with her in the past.

Then Seo-yoon left and Jung Hyo-rin arrived in the evening. She arrived late because she couldn’t cancel her schedule and wanted to go out to a night club as a distraction. Alcohol wasn’t good for his the health and it cost money so it wasn’t his first choice.

However Lee Hye-yeon wanted to go so the three of them went.

It was full of many lights and loud music. He found a quiet room to drink alcohol. Lee Hyun had needed to make a booking for this club. It was the place where Choi Ji-hoon often got the number of girls after a short conversation so he recommended it to Lee Hyun.

“Excuse me.”

The women who followed the waiter left after seeing Lee Hye-yeon and Jung Hyo-rin’s faces.

He wandered about what happened but Lee Hyun just blamed it on his plain face. In the end the three of them drank alcohol and exchanged stories. Lee Hye-yeon and Jung Hyo-rin even sang to brighten up the atmosphere.

So yesterday’s evening disappeared in vain!

Now Lee Hyun was going to school early in the morning. The freshman welcoming party, the MT, the festival and now summer vacation had passed.

“The tuition fee is flying away really quickly. I can see why university professor is listed as a good job.”

Middle school and high school studies who studied a lot really had foresight.

“A cosy job without the possibility of becoming unemployed should be chosen.”

Lee Hyun said as he sat down on the bus. He finally arrived at the school after half-dozing off. The surrounding students stared at Lee Hyun and whispered.

“Isn’t that him?”

“Who?”

“On the school’s website… A member of the virtual reality department.”

“That person?”

“He looks like the student in the MT photos.”

The university students showed an intensive interest in Lee Hyun. Older women and adults also looked at him as he walked to his destination.

“He’s already arrived.”

Lee Hyun went through the front entrance of Korea University. Students kept on pointing towards him as he walked towards the classroom.

“Virtual reality department…..”

“Yes.”

“Can I receive his signature?”

People made a lot of noise and they paid a lot of attention to Lee Hyun. He usually lived an unobtrusive life so the pointing wasn’t usual. Then students suddenly started stampeding as Lee Hyun arrived at the classroom.

“Sunbae-nim!”

“Hello!”

“Yesterday’s battle was really cool. Although it is a little regretful that your myth of invincibility broke.”

“To be so close to Weed the God of War….. Sunbae-nim, can you give any advice about Royal Road?”

“Please recommend a hunting ground for a level 234 ranger.”

The school boards had revealed the identity of Weed the God of War. Choi Sang-jun and his two juniors told their friends and it quickly spread through the entire school and also on their bulletin boards. The prominent Weed from Royal Road went to their school so he had the popularity of a celebrity!

“Sunbae-nim, I really respect you.”

“Can’t you talk a little bit about the battle?”

“How did you obtain the Death Knight?”

Students who hadn’t always been friendly flocked around Lee Hyun. Students from other departments also came to ask Lee Hyun questions. His popularity was enough for a celebrity to run away.

‘This is why I can’t sleep.’

Lee Hyun wasn’t friendly to his fans.

“The secret to being good at fighting in Royal Road…..”

“What is it?”

“Gulp!”

“I don’t know. I just hunt.”

Lee Hyun ignored them and went to his seat. His desk was still uncomfortable as people swarmed around it.

‘Bardray……’

The people who watched on television wouldn’t know any better. In the battle between Lee Hyun and Bardray, Lee Hyun had definitely attacked more fiercely.

‘I couldn’t win.’

Lee Hyun really felt like there was a drastic gap between him and Bardray. Bardray had formidable defense and attack. It was apparent that Bardray’s combat skills were above his. The only area he overwhelmed Bardray in was speed but that was just temporary due to Sculptural Destruction.

‘Bardray… I can fight to a certain extent in a melee match. If I only use skills that it will be impossible to win.’

If this had been a broad terrain then he would’ve died without being able to run away at all. Even if he hadn’t been bound by the magicians, there would be no way for him to win if they fought a little longer.

‘If only I had resurrected with the Power to Reject Death……’

The Royal Road related boards were also actively debating that point. Weed the God of War could resurrect to a more powerful form after dying. He was reborn as an undead and led other subordinates in a miracle like battle. If Weed had revived than there was a lot of expectation that he would’ve changed the situation.

Barkhan’s full set. He had obtained the skull, robe, cloak, boots, necklace, ring and magic book. If he equipped Barkhan’s full set then his power would be comparable to the Hermes Guild’s to a certain extent.

‘But it wouldn’t have changed the situation completely.’

Lee Hyun exerted the largest strength when he becomes a Necromancer. A Lich could create a legion of undead but they were weak in the beginning and would need to be trained. It would be difficult to overcome the interference from Bardray and the Royal Guards to summon the undead.

‘I don’t want to.’

Lee Hyun didn’t want to be defeated because he would lose skill proficiency, experience and drop items. There were a lot of people who still respected Weed as the God of War.

Even if he was defeated by Bardray, he was still the user with the best popularity in Royal Road. Everyone still liked Weed the God of War.

‘I don’t want to live like that.’

Lee Hyun wasn’t satisfied with his strength. During his days playing Continent of Magic, he really had a nasty temper. He would step on others, kill anyone who attacked him and sweep away anyone making noise.

The name God of War had a different weight in Royal Road. His true nature was kept unchanged.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Fighting until they’re sick. Then they will take a little more from someone else……”

The war between users was fun for Yoo Byung-jin to watch. The development of the Central Continent was high so war constantly broke out in it. There were many sieges in order to expand their power.

After the Hermes Guild occupied the Kallamore Kingdom, other guilds couldn’t make their headquarters there. The surrounding castles, cities and fortresses were eaten. A union tried to actively resist against them. The King had withdrawn like the Haven Kingdom and there were several places far from the guild’s reach where an army was gathered.

The Embinyu Church was also spreading like wildfire by gathering new followers through brainwashing and fear. From the viewpoint of a large guild, the confusion caused was a chance for them and it wasn’t possible to reserve hunting grounds so it wasn’t bad.

If the Embinyu Church occupied an area than urban development would fly away but taking back the plundered riches could secure contributions and public sentiment.

Most of the huge guilds based their growth on aggressive invasion rather than managing domestic affairs.

“If the chaos continues getting out of hand than the Central Continent will go through the Dark Ages.”

Yoo Byung-jin knew information about Royal Road that wasn’t available to broadcasting stations.

The Embinyu Church got its energy from public sentiment. Their rapid spread was enough to make someone tremble with anxiety and their hidden strength transcended imagination!

If they became a powerful force in the Central Continent than it would be difficult to knock them down. If the Embinyu Church developed into a new kingdom then it was likely that the Dark Ages would spread to the rest of the land.

“This will be a historic occurrence. It isn’t surprising that such a thing happened in Royal Road.”

Yoo Byung-jin asked the artificial intelligence system that governed Royal Road.

“What happened to the Hermes Guild and the Black Lion Guild?”

– After the Black Lion Guild was defeated, the Hermes Guild moved everywhere.  The United Supremacy Alliance is still valid and a war is carefully spreading. The Black Lion Guild seems to be shrinking as the users are leaving for other prestigious guilds.

“What happened to the Black Lion Guild’s plan to occupy Tullen Kingdom?”

– They are spending a significant amount of time to control internal affairs. Carlise had power and a high level of popularity but it wasn’t easy to restore his reputation after losing so miserably to Bardray on television.

“The Hermes Guild is quite tricky.”

– They have a large structure, excellent momentum and daring tactics.

The Hermes Guild had trampled the Black Lion Guild in the Melbourne Mine so recovery wasn’t easy. The users lost a lot of experience and skill proficiency and their confidence was shattered by the defeat. The Black Lion Guild had been dragged into the Hermes Guild’s tactics from the start.

Bardray didn’t withdraw even when his boss monster hunt was revealed on broadcast. Carlise and the Black Lion Guild were furious and ran there only to be completely smashed by the full power of the battle company and Royal Guards.

The result would be the same even if the Black Lion Guild  sealed the entrance of the Melbourne Mine and waited. Yoo Byung-jin could see everything through the AI. The Hermes Guild had secretly concealed 200 people around the Melbourne Mine. Their strategy to not withdraw and lure the Black Lion Guild down to them succeeded.

The ones who benefited the most from this battle was the Hermes Guild.

“A guy with decisiveness is good.”

– Lafaye being the Guild Master is justified.

“He has the ability to manage the guild’s external affairs. His schemes seems to be okay since they’ve managed to swallow the Haven Kingdom.”

Yoo Byung-jin surveyed various locations in Royal Road.

Known tourists sights overflowing with people. The cliffs, mountains, volcanoes, lakes, swamps, rivers and oceans. There were superb views and many people were living happily. There were those enjoying farming and picking up fruit. They could have fun and experience various disciplines they couldn’t in reality.

Users were playing the role they desired. Defeating wild monsters for growth and requesting help from others were also important elements. The number of users increased daily but the continent was very wide. Endless risks and adventures could be found. Those who couldn’t invest time in hunting and adventures could stay around famous cities for safety.

“How is the Class Master Quest of the farmer Miretas proceeding?”

– Stage 9 has just been completed and they are proceeding to the 10th part.

The Farmer Master Quest was proceeding a bit slowly because they needed to cultivate the seeds they sowed.

“Adventurer Chase?”

– He can’t find the necessary purple small sword. He hasn’t found the 2 clues necessary for a later adventure.

“He has been blocked for a while on the 11th quest. His ability to solve riddles and sociability is a little low compared to his pathfinding abilities in a dungeon.”

Yoo Byung-jin observed the users challenging their Master Quests one by one. The amount to time associated with each quest was steadily increasing.

The broadcasting stations were eager to get an interview with players challenging the Master Quest or a video of them completing the quest. If Yoo Byung-jin provided the scenes he was currently looking at to the broadcasters than it would lead to great popularity but he wouldn’t do such a thing.

As the Class Master Quest progressed, it could change the lives of users. New products never seen before would be registered, new dungeons opened and even friendship between nations would be affected.

“Weed?”

– He hasn’t logged in yet. Not enough time has passed for him to log in.

If a player died than they couldn’t log in for 24 hours of real time.

“The blow would be huge. Bardray publicly defeated him so his level and skill proficiency would drop. Right now is an important time.”

A sculptor was a professional that was a lot more difficult to raise the skill proficiency compared to others.

“Please let me know when he connects. And set up Weed’s video on the bottom of the monitor.”

– I will carry out your command. If Weed connects then his image would be displayed on the 8th or 9th monitor.

Yoo Byung-jin prepared a huge space so he could monitor Weed.

“It would be fun to watch him connect and feel despair. Kul kul kul.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lee Hyun had a hard time at school due to the students crowding around him. It had even been reported among the juniors.

“Will you be at Morata?”

“I would like to go eat together with Sunbae-nim.”

He kept on receiving greetings from juniors he didn’t know. There were no juniors who didn’t know Lee Hyun after the MT and festival. He was part of the virtual reality department and now they discovered that Lee Hyun accomplished huge achievements in Royal Road.

He was only a 3rd year senior but his popularity and influence as the Lord of Morata was incomparable. In a vote conducted by a broadcasting station, Morata was chosen as the number 1 place people wanted to live in.

“If I’m in Morata then can I meet Sunbae-nim?”

He also heard shy confessions from female students. Even the university professors thought positively of Lee Hyun.

‘It would be useful to get credits.’

Lee Hyun headed home after class. He couldn’t access the game yesterday so he had cleaned the house with Seo-yoon. It had that refreshing feeling after the housework was finished!

“It is time to go back to the battlefield.”

Lee Hyun entered the capsule.

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Weed reconnected under the walls of Treipeak.

“Wear leather armour.”

He quickly wore the costume for level 130 beginners.

“Having a plain appearance if useful in times like this.”

If he changed into common clothes then not that many people would recognize him. Treipeak was still the area of the Black Lion Guild. Weed’s presence here wasn’t important to them as they were still confused by the Hermes Guild’s raid.

“I need to check it out… My lost experience!”

Weed had to observe three different types of bad news. Experience, skills and equipment!

“Stat Window!”

Character Name | Weed | Alignment | Historical Hero
Level | 409 | Profession | Legendary Moonlight Sculptor
Title | World-changing Sculptor | Fame | 92,007
Health | 41,230 | Mana | 19,405
Strength | 1,443 | Agility | 1,097
Vitality | 209 | Wisdom | 355 (+51)
Intelligence | 505 (+55) | Fighting Spirit | 525
Endurance | 270 (+68) | Perseverance | 55 (+8)
Art | 2,430 | Charisma | 530
Leadership | 787 | Luck | 143
Faith | 207+435 | Charm | 451+30
Resilience | 471 | Dignity | 153
Concentration | 92 | Courage | 200
Honour | 43 | Affinity to Nature | 1,043
Attack | 7,103 | Defense | 1,941
Magic Resistance
Fire | 33% | Water | 39%
Earth | 39% | Black Magic | 41%

+ All stats have an additional 20 points added.

+ The Art stat is granted an additional 80 points.

+ All stats will increase by 30% on a moonlit night.

+ Specialized items.

+ All production skills can be learnt up to the master level. Preferential treatment will be applied to the skills of all items manufactured with Smelting. You can learn the best skills.

+ Unusual sculptures or sculptures will high artistic value will increase your fame.

+ All stats have been raised by 178 points due to sculptures, production skills, combat experience and quests.

+ All stats will increase by 15 thanks to wearing Baharan’s Bracelet.

His level had fallen back to 409. Even if experience was difficult to gain, it was easy compared to others. His sculpting proficiency had fallen 11.4% and was now at 49.7% advanced level 8. His Handicraft, Blacksmith, Sewing, Cooking, Fishing and attack skills had all declined slightly.

“Indeed… It wasn’t possible to receive help from luck.”

An Adventurer’s Luck stat could lessen the damage of death. But the effect of Luck didn’t really apply well to other professions. Weed’s Luck wasn’t high enough to decrease the death penalty.

“Then the item……”

He manually identified all his belongings. Bandages and herbs, arrows, fishing rod, whetstone, sculpting materials, the quest sapphires were all meticulously checked!

“T-Talrock’s Armour of Faith is gone.”

The wonderful armour that protected him from monster attacks for a long time was lost.

“This damage……”

Weed briefly closed his eyes. He had to endure the fury pumping in his chest. His heart wanted to go to Haven Kingdom, the area of the Hermes Guild to get revenge. But the result would just be his death again.

“I’ll definitely make them pay.”

Weed decided to focus on his work to push down the anger.

“I need to report back for my Class Quest and obtain a secret swordsmanship technique.”

The first step to becoming stronger! He could receive a sword skill if he met the Sword Master Ash. Weed was eligible because his Sword Mastery skill had reached the advanced level. Radiant Sword couldn’t be the only secret sword technique that he learnt.

“Anyway, the proficiency of Radiant Sword is still low so it would be better to learn another skill.”

Weed’s resolution to become a jack of all trades!

Ash’s island was a place where students accidentally stumbled upon by boat and was difficult to revisit. The route changed due to wind and ocean currents so it would require a few months investment. But he had Yurin so it was possible to go there by painting.

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Splash… Splash…

Seagulls flew around an island that had waves hitting it. Weed arrived at the unknown island where Ash lived with Geomchi and Geomchi2.

“Weed, this is the place to learn a sword technique.”

“Yes. I understand, Master-nim.”

“It might not be any good but it would be better to learn it.”

Geomchi, Geomchi2 and his other teachers had also arrived at the Melbourne Mine yesterday with Yurin but they arrived late. They had attacked the Hermes Guild entering the teleport gate only to bravely die!

Geomchi and Geomchi2 prided themselves on their strength but they were incited by Weed and decided to come to the island to learn the secret sword technique.

“You have to learn from other people……”

“……..”

“Of course Master-nim doesn’t need to learn the sword technique but you can look cool if you use it in a fight.”

“…….”

“Well, your popularity with women…….”

“……..!”

When Weed, Geomchi and Geomchi2 arrived, Ash walked out from among the trees.

“You came here to learn swordsmanship from me? If so then you must be qualified for it.”

Ash raised his sword for a confrontation as soon as he appeared.

“Your short words are convenient.”

Geomchi took out a sword from his bag and easily proved his eligibility. The fight didn’t even last 30 minutes. He had technical sword skills and could also use mana to double the damage and push the enemy away. The fake bodies were too flimsy.

Geomchi enjoyed a relaxing few minutes before Ash was forced to admit his skill. Geomchi was the strongest with a long sword!

Geomchi2 also achieved a similar result against the clones.

“I am Weed. I am a sculptor but I really admire you. I want to learn this sword technique to ensure the peace of the continent. It is an honour to meet you.”

Weed was a little different. His opponent was a higher levelled Sword Master so flattery naturally emerged from his mouth.

“Your profession is a sculptor so you must’ve gone to a lot of effort to learn the sword. I’m looking forward to a good fight.”

Weed carefully controlled his breathing as he watched Ash make some clones. It would be difficult to find the real body among all the clones.

Weed chose the simplest approach. He would just fight recklessly until they all died!

“I’ll start.”

Weed was surrounded by many layers of Ash and his clones who poured attacks towards him. Weed demonstrated a high degree of concentration.

‘I need to think faster and move more quickly. My body’s reaction speed needs to reach the maximum… Just like when I found 100 won that fell on the road.’

When fighting he had to consider the enemy in front, on the sides and even an attack from his back.

– You have been injured in the leg by Ash’s clone.

Until the injured area is recovered, movement speed will decrease by 7%.

Health has decrease by 983 due to your resilience.

The fake bodies weren’t as strong as the real thing. The attacks didn’t have a high risk due to his resilience and perseverance so he wildly swung his sword.

“Heriam Fencing!”

Weed was full of scars every time he defeated a clone. He looked like a mad berserker in battle as he attacked without defending his body. It was awfully ignorant compared to how the Geomchis had performed. Weed jumped into the centre of the clones.

Violent sparks flew every time his sword hit something. Weed fought like he was the last remaining knight in a destroyed kingdom! He breathed roughly while competing with Ash’s clones. He didn’t want to step back anymore since his loss to Bardray.

‘If I’m defeated by this much… I’ll have no choice but to envy the son of a rich family.’

Weed had 1/3rd of his health left. Ash made an offer once he eliminated 10 clones.

“This degree is enough to stop. You seem to be lacking the skill to digest my technique.”

Weed shook his head.

“I will keep fighting.”

“Then don’t regret it if I kill you.”

“I’ll regret it but I will still fight.”

The battle became easier for Weed as he reduced more clones. However his health was still decreasing and he had a lot of minor injuries. His movements slowed and became more difficult due to his wounds.

‘The only thing I can believe in is my body. I will win this!’

He was the Geomchis’ student so he had a high level of technical skill. He was able to enhance his attack damage while the real Ash was hiding. Weed’s Sword Mastery skill was advanced level 2.

Thanks to the difference in attack and mana management, it was difficult to block the strikes from the real Ash. It was difficult because Ash kept on hiding his body among the clones.

‘I have to smash everything.’

Weed threw his body at the clones.

– Your Fighting Spirit has increased thanks to the violent battle.

Your attack and defense stats will rise.

“Keheok!”

Weed only had 4% health left. However all the clones were gone. The only one left was Ash. If he threw his body then there would be a 2 out of 3 chance of death.

“Your technical skill might be lacking but you have the quality of never giving up.  I’ve realized that after a few minutes of fighting you.”

Ddiring!

– You have fought against Ash with much lower weapons and armour so all stats have increased by 3.

– Through the match you have acquired the Sword-cloning skill.

The Sword-cloning skill! Geomchi and Geomchi2 decided to go to Morata to drink beer with the other instructors and trainees. It was to learn Radiant Sword from the statue kept inside the castle. Weed moved to Ugoth to report his Master Quest to the Ellyon.

Chapter 10: Helium’s Rebirth

He needed to make a Magnum Opus sculpture out of the sapphires for the Ellyon.

“A sculptor doesn’t seem to be a good profession.”

Those who enjoyed making things would like having it as a career. But his greed deepened as people continued passing through the area. The desire to make a better work!

From that point on, he was under enormous stress as he tried to create something.

“I need to sacrifice all these sapphires for the Fairies… If it wasn’t for the quest…..”

Weed had to use the precious ingredients. If he used good materials than his ability as a professional sculptor would often rise. It was difficult to suppress his desire to sell the materials for money.

“The sapphires from the Melbourne Mine are the best. There is enough to make a sculpture.”

Weed decided to make the piece of work in the Ellyon’s area. Working with jewels needed precision. Morata was filled with the sound of people bustling by and the noise from the construction of the Grand Buildings. He needed to make something that appealed to the Ellyon’s desires so he could correct it if he saw their reactions!

“I need to invest a bit more in order to make a Magnum Opus sculpture.”

It was difficult to return to the Melbourne Mine to dig more sapphires. The mine had been closed by the Black Lion Guild. Only the guild members could go hunting there and the miners received a thorough inspection. The Black Lion Guild didn’t want to permit another humiliation from outsiders.

It would be a big blow if the sculpture failed so Weed pulled out some rubies. They were rubies mined from Syaspen Mine. He had heard from the Dwarf artisans in Kuruso that good quality rubies came from that mine. So he mined rubies in a dungeon seething with monsters. Weed collected a large share of rubies this time.

“The harmony of the blue sapphire and red rubies…..”

Sapphires meant wisdom and ruby was power. The sculpture was designed to combine power and wisdom!

“It would be better if the sculpture is beautiful and has a historical value. Something that will be nostalgic for the Ellyons…..”

Weed had already decided.

Geihar Von Arpen!

He was the Emperor who unified the continent and led the sculptural lifeforms. If he wanted to increase his skill proficiency then he needed to endure it. He needed a theme in order to create a great sculpture.

“I’ve seen the video several times as a sculptor. I should be able to reproduce his majestic form from the past.”

Weed shaved a big rock. He used the Sculpting Knife and hammer to precisely carve Emperor Geihar. The Emperor often ate so his stomach was big and his legs were short and thick. His arms were also short and his fingers were a mess of calluses and scars from the sculpting. The chin was fleshy so it was the most difficult part to express with sculpting.

“Indeed, it definitely isn’t that easy.”

Fortunately (?) his head was bald so Weed didn’t have to worry about expressing his hair. He looked like an ordinary old man but he was the great Emperor Geihar so it was a challenging sculpture. His expression had to convey confidence and conviction while he looked at his sculptures with soft eyes.

To be honest, the sculpture that Weed made wasn’t handsome. Despite the appearance, the difficult part was capturing the feeling of Emperor Geihar.

“It should be decorated with gold, rubies and sapphires. He needs to have the best clothes and decorates to represent the greatness of the Emperor.”

The sculpture shone with a splendid light as rubies were placed on it. And he decided to take advantage of the sculptor’s wide shoulders. He placed a sculpture of a bird made out of melted gold on the right shoulder. He often looked at the real thing so it was possible to sculpt a figure that was almost the same. On the other shoulder he laid down the sapphires very elaborately. There was also an Ellyon mischievously grabbing Emperor Geihar’s sleeve.

The process of making a sculpture was very important to Weed. While creating Emperor Geihar he carefully carved the rock, melted the gold and precisely worked the rubies and sapphires.

The sculpture of Geihar Von Arpen who was Arpen’s Emperor and an important part of Versailles Continent’s history was completed.

Ddiring!

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“The name of this sculpture will be Emperor Geihar von Arpen.”

– Emperor Geihar von Arpen is correct?

“Yes.”

Ddiring!

– A historic sculpture, a Magnum Opus! Emperor Geihar von Arpen is completed.

This is in the distant past but there was once a time when the Versailles Continent was united under one flag. The borders between kingdoms disappeared and all species kneeled down to the Emperor!

The luxurious and extravagant sculpture embellished with rubies, sapphires and gold clearly shows the Emperor who managed to achieve the great feat of conquering the continent.

This charming and incomparable piece of art is created by a master sculptor popular among the masses.

There are no current sculptures of Geihar von Arpen so this sculpture has a high historical value.

Artistic Value: 24,789

Special Options:

Anyone who sees the sculpture of Emperor Geihar von Arpen will have their health and mana regeneration rate increased by 34% for a day.

You have acquired historical knowledge about the Arpen Empire.

Fame has increased from the creation of this sculpture.

All stats related to sculpting will increase by 30% for a day.

The prestige of Kings and Emperors has increased.

If you own a palace or a castle than the areas political power will expand.

Relationships with various species in that territory won’t deteriorate.

All stats increased by 30.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Current number of Magnum Opus created:  12

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 2,670.

– Art stat has increased by 37.

– Charm increased by 8.

– Charisma increased by 9.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

– You have completed the sculpture necessary for the quest.

Weed had a soft smile on his face.

‘Emperor Geihar is wonderful as expected.’

The exquisite sculpture was able to successfully satisfy the Ellyons! His sculpting proficiency also increased by 5.4%. It still wasn’t enough to recover the damage from dying. But he was able to gain a lot of experience from the Magnum Opus sculpture.

Ddiring!

– The Ellyon born from a continent of art and culture desired a sculpture made of sapphires.

The Ellyons have been waiting for a good sculpture to appear among the humans.

Now you have demonstrated an ability to sculpt without betraying their faith. The Ellyons will now leave the home where they’ve lived so far to follow you.

They are like blades of grass that don’t grow in deserts……

– Fame has increased by 1,600.

– Friendship with the Ellyon race has increased. Unless you make a critical mistake to disappoint them, this friendship won’t fall.

The 13th stage of the Master Quest has been completed. An Ellyon then carefully said.

– Will you lead us well?

They were a playful, small species. It was natural for them to be frightened of Weed.

“I will be a good master so you and your companions don’t need to worry.”

While he was obtaining the sapphires from the Melbourne Mine, he died and his Talrock’s Armour was taken away. Given the reward for such a difficult quest, he definitely had to make them work!

‘Farming, mineral extraction, lake and pond management etc… There are many uses for the fairies.’

Morata has a mining team, a large granary and employed workers at the lake. If the fairies help than the yield from the work will increase. The Ellyon continued.

– By the way, can I bring my friends? They’re poor and hungry.

“Friends?”

The Ellyon hadn’t brought any meal expenses yet they wanted to bring a guest! As the amount of sculptural lifeforms increased, Weed had to move from persuasion rather than violence to earn their respect. The sculptural lifeforms possessed a pristine innocence so he had to soothe them while they were working.

‘I have to act calmly and decisively if it is like this. If I hesitate even a little bit than I will seem weak. Even if I beat them up, I need to precisely control my power while their health is reducing……’

The Ellyon replied.

– They are friends who worked together with us in the Arpen Empire. They have an outstanding talent for raising animals.

Weed’s voice became tender.

“Your friends have a talent like that?”

There were many benefits to large scale breeding of sheep, rabbits, cows, horses, pigs etc. Morata required leather as well as to stabilize the price of meat in the food industry. In fact, Weed used quite a few ingredients to make delicious food so he was sensitive to these areas. If the food was delicious than the number of users staying in the city would increase and they would use more money.

Thanks to Yellowy, there was a large cattle breeding and transport industry so there were various benefits to raising animals.

– Yes. But right now they have been confined by the Sulleion.

“Confinement. Good gracious!”

Weed’s voice had a note of fake concern in it.

– Can you defeat the Sulleions and save my friends? It is dangerous work but it might be possible for a sculptor like you.

Ddiring!

– The Ellyons were a race of fairies that live with their friends the Arnin and their animals.

They have no combat power and have been forced into labour by the Sulleion.

Defeat the Sulleions who rules the Harsel Mountains and rescue them!

It is impossible without a large war.

This will be very dangerous for a sculptor.

Level of difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Restriction: Level 8 Advanced Sculpting

Sculpture Life Bestowal is necessary.

“Hrmm.”

Fortunately, this commission this time was in the north. The Sulleion was a reptile like warrior tribe with yellow eyes and skin covered with a thick substance like keratin. There were a tribe with numerous forces in the Harsel Mountains. Cities and villages were difficult due to the steep terrain and rivers so settlements were formed rather than large villages and cities.

“The Sulleions… They really aren’t an easy opponent.”

There were at least several thousand warriors in a large settlement. They were also spread out through the Harsel Mountains so it was difficult to judge their scale.

‘I can’t give up here… It seems like I have to use Sculpture Life Bestowal for a large scale battle.’

It was a quest where he had to train sculptural lifeforms to fight in a war! If successful than he could obtain an entire tribe of sculptural lifeforms. Weed decided to accept the commission. He had kept the lifeforms for something like this.

“I’ll accept the quest.”

– You have accepted the quest.

– You have consented to a dangerous task so all stats will increase by 2.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The information about the Class Master Quest competition was the most popular program for each broadcasting station.

“According to the Hermes Guild, Bardray has currently completed his 12th Black Knight quest so what about Adventurer Chase?”

“I’ve just received news that he has collected the necessary materials and is preparing to challenge his 11th quest.”

“The warrior Python has also proceeded to the 9th quest and was aiming to hunt monsters yesterday. The detailed video is ready so I will show it later.”

“It is still unknown if there are other people doing the Master Quests. CTS Media promises to give the viewers the information as quickly as possible.”

“Su-hwi ssi, the competition is getter hotter and many people seem interested in the Master Quest.”

“Doesn’t everyone wish to become the master of their class?”

Among all the players, there were 9 people revealed to be challenging the Master Quest. The broadcasting stations wanted to know their every move.

Becoming the first Class Master was an unspeakable honour and a record that couldn’t be established again. But there was almost no talk about the Sculptor Weed. Weed only informed a few people about his progress and he didn’t brag about it in cities.

Recently he had died to Bardray so the broadcasting stations became negligent about mentioning him in the Master Quest competition. To finish the quest they needed to master their class skills.

The sculpting proficiency he lost due to his death couldn’t be raised in a short period of time so they thought he had fallen behind the competition.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Tsk tsk, he made a mistake. The quest this time is too difficult.”

Yoo Byung-jin clicked his tongue as he watched the monitor. He had watched his videos as soon as Weed connected. The degree that he completed the Ellyons’ quest was expected. However the difficulty level for the next quest received was too high.

Even if his subordinates listened to Weed, the Sulleions wouldn’t be easily defeated. They had a great ability to utilize the caves in the Harsel Mountains. It would be difficult to suppress them even with a large scale army.

“His misfortunes only get worse. It will be bad if he fails this quest or dies.”

Yoo Byung-jin thought it was fun to watch Weed. No matter what type of difficulty, he always seemed to succeed.

“Bardray has a significant advantage because he can easily raise Sword Mastery. It won’t be easy to raise Sculpting proficiency even if the quest is completed.”

If he had to use an analogy, it was like climbing a high mountain and the current location was under the cliff. If he climbed to the top of the cliff then he would become a Sculpting Master.

Weed would definitely reach the Master stage someday but he was severely disadvantaged compared to his competitors due to the nature of the class.

“On top of that… I don’t know when he will get the final sculpting special technique. It is great that he even collected this much.”

So far Weed had collected all the class related secret techniques except for one. Yoo Byung-jin asked the artificial intelligence system.

“What are the current odds if Weed and Bardray fight?”

– Weed improves depending on the geographical elements and skill utilization. Bardray has many people under his command. If these elements are met for both people than Weed’s chance of victory is 7.2%.

If the favourable blessings and military aspect is removed from Bardray than Weed has a slight chance. If they are fighting on a cliff where the wind is blowing hard and Weed rides the wyverns than his odds will increase to 19%. Even if he is at a disadvantage against Bardray, in most cases he can escape without dying.

If Bardray’s dangerous attacks continuously succeed in a row than he will die. Bardray has a higher level but Weed is used to hunting against a large number of monsters. Van Hawk and the sculptural lifeforms will also increase his damage.

“If Weed obtains the final secret sculpting technique than what are his odds?”

– The effect of the final sculpting secret technique depends on the user but it would make his power dozens of times more effective. If Weed obtains it than he will be able to properly take advantage of sculpting’s characteristics. Weed’s chances will rise relatively high if his attack power and reaction rate is taken into consideration.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Oh, level 14.”

Bart killed a wolf using a rusty sword near the gates.

“Congratulations, ajusshi.”

“Thank you.”

The people in his party congratulated him. The others were also beginners like Bart.

“Now you can use a sturdy iron sword. Your damage will increase even further.”

Bart felt a pleasant feeling while hunting in a party. He had come to the northern city of Morata! Beginners could ride transportation carriages for merchants for free. Travelling here and hunting gave him a feeling of excitement. The people here were also friendly so it was easy to adapt.

‘I can understand why Royal Road is so popular. This is completely a community.’

He could clearly feel that as he watched Morata. Adventurers who completed great explorations would report to the residents in the square! Their appearance was always greeted with applause. There were also sweaty people participating in the creation of the Grand Buildings. Many people admired the cool sight of  Hestia’s Forge and the Research Tower being built.

“Has the budget exceeded this time as well?”

“By an awful amount. Nevertheless, the Grand Buildings will continue without being cancelled.”

“When they are completed then it will be good to be a Blacksmith or a Magician.”

Morata had a lot of fame even in the Central Continent. The local specialties were sold at a much more expensive price in other cities. In the future Morata would certainly be the main city of the kingdom. Central Square had also acquired a new specialty.

“Wah! It is the Ice Beauty! It really was worth coming here to see this.”

“So pretty. A goddess.”

The restored Ice Beauty had been left in the square. Ice would melt in the sun but magicians used magic to lower the temperature. Morata was a large city so magicians were commonplace. The magicians thought of it as an honour to lower the temperature of the Ice Beauty.

“That is my daughter…… The ice creates a different feeling but she is still very pretty. Yes, even as a child she was pretty.”

Bart wanted to boast about his daughter. But that was impossible when he recalled what happened after he said he knew Weed. Weed was the God of War so the Ice Beauty’s existence was above people like him.

“Bart ajusshi, collect the wolf leather and bring it to the general store.”

“I’ll do that. I need to buy a sturdy iron sword.”

Bart quickly rose from where he was sitting. It wasn’t easy to meet a party he could trust.

He was busy with his company so his growth in Royal Road was slow. It was normal for him to fall behind beginners moving fast.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The capital of the Thor Kingdom, Iron Hammer!

Weed headed to the government office and met the Dwarf Elder Einhand.

“I’ve returned after cleaning up the monsters at Ugoth.”

“Thank you for your hard work. I’ve heard news from a dwarf that Ugoth has become safe. I was thoughtless last time but my recognition of a sculptor has changed recently thanks to you.”

Weed was happiest in these moments. He had completed the quest and came to receive the compensation. It was the feeling of returning home after a hard adventure.

“The four dwarves that you assisted have prepared a gift.”

“Such a thing… I wasn’t thinking about it.”

This was just out of politeness but he had no intention of refusing.

“We dwarves are good at making things. We wanted to make you a desired equipment but….”

The Thor Kingdom contained the best dwarven blacksmiths who could make luxury equipment. Einhand swept his hand over his beard.

“You are a sculptor that can draw out the beauty of every type of material. So I gathered the materials and waited for you to visit.”

Einhand handed over a backpack. Weed immediately opened the backpack and looked over the goods. There were 22 pieces of Mithril, 5 top class pieces of Adamantium and 20 of the best iron ores. When combined with the reward he received for completing the Akryong Kaybern quest, the quantity was enough to make 3 armours.

“Thank you very much. I will use this well to safeguard the peace of the continent.”

“The burden you carry on your shoulders is truly big. Please continue walking the route of art in the future.”

“In order to make a living… I will fulfil my duty to make art more widely recognized.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– The Grand Building Hestia’s Forge has been completed.

Total construction period: 4 months and 26 days.

Cost of construction: 2,211,002 gold and 35 silver.

Number of construction staff who participated: 428,883 people

Building value: 142,329

More staff participated in the construction as planned so it finished 7 days faster.

Blacksmiths can extract iron from iron ore more quickly.

When an object is created with the Blacksmith skill, an additional effect of +3% attack and +11% defense will be added.

Items filled with Hestia’s power can be created.

The Dwarf settlement rate has improved.

The satisfaction of dwarfs living in Morata will increase.

The great Hestia’s Forge was completed.

It was created a few days quicker thanks to the active participation of the Morata users. The Research Tower was proceeding at a similar rate and was 97% completed.

The city was once again filled with a festival.

Weed walked through the uproar of people eating and drinking and entered Hestia’s Forge. Hestia’s Forge was filled with the best facilities and the offering to the temple meant an endless flame was always burning! Today was the completion date and tomorrow the forge would officially open.

“You can make whatever you want comfortably.”

Weed used his power as the Lord to monopolize Hestia’s Forge today. He decided to make an equipment from the Mithril, Adamantium and iron ore obtained from the dwarves’ quest.

“I lost Talrock’s Armour so I need to make something even better.”

Unfortunately Weed’s Blacksmith skill was only intermediate level 9. His Blacksmithing hadn’t reached the advanced level but he needed an armour to wear in battle right now.

“There is merit in making the armour directly.”

He could adjust the weight to distribute the necessary strength and agility. Wearing heavy armour was inconvenient to his movements in battle. The advantage was the high defense but it sacrificed agility. If Weed made it directly then he could create an armour matched to his combat style.

“Then let’s start melting.”

He placed 35 pieces of Mithril, 12 Adamantium pieces and 55 high grade iron ores into Hestia’s hearth. The armour was difficult to obtain so a lot of materials were needed if he wanted to produce it directly.

“Mithril armour is light and has high magic resistance. It is worth every penny but…..”

Weed took out the divine torch made of Helium. It was a Magnum Opus sculpture that had a lot of great options. If he carried the torch during battle than health and mana recovery rates would increase by more than 50%. It also increased the power of his battle skills and shrinking dark type monsters. It was useless against a strong human like Bardray but quite useful when monster hunting.

“It is better to use this as armour.”

Weed threw the sculpture made of helium into the hearth.

Ddiring!

– A Magnum Opus sculpture can be destroyed.

When a sculpture is destroyed, a significant amount of fame and reputation will be lost.

The hearth’s fire wrapped around the Helium sculpture and it started to melt. Weed didn’t take it out and just looked on.

– The form of the Magnum Opus sculpture has been damaged.

The quality of the sculpture is doubted.

Fame has decreased by 4,250.

Your reputation as a sculptor has somewhat decreased.

The Art stat is permanently reduced by 31 points.

Helium was a precious material so it was too dangerous to leave it as a piece of art on the Versailles Continent.

“It would be better to use it as a material than to make a sculpture from it!”

Adamantium had high defensive powers and was difficult to break. But it had a heavy weight so it was better suited for warriors.

“If I make something from Adamantium than the Orc Karichwi can use it. Orcs are continuing to grow healthily so I can sell it later.”

An excellent blacksmith had the skill to make superior steel armour. It was rarer for people to wear Mithril and Adamantium but they were uncommon materials.

The Mithril melted like water in the endless flames of the Hestia’s Forge. Mithril was more expensive and precious than gold and silver. But that was a bargain compared to the brilliance of Helium.

“At this standard there won’t be any impurities.”

Weed scooped out the Mithril and Helium and poured it into a template he created. Sometimes materials wouldn’t mix well so a conflict would rise. When a blacksmith handled the material, the synergy effect would maximize. Just mixing the Helium and Mithril was a big adventure.

“If it doesn’t work than I’ll have to melt it again.”

He mixed the Adamantium with iron and poured it into a template for an Orc’s armour. He waited for a short time next to Hestia’s hearth. The flames were roaring upwards.

It wasn’t easy for a blacksmith to create such huge flames. The forge was an underground facility so the flames seemed to emerge from the ground. Morata’s blacksmiths were pleased by it so it became like a playground.

“It should be done.”

Weed opened the template. The Helium and Mithril and the Adamantium armour revealed their shape to the world.

The Mithril armour synthesized with Helium emitted a refined beauty while the Adamantium armour was a fearful size and thickness.

The work hadn’t ended so Weed grabbed a hammer.

Tang! Tang! Tang!

He struck the armour in order to temper it. He repeatedly heated it then hammered it in order to increase the defense and durability.

Chiiiiik!

Holy water was then used to cool off the Helium and the Adamantium armour. The holy water was obtained from his contributions to Freya’s Church and the Church of Lugh.

Armour was being made even before Hestia’s Forge opened the next day. Patience was necessary for the task but he had to spend a lot of time creating the armour that would protect his life from now on. It was a repetitive work that required strength, vitality and concentration.

“That Bardray bastard! Hermes Guild, I’ll see you soon!”

He poured all his bitter feelings into striking the armour all night and it was finally completed.

Ddiring!

– The skill proficiency of Blacksmithing has increased.

– The completed armour has become harder due to Hestia’s flames.

“Identify!”

Weed examined the Mithril and Helium armour that he would mostly be wearing.

– Goddess’ Knight Armour

Durability: 170/170

Defense: 197

A divine metal armour has been born. Made from a mix of Helium and Mithril from the Thor Kingdom.

Made by the genius Weed who excels in sculpting and blacksmithing!

Goddess Freya’s love and Hestia’s consideration resulted in the divine power dwelling in this armour. The blessings from the goddesses will be an absolute help in defeating monsters.

Restrictions: Level 530

Knights recognized by the Goddess only.

Strength: 900   Dignity: 200   Faith: 300

Options: Faith + 120, Fame +6,100

All stats increased by 31.

Arrows won’t hit it correctly.

Mana recovery rate increased by 39%.

Enemies will require a lot of luck to rob you.

The probability of acquired gold and items will increase due to your luck.

Defends from the darkness.

Defends from abnormal states.

Leadership over paladins and soldiers of religious orders will increase.

Resistant to black magic and curses.

Effect of Freya’s blessing:

– When the enemy has strong damage, the defense of the armour will increase by 42%.

– It is easier to obtain grain, herbs and nuts from the forests, mountains and fields.

Effect of Hestia’s blessing:

– Damage from iron weapons will decrease.

– Very light.

– Very hard.

– Will never break.

“Keoheoheok!”

Despite the good materials and production environment, the armour came out a lot better than expected.

“As expected, it is worth living a sincere life.”

The armour became a lot better thanks to the blessings of the goddesses. Weed didn’t meet the wearer restrictions. But his blacksmith skill was able to lower the restrictions so he could wear it.

“I don’t know whether to celebrate over a well-made piece or feel sad as a sculptor.

The Helium Torch was made to assist in battle. But the armour meant he could fight against much stronger monsters.

Weed worked hard to raise his resilience and perseverance but his defense was still lacking compared to his damage.

If he wore good armour then he could kill monsters that had been difficult up to now.

Chapter 11: 30 Gold Event

11) 30 Gold Event

The trees and flower seeds he obtained took root in Morata. Freya’s followers generously blessed them, causing an abundance of fruit. Users took the fruits to the chefs who developed new recipes.

The Grand Buildings, the Research Tower and Hestia’s Forge had also been completed. The users and military were working together at Vargo Fortress to suppress the monsters and enhance security. And it was finally the coronation day that Weed had been waiting for.

“A lot of soldiers can be seen in the city. What day is it today?”

“I don’t know. There seem to be more people than usual.”

Users who returned from hunting found that Morata’s atmosphere was different than usual. Soldiers and knights were lining the streets from the gate.

“You’re asking what day it is? Don’t you know that today is the day of Lord-nim’s coronation?”

“A serious event is occurring in the north. The Lord who I respect is about to become a King.”

The users came to known that a coronation was taking place takes to the residents spreading it. They were surprised that Weed would become a king but there were no complaints. Morata was growing rapidly and spreading.

“But where is the coronation taking place?”

“Bingryong Square or Wyvern Square?”

“From the Central Square?”

“Is there nothing?”

“Then in front of the goddess statue?”

The Morata users wanted to attend the coronation. Usually the preparations for a state event like this would be started early. Morata was in a good state of urban development so there were several squares and parks suitable for a large scale event.

“Do you know where the coronation is?”

“I don’t know.”

The Grass Porridge Cult searched widely for the coronation ceremony. But they couldn’t find the venue. The players in Morata were baffled. They wanted to know where Weed’s coronation ceremony was going to take place! By the time the sun had risen halfway up, the soldiers and knights were arranged in the Central Square.

“The coronation is taking place in the Central Square.”

“Let’s go quickly!”

The users and residents also gathered in the Central Square so there was a population of thousands. Weed’s friends like Pale also set aside anything else and attended his coronation ceremony.

A wooden table was placed in the Central Square with a thin gold crown and a clear glass of water on it.

“Don’t tell me……”

“Only that……”

“Isn’t it different from what I imagined?”

After a while, Weed was escorted out by knights. He wore his newly created Goddess’ Knight Armour and a spectacular cloak.

Various local specialities were given to the Lord to commemorate the coronation. Morata’s best tailors had created the cloak for him.

Weed appeared riding a nice, white horse and escorted by 30 knights! Weed stood in front of the fountain. The redness on his face wasn’t from excitement. The budget for the coronation was 30 gold but it was a little embarrassing when standing in front of so many people.

‘Should I have used 40 gold?’

Weed walked silently and stood in front of the table. Alveron, the pope candidate of Freya Church was standing there. Alveron bowed respectfully and said.

“It has been a long time.”

Alveron had grown from a beautiful young boy. He grew taller and was handsome enough that even actresses would envy him. There were also no flaws in his smooth skin. In the past he had accompanied Weed but now Alveron occupied a great position in the Freya Church. He was in charge of the Cathedral and missionary activities in the north! Weed spoke in a low voice so that other people wouldn’t hear.

“It’s great to see you. You didn’t experience anything difficult?”

“It is thanks to Weed-nim’s effort in maintaining the peace of the continent…..”

“I did go through some troubles. Then Alveron, what level are you now?”

In the past he had been depressed by Alveron’s colossal level. They killed the vampires together but he couldn’t help building up envy and jealousy.

“I’m ashamed since my service to God is a little lacking. I am only level 553.”

“Keheok!”

It was really difficult to raise the level of priests. They were stuck hunting in parties and always needed to be looked after by others. But their abilities and blessings couldn’t be compared to other professions. Alveron’s level meant he had to perform a ‘miracle’ every day or use his blessings on fearful monsters. Weed suppressed his deep jealousy towards Alveron.

“Alveron, our time hunting together are still good memories for me.”

“It is the same for me.”

“I look forward to still being your close friend in the future.”

“Understood.”

Alveron started the coronation.

Marching soldiers and knights and a performance praising the king were boldly omitted. Weed thought it was a waste of time. Soldiers and knights had expensive operational costs so he would rather use them to get rid of nearby monsters.

“The Freya Church, the Church of Lugh and the four other religious orders of the Versailles Continent has blessed the rise of Weed’s Arpen Kingdom.”

– You have received the recognition of the religious orders.

Faith has increased by 25.

Honour has increased by 17.

Luck has increased by 10.

Leadership has increased by 10.

– You have received recognition as a King from the Gods.

There will be high levels of religious activities in your Kingdom.

The loyalty of residents with high Faith won’t decline.

The religious orders in the Kingdom will give small support to quests and military activities.

Alveron placed the gold crown on Weed’s head. It was an affordable crown that raised Charm by 7 points. Anyway, he couldn’t wear the crown in battle so he was going to leave it in the castle.

“Let’s have His Majesty the King say some words.”

Alveron advanced to the last stage of the coronation ceremony.

The King’s speech!

Weed was formally inaugurated as the King and was speaking to the residents and users for the first time.

“Hum hum.”

Weed went up to the altar and looked out at the people. Many users had gathered in the Central Square. There weren’t any empty places in the square and the streets were also busy.

“I’m speaking as the King.”

– Skill: Lion’s Roar has been used.

“Ohhhh!”

“Weed-nim is talking!”

The King received love from the crowd. The noisy square quieted as soon as Weed began to speak.

People had expected a grand coronation ceremony so they were disappointed when it ended so simply. But they watched in silence at the chance to hear King Weed’s words.

“The Arpen Kingdom will continue to grow in the future with you. More commercial buildings will be built, trade will expand and more quests given. This will be a good land for people to live.”

It was important for leaders to give hope with confident words. Of course, Weed’s inner thoughts were completely different.

‘I will collect the taxes from everyone in the Arpen Kingdom!’

“There is danger everywhere when we exit the gates but we can overcome that danger. It is possible if we have courage.”

‘They have to exit the gates and play even if it means dying.”

“Go out into the wide land and adventure, fight, mine ores and also farm crops. The Arpen Kingdom will be waiting as your home.”

‘People who pay taxes are welcomed.’

Weed was respected by the users as the Lord of Morata. Users in the central, eastern, western and southern parts of the continent also praised Weed’s reign. The users were immersed in Weed’s words and gave cheers of joy.

“Now everyone close your eyes.”

Most of the users closed their eyes at Weed’s words. They were prepared for any type of surprise event. They had more expectations because the coronation was too simple.

Of course, Weed hadn’t prepared anything separate. He didn’t want to spend money on something like that.

“Close your eyes and see it. A spacious area filled with wandering herds of monsters……”

Nothing could be seen but the users imagined it. The target was different depending on their level and experience.

Kobolds and goblins were perfect threats for beginners. Other people imagined a variety of monsters like the undead, Lamia, trolls, lizardmen etc. The high level users experienced many unmatched, dangerous monsters. And it didn’t matter what level they were as monsters they saw over the internet or through broadcasts moved through their thoughts.

People who liked Weed’s adventures saw the time he fought the Skeleton Knight or the dragon in the Valley of Death. The time he transformed into Karichwi and commanded the Dark Elves and Orcs to fight against the Undead Legion was already a legend!

‘If I was that character…..’

They were afraid of the monsters but there was also a lot of excitement. Their hearts pumped and limbs trembled at the thought of adventures.

“And listen with your ears. The rough breathing, roars and sounds of the monsters….. Now, open your eyes. Do you want to run there?”

“Yes!”

“I want to go!”

A smug smile formed on Weed’s face. He realized how to scam using emotions when building the pyramid.

“The future of the Arpen Kingdom is bright. In the northern area, scary monsters often breed and expand so there are many unknown risks.”

In fact, there were many fearful monsters in the north recently. As the north became warmer and more crops grew, monsters would naturally increase further.

“You will walk on rough land and fight against monsters. If you triumph and return to the Arpen Kingdom with the loot than it is possible for you to become a hero. This is the heart of the Arpen Kingdom!”

Weed emphatically yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“Do you believe it?”

“I believe it!”

“Will you be residents of the Arpen Kingdom?”

“I will!”

The crowd replied in unison. Thus the coronation was finished with the imagination inspiring words.

Weed showed a speaking ability that was beyond that of a fraudulent founder of a religion!

A message window than appeared before all users in the Versailles Continent.

– The Arpen Kingdom has been established.

King Weed has created a small kingdom including Morata and Vargo Fortress.

It is the centre of trade in the north and is leading in arts and culture. It is a kingdom where a significant amount of weapons and quality fabric is created and possesses various types of local specialties..

There are a vast number of residents and many are talented people.

Due to the grain coming from an abundant land, the birth rate is very high.

The Ellyons have moved to Arpen Kingdom and it is their new playground. The nutrient rich fruits and grains will grow even more abundantly.

The interest of the Elves has increased thanks to the Ellyon’s move.

The support offered to the King by the residents are absolute and they will unite together to stand against any threats. The residents have leaped forward tremendously despite the difficult environment so they have an optimistic attitude.

The Grand Buildings the residents built together will be the light that illuminates the beginning of the Arpen Kingdom.

– The fame of Morata and Vargo Fortress has increased.

– You will have a large political influence over any areas in the vicinity that doesn’t belong to the kingdom yet.

– A small riot is taking place in Vent Castle.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bart’s party arrived back late to Morata from their hunt. Morata’s streets were wide so carriages and horses could run quickly. But there was an enormous crowd because of Weed’s coronation ceremony so they couldn’t go towards the Central Square. Bart spoke to his party members.

“Wah, as expected from Weed the God of War. Look at all the people gathered here.”

“Is this the first time a kingdom was established on the continent?”

“The reason is that it is Weed-nim’s kingdom. He restored the village single-handedly and gathered all the people together until it became a kingdom…..”

Bart was once again surprised by Weed after listening to the words of his party members. He understood that Weed was a popular person and that everyone liked his adventures through experience. But he exerted an absolute influence.

“By the way, should we join the Grass Porridge Cult?”

“Will they accept someone level 25?”

“If we are Morata residents than they will welcome us. Does Bart ajusshi want to join the Grass Porridge Cult as well?”

Naturally Bart also wanted to join the Grass Porridge Cult. They were the organization with the largest number of forces. If he joined the Grass Porridge Cult than adventuring in the north won’t be boring.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Meanwhile the competition to become a Class Master was in full swing on the Versailles Continent.

When the name and location of a user trying to become a Class Master was revealed, attempts of assassination and obstructions would occur. The broadcasting stations also encouraged this fighting in order to make it a more intense competition!

Geomchi yawned as he spoke to his trainees.

“The victory was too easy.”

“I understand, Master-nim!”

Now that they knew Radiant Sword, hunting around Vargo Fortress was much easier.

“The increase in skill proficiency for Weapon Mastery feels much better than before.”

“It is the same for me, Master-nim!”

In the past they just haphazardly swung their weapons while fighting. Aside from basic martials arts skills, they mainly used mere power. That’s because they didn’t have enough mana for their skills!

Now they looked at the artworks in Morata’s Art Centre and distributed their stat points into wisdom and intelligence every time they levelled up. The result was that their mana grew enough to be able to use their secret sword techniques a few times. It was like going from rubbing two sticks together to make a fire to using a lighter!

“Now the fighting won’t be as easy as before.”

“Yes, Master-nim.”

Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3 were heading to a place where 50 monsters were gathered.

Just previously, they had killed 120 monsters before their bodies became a wreck. They took a short break and wrapped bandages around them but that wasn’t sufficient. They might fight like a berserker but they needed to manage their vitality and strength. During a battle they would tear out ribs and eat the meat!

“Those children should learn the skill quickly. When everyone reaches level 8-level 0 then we will start the quest.”

“Yes. Geomchi5 will do it first and the rest will shortly follow.”

Geomchi5 had already reached advanced level 8 in Weapon Mastery. He decided to experience the Class Master quest for a martial artist first. It was a judgement to reduce the trial and errors.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi5 met with the barbarian Hanson and had a conversation. He met with the barbarian to receive the martial artist quest.

“It has been about approximately 10 years. I met a very strong warrior.”

“Should I kill him?”

“He was very good at handling weapons.”

“Kill? Or should I pull it?”

“Beritan left its nest… The villagers that went to Beritan’s nest only saw the corpse of a monster left behind. Now monsters have gathered in Beritan’s nest.”

“I’ll kill everything.”

“Please defeat the monsters and find any traces of the strong warrior that left the corpse behind.”

The Class Quest was more fascinating than Geomchi5 had thought. There was a great martial artist. The request was to trace his tracks and battle him.

“In the end I will kill that guy!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed saw a separate message window after he became king of the Arpen Kingdom.

– The King has the authority to make any demand of the residents.

The residents won’t be able to refuse the King’s orders if they don’t want to die.

However, if an impossible request is asked than loyalty will fall and a resistance army will be established.

You can appoint the nobility. The nobles are subject to the taxes and benefits of their territory.

Royal Knights can be installed.

You can select a state religion. Many residents believe in the Goddess Freya. When a state religion is established, any missionary work related to that religion will become smooth thanks to the Goddess of Luck.

But there will be strong opposition from other religions.

– The construction of a palace is necessary for many internal affairs and governing.

The King was able to exercise a strong authority. Fame, Dignity and Charm were best when dealing with residents. Any quest could be given or property taken away by compulsion.

“There is a reason for trying to obtain power.”

Even after the coronation ceremony ended, the users and residents didn’t scatter to other places. Their eyes were sparkling with expectations. This was the first time a kingdom was established on the Versailles Continent.

Even the release of Huksaeng (drink) from the warehouses would be looked upon favourable. Morata was a financially rich city so they were expecting even more.

It was Weed’s extreme crisis! People were still flocking towards the Central Square and the streets.

Weed used Lion’s Roar again.

“Morata has made 4 Grand Buildings!”

“Kyaaaak!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The sound of cheering filled the city.

“The Arpen Kingdom is a great place to live every day!”

“Hooray King Weed!”

The beginners that started in Morata responded loudly. It even reached unknowing users outside Morata’s walls. More users were connected than normal in order to watch the coronation. More than 500,000 users were cheering King Weed!

Irene was worried about the situation right now.

“The atmosphere seems to be escalating. What is he going to do?”

Pale also had similar concerns. Even if the coronation ceremony was simple, astronomical funds would still end up being used.

“If this continues then it will be difficult……”

The atmosphere of the crowd was becoming alarming as they kept on being incited!

Surka and Mapan was the same.

“I really am worried. What will he do?”

“Judging by Weed’s personality, a large incident could occur.”

The target they were worried about wasn’t Weed. It was the crowd gathered at Morata! Weed knew how to take advantage of all the gathered people. If they felt tricked by his sweet words than things might get out of hand!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“As the Arpen Kingdom’s commerce and military expands, the area will become stable for everyone.”

“Hooray His Majesty!”

“The treatment of blacksmiths and tailors will improve and they will be able to concentrate on their work.”

“King, King, King!”

“I promise I will continue to implement support policies for artists in the kingdom.”

“I believe in the Arpen Kingdom!”

The crowd’s joy reached its peak.

To be honest, there were many people who suspected that Weed’s attitude changed after he rose to the position of King. But he made large promises to many groups!

Weed had no choice but to talk like this.

“Morata’s art and cultural community will continue to develop. Morata will become the capital of the Arpen Kingdom!”

“Waaaaaah!”

Cheers for the King and the Arpen Kingdom continued to emerge without any breaks.

He could speak fluently whether scratching the itch of a crowd or threatening Yellowy. He had the natural temperament of a con artist and he knew how to drive a herd mentality!

“If art and culture isn’t delayed than the Arpen Kingdom will continue to prosper. The number of artworks will increase and new performances will be held!”

Weed’s words aroused the users’ sympathy. Many users raised their stats from looking at the sculptures and paintings in Morata. Some were less relevant to battle like Courage or Charm but all the stats went up permanently. If art and culture developed then it would be easy to raise a person’s fame and ask for commissions from merchants.

“So I’m going to create a sculpture of an unprecendented scale to commemorate the founding of the Arpen Kingdom. And I’m giving you a chance to participate if you want to!”

King Weed, the best sculptor on the continent was giving them a chance to participate in his work!

“Please let me do it!”

“I want to make it.”

More than anywhere else, the Morata users were used to labour. They were involved in the creation of the Art Centre as well as the 4 Grand Buildings. Users who migrated from the Rosenheim Kingdom also had experience with creating the pyramid. If Weed spread the rumour that a giant sculpture was being created than a crowd would follow. The fearsome support army, the Grass Porridge Cult consisted of 3,700,000 people alone!

‘Now it isn’t too late.’

Compared to other professions, the proficiency of Sculpting grew quite slowly. Obtaining the materials and manually working on it himself would take a long time. He had made a lot of sculptures since reaching advanced level 8 but the growth of his skill proficiency was still slow. In order to overcome this, Weed decided to not make the sculptures alone.

‘There are a few stages left in my Master Quest. If the rest of the commission requires using the lifeforms to fight than it might end quicker than I thought.’

If he postponed the difficult battle then the sculptural lifeforms would grow stronger and his prospect of success will rise. Instead of making rushed sculptures, he should raise his skill so that he could complete the remaining requests quickly.

His Class Master Quest!

Weed aimed for a large reversal at the final stage.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Failed Sculpture

Morata became the main attraction on the continent as beginners starting Royal Road started flooding it.

“I’m really looking forward to it.”

“That’s why there are so many people. I want to quickly go hunt and enjoy adventures.”

The nationality of the users who started in Morata was affiliated with the Arpen Kingdom. The new kingdom ruled by King Weed! The beginners had to stay in Morata for 4 weeks. It was a large urban area so there were minor quests such as delivering books, materials transport etc.

“You worked hard.”

“Thank you very much! If you need any more work then please come again.”

“Do you mind some hard work?”

“Of course not. Please let me do it!”

They gained 10 copper, 20 copper and slowly collected money. The prepared money was able to buy them a rusty long sword and leather armour.

The residents would give them quests in the future and would conduct trades so the beginners tried to raise their intimacy early.

The beginners in Morata also ate grass porridge.

“The streets are clean and spacious. There are also many new buildings.”

“Did you see the shacks on Painter’s Hill? There are many things to be seen there.”

“Shall we go?”

“Yes. It is one of the twelve famous places in Morata.”

“Where are the other places?”

“Bingryong Square in the evening, Freya’s statue by the lake, the back alley of the Cathedral, the tailors gathered at the market on Central Square, the Art Centre, the Tower of Light! And other places. I saw it from the broadcast.”

“So let’s go play at Painter’s Hill!”

It was a village filled with sculptures, artwork, performances and Grand Buildings! Even if the history was short, there were many things to see. A person could just roam around and enjoy the day.

“Keheok… It is up to here.”

“Ugh, I want to see more places.”

The amount the beginners could explore was limited by their vitality. A user who learnt the cooking skill dejectedly passed the grass porridge boxed lunch to a friend.

“Do you know what profession you’re going to select?”

“I’m going to follow Weed-nim and become a sculptor. In the future I would also like to go on such adventures on the continent.”

“It isn’t easy to go on adventures as a sculptor…. Well I’ll cook you tasty dishes. Later visit the restaurant among the shacks.”

“Uh, yes.”

The friends wandered as the sun set. Then they climbed the hill hand in hand and watched the night view from the Tower o Light. They saw the rock where grand ambitions were inscribed.

– Collect and sell any japtem.

– I had a hard time as a beginner so I want to sleep at night without being troubled.

– Prepare for a home early.

– Sincerely pay taxes to preserve the peace.

It was unknown how long the poor handwriting carved with a knife had been there. There were many places to see and enjoy in the city but the beginners’ dream was to collect 4 gold and enter the Art Centre.

“Let’s join the Grass Porridge Cult.

“I’m going to gain money and buy a shack.”

4 weeks passed for the beginners and they could finally leave the gate! Normally they would hunt deer or rabbit and grow gradually. However Weed had other intentions when he established his kingdom in Morata’s Central Square.

Beginners hunting near Morata and nearby cities gathered and heard his words. Users were continually entering through the north, south, east and west gates on horses or carriages. Of course the broadcasting stations also came out to cover the story.

“It’s starting now.”

“It is the first time I’m seeing a coronation… How exciting.”

“What did you say before? I couldn’t hear you over the noise from this crowd.”

“It looks like the crown is being handed over……”

“Already?”

“Huh, it’s over?”

“It ended this quickly?”

The ceremony proceeded at super speed without any performances from bards or a tournament between knights. The crowd were disappointed but hesitated to scatter.

They had affection for Morata so they wanted an event to mark the establishment of the Arpen Kingdom. And then there was Weed’s declaration to create a large, historical sculpture that would make Arpen prosper!

Until now users had only seen the words created by artists but now they were given an opportunity to participate. It was a scale that didn’t exist in the history of the continent and they could contribute to a great work! They shivered at the thought of such an honour after hearing Weed’s yell.

“Hooray King Weed!”

“I want to do it!”

A fanatical heat swept through the square. This was a huge opportunity that might not return if they didn’t participate. He was giving a boost to the city so the Weed’s esteem started to rise in the hearts of the pure beginners.

“He really is a great king.”

“Yes. He is considering the plight of beginners like us and understands even when we have such low levels.”

The naive players thought he wasn’t going to raise taxes! But Pale’s party knew the truth.

It would be forced labour as soon as they joined the team to make the sculpture! He didn’t rally the forces and make them do it by force. Instead he deliberately lured them so they couldn’t escape

Weed was creating a sculpture of a scale that didn’t exist in history yet so it was difficult to not participate. Maybe that’s what he intended by making the budget for the coronation ceremony 30 gold. A grand plan to turn the large crowd in the square into labourers!

Surka analysed it with a cool head.

“I think Weed-nim’s voice was trembling because of the construction costs.”

Mapan felt such an eerie feeling that goose bumps appeared on his skin.

“I really have a lot to learn.”

The crowd was moved by Weed!

A good businessman needed to be able to scam people. He couldn’t imagine what the largest construction would be.

“Come on, let’s go!”

Weed led the crowd out of the gates. He moved along a pretty flower path towards the mountain. This was the mountain region with quarry mines.

“You should be able to carry them one by one. Move quickly. It will be difficult if it is too late. It will be hard to move once the sun sets.”

The crowd carrying rocks and minerals formed a procession like a swarm of ants. Weed’s destination was a wide wasteland where not even a single blade of grass grew. The distance was so far that Morata’s walls and buildings couldn’t be seen.

A procession of workers that exceeded 100,000 people headed to the mountains from Morata. They carried necessary materials such as stone and wood.

The beginners were henceforth faithful workers.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The land price is also cheap… This place won’t rise much later on so it is good to leave sculptures here.”

Weed quite liked the wasteland.

Sculptures were influenced by the terrain and natural environment. If Weed designed the sculpture in a barren place then it might result in a higher effect.

The sculptor was supposed to be the largest one in history so it needed a vast area.

“Bring more stones!”

“The foundation here needs to be steadier. Dig deeper and let’s get started.”

The workers committed to carrying the stones from the mountains through the forest. The number of users who believed in Weed and decided to participate in creating the sculpture couldn’t be counted.

There were slightly high level users migrated from the Central Continent and Rosenheim Kingdom.

The beginners that started in Morata and members from the Grass Porridge Grass also joined and completely changed the appearance of the wastelands.

Weed specified the designated land and the rocks were stacked up there. It was a massive scale like the Great Wall of Chine or a pyramid was being built. It was a huge civil engineering project run by the King.

“Collect your children and come work quickly.”

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy and his children also carried the rocks.

Various construction materials were piled up! A small mountain of rocks and dirt was already formed.

“What are you going to create?”

“I don’t know. I’ll just make it once all the materials are collected.”

Weed wanted to make a large sculpture so the users had gathered big, usable rocks. The Arpen Kingdom was the first one founded so there was a lot of interest in Weed’s business. Roads were being connected in Morata while architects were laying the foundation to build a square.

Weed decided to set a working area where 32 sculptures could be placed. It was so big that he wouldn’t be able to manage it alone.

“I have to recruit some disciples.”

He couldn’t carve 32 sculptures in his large workshop alone. If someone did the minimal trim on the sculpture then the work would become easier. Weed placed an advertisement on Morata’s gates as the best sculptor on the continent.

– Weed wants a disciple.

Hello!

Sculptor Weed is working with a friendly atmosphere in the wasteland. He is looking for disciples to trim the sculptors together.

Every day 21 hours will be spent creating the sculptor and 3 hours running errands.

Anyone can apply.

4 coppers an hour.

However, the probationary period is 3 days and only half the salary will be paid.

If you receive an injury while making the sculpture then it will be bandaged.

No days off.

No additional pay will be given for working at night.

Hospitality- Grass porridge will be provided as a meal 3 times a day and you can lay down anywhere in the workshop to sleep.

There will be rabbit soup twice a month for dinner. However you need to catch the rabbits directly.

Always recruiting.

People with experience in sculpting preferred. It doesn’t matter if you are novices. People with sincerity rather than talent will be preferred.

The worst working conditions! Still, it was a chance to become Weed’s disciple so there was no shortage of people.

“Is it really going to be like he wrote?”

“Even so, I want to become a disciple. I can learn his skills.”

From beginners to senior magicians, the applicants gathered like clouds. Weed held brief 10 minute interviews.

“Do you know sculpting?”

“Yes!”

“I learnt it a little while ago.”

The applicants standing in front of Weed were nervous and couldn’t breathe properly. Many people who dreamed of becoming a sculptor started in Morata. They had large aspirations for sculpting so they had prepared in advance.

“Can you continue to trim the sculpture even when it is raining or your stomach is empty?”

“Yes? Of course… My body can continue even when the weather is bad.”

“Pass!”

Beginners who didn’t possess the sculpting skill were also supported.

“Limbs intact and…. Do you have a lot of time?”

“Yes. I have a lot of time to spare because I’m unemployed.”

“Pass!”

Weed pulled 700 disciples in an instant! Weed had the novice sculptors start to prepare the rocks. The complete beginners helped by running errands.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A famous sculptor called Depth who had intermediate sculpting was also supported by the disciples. He had moved to Morata from Rhodium in order to raise his fame as a sculptor.

“I’ve always admired you. I hope we get along well in the future.”

“Yes. You’re quite proficient in making sculptures so you’ll have a lot of work.”

“Give me any work you want.”

Depth had decent sculpting skill so he was given the task of refining the sculptures. He directed the exterior to be trimmed to the height Weed indicated as well as the basic form of the sculpture.

“This is enough to start working.”

Weed used the Sculpting Knife and tools like a chisel in order to create the giant form of a person. He spread the Wings of Light and created a mysterious atmosphere.

“There is no need to use too much technique. It just needs to be faithful to the prototype even if it is a little clunky.”

Tang! Tang! Tang!

He commenced carving away at the rocks. Weed had level 8 advanced sculpting so he gradually revealed the beauty of the stone. He expressed the smoothness and magnificence of the large rocks that had been on the mountains for hundreds of years. Perseverance and vitality was necessary in order to slash at the hard rocks.

A sculpture was born with his passion and commitment. It was said that all noble art was born from hardship.

“If I ever have a child then I’m not letting them become a sculptor!”

Weed understood why parents wouldn’t want their children to have the same job. Something had to be experienced in order to be properly understood.

Royal Road was a difficult and dangerous place but even a sculpture in reality would have a hard life. Of course, he was doing well to the extent that he was respected but he wouldn’t recommend it to his children.

“If they just commit moderate sins and study hard then they will succeed.”

The hearts of most parents were probably similar. Weed occasionally looked down at the ground to see lots of people working. The road leading up to the wasteland was full of people piling up a mountain of rocks.

They were making a marble building in accordance with the number of sculptures. Everyone was working tremendously under Weed’s direction from above.

“There’s no time to rest.”

Weed didn’t delay and continued slashing at the rocks. While he was making the sculpture the Wyverns, Bingryong and Phoenix visited.

“You came again. Go and hunt.”

“Master, Master! Today I ate 2 horses.”

“Eat until you’re full. I’m a little busy.”

“Delicious. Horse meat is always delicious. Master.”

“Yes, I know it is delicious. So go have some more.”

Silver Bird also sometimes had serious worries.

“Golden Bird’s eyes are sometimes strange when looking at me. But it isn’t in a way I don’t like.”

Phoenix came in the middle of the day and made it even hotter.

“Master, this sculpture seems great.”

He apparently didn’t have anything to do and closely watched Weed making the sculpture with his hot body. Weed’s perseverance was already at the bottom.

Then Wy-3 flew over.

“Master, I ate 3 horses today. Do you think I’ve gained weight?”

Weed had spent little time with his sculptural lifeforms these days. So they kept on coming back repeatedly in order to see Weed. And they were sculptural lifeforms so they had a strong interest in the art Weed was creating.

“Wy-3.”

“Master. Speak.”

“Let’s stay together for a long time.”

“Understood Master.”

But Weed didn’t hit him angrily to make him go away. He wanted his sculptural lifeforms to stay with him in order to make them work for a long time.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The expectations of the crowd in Morata were enormous.

“Look at that massive scale. What on earth is being made that is that wide?”

“Is it the Royal Palace?”

“Doesn’t it really seem like it?”

Weed was making something with marble. There seemed to be 32 sculptures and if they looked closely then they seemed like buildings from different kingdoms. It didn’t seem that luxurious but there were pillars of marble that seemed to be lining a large space.

Stones were dug from the nearby quarry but the marble naturally wasn’t free. It was bought from another village in the north so it consumed the Arpen Kingdom’s budget. The funds invested in this were enough to build 3 Grand Buildings.

The people were so curious they couldn’t stand it.

“Why is he creating such a tremendous sculpture?”

“If the finances from the Arpen Kingdom are invested in it then wouldn’t it immediately decline?”

Given the scale of the construction, it was like money was literally being poured into it. Right now the residents of the Kingdom had the highest loyalty and security.

The future of Morata and Vargo Fortress was very hopeful. If the state’s finances were consumed excessively then taxes would increase and the residents would naturally be dissatisfied.

In addition, it might not end with just a tax increase. Eventually security would deteriorate and the number of bandits would rise. The users were anxious about the something going wrong with the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed was always trying to squeeze as much as possible from the budget but an unprecedented sum of money was already invested in the construction. Other cities didn’t even have the funds for 3 Grand Buildings so there weren’t many people who understood. It might be understandable if they were building a palace or military facility but these funds were being spent on a sculpture!

While a great deal of interest was being shown to Weed’s sculpture, the face of the sculpture slowly started being revealed. No matter how they looked at it, the sculpture was just that of a plain looking woman.

The users who carried the stones slumped as they had expected a great work.

“Is he really trying to make a Magnum Opus?”

“No way. The Ice Beauty Weed created is dramatically beautiful.”

“The Goddess of Freya Statue is also pretty.”

Weed’s sculptures were a great pride to the Morata users and they felt admiration every time they saw it. The sight of the rising morning sun through the morning mist on the Goddess of Freya Statue was really dazzling. Weed had the Morata users’ active support so it was hard to believe he would create such an ordinary sculpture.

“This is a complete failure.”

“I agree. There is no law that Weed will succeed with every sculpture.”

“It seems like his abilities have degenerated.”

“Hey. I’m just going hunting. This is a waste of money and time.”

The users ranged from disappointed to concerned. The result was too mediocre for the hard work of so many people.

“If it is only that degree then it isn’t worth learning.”

The disciples and workers who participated became disgruntled and started quitting one after another. It was to the extent that secret rumours spread through Morata’s back alleys.

“Bardray killed him so his sense of sculpting must’ve fallen.”

“I never really thought that much of Weed’s sculptures. Hasn’t he just been lucky in the meantime?”

They didn’t dare speak openly because they were scared of the Grass Porridge Cult but a lot of people who came to Morata started making accusations of Weed.

The crowd that had cheered passionately when Weed revealed his plan had their hearts turned cold. A colossal amount of funds and people have been invested in this work so they couldn’t help feeling disappointed. A sculptor truly carried a heavy burden.

“What is he going to do?”

“It doesn’t seem that good based on this.”

Irene and Surka watched Weed hanging from the sculpture. It was becoming troublesome like they expected. The hearts of Weed’s party would hurt the most at a time like this.

Weed completed the first sculpture while receiving distrust. People looked up from the square without any expectations.

Weed carved the double folded eyelid and the sculpture was completed!

– The statue of the Goddess Hestia has been born!

Hestia has defended the Versailles Continent since ancient times. She is in charge of the family hearth and loves creative abilities.

Her statue was destroyed in a war so her existence is only known in the dwarven and human records.

The restoration of a Goddess Hestia statue will have great religious significance to the dwarves on the Versailles Continent.

The completion of the first Statue of Goddess Hestia has been recorded in history.

Those who admire the Statue of Goddess Hestia will have health, mana regeneration and vitality increased by 35% for a day.

The effect of spirit magic and attack skills will increase by 11%.

This is a religious statue so the Faith stat will permanently increase by 7.

Sculptors, Bards and Painters will have their Art stat permanently increased by 9.

Goddess Hestia’s blessings will irregularly be given to artist professions.

The ability of humans and dwarves to deal with fire has improved by 13%.

There is a 4% chance for a magician’s fire magic to have an unquenchable effect.

The Art stat has permanently increased by 6 points due to the creation of an ancient work of art.

Statue of Goddess Hestia!

Just watching the finished sculpture permanently increased some stats.

“Weed created a sculpture of the Goddess Hestia?”

“Wow, the real deal!”

The people who believed in Weed and watched the completion of his work were able to enjoy the effects and obtain the stats. The people who carried the heavy materials for the sculpture felt as light as a feather.

Ddiring!

– The Statue of Goddess Hestia has been completed and Arpen Kingdom’s political power has expanded.

Relationship with the dwarves has improved.

The influence of the new religion will give residents positive hope.

Every person visiting Morata heard that a statue of Goddess Hestia was created.

“He really is Sculptor Weed. The God of Sculpting!”

“I moved chunks of stone 7 times! I really suffered making the statue!”

“I unconditionally believed in Weed’s sculpture from the beginning.”

“Let’s quickly go and carry the stones.”

“The taste of the grass porridge is best after working.”

In addition to the beginners, candidates came from outside Morata and the number of applicants increased infinitely. The number of workers supporting after one day was 300,000 people.

The people who played a role in creating the Statue of Goddess Hestia received more specific blessings. They gained slightly more Faith, Strength and Perseverance. Even their contribution to the Arpen Kingdom increased so they couldn’t give up this chance!

A massive amount of stones were stacked up in the construction area.

“Use your body weight when swinging the pickaxe.”

“It is easier to carry the stones if you bend at the waist and shoulder. Then keeping on looking straight ahead no matter what.”

“Don’t try to forcibly carry too much. It is faster to carry a lighter weight 3 times than it is to carry a heavy stone once.”

The experienced users from the Rosenheim Kingdom who participated in creating the pyramid gave advice to the beginners.

“Is it hard?”

“No. It’s okay.”

Pale and Maylon once again showed their affection as they carried the stones. Surka was still waiting to meet a good man.

“That looks too big so hall I break it?”

“That would be good… Is it possible?”

“Yon han kwon!”

Pa pa pa pa pak!

Surka’s fists broke the rock! She carried heavy stones that even men didn’t dare pick up.

“Hello.”

“Thank you, Priest-nim.”

Irene and other priests welcomed the players who worked hard. Cooks appeared and offered food to workers who carried the stone. The terrain changed every day through the extensive labour.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Vent Castle!

It was an important gateway to protect Mordred, the capital of the Niflheim Empire. The Empire’s Capital had collapsed completely and after the north became covered with ice and monsters, the army made sure to keep the gates of Vent Castle locked.

“This will protect our lives. One day the Niflheim Empire will rise again!”

The knights fought against the monsters and protected the castle. The days were filled with severe ice storms. Vent Castle was the only place where the people in the north lived.

They became self-sufficient with food as they lived within the boundaries of monsters. Then the Northern Continent recovered its mild climate again but they still didn’t open their gates.

“The north is dangerous. And the person who inherited the Niflheim Kingdom hasn’t appeared yet.”

The knights and soldiers ruled Vent Castle!

Meanwhile other areas of the north received Goddess Freya’s blessings and harvested many crops. The price of Morata’s food became cheaper and the birth rate in the village miraculously increased. The hunters and soldiers scattered through the north to live. They struggled in the freezing cold weather and died fighting monsters while residents would give birth. The result was the growth of a small village.

Meanwhile Morata’s political power in the area increased.

The waves of change also came to Vent Castle.

“Excuse me… I’ve come to sell food.”

Gamong was a novice merchant from Morata.

“Disappear quickly!”

The knights of Vent Castle heartlessly tried to drive her away. But Gamong was familiar with such reception. Her fame wasn’t high and she didn’t have a lot of trading experience.

Merchant activities in the north weren’t that good. If she went to the Central Continent with Morata’s specialties then she could get good treatment. That’s why most of the users traded back and forth with the Central Continent or between players in Morata.

Roaming the north with a trade wagon wasn’t a good idea. There were many dangerous monsters around the roads so it was difficult for merchants to move. The development of other villages in the north was slow so they didn’t have specialities like Morata.

“But a merchant’s path is to establish a trade route first!”

Gamong didn’t want to be like other merchants who pursued comfort. Usually merchants became respected in Morata before going to other large cities to trade. Fortunately there was a rich amount of product from Morata so she could go around selling it to the north. Gamong went around the north trading japtem.

“Please check the taste just once.”

Gamong gave olives, wine and rice to the knights before leaving. Food had a shelf-life so it would rot if left for too long. This was a transaction where she only received a loss! However Gamong had hope.

“Morata will keep on getting bigger. And people live in the north so trade will start becoming active.”

She roamed the north with food wagons from Morata. If she met monsters then she would give most of it away. Fortunately she also sold it to travellers, soldiers and other lords but she couldn’t say that she made a profit.

“Ya ya. That’s crazy. Don’t do it.”

“Having just one store in Morata will collect money. All you have to do is eat and then play.”

Every merchant she met in a bar tried to stop her. Gamong watched the Tower of Light at night and didn’t give up hope.

“I’m going to be a large trade merchant. I will pull 1,000 trades…”

So she toured the northern area for a few months. She didn’t earn money but the income she found was a fast and safe route between small villages and a rise in intimacy with local residents.

“Would you like to see Vent Castle?”

She was handing out food in a mountain village when a grandmother of one of the residents asked.

“Yes. But I’ve almost given up. It isn’t easy.”

“One of the guards is my grandchild… If you mention my name then he might let you in.”

Ddiring!

– You have acquired information on how to enter Vent Castle.

Gamong was so excited that she couldn’t speak. She could enter the castle that allowed no-one in for the first time! If it was any other class then she would be interested in the quests but she was a merchant. She was interested in what she could buy and sell there. Gamong arrived at Vent Castle 2 days later.

“Hrmm… I’ve heard about the good deeds you’ve done in this area by distributing food. I’ll grant my grandmother’s request.”

Vent Castle was a relic from the Niflheim Empire. The goods that could be traded in the stores also reflected the technology of that time.

“I… I’ll now become a wealthy merchant!”

Gamong cried out as she rejoiced. If she took the goods from Vent Castle elsewhere then she could obtain huge money. It was an exclusive trade because there were no competitors!

She didn’t know how long the monopoly would last since other merchants would start knocking on Vent Castle’s doors now that Gamong succeeded. Before the monopoly period ended, she would build intimacy and obtain vital information on products.

Gamong bought items and armour from Vent Castle with excellent workmanship that could be sold at an affordable price in Morata. Vent Castle had been closed off so their items and armour were kept at a low price.

She brought a huge amount of food from Morata to Vent Castle.

“Now. Morata’s specialties! Lamb and beer, rice, tomatoes, cheese, wine, today they are all sold really cheaply! Come fast!”

“Merchant-nim. How much is this?”

“4 copper please. I’ll give you a little bit more.”

She ran out of stock in an instant after selling it at the square.

– You have sold food to Vent Castle’s inhabitants at a low price.

Trading Fame has increased by 24.

Charm has increased by 3.

Gamong thought of the distant future as she sold all the food. It was possible to receive 3~4 times the purchase price so the deal was profitable for her. Her fame and intimacy increased after selling a lot of food from Morata. And the reaction came immediately when she purchased goods from Vent Castle’s stores.

“Gamong is a good merchant. I was waiting for your visit. This doesn’t sell very well… Would you like to see? I will increase the quantity sold to you.”

A merchant couldn’t buy goods unlimitedly even if they had the money. There was a certain quantity of weapons and armours that would be sold.

“Hehehe, I’m rich. Rich!”

Gamong was given a large sum of money and fame as a merchant.

It was difficult to imagine as a novice merchant but every trade accumulated. A merchant normally had thick stomach that rocked every time they walked.

Gamong wasn’t the only one who benefited from it. When the food from Morata was grown or processed, Vent Castle’s birth rate would increase. Merchants had a large contribution to the stability of a region.

The trade was successful and the closed up attitude of Vent Castle slowly loosened.

“According to the goblins, a sculptor called Weed has succeeded in great adventures. The goblins are good at lying so I don’t know how reliable they are… But it is surprising that we are the only ones who don’t know about Weed.”

“Is this warm climate really due to Weed’s adventures?”

“We’re trying to restore the honour of the Niflheim Empire but we’ve heard a lot of rumours about Weed.”

“Is it true that Morata is more prosperous than Vent Castle?”

“Was the Arpen Kingdom really founded? Well… These days I keep on hearing stories about Weed and Morata so it might really be possible.”

All the residents in Vent Castle also knew about Weed.

“A vagabond said that Weed is creating a huge sculptor. Morata must be an amazing city thanks to his sculptures.”

“The food we’re eating has been grown in Morata… That toasted bread is very delicious.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This is suitable to be a workroom.”

The blacksmith Herman left Kuruso in the Dwarf Kingdom and arrived in Morata. Herman was also challenging the Blacksmith Master Quest and his ultimate target was to make the best sword.

That’s why he came here.

“Hestia’s Forge will be very helpful.”

Kuruso had a rich abundance of high quality iron and metals. The treatment of dwarf blacksmiths was also good. The prices for equipment made at Kuruso’s forges were 2~3 times that of other places.

Despite these many conveniences, Hestia’s Forge was better at making products so 1 in 5 blacksmiths came to Morata including Herman. He didn’t come alone and was accompanied by many other dwarven blacksmiths. The dwarves were keen to see the land.

“This place is good. The land is flat and wide. We can build a house and forge here.”

“Kya! This beer taste is amazing. I need to drink in order to build a house.”

“Isn’t it beer brewed by humans?”

“You won’t understand until you try it. This beer tastes good like steel.”

The dwarves’ agility and handicraft meant they could use construction techniques. They wanted to buy land close to Hestia’s Forge and the vacant land was wide and spacious. And the minimum value of the land started from 4,500 gold!

“The land value is so expensive!”

“This isn’t a main street. The price is strangely expensive.”

“But it isn’t to the extent that we won’t buy it……”

The dwarves went to the government office and purchased the land. Weed had considered this when he built Hestia’s Forge.

‘This is the location with the most potential for growth.’

Other people wouldn’t have thought of land speculation at the time. Weed took ownership of the land and waited for the rich dwarves to move. He had this in mind from the moment he started building Hestia’s Forge.

Chapter 2: Garden of the Gods

Weed’s coronation ceremony spread and every user was interested in the north. There were millions of people currently in Morata but there was no publicity.

Unlike Bardray and the Hermes Guild’s dazzling coronation in the Haven Kingdom, it became known that Weed only spent 30 gold. He spent millions of gold on the Grand Buildings yet only 30 gold on his coronation.

“This… It really does seem like a fairy-tale king has been selected.”

“Kya! So different. He didn’t spend a large amount of money on the event because he cares for the residents.”

“The village will grow with the king. I knew it.”

Unlike Weed’s actual intention, praise calling him a great ruler spread.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed decided that the name of the place would be called the Garden of the Gods.

Apart from the sculptures, a temple was built with flowers and trees being planted. If it was just the sculptures then it would look slightly lonely. Many people worked on the sculptures, garden and architecture so it was like a large scale business.

It was necessary to grow flowers and trees to raise his Affinity to Nature. There was no sense in planting trees that grew in forests or the mountains. Plants that grew on cliffs and rocky crevices would just die when moved to a botanical garden. In order to grow something in the barren wasteland, water was dragged through a channel from the river.

It was a project that required enormous commitment and the exploitation of the workers!

“Keohohoheok……”

“Let’s have a short breather.”

“I think I can go a little further.”

“Haven’t you heard? Romomo-nim died this morning while holding the stone. Take a break.”

“Kuheuhuk. No wonder why I haven’t seen him.”

Beginners that carried a heavy burden were also killed. Only 3 sculptures had been completed but it was already an essential place for priests and paladins to visit.

The Faith stat was important because it improved holy magic and combat skills. Those who prayed enthusiastically at the Garden of the Gods would receive more special benefits.

“Weed-nim really is thinking about the priests and paladins.”

“Yes. He really is doing a lot for our classes.”

Weed wasn’t just thinking of those classes.

“There is no useless regionalism or class discrimination in the Arpen Kingdom.”

It didn’t matter if people started in the north or came from the centre of the continent. Any user who paid taxes would be treated fairly!

It was no surprise that the Garden of the Gods spread on the internet. Videos and screenshots of the construction was placed on Royal Road’s bulletin boards and the users paid it a lot of attention. It was also introduced through KMC Media and CTS Media.

“Another sculpture in Morata……”

“The scale surpasses all imagination.”

Priests from the centre, east, west and south areas of the continent went on an expedition to Morata.

“It increases Faith… You have to come see it.”

The core of priest associated classes was hunting with a party. Priests had blessings, protection spells and healing abilities were critical in stopping the party from dying.

Therefore competition among priests existed and they were sensitive on how much health they could recover with magic at once. People who could heal a warrior by 1,730 would be more popular than those who could recover 1,500 health. The job of a priest was to support the hunting party so they needed a lot of self-confidence.

Morata was quite a long way from the Central Continent but the priests thought it was worth it and embarked on a pilgrimage. The users with clergy affiliated classes gathered en masse in Morata by riding horses, carriages or using a merchant’s ship.

“Going dungeon hunting. I’m a priest.”

“Opportunity to get treated by a priest more then level 200. Items will be shared between 2 people.”

“I’m a priest who will serve the party without questioning them. Please state your conditions.”

It was important to find good priests when hunting on the continent. It was to the extent that priests could state a ransom in some areas.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This is the 14th quest finished.”

Bardray was ahead of most people in the Class Master Quest. He was commissioned to fight the cannibalistic monster the Kajanka!

He relayed it to each broadcasting station in a live feed when he received the request. The battle video had the best audience ratings for that time slot. The hosts all praised his strength and skill.

“How can he fight like that?”

“It is amazing how often he aims for the weak points. It is close to perfection.”

“If there is a god then he might fight like this… There doesn’t seem to be anyone capable of fighting Bardray.”

Bardray had popularity, fame and the power of the Hermes Guild! But the video with the highest viewership was his battle with Weed.

Bardray also watched back Weed’s battles. Weed drew his sword against the warriors of the Hermes Guild.

‘His attack skills flows naturally from his body.’

Weed’s fierce attacks weren’t broken. The Heriam Fencing that Bardray knew only went up to a maximum of 6 consecutive attacks. That alone was incredible when looking at the Royal Guards.

But Weed had succeeded 16 times against the assassins. Bardray was shocked at his movements.

‘How can that be?’

He found other combat videos of Weed.

‘He surprises the monsters with his Fighting Spirit and them cuts them while they’re hesitating. Once he strikes the monsters first, he continuously attacks without any room for counterattacks. When surrounded on all sides, he deliberately induces a reaction to create a gap where he can attack the monster’s back. He manages to escape when besieged from all sides so he must be familiar with fighting. What type of combat experience has he had?’

It was really difficult to imitate the attack style he used against the Bone Dragon. Just damaging the Bone Dragon’s when it flying through the air required a large amount of courage. Most users sensibly chose to attack from a long range. Yet Weed rode a wyvern and battled the Bone Dragon in the air.

“Doesn’t this behaviour indicate that his skill and level is quite high?”

Even when he was the Lich Shire, an orc or commanding the Dark Elves, Weed always managed to succeed at the last moment. He was an expert at finding the enemy’s weak point and damaging it! The more he looked Weed’s battles, the more amazing he thought it was.

‘If skills, level and equipment was removed, could I win in an equal 1 on 1 sword fight?’

Weed was very fast. But Bardray’s speed also increased thanks to various blessings. He also rode the finest horse Rindullin. When the difference in reaction speed and range of skills was taken into consideration, they were approximately equal.

However Weed was the one who took the lead in his attacks. He took the most difficult route by aiming for a weak spot and attacking it 2 times, 3 times, etc. in a row.

‘And the numerous irregular attacks……’

Weed’s swinging sword caused a flow.

Quick, quick, slow, quick, strong, slow, strong, quick, strong!

The strikes were like a storm and the body would become bloody and confused as it tried to catch up. He changed the rhythm so it was like he had different personalities when fighting several people.

Those who fought against it directly couldn’t understand unless they viewed it from a distance. Bardray used his secret sword techniques but he was still battered. The glitz and glamour was hiding the aggression. The destructive manner was enough to cause a chill down his back.

‘It is fortunate that his offensive power was weaker. It could’ve been dangerous.’

He knew that the attacks didn’t deal that much damage so he could counterattack strongly.

‘What happens if he uses that against monsters?’

Bardray never thought of other people’s combat style.

His method of hunting efficiently was to keep a balance between distribution and mana, maintain a reasonable balance and wreak havoc with his skills.

But Weed displayed a fighting style that was a stage higher. He enjoyed the fight and threw everything into it.

‘It was a decent attempt. Hunting has become more fascinating.’

Bardray realized something that he was personally lacking. It was reflected in his Class Master Quest. Every time he fought monsters or other knights, it was easy to grasp the opponent’s weak points by referring to Weed’s battle style.

‘I have to practice striking one point over and over.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Faster!”

“Three wagons containing red stones are here!”

“Lay it from here to here.”

Users filled the construction site of the Garden of the Gods. The passed the place where the square had been completed and the temple would soon be built.

“As expected, this is really interesting. The construction labourers are really working together.”

Weed proudly watched the construction workers. This was the taste of power. Their working pace while digging and carrying was so fast it transcended imagination.

“If it is this much then the other structures will be finished before the sculptures.”

Weed was making a statue of a god he saw in Ratzeberg. In the case of gods forgotten by the world, a new religion would be born when the statue was completed. Once other sculptors knew what type of work was being done, the progress became faster.

Weed left the lower portions of the sculpture to them while concentrating on the more time consuming parts.

“The chance to participate in a work of the gods won’t come again.”

“Yes. We can gain a lot by participating in the work.”

The disciples became motivated and increased their workload.

“Uaaaack!”

Sometimes a sculptor would neglect to tie their ropes properly and would fall to their death. However the sculptor never forgot their pride in the job. Working with Weed raised their secondary stats, skill proficiency and they obtained fame as a sculpture. Therefore they happily stayed up all night working.

By the time 4 sculptures were completed, hundreds of thousands of users were helping every day. When 6 sculptures were completed, the materials didn’t need to be gathered anymore and they just filled the square.

The Elves came and planted wildflowers and flowers representing each god.

By the time 10 sculptures were finished, the roads to Morata were opened. The work was being conducted at a frightening pace due to the crowds involved.

“Just yesterday I was on that mountain……”

“We all relocated in the morning.”

“Has the shape of the lake changed?”

“If you look at it from the air then Morata seems like it is collapsing.”

They were worried that the features of the terrain would change due to  the construction. As soon as the foundation of the Garden of the Gods was completed, the people rushed to set up the pillars and exterior decorations for the temple. The walls contained images of the gods Weed was sculpting.

“What god is Weed-nim making this time?”

“The God of travel and time, Turoche!”

“Who is that?”

“I don’t know.”

“Another unknown god has appeared again?”

“But now quests have been given to players with Adventurer or Scholar professions. They have been asked to find out about Turoche.”

If Weed made a sculpture then the adventurers would obtain information about it. Once a sculpture was completed, a quest connected to the relevant god would be given.

“Oh, these words are related to Turoche!”

A message would be sent to each library looking for a description. Once information about Turoche was discovered, the quest completion window would pop up! The birth of a god would then lead to other quests.

“Ugh, it kills the flavour of beer. What request should I do next?”

“You’ve already completed Hestia’s request?”

“Yes. It wasn’t a difficult request so I finished it right away!”

Adventurers and requests were once again hot in Morata. The statues in the Garden of the Gods had an increasing influence on local politics, new types of requests were generated and there were religious benefits.

Priests and clerics screamed with joy while adventurers went off on the road to complete requests. Meanwhile architects also gained skills by building the temple.

“This temple is too plain. We need to consider the attributes of Goddess Hestia. The dwarves need a comfortable place to visit…..”

“The temple doesn’t sell any beer?”

“Gulp! Business seems to be going well but wouldn’t this be better? A place needs to be left in the middle of the altar for a holy fire to burn.”

“Small chairs also need to be installed for the dwarves’ comfort.”

Thanks to Weed’s speech and the result of the sculptures, the temple erected received an overwhelming response from the crowd. The temple was constructed to be preserved and wouldn’t collapse for a long time.

The architects who created the building gained a lot of fame and skill proficiency. They showed various skills and made a beautiful building thanks to the crowd’s help.

Arpen’s financial status was strong thanks to Morata but the Garden of the Gods consumed the stored funds. However the residents weren’t worried about such things.

“Aren’t the number of users increasing these days?”

“Yes. It isn’t strange for beginners to start in the Arpen Kingdom anymore.”

“It isn’t just beginners. Users are flocking every day from the Central Continent.”

“Indeed… Goods are being traded in the square. People are buying very expensive magic supplies right now.”

The priest affiliated classes that came to see the Garden of the Gods was the main source. Some came alone but more often they came to Morata with people they were friendly with.

“This is the north!”

“I heard there are a lot of quests here so we came for adventures.”

“Let’s explore a dungeon.”

The priest and paladins had no intention of leaving before the Garden of the Gods was completely finished. The number of people living in Morata increased as they swept through monsters and various requests. They also returned to Morata due to the beautiful art and performances.

The people who came from the Central Continent paid the Arpen Kingdom’s taxes, covering the necessary construction costs for the Garden of the Gods.

The priests even made offerings to particular gods which contributed to the construction expenses. The Morata beginners added a few coppers while the priests and paladins from the continent came up with a lump sum.

If they made contributions then it would be easier to become a high ranking priest of a new religion.

He also carved the likeness of the Orc God and the God of Barbarians.

Ddiring!

– The Orc’s religion has been born.

The Orc’s vengeful thoughts and culture will expand.

– The Barbarian’s religion has been born.

If they come to the temple then they will obtain a strong power.

The degree of friendship with the Arpen Kingdom has risen.

The pride of the residents and users in the Arpen Kingdom rose as each sculpture was completed.

The Garden of the Gods gave never ending blessings to those living in the north. Those who participated in changing the wasteland also gained fame and honour.

A kingdom was an unbeatable culture was being built up day by day.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed spent 3 months on the Versailles Continent making the sculptures.

It was a tedious and hard work but he gained willpower from watching the users below.

“The population is increasing. I will earn taxes from them in the future!”

When he was making the Grand Buildings, they felt like a bottomless pit of money but now it was an amazing feature of Morata.

“I have to make sure the Arpen Kingdom’s population continues to increase and that they won’t go anywhere else. They have to stay in the kingdom and pay me taxes for their entire lives!”

Therefore a large public work like the Garden of the Gods was necessary.

It was like when looking at stores with flashy interiors. They were designed to induce the urge to enter and buy something. And the taxes couldn’t be refunded even if they belatedly regretted it.

He couldn’t be stingy in his investment to collect money from the residents.

“It has to look expensive. Later on I can raise the taxes! I can also scrape money from the tourists.”

Architecture was useful in making a city famous. But he didn’t plan to make the Garden of the Gods larger then necessary.

Ratzeberg was an important spot where the gods first entered the world. A lot of people had believed in those gods until they had been forgotten. When considering the religious and historical value, now was the best time to create the sculptures. He had to complete it before other sculptors or artists found Ratzeberg and informed the world about it.

“Business requires good timing!”

Weed’s used his skills and the faith of the residents to create wonderful sculptures.

“The rise in sculpting proficiency at advanced level 8 is really slow. I’ve confirmed it while making the sculptures!”

Currently Weed’s sculpting proficiency was advanced level 8. So far he had created 11 sculptures and gained 27% sculpting proficiency. He also gained stats from making works with historic and religious value!

Weed also received the blessings of the gods so his Handicraft, Cooking, Fishing and Sewing proficiency increased a little bit.

While the gods were no longer worshipped, their appearance would have a large and small effect on the continent. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Weed was the cause behind a grand event.

He had taken one more step along the path to a Master Sculptor.

“I don’t know whether I can make such expensive sculptures again if they are destroyed.”

Weed wanted to go fight but he continued with the tedious work.

The Goddess’ Knight Armour made from helium!

It was an equipment that received the blessings of the gods so options related to faith and defense were added. If he wore it then fighting would become more fun but he now had to make sculptures every day.

A fierce cry erupted from the ground every time Weed finished a sculpture of a god. A large crowd was waiting and it was especially a priority for those involved in making the sculptures. He had to stomach making the sculptures for the future of the Arpen Kingdom.

“It must be hard, Master-nim.”

He used the Wings of Light and rope to carve the shoulders of the sculpture. He quietly trimmed the stone at night under the moonlight and the stars.

‘Other people are having fun hunting and adventuring.’

Weed envied them yet still called himself a fool Life was meant to be enjoyed in moderation yet he chose the difficult occupation of a sculptor.

He lived life eating barley bread while shedding tears. But he felt a sense of accomplishment and fulfilment when giving joy to people with his work. There was no one who hadn’t experienced hard work in their lives.

“Taxes… This will help increase taxes in the future.”

Weed was working on a sculpture at night when a visitor arrived. He flew up near Weed on a big bird.

“Weed, it has been a while.”

The dwarf blacksmith Herman! He owned a blacksmith shop near Hestia’s Forge and provided tailor made armour and swords to people. There was a very long waiting line for Herman’s equipment. Weed welcomed him happily.

“Hello. I heard that you settled in Morata. How have you been in the meantime?”

“Morata is a really nice city. I regret I didn’t come here faster from Kuruso……By the way, speaking of Kuruso’s farewell ceremony……”

Weed hadn’t seen Herman since the day he fled from Kuruso’s farewell ceremony.

“Farewell ceremony? It was a long time ago so I don’t really remember it. What about it?”

“Well, on the last day when you left Kuruso… Ah, it’s not a big deal.”

Herman decided not to speak about it anymore. He earned a lot of money as a dwarven blacksmith so he decided not to bring up some petty cash. Furthermore, the farewell ceremony was a custom created for dwarves not users.

‘It is best that I retreat.’

He didn’t know Weed that well but he was aware of the possibility of violence over some drinking money.

Weed had a calm smile on his face. Much of the mental fatigue from carving the sculpture flew away.

“Did you come here to get my permission to form a blacksmithing street near Hestia’s Forge like Painter’s Hill?”

Herman and the other dwarves that came with him from Kuroso wanted to create a blacksmith street now that they had decided to settle in Morata. His dream was to have an area in a city to sell good quality weapons and armour.

“The smithy is surrounding by other blacksmiths living and working together. They will help each other so wouldn’t having a store that mainly deals with metal be good for urban development?”

Having a place with many restaurants together was good. It would draw in more users and business. Herman wanted to actively participate in urban development while leading the blacksmiths. Blacksmiths contributed a greater role in Morata than other classes.

It was like how people saw similar things with their eyes. Morata was now the capital of the Arpen Kingdom so it was competing with other cities on Versailles Continent. Its potential would be endless once the Garden of the Gods was finished.

His dream of making it the best city on the continent in the distant future wasn’t just a delusion. Because right now the place was like heaven for the users.

Weed also had a warm smile on his face.

“I’ve already planned to do so. A blacksmith receives respect and can wear the nice equipment of other professions. I really like the blacksmith occupation.”

A blacksmith paid plenty of taxes!

Weed had a fantasy about blacksmiths. The blacksmiths in Morata would create swords and armour so great that they would represent the continent. Visitors would travel to trade and the tax revenue would increase!

“Thank you for your understanding.”

“Of course. I really like blacksmiths…I will prepare support measures.”

The word ‘exploitation’ was obvious just looking at Weed.

“If Blacksmith Street is created then more people will come.”

Customers had to be secured in order for blacksmiths to develop. There were currently a lot of high level users adventuring in the north so they poured into Morata.

It was a good environment for novice blacksmiths to grow and customers could purchase equipment from blacksmiths like Herman. But in the long run, it was necessary to secure iron.

Morata had an iron mine but the amount and quality wasn’t up to a satisfactory level. The standard was so inferior that it didn’t reach even half the level of the iron from the Melbourne Mine.

The mine wasn’t a good environment.

The lack of current material was resolved by melting old iron weapons from the Niflheim Empire. Novice blacksmiths learnt how to smelt rusty weapons. Blacksmiths also imported iron from the mines near other villages in the north.

The amount of resources important was so large that the villages with those mines received enormous profit.

Fortunately the area around Vargo Fortress had steep mountains that were likely to contain mines with large ore deposits. The dwarves also talked about abandoned silver and steel mines.

Weed had the Ellyons work at the mines while users and soldiers from Vargo Fortress took care of the monsters.

“I will continue to support the blacksmiths in many ways.”

“Thank you. When considering your support for artists, my anxiety was unnecessary.”

Weed hadn’t started the support for users but rumours about him spread thanks to the Village Elder’s actions. Word of Weed’s support for art and performance affiliated professions spread around the continent and people praised him. It was part of why the residents of Arpen Kingdom had such a high degree of loyalty. Now they came to the north from the Central Continent.

“Instead, I have something to ask you as there is something I want to make…..”

“What is it?”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

There was a part where Herman’s help was needed for creating the sculptures. In order to truly express a God, the sculpture needed a weapon.

“It would be good if a blacksmith participates.”

A large weapon would be too heavy and the weight would destroy the sculpture. Although Weed’s sculpting and handicraft skills were high, if a statue held a giant steel sword over its head then it would naturally break. He wanted Herman to create a large, empty weapon that was as light as possible.

“So… You want me to manufacture a weapon for a sculpture rather then focus on the quality. This is a new challenge so it is interesting. Let’s work together.”

In fact, Herman was grateful for a chance to participate in Weed’s work. He decided to make a bronze weapon for the sculpture. And he asked Weed one more thing.

“If there is a material with a special quality… If I have some can you work with it?”

“Yes, I think I can do it.”

“Then I’ll give this to you. Treat this as the price.”

– The Iron of Darkness has been acquired.

– The Blood-absorbing Jewel has been acquired.

– Iron of Darkness: Durability 9/9

Item related to the Blacksmith production skill.

Ultimate Blacksmith material.

An iron ore offered to a Necromancer and received a strong curse. When used to make a weapon, it will give undead characteristics and the darkness attribute.

It is less affected by holy magic thanks to a protection spell.

1st class Blacksmith item.

Option: Undead will demonstrate further ability when it is used

– Blood-absorbing Jewel: Durability 7/7

Item related to the Blacksmith production skill.

Ultimate Blacksmith material.

A jewel that was the cause of a war between the Masen and Aberdeen Kingdoms.

The jewel was eventually owned by the Aberdeen Kingdom but 3 queens met tragic deaths and their blood was scattered.

The jewel hasn’t been processed yet but it still deals out bad luck to those that work with it.

1st class Blacksmith item.

Options: The effect of skills related to blood will increase. The Luck stat will decrease by 13 when it is processed.

Charm increased by 7.

A special skill can be acquired.

Weed took the items and headed to Hestia’s Forge.

“I have to make these immediately.”

He put aside making the sculptures and spent one day in Hestia’s Forge. He could carve jewels so handling the gem and Iron of Darkness wasn’t a problem.

“I shouldn’t break the sword again.”

Weed dissolved the Iron of Darkness in Hestia’s Forge, cooled it with water and beat it with a hammer. Thus a new sword was born!

– Sword of Darkness

Durability 145/145.

Attack 96~137.

A forged sword containing a rare Necromancer curse. It strengthens the characteristics of an undead and the effect become larger the higher the rank.

It has a rough external appearance. It is a suitably scary sword for an undead.

This is the work of a talented blacksmith!

Restrictions: Undead, Corrupt Knights only.

Level 465

Should have no morality or faith.

Options: Firm. Effect of the dark attribute increased by 37%

The Voice of Hatred and Loss will be available tanks to the Necromancer’s curse.

Strength +12.

Agility +26.

When commanding the undead, you can extract an extra 13% of their power.

Holy magic will weaken thanks to protection magic.

– Your Intermediate Blacksmith skill has reached level 10 and has changed to Advanced.

You can skillfully handle iron and metal.

You can further enhance the performance of swords and armour. Special materials are required for this.

Your friendship with the dwarves has become higher and they will respect you as a friend of their race.

The effect of governing the hearth fire has increased by 31%.

You can burn flames of a very high temperature.

Vitality consumption will decrease by half when hammering.

The wearer restriction of each item will decrease by 4%.

All stats will increase by 20 points.

– Your Fame has increased by 130 for manufacturing a special weapon for the undead.

His intermediate Blacksmith skill immediately rose to advanced the moment he completed the Sword of Darkness. His tremendous effort paid off in the end. His rise in skill proficiency from making the Mithril and Helium Goddess’ Knight Armour also helped.

“The moment I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived.”

Weed made improvements on all of his equipment.

The Daemon Sword was enhanced a little further and it was the same for the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

In order to raise the defense capabilities of the Mithril a little further, he inscribed a complex pattern on it to stop the enemy’s attacks. It couldn’t be compared to making it with advanced blacksmithing from the beginning but it improved a little bit. In fact, it wasn’t possible to manufacture the necessary equipment again every time his skill level rose.

“The Sword of Darkness isn’t bad.”

The natural of the material meant it was thicker and heavier than a typical sword. Thanks to that the attack damage was good. Weed took out a knife and processed the jewel.

His primary class was a sculptor so carving the jewel was easier than making the sword. It became a glowing red jewel that caused temptation! It was a jewel recorded in the history of the Versailles Continent as something that caused misfortune.

“The Luck stat is important but… Well, it is inevitable.”

Weed picked up the carved jewel and placed it in a gold ring. The jewel fit in the ring like it was originally made for it.

– Tempting Vampire Ring: Durability 27/27

A ring made with the Blood-absorbing Jewel.

If you continue to wear it then health and vitality will decrease. Eventually the ring will cause a dreadful disease.

A blacksmith with great skills created it for some reason. It will be better off if it doesn’t enter the world.

The nobility of the night will covet this ring.

Restrictions: None.

Options: Reduces the wearer’s health.

Vitality weakened.

Charm increased by 16%.

The ability to dazzle is strengthened.

The effect of blood-sucking will increase.

The hidden power of the jewel will be revealed when blood is drunk.

A truly unlucky item! Weed didn’t try to wear it.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, Calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

Black smoke rose and the Death Knight appeared. A black cloak flapped as the Vampire Lord emerged.

“Master, who are we fighting this time?”

“Any enemy… I want to fight. I want to suck blood so that I can quench my thirst.”

The self-esteem of Weed’s two summons had been wounded because of their miserable defeat to the Hermes Guild. They had been affected by the holy power so their body hadn’t returned to normal yet. In particular, the Death Knight was bare handed and his cloak was torn.

“This is a gift for you.”

Weed handed Van Hawk the Sword of Darkness and Torido the Tempting Vampire Ring. He had always provided them with used or rejected products so this was the first time they had seen such dazzling items.

Van Hawk and Torido jumped back.

“No. Such a thing isn’t necessary Master. I can fight with my bare hands.”

“I don’t like jewellery.”

The both of them determined that Weed had a trap n mind. Their wonderful Master-Slave relationship meant they doubted and questioned everything!

“I made it was my heart and soul. It was made with really precious materials especially for you.”

Weed described the equipment. Van Hawk and Torido were relieved and received the items.

“Will you keep listening to my words in the future?”

“I will follow you.”

“I really think that you’re a good Master.”

“Of course.”

“Other Masters wouldn’t have thought to make something like this.”

“……”

“The materials I used to make this……”

“…….”

Weed detained his summons for 3 days and made them work without any rest.

Chapter 3: Orc’s Choice

“War!”

“An army of Black Annas are coming.”

“I have to leave the castle quickly!”

While Weed was making his sculptures, the Versailles Continent was ablaze with war. When a siege started at a city, the merchants and beginners all escaped outside the castle. That’s because the castle would become a lawless area once a siege started so killing and arson would occur.

“Praise God Embinyu.”

“Fight back against the infidels.”

A collision was also taking place between the Embinyu Church’s army and the paladins of each religious order. Other religious orders have become busy since the Embinyu Church was revealed. Paladins and monks aggressively left the cathedrals and monasteries to fight.

Many users also received new quests and an opportunity to gain some achievements.

A war with the Embinyu Church!

No users were free from the confusion. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that the time of hunting near stable castles or villages was over. Villages were destroyed in this dangerous continent and the horde of monsters became stronger.

Even the people who converted to the Embinyu Church became criminals and hunted other users.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Jang Yoon-soo, the Team Leader of the Marketing Department organized a team meeting.

“As you know, a temporary advertisement video was produced by Planning Department based on the recent situation in the Versailles Continent.”

“How much are you going to play of the video?”

“More then 90%. First of all, let me tell you the rest.”

The light in the meeting room turned off and a video began playing on the wall screen.

A terrible number of the Embinyu army was gathered on the plains.

They gathered around torches deep in the night!

The screen zoomed in on the tent of the Embinyu Church’s High Priest.

“There……”

“First offering a sacrifice…..”

“Humans……”

“Kukukuk…..”

The High Priest said in a gloomy voice. The Embinyu Dark Knights patrolled heavily while monsters also stood at the boundaries. Any user who experienced Royal Road would know what a dangerous place it was.

It was even more scary because the Embinyu Church was the enemy. The Embinyu Church were active in certain areas and most people were aware of their power.

Soon the screen changed to users invading Gradian Kingdom.

“Go, warriors!”

“We will fight until the end to defend our peace!”

The Black Sword mercenary group moved forward through the pouring arrows from the walls! Siege weapons were mobilized for a huge battle.

The Gradian Kingdom was in the western part of the continent without a lot of users because of the steep terrain. The Black Sword mercenary group had set their sights on the Gradian Kingdom and were trying to occupy it. They fought for three days and the entire kingdom was engulfed in a civil war.

Then the screen changed into the Haven Kingdom. An extravagant Royal Palace was being built! The Hermes Guild threw an astronomical amount of money towards the knights and soldiers to raise their loyalty and construct the Royal Palace.

The knights and soldiers were forced into labour like slaves. The capital Aren Castle was like light and darkness, with the slums on one side and bright commercial buildings on the other.

It quickly showed some images of other kingdoms from the air.

And the screen changed once again to show some orcs.

Trees and bushes were on the screen.

“Chwiiiit!”

The orcs didn’t appear. But there were harsh breathing sounds and a glaive shone from a bush.

“Let’s go. Chwi chwi chwik!”

The orcs in the Orc Lands crossed the Elnath Mountains towards the plains.

The screen flashed as it remained in place.

The beasts ran away while the birds flew up into the sky. There was no end to the procession of orcs descending towards the plains. The orcs continued spreading through the east due to their amazing procreative power.

The Elves developed spirit magic while the Dwarves produced their own weapons and governed the Thor Kingdom.

Finally the screen showed some people.

The most famous was Bardray standing on top of Aren Castle and watching his army below. Adventurer Chase wandering around a dungeon somewhere and being pursued by monsters. The Blacksmith Fabio handled iron in a place where deep, red flames were surging.

17 users who represented different classes were shown on screen.

The video ended and Jang Yoon-soo said.

“Right now the Versailles Continent has entered a time of chaos. This point was taken into consideration and this video was produced.”

The video would be shown on the Internet and the broadcast in order to show the current situation in Royal Road. The Versailles Continent changed because it was affected by situations that occurred in each area.

A time of chaos!

In the early days of Royal Road, there were disputes between different kingdoms and monster invasions but there was some degree of stability. It was thanks to each kingdom making an effort to maintain the peace.

The problem was that the balance became upset once the number of users grew. Users who became knights chose profit rather than honour and didn’t do their duty. Lords didn’t care about the residents and made them pay excessive taxes. They didn’t care about monsters running wild. There was no loyalty to the kingdom as they were only interested in war.

Royal Road had no specific storyline.

If the Lords and prestigious guilds in the Central Continent ruled well then evil forces might not have emerged. The loyalty of the residents decreased, making them vulnerable to convert to the Embinyu Church and increased their power.

As a result, each kingdom in the Central Continent paid the price.

If they looked at Royal Road’s history, this period of chaos also existed in the past. At that time, the Warlocks made deals with demons and the kingdoms were embroiled in war. Each religion had their holy power taken away and were greatly weakened.

“Hrmm, how would you judge the strategy?”

The gazes of the people went towards Director Son Il-gang who understood the situation in the Versailles Continent the best out of everyone in the Unicorn Corporation.

He stood up from the chair and started talking.

“The forces of the Embinyu Church has expanded to the size of a huge guild, the emergency of historical monsters and the scrambling of the Warlocks. When looking at the period of chaos in the past, the Versailles Continent seems to be in a big crisis.”

The Director and people in charge of various departments had a headache. There were numerous tribes and kingdoms on the Versailles Continent that appeared and disappeared so it was difficult to keep track.

The continent was filled with constant plots and users wandering around looking for monsters. The ones who had to find the solution were the users themselves.

“Wouldn’t that be a problem?”

The fact that the peace of Versailles Continent was unstable due to the exponentially growing number of users wasn’t good news to the directors of Unicorn Corporation.

However, Director Son Il-gang’s expression was bright.

“Heroes are born in the midst of a crisis. When viewed in that sense, the arrival of a time of chaos will require strong unity among users. And people who accomplish great achievements will appear.”

The Versailles Continent was a virtual world! Son Il-gang was confident that it could overcome the problems.

The staff of Unicorn Corporation also reached a similar consensus. Ever since Royal Road opened, the growth of the users on a daily basis was surprising. They made decisions for their own lives.

Looking back on the history, people accomplished many great things with their own power.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Hehehe.”

“Okeumke!”

“Heheheheheh.”

The sculptural lifeforms happily spent their days at Vargo Fortress.

“The world is a beautiful place.”

“The clean air and fresh grass is fantastic!”

Weed had granted life to 47 sculptural lifeforms in the Jigolaths. They were sculptures created for a long time be great sculptors. Their desire for life was strong and they were satisfied playing at Vargo Fortress.

They had listened to stories about the suffering that the Wyverns, Bingryong, Phoenix etc. experienced under Weed and thought it was fortunate they got to be so comfortable.

Ohdodok ohdodok!

Cerberus ate the bones of goats and rolled around in the grass. A multi-coloured poisonous snake called Countryside Snake moved on the tree branched in the mountain and forests. The Death Worm relaxed in the mud.

The sculpture lifeforms spent a quiet afternoon relaxing. The exception was the knight Seville (changed from Silver) Blacksun who was on busy on a mission.

He actively worked with the soldiers and hunters to drive back the monsters. Over time, the Barbarians admired Seville and his troops multiplied to 980 people.

The soldiers received wonderful directions from the knight and battled. He chose 14 talented knight candidates and appointed them as his deputies. Whether they were busy or living a leisurely life, they all settled near the Fortress according to Weed’s order!

Goldman and Yellowy sneaked out at night for a meeting.

“These children really have it easy these days.”

“It’s too easy, gol gol!”

“We need to give them a little trouble.”

“They have to work at least 3 times a day. Gol gol!”

Goldman pushed the monsters towards where the sculpture lifeforms were. Bingryong, Phoenix and the Wyverns also drove monsters there.

“These guys have played an awful lot until now.”

“We need to make them sweat!”

The sculptural lifeforms became stronger every day in order to help Weed with his Sculptor Master Quest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The orcs that selfishly settled near Vargo Fortress.

“Chwi chwi chwit!”

“Daytime has dawned. Let’s go fight, chwiik!”

The orcs eventually came to the village. Vargo Fortress overcame the monster invasion with the help of the orcs.

Monsters and orcs fought on a daily basis. The population of orcs declined to 60,000 but that didn’t matter to them.

“Chwi chwi chwit, the 1st Hyung has died. 2nd Hyung has also died. 7th Hyung has also died. Mother should produce 5 more siblings, chwiiik!”

“Who are you? Chwi chwi chwit!”

“I am your 32nd son, chwit!”

“You are the youngest, chwi chwi chwik!”

“No, chwik chwik chwik Mother gave birth 44 times.”

The Orcs used their procreative power to take care of the monsters. While the warriors were out fighting, the females were safely cared for.

Several users who chose Orcs also gave excellent performances.

“Orcs will die fighting, chwi chwit!”

“Come with me, chwichiik!”

They led a large number of warriors and raided the camp of monsters. Of course, the plan meant that some Orcs wouldn’t return but they were able to inflict further strikes before dying. If 10 died getting rid of 5 monsters, the next day 13 would go fight. That was the orc’s method of calculation!

ㅡ The orc Karichwi didn’t back down from any disadvantageous fight.

ㅡ He is a strong and handsome orc.

ㅡ I need to be brave in order to become popular among female orcs.

The orc Karichwi was a legend among users. Weed’s adventures had a huge influence on the orc users so many of them were recklessly brave.

“This is a big fight, chwi chwit!”

While the orcs fought, the children were growing larger. The orcs fought together in large scale battles so they thought of each other as brothers. Even if they received significant damage in a battle, the orc users were already planning a new one.

“Not this time, chwi chiiik!”

“It will be different next time, chwik!”

“Let’s take a lot more. We’ll do that until we win, chwi chwi chwi chwit!”

The orc users commanded their fellow brothers and children for the large battles. This was the strong point about selecting the orc race.

Weed fought the Dark Elves and then later they fought against the Undead Legion as colleagues. Users who dreamt about experiencing such large battles flocked towards choosing orcs.

They acquired loot and also plundered the monsters’ home camp. If they picked up something expensive then they would go up to Vargo Fortress to buy food and weapons!

“Eat a lot, fight carrying weapons, chwiiiik!”

The orcs were large so it cost a lot of money to create their armour. Their high health and power meant they invested more in weapons. The orcs just looked pathetic to the users at Vargo Fortress.

“Are they going to fight again?”

“Yes, they bought rice a while ago……”

“Anyway, the orcs are great.”

“I really don’t want to touch those guys.”

The maintenance of Vargo Fortress was completed so they had sturdy walls and defences. Unfortunately not that many monsters could come close now. The orcs’ desire to fight intensified and they would spar with each other.

“If I win this battle then I will lead 5 more females, chwiiiik!”

The female orcs that Weed avoided! The orc users actively showed off their courage in order to obtain their favour.

That’s because female orcs would give birth to a lot of children, increasing the user’s power. They felt happy whenever they received the love declaration of a female orc.

“Guchwi, I will bear your offspring, chwichichit!

“Thank you, Dechwi! My heart is glad to hear it, chwiiiik!”

“It would be good if someone has the appearance of Karichwi. Chwik chwik!”

The Geomchis and sculptural lifeforms also played an active role in hunting monsters around Vargo Fortress. Users also formed parties for hunting so the number of monsters around Vargo Fortress were drastically reduced.

“Come.”

“Please wait a little more.”

“Shoot now!”

Rangers and archers shot arrows from ambush spots. Archers aggressively took advantage of the distance and terrain! Vargo Fortress also changed tactics from defense to attack.

The armies of the Arpen Kingdom periodically went out the gates to fight the multitude of monsters and this burden was reduced by the presence of the orcs.

“Chase the monsters. Everyone strike and kill it. Chwichichichit!”

The orcs herded together and coolly fought.

– A skilled Orc Warrior was born.

– 3 Orc Warriors have become Orc Fighters.

The orc forces quickly became powerful. The orc’s power to rapidly expand was their most terrifying feature! Many young orcs were born even if some settlements were burnt by monsters. The number of individuals quickly increased to 390,000.

Ddiring!

– The Orcs have revealed their existence in the Northern Continent.

The Orcs have expanded their territory in the north through violence and selfishness. Orcs will fight with strong and dangerous monsters in order to test their limits and grow.

They are weak in front of magic and large monsters.

The orcs are a reliable existence.

If you step into the world as an orc then it will be possible to have many brothers. If you go with your brothers then you won’t easily feel fear.

– The Orcs have succeeded in fulfilling the required population.

Orc species can now start at Vargo Fortress.

As humans, various conditions would be required for activities. It included things like politics, security, technology or urban development. The only conditions for Orcs was their breeding power and strength so it was much simpler. Fellow kin and food are the only things required.

Yet the number of people who chose Orcs as a beginner was still low.

Anyway, it wasn’t possible to choose classes like magicians. Even combat professions like knights couldn’t be chosen.

An Orc would use their own strength to grow as either Champions or Shamans. However, an Orc could experience the freedom and romance of battles so users who selected this species wouldn’t regret it.

Once the video of orcs appeared on the bulletin board, they became the envy of players with different races and professions.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The orcs at Vargo Fortress had higher knowledge than those in other areas. They were influenced by the sculptures and artwork. But even so, the orcs couldn’t discuss anything seriously except for food and fighting.

Yet the orcs at Vargo Fortress were engaged in a serious discussion at the moment.

“What’s going on, chwiiiit!”

“That is, Karichwi… Chwi chwi chwit!”

Suspicious rumours about Karichwi spread through every settlement. Orc users who heard the rumour laughed as they already knew the truth. However this problem wasn’t a matter that the orcs could just overlook.

“I can’t forgive it, chwiik!”

“He is our brother, chwi chwik! Even if he ate more food than me, he isn’t a hateful brother!”

Soon 5 Orc Lords headed towards Morata.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed’s sculptures caused a huge craze in Morata.

– The statue of the God Galeria has been born!

The Conqueror God! This God disappeared once peace came to the Versailles Continent.

Galeria likes war and territory expansion and will grant blessings to those fighting against Barbarians and monsters.

His followers cause war so they don’t get along with the followers of the other gods.

When praying to him, the power of humans and orcs will increase.

A statue of the God Galeria!

He once again became known through the hands of Sculptor Weed. The stones statue of Galeria would have significant religious meaning.

A stone statue of Galeria has been completed for the first time in recorded history.

After admiring the statue of Galeria, health and mana regeneration will increase by 16% for one day.

The religious sculpture will permanently increase Faith by 6 points.

Humans and Orcs can now handle heavy weapons more comfortably.

Morale in battle will increase.

The Art stat has permanently increased by 6 points due to the creation of an ancient work of art.

– If a King or Lord who believes in Galeria causes a war of conquest, the fighting spirit of their soldiers will increase.

Movement speed of the army and supply units will increase.

Residents in a war who follow Galeria will have their fatigue decrease.

Kings who cause a war can gain popular support even if the residents’ loyalty is low.

More experience will be gained when fighting a bunch of monsters and Barbarians.

When defeated in battle and the territory is taken away, they will lose faith in the God.

The divine benefits from Galeria will be at least 3 times more if many tributes are offered to him.

God Galeria will have more influence over a kingdom than individuals.

“The Conqueror God.”

Weed was making sculptures of the various gods he saw at Ratzeberg. Due to the popularity of the popular sculptures, new religious orders and priests arose in Morata.

He didn’t separate the good or evil gods and just created sculptures of everything he saw in Ratzeberg. When he finished his 19th piece, his Sculpting skill finally advanced a level.

– Sculpting has risen to Advanced Level 9.

You are advancing towards the ultimate height.

Sculpting has become more delicate and refined.

You have gained a wider insight into the arts and Intelligence and Wisdom have increased by 39.

Charm has increased by 41.

Your Affinity to Nature has increased by 98.

Radiant Sword was learnt so Agility has increased by 7.

– Your Charm stat has exceeded 500 points.

The title ‘Sculptor who can express the beauty of the Gods’ has been acquired.

Favourable rumours will spread because you possess high Fame.

It will be beneficial when receiving an sculpture or adventurer commission.

Weed’s sculpture skill reached advanced level 9 and he even obtained another title.

In the meantime he had gained ‘Artisan of Excellent Works,’ ‘Ghost Captain who sailed into the Unknown,’ ‘Polar Explorer,’ etc. so he was happy to receive a new title.

His Fame also reached 110,000.

“Hmm, did I eat a meal today?”

Woof woof!

A dog passing by Weed on the street barked and shook its tail! Weed continued carving the sculptures. Then 5 Orc Lords came up to him.

“Chwiiit! I came to see the King.”

“Weed come down now, chwi chwi chwik!”

The Orc Lords caused an uproar as they barged into the Garden of the Gods.

The soldiers could’ve overpowered them but that might cause a war with the orcs settled at Vargo Fortress. They were a really troublesome species that caused him headaches.

Weed came down from the statue and asked them politely.

“What is the problem?”

“We’re all aware of it, chwiiit!”

“Chwi chwit don’t take us for fools!”

The Orc Lords strongly shouted.

Weed’s complexion turned pale.

‘Where did a problem occur?’

He started to organize his thoughts.

‘Wasn’t I hoping they would die before reaching the north? No, I was going to take action. I was busy so I couldn’t do that before they got here by sea…..’

Even so, his Sculpting Master Quest involved the Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. He could afford to be generous to the orcs because of that. Weed also believed something else. The orcs used glaives so this wasn’t a species he wanted to anger.

“Chwiichwit, Karichwi……”

“Eh?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. Chwichwichwit, we know everything.”

Feelings welled up inside the Orc Lords. Their eyes were red from tears.

“The smell is coming from you, chwi chwi chwit!”

“Chwi chwi chwit, you smell the same as Karichwi.”

Weed tried to smell his own body. Apart from the smell of various foods, there wasn’t anything strange.

“The smell hasn’t be washed off for over a year! We can smell other orcs, chwiichwit!”

“…….”

The orcs could smell their own kin!

In fact, Weed didn’t often wash. These days he just carved the statues and let the rain wash off is sweat. It would be strange if he was wearing expensive clothes but what problem was there if he was wearing beginner’s clothes?

But he wore these clothes for hunting, cooking, gathering herbs, blacksmithing and even carving sculptures. He also sailed to Jigolaths in these clothes.

“We left our home and came here to look for Karichwi. No human should smell like that, chwichwit. Karichwi is an orc who makes sculptures.”

His habit of not washing meant he was discovered by the orcs.

“We are brothers. Chwiii chwii chwi chwi chwit. It doesn’t matter that you’ve changed into a fragile human due to a curse, chwiik.”

The orcs believed that Weed had turned into a human due to a curse.

“We have decided to follow Karichwi, chwiiik!”

– The Orcs have joined the Arpen Kingdom.

They are a race with amazing survival abilities.

The troublesome part is that they are a race that consumes large quantities of food.

Hordes of orcs enjoy wide lands and fighting.

If Orcs join the kingdom then many events will clearly occur.

He didn’t know if this was a good thing……

Chapter 4: Worst Destiny

No matter what happened on the continent, Weed persisted in making his sculptures for the Garden of the Gods. He was tired from the huge construction on the Garden of the Gods but the crowd cheered every time a fine piece or masterpiece came out.

“Weed’s sculptures are really different!”

“Some might seem plain or ugly but it starts feeling okay once you look at it for a long time.”

He received recognition from people of various classes and roles but the evaluation was that he was a truly excellent sculptor. In fact, the advantage of sculpting was its versatility across many fields but not a lot of people knew this.

A Magnum Opus sculpture!

He worked together with Herman on a statue of God Batalli and gave birth to a Magnum Opus.

The Magnum Opus sculpture increased his contribution to each religious order and gave blessings to soldiers fighting against monsters in the region.

The users and residents also found unity by working on the Garden of the Gods. Weed’s first work after the founding of the Arpen Kingdom was a great success.

“Kuuuk, I have a pain in my lower back.”

“My lower body is numb.”

“I can’t lift my head!”

By the time Weed was carving the last statue, the road was full of collapsed players groaning. They had carried stones and dirt, opened a water channel and laid roads. They also fixed up the garden by planting trees.

There was no end to the required work on a large civil engineering project like this. Those who participated in the construction felt like they had serious heart problems as it finished.

The work was hard and the users often felt the temptation to fall down in the middle. But they couldn’t miss the opportunity to be involved in this construction. This deep emotion was really new to the users.

“Ah… That’s the last one.”

“It was really long.”

“I didn’t fight monsters yet I died 3 times from the work…..”

People were visiting the north and Morata was overflowing with tourists. People who went hunting timed their return to coincide with the estimated completion date while other users visited shops and restaurants.

“This will be the greatest place on the continent once this is complete.”

“It is a completely unbelievable amount.”

“There is nothing like this anywhere else. This place even has Grand Buildings.”

“Indeed. Now it will also be easy to receive blessings from the gods.”

32 magnificent sculptures were erected in the Garden of the Gods through the sweat and blood of the participating workers.

The marble temple also gave off a luxurious atmosphere and there was a square and lake in the garden.

Morata had many exceptional flowers. Weed sowed the landscape with wild flowers and seeds obtained from Prina. Gardeners also cultivated a number of trees and flowers from Morata. The landscape was under 24 hour supervision by the gardeners as the seeds started to grow. The Garden of the Gods will like a hunting ground to challenge for gardeners!

A performance venue was also placed on one side. It would be difficult to make a disturbance in a place with sculptures of gods but the performances told legends and stories associated with the gods. Once songs of praise started being sung, the Garden of the Gods became even more famous.

The speed of this process was beyond imagination and now the Garden of the Gods was almost completed.

Weed postponed the final sculpture until the next morning.

“Delaying by one day will allow more people to enter the city!”

Arpen Kingdom had low funds since it was mostly consumed by this project. If the Garden of the Gods failed then it would be the kingdom that collapsed when the ink had barely dried on the history records.

Weed’s fatigue had also piled up during this time.

“I will do the remaining work in the morning. Everybody had trouble so today you should rest to your fullest!”

The crowd in the vicinity of the Garden of the Gods cheered with joy and scattered to prepare for tomorrow’s big delight.

Weed and his colleagues decided to go to a pub.

There was a huge influx of players into Morata so Mapan set up a store and earned a fortune. He decided to buy them drinks so even the Geomchis and Herman went to dinner.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Huhu, I get to count money all day tomorrow!”

Mapan earned huge money from his business. He was a japtem professional merchant and his system covered the entire north. He was the President of the Northern Association of Merchants so he had a lot of influence. He owned important land in Morata and also opened up a weapon store, armour store and leather store in Vargo Fortress.

Other merchants watched Mapan with envy and wanted to learn his business skills.

“Mapan-nim, what is your secret?”

“The many years of trust with my repeat customers.”

Mapan had followed Weed since the early days and they had invested in Morata together. He had done business with users in the Central Continent who came to the north before beginners could start here and maintained it continuously.

Word spread among people and everyone regarded Mapan’s stores as the best. Mapan also used his contacts in other kingdoms to secure successful trades. He would buy Morata’s specialties in bulk to lower the purchase price and then get money and fame when he sold it at his destination!

The development of the north truly gave a lot of money to Mapan. Of course, all of this wasn’t his only secrets. Bribery and power was also essential. Mapan was the one who rejoiced the most when Weed became King of the Arpen Kingdom.

If Weed realized his dream of a dictatorship then his profits would increase!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kyaah, this is really delicious.”

“The chicken wings seem to separate and melt in my mouth.”

“The meat falling off the bone and this crunchy texture… As expected from the best pigs.”

The Geomchi practitioners had spent a long time hunting so they enjoyed the proper food. As the host, Mapan had borrowed the whole pub. Their appetite surpassed that of wrestlers so Fiery Pebble was used to roast the meat.

Fiery Pebble ensured that it was cooked properly while still being juicy. If Weed cooked than the food would taste even better but he was eating today.

“You’ve suffered in the meantime so please enjoy a bite to eat.”

Irene also picked up some meat and gave it to Surka. Irene was a priest so she benefited the most from the Garden of the Gods.

“Free food is delicious.”

Weed was in a relaxed mood as he enjoyed dinner. It was possible to eat dozens of side dishes along with the meat. Mapan was sitting in the corner of a table and his face became pale every time he saw the empty dishes, but he still ate.

Morata’s restaurants and pubs were crowded from all the guests that had come into the city. Merchants were engaged in business at the squares and received huge profit from people preparing for tomorrow.

“Now I think I know how to use my fists better.”

Surka said confidently.

She had been a little passive when hunting with Weed. Her combat style had been bold battles that lowered her health but she had fallen behind in attack damage. Although she could utilize her skills, her battle senses weren’t particularly excellent.

Even if someone had the exact same body, the results would be different depending on how they utilized it. But in the meantime she had been hunting with the Geomchi practitioners and was able to use them as a guideline.

“I have to learn to hit and hit until I am sore!”

Surka looked young compared to the others and her dimples when she smiled brightly made her even cuter.

There were 3 rules in fighting. Everyone knew them but it was difficult to master without direct experience in hunting. Even if a large number of videos were watched, that wall wouldn’t break until the battle actually started.

Maylon also laughed from a nearby place.

“Surka is scary these days. I don’t know how often she beats up the monsters.”

“Unni is also shooting the arrows better. The Arrow Tracking skill, haven’t you raised it closed to the master level?”

Weed suddenly became curious of their levels. Surka, Maylon and the others had been adventuring for quite a while. He remembered hunting with them shortly after finding Ratzeberg and being surprised at their skills.

Weed asked Surka.

“What level are you now?”

He was reluctant to say his level but they had no such qualms.

“I’m only 403.”

“403?”

“Isn’t my level still a bit low? I think Oppa is probably a lot higher than me.”

Weed was really amazed. His current level was 409. It was high but there wasn’t much difference with Surka.

“Hrm, I’m a little higher.”

“Pale oppa is level 411, are you much higher than Pale oppa?”

“Well, it’s not that high.”

Weed had been suffering at the wall of the 400s. While he was making sculptures, his colleagues had been adventuring and catching up to him. If Bardray came in then he would explicitly curse him!

“You’ve crossed level 400… Congratulations”

“Thank you.”

Weed’s lips trembled as he gave the congratulations. He was eating and socializing when a young boy approached him.

The boy had black hair and cold eyes. Not all NPCs were like that but this boy didn’t have the slightest changes in expression on his face.

Weed felt uncomfortable as soon as he saw him. It was similar to his junior high days when he sewed 400,000 doll eyes and would fear the Vice President. His mouth dried up and his hair stood up in anxiety.

Weed spoke softly to the boy.

“Hey kid, I’m having a meal now so please come next time.”

Weed’s fame was high so it was very easy for him to receive quests. After becoming King, many Morata residents gave requests so he could select the ones he wanted. Weed wanted to forestall him.

“And I am very busy keeping the peace of the Versailles Continent so I don’t know if I can accept your request. Find someone else first. You’ll be able to find some good people.”

He said moderately with the intention to refuse. But the boy just started laughing.

“A human like you has no right to decline my order.”

It was an astonishing remark given Weed’s status of King. But he hadn’t been able to live to this point through his willpower. Since childhood Weed had struggled to stay alive. He sensed that this boy didn’t have an ordinary status.

‘Who are you, the true successor of the Niflheim Empire? Did he show up because I fulfilled some conditions?’

If there was an important quest related to his class then the person would sometimes come meet them.

‘I heard they were all dead but if I suddenly popped up alive….. Maybe someone saved a member of the Royal Family. Then raised them quietly……’

Weed’s brain worked fiercely in order to grasp the boy’s identity. The boy was very proud but he didn’t have any knights escorting him.

Weed’s combat capability meant he would gladly welcome any monster to hit. He thought about using his fists instead of words but then Weed saw the equipment the boy was wearing.

‘Top of the line. His outfit is created by the best dwarven craftsmen.

His sword contained a black diamond the size of a duck egg. Moreover, the scabbard had a complex pattern drawn on it that proved it was 100% a magic sword. It was uncommon and he hadn’t seen anyone with a sword like that before.

His clothes were created with thousands of threads from a special worm that was woven in three strands. The best dwarven craftsmen would require at least 1 month of tenacious effort to make. Of course there was no one among users who wore such clothes.

‘He is even wearing winged shoes from Stellese.’

Only the most powerful Barbarian warriors could climb up Stellese Hill. The boy was wearing winged shoes that the Barbarians normally defended. The estimated level of the shoes was 590.

Weed instantly became modest!

“Of course. Tell me what you want me to do.”

The age of the opponent didn’t matter at all! He received recognition from many people but Weed didn’t forget his weak days of the past. He didn’t cringe when acting subservient.

“Your sculpting skills are fine.”

“There are others better than me.”

Weed worried about what type of quest would require his sculpting skills.

“I want many treasures that the underserving humans have. I’m the only one worthy of a sculpture. I want you to make it out of the Agate crystal that belongs to the human Belsos. I recognize that humans are weak so I will give some of my subordinates to protect you.”

Ddiring!

– The Treasure a Dragon Desires

King Belsos’s injustice!

Look for his legacy and make the sculpture the wicked Akryong Kaybern desires. Akryong Kaybern has determined that you have sufficient skills due to the sculptural tributes offered him.

The arrogant Kaybern has given a command.

“Sculptor, you will need to bring your friends if you want to survive. If you’re late then I won’t like it.”

The Agate crystal is delicate so working with it won’t be easy.

There are as many mysteries as there are stars in the sky.

Kaybern has promised 11 Spartoi to escort you to find the Agate.

Difficulty: Sculptor’s Quest

Quest Restrictions: Have to possess the best Fame as a Sculptor.

Relationship with Kaybern.

Must be resolved within 30 days.

No compensation will be given.

If you fail then Kaybern will kill you.

A minimum of 8 people is required to accomplish it.

You can invite 7 people to the quest. The people who reject will be killed by Kaybern.

“Keheok!”

The identity of the boy in front of Weed was Akryong Kaybern. It was the continent’s first but not necessarily happy Dragon Quest!

There was no compensation and he couldn’t fail either. Even if he gathered all the soldiers in the Arpen Kingdom, they would just be grinded between the evil dragon’s teeth like the dwarves.

‘I’ve already suffered and now I need to complete the dragon’s request if I don’t want to be eaten.’

There were two reasons why Weed ended up being involved with Kaybern. He once carved a silly piece based on Kaybern but it wasn’t famous. More recently, he had made some sculptures for the dwarves’ tribute.

The compensation for the dwarves returning safely ended up leading to this quest.

‘Just continue making the dwarves work!’

A Sculptor Quest associated with the evil dragon Akryong Kaybern! To make matters worse, Belsos was the reason why the temperature of the Versailles Continent increased and the Crimson Wing Guild’s destruction.

It was like a shrimp interrupting a fight between whales. Either way he was bound to fall down a cliff every step he took.

‘This is a Dragon Quest so the difficulty will unconditionally be above average. It is fortunate that it has something to do with sculpting…… If he managed to make the Agate crystal into a sculpture then it will be a really precious thing to the dragon.’

Weed nodded.

“I’ll find the thing you want.”

– You have accepted the quest.

Under the direction of the 11 Spartoi, you have 1 month to complete the Dragon Kaybern’s command.

It is impossible for you to decline. It is only a matter of whether you die earlier or later.

“You made the right decision. My anger will increase if I wait much longer”

The boy disappeared as suddenly as he appeared. Weed was silent before looking around the quiet pub.

“Keoheoheok!”

“I can finally breathe.”

“What was that just now?”

They couldn’t say anything while Akryong Kaybern was there.

“You just shared a conversation with a great existence.”

Weed respectfully summarized wat Kaybern said to him.

“The great dragon Kaybern who rules over the Thor Kingdom came here. And he gave me a noble mission to look for the Belsos King’s legacy and create a sculpture from it. Kaybern is after a really precious item. Although it will be difficult, I don’t dare refuse his request. I can obtain such glory from walking the path of sculpting.”

His interpretation……

– The evil dragon Akryong Kaybern left the Thor Kingdom to head to Morata.

He asked Weed who was a complete stranger to find the Belsos King’s legacy.

He said it like it was a good thing but he was forced to accept the dragon’s request or he would die. This was the dirty part about being a sculptor.

“Oh, he received a Dragon Quest from a legend!”

“As expected, Weed the maknae is really different!”

“Ya. Isn’t this something to be proud of?”

The Geomchi practitioners envied him. Being able to do a quest from the continent’s most powerful dragon! The eyes of his younger colleagues were full of compassion as they understood his explanation.

“He is Weed-nim.”

“Won’t he be able to do it well?”

“I believe that no one else except Weed-nim can do it.”

“This looks like a wonderful adventure. I’ll cheer you on.”

His colleagues tried to positively give him courage. Weed shook his head.

“I need to go to the Tomb of the Scorpion King in order to find the remains of King Belsos.”

Maylon nodded her head.

“Oh, is that so?”

She remembered the adventures of the Crimson Wing Guild that had been recorded.

“That is really dangerous. Quite a few people died when exploring it. And isn’t a key needed to enter the ruins?”

“I remember I made some sculptures for them so it won’t be that difficult to enter the dungeon.”

The Tomb of the King Scorpion was currently sealed. If it hadn’t been for the Crimson Wing Guild then he wouldn’t have known how to enter. In order to open the sealed door, 7 scorpions need to be placed at the exact same time so I need at least 7 people.”

“That… It was like that?”

“Yes. And I was told to seek other colleagues for the quest.”

Weed looked around at his colleagues.

“A dragon…..”

Pale was frozen.

“Finding the remains of King Belsos will be dangerous. Isn’t that right? Ah… I need to work at the station for a few days……”

She might be curious but she inevitably had to give up because Maylon was an office worker.

“Then can we get the treasures seen on the broadcast?”

Surka liked big adventures.

“We’ll be in trouble if we touch the wrong thing.”

Irene was nervous while Romuna seemed to be looking for an excuse to refuse.

“Yurin… Kuuck.”

Zephyr wasn’t in a position to refuse so their eyes said they would die together. Hwaryeong and Bellot wanted to go along. That’s because Weed’s adventures were never boring.

“Is it really dangerous?”

“Unni, it will be a huge risk. Couldn’t I create a great song?”

The Tomb of the Scorpion King was perfect for a bard.

‘If Maylon wasn’t broadcasting…..’

If he removed her then he had recruited 7 people.

Seo-yoon had great power but his conscience kept him from requesting her help too often. And he actually had special information about her.

While Weed was creating the statues, a wandering minstrel told him the story of a mad warrior.

Minstrels or poets would often come before kings or high ranking aristocrats to perform or tell stories.

“Your Majesty, do you want to hear a song about when I went to the Tohru Province?”

The king would listen to the bard’s song and give them a reward. A king could deliberately give quests based on information or clues obtained from bards or poets. There were hundreds of talents bards and poets with their own stories.

Weed deliberately didn’t have anything like a Court Party. The Arpen Kingdom’s finances were hovering at the bottom so he couldn’t afford to pay an event fee like that!

“I’m not asking for hundreds of gold for one song.”

Of course, a famous song had value but it could be dangerous to the survival of a kingdom.

“Looking at the past, many residents were squeezed of their taxes to fund the kings’ luxury.”

Weed’s thoughts were really ugly whenever he thought of those kings. They were born with a golden spoon in their mouths and sucked it until it lost clarity.

When looking at that, he knew that curtailing his expenses was important. In Weed’s case, his fame on the continent was so high that bards would often search for him in Morata.

A wandering bard from the north sang a song about a Berserker who made a Goblin Chieftain retreat.

Seo-yoon had probably gone there to learn her class skills. Of course, this information wasn’t certain but he decided to leave her to it.

‘If it is a false report then she can come find me.’

Weed smiled brightly after organizing his thoughts.

“Everyone’s level is over 400 so we can go.”

“Ha, hahahah, shall we do that?”

There was a rigid laugh!

The nice and gentle Pale was infected by Weed and his smile turned rotten.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The stations relayed Bardray’s battles and adventures every day.

“The strongest warrior Bardray!”

“Today he challenged a monster that has never been caught before.”

“Black Knight Master Quest! He ended it a short while after receiving the request.”

The audience cheered on Bardray as news about his Master Quest were broadcasted daily. Bardray had already advanced to the 15th quest.

This Black Knight Quest had a fixed scenario.

A knight had his honour betrayed by a king. He left the kingdom and racked up various achievements, money and made orphans and slaves his disciples. He took an army of mercenaries and raised them into troops. He then reappeared to battle with the kingdom so Bardray ended up defending a fort.

It was a quest of a scale that couldn’t be expressed!

The Knights of Telmedun. The infantry battalion of Telmedun.

Bardray picked 30 knights and put them in charge of 2,500 soldiers on the battlefield. These troops were for the Black Knight Quest so they were his personal subordinates. His goal was to raise a substantial number of elite troops.

“We will be able to occupy a small castle.”

Bardray also accepted a number of orphans and his soldiers increased to over 4,000 people. Quite a few troops would be consumed in battle so Bardray left the incompetent soldiers to the difficult tasks to be killed without mercy.

“Have them defend in front of the gates.”

“But Knight-nim, they are flocking to us.”

It was a situation where they had to safely defend the city from the monsters pressing against it. In contrast, standing just outside the gates meant death.

“They need to be able to do this much to become a knight. Then they will be able to accompany me to the end.”

“Understood.”

The orphans who became soldiers were placed outside the gates. Bardray filled the empty vacancies with children with better talent.

The Black Knight’s Quest inevitably required mercenaries so he preferred this method.

In the meantime, Bardray had been deliberately hiding his evil actions behind the Hermes Guild. However the scenes of him abandoning his subordinates without hesitation received criticism from the viewers.

“Completely bad. He abandoned his troops so many times in battle.”

“He uses his loyal soldiers as scapegoats in order to easily win the battle. He is really ruthless.”

“It is like aristocrats just throwing cash at commoners. Even the knight that fought with Bardray last time was thrown away.”

But the remaining troops became stronger so the audience couldn’t help feeling excited.

Bardray pursued power. His process of leaving aside any morals to train stronger units was interesting.

While everyone envied his adventures, Bardray wasn’t happy at all.

‘How useless and annoying.’

As someone who controlled the Hermes Guild, he could easily mobilize knights and soldiers. A lot of subordinates had already died to save Bardray.

The fact that he had to raise subordinates to participate in a historical war made it a frustrating quest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The skilled craftsman Fabio.

He was the celebrity dwarf blacksmith that made the best armour and swords. He had created the best armour and gained prominence since the early days of Royal Road so he received regular coverage from the broadcasters.

“This time I will make a decent sword.”

Tang. Tang. Tang.

Fabio returned to his forge without a break. The dwarf he raised as his apprentice carried the materials directly to the fire. The forge was very large and there was already a huge amount of iron ore piled up.

“Dad, an order for one hundred and twenty level 360 swords came in from the Trigger Guild. Should we accept?”

“Yes, collect it and go.”

A nearby dwarf sorted through a pile of swords and left. Even if Fabio didn’t put his heart and soul into a product, it would still have a minimum of 4~5 options. The attack, defense and balance were also good for the user who would wield it.

“The birth of a true awakened sword is still far away.”

Fabio struck with his hammer and continued producing swords. He created hundreds of swords trying to achieve his goal.

When beating at the sword, it would automatically become an excellent blade. A harmony was born between the iron and the blacksmith’s skills.

The dwarf blacksmith Fabio’s tanned body contained an aura of flames reminiscent of steel. He was a blacksmith that only worked on swords and armour. Sweat dripped off his body as he worked with the iron and flames.

Fabio’s blacksmith skill was 81.7% advanced level 9.

He was a giant crouched in a blacksmith forge.

————————————————————-

Translator’s Note:

[1] According to the legend of Cadmus of Thebes, the Spartoi are warriors born from the body parts of a dragon sown in the ground.

Chapter 5: Ruins of King Belsos

There were a lot of conditions needed in order for a farmer to settle in one place. Spacious and fertile land, clean water, free of natural disasters and monster attacks.

“Such good land is expensive.”

Therefore farmers claimed land protected by mountains rather than an expensive field. Wooden fences and trenches were dug to prevent the raid of monster attacks.

When soldiers and combat based users secured the peace of the area, the farmland could be expanded. When working on fields in the mountains, there were frequent cases of people dying to monsters. Therefore they had to go through a lot of trouble to grow crops but farmers liked that.

“It might rain in the evening today. Finish the job quickly.”

They planted seeds from the moment the sun rose on the morning fog and they quickly sprouted into stalks. If they conquered the environment and worked hard to give life then they could obtain a gold field. Only then could they feel the excitement of being a farmer.

Once the fields grew grains or the trees in the orchards grew fruit, they could take it to the market and sell it. Cooks would purchase the products for a premium so a farmer could feel the fun of being in the agricultural trade. They invested that money into buying more land and growing special crops. They didn’t buy weapons or armour and invested it all back in their land.

In the north, Morata’s relationship with the Elves wasn’t bad and the land was also fertile so it was possible to grow fruits from the Elves. If they took good care of the land then it would also affect the surrounding fertile earth.

The fruit trees were expensive but farmers took great pride in their fields and rice paddies. But when looking at expensive products, the most profitable thing was a herb field!

A herb garden could be created anywhere but it needed moderate shade, nutrients and fertile ground. Good herbs could stop aggressive attacks from mountain animals and monsters and cooks would pay a huge amount for them. Once stabilized, the crops would be easily grown and some land would remain intact.

It was a profession where only farmers with large lands would earn a lot of money so the merchants didn’t envy them. But when the limit to expanding the land was reached, they would sell the land to lords or other farmers. They would take unknown seeds and look for other rich land to settle in.

The professional Farmers Guild came to Morata shortly after the Goddess of Freya statue was erected.

“The northern lands are really wide so we’re not confined to farming in small territories like the Central Continent.”

“Over here. Look at the soil quality here.”

The guild members quickly discovered fertile soil.

“If something is planted here then it will grow well.”

“It goes without saying since this land is blessed by the Freya Church. Let’s farm here.”

At first they just planted simple crops like wheat and rice. Wheat could be easily harvested and a large piece of land wasn’t required. And the abundant harvest was beyond expectations! The grain was unharmed due to the protection of the Freya Church.

While worrying about a monster invasion, they talked badly about the Lord of Morata.

“The Morata Lord doesn’t have enough ideas. He doesn’t do anything even when monsters are threatening the peace.”

“That ignorant fellow doesn’t know anything besides fighting. He is like that.”

The farmers from the Central Continent had exporting in mind. But people migrated to Morata and beginners could also start there.

A consumption market was formed and the lord could give indirect support by building special grain warehouses for the farmers of Arpen Kingdom. Farmers who struggled to grow crops would have their hearts broken because it spoiled from no storage if the lords were inattentive.

“The Morata Lord makes a lot of investments yet he lives simply.”

“Isn’t that just to show a good face?”

“These days he is really aware of these things. If we clear the land then a ranger unit will protect it.”

When a farmer successfully grew crops like tomatoes or grapes, the fame of the area would increase and it was be registered as a specialty. They could then sell it as specialty items. Food merchants would visit them intentionally for purchases and the bulk resources would be stores in warehouses.

Some farmers registered olives as a specialty and cooks who used the raw materials make technological advances. Wine and beer breweries were also managed so grain would be consumed even more.

The livestock industry raising cows and sheep also gave large quantities of milk, cheese and food and Morata’s leather industry was highly competitive.

“Morata’s Lord is really wonderful. Who else would take such care of his farmers?”

“This is excellent timber. If we start growing herb fields in the Arpen Kingdom before it is too late then we can widen into orchards and vineyards.”

“I’d like to start coffee beans and sugar canes.”

Weed played a huge role in the reason why farmers could accumulate wealth. Many users who came to see Weed settled in the area, peace was strengthened and it was possible to defend against monsters.

Only farmers under the extensive protection of the King Hydra or Black Imugi couldn’t feel reassured enough to increase their yields. Just like more farmers were attracted after Morata’s development, it was the same when the Arpen Kingdom was established. Currently agriculture was booming.

There were also wild grass and flowers at Morata’s popular tourist spots.

Many birds flew towards this beautiful city. The birds that ate the valuable grain were the natural enemy of farmers.

“There are so many damn birds.”

“Whoa! I really wish I could get rid of all of them.”

The farmers frantically tried to drive them out of the fields worth thousands of gold but birds kept on flying over the area. It became so popular that travellers came just to see the birds.

“Noona, that bird over there is weird!”

2 special birds were the leaders. The special gold and silver birds pecked at the grains of rice.

Golden Bird and Silver Bird cried out with satisfaction as they ate like princesses.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The expedition left for Argoldia under the Church of Lugh’s request. The fact that expedition was heading towards one of the continent’s 10 famous Forbidden Zones didn’t bother them.

“Ah, I’m tired.”

“There seems to be no end.”

“It is already the second day and we haven’t found anything.”

Of course they couldn’t obtain food or water. The land was barren and hungry man-eating monsters roamed it. They were unable to find the Holy Land in Argoldia.

“We have to overcome it. We can do it.”

The paladins and priests from the Church of Lugh encouraged the tired people. It was natural that many of the users were clergy affiliated professions since it was a quest given by a religious order.

“Weed-nim actively played in one of the 10 Forbidden Zones. And didn’t he succeed?”

“If we give up here and return then we will just stay the underdogs. Let’s all work together.”

Despite that, the endless barren land tempted them to give up.

Hunger and thirst. Monsters that would eat their meat. Even the oasis they finally found had its bottom completely exposed.

“Kuooh… This place is also incorrect.”

“Let’s scatter and look a bit more.”

“It would be nice if it rained tomorrow…..”

“The last time it rained was one month ago, it is really terrible.”

Argoldia was near the territory of the Dark Wood Magicians so teleport magic couldn’t be used. Only small scale magic that didn’t cause ripples could be used in battle. If the Dark Wood Magicians discovered them then there would be a surprise raid. The attacks from senior magicians over level 460 were enough to make the expedition worry.

Time passed as they arrived in Argoldia and wandered around. Even if the elite users from Morata participated, a large number of casualties occurred. The fact that many people participated on important expeditions wasn’t necessarily a good thing. The users who were priests heard that the Garden of the Gods in Morata was being completed and wanted to return.

“The goal of exploring Argoldia, a Forbidden Zone hasn’t been completed yet you want to return to Morata just to see the Garden of the Gods?”

“I think there will be a lot more interesting adventures in Arpen Kingdom.”

“That would be better.”

A significant number of users belonging to the clergy affiliation and other professions left like a tide. The remaining personnel were only approximately 20 people.

“We must fulfil our mission.”

The Adventurer Spenson whose name was known on the continent decided to lead them until the end and reclaim the power of the Sword of Lugh.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed looked at the statues he made in the Garden of the Gods early in the morning. He had decided to complete the final statue in the morning and now wasn’t that time.

The night sky was so clear that it felt like the moon and stars were close. But Weed’s heart wasn’t comfortable.

In the past he had regretted buying a 200 won more expensive salt but recently he had made many more mistakes.

“I made too many mistakes in the battle at the Melbourne Mine.”

The fight against Bardray constantly came to his head while he was making the sculptures. Weed regretted his defeat and death but he wasn’t angry. The reason was simple. He was weak so he died.

“It is my responsibility to become even stronger.”

Bardray was known to be strong. He received support from his guild so the situation was disadvantageous from the beginning. However, that was just an excuse.

His regret was due to not showing all his combat ability in battle.

“I should’ve thought more carefully. I didn’t take advantage of everything to the fullest.”

It was a bad situation but he was used to that. If Seo-yoon’s health had been distributed through the wedding ring then he would’ve been able to hold on much longer. He would also be able to fight more actively if he could’ve utilized the Berserker’s skills.

However the thought of more reinforcements from the Hermes Guild burdened him so he fought hastily and died. He took a big hit all at once, making his health fall too quickly for the wedding ring to take effect.

“I did something foolish. Just like when I bought the 200 won more expensive salt.”

Weed scolded himself for dying. He couldn’t accept receiving so much damage from the Hermes Guild users. Although the situation was complicated, the amount of damage received by the elite Hermes Guild users was amazing. Their skills, level and cooperation was enough that the Belkain couple only irritated them.

“And I was very careless. My preparations were insufficient compared to the enemy.”

He hadn’t used Summon Sculpture intentionally. He didn’t want to suffer larger damage if they were destroyed. Even Disaster Sculpting couldn’t be used because there were no nature sculptures.

Things like a volcanic eruption took too much time to activate, leaving Weed in danger. Therefore it was useless in a decisive moment. It would be better if he had a Disaster Sculpting suitable for the dungeon and then being able to fight.

Moonlight Sculpting Blade was useful in fighting enemies. He used it often in hunting so its proficiency was also high. But it consumed 3 times the mana of Sculpting Blade so it couldn’t be used often in battle without something like the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

“I released my tension in many ways.”

The outcome of his reflection was that Weed was lax in his last battle. If he was defeated then he had to become strong and take away their lives!

“I even lost the decent Talrock’s Armour.”

A unique class item. He acquired it a long time ago so the options were somewhat old but it was still good to wear. Weed tended to focus on damage more than defense so he frequently changed his sword. He had a soft spot for the armour so it pained it when it was taken away. He felt betrayed that the Talrock’s Armour he frequently wore was going into the hands and purse strings of someone else.

“I can’t do that again.”

Before completing the final god statue, he decided to create some sculptures he could use with Disaster Sculpting.

Suddenly haunted to death by a swarm of insects. They could penetrate through rocks or humans and monsters.

In fact, Weed had already made a diverse range of Disaster Sculptures so he struggled to think of some that transcended imagination.

“Whatever it is will be terrible. Even pouring hot water on the body will be fine. I won’t always have ice so I should prepare some sculptures in advance.”

He had experience with the disasters. He prepared sculptures beforehand in case there was trouble in a place like the mine.

It truly wasn’t useless to frequently see bad things.

“A robber who hits the bank several times will probably end up stealing well.”

Weed created the Disaster Sculptures until morning.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Is it going to start soon?”

“It really is the end.”

“I’m nervous for some reason.”

“I was suddenly shoved back.”

The Garden of the Gods was going to be completed this morning so a large crowd was gathered. The excitement grew because there was only one last piece left. Those that participated directly were even more impressed.

“Uhh… where will we go after that is created?”

“The expedition to explore the ruins of King Belsos shouldn’t be that difficult. We just can’t make any mistakes.”

“Hah! I’m anxious when looking at the Crimson Wing in the past.”

Surka, Romuna and Irene’s complexion was dark. When the sculpture was completed, they would leave with Weed to explore a dungeon so their expressions couldn’t be bright. Kaybern’s Spartoi had already arrived.

“As expected, you shouldn’t be too good.”

Pale and Irene felt as they watched Weed. They suffered for no reason thanks to that guy’s personality!

“Staying near an unlucky person like that really causes bad things.”

The morning sun rose and showcased the final sculpture. The crowd became bigger as time passed. It was like feeling hunger for the best dish so they would be even more impressed once the sculpture was completed.

“This morning, it is a really historic moment for the Arpen Kingdom. A new chapter will open in order to reap more taxes.”

Weed carved the lips of the sculpture. He had left the Statue of Freya until the end.

Paladins and priests ran all the way from the Central Continent when they heard it was going to be completed. He had already made a Goddess of Freya Statue in Morata but it would only be completed once placed in the circle of gods.

The Goddess of Freya Statue was beautiful so there were several concerns about it being the final work. He applied lipstick to add a shimmering gloss to the mouth, added make-up to the face and the Goddess of Freya Statue was completed.

Ddiring!

– The statue of the Goddess Freya has been born!

She is the goddess of beauty and abundance. The goddess exerts a lot of influence on humans.

The work of a renowned sculpture has expressed her beauty.

By rebranding a work from the past, the Freya Church will consider this sculpture more valuable.

– Friendship with the Freya Church is now 54.

– Contribution to the Freya Church has increased by 960.

You can confirm your contribution points with a religious order under the Religion window.

Total Contribution Points with the Freya Church: 21,291

The contribution points to the related religious orders would rise once related quests were accomplished.

The Freya Church has a cathedral so if the residents’ faith increases then the contribution point would rise steadily every day.

The King or Lord can also get major benefits.

Ddiring!

– Sculptures representing the gods have been gathered in one large area.

What will you name the sculptures that have been completed?

“The Garden of the Gods.”

– The Garden of the Gods is correct?

The labourers and users were already calling it that. It wasn’t that bad considering Weed’s normal naming sense.

Construction land, Town next to Morata, Tax Garden and the Hermes Guild Villains were all possible names.

“That’s correct.”

Ddiring!

– The Garden of the Gods has been born on the Versailles Continent!

The place containing the god sculptures has a dignified appearance. Every race that comes to this place will be able to feel a reverence and piety.

The sculptor Weed who is King of the Arpen Kingdom has completed a massive construction with his residents.

The original forms of the oldest gods have been recovered.

This is a place of religious important so large trees and flowers will bloom while spirits will enjoy it.

Each religious order on the Versailles Continent will register it as a sacred place. Pilgrims will come to visit the Garden of the Gods.

The fame of the Arpen Kingdom is very high.

Those who believe in the gods will receive blessings.

The expansion of the country with a high culture has reached its maximum.

The residents’ loyalty has changed to respect to the monarchy itself.

A country’s fame was very useful in the trade of foreign and local specialties. Goods imported from a more well-known kingdom would be given a good price when trading. Merchants would rejoice when they procured something from a certain kingdom.

Weed also had a personal message floating in front of him.

His friendship and contribution points with the other religious orders had risen and he also received the blessings of the gods.

A dictator who exploited people was blessed by the gods! In the process of making the sculptures he had completed 2 Magnum Opus, 3 Masterpieces and 7 Fine pieces. He also completed numerous Historic, Religious and Giant sculptures.

His Leadership, Endurance and Perseverance stats also rose by a lot due to leading other people and creating the sculptures.

His sculpting skill proficiency reached 38.2% advanced level 9. His skill proficiency steadily rose thanks to the creation of a large religious work that spread through the whole continent.

Weed’s increase in sculpting skill proficiency wasn’t the biggest harvest from this work.

When he looked at it in the long term, the creation of the Garden of the Gods not long after the founding of the Arpen Kingdom would result in great benefits.

“Kyahahaha! It is finally over!”

“Now let’s play!”

Users who participated in the Garden of the Gods cheered, throwing up their caps. The musicians played their instruments vigorously.

“Travel, Wind, Pork, please come to these restaurants. I will give it to you for a cheap price. Lettuce will be free!”

“Deliciously dark beer! My place just got a new cook so dishes are flying out. Guests follow me if you want to eat!”

“Grass Porridge Cult! Grass Porridge Cult members. There will be a regular dinner today at Pulsul Cafe!”

The people in Morata had been waiting for this day so it was no different from a festival. There was a flurry of petals to celebrate the completion and stores opened wide their doors. The shacks and houses also put up signposts.

– I carried stones in the Garden of the Gods 14 times.

– I shovelled for 4 hours at the Garden of the Gods.

– Merchant’s House. Donated 2 pieces of marble.

Every place has something they were proud of.

Tourists and settlers kept on coming from other places so the atmosphere continued for a while.

Weed might be the King but he was also the sculptor who created an enormous piece of work that drew crowds. Even if other sculptors received the support of a guild, it will be impossible for them to match his popularity.

Many residents smiled brightly and gave expressions of pure joy as the Garden of the Gods was completed. The status of the sculptor would change the piece of work.

Weed thought it was a chance to look good for the residents and used Lion’s Roar.

“The Garden of the Gods will be opened for free forever!”

“Hooray Arpen Kingdom!”

“Hooray the continent’s best sculptor Weed!”

Weed brought greater joy to the users!

“I really have no choice but to like Weed-nim.”

“Yes. I really love Weed-nim’s adventures and it is the reason why I came to Morata.”

To be honest, Weed had no choice but to make it free. It had a large influence on the clergy affiliated professions, making going there an essential part of their profession.

If he received an entrance fee then the income would be really huge but the task would’ve been impossible if the crowd didn’t participate. It wouldn’t be easy for Weed to charge an entry fee without any resistance.

In addition, it was also unfortunately classified as a religious building so he couldn’t charge an admission fee. However the positive effects from completing the Garden of the Gods weren’t small. Weed had no choice but to be satisfied with that degree.

“There will hopefully be more good facilities in the future. I’ll be able to collect the taxes for those.”

If other lords, sculptures or architects on the Central Continent to build a great building or piece then they couldn’t hire a large amount of people. Apart from conditions like technology and development, a large and long term investment of money was required. When looking at how long it would take to succeed and the benefits, it wasn’t an easy decision to make.

It was a great achievement to be able to build a Grand Building on the Central Continent. The cities in the Central Continent had high economic and technical prowess but were somewhat impoverished as a result of the war.

But the lords hadn’t been worried about increasing the number of users. The lords just thought of ways to squeeze the users. New users were still growing so they only thought about raising the taxes higher. Their focus was just on the immediate profit. It was the same for all the surrounding lords so it was difficult for things to change.

That was the circumstances of the Central Continent so it was no wonder Weed was so popular among the general users. The people who suffered under Weed in Continent of Magic couldn’t understand how he could be such a kind King of Morata.

“You should go do Kaybern-nim’s important task.”

A Spartoi clad in shining armour came to Weed. Weed had wasted one important day making sculptures so it was necessary to hurry. He couldn’t imagine being late for Kaybern’s quest.

“There are many things I need to do as Arpen’s King but I’m going now. Wy-3!”

A wyvern came flying and landed in the Garden of the Gods. He decided to use the wyvern to move to Belsos’ dungeon. The terrain was unknown and the Spartoi had high resistance so Yurin couldn’t move them with her Picture Movement. The bystanders looked on in amazement at Weed, the wyvern and Spartoi in the Garden of the Gods.

“Are they the Weed-nim’s Royal Knights?”

“Look at that armour. It isn’t ordinary.”

“It looks really strong. Isn’t that in the mid or late 400’s?”

“I thought that the Arpen Kingdom’s army was weak… He really hid such knights!”

“Why does the Arpen Kingdom have Royal Knights with such high levels?”

Weed and the Spartoi were also broadcasted live on television screens.

“They are Spartoi!”

“Spartoi, aren’t they made with the body parts of extremely strong dragons?”

“Yes. I’ve never seen Spartoi in battle but considering the standard of armour they are wearing, they should be able to face off against the highest class monsters. I estimate that their correct level is 500.”

“The Spartoi have amazing magic resistance, the health is close to infinite and there are hardly any dents in their armour.”

“Ah, it really is amazing! Did Weed-nim receive a Dragon Quest and is being escorted by the Spartoi?”

“If it is anyone else then I wouldn’t understood but it isn’t strange if it is Weed.”

The hosts at the broadcasting station’s studios said with amazement. Many late level users were interested in the Garden of the Gods so they were also shocked at the sight.

“I thought the Arpen Kingdom was weak since it was just founded?”

“I thought the north wasn’t a particularly big deal but it really can’t be ignored.”

The broadcast of the completion of the Garden of the Gods suddenly came alive at the appearance of the Spartoi.

The Royal Knights symbolized the power of the Kingdom. A person had to go through a series of complicated quests given by the King in order to be appointed a knight. Once users were a knight they would receive benefits like a salary, horses and armour but they had to swear allegiance to the king. The appointed knights would command soldiers to hunt monsters in dungeons.

He had to pay attention to things like this when becoming a King. Wonderful knights would increase the fame of the King and the Honour stat would rise. They could also proudly boast about them.

While everyone was impressed with the Spartoi, Weed and his companions were the only ones who knew that they belonged to Akryong Kaybern.

If Weed didn’t succeed in his quest then they would become hostile straight away.

Chapter 6: Final Sculpting Master

“The fog is spooky.”

“I heard it is always full of fog here.”

Weed and his colleagues arrived at Musos Valley that contained the Tombs of the Kings riding the wyverns. The eyes of the Spartoi glared into the distance as they looked for monsters or threats. Mountain beasts and monsters wandering around turned pale and escaped from the Spartoi like there was an earthquake.  It was the futile appearance of high ranking monsters. They also didn’t like Van Hawk and Torido.

Weed clicked his tongue.

“If I caught and peeled off their leather then I could’ve sold it for an expensive price.”

“This seems to be correct.”

Pale who was searching discovered the entrance. It was the entrance to the tomb of King Belsos that was previously opened by the Crimson Wings Guild. But there hadn’t been any visitors since then so it had been sealed up again.

They cleared the stones at the entrance and entered the ruins.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The stones walls in the interior of the ruins was a natural cave carved in a flat and wide form. There was a big, circular pillar in the middle but monsters could be hiding in the area so they were nervous.

“This is where I show my skills.”

Pale went forward.

“Wind’s Eye.”

– When the space is connected, it is possible to see through objects.

It was an archer skill he acquired after reaching level 400. Even if he hadn’t obtained another archer technique, Pale had grown in pure combat. He was an archer who faithfully followed Weed and raised his stats and skill proficiency.

Pale placed an arrow on his bowstring.

“Twilight’s Arrow.”

– Sticky webs hanging from the arrow will slow down the enemy’s speed.

“Wind of Guidance.”

– It is possible to hit targets seen with Wind’s Eye. The arrows have to be aimed accurately in order to track down the enemy.

Pusyung!

Pale looked at a wall and shot his arrow. His archery proficiency meant he could combine four types of skills on one arrow. The arrow flew straight and moved along the wall before disappearing.

After a few moments.

Kyahaak!

The shriek of a monster was heard. Pale used his rapid fire skill and continued to shoot arrows until the monster’s scream gradually disappeared. He showed a glorious way of hunting monsters in dungeons. It was an ability that only high level archers could execute!

It didn’t matter if there was only one but if there were multiple monsters then it would be difficult to deal with. Arrows could reduce the monster’s health by many times before they arrived. It could also be used to lure a monster. Pale’s arrow could get rid of the enemy or slow them down.

The monsters that arrived became the victim of Surka’s fists.

“Yon han kwon, Matchless Power, Wheel Power!”

Abdomen, flanks, forehead.

The distinct skills hit different areas like a storm. Feeling the tingling power in the fists and the sound of something being hit was the best.

“Heheh, haven’t I become a lot stronger?”

Weed was gratified that his companions grew a lot.

“Well done. This means we can stay together the next time I receive a S class quest.”

If the suffering was divided up then it would be reduced. He was much more comfortable suffering with his companions than alone! The blood drained from his colleagues’ faces as they heard Weed’s words. They boasted about their strength and now they were involved in something bigger!

And he increased the speed as they aggressively explored the ruins.

In the past, the Crimson Wings Guild had gathered 300 users to explore the tomb of King Belsos. At that time, they were one of the overwhelming guilds on the Versailles Continent so it was possible to do something like that.

“If we keep on going straight down then we will reach the door to the King’s tomb.”

“I understand!”

“Irene-nim, I have received a blessing so only restore my health if my life is at risk.”

“I’ll do that.”

Weed commanded before exploring the rest of the ruins. The group was filled with people over level 400. The individual power was quite strong compared to the Crimson Wins so their exploration was much more effective than the previous ones.

He also put Kaybern’s Spartoi to use. The Spartoi were skeletons that wore the first class armour the dwarves made. They were humanoid skeletons so sharp bones were visible. Weed gave the Spartoi instructions.

“Go and fight.”

Although dealing with the monsters with his colleagues were tolerable, the small insects called Armoured Insects in the ruins were annoying.

“There is no obligation to listen to your words.”

“It is necessary for the work the great god Kaybern has entrusted me with.”

“…Understood.”

The Spartoi walked up in their rattling armour and cut the Armoured Insect. They felt like machines as they handled the Armoured Insects in the blink of an eye.

‘It would be nice if these guys were my subordinates…..’

He estimated that the Spartoi’s level was at least 520 so they were dependable in battle. They were magical creatures born for battle! Weed looked at their form from behind.

‘It is fine for them to die. If the Spartoi are wiped out by monsters……’

Weed would swipe the armour and swords the Spartoi had equipped! Weed’s eyes became sly.

“Spartoi, keep on charging forward from now on!”

“Kirit, understood.”

The Spartoi moved forward as hundreds of monsters with sharp claws emerged. Fierce fighting broke out inside the passages.

“Well done, Spartoi!”

Weed watched the fight while cheering on the Spartoi. The sharp claws relentlessly attacked the Spartoi. They attacked with their claws as well as biting and spewing fire.

But the Spartoi’s health didn’t decrease that much no matter how they were attacked. Akryong Kaybern’s strong protective magic was hanging around them.

The sharp clawed monsters were the ones who hesitated instead. The Spartoi didn’t feel any sense of crisis at all and hunted down the enemy one by one.

“Well, of course they won’t die that easily.”

Weed had the Spartoi defend their position. Thanks to the Spartoi’s excellent attack and defense, hunting became easy.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

“Master, you called.”

“Fight.”

Torido and Van Hawk helped out in battle while Weed used his secret sword technique.

“Sword-cloning skill!”

5 fake bodies were formed. After being defeated by Bardray, he realized he needed to raise the proficiency of his various combat skills. He aggressively utilized sword skills in a fight. The fake bodies attacked the monsters with sharp claws. The monster’s claws struck Weed after he ran forward.

– You have been attacked by the Malluk.

– The blessing of the goddess Freya on the Goddess’ Knight Armour has been activated.

Defense will increase by 27% depending on the damage from the monsters.

His defense had increased thanks to the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

“Okay, this is enough that I don’t need to move.”

Weed improvised a combat style that was different from normal. Normally he would go forward and deliberately fire off his skills. Even Bardray admired his sophistication and agility in battle.

“Close Eyes Tightly, Radiant Sword!”

Pabababababak!

Weed had been hit by sharp claws and used a secret sword technique. Now three shining sparrows emerged. It rushed to take care of the enemies while he closed his eyes. He didn’t avoid any attacks and continued using his combat skills.

Raising Resilience and Perseverance required a lot of patience since most people tended to avoid damage rather then be hit. The change in his hunting method made it a little more efficient. However his fighting style worsened like he was in a dogfight.

“Hit me more, still too weak. Give it to me, come on!’

This was the first time he used the Goddess’ Knight Armour in battle. His basic defense was high and the helium meant mana recovered quickly so Weed could continuously use his sword skills. Bellot breathed out a deep sigh.

“Weed-nim is really…..”

Even if he was ignorant, he shouldn’t fight ignorantly. A man should consider his appearance when fighting. Hwaryeong just smiled.

“Weed-nim has that beastly charm. Kyaaaak!”

“……”

She was a really friendly older sister buts sometimes Bellot really couldn’t understand Hwaryeong.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

They arrived safely at the entrance to King Belsos’ stone chamber. The Spartoi helped a lot but they were tired from the many monsters. Weed didn’t look good despite standing still for most of his battles.

Irene asked anxiously.

“Are you okay? Should I use some treatment magic on you if you’re in a bad condition?”

“That’s okay. Phew.”

His Perseverance now exceeded 900 points and his Resilience over 500. This was the result of the vicious hunt and making sculptures.

Warriors tended to develop defense skills by blocking attacks with shields. It was difficult to raise basic stats like Weed.

He would purposely end up in the wrong place when attacking monsters.

“I really made the right choice with this armour.”

“……”

The difference between the 85 defense of Talrock’s Armour and the close to 300 defense of the Goddess’ Knight Armour was like heaven and earth. If he used Armour Polishing that increased defense by 20% widened the gap even further. The effect of the 200 defense difference reduced the monster’s attacks by 1/5th.

“Now I only feel a ticklish sensation.”

Once he wore the Goddess’ Knight Armour, he could ignore various attacks and fight more aggressively. That alone had an impact on his attack power and the helium also quickly refilled his mana.

The use of secret sword techniques and various combat skills also increased his hunting speed. It was regrettable that he lost the Talrock’s Armour but it led to a profound growth in various abilities.

“It would’ve been perfect if I sold it off at a high price to a good buyer.”

“Huh?”

“Nothing.  Now let’s all place the sculptures.”

They were the scorpion sculptures that symbolized King Belsos. Weed picked up a red stone from the altar. He had made the pieces in the past but he couldn’t remember the details.

A huge quantity of sculptures had passed his hands and spread through the continent. A vast amount was also piled up warehouses. The sculptures could be sold at a good price on anniversaries or with special sales.

“I’ll create better scorpions than back then.”

Weed took the ores and started carving scorpions. And he handed it one by one to his colleagues.

“Put it on at the same time.”

“Yes.”

A tense atmosphere flowed for a while. The Crimson Wings Guild had gone to the tomb of King Belsos and ended up cursing the entire Versailles Continent. If they took that into account, there would be a great risk if they entered.

Naturally Weed had considered that part.

‘I’m doing this secretly because I don’t know what the result will be. I can deny it until the end.’

He hadn’t made it public like the Crimson Wings Guild and the entrance of the ruins confirmed that there was no one else inside.

Kukukukukukung!

The door made a large noise as the red scorpions were placed. There was a significant amount of monsters wandering inside. They cried out harshly as they saw Weed’s party and attacked.

“Spartoi, go to the front and protect the entrance.”

“Understood.”

They were the monsters that protected the King’s Tomb so they were more dangerous and higher levelled. The video of the Crimson Wings’ attempt provided many useful information.

Weed decided on a stable hunt without overdoing it this time. Thanks to the Spartoi guarding the entrance, he decided on long range attacks. Romuna’s senior magic, Pale’s arrows and Zephyr’s ranged fishing rod were quite powerful. Surka’s fists and the Spartoi damaged any beasts that tried to sneak out.

“I have to start dancing as well.”

“Unni, I’ll play a quick rhythm!”

Bellot and Hwaryeong’s song and dance dazzled the beasts. Weed stopped using Radiant Sword and used the bow and arrows from the Elves to methodically eliminate the beasts.

The entrance was thoroughly blocked and they hunted through long range attacks. Experience and loot easily piled up from the beasts. It was a situation that all combat affiliated users dreamed of.

“It is a little bland. I want to go up close!”

But in the end, Weed chose to leave the safety of the Spartoi and hunt the beasts. The beasts were dangerous but the Goddess’ Knight Armour showed its power.

“Healing Hands!”

Irene treating the Spartoi wasn’t necessary but he could still receive intensive care. Weed was good at staying still when carving sculptures but he wasn’t satisfied with that when hunting.

He wanted to raise his skill proficiency and obtain loot!

“Weed-nim, I’ll cover you.”

Pale concentrated his arrows on the bests behind Weed. Romuna also prepared her spells.

The beasts were dazed and weakened by Hwaryeong and Bellot so they moved slower. He fought within the controlled space of the King’s Tomb.

“Kyah!”

And Weed’s eyes became wet as he saw the gold scorpions, gold, silver etc. piled up in the treasury. He had seen it in the video of the Crimson Wings Guild’s invasion but it was still impressive.

“G-gold coins and jewels…”

Weed’s voice trembled like a young boy confessing to his first love. But his face looked like a politician who had seen a huge bribe.

“You shouldn’t go there. Weed-nim!”

“I know there will be trouble if I touch this.”

His colleagues were suspicious of Weed trying to collect all the treasure. The Crimson Wings Guild made the mistake of touching the treasure and caused a huge curse. The treasure was like a pie in the sky. People suffered huge risk to come here only to not be able to take anything away.

Weed’s brain returned when his colleagues pulled his arm. He calmly analysed the gold coins, jewels and items!

‘The jewels have a lot of value. If disposed of, they would go for at least 3.4 million gold as the market price. If Mapan sells it then he can achieve at least 3.67 million gold.

Taking into consideration the fluctuating market price, there is at least a 3% error margin. Weed didn’t touch the stacked up gems.

“Chyap chyap chyap chyap!”

Saliva just dripped down!

“Oh look at this sparkling jewel.”

“Unni. This bag as well. This is the bag that the princess from the Rosenheim Kingdom wore.”

“Really? It is a limited item. I also wanted this.”

Hwaryeong and Bellot couldn’t keep their eyes off the leather accessories and precious jewels.

“Kyaaaah. So pretty. I want to wear this and show off in a square.”

“Look at this glistening hue.”

The girls were happy just looking at the bags, jewels and boots.

“Isn’t this a staff for a priest?”

“Look at these diamond encrusted gloves.”

Irene and Surka’s eyes shook as they looked at the equipment. Romuna showed a lot of interest and lingered in front of a magician’s robe surrounded with a red light.

Weed wasn’t the only one that became greedy when looking at the items! Weed found something strange about the accumulated jewels.

“The workmanship is quite excellent. A dwarf’s work? But it isn’t a method that the dwarves like.”

Dwarves preferred workmanship that emphasized the beauty while this one was simple and expressed the colour of the jewel.

“There are even more strange things.”

Weed was able to recognize that a glass item was completed by a sculptor with considerable skill. There was also a large coffin in the centre containing the remains of King Belsos. The pattern engraved on the lids that was designed to harmonize the spirits wasn’t ordinary either.

“The standard of the scorpions also isn’t ordinary.”

All Weed needed to do to enter the King’s Tomb was to make scorpion sculptures. But the scorpions in this tomb was so sophisticated that it made his work seem like something made by an infant. There were many treasures but he wanted to check the sculptures because he was a sculptor.

“Maybe this is…”

Weed raised his hand to the scorpion pattern on the wall.

“Inspect!”

– You have failed.

“As expected, this is…”

Weed became even further convinced.

“Inspect!”

– Scorpion Sculpture

A sculture created by the Sculpting Master Belsos La Deus the 3rd. He expressed the form of the scorpion that he really liked.

Artistic Value: 472

Special Options: Increase the breeding rate of scorpions.

Power is stored in it

“He is a Sculpting Master!”

Weed had met the final master, King Belsos. And the memories contained in the sculpture started to show.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Belsos was born in the southern desert.

He possessed the blood of a king so he was often pursued by assassins. He followed along with the desert tribes and carried their luggages.

He was interested in swords and sculptures. Belsos carved small sculptures by hand and received recognition from the targets. He learnt how to use the sword from mercenaries wandering the continent and the desert.

He became an adult and returned to his clan. Belsos wore a scorpion necklace and had fresh tribal tattoos on him.

After he became King of the Brukan Kingdom, he ruled over the southern desert. Belsos was called the Great King of Fire and numerous fire spirits followed him.

“The march of the Brukan Kingdom.”

“Gather the soldiers in the desert!”

There was a war with the other desert tribes. They slaughtered the nomad tribes and took away their camel, cattle and sheep. King Belsos’ father had been killed by them so he left none untouched.

The army of the tribes consisted of over 100,000 camel cavalry. They wielded long, curved swords and bows skillfully. They fought differently from the knight corps of the Central Continent who threw spears while engaged in melee fights. But their combat power wasn’t inferior to the knights of the Central Continent.

On the other hand, the Brukan Kingdom was lacking by 30,000 soldiers. This included the general infantry that didn’t ride the camels. King Belsos’ army also contained tens of thousands of fire spirits as well as humans.

If the battle occurred in the grasslands or forests instead of the desert then everything would be burnt. The fire spirits were able to roam around freely in the sand of the desert.

King Belsos brought peace to the desert through the fire spirits. However he couldn’t be a good king. The land was a desert so grain couldn’t be grown and there were fights between tribes over oasis.

King Belsos had no choice but to enter the Central Continent. He mobilized his fire spirit friends and gained a wide territory through war.

The vast treasures they obtained every time they won a battle clouded the eyes of his tribesmen and they wanted more blood instead of working the land.

Belsos felt lonely as he could hardly ever leave his palace. But his people further extended the war. The desert tribes had been trained in battle so the walls were no longer impregnable targets. Even if Belsos didn’t fight, the blood of his people continued being sacrificed to the kingdoms in the Central Continent.

“The sculptures are beautiful but they are unable to make up for the humans’ greed.”

King Belsos turned to his spirits and sculpting. He collected rare materials and made sculptures in his palace.

A garden decorating an oasis in the desert, a camel peacefully drinking from a stream etc. were all sculptures created.

The desert tribes who had fallen to the allure of war couldn’t understand the meaning of the sculptures. As King Belsos’ territory expanded and more warriors were recruited, more treasures came into the palace.

Once the king became older, those who regarded themselves as successors appeared and fought among themselves. Belsos’ army of fire spirits were quiet but there was already a horrific slaughter outside.

Belsos just continued making fire spirit sculptures. It was to the extent that the number of fire spirits following him couldn’t be fathomed. Then he eventually abandoned his human flesh and became a spirit.

He was the king of the fire spirits.

After Belsos disappeared from the royal palace, the fire spirits also vanished. There was no more reason to fight and the Brukan Kingdom collapsed. The successors entered the palace and plundered everything expensive. The many beautiful sculptures that Belsos made in the palace burned.

The Brukan Kingdom were weakened by the war between the tribes and the Masen Kingdom once again drove them back into the desert. Fortunately, several mementos and other valuables had been moved by Belsos to the Musos Valley before the palace was plundered.

There was little remaining of King Belsos despite his achievements.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– You have obtained information about the Sculpting Master Belsos La Deus the 3rd from the sculpture.

You have obtained information about the Brukan Kingdom.

Historical knowledge has been acquired.

Knowledge has increased by 14.

You have already completed the quest associated with Elemental Sculpting.

“The Sculpting Masters truly don’t live ordinary lives.”

Weed felt bitterness as he watched the memories contained in the sculpture.

“Someone who died… He built up treasure because he felt loneliness!”

It was truly unfair! The king never enjoyed the luxury and pleasures. When viewed from Weed’s personal perspective, he couldn’t understand the king.

It would’ve been lovely if he had that much wealth. He would use it. He would collect more treasures and use his power to rule over the people of that world.

Anyway, Belsos wasn’t a usual king. He lived his life and became a master at sculpting spirits.

Every Sculpting Master had their own strangeness.

Darone created many pieces of the same woman and eventually realized Sculpture Transformation through his affection for the sculptures. Zahab loved a queen and developed Sculpting Blade and Radiant Sword. Emperor Geihar Von Arpen gave live to the sculptures he viewed as friends and developed Sculpture Life Bestowal. Finally, Belsos was king of the desert until he disappeared to become a spirit.

“I have to be careful. I can’t be exploited or squander my money.”

Weed was in a much lighter mood but he also felt wary as he visited the King’s Tomb.

It wasn’t possible to call the Sculpting Master King Belsos a perfect man.

Chapter 7: Spirit King’s Sculpture

Weed informed his other colleagues of the information he obtained. Irene smiled lightly.

“The King of the Fire Spirits cursed the continent to be hot because people carelessly touched his relics.”

Surka also expressed her excitement at the interesting story.

“I like hearing about unusual stories of the past. Aren’t we the only ones who know about this unknown history of the Versailles Continent?”

Hwaryeong and Bellot were discussing putting on a show about King Belsos.

There were a lot of small scale performance venues in Morata. Performances often occurred in Light Square or Bingryong Square and stats would increase depending on the success and audience reactions.

Weed created sculptures with historical stories and this historical information would have a good effect on the performances. The audience welcomed this with performances because they could gain more knowledge stats.

Of course, it was only possible to gain some stats the first time hearing the historical fact. That’s why the audience kept on demanding better performances. It was the reason why bards travelled around the continent asking for stories.

“Then I just need the Agate crystal.”

Weed found numerous Agate crystals in one place. The quantity was quite a lot as he saw at least 120 of them.

“But I don’t know if I can take it!”

Belsos’ tomb had many treasures such as a desert warrior’s equipment. But there was no assurance that he could leave with the sculpting material.

“I have to do this somehow.”

Weed was deep in thought The treasures couldn’t be opened that easily. Some traps might be installed! In this case, he had to be suspicious and watch the boundaries.

Weed felt even more suspicious thanks to his experiences so far.

“The Dragon’s Quest won’t end this simply. Why else would the Spartoi be sent for support? We wandered a short while looking for the ruins and there was a fight against the monsters but I can’t really say that we struggled.”

Usually quests of this difficulty would work out fine and he would feel happy until he was hit in the back of the head. So far he had many experiences with high difficulty quests.

“There is nothing that can be easily solved in this world.”

His colleagues stood quietly and waited for his choice. If the wrong choice was made then everyone would be in trouble so they had to believe in him and wait.

Zephyr whispered.

“I’ll just believe in Weed-nim’s decision.”

Bellot also spoke in a low voice.

“These are also my thoughts. We will become cockroaches that won’t die even if we’re stepped on.”

Weed’s other colleagues also agreed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“I won’t do that.”

Weed decided not to touch the sculpting materials.

He felt tremendous anguish but the agate crystal was more important than gold or jewels. The Crimson Wings Guild had touched the treasures out of greed and suffered for it.

“It is like ordering a fried chicken that came marinated.”

Weed looked around the king’s chamber for other materials and treasures. Based on the memories he witnessed from King Belsos’ sculpture, he needed to discard greed.

“I understand that he made a lot of elemental sculptures.”

Belsos had lived an arduous life from an early age and the spirits were his friends. And he discovered a statue of a Fire Spirit that was half finished!

It wasn’t made with an ordinary skill. It had the appearance of King Belsos ling in the desert and his entire body seemed to consist of an elemental spirit. Weed looked at the unfinished sculpture and it seemed like a puzzle had snapped in place.

“The Agate isn’t a treasure but I don’t know if I can take it. I don’t know if a curse will happen or not.”

Weed had his Sculptor profession in common with Belsos. Sometimes having spirits as partners would lead to social problems.

“But King Belsos was a Sculpting Master so he must have Elemental Sculpting.”

Weed had learnt the skill on his own but judging by the memories he saw in the sculpture, King Belsos 100% had Elemental Sculpting.

“If I complete this sculpture then I would probably learn Elemental Sculpting.”

If so, he obviously had to finish this sculpture. This was a place related to a sculptor so the statue could be seen as a very important key. His colleagues just continued to watch as Weed’s thoughts got deeper and deeper.

“How are we going to do this?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think we can escape with the treasure right now…..”

“Let’s check the surroundings once again.”

“Ah, he’s laughing!”

A rotten, confident smile was on Weed’s face.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Calling the fire elemental, lullulu!”

Weed sang as he carved the sculpture of the spirit.

“Indeed, this luxury is really different.”

King Belsos had left an unfinished sculpture behind and there were materials available to complete it.

If an elemental shaman went on this quest then they could build up achievements. Or they would discover a high ranking spirit turned to stone. The power of the spirit inside the stone would match the shaman’s attribute.

Flames rose significantly every time Weed carved the stone. It was like adding oil to a hot frying pan in a Chinese restaurant.

– Your health has decreased by 237 after being burnt by the fire.

While Weed was suffering making the sculpture, the others were just eating jajangmyeon with pickled radishes.

Flames continued surging as he sculpted the figure. It was the best environment for the formation of an elemental sculpture.

Pale came and informed him.

“Weed-nim, it is time for those guys to appear.”

“It has already been 1 hour.”

King Belsos’ tomb was infested with the beasts. They periodically entered the stone chamber via other passages. Weed also needed to handle them with his group. He could leave it to his colleagues and the Spartoi but he wanted to hunt directly.

“Radiant Sword!”

The degree of proficiency had increased and now 5 sparrows of light appeared. Flashy effects occurred as the 5 sparrows collided with the monsters. His sword techniques had clearly become stronger as Sword Mastery increased.

“Weed-nim, this time it is the Ice Locker.”

The boss class beast, Ice Locker!

“Sword-cloning skill!”

Weed used Sword-cloning instead of Radiant Sword. The effect of Sword-cloning when hunting against 1 strong monster was really good.

Sya sya sya sya syak.

Weed formed 9 clones.

Grrrr…..

The Ice Locker looked confused as its eyes alternated between the clones.

Pale, Zephyr and Surka had yet to attack.

“I’m going!”

Weed ran towards the Ice Locker. His clones also ran at the same time.

Kyaho!

The Ice Locker breathed out strongly in front of him. Extreme cold!

It hit one of the running clones and the body froze.

Kyahahahak!

The Ice Locker’s elbow then struck the clone violently. The clone turned into a grey light and scattered. The enemy’s special attack was effective at neutralizing the Sword-cloning skill.

While the other clones induced the monster’s attack, Weed’s Daemon Sword struck the neck of the Ice Locker.

– You have dealt a fatal blow!

The other clones then jumped onto the Ice Locker. Weed aggressively continued with his attacks.

– You have dealt a fatal blow!

– You have dealt a fatal blow!

– You have dealt continuous fatal blows!

– The Ice Locker has hit its head and has become confused.

“Step on it!”

After it fell into confusion, everyone gathered together and mercilessly showered attacks upon it!

“Die.”

“Hit it!”

Now Zephyr and Surka who had been waiting struck. Romuna’s magic and Pale’s arrows also hit.

Weed’s ‘Step on it!’ was the signal!

Hwaryeong and Bellot who had low attack, defense and health normally couldn’t participate in close combat but they also played an active role. They poked with a dagger and hunted with steel instruments. Weed attacked the opponent with Sword-cloning while Zephyr and his other colleagues supported him.

It was a classic party combat when dealing with strong monsters! The monster was weakened after being confused by the continuous fatal blows so it was easily taken care of.

His battle style really changed after learning a secret sword technique. Sword-cloning had a tremendous effect when hunting several monsters at the same time. The clones helped with defense and also improved overall damage.

Although the rapid mana consumption was a disadvantage, it made hunting significantly faster. Furthermore, his mana regenerated quickly thanks to his ring, Baharan’s Bracelet and the helium in the Goddess’ Knight Armour so he didn’t feel the need to conserve his use of Sword-cloning.

The Geomchi practitioners still couldn’t take advantage of the skill properly but Weed was perfectly utilizing it.

“This secret sword technique is really great!”

He gained skill proficiency, experience and loot!

Weed and his colleagues had brought a lot of bags into the dungeon. It was filled with loot every time they hunted.

– Should I depart now?

– Waiting a little longer is acceptable.

Mapan periodically sent whispers to Pale to confirm the situation. Recently he had bought 12 tamed gargoyles for a very expensive price. Only the highest level merchants could have a flying gargoyle transportation unit.

Mapan was prepared to come and trade at any time.

Weed’s group used various ways to hunt in the ruins.

“This is a great hunting ground.”

There were many beasts so somethings King Belsos’ jewels would drop as loot. It would be different if he came alone but his trusty companions were professional and organized. Now that Weed had taken care of the boss monster, he didn’t worry about defense as much and had higher damage.

His companions’ skills also harmonized well. They had grown together from the early stages of the game so they could understand the meaning with just one look.

‘He intends to hunt for 3 more hours. Ugh, I can’t feel my legs.’

‘So many of these beasts have come out. I once again raised my Perseverance stat while hunting with Weed-nim.’

‘Ah, I would like Weed-nim to prepare a good meal and I want to walk around wearing the new shoes and clothes that I bought.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kuhuhuhuk.”

“Sa-hyung, this is really nice.”

“Yes. This is the taste of hunting.”

The Geomchi practitioners also used Sword-cloning and Radiant Sword. The monsters were getting increasingly stronger so it took more then the basic sword skills to hunt them properly.

They found it fun to find treasure in dungeons or hunt boss monsters together. It wasn’t possible to catch the boss monsters by themselves but their combined power was like a death penalty.

Wielding a sword while riding a horse or a wyvern was a man’s romance!

“It is exciting.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim!”

“Let’s have unlimited fun!”

Orcs were now in the vicinity of Vargo Fortress and high level users had come en masse. The Geomchi practitioners defeated the monsters and seized the rugged mountains.

They climbed to the top of a high mountain and shouted wildly. The clouds moved around underneath them. It was a wonderful sight. They enjoyed a wild life while depending on their strong power!

The Geomchi teachers and practitioners didn’t care about their levels. They were just satisfied at being able to fight freely. They ran down the mountain trails covered with the dew of dawn and felt an exhilarating feeling as they fought against monsters.

Their Weapon Mastery skill had increased and they were thankful they could fight like this.

Experience accumulated and they acquired more levels and loot. They had adapted after the time spent in Vargo Fortress and recently fewer people had died.

“No. 2.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim.”

“We have a pretty old map of Royal Road.”

“Time has passed already, Teacher-nim.”

“Yes……”

Geomchi looked at the iron sword in his right hand.

‘I’ve realized the taste.’

He thought that virtual reality was really wonderful. As the flesh became more developed, there were fewer chances to show it in reality. Even if a quarrel occurred with someone else, you weren’t supposed to fight or hit the person. Martial arts were only used to entertain the crowd.

Royal Road helped to relieve his desires.

“The student who was caught holding an iron pipe in junior high really likes this.”

“The practitioners also like it.”

The dojang practitioners adventured in Royal Road while risking death in every battle. They willingly entered the capsule even on weekends or breaks.

“But it is really strong.”

While Geomchi was inspecting his sword, Geomchi5 came and asked quietly.

“If we don’t do our best here then wouldn’t our pride be hurt?”

The instructors and practitioners accepted death lightly.

In Royal Road, it would be difficult to win if there was a large difference in level or equipment. The judgement and reaction of the body was a huge help but it was limited.

“It sounds like a fun dream. Here…..”

“……”

“I want you to learn this sword. By learning the sword, you will end up looking at yourself.”

In reality, even if they trained for decades then one mistake would cost them their lives. They were full of vigour when young but became weaker once they aged.

Even if it was impractical, that was still life. That’s why the instructors chose the rough roads when learning the sword. If they experienced real physical suffering, threats to their lives and the joys of becoming stronger then they would be great swordsmen.

Once all these things got stronger, they would find their inner voice.

“We will become stronger in this place.”

“Then……”

“This will be a good learning experience.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed only had 6 days left to spend in King Belsos’ Tomb. That’s because Akryong Kaybern’s quest had a time limit!

“This rude, spoiled lizard has done nothing to help!”

While hunting and creating the sculpture, he heard rumours from outside.

– Bardray has completed yet another quest.

– Was it shown on a broadcast?

– Not yet. The news just broke. It will be broadcasted this evening.

Bardray had succeeded in his 15th Master Quest. Class Master Quests normally had between 15~20 steps so he had almost reached the end.

Weed was only on the 14th quest. The Sculptor Quest might have been shorter than the Black Knight’s due to some luck but he was at a disadvantage.

“Eueuum!”

He felt a pain in his stomach as he continued making the elemental sculpture.

“If I’m feeling a pain in my stomach then I need to eat some medicine.”

When taking into consideration that he couldn’t be late to meet Kaybern, there wasn’t a lot of time left. The advantage was that half of it was already done but it was difficult to express the rest.

The elemental sculpture caused huge flames every time used Sculpting Knife so the environment was bad. It reduced his health and also obstructed is vision. He had to bear with the fire difficulties in order to complete the tricky sculpture. Working faster could ruin the work so he needed to be focused and meticulous.

“If I somehow manage to raise my level then I will kill that lizard…..”

He had hunted dragons when playing Continent of Magic. Weed made a promise for the future.

Ddiring!

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“A Tribute from a Junior Sculptor to Belsos La Deus the 3rd.”

Weed had completed the elemental sculpture. Flattery while setting the name was indispensable!

– A Tribute from a Junior Sculptor to Belsos La Deus the 3rd is correct?

“It is a great honour to be able to work on the elemental sculpture originally made by the King. That’s correct!”

Weed cried out. He had 6 days left to complete Kaybern’s quest.

– Magnum Opus! A Tribute from a Junior Sculptor to Belsos La Deus the 3rd has been completed.

King Belsos lived a lonely life while making the sculptures. Not a lot is known about his sculptures so artists can’t evaluate it properly.

King Belsos left the work unfinished and the genius Sculptor Weed who has been rising like a comet on the continent has completed it.

Sculptor Weed is also the King of the Arpen Kingdom. His sculptures have always been a big topic on the continent and nobles covet his pieces.

If this remarkable piece of work becomes known then it will be an opportunity to evaluate King Belsos’ artistry.

Artistic Value: Source belongs to Master Sculptor Belsos and a joint work with the next sculptor= 19,834

Special Options: Belsos…health and mana regeneration will increase by 31% for a day.

Power over the fire spirits across the continent will increase by 3.2%.

The level of the Summon Fire Elemental skill will increase for 1 week.

More fire spirits will appear.

The power of any fire magic in the vicinity of the sculpture will increase.

All stats increased by 24.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures. Current number of Magnum Opus created:  15.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 1,953.

– Art stat has increased by 21.

– Perseverance has increased by 7.

– Charisma has increased by 9.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 3.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 37.

– You have created a sculpture of the Fire Elemental King.

Due to the special experience, your fire resistance has increased by 3.4%.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

Weed didn’t create the sculpture by himself so he obtained less stats. Even so, it was a Magnum Opus so it was a great harvest!

‘All my effort and bloody sweat I shed has been rewarded. This thing was exceptionally difficult. Not every sculpture will be easy.’

King Belsos had flames wrapped around his entire body. It was difficult because he had to express it naturally, not artificially but he managed to accomplish it with no mistakes despite the flames.

Most sculptures blended in with the surrounding scenery. Some gave the feeling of serenity under a clear sky filled with white clouds. The Garden of the Gods was a magnificent work of art that stretched into the sky and incorporated the earth as well.

The light emitted from the Fire Elemental King sculpture gave off a strong presence.

Weed was satisfied with himself.

‘These materials are really good.’

His colleagues also admired the work.

“As expected from Weed-nim, you made a Magnum Opus.”

“I knew that a great work would come out.”

“…….”

His companions accepted the sculpture he made with so much difficulty like it was natural!

Weed forced a smile onto his lips.

Thanks to the rise in fire resistance, hunting became easier. Typically ice magic was more dangerous. The body couldn’t move and it would lose combat power. But many monsters utilized fire and there were dangerous fire spells.

Furthermore, if his fire resistance reached 100% then he could use the Dragon Sword, the Red Star. Weed’s fire resistance was already over 7% thanks to the magic circle in the Jigolaths and now it had increased by 3.4%. If he wore an accessory like the Ring of Famous Fire then his fire resistance would increase even further.

‘If I buy a necklace or bracelet then I can increase it by 79%.’

If he used Sculptural Transformation into the relevant race and his blacksmith skill was applied then he could take advantage of the Red Star.

‘A day will come when I can use that item. I can’t throw anything away.’

Picking up japtem gave him a rewarding feeling. It was the spirit that wanted to save so much it would transfer a used diaper to another child!

The resistance would change depending on the species he changed into with Sculpture Transformation. But if he prepared it in advance then he could utilize it.

It would be possible to become the original owner of the Dragon Sword.

“That is the difficult thing about stolen goods.”

After meeting Akryong Kaybern, Weed realized he couldn’t use it for normal hunting. If he utilized it moderately in important moments then he could see it for a high price when the time came.

Then the temperature of the stone chamber rose. The high temperate was like flames were occurring at midday in the desert.

The huge, golden statue of the scorpion opened its eyes.

“Eueuum…..”

“Isn’t this really serious?”

“Somehow the signs don’t look good.”

Weed’s and his companions recalled the suffering of the Crimson Wings Guild in the past. King Belsos had wiped out the entire expedition and the continent fell under a curse.

“Gulp.”

Weed was as vigilant as the time he heard that city gas prices were rising on the 9 o’clock news.

Flames spread quickly and a fire spirit came flying out. The fire spirit wandered around inside the stone chamber. It was a cool but frightening sight.

The Fire Elemental sculpture started burning even though he hadn’t given it life.

– Humans have visited my land…..

The second coming of King Belsos! Weed quickly kneeled down.

“I have a lot of respect for the Great King Belsos and it is an extreme honour to meet you. I am a junior sculptor wandering the continent. I came here due to the request of the wicked Akryong Kaybern but it is an honour to meet you!”

Weed fired off flattery like a quick fire gun! King Belsos looked at Weed and his companions.

– You are qualified to meet me. Without being blinded by greed… My test was passed brilliantly.

Ddukkum!

He wasn’t just talking to Weed but the party in the corner.

– And there is a person following my path to glory.

King Belsos was covered with fire. And King Belsos walked with his fire towards Weed.

– Raise your head and stand up. People who realize true beauty don’t have to bow.

– Dignity and Honour have increased by 24 after being recognized by Belsos, the Fire Spirit King.

Weed’s head spun fiercely. If he could live like that then the world would be good. However he did everything possible in order to live.

‘Would I score more if I lived like that? It is imperative that I be polite. This might seem like the rules of decorum among sculptors but it is strange for another sculptor to receive equal treatment.’

Weed decided to lower his head a bit more.

King Belsos had a ruthless persona. It was the same in the past when he was a human and when he cruelly expressed his displeasure to the Crimson Wings Guild.

He was even scarier now that he was so polite. It was like the neighbourhood child in the public baths who would behave before drawing on the bodies of other men there.

“No it is okay. This is easy for someone like me who is following the path of a sculptor.”

He had no prior knowledge of King Belsos but the words fluently flowed out of Weed’s mouth.

It was a voice that was a master of flattery!

Chapter 8: Choice of the Northern Lords

Fire spread wildly around the body of King Belsos. Fire spirits were also flying around the stone chamber.

– It is rare to see a junior sculptor with such a wonderful attitude.

Weed’s thoughts were correct. King Belsos was weak to flattery! They might pretend differently but there was no one who didn’t like flattery.

– Yet here you are.

King Belsos grabbed Weed’s arm.

– Your health has decreased by 489 after being burnt by the fire.

– Your health has decreased by 832 after being burnt by the fire.

– Your health has decreased by 1,309 after being burnt by the fire.

– Your health has decreased by 372 after being burnt by the fire.

– …….

Weed’s health fell excessively. But despite that, Weed’s eyes were shining like a lantern.

“Your Majesty, thank you very much!”

His colleagues couldn’t stop their admiration. When hunting and adventuring, it was relatively easy to raise intimacy with the village residents. But it would be difficult for someone to think about intimacy in this situation.

Usually people would stiffen when encountering a powerful monster but Weed’s instincts had kicked in.

– I want to thank you for coming here and finishing the sculpture I couldn’t complete in my lifetime.

“Comparing myself to the Great King Belsos is like eating kimchi ramyun with chopsticks.  No, the sculpture was already equipped with the proper form and proportion.”

– Humble sculptor, you are putting down your skills.

“My sculpting can’t compare to that of King Belsos. I might receive recognition through the Versailles Continent for my sculptures but it is modest compared to your sculptures.”

– You will develop more in the future.

“I’d like to be taught by a great king like you.”

Weed was able to carry on dialogue about various topics.

– You passed my test so I will give each of you one present. Say what you want to have.

Ddiring!

– You have completed the sculpture and finished the adventure in King Belsos’ ruins.

You can receive a present from the Fire Elemental King Belsos.

You can choose between summoning fire spirits, advanced fire magic or pick something from the treasury.

“Hrmm…..”

Deep anguish rose on Weed’s face. His other colleagues also received the benefits of completing the adventure despite Weed making the sculpture.

In the meantime, Romuna didn’t think too deeply and chose first.

“Your Majesty, I’d like to learn advanced fire magic.”

– You will receive something in accordance with your proficiency.

Romuna’s robe clad body was covered in flames.

– You have acquired the fire magic, Flame River.

“Kyaah!”

Romuna uttered an ecstatic cry. It was a wide area magic that would cause a river of flames to wipe out the enemy. Unlike the ‘Burn’ spell, there was no need to be close to the enemy to strike.

But Flame River wasn’t a useable magic in a dungeon. On open areas like the plains, it was a magic of mass destruction! The biggest advantage of a magician was their destructive power so obtaining advanced magic was a great profit.

“We would like to receive a treasure.”

– This place contains things that I collected when I was human. I no longer need it as a spirit. You can choose one item from among the goods.

Everyone else excluding Weed examined the treasures. Although the jewels were desirable, most of the items here were unique or legendary! Treasures that were enough to expand a kingdom on the Central Continent were gathered here. They were presents prepared for a special quest or event.

Hwaryeong chose a pair of beautiful and brilliant ruby earrings.

“I…..”

Weed was conflicted even at the last moment. It was difficult for Weed to choose based on what he knew about King Belsos. One of the top treasures Weed had, the Teuresec’s Horn couldn’t be compared with the items here.

‘The fire spirit will help sweep up the enemy…..’

Spirits could be mobilized for combat without mana consumption.

The Crimson Wings Guild leader Terose had desired the flame sword and was burned up! The flames struck the shield and armour and baked the enemy. Defending against the best sword was impossible. Furthermore, if monsters were gathered than the fire would spread as mass killings were possible.

Everyone worked hard to hunt but the outcome also depended on their skills and weapons. If he obtained the flame sword then Weed would be quite comfortable despite his lacking level. His blacksmith skill and fire resistance meant it was possible to use the sword.

“So my choice is… I don’t want Great King Belsos’ treasures. I’d like to receive some some Agate crystals as a sculptor. Kuuck.”

Weed said with tears flowing down his face. In the end, Akryong Kaybern won over his greed.

– Sculptor, you really want…

I have a number of sculpting materials gathered that isn’t necessary. You can have all the sculpting materials.

“Thank you for your kindness.”

In addition to the Agate crystals, there were several materials that weren’t expensive or difficult to obtain.

“I would’ve preferred something expensive, my worst destiny…..”

Weed lost all his strength as he walked to collect the Agate crystals.

– You have received a present from the Fire Elemental King Belsos.

– Sculptor.

“Yes, Belsos sunbae.”

Weed’s words became short.

He deserted the relationship after getting what he wanted!

– My thirst for art has risen again after seeing the sculpture.

“So?”

Now the only thing left was to leave the ruins so Weed asked bluntly. Of course, he would instantly cringe if King Belsos showed any signs of physical threats.

– I would like to make a sculpture with you.

Ddiring!

– The Fire Elemental King Belsos has made a proposal to make a sculpture together.

Belsos can stay in the human world for a week and you can’t leave the King’s Tomb.

In the past he had collaborated with Darone and was taught Sculptural Transformation! At that time, Weed was low levelled so he learnt a lot.

But now he was on an almost equal footing with Belsos from his perspective.

‘It is impossible to make a large sculpture in a week so I can work on a sculpture with the Agate crystals.’

If he worked on it with a Sculpting Master then it would be a work with a high artistic value.

Weed asked in an uncertain voice.

“If you try and claim ownership later…..”

– I have no desire for that as a spirit.

“As you know, this isn’t an industry that is very rich.”

– I have no intention of receiving anything.

A contract will be made before starting the work.

“Then it is good!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon entered Morata with light steps.

Architecture, sculpture, artworks, performances and cooking! Normally she didn’t meet any people in the hunting grounds so she was happy to see the bustling city.

She had watched from the early days as Weed raised Morata. This was the city that Weed protected and was the Lord so she also had a lot of contribution. She had settled early in Morata, cleared the dungeons in the north as a Berserker and sold the loot she obtained in the stores.

“I’m sorry but I can’t dispose of these precious materials yet, Visitor-nim. How about going to the kingdom in the south where you can receive a fair price?”

“I’ll sell it here. It is okay even if the money is less.”

– You have contributed to the development of Morata.

Contribution has increased by 17.

She disposed of precious materials early on and helped with commercial development. It was common for high level users who came to Morata to wear the equipment she disposed of.

Once the park and bridge were opened, she also gained enormous contributions. The north was plagued with a host of migrants so housing was insufficient and construction costs were required.

She had 32,000 contribution points. It was a very high amount.

‘One day I want to go here with him.’

She thought about going around Morata with Weed on a date. Thanks to the impact of the Tower of Light, there was a bustling night scene. At night, lights from the building could be seen in the clear water running under the bridge. And when looking at the Tower of Light from a far place, there was a wonderful atmosphere between lovers.

Seo-yoon was standing beautifully on the bridge!

‘I’m not very charming.’

Seo-yoon enviously watched the female users walking around with men. If she wasn’t wearing a mask then many people would be rushing.

There were many male users who looked at the Ice Beauty to relax before leaving on a hunt. The crowd in front of the Ice Beauty was equal to those in front of the Goddess of Freya Statue. Unlike the other sculptures, there was a mania involved with those watching the Ice Beauty.

‘I’m not pretty because I’m too pale. Weed-nim doesn’t dislike me……’

Seo-yoon had been pretty since she was a child but she had no idea about her own beauty.

When she walked to school, the men and women would look at her face. But none of them tried to start a conversation with her.

Seo-yoon thought she wasn’t attractive but the actual situation was completely different. Her beauty was so dazzling that all thoughts left their heads. They didn’t dare say anything. They were just happy if they could see her again.

After trading in the stores, she sat near the fountain and watched people. The sweet sound of music from nearby performances drifted on the wind.

Seo-yoon closed her eyes lightly.

She hadn’t come here for some time so the number of users since the Garden of the Gods was finished was intense. At night, the city was bustling with tourists.

Beginners lived together in shacks Novice users who settled early in Morata could go on adventures and receive quest rewards. The city was gradually evolving to form a middle class.

“Looking for a party to take on a level 180 dungeon. You can check the shares distribution.”

“Priest looking for a group. Anyone seeking a priest? Level 230, I won’t doze off and will work hard!”

“The Grass Porridge Cult is going on an expedition. A level restriction of 210 or more. Up to 300 people going to the west. Gather!”

As the level of the users increased, the goods also became more sophisticated. However intermediate users didn’t have the funds to build houses on the hills or rivers with good views. Their priority was investing in equipment rather than homes.

The stabilization of house prices was an extremely sensitive topic to users. In Morata, anyone could easily build a shack so the low housing prices were maintained. But the shabby houses would harm Morata’s landscape.

This housing problem was easily fixed by the appearance of the new ceramist profession. Ceramists had amazing dexterity just handling the soil. They collected soil from the river instead of hunting.

“I have to quickly create a workshop!”

A ceramist needed their own workshop. It was difficult to work with fire in the city and monsters infested the riverside. The monsters were just snacks to Weed but they were a fearful existence to the ceramists.

They utilized their ability to the utmost and built houses. The house was made of pure clay and earth! The lakes and river near Morata had a lot of mud so it was a good building material. The houses built by the ceramists were a huge topic among the Morata users.

“How much is the cost of construction?”

“It is just water and soil so it is a similar price to the shacks.”

“Oh, really? How many days does it take to complete?”

“One day.”

“The best! Can you build my house? I’ll give you a fee.”

There was an active response among the intermediate users as word of the clay houses spread. It was an opportunity for beginner ceramists to earn money!

The strong point of the clay houses was that it was built with natural materials. Therefore it wasn’t complicated to heat the room by burning wood so it was popular among users.

“Kyaa…How good.”

“This way. It is incredibly warm.”

Having such a warm seat on a cold night really set the mood. The Morata users could rest and fully enjoy their adventures in the north. Friends gathered to bake sweet potatoes and eat fish while discussing their expeditions and hunting. Along with honeyed grass porridge, there was nothing more they wished for.

As the level of the users grew, they moved out from the shacks to the clay houses. The shacks on the hill and the clay houses near the riverside helped to maintain the cheap housing prices. The clay houses were the new characteristic of Morata so the ceramists had a chance to gain a position early on.

Apart from the houses, they made bowls and pottery that sold extremely well.

The Ellyons that moved to Arpen Kingdom also mined more minerals and cultivated grains. Coffee and melons were also registered as new specialties.

There was an especially big reformation from the extensive visit of clergy affiliated professions. Religious orders from the continent dispatched priests and paladins to see the Garden of the Gods and praised the King of Arpen as smart.

The kingdom gained fame and increased its relationship with the various churches. Players wearing white uniforms or holy armour continued coming from the Central Continent. Priests and paladins weren’t the only ones that could be seen in the Garden of the Gods.

“How much money do you have?”

“3,400 gold. Why?”

“If you donate here then you can raise your contribution.”

People came to the Garden of the Gods to donate a substantial amount to the god they believed in. The donations were collected and architects started to construct cathedrals. It was the reason why construction still continued in the vicinity of the Garden of the Gods.

People who came to the Garden of the Gods also visited the Art Centre and the Arpen Kingdom’s culture expanded.

– The Arpen Kingdom’s culture has become widely known.

Many visitors bought artworks as commemoration and brought it back to various cities and kingdoms.

Weed’s status as a King also affected his sculptures. Knights and soldiers would pledge their loyalty more easily. Just like Weed’s fame as a sculptor, the kingdom’s culture also expanded at an incredible pace.

– Tares’ Cathedral has been completed.  Its religious influence in the Arpen Kingdom has risen.

– The Arpen Kingdom’s reputation has reached a small mountain village in the far reaches of the north.

Merchants from the Central and Eastern Continent are eager to engage in dealings with the Arpen Kingdom.

They are eager to import high quality agricultural products.

– Arpen Kingdom’s political influence has increased and it can meddle with the politics in nearby villages.

The lords won’t rejoice as the residents would become more eager to join the Arpen Kingdom.

It is possible for areas with low loyalty to their lord to revolt.

If the rebellion succeeds then the area will belong to the Arpen Kingdom. However, the King will lose honour and diplomatic relations will worsen.

Weed wasn’t the type to stir a rebellion to expand the region and increase the population. Even if the area expanded into the north, Morata would still be the best city.

The goods that novice blacksmiths and tailors also spread through the merchants’ trade network. Adventurers gathered rare items from dungeons and traded the loot so the development potential of the city was endless.

Word of Morata’s miracle spread on the bulletin boards. It was to the extent that novice users unconditionally wanted to start in Morata.

While the Arpen Kingdom’s fame and political power was rising every day, the other lords in the north couldn’t catch up with its development.

“A person is coming!”

“Hey, go and help them!”

When the northern lords found migrants heading to Morata, they would prepare houses and stores. Guild members also pulled out weeds to prepare farmland.

“Lord-nim, thank you very much.”

“No. If you feel any discomfort then come to me at any time.”

Everyone was also delighted when a child was born. When the residents increased by 3 than 4 people, the population would eventually grow until it became a village. Weed managed to develop Morata from the time it was poor so they believed it was possible.

“I’m sorry Lord-nim. I haven’t forgotten the benefits I’ve received from you. Hey, let’s go.”

But people kept on leaving the territory! Those who heard about Morata’s advanced technology, huge economic scale and amazing culture would pack up their baggage and left in the evening.

People cruelly left with their carts full of things!

Many users hunted and adventured in the north so the visitors to the northern lords’ villages increased. They had hope but there were no large benefits.

“Shall we hunt in the vicinity and then return to Morata in the evening?”

“Let’s quickly hurry.”

“I have an appointment in the evening near the Tower of Light… Let’s hunt fast.”

“Yes!”

Even if dungeons and hunting grounds developed, users still returned to Morata. While the population of the villages painfully increased by 100 people, Morata was increasing by 20,000 or 30,000 people.

“Keohuhuhuk!”

Morata’s mine development was weak so the villages could trade with them but they couldn’t catch up with the sculptures and support facilities.

“The guild’s funds are in bad shape from the mercenaries hired. Hahahat!”

They couldn’t build any buildings. They had heard about the Grand Buildings constructed in Morata through the broadcasts. The hearts of the northern lords suffered a blow.

“Why is Morata’s beer so delicious?”

The 2nd Northern Alliance had been formed to declare war. However Morata’s users had increased by dozens of times and their levels also rose so it was difficult. The reaction of the other lords was also negative.

“War? Oh, that isn’t possible so leave us out of it.”

“Why fight when the odds aren’t in our favour? We will just end up paying war preparations to Lord Weed. Have a conscience.”

“Do you have confidence you will win if you declare war on Morata?”

There was a large trade relationship with Morata so the northern lords didn’t want a war. Some lords actively developed their mines and relied on exporting it. If a war started with Morata, it would lead to a halt of the exports and most northern users would follow Weed. If it ended then their lands would be abandoned by users. There wouldn’t be any visits from hunting parties.

The prestigious guilds in the Central Continent had strong power and military strength but the situation was different in the north. Morata had a low tax rate and fantastic environment so the future of the Arpen Kingdom was bright. The historic Garden of the Gods was completed so it had a massive popularity.

Meanwhile the lands of the northern lords were infertile, the population’s skill level was low so their loyalty was also low.

– The residents of Armang Village want to be permanently dependent on the Arpen Kingdom.

Morata’s thriving culture has captured the hearts of the residents.

Residents have abandoned their hopes for their Lord and wish to become part of the Arpen Kingdom.

Specialties: None

Population: 4,329

Monthly Tax Revenue: 7,989 gold.

– The residents of Ekwinok Village want to be permanently dependent on the Arpen Kingdom.

Morata’s economic power and population has made them envious.

The Lord’s effort isn’t bad but there is no hope for children in Ekwinok Village.

They choose to belong to the Arpen Kingdom.

Specialties: None

Population: 5,828

Monthly Tax Revenue: 4,124 gold.

The power of culture!

Armang, Ekwinok, Yoanna, Yusellin were part of 8 villages that wished to become part of the Arpen Kingdom.

The residents voluntarily decided to accept Weed’s rule. There were very small villages with no lords but six villages were ruled by guilds.

“Ah… Crazy. How did this happen?”

The lords were faced with an unenviable situation. They would need to mobilize the troops to quell the residents. But the loyalty of the residents’ would continue to decline and that would lead to the population decreasing. They would gain a tremendous notoriety.

“At this rate, it is impossible to follow the speed of Morata’s development…..”

It was difficult for their population to even reach 10,000 yet Arpen Kingdom had millions of residents. The situation had already deteriorated for the lords. The situation would worsen if there was excessive military spending or monster attacks.

Users in the north had many chances. In the early days, they had invested large amounts of funds into mining and agricultural development. They didn’t expect that they would be like a rural village next to Morata. Watching the residents protesting, the lords had to make a difficult decision.

“What should we do?”

“Guild Master-nim, now our culture, technical capabilities and gap in military force means it will be difficult to survive against Morata in the long-term.”

“What will happen if we become subordinates of the Arpen Kingdom?”

“We will lose our political rights as Lords but can’t we still keep out investment funds?”

“Several opportunities can be obtained but there will be more users.”

If Weed governed their villages then it could develop rapidly. Furthermore the technology, population, trade, fame and specialities of the Arpen Kingdom would be shared so there would be a favourable environment.

“But we still have absolute power in the area as the Lord. If the situation changes later and the village develops…..”

Some lords were unwilling to obediently leave their seats. They were attached to their ego and power.

But the merchants that belonged to the guild said.

“We need to decide in the early days of the Arpen Kingdom. If we miss this opportunity then the situation might worsen and the village will disappear.”

“Guild Master-nim, we’ve seen Morata’s development speed. And what about Vargo Fortress? People with a higher average level than our guild are hunting there. Arpen Kingdom’s military is also growing quickly.”

“Remember why we were driven out of the Central Continent. Wasn’t it because we lacked power? Weed won’t cause a war in the north but if he does then our villages will cease to exist.”

“If we delay anymore then other villages will join Arpen Kingdom first.”

“It won’t be good if we join later. There will be a larger economic gap with other villages. The users in the north also won’t have significant expectations. If they leave Morata to adventure, our villages are close to they might not choose to stay in our village. This village will have really weak growth potential. It won’t be easy to develop on our own.”

The merchants were actively trying to persuade them to annex to the Arpen Kingdom. If they integrated with the Arpen Kingdom then they would receive great benefits in trade and taxes.

In fact, they watched people trading at the entrance and squares and realized they couldn’t compete with the Arpen Kingdom. Even if the northern lords gathered together, it wouldn’t be easy to achieve their goals.

The users with combat affiliated professions didn’t have anything to say. Developing a village wasn’t their area of expertise so they didn’t mind belonging to the Arpen kingdom as long as it was profitable. In order to receive class skills, adventures and hunting quests, they needed to go to Morata.

They had the power of a lord but their investment funds were slowly disappearing. The guilds were also active in the Arpen Kingdom. It would be more beneficial to belong to the Arpen Kingdom so they had no choice but to give up the Lord status.

“Everyone’s opinion has been understood. Then let’s accept the will of the residents.”

Eight large and small villages decided to join the Arpen Kingdom.

Chapter 9: Activities of the Sculptural Lifeforms

Weed moved on foot to Akryong Kaybern’s lair. He took Wy-3 to Thor Kingdom and walked to the place to meet Kaybern alone in case he would die.

“Aigoo, my destiny……”

Not long ago he was waiting in a pub drinking beer while the dwarves transported the treasure but this time he was going directly.

“It is a real mystery why I have struggled so much.”

Weed sighed as he took a break. He didn’t know why his life was full of such hardships.

“If it is like this then I need to prepare my willpower for whenever my money falls.”

Weed headed upwards towards the lair. He had heard the good news that the territory of Arpen Kingdom had expanded due to the villages joining it.

The villages were shabby with a low population so it wasn’t a huge event that he would rejoice of as a King. But the villages had been integrated so it was already crowded with users.

The merchants judged that it would have good development prospects since the villages belonged to the Arpen Kingdom so they invested and built houses in good locations.

The lords also made peace with Weed so there was no need to worry about security.

A few days ago, users started building shacks in the villages. Farmers cleared the land while miners wandered around looking for mines.

The quests and hunting at the villages weren’t that appealing yet. Because once someone left the village, the intimacy and achievements would disappear. But once they joined the territory of the Arpen Kingdom, soldiers would herd monsters and dig dungeons. It was also possible to get achievements for the Arpen Kingdom.

Morata would benefit if the other villages grew so it was possible to see potential in them from now on.

The finances of the Arpen Kingdom had gone up again after building the Garden of the Gods so it could afford to invest in new facilities for the villages.

The market squares and necessary buildings were built. Road construction to Morata, the capital city of the Arpen Kingdom was initiated. Once trade expanded between villages, it would be helpful for the expansion of culture and stability of the village.

Users would naturally visit more if the villages developed. Morata had been growing rapidly for a long time but the villages that just belonged to the Arpen Kingdom were still in their early stages.

Grrrr…..

Kyaung!

The road to the dragon’s lair was strewn with monsters. His nerves were tugged as they growled ferociously. The high level monsters had yellow saliva dripping from their fangs so Weed felt threatened.

However he entered the territory of Akyrong Kaybern with the Spartoi so it was rare to receive attacks from the monsters. He wasn’t happy but he had received Akryong’s invitation!

‘A dragon is no different from a god’s curse. Salt should be sprinkled in the pot and could be eaten in the next life.’

He arrived at the entrance to the lair while he was thinking.

– You have lost the privilege of leading the Dragon Kaybern’s Spartoi.

The Spartoi split up and returned to their role of guarding the entrance. Weed went alone into the lair.

Rare and usual magic books, equipment and treasure were scattered around like random piles of trash. The tribute from the dwarves of the Thor Kingdom every year was piled up.

And the black dragon was lying coiled up!

– You have fallen to terror at the sight of Kaybern.

All physical abilities have decreased.

Weed kneeled down immediately.

“You were resting comfortably. I am the humble sculptor Weed. I came with the sculpture Kaybern-nim desired.”

Once again, he had experienced many struggles and complications. He sensed he shouldn’t come too close to him! There was no meaning to raising intimacy so he just wanted to give the item and leave quickly.

The head of Akryong Kaybern approached closer. The dragon spewed out a breath with a strong smell.

– Sculpture?

“Here.”

Weed took out the ‘Dazzling Kaybern Statue’ from his backpack.

The Agate crystal!

The sculpture was created with finely wrought sparkling crystals like stars in the sky. The large and small drops of jewels expressed the shape of a dragon. Weed remembered making the sculpture with King Belsos. King Belsos had been excited as soon as he heard an explanation of the work.

– It will be a really creative sculpture.

“Do you think it is okay?”

– Stunning. It is difficult to make a sculpture out of connected crystals.

– Jewelry sculpture! The Dazzling Kaybern Statue

The sculptor has taken the last step and created a piece with a legendary sculptor.

Agate crystals containing the brightness of stars, a clearer and more mysterious treasure does not exist.

Artistic Value: 12,843

Special Options: Excessive beauty that causes bad luck, the chances of meeting bandits will increase by 4 times.

Dignity +89.

Charm +145.

Value can’t be questioned closely.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Number of Jewelry Sculptures completed so far:  1.

The surface of the Agate crystal shone beautifully. Weed took out the sculpture he worked on with King Belsos and offered it to Kaybern.

“Ah…..”

The sculpture held in Weed’s hand flashed as the Agate crystal found the light. From the dragon’s head to tail, the crystals were gathered one by one to form a complete sculpture. If sunlight even touched it a little bit, the Agate would catch the light and flash. There really couldn’t be a work more beautiful or flashy than this.

– Put it down and leave.

Kaybern said before yawning and closing his eyes. He still had some expectations but the dragon just stayed quiet without any compensation.

Ddiring!

– The Treasure a Dragon Desires

You have obtained the object that Akryong Kaybern desired within the stated date.

The dragon has an interest in sculptures so a treasure made of better materials was required.

It is an honour just surviving a meeting with Kaybern.

The quest is successful!

‘T-this rotten dragon…..’

Weed struggled not to shed any tears. But the corner of his eyes was wet as grief and regret welled inside him. He never cried even if he watched a sad movie.

“Thank you for receiving it, Kaybern-nim.”

Weed said goodbye and exited.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Ah, I want to go on vacation.”

Today was the day she needed to go to work early at the broadcasting station. Shin Hye-min was hosting the ‘Story of Versailles Continent’ program. Today, the 1st and 2nd parts of the program were being shown. The script was checked in advanced and she filed some forms.

“I really want a break to go on adventures with everyone.”

Shin Hye-min calculated how much her severance pay would be if she resigned before shaking her head. Going on a foreign trip for 1~2 years was a salaryman’s dream but it reality that was impossible.

“Oh Joo-wan ssi, there really is a lot of news to introduce today. Did you sleep well at night? The dark circles under your eyes seemed like you stayed up all night.”

“A monster invaded Beast Village yesterday but I guess Hye-min ssi hasn’t heard about the tourist that drove them off.”

“Omo, there was something like that? The viewers will probably be curious about that. Today I have important news to deliver.”

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan proceeded with the broadcast.

“Many people already know this. Bardray has completed the 15th stage of the Black Knight quest.”

“It’s really incredible. The knights and infantry division that Bardray raised really grew nicely.”

“Today we’ll show you videos of important events that happened. Hasn’t the warrior Python also succeeded?”

“His nickname Wolf of the Wilderness really fits as there is no warrior that can hide from him. He is a popular figure that wields a greatsword without any hesitation.”

The first part of the news program was about the users challenging the Class Master Quests. No one had completed it yet so the first person to take the glory and rewards was a major concern.

Whether it was finding treasure or a dungeon, the difficulty meant the success rate wasn’t high but the compensation was generous so many users felt it was worth challenging the difficult quests.

That was how it became a representative of the news program for each broadcasting station. They passed on important information about the Versailles Continent to the users and ratings would rise.

The 1st part was about Bardray while the 2 part would be about other people’s adventures.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The residents of Thor Kingdom were relaxing while drinking beer.

“Did you hear from the broadcast that Weed apparently met Akryong Kaybern?”

“Really?

“Yes. The residents are clamouring that a great artist met Kaybern and returned unharmed.”

“Well, his sculpting abilities are very excellent.”

“Keoheok, he met Kaybern?”

The Dwarf users were surprised.

The Central Continent users’ interest in Weed had greatly increased in recent years. He received a bit hit when defeated by Bardray. But rising to the position of King of the Arpen Kingdom and creating the Garden of the Gods drove a huge interest again. The King expanded his territory while regaining trust.

But they couldn’t assume that was everything. Many users watched Weed from Continent of Magic and there were even more fans in Royal Road. Weed had exerted an overwhelming strong power from the beginning. He had been silent for a while so they had no choice but to feel excitement and expectant.

“Kya! Weed survived a meeting with the dragon…..”

“The guards from before were the Spartoi belonging to Kaybern.”

“Ah, I’m really curious. Is it on the broadcast schedule?”

“No, I don’t know yet.”

“Putting everything else aside, he really is very brave.”

Weed was also sitting in the tavern called Iron Hammer. He could get free beer as an intermediate blacksmith so he stopped by before a long flight.

‘My successful quest with Kaybern has become known.’

Weed celebrated with a cold beer. There were many travellers around Royal Road who were interested in famous adventurers so news of what they did spread quickly. The quest that he just completed was a wonderful event among the dwarves!

‘I can now feel comfortable.’

Currently Weed’s sculpting skill was at 49.2% advanced level 9. He only needed 50% more proficiency to fully master his skill.

‘Kuooh, the investment for sculpting is too big.’

Raising the national power of the Arpen Kingdom. A huge amount of effort was required to reach the stage of a perfect Class Master. Fortunately, the Garden of the Gods was successful so he could take a breather.

‘I can raise the rest of the sculpting proficiency as I advance through the remaining quests.’

Weed had learnt 5 secret sculpting techniques that could be used for quests and adventuring.

The Dragon Sword, the Red Star was dangerous to handle but its combat power couldn’t be compared. It would exert a large effect in one on one combat.

“I will peel the leather off that shameless guy and bake it.”

Weed cursed Kaybern before leaving Thor Kingdom.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“As you know, Kaybern’s quest has ended safely.”

Weed finished his quest and met with Pale and his other colleagues. The party had been expecting a reward or something but they couldn’t say anything after seeing Weed’s expression.

It was an expression filled with hate for Kaybern!

‘There is something weird about his smile……’

‘He is giving off a really bad expression.

Still, they felt refreshed from everything they collected at King Belsos’ Tomb. Weed had only seized the Agate crystals so the damage was big.

Hwaryeong asked sweetly.

“So what are you going to do now Weed-nim?”

“I’m going back to my Class Master quest. I’m going to Harsel.”

He was going to mobilize Bingryong, the wyverns, Goldman, Yellowy, Phoenix, Golden Bird, Silver Bird, the lifeforms from the Jigolaths and his natural disaster sculptures.

Weed wasn’t a pure sculptor who didn’t know about battle. He manufactured new armour, learnt another secret sword technique and raised the proficiency of Radiant Sword enough to be useful.

Furthermore, he had learnt Sculpture Life Bestowal early in his career. Those lifeforms had become stronger so the remaining quests would be slightly easier. The Orcs and Elves were on an expedition to explore Ratzeberg.

Hwaryeong hesitated before saying.

“We’ll go with you.”

Weed looked at them as Pale laughed and said.

“We’ve already discussed it between ourselves. We will help with Weed-nim’s quest.”

They could only watch as Weed had been persecuted by the Hermes Guild. So they would like to help with the Sculpting Master Quest.

The hot friendship between companions!

They also felt sorry because Weed was always cooking meat for his colleagues.

“Everyone, I’m touched……”

Surka laughed cutely.

“There’s no need. When we proceed with our Master Quest later on then Weed-nim can help us!”

“Master Quest?”

Weed suddenly felt some reservations.

His Sculpting Master Quest was already difficult enough and now he needed to help the Class Quests for his friends! The company consisted of an archer, ranger, dancer, bard, magician, priest and fisherman.

“If it is complicated then I can go to Harsel by myself……”

“Don’t you have to leave immediately since it is far away? Wy-3, come here!”

Wy-3 came after Hwaryeong called and lay on the ground! His companions were always feeding them snacks so Weed’s sculptural lifeforms obeyed them as well.

“Wy-1!”

“Wy-2!”

His colleagues sat down as the wyverns continuously arrived. Bingryong and Phoenix were also waiting in the air with Yellowy and Goldman on their backs.

The lifeforms from Jigolaths had decided to leave a little earlier and he would meet them in Harsel.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Sulleion Tribe!

They were a warrior tribe that dominated the rugged, high mountains of the Harsel Mountain region. If he got rid of them then he could rescue a sculptural lifeform species.

Weed’s mind was urgent.

“Poor guys, you must’ve suffered a lot so I’m going to save you for the sake of justice.”

The yield brought by the Ellyons to the Arpen Kingdom was incredible.

5 metre strawberries and 8 metre watermelons! Apart from the large size, it tasted so sweet it was like honey. This helped increase the game of the area and in the long run it could be registered as a specialty. Thanks to the farmland acquired from the several villages, the yield and profit was quite high.

“Are they called the Arnin? They’re waiting. I have to make them work properly.”

The Arnin were in a large crisis because they were trapped by the Sulleion! Weed arrived at the Harsel Mountains and worked out an easy plan.

“I have to strike slowly from the outskirts.”

The whole mountain area was their territory so he decided to confront them openly instead of avoiding them.

Zephyr asked with a face full of concern.

“Isn’t the plan too simple?”

“It is good that the plan is simple.”

“…….”

The Sulleion were known as great warriors. But when taking into consideration the abilities of Bingryong, Phoenix and his other lifeforms, fighting in the mountains shouldn’t be too much trouble.

Rather, it was impossible to sneak into their home base. The King Hydra with 9 heads, Phoenix, Fire Giants etc. were clearly visible! Even if their combat power was strong, it would be impossible to move secretly over such a large distance.

“I have to make the sculptural lifeforms fight properly. I have to make everyone work.”

Weed believed in the sculptural lifeforms that he had brought up so far. The standard of one sculptural lifeform was equivalent to a boss class monster. If they combined and work together in battle then a tremendous power will be exerted.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

“Master, I was waiting for a battle!”

“You called.”

His two summons also came out. Weed posed like their master and said.

“You, did you forget the ring and sword I made you?”

“…….”

Torido’s eyes frowned while Van Hawk’s skeletal jaw clattered. They had heard those words at least 999 times!

“When you wear it, is it okay?”

“……”

“If you don’t answer then I’ll take it back.”

“G-good.”

“Wonderful.”

“You need to pay back the expenses for the sword and ring. Understood?”

“Understood.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bbuuuuuuuh!

Weed blew the Teuresec’s Horn. It was an item that raised the morale of the sculptural creatures and increased the effect of recovery in battle.

“Go.”

In the meantime, the sculptural lifeforms had been clearing monsters around Morata or Vargo Fortress. While the wyverns were used as transportation, the other sculptures had been given time to grow.

“I was really worried their stomach would be plump.”

Weed’s expression indicated he was going to make them work.

“Kwaaaaaaah!”

The 9 headed King Hydra moved its huge body up the Harsel Mountains.

Death Worm. The colossal monster lived in the ground. Weed named it Death Worm because the worm’s body could grow up to 200 metres. Currently its body length was 95 metres but that was still enough to crush or eat any monsters in the ground. If a monster was swallowed then it would be instant death! The earthworm’s body had a type of charm as it wriggled.

The Fire Giant ran around wielding a sword of fire. There was also Cerberus and Knight Seville.

The 47 lifeforms born in the Jigolaths consisted entirely of different species. They gave off an absurd feeling of oppression!

Bingryong, the wyverns, Imugi, Phoenix, Golden Bird and Silver Bird were also waiting in the air as support.

Biiiiiiik!

There was a sharp sound and something moved between the bushes and trees on the mountain.

“It is those guys.”

Pale had good insight so he discovered the Sulleion among the bushes.

“Approximately 300 people are waiting with arrows and spears.”

Weed still hadn’t determined that far.

“Is that all of them?”

“They’re coming from hidden caves so it might be dangerous if the sculptural creatures move forward. Wouldn’t it be better to stop now?”

Weed shook his head.

“It’s okay. We won’t encounter most of the enemies. Just watch how I fight.”

Lion cubs became strong by being dropped off cliffs. Weed had a similar sentiment.

“It is better to cull the weak guys early.”

From now on, he needed to earnestly pinpoint the abilities of the lifeforms. If he knew the limits of their individual ability then he could develop tactics.

The Sulleion moved in groups and were bold warriors. If a boss monster entered their area then they would attack in unison and sweep the monster up.

Therefore Weed was also slightly concerned about the safety of the sculptural lifeforms.

“They’re coming!”

The sculptural lifeforms had gone nearly halfway up the mountain. Then the Sulleion suddenly popped out behind rocks, bushes and trees and struck.

The King Hydra’s 9 heads spat fire at the warriors.

The sculptural lifeform of a female high elf that Weed called Eltin launched a barrage of arrows.

Gernika the female Barbarian warrior! She held an axe in her left hand and a mace in her right. She knocked down the Sulleion warriors with her strong power.

The female swordsman Vindex. She moved quickly and fought the warriors with a thin, sharp sword.

Most of the sculptors in the Jigolaths were lonely men so they made pieces of women. They were strong and full of thirst to tear monsters to pieces!

There was also an elegant peacock like sculptural lifeform with thin and long legs. Surka found it very cute and kept on stroking Epullit’s head. When the Sulleion warriors approached, Epullit suddenly opened its wings.

Chweraeraeraeraek!

It released poison hidden in the wings. It was a clever and quick but the combat power wasn’t obvious with a look. However, it was a very dangerous monster because it emitted a poisonous fog. The grass quickly withered up and died thanks to the poison mist.

Weed’s party watched from afar as the lifeforms played a very active role. It was expected since they were each over level 400.

A sea of fire engulfed the Sulleion warriors everywhere the Fire Giant walked. It was truly overwhelming combat power!

“Indeed…..”

Weed laughed with satisfaction.

“It is like I thought. I can work them well from now on!”

Every individual lifeform was a boss level monster. Each of their characteristic battle skill seemed to match each other. It was possible to smash any resistance if they combined their formidable power. Thanks to the help from the sculptural life forms, they could overwhelm the entrance of the mountain area.

“The scouting skirmish is over. I guess that’s enough. Climb up!”

Weed’s group climbed up the Harsel Mountains.

Yoo Byung-jin was laughing while watching on the monitor.

“Yes, you should be careful. The sculpting lifeforms are strong… But the Sulleion are also formidable warriors.”

Weed’s adventure was also being prepared to be broadcasted. Even if it wasn’t a live feed, it was an important battle to be broadcasted.

Perhaps the viewers wouldn’t be surprised about the sculptural lifeforms. Their power was as expected. But if they entered the centre of the Harsel Mountains then the sculptural lifeforms would be in danger.

The Sulleion tribe’s Elders were talking on Yoo Byung-jin’s other screen.

The Elders and soldiers met over a bonfire. They looked like big reptiles but they were the rulers of the Harsel Mountains.

ㅡ People have appeared on our mountain.

ㅡ Are they strong?

ㅡ It is a standard that we can win.

ㅡ Go out and fight.

ㅡ No, lure them in deeper.

ㅡ Then…..

ㅡ Huhuhuk, we won’t let even one of them leave alive.

ㅡ That is a good way.

The Sulleion tribe was clever. They would lure Weed’s group to deep in the mountain region and then fight with their real power. The warriors secretly concealed in the cave would wipe out everyone! Just like the Sphinx refused to leave the Rosenheim Kingdom, some flying lifeforms might choose to die rather than escape. Weed would lose Bingryong, Yellowy, and the Wyverns that he had raised with affection.

“This really seems interesting.”

Yoo Byung-jin waited for the exciting results.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Squeak squeak.

A field mouse cried out at the location of the Sulleion Elder’s meeting place.

“Lure them more…..”

The country mouse searched for bread crumbs but there wasn’t a piece of food to be seen.

“Let’s show those intruders what type of place the Harsel Mountains is…..”

Jjijik!

The country mouse found a piece of meat underneath a warrior’s feet. It went to a gap in the wall and added it to a pile of stuff. The spy didn’t make a noise as it ran on all fours.

“We have to find a place to kill all those guys.”

It finally managed to place the piece of meat in its mouth. The country mouse went back quietly to the hole it dug. It was returning to Weed and the other lifeforms.

The country mouse was also a sculptural life form. Its name was literally Country Mouse!

It wasn’t beautiful but the sharp teeth and claws were somewhat endearing. A sculptor working in the Jigolaths’ coal mine lamented his fate and made the sculpture.

Weed had the Country Mouse spy on the Sulleion.

Jjaejaejaek!

Silver Bird had also been painted over and was sitting on a branch. The bird listened to their words in the daytime while the mouse listened at night.

Weed utilized them completely.

Chapter 10: Sulleion Tribe’s Trap

A time of chaos! The television ad seen at Unicorn Corporation started to be shown.

“Why is this suddenly coming out?”

“It seems like an ad intentionally directed to us.”

Recently people were feeling a serious crisis.

War was taking place throughout the Central Continent. In the past there were wars between influential guilds and now monsters and the Embinyu Church had joined in.

– The Hwisurun village has been decimated by monsters.  Tourists should be careful when travelling. It is recommended that warriors who aren’t level 320 don’t visit.

– Sergy City is being attacked by the Embinyu Church. Is there anyone that will come and save them?

– Thieves have broken into Freddy’s store. Looking for equipment to fill the walls. All merchants are welcome to come and sell their goods.

Various terrible stories of cities or castles collapsing frequently appeared on the bulletin boards. Monsters appeared on the previously safe plains and roads connecting cities.

“I’m really very worried these days.”

“Life is becoming increasingly harder. Where is security to take care of the monsters and restore the peace?”

“Everybody is busy these days playing war.”

“Whew… Even going outside the gates is frightening.”

“It is even harder to hunt.”

While hunting in the plains, mountains or forests, they had to be careful that other monsters wouldn’t intrude. The entire kingdom was confused and then it shook when the Embinyu Church invaded.

Monsters would sometimes change their habitats so the users couldn’t relax. Many commissioned mercenaries so the compensation when completing a mission was reduced.

“I have nothing else for you, I’m sorry.”

“What should I do? The goods I promised were robbed by thieves……”

Residents lived in poverty so they couldn’t give proper compensation for simple requests.

“Ah, it is really hard to eat.”

“It’s too difficult.”

“There are no requests so I can barely pay the repair costs.”

In the past, there had never been monsters invading the city and users had to conquer it with their own power. That situation had changed a lot. The merchants were constantly plagued by bandits and the Embinyu Church and civil war dealt a terrible blow to the market.

“Hey, did you earn some money?”

“Don’t talk nonsense. It is difficult to even pay for my carriage repair costs.”

Delivery of military supplies to kingdoms and large guilds could reap great trade benefits. But there were already exclusive traders for those cases so everyone else could just watch them maintain the monopoly.

The situation for general users and residents was increasingly deteriorating so there were bursts of complaints against the merchants.

“That can’t happen, really!”

“We paid so many taxes just for this!”

Although merchants had to pay excessive taxes, they could still engage in difficult business. Sometimes they would get angry but merchants were weak in combat.

Needless to say, the general merchants were the ones with unfavourable news.

“Until when do we have to put up with this? I can stomach it if there is a slightly good request but they are just telling us to die!”

“I closed down 5 stores. Outside is dangerous so the number of people who are hunting has decreased. The quality of goods has also fallen.”

“They’re dumping dirt on us!”

A meeting of small and medium sized merchants blamed the lords and guilds. The classes most affected by the chaos on the continent were those like merchants, farmers, miners etc. It was difficult for them to work.

The guilds weren’t satisfied with the territory they had secured and kept on waging war to expand it.

The confusion on the Central Continent even spread to the mountain village as large number of monsters appeared there.

– The Embinyu Church can’t be allowed to obtain a seat.

The religious orders of the continent made a declaration against the Embinyu Church. The Knights Templar and monks of the monastery started moving.

As a war started between the Embinyu Church and other religious orders, the users started to realize the Versailles Continent was changing.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

While Bardray was in the midst of an ongoing quest, the Hermes Guild was also busy moving. They collected enormous taxes from the Haven and Kallamore Kingdoms while scheming.

“A good chance like this won’t come again.”

“It isn’t possible to refuse an offer from the Hermes Guild. We accept. Let’s get along well in the future.”

The Black Lion Guild had received a huge blow at the Melbourne Mine. When compared to the overall scale of the guild, it was just one defeat but Carlise and their elite members had been annihilated!

This spread awareness that the Black Lion Guild was poor compared to the Hermes Guild. Members of the Black Lion Guild left while its rival the Beden Guild used that chance to expand their power.

Of course, if they allied with other small guilds then they could successfully regain the lost territory. However the Hermes Guild was behind the Beden Guild. They secretly sent them power to cut off the Black Lion Guild and secure the Tullen Kingdom.

The Beden Guild had experienced the power of the Hermes Guild so they couldn’t refuse the suggestion. They had to pay a tribute in exchange for securing the entire Tullen Kingdom but it was better than being dismantled like the Black Lion Guild.

Lafaye held a meeting with the leaders of the Hermes Guild.

“The Beden Guild should take 2~3 months to clean up the Tullen Kingdom.”

“Do we really need to join with the Beden Guild? We’ve proved the strength of our forces.”

“There is a geographical problem because of other kingdoms between us and the Beden Guild is familiar with the circumstances of that region so they can handle the annoying problems.”

“But later on, if we perhaps get tired of them…..”

“Then we’ll wipe out the Beden Guild. Incidentally, the core high level users of the Beden Guild are on a separate operation.”

“Later we will just leave a shell.”

“The problem is the occupation of the Lasalle Kingdom…..”

“That operation is underway. Our aggressive attacks with capture it within a month.”

The Hermes Guild made the decision to throw their army at the Lasalle Kingdom. Then they planned to invade the Britten Alliance Kingdom immediately afterwards to strike at the Cloud Guild.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Wy-3 was flying in the air with Yurin.

“This is a good view. It is thanks to Wy-3 that I can feel something like this.”

“Kkaruruk. Kya kya kya kya.”

The wyvern was weak to praise.

“I’d like to take you flying through the sky after this. From morning to night. And all night long.”

“…….”

Wy-3 seemed to lose all its strength in its wings at Yurin’s words. He was already running around a lot and now the passenger had increased by 1 more person!

Wy-3 and Yurin were flying above a steep mountain. She had come to draw a map of the Harsel Mountains at Weed’s request.

“Go to a place higher than here. I need a wider view.”

“Kkiruk!”

Wy-3 flapped its wings and soared into the sky. In the meantime it had been hunting and raising its level so its maximum speed had increased.

Yurin looked down at the Harsel Mountains from the clouds. The Sulleion had built a fort on the steep Tubkal Peak. The walls consisted of rocks and cliffs so it could be called a blessed fort.

“I need to draw the terrain of these high mountains.”

Yurin began drawing a detailed map.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Well, it is like that.”

Weed developed a new strategy based on the information Country Mouse and Silver Bird got from the Sulleions.

“It certainly isn’t a bad strategy.”

The Harsel Mountains had a steep terrain so it was easy to draw in enemies deeper to take advantage of it. The Sulleion could take advantage of the caves and planned a strategy based on their strengths!

Weed praised them.

“They’re pretty smart guys!”

Pale had great expectations.

“Then what tactic should we take?”

Weed had a great reputation on the continent. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he had the best leadership and commanding ability. He even brought the Lord of the Continent Seal as well as Teuresec’s Horn. With Weed’s current Leadership level, he could raise some barbarians into elite troops with just a little training.

Pale already knew Weed’s battle capabilities but he had even more expectations of his tactics.

“These guys are quite clever and are using various ways……”

“What will we use?”

“We won’t waste their effort.”

“Eh?”

Pale thought it was impossible.

But Weed led his sculpture lifeform troops and advanced towards Tubkal Mountain. They entered deeper into enemy lines. The sculptural lifeforms used the terrain and space to fight the Sulleion warriors.

It was impossible to hunt in a party in the Harsel Mountains. That’s because they needed to bring enough troops to fight against the Sulleion!

The sculptural lifeforms were strong but lacked speed compared to the Sulleion.

The terrain was absolutely disadvantageous.

“King Hydra, go to the right side. Your mission is to entice the attacks from the enemy. Guernica, stay back and defend your position while helping your colleagues.”

The sculptural lifeforms changed formation according to Weed’s order. They crossed over 9 mountains towards Tubkal Mountain while enemies continued emerging from hidden caves.

The Sulleion warriors tended to focus on one target to attack. The dangerous lifeforms fell back while those with high health were at the front. He changed the hunting party according to the characteristics of the lifeforms when the terrain changed.

“Flame River!”

Romuna attacked enemies using the new magic Flame River that she learnt. The hostile warriors were swept by the river of flames!

“Kyaah, really strong!”

Weed smiled bitterly every time Romuna rejoiced at the strong wide area magic! His companions also showed outstanding performances as they moved forward.

The wyverns, Bingryong and Phoenix supported them from the air while defeating enemies.

“Concentrate your attacks on one point and if the enemies scatter then fight daringly. You ate a lot a while ago so don’t let your behaviour be slow!”

Under Weed’s command, the sculptural lifeforms was able to draw out 35% more of their capabilities. Once he fully utilized the sculptural lifeforms, they were able to show a devastating power. The lifeforms who could use arrows and magic were quite useful so they were placed safely in the centre.

The fearsome concentrated firepower achieved a winning streak! Pale and Romuna used ranged attacks while Surka and Zephyr took care of any enemies who got close.

“The location of the Sulleion’s fortress… There should be 6 more mountains.”

Weed used the map to calculate the distance. They had already crossed 9 large mountains as they headed to Tubkal. It had already been a while but there still remained a long distance to go.

“There is a dangerous place in the middle…..”

A canyon was just a place where they could receive concentrated attacks. Usually the wyverns would be scouts but the Sulleion moved secretly through caves so they weren’t easy to notice. In the worst case scenario, they would quickly be besieged!

“Shouldn’t we go back now?”

Irene showed an anxious countenance. She was a priest so she was very reluctant to be besieged. In an urgent situation she wouldn’t have time to cure everyone. Someone would probably die so she wanted to avoid that situation.

“I have an idea so let’s continue for a little longer.”

When there was a slight break, Weed would cook and wrap bandages around the injured sculptural lifeforms. He decided not to use his achievements with the Freya Church to bring Alveron so Irene had to take care of recovery alone.

She didn’t have as much skills as Alveron but the King Hydra had a close to immortal life. The King Hydra wouldn’t die if there was even 1 head left. Therefore Irene could treat the other creatures.

The lifeforms quickly became friends with the priest Irene. The priest really was an excellent class at increasing intimacy!

Weed allowed a longer break than normal and made a sculpture. This was usual behaviour so no one paid attention to it. He carved the form of wide mountains out of a wooden board.

A few hours later, Pale stopped moving.

“This seems a bit risky to cross.”

It was a stream of flowing water. Normally the water would only go up to their knees and waist but the rain water changed it into a rapid torrent. Weed looked at the map and confirmed the location.

“Based on the map Yurin drew, this is one of the best places to attack. We have to get past this stream if we want to reach Tubkal Mountain.”

Knowing the terrain in advance was a high advantage in not getting lost in the mountains. There were three dangerous areas on the way to Tubkal Mountain and this was one of them. If they swam across then they would be attacked by arrows from the woods on either side of the stream.

Pale, Romuna and the sculptural lifeforms would have no chance but to be put in a disadvantageous situation. This wasn’t the place Weed had been sculpting.

Romuna spoke in an unconfident voice.

“Isn’t there a safer detour?”

“We will have to go back 2 mountains. It will also be a formidable climb. It is better to pass here quickly while being careful and prepared for combat.”

Weed moved forward the sculptural lifeforms with high health.

“You absolutely can’t relax. Pale-nim will go first to keep watch. Romuna-nim should prepare some magic beforehand.”

Unlike their worries, the enemy didn’t show up and they could pass the flow of water unharmed. But after that, the standard of the Sulleion warriors generally rose.

So far they had fought against general soldiers but now the elite level warriors appeared. They were true warriors beyond level 420! The Sulleion warriors hurled an onslaught of attacks without regard for their lives.

The sculptural lifeforms had grown well after being given life in the Jigolaths so they fought well despite being pressed by the enemy. The health of the lifeforms declined as the Sulleion warriors died.

In particular, the sculptural lifeforms like the Fire Giant showed an unsurpassed ability. Due to its fire characteristics, the Sulleions that lived in a reptile habitat tended to evade its attacks.

“I’m a little nervous!”

Irene said with serious concern.

“This is completely behind enemy lines. In addition, they could get reinforcements from the connected cave and we can be besieged. It is too dangerous even if the sculptural lifeforms are strong!”

The sculptural lifeforms hunting speed was exceptionally fast thanks to Weed’s commands. Even with Sulleion warriors surrounding them on all sides, the lifeforms built up terrifying achievements.

The King Hydra was intimidating while the Death Worm would suddenly emerge from the land to threaten the enemies.

Swit swit swi swi swi swi swit.

The Countryside Snake also spewed poison while arrows and magic attacks were also concentrated. The large sculptural lifeforms were organized and they assaulted the warrior troops! They were highly effective and powerful and wiped out the Sulleions.

Of course, no one had died yet but Irene hoped to not be put in a situation where the entire party would die. Furthermore, the loss of even one sculptural lifeform would be an irreparable loss for Weed.

Therefore she made up her mind and decided to stop Weed. Her common sense said that Weed was unusually hurried.

“The enemies seem to be luring us here.”

Weed nodded at Irene’s comment.

“That’s accurate.”

“This plan…..”

“We are luring them as well.”

Weed pondered as he looked at the topographical map Yurin drew.

‘The greatest fortress. If we punch through from the outskirts then it will take some time. They will either expand their defense or focus on a surprise attack…..’

It required a lot of time to reach Tubkal Peal. They had to fight against the Sulleion that had been propagating in the Harsel Mountains. Despite winning against the enemy, the situation would become more disadvantageous the deeper they got into enemy lines.

It was an exhaustive war so there would be several problems with supplies. That’s why he decided to confirm the enemy’s movement through Silver Bird and Country Mouse and have a big battle all at once.

“Now you just have to believe in me.”

“The chances of success?”

“I can’t be sure but if those fellows are clever than they will lie down and let us turn them into kimbap.”

Irene decided to believe in Weed. It was the words of a person willing to risk the body due to the tolerable hospital cost!

The next dangerous area they encountered after the stream was a rocky canyon. The rock walls on both side was 2 kilometres high. It was a place that would make someone’s jaw drop and want to retreat! The road passed through the water flowing into the canyon.

Zephyr looked around with a tense expression.

“It isn’t possible to move through here without receiving a surprise attack.”

The Sulleions used narrow caves that seemed invisible so they couldn’t be seen until they appeared.

“Should we go along the top of the cliffs so we can move quickly?”

Pale walked forward with his arrow already prepared. Somehow this place felt like enemies were waiting!

“No. We’ll go to the bottom of the canyon.”

“Yes? But there will be no place to escape. Aren’t the steep canyon walls just like receiving an attack from a castle wall?”

“That’s what I’m aiming for.”

Weed chose the side of the water channel.

The sculptural lifeforms moved through the wide canyon with the walls stretching high on both sides.

‘This time they will come out. Because this is the most favourable terrain.’

Weed entered the rock canyon with that idea.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Sulleions hid in the caves on both sides of the rocky canyon.

“I’m too smart.”

“This is my plan.”

“Stupid humans. Kkuukkuk!”

The Elders and warriors found it difficult to stop their laughter. They were extremely confident in their smarts!

‘This place is too good to pass up.’

‘Ah, God gave me everything! Everyone else is so stupid.’

They waited silently while Weed’s group and the sculptural lifeforms entered the rocky canyon.

“They fell in a perfect trap!”

“Get rid of them!”

The Sulleion warriors appeared all at once.

The steep rocky canyon was covered in the dark blue colour of their skin.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Great Disaster at Rocky Canyon

Weed was embroiled in deep agony.

‘The truth is that I’m not a hidden genius.’

His school grades weren’t that good. But he thought that South Korea was the victim of irrational thoughts.

“My test scores are a little lacking but the rest of my grades are fine. Ah, that reminds me of the score for the morals test… It was very low.”

Memories of his teachers scolding him resurfaced. The biggest beneficiary for the abolition of corporal punishment was the schools!

Anyway, his plan to lure the Sulleion was a resounding success.

“They’ve fallen into the trap that we dug. Kkuukkuk!”

“Kill. Catch them and eat them!”

“Kuooooh!”

There was the roar of monsters from both sides of the rocky canyon! While the shallow water flowed through the rocky canyon, the dark blue skin colour of the Sulleions holding spears and bows could be seen.

It wasn’t easy for many adventurers in the continent to see such a scene, let alone feel confident. Those at the bottom would be perfectly isolated and killed! It was a terribly overpowering impression from the viewpoint of the party concerned.

Pale’s fingers holding an arrow trembled as he felt the pressure.

“My archery skill means that I can aim at the top of the canyon but then what?”

It was impossible! The Sulleion warriors continued to shout. This was an action to increase their morale before battle. The morale of a monster played an important role in changing its basic stats.

“The humans won’t be able to escape and they will be our food.”

“Kiyaaah!”

The warriors yelled loudly as they had secured the favourable terrain of the rocky canyon. There was a minimum of 3,000 Sulleion warriors gathered. The terrain of the Harsel Mountains became steeper as it could deeper so it was one of the worst places to encounter an enemy.

Yellowy cried out with pensive eyes.

“Ummoooooo…..”

It was a situation where he might finally be turned into a ribeye steak. The King Hydra’s 9 heads stretched in all directions. The Black Imugi spread its wings as it prepared to soar up. The flying creatures could escape into the air so those on the ground resented Weed a little bit.

Nevertheless, it was decided they would fight until the end. The 47 sculptural lifeforms from the Jigolaths were willing to give up their lives.

“I have to kill even one more before the end.”

“Even if I disappear… I will have no regrets about my short life.”

The creatures made by the sculptors were determined to burn up and die a violent end. In contrast Bingryong, Goldman and the wyverns were relaxed.

“That human is planning a sneaky operation.”

“He is a cunning fellow, gol gol gol!”

“He won’t let us die here. He will continue to make us work.”

They had experienced a few crises with Weed so seeing an army of monsters was as familiar as eating and drinking water to them. Bingryong and the wyverns especially knew Weed very well.

Meanwhile, the cries from the Sulleion became more frequent as the warriors prepared for battle.

Their choice of a weapon was a bow! They had taken control of the high ground in the rocky canyon so they could shoot arrows down. The Sulleion warriors used steep tipped arrows and a good hit rate so the damage was fairly high. If arrows were fired simultaneously towards the ground then it would be a rain of arrows.

Except for the King Hydra and Phoenix who had high health, the rest were in big danger! The flying creatures could escape in the air but they decided to fight and protect Weed’s party.

The sculptural lifeforms were facing a major crisis. If his subordinates were wiped out then he would need to create new ones so it was regrettable.

But Weed still had a rotten smile on his lips.

“I’m also a genius.”

This was a good day for something unfortunate to happen to the other party so a warm laugh emerged!

“Weed-nim, do something quickly.”

Weed took out a sculpture after being reminded by Irene. It was a sculpture of this rocky canyon! Yurin had drawn the map in details and he made the sculpture out of green jade. His advanced level 9 sculpting and use of precious materials meant that a Fine piece came out.

“There is a little crack but… I can certainly use this.”

At that moment, the Sulleion warriors finished their preparatory yells and nocked the arrows on their bows. Weed’s party members gazed at the sculpture. Surka who was standing next to him asked.

“Are you using Sculptural Destruction?”

When his Art stat was converted into either the Strength or Agility stat, he could demonstrate a tremendous fighting ability. He was also wearing the Goddess’ Knight Armour. If he used the Wings of Light and flew up the cliff then he could fight against the Sulleion warriors. But that wasn’t why he lured the enemies here.

“No. The skill I’m using now… Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

– You have used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

20 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

20,000 Health and Mana has been consumed.

All stats have been temporarily reduced by 15% for 3 days.

Affinity to Nature has fallen.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once a day.

When a great calamity is called upon, fame or infamy can be increased depending on the damage.

It is possible to die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

A catastrophe occurred in the rocky canyon where he lured the monsters. This was his ulterior motive!

Weed’s plan was perfect but there was an inevitable problem. Depending on the situation, it would take some time before the disaster started! The time taken for every disaster to activate was different so there was no way to determine this part. They had to focus on defense until the disaster occurred.

“Koheom, this stage is my favourite.”

Prior to large battles, Weed would clear his throat before singing a song. Tension filled the battlefield from the Sulleion warriors and the sculptural lifeforms gathered. The person who couldn’t carry a tune, it was his live stage!

But Hwaryeong who was wearing ruby earrings and necklaces went out first.

“I’ll buy some time.”

Before the arrows were fired, she walked forward and sang.

– I wake up smiling.

A thrilling feeling flutters in my chest.

I’d like to be held by someone.

I want it to last until the end.

Hwaryeong’s sweet song spread through the canyon. She was a dancer with a very high vocalization skill. Intermediate level 4! The drawback was that it was a class with no combat skills but the monsters closed their eyes at the dancing girl so they were liked in parties.

Despite the danger, her body moved boldly in a colourful dance. Her vocalization skill made a clear and beautiful sound at a rich volume.

“Keeek.”

“That woman is singing.”

“Don’t pay attention and shoot. Catch them and eat them!”

It was like a situation where the instruments weren’t ready to be played in a country market. However, Hwaryeong was the best instrument. There wasn’t an expensive microphone but she had no trouble expressing the emotions of the song.

– I’d like to hide but they seem to know.

I am like this.

I want to be cuddled in the morning while it is raining.

She raised her voice and sang. Her vocalization skill meant the sound could be heard even from the top of the rocky canyon. She had the correct pitch and inhalation power.

Her sweet whisper entered the ears of the Sulleion warriors who hesitated to shoot their arrows. Furthermore, the terrain of the rocky canyon meant that the sound naturally echoed!

“That woman sings well.”

“It will be a waste to kill her.”

“Shall we catch her and make her a slave?”

The Sulleion warriors froze as they listened to her sweet song.

– I want to be a girl

It is a shame.

But you’re a married man with a wife.

The sweetness of the lyrics suddenly became ridiculous. Hwaryeong was affected by Weed’s crazy songs. But excluding the lyrics, the melody and sound were the best.

Her unbelievably clear voice showed a finesse that ranged from bass to treble. She was singing a song purely with her own ability.

Bellot also pulled out a harp and started playing.

– Your daughter is really stunning.

Chocolate was bought for your child.

Child. Your teeth will rot and you will need to go to the dentist!

It was no wonder that she got the nickname Fairy when she was onstage. She had a youthful and refreshing charm. The artistry and emotion in her song could clearly be heard. She could sing almost any genre such as passion or pain on the stage. It was possible to enjoy the stage thanks to her irresistible charm.

Due to the special character of Hwaryeong’s dancer body, smoke and lights also appeared around her.

“Kueeeek!”

“It is beautifully composed.”

“These are really good lyrics.”

The Sulleion warriors liked it so their spears and bows waved.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The broadcast will begin. 4, 3, 2, 1.”

The KMS Media studios gave notice that they were going to show Weed’s adventure. Even if it was broadcasted, it would be too late for the Hermes Guild to interfere.

“Weed’s adventure! It is the time that many people have been waiting for.”

Shin Hye-min smiled and started the program. Part 2 of the Story of Versailles Continent special program!

After talking about other trivial news with members of the panel, the critical part of Weed’s adventure was started. If they wasted time then there was bound to be a build-up of complaints from viewers.

Today they announced in advance that Weed’s adventure would be broadcasted so audience ratings were fixed at 11%.

When Weed was defeated by Bardray, the station officials had shaken their heads.

“It is a serious thing. Weed is the only person who can increase audience ratings like this…..”

“The viewers were really anxious when Weed and Bardray had confronted each other. He was defeated and died so the topic has ended.”

“It is unfortunate. His performance was really good.”

The broadcasting stations neglected Weed after that. He wasn’t often mentioned in the news and programs didn’t feature Weed. But the audience didn’t care about such things and were just as excited as before about Weed.

The atmosphere was hard to understand at first glance!

In the meantime, Weed had become King of the Arpen Kingdom and successfully made the large sculptures. Now the Dragon Quest was gradually being shown.

As the situation in Royal Road deteriorated, more people started wishing for a hero. They were looking for a true hero who would defeat evil and return justice.

“If you look at the news, there is always something about a city falling or village being destroyed.”

“Even when hunting or fishing at the river, they would encounter a patrol of Embinyu Cult members and everyone would die.”

“The Lion Castle has announced a list of exiles. Those who don’t follow their words will no longer be able to use the Lion Castle Guild’s hunting grounds and cities.”

“They’re really bad guys.”

The majority of Weed’s quests involved winning against evil opponents. While many people called Bardray a God, they had to admit that he handled his subordinates excessively after his most recent quest. The Hermes Guild’s misdeeds were also severe enough to mention.

“I think Weed-nim should’ve won.”

“They only fought once. And it wasn’t a fair fight.”

“Those Hermes guys, I really want someone to step on them.”

The public liked a protagonist who got stepped on and got up despite the adversity. As Weed’s fans increased further, he became more famous and also inspired more hate against Bardray.

“Then we will proceed with the video that viewers are expecting.”

KMC Media played the video on the screen. This time it wasn’t KMC Media’s exclusive broadcast. The other stations also began broadcasting it at the same time.

Even though Bardray’s Master Quest was progressing, the ratings couldn’t even compared to those of the current broadcast.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Hwaryeong’s song gave a deep impression. Good music had the power to make people happy. He realized how good music was despite it being just sounds.

– 3,022 Sulleion warriors have heard the song and cheered.

They can’t fully understand the lyrics but they think it is a very great song.

In particular, the good point is the flashy performance by a beautiful woman. The Sulleion warriors are male so they like it when they see a beautiful woman.

131 Fame has been acquired as their hearts were stirred.

Weed also had an overwhelming impression.

“Indeed… It definitely is a dentist profession.”

The core of the song was about someone who had a child with rotten teeth living well when marrying a dentist. The main character was someone who desired the husband. A message about dental care and not being frightened by it was embedded.

Weed couldn’t sing but the song soothed him.

“Next time I’ll use the opportunity for a duet.”

“Okay!”

Weed and Hwaryeong decided to have an impromptu performance later.

“Kyahaoooh.”

“I heard a good song. She is talented but now I’m hungry so let’s catch them and eat!”

The Sulleions gradually drifted from their impressed state. The song ended and they were once again poised to attack.

Hwaryeong’s vocalization skill was high but the effect became duller as the Sulleion warriors listened to it longer.

The lowest level soldiers were 200 while the average ones had a level of 300. And there were at least 1,000 elite soldiers level 420 so it would be difficult to handle with the power of the sculptural lifeforms!

But now signs of the Disaster Sculpting started appearing.

Dududuk.

Rocks from the canyon started falling on the heads of the Sulleion warriors.

“This is… Kkueeeek!”

A bunch of rocks from the top of the rocky canyon rolled to the bottom. The warriors tried to avoid it but there were many people gathered and they fell to the bottom one after another.

“Wow… Weed’s skill is really amazing. More than 100 of them have died!”

Surka admired it.

Chunks of rocks rolled and made a ringing sound as they landed. However this was only the harbinger of the true disaster. Weed’s expression intensified.

“The most recent time I used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting was in Rosenheim Kingdom.”

He used it on top of the pyramid in order to escape from the Embinyu Church. The powerful catastrophe covered the area in a flood of water!

“My Affinity to Nature is over 1,000…..”

The power of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting depended on his Affinity to Nature. Selling Selina’s flowers also gave an option that raised it by 7%. Creating the Garden of the Gods and various items also increased it by 9%.

“But now it isn’t because of items.”

While adventuring, he deliberately looked at blooming flowers and wild grass. His Affinity to Nature climbed slowly but steadily.

He also took cuttings from dying trees and moved it to a good place so it could grow. Using eco-friendly materials like mud for pottery and created a botanical garden of an unprecedented scale in the Garden of the Gods. The natural botanical garden made the vitality of the plants even more voracious!

The reason he was so concerned with nature conservation was due to Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

“I made a Magnum Opus sculpture of the Fire Elemental King. Now my affinity is 1,291. If I add the flower bracelet and the Fine sculpture that I broke…..”

He thought it was strong before but it was no match. This was a standard that made the Rosenheim Kingdom disaster pale in comparison.

Weed’s face stiffened.

“Everybody gather closer.”

Bellot asked with a strange look.

“Gather?”

It was unexpected words!

“It is difficult to guess how much power it will have but we will definitely be swept up by the disaster if we don’t stay close to the centre of the canyon.”

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“All lifeforms stick closely to me!”

Rather than being comfortably scattered, they were densely gathered like a peak hour commute. Weed, his colleagues and the sculptural lifeforms moved closed to the stream of water flowing through the middle of the rocky canyon.

“Ummoooooo!”

Yellowy’s survival instinct meant he attached himself right next to Weed and he wouldn’t move. He knew that being with Weed was the safest place!

Phoenix, Bingryong and the other flying creatures hurriedly rushed up into the sky.

And a disaster starting occurring in the canyon! A landslide occurred in the steep canyon as the rock walls 2 kilometres high started falling.

“Kueeeeeeeeek!”

“It is suddenly crumbling!”

“Brave Sulleion warriors, avoid it!”

The warriors tried to retreat back to the caves but the entrance was narrow and they became all tangled up. While they were trying to escape, rocks fell on them and they became one large ball.

“Kaaaaah!”

“Chyu chyu chyu chyu.”

The Sulleions warriors were crushed to death by the rocks!

Dozens, no hundreds of warriors were brutally taken out. The number of soldiers who tried to avoid it but ended up falling down the canyon couldn’t be counted. They were like leaves crashing to the ground after a harsh wind.

Even if it was just this, the effect of the disaster was tremendous. A landslide had occurred on both sides of the canyon.

Weed, his colleagues and the sculptural lifeforms could relax and enjoy the plight of their enemies as they were also in a crisis. Huge chunks of rock of a colossal size were falling from the top. It didn’t stop and continued rolling into the middle of the canyon.

Weed said.

“This is a really strong skill but the small side effects…..”

His colleagues and the sculptural lifeforms also knew about the side effects. The answer was obvious. The rocks were already falling mercilessly! Great Disaster Nature Sculpting meant the person who used it could also die!

“Come over here!”

“Move to the right!”

“Kyaaah! Huge chunks from the top……”

“Wah, how amazing!”

“It is really thrilling! It will be a jackpot if we survive this! By the way, doesn’t it seem like we’ll die?”

“I lived a good life and didn’t do anything bad so why is this happening…..?”

“Don’t lie. Weed-nim! I will give 130 gold for a soup made from Yellowy.”

“Last time we hunted in the evening, you asked if I wanted ham hocks.”

“Omo, one piece of beef ribs will be very delicious.”

“Ummoooooo!”

The group gathered together as there was the thunderous sound of rocks hitting the ground. Water sprayed as they feared falling rocks!

“Now are we going to live or die?”

“We will live.”

Weed had prepared beforehand when he decided to use Great Disaster Nature Sculpting in the rocky canyon. It was fortunate that he occupied the centre before he used the skill. Many rocks fell close by but it didn’t directly hit them.

“Now it should end soon……”

The rocks and gravel had poured down in large quantities and the Sulleion warriors suffered an enormous blow that was difficult to recover from. A minimum of at least 600 warriors had died from the rocks.

“Isn’t that a lie?”

Surka pointed to the top of the rocky canyon with a finger. It was a place difficult to see from their position.

Kugugugugung!

Even if it was moderate, there was a chance of a larger accident happening with Great Disaster Nature Sculpting. When it shook, the top of the rocky canyon tilted forward and collapsed.

The Sulleions had used the caves to move to the canyon. The rocky canyon was perforated with caves so the landslide meant all it shook. It was normal for parts of the canyon to collapse.

Weed’s last scream!

“My damn destiny……!”

It was questionable how effective it would be but Irene cast protection magic.

“Divine Protection!”

The light of protection wrapped around all of them.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The earth shook and roared!

After a few moments. The dust cleared to reveal the forms of Weed’s party and the sculptural lifeforms.

“Uhh, we’re alive.”

“Are we really alive? It felt like I died.”

“We’re not dead?”

No one had died but Zephyr was covered in blood. They were in the centre of the canyon and the King Hydra had protected them from chunks of stone with its body.

“Kuwoooooh, it hurts!”

The King Hydra had the best health so it wouldn’t die easily. No matter how much health was lost, it wouldn’t die as long as all its head wasn’t cut off.

Of course, its level as a sculptural lifeform wasn’t very high so it had fairly slow health recovery. 2 of the King Hydra’s heads were completely intact so it screamed with pain as well as asking for something to eat.

“It will take time for the King Hydra to re-join the battle.”

Weed quickly analysed the situation.

The collapse of the rocky canyon surprised them but apart from the King Hydra, none of the sculptural lifeforms were significantly hurt.

“The problem is how many of those guys received a blow.”

The collapse happened in the rocky canyon. About a quarter of the terrain had been completely changed by the disaster. The Sulleion warriors had suffered much damage. But a fairly large number still survived.

They had tremendous health! They survived like cockroaches and the blue skin was once again seen in the rocky canyon.

“Kuooh, kill them!”

“In the name of the Sulleion warriors!”

The strong and tenacious soldiers were angry. A third of the tribe had died thanks to the disaster. The rocky canyon had received a blow. Weed’s Great Disaster Nature Sculpting wasn’t perfect so there were quite a few places that hadn’t collapsed. The healthy soldiers stood up carrying bows.

“Well, there was still a lot of damage.”

When looking at the scale of the rock canyon, Weed predicted that at least half the warriors had survived. But a lot more had died or suffered a major blow to their health.

The Sulleion warriors were even more outraged.

“Today’s catastrophe was a bit moderate so we still have to fight.”

Weed had a long term and devilish plan so the Sulleion warriors were lucky they didn’t suffer more damage. A lot of warriors received a temporary impact from falling down but they would recover over time.

“We need to attack before those guys wake up. Everyone attack!”

Weed gave a battle command to his sculptural lifeforms.

The Great Disaster Nature Sculpting had succeeded in shaking up the enemy. The Sulleions tried to use the terrain of the Harsel Mountains to their advantage but Weed struck the terrible blow first.

Now it was a race against time!

Except for the injured King Hydra and the earthworm, the remaining lifeforms bravely advanced towards the enemy. Yellowy didn’t want to fight but Goldman rode him into battle.

“Multiple Shot!”

Pale placed arrows on his bow and continuously shot towards the enemy. Once one arrow was fired, it dispersed and 40 arrows hit multiple enemies. They focused on killing the enemy instead of survival. The arrows were fired blindly towards the Sulleion warriors hit by the rocks!

“If I follow Weed-nim then I don’t need to worry about anything when fighting.”

It was a privilege to be able to fight on a battlefield like the rocky canyon. Pale removed an arrow from his quiver and bit it in his mouth before using an archer’s agility to run around firing. He was narrowing the distance towards the place where the Sulleion warriors were struggling to get up. Pale shot excessive amounts of arrows towards 100 enemies approaching.

“This place fits my taste. I’ll sweep them all away.”

Romuna happily prepared her magic.

A river of flames!

Magicians enjoyed fighting 3~4 monsters at a time. But the Sulleion warriors were already sticking closely to the rocks while shooting arrows and they were prepared for magic.

“I have to come out. I’ll smash them with everything I have!”

Surka left Irene who was treating the King Hydra and ran out with his fists.

“If I can survive here…..”

Zephyr also pulled out his platinum fishing rod and increased its length. The fishing rod was light, had surprisingly high damage and the fishing line meant it could be used freely so it was a wonderful long distance weapon.

“Huh huh huh huh hung!”

The White Tiger sculptural lifeform ran around biting the warriors. Knight Seville, Cerberus and the Countryside Snake were also active.

Anyway, the Sulleion warriors were numerous so they quickly recovered. The warriors launched arrows in the sky while the wyverns, Phoenix and Bingryong also became active.

They were surprised by the canyon’s collapse but they quickly figured out the situation.

“Master isn’t dead.”

“He won’t die from something like this.”

“Ggeug ggueg, there are quite a few left.”

“Freeze them.”

“Fight as quickly as possible. If we don’t then there will be no end to the nagging.”

Bingryong breathed out. And his Ice Breath hit the warriors on the slopes of the rocky canyon. Phoenix went to the other side of the canyon and breathed fire. The wyverns flew about capturing soldiers!

A confused fighting scene had begun while Bellot and Hwaryeong started preparing their singing and dancing again. The effect was significantly reduced once the battle started but they could raise the abilities of their colleagues.

Only Weed hadn’t fought yet.

“I don’t know how long my mana will last. No matter how far away, I’m able to bring them with a mysterious art. Summon Sculpture!”

It was a spell to summon a sculpture he had already carved! The Sulleion warriors were waking up. There was the sound of fighting and miscellaneous pieces of small stones falling down.

Romuna’s Flame River had swept away a few warriors. Golden Bird and Silver Bird fought together. If this was a normal fight then this would be the height of his power.

There was a stark contrast to when he was defeated by Bardray and the various preparations he made afterwards. The form of Weed’s sculpture slowly rose from the ground.

It was the Chaos Warrior Kubichya! A combat affiliated monster! Weed had hunted the Chaos Warriors when he was in the Jigolaths. The warrior had thick muscles. Weed also made his face give off a strong impression! The eyes were also torn from side to side.

If he appeared on a blind date then the partner would kneel down with fear.

Chapter 2: Fire Warrior

“It’s really affordable.”

Weed looked at the sculpture with satisfaction. He had made a statue of the Chaos Warrior Kubichya using the materials he had obtained from King Belsos.

“It is expensive but I’ll use it well.”

He had recycled the materials. Weed used a secret sculpting technique.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting makes the sculptor and statue resemble each other!

He grew 2 metres 20 cm tall and flames erupted around his body.

– Your body shape has changed so a number of equipment can’t be worn.

When wearing armour, the durability will decrease from the flames melting it.

New equipment is needed depending on the species.

– Sculpture Transformation has changed you into a species that rules over fire.

This species can use a unique short distance teleport spell.

Your Art stat has disappeared and Strength, Agility and Wisdom have increased greatly.

This will last until Sculpture Transformation is released.

Weed didn’t wear the helium armour and other equipment in case it would be damaged. He had the fire axe and leather belt with special resistance that he found from the Chaos Warriors in the Jigolaths. But such unique weapons weren’t necessary for Weed.

The Dragon Sword, Red Star.

When including the equipment that all users carried, it could be called the best sword.

“I haven’t been able to use this Dragon Sword once since I’ve found it. To be honest, I was just lucky to be able to pick it up… Now let’s fight.”

Weed pulled out the Red Star. And he slowly withdrew the sword from the scabbard.

Sururururung!

There was a music like sound as the sword was removed. Weed’s favourite sound was then heard.

– The Dragon Sword Red Star has been equipped.

You are lacking in the restriction level and fire resistance. But your Blacksmith skill means the weapon can be used.

You won’t get tired when using skills.

You will move more quickly and the probability of enemy attacks missing will increase.

Attacks will penetrate the opponent’s armour. Magic protection can be ignored and penetrated.

The probability of inflicting severe injuries will increase and the opponent’s fighting spirit will be reduced.

The power of fire will be doubled.

The power of fire will greatly increase the damage of the sword.

Magic resistance + 30%

The magic contained in the sword will cause monsters below intermediate level to be intimidated.

The power of attack skills will increase.

You have the ability to control fire.

The techniques stored in the sword is available.

Fire Arrow, Wrath of Fire, Fire Explosion, Fire Extinction, Sword of Hell, Summon Fire Hydras.

You are unable to use the special skill Red Star due to insufficient Wisdom, Intelligence and Mana.

Earth Extinction is unable to be used due to insufficient proficiency in Sword Mastery and Mana.

The Chaos Warriors are a tribe that governs the power of fire.

Red Star: when attacking with fire, you can convert it to Health and Mana.

Maximum value of Health and Mana will increase by 120% and recovery rate will double.

A pure white flame burned around Weed’s body that had changed into a Chaos Warrior.

His Art stat had disappeared after Sculpture Transformation while his other stats had increased by a large number. The sword even gave additional effects.

“Is this the feeling of an omniscient landlord?”

When Weed transformed into a Lich, he could wear Barkhan’s items and summon the undead. There were some bad side effects with the power of the undead but its strength has already been proven many times. Weed had a wonderful time conducting the undead and it was so cool that viewers were still enamoured with the reruns.

The collapsed rocky canyon packed with the bodies of the warriors meant he could summon a legion of undead. The undead had a strong power but it wasn’t possible right now when the sculptural lifeforms and his colleagues were under attack.

He had a lot of affection for his sculptural lifeforms like Goldman who chose death, Yellowy who took his threats and Wy-3 who he always rode.

“I need to make them work for the rest of their lives. If they die here then I will be the one who receives the damage. Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

“You called Master.”

“Defend this place. Protect the King Hydra.”

“Understood.”

Van Hawk and Torido were his subordinates so they came whenever he called. Weed looked at the rocky canyon and used a skill.

“Blink!”

At that moment, Weed appeared behind a Sulleion warrior who was just firing an arrow.

“Keek?”

The Sulleion was a reptile like tribe so flames were their nemesis. Weed wielded the sword wrapped in flames and brought it down.

– The power of fire has dealt a fatal blow to the warrior.

They have lost their power to fight.

“Blink!”

Weed continuously moved along the rocky canyon and subdued those firing a bow. When Weed continuously swung the sword, surprisingly an 8 metre high pillar of fire occurred.

The enemy couldn’t avoid it and were wrapped in flames as their health fell. If they fell from the high canyon then they would die from the crash damage!

Currently the Sulleions’ natural enemy was Weed himself.

“Get rid of the fire human.”

“He is the most dangerous.”

The arrows were concentrated on Weed. The arrows were also shot from the opposite rock wall.

“Blink.”

Weed used short distance teleportation while attacking so he wasn’t caught. This was why Weed suffered when he needed to hunt the Chaos Warriors and Kubichya.

He tried to emulate a Chaos Warrior’s power and knowledge. Weed took full advantage of the power of the sword and cunningly used Blink.

“Flame Explosion!”

Fireballs emerged from the sword and scattered in all directions, causing an explosion! The Sulleion warriors received significant damage and crashed into the ground.

Naturally it was beneficial for the Sulleion to besiege the enemies from the high walls. But in a geographically challenging rock canyon like this, if they suffered a blow and fell down then it was over.

Due to the combination of Disaster Sculpting and Sculpture Transformation, this rocky canyon had become the Sulleions’ tomb.

Weed used Blink to flash across both sides of the canyon and defeat the warriors holding bows.

“The Sulleions’ bows aren’t lacking. There is a low level restriction and no species restriction. The option also has the Quick Fire skill so it should sell decently. I can receive a high price for it.”

People have settled in Morata from the Central Continent so he could easily sell level 300 weapons now. He continued fighting after checking the item.

“He’s coming this way. Help!”

“Euweeeek. I want to run away.”

“Heuiiik.”

“Kiyaaah!”

The Sulleions were intimidated thanks to the power of Red Star and they couldn’t respond calmly to Weed. The arrow attacks slowly weakened and his flying creatures could fly about the canyon. The sculptural lifeforms and his colleagues were also fighting together at the bottom of the canyon.

There were many injured and weakened Sulleions from the rock collapse and quite a few died during the fight.

“We are warriors who rule the Harsel Mountains and we drove the intruders here. We still have a huge power!”

“Get rid of all the enemies here. Get revenge for our people with our own hands!”

The tribe’s Elders tried to raise the morale of the warriors again. Morale and organized combat were essential in a massive battle. Weed appeared next to the Elders.

“He came here. Call for reinforcements.”

“He is the boss of the intruders so we must kill him!”

The escorts for the Elders raised their spears. Their levels was a little higher than 420.

Weed cast a skill.

“Wrath of Fire!”

A column of flames burned up the warriors. The best part about the Red Star was its ability to take away the enemy’s combat power when an attack succeeded.

Once engulfed in flames, it was impossible to recover with being treated by priests. Furthermore, the Chaos Warriors was a species that had its health and mana naturally filled by the flames emitted by Red Star.

It was like a vampire receiving an indefinite supply of the blood of young women. In that situation, a vampire could fight against someone stronger and win.

His ability to use magic attack skills completely changed his combat power. Weed harnessed the skills of the Dragon Sword and Chaos Warrior to eliminate his enemies with an electrifying charisma! Every place he passed was devastated with flames.

Of course, he never forgot to pick up the loot dropped by the Sulleions. The Sulleions had ruled the Harsel Mountains for a long time so they had expensive loot.

“Warriors, that female warrior looks weak. Eliminate that woman.”

Some of the Elders made fun of the lifeform Gernika. She was a Barbarian warrior who fought with weapons in both hands. She became the target of lots of enemies.

Then the head of the Death Worm appeared where the Elders were and it swallowed them. The Death Worm was just a gourmet earthworm. It was a picky eater so it went for the commanders first. It had been timid since the rocky canyon collapsed but now it was finally starting to fight.

Meanwhile the King Hydra was rapidly restoring its health with Irene’s help.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The battle of Rocky Canyon!

Weed’s quest was relayed live and caused a large ripple. The collapse of the rocky canyon was a shocking video that transcended imagination. And the achievements of the sculptural lifeforms!

– Bingryong is strong.

– Full of dignity. The strong monsters are no match against it.

– The Phoenix is also visible. Its wide area flame magic is really scary.

– Weed’s subordinates are really no joke.

The Phoenix’s supreme skill that scattered feathers and burnt the rocky canyon. The sculptural lifeforms had unique skills that were amazing. The sight of all these skill running amok in the rocky canyon was a flashy scene.

The sculptural lifeforms were so popular that fan clubs had already formed. The audience also couldn’t overlook Yellowy, Bingryong and the wyverns who were extremely popular in Morata and played crucial roles in many battles. It was to the extent that chefs in Royal Road developed Bingryong ice cream and wyvern chicken!

The viewers also noted Weed’s combat ability.

– It is different from how he fought before.

– He seems to be overflowing with an uncontrollable power.

– I wanted to see something like this. This is the Weed from Continent of Magic. That completely different feeling when slaughtering monsters!

– Ahu…. I would like to see a real fight like that. But the reality is that I would only run away.

– He’s so strong yet he died to Bardray?

– I wonder if something was behind it. Maybe he got paid to lose. Wouldn’t a lot of money have to be given in order to do that?

– Weed-nim wouldn’t do something like that. Don’t talk carelessly when you don’t know Weed-nim.

– The Weed-nim I like is pure and unspoiled so don’t share such conspiracy theories.

– But his strength is really no joke. He is indeed Weed. My heart beats fast whenever I see him!

A hot battle as a Chaos Warrior! The viewers had no choice but to be excited as they watched Weed battle. They were totally engrossed in the battle as he took care of those handling the bows and the Elders.

Of course, that was due to greed for their items but the audience was fascinated by the fast and tough battle.

Normally they would approach carefully, confirm the health, be blessed with magic and fight stably.

– If you’re in a war then wouldn’t the correct answer be to dominate everything?

– I know. Weed fights like a man!

Not only was his individual power strong but he also had excellent commanding skills. The tactical operation focused on the sculptural lifeforms and to lure the enemies was completed without a hitch.

Every time Weed pointed a finger and issued a command, the sculptural lifeforms would take out the Sulleions. It was like when he commanded the forces of the ghost ships. Of course, the noise of the battlefield meant Weed needed to whisper so the audience couldn’t hear him.

– Gernika, don’t back out. Vindex, you’ve encountered so many. Aren’t you tired of playing yet? Now kill them! Countryside Snake, don’t just lick them and use your poison. Earthworm! Why are you sleeping in the ground for more than 20 seconds?

A storm of nagging! If someone was in danger then he would rescue them using short ranged teleportation. It was different from how other users handled their subordinates.

– Bardray deliberately threw his men into danger.

I don’t know this guy’s original self. = Comparison? This is the difference in the capabilities of a true commander.

– Kya! I’d like to see such a battle.

There were also people who brought down the mood.

– I can also fight like that. If they had high level and wore good items then everyone could act like that.

– Wake up. If you were in that situation then you probably would’ve been killed in just a minute.

– Weed’s movement speed, reaction speed and judgement, he takes advantage of everything. Could I really fight in a melee combat like that?

– Leave. You’re not someone who played Royal Road properly. You probably can’t even kill a rabbit after you connect.

The viewers couldn’t take their eyes off the television as the battle continued. It was like watching a movie and Weed’s unpredictable element made it fun. He planned to destroy the enemy in the disadvantageous rocky canyon.

Even if he was careful when causing a disaster, it would still be difficult to control. He should’ve utilized his skills and continue fighting the enemy in the outskirts of the Harsel Mountains.

But Weed committed to it.

“In the worst case, I can hit them and escape. I can retreat and use the cliffs or mountains at my back to defend and hold out for at least 3 months. I can hunt to eat and drink rainwater so living will be reasonable.”

So far he was able to endure by utilizing the skills of his sculptural lifeforms. The public had no choice but to be wildly excited.

“He foolishly fell into the Sulleions trap.”

“His plan to hit back against the ambush was perfect but Weed wasn’t able to expect this degree. Ah, how disappointing.”

Once the battle started, the people following the progress sighed deeply. But soon they changed their words and were busy complimenting him.

“Ohhhh! Weed’s subordinates really possess wonderful battle ability.”

“That weapon is from the Chaos Warrior Kubichya. According to what I heard, it is the weapon of a dragon.”

“The fact that it is a dragon’s weapon hasn’t been confirmed yet. It seems to have huge attack power and is an item that can use fire magic.”

“It’s wonderful! Did you see it just now? The sword burns all the flying arrows. That boldness and timing of his actions is only possible for Weed.”

“Haven’t you said those words a few times about Weed’s broadcasts?”

There was a relay of compliments.

LK Game station had recently become friendly with prestigious guilds, including the Hermes Guild. They needed to get along well with the large forces in order to secure a combat video. A portion of the proceeds from the advertisements during the broadcasts also needed to be paid to the prestigious guild.

But it couldn’t be compared to the viewers expected for Weed’s broadcast. The presenters knew what the audience wanted so they didn’t stop praising Weed.

“Ohhh, Weed…..”

“An arrow attack is being prepared against him and the warriors are gathering. Does he still not know about it?”

“He might not have enough mana to escape.”

“It is a crisis!”

The hosts raised the tension while watching the progress. There was an urgency about the broadcast that surpassed those of the finals of a football match!

“Weed has fallen down the rocky canyon due to the enemy’s attacks!”

“He fell from a serious height so Weed should receive a large blow.”

“Ah… That’s not the case! He moved through the air with continuous blinks!”

“As expected, he handled it very flexibly. He has a miracle like skill management.”

They were very busy following the video.

“Weed is on the ground. Now he is laughing as he acquires loot!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed used the magic of the Red Star multiple times. It was the feeling of taking a bullet taxi after always catching a bus.

“Now this is a good harvest!”

There were many wounded Sulleions scattered among the rocky canyon and Weed hunted them down. After transforming into a Chaos Warrior, he didn’t even wear armour. He could endure with his basic perseverance and resilience.

The Red Star and his charisma meant fighting the Sulleions weren’t a problem. The sword’s short range teleportation and ability to restore health meant he didn’t need to worry about his health decreasing!

“Retreat!”

The tribe’s Elders finally decided to retreat. Then the warriors started withdrawing from the rocky canyon. They passed through the narrow caves that hadn’t collapsed.

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“Don’t chase them!”

Normally in large scale battles, they would pursue any retreating enemies. The cavalry could chase down and overwhelm the monsters on the plains. Knights had a large advantage so the plains monsters were good prey for them. After the assault from the knights, the more intelligence monsters would decide to flee once morale lowered. A few days chasing and hunting the prey could gather loot, fame and experience. There were a lot of benefits to choosing a knight profession.

Several sculptural lifeforms had quick movement speed but this was the Harsel Mountains with a steep terrain. Weed and the sculptural lifeforms were also tired so the Sulleions could strike back if they chased them. It was difficult to control himself as the commander but this time it was necessary to endure it.

– A miracle like victory has been achieved in a canyon of the Harsel Mountains.

During the battle the enemies became panicked from the constant attacks.

Victory has been won with unpredictable leadership.

Even with excellent subordinates, a victory without the loss of any allies is praiseworthy.

– Fame has increased by 1,210.

– Charisma has increased by 6.

– Leadership has increased by 5.

– The Sulleions’ hostility has increased by 100.

– You have gained great battle experience.

All combat related stats have increased by 1.

– Your level has risen.

“Huhuk, my items are going away. Ah… A guy holding a bow has been caught.”

Weed had regrets even after winning a great battle.

“I should get rid of the guys around here.”

Weed went around the collapsed rocky canyon with his sculptural lifeforms and took care of the Sulleions warriors one by one.

“Spare me.”

A Sulleion warrior begged with a pathetic face.

Weed spoke with a regretful expression.

“I’d like to do that. But… I can’t because of the loot.”

Slice!

If he spared prisoners after a huge victory then Honour and Dignity would increase. Of course, simply commanding knights would increase fame and the Honour stat by a lot.

Even the Arpen Kingdom’s lower taxes increased Honour.

“There is no meaning to eating soup with rice when there is no honour. Fame is also worth a mention.”

When a king had high honour, knights would walk at his feet. Weed presently had 165 Honour as King of the Arpen Kingdom and that was quite high.

More free knights would come as the fame of the Arpen Kingdom spread across the continent.

“I heard there is a true king in the north.”

“It is apparent when talking to the residents.”

“There is a long distance but… I will go in order to meet a King I can serve for a lifetime.”

Free knights were leather clothes and a shabby cloak came to the north. Free knights killed monsters and some frequently swore allegiance to other lords. But many knights moved to find a new lord after the collapse of the Kallamore Kingdom.

Weed’s honour stat was low compared to art, strength or agility but the numerical value didn’t need to be compared. The kings of other nations just lived without caring about honour.

– The tyrants are only eager to collect taxes.

– How foolish, the warmongers don’t care about policies or numbers at all.

– They are unscrupulous and don’t defend chivalry.

– Complete bullies.

They had the worst reputation that even dogs passing by would bark at them! In particular, the users that were lords or kings had particularly bad reputations.

Thus the free knights of the Versailles Continent drifted towards the Arpen Kingdom. Soldiers needed a lot of investment and hard work in order to become a knight. When receiving the loyalty of a free knight, this part could be easily settled.

Of course, there was one important thing for the stingy Weed.

“These knights, they take too much salary. The employment costs are no joke. The money for their food costs alone……”

It wasn’t free so he was sad that his tax money went towards the knights that swore loyalty.

Currently the Arpen Kingdom had 240 knights.

The character of the knights would change depending on the king. The kings who lived in luxury and debauchery while collecting taxes would have knights who ignored the residents and enjoyed hedonism.

The knights of the Arpen Kingdom were frugal and enjoyed culture. They also voluntarily worked to keep the peace by fighting monsters and bandits. They hadn’t fought in dangerous places yet so it was impossible to compare them to the same standard as other kingdoms.

“Kyahh, we really won!”

Surka was delighted even when her gloves were ragged from hitting the enemy.

“I really thought I would die after falling into the trap.”

Weed hadn’t told his colleagues the detailed plan to lure the enemy. They just maintained a thorough security and gained experience. They were surprised twice by the disaster and the extermination of the enemy.

Romuna scolded her.

“There’s no such thing. Weed-nim is an expert at things like this. He had any number of tips and tricks.”

Zephyr also acknowledged it.

“Today really is a day of delicious dishes.”

Hwaryeong had experienced many things while hunting in dungeons under Weed’s leadership.

“I need to keep a well-rested bottle of wine for days he won’t let us rest.”

The strategy was evaluated as bold and aggressive tactics on television but his colleagues thought different.

‘Whenever he smiles like that, he is up to his ugly tricks.’

‘He is truly cunning…..’

‘He must’ve really experienced a lot since childhood.’

Originally the world was like this!

Anyway, Weed’s real goal was to rescue the Arnin kept at the Sulleion’s fortress.

“We’ve defeated quite a large number of troops here. Let’s advance there immediately.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Sulleion’s fortress at Tubkal Peak.

It was a place with decent scenery as clouds and the Harsel Mountains could be seen under their feet. The Sulleions piled stone on top of the mountain and built a fortress that looked like an upside down blade.

When riding the wyvern and looking at it from the sky, it was a terrain that made it difficult to attack.

Weed arrived at the neighbourhood with his colleagues and the sculptural lifeforms. This was a dangerous place for an ambush but it was no surprise the dispirited Sulleions didn’t attack.

“Now we just need to win here.”

Weed first checked the terrain of the fortress through Yurin’s drawing. The slope of the jagged peak was so severe that it was difficult to pull any siege weapons manufactured by blacksmiths.

“Intruders have come here.”

“Close the gates.”

“Place the archers. And take out the defensive weapons from the warehouse.”

The Sulleions confirmed Weed’s presence and shut the gates as they prepared for a siege! They took out defensive weapons they looted or obtained from dwarves that were taken prisoner. There were plenty of boiling oil, arrows, crossbows and devices that drop stones!

“This will be a very difficult challenge. It won’t be easy to make this place surrender.”

Pale climbed to a high place and clicked his tongue as he examined it. The Sulleion fortress had well maintained walls. Typically he would need 5 times the troops if there was going to be a war of attrition.

“Smoke!”

To make matters worse, smoke was rising from the fortress. When under attack by humans, the Sulleions would light up beacons to summon reinforcements.

“They’ve made all the preparations.

The Sulleions scattered around the Harsel Mountains had been brought back to the fortress. They entered the fortress using a small cave prepared beforehand and could also use it to spread out to the surroundings outside.

The Harsel Mountains was optimized for the Sulleions that lived there. His Sculpting Master Quest required him to rescue the Arnin so if he took too much time then he might be back to square one.

Pale asked.

“How will we fight?”

He believed that Weed would somehow have a trick.

“We should eat before fighting. It will be needed against these guys.”

Weed took out advanced ingredients and sparingly cooked dishes. Freshly baked bread, drinking soup made from dark meat broth to taste appetizing was the purpose. Normally they just ate barley bread with jam so this was already a luxury feeling!

“It will take a little time to cook the dishes so please enjoy.”

Weed took out all his cooking tools and ingredients. The meat, vegetables and other ingredients were kept frozen by Bingryong but his skill proficiency was 89% intermediate level 9 so the taste didn’t drop.

Just having a level 6 beginners cooking skill was enough to make a savoury smell emerge from the food. There were seasoned pork ribs mixed with the thigh meat of a sheep.

“Please eat simply. I’ve prepared a lot so you don’t become full too quickly.”

Sea bass, Flounder, Salmon, Flatfish, Sea Bream and Tuna!

They were caught from the sea east of Morata. Although they had been frozen. Weed’s knife cut them into quality sashimi!

“The taste is melting in my mouth.”

“Ah… There is a clear freshness.”

When it was brought out, the container immediately became empty.

“You’ve gone through a lot of trouble.”

He gave slices of tuna to the sculptural lifeforms. The King Hydra’s 9 heads fought among themselves over the food.

“Continue eating. It is just getting started.”

The next dish Weed made had shark eggs, shellfish and fish boiled along with a special sauce. He decorated it with potatoes, vegetables and dipping sauce before serving it in a container.

Hwaryeong was the first one to try it.

“How is it?”

Hwaryeong closed her eyes at Surka’s question and seemed to think of something.

“I can taste the deep sea the moment it touches my tongue. Fish are endlessly born and are swimming in the deep and mysterious ocean….”

Waguwagu.

“Aw, let’s eat together!”

Weed didn’t pay attention to their evaluation of his dishes. Fine cuisine didn’t appeal to everyone’s taste buds. He wanted to eat oden and ddeokboki the most.

“I am happy when cooking delicious dishes!”

Weed cooked ingredients from various areas of the continent and studied their taste. He had an intermediate level 9 cooking skill but it still took a long time to serve his party. He didn’t have a lot of time to make the food.

When he went hunting or on adventures, he ate simply. If he opened a restaurant with various ingredients supplied to him, it would be difficult for him to cook professionally. But he was able to build a significant depth to the flavours from land and sea ingredients.

“Here is some wine and brandy as well.”

“Kyaah, I really wanted a drink. I’ll drink just a little bit.”

Blowfish tempura, oysters, sashimi, traditional snacks and ham hocks.

The wyverns ate happily. Yellowy shed tears as he swallowed vegetables and gravy.

“Umoooooo, this seems to be the last food we will ever eat.”

“Who knows… We might die after eating this.”

The last supper! Goldman went to a corner and shed tears as he ate clams.

“Master, I’m still happy that we could be together.”

Weed had no such aims but his sculptural lifeforms were paranoid. Weed laughed with satisfaction.

“I’ve only been scolding them. Sometimes I should make food for the children. I didn’t think they would be moved like this.”

“Huhuhuhuk.”

The sculptural lifeforms gradually shed more tears. After the meal, the efficiency of Weed’s party and the sculptural lifeforms increased. Their exhausted body and vitality was restored due to the adequate rest.

The effect of his intermediate cooking skill meant they gained at least 9 levels. Health increased by 18,284 while vitality and endurance grew by 50%. The rest of his stats increased by more than 35 points!

Even so, the stat increase wouldn’t play a decisive role in battle. But if they ate well then they could fight better. It was the reason why Weed arranged delicacies of the sea and land and shared it with his colleagues and sculptures.

The founding ceremony for the Arpen Kingdom was simple but he was really grateful to all the people here. He wanted to continue growing together with his sculptural lifeforms. He was also grateful to his colleagues in many ways.

That’s why Weed didn’t spare on using the expensive ingredients. Of course it was different on the surface.

“I just wanted to try cooking… I had some materials left.”

“Then you will do this again the next time there are food ingredients left?”

“There won’t be any left.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin!

Weed visited their pirate ship a week ago. He got there quickly due to Yurin’s Picture Teleportation. As soon as Weed appeared, he treated the pirate ship like his house. In the process he discovered a bit of seafood in the ship’s warehouse.

“You must eat a lot of seafood since it is easy to obtain.”

“No. I’m homesick for land food and would rather eat meat more frequently.”

“I’m turning pale from eating sashimi on a daily basis.”

Weed didn’t listen to their opinions.

“It seems like you have a lot of seafood left…..”

“It’s not that much?”

“I will come and take it tomorrow. There should be enough to fill eight carriages.”

“Huh, is it possible to get that much seafood so quickly even if we’re on the sea?”

“I’d like different species like oysters and clams…..”

“Haha, what a good joke.”

“These days your bounty has increased quite a lot… Congratulations.”

“Ah, thank you very much. It is thanks to pirating. Raising one ship was very tough. It really is worthwhile to indiscriminately loot while at sea.”

“You’re notorious and have the murderer status so it will be unlucky if you meet someone looking for profit. They will be able to claim your bounty at a kingdom.”

“……”

There was a mean smile on Weed’s face that the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin couldn’t forget. They were considerable threats and Weed was someone who would go through with it.

“You’re a really bad guy that we respect. You haven’t forgotten and are still blackmailing us.”

“We still have a long way to go. There is a lot to learn.”

“In the world of bad actions, there is definitely a difference between us!”

The Mad Sharks used their fleet to gather the amount of seafood. They barely fulfilled the quota when Weed and Bingryong came. However Weed didn’t collect it completely free.

“If you take it then won’t people just think of it as robbery?”

In fact, it was like robbery.

“But it will be wrong to give money between us.”

“What if…..”

“We’re close friends who adventured together so there shouldn’t be a money deal.”

“……”

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin weren’t the type to refuse money. But they had to consider the other party involved. They knew what to expect from Weed.

“I have a knack for guessing the talent of people.”

The pirate ship was made of rotten wood! Something made from a sculptor would be a fine talisman at sea. The ship’s movement speed would increase and they wouldn’t suffer as much damage in storms. The pirate’s skill and stats also helped.

Many carried sculptures made for land but the sculptures attached to the bow would have a larger effect.

Heint made a different offer.

“Kya! I would be willing to give up money for a sculpture.”

They wanted a sculpture that expressed the wickedness of pirates.

He would feel bad making just one sculpture. Weed had a relationship with them so he couldn’t say no. It would be bad if he needed to have more dealings with them in the future.

“I will make you more sculptures.”

Weed also produced more sculptures for the other ships. It was the so-called 1+1 offer! He made a dolphin that could be occasionally seen at sea. Dolphins often hung around ships and increase sailing speed and luck!

“In order for us to do this….. We will work harder as pirates in the future.”

“I’m glad you’re satisfied. Then……”

Weed had a rotten smile on his lips.

That gentle smile stayed as he left the pirate ship of the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin.

Chapter 3: Tubkal Peak

Weed was aware of the fact that he didn’t have much time.

The Sulleions were extensively spread throughout the Harsel Mountains and they had a quick breeding rate so it was only a matter of time before their numbers were restored.

“Unfortunately the fight needs to be over by today.”

If he used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting then he could deliver a huge blow at the beginning. But the restrictions meant he could only create a disaster once a day. If he waited then the warriors would only increase.

“Even if I could use a disaster, I can’t kill the Arnin so I need to fight like this.”

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting would just cause a huge problem to his rescue plan. Weed once again used Sculpture Transformation to change into the Chaos Warrior Kubichya.

“The most important thing is speed. Everybody prepare for battle!”

His colleagues and sculptural lifeforms had large expectations.

“What is your strategy this time?”

“Is there something that will change the terrain of the Sulleions’ habitat?”

“Tactics that I can’t even imagine always seem to succeed.”

Irene, Pale and Bellot were nervous as they watched from the side. The sculptural lifeforms were ready to follow any orders. They were well fed so they could exert even more of their ability.

“Umoooooo, I’m going to live.”

“Gol gol gol, I’m happy to be here with everyone.”

“Wy-3 will die before I do.”

The oldest among the wyverns, Wy-1 snapped towards Wy-3.

“Yes, I will die first.”

“Master will ride you alone… Because he finds your flat back excellent.”

“Guuuh, that’s not it. You don’t know how hard it is.”

“I’m full!”

“I ate many ostrich eggs a short while ago.”

“I want to eat just one more!”

“I wanted to eat it!”

In the midst of this, jealousy was also occurring! He endowed them with life in the Jigolaths so his intimacy with them was still low.

This moment was also broadcasted live to the stations. Over tens of millions of viewers were watching it in real time or in Royal Road pubs as they ate food and drank beer.

They were watching Weed’s adventures rather than trading in the market square.

“Now, let’s get started.”

Weed gave a command.

“Guys, attack. Let’s go!”

He chose a frontal attack. He really looked reckless as he ran up the slope towards the blade like fortress!

Weed’s sculptural lifeforms also followed him towards the fortress. Yellowy, Goldman, Fire Giant, White Tiger, Knight Seville, female warrior Gernika, female sword user Vindex and the high elf Eltin all ran with him.

The flying creatures in the air also prepared to attack.

Arrows fired once they entered the range of the fortress on Tubkal Peak.

“Blink!”

Weed instantaneously teleported in front of the gates.

“Sword of Hell!”

The Red Star generated flames that covered the entire sword.

– Damage has increased by 329%.

Weed hit the gates with all his strength.

Kwaaaang!

A thunderous sound resounded as the gates were hit!

– The gates of Tubkal Fortress have been destroyed.

Your combat stats have increased by 1.

When the gates broke, the Sulleion warriors waiting immediately swarmed out.

“An unjust human.”

“Get rid of the enemy’s leader.”

Arrows and spears shot at him but Weed just used a skill.

“Blink!”

The next place he appeared was a house in the fortress!

“It isn’t here.”

Weed chopped the wooden building with the Red Star. And the whole building was engulfed in flames in seconds.

“There! The place lit up by fire.”

“Blink!”

He avoided the Sulleions and teleported to the heart of the fortress!

“Kuwaaaaah!”

“Eliminate those guys.”

“Kill all the bastards who came here to die!”

Weed could hear the sound of battle at the gates. The colleagues and the sculptural lifeforms had been blocked by the Sulleions. There was the something shaking and the walls vibrated as Death Worm travelled through the ground to collapse the walls.

A fierce battle was taking place between the thick walls and broken gates. The oversized sculptural lifeforms couldn’t squeeze past the gates but their bodies acted as a defense line.

“You have to make them fight well.”

Weed gave Goldman the command. Goldman was timid but he could fight well. Their movements weren’t efficient but Weed’s original goal wasn’t to capture the fortress. Weed would infiltrate the fortress alone in order to rescue Arnin.

“The sculptural lifeforms have to live well so they need to conserve their lives. They need to fight in moderation.”

Fortunately Irene was a reliable healer so he could feel relieved.

“Keeeeook!”

A large crocodile on all fours called Nile opened his eyes as it approached the gates. He would exert his maximum force in rivers or swamps. The short legs and heavy tail meant it was hard work to ascend or descend the mountain. His movement speed would become faster as the battle continued but it couldn’t maintain it for long.

He waved his tail while walking on all fours so Hwaryeong and Bellot really thought he was cute.

“Weed-nim, does Nile really need to fight? I will accomplish his share so can’t you remove Nile?”

“Omo, look at this pattern on the side of his stomach unni!”

They opposed Nile participating in battle. They didn’t want dust or bruises to damage the soft leather!

“Time is money. Quickly finish this!”

The fortress was built on a high peak so it wasn’t that wide. Most buildings only had 1 or 2 stories so there was a narrow range to search. The Country Mouse from the Jigolaths also squeezed through holes in the walls and searched for the Arnin.

The Sulleions had a tight defense but they couldn’t stop a Country Mouse from moving around.

“Kill him!”

The problem was that the Sulleions carefully watched Weed who was holding the Red Star and gathered excessively. It was natural to fiercely attempt to kill the other side’s leader in a siege. Weed had entered the fortress so they didn’t need to send their soldiers out. There were at least 300~400 warriors running after Weed.

“It isn’t here. Blink!”

Weed continued searching for the Arnin while slicing at any visible enemy warriors. He needed to search the building so it was bound to take some time. Country Mouse also looked into each building but there was no news.

“I won’t permit you to enter here. Kyahat!”

A Sulleion warrior leapt towards Weed. Weed accepted the enemy’s spear with his sword. The Red Star’s flames spread to the enemy.

“Chieeeeek!”

The enemy were continuously in great pain and he acquired the loot! Weed didn’t want to fight. He might’ve harnessed the power of the Red Star as a Chaos Warrior but that wasn’t enough to fight hundreds of enemies in their fortress. Blink also consumed mana so it couldn’t be used indefinitely.

“He’s coming this way.”

“Block. Kiyaaaaaah!”

Warriors ran towards Weed with their spears in front of them.

Syuik!

He cut the spears with the Red Star. Then he struck while passing by their side. The Sulleion warrior died as he was wrapped in flames and Weed moved onto the next enemy.

He was inexperienced with handling the Red Star but the effects meant it wasn’t that hard to attack. If he connected to the appropriate body part then there could be continuous attacks depending on the decline in health. After hitting the enemy as many times as necessary, he would move on to the next one.

Weed was efficient at hunting a group continuously. He had become a master of grinding efficiently. Not only was Weed good at handling the sword, no one could collect the loot as quickly as him. He would never leave an item behind on the battlefield.

“Heriam Fencing!”

Weed overpowered 5 Sulleion warriors with continuous strikes. They were caught by the fireball of death and their loot taken!

Weed attacked quickly so his health was quite reduced. He wasn’t wearing the Helium armour or any other type of armour. Therefore his defense was quite low and his health suffered a lot of damage. He was able to withstand it because the Red Star restored his health.

“Not here either.”

The Tubkal Fortress was the paradise of the Sulleion warriors.

“Grrrrk, I heard screams from here!”

“He entered the building.”

“Some of you will form a defensive wall while the rest will get rid of him.”

Weed’s every move was reported in real time. The Sulleions fought a lot more defensively than usual in the aftermath of the rocky canyon battle so it was difficult to search the buildings. They were the level 400 elite warriors that hadn’t participated in the previous battle!

Weed sometimes ran around deliberately provoking the elite warriors and dragged them after him.

“These ugly guys. Your appearance should at least be like me.”

“Kill him!”

“Blink!”

He looked for a place in the fortress with no enemies and sprinted there while fighting the enemies.

“The fire man is around here.”

“There!”

He had to search the fortress on limited mana while the enemy was growing in numbers. But he had to find the Arnin quickly and rescue them or he would fail!

– Country Mouse, have you found anything?

Weed whispered while fighting.

– Squeak squeak!

Country Mouse had been searching among the buildings but still couldn’t find anything. The buildings here were quite shabby so it was easy to eater through cracks in the door or holes. But there were no Arnin anywhere.

“It is impossible to search the fortress one after another…..”

His colleagues and sculptural lifeforms were also limited in time. That’s why Weed attracted the attention of the Sulleion warriors while searching the fortress.

“It still isn’t here…..”

Weed checked the warehouses and derelict buildings but still couldn’t find a place where prisoners were confined.

“I need to change my point of view. I can’t just rush around searching blindly. Blink!”

Weed rose to the tallest tower in the fortress.

The wyverns were flying around attacking soldiers on the ground while his colleagues and sculptural lifeforms were battling the Sulleions around the walls. Pale and Romuna were active while Hwaryeong’s body danced tirelessly as see drew the warriors’ attention. Their attacks got even more desperate the moment she stopped dancing.

They were no less busy than Weed’s battle.

“That guy went up.”

“We have to bring him down. Beware.”

“Chase and kill him!”

“Throw the spears.”

Spears and arrows flew at Weed. There was no time to think calmly.

“I need to make the Arnin work. Anyway, I don’t know whether they’re alive or dead. Spending their whole lives cooped up and working….”

It was the mindset of someone perfectly exploiting their workforce. After rescuing the Arnin, he would make them work like slaves.

“Escape must just be a dream. They worked all day long and were only given the minimum of food. They will be grateful for someone like me to come and rescue them.”

The doors and windows of the buildings in the fortress weren’t suitable as a prison. They wouldn’t be pampered for 2~3 years but would be made to work for 100 years.

“There won’t be any fresh air or sunlight. When taking into account the characteristics of the Sulleions, they must be imprisoned underground…..”

Underneath the fortress! That would certainly be the place where they were imprisoned. Until now he had been thinking like a human but the Sulleions also lived underground. Weed sent a whisper to Country Mouse.

– Is there something like a cave in the ground?

– Squeak squeak! There is.

– The location of the entrance?

– Two places. In front of the warriors’ lodging and next to the large building in the centre.

In the meantime, the Sulleion warriors had arrived on Weed’s tower. Weed’s health had already decreased to 46%. The Red Star replenished health and mana but it would become dangerous as the battle was prolonged.

“Blink!”

Weed moved to the large building in the centre.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Pale sometimes saw flames rising from buildings and admired it.

“He is really courageous…..”

His plan to enter the fortress alone! They were good words but if he died then the rescue would fail. The fortress was built on the steep Tubkal peaks so it was really difficult to make it surrender in a siege.

Weed had looked at Yurin’s drawing and made the decision to fight the Sulleions.

“The plan to draw the enemy using the Chaos Warrior can only be used by Weed-nim.”

But it really might be possible for him to return after rescuing the Arnin. Pale had seen many cases where Weed had accomplished a strange success. But even if he thought so, it really was difficult this time.

“Anyway, we have to make sure as much of them gather on the walls as possible. We have to hold them. Pay attention to your vitality and mana while fighting.”

Pale fired arrows towards the heads of the warriors on the walls. The sculptural lifeforms also climbed up the walls and fought. Zephyr and Surka also occupied the walls. They fought with Gernika, Vindex and Seville.

Pale caught sight of a wyvern aiming at an enemy.

“Wy-3, this way!”

Wy-3 who had been circling in the air started flying towards him.

“I’ll go with you.”

Pale and the high elf Eltin rode Wy-3 and flew up into the sky. If an archer had a high position then their attack range and power would become stronger.

He looked down at the spectacle from the wyvern. The King Hydra’s 9 heads were grabbing the arrows and spears while the Death Worm wriggled through the ground and struck the enemies. White Tiger and Cerberus had a competition as they ran along the walls biting the enemies.

The crocodile Nile crawled slowly but when he caught the enemy, he quickly bit them in a few mouthfuls. He was a large crocodile that opened his eyes sleepily while eating the Sulleion warriors! Weed also wound a strap of leather around his body so Nile didn’t receive a lot of damage from the spears.

The sculptural lifeforms had quite a high level. It was amazing watching them fight against the Sulleion lifeforms.

“I really wanted to come to a place like this. It isn’t necessary to worry when following along behind Weed-nim.”

It was on the scale of participating in the pyramid sculpture or fighting the Immortal Legion.

Pale looked over the fortress and fired his arrows. He breathed out as he pulled arrows from his quiver and enjoyed the pleasure of shooting enemy archers.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Kir was a beginner who started in Morata.

“Heh, this place was recommended by others but is this really it?”

The information boards about Royal Road recommended that Morata was the best city for beginners. Even his parents were in Morata.

“Son, you should see Royal Road.”

“Why should I?”

His father said with a deep sigh.

“You don’t have friends.”

“Friends aren’t necessary to live in this world.”

“You might meet a girlfriend while adventuring.”

“Marriage is called the grave of life.”

“…Still, Royal Road by itself is worth it. City life is dreary and insipid. It is possible to feel the spirit of pioneering in Royal Road that isn’t possible in modern times. It is a resort and playground for adults. Many connections can be made in Royal Road so it is also useful.”

“I’m going to pass the civil servant exam.”

“……”

His son couldn’t understand his real intentions. But Kir felt curious about Royal Road so he started it after all. He read it on the bulletin boards but he was still uncertain about starting in Morata.

“I shouldn’t believe people’s words these days.”

Kir decided to look around Morata. He talked to the guards in the Central Square first.

“You are a human who just started your adventure so it is best not to go too far away. It is better to run simple errands around the square in order to buy a city map.”

Kir ignored their words and toured all over the place. People who trading and entering stores at the market. Merchants were laughing after a successful trade. Some users had thick stomachs and this was evidence of a high ranking merchant.

“Since there are a lot of people buying and selling goods, this seems to be the downtown area. It is a pretty big city…..”

Tourists walked around Morata’s attractions. Kir followed them.

“The city is really beautiful but those rumours seemed to be fanciful nonsense!”

He thought all the stories were exaggerated and climbed the hill with the tourists.

“Kyah, how cool!”

When looking at the city from the hill, the buildings looked amazing. The Arts Centre, Cathedral, Grand Library, sculptures and various European style buildings were present. Architects played an active role so there were few buildings that were similar.

When looking from a high place, it really seemed like a painting of a city. Beyond Hestia’s Forge and the Research Tower, the landscape was very beautiful.

It was a fascinating urban landscape! It was the best thing Kir had seen so far. The smell of the forest was different from the pollution and clogged buildings in reality so it really made his heart pound.

“T-this is a little bit worth seeing. But it still isn’t enough to make me admire it.”

Kir came down to Painter’s Hill. When he looked around, the figure of the painters drawing was very charming. Monsters dripping saliva, an urban landscape and a bloody battle between elves and orcs. Tourist and users paid a high price to buy such pictures.

“It is futile spending money on such things.”

Kir came down the hill and continued walking. Chefs were engaged in business in the streets. It was a place where they could taste the delicacies of the continent.

“I’ll have to try it later on. It is better to eat something delicious. But it will be interesting to see what they taste like.”

Kir drifted towards the place where the shacks were collected. He had read a variety of information on the bulletin boards. The benefits of lower taxes and sculptures, various facilities and a variety of quests!

These were all real but it wasn’t the only thing Morata boasted of.

– There are many pretty girls among Freya’s priests.

– When it is just looks, then Morata… Huhuhu.

Many good looking females like treasure are there. This was the decisive reason why he started in Morata but he still doubted the story.

“From what I saw so far… They seem a little pretty.”

Kir was tricked into thinking it wasn’t that bad as he headed to the shanty village. Yet he saw the form of girls wearing beginner clothes planting potato seeds in the fields. Every shack had a little piece of land where people could plant potatoes or sweet potatoes.

“Well, to be able to meet a pretty girl in a place like this…..”

Kir couldn’t understand it so he headed further upwards.

Seo-yoon was working in a field with no one there so she took off her mask after she started sweating.

“Keheok!”

Kir felt his heart stop as he saw Seo-yoon. It was the appearance of a goddess level beauty!

“Owaaaah…..”

Kir couldn’t talk.

Seo-yoon was planting potatoes to feed the calves. She was a resident of the kingdom Weed ruled yet she still lived in a shack.

“T-this place is Morata.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– Dungeon: You are the first to discover the Underground Tubkal Fortress.

Rewards: Fame has increased by 2,610.

Experience and item drop rate will double for a week.

The first monster killed of each type will drop the rarest item.

As expected, the hole inside the fortress that Weed entered led to an important underground facility. And 10 elite Sulleion warriors were protecting the entrance.

“Invader, you dare enter a place like this!”

These elite warriors had far higher levels and better equipment. Weed thought it wouldn’t be easy as he looked at them.

“10 enemies are quite a lot. Blink!”

He teleported past the elite warriors defending the entrance.

“Kueeek!”

“Kkiyaaaah!”

The elite warriors shrieked as they chased him. The spears they threw flew past Weed and impacted with the ceiling and the floor. This sense of urgency and thrill!

“If I’m caught then I’ll die!”

Weed ran with his full strength. He ran to the right every time a crossroads appeared but he tried to survey as many things as possible. He hoped to find the prison cell that the Arnin were trapped in. If he found a closed door then he quickly opened it.

“An unjust human has entered.”

“Kill him!”

He only found elite Sulleions in the rooms. They formed a line behind Weed as they chased him. There were over 100 enemies gathered so it was impossible to fight them and win!

“There are 2 steps to my strategy.”

Step 1 was to get away from the enemies.

Step 2 was to run away quickly.

Weed bent his upper body and ran on all fours. It was a movement skill that increased his speed by 60%. He was a little more vulnerable but he would use any method to survive.

“Catch him…..”

“Give him as food for our children.”

“Should we bake him?”

“He is already slightly baked. He is just a runner.”

The Sulleion warriors were discussing how to deal with Weed while chasing him. In fact, this dungeon was no different from their home so Weed could only helplessly get trapped.

“The intruder is coming this way!”

Now warriors even appeared in front of him. Weed changed to the other direction. The warriors were running around so he couldn’t go wherever he wished.

“This place is very deep… And I have to choose the most probably place.”

Weed looked ahead and selected a direction when there was a fork in the road as he continued running. However there were two elite warriors blocking his way.

“Die!”

Enemies were chasing from behind so he was forced to cancel the Quadruple Run skill while moving forward.

“Close Eyes Tightly!”

– A spear has struck your shoulder.

Health has been greatly reduced.

– A spear has hit your head.

A critical hit!

You have fallen into the chaos state.

When he opened his eyes again, the landscape around him was shaking from the elite warriors behind him. His view was a mess thanks to his state of confusion so it was difficult to find the way.

Even when he ran into a wall, Weed hopelessly looked for an open place and ran. The worst situation was taking place!

‘The chaos state will last for another 13 seconds…..’

The elite warriors chasing were closing the gap.

“He is going over there!”

Weed ran against the walls thanks to the chaos state so the chasing warriors were advancing very quickly. This was also their habitat so they took a shortcut and showed up in front of him. In the end, he was forced to carry out a 3 stage operation. He ran forward while protecting his head.

“Close Eyes Tightly!”

Pepepek!

“Close Eyes Tightly!”

Papak!

“Close Eyes Tightly! If you can kill me then kill!”

He continuously pushed the Sulleion warriors away and broke through! Despite his defensive skill, Weed’s health was constantly decreasing.

He utilized the Red Star’s power but that was only a last resort.

Although the passages were narrow, the elite soldiers would keep on gathering and the sculptural lifeforms and his companions wouldn’t last forever. Weed was lacking time.

“Time didn’t pass as quickly when I was working a part time job washing dishes in a restaurant as it is now.

Deolkeong.

“Ah… Intruder. Kill!”

Only Sulleion guards met him every time Weed opened a door.

“Good gracious. There isn’t much health and mana left….”

If he continued constantly breaking through the enemy then he wouldn’t have enough health, mana or time.

Chapter 4: Stone Statue in the City

“Catch him in here and eat!”

The warriors’ morale rose further as Weed ran away. If at least 4 warriors blocked Weed then he would us Blink.

“He won’t have a tough taste! The food will be bad for me.”

“It smells delicious.”

“Over there!”

The monsters raced around after Weed. But the situation right now meant he couldn’t endure it much longer.

– A steel arrow has hit your side.

Weed continued to be injured by the arrows and spears while escaping. He didn’t wear any armour as a Chaos Warrior so his health continued dripping down and even bandages didn’t help. He even banged into walls while running at top speed so his health decreased to below 10%.

It was okay to maintain a low health in a steady hunt but right now it was terribly dangerous.

“I have to really avoid it!”

Weed measured the distance between himself and the Sulleion warriors chasing him. And he cast a skill.

“Blink!”

He teleported into a room he already passed! He hid in a corner of the room and waited for the Sulleion warriors to pass.

“He went that way.”

“That is the place where our leader is. Stop him at all costs!”

Weed waited until he couldn’t hear footsteps anymore.

“I’m lucky. I managed to survive somehow.”

He sensed that he had entered quite a deep place. He dug out the steel arrow lodged in his body and applied herbs to the wound.

– The herb has been burnt so it can only display 37% of the effect.

“My valuable herbs. How much would it be if I sold it to a store…..?”

After the simple treatment, the Red Star quickly restored his health and mana. His health was 23% and mana 31% when Weed left the corner of the room.

“I’ll just take a little look.”

Tadadadadak!

“He must be out here somewhere.”

“I’m going over there!”

Weed naturally hid in the corner of the room again when he heard the footsteps and cries of the Sulleions.

“I have to recover half of my health.”

Weed looked at the Red Star. This was the first time he used the sword properly. It was like a sword of god with complex magic patterns carved in it. Great attack magic was sealed up in it.

“I can draw out even more of the sword’s power later when my level increases….”

Weed was greedy for the sword. Anyone who saw the Red Star would desire it. The flame attributes increased the combat power by several times. If this sword only had minor side effects then could be used against a dragon.

“I need to be more comfortable. I can’t get caught so I need to move secretly.”

Weed decided to go out to the passages once his health was 46%. He had no choice but to go into danger because time was money.

“Then I need to move onto the next strategy.”

Weed took out a sculpture. It was a sculpture of an elite Sulleion warrior that he carved beforehand! The jaw expressed their long, drooping appearance and there were fine scales at the neck.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

Weed’s body changed from a Chaos Warrior to an elite Sulleion warrior. The Red Star was disarmed and he equipped the bow that he previously acquired as loot. And he left the passage and casually joined with another warrior.

They gave Weed a strange look and examined him from top to bottom.

‘Perhaps I was discovered? Indeed… Come to think of it, Sculpture Transformation doesn’t change the smell.’

Sculpture Transformation wasn’t a complete transformation. There were numerous reasons why a person could be detected and it was difficult to fool species with a keen sense of smell.

But fortunately the Sulleions had no nostrils so they didn’t have a sense of smell.

The elite warrior asked.

“You seem to be hurt. Where did that injury come from?”

Weed shook his head and spoke.

“I fought against the intruder.”

“Where? Everyone is in an uproar looking for him.”

“I ate him.”

“Is there any bit left?”

“No. He also tasted bad. By the way…..”

Weed carried on the conversation and the elite warrior didn’t doubt him. His webbed feet squeaked against the ground and scales covered him as he held a spear.

He learnt to imitate the speciality of a species and their minor mannerisms such as when he transformed into the orc Karichwi. He had no qualms or remorse about lying or scamming.

Weed’s standard was enough for him to give a university lecture about it.

“That guy came in to save the slaves called Arnin so more intruders might be coming.”

“Ah, those guys? Then we need to protect the prison cell. Let’s go quickly.”

The elite warrior walked down the passage and chose the right fork. Weed followed with his spear pointed to the ground. It was because he saw injured Sulleions walking this way.

“I am coming too.”

“You can rest. There are 10 people there.”

“I can still fight. I want to eat more intruders.”

“Then let’s go.”

Weed was guided by the elite warrior and arrived in front of the Arnin’s cell. They had gone up 3 storeys rather than down from the room where Weed had hid.

The jail cell that the Arnin were trapped in was quite large. It was guarded by 10 elite warriors and the one accompanying Weed added one more warrior.

‘Here is another group. If only there were only 1 or 2.’

Weed had to make a judgement. Now that he knew the location of the prison, he could come back or use this chance. He needed to handle it before the turmoil outside ended.

‘Infiltrating here with Sculpture Transformation isn’t hard but it will be difficult to escape with the Arnin.’

Weed chose to break through.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

There was a dense fog as the Death Knight and Vampire Lord were summoned!

“Master, is it a fight?”

“I don’t want to drink the blood of reptiles… Have you forgotten the classy tastebuds of an aristocrat? A beautiful girl would be good.”

Van Hawk loyally took out his sword but Tori looked around with a frown.

“Fight quickly! They aren’t food.”

The Death Knight and Vampire Lord attacked the elite warriors.

“A betrayal!”

Weed threw his spear and instantly struck two elite warriors with his Daemon’s Sword. But it wasn’t possible to deal a large blow.

The elite warriors had a considerable level. Furthermore, the skin had a special quality so general attacks weren’t effective. Although the limbs were thin, their spears had surprisingly strong power and attack range. 11 elite warriors would be difficult for just Weed and his two summons.

“Van Hawk, there is no time to waste. Fight against many of them. Torido, you return to the back!”

Van Hawk rushed recklessly while blocking the arrows and spears with this sword. A Death Knight wouldn’t back away from a battle. The Sword of Darkness that Weed created also emitted a dark aura.

Torido returned to the back and used curse magic and vampire skills!

“Keeek, this is the nobility of a vampire of the night!”

“Don’t look at his red eyes.”

The Sulleions instinctively feared Torido. Their concentration was low so they fell under his brainwashing magic. Torido showed a power appropriate for a high ranking monster. Weed chose a side. He aimed at one monster on the right.

“Radiant Sword!”

5 sparrows emerged from the Daemon’s Sword and cut the elite warrior! It was the warrior who brought Weed here.

“Kueek, the one I thought was a colleague….”

“Life is just a series of betrayals. That is being an adult.”

“Dirty bastard!”

“Water is valuable so I only wash once a week!”

The warrior that brought Weed died!

“Sword-cloning!”

Afterwards he used his Sword-cloning skill. The only meaning it had was to attract eyes to the fake bodies.

“Concentrate our attacks!”

Weed, Van Hawk and Torido started hunting while his clones lured them. Their formation changed to damaging one target.

“We can’t give them any time. Run them down!”

Weed and Van Hawk’s health dropped by a large amount. However they could fight more easily once 7 warriors remained. Tori restored his health by sucking their blood and started attacking the enemies quickly.

Meanwhile Weed and Van Hawk succeeded in disposing of 2 each. This wasn’t a situation to save mana. There were 3 enemies left but he didn’t know when reinforcements would appear.

After the battle finally ended, he took deep breaths while thinking.

“It wasn’t easy.”

Van Hawk was a wreck while Torido became even paler because the taste didn’t suit him. Weed’s health once again dropped to 7%.

“As expected from the Sword of Darkness and Tempting Vampire Ring I created.”

“……”

In order to succeed in life, he had to make them work! Weed picked up the items from the elite warriors. He couldn’t miss any loot because they might be indispensable items.

– You have acquired the Key to the Underground Jail.

This key can be used to open a locked door immediately.

Kkirik.

He could finally meet the Arnin, the sculptural lifeform species created by Emperor Geihar Von Arpen. This was a delightful moment!

“I went through a lot of trouble so I have to make them work for their whole lives!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Shin Hye-min was deeply grieved.

“Ahh, the attack on Tubkal Fortress feels fantastic even after the battle at the rocky canyon.

Oh Joo-wan received her words.

“It is a really amazing battle. Seeing a siege taking place against that backdrop is really wonderful.”

Shin Hye-min was a ranger so she was thinking about how much fun it would be if she was there. The sculptural lifeforms were desperately roaring as they fought while the Sulleion warriors fought to protect their home base.

The sculptural lifeforms used skills while the warriors took advantage of the terrain to aggressively defend the fortress. There were many flashy and great scenes.

“Weed didn’t take an adequate rest and just hurriedly plunged in. Did Shin Hye-min anticipate this?”

“Weed’s methods always break expectations.”

“But the battle doesn’t seem to be going like he hoped.”

“Yes, it does seem like that. Despite the large sacrifice at the rocky canyon, there are still quite a large number of Sulleion warriors. At present, it seems impossible to make the fortress surrender.”

“We should assume that today’s attack is a failure. And Weed’s situation will just be exacerbated tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.”

The sculptural lifeforms gave up on climbing up the walls while Pale and his colleagues had switched to defense. They were being pushed back by the endless reinforcements from the caves that opened into Tubkal Fortress.

“Weed-nim will have to rebuild his power.”

It was predetermined by the script to mention the withdrawal but it truly became dangerous after a long time passed. Despite the high levels of Phoenix and Bingryong, there were too many Sulleion warriors. They emerged from narrow caves one after another to participate in the fight.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

When he opened the door, a large number of Arnin sleeping on the ground could be seen. They were sculptural lifeforms living as slaves.

“Who are you?”

The sleeping Arnin woke up and saw Weed.

“I am…..”

Weed concentrated strength into his eyes. He was trying to suppress the tears of joy but a rotten smile couldn’t help forming on his face. He heard the circumstances outside through Irene’s whisper so he said simply.

“Your friends the Ellyons asked a favour of me. It is to help you escape from here.”

“Really?”

The Arnin got up. Even when they did that, they were still quite smaller than the dwarves.

– Quest: Ellyons’ Friends

You have met the Arnin species.

Lead them safely out of Tubkal Peak.

The Arnin’s breeding ability has been restricted until they can live in freedom.

There are a total of 342 currently alive.

You have to return to the Ellyons with the maximum number of Arnins alive.

If more than 10 people return alive then the Ellyons will understand that it is a difficult request.

Now all he needed to do was get out. Weed wrapped bandages around his body and asked for confirmation.

“Are you able to fight?”

He had prepared a lot of spears and to lend to the Arnin.

“We don’t know how to fight.”

“Then you at least know how to hold a sword. Isn’t that so? Think about it.”

“We don’t know.”

“Even magic or spirit magic is good.”

“We don’t know how to use it.”

It was like taking 342 children who didn’t know how to fight out into a battlefield.

“I guess I have to do it anyway.”

Weed transformed back into the Chaos Warrior Kubichya. It was necessary to change his body into something most suitable for battle. The Red Star was armed once again.

“Follow well. Be careful not to fall behind.”

The moment he was about to leave, the Arnin spoke.

“Excuse me, our animals are also here. It isn’t possible for me to leave here without them.”

“Please bring our animals as well.”

“We took care of them and gave them rice every day so we can’t live alone.”

Ddiring!

– Quest: Ellyons’ Friends

The Arnin are eager to take the animals they raised to escape.

If you try to bring them by force then it is likely to cause a lot of trouble.

If you save the animals then they will thank you sincerely.

Weed gave a deep sigh.

“Did I sell a country in my previous life…..?”

He didn’t know why his life became this twisted. He had to somehow succeed in the quest to rescue the Arnin. Weed licked his lips.

“I will rescue the animals next so just come with me.”

“Really?”

“Yes, of course.”

Weed naturally had no intention of coming back to help. This was a comfortable hunting ground but the others were having difficult against the Sulleions.

“It isn’t possible to do that. If we escape then the Sulleions will grab the animals and eat them.”

“We won’t go along without them.”

Unfortunately his easy lie didn’t work.

“It will be dangerous. It is already difficult with my skills to bring you out. You have to live. Your friends the Ellyons are waiting for you in Morata.”

“I want to raise the animals. I would rather you come back for me after helping them first.”

He came here with such difficulty….. The degree of difficulty for this quest was too high.

‘However I can’t give up here…..’

The standard of the northern users were high so there should be a lot of people hunting in the Harsel Mountains. But the number of users at the level to hunt here were still small so it was much more efficient to hunt at a safe dungeon or hunting grounds.

The bitterness of going ahead of other users!

The quest was difficult because he couldn’t fight back against the continuously propagating Sulleions.

‘I can’t leave and grow my sculptural lifeforms some more before returning….. It will take too much time.’

The monsters didn’t lack intelligence and would also grow like users. Their numbers would grow even more and the defences of the fortress strengthened. So he had to make a decision now.

‘If I bring 10 of them back to Morata by force…..’

That was his idea to complete the request. But forcibly taking out 10 Arnin while fighting as well….

“Yes, I will rescue the animals you’ve raised!”

A plan of desperation!

In the worst case, Weed would escape alone and aim at the next chance or he would kidnap some Arnin. If he brought them by force then the quest wouldn’t be a simple success and his high fame would fall.

Intimacy would also fall and he wouldn’t be able to make them work for the Arpen Kingdom. But the more he hesitated, the more dangerous it would be for the sculptural lifeforms.

“Thank you very much.”

“Where are the animals you raised?”

“It is near here. We will guide you.”

Weed led the way with Van Hawk and Torido. He killed any Sulleion warriors before they had the chance to call for reinforcements. His colleagues could lose at any moment so he couldn’t feel calm. Then 1 of the Arnin said.

“These guys are unlike how they normally are.”

The warriors from underground were busy flocking to the surface.

“The place is just around the corner.”

There were 4 elite warriors guarding the entrance. Weed confirmed the status of his body and briefly took deep breaths.

“Van Hawk, take 3 of them. Torido will quickly take care of 1 and then help you.

“Understood, Master.”

Van Hawk and Torido promptly began hunting. This time there were only 4 and he was using the Red Star so they had no difficult killing the elite warriors and obtaining the key to open the door.

Weed’s eyes became large.

“These guys are…..”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The battle at Tubkal Peak.

Pale’s vitality and mana were almost at the limit. The sculptural lifeforms fought but they were tired from the endless warriors. They were intimidated by the flying creatures and the King Hydra so the Sulleions didn’t dare go on the offensive. Even in their weary state, Hwaryeong and Bellot continuously attracted the attention of the enemies through playing and dancing.

Pale pulled an arrow out of his quiver and shouted.

“Is there no word from Weed-nim yet?”

He shot the arrow precisely into the forehead of a warrior! He didn’t know if it was because they were defending the fortress or the damage was too large but the warriors were attacking prudently.

Maybe this was even scarier.

The Sulleions were carefully surrounding their strong prey in order to build up their power and get rid of them all at once.

Irene who was treating the health of the sculptural lifeforms replied.

“Wait a moment.”

“We have to retreat. Tell him that now is the time to leave.”

“He said that if we wait a moment, it will all work out.”

“What does that mean…..?”

It was at that moment.

Dozens of griffins flew from the Sulleions’ fortress on Tubkal Peak. Numerous saber-toothed tigers were running through the open gates. The Arnin were sitting on the heads of the saber-toothed tigers.

The Sulleions didn’t raise docile animals like rabbits, sheep, pigs, chicken or cattle. Instead they raised griffins and saber-toothed tigers to be used as food. The Sulleions also raised them to ride the monsters in the air and on land.

If time was given then they would become more powerfully and be able to expand outside the Harsel Mountains.

The problem was solved as soon as Weed saw the griffins and saber-toothed tigers. By accepting the Arnin’s request, he killed two birds with one stone. And the free griffins and saber-toothed tigers attacked the Sulleion warriors at the Arnin’s request.

“Kueek, those guys have appeared outside!”

“It is a big deal. A big deal.”

The Sulleions were defending the fortress so they couldn’t stop the griffins and saber-toothed tigers running away.

“Aim for the bowmen and open up a path for the saber-toothed tigers!”

Under Weed’s command, the party managed to retreat safely from Tubkal Peak! The damaged Sulleions couldn’t chase after them.

Ddiring!

– The battle against the Sulleions at Tubkal Peak has ended in a draw.

The Sulleions are the rulers of the Harsel Mountains. If you captured their fortress then you would’ve gained control over the mountain area.

But it is a miracle that you’ve managed to escape safely with no one dying.

The Sulleions who suffered considerable damage will elect a Warchief and strengthen their defences against another siege.

– Fame has been acquired based on your contribution in battle.

Weed took the sculptural lifeforms and returned to Morata with his colleagues. The griffins and saber-toothed tigers settled down in the area east and south of the Harsel Mountains.

They would keep the Sulleions in check.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“…..So I’ve returned safely.”

– Thank you very much. I never thought I could meet my friends again.

Ddiring!

– Ellyons’ Friends has been completed.

The sculptor Weed has rescued the Arnin who have been forced into labour by the Sulleions.

– The sculptural lifeform species, the Arnin and Ellyons have settled in the Arpen Kingdom.

The sculptural lifeforms remember the past glories of the Arpen Empire and will work for the kingdom.

You have showed courage, heroic commanding ability and decision making based on respect of life.

– Fame has increased by 2,580.

– Your level has risen.

– The sculptural lifeform species, the Arnin and Ellyons will work for the kingdom.

– Your degree of intimacy with the sculptural lifeforms has risen.

They won’t forget the impression you gave of overcoming huge danger to save them.

– Charisma has increased by 15.

– Leadership has increased by 23.

– You have gained great battle experience.

All combat related stats have increased by 3.

Weed laughed warmly. Judging from recent broadcasts, a person didn’t have to be handsome to be popular. He squinted his eyes and laughed despicably.

“I really glad I could meet you.”

The Sculptor Master Quest was completed. Instead of getting equipment or items, the Arnin were good at raising animals.

The Arpen Kingdom grew livestock that could be used in leather, meat, food etc. so they were useful for many areas of development.

‘I can make them work forever.’

They sneaked from the Sulleions’ possession and came to Weed. The only thing left was to exploit them from now on.

“Anyway, it is better in my kingdom.”

Weed’s Arpen Kingdom in the north was emerging as a country cantered on beginners.

If he comprehensively looked at the kingdom’s economic power, military power and overall power, it was no made for the traditionally strong Central Continent. The only way to overcome it was exploitation!

In fact, the situation surrounding Weed wasn’t that good.

Bardray and the Hermes Guild were consolidating the Haven and Kallamore Kingdoms and the scale was enough to be called an Empire. After the defeat of the Black Lion Guild, they also controlled the Tullen Kingdom through the Beden Guild. They had the best economic power and military power.

They were also users with high level rankings. There were rumours that the conditions to join the Hermes Guild were beyond imagination. Their power was equal to the Cloud Guild, Roam Guild and Black Sword mercenary group combined. They were a guild designed to rule kingdoms.

There was no way the Arpen Kingdom could compare to their power, funding ability and military troops.

“They will never offer me a contract. The Hermes Guild would have to go back on a lot if they did that.”

This point was really clear to Weed. The Hermes Guild had sharpened their swords at him so he couldn’t go back after crossing the river. The Arpen kingdom was still weak but his subordinates would do a lot of good work and the Sculpting Master Quest would have its own income.

Weed had just fulfilled the 14th stage of his Master Quest. There wasn’t much left until he became a true Class Master.

“It would be a huge amount of money if I’m successful first!”

The broadcasting stations would pay a large reward in order to show the first Class Master. That role should be kept for him when it happens.

Then Weed’s backpack opened and a sculpture of a deer that he hadn’t given life to walked out.

The Baby Deer, the face was clear so he thought it could be sold for a decent price. There were certain forms that were sometimes the most popular.

The Baby Deer said.

“Sculptor-nim who can breathe life into art.”

Weed became sorry every time he was praised as an artist. It was an occupation that needed creativity or else he would face endless anguish. When were interviewed in broadcasts, it was a big topic about how they chose the occupation of sculptor. He couldn’t say that he chose the profession by mistake and since then worked hard to live.

But Weed answered with a serious face.

“Yes. Speak, Deer.”

“I’m thankful that you cherish sculptures in your heart.”

“……”

Weed was a little embarrassed by the words.

“Thank you for calling the life in us and making sure that we can live.”

“You don’t have to do that. This is just something I have to do. I want the world to see a cute sculpture like you.”

It was like the harmonious dialogue between a father and daughter. Yellowy standing next to him who was often called rib eye steak resented his words.

“A sculptor like you is the only one who can understand the heart of the sculptures. Therefore I have something to ask you. Will you please learn more about us sculptures?”

Ddiring!

– Sculpture’s Eyes

The new challenge as a sculptor is to expand your understanding of the sculptures.

Trap your body in a sculpture where not even the wind can be felt.

If you watch the world through the eyes of a sculpture for 1 month then you will learn many things.

Difficulty Level: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Restriction: Level 8 Advanced Sculpting

If the sculpture is destroyed by animals or people then you will fail.

If you release the skill ‘Sculpture Formation’ then you will fail.

– You have acquired the Sculpture Formation skill.

Sculpture Formation: Your body is made into a sculpture.

Stone will form around your body when the skill is first cast. You will be unable to move for 1 month while the skill is in duration.

Even if the connection is ended, the stone statue will remain intact with the durability depending on your art stat.

“Hmm.”

Weed finished his calculations for the 15th quest in an instant. He was lucky since it was a Sculpting Master Quest almost impossible to fail. He could just comfortably relax and spend the next month as a stone sculpture.

Royal Road was four times quicker than reality so it actually wouldn’t take that long.

Weed smiled and said.

“I’m eager to better understand your heart. I will take this chance to learn.”

– You have accepted the quest.

“Thank you. For accepting my request.”

The Baby Deer once again returned to being a sculpture.

The eyes of a wooden doll! Normally the average was 1 gold but the taxes meant it would be at least 4 gold.

And Weed’s complaints started.

“The sculptor profession gives me trouble every time.”

Anyway, he needed to do the quest. He should quickly bring it to an end.

‘At least there doesn’t seem to be any significant risk.’

He should take a wyvern and fly to a cliff before using the skill.

“No. Something terrible might happen.”

After the Great Disaster Nature Sculpting that brought down the rocky canyon, he realized that a cliff definitely wasn’t safe.

“The plains won’t work since monsters will be there. The middle of the sea is also dangerous…..”

There were also disasters at sea. Storms and unimaginable dangers were scattered out at sea. He only needed to look in Morata’s library to see many misadventures related to the sea. Nowadays, the beach and Port Varna had been created around Morata. There were many users enjoying marine adventures, fishing, swimming etc.

“I can’t believe in the people in this world… Where should I spend my 1 month?”

Weed decided on the inside of Morata. When considering monsters and nature, Morata was judged to be the safest place.

“It needs to be there for 1 month.”

There were plenty of sculptures displayed in the city. Sculptors worked in the street but there were also many in the Art Centre and the Cathedral.

“I need to be just another statue on the street.”

Weed knew that he shouldn’t inform anyone of this. The quest itself wasn’t difficult but there were many people with grudges against him.

“There is the Hermes Guild and users who received damage from me in Continent of Magic. There should be at least 100,000~200,000?”

The grudge was on the scale of a small city!

“They will come flocking if they learn of this. They will thoroughly interfere.”

Weed walked towards a dim place in Morata. When facing the vampires in the past, he had done much hunting here but the city had developed since then. The newly constructed buildings made it feel different every time he came to Morata.

“A place with no people would be good. A quiet place where I won’t receive interference.”

There was nowhere in Morata where there weren’t people. It had grown into a city and was now the capital of a kingdom. Carriages passed through and beginners ran around.

Weed hid his face behind a robe and passed the central lanes. He went to Morata’s outskirts and decided on a side street going up a hill.

“This place is good. Not many people around…..”

He carved a sculpture and waited for 1 hour but no one passed by. Weed wore the Goddess’ Knight Armour, Daemon’s Sword, Baharan’s Bracelet and the Elegant Black Helmet of a Young Noble before using the skill.

“Sculpture Formation!”

– Sculpture Formation skill has been used.

You can’t move while the skill is active.

He became a stone statue from his foot upwards. After his entire body became stone, he couldn’t move so it felt a little stuffy. He looked at the world through the sculpture’s eyes but even when surveying the area restlessly, the stone eyes didn’t move.

‘This is perfect and no one will know.’

Weed was delighted to be the only one with the secret. And after 10 minutes passed.

Hwiing.

Several leaves fell onto the lane. It was a really quiet place in Morata so it was extremely boring. All he could do was watch the landscape change and the sparrows flying past.

‘Anyway, it will be good if I succeed in the quest. I’d like it to rain.’

Weed found it boring but still maintained his connection. However he needed to eat rice and also clean. Taking care of chores and the physiological aspects of his body were all essential parts of living as a human!

‘Well, it isn’t a big deal. Morata is a safe place. I guess I’ll go clean.’

Weed exited the game.

Chapter 5: Black Knight’s Route

Various users on the Versailles Continent were busy doing their Class Quest.

The so called Rankers! They had the highest level and class skills so the users were excited about that fact itself.

“Did you see Chase-nim?”

“Kyah! He didn’t waver for even 1 second and just entered the cemetery at midnight.”

“He seems to be seeking a rusty iron sculpture.”

While people were going off on adventures to become a Class Master, the users were looking on with large interest. Then CTS Media broke an exclusive scoop.

“We’ve just obtain information on the closest person to become a Class Master.”

“Yoo Hye-na ssi, how interesting. Who is it?”

“Yes, I’ll let you know soon. If I say he is a dwarf then everyone will probably know.”

The blacksmith in Kuruso, Fabio! It was an exclusive scoop that he almost mastered his skill.

He made it this far without doing any quests and stayed in his forge making equipment. He was considered to be the best blacksmith and CTS Media obtained reliable information that he was close to becoming a master craftsman.

“Ah… If it is Blacksmith Fabio then the likelihood is high. Yoo Hye-na ssi, but I haven’t heard any news about his Class Master Quests.”

“I checked and he hasn’t even started his Master Quest. His only purpose seems to be raising his skill to reach master level.”

After the broadcast, users eagerly went to Kuruso in the Thor Kingdom to receive these weapons. The weapon of a Blacksmith Master!

The value and rarity was beyond imagination so it was difficult to even settle on a high price. If Fabio mastered the blacksmith skill first then he would receive great glory.

It was the same for the first person to finish the Master Quest.

Other famous users’ challenges were broadcasted in real time and the Master Quest became increasingly competitive.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray had advanced to the 16th stage of his Master Quest.

“Telmedun Knights, I will leave the castle’s defences to you.”

“Please watch carefully. We will cut off the head of the rebel army.”

Bardray’s knights and infantry division were victorious in battle and earned enormous compensation. They carried on mercenary activities and cruelly plundered cities! The knights were heavily armed and trained the infantry. He recruited talented boys from cities and towns as knights.

Bardray was building a place in the history books of the Versailles Continent!

The knights and infantry were raised on sharpened swords.

The Knights of Telmedun.

The infantry battalion of Telmedun.

65 knights and 4,000 infantry!

They were currently employed on the side of the Fontainebleau Castle to take care of a rebel army. Bardray had the authority to command all the troops.

“I like this.”

Bardray decided after examining the terrain of Fontainebleau Castle and village.

“The thick and high castle walls are good for defending and it is a rich place.”

When the rebels tried to invade, the knights repelled them. The Telmedun Knights were raised to feel no fear and brutally killed the enemies, even those that surrendered.

And there was a banquet to celebrate their victory.

“Telmedun Knights, what are your dreams?”

When the Lord asked, Bardray took out his sword and said.

“A strong person has everything. My dream is to become stronger.”

The other Telmedun Knights also pulled out their swords and made the same promise.

“Kuaaak!”

“Treachery! Protect the Lord!”

“Guards!”

The banquet hall where musicians played and exotic foods were arranged became a mess of blood. The infantry who were waiting in the hallway with their crossbows defended against the army.

Bardray took control of Fontainebleau Castle.

Ddiring!

– The Bloody Knights has been completed.

The Telmedun Knights have captured Fontainebleau Castle.

The knights have accomplished glorious achievements on the battlefield and their disregard about spilling blood makes them an existence that can’t be ignored.

– Fame has increased by 3,329.

– You have failed to obtain Honour with this quest. Dignity and Honour have decreased by 13.

– The loyalty of the knights and infantry has fallen due to the cowardly actions. The reputation of the Dale Kingdom has fallen.

– Strength has increased by 11.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 19.

The Black Knight’s 16th quest was completed!

Normally he would render services to high ranking nobles or royalty and gain territories. But even if wonderful services were rendered and a large war won, there was no guarantee he could get a good territory. Therefore Bardray just took it away using force.

A general knight thought very highly of loyalty and honour. Those things didn’t matter to a Black Knight who endlessly pursued strength and power.

“I have to continue to make them train.”

The quest was finished but Bardray had no intention of stopping the training of the knights and infantry. The Black Knight’s quests were related to battle so the existence of a knights division was essential.

The Telmedun Knights’ destiny was to be forged for Bardray’s use.

“And now I have to…..”

Bardray closed his eyes. The next Black Knight’s quest would appear when he closed his eyes. It was like something was urging on desire.

Wide burning plains.

Screams were heard as a fortress collapsed.

The Telmedun knights and infantry cruelly slaughtered everyone.

The army Bardray raised was destroying everything.

It was revenge on the king that deserted him.

Ddiring!

– Black Knight’s Route

The Black Knight offers his loyalty to no one. You are naturally walking your path as retaliation against the king.

You have an endless greed for power.

You use everything you can to get what you want. And it is possible to obtain even stronger power after accomplishing your goal.

But this isn’t a gift given to the righteous…..

Level of Difficulty: Black Knight Master Quest.

Quest Restrictions: Level 9 Advanced Sword Mastery.

Knights division needed.

– A secret sword technique can be created through this quest.

A new technique will be born depending on the behaviours and actions shown the quest.

The creation of a new skill was born from the process of completing a Class Master Quest. It was a technique that only belonged to Bardray, the new Black Knight Master.

– You lack the necessary skill proficiency in Sword Mastery to start the quest.

It isn’t possible to complete the quest yet.

Bardray’s forehead contorted.

“That’s too bad.”

His Sword Mastery skill was only level 8 advanced. He needed 10% more to increase the proficiency. He wasn’t able to start the quest or create a new secret technique yet.

In front of Bardray, the form of Fontainebleau Castle distorted to become the Telmedun knights kneeling. When he pushed, they disappeared like fog hit by sunlight and he returned to Haven Kingdom’s capital, Aren Castle.

He could hardly complain because he wasn’t qualified to complete the quest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Tailor Drago.

He was one of the continent’s top three tailors including  Cadmus. He travelled to the north after hearing that Morata was becoming the centre of sewing.

“This has the best cloth weaving technique. The leather working too, it really is the best in the continent.”

Morata was considered the best in sewing since the time of the Niflheim Empire.

However it had been some time since the days of the Niflheim Empire and the Central Continent had gone ahead in culture, finance and military power. Due to the cold and monsters, this area had been closed off from the rest of the continent. Morata especially excelled in handling leather and cloth.

Thanks to the dwarves from Thor Kingdom, the elves and the barbarians, this place now boasted a huge productivity.

The southern continent was a civilization of mysterious magic while the west contained strong tribal nations. These days the entire continent was being built up through technology and trade.

Some kingdoms were now declining thanks to the Embinyu Church, monsters and other unknown reasons. On the other hand, Morata was currently flourishing ad this was a large blessing for tailors.

Drago owned a costume store in Morata. People came to Bingryong Square in Morata to order clothes from him. Tailor Drago was a specialist in women’s clothes. He boasted of his ability when he came to Morata and increased his customers.

His customers included high level adventurers, merchants and professional mercenaries. Some were regular customers in the past from the Central Continent who placed an order for some clothes.

His specialty was using the best fabrics for coy exposure. Drago and Cadmus were tailors that diligently made clothes in Morata.

Ddiring!

– You are the leading trend in fashionable clothes in Morata.

Your luxury clothes have been registered as a specialty of Morata.

A tailor who put in the effort could have their products registered as a specialty. A tailor was a respected occupation in Morata so fabric and leather were developed for them.

Luxury clothes registered as a specialty could be sold to aristocrats or magicians.

“Robe specialty store. There are different designs and patterns depending on the level and magic.”

“Cloaks that flutter in the wind as well. Cloaks specializing in agility can be custom made.”

“Pants. There are light and elastic so they won’t feel uncomfortable when hunting. Made from the finest Morata fabric that have basic defense, are airy and will block rainwater.”

The desire that people had for clothes never ended. It was to the extent that they wore mountain climbing clothes suitable for the Alps or Himalayas for the hill at the back of the village.

In Versailles Continent they had to fight monsters so they weren’t conscious of the price when buying slightly better clothes. They even wore clothes with magic resistance to hunt deer.

Thus the tax revenue from Morata’s tailors was quite large. Drago’s business in Morata was continuing to prosper.

“Now my sewing skill is advanced level 8.”

He made a dress with jewels and advanced one proficiency level. There were many bards and dancers in Morata so a lot of related clothing orders came in. Hwaryeong was also one of his regular customers.

“I’m not qualified thanks to reaching advanced level 8… Should I challenge the Tailor’s Master Quest?”

Drago was fairly unknown in order industries. He was a blue collar man so it was difficult to gain a name through adventures like Weed. The reality was that tailors weren’t as popular as blacksmiths. The majority of battle affiliated classes preferred armour over leather clothes.

“It is fine if I come out nicely on broadcast. Then I can sell my clothes for an even higher value.”

Drago decided to start the Tailor Master Quest. He went to the Tailor’s Guild in the middle of the night and spoke to an instructor.

“I know how to dress a person and now I wish to create the best clothes.”

He started the Tailor Master Quest with great expectations!

“Tailor, so far you’ve made a lot of clothes for many people.”

Drago sorted the fabric, made the clothes and gained money so it was natural. He made dozens of clothes daily. When receiving an order, it was possible to make many of the same designs for a guild rather than a personal order. There were also things like the Grass Porridge Cult uniforms that he always needed to have hundreds in stock.

“As a tailor it is really important to be faithful to the basic work.  Because clothing made incorrectly would have no choice but to feel uncomfortable when someone wears it.”

“I think so as well.”

“The basics are required to walk steadily along a tailor’s path. If you go to the guild’s warehouse and sew 100,000 doll eyes then you will definitely improve in the basics.”

Ddiring!

– 100,000 Dolls’ Eyes

Meticulously sew eyes onto dolls.

If you distribute the completed dolls to Morata’s children then they will be very delighted.

Level of Difficulty: Sewing Master Quest.

Quest Restrictions: Level 8 Advanced Sewing.

Defective products must be less than 20.

If the quest fails then you will need to start from scratch.

“A-a quest like this at the very beginning…..”

A dark future was in front of Drago.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed connected on a semi-regular basis as time passed but nothing special happened. Leaves fell on his head and birds also sat down to play.

‘This quest is indeed too easy. It is only a matter of time until I succeed.’

Morning, lunch and evening.

Very little changed in his little corner as the set rose and set over his statue.

‘I have to finish it easily so I can bring my Master Quest to an end.’

Six days passed with nothing happening. The only thing he could do was watch the surroundings so Weed was bored. Even if the hill had a good view of the beach, it became tedious as time passed. It was the outskirts so Weed couldn’t see most of Morata.

‘There isn’t anything serious today either.’

He looked for movement before deciding to go exercise at the dojang and catch up on housework. Therefore he exited early.

And some people approached after 20 minutes had passed.

“Is this the way to go out to the fox hunting ground?”

“It was definitely in this area…..”

“It has been blocked.”

“I guess we can’t see any foxes today.”

4 beginners were walking with ropes and traps. They received a quest to collect fox leather and tails so they chose a shortcut but went to the wrong place.

“It clearly isn’t here so let’s go somewhere else.”

“Eh? There is a sculpture here.”

“It is common to see sculptures in Morata.”

“Look closer. Doesn’t it seem like a sculpture of King Weed?”

Ddiring!

– You have appreciated Sculptor Weed.

Weed has great fame as an adventurer, sculptor and king.

He left behind a sculpture of himself.

It is possible to feel Weed’s courage, honour and leadership from its appearance.

Health, Mana and Vitality recovery rate will increase by 37% for a day.

The effect of sculpting will increase by 6%.

An adventurer’s skill level in dungeons will increase by 1.

Leadership has increased by 29.

Movement speed has increased by 12%.

Fame will increase by an extra 20% when completing a hunt or quest.

When fulfilling a special request from the residents of the Arpen Kingdom, the nation’s achievements have increased by an extra 50%.

All stats have risen by 9.

The sculpture is imbued with blessings of an intense light that will inhibit the activity of dark monsters nearby.

As a cultural relic, the area’s political power has expanded.

All stats related to combat, adventuring and art have gone up by 1 thanks to the great hero sculpture.

“It’s not a joke, this…..”

“It was hiding in a place like this! A complete treasure.”

The beginners carefully touched the sculpture.

“The human body ratio is really amazing. The legs are a little short but…..”

“If the colour wasn’t darker then I’ll really think it was alive. It looks really similar.”

After surveying the sculpture, the beginners realized that it wasn’t stuck to the ground.

“Should we take it?”

“It is too valuable to be here so let’s exhibit it in the square. Then a lot of people will be able to see it.”

However the weight of the sculpture was too much for 4 beginners.

“I’ll go and bring some people. Protect it.”

“Yes. I understand. Hurry!”

One beginner ran to the Central Square and exclaimed.

“A statue of Weed-nim has been discovered! It is a tremendous piece of work but we can’t bring it by ourselves. Someone come and help!”

There were people engaged in business, tourists, people looking for a party or just talking etc.

Many of them turned towards him.

“For real?”

“There is no reason for me to lie. It is in the city!”

“Let’s go.”

“Grass Porridge Cult, go quickly!”

2,000 people left the Central Square at once! Stats would rise when looking at the sculpture so people who were going hunting came along as well.

“What is it?” What’s up with that?”

“A statue of Weed-nim has been found.”

“Really?”

The people increased further! The lane next to the hill became filled with people.

“It really is a sculpture of Weed-nim. It is his sculpture.”

“Don’t push from behind!”

“First let’s carry this to the square. Warriors with a lot of strength should come out first.”

“This is just as important as carrying stones for the Garden of the Gods or the pyramid! Only 20 people come forward.”

A tailor covered the sculpture with a cloth. And the strong warriors carried the sculpture!

“Clear the way in front!”

“Please get out of the way.”

It was a delicate packing movement that required a considerable amount of direction.

The sculpture of Weed was installed next to the altar and fountain in Central Square that could be seen from a far distance.

Chapter 6: Statue in the Square

When Weed had connected again, everything had changed. Central Square was narrower than Bingryong Square and Light Square but it was the most crowded place.

‘Keheok! Why am I here….?’

Weed was confused but people were just engaged in business like usual. Beginners were filling buckets with water and looking at the sculptures as they passed by.

“This sculpture was found?”

“Yes. It looks just like the real thing.”

“I’d like to touch it…..”

Two females were looking at the sculpture from close by.

“But the height isn’t very tall.”

“The face also seems ordinary.”

The female users left and beginners wearing the default beginners’ clothes appeared.

“Weed-nim, I will follow Weed-nim and live eagerly. Please watch me in the future.”

Merchants who finished their business folded up their stall and talked to others.

“Thank you very much for helping develop Morata. I’ve had fun doing it.”

Weed was a statue so he held still without any movement. The merchants stood next to the altar and stared at the sculpture with a serious face.

Warriors and adventurers hunting in parties also approached. In Morata it was basic to appreciate an artwork before exiting the city. If they didn’t appreciate a statue or painting before going hunting then they would be reviled.

“It is the first time I’m visiting this place. I went to hunt in a far place and died but I still enjoyed it.”

They never imagined that the sculpture was actually Weed frozen in stone.

A short dwarf came as well.

“Kyah! I’ve travelled throughout the continent and Morata is the first place where I’ve tasted such good beer. I’m really thankful that such a lively place has been created.”

Older uncles and aunties holding hands also came to see the sculpture.

“I’m from the Grass Porridge Cult.”

“Hooray King Weed!”

Some users who liked Weed didn’t come empty handed. They left wild flowers and grass from hunting outside under the statue. Even those who disconnected and came in again, they admired the sculpture and talked about the development of the Arpen Kingdom.

“It is good to be a resident of the Arpen Kingdom. Indeed.”

“Yes. I told you it was right to enter this kingdom. There’s no place like this on the continent.”

The form of beginners just starting Royal Road could be seen running around Central Square. It wasn’t possible to feel boredom when seeing people moving brightly.

People looking for a party to hunt or someone to trade with were also present in the Central Square. Bards also performed in public with instruments.

Weed’s heart was also peaceful as he heard the music.

‘The residents are enjoying themselves… And there is business even in the middle of the night. The merchants are earning a large sum of money.’

He was really happy as a king.

‘This is perfect for taxes.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A secret meeting of the Grass Porridge Cult.

“The maintenance of facilities is necessary for business in Ekwinok village.”

“There is a request for the architect Monbert. Extending the commercial buildings will raise the scale of the market in the short term.”

“Yusellin village, there isn’t anything special right now but it has high growth potential thanks to a dungeon.”

“Should we dispatch adventurers so that it fits the characteristics of a pioneering village?”

“Log-nim, I heard that recently you couldn’t do you job thanks to a quest so I’m sorry for asking you this favour.”

“Thanks to the increasing number of people moving, the village of shacks are growing.

“A construction site for shabby hours has already been prepared on the steep hill. We don’t have to specifically worry about that for the moment.”

The Grass Porridge Cult was proud of the era of prosperity. It was impossible to even guess the size now as it was natural for users to join the Grass Porridge Cult when they started in the Arpen Kingdom.

The Grass Porridge believers had deep admiration every time Weed governed wisely.

“The Grand Buildings were completed on our behalf. Let’s use it eagerly!”

“I really think that there is only Weed-nim.”

The other lords were compared to him.

“The lord of Boron village destroyed the castle to build a new one.”

“It is simply nonsense. Weed-nim is like a giant, black star. Tsk tsk.”

“If that money was used by Weed-nim then he would’ve built another building.”

“Did you hear that Dians village had their taxes increased by 2%?”

“Are they just going to keep on raising taxes?”

“So terrible!”

The source of the members’ loyalty was these talks. Weed was sincerely respected by the Grass Porridge Cult.

While other people were facing war, destruction and unfavourable taxes, Morata was the only favourable place to live on the Versailles Continent. The wonderful King Weed who illuminated the world!

“There are many things more delicious than grass porridge. We’re not cows so we can’t live just on grass porridge. I’m already at the level where I can drink bean soup or eat steak. I really was stupid.”

It was the confession of a beginner who started in Morata.

“I had forgotten for a while. The reason why Weed-nim gave us grass porridge!”

“Grass porridge! Grass porridge! Grass porridge!”

“The Grass Porridge’s spirit that symbolizes freedom will continue from now on. Even if we have warm meat soup, we can’t forget the stingy and bitter taste of grass porridge!”

“Hooray Grass Porridge Cult!”

Grass porridge might be a meal for beginners but it was also a symbol of freedom.

“We are like grass that is stepped on. One root is easily pulled out but if we gather together then we can accomplish anything. Follow Weed-nim!”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

“It’s not just grass. It is the combination of our effort to grow!”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

The Grass Porridge Cult members from Morata were distributed throughout the north.

ㅡ Weed-nim, a lot of handymen are necessary.

ㅡ It doesn’t matter if I have to eat grass porridge.

It was an absurd situation when considering that Mapan had participated in setting the foundation in the past. After the Arpen Kingdom was founded, the Grass Porridge Cult members actively looked for work. Morata was receiving a huge influx of people in a very limited land but the city was strengthened to be comparable to a kingdom.

“The town should develop more quickly. We can’t allow a situation to form that will require Weed-nim’s attention.”

“Many people are already working but we need someone to manage the roads and villages. Weed-nim has a lot to do since being killed by Bardray.”

“That’s our fault. We should’ve come out earlier!”

The Grass Porridge Cult started clearing mines, building, hunting and adventuring in the territory of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit. Let’s hunt near Rubens River today. We have to take the lead for the recovery of peace. Go and gather the alumni.”

“Bamboo Shoots users gather here!”

“Toadstool unit, what are you doing? Monsters are invading Staen Castle!  Let’s go right now!”

“Wooo, catch everything!”

In the past it was a gathering of beginners but over time their overall levels rose. Considerable monsters of their level were wandering the plains while they invested in buildings or restoring peace.

Bold investment and time were needed for the villages to develop and the Arpen Kingdom to expand. The development process would be reduced by the accumulated power of the users.

“Lord, you have to pay back His Majesty’s grace. As an architect I think you should name a square after Weed-nim.”

“This artwork here.”

“Business will be for one or two days. Should I open the first general store in Armang village? If I trade for a week then I’ll be able to recoup my investment.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A small guild from the Central Continent moved to Arpen Kingdom.  They wanted to be included in the Grass Porridge Cult as well.

“Do we really have to throw away our guild’s identity in order to join the Grass Porridge Cult?”

“Guild Master-nim, it is required in the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Are there any restrictions on hunting grounds or anything else? But I’ve never heard about anything belonging exclusively to the Grass Porridge Cult.”

The users that migrated from the Central Continent were tired of such persecution. They came to the north but if there were restrictions then it would be very unfortunate.

“Nothing like that. Full members of the Grass Porridge Cult will receive a 5% discount at all restaurants in the city.”

“Is it the Lord’s restaurant?”

“No. Most of the restaurant owners are Grass Porridge members so we receive benefits. It also comes with more side dishes. And you will receive a 10% discount when purchasing hunting items from merchants.”

“That’s fine.”

“You will get a discount when renting a horse or carriage and the earliest start time for performances will be available at half price.”

“Is that all?”

“A discount when buying paintings and sculptures! We also provide information about adventuring and hunting and provide credit security for businesses. If there is a difficult quest then we are happy to go together.”

The Grass Porridge Cult contained considerable benefits!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The masked Seo-yoon was walking around Bingryong Square.

“Soft fur coat for sale. You are able to wear it over armour. The lowest price is 390 gold.”

“Feel free to look around. All items necessary for hunting are here. Second hand goods also available.”

“Fresh fish jerky!  The taste when chewing is different. The fish jerky can be chewed in battle to give a feeling of fullness.”

She approached a merchant engaged in business.

“Excuse me, where can I buy tableware and furniture?”

“Are you buying for a shack?”

“Yes.”

“There are many items for the mud houses sold in this area. The items to decorate the shack are sold in Bull Square.”

“Thank you.”

The merchant heard a beautiful and warm voice. It was a voice that gave off the feeling of beauty for some reason. Seo-yoon headed to Bull Square to buy tableware and furniture that would match a shack.

Making furniture was also a side job for sculptors. If they used tree logs then they could carve desks, beds, chairs, dining tables and sofas etc. But apart from design, durability was also an important part.

“Oppa, this is a lion.”

Couples also came to buy a wide variety of goods to decorate their shacks. They could find decorations for the living room, bedroom, kitchen, den etc. at a fairly decent price. After decorating the house, they could rest and also show it off to friends so it was a temptation they couldn’t overlook.

Seo-yoon picked various goods but realized there was some missing.

“The items you’re looking for… You have quite an eye. They are a bit expensive. If you go to Central Square then the merchant Anders will be selling them.”

While searching for the goods in Central Square, Seo-yoon found Weed’s sculpture near the fountain.

“……”

She knew that it looked exactly like Weed. Seo-yoon watched and waited for the group of people watching the sculpture to pass before going forward.

From up close it looked exactly like Weed.

“……”

Even though it was night time, Seo-yoon bought goods from Central Square and spent time there. There was nothing to do to kill time except for shopping.

In Central Square there were miscellaneous goods and attractions worth seeing. Time wasn’t fixed but it was normal for pubs to be busy in the evening and for people to go hunting in the morning.

It was a little quiet because it was evening but Central Square was a market that was open 24 hours. In the morning dishes like bear barbecue were available so the market was even more popular.

“There is a performance by Hairen at the venue.”

“She has already returned to Morata?”

“Let’s go quickly!”

Lots of players went to see the performance of a popular female bard. The people’s interest in the sculpture of Weed was reduced.

When Weed’s sculpture had first been on display, Central Square was swarmed with spectators. The ripple effect meant that the sales of merchants in Central Square increased by as much as 10 times.

Unlike other cities, Morata was rich in cultural benefits. The beginners and high level users could both get stats from the sculpture of Weed. But it had been on display for 10 days in Central Square so the attention fell as time passed.

However, there were still busy periods where a line was required to see it.

Seo-yoon secretly approached the sculpture and looked around. Magic illumination was everywhere although it was night so the square was dim.

‘Should I really?’

Her heart jumped wildly in her chest. Seo-yoon lightly raised her face that was covered with a mask.

As the moonlight shone on her face at that moment, Seo-yoon lightly kissed the sculpture.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lee Hyun connected to the item auction site after a long time. Nowadays, his source of income was the fees from the broadcastings stations rather than the sale of items.

“Hrmm, the prices of the items haven’t fallen as much as I thought.”

This was the first thing he had been worried about with Royal Road. If there were no new users then the price of the item was bound to drop.

However Royal Road was attracting users exponentially. The ridiculously fast growth of the Arpen Kingdom was proof of the strength of beginners under level 50. The power was shabby but the beginners showed a wonderful strength when gathered!

Leather from beasts was being supplied on a daily business so the sewing and leather industry were developing every day. Necessary goods for beginners were also procured so commercial activity was brisk.

“It will be okay if I sell my items a bit later.’

Lee Hyun regulated the timing of sales. The market price fluctuated within several minutes but if people were lined up for it then the price would jump.

Useful weapons were found from hunting and new combat methods developed.

While combat affiliated professions were most popular in Royal Road, professions like thieves or adventurers were also indispensable. Large and thick shields were useful in prolonged battles against monsters with strong attack power.

However, a magician or archer was integral members of a party to shave down the enemy’s health. If they had the blessings of priests then the knights didn’t’t need to bother with the shield.

Therefore the prices of shields had fallen into a slump. The shields were needed for sieges or dungeons so they were still consumed to a certain extent.

“The magic items are still expensive… It isn’t good to be a magician.”

The price of exclusive magician items transcending imagination! NPCs tended to have a good impression of magicians due to their high intellectual ability.

In a hunting party they just fired magic attacks from behind. There were flashy effects and tremendous damage from spells requiring memorization so magicians were a very popular profession. They also had a variety of secondary magic such as flying through air, teleporting or walking on water so it was an interesting profession.

But magic items were really difficult to make and the equipment was expensive so many struggled.

“It still isn’t time to sell Barkhan’s full set.”

The necromancer goods were still at a low or medium level so he needed to wait a while before selling Barkhan’s set. If Lee Hyun sold the items then there would be a huge uproar on the auction site.

He was comfortably exploring the auction site when he saw a product that was causing a huge shake.

Tallock’s Armour.

“Don’t tell me……”

He clicked on the auction. A familiar item appeared! It was an item that he repaired and polished daily.

– Wasn’t this armour on television?

– The armour that Weed the God of War used?

– Take a look at the ID of the person selling it.

– It is Bardray.

– A perfect jackpot.

The starting price for Tallock’s Armour was 1.3 million won! It wasn’t a low price but many people were raising the bidding.

It had a variety of options but the level limit of 350 was relatively low. The fact that it reached 3.7 million won was due to the fact that Weed wore the armour!

The auction ended in 5 days so the price was likely to go even higher.

Lee Hyun bit his lip.

“Bardray, that bastard…..”

Bardray was regarded as the strongest warrior on the continent and respected as a superior user. They were enemies but Weed didn’t have hostile feelings towards him.

However the sight of the auction upset his stomach!

“Bardray, later I will definitely kill you. And…..”

Lee Hyun would get revenge in more than one way.

“I will also take an item away and sell it for a high price!”

It was enough to make Lee Hyun’s body feel weak. His anger at the loss of profit!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The road to Korea University.

Lee Hyun took the bus. Usually he walked but he took the bus to save time and now he regretted it.

He met a junior from his department on the bus.

“Sunbae-nim, hello. Are you going to school?”

“Yes.”

The one who greeted Lee Hyun was the junior that followed Choi Sang-jun. In Royal Road, they had also hunted together in the Melbourne Mine.

“Do you have time to eat rice with me? I’d really like to hear about your adventures.”

“I ate breakfast.”

“It is lunch time. Do you want to enjoy the tonkatsu at the Humanities Hall cafeteria? It is delicious.”

“I’d like to do that but I’m only drinking water these days because of a stomach ulcer. I can’t have greasy food.”

“I’ll buy it for you.”

“I’m suddenly hungry.”

There were already many rumours about Lee Hyun’s character among the juniors.

When the fact that he was Weed of Royal Road was still unknown, they had seen him stuffing a chicken. He had no presence in the classroom except for his activities during the MT.

“We had a sunbae like that in our department?”

“Doesn’t he seem to be avoiding us? He doesn’t accept it when I greet him.”

“I heard he doesn’t listen in classes. He just scribbles in his notebook. Recently he didn’t even submit his report. Having a sunbae like that is really troublesome.”

“Ah, is he the man who is always with Seo-yoon sunbae-nim?”

An insignificant existence like a cockle on a tidal flat! This all changed after it was known that he was Weed the God of War.

The juniors said pointless things every time he had class.

“Isn’t Lee Hyun sunbae wonderful? He seems to be locked in deep thought and full of agony….”

“It could be called a compelling appearance? Most people would be bragging about being Weed the God of War but he just attends school quietly….. Kyaah! That duality is attractive.”

“He has a really manly form when battling. I would like to see the orc Karichwi.”

“Doesn’t he have the sculptor profession? Normally is it a very difficult profession. I never thought I would see pretty sculptures when adventuring.”

“Did you go to Morata? A perfect hero. I really want to eat just one meal with Lee Hyun sunbae-nim.”

“My sibling told me to receive a signature but I’m shaking….. What should I say?”

Lee Hyun instantly became a great sunbae in the virtual reality department. He became a star at his school. Lee Hyun didn’t want to be bothered by his juniors until he graduated. Fortunately many women didn’t dare leap the wall that was Seo-yoon.

“Why are those two meeting?”

“What weakness was caught?”

“Did she also bring him a wrapped lunch? I really like Seo-yoon sunbae.”

That also changed these days.

“I think those two people look really good.”

“Seo-yoon sunbae had a natural reason for that choice.”

Lee Hyun was eating tonkatsu in the school’s dining room. Aside from nutritional food cooked by a person, he really liked tonkatsu and ramen.

‘When I was young, I really wanted to eat tonkatsu with my younger sister…..’

It wasn’t a restaurant but he was really happy when eating a frozen tonkatsu at home with his sister. Tonkatsu reminded him of eating at home but he hadn’t eaten it lately. It was due to the oil used in the cooking!

“I wonder what your ideal person is? I like a man I can go on adventures with.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seug seug.

Lee Hyun instantly cut the tonkatsu with his knife when it came out. The meat was cut into exact portions.

“Someone who can protect me. If we venture into unknown lands together then wouldn’t it be good to share those heart palpitations?”

Omul omul.

“It would be nice.”

“Are you perhaps Seo-yoon’s boyfriend? We met in Royal Road.”

“Got it?”

“Yes. I heard they go on dates in their capsules.”

“That’s right.”

Lee Hyun felt the satisfactory taste as he chewed the tonkatsu.

‘Tonkatsu is good!’

Lee Hyun couldn’t taste any oil. He had no interest in the noises made by the juniors sitting around him. No faces floated to his mind.

Lee Hyun didn’t surface until he finished eating and got up.

“I ate well. Then I’ll see you next time.”

“Yes, Sunbae-nim!”

The junior’s expression showed satisfaction as she thought she had made a connection. She expected that they would talk closely if they met in school from now on. And maybe he would give support items in Royal Road or introduce her to quests!

Lee Hyun walked the lawn while the hot sun blazed down on him. He saw the large tree that he sat under with Seo-yoon for 1 year.

“It won’t be possible for me to eat boxed lunch for at least a year.”

The food from Seo-yoon wouldn’t come anymore.

Lee Hyun had become increasingly paler as the holiday passed and his sister noticed before she finally made a decision. In the evening, his sister had put on bean paste pork stew and said softly.

“Your major classes, painting, specialty classes and Royal Road seems to be taking a toll on your body these days.”

Lee Hyun’s body wasn’t the same as before. He developed muscles from jogging 10 kilometres every morning.

“Your body doesn’t seem as good and you often have a cold these days….”

He had purposely taken lots of cold baths in the meantime. It was natural for colds and coughs to appear. He also slept without a blanket and ate a lot of ice cream. Naturally his body would ache and feel a cold! He also stayed up all night so his eyes were bloodshot.

“Oppa, are you feeling really sick?”

Lee Hye-yeon placed her hand on Lee Hyun’s forehead. When she took his temperature, it was so hot she was surprised. She put hot water in a bottle and placed it on his forehead.

He drank plenty of warm water and also ran until his entire body sweated.

Lee Hyun spoke feebly.

“I can bear with it. I’m just a little busy with several things.”

“Let’s go to the hospital.”

“I don’t need the hospital!”

He would absolutely never fake an illness serious enough to require the hospital!

“Just rest for a little while. By the way, what time do you start tomorrow?”

“Can I go to school? I would like to go but I don’t know if my body will be better tomorrow. I’m worried my body will become much worse if I go to school.”

“School originally started in the first week. Just stay at home.”

“…..”

Lee Hyun didn’t have to go school and could just play Royal Road. Like a boomerang he could return to the past.

Lee Hyun made exaggerated tired movements as he leaned on his chair.

“Anyway, I need to consider your body. There is a lot of time on the holidays but once I go to school then it will be more difficult.”

“You’ll be able to do well, Oppa. I will also help you if you need it.”

“I just want to rest slowly. I always seem to be busy and can’t enjoy life.”

“Oppa…..”

He feigned illness with his sister and decided to register a 1 year absence from school!

“I’m finally free from the headache inducing things.”

Lee Hyun walked through Korea University and recalled his 1 and a half year of memories.

“That bench was changed with my registration fee. Even the flowers planted in the flower beds… The new gym and staff dining room as well.”

His eyes caught sight of the familiar sights.

“But if I take a leave of absence for 1 year then I won’t have to pay the tuition fee.”

The leave of absence system was the largest benefit of the university! Lee Hyun went to his department office and filled out his absence application. Originally the law in Korea was that it needed to be done before the course started but that didn’t apply any more.

The reason he wrote down for his absence was ‘Revenge on Bardray.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lee Hyun returned home with light footsteps. He was in a relaxed mood because he didn’t need to pay tuition for 1 year.

“This 1 year might turn into 2 or maybe 3 years.”

If his younger sister went studying abroad then he would use every method to extend his leave of absence.

He went into the yard and gave rice to Dogmeat.

“Eat a lot.”

Bark bark bark!

Dogmeat seemed to have some sense of self protection and was on a diet these days.

“You have to gain a lot of weight. The fat should flow heavily…..”

He wanted to connect to Royal Road but he had a heap of chores to do. Lee Hyun also fed the rabbits and ducks.

The work was complicated sometimes but he couldn’t give up on raising animals. The delight at seeing them grow larger every day!

While Lee Hyun was enjoying his peaceful time, construction was in full swing next door where his neighbour had moved out a short time ago. Lee Hyun lived in a residential area but the most spacious land next door had been sold recently for a high price. Then the house was knocked down and a mansion built.

Seo-yoon’s house!

She heard that Lee Hyun was taking a leave of absence from school and bribed the next door neighbour. Of course, she only planned on a simple American wooden fence for the side walls attached to Lee Hyun’s house.

The effort of Ban Jik-seok to win her heart had no effect.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Choi Ji-hoon sat down in a cafe that could see the Han River.

“The time has come…..”

Today was the day of his date with Lee Hye-yeon. He thought it would be nice to go see a movie or eat at a nice place but decided to go biking.

– I wanted to go bike riding 1 month ago. But I stopped because I was tired.

Lee Hye-yeon was scary. Despite the fact that she was busy every day, she still agreed to this date.

While Choi Ji-hoon ordered coffee and cookies, the eyes of the women in the cafe looked at him. He was tall and well-dressed so it was natural for him to capture their eyes.

But Choi Ji-hoon no longer paid any attention to them. He was caught by Lee Hye-yeon’s charm so he couldn’t like any other women.

“She is a really good woman.”

She didn’t yield to the difficult environment and grew up well. Choi Ji-hoon was completely different from the him who chewed gum in the past!

“Smart, neat and good looking, there really is no gaps. If we’re able to live together happily then anything will seem trivial.”

Thick bags were underneath his eyes from the lack of sleep. Cho Ji-hoon was happy even while waiting for her. A date early in the morning instead of at night was a great change of pace.

Burururu!

His phone vibrated and Lee Hye-yeon’s name floated on the screen.

“I guess she is coming now.”

Choi Ji-hoon felt his heart beat faster as he answered the call.

“Where are you now?”

It was a bit after the promised meeting time already so he wasn’t embarrassed to say that he arrived before Lee Hye-yeon.

– I’m sorry. I suddenly have some work to do so I can’t go.

“I see. It’s okay. If something happened then it can’t be helped.”

Choi Ji-hoon was a man who understood.

“But what happened? Was it something difficult?”

–Oppa made a mess while doing the laundry. His hairs were left behind in the bath… I need to help.

“That…..”

Choi Ji-hoon was ditched to clean the bath!

– Perhaps Ji-hoon oppa should come here?

“I-I’m not very good at cleaning…..”

–You don’t want to?

“I’ll go. Shall I go to your house?”

– Thank you. Come quickly.

Choi Ji-hoon grabbed his keys and wallet before rising from the seat. He checked the time on his luxury watch.

Many women were caught by Choi Ji-hoon’s body.

However the reality was that Choi Ji-hoon had to go quickly because he was lectured.

Chapter 7: Hermes Guild’s Endless Greed

Weed once again accessed Royal Road.

‘There are many people in the square today.’

It was possible to feel Morata’s development when looking at the square. He heard stories from merchants and users walking by.

‘Now there is only 6 days left.’

The quest required him to last 1 month. He was bored staying still as a statue but it was a quest he could fulfil safely.

There were also people who showed up in the square in the late hours. Dawn passed and more people came. He saw birds as the sun came up and also received warm light from the sun.

‘There isn’t anything serious today either.’

There was unlikely to be a dangerous incident in the middle of the square so it was fun watching people.

Weed often engaged in business at Serabourg Castle in Rosenheim Kingdom. He did business as a sculptor, cook and blacksmith so he was able to overprice customers as time passed.

Merchants who succeeded in a big adventurer and gained wonderful profit from trade regularly appeared in Morata.

“It is said that Spenson-nim has found the Church of Lugh’s sanctum in Argoldia.”

“Ah, they finally did it.”

“They are in the process of restoring the sword’s power. Those who stayed until the end of the quest have received a complete jackpot.”

It was also possible to hear news about adventurers and goods that were popular. He also had information about the Class Master Quests that a wide variety of people were now qualified for.

The skill proficiency required for combat classes was a little low. Even if they weren’t famous, people who raised the basic skill plunged into the Class Master Quest.

They didn’t think they would be the first to succeed but it was still worth doing it. And it was possible to raise their fame so the number of people completing the Master Quest grew to 54.

Weed was almost at the final step so he wasn’t interested in other competitors.

‘News about Bardray is sparse these days… I don’t know what he is doing. I hope he is planting pumpkin seeds somewhere.’

The hatred generated due to Tallock’s Armour!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The day of decision for the Hermes Guild.

“War will start at dawn today.”

Lafaye declared at a meeting of leaders. The army was already waiting at the borders of the Lasalle Kingdom. Bardray also stopped his Master Quest progression in order to command Haven Kingdom’s army.

Lafaye spoke to make it certain.

“We will leave the United Supremacy alliance when we strike Lasalle Kingdom.”

It was a big alliance of prestigious guilds on Versailles Continent. United Supremacy. Rather than expanding and fighting each other, they would join forces and keep their own occupied territory.

The Hermes Guild had precedent for breaking this thanks to the invasion of the Black Lion Guild’s Melbourne Mine.

They had already received warnings from the other prestigious guilds in the United Supremacy alliance so mobilizing an army against Lasalle Kingdom was like a declaration of war towards the entire continent.

The leaders were somewhat worried because of this point.

“Have any counter measures been taken for when we leave the alliance?”

“Our Hermes Guild is might but it will become difficult if they join together against us.”

The plan for the occupation of Lasalle Kingdom had already been decided but it was impossible not to feel anxious.

Lafaye carefully explained.

“According to the current situation, the other guilds haven’t completed their territory expansion yet. They are still battling their enemies in the kingdom so it will be difficult for them to throw military power against us.”

Lafaye was the guild’s external cannon.

Bardray exercised substantial control in the Hermes Guild but that was because Lafaye gave him permission. The important goals and detailed plans for the guild were determined by Lafaye and his advisors. Things like the development of the kingdom, measuring personnel, military education and diplomatic negotiations were done by Lafaye.

The Hermes Guild had grown thanks to Lafaye. Thanks to the intelligence staff behind Lafaye and the support of his advisors, his decisions were at a wonderful standard.

“And I’ve prepared some pre-emptive measures against some guilds that we should pay attention to.”

“I’ve never heard about this. What is the plan?”

The Hermes Guild’s territories were large and they had 100 leaders. Thus not all of them would know everything about the plan.

“It was still too early to tell you. I gave power to the hostile forces opposing them. There is sabotage, assassination of key figures and support such as in the case of the Beden Guild taking control of Tullen Kingdom.”

“It was very successful in the case of the Black Lion Guild and Tullen Kingdom. If the plan goes well then we’ll be able to make them flustered. But do we have the troops and funds to pay for war with the Lasalle Kingdom?”

“I decided to use the troops I dispatched to Morata to take care of Weed. Other secret battle companies are also prepared. The taxes from the Kallamore Kingdom are huge so we can afford it.”

“We’re stepping on a long tail. If they notice what we did then won’t we be in an even more difficult position with the other guilds?”

“Everybody is already watching us. Our forces are greater at present even if they attack. There is no meaning if the United Supremacy alliance breaks and an alliance that sets its sights on the Hermes Guild forms. It is better to be the person that strikes first.”

Anyway, the Hermes Guild needed to fight against the prestigious guilds if they wanted to conquer the continent. The temporary cooperation was just for their own interests!

The Hermes Guild hid their power and was able to quickly occupy the Kallamore Kingdom. The prestigious guilds had become tense and watched them.

Thus they decided on the strategy of striking first. The expansion of the Hermes Guild’s military power was smooth thanks to Bardray’s fame.

They stood as the pinnacle of overwhelming power that other guilds couldn’t compare to.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Hermes Guild’s shock invasion of the Lasalle Kingdom!

The magician units moved on a large scale, destroyed a castle and commenced the war. The knights were trained to the best standard while the infantry and armoured troops were the best army on the continent.

The scene of the troops marching on the plains of the Lasalle Kingdom was a truly fearful sight.

Breaking news! The Haven Kingdom that is one of the major powers on the continent has declared war against the Lasalle Kingdom.

The Lasalle Kingdom won’t be able to hold up and it is only a matter of time until they are occupied!

The Haven Kingdom’s quick advance will have a great impact on the continent.

The ripple effect meant there was no news more important than this. Battles frequently happened on the Central Continent but a war between kingdoms didn’t occur that easily.

The Haven Kingdom was ahead in territorial area, population, military strength and economic strength. Therefore it was a one-sided invasion and the broadcasting stations were reporting it heavily. The Lasalle Kingdom wouldn’t even last 5 minutes against the Haven Kingdom considering the difference between them.

To make matters worse, the quality and quantity of the military was no comparison.

– The Hermes Guild has invaded? Are there any who surrendered?

– I’m a merchant. Everyone has closed up shop and is moving on but what way is safe?

– I know how Bardray fights. The war will end in the Lasalle Kingdom’s defeat so let’s go sightseeing.

The knights in the Hermes Guild were trained in various assault tactics that were useful against the weak army of the Lasalle Kingdom that was full of plains.

The Haven Kingdom’s troops completely overwhelmed the Lasalle Kingdom that it was only a matter of time before it was completely occupied.

– A war has happened again. I’m sick and tired of it.

– The Hermes Guild is too terrible. Do they really have to cause a war to broaden their territory while the Central Continent is suffering from the Embinyu Church?

– That is because of their strength. The person who suffers damage is someone weak. Of course, not many were thinking with their heads.

The viewers went on the boards and blasted the Hermes Guild’s ambition. The Guilds that belong to the United Supremacy also had an emergency meeting to prepare countermeasures.

The Hermes Guild’s invasion of the Lasalle Kingdom was clearly them leaving the alliance. But they were already engaged in war so it was impossible to prepare a large scale military. It wasn’t possible to stop the Hermes Guild with a small army.

“Will the Roam Guild help us?”

“The Cloud Guild can afford it so we will join you.”

“The Black Sword Mercenary group?”

“We have recently been commissioned for a difficult request so we can’t spare many people.”

The United Supremacy guilds sympathized with each other but each of them wanted to reduce the damage as much as possible. There were other prestigious guilds but the Hermes Guild had secretly obtained their support.

The meeting continued but the collection of forces didn’t formally become an alliance.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The best equipment, skills, hunting ground and mercenaries hired for a shaman.

Dain received all these benefits when hunting in a dungeon. The Hermes Guild treated her differently from the general users in the guild. The Hermes Guild had a policy of preferential treatment based on their abilities but Dain received more special treatment than normal.

“Who is she?”

“I don’t know. Guild Master-nim knows her personally. He told us to give her any support she needs.”

Dain possessed a high skill proficiency as a shaman so her level quickly rose. The guild’s support team periodically contacted her.

“Do you need anything more?”

“Right now I’m okay.”

“If you need any consumable items then tell us. And if there is a city or castle that you want to govern then just request it.”

Those with ability in the Hermes Guild were offered a territory. However if they didn’t demonstrate their skills on the battlefield then they would be stripped of their position.

They would still give Dain a position even if she didn’t have the skills. Including Bardray and Lafaye, she was one of the original 7 core members that founded the Hermes Guild in the early days of Royal Road. Even if the Hermes Guild gave priority to those with abilities, they couldn’t help treating the founders differently.

Dain didn’t care about power but she was interested in the Kallamore Kingdom.

After being plundered by the Hermes Guild, there was barely enough food left for the residents to the extent that they died from starvation.

“Any territory that belongs to the Kallamore Kingdom is fine.”

“Permission from Guild Master-nim is required for the Kallamore Kingdom… I will contact you after confirming it.”

The guild gave a reply in just a few hours. The Kallamore Kingdom didn’t matter so they offered her a territory.

“Please save the population as the security there is low.”

“A place with low security? Indeed… Those places are favourable for hunting so it will be good to raise the fame. I understand.”

The following day, the Hermes Guild decided to give Dain Evaluk Castle. It was one of the most populated areas in the Kallamore Kingdom but there were currently riots occurring due to excessive taxes. Monsters also frequently appeared there so it was a really dangerous place.

“The knights and infantry will also support you. And you don’t need to pay taxes for 3 months.”

It was the continuation of the exceptionally privileged treatment.

Once Dain was the lord, she cut taxes for the residents and focused on repairs of facilities and the walls. The invasion of monsters decreased so the rate of decline of the residents’ loyalty slowed. The first priority was to earn back the residents’ trust.

She was the only lord in the Kallamore Kingdom who invested in art. An exhibition space was prepared for sculptors and painters.

Kallamore, the kingdom of knights. After it was occupied, the flower of art started blooming.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed heard news about the war while he was still a statue in the square. The merchants walked the streets and spread rumours but the only stories were related to the war.

“The users in the Lasalle Kingdom only fought a few times before they died. I heard that seven castles have been occupied in 1 day.”

“Wahh, this is really frightening. Why is their advancement speed so fast?”

“I heard that the army was divided into three parties and used a wave offensive. Each division has 150,000 troops… I can’t even imagine it.”

The merchants in the square were anxious. War on the Central Continent would also have an influence on them.

There were massive amounts of refugees and the prices of things like grain and iron became unstable due to massive inflation.

Weed prayed as he constantly heard news of the Hermes Guild’s victories.

‘Fall. Fall completely.’

He had a hostile relationship with the Hermes Guild so it would be troublesome if they grew larger.

An adventurer ran up and said.

“It was difficult this time but the Hermes Guild has managed to occupy Suokun Fort!”

But Weed wasn’t disappointed. The Hermes Guild was huge but there were many variables in a war.

‘Lose. Lose.’

The merchants engaged in business around the statue also chattered away.

“I heard they just received Ellabas Plains. The occupation rate is really fast.”

His body couldn’t move and he was forced to listen to news about the Hermes Guild’s victories. Sometimes he also heard news about the Roam Guild or the Black Sword mercenaries.

They started to sneak out of their own kingdoms and launched a war of aggression against other kingdoms. The Hermes Guild’s invasion of the Lasalle Kingdom spread like a shockwave across the Central Continent.

Once the United Supremacy alliance was broken, the members indiscriminately rushed into war.

“Now it really is a time of war.”

“Our lives will change thanks to what happens on the Central Continent.”

“This fight might be the birth of an empire. Then we will have to live under their rule in the future.”

The news of the war decreased people’s interest in the Master Quests. The number of people in the square and broadcasting stations talking about the quests noticeably decreased.

The Master Quest was a fierce competition but the Adventurer Chase, Warrior Python, Farmer Miretas and Weed didn’t progress that quickly. They had to go to distant places, defeat legendary evil or find something legendary.

The Class Master Quest revealed the hidden history of the Versailles Continent. The quests were difficult, the progress speed was slow and the knowledge they obtained wasn’t shown on broadcasts.

If they were the first one to complete the Master Quest then they would get honour and be acknowledge as the most outstanding in their profession on the continent.

But the Versailles Continent was once again engulfed in war and the Embinyu Church was spreading like wildfire so the users’ interest turned to the war stations.

“Weed-nim is the only one people can believe in.”

“Yes. The God of War will protect us.”

“Weed-nim has to kill Bardray.”

A lot of people were searching for Weed but he was actually the statue covered with rain and dust. The weather became dark and damp as night fell.

There was only 2 days left until his quest completed. The period was only one month but he was bored so he wanted to go hunting.

‘This weather must be annoying Yellowy…..’

Weed spent 2 more days as a statue before finally completely the quest.

Ddiring!

– Sculpture’s Eyes has been completed

You have successfully understood being a sculpture for the required time.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– 2,002 Fame has been acquired for being a sculpture that changed the city.

– Your Perseverance has increased by 39 for spending time as a sculpture.

– Endurance has increased by 17.

– Luck has increased by 21.

– Thanks to the new experience, your Art stat has increased by 51.

– The cultural value of the Arpen Kingdom has risen.

– Sculpting skill proficiency has increased by 0.9%.

Weed realized something when doing the quest. He didn’t know the purpose of the quest but now he could understand the heart of a sculpture a little better.

“It is tedious.”

That was everything! The sculpture was nice from the viewpoint of the person who passed by and saw it but for the sculpture it was completely boring.

“It won’t be hard to sell.”

His sculptures were the most popular. Weed’s philosophy in life was to try and buy things even 200 won cheaper.

– The quest Sculpture’s Eyes has been completed.

So far as a sculptor, you have discovered Razteberg the first city on the continent.

The Elves’ question has been settled.

The Orcs have been taught sculpting.

The Dwarves have recognized your sculpting skills.

The sculpting of the Arpen Emperor is expanding into the world again.

The Ellyon race has been found.

The Arnin race has been rescued.

You have created new history while walking along the path of a Master Sculptor.

The continent’s artists and sculptors will look up to you. Now it is possible to advance to the next stage of the Master Quest. Please meet the Ellyons and listen to their story.

– The effect of the Sculpture Formation skill has ended.

His stiff body returned to normal. The corners of Weed’s eyes trembled like a sad movie has been seen. But the tears never flowed! He had gone on a long journey with the Sculpting Master Quest.

‘Now it is almost at the end.’

He remembered the way he felt when he first learnt sculpting.

‘I really thought my life was ruined… Even in the difficult situation I didn’t give up on the arts.’

In the beginning he was immersed in selling off sculptures for 2 silver. He made sculptures even while hunting and questing.

‘I’ve had a lot of fun though.’

He also made Bingryong after coming to the cold north and fighting the vampires.

‘I received an important enlightenment about art during the ice storm. Art isn’t different from nature.’

He could make sculptures using everything in nature. The damaged pyramid and sphinx destroyed by the Embinyu Church were also treasured memories.

He used the strength of sculpting in order to fight against the Immortal Legion.

Even the wyverns he gave life to were still useful today.

Weed accomplished his adventures with sculpting so it was impossible to separate them. Morata’s development also stemmed from sculpting. Blacksmithing, Sewing, Fishing, Mining, Sailing were all skills learnt with the help of sculpting.

This was the fateful path of a sculptor. The important memories naturally surged when he thought about it.

‘Once I’ve mastered sculpting then I need to master blacksmithing.’

Of course he would also master his Sword Mastery skill when fighting against monsters.

Weed’s goal was to master all his skills!

Anyway, now his priority was to leave Central Square. He had spent 1 month as a sculpture so it was awkward for him to suddenly move. There were still people talking around the fountain so Weed maintained his posture as a sculpture. He was holding the Daemon Sword and Sculpting Knife while staring at the sky. He didn’t even blink his eyes when people looked at him.

‘Hrmm…..’ It is harder trying to stay still when I can move.’

No events happened in Morata’s Central Square but it was always full of people.

‘A chance will come.’

Evening was approaching so Weed persisted in maintaining his posture. And after complete darkness fell, he saw a carriage approaching his area. Weed moved the moment the carriage passed. He quickly wore a robe and used Quadruple Run to leave his position.

“Eh? Weed-nim’s sculpture is gone? It was here a little while ago.”

“Where is it?”

“I don’t know. It is gone all of a sudden.”

“There’s no such thing. It’s not like a sculpture can move.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed met the Ellyons working in the mines.

“Please tell me what I need to do.”

There wasn’t much left to the long journey so his heart was a little urgent. The Ellyons put down their pickaxes and received the beef jerky Weed gave them.

— If it is you then we can believe it. This is a story I haven’t told you. In the past, humans started going to war after the Arpen Empire split. There were lifeforms like us who scattered across the continent and lived elsewhere.

Weed nodded.

“It seems like that. Would you like me to collect another species?”

His target was to grab another sculptural lifeform and make them work!

— No, that’s not it. There was a friend who didn’t live with the humans and protected us on the continent.

“Who is it?”

ㅡ The hero Bahamorg of the Arpen Empire.  He is an existence born with us.

The now familiar videos appeared in front of Weed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

After the Arpen Empire split apart, the humans warred among themselves.

During this era of war, the Britten Alliance, Kallamore, Tullen, Masen, Gradian, Norton, the now disappeared Mapon and Bromba kingdoms were formed.

The power of humans weakened and monsters invaded once again. The sculptural lifeforms of the Arpen Empire were either caught as prisoners or found new settlements.

Bahamorg.

When the Arpen Empire unified the continent, he was the hero who led the sculptural lifeforms.

“Kurehah!”

He yelled in a large voice as he fought the enemies and monsters. He was a hero who played an active part in a place where magic was dancing wildly.

There were no weapons he couldn’t handle and he defeated large monsters and senior magicians.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

‘He is very strong.’

Weed thought as he watched the video. Judging by his fighting, he was far stronger than Golden Bird. He might even be equivalent to the one who plunged the sword into Barkan! As the guardian of the former Empire, he was part of the strongest class of monsters.

‘It is good if I can make him work.’

While the Ellyons and Arnin were steady workers, Bahamorg was a hero born for war.

“So what happened?”

— He fought at a settlement for some other friends. If it wasn’t for him then it would probably be difficult for us to survive directly. He never rested and moved to other places to fight for the safety of our friends.

Weed also liked that point. There were lots of strong monsters. But if they were sincere then he could make them work really well.

Weed would exploit a target once he made them work.

— But when we saw him at the end, Bahamorg was full of wounds and poisoned that he would’ve died at any moment.

“Oh!”

Weed thought it was a waste. A really wonderful sculptural lifeform that he could put to work had died.

— I’m sorry for Bahamorg. Can you find out what happened to him? He probably returned to the capital of the Arpen Empire. It has been a long time since he died but any news is good.

– Hero Bahamorg

Bahamorg who endlessly pursued strength!

A sculptural lifeform that Geihar Von Arpen, the Arpen Emperor made after envying the strength of the Barbarians.

He was an illustrious warrior who stood at the forefront of every battle. After the Arpen Empire split, Bahamorg’s fate is unknown.

The Ellyons want to learn about his last moments.

This is the last adventure in the Class Master Quest.

If you accomplish this mission then it will lead to the final process to become a Class Master.

Level of Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Restrictions: Level 8 Advanced Sculpting

Sculpture Life Bestowal is necessary.

“Finally the end of a long adventure.”

As expected, the request this time wasn’t that easy. It was like dropping a 100 won coin and trying to find it again 1 year later. Or when the pork roast he bought disappeared without a trace.

But he didn’t want to give up. Weed was the type to breakthrough if he was put into a corner!

“The capital of the Arpen Empire… I will find it.”

The great Antarosa!

Once ruins were left of the Arpen Empire’s Imperial Palace and city buildings.

Monsters swarmed the place at night but the shattered rubble everywhere made it even more dangerous. There was no protection from walls and no guards were stationed there!

In the early days of Royal Road, there was a boom of adventurers going on expeditions there. Numerous magic items and history books were discovered.

A large number of knowledge and treasure on the Versailles Continent came out of Antarosa. In the past, it was the capital of the Arpen Empire and there were all kinds of buildings.

Historical or high value artwork and treasures were still being unearthed now so there were still many adventurers who aimed at finding a jackpot.

“I’ll do my best to investigate.”

– You have accepted the quest.

ㅡ I will wait for the good news. Bahamorg was a hero who protected us.

“I’ll complete your request to the end without giving up. He has to be alive….”

Chapter 8: Song for Bahamorg

Weed received Yurin’s help and arrived at the capital of the Arpen Empire, Antarosa.

“The wreckage of the shattered buildings are completely scattered around.”

The ruins where 1,000 years had passed! Some buildings only had the ceiling deformed while others were so completely destroyed it was impossible to grasp the shape. There were no buildings left untouched.

The very large area also had plenty of monsters. There was a mix of weak wolves and stronger monsters like a level 520 boss. It was the core habitat so all sorts of monsters could be found.

The wealth and power of the Imperial Palace had disappeared as adventurers searched for treasures while navigating the monsters. It was impossible to see the wonderful buildings from the past.

The monsters mainly lived underground in Antarosa. They built nests in the complicated sewage and went up to the ground at night.

Antarosa was larger than Morata and the entire Arpen Kingdom and there was a battle against the monsters every night. Even the reputable rankers couldn’t risk hunting a bunch of monsters. The prestigious guilds wouldn’t be able to handle all the monsters wandering around at night.

There were hundreds of thousands of monsters living underground. Many adventurers entered due to their curiosity and died.

Antarosa might be the capital of the Arpen Empire but it was the dream place for treasure hunters dreaming of a jackpot. If they dug up the wreckage of a noble’s house then sometimes precious metals or expensive equipment and jewellery would emerge. Any kingdom would desire these treasures and if a person gave it to a king then they could become a lord. Or they found an item they could wear themselves so many treasure hunters came here to test their luck.

The ruins near the river. There was a tavern next to a broad river that originally flowed through Antarosa. Guests were there to receive quests or find treasure. A stable accommodation was required in order to search the large Antarosa.

“Ohuhuhuk, I dug at the land for three days and couldn’t find anything.’

“Baisul-nim, don’t be disappointed and drink your alcohol.”

“Kyah, how refreshing! I was looking for Hidram Mansion but I never found the location of the building. I’ve already dug at five points but it is futile. If it is going to be like this then I’m better off exploring a dungeon.”

“Illedo-nim, I heard you found something in the vicinity?”

“A little gold nugget. I would’ve preferred a magic book.”

If they were lucky then there could gather various things from Antarosa so there were always lots of people. Hundreds of people dug in the ruins and stayed at inns or taverns.

Weed ate food at a bar and got information. If he just listened quietly then he could obtain information. This was a large area so the adventurers were active in exchanging information.

“The south side of the water cistern has been almost completely searched. There hasn’t been anyone who found anything there lately.”

“The Imperial Palace was discovered after digging at 7 points. Tens of thousands of users can fit inside it.”

“I heard that everyone who entered that place hasn’t come out alive.”

“If it is dangerous then there is more profit!”

It was difficult to find an area in the ruins without any people.

Weed drank milk and ate bread. It was an area in Royal Road where honey and milk really flowed.

When considering the standard of the users, it was a really dangerous place thanks to the monsters. If 100 people entered then only 1~2 at most would come out alive.

But treasures and equipment were consistently found and people who discovered them would earn huge profits. The treasures decreased steadily as the adventurers navigated danger and death. But it was still almost impossible to explore the catacombs due to the dangerous monsters. There were still treasures sleeping there.

The items from Antarosa would be a great help to users who weren’t able to obtain a proper footing in the early days of the Versailles continent. Right now exceptionally good adventurers were flying around the continent.

“I have to give up the request from Count Charlemange.  I came to save the Stone Lion… The weight seemed tolerable but I thought I would be able to quickly find it.”

“Yet?”

“I can’t find it no matter how I look so someone must’ve taken it already.”

The stories from people drinking continued flowing into Weed’s ears. But the only information he received was about searching for treasure.

‘Bahamorg… Nobody knows him.’

The sculptural lifeforms had a decided life expectancy when they were given life. If they didn’t die in battle then they would also grow and age. Even if Bahamorg survived his injuries, it was a distant time so he would already be long dead.

“There is no guarantee that he is here… I would be more comfortable working.”

The Sculpting Master Quest had various different contents! Weed ate food and waited for night. And it was time for the monsters! He could see monsters moving on a large scale outside the window. Monsters woke up and wandered the ruins. The land where legends were sleeping!

According to history, Antarosa was lost when the Arpen Empire fragmented. It was the target of military invasion and plunder. After that monsters surged and people left it alone.

And Antarosa became a city controlled by monsters. It was included in the territory of the Britten Alliance but merchants didn’t come anywhere near it. Users stayed at taverns and inns hidden by magic.

Weed was safe but his heart didn’t feel comfortable.

“Will you be staying overnight? It is 30 gold.”

That price was far too expensive for one night.

“Is it possible to lower the price a little?”

“No, Customer-nim.”

“I didn’t want to say this but I am a very famous person on the continent.”

“Then you will be able to give even more money.”

The inn’s owner had a stubborn character. Nothing Weed used worked.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Geomchi instructors and practitioners hit the dungeons.

“This is the entrance to the dungeon.”

“We will go first, Teacher-nim!”

Their hunting proficiency became amazing after the Geomchis learnt Sword-cloning and Radiant Sword.

“This is the effect of skills.”

“It seems so. It can be used so easily that it is like a washing machine.”

They reached level 400 using only basic skills and now they properly utilized their attack skills. They also invested in wisdom and knowledge and their attack went up with each increase in skill proficiency.

And the advice Weed gave them was crucial.

“Even though risking your lives when fighting is acceptable for Master-nim, what about when hunting in a party?”

“We want to do that but… They need to be worthy.”

The Geomchi instructors and practitioners tried hunting in a party in the Yurokina Mountains. They wanted to fight together with female warriors but not many had come to the north.

“Your achievement points means that you can hire priests for hunting. There is the Cathedral of the Freya Church in Morata so it is easy to find priests.”

“Kuheom! If you say that then we’ll go look.”

Geomchi headed to Light Square with his disciples.

“That uniform is really beautiful.”

“Teacher-nim! Did you see that priest that passed by just now? That innocent face is my ideal type. The beautiful texture of her hair…..”

“Third Sa-hyung, one person has come!”

The female priestesses of the Freya Church boasted amazing beauty. That’s why the Freya Church was the most popular among users.

“Shall we take a priestess and go hunting?”

“Yes. Weed-nim said it is possible with our achievements, Master-nim!”

The Geomchi instructors entered the Freya Church’s Cathedral.

“A person who did us a large favour has visited. What would you like? If you want a better weapon then we’ll give it to you.”

So far they kept getting rid of monsters and stacked up many achievements that they didn’t use. It was enough to obtain a weapon and employ many priestesses.

General users knew how to utilize the achievements but it was difficult for them to obtain. Most swordsmen weren’t willing to risk the death penalty.

“I want a weapon but it isn’t necessary now. Instead, I’m going to go hunting so it is possible to bring a priestess?”

“If you’re fighting against the monsters then of course the priests will support you. Please ensure that they’re not injured or killed. If that happens then it will be difficult to put the priests in any more dangerous situations.”

“I’ll make sure that not even a drop of water will touch their hands.”

Each Geomchi instructor hired 1 priestess respectively. They didn’t know the value of achievements until now. Thanks to the priests, their hunting efficiency increased by 3 times more. Receiving blessings and treatment during a battle was a good thing!

“This is a good world…..”

“It is fortunate that we understand now.”

“Listen! If we get injured then they will touch us to use healing!”

The Geomchis used a different method of fighting. Normally they were concise and effective when attacking and defending. But they deliberately fought more aggressively after seeing the priestesses.

They thoroughly protected the priestesses from the monsters. The priestesses were employed with achievement points so it wasn’t necessary to distribute the experience and loot.

“Master-nim, we will go as well.”

“Go and collect them quickly.”

The practitioners also went to Morata to collect some priestesses,

“I’m sorry but there aren’t any priestesses left of a standard to go hunting. Instead, a male priest….”

“That’s okay!”

Once the priestesses of the Freya Church ran out of stock, they hired priestesses from other religions! Since then monsters fell around Vargo Fortress. The valuable achievement points decreased over time.

Monster invasions still sometimes occurred at Vargo Fortress but the area had stabilized.

“Swordplay is truly beautiful.”

“I understand, Master-nim!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed left the inn early the next day.

“First I have to look at any sculptures found here.”

Most of the products unearthed here had already been sold to aristocrats of the Britten Alliance Kingdom. The memories in the sculptures might contain some clues.

“Your fame as a sculptor is well known on the continent. Count Baldmong loves art. Come in.”

“I’ve heard a lot of stories about your adventures. I always wanted to meet you.”

“I heard there was a king of a small kingdom in the north so it is an honour to meet you.”

It wasn’t difficult for Weed to meet the nobles of the Britten Alliance Kingdom. But the number of sculptures recovered was extremely small. They weren’t even displayed in hallways and were kept in warehouses.

“It is a very elegant sculpture.”

“This sculpture is very old. It might contain some historical information.”

“Can I look at it for a while?”

“Of course.”

“Inspect!”

The cracked and peeled lion sculpture. When he examined the memory contained in it, the Imperial Palace and capital of the Arpen Empire could be seen.

It was difficult to imagine now but various sculptural lifeforms prospered and lived there. A direct statue of Emperor Geihar Von Arpen that he carved himself stood near a fountain and the continent’s greatest treasures were visible.

“I know the form of the city in the past so finding treasures should be a little easier.”

If he obtained clues for treasure then he would stay there and dig. He wanted to do that but he was King of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Bahamorg didn’t appear.”

Many of the sculptures unearthed were damaged.

“Can I fix it a little?”

“It would be an honour to have a famous sculptor like you fix it.”

Weed received the quest to restore the sculpture then checked the memory contained in it again. The video showed more detail about the surrounding landscape but Bahamorg’s last moments couldn’t be found.

“I’ve obtained quite a bit of information. I should think positively. It isn’t good to continue with negative thinking through my entire life. At least I know he wasn’t where these sculptures were found. Then I’ll have to use legwork.”

Weed spread out a map of the ruins.

He really didn’t know if Bahamorg managed to come back here. There was a large possibility he might’ve died along the way.

If he didn’t come to Antarosa then the search radius would widen further. It really wasn’t an easy quest…..

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

One week later.

“This way won’t work.”

Weed put down his shovel and pickaxe.

“I haven’t learnt anything from these ruins….”

In the meantime he had gone around Antarosa like the other adventurers and dug at the ground.

“Would you like to partner up with me?”

“Your pickaxe seems unusual. It is like a wave spreads out from it.”

He received lots of offers from other users. His strength and vitality made it seem like Weed was playing whack-a-mole. Once he started digging then the wreckage was scattered everywhere.

Weed refused all their suggestions and was immersed in digging the land.

“Bahamorg… Old Barbarian hero… His equipment would be nice… If I dig it out… It would be a treasure that would cause a storm of money… That magic tower… The treasure warehouse of the Imperial Palace…”

He transformed into a treasure hunter while looking for Bahamorg. However it really wasn’t easy to search for treasure in Antarosa.

The only income from one week of work was two antique armours. The historic value meant he would be able to receive at least 1,500 to 2,000 gold. In Weed’s case, if he melted it down and remade it then he could create a wearable level 300 armour. Other adventurers were think this was a decent harvest for one week’s worth.

But he went through the repetitive motions of digging and looking for Bahamorg in the day and returning to the inn to sculpt at night.

His Mining skill rose from 1 level to Intermediate level 2. His technique to dig the land was growing!

“The cost of the inn is too expensive so this way won’t work.”

Even though Weed had excellent digging ability, it was impossible to search through the wide wreckage. He dug at the locations most likely to find something.

“So far I’ve had no luck but it will only take one success for that to change!”

His unfortunate destiny was always offset by his luck.

“A different search method…..”

Weed had an excellent reasoning ability. So far he had spent 98% of his life as a worker!

“The only thing I know is that Bahamorg was heading to Antarosa.”

Weed daringly decided to abandon the wreckage in the ruins. He could take advantage of various skills like Mining, Sculpting or Sculptural Memories but the area was too wide. And the various other skills he learnt weren’t helpful.

“It would be really lucky if I could discover his belongings here but there is no guarantee.”

Weed hadn’t found any clues despite digging for a week. In addition, his pickaxe was increasingly moving towards treasure rather than his original goal. It wasn’t to find the treasures of the Arpen Empire but to find information about Bahamorg.

“What information can I use to search?”

Weed organized his thoughts. He knew that Bahamorg was very strong. He read the history books in Morata’s library but Bahamorg wasn’t listed.

“Maybe if I….”

Weed pulled out his Sculpting Knife. He used stone that were originally walls to carve Bahamorg.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

That night monsters went around Antarosa. They fought among themselves and also hunted small animals.

Sometimes human like monsters would also dig at the ground to find things. The monsters in Antarosa were equipped with their own intelligence. Sometimes they collected treasure and wore it.

Users wanted to hunt mobs that had treasure. But the creatures were much stronger at night. During the day, they lived in complicated passages underground so they were hard to track. Some succeeded several times but it was a significant risk.

Even if weak monsters found treasure, it would be immediately taken away by the strong monsters. Many great treasures ended up with boss class monsters.

The monsters also found the sculpture of Bahamorg that Weed carved.

“Kiiik?”

“Kuooh.”

The monsters weren’t interested and just passed by it.

“I’m hungry.”

“I’m going over there.”

They liked gold, silver and jewellery. Mountains of treasures were stored in their lair. But as expected, some monsters didn’t overlook the piece of art.

“Keeek, this…..?”

Just before sunrise, a monster found the sculpture and showed interest in it.

‘Yes, it is a success.’

Weed had transformed into a crow and was watching through a gap in the wreckage. The monster that recognized it was a clue!

“Why do you look like that, kikikik.”

“Just smash it.”

Kwajijijik, pasasak, sseoook!

A monster brought down an axe and broke the sculpture! Weed had to witness the sight of his work being smashed.

‘That bastard…..!’

He had no choice but to endure it as monsters roamed around Antarosa. The monsters went away in the morning but only a few pieces of Weed’s sculpture could be seen.

“There is a problem with my work in this form.”

Weed decided to improve it.

He could make sculptures out of things other than stone!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

At dusk before evening came.

Weed made his sculpture again.

“Moonlight Sculpting!”

Brilliant light stretched out from his hands and illuminated the sky! The flashy light was used to make a beautiful sculpture.

Moonlight Sculpting was very handy because he only needed to use a little bit on different sculptures. A sculpture made from light! The subtle gloss and luxurious colour added to a sculpture made it even more wonderful.

But this time he made it only out of light so it floated into the air.

Bahamorg’s sculpture!

Weed made the form of a barbarian warrior out of light.

“Won’t the light catch attention in the dark? I don’t want it to be too bright.”

He didn’t want it to be like an overly bright signboard.

“The monsters also like shine. The colour nuance needs to be set.

Weed blended the silver and gold light of the Antarosa sky to carve the form of Bahamorg. He didn’t have enough time so it was a work he made in earnest. The sculpture was made in a rush but he was experienced with dealing with light.

The sculpture of Bahamorg was finished and floated in Antarosa’s sky.

“Now he will be recognized.”

Weed decided to wait comfortably. This time the monsters wouldn’t be able to destroy it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It is Weed’s sculpture.”

“Weed the God of War was here!”

The atmosphere at Antarosa was giddy as the adventurers saw the sculpture of light. They considered Weed as their idol.

While adventuring alone, they faced considerable hardships. Just as they were frustrated and about to give up, Weed overcame many obstacles so he was their target.

“Where is he?”

“I wonder if a quest brought him here.”

“People are less interested in Antarosa these days but they will come flocking thanks to Weed-nim’s presence.”

The places where Weed went always ended up crowded with people. It was the same logic where people visited places that a celebrity did on television. Ship captains sailed towards Jigolaths while tourism packages were released for other locations.

“Will he be in the area?”

“He probably already left. He always suddenly appears and vanishes. He might even be eating a steak in Morata.”

“That’s right, users of Royal Road often wonder about what he is doing.”

“He usually disguises himself to travel.”

The users never noticed when Weed was sitting in a tavern by himself. He had released Sculpture Transformation from his crow state but they still didn’t know. Just a little change in the parting of his hair was a perfect disguise!

In fact, sometimes his close companions were also surprised. He wore cool cloths and armour in battle but the durability would fall so he switched to beginners’ clothes when it was required and his atmosphere completely changed.

“This time has come.”

Weed finished his meal as evening approached. It was a little difficult to purchase food since so many people wandered the ruins. Adventurers also came to the tavern to obtain information from others.

Today instead of a crow, he would use Sculpture Transformation into a monster.

Chapter 9: Monsters of Antarosa

“There’s something there.”

“What? Is it something to eat?”

“No.”

“Then I have no interest.”

The monsters of Antarosa were also indifferent to the sculpture of light.

“Get rid of it.”

“Kya kya.”

There were those that threw axes and stones. Weed had climbed onto a pile of deserted rubble and looked at it.

“Look at his eyes.”

There were greasy eyeballs between torn eyes.

“That snout even eats their own species.”

Weed looked like a monster called the Deruger so he was avoided. He had a large charisma as a dominate monster but his appearance also played a role. Weed muttered as he surveyed the attitude of the monsters.

“Everybody is envying my face. Becoming a plastic surgeon would be good. They often earn money so it wouldn’t be bad.”

An inherent danger in people’s lives was that the slightest mistake could cause the collapse of their dream! Weed steadily watched the monsters looking at the sculpture in the sky and waited for a special reaction.

‘Perhaps the clue isn’t here.’

Information about adventures was often hidden. This degree of difficulty was natural was tracking down an old sculptural lifeform. But even puppies in the mountains knew Weed so he planned to take advantage of his fame. If he posted it on the bulletin board then users would see Bahamorg and provide information. NPCs living throughout the continent would also see Weed’s work and talk about it. It was the system that used his high fame as a sculptor to break through.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The inhabitants of the village made a lot of noise.

“Do you know Sculptor Weed? He made a sculpture in Antarosa.”

“It is a sculpture made of light that is very wonderful. It illuminates Antarosa at night.”

“Any adventurers who hear the story would want to go see it. It is to that extent.”

The adventurers of Antarosa went to other villages and spread the news of Weed’s sculpture. Rumours spread among the residents of the entire continent. The aristocrats who liked art also had a large interest.

“A sculpture of a barbarian warrior! It is Sculptor Weed’s work so I definitely want to possess it but it isn’t possible to bring it here.”

“These days, a sculpture by Weed is necessary to ensure the dignity of the nobility. I won’t be sorry even if I waste one year’s worth of profit to obtain a work that Weed produced.”

Quests also occurred at a sculptor’s guild near Antarosa.

“Weed is a true artist and adventurer. He has the status of a king yet he still drifts around the continent. When people come to see the light sculpture then they might commission some valuable sculptures.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Song Su-cheol finished his part time job and returned home.

“Phew, today was really long.

He was working at a fried chicken store in order to raise tuition money for university. Every day he had to cut and fry chicken so he always came home exhausted.

“I wonder what happened today.”

He turned on the computer and checked the bulletin boards. Even reading what others were saying about Royal Road was interesting. He always checked it every day. His character’s level was only 156 but he was still interested.

“I’m in an area with no special quests… A person called Millennium Fox seems to have obtained a rare spear.”

Royal Road was too enormous so there were separate bulletin boards for villages, cities and castles.

Title: Topic about Weed’s sculptures

Title: The dignity of the sculpture of light

Title: Weed is the best

Title: How can I marry Weed?

“Weed has made another one.”

He was a god to Song Su-cheol. His stress could be released when watching Weed’s adventures. Song Su-cheol didn’t only like Weed because he enjoyed the adventures. Any user playing Royal Road on the Versailles Continent would have affection for him.

The prestigious guilds turned evil and started killing the users. Weed’s adventures had all been to protect the peace of the continent. He made the Versailles Continent slightly easier to live it so people wanted to cheer him on and give support.

“Ah, over here….”

Antarosa!

It wasn’t far from the castle he was currently located in the Britten Alliance Kingdom.

“Besides, I think I’ve seen this sculpture before.”

The sculpture of light felt familiar. There was clearly a time in the past that he had seen it.

Title: The sculpture that floats in Antarosa

Title: How far will Weed’s expressive power go?

Title: The candid confession of a sculptor. It is impossible to be imitated by a beginner.

No matter how many posts he saw, no one had seen the original form of this sculpture.

“It is amazing. Doesn’t anyone know its true identity?”

Song Su-cheol thought about it. Weed must have made a sculpture in Antarosa for his Master Quest. If he publicly wrote it on the bulletin board then it might be a hindrance to Weed.

“I need to go hunting as soon as possible. Luckily the wolves breed quickly so it is easy to hunt with a party.”

Song Su-cheol entered the capsule and connected. But he felt empty as he knew something and couldn’t report it.

“I should write a fan letter to Weed-nim.”

Weed’s email recorded on the auction site had already become famous. Thousands of people sent mail every day so it probably wouldn’t be read.

“However I got into Royal Road thanks to Weed-nim.”

Song Su-cheol thought carefully before sending a mail.

Title: Hello Weed-nim.

You might not read this but I am a novice user called Jer living in Edgar Castle in the Britten Alliance Kingdom.

My class is a warrior. I wanted to protect people as well as use various types of weapons.

This time I saw the sculpture that floats in the sky of Antarosa.  Weed-nim must’ve come to Edgar Castle to see it.

The dead body of the barbarian warrior that expresses the same features?

I saw the corpse in a dungeon but was killed by a monster. I was too scared to go back to search for items but Weed-nim must’ve seen it judging by the sculpture.

I’d like to talk longer but now I need to connect to Royal Road.

I hope you stay healthy for the peace of the continent.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Edgar Castle!

It was a place crowded with merchants and travellers because it belonged to the Britten Alliance Kingdom. Beginners who chose this place to start could obtain all types of items for a cheap price.

There were many merchants with escort or monster extermination requests so many battle professions were also here. Despite that, quite a significant number of users had left for the north. They were envious of Arpen Kingdom’s dynamic economy.

“Looking for a party to hunt red wolves. I am a warrior. I am level 156 and wearing steel armour with 53 durability!”

Jer cried out eagerly in the square. Once a certain level was reached, it would be difficult to hunt unless they went as a party. In Jer’s case, he hunted more eagerly than other people and raised his level.

“Shaman looking for a party to hunt red wolves. I am level 174 and have indispensable skills to help people grow.”

A female shaman called Sullia was next to Jer. The red wolves had recently become popular so it was easy to obtain a party. The red wolves were level 200 but their leather could be sold at an expensive price so many people hunted them.

A party was made with several professions before leaving to hunt. Jer watched them with envious eyes. If a warrior lacked ability then the lives of the party would be at risk. When a party fell apart due to a monster, he had the obligation to stay in the hunting ground until the end until he died. That’s why warriors were usually the leader of a party but not many people knew Jer.

The users he hunted with in the old days levelled up faster than him and went to other areas. Quite a few people also went to the north. Usually the leader of a party was a warrior and they didn’t want 2 warriors so a chance rarely came to Jer. They preferred knights well equipped with armour and familiar with the hunting ground.

Then a level 200 scout called Scott with a fairly high fame in Edgar Castle approached.

“Well, a long talk isn’t necessary so would you like to go hunting with us? I have a priest, magician and thief. Everything is prepared.”

“Yes, I will.”

Jer quickly agreed since this chance wouldn’t come often. Scott’s hunting party was famous for being efficient so he thought he could follow and raise his level.

“Are you a shaman?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go together.”

“Thank you very much.”

And they started hunting at Mt. Rondis that contained the habitat of the red wolves. Jer and Sullia then encountered a limitless harsh treatment.

“That’s not straight? Bring the monsters. Ah, you’re so slow.”

“Why are you already trying to grasp an item? Our party has rules so that only the people who hunted first can grab anything. You didn’t know that?”

“Later when the hunting ends, you don’t have to worry about the cost of repairs. The party will be hunting all day so prepare your spirit.”

Jer was in charge of pulling the monsters and defending. The party’s other users just maintain their position and attacked. The priest sometimes treated him but it was delayed so he couldn’t help feeling anxious. As a shaman Sullia had to attack, give blessings and heal so she was very busy.

Although they encountered harsh treatment, they couldn’t leave the party because Scott was famous so if he spread rumours it would become more difficult to find another new party.

But a person had followed Jer here from Edgar. He was a person wearing dirty beginners clothes! He sat behind a tree and carved sculptures while waiting for the hunt to end. Occasionally words were muttered.

“There is a deficit in health insurance this year.”

He would sometimes sigh while taking a break.

“Inflation is continuing to rise… The economy is becoming increasingly difficult to live in. It will be hard to live unless I experience a financial windfall.”

And he still had a happy dream.

“I need to save eagerly so that I can sleep in.”

He continued sculpting while looking at Jer being mistreated by his party. Jer and Sullia worked hard for 3 hours before they were discarded.

“Did you receive the quest to inspect Mt. Bermer?”

“Yes. Now there is an uproar. The quest won’t be successful unless I have the rock slash skill.”

“We are heading there to. Jer and Sullia isn’t part of our regular party so it isn’t possible to go there together. Then I’ll see you next time.”

Jer and Sullia were left there alone.

“Shall we return to the castle again?”

“It will take too much time. Looking around here for a party might be better.”

Other hunting parties were also challenging Mt. Rondis. It wasn’t a dangerous dungeon so people didn’t need two warriors or a shaman. While they were thinking, the person sculpting got up and approached them.

“You are the warrior called Jer right?”

“Yes, that is me.”

Jer tilted his head to one side and looked at the person who spoke to him.

‘Eh. I’ve seen him somewhere.’

The person was dressed like a common beginner but his overall body and voice was familiar. He was clearly someone important.

‘Have I hunted with him? Did he hand me a cheap sword before?’

His memory wasn’t bad but he couldn’t recall no matter how he thought about it. The uninvited visitor said.

“Would you like to hunt with me if you have time?”

“Well, the circumstances mean I don’t have a party so I’d like that.”

Jer willingly came forward. Even if he couldn’t remember, it still felt somewhat good.

“Oh, but Sullia-nim…..”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to worry about me.”

The uninvited visitor became lost in thought as he looked at Sullia.

‘That equipment.’

His first love, the shaman Dain had worn the same type of equipment.

“You may come along as well.”

“Really? Thank you! I’ll work hard.”

She was a shaman so she was more interested in magic than physical combat. Jer and Sullia joined the party of the uninvited guest.

Jer asked.

“Are your other colleagues in a place far from here?”

“The party is only us.”

“Eh? We need to recruit other professions.”

Jer looked at the parties nearby. All of them consisted of different professions so it was impossible to hunt with just a warrior and shaman.

“We will be sufficient.”

The man was brimming with confidence! Sullia smiled brightly and asked.

“Do you have experience hunting the red wolves?”

“I’ve never done it. Although I’ve hunted similar guys.”

“These wolves are stronger than you think. It is impossible with just us….”

While Sullia was saying that, a red wolf wandered behind the visitor.

“Be careful!”

The red wolves had a habit of suddenly attacking when it was close to something. The visitor looked back and frowned.

“Ssup!”

Kakang! Kkang kkang!

The red wolf used its last effort to try and run away but it died! Jer and Sullia were amazed.

If someone was over level 200 and wore armour then they could easily hunt the red wolves. Yet he had killed the red wolf with just his combative spirit!

“The hunting place isn’t here.”

“Then where are we going?”

“We’re going to hunt in a dungeon.”

Dungeon hunting!

He was a warrior so of course he would like to try it. But he knew how dangerous hunting in dungeons was.

“By ourselves? Where is it?”

“Jer-nim knows the location.”

“Me?”

Jer asked with a confused face.

“I don’t know where it is. Were you just teasing me?”

The face of the visitor slowly cleared up.

“Don’t tell me… Perhaps…”

“You noticed. That’s right.”

“Is this a dream?”

“……”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Drafukin Dungeon!

The average level of the monsters was 430 so it was a dangerous place. Many famous hunting parties in the Britten Alliance Kingdom had to bow their head and leave it. Many hunting parties came there but never reached the end. The degree of danger was higher than normal but it was a comfortable place to raise their level.

“Here.”

Jer guided Weed and Sullia there.

“I hunted here with the Cloud Guild before.”

“Ah, I remember. Didn’t they hold a large publicity campaign and went hunting about 4 months ago?”

“They only reached the 3rd underground floor before having to withdraw. I was following when I fell into a trap and saw the corpse of the barbarian warrior.”

Weed changed his armour and sword to his best equipment. He also used his Sword Polishing and Sword Grinding skill.

“Then let’s go.”

“Are we really going to hunt here?”

Sullia asked in a disbelieving tone.

“Of course. Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

The hunting preparations were completed after calling the Death Knight and Vampire Lord.

“Please use some movement blessings.”

“I’ll use it now. The meaning is unknown. A cool wind blows. Please make my partners lighter. Even their footsteps will become light. Spirit of the Wolf.”

A shaman could use various blessings to increase movement speed, attack and defense. Even if their healing was weak compared to priests, they were quite useful. Many people travelling to distant cities paid magic to receive movement blessings from a shaman. In Weed’s case he had Yellowy and Wy-3 so he had no particular need for it.

Monsters with a dark affiliation called Drakin appeared on the 1st floor. They looked like a common lizard but were much larger and could use black magic.

Jer and Sullia watched the interesting battle.

“I’ll have no regrets even if I die.”

“I don’t care about dying since I can brag to my friends.”

Weed ordered Van Hawk.

“Go ahead and fight.”

“Understood.”

If it was difficult then he would send in his subordinates first. The Drakin’s black magic was ineffective against the Death Knight’s resistance. Van Hawk had a higher level than the Drakin so he could knock them down safely. But the defense of the Drakin’s skin was high so it didn’t die easily. It would continue to bite or use black magic every time it was hit.

“There should be no problems. Go, Torido.”

Weed also used Torido and the hunt succeeded. He had previous knowledge of the monster. But no matter how much he read about it or watched videos, seeing it in person was different. When he used all his skills to hunt, it was easier than he thought.

“They have fairly strong defense. Concentrate your attacks on one point!”

The Drakin hunting time was reduced thanks to the attacking one point system. The destructive power of Heriam Fencing’s successive attacks was also successful. At first it took 4 minutes to hunt and that time was shortened to 45 seconds.

“It’s okay now but I should gather some more help. Summon Sculpture!”

Golden Bird, Silver Bird, Yellowy, Goldman, high elf Eltin and the female barbarian Gernika was called.

With his sculptural lifeforms, Weed could make any party configuration at any time. The only regretful part was that none of his sculptural lifeforms knew how to use holy magic.

Weed’s achievements with various religions meant he could hire a priest but he didn’t want to do that. Although he needed to be careful with the sculptural lifeforms, he had better things to spend the achievements on than priests.

“Let’s go.”

Weed walked along with the imposing sculptural lifeforms. Every time 1~2 Drakin emerged, they would immediately receive a concentrated attack. Van Hawk, Torido and the sculptural lifeforms had a strong power so the monsters’ lives were easily ended.

“Bahamorg who is Emperor Geihar Von Arpen’s warrior is lying here. We need to go to that place. There is no time to rest.”

“Ssajakjak!”

The Golden Bird was more diligent than usual when hunting. They finished off the horde on the 1st floor incredibly fast.

Sullia was standing by with treatment magic prepared but there was nothing for her to do. She wasn’t lacking in ability as a low level shaman so it was frustrating as she could only watch the situation.

Weed utilized his bandage skill, his herb knowledge and sewing skill to make first class bandages.

“What is the defensive power of that armour?”

Jer found it strange and asked.

The Drakin rushed at Weed but he didn’t seem to be injured that much. This was the astonishing power of the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

“This armour, it is better than I thought. And I’ve added 900 perseverance and 500 resilience.”

“Keheok.”

Weed carved sculptures and raised his perseverance. He had read the stories but the hunting was at a fearful standard. The monsters didn’t even have a chance to hit them!

Drakins that showed even more fearful battle magic came out on the 2nd floor.

“Golden Bird and Silver Bird, disturb the enemies. Eltin support from behind with arrows.”

The sculptural lifeforms were accustomed to hunting with Weed. Jer and Sullia had nothing to do and just watched from behind. This dungeon had too high of a standard so they would only be a nuisance if they went out. But it was a great honour just being able to follow and watch Weed fighting.

Of course, they swallowed their saliva every time the Drakin died. If they could get even a little bit of the spoils then it would be a true jackpot!

Naturally Weed didn’t show any signs of noticing. During the battle, Weed was meticulous about picking up japtem even when fighting the Drakin. Jer and Sullia couldn’t erase the feeling of being bridesmaids.

“Ah, that’s right! I didn’t do the party invitation. I often hunt alone. And usually I receive invitations from my colleagues.”

Ddiring!

– The King of the Arpen Kingdom Weed-nim has invited you to the party.

Both of them accepted the invitation to join the party.

“Our presence in the party won’t mean much though.”

The level difference meant that the experience received wouldn’t mean much.

“Just wait a moment.”

And the hunt continued once again.

– Your level has increased.

Huge experience from the Drakins! Jer and Sullia wouldn’t receive a lot of experience from the red wolves because their level was too low. However, the hunting speed of Weed and the sculptural lifeforms was too terrifying and their levels rose. The amount of experience accumulated and shot up.

Chapter 10: Bahamorg’s Memory

Weed spoke to them.

“There is no great significance on levels. It is better to steadily raise skill proficiency. Even if you raise your level now, it is always better to invest in skills and stats.”

He was able to see the characteristics of other battle professions just by looking. Jer was a warrior who fought directly with monsters so he needed to pay attention to his skills.

Weed led the way in battle while they followed. There was high tension because this was a dangerous dungeon but it inevitably became boring since Jer took a back role.

Weed asked him.

“Shouldn’t you have high health as a warrior?”

“Yes! But I never guessed I would have a role here.”

“Torido, here is a guest.”

Even a low levelled warrior could be useful to the party! Jer got his blood absorbed by a vampire so his resilience and vitality increased. It wasn’t a special help but Sullia also raised her skill proficiency by casting blessings and other necessary magic.

They instantly moved to the 2nd and then the 3rd underground floor! There were no special obstacles here. Weed’s sculptural lifeforms had been perfectly conditioned in battle. It took a little more time than the 2nd floor but it didn’t feel difficult with Weed leading the party.

Jer was worried when first forming the party but the results showed that it was the right thing to do. They didn’t even pass through half of the 3rd floor before arriving at the destination.

It was a narrow path barely possible for them to break through. Next to it was a dark cliff.

“It is here. This is the place where I fell down and discovered it. It isn’t deep but there are monsters down there with the barbarian corpse so we need to pay attention.”

“I understand. This is a dangerous place.  Van Hawk, Torido.”

“You called.”

“Go down at the same time as me.”

“Understood, Master.”

Weed jumped down with Van Hawk and Torido. But they only fell down a little bit before wings spread! Torido immediately opened his black cloak which fluttered and stopped them in mid-air.

“Yahaaaak!”

Only Van Hawk fell!While he fell and received the concentrate attack of the monsters, Weed and Torido landed safely. The children of the Drakin lived here.

Golden Bird and Silver Bird followed to join in the attack while others shot arrows. But to Weed they were simply there to clean up the remains.

“Here.”

Weed discovered the body of a dead barbarian leaning against the wall.

Hero Bahamorg of the Arpen Empire. His body had died on the battlefield and returned to stone. He was in a dreadful state with arrows, axes and broken swords driven into his body.

“He really is dead.”

It really took a lot of time to find him for this quest. He searched all of Antarosa and several traces in the Thor Kingdom before he was able to find it.

“Anyway, it is lucky that I found it.”

Weed looked at the memories in the sculpture.

“Inspect!”

– You have observed the corpse of a sculptural lifeform.

Confirmation of detailed information is impossible.

– Name: Bahamorg

Alignment: Aggressive

Level: 577

Species: Barbarian

Profession: Iron Blood Warrior

Title: Immortal Warrior

Fame: 8,932

A life form that Emperor Geihar gave life to. He is always at the forefront of battle and brought numerous victories for the Arpen Empire against strong monsters.

In the past he was a legendary hero of the Arpen Empire but now hardly anyone knows him anymore. His loyalty and affection to Emperor Geihar was special.

He continued moving around the continent and fighting after the Arpen Empire split apart until he eventually died from his wounds.

+ Can handle all weapons.

+ Steel like vitality and resilience.

+ Can increase the defense and morale of allies through yells.

+ Full of life like a fountain.

+ Master of protection skills.

+ Excellent magic resistance.

+ High concentration.

+ Not verified.

+ Not verified.

+ Special skill: Not verified.

+ Not verified.

And Weed saw Bahamorg’s memories.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Your name is now Bahamorg.”

“Understood. But I will live my life for myself.”

Bahamorg was born in the period of the Arpen Empire. And his life was spent fighting from beginning to end. He fought enemies and monsters in plains, deserts, cliffs, caves, marshlands etc. He defeated wild animals in the snow and monsters attacking cities.

“Kuhaaaah!”

A wild cry would ring out.

“If there is an enemy then I’ll get rid of it. I like fighting.”

Blades and arrows couldn’t penetrate his body as he broke through gates with his incredible strength. Even the rush of a troop of knights that felt like a mountain couldn’t press him back.

Bahamorg grew into the hero of the Arpen Empire. And after the death of Emperor Geihar, he fought to protect the sculptural lifeforms.

“I am the Emperor’s… Now I don’t have anyone to live for.”

Bahamorg constantly showed his devotion for Emperor Geihar. He helped other sculptural lifeforms while returning to Antarosa. His depressed will weakened his strong body. His myriad wounds were continuously aggravated and poison spread through his entire body. Monsters and assassins also attacked him along the way.

Eventually he was forced to stop for treatment while heading to Antarosa. In the end he was attacked by Drakins in this dungeon and thus the best warrior in the Arpen Empire died.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Ddiring!

– You have obtained the information necessary for the Hero Bahamorg quest.

If you tell the Ellyons about his final moments then the request will be completed.

Weed stood in front of the barbarian’s corpse. Jer and Sullia understood that the barbarian corpse was for a quest so they waited quietly. Weed close his eyes and examined the videos that he saw.

He was a warrior that used his own body to win against the attacks from his enemies. That was how Bahamorg became a great warrior.

“He is indeed worth of being called a hero.”

He missed Emperor Geihar so he returned to Antarosa only to die. A warrior that overcame any pain couldn’t endure the pain in his heart.

“Isn’t this herb really good?”

“It makes my skin more beautiful.”

“Gol gol gol. I’d like to apply it as well.”

Suddenly he heard the sound of Gernika, Eltin and Goldman rubbing a herb good for the skin onto their face! Yellowy was also eating the herb.

“Whew.”

A sigh naturally emerged from Weed’s mouth. The impression that Bahamorg left on him also disappeared!

“There is no need to go back right now.”

Weed had found Bahamorg. The warrior that devoted his life to the Arpen Empire was now lying alone. Weed respected him as a warrior so he couldn’t stand it. Of course he needed to revive him and make him work forever.

“Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

– Life was given to the corpse of the hero Bahamorg.

The sculptural lifeform has gained new life.

The effect of carving the sculpture isn’t applied and the level will be reduced by 5% from when it was alive.

It hadn’t been possible for Weed to hunt while making the Garden of the Gods. Since then, he went with his colleagues to King Belsos’ Tomb and to face the Sulleions so he reached level 416. The level and art stat that he painstakingly raised had decrease but it was worth it to restore Bahamorg to life.

The fossilized body of Bahamorg started moving again. The weapon struck body that was leaning against the wall gradually woke up. The hero of the Arpen Empire had been awoken by Weed after a long time.

“This place is…..”

Bahamorg spoke with a bewildered face. A long time had passed so it wasn’t easy to remember the past. Weed wished that he had forgotten everything.

‘That way I can cram my teachings into him.’

Bahamorg shook his head and spoke in a low and heavy voice.

“Ah, His Majesty Emperor Geihar died and I was on the way to Antarosa.”

“…..”

Perfect memory. Unlike Goldman whose body was destroyed, Bahamorg only had severe injuries.

Weed started pretending.

“I am Weed and I respect His Majesty Emperor Geihar so I walked along the path of a sculptor.”

“I am Bahamorg. Am I alive thanks to you?”

“We’ll be together often in the future. You have many injuries so please stay still. I’ll treat you.”

“I…..”

Sullia tried to go out but she was detained with a whisper! First impressions were important so he applied the bandages gently.

“Geez, it must hurt a lot.”

Weed gently pulled weapons and arrows out of Bahamorg’s body. He could rework these items and sell them out!

‘They’re in pretty good condition.’

He could estimate a price for these items. As soon as the weapons were recovered, Bahamorg’s recovery rate was on par with a troll. He even recognized Golden Bird.

“Senolia… Why are you here?”

“Bahamorg, it has been a really long time.”

“Everything is still confusing.”

Bahamorg and Golden Bird felt less burdened now that they had met each other again. They started sharing memories of Emperor Geihar. One thing was clear to Weed.

The past was over. The patron guardian of the Arpen Empire would work for him in the future.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Jer and Sullia also rode the wyverns back to Morata. They had decided to settle in the north after meeting Weed.

“The shacks are relatively cheap homes so please have fun in the future.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

“Then I’m going to leave.”

There were a lot of interesting places to see in Morata so their interest in Weed decreased. Morata was the choice place for beginners ever since things about it started being broadcasted. Information about various famous places in Morata such as Painter’s Hill was broadcasted.

They busily started settling down in Morata. Weed watched them go with warm eyes.

“That is two more people I can get taxes from.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Vent Castle merchant Gamong!

“I’ve heard a lot of rumours. You have brought the precious olives! There really are a lot of people looking for it these days. Of course a fair price will be struck.”

– Large scale profit has been gained. Fame has increased by 126.

– You have succeeded in a series of transactions and your Accounting skill proficiency has risen to Intermediate level 2.

You can gain a higher price when buying and selling goods.

The ability to trick naive buyers has been gained.

– You have acquired trade experience.

“Hehehe, thank you very much.”

She sold all her goods from Morata at Vent Castle. Her skill proficiency quickly increased while the amount of transportation reached 12 carriages.

“I heard that the merchant Gamong is building a lot of wealth these days.”

“Gamong’s commerce ability is great. Her mindset of helping people while gaining a profit…. It is a fine merchant attitude.”

“Do you want to learn about trading? Then it would be good for you to learn from merchant Gamong. She can sell goods obtained from Morata at an expensive price.”

The merchant users needed to be sensitive to rumours. Beginners would submit to danger and travel to further places just for an extra 4 coppers added to the price of olives.

Buying cheap and selling for an expensive price! When the quantity was enough to fill one carriage, the price difference added up to a large amount. If they delivered regularly and gained large profit then their fame would rise. A merchant’s fame was very important in regards to quest success rates and compensation.

“Who is Gamong?”

“Is she the best merchant for selling grocery supplies from Morata?”

Many merchant users wanted to meet Gamong. Novice merchants had no capital when first handling food! Morata’s agricultural products were high quality so they were good for growing in the beginning stages. With the dignity of a proud city, Morata traded to various places.

“Mister, I’ve arrived.”

“It is dawn so you’ve come early today.”

“Yes. So that the items will be fresh. Today I have twelve carriages full of goods.”

“I’ll only buy fresh goods from merchant Gamong. The price is also a bit cheaper than yesterday. What else is necessary?”

“Do you have any iron pieces?”

“There isn’t a large volume… But if it is merchant Gamong then I have to accept!”

The novice merchants who heard the conversation between Gamong and the customer were shocked. If other people spoke then there would be no interest in trading.

– Maybe I’ll take something for a fair price. If you don’t want to sell it then take it to the road.

– You want to reduce the price of something? I won’t sell so look elsewhere.

Yet they praised merchant Gamong!

“Excuse me, are you possibly a merchant from the Central Continent?”

A beginner merchant carrying japtem in his bag gathered up the courage to ask.

“Nope. I started in Morata. I am part of the Toadstool group in the Grass Porridge Cult.”

“Ah… Then how were you able to become so famous?”

There was a rule among the merchants in the Central Continent. Never ask for someone else’s trade routes. They respected knowledge but didn’t share it with anyone else. Because a merchant was an occupation that required going around to build connections and trade. Gamong differed in this area from other people.

“I mainly trade in Vent Castle.”

“Vent Castle….”

“Ah! Vent Castle that nobody can enter! I’ve seen it on the bulletin boards. You really went there to trade?”

“Yes!”

Gamong informed the beginner merchants of a method.

“I can introduce you to Vent Castle. They are still lacking many groceries. Will you buy some and come with me to Vent Castle?”

“Thank you very much.”

“I’ll never forget this.”

Most beginner merchants focused on scraping together japtem and trading to the distant Central Continent. However over 100 merchants entered Vent Castle.

“Gamong introduced you so you can enter.”

“If Gamong recommends you then I can trust you and begin trading.”

“This is really fresh milk. I’ve been looking for this. I’ll like to buy it before it become popular so do you have anymore? I am willing to pay 17 copper for one bottle!”

The novice merchants scored a big profit in Vent Castle. Even if the among an individual bough wasn’t a lot, they still gained more than they spent so it was a large victory for them. Since then a sincere trade route operated between Morata and Vent Castle.

“Many people are entering these days and it is possible to know the taste of beer. I’m lacking many things these days so should I go trade?” I should be able to gain a little bit.”

“I’ll have it tomorrow!”

Merchants started to believe it was possible to succeed in the north and began moving there with their transportation carriages. The Arpen Kingdom had expanded so trade also developed with other villages.

“Did you stop by Ekwinok?”

“No. I sold all my goods in Armang village.”

“I don’t have anything left either… I have to return to Morata quickly. All the dungeon supplies in Yusellin village have been consumed so they are having a tough time!”

The novice merchants carried the necessary goods and energetically went around the north. Warriors and knights weren’t the only ones relevant to a kingdom. The activities of the merchants helped in fattening the kingdom. Village development, birth rate, technology, culture, economy, food production etc. all grew thanks to the sweaty efforts of the merchants. The merchants formed a trade bridge from Morata to the entire north.

Gamong didn’t have the monopoly any longer so she gave up a lot of wealth. Vent Castle was missing many goods but other merchants bought them so it was difficult to sell at an expensive price.

“Hehehe, it is still very good that Vent Castle is developing.”

Gamong believed that the merchants could live once the entire north developed. If Arpen Kingdom expanded and developed then the merchants would become wealthier. Gamong would drink toadstool porridge while talking to other merchants about her intentions.

“Gamong-nim’s idea is correct. I’ll try harder. Kuuuk.”

“Tokkung-nim, are you okay?”

“I have 870 health left… I didn’t die.”

“If it is like this then I should seize more spoons.”

The merchants sold quality products and also spread Morata’s culture and politics around the north.

“Ibellin Castle hasn’t accepted anyone yet. Did Gamong-nim succeed?”

“Not yet. But things will be sold there eventually. Morata’s goods are high quality so the odds are in my favour!”

Merchants risked their lives and property while challenging the north. Naturally Arpen Kingdom’s influence and economic power expanded together with them.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Dark Gamer branch in Morata.

They frequently gathered at a pub in Bull Square. Many tourists and users had flocked to Morata. There were also many places to hunt in the north so the Dark Gamers were active in this area.

“This city is good because the prices are really cheap.”

“That’s because the taxes are low.”

“The disadvantage is that the compensation for escort quests is low.”

“Yet this is still a good place for everything. It is truly wonderful.”

Participation in war or dangerous things like escorting through dungeons was a source of income for the Dark Gamers. Morata was peaceful so they got less money from the requests than in other places.

That’s why the Dark Gamers were hermit types or those who wished for adventures to grow. This place had an active market, artwork, squares, cathedral, a large library, the Research Tower, Hestia’s Forge and the Garden of the Gods so it had the best infrastructure. Taxes were low and there were no fees for dungeons or hunting grounds.

That’s why many high level users threw away their positions to come to the distant north. The completed Grand Buildings and Garden of the Gods meant that mid-level users could easily grow. It was to the extent that a small village made of migrants from the Central Continent formed in a matter of days. The relatively high level users significantly expanded the population, causing a higher tax income and quicker development.

The Dark Gamer branch set up in Morata thrived after just one week.

On the second floor of the pub.

The Dark Gamers were holding an important meeting.

“I heard that the power of the Hermes Guild is rapidly expanding from people who participated in the war on the Central Continent.”

“They are intensively recruiting mercenaries and Dark Gamers so it is clear they are preparing for a war.”

The Dark Gamers were spread across the entire continent. News about the continent’s affairs was learnt through them.

The Hermes Guild, Cloud Guild, Lion Star, Roam Guild and Black Sword Mercenaries. They were the prestigious guilds that divided and ruled the land on the continent.

“The Hermes Guild secretly interfered in the affairs of the Tullen Kingdom.”

“The expansion is very quick and dangerous.”

If they added the Tullen Kingdom to Haven and Kallamore then the Hermes Guild would become even bigger.

“What is the power of the other guilds compared to the Hermes Guild?”

“It’s hard to guess but the Hermes Guild should be two or three times stronger than the others. The other guilds are a problem but the Hermes Guild is the biggest threat.”

The Dark Gamers didn’t want one power to control the Versailles Continent. They didn’t wish for incessant turmoil and war. They wanted a continent overflowing with freedom and the spirit of adventures.

“Once the winner on the Central Continent is decided, they will expand to other places. It is only a matter of time until they reach the north. The places where we can live from now on will become increasingly less.”

The Dark Gamers sensed the impending crisis. They couldn’t let go of their profits on the continent.

“But what we can do?”

The circumstances were different for each Dark Gamer but profit was their priority. Even if they had strong individual ability, it would be difficult to deal with a guild capable of taking over the Central Continent.

“We do things that can be done. Think about why we’re in Morata.”

“It is easy, free and good for everyone.

“Whoever controls the Central Continent will fight against this Arpen Kingdom later on.”

“That is certain but the Arpen Kingdom is incapable.”

The Dark Gamers assessed that the Arpen Kingdom had a high development possibility. There were many beginners and migrants from the Central Continent. The development speed was wonderful but its power can’t oppose the military might of the guilds from the Central Continent.

“The king’s military is poor. He hasn’t promoted the kingdom or ruled over the territory that well.”

“I heard news that Vargo Fortress is starting mine development.”

“Can’t we join the military?”

If the Dark Gamers joined Arpen Kingdom’s military then there was no doubt that there would be an enormous power boost. But they were individuals who acted for profit so they weren’t suited for obeying the commands of others or leading on the battlefield.

“We do things that can be done. Everyone should’ve been in the library.”

“Of course we’ve gone. That place is useful to investigate quests.”

“Many people come to Arpen Kingdom just for its large libraries.”

“There are many requests piled up there.”

“It is like you said. I was surprised to see it.”

Beginners and users who received quests while talking to the residents or hunting would register it at the library. The unsolved quests were stacked and ranked from lowest to highest difficulty. Morata had many beginners so it was mainly quests with low difficult but there were requests with various restrictions and high difficulty.

“We should attack those quests aggressively. It will also help the Arpen Kingdom.”

“That is a good idea.”

The Dark Gamers decided to collect profit from quests and this would also benefit the Arpen Kingdom.

Pioneering, subduing monsters, treasure hunt, discoveries etc. The completion of these quests would be useful to the Arpen Kingdom in various ways.

“Will this power be enough for the Arpen Kingdom?”

“It will count.”

“If we start to move then other Dark Gamers will as well.”

“I’ve posted about the quests obtained from the library and a lot of people have joined.”

The Dark Gamers started playing a strong role in the background of Arpen Kingdom. The Morata branch informed the Dark Gamers of their decision through their bulletin boards. They garnered the sympathy of the Dark Gamers playing an active role in the central, east, south and west continents.

Traditionally their policy stated that they wouldn’t fight directly against any guilds or kingdoms. But if they secretly supported the Arpen Kingdom then it wouldn’t harm them.

“The Arpen Kingdom… How fascinating.”

“I knew Weed from his time in Continent of Magic. He always did everything alone. Now it will be okay if we go hunting or adventuring around Morata.”

The Dark Gamers flocked to Arpen Kingdom.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The capital of the Lasalle Kingdom surrendered to the Hermes Guild after two days. It was a situation where everyone couldn’t help looking up to the military power of the Hermes Guild.

– They will pay attention to managing the domestic affairs of the Lasalle Kingdom for now.

– The Hermes Guild needs to consolidate our power in Lasalle before people ally against them.

However the Hermes Guild’s next move was contrary to their expectations. They arrived at the border of the Britten Alliance Kingdom 10 days after occupying Lasalle Kingdom.

“Show them the dignity of the great Haven Empire.

“The Hermes Guild is unbeatable.”

Thousands of knights. And the military troops surpassed 550,000 people. The knights gripped their swords all at once.

“Beat the drums to signal the attack!”

A violent assault with the sound of drums.

A clash with the prestigious Cloud Guild that controlled the Britten Alliance Kingdom was inevitable. This was the biggest war that would occur on the continent.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: New Secret Sculpting Technique

Weed had finished his 16th Master Quest. This was the last request and the only thing left was to form a master skill and be recognized.

“I’ve done a lot of work in the meantime.”

He remembered all the quests he had suffered through.

“Raising my sculpting proficiency while doing the master quests was also tough.”

After going through countless hardships, he was close to becoming the first Class Master on the continent but he wasn’t happy about it. While Weed went through so much effort for the quests, Bardray was experiencing great success.

The Hermes Guild had gained the impetus and was invading the Britten Alliance Kingdom after Lasalle Kingdom. Weed had frequented many cities while adventuring through the Britten Alliance Kingdom. Many famous cities with commercial freedom and adventures were developed on the continent.

“If the Hermes Guild expands to the Britten Alliance Kingdom then their tax income will increase tremendously.”

If the Britten Alliance Kingdom fell to the Hermes Guild then the area where he couldn’t escape their influence would increase even further. The hero of the Arpen Empire Bahamorg was now Weed’s subordinate but his happiness decreased after hearing the news.

“Anyway, I now have Bahamorg so I need to make him work completely.”

Weed met with the Ellyons in order to complete the quest.

“I brought the barbarian hero here directly.”

Even though a long time had passed, Bahamorg and the Ellyons recognized each other with just one glance.

– Bahamorg!

“You seem to be doing well.”

– Yes. I was worried… Thank goodness you’re safe.

“I gained a new life from this person who followed the Arpen Emperor’s sculpting.”

– That’s right. I’m happy that I could meet you.

Ddiring!

– Hero Bahamorg has been completed.

The hero Bahamorg of the Arpen Empire has been reborn and gained a new life.

The Ellyons will forever offer their loyalty to the sculptor Weed.

– Fame has increased by 1,380.

– The sculptural lifeform Bahamorg has become your subordinate.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– Leadership has increased by 5.

“Huhuhu.”

Weed warmly watched the encounter between the Ellyons and Bahamorg. He knew how useful something like blind obedience would be in the future.

“Choosing to use Sculpture Life Bestowal for this quest was really the correct judgement.”

He now had the Ellyon’s eternal loyalty because of Bahamorg. If he only returned without giving life to Bahamorg then Weed would’ve missed this opportunity.

‘If a person challenges the Sculpting Master Quest after me then they’ll probably get a different sculptural lifeform.’

There were many obscure sculptural lifeform races living on the continent without leaving a mark. This seemed to be the unknown legacy left behind by Emperor Geihar. The Arpen Empire had unified the continent so the sculptural lifeforms had scattered all over the place. Thus it would be possible to obtain a good sculptural lifeform when completing the Master Quest early. Of course, this would only happen once the culmination of labour reached the peak.

‘I really have to make them work to the fullest from now on. 24 hours a day, all day long. They would be forever working in my mines and fields. Bahamorg, I will meet you in a dungeon in the future.’

“Do you know the whereabouts of any other sculptural lifeform races?”

Weed asked the Ellyons. He wanted to obtain more subordinates from his Class Master Quest. If he had the knowledge then he would snatch them right away!

– We don’t know any others. Unfortunately everyone is scattered too far….

“Well, it is like that.”

It was a shame but he had to give up so he could complete the last process in the Sculpting Master Quest.

“Is there anything else I can do for the freedom and justice of art?”

Naturally his ultimate goal was to make money.

– Please go to a religious society. The next step will be told once you go to any religious society.

“I understand. I won’t play and will work diligently.”

Weed chose the Freya Church and moved there. In the meantime a close relationship had developed so he felt more comfortable with this religion. He visited the Freya Cathedral in the northern part of Morata. Weed walked up the stairs of the northern Cathedral.

Sculptures of knights and priests were lining both sides of the staircase. There were 48 stairs to the entrance of the Cathedral. The main entrance was decorated with white gold. Couples and users were relaxing in the sunlight or conversing with each other on the stairs.

“The cost for building something like this far exceeded the budget.”

The Cathedral was a Grand Building so it could be classified as a work of art. It also had value as a cultural heritage and played a role in spreading the culture of the Arpen Kingdom.

“I’d like to meet High Priest-nim.”

“Your Majesty has come. I understand. I will guide you.”

Weed received the invitation of the guards and priests and headed to the High Priest’s room. An annex for the High Priest had been placed in the Cathedral.

“The Freya Church welcomes His Majesty who has done a lot for the continent.

“You are praising me too much. I just wanted to spread the Freya Church a little bit.”

Weed and the High Priest exchanged small words. Anyway, it was good that he had influence with a NPC like this. Weed also became the king so the High Priest’s attitude was very polite. He also returned Helain’s Cup as a novice adventurer so he received different treatment from the Freya Church.

He didn’t need to kneel down to greet them. This was the power of fame! Weed’s achievements with each religion was so vast that he would receive the same treatment everywhere else.

“I’ve been waiting for Your Majesty to visit the Freya Church. There are many undisclosed villages in the north that are having trouble because of monsters. Some things only Your Majesty can do.”

Weed received a new request from the High Priest. Normally quests like this would expand the Arpen Kingdom’s territory or treasury but unfortunately this one had a different purpose.

“The reason I came to the Freya Church is to find my way as a sculptor.”

“It is like that. Some time ago, a god descended and passed a message to a priest. The Goddess will appear once sculpting becomes part of the continent. I know that Your Majesty is the only one who can accomplish this.”

“Kuheom.”

Weed became uncomfortable as he listened. He had a strange feeling that he needed to spend money or accept a difficult request.

“Your Majesty has given so many things to our Freya Church. I know how difficult it is to walk along the path of art. Now I will give Your Majesty this item that has been kept by our church.”

The High Priest took out a wooden box. Weed always trembled in moments like this, just like when a boss monster’s health dropped to the bottom.

‘I wonder what it is.’

His interest was completely focused on the wooden box. The first thing he thought of was a priceless treasure. He would be extremely happy if the wooden box was filled with treasures.

– You have acquired the box kept in the Freya Church.

An ordinary piece of wood was inside the box when Weed opened it. Energy flowed from the pattern clearly carved in it. It was clearly made with the best wooden material. A faint but warm and comforting mysterious power could be felt from the wood.

“What is this?”

“Weed has already left a lot of artwork on the continent. If your work is shown then everyone would admire it. Goddess Freya has personally given Weed-nim her blessings as you walk along the path of a sculptor.”

Ddiring!

– Sculpting a New Miracle

There is no one who doesn’t know about Sculptor Weed. Weed has succeeded in myriad heroic adventures and became famous for his sculpting. Sculpting can be used to accomplish a miracle.

Freya has given you the power to create a new secret sculpting technique. It is like giving life to a sculpture already acquired.

This will lead to the last step in the Sculpting Master Quest.

Level of Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Quest Restrictions: Level 9 Advanced Sculpting

– A secret sculpting technique can be created through this quest.

The new technique will depend on the sculpture produced.

It was a quest but the compensation would be beyond anything he got before. A new secret technique would be established due to the Class Master Quest.

‘It is somewhat expected but….’

Zahab, Geihar Von Arpen, Daycram, Belsos and Darone. Each Sculpting Master had created their own technique. Weed was now able to reach such heights by himself. It felt like he was a true Master leaving footsteps behind. Weed went to a corner of the room that people hardly used. A deep emotion he never felt since starting Royal Road now rose inside him.

“In the meantime, it has become really serious. I will be reborn as a sculptor. Inspect!”

– Wood Block: Durability 1/1

No scratches on the piece of wood.

Freya has imbued it with divine power and you can create a new technique from it.

“There are many techniques that I want to make. A sculpture that can ruin the continent? No. I have invested too much money in the Arpen Kingdom to do that. A sculpture to make the value of land soar? It would be nice if I could turn wood into good or stones into jewels.”

Weed was engrossed in his serious worries.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Tailor Drago.

He challenged his Class Master Quest and was required to sew 100,000 doll eyes.

“Huhuhuk!”

It was to the extent that it felt like he was surrounded by eyes. But he didn’t give up and succeeded at last.

“Now I have to distribute the dolls to the children.”

Drago went out onto Morata’s streets and gave the dolls to children.

“Thank you very much. Mister.”

– Fame has increased by 1.

He felt a complicated feeling every time he parted with a doll. Still, the sight of the children relieved a little of his mental fatigue.

“I’m thankful you gave such a present to my child, Tailor-nim.”

A tailor giving dolls as presents. Morata’s children and their parents believed that he was a good man.  Good people could receive more commissions. But doubt could have an adverse effect.

– 100,000 Dolls’ Eyes has been completed.

The children all rejoiced in getting a doll.  They were able to change between playing with a toy or a ball.

“Huhu, I finally finished.”

He met with the instructor for the next part in the Tailor’s Master Quest.

“You’ve done a good job. Thank you. Next….”

Drago swallowed his saliva. Broadcasts often showed other people doing wonderful adventures for their Master Quest. He hoped for a request that wasn’t too hard.

“Next, I request that you stitch buttons.”

“Kehek!”

“I would appreciate it if you sew 100,000 buttons onto clothes and distribute it in the shanty town.”

Drago fell into despair. He blamed the world for giving him such an ordeal.

But there was someone else who experienced similar circumstances when challenging the Class Master Quest. A childlike feeling still hadn’t disappeared from the man’s face. In the past, Weed had met a boy growing food ingredients when participating in the punitive force to Baran.

He travelled around the continent studying delicious dishes and acquiring the recipes of different regions. His dishes were enough to earn a job as a royal cook but he roamed the continent instead.

“There are limits to how many dishes can develop if I stay in one place.”

If he met a monster when travelling then he would run away. The cook Elkukun was popular on the continent. Rumours of the dishes he created spread. He then came to Morata to avoid the war on the Central Continent.

“Delicious food can develop in a peaceful place with artwork. I have to make the best dish that everyone can’t resist.”

Elkukun challenged the Cooking Master Quest! And he shed garlic tears for 3 weeks.

Combat professions only needed to fight and it was either victory or defeat. Production or art professions also depended on success or failure. A lot of effort was required for the production or art professions in order to fail or succeed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Despite having Sword-Cloning and Radiant Sword, the Geomchis didn’t forget about their basic Sword Mastery.

“Weed said. It is easy if he follows the texture when carving a sculpture…..”

It was sufficient if they continuously struck the weak point while hunting. But the Geomchis were in a never ending battle to develop new sword techniques. That’s why they always fought against intimidating or strong monsters. The instructors and practitioners really felt a thrill when facing monsters that could kill them. The dungeons near Vargo Fortress had already been explored so they wanted to test the limits of their sword.

“The texture… It doesn’t apply to monsters or living people. But it is easy in regards to a tree or rock.”

The Geomchis didn’t worry about the difficulty. This was training for the instructors and practitioners.

“It is difficult to cut the texture of things.”

Geomchi2 and Geomchi3 immediately started thinking. They realized something when watching Weed live his life. It wasn’t flattery but they realized that their strong bodies were an inconvenience.

“Our training has been lacking, Teacher-nim!”

“I will learn train my body to cut along the texture and report back. Teacher-nim!”

The instructors and students started to cut rocks. It was a mixture of hard and soft so controlling their power was needed to cut it accordingly. The right amount of power would reveal a smooth cut along the texture. The sword experts naturally realized it when practicing with trees.

Royal Road had skills and stats so they could exert a significantly lower power than in reality. Sometimes the trees or rocks would shatter and break. This was one of the fun parts about raising their level! If their characters grew then they could feel like Superman.

If a swordsman or warrior wore thick armour then they could move with a larger force. If agility was raised then they could match the speed of a horse when running!

Despite the failure rate, a magician would have their desires come true when succeeding in a wide area magic against a mob of monsters. It was why flying or magic items were sold for such an expensive price.

The physical abilities of the students was second to none so they could break the trees with just a light cut. If a tree didn’t break in Royal Road then the person was a beginner. Despite being level 200, it wasn’t easy to cut along the texture.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa!

“It doesn’t seem to be like this.”

He couldn’t control his strength and the rock in front of Geomchi300 was broken.

Kwaaaang!

Geomchi500 struck at a large rock with his sword.

“The durability of my sword keeps on falling. Fuu.”

They searched their body for a response. They needed to somehow resolve this in order to become stronger. The instructors and students wanted to easily break a rock using a small amount of force.

“Ah, I did it!”

Geomchi2 succeeded first.

“Sahyung, how did you do it?”

“Your weight is connected to your centre then attack with suitable power and speed. If you attack one spot then won’t you cut it precisely? It is difficult to explain in words but there will be a moment when you will experience it too.”

“I’ll work hard. Sahyung.”

Afterwards Geomchi3 and Geomchi4 succeeded as well. After countless effort and attempts, they finally learnt the way to cut the rock correctly!

“Kyahaha, this is exciting.”

“This really relieves my stress, Sahyung!”

The students smashed the rocks and passed. There were consecutive sounds of rocks breaking! A feeling of delight and pleasure could be felt when swinging the sword and smashing the surrounding rock. If they found the right texture then they could break a rock 10 times large while using a relatively small amount of force.

Ddiring!

– You have acquired the Rock Destruction technique.

This technique can be utilized to break a strong object.

– The skill proficiency of Weapons Mastery has improved.

– Stats related to combat ability and martial arts has increased by 2.

The only thing they thought about all day long was smashing the rocks.

‘It is no use separate like this. Because there are no textures in a shield or armour.’

‘Even if there is a texture, it will be very small and difficult to distinguish in battle.’

‘Ah, how fascinating…..’

A free life! Nothing learnt was useless. But there was no point is breaking a large rock if it couldn’t be used in battle. Geomchi3 thought deeply about the Rock Destruction technique.

‘Hrmm, there must be a way to utilize it somehow. It wouldn’t be possible for humanoid monsters. Then if we meet something big like the Bone Dragon….!’

The Bone Dragon had great defensive power so this would be very useful in weakening it. It would be very dangerous since it required a close range but they had to make an attempt in order to become strong. They practiced using the Rock Destruction technique against a real monster.

Grrrrr!

“So weak….”

Kaeng!

“It was very strong this time.”

It was difficult to find a useful monster. They found that the best hunting method was to aim at the vital spot continuously. In fact, at higher levels most users relied on skill. Even if their Sword Mastery skill was high, an attack skill was stronger than the basic skill despite consuming mana. However the skill wouldn’t allow adjustment of power.

Of course, a combination of strong and weak skills would be used depending on the situation. But few people would deliberately search for the weak point and keep on attacking it. It the attack wasn’t possible then it would become a one-sided beating. But the Geomchis were tenacious and kept on trying. Even against a monster of the same level, their health, resilience, skills and equipment were completely different. It was impossible to quantify. Even if they checked the monster with magic, the details of the situation wouldn’t appear. The only way to know was to fight directly.

The monster’s resistance would disappear if attacked with the correct power, mana and speed.

– Your attack has succeeded in penetrating the monster’s defense.

A monster’s defense power either depended on armour or hard skin. High ranking monsters possessed skin stronger than steel. But if they succeeded in the attack then it ignored basic defense!

Ddiring!

– The continuous attacks were successful.

The monster was cut!

– The skill proficiency of Weapons Mastery has increased rapidly.

“Kyah!”

A high attack inevitably emerged. And the hands were the basis of all sports and martial arts.

“Exhilarating.”

Interest sprang up as they fought against monsters. Even if they attacked a vital spot, the monster’s defense couldn’t be ignored so they searched for the perfect texture. Their entire strength and damage exploded.

Weed’s Sculpting Blade was capable of ignoring the physical defense of the opposite party. But the mana loss was very intense so the direct striking power itself was weak. Even if Sculpting Blade attacked two or three times, the attack power meant it was weaker than a normal sword.

“Kuoooooh!”

Once the weak point was found, the monsters retreated and fell into a state of fear. If they succeeded in continuous attacks then they would overwhelm the monsters. Their aggressive attacks meant their Weapons Mastery climbed freely without wasting a lot of mana.

“This is weird. It is to the extent that I don’t have to intentionally look for it. If I see a gap then I can control my mana and power in order to fight the monster.”

The students mastered the attack under the threat of death.

“Um, is that so.”

“But this is a really difficult sword technique, Sahyung. It is difficult to make the body move even if my head is telling it to.”

It was hard to successful complete the technique 100 times. However their bodies slowly grasped the abilities of the monsters over time. If they knew the spot beforehand then they could make preparations to attack. Naturally the monsters didn’t just sit down politely to receive it. High level monsters had various skills to resist. The body might understand but it was difficult to put into action.

“Teacher-nim, I’ve found the texture part.”

Geomchi2 reported it to Geomchi. Then Geomchi suddenly received a whisper from a female shaman. They had met on the edge of the Yurokina Mountains. He had lived his whole life as a single man but now he received a final hope to meet a woman.

– Did you come yesterday? Many days have passed since you promised to come.

– I’m sorry. My work caused some delay…. I’ll return soon.

– Where are you now? Can you tell me?

Geomchi found it difficult to answer. It wasn’t that he disliked the idea of her coming to Vargo Fortress so that they could hunt together. But he wanted to be calm and elegant in front of her so he couldn’t nag anyone.

‘Well we did hunt together in the Yurokina Mountains.’

He decided to answer honestly. A women usually wouldn’t notice if the time of suffering was short. Zephyr also gave advice that it was better to answer honestly. Or he would be buried in a grave once caught.

– You probably don’t know it but right now I’m at a fortress located in the north…..

– The Arpen Kingdom?

– That’s right. Tomorrow I will head to the Yurokina Mountains.

The female shaman’s voice wasn’t angry. It was actually filled with curiosity.

– Why are you in such a distant place?

– I’m teaching some children in a place called Morata. And one of my students is the king here….

– Weed the God of War?

– Yes.

– Kyaah! It is really the great Weed-nim? Weed-nim… Weed-nim is really your student?

Weed was also popular with women in their 30s! Geomchi was jealous but wise enough to take advantage of Weed’s celebrity status.

– It is almost like I raised him. Because I taught him how to use the sword.

– If I go Morata will I get to see Weed-nim?

– Just follow me and we can meet. You don’t have to do anything.

– Then I will head to Morata with my younger sister and niece. Thank you. And love….you.

– Me too.

She decided to take a passenger ship towards the north. Geomchi who had handled a big crisis and didn’t have to head to the Yurokina Mountains looked manly as he held his sword and said.

“Hmm, tell me where it is.”

“It is different for every monster. We have to attack the part depending on the monster’s health, defense and skills. This requires exact strength, speed and mana.”

Usually most users had no idea about hitting properly. It was common sense that hitting harder would cause more damage. That’s why most people chose an elaborate attack. By accurately attacking along the texture at the monster’s weak point, it was possible to bypass the monster’s health and defense.

“This is fascinating. I was just becoming bored with fighting.”

Geomchi immediately applied it to the monster. The power and speed had to be different when considering the defense and abilities of the monsters. He finally managed to succeed after hunting the seventh monster.

Kuweeek!

The monster suffered from just one cut. It was thrown into chaos from the continuous attacks at its vital spots. It was an attack that completely ignored the opponent’s defense!

“It seems surprisingly simple.”

Geomchi tested the technique while dealing with the monster. He understood the special nature of a monster’s body. Geomchi fought instinctively like a calculator.

Kuwawak!

He even used strong monsters as his partner.

Kwaaek!

He also found the texture when dealing with weak monsters.

“This is cutting along the grain.”

He avoided a weak monster and lightly wielded his sword.

Suksak!

It showed the greatest effect for a minimal expenditure of energy. This was the type of sword mastery that came from swinging, stabbing and cutting with a sword tens of thousands of times. The core part of mastering a sword was power, speed and accuracy. They could double the attack power in a fight. This technique would be hard in a confusing fight and could only be used during a one on one battle. It was the best technique to show off basic swordplay.

Geomchi was able to find the texture and cut the monster with his sword straight away. Countless bodies fell to the ground like the land was being cultivated! Geomchi resolutely attacked and succeeded in five consecutive hits. Despite the monster’s resilience, it soon staggered and collapsed.

“This is a pretty difficult sword technique. It won’t be easy during a difficult and urgent battle.”

Ddiring!

– A new sword technique has been produced.

It is possible to name the sword technique.

You possess the high achievement of producing the first sword technique, causing the skill proficiency to start at Intermediate Level 2.

– The skill proficiency of Weapons Mastery has improved.

– Fame has increased by 3,196 due to the wonderful swordplay.

Geomchi received an unexpected result after hunting monsters in a row.

“I’ll call it Texture Sword Technique.”

Geomchi had no interest so his naming sense was exactly like his student Weed.

“Now I have to teach my students this sword technique.”

It was difficult and demanding but a sword technique that wasn’t inferior was produced.

Chapter 2: Bahamorg’s Power

“Ah, art is art. I need to earn money.”

It really was difficult trying to devise a secret sculpting technique.

“I need something that makes it easy to earn money during a hunt as well as be useful during a quest.”

The reason was his endless greed!

“A sculpture can’t be reversed once it is created….”

It was like deciding between jajangmyeong (black bean noodles) or jjampong (spicy seafood stew) when asked what food he would want to eat forever. Of course, a skill with deep artistry would be produced.

He thought regretfully about the standards of the sculpture he created so far. It was a sculpture so there was restrictions places on the subject and construction. A painting could draw the sky and the ocean but a sculpture couldn’t do that. A picture just needed to be elegantly painted while every part of the sculpture needed to be individually created.

They were both artists but one had the job of a manual labourer! Creating a skill that raised awareness about the lack of expression available to a sculptor would help the development of novice sculptors.

“If I do that then I will regret it forever. I will also grow old and die. The stress might shorten my life expectancy.”

It was an important decision so it became difficult the more he thought about it.

“I’ll think about it after raising my Sculpting skill. Anyway, I still have to master the skill in order to completely bring the Class Quest to an end.”

His choice was to suspend it for the moment! Weed sent a whisper to Pale.

– Where are you?

– I’m playing at Wyvern Square. Surka has come and we’re going to do a quest to collect colourful, patterned snake skin.

This was a quest popular with the high level users in Morata. If they caught a snake with very strong poison and brought the skin then it could be sold for an expensive price. It was a quest only given to trusted people so many users tried to raise their intimacy to receive it.

– I’m currently at Light Square so I will head there.

Weed spent some time clearing a simple quest with Pale’s party. Of course, his mind was still full of thoughts about making wealth from his secret sculpting technique.

“There is the cave of some thieves nearby. Those guys have gathered together some wealth. They should be quickly subdued… If you give me a bottle of sake then I will tell you their location.”

“There is no drink for you. Tell me where it is.”

“Your Majesty!”

He forcefully acquired the quests from Morata residents that gave good rewards.

“Here are the things you requested.”

“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. Looking after a lowly person like me….”

“Your words are too long. Quickly give me the money you promised.”

“I’m grateful for Your Majesty’s favour. Here, it is lacking but this is what I can give you.”

Weed was the king so he got 50% more than the average reward. It was to the extent that he could even take the cloaks off a mother and child if he wanted.

“There is a reason why people desire power.”

The other spectators enviously watched Weed receive the quests.

“He isn’t receiving the quest because he is a trustworthy person. It is only because he is the king.”

“Even if he wasn’t the king, he is Weed-nim so it would be easy for him to receive the quests. He had fame and credibility.”

“Kya. I’d like to have a growth like that.”

Someone possessing fame and power would naturally receive the envy of others. Surka found it strange so she asked.

“Isn’t such simple quests boring for Weed-nim? We just need to go to the place, catch the monster and return.”

The party seemed to have the misleading idea that he was always going on big adventures. Weed liked the simple but tasty requests the most. Sometimes it was more efficiency to hunt quickly then to go to an excessively dangerous place.

“The last person who went there was an experienced adventurer. However they died so you need to prepare thoroughly…..”

“Give me this request.”

“Yes Your Majesty!”

He received a quest to clean out a dungeon in the Arpen Kingdom from the residents. Right now there were many high level users in the north. After the guilds that wielded power in the Central Continent collapsed, the general users would take their friends and colleagues to the north.

Now it was common to see level 300s recruiting at the squares and rarely some level 400s. It still wasn’t easy to see level 400s even in the Central Continent. But users with the best force were gathering in Morata, the Arpen Kingdom’s capital so sometimes it was possible to see them.

Beginners were jealous of those high level users. They showed off their wealth to the people living in shacks and the houses by the river.

Of course, Weed wasn’t worried about this large wealth gap. He preferred it because the tax income would increase aggressively.

Adventurers and explorers moved to the north but they still failed to clear all the dungeons.  There were places where party members were killed or it was too dangerous so they left in the middle. Weed accepted a quest for one of those places.

“Bahamorg.”

“You called.”

“You are the former protector of the Arpen Empire so your sword and shield skills must be incredible.”

“I can fight a little bit.”

“But while you were dead, many strong monsters came to the continent before you were revived with my great sacrifice. No matter what you say now… Hmm!”

“Kuooh, where is that location!”

Weed had a level 548 barbarian warrior to back him. Bahamorg naturally strode in front as they entered the dungeon. Maylon asked with concern.

“Can we leave it to him?”

“Of course. We’ll be fine. He was the guardian of the Arpen Empire.”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Kwa kwang, kwang, kwaaang!

“Intruders.”

“We can’t let them steal the treasure so trigger the traps!”

The dungeon’s trap and magic attacks hit Bahamorg’s body!

“Kurehah!”

Bahamorg cried out as he fought. It was a warrior’s cry that temporarily boosted the morale, health and defense of all allies.

Surka screamed with glee after confirming her state.

“Kkyak! Totally amazing! My health seems to have doubled.”

“I am a magician and it grew by 3 times.”

Romuna was a magician and her health rose dramatically so there was no need to mention Maylon, Zephyr who was a fisherman and Pale who was an archer. Weed had very low health yet in this battle it increased by 70,000.

‘For a warrior like this to vanish and die….’

A warrior was indispensable when hunting in a party for a reason. If they lacked ability when entering a dungeon then it could be really dangerous. Their defense might weaken because the durability of their armour fell or they couldn’t block the attacks with their shield. Furthermore, their vitality quickly reduced and a knight had the weakness of not being able to move quickly in a battle.

There were numerous advantages and disadvantages for the knight class but this weakness made many users uncomfortable. A knight could increase their speed on horseback or using charging skills but that was restricted in forests, dungeons and on mountains. The knight had various complicated aspects while a warrior was like an iron wall in battle. They had solid defense to fight monsters, could handle all types of weapons and were agile.

Bahamorg overwhelmed the monsters in front of him so much that it was like taking candy from a baby, taking school fees away, stealing milk to eat, snatching shoes or taking away toys.

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed, Maylon and Pale focused on ranged attacks. The skill level had increased so the previous sparrows had changed. Now an eagle opened its wings and attacked! It was fast like an arrow and displayed exquisite acrobatics when encountering an obstacle in the air. The range also increase so it was an effective and brilliant technique for hunting from a distance.

He wore the Goddess’ Knight, Baharan’s Bracelet and Seulroeo’s Ring for their mana recovery options so he didn’t need to worry about saving mana.

“If electricity and gas was like this then the cities would be really happy!”

If he stopped the magic or arrow attacks from the opponent then he could use Moonlight Sculpting Blade to counterattack. Radiant Sword was different from Moonlight Sculpting and used brilliant light to attack and defend at the same time from a distance.

Bahamorg was at the front and he also utilized the prominent abilities of his faithful subordinates, Van Hawk and Torido. It wasn’t even necessary to use the other sculptural lifeforms.

“Ummoooooo. I’m happy.”

“A surplus seems to be occurring in my life, gol gol gol!”

Goldman and Yellowy liked it at first but they soon missed Weed.

“I can do some work. Ummoooooo.”

“Master, I would like to go with you. Gol gol gol!”

The wyverns, Bingryong and Phoenix were subordinates that he mainly used to fight outside. However Goldman and Yellowy after went together with him so they were more attached.

“I would love to go with you too but… The meal expenses are valuable so I will call when you are needed.”

Weed abandoned his subordinates that he used cruelly in the past! He bad the news of the Hermes Guild occupying the Central  but Weed just continued doing quests with his colleagues. They exterminated every type of monster in the dungeons!

In addition to the area around Vargo Fortress, the Arpen Kingdom’s territory had expanded so it was worth exploring the dungeons.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The japtem from the monsters doesn’t lie!”

Weed gained 3 more levels to reach 418 and his sculpting skill proficiency increased by 3.2%. He repeated hunting and sculpting from morning to evening so this outcome was an accumulation of his hard work. The loot he obtained from the dungeons could be reworked with his blacksmith, sewing and sculpting skills. A shabby object passing through Weed’s hands could be sold for a high price!

“I need a priest.”

“The religious societies have been waiting for Weed-nim’s request. Priests will gladly follow you.”

Weed was hunting with Pale’s party and Seo-yoon so he also hired priests to help. He had a lot of contributions with the Freya Church but he wanted to save it for the future and not waste it on priests. He had formed many friendly relations and achievements with other religious societies after creating the Garden of the Gods.

In addition to the well-known Freya Church and Church of Lugh, there were many followers for the other sculptures. The religious societies followed and built a platform in Morata. Once the religious societies came to Morata, Weed’s achievements would rise periodically every month because he ruled the place. Therefore he didn’t need to worry about achievements and could continue mobilizing 1~2 priests.

There was the donations from users to the Garden of the Gods so the Freya Cathedral earned huge amounts of money! Weed didn’t hand out any money but the religious societies were able to rapidly grow due to these donations. Cathedrals sprang up and recruited knights.

Even if Morata’s military wasn’t mobilized, monsters wouldn’t dare come near the city thanks to the paladins. It was to the extent that beginners had to go to distant places to hunt dangerous animals and monsters. As Vargo Fortress subdued more monsters, their territory spread and the living area of the residents widened.

After the construction of the Grand Buildings and the Garden of the Gods, the taxes piled up and the Arpen Kingdom had abundant finances again. Apart from maintaining Morata and Vargo Fortress, it was also used to defend the granaries and mines away from the cities.

The scale of the army needed to triple in order to defend the expand territory from the invasion of monsters as well as defend the mines.

“Texture Sword Technique. Teacher-nim really is great.”

He also used the sword technique he learnt from Geomchi in battle.

Geomchi showed the secret to dealing with certain and their weaknesses according to the habit or skill of the monsters. Weed spend one day learning Texture Sword Technique and the skill was formed. It was a really difficult technique but it felt fantastic when it exploded.

– The skill proficiency of Sword Mastery has improved.

You have become slightly familiar with the  Texture Sword Technique.

He was able to hold out against any type of monster thanks to the Goddess’ Knight Armour and the priests’ healing. His party was fully equipped with the resources needed to hunt. Weed’s hunting efficiency had no choice but to be astonishing.

“Oh, this dungeon took a total of 3 hours and 40 minutes to break through.”

“That is 7 minutes faster than yesterday.”

“The record for other parties is 5 hours and 57 minutes but we…..”

“He truly is the master of hunting.”

Even Pale’s party couldn’t believe the hunting speed so it a video was posted on the bulletin boards then people would doubt it. Weed, Seo-yoon and Bahamorg swept through the dungeons with the help of a male priest.

Pale, Maylon, Romuna, Irene, Surka, Hwaryeong and Bellot also provided a combination of various professions. But if he was talking about necessary skills, Seo-yoon’s combat ability was always great. Weed’s hunting speed started to ramp up even more once she demonstrated the berserker’s abilities.

This crazy hunting allowed him to identify the skills, vitality and health of his colleagues. Once Weed had an excellent grasp on the situation then he could dominate the battlefield. The cooperation between his colleagues meant their speed and force increased.

“This is good after the loneliness of hunting.”

Weed was enjoying the sensation of growth.

“There should be some room for this as well.”

He carved sculptures during the break. He had many adventures in the meantime so his stats and skills grew much faster than users of a similar level. Usually once someone reached level 400, the experience when catching monsters wouldn’t stack up that well so the growth became slow. Weed had suffered in the beginning but he didn’t think it was that difficult to raise his level thanks to his sculptural lifeforms and skills.

“It is already difficult.”

Bardray and even Seo-yoon were competitors that had been running ahead of him for a long time. He had lived a long time by himself. Weed noticed that Seo-yoon fought aggressively to catch even one more monster.

The accumulated experience and loot overflowed. The fat stomach of the merchant Mapan wobbled as he made himself useful.

“A secret sculpting technique useful for hunting would be perfect.”

Weed was still postponing his decision about the secret sculpting technique. He already knew that the other secret sculpting techniques had limitations. Sculptural Life Bestowal caused his level and art stat to fall while Sculpting Blade wasn’t invincible.

Sculpting Blade had the enormous effect of ignoring the opponent’s damage but the attack damage wasn’t high and the limits were revealed when fighting Bardray.

Moonlight Sculpting Blade used light to attack and defend but the mana consumption was too serious. The mana consumption was three times higher than Sculpting Blade and he didn’t have the Goddess’ Knight Armour then. He couldn’t use it excessively when surrounded by enemies.

Sculpture Transformation used the features of other races but was based on his original ability while he could die with Great Disaster Nature Sculpting if he made the slightest mistake. The Elemental Creation Skill from King Belsos could create elementals but that was no use to Weed. He could make more money from selling items he acquired!

“One of the skills is defective.”

It would be good if he could develop a technique that he could take advantage of during a hunt. The number of times he could use the technique depended on the sculpture created. Weed really wanted to give birth to a skill he wouldn’t regret.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Oh Dong-min slept in for a long time on Sunday.

“Hahhh! The ice cream in the house is all wiped out. Are there any interesting television programmes?”

In Royal Road he was Pale who took pride in hitting 100 arrows in 100 arrows but in reality he was an ordinary college student.

He appeared on television during Weed’s adventures and was indirectly a celebrity as well. His phone started being active with called from old friends that he could barely remember anymore.

“Today I don’t have to go anywhere and can rest in my house. I can leisurely read the book .”

He had recently spent so much time hunting that he wanted one day to relax. Oh Dong-man sat on the couch reading a book and dozing off while his mother cut an apple for him.

“Was my son sleeping?”

“Ah… It was only for a short time.”

“What are you doing in the evening? Is there anything you would like to eat?”

“Mom I want pork spine soup.”

“Then I will visit the mart later. By the way Son, you’re not connecting today?”

“I’m going to rest at home.”

“Then can you buy Mom the merchant exclusive apron?”

“I’ll buy it next time.”

Oh Dong-man had to eat two boiled potatoes that night.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“You’re injured. Please be careful.”

Irene was carrying out charitable activities near Morata’s south gates. She treated the beginners injured while hunting deer and wolves!

“Wah, my health only has 200 health left yet it has been cured! Priest-nim, thank you.”

“No. That’s okay. If you get hurt then come again.”

The beginners praised her actions like she was an angel.

‘The south gate’s priestess.’

‘She has a gentle character.’

‘If I’m hurt then I should go to the woman in the green hat.’

Irene also gave blessings to the warriors. Treating people who came into the city was ideal for increasing the skill proficiency.

“Angelic.”

“I should marry someone like that as my wife…..”

A lot of men also showed interest in her. There was a reason why gentle women were popular through the generations. However Irene didn’t permit any of the men to approach.

“I’m sorry.”

“Perhaps if you don’t have a boyfriend…..”

“I don’t want to meet a man right now.”

“I see. If you change your mind later then look for Romomo.”

“Yes. I’ll do that.”

Irene intended to meet only one man in her life. Date one man and then marriage!

Sometimes Irene also had stress accumulate. Normally the priest profession was so boring that some would doze off in battle. When hunting at night, many priests could relax and even sleep for a brief moment. The priest class was long and boring because they only gave treatment. They could even go for walks with their cats or dogs.

A priest was necessary during hunting so they received preferential treatment but it was a class that required being able to withstand boredom. It was a class for someone with a relaxed, comfortable and quiet nature!

Yet Irene was extremely busy once the whirl of fighting started. Weed hunted roughly so his damage from monsters was higher.  He had the habit of moving away from Pale and the other members to more difficult places. Therefore Irene was breathless trying to support them.

“Ah, how painful.”

Irene laughed like an angel while giving treatment at the gate. She was waiting for Hwaryeong and Bellot. The method to relieve stress was shopping. Evening was the time to wander around Morata’s leather stores for discounts. They had the hobby of going to the night market at dawn in search of pretty accessories.

“A dedicated priest unit these days…..”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Cloud Guild controlled more than 90% of the Britten Alliance Kingdom. They had conquered a kingdom so their pride was very large. But after the Hermes Guild invaded, a huge gap was revealed as they were defeated.

“The death toll is 48,000. Fort Langbot has been taken.”

“What about the military fortress Yabollis?”

“It is surrounded by enemies.”

“But the defense power isn’t ordinary so it should be able to hold up for 3 months.”

“Although there are problems with supplies, the food amount is good enough. Meals will be supplied in the fortress.”

“What should we do?”

“We’re lacking in extra consumables like arrows, armour and weapons. We will run out after a few battles.”

The Cloud Guild was having a serious meeting in their conference room.

They hadn’t thought their power was that far behind the Hermes Guild. The Hermes Guild had superior in terms of fame and military power but they thought their overall power was similar. There were many strong principalities with a prosperous economy in the Britten Alliance Kingdom so they thought they could overcome the power gap.

They were proud because they managed to secure a kingdom every time they fought. But the power of the Hermes Guild was beyond what people expected. Their knights had a very high level and expensive equipment.

After the Kallamore Kingdom became incorporated into Haven, they had 100,000 commanders experienced in battle! The Cloud Guild had 50,000 commanders but they failed to respond properly. They couldn’t pass judgement quickly against the enemy and became overwhelmed.

In actual combat, there was such a large gap that it was an embarrassing defeat. The Cloud Guild was pushed by the quality of the commanders and knights.

“It isn’t necessary to go out and fight a short term competition.”

“If we endure for a little bit then it is possible to gather the army in order to counterattack. We also have to give more training to the soldiers who will fight in the war.”

They could use the siege time in order to hire mercenaries for the Britten Alliance Kingdom but the other cities would be vulnerable. The free cities don’t have high walls and their defences were fragile. To make matters worse, the military fortress didn’t have the proper supplies prepared. The Cloud Guild didn’t replenish the supplies every time they used it.

The Cloud Guild was a guild that grew up in the Britten Alliance Kingdom. They had never suffered a civil war between countries so there was no experience with a siege. The castle lords only posted archers and wizards on the walls to withstand a siege. But the weak walls wouldn’t be able to hold out against the Haven Kingdom’s army.

“If we stop Bardray then there should be some chances…..”

“How is the situation with the mercenary support? If they join the war then increase their pay.”

“Almost no users have come out. It is because they are afraid of repeated defeats against the Hermes Guild.”

Users in the Britten Alliance Kingdom could form mercenary contracts to fight with the Cloud Guild. Of course, the Cloud Guild didn’t have a good external image. But mercenaries received money so many users participated.

Despite the pay for the mercenaries tripling this time, the recruitment wasn’t going well due to the disadvantageous situation. It was because they would suffer more if they were repeatedly slain by the Hermes Guild.

“Even if it is expensive, shouldn’t we hire some Dark Gamers?”

“The Dark Gamers liaison office is closed and they declared that they’re not participating in the war.”

“If this continues then we’ll be defeated. We are becoming increasingly disadvantageous on all sides.”

“We have many troops that haven’t been sent yet. Let’s give them military training just in case.”

“The biggest problem right now is that we’re lacking in time and preparations. The enemy’s offensive is staggered in waves. It is possible to try a prolonged war with Fort Odin and Sisley but if these areas collapse then surrender is only a matter of time. We have to protect these areas. Collect our power and have a strong counterattack.”

The Haven Kingdom and the Britten Alliance Kingdom. But behind that was a war between the Hermes Guild and the Cloud Guild. There was a plains between the kingdoms so the users were worried but they also went there to see a cool battle.

Outwardly it seemed like the Cloud Guild was on a losing streak. But they were one of the prestigious guilds on the continent so there were hidden challenges up their sleeves. The Cloud Guild had suffered damage but only 10% of the Britten Alliance land had been taken away.

Only the borders had collapsed so the war was starting now.

Chapter 3: Seo-yoon’s Smile

Weed hunted until he gained 3 more levels.

It was impossible to concentrate on hunting thanks to the war on the Central Continent. In order to purchase seasoning and other goods, the Arpen Kingdom needed to expand but the territory had only reached the Yusellin village.

“Hermes Guild…..”

“The Cloud Guild also isn’t ordinary. They quickly organized a large army.”

Users and residents were talking about the war in the square. Weed was King of the Arpen Kingdom so there was a relation with the war.

“No. Don’t pay any regard to it. I will just need to take medicine for a headache if I think about it.”

It was a role that could cause chronic constipation! In modern times, the political arena was full of turmoil due to problems with corruption, crime and economics. A cool city man would survive on alcohol, coffee and headache medicine.

“I just need to think about eating and living well. Watch television and forget all the bad things. This world is full of thieves anyway.”

The war in the Central Continent would become a really big crisis soon. Whether the winner was the Haven Kingdom or the Britten Alliance Kingdom, the winners would lead to a big empire. The northern economy was currently developing so the timing was fortunate. But worrying about it wouldn’t settle the problem.

Weed stayed faithful to hunting and carving sculptures. Continuous dungeon hunting was boring and tiring so Pale’s party headed towards Morata.

“Hunting for 18 hours a day… Tsk tsk!”

They hunted for 18 hours out of 24 hours in reality. The time in Royal Road was 4 times that. After a few days, they started to lose the will to even look at monsters. This was a fast movement and high speed hunt so Weed’s colleagues took refuge in Morata.

He continued hunting to some degree with Bahamorg and Seo-yoon. The priests always became tired and fell down so he had to go to the city to exchange them. Weed carved in his spare time and succeeded in making fantastic sculptures.

Some sculptures could be used for later. Having a variety of experiences and travelling to many places was indispensable. He had travelled urgently through various parts of the continent.

“In the meantime I made too much. And now I need to do make a piece…..”

There was the best model nearby. The sun, sea, wind and clouds. Sometimes he would base it off the spectacular nature around him but that wasn’t necessary right now.

Weed was about to start sculpting when Seo-yoon sat near him. Weed spoke casually.

“Excuse me, can I carve a small sculpture?”

“Huh?”

“You will be the target.”

“……”

He felt like Seo-yoon would naturally decline. That’s because she wouldn’t even show her face to other people.  Furthermore, she had the habit of killing others mercilessly. But unexpectedly, Seo-yoon looked embarrassed and gave a small nod to agree.

“Hmm hmm, I’ll make it beautifully.”

Weed carved a sculpture with her as the model. His heart trembled for some reason as he looked at her face while carving. He thought Seo-yoon’s face was beautiful every time he saw it but it seemed to shine further today. He naturally became serious as he carved the sculpture. Weed carefully looked at Seo-yoon and felt both happy and ashamed.

“Excuse me, can you hold your sword?”

“So?”

He made various sculptures while changing her posture.

“You don’t have any other clothes? Armour is good but it would also be nice to look at casual wear.”

Time passed very quickly as sculptures of her were made. They were sculptures that restored health, mana and vitality. When carving the sculpture like that, the beauty of the sculpture easily came out.

A divine female beauty. It was a beauty that would make even Goddess Freya jealous. A sculpture with the golden ratio.

Fine pieces and Masterpieces emerged. He made so many sculptures of Seo-yoon but there was no expiry date on her beauty. It was a face he would never become bored of even if he saw it for the rest of his life.

“Um… There is no change in expression so every sculpture seems monotonous.”

Weed said while carving a sculpture of Seo-yoon. The atmosphere of each person would change depending on their expression or gesture. He wanted to make sculptures with various other forms. This was his desire as a man and a sculptor!

“Drink a little wine and make a sweet expression.”

Seo-yoon drank wine and smiled awkwardly. Trying to make a facial expression wasn’t going well. Weed thought about how to get the expression he wanted.

“Sweet seems difficult so let’s start with a peaceful expression. So… Being able to sleep after hunting. Make that expression.”

“……?”

Seo-yoon didn’t know what to do. If hunting finished then she was just tired and took a rest.

“You rest next to the fountain in the square.”

“……”

“No, I just lie back on Wy-3.”

“Ah!”

Then a peaceful expression emerged on Seo-yoon’s face. She felt the most peaceful when riding on Wy-3 through the cloud layer and basking in the sun. Weed left her expression on the sculpture.

“This time I’m going to make a joke about Silver Bird and Golden Bird.”

“A joke?”

“Choose a feather from Silver Bird…..”

“Isn’t that annoying?”

He couldn’t explain it in words so he summoned Silver Bird and Golden Bird. The two birds fought and play around while rubbing and biting at each other’s wings intimately. Seo-yoon unknowingly smiled happily.

‘Uh, pretty.’

Weed also left that scene on the sculpture. The time he spent with Seo-yoon passed really quickly. He used his powers of observation to make accurate and detailed sculptures. He completed the sculpture and showed it to Seo-yoon.

“How is it, is it okay?”

“…….”

Seo-yoon didn’t say anything but nodded. The person who made the sculpture was Weed so she felt good about it.

“This is expressed by you but… Can I have it?”

Weed’s words to Seo-yoon were even sweeter than the words of a main male character in a drama.

“Ye….s.”

She was happy despite being embarrassed. Weed was a little dim but now he seemed to have shown a bit of his heart. Weed smiled complacently.

‘That’s great.’

The Ice Beauty based on Seo-yoon was unearthed near Morata. Previously he was terrified of Seo-yoon and left it unattended after giving life to Bingryong. The users were extremely shocked when the Ice Beauty sculpture was unearthed.

“Ah… I heard a report but it is so beautiful that I’m trembling.”

“A face like this really can’t exist. Weed’s sculpting skill really soars in the sky if he can imagine this.”

“Huhuk, this really is a present for me who couldn’t get a girlfriend for 29 years.”

“I can’t possible leave Morata without seeing it one more time!”

The users felt extreme regret towards the Ice Beauty. It was to the extent that the Grass Porridge Cult classified it as the number 1 treasured sculpture in Morata. They liked Weed’s adventures of course but the users expected more from his sculptures.

– I would like to see more sculptures related to the Ice Beauty.

– This sculpture has completely taken my heart. Now I’m having dreams about the Ice Beauty.

– I went to adventure in other areas on horseback. And then returned on the next day. I want to see the Ice Beauty.

The users were truly frightening. It was more popular than other Magnum Opus pieces with fantastic options. Weed’s expression became glazed as he imagined what would happen if he exhibited the smiling Seo-yoon sculpture in the Art Centre.

‘There would be a daily crowd of people. The admission fee…..’

It was like ripping off visitors to inspect a house that would be sold only for the company to put up a plaque saying it wouldn’t be sold.

In the past Weed hadn’t been quite satisfied with the sculptures of Seo-yoon that he made. But now her eyes seemed warm like the morning sun. Seo-yoon’s facial expression didn’t have stiffness anymore so naturally Weed expressed it. No matter how good the other sculptor’s skill was, Weed was the only one who could make such precious sculptures.

‘I have to really consider the Arts Centre exhibition. Maybe it isn’t a good idea.’

Weed decided not to display Seo-yoon’s sculpture to make money in the short term.

‘I should wait and I might be able to get a valuable price later on.’

He didn’t have any qualms about postponing it. Weed hunted with Seo-yoon, Bahamorg, Van Hawk and Torido. It was like a family going to wipe out a dungeon!

“The most unpleasant thing for a noble vampire like me is to smell the sweat of a barbarian.”

Van Hawk was a loyal Dark Knight but Torido had a tendency to not listen to some words. Then Torido was caught and beaten by Bahamorg to make him behave.

Bahamorg really liked fighting. His nature itself meant that he was strong. After Weed gave him new life, he was weaker but even more enthusiastic about fighting. It was to the extent that Weed and Seo-yoon just had to follow behind Bahamorg. And he still didn’t completely believe in Weed yet.

“The only emperor I will follow is Geihar Von Arpen.”

Bahamorg didn’t want to show loyalty to Weed who was a warrior weaker than himself. He only went together with him as repayment for his new life. In addition, he had no interest in fighting.

“They are too weak.”

Weed and Seo-yoon were warriors gifted enough to face the dungeon boss alone. But Bahamorg had a serious expression after seeing Weed carve the sculpture of Seo-yoon.

Geihar Von Arpen.

Watching Weed made him remember the form of Emperor Geihar Von Arpen so he helped Weed gain levels and complete quests.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed had perfect concentration during the long hunt!

They received requests from the residents in the Arpen Kingdom to clear dungeons and caves. He listened closely when receiving requests from the residents.

“It isn’t necessary to worry about the future of the Arpen Kingdom. His Majesty is protecting us from the monsters.”

“This is the first time warriors have cleared the Holden Dungeon. I’m not surprised. Among them is our king, His Majesty! It is glorious.”

“The old man at the village entrance has been looking for their lost goods. Many people have tried but all failed. He finally found the goods for the old man. His Majesty King Weed is the one who accomplished it!”

Weed’s hunts and quests caused rumours among the residents. The dungeons were also unspoiled so quite a few treasures were kept there. In the past, monsters had plundered the Niflheim Empire so the riches were there for the first explorers to enjoy.

Weed’s sculpting proficiency slowly but steadily rose from advanced level 9.

After finishing his sculptures of Seo-yoon, the targets changed to Pale, Hwaryeong, Bellot, Irene and Romuna.

“There is no end to a women’s jealousy. When creating a sculpture, you need to praise even small and insignificant parts as pretty and charming.”

This was the philosophy of life that he naturally realized while living.

Bahamorg’s breakthrough power in battle wasn’t ordinary. Bahamorg’s slashing technology was enough for him to even break through a boss class monster. The barbarian warrior Bahamorg! He had a knack for catching the attention of monsters with special presences. Sometimes monsters would attack just because they looked at him and felt threatened.

“My resilience and perseverance is soaring.”

Weed’s level wasn’t a problem. His skills and stats needed to grow evenly if he didn’t want to run into a wall later.

“Bahamorg, I’m going to the front.  Don’t pay any regard to any monsters that attack me.”

“If that is what you want.”

Weed was attacked by a monster.

“The taste of hunting is good.”

His previously lukewarm feeling started heating up! Weed concentrated more on attack than defense. Before he didn’t have any priests so he had to be careful about his health dropping to the floor in battle with monsters. But now he attacked intensely and slit the belly.

Bahamorg acted like he was only interested in his own battle but he shouted to attract monsters when Weed was at risk. This made it possible for the priests to treat him.

And Seulroeo’s wedding ring! When his life was at stake, the ring could transfer health from his spouse. Of course, the wedding ring wouldn’t work against really strong monsters but it was good when hunting became slightly dangerous.

Weed could also actively use the skills of a berserker. In the past he didn’t fight this roughly because of Bahamorg. Weed originally liked battles like this.

He fought against the monsters desperately! This was to raise his stats and the proficiency of several skills.

“The King is great.”

The advantage of quests was that he could choose his rewards without needing a high intimacy. He was a person who explored the Jigolaths and defeated the Immortal Legion. But now he could meet many beginners while adventuring through the Arpen Kingdom.

There was a party of tense beginners walking on the plains. Weed gave them a warning.

“If you go forward then there is a group of starving hyenas. Approximately 32 metres from here.”

He didn’t say the exact number and Weed classified it by its leather, not the animal species. The hyena’s leather could only be sold for a cheap price and they ran away really quickly which is why it didn’t suit his tastes.

“Thank you. Would we be able to handle it?”

“If your level exceeds 65… They are in the early 60s.”

“Heok, not exactly….”

“I can understand just by looking at your equipment. One person is wearing chain armour and the others are wearing leather armour. Does the leather armour have an option to raise defense against a monster’s teeth?”

The party he surprised was made up of 5 people. The party also agree with his assessment.

“If you go carefully then it is possible to hunt them. Just aim well and pay attention.”

“Thank you very much. You kindly informed us about this.”

“No. Everyone should help each other when living.”

Weed had ample reason for this. If they died then taxes would reduce so it was better for them to survive.

All the sculpting while hunting raised his proficiency to 61.5%. His Handicraft skill also reached 63.7% of advanced level 9. Cooking was 99% intermediate level 9, Blacksmithing advanced level 1 and Sewing reached intermediate level 7.

Even apart from his combat skills, his production skill was top notch.

“Is it necessary to raise sculpting proficiency to create the secret technique….”

Weed still hadn’t decided despite all the hunting. He had a lot of greedy thoughts. His proficiency increased quickly from his sculptures of Seo-yoon so he needed to make a choice quickly. He needed a sculpting technique that would help with hunting.

While he was thinking about it, Weed realized that Seo-yoon hadn’t declined any of his requests.

‘There have been many times when I received health from the wedding ring.’

As a berserker she could catch more monsters than Weed. But she didn’t go ahead like Bahamorg. She watched and stayed still for a long time while Weed made the sculptures. Seo-yoon just watched his actions with bright eyes.

Weed was hoping for something so he asked her.

“I have a question.”

“……?”

“If I took a loan would you be my guarantor?”

“……”

This was a question that could definitely check her heart. In these days, you could tell the friends and brothers by whether they were willing to be guarantors.

‘She absolutely won’t accept.’

Seo-yoon nodded.

“You are willing to be a guarantor?”

“Yes. I can do that.”

“Um… Then what if I was in danger while hunting. Would you die instead of me?”

Seo-yoon nodded again. Her eyes answered like it was natural.

‘She also willingly died against Kubichya in the Jigolaths.’

Weed thought of an even greater sacrifice.

“What if I fall into a pyramid scheme?”

“I’ll buy you things.”

“If I need money for gambling?”

“I’ll give an account transfer.”

This was the ultimate form of affection in today’s society! Weed remembered an even more serious situation.

‘This one will be difficult to swallow.’

He paid attention to the answer that would emerge from her mouth.

“I’m in a lot of pain. I need a transplant… Would you give it?”

“……”

A liver transplant wasn’t a small operation. There was the transplant and recovery time required.

“I would.”

“A bone marrow transplantation?”

“I’ll give it to you.”

Weed now knew the meaning of Seo-yoon’s words.

“Although I won’t always be there, a home for Bingryong, the wyverns and Yellowy.

“……”

Chapter 4: Battle of Sisley Castle

While Weed was concentrating on hunting, time passed and the war between the Hermes Guild and Cloud Guild expanded.

It was a struggle that mobilized the full capacity of both guilds! The Hermes Guild contained the largest number of users and there were more high level users than the Cloud Guild. The soldiers of the Haven Kingdom were better trained than the Britten Alliance Kingdom and they had attacked violently in the early stages.

However many soldiers were needed to control an occupied area.

The current prosperity the Cloud Guild enjoyed wasn’t just due to luck. They hired powerful mercenaries and guilds into an alliance with them to counterattack!

The Hermes Guild recorded their first defeat and the war became increasingly more intense. Grain fields were trampled by cavalry and villages were reduced to ashes.

The Hermes Guild and Cloud Guild fought on a large and small scale every day for pieces of land. The military of both sides was going to gather at Sisley Castle, an important place for military affairs and traffic in the Britten Alliance Kingdom.

If the Hermes Guild managed to make it surrender then 3 free cities would become their property. The Cloud Guild needed to use everything in their power to maintain it. The Hermes Guild concentrated their troops here in order to make a decisive move. Victory or defeat could be decided by Sisley Castle so the broadcasting stations decided to do a live relay. It would decide the fate of the two kingdoms so the users of Royal Road had a lot of interest.

Weed also heard information about it from Pale’s party.

The balance of power on the Versailles Continent would change on this day.

“Shall we drink a beer in a Morata tavern and watch Weed-nim?”

Pale asked him that the other day.

“Let’s play together, yes?”

So far Weed had been busy in the dungeons while the Hermes Guild was waging their war. It wasn’t strange for him to spend a whole day at a dungeon.

Weed asked Pale.

“Is the one who won Sisley Castle likely to win the whole war?”

“Yes. Maylon says that the scale of this battle is too large for the side that loses to recover. If the Cloud Guild wins then they will recover their lost territory and can increase their influence in the Lasalle Kingdom.”

“If the Hermes Guild wins?”

“There is a high possibility that the Hermes Guild will win and then it will only be a matter of time until they eat the Britten Alliance Kingdom. That’s why the Cloud Guild has rallied all their troops. This is the key for victory so it is rather significant.”

A user would revive again one day after they died. But many of the high level users would lose a lot so they had a large fear of death. If a guild was defeated in a battle then they needed to psychologically recover in order to fight back.

Users could revive but the NPC troops would be wiped out. A lot of time and money was needed in order to purchase recruitment and training for wars. If the soldiers and knights died at the battle for Sisley Castle then it would be impossible to restore the damage short term.

Hwaryeong quietly showed her charm.

“Weed-nim, I’ll see you at the tavern. I’ll be bringing a fried chicken.”

Watching a crystal ball while having fried chicken and beer was the best feeling. People always gathered at taverns on days where important broadcasts about Royal Road were shown.

Weed shook his head.

“I don’t think the taverns are available.”

“Hyu……”

Hwaryeong was disappointed. She regretted not being able to get a good night’s sleep!

One of the pleasures of Royal Road was to watch a battle in a city like Morata. In particular, many people liked relieving stress by cursing or saying bad things about the Hermes Guild.

Weed had a different plan.

“Many people will be gathered in the vicinity of Sisley Castle… Let’s go there and sell roasted chicken and squid.”

“Really!”

Hwaryeong’s eyes flashed at his words.

The facial expressions of Pale, Surka, Zephyr, Romuna and Bellot also changed. It was better to see the battle from a close place than through a crystal ball. They could ride the wyverns but it was convenient to use Yurin’s Picture Teleportation skill.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Besides the beautiful Luka River, a battle was occurring at Sisley Castle.

The Hermes Guild marched with a surprisingly large number of 310,000 troops.

Sisley Castle was a core military hub of the Britten Alliance Kingdom so many war preparations revolved around it.

There were broad plains for fighting in front of Sisley Castle but the Cloud Guild had firmly closed the gates. They decided to wait for the support army from Bermer to arrive.  If the relief army arrived in the middle of the siege then it was possible to pincer attack the Hermes Guild.

“Selling peanuts.”

“I have squids. Merchant Yanson absolutely won’t lie about the quantity.”

“Cool drinks, wine and beer for sale! The quantity is limited so hurry.”

Spectators were on the hill overlooking Sisley Castle. This was a safe place to watch the war and they wouldn’t become involved if it spread to other areas of the Britten Alliance Kingdom. It was like people rushing to watch when a house caught on fire.

Weed’s competitors had also come to engage in business.

“There is still room for trading.”

Weed had prepared carriages full of squid, peanuts, popcorn, whole chicken, beer and alcohol. He received a delivery directly from Mapan in the Britten Alliance Kingdom. There were enough ingredients to fill three carriages!

It was possible for him to earn money and to raise his cooking skill proficiency.

“Now, look at this torn chicken leg. I won’t speak for a long time. 9 gold!”

This was an expensive strategy to differentiate himself from the surrounding people! He chose to sell delicious food at a more expensive price than other people in order to get a larger benefit. The high price would raise people’s expectations and curiosity to eat it.

“Where is this smell coming from?”

“It is being sold over there. Shall we buy it to try?”

Weed waited for the war while engaged in business. There was an explosive atmosphere inside Sisley Castle’s walls. It was an atmosphere like arrows could go flying at any time!

“Weed-nim.”

“We’ve arrived!”

Hwaryeong, Bellot and Surka also arrived. They had come to the area in advance and set a time to connect.

“Kyah… How interesting.”

“I think it is rare to see a battle like this.”

“Yes. I don’t know when the next time will come again.”

They tried to do some war sightseeing but Weed rallied them to help with his cooking.

“Well I would appreciate the help. Here is an apron.”

Weed had even prepared the correct number of aprons beforehand. It was often difficult for cooks to engage in business in front of the battlefield.

“Really delicious.”

“Mister, when will the chicken wings be ready?”

Guests continuously made a line in front of Weed.

“Chicken wings are now 11 gold.”

“Why did you increase the price?”

“It is selling well. If you don’t like it then go somewhere else!”

“Completely despicable.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

This was the face of a vicious merchant! He engaged in a brisk business as the war continued. There were many people who came to see the war between kingdoms so the high food price wasn’t a big problem.

Weed roasted fried chicken and recycled the oil. A procedure was needed because some customers were looking. He used the strategy of pouring another oil while quickly gathering the old oil!

Weed’s cooking skill was so high that everyone was too busy eating to notice his secret.

‘I will use it even if it is oil made last year.’

Pure animal lard. He was recycling it but there were no problems with his dishes.

Of course, his skill proficiency wouldn’t grow that much just making fried chicken. If Weed cooked for himself then he wouldn’t use the bad oil. While feeding families the minimum of good food, a restaurant business couldn’t worry about their conscience!

“Come come! This is lightly roasted chicken and is also good for your health. The ingredients will soon run out so please order quickly!”

Weed was engaged in business while the suitable place to see Sisley Castle was overflowing with spectators.

The Hermes Guild were oppressive in other areas but they were generous about battle sightseeing. It was a strategy to induce fear by allowing people to watch their army.

“How wonderful.”

“I never get tired of watching the Hermes Guild fight. They really have an extravagant military.”

“Ah, there is the giant Knight Boemong.”

Knight Boemong symbolized the armed forces of the Hermes Guild. He was a member of Bardray’s Royal Guards and his items indicated that he was over level 440. He was a barbarian so his body was superior to other knights. He was much bigger than other knights so he easily stood out in a suit of armour.

Weed sold water to customers while nodding.

“He definitely looks strong. His equipment is also the best. I should quietly dispose of him if I meet him in a back alley.”

The Hermes Guild split their power and advanced towards Sisley Castle from two directions. Bardray commanded the troops that would cross the Luka River to intercept the relief army from the Cloud Guild.

Beomong took the mission of using siege weapons to capture Sisley Castle. He was a knight who didn’t know how to wait patiently.

“Attack, all knights! Destroy the enemy who is resisting the Haven Kingdom’s unification of the continent!”

The Hermes Guild launched an all-out attack!

“Wah, the war is starting.”

“Already?”

“It is getting exciting.”

Wheeled siege weapons moved forward as magic attacks flew towards them. There was black smoke coming from the tail of a fireball, ice spears, earth in the shape of a monster etc.

The Hermes Guild was expecting this so their magicians used protection magic around the siege weapons. Barriers made of wind, water or air were placed in front of the siege weapons.

The head-on collision of attack and defense magic! Fireworks unfolded in the sky as the land shook and there was a deafening roar. Some protective barriers were shattered and the siege weapons smashed apart.

The grandeur of a magic battle!

Taking into account the damage, the Hermes Guild still had 220 siege weapons mobilized. They had brought all the siege weapons that hadn’t been used when attacking the Lasalle Kingdom here. It was essential to break the castle walls quickly so that the magic attacks would stop.

“Completely destroy the castle. Launch!”

“Shoot!”

The siege weapons fired large steel arrows towards Sisley Castle. In this situation, the magic defense was unable to intercept it and Sisley Castle’s guard towers and castle walls were struck. As time passed, the beautiful scenery of Sisley Castle and Luka River turned tragic as the walls crumbled from the siege weapons.

Weed’s business also worsened because the spectators were distracted by the battle. The siege continued for 30 minutes then 1 hour until the flow of time was forgotten. But although the siege weapons’ destructive power was strong, their durability was weak. The siege weapons started to break down after being used a few times.

“Advance!”

There was the long sound of a horn. The military of Haven Kingdom moved forward. The sky was covered with arrows as Sisley Castle fired. The Hermes Guild marched towards the gates while destroying monsters along the way.

“Wahhhh!”

“Let’s go! Kill everyone!”

“For the glory of the Haven Kingdom!”

“Fight against the enemy of His Majesty King Bardray!”

The Haven Kingdom ran to the walls despite suffering arrow damage. They used a rope ladder to try and climb the walls. The high defensive walls meant the defense could fight in an advantageous position. The Hermes Guild chose the straightforward strategy of overwhelming with numbers despite taking significant damage.

The Hermes Guild users earnestly attacked and magic flew relentlessly. There were level 300s and 400s on the battlefield so there were many deaths as users duelled.

“There are many dying.”

Weed was satisfied watching the battlefield after the customers became sparse.

Users that were the people’s icon in rural villages were behind the walls but unfortunately they also died from the siege weapons. In the past, users who were performers really struggled but there was now a large popularity among the population due to Morata. These days users were recognized as the powerhouses on the Versailles Continent. Weed could now see these users dying in this war.

“This is a good thing.”

They were bleeding each other in this war. It was okay for the winning side but the losing side would perish.

“Kyaah! Did you see that magic just now?”

“Yes. Hundreds of people were swallowed by a whirlwind of fire.”

“This is really a jackpot.”

“The big dust on the other side…..”

“There is something over there.”

The people watching from the hill could feel the excitement of the battlefield. A war wasn’t good from the position of the general users but there was something about the sight that made their chests pound.

The Haven Kingdom army marched across the plains through arrows and magic attacks. A battle spread underneath Sisley Castle as soldiers crept up the castle wall.

“Put out the fire!”

“Fight against the enemies. Don’t permit anyone to escape.”

Fire occurred due to magic and elementals but the Haven Kingdom put out the flames so violently that they never spread.

“It would be nice if everyone dies…..”

While Weed eagerly watched the fight, the Haven Kingdom blew the horn. The troops that were flocking towards the walls stopped in place. The battle on the walls was still going on but the reinforcements suddenly stopped.

“Eh.”

“Why are they doing this when they’re having trouble capturing the walls?”

The onlookers couldn’t help but find it strange. The walls of Sisley Castle were high and thick so it was impossible to easily capture it. However the Haven Kingdom army was too strong to give up so easily.

“There is something.”

Weed sensed that something wasn’t ordinary.

Then a person wearing a black robe from the Hermes Guild walked forward.

“Krobidyun!”

The necromancer that assisted Bardray at Melbourne Mine! Presently Krobidyun could even summon the difficult Doom Knight. The Hermes Guild helped by giving unusual items and excellent hunting grounds. Krobidyun rose from the middle place to a high rank thanks to his skill as a necromancer. He put quite a lot of effort into changing classes from a magician to a necromancer.

Krobidyun’s eerie voice spread through the battlefield.

“Rise. Come back to the land you used to live in. This is a dark place. It is a black and corrupt land. Help spread the laws of darkness. Undead Rise!”

A battle had spread in front of Sisley Castle. The corpses of the high level users stiffened and they become the undead. Quite a few skeletons rose. The quality of the corpses was good so a crowd of zombies walked forward with a crowd of flies around them.

“Kill everything!”

The undead marched underneath Sisley Castle.

Meanwhile the Hermes Guild who had been repairing their siege weapons started firing them again.

The undead were hit by Sisley Castle’s defences but kept on attacking. The power of the undead was that they could bear through any attack without collapsing in order to take the walls.

Weed felt his blood boil.

“If I was there… How unfortunate.”

Hermes and Cloud Guild!

They were prestigious guilds on the continent and users would flock to both sides after only hearing the names. There were many main characters of adventures mixed in among the fighting. But Weed was able to calmly grasp their abilities.

“If I was fighting there….”

Sculpture Transformation would be indispensable. A chaos warrior would be strong but a necromancer would also be good. If he wore Barkhan’s full set then he could raise an unlimited number of corpses! The dark aura would also strengthen the undead. This would wreak absolute havoc in a war.

The Copper Plate of Eternal Rest would strengthen the undead but it only had 1 durability left. He had also gained a lot of battle experience as a necromancer while participating in the Barkhan Immortal Legion quest. Sculpture Transformation and the Power to Reject Death meant there wasn’t a necromancer stronger than Weed on the continent.

“This really stirs my interest.”

He wouldn’t be hurt no matter how many regular soldiers were present. Priests who could use holy power or mithril weapons would be a problem but he could tell Bahamorg to protect him. Then a true necromancer’s battle would occur.

While Weed had an intense look, the users watching the Sisley Castle battle became enthusiastic.

“I have to sell chicken legs.”

It was inconvenient but he couldn’t leave for the battlefield. His hands and feet became itchy as he watched the fight.

As Krobidyun endlessly summoned undead without anyone restricting him, they continued repairing and launching the siege weapons!

Sisley Castle was forced to waste their arrows that were precious resources and the magicians and priests consumed their mana.

Krobidyun was a great magician that reached level 449.

“Mana Drain.”

“Noble Sacrifice!”

He absorbed the health and mana of wounded soldiers. Many undead were destroyed due to the defense striking back. But there were many bodies strewn on the ground.

The Haven Kingdom had no doubt that the defenders would eventually become tired. The siege weapons targeting Sisley Castle was the large problem for the Cloud Guild. There was also Krobidyun who demonstrated the terrible power of a necromancer.

“This reminds me of when Weed-nim fought against the Bone Dragon.”

“It seems so. It was also brought to an end like this.”

The crowd was having similar thoughts. It was the battle where Weed played an active role as a necromancer.

Finally the gates were opened and troops rushed out in order to break the siege weapons. The knights were at the front with the infantry in the rear.

“Let’s go. We will defend the Britten Alliance Kingdom.”

“We will break the Haven Kingdom’s ambition here. We can’t afford to hand them even one bit of land!”

The infantry marched in unison but they already seemed that they were on the verge of defeat. It was because they hadn’t done any damage to the Haven Kingdom so far. The various battles were too easy from the viewpoint of the Hermes Guild. They hadn’t even moved their knight corps.

“Change the goal and beat them!”

The defense army charged towards the siege weapons firing at Sisley Castle.

“Now smash the siege weapons!”

The knights had been kept back at the expense of the infantry so the Hermes Guild had obviously expected this tactic.

Many preparations had been arranged before the attack on Sisley Castle. Right now the enemy’s response was within the Hermes Guild’s expectations.

The waiting magic and attack from the Hermes Guild harmed the advancing knights. While the defense line broke through by force and destroyed half the siege weapons, their retreat was blocked off and the knights defeated!

A considerable portion of the troops and walls were destroyed before a white flag was flown from Sisley Castle. A famous fortress on the continent was occupied in only one day.

The Hermes Guild used a brutal approach to any opposition within the territory. After the gates were destroyed and the military entered, the defenders and any residents who didn’t give up were killed. Even general users were stabbed to death!

Rumours of the Hermes Guild’s cruelty went around and the residents’ morale and loyalty became extremely low. The Hermes Guild was infamous so there would be many adverse problems with internal affairs in occupied areas. But there was a profitable area to the war process.

“We should leave Sisley Castle before evening.”

“It will take a long time for the entire Haven Kingdom army to enter.”

“Look at the land that is near the collapsed walls. That is a really reckless attack power.”

“The rich really are different. Bringing that many expensive siege weapons…..”

The spectators watching the battle were simultaneously admiring and aghast. The potential of the Hermes Guild was once again recognized.

“There is news that Bardray’s troops have destroyed the Cloud Guild’s reinforcements.”

“What, already?”

“Doing so much damage to the Cloud Guild is really amazing.”

The Hermes Guild occupied Sisley Castle and received the 3 free cities.

A free city was the base of trade and production so it possessed a vast population. The influence of the Cloud Guild in the Britten Alliance Kingdom reduced and the Hermes Guild took their spot.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Hermes Guild made a proclamation a few days later.

The Haven Kingdom, Kallamore Kingdom, Lasalle Kingdom and the Britten Alliance Kingdom would be the start of the Haven Empire. The territory, population, economic power and external influence were sufficient to call it an empire. The Haven Kingdom would act as the centre under the lead of the Hermes Guild.

“Ah, I really don’t like it.”

“Bad luck is dripping.”

“The chewed meat doesn’t taste good.”

There were many who didn’t like the news from the Hermes Guild. The entire continent was becoming overrun by the Haven Kingdom. They were also jealous that an empire had appeared.

In addition, the guild leader Lafaye had announced that they would be stopping the war.

The peace-loving Hermes Guild has the Lasalle Kingdom threatened by the Embinyu Church so the future is unknown.

We have made the difficult decision to stop the conflict and stabilize the Lasalle Kingdom. When looking closely, there are many users in the Lasalle Kingdom who have gone through much suffering.

We also needed to correct the large number of evil deeds the Cloud Guild committed in the Britten Alliance Kingdom.

But the Hermes Guild halting the war just increased insecurity and discomfort. The Hermes Guild didn’t make a promise that they would stop trying to secure territory.

And the Haven Empire would aggressively act to prevent confusion from spreading in the Lasalle Kingdom. The free cities and castles in the Britten Alliance Kingdom were occupied so managing them would cause further prosperity.

It was an unexpected victory declaration!

Even the Cloud Guild was puzzled about the reason. They had a relationship that could be expressed as enemies. The Hermes Guild had only won 1/3rd of the Britten Alliance Kingdom yet they stopped their war.

Anyway, now peace had come so many users in the Britten Alliance Kingdom welcomed it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin drank hot chocolate and watched the Hermes Guild’s announcement on the monitor. And he really admired Lafaye.

“The Lasalle Kingdom and Britten Alliance Kingdom are prey that is too large to eat. They are bound to over-eat. Even if they achieve victory, it won’t be easy to exert control over it.”

Their scheme was to take a delicious bite of the Britten Alliance Kingdom! If they occupied everything then the Hermes Guild’s territory would become too wide. Rebel and resistance armies would run wild and internal affairs would become difficult. The declaration and unexpected end to the aggressive war made other powers feel a sense of crisis and they would prepare sensitive measures.

Of course, there were simple people who believed the Hermes Guild’s announcement but many more doubted it. They wouldn’t end the war of aggression because of the Embinyu Church or other excuses.

The competitors were cautious of the Hermes Guild’s ability. But it was effective on them.

A huge guild tried to stomp out the fire and ended up disappearing in vain. They needed to make sacrifices in order to prevent the Hermes Guild from expanding its empire.

Meanwhile the Hermes Guild would use the time to strengthen and train their armed forces in the Lasalle Kingdom and the free cities. They also secretly expanded their conquest war in the Tullen Kingdom through the Beden Guild. The Hermes Guild already had one foot in the Britten Alliance Kingdom so their influence would gradually spread.

Not only did the war bring in territory, it also brought quite a few high level users. The Cloud Guild lost massive amounts of territory so they couldn’t be one of the prestigious guilds anymore. It was possible for the Hermes Guild to absorb some users from the weakened guild.

The Hermes Guild had a large greed so they really collected many things in a short amount of time.

“That person is very smart. He knew it wouldn’t be easy to control so he backed down. He really is greedy.”

The military in the Haven and Kallamore Kingdoms were still continuing their training. If the present situation and preparations were examined, it was clear they planned to expand to the whole continent. When they were ready then they would declare war and no one would be able to stop the Hermes Guild.

Yoo Byung-jin remembered Weed every time he drank hot chocolate.

The God of War. He was a legend in Royal Road and the people’s hero. But the situation around Weed was rapidly deteriorating. The Hermes Guild’s powerful army of well trained and high level users was going to take over the entire continent.

An astronomical amount of power would be given to the first emperor who unified the entire continent. This was a promise from Unicorn Corporation and what Bardray and the Hermes Guild were aiming for.

Yoo Byung-jin played a large role in the continent being devastated by war.

“How far can they go? They will either climb up the cliff or be forced to quit. The Hermes Guild and the Embinyu Church is becoming increasingly bigger. The continent’s history will change depending on who wins.”

Chapter 5: Dark Gamer’s Fate

Aren Castle of the Haven Empire.

A vast amount of construction work was being done on the grounds of Emperor’s Palace. Bardray had decided to build a luxurious palace instead of granaries.

“Gather the artists and architects.”

In the meantime, the Hermes Guild had been stingy towards the arts.

After Weed had started sculpting, many sculptors had been strategically raised in the guild. However the sculptures they produced were just like the ancient art excavated. The support for painters and sculptors disappeared and the artists increasingly left the Haven Kingdom.

But their presence was necessary for the Emperor’s Palace.

“The Imperial Palace will compulsorily raise the residents’ loyalty so we can increase taxes by 2%.”

“Send all the soldiers that surrendered in the war to the mines.”

Lafaye had a leadership meeting to discuss various ideas intended to squeeze the inhabitants of the Empire.

A war victory commemoration tax.

Imperial Palace construction tax.

Special tax for the maintenance of facilities for Aren Castle.

Tax for the military marching through the city.

Special tax for territory expansion.

If Weed heard this then he would be beating his knees with admiration.

“Quite a few dwarves live in the Lasalle Kingdom. We should catch them and make them work as slaves.”

“There are riots in some of the occupied areas. Suppressing it won’t be a problem but security will lower and the Embinyu Church will spread.”

The Haven Empire had received damage and the Embinyu Church was spreading like wildfire. But the top level leaders in the Hermes Guild wasn’t worried about that.

The people converted to the Embinyu Church were poor and the Hermes Guild was confident they could defeat them if the Embinyu Church declared war. Of course, new taxes would be necessary for a war with the Embinyu Church.

The Hermes Guild intended to completely conquer the continent so they needed to maintain a strict military.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Those bad guys.”

Weed instinctively cursed after hearing that the Hermes Guild intended to stop the war. He instantly sensed something strange.

“They have an ulterior motive. Anyway, they are bad guys so there is no way to believe them.”

One philosopher’s theory was that human nature was fundamentally evil!

Weed continued to grow while fighting with Bahamorg and Seo-yoon. He made luxurious dishes from ingredients obtained in dungeons and his cooking skill finally reached advanced.

– Your intermediate cooking skill has reached level 10 and changed to advanced.

It is possible to minimize the side effects when dealing with tricky ingredients, pickled food and fermented food.

You can dramatically increase the shelf life of the food.

Professional cooking can be produced.

All stats will increase by 20 points.

He could now be called a cook. It was possible for him to live even if he only toasted bread in some cities. All the work in the early stages was now worth it. But Weed still had misgivings about his future.

“I don’t have a full pension or one of the 4 major insurances. If I quit my job then I won’t get a severance pay.”

He was earning money now but the future was unknown. He wasn’t insecure like many other freelancers.

There was a post written on the Dark Gamers bulletin board that had the viewpoint echo with him.

Title: I will try to get married.

I have been associated with a woman I love for 3 years.

Yesterday I greeted my father in law. And now I’m crying. My girlfriend is fine but the one I can’t bear is myself. I want to share a short story between my father in law and I.

“Yes, you are doing something now.”

“Yes, fathers in law. Do you know something call Royal Road?”

“I know it! Every day the newspaper and television is talking about the hottest company called the Unicorn Corporation. Don’t they earn enormous profit every year? I can’t imagine the welfare benefits received by the employees of Unicorn Corporation. My Hyo-sun has met a man like that.”

“No. I’m not an employee but someone who finds items in Royal Road and sell them for money.”

“…..Yes, have you gathered a little money?”

“A little.”

“How much?”

“If I dispose of the equipment I’m currently wearing then I can get enough for a house deposit. That’s because the price for this set has been recently rising in the auction.”

“……”

“……”

“You won’t bring Hyo-sun any suffering?”

“Yes. I will eagerly enter the Royal Road capsule for 18 hours every day.”

“……”

I didn’t go beyond high school. Do you know this sorrow?

He couldn’t help empathizing with the Dark Gamer’s story. It was a service industry but it was too early to reveal it to the world. There was no job stability, fixed income or welfare benefits.

Furthermore, the Hermes Guild’s expansion was a huge threat. There were other users that felt burdened by the Hermes Guild but the pressure towards Weed as King of the Arpen Kingdom was larger.

Even if Weed became the Master Sculptor first, it wouldn’t be significant if Bardray and the Hermes Guild unified the Central Continent. The troops of the Haven Empire would come to the north for the Arpen Kingdom. The buildings that Weed had invested large amounts of money in would be taken over by the Hermes Guild.

Weed had to put that to one side in his mind.

“The resentment would be enough to make me go to hospital.”

If he became the first class master then there would be a lot of attention from the broadcasting stations. Weed wasn’t in a situation where he could worry about that.

“Arpen Kingdom is my rice bowl.”

Weed had an attachment to his particular rice bowl. He couldn’t let some neighbourhood dogs eat his rice bowl!

“I need to find a way to protect my rice bowl.”

He needed to protect the Arpen Kingdom from every type of threat.

“I need to ask Teacher-nim and the Sa-hyungs.”

Originally he wanted to give the difficult tasks to people he was close to. They would do it if he offered them cooked meat and alcohol. But no matter how strong the Geomchis were, they would be limited in large scale wars with intense magic attacks. They were lacking a lot.

“If I collect the sculptural lifeforms races then I can make them work.”

He intended to overcome the situation with exploitation.

Weed wanted to win but he couldn’t face the Hermes Guild at this moment. It would take a considerable amount of time to meet the sculptural lifeforms and to build intimacy and achievements.

If they weren’t a race related to battle then they wouldn’t be useful. They would be useful to the growth of the Arpen Kingdom in the long run but there was a threat in the short term.

“I need to train the army to protect the kingdom. But they are fighting monsters at this level… Even if I invest time and money, it won’t be enough to thwart the Haven Empire.”

He couldn’t find a way to deal with the Haven Empire despite thinking of several possibilities. That’s because conquering the cities already developed in the Central Continent was faster than gradually developing one.

“When looking at it calmly, I’m not better than them in any areas. My kingdom’s population and development can’t compare to them, let alone my military. If a war spreads then I won’t win.”

When considering the future, it was a reasonable judgement to give up on the Arpen Kingdom now. There was no other forces on the Central Continent that could keep up with the Hermes Guild. The population and military power was so large then it would be hard for the 5 large guilds to oppose them.

“I need to make something to win…..”

Weed looked back at the things he had.

He had the abilities of Bingryong, Yellowy, Phoenix and the other sculptural lifeforms from the Jigolaths. They would have amazing power if they continued growing for 2~3 years but that didn’t mean the war would be won. The problem wouldn’t be resolved even if Goldman offered bribery.

“There is still a chance to do something with sculpting. I haven’t created my own skills. And there is the final secret sculpting technique from the legend.”

After learning Sculptural Life Bestowal, Sculpture Transformation, Sculpting Blade, Disaster Sculpting and Elemental Creation then Weed could learn the final secret sculpting technique.

He dreamt many times about an extravagant skill while sleeping at night.

“Perhaps the last secret technique can make a sculpture that will curse a target or… Something that can express the beauty of a sculpture… Or something that can raise the abilities of my sculptural lifeforms.”

He had a variety of concerns and expectations. He couldn’t guess what the sculpting technique could possibly be despite looking at the past. The secret sculpting technique could make his fighting abilities rise but it might not. Anyway, the situation on the continent was unstable so Weed had to make a decision.

“I just need to raise my skill proficiency and the Class Master Quest will be over. I don’t know whether to learn the skill or create sculptures to complete the quest. If I challenge the last secret technique then…..”

If he found the last sculpture then Weed could challenge the secret technique.

“If I learn the last secret technique later then it might be too late.”

He decided to hope on finding the last sculpture. The future could change depending on what type of technique would emerge.

“If a skill that transcends imagination emerges then I can fight the Hermes Guild. Maybe other people will fight against them as well. And if the skill isn’t that much…..”

It was the final secret sculpting technique.

“I’ll kneel down and surrender right away.”

Weed decided not to postpone the final secret sculpting technique. He would continue raising his skill proficiency while hunting but acquiring the final secret technique was the priority.

“I don’t know how difficult it will be so I need to adapt to the situation.”

He was betting the game on the final secret technique. Weed decided to challenge it despite the uneasy situation on the continent.

“Someday I might regret this decision.”

His fate was to repeatedly go on large adventures despite his desire to live a long life.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed had made a large number of sculptures on the continent. They were sold to people or pieces carved on walls and rocks.

“This is… A piece of work.”

It was of a birdman with its tail split in two! Weed discovered a sculpture he left behind while travelling.

“It is a good sculpture. The skill is worth being called an excellent sculptor.”

He thought of something before talking again.

“We’ll meet again.”

It wasn’t just the birdman.

In the meantime he had carved many great sculptures. He had spread his mark throughout the continent.

Other than those carved in rocks and trees, a significant amount had been spread through sales. The sculptures were continuously traded between users and scattered everywhere. If there weren’t any special options then they would give it to the residents to increase intimacy. Some also lost sculptures if they died in a dungeon hunt and they would be left there.

Such sculptures were marks of Weed.

“My skills are still lacking.”

“I’ve managed to obtain a piece from Weed.”

Some sculptural lifeforms in distant places found works made from Weed. These sculptural lifeforms decided to retire after the Arpen Empire collapsed. They would rather live with each other than humans.

And quite a few sculptural lifeforms had become extinct. The remaining lifeforms either became angry monsters or hid themselves. Some would remain sleeping unless a sculptor woke them up directly.

Even if Weed explored many places on the continent, the sculptural lifeforms were hidden in deep places. He didn’t even find any sculptural lifeforms deep in the Jigolaths volcanoes.

“A sculptor came here not long ago.”

“What is this? I want to meet the sculptor.”

“He also gave me life.”

The 8th generation head of the Sculptor’s Guild had created a magnum opus. It had lived a quiet life at the tower in the Jigolaths until granted life by Weed. The sculptural lifeforms would talk about Weed whenever they encountered others. Many of Weed’s sculptures were scattered across the whole continent.

“I want to know the personality of the sculptor.”

“I didn’t meet him for a long time but he seemed stingy.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray made time for hunting even when the wall was ongoing. He could hunt more efficiently with the support of the guild and he missed the Haven Empire’s victory celebration banquet to go hunting.

“The attack skills are fairly good.”

Bardray was currently at a place with many monsters. They were mole like monsters with thorns on their body that would pop up from the ground of the dungeon.

Monsters up to level 500! Their health was high and the skin as hard as steel so he suffered damage from the thorns every time they popped up. Bardray utilized the one point attack Weed showed while hunting with the Royal Guards.

“He is becoming increasingly stronger.”

“As expected from the Bardray-nim.”

The one point attack method surpassed the high defense of the monsters. Bardray was very successful in using in using this new attack method. He was astounded by the destructive force of the one point attack.

Bardray spent a lot of time hunting with others and didn’t even take a break to wait for the monsters.

If it was Weed then he would carve sculptures and recover health while waiting for monsters to appear. But Bardray didn’t know any art or sculpting skills and could only grow in battle.

Instead he slept in the middle of every hunt. Sleep would make health and vitality recover faster than usual. Even though the battle might last longer, sleeping in the middle of every hunt actually reduced the time required for him to sleep.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“They’re all collapsed.”

Bardray stood alone at the base of a mountain.

They continued pushing to unify the empire and the Haven Empire fell to pieces. Bardray couldn’t match up to Weed’s glory. He could hardly imitate Weed’s command style and combat method.

“Huhuhu, I’m relieved. This is something that I’ve been pushing towards.”

Bardray felt a light feeling. For a long time he had been faithful to the Hermes Guild and everything ended up in the hands of the greedy guild.

That was the regret. A man needed to have a goal to challenge. And that dream was broken so now his shoulders felt lighter.

He could start from the ground up again.

“I have to adventure and do requests.”

Bardray wanted to travel the continent and quietly enjoy his life. He could fully enjoy the taste of the Versailles Continent after disbanding the Hermes Guild.

There was a person slowly walking towards Bardray.

Weed the God of War. Currently he had tremendous power and appeared as the new ruler of the Versailles Continent. The Death Knight Van Hawk and Vampire Lord Torido that he often saw in Weed’s vicinity were there as well.

“Where will you go?”

Weed said in a low, threatening voice. The atmosphere made him feel like an existence impossible to despise.

“I will now live quietly. I admit my defeat.”

Bardray confessed with a clean spirit. No matter how much effort he made, it was impossible to catch up with Weed. The Hermes Guild had been crushed so they weren’t even opponents any more.

Weed shook his head.

“I can’t let you go.”

“Then……”

Bardray already had those expectations. He had the ability to take control of the continent. Weed and his colleagues wouldn’t let him get that chance.

‘That chance can occur again. And if I raise the power…..’

Ambition kindled inside him. But Weed trampled on his imagination.

“The equipment you’re wearing is pretty good.”

“Then…..”

“I will snatch it after I kill you.”

Sururung.

Weed drew his sword.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Heeok.”

Bardray opened his eyes. The bodies of the Royal Guards were resting in front of him.

‘It was a dream.’

Bardray arranged his spirit while breathing deeply. Even if they were the Royal Guards that he spent a lot of time with, he didn’t want to tell them his nightmare. He always needed to look strong in front of them.

It wasn’t just today but he had similar dreams many times.

‘Haven’t I dreamt of defeating him since my time in Continent of Magic?”

It had affected him psychologically. Weed hadn’t even remembered him. But he couldn’t think about the past right now.

‘My competitors in Royal Road…..’

There was the Roam Guild, Lion Star Guild and Black Sword Mercenaries. They were weaker than the Hermes Guild in every area.

Bardray felt like he could win even if he fought with their leaders personally. Bardray’s level, combat skills and tricks were much stronger than them. If the continent occupation plan went as planned then he would meet them.

There wasn’t much time left.

‘Weed is incomprehensible…..’

Weed was always mysterious to him.

He never heard that name in the early days of Royal Road. Yet he was suddenly chased by a brilliant figure at a scary speed. Weed had completed impossible quests without the support of any other forces. He had the qualities of a great adventurer but the Bardray ruled the Hermes Guild so there was no need for him to worry.

There was a considerable amount of lords on the continent with no room for Weed. However he had managed to set up a kingdom in the north where hardly anyone lived.

His combat abilities also couldn’t be ignored. His level was low in the early days but Weed was able to compete with him in the Melbourne Mine.

Weed was definitely different from other people. Just like a weed, he seemed to become more terrifying over time.

He was a target that Bardray had to win over!

‘Obviously I will meet him again.’

Bardray was waiting for that moment. He had used the one point attack method Weed utilized in order to complement his weak point.

‘Maybe that dream…..’

Bardray decided to accept this minor fear. The path to conquer the Versailles Continent is fun. So far it was progressing as planned.

‘I will thoroughly stomp on him when I meet him next time. I won’t let him run amok…..’

Chapter 6: Hummingbird’s Journey

Weed met with the sculptural lifeforms that became annoyed with him during the time he hunted with Bahamorg.

Goldman was drawing graffiti on the ground while Yellowy was ploughing the field. The wound on their heart was big so they wouldn’t commit any actions. The wyverns, Silver Bird, Golden Bird and Bingryong were exploring the sights.

“Cough, you were suffering so I gave you a holiday. Haven’t you rested a lot in the meantime?”

“Gol gol gol. I don’t want to talk.”

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy didn’t even turn his head. He had been hurt by Weed in the meantime. He couldn’t compare to Bahamorg’s fighting skill and had been given the tedious and demeaning task of working in the field.

More than anything else, the sculptural lifeforms were hurt that they had been discarded by their master. His visit and pampering behaviour meant that Weed wanted to make them work soon!

Weed nodded as if he knew everything.

“I’ll give you something to eat.”

“Gol gol gol, I won’t move for food.”

“Ummoooooo. Absolutely not.”

The wyverns, Bingryong and Phoenix didn’t just look from a distance. It was decided in advance that Goldman and Yellowy would be talking to Weed. The sculptures given life in the Jigolaths hadn’t become bored enough for complaints.

Weed spoke softly like he was hurt.

“I can’t believe you would think that I deserted you. Goldman, don’t you know what type of heart I have to give life to you twice? I always thought of you the moment we parted.”

“Gol gol gol…..”

“Yellowy, I will fix the barn of your calves.”

“Ummoooooo!”

He was able to recover their relationship with past memories and promises of housing. Bingryong and the wyverns also received a generous bundle of food.

“This family atmosphere.”

And Weed was able to show the final result to Bahamorg.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“A radiant beauty. I need to go to Rhodium the City of Artists in order to receive the quest for the final secret technique.”

Weed also visited the city of beggars! It was a paradise for those of the production classes like sculptors, artists and architects.

Rhodium also had a long history associated with sculpting. In the past it was a village where the sunset was so beautiful that painters and sculptors gathered to live there. The works of art they created were sold to the entire continent.

The spot where the stone sculptures were created in the early days became the glory of Rhodium! This was just behind the Sculptor’s Guild.

“I can’t fail….”

Weed was uneasy so he decided to bring Bahamorg and Seo-yoon. He also gave the order for the other sculpture lifeforms to come as quickly as possible.

“Then the arrival spot is Rhodium Square.”

Yurin came and painted a picture for teleportation.

Fortunately Rhodium was safe from the Central Continent war and suffered no damage. None of the prestigious guilds or lords valued the arts. The tax income was small and a lot of money was needed to maintain the peace. There was no point in occupying the city and the armies even avoided it on purpose.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Aigoo… Please come here.”

“Just a little penny…..”

“Hey, you’re in a similar situation to us!”

As expected, they were welcomed by users begging in Rhodium Square! That’s why Weed had changed to his dirty beginners clothes. Bahamorg and Seo-yoon also wore common deer leather so they could sneak away.

“The people here seem to have decreased.”

Weed felt like the number of users had decreased since they last time he came.

At that time sculpting had been in the midst of its popularity. It had been the golden age for sculpting after the pyramid construction! But it was difficult, the money wasn’t a lot and it was tedious so the number of users selecting sculpting as a job decreased.

Many also left Rhodium to gain art inspiration from Morata. Originally users would prepare basic materials in Rhodium before moving around the continent to work.

“I’m going to the Sculptor’s Guild.”

Weed felt uneasy. He really hoped that the final sculpting technique wasn’t useless.

‘If it is something like Sculpture Transformation or Great Disaster Nature Sculpting… It would be good.’

There was also a high possibility that it would be something like King Belsos’ Elemental Creation. Sculpting Blade was something that even a weak sculptor could raise well.

He worried that the final technique would be something purely related to art. It was the reason why he didn’t feel comfortable coming to Rhodium.

‘I need to firm up my heart. Even if the city gas charges increased, I could withstand the warm winter by firming up my mind.’

Weed opened the door of the Sculptor’s Guild and entered inside.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It would be good if I could slash a tree and eat the tree worms.”

“The trees near the beach are good.”

The Sculptor’s Guild was filled with novices. They were discussing methods to obtain materials for sculpting.

‘Tsk tsk, you should just pick anything up and use it….’

Sculptors inevitably became sensitive about the ingredients they used for their work. Yet it wasn’t possible to make sculptures if they questioned their material too closely. This was the secret to how Weed managed to sell an excessive amount of sculptures as a beginner!

Weed walked past the other sculptors in the guild. Seo-yoon and Bahamorg came along with him. He didn’t need to meet a sculpting instructor so there was no need for him to explore the guild.

At the back door behind the Sculptor’s Guild! This was a place with historical significance to Rhodium so it had guards blocking the door.

“What do you want?”

“I’m trying to enter there.”

“…You are qualified enough. You can enter.”

The guards stepped aside. In order to enter the glorious place, an artist needed to reach advanced sculpting or be recognized by nobles. Otherwise the price of admission was 200 gold!

Weed was allowed to enter for free.

The door opened and brightly shining stone sculptures could be seen.

– You have appreciated Rhodium’s sculpture, Stellar Tear.

This is a work where the sculptor expressed the beauty of the night sky.

Art stat has increased by 13.

Your skill proficiency has risen slightly from observing an excellent sculptor.

He heard the rumours but it was a really beautiful place. It was a place made from a piece of meteor that fell and decorated by Rhodium sculptors. More than thousands of sculptures glowed at night to form a night sky.

Weed wasn’t a normal sculptor so he could immediately see the greatness of this work despite it being daytime.

“The amount of labour involved in this!”

While others would purely see the art, he could see the spirit that dwelled inside it. He knew how hard it would be to make thousands of stars from sculptures. If the work was seen in the day then it would just be a pile of stones. The architects even built the tower to clearly show 13 constellations.

It was a landmark in Royal Road that couples were always eager to visit! Dozens of users spend money to eat lunch here. At night a bunch of people would gather to chat and watch the stars.

Weed walked to the centre of the Stellar Tear.

It wasn’t night time yet the Stellar Tear started to shine with light. The light spread over Weed everywhere it walked like it was welcoming him.

“It is similar to the neighbourhood taverns.”

It was an extremely realistic feeling! There was an old person in the centre of the Stellar Tear with so many wrinkles on their face that it was difficult to tell their age.

“Come quickly. Since the Stellar Tear is welcoming you, a person who knows Moonlight Sculpting has come.”

“I want to know a way to express radiant beauty.”

“Rhodium has existed for hundreds of years and I finally found someone to speak to about radiant beauty.”

Tears dripped from his eyes as the old man looked at Weed. The step to get the last secret sculpting technique started as an encounter with the old man.

Two of the stars around him emitted an absolutely brilliant light. The couples there were confused about the sudden incident. They didn’t realize that this was the moment the secret technique storyline started.

The old man only had one simple request. His talk was easy to understand but it was so slow that a yawn would come out.

“Do you want to hear the story about radiant beauty?”

“Of course.”

“I want to go back to when I heard about the radiant beauty. Can I do that?”

Ddiring!

– This is the ‘Radiant Beauty’ quest that will lead to the final sculpting secret technique and cannot be cancelled in the middle.

And if you fail in the process then you won’t get this chance again forever.

Nevertheless, do you want to continue?

“I would like to hear about the radiant beauty.”

– You are moving forward on the final secret sculpting technique quest.

The request related to the radiant beauty is classified as separate from any existing quests.

This will have no effect on the quest restriction limit.

– Fame has increased by 3,500.

“This is talk I heard a long time ago. This is a legend about sculpting passed down through the mouths of the people. I don’t know about the feasibility. Almost no one believed the story.”

Weed started to feel uneasy.

“I would still like to hear it.”

“Long ago, there was a lot of discussion among the sculptors of the continent. Then I’ll tell you the subject of the discussion. What is needed to make a truly beautiful sculpture?”

“……”

Was the final secret technique really purely related to the arts? Weed shuddered at the thought. He would only be able to cover the Versailles Continent in pure works of art. The Hermes Guild would wreck everything.

“Over the hundreds of years, sculptors had pondered about the idea of beauty. That’s how I came to a conclusion about how to create the most beautiful sculpture on the continent. I think that exploring many places will allow a proper insight.”

“It seems so.”

Travel would broaden a person’s horizons. It was quite a good experience to travel before doing any work.

“There are places that human feet can’t reach on the continent. There are dangerous places that can even trap the wind.”

Ddiring!

– You have acquired information about the Endless Nijel Caves.

There seeme to be some big secret there that no one else knows. It isn’t possible for the wind to come back or even curious fairies that entered to return.

“You won’t be able to enter a place that even traps wind. No matter how curious you are, you wouldn’t be able to go there. Anyway, you’ll need fast feet to see many places on this continent. And you should use your sculptor’s gift to become safe from dangerous monsters. I came to the conclusion that a hummingbird is the best method for travelling the continent.”

Fortunately he obtained information about the Endless Nijel Caves and about the quest. Weed continued listening.

“A hummingbird can fly to many places on the continent that a horse wouldn’t be able to reach in dozens of days. Neither hills or clouds would become an obstacle. Of course, such a thing is impossible but if you carve a sculpture… If I see you within the next few weeks then I will continue talking about radiant beauty.”

The hummingbird was the smallest of birds. But it was a mysterious bird. If it flapped its wings quickly then it could stall in the air. The pointy beak could take nectar from flowers like butterflies and it had shiny feathers. The hummingbird could travel long distances at a speed that transcended imagination and was a symbol of good luck among travellers.

Ddiring!

– Hummingbird’s Journey

Become a hummingbird and travel the continent for 12 days looking for the best beauty.

Explore a wide range of places before returning.

You can gain experience and skill proficiency as you travel to many places and extract pollen.

If you finish the hummingbird’s journey and return then the next quest will start.

Level of Difficulty: Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Sculpture Transformation is required.

Sculpture Transformation cannot be turned off in the middle of the quest.

The quest will fail if you die.

A hummingbird was small and very quick but vulnerable to bites. Weed had used Sculpture Transformation to turn into an orc, troll and lich but this was an entirely different species.

“Hummingbird… It sounds like a really good experience.”

– You have accepted the quest.

“Taking a trip as a hummingbird…..”

He couldn’t get help from Bahamorg, Seo-yoon and the other sculptural lifeforms on this quest. It was impossible for the wyverns to chase after the hummingbird’s quick speed.

“I can’t waste time here. Come on.”

Weed left the Sculptor’s Guild and entered one of Rhodium’s alleys. There were small alleys with few people to see him. He urgently began carving a piece right in front of Bahamorg and Seo-yoon. His sculpting was outstanding but it wasn’t easy to carve a small hummingbird made of wood.

It was close to the difficulty of jewel sculpting.

‘I need to go for 12 days….’

Weed therefore had to make the hummingbird accurate. He didn’t know much about other animals so he waste precious time finding the appearance of a hummingbird.

Ddiring!

– A hummingbird has been completed.

A hummingbird brings good luck.

This is an excellent work that expresses the realistic appearance.

The work of the genius sculptor Weed.

Artistic Value: 760

Special Options: Movement speed increased by 10%.

Luck +4

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

A work that was faithful to the original appearance of a hummingbird could be seen! He didn’t make an intimidating appearance like the orc Karichwi.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting has made the sculptor and sculpture resemble each other!

Weed’s body suddenly decreased. Feathers stuck out from his skin and his mouth changed to a beak.

– Your body shape has changed so a number of equipment can’t be worn.

New equipment is needed depending on the species.

– Agility, Endurance and Perseverance has increased under the influence of Sculpture Transformation.

Strength, Wisdom, Intelligence, Charisma, Faith, Dignity and Honour had fallen to the minimum amount.

Vitality has increased substantially.

The race essential skill ‘Swift Flight’ has been acquired.

Vitality will be consumed less than other species while flying.

There are many movements so hunger will decrease rapidly.

This will last until Sculpture Transformation is released.

Weed successfully transformed. Seo-yoon approached while he was practicing a few flight manoeuvres.

‘Ik….’

His body was much smaller so Weed was fearful when Seo-yoon stretched out her hand.

Seo-yoon lifted Weed’s hummingbird body and lightly stroked his wings. He was so cute that she couldn’t help it! No one would have expected him to change into this cute hummingbird.

Weed stayed for a moment in her hand before opening his wings and flying up powerfully.

Chapter 7: Life of a Hummingbird

Weed decided his direction while in the sky. The hummingbird had to fly in an area so wide that it transcended imagination.

‘I don’t have a specific destination so let’s just go where the wind blows.’

Weed started flapping his wings and flew with the wind.

‘Compared to the times when I was on Wy-3…..’

There was the efficiency, performance and romance of the free flight of the bird!

‘I have to fly to a really faraway place.’

He flew so fast that the wind crashed forcefully against his face. A hummingbird could fly 100 km/hr and could flap its wings nearly 100 times per second.

– Your sense of satiety has fallen to 24%.

When he started flying, Weed confirmed that he had 70% satiety. He only flapped his wings quickly for a short time and it had already fallen by this much.

‘I need to find a suitable place to eat. Pollen should be extracted.’

He continued flying with the breeze without stopping.

– Your sense of satiety has fallen to 10%.

Your strength and vitality has been affected by your hunger and has been reduced to 82%.

He couldn’t ignore the falling satiety. Weed hurriedly descended to the ground in order to find food. He searched the forest for flowers and sucked up honey with his long beak. A hummingbird was really small so it was possible to fill his stomach with honey.

‘The honey straight from nature is as fresh as expected.’

– Your sense of satiety has risen.

Vitality has recovered.

Health has risen by 15%.

You have drank nutritious honey and became full.

Weed flew back up vigorously after filling his body with pollen. He decided to go to other cities near Rhodium for the time being. He found a river where people were having fun dating.

‘The quest for the final sculpting technique should be very difficult but it is also romantic.’

– Your sense of satiety has fallen to 60%.

You have become a little hungry.

Hummingbird’s journey!

This was a war over whether he lived or died of starvation. If a hummingbird didn’t eat for 3 hours then it would starve and die. Others saw a hummingbird as mysterious and beautiful but its life wasn’t that simple.

The tremendous momentum meant that he needed to constantly eat. When Weed was hungry, he would go down to the ground to drink honey or swallow insects.

At first he felt a little reluctance against insects.

‘I hate insects but…..’

He ate it with a hasty heart and found it wasn’t that bad.

Tturururu.

The sound of bugs crying out was peaceful. But once a hummingbird passed, he could only hear the wind through the grass. A hummingbird with a full stomach flying in the air!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Arpen Kingdom liked art and culture so flowers had bloomed from an early time. Artists and architects were active professions.

“Huhu. I should make my work here.”

“I really wanted this place.”

Artists polished their skills in Morata. Their names weren’t known on the continent but their skills have increasingly developed from when they started. Painters mixed their own colours to draw a landscape and sculptors carved rocks without caring about their size.

Many failures were experienced during this trial and error process but it was a valuable asset in art. Success couldn’t be the only thing in art. Frustration was necessary in order to proceed to the next step.

Morata’s artist went to other villages in the Arpen Kingdom and expanded the role of culture even further. Architects who accumulated experience in Morata would expand their horizons outside.

“A Grand Building should probably be here. A minimum of 3 million gold would be needed….”

The architect Pavo put a notice on Morata’s east gate.

Pavo is making a Grand Building in Armang.

There is a large granary, vineyards and mines so a place like this is highly likely to develop into a great city like Morata.

Therefore we are looking for people to be involved in the expansion of art and the mines.

The cost of construction is 4.5 million gold.

Users donating to a Grand Building! Other cities and kingdoms would call that crazy behaviour. There was no one who would donate to architects.

“Can I donate 1 gold here?”

“Here. I found 54 silver yesterday.”

“I can take out 3 gold from my money.”

“I will go hunt for several minutes. I want to donate to the Grand Building!”

If they donated money to a Grand Building then they could gain achievements and fame in that city. They believed that the Armang village was become very big later on so the users in the Arpen Kingdom generously paid.

Pavo was able to collect 4.5 million gold in not even 2 days.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The architects also made a Grand Building in Yusellin village.

Alkazar’s Bridge!

The construction of the large bridge at Peshil River meant that users could cross back and forth for hunting or adventures. The expected cost of construction was beyond 5 million gold. It was a difficult task and there might be more construction costs.

Donations to the Arpen Kingdom could be paid to offices in Morata and Yusellin village.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A tower was built near the sea where people lived.

It was a tower featuring the best view! There was a staggering 6 Grand Buildings built throughout the Arpen Kingdom. There was a reason why this didn’t occur in any kingdoms other than the Arpen Kingdom.

The architects had experience with Grand Buildings and the other users enjoyed the convenience the Grand Buildings added to their lives. That’s why people who migrated to the Arpen Kingdom wouldn’t leave.

“I’m going to the Brent Kingdom.”

“Hey, what are you going there to do?”

“I’m going to collect my mum and family.”

There were many trading opportunities and blue collar jobs so the Arpen Kingdom was like heaven to merchants. They could get their orders on time and it was easy to obtain desired materials. Iron, copper, minerals and jewels were lacking in the beginning but they were able to get it through commissions and mining.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Fire Bear Guild!

They were a guild that migrated to the north and developed Taren village. They weren’t a small guild and had experiencing ruling a castle on the Central Continent. Despite that, it wasn’t easy to develop Taren village and it didn’t reach the expected state.

The guild master Fire Bear connected to Royal Road after 1 month.

“Ugh, I finally came back here.”

He had been hospitalized due to an unexpected traffic accident.

The guild came running back to the village after hearing that he connected. The guild members’ faces were tanned by the sun.

“Offer our loyalty to the Arpen Kingdom quickly.”

“What?”

“Join the Arpen Kingdom. Fire Bear hyung hasn’t come for a while but there have been rebels trying to migrate to the Arpen Kingdom.”

Taren village was just a small village with only a few soldiers but a rebellion was still possible at this level. Fire Bear was puzzled because he thought of the guild members like younger siblings.

“Why?”

“You haven’t been watching television?”

“Yes. That would make me want to connect more…..”

“I don’t want to say it. Visit the Arpen Kingdom and take a look.”

Fire Bear rode a horse towards Morata. But there was no need to go there. He passed through the middle of Yusellin and it was completely different from when he last graduated.

“That place was a potato field…..”

Various buildings had replaced what used to be potato fields. He even saw evidence that the number of beginner users in Yusellin had increased. The shacks that had become the symbol of prosperity were built closely near the hill.

Fire Bear saw two more villages before deciding.

“I have to enter the Arpen Kingdom!”

He could retain the lordship even if he became a subordinate. Of course, he still needed to pay a portion of the taxes and needed to follow the decisions made by the nobles of the kingdom. But even with that entire burden, it was possible to receive compensation if he joined the Arpen Kingdom.

And many guilds developing the north had already submitted to the Arpen Kingdom. If Weed returned and agreed then his territory would increase intensively.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The hummingbird with a full stomach flew over the sky of the Haven Empire. He had an idea about surveying the place while on the road. He sometimes came down in order to eat honey and pollen.

‘Um. The farmland is well arranged.’

People talked a lot about the aggressiveness of the Hermes Guild. But they managed to secure their territory pretty well and poured a considerable amount of power into domestic administration.

There were waterways to pull water from the rivers as well as systematic farmlands where grains were sowed. The peaceful and beautiful sight of the Haven Empire stretched out before him.

Weed descended onto a rice paddy and ate heartily.

‘Mmm, delicious. Rice from the Hermes Guild seems to have a better flavour.’

The hummingbird that filled his stomach! Weed looked around as he ate.

Quite a few residents lived in the cities and villages of the Haven Empire. The financial power had developed from an early stage so there were many nobles and middle class. Brick houses were common in the cities.

There weren’t many beginners hunting near the gates due to the fact that many had been driven to the north.

The residents had to pay heavy taxes and despite their loyalty not being high, peace was kept through the strong military.

“I’m going hunting in Rusopon Dungeon.  I have a permit for the 2nd underground floor. The tax I have to pay is 22%. I’m joining to help someone.”

“You are a new member of the best hunting party. The fastest level up is secured. The condition is that you don’t assert any rights over items and japtem acquired.”

Weed sometimes felt so frustrated it was hard to talk. Money was needed for hunting as well as trade and production. Of course, the Haven Empire had many stable hunting grounds where crowds gathered but it was still tedious. People weren’t adventuring and just focused on growth. Their levels might grow faster than others but their combat power was weaker.

‘Like a scarecrow.’

Weed watched a square for a while before heading elsewhere.

“A small bird!”

A few residents discovered the hummingbird but most didn’t care.

“Eik!”

Sometimes there were young children who threw stones! Weed flew quickly so there was no fear but a chance hit could mean an unnatural death. This was also a predicament of a hummingbird.

Weed relieved his thirst at a small stream and ate a few small insects before leaving the Haven Empire. He had to explore a larger area than other hummingbirds so his body was busy.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

An area occupied by the Embinyu Church. The ground was scorched and villages destroyed.

Weed flew down close to the ground. The apple trees and grains were burnt. Screams seemed to soar into the sky and it had a hell like atmosphere!

‘Really… It is a very serious place.’

Quite a few areas on the Central Continent were under the Embinyu Church. The kingdoms and prestigious guilds engaged in disputes, causing devastation and allowing the Embinyu Church to take over.

There were many dangerous and inconvenient points about an Embinyu occupied area so the users sneaked out from that area. The destruction by the Embinyu Church weakened a prosperous continent. It wasn’t impossible for monsters to run rampant and destroy civilizations.

Weed moved along rivers and mountains and also visited famous tourist spots on the Central Continent.

Ddiring!

– You have appreciated the Miturit Waterfall.

Art stat has increased by 1.

Many people flocked to this tourist spot. If their health was high then they could experience the waterfall.

Weed started to fly up again. He once again moved with the wind before flying downwards with all his strength.

– You have acquired 1 silver.

He picked up the silver coin before flapping his wings and climbing up into the sky.

‘Now where to go…..’

The Central Continent was a wide place to travel.

‘I can’t go to the south.

The south was a desert environment so it wasn’t a suitable environment for hummingbirds. He needed an easy place to find honey and insects.

‘Let’s go to the familiar east.’

Weed crossed the Rosenheim Kingdom and headed beyond the Yurokina Mountains. A repetitive day and night journey!

The middle of the Rosenheim Kingdom had been destroyed by the Embinyu Church.

‘I became familiar with a lot of residents here…..’

The pyramid was still present but the surrounding terrain had been changed into a swamp due to the flooding. It was the effect of the disaster that Weed caused.

Weed also suffered trying to obtain food around here.

‘Nature should indeed be protected.’

He was making noise about nature conservation!

He tried to look for the Sphinx he gave life to but couldn’t find it. At that time, Weed had left on the wyverns but he knew that the Embinyu Church destroyed it through the broadcast. The shattered fragments were probably lost in the river or scattered over the ground so it was impossible to find.

The Rosenheim Kingdom had to rebuild the capital around the Serabourg Castle but the area in the clutched of the Embinyu Church was a mess.

Fortunately Weed passed safely through the areas under the Embinyu Church’s influence and reached the Yurokina Mountains. The dark elves and orcs were separated due to the gods they believed in.

“Chwik, the glaive is the only thing I believe in.”

The orcs were very simple. Their numbers were larger in the past and the orc users were also active in pioneering. Weed taught sculpting to the orcs so some crude sculptures were set up in villages. He sat down on the shoulder of a sculpture to relax for a bit while picking at his feather.

The keen eyes of an orc child discovered Weed.

“Chwi chwi chwit, there is food there.”

“I’ll still be hungry after eating that, chwit!”

“I should go somewhere else.”

He had flown a great distance over four days. However it was necessary to fly further for a perfect success in the quest.

‘Shall I go to the end of the east?’

At the end of the East.

Pioneering didn’t reach there so it was completely clogged with monsters. It would be a great help if he came back here to hunt after the quest. The body of a hummingbird was optimized for long distance travel but it endlessly needed to eat and had no combat ability.

The natural environment was intact and there were many beasts as he headed east. There were other flying creatures and wriggling snakes that tried to eat Weed. A frog hiding in the bushes was more fearful than a level 400 monster.

‘Let’s go someplace else. The quest is a priority rather than dangerous adventures.’

He calculated the flight distance and changed his direction.

‘I have to arrive at the north beach in the Brent Kingdom and cross the archipelago islands before arriving in Morata. And then I will head to Rhodium again.’

He watched people and monsters as a hummingbird and mingled with other birds. He had many romantic thoughts while travelling around the continent for 12 days as a hummingbird.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Kiruk kiruk.

The edge of a beach in the Brent Kingdom. Weed travelled with the seagulls. His body was small as a hummingbird so most birds ignored him.

Caw!

Weed especially used his body to bully the black crows. The crows tried to chase after Weed but he would use his body to avoid them. It wasn’t dangerous due to the quick speed of a hummingbird but there were quite a few of them. He also ate nectar from the flowers blooming on the edge of the beach and spread pollen!

– You have sown the Mandragora seeds on the Hill of Wind.

This land is rough and dry so it isn’t easy for flowers like the cosmos to grow. But the viability of the Mandragora means it is able to grow and will someday form a strong community.

Affinity to Nature has increased by 4.

Art stat has increase by 7 due to the natural beauty.

Your sculpting proficiency will increase once the plant matures.

Weed scattered pollen with the range of a hummingbird. Because Affinity to Nature was essential to produce a great disaster!

‘It will be good for creating a disaster larger than a canyon collapse.’

It would be good if a greater disaster was caused. If the plants grew and spread then he would also gain sculpting proficiency later on. The hummingbird’s daily routine seemed to just be eating but it actually played an important role in nature.

Weed crossed the ocean. A hummingbird had extremely good vision and the seagulls also gave him directions.

He found a bunch of other migratory birds and followed them to an island rich in flowers, fruits and nuts.

The trip with birds was fun in its own way. Mixing between and looking at thousands of birds was infinitely peaceful. The hummingbird’s speed was quicker than any other birds but the problem was that it couldn’t fly great distances without getting hungry. Still, if he ate until his body was bursting then he could get to an island safely.

– You have obtained the rare seeds and pollen of a Snowdrop.

It is a white flower that blooms in winter when it snows.

– You have obtained the rare guava seeds.

You have collected tasty fruits.

If he spread the precious seeds then Weed could gain more stats and sculpting proficiency. He wasn’t just making wood or stone sculptures but turning the whole continent beautiful.

“Spread the main sails!”

Ships belonging to merchants and adventurers drifted on the ocean.

“Turn to the port side and follow the ocean current!”

Weed loitered near such ships.

– The appearance of a hummingbird has increased your luck.

A hummingbird that is difficult to meet at sea has appeared.

The probability of damage from a natural disaster has decreased and unexpected good fortune can occur during the voyage.

There were intense winds and storms at sea but there weren’t many monsters wandering like on land. Sometimes dangerous marine creatures like sharks could be seen but often it was tedious. The fishing skill was indispensable during those times!

The sails were adjusted according to the wind while the navigator set the direction. Weed settled down lightly on the shoulder of someone fishing.

“Pretty Bird, where did you come from?”

A hummingbird was considered lucky so he was welcomed.

“Hummingbird. This is the first time I’ve seen a hummingbird on the ocean.”

“Today is completely lucky. Are you hungry?”

The women especially responded well to him and fed him tasty sardines. It was difficult to catch fish in the ocean but the hummingbird was able to generously fill his stomach.

“I caught this so let’s eat it.”

“Apply fermented soybean paste!”

Of course there were users aiming for his life. Their levels were below 200 so it wasn’t very high. Battles didn’t frequently happen at sea so their levels and skills were low. Weed flew away without any regrets while listening to their threats.

Kokokokokok!

Of course he mercilessly pecked at their sails before leaving. He had four days left as a hummingbird when he arrived on the northern continent. He scattered the many unusual seeds he found on the islands. A big part of living as a hummingbird was discovering how to eat well.

He planned to drop some unusual seeds in Morata before heading back to Rhodium.

Of course he had to fly during the day and dark night. He wasn’t an owl but he became accustomed to flying with the stars in the night sky. The hummingbird’s 12 day journey was almost over. And if he was tired then he would land on top of other birds or on the mast of a ship.

Chapter 8: Disaster Three Times

Weed arrived at the coast of the Arpen Kingdom. Amazing changes had occurred in the meantime. Morata’s cultural influence had spread and merchants often arrived at the white sandy beach by ships.

Merchants could bring over more goods by sea. Other areas had shallow waters or reefs so most of the ships gathered at Varna Coast. It was the place where the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin landed with the orcs.

Morata’s artists and architects came to this place.

“We need to make a harbour for ships to dock.”

“A breakwater needs to be constructed to stop the waves.”

There were huge social investments in the infrastructure of the Arpen Kingdom! Aside from roads, village expansions and building construction, tax money was also invested in the construction of a harbour. Architects and engineers worked on the harbour for 1 month.

Then beginners who started in Morata flocked here.

“Sea… It can be called a man’s romance.”

“I’d like to experience adventures on the sea like Weed-nim.”

“Kyaa! The scales of the marlin swimming on the surface of the water is gleaming in the sun.”

Beginners didn’t have any prejudices when adventuring on land.

The Embinyu Church was causing confusion on the Central Continent so the sea path was being actively developed.

Other famous harbours on the continent contained luxury yachts and large sailing ships with 10 sails. The elegance that couldn’t be covered up with rafts was a source of great pride.

People took rafts and rowed out to a nearby sea.

“Right now I really don’t have a penny. Should I earn some money by adventuring at sea?”

“You won’t be able to go out to the open sea in a raft. What will you do if a storm occurs?”

There were no basic facilities like a shipyard, shipping exchange or stores at the harbour so the users fell into a painful situation. Sailing knowledge was something the Arpen Kingdom never had so it was impossible to set up related buildings.

The users of Morata found the answer to this difficult problem themselves. Architects and blacksmiths participated in creating ships. They used skills mastered in the Central Continent to create the ships. In some cases, there were those who went to the Central Continent specially to learn shipbuilding skills.

“Selling a boat that will leak water when the waves hit it. I even went to the Brent Kingdom with this ship. It is possible to feel drowsiness from the sea.”

“I’ve got this boat with broken sails. There are only a few holes in the bottom but it can be used again. Just be careful of sharks.”

The experience of the people manufacturing ships increase and a shipyard was created. As they gained experience, their speed increased and they could build larger ships.

“The problem is the money for the ship but that will be solved with a fishing rod.”

“That’s fine.”

Beginners preparing to buy a cheap ship would sit down at the beach with a bamboo fishing rod. More than 1,000 people fishing! Some people even sat on rocks where even placing one foot wrong would be dangerous.

“A big fish!”

“It is a horse mackerel. Yes! It is hard to buy 1 horse mackerel even if I hunt for 3 hours!”

Those who learned fishing wanted to go adventuring at sea. They were the people who liked the smell of salt and listening to the sound of waves.

“This fishing place is good.”

“I seem to catch a lot at dawn and in the morning. I should find a better bait.”

The biggest power in the north, the Grass Porridge Cult had large expectations for Varna Harbour.

“If there is fresh fish…..”

“It will be possible to make porridge.”

“I also need to challenge cockle porridge, seaweed porridge and green laver porridge.”

The internet community for the Grass Porridge Cult had more than 1 million daily visitors. Someone made a list of porridges that could be made from sea ingredients and it kept on growing.

There were many beginners who would take their rafts into the emerald sea and start fishing.

“Save me!”

“Please help. I’ve been drifting back for the last 6 days. I’m tired of sharks chasing me!”

Varna Harbour was a familiar landscape. Fearless beginners fished in order to gain money and become familiar with the sea.

There was a village next to the harbour where residents lived and local specialties like salted fish and whale oil were born. There was even a trading market for merchants.

It was difficult to get seafood in the northern continent so the harbour town in the Arpen Kingdom quickly grew.

The Arpen Kingdom had a solid economic power so it was soon able to build the required facilities. A Maritime Adventurers Guild was constructed to deal with sea quests.

“If we follow the ocean currents then we will arrive at the Kareatas Archipelago where we can catch a lot of saury. Let’s go!”

“I just received a quest to retrieve a stone state!”

“A quest to recover relics from a sinking ship! We have to sail for 3 days towards the east. I think it will fail but do you still want to go?”

It was hard to sail in the constantly changing north ocean. The beginners’ small ships pioneered new routes. If they found villages on islands that weren’t on maps then they could obtain new quests and complete trades.

Merchants in the Arpen Kingdom who discovered it would bring their fleets to the island to start expanding trade. It was possible to see many users sailing on rafts at Varna Harbour.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed dropped in at Morata and scattered the seeds before heading back to Rhodium with the pollen of some wild flowers.

– You have moved the seeds of the Bripa wildflowers.

Flowers that don’t grow in Rhodium! You have brought the seeds of a rare flower on the continent. The bees and butterflies will probably be glad to travel to such marvellous flowers.

Affinity to Nature has increased by 21.

Art stat has increase by 9 due to the natural beauty.

Your sculpting proficiency will increase once the plant matures.

Weed brought wildflowers from the north. In Morata, flower festivals would sometimes occur to make the people happy. If the flower festival spread to Rhodium and people became happy then it wouldn’t be a bad thing. The success of his quest would raise the positive influence in Rhodium.

Weed released Sculpture Transformation and returned to the old man.

“The hummingbird is really mysterious. Life wasn’t boring at all while I was travelling.”

– Hummingbird’s Journey

You have travelled as a hummingbird and returned.

During the trip you have spread a wide variety of pollen to distant places.

– Fame has increased by 3400.

– Your level has risen.

– Sculpting skill proficiency has increased by 3.4%.

– Your successful adventure has increased all stats by 3.

– Your successful adventure has increased all stats by 3.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 41 after finishing the hummingbird’s journey

.If Weed reported the natural discoveries while travelling as a hummingbird then he could gain additional compensation. He was the King of the Arpen Kingdom so he would have to report to other lords or nobles in order to receive the compensation.

The old man nodded without any spirit.

“I haven’t seen a hummingbird for a long time. I want to see a hummingbird again before I die….. Then the next story involves sculpting. A story was passed down about a sculptor who caused a great disaster. As humans, it is natural to be afraid but there was something beautiful in the terrible destruction.”

Weed gave a response.

“A big disaster is sometimes really wonderful.”

It was the best sensation when used against his enemies.

“That’s right. New life can also grow after a sweeping natural disaster. There is currently a large problem occurring on this continent….. The Embinyu Church is constantly destroying every day. If a disaster happens to them then I will tell you a bit more about radiant beauty.”

– Cleanse the Chaos on the Continent with Disasters

The Embinyu Church is currently endangering the continent. They commit evil and don’t hesitate to destroy the beauty of artworks.

Inflict damage to the army of the Embinyu Church through sculpting! This is to help the continent recover so you can gain the best honours.

During the quest, Affinity to Nature will temporarily increase by 35%.

If you cause 3 disasters and return safely then you will continue with the next quest.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Great Disaster Nature Sculpting is required.

You have to safely survive the quest. The quest will fail if you die.

A quest requiring him to use Disaster Sculpting!

“Uhh!”

Weed thought it wasn’t easy this time. He had faced the Embinyu Church in the past and they weren’t inferior to the Hermes Guild!

In those days, the Embinyu Church was weak because they hadn’t advanced into the continent yet. The present Embinyu Church controlled a wide territory after the Hermes Guild and their military power was great due to incessant wars.

That wasn’t the only difficult part.

“The Affinity to Nature is too high.”

This had a large influence on the destructive power of the disaster. He was always raising his Perseverance and Resilience stats on a regular basis but it would still be hard for Weed to resist the disaster.

“Escape 3 disasters alive… And the opponent is the Embinyu Church.”

It seemed like an impossible request but he could select the disaster and the target inside the Embinyu Church. He could see some possibilities.

“Since I have to produce it, I should do it coolly.”

He might become famous for being a destroyer on the continent.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Fort Odin in the Britten Alliance Kingdom!

Recently the Hermes Guild occupied a large piece of land but they didn’t pass the large military fortress. The Cloud Guild risked life and death to maintain this location but now the Embinyu Church led an army to invade it.

“Death to heretics.”

“Smashing them according to the command of God Embinyu!”

The Embinyu army consisted of 60,000 Dark Knights, demons and fanatics! The fanatics kept on scaling the walls despite the strong defense. But now a High Priest was leading another 26,000 troops towards the main army.

Fort Odin was meeting its biggest enemy since it was built.

“Defend the Britten Alliance Kingdom.”

“This is the last fort protecting the free cities. We will fight!”

The Cloud Guild tried to get the support of users in the free cities but the plan didn’t go smoothly. Users avoided fighting against the military of the Embinyu Church.

Participating in a large scale war could gain many achievements but there were many painful things about facing the Embinyu Church’s curses. They chose not to participate in a religion’s expedition against the Embinyu Church or the siege.

However the Cloud Guild was still powerful and had many users spread out through the Britten Alliance Kingdom. There were also mercenaries participating in Fort Odin’s protection for the compensation and quests.

“Drop the oil here!”

“There should also be some arrow support.”

Fort Odin was busy competing with the Embinyu Church. It was risky for the Cloud Guild to have anything else taken away so they definitely had to defend Fort Odin. They organized a defense army but the Embinyu Church’s early offensive wasn’t easy. The crazy thrust by the fanatics was different from a normal siege and couldn’t help causing fear.

“War! The Embinyu Church is invading Fort Odin.”

“Is it possible for them to take over the impregnable Fort Odin?”

“Right now that is just the advance party of the Embinyu Church.”

The audience ratings were so high that three stations were doing live broadcasts. While the advance party was attacking for 4 hours, the Embinyu Church’s main army filled the plains. A mammoth was also rallied to break the walls.

“Damn. This won’t be easy.”

“Fight until your sword is broken!”

The users in Fort Odin became tense as they headed out to the field. Defending the walls during a siege seemed comfortable but it wasn’t like that. The advance of a large force meant they could be stuck in the fort for days. There was also the fear of being killed.

“We have to fight until the end.”

“I’ve been prepared for death since I started defending Fort Odin.”

The Cloud Guild poured a majority of power into this but morale wasn’t high after their recent defeat.

Suddenly the ground started to shake. A natural disaster like an earthquake rarely occurred on the Versailles Continent. But a quake had never occurred at Fort Odin. There was also no mention of earthquakes in the history books. Yet the ground was shaking so violently it was hard to stand up. This earthquake was fearful from a beginner or ordinary user’s point of view.

Kugugugugung.

A mountain started emerging in the centre of the Embinyu Church’s main army. The demons and fanatics fell down, leaving the walls of Fort Odin naked. Some of them died but the crowd couldn’t cheer.

A 400 metre rocky mountain had emerged in dozens of seconds. This alone was a strange magic! A 400 metre high mountain had appeared on a flat plain so it wasn’t something small. There was even a natural lake on top of the mountain.

“What the hell?”

“Why did a mountain like that appear in the heart of the Embinyu’s army?”

“It is really lucky.”

Kwarururururung!

The land around the rocky mountain started shaking again. This shaking was quite intense and caused the users and soldiers of Fort Odin to sit on the ground. The atmosphere seemed like something could explode at any moment.

“W-what?”

“I just don’t think it is just an earthquake.”

“Smoke is showing from the top of the mountain. Isn’t the shaking also coming from there?”

“Huck! If this is a volcano…..”

And after a while, the mountain really exploded. Smoke was emitted before a colossal pillar of fire soared in to the sky with a roar.

A volcanic eruption.

Rock debris and lava flew all over the place. A volcanic eruption common in the Jigolaths had occurred in the Britten Alliance Kingdom!

“Kyaaaak!”

“Get down!”

People instinctively screamed.

“It will unconditionally splash everywhere!”

And there were people whose judgement was ahead of the situation. Many users watching were fearful and amazed. This sight was difficult to see no matter how much money they paid.

Yet a volcanic eruption happened to occur in the middle of the Embinyu Church’s army. Lava and stones fell down and struck the army. The hot heat could be felt from Fort Odin and the sky turned black due to the volcanic ash.

It was a small mountain compared to others but there was an excessive amount of lava flowing out. The lava and hot gases hit the ground near the volcano. Demons ran back and forth but they were burnt whole and turned into grey ash. Even the knights and cavalry troops with tremendous combat ability couldn’t avoid the disaster.

The speech of the broadcasters became faster as this situation occurred out of the blue.

“Ah, the Embinyu troops attacking Fort Odin has received large damage. What is this volcanic eruption that suddenly took place?”

“It is possible to guess a little bit. The Cloud Guild must have prepared it.”

“Then couldn’t they have done it earlier with the Hermes Guild? Maybe they recently acquired a relic with the magic… It is too enormous.”

“How astonishing! That just shook the sky and the land.”

“I have well informed sources within the Cloud Guild but I never heard of such preparations. It wasn’t going to be used against other players so why would they conceal it?”

“As you can see on the broadcast, even the members from the Cloud Guild are stunned to see the eruption.”

“Then who is a person who can cause a volcano to erupt?”

The sky was dark due to volcanic ash. The lava flew up high. Wings spread open and a wyvern appeared with a person on it. This person was the one who most players wanted to meet in Royal Road, Weed the God of War.

Weed held his Daemon Sword while approaching on Wy-3.

“Weed! I knew it was Weed.”

The studios made a fuss.

Appearing between the flowing lava on a wyvern. A more attractive appearance couldn’t be made.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

“The God of War is helping us!”

A dramatic victory atmosphere appeared in Fort Odin as they cried out. Of course their situation was different from Weed because they were observing from a distant place.

“Ya! Left, the left! Lava is going to emerge there.”

“Keeeek!”

“This time fold back your wings. Lava will be breaking out from those crevasses. Be careful near there!”

They narrowly avoided the lava gushing out from the volcano.

Wy-3 released urgent movements while shrieking with a pale face. What sin did it do to meet an owner like this?

“The wyvern is awesome.”

“Too cool.”

“The shrieking really sounds gruesome and terrifying.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yurin always heard rumours about Weed when travelling with Picture Movement. She heard talk about Weed even when she didn’t go to any villages or cities. Whole cities were noisy about a big battle between prestigious guilds but there was an almost manic atmosphere around Weed’s adventures.

Whether they were guests inside taverns or users going hunting and adventuring. Many users had high levels worth bragging about but Weed was a hero to them.

‘I wonder what Oppa is doing today.’

Yurin went to a river flowing through a city and took out her fishing rod. Every time she tried to enjoy the fishing skill that Zephyr taught her but it was boring. She wore a wide, yellow hat and paint splattered clothing to go fishing!

‘Oppa is doing well.’

Yurin didn’t worry about Weed. He was a person who would like being alone on a desert island because everything was free! The flora and fauna on the island would become pitiful.

She was curious about the type of women Weed would meet. Because that person might become her elder sister.

‘Hwaryeong unni is good.’

The first candidate was Hwaryeong who was often in his party. She was very attractive and didn’t hide that she had a crush on Weed. Yurin once asked Hwaryeong why she liked Weed.

“Weed-nim is domestic. He does laundry, cleans and also makes good rice. The flavour of the steam crab the other day was perfect!”

Of course, liking his domestic side wasn’t the entire reason but it was a huge portion of it for Hwaryeong.

Yurin also had a woman’s intuition about Seo-yoon. Rumours spread at university about Seo-yoon and it was confirmed after she moved next door. Yurin rarely felt like she was lacking in appearance but it was like a god made Seo-yoon’s beauty.

‘That face is really… She can meet foreign actors and even royalty with it.’

She wondered why Seo-yoon was so interested in Weed that she would even make boxed lunches.

‘I heard rumours about blackmail.’

Even his little sister doubted the relationship between the two of them. When Yurin met them in Morata, her brother looked very plain next to Seo-yoon. Then Seo-yoon spoke in a clear voice.

“I’m not living off a man’s looks.”

However it still didn’t make sense to Yurin. Objectively it wasn’t just his appearance but other parts as well. Seo-yoon had a higher level than him in Royal Road. Seo-yoon wasn’t inferior in any areas.

“What if you get married later but Oppa can’t get a job and just plays at home?”

“Money? I will earn it.”

“Things that require strength.”

“A woman can also do that.”

“Even giving birth to children?”

“I have to bring them up well.”

“……”

Yurin could only nod. She had so many things to say but nothing came out. She felt like Seo-yoon was too pitiful.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Here is the amount promised.”

“Huhu, I had no doubt.”

Weed meet a messenger from the guild to receive payment for a contract. It wasn’t worth inflicting Great Disaster Nature Sculpting on the Embinyu Church for free. He made contact with the guild suffering from the Embinyu Church and the Cloud Guild quickly accept his offer.

His task at Fort Odin had been completed successfully. The Embinyu Church’s army suffered huge damage from the eruption and their moral was shattered. The Cloud Guild didn’t miss this opportunity and left the gate to destroy the Embinyu Church’s troops.

Weed also killed 100 Dark Knights while riding Wy-3. The morale of the soldiers increased every time the wyvern appeared above the battlefield. The Embinyu Church’s army became incoherent and scattered so the Britten Alliance Kingdom didn’t have to worry about them for the moment. The great victory was broadcasted and the Cloud Guild could regain its confidence.

Weed’s cloak fluttered as he got on Wy-3.

“Huhuhu, then next…..”

“Excuse me, please wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

“There is a mountain in front of Fort Odin. I hope you get rid of it before you go.”

The former 400 metre mountain had increased to 890 metres after the explosion. Lava still simmered and smoke rose so it looked dangerous.

“The mountain is good for your health. People should live close to a mountain.”

“What are you saying now….”

“Wy-3, let’s go. Hiyah!”

“……”

Chapter 9: Embinyu Church’s Suffering

Lee Hyun searched for a suitable place for the next disaster.

“Places where the Embinyu Church is playing an active role….”

It was convenient to check the bulletin boards. There were posts talking about places where the Embinyu Church had mobilized a huge army to invade. Even the home pages of the broadcasting stations showed dangerous areas where the Embinyu Church was located.

“There doesn’t seem to be many places that the Embinyu Church is controlling.”

He could ride Wy-3 to penetrate into enemy territory. There were already some righteous people who believed in their own level and encountered a useless death. Lee Hyun couldn’t act recklessly because he had his own burdens.

It would be dangerous to become surrounded by the army of the Embinyu Church and the Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

“I need to fight back in the safest spot.”

Lee Hyun searched for such a place. The terrain and natural environment needed to have the proper conditions for the disaster.

Bernerd Castle in the Aidern Kingdom! The army of the Embinyu Church is advancing towards it and a siege was expected. The place was close to the sea with intense winds.

“It is suitable. Yet this isn’t a perfect plains area so the users would have no choice but to be approached in the disaster.”

Lee Hyun couldn’t control the disaster or adjust the strength at will. He took the destructive power of the volcano into consideration and placed it in a distant place but other disasters were uncontrollable.

“I should write a sentence.”

Lee Hyun logged into his own account on the home page of Royal Road. Thousands of messages had arrived in his mail.

Naturally he didn’t read the contents but skimmed their titles. There were advertisement contracts and product sponsorships. Messages that fans sent were like spam mail but he still had the habit of reading the subject.

Hyun-woo entered the bulletin boards.

“I have to write it simply.”

Title: I am Weed. This is a request.

I’m planning to fight the Embinyu Church at Bernerd Castle in the Aidern Kingdom.

Please warn the users there that a disaster similar to Fort Odin will occur.

They should be careful and not leave the safety of the castle tomorrow.

As soon as Lee Hyun wrote the post, the number of replied surpassed 2,000 in no time.

– I am first.

– Boarding.

– I hitched a ride as well.

– Look at the information not the comments.

– Is it really Weed?

– I’m also Sun Hwi Gwon.

– I thought it was a trick but the ID is really the God of War.

– Weed-nim wouldn’t write a sentence here, fools.

– My name is Weed. Kya kya kyak.

– Eh? It really is Weed.

– The person who wrote this is really Weed the God of War.

– I don’t know who is a fool. But this is amazing.

Lee Hyun’s post increased by hundreds of views in a very short time. It quickly moved to other bulletin boards and communities and became a topic. It spread to the extent that the news reached the broadcasters.

– I’m currently in the Tullen Kingdom. Can I arrive at Bernerd Castle by tomorrow if I ride my horse all night?

– I’m in the Aberdeen Kingdom. I am looking for people to go to Bernerd Castle. Riding skills beginner level 6 or intermediate carriage control skill is necessary.

– I’d like to fight like Weed-nim. Let’s go.

– I’ll go too. I can’t miss a great opportunity to see a disaster.

– Asa, I’m in the Aidern Kingdom. There isn’t anything to lose. I have to see the disaster!

The users saw Lee Hyun’s words and gathered at Bernerd Castle.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bernerd Castle.

The Embinyu Church was scheduled to attack it so the users moved to other areas. However, Weed caused users to teleport or travel from other kingdoms towards Aidern Kingdom.

Bernerd Castle has the atmosphere of a festival as users gathered. Tourists arrived at the castle through the main gates.

“Come in quickly. The Embinyu Church is coming closer.”

“The disaster?”

“Nothing yet.”

“We’ve just arrived!”

Users who walked or rode a horse from distant places barely entered the castle walls. If the users’ power was combined together then Bernerd Castle’s defense had increased by 10 times.

“Embinyu Church!”

“The army is approaching from the south!”

Users felt a sense of expectation in their chest despite seeing the demons and fanatics in the Embinyu Church’s army.

“What will Weed-nim use to smash them? It will be completely wonderful.”

“Kyaa, I really wish they would all be swept away.”

It was difficult to experience a thrilling moment like this in Royal Road without risking their lives.

The Embinyu Church began advancing towards Bernerd Castle. The distinctive shrieks and voices chanting strange hymns to the Embinyu God rang out.

Kill for God Embinyu

We willingly sacrifice our bodies.

The word of God Embinyu tells us to destroy this corrupt world.

A complete cleanse.

Demon slaves were pulling large siege weapons.

“When is Weed-nim coming? These guys will arrive in less than 30 minutes.”

“Isn’t he a genius? Look at what he did in the previous broadcast.”

“Being a little late is different from not coming at all.”

“Maybe it is in between? He often makes a surprise appearance.”

Users prepared for the siege along with the soldiers. They were in Bernerd Castle so they had to fight the Embinyu Church if they wanted to survive. The Embinyu Church’s army was getting closer. They had marched a long distance but the High Priest’s power meant they weren’t fatigued.

“How long until he comes? If he doesn’t then we’ll have died for nothing.”

“He will come. If he doesn’t then I will curse him for the rest of my life.”

Their anxiety grew larger. And then something appeared on the open sea. It was rapidly advancing over the water.

“What is that?”

“F-fabulous!”

The users gathered on the walls. The reason was that they could see 12 whirlwinds approaching land from the sea. If the users died at that moment they would’ve been satisfied just seeing the whirlwinds!

In front of the whirlwinds was Weed aboard Bingryong. Bingryong roared his regret.

“Master, why is it me this time?”

“Wy-3 ran away!”

Wy-3 hadn’t met him at the scheduled place so Weed was delayed.

Bingryong flew with all his strength as the whirlwinds violently whirled behind them. The 12 whirlwinds moved and mixed temporarily, sometimes becoming so big that the size couldn’t be imagined. It was to the extent that the sea floor was revealed. The power of that whirlwind would be enough to tear Bingryong to shreds.

“Master, I’m happy because I could be together with you in the meantime. Please give me proper funeral proceedings when I die.”

The frightened Bingryong flew with all his might while leaving behind a will. The whirlwinds were too scary. Weed also thought back about the long time he had spent with Bingryong.

“Don’t worry. I will prepare red beans.”

“Why would you bring red beans?”

“I can’t send you off with nothing. I have to separate the useful parts and sell them.”

Weed wanted to engage in business with patbingsoo (shave ice and red bean).

“Kuowooooh!”

Weed and Bingryong finally arrived with the whirlwinds.

“Kyak, the best!”

“Weed-nim, I’ve been waiting!”

“Ah! It was worth coming here.”

100 people were on a hill of stones near the coast. They didn’t leave even when the Embinyu Church nears and just waited for Weed to come. They were relatively high levelled but set aside their most important equipment. These users wanted to try the cool experience of dying from a disaster.

“My body is floating!”

“Kyaaah, how cool!”

“Grass porridge. Grass porridge!”

The fearful wind suck up the users and struck the army of the Embinyu Church.

Kuweeeek!

Demons shrieked as they flew into the air. The whirlwinds passed over land and uprooted large trees. Even demons planting their feet in the ground and trying to hold on were drawn in by the wind. The 12 whirlwinds advanced through the army of the Embinyu Church and left a complete wreck behind.

Bbuuuuung!

A huge rhinoceros flew into the sky. It then fell to the ground and crushed the fanatics, Dark Knights and priests.

The twisters that intersected and mixed together increased the destructive power to a truly terrifying level.

The siege weapons were smashed or ripped apart and some were dropped into the sea. The steel shields had no effect in stopping the wind as the fanatics were sucked into the whirlwind.

The players who came to Bernerd for the spectacle had goose bumps.

“This isn’t a joke.”

“Ah, it is really scary.”

“It is like something from a dream.”

It was the electrifying sight of Weed passing over the Embinyu army on Bingryong with the whirlwinds following him. It was a charisma that made even high level users humble.

“Only the highest levelled use in Royal Road would possess this degree of capability.”

“It’s not completely a legend? I’ve never seen something like this.”

“It is really difficult for a magician specializing in wind magic to raise their skill to this extent.”

The users cheered on Weed’s destructive power.

“Bingryong, if this continues then we’re going to die. Fly faster!”

“The best… I’m doing my best.”

Bingryong was big and couldn’t help being affected by the whirlwinds. Despite squeezing all his power to fly quickly, the whirlwinds were overwhelming. The power of the whirlwinds was so strong that the users on Bernerd Castle were pushed back by the winds.

Weed turned his head and looked back at the whirlwinds.

“Bingryong.”

“Speak Master.”

“I have good news and bad news. Tell me what you want to hear first.”

“The good news.”

“The whirlwinds have decreased to 8.”

“I’m glad.”

“And the bad news is that they’ve become stronger.”

“That isn’t so good after all.”

“But you felt comfortable for a bit after hearing the good news.”

“……”

4 whirlwinds had integrated with the others and the power was doubled. 4 large and 4 small whirlwinds were left.

The Embinyu Church’s army formation completely disappeared because of the wind. Battling in such intense winds was impossible. The Embinyu Church became offerings for the whirlwinds.

The demons, fanatics and Dark Knights were also flying in the air with Bingryong. They were thrown all over the place by the whirlwinds. They fell from a high place so almost all of their health drained out at a dreadful speed.

The even more fearful thing was being caught in the middle of the whirlwinds. The distance between the whirlwinds was wide so many things were caught up by them. There were wood, stones, trees, water etc. along with the Dark Knight, demons and fanatics.

“We’re going to get caught. Can’t you go faster?”

“This is the maximum speed that I can go.”

“It can’t be.”

The power of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting meant he couldn’t get caught. Disasters like a landslide or cliff collapse was somewhat predictable but the suction power of a whirlwind was different. It was to the extent that solid wooden buildings disappeared without a trace. A large rock hanging in the air was crushed into tiny pebbles by the wind pressure.

“The disaster shouldn’t last that longer. Bingryong, prepare to turn back!”

Bingryong obeyed Weed’s words and slowed his speed. His instinct was to fly forward but Bingryong took a breath and slowed his speed while turning around.

He believed in Weed after the relationship they formed. As soon as he slowed, Bingryong felt the suction power of the whirlwinds.

“Wait a minute. And… Now. Blow!”

Ice Breath was emitted from Bingryong’s mouth and struck the whirlwinds. The whirlwinds were temporarily weakened but that only lasted for 10 seconds. The whirlwinds spinning and scattering the chunks of ice was a spectacular sight.

It was more like an ice storm than a whirlwind. And the movement stopped until the remaining whirlwinds were merged together. Bingryong’s eyes were filled with resentment as he looked at the whirlwind. The whirlwinds mixed with each other started to unravel.

“Bingryong, fly!”

Bingryong was happy to accept that command. Weed and Bingryong escaped from the tangled whirlwinds and flew to the remnants of the Embinyu Church’s army.

The whirlwinds had really wreaked havoc as corpses and shattered fragments were scattered in front of Bernerd Castle. And the moment the whirlwinds disappeared.

The Embinyu Church’s army had fallen from the sky.

Kuwooooh!

“Em…bingyu… Praise God….”

The demons and fanatics were scattered all over the place. The Embinyu Church’s army had suffered a loss of more than 20%. Almost all the Dark Knights and priests caught in the whirlwind had died. The demons and fanatics didn’t suffer a huge loss but their morale had fallen to the lowest possible level.

The Embinyu Church’s High Priest had immediately retreated with some dark knights when the disaster had approached. The Embinyu Church didn’t have that spirit of sacrifice like the Royal Knights.

The highest rank of the army was safe but the damage received by the army caused the command system to collapse. Morale played an important role in battle and their commanding officers had just fled the battlefield.

Weed flew towards Bernerd Castle on Bingryong. And he let loose his Lion’s Roar!

“Let’s go! We will win this fight!”

Bernerd Castle was owned by a NPC lord. Weed wasn’t a king on the Central Continent so he had no authority but he had showed off his power and leadership.

“Open the gate!”

The gates opened at the lord’s command. And users came out to fight the Embinyu Church. It was possible to fight while protecting the castle wall but the enemy wasn’t responding properly so it was more profitable to go and attack directly.

There was the High Priest and Dark Knights but it became a one sided battle once Weed, Phoenix, Golden Bird, Silver Bird and Bahamorg appeared.

“Kuaaak.”

Wy-3 belatedly flew down from the sky.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Embinyu Church’s army had suffered considerable damage but the main power, the High Priest and Dark Knights had been unharmed due to their retreat. The fanatics and demons tried to fight against Weed, his sculptural lifeforms and the users of Bernerd Castle but they had lost their will.

The main force retreated as soon as the situation wasn’t good. Nevertheless, it was a big battle so the people involved could gain fame, loot, stats and achievements.

“Weed-nim, thank you very much.”

“I’m really grateful.”

Weed got back on Bingryong and disappeared into the distance. The users couldn’t forget the memory of Bingryong’s magnificent wings spreading.

The third Great Disaster Nature Sculpting was used in Rosenheim Kingdom.

Many areas in the Rosenheim Kingdom were under the rule of the Embinyu Church. While searching for a suitable place, he found a fortress that the Embinyu Church had built!

A colossal amount of food and weapons for war were gathered.

“There are at least 70,000 troops. And siege weapons are also being manufactured.”

It could be seen as an important bridgehead for the Embinyu Church to secure the Rosenheim Kingdom.

Weed decided to ruin this place. And Wy-3 was trembling in fear.

“I’ve done many bad things but this isn’t dangerous.”

He had created quite a few disasters. This time safety was the most important fact so Weed prepared something suitable.

“Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

A sculpture of a Red King Ant was destroyed! After a while, the Embinyu Church’s fortress was covered with red king ants.

“It looks as beautiful as expected.”

Weed flew over the fortress on Wy-3. It was going to be broadcasted on KMC Media and CTS Media so a suitable atmosphere was required.

“We need to use his popularity.”

The broadcasting stations wanted a song. The reason was that many viewers were interested but Weed declined. He couldn’t properly sing if the stage wasn’t a large battle.

“I won’t recklessly sing my important songs.”

The king ants could eat wood and even stones and iron. The demons and fanatics in the fortress tried to resist by fighting. Several buildings collapsed and flames soared up.

However, the number of red king ants crawling from the ground and through gaps in doors was frightening. They had small wings but could only fly 4~5 metres at a time. On a broad plains area, wide area fire magic could be used but the fortress was a shut environment so it was more advantageous to the red king ants.

Monsters crawled out of every opening and holes in the buildings. Meanwhile the red king ants ate the food fathered and made it impossible to use the weapons. The buildings were severely damaged and many fanatics died.

Even more cruelly, it didn’t end with just one disaster. So far Weed had created disasters related to the natural environment. But this time the disaster was related to a creature.

The red king ants cut holes in the ceilings and laid many eggs. The baby ants would be born and the disaster repeated.

“Even the house I lived in before had trouble with ants.”

Weed remembered the house he had rented back in his junior high days.

It would become infested with ants if he spilled even one drop of a drink. It was to the extent that leaving an open bottle of coke would have the ants swarming. The cockroaches and mice were nothing next to ants. If the ants bred properly then it was really difficult to get rid of them. The ground was covered in a blanket of ants

“The ants aren’t as strong as humans. But if didn’t leave any food in the house then they would try to tear my flesh.”

The disaster reminded Weed of bad memories in his past.

The power of experience!

The Allesa Fortress became permanently unusable.

Ddiring!

– You have continuously dealt important blows to the Embinyu Church.

The Embinyu Church that covers the continent in evil!

The damage suffered from these attacks can’t be predicted but they will be difficult to recover from.

You have protected the peace of the continent and the various religions and kingdoms are full of admiration for the heroic actions of a sculptor.

– Fame has increased by 4,160.

– Charisma has increased by 3.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 4.

– Art stat has increased by 11.

– Achievements for all religions and kingdoms who declared war on the Embinyu Church has increased by 2,190.

– Title! Hero who Saved the Continent has been acquired.

This title is given to the person who has the largest achievements on the Versailles Continent.

You can recruit subordinates to fight the Embinyu Church. The Royal Knights, free knights and paladins will answer your righteous call.

This is the first time the title Hero who Saved the Continent has been given. If another person builds up a larger achievement then the title will be lost.

While the title is maintained, all residents will pay attention to your existence.

You can get respect from the residents.

The effect of Leadership and Charisma in a fight will increase by 27%.

The highest honour has been granted.

Luck has increased by 45.

Weed gained a huge profit from the disaster related quest.

“I need to go back and report the quest. Wy-3, let’s go.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

While the Imperial Palace was being constructed, the Hermes Guild worked on domestic administration for the areas they occupied. Lords were appointed, roads built to connect to other areas of the Empire, farmlands were expanded and urban development and mining was accomplished.

But more than anything else, it was important for them to expand their military power. Knights were selected and commanders led soldiers out to subdue monsters.

Only a small number of top level leaders knew the Hermes Guild’s war plans.

“We have to hurry and conquer the continent. There will be no truces now.”

“The training of the archers has been completed quickly. The magic soldiers unit is the problem…..”

“Didn’t Krobidyun agree to prepare them?”

“More time is necessary to raise the ability of the residents. Despite that, the magic soldiers unit right now is wonderful.”

The Hermes Guild strategically built magician related facilities and learning facilities in various cities. It was expensive but necessary to raise the ability of the guild. The Hermes Guild also invested in research and development. They taught smart residents and formed a magic soldiers unit.

The Hermes Guild raised the Haven Empire and prepared to conquer various kingdoms. They didn’t want to stop the continent conquest war once started so they systematically prepared their forces for it.

“Weed is showing a prominent figure these days.”

The residents of the Haven Empire were talking about Weed every day. Merchants trading at a market or workers in a tavern spread stories about Weed’s adventures against the Embinyu Church. Weed was being called a hero of the continent so the Hermes Guild wasn’t pleased at all.

“He seems to be doing the Sculptor’s Master Quest. Bardray-nim, do you have anything to say about that?”

“I have nothing to say. It isn’t necessary to deal with him right now.”

“He has the precedent of causing trouble for our guild. It might not be a good idea to leave him alone.”

Quite a few top level leaders wanted to take strong measures against Weed. Weed had damaged the Hermes Guild’s pride many times. They wanted to restore their honour now that the Haven Kingdom had grown into an empire.

Bardray had already got revenge on Weed in the Melbourne Mine so Lafaye considered him as minor compared to the other noteworthy guilds on the continent.

“Stop. The Hermes Guild can’t care about Weed now. Class Master Quest? There is no need to be interested in that. If Weed succeeds first then it might distract people. Our goal is to complete the conquest of the continent and we should focus on that.”

“Understood.”

Lafaye made preparations for war with the entire continent. It was decided to ignore Weed for the moment.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed arrived at the Stellar Tear in Rhodium to report the quest.

“You have come back safely.”

“Yes. I restored justice on the continent as a sculptor and returned.”

“It must have been difficult and dangerous.”

“No. I was just doing what my heart felt was worthwhile. It is my mission to help the people persecuted by the Embinyu Church.”

Ddiring!

– Cleanse the Chaos on the Continent with Disasters has been completed.

The Embinyu Church at Fort Odin and Bernerd Castle. The third disaster struck Allesa Fortress.

The inhabitants of the continent will know about the sculptor Weed’s justice. The Embinyu Church that recruits people with lies and fear has received a big impediment.

– Your level has risen.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– Fame has increased by 1,618.

– The success of the spread of the Embinyu Church has decreased by 32%.

“I will tell you more about how to express a radiant beauty.”

“I will listen.”

“There are several avenues for research so sculptors often find their opinions conflict while drinking alcohol.”

“……”

And he heard miscellaneous stories for a long time. Some sculptors didn’t have a good nature, others weren’t happy drinkers etc. Weed remembered all the information he heard with no exception. Something might be a clue when facing a difficult quest.

‘Drinking alcohol and fighting, being popular with women, selling sculptures to pay off debts….. Different types of sculptors tried to sculpt a radiant beauty.’

Weed was then informed about what he had to do.

“You must not give in when trying to express a radiant beauty. You should move forward despite any disruption that might occur on the continent. It will help if you learn to bend with the wind and the waves. And the years….”

“Huh?”

“It takes a really long time to be able to carve the nature in the world. The sweat incurred from the long labour can be represented in the sculptor’s words.”

Even the open grain of a dead tree cut down was beautiful and over time it could grow branches again. Rainwater would flow and gather in ravines and after a long time become a waterfall.

It was the magnificent beauty of nature that even a sculptor couldn’t challenge.

“Something created over a long period of time can be called a miracle. The sculptor had to go through hardships in order to express that beauty. Are you familiar with the free spirited Fairies?”

“A little…. Our relationship isn’t bad.”

He had a quest related to healing the Fairy Queen Teneidon’s wings that were cursed by a dragon. However, the quest difficulty was high and it wasn’t an urgent quest so he could do it without rushing. He had saved Teneidon by killing Barkhan so the fairies were still thankful to him. They also sometimes appeared when he cooked in dungeons. Weed was satisfied eating delicious dishes and the fairies would go away when he tore off barley bread for them.

“Even if you are the aware of the miracle of nature, the sculpture will take a long time to form. The fairies can help with that.”

Ddiring!

– Sword of Light that Splits Everything

The sculpting master Zahab has left behind Sculpting Blade. It is a sword technique that uses moonlight to defeat wicked enemies! You have developed Sculpting Blade and even learnt Radiant Sword.

Raise the skill proficiency of Radiant Sword by watching the wind and waves. The more intensely the wind and waves are, the quicker the experience will rise.

Your current standard is Beginner level 6. Reach Advanced level 2 in 110 days.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Sculpting Blade and Radiant Sword is required.

The quest will fail if you fall into the water and die.

It was a very unexpected quest but Weed was used to this type of thing after training with the Geomchis. And it wasn’t just one quest.

– Sculpting that has been Shaped over a Long Time

Many of the beauty in the world isn’t completed in a short time period.

Complete a sculpture of nature.

If completed, the fairies will gather to live there and give you a gift.

Due to the nature of sculpting and the fairies, the terrain can’t be completely changed.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Nature Sculpting is required.

A close relationship with the Fairies.

The quest will fail if you die.

He already had the quest from the Fairy Queen Teneidon but fortunately his quest to create a secret technique didn’t affect his quest limit. If he hadn’t settled that then he wouldn’t be able to get the final secret technique.

“First the most urgent… I need to reach Advanced level 2 in 110 days.

The proficiency of an offensive skill grows quicker than a basic sword skill. But it isn’t an easy thing to suddenly raise a skill.

“If my Radiant Sword level was already high then I don’t know how much I would’ve had to raise it. Anyway, if I use it repeatedly then I can raise the proficiency level.”

Weed’s mind was already heading towards the beach. This wasn’t an ordinary sea. The beaches on the northeast of the northern continent had fierce winds that hit the waves.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Merchant users often visited Vent Castle and Arpen Kingdom became more widely known.

“This is a specialty of the Arpen Kingdom! A really good product. Many people are looking forward to it so I’ve brought a lot.”

“In the days of the Niflheim Empire, there was no need to worry about monsters like we do now.”

“I’m thankful for the King of the Arpen Kingdom for beating back the north. But our knights are loyal to the Niflheim Empire until the day we die.”

“The food from Morata is really fresh and tasty. Wasn’t it a place known for its sewing skills in the past? It seems to have a wonderful lord.”

The residents and hunters marvelled while trading with the Arpen Kingdom users. The merchants were satisfied with the trade route and went around the north even more eagerly.

Merchants would ride horse drawn carriages to look for new villages. They created northern trade routes.

Morata’s Merchants Association!

Merchants who found a village and traded there could gain experience and money. They invested a huge amount of money into the Arpen Kingdom and the merchants like the benefits of proprietary trading.

But that changed after Gamong opened the way to Vent Castle.

‘I can’t eat that much alone despite my monopoly ending when other merchants come.’

‘It will be okay if the village develops.’

‘There are many places in the north that have been closed off with their development stagnant. If merchants come there then development will quickly increase.’

The scale of the trade depended on the size of the village and the number of residents.

“I came here with some food so do you want to trade?”

“Of course. You brought such important food….. But as you can see, our village is old and there might not be enough to exchange. Will you take the fangs of a monster or animal leather as payment?”

“Yes!”

Ddiring!

– A festival has occurred in Tallun village!

The food has been imported through trade with a merchant. The empty grain warehouses have been filled and residents can feel a sense of relief.

The productivity of the residents has increased by 300% for 1 month. The village’s culture and technology will advance quickly in that period of time.

If there is a stable supply of food then the village’s birth-rate will increase.

The residents’ alignment has changed to active.

Guests can participate in the festival and enjoy themselves.

Rice snacks and wheat that were the Arpen Kingdom’s specialities could be sold at the festival. The advances in productivity, the technology developed and the birth-rate increase were highly appreciated.

Many villages in the far north and the mountains have existed since the time of the Niflheim Empire. If the population increased then the merchant could trade in larger quantities. If the village grew into cities then the list of luxury goods would grow.

Villages isolated in the mountains of the north that weren’t destroyed by monsters were developed by the merchants. While Weed had a grasp of the circumstances in Morata and the Arpen Kingdom, he didn’t know about the changed in Vent Castle and the north.

Many of the northern villages were destroyed by monsters so only a small number of people lived there. Users weren’t interested in such places. The population didn’t exceed 300 people maximum in those places.

It was just a momentary place to rest while exploring the continent. But the villages grew due to the merchants visiting and the influence of the Arpen Kingdom spread.

And it spread.

– The inhabitants of Risil Castle are impressed by the Arpen Kingdom’s food production, technology development and cultural prosperity and wish to be ruled by it.

They had a village meeting and decided to belong to the Arpen Kingdom.

Specialties: None

Population: 1,491

Monthly Tax Revenue: 732 gold.

Villages steadily joined the Arpen Kingdom.

“Isn’t it true that King Weed doesn’t begrudge spending money on his residents, agriculture, technology and art development? I heard it from travellers. Many people are talking about the intelligent king of the north.”

“I heard that the Arpen Kingdom is a place that people can really live in. Of course it would be wonderful with a hero ruling it.”

“We can trust in the honourable King Weed. I will take my wife and children to Arpen Kingdom.”

Weed was known for his adventures, sculpting, Morata and the founding of the Arpen Kingdom so he had a significant impact on the residents of the north.

For the moment, the land was scarcely populated and of no use but if they got rid of the monsters then mine development could be accomplished. There were also specialities from the Niflheim Empire so if investments were made then they could reappear.

The territory of the Arpen Kingdom widened and the merchants obtained more profit from trading with the villages.

Merchants affiliated with a kingdom could have easy and comfortable dealings when making domestic trades. Normally only a few merchants would go to closed off villages but there was no such restrictions in the Arpen Kingdom. In addition, it was possible to enhance their fame and contribution to the kingdom by making large profits in trades.

If there was a good village then merchants would buy farmland or abandoned mining areas. If they threw mercenaries at their investments to eradicate the monsters then they could make a steady profit. They also didn’t forget to build stores and smithies. They could buy more goods in a village they had influence in.

Merchants didn’t have a very good impression on the Versailles Continent.

– A miser who won’t get rid of even 1 coin.

– A talkative person who spends time in the squares and talks nonsense.

– A profession with no combat power, can’t adventure and has no goals other then making money.

Merchants had no merit other then making money according to other people. Most merchants were active on the Central Continent were the economic power and development was stable. Of course, merchants enjoyed themselves but other users didn’t approve of their profession.

But the north was a paradise. Development speed increased depending on the activities of merchants riding on carriages. Beginners were absorbed by the Arpen Kingdom and spread in the north. From the users’ perspective, the villages they were active in became large and the quality of the goods sold improved.

The north was polished off by Mapan and Gamong!

Other combat professions respected the for their ability to develop a village.

– The merchants are raising the kingdom.

– Merchants are the flower of trade.

There was a re-evaluation of merchants. And some residents who were scholars said.

“The King of the Arpen Kingdom has a link to the Niflheim Empire.”

“What does that mean?”

“He is the only person that can bring the Niflheim Empire back.”

Weed had gone to Jigolaths and succeeded in a S rank quest.

The founding of the Niflheim Empire! The quest was just lingering and waiting for the conditions to be met. Weed had the title of Heir to the Niflheim Empire and this had a great effect on the culture of the Arpen Kingdom.

Even the users and lords in the Arpen Kingdom were swayed by it. The villages in the north including Vent Castle started to show respect for Weed and their interest in the Arpen Kingdom increased.

Chapter 10: Talk of Heroes

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed faced the waves and used the skill. The eagles shot out and separated the waves before disappearing.

– The proficiency of Radiant Sword has increased.

The daily training in a windy sea has increased the regeneration of all items that add mana and any priests that accompanied you. The place had rough rainfall and sharp winds blowing throughout the day. To the north of Varna Harbour was a beach where hardly any navigators sailed.

“This place is suitable to raise my skill proficiency.”

Weed’s greatest asset was his concentration. He didn’t go fishing but wielded his sword while standing on the rocks. The waves were so dangerous that it would cover the rocks if he glanced away.

He had to cut it precisely every time the waves swept towards him and he had to push back his instinctive fear when there was a huge storm.

It was a dark place without a separate day or night but marine creatures would appear in the evening.

“They are snacks.”

Weed used Radiant Sword against the sea and hunted monsters. It wasn’t as high as a dungeon but his experience steadily climbed. The sea creatures tried to attack in groups but Seo-yoon, Bahamorg and Eltin.

“It is a bit risky but this is a quest I have to overcome.”

Weed didn’t take a short break even when his mana or vitality ran out.

“Even if the monsters are too strong or I can’t find the required quest items, I can’t fail this quest!”

Grinding was about pride! Dozens of days passed and his skill proficiency increased so much that 5 eagles were flying out from Weed’s sword towards the crashing storm waves.

The mana consumption rose but the destructive power and range also increased. Radiant Sword was now Intermediate level 1.

“The power of the sword technique has risen so I can go to a more dangerous place.”

Weed took a raft out to sea.

Sailing on a sailboat in a severe storm was impossible, let alone riding the turbulent sea on a raft of woven logs. However, he had a certain amount of sailing skill so he was determined.

The storm became increasingly severe and the wind was raging. Weed balanced on the raft and swung his sword. When he was about to fall into the sea, Weed would use his past sculpture Light Wings to leave his seat quickly.

He desperately fought against the turbulent waves and rain that made his previous dungeon hunts seemed easy.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon came over to his house while Lee Hyun was in the capsule. She had been visiting day and night since moving in next door.

Bark bark bark!

Dogmeat acted even friendlier then he did towards Lee Hyun as he barked and wagged his tail.

“Have you been waiting? Eat a lot.”

Seo-yoon generously poured food into Dogmeat’s bowl and generously gave him snacks. Dogmeat ate all the snacks and bone broth while Seo-yoon brushed off the fur on her.

Cackle!

The chickens welcomed Seo-yoon when they saw her. Even the yellow chicks waddled around her. The rabbits lay in a pile of grass and stared at her with large, shining eyes. The ducks came along like they belonged with her.

“Ducks should be raised in a puddle….”

The ducks and chickens locked up looked pitiful. Seo-yoon made a large pond when building her house for the ducks.

“I’ll take the ducks.”

“Why?”

“Don’t they smell and make a lot of noise?”

“Sometimes.”

“I’m going to train them at my house. I’ll also give them rice.”

“Take care of it.”

The ducks were plopped down in a pond that was large enough for a person to swim in. Seo-yoon already controlled the hearts of all the animals in this house.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed risked his life!

The outcome was that his Radiant Sword skill proficiency kept on rising. Weed’s mood was high when a lightning bolt suddenly struck the sea. Luckily he had items with lightning resistance and managed to avoid the lightning storm or he wouldn’t have survived.

Weed was a hot topic once his training was shown on the broadcast.

“I really should rethink becoming a sculptor. He already had several large battles as part of his quests and now he has to endure that?”

“It is said that the Sculptor’s Master Quest is one of the most difficult among all Class Master Quests.  It is unknown what stage he is even up to anymore.”

People saw Weed’s behaviour and mistakenly thought of it as part of his Master Quest. If they knew it was for a secret sculpting technique then everyone would be astonished but that could never be disclosed. He wouldn’t tell them even after acquiring the skill.

However, many beginner sculptors changed to other professions like a Painter. If the Master Quest was too hard then it would be better to give up early and change to another profession.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi5 decided to proceed on the Martial Artist Master Quest first.

“I heard that you cleaned up the monsters. Recently there is a group of bandits that have become a threat…..”

“Should I kill them?”

“The martial arts they are using isn’t ordinary. Only someone who knows martial arts can get rid of those people.”

Geomchi-5 beat the quest using his sword fighting skills. The quests for a martial artist fit Geomchi-5’s inclination perfectly. He could fight against his enemies to get stronger skills.

Wielding a sword was good but Geomchi-5 was completely immersed in the effects of the skills. The skills were useful in special situations and the person using it looked quite flashy. Looking cool in a fight was very important.

“These days the soldiers are too weak. At this rate I don’t know if peace can be defended. Please teach the soldiers some martial arts…..”

“I will teach them until they feel like dying.”

Geomchi-5 smoothly proceeded through his quests. There weren’t any difficult quests. But then he bumped into an obstacle on one of the quests!

“I heard that you help people in trouble. Please rescue our daughter.”

A farmer said while clinging to him.

“They dragged my daughter to the Rui Thieves’ Lair. Who knows what they will do to my poor child….. Rob those bad guys until they have nothing left.”

Geomchi-5 nodded his head.

“Well, I have to accept your request after hearing that.”

Some martial artist quests didn’t give compensation but fame and intimacy with the residents rose instead.

“This is a picture of my daughter that a painter drew.”

Ddiring!

– You have obtained a picture of the farmer’s wife and daughter.

“Looking at this will be helpful.”

Geomchi-5 unfolded the picture without any expectations.

“Heeok.”

A beautiful girl with long, straight hair and a bright smile!

“Father-in-law, did you say the Rui Thieves’ Lair? I will go help immediately.”

He entered the Rui Thieves’ Lair as soon as he accepted the quest. He managed to rescue her but it was too late and she was already dying.

It was his Class Master Quest so even if he failed, another chance came again a few days later. This time a merchant asked him to rescue his daughter.

– You have obtained a picture of a young lady on the streets of Rase.

“Father-in-law!”

This time he went to rescue her but failed to bring the daughter out safely. His skill in Weapons Mastery and judgement in battle was superior but he was limited on a fundamental level.

“I am too weak.”

A martial artist frequently had combat quests so his level was essential! Geomchi-5 felt powerless so he desperately hunted before making another attempt and succeeded.

“Thank you for bringing back my daughter safely.”

“It’s nothing, Sir. A man should be able to do this much.”

“It is shabby but this is an old map. I don’t know what you can find….”

“No. I didn’t do this because I was hoping for anything in return.”

“I’m so grateful! My daughter is back so now she can have a wedding ceremony with her fiance.”

“Kuheuhuk.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– Sailing skill has increased to Intermediate level 1.

Acceleration of the ship will increase by 2% and the probability of the ship being overturned by rough conditions has decreased by 6%.

Damage to the hull when there is a storm will be reduced. When cannons are used, the shaking of the ship will reduce.

The effect of all skills related to the skill related to the sea has increased.

– Perseverance stat has increased by 15.

– Health has increased by 500.

– Skilful navigation has increased all stats by 3.

His Sailing skill increased while on the raft. This wasn’t a relaxing sail on a boat without any wind. Weed rode the raft and fought against a storm every day. Dark clouds filled the sky and it was constantly raining.

Kurururung!

Fearful lightning struck the sea! He desperately struggled to stop the raft from being overturned by waves.

– You have been struck by rain for a long time so Vitality has been reduced by 21%.

“Today is a crisis.”

To be honest, Weed was having fun. His desire to challenge tough things burned inside him as he fought against the heavy waves. He needed to concentrate or he would die if he fell into the water.

He found a wild side while cutting apart the waves. He could live as a free man without worrying about morals or discipline. That’s why many people lived on the sea.

If Weed ran out of vitality then he would come to land and carve the rocks.

A swordsman against the sea!

He sailed on the raft and carved sculptures while fighting against powerful sharks.

“I’m somewhat lonely.”

He made a sculpture of a Blue Marin while observing the features of any sea monsters he discovered.

The sea storms also forced out huge and strong marine creatures. But they didn’t come anywhere without a fast flowing water current. While Weed was training on the raft, they were waiting with open mouths under the water.

Amid the wind and rain, the water turned a little darker due to the marine creatures.

“It has been a little over1 month since I started this quest.”

Thanks to the dangerous training, Radiant Sword reached Intermediate level 4.

“This is enough to achieve the quest.”

It was the 37th day. A more severe storm than usual blew in. The ropes tying Weed’s raft together couldn’t resist the power of the waves and broke apart.

Plop!

Weed was concentrating on Radiant Sword and his reaction was a second too late. In the end he fell into the sea.

‘The prey has come.’

‘It was worth waiting.’

The marine creatures shook their fins and approached. There was even a kraken whose body exceeded dozens of metres. The marine monsters gathered in order to eat Weed.

‘A rare nutritious food.’

‘A strong human.’

Monsters liked strong enemies. If they won the fight then they could grow and learn skills. There were many battles between races on the Versailles Continent and it was common for the winning forces to become stronger.

A human that fell into the water was normally weaker than the sea creatures. They usually couldn’t exert their combat power. Moreover, their ability to resist a severe storm would fall.

“Kkururuk!”

Weed struggled but drifted away due to the rapid sea currents. Waves 8~9 metres washed over him. Suddenly there was an immense wave of water 40~50 metres big.

– You are having trouble breathing.

Water has entered your mouth.

The abilities of your body has fallen.

Wakjak!

The kraken’s tentacles struck the place where Weed was. The logs remaining from the raft were shattered. Other marine creatures tried to swallow him but they just drank water in vain. The sea currents didn’t flow in one direction but surged in complicated patterns.

Weed spiritlessly floated around on the waves.

– Fatigue has reached 85%.

Maximum vitality has decrease and it can cause major problems when using skills.

Although his fatigue was high, the increase in Concentration stat meant that his skill proficiency could grow quickly. However, the bad situation meant he was worried about dying immediately.

In the middle of his desperate crisis, Weed pulled a rope that was tied to his ankle. It was a rope connected to an empty barrel. He grabbed the floating wooden barrel and managed to catch his breath.

He couldn’t support his body because of the waves so he had no choice but to swallow seawater. If he drank the water without breathing then he would lose consciousness.

That’s why grabbing the wooden barrel was a great help.

“It really seems like I’m going to die. I have a lot of savings….”

They weren’t visible but the sea creatures were coming from underwater to eat him. When he was on the raft, he would use his Light Wings so they had been aiming for a chance when he couldn’t escape. They crowded all over the place once he fell into the sea. It was the horror of being eaten by sea monsters!

“Light Wings!”

Radiant wings unrolled behind Weed’s back and he flew into the air.

Peseseok!

At that moment, the wooden barrel was crushed by the big mouth of a monster.

The broken pieces of the raft or any piece of land couldn’t be seen. It was difficult to determine a direction due to the high waves, rain and dark clouds.

“I have to get out of here quickly. But which way should I go?”

The severe storms and winds made abnormal sea currents and waves. His vitality and mana fell from the rough wind and thick rain. If he fell into the water then he wouldn’t be able to swim due to the weight of his armour. Moreover, the water was filled with sea creatures waiting with open mouths.

“There are a few other ways but…..”

Causing a disaster here would be a double sided edge. A disaster falling in this stormy place would just kill him.

“There may be a way to survive the sea.”

Before using such an extreme way, he could also use Sculpture Transformation to turn into a sea creature. Rebirth as a large fish or a squid monster! Training without any precautions in a storm was reckless.

“Well let’s go somewhere else first.”

Weed opened his Light Wings and flew up high. The wind was intense and lightning also struck high in the sky.

“It doesn’t seem to be in this direction. There is no visible signs of land. Let’s go to the right.”

The storm became increasingly intense.

“Not here either. Then once again to the right…..”

He quickly swerved the thick intense and intense, frightful waves.

“Not this side either. This seems to be the centre of the storm.”

Weed took threats to his life seriously. Although the storm was intense, he couldn’t afford to enter the sea.

Then a pure white shell rose up in the sea!

“That is…..”

He had given life to many sculptures in the Jigolaths. The nature of several species that lived in the sea meant they escaped from Weed’s grasp.

Among them was the Malleins Eunoto Turtle! A huge turtle that lived in the depths of the ocean, Surka had often played with it.

“Turtle. Turtle.”

It was Turtle crying out to Weed.

Weed had a great understanding of life.

“Living a good life will give blessings. Reading the contents of a child’s storybook wasn’t a waste.”

“Turtle. Turtle.”

“Let’s go Turtle!”

Weed landed on Turtle’s back. The Malleins Eunoto Turtle was originally an extinct species but was given life using Sculpture Life Bestowal. It had unusual markings on the flat shell and many oysters stuck to it.

“I can do the rest of the training on this shell.”

He was going to use Turtle until the end of his quest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Time passed as Weed concentrated on training in the stormy sea. A period of more than 100 days wasn’t a short amount of time.

“Hahahaha, I finally found the treasure!”

The Adventurer Chase found a royal treasure while completing his Class Quest!

“Have you heard about the adventurer called Chase? He just became tremendously rich.”

“He became an Earl in the Brent Kingdom and bought a plot of land.  He is now building a house that could be called a palace.”

The story about Chase spread through Royal Road. The dungeon scene where he unearthed the treasure was so popular it continued being played as reruns during the late night hours.

Warrior Python swung his sword in the Averian Forest, one of the continent’s 10 forbidden zones. His Class Master Quest required him to hunt a boss monster here. It was possible to hire soldiers and receive the help of others but he chose to fight alone. Python had the wild charm of a wolf so many users cheered him on.

Farmer Miretas developed new crows and greeted a year with abundant harvests. The great crop yields rapidly increased the birth rate of the city. It was a large topic that Miretas had settled down in the Arpen Kingdom for his Master Quest.

“There is good climate, an abundance of blessings from the Freya Church, a wide fertile land and irrigation from rivers and lakes so the Arpen Kingdom is really good for farming.”

Miretas was a farmer who loved peace. He had lands in the Dale Kingdom but he had to offer half of his grain crops as tax. The Arpen Kingdom had low taxes and the warehouse storage fees were cheap. This was a lot of benefit to farmers so he couldn’t help admiring that point. Weed was a king with consideration and support for each profession so they could feel at ease.

“There is only one set of these clothes on the continent.”

Drago advanced to his eighth quest. He went to a village on the edge of the Arpen Kingdom and made clothes for the children. He cut the fabric, sewed buttons and watched children running around in clothes he made. They were NPCs but it felt like he was a parent giving clothes to his children. This was something that only someone who made clothes could feel.

“The form is good with fine lines and it fits well….. The feeling also matches the clothes.”

The residents who put on the clothes became happy. If the residents wore clothes made for specific tasks then their results would be much better. The users on the Chef Class Master Quest went to places on the continent suffering from war, plagues or disasters.

“The ingredients found here… I have to cook everything that can satisfy hunger.”

Food was prepared for the weak and starving. Residents would gather once they heard a chef had arrived and the chef’s fame spread.

Heroes were born from the Class Master Quests.

Of course, there were also quests for bad classes from warlocks, thieves and assassins. The Master Quest could make a hero or a villain.

A person who first chose an assassin for quick hunting decided to do the Master Quest.

Ddiring!

– Choice in the Shadows

You are someone who lives in the darkness. It is possible for you to snatch someone’s precious life.

If you want to enjoy prosperity then assassinate 10 rich merchants in the city.

And if you want to maintain your honour and pride then assassinate 30 people committing wicked acts on the continent.

The wicked person has to be at a higher level than you.

Level of Difficulty: Assassin Master Quest

Quest Restrictions: Assassination skill Advanced level 7.

You can’t allow yourself to be detected while doing the quest.

“Assassinating wicked people….”

The continent’s top assassin. The unknown man was drinking beer at a tavern alone. He had many achievements on the Versailles Continent and hunting secretly.

An assassin was a profession that didn’t need to hunt in a party. Even so, their damage was the absolute best about combat professions. Traps could confuse strong monsters or surprise attacks meant an assassin could gain experience and skill proficiency quite quickly.

Of course, they also needed to be prepared for more danger.

“The difficult one will be more fun.”

The assassin left the tavern and his cloak fluttered as he disappeared into the crowd.

Since that day, vicious lords and high ranking members of the Embinyu Church suddenly lost their lives. The residents of the Versailles Continent cheered but it wasn’t clear that it was the actions of an assassin. His every movement was so covert that no one knew his name.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The continent was no different from the Warring States period. The boundaries of the kingdoms built in the early days of Royal Road changed as the conquest war continued.

The Kallamore and Lasalle Kingdoms had disappeared and rumours about heroes spread quickly. The peace of the kingdoms deteriorated so the residents became dependent on heroes.

“There will be a magnificent coronation five days from now.”

The Black Sword Mercenaries won the civil war and inherited the king’s seat for Gradian Kingdom. It was to win the hearts of the public through the ceremony. The Gradian Kingdom would now start a war of conquest under the control of the Black Sword Mercenaries.

“The status of the knights?”

“Very good.”

“Then the next area to capture…..”

They invaded the villages at the border of the kingdoms controlled by the Roam Guild. The United Supremacy Guild had broken so they couldn’t miss this opportunity.

“We have to grab many villages from the weak guys.”

“We have the precedent of the Hermes Guild so it is okay.”

Anyway, they didn’t believe in anything like an eternal alliance. In the end they needed to accumulate a large power if they wanted to conquer the continent. Only the Cloud Guild and Hermes Guild were completely silent but their circumstances were completely different.

The Cloud Guild have been deprived of territory and their grip on the Britten Alliance Kingdom was weakening. It was like a sun who had shone for a while and was now gradually darkening.

They had experienced a large defeat to the Hermes Guild and was slowly collapsing. That’s because users left the losing guild. If they stayed together then they could continue fighting against the Hermes Guild.

Even with the disadvantageous situation, the economic power and population of the Britten Alliance Kingdom meant they could have a dramatic come behind victory. However, many users left the Cloud Guild after suffering a crushing defeat and feeling intimidated by the Hermes Guild. The Cloud Guild belatedly took steps but they we unable to change the situation.

Meanwhile the Hermes Guild was rapidly expanding their military power while taking care of domestic administration. Now the Cloud Guild didn’t have the ability to declare war. The Hermes Guild wasn’t taking action now but everyone knew they would be advancing at a terrifying speed when they did.

Haven Empire!

It had the economic and military power of an empire so the other guilds paid attention to them.

The Central Continent was also suffering from the Embinyu Church. Many high level users died and became weakened in the wars, residents lost their lives and people closed their stores. There were many thriving cities that turned to ashes.

Despite the overwhelming military and economic power of the Versailles Continent, the users were gradually losing the assets they accumulated.

The situation in the east, west and south continents was a little different. Even if a kingdom was small, peace was high so the Embinyu Church couldn’t take root easily.

In the east, Brent Kingdom and the Rosenheim Kingdom decided to settle their rivalry to fight against the Embinyu Church together.

The tribal kingdoms and barbarians aggressively resisted the Embinyu Church.

And the north was changing rapidly.

Chapter 11: Sea Turtle

“Life is what it is… I started to understand this as I grew older.”

Bart could understand why his daughter Seo-yoon and other people were excited about Royal Road.

Reality wasn’t warm like a fairy tale and the relationship with other people was cold.  Too many people mechanically lived their lives floating through school and work.

People became lonely as time passed and they aged. They drank, found hobbies and travelled but recognized that they were lonely. However they weren’t alone in Royal Road.

“I heard that the chef Jeiren developed a unique grass porridge. It is free to eat until the sun rises.”

“Going to conquer the dungeon filled with grey wolves! We’ve already been wiped out 9 times. This time we will definitely succeed.  A thrilling quest for people less than level 60.”

“Selling steel belts. To be honest, it is very heavy and rusty so the defense has lowered. So I’ll be selling it cheaply. Selling urgently! If I sell this then I can buy a hat for my mother.”

The square was overflowing with people shouting. Of course, there was also a lot of people in real life department stores, subways and parks. But they were bleak and there was no emotion regarding relationships.

In Royal Road, everyone spoke regarding hunting or trading so it was easy to become friends. It didn’t take a long time to become familiar with someone.

“The Hermes Guild isn’t bad.”

“There is no need to bring it up.”

They helped on difficult tasks and attacked together. People could go on exciting adventures with those they got along with so it was no wonder Royal Road was popular.

‘I now understand why Cha Eun-hee showed Royal Road to Seo-yoon.’

Living in a different world. And this was a world where the pleasure of meeting important friends could be experienced. In reality, a familiar routine was repeated every day while there were dramatic incidents on the Versailles Continent. It was a fun world because it was dangerous!

And he heard talk about Weed almost every day.

“Did you see Weed-nim’s adventure?”

“Yes, it completely thrilled me. He sailed a raft into a storm.”

“The residents were just talking about him.”

“Yes. I heard.”

The residents spoke about how Weed fell into the sea.

“They’re talking about the King of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Weed? A sailor said he fell into the sea so he might’ve been eaten by a shark now.”

“What will happen to our kingdom from now on?”

“His Majesty is a person who thinks about honour more than a knight. More righteous than anyone else. If he is experiencing a storm then he has a reason. If you think about disparaging him then get out of my store.”

The users and residents of the Arpen Kingdom praised Weed.

“I seem to have mistaken him.”

In the past, Weed was getting close to Seo-yoon so Bard didn’t have a good impression of him. He handed over an envelope of money but Weed didn’t accept it.

“He has the ability to rule a kingdom. He might be worthless regarding money but he seems to be a solid youth.”

Bard’s evaluation of Weed turned more positive as he spend time in the Arpen Kingdom.

“Weed looks really stupid. He was also stepped on by Bardray.”

“I want to travel all around the continent on adventures. Don’t jinx it.”

“What is the Grass Porridge Cult? There should be tonkatsu grass porridge and pizza grass porridge.  Ggol ggol ggol!”

Some male users were drinking beer at a tavern and blaming Weed. They were acting boldly while drunk and made a mistake.

Bang!

It hadn’t even been 3 minutes since leaving the tavern before they were killed. Users quietly drinking in a corner followed them and attacked. The users knew that they could live comfortably in the north because Weed reclaimed it.

Bard had to admit that Weed’s presence in Royal Road was like the sky.

“Mister, over here!”

“We’ve been waiting for 20 minutes. Why were you so slow?”

Bart was managing a company so he didn’t have a lot of time. His judgement in battle was also inferior to others. He reached level 32 but he still found the kobolds scary. Frankly, it was normal for him to cause trouble for his party.

He was thankful that his colleagues didn’t abandon him and kept hunting with him. This was the hunting party he was introduced to after joining the Grass Porridge Cult

“I’m sorry. I was looking around while selling….”

“Have you prepared everything?”

“Appreciated an artwork?”

“Ah, I forgot….”

It was a basic part of living in Morata to appreciate an artwork before hunting.

“It’s okay. We’re going far away today so we’re going to visit the Garden of the Gods.”

The party appreciated Weed’s sculptures and went hunting.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

When there was 7 days left on his quest deadline, Weed’s Radiant Sword reached Advanced level 2.

Ddiring!

– Radiant Sword has reached Advanced level 2.

You can utilize a special type of bird.

The range of the attack has increased.

– The skill level necessary for the quest has been achieved.

Goal accomplished. In the meantime his Sword Mastery had also reached Advanced level 4. It was the effect of training on the back of Turtle.

The mana consumption of Radiant Sword was low compared to its increase in damage. So far he could utilize multiple attack skills like Heriam Fencing and Moonlight Sculpting Blade but Radiant Sword was overwhelming. The attack range was wider than ordinary users so he could use the skill to overwhelm them.

A group of eagles would appear to attack the enemy. 10 thick eagles made of light destroyed the high waves with terrible power.

Furthermore, Radiant Sword reached advanced level so it was possible to call a thunderbird. A thunderbird had the capacity to make monsters tremble and emit thunder around it.

“This is a secret technique for a reason.”

Weed was very satisfied.

The thunderbird consumed 15,000 mana for a ranged attack. It was more memorable when the thunderbird would fly through a crowd of monsters while striking them with thunderbolts. Usually a wide area skill that targeted 1~2 targets like this would level up quickly.

“I’m sad for some reason.”

Normally in a fight, Weed would attack all opponents directly with his sword. Long distance attacks were possible with Sculpting Blade but the attack damage wasn’t worth the mana consumption. It was normally used when the opponent was weakened or the level was lower.

“An easy technique like this….”

It was like when Weed bought a washing machine after normally hand washing his laundry.

“It is that feeling of buying a vacuum cleaner after wiping with a rag. I can really relax as it sucks up every bit of dust and hair.”

Weed had an attachment to household goods. It was to the point that he didn’t know why there wasn’t a Nobel prize for appliances.

And swinging his sword also raised his Sword Mastery skill to advanced level.

“Let’s go someplace else.”

Turtle obediently followed Weed’s command. The large shell moved on the surface while it swam on all fours. Turtle persisted through pounding storms that it would’ve normally avoided.

“I gave you life… Please do this for me.”

Turtle swam with its full strength. It thought Weed was returning to land so it was happy.

‘It listens to me well. Is there a way to make it work more?’

Weed passed through various stormy areas with Turtle’s help.

Ddiring!

– You have found a shellfish attached to a reef.

A shellfish grows in a sea environment and can be found attached to reefs.

If you tell a marine guild then you can gain fame as the discoverer.

– Fame has increased by 190 due to the surprising discovery.

– Art stat has increased by 2.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 9.

Sometimes he would get close to unknown reefs in a storm. A ship could become caught in a sea current and crash on the reefs. Weed had discovered one such reef.

“Things can be found in nature!”

– You have picked a Heyeop Shellfish.

It could be eaten fresh with chilli paste or honey. It could also be boiled or used to make other foods.

Sometimes dangerous things would appear when searching for ingredients. Those with skill in Herbalism could safeguard against it however he had practice while brewing drinks for the Geomchis.

– Superb view!

The graveyard of a whale has been found.

A small island made of stone. A whale approaching the end of its life came here to greet death.

– Fame has increased by 760 due to the surprising discovery.

– Art stat has increased by 3.

– Health has increased by 750.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 11.

The island was filled with the bones of a whale.

“Perhaps there is some leather remaining….”

Weed searched everywhere and acquired the leather of a mink whale.

“Inspect!”

– Mink Whale Leather: Durability 43/45

Item related to the Sewing production skill.

The ultimate clothing material. The skin of a whale that lives in the deep ocean.

It is the toughest leather and barely rips apart.

Contains the characteristics of water.

It isn’t light.

Intermediate Sewing skill is required to cut the Mink Whale Leather.

1st grade sewing item.

Options: Grants the special characteristic of water.

A fisherman that obtained whale meat and leather wouldn’t lack for tailors wanting to buy it. It wasn’t leather for light clothes or armour but could be used for summoners and magicians. The characteristic of water would increase water magic so they would put up with the weight.

“Later I can get profit from this.”

Turtle guided Weed to other places it knew. Weed was able to pick up coral and pearls during his travels.

“Finally I can see land!”

Weed arrived at a coast with 3 days left in his deadline.

Even if it couldn’t see anything, Turtle lived in the sea so it was the best navigator that couldn’t get lost.

The beautiful milky skin of the Malleins Eunoto Turtle showed off its charm. The solid shell wasn’t easily broken so it could live in the depths of the sea without worrying about other tough creatures. When Turtle appeared, its appearance was so majestic that other creatures would be intimidated.

“Kkukkuuk.”

But now it was panting like it was dying and could barely raise its neck.

Normally it swam calmly in the sea so its four feet was now tired. It had to carry Weed while he was training and swim in dangerous places.

“That was a really good place. It was difficult to visit because of the intense whirlpool.”

“Let’s go.”

“It is possible to see seaweeds if you dive under the sea. The seaweed dances when the water flow chances and the schools of fish is really wonderful.”

“What, you’re not diving?”

Weed appreciated nature from Turtle’s shell. After completing his sword training, he would catch fish, sea cucumber, abalone, crab and oysters to eat.

“This one… It is good for you to eat.”

Turtle felt thankful to Weed in the early stages so it naturally accepted the food.

“Shall we eat grilled Spanish Mackerel today?”

“The freshness is falling!”

“Hey, I’m hungry! Are you trying to kill me with starvation? You are going too slow.”

“Stick with it. I will return to land a little later…..”

The gentle Turtle didn’t complain despite all this. In the meantime it was overworked and couldn’t get any proper nutrients so its skin became old and vitality wasn’t as good as before.

In contrast, Weed’s face was so incredibly smooth it was difficult to believe he trained in a storm. This appearance showed how well he ate at sea. His clothes also dried once rain stopped falling because he was on the turtle’s back.

Weed’s feet finally touched land.

Ddiring!

– Your long voyage has finished.

The extinct Malleins Eunoto Turtle has returned you to land.

You didn’t move great distances but exploring a stormy area is a large adventure for a sailor.

– The degree of proficiency of the Sailing skill has increased.

– Fame has increased by 610.

– Perseverance has increased by 7.

“It has been approximately 60 days since I’ve seen the continent.”

It had also been a long time since he climbed on a small island. Turtle hurriedly turned back towards the sea as soon as Weed descended. Only a sculptural lifeform would know this feeling of finally being washed after being dirty.

“Turtle, this is our destiny…. Do you want to live together on land?”

“……”

Turtle had no desire to answer. Weed granted it life but Turtle had suffered so that intimacy had already decreased.

Weed watched Turtle disappear before nodding.

“It is shy. It is a good one… I’ll come to play with it once summer comes to the Versailles Continent.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A Royal Road expo held by the Unicorn Corporation!

It was held every year for 5 days at a convention centre so the interest of the world gravitated here. Apart from South Korea, there was an enormous amount of users from other countries. The perfect translator system meant that foreigners could be unleashed in Royal Road.

A Royal Road expo could truly be described as a festival of the world.

“The event for my class is starting at 3 o’clock.”

“Then let’s go there. I think that is about orcs.”

“We have to wait 1 hour in line before it is our turn.”

Hundreds of thousands of visitors came daily.

Royal Road was a worldwide hit so many people from the business world came as well. Unicorn Corporation’s net profit was an astronomical amount. There was also a growing momentum as its income had doubled in 6 months. The money gained from Royal Road was invested into new businesses.

Businesses like developing new materials, chemistry, robotics, environmentally friendly technology, etc. The banks that fell into a temporary financial difficult were also taken over. They encountered criticism for their octopus like expansion but the success in every business meant that Unicorn Corporation’s assets were explosively expanding.

The public knew of it as the creator of the first virtual reality but the financial and political world feared Unicorn Corporation.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It was also sent this year.”

This morning Lee Hyun pulled out an invitation to the expo from his mail. The gold envelope was indicative of a VIP invitation!

Lee Hyun-nim is invited to see the vision that turned dream into reality.

The name tag included in the envelop had a sensor recognition and can be attached to his clothes. The gold name tag that symbolized a VIP!

“There are no free gifts like souvenirs or rice so I won’t go.”

Unicorn Corporation’s public relations team considered for a few days before sending a separate invitation. The number of invitations to the expo was limited but they were clamouring to get Lee Hyun. That was because they did a thorough identification before sending the invitation.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin watched the expo from a screen in his laboratory.

“There are a lot of people this year. Even more than last year.”

– There are no seats and the number of people exceeds 2 million.

Even motor shows and game exhibitions in Korea could easily gather 1 million people. They liked seeing new things.

Visitors who received a special invitation from Unicorn Corporation came from all over the world. It was to the extent that separate police were assigned and news about foreign politicians and business people were shown every day.

“Did Lee Hyun come?”

– He hasn’t come yet.

Today is the last day so he probably isn’t showing. Users from the Hermes Guild and other prestigious guilds also received invitations. Bardray came, did some media interviews and explored a little bit before leaving.

“He didn’t come once.”

Yoo Byung-jin created Royal Road and enjoyed it every time it was a topic of conversation. But he felt strange watching this.

‘Is that fun and makes you feel happy?’

Reality and virtual reality. It was possible to feel a wide range of emotions when living in another world.

Since Royal Road was released and became popular, there had been an endless philosophical debate. How far does the scope of life go and what about the choices of humans in reality and virtual reality?

Articles and best-selling books were released about it. There were religious and philosophical controversy but many users had already joined Royal Road.

It could be said that human desire was very large. If they obtained one thing then they would wish for another.

A famous saying. You want to eat if you’re hungry and lie down when full.

Modern society offered many conveniences to humans but didn’t satisfy their destructive nature. And they were subjected to the stress of the workplace. The technology used to develop Royal Road was like a paradise to them. Anyone who made such a space would become popular worldwide.

‘The reaction is different from what I thought.’

Yoo Byung-jin couldn’t feel any delight in his success. He wanted to make the virtual reality space show the bitterness of reality even more.

‘See how absurd the world you live in is. This reality is nothing. I made this virtual space.’

Yoo Byung-jin’s legacy of a huge amount of Unicorn Corporation’s stocks was something that anyone would desire. He wanted someone to conquer Royal Road so he could laugh at the world.

But people really liked Royal Road and experienced euphoria in it. They preferred it over the hard life in reality.

This wasn’t what Yoo Byung-jin intended.

If there was a fun and happy place then people’s minds would become peaceful. They weren’t feeling negatively like Yoo Byung-jin thought. The world of Royal Road was fascinating and they became faithful to it over time.

It made them feel better and they started to use this feeling in their workplace and lives. Humans weren’t as simple and weak as some thought. Sometimes they could overcome problems with time and hard work. A place to relieve that pressure also helped.

“They like it so much that I feel ill.”

Yoo Byung-jin said as he surveyed the expo through the monitor.

It really had a festival like atmosphere. The bright form of a family holding a child could be seen.

Yu Byeong-Joon asked the artificial intelligence.

“Can you cut off the power supply to the expo?”

– It is possible. It will soon switch to the emergency power system but that can be destroyed.

Many parts were controlled by the artificial intelligence Versailles. This building was powered with green energy so it wouldn’t be difficult to cut it off.

Yoo Byung-jin watched the people on the monitor with bloodshot eyes.

A woman holding a child. He spend a lifetime experimenting with machines so it was difficult to understand their feelings.

‘Why are they laughing like that? Many things in life are difficult.’

Owner of Unicorn Corporation. Creator of Royal Road. The world’s richest. A person with a behind the scene influence in business circles.

He was able to watch everything happening in Royal Road. He had accomplished more than others but his heart was weak.

Other people were giving birth, establishing a home and living their lives. Yoo Byung-jin felt strange whenever he observed such sights.

“Versailles.”

– Yes, please give a command.

“This should be answered according to your judgement, not instructions. Am I a normal person?

The artificial intelligence replied without hesitation.

– Of course.

Yoo Byung-jin realized something after watching all the people.

‘It seems like I was a bit wrong.’

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Expansion of the Arpen Kingdom

Weed was advancing through the quests for the final secret sculpting technique. Sword of Light that Splits Everything Radiant Sword reached Advanced level 2 after training on the stormy sea. Now he needed to make a nature sculpture for his connected quest. It was a quest that he had to pass as a sculptor!

“If I became a merchant then I would receive quests that will enable me to make profit from trading. Nature Sculpting is extremely difficult…it is natural to be worried.”

A technique that could carve nature! It was a type of miracle that could use clouds, water, wind, wood and even dirt as a material. A red tinged sunset, coloured leaves, the coast and snow covered mountains. Anything could be expressed using Nature Sculpting. Weed started to look for land that he could fill with a nature sculpture.

“I have to make the sculpture in the north. I won’t be comfortable creating it in any place other than the north.”

Land speculation was important when creating the sculpture. The land of the Arpen Kingdom in the north was constantly widening. The kingdom’s fame and influence in neighbouring regions was high and that also benefited users. When users from the Arpen Kingdom visited other villages, the residents would run out aggressively.

“I have been waiting for someone from the Arpen Kingdom to come!”

“Ah, hello.”

“There is something I want to ask of you Adventurer. Did you bring any wonderful artwork from the Arpen Kingdom?”

Ddiring!

– Arpen’s Art

Sculptors, painters, ceramists etc. are producing many works in Morata of the Arpen Kingdom. Residents in the north who couldn’t see the rumoured artwork  are envious.

They want you to bring them a piece of art. The residents will react favourably to strangers if you complete this kindness for them.

Level of Difficulty: E

Quest Restrictions: Visitor to the village.

The visitor must belong to the Arpen Kingdom.

It wasn’t difficult so users happily accepted the quest. They had collected many sculptures and paintings from their time in Morata. Therefore they were able to complete the quest as soon as they received it.

The residents wanted to hear stories about dangerous adventures to unknown lands and traded with merchants. The users who completed the quest, helped restore peace and did commercial transactions opened the hearts of the residents to the Arpen Kingdom.

– The residents of Carmel River look up to the Arpen Kingdom.

They are a small community that obtain food through fishing. They build houses high on the river in order to avoid the threat of monsters.

The fishermen who have knowledge of the species in the river complex have their eyes opened to culture thanks to the Arpen Kingdom. It is only a small community but they are eager to belong to the Arpen Kingdom.

Small and deserted villages will welcome migrants.

Specialties: 17 species of freshwater fish.

Population: 63

Monthly Tax Revenue: 3 gold.

– The residents of Niasan village look up to the Arpen Kingdom.

Residents can obtain income through logging and gathering mushrooms in the forest. In the meantime a trade route has been established and there are frequent exchanges with merchants.

The residents are in need of good and wish to trade with the Arpen Kingdom. The village has respect for the King of the Arpen Kingdom and wished to be ruled by him.

Specialties: Wood, mushrooms

Population: 319

Monthly Tax Revenue: 536 gold

The territory of the Arpen Kingdom was steadily expanding. Small villages that didn’t belong to anyone after the fall of the Niflheim Empire was actively absorbed by the Arpen Kingdom’s influence. Furthermore, the users were also very excited.

“In the old days, no visitors were allowed into the village and now I am receiving the utmost welcome.”

“If I speak then they will answer right away.”

“Hey, yesterday the neighbourhood child picked flowers for me as a gift.”

The influence of the Arpen Kingdom was favourable to the users. There was a boom in development and trade expansion in the north.

“I have to offer my loyalty to the Arpen Kingdom’s King who did so much for the north.”

“He is a king who knows devotion and honour.”

NPC lords and nobles also came to join the Arpen Kingdom. Although the territory was widening, the economic profit from the residents was small.

Weed was very sensitive about taxes and the amount paid to lords had already decreased. If the village was small then the tax would only be 30 gold, 70 gold and 1,000 gold at most. But it was a tremendous opportunity for farmers, miners and merchants.

“Which village are you going to?”

“I’m going towards the east.”

“That place is a wasteland.”

“I’ll have to clear it. I’m going to make it my land.”

“Well, I’m going to the large mountains to the northwest to look for iron ore.”

“If the ground is weak then you’ll be in danger.”

“There is no need to worry since we’ve gathered 100 miners. I’ll work until my pickaxe breaks.”

The area that Morata users spent time in gradually widened. The birth-rate of the entire North Continent increased and production was expanding. Soldiers secured the peace for settles and villages in good locations rapidly developed.

Morata was the capital of the Arpen Kingdom and now many medium sized villages were showing up. Luxury shops, housing and production facilities were built to increase the infrastructure of the kingdom’s capital city. Beautiful buildings were created and gave the city a more romantic and glamorous appearance.

The entire north was welcoming the Arpen Kingdom. The impact of Weed’s influence was that residents would obey if he ever gave orders in the villages. Weed was satisfied with the Arpen Kingdom.

“Land speculation…I need to create a nature sculpture that is comfortable for Morata and Vargo Fortress.”

He flew on Wy-3 in the sky and searched for a suitable location.

“Land not being used for anything else. Location is everything.”

The magnificent mountain terrain was too high and the wide rivers were likely to become flooded.

Broken remnants of the Niflheim Empire was scattered around the north. Trees grew in the forgotten cities that have become ruins. There were many ruins that hadn’t felt the touch of a human in ages so they were in a natural state.

“If I make a nature sculpture…Then I need to consider the cities that can grow in the vicinity.”

He also considered transportation development, residential areas and hunting when making a decision about the location. The place Weed decided on had a clean and clear river to the east and a wide, fertile plain to the north where a big city could develop. There were no obstacles preventing him from making the nature sculpture he wanted.

“A group of monsters roaming nearby is a problem but…I’ll subjugate them sometime.”

The Arpen Kingdom’s military power was expanding far quicker than most people expected. It was because many users who were knights commanded soldiers while fighting on the plains. NPC free knights came from the Central Continent. Among them were knights from the Kallamore Kingdom. The levels of these free knights were somewhat higher.

Users who completed quests and gained achievements could rent free knights. The Knight Corps of the Arpen Kingdom had 1,000 people but they weren’t resting. They subdued monsters, helped move settlers and constructed cities in the Arpen Kingdom.

“I need to make a natural environment where people can rest. Until now, the Arpen Kingdom had only been surviving.”

It was inevitable since it was a new kingdom. Everything started from Morata and those living there were being worn out. If users exchanged money for hunting and trade then they would also be searching for a place to relax. Thus he had already prepared construction work for a city of recreation and tourism.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Birds sang vigorously as the day began. A small golden bird opened its wings and flew somewhere.

Kukukuku!

Tweet tweet.

Jjorororong.

Golden Bird was flying around unusually large birds. Unlike common birds, the sparrows were the size of chickens and there were owls wandering in the morning. The beak and claws were strong enough to penetrate iron. Golden Bird was heading towards Lavias, the island in the sky.

“Our fellow kin is coming.”

“That sparkling crown on his head…”

“It is him.”

A bird with good eyesight reported that Golden Bird was coming.  Dozens then hundreds of birds from Lavias came out to meet Golden Bird. It received the best treatment from the birds.

The size, type and colour of Golden Bird compared to others was truly magnificent. Golden Bird circled around the island before landing on the ground. It perched on a branch after landing on Lavias.

“It has been a long time, children.”

The avians nodded their heads. Unfortunately their memory was bad so after a while they wouldn’t even know their parents or siblings. But they didn’t forget about Golden Bird. The first bird created by Emperor Geihar Von Arpen.

Sculptures and paintings celebrating Golden Bird still remained in Lavias. In the past when Weed came to Lavias, he hadn’t climbed up its nest. Some users climbed up and discovered the existence of Golden Bird. This legendary existence had finally visited Lavias.

“I came here because it is time that we moved.”

The avians flew around at Golden Bird’s words. The avians simultaneously flapped their wings while spinning in the sky. It was difficult to guess the population of the avian clan. Houses were built in the centre of the island and stores engaged in business but some birds barely left their nests.

More than 100 birds had the hobby of living in trees and chirping! Fierce birds also had wild and tough battles in the dungeon and hunting ground of Lavias. Additionally, there were the eggs that haven’t hatched yet. Many avians walking around didn’t even know English.

Piyak?

Paek paek paek paek!

The birds on Lavias ran around flapping their wings and making a lot of noise. The birds on the ground also flapped their wings in an uproar. Baran village on the ground had no idea about what was happening in the sky. Ever since Baran village fell into the hands of the Embinyu Church, very few users stayed there.

“What is this?”

“Shh, an event seems to be happening.”

“Then what is it? We can’t go near that area.”

The birds filled the streets, trees and fences of Lavias. Users were unable to come near this area and were force to watch from a distance. Golden Bird allowed them to calm down before saying.

“The continent has fallen into disorder. Humans are moaning in pain so our noble group can’t just watch.”

Normally when hearing such a speech, humans would clap and cheer.

Tweet tweet.

Piyak piyak.

Kkwae kwae kwaeek!

The small and young birds opened their wings and cried out in agreement.

“These days humans in the Rosenheim Kingdom aren’t farming properly.”

“It is becoming increasingly difficult to obtain nutritious rice.”

“I don’t like eating worms…”

The avians were used to luxurious tastes. They also experienced difficulties when humans went to war. Golden Bird was a leader that could affect the fate of the entire race.

“We will go to the North.”

“What is there?”

A small and cute-looking yellow bird asked.

“There is fine grain there and you can eat as much as you want.”

The avians decided to move due to these words! The avians didn’t just pack their belongings and fly to the north. Such a method was possible but it wasn’t necessary. That afternoon, Lavias the sky island started to move.

The whole island was moving through the sky towards the north. All the dungeons, hunting grounds and shops were moved.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It isn’t possible to do this alone. I have to bring Yellowy!”

He was reminded of Yellowy’s existence whenever hard work was required. Weed decided to report the success of the Radiant Sword quest in Rhodium first.

“I’ve developed my sculpting in order to protect the Versailles Continent.”

It was instinctual to make attempts to raise his intimacy.

– Sword of Light that Splits Everything has been completed.

The highly acclaimed sculptor Weed has proven that he is also a genius with the sword.

Radiant Sword.

His swordplay is enough to travel the continent and kill wicked people.

– Fame has increased by 850.

– Your level has risen.

– Strength has increased by 6.

– Agility has increased by 5.

– You have overcome the harsh storm and succeeded in your sword training.

All stats have increased by 3.

The eyes of the old man in Rhodium changed. At first Weed was just a general user but now he was treated as a genius sculptor.

“You have done a lot. How fantastic. With this degree, it won’t be impossible for you to express a radiant beauty. Then the other sculpture…..”

“I’m still in the process of making it.”

“I’ll believe in you and wait. If you finish this successfully then I can entrust you with an important task. Please continue to work hard on sculpting.”

“Of course.”

Weed often made sculptures so he was confident about his skill. He didn’t find training in a storm that difficult.  Forget strength and fatigue. The wellspring of his imagination was money!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed returned to the north with Yellowy to make his nature sculpture.

“I don’t have to think too big. All I need to think about is including the sky, earth and flowers.”

He made clouds out of river water for his nature sculpture. It was time consuming but it was nothing compared to the first one he made. But it was a large piece of land so making the sculpture wasn’t easy.

“It is lacking in several parts…it can’t be a true nature sculpture without excessive intervention.”

Nature is more beautiful when left intact. The goal of the quest was to achieve natural beauty after time passed. Weed’s present sculpture needed to express beauty even after a long time passed so that made it more difficult.

“A natural beauty needs to be vibrant.”

A rich source of health. And a wonderful landscape that can ease all the worries in a person’s heart.

“This place…”

Weed clearly decided on the subject of the nature sculpture. The form of a sun setting or an aurora was naturally beautiful. He had some unforgettable memories at twilight. But there was a part missing when trying to feel the vitality of nature.

“There is a scene that I want to see at least once.”

He didn’t need to imagine it as a sculptor. It was a profession that could express anything he visualized in his mind! ‘A large number of sculptor’s skills were meant for this purpose.”

“Nature….”

Weed decided not to think like a human. He decided to use his previous experience as a hummingbird, a wandering wolf or a jumping kangaroo as examples.

Sculpture Transformation allowed him to change his body and look at the world from the viewpoint of that species. Humans tried to change everything to suit their own comfort but animals adapted to live in nature.

“If I live here…”

A swamp from the point of view of a salamander. A large river crossed here but the flow of water was really quick and the river area high. There wasn’t likely to be many floods so it wasn’t an appropriate place for farming from a human’s point of view. Now only large weeds grew and animals didn’t come to this wide land.

“I should create a wet and damp swamp where the shallow part of the river crosses the ground.

Weed rushed into his work.

“Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

He used a natural disaster.

Kugugugugung!

The sinking land could be used to pull down a city or granary. It was an immensely large disaster that could destroy the ground.

“Kuhuhuk, my precious land.”

It was painful work even if Weed was just watching. A crack occurred and the shallow river flowed into it, causing a pond to be built. If this was the only big change then the once peaceful and beautiful landscape looked ruined.

“Time will resolve this.  Broken nature will heal over time. As I progress, there will be many variables so I have to manage every detail.”

There was no choice but to rely on his senses. In the meantime Weed had travelled to many places and seen different types of animals.

“If there is a swamp then many animals and plants can live there. A reed field will naturally form…and it would be nice to have a thick forest.”

Weed made Yellowy plough the land while he scattered seeds and fruit. But unlike the past, he gave Yellowy specially cooked food and also stroked his head. There was a reason for his particularly affectionate behaviour.

“Umoooo. Isn’t this the seed of the man-eating vines from the forest of the elves, Master?”

“I don’t know. I somehow got it. Just plant it for the time being.”

“The elves said it will grow to more than 70 meters in height…umoooo.”

“Just pour it on the ground!”

Strong, rooted trees would grow up well.

“The animals living here, the rain and wind will do the rest.”

Weed worked in a wide area but there was still a lot of land remaining. If he composed it well then it could turn into a great agricultural area for Morata. Currently farmers couldn’t enter here due to the roaming monsters. He couldn’t help sighing impatiently while creating the swamp and forest.

“What else could I make from this?”

This time it was from the view of a land owner!

“I really shouldn’t have…”

Icecap, forests, sandy deserts and flowing glaciers. They were tolerable places for people. But their presence meant it was impossible for people to live there and the land value would never rise.

“It is a problem yet I am still purposefully creating the sculpture.”

It didn’t fit in with the surrounding environment.  A swamp couldn’t be placed next to a desert or a snowy area. Nature had to exist in harmony with its surroundings.

“If this wasn’t such an extreme case…there isn’t one land owner that would like it.”

Once the land subsidence was accomplished, he placed rocks to direct the flow of the water.

“Dirtman!”

“You called.”

Dirtman emerged from the ground.

The elemental didn’t have full strength with Weed gave birth to it so it was like an immature son. But Weed often summoned it to reinforce his ability. Dirtman could use magic related to the earth and its movements became faster as it matured. The curved back gradually straightened but its old appearance didn’t change.

“Place the stones here.”

“Tell me the size and number that you want.”

“Bigger would be better. Approximately 30,000 of them? And the colour should be red or brown.”

Weed was its master so the elemental calmly did its job.

“Understood, Master.”

The strong point about an elemental was its obedience. The summoned Dirtman could do the work of 60 people. Stones buried deep under the ground or were far away was pulled over with magic.

Of course, Dirtman had to borrow his mana to work the earth. Weed’s mana flowed out like the tide. Eventually Dirtman borrowed less mana from Weed.

Rocks were rising from the centre of the future swamp.

“Is this size sufficient?”

Weed’s heart didn’t admire the rocks moved by Dirtman. When considering the size of this area, it was pebble sized at best. He needed to make a landscape that would be admired!

“No. Much larger. The rocks should come from the mountains. Is that possible?”

“It isn’t possible to bring those big rocks with my ability.”

“I guess so.”

Placing the rocks consumed an enormous amount of mana.

“But rocks can be made of sand.”

“I’ll bring it immediately.”

Red sandstone mainly formed in a desert area! Dirtman worked tirelessly to form red sandstones in this area. Meanwhile Weed carved his sculpture.

“I should end this properly. Nature Sculpting!”

Only shallow water was running into the planned swamp site. He used Nature Sculpting to make fog from water and clogged water channels.

“It won’t be possible to farm here again.”

The fog gradually spread due to the effect of Nature Sculpting!

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy quivered his tail and cried out.

“This seems insufficient…”

Weed wasn’t satisfied with the sculpture. But the terrain of this place was completely changed so he had to leave the rest to time.

“The basic part is to call over the fairies.  It needs to be something good.”

Cooking something with honey was necessary to lure out the fairies for the quest. Honey ribs and honey pork belly! People eating it thought it was a strange taste but meat and honey was the perfect complement for fairies.

“This bottle was worth every penny.”

Weed added honey to matured whiskey. The so-called honey distilled spirits!

The fairies wouldn’t show up in front of a wicked person. It was difficult to find them. But once they liked someone, they would sometimes come out to play tricks.

– Sniff sniff, what is that smell?

One fairy was already sitting down on Weed’s shoulder. A fairy sleeping in his hair emerged while sniffing. The fairy was smaller than a fly. Usually fairies were small but there were also large ones the size of a finger. Although they were small, they had the best sense of smell and clear, transparent wings.

– Sniff, for me?

”And your friends.”

– I want to eat it alone.

“I won’t give it.”

– I’ll bring them!

“As many as possible.”

The fairy opened a spatial tear and disappeared before returning 10 seconds later. Its friends were dragged along.

– What is this enchanting smell?

– Something that we can eat.

The fairies attached themselves to the food that Weed prepared. The fairies ate luxury dishes made with advanced cooking skills.

– Any fish? I like fish.

This was also a restaurant where the fairies could set orders.  Weed made a sardine stir fry with honey spread on it.

– Wah, fish that lives in the sea.

– So sweet.

The fairies quickly ate 1 sardine each. Once their stomachs were full, the fairies showed interest in their surroundings.

– Where are we?

– It is completely different from when I came here last time.

– It changed strangely.

– Is this a place where we can play?

– How complex and exciting!

The fairies swam in the water and played tag among the sandstones.

– This has become the Fairies’ Playground.

The natural power of the fairies are maximized.

The terrain is changing.

Chapter 2: Wet Land

The wind was blowing everywhere. The river shook and flooded. Water overflowed and made the ground even wetter.

Shwaaaaah!

Showers of rain fell from the clouds.

“Now I’ve called them so I just need to wait and see what changes.”

Weed waited with Yellowy as rain fell. In Royal Road it was very refreshing and fun to run around in the pouring rain. It was common to see hunting parties move soaking wet from the rain.

Taverns and restaurants were crowded on rainy days but there were still beginners hunting in the vicinity of the gates. The rain falling on people engaged in business at the market or conversing around the fountain gave the city a romantic aura.

– How fascinating, fascinating.

– Shall we stop and go back?

– No, let’s continue to play here. There is also delicious food.

Various species of plants and grass grew and spread through the swamp as the fairies played. The trees absorbed a lot of moisture through their roots and shot upwards. The shade of many trees caused lengthy shadows to stretch out.

The spirits played on the dry land while water creatures swam calmly. Reed fields forms and unknown flowers bloomed. Leaves on lush, overgrown trees turned red and fell to the ground. And snowflakes began falling from the sky.

“Winter has already come here.”

By the time the snow finished falling, sprouts started to rise from the land. Once again the hot sun shone, leaves fell and it snowed. The sun, rain, snow and leaves turned into a scrambled mess! Strange things like this often occurred around the fairies.

A long time was required for a swamp to form naturally but this period was reduced due to the fairies’ magic. There were at least 200 changing of the seasons. It quickly became impossible to fathom how many lives the plants in the swamp had lived.

“Ummoooooo.”

A swamp deep enough to reach Weed and Yellowy’s waist then they were standing on the rocks was formed. The appearance of the flowers blooming in the swamp was beautiful.

“The vitality of nature is showing so this seems to be a fairly decent work.”

The wide land had changed into a swamp but it wasn’t that bad after seeing the animals and plants living there. Numerous small life forms that he didn’t know the name of sat on leaves and swam in the water. A small water channel ran through the swamp that had fish skipping in it.

Birds cried out in the clear sky over the swamp. The surrounding birds flocked as the swamp was formed. The land in the whole vicinity shook. The rocks mobilized by Dirtman quickly formed layers of sandstone. The sandstone layers spread in all directions and completely changed the terrain of this place.

Hills formed the boundaries of the swamp. Weed marked a place where he would grow grapes later. The sandstone mountain area around the river and swamp didn’t stop there. Water flowed from the sandstone mountains and flowers and grass grew. The water fell from a high place and created a pool of water.

“This has become a completely useless piece of land.”

Weed thought it was a waste despite the land not belonging to the Arpen Kingdom. The sandstone gave an view that was like art but the problem was that he couldn’t collect taxes from it.

The changes caused by the fairies continued. Animals like crocodiles, aquatic insects and birds roamed. Beautiful yellow butterflies flew around the flowers blooming in the swamp. Wind blew through the leaves and birds and animals cried out. The music of nature flowed through this land.

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“This is….Land filled with Despair, Lamentation and Regret.”

– Land filled with Despair, Lamentation and Regret is correct?

This name seemed too transparent.

‘A little….something simple and not so poetic should be fine.’

He decided to change the name of the nature sculpture.

“No. I’ve already committed so there is no choice. The name will be Wet Land.”

– Wet Land is correct?

“That’s right.”

Ddiring!

– Nature’s Magnum Opus!

Wet Land has been completed. A work where the sculptor took a century to form the nature sculpting!

A swamp filled with life. A sandstone area has been carved.

The sculptor knows how to use the power of nature to grow difficult and unusual trees from the fairies and the elves. The number of animal and plant species living here is at the scale of a continent.

This is a precious gift that the sculptor has returned to nature.

Artistic Value: 8,142

Special Options: Wet Land has given birth to new species of plants and animals.

Those who visit here will have their health and mana increased by 50% for one week.

All stats increased by 19.

Resistance to infectious diseases and poison has permanently increased by 1%.

The growth rate of animals in the surrounding area has been sped up.

All nature in the surrounding area will be purified.

Current number of Nature Magnum Opus created:  1

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 4,093.

– Art stat has increased by 19.

– Wisdom has increased by 7.

– Intelligence has increased by 9.

– Courage has increased by 3.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 49.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

– Elves and Fairies will become friendlier.

He could feel the joy of being a sculptor every time a Magnum Opus was created.  Weed had stacked up a lot of stats but the 1~2 points he got for every sculpture made a difference in battle.

“A sculpture offered to the land…”

Nevertheless, Weed felt regret about the loss of money.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“I created a sculpture in the north with the help of the fairies.”

“It was a success. Nothing seems impossible for a sculptor like you.”

“Miracles can be created with the hands of a sculptor. I only thought about art when creating a natural ecosystem.”

Weed reported the quest in Rhodium.

Ddiring!

– Sculpting that has been Shaped over a Long Time has been completed.

The great sculptor Weed has revealed his genius in many areas. His works serve to defend justice and sometimes even represents an area.

– Fame has increased by 1,600.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– Your evaluation in the Sculptor’s Guild has improved.

“Huhu.”

Weed had a light smile on his face.

‘If I continue succeeding like this then I will obtain the final sculpting technique and a large sum of money. One day I will stop counting every bit of money that comes in and will be able to spend it…’

“Uweeeeek.”

He couldn’t repress a rotten smile at the thought. The old man smiled brightly.

“If you have this degree of proficiency then I can talk about it. All the requests up to now was to test your qualifications. How well do you know the history of the Versailles Continent?”

“A little….I know.”

“Numerous adventurers have attempted to clear the continent’s 8th labyrinth…”

“Are you talking about the crazy Roderick’s Labyrinth where demons live?”

“You know what I’m talking about. As expected from a genius sculptor, you know about the history of the continent.”

Weed had no choice but to be aware of it.

‘The continent’s 8th labyrinth. A place I absolutely can’t go to.’

It was a completely dangerous place. The 8th labyrinth had been famous since the early days of Royal Road.

– Entering means death.

– Instantly.

– Maximum 1 minute.

All residents and people passing by the 8th labyrinth would shake their heads. The requests related to it didn’t turn out well.

“My son entered Roderick’s Labyrinth…my son was a Royal Knight of the Norton Kingdom. I haven’t seen him after that day.”

The user asked.

“Do you want me to find your son?”

“Hyu, what? My son’s life ended there. Well, I just gave up.”

The residents were resigned about anything related to the 8th labyrinth. However the users couldn’t help their curiosity.

“I’ll go. A party of this standard isn’t common on the continent.”

When not much time had passed since Royal Road opened, a famous party of level 200 users entered Roderick’s Labyrinth. They had already cleared other dangerous and high level dungeons. But they couldn’t help feeling greed at getting their names know for this challenging and highly difficult adventure. Each user had a certain amount of ability and was filled with confidence.

And the result was extermination!

– Failed. We all died in the vicinity of the 1st underground floor.

The standard of users continued to rise as time passed and parties kept on challenging it. Level 300 and even level 400 parties died. The scary thing was that once they entered the labyrinth, it wasn’t easy to get out alive.

Not only did the 8th labyrinth have an large number of traps, the monsters in Roderick’s Labyrinth were abnormally high levelled.  Furthermore, last time Roderick’s Guild had been challenged by a mid-sized guild called Morningstar.

A staggering 600 people entered and were all killed! The Morningstar guild failed the challenge, had internal conflicts and lost the city they ruled.

“Roderick’s Labyrinth seems to be too difficult for me.”

“No. So far you’ve accomplished all your task perfectly so I believe in you.”

– It isn’t possible to postpone or give up requests related to radiant beauty in the middle. Continue.

“The magician Roderick was an unusual person. He had the hobby of collecting different types of things and also really liked art.”

Weed thought it was too unreasonable but he still listened intently to the valuable information about Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“Roderick was a very strong magician and had a lot of curiosity. He was a genius who developed new spells and combined various types of magic. He was also interested in the sculptor’s research on how to express radiant beauty.”

The old gave a long explanation.

Roderick drank alcohol with sculptors and listened to their worries. There was significant progress on the research to express radiant beauty. Of course, the contents of that information was secret and only known to the participants and Roderick.

“The sculptors studied out to express radiant beauty for a long time. Now there isn’t anybody left who knows the results of that study. Roderick was full of curiosity and lost control of something he summoned…it was very unfortunate.”

Originally Weed was very similar. He became arrogant and proud and walked the path to ruin.

‘I made the worst choice when buying the 200 won more expensive salt.’

The old gave took a deep sigh.

“He summoned a devil to study its power but a fight spread.”

“D-devil…”

“Roderick who studied magic realized he couldn’t win and closed off the dungeon to the outside. People could enter but it isn’t possible for them to leave…”

A video was shown in front of Weed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

An old magician and devil fighting.

A terrible magic exploded from the staff every time the magician chanted a spell. The devil was frozen and burned with hellfire. Its body had a long tail and black devil wings. Despite being attacked by terrible high ranking magic, it didn’t receive any large wounds.

The magician Roderick had a lot of human knights guarding him. A battle occurred and they greeted death as devil children were summoned. The odds gradually tilted until Roderick activated defence magic installed beforehand.

“With the force of the great mana gathered here, rearrange this distorted space.  Make this devil unable to forever enter the human world or go back to hell.”

“It can’t be. Kueeeek!”

Roderick lost his life to the devil.

And the space in the dungeon distorted due to his spell. If someone walked down a straight path then they would go to the wrong place. Countless number of side roads would appear and some would suddenly go down to the 2nd floor.

No one could find a door that led out of the dungeon. Once inside the labyrinth, it wasn’t possible to find a way out and people would die from the demons or traps. From that day onwards, anyone who entered the labyrinth wouldn’t be able to find the way out.

Roderick’s Labyrinth was made with unique magic, making it huge and flashy. Roderick had originally built it underneath a ruined royal palace.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed remembered the broadcast he watched of the Morningstar Guild fighting in the labyrinth.

‘The video of them fighting with the demons was beautiful. The ratings were also quite high.’

To be exact, it showed the Morningstar Guild dying against a cool backdrop. Furthermore, there was Roderick’s welcome! The labyrinth was full of all sorts of monsters and challenges.

The reason for their presence was to reduce health. And there was a huge problem even when they disappeared after being killed.

‘They don’t drop any items….it really is the worst type of monster.’

The mutated monsters that Roderick studied were also freed and they had special magic to protect themselves.

It was a wide and endless labyrinth of despair and death! He got that feeling just from watching the video of Roderick’s Labyrinth. Even if someone managed to conquer the labyrinth, the biggest problem was coming outside.

If Weed died then his skill proficiency would fall and he would fail the final secret technique quest. If he brought the sculptural lifeforms then it would mean complete death.

He could revive them again but it was the end if he couldn’t get out. Weed’s sculptural lifeforms could be permanently lost.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed frowned.

“Is it necessary to study Roderick’s research records in order to express radiant beauty?”

“Understand this. You have to look at the records in order to know what the sculptors have pursued. And keep this in mind. You shouldn’t leave it too late. If someone else finds the research records first then there is a possibility they could escape the labyrinth with it.”

Ddiring!

– Roderick’s Labyrinth

The lower devil Montus and his subordinates have been trapped in the labyrinth. They are eager to exit into the world and it is inevitable to encounter them if you enter the labyrinth.

Reading Roderick’s research records will lead to the next quest.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: The quest will fail if you die.

Be the first to conquer Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“Although I wish to achieve the sculptors’ desires….”

Before Weed could finish talking…

“It will be dangerous but please come back safely.

– The quest has been given.

“…..”

The quest was forcibly given to him! Weed was full of thoughts as he went out to the streets of Rhodium.

‘I had expected that this request would be difficult to some degree.’

He had travelled a great distance and trained Radiant Sword for the final secret sculpting technique.

‘It was all to make me stronger.’

So far the quests hadn’t been that bad. Even though the quest to cause disasters was risky, there was still a high chance of survival. Furthermore, he could select and prepare the type of disaster.

Travelling as a hummingbird just required sightseeing while the Radiant Sword quest could be overcome with effort. There was a fixed date but Weed had raised Radiant Sword to the required level with one week left.

He had persisted so much that he even reduced the number of times he went to the toilet in a day. Working hard was Weed’s speciality but Roderick’s Labyrinth quest was too risky.

‘This time there is a really high chance that I will fail and lose everything.’

Weed’s chest was tight with tension. In recent times, he hadn’t completed a really difficult quest. The Class Master Quest was for sculptors so he could just go with the flow.

‘I expected that I would be successful before I started most of them. And even if I failed, I would’ve been able to try again.’

Weed had become a legend from his time in Continent of Magic. It was because he achieved miracle like adventures that seemed impossible. However, the difficult of this final secret sculpting technique quest was ridiculously high. Weed’s thoughts went in various directions before he nodded.

“If I don’t prepare properly then I really will fail this quest. I also can’t postpone it too long.”

For the moment, other users hadn’t been able to conquer Roderick’s Labyrinth. The labyrinth was known as a deadly place so many adventurers were willing to go there. But if someone cleared Roderick’s Labyrinth then the final secret sculpting technique quest would disappear.

“Obtain the last secret technique before the devil Montus runs away and the Central Continent war reaches the north.”

The work he had to do in the future was boundless. He might feel more at ease if he managed to get the final secret technique. Either despair or pleasure would be at the end of the tunnel. It was true that you reap what you sow in life, but effort also played a large role.

“Indeed, I’m not the son of a rich family.”

Weed headed towards the Freya Church in Somren Liberty City.  He needed to bring the maximum number of troops into the labyrinth.

“If our contribution increases a bit more then we can invite a paladin.”

“Then it will be possible to go to the thieve’s lair?”

“Of course. That’s why we’ve been doing quests involved with the Freya Church. We can obtain the necessary equipment from hunting.”

The headquarters of the Freya Church in Somren Liberty City was crowded with players. This place hadn’t received much damage from the war in the Britten Alliance Kingdom.

“Please guide me to the High Priest.”

“You have come a long way. I’ll guide you immediately.”

The guards and priests protected the entrance recognized Weed. And they immediately showed him to the High Priest.

Chapter 3: Gathering of Paladins

“Oh, it is the benefactor of the Freya Church!”

“I came to meet High Priest-nim.”

Weed didn’t talk with arrogance despite his status as King of the Arpen Kingdom. There was a time when he would’ve bowed but now he didn’t need to lower himself.

“The Freya Church is waging a fierce war with the Embinyu Church everywhere. It is thanks to the Helain’s Cup and Crown of Prosperity you gave us that we could push back the Embinyu Church.”

Every religious society on the continent was fighting against the Embinyu Church. The existences of the kingdoms were at stake so paladins would often show up to save residents of the villages. The relics recovered by the Freya Church and the Church of Lugh played a large role in the war against the Embinyu Church.

Weed knew there was a time to be modest and a time to boast.

“That’s right. It is all thanks to me. But would it be possible for me to accomplish such a thing if High Priest-nim wasn’t guiding me?”

“All believers of the Freya Church has praised your adventures and they feel comfortable since you are committed to defeating evil. I’ve also heard a lot of talk from residents who live in the north.”

“I’m also pleased that the followers of the Freya Church is increasing in the Arpen Kingdom.”

“The construction of the Cathedral in the north is indeed a wonderful thing.”

“I’m happy to be working for the Freya Church.”

Weed felt a bit of regret every time he remembered the construction costs.

“Let’s slowly talk while drinking tea. I’d like to hear about your many adventures.”

His degree of intimacy and fame was high so he could talk easily with the High Priest. He could obtain information from the Freya Church and even eat here for free. However Weed didn’t have time for that.

“I have an important mission that urgently requires the Freya Church’s aid.”

“What is it?”

“I’m hoping you can send me strong paladins and priests blessed by the god. I think I can overcome any type of adversity if they fight with me.”

The High Priest nodded at Weed’s request.

“The Freya Church is willing to offer our swords and prays. Many people are currently fighting against the Embinyu Church so we can’t withdraw that many troops but how much do you need?”

“I hope that you can mobilize all that you can.”

Weed wanted to pull out the pillars of the Freya Church.

“It is possible with your achievements. But like I said, we’re fighting against the Embinyu Church right now…it is possible to dispatch 240 paladins and 120 priests from here and the North Cathedral.”

“They will be a great help when trying to do the right thing.”

“But you might incur Freya’s wrath if they all lost their lives.”

“I’ll keep this in mind. I will protect them like they are my body.”

It wasn’t possible to take everything from the Freya Church like he had thought. The war with the Embinyu Church was damaging Weed. Nevertheless, the paladins were in the mid-300s.

In the past, they had been much weaker but gained experience from fighting the vampires. The priests were slightly lower and had an average level of 310. He wanted to use his contribution to take all the paladins and priests. It was possible to go hunting without paladins but priests were essential in difficult dungeons.

‘I struggled to find their holy relics while suffering like a slave and I also built a Cathedral for them…’

Weed asked again.

“You can’t send me more troops?”

“This is your request so the paladins and priests guarding this place can be included. I can send 40 more paladins and 135 apprentice priest.

An apprentice priest had an average level of 200. The role of a priest was very helpful in battle but they also required protection. If a priest lost their lives then his relationship with the related religion would decrease.

‘I have to leave a root. Anyway, there is no guarantee that the quest will succeed…’

“I am thankful for the paladins. I’ll struggle fiercely from now on…no, I will defend the continent’s peace with them. However the apprentice priests aren’t required.”

“I’m sorry that we can’t support you more due to the battle with the Embinyu Church.”

“No. This much power is great.”

It was possible to gather this many paladins and priests because he was Weed. Not many paladins were available due to the war with the Embinyu Church.

‘If the quest in Roderick’s Labyrinth fails and everyone dies then my friendship with the Freya Church will end.’

Weed gave a deep sigh as he recruited paladins and priests from the Freya Church. The dignified paladins had the crest of the Freya Church on their chest. And the beautiful priests and priestesses.

There was a chance they might all be harmed. Weed also recruited the priest Alveron who had adventured with him before.

“I don’t know what the trouble is but anything Weed-nim does is absolutely necessary for the peace of the continent and the Freya Church.”

“……”

Alveron believed in him despite Weed going to the labyrinth for his own personal reasons.

“I’m thankful that we can travel together again.”

Weed patted Alveron’s shoulder in thanks while thinking.

‘I can’t allow the things I raised to die like this.’

This was a harsh world and people who behaved recklessly would die. Weed went to the Church of Lugh to borrow some troops.

“The knights of Lugh are meant to stop darkness from spreading…”

The Church of Lugh decided to dispatch 400 paladins! His contribution was lower compared to the Freya Church but he used it to request paladins instead of priests. The special point was Lugh’s Sword that had been thrust into Barkhan’s chest.

After Weed returned the sword, an expedition headed towards Argoldia and restored its power. The owner of the sword was the paladin Derian. He was considered the best paladin in the Church of Lugh and decided to go along with Weed while carrying the sword.

“I’ve heard rumours about how Weed-nim fought against the Embinyu Church. I will comply with Lugh’s will as a loyal knight. The fight against the Embinyu Church is important but I think that helping Weed-nim is no less significant.”

Weed wasn’t exactly pleased about it. The scale had suddenly become larger!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Whew, the leaves are already falling.”

Lee Hyun came out to the yard to clean up. He had an old habit of carefully cleaning his house. His level was at the standard where he wouldn’t easily die in Royal Road so he exited the capsule to clean his house. Weed’s cheapest hobby was cleaning, washing the dishes and doing the laundry.

“It is more quiet than usual.”

Lee Hyun came out to organize the things in his yard and sweep up the fallen leaves. He felt somewhat lonely while doing that. It wasn’t time for his sister to come back to school yet.

“Perhaps this quiet…no! The dog is gone.”

The charming Dogmeat who would lie flat on the ground and shake its tail was missing.

“No. I still have a lot of fermented soybean paste remaining at home.”

In fact, he ate the ducks and chickens but was reluctant to catch the dog. Catching a dog for its meat was barbaric and cruel.

“The Animal Protection Association might come with complaints.”

The fear of a fine! Moreover, he barely had Dogmeat for 6 months so it wasn’t fully grown.  The Dogmeat he gave to Seo-yoon a while ago would be worth 20,000 won at a market. That Dogmeat was 2 years old!

The 1 year old Dogmeat was a wandering dog that Lee Hyun had caught.  He raised it from a puppy so Dogmeat followed him obediently.

“I need to find it quickly…”

Lee Hyun went to search for the 20,000 won that went missing. He didn’t find Dogmeat inside the house.

“The gate is definitely locked…I wouldn’t have been so careless if I knew this would happen.”

Lee Hyun decided to go Seo-yoon’s house just in case. Both houses had a low wooden fence so they could comfortably associate with each other.

“This house is good. There is that feeling of stepping on turf.”

Having a lawn was a symbol of wealth in South Korea! There were fruit trees in the garden and ducks swimming in a pond.

Quack quack!

The weather was hot so there was no signs of the ducks leaving the water at all. Lee Hyun found Dogmeat near the shore of the lake. Seo-yoon was giving Dogmeat a bath with the hose to water the garden.

“Your white fur, you have to wash it beautifully. Do you like the bath?”

Seo-yoon wore short sleeves and shorts to wash the dog in the sunshine. Every time Dogmeat shook its body, water would hit her but she was still beautiful. Looking at Seo-yoon felt like a pleasant dream. It was because her beauty was so unrealistic.

‘Dogmeat follows her more than me.’

Seo-yoon was playing host to all the animals in his house. She fed them, played with them and even let them sleep at her house. Even the rabbits would hop towards Seo-yoon’s house when they were untied and would eat the grass there.

Growl!

The 1 year old Dogmeat growled as it saw Lee Hyun. He had quietly entered the boundary of Seo-yoon’s house.

Lee Hyun thought it was strange.

“You dare treat your master who feeds you fermented soybean paste like this…sit down.”

The 1 year old Dogmeat planted its butt on the ground.

“Lie down.”

Balladang!

“Breathe.”

Pant pant pant pant!

Lee Hyun had trained obedience deep into his head! Seo-yoon dried the dog’s body with a towel.

“It was eager to have a bath.”

“The rain could easily settle that….”

Lee Hyun didn’t nag anymore.

“Are the dogs getting along with each other?”

“They are playing every day.”

The 1 year old Dogmeat was a female and the 2 year old was a male. They weren’t related so he encouraged them to spend time together. In the future there might be puppies.

“Hrmm, steaming a puppy soup with cooked vegetables…”

“Huh?”

“Yes? It is nothing.”

Lee Hyun sat down on a chair and watched the pair of Dogmeats having a bath. This felt like a happy and peaceful dream right now.

‘In fact, I’ve actually accomplished a lot.’

He had become a celebrity in Royal Road so he could live on the generous proceeds of the broadcasts. His heart cried out for money, money, money every day but his poor life was over.

‘Grandmother is in a nursing home and no long requires a lot of money while there is already a separate savings for my sister’s tuition cost.’

He had saved a lot from selling items and the broadcast fees so he had a colossal amount of wealth. It was to the extent that he already collected the money for Lee Hye-yeon’s wedding and funeral costs. In the past he had experienced a lot of grief because he didn’t have money but now his heart could relax.

‘In the worst case scenario, if Arpen Kingdom is destroyed by the Hermes Guild then at least I still have money for my family.’

Lee Hyun could sell quilts at the market or even open a fried chicken store. A few years ago, he dream was to spend his life toasting bread and frying chicken. Of course, there would be drunken guests order friend chicken legs and wings but he wouldn’t deny them!

‘I like a challenge. There is still plenty for me to do.’

Lee Hyun’s heart was peaceful. Royal Road was his job but it was also a place where he could sail in fair winds and relax. Despite how much more difficult this was, Weed was the God of War and he would jump into any dangerous situation without hesitation. He had a history of conquering every danger he faced. He would keep on accomplishing things as he lived on.

‘Don’t worry about it. I can build up my achievements with the Freya and Lugh Churches using my fame and sculpting. The burden that I have to carry is different.’

He couldn’t be afraid of failure. The future wasn’t determined so he didn’t need to feel anxious. Lee Hyun would focus more intensely in a disadvantageous situation and would find a countermeasure.  He had the confidence to adventure in places others wouldn’t go and succeed. He would shake off his heavy burden and display his ability.

‘I really wanted that. That exhilarating moment…the last secret sculpting technique quest will give me that.’

A sound then came from his stomach.

Ggoruruk.

“Um. As expected, I shouldn’t think too deeply. It is my destiny to live with difficulty.”

“Huh?”

“Are you hungry?”

“A little. What are you doing?”

“Seafood kalguksu (TL: Korean noodle dish). Today I am cooking it.”

Right now he was on a leave of absence but he had eaten her boxed lunches every day at school. Now he wanted to repay the favour by cooking.

While Lee Hyun was kneading the dough for the noodles, Seo-yoon was making kimchi pancake. The clean Dogmeats were leisurely running around outside.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed entered a shabby tavern in a back alley of Morata.

“Kkeok, take it.”

“The alcohol tastes good today. Two more glasses of beer over here!”

Drinkers camped here even during the daytime. The drinks were cheap so it had a lot of customers despite being located in the back alleys. Half of them were users while the NPCs occupied the remaining seats.

Morata was in the process of becoming a great city so many people flocked here. Hunters, mercenaries and warriors spent time at the tavern when they weren’t hunting.

‘He should be here at this hour…’

Weed looked around the tables and saw a grey haired man with empty glasses stacked in front of him.

‘There.’

Weed walked up and sat in another chair.

“I have a request.”

“A request?”

The old man asked with a red nose. The most famous NPC thief in the north, Jeidun! He had retired after becoming old but he still told thieves and assassins who visited him tricks to dismantle traps.

Weed had cleared many dungeons in the meantime. There were many monsters and traps in the dungeons. Normally he would just endure the traps with his body or use Van Hawk to lead the way.

The Roderick’s Labyrinth he was going to this time wasn’t that easy. It was to the extent that any traps activated would lead to death. He wouldn’t be safe even if the traps were dismantled.

The weakest demons wandering around were level 400 and some even reached a staggering level 500. And he estimated that the boss Montus would be at least level 600! Weed came to visit Jeidun so that at least the traps would be dismantled.

“I want to form a contract with you to accompany me and get rid of some traps.”

“A mercenary contract…it has been a long time since I did field work.”

Normally mercenaries would be hired from mercenary guilds but it was possible to employ a NPC directly. Of course, he would need to pay less if there was a high degree of intimacy.

“Well, you came all this way so I will agree if you give me 5,000 gold a day.”

– Do you want to make a mercenary agreement with Jeidun?

5,000 gold should be paid a day and you need to provide the salary for 10 days in advance.

Jeidun was a master at dismantling traps and lock picking so his employment cost was very high. However 5,000 gold per day was too excessive. But Jeidun possessed the most excellent trap removing skills in the north. He wanted to hire the best thieves in the Central Continent but the speed of his situation meant that he couldn’t meet them.

Weed regretfully pulled out a bottle of alcohol.

“I’ll give you this.”

“Ugh, this has a good fragrance…”

“I have more alcohol.”

“If you give alcohol every day then I will do it for 4,200 gold.”

“I’ll make sure that you can drink alcohol for the rest of your life.”

“If that is so…then 3,900 gold is possible.”

It was still an impossible amount for employment.

“I want to tell you something Jeidun. This is for the peace of the north. As a thief, didn’t you work your entire life for the sake of peace?”

“Your Majesty!”

Weed revealed his identity. All of the NPCs in the tavern kneeled down before Weed. It was a special privilege given to the King of the Arpen Kingdom!

“I will work for the sake of Your Majesty.”

“The employment cost will be 2 gold a day.”

“That is the value of beef jerky….”

“Would you like to be executed?”

“It is an honour to follow Your Majesty who is a hero of the north.”

He used the king’s authority to hire Jeidun. The side effect was that the residents’ loyalty would fall and the relationship with mercenaries could worsen. But he had so much fame he didn’t need to worry about that.

“Now that Jeidun is taking care of the traps, what sculptural lifeforms should I bring?”

The likelihood of not returning was too high. Bingryong, Phoenix etc. were too big so they couldn’t enter while he didn’t want to bring Goldman and Yellowy into such a dangerous place. Goldman was versatile and Yellowy had good physique and power but both fell behind in combat power.

“Bahamorg, this is an opportunity to fight and shatter some bones.”

“Anywhere is good.”

He decided to bring only Bahamorg. He possessed better fighting skills than Weed and could raise other people’s health and vitality. He was worth bringing into a dangerous dungeon.

“The staff organization for the labyrinth is over.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Can you buy me weapons and supplies necessary for survival?”

He requested a supply of goods from Mapan. Charcoal stones, herbs and antidotes were all supplies necessary for a labyrinth. He spend 70,000 gold purchasing supplies!

There were also spare armour and swords prepared. The Blacksmith skill meant he could make repairs but there were items that could break in battle.

“It has already exceeded 20 carriages. This is enough for a war…do you really need this much?”

Mapan whispered him a few times questioning the amount but Weed’s answers were the same.

– Please save as much as possible by buying cheap and good quality goods.

In the end, Mapan moved with 22 carriages to the destination. The designated meeting place was a place just north of the Central Continent.

“Peace isn’t secured here so I am anxious about such places…”

Mapan decided to hire mercenaries. The resurrected Embinyu Church led armies of demons to destroy cities. Humans scattered and lived in the mountains along with the monsters.

Bandits were seen everywhere and there was also surprise raids by monsters in broad daylight.  A merchant transporting goods would want to avoid these areas as much as possible. It was to the extent that merchants travelling between the Central Continent and the north would utilize many methods other than a land trip.

“We’ve safely reached the destination!”

Mapan arrived at the place he agreed to meet Weed. Apart from Weed, there was a huge gathering of paladins and priests. This was the first time Mapan had seen so many paladins in one place.

They were standing on the hot plains and the sunlight glared off their armour. The priests were standing quietly but they would show their ability once a battle started.

“Thanks for the trouble. The goods?”

“I collected them and brought them. I checked the quantity and quality three times. By the way Weed-nim, why are there so many paladins here?”

“They are helping me with my quest.”

“Sculpting Master Quest?”

“That’s not it. It is a connected quest that is one step higher.”

Weed accepted the transfer of battle supplies and turned around. Mapan observed the armoured paladins and was surprised to see Alveron and Derian among them. They were NPCs famous even to users. Alveron was a priest of the Freya Church and Derian was a paladin and hero of the Church of Lugh.

Anyway, their fame could be compared to the leader of a prestigious guild!

Alveron also wore Fargo’s Crown of Prosperity that belonged to the Freya Church. Derian was also carrying Lugh’s Sword and had colourful support troops. Weed used his contributions from founding a kingdom and adventuring to mobilize the might power to two religious orders.

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“We have come to Roderick’s Labyrinth to protect the peace of the continent!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The priests and paladins raised their weapons and cried out.

“Heeok!”

The blood drained from Mapan’s face.

Roderick’s Labyrinth! The story had been popular among merchants but there was no outcome from it so they moved on. Merchants needed to have a firm grasp of the habitat and monsters in the area that might interfere with a trade. It was rare for a merchant to go hunting in a dungeon.

‘That is Roderick’s Labyrinth.’

It was located at a very old palace. The magician Roderick operated at the palace. And most magical studies were underground. The entrance to the labyrinth was the stairs heading underground.

‘But hasn’t no one come back alive from it?’

Weed finished his short speech. It was important to maintain the moral of the paladins but he only commissioned them for a short time so it wasn’t needed.

“God will look after us no matter what difficulty we face. Let’s go! Then Mapan-nim, I’ll see you later in Morata.”

“Eh?”

Weed said farewell to Mapan and moved towards Roderick’s Labyrinth. The stairs heading underground was grown over with lush bushes. Some stone stairs were broken and there was the corpses of bats all over the place.

The palace where Roderick lived gave an eerie feeling that caused chills! The atmosphere felt like the place had been cursed.

“It is like going to the bank in the summer.”

Weed didn’t hesitate now that he had come here and headed down the stairs.

Chapter 4: Roderick’s Labyrinth

“Kuu, delicious humans have come after a long time. It is possible to finally eat human meat.”

Common flying demons were waiting on the 1st floor of Roderick’s Labyrinth. Weed had been prepared for battle from the moment he came down the stairs so he instantly used a skill.

“Radiant Sword!”

7 eagles flew out and hit the demon soldier’s body!

– The demon henchman Tropiko’s might defence means that only 240 damage is caused.

– The demon henchman Tropiko has been hit in the side. Health has decreased by 267.

– Your sword has hit the demon henchman Tropiko’s wing.

Due to the special protection, health has only been reduced by 37.

The first demon soldier he met had incredible resilience.

“Only this degree…”

It was said that originally intermediate demons existed on the Versailles Continent. The demons were weakened under the influence of the gods and destroyed. That’s why they looked for contractors and took over the body of warlocks. The demons exerted a powerful influence over the land if they were underground and were difficult to subdue.

‘I raised Radiant Sword to this degree and it didn’t even make a scratch.’

The demon soldier wielded a thorn-studded whip.

“This much is ridiculous!”

Weed rolled and avoided the whip. The whip shot out and opened a deep gap in the ground. The demon wielded the whip quickly and the range was also wide so it was fairly difficult to avoid.

There was a sharp, scorpion like sting at the end of the whip and had embedded monster teeth. It had a paralysing ability when hit directly.

– Collateral damage has been received.

Damage has been reduced due to your high perseverance.

Health has decreased by 532.

– A spirit has contaminated your body.

It can cause a disease.

Your body’s ability to heal itself is reduced.

The whip attacked from a distance and shaved away at Weed’s health and combat power.

“You can’t continue to run away like a rat.”

“We’ll see soon.”

“All humans are similar. They have no sense.”

Weed didn’t both talking about the distant future. The paladins from the Freya and Lugh Churches have finally descended the stairs.

“Evil that defies the will of the Gods!”

“Catch it!”

The brave paladins received the priests’ blessings and jumped forward.

“The troublesome believers have come!”

Nevertheless, the momentum was still with the demon soldier. It wasn’t possible to deal a blow to the demon with ordinary weapons. Holy power was a demon’s natural enemy but it was level 500 so the soldier wouldn’t die that easily. It alone could be a boss class monster!

Even the attacks from the paladins were weakened so the demon soldier received significantly reduced damage.

“Deny the god you believe in. Holy Corruption!”

The demon soldier used a magic to reduce the ability of the paladins. It didn’t weaken the paladin’s physical power but their holy magic. A paladin with weak faith would have lower skills and eventually there was a risk of betrayal.

“Hand of Oppression!”

The demon brandished the whip in its right hand and grabbed the air with its left. And a paladin floated in the air like he was caught by a giant hand.

Kwadududuk.

The paladin’s shield and armour was crushed by a strong pressure!

“Dirty Soul Fragment!”

An explosion occurred in front of the demon soldier and spread all over the place. The wide area attack skill made it difficult for the paladins.

“This body has returned to the Goddess.”

“Kneeling due to evil…”

2 paladins from the Freya Church had already been killed. The paladins systematically fought in a formation but the magic and whip attack from the demon was very intense. Furthermore, it was difficult for them to even concentrate on attacking.

“I should’ve expected it to be like this from the beginning. Not many paladins and priests have entered yet. Van Hawk, Torido!”

Weed called his subordinates. He had wanted to avoid summoning a Death Knight and Vampire Lord if possible. If the paladins and priests saw them then their morale would weaken. They were worse enemies so an adverse effect would occur despite Weed’s high leadership. But defeating the demon right now was more pressing.

“Go fight!”

“Understood, Master.”

Van Hawk rushed to the front as soon as he appeared. The Death Knight had the same attribute as the enemy. And the demon was a strong monster but it couldn’t be compared to Barkhan. Van Hawk also grew as his battle experience accumulated.

“That is a demon soldier. Master…beautiful girls coming to a place like this.”

Torido mumbled and quickly headed to the side of the demon.

A vampire’s battle style was to dazzle the enemy! The priests used this break to heal paladins injured or suffering under a curse. The many priests meant that the wounded soldiers could recover their combat ability quickly. If they didn’t die then combat power could be restored.

The paladins holding their shields and swords continued coming down the stairs until eventually Alveron and Derian arrived. Bahamorg was the last one to enter Roderick’s Labyrinth.

Weed’s plan was to come in first to clear any demons at the entrance. Bahamorg was instructed to enter last in case Weed needed saving.

The priests’ holy magic supported the paladin’s pincer movement and the demon received a cruel blow. The whole place was filled with a holy power as the demon was wrapped in a holy light.

Torido and Van Hawk had played active role in reversing the situation. Now the situation didn’t require them any longer. Weed wanted to raise his two subordinates but he had to give that up due to the priests and paladins entering the labyrinth.

He had to sacrifice something in order to pretend to be good.

“Humans. Disgusting humans have come here!”

The demon swung its whip despite suffering from the paladins and the priests’ holy magic. But it couldn’t last longer once Bahamorg joined and turned grey as its life was lost.

– The demon soldier Tropiko has been destroyed.

Fame has increased by 140 for all those who participated in the battle.

“We finally won.”

Ultimately 3 paladins were sacrificed. It was their first time dealing with a demon and they entered Roderick’s Labyrinth via a narrow staircase so they received quite a bit of damage. It was far more advantageous to gather the priests and paladins together and have them use long ranged holy magic.

But once they entered deeper into the labyrinth, at least 10 or 12 demon soldiers would appear at the same time. Even the Morningstar Guild couldn’t last against 13 demons and were wiped out. And nobody had continued deeper so there was no telling what dangerous places there were.

“I knew there was going to be trouble…it can’t be avoided.”

Weed repaired the armour and sword of the paladins while they were resting. Having the Blacksmith skill in an expedition was essential to maintaining their power.

“Thank you very much. Your Majesty.”

“It is a honour to have you sharpen my sword directly…”

“You have learned skills to punish the wicked and establish justice. I have to do everything I can since you are fighting the demons.”

Weed was able to slightly raise his intimacy with the paladins. Of course, that would only come in handy if the paladins lived.

“Healing Hands.”

“Freya’s Barrier.”

“Protection of Faith!”

Weed led the paladins and started carefully hunting in the labyrinth. It wasn’t difficult to deal with the mutated monsters made by the magician Roderick.

“Bahamorg, lure them.”

“Understood.”

There were many powerful monsters with levels in the late 400s.  Even if the personal power of the paladins and priests were weak, their combat power was a group was outstanding. Recovery magic was available so it was possible to do a quick first aid in a long battle.

There weren’t any monsters that could threaten the group’s lives but they were decent to hunt. The strengthening auras on the paladins also had a significant effect. The Freya Church had a bright purple aura while the Church of Lugh had a white aura. The paladins fought spectacularly while radiating an aura according to their faith.

“Kuwaaaab!”

– You have heard the cry of a fighting spirit.

Energy has awoken in a deep place in your body. Stats will be activated according to the body’s latent potential.

Maximum health has increased.

Mana has greatly increased.

The damage to the enemy will become stronger with every successful attack.

When facing a stronger enemy in a frontal attack, fighting spirit will activate and resilience will improve.

There were many undisclosed places on the continent with high ranking monsters that wasn’t possible to enter. But it wasn’t unusual when this much power was gathered.

“2 people died this time.”

Every time a demon soldier emerged, Weed carefully commanded the paladins but those that showed even a little gap were sacrificed. The level difference between the demons and paladins was too serious.

His brain worked quickly as he tried to find a way to fight against the demons. The weak paladins who judged that they couldn’t avoid death were determined to drag the enemies down with them into hell. Despite fighting defensively, 11 paladins had already died in the labyrinth.

“I need to make sure the paladins don’t decrease…if I can’t find a way to navigate the labyrinth then the damage will only worsen.”

The morale of the paladins had yet to fall. They had confidence in the hero who saved the continent and Weed also had high achievements with the Freya and Lugh Churches.

But once they entered the labyrinth a little deeper, 5~6 demons would emerge. The labyrinth was complicated and difficult to grasp their location. Whenever Weed encountered a crossroad, he would unconditionally select the left path.

“I feel like I should go to the right…but that is unlucky so let’s go to the left.”

Monsters and demons kept on showing up. But there were many times when he returned to a place they had been. The entire labyrinth was filled with spatial distortions, spatial expansions and magic so it was difficult to find a path.

Weed didn’t know where the group was but they seemed to be circling around the labyrinth. As they reached the centre of the labyrinth, there were many crossroads and spatial distortions. They endlessly fought in Roderick’s Labyrinth as they ran out of food and were killed by the monsters and demons.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin watched the monitor with satisfaction.

“It is really severe this time.”

The Versailles Continent was suffering from the wars between prestigious guilds.  The Hermes Guild temporarily stopped their war but everyone knew it would resume again once preparations were finished. And that time was fast approaching.

In order to compete with the Hermes Guild, other guilds were attempting to occupy more territory. In the meantime, the Embinyu Church was also devastating the continent. Yoo Byung-jin enjoyed Weed’s adventure more than the war.

“If he doesn’t succeed then he’ll be wiped out. And the current probability of success if 0.2% at most.”

The artificial intelligence calculated the odds of Bahamorg, the paladins and priests making it through Roderick’s Labyrinth. Weed was the variable here. Weed’s pure combat ability would slightly increase those odds to 0.23%.

“Final secret sculpting technique quest. It is very difficult and tricky.”

It was a quest that required all of a person’s power. The mobilization of sculptural lifeforms was necessary and Weed should’ve even created more sculptural lifeforms. Even if he did this, the calculated probability of success was approximately 5%.

Yet Weed didn’t many the sculptural lifeforms into Roderick’s Labyrinth for some reason. Yoo Byung-jin thought this plan was reckless and stupid.

“No one has broken through Roderick’s Labyrinth so the true degree of difficulty couldn’t be determined. Sometimes there is no choice but to fail even when every effort is made…anyway, the final secret sculpting technique will die here. There have already been a few other profession related skills buried.”

There were secret techniques for knights, warriors and magicians. The quests for the secret techniques were so difficult that people would go hunting in order to become stronger. They became too caught up in increasing their level.

The quests for the secret techniques of other professions were delayed too long and faded away. There was a large number of secrets on the Versailles Continent but people also played a role.

“Tsk tsk, 3 paladins died this time.”

Yoo Byung-jin was watching a battle against 2 demons on the monitor and 3 paladins had already been killed.

Once the fight started, it was inevitable they would die against the demons’ fierce aggressiveness. It was interesting for Yoo Byung-jin to watch Weed’s forces gradually weaken but it became tedious.

“It should be fascination once half a dozen emerges at once. Many will die then.”

If Weed couldn’t obtain the final secret sculpting technique then he wouldn’t be able to resist the Hermes Guild and would disappear. Even if that happened, Yoo Byung-jin was still having fun. He wanted to see Weed struggle and fight until the end. It was interesting as Weed was driven into an increasingly more extreme situation. The number of enemies increased as they wandered through the Roderick Labyrinth. Even if they found the path, they were likely to be wiped out while wandering around.

It was a situation where there was a deficient of information on how to find the correct path through the labyrinth. It was close to impossible to reach the room where Roderick studied magic.

– Based on Weed’s character and judgement, I’ve calculated his chances of success in this quest.

Yoo Byung-jin sipped his lemon tea and asked comfortably.

“How much is it this time?”

He calculated that the probability of success while commanding Bahamorg and the paladins was approximately 0.2%. This was after a comprehensive analysis of Weed’s judgement, leadership and abilities demonstrated in every adventure so far.

– The probability of Weed suppressing Roderick’s Labyrinth is 46.7%.

“What did you say? Isn’t your calculation incorrect?”

– That is the average number that repeats after calculating it 316,820 times.

“Why is the success probability so high? It is impossible to find a path through the labyrinth.

– After a review of the existing data, Weed can find a way.

“The power of the paladins is too weak to conquer the labyrinth.”

– They will be able to demonstrate more strength under Weed’s leadership. The damage will be minimized and they will gradually expand more power.

“There are a lot of dangerous traps in Roderick’s Labyrinth. Isn’t it possible that they will fall into a trap?”

– Whatever crisis Weed gets into, he will make an unpredictable choice.

Yoo Byung-jin’s mood sharply fell.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Ohh, demon henchmen!”

Bahamorg twisted a huge sword. Bahamorg was the only one who could fight against a demon soldier one on one. That wasn’t even possible for Weed unless he used Sculpture Transformation or Sculptural Destruction. The demons could use many types of black magic and curses.

“You are just trash from hell and I will cut your body.”

Bahamorg’s taunt skill!

“A barbarian like you…”

“I won’t kill you smoothly. You will struggle in eternal torment.”

The angry demons brandished their whips towards Bahamorg. Once their magic and curses were concentrated on Bahamorg, they were easier to take care of. The priests showered Bahamorg with healing and blessings so there was no need to worry about the curses.

Bahamorg had a super hard body that deflected attacks and wore the best armour given by Emperor Geihar. He couldn’ receive the concentrated attacks of 2~3 without worry.

Meanwhile the paladins and priests cast holy magic and used their swords as support.

“It can’t be. The other humans…”

“Slaughter them. I have to kill more humans.”

The demons tried to provoke the paladins but Bahamorg persistently interfered.

“You think you can escape from me? Look at the funny sight of you running away with your tail between your leg!”

Bahamorg caught and firmly held 1 demon soldier. The paladins raised their shields and the defence formation meant that their survival rate increased.

“You will be complete annihilated according to Lugh’s will!”

Lugh’s Sword wielded by Derian!

While Bahamorg was defending, Derian would attack. The holy power of the restored Lugh’s Sword made even the demons shy away. They were so busy trying to escape and couldn’t counter-attack against Derian. Weed hadn’t confirmed it but Derian was at least in the mid-500s.

‘If I raise him well then he can play more of a role than Alveron.’

Derian had quick sword skills but most of his strength was based on holy power. He could deal with 2~3 demons by himself but the problem was that the demons avoided Derian.

The blessing magic from Alveron was the best. He sometimes used wide range healing magic. It was dangerous if he cast a holy spell against the demons but he was protected by the paladins.

‘I taught him properly. Nevertheless, a lecture is needed for training.’

Weed understood the characteristics of the paladins and made a formation while utilizing Derian and Alveron. The paladins and priests wouldn’t fight well without leadership. If a priest didn’t cast treatment magic at the appropriate timing then it could be dangerous to the paladins.

But that changed once Weed commanded them.

“Unit 1 will step back after attacking twice and Unit 2 will fill their place. Units 3 and 4 will use a crossbow attack while Unit 5 should be ready with spears to create distractions! Derian will use Lugh’s Sword to disturb the demon soldiers.”

The health and vitality of the demons were gradually shaved under the paladins’ offensive. He commanded the troops against the demons like he was conducting an orchestra. His ability to control the flow of combat like it was music! He thoroughly grasped the characteristics of his subordinates and made them work.

“Unit 7 priests, use holy magic on the right arm of the demon holding the whip!”

The demons possessed high health and excellent defence so it didn’t die in a short amount of time. But their ability to recovery was low compared to their level and aggression so hell wasn’t well populated with them.

However, they exerted merciless power when weakened so the paladins couldn’t relax until they were dead. Weed predicted the movement of the demons and commanded the paladins.

“There are indeed many good points about fighting in a group.”

Weed liked the feeling of leading a massive number of troops and continuously hunting boss class monsters. The demons were strong but they couldn’t face a horde of people. The thing that exerted the maximum force over the demons was holy magic and numerical advantage!

“We have to fight these cunning fellows. Maintain our numerical dominance and isolate them. Paladins, stab your sword in from behind!”

The demons were too intimidating so it was natural for some paladins to become damaged. When the demon was about to die, it would give up its life and recklessly attack. This would kill a few paladins who couldn’t survive even with healing magic. If he didn’t prepare and command the troops properly then the formation would collapse and more people would die.

“30 paladins have already been killed.”

Weed sighed. The demons were very high level and the death of each paladin would cause his contribution to the related religion to fall.

“I’m going to have to prepare a bit more.”

He had prepared basic goods before the paladins entered Roderick’s Labyrinth.

Torches, extra swords, minimal food etc.

He brought enough supplies to endure for 1 month and 10 days. The colossal amount of supplies Weed prepared through Mapan was enough to fill 22 carriages. He didn’t want the group members to die from lack of food or materials. He had to solve Roderick’s Labyrinth and exit before the supplies ran out.

“I have to move more slowly.”

Weed only moved once the paladins and priests had perfect health and vitality. Of course, he still hadn’t found a way to navigate the labyrinth. Even when he returned to a previous place, he still stuck to the left.

‘There are still too many demon soldiers. We need to get used to them.’

There was two methods to get through Roderick’s Labyrinth. One was to quickly visit the centre. The problem was that he didn’t know the path but he could conserve his troops. Weed decided to go around.

‘I have to fight as much as possible. There are too many unknown things about the labyrinth to recklessly rush forward. There must be a clue somewhere so I have to look through every last corner of the labyrinth.’

Jeidun moved extremely slowly and disabled the traps. At every break, the paladins would switch between sleeping or sentry duty.

The carriages Mapan gave him was baggage in the rear. From the beginning he had prepared for living in Roderick’s Labyrinth.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Looking for a part to go hunting at Ullenba Lair. I am a level 230 axe warrior and have already hunted there a few times.”

“Does anyone have purple stones? I’m looking for 15 of them. It is essential for the success of enchanting magic.”

“The monsters are dangerous so I’m looking for people to travel with to Rasuru village.

Time passed on the Versailles Continent while Weed wasn’t seen.  The Arpen Kingdom’s territory widened and new buildings rose due to technological development. The ambitious architects challenged themselves to complete one building after another as festivals took place throughout the kingdom.

“Hooray the Arpen Kingdom!”

“The performance to commemorate the completion of the clock tower is starting now.”

“Grass porridge! Grass porridge!”

The Grand Buildings were used to promote the development of the Arpen Kingdom. It was required for users who went hunting or adventuring for a long time to return to the village.

“Is this place the Yusellin village? I think I made a mistake…”

“The walls have widened and there are many people here. How did this village change to a city in a few months?”

“Ah, that is the Alkazar Bridge! They were making it when I left but it seems to be completed already.”

“We can now cross the river using that bridge. Aren’t there many lights on the other side?”

“It is evening so you can’t see it well but a city is being built there.”

Users sometimes stood in the middle of the street with dumb surprise.

“Where do I go if I want to reach the market?”

“What do you want to buy?”

“A leather trimming tool for my bag.”

“Oh, there is a leather specialist store in the South Square. The larger shopping centre is in the east but it will be difficult to find simple things there.”

“Thank you very much.”

The development speed was just as quick as Morata in the past as the entire Arpen Kingdom changed. If the kingdom developed then the capital Morata would prosper even more. It was an obvious choice for beginners to start in the north.

“The King of the Arpen Kingdom defends our pride and honour. King Weed is the only one who can bring back the glory of the Niflheim Empire.”

“It is an honour for the Imperial Knights to follow  a charismatic and honourable new king.”

– Ddiring!

The Vent Castle Knights have sworn loyalty to King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom.

Praise for King Weed has spread through the Northern Continent. At first the remaining knights of the Niflheim Empire didn’t believe such rumours. However the merchants talked while visiting and the knights gradually opened their hearts. The knights of the Niflheim Empire believe that King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom will lead them to glory.

Vent Castle now belongs to the Arpen Kingdom.

Residents of the Arpen Kingdom will visit Vent Castle and trading and migration is possible. All buildings and land owned by the Vent Castle has become the property of the Arpen Kingdom.

The influence of the Arpen Kingdom in this area has become very high.

“Aha! A new trade route has opened.”

“Merchants, quickly go to Vent Castle.”

“What local specialities will sell well?”

“That place does have enough goods so everything from Morata is popular.”

Beginner merchants riding carriages and others form the Arpen Kingdom flocked towards Vent Castle. Adventurers and knights also headed there.

“What kind of adventures will be here?”

“Go faster. We have to complete the first quests and dungeons.”

“Miller-nim, don’t you have to go work today?”

“I took a one week vacation so I can access the game. The adventure will start today!”

Vent Castle remained intact even after the fall of the Niflheim Empire. It was natural for there to be many rare quests among the residents.

“Sir Knight, your method of handling a horse is still immature.”

“I came to learn.”

“I’ll teach you the Niflheim Empire’s methods of fighting on a horse.”

“Heok, that is an advanced technique….! I am prepared to die in order to learn it.”

Knights were able to acquire new techniques at the castle.

Many beginners who started in Morata chose a knight profession. Knights steadily rose horses, defended justice and was loyal to the kingdom. They also had high defence that could withstand strong monsters so it was a popular profession. But knights that didn’t belong to a village couldn’t gain honour and dignity. Those knights were the most pleased about the founding of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Now we can be openly called knights of the Arpen Kingdom!”

“Kya kya kya, I’m going to show off to my friends.”

Knights had influence in the kingdom and could receive better treatment from residents even if they had low fame. Of course, it there was a battle for the kingdom then they were obliged to go out and restore peace. But knights willing to do their duty could obtain a portion of the kingdom’s profit.

“Is there something coming from the sky?”

“Isn’t it a cloud?”

“It seems to be a piece of land…”

Lavias the sky island had arrived in the Arpen Kingdom. The island where the avians lived!

“The Arpen Kingdom is no joke. Something exciting is always happening.”

“The pace that the Arpen Kingdom is developing at is hard to match. I’m a little behind so I’ll have to hunt eagerly.”

“CTS Media has a program related to the Arpen Kingdom every week. And the rumours in the taverns can’t be missed.”

Lavias the sky island neared Morata. The users were able to fly to Lavias through items purchased from the stores or quests.

The Grass Porridge Cult had an urgent meeting.

“Our Grass Porridge shouldn’t be undeveloped.”

“I agree. We need to spread the excellent taste of grass porridge to all continents.”

“If they taste the grass porridge then they will join.”

“I want to see a newly born bird pecking at bread.”

The avians joined the Grass Porridge Cult! And there were also discussions about why Weed hadn’t shown up for a long time. He succeeded in his hummingbird’s journey and training Radiant Sword in a storm.

“He rallied the priests and paladins of the Freya and Lugh Churches to go somewhere…I don’t know anything but it is bad if we haven’t heard any news.”

“Do you think his adventure will succeed?”

“Of course, he is Weed-nim!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Hermes Guild didn’t pass the time doing nothing.

“The integration for the occupied areas of the Kallamore Kingdom, Lasalle Kingdom and Britten Alliance Kingdom is almost complete.

“The Tullen Kingdom?”

“There  are still some things to arrange there. We have the Beden Guild cleaning up the last remaining forces of the Black Lion Guild.”

They made progress against the Cloud Guild of the Britten Alliance Kingdom. They had absorbed key members and slowly dismantling the guild.

The Kallamore Kingdom, Lasalle Kingdom, Britten Kingdom and the Tullen Kingdom had been perfectly devoured by the Haven Empire. The Hermes Guild knew that they wouldn’t be able to stop once they started expanding their territory again.

“Pay attention to mine development, secure blacksmiths and open a supplies road.”

“We’ve established a plan for conquest.”

They would alienate other guilds while spreading and paying attention to the rear would weaken them. Lafaye prepared a conquest plan that would allow them to proceed without a hitch.

“The construction of the Imperial Palace?”

“The construction site is enormous so the completion rate is 83% despite hurrying.”

“Don’t worry about the budget and commit to it.”

“There are no problems. But many decorations and artworks are required for the Imperial Palace. That’s why there is a delay.”

Sculptures and artworks were indispensable for the elegance of a palace. The Imperial Palace increased the authority of the Emperor and maximized his grip on the entire Empire.

Normally architects and artists were commissioned by the guild.  It was normal for them to complete buildings destroyed by wars. However, most architects with great workmanship moved to the north and they were forced to deal with roadside artists.

The north was taking the lead in cultural development.

They were lacking artists so the construction of the Imperial Palace was behind schedule.

“The Hermes Guild will begin their war of conquest once the Imperial Palace is completed.”

They didn’t have any moral justification to conquer the continent. They just wanted to become the strongest force on the continent!

Their military would advance in 3 directions towards the Gradian, Ritten and Aidern Kingdoms.

“Is there any news about Weed’s situation?”

Rather than the other competing guilds, Lafaye cared more about Weed. Whenever he was quiet, he would suddenly show up and cause a big incident!

“According to an analysis from our intelligence network, Weed has entered Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“Is that reliable information?”

“Someone in Somren City witnessed him hiring the paladins and priests from the Freya and Lugh Churches. And the only place that would require that much power nearby…”

“Roderick’s Labyrinth. But going there is suicide.”

Lafaye thought it was outrageous for a moment.

‘Is he crazy? That is too hard if it is for his Sculpting Master Quest.’

He was surprised since no one had conquered Roderick’s Labyrinth.

‘It will take some time to finish the class quest. If nothing unusual happens then Weed would finish the Class Master Quest first. But if he dies in the labyrinth then his sculpting skill would fall.’

Losing skill proficiency at this moment was serious. The damage was so large that it was likely Weed’s other production skills would fall as well.

‘I just don’t get it. Roderick’s Labyrinth at this point…can he clear Roderick’s Labyrinth?’

Lafaye shook his head.

So far, famous parties had challenged Roderick’s Labyrinth. They all failed to defeat it. The monsters were a problem but so was finding the correct path. The standard of the traps, monsters and maze was high enough to wipe out the whole Morningstar Guild.

“Roderick’s Labyrinth will be Weed’s destruction.”

That was the sobering analysis of the Hermes Guild.

“In the end, it seems to be that way.”

Lafaye nodded but wasn’t entirely convinced.

Something similar had occurred in Continent of Magic. Weed succeeded in all adventures that no one else could accomplish.

Chapter 5: Sacrifice of Paladins

Weed’s lifestyle was suffering but he was glad about it.

“This is finally the taste of living.”

It was rough but he was just grateful the priests, paladins and Bahamorg were still alive. They had been fighting the demon soldiers for 2 days and 54 paladins had already been sacrificed.

When they entered Roderick’s Labyrinth, there had been 680 people but that number was quickly reducing. The paladins were getting damaged but they hadn’t reached the centre of the labyrinth yet and were just wandering around the outer edges.

In the meantime, the cooperation and tactics of the priests and paladins had changed. They practiced healing or using with holy magic while being violently attacked by the demons and were able to reduce the damage.

“The energy pill is good for the body. Use all of it. It isn’t any use now but it will come in handy later in the dangerous moments.”

Weed had come prepared with many supplies. Most things were procured with the labyrinth in mind. Monster meat and leather, herbs to stop bleeding and other materials were obtained for the expedition.

“This is quite salty!”

Some supplies that could be used for level 200s were old so they were bitter. They were goods left behind from the early days of Royal Road where many people challenged Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“Maybe other people didn’t take them because they were considered useless.”

Of course Weed packed all those goods. Sometimes valuable items were abandoned but this was a labyrinth so people couldn’t go looking for it.

“I definitely have to get out alive.”

Weed wasn’t wearing flashy armour. If he wore Baharan’s Bracelet and the Goddess’ Knight Armour, then they were highly likely to drop if he died. Although he was worried about the Goddess’ Knight Armour, he had to wear it because it increased resistance against black magic and curses.

The extra leadership over paladins and priests was also required right now. Weed’s charisma and leadership was at a very high level but there was a chance morale would fall in the very dangerous labyrinth.

“Take this, hiccup!”

So far Jeidun hadn’t made any mistakes while disarming the traps. Weed promised to pay him in alcohol so he was drunk but it was better than the alternative.

“Ah…no. We shouldn’t have come here. We’ll die. Aaaack!”

“Now, have a cup of this…”

“Kyah, I like the taste of this alcohol. Ggol ggol ggol!”

So far the priests and paladins were still good.

“This is where the demon soldiers…”

“We have to punish everything.”

In Bahamorg’s case, he didn’t have to worry about anything at all. He could take care of the enemy’s offensive by himself even if 2~3 demons appeared.

Bahamorg and the paladins’ levels slightly increased by facing the demon soldiers. The priests’ treatment skill improved a bit but it wasn’t a large difference.

Weed took one step and reached level 429.

The level of the demons was difficult to hunt every day. Outside the labyrinth they would be classified as boss class monsters. A party hunting level 500 monsters every day didn’t exist. The paladins were sacrificed but those remaining could get quite a lot of experience and skill proficiency.

“I can use the demons to raise the level of Radiant Sword!”

Weed piled up experience by continuously using Radiant Sword. The only downside was that his contribution to the Freya and Lugh’s Churches would decrease and the group’s combat power weakened. He was anxious about conquering Roderick’s Labyrinth and getting out alive.

“I have to keep looking for a way through the labyrinth.”

As he proceeded with searching through the labyrinth, 3~4 demon soldiers would appear.

“Concentrate the healing magic. This will be a prolonged battle. Even if the paladins on the front lines aren’t injured, the priests should continue using healing magic. And Alveron.”

“Yes, Weed-nim.”

“Please use protection magic when those guys are chanting a spell. No one else can block it except you.”

“I understand.”

Commanding the troops was more difficult as a large number of demons showed up. The risk factor increase with the number of demon soldiers. The troops carried out a thorough defence formation but facing the demons wasn’t easy.

“The humans who came here are moderately proficient.”

“Let’s all go to hell together!”

The demons’ wide area magic exploded! Although the lead paladin was holding a shield, he turned grey and disappeared.

“Alveron, obscure their eyes!”

“Holy Buster!”

Alveron’s holy magic caused an intense burst of light so painful that the demons temporarily couldn’t open their eyes.

“Lugh’s Miracle.”

Derian used the power of Lugh’s miracle to raise the ability of the paladins. Everyone used their maximum ability to interrupt the demon soldiers.

“The number of demons will start increasing and the defence formation will be limited in a prolonged war.”

If it wasn’t for his Blacksmithing and Cooking skills then more paladins would’ve died by now. Weed thoroughly screened the skills that the demon soldiers used. While the paladins could withstand a few physical attacks by the demons, it was important to hinder or stop their magic attacks.

“The troops have to move perfectly…in order to get rid of those guys.”

The combination of priests, paladins and Bahamorg needed to be perfect in order to fight back. Many more demons would emerge deeper in the labyrinth and the standard of the mutated monsters would rise as well.

“It can’t be like this. It will become dangerous if more demons emerge.”

Currently the battles against the demons were smooth but it would become rougher as more troops were killed. The demon soldiers were cunning and didn’t fight in a similar manner. If the paladins stayed in one place then an attack would be concentrated there and the iron defence would collapse. Failure to escape would be a quick death!

Although Weed carefully watched over them, so far 71 paladins had died.

‘I can’t put them to work anymore.’

It was a shame that the casualties couldn’t be resurrected with a necromancer’s abilities. At least none of the priests had died yet due to the paladins’ thorough protection. If there weren’t any priests in a place where demons were running rampant then there would be devastating results.

“Bahamorg.”

“Speak.”

“I’m grateful that you’re fighting with me.”

“I came here because I believed in you. It is also possible to fight against an enemy that isn’t boring. I will fight like a barbarian warrior.”

Bahamorg was the most reliable person in Roderick’s Labyrinth in Weed’s view.

‘I was afraid the other sculptural lifeforms would die so I didn’t bring them. If I did, they would indeed die early.’

Bahamorg was able to endure against the demons’ evil magic with the support of the priests. His race was meant to be warriors so he wouldn’t die easily. He would probably hold out until the end and succumb after all his colleagues died.

Bahamorg was also at a similar level to the demon soldiers. Anything dangerous could be entrusted to him. Of course, there was no need to think about it until Bahamorg died.

“Bahamorg, keep advancing.”

“I’m going. Jump at me, turiyaaa!”

– You have listened to the call of the wild.

Physical combat ability will improve by an overwhelming amount.

Attack skills will greatly increase.

Complicated skills that require thinking can’t be used.

A warrior’s roaring skill!

The wall, ceiling, broken table and candlestick that Bahamorg was moving towards melted and 7 demon soldiers flew out. Their muscular bodies were hovering in the air due to their wings and they were gripping axes in both hands.

“I heard news that humans had arrived. I didn’t think they would reach here…”

“Catch them all!”

“Grant their death wishes.”

“They will be chopped up by demons.”

He had expected the number to grow but this was 7 at once! It was possible for demons to set up a secret ambush. The demons couldn’t underestimate humans became many of them seemed to be priests.

“As expected from my destiny…but I am glad.”

Weed never believed that everything could be solved easily due to good luck. He never entered the lottery or took minor prizes. He would write a review every time he purchased a product. If 3~4 demons steadily appeared then he would actually feel more suspicious!

“Step back and form a defence formation! Paladins should fire as soon as crossbows are loaded. That is the target. And start attacking with holy magic! Shower them with holy magic so that the demons can’t approach!”

A large number of demons emerged so Weed’s numbers would reduce unless they focused quickly. There were more of them so the damage would increase. Bahamorg tried to impede them but the demons scattered around.

It was the worst situation but the difficult part was ensuring the priests’ mana didn’t run out. The paladins attacked by the demons could receive healing. If the priests ran out of mana then it would be catastrophic.

If a large number of paladins died then the Roderick’s Labyrinth quest would fail. Once the priests started to receive damage, it would be hard not to be wiped out by the labyrinth.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“One point attack!”

Weed continuously attacked one point on a demon’s chest as holy magic exploded around him. He tried to use Texture Sword to destroy the opponent but unfortunately it didn’t work.

Understanding the opponent’s health and defence was required for Texture Sword. Pinpointing the health of a high level boss monster was hard. Even if he used his highest attack, the demon’s defence was so high it was impossible to use Texture Sword.

‘The damage to the paladins is too large.’

He could see paladins facing the demons and losing their lives.

‘If it wasn’t for Bahamorg then we wouldn’t be able to hold out.’

Weed struck the demon soldier and pulled out a sculpture.

“Sculptural Destruction! Everything into strength.”

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

The pain of destroying a Fine sculpture! The grief!

5 Art stats have permanently disappeared. Fame has decreased by 100.

The Art stat has been converted to Strength for one day.

Your Art stat is too high. Strength stat is too low so the conversion won’t be completed all at once.

800 Strength has been changed to the level 8 advanced skill ‘Severe Blow.’

When hitting enemies with the exact amount of power, enemies will be blown away. Probability of causing paralysis and confusion has increased.

980 Strength has been changed to the level 7 advanced skill ‘Piercing Spear.’

The opponent’s shield and armour will be smashed by the powerful attack.

1,430 Strength has been changed to the level 9 advanced skill ‘Momentary Herculean Strength.’

Power will triple for a short amount of time. Enormous vitality is required.

1,598 Strength has been changed to the level 3 advanced skill ‘Skilled Attacker.’

Increases damage of attack skills.

Weed immediately struck the demon’s weapon.

– The collision has exceeded the limits of the sword and the durability of the Daemon Sword has decreased.

Durability would be restored with repairing.

“I’ll do it. Now is the time to run wild!”

The demon’s chest was full of gaps. The level was high so originally the demon was very powerful. So far Weed had been pushed by the power of the demon. His health reduced due to the damage despite the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

However, he was overflowing with strength after Sculptural Destruction.

“Heriam Fencing!”

Weed’s sword moved freely in his hand like a toy as he continuously attacked the demon soldiers.

“Kuhek, a great human!”

The angle and speed of the sword was like magic as it left an afterimage while cutting the demon. The demons mainly used long and heavy weapons that were slow so they had no choice but to receive damage.

His mind wanted to face many demons at once but fighting against 1 was the best. The paladins and priests had to take on 4 demon soldiers. Alveron and Derian played an active part as they poured all their holy power into catching the demon troopers.

“Goddess Freya, I will go to your loving arms.”

“I’ll raise my sword with courage.”

The paladins devoted their lives and eventually put away the 4 demon soldiers. Weed’s hunt was also a success with the support of the priests. Meanwhile Bahamorg had been safely holding up against 2 demon soldiers.

‘Now there are only two left.’

Every one wasn’t in a normal state but there was no place to avoid it. A lot of paladins had already died or received severe injuries but there were demons left so it would be dangerous if their morale fell.

“We will win. Now we just need to get rid of 2 more!”

– Skill: Lion’s Roar has been used.

The morale of all allies within the influence of Lion’s Roar has increased by 200%.

All confused states are released.

Your Leadership will increase by 300% for 5 minutes.

“For the Goddess!”

“Drive out the devil with Lugh’s light!”

The paladins and priests recovered their morale and continued fighting fiercely against the demons. Bahamorg’s treatment continued so his body had recovered close to its normal state.

“Kurot…it has become troublesome.”

“I want to slaughter even more.”

The 2 remaining demon soldiers sneaked from Bahamorg’s range and assaulted the paladins! Once the demons escaped the provocation, they chose to kill as many as possible rather than face Weed or Derian. And they didn’t care about their lives so the maximum damage was shown.

– All demon soldiers have been removed.

The sacrifice of all the paladins will be known once the labyrinth is exited.

“Kuuuk!”

“It was a terrible battle.”

Once the battle was finished and the damage confirmed, a staggering 22 paladins had died. There were many critical moments against the demon soldiers but the paladins held on with their indomitable spirit or else a lot more would’ve died. Alveron had at least 10 paladins die near him.

The paladins were able to achieve a miraculous victory due to their faith and Weed’s leadership.

“Too many people died in this one battle.”

The problem was that this fight would be repeated hundreds of times as he wandered through Roderick’s Labyrinth. Weed’s eyes grew darker.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

No matter how optimistic a person was when entering Roderick’s Labyrinth, they would eventually think of failure. Countless demons, monsters and magic! There were infinitely complicated paths that led to traps.

Derian, Alveron, the paladins, priests, Jeidun for finding traps and Bahamorg was the optimal configuration for this place. When a priest was drawn pulled into a drawn out fight, they would benefit from the paladins’ defence.

The troops Weed led had a good balance of attack, defence and recovery. Taking that into consideration, borrowing Royal Knights from other kingdoms would be the best choice despite the high contribution required. They were only able to hold up in Roderick’s Labyrinth that long due to Weed’s cooking and production skills.

But the paladins paid a high cost as they kept on dying. 163 paladins had died since they entered Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“At this rate, it is just extermination.”

Weed looked at the injured paladins lying around. A severe fight with 9 demon soldiers had finished just now and exhausted priests with low mana were lying down on the ground. A considerable number of paladins had been reduced since they first entered the labyrinth but they didn’t give up.

Bahamorg’s combat spirit was strong and he would fight until the end. The priests had a lot of faith and their willpower didn’t fall easily. Another factor that maintained morale was Weed’s tasty dishes. If morale ever fell then recovery speed would slow down and they might not be able to fight properly in battle.

He had thought about hiring mercenaries from the mercenary guilds but their morale would rapidly drop. They could also rebel and leave the group so it wasn’t worth bringing them to a dangerous place.

“However the mercenaries could lure them. Even if it costs more money…”

Weed’s face was earnest and serious unlike before. The paladins were becoming fewer and he still hadn’t found a clue to navigate the labyrinth. More demons would emerge deeper into the maze so this was rather dangerous. If they continued walking in circles then they would be wiped out by the demons.

‘Is this an impossible quest to succeed? No, it is not over yet. Just like bloated noodles, it is still too early to give up. I can’t try again if I fail so I need to give everything in order to not regret it later.’

It was impossible to run away anyway. It wasn’t possible to find an exit in the labyrinth and Yurin’s Picture Movement skill couldn’t penetrate the spatial distortions. He had to fight and find a way to overcome being trapped.

‘This labyrinth is related to the secret sculpting technique. Of course, professions related to sculpting could overcome the maze.’

If they didn’t have to worry about the path and just killed the demons then Bardray and the Royal Guards could overpower them. But they would receive considerable damage from the demons.

‘Did I receive a clue from the sculpting quests that I’ve done so far?’

Weed thought about the secret sculpting technique quests that he had done so far. No matter how positively he thought about it, with his current power he would fail. He had to examine everything from the beginning in case he missed a clue. Then a quest related to Zahab suddenly rose up.

Weed took out a small hand mirror.

“I obtained this item….Inspect!”

– Truth Showing Hand Mirror.

Made of special materials, holy power is flowing through it. Reveals falsehoods and visions, leads one back to the way of truth.

Can be used in a particular place.

Restrictions: Can’t be used by murderers or evil people.

When dancers, bards or priests equip this item, the effect of this item doubles.

Options: Intelligence, Wisdom + 7.

Charm +23.

Maximum mana has increased by 11%.

Faith has increased by 38.

It will lead the way in a specific place.

A hand mirror belonging to Queen Evane who loved Zahab. It was normally used to verify his appearance after he used Sculpture Transformation.

– Additional information about the item has been revealed.

“Inspect!”

– Truth Showing Hand Mirror: Durability 14/25

A hand mirror kept by the Saint Manderia. It was a gift given to him by the King of Gradian.

Manderia tried to sell the hand mirror to help the poor but no jewellery merchant was willing to buy something given by a king.

But after Manderia died in a back alley, the hand mirror was imbued with the holy magic ‘Path of Truth.’

It reveals falsehoods and visions, leads one back to the way of truth. But it can only be used as long as Manderia’s holy power remains.

Restrictions: Can’t be used by murderers or evil people.

When dancers, bards or priests equip this item, the effect of this item doubles.

Once Manderia’s holy magic is depleted, the effects of the hand mirror will disappear.

Options: Magic Resistance +9%

Rare magic can be restored.

Intelligence, Wisdom + 24.

Charm +45.

Maximum mana has increased by 17%.

Faith has increased by 38.

It is possible to find the path in a labyrinth flowing with evil energy.

2 users remaining. When everything is used up, it will return to an ordinary hand mirror.

“A difficult to obtain item can only be used twice…I was too late for the quest connect to Zahab but this isn’t bad. Path of Truth!”

Weed immediately used the hand mirror.

Paaaaat!

Light poured out of his hand and pointed to one of many paths.

“That is the right path.”

Weed had turned on the light of hope. If he walked forward then many demons would emerge from now on. The probability of Bahamorg, the paladins and priests holding on until they reached the destination was low.

Even so, there was a satisfied smile on Weed’s face.

“There is still one use left in the item. It can still be sold at the auction even with one use remaining.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Ding dong!

A great number of black sedans were lined up in front of Lee Hyun’s house.

“CTS Media’s audience rating is quite high these days…congratulations, Director Hyeon.”

“Haha, what are you saying? These days there are many fresh programs being broadcasted. The audience reactions are quite good…well, it is popular but that might fall in a few weeks.”

“LK will make a broadcast contract with Weed the God of War. The contents of the contract are so surprising that everyone has made a wasted trip. But I didn’t think the director of Digital Media would come directly.”

“The office was stuffy…I decided to take a trip outside.”

Those gathered before the gates didn’t believe those words. People with a heavy responsibility for each broadcasting station visited Lee Hyun’s house directly.

Lee Hyun had been concentrating on his Master Quest for a while so the broadcasting stations were thirsty for a special program. It was important to regularly raise the quality of the various programs and increase the fixed audience. The Royal Road viewers were increasing and the broadcasting stations gained a large profit from advertisements.

Selling the programs produced to foreign broadcasting companies also reaped an astronomical amount of profit. It was natural for foreign countries to connect and spend time in Royal Road. Royal Road related goods were sold in cities like Paris, London, Shanghai, Venice and Barcelona.

They all knew about Weed the God of War despite not knowing the South Korean president. If a broadcasting company produced a special program on Weed then their names would be known. The overall ratings would rise so the broadcasting stations couldn’t miss the chance.

Once information that Weed was entering Roderick’s Labyrinth spread, they immediately visited his house.

Ding dong, ding dong, ding dong.

“Hrmm, nothing is happening when I pressed the bell so he might be sleeping or playing Royal Road.”

“He isn’t picking up his phone so he might’ve gone outside.”

“Should we wait out here…”

“If you have an emergency then feel free to leave.”

“Director Hyeon, time will pass quickly while talking.”

The people in charge of the broadcasting stations waiting endlessly in front of Lee Hyun’s house. Lee Hyun was inside his house.

“The beat paste soup tastes very good today.”

He relaxed while eating rice and visited the home page of the Dark Gamers. He knew the people from the broadcasting stations were outside but he made them wait intentionally. It was common sense to gain the upper hand in negotiations. It was necessary to make them wait.

“Rururu…money will come in again.”

Lee Hyun hummed as he washed the dishes and slightly opened the window to let out the smell of bean paste soup. After a long time, he finally opened the door and went outside.

“What suddenly brings you here?”

“Haha, I just stopped by for a greeting.”

Naturally the people from the broadcasting stations didn’t come empty handed. Rumours had spread about Lee Hyun so they were each holding thick shopping bags.

‘Free gifts.’

‘He likes free things.’

They brought various things like cow ribs, red ginseng, chinaware, whisky, power tool set etc. The power tool set was specifically bought by KMC Media due to something Lee Hyun previously said.

– I often make improvements on my house. Having power tools would make it comfortable. I considered it but money is valuable but….it is absolutely necessary. If there is only 1 power tool then it would be a problem if it breaks down.

Director Kang brought a whole bag full of the latest power tools. It wasn’t a pure gift but a neat extortion by Lee Hyun.

‘This present speaks to my heart.’

There was no need for him to refuse the gifts from the broadcasting stations.

“Everyone…you brought these things for me. They are things that I need. Rib set, I’d like to have it. Please come in.”

Lee Hyun invited the broadcasting station officials into his house. Flashy presents were received so he should welcome them a little bit.

“Would you like any cold or hot drinks?”

“Something cool…”

“I’d like a warm beverage please.”

Lee Hyun took out some coffee mixes. Iced coffee mixture and general mocha coffee mixture! CHN Broadcast brought green tea as a present but he would save that for his sister to drink. The broadcasting station officials were used to eating expensive dishes at good restaurants. Lee Hyun knew this so he asked a question as he handed out coffee.

“By the way, what is the reason for visiting my house?”

“That….recently there are rumours that you took a company of paladins and entered Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“Hahaha, it isn’t important but the director wanted to greet you…”

Of course it was important that he entered Roderick’s Labyrinth. Weed the God of War challenging the continent’s 8th labyrinth was a great issue. If he conquered Roderick’s Labyrinth then it was another event that would rewrite the continent’s history.

“I am indeed currently inside Roderick’s Labyrinth.”

“Heeok!”

“Then….this is a contract for a broadcast appearance.”

“This is definitely a good contract that is better than the other broadcasting stations.”

They came to give Lee Hyun the broadcast appearance contracts! The special appearance fee was enough to raise an orphan.

‘I’ve grabbed hold of more assets.’

If he signed an exclusive contract with a broadcasting station then there was the contract signing money and appearance fees. But Lee Hyun decided to form an agreement with all the broadcasting stations at a relatively high price. Eating at many places was better than just one place.

“If you agree to show Roderick’s Labyrinth…incentives are also prepared. How about a luxury car if you sign an exclusive contract with us?”

CTS Media offered money and a foreign car. Weed shook his head.

“I will not take the car.”

For the most part, men were interested in cars. However insurance money, taxes, oil changes and tire changes were required every year. A car unnecessarily consumed money so Lee Hyun refused it.

“If it is cash then I will consider it positively.”

“….”

Chapter 6: Landlord’s Appearance

Weed wasn’t going to succeed just because he found the path through the labyrinth.

“This time there are various branches.”

Sometimes the light from the mirror would split into two or three directions at a crossroads. The space was distorted which meant that either path would allow him to reach the destination. Of course he didn’t know which side was a shortcut. Moreover, the power of the demons increased as they went deeper so it was riskier.

“It is still difficult like this. It seems I need to use Sculpture Transformation.”

The chaos warrior Kubichya that could use the dragon sword Red Star!

“Let’s go!”

Weed used Sculpture Transformation and moved along the path revealed by the mirror with Bahamorg, the paladins and the priests. There were 9 demons waiting for them. It was solid evidence that they were reaching the centre of the labyrinth.

“Grrrr, weak humans have come.”

“Do you have faith in the Gods? The Gods won’t be able to save you.”

The demon soldiers struck first.

“Bahamorg, charge!”

“Understood.”

Weed was prepared for the difficult quest and brought boots and armour for a chaos warrior. He had nothing to fear with the protective equipment.

“Blink!”

He popped behind a demon and swung the Red Star.

“Keet!”

“It is fire, fire!”

Radiant Sword was effective against demons because it contained the light attribute, the next effective attribute after holy power. But the Red Star’s flames could burn away evil so it boasted overwhelming damage against the demons.

“Kueeeek!”

“Hell! It is like I’m being burnt by the flames of hell!”

The demons wrapped in the flames of Red Star were in great pain. They had resistance to fire but these flames weren’t easily quenched. Weed’s combat power changed now that transformed and could use the Red Star.

“Persevere!”

Weed received the attacks of 2~3 demons. His health and resilience increased after becoming a chaos warrior but his body couldn’t take attacks like Bahamorg. He attacked with the Red Star and used Blink the moment the demons got close. A chaos warrior was a combat species so they had an advantage over humans.

“I will definitely bite and eat him.”

“The sword that human has. It is giving off the scent of dragon.”

The demon soldiers chased after Weed. It became easier for Bahamorg, Derian and the paladins to hunt. Thanks to Weed’s efficiency in luring the demons, they were able to win with only 23 paladins dying.

The deaths of the paladins couldn’t be helped when looking at their strength and the number of demons. Bahamorg approached Weed.

“Are you okay?”

“This degree…isn’t enough to blink at.”

“I admire your resilience. Your patience isn’t ordinary.”

“It is natural since I am protecting my colleagues.”

Weed didn’t miss this opportunity increase his favour with Bahamorg.

The battle was so dangerous that he only had 25,000 health left when it finished. It was a considerably high number but his health had reached 150,000 when he changed to a chaos warrior. The demons were so strong that he had a lot of anxiety once it reached 20,000.

He often had to Blink when facing the demons so the priests couldn’t treat him. He was able to withstand the demons’ attacks thanks to the power of the Red Star.

“Anyway, this danger will be nothing compared to when we keep advancing.”

They encountered 3 more battle after that. Weed ensured the safety of the paladins by playing the role of bait. He would attack the demons from behind and then lure them aggressively.

“Everyone jump at me!”

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

After their victory, Weed would be so injured it was like he was dead. But he was willing to bear such a burden to reduce the damage on the paladins.

“That bastard!”

“Get rid of his sword.”

“Chew on his raw flesh!”

All the demon soldiers chased after Weed.

– You have been hit by the demon soldier’s whip.

– The sword of the demon soldier Krobirub has hit your shoulder.

It is a severe injury and your left shoulder can’t be used.

It was common for the demons’ attacks to land on the ground. However, he could only teleport a short distance and 5~6 demons were chasing after him.

‘Let’s aim behind that demon over there. I can’t stop moving. And the one in the front is the strongest.

He used all his combat experience to dodge the demons. His health fell to the bottom just as Bahamorg took some demons off him. The wild and perilous battle brimming with so much intensity it was difficult to catch his breath!

“Ugh, we won this time. I really thought I was going to die.”

He managed to survive the battle due to Seo-yoon’s health being transferred through Seulroeo’s wedding ring. This time he had deliberately made the sculpture of Kubichya with thin fingers so the wedding ring could be worn.

Weed’s body received intense injuries so the priests gathered around to treat him. However a hopeless incident that he couldn’t predict occurred.

“Hiccup, kyaah! The alcohol is good today.”

Jeidun came out to dismantle a trap. The degree of difficulty for the traps also went up as the maze became deeper.

“Uh, should I touch the red line or the yellow line? Hiccup. Perhaps it is the red line?”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

A pile of stones fell from the ceiling and killed Jeidun!

“No! I have to make you work more…”

He knew the path to the destination but that didn’t matter. It wouldn’t be possible to dismantle the traps from now on.

“At this rate we really will be completely trapped here.”

Weed was stunned and stood at that spot for a while. Roderick’s Labyrinth was completely isolated. He knew the way but now he would receive damage from the traps even before fighting the demons. The lives of Bahamorg and the paladins weighed heavily on his shoulders.

“We will have to fight against Montus at the end of this path.”

Unfortunately, he felt a bad premonition. He knew where Montus was located so Weed could avoid him. Unfortunately Weed couldn’t avoid any places because he was looking for the research records. The possibility was high that he would have to go through that room or that it was located there.

“In the future there will be more demon soldiers, traps and monsters….like this, the odds aren’t in our favour.”

Weed finally admitted to his failure. He only took paladins and priests into Roderick’s Labyrinth and the amount killed was great. Regular soldiers and mercenaries were difficult to lead well but their levels and combat power were higher than the paladins. If they entered the labyrinth as well then Weed might’ve succeeded after a long struggle. Now he felt despair as the faint light of hope disappeared. Weed needed to prepare something quickly.

“A disaster would be difficult. It can’t be used every time the demons emerge and the weak priests would receive significant damage.”

Elemental Sculpting also wasn’t suitable. The elementals were effective in various fields but the ability of a newly created elemental was weak. Dirtman and Fiery Pebble could be used in battle but the demons were too high level.

“There is a slightly better way. Something  I didn’t want to use….”

Sculpture Life Bestowal! It was a useful skill that could create a strong ally. The labyrinth was unstable so it wasn’t possible to use Yurin’s Picture Movement or summon the other sculptural lifeforms.

“I need to give life to a minimum of 5 in order for them to be useful. Creating more than 10…..and many of them will probably die against the demons and Montus.”

Not only would his level significantly reduce when he used the skill, only sculptures at the Masterpiece standard or higher would be able to survive. He had made many of those sculptures to date but he hadn’t brought them into Roderick’s Labyrinth.

Even if the number of subordinates increased by giving life to sculptures, it wasn’t easy for them to become stronger inside the maze. It was more likely that they would die against the demon soldiers.

“If I die and then use my fame to bring more free knights…even if I regret it later, it is too late to find a way with traditional sculpting. Then…”

Weed released Sculpture Transformation and took out a wooden block received from the Freya Church.

“Now I need to urgently create a skill that will be the most useful…”

He decided to create a sculpting technique now that he was cornered. It was also possible to change the frustrating situation with a suitable skill. He had to produce a skill that could reverse the situation and be used repeatedly in the future.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Sakak sakak sakak.

Weed shaved the wooden block with Zahab’s Sculpting Knife. His hands sincerely filled in the small details! The sculpture of the secret technique was important so he had to concentrate perfectly.

‘This tension is like when I put down the deposit to buy a house.’

It was a skill that would become his companion from now on!

Something like Radiant Sword to fight against enemies was needed or similar to Sculpture Life Bestowal would be good. Creating a disaster or unforeseen changes like Sculpture Transformation would be useless. If he used sculpting to create an elemental then the utilization would rise even more. A skill that could change the current situation!

‘If I create too good a skill then the penalty will be severe. Anyway, there should be more wrinkles on the face.’

Weed was making a sculpture of an old grandfather. There was great wisdom in the deep eyes and a large amount of wrinkles. He wore magician’s robes and a wide brimmed hat.

‘The magic staff…there wasn’t a cloak.’

Right now he was sculpting a figure of Magician Roderick. He was sculpting the Roderick that he saw in the video fighting against Montus. The advantage of a sculptor was that he could reproduce the exact target that he saw.

Weed spent 7 hours making the sculpture.

– With the help of Freya’s holy power, it is possible to create a new sculpting skill.

Please set the name of the new sculpture skill.

“Sculpture Resurrection.”

– Sculpture Resurrection is correct?

“That’s correct.”

– Please define the sculpting skill.

Weed said in a heavy voice.

“In this land, there lived as many heroes as stars in the night sky. Emperor Geihar Von Arpen, Kolderim, the Great Magician Roderick and wise King Theodarren of the Rosenheim Kingdom.”

Theodarren was a little less heroic compared to the others but he put it in specifically because of the pyramid he built. It was the sponsorship that was common in movies or dramas.

“It is a skill that can resurrect dead historical people.”

– Due to the nature of the skill, a high penalty will be given.

Do you still want to proceed?

“I’ve already decided.”

Even if the penalty was intense and he couldn’t frequently use the skill, he had no choice.

– The sculpting skill has been completed.

Goddess Freya doesn’t want you to violate the law of causality.

There will be a fixed price every time the sculpting skill is used.

– Wooden Statue: Durability 1/1

A wooden statue that contains Weed’s skills.

Allows you to acquire the skill to raise a dead historical person. However, Advanced Sculpting needs to be reached first.

– Sculpture Resurrection 1 (0%):  It is possible to make a sculpture that will raise a great person not currently living.

Advanced Sculpting is required.

However, Art stat will decrease by 45 every time it is used. Faith is decreased by 10. 3 levels will fall.

The sculpture must accurately look like the target when they were alive and the length of resurrection depends on the skill level.

Presently 21 hours.

The current skill level can only raise 1 person at a time.

Only humans and similar races will respond to the call. Monsters are not possible.

The resurrected person shall possess their memories and abilities from when they were alive. They won’t follow your commands and will act according to their own will. Sometimes they won’t help and there is a possibility they will only do harm.

Goddess Freya won’t agree to raising the same person twice.

The skill can be reused after 1 month.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– Fame has increased by 2,430 due to the creating of a new secret sculpting technique.

Weed gave birth to the most valuable skill!

“It is a shame about the reduction in 3 levels.”

Even though he called a great hero, that person was only active for 1 day.

“I have to pay expensive rent for something that isn’t limitless!”

The drop in art, faith and his level was rent for 1 day’s work.

“I have to use it anyway. Sculpture Resurrection!”

Weed immediately used the skill. He had been determined to revive someone from the beginning.

Great Magician Roderick! The labyrinth was his home and laboratory.

– Sculpture Resurrection has been used.

The Great Magician Roderick has received the call and returned to this land.

45 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

Faith stat has been permanently reduced by 10.

Level has fallen by 3.

18,000 health and mana is consumed.

The person revived by Sculpture Resurrection will retain their knowledge and ability.

It is only a fixed short time but they are thankful for being able to move in this world again.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpture Resurrection has improved.

It was completely different from summoning the undead. The person actually existed again.

Weed’s location was filled with a white light. The light gradually disappeared and a person showed up.

Great Magician Roderick!

He looked exactly like the image Weed had seen of Roderick before entering the labyrinth. Roderick muttered while looking around at the surroundings.

“I….apparently I fought against the devil Montus and died. And this is my home.”

He was a great magician and judged the situation quickly.

Weed approached him.

“Greetings to the Great Magician Roderick. I am honoured to meet you in a place like this.”

“Who are you?”

“I’m am Weed. My profession is a sculptor.”

“I’ve never heard of you.”

“Of course not.”

Weed wasn’t famous during the time that Roderick lived. He was recognized as a great sculptor and king of the Arpen Kingdom but Roderick didn’t treat him like that.

That was the power of fame. If Roderick travelled to villages or cities then he would quickly hear about Weed. But this was a separate place. Even if he could go outside, it was possible he might not approve of an employer like Weed.

“I heard about how Great Magician Roderick-nim trapped the devil Montus in here and was deeply impressed.”

“It was to make sure the peace of the continent didn’t break due to my mistake. It would be serious if Montus managed to get outside.”

“Of course. The continent was able to stay calm thanks to Roderick-nim.”

Weed responded. It was a society where everyone flattered each other.

“What do you wish from me?”

“Nothing. I was just worried that the trapped Montus would somehow get out one day.”

“I will eliminate Montus.”

“Is that so? Then can I help Roderick-nim from the side?”

“I alone am sufficient.”

Roderick slammed his magic staff into the ground. There wasn’t a large sound or anything terrifying happening but Weed’s eyes were drawn to the staff.

‘The price for a staff used by a great magician….kkul keok!’

There was a large diamond embedded that scattered light. Roderick was a great magician overflowing with confidence in his own ability. It was an attitude appropriate for a magician who understood the laws that the world was composed of and the power of mana.

‘Judge, lawyer, prosecutor and doctor.’

All professional occupations!

“It would be a huge honour if I could fight with Roderick-nim against the devil.”

“It will be dangerous.”

“My power is marginal but I will fight against this devil. I think the most valuable thing in my life is coming here. So I will stay near Roderick-nim and respectfully learn from you.”

“Wait here.”

“I would like to observe Roderick-nim as a sculptor so I can make a fine piece people will remember.”

“Then come along. But don’t become a hassle for me.”

“Of course.”

Roderick eventually agreed to let Weed come along.

‘Now I can just follow behind Roderick and reap the benefits. It cost me 3 levels so I should properly utilize him.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Roderick had installed the traps so he knew where they were all located. That’s because this was his home, not someplace else.

“This place is fairly distant from my laboratory. The demons will move through the spatial distortions so we will have to fight along the way.”

“Yes, I will be ready.”

Weed had once again used Sculpture Transformation into Kubichya. Bahamorg, the paladins and the priests were also following behind Roderick.

9 demon soldiers were waiting for them.

“Kyahat, humans have come here…”

“They are the prey. Eh! I’ve seen that old man somewhere.”

“All those making a mess of my house, disappear. Body Explosion!”

The air compressed near the demons due to Roderick’s magic and it exploded, causing huge damage. The demons didn’t immediately die but suffered from minor and severe injuries. But that degree of magic wasn’t the reason why a great magician was feared.

“Flame Pillar.”

A large column of flames shot up where the demons were. The wide area magic that had an effect on the whole region! The demons continued receiving damage until the magic ended.

Great magicians were able to use magic in a row without a great delay between spells. The Flame Pillar was just intermediate level magic.

“Hell’s Fire. Rock Strike. Soul Impact!”

Roderick drove the demons away with ruthless attacks. Weed’s eyes flashed as he sensed a chance.

“Can I help you?”

“You will get in the way while I’m chanting a spell. Just watch the view.”

“Roderick-nim doesn’t need to kill all the demon soldiers. Isn’t it more important to reach Montus? Even my small power can help a little bit.”

“Then do what you want.”

“The paladins will stay in a defence formation and the priests will attack the demons directly with holy magic.”

Weed lined up paladins with shields on both sides of Roderick to protect him. The fully repaired armour and shield gleamed and light flashed off it. The priests intensively used holy magic on the demons.

“Kyahaak!”

“We have to kill that human.”

2 demon soldiers ran out.

“You are my share.”

“I will kill you according to Lugh’s will.”

Bahamorg and Derian took on those demons. So far they had struggled against 8~9 so 2 demons were simple enough.

“Kuwaaaak!”

And the demon Roderick was concentrating on caught on fire.

“Blink!”

Weed showed up next to the demon and wielded the Red Star.

– The demon soldier Tabias has been destroyed.

Fame has increased by 191 for all those who participated in the battle.

– You have acquired a little experience.

His right hand held the Red Star while his left hand moved quickly.

Suksak!

– Tabias’ Whip of Fear has been acquired.

– The belt of a demon soldier has been acquired.

– A black alchemy reagent has been acquired.

Next was the demon soldier that looked very weak.

– The demon soldier Rochyus has been destroyed.

Fame has increased by 171 for all those who participated in the battle.

– You have acquired a little experience.

– Agility has increased by 1 for hunting demon soldiers continuously.

Sususuk!

– Rochyus’ Broken Shoulder Blades has been acquired.

– Fragments of Hatred have been acquired.

“I will kill you for the justice of the continent.”

Weed chose demons that didn’t have a lot of health left and dealt the final blow. Usually he was conceded the experience in a battle to his subordinates. But the paladins and priests weren’t his subordinates and Roderick would disappear after 1 day.

A persistent battle for profit!

“There is no time. We must go faster.”

“Yes, Great Magician Roderick-nim.”

Roderick could only exist in this world for a limited time so he wasn’t interested in experience.

“Bahamorg, fight quicker. Don’t hesitate for other people.”

“I will do so.”

“The paladins and priests should also focus on speed.”

“Yes! We understand.”

Weed was the commander of the paladins and priests. He had shown hard work and dedication in the labyrinth and was rewarded for it.

‘Roderick can only remain for another 20 hours. We must achieve the goal in this labyrinth during that time.’

Chapter 7: Demon Slayer

Weed managed to restore the experience lost when he used Sculpture Resurrection.  The demon soldiers had high levels so he gained a lot of experience after he dealt the last strike. It wasn’t to the extent that he gained 3 levels but his experience bar was quickly filling.

Ddiring!

– The demon soldier Teipe has been destroyed by your seven continuous attacks.

– The skill proficiency of Sword Mastery has improved.

– You have gained the title Demon Slayer.

When hunting demon soldiers, the effectiveness of your attacks will improve.

The effect of the title will help your subordinates overcome fear.

You will receive more respect from the religious societies on the continent.

When hunting weak monsters in a dungeon, there is a chance of dealing a deadly blow.

The probability of acquiring an item from a demon soldier has improved.

Resistance to black magic and curses has increased by 2%.

When owning an item associated with demons, it is possible to extract a higher power.

Restrictions: Only those who had hunted 200 demon soldiers will be given the title.

A title he got from fighting!

As Weed created sculptures and accumulated stats, he surpassed his limits and became a stronger warrior. He gained fame, stats and special skills. The Geomchis weren’t interested in production skills which was why they were so strong. However, it wasn’t easy to exceed their limits during battle and there were many cases where they died. Focusing on a safe hunt would prevent the development of his abilities.

‘This will be useful when using the Daemon Sword.’

Right now he was wearing the Red Star but the Daemon Sword was very useful in everyday hunting.

“Now there are 12 more fights….Montus will be waiting.”

“I see.”

Weed responded politely to Roderick.

His magic was full of endless surprises. The magician’s mana consumption was very serious. It was common sense that they would have to mediate for a short time to recover their power. Yet Roderick didn’t need to take such breaks.

“Fever, Blind, Lightning Circle!”

Despite the fact that he recklessly used 3 magic spells in a row and repeated it in battle, he never showed any signs of running out of mana. He only knew Roderick for a short amount of time but Weed boldly asked him a question.

“What is the secret behind your mana not running out?”

“Isn’t that too simple?”

“Huh?”

“It is what the world is made of. The world is filled with mana.”

Everything in Royal Road was composed of mana.

“That’s right.”

“My body can drag in mana from the world in order to have an infinite source of mana.”

“Oh, then it is possible to use magic even if the body doesn’t contain mana.”

“A situation like pulling in mana doesn’t occur that often. But I use advanced magic that consumes too much mana.”

Weed was completely envious of magicians.

‘How good would it be if I mastered magic instead of sculpting.’

It was inevitable that sculptors would be jealous of other professions. Roderick could pull a large amount of mana from his surroundings into his body. A break wasn’t necessary so he could be called the perfect battle magician.

Weed went to the place where Roderick devastated the demons with his magic and picked up the items.

“You seem to be lacking in power. Memorize the power of giants.”

“Thank you very much.”

Roderick chanted a spell that gave Weed, Bahamorg, the paladins and priests the power of the giants.

– The Grand Magician Roderick has used the spell  ‘Power of Giants.’

Latent power will be awakened and increased to 300%.

The duration is 2 hours and 50 minutes.

The magician also mastered secondary magic. The ratio of power that the lower levelled people in the group received was higher.  The blessings that priests could overlap so it was very useful. Even if their power was stronger, the paladins were still suffering from the attacks from the demons.

“You couldn’t avoid that?”

“We’re too weak…”

“I’ll chant a spell for swiftness.”

“You don’t need to do something like that.”

“Too noisy.”

– The Grand Magician Roderick has used ‘Spell of Quickness.’

Movement speed has become faster.

The delay time in skills has decreased.

The duration is 2 hours and 59 minutes.

Roderick was an arrogant and stubborn old man. He took the lead in battle and the others had to follow his movements. But their trust in him grew the more Weed, Bahamorg and the paladins fought together. Roderick could only exist in this world for another 9 hours and 40 minutes.

‘The path to the destination is going smoothly.’

All the traps were dismantled as they moved along the shortest path. But Weed was seriously strained when 12 demon soldiers appeared. These were demons who hadn’t seen any humans so far.

The intermediate demon commander Bulko!

“Summon Fire Golem!”

Roderick called out his guardian the Fire Golem. No matter how strong the demon was, it couldn’t stand against the huge Fire Golem! Only a high ranking magician could summon golems. The Fire Golem, Bahamorg and Roderick struck at the enemies.

“Grrr, split up and attack the humans.”

The clever demons spread out and attacked. So far, 200 paladins and 32 priests had died after meeting the demons. But the number of demons they killed in the labyrinth was tremendous so it wasn’t an insignificant sacrifice. None of the monsters mutated by Roderick’s research dared jump them.

After he finished eating and resting, Weed approached Roderick.

“We will soon reach the place where Montus is.”

“That’s right. I will send him back to hell.”

“Of course. By the way, I was just wondering something.”

“What is it?”

“I heard that you studied radiant beauty along with other sculptors.”

“It was very rewarding. And even I made no progress in it.”

“Can I ask what type of research you did?”

Weed was so nervous his heart was thumping.

“For the sake of research…there were dozens of attempts. I experienced a myriad of failures and there were impossible challenges. It is because we have to surpass the laws and limits of this world to express radiant beauty.”

“What was specifically involved?”

Weed held his breath as he waited for Roderick’s answer.

“How annoying. You won’t believe it even if I say it…you’ll see when you go to my laboratory.”

“Yes…”

“Go over there.”

There was a fall in intimacy! Roderick played an active role in the battle against the demons. He used ultimate combat magic!

“Sinner’s Bridle.”

A thick iron block formed around the foot of a demon soldier. It was a magic spell that decreased agility and movement speed.

“Flame Cannon, Hand of Evil!”

There was a fire attack strong enough to shake the labyrinth and a blackened hand emerged from the ground to grab a demon’s leg.

“Kyaat! No, I don’t want to be dragged!”

The ground closed over as 5 demons were pulled underneath. It was the end for the demon soldiers caught.

Weed was quick and used his accurate judgement to build up achievements in battle. The paladins and priests also fought the demons wandering around. Roderick was attentive to some extent but was mainly interested in getting rid of the demons.

“My magic isn’t the same as before. If I had a reagent and auxiliary item then I would be able to show a stronger power.”

Roderick already had fearsome magic so his words were absurd.

‘Stronger than right now…I wonder if he was more powerful than Barkhan in the past?”

The decorations on the walls before flashier as Weed moved further into the labyrinth. There was a thick crust of dust but the hallways were filled with sculptures and artwork of knights. Of course, they had received serious damage over time so he couldn’t get an increase in stats or sculpting proficiency unless they were restored.

‘It is valuable. If only there was enough time…”

Weed had found some work. Restoration of all the art in Roderick’s Labyrinth! If he cleaned it perfectly then it would be a wonderful palace. While he was lost in his thoughts, they arrived in front of the large doors leading to Montus.

Despite the many long journeys through the labyrinth, this was the first time someone arrived in front of these doors. Weed wanted to know the place before the battle started so he asked Roderick about the room.

“What is beyond those doors?”

“It is a spacious room where visiting kings used to stay. I used it for my magic research and Montus is probably in there.”

Gulp.

Weed swallowed his saliva. No one on the Versailles Continent had arrived at this place in Roderick’s Labyrinth but it was difficult to imagine fighting against even a lower devil.

‘If this is a dream then it is definitely a nightmare…’

Despite that, excitement and tension rose. He would die if he lost but it was exhilarating to think about fighting against a lower devil. This might be the last battle so there was a long break this time. Bahamorg, the paladins and the priests’ equipment was repaired like they were new.

“Let’s meet again alive.”

“We can definitely win.”

They exchanged words and had a generous meal. He used more than half of the remaining supplies Mapan had provided. He had been prepared for a long and risky fight against the demons from the beginning.

‘If I die then I won’t be able to take these goods out.’

He used his advanced cooking skills to create first class food. It even impressed Roderick who had eaten with kings on the continent.

“I haven’t eaten for a long time.’

Roderick didn’t need to recover mana and had a perfect physical body.

“I’m going.”

8 paladins pushed open the doors.

“It is starting now.”

Weed changed his body to Kubichya and equipped the Red Star. The doors were fully opened and the devil Montus was waiting for them.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Myeongdong’s bond market was necessary for South Korea’s economic development. Corporate bonds, corporate loans, discounted bills, etc. were all involved. Of course, there wasn’t just the positive side of the process. The high rate of interest meant that politicians or criminals could take advantage of it.

Vicious loan sharks occupied a deep position.

“When are you collecting the funds from SA Construction?”

“One week later.  The president asked for an extension, Hyung-nim.”

“Collect the full amount.”

“They won’t be able to repay, Hyung-nim.”

“I heard that President Park bought land in the metropolitan area under the company’s name and is developing it.”

“I understand what you mean. I will definitely handle it.”

The loan shark deliberately devoured the assets of businesses. There were many cases of people who borrowed money from load sharks in order to urgently fund a building or factory.

This was a rising market in Myeongdong over the past 3~4 years. In the past, the high interest rates were aimed to the general public but now the targets were companies.

Of course, loans to the general public was still an important business. The financial sector was rapidly evolving and loan sharks were the target. Thanks to the cultural development of over-consumption of goods, the loan shark businesses had bright prospects.

Han Jin-sup meticulously combed through his ledger.

“The earnings for this month is good. Any news?”

“The store at Dongdaedum seems bad. The initial loan was around 4,000 and the interest has increased it to 9,000. Even if we clean out the store, only 2,000 would be recovered.”

“The family?”

“One daughter and two sons. One son is still in junior high school.”

“2 people should be able to pay it off.”

The system of money lending had changed a lot from the past. If the loan amount was large, the women would be handed over to bars. If was effective to squeeze a debtor but it was a crime so the company would be dissolved if caught. The funds were hidden in different organizations in advance but the risk was still considerable.

Thus they changed it into a legitimate business.

Over time, Royal Road had become the trend!

They rented a warehouse and gathered items before giving people jobs to repay their debt. The room and board wasn’t free and there was even a fee to use the game capsule so their debt didn’t decrease. It was a place that they couldn’t leave once they entered. It was a business that could get employees without paying a monthly salary.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi’s Weapons Mastery reached 50% of advanced level 9.

“Now I feel like I’ve become a little stronger.”

“The trainees have reached beyond advanced level 8.”

They went hunting without the instructors around the clock. The trainees quickly trained their Weapons Mastery skill. They were familiar with a sword but they tested all sorts of weapons in combat like bows, spears, axes, hammers and maces.

Their proficiency in various weapons also increased Weapons Mastery. Even though their basic weapon was still a sword, they also carried a bow and had a small hand axe stuck at their waist.

Geomchi-100 liked looking at his reflection in the sword.

“I look like a valiant warrior.”

Geomchi-150 was looking down like he was sleeping. A large axe was in both hands.

“It is the same for me, Sa-hyung. I have confidence in every type of battle.”

The beginners who were crossing Peshil River using Alkazar Bridge were startled to see them.

“Bandits!”

“Not monsters?”

“I’ll give you everything I have so please spare me. This is 3 gold!”

Their appearance was enough to not need a job for the rest of their lives!

Geomchi gathered the instructors and trainees together. A soft and warm smile was on his face because his girlfriend arrived in the north not long ago. He had shown her around the north on dates so there was a slight smile on his face.

‘The last time he smiled like that, he punished us all night…’

‘He made us go into the mountains for survival training for 10 days.’

A murderous smile that was even worse than Weed’s rotten one! Geomchi spoke in a soft, gentle tone.

“Hey everyone.”

“Yes! Teacher-nim!”

The answer promptly came out like they were in the army.

“We will now challenge the Master Quest.”

“Yes! Teacher-nim’s words are the truth.”

They replied without any objections.

“Where are Geomchi-3 and Geomchi-5?”

“They are up to the 13th quest. We have to catch up with them.”

“So far there haven’t been any difficult points?”

“They managed to kill everything. There are some tricky martial arts to learn but if we fail then we can attempt it a few times.”

Despite the degree of difficulty, it was simple for people who lived their lives wielding the sword. It wasn’t possible to import their real bodies but their mentality and judgement was the same.

But they didn’t always use these strong points as they didn’t like calculation or memorization. That’s why sometimes several attempts were needed for a simple quest.

“Then let’s start the quest.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim.”

Geomchi moved with the gathered instructors and trainees. They were able to use all types of weapons due to Weapons Mastery. They took the weapons of the ogres, orcs and trolls after fighting them. They became even more ignorant when united.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Montus!”

“Roderick! I spent hundreds of years trapped here because of you.”

“Shut up. I will fix my mistake today.”

“I’ll chew up your heart just like in the past.”

Weed didn’t care about the dramatic reunion between Roderick and Montus. His priority was to check for other enemies.

‘Uhh, this won’t be easy.’

There were 30 demon soldiers! There were also a few medium sized monsters that normally lived in hell. They weren’t as high levelled as the demon soldiers but had strong resilience.

The walls, ceiling and floors looked different from previous images he had seen of the labyrinth. A liquid was flowing from eggs that hung everywhere. The eggs would hatch into an unknown creature.

“That is probably the eggs of a Talloss.”

There were many travellers who became writers. There were many old books stored since the early days of Royal Road and NPCs also wrote some.

Later the area that users explored widened and they wrote down stories. The users could also obtain special hints from adventurer’s notes. A traveller who went to hell drew pictures of eggs similar to this on their notes.

“They are born fast and harder than steel.”

They resembled spiders with 12~16 legs and could move quickly on the ground while attacking. They were troublesome even in hell. A very long time was needed before the eggs hatched. And they would wake up hungry so they would eat the closest prey.

Pasasasak!

The odds were against them if the Talloss eggs hatched! There were many Talloss eggs around this place.

“If they all awaken…and there are also 30 demon soldiers.

Prepare for combat!

This is a fight where we’ll have to risk out lives.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“3 seconds before we go live!”

Today was a special day at the broadcasting station.

Since the broadcasting stations started showing Royal Road, the number of viewers increased every day. Funds were invested into the broadcasting stations and they greatly expanded to their current form. They broadcasted for 24 hours and even simultaneously sent it to foreign countries with subtitles.

The PDs and technical teams were done for the day but they were on emergency standby. Today was the day that Weed’s adventures in Roderick’s Labyrinth was going to be shown.

God of War, conquering Roderick’s Labyrinth.

Weed’s song part 1, part 2 and part 3.

Weed the Demon Slayer.

Weed’s adventures in Roderick’s Labyrinth up to the current point was shown on Sunday and continuously got high ratings. The individual stations could only compete in video quality, narration and music. They received the video in advance so it obviously went through some edits.

“Mom, I want to watch a cartoon.”

A young child tried to touch the remote.

“Eun-bi, please be quiet. If you keep doing this then I won’t help with your homework.”

“Che…Mom, aren’t you supposed to pick up the table?”

The daughter’s grumbling didn’t move her mother.

“I had the man deliver it. Mother doesn’t want to go anywhere today. Go read a book. Tell me when the delivery man arrives.”

The live broadcast of Roderick’s Labyrinth started in the morning and went all the way into the evening.

The roasted chicken stores were also busier than public holidays.

Phone ringing!

“Apartment in Cheongdamdong, semi-seasoned and half fried…”

“There are no more chickens!”

If there wasn’t a chicken store then it was a Chinese restaurant.

“Sichuan sweet and sour pork?”

“If you order now then you’ll be waiting 3 hours.”

A boom in the delivery industry! There were more people watching Royal Road then dramas and movies. Needless to say, the ratings were very high in other foreign countries apart from South Korea.

Chapter 8: Large Bloody Battle

“I’ll make you experience the pains of hell!”

“I won’t make the same mistake as last time. Storm Blizzard!”

Black magic poured out of Montus’s body. Roderick created many layers of protection magic around his body before also using magic. The collision of magic that made the labyrinth shake wildly! The greatest and flashiest magic battle was developing.

Rather than the 30 demon soldiers, the most urgent thing for Weed was stopping the Talloss eggs from hatching.

“Bahamorg.”

“You called.”

“I’m sorry for bringing you here. You finally found life again but you can’t even live it peace and relaxation.”

“I’m satisfied at being able to fight. A battle like this is exactly what I wanted.”

Fortunately there wasn’t any problems regarding his intimacy with Bahamorg.

‘If he survives the last battle then I can continue to make him work.’

The wandering demon soldiers decided to tackle the paladins. Bahamorg and Weed were in front but the paladins with their holy power was considered more of a threat by the demons.

“Carry out a thorough defence formation! Bahamorg, go in front and endure as much as possible. I will fight separately. Blink!”

Weed moved next to a Talloss egg and wielded the Red Star.

Peseseok!

– The Talloss egg has been broken.

“I need to break them before they hatch.”

Weed used a skill contained in the Red Star. At this rate, he felt anxious that the dragon might come for the Red Star but it couldn’t be helped.

“Summon Fire Hydra!”

The Red Star’s magic was used and Fire Hydras appeared everywhere.

“Cook everything!”

The Fire Hydras spewed fire at the Talloss eggs. The fire even reached the eggs hanging from the ceiling and walls. Weed’s mana rapidly recovered thanks to the influence of the Red Star. It is sufficient to use a powerful skill.

“Radiant Sword!”

It wasn’t the ordinary Radiant Sword but the one that called a thunderbird. Weed swung his sword dozens of times.

The skill to call the thunderbird takes some time to kick in. Every time the sword moved, a thread of energy from the sword was pulled to slowly form the appearance of a thunderbird. And when the thunderbird’s appearance was completely formed.

– Kuweeeek!

The thunderbird cried out and flew forward.

Kwarung! Kwarururung!

Kwaaaaaaah!

Thunderbolts struck everywhere as the thunderbird flew around. Not only that, the flames swirled and rose higher. The Red Star’s attack skill was enhanced. The thunderbird drove thunderbolts and flames away from it by elegantly flapping its wings.

– Experience has been acquired.

– Experience has been acquired.

– Your level has risen.

Weed utilized his wide area skill in a location with many Talloss eggs. The Talloss eggs cracked and were destroyed by the fire or thunderbolt strikes. The thunderbird continued shooting thunderbolts as it gradually disappeared.

But there are still eggs that weren’t destroyed. This was an old palace so there were many eggs that lay in the ground or in cracks in the numerous pillars. They were starting to wake up from the surrounding turmoil. The battle with the demon soldiers was a problem but it would become more dangerous if the Talloss woke up.

“Paladin Unit 1, come forward. Break all the eggs not cooked by the fire!”

The paladins were fighting heavily against the demons but Weed couldn’t destroy all the eggs alone and was forced to mobilize some.

“Under Lugh’s name.”

“Demons weren’t born evil so I hope you go to a better place.”

Dozens of paladins struck the eggs with their swords. There was a minimum of 2,000 eggs so it would be a big deal if they all hatched. The Talloss that had already woken up headed to the paladins and spewed out a blue liquid.

“I have to make a really quick judgement.”

He only saw the environment once but it was replaying endlessly in his head.

Roderick and Montus. The two of them were using all types of advanced magic against each other. Roderick used the Haste spell in order to increase his movement speed. He was able to show movement that made a chase difficult while showing the terrible power of a magician. Roderick also summoned the Fire Golem to help him deal with Montus.

Every time the magic crashed against Montus, there was a repulsion force that would cause a shockwave.

“Roderick needs to win in as short a time as possible….”

The demons soldiers were showing superior attack power despite the paladins’ defence. The number of Talloss hatching and walking on the ground was piling up.

They even ate the corpses of the colleagues who had died. Roderick was too busy trying not to die, let alone help the paladins and priests. It would be good if Roderick could defeat Montus quickly but that didn’t happen.

‘He was also defeated in the past so there is no guarantee he will win this time.’

It didn’t matter what tactics Weed used as the demon soldiers were too strong. A battle against strong enemies was occurring in a limited space so the defence formation of the paladins couldn’t retreat.

Bahamorg was being circled by 5 demons. He had strong defence so he didn’t fall down immediately. However, he wouldn’t be able to endure for long. Everyone was being assaulted by the demon soldiers while made it difficult to attempt to reverse the situation.

Weed was worried about this. It was impossible to manage the troops and subordinates properly in a melee fight on the Versailles Continent. He just thought it was fortunate that he could survive on the front lines. It wasn’t easy to take care of his body as well as command.

“I have to suffer. There is no end to my unlucky fate.”

Although the Talloss were a problem, he needed to take care of the demon soldiers to prevent being wiped out. Weed used Blink to appear next to a demon soldier attacking Bahamorg.

“Heriam Fencing!”

The flaming Red Star continuously cut the demon soldiers. Weed had changed into a chaos warrior and received various blessings so his strength and physique became larger. The change in weight from his larger body could make his attack stronger.

Weed pressed back the demon soldiers using Heriam Fencing. It was important to attack quickly and to hit the enemy’s weak point with a critical blow.

– The demon soldier Rukresia has gained additional fire damage.

– The defence of the Rukresia has been ignored!

– The demon soldier Rukresia has been continuously hit in its left shoulder.

Strength and sense of balance has decreased.

– The body of the demon soldier Rukresia has been completely covered by the flames of the Red Star.

3,890 damage will be dealt every second.

Weed pushed back the demon soldier with Heriam Fencing.

“Fire Explosion!”

The demon soldier’s body exploded into flames like a fireball hit it.

– The demon soldier Rukresia couldn’t survive the concentrated attacks and has been destroyed.

More than half of its health remained but the continuous strong attacks have killed it. The Red Star showed overwhelming combat ability once he transformed into a chaos warrior.

Suksak.

– The Havana Leaf with a special quality has been acquired.

– A high purity Mithril Helmet has been acquired.

“There are 29 left.”

There was a smile on Weed’s face despite the disadvantageous situation.

High purity Mithril Helmet. It was a helmet that a level 400 knight belonging to the Morningstar Guild had worn. It was made by a dwarven blacksmith so it had exception defence and options to enhance the effect of combat skills.

The demon soldiers wandered all around Roderick’s Labyrinth and probably ended up here. Once Weed was done with his appraisal, he moved on to another demon soldier. 3 demon soldiers were trying to trample the priests beyond the paladin’s barrier. A demon soldier was in front of Alveron who absolutely had to be protected.

“Blink!”

Weed hurled attacks towards the 3 demons using the Red Star. He couldn’t fully succeed in a surprise attack like before. The demons had very high intelligence and began to take precautions as soon as their colleagues died.

“He….”

“Kyaaat! Hot.”

The 3 demon soldiers easily blocked Weed’s attacks and struck back.

A melee fight!

Weed couldn’t leave the paladins to die. The 10 paladins who went out to break the Talloss eggs were killed by the demon soldiers.

“The eggs are waking up!”

“We have to stop the Talloss eggs from approaching.”

Weed stopped the demon soldiers’ offensive while surveying the situation. The paladins and priests were holding out against the demon soldiers.

“Kueok!”

“Goddess Freya, please receive the feeble me who has succumbed to these evil presences.”

The paladins couldn’t endure the enemy’s attacks anymore and were dying. The Talloss were growing bigger as time passed. Their body was the length of an adult and the legs were several metres thick. The large Talloss broke through the paladin’s defence formation, causing many of them to die.

“We finally came here but at this rate, we’ll be wiped out.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

20 minutes passed and only 200 paladins were left. Around one third of the priests were sacrificed but the more serious problem was the mana consumed. If they ran out of mana then they wouldn’t be able to use holy magic to fight or treat injuries.

Weed desperately struggled against the demon soldiers with his entire body injured. At least 3~4 demon soldiers were attacking him. If it wasn’t for the Red Star’s power and the priests’ emergency healing then he would’ve died already. If the priests’ mana was depleted then he would need to fight without any healing.

“Everyone jump at me!”

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar. It was necessary to shout in order to raise the morale of the paladins.

“I won’t kill you easily. I’ll let you taste a long and painful torment.”

“Kukuku. No one will get out of here alive.”

Weed fought back against the demon soldiers. The demons had superior physiques and power so Weed had no choice but to be in a crisis. The demons recognized that Weed was a threat so they always jumped him in groups.

“It won’t be.”

Weed turned around and ran away.

“Heheheheheh.”

“There is no way to escape hell.”

The demon soldiers flapped their wings and fiercely chased after him. He lured the demon soldiers into the dangerous place where Roderick was using his magic.

“Completely burn down!”

A top ranked fire magic!

Hwarururuk!

Montus avoided the magic attack that Roderick unleashed. But the 5 demon soldiers chasing Weed in the area were hit by the magic. Unfortunately, 3 of them survived but were frozen. It was only a short time but he completely understood how to fight with Roderick.

“Sword-cloning!”

Weed formed 10 clones. And they cruelly attacked the frozen demon soldiers.

– The demon soldier Jenpian has been destroyed.

Fame has increased by 97 for all those who participated in the battle.

– The demon soldier Kruni has been destroyed.

Fame has increased by 142 for all those who participated in the battle.

– The demon soldier Malelus has been destroyed.

Fame has increased by 198 for all those who participated in the battle.

– You have fought bravely against the demon soldiers.

Fighting spirit and strength increased by 1.

“There are still demons to take care of.”

The paladins and priests died but they still dealt damage to the demons. They reduced the demons by 13 but their health and vitality were tired. Weed had used the chance to take care of 8 demons with Roderick’s magic. The paladins lured the demons deeply and took care of them.

“Bahamorg is there so the paladins and priests can endure for a while.”

The recovery ability of the demon soldiers was very slow. Even if their health remained, their combat capability would decrease due to the lack of mana. The paladins and priests had rapid recovery so they fight against the demons. The problem was the Talloss eggs awakening.

Kuwek!

Wakjak!

The hatched Talloss didn’t care about who won between the demons and the paladins. They just ate the demons or paladins closest to them. They also grew the more they ate.

“Ah, no! Goddess Freya, don’t forsake your faithful servant!”

“If Lugh’s Sword breaks in a place like this…”

Despite Weed’s leadership, the morale of the paladins and priests was rapidly falling. Their colleagues were dying and the devil Montus was spreading a dark influence.

“Buried Breath.”

“Deep Pipe!”

The priests used blessings while the devil cast insidious dark magic.

“How could I fall…?”

“Kikilkil! Why has Goddess Freya abandoned me?”

The paladins and priests were organized but it was clear that the situation wasn’t positive.

“At this rate, everyone is going to die. Even if we win against the demons, how many will be able to survive…and if Montus wins then no one will survive.. I didn’t go to so much trouble to get here just to die.”

He was concerned about the battle between Roderick and Montus. Montus’ overwhelming magic meant that Roderick was constantly running and evading. If this situation continued with the Talloss joining then the paladins would unconditionally be wiped out. It was the same for Weed, Bahamorg and the priests.

“I need to gamble…strike at Montus. I need to do it immediately.”

Weed decided to make a gamble.

“Alveron!”

“Yes, Weed-nim.”

Alveron was wearing a white robe and treating the paladins. If it wasn’t for him and Derian then the paladin’s defence wall would’ve already collapsed. Bahamorg faced several demon troopers at once but fortunately he could endure it.

“I want you to keep an eye on me and heal me when needed. I need to stay alive if we all want to live.”

“I understand.”

Alveron’s power was a great help to the priests yet Weed specified to only heal him.

“Blink!”

Weed used his movement skill to show up near Montus. Montus’ backside had a tail but it was still on the safe side.

“One point attack!”

He concentrated on cutting Monstus’ right wing.

– The third wing on the lower devil Montus’ right side has been cut.

151 damage has been dealt due to his physical defence.

The Red Star adds 344 flame damage.

– The third wing on the lower devil Montus’ right side has been cut.

213 damage has been dealt due to his physical defence.

The Red Star adds 358 flame damage.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

9% damage has been added.

The Red Star adds 698 flame damage.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

11% damage has been added.

The Red Star adds 745 flame damage.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

14% damage has been added.

The Red Star adds 916 flame damage.

It was unexpectedly huge damage! The attack damage was quite high despite the defence. But the wings were one of the most fragile parts of Montus so the effect of the repeated attacks showed. The 3rd wing on Montus’ right side was wrapped in flames.

“Kuaah! This human dares touch me.”

Montus was furious at being attacked with fire. More than the health lost, his honour and pride had been hurt. He threw the fireball in his hand that had been intended for Roderick towards Weed.

“Blink!”

Weed showed up on the opposite side of Montus. And continued to damage the other wings.

“Feel the pain!”

Montus twisted and swung his tail at Weed. He also flapped the damaged wings. The melee combat using Blink!

Weed’s body was quite large as a chaos warrior. But Montus was triple his size. It was to the extent that just spreading out the wings made the space seem small. It was a miracle that he managed to avoid the devil’s attack. Montus slammed his foot into the ground and caused a shockwave.

“Frozen Field!”

Then Roderick’s voice chanting a spell was heard.

“Don’t tell me…”

– You have entered the sphere of influence of Frozen Field.

Your body tried to resist but it is frozen.

Health has decreased by 32,985.

Movement is slowed.

White particles of ice touched the area Weed and Montus were in and froze them. He wasn’t a species with a special resistance but the flames of the Red Star meant his body wasn’t completely hardened.

“Goddess Freya, this person respects your will so make sure he doesn’t yield to the enemy. Divine Recovery!”

Alveron quickly filled up his health and raised his tolerance to the cold. Weed sneaked out of the frozen field and neared Montus again.

Roderick had cast an intense magic attack despite Weed being in the area. Montus had to avoid Roderick’s magic attack as well as Weed’s strikes to his wings. Montus used magic while striking the ground with his tail and walked forward.

“Chukarulla’s Teeth!”

Roderick wasn’t aiming for an attack magic. Large fangs rose from the ground around Montus and shot into the air.

It was a magic aimed at destroying all lifeforms in the area. Weed used Blink to narrowly avoid a fang. Of course, there was a limit to how many times Blink could be used because it consumed quite a bit of mana. Therefore he couldn’t use any other attack skills and had to depend on the Red Star’s power.

“Let’s see this through to the end!”

Once the effect of the magic disappeared, Weed appeared again to cut Montus’ wings. Montus mainly used magic but his physical damage was strong enough to crush the pillars and walls. His tails and arms moved in order to stop the attacks on his wings. Weed didn’t realize that he had already been targeted by Montus.

– Your body has been stabbed by a wind spear.

Health has decreased by 28,193.

– The Sudden Strike magic is following you.

Weed was chased after by a tracking spell. Dozens of attack magic followed like a comet as he used Blink.

“This really isn’t easy!”

He moved his body as he hit the magic with the Red Star. Alveron treated any injuries received from not being able to dodge. Weed looked at Montus while pretending to fight the demon soldiers.

‘Obviously he is aiming for me.’

Montus’ wings were still on fire.

‘It is impossible for him to stand it.’

Weed had already grasped his personality. Devils were proud of their wings.

“Stigma of Sacrifice.”

Not surprisingly, Montus unleashed a magic attack. Letters made of gold light flew towards Weed. Weed was fighting against the demons when he suddenly used a skill.

“Blink!”

Montus’ stigma hit the demons.

“Kuwaaaak!”

The stigma was stamped upon 3 demons. The demons aged rapidly as they lost health. The demons who received the magic damage died. It was a strategy that risked his life in order to use Montus to kill the demons.

“More people will survive as the number of demons are reduced.”

Weed used his combat experience while facing the boss monster Montus to clean up the demons. If he made one small mistake and failed to escape from the magic then he would be dead.

‘I can’t deal significant damage to Montus even when I pour all my power into it.’

The wings had weak defence but Montus wouldn’t die from that. When Montus’ body was attacked, the Red Star’s damage was only enough to give scratches. Of course, there was fire damage but that fire would go out.

His attacks weren’t a special help but it annoyed Montus and drew his attention away from Roderick. Roderick was able to prepare attack magic against Montus without any interference thanks to Weed. Weed had the most dangerous role.

“Spatial Cut!”

Roderick was able to recite a long incantation for a large magic spell.

“I have to suffer so other people can feel comfortable. It is consistent with my destiny!”

Weed was hit by Montus in order to allow Roderick to cast his large magic. Weed persistently cut the devil’s wings while Roderick prepared his spell. Montus opened his blazing wings and roared violently.

“These trash! A honourable warrior shouldn’t just run away. A fair fight!”

Weed wasn’t hurt by Montus’ accusations.

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

It was evidence of how he lived his life that he could get a devil to say bad things about him.

“I have to live a long life so I can collect my pensions!”

Montus’ wings were damaged by the wings while he also suffered under Roderick’s devastating spell. Of course, Montus’ health was high so it wasn’t to the extent that he would die. Montus had high magic resistance so he still had half his health left.

The devil Montus had high resilience that could endure advanced magic! The only hope was that his recovery power was low.

“I need to help Roderick. I have to use everything available. Blink!”

Weed lured Montus into the area with the Talloss before attacking. Montus was a lower devil but the Talloss still tried to eat him. There was no reason behind the Talloss’ actions. They just wanted to eat everything.

Kyakyakyat!

Montus tried to step on them.

“Kuwaaaaah.”

Then Montus became angry and gave a loud shriek.

– You have heard Montus’ scream that started from the bottom of hell.

Morale has decreased by 89%.

You have resisted an abnormal state.

You have resisted an abnormal state.

You have resisted an abnormal state.

The probability of skills succeeding has decreased.

You have resisted an abnormal state.

“Kuaaak.”

“N-no.”

“Goddess Freya, give us faith and strength.”

“Lugh, please create a miracle!”

Weed was okay but the paladins and priests were a mess. Their protection skills, holy aura’s and treatment magic failed.

“Keook!”

Some of the priests with low health collapsed and changed into a grey light as they died. Health and mana was consumed due to Montus’ scream!

Weed rushed to use Lion’s Roar. He needed to take command of the situation even without the treatment effects.

“Go to the corner and maintain a thorough defence situation! Defend each other until the curse is cancelled!”

The major effects of Montus’ scream made the paladins and priests vulnerable. They had a religious occupation so there was some resistance. Ordinary knights and soldiers would’ve been wiped out at once. Only Bahamorg who had a high fighting spirit wasn’t affected.

“These people are like worms. They are trash. You aren’t necessary. Everyone should die.”

Montus stayed in one place and didn’t aim at Weed or Roderick. He attacked all visible living things, including the demon soldiers. The demonic aura around Montus’ spread further and the power of his magic spell increased by 1.5 times. It was the so called berserk condition.

Weed took a rest as he protected the priests and paladins in the corner along with Bahamorg. While the paladins and priests were praying in an effort to cancel the curse, Weed anxiously watched Montus running out of control.

Roderick was also close by.

“I’m sorry to  drag you into this difficult fight.”

“Can you defeat Montus?”

“It is difficult.”

“That…didn’t you say you had confidence to fight by yourself?”

“He has become stronger than me. The devil has stayed here for a long time so he built up his abilities. In the past he wasn’t this strong…”

“I need to study your sculpting research!”

“It is in my laboratory through that hallway.”

All the Talloss eggs were in between.

“Are there demon soldiers there as well?”

“It seems so. And Montus is going to finish with those guys soon. Montus is so filled with anger that he won’t stop before killing everyone here. Especially since he dislikes you so much.”

Even if Weed managed to escape the labyrinth, the quest would be a failure if he didn’t obtain the research records. The demon soldiers were seized by Montus and died in vain. The demon soldiers’ magic couldn’t deal any special damage to Montus.

The fire burning his wings still hadn’t gone out as Montus massacred those around him. His intentions were obvious once he starting breaking the Talloss eggs. He wanted to get rid of everyone else first before dealing with Weed and Roderick.

The impatient nature of a devil!

“If I fail then the next person might be able to hunt him down.”

Weed had to consider this. The current battle was behind relayed to the entire world through various broadcasting stations. The next person who came here could analyse the magic Montus used, his health and mana and how to kill him.

They also learnt that quickly breaking the eggs would increase the prospect of success. Of course, there weren’t a lot of guilds that could form an expedition of this level. If they didn’t have courage then they couldn’t enter Roderick’s Labyrinth.

A person like Weed who had a unfortunate destiny and needed to enter for a quest was rare.

Chapter 9: Great Achievement

“This isn’t good.”

Weed placed a bandage around Roderick’s injury.

“There’s no need. My body will disappear soon…”

“No. We are comrades who are fighting together.”

It was a warm comradery that made it feel like dirt was in his eyes!

“Fellow comrade…I’m a lone magician. That’s how I ended up like I did last time.”

The arrogant Roderick couldn’t hide his melancholy.

“It’s not too late. Now is an opportunity to correct that mistake.”

“Montus is stronger than me.”

“If we combine forces then there will be a way.”

“You won’t be much help.”

Magicians had really different personalities. Rather than friendship, loyalty or dedication, they judged a situation with calmness. It was good when a battle could be won but lacking when it was a disadvantageous situation.

“Roderick-nim can only exist in this world for another hour. Why don’t you fight enthusiastically while being prepared to risk your life?”

“Prepared to die….I’m already dead.”

“You will regret not doing your best for the sake of the world.”

“I understand what you’re talking about.”

Roderick began meditating to gather mana. The paladins and priests were praying piously to cancel the curse.

Weed took a break as he watched Montus running wild. Meanwhile, the Red Star’s flames fully restored his health and mana.

Ddiring!

– Your body is in the best condition.

The demon soldiers and Talloss were being smashed by Montus. Currently the Talloss were belatedly waking up from their eggs and Montus was taking out his anger towards Roderick and Weed on them.

Bahamorg’s body returned to normal after using bandages and eating boiled potatoes. He had the resilience appropriate for a hero of the Arpen Empire.

Weed spoke to Roderick.

“I have a request.”

“What is it?”

“We have to join forces now.”

“I will fight my own way. I don’t fight like a warrior.”

Roderick was an existence difficult to handle. He was a legendary magician so it was hard to ask for cooperation.

“I know. But I’d like it if you only use fire type magic when I’m around Montus.”

“I am well versed in fire magic so I can accept your request. If you buy some time then I can use a higher ranking magic…”

“Thank you. If we beat Montus then it is all due to Roderick-nim.”

It didn’t cost a lot so Roderick willingly agreed. And Weed also spoke to the paladins.

“We cannot allow this devil who goes against the Gods’ will to cause chaos on the Versailles Continent.”

“We are ready to fight at any time.”

Derian who was acting as the representative replied. However, there were still half of the paladins who hadn’t shaken off Montus’ curse. They weren’t fit for battle yet and needed to rest. If they fought a boss monster like Montus in such a condition then they would die.

“You will be swept away if you gather in groups. Give long distance support using crossbows and holy magic.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Let’s just see.”

Weed wanted to save as much paladins as possible. He couldn’t recover the contribution if they didn’t return to the religious societies. Besides, the aspect of this battle changed now that it was near the end.

‘Quickly.’

Montus only had 2 wings remaining. He was filled with fury and wanted to kill everything, including Weed and Roderick. Of course, he was like that from the beginning but it was risky now that he was crazily attacking.

Weed had no option but to survive. And the monster was raising both arms while murmuring something.

“Blink!”

Weed started to move at that moment.

“Fire leaking from the land, large flames falling from the sky.”

Roderick cast a magic spell.

– The aura of fire has been absorbed.

Maximum health, mana and vitality will increase.

Your strength will continue to grow.

Weed was a chaos warrior so this spell was better than any blessing. The flames attacked the devil. Weed jumped towards the strongest existence he had ever fought to date.

“Seal of Oppression!”

As expected, Montus didn’t pay any attention to defence. He just received Weed and Roderick’s attacks while casting spells. And a chain explosion occurred.

The moment the spell was fired, Weed quickly avoided it while Roderick protected himself. The priests and paladins were scattered so damage was reduced, but those that couldn’t avoid it groaned with pain.

“Keohuhuhuk.”

“Merciful Goddess Freya, please save me.”

The priests were killed!

“Daemon of Ice.”

Montus continuously attacked with magic. But he was in the midst of madness so he didn’t avoid any attacks. The flames burning Montus’ body hadn’t gone out yet.

“Continue attacking! Paladins keep on firing your crossbows. Even if there doesn’t seem to be any changes on the surface, he is still receiving a little damage. Priests concentrate more on attacking than healing. Holy magic attacks! The only way to reduce sacrifices is to get rid of him quickly.”

Weed directed an all-out attack. Even if the priests and paladins were low levelled, their holy magic would deal damage to demons and undead monsters.

Montus alternated between attacking Roderick and Weed but didn’t get any results. Roderick recovered with meditation while Weed cleverly used evasion manoeuvrers.

Weed drew Montus’ attention which allowed the group to attack him. This wasn’t a formal fight so he was free to use his subordinates.

“Hammer of Balker!”

This time Montus aimed for the priests. A hammer consisting of lightning fell onto the area where female priests were gathered. The hammer shot lightning all over the place as it touched the ground.

“Kyaah!”

The priests couldn’t endure the attacks and were killed. Weed saw the signs and attacked but he couldn’t obstruct Montus’ magic.

“Bahamorg, you have to intercept the next time the priests receive an attack.”

“Understood.”

Bahamorg was a hero who could block enemy attacks. It was questionable if he could interrupt Montus’ magic but he had to give the command.

‘As time passes, the probability of winning will increase. Montus can only stay in this berserk state for a short time.’

Weed saw a glimmer of hope. The paladins and priests used the power of their faith to fight fiercely. It was fortunate that he brought them into the labyrinth. The abilities of his subordinates had gradually grown.

“You hurt those who did nothing wrong….you will pay the price by receiving a great pain.”

Roderick suddenly shouted after the priests died. He was a legendary magician with a proud nature. But he wasn’t a bad person fundamentally. He couldn’t stand it anymore after seeing Montus injure the priests who were followers of the Gods.

“Montus, I’m going to destroy you. All the mana in my body, burn without stopping. Mana Burn!”

It was a technique that burned all the mana in a magician’s body for an attack. Roderick couldn’t stomach Montus’ behaviour and used his strongest technique. When Mana Burn was used, a large explosion would occur on the opponent’s body.

Roderick’s mana was so intense that it shone brilliantly like a sun. It was concentrated on one spot and a tremendous explosion occurred.

“Kuooh!”

After Mana Burn disappeared, Montus had a huge wound. Part of his upper body, including the left shoulder had disappeared.

“Keoheoheok!”

Roderick coughed up blood and collapsed. Once Mana Burn was used, the magician would have no magic left and would fall into a state of lethargy. Even Roderick was experience mana reflux symptoms. Now almost all the mana in his body had dried up and was flowing backwards so it was difficult for Roderick to participate in the battle anymore.

“Blink!”

Weed moved to the area near Montus. He couldn’t attack after Roderick’s spell.

“This is the last stretch. All paladins divide into 3 and charge! Bahamorg, you too!”

He shouted as he slashed the Red Star towards Montus. Montus was incapable to blocking due to the Mana Burn.

“Heriam Fencing!”

Weed combined the one-point attack with Heriam Fencing.

– The chest of the lower devil has been struck.

Defence is weakened and 296 damage dealt.

The Red Star adds 489 flame damage.

– The chest of the lower devil has been struck with all your might.

457 has been dealt by hitting the injured area.

Red Star adds 869 flame damage inside the body.

– The chest of the lower devil has been struck and became cracked.

Defence has collapsed so 799 damage has been inflicted.

Red Star spread 1,129 flame damage inside the body.

– You have dealt a critical blow!

12% damage has been added.

The Red Star adds 1,643 flame damage.

– You have dealt a critical blow!

19% damage has been added.

The Red Star adds 1,939 flame damage.

– You have dealt a critical blow!

24% damage has been added.

The Red Star adds 2,402 flame damage.

Montus’ defence fell so he could inflict a lot of injuries. The Red Star set Montus ablaze every time Weed attacked. The paladins struck as they raced past while Bahamorg wielded his weapon at a short distance.

“Summon Spirit.”

The priests’ holy magic washed over Montus. If it ended like this then Montus would be the first devil killed on the Versailles Continent. Weed had no interest in a glory like this. He just wanted to eat well and live easily.

“Flame Blaster.”

Kwa kwang!

Montus used a magic and Bahamorg and the paladins fell from the explosion. Bahamorg wasn’t injured but a large number of paladins died.

Roderick didn’t have any mana so he couldn’t resist and lost his life. He was a legendary magician but couldn’t get rid of Montus and disappeared.

And Weed was left.

– The aura of fire has been absorbed.

Strength has increased by 14%.

Fire magic was just like a blessing to Weed.

“Radiant Sword! Now there is nowhere for you to go!”

“Kuwek!”

Montus stumbled as blood dripped from his body. He was damaged by the Talloss while on his rampage. Damage from Roderick’s magic had steadily accumulated, holy magic hit him and there was also Weed’s strikes. Despite that, he was still hanging on and fighting.

“All paladins, fire your crossbows at his injured areas! Priests should continue to use holy magic to harm him! Bahamorg, wait a moment and rest!”

Montus couldn’t use magic in a row like he did earlier. His injuries made the power of his magic weaker. Derian and Alveron aimed all their power at Montus.

“All of you should die with me. D…estroyer!”

Ddiring!

– The lower devil Montus has used the large spell Destroyer.

This spell will offer his soul to destroy all life forms in the area. The power is akin to the magician’s spell Ultimate Destruction.

There is 6 minutes left until the large spell Destroyer is completed.

Roderick didn’t use the Ultimate Destruction spell in the labyrinth. The reason was because it required a vast amount of mana and a long chanting time. Ultimate Destruction was a spell that could blow up a whole castle.

Montus used up all his mana and offered his soul in order to destroy Weed.

Weed felt like tipping over a table.

“Indiscriminately attack!”

If he couldn’t kill Montus within 6 minutes then the whole labyrinth would blow up. It would be the end of the sculptors’ research records. The secret sculpting technique would also completely disappear.

“Radiant Sword!”

Light and fire emerged from the Red Star at the same time.

“This bastard! Just die.”

All of Weed’s attacks were aimed at Montus’ heart. The devil wouldn’t die even with his limbs broken. Weed had to aim at the head or the heart. As Montus’ spell progressed, the labyrinth started shaking like there was an earthquake. The pillars tilted and collapsed while stone sculptures fell from the ceiling.

The paladins ran around but their bodies were still affected by the curse and they received intense injuries. The Talloss that belatedly woke up were looking for food again. The priest and paladins caught off guard lost their health as they were eaten.

Weed couldn’t go rescue them. Montus had already turned into a solid mass of fire thanks to Weed’s continuous offensives with the Red Star. Montus’ health was constantly shrinking.

‘I can’t beat him like this.’

Montus’ heath was rapidly decreasing but he had a high fire resistance. Weed was able to exert the best damage after turning into a chaos warrior and using the Red Star. But it was insufficient.

‘Right now I need more damage…I am lacking in attack power as a sculptor. It is why Bardray won.’

Even if he combined one point attack with Heriam Fencing, he wouldn’t be able to eliminate Montus in time. Then an idea flashed in Weed’s mind like lightning.

“Derian, toss me Lugh’s Sword!”

Derian was protecting the priests from the Talloss. But he turned around and threw the sword without hesitation at Weed’s scream.

“We definitely need to finish off the devil.”

It was the sword belonging to the god Lugh!

“Sculpture Transformation release.”

Weed put away the Red Star and changed back into a human. And he caught Lugh’s Sword. It was the sword that he returned to the Church of Lugh after defeating Barkhan. It was a sword with the divine power fully recovered.

Once Sculpture Transformation was released, his health was so low that one proper hit would kill him. But this was the only way.

– You have grasped Lugh’s Sword that fell to this land.

You have been recognized by the Church of Lugh and am qualified to handle the sword.

Faith will triple.

You can borrow the power of the sun to attack the enemies.

It is possible to cause a miracle due to your Faith.

Dark mana will be restrained.

Monsters below intermediate level will yield.

The body’s recovery ability will double.

“Sculptural Destruction! Everything into strength!”

Weed broke a Fine sculpture of a ‘Lion Lying Down.’

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

The pain of destroying a Fine sculpture! The grief!

5 Art stats have permanently disappeared. Fame has decreased by 100.

The Art stat has been converted to Strength for one day.

Your Art stat is too high. Strength stat is too low so the conversion won’t be completed all at once.

890 Strength has been changed to the level 8 advanced skill ‘Severe Blow.’

When hitting enemies with the exact amount of power, enemies will be blown away.

Probability of causing paralysis and confusion has increased.

980 Strength has been changed to the level 7 advanced skill ‘Piercing Spear.’

The opponent’s shield and armour will be smashed by the powerful attack.

1,430 Strength has been changed to the level 9 advanced skill ‘Momentary Herculean Strength.’

Power will triple for a short amount of time. Enormous vitality is required.

850 Strength is utilized to maximize the sword’s base damage.

The durability will decrease quickly but the sword’s offense will increase by 35%.

Weed cut Montus with Lugh’s Sword. The Red Star’s formidable attack had wounded Montus but Lugh’s Sword tore through his body.

– The lower devil Montus has been cut.

1,469 damage has been dealt by the severe power.

The holy power has restrained the darkness.

The holy power has dealt 3,921 damage to the devil Montus.

Lugh’s Sword cut Montus several times and weakened him. Derian couldn’t avoid Montus’ attacks so he hadn’t been able to approach to use the sword’s power. Now that Weed used Sculpture Destruction, his offensive power was enough to make Montus miserable.

“Lugh’s Miracle!”

Energy sprang out of Weed’s body.

– Lugh’s Miracle has manifested.

A miracle has occurred due to your high Faith.

You will be protected by holy power when fighting against evil forces.

Movement speed has become faster.

Destructive power has become larger.

Montus was still engulfed by the flames of Red Star. Weed’s offensive continued to push him back. His wings were also unable to endure the flames and melted. Montus’ body was rapidly rotting as he lost health.

The time remaining for the Destroyer spell was 1 minute!

“Now to finish this!”

Weed drove his sword through Montus’ chest. It accurately hit the heart!

“Kuwaaaaah!”

Montus disappeared with a flash of light that made it impossible for Weed to open his eyes. It was an attack that completely reduced all of the devil’s health.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– The lower devil Montus trapped in Roderick’s Labyrinth has been destroyed.

– Fame has increased by 4,190 due to the great achievement.

– Charisma has increased by 8.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 9.

– Strength has increased by 4.

The skill ‘Severe Blow’ has been learnt during the battle.

– Agility has increased by 7 and the skill ‘Precise Attack’ has been learnt.

– All stats have increased by 3 for those who participated in the battle.

– You have fought against the devil Montus and won.

The most outstanding combat victory on the Versailles Continent has been achieved. Not even the knight Ron Daiku can accomplish such a great and holy victory.

As a combat commander, your leadership over soldiers will improve.

Knights will be honoured to follow your command.

You will be hailed by all the inhabitants of the continent.

All bards on the Versailles Continent will write songs about you. Every time your song spreads, your fame will rise and infamy decrease.

Dignity has increased by 51.

Your adventure in Roderick’s Labyrinth has succeeded. You will become the idol of all adventurers.

Knights who believe in the gods will trust you.

His level rose and he also gained battle skills!

The shaking in the area stopped as Montus disappeared. After Barkhan, Lugh’s Sword killed the devil Montus as well.

Weed’s hand moved forward.

– A Devil’s Helmet has been acquired.

– A Blood Soaked Whip has been acquired.

– A huge diamond has been acquired.

– A Stone of Hell has been acquired.

The items were dropped by the devil Montus so he had high expectations.

“Inspect!”

– Devil’s Helmet: Durability 290/290. Defence 161.

A helmet left by the lower devil Montus.

Only those with absolute strength can wear it.

It is imbued with evil forces, making it dangerous for those with low Faith. When a person lacking in faith wears it, a curse will decrease their vitality and stats.

Restrictions: Level 640.

Strength 1,700.

Faith 800.

Options: Endless defence.

Enemy will be quickly engulfed in fear.

Combat skills will be reinforced when injured.

Enhanced resistance to black magic and hell magic.

Wisdom + 98.

Knowledge + 115.

Intermediate level black magic will consume less mana.

Magic incantation time is reduced.

The power of all combat skill + 12%.

Can’t be lost.

Battle Fame + 8,000

Weed was quite satisfied with it.

The Devil’s Helmet possessed great options.

– The Blood Soaked Whip has rejected you.

You are pushed by the devil’s power and lost 3,696 health.

His Blacksmithing skill reduced the wearer restrictions. Despite that, he still couldn’t touch the Blood Soaked Whip. Weed put the whip into his backpack for safekeeping.

The paladins and priests were still fighting.

“This is disgusting. Let’s go to Roderick’s room.”

He moved towards the priests and paladins. They fought the Talloss that had woken up. Although the boss monster Montus had been defeated, the Talloss were still formidable opponents. They destroyed the Talloss and Talloss eggs.

Weed looked on from the other side of Roderick’s Labyrinth as he ate barley bread. Weed, the paladins, the priests and Bahamorg were finally able to rest. He had prepared the best dinner before fighting against Montus but now hard bread was thrown.

“You all worked really hard. Many paladins entered this labyrinth and lost their lives but Montus, the threat to the continent’s peace has been extinguished!”

Of course, Weed was responsible for them entering the labyrinth but there was no need to mention that.

“Oh, merciful Goddess Freya…”

“We have managed to maintain Lugh’s brightness!”

“Their sacrifices weren’t in vain as we finished the fight.”

Weed had taken a break and recovered so now it was time to find Roderick’s research records. Now that Montus was dead, the few demon soldiers that emerged weren’t a threat. He had crossed the largest mountain and now his destination was close.

“I have opened my eyes to suffering. I will spread Lugh’s brightness.”

“Goddess Freya, please guide us.”

Paaaah!

A faint light extended from the priests and paladins. Weed had gained skills while they were promoted to a senior position.

The so-called secondary advancement!

Their levels had surpassed 400 once entering Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“Well, I used almost all my contribution…I have to make them work next time.”

Weed made a serious effect but only 150 paladins and priests remained. It showed how dangerous and tough the battles in the labyrinth were.

“Humans coming to this place…it will be where you die.”

“Kuhuhuhut, I’ll eat all of you.”

“You’ll taste pain.”

There were 10 demon soldiers located where Roderick’s research records were. So far they had fought many battles with demons so it wasn’t hard to clean up this place. The personnel had been reduced but their strength rose so they could easily hit the demon soldiers.

– The demons in Roderick’s laboratory has been overpowered.

“I finally reached here.”

Weed felt a deep emotion.

All sorts of items were kept in Roderick’s laboratory. Many items that other users would be shocked to see were covered with a thick layer of dust. Magic books, research records, reagents, jewellery with magic sealed in them, mana stones etc. were collected.

The books contained valuable high ranking magic. Magicians didn’t like to show others their magic. They tended to gain special knowledge and wisdom in one type of magic.

In Romuna’s case, she became known as ‘magician who can cause a river of fire.’ It was possible to hear her being called that in the taverns. It was a great source of pride for Romuna when store owners or workers would call her that.

Ddiring!

– An underground map of the labyrinth has been acquired.

There was also a map that showed the correct path through Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“I’ll never come back here again but I should consider other people. I can sell it for a better price.”

He thought of other people suffering too! In the meantime, the carriages that had contained the supplies were brought into the room. Weed sat down at the desk Roderick used. He confirmed the delicate grains and stamped marks.

“This desk, it isn’t made out of an ordinary wood. The material is glossy and a good quality. Bahamorg, collect it!”

He didn’t leave one piece of furniture behind as he quickly swept up all the desks, chairs and bookshelves.

Ddiring!

– The research records related to the history of sculpting has been acquired.

He had obtained the necessary item for the ‘Roderick’s Labyrinth’ quest.

Roderick’s laboratory was cleaned out by the movers!

“I won’t visit a place like this often so I have to gather every bit of profit. And now the problem is to exit…”

Weed opened the underground map and examined it.

“If we fight 16 more times then we can exit.”

There was no need to go back the way they came due to spatial distortion. But there were still traps and demons so the paladins would keep dying. However, his mind was relaxed because he had just achieved a really important mission.

“And let’s see, this picture here…”

A complex pattern of runes was carved on the ground of the laboratory.

“A magic movement circle.”

A teleport that would quickly move him outside! Weed had previously used it during an adventure related to the Freya Church.

“Let’s do this.”

He embedded mana stones on the ground and mana flowed along the pattern.

Pasususuk!

It amplified and gradually climbed upwards.

“Let’s go.”

Weed, the paladins, the priests, Bahamorg and the carriages entered the circle.

– Roderick’s Labyrinth has been conquered.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

After a while, Weed arrived on a windy hill near Roderick’s Labyrinth. Everyone had escaped unharmed.

“First I need to confirm how to proceed with the quest.”

Weed pulled out the sculpting research records. They had exited the labyrinth and this place was safe. If he lingered here then users would visit but he wouldn’t stay that long.

Ddiring!

– The research records related to the final secret sculpting technique has been read.

【Roderick’s Notes.

The perspective of beauty is bound to be different for each person. Going beyond the limitations and constraints of a sculpture to express beauty.

Many were scared of challenges it but sculptors had great ambitions. They might seem weak, causing the artists to laugh at them but they conquer many hardships with their imagination and new creations.

Sculptors began studying the formation of a sculpture that is the most beautiful in the world.

And one sculptor made an improbable claim.

“I thought a tremendous sculpture would express radiant beauty.

But it was the small beauties that passed by that led me to the path of sculpting.”

“A trivial thing has large meanings.”】

“I feel uneasy for some reason.

Weed felt a tremendous resentment towards the sculptors as he read up to here. He went through incredible danger in Roderick’s Labyrinth to obtain this, only to be told that small beauties held the clue.

However, it was too early to be disappointed so Weed continued reading the research records.

Chapter 10: Roderick’s Research Records

【 “There is beauty in the little things around us. We just don’t recognize it properly. ”

“I saw the sunlight shining on the sea. Since then, I questioned the beautiful sculptures I created.”

“True beauty isn’t something that can be seen when moving too quickly. It will just become the reminder of a faint memory.”

“How beautiful are the raindrops falling from dark clouds? The raindrops falling on flowers, trees and leaves are really beautiful. We are surrounded by such beauty every day but we just walk past it.”

“It is the same for sunlight on a sunny day. That light becomes a basis for sculpting. How much do we know about that light? The warm light shining on objects causes pleasure…”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to express the beauty of quiet and calm moments?”

“I sympathize with the method to express radiant beauty.”

“Everyone has these memories. When I saw the most beautiful thing…there was an illusion that everything became still.”

“Beauty doesn’t wait for anyone. If the world stops then representing beauty would become much easier.”

Sculptors who spoke about the little beauties wanted to stop the world. They indeed had whimsical imaginations.

If time was stopped, it would be possible to enjoy the beauty of the passing water and wind. The beauty of the world could be expressed if the sculptors carefully observed the world.

The sculptors decided how to represent radiant beauty at the end of their discussion. If everything in the world stopped moving then they could contemplate the beauty of the moment.

Time Sculpting!

I am Roderick and I decided on this goal with the other sculptors. 】

A terrible goal!

“Keheok!”

Weed truly appreciated the sculptors.

“A sculptor should be born with this much ambition. If they only sold sculptures every day then they wouldn’t be able to live. Everyone is dead! If this quest succeeds then I can take the foundation they built.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

While the battle with Montus was taking place, all of Morata was quiet.

“Ah…”

“It can’t be…”

“Kyah, how? He was injured again rescuing the paladins.”

“Avoid it! If he can’t escape then it won’t be possible to win…”

Only voices filled with regret were occasionally heard from the taverns. Even those drinking beer were quiet. Unlike the past, those who chose to start in the Arpen Kingdom could choose the avian species.

In addition to developing similar physical abilities, they could spread their wings and fly in the sky. Those who became archers or warriors were very helpful during battles on the plains so they often joined hunting parties. It was popular to see newly created characters sitting on tree branches and flapping their wings.

Humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, barbarians and various species sat together silently as Weed’s battle continued.

The moment Weed conquered Roderick’s Labyrinth, silence simultaneously occurred in Morata’s taverns and squares.

“Hooray!”

“Eat as much fried chicken as you want! Eat at Sandra’s!”

“I am the owner of the Wind Garden tavern. A chef with beginner’s level 6 cooking skill. There will be unlimited free beer for today!”

“1,200 servings of grass porridge are being boiled at the square. Let’s go quickly!”

“Special discount! As commemoration for the completion of King Weed’s quest, we are buying all japtem for an extra 14%.”

“Sale on long swords! There will be a small margin only for today. I will also provide 3 whetstones. Don’t miss this opportunity.”

“Low price gratitude event! All items will be sold for 3 gold or less.”

The entire Arpen Kingdom was cheerful. And a Kingdom Quest appeared for users that belonged to it.

Ddiring!

– Arpen Kingdom’s Palace

The Arpen Kingdom is conquering the Northern Continent.

The emerging Arpen Kingdom is rapidly expanding its territory. The barbarians, elves, dwarves, orcs and residents of the Niflheim Empire are included in the vast territory.

New cities are springing up as peace is secured. King Weed has established a nation built on courage and spirit.

Construct a palace that will become the symbol of the Arpen Kingdom’s reign.

Level of Difficulty: Kingdom Quest.

Compensation: Kingdom Contribution.

Quest Restrictions: Limited to those belonging to the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed’s fame and the residents’ loyalty in him caused a Kingdom Quest to occur. When construction of palaces in other kingdoms started, taxes were raised and various allowances made. The Arpen Kingdom had an astronomical surplus of internal funds accumulated.

Weed’s goal was to gain 2 million gold that he could embezzle! The palace construction quest started on the basis of that money.

“T-there was something like this.”

“Am I going to work again starting from today?”

“We need to decide on a construction site for the Royal Palace.

And there needs to be a road to the quarry to carry the materials.”

The users of the Arpen Kingdom were familiar with large constructions. They had built a Grand Building in each region.

“I am burning with the desire to create artwork. There will be no shortage of decorations in the palace.”

“Armour for knights…I won’t sell them and will deliver them to the Royal Hall to be exhibited.”

The artists and blacksmiths were prepared. Even the ceramists and sculptors were happy to work.

“I have to bake the mud.”

“I’m going to split apart stones while eating rice every day.”

The architect users were gathered separately.

“Really luxurious…”

“A worthy Royal Palace is needed.”

“The current estimated budget is 2 million gold but…”

“The construction costs is always increasing.”

“Where should the location be?”

The location was a critical requirement.

The Royal Palace was the centre of the government.

The loyalty of the residents living close to the Royal Palace would be maintained and not fall. It would also spread its influence in the local politics.  Currently the northern kingdom was filled with vacant land and villages so political influence was very important. The Royal Palace played a role in promoting economic growth so there were many opinions in Morata.

“The capital city is Morata.”

“Morata needs to be known as a great city throughout the entire continent. It will become even greater once the Royal Palace is built.”

“A road to easily transport materials is required. The necessary workmen need to be obtained as well. That will shorten the construction period.”

“But there isn’t anywhere wide enough to construct a palace in Morata.

“If the shanty village is knocked down…”

“That isn’t going to happen!”

As Morata expanded, intermediate level and luxury homes were built. But the shacks still stayed as a specialty. The shanty village grew and artwork and sculptures filled the back alleys. Flowers bloomed in the streets as art and culture expanded.

“So where do you recommend?”

“We need a broader view.”

Adventurers, merchants and Grass Porridge members were part of the committee to construct the palace. A map of the northern continent was opened in order to select a palace construction site.

“The beach seems to be inadequate.”

“Wouldn’t it be better for a harbour development?”

“Although the problem can be settled step by step, right now there are many places inland that can’t be developed.”

“The north is waking up but there are many places buried.”

The northern villages had been harassed by the cold and monsters. Once the Arpen Kingdom was founded, its territory was increasing rapidly but some villages were completely wiped out by monsters.

A large number of records and adventures would disappear when a village was destroyed. If a new village was constructed there in the future then trial and errors will need to be experienced when adventuring around the area.

“There is a high probability that commerce will develop in the future.”

“It would be good to consult the history books of the Niflheim Empire.”

“There shouldn’t be any nearby villages.”

“A flat place with a river flowing would be good.”

This issue was just as important as picking the capital city.

“How about the area between Vargo Fortress and the Garden of the Gods?”

“Isn’t that the centre of the north?”

“This will become a central place in the future. It is a fair distance to the Garden of the Gods and Vargo Fortress and there is plenty of empty land.”

“Roads can also be opened up.”

“The problem is that the plains with a river isn’t that wide…the Royal Palace needs a vast area or the residential estates and business district as well.”

The users were familiar with the vast plains in the north. The vacant land between the Garden of the Gods and Vargo Fortress was a very large place according to Morata’s standards.

But looking at Morata’s rapid development, they had experience with how quickly the Arpen Kingdom could grow in other areas. Therefore they needed to find the perfect place for the Royal Palace where a city could thrive.

“It isn’t necessary to make the Royal Palace on a plains area.”

“Then…”

“I’ve been to these mountains and they are magnificent. The mountains are steep and rugged like Vargo Fortress. We can build the palace across the mountains.”

“A colourful and lavish Royal Palace built along with nature…”

“A structure overlooking a city.”

“Building the palace in a high place won’t an easy or cheap task.”

“But it could be the best building. There is no need to consider cost reduction.”

The Royal Palace that symbolized the dignity of the Arpen Kingdom would be built on top of the mountains. Guild buildings and commercial areas would be established along the mountain while housing would be built on the plains. If the Royal Palace was built well then it would become a featured place to visit.

If Weed built a large sculpture near the palace then it would catch even more attention. A Royal Palace that represented the dignity of the Arpen Kingdom and the north was going to be born.

“There are several suitable candidates but they will take a while to be ready.”

“The people will start protesting. They want to start quickly.”

“Let’s design it quickly.”

“We will start night shifts from today.

“I wouldn’t do it even with my company paying overtime…I am happy to stay up all night if it is for the Arpen Kingdom.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Hermes Guild raised a large army. They weren’t satisfied with being the strongest guild on the Versailles Continent. They trained an invincible army in order to conquer the continent.

“The weapons produced by the dwarves?”

“The dwarf blacksmiths have created them without a problem.”

“The troops?”

“Their morale and training is the best.”

The troops in the Hermes Guild has been trained for a long time and were recruiting as well. An astronomical amount of income from the Haven, Kallamore, Lasalle and Britten Alliance Kingdom was invested into training their military. The elite soldiers were trained more than general soldiers. No matter how much money they had, there was a limit to the number of residents that could be conscripted.

– A village has been wiped out by the Embinyu Church.

– The Rahest area has been devastated.

They spread rumours of the Embinyu Church as an excuse to conscript soldiers to a training camp. An enormous amount of money was consumed by the supplies and conscription so the burden on the Haven Empire was huge.

Lafaye held a meeting that 100 of the military commanders and top knights attended.

“This war is a crusade. And the Haven Empire’s march won’t stop until it unifies the entire continent.”

“When is the starting date?”

The border of the Haven Empire was touching several kingdoms. The empire was too big that not one kingdom could face them. Once the Haven Empire declared war, it was natural for other kingdoms to form an alliance against them. They would simultaneously invade at the borders.

When an alliance was formed, a considerable amount of time was required for them to gather their power. Their plan to win the war and prevent the alliance from taking action was a blitz attack. Once they gained the momentum, they believed there would be no one who could stop them.

“Everyone is excited by the success of Weed’s adventure so this is our chance.”

All the high level users knew that Weed was the first one to clear Roderick’s Labyrinth. The prestigious guilds failed even with the help of NPCs yet he accomplished it personally. He led the NPCs and pulled out their full ability so Weed’s leadership was praised even more.

Even the residents of rural villages on the Versailles Continent were talking about it as well as the broadcasting stations. It was to the extent that programs about Weed were shown dozens of times. He was the person the users in Royal Road respected most so Weed’s popularity was absolutely overwhelming.

“The people are interested in Weed right now. The attack will begin in 10 days as the army simultaneously moves to the border.”

The war plans for dealing with each kingdom were organized in advance. The elite troops prepared by the Hermes Guild reached a shocking 4 million. Troops from guilds they were secretly aligned with were also mixed in.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Time Sculpting!

The name gave off the feeling that he absolutely couldn’t miss this secret sculpting technique.

“If the time in the world is stopped…”

He didn’t know what would be triggered but he could imagine it. If he became worried then he could stop the world and move in it alone. A sculptor would carve radiant beauty based on their endless imagination.

“I would clear out a bank. No, first I would go to a department store and clear out the money and precious metals. Cash and gold would fill up the house so much that I’ll never go hungry.”

If he had gold then he could laugh brightly even if he became injured. Weed kept reading Roderick’s research records. It was good if Time Sculpting emerged but he was sensitive about the possible penalties involved.

【 I tried to complete Time Sculpting but a wall blocked me.

I didn’t know how to stop the flow of time in the world. I came to the conclusion that there is no way to accomplish it. So Time Sculpting was given up for growing plants.

A plant that grew up to spread a luxurious aroma was also beautiful. It wasn’t a sculpture but beautiful plants grew. 】

“No!”

Weed screamed. It was like suddenly ending up in a rice paddy.

【 Cultivating plants became a big art.

Plants would take root in barren land and give comfort to the people of the continent. Even in ravaged areas of the continent, the plants were able to be deeply rooted and grow.

Then a sculptor said.

“But what about once it becomes a flower?”

“Isn’t a flower beautiful even after it wilts?”

“Even farmers can cultivate plants…”

“We are exploring the aesthetics. Art will be created based on the plants.”

The debate about flowers and trees continued for 2 days. And someone said.

“Flowers will wither after only blooming for a few days. Isn’t Time Sculpting even more necessary so we won’t miss the beauty around us?”

“That is true.”

“But the difficulty…”

“Art and beauty isn’t just made. Everything has a cost.”

“Let’s go back to Time Sculpting.”

The sculptors had a considerable amount of knowledge and ability that were suitable for other fields. There were those well versed in geography, history, architecture, swords, magic etc. Versatile geniuses were gathered as they continued to study time magic.

And 10 years passed. The sculptors were obstinate and didn’t give up. They browsed through records of adventures, history books and magic theories. Passion of this degree was necessary to give birth to art. They were already the best sculptors. I asked them why they were so immersed in this research.

“There is nothing impossible in sculpting.”

“Throughout history…the art of sculpting has been steadily declining. Aristocrats prefer paintings over sculptures so one day I want to pass on to junior sculptors the way to express radiant beauty.”

We studied Time Sculpting but failed. But the various species including humans, elves and dwarves looked through all the recorded writings and finally found a clue.

Nodulle and Hilderun. The tale of lovers who tried to escape the limits of time so they could be together eternally.】

Roderick’s research records ended there.

Ddiring!

– Lovers of Borota Island.

Roderick’s research records mentioned a fact that is hard to believe.

Nodulle and Hilderun. Investigate the lovers who tried to escape the limits of time.

Roderick left several clues for this purpose.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: The quest will fail if you die.

Weed took several items out of the box that contained the research records.

Scroll to summon a giant fire golem.

Scroll to summon a meteor.

Borota Island map.

Story of stars in the night sky #73.

A compass that had stopped.

Keys to a residence on Borota Island.

Sands of time.

“Keheok!”

It was the magic scroll that caught Weed’s eye first. All he needed to do to make the magic scroll work was to rip it. Right now, there wasn’t a single user who could summon a fire golem.

Roderick had used it when he was resurrected and its combat power wasn’t inferior to Bahamorg’s.

“And a scroll to summon a meteor…I didn’t think it was possible. I can’t expect too much. It might be an animal or monster raised by an elf that is called that name. Inspect!”

Weed checked the scroll to summon a meteor.

– The Grand Magician Roderick has sealed his best magic ‘Meteor Summon’ in this scroll.

There were numerous failures when creating this scroll and it is a one of a kind Meteor Summon scroll.

Once the scroll is torn, a meteor will be summoned to hit the ground.

Precautions when Using: Once the magic is activated, it is impossible to cancel it in the middle.

Accuracy is very low.

Will devastate an extensive area.

“This is real.”

It was a genuine scroll and not a fake!

“I can summon it to destroy a castle.”

Weed could imagine what would happen if the Meteor Summon scroll was used in Morata. A red meteor with a long tail would streak across the sky to devastate a city. The buildings would collapse instantly and the people involved would die. Everything including the squares would be so destroyed that they couldn’t be recognized.

“I have to investigate these clues to obtain Time Sculpting.”

Weed heard the story from the inhabitants of Versailles Continent.

“The most beloved sweethearts? Nodulle and Hilderun.”

“They stayed together for eternity despite the opposition from their families.”

“The girl next door recently fell in love. It would be good if she met a gentle man like Nodulle.

The residents suddenly started talking about Nodulle, Hilderun and Borota Island. Adventurers were interested but they didn’t know the location of Borota Island that the lovers disappeared to.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Very interesting.”

Yoo Byung-jin was on the edge of his seat while watching Weed’s adventure. He created Royal Road but didn’t play it directly. He just felt satisfaction from watching the people in the world he produced.

“Would I feel sharper if I played Royal Road directly?”

The artificial intelligence showed Weed’s movements through multiple screens and he observed closely. Surprisingly, Weed managed to survive most situations despite the location.

– The demon soldier Pioko is on the verge of death. 1,439 health remaining. Weed is attacking.

Text from the AI appeared as fast as lightning wherever Weed was. The teleportation itself wasn’t a problem but Blink meant he might miss a demon soldier dying.

“Showing the best combat power…while directing the troops.”

It would be difficult for the paladins and priests to endure. There were a lot of demon soldiers and the Talloss waking up. Even if Montus and Roderick were fighting each other, it was a miracle the paladins could defend against the wave of attacks from the demon soldiers.

Of course, they had gained experience in the labyrinth but the intelligence and power of the paladins could be seen. Their cooperation with the priests, various blessings and their faith meant they could fight the demon soldiers.

But the most important thing was their iron wall formation and the fact that it didn’t collapse. The demon soldiers struck at a wall made of 3 layers of defence and the priests’ healing and protection spells. Even the weak troops knew how to deal with the enemies.

The demon soldiers were strong but they attacked individually and were wiped out by the formation. The situation wasn’t reversed through great tactics but excellent troops management and their defence ability.

The AI viewed the formation and organization of troops but judged there was little chance of failure.

“The paladins and priests are decreasing but they are handling the demons by fighting together.”

Weed was talented but the daring judgement and combat capabilities belonged to themselves. Weed had gained several skills, succeeded in adventures and accumulated fame so it was no wonder people were wowed by him.

“I don’t even need to see the reactions on the continent to understand.”

Yoo Byung-jin only checked Astello Square. The first conqueror of the 8th labyrinth and the hero who slayed a devil!

“Ah, Adventurer Weed and Sculptor Weed, this continent sure is lucky.”

“It doesn’t matter if the Embinyu Church runs wild since Weed will later teach them a lesson.”

“Roderick’s Labyrinth! A hell in the human world and it was suppressed by Weed-nim.”

“I would like to hear a song about the adventure. A song written about the adventure in Roderick’s Labyrinth will be able to gain significant popularity.”

Weed was such a splendid figure that all the residents and users on the Versailles Continent were talking about him.

So far Weed had succeeded in every adventure and there was a frenzy whenever it was broadcasted. Weed was also the one who developed Morata and the northern frontier into what it was now.

It was to the extent that common sense was overruled and the indoctrinated Grass Porridge Cult formed. The Grass Porridge Cult was a group that the general public and users who lived in the north naturally joined. It was led by users with various levels of power.

The Grass Porridge Cult was a group in Royal Road formed on the power of grass porridge, not religion! The Grass Porridge Cult respected freedom, pioneering, adventures and culture. But when looking at it, their belief in Weed was no less extreme than the Embinyu Church. Beginners who started in the Arpen Kingdom and joined the Grass Porridge Cult willingly cheered for Weed and paid their taxes.

So far Weed hadn’t acted as a ruler. He had just poured a huge amount of his personal fortune into Morata’s urban development. And the users in the Arpen Kingdom were mainly responsible for domestic affairs.

But when looking at the overall picture, Weed’s governing ability needed to be rated highly. He prepared distinctive squares when planning Morata and invested money into maintaining peace.

He constructed the Arts Centre to stimulate cultural development while the Grand Buildings increased the influx of users. The low taxes and high reward stimulated the pioneering spirit.

Despite the tenuous financial situation, they didn’t spare any money on the buildings. The users’ hearts were tied together by the large sculptures and the loyalty of the users who started in Morata was special.

The area around Morata was a wasteland but now everything had changed. The city gave off a feeling of never wanting to leave after entering it. Even if they went to a distant place while exploring the north, they would always return to Morata. Residential areas like the shanty village was important to instil the perception that the king cared about beginners.

The beginners who started in other cities and kingdoms were very poor. They had to save a while just to afford their own house. But users in Morata and the Arpen Kingdom could quickly obtain a house. Even if the shanty village didn’t have any facilities, it wasn’t far from the city centre.

The shanty village that was a short distance away was a popular travel destination for users. The fact that it was an easy and cheap place to live in Morata quickly spread. Weed had changed the devastated Morata in the north to this.

“It is impossible that all of this was thoroughly planned. Anyway, it is increasingly worth watching.”

Yoo Byung-jin decided to watch comfortably. He waited for Weed to fail and become ruined. However, he still cheered when Weed fought and won against Montus.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Dark Gamers actively supported the Arpen Kingdom.

Title: Unknown hunting grounds in the Arpen Kingdom.

Title: Come to Beard Dungeon. You can make a fortune.

Title: Level up? From level 300 to 400. This place is sufficient

Title: A place to acquire major items in the Northern Continent

The top users of the Dark Gamers Union explored the north and shared the information through the bulletin boards.

“Well, we should go here.”

“Even though the land prices is disgusting…this is the north. It is quite normal.”

“There is a reason those places are popular.”

The Dark Gamers scattered around the Versailles Continent gathered in the Arpen Kingdom. The Dark Gamers had various tendencies. They enjoyed dangerous adventures and made unexpected choices.  The ones who were bards easily received information from the residents and formed hunting parties.

However, the majority of Dark Gamers preferred hunting silently. They hunted and cleared out the location where the Arpen Kingdom’s palace would be built.

“Selling an intermediate teardrop jewel necklace.”

“Please whisper if you find the Jipang enchanted magic wand.”

“Selling blacksmith materials. I have a considerable volume worth 5,000 gold.”

Advanced items were sold at the squares. Many weapons and materials were swept up by the Dark Gamers in dungeons. Dungeons in the Arpen Kingdom were being discovered one after another by the Dark Gamers.

General users also found some dungeons but the territory was too enormous and the peace unstable. They would encounter groups of monsters, traps or difficult demons and then experience death.

On the other hand, the Dark Gamers were familiar with dungeons and hunting. They thoroughly prepared by investigating the terrain and characteristics of the surrounding monsters before unearthing the dungeon.

Their transactions at the stores were absurd. Once they went to a hunting ground, they would bring back a backpack full of items. Of course, they needed to bring whetstones, food, exploration tools, trap dismantling tools, magic scrolls, bandages and other supplies when going to the hunting ground. They enjoyed the shacks, theatre and music performances as the tax revenue of the Arpen Kingdom increased.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

After Weed survived the quest, he returned to Morata with the paladins and priests. The quest in the labyrinth was finished so he went to visit the Church of Lugh and the Freya Church.

“My achievements would be cut a lot.”

The fact that he successfully conquered the labyrinth didn’t comfort him. The audience watching through the broadcasts admired Weed’s charisma and leadership. His command of the troops perfectly matched the flow of battle.

His keen eyes that seized the opportunity to win while leading his troops was worthy of praise. Weed had many skills but the most feared was his leadership ability.

“Weed can beat any quest along with his subordinates.”

“Yes. He is strong by himself but nothing is impossible when he leads his subordinates.”

“He won’t let them die carelessly.”

“He thinks of human lives as precious.”

Those were the reactions after watching the broadcasts.

“I would like to become part of a hunting party led by Weed the God of War.”

“Really, his expeditions would be composed of high level players.”

“Until now I’ve only talked about Weed-nim’s adventures but I wish I could accomplish something like that.”

It was fortunate that they didn’t know Weed’s inner thoughts.

‘I need to complete the quest at all costs, even if it means using bait…’

Weed arrived in Morata and walked along the main street. The best city in the north where magnificent buildings were built! Normally this road was crowded with merchant carriages and people.

“Ooh, congratulations!”

“Hooray for Weed-nim!”

“I knew he would come back successfully!”

Users were standing on the side of the road and blowing pollen. They knew Weed would return to Morata so they waiting with petals from wildflowers. Weed received pollen, petals, claps and shouts of joy as he walked along the street.

It was the thrilling march of a great victory!

People from the Grass Porridge Cult had organized the event. Beginners stood on the rooftops and walls to watch Weed who was like their idol. Even the shacks on the hill was crowded with people wanting to see Weed. The welcoming crowd that paralysed Morata was indicative of Weed’s popularity.

“Preparing things like this…”

There wasn’t a happy smile on Weed’s face.

“How much taxes could’ve been collected if they hunted during this time?”

But other than Morata, there were taxes from 20 cities in the kingdom. Quests and trading occurred so the kingdom was growing steadily.

The northern kingdom was so large that there was plenty of room to expand. Weed finished the welcoming ceremony and visited the Church of Lugh. The High Priest was waiting for him.

“I heard news that you finished a tough and serious adventure.”

“It is nothing. The paladins of Lugh helped block the enemy threatening the peace of the continent.”

“A lot of blood flowed but peace isn’t free. The experience of the paladins are necessary for the development of a religion. And the children growing up in the Church of Lugh will defend justice with their swords.”

Ddiring!

– Contribution to the Church of Lugh has decreased by 892.

The Church’s fame and honour has increased.

Missionary actions will be actively carried out and the number of believers will increase.

The senior paladins that have accumulated large experience can receive new quests.

The contribution was reduced more than he thought. The surviving paladins were promoted. Many new quests would arise in the Church of Lugh.

Demon Clean-up of Pomullan Island.

Missing Person Idein.

Destroy the 3rd Base of the Embinyu Church.

Wrong Sacrifice.

Quests with A and S class difficulty! This qualification was given only to Weed.

“There are many places around the continent that requiring protecting to ensure peace. Then I will meet you again at the next opportunity.”

“Lugh’s blessing always be with you.”

Weed’s circumstances meant he couldn’t do the religious quests right now so he just exited. And he visited the Freya Church.

“I was able to come back safely thanks to the protection of Goddess Freya.”

“The damage is too big. We believed in Weed-nim but…”

The High Priest of the Freya Church reprimanded him. It was inevitable since most of the priests belonged to the Freya Church. His reputation was forced to drop because a lot of priests were killed in battle.

“However, it is fortunate that Weed-nim survived and returned. I look forward to the work you will do for the religious societies from now. And it is good that Alveron has returned to the Freya Church with a great deal of experience.”

Ddiring!

– The value of your achievements with the Freya Church has decreased by 2,493.

The blessings and grace of the Freya Church in the north has decreased.

Due to the large sacrifice, the activities of the priests in the Freya Church will decrease.

He had amassed higher achievements in the Freya Church compared to the Church of Lugh so that wasn’t a big problem. Currently the Freya Church was the main religion in the Arpen Kingdom. But if many priests died then there were many penalties like decreases economic activities and adventures.

“Anyway, this part has been resolved.”

Weed now needed to find the last secret sculpting technique.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Haven Empire made an announcement the day the Imperial Palace finished construction.

<For a long time, we stopped and watched while hoping for peace. But our peers in the continent wasn’t satisfied.

The endless fighting over territory allowed the Embinyu Church free reign! The places where users can stay comfortably is becoming increasingly smaller.

This isn’t what our Hermes Guild wished for. We have the power so we should take responsibility.

The Hermes Guild has decided to stabilize the continent. Those who don’t understand may blame us but there will be even more extreme chaos on the continent if we do nothing.

Courage isn’t just needed to fight against monsters or the enemy. It is standing up to correct a wrong. That’s what true courage is.

The Hermes Guild will use this spirit to defend the peace.>

They used the justification of a moral duty to declare war on the entire continent! It wasn’t a bluff as a war started on all the borders of the Haven Empire. They broke through the border garrisons of the other kingdoms.

The elite members of the Hermes Guild led their knights and troops into the other kingdoms. From now on, they didn’t care about revealing the hidden power they built up to the other kingdoms. And a battalion of 70,000 troops led by Lancelot moved towards the Arpen Kingdom.

The Hermes Guild’s power had swelled greatly in the meantime. They intended to occupy the Arpen Kingdom who had defied them for a long time.

“They are finally coming.”

“It was expected after their long silence.”

The Versailles Continent wasn’t surprised about the Hermes Guild’s declaration of war. They were already viewed as bad guys. The Roam Guild, Black Sword Mercenaries, Lion Star Guild, Cloud Guild and remnants of the Black Lion Guild also moved quickly.

“The Hermes Guild really hid a large army.”

“We’ve been making an effort to build up our military but…”

“We can’t deal with those forces alone.”

“Let’s form an alliance.”

The 5 guilds coordinated quickly. In the past, they had been part of an alliance with the Hermes Guild until the Britten Alliance Kingdom was invaded. When the Hermes Guild seemed to stop, the imminent alliance seemed to dispel. But internally they were still meeting.

– We have to fight against the Hermes Guild or they will conquer the continent.

– They are a strong opponent. Combining forces with others would be nice…

– We’re close to the Hermes Guild so we will be in danger. Fighting against other competitors might weaken them.

The Black Sword Mercenaries, Roam Guild and Lion Star Guild agreed to strike the Hermes Guild. But while they were coordinating, the Hermes Guild declared war on the entire continent. They became a cohesive power to fight against the Hermes Guild.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Having a war here is disgusting.”

The farmer Miretas wiped off the sweat with a towel while wearing a straw hat. This shabby hat wasn’t an ordinary item.

– Straw Hat with a Chicken Feather:

Durability 9/15. Defence 8.

A loosely woven straw hat.

In the past, the farmer Pulbons wore this hat to save the continent during an extremely lean year.

Restrictions: Farmers only.

Level: 430

Perseverance 1,200.

Options: When farming, there is a chance for Wisdom to rise.

Monsters will pay less attention.

Birds that sit on the straw hat can bring special seeds from distant places.

Rather than having vitality decline during physical labour, it will often increase vitality.

Can weather a storm for a long time without health decreasing.

Energy can be used to restore damaged land.

The likelihood of achieving a good harvest on cleared land has increased.

Can be repaired easily unless the durability is 0.

This was a unique hat that he accidentally obtained in the wastelands.

“I don’t like that war is coming to the Arpen Kingdom…”

Miretas had the natural personality of a farmer. He enjoyed watching planted crops as the seasons changed. He had cultivated a large granary and fruit orchard in the Arpen Kingdom. He even installed an irrigation system to pull water from the river and he would have a good harvest for the next few years.

“Things I can do…the soldiers will need food to eat.”

Only King Weed could know the exact population of the Arpen Kingdom. The lords of each region couldn’t combine the numbers to determine the exact population. Most of the land in the Arpen Kingdom was owned by the king.

However, Miretas could gain an approximate estimate of the population. Farmers were very sensitive about food production and its consumption. Prices would slump if there was too much food and conversely, people would starve if the food ran out.

The food consumption had increased by several times since he settled in the Arpen Kingdom. Humans, orcs, elves, dwarves, barbarians, avians and a variety of other species. There was also a tremendous influx of beginners into the Arpen Kingdom.

When a war started, rice was necessary for the military. The orcs were propagating at Vargo Fortress. They were a species with a quick growth rate as they often died and were born. Their growth system was completely different from humans.

When there were tough monsters or monsters disturbing the peace, the orcs would bravely stampede forward. The orc beginners would get rid of monsters and sell the items they acquired at Vargo Fortress. Vargo Fortress became a gathering place for dwarves, elves, orcs and merchants.

“Purchase bows from the elves! These bows won’t be sold to just anyone. Only people with definite archery skills should come.”

“A steel glaive reliably made in Morata! If you purchase more than 600 then a discount will be given.”

“Baby orcs like dried deer meat. Stand over there and wait, Orc-nim.”

“These are dwarf exclusive high boots.”

The true power of the Arpen Kingdom was commerce. The merchants engaged in business and an increasing number of the orc population became armed. The orcs heard the news about a war and held a meeting.

“Chwik, it is a war.”

“Chwi chwit, how interesting. Things were very tedious.”

“I should ask the human and dwarven blacksmiths to get rid of rust on my glaive.” Chwi chwit!”

“We’re going to fight, cwit!”

The orcs were the first ones who wanted to fight. They knew very well the persecution the orcs would receive from the Central Continent. They couldn’t cross many checkpoints at the cities because they weren’t human.

The individual ability of the orcs weren’t strong but they had superior numbers so the ruling guilds didn’t want them in the area. The orcs would also reduce the number of monsters in the hunting grounds.

Of course, there were other dungeons available but the orcs were annoying and would consume a lot of funds. They regretted that behaviour after seeing the orcs propagating and destroying monsters around Vargo Fortress.

“Since the humans have fallen into a crisis, we need to fight together. Another reason is that they create delicious beer.”

“In order to protect the forests…we have to enter the war.”

The dwarves and elves were the same. All the species in the Arpen Kingdom decided to join the war.

Grass Porridge Cult! The group that represented the north also reacted to the Hermes Guild’s army.

“Those guys are coming to conquer us…we are willing to fight!”

“Huhu, I was waiting for this war to spread.”

“Let’s do it!”

In the past, they had helped end the war in Morata! At that time, most of them were beginners but now their numbers had grown to an impossible degree.

“Inform each unit to prepare for battle.”

“We need to rally a minimum of 40,000 people for each unit. Will that be possible?”

“The Toadstool unit doesn’t seem to be exploring dungeons…I’ll tell them.”

They started to gather participants for the war through the Grass Porridge Cult’s communication network.

“Hermes Guild…”

“Kill!”

“Join the war…”

“Let’s go!”

“Where should we gather?”

The notice was enough to persuade them without needing to carry on a conversation. Warriors in the north started to move out of the hunting grounds.

On the other hand, the users on the Versailles Continent who didn’t understand where talking about it in taverns.

“The Hermes Guild is really occupying the continent.”

“Well, they are very determined. How long can the alliance fight against them…?”

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Grass Porridge Cult’s Naval Warfare

The Hermes Guild’s invasion of the Arpen Kingdom!

The military of the Haven Empire headed towards the north. Some moved across land while 1/3rd of the troops sailed on ships to the north. 100 ships carrying carriages, cavalry and armoured troops spread their sails while proudly flying the flag of the Haven Empire.

“This will be enough to occupy the north.”

“We need to step on a sprout from the beginning. We’ve endured it so far but now we must not hesitate since we’re taking over the entire continent. We have to destroy Weed so that he can’t get up anymore.”

The leaders of the Hermes Guild were convinced of their victory. In fact, they judged that the Arpen Kingdom had a poor army. Even if all the knights dispersed across the kingdom was gathered, the reports stated that there were only 20,000 people. The Arpen Kingdom focused on cultural and financial development but their military was much poorer.

That’s why the Haven Empire sent 70,000 troops consisting of the magic corps and knight corps to the north. It was composed entirely of elite soldiers and their power couldn’t be compared to the unemployed.

“Who should we send as the commander for the northern expedition?”

A siege on the plains! The placement of the troops and the terrain absolutely had to be taken into account when planning a strategy. This was a chance to cut Weed off and rule the north so the leaders of the Hermes Guild supported it.

“However, we can’t think of Weed as soft. He has shown various abilities in Roderick’s Labyrinth so we should be vigilant.”

“We won’t be able to wash off the shame if he defeats us this time. We must unconditionally win.”

“Rensullot can match Weed’s resourcefulness and luck. He is more focused on defence than attack.”

“We can believe in him. He is a high ranking member of the Hermes Guild and has a lot of experience in large scale battles…. But we’re currently conquering the continent so should we send him to the north?”

“It is worth considering after Admiral Drinfeld and the Crema Knights’ failure. If Weed uses the power of a necromancer then he won’t be an easy opponent. According to the guild reports, Weed has great power as a necromancer.”

“I was amazed when I saw the broadcast.”

“I haven’t forgotten the form of the chaos warrior that he used at the rocky canyon. Who can really fight like that?”

The Hermes Guild’s leaders felt a lot of pressure due to Weed’s adventures. He succeeded in things that seemed impossible and showed a strong combat ability when fighting against Bardray in the Melbourne Mine. The broadcasting stations also paid attention to the Hermes Guild’s war in the north and it would receive high ratings.

Anyway, they wanted to destroy the Arpen Kingdom while showing a strength that couldn’t be opposed. The Haven Empire wanted to show off the overwhelming power of the military they mobilized.

“If Rensullot success in the northern expedition then he will be a leading example of the Hermes Guild.”

“We have to send him to the north in order to achieve our purpose.  Don’t we also have to think about governing after occupying the north?”

Rensullot was the lord of a castle in the Haven Empire. He made his carrier by making significant contributions in the war against the Kallamore and Lasalle Kingdoms. Above all, he occupied lands that were devastated by looting and arson. He was the most reliable person to occupy the north and govern it in a stable way.  From the Hermes Guild’s perspective, it wasn’t a loss if he ruled in a brutal manner.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed heard that the Hermes Guild was sending an army to the Arpen Kingdom through the broadcasts. The stations informed everyone of the size of the Haven Empire’s military and their movements.

Rather than concealing it, the Haven Empire openly revealed it like they were stating the Arpen Kingdom wasn’t their opponent. The Hermes Guild gave an interview stating that those in the north who feared merciless destruction and plunder should run away.

Weed gave a deep sigh.

“Those guys won’t leave me alone. I need to leave to obtain the final secret sculpting technique.”

It wasn’t just one or two times. He had faced the Hermes Guild when defeating the Immortal Legion. His dirty destiny once again!

He saw on the news that the Hermes Guild had won in various areas of the continent. The border defence army of the Masen Kingdom was defeated and the Bichwi Lake area of the Aidern Kingdom was seized. The Dale and Tullen Kingdoms were ruled by guilds allied with the Hermes Guild so their rule spread.

“Anyway, this time I’m forced to fight. Kingdom information!”

Weed opened the Arpen Kingdom’s internal affairs window.

– Arpen Kingdom: An emerging kingdom centred around Morata and Vargo Fortress.

The territory is 29% of the area previously ruled by the Niflheim Empire. The advanced culture and active trade has made it expand very quickly.

King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom is called the ‘King recognized by the Gods’ and has the active support of the residents. In addition, he is the only person who gained the ‘Hero who Saved the Continent’ title so he has the respect of the free knights.

The inhabitants of the Arpen Kingdom are active in pursuing art, adventures and freedom and are able to overcome difficulty with their hard work. Various cities such as Vent Castle that maintained the legitimacy of the Niflheim Empire has joined. Lavias the Sky Island has joined the Arpen Kingdom. The avian clan has spread over the northern continent.

Newly built cities have their population rapidly grow as advanced art and technology is developed based on Morata. The Arpen Kingdom showcases fine examples of Grand Buildings.

Military Power: 2,382                 Economic Power: 19, 384                              Culture: 30,930

Technology: 5,125                        Religious Influence: 89                              Kingdom Politics: 89

Influence on Surrounding Areas: 94%

Kingdom Development: 74         Hygiene: 44                                                    Safety: 91%

The residents of the northern region are only looking at the Arpen Kingdom.

Mine development and production is increasing day by day. Huge amounts of resources are produced and distributed. However, there are still many places where roads aren’t connected directly, monsters invading different areas and congestion of the shipping lines along the coast.

While trading with some remote islands is in progress, only 6.9% of the mysterious and dangerous areas of the sea have been navigated.

Agriculture is the foundation of a kingdom and the farmer’s pioneering spirit scattered seeds at swamps where alligators live. Tea trees, rare herbs and special crops are the driving force behind the increase in population.

The residents of the Arpen Kingdom are active in adventuring so their average life span is short. Even the soldiers in the army are questioning it.

“Can we stop it if monsters flock en masse?”

“I would be happy to die to protect His Majesty the King and the people living in the cities.”

“The kingdom is in danger but it can’t be helped since we have fewer soldiers.”

Law enforcement can’t handle the vast amount of territory and are forced to secure peace around the city. Residents of mountain villages close to monster territory have to protect themselves. Small villages can’t interrupt an invasion of monsters and are reduced to ashes. The free knights gathered in the Arpen Kingdom to meet the king. They are the core of the military.

The kingdom’s urban development is rapid and there is a boom in population, agriculture and production!

Kingdom’s Total Population: 15,347,238                                 Monthly Tax Income: 8,790,299.

Kingdom Operational Expenses: Military 6%, Technology Development 5%,  Economic Development 38%, Culture Investment 7%,  Monster Subduing Requests 21%, Road Establishment 19% Religion 4%.

Military: 991 Knights, 1,734 Trainee Knights, 34,280 Soldiers.

Vent Castle core troops. Knights and soldiers are mobilized to explore dungeons little by little. Have a low degree of basic weapons training.

The residents are anxious because all the funds are poured into development, causing excessive economic development.

“A perfect state system.”

Weed had pursued an aggressive economic development and the Arpen Kingdom expanded. Some small villages and cities had no choice but to disappear. The sacrifice of cows for a higher purpose!

No matter how many ruins were formed, a city could be built there again. His principle was wait-and-see once it developed. Securing the peace and building up the walls meant expansion was quite slow.

Furthermore, users didn’t want it either. Users dreamed of pioneering villages and becoming lords. The military of the kingdom should be dispatched to help them but they couldn’t do it themselves. In order to become lords, they had to raise intimacy with the residents and overcome much difficulties. Weed himself started from the bottom to establish Morata.

Once a territory in a kingdom was obtained, villages and cities would spring up, roads opened and the tax income would increase explosively.

“It isn’t useful for development but it can’t be helped. Summon all the military from every village and city while leaving behind the minimum number needed to secure the peace.

– The military has been summoned by the King of the Arpen Kingdom.

Peace will become unstable and deteriorate in some areas and the cities will be assaulted by monsters.

The current troops able to be mobilized are 871 knights, 1,593 training knights and 31,023 soldiers.

Do you really want to summon the military of the Arpen Kingdom?

“Summon everyone.”

– The military of the Arpen Kingdom has gathered at the King’s order.

The military will gather according to the signal beacon determined in advance.

“I have to take decisive action.”

Weed left only the minimum of troops behind to defend the villages and cities. He also had his sculptural lifeforms.

“In the meantime, they’ve been playing so I should call the wyverns, Yellowy, Goldman, Bingryong and Phoenix.”

There were the sculptural lifeforms he gave life to in Jigolaths and the warrior Bahamorg. Weed called a support army for the war in the north.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Southern Plains near Morata! The users and army of the Arpen Kingdom decided to gather there.

“Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit! Personnel needs to be checked so line up straight!”

“Garlic Porridge unit, over here! Gather and show your garlic earrings.”

“The Toadstool Porridge unit will be honoured to act as the vanguard in this war.”

“Wahhhh! The Toadstool Porridge unit doesn’t fear death!”

“The Ginseng Porridge magic unit will cooperate with the magicians of the Jujube Porridge unit.”

“Green Tea Porridge unit, we were founded later so don’t let other units take us lightly!”

The active users in the north gathered intensively.

“When is the Haven Empire invading?”

“Of course I have to fight.”

“I’ll smash them.”

“Let’s show our strength. They can’t push us like they can the Central Continent. There is no space for them!”

Usually there would be a complex atmosphere if 10,000 users gathered. But now the plains were covered with people.

Someone cried out in a loud voice.

“Now, sorting the troops is finished to let’s move quickly! Hurry before the sun sets!”

“If someone gets lost and can’t find their unit during the march, go to another unit and fight for the moment. There is no time.”

“Let’s move. Come on, move quickly.”

“Let’s move to the east.”

The Grass Porridge Cult moved from the southern plains towards the east. The sight of everyone moving was a tremendous view. And then the users gathered again.

“The 4th gathering of the Grass Porridge Cult is over and now it is the 5th!”

It wasn’t possible to gather all of the Grass Porridge users in one place. Morata’s gates were overflowing with a tremendous number of beginners. Every user who lived in a shack armed themselves with swords or bows. They were determined to die so they didn’t pay attention to their armour at all.

The users belonging to the Grass Porridge Cult voluntarily gathered from villages and cities spread out through the Arpen Kingdom.

“Wah, it is real.”

“Look there. There are people holding a basic wooden sword and dressed in beginner’s clothes.”

Even the Grass Porridge members didn’t know there would be this much people but they were self-confident after coming to the southern plains. The personnel line-up continued into the evening. The northern continent was full of users and more people who just logged in were exiting Morata’s gates.

“Midnight Snack Porridge, we were just waiting for it to become night. At your disposal.”

The wyverns, Bingryong and Phoenix flew over the southern plains. The users watched the sky and heartily shouted.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

“The fight to save the North!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This will be an easy expedition. Those guys won’t be able to resist….”

The Northern Expeditionary Force of the Haven Empire. The landing unit was escorted by 3 fleets.

After Drinfeld lost his fleet, the Hermes Guild’s marine power was hurt which caused a considerable headache. It was difficult to give users a marine education. They made a huge investment into constructing a shipyard and building 4 new fleets. The navy’s 3 fleets contained 23 combat ships.

In order to protect the Northern Expedition army, the ships escorted them to Varna Harbour in the north.

“The weather is clear and there is a fair wind for a comfortable trip.”

The commander of the 3 fleets, Hakim stood at the bow. Looking at the seagulls flying near the boat, he judged that they were close to land. Those caught in a storm at sea or drifting ships could find their way using the birds. However, the trade merchants travelling to the north had pioneered a smooth sailing route.

“We can attack Varna Harbour before it is afternoon.”

They would land at Varna Harbour and attack. It was an operation to thoroughly destroy the city with magic and a bombardment.

“Congratulations, Captain-nim.”

“The day where you’ll be promoted to Admiral of the Empire’s navy isn’t far away.”

Hakim was a first class navigator. In a sea battle, the combat ability depended on the ship captain’s ability to manoeuvre. A competent captain would have a large effect on hunting in a party. Outstanding captains could make use of sailors with a basic level of proficiency. Of course, the relationship between shipmates wasn’t always peaceful so sometimes there would be a revolt.

“Well, that is only possible if this battle is successful.”

“Of course, Navy Admiral Hakim-nim.”

“Huhuhuhu! That doesn’t sound bad.”

“It is natural. You will soon hear it so often that you’ll get tired of it.”

“It already seems to be going well.”

While Hakim  was drunk on the sailors’ flattery.

“The Arpen Kingdom’s naval battle fleet is ahead!”

A sailor observing from the lookout point.

“The scale?”

“That….”

“There are more than 30 ships! They are the size of small sailing ships.”

The number and types of ships were the most important thing in a naval battle. Larger ships were able to hold more cannons and also had higher accuracy.

“Did the Arpen Kingdom use their finances to found a navy? But they are small sailboats so cannons can’t be used. Rush into battle! Spread all sails! Full speed ahead!”

“Yes, Captain-nim!”

“Going to the battle stations!”

The sailors got up, spread the sails and loaded the cannons. Hakim’s fleet moved forward in a battle formation at top speed. They used the strategy of breaking through enemy lines with cannons and quickly annihilating the enemy. Their overwhelming firepower, quick firing ability and sailing speed to crush the enemy.

“More enemies are appearing. Small caravels. There are 40 of them!”

“That much is just like a snack. Prepare the degradation bullets!”

Hakim commanded the other ships. Degradation bullets were normally used to destroy a city but he decided to use it on the sea. There wouldn’t be any problems winning over the enemy but he wanted to minimize the damage to the fleet.

“There are 8 medium sized frigates behind enemy lines!”

“I’m getting bored. Just sink them.”

“Galley ships had also appeared. They are pirate ships!”

Pirate ships belonging to the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin! They had dragged 24 galley ships into the battle. Galley ships could travel short distances quickly due to captured slaves rowing the paddles.

The pirates were on the deck to prepare for a fight after the ships would collide. Usually in a normal sea battle, pirates were good at fighting on decks.

“Concentrate the shells on the galley ships. Keep moving forward!”

“The number of enemy ships keep on increasing. There are 300 additional small ships!”

“How can that be….?”

Hakim was watching from the deck. The vessels kept on increasing in front of him. More and more ships the size of small sailboats could be seen. They were only armed with 8 cannons at the most but shooting together would give them a lot of power. Even if the ships shook and the accuracy was low, there was still a chance of hitting something.

“How can there be these many ships?”

“There are many merchant ships. Fishing boats are also involved in the battle.”

“This is….”

It was highly unexpected to the users of the Hermes Guild. They found it difficult to fathom so many ships. The small sails spread out as the fleet headed towards Hakim.

“Fleet Commander-nim, we are about to ram head on.”

“Then prepare for a scramble with the enemies.”

Hakim intended to shoot the cannons on the left and right side to sink the enemy. The sea was full of small ships. It wouldn’t be long before they started shooting. However, the landing unit was following behind the battle fleet. Things would become quite complicated if they became trapped among the ships. If they mixed in with the pirate ships then many ships might sink.

“Detour. The range of their cannons is short. Use our mobility to stay on their outskirts.”

Hakim’s fleet turned. They kept a distance as they passed the enemy and fired their cannons. However, small ships were approaching from the east side, west side and open seas. Ships hiding in the shadow of islands also approached Hakim’s fleet. Hakim observed that they weren’t incompetent. Naturally medium and large sized ships were hiding. But the small ships and reefs were blocking the way behind him.

“Their flags indicate that they don’t belong to the Arpen Kingdom. Other images are drawn.”

“What is that?”

“Sharks and whales, turtles and that…rockfish, cutlass fish and even mackerel are spotted.”

“What?”

The distance shortened and shouting could be heard from the small ships.

“Mackerel Porridge unit, load the cannons!”

“The cannonballs are expensive. Wait until the fishing boats turn before shooting!”

“Then just bump into any ship.”

“The Shark Porridge unit is supporting us from nearby. Let’s go!”

“Cutlassfish Porridge unit, we have been endlessly quarrelling with the Baked Cutlassfish unit. But now we will fight together with them!”

“Whale Porridge unit, we still haven’t seen a whale. Now is the time to catch a really big whale!”

“Let’s hunt them!”

“All-out attack!”

The marine forces of the Grass Porridge Cult appeared. They were users who felt the charm of the sea and moved their base to Varna Harbour. As they kept on going out to sea, they naturally formed units.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The sea was covered with the sound of artillery fire. Hakim’s fleet fired their cannons at the small ships coming from 3 directions.

“Grasp their movements!”

“If we get out of here then they won’t be able to catch us.”

“The Turtle Porridge unit is blocking the front. Throw the nets!”

Hakim’s fleet was forced to stop due to the blockade formed of ships. They initially moved forward but the large ships became immobile due to the wreckage and debris around them.

“Sink everything!”

“Don’t stop and keep firing the cannons!”

Hakim’s fleet shot their cannons while being surrounded.

Kwa kwang!

A small ship lost its keel and exploded! Concentrated artillery also flew towards the battle fleet.

“Put away the sails!”

“Beware of tremors!”

The cannons didn’t have a large power but they still destroyed the hull and caused the mast to catch on fire. He had moved forward when the sea was still clear so Hakim hadn’t thought of a combat strategy. Now he couldn’t use any tactics at all since he was surrounded!

“Just charge!”

“I decided to go on a long sea voyage….but I couldn’t keep my promise. I’m going to sink in the sea but I’ll come back.”

“If you’re going to fall into the sea then hold on to the side of the ship. Then it will become heavier for a short time!”

The small ships literally ran into Hakim’s battle fleet. It was mostly the small ships sinking. The collision itself didn’t deal any big blows to the large battle ships. But the shaking that occurred messed up the accuracy of the cannons. The enemy had a high hit rate but the crew could collapse from the cannon blast as well. The pirates used the intervals where the crew was confused to successfully board.

“It is an honour to board a Haven Empire warship on this day….everybody get on!”

“Kill everyone!”

“First occupy the gunpowder room. Don’t let anyone block you!”

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin and their pirates climbed aboard the warships.

“Those shabby pirates! Show them the might of the Haven Empire’s navy!”

A deck battle occurred on the open sea.

Kwaaang!

The ship that Hakim was on suddenly shook and tilted.

“What is this?”

“Fleet Commander-nim, a reef!”

“What did you say? There are these many ships so how can we hit a reef?”

“That…I don’t know either.”

The Grass Porridge Cult knew the waters around here extremely well. Some islands had caves that could hide a small ship or docks for big ships.

Above all, the currents in this area quickly moved towards land. The Grass Porridge Cult lured Hakim’s battle fleet into a trap where the currents would lead to reefs.

Hakim cried out in a loud voice.

“This is nothing! Bury them all in the sea!”

The Haven Empire started sinking the beginner’s merchant fleet and fishing boats steadily like they were a swarm of ants. However, more small ships came from the direction of Varna Harbour.

“I have been waiting for a long time. Seaweed Porridge unit, charge!”

“Lighten your spirits. Your friends the Clam Porridge unit has arrived.”

“Seaweed Porridge unit, fire your cannons!”

Small ships covered the ship. And behind them were rafts linked together.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

KMC Media’s ‘Talk about Versailles Continent.’

“Today we have really shocking news. Many people saw it in the live coverage during the day.”

Shin Hye-min’s face sparkled with a bright light.

“Oh Joo-wan ssi, did you hear the startling results from the collision between the Haven Empire and Arpen Kingdom navy fleets?”

“Yes, of course. I heard that the Haven Empire’s supreme marine force was overrun. This is a main scene that occurred.”

The Haven Empire showed wonderful destructive power when dealing with the fleet from the north. The furious bombardment continued but they couldn’t defeat the Grass Porridge Cult.

The battle continued for one day and one night. And the Haven Empire was ruined the moment their ships ran out of ammunition. Fire burned the sea as well as the Haven Empire’s ships. The combat ships engulfed in fire couldn’t move and sunk. Of the Grass Porridge Cult, only hundreds of members survived. But the users who safely returned to Varna Harbour shouted.

“We won!”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

Large bonfires and smoke occurred along the beach of Varna Harbour as there was a festival.

There were those who didn’t leave the next morning. They were waiting for the deceased users to log back in and enjoy the festival.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Tang! Tang! Tang!

There was the endless sound of a blacksmith’s hammer near the shipyard of the harbour. They were bound to be busy since so many ships had sunk.

The war around the Versailles Continent widened.  Great battles between kingdoms was a daily occurrence these days.

The majority of people disliked the war but the audience ratings for the naval battle between the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire was 39.2%.

The reactions on the bulletin board was also explosive.

– Title: Let’s celebrate the victory of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Shall I eat a bowl of porridge?

– Title: I’m a student with a part time job at  chicken store.

Today I seem to have fried 500 chickens….

– Title: I also have a part time job at a chicken store.

Currently there are 200 deliver orders. If someone orders now then won’t it take 5 hours to deliver?

– Title: Honestly, I belong to the Hermes Guild.

This was inevitable once we captured the Lasalle Kingdom. The ending was bad. But why was it so exciting?

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi, the instructors and trainees had started the Martial Artist Master Quest and was already up to the 7th part.

“The content of this quest is complicated. We should just be able to kill everything. I can’t understand it at all.”

“Tell me about it. Just cut their necks, Teacher-nim.”

Hit and kill, burn and kill, tread on them and kill. A martial artist utilized various weapons and their body to destroy the enemy. Many people came to do the Master Quest so group quests also occurred.

– Bandits of Bowl Mountains

After the death of the King of Dale Kingdom, bandits have accumulated in the Bowl Mountains.

They consisted a force made up of knights and infantry and dealt considerable damage to nearby cities.

Get rid of the bandits in the Bowl Mountains.

Difficulty: Martial Artist Master Quest.

Quest Restrictions: Weapons Mastery Advanced Level 7. A party of 12 people can be composed.

The Martial Artist Master Quests weren’t just fighting a variety of enemies.

Geomchi-5 had told their an approximate summary so Geomchi, the instructors and trainees could easily advance.

“It is convenient to be able to eat and fight.”

“As expected, it feels better using my body than my head.”

“Our class was a really good choice. We don’t have to be stifled.”

“People working in large corporations or public officials are really pitiful. So what if they have a high, stable salary. They’ve never chased a wild boar with their bare hands.”

It made Geomchi-2 remember his childhood.

His friends in elementary school used a computer and attended a cramming academy. But he practiced breaking a bottle with his bare hands. During school, physical education lessons was where he felt most comfortable.

His chest would explode every time he kicked a ball. He only hesitated and shrank back when it came to English, mathematics and science. These days he became depressed just seeing a blackboard.

“These days are tumultuous. Enemies have invaded the Arpen Kingdom that the maknae (youngest) rule.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim.”

“They are the Hermes Guild.”

The news of the northern war was a huge topic so even Geomchi, the instructors and trainees had heard about it.

‘It became urgent quickly.’

They wanted to quickly rush back to the Arpen Kingdom. The Geomchis were the most popular with women after a big battle. It was a feeling caused when they threw everything into battle. They couldn’t forget the exhilarating feeling of when they defeated Barkhan and the Immortal Legion.

‘I don’t have anything else. I need to catch at least 1 dragon to marry someone.’

‘If I master Weapons Mastery, can I get a girlfriend? Do I have to reach level 600?’

They didn’t have any solutions in life except for becoming stronger. Even though Geomchi and Geomchi-2 had girlfriends, they were still interested in the war in the Arpen Kingdom. This was a good chance to boast of their strength in front of their girlfriends.

“Hum hum, what a disgrace. In the meantime, he has been fighting haphazardly.  Are we really not going to help Weed?”

“No. This time should be fine. The death penalty is a minor thing compared to being called a master.”

“The maknae is too civil.”

“Tell me about it. He shouldn’t try to settle this alone. If there are such numbers then he should fight with other people.”

“Life wouldn’t be fascinating without internal discord.”

The Geomchis wanted to race to the north. In fact, there was a simple reason why Weed hadn’t called the Geomchis. His eyes could see the situation.

It was also the same reason why he didn’t rally them for Roderick’s Labyrinth.

– They are stronger than us. However, we can’t show weakness.

– I understand, Teacher-nim!

– We need to protect the priests of the Freya Church. Charge!

– Wahhh!

They would eagerly run up to the demon soldiers and be destroyed completely! The demons strength and resistance to general combat professions was a problem but their inability to be commanded was fatal.

The Geomchis also stood out in a war.

– We are fighting against Barkhan, the Immortal Legion and the Bone Dragon.

– Wahhh!

As soon as they noticed the Haven Empire’s Army, the Geomchis charged.

– Magician units, archer units! Aim!

– Aiming is complete.

– Shoot when they approach.

– They’re running in a straight line.

– Concentrate your attacks!

Sususung! Kwa kwa kwa kwang! Peng! Kuaaang!

The Geomchis were wiped out! They were strong but the possibility of them being defeated was too big. In addition, he had to leave really delicious dishes to the end.

“My whole body is itchy. We shouldn’t allow stress to build up…. Hey everyone.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim.”

“Let’s go do the quest. Geomchi-3, what is the contents of the next one?”

“Then…there have recently been incidents of residents missing and we should investigate the reason….”

“Speak simply.”

“We should go to a lair and kill everyone.”

“Let’s go!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Rensullot led the Haven Empire’s military along Porus River.

“From here on out, it is the northern continent. We will occupy, plunder and destroy this area.”

“Waaaah!”

The morale of the Haven Empire’s army was very high. They were elite troops who went through a harsh training so their morale didn’t fall from a long march. The high morale meant they could fight bravely.

Originally other guilds wouldn’t permit them to move to the north but this was a time of political strife. With the other forces of the Haven Empire opening the way, the expedition marched to the north.

Their enemies noticed that they were moving but the sudden political strife meant they couldn’t do anything. Their enemies calculated that the Hermes Guild’s power would weaken if there was an expedition to the north so they eagerly allowed it.

Rensullot felt a deep emotion as he stepped in the north.

‘I will destroy the northern cities and rebuild them as the Haven Empire.’

The knights of the Haven Empire would accept the extensive land.

‘If Weed is destroyed….’

Then news of the naval battle was conveyed. Troops had been destroyed at sea before they could step on the ground so he had to drastically modify their strategy.

The Hermes Guild had decided to advance on the east and south side to simultaneously capture the Arpen Kingdom.  Even if Weed stopped one side, the other army would burn and destroy Morata.

The city was the symbol of the Arpen Kingdom so destroying it would be a damage difficult to recover from. The north would receive a setback of 1 or 2 years.

Their strategy was to march two armies through the Arpen Kingdom and annihilate the military led by Weed. If the military was wiped out then peace would become unstable and monsters would propagate. The Arpen Kingdom would receive long term damage and become extinct.

Of course, it would only be a ruin until the Haven Empire’s army took over. They estimated Weed highly and used diversionary tactics but now the landing unit couldn’t help them.

‘However, the Haven Empire’s army is still invincible. The Arpen Kingdom can’t compare to us. The necromancers can also exert their full ability so it is possible to win.’

The disadvantage of a necromancer was that their physical abilities were far inferior. Rensullot’s knights could use a barrier of Death Knights or zombies to thrust at Weed.

The NPCs included in the expeditionary force consisted only of the most elite troops.

“This is an order from the guild. We will be waiting for additional supplies from an archer unit.”

“We’ve brought plenty so battle supplies aren’t necessary.”

“This is a direct command from the leaders. It needs to be done in order to win the war.”

“Understood.”

The Hermes Guild fully mobilized their merchants and gave the expedition additional arrows and magic equipment. The users of the Arpen Kingdom had formed the Grass Porridge Cult so the needed to prepare thoroughly.

They stayed 3 days to receive the supplies before moving again. The expedition was moving away from home so there was some homesickness and lowering of morale, but the damage wasn’t big.

“Scouts.”

“Yes.”

“Confirm the terrain in front of us.”

“We are going.”

Rensullot sent out scouts to search every corner whenever there was a suspicious terrain like mountains, canyons or forests. Weed could set up traps anywhere so this was an instruction from the guild. It was natural for their marching speed to become slow.

Rensullot had come this far so the delay angered him.

“I don’t know why we’re doing this when our forces are overwhelming.”

After moving as slow as a turtle, the Northern Expedition force finally arrived at the Rupoi Plains. From here on out, it was the territory of the Arpen Kingdom.

Chapter 2: War on Land

“Kuhuhuhut.”

Pale looked wickedly while looking around the plains. He had followed behind Weed and the Geomchis for a long time. In the face of such aggressive battles, his skills had no choice but to progress rapidly.

He steadily trained his basic skills and mastered the Quick Fire and Penetration Arrow. He rose to become part of the top 100 archers on the entire continent.

“Kuhuhu, a monster is there.”

Pale confidently spotted a monster 1.5 km away from where he was. An archer’s eyes could accurately see into the distance.

“This distance…and considering the wind direction…”

Pale carefully shot his arrow. The arrow flew in the wind and precisely hit the monster in the distance.

Kkuek!

The monster looked around restlessly but couldn’t find the person who shot the arrow. Pale continued shooting and hunting the monster.

An archer could really wreck a lot of havoc on a level place like the plains. Of course, it was very annoying walking to find the items that the monsters dropped.

“Kekekek, a human.”

A monster approached on the plains.

“Earth Penetration!”

Pale fired an arrow into the ground. The arrow disappeared into the ground and emerged underneath the monster, piercing its feet. A skill that used the penetration and high angled firing skill that he mastered! Once the arrow was shot into the ground, the monster’s movement speed slowed and it couldn’t avoid any further hits.

“Huhuhu, I will be welcomed if I go to the guild now.”

Pale was sure of himself. Now was the time for compensation after shooting arrows since the beginning.

“Now I’m living on my own. I can become a little arrogant. I also have to gain some tremendous achievements in this war. Everyone will be surprised!”

Pale shouted in a loud voice! Then he received a whisper from Surka.

– Oppa, I’m lacking money to buy gloves. Can you lend it to me?

– Where are you?

– Morata.

– It is a little far from here…I’ll bring it now.

– Thank you.  I’ll be sure to pay it back later.

So far Surka had already borrowed 9,000 gold.

“Just wait there, I will come quickly.”

Pale moved busily in the direction of Morata. After a while, he received a whisper from Maylon.

– I need to prepare for today’s broadcasts so I will be late this evening.

– Take your time. I will go first and wait. I will always wait for my girlfriend.

Romuna also whispered him.

– Do you have any mana stones?

– I’ve set aside 3 to make magic arrows.

– Then can you give me a few

– Where are you?

– Palles Village.

– Right now I’m heading to Morata….

– Come quickly.

– I understand. Then I will come straight away after Morata.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

As soon as they heard the Haven Empire’s army had reached Rupoi Plains, the Grass Porridge Cult started to march there.

“Vanguard Toadstool Porridge unit!”

“Chicken Porridge unit and Ginseng Porridge unit will give support!”

There were too many users so they marched towards the Rupoi Plains from 12 directions. The scene was televised through the broadcasting stations and the viewers could hardly believe their eyes. The hills were packed with users crossing them. And they kept on coming and coming. An endless procession was moving towards the plains.

The commentators introduced that this was an unprecedented number in the history of wars on the Versailles Continent.

“Now we will change to this video. As a reminder, viewers please prepare your heart before watching it.”

The television screen changed to a sky view that looked down on the plains and hills. Users were swarming towards the Rupoi Plains! There was a huge variety of species including human, dwarves, elves, barbarians and orcs.

Rensullot had received news that the users in the north were gathering so he prepared for battle atop a hill where the terrain was profitable.

“I’ve expected this to some degree. We will fight and win.”

The elites of the Haven Empire didn’t feel swayed at all. The knights and soldiers could be called repeated combat veterans. It was very common for regular soldiers who reached a high level to be promoted to a knight.

“We don’t have to worry no matter how many of them there are. Are they scary?”

“Not all up!”

The knights answered gallantly.

“Just step on them and kill them. Even if there are a lot of them, we don’t need to worry once the battle starts. If we just kill and kill then we will win like always. A vast amount of loot and honour is waiting for us. Archers prepared for a barrage while the magicians should meditate and rest.”

Rensullot decided to fight the enemy on Rupoi Plains. If he was in a hurry then he would go to the high peaks where defence was easier. However, there was a possibility of suffering a devastating blow from a disaster Weed could cause on areas with a slight slope.

Having a river flowing behind his back was like asking for a disaster. But the standards of the norther users was low so he was confident of success wen fighting against them. It would be a one-sided slaughter.

“They are bravely jumping out at us. But they will soon learn of their powerlessness and won’t bare their teeth at us again. This time will be no different.”

“Kuwak!”

The morale of the Haven Empire’s army was at its peak. And a few groups of the Grass Porridge Cult appeared.

“Toadstool Porridge, Chicken Porridge and the Ginseng Porridge units!

“Charge!”

“Forward!”

Bbuuuuh!

A horn sound rang out and the users once forward.

“No, what is this?”

“There is no formation and aren’t they just running forward?”

“This fight isn’t even the same as fighting goblins and monsters.”

The Hermes Guild was filled with incredulity at the sight in front of them. Their levels and equipment couldn’t even be compared yet they were doing at head on assault!

“Wait until they come into range.”

Rensullot shook his head as he saw the enemies. Not only were they blindly charging ahead, some of them didn’t even hold shields which was an important equipment in a war. Furthermore, they were become the prey of arrows once they came in range.

“Start to fire!”

The archers shot their arrows. The sky above the heads of the Grass Porridge Cult was filled with arrows.

“Ugh!”

“I can’t do anything else now that I’m dying….”

“Keep running. Put those guys away!”

“Don’t back down! We are the Toadstool Porridge unit. The vanguard unit of the Grass Porridge Cult!”

Their level was low and they weren’t equipped with proper protective gear so the users died from the arrows. The original assault troops normally had the best armour and manoeuvrability but the Toadstool Porridge unit members hit by the arrows instantly died.

– An arrow has penetrated the body.

Armour didn’t play a role.

Your health has decreased and you have died.

They couldn’t even get close to the troops of the Haven Empire before dying.

“The magic has been prepared.”

“Wipe out those guys. Fire Rain!”

“Thunder Ground!”

Wide area magic spells were cast in the area of the assault troops. Fire rained down from the sky while thunderbolts struck from the ground. It was a catastrophe that kill hundreds of people every second.

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

Yet the users continued to charge forward!

“These crazy people.”

Rensullot and the Hermes Guild thought with amazement.

“No, are they really coming here without any protective measures prepared?”

“They are just committing suicide on their own.”

“Continue attacking!”

3 units of the Grass Porridge Cult was wiped out without even swinging their swords. They charged the whole time and disappeared in vain.

Then the Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit appeared immediately afterwards! It was an independent unit but the number of users exceeded 450,000 people. It was a unit where beginners could join just 3 months after starting Royal Road. They did not fear death like the Toadstool Porridge unit. It was the same thing whether they lost to the kobolds or the Haven Empire!

“Let’s go!”

“Yes! For someone who was hit by the kobolds to die fighting against the Hermes Guild…..”

“Even if I receive 2 arrows, I will endure and give more damage to the enemies!”

“Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit, charge!”

The charge of novice users. The force was so impressive that a huge amount of dust was raised on the Rupoi Plains. Among them were small horses or bulls. There were numerous examples of those who had never even hunted in a party.

“Shoot! Kill everyone.”

“Magicians focus on casting low range spells.”

The Haven Empire killed all those approaching. But they felt like something wasn’t ordinary. While it was true that the enemy might be weak, there were too many of them. The Grass Porridge Cult’s communication network was also crowded.

– Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit, the time is too drawn out. There are more troops waiting to charge!

– What is the next unit to attack? I can’t give them any time to rest.

– The Beef Porridge unit has arrived early and is waiting.

– Red Bean Porridge unit. I’m getting a little tired of waiting so can I have one red bean porridge?

– The Pumpkin Porridge unit has 310,000 people participating. An atmosphere of waiting!

The never-ending human wave tactics! Even the orcs, barbarians and elves were spread out in the Grass Porridge Cult. The perilla porridge that represented the orcs, the elves preferred mung bean porridge while the dwarves liked walnut porridge.

The troops that Rensullot led was to deal with the entire north, not just the Arpen Kingdom.

“Save your arrows and mana. They seem to be trying to exhaust us.”

Rensullot was worried about the goods being consumed.

He had heard the news through the Hermes Guild’s information network but the colossal number of users gathered couldn’t be imagined. They had already killed tens of thousands of people but he feared it was only the start.

“Bean Porridge! Bean Porridge!”

“Gather Jelly Porridge unit! We have a chance. Cavalry and infantry will go together for a pre-emptive assault!”

“Barley Porridge! It is time to fight for honour!”

“Cold Porridge unit, find a place to die! If our troops die from a magic spell then let us know the location in advance!”

“Gourd Porridge members? I saw them earlier but it has been 2 hours since then.”

“Hazelnut Porridge, Yellow Corvina Porridge, Beef Soup Porridge, it is your turn next!

Get ready and standby!”

“Magicians of the Lotus Seed Porridge, Yam Porridge,  Rice Porridge, Chinese Quince Porridge, head to the east. Pour magic towards those attacking the other units. Don’t try to prepare any large magic. You will die before that.”

The Grass Porridge Cult members were constantly flocking to the Rupoi Plains. They didn’t have any tactics. Even if it was impossible to hit a rock with an egg, how fearful would it be later if all the eggs in the world was thrown at the rock.

“Damn, this is totally crazy. Knights and soldiers pull out your swords! We’ll take care of them in close combat!”

Rensullot decided not to rely on arrows and magic attacks anymore. He was prepared for a prolonged war.

“Knights, go and fight!”

“Hiyah!”

The knights ran down the hill towards the plains. They ignored the wide area skills used by the novice users. The attacks from the Grass Porridge Cult were insignificant like bee stings so their attacks didn’t affect the knights’ health. The knights gathered a bunch of users together with their horses and cast their skills.

‘This is too easy.’

‘Should I kill a minimum of 1,000 people today?’

The soldiers of the Haven Empire moved forward in a formation. Thick shields covered their entire body as they wielded their swords.

The knights kept attacking the Grass Porridge Cult as they advanced onto the plains and the armed forces collapsed in front of the iron wall.

It seemed to be an endless scene of slaughter. The moment the situation was rapidly changing.

“Weed!”

“Weed is directing the battle from there.”

Weed riding a striking white horse appeared on the battlefield. The leader of the 4th Knights Division of the Northern Expeditionary Force, Dyural was worried about others snatching the achievement and gave a command.

“We are the closest. Charge at top speed!”

The 4th Knights Division rushed towards the place where Weed appeared. They ignored the users of the Grass Porridge Cult swung their swords or thrust their spear. The biggest targets in this war was Weed and Morata. The one who killed Weed would gain the highest achievements. The Hermes Guild couldn’t miss the chance to obtain this large honour.

“He is strong. Be alert. Charge in and kill. Prepare to use the Thrust skill!”

The Knights Division got increasingly closer to Weed.

“Health might be consumed a little bit. But it doesn’t matter if we get a little tired. The best thing we can do is charge. Thrust of Grief!”

“Thrust of Grief!”

Once the thrust skill was used, they were engulfed in a bloody haze and their speed became fearsome. This skill increased their thrust attack by 3 times. Other than a war, it was a skill that could be used against large monsters so it was painstakingly trained.

There was no guarantee that even armoured infantry could stop the knights. The armoured infantry collapsed underneath the violent collision.

A knight was an profession called the flower of the battlefield for a reason.

“Go!”

The tension of Dyural and the knights reached its peak

“Die Weed!”

“Your neck is mine.”

The knights charged and closed the distance without any interference from Weed.

“Deadly Spear!”

Weed who was riding the white horse died from Dyural’s first attack! He had expected the attack to be stopped and to receive a counterattack yet Weed had unexpectedly died.

– A defender of the Arpen Kingdom, the user Tofu has been killed.

A very insignificant amount of experience has been gained.

– Old Leather Pants with a Hole in it has been acquired.

– 31 coins have been acquired.

– Number of enemies killed to date: 457.

Once the war ended, the compensation would be given according to a person’s achievements. Additional Fame might also be given.

“Eh?”

Dyural and the knights following him were amazed. They had been filled with excitement that the large battle would be over. Then they noticed the surroundings.

“Throw the nets!”

Connected nets were thrown from the left and right.

“It was a trap. Cut it!”

“Cutting!”

The nets were made with steel and stitched buffalo leather by Drago who was challenging the Master Quest and his friends.

They had been so focused on fighting Weed that Dyural and the knights had been caught by the nets. The knights twisted their swords and cut the net but it wasn’t easy. Their horses were also captured.

“Crush them quickly!”

The users scattered sharp, steel spikes on the ground. This was a product that Herman and his fellow blacksmiths created! This product was the natural enemy of horses.

Fuhihihing!

The speed of the knights’ assault decreased as their horses entered the danger zone while others fell. But enemies were around them so it was difficult to turn around. The Black Sesame unit and Pumpkin Porridge unit rushed to the knights that collapsed.

“I’m really disgusted because I started in the Arpen Kingdom! I was so nervous that I had a nightmare. I can’t even sleep late. Now you are trying to occupy the north?”

“It is good that you came. I’m been hunting hard and sharpening my knife while waiting for you to come!”

The Grass Porridge Cult members that started in the Central Continent slaughtered the knights isolated in the nets. They hid among the beginners and dispersed to get rid of the knights who fell.

“I am Weed!”

“Weed has appeared here!”

“No! Don’t be fooled! They are just pretending to be Weed!”

Tonight I’m also hungry.

If I have a midnight snack then I can go to sleep happy.

Yesterday I ate Sweet Potato Porridge.

Today I will drink Jujube Porridge.

Where is the Toadstool Porridge?

If you like meat then it must be Wild Boar Porridge.

The glory of the Grass Porridge Cult will be eternal.

“It is the real one this time. Charge!”

“No! It’s a trap!”

False Weeds ran everywhere and disturbed the army of the Haven Empire. The huge Grass Porridge Cult members isolated the forces of the Haven Empire. Moreover, the blacksmiths created plain armour similar to what Weed always wore so the Hermes Guild users were confused.

Even if the soldiers of the Haven Empire advanced, the area was soon occupied by the Grass Porridge Cult again. The flags of the Grass Porridge Cult were all over the place.

“For Morata!”

“Soo-jin, I love you!”

“Bards, continue playing songs even if we lose! Sing about our battle!”

The northern users were almost one-sidedly killed but the Haven Empire also felt slightly intimidated. There were too many enemies to get rid of.

“Come on, let’s use all our power.”

The respected adventurer Spenson wore a knight’s armour found in the forbidden zone Argoldia. An excavated item that reinforced the power of the priests and knights! Of course, it only applied to knights on the same side.

“Wah, my strength has increased by 15!”

“It is like I gained 7 levels. I feel so hungry that I could even eat a hyena!”

“Kill! It will be a jackpot if we kill those guys!”

The faith of the Grass Porridge Cult increased even further. They still couldn’t fight one on one with the soldiers of the Haven Empire but they could drag it out. Winning wasn’t important. They just kept charging forward! Everyone had come to the Rupoi Plains fully prepared to die. Their resolution crashed against the might of the Haven Empire’s army.

“Kul kul kul.”

“Our turn has come.”

“I’ve been waiting for this.”

Magicians holding skeleton staffs suddenly appeared among the Grass Porridge Cult. Their professions were necromancers! Jeanne, Otem, Bohram, Harian, Gruzed and Varenna who fought with Weed against Barkhan’s Immortal Legion had settled in Morata.

Necromancers were professions that could hunt monsters or clear dungeons alone so they could go anywhere. But they also needed a city as a base. The users who chose a necromancer profession gathered together to form a guild and improve their magic.

The necromancers of the Hermes Guild stayed in the slums near Aren Castle with Krobidyun as the representative. There were more necromancers living in Morata. The average level of the necromancers living in Morata was also high.

Beginner necromancers would often make skeletons with missing body parts like rib bones.

“Kuhuhuk, this is a festival.”

“There are many corpses that can run wild.”

“We can do as we please. This is the strength of a necromancer.”

“Then in order to preserve good manners on the battlefield…Corpse Explosion!”

A chain explosion occurred at the place where the troops of the Haven Empire was. They had raised countless skeletons, dullahans and death knights. They harnessed the bodies lying all over the place. Corpse Explosion had a strong destructive power so quite a few troops in the Haven Empire suffered.

High level necromancers like Jeanne and Otem were different. The advanced form of Corpse Explosion had been used. The bones flew in different directions and caused a chain explosion. The bones of the corpses continued exploding. Dozens of soldiers from the Haven Empire were dying.

The necromancers that used all the limbs of a corpse were able to show off their power.

“Chwik, this time it is our turn!”

The orcs made a lot of noise as they chaotically appeared. They boasted fearful propagation speed and both females and males participated.

“Let’s go, chwi chi chit!”

“Orcs are for battle. Orcs are battles. Chwiit!”

The battlefield became more complicated with the emergence of the glaive wielding orcs. Unlike the orcs, there was a group of hunters secretly taking action.

“Die, you novices!”

The high level Hermes Guild users took action!

They didn’t mind at all even if they were surrounded by 100 people. They focused on slaughtering thousands of people but then their allies started falling.

“Poison Dagger!”

“Keheok!”

A dagger secretly pierced their backs! It was a level 410 thief called Jansun with the title of ‘Dirty Thieving Hands.’

“Sharpness Sword.”

Puk puk puk puk puk!

“Ugh, this cowardly bastard….”

“Goodbye, these are good items to have.”

They hid themselves among the weak beginners to obscure them from the eyes of the high level users! This was the best hunting ground for thieves and assassins. It wasn’t just the high level thieves. High levelled knights, warriors, magicians and archers were also mixed in with the Grass Porridge Cult.

“It is time to change my armour…armour from the Hermes Guild should be worn.”

“The cost of tuition is rising so I’m thankful I came to the north.”

The Dark Gamers couldn’t miss an opportunity like that. They could gain loot, fame and achievements if they killed the soldiers and knights of the Haven Empire. They were able to blend in quietly with the units of the Grass Porridge Cult. The users of the Hermes Guild that came out individually was too great of a prey.

“Reduce the enemies using area magic.”

“Archers don’t worry about arrows and just shoot!”

The priests, archers and mages of the Haven Empire were on the opposite side of the river but that didn’t mean they were safe. Users were crossing the river by riding rafts. They were the Red Snapper Porridge unit and the Spanish Mackerel Porridge unit!

Along with the users crowding the river, there was a lifeform with a thick torso crawling on all fours. The large alligator that swallowed the priests of the Haven Empire and entered the river was Nile.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Well, now it is time to fight.”

Weed personally prepared a lot for the sake of this battle. He had mobilized the military of the Arpen Kingdom as well as his sculptural lifeforms. He had been prepared to use Sculpture Resurrection but that wasn’t necessary since the Grass Porridge Cult flocked in such huge numbers.

“Gernika.”

“Uha!”

“Don’t yell. I can hear you. Vindex.”

“At your command. Who should I cut?”

“Eltin.”

“Who should I skewer with arrows?”

The wonderful personality education of his subordinates! The enemy had invaded the north so the atmosphere of the sculptural lifeforms was also serious.

“Countryside Snake.”

“Chwiririt!”

“Worm.”

“Kururung!”

“Nile.”

“He was hungry so he left first.”

There were many sculptural lifeforms standing by. There were also 47 sculptures including the ones from Jigolaths, the wyverns, Phoenix, Bingryong, Goldman, Yellowy etc. The sculptural lifeforms could deal a devastating blow to the Haven Empire without him needing to use Sculptural Resurrection. Weed had originally planned to resurrect a charismatic leader that would lead the army and sculptural lifeforms.

“I guess I’ll have to do it.”

Right now the Rupoi Plains were surrounded by Grass Porridge users so it took a lot of time to enter.

“I guess my plan has changed. It went from defeating the enemy to not letting a single one get out alive.”

Weed didn’t hold a grudge against the Hermes Guild users and the NPC knights and soldiers of the Haven Empire. They came all the way to the north so Weed felt very strong emotions. He wanted the money and items that they had.

“I should make a sculpture while waiting.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon was completely dyed black from the blood. A berserker became stronger the more they fought so she cut through the soldiers of the Haven Empire on Rupoi Plains.

“Have strength!”

“Healing Hands!”

The Grass Porridge members around Seo-yoon supported her.

“I’ll block the magic attacks from the east side. Physical Shield!”

“A surprise attack! Where….”

The users from the north blocked some attacks heading to Seo-yoon and used their feeble healing magic on her.

The Haven Empire’s army on Rupoi Plains were villains they couldn’t co-exist with and were more disgusting than cockroaches. Meanwhile the colleagues fighting with them were considered heroes.

“Multiple Shot!”

Pale also participated in the war with his colleagues. He grabbed a spot on top of a hill and fired towards the enemies. He was thoroughly prepared as he brought 30 quivers.

“I’m sorry. This is going to hurt a little. Mountain Destroyer!”

Surka struck the abdomen of a knight. The effect of the technique crushed the armour and maximize the damage to the mana inside the body. The knights of the Haven Empire rode quickly on horseback while waiting to attack any enemies that fell behind.

“A win! We can win!”

Every time a knight was killed, the Grass Porridge Cult was filled with hope.

Their death rate was overwhelming but the troops of the so-called invincible Haven Empire was slowly dwindling. The users in the north who received the news belatedly were still rushing to the battlefield.

It was a situation where high school students where bullying elementary school students only to have all the students in that school come running!

“We definitely have to get rid of that woman!”

Several knights leapt towards Seo-yoon. Her strength was far beyond normal so the 3rd Knights Division came out directly. The Grass Porridge members died immediately and Seo-yoon received the concentrated attacks from the knights.

“Fighting Spirit Sword!”

Chajajajang!

The knights twisted their swords and pushed her back. She was holding up against a large number of strong knights! If it wasn’t for the strong characteristics of a berserker and her battle experience then she would’ve collapsed already. In a moment of crisis, she could receive health from Weed through the wedding ring so she was enduring the offensive from the Haven Empire’s knights.

Even the broadcasting stations reported live about her battle with the knights. The huge battle on Rupoi Plains was wonderful but it was rare to see a fight like the one between Seo-yoon and the knights.

“Who is that female warrior fighting in the north?”

“She seems to be a user who adventured with Weed in the Jigolaths.”

“She is as strong as expected for a colleague of Weed.”

“She is attacking fiercely against the Hermes Guild.”

The audience ratings had already beaten the previous record. Knights riding by on horseback struck downwards with their swords. It was possible to watch such an intense battle.

This was also the first time so many users were gathered on the battlefield. A third of the total users in the north had come to Rupoi Plains.

The fight between Seo-yoon and the knights continued to become more exciting. She persistently struck back by killing 4 people and dropping 8 knights down from their horses.

“Kill her!”

The Haven Empire’s knights unleashed a wave of attacks towards Seo-yoon.

“How? That person, she will soon die!”

“Let’s go quickly!”

“Priests please use your healing magic!”

“That woman has a high level so she needs to live! This is the place. Please!”

The users of the Grass Porridge Cult tried to help but they were incapable with their insignificant power.

– Durability has reached 0 and the item has disappeared.

Seo-yoon’s armour and helmet was okay but the durability of her mask fell, causing it to disappear completely. Her face appeared the moment the mask broke.

There was silence as time seemed to stop for a moment. The knights facing the female who fought fiercely also stopped moving. Men watching the broadcast from the home dropped the chicken legs they were holding from the shock! And the users of the Grass Porridge Cult could hardly believe their eyes.

“Goddess….”

“The Goddess!”

Morata’s Ice Beauty statue! The existence that had been designated as the number 1 treasure by the Grass Porridge Cult had appeared.

“The Goddess appeared!”

“Ohhhh!”

“It is a miracle! There really is a god.”

“An appearance like that….”

The incarnation of a goddess poured new energy into the tired Grass Porridge members.

“The Goddess is with us!”

“Defend the Goddess!”

“Martyrdom! Martyrdom! Martyrdom! Martyrdom!”

Chapter 3: Battle on Yellowy

The assassin challenging the Master Quest was also present at Rupoi Plains.

“I need to assassinate 100 people that are over level 300…it will be easy.”

The assassin mixed in with the Grass Porridge Cult like the Dark Gamers. The knights were really good prey if his attacks were successful. He determined the location of gaps in armour in advance and accurately stabbed with cursed daggers.

They had a lot of health but their movements slowed and they eventually died. As assassin’s poison was something impossible to deal with if there wasn’t a priest there. In such a confusing fight, it was impossible to be treated by priests.

After the assassination succeeded, the assassin would mix in with the users again. His disguise skill and the dark clothes meant he easily hid among the users.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Well, I have decided to settle in the north so…. The Arpen Kingdom is the only one who will take us.”

“I have a personal relationship so I will fight for Weed.”

The Crimson Wings Guild.

They declined in a spectacular way so they couldn’t live on the Central Continent anymore. They woke up King Belsos’ curse and stabbed the Cold Roses Guild in the back when they were about to succeed against the Bone Dragon. After they died, they quietly lived in the north and decided to fight when the Haven Empire invaded.

“We will only follow King Weed….”

“Well, it will also be interesting to fight against the Hermes Guild.”

It wasn’t just the Crimson Wings Guild. Numerous guilds that settled in the Arpen Kingdom or the north entered the war.

“How dare they attacked the land that we raised!”

“Those Hermes pigs are unconscionable.”

Numerous forces from the north and the Grass Porridge Cult endlessly charged against the Haven Empire’s troops.

Red Bean Porridge, Mung Bean Porridge, Glutinous Porridge, Foxtail Millet Porridge, Cool Porridge, Black Sesame Porridge, Rice and Bean Porridge, Leek Porridge, Sprout Porridge, Pumpkin Porridge, White Rice Porridge, Wheat Porridge, Octopus Porridge, Crab Porridge, Crucian Carp Porridge, Oyster Porridge, Yellow Corvina Porridge, Pine Nut Porridge, Loach Porridge, Chestnut Porridge, Acorn Porridge, Walnut Porridge, Plum Porridge, Sweet Potato Porridge, Potato Porridge, Bamboo Leaf Porridge, Sesame Porridge, Egg Porridge, Sweet Red Bean Porridge, Beef Porridge and the Cow Milk Porridge units!

There was an endless sea of users on the Rupoi Plains. And the Hermes Guild was a secluded island in the middle!

“T-this is….”

“The arrows are running out!”

“Archers who still have mana left should run around the battlefield collecting arrows.”

“Save your mana! Protect the magicians!”

The elite troops of the Haven Empire had come to occupy the north. The power of the military was terrible and each unit balanced. But they couldn’t do anything against the vast number of northern users and died. No matter how many Grass Porridge members were killed over time, it didn’t feel like they had decreased at all.

“Fight for the hero of the continent, His Majesty the King of the Arpen Kingdom!”

“I am free knight Duban from Lolus Village. I will fight for glory until the day my life ends!”

“Free Knight Ros! I will dedicate my body to justice.”

Vast amount of free knights joined as the Haven Empire invaded the Arpen Kingdom. Weed was called the ‘Hero who Saved the Continent’ so the free knights came running on their horses.

“The last knights of Niflheim! We will fight for the new king in order to bring back the glory of the Niflheim Empire!”

The Vent Castle knights also appeared in order to oppose the Haven Empire.

“Charge!”

“At full speed!”

The Vent Castle knights charged at the Haven Empire’s knights. The knights had a similar level of power. The Hermes Guild invested a significant amount into their knights but Vent Castle was constantly fighting against monsters.

The knights belonging to the Hermes Guild generally had a higher level but they were confused and couldn’t unleash their full power. No matter how hard they fought, it never ended because reinforcements for the north kept on showing up.

The knights engaged in a close fight with many of them injured but the result for both sides was completely different.

The northern users thoroughly looked after the Vent Castle knights that fell.

“Are you hurt? Priest-nim, over here!”

“Healing Hands!”

They were immediately treated with holy magic and were hidden from the Haven Empire knights.

On the other hand, they were merciless towards the Haven Empire knights that collapsed on the ground.

“Hey, step on them!”

“Miner-nim, over here! Bring your pickaxe!”

“Cover them with a net so they can’t get up!”

The northern users covered them like a swarm of ants. Some Haven Empire knights still managed to escape in spite of such attacks but the number of Grass Porridge members kept growing.

The level 50 or lower troops appeared early in order to waste the arrows and mana. Now the intermediate level 200 troops were showing up! Their armour, swords, elementals, magic and arrows were at a much higher standard.

The Hermes Guild normally didn’t care about level 200 users.

“Everyone is removed from the hunting grounds.”

“The dungeons are closed so you can’t receive quests. If a user wants to do quests then you need to pay.

The users were forced to only perform quests that benefited the Haven Empire. They were no different from slaves.

But the level 200 users of the Arpen Kingdom were firmly united. They were users who had grown up in Morata since the early stages so their loyalty was special. Even if Weed cooked Sand Porridge, Fallen Leave Porridge or Stone Porridge, they were so brainwashed that they would still be grateful.

“Separate the enemies and take care of the priests.”

“Spread out and rush towards the supply unit!”

The level 200 users might be looked down on by the Hermes Guild but they knew how to use tactics. They had one advantage over the Haven Empire. They would have faith even if someone died. They happily risked death to kill the Haven Empire troops.

“Commander-nim, we seem to be in trouble.”

“We should consider retreating before it is too late.”

The users of the Hermes Guild advised Rensullot. They hadn’t been defeated yet but the situation was getting worse.

“The archers will soon become unnecessary.”

“The armour is okay but the weapons are in a bad state from being wielded too much. The beginners will pick up any swords dropped and use them.”

“The soldiers need a break because their vitality is falling.”

The number of Grass Porridge members that the Haven Empire killed so far easily surpassed 1 million. Yet they were the side struggling and getting tired.

“We can still fight. Defend the supplies location. Kill all enemies that arrive there.”

Rensullot was humiliated. He had been happy to come to the north to fight Weed the God of War. He wanted a great fight that would show his resourcefulness and bravery. He wanted to show off his strength as tactician in this battle.

Yet he never imagined such cruel tactics that would make him need to retreat as soon as he stepped in the Arpen Kingdom. Thus he was furious. No matter how many they killed, the reinforcements kept on coming.

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

“We have entered this war as the Cave Fish Porridge.”

“A magic attack from the east! Take care to avoid it.”

“Arrows are flying!”

Rensullot listened to the bustle of the battlefield. Many were dying yet the morale of the northern users was still high.

“They’re not fighting to win. Instead they are going to die fighting. They clearly understand that they’re going to die but they still came to fight. When thinking about the profits, how can they do such a thing?”

The faith of the Grass Porridge Cult! Only players who lived in Morata would understand their feelings.

– There is nowhere on the continent as good as Morata.

– We have to protect Morata with our own hands.

– Morata grew from ruins. I grew bigger along with the city.

– It might be hard but we have to protect it.

– If I die then I can just begin again in the city.

The users were willing to die to protect Morata and the Arpen Kingdom. No one dragged them to the Rupoi Plains. They came running willingly.

And then a huge outcry suddenly occurred!

“Waaaaaah!”

“Hooray!”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

The users were crying out on the Rupoi Plains.

A huge ice dragon was flying above their heads with the sun behind it. One of the typical lifeforms in the Arpen Kingdom, Bingryong! And Weed was standing on Bingryong’s head.

He judged that the Haven Empire was tired and that it was time to collect his money. The wyverns, Phoenix and other sculptural lifeforms were present as well but that was only part of the surprise. An enormous number of avians from Lavias the Sky Island had come with Weed.

It was like Rensullot’s troops had been fighting against children only for the scale to suddenly become larger!

“What on earth?”

“How many are there?”

“It really isn’t a joke.”

“He is truly Weed the God of War.”

“The playing field is really different.”

The Grass Porridge Cult looked up at the avians from Lavias covering the sky.

The rancid smell that reaches the sky.

This rank smell seems to come from my hair.

I’m worried about washing my blanket on days when it rains.

The avians from Lavias looked doubtful at the strange song. However Weed’s song just continued.

Doing chores every day.

Cooking, cleaning, washing and dishwashing.

Guests aren’t welcome.

There is no rice to give you.

Also no fruits, sweets and drinks.

The gas and electricity charges in this world keeps on increasing.

“He is indeed different.”

“It is common words but they express a mysterious and deep anguish.”

Quite a few users thought there was some profound secret hidden in Weed’s song. Chaos fell as Weed emerged singing his lyrics.

“Create a new formation!”

“A complete defence formation!”

“Gather!”

The army of the Haven Empire was frantic. They had been split apart by the Grass Porridge members but now they had to build a complete defence formation. Because a real battle would occur after Weed showed up.

They were very frightened he would cause a disaster or command undead troops. Furthermore, this sudden emergence was like being hit in the back of the head. Various tactics were prepared to deal with Weed but that was useless when he suddenly appeared in the sky.

“Prepare for an all-out attack and be careful not to be hit by the avians.”

The archers on the battlefield aimed arrows at the sky. In addition, the magicians prepared their top level attack spells. The knights and soldiers were prepared for attacks from the sky. And the faces of the Hermes Guild members turned pale.

“How are there so many of them?”

“No matter how furiously we fight, won’t we just end up dying?”

The vast number of knights and soldiers on the plains had been reduced by 1/3rd. The Hermes Guild users didn’t feel it fully but the NPC subordinates had been stepped on by the Grass Porridge Cult, the Dark Gamers and the high level users in the north.

Weed didn’t attack immediately when he appeared.

‘An incredibly powerful species has joined…..’

‘We need to beat the Grass Porridge Cult, Weed and his minions as well.’

The Hermes Guild felt sick in their hearts as they looked up while waiting for Weed to make his move.

Weed riding Bingryong in the sky was a big burden. Weed the God of War was a massive weight on their shoulders.

‘This isn’t it. This approach.’

Rensullot had thought of various tactics to fight Weed in different terrains like plains, valleys, canyons, ridges or fortresses. The Haven Empire’s army had enough power to beat the regular forces of the Arpen Kingdom and the sculptural lifeforms.

But the beginner and high level users in the north acted to block Rensullot’s troops. There was a huge difference in power so the Haven Empire could repel their attacks.

In fact, the Hermes Guild had expected the users of the Arpen Kingdom to participate but they hadn’t thought there would be this many people.

The Grass Porridge Cult was ready to go running once Weed gave an order.

Weed decided to give a light greeting.

“There aren’t any problems but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll win…now that we’re all gathered, I should at least be courteous.”

He took out a nature sculpture that was a Masterpiece!

“This is okay now.”

He had created the sculpture Wet Land for a final secret sculpting technique. Since then, he had used natural materials to create other nature sculptures.

Swamps and marshes were places of life but also death. The sculpture Weed took out was of a swamp that sucked many lives into it.

The sight was creepy enough to cause goose bumps! In particular, faces emerging from the swamp was full of hatred. He had carved it while thinking about Bardray and the loan sharks!

Weed was about to use a sculpting technique when he heard a shout from the ground.

“Listen King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom! I am the commander of the Haven Empire’s army to conquer the north!”

Rensullot was a very famous user so Weed had heard of him.

“A person is barking.”

Weed had no interest because he was about to cause a disaster.

“Disaster….”

“Strategy and tactics. Any great battle on the Versailles Continent involved those things.”

“But this kind of battle is also inconvenient. As the Commander of the Haven Empire, I formally challenge King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom. Man vs. man, a one on one confrontation between two people with big ambitions.”

Before a battle began, it used to be fashionable for a strong knight on both sides to come out and fight. Rensullot judged that the situation wasn’t good and asked for a fight between leaders.

“Master, should I blow them away?”

Bingryong snorted out a blast of cold air. The magicians could defend against it but the range of Ice Breath was very wide. They were weak and weary so many enemies would die while magicians would waste their mana.

Above all, Bingryong’s Ice Breath had a high effect in a large scale war by freezing the land. Once the ground froze, charging would become difficult and this would undoubtedly worry the knights that the Haven Empire was so proud of.

Weed had no reason to consider Rensullot’s proposal.

“Only a noble person would return a lost wallet with all the money in it.”

A smile naturally formed on his face as he looked at Rensullot.

“As King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom, I express my sincere admiration for the courage of the person called Rensullot. The weight of honour makes it difficult to decline the challenge so I have to agree to this confrontation.”

“Kyaaaak!”

“As expected from Weed-nim!”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

There was an uproar on the ground. A few seconds ago, people had been laughing at Rensullot’s challenge.

“He really is trying all types of things in a war.”

“Anyway, there is no reason to agree.”

“Those Hermes guys have no conscience.”

The war was already in their favour so there was no need for Weed to take risks. Even the users of the Haven Empire believed it was useless and that he wouldn’t accept the confrontation.

Yet Weed had accepted the challenge to the atmosphere changed.

Surka hit the ground and said.

“Ah, this is ridiculous. What is he up to?”

Pale who was shooting a bow also murmured.

“This type of insidious, ulterior motive…..”

The morale of the Grass Porridge Cult fell slightly as they muttered.

“I smell something suspicious.”

However, the rest of the users were praising Weed. Mapan understood Weed’s heart to a certain degree.

“He covets Rensullot’s items!”

If the enemy was defeated in a challenge then the winner could obtain the items of the users who died. Rensullot was the commander appointed by the Hermes Guild so his appearance was the decisive reason for Weed changing his mind.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The audience ratings?”

“It is continuing to climb.”

“Quickly put out the advertisements!”

The broadcasting stations quickly ran an ad after Weed appeared with the avians from Lavias.

The ratings were high so they had to show the advertisements. The audience might be angry but they could use the interlude to go to the toilet, prepare beer and squid, etc.

And the ratings ascended when Weed accepted Rensullot’s challenge. Companies for fried chicken, pizza, pig feet etc. paid handsomely for advertisements during this prime time.

The writings on the bulletin boards were increasing like crazy.

“Weed seems to have made a reckless judgement. It is common sense that he doesn’t need to accept that confrontation.”

The bulletin boards were full of people cursing that TV host.

–Do you want the broadcasting station to close?

–Host-nim, if you connect to Royal Road then come to the back alleys behind Bingryong Square.

–This isn’t the only broadcasting station. I’m going to change the channel.

–I won’t watch this station from now on.

The other broadcasting stations quickly changed their attitudes.

“Oh, he is indeed Weed! Although it is an extremely favourable situation, he still accepted the challenge. He seems to be putting on a great spectacle for the benefit of the viewers. Of course Weed will win.”

“Of course. He thought about the hearts of the viewers and decided to accept instead of ignoring it.”

“Indeed! We can really feel the dignity of Weed the God of War.”

– The hosts’ speaking ability seemed to increase every day.

– Initially they were insecure but now they are skilful. It took a while.

– The ability to grasp the military situation is excellent.

– CTS Media is a good broadcasting station.

– Big corporations are really different.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Rensullot and Weed decided to have the showdown on the ground in order to be fair.

“Back off.”

“Form a wide space!”

The Grass Porridge members and the Haven Empire’s army emptied a wide spot in the centre. The attention of both sides focused as Rensullot came riding on a black horse.

‘I’m fighting against Weed the God of War.’

Rensullot’s heart was jumping with excitement. This would decide the outcome of the war so this was the most tense he had ever been.

‘I can win.’

He dreamt of a thrilling fight. The glossy black mane of his horse flowed as it snorted with excitement.

“Ummoooooo!”

Weed was riding Yellowy. Yellowy had four muscular and resilient legs that didn’t have an equal! Yellowy was a specimen of the physical beauty of a cow. Any employees of a slaughterhouse would envy him riding Yellowy.

“A lot of beef will be sold once the battle ends.”

There were also promotions for accessories.

After Yellowy shot to fame in Royal Road, there was an official offer from the Cattle Association.

– I’d like Yellowy to appear on television as a model….

Weed met with the advertisers that evening.

“The modelling fee?”

“Well, we wanted to ask permission for something more difficult. There is a lot of love for the sculpture called Yellowy. It is natural that you would value your work as an artist. We understand. But if you would agree to a specific meat eating scene….”

“Marbled meat, meat around the spine, cow fillet, ribs…ask for anything you want. It is possible to bake, boil in a soup or eat it raw.  But what is the modelling fee?”

If it was an appropriate amount then he would accept! The ads worked as Yellowy became a cannibal and ate the delicious parts of some of his kin.

The delicious taste of cow that could maintain health! The advertisements became popular and children toys of Yellowy were created, earning him a considerable amount of money every month. A suggestion also came in asking to use the wyverns as advertising models by eating some chicken.

“Yellowy, let’s live happily. The wyverns and Yellowy, we are family.”

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy wagged his tail and dug at the ground.

“It is good to receive Master’s love. You are increasingly becoming nicer to me.”

“Yes. I care for you…. This battle, are you frightened?”

“A little bit. Ummoooooo.”

“Yes, your body is valuable…. I won’t let your rib or oxtail be harmed so fight well.”

Rensullot was narrowing the distance. Weed took out the Daemon Sword.

“Let’s go, Rodus!”

Rensullot started to dash like the wind on the back of his horse.

“Yellow, let’s go!”

Weed also ran with Yellowy. They both charged forward for a head on clash. The distance was closing rapidly.

‘The direction of attack…right side? Or the left?’

The inside of Rensullot’s head was complicated. He needed to make quick decisions and take action. He had challenged other knights before but he had never been this tense. The Daemon Sword looked like a toy in Weed’s hands while Rensullot watched.

‘There is room to spare….’

Weed had no charging skill that could be used when riding a horse.

‘I have to use Thrust of Grief.’

Rensullot made a decision.

It was a charge skill that Bardray used a lot but Rensullot’s proficiency was lower.

“Thrust of Grief!”

Rensullot shot forward like an arrow. The surrounding landscape passed at a terrible speed! A knight was considered the strongest occupation in the battlefield and this destructive power was the reason why.

Weed indifferently lifted the Daemon Sword in order to block Rensullot.

Chyaaaang!

Weed and Rensullot passed each other.

– The durability of the Daemon Sword has decreased by 12 due to the strength of grief.

The damage of the Daemon Sword has fallen by 9.

The impact to the body has decreased health by 4,390.

The message windows shone in front of Weed.

‘That was surprising.’

But that impact couldn’t compare to Rensullot’s.

– You have been overwhelmed in power.

The damage couldn’t be directly shown and the charge skill has failed.

Power has temporarily decreased by 11%.

– Durability of the Proctor Spear has decreased by 17%.

The tip of the spear has become dull and attack power decreased by 21.

– You have been cut by the Daemon Sword.

Health has decreased by 1,399!

You have received the devil’s curse!

“W-what is this? It makes no sense.”

Rensullot has used all his power in this skill so he was outraged. The charge basically doubled his power. It depended on the speed of the horse but he had rushed at top speed before so that wasn’t the reason for the failure. But he was pushed back despite wearing heavy armour.

It was impossible for Rensullot to understand but Weed had used Sculptural Destruction to convert the Art stat to Strength. Naturally Weed had no hesitation. And the skill he used wasn’t forbidden. The twinge on his conscience was really small so he quickly forgot about it.

‘When looking at it as a whole, we are roughly similar. I’m ahead in the Strength stat but he has slightly better equipment. And his thrust skill is good.’

He needed to win in an easy manner. Right now he was at war so he needed to show an overwhelming strength.

Weed used a skill after he wasn’t pushed back by Rensullot’s power.

“Radiant Sword!”

Eagles of light flew out from his sword towards Rensullot. Secret sword technique!

The utilization of his spear had fallen so Rensullot quickly grasped his sword. And he cut the eagles. While he was destroying the eagles of light, Weed quickly caught up to him.

Yellowy’s physical strength and stamina was much better than a horse. And his charging power in short distances was beyond comparison! Yellowy was a cow built for war. Weed rode him frequently so Yellowy’s level had already reached the mid-400’s.

“Catching up this quickly….”

“Take this!”

Weed and Rensullot wielded their swords against each other while riding in the same direction.

“Heriam Fencing!”

“Imperial Chain Sword!”

Sparks flew as the effect of the skills exploded. It was like an image of a duel on horseback!

Despite that, it was Weed’s side that gained the overwhelming benefit. Using Sculptural Destruction had increased his strength extensively. Rensullot failed to properly demonstrate his power in melee combat as Weed’s Heriam Fencing continued to hit his body. He tried to use his skills but it was ineffective. Weed had a much higher understanding of the sword compared to Rensullot.

Rensullot took out a shield to block Heriam Fencing but continued to be hit. If he used wide area skills then Weed would be at a disadvantage. Yet after the first charge, Rensullot had used Imperial Chain Sword in a close combat fight.

“Uh, this sort of thing….”

Rensullot’s face warped.

A knight was strong when charging but vulnerable to melee attacks like this. The power of his armour meant he was enduring but the demon’s curse was piling up.

Moreover, Weed was obviously receiving less damage due to his armour. His sword skills were overwhelming.

‘And this hateful bull is the problem.’

Yellowy ran forward and Rensullot found himself hit by a sword again.

Kwaaaang!

Rensullot’s black horse stumbled as Yellowy crashed into its side.

Despite a knight having high defence due to their heavy armour, they had rapid manoeuvrability due to their horse. Once they fell from their horse, they would be injured and receive a severe penalty in battle.

Every time Rensullot lost his balance, the Daemon Sword would continuously connect with him.

“Ummoooooo!”

“Heriam Fencing!”

It was an exquisite combined attack that used Yellow and Weed’s attack skills! It hadn’t been a fair fight the moment he gave up riding on Bingryong in the sky. Sculptural Destruction and the presence of Yellowy was an absolute advantage!

A fine horse couldn’t be compared to Yellowy.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

“Hooray for Weed-nim!”

“So cool!”

The Grass Porridge Cult members on the Rupoi Plains cheered.

The Haven Empire soldiers and users watching just kept quiet. Rensullot had led them to victory in many wars. He was at a disadvantage but the confrontation hadn’t ended yet. The difficult opponent was Weed the God of War so they could only watch and hope.

‘At this rate I will lose.’

Rensullot felt uneasy. Sometimes his sword hit yet Weed wasn’t damage at all. The message that popped up when the attack hit caused a large psychological impact.

– The opponent’s steel like resilience means almost no damage has been given.

– The opponent’s armour has taken away your good luck.

– The opponent’s armour is showing a faint holy power.

The effect of a blessing has been invoked.

Damage from weapons made of iron has been reduced.

The defence of the armour has been enhanced.

Weed knew he was fighting against Rensullot who was a knight so he wore the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

‘He was wearing an trash like armour in the Melbourne Mine…where did such a frightening armour come from?’

He had obtained information about Weed’s information beforehand so he could prepare countermeasures but now Weed was overwhelming! Rensullot felt a great burden so he couldn’t attack properly.

But Weed’s situation wasn’t as advantageous as it seemed. Sculptural Destruction could only increase the Agility and Strength stats. Those stats weren’t weak but his health was very low in comparison.

If he didn’t use Sculpture Transformation then the slightest mistake meant that he could die. He had run wildly when fighting against Bardray yet he had died in 2~3 attacks.

Rensullot’s health and power was just as strong as the Royal Guards so he was an opponent that couldn’t be disregarded.

“I need to avoid it.”

Rensullot also recognized Weed’s skill in advance due to the information from the guild.

“Honourable Promise!”

He used a secret sword technique! Rensullot used a skill that tripled his battle ability by improving attack, defence and his physical ability. It was a technique that could protect a knight’s pride. Rensullot wasn’t a just person but he still had the pride of a knight.

“Chroma’s sword technique!”

A unique sword technique that was used on horseback. Rensullot’s mana surged every time he swung his sword.

Weed had no choice but to be hit.

– Armour has defended the attack.

Health has decreased by 3,419.

Rensullot swung his sword like crazy. It consumed vitality and mana so the skill couldn’t be used for a long time.

“Yellowy, watch out for your ribeye!”

“Ummoooooo!”

Yellowy ran with all his strength. His health was high and leather strong so he wouldn’t die easily. Yellowy would run around wildly in a crisis but Rensullot chased after him.

Rensullot was fortunate that most of his attacks were reaching Weed. He had hoped for a prolonged battle but now time was urgent as he chased after Yellowy on horseback.

“Sword-cloning!”

Weed also used a secret sword technique.

– Sword-cloning has been used.

The skill effect has risen due to high luck and the blessing of the Goddess.

Twelve Weeds and Yellowys appeared. The effect of the skill also applied to Yellowy.

“Ummoooooo!”

“Kuweeek!”

“Kwaaaaak!”

Rensullot was surrounded by cows and attacked by a storm of swords. Rensullot had used Chroma’s sword technique but he couldn’t stop all the attacks from the clones.

The fearful thing about Sword-cloning was that the real person and the clones both dealt damage.

Weed rode Yellowy and continuously struck. Rensullot’s attacks were forced to disperse under Weed’s offensive.

– You have received a critical hit.

– You have suffered another critical hit to the same area.

The defence of the armour has weakened.

It was difficult to have calm judgement while riding the horse and blocking the attacks. Each one of Weed’s clones dealt huge damage to Rensullot’s health.

“Sword Kaiser!”

One clone used a skill. He used all his mana in order to overpower Rensullot!

“Keheok!”

Rensullot fell from his horse. He rolled on the ground from the terrible damage to his health!

– You are in a state of confusion.

It is impossible to fight!

Falling off a horse during a confrontation almost always meant death.

The sky and earth swirled around him as Rensullot became confused. But he still moved his leg to try and raise his body. He hadn’t died yet so he tried to remove the confusion so he could continue the fight.

However Weed soon returned on Yellowy. 6 clones joined their power and made Yellowy charge forward at a terrible speed.

“Faster! I will let you eat good herbs to become energetic.”

“Ummoooooo!”

Yellowy’s frenzied dash! Even if his mana was exhausted, his speed and weight wasn’t an inferior attack.

Rensullot heard the dreadful sound of the land being kicked. His sensed were still messed up so it seemed like dozens of Weeds and Yellowys approached. They were charging with their swords held high.

“I still haven’t shown my skills…..”

Rensullot lifted his sword.

Kwaaang!

Yellowy literally hit his head.

– You have received colossal damage that exceeds the limits of your defence.

After receiving the massive blow, Weed cut him with his sword.

– You have received a blow in a completely defenceless state.

Rensullot collapsed and couldn’t get up again. And a message surfaced in front of all the users on the plains!

– Rensullot the Commander of the Haven Empire’s Northern Expedition has died in a challenge.

Weed also received a message window.

Ddiring!

– The Commander of the enemy troops has been killed.

A great battle has been won.

– Your level has increased.

Fame has increased by 2,893.

Dignity has increased by 3.

The morale of the military has increased.

The courage of your subordinates has been stimulated.

The next hour will be the best time to fight.

The most important thing to Weed was the loot!

– The great horse, Hosren that can catch the wind has been acquired.

Riding Skill + 3

A great breakthrough ability.

Destructive power will increase by 86% when charging.

Dignity, Charm and Honour will increase by 35% when riding a horse.

– Armour of a Kallamore Knight Commander has been acquired.

– Armour of a Kallamore Knight Commander:  Durability 109/165. Defence 147.

An armour the Kallamore King directly requested from a dwarf of Thor. It was made especially for a bold knight.

It is possible to command knights and soldiers when wearing it.

Countless repairs have been carried out after many battles. It changed owners after the collapse of the Kallamore Kingdom.

Restrictions: Knights only.

Level 420.

Options: Knight skill +2

The power of charging skills will rise and speed will reduce when breaking through armour.

Never get tired.

All stats increased by 24.

Honour, Authority, Dignity +40.

95% of regular arrows will bounce off.

Increased benefits and experience will be given when battling more than 3 times.

Loot!

– The Seven Jewels Studded Belt has been acquired.

– Seven Jewels Studded Belt: Durability 45/45. Defence 23.

A treasure of the Kallamore Kingdom! They are rare jewels that can store magic.

Restrictions: Level 410.

340 Wisdom required.

Options: Increase the damage of skills with elemental properties.

Magic resistance +21%

Magic Protection available.

1% mana absorption.

After the Kallamore Kingdom became extinct, Weed had obtained an armour and belt that belonged to it.

The other great thing about the Goddess’ Knight Armour was that it gave good luck so the probability of obtained good items would increase.

Weed used Lion’s Roar to yell his victory.

“Kuhuhihihihit!”

Chapter 4: Winner of Rupoi Plains

“Hooray King Weed!”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”The northern users shouted with joy.

On the other hand, the Hermes Guild members were devastated. If Rensullot won then they could endure or if it was a tie then they could withdraw safely. Yet he lost his health in only a short time!

It would’ve been better if he hadn’t asked for a challenge.

Due to the death of the Commander, the morale of the NPC knights and soldiers fell to the ground.

“We came to such a distant place.”

“As expected from King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom. It was a mistake to invade the Arpen Kingdom.”

“The north is a strong kingdom.”

“I want to go home to see my wife and children. But I suppose we can’t meet again.”

The Hermes Guild users rushed to stop it but the morale of the soldiers was too low. Usually this didn’t happen in long distance expeditions. But the opponent was Weed of the Arpen Kingdom whose adventures were renown so their morale fell faster. To make matters worse, the Commander had died so the NPC knights and soldiers didn’t have the desire to fight.

“Attack!”

“Sweep away the Haven Empire!”

“Let’s drink porridge and defeat them.”

The northern users continued attacking. The high level units of the Grass Porridge Cult that joined after Weed emerged also actively fought. Meanwhile Weed recovered a little of his mana and used Lion’s Roar again.

“Strike the east side!”

The cry rang out through Rupoi Plains. The King killed the enemy commander and then issued a command so they felt an exhilarating pleasure through their body.

“As His Majesty commands!”

“Wahhhh!”

“Shield Units charge!”

The users moved smoothly between the military of the Arpen Kingdom. There was ample space for the cavalry and infantry to use their tactics.

“Make a formation. Destroy the enemy like a wedge!”

The military of the Arpen Kingdom changed formation and moved towards the Haven Empire’s army so tightly that there was no room for users. It was an efficient tactical formation for battles. There wasn’t any gaps no matter how hard a person looked.

“Let’s go!”

“Faster faster!”

“Go east.”

“Let’s run! Go!”

They surged like a violent wave.

When viewed from the perspective of Bingryong, it looked like a wave of humans rushing towards the army of the Haven Empire. A battle like this had occurred before Weed showed up but now it was proceeding at a much faster pace.

Earlier they thought a little bit but they didn’t bother with that now. The end of the war was approaching so they just needed to fight. Users of every level just poured out.

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

“The Arpen Kingdom will last forever!”

“Martyrdom! Martyrdom! Martyrdom!”

The desperate cries were reminiscent of cults. Those who lived their lives would have many stresses build up. They were also worried about the tyranny of the prestigious guilds. Their stress was loosened in this war.

“The fine horse Hosren.”

Fuhihihing!

Hosren was a horse bound to its owner. As soon as Rensullot died, it had rubbed its head against Weed.

“Let’s see where I should go.”

Weed caught Hosren’s reins and mounted the horse. Of course, Yellowy was a good mount but it was dangerous when the attacks were concentrated.

“Run as fast as you can. Heriam Fencing!”

Hosren raced forward at its top speed! Weed moved his sword from side to side as he cruised through the battlefield. None of the soldiers of the Haven Empire were able to stop him.

“Uwaak!”

“King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Run away quickly!”

In spite of the Hermes Guild users encouraging them, the soldiers didn’t listen and ran away from Weed. The places around him opened up as Weed passed.

Hosren moved forward at a terrifying speed! Weed killed soldiers as he moved along the battlefield.

The Hermes Guild users tried to attack but they couldn’t catch up to speed of the fine horse. Rensullot the commander was killed so the remaining users of the Hermes Guild gave orders to their respective units.

“Go catch Weed at any cost.”

“But there are too many supporters in the area.”

“It doesn’t matter. Attack!”

The archers and magicians concentrated their attacks on Weed!

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

The arrows and magic were cut and redirected.

“Kuak!”

“To attack us….”

The redirected magic and arrows killed the soldiers of the Haven Empire in the surroundings. If Weed continued to receive damage then he would be in trouble but he had support.

The avians! They shot arrows from the sky and nose-dived to annoy the archers and magicians.

“Weed, we will cut off your head this time.”

The leader of the 4th Knights Division Dyural came running towards Weed. Troops were fighting in every direction but there were still many users from the Arpen Kingdom.

“I surrender.”

“I will throw down my weapon so please spare my life.”

Moreover, the morale of the Haven Empire’s soldiers and knights fell after the death of their commander so some even surrendered. Dyural decided that if they were going to lose anyway then he would kill Weed first.

“Pave the way! Don’t hesitate and kill all the supporters blocking the way!”

Dyural and the knights of the 4th division ignored all enemies and just ran while staring at Weed. They even cut the knights and soldiers of the Haven Empire in order to break through.

But Seo-yoon ran and blocked their way. She had already taken out a spare mask and covered her face. Her sword and armour were completely dyed red and right now she was exerting the maximum power of a berserker!

“How valuable.”

Now Weed could afford to fight against Dyural and his knights. It was possible to fight nicely while riding on Hosren. It was possible to pursue the enemy and attack.

Weed’s ability to escape was excellent! But if he was ever in danger then the worried Seo-yoon would come running forward.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s horse moved to a target and light scattered everywhere from his sword. The troops of the Haven Empire gradually collapsed.

Bingryong, Phoenix and the wyverns flew around in the sky attacking. The other sculptural lifeforms joined the Arpen Kingdom’s army while the Grass Porridge Cult and northern users were everywhere.

Every now and then, Weed would use Lion’s Roar to give simple commands.

“Stick to the enemy!”

The systematic strategies were profitable and they were now certain to win. Everyone had gathered to protect the north so they were motivated by that power.

Ddiring!

– Well Smelted Spear has been acquired.

– Well Smelted Spear:  Durability 55/60. Attack 43

A spear made of steel.

A spear mass produced by the Haven Empire.

The weight is inconvenient but it is effective for stopping cavalry troops. It can be handled easily with a little practice.

Restrictions: Level 80. Strength 120.

Options: When dealing with cavalry troops, damage +200%.

Weed did not hide from the soldiers and knights. Most of the enemies were heading towards him.

“His Majesty is in danger!”

“He is surrounded by them!”

The high level northern users came to support Weed and the Dark Gamers didn’t miss this opportunity either! The Haven Empire’s army had become dull after losing their commander so they were good prey.

The speed of their collapse increased as time passed. The complete defeat of the Haven Empire’s military that had reigned invincible on the Versailles Continent! There was an explosive reaction from the audience watching the broadcasting stations.

– So cool.

– Ah, I knew it would be like this.

– The taste of victory.

– The tension after fighting with my girlfriend has been completely released by watching the television.

The ratings once again reached a high. The defeat of the Haven Empire was enjoyable but the sight of the war was also overwhelmingly fascinating.

The offensive of the northern users and avians from Lavias poured down on the Haven Empire. The spread out knights of the Haven Empire were decimated.

“I give up.”

“I reject. All those with impure thoughts who step on the Arpen Kingdom will die completely.”

Even if the knights surrendered, Weed wasn’t tolerant and stabbed all of them to death.

‘If they give up and I capture them then I’ll need to keep feeding them.’

When Weed was a judge, he wouldn’t give a fine and would just condemn them to death. He could also obtain loot after the knights were killed so there was no reason to hesitate.

But even those decisions by Weed were portrayed beautifully on television. Everyone saw the magnificent form of Weed swinging his sword to crush an enemy before grabbing the items.

“As a King, it is necessary to take radical actions to protect his territory.”

“Forgiveness and tolerance? Such emotions are a luxury on the Versailles Continent. How else did he build Morata?”

“That’s right. Even if Weed forgives them, the angry Grass Porridge Cult won’t. Although it isn’t easy to kill those that surrendered.”

“It looks lonely. But it we take decisive action then there will be no pain at the last moment.”

A significant amount of time was needed in order to kill the Haven Empire’s army. Finally all the enemies were taken care of and the northern users were given the honour of ‘Winner of Rupoi Plains.’

– The Haven Empire’s military has been wiped out.

Talk of this victory will spread throughout the entire continent.

Soldiers who participated in the war can gain achievements. When sharing this story, it is possible to improve relations with residents of the Arpen Kingdom.

341 fame has been acquired!

– The title ‘Winner of Rupoi Plains’ has been obtained.

All those who participated in defeating the Haven Empire’s army will have their contribution to the Arpen Kingdom increased.

As King, Weed gained a huge amount of fame and honour.

Ddiring!

– The battle has ended.

The Arpen Kingdom has won and you have obtained 9,820 Fame as the King.

Infamy has risen by 1,860  due to the cruel behaviour shown in battle.

He didn’t leave any prisoners and killed everyone so his infamy had increased. But the reaction of the northern users was positive.

“His Majesty has directly killed the enemy.”

“Is it necessary for the enemy to stay alive? It is right to believe in His Majesty.”

“It might be cruel but that decisiveness is excellent. If anyone blames His Majesty then evict them from the village.”

His fame was so high that the residents were still loyal despite his infamy. Of course, it the infamy continued building up then the residents would start distrusting him and the knights and soldiers would declare independence.

– Friendship with the Ritten Kingdom who is at war with the Haven Empire has risen.

– The Haven Empire’s army has been defeated and the appreciation of the Gradian Kingdom towards the Arpen Kingdom has risen.

– Relations between the Arpen Kingdom and the Aidern Kingdom has improved.

They have officially recognized the Arpen Kingdom and will send a diplomatic party for foreign exchanges.

– The local specialties of the Arpen Kingdom has become more famous.

Presently there is a friendly trade agreement with the Masen Kingdom. When the trade agreements are concluded, an economical exchange between both countries will become active.

When procuring supplies from the Masen Kingdom, merchants from the Arpen Kingdom will be treated like it is their own kingdom.

– The Dale Kingdom wants to learn about the Grand Buildings.

If the Arpen Kingdom teaches their construction techniques then their research materials for magic and science will be exchanged.

Once the relationship between two kingdoms becomes positive, the trade amount will increase and quests can be received. The northern users who participated in the war on the Rupoi Plains would receive special respect from other kingdoms.

And the festival that was a unique tradition in Morata took place on Rupoi Plains.

“Let’s eat and drink!”

“No tax, no tax! Just buy without worrying about taxes!”

The northern users acquired food from the Haven Empire’s food carriages. Painters, sculptors and architects also gathered here. Naturally there were many cooks that made dishes from the food of the Haven Empire and distributed it.

Sausages and beer were items popular with the Haven Empire!

Weed also cooked and handed out food to people.

“Enjoy.”

“Thank you very much.”

Many users had never met Weed directly.

“I’ve been watching you the whole time…Weed-nim should be arrogant about winning the war yet you put on an apron straight afterwards. This is the spirit that Weed-nim used to raise Morata.”

“It is his true character. He is different from people like us. Isn’t this why I came to the Arpen Kingdom?”

“Yes, I understand.”

The users of the Grass Porridge Cult were pleased by this minor behaviour.

Weed cooked for a simple reason.

‘There are many food ingredients this time so I should raise my cooking skill. The carriages belonging to the Haven Empire contains many luxury ingredients. These guys were really determined.’

Besides, he was aware of the political connotations behind the act! The people were thankful that they didn’t have to pay taxes after fighting a war.

‘This is the spirit of democracy.’

According to the users, the residents of the Arpen Kingdom had a strong pioneering spirit and a kingdom alive in adventure. It was different from Weed’s thoughts.

‘My kingdom. Everything is mine!’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The war between the Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom was a big topic of conversation on the Versailles Continent.

“It would be useful if the Lasalle Kingdom has a group like the Grass Porridge Cult….”

“I think so as well. But the leadership of the Lasalle Kingdom and the Haven Empire is significantly different.”

“That is even worse. It is only a matter of time until this kingdom is occupied by the Haven Empire.

“They will squeeze money and labour from us if they win.”

There were still many users in the various kingdoms that the Haven Empire occupied.

Kingdoms defeated in the war would be unstable, be set on fire and residents killed so quests would be broken in the middle. Despite the penalties, many users stayed because they didn’t like leaving their homes.

“How about we create a Grass Porridge Cult?”

“Huh? Is that even possible?”

“It should be enough. If we want to then it should be possible.”

“Good. We’ll found a Lassalle Kingdom branch of the Grass Porridge Cult.”

In kingdoms occupied by the Haven Empire, the Embinyu Church seized some areas while the Grass Porridge Cult sprang up in large and small villages. The continent had fallen into chaos as weeds spread in every direction.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Huhuhu, that was quite a good battle.”

The assassin challenging the Assassin Master Quest took part in the battle on Rupoi Plains.

He had competed on the side of the northern users and killed 137 members of the Hermes Guild. Despite their good defence, he also eliminated 402 NPC knights and gained a great achievement on the continent.

He was still far from finishing the Assassin Master Quest.

‘I need to receive the next quest.’

He went to a tavern where he could rest and gain information.

“The Arpen Kingdom surprisingly broke the Haven Empire in the Northern War.”

“I heard that many people acted to prevent the Haven Empire’s invasion.”

The only topic between the drunk residents was the Northern War.

“Huhu, a bottle of whisky over here.”

The assassin drank strong alcohol. It was enjoyable to hear rumours about a battle that he had participated in.

“It is said that many new heroes have become famous.”

“Oh, you must be talking about the avians.”

“It is said that they penetrated through the magic attacks and swept the land.”

The assassin also witnessed it in battle but the sight of the avians nosediving through spells was amazing. The avians were NPCs but they had the power of knights.

“The knight called Kone also played a heroic role. He was a knight from the Aidern Kingdom but went to the north after the dishonourable behaviour of his lord.”

“It is impossible to forget about the archer called Pale. He fired from 100 feet away and could accurately shoot between 80~90 feet.”

“Drago made nets from materials and poison extracted from tarantulas.”

Talk about the users who played an active role in battle kept pouring in.

From the viewpoint of the individuals, it was a great honour to have rumours about them spread through the continent. Some people deliberately didn’t leave the city in order to hear about their adventures. Hearing about their adventures even in distant cities was very glorious.

“How much?”

The assassin had plenty of rest so he prepared to leave.

“Many important figures from the Haven Empire died in the war.”

“Oh, I also heard that story. The skill was so neat that even a ghost would be surprised.”

The assassin’s smile slipped. There were also rumours about him. A shadow of death that didn’t let its target go.

“That skill reminds me of the assassin that came to Montonya last time.”

Jump!

The assassin trembled as he received a big shock.

“Oh, was that the assassin called Seasoned Crab?”

“That’s right. Seasoned Crab is the skilful shadow that causes death.”

“It was sufficient to make him a hero of Montonya.”

“I heard that parents admire him and children want to grow up to be Seasoned Crab.”

Last month, he had completed the request of a young girl in Montonya. That was when the assassin’s name became known.

He wasn’t thinking about his name when he started Royal Road. Seasoned Crab.

This was the name of the shadow of death.

Seasoned Crab who causes death that can’t be avoided.

The dark killer Seasoned Crab.

Seasoned Crab who destroys souls.

Cruel slaughterer of lords, Seasoned Crab.

“Kehuhuhuk.”

The assassin Seasoned Crab felt grief. He didn’t want to tell anyone his name. Thanks to his name, he chose the assassin occupation that didn’t need to hunt in a party.

Assassins tended to complete wicked quests but sometimes they would get requests.

Rescuing daughters from the tyranny of vicious lords or knights or saving noble girls from monsters. Or following a party and secretly helping them when they fell into trouble.

But even if Seasoned Crab met someone he liked, it wasn’t possible to tell his name and he was too mortified to register people as friends.

“Thank you very much. Please let me know your name.”

“If I see you again one day. Yes.”

“I’m fascinated. Can I ask for your name? I’d like to continue together for some time.”

“I….no, I prefer travelling alone.”

The grief of having to turn around and quietly disappear into the darkness!

Chapter 5: Nodulle and Hilderun

“Come come! Cheap dried fish.”

“Eat squid and go. Dried squids are sold in a bundle of 10. You should have something in your mouth while dungeon hunting or sailing!”

“Cutlassfish, Gizzard Shad, Rockfish!”

As soon as the war ended, Weed headed towards the harbour in order to complete the secret sculpting technique on Borota Island.

“There really are a lot of people.”

Borota Island was well known on Versailles Continent.

Clear skies, a calm and beautiful sea, plenty of mountains and hills and a nice landscape in the rising sun. There were good fishing grounds in the area so the harbour was always crowded with fishing boats from distant places.

The island was peaceful despite the continent falling into the chaos of war.

“The items I have to proceed with the quest….”

Scroll to summon a giant fire golem and a meteor. They were terrifying scrolls but it couldn’t be abused so he should use it sparingly. The secret sculpting technique quests were difficult so he should save it.

“Inspect!”

– Borota Island Map: Durability 3/5.

The terrain of Borota Island, the surrounding islands and the sea currents are marked.

Can be sold for 3 silver at the harbour.

– Story of Stars in the Night Sky #73.

A parchment that shows the constellations on the northeast side.

The Polar Bear, Winter Snow and Lovers constellations are displayed.

– Stopped Compass: Durability 11/17.

A compass for navigation that doesn’t work.

– Keys to a Residence on Borota Island.

A key that opens the front door.

It can only be used several times.

– Sands of Time.

It is possible to use 3 times.

Sands of Time, a mysterious sand that can recollect things.

A treasure from the southern desert that can look back in time.

Just possessing it can give information about the past.

Weed spoke to the residents first.

“I would like to know about Nodulle and Hilderun.”

“Those people? You should go to the park.”

The island had a park that commemorated them. Their names were also attached to squares, buildings and hills. But hundreds of years had passed so the exact facts weren’t remembered anymore.

Weed sought the elderly first. Naturally he didn’t come empty handed.

“What is this?”

“Fresh rice porridge with abalone. Can you tell me a story about Nodulle and Hilderun while eating?”

“Well, I like rice porridge with abalone. You are a rare example of a youth who knows manners. I know a little bit about Nodulle and Hilderun. This is something I heard from my grandfather and that he heard from his grandfather. They were born in the same village.”

“Where?”

“A small village in the hills behind the harbour. Nodulle and Hilderun grew up in the same village and fell in love. But where is the rice porridge with abalone?”

The elder stopped telling his story.

Nodulle and Hilderun were famous so there were other users who tried this method. But based on intimacy with the resident, different essential information could be gathered.

“Nodulle’s family, the Borota was one of the wealthiest on the island. It was to the extent that they owned most of the ships.”

“Nodulle was tall and handsome so all the women on the island lost their minds over him.”

“Hilderun? Hilderun wasn’t that pretty. She stuttered and had an uncomfortable limp. Although that story was passed down for a long time so it might not be true.”

“Are there any pictures left of Nodulle?”

“Go inside the government offices. Nodulle’s home used to be there. By the way….didn’t you say you would give Rockfish Porridge?”

He got information using food cooked from the best ingredients. A big advantage of the cooking skill was that it was easy to acquire intimacy!

“I should focus on asking about Nodulle.”

Weed moved to the government office where administration of the island took place. It was a peaceful island so the guards at the entrance were only wearing light armour.

“Can I help you?”

“I want to come in to investigate something. I am Weed.”

“I have heard of that name. You can come in and see whoever you want.”

The guards opened the way.

It was difficult to enter the area containing government buildings unless they were merchants who invested a great deal of money into the island or famous adventurers. Weed was able to enter thanks to his adventures and fame.

The spacious area contained the headquarters of Borota’s navy and Nodulle’s family had lived here in the past.

“I recently obtained information about bandits aiming for merchant vessels so should we take action?”

“The Green Gills Sharks are continuing to attack and they frequently appear near areas with seaweed.”

Players could receive quests from the navy headquarters. There were navigators but mostly there were ship captains so their attire was flashy.

Weed headed straight past the navy headquarters towards a mansion at the rear. The mansion had been neglected for a long time but the large trees growing gave it a cosy feeling. Weed smelled flowers on the wind as he pulled out the key to a residence in Borota.

– The door of a Borota residence has opened.

The old, rusty key has broken.

“There aren’t many things remaining.”

The antique furniture inside was old and broken. Hallways, rooms and paintings were covered with dust and cobwebs.

Weed brushed off the dust and searched around.

“Inspect!”

– Picture of the Borota Family

A painting of the Borota family.

The unknown painter’s style was to emphasize the lines and colour.

Artistic Value: 19

– Knowledge has increased by 1.

Apart from the paintings, there were various things scattered around that showed off the wealth of the family.

Looking at the expensive glass products, tapestries, silverware and jewellery, it was obvious that Borota Island participated in a lot of trade.

Weed cleared the dust and cobwebs as he walked around.

“This seems to be an expensive painting….”

– Nodulle Riding a Horse

A painting showing Nodulle, the heir to the Borota family riding a horse up a hill.

Artistic Value: 45.

After searching through dozens of works, he finally found a painting of Nodulle.

“The rumour that Nodulle is handsome seems to be true. Well, he is almost level with my looks.”

Distinct features, deep eyes, thick eyebrows and a sleek jaw line! Nodulle riding a white horse made a great image.

“Money, appearance and the support of his family…his personality is probably that of a lowlife dog. A brutal and sadistic personality.”

Weed explored the mansion and found some paper that Nodulle wrote on. A strange image was also drawn.

“Is this dugout with a stone house built in it? Some people really are strange. Inspect!”

– Borota Island is a place that often suffers from storms.

Residents can feel relieved if they live in a house like this.

– A design of a house developed so that residents don’t receive damage in a storm.

– Knowledge has increased by 1.

The housing knowledge acquired means that houses that can’t be destroyed in intense storms can now be constructed in the Arpen Kingdom.

“Well, he must’ve had interest in the architecture aspect. Then the paper….Inspect!”

Every day residents of the island leave to sail on dangerous journeys with rough waves so I can’t help but worry.

It would be nice if this study could be useful to them….

– Knowledge of a large ship that can tolerate rough waves has been acquired.

Special bows for large sailing vessels can now be manufactured.

– Wisdom has increased by 2.

– Luck has increased by 4.

“And this looks like herbs. Inspect!”

– Local diseases can be treated when several common herbs are combined.

Many cures can be produced and the residents can win against the disease.

– Knowledge has increased by 3.

– Leadership has increased by 1.

“He seems quite smart. But having intelligence doesn’t mean he is a good guy. He might be fake.”

The next piece of paper provided information about Hilderun.

Hilderun

Today many white clouds passed in the sky. I keep thinking of you whenever I see the sky.

Tomorrow morning, let’s meet at the hill and watch it together.

He was an experienced sailor that dolphins would come to. Smart, caring nature, romantic. Weed became more aggravated the more he discovered.

“A really strong guy. I can’t find out any insidious behaviour. An intense affair, having a child, going to a cemetery to chew on corpses….”

He searched every corner of the house but those were his only results. Perhaps there was a secret hiding spot but he couldn’t find it.

Weed then travelled around the scenic spots on Borota Island with their names. Painters drew images of Nodulle and Hilderun on the streets while there was a sculpture commemorating the two lovers on a hill.

Weed climbed the hill that overlooked the harbour. The sight of the coral reef sea surrounding Borota Island, big and small islands gathered together and sailing ships unfolded before him.

And there seemed to be a wide slab overlooking the sea.

“What is this?”

Weed touched the slab.

“There is a phrase carved in the stone. Sea God’s Altar?”

Ddiring!

– Lovers of Borota Island has been completed.

Nodulle and Hilderun were born in the same village and fell in love.

However, Hilderun was a priest of the Sea God. She couldn’t get married and was supposed to dedicate her life to the sea.

And a video played in front of Weed.

“Hilderun, I want to be with you forever. Like a large tree that is rooted deeply. I want to see this tree with you as elderly people.”

“Me too, Nodulle.”

Nodulle and Hilderun talked closely on a hill blooming with flowers. And looking at them were other priests of the Sea God.

“If Hilderun who is a priest comes to know a man then the Sea God will become angry.”

“It was scheduled for 3 years later but we need to do the sacrificial ceremony to calm the sea.”

Borota Island and several others were under the jurisdiction of the Sea God. The decision was made by priests of the Sea God so it couldn’t be disobeyed. They decided to offer Hilderun and notified the Borota family.

The following evening, there was an intense storm and Nodulle and Hilderun sailed out in a small ship. The next morning, it became known that the two of them disappeared. The priests of the Sea God went out to sea to pursue them.

Ddiring!

– A Raging Sea

Nodulle and Hilderun took a ship out to sea on a day of intense rain and rough waves.

Take a sculpted ship and follow their path to their destination.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: The quest will fail if you die.

The quest requires one female companion to participate.

Her role is important so you should complete the quest with her until the end.

The quest will fail if your companion dies.

It is raining.

“I need one female.”

Judging by the contents of the quest, it was something related to sailing.

“The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin are all men…should I bring another female sailor?”

But it wasn’t a simple problem of sailing skills.

“My sailing skill is intermediate so it is better to have a female that won’t easily die.”

The only person who was suitable to not die was Seo-yoon. She played an active role as a berserker at Rupoi Plains. She attacked various Hermes Guild members and survived until the end.

He was jealous of the loot and achievements she had collected. A berserker was a persistent and dangerous profession.

Weed sent a whisper to Seo-yoon.

– Excuse me, are you busy?

– I’m relaxing.

Seo-yoon was swinging her sword in a level 450 dungeon.

Kaekang!

A monster changed to grey light and disappeared. But there were another 7 hiding in the darkness while preparing to pounce. Seo-yoon had already collect 314 horns, fangs and leather since entering this dungeon.

Weed didn’t know the situation so he continued to whisper.

– I have a quest….can you help me?

– I’m going right now. Where are you?

– Come to Borota Island. I will send Wy-3.

While Wy-3 was picking up Seo-yoon, he called his other flying sculptural lifeforms. They could give aid from the sky if it was required.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Shwaaaaah!

It rained at sea.

– It will continue to rain while the Raging Sea quest is in progress.

“Oh, then this rain won’t stop?”

“It seems so. It has already been raining for 6 days.”

“There isn’t even a small break so isn’t this a little strange?”

While the quest was in progress, the users on Borota Island had to put up with the rain. The torrential rainfall made it impossible to swim at the beach or go fishing.

Weed and Seo-yoon only had a cedar boat.

“I needed to use my shipbuilding skill again.”

His shipbuilding skill was at beginner level 3 and reached level 4 after carving a precise ship.

This was another benefit of his profession. If Weed was a knight then this quest wouldn’t be easy.

“The sculptor profession has its ups and downs but it seems to have many quests that risk death.”

The sea had waves 4 metres, 5 metres high. This weather was absolutely unfriendly to a sculpted ship. But even if he waited, the rain wouldn’t stop while the quest was in progress.

“Nodulle and Hilderun departed in this type of weather…I have no choice but to follow.”

Weed and Seo-yoon headed towards the sea with the boat. Unlike Hilderun and Nodulle who departed suddenly, he had various supplies like timber for ship repair, food, etc.

Normally a medium sized sailboat wouldn’t go out to sea in weather like this. The waves could become worse in the open sea and there were dangerous whirlpools that occurred when the currents changed the direction they flowed in.

The steep waves meant rowing with oars was hard but they had to endure. They didn’t sail but were pushed back and forth by the waves.

Ddiring!

– The durability of the hull has decreased by 1 due to the rough waves.

Hull Durability:  44/45

“First we need to leave Borota Island…then the direction needs to be decided.”

He had the Sands of Time but it couldn’t be used excessively. If he didn’t use it for the quest then it could be sold for a high price!

Weed spread out the map of Borota Island.

“Nodulle’s ship wasn’t that good. The waves were rough and he departed on a rainy day.”

He needed a route where the ship wouldn’t sink and the high waves could be avoided. There were two possible routes that Nodulle and Hilderun could take to depart from Borota Island.

One of them was to head directly to the continent via Pahil Island and 3 other islands. The other route was to go through the Velazquez reef waters where there were many marine monsters.

Weed took out the Stopped Compass that was a quest item and laid it on the map. It might be a coincidence but it pointed directly towards the Velazquez area of the sea.

“We’re going to the Velazquez reef waters.”

“Why?”

Seo-yoon also for the basis behind the decision. The compass wasn’t solid proof.

“Look at this. It isn’t easy to reach the continent if they take the Pahil Island route.”

“That makes sense. The supplies were low so a safe route would be better.”

“Thus the Velazquez area. It will be full of hardships so be prepared.”

The map of Borota Island had written that the Velazquez area was extremely dangerous waters. It was a little strange that Nodulle and Hilderun had headed there so casually. However, they would have no choice but to head to the Velazquez area if they were being chased.

“I’ll go first. You should return to the other side.”

Weed rowed with all his might. His high strength and agility meant rowing was very fast.

“I can’t just head straight. I should also consider the waves.”

Seo-yoon scooped out rainwater from the boat while drinking tea in a cup.

The waves were rough and it was raining at night, but sailing along on the sea was also romantic.

Nodulle and Hilderun. When the lovers escaped from the island, they must’ve felt deep and warm love.

Seo-yoon had warm tea so she found it a pleasure to travel the sea.

– The durability of the hull has decreased by 1 due to the rough waves.

The dreadful sea at dawn!

Weed had been busy repairing the ship and rowing all night.

Now it was morning. The sun was on the horizon and started to push away the dim darkness. An overwhelming impression after all his suffering!

A lot of rain was still falling so Seo-yoon had been scooping out water all night. Seo-yoon smiled with something like pleasure.

“It is still a good memory.”

It was a sweet and warm smile she didn’t show to anyone other than Weed. Weed shook his head.

“No. I will bet on it. My unlucky fate doesn’t end here.”

And after a while, 12 large ships could be seen heading from the direction of Borota Island. They raised flags that depicted the Sea God.

“What happened? Wasn’t the Sea God just in the story?”

“I don’t know. But no matter how hard we row, the sky, sea and land won’t be able to hide us.”

Chapter 6: Time in the Past

[TL]: Once again, please don’t post any spoilers in the comments. I’ve had to delete at least 10 for the last chapter but I can’t always catch them all. Please think of the other readers who don’t want to read spoilers. Adding the word “spoiler” doesn’t really help people avoid reading it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Nodulle! Hilderun is the offering to the Sea God. Stop right there!”

The voices shouting from the large warship had mistaken Weed and Seo-yoon as Nodulle and Hilderun.

Weed knew it wasn’t a simple illusion. It wasn’t a coincidence that they were being chased by battleships during this quest.

The time in the past when Nodulle and Hilderun escaped from Borota Island was being replayed like an illusion.

– The Sands of Time has shaken and something mysterious has occurred.

“What mysterious thing?”

It as a situation where the quest item activated by itself! Seo-yoon gazed at Weed.

“I don’t know the story but you can send me if it necessary.”

Perhaps Hilderun had also said those words to Nodulle in this situation. It was a moment where the lovers trembled with fear and felt anxious.

Of course, the meaning of Seo-yoon’s words were different. Hilderun was worried about Nodulle but Seo-yoon….

‘Please send me. I’ll kill everyone and return.’

Weed shook his head.

“No. We’ll go together until the end. I’ll never hand you over to them.”

The final secret sculpting technique quest was very important. He needed Seo-yoon to survive in order to succeed. But the quest would fail if his colleague was killed!

“Really?”

“Yes. Like I said, we’re going to go together until the end.”

Seo-yoon smiled beautifully again.

Weed pretended to be indifferent but he felt sorry. In the past, he always cooked meals when she was hungry and bandaged her when she was injured. Of course, Weed had been subservient because he had been frightened of her.

“Is it possible to escape?”

“I will do my best.”

Weed rowed with all his might but the battleships were approaching at a very fast speed.

‘According to the map, if we get out of this area then reefs will be ahead….’

They could escape from the battleships there.

‘Perhaps Nodulle could sail a boat better than me. They also didn’t have any baggage so they could escape safely.’

The large battleships were nearing the sculpted boat. A naval battle depended on the range of their artillery.

“This won’t work. Wait a minute while I go.”

“Yes?

Seo-yoon got up and light shone around her body. And wings of light spread open!

Recently the sculptural lifeform Light Wings had gone to Seo-yoon. It wasn’t as useful as Yellowy or Goldman  but the Light Wings had willingly followed Seo-yoon.

Seo-yoon flew towards the battleships using Light Wings. Weed anxiously waited from the boat.

“If she gets caught by them then this quest will fail. Then the quests for the secret sculpting technique was end in vain….”

And then he heard loud sounds from the battleships.

Ujikun! Kwa kwa kwang!

The central sails collapsed and the cannons and hull destroyed.

“Kuaaak!”

“S-save me!”

The screams of the Sea God’s followers could be heard as they fell into the water. And after a while, the battleship tilted and sunk. Then Seo-yoon used Light Wings to fly to the other battleships.

Kwa kwa kwang! Kwang, kwa kwang!

He could tell terrible things were happening to the battleships without looking at it directly.

“This time is crazy as well.”

She had demonstrated the capabilities of a berserker on Rupoi Plains.

“This is different from the story of Nodulle and Hilderun.”

According to the contents of the original quest, the female who played the role of Hilderun needed to be protected until they escaped. Yet Seo-yoon was now the one killing the Sea God’s followers.

“The world has changed these days. A woman is even more terrifying than a Death Knight.”

After 3 ships were sunk, Weed entered the range of the cannons.

Pepepeng!

Shells fell around the boat as pillars of water shot upward. The bombardment had started but the distance was still far so the attacks weren’t accurate. Weed skilfully rowed the boat between them. The small boat meant it was easier to avoid the cannons.

The reefs gradually appeared. Once he reached the reefs, the remaining 6 battleships stopped their chase. And Seo-yoon also burned 2 more ships. The ships were engulfed in fire as they sank into the sea.

Then Seo-yoon used Light Wings to return to the boat.

“I’m back.”

Seo-yoon’s smile was so beautiful that a painter or sculptor couldn’t express it. Now it was a little scary!

In the past, Seo-yoon was cold but know she was smiling in front of Weed while holding a sword.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

They had entered the Velazquez waters unharmed but their difficulties was only starting.

Purim!

Marine monsters called Gruduru swam in the water past them. He had to ensure the small boat wasn’t sucked into whirlpools or blocked by marine creatures.

“How did Nodulle conquer this?”

If Weed used the Sands of Time then he could see how Nodulle did it. Nodulle didn’t have good fighting skills so he would show his sailing abilities here. He could see the weaknesses of the Gruduru or tricks used to cross the sea.

However, Weed was the type of stingy person who regretted consuming supplies. It was to the extent that he didn’t use warm water to wash his face in winter!

“I just need to hang on. Mind Hand!”

It was a skill without a particularly great use. Mind Hand. An extra hand paddled in the water and the boat shot forward. Seo-yoon didn’t hold still and cut any enemy that approached.

– The lower part of the ship has been attacked. 3 damage has occurred.

Hull Durability: 29/45

– The lower part of the ship has been attacked.

Durability decreased by 8. There is a hole and the ship has started to be flooded.

Hull Durability: 21/45

The Gruduru has crashed into the ship.

The ship had been damaged by the Gruduru.

“Repair!”

Weed brought wood beforehand in order to repair the ship.

Tung tang tung tang!

– Part of the hull has been repaired.

The flooding hasn’t stopped.

Hull Durability: 29/45

“Droplets!”

The elemental created with Elemental Sculpting!

“You called?”

A drop of water appeared wearing a dress. It had been summoned after a long time so it was smiling cutely.

“Get out.”

“Huh?”

“Get the water out of the ship!”

“…….”

All the water on the ship was removed through the water elemental.

“Repair!”

– Part of the hull has been repaired.

You have successfully prevented the flooding.

Hull Durability: 34/45.

The flooding was stopped but Velazquez was a paradise of marine creatures.

“We have to go forward….”

Weed was almost desperate.

“This is something many youths in Korea face. Entrance examination competition, competitive employment and an endless life of working overtime for the company!”

He couldn’t give up and continued firing arrows and Radiant Sword at the enemy. The desperate struggle to stay afloat.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“He is having a hard time.”

Yoo Byung-jin said while watching Weed’s adventures.

“Versailles, how did Nodulle cross that sea in the past?”

Versailles the artificial intelligence of Royal Road retrieved the history records and replied.

– The video is being prepared now. Would you like to see it?

“Play it on monitor number 7.”

The 7th monitor’s screen changed to Nodulle and Hilderun sailing on the Velazquez waters. The screen that was showing Morata changed to Nodulle and Hilderun.

They were eating sandwiches prepared beforehand while sailing. The Gruduru wandered around them but didn’t attack. The Gruduru was annoying but they had avoided any damage.

The reason was the figurehead! Nodulle’s octopus figurehead caused the marine monsters to retreat. When other types of marine monsters would approach, he scatted a little bit of onion juice into the water. Onion juice mixed with seawater caused the marine monsters to flinch and not come close. Of course, the figurehead was something that belonged to the Borota family.

Yoo Byung-jin looked at Weed and Seo-yoon desperately hanging on and muttered.

“It hasn’t even reached the difficult part of the quest….”

– They seem to be having trouble.

“But the remaining quests aren’t going to be that easy right?”

– Of course. So far this is the most difficult quest that has appeared in Royal Road.

“But Weed’s ability is excellent.”

Yoo Byung-jin had been annoyed because Weed had managed to conquer a crisis every time. He won despite the difficulty so the mania of the public rose even more. Yoo Byung-jin found this exasperating.

“If he learns the final secret sculpting technique and unifies the continent….”

Of course, he needed to shatter Bardray and the Hermes Guild in the middle of the process. He had high approval with the users as the King so he could accomplish it. He gained a variety of skills and stats every time he completed a complex quest.

Yoo Byung-jin often became grumpy whenever he used the best solution to breakthrough any difficulty. It was to the extent that Weed could roll around in a swamp and still settle something coolly. He had broken the Haven Empire’s Northern Expedition.

If fact, Yoo Byung-jin didn’t necessarily hate Weed but he felt better every time Weed suffered.

– Should I calculate the probability?

“No, don’t do that.”

He decided not to believe the probabilities about Weed anymore. Despite being an advanced artificial intelligence, the results couldn’t be trusted. He didn’t know whether he would collapse with frustration or be glad if Weed obtained the secret sculpting technique.

Bardray and the Hermes Guild committed bad acts so they deserved destruction. But watching Weed obtain great success caused a pain in his stomach. He was interested in watching Weed’s behaviour while cursing.

“The final secret technique quests could be said to have the greatest difficulty in Royal Road.”

– Weed’s versatile skills and stats will be obsolete. He has to win using pure sculpting ability so it will be hard even for Weed.

“I guessed that as well. I want to see it quickly. Huhuhuhuhuk.”

– Kil kil kil kil!

Yoo Byung-jin and the artificial intelligence laughed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Hah, we managed to pass that safely….”

Weed looked back at the Velazquez waters. He experienced countless crises until they managed to pass through safely.

The hull’s durability fell to 6 points but they drove the marine monsters away and endured. Once they reached the current area, the marine monsters didn’t follow anymore.

“We were able to do it. If we have the fortitude then we can succeed.”

Seo-yoon also played an admirable role. Despite her profession as a berserker, it wasn’t easy to tirelessly fight a myriad of monsters as they passed through. They needed to protect the ships and check for monsters underwater. Weed also sailed and fought without a break. If it wasn’t for the experience then his body wouldn’t have held on.

“Final secret sculpting technique quest. The difficulty level is indeed enormous.”

Weed was satisfied that he had overcome one challenge. It was the sense of accomplishment after a hard day’s work. He wouldn’t have succeeded if he didn’t have intermediate sailing skills.

“As expected, the sailing skill isn’t useless.”

The rain gradually stopped and now the sky was clear. Weed’s quest had moved forward so the rain at Borota Island stopped.

“Thanks for the help.”

“No. I had to do it.”

As an aftereffect of the battle, Seo-yoon was lying down feebly. Once the battle ended, she would become extremely weak and take a while to recover.

“We will take a small break here.”

Weed and Seo-yoon rested on the ship. If they followed this current then they would reach the continent. The great danger seemed to have passed.

And that night, the stars shining in the sky above the sea seemed more beautiful than usual. Weed carved sculptures like normal while Seo-yoon watched. The moonlight subtly shining on the sea while he made sculptures had a wonderful atmosphere.

Splash!

“Did you hear that? A sound came from the sea just now.”

Weed turned his gaze towards the sea. The sea was as gentle as a lake. There was a cool breeze under the fantastic night sky and the air was clear.

“Huh? I didn’t hear anything?”

“I clearly heard some sound….”

“You’re being paranoid.”

Weed carved the sculpture again. His sculpting skill was 75.3% Advanced Level 9. It wasn’t long until it reached master level. Although he had continued sculpting during his countless adventures, he still hadn’t accomplished it.

“Once I finish the sculpting skill, I should challenge sewing. And if the world becomes a little peaceful then I can master the skill in 1 year.”

He set up a far-reaching plan. If he mastered all the production skills then he would have no rival on the Versailles Continent.

Splash!

“Did you hear that?”

“This time I heard it.”

The sound of splashing water was very close.

“Something is coming.”

He armed himself with a high elf’s bow. He was alert while watching the wide sea.

At that time!

Splash! Splash! Splash!

A big fish jumped up in front of the ship Weed and Seo-yoon were riding.

“A Blue Marlin.”

It was a large fish that exceeded 3 metres! If Zephyr caught it then it would make a delicious dish. But right now it wasn’t a relaxing situation. Soon tens, hundreds or thousands of Blue Marlins jumped up. The splashing sound was caused by countless Blue Marlins nearing Weed and Seo-yoon’s ship.

“Such a thing….”

Kuwong!

– A Blue Marlin has crashed into the bottom of the ship and durability has decreased by 9.

A crack has occurred.

Hull Durability: 36/45.

“Repair!”

– The hull is repaired.

The Blue Marlins kept on colliding with the ship. To make matters worse, one Blue Marlin made a mistake while jumping and fell on the small boat.

Blink blink.

The Blue Marlin blinked its eyes while moving its tail. This was a horrifying sight for people who eat Maeuntang (spicy fish soup)! The other Blue Marlins also fell, causing a difficult situation at sea.

– The hull has been destroyed.

It has sunk.

“These things…..”

The ship was destroyed not because of marine monsters but a group of fish.

“Kyaah!”

Seo-yoon screamed as she fell into the sea. Weed plunged into the sea to save her. It was a dark night so not a lot was visible. The Blue Marlins were beneath the surface so it was hard to move.

Seo-yoon was wearing armour so she sank down quickly. Weed swam deep underwater in order to catch her.

‘I got you.’

A image appeared as soon as he grabbed Seo-yoon’s hand.

After Nodulle and Hilderun escaped the Velazquez waters, they had received a surprise attack by the Blue Marlins. Their ship broke into pieces and they drifted on one of the fragments.

‘We’re still going to the right place.’

Weed pulled Seo-yoon up to the surface of the water and asked.

“Are you okay?”

“Thanks for saving me.”

“That thank you…. Pay my gas or city bill this month.”

Weed and Seo-yoon held on to a broken plank.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kkuek!”

Wy-3 glided over the sea.

“Master has disappeared.”

“He was just gone.”

Wy-1 opened its big eyes that were shining brightly. The sea had already become gentle after Weed and Seo-yoon sank. Wy-5, Wy-6 and Wy-7 glanced at the water and couldn’t find anything.

Wy-3 looked at his urgently searching brothers like they were pathetic.

“Let’s go and eat rice.”

“Wy-3 doesn’t seem worried about Master.”

“After Master kept on calling you pretty….”

Wy-3 flapped his wings like his brother’s words were absurd.

“A man and woman disappeared together.”

“So?”

“We searched but couldn’t find them. Ggeug ggeug ggeug.”

Wy-3 gave an ugly grin!

“Oh, I like that.”

“We’ll pretend like we know nothing when he appears again later.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed and Seo-yoon drifted in the sea for over a day. The two people weren’t bored. Holding on to a floating plank was a unique experience.

“I liked swimming from an early age.”

“Did you go to the pool?”

“I often played at the public baths.”

And they finally reached land!

Ddiring!

– The skill proficiency of Sailing has increased.

– A Raging Sea has been completed.

Nodulle and Hilderun avoided their pursuers and landed on the continent safely. They were filled with anxiety due to being chased by the Sea God’s followers but now they could be pleased.

“We found the right place.”

Weed checked the surroundings. A beautiful sandy beach spread out before them. They headed to the continent from Borota Island but they hadn’t travelled that far.

“This location is probably Kordadesul.”

Warm sun shining in all four seasons, sandy beach and beautiful terrain. It was one of the 3 major resort cities on Versailles Continent.

“I’ve seen the broadcast and the surrounding mountains seem to fit.”

“But why are there no people?”

The luxury accommodations and restaurants built on the beach couldn’t be seen. There were no villas built by aristocrats and the only thing that could be seen was the sandy beach.

“The weather is nice but not one user is playing at the beach….”

Weed was suspicious. They also didn’t meet any users sailing while drifting here. Normally there were many tourists and merchants moving between Borota Island and the continent. Among them would occasionally be those who needed saving from sharks.

“There are footprints over there.”

Seo-yoon found footprints on the beach. Usually he would ignore any footprints on a beach but there were no other marks so it stimulated his curiosity.

“They are the footprints of two people. If we follow then something might emerge.”

Weed and Seo-yoon walked along the footprints. Unknown adventures should make a person feel uneasy. But they were different from ordinary people. Seo-yoon’s case was very simple.

‘If a monster comes then I have to quickly kill it.’

Weed was worse.

‘It would be wonderful if a monster with good leather emerges. I will peel the leather off, separate the claws and fangs, roast the meat and squeeze the oil.’

It was the end the moment a monster met Weed.

The footprints led to a small log cabin. It was in the forest where the beautiful sandy beach could be seen between the trees.

“This is a bit lacking….the structure will be hot in summer and cold in winter. And water will leak if it rains…. The house seems to be made with the surrounding materials. Shall we enter?”

“Yes.”

Weed and Seo-yoon pulled out their weapons and prepared for battle as they entered the log cabin. There weren’t any decent items inside.

Ddiring!

– Home for Two

Nodulle and Hilderun arrived on this land and began living by themselves.

But peace was nowhere to be found for them.

The Cross Kingdom, Mapon Kingdom and Bromba Kingdom on the continent were fighting intensely and the log cabin was close to monsters.

They were lacking in everything but the lovers just held each other.

Avoid the monsters running wild and live in this log cabin for 1 month.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: The quest will fail if you die.

Log cabin should not be destroyed.

The quest will fail if your female companion dies.

“The war in this time period.”

After reading the details of the quest, it was clear that they weren’t in the Versailles Continent’s normal time.

“Judging by the Cross, Mapon and Bromba Kingdoms, Nodulle and Hilderun lived in that time period.”

“Time has changed.”

“We have jumped directly into Nodulle and Hilderun’s history.”

Weed didn’t bother to think of a complicated explanation. In the past, the Hero’s Tower plunged him into the past to save a princess. If he used that experience then the situation was simple.

“If it continues in this manner then this quest seems to be huge trouble.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“He went towards the square. Search every corner!”

“Catch the person wearing paint covered clothes.”

Guards moved near the alley where Petrov was hiding.

“Pant pant, I was almost caught.”

Petrov was roaming the areas governed by the Hermes Guild.

He secretly painted the Hermes Guild’s misdeeds on walls and roads. The contents included exploiting the residents for taxes and labour. Some of the situations were real but there were quite a few paintings based on his imagination.

The residents of the Haven Empire had low loyalty so they believed the images Petrov painted.

“Lord Jerou is a person who would do something like that.”

“Honour and conscience? Lenon is a coward like those dirty goblins.”

The residents’ loyalty to the Haven Empire was reduced, which made security worse. The realistic images that Petrov drew had a bigger influence on the residents.

Despite the Hermes Guild’s utter defeat in the north, they were showing their superior military power in other areas of the continent. Bardray led the Royal Guards against the Black Sword Mercenaries in wonderful battles and became more popular every day.

Petrov use the time when the Hermes Guild was concentrated on occupying other territory to paint his images. He drew bad images of the Haven Empire on the brick walls of alleys, under bridges, inside dungeons, on carriages of mercenaries, etc.

The problem was that the behaviour wasn’t committed by one person.

– That bastard Solo. Did he sell his conscience for 20 copper?

– Our Lord Vicar is greedy.

The painter drawing the images received a cold reception from the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Steiner. A name that wasn’t well known on the Versailles Continent but he was a thief with great ability.

“The security of the Haven Empire is falling so this is an opportunity.”

The took 60 NPC subordinates that he had trained directly and led them to the Kallamore territory that the Haven Empire had occupied.

“We will steal from all merchants passing through this mountain.”

“Yes!”

“We will shake all of them according to Boss’ command.”

The carriages of the residents and merchants transporting goods around the Haven Empire was the target of the bandit group in the mountains.

In the Haven Empire, NPC and user merchants played an active role carrying goods. Local specialities, data on taxes and goods to be sold at stores were transported on the carriages.

Steiner and the thieves welcomed numerous guests (?) and enjoyed the situation.

“This is the checkpoint that we rule. Take out everything you have and go. Hahahat!”

“Please spare my life.”

“Of course I will. So next time you can give me money again!”

An enormous amount of food and materials were captured in the Dumallea Mountains. Of course, nearby military were sent to subdue them but the thieves knew the mountain terrain and were ready to retreat.

“Move away from the mountain stronghold.”

The mountain stronghold was well defended but the knights of the Haven Empire were strong. Steiner’s thieves separated, secretly moved around the circumference and continued plundering.

The villages in the area with shabby defences were also ambushed.

– The subordinate thief Korum has gained a lot of experience.

It was good for Steiner when the abilities of his subordinates increased. His subordinates created another stronghold in the mountains.

The thieves’ Honour became increasingly low and the achievements didn’t rise. Despite there being a lord, it became a lawless area infested with thieves and criminals. It wasn’t possible to rule a city or village but Steiner could rule the mountain as head of the bandit group!

“Well, I have heard all about your infamy. It is an honour to meet Steiner.”

Steiner’s high infamy meant that the number of his subordinates rose. He had to develop and build his infamy properly. He was the leader of a bandit group so it was profitable to take advantage of that.

The scale and standard of the bandit group rose, making it harder for the kingdom to endure. The bandits were surrounded in order to be destroyed. If a few escaped safely then they would just form another stronghold. Once the peace was disturbed by the bandits, the residents’ degree of loyalty decreased and more volunteers were recruited.

“Aye, this dirty world. I have nothing and now I need to join a bandit group.”

“They’ve taken taxes from everything I’ve farmed so now I should steal from them.”

The residents willingly joined the bandit group.

Once the tyranny of the nobles became intense, even the knights and soldiers entered the bandit group. The military that were sent to subdue them were overwhelmed by Steiner’s charisma and joined the group.

The bandit group was a plague on the Haven Empire. The thieves in the mountains rapidly increased their power while the population of the surrounding territories decreased. The trade routes were cut off and the farmland devastated.

Steiner’s thieves!

The group of angry thieves spread excessively through the territory of the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The bard Murray played musical instruments and wrote songs about Bardray’s exciting adventures.

He happily listened to the legends the residents talked about and was happy to be involved in ridiculous incidents from time to time. He wasn’t a bard with a fixed home but one that wandered the Versailles Continent.

Murray looked at the night sky.

“Weed’s star is shining brilliantly these days.”

The bard’s special skill, astronomy! It was possible to predict the destiny of special people through the stars. The designated star would shine differently depending on the situation. When they lost their lives or something bad was happening, the star would shine red while the light would fade if nothing extraordinary was happening.

Weed’s star in the night sky was shining exceptionally brightly.

The user Murray travelled the continent and designated a total of 364 stars in the night sky. Among all the stars, Weed’s brightness was unmatched.

“That gorgeous light….. I wonder what type of quest he is doing.”

His step headed towards the centre of the continent. He wanted to see the Hermes Guild fighting with all their might.

Chapter 7: The Versailles Continent in the Past

Weed had many thoughts about the house.

“This terrain isn’t a good defence. The house needs to be reinforced.”

He cut down trees and built a barrier around the log cabin. The cut down trees were bound tightly with rope and the ends sharpened. Seo-yoon dug pits in the ground and sprinkled pieces of iron.

“Is it hard?”

Weed felt sorry every time his adventures caused her to suffer.

“No, it is interesting.”

Seo-yoon was surprisingly enjoying it. She was able to smile thanks to Weed and her tears had melted the pain in her chest. She was always happy to be with Weed.

“I really enjoyed the time we went to the north with Bingryong and the priest called Alveron. It was good when we went to the Jigolaths.”

“…….”

Shockingly, the places that troubled him were beautiful memories!

‘In addition, all the events are related to me.’

In fact, Weed and Seo-yoon had no memories of comfortable adventures on the Versailles Continent. They never got to eat delicious food at resorts or act like tourists. Crossing the cold north, suffering in the Plains of Despair and almost dying in the Jigolaths!

If Weed was in trouble then she couldn’t avoid it either. The good thing was that they conquered the difficulty together every time! When the two of them came together, they could defeat it every time! Even if the two of them weren’t holding a conversation, Seo-yoon knew Weed’s heart well.

‘How much money did I earn today? The ratings reached 23.4% so the advertising revenue….’

‘He is thinking about money.’

‘The market price for items is quite high these days. I got 5.’

‘He is thinking about money.’

‘Ah, next week is the gas bill.’

‘He is probably thinking about money.’

And on the opposite end.

‘Weed-nim is handsome. I didn’t understand it at first but he is becoming increasingly charming.’

‘The way he is looking at me isn’t ordinary. I need to be careful not to get caught.’

‘Pretty and cute. Do I have to hunt this?’

‘I should kill it with one stroke of the sword so it isn’t in pain.’

‘I don’t want to fight against human like monsters. And the monsters raising children….’

‘Kill them all!’

Weed’s misconceptions about Seo-yoon couldn’t be easily released due to her battle mode. She liked Weed so she did her best while fighting in order to not be left behind. Every time she hesitated, Weed could be in danger. If Weed experienced something difficult then Seo-yoon would be happy to sacrifice herself.  She didn’t mind dying against the monsters if it meant Weed would live.

Weed also had a similar mindset.

‘Two eggs can ease some boiled ramen.’

Weed was stingy yet he was willing to give an egg to Seo-yoon! They hunted and adventured together in Royal Road, went to the same school and lived next door.

If the horrible affection, hateful affection and grateful affection had continued stacking up then Seo-yoon would’ve become empty. That’s why he had trouble expressing her beauty in sculptures for a long time.

Weed and Seo-yoon worked to fortify the log cabin. The monsters didn’t appear until evening so their work proceeded comfortably. And it was night.

Awoooo!

The sound of wolves howling could be heard from a distant place.

“Well, their leather should be soft….”

Weed licked his lips. And a cruel incident occurred.

Kang! Kakang! Keng!

Wolves leapt at Weed and Seo-yoon but the result was already decided.

“I got meat and leather.”

The next morning, the wolf leathers were folded and stacked on top of each other! The fortification of the log cabin continued.

“There are quite a few fearsome monsters on Kordadesul.”

Further inland was the Keltun Kingdom. Keltun Kingdom had a strong military and was praised for its chivalry. But as recorded in history, this was a time were all parts of the continent were suffering from monsters.

Kordadesul was untouched by humans so it remained the best beach. Weed and Seo-yoon lived on the edge of the beach while facing monsters.

Seo-yoon and a beautiful beach, it was a situation anyone would envy! They were like a poor couple that eloped and were now on their honeymoon.

“I need to build steel needles and sprinkle them on the ground. And a sufficient amount of meat can be obtained through monsters….”

Some of the land around the house was cleared and lettuce planted. Humans, in particular Weed’s ability to adapt was truly fearful!

He couldn’t stop the marine monsters that emerged from the sea. But once they went up on land, they weakened rapidly and were easily taken care of. The marine monsters became active on rainy days and they would have to fight on the waterfront.

When comparing the degree of difficulty to Roderick’s Labyrinth, it was like lying down all day then eating a snack after midnight!

It seemed necessary to follow Nodulle and Hilderun’s flow in order to complete the quest.

“I’m getting tense because the difficulty is too easy. I don’t know what will come out next.”

It felt like two murderers spending time at a beach during their travels. He baked fish when hungry and spent time relaxing. Ten days passed and the level of the monsters strengthened while the fortification of the log cabin proceeded at a frightening pace.

Weed used his blacksmith skill to craft iron nails and sprinkled them. The beautiful sandy beach was full of traps so no one could enter. Marine monsters that crawled out from the sea received large damage.

“This isn’t enough.”

Weed gathered some stones from around the log cabin. He showed the ability of a sculptor by stacking the stones in a connected system to form a stone wall.

20 days passed and he found a vein of iron ore. It was thanks to his intermediate mining skill.

“We were lacking iron.”

Kang kang kang!

After digging out the iron ore and melting it, the log cabin was covered. A steel framed cabin surrounded by stone walls was built on the beach and forest of Kordadesul.

“Executioner’s Sword!”

Seo-yoon’s ability to fight was shown against the monsters. When she was in danger, Seulroeo’s wedding ring would transfer health from Weed. Weed gave support from the roof using Radiant Sword and the high elf’s bow as one month passed!

“I wasn’t this relaxed in Roderick’s Labyrinth.”

If he hadn’t resurrected Roderick then there was no doubt he would’ve suffered greatly in the labyrinth. Yet he didn’t need to create a new sculpture at the moment. Seo-yoon’s power was the strongest among Weed’s group so there was nothing to fear here.

Ddiring!

– Home for Two has been completed.

Nodulle and Hilderun spent many happy hours on the beach.

But that relaxation didn’t last for a long time.

– Quest has increased maximum health by 2,000.

“The quest was fairly easy but the content seems vaguely sinister.”

The only income was the rise in maximum health. Health was vital to Weed’s defence capabilities so he could now fight more aggressively.

It seemed he wasn’t uneasy for no reason as ships appeared on the horizon as soon the message window disappeared. It was a big fleet with 50 ships.

They were approaching the land to take Hilderun.

“This time we can’t fight with them.”

The ships had at least 32 sails! The mounted cannons were probably even stronger.

Ddiring!

– Find a Haven

Nodulle decided to take Hilderun to a safe place to avoid the fleet of the Sea God’s followers.

The place he chose was Boden village in Portu Kingdom. Move there across the continent.

The followers of the Sea God will disembark and chase you.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: The quest will fail if you die.

The quest will fail if your female companion dies.

The contents this time required him to take Seo-yoon and cross the Versailles Continent in the past!

“I don’t know where Boden village in Portu Kingdom is.”

Weed didn’t know the geography of the Versailles Continent in the past.

Names of places in the past rarely emerged in quests so there was hardly anyone who deliberately remembered it. Although it was a problem finding the history of the past in the future, it was simple for those living in the time.

“We should go into a city and buy a map. These leather should get quite a bit of money. And the price of travel goods shouldn’t be high. Anyway, we should raise our levels while crossing the hunting ground.”

While Weed was estimating the cost required for the quest, Seo-yoon spoke.

“Shouldn’t we get away before those people land?”

“We should go.”

In a situation where imminent escape was required, he had calculated money first. The two of them entered the house and collected their items. They had obtained a lot of leather and loot during their time hunting here.

In the past, Seo-yoon would only pick up the valuable items. But now she would even pick up coins from the ground.

“What is the value of this antique coin in Keltun Kingdom?”

“We will know when selling it. How many do you have?”

“A little more than 430.”

“That is a lot. It would be heavy. You can give me 300.”

“I’ll give you 100 pieces.”

“I can keep it and return it when we return to the continent.”

“Didn’t you say you would buy me a house for Yellowy?”

“…..100 pieces.”

She came to enjoy being frugal!

Meanwhile, the followers of the Sea God changed to small boats and moved upstream. They didn’t stop the boats so their chasing speed was very fast.

Surung!

Seo-yoon took out her sword. They had to escape from the people pursuing them.

“It isn’t necessary to take the difficult path. Climb on my back!”

“I’m heavy….”

“It is okay. I can handle the weight. Heuk!”

Seo-yoon’s weight was no joke. The weight of her armour and baggage was included as well.

“We’re going now. Quadruped Run!”

It would be nice if he could run coolly piggybacking her but this was his fastest movement skill.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lois Castle!

Weed and Seo-yoon arrived at a great city in the Keltun Kingdom. The buildings were made of red brick and had an antique look.

Ddiring!

– You have admired the building style of the Keltun Kingdom during a period of war.

As a sculptor and King of the Arpen Kingdom, you can construct buildings with the distinctive style of the Keltun Kingdom.

These buildings were created during times of war so they are efficient and built for defence. But famous architects spread a new awareness of beauty, with the facilities containing the royal authority and religion boasting a great grandeur.

It was destroyed in the future but the Pechin Royal Palace, Nurod Cathedral and Benoar Tower were global architectures.

Special buildings can be constructed.

– Soldier Training Camp

Construction costs between 20,000 gold and 1.5 million gold.

A place for drafted soldiers to do their basic training.

The better the training facilities, the more quickly the soldiers can improve their combat skills.

Can be taught how to march quickly.

Special Effects: Soldier conscription rate will improve.

When Sword Mastery is taught, the skill will quickly reached Beginner Level 5.

– High Solid Wall

Construction costs at least 300,000 gold.

A wall designed to hold out against siege weapons, not monsters.

Very heavy and expensive. The construction period will take a long time and it can only be established on firm ground. However, the wall will be able to protect against outside invasion.

Special Effects: Residents will feel less unsettled despite being surrounded by an army.

Morale of the soldiers will be high as long as the walls aren’t destroyed.

Weed discovered buildings that just ate money!

“Anyway, let’s go inside the city.”

“Yes.”

After crossing the forests on mountains on all fours, he decided to purchase a map and other necessary items in the city.

“Cheap, cheap!”

“If you need things then come and look!”

Merchants were selling goods while all the stores had their doors opened. All the residents were NPCs. It wasn’t just Lois City but the whole continent.

Weed and Seo-yoon were the only users to wander around.

“It will be heavy when escaping so let’s dispose of some useless stuff.”

“Yes.”

Weed looked for a merchant who seemed to have a decent price.

‘A person with a moderate belly….’

An exclusive merchant like Mapan would be useful at a time like this. His profession wasn’t a merchant so it would be difficult to bargain when selling to NPCs.

Weed neatly arranged his items and headed to a merchant to start the bargaining strategy.

“You have a lot of marine products and leather. Hunting these should have been fairly difficult… The amount of materials is good so I will give you 14,850 gold. How is it?”

He thought it would be possible to receive at least 20,000 gold but the price was surprisingly low!

“Can’t you buy it for a slightly higher price? I came here intentionally without going anywhere else.”

“Go to other stores. Don’t look so pitiful if you want me to buy it.”

This was the past so Weed’s fame had no use.

“You have a good impression. Please help this poor traveller by adding 150 gold….”

“If you’re not selling then go away!”

A perfect cold reception! Weed tried two other locations but their quotes wasn’t higher so he had no choice but to sell. His baggage would just continue to grow by picking up herbs and hunting monsters along the way. It was inevitable that he had to reduce the weight.

If only the Sea God’s followers weren’t chasing then he could hit a jackpot with commerce. The city and aristocrats sometimes wished for a particular specialty. If he supplied the necessary item then he could gain fame, money and commerce experience. He didn’t need to compete with other merchant users so it would be very profitable.

Seo-yoon bargained with the merchants. The items she took out had a similar quantity to Weed.

“There is this much marten leather. Recently this leather has moved into the limelight due to the aristocrats. You are beautiful so I will buy it for 16,300 gold.”

The price was higher than Weed’s. There weren’t any users here, only NPCs so Seo-yoon had taken off her mask. She didn’t raise her Charm stat yet there was no one who didn’t have a favourable response to her innate beauty.

It was an appearance that could crush stats and skills. If Seo-yoon had increased her Charm stat just a little bit then the merchant would’ve probably bought it for the price she asked. It was to the extent that she could even receive proposals from kings or high ranking NPCs.

Seo-yoon wasn’t familiar with bargaining but she learnt from Weed.

“Could you buy it for 17,000 gold?”

“Ah, I was too rude. I tried to gain too much profit. I can’t maintain my conscience as a merchant. Then I will buy it for 17,700 gold if you come visit again.”

“…….”

Weed didn’t have much to say. The world was originally unfair!

Students could study day and night to raise their test scores but those who played around got better grades. Later a normal salary might but 1~2 million won but the son of a wealthy family would inherit billions in elementary school.

‘Lots of money, intelligent, pretty and good natured.’

The world was really too unfair. Her combat capabilities also excelled in Royal Road. But he took comfort in the fact that Seo-yoon had a weakness.

“It’s really a fatal weakness. She can’t eat gamjatang (pork spine soup), haejangguk (hangover soup) and pig intestines. They are so delicious…”

“Huh?”

“No, nothing. I just had a pitiful thought.”

Weed bought a map of the continent and Portu Kingdom from the market. Portu Kingdom was heavily based on the west of the Central Continent but it was a small kingdom.

“We have to cross the mountain range and southern wastelands in order to reach the Portu Kingdom…. Or there is a shortcut across the border where the Keltun Kingdom is at war with the Mapon Kingdom.”

The residents of the Keltun Kingdom were talking about the war with the Mapon Kingdom. Now they had to set a path.

“Which one is better?”

“There are many monsters in the mountains. The roads are demanding so it will take a long time to cross. Those guys will be quickly chasing us.”

“If we cross the border then there is a high possibility we’ll be involved in the war. I’ve experienced it in the past due to the Tower of Heroes so the Mapon Kingdom is quite scary. If we take that path then we need to be prepared for the war.”

Weed and Seo-yoon pondered their choices.

Monsters and steep paths or a battlefield! Anyway, either path had the risk of damage.

“I think any road won’t be easy. It is hard to determine which one is better with a lack of information.”

“Usually I would go across the mountains. It might be steep but we can take care of the monsters.

But let’s just go west for now.”

“….The reason?”

“I was always unlucky so I’m going to make the reverse choice this time. The so-called contrary idea.”

Weed and Seo-yoon bought everything from the city.

Once the crossed the battlefield in Mapon Kingdom, they could quickly arrive at Portu Kingdom.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin tilted his head to one side as he watched Weed’s adventures.

Weed had established many nice things during his time in Royal Road!

“Adventuring with a beautiful woman…there’s also the dancer.”

That was even more difficult then becoming the God of War. Moreover, Seo-yoon’s tone and expression showed that she would be happy as long as she was with Weed.

On the actual Versailles Continent, the Haven Empire was continuing the large scale battles against the other kingdoms.

The Haven Empire’s surprise attacks were successful but the other guilds had allied together. The other side was strong so they desperately hired mercenaries and conscripted soldiers. They were desperate to stop the Haven Empire so fierce battles were waged.

However, Weed was having a romantic adventure with Seo-yoon in another time zone of the Versailles Continent.

“There is even a chance of acquiring the final secret technique.”

– Should I start calculating the odds?

“No.”

Yoo Byung-jin decided not to check the probability and to watch. Weed had a long and winding road in front of him in order to complete this quest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This battle has also been won.”

Bardray saw the flag of the Haven Empire flying on Loube Fortress while riding his horse. He led the main force of the Haven Empire in an intense battle against the Black Sword Mercenaries. But the enemies were defeated and the Haven Empire occupied that territory.

The first strike from the strong magician and archer unit! After that, Bardray and the 4 Imperial Knights Divisions disturbed the enemy. Once the infantry division moved, the enemy was incoherent. It wasn’t possible for them to endure.

It was reckless to fight the Haven Empire on the plains. The users in the Hermes Guild had some of the best skills and levels on the continent. Their potential power was enough to fight against the entire continent.

“The damage is 14,873 people killed in battle and 30,000 injured.

The knight Ramos who commanded the NPC soldiers came and reported back.

The Black Sword Mercenaries were outstanding mercenaries so they had dealt a colossal amount of harm to the Hermes Guild. The Black Sword Mercenaries had the co-operation of the Mercenary Guild so they were a formidable enemy.

The leader Michel was one of the top 5 users in Royal Road! That was the reason Bardray appeared directly. But due to the situation, the two of them avoided each other. Bardray took pride in the fact that he was the strongest in Royal Road. But no one knew what could happen in a war.

If he was besieged by several members of the Black Sword Mercenaries then Bardray could lose his life. If Bardray died then the Haven Empire’s continent conquest plan would receive a great setback. It would be an opportunity for the guilds not involved in the war to counterattack.

Michel also didn’t do any risky gambles. Bardray was his rival but Michel had no confidence in a one on one match. It would be difficult to grasp a chance with the Royal Guards and the Hermes Guild. Even if he won the battle, there was a high probability of losing.

The Black Sword Mercenaries were spread over the Masen and Norton Kingdom so they aimed to drag the enemy deeper and reverse the situation. The users that reconnected and the trained NPCs would be waiting. The system was the same for all the guilds allied against the Hermes Guild.

They called this strategy Lion Hunting.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lafaye and his advisors stayed in the Haven Empire’s vast territory and organized things like logistics, troops training, support for new troops and other similar work. There was a lot of work but small mistakes could happen so it was important.

“The southern front?”

“They’re crossing the Beimond Plateau. Currently there is an intense sandstorm…they are being delayed due to bad weather.”

“The enemy might use the sandstorm. Notify the 3rd and 5th armies.”

“Send 3,000 reinforcements to the Britten Alliance Kingdom occupation forces. It seems like we need more cavalry on that front.”

“There are enough reinforcements but it will take 4 days to move them.”

“Make sure that the cavalry moves to the Aidern Kingdom first. Once they take care of one side, they can help the Britten Alliance Kingdom.”

The entire war was controlled by Lafaye and his advisors. There was a commander for each army but all plans were drafted at Aren Castle in the Haven Empire.

As time passed, the power of the Haven Empire and the Imperial Palace rose. This had been set up for a long time by Lafaye so the Haven Empire kept extending. Administration of domestic affairs had deteriorated due to construction of the Imperial Palace and the war but Lafaye showed exceptional abilities to minimize the aftermath.

“Lion Hunting. Huhuhu.”

Lafaye knew the strategies of the Allied Forces like he was reading it from his palm.

It was due to the placement of spies he planted in advance! Moreover, a guild they were secretly allied with belonged to the Allied Forces.

“I’ll gradually have them devoured by the lion.”

The Hermes Guild was relaxed since they knew they knew the tactic of the Allied Forces. They would continue to fight to occupy the area and then throw all their power at the proper time, causing a complete surrender.

“Dispatch the Northern Expedition army to help.”

Lafaye didn’t inform the guild of all the thoughts in his head. When he organized a force to destroy Weed and the Arpen Kingdom, he knew that they wouldn’t succeed.

Of course, it was fine if Weed and the Arpen Kingdom were destroyed but it didn’t matter if the troops failed. The strong forces of the Haven Empire sent to the north were completely wiped out. The Allied Forces were able to gain great courage and disparage the Haven Empire.

Expectations that they could win were planted. But the Haven Empire was the one thoroughly winning in the Central Continent. The opponents were on a losing streak but the Northern Expeditions’ failure gave the illusion that they could win.

And they aimed for a dramatic reversal with Lion Hunting. Lafaye would profit from both the success or failure of the Northern Expedition.

The Haven Empire troops were placed around the continent without a hitch.

Lafaye was the brains behind the Hermes Guild and they knew how scary he was after multiple wars.

“But it is difficult with that bandit group running amok.”

The activities of the resistance army was continuing in the Kallamore Kingdom, Lasalle Kingdom and Britten Alliance Kingdom.

Security was weakened and the resulting damage of the bandit group in the mountains was surprisingly large. The territory of the Haven Empire was causing more of a headache than the battlefield.

They couldn’t spare any military fighting at the borders to return and the reserve troops at the city couldn’t be used to chase after the bandit group. The activities of the Embinyu Church was also multiplying.

The Haven Empire was huge and Lafaye knew how hard it was to get rid of something once it started to fester.

“It can’t be helped. Using precious troops here…send an assassination squad.”

Large and small events continued spreading in the Haven Empire. Lafaye managed the huge forces like a puppeteer and gradually took possession of the continent.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A groan emerged from Weed’s mouth as he saw the battlefield between the Keltun and Mapon Kingdoms.

“Uhh, we won’t be able to avoid it.”

An all-out war with more than 100,000 soldiers! The infantry, cavalry and magic units were fiercely attacking.

“If we don’t pass through here then we’ll have to go back. Then taking a shortcut would be meaningless.”

The Sea God’s followers were 1~2 hours behind them. Waiting for the battle to finish or going back would be the worst choice.

“The only way is to break through. I’m fortunate that this won’t be like Princess Remy.”

He had failed the Tower of Heroes’ quest because he left Princess Remy along in order to fight and she died. If it was Seo-yoon then he didn’t have to be that worried.

Surung!

Seo-yoon smoothly pulled out her sword. She was a natural berserker in battle. Rather, she would be the one defending Weed.

“Are you ready?”

“I am.”

Seo-yoon answered vigorously. She would go anywhere with Weed. Anyway, this moment would be a fun memory for later.

“Let’s go!”

She cried in a loud voice but Weed didn’t move. When Seo-yoon rode forward first, he followed behind her. The spirit of a female was shown on the battlefield!

“I’ll protect you! Don’t pass me. Stay behind.”

The special quality of a berserker could be understood as she participated in the large battle.

Seo-yoon wielded her sword.

“Dance of the Mad Warrior!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The soldiers blocking her way fell down. She earnestly attacked from the beginning without worrying about defence.

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed also used his sword technique from the beginning. The thunderbird flew through the Keltun Kingdom’s military and shot out thunderbolts. Hundreds of lightning and thunder flew on a clear sky.

Strategically it was better to side with the Mapon Kingdom instead of the Keltun Kingdom. Once they passed through the Mapon Kingdom’s camp, they could safely reach their destination.

“Unconditionally kill as much as you want. Pile up the achievements for when we cross the Mapon Kingdom….”

Seo-yoon attacked when the knights of the Mapon Kingdom approached.

Bang!

The body fell to two pieces.

Seo-yoon showed a berserker’s capabilities as she killed and wounded many.

A berserker was the strongest on a battlefield. The disadvantage of a berserker was that they couldn’t distinguish between friend or foe on a battlefield. The area seemed to distort and everyone looked like an enemy to the berserker. Sometimes unharmed children would look like monsters and honour would decrease after they were killed.

Under these kind of circumstances, Seo-yoon couldn’t distinguish between the army of the Mapon Kingdom and the Keltun Kingdom. She just focused on killing all enemies that approached.

“A crony of the Mapon Kingdom.”

“Minion of the dirty Keltun Kingdom!”

Weed and Seo-yoon became the target of two kingdoms…

“This isn’t it. I would hire someone like that if I won the lottery. Yet they would get crazy when protecting me.”

Although Weed complained, he adapted to it quickly. It would be difficult to die with Seo-yoon using all her power. The important thing was that the Mapon and Keltun Kingdoms were busy fighting each other.

“Pierce through the troops on the right side. Run there!”

Weed stuck closely to Seo-yoon. Seo-yoon cut any soldiers or knights that they passed. Weed didn’t have to worry about attacks while next to Seo-yoon but there was something else.

“If my eyes turn black then get far away from me.”

“Huh?”

“When that time comes, I won’t be able to control my body anymore.”

Another disadvantage of a berserker was that they became stronger when they saw blood. The commands of the leader wouldn’t have any effect after that. They would go crazy and just attack at random around them.

“Why didn’t you mention such side effects sooner?”

“It is just a small side effect.”

“…….”

Seo-yoon made a light joke. But Weed didn’t hear it as a joke!

This was entirely different from when he had to guard Princess Remy. The longer the fight went on, the more insane a berserker would become and that was dangerous.

“Please keep a clear head. We need to live and escape from here.”

“I will try my best.”

“You must not fight too long. We will leave the battlefield and flee to a safe place.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Ah, that is the adamantium boots that are hard to obtain. Go there!”

Weed’s eyes scanned all over the place.

Thanks to the clash between the Keltun and Mapon Kingdoms, many precious knight items were scattered everywhere.

Chapter 8: Flames of Disaster

From Weed’s perspective, the isolated groups of knights fighting each other were too good to leave alone.

The level  of the knights was approximately 300. It was a time of war so the knights of the Keltun and Mapon Kingdoms had a high standard. Stronger Royal Knights also participated but they weren’t near Weed and Seo-yoon.

Weed’s plan changed.

“If we try to get out of the Mapon Kingdom area then we’ll just keep being chased by knights and cavalry. We should build some public achievements.”

Weed drove them towards a place where the infantry had built a line of defence.

“Take care of everyone. Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

“Kueek!”

“Strong. Block with your shields.”

“We’ve been breached!” That guy broke through!”

The regular soldiers were swept away. The soldiers fell down as he passed them and attacked. They changed to a grey light and he collected the dropped items! But it wasn’t possible to be careless for even a short moment on the battlefield. The Helos Knights from the Keltun Kingdom were bearing down on them.

“Watch your back!”

Weed turned around as soon as he heard Seo-yoon’s voice. The Helos Knights were rushing towards the Mapon Kingdom army like a gale.

“That’s great. They can take care of the others.”

Weed quickly moved to the side. Their goal wasn’t Weed so they moved past him.

“Let’s how those Mapon hillbillies the greatness of the Keltun Kingdom.”

“Charge. Charge!”

The Helos Knights passed and struck the army of the Mapon Kingdom. Weed followed the Helos Knights on horseback. It wasn’t possible to follow using pure horse riding skill but the opponents were knights wearing heavy armour.

After breaking through the camp, many soldiers of the Mapon Kingdom fell due to the charge. The health of the Mapon Kingdom’s army gradually decreased as the Helos Knights attacked. This was like a shower of flowers for Weed!

Kuaaaang!

The Mapon Kingdom aimed magic and arrows towards the Helos Knights.

“You have to fall so I can eat properly!”

Weed sneaked out of the Helos Knights and entered the archer unit of the Mapon Kingdom. Now that the knight unit was the main target, he could secure access to the archers.

The knights of the Mapon Kingdom thrust at the Keltun Kingdom. Seo-yoon didn’t separate from the knights and just cut them down as she headed towards Weed.

“We have to leave quickly! If we delay too long then we will receive the enemy’s concentrated attack.”

“Those are my thoughts too!”

Weed and Seo-yoon rushed through the battlefield. They had no time to rest and endlessly fought as they tried to escape.

“This is a mess!”

Weed surveyed the Mapon Kingdom for a way to escape. Thousands of arrows intersected in the sky and magic hit the places where soldiers were gathered.

The sight of the battlefield was overwhelming. 100,000 enemies were fighting against each other on both sides so he couldn’t find an empty space.

They had to break through despite being outnumbered! Furthermore, if the battle on the plains finished early then the situation would be worse. Whether the Mapon Kingdom or the Keltun Kingdom won, the winning army would then target Weed and Seo-yoon.

“The Sea God is angry!”

“Collect the offering.”

The Sea God’s followers then appeared at a place near Weed and Seo-yoon. They were soon chased across the battlefield. Although the battlefield was filled with cavalry, they would soon be caught.

“It seems to be good that we came here. This battle will buy us some time. We just need to get out alive.”

Seo-yoon took everything in stride as she thought of how to escape.

“We have to go!”

“If we wait a moment then the cavalry and knights will block their pursuit.”

Weed didn’t move. He calmly watched the movements of the Keltun Kingdom and Mapon Kingdom. He paid attention to the actions and words of the soldiers and knights. He looked at every detail of how the troops were moving.

“Many soldiers are gathered in this small place so it is impossible for there to be a gap. Therefore we have to make a gap.”

Sometimes his evil thoughts transcended human imagination. Weed was a creative person who could put his wicked plans into action.

The northern users who fought for the Arpen Kingdom on Rupoi Plains! Weed had been waiting above them in order to use Great Disaster Nature Sculpting. Of course, he didn’t use it because it would be unprofitable but now there was no reason to hesitate.

“Originally people liked playing with fire.”

Young children dreamt of becoming firefights so he pulled out an astonishing sculpture. It was a Masterpiece of a flame sculpture that he had been saving!

“Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

– A Masterpiece Sculpture.

A fearsome havoc will be exerted that can kill you. Even so, do you want to use the skill?

Affinity to Nature was incomparably high so it was natural for a terrible power to emerge. There was a cruel smile on Weed’s face.

“Use it.”

– You have used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

200 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

20,000 Mana has been consumed.

All stats have been temporarily reduced by 15%.

Affinity to Nature has fallen.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once a day.

When a great calamity is called upon, fame or infamy can be increased depending on the damage.

It is possible to die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

– You have become familiar with the Great Disaster Nature Sculpting skill.

It is possible to cause two disasters at the same time.

The interaction of the disasters can cause different effects on nature.

– Title, Person who Drives Disaster has been acquired.

Faith has decreased by 60.

Affinity to Nature has fallen.

“I got used to a bad thing too quickly!”

It took a short while for the skill to kick in. However, if he was caught in the disaster then he would lose his life.

“Let’s go. We will penetrate the front.”

“I understand!”

Weed and Seo-yoon rode like crazy across the battlefield.

“You over there. I am Knight Lanter from the Mapon Kingdom and I challenge you.”

“I am busy right now so find someone else.”

“A person who runs from a sword in battle has no honour!”

“Honour won’t feed me!”

“Keltun Knights, chase after them.”

“These tedious fellows.”

There were only a few knights and the attack of the soldiers were weak so he just passed them. Magic and arrows targeted them. Weed and Seo-yoon just kept running forward.

Fuhihihing!

Seo-yoon’s horse was hit by magic and collapsed.

“Get on my horse!

“But…I will just slow you down.”

“I don’t care.”

“We will be caught by the pursuers.”

“If you die then there is no meaning in me staying alive. We either die together or live together.”

Seo-yoon’s heart leapt in her chest. Although Weed appeared to by a stingy person concerned with profit or loss, his words really warmed her heart.

‘I want to be with him anytime, anywhere. I’m really happy.’

Weed rose through the battlefield with Seo-yoon behind him.

‘Even if I stay alive, the quest will be a failure if Seo-yoon dies.’

So far he had never been caught in a disaster because he had thoroughly prepared in advance. However, he had become embroiled in the battle between the Mapon and Keltun Kingdoms too quickly that he couldn’t prepare properly.

Reeds rapidly grew on the battlefield. The reeds made horses uncomfortable and slowed them down. And they were dry.

“We haven’t gone outside yet but it is starting.”

Weed and Seo-yoon penetrated through the field of reeds. He had carved the sculpture directly so he knew how it worked.

Rough winds passed through the reed field and kindled a blaze. The reeds flew in the air and a huge fire started! The disaster was finally triggered.

“Kuaaak!”

“A huge fire!”

The soldiers who were fighting suddenly yelled. Weed didn’t turn around and just concentrated on driving his horse forward.

However, his back was blazing like the sun was burning him and it became increasingly intense. Suddenly the soldiers and knights were fleeing instead of fighting because their fear and curiosity was stronger.

“Over there.”

“Yes.”

“What is happening now?”

He didn’t want to check directly so he asked Seo-yoon.

“It looks good.”

“How is it?’

“Well, the wind is blowing from all sides and the flames from the reed field is flying up. The swirling flames…they are burning nicely. And it is spreading and becoming bigger.”

“The screams of the soldiers are very intense.”

“The knights and soldiers were covered up just now. I think it will be quiet soon.”

“…….”

Listening to Seo-yoon’s calm and accurate explanation was every more creepy.

“Hiyah! Let’s go!”

Weed dashed forward at full speed. The horse kept on running as their lives were at stake. But the flames surging at his back was becoming increasingly scary. The strength became more intense the longer it lasted.

Hurururut!

It was the sound of wind spreading the fire! The reeds flew through the air and the ground caught on fire. Fire was swallowing everything in the plain. It was a dramatic and beautiful scene but there was no one to appreciate it.

‘As expected, we shouldn’t play with fire.’

Weed’s despairing expression was like when he peeled the lid of the last remaining ramen late at night only to find no soup.

“This can’t be avoided.”

“I think so as well.”

“Still, we should try our best….”

“I think it is already too late.”

The flames were enveloping them at a fearsome rate.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Stone Hammer Guild.

It was a large guild formed from architects of the Arpen Kingdom.

“What has Pedso-nim been doing these days?”

“I’ve been working on maintaining the sewers underneath Morata.”

“That is good.”

“There are definitely alligators in the sewers.”

The architects were the foundation for the expansion of facilities in all the cities of the Arpen Kingdom. Architects took care of everything from bridges, roads, waterways, houses, etc.

Currently there was an emphasis on construction of Royal Palace but 78% of the important buildings had already been completed. The interior, exterior, landscaping, murals and ceiling painting took some time to make so the work was proceeding in a gradual manner.

“It is too bad I can’t see it through to the end.”

“There isn’t time to play since we still have a lot of work to do.”

“Isn’t building the Royal Palace quite a bit of work? It is boring to build shacks.”

“Just hand it over to the person who initiated the construction of the shack. There are 3 Grand Buildings being built at Varna Harbour so skilful architects are needed.”

“I have to go there.”

Architects scattered throughout the entire Arpen Kingdom again.

‘Although I received a commission for a Grand Building, it isn’t my thing.’

‘How long do I have to live my life making buildings for others?’

It was the same with painters and sculptors who lived relying on commissions. Instead of receiving compensation, they were just given another request.

Weed picked up the materials he needed himself but most production professions relying on the compensation to pay for their materials. If they were too greedy or looked for unreasonable work then the failure would lead to a vicious cycle of poverty.

When an art related quest was failed 3 times, there would be a rapid decline in fame. It was difficult to succeed and to be constantly creative.

– There is no answer other than working hard in the early stages of a career.

– Only become an artist if you are willing to die. However, you will labour until you die.

Morata’s architects considered themselves the lucky ones.

“It is good that we came to the north.”

“This is heaven.”

Nothing they built was constructed directly by their hands. The demand for architects increased as the city expanded and the number of users grew explosively. Architects were also valuable for things like bridges, waterways and Grand Buildings. A lot of their names were known through the buildings but they had no possessions.

Many ambitious architects started digging in the middle of nowhere.

“There are many paths to walk in the area, a river flowing upstream and fertile ground so a city can be built here.”

They built walls, granaries, inns, etc. Once the basic facilities were built, residents came there to live.

Ddiring!

– A hamlet has been formed.

It is near the habitat of the Lizardmen so there can be an invasion at any time.

An uneasy peace will last depending on the stone walls.

Military Power: 2                                         Economic Power: 3

Culture:  369                                                 Technology: 1

Urban Development:  19                           Safety: 64%

No vigilantes present. But there will be a resistance if an invasion occurs.

They need to find a way to live. If they can’t find a way….

The residents of the Arpen Kingdom rose due to the advanced culture. Most of the residents didn’t have special technical skills and could only make rice.

The architects had to endure all sorts of difficult things to ensure the residents could live peacefully. Mercenaries were employed to prevent monster attacks while residents went out to clear nearby land.

Once the housing and population reached 100, it was officially recognized as a village in Arpen Kingdom.

Ddiring!

– A small village has been formed.

The Lizardmen habitat nearby has been wiped out by passing knights.

The sturdy walls have blocked the monsters many times so the residents can feel at ease.

Military Power: 9                                                 Economic Power: 13

Culture: 398                                                           Technology: 7

Urban Development: 21                                     Safety: 72%

There was a big sacrifice but the residents have learned to fight against the monsters. Talented people can fulfil their dream of being a soldier.

There is interest in agriculture and hunting. Getting rid of the surrounding monsters can increase the farmland.

The only inn in the village has no vacancies.

Talk about the wonderful culture of the Arpen Kingdom is continuing.

The residents are eager to experience everything.

– You have been inducted as a Lord.

Once given a place in the Arpen Kingdom, you can earn a barony. Your status as an aristocrat will rise higher as the village grows.

40% of the tax income should be offered to the kingdom and the contribution can be used to develop economic, military and technological needs.

The architects suffered all over as they grew cities.

– The secondary advancement is possible.

It is possible to become a city architect due to the wealth of experience.

A city architect! The architects were a big success in empty territory, cities and villages.

Of course, this also increased the work of merchants, farmers and miners.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The forces of the Mapon Kingdom, Keltun Kingdom and the Sea God’s followers were enveloped with the flames of disaster.

“S-save me!”

“I am a knight of the Keltun Kingdom. It would be more honourable to be killed by an enemy.”

“Brave warriors, show them that we aren’t scared of death until the end!”

It was inevitable that the armies of both kingdoms would be wrapped in flames. The place where Weed was riding was also covered with flames.

“Sculptural Destruction! Everything into Agility.”

Weed carried Seo-yoon and used Quadruped Run after destroying a sculpture.

“Close Eyes Tightly, Stone Skin!”

He mobilized all the skills that he could use!

Everywhere was covered in fire so there was no meaning in opening his eyes. There was no risk to his eyes and the stone skill improved the protection of his body.

And he ran unconditionally in one direction.

‘I need to hold on to Seo-yoon….’

Weed’s health was rapidly decreasing.

– Your entire body has been wrapped in flames.

The hot fire decreases health by 3,850 every second.

It wasn’t possible to escape so his health fell at a rapid pace.

– Durability of your weapons and armour has decreased.

If it lasts too long then there is a possibility the fire can cause permanent damage.

The message windows popped up as Weed ran forward. Then a new message window appeared.

– A blessing has been given by Hestia who is in charge of fire and the hearth.

Goddess Hestia has blessed the human who is fulfilling the obligations in this holy land.

Resistance to injustice has temporarily increased.

The fire has been absorbed and all stats increased by 39.

The effect of all attack skills increased by 2 levels and the activation time reduced.

Achievements of the Hestia Church has decreased by 2,300.

Hestia’s blessing had also been given to the Goddess’ Knight Armour. The blessing lowered the weight and raised defence. This time Goddess Hestia blessed Weed directly.

And after a while, they finally emerged from the area filled with flames.

“Keoheoheok! I barely lived.”

Weed and Seo-yoon had completely become charcoal.

– Remaining Health: 3,891

“I was on the verge of dying but I barely survived.”

Weed touched his pounding heart. The battlefield couldn’t be seen due to the blazing fire. He was almost consumed by the disaster but they managed to avoid the pursuers for a while.

“When the heavens are helpful, a miracle can also happen.”

Weed wrapped bandages around himself and asked Seo-yoon.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes. That was a little dangerous.”

“How much health is left?”

“Around 110,000.”

“…….”

“I have many items with fire resistance.”

Seo-yoon wore a set of rings, earrings and bracelets with fire resistance. They were berserker items that she packed in cases of emergency.

Weed was upset.

“I ran really fast because I thought you would die.”

There were moments of crises but Seulroeo’s wedding ring gave him some leeway. But he just found out he suffered for nothing!

Weed muttered as he recalled the past.

“I really am unlucky. When I was young, I wanted to drink strawberry milk so I wanted a month until it went down to 500 won at the supermarket.”

“But?”

“The price rose to 600 won from that day onwards. The price this time was my achievements with the Hestia Church.”

Seo-yoon took out a black lump.

“Here, have some baked sweet potato. Let’s eat together.”

She had even learnt to bake the sweet potatoes using the fire from Weed.

“The salt and kimchi?”

“I brought some from Morata.”

Weed felt a little better after eating the sweet potatoes.

“We should’ve also baked some squid….”

Ah, it was really difficult…

Chapter 9: Seo-yoon Caught in Between

Weed and Seo-yoon acted like tourists as they travelled through the Mapon Kingdom.

“Shall we ride together in a carriage?”

“Thank you.”

After walking part of the way, a generous NPC merchant gave them a carriage ride. Weed carved sculptures in the carriage and asked.

“Would you like to trade?”

“I have olives and eggplants. It is difficult to get a fair price due to the war.”

Weed and Seo-yoon were moving across the whole continent. They had no choice but to be astonished by the enormity of the Versailles Continent. When talking with the residents, they were reproducing the time when Nodulle and Hilderun lived. It was even possible to ask about the Niflheim Empire in the north.

“Ah, that…our merchants haven’t gone that far. The monsters there are too wild.”

“The monsters in the north are stronger?”

“I think so. And it is on such a large scale that it would be no use even if we go there with mercenaries. And mercenaries don’t like going there. But merchants who have gone to the north received large amounts of profit. The Niflheim Empire has many rare, quality products so I would like to visit it one day.’

In the past, the Niflheim Empire was very powerful. Exchanges with the Central Continent wasn’t very active so many rumours spread about it. Weed’s head was full of thoughts.

‘We need to go to Boden village. In order to do that, we need to pass through the Mapon Kingdom safely. But our infamy is a bit high so it will be a problem if we pass through cities and villages.’

Residents could check infamy and fame. The ordinary residents wouldn’t understand but it would be a problem if he encountered soldiers or the Royal Knights. It was natural for Weed and Seo-yoon to be wanted after their actions.

‘Then maybe we shouldn’t go faster and just raise our experience and fame as we travel?’

Weed was an expert at finding solutions for disadvantageous situations. He utilized his various skills and information. His most important asset was playing cheap tricks.

‘This is the Versailles Continent in the past. Them a large number of dungeons that will be unearthed later is still untouched.’

A monster’s habitat, bandits’ den, places of historical events, secluded magicians, etc. There were various reasons why a dungeon could be created or destroyed. Once the doors of Royal Road were opened, people would unearth ancient treasures buried in the dungeons.

If Weed and Seo-yoon entered those dungeons…no one would’ve entered them yet so they could receive the first time visitor benefits and the treasure. Of course, he would have detailed information about the dungeon beforehand!

‘Besides, right now there are no competitors.’

There were no other users so it would be easy to receive quests from the residents. If he collected the information that existed now then they could become the first visitors to all the dungeons.

Weed felt like he had picked up 100 won from the street. It was a situation where he couldn’t be happier!

“Let’s go hunting. We know this dungeon.”

Weed had prepared a long explanation so that Seo-yoon could understand. But she answered immediately.

“Well, we’re the only ones in this time. It would be great to become the first visitors to the dungeon.”

“So…..”

“I’ve been thinking about it since the log cabin and I think it will be okay.”

“…….”

Weed sometimes good tired around a clever woman. His body could relax. But he became mentally deprived! He tried his hardest to come up with something but the other person had already thought of it first.

“We’re travellers that can’t enter a city….”

“We should obtain a map from travellers and prepare supplies from merchants. If our infamy lowers then we can comfortably enter Boden village.”

“The trackers….”

“The forces of the Sea God fought with the Mapon Kingdom so chasing us beyond the border will be difficult. If they do manage to chase us, they’ll be forced to deal with the soldiers in the Mapon Kingdom.”

Seo-yoon knew Weed’s mind too well. So she had thought of all this already.

“Do you know what I was thinking a short while ago?”

“Yes.”

“What am I thinking about?”

“The increase in electricity bills.”

“Heeok!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon and Weed headed to the closest dungeon in the Mapon Kingdom.

“Here.”

The entrance wasn’t hard to find. The dungeon had been unearthed 2 years after the Versailles Continent opened. The treasures left in this place was huge. He had a large stomach-ache watching it on the television.

“Okay. We’re starting.”

Weed and Seo-yoon finished their battle preparations and entered the dungeon.

– Dungeon: You are the first ones to discover the Tomb of the Hero Karmung.

Benefits: Fame has increased by 870.  Experience and item drops will double for a week.

The first monster killed of each type will drop the rarest item.

“As expected.”

The monsters in this place weren’t that difficult and they managed to conquer it in 2 days.

“Inspect!”

– Karmung’s Spear: Durability 73/75. Attack 85~126.

The spear belonging to Hero Karmung of the Mapon Kingdom.

The weapons technology of the time wasn’t that developed but the best craftsmen dedicated themselves to completing this spear for the hero.

Restrictions: Knights, Spearmen and Paladins only.

Level 380.

Options: Fame +3,150.

The maximum damage is shown when charging.

Piercing Damage + 46. Destroys shields. Deals continuous attacks.

Set items! He gathered Karmung’s spear, sword and all the armour pieces.

“Huhuhu, these goods are as expected.”

Karmung’s spear, sword and armour were intact.

“We should go somewhere else quickly.”

– Dungeon: You are the first ones to discover Venus’s Treasury.

Benefits: Fame has increased by 430.

Experience and item drops will double for a week. The first monster killed of each type will drop the rarest item.

“Indeed!”

Weed shouted with joy. The entrance was within the mountains and they were the first visitors.

He had obtained information about Venus’s Treasury from the Dark Gamers Union but in didn’t exist in that time anymore.

“I am lucky…even if the sky collapses, I am a person who will still pick up money.”

This quest was worth doing. He collected quite a bit of profit. He didn’t know how the final secret sculpting technique quests would end but right now Weed was fortunate.

“Originally, horoscopes will change depending on the year.”

Weed and Seo-yoon swept through the dungeons with a positive mind.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray and the Hermes Guild!

“Bergen Castle has surrendered.  The death toll on our side is 38,000. The walls have been completely destroyed and residents are living outside. The Black Sword Mercenaries were defeated and abandoned the castle.”

“Congratulations on occupying the Gradian Kingdom. Your Majesty.”

The Hermes Guild devoured all the land in the Gradian Kingdom and finally made the capital city surrender. Lafaye’s side know their Lion Hunting plan and didn’t miss the opportunity.

The Hermes Guild gave Bardray a lot of troops and sent him towards the Gradian Kingdom. The overwhelming force of Bardray and the Royal Guards defeated the Black Sword Mercenaries!

It was confusing for the Black Sword Mercenaries since they thought their plan had been progressing. But once the balance of power tilted, it was difficult to restore..

The Black Sword Mercenaries were driven into a defensive, melee fight. The Allied Forces were also complaining about the Lion Hunting operation. They had united to defeat the dangerous Hermes Guild. But that didn’t necessarily mean they would help in times of emergency. Their only concern was defeating the Hermes Guild so they refused the Black Sword Mercenaries’ request for help under a pretext.

In the end, the Black Sword Mercenaries suffered repeated defeats and ran away from the Gradian Kingdom.

“The Gradian Kingdom occupation ceremony is almost ready, Your Majesty.”

Bardray shook his head at the chamberlain’s words.

“Defer that. I will be chasing after the Black Sword Mercenaries.”

The troops of the Haven Empire were pleased that the Gradian Kingdom was conquered and didn’t stay long. They immediately caught up with the Black Sword Mercenaries in the Nest Kingdom.

The Nest Kingdom was already at war with the Haven Empire but Bardray hit them from the direction of the Gradian Empire.

Title: The strong Hermes Guild. Where is the end?

Many people are wishing for the downfall of the Hermes Guild.

But they have never been defeated in their battles so far.

The Versailles Continent is going to be theirs.

Title: I fought directly against the Haven Empire.

I’m a magician from the ruined Lasalle Kingdom. At that time, they were just the Haven Kingdom.

A person who only sees the video probably won’t understand. They are a dreadful existence that causes despair.

The Hermes Guild packed with high level users is like looking up at the sun.     The NPCs are also soldiers trained to systematically move.

Many of my friends participated in the siege but it is like children trying to fight adults.

The Hermes Guild, no Haven Empire’s victory? It is natural. They are overwhelmingly strong.

The reactions on the bulletin board were explosive.

– It can’t be denied that Bardray is the strongest person.

– It is only a matter of time until the Haven Empire occupies the Britten Alliance Kingdom.

– It won’t be long.

– Will the north be able to hold out until the end? The north is the one who destroyed the Haven Empire’s Northern Expedition.

–It is far away so it will survive. It isn’t the strongest but….

– Once the Hermes Guild makes up their mind, the north will be decimated.

– It isn’t possible to compare the Central Continent and the recently pioneered north.

– Isn’t it possible if the users come together?

– The northern users? If they gather then the Haven Empire won’t pause and will squash them.

– Will the Haven Empire ignore them? They have the best users and military. There are many beginners in the north so they can’t compare.

– The Hermes Guild is undoubtedly strong.

– This is the paradise of the Hermes Guild.

– The Hermes Guild should go away!

A myriad of statements popped up on the bulletin boards. It was evidence that all users feared the pace of the Hermes Guild.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Oh, it really was a long road.”

Weed and Seo-yoon rode into Boden village.

They had ridden around the Versailles Continent and cleared 2 more dungeons before arriving. Weed had gained 6 levels and reached 438. It was difficult to gain experience once the level become high so this was the benefit of discovering the dungeon first.

He also sold the sculptures he made to merchants in the Mapon Kingdom.

“This wonderful sculpture! You have been hiding great skills.”

– 1,384 Fame has been gained by showing off your skills.

Weed’s name wasn’t spread over this continent so it was rare for people to know his name. That’s why it was easier to increase fame when selling sculptures.

“The sculpture is my life. I wouldn’t sell it if it wasn’t good.”

“The price will be high for a rare work like this!”

Later he entered a city and dealt directly with aristocrats.

“Well, you’ve managed to express the tone and atmosphere. I’ll generously give you gold coins.”

“Thank you very much, Sir Count! I was wondering about my skills. I’m glad that Sir Count sees something worthy in my work.”

“Hahahat, I’ll also give a jewel!”

“Your kindness is very big!”

The flattery that earned him more profit! Weed made a large amount of money even in times of war. The skill proficiency of sculpting reached 82.3% of advanced level 9 and handicraft reached 88.7% of advanced level 9.

Furthermore, his rise in fame reduced the influence of infamy. They comfortably moved from the Mapon Kingdom to Portu Kingdom and arrived at Boden village.

Weed felt regret.

“It would have been nice if we came more slowly.”

He was in a hurry due to the situation on the Versailles Continent but he would’ve liked to stay for 1 year to hunt in dungeons. They hadn’t seen any trackers from the Sea God’s followers while travelling in the Mapon Kingdom so they were either defeated in the battlefield or couldn’t cross the border.

“Where should we go now?”

Seo-yoon asked while changing her armour.

It was a bright and clean silver studded with tiny jewels. Once a battle began and the ability of a berserker started to be exercised, the jewels would turn increasingly dark towards the colour of blood.

Weed and Seo-yoon deliberately didn’t touch some monsters and hunted the boss class monsters that dropped nice berserker items. Weed didn’t obtain anything nicer than the Goddess’ Knight Armour but got a rather good helmet and boots.

He had picked up the Devil’s Helmet from the devil Montus. It contained a great power but there was a severe penalty so he didn’t use it.

“I don’t know. We’ll see after entering the village.”

Weed went inside in order to complete the quest. Boden village was a small place with approximately 100 houses.

– Find a Haven has been completed.

You have travelled around the continent and finally arrived at Boden village. Nodulle and Hilderun have hope that they can live peacefully here.

– Experience has risen.

– Charm and Courage has increased by 10.

“This is like the early days of Morata.”

“There aren’t a lot of people and it has a cosy feeling.”

“Talk to everyone and see if there is a quest. If there isn’t a quest in this small place then we will go to a big city.”

“Later we should find a chance to visit the Niflheim Empire.”

“It would be nice if that is possible….anyway, it won’t be easy.”

They walked along the main street of the village.

“His Majesty the King. The King is coming.”

“His Majesty is coming to survey Boden village.”

The residents came out on the streets and bowed down. A sudden development! Weed and Seo-yoon looked at the street from a distance.

He was the King of the Arpen Kingdom but that was no use in this time. In addition, he would be happy to lower his head if there was any benefits.

‘Should I sell a sculpture to the King?’

The king came riding into town with 1,000 knights and soldiers. A magnificent procession!

‘Money is superfluous. I heard that rumour about the Portu Kingdom.’

They had the best fertile land and mines in the area. The Portu Kingdom was in the Central Continent and later gave birth to the Lasalle Kingdom.

“You there, raise your head.”

The king who looked like a mix between a bullfrog and a black pig said as he saw Seo-yoon standing on the corner.

“A woman with such a strong aura is rare.”

“…….”

Seo-yoon didn’t say anything.

“Tell me your name.”

“…….”

“Hilderun, a name that refers to the sea on a sunny day.”

She didn’t speak but the King already knew her name. This was a special event related to the quest.

“Come with me to the palace. Your legs look uncomfortable so I will heal it. My daughter will prepare dresses and jewels for you and a sumptuous banquet will be held for 100 days.”

The king spoke some amazing words.

Seo-yoon looked at Weed. It would be nice if he screamed at the king not to touch his girlfriend or showed anxiety!

“Excuse me….”

Weed walked forward.

“His Majesty is talking you country bumpkin!”

His shoulder was instantly grabbed by a knight. Of course, it was possible to resist if he fought. But they were Royal Knights so their levels weren’t low.

‘Is this going to be another tough quest?’

Weed and Seo-yoon locked eyes.

If that was the case then it was better to attack at the same time. They didn’t know the structure of the village but it was better to get as far away as possible. He would also have to fight the soldiers beyond the knights.

It was a difficult situation with the odds against them.

“Keheok!”

But at that moment, Weed suddenly coughed up blood. The King of Portu was laughing meanly.

“You weakling, your face has turned black like you have a heavy disease. Hilderun, if you don’t follow me then that man will cough up blood and die. But if you follow me then I will give the cure.”

Ddiring!

– Hilderun’s Cruel Destiny

Hilderun has come to the continent with Nodulle. The Portu King is a warlock who noticed the aura of the sea around her and wants to take her to the palace to experiment.

Nodulle became sick and is on the verge of death after exploring the continent. The King is demanding a choice from Hilderun.

“You either come with me or watch your sweetheart die.”

Depending on Hilderun’s choice, she could save Nodulle’s life or lose something more precious than their lives.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Nodulle’s destiny will be determined by Hilderun’s choice.

Weed thought quickly.

‘How did this happen?’

The situation had suddenly changed. His body was suffering from aches like he was in hospital and he was frequently coughing.

Ddiring!

– You have acquired the severe Black  Disease.

Vitality has fallen.

Health is reduced.

Skills can’t be used.

Your body is aching and you will die after 4 days if a cure isn’t found.

– The level limit of the equipped sword hasn’t been met.

The weapon can’t be handled directly. The lack of skill means you can hurt yourself when handling the sword.

– The armour you’re wearing is too heavy.

It isn’t possible to move due to the penalty. Even if your eyes are opened, you won’t be able to stop the attack.

– The Agility requirements are lacking and you can’t utilize the options of the boots.

– Intelligence is lacking to wear the helmet.

The level restriction hasn’t been reached.

‘This took a strange and unexpected turn.’

Weed had changed into level 100 leather armour before entering the village. Yet these message windows rose excessively. He murmured in a low voice for confirmation.

“Stat Window.”

Character Name | Nodulle | Alignment | None
Level | 37 | Profession | None
Title | Family’s Heir | Fame | 53
Health | 79 | Mana | 282
Strength | 19 | Agility | 16
Vitality | 23 | Wisdom | 95
Intelligence | 77 | Leadership | 5
Art | 3,153 | Luck | 5
Attack | 3 | Defence | 4
No Magic Resistance
Status: Dying from a serious illness.

‘Unbelievable.’

Weed was secretly astonished. His name was changed to Nodulle and it was the same for his abilities! All the stats he worked hard to accumulate had been reduced except for the Art stat.

‘Perhaps, then my skills….’

Weed checked his skills and most of them were gone except for his sculpting skills. Apart from sculpting, the 5 secret techniques and handicraft, everything else was gone. Only the skills related to art remained.

Now he couldn’t run away anymore. He might die depending on Seo-yoon’s choice. The contents of Seo-yoon’s message window was different from Weed’s.

Ddiring!

– Hilderun’s Cruel Destiny

The King of the Portu Kingdom is a cruel warlock. He wishes to take Hilderun to the palace to be used in experiments.

If you reject his offer to go to the palace then you will awake from the dream of acquiring treasures and will have returned to the original Versailles Continent.

But Nodulle will be left on this continent and will be killed by the Portu King and his knights.

If you follow the king to be his experiment then you will die.

It is a cruel fate but Hilderun has to choose.

Would you like to save your lover by following the king or refuse and return to the original world?

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Nodulle’s destiny will be determined by Hilderun’s choice.

If Weed knew this then he would be even more anxious but Seo-yoon replied like it was natural.

“I will do anything to save him. Take me there.”

“Good.”

– Hilderun has chosen to become the warlock’s experiment.

The protagonists were now following Nodulle and Hilderun’s situation in the past.

Ddiring!

– Hilderun’s Cruel Destiny has been completed.

Hilderun has decided to go with the Portu King. She will be sacrificed as an experiment underneath the palace.

The Portu King took Seo-yoon away.

Weed didn’t just watch without resisting. The final secret sculpting technique couldn’t be lost like this. It was the end if Seo-yoon died!

‘No. It also makes sense. This is his destiny but I can’t let my guard down. It is like picking up money on the street only to have the owner come….’

And fairy tales from Nodulle and Hilderun often ended in tragedy. To be honest, a happy love affair was rarer! That was the reason why Weed didn’t dream of a girlfriend or marriage.

‘I have to put up with parents of my wife, wedding costs, honeymoon, housing, fighting at home….these days, I heard that designer handbags are necessary before marriage. And there are all the challenges after marriage. The expenses when giving birth to a child and their education costs….’

Reality was too hard to live on just love. Instead, the sweethearts who ran away together would have one of them taken away by the king.

‘I can’t deny it. It fits perfectly with the narrative.’

Weed was convinced. The knight that grabbed him was about to leave when Weed asked.

“T…hat, treatment….medicine?”

Seo-yoon was taken away and he had to get the cure!

The knight just laughed. Of course, it was a rotten laugh so Weed didn’t smile along.

“There is no medicine. Kuk kuk.”

“Go and die in pain.”

In ordinary circumstances, it was natural for the person to be angry. But Weed’s spirit had become calm.

He couldn’t trust anyone in this world. His heart was already prepared since he couldn’t trust the Portu King. Just because it was in the contents of the quest didn’t mean there was a cure.

“Ah, I…see… I…under…stand…”

Weed quietly waited until the knight left. If he resisted then he would just die. He needed time to organize everything.

Chapter 10: Crossroad of Life and Death

“Cough.”

Weed was still coughing up blood.

‘This situation really isn’t good.’

He sent a whisper to Seo-yoon.

– W…hat is hap…pening?

– I’m being dragged into the palace.

– E…scape?

– I just checked but my name changed to Hilderun and I can’t use my skills anymore.

Her level and skills also fell so she couldn’t think of resisting. Nodulle and Hilderun probably felt this feeling of helplessness.

Ddiring!

– Treatment of the Black Disease

The black disease is eating away at your body. If you’re not treated quickly then you will die. If the time of treatment is delayed then obstacles can occur.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Three days remaining.

The quest will fail if you die. You will return to the original Versailles Continent.

He staggered around the village and looked for a temple. If there was a priest at the temple then he could be healed with holy magic. Boden village was a small place so he couldn’t find a temple. Instead, it was possible to meet a village elder on the street.

“H…ello.”

An instinctive greeting to increase intimacy!

“You are an outsider. What is happening?”

“B…ody, have…to t…reat b…lack di…sease.”

It was difficult to even talk. Despite barely uttering the words, the elder’s reaction was cold.

“If you have the black disease then just die. There is no cure in our village.”

“T…hen…”

“If you give money then I can help.”

The eyes of the village elder brightened. Weed knew that look very well. It was a look that aimed for more money. If he had his original abilities then he could easily get rid of the village elder but now he didn’t have any capital.

“N…o. I…d…n’t h…ave mone…y.”

“Damn. As expected.”

The village elder moved away from the sick Weed. The hearts of the residents were bound to be tough in times of war.

Weed admitted that Nodulle was in an unfortunate and regrettable situation. In this world, he was someone fortunate enough to have a good face and a lover. But now Weed had experienced it himself.

The residents just indifferently walked past as they saw Weed. Then a guard holding a spear approached and said.

“A diseased person can’t stay in this village.”

He had no combat ability and his body was in the worst state so Weed might be bitten by wolves if he went outside.

“There is n…o da…mage.”

“If you die then we’ll have to get rid of your body. Get out of the village.”

“…….”

People really were heartless.

“I w…ill lea…ve.”

Weed staggered out of the village. He felt a vain hope every time he saw a resident but they didn’t help.

“Wah, a sick person!”

“Look there!”

He also encountered naughty children that threw stones.

– You have been hit by a stone.

Health has decreased by 3.

He had no armour so his health fell immediately.

‘At this rate I will die.’

Weed lowered his head and quickly left the village. It was distressing but he also had to watch out for passing dogs! He still needed to be careful after leaving the village.

– Resting has recovered 2 health.

Vitality is slowly recovering. It would be better with bandages but he didn’t have any.

“Keheok!”

– The Black Disease has caused a seizure.

Health has fallen by 14.

Lower vitality makes it difficult to walk.

Weed’s body trembled from the pain.

‘Still I’m lucky. Because it isn’t cold.’

Wiiing!

Suddenly a cold wind started blowing!

‘As expected…I probably sold a galaxy in a previous life.’

Weed suffered as he slowly regained his health and vitality. He didn’t know how much time he had left before the Portu King sacrificed her. Seo-yoon’s abilities had also climbed so she couldn’t escape alone.

He sent a whisper to Seo-yoon again.

– Now wh…ere?

It also wasn’t easy to say short words. His body was cold and in pain.

– I’m trapped in a carriage that is continuing to move. I thought I’d go to a palace but it seems I’m to be locked in a tower. I’ve been listening to the soldiers and it seems like it will take one day to arrive. I’ll inform you of my location once I’m trapped.

Seo-yoon indifferently replied.

– Y…es, fi…rst te..ll me t…he c…ity. I w…lll go and g…et y…ou l…ater.

– Yes. Come slowly.

Weed had restored his health and vitality but it was still difficult.

‘I can’t stay in the vicinity of the village so I need to go to a place with no monsters.’

He lacked physical strength and had to walk slowly. He continuously surveyed the area to ensure no dangerous monsters were nearby.

– Vitality has decreased due to excessive movement in a fragile body.

The movement will cause strain.

Health has decreased by 6 due to the Black Disease.

5 hours should be plenty of rest.

When he moved his body, the Black Disease was aggravated and his health decreased.

If he tried to walk a little faster then his vitality would drop. Judging by his current state, he would die from the Black Disease before the 3 days were over.

‘It is hard to walk. It might be better if I just collapse and die.’

Although he had fought with Barkhan, he never felt this tired that he just wanted to collapse. It was the domain of monsters once he got away from the village. Weed needed to exert a lot of effort to avoid or hide from the monsters.

‘I need to think about it. Small errors of judgement can’t be tolerated. I need to decided where to go and what should be done.’

The urgent will to live! Weed’s quest had sent him on a long journey. He had to live. In reality, if his body was sick then he could lose everything. The situation was frustrating but it could get better if someone empathized with him.

His weakened body caused his spirit to strengthen. After leaving Boden village, a wide plain and forest stretched out in front of him.

‘I’d rather go towards the trees.’

If he entered the forest then the path was steep and there were many monsters. But it was also dangerous in the fields and he was an easy target. Weed moved quietly while checking the safety of the forest. He hid his body in the bushes as kobolds and goblins passed.

“I’m hungry.”

“Let’s hunt quickly.”

“Kikikik!”

Even the kobolds were a fearful existence!

‘The sun hasn’t set yet. I have to find a safe place before then.’

He couldn’t hide quickly. Once the sun set, the monsters would become stronger and start to roam. Then it would be really dangerous.

‘This body….’

The body that could jump off a wyvern couldn’t even climb a tree now. Nodulle was weak but the real blame lay in the Black Disease. Weed utilized all his experience and walked slowly. He hoped to find a house belonging to a hunter. But if that wasn’t possible then he wanted a place where he could cover himself up.

‘A cave.’

Weed stared at the deep, dark cave and contemplated on whether to go inside.

‘At times like this, I have to be cautious because I can’t expect to be lucky.’

He hid in the bushes and observed the cave. And after a while, a bear left the cave and headed elsewhere.

‘I almost died.’

Normally a bear meant leather and meat but now it was an existence similar to a dragon!

‘Once night comes, there is no place to hide safely in this forest…..’

The starving wild animals would also be really dangerous.

‘I have to go to the territory of the kobolds.’

Weed moved carefully to the border of the kobold territory. He was more afraid of the wildlife and weak monsters than the kobolds who moved in groups. If he was in their territory then he didn’t need to worry about other beasts.

“It is time to go hunting.”

“Follow the kobold leader!”

The kobolds moved in groups of 20. They were monsters with a command system and preferred a systematic life. Weed observed the kobolds in the forest and avoided them. It was unreasonable to move further due to his vitality and health.

‘I have no choice but to entrust my life to the heavens.’

Weed stayed up all night while crouching down. The good news was that he had a lot of beef jerky so he wasn’t going to starve.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kiyahh!”

“How exciting! Smash everything!”

“Huhuhu, it is my turn after Geomchi-127!”

The Geomchis were currently completing their Master Quest.

– Subdue the rebel army of Pallisar

Rebels have taken control of Pallisar Fort. Subdue them quickly.

You shouldn’t die in battle and render large achievements as martial artists.

Level of Difficulty: Martial Artist Master Quest.

Quest Restrictions: Weapons Mastery Advanced Level 8. A party of 30 people can be composed.

The strong point was that they could combine swords, hammers, axes, bows and spears to attack! The Geomchis used all types of weapons to attack the rebels occupying the fortress.

But countless number of arrows were pouring towards them. The opponent in a fight needed to be strong.

“Men shouldn’t talk a lot.”

Geomchi-3!

He took off his jacket in front of the gate and revealed all his muscles. It didn’t matter if his defence fell. The wild beauty and pride in his muscles was the utmost priority!

He was excited about the Martial Artist Master Quest due to the increasingly strong enemies.

“Go!”

The spear in Geomchi-3’s hand started to spin at a formidable pace. The arrows from the rebels poured down but they all bounced off the rotating spear. This was a skill Geomchi-3 received when Weapons Mastery reached advanced level 8. It maximized the power of whatever weapon he handled. It was possible to apply this to swords and spears as well.

“Crush. Shortwave!”

Geomchi-3’s spear struck the gate with all his might. There was a noise like a thunderbolt was falling as the gates were destroyed.

“Let’s go!”

Geomchi-3 cried in a loud voice.

Like a starving beast, he ran through the gates to subdue the rebel army.

“The Master Quest has already advanced this much.”

“That’s right Teacher-nim!”

Geomchi and Geomchi-2 had completed the rebel subduing quest first. Therefore, they could now create a new Weapons Mastery skill.

There were endless possibilities involved with the Weapons Mastery skill. They could handle all weapons so they could make any skill related to a weapon. Even if only a sword, spear and bow skill was produced, the combined power could make Geomchi stronger than the military.

Geomchi-2 politely waited for his master to produce the skill first. They followed a well-structured plan for their future and didn’t delay it. Their style was to create a Weapons Mastery skill straight away!

“I….”

Geomchi decided immediately.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi-5 met a woman during a quest.

A female cook holding a ladle over a boiling iron pot! She was selling soup for those about to enter a dungeon.

“Please eat. It is delicious.”

The female user Rosen sold meat soup for 2 silver. The soup bowls were carefully made by Morata’s novice ceramists.

“One more bowl.”

Geomchi-5 cleaned out the soup.

Rosen was a novice user who only reached level 60. But skill was more important than level when it came to cooking. The soup contained various types of spices. Rosen laughed and handed him another bowl of soup.

“Is it tasty?”

“Everything is delicious when you are hungry.”

“…….”

Geomchi-5’s insensitive way of talking!

“Give me one more bowl.”

“Again?”

“I’m hungry.”

Geomchi-5 ate seven bowls before entering the dungeon. Ever since then, he appeared every day to drink the soup.

“Welcome.”

“Two bowels of soup please.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll give you a lot of meat.”

“Hmm.”

Many people gathered around Rosen who was engaging in business. This was close to a famous dungeon so many merchants and guests came to taste her cooking.

Geomchi-5 drank the soup every day and greeted Rosen. Rosen had a good impression of Geomchi-5 who came to eat daily.

“This must be your favourite soup.”

“It is tasty.”

“The food from other chefs are also good….”

The expression that secretly hoped he would say her cooking was the best!

Keook!

Geomchi-5 replied with a burp.

“This is a lot cheaper.”

“T-there is no other reason?”

“Well, everything is the same once it enters the stomach.”

Rosen was still an amiable woman. The blunt appearance of Geomchi-5who hunts in the dungeon and returns to eat all his food left a deep impression on her.

Geomchi-5 was also wearing great level 400 equipment. The other guests admired his equipment when he ate at the restaurant.

‘A person like that coming everyday just to eat my 2 silver soup. He likes me. But he is too shy to express it.’

Rosen spoke to others kindly every time Geomchi-5 had a meal.

“I really like the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Why?”

“People are organized. I can’t forget the first taste of porridge someone gave me while carrying stones to build the Cathedral.”

“So you became a chef?”

“Yes. I want to cook good porridge for people. And my specialty at school is food.”

“You must be learning the science of cooking rice.”

“Huh? I’m a food and nutrition major.”

“Isn’t that just rice?”

Rosen’s body trembled at Geomchi-5’s ignorance.

“But isn’t that specialty divided into several parts?”

“What do you mean?”

“Korean, European, Chinese, Japanese food, etc.”

“That is….”

Usually there was a misunderstanding about the food nutrition department.

They learnt about balanced diets, new food ingredients development, microbiology, chemistry etc. but people just thought they learnt a variety of food cuisines.

“Do you have qualifications in cooking?”

“…….”

“You should systematically learn dishes.”

Rosen wanted to hit Geomchi-5 with her frying pan and ladle.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Nodulle’s Suffering

“O…uch, ther…e are no p…arts of my b…ody t…hat i…sn’t in p…ain.”

Weed opened his eyes in the morning. His whole body was throbbing due to the Black Disease and he didn’t have his usual power.

“S…tat window.”

Character Name | Nodulle | Alignment | None
Level | 37 | Profession | None
Title | Family’s Heir | Fame | 53
Health | 69 | Mana | 282
Strength | 19 | Agility | 16
Vitality | 23 | Wisdom | 95
Intelligence | 77 | Leadership | 5
Art | 3,153 | Luck | 5
Attack | 3 | Defence | 4
No Magic Resistance

Status: Dying from a serious illness.

Maximum health has decreased by 13%.

Recovery rate of your health has slowed.

The seizure symptoms will become more frequent on the 2nd day.

“I r…eally s…eem to be dy…ing.”

Weed currently only had enough vitality to slightly move his body. But he couldn’t really walk through the forest to another village to obtain a cure!

Then a bush growing nearby caught Weed’s eye. He had come into the territory of the kobolds to sleep so the area he rested in had many bushes.

‘Those are….’

He could see various types of herbs. Weed’s spirit became clear like he saw money that fell down.

‘Nodulle also survived in a similar situation. Then there is clearly a way.’

It was a hopeless situation but Nodulle used every type of method to live. Weed had planned to use the Sands of Time to see Nodulle’s action in the past. But now he didn’t need the Sands of Time.

The moment he saw the herb, he realized what Nodulle did.

– Local diseases can be treated when several common herbs are combined. Many cures can be produced and the residents can win against the disease.

That was written on the piece of paper he found in the old mansion on Borota Island! Weed pulled out the piece of paper with trembling hands.

There were dozens of local diseases written down. The reason he obtained this piece of paper was probably because of the Black Disease.

‘Black Disease. Black Disease….’

– Black Disease

Mainly occurs in the swamp area of the Keltun Kingdom. But the disease can travel to distant places using flies and mosquitos.

Thistle, field horsetail, nettle, Chinese evergreen oak and thorny roots.

It isn’t a complete cure but can help someone push through the Black Disease.

He came into the forest already so it wasn’t hard to find the ingredients needed for the Black Disease cure. He put them in a bowl, grinded them together and placed it to his mouth.

Ddiring!

– The Black Disease cure manufactured by Nodulle has been eaten.

Time is necessary for the medicine to spread through your body. If the manufacturing is incorrect then side effects may occur.

Weed shook as he waited for the medicine to kick in.

‘It will be unfortunate if I die from such a thing. I’ve almost learnt all the secret techniques only to die in vain from the Black Disease.’

The negative thoughts that frequently entered! A swamp was cold and damp so it was an easy place to become ill. However once his vitality, strength and level rose, he didn’t pay attention to illnesses anymore. If he was level 50 then this disease wouldn’t be enough to take his life.

Weed had desperately struggled on a turbulent sea during a storm for several days without getting symptoms of a cold. Yet he got the Black Disease during the final secret sculpting technique quest and his survival was at risk. It was lucky that he hadn’t thrown away Nodulle’s piece of paper.

‘I couldn’t engage in business. Maybe that was a fortunate thing. It is like an employee embezzling money that caused a building to collapse, making the redevelopment team be fired….’

– Your body’s condition has improved.

Health and vitality has recovered to the maximum.

The Black Disease has weakened.

“T…his is t…he r…ight m…edicine.”

He was sick so the only thing he could do was eat and sleep. And after a while, a message window popped up.

Ddiring!

– Treatment of the Black Disease has been completed.

It was possible to treat the body through Nodulle’s knowledge.

Your life has been preserved.

Weed was grateful to survive.

He had safely completed another step of the final secret sculpting technique quest. But despite getting over the Black Disease, his stat window showed that he was still Nodulle and level 37.

“W…hat is g…oing to ha…ppen now?”

A message window showing a new quest appeared.

Ddiring!

– Rescue Hilderun

Hilderun has been caught by the Portu King.

She will die after being used as a tool in a magic experiment. You have to rescue her before it is too late.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: The remaining time is unknown.

The quest will fail if Hilderun dies.

* Please note

The quest must be completed as Nodulle.

Sculpting is available.

The use of anything other than sculpting will reduce your stats and level. This will apply even after returning to your original body.

The sculptures or elementals created can’t follow you when time becomes normal.

– The quest has been given.

You can’t refuse.

‘There isn’t even one good condition.’

Weed was hungry so he ate beef jerky. His body was recovering so he didn’t need to worry about kobolds.

He had enough mana to briefly use Sculpting Blade. It wasn’t possible to show off the power of a level 40 but it was enough to defeat the kobolds. But he had no confidence about saving Hilderun from the Portu King.

“I don’t know the internal structure and defence system. Seo-yoon said it as a tower but I don’t know the precise one she is trapped in. Getting permission to access it is impossible.”

The Black Disease was healed and he was recovering his vitality while thinking out loud.

“Right now, Seo-yoon and I aren’t at the standard to even defeat one Royal Knight.”

Common sense was required to solve even the most basic of quests! Even if he knew the full structure before Seo-yoon died, it was impossible for him to break in and take her out.

“Do I have to give up here? Then I might be able to take care of my life.”

If he gave up the quest then Weed and Seo-yoon could return to their original time zone alive. This was currently the wisest path.

The difficulty of the final secret sculpting technique quests was incredibly high. He had built up numerous skills and stats but now he couldn’t even take advantage of it.

“It is a lie that hard work and effort is enough in this world. As expected, community leaders and politicians are experts in lying!”

He released his stress by blaming other people. It was difficult so he thought about the Sands of Time again. He was interested in how Nodulle and Hilderun’s story continued. Surely they didn’t become frustrated and end here.

“I have to try it out. If a difficult quest like this has a time limit then I can’t wait any longer.”

Weed took out the pouch that contained the Sands of Time.

“Sands of Time!”

– The Sands of Time has been used.

The axis of time has been shaken and the past shown.

Can be used 2 more times.

– New information about the item has been acquired after using the Sands of Time.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Nodulle created the cure near Boden vllage and ate it immediately. And the next morning, he requested help from nearby villages and nobles to rescue Hilderun.

“It is futile. Your woman is as good as dead so you should just give up.”

“You are crazy. Why should the Count meet you?”

“I don’t want to hear anymore. I don’t want to be dragged to a battlefield!”

They heard his story but none of the villagers, nobles or guards showed interest. Nodulle looked for people to help but there was no one. Naturally it was impossible for nobles protest against the Portu King. A world where justice had collapsed!

Nodulle was frustrated but a chance came after one week. The hostile country the Raum Kingdom invaded the Portu Kingdom. The Portu King led the military to the battlefield to fight. And Nodulle used that chance to rescue Hilderun.

It was good if he could rescue Hilderun safely but the knights were protecting the place where she was staying. In addition, the Portu King returned earlier than expected after being defeated by the Raum Kingdom.

The magicians of the Raum Kingdom used their skills to block the King’s black magic while the Portu Kingdom’s army was defeated. The Portu King barely returned alive with the soldiers while the Raum Kingdom immediately surrounded them.

The day when the palace was collapsing and burning. Nodulle headed towards the place where Hilderun was kept. The Royal Knights and soldiers were on the verge of death around him.

While siege weapons and magic were breaking down the castle, Nodulle moved through the collapsed walls, rubble and fire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Ah, that really is terrible suffering.”

Weed was full of admiration. And he repented.

“I thought I was unlucky and experienced a lot of crises but I wasn’t really suffering.”

He lived an ordinary life like a library employee when compared to Nodulle. Looking at the video was like watching an action and thriller movie. It was a situation where the protagonist was about to die but someone survived.

Nodulle had almost died at least 17 times retrieving the key, reaching the tower and getting Hilderun out.

“How impressive. The problem is that I need to be in Nodulle’s position to solve the quest.”

Weed wasn’t excited about it. He grasped the terrain and tower where Seo-yoon was trapped due to Nodulle’s behaviour. It was considered an impregnable fortress in the Portu Kingdom in this time. The region was steep and it was a natural fortress.

If he made even the slightest mistake then this weak body would fail the quest. In fact, it was a miracle that Nodulle lived until he reached the tower. It seemed impossible but he somehow managed it.

Escaping from Portu with Hilderun was an entirely different problem. Although they had met up with each other, it was hard to escape from the collapsing castle.

“There is another fundamental problem.”

Weed wasn’t Nodulle. If he made a small error while repeating the past then unexpected circumstances could occur. Even if he imitated Nodulle, there was no guarantee that everything would happen exactly the same.

A piece of ceiling might collapse on him when Weed passed or he might encounter a Royal Knight that Nodulle hadn’t. It was impossible to align every behaviour with the correct time. It was possible to consult the video but that didn’t mean he could repeat the actions!

“It isn’t easy to handle even knowing this. And I also gained new information about the Sands of Time. Inspect!”

– Sands of Time.

It is possible to use 2 times.

Sands of Time, a mysterious sand that can recollect things.

A treasure from the southern desert that can look back in time.

It is possible to return to your original time to bring goods or people.

Possessing it can allow the past to be edited.

A bit of information about the item was added.

“I can bring goods or people….hrmm.”

Weed was currently alone so he felt like this quest had no possibilities at all. So far he had overcome countless difficulties so if there was a slight degree of hope then he should try it.

“No matter how well prepared I am, the chance of success is low. I have no choice but to use the Sands of Time. Sands of Time!”

– The Sands of Time has been used.

The axis of time has shaken so you can return to your original time to bring goods or people to the past.

Are you sure you want to use it?

Watching Nodulle save Hilderun was useful. But he needed a rise in power to solve the fundamental problem.

“I will return to my original time.”

– The axis of time on the Versailles Continent has changed and you have returned to your original time.

It is possible to collect the necessary goods or people.

Can be used 1 more time.

Restrictions: Limited to bringing only 1 person and goods that you can carry directly.

You have to return after three days. Otherwise, the crack in time will fray and you can’t return to this time zone.

The Sands of Time gushed out from the leather pouch and filled the air. After a while, the still grass, trees and forest completely changed.

‘I have returned to my original time.’

The forest was filled with other users.

“Oh, it is too hard to collect a set of kobold weapons.”

“I’ve already tried 7 times and if it isn’t possible this time then I’ll give up.”

“I told you that it would be better to buy new steel weapons at the stores.”

A party consisting of 4 users was talking while walking.

“But I can’t. I need to collect a lot of money to pay for that.”

“Shall we go to Kantul Dungeon?”

“Yes. It is best to raise our level there.”

The Kantul Dungeon was very popular among beginners in the Lasalle Kingdom.

‘This is the land of the Haven Empire.’

The Haven Empire had expanded and Weed was now in their territory.

“Hello.”

“Yes, hello.”

“Would you like to go hunting together?”

“Nope. Right now I’m taking the road to the city.”

“I wish you a good day.”

“Yes. Have fun hunting.”

Weed exchanged light greetings and walked past them. No one would think that a person inside the kobold’s hunting ground was Weed.

‘There’s only one person who will be really useful.’

Weed sent a whisper to Yurin.

– Little sister,  do you want pizza tonight?

– I understand. Wait there.

Yurin was quick and noticed what he wanted without needing to explain. She was aware that he wanted her to use Picture Movement.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Huhuhu, this dungeon hunt. It isn’t too hard!”

Pale quietly shot his bow in the underground pit. He had specifically ordered high strength arrows for today.

The steel arrows were 20 times more expensive but the penetration, accuracy and range couldn’t be compared to normal arrows.

“Each one is worth 15 gold? The arrows are too expensive.”

“It is literally high strength. Only a few blacksmiths can create these arrows. They are busy making these orders all day. It is hard for even Mapan to obtain it.”

“Even so….”

“What about the others? Pale-nim is cultivating and selling land…. If you find it difficult then purchase it later.”

“I’ve brought it intentionally.”

“Well, I’m trying to sell 2,000 arrows so I’m forced to take a little damage.”

“That much isn’t necessary…. I’ll buy it.”

“If you buy everything then I’ll reduce it to 1 gold.”

So 2,000 arrows were purchased!

Pale felt like he was firmly hit in the back of the head but he believed in Mapan. He didn’t pay close attention to money transactions in the past but he didn’t want to order unnecessary goods. But Mapan’s thick belly showed that he was a successful merchant.

“Money is always needed once you level up.”

However, it would be okay if he succeeded in this quest.

The Niflheim Empire!

The marks of its former glory were left in the north. The residents submitted to the Arpen Kingdom so reconstructing the Niflheim Empire had become impossible.

While gathering information about a quest, Pale heard about archers from the Niflheim Empire who caused a fierce wind when firing a bow. Thus he proceeded with the quest to learn the skills.

“Lightning struck the valley. It is scary going alone.”

Surka had obtained lightning resistant clothes and ornaments in advance. A thorough preparation for the quest!

She had received a special request from the Monk Guild.

“I often hear your names these days. Be proud of your power as a monk. Every time lightning strikes the valley during a full moon, a monster will appear…it would be great if you could catch it. I will give your these shock resistant gloves as compensation.”

It was possible to get equipment from the request. Romuna entered the deep mountains to raise her fire magic.

“I’m bored in the mountains. If I see a monster then I will burn it to death!”

Irene gave out blessings and treatment in a city. Her level and faith had risen so she could get a position in a religious society. Along with her rise in statue in the religious society, she was dispatched to follow paladins and heal them.

While Weed was proceeding with his quest, his other colleagues were developing.

Although Pale and Surka could challenge the Master Quest, they didn’t proceed with starting it. They had seen other people doing the Master Quest and it wasn’t a joke. They could challenge the Master Quest but they were still far from reaching master level in the skill so they decided to defer it. It would become much easier once other people completed the Master Quest.

And Hwaryeong. She took pride in slowly increasing her charm through music and dance in Morata.

“The Royal Road themed album. I want songs that contain the feel of adventure and combat.”

“Do we have to do this?”

The producers had a headache. They had composed most of the songs on the album yet Hwaryeong wanted to change the feeling of the music.

“Won’t that affect your image? So far you’ve sung about love between men and women and now you want to change the feeling?”

“Music has no boundaries. There is also music in Royal Road. And a few songs are played by instruments in Royal Road. So please contact the best musicians.”

Bellot was recently case as the main heroine in the drama .

She was cast as a sweet, innocent, pretty but poor girl! Men liked that type.

Chapter 2: Zahab and Queen Evane

The place that Weed arrived at through Yurin’s Picture Movement was the Bryce Highlands.

It was a wide and flat grassland in a very high location. Flocks of sheep and beasts like leopards and fire bears were running around. There wasn’t any cover so users barely bothered to come here to hunt.

“This is the place where Zahab retired to.”

In the past, he had met Zahab at Grapass one of the 10 Forbidden Zones. He had used him for hunting and earning contributions. Weed knew Zahab’s fighting skills better than anyone.

‘He is strong. And I know how he fights.’

He was also a master at sculpting and sword mastery.

“He is a figure I can’t forget.”

In his memory, Zahab had been worked like a slave. Of course, he would later return the favour.

‘I need to use this opportunity to make him work again.’

The happy memory of clearing dungeons with Zahab in Grapass. Zahab would be a huge help if he wanted to invade Portu’s Royal Castle.

In the case of NPCs, if the degree of intimacy or contribution wasn’t high then they wouldn’t easily follow. Furthermore, high level NPCs needed a large number of contribution before they would move.

That’s why Weed had to use a lot of achievement points in the Freya Church when he wanted to drag Alveron along on a dangerous mission. But Weed had a definite means to make Zahab work.

“Summon Sculpture!”

Weed summoned Cerberus.

Covered with a black aura, it was the three headed dog that guarded hell!

Cerberus roared as soon as it arrived.

“Kuuuuong!”

“Shut up, smell this.”

Weed brought a sculpture he previously obtained form Zahab’s house to Cerberus’s head. Cerberus raised its head and looked at it. His master had summoned him so he expected a huge battle.

“You can’t find it?”

“Bark bark!”

“Let’s go, Hound!”

It was treated like a normal dog despite being a guardian of hell! Cerberus sniffed it with the three heads and moved. Weed summoned Yellowy and followed form behind.

“Ummoooooo. Master, your appearance changed.”

“There were a few circumstances.”

“If you do too many bad things then you will receive punishment….”

“Noisy. You should look at the three heads.”

Cerburus’ noses went in various directions as it smelt the ground. It wasn’t necessary to wander around looking for Zahab like in Grapass. None of the beasts on the Bryce Highlands dared to attack due to Cerberus so Weed could casually follow. Zahab had put a log house in a place with a good view.

“Building a house in a secluded area surrounded by trees is a residential preference.”

Zahab didn’t like settling among people. It was still a secret that he was a Master Swordsman! If a user raised intimacy with him or fulfilled a request then they could learn Radiant Sword. But no user was visiting so he was just casually sculpting in front of his house.

‘That’s great. I’m relieved to see him. This time I will be sure to make him work.’

Weed jumped down from Yellowy and moved forward.

“Zahab-nim, I have come!”

“A guest has come here.”

Zahab wasn’t glad to see him. The friendship between them had already fallen.

“What brings you here?”

Zahab immediately asked him. Weed looked at the face of the sculpture that Zahab was making before answering. It was Queen Evane who he still hadn’t forgotten.

‘I had a quest associated with Queen Evane but the Royal Knight had died. ‘If I finished that then I could’ve asked Zahab to save Rosenheim Kingdom from the Embinyu Church.’

It was a shame those days were past.

Right now the Embinyu Church was running rampant so there were many quests to destroy them. Maybe there were continuous connected quests that proceeded from an early stage like Weed. But Weed as well as other users didn’t proceed with such quests. As public safety worsened due to wars and dictatorship, the Embinyu Church played a more active role. Numerous things that happened on the Versailles Continent were due to the users themselves.

Weed shrugged off his dissatisfaction and said.

“I have a little problem. You taught me Radiant Sword so I thought you could help.”

“We don’t have a relationship.”

“A person’s life depends on it.”

“Leave.”

The guest was immediately turned away! Weed had a satisfied smile on his face.

He had no intention of complaining. His will wasn’t weak enough to be defeated by something like this.

“Can I carve a sculpture in the area for a while?”

“That is none of my business. But I’d like you to leave when it becomes night. You don’t seem to have any ability now so if you camp then you will die.”

“I will go when it is time.”

Of course, at that time Zahab would be his slave! Weed decided to use earth to form the sculpture. He was a sculpture but right now he was too weak to carve rocks or wood.

‘The thing that matters is the skill used to create the sculpture rather than the material.’

Yellowy and Cerberus dug up dirt from the ground while he created it. A woman’s body with small calves and wearing a skirt!

He needed to sculpt something that caught Zahab’s attention.

“Bark bark! It is disappointing, Master.”

“Ummoooooo. Something like that! The back of the legs are too thick.”

Yellowy and Cerberus were disappointed. He wasn’t making just any sculpture for Zahab but one of Queen Evane. The slightly different point was that she wasn’t wearing shabby clothes like peasant girls.

‘There wasn’t a lot of time but the form of Queen Evane looks good….’

The form wasn’t of a queen but a young Evane! Of course, Zahab was watching with cold eyes. Just creating a sculpting of Evane wouldn’t significantly increase intimacy. In some cases, it might actually cause more hostility. This obviously wasn’t enough to raise Weed’s intimacy with Zahab.

An ordinary sculpture was completed!

“Hrmm, it is well made.”

But Weed was satisfied. It had taken him 20 minutes before he hurried. The important thing was that Evane’s appearance was kept intact. He had accumulated a lot of experience making sculptures so far.

‘The penalty is intense but it can’t be helped.’

A sculpture that could cause a miracle. Weed used the skill that he had personally created.

“Sculpture Resurrection!”

– Sculpture Resurrection has been used.

The virtuous Queen Evane of Rosenheim Kingdom. She has been called back to this land through art.

45 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

Faith stat has been permanently reduced by 100.

Level has fallen by 3.

70 Health and Mana has been consumed.

The person revived by Sculpture Resurrection will retain their knowledge and ability.

It is only a fixed short time but they are thankful for being able to move in this world again.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpture Resurrection has improved.

The debt of the earthen sculpture! The young and lively sculpture blinked and took a breath. It was for less than a day but Evane had revived again.

Evana and Zahab were stunned as they stared into each other’s eyes.

“Zahab….”

“Evane!  Evane, is it really you?”

“Zahab!”

Zahab and Evane embraced each other. The poignant love that endured between two people.

“Zahab, how did this….?”

“Don’t say anything.”

They conveyed messages through their eyes. The scene of the two shedding tears while embracing each other was really inspiring.

“Huhuhu.”

And Weed was laughing evilly in the background! The manly Zahab was crying with pure delight and happiness. The pair was a pleasing sight.

“It is over. This ensures that I can work my slave to my heart’s content.”

Weed didn’t neglect the service after that. He had prepared ingredients beforehand so he could cook dishes for Zahab and Evane. The log house was filled with 3 copper decorations and the fireplace gave it a cosy feeling.

On the Versailles Continent, Weed was unmatched in earning achievements, giving flattery and bribery.

Jjoruruk.

Weed took out beautiful wine glasses and spoke with admiration.

“I heard you say it but I was still hesitant… Evana-nim really is beautiful. Now I know why Zahab-nim was so in love.”

“Omo, is that so?”

When he flattered Evana, his intimacy with Zahab also rose.

‘This is necessary to living in society.’

Clumsy flattery wasn’t believable. But if he made sure that admiration came out automatically then it would be profitable.

And the afternoon of the next day!

Evane lived for less than one day before disappearing again like bubbles. But Zahab would never forget that day with Evane.

– You have accomplished Zahab’s cherished goal.

He will think of you as a benefactor for the rest of his life.

Friendship with Zahab is now 491.

Zahab pulled out his sword the moment Evane turned back into a sculpture.

“Did you say there was a request? A person’s life is in danger?  I’ll help.  You don’t have to talk about justice. If you ask then I will help unconditionally.”

“Thank you.”

The operation to make Zahab his slave was a success.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

There were two days left so Weed quickly gave orders to Mapan.

“I need some luxury sculpting materials.

“Elf wood?”

“Nope. I need difficult to find gemstones such as ivory.”

Normally he used cheap materials but since the final secret technique was at risk, he needed top quality products.

“I will need a bit of time to obtain them.”

“You need to prepare them within two days.”

Mapan made a perplexed expression.

“Are you doing a quest?”

“Yes. The success or failure depends on this.”

“Hrmm, I can’t guarantee that I can do it. As you know, a lot of materials went into the construction of the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace. I can ask for help for other merchants. I’ll try to get it by the date.”

Mapan scraped everything from the north. Of course, Mapan could afford it.

A merchant received large benefits in the north due to the low taxes. The merchants that ran around developing cities and kingdoms could accomplish large amounts of wealth.

The King of the Arpen Kingdom was bound to notice their activities. However, Weed was very favourable towards merchants. The so-called merchant preferential policy!

‘If the merchants become rich then I can squeeze them later.’

Mapan requests the luxury sculpting materials for other merchants in the north. Usually ordinary merchants wouldn’t co-operate with such a request. But it was well known that Mapan worked closely with Weed so the merchants jumped on this job.

“Where? The materials are on Helsen Island? It was close by but there in’t a good wind so we will barely meet the time limit. Set sail on the ships!”

“I heard rumours that sculpting materials at buried in Ross River. Can you help me dig? I need to obtain the help of fishermen.”

“Gamong-nim entered the ghost cave. She did it to recover the materials.”

“Lois-nim is wandering through the swamp. I intend to obtain the materials from the ruins of the Niflheim Empire’s Imperial City.”

All the merchants in the north moved to obtain the sculpting materials for Weed.

“We need to recover them in two days.”

While the merchants were running around everywhere, Weed decided to return to the north. It was like playing around the day before a test! Varna Harbour was bustling with adventurous users and people trading.

“The markets are very large.”

There were the Whale Market, Tuna Market and Mackerel Market. Many users came to Varna Harbour to taste seafood.

And the next place he arrived at was Vent Castle!

The Niflheim Empire had surrendered to Weed’s Arpen Kingdom and pledged their loyalty. The standard of the residents was high and the attire of the users entering or leaving was also remarkable.

Apart from merchants, users more than level 200 gathered as well as occasional users in the 300s and 400s. Many prestigious guilds had been destroyed by the war on the Central Continent. The users of the guilds that broke up became wanderers. They came to the north so the number of high level users indirectly increased.

Weed walked to the gate. The main entrance and side gates was bustling with users wanting passage. Weed naturally headed towards the front doors!

“Your Majesty, it is an honour for you to visit a humble place like this.”

“Raise your head.”

The knights at Vent Castle’s gates bowed as soon as they saw Weed.

Deng deng deng deng!

Once they heard the bell ringing from the gates, the knights in the interior rushed out and also bowed.

The dignity fit for a king!

“Is that really Weed the God of War?”

“This is the first time I’ve been this close.”

“How? I need to brag to my friends.”

The users were excited by his appearance. All the NPC knights of Vent Castle were bowing in front of Weed. Their loyalty was very high and they sincerely wanted to follow the king. Weed nodded like it was natural.

“I just want to comfortably look around this place like other people. So return to the work that you were doing. Defend the peace and make sure that the residents of the Arpen Kingdom can live comfortably.”

A dignity that seemed like it came from a movie! Nobles normally cringed in fear during times of war but Weed had dignity as king of the Arpen Kingdom.

“I will guide you, Your Majesty.”

“Sir Knight, what is your name?”

“Salomon.”

“Salomon, first I want to go to a weapons store.”

“It is an honour that you came, Your Majesty.”

The real reason he visited Vent Castle was to see how much he could raise taxes but he needed to seem interest in the castle’s safety. Weed was able to measure the financial power just by visiting the weapons store. Weapons could tell the level of the blacksmiths and the goods would allow him to determine the number of high level users and what was being hunted.

‘Well, this is amazing.’

Vent Castle had excellent blacksmiths. The dungeons nearby were high levelled so many blacksmith users came. Knights, warriors and hunting parties used Vent Castle as a base so the amount of sales was terrific.

‘The prices are maintained at a very cheap price.’

Normally prices would surge with the increase in users but the Arpen Kingdom was different. Lots of people obtained basic items from hunting monsters and dungeon. Demand for food, minerals, weapons and armour increased.

Even the small villages in the Arpen Kingdom obtained the minimum number of goods due to the merchants shipping them. The efficient distribution of food led to the explosive population growth of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘The prices has to rise more….’

Weed exited the weapons store and headed towards the castle. A knight’s castle!

It was the greatest castle constructed by the Niflheim Empire. The castle’s entrance and room were covered with the finest carpets that made Morata look shabby. The artwork and knight weapons from the Niflheim Empire was preserved.

‘There are a lot of decent equipment.’

Weed could take the equipment used for decoration and sell it.

Of course, then rumours about him being a gold digger would spread among the knights, infamy would rise and there might be a rebellion. It was possible to loot when a hostile kingdom invaded but selling the treasures of the Arpen Kingdom was too much.

Weed also didn’t want to use such extreme methods. He had more to lose than gain. He couldn’t be careless about how to raise money!

“Local information window!”

– Vent Castle

A castle that belongs to the Arpen Kingdom.

The loyalty of the knights to King Weed is wonderful.

The thick walls have endured for many long years and can repel any type of invasion.

The strong residents are experts at hunting. If given swords and armour then they could become soldiers of the military at any time.

There are many treasures and workmanship dating back to the time of the Niflheim Empire. Over the years, many goods haven’t been used so the castle’s finances are rich.

The closed gates has been opened for exchanges.

The expansion of the village has caused a higher birth rate and more residents migrating here.

Military Power: 4,998                   Economic Power: 1,421

Culture: 934                                    Technology: 677

Religious Influence: 23

Local Politics: 79                           Influence on Surrounding Areas: 81%

Influence of the old Niflheim Empire:  15.2% (Influence of the military, economy, culture, technology, population and requests in the area)

Urban Development: 199

Hygiene 64                                       Safety: 98%

The number of residents is increasing but the strong and vigilant knights prevents thieves from entering.

There are training places where knights can change professions and learn advanced riding tricks.

The major military buildings built by the Niflheim Empire has been maintained.

The territory of the village has expanded outside the castle.

The patrolling knights sweep for monsters and exerts their military influence in the nearby area.

Free knights are gathered.

The residents respect King Weed who built up the Arpen Kingdom in the north. They believe he is the only one who can rebuild the shattered honour of the Niflheim Empire and marvel at his amazing adventures.

The weapons and armour production technology has been passed down. Siege weapons haven’t been used for a long time so the production technology is still immature.

The knights aren’t scared of an army of monsters and many talented cadets of the Arpen Kingdom are being trained. The knights prioritize pride and loyalty when teaching.

The Niflheim Empire’s sharp swordplay has taken on a rugged strength over the years.

Food isn’t self-sufficient and they are focused to obtain supplies from outside.

Most of the income comes from hunting or cleaning up monsters.

The residents are positive about more goods and the market has expanded.

Interest in art is lukewarm. Survival came first so they worry more about food and weapons then art.

Children are interested in knights and have no interest in other fields. Recently the reactions to merchants have become more positive.

The local faith now believes in the Arpen Kingdom’s Freya and Tyr the God of Battles.

Specialties: Iron swords, iron armour, valuables of the Niflheim Empire.

Territory’s Total Population:  33,920

Monthly Tax Revenue: 74, 006 gold

Castle’s Operational Expenditures: Military power 64%, economic development 22%, cultural investment 3%, requests and subduing monsters 7%, castle maintenance 4%.

“It is a complete military fortress.”

Morata was a commercial city so Weed was satisfied that it was different from the port city Verna and Vent Castle.

This was necessary to ensure his military strength.

“Vent Castle has a low population and development is slacking. If the population increases and migrants move here….”

The number of trained knights and soldiers diving into enemy lines would multiply in an instant. Of course, the military would eat money but it wouldn’t cause a kingdom to go into a deficit.

Slaying monsters and clearing dungeons could secure a safety zone and expand the borders. Users could gain achievements when travelling with knights and the castle would slowly change like Morata.

“A little more investment is needed. I need to make war-era buildings.”

Weed built buildings in Vent Castle.

It was possible to make buildings since he was the king that ruled over the castle. If he left it alone then it would expand but he needed to intervene if he wanted the right buildings in the proper place.

While completing the quest in the Keltun and Mapon Kingdoms, he had seen a complete military fortress. Architects in towns and cities created twisting alleyways that maximize the beauty of the buildings.

Weed preferred a grid style.

“The land is expensive but architects and merchants can deal with it!”

The territory of Vent Castle and its village was very wide due to their army.

“Increasing the number of houses needs to be prepared in advance.”

Shacks were built at the base of every mountain in the area.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lee Hyun grilled meat and boiled bean paste soup.

“I need to fill my stomach before proceeding on a big job.”

He cleaned and did his chores before proceeding with the quest. If he had to take one thing then it would be Seo-yoon. She risked her life when helping in quests and stayed by his side for a long time.  However, now she had been captured and was at risk of being killed by the Portu King.

“Well, I feel sorry… It is like when I was 19 years old and saw a girl in kindergarten drinking strawberry milk.”

At that time, he was hungry and had a cold so his condition wasn’t good. The cute looking girl was drinking strawberry milk when Lee Hyun spoke.

“Kid.”

The girl opened her eyes and retorted.

“Why, Oppa? No, Ajusshi.”

“Sell me that strawberry milk.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I’ll give you 200 won.”

“This is 600 won. Don’t you know the prices these days?”

Lee Hyun was quite discouraged. He thought a child in kindergarten would be naive or foolish so he resented this smarter world. Furthermore, politeness and respect towards adults seemed to have disappear.

“Then I will give it to you for 1,000 won because I was drinking it.”

“Go to sleep!”

“Kyah, so delicious.”

He escaped while she drank delicious strawberry milk! He cursed the little girl as he recalled that memory. It was a sad memory that he didn’t want to recall anymore. He couldn’t help feeling sorry when Seo-yoon received damage helping him.

‘I need to give her a gift. A necklace or earrings… No, that will be expensive. It needs to be a minimum of 100 won.’

Lee Hyun bought flower seeds and scattered them in his yard.

‘I will raise them and make a bouquet.’

But a bouquet of flowers wasn’t substantial so it seemed somewhat weak.

‘Instead of a present, should I give a chicken? No, I gave her that last time after the Jigolaths.’

He had used Half Sauce and Half Fried chicken many times. They hadn’t started breeding yet but he wasn’t stingy enough to offer an unborn chick.

“Well, I guess I will have to buy a bag. A bag is the best gift for a woman.”

Lee Hyun started searching for information.

“Let’s see, a suitable bag….”

He searched the internet for the brand of the bag that Seo-yoon used. His body then received a huge shock. His heartbeat seemed to stop before his rigid body relaxed again.

Lee Hyun quietly turned off the computer.

“I’ll soak some kimchi.”

Seo-yoon normally ate delivered kimchi. Lee Hyun decided to thank her with kimchi that he soaked with care.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The construction companies in the Middle East are continuing to delay payment, President-nim.”

“That… Wait a little bit. It is possible to receive it at a later time.”

Seo-yoon’s father, Jeong Deuk-soo who was the president of a company had to go in to work early these days. There were reports with serious content every time the board of directors convened.

“The domestic construction industry?”

“The construction business is becoming increasingly bad. Our company has more than 10,000 unsold apartments. Business is deteriorating so we can’t selling residential land in metropolitan areas isn’t feasible anymore.”

“Then how will we raise the funds?”

“The apartments… The unsold housing should have the price be lower than that of the competitors. And a savings bank is required for loan repayments. However, loan repayment is impossible due to the funding situation of Hosung Construction.”

“The corporate bond expiration dates?”

“Early next year, President-nim.”

The construction side was driven into a crisis due to the lack of new funding. The situation of their biggest affiliate, Hosung Electronics was fairly dangerous.

“Due to Unicorn Corporation launching new models, the products from our company are shrinking rapidly. The flat screen televisions aren’t selling well so the factories have a large deficit. The profit has plummeted by 79% since the second quarter of last year.”

“The home electronics?”

“This is a recession so we haven’t reached the manufacturing cost. The export volume has reduced and the order from our fixed customers aren’t coming.”

“I heard that mobile phone sales have fallen despite a top actor being hired to advertise it?”

“Our brand is losing the competitive edge…. Our software is behind compared to a lot of other businesses.”

President Jeong Deuk-soo sighed with grief.

The management circumstances had worsened in a matter of 2~3 years. The Hosung Corporation was in a recession. The credit rating was pessimistic and corporate bonds had already been issued. Sales were bad so the financial costs were worsening.

“President-nim, you should consider closing down a few production factories overseas.”

“If the market share decreases due to reduced production, do you know how hard it will be to obtain it again?”

“But if this deficit continues then we won’t be able to endure it.”

“We can’t abandon any of the electronics. We need to increase our investment in promoting and restoring the competitiveness of the electronics.”

“There is a lot of pressure to improve our financial structure so getting approval from the credit companies will be difficult.”

Hosung Corporation made a massive investment in electronics to overcome the crisis. However, every attempt was a failure.

“What are their requirements?”

“We’ve been asked to sell Hosung Chemicals, Hosung Construction and Hosung Hotels.”

“Isn’t the construction side the only company that can generate cash now? That is an absurd demand.”

They had 24 affiliates in Korea with the Hosung name but the funding crisis affected all of them.

“I will meet with the Bank Chief.”

President Jeong Deuk-soo decided to negotiate with the credit companies and main bank directly.

Chapter 3: Battle of Portu’s Royal Castle

The northern users gathered the sculpting materials for Mapan within 2 days. The amount of money exceeded 550,000 gold.

‘The amount of materials is sufficient for me to become a sculpting master.’

Fortunately, there was no need to pay money. The Arpen Kingdom was large and several important rights were granted to the merchants.

“I hope things turn our well, Weed-nim.”

“Huhuhut, of course.”

The dictatorship that secretly solicited bribes!

Weed and Zahab returned to the age of war on the third day. He appeared in the forest near Boden village. The valuable materials had been used for the quest.

“First thing we need to do is wait near the place.”

“Then let’s do so. I will follow your opinion no matter what.”

They headed on foot towards the capital of the Portu Kingdom. It was dangerous to travel around as Nodulle due to monsters but he didn’t need to worry with Zahab.

Children were dying and starving people were begging in the streets of the city. He knew they were NPCs but he didn’t feel comfortably seeing children dying.

“Well, public sentiment doesn’t matter to him.”

The Portu King was a warlock so he had no interest in the lives of his people. He would use the time when the Raum Kingdom invaded in order to rescue Seo-yoon.

‘Do I just need to follow the path that Nodulle used?’

Weed was somewhat worried. Nodulle handled the crisis by disguising as a servant and going to rescue Hilderun. The sight of him running between collapsing ceilings, pillars and walls was a breathtaking sight. The risk was too high if he used the same method.

‘I will make a new plan. I can take advantage of several favourable conditions unlike Nodulle.’

Right now he had the help of Zahab and various secret sculpting techniques.

Sculpting Blade!

Until recently it was a useful skill for hunting. Moonlight Sculpting Blade used the light of the moon to interrupt the enemy’s magic or special attack. The damage itself was a little weak but the good point was that it ignored the enemy’s defence. It was a skill best used against enemies with low health! But his stats and level meant he couldn’t use Sculpting Blade.

Elemental Sculpting!

Summoning an elemental consumed mana. Weed was the creator of the elementals but he could only summon them for a short duration.

Sculpture Transformation!

It was very useful but the transformation had its limits. His level and stats were low so it wouldn’t be effective even if he transformed himself.

Sculpture Life Bestowal!

It was possible to produce a subordinate. Of course, he would receive bigger damage if they died.

Sculpture Resurrection!

If he could call a suitable hero then he could make them work, but he had already used it to make Zahab his slave. Therefore it couldn’t be used for 1 month.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!

His Art stat was maintained so it was his strongest skill. He could now combine disasters to make them even more complex. But Weed’s health was now very low so his safety couldn’t be guaranteed.

‘Anyway, I have to use them as a whole. And if I build up achievements for the quest…Although my level and Art state is valuable, I shouldn’t be reluctant to give it up.’

He decided to choose a more profitable method than Nodulle’s choice.

“Kill the Portu King who uses forbidden magic and feed him to the crows!”

“Wahhhh!”

“The worms of Raum have spread to here. Stack them up like a tower. Punish those who want to ravage this country.”

“Slash their throats. Go!”

The army of the Raum Kingdom marched to Portu Kingdom’s capital as scheduled. Portu’s Royal Castle was in for a wide, defensive battle. The invading Raum Kingdom army contained 300,000 troops. They were joined by the allied kingdoms Rubens, Gorgul and Tamona.

The majestic view of a great army!

“Smash everything!”

“For His Majesty King Riyas, smash everything without leaving even the foundation behind!”

The siege weapons rolled forward and launched chunks of stones towards Portu’s Royal Castle. But Portu’s Royal Castle didn’t collapse easily.

“Ah, here… The offerings gathered here are sufficient.”

“This day will become a festival of blood.”

“Calais’s sickle of death, give me your eyes.”

The evil warlock organization called Energy Seed gathered at the castle.

“Kiyak!”

The Portu monsters devouring the soldiers suddenly became stronger. Soon the gates opened and the demons ran outside. And a battle spread against the allied forces of the Raum Kingdom.

“I’ll wait a little longer.”

Nodulle gained some servant clothes and sneaked into the castle. Weed and Zahab hid in the sewage nearby. There was a disgusting smell but this was the safest place as Nodulle. Good planning often had to sacrifice neatness.

“Until when should we wait?”

“So far there has only been a small uproar. We will watch for 10 more minutes.”

The interior was heavily guarded by Royal Knights so he needed to wait for the chance.

When Nodulle had entered, every hallway had been guarded with knights.

Kuooong!

The impact of the siege weapons hitting the castle reached the place where Weed and Zahab were. The walls were big and thick but it was inevitable that it would collapse.

“Shouldn’t we go now?”

“Please wait a little more.”

Weed showed patience.

He had watched the video of Nodulle and memorized the Portu Kingdom’s military response. He didn’t miss one bit of trivial information when watching the video.

‘It is about time for the south gate to be broken. The warlocks can’t deal with it…..’

“The south gate! They’re flocking through the south gate!”

“Intercept the enemy. Go knights!”

The ground vibrated as many personnel moved. Nodulle had used this chance to enter the Royal Castle.

“Now.”

Weed and Zahab climbed out of the sewer. The place they emerged at was the training place of the knights! Usually it was filled with knights but right now it was empty. There were several soldiers but they soon turned their gazes elsewhere. It was because they wore clothes of the warlocks of Portu Kingdom.

It was difficult for the regular soldiers to question the behaviour of the warlocks. Weed and Zahab had hunted in a dungeon before coming here.

‘The warlocks of Portu. Then there will surely be warlocks in the dungeons.’

The residents had plenty of rumours about places where they were forbidden to step foot in. He found the warlocks inside those dungeons! Hunting the warlocks there increased his infamy and mana by 300.

The warlocks were a fearful existence for general soldiers.

And a carriage soon moved to where they were. Weed went forward.

“Stop here.”

“What is happening? Hurry up and stop the army… Magician-nim.”

“I am here to take over this carriage.”

“That can’t be. I only take orders from the garrison leader Harock-nim.”

“I received orders from Chakujel-nim directly.”

“Then please show me the order.”

The knights inside the carriage were stubborn but their opponent was Weed!

“There are no orders.”

“Then you can’t pass this carriage.”

“Despite the fact that we’re fighting, are you telling me to go back to Chakujel-nim to receive the orders?”

“Rules are rules. We have to uphold martial law.”

“Good. Then look carefully at my face.”

“Eh?”

Weed pulled down the hood covering his face.

“Ah, Bill-nim.”

“Yes. You recognize me.”

“Of course.”

He had examined the appearance of a warlock and used Sculpture Transformation in advance.

“And this is Nulta-nim.”

The flash of gold that proved his identity! Weed had carefully examined the Royal Knights in Nodulle’s video. And had elaborately forged an identity plaque. Weed maximized his sculpting and counterfeiting skills to 300%!

The knight confirmed the identity plaque.

“This is Nulta-nim’s identity plaque.”

“If you don’t believe even with this proof then let’s go to where Chakujel-nim is.”

Chakujel was a notorious warlock in the Portu Kingdom. In addition, he had been the mentor of the Portu King. Many fearful rumours about Chakujel had spread. Meeting him was similar to nailing down the coffin lid!

The knight hesitated before handing over the reins of the horse.

“If it is Bill-nim then I will believe you. We request that you safely return this to us after the battle.”

“Don’t worry.”

Weed and Zahab drove the carriage towards the castle.

– You have convinced the knights of the kingdom.

Wisdom has increased by 1.

The carriage was robbed due to a scam!

Your charm, charisma and wisdom meant things could be stolen without a fight.

Normally Weed’s high charm, charisma and wisdom meant he could easily convince the knights but life wasn’t that easy now. However, they had a false sense of security due to this being the Royal Castle and the knights also feared warlocks.

Weed and Zahab comfortably passed areas protected by knights and soldiers and arrived at the castle’s entrance. An intense battle was occurring outside while the Raum Kingdom had secured the south gate. There was also a roaring sound as siege weapons attacked the area. The entrance of the castle was protected by the Royal Knights.

“Stop, what can we do for you?”

“I have some special materials needed for black magic.”

“I will check.”

The knight checked the corpses of monsters inside the carriage. The corpses of monsters were a necessary material used by warlocks to create chimeras. Weed knew that a carriage would enter thanks to Nodulle’s video and decided to use this.

“I didn’t think that Bill-nim would transport it directly. I was notified that these materials were coming in advance. You are granted passage!”

“Work hard.”

He successfully infiltrated the castle without any resistance! Nodulle had almost died 5 times while reaching this point.

‘The time has also been reduced by 7 minutes.’

This reduction in time was important to ensure that he wasn’t hit by siege weapons. He also needed to safely move Seo-yoon to the exit as quickly as possible. The last part of the video showed Nodulle rescuing Hilderun when the castle had been on the edge of collapse.

He didn’t know how Hilderun was rescued after that. Weed didn’t want to encounter that situation so he had to go quickly.

–I’m coming soon so just wait.

Weed sent a whisper to Seo-yoon. Seo-yoon was trapped in darkness at the top of a tower and couldn’t move so she could only send and receive whispers.

–Come slowly. I’ll be waiting.

Seo-yoon spoke like it was okay even if she died! But she couldn’t die in order for the quest to succeed.

“Let’s go.”

Weed and Zahab left the carriage and headed towards the tower.

“Where?”

“To the right side.”

There were enemies everywhere and the carriage had stopped so they could be discovered at any time.

‘I am fighting against time. I need to reach the tower as soon as possible before I’m discovered.’

More than 30 guards were walking around while armed. Nodulle hadn’t encountered them but now he was early.

“What are you doing?”

The soldiers asked politely first because he was a warlock. Weed whispered in a low voice so that only Zahab could hear.

“Zahab-nim, from now on you have to get rid of everyone who sees us. There is no time to waste on a conversation.”

“Yes, I’ve heard and experienced many things while coming here so I am sure they are bad people.”

“Of course. Zahab-nim is doing the right thing.”

Weed’s specialty was inciting people!

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Zahab used a sword skill. Brilliant light was emitted like falling autumn leaves and cut the soldiers. As expected from a master swordsman!

“How amazing, Zahab-nim!”

Weed clapped and cheered.

‘It is worth bringing him.’

The soldiers were no match for him. A power that could get rid of dozens of soldiers quickly! 3~4 soldiers ran away but that was unrelated.

They might be noticed but the Raum Kingdom’s army was going to enter soon. The warlocks and knights would then become busy trying to stop the siege. Nodulle had come in disguised as a servant and then a prisoner of war of the Raum Knights in order to barely escape the crisis.

“It is this way.”

Weed remembered the terrain seen in the video and led the way. They encountered knights and soldiers but Zahab just took care of it without acknowledging them. Weed couldn’t die so he just watched from a distance. Fortunately, Zahab was like a god so Weed was relatively safe.

‘That’s great.’

Zahab fought so often it was worth using Sculpture Resurrection. He could’ve used Sculpture Resurrection to call a stronger historical hero but there was no guarantee they would cooperate.

Especially now that Zahab was willing to die for him. In the worst case situation, Weed could sneak away while the warlocks and knights concentrated on Zahab.

‘Well, he is the one who taught me Radiant Sword and we have sculpting in common.’

The spirit of a sculptor and tremendous loyalty that was better than an assassin!

“Radiant Sword!”

A big archaeopteryx appeared when Zahab used Radiant Sword and swept away everyone in the area. All the knights and soldiers were taken down.

“As expected… There is no doubt that he will win. Then we should go to the next place.”

It didn’t matter if Zahab was slightly injured or had his vitality drop since they had no time.

Weed encountered 6 battles as they moved towards the tower. He had to carefully survey the area since his current strength was weak.

“Emergency! It is an emergency!”

“Everyone gather in front of the south gate in order to fend off the enemy knights!”

The troops in the castle moved quickly as the knights of the Raum Kingdom entered. The troops moved to the castle entrance to stop them.

Weed and Zahab hid behind stacked hay or pillars to avoid the moving troops. The quest required saving Seo-yoon so there was no need for unnecessary battles.

“There.”

Weed and Zahab arrived at a corner where he could see the tower.

“Those guys are tough. I’ve finally met opponents worth fighting after a long time.”

Zahab murmured as he looked at the entrance of the tower. The Royal Knights protecting the entrance of the tower looked formidable. Only the King and warlocks were allowed to enter so Nodulle couldn’t penetrate through them.

When he looked at the video, he estimated that the knights were in the mid-400’s but were strengthened by black magic! If the knights of the Raum Kingdom hadn’t arrived then Nodulle wouldn’t have a chance at all.

But there were many demons in the tower. Nodulle climbed the sheer wall of the tower and almost died twice. Usually he could be caught but there was a battle unfolding in the yard. The archers were all focused on the external enemies and didn’t notice Nodulle creeping up the tower.

Of course, it was close but that time hadn’t occurred yet. Weed calculated that he was 30 minutes faster than Nodulle. That time would be a very big asset in moments of crisis.

“We’re going to the building next door.”

The hall of the warlocks! Various black magic related books and study materials were available there and it was a place for novice warlocks to begin. Weed and Zahab went up the stairs of the empty building.

“And this is….”

It was a rope with a hook attached that he prepared after seeing Nodulle’s video! He planned to rise quickly on foot towards the general level where Seo-yoon was trapped on the tower next door. If he succeeded then he could rise from the 5th floor of the tower towards the 7th floor.

He needed to obtain the secret keys for the 5th, 6th and 7th floor but the video allowed him to know where they were hidden. Most of the dangerous elements were also outside.

“Catch!”

Weed threw the hooked rope towards the tower. And it felt it connect after a while.

“I will go first.”

Weed stepped forward as he tied the rope and climbed aboard it. The destination was the 5th floor but there was a considerable distance from the height of the general building.

Kuaaaaang!

He turned as he felt something flying to the left. A large fireball from a siege weapon has flown past him with a black smoke tail.

“Aigoo!”

Weed flattened his body close to the rope. The fireball had narrowly brushed past him.

“I almost died.”

Weed briefly looked back and had a panoramic view.

“S-save me!”

“The 4th Infantry Division has taken control of the castle’s east walls!”

“We won’t accept any members of the Portu Kingdom as prisoners so behead them all!”

There were the endless screams of the soldiers in the background and the siege weapons continued shooting fireballs. Fire and smoke spread everywhere as the calm of the Royal Castle was disrupted.

When looking at the history books, Portu’s Royal Castle that had been considered a beautiful fortress had been destroyed on this day and only rubble remained.

Nodulle had entered the tower as ceilings and walls were collapsing so Weed was in a fairly comfortable position right now.

While Weed had stopped for a while, Zahab grabbed the rope and started climbing.

“Go quickly.”

Bizarre creatures were also starting to fly in the sky. The demons that the warlocks had summoned!

Kkirit kkiriririt!

A demon with a long head and legs approached Weed and Zahab.

This was the risk of coming early.

“I haven’t even reached half-way yet.”

Weed painfully clung to the rope. His strength and vitality was weak so he couldn’t easily climb the rope. Not to mention his low health. If he was pecked or fell down then he would die instantly!

“I will buy some time so continue climbing upwards. You have to live and rescue you sweetheart.”

Zahab went out to take care of it.

“Radiant Sword!”

Despite hanging in the rope in an uneasy position, birds of prey made of light shot forward and blocked the approach of the demons.

‘As expected from Zahab.’

It was good that he brought Zahab here. It was like getting bonus jajangmyeon when buying jjampong.

Weed didn’t pay attention to the battle and slowly climbed up the rope until he hit the 5th floor of the tower.

“As expected, there is nothing.”

An empty corridor. Now there were only two obstacles remaining before he reached Seo-yoon.

Traps and guards with the keys!

Nodulle had barely managed to overcome the traps and guards. It would’ve been impossible if the Portu Kingdom wasn’t falling but he had bribed the guards with jewels to give him the key.

It was a difficult quest but Weed knew the terrain thanks to Nodulle. After a while, Zahab followed him in.

Kkirik kkiriririk!

The gap was too small for the demons to enter no matter how many times they tried so they flew away towards other enemies.

“Let’s go!”

He knew the exact location of the traps. Nodulle had overcome the danger of the traps due to his knowledge of architecture and machines.

“Wait!”

Weed stopped Zahab as they stepped into a passage with a trap.

“You have to be careful. This place isn’t ordinary.”

“There is nothing. Go quickly.”

“Well, there is a large danger that is hidden. I know the interior of the tower based on my knowledge of architectural design….”

Weed touched the stone wall.

“This wall will shoot out poisoned steel. If I remove this brick here…”

He was acting like Nodulle. And there was the sound of a small gear moving as the trap was turned off.

“It is now safe.”

“That’s really great.”

“It is a basic part of being a sculptor. Let’s continue.”

Acting smug whenever he dismantled a trap!

– The trap has been neutralized.

The Dismantle Trap skill has been generated.

Knowledge has increased by 1.

This was a skill that thieves mainly received. Of course, this wasn’t a useful technique if Weed was in his normal state. In his previous dungeon hunts, he would look at the monsters to determine where the traps were. Then he would just take it with his body or use Van Hawk.

“Ah, I’m worried. This invasion of the Portu Kingdom…doesn’t it seem like it is going to collapse? Then how will I live in the future?”

There was a sentry anguishing on the 7th floor of the tower. Nodulle gave money to persuade him but Weed didn’t need to do that.

“Zahab-nim.”

“What is it?”

“Kill that guy!”

Zahab could take care of him for free!

“He is a little weak to kill. His body is also pathetic.’

“He is a pawn of those people. He helped sacrifice many innocent people….”

Seokeok!

Zahab hesitated for a while but cut the sentry after learning he was the warlock’s henchman.

In fact, the sentry was a naive youth but took the task of keeping the key in order to feed his family. But Zahab was told a story so that he wold kill. He could be bribed with 1,400 gold but Weed didn’t want to waste money so he had Zahab kill the sentry.

– You have acquired the No. 54 Key.

The key to Seo-yoon’s prison was obtained!

He had obtained 30 other keys but those places were empty or the wrong place. Rescuing the prisoners would be useful when escaping but most of them had been experimented on and would often attack.

“Here.”

Weed inserted the No. 54 key into the iron door and turned it.

Cheolkeol.

The lock of the iron door was opened.

“I came to rescue you!”

Weed let Zahab open the iron door. It was to avoid dangerous situations so he could live longer! Fortunately there weren’t any knights, monsters or warlocks as Seo-yoon was locked up alone.

But her perfect skin had completely turned black. Her skin had turned black like a dark elf.

“What is this? Even if it was scorched by the sun, her skin wouldn’t turn dark like this.”

Weed checked that there was no danger and approached Seo-yoon.

Ddiring!

– Rescue Hilderun has been completed.

Fortunately, Hilderun is still alive. But the Portu King has already offered her to a devil.

“This is… Why is it like this?”

Weed thought it was ridiculous. Nodulle had definitely come to rescue Hilderun on this day. In fact, his arrival time was actually faster. Nevertheless, she had already been offered as a sacrifice to the magic experiment!

Then an idea passed through Weed’s head.

‘Don’t tell me Nodulle didn’t rescue Hilderun?’

No one knew exactly what happened to Nodulle and Hilderun. It was possible that it ended unhappily like most love affairs.

And a short video played in front of Weed.

Nodulle arrived at the top of the tower and opened the iron door. He sobbed as he discovered the trapped Hilderun.

“I….I’m too late.”

Nodulle carried Hilderun.

“It is not over yet. She is still alive. I won’t give up until the end. I will revive you even if you were offered to the devil.”

And Nodulle carried Hilderun out of the door.

Ddiring!

– Save Hilderun

A devil is sleeping inside Hilderun’s body.

The best saint on the continent, Ahellun sealed the devil previously.

Interfere with the devil summoning ritual in the time remaining. You must destroy the seal binding Hilderun’s spirit and vitality.

If you break the sealing bead that the Portu King hid away then Hilderun’s spirit will wake up.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Colleague won’t wake up until the quest ends.

Colleague will turn into a devil after 5 hours and the quest will fail.

* Please Note

If the devil is summoned, then it will indiscriminately destroy the Raum Kingdom and its allies and significant changes will occur to the history of the Versailles Continent.

The mighty forces of the devil will appear on the continent and the Portu King will continue living. If this quest fails then the devils will descend to earth.

And after that, the history of the Versailles Continent will change completely.

This would have a large effect on the continent as devils emerged in the Portu Kingdom.

Weed’s quest would have an enormous influence on the entire continent! If the kingdoms and users received damage then they would heavily blame him.

“Well, the good news is that this isn’t the north.”

It was somebody else’s problem so the burden decreased for Weed. If the Portu Kingdom swallowed the Raum Kingdom and its allies then it would even effect the Haven Empire in the present.

It was possible to deal a serious blow to the Hermes Guild who was conquering the continent. But he couldn’t deliberately fail the quest. It was amazing as the contents of the quest became increasingly bigger. They spent a peaceful few weeks on the island before experiencing this large adventure.

Weed wasn’t the same as other males. Even if he met someone he loved, he didn’t want to experience the cost of the wedding, honeymoon, housing and other expenses. Everyone had a vague idea about meeting a suitable partner but the process wasn’t that easy. If there were children from the marriage then he also needed to feed them pork.

Weed had prepared in advance for having a baby in the future.

‘I’m raising 3 pigs in the yard.’

Livestock to reduce the food costs!

“I thought I just needed to escape the castle but now I need to destroyed the sealing bead.”

He could determine the difficult just from hearing the contents.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Hrmm, um, something like this…”

Yoo Byung-jin continued to look at Weed’s adventures with admiration. The behaviour itself was simple but he needed to calculate the terrain, timing and strategy.

“Yes, he is called the God of War or King of Adventures for a reason.”

Weed had great adventures from his time in Continent of Magic and that continued to Royal Road. He had used his accumulated knowledge and experience to find Seo-yoon. But the fun was starting now. He couldn’t escape from the castle but needed to plunge into more danger to break the sealing bead.

He would need to confront the knights, warlocks and Raum Kingdom troops invading the castle. There were many situations where he could die so it would be really difficult to survive.

The Sands of Time still had one use remaining but there was no meaning in using it now. Weed’s circumstances were already different from Nodulle’s due to his actions.

“Maybe the secret sculpting technique quest will end today.”

Yoo Byung-jin couldn’t move his eyes from the monitor. He looked at Weed stabbing some soldiers and killed them. Zahab could easily take care of such a situation but he was fending off some knights. Stones falling from the ceiling also almost killed Weed and Seo-yoon.

Beep beep beep.

Then an alarm rang at the back of the monitor. Yoo Byung-jin asked the AI without looking away.

“Tell me what is going on.”

–The board of directors of Unicorn Corporation is convening. Several outside directors are presenting an agenda to increase cash dividends and interference in corporate management.

“The reaction of the executives?”

–It is difficult. Unicorn Corporation possesses abundant funds so they’re not worried about the investment plans hindering new businesses.

It is difficult to refuse the foreign outside directors due to political, public and media pressure from our country and abroad.

The growth rate of Unicorn Corporation wasn’t surprising to outside businessmen and financial specialists. Many officials and employees were astonished at Royal Road’s technology and sales.

Other general businesses found it difficult to believe the accounting reports.

Unicorn Corporation also experienced unprecedented success in areas like robotics, environmentally friendly materials, heavy industries, electronics, finance, communications and biotechnology.

They were also becoming increasingly tangled in politics.

“This is a nuisance. What influence do they have on the stocks?”

–Approximately 24.81%.

Unicorn Corporation had listened 36% of their shares as public stocks. The rest was owned by corporations around the world and Yoo Byung-jin.

If Unicorn Corporation’s shares were owned by a little company called A, the real owners would be a private company called B or an unlisted organization. But Company B might be managed by Company C and C was an affiliate of a large corporation called D. Yet Corporation D was silently managed by Company E who had invested in them or was a paper company for taxes.

And the final owner was Yoo Byung-jin. He used this snowballing tactic to astronomically grow his property. In the end, Unicorn Corporation was thoroughly owned by Yoo Byung-jin.

“Dispatch the parent company or bank to shake the outside directors. If there is a chance then have Unicorn Corporation take over those companies.”

–It is in progress. The result of this work will be delivered in 3 months.

The artificial intelligence didn’t only operate in Royal Road. It moved through Unicorn Corporation’s systems present throughout the world and kept watch on the politics, economics, movement of troops, transportation, telecommunications and the internet.

The AI could quickly find the best situation.

– And there is a minor problem.

“What is it?”

Yoo Byung-jin was a little annoyed since he wanted to watch the video of Weed. Usually the executives of Unicorn Corporation and the AI could take care of most problems. But some situations required Yoo Byung-jin’s judgement directly.

–It related to the private life of Weed.

The AI displayed the house where Weed lived in real time.

“That is a good place to live.”

Yoo Byung-jin said as he saw Lee Hyun’s house.

Fruit trees and vegetables were growing in the yard. When looking from an aerial view, the expensive pear trees caught his eye. If he didn’t live in an apartment then he would’ve liked to live in such a house. Management would be a little inconvenient but he could enjoy the peacefulness of the house.

The screen focused on a black car parked near the house.

–They are monitoring him.

“Who are they?” Do they work for his girlfriend’s family?”

He knew that Seo-yoon’s father didn’t really approve of Weed.

The top ranked players in Royal Road. They received the special attention of Yoo Byung-jin. Thus he had arranged surveillance cameras around Lee Hyun’s university and small unmanned surveillance aircrafts around his house.

They were state of the art technology that looked like small flies and fly around Lee Hyun’s house, sometimes sticking to the walls.

–They are working for a private money lender.

“Why are they watching?”

–In the past….

The AI explained everything it knew about the bad relationship between Lee Hyun and the private money lenders.

“Hasn’t their relationship ended yet?”

–It ended a long time ago. But recently the money lenders used the people who owe them debts to jump into Royal Road.

They created a workshop that employs Dark Gamers. They recently learnt that Lee Hyun is Weed the God of War from Continent of Magic. Now those money lenders are targeting Lee Hyun for wicked work.

“How unpleasant.”

Yoo Byung-jin didn’t feel good about someone interfering with his plan.

It was possible that Lee Hyun could accomplish the greatest achievement since Royal Road opened. He wasn’t good natured enough to tolerate such a thing.

“Take care of them so that my ears never have to hear about them again.

The fate of the private money lenders was determined in that moment.

Chapter 4: Collapsing Castle

Weed carried Seo-yoon on his back. It was dangerous so Zahab was leading the way.

“Shall we go to the office of the king? No. He is a warlock so he should have something like a magic laboratory.

But there is no safety since a battle is happening in the yard.” The Portu’s Royal Castle was collapsing.

Historically that was true but it would change if the devil took over Seo-yoon. Weed needed to find the sealing bead before then and break it. Of course, he needed to find it, defeat the king  and escape from the castle safely.

“It is like searching for something on the beach.”

It was impossible unless he was a little lucky! The difficulty level was just like a recent movie called that had become popular.

There was also no meaning in watching Nodulle using the Sands of Time. There was already a large time difference from when Nodulle invaded and when Weed rescues Seo-yoon.

“I said it before but Nodulle is really unlucky. It will be hard for one human to settle this.”

He could see the traps if he watched Nodulle using the Sands of Time but he decided to use his own judgement. His only hope was that the king was a warlock. Most magicians were physically weak. This was a great opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

“Zahab-nim.”

“Yes, tell me.”

“We have to remove a few knights of the Raum Kingdom.”

“The reason?”

“They will have a map.”

Those that lived in the palace didn’t need guidance. But the knights of the Raum Kingdom who came here after taking care of the warlocks would have maps! The next part was to look at the map and find a suitable place for the king to be.

‘ Perhaps he is waiting somewhere for the devil to wake up.’

The Royal Castle was very spacious so it would be difficult to go back if he made a mistake. The devil would wake up before the castle collapsed. He had to check the behaviour of the knights and warlocks and see where they had gathered.

“Fire!”

“Kyaaaak!”

“The walls are crumbling!”

While he was coming down from the tower, chamberlains and female maids were running around in an uproar. Thick pillars connected to the ceiling were falling on soldiers and fire was spreading as the walls collapsed.

‘Now is the time that Nodulle entered.’

There were many guards in Portu Castle but they were running around everywhere and didn’t pay attention to Weed, Zahab and Seo-yoon. Their priority was stopping the Raum Knights invading the collapsing castle.

Weed ran through the corridor while carrying Seo-yoon. Then he suddenly stopped.

“Wait a minute.”

“Why?”

“The chamberlains and female maids running away aren’t heading towards the right side.”

The people escaping weren’t heading to the right hallway and were only going to the left side. Of course, it could be due to the risk of collapse or fire but he thought it was the opposite.

“There seems to be more there than the collapsing castle and Raum Kingdom knights.”

“It seems so.”

Weed followed his instincts at that moment.

“We’re going to the right side.”

He didn’t know the reason why everyone was going towards the left side. But in a situation like this, he decided to go to the right for the quest.

‘Just a little. In the worst case scenario, Seo-yoon will die and the devil will wake up.’

It was a plan of desperation in the collapsing castle! But he belatedly regretted it.

‘I arrived here much earlier than Nodulle. If he got rid of the sealing bead…maybe there were more collapsed stairs or hallways while he carried Hilderun.’

It meant there was more closed areas so Nodulle didn’t have to wander around as much. He came early so there were more places to search.

“Intruders! This place is prohibited for everyone except for a few people.”

“This is His Majesty’s command. Kill all intruders!”

A hallway was being guarded by 5 Royal Knights. Weed stepped back while piggybacking Seo-yoon.

“Zahab-nim!”

“I will take care of it. Continuous Storm Slash!”

Zahab ran forward and used a distinctive skill. His skills really had outstanding effects.

“Ugh!”

“He is very strong. Be careful!”

The Portu Royal Knights were overwhelmed. Zahab’s power surrounded the Royal Knights like a storm and wreaked havoc. Light and wind combined to form a spectacular effect!

“The aura of heavy earth inhabiting this sword. Sword of the Land!”

Zahab also used the power of the land. Zahab’s sword that cut the enemy became 5~6 times heavier.

“Done. It is sorted.”

“Thank you very much.”

The blockade of the Royal Knights was easily penetrated thanks to Zahab. He processed the enemies quickly and protected Weed so that not one fingertip touched him. He was a Master Swordsman for a reason so it was worth bringing him.

He changed his thinking as the fighting continued.

‘I’m thankful we came here so early.’

‘His combat abilities are really wonderful.

‘If it wasn’t for Zahab then this quest would be really tough.’

‘That is the armour of the Portu Royal Knights! If I take it then it will be an antique. The money when selling it to a collector….’

‘The jewels are overflowing.’

‘Another item has come out. Zahab is good. I wouldn’t have any luck without this guy.’

‘After seeing this, there is no need to thank Zahab. I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to raise our intimacy. I just need to accept what he is giving.’

‘Aigoo, this time there are 8 knights. Some knights holding a kite shield will be hard to handle. I should’ve brought a stronger guy.’

‘How useless.’

His emotions deteriorated to jealousy after seeing Zahab fight a lot!

“Everyone has been put away.”

“Uh, yes.”

Weed ran forward carrying Seo-yoon.

“Intruders! How dare you come here!”

Now 4 warlocks wearing dark robes appeared. The warlocks used black magic and curses to attack. Although other professions used curses, the warlock was the most difficult to resist due to sacrificial offerings.

Weed now had to be much more careful.

“Take care of them before they use magic!”

“Understood.”

“Get rid of the one on the right side first!”

Zahab threw his sword. It flew with a dreadful light and pinned the body of the warlock to the wall. Then Zahab ran up and touched the sword with his hand.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Light emerged from his hand as he used the sword skill. He was a master so he had the ability to exert Moonlight Sculpting Blade. Zahab freely utilized the rays and hurled them towards the warlocks.

“Howling….”

A warlock’s magic could exert terrible power in battle so they couldn’t be allowed to complete their magic spell. After Zahab ran and attacked with his sword of light, the warlock couldn’t do anything and died.

Zahab collected his sword and murmured.

“These warlocks…this really is a great place like you said.”

“Okay, let’s go. Haven’t you eaten enough?”

“What?”

“It is nothing. Zahab-nim. Come quickly!”

They broke through the passages where the warlocks were standing guard! Zahab killed a combination of warlocks and knights.

Weed was in the vanguard so he had no choice but to wish that Zahab won. The enemies didn’t have the ability to resist so he just needed to wait impatiently.

“I can’t just stand back.”

Weed prepared to use a sculpting skill.

“It is valuable but it is better than feeling regret.”

He took out a Fine sculpture that he collected when he returned to his original time. A gold bull lying down! It was a great piece of art that he could utilize.

His spirit was squeezed.

“Sculptural Destruction! Everything into Agility.”

At that moment. Weed’s body became light.

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

The pain of destroying a Fine sculpture! The grief!

The Art stat is permanently reduced by 5 points. Fame has decreased by 100.

The Art stat has been converted to Agility for one day.

Since your Art stat is too high and your Agility stat is too low, the conversion won’t be converted all at once.

980 Agility has been changed to the level 9 advanced skill ‘Wind Sprint.’

You can use mana to run with the wind. This will be more useful when travelling long distances outdoors than indoors.

430 Agility has been changed to the level 5 advanced skill ‘Lucky Help.’

Luck will spread and attacks can gain 3 attributes.

2,360 Agility has been changed to the master skill ‘Avoidance.’

The enemy won’t be able to attack accurately. The efficiency of leather armour has also increased. It is difficult to receive a critical hit.

5,600 Agility has been changed to the level 7 advanced skill ‘Accurate Attack.’

Increases the probability of a critical hit and increases damage.

1.340 Agility has been changed to the level 4 advanced skill ‘Excellent Experience.’

Reduces the activation time required for an attack skill. It is also possible to grasp the weak points of the skill that an opponent users.

760 Agility has been changed to the level 6 intermediate skill ‘Distance Reduction.’

Stamina and mana will be consumed to strike the enemy with extremely quick movements while ignoring distance.

1,340 Agility has been changed to the level 2 advanced skill ‘Feather Steps.’

The body will become as light as a feather and you won’t get tired. Jump power has improved and it won’t hurt when jumping from a very high place.

They were techniques that could be used to deal damage and avoid attacks!

“I had to use this. Trying to live is really hard.”

Meanwhile, Zahab finished cleaning up the Royal Knights and the warlocks.

“Let’s continue!”

Zahab took the path where a considerable amount of enemies emerged. The Master Swordsman and Sculptor Zahab! Traps, magic and the knights’ attacks didn’t connect with him.

Now that his Art stat had been converted into Agility, Seo-yoon wasn’t heavy anymore. Yet Weed felt a vaguely ominous feeling.

‘So far it has been very easy. Somehow I feel like I can’t easily move forward.’

Nodulle would’ve probably suffered more because he didn’t have the help of Zahab and the sculpting skills.

Weed had personally prepared a plan and it was mostly progressing as planned. It would’ve been better if he could escape from the tower with Seo-yoon immediately but the path to the king was much more smooth than expected.

‘It is dangerous. This is a temptation that I shouldn’t fall into.’

Shortcuts in life were also associated with traps. Of course, there were people who lived life running through a successful road.

Those who joined prestigious guilds in the early days of Royal Road gained access to good hunting grounds and were provided with the appropriate equipment, quests and people to help them grow. They might feel like life was easy.

Weed had experienced many things and developed an absolute keen sense of danger.

‘The final sculpting technique quest can’t be this lax. It is a sign that something isn’t good.’

Of course, the quest wasn’t even finished yet. There would be a growing danger as it became closer to collapse.

For instance, he could take the wrong path and die. If he was surrounded by enemies then he would die. Even falling stones would cause death! He hadn’t even glimpsed the sealing bead yet so Zahab needed to be rested enough to protect him.

“Wait!”

“Why? Shouldn’t we hurry before the castle crumbles?”

“Umm.”

The situation were definitely something where he had to hurry but his feet couldn’t move for some reason.

‘There is a risk of the castle collapsing or being in danger from the knights, warlocks and the Portu King.’

The bottom line was that the entire situation was dangerous. But there was a feeling of being dragged into a larger trap so he couldn’t move his feet.

‘It is like a pig running towards a slaughterhouse….’

Weed decided to give up and just enjoy the benefits in the meantime.

The battle was ongoing but he had come here far earlier than Nodulle. It would be useful to quickly get out of the crumbling castle but right now the powerful enemies were more dangerous. He didn’t need to encounter the strong enemies early.

“Let’s go to a safe place and wait.”

“What is this? We should move quickly.”

“Please believe in me. I’m not proud of it but an unfortunate person like me…on average, I have no luck.”

He was uncertain so Weed decided to wait. Still, he couldn’t just waste time.

“I should pack some valuables, artwork and antiques in the area.”

The riches of Portu’s Royal Castle outweighed his sense of danger.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The stations hadn’t broadcasted the final secret sculpting technique quest yet.

Weed had requested it be kept a secret so they speculated that he was in the middle of an amazing quest. They patiently waited and prepared for the day the quest finished so they could broadcast it.

The users of Royal Road were still interested in the first person who would complete the Master Quest. But no one knew about the last secret technique that could stop time.

Yoo Byung-jin knew all the secrets. He was the only one who knew all the secrets of the Versailles Continent.

“What about the chef’s final secret technique?”

– If a chef doesn’t start it but the time winter hits the Versailles Continent, the secret technique will disappear. Judging by the progress of the chefs so far, there isn’t one person who can challenge it so the final secret technique will be hoarded.

“They will have to wait a while after that.”

– 3 or 4 years will be necessary.

If the quest for a secret technique failed then it would disappear. Once time passed, the growth of a NPC or development of certain areas meant it was possible to receive the quest again. But people who mastered the profession was rare.

The possibility that they would collect all the secret techniques and challenge the final secret technique was slim.

Sadly, the final secret technique of a chef who could have the best flavour under the sky was going to disappear.

“Doesn’t the Painter’s final secret technique had to start soon?”

– The Master Painter El Greco will die soon. Once he dies, the quest won’t be able to proceed for a minimum of 5 years.

“It is unfortunate.”

Yoo Byung-jin had large expectations for the painter’s final secret technique.

The final secret technique of combat professions tended to be related to fighting. They could hunt dragons or have an outstanding performance in war.

But art professions could gain the skill to create something new.

The painter’s final secret technique ‘Creation.’ It was a skill would the painter could draw and create a new continent with terrain, animals, monsters and species.

This was a colossal skill so it could only be used once. And the continent created wouldn’t give any benefits to the painter. The new continent must be developed from the beginning by the residents that inhabited it. But if the continent became prosperous then the name of the painter would be constantly mentioned. Creating a continent was the greatest honour and pride for a human.

Of course, if Weed was a painter then he would make something with his own self-interest and selfish desire in mind.

‘I don’t need deserts that don’t have money. Why do I also need something like cliffs? Breadbasket! I need to make a fertile breadbasket where I can sprinkle seeds. And mountains full of gold mine and gem mines will be good. The coast should be a peaceful place for marine transport. There doesn’t need to be various monsters. I need to make sure a bunch of goblins can be captured to use as slaves.’

A continent full of resources for the picking! The skill to create a land fit Weed’s aptitude.

Unfortunately, no one was attempting the painter’s final secret technique. The only one challenging the final secret technique of a profession was Weed.

Yoo Byung-jin watched as Weed embarked on such an adventure.

“Well, the path was figured out quickly….”

The map of Portu Castle displayed on the monitor showed a very complicated structure. It was close to impossible to find the sealing bead in a place like that. Even if he did find the location, the king would still be a problem.

Weed had grasped the inner terrain due to Nodulle’s video so he had quickly determined the path. He was able to have a full understanding of the structure despite running around carrying Seo-yoon on his back. The spatial ability that he mastered during milk and newspaper deliveries!

“That is the relatively right road. It might be frustrating but it is the relatively right direction. If he continues going that way, huhuhu….”

Weed was heading towards the deepest place where the Portu King was.

However, it was the place where all the power of the Portu Kingdom was gathered. It contained the king, Royal Knights, soldiers and warlocks.

They were getting sacrifices ready for black magic that would open the Gates of Hell. Once the magic was exercised, the red Gates of Hell would open in the sky above Portu’s capital city. The Gates of Hell that ate away at a person’s vitality.

Even if Weed was prepared to disrupt the warlocks, he was going to a place where there was nothing he could do. It was a place where he would die.

“Now if he goes forward a little more….huh?”

Weed ridiculously went into an empty room and started looting it with Zahab.

The knights of the Raum Kingdom and their allies grabbed control of the interior and started heading towards where the Portu King was. It was like going to a tiger’s den early.

Yoo Byung-jin had been looking forward to the situation yet Weed suddenly wasn’t in a hurry and started gathering artwork, antiques, gold and silver. He used the chance to loot during his biggest crisis!

“What is he doing? Did he have a special feeling?”

If Weed heard those words then he would be complaining. But Yoo Byung-jin knew everything about the circumstances so his words were correct.

He knew even the slightest deployment of troops. He knew when Royal Knights stepped into a passage and grasped the full internal structure of the castle.

Older people who experienced many adventures could sense trouble or their joints would hurt when it was about to rain.

In this situation, Weed wasn’t careless at all. He had the survival instinct of a cockroach!

“This is his ability.”

Even if the castle was crumbling, Weed would survive until the end. It felt like he would never die.

In the buildings and infrastructure in Korea were destroyed in a war, they would be restored after dozens of years. In a situation where everyone was afraid, Weed would just try to gather up more scrap metal. Of course, an unexpected bomb falling would still kill a person.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“I’ve lived a lifetime with a sword and overcome many fights with my sword. Obviously I need to use that to make my secret sword technique. Skill….”

Geomchi recalled the time he felt the best when handling a sword.

It was when he was holding a sword in a heavy rainstorm. He was tired from a hard practice but at that moment, he had become one with the sword. A sword that could cut down any opponent, even in moments that seemed insignificant.

“A sword that can cut anything.”

– Please define the sword skill.

“A sword that can slash any enemy or object.”

A sword slashing skill that could cut anything!

– Due to the special nature of the sword skill, a serious penalty can be given.

Do you still want to proceed?

“Of course.”

– The sword skill has been completed.

Excessive use of this sword technique can have a large cost.

– Sword that Cuts Anything 1 (0%): Advanced level 6 Sword Mastery is required to cut everything.

When the attack hits correctly, a maximum of 55 times the damage can be dealt by the blow depending on the skill level.

However, if the opponent isn’t hit then there is a 20% chance that the sword will be broken.

If the attack is blocked then it can cause injuries, paralysis and death.

There will be a large gap if the attack goes wide.

– The skill proficiency of Weapons Mastery has improved.

– Fame has increased by 3,190 due to the creating of a new secret sword technique.

Once Geomchi made a skill, it was Geomchi-2’s turn immediately afterwards. Geomchi-2 only lived for the sword.

‘I am Teacher-nim’s successor who will inherit the dojang.’

His dream was to each young disciples for the rest of his life.

“I want to make Sword that Cuts Anything

“Second.”

“I just want to develop the skill that Teacher-nim chose.”

Choosing the wrong skill due to flattery.

Unlike Weed who used the important chance to make a profound secret technique, Geomchi-2 wasted the opportunity.

“Hrmm.”

Instead of a sword, Geomchi-3 wanted to become one with the art of spear fighting. A spear exerted great power in a war. Holding a long spear while riding a horse was the best feeling.

“I would like to learn Sword that Cuts Anything.”

But in the end, Geomchi-3 decided to choose the same skill. That was also a problem from Geomchi-4 and Geomchi-5.

‘This isn’t it…..’

‘Oh, something is going wrong.’

They felt it was strange but the atmosphere couldn’t be reverted. Geomchi-2 hadn’t thought it would be this deep when he first started it.

“I will also choose Master-nim’s Sword that Cuts Anything.”

“I feel the same way as Geomchi-4.”

They inevitably had to commit to it! Of course, it wasn’t a large damage but they couldn’t get the skill they desired.

And when it came time for the selection of the trainees!

‘The only way to live is to choose that secret sword technique.’

‘If I select a different skill alone then I’ll probably have to spar every day.’

The trainees had large worries.

But fortunately, Geomchi managed to rectify this. He thought they were a pitiful lot. Geomchi thought it was stupid for everyone to choose the same secret sword technique.

“You should make a different technique.”

“I understand, Teacher-nim!”

“We would like to learn from Master-nim.”

Geomchi said seriously.

“Learn other things. If you continue doing this then we will be ignorant like everyone thinks.”

That’s why the trainees freely chose their skills! 200 people chose a secret technique related to a sword. A variety of techniques with flashy effects and options were acquired.

Geomchi-207 was especially interested in sprucing up the effect.

“When the skill is used, I would like thunder to strike and five colours of light to wrap around me and protect me with a large roaring sound.”

Others chose secret techniques focused on reducing mana. Other trainees chose long range attacks with bows and spears and shields were also popular.

“I would like to learn Sword that Cuts Anything.”

83 trainees also chose flattery. They decided this was a very wise decision after that day.

Geomchi and Geomchi-2 were forgiving on those that chose other skills but Geom-chi-3 was different.

“All the children who made new skills should assemble before me.”

And he made them train all night long! Geomchi-3 showed the dirty character that he was normally hiding.

The next day was Geomchi-4.

“A lot of children are looking for individuality and romance these days? Let’s see what type of skills they have.”

Geomchi-5 also spoke the next day.

“I didn’t say anything before. Discipline has completely collapsed.”

The students had to go through gruelling training. Sometimes they watched the general public and thought they were weak.

“They get tired after running 10 kilometres. Everyone should be able to run at least 30 kilometres.”

“I don’t know what is so tiring about driving a car towards the east coast. If I have a bicycle then I can take the 400 kilometres round trip.”

“I can take a day trip and then play a game of football in the evening.”

“I can stay up all night and then go to work at the dawn market while feeling refreshed.”

The trainees could feel stronger after earnest training.

Systematic theory, training and quality. These were words that would emerge from textbooks. Humans had great adaptability. Those that felt terrible would become stronger.

Geomchi, the instructors and the trainees proceeded to the next step of the Martial Artist Master Quest.

There were unique but easy quests where the Geomchis had to rescue NPCs or break through dungeons within a specified amount of time.

Geomchi-101 thought that training time was more important than anything else. The body was reliable as long as it was trained.

“I will swing the sword all night long to learn the skill.”

“I would like to play. Why don’t you come with me to play?”

“I need to learn this before going to play.”

A level 130 NPC said.

“I think you are strong enough. Please go hunt monsters.”

“Stop it. I will die if I carelessly wander out with these skills.”

“That is okay. Teacher-nim will understand your heart.”

“Shut up. I will kill you with my own hands!”

Chapter 5: Sculpture that Makes a Miracle

“If I hadn’t come here then I really would’ve regretted it for the rest of my life.”

The smile on Weed’s face was like a child who just found money. The items that were decorating Portu’s Royal Castle! Weed and Zahab went around aggressively collecting the items.

Of course, they didn’t forget about hunting.

“He looks like a servant. Vaguely rich…no, he is probably a bad person who flatters the king and squeezes the people. He is a bad guy hiding his wicked actions. Kill him quickly!”

The valet who was sold as a slave in his childhood died!

“Kill all the nobles. The ornaments and precious jewels…heh, they are definitely carrying treasures.”

“Haven’t you been listening to my words?”

“The servant! Don’t pretend you didn’t see him! Just kill him.”

It was to the extent that he didn’t know if he was rescuing Seo-yoon or robbing the palace. He obtained a lot of warlock equipment and magic scrolls.

“There are many people who would buy this on the black market. Huhuhu!”

Black magic wasn’t properly developed on the Versailles Continent in normal time. Very few people had chosen a warlock as a magician’s advancement.

However, Weed had acquired things like and . If they had those books then more people would choose a warlock.

Weed wanted to bring home bad things! Of course, he felt some pricks to his conscience but it was just like a fly or mosquito.

“I still feel like a pure and kind person despite doing this. Well…yes, I’ve gone through too many things in life for this tender heart to be damaged.”

If he had money then he would write an autobiography later.

“Aaaack!”

“The Raum Knights are coming here!”

A scream was heard in the hallway. Then the dull sound of armoured knights running could be heard. The elite knights of the Raum Kingdom and their allies had been mobilized. Even the elite rangers were following behind.

“Our guides have arrived.”

Weed had been waiting for guidance. Fundamentally, this war was happening between the Raum Kingdom and Portu Kingdom.

Nodulle and Hilderun were lucky this situation occurred when the Portu Kingdom was being attacked.

“If we can’t find the correct path then they will look for it.”

It was time to chase after the Raum Knights. This was the reason why he deliberately fell behind schedule by looting.

“Come quickly.”

Zahab led the way while Weed carried Seo-yoon on his back. The Raum Knights were taking care of the defenders so they just needed to comfortably follow from behind.

The castle was built for durability so the interior was relatively fine despite the onslaught of siege weapons. But the building sometimes shook and decorations hanging on the wall would fall.

The frightening feeling!

The Royal Castle hadn’t collapsed yet but it could sink at any moment. His heart wanted to hurry but he shouldn’t blindly rush towards the sealing bead.

“These guys have appeared. Cast the prepared magic.”

“Land of Sacrifice!”

“Astaroth’s Claw!”

There was a huge roar and Weed was pushed back by the impact. The strength in his legs weakened and Weed was only able to endure thanks to Zahab.

‘As expected, it is better to come later. If I arrived first then I would’ve died from that magic attack.’

Screams were heard in rapid succession. If he continued going forward then he would arrive at the fiercest and most dangerous place. The Raum Knights were outstanding and quickly broke through the warlock skills. Deadly attacks that would cause death with just one graze!

“Rest for a little bit.”

“Should we do that? The status of your female isn’t good.”

Seo-yoon’s eyes were darkening like she was dying.

“She is going to live.”

Weed didn’t easily lose his cool even in moments of crises. Let alone in a moment when Seo-yoon might die! She would understand even if she died in a place like this.

‘If I can’t protect her then I will give her a 2nd generation puppy.’

He never gave gifts for birthdays or anniversaries yet he was planning to give her a puppy. Of course, Seo-yoon was nurturing a 1 year old female Dogmeat but she couldn’t give birth without the cooperation of a male dog.

‘I will give up my share of the puppies. Until Dogmeat gives birth, I will give her a puppy to nurture.’

It was a situation where generation after generation of dogs would be tied to Weed!

“Those possessed by the power of darkness, use this blood and life to descend here….”

“Chop up all the warlocks. Ranger troops attack!”

“Destroy the magic circle so that their magic won’t work.”

The sound of fighting between the Portu Kingdom and Raum Kingdom continued. Weed didn’t move as he organized his thoughts.

He couldn’t just run into the battlefield while piggybacking Seo-yoon.

‘Judging from history, the Portu Kingdom was defeated. This will happen again unless important variables become involved.’

Of course, Weed and Seo-yoon were variables. If the devil inside Seo-yoon woke up then the Raum Kingdom and their allies would be cruelly defeated. Nodulle somehow succeeded so Weed had to accomplish that as well. Now he had to find some way to help Seo-yoon.

“Shouldn’t we go now?”

“I need to prepare a little more.”

“Prepare what?”

“I need to clean up a whale and eat it.”

The Portu King and Chakujel who were great warlocks! They were the leaders of these evil forces. The troops of the Raum Kingdom were also terrible.

During this time, the Raum Kingdom and their allies would become the best knights of the continent and were on the verge of forming an Empire. Their military power could be considered the best on the battlefield!

Weed and Seo-yoon had plunged into a great, historical battle.

“I need to be prepared for the past. It would be nice if I could live without using tricks. That way I won’t receive damage.”

The battlefield continued to explode with black magic and screams.

“Not yet.”

It was possible to see that the battle hadn’t reached its climax yet. He gained various information from listening to the noises.

The kings and nobles of the allied kingdoms had met to discuss driving away the warlocks from the continent. Thus they formed the blitz invasion plan to instantly destroy the castle with siege weapons and kill the warlocks. The knights of every allied kingdom marched here to chop up the warlocks. In fact, the knights were prepared to be annihilated when the castle collapsed.

“Warlocks are persecuted everywhere.”

This was the reason why users didn’t choose to become a warlock. The magic was powerful and they could easily use advanced magic through sacrifices, but the infamy was too high. Knights would constantly chase after them to kill them.

Furthermore, their body might be seized by a devil or demon like Hilderun or they might become sacrifices. It was a strong profession that received endless accusations.

“It is through black market trades so it will be difficult to sell warlock items for a high price.”

Weed decided to start the plan he prepared. He pulled out a sculpture he made in advance.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

Turning into an archer of the Portu Kingdom!

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting makes the sculptor and statue resemble each other!

Mana required for this skill is insufficient. You have overcome this using your sculpting skill and artistry. But the big penalty will be given.

The influence of Sculpture Transformation has slightly increase Strength and Agility.

Intelligence and Wisdom will decrease.

Art stat has halved.

Health has risen a little bit.

Due to the penalty, it isn’t possible to use skills that consume mana.

This will last until Sculpture Transformation is released.

It was natural to become a Portu soldier if he wanted to near the warlocks.

Weed had deliberately changed to a fat body when using Sculpture Transformation. It was so that he could cover Seo-yoon on his back with a cloak. It was hard to move his body but Sculptural Destruction meant simple movements wasn’t an issue.

“You have to protect me well.”

“I will risk my life to accomplish this.”

Zahab equipped the sword and leather armour he obtained from a soldier. His Sword Mastery was high so he could use the basic weapons and armour worn by the soldiers.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t disguise as a knight because his sword performance had fallen. If a sword battle ensued then he would suffer a loss.

“I have to use these guys. I was hoping this day wouldn’t come but…if I complete this quest then it can be restored through hunting.”

Weed took out a sculpture. He had already created sculptures using the luxury materials he obtained.

There were Ordinary and Fine pieces. And one was also a Masterpiece. The subject of art wasn’t free so it was inevitable when using precious materials.

6 sculptures in the form of the Portu Kingdom’s soldiers could be seen.

“Even if I give them life, it will be difficult to bring back to my original time or have them survive the battle.”

Weed gave a deep sigh.

“It can’t be helped since I arrived at this point. Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

– Life has been given to the sculptures.

The ability of the sculptures has been converted to 513 due to the current 3,122 Art stat.

Mana is lacking to use the skill so their level has been decreased by 23% as a penalty.

Three types of attributes have been given to the lifeforms.

The standard of the attribute given will depend on the level and shape of the sculptural lifeforms.

Attribute of Steel (100%), Attribute of Fire (80%), Attribute of Loyalty (100%).

Excellent weapon and defense techniques are given to the lifeforms with the attribute of steel.

It is possible to burn an enemy with the attribute of fire.

Everyone will have immunity to curse magic. There is a strong resistance against black magic.

They will offer blind loyalty and will never commit acts of betrayal. They are willing to follow every command.

282 Mana has been used.

Due to the skill level, the efficiency and stats given has been reduced by 20%.

The Art stat is permanently reduced by 6 points. The reduced stats can be supplemented with other sculpture or art related activities.

Level has fallen by 2. Stats have been reduced by 10.

When raising the level, the decreased stats can be regained.

Cherish the sculptures that have been given life. If they die then you have to give them life again.

If they are completely destroyed then it isn’t possible to revive them again.

The body of a soldier grew rapidly bigger. He immediately kneeled down in front of Weed.

“Master has given me life. Please set my name!”

The voice filled with loyalty! Weed sent a bittersweet look towards the sculptural lifeform.

“It is great to see you. I will call you Iron-1.”

“That is a good name that seems to fit me. Thank you for the name Iron-1.”

“You don’t have to be thankful. Unfortunately, it seems like we won’t be together for a long time.”

“Master! Why are you saying that?”

The time zone had changed so he was proceeding with Nodulle and Hilderun’s adventures. He would have to leave the sculptural lifeforms behind once he returned to his original continent in the future. There was also no guarantee they would be unharmed in the difficult battle. Even the crumbling castle caused a risk of dying.

Of course, they were saved from Weed’s repeated bullying so these sculptural lifeforms might actually be lucky.

“I am happy to fight here even if there is danger. I will serve you whole-heartedly.”

“Yes, I understand. Now let’s gather your colleagues.”

Weed waited for his mana to be restored before continuing to use Sculpture Life Bestowal. He lost a total of 10 levels in exchange for the sculptural lifeforms. Weed’s current low health also reduced further from the loss in levels. Once he returned to his original body, that level decrease would be applied so he felt significant grief.

“Art is really…it is like the pain of cutting through my bone. I can’t make them work repeatedly.”

It felt like tears of blood was falling from the pain.

“Master, please give a command!”

“We will crush any enemies!”

“I am happy to offer up my life. There will be no glory if I can’t fight with Master.”

“I’ll do anything. I will complete any tasks that Master gives me!”

Weed looked at the dignified sculptural lifeforms like they were wonderful.

One Masterpiece, two Fine pieces and 3 Ordinary pieces. Their levels were a little bit different but they looked like soldiers of the Portu Kingdom. There were four archers, one spearman and one swordsman.

Weed had prepared a combination of sculptures for the situation.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Let’s go. If we delay any longer then the Royal Castle will collapse. We may be attacked by the Raum Kingdom and their allies so be careful.”

Weed and Zahab took the soldiers and went underground.

A wide, green vacant land!

This space was designed for the warlocks’ magic experiments. Cold air flowed through the area and a green liquid dripped down. The demons were already fighting with the knight of the Raum Kingdom and their allies.

‘This is a decent place for a warlock.’

Various curses were spread out through the underground area. The knights and soldiers couldn’t show off their usual skills against the demons.

If they received an injury it would be significantly worse, be poisoned or have unusual bugs similar to larvae crawl on the body. In addition, they were corrupted by hallucinations and attacked their colleagues.

The rangers tried to shoot from afar but poison fog pushed up against them. All the nutrients in their bodies were sucked away and their skin dried up like a block of wood.

The warlocks were really difficult opponents for the knights.

“We’re going to do something now.”

“To the left…run!”

Weed and Zahab ran forward. The sculptural lifeforms escorted them as they ran. They were heading towards the camp of the Portu Kingdom.

“Iron-1, Iron-2, Iron-3! Prevent the Raum Kingdom from approaching. Don’t reveal too much of your skills.”

“Yes!”

“Iron-4, Iron-5, Iron-6! Be careful and warn me if there is any attacks from the warlocks.”

“I will throw my body Master!”

Weed and his subordinates were shrimps caught between the whales that were the Portu Kingdom and Raum Kingdom. If he was hit by the warlock’s magic or arrows then Weed would die very soon!

But if they felt he was on the same side then they wouldn’t attack. Instead, the archers even sent arrows towards the Raum Kingdom troops to contain them.

The sculptural lifeforms had excellent skill so Weed wasn’t caught. When he arrived at the Portu Kingdom’s camp, the commander of the archers severely scolded him.

“Where did you go? I told the units to gather here 1 hour ago.”

Weed bowed his head humbly.

“I’m sorry.”

“Stupid bastards! Get ready to fight. You will have to go out at any time if there is an order from the top.”

“Yes!”

Weed, Zahab and the sculptural lifeforms were quietly arranged in the camp. The demons were playing an active role so most of the soldiers were just watching.

The Portu King, Chakujel and the warlocks felt the demons were sufficient and also prepared black magic to reduce the number of knights.

The big magic circle on the ground flashed red every time the magic was used.

‘This is pandemonium. Doesn’t that magic seem really dangerous?’

Weed asked the soldiers around him as he saw the black magic.

“What is that magic?”

“I don’t know. It is a great magic that can exterminate the enemies.”

The soldiers answered.

He was considered a colleague so he didn’t need to raise intimacy with the soldiers and they also didn’t have a high degree of loyalty towards the king.

The other soldiers also had more knowledge.

“If that is complete then we can defeat the Raum Kingdom.”

“Do you really believe those words?”

“I don’t know either. But why else would they be working so hard to prepare the magic in this crisis?”

“I heard they offered the maids as sacrifices so they might kill us.”

“If the Raum Kingdom is defeated then His Majesty the King will continue to rule. I don’t know whether that is a good thing.”

“But the enemy must still be defeated. They will never let us leave alive.”

Weed talked to the soldiers while avoiding the attention of the warlocks. He had guessed but now that he knew the situation, he could attempt to make it more profitable. The soldiers knew about black magic.

“I heard from Draker-nim that the magic is to open the Gates of Hell.”

“Gates of Hell? What is that?”

“It is magic to get rid of the enemies.”

Weed remembered something about black magic. Many people were interested in advanced black magic so there many rumours about it.

‘The Gates of Hell is probably a wide range destruction magic.’

This absolute destruction magic couldn’t be used alone. A large number of high ranking warlocks had to be rallied. The warlocks had to be at least level 400 and they needed more than 5,000 victims to be sacrificed in order to have the appropriate mana!

Once the Gates of Hell opened, all living things in the area would be forcefully dragged to that place. And they would be fed to the demons and devils in hell. In addition, the demons could be brought over to this side to become the warlock’s minions.

Zahab came and spoke in a low voice.

“You should interfere with the completion of the black magic. If that magic is activated then everything is over.”

“It is impossible with us alone.”

“We still need to try. I will handle the warlocks while you cancel the spell.”

“Then Zahab’s life will be in danger.”

“I can’t just watch them die.”

“But you still can’t act.”

The warlocks would concentrate their attacks the moment someone tried to stop them. No matter how strong Zahab was, he couldn’t ignore the black magic.

“This isn’t the time to worry about me.”

“There is still a little time before the magic is completed.”

He became more anxious as time passed.

The warlocks prepared their magic as the Raum Kingdom troops continued pushing inside the castle. The Central Knights of the Raum Kingdom, Stone Knights of the Rubens Kingdom and Steel Knights of the Gorgul Kingdom. The coalition of elite knights continued to enter.

‘It isn’t the end yet. There are some large variables. If Nodulle succeeded then there is a way to reverse the situation. The quest might fail even if Zahab manages to cancel the spell.’

Weed continued to silently wait.

The power of the Raum Kingdom and the allies wasn’t that simple. They needed to crush the black magic in order to defeat the Portu King. The true ability of the Raum Kingdom would definitely appear. It was a fight against time as the castle crumbled!

Weed and his subordinates waited for a chance to come.

“Finish the warlocks here!”

“Have courage! We have received the protection of Tyr so we will win. In the meantime, let us condemn those who committed countless atrocities. Put an end to this dirty fighting!”

The knights, infantry and rangers of the Raum Kingdom and their allies penetrated the interior. They couldn’t establish their superiority due to the magic curses and demons but there was a fierce battle with flying arrows and swords.

“Hero Ransom of the Raum Kingdom!”

“The Cartar Knights are finally here!”

The Raum Kingdom and their allies fought fiercely against the demons. Ransom and the Cartar Knights. Their swords were aimed at the demons. They were strong enough to be called heroes of the Raum Kingdom and their allies.

“These guys….get rid of them!”

“More victims are needed. Get their blood and bodies!”

The Portu King shouted. The warlocks started to show their evil magic. The black magic invoked headed towards the knights. There was an intense fight between the knights, demons and warlocks.

‘Yes, this is indeed a fight between whales. And the circumstances meant that Nodulle and Hilderun interrupted it.’

The leader of the Portu Kingdom’s archers shouted.

“Do it now! Shoot the arrows!”

“Yes!”

Weed aimed arrows at the Raum Kingdom soldiers along with the other archers. His level was so insignificant that he would do damage even if it hit them.

But the arrow fired was nimble and accurate.

The archer leader praised Weed.

“Amazing skills.”

“Thank you. I learned directly from Leader-nim in practice.”

“Well, that is certainly one kill.”

“Yes!”

Weed only aimed for the knights overflowing with health and the damage was minimized. He also gave an order to the sculptural lifeforms.

“Make rough shooting motions. Try not to hit anyone.”

“I understand.”

The sculptural lifeforms also shot arrows. Their level was high so if their arrows hit the soldiers then it could be dangerous.

The descent of the devils, completion of the Gates of Hell or the defeat of the Raum Kingdom.

Either way, the circumstances weren’t very good for Weed.

Chapter 6: Exquisite Treachery

Weed feigned fighting while looking around.

‘If the commander of the Raum Kingdom throws all their power then the castle will crumble….’

Kukukung!

The shaking of the ceiling was becoming serious. It meant the Raum Kingdom’s siege weapons were intensifying their attacks. And the elite troops of the kingdoms kept on increasing!

“Ohhhh!”

“I’m glad to see that the magician Featherman-nim has come.”

Magicians wearing white robes arrived underground and triggered their attack magic.

“Wind Pressure!”

“Holy Thunderbolt!”

“Lightning Ball!”

“Wave of Fire!”

The demons collapsed due to the offensive of the magicians. Featherman was a Great Magician of the Raum Kingdom and only a Great Magician could repel the Portu King. The guests that Weed had been waiting for finally arrived.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Light and fire exploded due to the confrontation between magicians. Weed was close to the back with his sculptural lifeforms.

And within the warlock camp, Chakujel was preparing the Gates of Hell magic with a gloomy smile.

‘If Featherman came later then it probably would’ve been too late. The Gates of Hell would have been completed. I have to do whatever it takes.’

His progress when entering was much faster than Nodulle. But he decided to delay by looting and using Sculpture Transformation so now Nodulle would’ve moved first.

‘It is valuable but I have to use it.’

He took out the scroll to summon a Fire Golem. It was called a magician’s strongest guardian.

The magic scroll left behind by the Great Magician Roderick! If he could sell it then it would be a valuable commodity that would earn him a lot of money!

‘Life isn’t without investments. It is better to survive and feel at ease.’

Weed tore the scroll. The scroll quietly disappeared in a dust of light!

“Ghosts who melt flesh and bones, come here.”

“Heavy Blow.”

The battlefield rife with black magic and attack magic suddenly became quiet.

“Why is this….?”

“Mana is gathering.”

“The magic circle isn’t working.”

The knights of the Raum Kingdom were unable to use their skills. The magicians that followed Featherman and the warlocks opening the Gates of Hell were making a fuss.

The giant Fire Golem! There was a blank zone due to the mana required to summon the Fire Golem.

Kuoooong!

A terrible voice rang out through the underground space. The ground shook violently like an earthquake was occurring and it seemed like the castle might collapse.

Pieces of rocks from the ceiling fell on top of knights and demons. It wasn’t that bad for the knights of the Raum Kingdom and their allied forces. The effects of the black magic was released and their bodies returned to normal. And there was a subsequent aura of fire as the Fire Golem was summoned.

– Kuaaaaang!

The demons in the area were blown back by the aura of fire. Those near the Fire Golem had their bodies burned down. The giant Fire Golem that was connected to Weed’s soul!

Weed sent a whisper to it.

– I am the person who called you.

– Give me instructions.

– Avoid the humans and sweep away the demons. And use any opportunity to attack the warlocks.

– Understood.

– And there is something else to be careful of…pretend not to know me.

– Why?

– Life is complicated. You don’t need to understand.

– …..

The Fire Golem faithfully fulfilled his commands. A demon was seized by the burning arms while purifying fire shot towards the warlocks. The warlocks used their protection magic but the flames penetrated the barrier, causing the robes to catch on fire.

“Reinforcements!”

“Don’t miss this opportunity and quickly slaughter the enemies.”

“Knights, stand in line for the Thrust of Glory!”

The morale of the Raum Knights were raised and they exerted themselves even further. The knights and soldiers of the other kingdom also came with them. They broke through the defensive wall of demons and dashed towards the warlocks.

All the magicians gathered together with Featherman to prepare a huge magic. The impact of advanced large magic!

“Something like this…”

Weed watched them do well but couldn’t be pleased at the situation. He didn’t know where Featherman’s magic would head towards! The attacks from the Raum Kingdom could hit Weed, Zahab and the sculptural lifeforms at any time since they were among the Portu Kingdom.

However, the warlocks’ response was also quick. They used the prepared humans and demons as victims. Even the warlocks involved in prepared the Gates of Hell magic helped in the battle.

They gathered the aura of darkness and fired it towards the Fire Golem. The warlocks also summoned a large snake to bite at the body of the golem. The Fire Golem had huge amounts of health and resilience so its body didn’t shrink despite the warlock attacks.

The underground space shook every time the golem moved.

“It looks like the Royal Castle might fall faster.”

The time Weed had left was further reduced due to the golem.

– Time remaining for the Fire Golem to be summoned is 9 minutes and 37 seconds.

Once the golem emerged from the magic scroll, it would disappear once the mana was depleted. He needed to gain as much as possible during the time left.

“Archer unit, take action! Go ahead and attack!”

“Yes, Leader-nim!”

The Portu soldiers and knights become involved in attacking. Weed was an archer so luckily he wasn’t mobilized to fight. But magic was flying everywhere so it was hard to find a safe zone. The magic of the Raum Kingdom was flying towards the soldiers.

‘It will become difficult to me to endure even for 1 minute. Even if the warlocks use protection magic, it is impossible to be treated by the priests.’

Weed decided to make his move.

– Golem, this is a command. Attack the knights protecting the warlocks.

– Understood.

The Fire Golem turned towards the place where the warlocks were gathered. Then the knights that escorted the Portu King came out to block the Fire Golem. In addition, various warlocks hurled black magic towards the golem.

–Kuooooh!

The golem suffered as they were hit by magic! But the warlocks now didn’t have any knights protecting them.

“Go, my subordinates! Iron 1 to Iron-4, don’t spare your arrows and shoot.”

Weed gave an order to the sculptural lifeforms. The four archers turned around and fired towards the warlocks.

“The arrows can’t be prevented!”

“Fire!”

“Rapid Fire!”

It was different from the time they crudely aimed at the Raum Knights. The arrows shot by the sculptural lifeforms poured down on the warlocks. The penetration, destructive force and swiftness was high so it dealt large damage to the warlocks.

“Kueek!”

“Treachery….”

“The magic is flowing backwards!”

The warlocks chanting spell were surprised by the arrows. 10 warlocks hit by the arrows collapsed and turned into a grey light. If the spell was cancelled in the middle then the magic would run out of control.

“N…No! Cancel the spell! Heok! It can’t be cancelled. Uaaaack!”

The magic used to summon demons couldn’t be controlled. And the black magic attacked those close to it.

“Being killed in an insignificant place like this….”

“Keeook! My whole body is boiling.”

Due to the excessive sacrifices offered, the warlocks casting the black magic suffered from the mana backlash and died. The sculptural lifeforms continued shooting towards the other arrows.

The protection magic was penetrated and the warlocks died due to the sudden arrow attack. They were using second hand bows so the sculptural lifeforms couldn’t show the full power of the bow. Despite that, it was enough for the warlocks who had low health.

The moment Weed gave instructions to attack, the golem managed to approach the warlocks chanting attack spells. The sculptural swordsman and spearman bravely ran towards the warlocks.

He had no interest in the warlocks killed by the arrows.

“Take care of the ones wearing grey robes first!”

Weed decided the target of the attack!

“Revolving Spear!”

“This sword will take care of the Portu Kingdom!”

Just like magicians, the warlocks were vulnerable to melee attacks. Three strong warlocks were handled in an instant. The power of the warlocks decreased in 3 minutes due to Weed and his sculptural lifeforms.

And then Zahab ran towards the Portu King. His mission was to kill the king! Weed left the most important task to Zahab.

“Stop him before he reaches me!”

The king shouted but the knights were too busy dealing with the Fire Golem to rescue him. The warlocks threw their bodies to save him.

An intense light shone from Zahab’s sword.

“Sculpting Blade!”

That was the most comfortable skill at the moment. The damage wasn’t high but it was sufficient to handle the warlocks. The warlocks lost their lives to Zahab.

And he was finally able to reach the king. But it was enough time for the other high ranking warlocks to finish chanting their spells.

“Internal Bleeding.”

“Maddening Anguish!”

“Weakening the Skin!”

The powers of darkness caused Zahab mental pain and the blood vessels inside his body were ripped apart. But Zahab didn’t care about the warlocks and just wielded his sword against the king.

“Dark Body!”

The Portu King had his arm turned solid black and he used it to block the sword. It was possible for a warlock to reconstruct their body to strengthen their defensive ability. The king used his magic and health to temporarily strengthen himself.

“No way! Continuous Storm Slash!”

Zahab twisted his sword. The king impeded the continuous attacks with his longer and thicker arms. Sparks flew as the sword collided with the arm.

“Iron-5, continue to remove the warlocks. Iron-6, interfere so that Chakujel can’t succeed in any magic.”

“Yes.”

“I understand.”

The warlocks were killed by the surprise attack. This had an influence on weakening the demons as the mana summoning them decreased.

The Raum Knights now had a chance against the knights and soldiers of the Portu Kingdom thanks to Weed.

But things didn’t go that smoothly.

“There is internal trouble on that side. It is truly incredible. Frost Burn!”

Featherman and the magicians hurled their attacks.

Zahab was competing with the king while Iron-5 and Iron-6 took action. Weed, Iron-1, Iron-2, Iron-3 and Iron-4 were still within the Portu Kingdom’s camp so they were vulnerable to the magic attacks.

Weed had also betrayed them so there was a risk of being assaulted by the other archers and soldiers.

Then the wide area magic flew!

“I knew it!”

When looking at it calmly, he was on the same side as the Raum Kingdom. However, Weed and the sculptural lifeforms were wearing the uniforms of the Portu Kingdom so they were still attacked.

Despite the magic exploding, Weed was safe thanks to the sculptural lifeforms protecting him.

– Golem!

– Speak.

Fortunately he still had the Fire Golem. It was fighting against the Portu Kingdom’s knights but could still afford to stop the warlock’s magic.

– Move to the right!

– Understood.

The Fire Golem moved and completely exposed the magicians.

“Iron-1 to Iron-4, you need to somehow hold out!”

Weed whispered a small command to them. He carried Seo-yoon on his back and ran towards the warlocks.

“He has betrayed us! A traitor of the Portu Kingdom!”

This treachery was exposed at the same time!

“……!”

The warlocks that turned to attack Weed were immediately shot by the sculptural lifeforms. The soldiers and archers of the Portu Kingdom also attacked the sculptural lifeforms. The sculptural lifeforms were forced to interrupt the magic and block the shots aimed at them.

There was a level difference so they weren’t in danger right now. However, their profession was an archer so their low health meant they couldn’t deal with the Royal Knights. Especially with the Raum Kingdom forces being unable to distinguish them from the enemy.

However, Weed already had no interest in the subordinates left alone in the back.

‘I can only hope they survive somehow.’

Weed just focused on protecting himself and Seo-yoon. He hid in a back corner behind the Fire Golem and fired arrows towards the warlocks.

The battle of Zahab, Iron-5 and Iron-6 was taking place nearby. Zahab was in a tight confrontation with the king. Of course, Zahab’s sword was very strong but the knights escorting the king acted as diversions. The king was also persistent in his black magic.

Iron-5 was thrusting his spear among the warlocks while Iron-6 was attached to Chakujel. Chakujel was the strongest warlock who taught the king! Chakujel was but by the sword but he was still far from death.

He also completed his spell despite the damage.

“Reign of Chaos.”

“Ugh!”

Iron-6 missed and grabbed his head.

Ddiring!

– Iron-6 has been hit by the magic of a master warlock.

Domination magic!

This magic causes confusion and obedience.

However, the subordinate has strong mentality and loyalty.

Iron-6 is absolutely loyal to you.

Iron-6 once again swung his sword at Chakujel. In the meantime, the warlocks in charge of the Gates of Hell died and the mana gathered formed into a fearsome whirlpool.

“Y.O.U. F.O.O.L. Y.O.U. A.R.E. N.O.T. H.U.M.A.N”

Chakujel who became angry that the Gates of Hell magic was cancelled gave a fearsome cry. And his mana started to get out of hand.

‘This is really dangerous.’

Weed immediately hid in the closet corner. A whirl of lack mana surrounded the warlocks nearby.

“Kueek!”

“N-No!”

All the health and mana of the warlock was absorbed before moving somewhere else! The vortex of black mana moved randomly so it was hard to stop.

“Iron-5, get rid of the warlocks around the king.”

“I can’t approach.”

“Try everything you can!”

Iron-5 threw his spear towards the king.

Syuuuuung!

The knights and king were distracted by Zahab and the swirl of black mana. The spear flew through the air and plunged into the king’s back.

“Uaaack!”

But despite that, the king still didn’t die! Iron-5 picked up a weapon from the ground and flew towards the king like the wind. It was reckless courage caused by loyalty.

Zahab had a chance to win against the king with Iron-5 helping. But the king pulled the spear out and healed his injury.

“Black magic is really revolting. I should’ve chosen techniques like that.”

While Weed was full of admiration, Chakujel moved towards a magic gate.

“I. W.I.L.L. B.E. B.A.C.K. A.N.D. I. W.I.L.L. P.A.Y. Y.O.U. B.A.C.K. F.O.R. S.U.R.E.”

Chakujel left through the magic gate. Chakujel knew that he made a mistake. The situation had become complicated due to Zahab, the sculptural lifeforms and the Fire Golem. The remaining obstacles were cleared up by the Raum Kingdom’s knights and magicians. Therefore he didn’t stay in the collapsing castle and left his apprentice behind.

And the king’s death!

“Kuaah!”

The king turned grey and collapsed due to Zahab’s sword. An item that looked like a ball rolled out from his body. Zahab broke the ball with his sword.

Ddiring!

– Save Hilderun has been completed.

Hilderun’s spirit and vitality sealed inside the bead has awoken.

As long as human will remains, the body won’t be easily taken over even if a devil descends.

– The descent of the devils has been disturbed.

All stats have increased by 8 due to the adventure.

Faith has increased by 40.

“That’s it!”

The quest was successful! However, there was no time to rejoice.

The Gates of Hell magic had been cancelled and the Raum Kingdom and their allies were sweeping away all the demons in the area.

In addition, the Fire Golem received the attacks from Featherman and the magicians and disappeared.

“Your Majesty!”

“N-no!”

“This can’t be. Now everyone will die!”

The warlocks became desperate and irrational after the king was killed. They sacrificed their bodies using black magic so that demons would take over it for a short while.

Weed’s head was calm in the current situation.

‘The warlocks and knights of the Portu Kingdom are enemies and the Raum Kingdom won’t spare us.’

The Raum Kingdom would remove everything related to the warlocks without asking questions.

‘A clean person like me looking up at the heavens has nothing to be ashamed of.’

Enemies everywhere!

The castle would also crumble soon so he didn’t have a lot of time.

“Get out of here quickly. Follow me.”

Weed ran towards the back of the underground space. Zahab, Iron-5, Iron-6, Iron-1 and Iron-3 chased after him.

Iron-1 had been injured and died in the battle while Iron-4 was surrounded by knights of the Raum Kingdom.

“Those two have been lost.”

Weed couldn’t hide his grief as he ran. But something like that didn’t last for long.

“The traitor who killed His Majesty! Die!”

The king’s knights jumped forward. Zahab and the sculptural lifeforms had to fend them off. They had already received the warlocks’ curses so their condition wasn’t good. And some warlocks sacrificed their flesh to throw magic at Iron-6.

“No!”

“Keook.”

Iron-6 was hit by the continuous magic and collapsed. He wore armour picked up so his defense was less than ordinary soldiers.

“Unfair Curse!”

Weed found it hard to avoid the curse.

– Luck has been reduced.

Your body is heavy so movement will slow down.

Mana is not recovered.

You don’t have any blessings so there is no resistance against the darkness.

“Go…quickly.”

Iron-6 stood up and raised his sword.

“I will stop these guys.”

Weed stopped moving for a moment. He wanted to bring Iron-6 with him somehow. Even if he had to submit to a little danger!

But then Iron-5 said.

“We have to go. Please allow Iron-6 to die for Master!”

“We have to go quickly!”

“It is our mission to protect Master. We are prepared to give our lives at any time!”

Iron-1 and Iron-3 cried out as they fired arrows.

“Damn!”

Weed’s heart wasn’t good as he turned his back and ran.

Many years ago, his younger sister was sick but couldn’t go to the hospital. His sister stayed up for 10 hours crying with a fever but wasn’t taken to hospital. He had no health insurance fee and didn’t have money to pay the hospital. The dreadful, helpless feeling that reached deep into his bones!

Now he earned profit and had quite a lot of savings but he never forgot that feeling. Numerous problems from growing up in poverty without parents couldn’t be easily settled.

Weed had feelings similar to then. The strongest and most violent person in Continent of Magic was miserable in reality. The reason he conditioned his body in reality before stepping foot in Royal Road was to stop feeling that helplessness.

Zahab exclaimed.

“If we follow this passage then we can get outside?”

Weed panted as he looked around the area. His body was weak and it became tired faster after receiving the magic curse.

There was a passage connected to the back of the underground space.

“I do not know. But in the situation where the castle is collapsing, how else can we escape from the warlocks?”

“What if there isn’t an exit?”

“Then we’ll die.”

It was either lie down to be killed by the enemy or choose a chance of escaping.

And Iron-3 fell behind! He moved to block the passage from those chasing them.

“If I survive this then I will serve you for the rest of my life.”

The loyal Iron-3 lured the knights of the Portu Kingdom.

“Iron-3!”

Weed grieved as he kept on moving. The only ones left were Zahab, Iron-1 and Iron-5. Even if the quest succeeded, he would be filled with grief more than joy.

‘I need to make these guys work like a mountain.’

And the thing that showed up at the end of the path was a warp gate. But stones had fallen from the ceiling so some of the magic circle was damaged. The lights of the warp gate flickered.

Weed breathed a sigh of relief.

“This is a bit late but it has almost come to an end.”

It was possible for him to catch his breath. But the Portu King’s knights, the warlocks and the Raum Allied forces were chasing after him.

“You go first.”

Weed shook his head at Zahab’s invitation.

“No. Zahab-nim should enter first.”

The danger might not end here. If he entered the gate first then there might be unknown danger on the other side.

“Then I will go. Follow afterwards.”

“Yes!”

Weed would’ve followed immediately afterwards anyway. If he wasted a lot of time then the magic gate might disappear because it was damaged.

Zahab entered the magic gate and disappeared.

Weed then spoke to the remaining sculptural lifeforms.

“You follow immediately as well.”

“Yes!”

“I understand.”

Weed plunged through the gate with Seo-yoon.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The architects who participated in the construction of the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace gathered and gave a toast.

“Cheers!”

“Drink heartily. I will pay for the costs of drinks today.”

“Well, let’s get properly drunk.”

The architects drank the beer and commemorated that the construction of the Imperial Palace finished.

In fact, the Imperial Palace had already been built but they needed to arrange the interior. The interior needed additional reinforcement but it was finally completed. The ceiling of the Imperial Palace was flashing gold and the height was also amazing.

The architects didn’t worry about the funds and made a lavish palace. The grand of majestic appearance of the Imperial Palace and the vast grounds naturally caused admiration among the people who saw it.

“This building will become the most famous in the Versailles Continent.”

“Our names will be remembered for decades for participating in this work.”

“This will become the symbol of the Haven Empire.”

The architects continued boasting among themselves. These architects specialized in renovating castles and building walls. Due to the war, many architects couldn’t help specializing in building reconstruction.

It wasn’t a small challenge but they succeeded in the construction of the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace. The Imperial Palace would raise the loyalty of NPC knights, residents and nobles.

The Arpen Kingdom’s palace was being built at the same time but it couldn’ compare to the vastness and flashiness of the Imperial Palace. Many more residents, artists, sculptors etc. participated in the Arpen Kingdom.

But the artwork and antiques plundered from the entire continent was placed in the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace. There were also jewellery and gold so it was hard for an architect to ever complete such an extravagant piece of work again.

The architect Mibullo participated in the construction and was finally able to successfully complete it. But he didn’t participate in the celebration when it was finished.

He disguised himself and secretly left Aren Castle.

“All the work in the Central Continent is completed so I need to go to the north now. It will be fascinating to build a city from the ground up.”

His eyes glanced at the Imperial Palace. It was so huge that he couldn’t see the top despite raising his head. The towers and palace were spacious and had marble floors. The Imperial Palace flashed in the bright light of the sun and could be considered the best building on the continent.

The Hermes Guild were busy with the Conquest War but they were glad the Imperial Palace was completed.

“I can’t see this view again. I will be gone for the next few months.”

Mibullo muttered those words to himself.

He was a leading architect. And his various construction experience meant he knew how to weaken a building without leaving a trace.

Subtract the cornerstones! Bogus materials! Frequent design changes!

These things would lead to shoddy construction!

The Imperial Palace wasn’t as strong as most people thought. The heavy pillars placed enormous pressure on it.

Mibullo had techniques to collapse buildings. Building materials weakened and corroded early. The foundation would sink. Then it would come crashing down. The towers that were connected to the Imperial Palace!

All of this wasn’t building something up.

The Imperial Palace was sitting on structure that could cause it to collapse the moment the structure was destroyed.

“If this falls then it won’t be cheap for the Hermes Guild. Then they will experience difficulty on the continent.”

Mibullo continued making changes to the design and piled up the construction costs for the Hermes Guild.

He used the Grand Buildings in the north as excuses for increasing the budget. Naturally he was welcomed by the Hermes Guild everywhere he travelled.

Materials were also stolen from the construction. The thinly spread gold was actually covering cheap copper.

Anyway, no one would know. They wouldn’t know unless they peeled off the interior of the building.

“This is why people have to careful of bad construction.”

Mibullo hummed as he headed towards the north.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

As Yurin became twenty years old, she became increasingly more beautiful.

Men flocked like clouds whenever she drew on canvas. She went around the continent in the morning and drew landscapes and people at night.

“It really is fun to draw paintings.”

The colours were used to freely draw the beautiful world. Her favourite thing was the Tower of Light in the Morata. The light show constantly had many spectators. Yurin was happiest when drawing at this time.

Her painting progressed steadily so she wasn’t ashamed of her skills. It was fascinating to discuss the composition of paintings with other painters.

Yurin enjoyed the fine arts.

“I might really become an artist in the future. Should I change my specialty in school to fine arts?”

In fact, there were many similar cases.

Some people used the experience in Royal Road to pick their future career. They were typically cooks, merchants, farmers and cattle ranchers!

“This isn’t possible. The amount of dishes to wash is never-ending.”

“This occupation really makes my hand tired. This business…I give up!”

“This land! This year has a poor harvest. The price of the agricultural products have fallen again as well as the income from other areas. I want to set it on fire and abandon the barns.”

“Why do pigs eat so much? I thought they would be cheap….”

Those who chose the profession ended up giving up and changing their dreams.

Weed would shudder when thinking about the moneymaking potential of a painter.

Chapter 7: Desert of Tranquillity

Weed felt dizzy as he walked through the gate. He felt like a duvet inside a washing machine!

“Don’t tell me it failed because I went through an incomplete gate?”

It was the same feeling that he got after not winning the lottery! Weed hugged Seo-yoon tighter to make sure he didn’t lose her.

The practical reason was so he could continue the quest but he also wanted to hug her since she had suffered so much.

It was also a mystery why she hadn’t woken up yet despite the quest being finished.

‘It was prepared….’

The situation was so urgent that he couldn’t even send a whisper. Seo-yoon had yet to wake up. But Weed put her on his back and sped off. That’s why he felt a sense of urgency during the battle.

‘I wish we could relax the whole time….’

He was going to exit through the gate somewhere. And a cry of distress emerged from Weed’s mouth.

“Aaaack!”

His limbs were struggling but it didn’t hit anything. They were in the air! In other words, it was the sky.

“I’m never lucky!”

Weed muttered with resentment as he crashed into the ground. He was in a state of low health so if he fell now then he could die.

‘Will I live if I quickly hit the ground?’

He thought as he fell through the sky for 1 second!

‘Well, this is a little dangerous. The situation might be better once I can look down at the ground.’

And another 1~2 seconds passed.

‘It is quite far away…if this continues then my body won’t survive. Looking at the ground will only cause despair.’

Now he prepared his mind for it.

‘I’m going to die in this way.’

An attitude that already gave up on life after only 4 seconds! Weed’s body finally reached the ground. However, it wasn’t solid ground but a pile of sand.

He slid down the slope of a hill formed from sand piled up. He slid approximately 10 metres before stopping safely.

“Ah!”

His joy was short-lived. Weed became frustrated again as he climbed the dunes and looked around. The only thing visible in the vicinity was red sand. The wind didn’t contain any moisture and the sunlight was very hot.

“I’ve heard of this place before. Desert of Tranquillity!”

One of the continent’s 10 Forbidden Zones. They arrived at a hot, desert land without any preparations.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lafaye and the leaders of the Hermes Guild sat in the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace to discuss strategies.

“The siege weapons aren’t sufficient to destroy the fortress in the Chepen area.”

“Are there any resources nearby?”

“They are either being used or repaired. The terrain is also difficult to move them.”

“Then dispatch the magic army corps from the capital. They need to quickly take control of the Aberdeen area.”

“The enemy has retreated as soon as the Mosulli walls were captured.”

“Instruct the cavalry not to chase them over the hills. The 14th Cavalry Division will pursue from there.”

They commanded multiple battles that were taking place simultaneously across the continent. The Haven Empire’s territory was expanding so the leaders had to work hard to efficiently command the military.

‘The resistance is too weak.’

In the early days of the conquest war, the enemies gave them and cities and retreated. Lion Hunting plan.

It was a conspiracy with the Haven Empire as the target!

The details were complicated but it was basically using NPC soldiers for intense attacks to cut them off in a specific area.

‘No matter how good the plan is, it is useless if you are unable to execute it. War isn’t something just fought with your head.’

The guilds had joined together in an alliance but they were still susceptible to their own interests. There was heavy resistance. If the Haven Empire fell then they would pick up the maximum profit so they didn’t care about the amount of NPC soldiers consumed.

Lafaye immediately used this chance to get a profit.

The enemies weren’t taking an active stand so the Hermes Guild’s leaders boldly marched to obtain as much territory as possible and used their strong power to counterattack. They assaulted the Black Sword Mercenaries on both sides and dealt devastating damage.

“If the Allied Forces combine then they can deal major damage to us.”

“Where should we start?”

“They will probably make Bardray the primary target. If he isn’t defeated first then they can’t reach the Imperial Palace.”

Bardray, the Royal Guards and their army gathered at the Gradian Kingdom. They were the strongest forces of the Haven Empire.

The Allied Forces couldn’t resist the temptation to attack Bardray.

‘They will do so even if other plans are made.’

Lafaye moved troops across the continent according to the situation. He adjusted the amount of military forces, considered the terrain and the scope of the occupied area.

The Allied Forces had a chance to take over some strong fortress with the element of surprise but didn’t. Bardray was bound to be their goal.

‘Those fellows will be prepared within a week. This will be a decisive battlefield.’

Lafaye gave an order as the guild master.

“Secretly dispatch the rangers and magicians to the Rubidom Mountains. And give instructions to all knights in the area to be prepared to move.”

“I understand.”

“Bardray-nim’s troops will need to be at the Rubidom Mountains after 6 days so send a request for passage to the annexed Norton Kingdom.”

“Rubidom Mountains? There are too many tress so it isn’t a good terrain for the army to move through. It is a route that will take a lot of time.”

“This is the reason why it is favourable to fight in the Rubidom Mountains. And then we can quickly occupy the Central Continent.”

“What happened?”

“I’ve received contact from Palma. The work is progressing faster than planned.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Palma!

He was the secret weapon of the Hermes Guild. The Hermes Guild was an organization originally formed to unify the Versailles Continent. They were a group of top users unified under a single flag.

From the beginning they had an enormous potential to conquer Royal Road.

‘Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands enjoy this game. Millions of people will definitely play this game.’

It was the first virtual reality game so there were plenty of advantages. But the stormy popularity of Royal Road was larger than even they expected.

The Hermes Guild intentionally scattered according to the continent conquest plan. The Haven Kingdom was ruled by their guild and used to get rid of competitors. They took control of the Haven Kingdom to camouflage some of the other work their guild did.

Palma and the shadow troops were given missions in various parts of the continent.

– Numerous guilds will grow on the continent. And will develop their kingdoms. Work to disrupt them.

As recorded in the history books, there were numerous risk factors on the continent. The early stages when Royal Road just opened!

Evil magicians and creatures attacked and destroyed cities and castles. The biggest achievement of the shadow troops was causing the rise of the Embinyu Church quicker than expected.

“Embinyu Church. When looking at the history of the continent, it was a great threat to peace.”

“Is that so? Then find a method to use them.”

Palma and a number of other users formally signed up to the Embinyu Church. They did related quests, found necessary items and raised new followers for the Embinyu Church.

“The Embinyu Church is much more enormous than I imagined.”

“It is like that? Make sure they encroach on the other kingdoms except for the Haven Kingdom.”

Expanding the forces of the Embinyu Church! They used the Embinyu Church to weaken their competitors and the confusion allowed the Hermes Guild to grow stably. The Embinyu Church played a significant role in allowing the Haven Empire to not be impeded by their rivals.

But recently the growth of the Embinyu Church was terrible.

Once the Central Continent was in chaos due to the war, the Embinyu Church propagated in every direction. Palma couldn’t stop the influence of the priests reaching the Haven Empire.

‘Embinyu. The Embinyu Church is far too dangerous!’

Palma was appalled just looking at the activities of the Embinyu Church. The Embinyu Church spread an evil aura in lands that were raising crops.

The soil was polluted and new demons born from bodies. The residents became increasingly fanatic and those whose souls were seized became Dark Knights. The monsters were brainwashed by the Embinyu Church and emerged from their habitats and dungeons.

The territory of the Embinyu Church broadened at a colossal speed due to their evil aura and the surrounding areas destroyed.

The rivers flowing spread the pollution and plants became dyed with the evil aura. The branches and roots of trees in dense forests started attacking people. The trees full of the evil power were driven towards fortresses and were used in siege warfare.

‘The Embinyu Church is growing too fast in a short period of time.’

Palma roamed through the areas occupied by the Embinyu Church. There was no end to the army mobilized by the Embinyu Church.

The battles became wider as the fanatics conducted frenzied assaults. And now they were advancing towards the Haven Empire.

“It is too hard for me to handle it anymore. I need to tell these facts to the guild.”

In the original plan to conquer the Hermes Guild, the Embinyu Church had to survive until the end. They would then reunify the continent and restore peace under the guise of getting rid of the Embinyu Church.

No one would be able to stand against their power and a new age of Haven Empire rule would be ushered in.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon woke up while Weed was waiting for his subordinates.

“Those guys haven’t come.”

Iron-1 and Iron-5. The sculptural lifeform soldiers hadn’t appeared.

“Surely they didn’t miss the opportunity to go through?”

Zahab who came before them also wasn’t visible.

“Maybe they ended up going to a different place.”

“Those are my thoughts too. As expected, the gate wasn’t working properly.”

While completing the final secret sculpting technique quest, he learned that his ominous feeling was always right. He also became entangled with Nodulle’s messy fate!

Ddiring!

– Walk through the Desert of Tranquillity

This is a place with hit sand and a blazing sun.

A place where water is life. Survival is the only goal.

Cross the desert while overcoming the lack of supplies in order to arrive at the Brukan Tribe’s oasis.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: If your colleague receives a great injury in the desert then the devil will wake up in her body.

The heat of the Desert of Tranquillity burns away all mana so skills can’t be used.

– The quest has been given.

You can’t refuse.

“Hrmm.”

It felt like seeing another mountain after crossing a mountain. Weed felt great respect towards the mountain climbers.

“It is like crossing Mt. Seorak only to see Mt. Everest. The Antarctic or Artic will probably appear after I cross that.”

This wasn’t like the Jigolaths.

The Desert of Tranquillity was literally a quiet desert. It was a place where human like lifeforms couldn’t live. It was a region where sand continued endlessly for most of the southern continent.

In the early days of Royal Road, many people headed to the south of the Versailles Continent to adventure. Those who advanced down from the Central Continent only found a huge desert. There was no end to the land as they walked. Desert tribes lived in the vicinity of the oases but everywhere else was just sand dunes.

Desert of Tranquillity! Those walking would become tired and die after being unable to quench their thirst.

It was rare to find people leaving the Desert of Tranquillity. Weed and Seo-yoon were currently on the continent in the past so there was no possibility of meeting other travellers.

“Skills can’t be used in the Desert of Tranquillity.”

“You received a quest?”

“Yes, it is a quest where we need to survive.”

Seo-yoon who followed him was given the same quest.

“We don’t have a lot of food.”

Weed sighed as he looked in his backpack. He received the request to rescue Seo-yoon so he wanted the burden to be as light as possible.

Currently his backpack only contained a day’s worth of food and water and the rest was filled with his spoils.

“This is why people shouldn’t be greedy. Anyway, let’s try to reach the Brukan Tribe’s oasis.”

“Yes, but which way?”

Weed looked at the sand ridges present in every direction. No matter where he looked, sand was the only thing visible. It was a hot and desolate atmosphere.

“This way.”

“Really?”

“Well, we can’t be sure until it is night time. The desert night will be full of stars. We can use that to determine if we are going in the wrong direction.”

Weed recalled reading about experiences of through the desert in Africa. When travelling abroad, they stayed in guesthouses as well as camped in the desert. He never expected that those experiences would be useful now.

“I should abolish the practice of picking up empty bottles and collecting scrap metal.”

“Huh?”

“It is nothing.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed and Seo-yoon walked endlessly. It was difficult due to the sands blown by the wind. They also didn’t know the distance to their destination. Fortunately the two of them had the basic clothing for this trip.

Weed wore the novice clothing obtained from Serabourg Castle, Baran village and Lavias. The old cloak was easily torn but he could use it to hide his face from the sand.

“Not throwing these things away is useful in a time like this.”

“The smell is reaching here.”

“It is normal. I haven’t washed it even once.”

“…….”

Then it went back to silence! They didn’t meet any monsters so they just walked forward.

‘There are 2 canteens full of water. Even if we drink it sparingly, it will only last for 1 day. After that it will be hard to find water.’

Then a desperate situation will arise. And now it was night. Fortunately he could see the stars but it was more painful moving through the freezing night than it was the hot sun.

“Cold.”

“Night in the desert is originally cold.”

Weed and Seo-yoon sat close together under a sand hill.  There was quite a distance to go so they would need to experience quite a few cold nights.. Therefore they took this moment to recover their vitality before walking.

“I remember the fun days in the past when I walked through the ice in the north. At that time we were with Alveron and Bingryong.”

“That was really cold. You also caught a severe cold.”

“Back then you were covered with white frost while on Bingryong’s back. I really needed to refrain from laughing when seeing your appearance at that time.”

It was one incident involved in causing Seo-yoon’s closed off heart to melt. She thought warmly of the adventure against the Bone Dragon in the north.

Ironically, this adventured planted warmth in Seo-yoon’s heart.

“Will this also become a memory later?”

“Perhaps.”

“I hope there are more good memories.”

“If those are your precious memories then it might be better to have amnesia.”

Weed and Seo-yoon tightened the cloaks around their shoulders and maintained their body temperature. And they started marching through the desert again at dawn!

– You are thirsty.

Due to the severe heat, your vitality has weakened and you have become thirsty.

That message window popped up once his moisture intake lessened. He was thirsty but he needed to conserve water.

Weed felt like his mouth and throat was filled with sand.

“That blade of grass looks like it comes from a tropical area.”

“How can there be a tropical region in the desert?”

“Yes, this is a place where rain hasn’t fallen for 1 year.”

“We can’t expect such good fortune.”

There was a long way to go so they needed to preserve their vitality. He didn’t know what would happen if they collapsed from weariness.

“Go well my children. We will meet again in a good place.”

In order to lighten his burden, Weed threw away the loot he acquired from Portu’s Royal Castle. It wasn’t an easy decision for him to make. The pain was like tearing healthy flesh from himself!

“Eat this salt.”

“You eat first.”

“Luckily there is plenty of salt. That is the only good news.”

“Then I’ll eat.”

Salt intake was very important in the desert. The salinity in his body was continuously falling so if he didn’t eat salt then he would get sunstroke. His advanced cooking skill meant that he could eat beef jerky covered with abundant salt.

“Let’s go again. We should move as far as possible before our food supply falls.”

Weed sluggishly moved his heavy feet. Walking was painful but he feared collapsing on the sand in the desert. It was hard but he couldn’t show it in front of Seo-yoon.

And time passed endlessly. He felt like he had been walking under the scorching, hot sun for a long time.

Weed shared the water canteens with Seo-yoon. She had been held as a captive of war so she didn’t have any water.

“Thirsty? Go ahead and drink.”

“Yes.”

Seo-yoon returned the canteen after drinking the water. Weed lightly shook the canteen after receiving it.

Challang challang.

The weight of the canteen hadn’t decreased. They cherished each other so they drank as little as possible. Therefore the amount of water didn’t decrease. His heart became warmer when he thought about it.

‘Nodulle and Hilderun also went through this pain. Well, I’m really glad I wasn’t born in the desert.’

And they kept travelling through the middle of the desert until it became night. After taking a short break, the continued marching the next day.

They needed to get as far as possible before the water ran out. They couldn’t afford more than one sip of water. And the water in the canteen decreased little by little.

‘Hot, so hot….’

Weed and Seo-yoon no longer conversed with each other. It took all their power just walking. The blazing sun and hot sand in the desert!

Then a mysterious white city appeared in front of him.

“A city is visible.”

“Really? Use a little power. There might be water over there.”

Weed and Seo-yoon were filled with joy as they drank heartily from the canteen and walked quickly.

“Only a part of the city is visible but it looks strange. I think it is a mirage.”

“It can’t be.”

Weed continued heading towards the city but couldn’t approach it. It faded away the moment he approached.

Ddiring!

– A desert mirage has been seen.

Perseverance has increased by 1.

“It is making fun of us….”

Weed hung his head as he walked. And Seo-yoon’s voice was heard after a while!

“This time there is a lake.”

“Well, it is like that.”

He might be fooled once but he wouldn’t be fooled twice. It was impossible for a lake to form in the middle of the desert.

Not surprisingly, the lake slowly disappeared.

Ddiring!

– A desert mirage has been seen.

Affinity to Nature has increased by 2.

“Whew….”

His throat was dry and he was tired so he felt like dying after seeing the mirages. They kept moving forward but there was only an endless sandy desert.

Weed and Seo-yoon’s pace slowed as they became tired.

“Should we just go?”

“It is a little difficult.”

“It seems like we’ll be walking tomorrow.”

“How much water is left?”

“If we continue to save water then it will last until tomorrow morning.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The next day.

Weed and Seo-yoon once again started walking at dawn. There remained one sip in the canteen so they persisted in not drinking for as long as possible.

And they shared the water once they couldn’t stand it anymore. Once there was no drops remaining, Weed placed the empty canteen into his backpack.

“Now there is no water.”

“We will continue.”

Seo-yoon was becoming more haggard after becoming tired. The sight of her sad beauty made him want to hug her.

‘She encountered trouble after meeting the wrong man. It would be good if I remember these features to make a sculpture.’

His foolish hope of walking towards the north disappeared. He was surrounded on all sides by the desert so he couldn’t have any positive thoughts.

Weed and Seo-yoon walked on small sand particles. The wind blew the sand grains towards them. There was no hope for finding a tropical area in the middle of the desert.

Weed’s lips were completely dry and cracked.

“I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“I brought you here to help me with a quest.”

“It is okay. Do not give up and continue walking. If we continue then there might be an end.”

“But now it’s over.”

Ddiring!

– You are suffering from a high fever due to serious thirst.

You are seeing hallucinations and vitality isn’t recovering.

Health is reduced.

Health will keep decreasing unless body temperature is lowered.

“I never expected to die in a desert due to a lack of water.”

Weed was so weak that he could barely even take one step. Seo-yoon was using all her effort to walk so she couldn’t even help him. She had a little more to drink so she had more strength.

‘Surely the success or failure of this quest doesn’t depend on how much water was brought?’

It was understandable that he thought that. He didn’t worry about the amount of water while rescuing Seo-yoon.

Weed really couldn’t walk anymore. He was suffering from severe hallucinations and his legs couldn’t walk straight. And they climbed over another sand ridge. The sand reached his ankle, making it harder to walk.

“There is a tree.”

“Again…a mirage”

“It is a real tree!”

Weed lifted his head as he heard Seo-yoon’s cry. There were real trees. This was a sandy desert but there were occasional tress growing with leaves dripping with moisture.

“There are really trees?”

“It seems so.”

Right now he had reached his limit. Weed and Seo-yoon painfully arrived near the trees.

Ddiring!

– You have escaped from the Desert of Tranquillity.

The title ‘Desert Traveller’ has been acquired.

The amount of vitality consumed when travelling through the desert will be reduced.

Perseverance has increased by 45.

“We finally arrived!”

Weed lay down next to the trees. He then pulled out his Sculpting Knife. Then he cut the trees. The theme was a simple rainbow and rain. And then he used a skill.

“Cloud Sculpting!”

A skill that summoned clouds in the sky! He could create a sculpture now that he escaped from the Desert of Tranquillity.

“Cloud Sculpting, Cloud Sculpting, Cloud Sculpting, rain fall from the clouds.”

Dark clouds gathered like a miracle over the desert area.

Swaaaaaang!

And rain fell over the desert! Weed and Seo-yoon watched the sky and lay down with their mouths open as they drank the rainwater.

– Your thirst has been relieved.

Now his mind was cleared due  to the rain.

Ddiring!

– Natural sculpting has changed the continent.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin admired the rain falling over the desert.

“Great patience.”

They walked tirelessly through the desert without losing hope. This couldn’t be done by just anyone.

People couldn’t underestimate the despair and negativity in situations like this.

Weed and Seo-yoon shouldered the responsibility of conserving water while constantly moving across the Desert of Tranquillity.

The starting point for this quest depending on the amount of water they originally had.

Weed and Seo-yoon didn’t waste time quarrelling over water or blaming each other. They just walked until they finally arrived at the destination. Their patience meant they achieved it despite the low vitality.

“And the desert will be changed now that the quest is successful.”

Yoo Byung-jin glanced at another monitor. The monitor was showing the Versailles Continent in the present.

The rain didn’t seem like much as it soaked into the ground. But the Desert of Tranquillity in the south was vast and black rain clouds quickly spread through the area. And the heavy rain that fell! The rain soaked into the desert causing trees, grass and oases to grow.

New rivers were created and swept into surrounding lands, making it fertile. Weed’s rain brought tremendous changes to the Versailles Continent in the current time.

The flowing river eroded the weak desert land. And canyons started to form! The erosion created colourful canyons where a vast river dozens of metres wide flowing through it.

A long time was needed for these scenes to occur. Weed made a wonderful sculpture that manifested over time.

There were minimal users active in the desert. The environment was far too hot and painful with few monsters so only some people came to the desert to complete quests.

But now that Weed created a flowing river and there was a mysterious gorge, many users started coming.

Just like in the north, Weed changed the southern desert. Yoo Byung-jin looked at the monitor where Weed and Seo-yoon were resting in the rain.

The scorching sunlight shone through the dark clouds. A desert rainbow surrounded the two people lying down.

Chapter 8: Person Who Calls Rain

The message window continued ringing in front of Weed.

Ddiring!

– The nature sculpture has brought rain to the desert.

Thanks to the power of time, the nature sculpture as brought an enormous change to this region.

The growth rate of animals have increased by 850%.

The birth rate of the desert tribes has increased and they will expand their activities in this area.

The Desert of Tranquillity has been reduced. As a result of the nature sculpting, the desert area where lifeforms can’t live has been reduced.

– The title ‘Person Who Calls Rain’ has been acquired.

You can obtain absolute respect in the desert.

Honour has increased by 36.

– Fame has increased by 6,394.

– Due to the wonders of the nature sculpture, all stats have increased by 41.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 54.

– All stats have increased by 4.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Nature Sculpting has reached level 10 and transformed into advanced Nature Sculpting!

The ability to harmonize with nature and your affinity to it has improved.

The accuracy of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting has increased.

A variety of benefits and good luck can be obtained from nature.

“Hrmm.”

Weed felt all the fatigue in his body loosen as he read the message windows.

His sculpting skill proficiency also climbed by 4.7%. In a situation where only 20% was left to reach master level, 4.7% was a huge income. The Cloud Sculpting that he used because he was thirsty was a huge hit!

“This is beyond my expectations.”

Weed’s eyes shone.

“Suffering from thirst while crossing the desert. Rain falling on a desert. This sculpture can show the impressive aspects of nature. This is a result of my passion for the arts.”

And he laughed lightly like he was expecting the whole thing.

“Huhuhuhu, well. This much isn’t enough to surprise me anymore.”

A sculptor crossing the desert. He suffered so much for the final sculpting technique that he felt like cursing for 3 hours.

The smile on his face became slightly rotten but he endured it because of Seo-yoon. He was happy just feeling the rain that hit his body.

Seo-yoon also lifted her head towards the rain with a joyful expression. Her hair and clothes were wet but her features were still beautiful.

“Wait, we should’t just lay here.”

Weed hastily covered their bodies with cloaks. Their physical strength was low in this time so they couldn’t afford to get a cold. Fortunately Seo-yoon was wearing a traveller’s robe that was good in the rain.

“We’ve finally escaped the Desert of Tranquillity so now we have to reach the Brukan Tribe’s oasis.”

“Food?”

“There are scorpions.”

Now that they’ve exited the Desert of Tranquillity, insects and lizard like animals were running around. With their current level, large animals could counterattack and they might die instead. But there was something he could believe in.

“Summon Sculpture!”

He could summon the recent sculptural lifeforms.

Iron-1, Iron-5. A skill to control them again!

– The amount of mana is lacking!

“Uhh, unbelievable….”

He needed 10 times more mana if he wanted to summon his sculptural lifeforms.  Weed didn’t lose his hope.

“The sculptural lifeforms aren’t like tuna mayonnaise rice balls that have a short expiration date….”

The sculptural lifeforms were created with expensive and precious materials so he didn’t want to separate from them.

Right now Iron-1 and Iron-5 were somewhere in the continent. They had accidentally gained their freedom really easily.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Iron-1 arrived at the gates of a castle ruled by Lord Balkad.

“Ohuhuk, if I can’t get food then my family can’t live.”

“Please give my child something to eat.”

“Please give my child something to eat.”

The residents were being beaten up with clubs and spears. It was a typical oppression from the lord of a territory in times of war.

“I absolutely can’t stand this.”

Iron-1 stood up resolutely with his bow. And he took care of the lord and nobles with arrows.

“Hooray Iron-1!”

After taking care of the Nehallem Kingdom, he chased monsters into the deep forest. And Iron-1 didn’t appear again.

On the other hand, Iron-5 arrived at the Straud Kingdom.

It was in the west of the continent and quiet far from the Portu Kingdom. It was a war zone so Iron-5 made a name as for himself as a spearman.

“Will you be forever loyal to this Straud Kingdom?”

“It isn’t possible since my master may someday come back.”

“I understand your loyal heart. So I want to get more. Can’t you follow me?”

“I will serve Your Majesty until I meet my master.”

Iron-5 didn’t lose his loyalty. However, he didn’t know that Weed was only disappointed because he couldn’t work Iron-5 as a slave!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Brukan Tribe had a wide territory.

The desert territory was huge yet their population was quite low. Still, they were still one of the biggest powers among the 15 desert tribes. Weed and Seo-yoon received all types of conveniences from the desert tribes.

“It is unbelievable that you can summon rain.”

“Cloud Sculpting!”

“Ohhhh, a miraculous thing really happened! Our tribe has been suffering from a lack of rain.”

They were treated like kings by the desert tribes after calling the rain.

“Camel meat.”

“We’ll bring it straight away.”

“Make sure it is well cooked.”

“The best chef will make it.”

And they were given items and gold as gifts when they left.

– Warrior’s Necklace:

Durability 29/35   Defense 4

A bone necklace worn by warriors of the desert tribe. It can increase bravery.

Restrictions: Level 310 Strength 600

Shamans, Warriors only

Options: Strength +13%

Shamans who wear this will increase skill levels by 2.

When fighting with a strong enemy, Fighting Spirit will double for 4 minutes.

“It isn’t much but this is a gift we’ve prepared. I’d like you to take it.”

“It is really insufficient. Isn’t there anything with more money?”

He didn’t care about trying to obtain more from the poor desert tribes!

The tribal warriors were fierce when hunting but they didn’t really know the state of the world. That’s why the Brukan Tribe had the most luxurious oasis called Laos on the continent in the past.

A rare desert lake! Thousands of houses were built on poles in the centre of the lake. The scale of it made the sight exotic and mysterious.

Of course, Weed already knew about the Brukan Tribe.

‘They are the tribe that Belsos belongs to.’

The Master Sculptor Belsos!

He had already learnt Elemental Sculpting before meeting him. But this was the era before Belsos was born.

Ddiring!

– Walk through the Desert of Tranquillity has been completed.

You have safely crossed the Desert of Tranquillity and arrived at the Brukan Tribe’s oasis.

“Phew, let’s go in.”

He had safely survived another final secret sculpting technique quest. Weed and Seo-yoon entered the city near the oasis.

In the meantime, he had progressed through quite a few final secret sculpting technique quests.

He travelled as a hummingbird and used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting. He fought with a devil in the labyrinth, searched for traces on Borota Island, escaped from Portu’s Royal Castle and walked through a desert.

He expected that it was now closer to the end. And the ringing sound of a message window!

Ddiring!

– Nodulle’s Growth

Nodulle and Hilderun settled at the oasis.

It is impossible to escape the crowds tracking them! Nodulle could only escape from the enemies so he decided to become strong and overcome this weakness.

Become strong in the 22 years until the devil energy sleeping in Hilderun’s body becomes active.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: You must grow in the desert areas.

Time is accelerated so 1 day is equivalent to 100 days.

The quest will fail if you die.

The stats and skill proficiency obtained in this quest will disappear when it ends but compensation will be given based on the performance.

* Please Note

Skills, experience and fame will increase by 100 times when hunting.

Luck will increase so the likelihood of gaining special items will rise.

The additional effects will be given to your colleagues, subordinates or NPCs in your party

Originally, only his sculpting skills remained intact.

And the skill proficiency had risen like normal while he proceeded with the quests.

“Hrmm, this is a unique method.”

Weed considered the quest from various angles. Nodulle and Hilderun lived 22 years in a desert city.

‘My growth will be 100 times quicker. And if it is for 22 years then this quest will last 80 days.’

It was a long time for a quest! But 22 years of experience was being compressed so he couldn’t afford to waste even a single second.

He didn’t know what could happen to Nodulle in a few months or years so he couldn’t relax for a few hours. Even if the quest didn’t fail, he didn’t know what impact it would have on the following chain quests.

“You received the quest?”

“Yes.”

Seo-yoon received a similar quest. She was given a condition to survive for 22 years but it wasn’t difficult if she stayed in the city.

“Let’s go!”

Weed ran with Seo-yoon into the desert city.

Rather than drop in at stores to examine the current price of goods, he went straight to the weapons store. A desert warrior with tattoos was running the business.

“A human hasn’t visited the desert in a long time. Where did you come from?”

Weed answered as he looked around at the weapons.

“The Desert of Tranquillity.”

“If you can travel through the desert then these weapons aren’t enough. Nevertheless, you can handle these weapons so look to your heart’s content.”

Weed’s current level after becoming Nodulle and giving life to the sculptures was 27. It was a level where a graze from a monster would cause death!

‘These weapons aren’t suitable. A simple knife is the best for me.’

The lowest was a sword from the Bansen Kingdom with a level of 62. Now he didn’t have the blacksmith skill so he couldn’t wear it even if there was a good weapon.

“This is good.”

Weed picked up a cimeter that children of the desert tribes used to play with.

– Cimeter that Frequently Changes Owners:

59/59 Attack 13~21

A cimeter that any child of the desert knows who to use.

A thick and heavy piece that won’t easily break. The flexible blade will show a high attack power.

Weight: 35

Restrictions: Level 15

More than 40 Strength

Options: The durability will reduce slowly.

Will degrade armour by 60% when attacking.

When striking a downward blow, attack power +5.

It wasn’t a sword but a bent knife! The weapons store owner frowned as he saw the weapon Weed selected.

“Isn’t this power insufficient for fighting?”

“It does not matter.”

“Good defense. If you want to live long then you should pick your own weapon.”

Weed didn’t want to engage in a long talk.

“I am a person who can call the rain. So just sell it to me.”

“Call the rain…um, I’ve heart about that. A person who can call rain in the desert is valuable. The ability to cause miracles is something I can’t fathom. I’ll sell it if that is what you want. The original price is 250 gold but you can receive it for 195 gold.”

“…….”

These were precious goods in Laos.

Weed didn’t waste time bargaining and just bought it. He obtained quite a few jewels from Portu so he could afford to spend that money. He bought daggers, bows and even arrows.

“Sell me that sword of the Bansen Kingdom.”

“You want that as well?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t understand it. Your level means you can’t use it. However, a person who calls rain is a miracle man. If you want it then I will sell.”

He purchased weapons and armour from the store. He bought clothing of the desert warriors that didn’t have a level limit.

It was due to the hot nature of the desert climate. This feature meant it was light but the defense was weak.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed exited Laos and searched for animals in the area.

“I need to catch a suitable opponent!”

He couldn’t find any herbivorous animals such as rabbits or deer. He even had to be careful of the weakest scorpions who were poisonous. But Weed had bought a complete set from the stores!

“Let’s test out this cimeter.”

Weed pulled out a sculpture.”

“Sculptural Destruction! Everything into Strength!”

All of his Art stat was converted into Strength.

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

1 Art stat has permanently disappeared from the pain of destroying a sculpture. Fame has decreased by 3.

The Art stat has been converted to Strength for one day.

Your Art stat is too high. Strength stat is too low so the conversion won’t be completed all at once.

1,090 Strength has been converted to the level 8 advanced skill ‘Severe Blow.’

When hitting enemies with the exact amount of power, enemies will be blown away. Probability of causing paralysis and confusion has increased.

1,180 Strength has been converted to the level 8 advanced skill ‘Piercing Sword.’

The opponent’s shield and armour will be smashed by the powerful attack.

1,430 Strength has been changed to the level 9 advanced skill ‘Momentary Herculean Strength.’ Power will triple for a short amount of time. Enormous vitality is required.

1,150 damage will be applied to the weapon’s basic attacks but the durability will decrease by 35%.

A rudimentary rise in strength! Weed was only armed with the cimeter as he ran towards a scorpion.

Chyurik!

The scorpion raised its tail towards Weed but it was useless. Weed brought the cimeter down.

Ddiring!

– The weak scorpion has been smashed by a devastating power.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– You have learnt projection.

Projection has increased to beginner level 2.

The destructiveness of the sword has increased by 120%.

The weight involved in the attack will increase by 6%.

Frontal attacks will have a chance of pushing back the enemy.

His level instantly rose! The 100x increase in experience and skill proficiency was tremendous.

“Let’s try it!”

Weed smashed all the scorpions around him. He went over level 30 in a flash and gained many scorpion teeth and tails.

“The experience already isn’t that much.”

After that his goal was the snakes. The desert snakes were also easy prey for Weed. He had a wide variety of hunting experience so he could easily see through the simple behavioural patterns of animals.

– Charisma has increase by 1 due to winning with overwhelming power.

On that day his level even reached 55. It was a 100 times growth so he reached this extent despite only hunting for one day.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon toured the stores within Laos.

‘This place is trading ores. I should remember it in case it is needed.’

Information about stores selling food and equipment, quests and hunting grounds were remembered so that she could support Weed.

And the next day!

– The Mercenary Guild is seeking a person to work in the information department.

This person will work for the Red Sun Mercenary Guild.

Urgent: 30 Copper

Supplementary payment will be given depending on the career path.

The income was small but there was a possibility of obtaining good information. Seo-yoon headed towards the Mercenary Guild for an interview.

A mercenary with a wild atmosphere around him welcomed her.

“Have you done this type of work before?”

“No.”

“You are interested in working for mercenaries?”

“Not at all.”

“Your honest is good. You can gradually learn the work.”

The mercenary guild’s job interview was a success!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed hunting near the city until morning and reached level 75.

“I’ve learnt Sword Mastery.”

Once he switched from a cimeter to a sword, he gained Sword Mastery and it reached intermediate level. He learnt Sword Mastery from the Desert Warriors Guild!

He obtained supplies and information about the next hunting ground from Seo-yoon.

“If you head to the north then the lake is inhabited by crocodiles.”

“It will be difficult to breathe and hunt in the water.”

“It will be fine if you stay on the shallow side. Make sure to bring a bow.”

“I bought a lot of arrows.”

Hunting the crocodiles in the lake to the north! Desert warriors were wandering around but they didn’t participate in Weed’s work. His level was insufficient so the desert warriors were indifferent. They didn’t want to get involved with a weak warrior.

And Weed reached level 110!

“Stat window.”

Character Name | Nodulle | Alignment | None
Level | 110 | Profession | Desert Warrior
Title | Person Who Calls Rain | Fame | 8,382
Health | 13,982 | Mana | 7,383
Strength | 273 | Agility | 216
Vitality | 61 | Wisdom | 125
Intelligence | 97 | Leadership | 41
Art | 3,141 | Luck | 79
Attack | 819 | Defence | 198
Magic Resistance: 11%

“I’m happy but I can’t stop here.”

Weed worried while completing quests.

‘Level 110 is quite high.’

He had suffered so much difficult in the meantime due to Nodulle’s body so he felt like level 100 was quite high.

’22 years is quite long so to what extent can my level grow?’

It was really distant but he could soar to legendary heights. Sword Mastery was the default but he also often shot arrows using a bow. His Perseverance and other stats were able to become exceptionally high. But this was likely to be the foundation for the next quest.

‘It is really terrible to imagine but I might need to kill a dragon next for all I know.’

He felt like something huge was going to happen. A minor different in how strong he became might make a huge difference.

It was important to optimize information gathering but he also needed a strong body to jump at strong enemies. Extra stats and high levels meant that he could grow quickly while hunting.

“The hunting time is 80 days.”

Weed reduced his resting time and minimized his movements. His fast sweeping hunting was unsurpassed. Furthermore, he could take advantage of his secret sculpting techniques so the possibilities were endless.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Now Weed is making progress on the final secret sculpting technique quest.”

Yoo Byung-jin drank sweet cocoa as he looked at the monitor.

A few years had opened since Royal Road opened. In the meantime, users had grown from strangers to becoming masters on the continent.

Yoo Byung-jin had hoped that everyone in Royal Road would become crazy about money and power. Unicorn Corporation was giving an enormous prize money so people would become frantic trying to conquer the continent!

Of course, the guilds were systematically trample on the weak. But Royal Road offered a huge happiness to people.

“Heheheh, I’ve finally obtained the broken blade after searching for 3 months. Now I can complete the quests!”

An adventurer who received a F class quest didn’t care and spent 3 months completing it. Some didn’t care about quests and just enjoyed adventures like Weed’s.

“Kyah, how cool! The taste of water after hunting is the real deal.”

“Do you want to go play in the valley?”

“That’s good. We can eat the baked meat from lizards in the valley.”

“We should quickly grab a good spot. It will be full of people from noon onwards.”

Beginners might be persecuted but they felt like the world of Royal Road was really fun. People could freely delight in hunting and going on adventures.

Yoo Byung-jin wished for people to kill in order to live.

The development of capitalism meant that more people were becoming lonely. Royal Road gave people happiness in their lives. They felt a great sense of achievement when hunting monsters or finishing a quest! They could also experience a tingling of fear when going with colleagues in a dark dungeon.

All they needed to do was connect to the game in order to live another reality. Despite the behaviour of the prestigious guilds, new users were constantly starting in the Versailles Continent.

Of course, a vast majority of the new users were inhabitants of the Arpen Kingdom in the north. Weed’s adventures inspired feelings of challenge, hopes and dreams.

Yoo Byung-jin was accurately aware of all the situations occurring in the game.

“Weed’s adventures are becoming more difficult and he will probably fail….”

–I’ve improved the prediction algorithm. Do you want me to calculate the probability?

“No!”

–I will not calculate the probability.

“Weed and Bardray are diverging in two extreme directions.”

Weed was experiencing the adventure of the final secret technique and was nearing the final stage.

His actions in the past would change the present. There were many areas where Weed’s adventure can fail. Weed could cause the current Versailles Continent to fall into a serious problem.

“If he doesn’t finish Nodulle’s work then the Dragon of Chaos will be revived and chaos will occur….how interesting.”

The large scale of the quest was becoming unimaginable.

And a time of darkness!

If Weed failed in the quest then the Versailles Continent would revert to the Dark Ages. But these opportunities couldn’t be known in advance and the adventurer would discover it too late. Therefore, the likelihood of success was slim.

In the end, all the responsibility would be laid on Weed. If he didn’t succeed here then all the fame he built up would be lost.

In comparison, Bardray was successfully governing the Hermes Guild. His strength was so high that he was undefeated! Moreover, the Haven Empire was the best on the continent. He was the user walking down the most successful path in Royal Road.

People might have a bad impression of Bardray but there was no denying his outstanding ability.

“Bardray is walking the traditional path of an Emperor. He wins due to his overwhelming charisma, political knowledge, power, confidence and the support of his subordinates.”

Bardray had all the necessary means to unite the continent.

“Anyone with common sense would give the victory to Bardray instead of Weed. It is absurd to compare Weed and Bardray. If I wait a little bit then Bardray will become master of the continent.”

He would learn the results not long in the future. If Bardray removed Weed who was his only obstacles, he would become the de facto ruler of the Versailles Continent.

Yoo Byung-jin acknowledged Bardray’s efforts to conquer the continent.

In contrast, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that Weed reached this point through his dramatic adventures and skills. He was informed that there wasn’t much time until the Hermes Guild conquered the remaining guilds.

“If Bardray conquers the continent then Weed’s adventure might be buried forever.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The representatives of the Roam Guild, Black Lion Guild, Lion Star Guild, and Cloud Guild had a private meeting.

“The time is approaching to counterattack against the Hermes Guild.”

Sherwood from the Cloud Guild presided over the meeting.

“What is the commencement date?”

Gunter from the Lion Star Guild asked. A map of the continent was spread over a wide desk.

“Bardray is leading some elite troops through the Rubidom Mountains. Once they come out of the mountains, troops from the Roam Guild and Black Sword Mercenaries will attack. And we will instantaneously start the Hermes Guild hunting on the continent.”

“Hrmm, this mission has to be a success…. What is the troop deployment and plan of attack?”

“This will confirm the details.”

Maps displaying castles, cities, roads, the southern desert area etc. were displayed. Flags were placed at the important gateways to the Haven Empire and they could see the extent of the Hermes Guild’s territory.

‘Dammit!’

Michel the head of the Black Sword Mercenaries’ face turned red.

The Haven Empire had obtained quite a bit of land in the Gradian Kingdom. They failed to prevent the attack of Bardray and the elites and had to flee to the Norton Kingdom.

The original plan was to retreat in order to pull them into a war of attrition but the quick offensive surpassed their expectations. However, the Black Sword Mercenaries mobilized their forces remaining in the Norton and Masen Kingdoms in order to take back Gradian Kingdom.

If the other allies had helped then he wouldn’t have lost the territory so easily but he couldn’t blame them for not sending reinforcements.

‘I need to take back the Gradian Kingdom.’

His eyes were burning with desire to seize the territory of the Haven Empire. The reason why the allies joined together was to swallow up the Haven Empire.

‘This is our last chance.’

Carlise from the Black Lion Guild was sure of their unconditional victory. Their power had significantly reduced so they were barely able to obtain a place in this meeting.

They received a large injury due to the Hermes Guild and Beden Guild taking over the Tullen Kingdom and hadn’t been restored to their former glory.

Those that attended on behalf of the Roam Guild were silent.

‘This time we will be sure to win. It will be okay. We can be in charge once the Hermes Guild comes crashing down. Our Roam Guild.’

The heads of the alliance made of prestigious guilds gathered to make final preparations for the war.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The day of the fight!

The coalition called it the Lion Hunting Day.

Bardray had 430,000 troops from the Haven Empire and collected prisoners of war for an army of 1.04 million people. This huge force was going through the Rubidom Mountains from the Norton Kingdom.

“We will win!”

Michel cried out loudly on the Benzen Plains.

“Waaaah!”

Soldiers and mercenaries holding a variety of weapons shouted. The Black Sword Mercenaries mobilized the support of the Pram Guild, a professional mercenary coalition.

30,000 senior mercenaries! There were also 220,000 NPC soldiers from the Dale and Norton Kingdom.

The Roam Guild gathered a huge army consisting of 1,600,000 troops and waited on the plains. The allies gathered in a different spot depending on the guild they belonged to.

“Roam Guild.”

“Yes!”

“Our goal this time is the Hermes Guild.”

“There is no problem.”

“We are different from the Hermes Guild. This time we will win.”

The Roam Guild consisted of the elite users.

The Hermes Guild possessed a lot of high ranking users but the Roam Guild was comparable to them. The Roam Guild gathered the influential people and their members could be called the continent’s strongest knights.

Among Royal Road’s top 20, 4 of them belonged to the Roam Guild and their combination of archers, mages and warriors exerted overwhelming tactics and destruction. And the Roam Guild generously gave expensive equipment to their 250,000 NPCs.

The Roam Guild had yet to fight against the Hermes Guild. But if they belonged to the Allied Guilds then they could use the troops to break through the Hermes Guild.

“We definitely have to control Bardray.”

“That guy has the myth of invincibility. We will break it perfectly.”

The high ranking users were greedy to beat Bardray. They wanted to gain the largest fame in the war by defeating the one who killed Weed. Some wanted to obtain Bardray’s equipment.

The Allied Forces that arrived on the Benzen Plains had no intention of retreating. The alliance of the Cloud Guild and Black Lion Guild blocked the rear of the Rubidom Mountains towards the Gradian Kingdom.

The army going through the steep mountains was due to suffer severe fatigue! They might choose to turn around rather than continue on to the Benzen Plains and fight.

Of course, even if the Hermes Guild went forward then they would need to fight the Cloud Guild, Black Lion Guild and the other allies on the Benzen Plains.

Other than the 4 prestigious guilds, there were another 100 allied guilds gathered to fight the Hermes Guild. In order to complete the complete encirclement, the Allied Forces put a lot of effort in to hide the movement of their troops.

The Haven Empire had gained a vast amount of territory in the meantime so defeating Bardray wasn’t enough to break their army.

Bardray was the Haven Empire’s emperor! His death would be the start of the Haven Empire’s collapse. They would deal an unrecoverable blow to their mindset. The offensive of the Allied Forces would then cut across the territories of the Haven Empire.

“Huhuhu, we will be a rat poison.”

“If we miss this opportunity then who knows when it will appear again. We can’t afford to let Bardray escape.”

“Reliable users are prepared to pursue them.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray received a report while travelling through the Rubidom Mountains.

“There really is a large army.”

The Black Sword Mercenaries had squeezed as much troops as possible. The Hermes Guild’s movement through the Rubidom Mountains was actually a trap for their enemies.

“This time the Black Sword Mercenaries won’t be able to rise again. We can easily occupy the Norton Kingdom. Soo Ra-im.”

“Yes!”

“Let the weary soldiers rest. They will wait until we appear so we can get sufficient rest.”

“I understand.”

The Haven Empire’s movements stopped and started resting.

The alliance who saw this was at a loss.

“Knights? We will be moving on.”

The Rubidom Mountains was a deep place with hidden caves and many tress. The scattered knights of the Haven Empire started gathering. Lafaye dispatched the rangers and magician units inside the caves. The teleport gate in big cities and castles were expensive but they had been prepared in advance in order to win the war.

“The Persek Knights have finished gathering.”

“The Vermik Knights are arriving now.”

“The Chavillin Knights are preparing to move.”

“The Teberun Knights are gathering.”

The Haven Empire boasted 24 units of knights and they gathered in the Rubidom Mountains.

“It is taking a long time.”

“When will the battle start?”

“Let’s drink alcohol after today’s win.”

There was a smile on the faces of those gathered around. The Hermes Guild had won every victory in this war. This was the pride of a guild that overcame every struggle.

“We are complete beggars.”

“There is no helping it. We were defeated once. The Hermes Guild isn’t that lenient.”

Pollon and Rensullot.

Commanders who experienced defeat to Weed also came to the Rubidom Mountains. In the past, the guild members would flatter them but now they were ignored. They were strong but the respect of the Hermes Guild was low after their loss to Weed.

Pollon clicked his tongue.

‘The environment in this type of guild isn’t good.’

The Hermes Guild that was trying to conquer the continent had fierce, internal competition. They competed over becoming the lord of a vast territory with a high population. The Hermes Guild would no doubt conquer the continent and they would be trying to pick the best egg yolk.

It was a situation where the conquest of the continent seemed close at hand.

‘We are the dominant power so it will be stupid if we don’t win.’

Pollon thought the war was easily won.

The Hermes Guild’s troops and tactics made it so obvious that it was boring. And he was an army commander so there was no need to envy others.

The really difficult battle was when he fought Weed! Pollon caught of glimpse of Weed’s scary side when faced with waves after waves of undead.

‘He knew exactly how to organize the troops. And persistently aimed at weak spots.’

The ability to see through things and command capabilities were different. It was the first time Pollon felt like that.

Every time a weak spot was aimed at, a link between the troops would be cut. The process was accomplished so naturally that they received a lot of damage. And the troops were too fast. Weed quickly grasped the status of the opponent and gained control over the battlefield. Although he resented it at first, he analysed every reason for his defeat and felt better.

Rensullot hadn’t accepted it yet. He was a tactician who went to the north and faced a miserable defeat. He was wiped out without fighting well and was waiting to meet Weed again.

“I will thoroughly win. In a real battle I will win.”

Pollen listened but didn’t say anything.

If Weed commanded the army of northern users then the Northern Expedition might’ve suffered worse losses. Pollen and Rensullot scattered and arrived at their respective camps.

Knights of the Haven Empire arrived at the Rubidom Mountains under the pretence of a supplies troop. In order to reduce fatigue, the infantry had chopped at the trees on their way in.

“Rangers are placed at the locations specified for ambushes.”

“Magicians inspect the traps!”

Knights, magicians and soldiers of the Haven Empire continuously arrived through the teleport gate. The elite troops of the Haven Empire were all here.

“Now we will march to the Benzen Plains to defeat them. This surprise attack will cause despair.”

The army marched towards the Benzen Plains after a suitable rest. As the leader, Lafaye showed shocking and brutal tactics.

The Rubidom Mountains were perfect for luring the enemies into a trap. Bardray would defeat their enemies on the Benzen Plains and then march through the Norton Kingdom The rangers would also delay the Black Lion Guild and Cloud Guild behind them.

After finishing the troops on the Benzen Plains, the enemies arriving through the Rubidom Mountains would be too late.

The variable terrain of the Rubidom Mountains would cause even the prestigious guilds to feel frustration.

Lafaye and the other leaders called this plan Hunting the Lion Hunters.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Roam Guild, Black Sword Mercenaries and other allies smiled with satisfaction as time passed.

“Those fellows aren’t retreating and are heading towards the Benzen Plains….”

“Is the Hermes Guild so proud that they won’t retreat in the face of defeat? Then we will give them the taste of losing. Anyway, it is good. The Haven Empire’s huge loss today will be irreversible.”

“Get in battle formations!”

The Allied Forces were confident in winning over the Haven Empire. They firmly believed that the Benzen Plain would act as a road towards conquering the rest of the Haven Empire.

The wide empire would be eaten up. The Allied Forces stood at the locations assigned in advance.

Many guilds decided to attack through the units system created by the Grass Porridge Cult in the north. There were a few differences but these units had much higher ranking users and a larger size.

“They have appeared!”

“Continue waiting!”

“Stop. Do not jump at the enemy!”

The Allied Forces waited for the Haven Empire to enter the Benzen Plains. There was no need to fight in a hurry. The Black Lion Guild and Cloud Guild would appear on the other side so they just waited.

Prior to the start of the battle, Michel gave a loud speech.

“Today! It is the day that the Haven Empire will decline!”

“Roam Guild! We will become the strongest guild on the continent!”

It was difficult to hide their excitement at the thought of the Hermes Guild in ruins.

After a long time passed, the troops of the Haven Empire completely entered. The Benzen Plains was flat and spacious with a lot of room for troops to fight. But any who retreated to the Rubidom Mountains would suffer damage.

“Go!”

“Sweep them all away!”

Buuuuuong!

A horn sounded and the Allied Forces started marching.

The knights began to charge. Every flag representing a guild, castle or kingdom moved in unison, causing a grand spectacle. The distance to the Haven Empire’s army was getting closer.

“Death to all those bastards!”

“Yes!”

According to Bardray’s commands, the magicians of the Haven Empire had already prepared various spells.

“Steps of Fire.”

“Overturn the Earth!”

“Group Fire!”

“Flame Vortex.”

“Chain Explosion!”

Different types of magic and arrows rained down on the Allied Forces. A tremendous site of destruction! The subsequent light and noise transcended imagination.

The Allied Forces in the front suffered horrifying damage and collapsed. When the dust cleared, the users had already disappeared without a trace. The Allied Forces stopped moving and groaned.

“Unbelievable…why are there so many magic attacks?”

“No matter how great the magicians in the Hermes Guild are, such destructive power is impossible. No!”

The Haven Empire started their assault while the Allied Forces were hesitating.

Chapter 9: Hero of the Past

Weed decided to take advantage of this rapid growth for his sculpting.

“This is for the quest so I can’t fail. Sculptural Destruction! Everything into Knowledge.”

He broke sculptures from the beginning and applied it to hunting. The rise in Knowledge increased his maximum mana and he furiously used his skills.

“Radiant Sword! Hot Fire!” Weed’s original body couldn’t use magic but that changed when he became Nodulle.

That’s why he switched professions to Desert Warrior in the desert city of Laos. Now there was the possibility of using fire magic and fire elementals. He would also become stronger under the sun.

“Moving around will take too much time. I should eat while walking to save time.”

It had been 3 days into Nodulle’s Growth quest. He couldn’t find reasonable prey around the city anymore so he needed to move further.

In order to save precious time walking through the desert, he had Seo-yoon buy him a camel from the Mercenary Guild. She had worked for close to 1 year so her income was quite big.

“It is still too slow. I need something quick and tireless.”

He used water and sand to carve a sculpture of a camel.

“Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

The sand became flesh and a life was born.

“Meheheheng!”

“Your name shall be Bactrian Camel.”

The name was Bactrian Camel! The size was over 4 metres!

It could run quickly in the desert, had long legs so it wouldn’t fall in the sand and the soles of their feet were flat and spacious. The Bactrian Camel also had 2 humps where nutrients could be stored!

The level of the camel was 483 and it could go 10 days without sleeping. In addition, the camel was a sculpture he gave life to.

“It will become stronger while I’m fighting. Anyway, it is done now that I’ve given life to it.”

This quest required hunting for 22 years so he could easily recover the levels. He obtained valuable information from his colleague in the city in order to save time and because he might not be able to meet her in a while.

Therefore, Weed decided to hunt with 10 desert soldiers. Warrior-1, Warrior-2, Warrior-3, Warrior-4….he felt annoyed making them but he buried those feelings.

“My life is yours. I can also tear out my heart and give it to you.”

The characteristics of a desert warrior was similar to eternal obedience.

“Yes, I will keep you with me. And I can’t buy them from the city so two priests are needed.”

The priests were both men, called Alverun and Alveren. To be exact, they were fake Alverons.

“God bless you for giving life to us.”

“This is a blessing. It would be nice if we had money and clothing.”

After making sculptural lifeforms for various situations, he decided to hunt in the dungeons.

“I will protect Master.”

“I will attract monsters for Master to fight.”

The desert warriors who Weed gave life to protected him and helped him hunt. After going through one dungeon, the desert warriors grew rapidly.

17 days after the quest started, his level broke through 440! He only concentrated on hunting with his subordinates so his growth was fearsome. Weed felt strength surge inside his body every time he fought. He demonstrated fire magic without a hitch and showed a frightening ability to slay the enemies! Weed and the sculptural lifeforms swept through the dungeons.

“This is not real….”

He hated that the sculptural lifeforms and everything he gained with Nodulle’s body would disappear at the end of this quest. He received the x2 experience effect when entering a new dungeon but he was greedy for more.

‘I should raise skill proficiency first. If I don’t raise that and my stats more then I will really suffer in the future. I can’t go into dangerous dungeons unless my level is high.’

The level of the monsters went up with the growth of the desert warriors and priests. He didn’t want to spend hours searching for the entrance of a dungeon. Good hunting grounds at higher levels might be difficult to find which is why Seo-yoon’s efforts in the city was crucial.

“Oh, the tough soul of the desert! The desert warriors will solve all difficulties in Laos!”

“It is great to see such fiery desert warriors.”

The treatment changed when meeting the desert tribesmen.

They watched Weed and the desert warriors pass through the city while holding scimitars. The law of the desert meant they respected strong warriors! The desert tribes fought and killed each other.

They were like bandits around a city. This was the reason why desert tribes had a lot of infamy. Weed felt tempted but he didn’t attack the desert tribes.

‘They are all riding fast camels. It will be hard to catch them.’

He was riding Bactrian Camel but his subordinates were on general camels. If the desert tribes escaped while fighting then it would be hard to track and chase them through the sand.

In fact, many of the desert tribes were so poor they only had one sword and a few sheep. This was why the desert tribes threw away their self-respect. Every time they finished a dungeon, Weed wouldn’t end the hunting and would just switch to another one.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing the sun in the desert.”

“The sandy desert is vast.”

In no time, he was called a king. Weed and his soldiers exceeded level 500. Less than half of the time has passed since receiving the quest. 22 years was a long time.

‘I wonder what will happen at the end of the quest. No, I don’t have time to think about such useless things. I should quickly beat the monsters.’

He spent of the time fighting in the desert so he earned many achievements.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Users in the southern dukedom of Borghes.  Meyer, Kenten Dreita, Enru and Frame!

These 4 people were hunting in a party regardless of the war in the Central Continent.

“Which side should we go to this time?”

“Shall we go towards the south?”

“The south?”

“Yes. We should go hunt the Ibellina Dungeon and then do some trade in a nearby desert city.”

“Shall we? I need to buy a magic book.”

They weren’t merchants but their backpacks were filled with basic things to sell. It wasn’t a large profit but this was a way to earn money for users more than level 200.

“Let’s go!”

They bought supplies first before going towards the Borghes area in the south. It was an enjoyable trip as they passed fields and fish swimming in rivers.

There were a few activities in the dukedom so they went down to the south with 250 people. The crowd of users meant that monsters wouldn’t attack even if they were low level users.

“What the, isn’t this a strange city?”

“Did we take the wrong road?”

“No. I’ve been here a few times…that’s right. There was once a city in the desert called Probullen. There were signposts about it.”

“I saw a few intact buildings.”

“No way! It is really Probullen. When did it become bigger?”

The users were lost at the sight of a city so developed in the southern desert. Not long ago, there were dozens of outdated white buildings in the desert. The sand covered most of them and even small merchants wouldn’t set up a trading post there.

But now it was a large city with tens of thousands of buildings. Thick walls and moats were surrounding the city and a number of facilities drew water from a nearby lake. Even the merchants who normally travelled to the desert were surprised!

“I just came here two days ago.”

“Really? It wasn’t like this at the time?”

“Not at all. What magic caused such changes in only 2 days?”

“Should we go over there and look?”

“I’m going to check. Originally I was going to pass through but I can’t just go now.”

The curious users carefully went over to the city. Desert tribal warriors were guarding Probullen. Enru swallowed his saliva and asked.

“Hey, is this Probullen?”

“That’s correct.”

“Wasn’t it a small village a few days ago?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“There is a lack of water so the desert is a hard place to live.”

“Too noisy. Can’t you see the city facilities that we’re proud of?”

The guards became angry. But they weren’t stopped from entering the city. The users cheered as soon as they entered the city.

“Wow! This is amazing!”

“The real deal!”

The stores displayed fine silk, steel, ivory and jewellery. Hard to find equipment like scimitars over level 400 were displayed. Furthermore, the city contained a mercenary guild where tough desert warriors could be hired.

The desert warriors were very strong and the hire costs were low so they were immensely popular. In order to hire them, they had to go to large cities in the desert so Probullen was welcome.

“W-wait a minute. Why are the levels of the mercenaries so high?”

“How much?”

“Minimum is 390. Others are 420.”

“The employment costs are 400 gold per day?”

“No! That is the level.”

“Hik!”

Merchants ran through the streets clustered with shops selling goods. The market price had also changed a lot.

“Olives? That is common in our city. I’m not interested in buying imported goods. This isn’t a secret but if you want to sell something for an expensive price then bring things like dried fruits and pickled fish.”

“Pickled fish can be sold at a considerable price?”

“The number of visitors are increasing these days so it can’t be guaranteed. Those who come first can get a good price.”

In the past, food in the desert could be sold for an unconditionally good value. They were poor so they couldn’t buy a large quantity but now the market was highly developed so the goods could be disposed of.

The city’s population grew dramatically due to the increase in goods. Hundreds of different things of items were displayed.

“Oh my god! Lemons, basil, cumin, parsley, pepper, celery…there are tons of different spices.”

“There’s even the hard to obtain saffron!”

“What things are you looking for? The city merchants…if you find something you want then we work out a cheap price.”

“Really?”

“Yes. And don’t go to the old city of Laos in the south.

“Why?”

A merchant in Probullen mentioned the name Laos to an adventurer.

“The dye industry there is very developed and it is a wealthy place. So they often speak contemptuously of us.”

“Heok!”

Probullen wasn’t the only city in the desert with a tremendous change. Some cities were so wealthy that this place just seemed like a trading post.

‘A jackpot!’

‘It is a complete uproar. What can I buy and sell?’

Adventurers and warriors wanted good hunting grounds in undeveloped land. The merchants in the big cities competed with each other. Merchants experienced happiness and anguish when trying to purchase specialties.

Right now the north had a lot of trade and were building up their wealth.

“Are we still going to Ibellina Dungeon?”

“No! Let’s explore more of this city.”

“I also agree! There isn’t a rush to go to the hunting grounds.”

Meyer, Kenten Dreita, Enru and Frame postponed their dungeon hunting and toured the city. They tried talking to residents in order to obtain quests. They tried talking to a grandmother sitting on the sidewalk selling ornaments.

“How did Probullen become larger? Hahaha, you didn’t know a famous fact like that. It is thanks to the Great Emperor of the desert, Weed-nim.”

“W-Weed-nim!”

Enru and Frame were amazed. They were young but were big fans of Weed! Talk about Weed often occurred at school when they chattered with friends.

They started in the south and felt regret that Weed’s activities were in the distant north. Once their levels were a little higher, they dreamt of heading towards the north. Yet they heard a story about Weed in the desert city of Probullen!

“Shush! Don’t recklessly call the name of the Great Emperor. It is disrespectful and a desert warrior won’t forgive you if they heard it. His stature is something that the desert warriors don’t dare forget.”

“Y-yes.”

“I want to know more about him!”

Enru and Frame were passionate fans of Weed so they showed an interest.

“Weed-nim is a person with enough power to burn through the desert. He created incredible miracles in the desert. Have you heard about the Golden Desert?”

“No!”

“The conquest of the Golden Desert led to the discovery of the desert city Metapeia.”

“Oh really?”

“Yes!”

Meyer who was listening couldn’t believe it. Weed had become an existence that was like a legend in the desert. There weren’t any stories when they came the last time and now this was happening suddenly. It also felt strange that the grandmother was talking about Weed like he lived a long time ago.

“Are you interested in adventures?”

“Yes!”

“Then you should ride a camel in the southeast direction for one day. You will be able to find a large canyon. Weed created his place in the desert as a gift. Go there and take a look. And if you see a man around there then ask if he is my son Vincent. That boy went there to meet a woman and hasn’t returned.”

Meanwhile, the merchant users became familiar with the store owners. It was important for merchants to determine the latest fashions in the city in order to trade.

“Weed-nim was the Great Emperor of the desert.”

“He built a kingdom?”

“He could create sandstorms in the desert so no one dared go against His Majesty.”

“Created sandstorms?”

“He didn’t need to use a sword.”

One of the biggest reasons why merchants were reluctant to go into the desert was a sandstorm. Even a small one would be several hundred metres high and there were no countermeasures. They could suffer a great loss due to the sandstorms.

Even Bardray wouldn’t be able to display such a miracle.  This story told how strong Weed was.

‘Is it possible they are talking about a different Weed?’

‘The stories might be wrong but I don’t feel like they are.’

The owner of a trading post told a different story.

“The Bukun colony near here? Weed-nim smashed it. Giants in the mountain? Weed-nim brought his subordinates there and cleared them out.”

“Eh?”

They were dumbfounded because those places were at least level 600. And the owner of an antique store covertly said.

“You there, do you want to see a real precious item that can’t be compared to the common goods in the store?”

“I would like to see it.”

“I don’t normally show this to merchants who first visit here. Watch carefully. It is a valuable treasure that can’t be bought. Follow me.”

The items in the store were too expensive for them so they wanted to see the really valuable treasure. The store owner guided them to the back of the building. There was a separate room protected by guards and pulled out a box that seemed like it contained rare gems.

‘Looking at this atmosphere and the size of the box, the item should be…. Wah, calm down.’

‘There must be an item worth thousands of gold in that box. A jewel worth more than 1 million gold might appear.’

‘It is expensive so there is no possibility of buying it. However, I can save money and aim for it. If I can sell it then my name will be known across the continent.’

The store owner said in a heavy voice.

“You will feel reverence when you see this. It is the most precious treasure that came from the desert.”

“Yes!”

The users watched as the store owner slowly opened the box.

‘T…this is?’

It was something they were familiar with!

‘A rabbit sculpture.’

The rabbit sculpture that Weed mass produced in Serabourg Castle and sold for 2 silver. Its colour had faded due to many years passing but the guards on both sides kneeled down and gave it the utmost respect. The merchant users also kneeled down due to the atmosphere.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed’s desert warriors extended up to 280 people.

“This sort of thing wasn’t intended. It is quite annoying.”

His subordinates weren’t all sculptural lifeforms. The brave desert warriors came running barefoot and kowtowed to him. In addition, the sculptural lifeforms got married and had children. The females weren’t weak due to the nature of the desert. Those children grew up and learnt how to use a knife from a young age.

“Great Emperor of the desert! I am not strong enough. I thank you for allowing me to be your subordinate.”

“I used all my strength to come here. Please accept me. If I am lacking then please cut my neck!”

“The glory days of the desert warriors are no more. My heart and limbs will fight for you.”

“Just like my father, I came to serve the greatest warrior. I am young but I know how to fight. Please accept me!”

Weed and his sculptural lifeforms had built up achievements and were widely known throughout the desert. The desert warriors ran over barefoot like a Korean star had arrived at the airport.

“We can go to various places in the desert with all these people following.”

Weed accepted the desert warriors into his group. The warriors had a lot of information about the desert so it was easy to pick a place to go. They were used as guides and errand boys.

“Monsters are rampaging near the area of my tribe.”

“Are they strong?”

“Yes. But if a strong warrior like you leads this group then it can be easily resolved. We can overcome any difficulty….”

“That’s it!”

Weed didn’t refuse any requests and listened to all the information from the warriors.

“There is a mysterious city. It is like a mirage in the desert. In the past, I heard there were rumours there that can greatly increase a governing area.”

“Weapons?”

“It is said that legendary treasures are sleeping there. But the only thing found there was a tomb.”

“Is it a dangerous place with powerful enemies?”

“Yes! It is a scary place.”

“Then let’s go!”

Weed and his subordinates ran through the desert. The unit of desert warriors followed Weed who was riding Bactrian Camel! And they arrived at the tomb with speed and efficiency.

“Fight! The people injured should take care of themselves while the others will keep on moving forward.”

The desert warriors engaged in a high speed hunt due to Weed’s charisma. The mysterious city of Metapeia was filled with monsters belonging to the legendary ghost clan. It had been 57 days since the quest started and he achieved level 640!

Weed just needed to wave his hand and the desert warriors would gather like clouds. In fact, now he had plenty of mana to summon Iron-1 and Iron-5 but he didn’t need them anymore. He would rather by accompanied by subordinates who were easily sacrificed.

“Don’t stop when the enemy comes rushing and fight until the end.”

“It is an honour, Great King!”

Apart from the dungeons, there weren’t many scary monsters in the desert. He needed to pay attention to all the details to achieve the best performance in a quest.

“Great Emperor, please give a command.”

“The monsters are very strong. Attack them face on!”

The desert warriors hurled themselves into the fray while Weed and his sculptural lifeforms stayed in the rear. In addition, there were 12 priests that could save them at any time. If their size kept on growing larger then it would become cumbersome to wander the desert.

– The hero of the desert shows cruelty and brutality.

– The Great Emperor that has a thick, bloody smell around him.

– It is a cruelty that doesn’t spare the lives of his subordinates in order to overcome any challenge.

Weed ruthlessly and efficiently commanded his subordinates. His Charisma and Fighting Spirit grew. It might seem brutal but this was the desert. They followed strong commands! Survival and strength was the most important thing in the desert so they became more excited with each victory.

There was no such thing as honour in the first place.

Ddiring!

– You have mastered Swordsmanship

The sword has been used to cut numerous monsters and you now completely understand it.

You have reached the point where you have become one with the sword and there is nowhere else to advance.

The basic damage of the sword will be enhanced by 500%.

Sword skills can be cancelled at any time and mana can be recovered.

The scope of attack skills is expanded.

Attack skills can be learnt easily and skill proficiency will quickly increase.

No damage will be received when blocking an attack with the sword.

The enemy’s sword skills can be learnt.

All stats increased by 40.

Combat quests can be received without any limitation.

Will pull out the weapon’s latent ability and original damage will double.

Sword durability will rarely drop and it will never break.

– The title ‘Master of the Sword’ has been acquired.

You can meet any kings regardless of fame or previous relationships.

Knights and warriors will come to challenge you.

The effectiveness of Fighting Spirit and Charisma will increase and will not be affected by enemies at a lower level.

A master swordsman!

He achieved it through Nodulle’s quest but he was the first user on the continent.

“It soared up from Advanced level 9 and I eventually mastered it.”

Weed’s joy was very small. The power of a sword master wasn’t that good. Ironically, his original Swordsmanship was still at Advanced level 4. After that, he also became a defense and magic master. He mastered countless attack skills.

Fire magic and elemental magic also reached the advanced level. The power of fire magic and fire elementals in the desert was very large. He didn’t feel the need to create anything other than basic fire elementals like salamanders.

Weed’s current body could use the techniques of a Desert Warrior, had the support of Sculptural Destruction and high health and mana. Of course, he could use the Art stat to switch between Strength or Agility as needed.

“Thank you very much. You are the benefactor who saved our tribe.”

“I’ve heard that a new sun is rising in the desert. Desert Sun, thank you very much.”

100 days passed in one day. Weed hunted, procured supplies from stores, sold his sculptures and used Cloud Sculpting. This caused oases, lakes and rivers to form after a couple of years and cities would become larger. The bulletins boards were in an uproar from users in the southern desert and dukedoms.

– Weed the God of War’s activities in the desert.

– It is really a jackpot!

– Cities names after Weed have sprung up.

– The terrain is changing. The reason? I don’t know. It is a full transformation. What is impossible for Weed?

– The people in this dukedom is talking from morning until night.

– What kind of magic can build a city overnight? I couldn’t believe it until I saw it directly.

– My friend fell asleep in sand dunes and woke up in the middle of a city. Originally I thought it was a lie and didn’t believe my friend. This is a story for the broadcasting stations.

– It is a little strange. Weed’s history is recorded in the history books like he is an old person. He was the greatest hero of the desert.

– It is the same for me. People kept on talking about Weed like he lived hundreds of years ago.

– Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!

– Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!

– Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!

– …….

– Bombardment is prohibited. There are more than 1,000 comments of Grass Porridge!

The result of Weed’s actions were normally spread. But this quest was something he didn’t spread. He just focused on becoming stronger in the desert.

Seo-yoon stayed safe within the city and worked at the Red Sun Mercenary Guild. The main work she did was commissioning merchants and determining what quests should be accepted.

– Capture the White-Furred Antelope in the Kensera Desert.

The Kensera Desert is filled with rumours of a white-furred antelope that frequently appears there.

Capture the white-furred antelope so I can give it as a gift to nobles.

Level of Difficulty: D

Client Payment:  950 gold.

– Find the Escaped Raccoon.

The raccoon has escaped from our kennel.

Capture it before it runs away.

It isn’t a difficult task but the nobles of the Lesbo nobles will have more confidence in you.

Level of Difficulty: F

Client Payment:  35 gold.

– Escort the Horse Traders through the Mald Area.

There are rumours that bandits are appearing around the Mald area.

Merchants have asked the Red Sun Mercenaries to escort them through there.

A large sum will be given if they are escorted through safely.

But there is no information about the bandits.

Level of Difficulty: C

Client Payment:  1, 300 gold.

– Scout the Urkan Area

The Red Sun Mercenaries need to send scouts to acquire information about the Urkan area.

Send appropriate, quick mercenaries.

Level of Difficulty: F

– Lack of Plunder

A group of merchants has been attacked by the Zeke desert tribe.

If the mercenaries steal from them then it would be considered an act of justice and the mercenaries won’t be criticized.

But the desert tribe won’t forget such a thing.

Seo-yoon assigned the requests to the appropriate mercenaries after she decided to accept them. 100 days passed in one day so the results came quickly. Some mercenaries failed and died while others achieved large success. Seo-yoon confirmed new information on a daily basis as she worked in the mercenary guild.

“This time the work was completed brilliantly.”

“It is good that you’ve thoroughly resolved the work given to you.”

“Well, I can’t find fault in the work this time.”

“Huh! This is perfectly….! It is amazing. In the future I will put all requests through the Red Sun Mercenaries.”

Seo-yoon’s ability to deal with information was incomparable. In addition, she knew every detail of the mercenary’s information so she didn’t accept any reckless requests. She also assigned good clients to Weed and his subordinates.

“Do you think this will be difficult?”

“Um. It is really easy. It could end soon. Do you want to do something else?”

“There is a request to fight illegal gold panning at the Kosuma River.”

“I will pick that.”

“It has a fairly large scale.”

“No. How can I miss this opportunity to pick up some gold from them?”

“…….”

“I can use this labour to grow.”

Weed and his troops neatly succeeded in the jobs. As Seo-yoon’s capabilities were recognized, her authority over the mercenaries kept on increasing.

“I’ve been watching for 8 years. You are the only woman we believe in. The mercenaries have great confidence in you. In the future you will lead our Red Sun Guild.”

She rose to the position of Deputy Director of the mercenary guild. She expanded the Red Sun Mercenaries.

– A branch of the Red Sun Mercenaries has been opened in Ocharem City.

– A branch of the Red Sun Mercenaries has been opened in Buhares City.

– A liaison office of the Red Sun Guild has been opened in Nukud Oasis.

Seo-yoon’s management skills results in branches of the guild opening in vast areas of the desert. Due to the fact that 100 days passed in on day, she became known among the mercenary guilds. Weed saw the cities grow 3~4 times larger and after 12 years passed, they had become huge metropolises.

The compensation for the guild requests also rose. In addition, commerce developed due to merchants being able to trade safely.

“The security of the Rumi area is falling. Mercenaries should be dispatched there. I will send some mercenaries along with Weed-nim the next time he visits.”

The desert prospered under her hands.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

By the time 19 years passed in the quest, Weed and his sculptural lifeforms had reached a record level.

They broke through level 740! The important skills were mastered and they also got the x2 experience from dungeons. Weed meticulously remembered the information ahead of time. His thoughts changed continuously as time passed in the quest.

In the early days.

‘Do I have to kill a sick and decrepit dragon? Ah, I’m anxious about dying.’

A dragon was an absolute existence. The hard skin meant it was hard for a sword to cut and magic attacks lost any meaning. The enormous health also meant it would take a few days to kill.

After half a year.

‘My level is rising at a good rate. It is important to minimize the travel distance. The quest can change completely depending on the results.’

Weed and his subordinates swept through the desert.

‘The Great Emperor of the Desert. The name they’re calling me is okay. My memories of Continent of Magic is rising after a long time. At that time there were no obstacles in my way. I lived without knowing when I would face a scary monster.’

In the second half of the year.

‘Hunting one dragon? Is there a sick dragon living in the vicinity?’

He really wanted to go against try going against a horde of monsters or a dragon. Weed and his subordinates’ strength in the desert was absolute. The desert warriors also became strong after experiencing all the cruelty.

“We’ve come back alive from the Dakhun Cave, Your Majesty!”

“I’ve brought this big lake monster that I’ve caught. 785 warriors headed there and only 377 people returned.”

The desert warriors called Weed a king. He didn’t govern over any territory or inhabitants but Weed’s influence stretched over the entire desert. The power and population of the desert tribes grew and they faithfully dedicated their lives to Weed.

Of course, if Weed was weak then all the desert warriors would turn on him. But they followed him because they recognized that Weed was strong. They were pure so he could control all of them.

Elite warriors swore loyalty to Weed every day and some honourably died while fulfilling orders. But the lives of the desert warriors weren’t always positive.

“These ugly bastards! You are useless fellows who only eat rice. Hestiger, why didn’t you intercept the monster trying to kill me earlier? Take the lead!”

“Yes. It is an honour.”

“If you can’t win this fight then you don’t have the qualifications to become my subordinate.”

“I will certainly win.”

Weed cruelly sacrificed his subordinates.

His temperament from Continent of Magic was revived. The sculptural lifeforms were important investments but he didn’t care if the desert warriors died.

As the quest continued to progressed, he couldn’t afford to individually take care of his subordinates. Over 1,000 desert warriors who followed him suffered that pain.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Victory of the Haven Empire

Weed looked at the endless sandy desert.

His clothing had completely changed to that of a perfect desert warrior. A turban was wrapped around his head and his body was covered with luxurious fabric.

His features had changed and he looked much older than before. The wrinkles around his eyes had deepened and his hair fell out until he was bald. He was the classic example of a freeloader!

He was doing this quest as Nodulle and subsequently aged 20 years.

“This is definitely different from reality.”

Weed muttered as the hot winds from the desert hit his bald head. It would be a shock to return to his original appearance after the quest was finished. Weed still hadn’t reached his prime age.

“Well, it doesn’t really matter because it’s not real. Actually, I think I’ve gracefully age when looking at myself. In particular, my scarred eyes and ripped mouth is hard to see in reality.”

On the surface he didn’t care about his appearance but he wore a golden mask with the face of a pharaoh on it. It was a 2,000 year old treasure with a level restriction of 700.

This was Nodulle’s body so he started from the beginning. However, he grew rapidly and obtained a lot after dominating the desert.

“This is much better.”

Weed wore ordinary white t-shirts and jeans compared to celebrities or models. However, the desert style clothing fit quite well with him. As the quest progressed, his smile became more rotten as more residents joined him.

“Great Emperor-nim, we have arrived.”

The sand around Weed blew as 1,000 warriors gathered around him. They were heroes and representatives of different desert tribes. Weed spoke in a low, solemn voice.

“Has everything been prepared?”

“It has finished.”

“Now is the time to destroy the last hurdle. I’m going to ask, who are we?”

The loyal sculptural lifeform Warrior-1 answered.

“Villains of the desert.”

“What?”

The answer was completely contrary to what Weed expected!

Warrior-3 was honest.

“We are desert robbers.”

Sometimes they even committed wrong doings. Time was running out so he didn’t bother hiding anything. Once they accidentally encountered NPC adventurers from the Central Continent and the result ended cruelly.

“Huhuhu, good.”

Weed’s eyes shone as he saw the equipment and map belonging to the adventurers.

And after a few minutes, the adventurers were robbed and stuck in the desert in their underwear. The desert tribes were poor but they were experts in combat and massacres.

Warrior-6 spoke some clear words.

“The desert is a harsh life involving sand and hot water so a ruler like Master is needed. He is someone who kindles the desert, His Majesty King Weed. Hooray, hooray, hooray!”

“Well, remember this well.”

“It is amazing that we can wear the colours of His Majesty.”

“Good. Let’s go!”

Weed’s cloak floated behind him as he rode Bactrian Camel over a pile of sand. They were heading towards the mysterious city Metapeia!

Once the sun had risen to its highest point, a huge city appeared in the desert like it was a mirage. Weed and the Red Knife desert warriors ran towards the mysterious city on their camels.

Nodulle’s quest required him to grow for 22 years! 100 days occurred in 1 day so time passed fairly quickly. There was little time remaining so Weed was approaching the end of the quest.

After 21 years passed in the desert, his level had now reached 783. Whether the final secret sculpting technique quest succeeded or failed, everything he gained would completely vanish. It was like winning the lottery only to be given an honour as the prize instead.

“I would rather get the money.”

Weed discovered all the important or hidden dungeons and hunting grounds in the desert and cleared them with the Red Knife warriors.

They went around the area close to the southern desert and defeated all the difficult dungeons. Therefore, they were now heading towards the mysterious city Metapeia in order to conquer it.

“I’ve returned.”

He had attacked the monsters in the mysterious city Metapeia several times when he was around level 400.

Kuwooooh!

The monsters ran away or lay down on the ground pretending to be dead. The monsters fell down under the weight of Weed’s charisma! When he first came here, there were monsters with razor sharp teeth and a nasty smell called the Laukao.

“Hey, are you dead?”

…….

“I’m going to peel your leather.”

Kuing king king king!

Weed was over level 700 so even ferocious monsters quivered in front of him. It was like they were standing in front of a bank robber asking to be robbed! He needed to hunt properly but there wasn’t much time remaining in the quest. He came to Metapeia to clear the dungeon present.

“This is no time to deal with these monsters. My aim is to reach level 800. Let’s go.”

“Understood, Great Emperor!”

Weed and his subordinates rode their camels towards the entrance of Metapeia.

‘The monsters inside are vicious fellows.’

He quickly looked from side to side.

At the entrance to the city were statues on both sides of a giant holding a trident and a golden fountain spouting water. It had the mystical beauty of the ruins of an ancient city.

He had been defeated by this dungeon myriad times. He obtained valuable knowledge that it couldn’t be beaten if his level was only in the 400s.

Seo-yoon gathered clues about Metapeia from residents of the desert and Weed gathered materials related to the battle.

Weed and his subordinates were around level 430 the first time they arrived. At that time, they fought the fierce monsters near the entrance and then the ghost clan that were present just inside the city.

There were countless riches preserved for a long time and the opponents wore the best equipment.

Weed didn’t have a lot of time to hunt and had lacked good items. But after sweeping through the first dungeon, he managed to arm himself with equipment. His subordinates called the Red Knife also had many good equipment.

Of course, they wore advanced equipment but there were many deaths among the new recruits. There was a lack of equipment so the desert tribes would snatch them when they appeared.

“Junior. That knife looks good.”

“The chief of my clan specially gave it to me when he heard I was going to join the Red Knife unit.”

“Give it to me.”

“Yes!”

It was like the army where seniority was important! Also, the beatings from Weed were a daily routine. Many Red Knife warriors who already have achievements would handle the newcomers.

“The intruders have showed up again.”

“They have become scary. Don’t touch them.”

“The fate of the tribe is at stake.”

The ghost tribe entered their houses and didn’t come out as they allowed Weed and his subordinates to move.

Weed led his army of camels until they were in front of a large, stone door. It was Metapeia’s dungeon where the strongest monster ruled!

In the past, Weed had tried to enter but lost 100 desert warriors before running away. It was lucky his judgement retreated in time or else the damage would’ve been even larger. They might’ve suffered damage but it wasn’t a waste of time as he had gained 3~4 levels.

Weed asked his subordinates.

“Are you afraid?”

“No.”

“I am afraid.”

“……”

The desert warriors and his sculptural lifeforms were silent. They absolutely couldn’t understand Weed’s words!

“Are you scared?”

“I’m scared.”

“Go home.”

“…….”

Weed quickly looked over the faces of the desert warriors. The warriors here were outstanding warriors from each tribe that ran to dedicate their loyalty to Weed.

Weed and Seo-yoon had caused a lot of changes to the terrain and history of the desert. Due to the abundant rainfall, the desert cities thrived and many monsters and bandits came to invade them.

The desert tribes that lived in the desert fought against tens of thousands of monsters. Large scale battles occurred often and the levels and combat skills of the desert warriors and residents grew.

Of course, even the warriors Weed gave life to hadn’t reached level 740. Even so, most knights were able to beat berserkers with their bare fists. The quality of the army was exceptional and similar to knights.

“Great Emperor, we are willing to sacrifice our lives in this battle.”

“We will always stand in front of you.”

The desert warriors that met Weed’s eyes showed their bravery and determination. Weed would only go forward once the battle heated up. He never looked back and would fight the enemy blocking in front of him. As the fight went on, the warriors would start giving him more believing looks. The desert warriors would start showing him the respect worthy of a ruler of the desert.

Weed won difficult battles and this led to the revival of the desert. At the same time, he became a legendary leader! The warriors who followed thought of him like a god.

Weed was thinking about how to take advantage of this as he met the eyes of the desert warriors.

‘Kill that one… He isn’t useful and will just be a distraction.’

The unnecessary desert warriors were ruthlessly killed before a battle!

‘I used him as bait last time to survive the battle. I can throw him again.’

If they came back alive then he would throw them again as bait the next time.

‘It is good to have new tools. They have a lot of uses. It would be good to get someone with a docile personality who can be easily controlled.’

An increase in troops was inefficient in the desert. He needed to narrow them down to only maintain the elite warriors with strong abilities. Weed looked at them with complex emotions in his eyes and charisma flowed from him.

“We are going to kill the strongest monster in the desert.”

“Yes!”

“It will be a very dangerous challenge. But there is a reason we must do so….”

Weed hesitated for a moment.

Nodulle’s quest had a fixed time limit. There was no need to hunt the strongest monster in the desert for the quest. Of course, if he was successful then he would reach a much higher level.

“The first reason is to obtain all the treasure and the second reason is….”

Gulp!

The desert warriors swallowed their saliva. Unlike the proud knights, they didn’t cling to honour. They were downright greedy!

Desert cities developed rapidly and wandering bandits were the result of Weed calling rain. But one crucial reason to clear out the monsters in dungeons was to obtain the treasures inside.

“We are fighting the strongest creature in the desert.”

“Owaaah!”

The delighted warriors cried out!

“Go get the treasure!”

Weed unabashedly led his subordinates into the dungeon. Weed had obtained the title ‘Ruler of the Desert’ because of this recklessness and greed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The continent is now completely finished. It is obvious that the Hermes Guild, no the Haven Empire will unify the continent.”

“Ah, damn. It seems like taxes will rise.”

“The Allied Forces on the continent can’t compare to the Hermes Guild in tactics. They just attacked.”

“The Hermes Guild showed their capabilities in this war.”

The Hermes Guild completely destroyed the Allied Forces on the Benzen Plains. The prestigious guilds were also tyrants and bad guys so some people were supporting the Hermes Guild.

The main guilds had been split up into many kingdoms but the Hermes Guild would enhance the persecution if they unified the continent. Therefore general users felt hopeless no matter the result from the Benzen Plains.

The prestigious guilds from the continent might be united in this place. They believed they would win if their power was concentrated. In order to get an overwhelming victory, they gathered a huge army on the Benzen Plains and surrounded Bardray’s troops in the Rubidom Mountains in front and behind.

The Allied Forces even actively promoted themselves ahead of the battle. Bardray’s army was crucial to the Hermes Guild so the broadcasting stations paid attention to whether they would be wiped out.

The Hermes Guild predicted this and placed a trap in advance. They mobilized all the knights and magic units of the Empire in order to shock and cause large damage to the Allied Forces at the very beginning.

Furthermore, the scale of a war has grown so big that the Allied Forces didn’t have a proper chain of command. The formation of the various guilds became a mess under the attacks of the Haven Empire and they couldn’t recover.

The Haven Empire didn’t miss this weakness and dealt large damage using magic attacks and the knights. Since then, the Allied Forces lost the will to fight.

‘I guess we won this fight.’

They tried to prevent the Hermes Guild’s dictatorship but the loss to their guild is too big.’

‘We will be known as real warriors after winning this battle. There is no need to concentrate. Although we’ll have to fight others.’

‘Will the prestigious guilds continue to maintain their positions? The 5 prestigious guilds will fall and we will take their place.’

The guilds emerged with the expectation of victory. But once the situation became hard, they only thought about preserving their own power and gave the command to retreat.

“We can’t die here. Escape!”

“Everyone in the guild should slip away to the east.”

This was a deadly situation so the coalition army shook even more after some guilds escaped.

The result after that was completely obvious.

“Provide magic support!”

“Shoot arrows at the enemy.”

“Look at the shields they are holding. The arrows of the archers won’t mean anything.”

“A frontal assault!”

“A mistake. Escape quickly!”

The combined forces were unable to endure and were defeated! The competence of the commanders were a problem and the lack of unity created a worst result. The brave knights lost their lives halfway through the battle and the NPC soldiers surrendered.

Under Bardray’s leadership, the Haven Empire only consumed a small amount of energy and were filled with confidence as they routed the enemy.

“Gather the entire army. Now we will take care of the enemies left in the mountains.”

“Waaaah!”

The Haven Empire army took a small break and treated the wounded soldiers.

And the Rubidom Mountains! There were magicians, trap setters, rangers and other users from the Black Lion Guild, Cloud Guild and 51 other guilds.

The Allied Forces inside the Rubidom Mountains were puzzled. The magicians and rangers were there to grab the ankle of the army but the troops on the Benzen Plains were unexpectedly overwhelmed and defeated.

“But it isn’t over yet. We will catch the Haven Empire.”

The battle in the Rubidom Mountains wasn’t one-sided. The Allied Forces accounted for the overwhelming influence of the terrain and were waiting in a high position.

“Shoot! If they approach then send them to the underworld!”

“Don’t lose focus and concentrate your attacks on the enemies.”

“The magicians are climbing to a higher position to attack!”

They besieged the Hermes Guild located at the bottom and poured arrows and magic at them. But this battle situation soon changed.

The Hermes Guild had prepared leather armour and shields that specialized in blocking arrow attacks.

“Act according to the plan. Rompelt’s unit in the high peaks, Drinfeld at Tochen Lake and Helcait’s unit hidden in the reed forest will ambush.”

“Yes!”

“Move.”

Dozens of units split up in different directions and used important elements of the Rubidom Mountains to seize control. They took control of a few major strongholds and caught sight of the Allied Forces.

Assassins were dispatched to quietly move through the reeds and easy terrain. Furthermore, the stamina of general soldiers fell rapidly when fighting in the mountains.

The Allied Forces had exhausted a lot of their stamina chasing after the Haven Empire in the Rubidom Mountains. There was a chance of battle so they also wore heavy armour and weapons, making them tire quickly.

Although the Haven Empire had the same conditions, they moved through fast and easy paths in the mountains that had been laid in advance. Before starting the fight, they had given a break to the ordinary soldiers, magicians and rangers who had the role of restraining the enemy.

The Rubidom Mountains became increasingly filled with the flags of the Haven Empire.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Slay all the rabble. Attack. Attack. Attack!”

“The Haven Empire is invincible. March for His Majesty!”

Armies fighting in the mountains!

The Allied Forces and Haven Empire fought with swords and shields. There were also a storm of arrows and magic attacks that caused flames. The wind spread the embers through the mountain. The large wildfire caused the battle to become more violent.

The battle in the Rubidom Mountains raged on and both sides fought fiercely as they lost their favourable terrain. And finally the Haven Empire’s weapon, the necromancer Krobidyun emerged.

“Huhuhu, this is the best stage to show the power of a necromancer.”

The necromancer was escorted by the best knights of the Haven Empire.

“What should I show first? My law of darkness governs this land. The power of eternal immortality is grasped. Dark Rule!”

A demonstration of Barkhan’s Immortal Legion.

One of his three spells! The Hermes Guild individually analysed Weed’s battle with Barkhan. His ability to summon the undead in combat was top-notch. So they embarked on an adventure and found an old laboratory belonging to Barkhan that contained his research and magic!

Dark Rule was a magic spell learnt from an unfinished book. Of course, Dark Rule wasn’t perfect so the level of the undead was a little low. And it kept consuming mana so other magic spells couldn’t be used. The weakness of Dark Rule was overcome by climbing to higher ground!

As expected, the power of a necromancer when fighting a large number of enemies was the best. It didn’t matter if it was friend or foe as the corpses woke up as skeletons, ghouls and zombies.

“Scratch them. Bite all of them!”

Within the territory of Dark Rule, all new dead bodies constantly got up. In addition, the summoned undead that collapsed would get up again. The zombies and skeletons were weak but they caused confusion among the soldiers and archers.

The skeletal archers also shot their bone arrows towards the enemy. The archers that died would then rise due to the power of immortality. Many people died in the Rubidom Mountains due to magic and arrows so Dark Rule had a significant impact.

“Echo of Terror!

Another necromancer used a different spell.

Kuhihihihing!

Ghosts flew around and shouted curses, lowering the morale of the enemy. The Allied Forces placed killing the necromancers as the top goal but the Imperial Knights were protecting the necromancers on the battlefield.

The Haven Empire’s troops placement, utilization of the magic units and their leadership overwhelmed the Allied Forces. The Allied Forces had united into one army but internally they were separate guilds.

The Haven Empire was able to use the high terrain to amplify their magic attacks better than the coalition. The Allied Forces initially held out but they couldn’t properly attack or defend. Bardray and the Imperial Knights broke through and devastated the knights, magicians and NPCs of the Allied Forces.

In no time, the Allied Forces lost all the favourable peaks and were attacked on adverse terrains. They tried to escape but the Haven Empire and the undead had already controlled the ridges.

The Rubidom Mountains became like hell to the Allied Forces. This was the result of the leaders of the Hermes Guild staying up several days and nights to place the troops and create the movement paths.

The leaders of the Allied Forces showed the worst incompetency and the Hermes Guild thoroughly beat them! It was rare for anyone who took part in the battle to survive.

CTS Media and other broadcasting stations like LK Games delivered the news.

“The Haven Empire has gained a large victory for the second time.”

“The Haven Empire has achieved an overwhelming victory in their war to gain control of the continent.

“I can assure you. Bardray, maybe everyone will be calling him Emperor in the future.”

KMC Media aired a special ‘Versailles Continent Story’ and talked about the battles.

“Ah, I never expected this type of fighting to occur. The Haven Empire’s fighting ability is really amazing!”

“Numerous heroes and kingdoms have attempted to conquer the world.

Alexander the Great, , Genghis Khan, Napoleon. Their actions were considered excessive for the era they lived in!”

“Oh Joo-wan, we need to reassess the Haven Empire’s power.”

“After analysing today’s battle, they seem to have no weakness in the overall power, abilities and performance in battle. No, the Allied Forces used simple tacts and couldn’t fight against them.  Anyway, the Haven Empire is stronger!”

The commentators of the broadcasting stations only had praise for the Haven Empire. The ability to execute large scale joint tactics!

The charm of Royal Road was commanding tens of thousands of soldiers. However, leading various classes while considering the terrain wasn’t easy. The Haven Empire won the battles based on their skills and achievements. Videos of battles with that level of beauty could be counted on one hand.

This contrasted with the incompetency of the Allied Forces.

In the meantime, the PDs of the broadcasting stations were anxious about something else.

“Won’t the Hermes Guild get ahead of the other lords?”

“Today makes it seem like the conquest of the Versailles Continent is almost over. Will the allies in this debacle be able to recover and catch up? The Hermes Guild has now got their hands on the Central Continent.”

“The broadcast ratings for the next war in the future will be a problem. It depends on Kim’s appearance.”

“The Haven Empire is preparing to conquer the continent.”

“I’m already concerned about the ratings.”

The Hermes Guild gained a large number of anti-fans as their power became greater. They destroyed cities and taxes were enormous in order to pay for the costs of war. Therefore a large number of residents and users disliked them.

After they conquered the continent and the large battles became rare, the interest of the users would fall. These signs were already appearing everywhere.

The interest for the stations to play adventures other than the Haven Empire was spreading like wildfire. While the Haven Empire were winning their battles, Weed’s name constantly appeared on the bulletin boards.

– Why aren’t you showing Weed?

– Broadcast Weed the God of War’s quest! Even reruns are good.

– Isn’t he still doing the Sculpting Master Quest in the south? Broadcasting stations, don’t you know about this?

– I want to see Weed sweat.

The situation deteriorated as the viewers made the same request until the broadcasting stations couldn’t stand it anymore. But no matter how they tried to get in touch with Weed, all contact was cut off. His phones were disabled and there was no response when they rang the doorbell. He had unplugged the electrical cord.

KMC Media obtained some information from Shin Hye-min.

“Tell us if you know anything, Hye-min ssi. We will keep it between us and not broadcast it. And absolute secrecy will be maintained.

“Director-nim, I don’t know the details.”

“Just tell me this. Why has no one seen him if he is doing a quest in the south?

Users went to the south to meet Weed but none of them have been able to find him.”

“It is a really special quest.”

“Is the last part of the Master Quest that hard? I feel like he should’ve finished it by now.”

“It is not that much.”

“Then is he fighting an army of immortals? Perhaps there is an army that keeps on resurrecting somewhere in the desert?”

Director Kang would be satisfied with even that much. If Weed was fighting an immortal army then the broadcast ratings would be shocking and the viewers would be full of praise! Even the ratings of the reruns were higher than normal programs.

Weed had the most videos in the top 10 of the Royal Road Hall of Fame.

1_ Orc Karichwi and the Immortal Legion.

2_ Skeleton Soldier Weed and the Bone Dragon.

3_Weed and Bardray’s meeting in the Melbourne Mine.

4_Jigolaths adventure.

5_Warrior Python and the Averian Forest.

6_ 26th siege of Fort Odin.

7_Immortal Legion led by Barkhan.

8_Escape from Serabourg Castle.

9_Lich Weed

10_ Weed and the Embinyu Church at the River of Lamentation.

The videos number 1 to 10 in the Hall of Fame were based on number of views so the early adventures had a higher view count. But even videos by other users that filmed Weed fishing reached at least 3 million views. He was so popular that even the worst video of him fishing would be received highly.

“Oh, it isn’t an immortal army. Well, only something like an ocean of undead would be interesting after Weed destroyed Barkhan. Other undead would just be like dust that appears when Weed-nim empties his pocket.”

“Then what is it? Not long ago, the desert completely changed. Why have the cities in the desert suddenly become so big?  What type of quest is he doing that would cause such things?”

“I don’t know.”

“Desert revival? Prosperity of the desert? Then why is Weed developing the southern desert and not the north?”

“Aren’t you seeing him later?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter what is happening. Doesn’t he have another contract with the other station as well? Didn’t CTS Media even offer a luxury car?”

“He might not have made the deal yet. If we offer him an apartment or land then you never know.”

“We recently got enough to offer that.”

The popularity of Royal Road was spreading over the whole world so KMS Media gained many benefits as the ratings leader. Weed’s appearance alone would cause a barrage of advertising money to be given to the stations.

Children even wanted the toys of Bingryong and the wyverns. A benefit of getting Weed’s adventures on one station was also being associated with the booming toy business.

He would become significantly rich like a celebrity. However, the amazing thing was that Weed didn’t look like he had money every time they saw him.

“In my opinion, he would dislike an apartment. It requires paying monthly utility bills.”

“As expected, he would want a piece of land?”

“Yes.”

“Should it be for business or housing?”

“That won’t cover it.”

“Indeed, it needs to be a really wide piece of land. Quickly find a suitable land.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom was built along 7 mountains.

Thanks to the effort of the players, the construction was able to connect to the top of the highest mountain peaks.

“Kkung! Today I will just carry this one. If the rock is too heavy then I won’t be able to carry it.  This degree is possible.”

“Aigoo, my back! My legs!”

The users carried the materials to the top of the mountain. The height and slope were rough but they were majestic mountains. It looked like a swarm of ants covering the mountain.

“I think we are really amazing. I’m glad we participated in this.”

“Yes. But the labour doesn’t seem to be decreasing.”

“This is the original deal.”

“I participated in the building of the pyramid in the Rosenheim Kingdom. I who studied at Seoul University.”

“Do you remember when we hunted in the dungeons?”

“I am becoming more familiar with construction workers.”

Many users gathered on top of the mountains so procuring the materials were completed quickly. The architectural design was the form of a crown draping over the top of the 7 mountains. The architects were considerably worried before executing this idea.

“I think the cost of construction will be quite expensive.”

“Widening the interior of the building will be difficult. The construction will also be quite hard.”

“The Royal Palace needs to be visible from distant places. We have to complete the buildings one by one so they harmonize with each other and become perfect. But the form of the buildings, the width and height of the palace and the amount of flat ground needs to be considered.”

“However, we have to try it once. Should we give up just because it is too difficult?”

“If the Royal Palace forms a crown on top of these high mountain peaks then it will give people an unforgettable memory.”

“The spirit to take on challenges! This is why the north thrives. There will be hardships during the construction but our challenging spirit will overcome it. If we complete it then it will be the pride of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Let’s do it. We will try. Nothing is impossible for an architect!”

The architects working on the Royal Palace had the most outstanding skills. This was the best location that would allow the form of the crown to be seen when looking at the entire northern plains.

An optimal design was necessary. The Royal Palace was like a crown on top of the mountains and it would be great if a city naturally formed around it.

They needed to create a large road from the Royal Palace to the bottom of the mountain. Horses and carriages would take a long time to travel up the mountain to the Royal Palace on the road. But the scenery from the mountains in the north was beautiful so it wasn’t a waste of time.

And users wrote phrases on single stones on the stone walls of the mountains.

– I have expectations for Weed’s adventures every day - Morata’s Ham Hock Association

– I’m happy I started in the north - Swordsman Ying

– This is the best soil - Elementalist Lin.

– This is food to eat on adventures - Jewel Candy

The stone walls were filled with the happiness of the northern users. The Arpen Kingdom was evolving together to give the users pleasure, dreams and hopes due to the efforts of those that belong to it.

Sculptures and paintings were displayed at regular intervals so it wasn’t boring. Those with an art profession were also involved. Everyone walking on this road had no choice but to think favourably of the Arpen Kingdom.

The best commercial establishments, guilds, laboratories and adventurer facilities were also being built near the Royal Palace so it was a driving force behind further development of the north.

The users already gave a nickname to the Arpen Kingdom’s Royal Palace.

The Earth Palace. The crown design on the mountaintop made it seem like a king ruling over the earth. But they thought it suited King Weed even more.

“It would be good if our king is comfortable.”

“That’s right. Sometimes it is easy to forget that Weed is the king.”

“The legendary adventurer and sculptor! In fact, it might be a good thing that he travels all the time.”

And the users flocked there en masse as the time for the Royal Palace’s completion approached. The users intentionally came to see the final moments of the palace being completed.

“Oh, the Steel Knights have finally arrived. This is the palace ruled by our eternal master Weed-nim.”

Like magic, knights appeared on the road to the palace.

“What, group teleport?”

“No. There isn’t the garish effect of teleportation like fog rising from the ground.”

“Then are they ghosts?”

“No ghosts would appear so sharp and clear in daytime. But look at the equipment. It is like the armour of the Arpen Kingdom’s Royal Knights.”

“Arpen Royal Knights? They wouldn’t be able to wear armour of that level.”

Users started in amazement as the knight in front kneeled down.

“I have arrived after a long time has passed in order to pay back the life given to me.”

The knights behind then continuously kneeled down.

They were the descendants of Iron-5. Despite settling down in the Straud Kingdom, Iron-5 never forgot the eternal loyalty that he swore to Weed.

He gave birth to children, had a fulfilling life and died comfortable after a long time. Since then, the descendants passed down stories of Weed from generation to generation and also swore eternal loyalty to him.

Weed had thoroughly brainwashed Iron-5 after only spending one day together.

– You have my loyalty forever. In some cases, it even surpassed the child’s love for their parents. That love was stronger than a dragon swimming in the deep ocean.

– You gave me life so I will spend my lifetime repaying you.

– You gave the expensive and good food to me first. That is the happiness of a knight.

Iron-5 conveyed his deep loyalty to his children through these words and that was passed down until his descendants appeared in the Arpen Kingdom.

Chapter 2: Metapeia Conquest

Weed and the Red Knife unit entered the dungeon.

The dungeon was underneath Metapeia. He had analysed it based on the information gathered so far and determined that it was a level 6 dungeon.

This was the habitat of the salamanders that grew over 1,000 years from the heat of the desert. It was an extremely dangerous area with natural treasures, magic artefacts and materials that could be obtained if the people who entered were talented enough. The floor was composed of solid rock but stepping onto any crack could cause someone to fall into a lava pit.

He couldn’t condemn anyone without the courage to stand at the front.

“The air here is certainly different. It reminds me of something I heard a while ago.”

It was the feeling of drinking hot coal. It was a place on the Versailles Continent where monsters with the highest degree of difficulty lived.

Nodulle’s quest meant he could conquer the monsters and dungeons. Weed really liked that.

Although creating artwork was fun, there was no greater pleasure than fighting monsters as a warrior. He felt a tingling in his chest and self-admiration every time he entered and conquered a dungeon. It was like that thrilling excitement the first time he stepped beyond the gates in Royal Road and saw the stars in the dark, night sky.

“Hul hul. It would’ve been nice if I could do something like this since I was young.”

“Isn’t this better than being a boring merchant or a child?”

“Yes. I’ve lived for a long, long time.”

Those type of words emerged from the old residents of Royal Road. The smile on Weed’s face was like he was looked at fresh fish in a seafood restaurant.

“There is nothing better than the taste of combat. Surging Flames, an battle cry from ancient times!”

Fearsome fire flowed form Weed’s body.

The Surging Flames skill that represented the highest level Desert Warrior! The aura of fire was normally sealed and this could be released in combat. The monsters close by would suffer fire damage while any attacked by him would have the aura of fire transferred to them. The fire magic would continuously flow out and explode, causing mass damage and even killing the monsters.

This was how Weed dared to bring regular soldiers and knights despite the risk of death! In addition, Surging Flames continuously supplied health and mana to Weed and also provided amazing defense to his subordinates.

It was the ancient war cry that wandering NPC warriors passed on! The effect elevated his Dexterity, Agility and Resilience by 160% while giving 70% of the effect to his colleagues.

Of course, not all desert warriors wanted to teach this skill. It was the strong pride and fame of the warriors in the previous era. Their level was approximately the same as Oberon who had led the expedition to the north.

“Do you want to die or teach me? You only have 2 seconds to decide.”

However, the warriors gave away the technology in front of Weed’s intense charisma so they could live. He was a fearsome warrior he didn’t show fear even when the trees and mountains melted. No, it was because Nodulle’s quest sped up by 100 times that he could hunt like this.

Weed’s fame in the desert grew due to his bad actions.

“Desert Bravery!”

“Heart of Steel!”

Warrior-1 and the other sculptural lifeforms also used blessings. Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Warrior-3 had grown into the strongest, elite warriors that not even knights could go against.

They were the first to jump at the monsters so their faces had many scars. They were over 2 metres tall and had thick forearms! There was an air of oppression around them but they were like mild sheep compared to Weed. Their level was lower than their king but fortunately they could become stronger by following Weed.

The desert warriors were arranged in an orderly manner and entered the dungeon. A tight military discipline! This discipline was due to Weed’s nagging and mistreatment.

“As you know, anybody left behind will be thrown away.”

“Yes!”

“If you know then move forward.”

Alverun and Alveren gave blessings to the entire group.

“Divine Protection, Round Shield and Enhanced Fire Resistance.”

“Flame Armour, Burst of Strength, Deep Anger and Forgotten Pain.”

They were based on Alveron who was their candidate Pope so they had the divine power to heal. They were dressed in shabby uniforms but were useful helpers to increase the strength and heal his subordinates.

“Units 1-3 arm your bows. 4-5 will raise your shield. The rest will advanced forward with your sword and spears. After the first attack, freely convert the weapons as necessary.”

“Yes.”

Weed and his subordinates were experienced with dungeon hunting so there wasn’t much to say. They advanced without speaking to save time.

But this was a dangerous dungeon so it was important to command his subordinates. If he didn’t use his subordinates well then he wouldn’t be safe.

Weed’s archery was advanced level 8. It wasn’t long until it reached a master level. His subordinates also specialized in the bow so ranged combat was possible.

“Look forward. Keep checking around and move quickly.”

“Yes!”

The army moved as a whole and were prepared for the emergence of any enemy. The tension made it seem like the dungeon had a heavy atmosphere. Time was gold in this quest so there was no time to waste even if it was dangerous.

His subordinates contained thieves who dismantled the traps.

“Thank you for accepting me.  I will offer my sword to you, Great Emperor.”

“Do you know how to open locks? You will be a thief. You are responsible for dismantling any traps in the future.”

“Huh? I was looking forward to life as a warrior….”

“Do you want to die? Think about your family.”

“….”

He recruited 5 rogue magicians 17 years ago and their employment costs were relatively cheap.

“Our ransom is expensive. Every year you need to pay a bag full of gold as a salary. This amount is non-negotiable due to our pride.”

“Ridiculous. Your abilities aren’t worth that much money. You’ve lost your passion for pure magic.”

He scolded them when he had to make an offer of a salary!

“This isn’t fair compensation.”

“Hunt and give away any magic items that you obtained. Fling yourself into studying to learn a new spell. And only talk about employment if you manage to survive. This is the best that I can offer.”

The rogue magicians were upset but ended up accepting the offer.  At that same time, Weed gained a reputation for making successful deals.

But unfortunately the magicians’ skills stayed at advanced level 3. It wasn’t easy to raise the skill proficiency of magic because they needed to learn a variety of magic. The amount of magic able to be learnt in a desert city was limited. There were limits to a magician’s knowledge if they didn’t wander.

“Believe in your colleagues. And I will lead you.”

“If I wander then mana will increase and I will gain a new enlightenment.”

“Are you trying to get away?”

“….”

“Are you planning to not come back to the desert? You can study magic in a great neighbourhood and do magic research for a pretty queen.”

“….”

“Work hard or else you won’t survive.”

The president forcefully pressed his insight into the minds of his employees. He couldn’t ignore the potential of the magicians until Nodulle’s quest was completed!

“Hwik!”

“Humans. Humans are here…”

“Hororororum. It is the one who fled last time. Hororum.”

7 Fire Salamanders appeared. They watched Weed and the Red Knife troops with hungry expressions. The two pronged, elongated tongue stretched out 10 metres. Lava dissolved the land near them.

The Fire Salamander significantly resembled a dragon. The Fire Salamanders weren’t the top level fire attribute monster like the Red Dragon but they were still dangerous.

In the past, he fought the Fire Giants in Jigolaths and they were dull and had many blind spots.  Of course, they were lower levelled than the Fire Salamanders and their aura of fire wasn’t even a comparison.

The rolling flames wouldn’t damage a monster with the fire attribute. For example, attacking the Fire Salamanders with fire would just increase their power.

“Chyu. Chyu. Chyu. Chyurum.”

“Horohorok!”

The Fire Salamanders blocked the passage in front of them. They had a habit of hunting so they were wary. However, this was weak because they didn’t have any natural enemies. The free and dangerous monsters  arrogantly surveyed the humans.

Weed quickly took out his bow.

Ddiring!

– You have equipped the Yurbusika Frost Bow.

This isn’t a plain, wooden bow but one that has an eerie chill emanating from it.

There will be an unconditional increase in rapid fire skills by 35%, ice damage by 65~194, freezing, unlimited magic arrows, skill effect of multiple arrows by 40%, arrows with hit 100% when using tracking skills, Agility +160 and sure-fire hit.

Even the bow’s default option was astounding. The ghosts in Metapeia used it to exterminate the salamanders who tried to go out aboveground. The desert warriors also obtained a large number of equipment from the ghost that helped them slay the Fire Salamanders. This was the rule of local procurement.

Weed pulled the bowstring and fired an ice arrow into the air..

“Dispersion Fire!”

The thick ice arrow turned into 10 arrows that flew towards the Fire Salamander. The special archery that hit the Fire Salamanders like magic!

“Kuweeek!”

“Cold. This is the first time I’ve felt like this!”

“Kuhek, so cold! My body is freezing.”

The salamanders suffered and struggled against the arrows. The arrows even plugged into chunks of lava and reduced the flames. The ground froze and emitted a freezing aura, damaging weak creatures and those with a fire attribute.

Now that the flames weakened them, the strong defense of the salamanders suffered significant damage.

“It is effective. Attack!”

The desert warriors aimed their bows at the Fire Salamanders. A simultaneous arrow attack!

The desert warriors had large physiques like a barbarian so they only needed to pull the bow with a weak force. Hundreds of arrows flew towards the Fire Salamanders.

“Kyahuhuk!”

“Rude humans. I will turn you to ashes.”

“I will burn and eat you!”

The Fire Salamanders moved their 6 legs and moved forward while being hit by arrows. Weed shot arrows at least 3 more times before withdrawing. And took out his sword.

– You have equipped the Three Screaming Children Sword.

The leader of a southern dukedom became crazy due to greedy and threw his own three children into a fire pit to make this sword!

The sword contains a curse that lowers maximum stamina and health. It will also increase the cutting ability by 5 times.

Seo-yoon had given him convoy information and Weed obtained the sword after leading the desert warriors to ambush them. He was currently in the role of Nodulle so he didn’t care about Honour reducing.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Weed swung his sword that had its strength amplified towards the Fire Salamanders. Although the desert warrior class had many attack skills and absurd defensive strength, it was difficult for them to make continuous attacks.

That’s why the long ranged Moonlight Sculpting Blade was effective.

His subordinates wielded scimitars and spears in order to attack.

“There is almost no effect despite hitting the body directly. Attack the eyes!”

“Be careful not to let the sword touch the body too long. It will melt.”

The weapons of the desert warriors had flame resistance but the fire of the salamanders was incredibly powerful. If iron weapons were inserted into the body then they would melt in an instant. Furthermore, nearing the flames would cause sweat to trickle down their bodies.

“These ridiculous humans! I will let you experience your body melting.”

The Fire Salamanders emitted lava from their mouths while they were rushing forward. The 6 feet kicked at the warriors and the line of defense immediately collapsed.

“Kueok!”

“Watch out for the lava emerging from their mouths.”

“Damage! Don’t do a frontal attack and go from the sides!”

“Kuaah!”

The body of the warriors covered in lava melted. Warriors who had gone through all types of hardships died in vain. The kicked warriors also flew back like a broken kite.

“Circle of Ice!”

“Freeze!”

Three magicians fired their spells! A ring of ice appeared over the head of a salamander and dealt a blow.

Weed took advantage of that opportunity.

“Warriors should boldly approach. The longer we stay here, the more damage we will receive. Don’t give them space to move!”

“Yes, Great Emperor!”

The Fire Salamanders were fierce but they were surrounded by the warriors in several layers. Arrows hit them and their thick bodies were struck with spears and swords. However, Weed and the desert warriors also suffered damage in those series of attacks.

This was different from the last time they entered the dungeon.

“Half of their health is remaining. Use all your power!”

“Flame Curtain!”

The Fire Salamanders felt the crisis and used their species magic. And flames quickly spread in all directions.

“Strike!”

“Don’t be scared. Get rid of them!”

The warriors fearlessly entered inside the curtain and attacked the Fire Salamanders. It was only a few seconds but the lava coming from the Fire Salamander’s mouth was dangerous.

“Tail of death!”

The Fire Salamanders tail whipped from side to side to attack the warriors! The desert warriors wore shields and belts with considerable fire resistance by default. He had made many preparations in order to conquer Metapeia’s dungeon before Nodulle’s quest finished.

But those struck by the tail became paralysed. After that, the salamanders brutally struck them with continuous attacks.

“Cycle of Life!”

“Wound Recovery!”

Alverun and Alveren immediately treated them before they were killed. However, they couldn’t save everyone.

Fortunately, the soldiers were high level so some treatment could sustain them while they were being beaten. Weed also gave his subordinates the signal to retreat.

“Humans, I was killed by human hands…”

In the end, the salamanders suffered from the warriors’ attacks and collapsed to the ground.

– A Fire Salamander has been killed.

It has lived for 1,141 years.

This is the first time in the history of the continent that humans have hunted this species of Fire Salamander.

– All those who participated in the battle will have Strength increased by 1.

Fire resistance will increase by 0.6% for 30 days.

It was only one but Weed yelled in order to raise morale.

“Uhaaaaah! The hunt was a success.”

It was an ancient battle cry he learnt in the past that was substituted for Lion’s Roar!

“Follow the Great Emperor!”

“We can do it!”

The desert warriors became heated up and wielded their swords and spears towards the salamanders. The salamanders moved their tail and feet but they didn’t give up. Those that fell immediately got up and participated in the battle again.

This wasn’t due to the high level or any stat. This bravery was something Weed had conditioned in them through countless battle experiences. His subordinates would willingly jump down a pit for him!

Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Warrior-3 showed an outstanding performance.

“The power to live.”

“Warrior-2, draw their attention. I will approach from the rear.”

“The rear is the most dangerous area, Hyung-nim! I should go with you.”

“Be careful!”

They rode camels when attacking in the desert like knights but now 3~4 people were holding off a salamander with spears. They stabbed recklessly with their spears.

– All 7 Fire Salamanders have been hunted.

All those who took part in the battle will have Perseverance increased by 3.

Through the experience of fighting the Fire Salamanders, fire resistance has increased by 0.6% for 45 days.

– Once heading into a deeper place, Fire Salamanders who have fed on fire for a long period of time will appear.

– Your level has risen.

“We won!”

Weed only had 23% health remaining after directly confronting the Fire Salamanders. The salamanders realized that Weed was the leader among the humans and attacked him the most. Alverun and Alveren were always treating him before the other warriors so his health managed to hold out.

When looking at it from afar, it was a heroic scene but those facing the spewing lava felt like they were going to die. However, there were still cheers of joy after the victory.

“The enemies have all fallen. Nevertheless this is….”

The warriors were in a hurry after hearing Weed’s words.

“As the Great Emperor of the desert and the caller of rain, this is a tribute to Weed-nim.”

“You understand it well.”

“Hooray, hooray, hooray!”

The warriors completely flattered him! Time was running out on the quest but if he won a large battle then he could obtain 100 times experience. Weed achieved his high level due to his recklessness and courage.

‘It is okay to enter deeper. I will earn fire resistance every time I hunt.’

The warriors would adapt while fighting! There were a huge number of Fire Salamanders in this dungeon. However, his resistance and perseverance would rise with each hunt so it was worth a try.

The salamanders also dropped items. Unfortunately, he didn’t have his blacksmith or tailoring skill to take advantage of the materials.

Weed asked Warrior-1.

“How many subordinates died?”

“There are 17 victims.”

“That…is a lot.”

“I’m sorry Great Emperor.”

Those who died were at least level 500 and even the level 700 subordinates received enormous damage. Weed had to control the morale of his subordinates.

“Only the weak ones died. Then get ready for the next battle.”

“Yes!”

His men weren’t gently raised.

They fought strong enemies so the remaining troops gained experience but they became stronger as a whole. Currently Weed and his subordinates had spent 20 years on the Versailles Continent and became elite warriors.

Even the annoying Hestiger was constantly thrown at monsters and came back alive every time. Therefore, they were praised as great warriors in different kingdoms.

“Let’s go!”

Weed took the lead again. Their leader was always at the forefront and survived encounters with any enemy they met so the warriors moved forward with confidence.

‘I have to go to the front.’

It was natural for Weed to be the vanguard.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Jeong Deuk-soo met with the president of a bank.

There was an amicable atmosphere in the bank but it soon turned pessimistic when he tried to persuade them.

“Chairman Jeong-nim, our creditors have determined that Hosung Group’s crisis can’t be solved with a simple matter of funding.”

“A corporate management company is bound to have ups and downs. If you can postpone the loan repayment and approve additional funding then we can overcome the crisis with bold, new investments.”

“Chairman Jeong-nim, we have received a number of reports about Hosung Group, including Hosung Electronics.”

The two main creditors was the Commercial Bank and the Du Sangchul Bank.  Hosung Group had their loans in these banks.

The president of the Commercial Bank Hyun Jin-won handed over a document and spoke.

“The creditors have come to the conclusion that Hosung Construction recovering is impossible.”

“It is difficult but there is still a chance. Once again, if new funds are donated then it can revive. The assets and manpower of Hosung Construction is competitive and sufficient. There are also overseas construction effort.

“Doesn’t Chairman-nim know already? New funds can’t be injected into Hosung Construction. We wouldn’t be having this discussion if that could happen.”

“….”

“And we believe that Hosung Electronics is precarious. Factories in the United States are in a cumulative deficit so they might need to close.”

“The trend changes quickly but our technicians are working all night and bringing in famous designers. Sooner or later there should be a visible result.”

“It is too early to proceed with a massive investment since the situation isn’t good. The cash flow of the Hosung Group isn’t good so you shouldn’t keep pounding on the market.”

“That is baseless anxiety. Hosung Electronics is still a leading company worldwide. The group’s debt ratio is high but if there are investments then we can progress further.  Hosung Electronics has a number of finished products and materials so it is still competitive.”

“But so far, haven’t you been in a deficit instead of a surplus despite your efforts?  Production from the factories are dwindling and investment in these facilities would have to increase.”

Chairman Jeong Deuk-soo failed to convince the creditors.

The Hosung Group had too much debt due to the recession and unreasonable investments in the construction and electronics side.

However, the root cause of the crisis was Korea’s largest conglomerate Baekhwa. About 1 year ago, the chairman of the Baekhwa group came to have a secret conversation.

“The Hosung Group overlaps with a lot of our territory. This means the lost revenue will be much larger…

Isn’t this bad?”

“Being active in the research and development side causes headaches. Hosung Group’s construction business is in danger so you should consider the political and financial areas.”

“The media will pay attention when a new electronic product is launched.”

“A produce launch requires negotiation with the contractors and finished by the delivery date or else the launch will be delayed. And the sale price will lower, causing profit to decrease.”

“I can’t just get rid of Hosung Electronics.”

“We will still employ the executive director and team of Hosung Electronics.

I can also go through the creditors at the bank to obtain Hosung Electronics at a cheap price. You should release it calmly so that the media doesn’t become aware of it.”

“I will take care of it.”

A frequent business tactic for large companies was to kill the competing group!

The leading technological company in Korea, Hosung Group was about to collapse despite their challenging spirit.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“14 salamanders have been defeated! 9 Fire Salamanders have come running after hearing the disturbance.”

“Carry out a thorough defence formation.”

“A thorough defence formation!”

Weed’s subordinate got into a defense formation at his command.

Every dungeon had a different combat method. His men could be arranged in a line or circular defense formation. The Fire Salamanders typically bunched together in group so that their fire attacks would become hotter.

They had to isolate one Fire Salamander in a wide terrain and kill it. Once the battle dispersed, commanding them was more difficult so the warriors had to know how to fight well. The wounded warriors had no choice but to treat themselves.

Weed soon mastered the method to attack the Fire Salamanders.

“They throw out their 6 legs and tail from time to tail as well as capture humans with their tongue.”

The conclusion was that their whole body was dangerous! The warriors gave terrible screams as they were eaten alive.

However, Weed’s subordinates weren’t paralysed by fear and attacked even more aggressively. The desert warriors had blind faith in Weed. They endlessly challenged stronger enemies.

Weed used this method to significantly increase intimacy with his subordinates. The absolute affinity between a dictator and criminals!

The Fire Salamanders liked fire and were high levelled but if they were calm then there was a way to deal with them.

“Keep your eyes on them!”

“Chyurik!”

“Look at them and feel the vibration and temperature differences. And this is the weak part of the tongue. Be careful of the flames. Or else the knife will melt!”

“Understood, Great Emperor!”

The desert warriors and Fire Salamanders had the same alignment! So despite attacking each other countless times, little damage was taken by both sides.

The result would be very extreme if they invaded a snowy glacier where Yeti lived. The Fire Salamanders would be freezing and couldn’t display their capabilities while the Yeti wouldn’t be able to approach or else they would melt. The desert warriors and Fire Salamanders both had similar abilities so the battles were slow.

The brave desert warriors jumped forward or fired their arrows. The tongue wasn’t protected no matter how high the defense of the salamander. Weed didn’t try to avoid some of the high level fire.

The salamanders collapsed more easily after their weaknesses were exposed.

“We won!”

“It is all thanks to following the Great Emperor.”

The fighting spirit and morale of the desert warriors were high. Naturally there were those injured or dead but the quality of the warriors might difficult battles were continuously won and the atmosphere was high.

Weed knocked down 2 Fire Salamanders directly and gained 3 levels.

“Hrmm, good!”

He took advantage of his sword mastery and various attack skills learnt to fight enemies and rise to the top of the desert. By taking advantage of various sculpting skills, he could raise his strength and use the best offensive skill to overwhelm the dungeons!

He occasionally met boss level monsters with high health and mana but his abilities meant he could take care of them without using his men.

In fact, he often chose not to use his subordinates when facing boss level monsters. He alone would eat all the experience, skill proficiency and loot! He displayed terrible destructive power when fighting with monsters over level 700 in the dungeons so the sculptural lifeforms and desert warriors couldn’t help falling behind.

However, Weed would lose his life when surrounded by so many Fire Salamanders so the help of his subordinates was certainly necessary.

Weed didn’t disclose all the stacked up combat footage. If the video of his hunt in the mysterious city Metapeia appeared in the Hall of Fame then it would become frantic.

Metapeia was widely known as a level 500 hunting ground. The monsters appeared and disappeared like fog. The entire city was their territory so Weed and his subordinates had to engage in a deadly struggle. People who saw their strength and speed would shiver from the electrifying feeling.

However, this was underneath Metapeia. The continent would become noisy if they saw the monsters being swept away in here.  Audience ratings wouldn’t even matter with a scene like this.

The number of subordinates dying decreased and their level rose rapidly. His subordinates would be able to easily take over a country in his original time. They could also destroy the Haven Empire

“If I unify the continent then I could raise the taxes. If I can use these guys while ruling then there wouldn’t be a revolt.”

He still hadn’t thrown away his original dream of becoming a vicious king and raising the taxes.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Only a few people knew the details of Weed’s current adventure.

His sister, Seo-yoon and Yoo Byung-jin who watched it on his monitors. Their reaction was really great when Weed started the Nodulle’s Growth quest.

“Oppa is bound to do well.”

Yurin left it to Weed and just continued playing.

“I have to actively help.”

Seo-yoon looked for any work he could do.

“It will be difficult. I will watch whether you can grow again from the beginning. If the growth method is wrong… Now you need to prove that your abilities are due to more than luck.”

Yoo Byung-jin had many concerns about the events that would occur in the future. Weed’s situation wasn’t that good. And he looked forward to seeing how Weed would grow on this quest.

“I have to take care of this well.”

“You should find more people to help you. If you come back successful then I will give another request. The further development of the desert cities can wait.”

“How surprising. You are quite reckless.”

His sister and Seo-yoon believed in Weed. A family member or someone who liked him would know him better than most! He was the type of person who wouldn’t starve no matter where he went.

Yoo Byung-jin who was watching from the monitor was different and had doubts.

“You shouldn’t do that.”

Yoo Byung-jin couldn’t understand or accept Weed’s actions.

In the early days of the quest, he took advantage of sculpting. It was obviously the correct choice. He used Sculptural Destruction to improve his performance in the early days.

Although it was somewhat of a penalty, Nodulle’s growth was an essential part of the final secret sculpting technique quest. If he didn’t take advantage of this moment then future quests would be impossible.

But despite his weak body, he just jumped into dungeons with strong monsters without understanding anything.

“Why is he doing that? He should go step by step from the bottom up and steadily grow. No matter how fast his level is rising, this type of explosive growth is surprising.”

Weed didn’t seem to feel any tension despite this being the final secret sculpting technique quest. He didn’t choose to be timid or stable and boldly hunted dangerous dungeons. Weed was aware of this. The situation was important but he wasn’t going to cower!

His growth already jumped over what Yoo Byung-jin had imagined. During the course of this quest, his growth rate was multiplied by 100 times. But given that the environment was the desert, it was difficult to grow to the required amount in 80 days.

He could waste hours due to an unexpected mistake and the slightest slip could cause his death. Weed should be satisfied when reaching a suitable strong level. But if the connected quests were too difficult then he would continue to pay the price.

Thanks to Seo-yoon’s help, Weed managed to achieve dramatic adventures and rose to the height of the desert’s Great Emperor. Rather than stand around, he sought out the stronger monsters underneath Metapeia to hunt.

His wonderful survival skills and ability to adapt meant he could take risks and enjoy his adventures. Weed’s experience, judgement and combat skills was what made it possible to get this result.

“What part of his brain makes it so he doesn’t hesitate when making decisions?”

Weed gave off the impression of a stingy person yet his subordinates were eating meat all day. He was the type who would mourn for a few days after losing some loose change. Sometimes he would curse.

“That time I bought the 200 won more expensive salt!”

A common, ordinary person would suddenly show an heroic style. Like a hungry dog starving for days and nights, his weak body searched for any hunting grounds and attacked like demons.  Weed’s growth rate in the desert could be called a miracle.

As the stage became bigger, he showed his capabilities without any cowardice.

“Maybe he really can obtain the final secret sculpting technique? He returned to the past due to the quest and might be able to produce huge changes.”

Yoo Byung-jin watched Weed defeat the Immortal Legion and found the Arpen Kingdom so the idea of obtained the final secret technique wasn’t absurd. When looking at it, Weed’s adventures were naturally immersive and exciting. And he could become thrilled at any moment!

He wasn’t taking small steps by leaping up the stairs towards the future.

Currently Weed’s level was approaching 800. Being able to reach this level despite the many disadvantages was unbelievable. He was already much stronger than Nodulle who had been a desert hero and defeated the Embinyu Church. He couldn’t speak as he continued to watch Weed’s achievements.

Weed was the hero who commanded the desert warriors and cleared the dungeons.

“Is he a real hero? A hero hiding in reality had appeared in the world of Royal Road?”

He didn’t want to admit it.

Anybody looking at Weed would see a hero. Humans with spirits of dedication and sacrifice were raising their heads defiantly while exploring the Versailles Continent. Yoo Byung-jin rarely saw someone like this.

But there were many people who weren’t like Weed in this world. Those who were always accompanied by woman, relied on their goods looks and became a hot topic when appearing on broadcasts so that the ratings of the program would be 1st.

The residents of the Arpen Kingdom respected their king. The Grass Porridge Cult was spreading through the whole continent.

“Hope is going down the drain.”

He had hoped for Weed and the Arpen Kingdom’s downfall due to the missing 100 won for the hot chocolate.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Earth Shadow.

The most famous adventuring party on the continent. Unring, Ben, Elliks! They were adventuring around the Prosuk area.

“Aigoo, this slab is fake. The map is also broken.”

“We’ve already been wandering for 4 months and haven’t made any progress.”

“I’ve dug up so many graves that it is like I’m a professional grave digger.”

“There is also a burial chamber at the shrine. We didn’t completely waste our time. But it will be lucky if we find even a little bit of money in the future.”

Unring gave a deep sigh.

“Why are we doing this quest…? I really doubt if this quest can succeed.”

“It is because of the marvellous experience.”

“But my mind can’t feel at ease when thinking about the people struggling on the continent.”

The adventurers were concerned about the result of this quest. They were performing a request from the Valhalla Temple about a significant event involving the Embinyu Church.

Of course, the Embinyu Church was a religion that built their power in the darkness so not everything could be attributed to them. Anyway, this quest involved the Embinyu Church so the party couldn’t help feeling guilty every time they heard about some devastation on the continent.

This quest stood on the side of justice and the Valhalla Church’s connected quest hadn’t ended. Surprisingly, the Valhalla Church led 30 of the best warriors on a quest to pull out the roots of the Embinyu Church.

The quest was ongoing and their linked quests required saving people from the Embinyu Church and bringing supplies. They successfully finished 6 quests in 1 year. And now the adventurers were looking for a treasure of the Embinyu Church.

They wandered around ruins and tombs but still couldn’t find the hidden treasure of the Embinyu Church.

– No more books with records about incidents in ancient times remain.

– Once the world became occupied by human rulers, they burnt the records due to fears of stirring up nonsense like a conspiracy.

– King Alexander the 3rd committed this action due to his ignorance and greed.

– Scholars with knowledge of these incidents were also accused and were locked up, causing them to starve to death.

1 billion years ago before humans lived alongside dwarves, elves and orcs. The early days had the dragons, monsters and gods spread their enormous influence over the continent. At the time, there was talk that the gods descended directly and God Embinyu left behind several treasures.

Earth Shadow was completing a quest to obtain that treasure before the Embinyu Church! They didn’t know what progress the Embinyu Church made so they couldn’t help feeling anxious.

“Metapeia! We need the location. We can’t proceed with the quest without knowing where it is on the continent.”

“So far I haven’t been able to discover it.”

“It would be nice if someone could find it.”

The Earth Shadows were searching through Morata’s library. Earth Shadow gathered various records related to history and the quest so the library was a lot of help.

And one day.

“Do you know about the great hero Weed of the continent?”

One resident of Kulen Village said.

“Ah yes.”

Earth Shadow was passing by.

They were adventurers so hearing about Weed was like having a nail stuck in their ear. Weed’s name was heard no matter what profession it was.

Good at sewing Weed, able to carve a meticulous armour pattern Weed, Weed who can pull a large fish, etc. Every time there was a successful adventure, the residents had no choice but to talk about Weed.

“He was the most dignified person in the history of the Southern Desert and no one could match him. But that is how it is. He is a person who lived hundreds of years ago.”

“Huh?”

Unring was surprised. They said that he lived hundreds of years ago.

“Grandpa, just now were you talking about Weed who is the king of the Arpen Kingdom?”

“Of course he is great. But the desert king Weed was cold blooded. He was violent and merciless to his enemies but was responsible for the revival of the desert tribes.”

“That person was responsible for the desert development?”

“Yes. Have you seen the best city in the desert, Agusellia? He is responsible for the luxury villas and houses present in the sea of sand.”

“I see.”

They were adventurers so they had memorized most of the map of the continent. They also know the name and some information about the desert cities in the south.

“Agusellia is a place with a population of less than 3,000 people.”

“Ah, this person! You are talking nonsense. The desert is a place with only 100,000 warriors.

A place with only 3,000 people can’t be that rich.”

“…..”

“Drop in on the city when there is the festival celebrating the Great Emperor Weed and the warriors of the sun. Millions of people head to Weed’s ruins every year.”

Unring, Ben and Elliks looked at each other after hearing the unfamiliar story.

Dori dori.

It was like they were talking to each other in their heads.

‘What is he talking about?’

‘Warriors of the sun, Great Emperor Weed? My intuition senses that this will be a huge adventure.’

‘Really, this isn’t fake? A fake rumour about an adventure isn’t going around?’

The old man continued speaking.

“He is a warrior who enjoyed adventures and rose to the top.”

Of course. Weed was a sculptor but he was also known as a tailor, blacksmith and chef. No matter how much effort they put in, it was difficult to push each skill to the advanced level like Weed. Even following in his footsteps was too hard.

Weed was an adventurer’s biggest rival! When they had a successful adventure, the residents only talked about them for a short period of time.

Weed had so much fame that the residents enthusiastically talked about him. He always succeeded despite not having the skills or benefits of the adventurer profession.

“Weed is a legend in the desert. He discovered the mystery city Metapeia. His achievements will forever remain on the continent.”

“Ah! Metapeia!”

“Heeok!”

“R-really?”

“Yes, isn’t it really amazing?”

The Earth Shadow party was truly astonished.

They searched so much for the treasure related to the Embinyu Church! It was located at the place called Metapeia.

– A hidden place in the world.

A mysterious place that doesn’t give access to strangers unless they are walking the path of death.

“So it was the desert!”

“A mirage!”

The information they checked hadn’t revealed that. But the thing that would surprise them in the future…

“Do you know about the Fire Salamanders?”

“Yes. I’ve heard of them but never met them.”

A regular monster that lived in fire! Fire Salamanders existed in dungeons deep underground.

And the only thing remembered was a scene where they blew out fire from their mouth. The level 400 users died immediately! In order to find the lost items, they headed back to the place where they died. They wanted to risk secretly collecting it but it was impossible with the enemy monsters.

3~4 Dire Salamanders gathered together were enough to destroy a city.

“This is talk handed down among the desert warriors but…”

“What is it?”

“Weed-nim exterminated all the Fire Salamanders.”

“Cough!”

“How?”

“Isn’t that impossible?”

“Of course not. If it wasn’t true then I wouldn’t tell such a pointless story. And there’s even more. In order to stop the Fire Salamanders from growing, he destroyed all the eggs. The Warrior’s Guild went to take a look. They should know more about this story.”

Ben felt his neck and legs tremble after hearing those words. In the past, he regarded Weed as a competitor and sent a brave challenge to him. But that was just bravado.

Unring and Elliks also thought it was ridiculous.

“Are we dreaming?”

“It seems so. But we found Metapeia. And…the Fire Salamanders have already been destroyed.”

“Should we be glad or start crying?”

Chapter 3: Matchless Warrior

Weed watched the huge body lying on the floor.

The skin was like blazing lava and the three horns sprouting from the forehead was a threat itself. This was the boss monster of Metapeia, the Fire Salamander King. It was a legendary existence that lived in the desert.

But it was being hunted by Weed and his subordinates. The special leather with patterns drawn on it, blood and horns were all pieces that could be sold in stores.

Of course, the process to raise the prices through bargaining was essential!

“As expected from something known as the most powerful monster.”

– You have received a severe injury.

Current health remaining is 4.3%.

Flame damage will continuously occur.

Your life will be in a critical condition if this isn’t treated immediately.

He took out medicinal herbs and bandages and wrapped it around himself with familiar hand movements.

– The cold bandages are perfect to prevent bleeding.

It will prevent the deterioration of your condition.

Your innate resilience has increased the injury recovery speed by 67% faster.

The Fire Salamander King has been destroyed. Among all the monsters Weed faced, this was definitely the best.

The thick  walls and ceilings had melted during the hunt. There were many injured and dead warriors. The fast and resilient desert warriors gave up their lives so Weed could jump at the head of the creature and deal continuous, critical hits.

“We barely defeated it.”

The body of the fallen monster was still hot. Sparks were still covering Weed’s body. The effect of the flames was the special move used by the Fire Salamander King! However, it wasn’t hurting anymore thanks to his high fire resistance.

Ddiring!

– The legendary Fire Salamander King has entered its eternal rest.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Fame has increased by 16,782 due to the great achievement.

– Charisma has increased by 7.

– After entering the dungeon, your bold commands have caused Leadership to increase by 6.

– This victory will have an effect on the entire desert so all those who participated in the battle will have all stats increased by 7.

“Huhuhut, this is the taste!”

The experience from hunting a boss monster was multiplied by 100 times. Of course, his growth process wasn’t normal so Weed had different skills at this level. Furthermore, the stats related to his sculpting failed to grow even higher. This was a disadvantage but he still reached a colossal level!

Even if he was facing level 400 mobs, they wouldn’t dare resist and would just stay still for his sword swing. If Weed was determined enough then he could easily crush a city. A Sun Warrior was an upgrade from Desert Warrior.

However, the profession of desert warrior is only granted to the strongest in the world. At the end of the day, the strongest Sun Warrior’s skill was Mana Burn.

“Let’s check the item.”

Sya sya syak!

– A master class tailoring item.

The thick leather of the Fire Salamander King has been acquired.

– The Mana Heart of the Fire Salamander King has been acquired.

– Master class sculpting item, the Fire Salamander’s 3 Horns has been acquired.

– The Crystal Leading to the Fire Sanctuary has been acquired.

“As expected, these items aren’t simple. I’m looking forward to it. These things might be helpful.”

Weed glanced at his subordinates. The injured soldiers were sitting on the ground after the last big battle. Less than half of the desert warriors who entered the dungeon remained. The injured were in the centre of the room but at least 200~300 people had died.

His conscience was slightly pricked at the thought of monopolizing all the items from the Fire Salamander King.

“I need to confirm it secretly. Inspect!”

His conscience was slightly active but he still concealed checking the items from his subordinates.

Ddiring!

– Leather of the Fire Salamander King: Durability 125/125.

The leather of the legendary Fire Salamander King.

It is thick but also very lightweight and flexible.

The noble pattern is revealed every time it is exposed to heat and it won’t tear.

The leather will give 85% fire resistance.

Physical attack damage will be reduced by 88%.

Depending on the level of the skill, additional magic resistance and other features will be given.

If properly processed, it can give great defense and a mysterious quality.

Master class tailoring material

– Mana Heart of the Fire Salamander King: Durability 17/17.

A heart filled with fire mana.

A very rare item.

Eating it will increase maximum mana by 1,700 and the ability to deal with fire  by 3%.

The skill ‘World of Fire’ is available.

The additional effects when eating multiple hearts will gradually decrease.

Chefs who cook this fresh will gain larger abilities.

– Horn of the Fire Salamander King: Durability 182/196.

The most solid horn in the world.

It is close to impossible to process it but blacksmiths and sculptors can attempt to transform it.

If it is used to make a weapon then it can pierce any armour.

“How excellent.”

Weed was satisfied with this loot. This was the feeling of happiness when hunting a boss class monster. And the crystal with a red aura around it!

“Inspect!”

– Crystal Leading to the Fire Sanctuary:  Durability 9/10.

A crystal that can generate a portal to a mysterious sanctuary.

Inject a bit of mana to use it.

Only 1 person can pass through.

If the crystal is destroyed then fire elementals will appear and shoot flames of anger in every direction.

“I’ve heard of this.”

An old man in a desert city said.

– Fire, water, wind, earth and lightning. There are special places that are the source of all this.

The desert has 5 sanctuaries hidden that are related to this. How do you know?

It was recorded in the diary found on five charred corpses. Chuckle. The book is probably left behind from a city covered in sand.

You will suffer if you try to find it.

The old man gave him some clues but not enough for Weed to find it. And he had no plans to find it. There were only 4 minutes remaining in his 80 days of hunting. His plan was to hunt incessantly before time ran out.

“These guys. You’ve gone through a lot of suffering.”

He checked the items and wrapped bandages around the bodies of his subordinates.

“Kuooh, Great Emperor…”

“You came here because you believed in me. You worked hard.”

Kindness would be more favourable in this quest!

‘There is only a little bit of time remaining so should I try to raise my level some more?’

Weed’s eyes sparkled at the thought. His current level was 824. The level of his subordinates was also considerably high. The desert tribes were so loyal that it didn’t matter if they died.

‘No. I still have a few hundred people remaining. They followed me despite the harsh treatment so their discipline isn’t bad. There is no chance of a rebellion even with a deep injury.  I can use these guys later. I should make something to eat. I can even sell it on a shrimp boat later.’

Weed handed the bandages back to his subordinates and didn’t hesitate to pull out a weapon.

“Thank you for everything so far. The fact that we won this battle is all due to you.”

“No, Great Emperor. It is a glory that I could follow behind the Great Emperor. I will go anywhere. I won’t forget the glorious days even if I die.”

“You can’t die before me. I feel the pain of my flesh tearing every time you get hurt.”

“Great Emperor!”

“Yes, this insignificant desert warrior won’t end here!”

“Heeok! Please remember my humble name.”

“Of course thoughts about all of you are filling my head! I can’t take you lightly.”

Weed called the names of his subordinates one by one and sent them encouragements.

“Tallonya, Bollos, Krengrand, Ai…sumi? Hmm hmm. Your injury is serious. Come here. There are still many bandages remaining.”

“My injury is nothing. Great Emperor doesn’t need to take care of it.”

“We are the sword and bow that will split Great Emperor’s enemies.”

His subordinates were thrilled that he remembered their names.

‘This person called Hestiger! He is still alive. Looking at that arm protector, he has picked up another good item.’

He felt jealousy whenever he heard that name. Soon it was time for the Nodulle’s Growth quest to end.

Ddiring!

– Nodulle’s Growth has been completed.

The scorching hot lands.

The time given to Nodulle has ended.

He has worked hard to maintain the peace and defend Hilderun.

Please Note: The flow of time has reset from 100 times to the original.

The next quest will take place after one day.

The crisis was over but he felt a premonition that the next quest would be even more eventful.

“The next request hasn’t been given.”

Weed sighed but it couldn’t be helped. He had completely succeeded in continuous, difficult quests. It was natural to receive even more difficult quests.

Weed and his subordinates returned to the desert city of Laos near the oasis. Of course, he had to pack the skin, bones, teeth and claws of the Fire Salamanders before leaving the dungeon. The dungeon was empty as it lost everything. The Fire Salamanders had been purified and it would take at least 1 year for the to reappear.

The number of desert warriors that survived this hunt was 741 people! His troops had suffered and their numbers were significantly reduced. However, they became considerable stronger after the experience in the Fire Salamander dungeon.

“Warrior-1, this is Laos right?”

“Yes. It seems to fit.”

Laos had changed a lot during the course of his quest. The residents had built thousands of red and white houses along the sand dunes. The beautiful, colourful walls gave off a type of elegance.

The kingdoms of the Central Continent were cities built to match the lush, green forests and mountains and were suitable for nobles. The materials were stone or wood from trees.

Laos was a popular city but the houses were made with sand and earth. It gave a solid and cosy feeling of a revived city!

It was a city of desert warriors so it didn’t need to worry about attacks from outside. The high walls were meant to divide the city rather than play a defensive role and the gates were open.

Due to Cloud Sculpting and the abundance of rain falling, the oasis turned into a clear, blue lake with a river flowing from it.

Honey and milk flowed from Laos and merchants and nomadic farmers gathered, making it always crowded.

“Throwing this much money… I’d rather embezzle the money then spend in on the arts.”

Seo-yoon thought that Weed liked the arts so she generously invested the funds she gained from the mercenary guild in this area. The desert had a creative culture of passionate dancing, singing, sculpting, art, etc.

“The Great Emperor is visiting!”

“Everybody come forth!”

Weed’s visit attracted attention so all the troops and residents ran out to the streets and bowed respectfully on the ground.

The most majestic presence in the desert! He had the status of the strongest in the desert so it was natural for them to worship him. In fact, Weed’s power was so huge that he would settle disputes among large tribes.

“Watching you fight every time can be very annoying.”

“Great Emperor, they robbed the flock of sheep that we have been raising for 80 years.”

“No. This is our pasture. Their one is over there. Here is the evidence.”

“Too noisy. The reason isn’t required. In my eyes, both of you are wrong for causing a conflict in the desert.”

“Save me!”

“We were wrong.”

“Both sides made a mistake so you should give compensation. The flock of sheep and pasture. Your relationship isn’t good so you should give the properties to me. If you don’t want to die.”

“T-thank you for the fair judgement.”

Weed lightly showed off his power to extort them of their property. He would return to his original time after the final secret sculpting technique quest was finished so he needed money. He used it to purchase good weapons, equipment, skills etc. He gained the title of ‘Person Seeking Bribes’ but that didn’t matter.

“There is nothing wrong with it. I’m not an honourable person.”

His active spirit of bribery overrode any actions of aid or virtue. He was meeting Seo-yoon in the city but it was difficult to tell apart the faces covered in cloth with only the eyes showing. Weed sent a whisper to Seo-yoon.

–Where are you?

–The fountain.

–I’ll be there in a minute.

Seo-yoon was waiting in front of the fountain in the city.

Weed got off Bactrian Camel and took off the Pharaoh’s mask. His bald head glared in the sun!

Seo-yoon was wearing a headscarf and neat desert clothes, giving off an elegant and intelligent style. It was absurd but she hadn’t aged as the quest progressed.

Seo-yoon smiled brightly as Weed headed towards the fountain and looked like a model for expensive cosmetics. She proved the reason why females poured money into skin care.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This isn’t going to happen…”

“It is still too early to give up. We should be able to buy some time if we enter the sewers!”

Artists packed their brushes and paints and escaped in a hurry. Usually cities were a safe zone from monsters but these people were being pursued by assassins.

“Where are they coming from?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see. We’ve arrived at the sewers. This should be enough…cough!”

A purple dagger with poison on it belonging to an assassin suddenly hit the drain!

“This place is obvious for anyone thinking of escape.”

“Shut up, you Hermes dog!”

“This is proof of the rumours.”

Seokeok!

In order to maintain peace in the Haven Empire, the Hermes Guild employed a merciless squad of assassins.

“There is a lot of graffiti. The deterioration of public order is more serious than I thought.”

“Kill anyone who is suspicious. Pay special attention to the painters in the city.”

They assassinated painters, rebels and anyone belonging to the Embinyu Church! The Haven Empire acted swiftly to maintain public order.

The players protested in the square of the Imperial Palace but the military mobilized their forces, including battle carriages in order to exterminate them. Public opinion was bad but the Haven Empire had the strongest power in the Central Continent and used that to supress any backlash.

Additionally, Emperor Bardray set some edicts.

1. All those who oppose the rule of the Haven Empire will be given the death penalty.

2. Any who help the rebels of any kingdoms will be given the death penalty.

3. Those who draw graffiti about the nobles of the Empire will be given the death penalty.

4. Anybody with a connection to the Embinyu Church will be given the death penalty.

5. Any actions that will worsen public order will be disposed of.

Emperor Bardray.

The Haven Empire wanted to unify the Versailles Continent so they were concerned about ending the war and maintaining peace. Users from the defeated kingdoms or guilds often spread false rumours to disturb the rule of the Haven Empire.

Users who were caught doing these things were killed and then permanently expelled from the Haven Empire’s territory and hunting grounds. The vast majority of general users had to endure the rule of the Haven Empire.

A hometown was very important on the Versailles Continent. It was a familiar city and their colleagues were there. Their contribution and intimacy with NPCs would also rise and it would become the base city for their adventures.

Even if others criticized the Hermes Guild, the users who started in the Haven Kingdom had already adapted to the bad situation.

Expensive hunting ground admission prices and heavy taxes. The situation wasn’t like other kingdoms.

The Empire was increasingly gaining strength. As the Haven Empire expanded, the scope of the users’ activities naturally widened.

Moreover, the Haven Empire might be the first to unify the continent. Other guilds had to compete for places. Quite a few people left for the north to escape the Hermes Guild’s persecution but many people still lived in the Empire.

“Edicts? It really isn’t a joke.”

“The Haven Empire just wants to kill anyone they see as wrong.”

“This rule is a dictatorship.”

The users were dissatisfied but they didn’t show it on the outside. The military power of the Haven Empire was pushing on them from above. In addition, the Allied Forces on the continent were thoroughly defeated.

The Haven Empire continued to increase the occupied territory and used the money plundered to grow their military. People looked away like it was unrelated to them and continued quietly hunting and adventuring.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The flames under Fabio’s hand seemed like they were dancing. He learnt to deal with both metal and fire!

His blacksmith skill proficiency had reached a high of 99%. He was waiting to become a master but even the most perfectly created sword didn’t increase it anymore. Even smelting hard metal didn’t change the proficiency.

“This is the limit of simple production. I need to look for a new method.”

In fact, Fabio had expected this to some extent.

The best blacksmith had to create a legendary sword that would be known throughout the continent.

A Master Blacksmith. He needed a great achievement in order to become a ruler of metal. There were numerous users waiting to master their skills but Fabio was stuck at the final step.

Fabio rose from his spot.

“The best armour and perfect sword. It will be good items for those qualified to use them. The hero who is the first to unify the continent will be the one I make this weapon and armour for.”

He was well aware of how the world was changing.

The dwarf kingdom of Thor hadn’t received any external aggression yet. The dwarf culture had no kings or nobles and were uncompromising warriors who dealt with their enemies using their axes. Most of all, the presence of Akryong Kaybern meant conquering the kingdom wasn’t going to be that easy.

But the dwarves would naturally be affected if the Haven Empire conquered the world. Their fate as a minority species was to be swept away by the war. The Thor Kingdom wasn’t active in the world but they were naturally interested in the changes occurring on the continent.

“The military needs to strengthen its cooperation with the Hermes Guild. We have to make that choice before it is too late.”

Fabio and the junior blacksmiths decided to aid the conquest of the Haven Empire. The dwarves made weapons and defensive items from ores.  Numerous other guilds who had been watching quietly until now sided with the Haven Empire.

They decided to give up on resistance and accepted the rule of the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Pale, Surka, Irene, Romuna, Hwaryeong, Bellot, Maylon and Mapan were all gathered together.

“Sigh… Everybody went through a lot of trouble.”

Bellot said as she looked at the others’ faces. The reason she failed to connect to Royal Road for a while was a TV filming.

But everyone’s face had changed in the meantime. Their hair had become matted, their faces dirty and armour shattered. Repairs could make them neat again but they had just returned from a quest.

“It is okay. It was worth it. Look at my fist now!”

Surka whose face looked like a dark elf gripped her fist tightly. When her fist punched something, there was a probability of causing lightning. It was a fighting skill gained from the monsters in Lightning Valley!

Pale’s bow had also changed, indicating that he had gained quite a bit of profit.

“Ah, this fragrance is really good.”

Romuna wore a robe that covered her face and sat quietly while drinking tea. This was unusual since she liked to talk. This was either a very large failure or a one-time jackpot!

‘I was nervous but I guess the work succeeded.’

People who knew her well thought that she was lucky. Hwaryeong was dressed like an Indian female in order to learn a new dance.

After greeting each other, Mapan started talking with a heavy atmosphere. Mapan had invited them to his mansion in Morata.

“Here, this is the reason I invited you…this is a book bought cheaply from a farmer.

It isn’t unusual for something that I read to turn out to be something more.” Mapan pulled a book from his backpack. A corner of the book was torn and the title said ‘The Discovery on Halmerun Mountain.’

“Let’s read a bit of chapter 1. Start now.

I’ve seen a lot of places as an adventurer. But I think this is a special place.”

When I first came to the north… I was going to run away. The monsters were too scare for my colleagues and I.

I’m writing this book while hiding in a cave but this is a romantic adventure.

So why is there a musty smell? This is the smell of a bear. Tonight we didn’t want to be the bear’s dinner. Please note that I have no taste. Although the Shabel Tiger tried to bite my arm, it soon left to seek different prey. The reason for this is the secret paste I applied to my body.

…Omission…So I was wandering lost in a place overgrowing with trees.

It was an area with deep, dark trees when I saw a ring.

It was a ring belonging to a missing knight of the Niflheim Empire called Ivanstein.

I looked around a little bit but returned after not finding anything.

Facing a hungry monster on a dark night is very dangerous.

“Who is Ivanstein?”

Surka asked a question but everyone was quiet. It was because they also didn’t know. They were like new chicks in this area.

“Knights of the Niflheim Empire are constantly fighting off invading monsters. I searched in the library for Ivanstein and discovered that he was a knight holding a brass plate before disappearing. It is one of the four treasures of the Niflheim Empire.”

“What is the effect of the brass plate?”

“Unfortunately, I couldn’t find out. However, it seems valuable enough to search for it.”

“By ourselves?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The people looked in each other’s eyes.

This required searching a mountain based on a story from a book! It was far away and they would have to pass through several monster habitats.

Apart from quests, adventures could also be obtained from clues like this.

“Let’s go.”

“I will go.”

“We have to go there.”

It was an important decision but everyone made it easily. There were unpredictable difficulties that could occur on adventures.

‘It might be a little hard but we will suffer even more under Weed.’

‘This is nothing compared to Weed’s quest.’

They grew quickly while hunting with Weed!

The tension in regular quests wasn’t high enough. Every once in a while, they wanted to feel the thrill and exciting moments when hunting with Weed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[Minor TL Note]: This is just speculation but I’m going to put it down here because I know some people will ask the question. I assume that Weed still has the level he earned because the whole point of this quest is to level up for the next few quests. Therefore, Weed probably won’t get the reward for the levelling up until his level is reset. But this is just my guess…

Another thing for the readers who use Discord. I’ve made a server for this website where people can talk about the novels in general or spoilers. I will also post status updates and will be occasionally on to chat or answer questions. So feel free to join if you want. Here is the invitation link:

https://discord.gg/0xIkC7kYtaRvNiEB

Chapter 4: In Times of War

Kokotaek, koko.

Lee Hyun fed the gathered chickens.

“Eat well.”

He watched the healthily grown chickens and chicks with a pleased look. A happy laugh automatically emerged when giving food to the animals he raised.

“I’m a really good owner.”

The chickens had a miserable fate. While hens could lay eggs, the roosters that couldn’t lay eggs were discarded when they were just chicks. And the hens who could only move their bodies in a small space and gave birth to eggs every day died after 2 years.

The life of an animal was too sad. Maybe that was why there were movements to protect animals.

Lee Hyun wished for his chickens to grow up happy and healthy.

“So they will be delicious when I eat them later.”

The joy when eating them half fried and half with sauce! He also cleaned the yard and enjoyed the chores that he had been neglecting for a while.

The quest in progress had the time only flow when Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon connected. Although it was like that, the normal Versailles Continent was changing so he couldn’t relax his mind.

“I will access it again in the evening. Lululu!”

Lee Hun hummed as he completed the chores around his house.

“Earn money. Earn it rapidly. Last time I made a deposit to buy the land. It can be developed into anything. It will be a jackpot if it becomes a train station or a highway.”

A fun song that made he feel good!

While Lee Hyun was working, he was being watched through binoculars from the rooftop of a building.

“He is living quite differently than expected.”

“Hyung-nim, we’ve already robbed him. Is he really going to sign a bond contract?”

“Hyung-nim will take care of it. Our work is to just watch that fellow.”

Myeongdong’s loan shark!

They knew that Weed the God of War was Lee Hyun. He had a formidable popularity that attracted attention from the broadcasting stations. Therefore they had a definite plan to hook him.

They used illegal means to collect information and keep watch on Lee Hyun.

– Diriririk!

The loan sharks were so busy dreaming they didn’t see the 9 tiny dots floating around them.

The latest stealth drones! They were the surveillance aircrafts sent by Yoo Byung-jin and the artificial intelligence. Detection radio waves were launched at the loan sharks and measured the biological responses. The missiles mounted on the small aircraft could wipe out the loan sharks.

The Myeongdong head office also investigated any relationships he had.

“His grandmother and sister. The old lady is in a nursing home so she isn’t useful. His sister will be an effective hostage.”

“It will be easy to snatch his sister, Director-nim.”

“We have to be careful. It will become troublesome if this becomes known to the media or the police investigate.”

“Do it quietly and we can control him until the end. In the meantime, we’ll earn quite a bit of money from the contract so it will be profitable.”

“Check out the list of properties near the region and buy a few of them, Director-nim.”

And of course, the mini android was able to see all this information. Not long ago, Yoo Byung-jin had issued an order to the artificial intelligence to take care of the loan sharks.

– Get rid of them. So that my ears never have to hear about them again.

The artificial intelligence determined the best way to fulfil this command after taking into account the behaviour of the loan sharks. And it came to this conclusion.

Diririk!

– High risk level. This won’t be resolved with a normal conversation. I have to actively take care of it.

From that day on, the Myeongdong loan sharks were broken.

“What? Investigation Commissioner-nim, what does that mean?”

– This is a legitimate police duty so I don’t know what you mean. I don’t know who you are.

“Isn’t this unbelievable? I gave you so much money until now. You shouldn’t do this after accepting all my money!”

– I’ve never heard of or met you. I don’t know how you know my phone number but let’s have no contact in the future. Also, keep in mind that things might not improve in the future.

Dalkak!

They were suddenly investigated by the IRS and the prosecutor’s special investigation unit. They asked for help from the politicians and officials that they regularly bribed.

“Donation? Huhuhu. Ddek! Look at this person. These days donations are illegal so I’ve never received any! I’ll warn you now. Keep in mind that you shouldn’t bark such words in public!”

“Gwon Jae-hyuk, I’ve eaten in Senator’s rice restaurant for 16 years! You dare to threaten me now? Do you want to be buried in Korea?”

The Myeongdong building was instantly shaken up by the government forces.

“This…it can’t be like this all of a sudden.”

Han Jin-seop had started this work against other competing factions. But all the strings holding them up were breaking.

Politicians, prosecutors, the police and national tax service. All these organizations started moving against their company.

“Clean up the data. Dispose of all the materials, including the computer’s hard disk.”

“But these books are worth more than 1 billion won.”

“First we need to get rid of all the evidence.”

The account books, computers, documents, etc. were all destroyed in preparation for a search and seize. They also allocated quite a few funds for lawyers to defend the office. Given the tolerance of Korea’s laws, they had no choice but to wait and believe in that. Sale activities that weren’t illegal and only a small, normal part of their overseas finances was left.

“These are in English?”

“The funds given to Senior-nim to move?”

“There is no contact yet. Rather, they are withdrawing funds and erasing all traces to us.”

“Our work can’t be revealed…the social repercussions will bury us.”

“They won’t obtain any evidence.”

It would be the end if they were revealed as loan sharks who forced people to pay back their debt or lose everything. Therefore, they were anxious as they removed the evidence and 6 days passed.

The search and seizure occurred but all the data had been lost. The preparations were complete so the finance group could feel somewhat relieved.

“Korea’s true form of prosecution gives us time to wait.”

The judiciary process in Korea didn’t move quickly so it rewarded businesses like theirs. But this was all part of the artificial intelligence’s plan!

– Phase 1 is complete.

– Phase 2 is starting.

Later that evening, Han Jin-sup and other members of the finance company lost their spirits. Whether they were in their home, at the company, on the streets or in the toilet alone, they all lost consciousness and woke up in a small, dark room.

“W-where are we?”

Beds were crammed in a narrow space reminiscent of prison cells and there was a television, bread in a packet and food.

“It can’t be.”

They were suddenly reminded of the story of a man in a movie. The man was trapped somewhere for 15 years and forced to live on dumplings. And from that day onwards, they survived on barley bead and tap water.

“Someone… Surely they will find us. The members and police won’t be quiet.”

The loan sharks grinded their teeth together. But the trapped people were unaware of one thing.

The police had closed the investigation into the loan sharks. The search warrant was executed too late and they had already disappeared from the office. They examined phone records and looked for other traces but couldn’t find anything. Therefore, it was assumed that they were smuggled to foreign countries.

10 days ago, a post appeared on the internet community.

Title: What is a good method to control loan sharks?

Author: AI.VERSA

There are loan sharks that are repeatedly annoying me.

Despite the money being paid off already, they keep on making persistent attempts to do bad things. Words don’t seem to convince them so what should I do?

– Just bury them. Bury them in the tidal flat.

– Hey, is this a joke? If this is real then report it to the police immediately.

– Don’t report them. If it isn’t reported then this will become a liveable world sooner.

– The loan sharks should go to jail. They are also bothering me. Be careful everyone.

– Those people won’t repent. They should just be isolated from society forever.

– They should be locked up like in Old Boy.

– I agree!

– That is the truth.

– I also agree!

– Dumplings are expensive. It is too precious to give to loan sharks. Just give them leftover rice.

– But the motorcycle fuel cost delivering it will be a waste.

And then there was a list of good foods to feed the loan sharks. The most astronomical and practical methods listed barley bread and canned tuna. At least 5 years’ worth of barley bread and canned tuna was already paid for.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed once again accessed Royal Road. He was a Sun Warrior with a level of 824.

At that moment, the flow of time on the continent returned to normal. The stars in the cool, night sky shone down on the desert cities. He had spent a relaxing day in the city with Seo-yoon as they ate grilled scorpions and camels.

“Well, I am trembling a little.”

Nodulle’s quest had led to an explosive growth. But like always, he wasn’t distracted. The scale had grown uncontrollably larger so the difficulty was bound to increase. It felt like he was now reaching the climax of the quest!

Seo-yoon soon connected as well.

“You came early.”

“Yes. It is a good night.”

Weed and Seo-yoon sat on a pile of stones and waited for the next quest. The desert evening wasn’t too cold and the atmosphere was cosy. They had spent a lot of time together during the process of the final secret sculpting technique quest.

‘Give me a suitable quest… If I receive the final secret technique then I can prevent the attack from the Hermes Guild and earn a lot of money. Seo-yoon…I’m thankful that you are helping me.’

It was just become his kimchi soup started boiling. Weed tried to think about his life in the future.

The situation in Royal Road was going out of control. While the quest was ongoing, the war among the prestigious guilds was reaching the finale.

‘That fellow seems to be eating the continent.’

It was an established fact that the Haven Empire was going to occupy the Central Continent! The Arpen Kingdom had gathered numerous people and materials but the situation wasn’t hopeful. Weed’s popularity and myths caused the north to rapidly develop so it was a target to be conquered.

The Haven Empire launched a frontal attack and were repelled by the Grass Porridge Cult. Therefore there were rumours that they were going to attack again. He guessed that spies of the Hermes Guild were already in the north. The fight in the Central Continent was over so there was only the north and the Embinyu Church left.

The Rosenheim and Brent Kingdoms in the east were destroyed by the Embinyu Church.  The original population of the south was small but it rapidly flourished due to Weed’s adventures.

Yesterday Weed relaxed while on the internet so he knew that such things were happening.

‘Although it is still like a dog.’

Despite the south developing, it couldn’t compare to the strong users in the long established Central Continent. The desert cities had become larger but that wasn’t a good thing against the armies of the Haven Empire and Bardray.

‘In the end, Bardray is behind all these bad things. The northern and southern areas that I raised might be eaten by him.’

Maybe Bardray also had the life of a protagonist. He was revered as a warrior who won every battle. The Allied Forces on the continent had collapsed and no one seemed able to stop the forces of the Hermes Guild. An inferiority complex burned inside Weed.

‘He isn’t a lot better than me. He seems to be only 10 centimetres bigger. I am 170 centimetres, which isn’t that short as 180 centimetres is considered tall.  And when I saw his face… He seems to have received a fine education.’

The intense eyes and neatly trimmed features, Bardray had the appearance of a typical elite.

‘His leadership is also significant…well, I’m not that much of a leader. I lived moderately while going to an old school. When looking at him… A spacious house and nice car. The bank deposits are also incredible.’

His thoughts deepened as his hostility increased! Realistically, he wasn’t a rival for Bardray and his followers. They would just eat him up on the spot.

‘Life is a time to bloom.’

He missed the chance to have the spirit of a warrior! While he was envious of Bardray, a video started playing in front of Weed and Seo-yoon.

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A deep, dark and dismal cave!

“Chakujel, was the work in the Portu Kingdom a failure?”

“I’ve collected the necessary materials for the black magic so it wasn’t a complete failure.”

The person wasn’t visible and only the voice could be heard. But there was at least 2 things that he knew. Their voices were low but there was enough power to cause it to ring through the cave.

“Desun?”

“Dead.”

“Hul hul, even though he was the treasured disciple you raised.”

“His value was used up. At least I don’t have to handle him now.”

Desun was the name of the Portu King.

“The sacrifices?”

“They ran away. But the power of the devils descended so it wasn’t a complete waste. If we search the entire continent then we can collect the sacrifices again. If there are sufficient scapegoats then the devils will be able to open their eyes.”

“Let me help. I want the era of fighting and killing to continue for as long as we want.”

The video lingered before slowly changing to a different place.

This time it was an enormous, red wasteland. A bird was flying away. The screen moved according to the eyes of the bird.

The remnants of the walls were collapsing and ugly looking monsters roamed the place. A river with black water flowed with bones from various different species floating on it. And beyond that was a shrine that gave off a dreary atmosphere.

There was a high guard tower were centaur like demons stood holding bows. In the centre, people were continuing to build up a tower that reached into the sky. That alone was remarkable but there was a statue in the middle of the shrine that reached 200 metres in height. A statue with 12 arms!

Weed thought to himself as he watched the video.

‘It is Embinyu! The Embinyu Church!’

Weed really had a tedious, evil destiny.

‘Why has this thing appeared before me? Bother Bardray instead of me. The Embinyu Church hasn’t bothered Bardray at all. He is truly lucky.’

Anything involving the Embinyu Church was never easy. But looking at the scale of it, this wasn’t a typical Embinyu shrine.

Numerous buildings were placed around the statue like a city. And in the building connected to the Sky Tower, demons were selling souls at altars. A training camp had women and young children wielding weapons with bloodshot eyes. Creatures, beasts and insects were captured by the fanatics and brought to the Embinyu altars.

Those bodies were turned into evil spirits. This was the military production base of the Embinyu Church and a den of evil.

‘Somehow it doesn’t give off a good impression.’

The screen moved closer to the statue in the centre.

“All believers, we will purify this world of the corrupted with our strength.”

It seemed to be an important ceremony as the High Priest gave a speech in front of the huge statue. Every time he shouted, the red liquid in dozens of bronze would boil explosively. Countless humans kneeled down on the ground and replied in unison.

“Ohhhh!”

“God Embinyu, give us your directions.”

A heavy but bloody atmosphere occurred.

“God Embinyu has answered us. Destroy, destroy, destroy everything! Your efforts and willpower will give me strength!”

Ddiring!

– Important information has been obtained.

The Embinyu Church is constructing a tower.

If the tower reaches the top of the sky and pierces through the clouds, they will be able to exert a stronger power obtained from the God Embinyu’s will and strength.

There is 197 days and 16 hours remaining until the tower is completed.

Submissive humans in the Embinyu Church are obediently stacking stones in order to build an infinitely high tower. There are many people who staggered after losing their strength and died. The other fanatics literally stepped on the corpses to build the tower.

In this confusing and anxious world, it was a completely horrible scene.

The High Priest took a stick off the ground and shouted as he waved it around.

“God Embinyu is an endlessly merciful person! Destroy the hypocrites and open up this world for the subordinates that he will send us!”

“Ohh, God Embinyu!”

“We will punish them all!”

The sound of drums rang out throughout the entire shrine. The faithful had bloodshot eyes and were foaming at the mouth. And a vast shape slowly appeared alongside the High Priest.

There was a long, sleek body over 100 metres long and a pair of magnificent wings. It was the most complete art form.

The dragon Ausollet.

In ancient times. Unlike other dragons that maintained harmony and balance, Ausollet was born with only feelings of hatred and insanity. Even the other dragons didn’t associate with Ausollet.

Ausollet burnt the peaceful elven forests and invaded the human world. There was a direct battle with the clergy and the high elves borrowed the power of the gods and other dragons to seal Ausollet.

That’s why Ausollet was named the Chaos Dragon. It was unthinkable that the Embinyu Church was going to unseal the Chaos Dragon. The priests sacrificed their own soul and flesh to gain the power required to unseal Ausollet. Now there were no constraints on Ausollet’s flesh.

The dragon Ausollet was like a stone statue with its calmly folded wings and closed eyes. But the dragon made the atmosphere heavier.

Sometimes a dragon like Akryong Kaybern would show their force. He burnt entire mountains in one day and caused scenes of destruction. Kaybern was insurmountable to the dwarves.

For as long as human existed, it was common to think of dragons as unslayable. They would have to penetrate through a large number of monsters before reaching the dragon. Dragons were different from conventional monsters so the guilds and kingdoms couldn’t help worrying about their safety.

The Embinyu Church had found and removed the seal on Ausollet. The torchlight shining on Ausollet’s body caused the shadows to lengthen.

“God Embinyu handed us this ceremony in order to control the soul of the dragon. Untainted but blessed young babies are required.”

“Ohh, we will be God Embinyu’s eyes and ears.”

“Destroy and kill more. We will bring the children in order to obtain the dragon’s soul!”

The fanatics screamed and cheered furiously.

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“Hrmm.”

Weed had a myriad of thoughts as he watched the video.

‘Others are being entertained in Royal Road so I wonder why these things keep happening to me. I don’t have any interest in things like the peace of the continent or the conspiracies of the Embinyu Church.’

He remembered when he was a child of 12 years old. A fortune teller sitting at the pedestrian underpass had sighed when seeing his face.

“Tsk tsk, the share of millions of people.”

Lee Hyun stopped and asked the fortune teller about the meaning of those words.

“Does sharing the fortune of others mean I will earn a large amount of money?”

“No. But you will do the work of millions of people. It will be tangled and tangled and the water will become murky.”

“No way.”

“It isn’t normal to go through all that trouble. Dark clouds, dark clouds. The dark clouds in the world will flock to you.”

Now looking back, it seemed like the fortune teller’s words were true.

Weed escaped from reality for a moment after seeing the video

‘It can’t be. It can’t be. It can’t be. I don’t want to face a dragon. Just give me goblins. Bardray should bear the burden of taking care of the Embinyu Church and the Chaos Dragon.’

Ddiring!

– The Path for the World

After Nodulle grew his strength in the desert, they headed towards the Central Continent to solve Hilderun’s curse.

But the Central Continent had yet to escape from the swirl of war. The royal families strengthened their military due to greed and unknown grudges.

And the biggest cult on the continent, the Embinyu Church! They mobilized their forces to destroy the continent that was preparing for the final stages of the great war.

They require large seeds to acquire the soul of the Chaos Dragon. They will randomly kidnap babies in the future. If 100,000 soul seeds are gathered then Ausollet will wake up.

The priests from various species obtained reliable information about this and planned a raid of the Embinyu Church.

They have to implement a reckless plan before they are killed. If this isn’t stopped within a specified period of time, the devil in Hilderun’s body will wake up.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Restrictions: Three months remaining.

If you or Hilderun dies then the quest will fail.

Please Note: If you are unable to fulfil Nodulle’s role then the continent will suffer much damage.

The awakening of the devil, rule of the Chaos Dragon and expansion of the Embinyu Church will depend on a series of quests.

“Uhh!”

Weed swallowed his saliva.

“To be honest, I expected it but a dragon really did emerge.”

It was like buying a lottery ticket not expected to win but still feeling disappointed when it didn’t win. Technically speaking, he didn’t have to fight a Chaos Dragon. The dragon hadn’t woken up yet so he only needed to fight the Embinyu Church.

“But this won’t be the end.”

Naturally the work wouldn’t progress smoothly.

This wasn’t going to be the ending of a fairy tale that kindergarten students would read where Cinderella lived happily ever after with the prince. After fighting with her parents-in-law and sister-in-law, she had to deal with her husband’s infidelity.

Now he became involved and had to actively fight the Embinyu Church.

“The power of the Embinyu Church is tremendous in times of war. There is no need to mention what will happen if the dragon wakes up.”

Weed couldn’t find any details of Nodulle and Hilderun in the history books. In addition, there was no mention of the Embinyu Church in this time of war.

“This must mean Nodulle’s adventure didn’t cause any damage to the continent. I have to take over his mission.”

He knew how horrible the Embinyu Church was.

Even in the original time zone, the Embinyu Church had expanded greatly with many followers. The cities and villages were destroyed and the army contained thousands of fanatics. They grew like poison mushrooms to cover the Versailles Continent.

If Weed failed the quest then he would be giving a great gift to the Embinyu Church and Chaos Dragon. This would be a catastrophe for numerous users.

“Well, it’s not like I’m going to lose anything anyway.”

Weed’s sense of morality was different from that of a hero. It depended on whether he would profit or not!

Even if the devils woke up because of the Embinyu Church, the action would mainly take place on the Central Continent. The indescribably damage would most ruin the kingdoms of the Central Continent and surrounding areas. In particular, it might break down the Haven Empire that was currently being established.

The devils and Embinyu Church. Both were terrible things to deal with. If Weed failed the quest then Bardray and the Hermes Guild would have to deal with it.

A small smile was on his face.

“I haven’t suffered in vain. The ship won’t sink even if the quest fails. Things are rapidly coming loose.”

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The Hermes Guild implemented their policies based on careful, strategic thinking.

They had abundant resources, sufficient strongholds prepared, squeezed the residents for money, upgrade military facilities and improved road networks.

Lafaye used textbook management and leadership strategies.

“Only dispatched 40,000 troops to the Havers area.  It can be occupied in 14 days.”

“Stop the troops from marching into the Rom area and rearrange them. Has the commander requested battlefield supplies?”

“Not yet.”

“Send any magic weapons available through the forest.”

“The supplies road has been secured and it will arrive after 19 days.”

They gained the advantage over their enemies due to extensive military support.

The Allied Forces had combined again after their defeat in the Rubidom Mountains and challenged them to soothe their souls after the loss. The previous deaths of the experienced users and the soldiers weakened the power of the Allied Forces.

During this time, some minor guilds didn’t miss the chance to apply for an alliance with the Hermes Guild. Well, it was an alliance application but they were actually puppets.

“With these odds, wouldn’t it be better to ally with the Hermes Guild instead of fighting them?”

“If we surrender then we can act within the Haven Empire.”

“It will be better to side with the Hermes Guild even if we have to pay war reparations. It would be better to build up achievements in their army now. The Camelot Guild will act as a vanguard of the occupation forces.”

The occupation of the Haven Empire was gaining momentum. White flags would raise before the march of the Imperial Army.

The Haven Empire only took a small amount of time to secure public order because they wanted to occupy the continent. They completely seized the Gradian Kingdom, Norton Kingdom and Nest Kingdom!

The broadcasting stations talked about this news straight away.

“I saw that the Dragon Castle opened their doors to the Haven Empire and surrendered.

“The Nepiad Fortress that have been fighting a few days ago raised the white flag. They abandoned the fight against the Haven Empire.”

The stations honoured the Haven Empire. The Imperial Army gained the nickname of invincible army.

The leaders of the Hermes Guild issued a new command.

“From now on, the army will be divided into two. The occupation troops will be reorganized and focused on the primary battles.

And the remaining troops will organize the occupied areas.” As the number of conquered territories expanded, a larger management plan was required.

The conquest of the continent was proceeding smoothly as the Allied Forces were unable to confront Bardray.

The Thor Kingdom and Iron Road Guild was also helping the Haven Empire. Dwarf weapons would wreak havoc on the battlefield while the armour meant that ordinary damage was negligible.

“It is a good thing that we’ve internally absorbed the Thor Kingdom and Iron Road. And the elves haven’t made contact?”

“Yes. They are a species not normally involved in war so there is silence.”

The elves didn’t built cities or strongholds. They lived together in large forests without anyone vying for dominance. Many users selected the elf species due to that atmosphere.

The Central Continent might be engulfed in war but the elves were free. Prestigious guilds that rules cities and castles within the influence of the elves knew not to interfere. For that reason, the elven players grew unhindered to an extent that they could no longer be ignored.

“Should we continue to leave the elves alone?”

“No. The army needs to pass through the elven forest in order to safely arrive at Dragon Castle.

“The forest is a natural fortress to the elves.”

The elves could get help from the trees and the spirits they had a high affinity to. Rangers firing arrows were also active in the forest.

“Use axes to chop down all the trees, rocks to dry out the forests and burn the whole forest if there is resistance when advancing. It would be good if you recruit applicants with already high infamy.”

“I understand. We will take action.”

The Haven Empire headed towards the forest of the elves.

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“Phew, we can survive for a bit here.”

“Be careful. We can’t believe in people.”

30 novice users carefully observed the area before exiting the forest. They were users of the new ruined city Crea.

It had only been a couple of days but the city was in ruins when they connected around the fountain. There were only traces of fire, collapsed buildings and dead bodies in the street. Despite the fact that it was noon, dark clouds filled the sky like it was evening and a chilly wind blew.

Awoooo!

There was the sound of a howling wolf not far away. This was like the bleak atmosphere of a scene in a horror movie.

“It is this way. Come quickly!”

“Hide before the wolves catch our smell.”

The Crea users who connected late joined those who were first. They had belatedly connected and couldn’t take refuge.

“Why has it changed?”

“You don’t know? The Embinyu Church completely swept through it.”

“Ah, I never got the compensation for the quest I completed for the weapons store owner.

“Forget about it since the owner turned into a cannibal.”

“The employee of the inn?”

“Now there are only a few surviving residents. Furthermore, most of them have changed into fanatics. It is foolish to perish for some quests when we should be fleeing from the Embinyu Church towards a safe city.”

Most groups or parties had a warrior as the leader.

“But I am level 230. Wolves are nothing…”

“I am a level 300 warrior. But a monster’s speed and strength grows in areas occupied by the Embinyu Church. I barely survived with my health and vitality.

And if fanatics flock to the fight then we are dead.”

“Let’s escape when it is night.”

While the conversation was ongoing, users continued connecting to Crea and joining them in the hiding spot.

“The Embinyu Church headed to the north and the south.”

“Let’s do it. Tell everyone.”

In the evening, the 30 people moved in the opposite direction of the Embinyu Church. They hid behind rocks whenever the cry of a wolf was heard or fanatics appeared.

It was exciting and thrilling but they couldn’t help worrying about the Embinyu Church.

‘Will this continue to happen?’

‘Ah, I wish peace could find the Versailles Continent.’

The users pulled out of their comfort zone tried to move as secretly as possible.

Illek City.

“Embinyu! Embinyu can save you. Destroy. Kill and destroy everything around you.”

“The era of reason is over. Madness and anger will set us free.  We will punish those who torment us. In the name of Embinyu!”

But even here followers of the Embinyu Church roamed the city preaching. The city guards caught them but new followers kept on appearing out of nowhere.

“There is news that the troops of the Embinyu Church are heading here.”

“Is that so? Then where should we go?”

“Go anywhere if you want to survive.”

The users continued to avoid the Embinyu Church.

Chapter 5: Warrior Saving the World

Weed and his men decided to arm themselves in Laos before leaving. It was because there might be an all-out war against the Embinyu Church.

“Don’t think about money and just freely choose.”

In the meantime, the desert warriors had handed over all the loot and weapons obtained to Weed.  Although a significant number of armed warriors managed to get good weapons, some of them were using items barely fit for their level.

There were basic materials but the desert warriors had also mastered the bow and arrow.

Due to Weed’s blacksmith skill and the high level of monsters he fought on the quest, he could continually change his equipment. It would be fine if Weed obtained the good stuff alone but he emphasized a strong mind and body for his subordinates.

“I need a spear.”

“Buy it.”

“I need plenty of arrows.”

“Pick any.”

“I would like to pick elf arrows. It would be better if they were expensive.”

“Um, buy as much as you want. I will give it to you.”

Weed spent big.

He obtained a large number of jewels while hunting for his quest! The level of the his hunting grounds was high so the number of jewels was tremendous.

He felt like crying as he pulled out the opal jewels to pay for it. The flawless diamonds and emeralds were put aside in his backpack. Hopefully the processed jewels could become royal treasures!

“This is the time to dispose of it. Is this the feeling of lethargy a parent feels when they give away their children to marriage?”

Weed also chose items required to sculpt the jewels.

Anyway, he wouldn’t be able to return with his subordinates once he completed the quest and returned to his original world.

Ddiring!

– Jewel sculpting has finished.

Your advanced sculpting skills have carved the jewel.

A rounded egg that expresses the gem!

It is transparent and inside are colourful flowers.

Looking at the diverse patterns and colours is enjoyable.

A marvellous sculpting skill that has no choice but to be admired.

– The value of the jewel has increased by 2.6 times.

Due to the scarcity, the value of the jewel will climb over time and if the person wearing it has high fame then the health will increase.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

You have obtained 154 jewel crafting fame.

Weed produced the jewels without hesitation.

In the meantime, the final secret sculpting technique quest had been adventuring and survival so he barely had time for leisurely work.

There was still a steep quest ahead but he continued carving the rest of the jewels.

“This time I’ll make a jewel look like a cup. It will contain pretty hues when the cup if filled with wine or water. This will be a very demanding task if I don’t want to lose the light. But it is still worth a try.”

The art of fine jewellery was born. The desert warriors and city residents were surprised every time Weed created a new work.

“For the Great Emperor to have this aspect…it is hard to imagine.”

“I could only stare silently the first time I saw it.”

“Truly a hero of the desert!”

He couldn’t hear any of the words due to his intense focus on the jewels. They were precious jewels. Of course the value of the jewels were important but Weed could easily obtained them at his level.

He endlessly worked on large and small gems of various colours. The light coming through the window hit a jewellery box and let loose a glistening of hues.

‘Come to think of it, I haven’t given a gift to Seo-yoon yet.’

Weed through the items would disappear when returning to their original time so he created sapphire and diamond earrings and necklaces. There was a total of 92 on the continent and Weed used 60 of the really precious diamonds on the jewellery.

He hadn’t forgotten his gratitude to Seo-yoon for her help in the quest. The gems were going to disappear anyway so he didn’t mind using them for gifts.

“Take it.”

He had prepared words to persuade her once she refused.

“Thank you.”

“…..”

“Beautiful.”

“No, well, I burdened you with some difficult things…”

“I’ll wear it well.”

“…..”

Regardless of the price, Seo-yoon considered any gift that Weed gave her as valuable.

She wore the necklace and earrings. The effect of the jewellery significantly enhanced her dignity and charm!

Her skin tone also improved, she became brighter and had less wrinkles. Her pores shrunk and blackheads were removed.

It had the same effect as magic items but female players were sensitive to jewels. Seo-yoon already had perfect skin and figure so the gorgeous necklace and earrings matched her well. The sheen of the jewels didn’t look awkward and was perfectly natural on her.

Seo-yoon looked like the precious princess of a rich kingdom. Her appearance was enough to be the protagonist of movies or dramas where bad guys would unconditionally advance on her.

‘It is fine.’

Weed had no regrets in giving it to her.

‘I can give a few jewels.’

Seo-yoon matched perfectly well with the necklace. The shining jewels would naturally catch attention. He then moved his eyes up to her face and sighed, simply feeling grateful that he could live together in the same air.

‘It is pretty and matched really well. Is this why presents are given to women? If Seo-yoon was my girlfriend… Uhh, it is unreasonable to have too much imagination. A pretty woman in a capitalist society will have too much expenses.’

Even a pure heart would find it difficult to overcome a modern, capitalist society! He was still in shock from the price of the food and coffee that Seo-yoon bought.

While Weed’s inner world was in turmoil, his subordinates had finished purchasing the goods.

“6.74 million gold.”

“What?”

“Great Emperor, it all cost 6.74 million gold.”

“How did such a ridiculous price emerge? You have contempt for me!”

“The warriors preferred luxuries.”

Warrior-1 wore a shoulder protector that wasn’t there before and Warrior-3 had a new belt. The sculptural lifeforms were high level warriors with excellent equipment.

In fact, it was impossible for stores in the city to sell things worth 6 million gold. But Seo-yoon had developed the city of Laos. It was the headquarters of the Mercenary Guild in the desert so there was an enormous number of mercenaries and warriors gathered. Therefore the weapons and armour stores contained special magic items worth over 6 million gold.

“I’ve been careful not to be ripped off for my entire life yet my subordinates just bought things on impulse.”

He grumbled but he didn’t think he could get all the items for a much cheaper price.

Weed was the saviour of the desert so the merchants were already selling it for half of the official price. The merchants and blacksmiths who traded in imported goods were delighted to take a loss. Buying equipment for just one desert warrior would cost at least 10,000 gold.

“Wait a little bit.”

Weed used the remaining sapphires to make a circlet. The artistic value was 3,600. It had the effect of enhancing magic and gave a cooling effect to those in the desert.

“I don’t have much loose change so a transaction is difficult. Now, how much would this jewellery be worth?”

He eagerly waited for a high price. The store owner inspected the jewels and replied.

“Great Emperor, it is amazing that you crafted these jewels and honoured that you are showing it to me. The transaction price of these jewels will differ depending on the timing. But Great Emperor, the tens of thousands of gold passed down through my desert tribe is insufficient to pay for this. This circlet is worth 3 million gold, no 3.35 million gold. It is a huge amount for an ornament but I will nevertheless buy it.”

He had saved a considerable amount of money from quests. They swept through the dungeons and found good items but most of them were used by the desert warriors. That’s why he couldn’t dispose of equipment to earn money.

If Seo-yoon hadn’t helped the mercenary guild then they would still be poor.

“I will sell this.”

Weed took out a jewel crafted wand. It was a wand that granted magic and the artistic value was 4,150 so it was much more desired than the sapphire circlet. It was a treasure that would fund an army on the Central Continent.

“This thing… This store is famous so many wealthy guests will visit. The value of that is 3.6 million gold. But since you are the Great Emperor, we can give you 3.87 gold.”

“This thing is priceless. Hum hum.”

He might lose face but he still tried to bargain.

“Of course I know that. But if the amount is any more than I might not be able to dispose of it in this store. I need to take my position into account.”

The bargaining failed! The merchant already increased the price as much as possible so Weed decided to just sell it.

He needed to pay for his subordinate’s items. It would be a problem if their loyalty fell.

“Then I will sell the sapphire circlet and jewel wand to you. I am giving you a great honour. And… If you could give me an extra 30 gold.”

“Understood, Great Emperor!”

Ddiring!

– You have traded a large amount of jewellery.

The store owners will have a good impression of the person who succeeded in such a large deal.

You have become an important clientele of Laos.

You can order special items as needed.

Ordered goods will be obtained through Laos’s contacts.

You can hear information and rumours about goods.

– Charm has increased by 2.

A high amount of fame will increase the value of the jewels.

Thieves might target you after hearing rumours of riches.

Fame of the city Laos has increased by 2.

4.8 million and 30 gold has been received in minor jewels.

Warrior-7 looked at him with naive eyes and said.

“Great Emperor, I still want to buy more.”

“…Buy it. However, avoid spending excess money.”

The desert’s first legendary Sun Warrior was sad over something that could be regarded as a pittance.

‘But I am a little proud of my subordinates. If I have to compare it to walnut cookies, it is like buying a bag of 20 only to find it contains 21.’

It felt like his money was used well! Of course, they were heading to the Central Continent so it was unsure how many would return to the desert.

Then Seo-yoon opened her backpack.

“This is for your subordinates.”

“I don’t need it. I have enough to take care of my men.”

Weed wondered how much she would’ve earned since she hadn’t left the city the entire time. And she gave him money when he needed it.

“Still… How much money?”

“It is a little over 20 million gold.”

“Heok!”

“This is the Mercenary Guild’s operating funds and the compensation received after managing them.”

Seo-yoon also bought land in every major road before developing a desert city. The land values would soar and then she would sell it. She was even firmly involved with trade so there were rumours that she had all the wealth in the desert. Those funds were used to expand the Mercenary Guild and help Weed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Arpen Kingdom’s Royal Palace attracted another guest.

Heavily armed men with a tanned appearance rode towards the gates on horseback.  Swords were worn at their waist so they were obviously warriors.

“Stop!”

The NPC knights of the Arpen Kingdom saw them coming and blocked the path. They lifted polished steel swords and shields.

The shield had a wyvern drawn on it to depict their affiliation. It was different from normal wyverns as it had the flat back appearance of Wy-3!

“Intruders! This is the glorious land of the north so you aren’t allowed to invade it.”

“Surrender your weapons. Otherwise you will be attacked.”

The guards protected the gates.

Cha cha chak!

Archers appeared on the walls and aimed their longbows. The knights and soldiers of the Arpen Kingdom continuously received the invitations from users to go hunting together. Users hunting with the soldiers could earn contribution towards the kingdom.

Now the Arpen Kingdom had widened its territory and more villages belonged to it. The high level users strengthened the economy and the military also expanded.

“What, is a guild coming to attack the Royal Palace?”

“No. Take a look at that. I’ve seen a similar outfit before. NPC?”

“So this is an event?”

Players gathered near the entrance of the Royal Palace revealed their curiosity.

Of course, they were also prepared for a fight. Swordsmen placed their hands on their scabbard while magicians chanted a spell that could strike at any time.

The users were alert when they suddenly sensed a bloody atmosphere.

“I don’t know if this is an event involving NPCs.”

“Why? An appearance like that isn’t common.”

“I’ve seen it before. Big and terrible people armed with swords.”

“Oh, they are similar to those people.”

“The atmosphere around them is more menacing. I instinctively sense that they are at least level 400!”

Geomchi and his students were kind to beginners and even gave them help when hunting. Yet their infamy spread! They didn’t do any bad things but just gave off an air of life in jail.

The warriors who came to the Arpen Kingdom just proudly looked around without paying attention to the atmosphere.

“In accordance with the law of the desert, we have come to keep the blood oath.”

The knights of the Arpen Kingdom were confused and asked for the whole story.

“What does that mean?”

“We will draw our sword for the Arpen Kingdom in the future.

“What?”

“We won’t be complacent and we return the favour to the king of the Arpen Kingdom.”

The warriors from the southern desert had arrived. They were the later generations of the desert warriors that followed Weed in the past.

“One day the Arpen Kingdom will be built in the exact opposite place, the north. Desert brethren. When the time comes, send warriors to serve me as I will be the king of the Arpen Kingdom. All those who don’t comply will be taken away by the dusty winds.”

“Yes, Great Emperor!”

To the desert warriors, it was the same as God’s command. Weed’s presence was like a sun god and they unconditionally followed him. While in the past, Weed’s fame and high level earned him a huge number of slaves.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The number of Weed’s desert warriors surged to 3,000.

“The story of how you exterminated the Fire Salamander King is a huge story in my tribe.

I am lacking but am looking forward to following you.”

“Good.”

“I grew up at Rosco Lake.  My body is yours. Please accept me.”

“I will give you plenty of opportunities to fight.”

Many desert warriors were sacrificed when facing the Fire Salamanders. In addition to accepting 1,000 warriors to replace them, he accepted warriors from each desert tribe into the Red Knife unit.

In the past, he found them annoying and deliberately fed them to monsters but now their presence was valuable for his quest.

Their levels were low compared to the direct subordinates he raised. However, they were still elite warriors of the desert so they had some degree of value.

“I can’t run in recklessly. I need to fight against the Embinyu Church.”

In the contents of the quest, Nodulle took a few colleagues from the desert and headed to the Central Continent with Hilderun to stop the Embinyu Church.

“It isn’t possible to do this alone. I need to raise my subordinates.”

The scale was slowing growing out of control! Seo-yoon also had a network of contacts. She withdrew the funds invested into the desert city and directed it towards the Mercenary Guild.

“I’m saving the people. It will be dangerous.”

“Everything is available to Hilderun-nim. I don’t know what is going on but I will entrust the warriors to you.”

She recruited 8,000 elite desert warriors! The desert mercenaries were relatively cheap but they had extraordinary value. Due to the fact that Weed and Seo-yoon frequently integrated and developed the desert, the standards of the armed forces were significantly higher.

“We will enter the Central Continent. And we will take part in a noble battle to fix the continent.”

“Waaaah!”

His troops now exceeded 11,000 people!

And the elders of the desert tribes gathered. Historically there was a lack of harmony among the tribes but this stopped for a considerable period of time due to their prosperity.

“The monsters threatening the desert have disappeared due to our warriors. The Great Emperor is heading towards the Central Continent to ensure that our children can grow up safely.”

“I don’t know what difficulties there could be in that fertile land but…it must be important if Great Emperor is willing to participate.”

“Good. There can’t be a shortage of sand.”

9,000 warriors from the desert tribes came to help them. Weed’s expedition was composed of a massive following.

And the message window that appeared!

These days Weed trembled at the sight of a message window. But this time the contents were positive.

Ddiring!

– The subordinates have reached 20,000 people.

You have walked a different path from Nodulle and escaped the trajectory of destiny.

Fate can’t update and a new path has opened.

Many events will be changed when leading your troops to attack the Embinyu Church.

Will you accept the new destiny?

“Hrmm.”

Weed pondered for a moment.

“Should I suffer alone or struggle with my subordinates?”

In other words, if he refused the new destiny then he would need to dismiss most of his subordinates. He could just take the Red Knife unit which had the best equipment and elite troops in the desert.

“I need them in case the Chaos Dragon wakes up.”

It didn’t matter if his men were killed or suffered.

“I will accept the new destiny.”

– The wheel of a new destiny has started rolling.

This is a special compensation due to the much greater performance in the quest that took 22 years.

You have changed professions to Hero Saving the World.

The first upgrade for Sun Warrior has been born.

The characteristics of the Sun Warrior will be enhanced by 30%.

It is the final profession in the knight series and only one person can have it at a time.

You have transcended the limits of the human armed forces and have been given an important divine duty.

The warrior’s hand can use all weapons.

Based on experience, you can easily learn combat skills.

Honour will be at the maximum value, regardless of the stats.

The meaning of fame will disappear. Once the profession is revealed, you will receive the avid respect of many people.

You will be able to save your colleagues using your honour, faith and charisma.

All acts will minimize the increase of infamy.

Warriors fighting for the world will receive profound interest from the gods.

The gods are willing to impart some of their strength to you.

– Tyr the God of Battle has blessed you.

“Young human, the weight of the continent on your shoulder is heavy.

But you will be able to win if you believe in yourself.”

Pick five techniques related to combat.

Tyr the God of Battle will give a skill with the effectiveness of advanced level 7 but the skill proficiency won’t grow.  It is also impossible to be taught to others and will disappear after the war.

– Atrock the God of the Military has blessed you.

“Your leadership abilities are amazing. Everyone can hear your words in battle and will gain courage.”

Leadership has increased by 130.

The military commanding skill ‘Atrock’s Cry, Encouragement of the Brave’ has been acquired.

The growth of your subordinates has sped up.

– Mi-ne the Goddess of the Earth has blessed you.

“Warriors, I remember everything on the land. In this tumultuous world, the souls will experience many wounds. You have a lot of work to do for this world in the distant future yet you also planted the seed of new life in the desert. Love the land and your life won’t collapse easily.”

Maximum health has increased by 3.7 times.

Once health is reduced to less than 20%, recovery rate will increased by 4 times.

When your hand is touching the ground, you will show a mysterious resilience surpassing that of a troll.

– Lugh that symbolizes the sun has blessed you.

“Brave warrior with a sword of light and an ardent heard, move forward and defeat evil with your sword.”

Damage associated with the light attribute will rise by 55%.

Light will act as protection and will decrease dark damage by 60%.

The blessing will enhance the effect of magic.

– Freya the Goddess of Blessing and Abundance has blessed you.

“Morata’s Master, you have already accomplished great things and carry a huge fate on your back. You have walked along a path of fruit and grain.

And this will continue in the future. You and your subordinates won’t starve and will not lost your dignity in any environment.”

Food will be extremely easy to find.

No matter how long you don’t wash, charm will not decrease.

Residents will easily gain a good impression of you.

Five divine blessings.

All stats will increase by 89 until the fight against the Embinyu Church is finished.

Tyr, Atrock, Mi-ne, Lugh and Freya!

The gods who sought justice gave Weed a new destiny and power. Weed felt a heavy sense of duty.

In this day and age, he was probably the strongest human. It was like eating a meal without having to spend money.

“Blessings of the gods and Warrior Saving the World. I’ve gained the best power in this day and age.”

A warm smile was on his face. This was the exact reason why Weed wanted to raise his level in the desert.

To be honest, he found that acting out the role of Nodulle was boring. He had to follow the trail of a good person. Despite many people worrying about him, he threw away a guaranteed future for the woman he loved.

“Maybe he just distributed all his money through the desert.”

In the future, he probably became widely known for justice on the continent after defeating the Embinyu Church. Of course, he was a different but Weed’s mindset was so different it was like comparing tuna and an eagle.

“I can properly face the Embinyu Church with this power.”

The gods trusted him to take care of the Embinyu Church.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– A huge force is coming from the south of the continent to stop you. Defeat them.

Get rid of all those who would interfere.

“Yes. I understand.”

The High Priest woke up the sleeping forces of evil earlier than planned. They also mobilized the other branches of the Embinyu Church.

High Priest Motuls of the 4th sect led the Bronze Army. High Priest Igrig of the 6th sect led the army consisting of fanatics.

“Tell me how to help my brothers wake up the dragon Ausollet.”

Pechet of the Embinyu Church was willing to help. Igrig had another opinion.

“Is this even worth it?”

“This is the most immediate work. We need to remove anyone who will interfere with our work of destroying the continent. God Embinyu has entrusted us with this so we have to handle it directly.”

“Good. Then I agree.”

Pechet was the strongest witch in this warring age and caused big headaches to the kingdoms she harassed. Pechet had eliminated countless elites from the Keltun Kingdom and the damage had caused of major decline of the kingdom’s military power.

The Embinyu Church in the past had been caught off guard. Nodulle adventured with 7 other friends and broke the Embinyu Church’s conspiracy. The friends in the desert that he met during that time included Hestiger, Luhellun, Brevinsun, etc.

The lucky Hestiger was Nodulle’s most loyal ally. Four of those people became Weed’s subordinates but 3 of them died while he hadn’t met the rest yet because he was too busy touring the hunting grounds.

Weed didn’t know this fact and laughed happily.

“Huhuhu, there are differences in this quest. The poor Nodulle suffered while those who worked hard will receive something in return.”

He had less luck than Nodulle so the events became more complicated. The degree of difficulty for this quest was already high and it just increased one step further.

Weed decided on five combat skills.

“Absolute Defense!”

It increased the defensive power of the warrior’s armour by 3 times. When suffering from deadly or successive attacks, the body can still move to avoid it.

If he had Absolute Defense then he wouldn’t die even when surrounded by knights. Due to the massive increase in health from Mi-ne the Goddess of Earth’s blessing, he could withstand the concentrated attacks of strong enemies.

“And the following techniques… Sword Awakening that increases damage, Power of Birth, Black Knight’s Strike and Summon Another Sword!”

It was beneficial to take advantage of these skills. These were all skill that Bardray had.

Sword Awakening increased the damage of the weapon itself. The Power of Birth decreased the amount of vitality used and can enable him to use the maximum power. There was an extra effect of pushing back the enemies.

The Black Knight’s Strike was a wide area attack skill. Summon Another Sword created a sword of mana that would fly by itself for offense and defense.

While fighting Bardray, Weed had determined that his composition of attack and defense skills was pretty good.

He didn’t learn Power Break that destroyed the opponent’s weapon or Heriam Fencing from the Tower of Heroes.

Bardray received the support of the Hermes Guild and reaped the benefits to obtain superior skills..

“One day I will aim to learn them.”

Weed’s current skills weren’t bad but it was like heaven and earth when comparing it to Bardray. Of course, he reached level 824 and mastered Swordsmanship so it couldn’t be compared. He also raised some skills in the desert that would supplement his weaknesses.

“Now I can march to the Central Continent to face the Embinyu Church.”

The quest had a time limit of 3 months. The backdrop was the entire continent so he couldn’t be too hasty.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Noah Principality.

It was a country on the Central Continent facing the sea and was active in trade. In times of war, supplies were traded through there and large fortunes could be earned.

Weed and his men rode on camels towards Noah. During the previous quest, he had been in a hurry so their camel riding skills were excellent. Weed and his troops ran forward like the wind. The warriors also had above basic horseback riding skill.

“There is a dust cloud coming from the south.”

“What is it?”

Noah’s defenders discovered something approaching them.

Deng! Deng! Deng!

The bell rang to inform of an emergency and Noah’s military force gathered. It numbered 32,000 soldiers!

This was a time of war so even a small principality had many troops. On the other hand, it was mainly concentrated on defense with a lot of archers.

Noah’s army had assembled when Weed and the Red Knife troops arrived.

“The scale of a commerce city is considerably big.”

The city under the blue sky contained antique buildings made of red bricks. It was an old city so the result was complicated and narrow passages. It was a city with the traditional look and elegance of medieval times.

“The enemy has appeared!”

“Prepare for a fight. There aren’t many enemies!”

The sound of the Noah soldiers shouting could be heard.

“We are just approaching but the army is already prepared for battle. It is natural since the desert warriors have an image of an invader.”

Of course, his subordinates hadn’t come with pure intentions.

“Now, what should I do?”

Weed had to make a choice at this time.

The desert warriors were heavily armed so they would encounter problems when moving around the Central Continent.

The movement of extensive troops wasn’t permitted even in peaceful times let alone now in a time of war! Leading the desert warriors towards the Central Continent would naturally be considered as an invasion of the south.

Weed thought for a moment after arriving at the Noah Principality.

‘Can I solve this with an amicable conversation? It is also possible to use a suitable bribe. But convincing the leader of every city I have to pass through will become tedious. Then should I divide the desert warriors into smaller numbers in order to move? No, that is the worst method. Those impatient people will cause a fight anywhere they go.’

He couldn’t give up the 20,000 members of the desert warrior army. Noah’s military also wasn’t considered strong on the Central Continent. They paled in comparison to the monsters fought in the desert!

Weed made a decision.

“I’m glad. If they are obstructing us then we just need to shatter it And then we can obtain all the loot.”

The Noah Principality was famous for its gold and spices trade! He discarded any thoughts of diplomacy and decided to thoroughly destroy them. Anyway, he was currently Nodulle so infamy wasn’t important.

“Being too good is boring. This will be fun.”

Weed was seeking the endlessly intense days of Continent of Magic. That’s why he had no trouble with punishment in the game. Living in a world of the sword was the ambition of a man!

He wanted to lead an army in a time of war. If he followed his head instead of his heart then he would regret it later.

But he had to fight very carefully. Weed and his troops could be called the strongest combat force. However, the desert warriors he belatedly accepted weren’t seasoned yet. They weren’t properly equipped for a large scale war so the 20,000 army might be destroyed in vain.

“We have to thoroughly avoid the crowd. Everybody prepare for battle.”

The desert warriors raised their bow and scimitars. He didn’t have any siege weapons so Weed needed to find a way to destroy the gates and walls.

If fact, if Weed used his power then Noah Castle wouldn’t be that difficult.

“I have to use the army properly.”

Users in Royal Road dreamed of facing against an army by themselves. Weed had the sufficient qualifications and abilities to do so. But it was difficult to control his power against ordinary soldiers and knights.

Then the Noah knights appeared on the wall.

“Some barbarians of the desert had come here to pillage.”

The Noah knights were naturally NPCs. The Noah soldiers shouted and laughed in mockery.

“Kilkil, they don’t know anything.”

“They are just useless bodies that will be buried.”

“We will give those beggars bread crumbs before they die.”

Weed was the commander but didn’t feel the need to say excessive things.

‘There is no way the morale of my troops will reduce.’

His reputation in the desert hadn’t spread to here. The only people who knew Weed well were the warriors who accompanied him from the desert. He laughed at even the thought of surrendering voluntarily.

Sentiment was ignored in the east, west and south. The shabby clothes of the desert warriors meant they were ignored. The wealthy warriors of Noah were armed with steel armour. This was in comparison to the desert warriors who were wearing leather clothing.

The reason was that metal armour was impractical in the hot desert and it was difficult to find blacksmiths. The desert tribes produced leather armour and weapons but the quality wasn’t good compared to the Central Continent.

Weed was familiar with being ignored. From a young age, he was always wearing bad clothes and bags compared to the others at school.

“Come to think of it, I never once bought snacks or ice cream at elementary school.”

At that time, he was ashamed and embarrassed around his friends. Now he was much more mature. But his stingy personality became worse as he got older!

“Kill everyone. Get rid of all the seeds. And take away the armour they are wearing. Warrior-3, take some troops and attack.”

“Yes!”

Warrior-3 took 400 troops and approached the enemies.

“Fire! Don’t let those savage people climb up the walls!”

Noah’s army fired their arrows as soon as the desert warriors were in range. The archers let loose a huge storm of arrows that couldn’t be avoided.

“Kueok!”

“Shields!”

“Block the top!”

Warrior-3’s troops moved forward and tried to protect their fallen colleagues. Of course, they just had the role of bait. Most of Warrior-3’s troops had high health despite not wearing good armour so they wouldn’t be killed by arrows shot from that distance.

This was to learn the power of the enemies and consume their arrows! Some even fell on purpose and acted dead.

The desert warriors would follow any instructions even if it was cowardly. They obediently followed any command merciless attacked the enemy without hesitation.

“They are tough to this extent. They are not as shallow as I thought. I guess we have to do this siege properly.”

Then Noah’s army leader shouted.

“This is nothing! The arrows are precious. Come out and smash these guys!”

The army naively opened the gates and exited the city to face the desert warriors. There were a few cavalry soldiers but they were mostly made up of infantry. The knights and Lord of Noah were conceited due to constantly repulsing the invaders in this time of war.

In Weed’s eyes, they were like little boys just entering the world.

“Wait until enough of them has emerged.”

“Yes, Great Emperor.”

The desert warriors continued waiting in place. They didn’t want to miss the opportunity to fight.

“Many times they will be swept away with me needing to fight.”

Weed knew how to patiently wait for the correct time and also had perseverance. And finally the enemy troops came close enough that they wouldn’t be able to return to the castle.

“Sword Awakening, Power of Birth.”

He used secondary skills to increase his damage. His level was already enough to not die against fearsome monsters when getting distracted in a terrible dungeon.

He felt an electrifying thrill when facing the Noah soldiers.

“Sword of Deep Collapse!”

This was a skill he gained as a Sun Warrior.

Numerous coloured emerged from Weed’s sword before radiating in every direction. The sharp point of the sword then pointed down and entered the ground. The sword hilt became deeply lodged in the ground.

Kukung!

The earth suddenly became barren like the desert terrain. The grass and rocks broke down into small grains of sand. The land became eroded and cracked.

The soldiers of the Noah army that stepped onto the ground sank into the sand. It was a wide area attack skill!

The ground that the enemy stepped on became a skill instead.

“Kuweeeek!”

“I’m falling. Help!”

There were more than 2,000 casualties once the dust settled! It was originally a great skill but the range expanded since he reached level 800.

The enemy troops were buried in a 20 metre deep pit. Those alive in the pit clamoured for someone to save them but they couldn’t climb up.

“The blessings of the gods is definitely effective. This isn’t even the best power yet.”

It was difficult to imagine so the huge Noah army froze. They stopped in shock from the assault and yelled.

“Monster!”

“Black magic, it is a human devil!”

The word ‘bully’ was insufficient to describe him. He had scared the entire army with a single attack.

But the desert warriors didn’t move despite the good opportunity. Weed ordered them to pick up the japtem first!

Weed gradually cast his second skill. The collapse of the ground gave him considerable time to prepare. The mana consumption was quite large but it could be used three or four more times.

“End of the Day!”

Hot flames spread out like a tsunami. The cruel and greedy flames that would burn everything! It was like the lava slowly flowing down when a volcano erupted.

Once the fire reached the ordinary soldiers, they were covered in flames until only the bones fell to the ground.

The stricken soldiers started trying to escape to the rear.

“N-no! I can’t possibly die here. My mother, wife and children at home… And the neighbour’s wife Helen is waiting for me!”

“We have angered the god of the desert. We will live if we can enter the castle!”

“The embodiment of fire. The Lord of Noah has done something bad and this is the punishment.”

“Red Dragon! The Red Dragon has found us!”

The soldiers shouted as they fell into a state of panic. The Noah’s army that received a serious blow had their morale fell sharply. If a commander had outstanding power then the entire strength of the army could double.

However, Weed was capable enough to control victory or defeat on his own. His power surpassed the limitation of a human so the knights and magicians ran for the castle.

This was the dignity of a level 800 Sun Warrior! The level 200, 300 and 400 had their combat spirit collapsed when confronted with Weed. Their limbs instinctively trembled from a fear that grew out of control.

It was like a real God of War was there.

“It is like young children twisting in my palm. Black Knight’s Strike!”

Weed took advantage of the attack skill to jump over the pit. His agility was high and he wasn’t wearing full plate armour so it was almost like he was flying. Even so, it was reckless for him to face the Noah army alone. But there was no one who could stop Weed’s attack.

“One, two, three, four!”

Enemies disappeared every time he swung a sword. And after a series of continuous attacks, he would use a wide area skill.

– Black Knight’s Strike

An irreversible attack against the surrounding enemies.

The soldiers who pretended to resist were hit by the shock waves and changed to grey. The archers with low health and vitality were easy game. Although arrows were fired, they were swept away with the wide area skills. The knights and soldiers were mercilessly hunted by Weed!

In the past, he thought that coordinate and organizing his subordinates were important. The entire unit would act to optimize their combat capabilities. But now he was in the vanguard and earned the most achievements.

During dungeon hunts, Weed also charged at the front while his subordinates swept up the remnants from behind. The presence of his subordinates weren’t necessary so there was no need to take care of them.

Now the battlefield was just like a playground.

He was like a lion among a flock of sheep. Weed leapt into enemy lines and made a mess of the Noah army. Attacks hit his body but he just ignored them. His resilience and perseverance was already like an absolute defense.

But he had no need to take care of the weak Noah army alone. He had already piled up the achievements from the beginning of the battle. Weed sent a command towards his bloodthirsty men.

“Step on them. There is no need for prisoners. Kill and plunder!”

– Atrock’s Cry has been used.

49,050 mana is consumed.

The duration is 30 minutes.

Your subordinates have blind confidence in their victory.

Every time they kill an enemy, they will feel less pain and gain more experience.

Resistance to magic curses will increase.

Even a generous offer by the enemies won’t lead to betrayal.

“Great Emperor has given permission. Let’s start hunting!”

The desert warriors were all riding camels and horses. They had been waiting for a while so they ran at full speed towards the Noah soldiers. Only the dead bodies of the soldiers remained everywhere they passed.

One-sided slaughter!

These soldiers and knights had a high standard in the age of war.

Weed and his troops destroyed the wealth Noah Principality as they took their first steps into the Central Continent.

Chapter 6: The Disappearing City

Weed moved without hesitation after demolishing the Noah Principality.

“The enemies are coming. The allies of Noah.”

“I can see the shape of the beacon. There is no reconciliation or truce. Advance.”

“Yes, Great Emperor!”

They looted and secured the Provista Principality and the free city Mogen.

“Cut down the time you take to loot.”

The army simple smashed anything standing in their way while moving. The desert warriors used the power of the camels to move towards the heart of the Central Continent at lightning fast speed.

People often had the misunderstanding that camels were slower than horses. However, a camel was much faster and had stronger endurance.

Weed and the Red Knife unit advanced into the central area.

“Have you heard rumours of the three headed monster in the desert? It deals with the fires of hell and disappears after dealing damage to the soul.”

“The devil has appeared in this world.”

“Has God sent it down to punish us humans?”

No matter how he tried to minimize his infamy, dangerous rumours spread like wildfire among the occupied territories. Originally Warrior Saving the World would use their righteousness in order to save the world and the other species on it. Like a movie, they fought against evil forces and a dragon. It was unfair but if he overcame the difficulties then the world would recognize him.

Weed had piled up so much stress that it felt like he would need to go to the hospital.

“Just like the elementary school book said, it is hard for a man to live in this world.”

A Warrior Saving the World was now indiscriminately destroying cities. But he still has some mercy as he left behind enough sweet potatoes and potatoes for the residents of the kingdoms he overpowered to eat.

Ddiring!

– Combat achievements have piled up.

You will have an influence of the balance of power in the Central Continent.

Weed ignored the messages that occasionally popped up. He had no choice but to lead his army forward to meet Ahellun.

He had secretly fled with Seo-yoon when he had no power but now there was no need. He didn’t need to hesitate with a strong, armed force!

Of course, his subordinates needed to become stronger to fight against the Embinyu Church. More experience was often achieved through war than hunting. The current level of his men wasn’t good enough yet. But the constant looting allowed them to easily obtain top of the line equipment.

– You have looted the city of Frederick.

Infamy has increased by 2,774.

You have obtained the exclusive title ‘Greed and Dirty Person.’

A title that only the low class humans would receive and it will cause hostility.

“Well, it is a decent nickname. Anyway, all my infamy and related titles will be lost after returning to my original time!”

Weed wasn’t a gentleman. He just killed anyone who opposed him in Continent of Magic.

Compared to that, he had been living relatively gently in Royal Road. He avoided any relationships with the prestigious guilds. He had suffered while founding a kingdom only to have the Hermes Guild strike. The accumulated stress and tantrums!

“Looking at the damages in my life, it really is like a story.”

He would drink a hot broth only to find it wasn’t cooled. When looking at it from that point of view, destroying the kingdoms and facing the Embinyu Church wasn’t a bad choice.

“Returning to the past worked out well. I can act as I like!”

There were a number of large scale battles as he moved on. There was a time limit on the quest so he just attacked the enemies.

– You have burned the city.

A human committing wicked acts would naturally receive censure.

But there are no witnesses so infamy has only increased by 1,938.

– Horn Castle has been destroyed.

The cornerstone has been removed and the violent action will spread fear.

You have obtained the Castle Owner document.

“There is something else.”

Weed read the piece of paper.

–I have sworn eternal loyalty to God Embinyu.

And a video occurred!

The Lord of Horn Castle was wearing a black robe and bowing to someone.

“That day will soon come…”

“Yes, of course.”

“The soldiers….”

“They have finished the preparations and are waiting.”

“I vow to follow Embinyu…”

“My soul will forever be yours!”

It was the scene of the Lord of Horn Castle swearing allegiance to the Embinyu Church.

– A secret guardian of the Embinyu Church has been discovered.

Faith has increased by 14.

“Once again. A strange piece of paper.”

He was able to obtain new information in the midst of his looting.

– Tirek City is representative of the fanatics of the Embinyu Church.

Prepare the army to wipe them out.

That message shone during the battle. He continued to gain information about the Embinyu Church as he moved from cities and castles.

– You have obtained the Embinyu Church’s List of Signers #3.

– Important information has been obtained.

Ddiring!

– The historians in the next generation have judged this warring period to be a savage time.

There are corrupt and incompetent kings, greedy nobles who only care about profit and knights that craved blood.

However, it was an unknown fact that many of these kingdoms actually followed the Embinyu Church.

They gathered forces to oppose the Embinyu Church but were actually secret members.

After a certain amount of time passed, the Embinyu Church suddenly stopped all their activities and disappeared.

Since then, the remaining kings just wanted to beat each other and the war became boring.

– Background information about the time of war has been obtained.

An important change has occurred in the situation of the continent.

The quest has been updated.

A new quest related to the Embinyu Church has replaced the existing ‘The Path for the World.’

– Advent of the Conqueror

In the age of war, many kingdoms have become cronies of the Embinyu Church. There are those who want to do the right but they are weak and have no hope.

The fanatics of the Embinyu Church spread covertly like poisonous mushrooms. The sunny world was tinged with the darkness of the Embinyu Church!

Then destroyers came from the vast sands to change the existing world situation. Can their uncompromising pursuit erase the dark shadows cast over this world?

The goal is the destruction of all kingdoms that follow the Embinyu Church!

And maximize the death of the fanatics!

In times of war where the evil forces are widespread, great strength is needed to decisively pull up the roots.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Quest Reward: Special title with stats.

Quest Restrictions: Proceed with this until you reach Ahellun.

The quest will fail if you or Hilderun dies.

Objective: Destroy the following kingdoms that contain fanatics.

Destroy the cities surrounding the Herr River.

Destruction of the Jeben Kingdom.

Devastate the training base of the fanatics in the Ruprea Principality.

Destroy the three city state, Vino.

Total destruction of the Tarot Nation.

Set the city of Itua on fire.

In addition, destroy the other unknown cities that have sworn obedience to the Embinyu Church.

The quest will be completed with 3 or more of these goals are completed. If you achieve 5 or more goals then the battle with the Embinyu Church will expand.

Please Note:

The Embinyu Church members gathered might come save their colleagues being attacked in order to obtain their cooperation.

Depending on your infamy, the Embinyu Church members might be prepared by the time you arrive to stop the awakening of Ausollet.

The more fanatics that are destroyed, the more difficult it will be for the Embinyu Church to secure sacrifices for the Chaos Dragon.

If you obtain a large achievement, compensation will be given after the final secret sculpting technique quest ends.

The damage to the Embinyu Church will also affect their power in the original time.

“The quest has changed.”

The warring period was full of rot. Thus the quest required a conqueror to get rid of the darkness!

Maybe life was a constant stream of quests and survival. A child was led from pre-school to elementary school by their mother. Once they grew, they would go to junior high, high school, university, the military, employment, marriage, preparing a home and having children.

It wasn’t easy to settle this series of quests. They would have to instinctively notice their boss, use excessive overtime to complete the tasks and attend work related dinners. Once they got home, they might not receive any respect from their families.

However, there were also moments of happiness while carrying the weight on their shoulders. Their level would rise and they would be rewarded by such things.

Weed felt similar dots on this quest.

“However, I need to keep the contents firmly in mind. It is just destroying like I’ve been doing until now.”

It was a quest that suited his aptitude. After receiving Warrior Saving the World, his ability to fight had increased further. His subordinates were also brave and reliable. They would be able to display a fierce ambition in modern society.

“I will destroy the continent with my own hands!”

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Dagan Kingdom was one of the countries on the verge of destruction due to war.

It once possessed an important granary system alongside the Ruben Plains. The kings and nobles that pledged their loyalty to the Embinyu Church gained riches while the soldiers acquired special powers.

The population wasn’t enough to call it a powerful country but there were quite a few culture and ruins left behind for the next generation.

In the golden days, the territory was wide enough to rule over 13 big castles. But Weed and the desert warriors were born and the history changed, making them encounter an invasion 100 years earlier.

“We need supplies for war. Dagan Kingdom is good for this.”

Weed led his troops over the border of Dagan Kingdom.

The royal family of the Dagan Kingdom held an emergency meeting.

Of course, Weed saw this scene in a video. This was the benefit of the Earth Goddess Mi-ne.

“Those barbarians dare step on our sacred territory, Your Majesty.”

“That’s right. Let’s show them a lesson.”

The half-naked women, kings and nobles congregated in the Royal Palace were in chaos. The enforcement of discipline had collapsed, veteran knights were demoted and the nobles were only skilled in flattery. They had become familiar with extravagance and hedonism due to the Embinyu Church.

“We will shatter the barbarians so why should Your Majesty appear directly? We will show the dignity of Your Majesty to the surrounding kingdoms and even the people complaining about the king will be quiet.”

“I agree. I will lead the military directly to deal the punishment. I will personally teach those barbarians a lesson.”

“It is worrying. I heard those people are unusually cruel.”

“I also heard that. But those guys will stop here. The armoured cavalrymen and infantry are an impregnable fortress that they absolutely can’t pierce.”

“Of course, Your Majesty. It is a good idea to practice fighting before proceeding to conquer other areas.”

“Huhuhu, it was worth investing a lot of money into the military.”

The King of the Dagan Kingdom gathered 60,000 troops and met them in the middle of the plains.

“Look at them. You can’t even distinguish between the infantry.”

“Their armour doesn’t even have a unified look, Your Majesty.”

“They don’t even have a flag which is a symbol of their pride.”

“It isn’t time to show Your Majesty’s dignity. The soldiers are here to serve Your Majesty so you should just rest and we will delay the battle until tomorrow.”

The nobles of the Dagan Kingdom sneered at the desert warriors. The Dagan Kingdom’s elite soldiers were organized in the traditional manner!

“Those fellows are looking at us and laughing.”

“Are we going to just wait? No one would dare laugh at us in the desert.”

Weed laughed while riding Bactrian Camel.

Puheheheng!

The camels looked ridiculous to the Dagan Kingdom. The desert warriors rode camels and carried different types of weapons. The desert warriors looked ridiculous to the knights who used swords with both feet on the ground.

The desert warriors used specific weapons and could display outstanding abilities. They shot arrows or threw their hand axes while mounted.

“This is the first battle that will test our power against the military. Unit 1, pretend to break through enemy lines. Unit 2 will go around the right side to bypass any blocks. Unit 3 will wait to attack the enemy along with Unit 2. Unit 4 will go to the left. Unit 5 will arm themselves with bows.”

Weed divided 3,000 desert warriors using a variety of tactics, including ranged attacks.

“I’m going. Kyihahhh!”

The dust flew up as the camels rushed forward. The 60,000 heavily armoured infantry and cavalry formed a solid defense that was dangerous.

It would take a lot of power to break through the brunt of the infantry. It was common for those attempting to break through the cavalry to be eaten by them instead.

Weed didn’t feel the need for a frontal attack so he tried a variety of tactics.

“We have to strike them hard.”

The scattered desert warriors assembled and struck one point.

“I am Warrior-1!”

A sculptural lifeform. They were the commanders of the desert warriors.

“Let’s go, Hyung-nim!”

“Today will be a festival of blood.”

Each sculptural lifeforms had their own units and stormed the enemy forces.

The mobility and destructive force that couldn’t be caught exposed the weakness of the enemy camp. By default, the armoured infantry moved slowly so they exhausted themselves chasing them. There was also cumulative damage from the arrows and axes that the desert warriors threw while circling them.

The armoured cavalry were much simpler opponents. The desert warriors were cavalrymen in the desert. When the armoured cavalry tried to show their destructive power, the opponents had already scattered and weren’t there anymore. It felt like the enemy was endless but that was due to cunning tactics.

“These desert savages, they have no idea of honour!”

“They are like hyenas!”

The armoured cavalry rampaged wildly. The knights started accusing them after becoming frustrating but the desert warriors thought it was just useless nonsense.

“Why do they keep on talking about honour?”

“I don’t know. My parents never mentioned it even once.”

“Weed-nim who is the Great Emperor spoke about honour.”

“What is it?”

“It is something that makes life more tiring. If we commit to bad actions then we will be healthy and live longer.”

The desert warriors who believed in Weed’s words! At the end of their racing, the armoured cavalry was so tired that they had no chance. They were slow and heavy so their vulnerability was exposed once they stopped. Once their speed slowed, it opened them up to counterattacks by the mounted enemies.

This was a tactic that could be seen in military manuals. Wolves used this method to hunt down grazing animals.

Weed’s desert warriors were strong and he had a firm grasp of the enemy’s weaknesses. Weed and his subordinates’ growth was the result of 22 years of training!

“Give up. Let’s stop fighting.”

“I surrender. Please treat us as the nobility.”

The king and nobles surrendered after the victory. The Dagan Kingdom already had 23,000 casualties. The prisoners were close to 25,000 people.

There were few desert warriors among the victory. Some were those that grew together with Weed but they were mainly the recruited warriors from the desert tribes.

Weed gave a command.

“Don’t kill the prisoners.”

“Yes, Great Emperor!”

And the destruction and looting of the Dagan Kingdom!

“How could these cruel acts… I don’t even fear the sky!”

The king and nobles helped captive after surrendering started running amok.

“The sky? I don’t know anything about that. The real scary thing is the heating business in winter. Hey kids, these guys are being noisy so cut their necks!”

The king and nobles were beheaded!

Ddiring!

– The leaders of the Dagan Kingdom steeped in the Embinyu Church has disappeared.

Many in the Dagan Kingdom gave up their resistance and he was able to have a bloodless foray.

“Ohhhh!”

“These savages, they should go away.”

“God Embinyu will rule over this land. Destruction. Destruction. Destruction!”

The Embinyu Church revealed their true colours after the leaders died and started looting and setting fires in the cities. In this state, the residents were indifferent to things like human morality, honour or infamy and would just follow anyone.

For example, Nodulle could’ve been a great leader of the Dagan Kingdom. Weed was a different matter.

“Search the city for everything of value. And thoroughly destroy it!”

He found youths with good physiques and forcibly conscripted them as slaves. Weed’s troops increased to 60,000 people. But they weren’t like the youths the Embinyu Church recruited to be fanatics! They didn’t have any loyalty so there was always a chance of desertion.

“The next battlefield is Eluna. March!”

The 60,000 strong army either walked or moved by carriages. There was a mountain of materials behind the combatants. Merchants were forced to draw the carriages and made to trade. Weed jumped into the role of a villain in these times of war.

“I shouldn’t stop eating halfway. Once it started, I must do it properly. I have to act as a conqueror if I want to defeat the Embinyu Church.”

The weapons from the Dagan Kingdom were used to sweep through other occupied areas without much resistance. And the war with the Eluna Kingdom!

It was much bigger than the Dagan Kingdom and had a long history. Weed led the troops and quickly advanced towards an important fortress called Brunhaim in Eluna Kingdom.

“These savages, go away!”

“Soon His Majesty will send reinforcements and none of these people will return alive.”

He decided to stroke the Brunhaim Fortress in Eluna.  Weed’s victory had already reached here so they were prepared.

“It is impossible for a warrior to live forever in a time of war. This is a chance to make the slaves into proper fighters.”

Weed started a merciless operation.

“Give the conscripted soldiers from the Dagan Kingdom bows and arrows. Armour or shields to protect the body isn’t necessary. And have them shoot arrows while advancing towards the fortress.”

“Yes, Great Emperor.”

The desert warriors gave out the bows and arrows to the conscripted soldiers according to his command. And he forced them to advance.

Arrows from Brunhaim Fortress flew and hit the soldiers.

“Unbelievable…”

“No. I don’t want to die!”

The soldiers that tried to flee were executed by the desert warriors! The desert warriors were ruthless so they weren’t embarrassed about their actions. Brunhaim Fortress were considered the enemy so they wouldn’t retreat even if it meant death. They couldn’t shoot arrows towards the walls.

Nevertheless, the slave soldiers were attacked and collapsed! They didn’t have armour or any basic shields to protect their body. They couldn’t hide behind walls and could only shoot their arrows.

Nearly half of the 40,000 slaves died in vain. It was a tremendous but forced sacrifice.

Weed had other ideas while watching such a horrifying situation.

‘Should I eat jjapagetti tonight?’ Well, I’ll like to eat ramyun as well.’

A conflict in his life choices!

There were many cases when users became attached to NPCs. Giving and receiving help from others during the quests would further their intimate relationship. Weed and his sculptural lifeforms have a similar relationship. The feeling of making them work hard even if they were lacking.

The weak NPCs dying were unrelated to Weed. They only existed in the current time zone so the NPCs would just disappear later. In other words, they were expendable consumables that he could take advantage of. A strong person would have a comfortable life compared to the weak.

“This is good enough. Have the soldiers retreat.”

“Yes, Great Emperor!”

The desert warriors gave the signal to retreat to the soldiers. A few arrows flying blindly had injured some of the fortress’s defenders but the damage was almost nothing. The defense had consumed their arrows and with no reserves, the fortress would fall within a day or two.

“The number of soldiers should be reduced in order to prevent a rebellion.”

The slave soldiers in this battle hated the Eluna Kingdom. Once the Eluna Kingdom occupied an area, they forcefully conscripted soldiers and create hostility among the slaves.

In addition, they greatly feared the desert warriors. Weed and the desert warriors appropriately used their fears to manage them on the battlefield. They used tactics to drive a wedge between people who had been friends since a young age.

That evening, Weed created a sculpture. It was a precise sculpture of Fort Brunhaim and the lands surrounding it. An earthquake had split the fortress into two.

Weed had his subordinates withdraw behind the fortress.

“Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

Kwarururururung!

The ground shook so hard that they couldn’t stand properly. Far away from the camels and horses, wagons had their wheels broken off. And the thick stone walls of Brunhaim Fortress were demolished. The towers containing the archers fell on the soldiers underneath.

Distant screams could be heard due to the power of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting! The reason he used this skill despite the large penalty was because he wanted a sure and quick win.

“Charge.”

Weed and the desert warriors riding the camels jumped over the broken wall. The slave soldiers followed behind without any armour but held swords. The Eluna soldiers failed to respond properly after the fortress was demolished.

“End of the Day!”

Weed’s skill swept through the knights.

“Black Knight’s Strike!”

No one dared take an attack from Weed’s sword. And a wide area skill.

The desert warriors also jumped in.

The army that came from the hot desert conquered Brunhaim Fortress.

“Owahhhh!”

“Attack. Kill everyone!”

The slave soldiers also furiously slashed at Eluna’s soldiers. They had experienced endless fear when facing the walls with just a bow! They didn’t dare complain to Weed and the desert warriors so they directed all their hate towards Eluna’s soldiers.

“Should we take any prisoners?”

Warrior-1 asked when he was certain of victory.

“No. We can’t forgive those who tried to strike against us. Burn the entire fortress.”

“… Really?”

“Yes.”

Weed’s subordinates completely burned down the fortress at his command.

– Infamy has increased by 48,921.

Charisma has increased by 27.

The title ‘Cruel and Diabolical Murderer’ has been acquired.

A brutal and violent war!

These actions normally wouldn’t be taken by humans. However, Weed thought that he shouldn’t act too moderately during this quest.

“I need to instil more fear in order for future battles to proceed smoothly.”

The residents had a different mindset in times of war. If they didn’t respect the desert warriors then they would revolt. The slaves soldiers also feared the Embinyu Church and didn’t believe anyone could suppress them. Ruthless violence was the best solution to ensure people wouldn’t revolt.

The slaves soldiers that witnessed the slaughter froze. And it actually caused adverse effects!

“How splendid.”

“The ideal military tyrant.”

“Yes, he is obviously the new incarnation of Embinyu. He can create a fascinating environment.”

The Embinyu fanatics in the ruins of Brunhaim rejoiced!

This influenced the slave soldiers and they were more aggressive during the next battle. After winning several battles, the forced recruitment increased the number of slave soldiers to 200,000. The victories in the siege warfare caused fear of Weed and his troops to spread deep into the continent.

The only person who could stop Weed’s ruthless activities was Seo-yoon. She was the one in charge of Weed’s military funding and other related matters.

“….Yes? We can do that.”

Unbelievable money transactions between parents, siblings and children! But Weed knew what Seo-yoon had done in the desert so he easily allowed her.

‘She will take care of it well. Anyway, I can always gain more money.’

He just needed to plunder some goods!

Seo-yoon paid money to the merchants and provided the necessary materials to the army. These were times of war so the merchants were blinded by money.

“Thank you for this transaction. Is there anything else?”

After a few successful transactions, Seo-yoon made a special order.

“…Can you do it?”

“It is difficult to get past the magician’s tower but if we used the Royal Teleport Gate then it can be easily obtained. Yes? If we obtain it early will you give us more money? Aigoo, I’m so thankful! I will use any method.”

And the merchants obtained 300 elephants.

So far, Weed’s army consisted of the desert warriors and the slave soldiers. In addition to planting fear in the enemies, Seo-yoon organized an elephant combat troops.

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The Haven Empire that had repelled the Allied Forces!

Moros Castle was an important place in the Central Continent. It was a historically significant commercial city that traded in high end furniture, velvet and spices.

The Haven Empire had incorporated it after conquering the Britten Alliance Kingdom and the entire area had high taxes.

Lord Ropno!

“I did well to bribe the Hermes Guild to allow me to rule this place. I’ve collected a huge amount of money due to the raised taxes while ruling this city.”

The Lord felt proud as he looked out the window and enjoyed the sight of the blue sky and buildings spread before him.

“Ruoni, those houses over there… When did it change to a wasteland?”

“Well, I’m not sure.”

“It is probably just my mistake.”

“Perhaps you’re right. It is a quiet residential area, not a wasteland.”

They both started laughing at the mistake. The Lord remembered every inch of this city. But on this hot summer day, the houses on the outskirts seemed to melt away like ice cream.

“What is this? The luxury residential buildings are clearly smaller. Eh? Now they’ve completely disappeared.”

“What is going on? The small houses at the boundaries has disappeared and the city shrank! This is nonsense.”

Ropno evaluated the number of inhabitants using the mode reserved for lords. But he only confirmed that there were 30,000 less people than yesterday.

“How did this happen? It is like a plague.”

It was a situation that caused his spirit to go crazy! The change soon moved from the residential to commercial area of Moros Castle. The thriving business district noticeably shrank.

There was a reduction in trade goods, the residents’ attire worsened and the streets became emptier. The merchants with protruding stomachs turned thin like they had dried out. Roadside stalls closed and the buildings disappeared.

The commercial district closed and the city literally melted away. The places where roads and buildings were became covered with overgrown weeds and the surrounding area became wastelands and forests.

“What is happening?”

“What is this?”

The Hermes Guild users and regular users who belatedly discovered this were confused. There were many merchants who came to Moros Castle despite the high taxes.

In addition, hundreds of people waiting in front of the gates thought it was absurd as they saw the disappearing city!

“Well, this is a grand sight.”

“Indeed. I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Anyway, it is someone else’s business so it is fun to watch. The users still remained in the same spot as only the buildings and residents disappeared. It was a weird experience for them to experience buildings or goods they were buying suddenly melt away.

The city disappeared until only the users were left. The walls of Moros Castle gradually faded away until only the land remained. Moros Castle and the commercial district changed to fields and forests.

At almost the same time, wooden buildings appeared at the nearby river. Small boats floating leisurely and fishermen NPCs were there.

The Hermes Guild ran up to them.

“Excuse me, I wanted to ask you something.”

“What? I’ve been here a couple of years and it is amazing that so many people suddenly showed up.”

“Eh?”

“Yes, where did you come from? The north or the south?”

The Hermes Guild felt frustration at the fisherman who was placing bait on the end of his fishing line.

“We were here in Moros Castle.”

“Moros Castle? I’ve never heard of that name in this area.”

“It was built on that wide piece of land just 10 minutes ago.”

“Hey, stop joking. That is a wasteland. Furthermore, doesn’t my son run there every day? He even tried to grow a little garden there two years ago but there was too much gravel and he had to give up.”

The Hermes Guild couldn’t understand what the fisherman was talking about. They had quite a bit of knowledge from completing multiple quests in Royal Road. However, it was impossible for their minds to understand an impossible event like a large city disappearing.

The general users that arrived at the fishermen also pricked their ears. The disappearance of Moros Castle had stimulated their curiosity.

Then one member of the Hermes Guild, a scrawny thief user rolled his eyes and asked.

“Then Moros Castle isn’t here?”

“Of course not. The closest place is Hepen Castle.”

Hepen Castle was a former territory of the Britten Alliance Kingdom and also belonged to the Hermes Guild. Well, it was fortunate that the fisherman confirmed that place was safe.

“Moros Castle suddenly disappearing… No, doesn’t those words mean it was never here in the first place? And no one has heard of it.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“I’ve lived here for a long time fishing.”

“I’ve been here since I was 7 years ago and it has been 30 years since then. I will spend the rest of my life here fishing. My wife weaves the nets.”

They couldn’t understand the incident of Moros Castle disappearing without a trace from the continent. But the Hermes Guild were in a position where they needed to understand.

“Why isn’t a city built here? It looks like a pretty spacious land.”

“Well, that… I heard from a traveller that Heltun Castle with many residents used to exist there.”

Before the Britten Alliance Kingdom occupied the area, Heltun Castle used to be ruled by the Eluna Kingdom.

“After the invasion of the desert tribes, not one cornerstone of Heltun Castle was left behind.”

“Invasion?”

“Yes. They conveyed a large disaster. The Eluna Kingdom couldn’t stop them. The Fire Demon Weed took everything away.”

Weed!

That name made all the changes on the Versailles Continent understandable. Among the users present, some of them found a reason for the situation.

“Is this associated with the desert cities suddenly springing up in the south?”

“I think that fits. There is an increasing number of cities and Moros Castle disappeared.”

“No, what type of quest would involve this type of magic?”

“I don’t know. Anyway, Moros Castle has perished.”

“I feel the same.”

The Hermes Guild members who identified the situation felt like fainting.

Moros Castle had great commercial value and was also a transportation hub. Losing Moros Castle would cause a huge setback to the activities of Hepen Castle and Madhed River. There were many monsters rampaging around the area. If there wasn’t an army stationed at Moros Castle to subjugate them then it would be a huge problem.

“Then let’s head towards Hepen Castle first to think up some countermeasures. If they give us support then we can reconstruct Moros Castle.”

“Get people ready to leave in 30 minutes.”

Then the Hermes Guild was interrupted by the fisherman.

“The closest place is Pridal Castle.”

“Huh? Hepen Castle is closer. Pridal Castle is quite far away. It would take roughly 2 hours riding horses.”

“Didn’t you say earlier than Hepen Castle was closest?”

The fisherman scratched his head.

“When did I say that? I don’t remember. This is the first time I’ve heard the name Hepen.”

The face of the Hermes Guild members paled.

And people started experiencing the phenomenon of Hepen Castle disappearing like a mirage.

Chapter 7: War in the Past

Changing history!

The bulletin boards heated up as Weed’s adventures made significant changes on the Versailles Continent.

– 6 castles and 12 cities are already gone.

– Yikes, that is awesome.

– 4 castles vanished without a trace and 2 cities were damaged.

– The Fire Demon Weed fighting!

– But is the Weed who came out from the desert the same Weed as the God of War?

– Fits. It fits. Who else would do something like this?

– This isn’t the normal Weed that people encountered. It is rumoured that he had the personality from Continent of Magic.

– I’d like to be Weed’s friend.

– I’m okay with being Weed’s subordinate. I want to accompany him.

– But hasn’t the ‘Savage Weed’ been a hot topic in the history books lately? There is a massacre everywhere he goes…. Isn’t Weed-nim being a bit too excessive?

– There is a reason. If you don’t know exactly what that is then you shouldn’t criticize him.

– They probably deserve to die.

– Why should we always live as good people? So we should just sit back and be subservient when the Hermes Guild attacks?

– You don’t know what type of quests he needs to do in the desert. I can understand the difference between a race and a tribe.

An argument was taking place on the bulletin boards. There was resentment from the users experiencing discomfort when the city or castle disappeared.

– Weed. I had a good home but it just flew away like dust. What should I do know?

– Then just move to Morata.

– This is a good opportunity for migration.

– To the north!

There were users who liked Weed’s adventures and those who were tired of the evil actions from the Hermes Guild. Their unconditional defense against the malicious comments!

Even the users in the Central Continent were struggling. Once the Haven Empire waged war, cities in a disadvantageous situation became broke.

– I was trying to trade in Hepen Castle in vain. It is completely annoying. Isn’t it common sense to avoid damage to innocent people like me?

– Are these taxes diligently funding the Hermes Guild’s war?

– Squabbling over money when you don’t know the really important matters. If you lost money then come to Vent Castle. Find Gamong.

– The legendary merchant of the north Gamong!

– Oh, Gamong-nim has appeared.

And an important post was also registered.

Title: I know what Weed’s adventure is.

Many people must be curious about Weed’s adventures!

Huhuhu, I came to the right answer with my superior reasoning power.

Just for your information, I ranked 1st in my country. My mother boasted about me every day to my relatives and neighbours.

First of all, let’s gather the clues.

Due to Weed’s adventure, some cities are built in the desert while other cities are eliminated. And all of a sudden, Weed is recorded in the history books as an old man.

A dream that everyone wants to fulfil!

Becoming a great hero of the Versailles Continent and building up achievements in the past to become a legendary hero.

No one has met Weed and the residents talking about him act like it is the story of an old man.

There is no choice but to think these changes are being made a long time ago.

In other words, Weed isn’t on the current Versailles Continent but is adventuring in the past.

If we consider the sudden appearance of the desert tribes in the north in a similar context then it makes sense.

Ah, I know a lot of people won’t believe this.

People based their ideas on the knowledge that they know.

But the thing I’m talking about doesn’t make sense.

Even if the Versailles Continent did exist in the past, it is common sense that it was just created to form the elaborate Versailles Continent now.

The vast amounts of data and resources used to support 1 person is economically absurd.

But this is Royal Road.

Based on the numerous legends and adventures available, I believe that it is possible despite the risk. Unicorn Corporation’s technology is beyond imagination.

Weed’s success will probably make the warring period fluctuate!

And for some reason, he is much stronger than we know. Based on the stores, he successfully hunted in the desert and led his men into the Central Continent to fight wars. Even the armed players who reached a high level wouldn’t dare do something like this.

There is no doubt that he is the middle of an important quest.

The degree of difficulty for this quest is far higher than anything else.

This is just my guess but I’m sure it will fit perfectly.

Weed returned to the past to change history and this will 100% affect the current world.

Weed will destroy cities and build more cities.

This is the interesting part.

Piling up many achievements over hundreds of years, I can’t imagine how it will change our current world.

It is like someone’s wildest dreams but we are watching the results of Weed’s actions.

How much fun is this?

He has become an enormous conqueror that is changing history.

Royal Road is enormous and fun.

My dream is to get a job at Unicorn Corporation in the investment or law areas.

It is okay if Unicorn Corporation realizes my brilliant mind and fine insight.

Now, have you listened to my explanation well?

You know where to ask if you have any questions. You are welcome to point out any doubting areas. Of course, I am certain of my claims.

And there were 3,900 ensuing comments.

– Go and eat rice.

– Do you have any friends?

– It is time to eat. Nurse, this is patient #205!

– I have to admire your brilliant mind. I’m in 5th grade of elementary school, please help me with my homework.

Although the comments were full of malicious remarks about the contents of the article, but most were sympathetic. In fact, by this time users already had a hunch about how Weed’s quest was progressing.

They couldn’t imagine that he was adventuring in the past of the Versailles Continent but they expected that he was experiencing a historic battle during the quest. But they only felt envy!

They also wanted to experience an adventure like Weed’s in Royal Road. They felt a tightness in their chest every time they watched it on television. Stories about adventures that emerged from the broadcasting stations reached a point where it became unbearable.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Catch him. Earlier this week, he appeared and submitted his resignation!”

“Other stations have doubled their unconditional agreements! Alert people so that they can alert CTS Media conglomerate.”

“You’re not sure about the specifics? That is the important part! Have you been working in television for only one or two days? If the ratings climb then shouldn’t you quickly catch a bullet taxi towards the advertisers?”

KMC Media was like a profession like a professional gaming television program for Royal Road but it was under a larger conglomerate.

Apart from Royal Road, they also aired leisure, lifestyle, sports, adventure, business, etc. Renowned investment experts gave advice about commercials, sportsmen and unique adventures. Events like swimmers crossing a sea were also broadcasted.

But the company had the foresight to start broadcasting Royal Road early and their revenue and barrage of advertisements increased. It was beneficial for broadcasters of Royal Road to promote cutting edge and expensive premium products. If the image of the entire group was positive then they would use the capital to form new stations in other countries.

The amazing thing was that famous foreign broadcasters such as BBA, Wolf, ABCD also participated. Royal Road was a hot craze in foreign countries.

When there was a long  holiday season in Europe, people would connect to enjoy a cool wind or a resort. Foreigners also didn’t have to care about their appearance as they could select different species such as dark elf, orc, goblin, etc.

Therefore the representatives from each station resided in front of Lee Hyun’s house in order to form a contract! It had been a long time since the exploration of Roderick’s Labyrinth.

“Ahem, I’m glad to see you again.”

“Director Hyun-nim seems to have no work these days.”

“The adventure program being broadcasted on the weekdays is a success so I don’t need to directly handle it.”

“Haven’t your audience ratings been declining this year?”

“No!”

The station officials growled at each other. They had respect for other broadcasters in media reports but in this situation, they were competitors for the contract.

‘I’ve come prepared.’

‘I will set aside a separate option for advertising costs. Do I need to tell the Head Director if he raises it more?’

The competition between broadcasting stations was positive for Lee Hyun. In the past, he had gone directly to the stations to sign the contracts but now the atmosphere had heated up. This meant he had the upper hand!

The station officials stood outside his gate in the hot sun.

“By the way, today is going to be….”

“These days he hasn’t left the house at all.”

“Isn’t this evidence that his task is important? Today rumours about a tyrant Weed were spreading in Royal Road.”

If Lee Hyun entered the capsule then they would be forced to wait for hours in vain.

‘If only they ring the doorbell.’

‘I just want to go somewhere with a cool drink. If I don’t want here until evening then I’ll need to work late. My wife wasn’t thinking about this type of work when she was delighted about my promotion to director.’

‘Our broadcasting station has prepared good terms in the contract. If we sell it to overseas broadcasters then the royalty income alone….’

‘We will need him later on in Royal Road.’

It was around noon.

Lee Hyun opened the door and smiled warmly. This expression was joyful at the thought of more money incoming!

“Eh, did you come to our house for some reason?”

“Aigoo, hello. The previous audience ratings turned out well. I am ashamed to come here empty handed to congratulate you but…”

“I am Director Kang.”

“This face is a little old so I wanted to come in and share some stories. This is a new television with a 3 star rating in order to sure your time isn’t inconvenienced.  I hope that you can watch our broadcasts in comfort.”

“No, that isn’t necessary.”

“It is the energy saving model.”

“Then I will accept your sincerity.”

Lee Hyun received a few presents from the station officials.

They had experience so a long talk wasn’t necessary after the flattering words.

The station officials felt more at ease after Lee Hyun received the gifts. In the meantime, they had been very honest about their bribes. If he received it then he was more favourable to their ideas. The difference in the sales amount would depend on the market!

Lee Hyun brought them into his house and offered coffee mix and barley tea.

“Your adventure these days…”

The current director of CTS Media tried to talk about the specifics.

“Wait a moment. I rarely have guests so I want to cook you a meal.”

“R-really?”

The station officials were somewhat surprised. Lee Hyun was widely known among the broadcasting stations for his stingy personality. They had been prepared for just a quick cup of coffee and ate breakfast separately beforehand.

‘I must be instant noodles.’

‘Did he boil some jjapegetti?’

Lee Hyun said before going out to his yard.

“This will take a bit of time. I need to obtain the ingredients.”

“Oh, of course we will wait.”

There was some noise in the yard before it became quiet. They had seen some dogs barking when they entered the house.

The silence of the dogs!

Soon there was the sound of Lee Hyun turning on a machine and the chickens making noise. Lee Hyun then entered the kitchen and started chopping and cooking. He used plenty of potatoes and vegetables and created spicy, braised chicken for the guests.

“Perhaps he…”

“Perhaps he used the chicken in the yard for the meal.”

“…..”

The station officials felt like Lee Hyun was quite different from normal. Their expectations started to grow.

‘He is cooking for us which is different from his usual nature. Perhaps his adventure this time is a real hit.’

‘There is something. The analysis from our station has already figured out that this quest doesn’t have a normal scale of difficulty. It might be on a completely different level.’

‘This case must be quite big.’

Cooking wasn’t his usual sentiment so their expectations had no choice but to swell up. And perfectly cooked chicken!

“Tasty.”

“This is the first time I’ve tasted such a delicious chicken dish.”

The station officials said with a thumbs up. It wasn’t complete flattery as it really did have a sweet taste. It wasn’t wrong to say that Lee Hyun was a universal worker. The station officials ate 10 pieces of chicken with the dipping sauce, leaving only the bones behind.

“Then let’s talk about my adventure.”

Lee Hyun started to talk first.

He judged that it was time to start broadcasting. He had already reached the peak of the secret sculpting technique quests and the Hermes Guild couldn’t interfere anymore.

Furthermore, he could use the old contents of the adventure to hype the viewers. The result would be known through rumours on the Versailles Continent so he didn’t see any damages with forming a contract with the broadcasting stations.

“My adventure now is related to the final secret sculpting technique.”

“Final secret technique?”

“There is such a thing?”

The words were unfamiliar to the broadcasters. The director of KMC Media could figure out the details at a glance.

“The final secret technique exists but you have to gather all the profession related secret techniques first.”

“That’s right.”

“Then the sculpting secret techniques that you’ve collected…”

“All of them.”

“……”

It was difficult to obtain even one secret technique yet he collected the all! Weed was indeed worthy of admiration!

‘A scoop!’

‘I need to tell it!’

‘I have to return to the station earlier than these guys.’

But right now, it was more important to sign a contract with Lee Hyun than to leave first. They also couldn’t send a text with their phones.

Lee Hyun was young but still an important person. If they didn’t use manners while conversing then he might become annoyed!

“First of all, the adventure in Roderick’s Labyrinth was also related to the final sculpting secret technique. It is complicated so I can only briefly explain the contents of the quest… It is an adventure filled with love, dreams and courage with the backdrop of the vast Versailles Continent.”

“….”

The position of the station officials was that such things didn’t matter.

‘I need to accept it unconditionally.’

‘I will resign if I can’t sign a contract with him.’

‘I’ll receive a punishment from the executive personnel. Manager Noh is already aiming for my spot.’

All the broadcasting stations would bend over backwards to make him accept. Weed’s adventures were already determined to be a huge draw so they had no hesitation.

However, the still needed to ask the important questions.

“The quest. Have you already completed it?”

“It is still in progress. Such things such as the recent desert cities being built and the vanishing cities are the aftermath of this quest. It is my fault since the sacrifices required for the final secret technique quest is so enormous. Hum hum.”

“Wow….”

The station officials were glad. It would be more exciting if he hadn’t finished the quest yet. A little bit of fun would drop if they knew the ending of a novel or movie beforehand.

The stations could do a more realistic relay and the viewers would be breathless. And the natural of the adventure meant it was risky but a real jackpot might occur in the future.

“Can you tell me about the skill for the final secret sculpting technique?”

“I can’t disclose that yet.”

“We expected it to be difficult but what is the difficulty level of the quest?”

“Well, it is quite hard to explain. But if I had to say a little bit, it involves the Embinyu Church and a Chaos Dragon?”

“Heok!”

They were completely shocked!

Weed the God of War doing the final secret sculpting technique quest, facing the Embinyu Church and a Chaos Dragon. The title along was enough and there would be no need for further promotion.

‘This…’

‘I absolutely have to broadcast it.’

‘I’ll make him sign a contract!’

The station officials were determined after seeing the size of the contract.

They came here expecting Weed’s adventure to have a S class difficulty or to have it involve saving the continent. The contract agreement needed to consider the progress of the quest and set a specific schedule. Of course, Weed’s adventure was the highest priority so other programs would be pushed to the side.

“Here, this is a golf membership.”

“I’ll send you some 100 year old ginseng. It is really rare.”

“Tell me if you need home appliances like a sofa or sink.”

The bribes started again!

They had to furiously come up with things since this happened. There were several broadcasting stations but things like an exclusive interview would make a huge difference.

“These type of things… Please make sure to place a warranty. And I’ll ask for a natural leather couch. And doesn’t a sink installation require you knowing the exact measurements?”

Lee Hyun steadily received the bribes.

Recently, there was a trend for bribery to reduce or disappear. But it was a developed tradition in the east as an act of courtesy from generation to generation.

While everyone was acting especially sociable today, Director Kang of KMC Media finally pulled out his card.

“Take this paper.”

“What is it?”

“Land.”

“…….!”

“This land belongs to an area planned for redevelopment. Hum hum, the owner can legally be changed and you can receive a monthly rent. Of course, you can gain significant development profits later.”

The station knew in advance that this quest was extraordinary and secretly prepared this.

Snap!

Lee Hyun grabbed Director Kang’s hand.

“As expected from KMS Media.”

“Hehehe, yes!”

A huge response! And Lee Hyun made a suggestion at the front door when the station officials were about to leave.

“I ate well.”

“You’re welcome. Indigenous chickens and 5 bottles of cider. 45,000 won.”

“….”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Hosung Group’s financial difficulties.

The creditors judged that it couldn’t be revived.

Hosung’s e-credit rating drop. Corporate bonds issued have failed.

Hosung group will collapse soon.

These were the recent headlines over the last month! Hosung Group focused on repaying their debt but it was difficult was an expiry date on their cash affiliates.

The real estate and apartments were sold at a large downturn. Hosung Group’s major affiliates were emerging in Eastern Europe or developing countries such as India and Africa. The foreign buyers involved in Hosung Group delayed their payments so their financial difficulties deepened even further!

The reports of Hosung’s critical situation in the television and newspapers meant there was nowhere to borrow money. In order to strength their competitiveness in political circles, they needed to actively restructure.

In the end, the creditor’s meeting decided that they should restructure and sell their flagship electronics company. Chairman Jeong Deuk-soo  took responsibility from the group and decided to resign from a direct management position.

“Phew.”

Bart was sitting down at a fountain in Royal Road.

“Life is free.”

As the chairman of a huge company, he always had urgent appointments and needed to worry about money. But his countless friends and contacts made it difficult for the company to allow him to retire. But the current situation meant he could resign.

Once he returned to his spacious mansion with a relaxed mind, he logged into Royal Road.

“We should eat pomegranates. Gamong is selling it at a discount.

“Is that so? I ate the fruits from Mapan and they were delicious. Mapan’s prices are a bit expensive but the quality means it is worth it.”

The new users were running about.

Merchant carriages had colourful decorations and the warriors took pride in their bulging muscles. Smiles didn’t leave the faces of users as they stared at their flashing weapons. It was the look of satisfaction when seeing new weapons bought or forged by blacksmiths! Many users also walked by with old and wrinkled leather armour. Morata was still receiving an influx of new users so it was common to see novices.

And there were the avians who build apartments in trees like they were nests. Even if they didn’t purchase separate houses, it was easy to gather small branches to build a residence. The dignified eagle types or sleepy looking owls walked around unabashedly.

The colour of the fur or bulk signified their level but they had a minimum of at least level 120. Baby birds that were just started to fly stayed with their family and were mainly in the form of small chickens or sparrows.

“Tweet. Tweet.”

“Piyak. Piyak!”

Small birds were floating around the fountain.

It was difficult to distinguish between the NPC and users of the avians but there were some significant differences. The avians were familiar with a collective lifestyle so they looked and acted together.

The avians increased the number of attractions in Morata.

The avians immediately joined the military! Once it became evening, the avians would soar around Lavias while doing their training drills. Hundreds of birds were freely doing a unique dance in the sky.

NPCs and users also came up with a dance choreography to match the flapping of the wings. Those who joined the dance would have their charm and fame increased. Every evening, the humans, elves and dwarves would join in the large spectacle.

“They truly seem happy.”

Bart felt a bit of weight in his chest lessen as he watched the users. He had lost the company he devoted his life to but it wasn’t the end of his life. He had lost some property and needed to hand over his mansion but he still had enough money to live.

“This situation is like being able to have a 2nd life.”

Bart repaired his weapons and armour and tried to hunt. He was used to hunting in a party so he decided to seek a team at the nearby square.

“Weed-nim has destroyed the Fire Salamanders… It is really amazing, amazing.”

“Kyah! I hope Weed-nim finishes this quest quickly so he can return. Then we can have another festival.”

“He can also see how the Arpen Kingdom has developed.

Weed’s story was everywhere. The only worrisome thing about Bart living in Morata was Weed.

In the past, he once handed over money if Weed never met his daughter again. But now the situation had changed. His company had failed and Weed’s presence in Royal Road was like a sun in the sky. Bart was just a novice living in Morata.

‘I can never meet Weed here. I would be completely ashamed and embarrassed.’

Morata was a vast city so it wasn’t easy to meet King Weed. Bart was in a vaguely bittersweet mood after that.

“A truly free life… I never thought I would become like this.”

“Excuse me, where are you tired?”

A sweet looking young lady walked over to him.

“It is nothing.”

“If you’ve received a curse… Is there a place where you are injured?”

“I am normal. I appreciate the concern but I’m just going hunting.”

“If you are going hunting then I will give you a blessing. Protection of the Goddess!”

Protection of the Goddess was a skill only available for priests level 420! If he had this protection then it would be difficult to die in level 200 hunting grounds. It was the reason why senior priests had great respect and influence in the city.

“Heok, this…”

Bart was shocked to see that the defense of his armour had climbed by 5 times.

“This should last for a day. Have a nice day and be careful.”

“Wait a minute….” Can you perhaps tell me your name?”

“Irene.”

“Ah, this angel if called Irene.”

“You are praising me too much. Then I should go since there are visibly injured people over there.”

“Thank you.”

It was a great honour to see Irene who was famous in Morata. Bart sighed deeply as he watched her walk away.

“I wonder what my daughter is doing… I hope she is eating properly and isn’t suffering. My heart won’t feel at ease unless I know she has enough money.”

Chapter 8: Emergence of a Tyrant

Weed’s army had a series of winning streaks.

They smashed through any resistance in the small principalities. The cities that didn’t surrender were looted or decimated by arson. The slave soldiers reached 200,000 people and the number was enough to fill the plains.

Funds looted from war torn castles or cities were used to improve the equipment of the soldiers. All the cities and villages that surrendered would rush to produce war equipment.

His story started to change and more weight was placed on the title of Great Emperor Weed.

“The weather is very nice. Show mercy to the family of those who enlist. But take all the gold.”

“Yes, Great Emperor.”

“In order to maintain the army, conscript one in every three houses. If they don’t come voluntarily then cut their necks…no, sweep them all away.”

“I will do as you command.”

– Forced conscription of the masses.

There is a decline in the city’s security and loyalty.

Economic activities and production has received a big setback and long term technological development will be reduced. People have reluctantly joined the military and there is resistance against the invaders. The residents perceive that you are more interested in war than a stable rule.

Conscripted soldiers who have their family killed will have a deep antipathy.

It is impossible to comfort them.

Weed’s ruling policy wasn’t far-sighted.

If he had enough time then he would invest in the city’s development and plan a huge empire. However, he didn’t have a lot of time to fight the Embinyu Church. Furthermore, in the future the Hermes Guild users would be raising their levels through hunting.

If Weed failed this quest then he would lose everything. And people who he could trust in this world was really rare. If he took too long for this quest then his Arpen Kingdom might be eaten.

“You can’t drag this out. I’ve already entered the boiling water.”

It was a truly irreversible situation. Even though he took control of the territories, he couldn’t worry about investing in development or internal affairs.

This was the only method in a time of war!

Weed just increased the forced conscription and looting. Flags representing the Red Knife Army were driven into the ground of the cities and villages that fell.

Once the troops reached 250,000 people, the elderly and young children under the age of 14 were allowed to go home.

“The king who rules this land has granted you mercy. Return home and live happily with your family.”

Of course, they would be naked and starving at home so there were some that had no interest in returning.

– After seeing the tremendous power of the army, the lord of Teitun Castle has surrendered out of cowardice.

He is sick from the infamy of the invaders and will give up his riches as long as he can live.

– All the nobles have fled from Erun Castle.

The soldiers have surrendered not long after.

“This is a place that contains the Embinyu Church. Youths of all ages who can hold a sword shall be taken into captivity. And light it on fire.”

Weed had a lot of fun leading the army in these warring times.

A conqueror. His unrefined wild ambitions could be released.

Soon his army reached a place with walls endlessly lined up to the left and right. There were parts that crumbled due to not being repaired but it wasn’t a huge hindrance.

“This is the border of the Keltun Kingdom.”

Keltun Kingdom was a powerhouse in this warring period. The border had a large fortress to prevent invaders. Troops that tried to invade the borders of the Keltun Kingdom had no guarantee that they wouldn’t be wiped out.

“Pass.”

The border defense of the Keltun Kingdom was also defeated! Weed’s combat capability was something that the knights at the border couldn’t face. His devastating skills caused even the knights to tremble with fear. Weed’s desert warriors were also skilled in combat and broke through the enemy territory on their camels.

Weed’s tactics when dealing with common soldiers were radical and destructive. The number of enemies continued to pile up as they aggressively invaded. He would seize prisoners with each landslide victory.

He also struck against the screaming Embinyu fanatics. The 250,000 military force consisting of warriors and surrendered soldiers had significant fighting power. Yet this constantly shrank to as low as 140,000 soldiers due to killing the Embinyu fanatics among the prisoners.

“The ruler of the vast sandy desert and caller of water, His Majesty Weed who is destroying this land, hooray!”

“Kilkilkil. For the glory of His Majesty!”

Some of the fanatics decided to follow Weed instead. Their aptitude was perfect for his current actions.

“Ignore the defense and break through. Fight until all the troops are dead.

Cut the throats of anyone who tries to run away without fighting.” The enemies that encountered the elephant unit was panicked and terrified. The enemies were destroyed in one breath.

Ddiring!

– A war achievement has been gained.

Among the novice soldiers, 438 have been upgraded.

613 skilled infantry soldiers have been upgraded.

4 knights have been promoted to junior commanders.

The Embinyu members participating in the battle have woken up like cold water has been poured on them. They have realized that life is more important to them than religion! Of course, there were the fanatics who still worshipped Weed and threw themselves at the enemy soldiers.

“I believe in and will follow the Great Emperor until the end.”

“I will give my life.”

The loyalty of the soldiers towards Weed kept increasing.

– Loyalty of the army has risen by 3.

Your amazing charisma and combat ability has controlled the army!

“It is like I desired.”

Weed had become the undisputed lord in this time of war. Apart from the desert areas, he had seized numerous principalities, the Dagan Kingdom and the Eluna Kingdom.

His army had overwhelming power and he didn’t pay attention to things like people, goods and internal affairs. It soon created a spectacle where carriages stretched out for thousands of kilometres.

“The Keltun Kingdom contains believers of the Embinyu Church so they are our enemy. It can’t be helped. We need to pass through here to reach the Mapon Kingdom.”

They had 3 consecutive victories in the Keltun Kingdom. They passed through the remote regional knights and nobles as they headed towards the centre.

By the time they reached the Nomega Plains, an army consisting of 50,000 soldiers and 70,000 elite knights appeared.

“Valles Knight. The heads of the barbarians are rotten. Don’t show them any weakness.”

A chivalrous knight of the Kallamore Kingdom decided to challenge the representative of Weed’s army.

“I will be grateful if you voluntarily let me through.”

Weed shrugged and came forward.

He easily settled the battle without much force exerted. The level of the knights and magicians in this warring period was very high but Weed was like the sky to them.

“Brilliant. This great swordsmanship… I’m honoured to be defeated by you. Kill me.”

“Your age is still young. It would be a waste if a precious talent like you died in a place like this. Would you like to follow me?”

He gave proposals to decent knights.

“I have pledged my allegiance to the royal family of the Keltun Kingdom. How can my honour be satisfied if I follow the leader of the barbarians?”

“If you follow me then you can obtain as much gold and jewels as you want.”

“Right now the momentum is in your favour. But once you are defeated, your troops will be scattered and you will have a miserable death in the wilderness.

Your skeleton will start rotting to reflect your true appearance.”

“Your words are severe.”

“There is still more that I want to say. Your ugly…”

Slice!

“Keeook!”

But not all the knights were so foolishly honest.

“If you follow me then I will show you the true meaning of the sword. And I will conquer the continent.”

“A knight always has dreams to advance in the wider world. If you spare my life then I will swear my allegiance to you.”

The knights who faced Weed sometimes became his subordinates. Other nobles surrendered and their subordinates became his.

“I want to follow King Weed-nim.”

“I eagerly waited for this day to come. It is an honour to meet you. I will give the allegiance of generations of my family.”

Weed saw the eyes of the nobles. They gave the impression of cunning fellows.

“Good. If you sincerely follow me then I will give you a large number of slaves and land.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“But have you come empty handed?”

He didn’t trust the forces of the nobles so he placed them at the vanguard. In the occupied territories, he placed some desert warriors as necessary to manage the slave soldiers. Some kingdoms would try to recapture the conquered territories so he needed to leave a minimal force behind. They were commanded to burn the city if the enemy invaded!

The desert warriors took the lead in real battles but the slave soldiers also played an active role. They continued conscription every time a battle was won so the army continued to be filled up.

The desert warriors were hard to replace if they died but it was easy to supplement the ordinary soldiers. The ruthless conscription kept the quality and quantity of the troops constant.

“The Keltun Kingdom is known for its chivalry so the Embinyu Church hasn’t spread too much. But it will later become the Kallamore Kingdom that is incorporated into the Haven Empire.”

Weed thought about the upcoming future.

By the end of this warring period, the Keltun Kingdom would become the Kallamore Empire. It was once a proud empire but eventually declined to a kingdom until it was eaten by the Haven Empire.

However, the Embinyu fanatics would spring up in devastated cities of the Keltun Kingdom. Rebels would appear in the current Kallamore area of the Haven Empire and public security would worsen.

“The Mapon Kingdom is also integrated into the Haven Empire in the future.”

Weed’s thoughts were busy rolling around his head. His brain tried to make excuses for his bad actions!

“A king should be free and strong. I don’t need to worry about eyes gazing from the outside. Or personal ill feelings. The Mapon Kingdom and Beiner Kingdom will be completely destroyed!”

A declaration was made against the two kingdoms! There was no need to invade every city but they set fire and took prisoners of war along the way. The type of behaviour from Weed would greatly reduce the population of the Haven Empire in the future.

“Move diligently. I need to complete my quest so my subordinates can’t take too long.”

If he destroyed everything then the existence of the Haven Kingdom itself would completely disappear from history.

Weed took the desert warriors and swept through Central Continent, changing only a short history of the Versailles Continent. The Mapon Kingdom would just rebuild and recover. Important moments in the entire history couldn’t be reversed. Nevertheless, medium cities and monster habitats could fly away.

“I need to gain more power in this war!”

Bad things were highly addictive.

“Some cities have been surrounded by desert sand and disappeared without a trace, Emperor!”

“Huhuhu, I’ve cut the necks of more than 300 people.”

“Let’s wage a bloody feast!”

As the looting and killings continued, the regular soldiers gradually became similar to the desert warriors.

Weed’s sculptural lifeforms directly led 700 subordinates. However, the desert warriors he accepted later didn’t have that degree of mental strength.

They became drunk on the brutal destruction and victories. They were constantly disciplined but they would plunge into insanity if Weed left them unchecked.

“If they don’t maintain the tension in battle then it would be hard to win the battles.”

Weed’s 20,000 desert warriors and the soldiers fought continuously with no breaks. They would become crazy enough to destroy and kill.

But the thing that Weed wanted right now was indiscriminate destruction!

“Mapon Kingdom, Beiner Kingdom. You can smash all of it.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“There are troublesome variables in the military. If we stay silent…”

The leaders of the Hermes Guild held an emergency meeting.

“The Pisaro area in the south is experiencing a collapse in transportation, trade and taxes collected.”

“The population around the Herr River is shrinking and it is rapidly becoming a farmland. There will be some yields but it is half of the expected harvest. Maybe less.”

The matter of Weed destroying the cities on his adventure couldn’t be taken lightly. Some large cities had vanished or been cut in half.

Weed burned the occupied cities but they would recover after a long history. Despite that, the deterioration still caused enormous damages. They suffered significant economic harm and it also caused inner agitation.

The lords had control of the cities they conquered in the war. They invested a lot in urban development so this caused unprecedented damage. The leaders of the Hermes Guild profited from the vineyards and silver handed over by the lords so they couldn’t do nothing in this situation.

It became troublesome as Weed moved closer towards the capital of the Haven Empire.

“Cologne hasn’t been damaged yet. There is the training centre for the heavy cavalry there.”

“Who doesn’t know that? The problem is that we can’t do anything!”

Weed’s quest had forced the Hermes Guild’s hand. According to information obtained from broadcasting station officials, he was currently adventuring in the past so they couldn’t stop him.

“What about the matter of the Allied Forces?”

“We are continuing to defeat them. They will not recover.”

The main army of the Haven Empire cornered the Allied Forces and didn’t allow them any room to regroup. The commanders of each unit, including Bardray, performed well above expectations.

Now they headed towards the elf forests and barbarian areas in order to unify the continent. But their performance there was surprisingly bad.

The elves were like ghosts in the forests but the infantry used their broad shields to block the arrows and advance. The elves knew the entire forest so they formed a tight encirclement around the army. Not long after, a large number of elves arrived for a final, decisive battle and managed to win.

Humans needed to obtain food and security to expand their population. In the case of the orcs, they had no criteria to expand their family.

A few injured orcs would enter the mountains and an orc castle would appear there 1 month later. Gifted hunters would be quickly upgraded to warriors or orc fighters. The orcs lived in a harsh environment so they become more powerful but there was also the risk of being wiped out.

However, the elves had a slow birth rate. They were proficient in magic and spirits and promoted the growth of plants and water purification rather than combat. Of course, they had outstanding archery, agility and magic so many users selected the elf race.  Many people enjoyed the advantages of the race.

The elves and users didn’t cooperate to fight for the forest. Building kingdoms were human like activities so they hadn’t been interested in the Hermes Guild’s attempt to conquer the continent.

Some users who left the forest early had been lured by the prestigious guilds. Paradoxically, the Hermes Guild was the one with the most elf users.

“There might be some damages but the most important part of the war still remains. After occupying the Central Continent and getting rid of the Embinyu Church, Bardray will lead troops directly north.”

There was no more need for a war against the Allied Forces. The cavalry dispatched overwhelmed the military fortresses and weak cities. The Haven Empire was gaining a vast amount of territory and residents on a daily basis. They would demolish the Embinyu Church after the completion of their empire.

“There is no tolerance. This was their plan from the very beginning and then they would destroy the north so badly that people couldn’t live there again. The necromancers and warlocks will plant a strong curse throughout the entire region.”

The Hermes Guild planned to ravage the north! They thought it was impossible for the Arpen Kingdom that hadn’t grown properly to resist the full economic and military power of the Central Continent.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– Weed’s adventure, KMC Media will start broadcasting it today.

– CTS Media, this time Weed’s adventures will be shown live!

– LK Games has prepared an exclusive interview. Weed in the era of war!

– The broadcasting stations dedicateing 24 hours a day to Weed’s adventure!

The Royal Road stations started advertising about the live broadcast. All the stations were only showing one adventure. It might be a risk for someone else’s adventure but it was natural when the person was Weed.

– I can’t wait to see what he does next. I’ve been waiting for this.

– Life is fun.

– I can always laugh when seeing Weed.

The viewers already had an explosive reaction. The stations had already consulted in advance with the senior officials.

“Should it be just a few hours or is it worth the risk to broadcast Weed’s adventure all in one day?”

“I think so as well. And put time for advertisers in the early morning reruns. So far more than 150 companies have contacted us for advertising space.”

“There will be high ratings but I don’t think we can ignore the demands of the advertisers.”

“Based on the reports from the production PDs, there isn’t even one scene from the video that can be missed.”

“The growth in the desert quest. There is a sense of urgency flowing throughout the quest that doesn’t need any editing to be shown.”

The stations talked about dividing up Weed’s adventure. They decided on a set amount to be shown every day for five days.

The broadcasting stations agreed not to pre-disclose any scenes in the promotions and trailers. In particular, the final secret sculpting technique quest. This was a very sensitive issue so it would be great if they used it for publicity.

But they would start airing from noon so they decided not to announce it to viewers. The stations wanted to hear the stories of how thrilling and interested it was to see on television. Viewers could fall into Weed’s adventures throughout the five days.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Death Knight Van Hawk and Vampire Lord Torido!

Immediately after Weed and Seo-yoon left for the warring period.

“Hrmm, I don’t feel Master’s soul all of a sudden.”

“Even the smell of blood has gone away.”

“Was he swept away by the sea?”

They searched around the area where Weed disappeared at sea and couldn’t find him.

In fact, they usually accompanied their master on quests and hunts so they didn’t necessarily want to see him. And after staying several days at the beach, Torido rose to his feet first.

“I am going to move around the world. I will go and meet beautiful girls.”

Van Hawk also wanted to travel. He had lost his freedom after becoming a Death Knight.

Barkhan ordered him to lead an army of darkness and Weed was awful.

“Master, I miss the Kallamore Kingdom. Should I travel there?”

“You have already left home.”

“I feel some nostalgia. In the past, I had sworn my allegiance to the Kallamore Kingdom so I want to see if it is doing well.”

“You are a Death Knight.”

“I will never ask for another favour. Only once….”

“Hunting!”

“I will return as quickly as possible….”

“Hunting!”

Van Hawk’s opinion was that his Master was wicked and didn’t respect him at all!

In fact, Weed knew that the Kallamore Kingdom had been taken over by the Haven Empire so he was worried about Van Hawk causing trouble.

Van Hawk now used a ghost horse to move towards the desired Kallamore Kingdom. A Death Knight moving in daylight was a great attraction. Sometimes he would cut people lightly as he moved!

“…This isn’t your place.”

Van Hawk felt the energy of darkness and death as he travelled and boss level monsters and ghosts of knights appeared.

“If you want to pass by then you need to defeat me.”

“Knights who have lost their lives, you have existed in this place for a long time. I look forward to facing you with my sword. This is the wish of a dead man. ”

He won almost daily!

As Van Hawk kept winning, he encountered stronger enemies that he defeated. He waged fights against the best boss class monsters and knights and won.

Van Hawk was made of dark energy so he would lose his body if he lost. But right now, dark energy was flowing on the Versailles Continent.

The number of necromancers on the battlefield increased. The priest of the Embinyu Church used the powers of darkness so the dark energy flowed everywhere.

Van Hawk absorbed the dark energy as he travelled to the Kallamore Kingdom.

“Um, everything has completely changed.”

He didn’t see any signs of the magnificent cities and castles that used to belong to the Kallamore Kingdom. The flags of the Haven Empire were inserted and only traces of the destruction remained.

“Let’s go someplace else.”

Van Hawk rode up the hill on his ghost horse towards a royal area.

This was a secret place present since the early days of the Kallamore Empire! The Imperial Tomb of Kallamore was hidden here. The Emperors of that era slept within along with numerous relics.

If Weed knew about this place then he would come with a shovel and sack!

“U-unbelievable….”

Van Hawk was lost for words as he arrived at the Royal Family’s hill. The entrance to the secret tomb had already been dug up. The Hermes Guild had secretly excavated it.

“Even His Majesty….”

Van Hawk fell to his knees in front of the entrance. Emperor Theodore who he had sworn loyalty to had his grave robbed.

“It isn’t clear. I should check and see.”

Van Hawk entered the pit. He descended 10 metres underground where the brick walls were carved with the pattern of the Kallamore Kingdom. The Hermes Guild had shouted with joy when they dug up this land.

And the hidden entrance of the Tomb.

The Emperor who ruled this land with strict laws and knowledge, King Theodore sleeps here.

Intruders with respect for the Emperor, go back.

A monument had been erected but the doors were destroyed. Van Hawk entered with trembling steps.

It was a long and spacious place with stone pillars supporting the ceiling. However, the landscape that unfolded underneath was unpleasant.

Empty boxes were all over the place and there were only traces left of the paintings and antiques that used to hang on the wall. The excavation team had packed all of it.

And the sarcophagus where Emperor Theodore was lying! He climbed up the 5 steps towards the altar the sarcophagus was lying on. The appearance of Emperor and Empress Theodore was carved on the altar. But the excavation team had brutally smashed open the sarcophagus and took everything buried with the Emperor.

The Emperor’s crown, clothing, shoes and everything of value were grabbed. The only thing left was the unpresentable skeleton of Emperor Theodore.

“Ohh, my Emperor…”

Van Hawk was seriously angry. Barkhan had pulled him from the grave and forcibly made him a Death Knight but he still had his loyalty. All the memories of the past awoke feelings of anger like a human being.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

Van Hawk yelled and the Emperor’s Tomb shook fiercely like there was an earthquake. And a horribly dark aura occurred!

Ddiring!

– An event has occurred.

Death Knight Van Hawk.

An army commander with the power of darkness!

During his life, he was well known as a knight of the Kallamore Kingdom.

A knight with sublime devotion, courage and honour.

Under the special favour of Emperor Theodore, he was an honourable subordinate with handsome looks and was popular with women.

However, he suffered a harsh fate after death. His undead master Barkhan planted a command for him to lead the army of darkness.

Van Hawk used a dark sword when commanding the army but lost his strength and became an ordinary Death Knight.

Now his deep despair and anger has caused the power of the abyss to wake up.

Event Limit: Van Hawk’s growing anger.

An Abyss Knight has appeared on the continent that is in chaos.

Van Hawk flew out of the Emperor’s Tomb with a black aura pouring out from him. His level was already over 400 due to hunting with Weed but his deep anger and the forces of darkness caused a rapid growth.

The legendary undead, an Abyss Knight had been born.

The aura of darkness flowed from Van Hawk as he roared.

“All of my anger will sweep through this land!”

His shout echoed through the catacombs! Then the sarcophaguses around Van Hawk started to distort.

“This is…no!”

Forced summoning magic. Van Hawk released the powers of darkness in an attempt to resist. But the boss level Abyss Knight couldn’t resist the force.

He was summoned and saw a familiar person. Weed with no hair.

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Weed had reached the temple of Atrock during the warring period.

In the process, he had wrecked many cities and villages. And he looted the gold and silver treasures in Atrock’s Temple.

“God… You have already left this world so give a little bit of this to me!”

He had robbed several wealthy principalities and gained a literal pile of gold and treasures! The charitable Atrock decided to grant him a wish.

– …Yes, I can give you something.

Weed’s actions on the continent couldn’t exactly be considered charitable. He needed a good spirit to receive things in return!

“I need subordinates with invulnerability to defeat the Embinyu Church.”

– The sacrifices required are too large.

Atrock politely refused.

Weed was undefeated as he swept through the Central Continent but he still needed to fight the Embinyu Church.

“Then what can you do?”

–You have come back in time so I can allow you to bring 2 people from your original time zone. They will fight with you until the end of your adventure.

“Is that so?”

Weed was quite satisfied.

Users from the original time zone would be a great help. Geomchi coming to the battlefield was beyond comparison.

But Weed thought he wouldn’t follow loyally like the desert warriors that he trained. Furthermore, he was busy with the Master Quest and special training so Weed shouldn’t interfere.

“It is too risky to bring sculptural lifeforms like Goldman and Yellowy.”

He could only bring 2 people and Pale and the others were on an adventure.

“Huhuhu, then bring Bardray here!”

Weed wanted to summon Bardray.

It was a despicable act but he had already been accused of cowardice and despicable behaviour.

“Life can only be lived once. Listening to curses everyday won’t permanently harm me.’

But Atrock rejected it.

– He is already my patron. He has an important mission so he can’t come here.

“……”

Bardray contributed a lot to the gods so he had received all types of blessings and protection. This was the epitome of a wealthy son!

“Then I can only bring that fellow.”

Anyway, he needed someone for a long period of time so he decided to summon Van Hawk.

“Bring Van Hawk.”

– Understood.

Weed didn’t consider the situation at all and used Atrock to forcibly bring Van Hawk back to the warring period.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Commander of the Dark Army, Van Hawk

Weed welcomed his subordinate.

“Hey Van Hawk. Have you been well in the meantime? Your bones seem to have become chubbier from your laziness.”

“Why did you call me here?”

Van Hawk answered coldly. His pride and fighting spirit had soared to the sky after becoming an Abyss Knight. Now his master could only be called a weakling!

“Of course I brought you back here to work. I’m busy so I’m going to leave you some chores.”

“Return me to where I was originally.”

“Aren’t your words a little short?”

“I won’t hit you for the sake of old times. But you could die if you refuse. Use this opportunity to release me.”

Weed sighed deeply. He hadn’t beaten his subordinates for a long time so they were rebelling.

“I haven’t been hitting you enough in the meantime. The area between your ribs have become very greasy.”

“……”

“The quality will hurt when a parent doesn’t pay attention to them. I will properly manage my subordinate for three days and nights.”

“Don’t let such careless words come from your mouth. I am no longer the same as I am in the past.”

“Once I am your master, you must serve me for the rest of your life.”

“Shut up. Even my patience has limits. I will take out my sword and let you watch carefully.”

“Yes, I spoke too much.”

Weed reflected again. Dialog wasn’t necessary for persuasion. He would listen better from a beating.

Weed took out the horn obtained from the Fire Salamander King. It wasn’t a proper combat weapon but it was hard.

“I’ll talk later after hitting you a little bit.”

“I’m taking out my sword.”

Van Hawk kicked at the ground and sprang forward. An Abyss Knight was swinging at him. A ghastly sight!

Van Hawk’s eyes had a red sheen around them. Those whose levels were low would feel like they were weighed down by an evil spirit and die. The deep power of the Abyss came from every direction.

Van Hawk didn’t doubt his victory.

‘I shouldn’t kill him. But I will gain my freedom after achieving victory. In order to get revenge on the Haven Empire!’

Weed didn’t block Van Hawk’s sword. He just reached out.

“Absolute Defense!”

The effect wasn’t significant but his entire body became harder than steel.

– The enormous effect of the armour has reduced damage by 31.

The effect of the skill has been increased by 28%.

There will be a perfect repair after it is finished.

Health has decreased by 9,484.

Van Hawk’s attack was among the strongest in the warrior class and had the capacity to shred fierce animals to pieces. But Weed who received the blessings of the gods, was the best warrior in the desert and had an influence on history managed to block it.

“You have indeed become strong. Your appearance has only changed a little bit so I didn’t realize you had become an Abyss Knight.”

“How did you prevent my attack without being harmed?”

An Abyss Knight formed from rising from a deep despair so their fighting spirit could become broken if they were frustrated. If their willpower was low then it was common for them to be unable to move their body.

But Van Hawk felt atrophy after meeting Weed’s eyes.

– You have met a strong man you can’t go against.

The aura of darkness is warning you.

When facing a holy warrior, the blessed flesh will cause mental atrophy.

Fighting spirit has declined and all combat stats will decrease by 6%.

If this state fails to be released quickly then paralysis symptoms will occur.

“Why is this happening….?”

Van Hawk had become the legendary Abyss Knight of the undead but he was being topped by the human Weed.

Of course, that situation would change after he returned to his original body but for now it was a one-sided fight.

“A skeleton should be tight.”

Pabababak!

And the beating began. An Abyss Knight was being stepped on and punched with no mercy!

Weed clutched a horn in his right hand and skilfully used his hands to harden Van Hawk’s bones.

“An Abyss Knight can endure for a long time. This is just a little taste.”

“This humiliation, I will absolutely never forget it!”

Van Hawk couldn’t tolerate it and the summoning was cancelled. Weed just used mana to summon Van Hawk again. Although the summoning had been cancelled, his body was still present in this age.

“Taste my anger that is sleeping like an active volcano.”

“Did you know? My heart is right.”

And he was continuously hit and summoned again!

Hawk pulled his sword again with the intention of fighting but Weed treated him like a young child playing a joke. He didn’t use any attacks skills but used his previous experience fighting against rare or special monsters to easily break the unique skills of an Abyss Knight.

The countless, dangerous combat experience during this final secret sculpting technique quest was an important asset! He had faced many knights so he was accustomed to Van Hawk’s attacks.

“Well, I must admit it. You are stronger than me.”

Eventually Van Hawk’s will broke because there was already a master/slave relationship.

“I can’t hear what you are saying.”

“I know that Master is strong so you can stop now.”

“There is a long way to go. I will let you feel the true taste of my hands. Isn’t this just like drinking a cool smoothie before entering a karaoke room?”

…..

“I am too sick. Gently….”

“Sick? This is medicine for a sick hawk. Now what areas are sick?”

“My whole body is aching. In particular, my flank is hurting.”

“That’s right. I’ve been beating that side a lot. Yet there seems to be no broken ribs.”

……

“Master! You can look forward to my loyalty in the future.”

“You said such things in the past. Yes, you were always like that. You are just aiming at my back the entire time, waiting to betray me.”

“Absolutely not!”

“No, that’s right.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Originally the world is like that.”

……

“Please spare me. I will give you absolute obedience.”

“You still have the strength to say that!”

He continued hitting the sore spots! It was a bizarre situation that showcased the worst aspects of human nature as well as their craftsmanship.

Thus Van Hawk returned to his position next to Weed. His recovery was much higher now that he was an Abyss Knight but he couldn’t last against Weed’s undivided attention.

The only consolation he felt was when he saw the roof of a nearby wrecked house.

The person sitting on the roof of the house with a pale complexion and black cloak was the Vampire Lord Torido. He had been dragged here before Van Hawk.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Thank you for waiting. Weed the God of War, what adventure has he been on? The viewers’ curiosity will now be satisfied as the broadcast begins.”

“Modifiers aren’t necessary for this adventure. The scale of Weed’s adventure is so large that it can be called the Return of the King!”

The viewers looked forward to Weed’s adventure that started broadcasting! Each of the stations showed it at exactly 6 p.m.

The delivery places like pizza, chicken, ham hocks etc. were also waiting for this time. The audience would become hungry while watching the television and would get food delivered.

The viewers also made delighted posts on the bulletin boards.

– Finally.

– I was so thrilled that I couldn’t sleep yesterday.

– The time until I’m discharged from the army seems to be slowing down.

– Royal Road is good but it is fun to see Weed’s adventures.

– My spirit is thoroughly immersed when looking at it. It is like seeing a goblin only to realize he is a Bone Dragon slayer!

– I broke up with my girlfriend to watch this.

– You did well.

– Congratulations.

And the first image KMC Media showed was a golden, sandy beach with calming music playing.

Weed was wandering around Borota Island looking for stories of Nodulle and Hilderun. A few people might be bored but it was necessary to show the first step of the quest.

“Do you know Nodulle and Hilderun?”

“I know but it is annoying to say it. Many people have asked me about them.”

Weed met people on the island who shared their stories. Little children talked about Nodulle and Hilderun while picking up shells and stones on the pretty beach.

– Human.

– Weed the God of War has this hidden side to him.

– This is the delicate sensibility he used to make his sculptures.

At that time, Wed stole a piece of squid that was being dried and ate it.

“Ahh, salty.”

– Weed-nim also does bad things.

– This is the charm of a human.

– I also want to taste stolen squid too!

– I will immediately develop a Squid Grass Porridge Unit. A new porridge development team.

His visit to Nodulle’s residence and consequent steps in the quest were also broadcasted.

After a brief introduction, CTS Media and LK Games showed the scene of his escape from an island in the middle of a storm. At first, the provocative images pulled up the ratings. But viewers would rather leisurely watch the quests so the ratings for KMC Media was much higher.

– Who are Nodulle and Hilderun?

– I don’t know. Are they a pirate couple?

– Maybe they are lovers like Romeo and Juliet.

– The background music gives the island a completely romantic atmosphere. Where is that island now?

– Borota Island.

– Oh, I want to move to a warm, sunny island.

– Judging by this, Borota Island will become a popular tourist destination in the future.

– How much money would it cost to build a house on that island?

– Recently a user bought a cast amount of land on Borota Island so the real estate prices has soared. For example, it has soared by 10 times compared to the past.

They were curious about Nodulle and Hilderun and also leisurely viewed the relaxing scenery of Borota Island. They also waited for other exciting, future developments in the future.

Weed’s adventure was connected with danger and suffering on another scale. The viewers knew that he would change the important history of cities on the continent so they were looking forward to future information.

The lyrical and romantic view of Borota Island! Holding onto a piece of wood in the sea while being threatened by the followers of the Sea God.

In the beginning, Seo-yoon’s face didn’t appear intentionally. This only served to raise the viewer’s curiosity.

– She is an absolute beauty based on the rear view alone.

– I want to marry her just looking at the hands that are rowing.

– The brief sound of her voice is enough to pull out my soul.

All the attention within Royal Road was focused on Weed’s adventure. The ratings were also a big bang! But the number of antis also significantly increased.

– I’m doomed because of Weed. The destruction of the city dealt a blow to my business. Even the goblins wouldn’t want to rob me.

– The house I worked hard to prepare is gone. Who will be responsible for this damage?

– The indiscriminate destruction of the city. In the meantime, I’ve been building up intimacy with the residents. Is it right for Weed to do this?

– I understand that the Haven Empire is his enemy. But what am I guilty of?

A considerable number of users damaged by Weed’s actions on the Central Continent demanded compensation during the broadcast. The Hermes Guild also diligently took advantage of this to accuse him.

– Weed was originally bad. He couldn’t hide his innate nature in Continent of Magic.

– Weed is really vicious. He deceived the people of the north that he was a good person.

– Weed’s adventures are all due to his own greed. Please be a little more calm.

– Grass Porridge Cult? It is funny that people would join such a ridiculous group. The Central Continent is full of prosperity and development.

Weed’s broadcast was a hot topic from day one.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This incompetent bastard.”

Weed kept on abusing Van Hawk who didn’t say anything.

An Abyss Knight might be described as the pinnacle of the undead but he knew who was in charge. It was absurd that he was still following a human like Weed after he had switched professions.

“I will leave the 1st Army Corps to you. Can you lead them well?”

“Of course.”

When he was under the reign of Barkhan, Van Hawk had been the commander of the dark army! He now assumed the role of leading 80,000 soldiers.

“You….”

Van Hawk saw that half the soldiers were composed of riff-raff.

They were conscripted youths so they were undisciplined and their stance when holding a sword was a mess. Weed deliberately gave him those with no combat experience and the fanatics of the Embinyu Church. They were cannon fodder so he hadn’t bothered teaching them.

A legendary monster, the Abyss Knight had appeared but the soldiers didn’t speculate.

“You will die fighting so it isn’t necessary to fight well. Just die early. That will hopefully be your only obligation.”

“Yes!”

Van Hawk and the 1st Army Corps rushed to the vanguard. A myriad of soldiers died from the enemy’s arrows or cavalry!

“Huhuhu.”

“My body is cold, cold. I want to drink hot blood!”

The soldiers then became zombies and skeletons. Compared to when they were alive, they had a fast and strong power. The power of the Abyss Knight could revive subordinates from the dead.

Half of the troops were affected by Van Hawk’s darkness. The 80,000 army changed to half undead and half humans. It even increased by 20,000 as the bodies of the enemies were changed by dark forces. Van Hawk could control exactly 100,000 undead with his dark powers!

The maximum size and quality of the army kept on improving. Countless ghosts, Dullahans, Death Knights etc. began appearing.

“Yes, this is really nice. Having the undead listen to orders is really good.”

Weed used the undead to actively fight against the Mapon Kingdom. The power of Weed’s desert warriors was being raised with a high speed. The conscripted slaves, elephant troops and undead troops were organized.

The majesty of a true conquering army!

He also used the vast riches looted from the principalities to hire mercenaries. Not only that, the nobles and members of the royal families surrendered without a fight. The number of troops went over 100,000 and the surrendered soldiers were placed at the vanguard.

Weed’s army went beyond 300,000 as he struck the Central Continent.

“I’ve already wrecked 20 cities. This will certainly be recorded in history. Nevertheless, to be able to leave a name behind after death….it is very honourable.”

He would go down in history as a villain who committed terrible actions! Weed’s absolute force and charisma meant the soldiers didn’t dare take a breath or relax in front of him.

Having the undead as colleagues and destroying all the cities made the soldiers somehow feel more comfortable.

Only cities that opened their gates and surrendered could avoid complete destruction. The desert troops passed through the cities and kingdoms and forcefully conscripted combat slaves.

Hope was lost and they could only fight.

“We have been caught by a vicious mastermind.”

“Should we try to escape tomorrow?”

“No. We can’t escape from his range of vision even at night. And you know what will happen if we get caught trying to escape.

If 1 person tried to escape then the entire unit consisting of 2,000 people would be annihilated.

An army dominated by fear! Weed allowed them to kill the enemy and loot to their heart’s content. The soldiers that used the despair of their enemies to overcome their hopelessness and became more cruel.

“Charge.”

The soldiers ran forward like caught wild horses at Weed’s order.

“Hihihihit!”

“Kill. Kill them all!”

“Snatch everything.”

The mental state of the soldiers was the worst. They weren’t equipped with stability, gold, equipment or skill proficiency. The army only waged war!

“We should obtain a total victory.”

The absolute strength and dominance meant the army was victorious every time. In addition, the cruel soldiers helped in the destruction of the Central Continent.

Ddiring!

– You have fulfilled 6 of the conditions necessary for the Advent of the Conqueror quest.

The objective of the quest has already been exceeded.

The fanatics in the Dagan Kingdom have been completely destroyed.

Destruction of the cities surrounding the Herr River has been completed.

Devastate the training base of the fanatics in the Ruprea Principality has been completed.

Set the city of Itua on fire has been completed.

You have sniffed out some of the royals who were secret follower of the Embinyu Church.

The Droma Kingdom has collapsed and a new dynasty will emerge.

This was a considerable achievement when taking into account that he couldn’t travel to cities and kingdoms far away. In order to avoid a battle with the Embinyu Church, he had only aimed to achieve 3 goals.

But he needed to make sure he destroyed certain kingdoms when completing the quest. Once he returned to his original world, his level of 824 would disappear. It was like trying to paddle when water was entering the boat.

In addition, this conquest war was fun. He came into the past so it was good to heat things up. Users didn’t exist in the warring period but the presence of outstanding knights meant it was hard to conquer the continent.

Weed had a bad side. But he didn’t have the opportunity to commit bad actions. People viewed him as an honest and steady person but Weed had wanted to be a villain in the first place.

His teacher in elementary school asked him what his dream for the future was. Weed’s answer was ‘a villain who will destroy world peace.’ The forbidden chance to achieve his childhood dream had been opened.

“Kill everything. Don’t let them live even if they surrender. And don’t touch the riches in the castle’s warehouse. That is mine!”

Tyrant Weed! The slave soldiers that surrendered were dragged into the next war.

Now the kingdoms in the warring period started having an active response.

“We have to prevent the barbarians from coming to our kingdom.”

“Those fellows are merciless. Send the knights to bring back Weed’s head.”

“I heard that Weed is a great warrior. I don’t know why he is opposing us but the dignity of the Royal Family can’t allow him to pass.”

The kingdoms moved their troops in order to suppress him. Hundreds of thousands of elite troops marched to annihilate Weed and the Red Knife army.

In addition, the Embinyu Church also moved.

– We are carrying God Embinyu’s trust.

– A huge force is coming from the south to stop us. Get rid of them.

The anxiety deeply rooted in the continent has become parasitic. The Embinyu Church forces gathered in forests, complex underground caves and secret places in the kingdom were shown in a video.

An amazingly huge turtle more than 400 metres large was flying through the air above the Embinyu Church, with 300 archers on board. An Embinyu army was running around with crossbow devices and siege weapons that could cover the sky with rocks. And there was a 10 storey tower with Earth Giants following behind. Fanatics covered the plains or dug stones with pickaxes.

These fanatics weren’t an insignificant presence.

Nodulle had caused the fall of the Embinyu Church with Ahellun until it eventually recovered in the future.  They could cut off limbs and tear iron armour.

The 4th and 6th sect. High Priest Motuls and High Priest Igrig led the dark army. They were level 700 priests that could freely use magic but their ability to lead their men in battle was much superior. The High Priests of the sects used curses and black magic so sacrifices were inevitable.

The priests in the present day Embinyu Church also led hundreds of people. The warring period meant the priests could led more than 10,000 people to commit atrocities. They used brainwashing, deception and all types of dark magic in the Embinyu Church. Even the evil Pechet threatening the Keltun Kingdom joined them to mobilize an unprecedented army.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed and Seo-yoon.

There were the only 2 users on this huge continent filled with NPCs. Numerous quests sprang up or disappeared and the recorded history was changed. They caused a big war that would be written in history.

That’s how large the scale of this quest was. When thinking about it calmly, this was a quarrel between the desert area and the enemy. The revealed army of the Embinyu Church was more terrible than expected.

Weed finally realized what happened in the past.

“No, Nodulle’s success was a case of a typical and archaic hero!”

The latent strength of the Embinyu Church that emerged in the world could easily change. Weed led a desert army to conquer so his analysis of the situation was very accurate.

Although the desert warriors were strong, the Embinyu Church contained all sorts of odd creatures and fanatics.

“But I can’t do that. I need to obtain a stronger power in cause the tower is successfully built and the Chaos Dragon awakens.”

The Embinyu Church had thoroughly prepared and planned. And they were irreparably damaged by Nodulle and Hilderun.

The hero in the story used a might power to stop the villain, the Embinyu Church from conquering the continent.

“These ugly bastards.”

Weed was understandably upset about the Embinyu Church. They brainwashed many kings and nobles to follow them. The aim of conquering the continent was naturally difficult to accomplish. The sweat and passion of the villains had disappeared.

“This is really stupid. If I was the head of the Embinyu Church then I would use all sorts of despicable means. I would rather receive a quest to help the Embinyu Church dominate the continent.”

Anyway, the Embinyu Church in the past changed due to Weed. The Embinyu Church woke up an army in order to prevent Weed and his army of desert warriors.

“I caused an accident with those guys. Was I too greedy? I should’ve acted moderately while playing a hero.”

He now had a very large burden to defeat the Embinyu Church.

In fact, Weed hasn’t been comfortable acting out the role of Nodulle. He was forced to follow the righteous acts of a hero.

However, the desert army invading the Central Continent was Weed’s choice. His frustration over his destiny had already rolled away.

“All my actions will break the history of the future. Well, it can’t be helped.”

It was an extremely rare opportunity against the backdrop of the entire continent. The level 800 armed forces swept through the continent during this chaotic period. He conquered vast lands and cities as well as struck against the Embinyu Church.

Weed and Seo-yoon wanted to live like this forever. The exhilarating fun of war and adventure!

“This is an uncommon opportunity to do bad things. For the sake of justice, I need to teach the Embinyu Church what a true villain is.”

It was like watching cartoon villains from a young age only to get the chance to release all his frustrations. Now it was time to lead the troops to loot the city.

Weed climbed on the Bactrian Camel and held out his hand to Seo-yoon.

“Grab on.”

“Thank you.”

When moving long distances, Seo-yoon rode on the camel with him. It was a practical reason since she hadn’t raised her level. But it wasn’t just for quick movements that the two became familiar with riding together.

It was severely cold in the desert and as they headed north from the southern area. Memories piled up as they travelled that route.

‘Youth is fleeting and life is short. I will be reminded of these memories over time in the future.’

The two people spent a happy and romantic time together. And they used experience and hard work to overcome and live. As a person became older, they realized how important these things were.

It was shrouded in countless suffering but Nodulle and Hilderun’s quest also had a romantic aspect.

He wasn’t the type to help a complete stranger who was suffering. Yet Weed was the first one to stretch out his hand to her.

‘I’m not that type of person.’

He had lived in poverty since childhood so he wasn’t confident about love. He felt a sense of insecurity about bringing suffering to a woman. That’s why he kept feeling sorry.

There were times in junior high and high school where he stopped himself and just looked at the back of a nice female. He might have a good heart but he was scared to show it.

‘But if it is this woman….’

He gained some faith during the time spent with Seo-yoon. He didn’t want it to but the possibility slowly formed in his mind.

‘Well, it’s not like she doesn’t have flaws. Eventually these conflicts will be resolved one day.’

Weed hid his cowardice deep down in his thoughts. He felt like that while watching Seo-yoon’s actions.

‘Ah, now she is a lot like me.’

It was being revealed even if the other side tried to hide it.

It had been quite some time since he carved the Goddess of Freya Statue in Baran Village. At that time, Seo-yoon’s heart had been closed off.

Weed used her as a model for the statue that had a bright and beautiful appearance. And he had secretly written down a sentence in a hidden place.

– This smile is good….I hope you can smile like this….

He hoped that Seo-yoon would go back to that little village and find the phrase. Their meeting in the instructor’s house was short but it created a special sculpture.

And then they had met on the Plains of Despair when he was Karichwi. The reason was unknown but Weed had felt something special after seeing her behaviour and eyes. Weed carved a sculpture while accompanying her through the plains.

A sculpture of her smiling that caused tears! Seo-yoon didn’t express it but her heart had always been crying and in pain. She felt doubts and anxiety but had a vulnerable and pure side hidden. The sculpture was able to elicit tears and ease the pain.

Since then, she was always willing to model for Weed’s sculptures. His sculptures were beautifully carved and made Seo-yoon even prettier.

Weed was also scared of exposing his heart. But the sculptures were honest.

The sculpture of Warm Lovers while hiding in a cave with Alveron! In the sculpture, Weed and Seo-yoon were hugging each other while sharing warmth.

This had expressed a little bit of something contained deep in his heart. The two people had each suffered pain and suffering in their lives. And after some time and incidents, they shared many events together.

Now they could close their eyes and understand the other person’s mind.

Chapter 2: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

Pale was carrying a bow in the mountains.

“I knew it would become like this.”

Weed wasn’t among them so it was common to separate for adventures. But this time, they had to recover one of the four treasures of the Niflheim Empire! Mapan had obtained a clue that led towards the Halmerun Mountains and after patrolling it, the environment was really no joke.

His companions had their own opinions.

“We need to sneak into that tree fort.”

“We don’t have a profession that can secretly infiltrate it. It would be hard work even for someone with the profession.”

“Yes… Someone needs to draw their attention.”

And everybody’s eyes fell onto Pale.

Romuna said.

“An assassin won’t be easily caught but….”

Irene nodded her head.

“We need someone who won’t die if hit multiple times. If a person has low health then they can’t be the bait.”

Surka felt remorse for 0.3 seconds before saying.

“A counterattack should also be possible! I think that Pale oppa is the only one possible.”

Pale’s name was mentioned directly!

Hwaryeong and Bellot took it for granted.

“I will feel very reassured if Pale-nim is the one to do this. A man should do this much.”

“Leadership in adventures can be very attractive….”

Pale was always surrounded by women so his senses were quick.

‘They are pushing everything to me. Bellot-nim, your tone of voice right now is like when you are acting in a prime-time weekend drama.’

Other men were usually envious of Pale. Gazes were often stuck to him when he was drinking in a tavern in Morata.

‘He is a sought after bastard.’

‘He must be from a family of independence fighters.’

‘How happy he must be. I would like to be so popular. Well, that probably won’t happen.’

Ironically, the person they were envious of didn’t think it was a good thing. The women ate food while making him pay for it and talked about complex or boring things he didn’t understand.

In particular, the atmosphere when talking about handbags was so serious it was like they studied tannery or leather craftsmanship at university. The women would also nag him about chores.

His girlfriend Maylon also recommended him to undertake the dangerous task of acting as an assassin to lure the enemy.

“I believe that you will come back alive and unharmed.”

Maylon was a ranger so she could also undertake this mission. That’s why she wanted Pale to do it instead.

Another man surrounded by the gorgeous women was just drinking water quietly. A fisherman had high health but low movement speed so he wasn’t suitable for the role of luring the enemies.

Zephyr normally came to the front in battles.

Cheerful whispers were sent towards him.

– Take them far away.  It will be risky if we’re nearby!

–I believe in you.

– Show a cool appearance.

No matter how the girls cheered or complimented him, Pale realized something. Pale was an unfortunate man among pretty girls! But his true character became known once he was alone.

“Regression Arrow.”

Pale ran forward while shooting an arrow. The arrows heading in front of him suddenly changed to the opposite direction. The arrow shot into the heart of an enemy chasing Pale.

“Kyak!”

They were a tribe similar to humans but with blue skin.

Pale shot five arrows at once while running. He had experience with repeatedly inserting arrows into his bow. And he only felt a moderate tension.

‘This crisis is nothing. When I’m with Weed, every moment is like the crossroad between life and death. This degree is only a little dangerous.’

Then the guy next to him grew larger.

“Dispersion Fire!”

Pale turned like lightning and aimed the arrow in the direction of the assassin. 20 arrows covered the assassin that had grown.

“Keet!”

“Kwaack!”

Pale listened to the screaming as he dodged poison daggers, chain scythes and poisoned arrows.

Pale used the trees and bushes as obstacles. Quick judgement as well as speed was very important.

‘Those fellows aren’t simply pursuing.’

More than 10 people among the assassins headed elsewhere. It was to form an encirclement.

‘Left, right? Left side.’

Pale made a short decision after analysing the terrain. He had improved his improvisation and accurate judgement from battles and adventures.

An assassin jumped out of a tree and stabbed a dagger towards him.

“Kuhit, die human.”

Pale retreated one step and fired an arrow at the head.

“That will be you!”

And an assassin appeared right under his nose!

Archers were known to be weak at close range. Therefore they usually had an additional weapon apart from the bow. Elves used elementals while humans selected magic or daggers.

But archers didn’t invest a lot of stats into strength so the power of their dagger was much lower. It was unusual for someone to have Weed’s outrageous stats in both strength and agility.

So it was preferable to stay at a favourable distance while shooting arrows. It was considered a failure if they needed to life their dagger in combat. Their swordsmanship had barely grown so it was rare for them to be able to beat a monster. That’s why high level archers collapsed when it came to close combat.

Pale had a lot of experience running quickly while using his bow and arrows. He didn’t tremble and prepared carefully for an opportunity. And he learned how to deflect a monster’s attacks.

When fighting with Weed, it felt luxurious to sit back in a safe and comfortable spot while pulling his bow. In order to pull his weight, he worked hard when hunting alone. Other archers would be unable to use such fearless movements.

Shooting arrows through the trees and branches! And it hit the side of an assassin prepared to ambush him.

“Kuek!”

The assassin was hit in the chest by the arrow and pushed back.

“Goodbye.”

Pale managed to escape while packing the japtem.

He felt like it was a waste to not collect the items dropped from monsters or enemies. In fact, japtem didn’t have anything to do with increasing a person’s level but it could be helpful in future quests.

‘I think I can escape to this side.’

Pale believed in his own judgement despite being ambushed by the assassins. It would be different if the encirclement was perfectly organized but they were unprepared for his arrival.

And Pale wasn’t actually being surrounded by the assassins.

“Twenty one, twenty two, twenty-three!”

He subdued the assassins pursuing him one after another! He predicted the assassins hiding behind bushes and trees and shot the arrows.

“Piercing Arrow!”

“Kuuk!”

There was a moaning sound as the arrow pierced through a tree. A high level archer shooting accurately at this distance was detrimental. The assassin had similar defense to a knight but their health fell greatly.

“Deceleration Arrow!”

The arrow fired at an assassin slowed down. Power wasn’t the only thing necessary when dealing with concealed assassins.

“Continuous Arrows!”

He predicted the path the assassin would use to avoid the slowed arrow and would defeat them with the next attacks.

Pale took care of the assassins in the forest like he had a panoramic view on the plains. He lured those guys back and forth while attacking them.

One attack from an assassin would lead to his death. The vicious poison, bleeding, hallucinations or paralysis would all eventually cause death.

These dangerous and important moments were what caused his heart to jump. But he needed to stay calm and impersonal in order to handle the assassins!

Pale’s mood was like a small and firm mountain.

Ddiring!

– You have wiped out all the assassins chasing you on Halmerun Mountain.

63 assassins have fallen to your bow.

Your arrow hit ratio is 49.7%.

52 deadly attacks.

24 people received critical strikes.

You have achieved a miraculous victory without any assistance.

Fame has risen from dealing a big blow to the assassins.

The title ‘Hunter of Halmerun Mountain’ has been obtained.

Agility has increased by 1 when accurately hunting.

Pale ran towards the assassin’s fort as soon as he achieved victory.

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

There was no time to enjoy it since his companions might be in danger.

Fortunately the majority of the assassins had died chasing Pale so his companions safely obtained Ivanstein’s secret records in the fort. As they predicted, they were able to easily take care of the remaining assassins patrolling the fort.

Romuna turned to Pale who looked like a ghost.

“You are alive!”

“That…”

“I thought you were dead.”

“How did you live?”

His companions were the ones who entrusted him with the dangerous role yet they questioned why he hadn’t died. They were confused because they never expected Pale to survive the assassins chasing him.

However, Pale quickly woke up and took care of the assassin chasing Maylon. The assassins could strike at Maylon at any time so he couldn’t just watch.

Zephyr came up to him and asked.

“You managed to handle the assassins chasing you alone?”

“I did.”

Pale was proud and wanted to show off his heroism to his colleagues. It was a thrilling crisis and he had also gained decent experience.

“But….”

“Has unni made the reservation?”

“I tried 37 times as soon as I heard the limited edition came out. I won’t be able to obtain the Chanel bag until autumn.”

“Absolutely envious. I’ve tried 71 times.”

Hwaryeong and Bellot were having a serious conversation.

It was expected. The singer and actress only paid attention to shoes and bags as it was a source of energy for them. Confidence was an important asset for celebrities.

He looked over at his long-time friends Surka, Romuna and Irene.

“You fight well. Completely lucky. It is annoying.”

“I will ask again the next time something dangerous happens.”

“Wow, I’m disappointed that you didn’t give me any work to do as a priest.”

“……”

His last resort was his girlfriend Maylon. As he expected, Maylon looked him over from head to feet.

‘She is worried about my injuries. Indeed….’

Pale was thrilled.

“Where is your stash?”

“I don’t have any.”

“Did you find some good items that you are keeping to yourself?”

“……”

Pale felt desperately alone.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The broadcasting stations that were showing Weed’s adventures!

Each room that had a television showed the daily broadcast.

On the second day, the damage to the Sea God’s forces on the Central Continent and Seo-yoon’s rescue from the Portu Kingdom was broadcasted. The stations increased the tension with background music, brilliantly placed subtitles and special effects.

– Ah…a complete drama.

– This is the so called power of love. It was really dangerous.

– Where did Weed disappear to after carrying Hilderun through the portal?

– That’s why we need to wait for tomorrow’s broadcast.

– I didn’t know the story of Nodulle and Hilderun was so deep.

The bulletin boards were all filled with Weed’s adventure.

However, some fans of Weed were bored. A romantic atmosphere by the sea and a rescue from a collapsing castle.

“I’m bored. This is revolting.”

Weed normally overcome risks with a dazzling performance in battle.

– It is disappointing to see him go around with a woman. He is being lazy. There is no excitement in a dull adventure like this. I didn’t find the rescue from the castle interesting.

– I didn’t see any of Weed’s combat scenes. He is too busy trying to avoid things.

– I didn’t want to see a weak and insignificant appearance.

– Who is the man helping Weed?

– He appears to be a master swordsman.

– His connections are enormous.

Fans of Royal Road were professionals with considerable knowledge. Even the Grass Porridge members just starting in the north had deep knowledge of beginner adventures.

This wasn’t a typical case where the body followed the head! They were tired and disappointed dozens of times during Weed’s adventure. Of course, they were still fans but their satisfaction with this adventure was extremely low.

– This isn’t the look we wanted to see.

– There are still days left. We’ve only seen two days so let’s wait a little longer.

– The desert cities and destruction of cities in the Central Continent. In order to increase the impact of the adventure, this won’t be shown quickly.

– Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!

The broadcast schedule was five days. Viewers were burning with excitement.

The second day of broadcast was a Sunday. That evening, the individual stations each received the highest ratings for the 8 p.m. show.

Weed and Seo-yoon were walking through a desert. The viewers watching the video had different thoughts as they watched him suffering in the desert.

– Well, he won’t die in the middle. They’ve decided to broadcast for five days.

– I figured Weed would do well.

– He went into the desert like that.

– He has gone to various places. It is like the real quest has been abandoned. I wonder what compensation will be received for the suffering.

– It aired at 8 p.m. today but isn’t it ending a little early? I gave up dinner in order to wait for this.

– Ah, it can’t end early. The evening broadcast schedule said it would end at midnight.

The viewers’ opinions started to be plainly expressed.

And then!

Weed’s quest that was in progress suddenly flowed back to the beginning.

– This is the beginning of Weed’s great adventure. The unknown story.

The scene changed to Weed receiving a quest from the Sculptor’s Guild in Rhodium. It was the conversation with the old man about the Stellar Tear.

“Welcome. Since the Stellar Tear is welcoming you, a person who knows Moonlight Sculpting has come.”

“I want to know a way to express radiant beauty.”

“Rhodium has existed for hundreds of years and I finally found someone to speak to about radiant beauty.”

– W-what is this? The atmosphere changed out of the blue.

– Eh, a way to express radiant beauty? I think it is to learn a skill.

– Sculpting? Has Weed mastered sculpting? It must be a tremendous secret technique. He can create disasters and also transform into several species.

The adventurers and fans suddenly seemed to wake up from their sleep. It felt like having water poured on them after experiencing temperatures of -40 degrees Celsius.

The impact of the video coming from the broadcasting stations was enormous.

– The stations are all uniting to play the same scene. I suddenly have an exhilarating feeling.

– This isn’t like Weed’s usual adventures. But it is replaced with something else.

– It is fun just watching it… I think this will be a long and dangerous quest.  The atmosphere feels like there is something big!

– This isn’t a joke. The tension escalating was enough to fry an egg.

Weed’s conversation with the old man continued.

“Do you want to hear the story about radiant beauty?”

“Of course.”

“I want to go back to when I heard about the radiant beauty. Can I do that?”

“I would like to hear about the radiant beauty.”

“This is something I heard a long time ago. This is a legend about sculpting passed down through the mouths of the people. I don’t know about the feasibility. Almost no one believed the story.”

– Now they are Nodulle and Hilderun and are facing a huge, difficult quest in the desert.

– I’m not sure but I can see that it will be epic.

– Now a scene of Weed flying around the continent as a hummingbird is emerging.

– I don’t know what he is trying to do.

– My heart has started pounding.

– Ah, that’s right! The last time Weed produced a disaster. Is that also associated with this quest?

– I can’t imagine where this quest is going to lead.

Using a sword of light in a storm and creating a natural sculpture. The viewers became more curious as Weed’s early adventures were broadcasted.

The compensation for the Nodulle and Hilderun quest wouldn’t just be average. It was a scale that was like a sculptor’s hell!

They couldn’t even imagine changing the channel.

Weed’s enthusiastic fans had a separate place where they could talk.

– I was lacking in faith. Grass Porridge!

– I shouldn’t even ask questions. This is Weed’s adventure.

– Orc Karichwi might reappear. Or maybe more!

– The expression of radiant beauty. A skill. Is Weed trying to obtain a secret sculpting technique?

– Most secret techniques are acquired through the master quest or adventures.

The skill is hard to obtain but should the adventure be this long? This seems like nobody can obtain it.

– Just watching it is enough to make me tired and feel like giving up. Doesn’t it require devoting your life to obtain it?

– The stations haven’t showed it yet but Roderick’s Labyrinth is also an incomprehensible dungeon. I would die entering that place.

– It doesn’t make sense that Roderick’s Labyrinth is just a stepping stone in the middle of this quest.

– I feel like this is too much labour for a sculptor.

– I don’t understand the old man’s words. What does he mean about the legendary sculpture?

The large fans, adventurers and high level users gathered at the discussion boards to talk about Weed’s adventure. Then in the end, someone with deep knowledge about Royal Road said some difficult words.

– Doesn’t this feel like the final secret technique?

“The final secret technique?

– No way!

– Who would say something like that? Hahahaha.

– I heard that you need to gather all the other secret techniques of that profession first… It is impossible.

– The labyrinth and changing the past… Doesn’t the difficulty of the quest appear to be on that level?

– Why can’t it be true? This is Weed!

The possibility of the final secret sculpting technique spread through each community.

– Final secret sculpting technique quest?

– Completely amazing.

– Ah…I’m feeling dizzy.

– Indeed Weed, really Weed, Weed who makes me feel sick!

– I will be nervous in the future when hearing about Weed’s adventures. I never thought this adventure would be so huge.

– It is not yet confirmed this is the final secret technique. Getting ahead of ourselves when it might be a false rumour!

– If this quest is for the final secret technique… Will he really succeed in such an adventure?

– A huge existence?

– Hey, perhaps…

– I’m not sure since we have no idea wat the skill is.

– It won’t be easy. He might fail.

– When have Weed’s adventures ever been easy? After seeing the broadcast of Weed yesterday and today, who else can succeed in an adventure like that?

– I’m envious. Although I still want him to succeed.

The bulletin boards heated up with stories of the final secret technique.

It varied from people praising Weed, speculations about the final secret technique and pessimistic viewers.

And at 9 p.m., the broadcasting stations made an announcement to put an end to the controversy.

“There has been much speculation about Weed’s adventures. Can Oh Joo-wan ssi tell us anything about the quest?”

“Yes. The viewers have been demanding more detailed information about the quest on the various forums. Excuse me, I just received a note from the station.”

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan talked about the current stories on the Versailles Continent. This time the largest number of viewers were watching the broadcast. Oh Joo-wan’s face instantly became stiff as he unfolded the note.

Weed’s adventure is linked to the grand quest of obtaining the final secret sculpting technique. This will be broadcasted later but it involves the destruction of the Embinyu Church in the warring period. And there is the high possibility of hunting a Chaos Dragon.

Millions of people saw Oh Joo-wan’s expression change and it didn’t recover. He was a commentator so he didn’t know in advance that Weed’s adventure was related to the final secret technique.

Besides, the quest also involved a full scale war with the Embinyu Church and the appearance of a Chaos Dragon. The contents were more than a commentator of Royal Road could imagine.

“What is it about? The viewers are also wondering so I think it needs to be read quickly.”

Shin Hye-min gazed at Oh Joo-wan and sighed lightly. She knew in advance since she was Weed’s friend. However, she had to use a woman’s acting skills to occasionally seem surprised.

“Um…the viewers must be very curious about the contents of this note. Shall I begin with the conclusion? Or make it longer….”

“Did Oh Joo-wan ssi know that your anti fans just increased by 1 million people?”

“I will announce it quickly. King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom is currently on a quest for the final secret sculpting technique.

And it involves destroying the Embinyu Church and hunting a Chaos Dragon.” Shin Hye-min laughed lightly at Oh Joo-wan.

“Are you joking? Joking at such an important moment. I guess Oh Joo-wan ssi really wants to be cursed.”

“Shin Hye-min ssi really didn’t know?”

“Yes, I don’t know the details. Ah, really?”

“That is the complete truth.”

Shin Hye-min was also surprised.

She knew there was risk involved with the final secret technique but she didn’t know about the Embinyu Church and Chaos Dragon!

Currently the Embinyu Church was enormous on the continent. They were expanding their influence on among the residents every day. The activities of the users were reduced and it was common to see deformed monsters and fanatics in broad daylight.

But to defeat the Embinyu Church and hunt a Chaos Dragon in the warring period!

‘Ugh…the end.’

She knew that the Embinyu Church was much more powerful in the warring period.

The viewers felt the same shock as Shin Hye-min as well as amazement and delight. They were ecstatic at the thought of watching Weed’s adventure.

– I knew Weed didn’t go back to the past and destroy cities with a bad intention.

– It is probably necessary to fight the Embinyu Church. It is to decrease some of the influence of the Embinyu Church.

– What will happen between Weed and the Embinyu Church? Will they just disappear like the cities? The occupied areas might return to normal?

– KMC Media has a separate description. In the original history, the Embinyu Church was defeated by Nodulle but didn’t suffer significant damage. Depending on the result of Weed’s actions, the Embinyu Church might shrink or grow more explosively. We will be able to see in tomorrow’s broadcast.

– It is Monday so I will ask my company for my monthly leave.

– I am on summer vacation. I won’t leave the television for the next three days.

– Ah…I wish that Weed’s adventure would continue through the night.

– I only use the television to watch Royal Road.

And posts of regret!

– I lived my life raising cattle and I feel a chill at the thought of experiencing such an adventure.

– I am just doing the dishes for 1 silver a day.

– I’m getting rid of horse dung.

– A rabbit killed me three times. This is the first time the rabbits have beaten to death so many people.

– I’ll tell you a secret. I was killed by Tokkung-nim seven times. I’m still hopeful for a good adventure.

– Isn’t Tokkung-nim part of the Toadstool Unit of the Grass Porridge Cult? He pulled me onto a grassy hill yesterday and killed me!

Chapter 3: Best Offering

The conquest of the Haven Empire was causing wind to blow blood every day.

“Embinyu! Follow Embinyu. This world is completely corrupt. By destroying this crumbling world, we are saving it.”

The believers of the Embinyu Church aggressively tried to recruit the residents. There were complaints because the security in the Empire wasn’t good so many residents fell into the religion.

“God Embinyu, please accept me.”

“Come quickly. Our colleagues will welcome….cough!”

Assassins of the Have Empire moved around killing fanatics of the Embinyu Church!

However, countless inquisitors and Dark Knights of the Embinyu Church were still present in the Haven Empire. In the past, the Embinyu Church had torn apart other kingdoms and now flocked to the Haven Empire.

“Have you bought the paints?”

“Yes. It is enough to completely repaint the wall.”

“I don’t have time until morning. So be careful not to make a mistake.”

“Of course not.”

The painters at Monterium had their own resistance movement. They drew paintings blaming the Haven Empire for the war. In order to complete the painting without being seen by the guards, they raised their skill proficiency a lot and gained more fame and influence.

However, getting rid of the paintings that portrayed important figures of the Haven Empire in a controversial manner was important.

“Over there!”

“Eeek, they’re already here.”

“Go quickly. There is no time to grab the paint.”

“That is my property….”

The novice painters desperately tried to escape.

There was a commotion as the guards of the Haven Empire chased them but the users and residents just ignored it. They didn’t want to get involved in matters of the Hermes Guild. It was hard to live comfortably while the Hermes Guild was pushing to conquest the Central Continent.

“Ah, this is a dead end.”

The painters ran through complex alleyways until they reached a dead end.

“Huhu, today I get to taste blood.”

The users of the Hermes Guild were used to murdering.

They didn’t have a good image but that could be an advantage. If their level was low and they fought an opponent with strong power, then their fighting strength would rise. In contrast, high level users killing ridiculously weak people wouldn’t gain a lot of experience.

Users who attached themselves to the Haven Empire did a really good job!

“Haven Empire!”

“It is your bad luck to be caught by Roberto and I.”

“That’s great. It is most interesting when killing women..ack!”

Roberto suddenly collapsed in a grey light.

“Eh?”

“Enemy?”

The guards looked around the alley. They couldn’t see anything. The painters were also shocked as Roberto died in the blink of an eye. And the moon was hidden by clouds as the alley became dark.

“Ugh!”

“Ack!”

“Kwaack!”

Screams could be heard from among the quiet. The painters stood there in awe and fear as they looked at a man wearing a black robe.

His appearance was big like that of a painting. He was holding something that looked more like a sacrificial tool than a knife.

“Are you okay?”

Even the voice was clear and direct

“Yes, we aren’t injured. Are you going to spare us?”

“I was just passing by and decided to help.”

“Ah, thank you very much. Though you should be careful. It will be a big deal if the Hermes Guild finds you!”

“Thanks for your concern but I’m not afraid of the Hermes Guild. And I’ve taken care of all the guards in this area of the Haven Empire so finish up your drawing. Then I wish you a good night.”

This behaviour was enough to cause emotions in a woman’s heart. The painters called out desperately as the man turned around.

“Excuse me, can I register you as a friend?”

“That…..”

“You don’t want to because we are low levelled?”

“Absolutely not. Just… The situation is a little complex. My name is Seaso….”

“Eh?”

“No, it is nothing. Someday I might see you again.”

The man said before walking into the darkness. He moved quickly and vanished.

“Totally cool. An apostle of justice disappearing like the wind.”

Monterium was a place where knights of the Haven Empire and inquisitors of the Embinyu Church ran amok.

– The inquisitor Brukshild has fallen.

The missionary activities of the Embinyu Church has been impeded.

Security will be temporarily restored by 3.

– The Haven Empire knights have died without knowing who killed them.

The sudden death is questionable but the reason can’t be figured out.

Message windows continued to ring in front of the users in Monterium Castle.

“An ambush!”

The knights of the Haven Empire gave an emergency decree but it was to no avail. The knights and nobles inside the castle were assassinated. Users from the Hermes Guild wandering around the streets were killed by bows, flying daggers and traps that sprang from the earth!

A professional assassin would leave no signs and also wouldn’t receive a penalty for murder. Moreover, the fame and loot gained from killing monsters was nothing compared to that of infamous users. There were a number of assassination squads in the Haven Empire but they were easily removed.

“An assassin’s blade will deal justice. The Hermes Guild is bad so I don’t feel any pangs of conscience killing them.”

The Hermes Guild users died in several cities in the Haven Empire.

“Do you know about the proclamation of death? Death is inevitable when night comes. Evil people should became afraid of the night.”

“There will be a black wind and then the person will die. Be scared when going into dark places.”

“The neat workmanship calls to mind the assassin of Montonya.”

“Ah, that shadow of death called Seasoned Crab?”

Seasoned Crab wasn’t the only one targeting the Haven Empire. Steiner was now the leader of the Federation of Bandits.

“Boss, the Haven Empire guys are flocking.

“Yes? This is the base. But those guys won’t stop harassing us. Prepare the stone throwing weapons and set fire to the mountain!”

“Yes!”

The Haven Empire needed to dominate the mountains in order to expand their territory.

But it wasn’t an easy task to take control of the mountains. The monsters had left but bandits set up forts on the mountains. And the walls grew thicker as the number of bandits increased.

Their growth was slow compared to the soldiers and knights but they were trained well. It wasn’t easy to live but they managed. The Imperial Army kept on making them move their bases but it increased the quality of the bandits. They also obtained riches by raiding wagons destined for the capital of the Haven Empire.

“I’m not going to live life twice. I should make the most of it during this life. Wuhahaha!”

The bandit Steiner laughed mercilessly as he annoyed the top level users in the Hermes Guild.

“This apple is too crunchy for my taste. Uh, why is the fruit I was eating missing?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It was just in my hand and now it is gone!”

The famous treasure thief Jackson who had been wandering around the world also came to the Haven Empire.

‘I came here to steal. The precious treasures will be mine.’

The prestigious guilds had fallen so there was power vacuum in the Central Continent. Users rose to make their mark in the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– The soldiers of the Red Knife desert army has brutally committed murder.

The criminal activity involved the fanatics of the Embinyu Church.

The infamy of the army’s commander has increased by 45.

– There has been a scuffle between soldiers.

An argument started for no reason in the middle of dinner.

Currently 420 soldiers are involved in the melee and it was grow further if it isn’t settled quickly.

Discipline will decrease the morale of the soldiers.

– Citizens of Pire are protesting the soldiers’ thefts.

If the soldiers don’t stop their criminal activities then they will riot.

Security of the city has reduced by 13.

The larger the size of the army, the more chances there were of incidents occurring.

“What should we do?”

“This is what happens when people are forcefully conscripted. The fanatics, they are the particular problem.”

“Should we discipline them?”

“No, just kill them! Place them at the vanguard in the next battle.”

He solved a lot of the problems by killing the soldiers! He could just recruit more soldiers as the fighting continued.

The army contained a lot of soldiers but it didn’t matter as long as the skilled soldiers had loyalty. The morale of the army and the administration of conquered lands didn’t occur systematically.

Conscripted soldiers were busy looting while the nobles who surrendered were given to the residents.

If Weed established an empire using this method then it wouldn’t last for even 1 year. But from Weed’s standpoint, he just needed to maintain the army until it came time to fight the Embinyu Church in the Central Continent. Besides, he wanted to damage the Central Continent so it was good if they committed some bad actions.

“Torido.”

“Yes Master.”

Torido was extremely polite.

He had a cunning character with accurate judgement but was overwhelmed by Weed’s force. He remembered how Van Hawk couldn’t even fight back properly and didn’t dare talk with the normal arrogance of a noble.

“You don’t have anybody to lead.”

“My vampires didn’t come to this era but I still have the power to create them.”

“Where did you put your sharp teeth? Wander around at night and suck the blood of some soldiers to make them your subordinates.”

“I understand. Thank you.”

He decided to make the soldiers dreaming about home submit unconditionally by turning them into vampires.

“And the women in the city?”

“Yes. There are many who are young and pretty.”

Torido watched the faces passing by.

Turning pretty females in the Arpen Kingdom into vampires was absolutely forbidden. Usually he could only increase his subordinates during quests and hunting. He didn’t even get the chance to meet Prina who worked in a flower shop.

“Go catch women and turn them into vampires.”

“Isn’t that a bad thing?”

“Only if you are noticed.”

This wasn’t the Arpen Kingdom. The Embinyu Church also had a vampire queen as a follower. He would rather offer the fanatics and residents than the desert warriors.

“If you don’t win in this era then our army will be annihilated.”

Weed’s invading army faced increasingly fierce resistance.

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms placed military forces at the borders to form a defensive wall. Smoke rose from distant mountains as the army of other kingdoms were gathered.

“The Mapon Kingdom and Beiner Kingdom are both preparing for battle.”

Weed’s army was strong but there was a risk of it being wiped out if the kingdoms joined together to attack.

This was the warring period so the kingdoms had powerful armies. If this was in the future then the users would take much longer to obtain the power necessary to occupy these kingdoms.

“This is the warring period so they should have a deep grudge against each other. Did I aggravate their aggression?”

He briefly regretted damaging 50 cities!

“I started the fight so it can’t be helped. And I need to destroy the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms to achieve the goal. Hestiger!”

“Yes!”

“I will give you 30,000 cavalry. Attack the Opus Castle and occupy the nearby area. Destroy the cities while avoiding the enemy as much as possible.”

“I will follow your command!”

Hestiger left to the east with 30,000 troops.

The strategy depended on the troops! That’s why he let Hestiger lead the troops towards the Beiner Kingdom.

In times of war, resources for strategies were too expensive. Maintaining it would require an enormous cost but they were constantly looting. Hestiger only took 30,000 troops to disturb the Beiner Kingdom.

“Now I won’t need to see that guy anymore. I feel relieved. Jebeker.”

“Yes!”

“You also have a similar command. Take 40,000 troops to the south. Go around and thoroughly crush the cities.”

“I will follow your words.”

40,000 troops left with a billowing of dust clouds. It had fallen by 70,000 troops but Weed’s army still contained 250,000 people.

The desert troops were close to invincible against the kingdoms in this era. When there was a siege, Weed could just approach directly and bring down the iron gates or walls.

“Levanhut, lead the army to the Noah Kingdom!”

“Ah, yes?”

Saktok!

Weed led the army to charge at the knights of the various kingdoms but he didn’t need to give direct commands.

The morale of the army was overwhelming due to Atrock’s Cry. The conquest war was progressing smoothly as cities surrendered and residents were conscripted. The remaining troops were the elite members.

There were 10,000 undead, 20,000 desert warriors and 70,000 soldiers with combat experience. The remaining 60,000 were slaves and this was the optimal configuration.

“Advance as quickly as possible and devastate the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms. Effortless and clean!”

Weed captured some prisoners for military information.

“You are evil monsters that eat raw flesh and blood. In order to suppress you, His Majesty asked for help from the Mapon Kingdom. Now you are dead. Chwe (spit)!”

Weed and the desert warriors were notorious for being ruthless so the kingdoms were extremely wary. The Beiner Kingdom and Mapon Kingdom gathered 600,000 soldiers.

Weed was even more pleased to hear the news.

“How fun.”

The conquest was taking place at a tremendous rate. But he had felt no tension in the process.

Reaching here was like stealing something from a child.

Even if Weed didn’t actively participate, the Red Knife army had overwhelming strength.

The desert warriors gathered had outstanding talent from the beginning and Weed led them on a steep path. His subordinates were strong and fought to survive.

The desert warriors had an average level of 500~600. Their skills had a wide variety while some were close to mastering swordsmanship. There were also 46 powerhouses who had reached level 700.

His sculptural lifeforms were also proficient. They treated the knights on the Central Continent as toys. Their power couldn’t be stopped with high walls or traps.

There were many variables in battle and no matter how excellent the warriors were, they were still vulnerable to curses. And one or two of them may die when hunting a boss level monster that used magic attacks.

In addition, the Tower of Heroes showed that there were many tough opponents in the past. The Mapon Kingdom and Beiner Kingdom coming together to suppress him would have overwhelming force.

“They have twice as many troops and the best knights and magicians of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms are gathered so they are worth fighting. They won’t attack until they are ready…I think it will take six days.”

Weed was ready to embark on a large scale war. The experience of commanding such a large army would be thrilling!

In additional, it would be considerable practice before needing to fight the Embinyu Church. So far this was just a war of conquest but it would eventually involve the fate of the Versailles Continent.

“I suffered… It might be tough but I’m going to finish the final secret sculpting technique quest.”

Whether this quest succeeded or failed, he could get a good rest after it was over.

“I will forget everything else and go to places like the south coast. For a week….”

He wanted a vacation to restore his weary body and mind.

“Well, even the south coast is too expensive. It is far away so transportation will cost too much.”

This was a realistic anguish about a holiday.

“I should just vacation within Royal Road. Nowadays, there are plenty of people doing that so it must be pretty good. I can fish on a beach or cook saury to eat. And if a week seems a bit too long… Compared to other competitors, I need to recover my stats and level… Three days should be enough?”

Weed shook his head.

He was king of the desert and his enormous army was sweeping through the Central Continent. But once he returned to his original time, he would be back to level 400 and kicked by the Hermes Guild. It would go terribly if he met Bardray again.

“Three days is too long. Um, I should just rest on Sunday…no. I will catch up on housework and enjoy the warm sunshine before going to Morata.

And three minutes later.

“This is hard hunting so there should be a good quest reward. I need to work harder in this warring period!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray held his sword as he looked around.

His Royal Guards were cleaning up the remainder of the Roam Guild.

“S-save me! I accept the rule of the Hermes Guild.”

“Too late. You should’ve said that before the battle!”

“Cough!”

They conquered Star City and destroyed the Roam Guild. The Roam Guild was eventually exterminated. The Hermes Guild had made unreasonable demands that they couldn’t possibly accept.

– Hand over the land that the Roam Guild conquered and all commercial developments.

– Dissolve the Roam Guild.

–The Roam Guild should leave their houses and settle elsewhere.

230,000 troops of the Haven Empire surrounded Star City and offered these conditions for survival.

“This is so humiliating that I would rather die.”

The leaders of the Hermes Guild had expected the Roam Guild to fight.

Bardray and the Royal Guards broke through the external walls and disposed of the defense forces. The Roam Guild fought to the death but the results didn’t change before Bardray’s power.

Bardray was called a god in battle and he became stronger with more experience. The Haven Empire planned to conquer the Central Continent and he had led numerous large scale battles. He gained tough combat experience, enhanced his level and stats and gained a mysterious ability that dwelled in the forest of the elves.

His superior leadership and charisma made soldiers and knights bow to him.

“So far it has been a long road. Only a little bit of the journey remains until I reached the destination.”

Bardray didn’t feel motivated to fight the Roam Guild. The Royal Guards took care of everything else after the battle. The Roam Guild had been broken a while ago so this was just a long process of taking care of them.

After leaving Continent of Magic, he had thoroughly prepared for Royal Road and helped start the Hermes Guild.

In the early days of Royal Road, not a lot of information was available to the users. In some cases, it was common to get lost after leaving a city and barely making it back.

It was normal to see distressed users near the gates. Some merchants couldn’t even dream of long distance trading and just stayed safely in the cities. The cities were bustling and novice users were full of curiosity about the unknown world.

Bardray and the Hermes Guild demonstrated strength and solidarity and got ahead of their other competitors. They steadily built up their influence in the Haven Kingdom until Bardray obtained the ultimate position.

The numerous minor guilds and powers started scrambling. They quickly seized control of the Haven Kingdom and moved on to the Kallamore Kingdom. They also joined the United Supremacy Alliance and there was a tug-of-war until they reached this point.

Soon the entire Central Continent and then the Versailles Continent would be under his reign. The period of glory he had been dreaming of would soon arrive.

“Dominating this continent as the Emperor….”

After the war ended, Bardray would lower the tax rate and establish reasonable policies for users. He would firmly lay the foundation of the empire on gratitude. There were no obstacles in front of Bardray and he believed that it was proceeding smoothly.

“Fulfilling the greatest challenge will be achieved by Bardray.”

But ironically, the broadcasting stations weren’t showing the crucial event of the Roam Guild being shattered. The stations only edited it to be talked about in the evening news.

This scratched Bardray’s pride. He blamed Weed who the stations were featuring heavily.

The battle between the Hermes Guild and the Roam Guild was already decided so the stations weren’t interested. Even the ratings were tired of the fight and they would rather watch Weed’s adventure.

Europe’s fledgling station, Zenith Media was the only one interested in paying to show the Hermes Guild’s adventure.

“Weed, let’s see what the result will be.”

Bardray only looked at Weed. He was still worried despite his previous victory. He watched Weed’s adventure and also heard about it from other people.

The final secret technique quest baffled the Hermes Guild so they collected all the data available. The Hermes Guild prayed for Weed’s adventure to fail!

If they could, they would send a large squad to the past to interfere with the adventure. More than anything else, they were furious that the invasion in the past was affecting the Haven Empire.

“It will be interesting to see if you can live. I will catch you with my own hands. And you will be the best offering in order to climb to the seat of Emperor.”

Chapter 4: The Strongest Warrior

Weed took over the advantageous position of Jonas Castle and relaxed while waiting to fight the Beiner Kingdom.

High level human blacksmiths were gathered at Jonas Castle. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this place was the home of blacksmiths.

The Beiner Kingdom’s defense army didn’t want to lose this place but they were eventually annihilated and Van Hawk used them to strengthen the undead army.

The proud sculptural lifeforms protested against the undead army.

“Great Emperor, the undead is undesirable.”

“This isn’t an attitude for a warrior. We need to fight justice with swords!”

10 sculptural lifeforms! Weed’s charisma and strength pressed on the also wavering desert warriors.

“This isn’t it.”

“Great Emperor leads us with pure power and pure strength.”

The desert warriors who accepted pillaging and slavery couldn’t accept the undead troops as colleagues.

“These guys.”

Weed tried to govern them but it was difficult to convince the desert warriors. Of course, he didn’t do it with words but beating them up.

“We left the desert and headed to the Central Continent for a reason.

“We are humans.”

They had a history with Weed so they didn’t want to abandon him but the desert warriors had their own will.

“That’s right. We need to slay the Embinyu Church in order to stop the confusion on the continent. If I wanted to be warm and satisfied then I would’ve just stayed in the desert. However, I left the desert so that my children and desert brethren can live well in the future.”

“I am aware of that.”

The goods pirated from the Central Continent were sent to the desert.

Many of the technology in the desert was outdated. Furthermore, technology and culture was required in the desert. The desert warriors were able to maintain a steady, high morale during the war on the Central Continent.

The warriors had a good understanding up to here. Weed’s sugar-coating skills were effective.

“My wife and family is waiting in the far desert, wondering what my fate is.”

The warriors thought earnestly about their family.

“My wife if pretty like a rabbit and might meet a new man.”

“My son is wearing short, leather pants so he needs money. Just one pair of pants will cost 30 copper.”

“…..”

Weed had to listen to their complaints when hunting. The desert warriors longed for their family but couldn’t be close to them. Most parents felt like this when working or their children.

“Hum hum, listen carefully. We didn’t come here to live. We will fight until the end until your bones are buried. You might not like the undead but they are necessary to act as obstacles against the real enemies. After you die, your body will also stand up and fight for the desert.”

“Great Emperor!”

“We have been too short-sighted.”

“Please punish us!”

Ddiring!

– You have persuaded your subordinates

Charisma has increased by 1.

The drop in loyalty has slowed.

These simple words wouldn’t be enough to persuade the merchants in the Central Continent. There wouldn’t be any concerns about the undead in the first place.

But the desert warriors were naive compared to their high strength and knowledge. From an early age, they had wandered along with Weed to the dungeons and battles. Weed was the spiritual pillar of the desert warriors!

“Arm the soldiers. And prepare the weapons.”

“Yes!”

The armour, leather and weapons store of Jonas Castle were pillaged by the occupying forces. The desert warriors obtained a considerable amount of equipment.

The Red Knife unit proudly wore a headpiece made of the feathers of a red bird from the desert.

“The scouts say that we have a few days to spare. We need to be properly prepared. We need to slay the Beiner Kingdom and Embinyu Church.”

Weed gathered the finest blacksmiths at Jonas Castle.

“I will give this to you to process. Create a sword with these 3 horns.”

He handed the blacksmiths the leather and horns obtained from the Fire Salamander King.

The polished leather wasn’t remarkable but the horns were incomparable. The horns were like a transparent diamond without any impurities. It was the finest of materials but he was Sun Warrior so he had to begrudgingly leave it to the blacksmiths.

“This is such a precious material that it is a pity a fiend obtained it!”

“Does that barbarian think we will use all our skills for him?”

The blacksmiths had dedicated their lives to working steel. This was the warring period but it was still possible to find dwarves in human cities. The dwarves wouldn’t follow anyone even if a knife was at their throats.

“Then it is pointless. I will need to destroy all these materials.”

“Heeok!”

“These precious things….destroyed?”

The eyes of the blacksmiths shook!

The blacksmiths had never seen the materials from the Fire Salamander King before. Just seeing such precious materials made them able to imagine rare, obscure designs.

“It can’t be helped.”

“But we can’t do a good job for the enemy.”

The blacksmiths were still humans. Weed was the head of the army that stole their weapons and armour and damaged the Beiner Kingdom. But the eyes of the dwarf blacksmith was filled with regret.

“The difference between the forces is like the earth and the sky. He even managed to destroy the Fire Salamander King.”

“…..”

The public would need thousands of sacrifices to catch the Fire Salamander King but Weed achieved it with just his subordinate!

Weed licked his lips.

“I no longer require a good weapon r armour.”

Of course it was necessary.

“Swords, magic, elementals and arrows. I can block them all.”

His words were enough to make them sick!

“Even an army of 1 million people won’t be able to block my steps!”

Weed roared in front of the blacksmiths.

It was like a man in his thirties threatening to steal a neighbourhood kid’s candy. It was like watching a polished screenplay being directed!

It was a similar tone when nagging the desert warriors but the incredible force overwhelmed the blacksmiths. They had no choice but to fear the barbarian Weed in this situation.

“This is your last chance. Make the best sword and armour with these materials within a week. If I am satisfied then my troops will leave this castle unharmed. I will let the residents leave quietly without hurting them. But if I’m not satisfied then this castle and the Beiner Kingdom will completely disappear.

Weed refused to leave without any threats.

He couldn’t take the goods back to his original time so he might as well put them to good use here. If the castle’s blacksmiths didn’t cooperate then the materials from the Fire Salamander King would be wasted.

The blacksmiths looked among each other with worried expressions.

“What does everybody think? The goods are too precious to pass up.”

“I think so as well. We should make it. The savages are making us so we’re not betraying the Beiner Kingdom.”

“Uhh, this nourishing feeling with touching this horn and the great mana. I can already taste the satisfaction when working on this with my hands.”

“Well, well! Let’s think carefully and not get too excited. This involves our lives and the fate of the entire castle.”

“Is he really going to get rid of it if we don’t make the items?”

“I heard a rumour when I was growing up. According to the rumours about the savages, our families in Jonas Castle won’t be able to survive.”

“Hrmm.”

The blacksmith with an elderly face full of wrinkles was locked in deep anguish. The dwarven blacksmiths next to him were drinking beer.

“If we don’t make things to the satisfaction of the barbarian then he will kill us.”

“I think so as well. That lousy bastard has no honour, morality or tolerance.”

“He is worse than an orc.”

The dwarven blacksmiths also poured insults but their eyes were gawking at the Fire Salamander’s horns and leather.

The instinct of a blacksmith. Their eyes could sense the finest materials. It was a strong temptation that they couldn’t resist.

“But in the end, are we really qualified to deal with such precious materials?”

“Morul Hand, you are like a god!”

“My hands have never touched such materials before…and you know that iron is my specialty.”

“This is a rare opportunity to touch such materials. It is no wonder that he ignored us.”

“Haren Hand, your self-esteem?”

“I am thinking. Haven’t we made a considerable amount of weapons and armour so far? It isn’t impossible to handle such excellent goods.”

“Can we handle it without making any mistakes? If I make even a small scratch on these seamless horns then I will never forgive myself for the rest of my life as a blacksmith.”

“Well, this is our chance to touch the horns and leather.”

Weed left the NPCs blacksmiths who were talking loudly and entered the room filled with the loot.

Gold and loot obtained from the Central Continent was piled up like a mountain! He was happy every time he saw it.

“I can’t take this back to the original world… This quest is too unfair.”

He felt like this was the worst quest after looking at the treasures.

He had already taken care of the blacksmiths. He had no more control over whether they manufactured the sword and armour. Leaving the materials would stimulate their desire as a blacksmith.

A blacksmith’s capabilities would rise when seeing good materials! They talked nonsense but their bodies would itch when looking at the Fire Salamander’s horns.

The blacksmith NPCs and dwarves knew what to do. They couldn’t help feeling greedy. He had no doubts that good work would emerge.

Weed was satisfied with his own judgement and nodded.

“Craftsmanship is important. Autonomy and creativity is important for this.”

They might feel under pressure with a time limit but the results wouldn’t be bad if he left them alone.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

It was the warring period so little boys were playing with swords.

“Hiyah! I am a Royal Knight of the Beiner Kingdom! You can’t meet His Majesty without passing through me first!”

“I am Captain Vincent of the Keltun Kingdom. Charge forward!”

“Huhuhu, I am the villain and tyrant Weed.”

“Heeok!”

“Spare my life.”

His infamy had spread even to the children. As the conquest war continued, Weed and his army became known as barbarian invaders throughout the warring kingdoms.

The 540,000 army of the Beiner and Mapon Kingdom approached Jonas Castle. The number had reduced by 60,000 in order to pursue Hestiger.

“Your Majesty, let’s show those savages the greatness of the Mapon Kingdom.”

“Ohh, I’m concerned since I heard that the barbarians are very strong. But Rohadram is a reliable person that I can believe in. We won’t let anyone leave alive.”

The Mapon Kingdom didn’t have the possibility of winning a war against the desert army. But they joined forces with Sword Master Rohadram of the Beiner Kingdom.

600,000 people was a massive army but this was the warring period so it wasn’t made of citizens with swords and armour. They were well trained regulars. They had experienced numbers wars and battles and were familiar with defense and assault type tactics.

“The place we will handle those savages is Jonas Castle.”

Weed knew that a decisive battle for the continent was going to occur so he decided the location and waited there. He would devastate the enemy around Jonas Castle with tricks!

“I need to fight the Embinyu Church so I can’t waste my sculptures.”

Weed spent some time making sculptures. Time was running out but he produced works using the finest materials. In the past, he had created warm and positive sculptures to sell to other users. But now the pieces were dark and expressed the gloom of the world.

“This should be enough.”

He made mythical races that he could transform into using Sculpture Transformation. It was a work which fit Weed’s aptitude exactly!

Meanwhile, the desert warriors were conducting high intensity training with the soldiers. There would be another battle with the Embinyu Church so he needed to raise their usefulness by even a little bit.

It was mainly training with charging and using their shields! Anyway, his expectations couldn’t be too high.

“Great Emperor, the enemy is here.”

“Let’s go greet them.”

Weed took out 200,000 troops to meet the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms. 50,000 troops were left to defend Jonas Castle from leftover forces of the Dagan Kingdom.

Seo-yoon also stayed in the castle protected by desert warriors.

“Guard her well.”

“Yes, Great Emperor.”

The knights trembled with fear.

Weed was a cruel human existence so it was natural for the knights to be scared. They had seen his great skill and heard the frightening stories.

“This treatment isn’t bad. If I commit bad actions then people won’t dare protest.”

19,000 desert warriors, 100,000 undead and 800 vampires created by Torido headed out to the battlefield. The rest of the headcount consisted of slaves.

“Numbers aren’t important in this fight. We will beat them.”

“Yes!”

Compared to the desert warriors who were excited about the upcoming battle, the soldiers were frozen. They were fighting against the elites of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms.

“Hihihit, Embinyu will take care of us.”

“Follow Embinyu. Hooray!”

The fanatics of the Embinyu Church worked hard on missionary activities among the slaves. The fanatics that had their areas seized couldn’t accept it.

“I want to go back home.”

“Can I live on this looted gold? This is mine and I won’t give it to anyone else.”

“Fire, like a firebug. Just like my surname, I will make this house burn!”

This was common in the army but Weed didn’t mind. He just intended to get rid of the Embinyu fanatics in battle.

“It is fairly systematic. Magicians, archers and knights. None of them are lacking.”

Weed stood on a hill and observed the armies of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms.

The infantry held up their weapons and shields. 2,000 people in columns carried the flags of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms, causing an scene that would normally be difficult to see. The knights wearing gleaming armour rode on horses in the central group.

“It is very desirable. People like that will be more tasty to fight.”

Weed had a greedy appetite.

If he defeated the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms then he could combine it with the south to form a great empire. The biggest empire since Geiher Von Arpen made the Arpen Empire would be born.

However, the purpose of this quest wasn’t to create an empire but to defeat the Embinyu Church.

“It is really too bad. But this battle will be fun.”

He didn’t rush at the Beiner and Mapon armies camped on the plains. The full-fledged battle at Jonas Castle would be delayed until the next day.

The justification of the desert army was to allow the weak kingdoms of the continent to join together. There were more troops coming from the other territories so it was advantageous to them.

Weed could afford to give them this time. He also needed to train his soldiers for the upcoming battle with the Embinyu Church. That’s why he did a good thing for the enemy.

More than 500,000 troops gathered on the plains by the end of the night.

“It will take quite a bit of time to kill them all. However, it is necessary to achieve a complete victory to prepare for the next battle with the Embinyu Church. Warrior-1, I will leave command of the soldiers to you.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Warrior-2, you are leader of the desert warriors.”

“I will perform this task.”

He installed his sculptural lifeforms in important positions. They had experience with commanding and fighting a war.

The sculptural lifeforms used the camels to strike them strongly. And they also minimized the friendly fire against the slaves. Repeated battles had taught them not to fall into any traps.

The knight had better strength and tactics than regular users. The well trained soldiers put up a valiant assault against the desert warriors.

“Great Emperor, what are you going to do?”

Warrior-1 who was in charge of the military command had asked Weed this the previous day. Usually it was rare for him to give permission to his subordinates.

“I will fight alone. I can properly exert my skills in this battle.”

Weed hadn’t used all his power since he exterminated the Fire Salamanders in the dungeon.

The 824 Royal Knights he killed just died with a touch! No matter how strong the knights were, they were just treated as neighbourhood kids.

He jumped over walls and smashed the gates during sieges before chopping up the enemies. The Mapon and Beiner allied kingdoms. This crisis was enough for him to appear on the battlefield.

“Now I can relieve me stress!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Dong! Dong! Dong!

The sound of drums resonated through the battlefield.

“Kill all the savages who don’t have manners!”

“Eliminate the nobles. This is a rare opportunity to make them suffer. We can loot after we win. Charge!”

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms clashed with the Red Knife army! The hooves of the horses ran through the plains.

Weed was among the recruited soldiers. He wore a gorgeous leather cloak and leather armour instead of his gold mask. He sacrificed defense in order to greatly increase his agility.

“Will we be able to live this time?”

“You’re wrong. Huhuhuk…”

“My father’s enemy is the Beiner Kingdom. I’m going to kill them.”

The slaves spoke in anxious voices.

The sculptural warriors conducted the desert warriors from above on their camels. That was Weed’s original position. The position that could oversee the largest number of people in the battle, the army commanding position.

He used overwhelming strength to lead thousands of soldiers against the enemy and gave them hope of victory. But unlike the other battles, Weed wasn’t watching and was among the combatants.

The knights from the alliance ran out after the desert warrior’s first assault. They caught each other’s tails on the wide plains.

“We can’t surrender to the invaders!”

“Full force attack!”

The enemy archers, magicians and infantry holding flags marched forward. Weed was slightly in the back and could see the troops confronting each other.

“Shield unit, thrust forward for the sake of His Majesty!”

Elite slaves holding spears stabbed through the shields of the allies. In this warring period, the level of the soldiers was very high. The slaves were their enemies.

“Please help me! I was brought here with force!”

“We don’t need cowardly bastards who would surrender to the barbarians!”

“Kuaaak!”

The alliance soldiers easily got rid of the slaves.

Half of the Red Knife army consisted of Van Hawk’s undead so this was the predetermined fate of a slave. The attacks of the archers and magicians concentrated on the slaves.

But the slaves also had a stubborn side. Soldiers picked up from Noah had survived countless battlefields. In fact, they were the soldiers that grew the fastest in this war.

It was mainly the rookie soldiers that died. They soon collapsed and the enemies approached Weed.

“You….”

The 400 allied soldiers froze. They suddenly felt chills as their imagination saw something terrifying. The entire group stiffened simultaneously!

“It is ludicrous that you are my first opponent. I wanted some stronger people.”

Weed said as he slowly pulled his sword from the scabbard. The result of the Fire Salamander King’s equipment hadn’t emerged from the blacksmiths yet. But it was like herbivores facing the king of the animals so the soldiers were stiff.

– You have equipped the Three Screaming Children Sword.

The soul of three children have fallen into a pit of bitterness and is crying out in pain.

The souls have bent to your mighty power and 100% of the power of the sword has been drawn out.

“Undulating Flame Mark.”

A desert warrior’s strongest skill. It amplified and spread the aura of fire. Weed’s skill exploded towards the bodies of the soldiers with an enormous force.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

There was a chain explosion due to the skill. Hundreds of soldiers were killed instantly. Apart from the soldiers of the Beiner Kingdom, the slaves were also damaged.

“Well, it is indeed a spectacular effect!”

Weed didn’t care that much. It was just like throwing a rock onto the wide desert that was his infamy. Professional bank robbers wouldn’t have any problem depriving a child of their candy.

“Sword Awakening, Power of Birth, Summon Another Sword.”

Brilliant light exploded from Weed’s body due to the special effects of the skill! The soldiers of the Beiner Kingdom hastily lifted their shields.

“I am sorry for you.”

Weed started a monologue as he watched the scared enemy soldiers.

“It is a shame that I needed to properly exert my power. How can I enjoy using all my power to fight you when you won’t resist properly? Not much, just a little bit of fun…. It can’t be helped. Because today’s battle will be broadcasted in the future!”

He would receive a salary and advertising fees from the broadcasting stations.

“Let’s start with the sales.”

Weed ran forward while holding his sword. Every soldier that he passed by would die without needing to swing his sword. They were just swept up by a river of fire.

“He is trying to reach His Majesty. Block!”

“Knights gather here!”

He passed through the soldiers and the knights of the Beiner Kingdom tried to intercept him.

The king and nobles were still quite far away but the knights still rushed forward to escort them to safety. There needed to be an immediate and rapid evacuation of military commanders during times of war.

Of course, he could still catch 1~2 senior nobles if he wanted to. It was the law of this era that the king would have successors in case of hostages.

Weed’s goal was to thoroughly annihilate the enemies.

“The knights escorting the king has appeared? Let’s have a little taste.”

He turned the sword in his hands.

It was a light sword trick that couldn’t afford to be done on the battlefield. Therefore, it was an act that was rarely seen.

But none of the enemies could get close to Weed.

The average level of the desert warriors was 500~600 so they would just be burned by the hot flames around him. Especially the amateur desert warriors who were only around level 300.

“Now, pull out this knife.”

“Yes.”

“Water is on the left.”

“We will bring cool water.”

They were taught the basics step by step.

400 Royal Knights riding white horses rushed towards him. Their mounts contained great speed and power!

The goal of the knights that were normally called flowers of the battlefield was tragically Weed.

“Shall I try them out? No, I can’t use too much mana at the beginning of the battle.”

Weed waited until the knights came closer. The Beiner Kingdom’s knights separated in three directions and rushed from the sides and the front. They crossed at regular intervals and cut down on him!

“Ring of Fire!”

Weed wielded is sword as he turned his body. Then hot flames were emitted in all directions.

The knights about to assault him lost their lives to the flames. The deadly skill killed 30~40 knights! The rest of the knights rushed through the flames. And they used all their strength and weight to thrust the spear.

Weed stood in place and moved his sword. It was so fast that it was hard to see with his eyes. It struck the attacking Royal Knights with each movement.

Puhihihihing!

The horses received a huge shock and collapsed.

Weed used basic sword techniques and overwhelming power to block the assault of the knights. He could even ignore the onslaught of the knights!

His sword surpassed the reach of the knights’ weapons. He diligently intercepted the sword techniques of the knights. The other Royal Knights were assaulted by Weed’s flames.

Of course, Weed collected all the japtem they dropped. This instinct was uncontrollable even in the warring period.

“Ohhhh.”

“The king of the barbarians isn’t a human like s.”

“He is the type who would cut the author’s neck before being forced to marry the princess!”

Weed fought using basic swordsmanship. Even so, the sight of a master swordsman wasn’t common. The assault of the knights was simple swept away.

“I’m not surprised. This is like receiving a roasted bun as a bonus after ordering sweet and sour pork.”

“Kill that arrogant person!”

Someone from among the senior nobles ordered. A flood of magic and arrows rained down on Weed.

A warrior fighting alone on the battlefield without any allies!

– Absolute Defense has minimized the continuous damage.

A colossal number of attacks were concentrated on Weed but he didn’t receive much damage. The magic was cancelled or the arrows fell nearby. In addition, there was also the great sight of arrows flying through the air being destroyed by fire.

This was the spectacular protection effect of Undulating Flame Mark!

His health reduced by 2000~3000 but there was still a lot remaining until he would die. His high health was due to the blessing of the earth goddess Mi-ne, who gave him the quality of an ogre. Common soldiers and magicians couldn’t possible kill him!

Right now he even had the ability to make Bardray cry.

“Let’s make this more fun. Black Knight’s Strike!”

Weed plunged through the cracks of the army.

“One, two, three, four….ten!”

Kwaaang!

A wide area skill cause successful continuous attacks! The ground was disturbed. And soldiers of the Beiner Kingdom were lying everywhere. There was death in every direction.

Weed switched between attack and defense, especially in regards to the arrows and magic being fired at him. He combined the most efficient skills for offense and defense.

Now defense wasn’t necessary but if he didn’t block some attacks, mana would be consumed at a rapid pace. Some knights would’ve died before even completing their attacks.

“I could comfortably hunt Bardray. Especially if my offensive, defensive and wide area skills can be used.”

Weed muttered as he ran around the battlefield. He didn’t worry about the location of his allies, the desert warriors and the undead army. Instead, he just focused on getting rid of the enemies.

Suddenly, he saw 100 magicians wearing white robes and chanting a spell.

“Those guys are the Wisdom of Thunder.”

It was the magic unit of the Beiner Kingdom!

They had quite a bit of history and didn’t participate in border disputes. Their levels were 300~400!

When considering the profession, the power of the magician unit exceeded it. There was a fierce competition for survival in this era so the professions like merchant, artist, architect etc. had low levels while knights and magicians had high levels.

“I need to get my hands on them before others get hurt.”

The Red Knife desert unit was one of Weed’s most powerful subordinates. A common goal of the knights, archers and magicians was to target them. He needed to catch the magician unit before they swept away the desert warriors.

Weed was 1 kilometre away from them so he was quite far away. The magician unit was on a hill overlooking the battlefield in order to see the enemies to cast the magic spell.

Once they cast their magic, the wind, lightning etc. would fall upon the slaves and desert warriors. All types of things were happening in the skies above the battlefield.

“End of the Day!”

A tsunami of flames destroyed the spear unit in front of him!

Weed ran towards the magician unit. He used mana much faster than before. He broke through the barrier of soldiers and horsemen.

“He is aiming at us. That swordsman doesn’t feel fear.”

“Block him.”

“Aim magic attacks at him. Circular Lightning!”

“Flow of water, emerge as a mighty stream.”

The magicians cast a long spell.

Weed surpassed the magic with his body. He broke through hundreds of metres of magic attacks.

– Magic has continuously hit you.

Your skin is healthy like a dragon and damage has been reduced.

Current health remaining is 69%.

The tremendous health of a boss class monster had caused Weed and his colleagues great pain in the past. But now his resilience was at the level of a boss class monster so Weed didn’t need to worry.

The places where Weed passed were burned by flames. His footprints caused a deep imprint.

“I really am like a playing child!”

Playing with fire! The audience ratings of the children would surely rise in this scene.

He slaughtered through the spearmen, infantry and magic attacks. Even the fearless knights retreated.

He used the Black Knight’s Strike to tirelessly get rid of black magic and strong enemies.

Chapter 5: Darkness, Fear and Plague

Meanwhile on the wide plains in front of Jonas Castle, the undead army was facing against the Mapon Kingdom.

“Rise. Receive the power of the abyss and fight the enemies.”

The skeleton warriors undead Van Hawk’s ran amok at his command. The skeletons grabbed the shield of the infantry and slashed with their bones. They weren’t human soldiers so the skeletons were informal in battle.

“Kill!

“Cut off their limbs. Kukikikikit!”

They gathered together and recklessly rushed. There wasn’t a coherent tactical moves as they just haphazardly ran through 7~8 horses. Arrows, magic and the sword of the knights shattered the bones until the skeletons collapsed to the ground. But after a while, they just rose again due to the power of the abyss.

“Legs, where are my legs?”

A skeleton with only the upper body attached started looking for its leg bones.

“Legs, my legs.”

Another skeleton that woke up was also looking for its legs.

“Give me an arm bone.”

“Ehh, I only have 2 arms.”

“Both of them are right arm bones.”

“Eh, really? I originally had two right arms.”

The skeletons even fought among themselves over the bones. The undead army became a mess after 5 minutes but the Mapon still couldn’t face them easily. Skeletons that obeyed Van Hawk’s commands were Death Knights or higher. They managed to reduce the soldiers of the Mapon Kingdom.

Moreover, Van Hawk directly led half of the undead knights in an assault unit! The Undead Knights consisted of Doom Knights, Dullahans and Death Knights. The Mapon Kingdom had to mobilize their magician units to block the Undead Knights.

A superpower like the Mapon Kingdom in the warring period also contained a number of highly acclaimed knights. The soldiers responded quickly and had a tight discipline. It was a kingdom that had already destroyed an undead army.

The priests could also mobilize various holy powers to block the Undead Army.

“Food is everywhere and I can freely partake in blood.”

Torido had created more than 600 vampires from residents in Jonas Castle before the battle. Moving in the middle of the night was the charm and characteristics of vampires. This was a large battle in broad daylight so they had no choice but to be weakened. Vampires fought while mixed in among the combat slaves. Their sharp teeth and fangs would cause the enemy to let go of their swords. A vampire who succeeded in drinking blood would gain significantly higher health and mana.

Simple magic was cast at the humans fighting. The Vampire Queens also brainwashed and confused the enemy. The vampires were attacked with an onslaught of arrows, magic and knights who passionately rushed there. The almost 20,000 desert warriors were fighting relatively freely. Weed hadn’t given them direct orders so they moved freely among the Mapon and Beiner armies.

In particular, they acted to reduce the number of knights. But each kingdom had heroes in this age of war! Just like the Kallamore Kingdom, there were a considerable number of NPC heroes. The Mapon Kingdom had Rohadram! The wise magician Andre from the Beiner Kingdom!

Knight Commander of the Royal Knights of the Shar Kingdom, Rockstar who participated with the allied army! These heroes were very strong.

Just Rohadram alone was a sword master while Andre was also a master in wind magic.  The powerful forces on the side of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms were still waiting and hadn’t participated in the battle yet.

“Fire at will!”

“Ugh!”

The crossbow troops of the Mapon Kingdom aimed at a target and dropped the desert warriors from the camels. The desert warriors on the ground were killed by the follow up magic, arrows or knight attacks.

The scale of the battle on the plains was far too huge. There was a time when he led 1 million orcs in the Yurokina Mountains but not all the orcs had fought at that time. Only 300,000 orcs had fought directly against the Immortal Legion.

The breadth and speed of the battle on these plains couldn’t be compared. Just a little mistake would turn the advantage towards one side. His strategy was to use the regular troops and desert units as bait. He planned to use this opportunity to throw away the fanatics of the Embinyu Church.

The soldiers and citizens left behind were watching from the walls of Jonas Castle. It was a spectacular sight!

Weed had expected this to some extent but was determined to fight alone. It helped that many elite forces focused on him. In addition, he wanted to beat the high level knights in the warring period.

“Come. If there are any knights in the Beiner Kingdom with courage then they should come challenge me!”

Weed shouted out loud. He used all his dignity and charisma to make the battlefield focus on him. In addition, his infamy was so high that it even frightened dogs and chickens in rural areas.

Weed had 41% health remaining.

Weed continued to receive interference from the magicians who caused walls of thorns to grow from the ground. He forcefully broke through all the obstacles and approached the magicians escorted by knights on horseback.

Furthermore, some magicians didn’t learn attack magic and completed short range teleportation magic. A magician could escape at a rapid pace once someone approached. He took care of the knights and waited for the next opportunity to catch the magicians. Weed was in a pleased mood now.

He was an unparalleled force on the battlefield where hundreds of thousands were fighting. The enemies were weak but it gave him great enjoyment to systematically fight them.

A true God of War who could sweep away more than 100 soldiers with one blow! He used all his power will no regrets.

“Knight Ometa of the Beiner Kingdom. I am the lord that rules the Yallem Castle in the Benopi area.”

A knight riding a black horse approached.

Weed didn’t know it but he was a celebrity in the warring period with a level of 500. He was almost a master of his combat technique. However, he wasn’t a master so the gap was quite big.

Weed could sense that he was strong and willingly accepted the challenge.

“Brave knight of the Beiner Kingdom, come.”

The knight rode towards him like a sharp arrow. He swung his long spear in a long series of continuous attacks! Weed felt a heavy feeling as he parried with his sword.

“Not bad considering that you are a barbarian. But the price for going against the Beiner Kingdom….”

“Beiner Exciting Sword Technique!”

“Keheok!”

The knight suddenly suffered great damage. The horse was immediately killed and the knight fell to the ground.

“That is our imperial sword technique, how….”

“I learned it a little while ago.”

“That isn’t possible!”

“No, it is possible.”

Weed was a sword master so he could easily learn techniques.

The Beiner Exciting Sword Technique accumulated the power of the enemy’s attack before releasing it in an explosion. If the attack power was strong and fast then the other side would lose their balance.

Weed used this exact opportunity to take care of the knight. The magic armour indicated that he was a knight with noble birth but he was defeated in a short period of time.

“It is my complete defeat. It is a honour to fight such a strong person.”

“Goodbye.”

An immediate attack with no mercy!

Weed felt the need to conserve his mana. His recovery speed was fast but he had many techniques that consumed a lot of mana. Based on his strength and vitality, he only needed to use basic sword skills to cause plenty of mass destruction.

He slipped into the heart of 500,000 troops. Usually strong individuals needed to be lured deep into enemy territory but Weed came by himself.

“Phat!”

“Fire. My body has caught on fire. Help!”

Undulating Flame Mark caused fire to sweep over 5,000 soldiers. The general soldiers weren’t an existence that could stop him.

Weed only paid attention to the knights, magicians, priests and shamans.

The Beiner and Mapon Kingdoms had invested a significant amount of their power into this war. More than half of the kingdom’s military power were placed at the border area. Despite that, they were just like rice to Weed.

However, Weed did receive some damage and his health was reduced to 30%.

“I don’t feel any tension.”

He  was significantly harmed but it wasn’t enough to drop his combat capabilities. The Beiner Kingdom was also annoying. The archers and magicians active on the battlefield focused their attacks on Weed.

No individual would be okay when dealing with such a concentrated siege warfare. However, the magicians ran out of mana and Weed was still standing.

“Dispatch the Drake troops!”

“Lion Knights scramble!”

The pride of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms, the flying Drake unit and Lion Knights started to move.

The higher ranking knights were rushing towards Weed. It was all for the sake of catching Weed who was the ruler of the desert.

The goal of the war was Weed and the desert warriors, not the combat slaves.

“Summon the Vine Roots!”

“Mud puddles, rise!”

“Faruin’s Curse!”

The magicians and priests used magic to block him rather than attack magic.

– The thick resilience of your skin has weakened.

– A curse has captured your feet and movement has slowed.

Strength has reduced by 4% for 20 seconds.

– Faruin’s Curse!

A priest’s curse that uses a lot of holy power and faith. Faith has to be insufficient for the curse to afflict the target.

– Diminished muscle strength!

Your muscles have relaxed so strength and vitality was reduced. Strength has declined by 6%. Maximum vitality has decreased by 3%.

Countless curses were poured on Weed but they were quickly released.

However the priests and shaman’s magic that weakened power, vitality and concentration was applied. It was for a short amount of time but 11 magic curses were applied.

“Valhalla!”

Weed gave a loud roar.

– You have yelled a shout from ancient times.

8 of the curses that dwelled in your flesh has been alleviated. Your physical ability has strengthened.

And he wore the Golden Mask of the Pharaoh. The physical defense wasn’t great but it increase leadership, fame and protection against magic. A symbolic item worn by the ruler of a great empire.

“This is good enough to loosen my body. Now comes the real beginning.”

10,000 soldiers had already died because of Weed. He had also entered Van Hawk’s territory where many people had been turned into skeletons.

“Now let’s make it merrier.”

Weed pulled out a sculpture. Pulling out a sculpture in battle had two meanings. It was to either increase his stats with Sculptural Destruction or to cause a disaster.

Unfortunately for the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms, it was the second option. He commanded the desert warriors to withdraw.

It wasn’t Weed’s concern if the undead army, the vampires or combat slaves were involved in the disaster. He was also confident that his sculptural lifeforms level and defense was high enough for them to survive.

“I hope that they all die. Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

– A Masterpiece Sculpture.

A fearsome havoc will be exerted that can kill you. Even so, do you want to use the skill?

“Yes”

– You have used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

20 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

20,000 Health and Mana has been consumed.

All stats have been temporarily reduced by 15% for 3 days.

Affinity to Nature has fallen. Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once a day.

When a great calamity is called upon, fame or infamy can be increased depending on the damage. It is possible to die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

There had been many disasters in the meantime but this occasion was special. It wasn’t a fire, lightning strike, floor, earthquake or storm.

The proficiency of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting had risen so he could now mix two disasters together. The nature of the disaster this time was a thick darkness that caused fear and a plague.

Darkness came down and quickly covered the entire army and Jonas Castle. Suddenly nothing could be seen.

It would’ve been okay if this was a peaceful place to relax. But this was the battlefield where anyone could die. Arrows were in the process of being shot or enemies were fighting against each other when the darkness descended.

Chang chang!

“Aaack!”

The sound of screams and fighting could be heard in the darkness.

“We’re on the same side!”

“Who are you?”

“Embinyu Church, forever!”

“The glory of the desert will cover the continent.”

“Strike!”

“Archers, don’t fire your arrows.”

“Come to me now!”

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms had been entangled with the combat slaves. They were all close to the enemy.

“Nobody move!”

The knights tried to take command but it didn’t work. They couldn’t see so could only depend on their hearing. The knights couldn’t blindly swing their swords or fire arrows.

“Uaaack!”

Screams spread through the battlefield like wildfire. A few people swung their swords because they were scared by the screams and attacked their own colleagues.

‘Kill….!’

‘I need to kill in order to live.’

‘Kihihi, I don’t hate things like this. It is an opportunity. Who will know?’

Their chests started hurting as the fear rose. And some heard unknown voices.

Weed destroyed a Masterpiece sculpture of colleagues being attacked by invisible soldiers. Evil spirits were attached to the soldiers and whispered mischief. The spirits could easily effect those with weak mentality and concentration. They would become berserk or harm themselves.

An unknown plague spread quickly. The knights and priests had high resistance but the common soldiers quickly collapsed with red spots all over their body.

“Don’t miss out on this opportunity, Undead Army!”

Van Hawk gave a majestic command. His image when commanding the undead was completely different from when he was being hit by Weed. The skeletons started shaking.

“Oh scary, scary. They think they can kill me!”

“I believed in humans. It is tough to live in this world alone.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

“But we are already dead.”

“Ah, your words are right.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

The skeletons weren’t as affected by the feeling of fear. They weren’t alive so their feelings were frozen. They didn’t fear plagues or death.

“My vision. Why can’t I see anything?”

“Why do you need to see?”

“Isn’t there a veil of darkness?”

“But we don’t have any eyeballs?”

“Wait a minute, let me touch… None?”

Anyway, the skeletons weren’t panicked but they still didn’t follow commands. The biggest disadvantage of the lower ranking undead was their bad intelligence.

Van Hawk ordered again.

“Skeleton archers, fire your bone arrows!”

“Shoot?”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

“Where should I shoot?”

“Wherever I feel life. Just shoot the living?”

They were frozen so they could feel the warmth and vitality of humans.

“What about our allies?”

“What does it matter?”

“Ah, yes. Hihihi.”

“Attack.”

“Anybody is fine.”

The skeleton archers pulled out bones from their bodies and fired. The bones flew up and hit the bodies of the soldiers struggling in the darkness. They didn’t distinguish between the slaves, Mapon Kingdom or Beiner Kingdom. The humans tried to respond but they couldn’t find the right direction in the darkness.

“My ribs are empty. There is no leg bone. Finally I have to shoot my skull.”

“Bye everyone…”

The skeleton archers that fired all the bones in their bodies were destroyed! Half of the dead bodies rose again due to Van Hawk’s power. The skeleton archers attacked humans in the vicinity.

“Hihihi, this body still has a lot of bones left.”

“Die, just die.”

“That’s right! That’s right!”

The skeletons in the middle of the battlefield caused more confusion. In addition, the soldiers and knights were wielding swords against each other. Even the magicians and archers attacked randomly.

The slaves and undead were fighting among themselves. It was like everyone gathered on the plains were attacking each other in a fit of madness.

The sight made Weed sigh deeply.

“I think I was too short-sighted.”

He could tell how severe the damage was just from the noises. But the core of this calamity was that nothing could be seen on screen.

“I need to consider the audience!”

This would be a considerable hindrance when it came to broadcasting it. But sometimes this could stimulate the imagination instead. A tremendous amounts of casualties had already occurred among the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Merchant Gamong and Merchant Mapan!

They were the two most famous merchants in the north.

“Mapan’s trading company is the best.”

“No. It is my pleasure to be considered a symbol of the north.”

“Mapan’s company has luxury goods. I’m surprised at the level of the equipment.”

“You are the owner of Gamong’s trading company! Nobody can beat Gamong when it comes to low-cost quality goods.”

The two players compared their companies.

Mapan had invested in farms, ranches, mines, restaurants, stores, inns, smithies etc. since the early days. He greatly contributed to the growth of the Arpen Kingdom.

He had fixed contracts with many tailors and blacksmiths and constantly maintained a supply of high quality goods. It was expensive but the features were worth the price! Gamong started the period of freely trading in the north. Starting from Vent Castle, she actively helped develop trade routes between cities and villages with no strings attached. Her level was low but she was unchallenged when it came to food deals. She dragged 4 ponies and hundreds of novice beginners to trade.

“Now, let’s go! Be careful not to fall to the rear and get lost!”

– You have brought a large quantity of food to Pegi that was suffering from a poor harvest.

The stagnant population growth has been alleviated as birth rate increases by 400%.

Bring dolls that children love and a festival will take place in the village.

“I heard the story about your visit to Pegi Village.  Other merchants wanted to do business with me but I was looking for Gamong. Do you have any olives?”

“Ah, thank you very much. I’ll add two more as a service. And if you are in a hurry then you can purchase it from other merchants first.”

Her wonderful reputation spread widely through the NPCs more than the users. Therefore a huge amount of NPC guests came to the outskirts of Morata to shop. Gamong also managed to open up Vent Castle and the population grew until another village was opened.

Gamong could even be found in stores in out of the way coastal villages. They were small villages with huts that would require adventurers to wander deeply in the mountains for a few days. There were tears in the village whenever Gamong discovered them.

“This is a real merchant.”

“I’m envious of her popularity. A merchant is a profession like a resident.”

“Successful trades can built intimacy and eventually you can become as famous as adventurers.”

Even other merchant users respected Gamong. It was thanks to her that starving villages disappeared from the north. Gamong played a huge role in the rapid development of the Arpen Kingdom.

“That is my target. A merchant with a keen eye and credit rather than level.”

“I will sweep away all the money in the north and then brag as the money piles up!”

Users received inspiration about how to raise their merchant character by looking at Mapan and Gamong. The arts, tailoring, adventures, elemental magic and necromancy were all taking off in the north. As people who received envy from users and were considered the representatives of the merchants, Gamong and Mapan had a fateful encounter. The Earth Palace and surrounding plains there were established in the Arpen Kingdom!

Two people who came to see the land and open a store stood facing each other.

‘Mapan-nim is the best merchant in the north. His magnificent jaw and stomach is indeed wonderful.’

Gamong was envious of Mapan. Mapan’s reputation had already been established when she started in the north.

– Mapan has a lot of money.

– Mapan is the land speculation expert.

– Mapan who doesn’t receive bribes or kickbacks.

Some people were jealous of his relationship with Weed but it was mainly his massive investments. Mapan already owned many stores when Gamong had just finished her 4 weeks in the city.

‘I am a customer who will buy goods from here later.’

The dream of being a merchant while working in a grocery store. She felt like Mapan was a fairy tale prince.

‘That triple folded neck fat is my ideal type!’

‘Ah, pretty cute….’

Mapan also had similar thoughts.

A number of complex reasons wasn’t needed when a man fell in love. It was enough if they looked good in his eyes!

Hwaryeong, Irene and Bellot. There was a wide variety of beauties around Mapan that he didn’t like. He didn’t care about overly flashy appearances with a pretty face. If he did then he would’ve liked Hwaryeong or Bellot! Like a man, Mapan spoke first.

“It is a pleasure. I’ve heard a lot of stories. I am Mapan.”

“Ah….yes, yes! I am Gamong. Pleased to meet you.”

“Excuse me, would you like to go have a drink? I’ll buy it.”

“No, I have delicious wheat porridge. Would you like some?”

Gamong pulled out a steaming packed lunch from her bag. Mapan thought this made her look even prettier.

“Tasty. Wookeok wookeok!”

Gamong and Mapan glanced into each other’s eyes before quickly eating the porridge.

‘That type of neck really looks as good as I imagined.’

‘Ah, prettier the more I see her….’

This was the beginning of love.

Chapter 6: Van Hawk’s Dignity

Darkness and fear swept through the battlefield.

A countless number of soldiers and knights had collapsed on the plains. He couldn’t tell but he guessed that the number of dead and injured had crossed 100,000. The battle between the army and the defense had only occurred for a short time but there were casualties everywhere.

It was a situation where they unconditionally attacked without worrying if they were the enemy or defense. The complete darkness made it impossible for the priests to give treatment.

“Hmm, is it finally over?”

“It hurts, my whole body hurts.”

“No. I’m scared. I want to go home.”

The morale of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms had hit the ground. They didn’t know if the soldiers beside them were colleagues or not. The darkness was cleared and they stopped fighting among themselves.

“This knight dares strike me….”

“Spare me, Knight-nim.”

“I didn’t know it was you. Forgive me.”

“Shut up! Hand me your neck.”

“Huck! Please spare me life….!”

“Dammit! This knight? If I’m going to die then I will burn all of this away!”

“Ahell, why did I stab my friend from my hometown?”

“It was a mistake but I originally hated you. You married my first love so I will kill you.”

Even after the darkness cleared, the bad sentiments continued. The knights took command quickly but there were still many who were undisciplined.

The battle against the slaves and undead army took place again. The skeletons in the middle of enemy territory couldn’t last for long against the concentrated attacks.

The power of the Mapon Kingdom was badly damaged while the Beiner Kingdom’s leaders were temporarily paralysed. The desert warriors who had retreated started approaching again while furiously shooting arrows.

The soldiers collapsed under the skilled attacks of the desert warriors. They swept through the enemy like they were monsters in the desert. They had originally been circling the outskirts of the disaster to prevent anyone from leaving. Any knights that exited would be killed. And they went back to shooting their bows. This petty and despicable method was the effect of Weed!

And the slaves were assaulted by cavalry. The battle had reached the climax.

Meanwhile, Weed used the darkness to arrive at the magician unit that called themselves Wisdom of Thunder.

He used the darkness to breach their stronghold. The magicians were shocked as they saw Weed who had already penetrated through their escorts.

“I’ll tell you in advance but I personally don’t have any bad feelings towards you.”

“Coward!”

“That is original.”

The magicians close to him died from the Undulating Flame Mark. It was sudden so they hadn’t been able to deploy their magic shields.

Weed swung his sword towards a senior magician. He was a well-known magician with a level of 400.

Andre, the wind magic master was next to the king. But Weed could take Andre’s life at any time. The magician was very scary but he was confident about taking care of him.

It was hard to overcome such a significant difference in level, no matter how excellent the magician. The magic would cause considerable damage but it wasn’t enough to take his life.

“End of the Day!”

The Wisdom of Thunder unit tried to wipe him out with a thunder storm. As he closed in on another magician, the escort knights belatedly ran up to him.

“You are 15 years too early. Even my subordinates don’t dare.”

He used the Black Knight’s Strike on the escorts. He took care of the knights and magicians. The frugal life he learnt even took hold in this battle.

He pinpointed the vital spots of the magicians and knights but didn’t use his full power. Weed wielded his sword with maximum efficiency in order to conserve vitality. Just one light blow would kill the enemy! The magicians tried to get away but they eventually turned into grey light.

Even the knights couldn’t help feeling envious of Weed’s great performance. The magicians and archers capable of long ranged attacks were brutally killed.

“Try to block him. Get rid of him no matter what it takes!”

The Beiner King became terrified and issued the command. Weed was approaching the king and nobles so they wildly looked for a place to retreat.

The Mapon Kingdom was mainly battling the slaves and undead while the Beiner Kingdom’s army was kept busy by the desert warriors.

And magical attacks were focused on Weed! The magician Andre waved his hands and blades of wind would fly.

“This isn’t good enough.”

According to Weed’s judgement, being hit by it wouldn’t be a huge hindrance to his life. His level, equipment and techniques meant he was bullying everyone. Weed moved quickly through enemy territory and the Beiner Kingdom knights became the victims of the wind blades.

But Andre’s attack was just a prelude. He had completed a spell that caused four huge whirlwinds to start appearing in the sky! Weed and 1,000 other people were damaged but Andre didn’t care.

He didn’t pay much attention to other human lives on the path he walked on. He was a senior noble in the Beiner Kingdom so he had the power to silence his victims.

“That looks a little bit dangerous.”

Weed searched around the perimeter and found magicians before they could complete a spell. He hadn’t viewed it directly but he knew a lot about magic spells through the history books.

The magic wasn’ completed yet but wind was blowing arrows in crazy directions. The universal formula was that the longer a spell took to prepare, the stronger it was.

“I don’t need to go that way. Phoenix’s Health!”

Weed cast a spell.

This was a Sun Warrior skill obtained when crossing the desert! When under the sunlight, for 3 minutes his health wouldn’t drop from any attacks. Of course, the penalty was that the recovery of his health, vitality, mana and movement speed was so slow that it was impossible to run. Simply put, it was a skill that would allow him to stand firm against any big attack.

The problem was that he could only use it once a week.  Weed fought the enemy in the vicinity and waited for Andre to complete the magic spell.

“This is taking longer than giving birth. I’m sure it will be effective.”

Soon the spell was completed. Heavy winds blew the bodies of soldiers into the sky. The wind lodged arrows into trees, caused soil to fly up and soldiers to drop their swords and shields.

It was possible for a sword to cut the wind but the magic power was too strong. The faster and most thorough way to catch a boss class monster was to just magicians to carve away at their health. Weed was pushed back 100 metres from the power of the wind but he still remained calm.

“I’m going to start.”

It was like a scene from a new Hollywood blockbuster movie.

“No, I need to get out.”

“Spare me, spare me just once!”

The Beiner Kingdom soldiers and cowardly knights started pleading to Andre. In fact, a knight typically didn’t have a good relationship with magicians. Weed saw magicians busily trying to perform protection magic in order to live. And finally, whirlwinds appeared in the sky from four directions.  Bows, arrows, swords, exes and clamouring men started floating into the sky. Weed wasn’t fully affected by the wind so he only floated a few metres.

“Waaaaack!”

The heavily armoured knights on horseback passed by on the left and right. And they were smashed into rocks and died. Screams could be heard from everywhere. The parties involved naturally felt a strong fear of death. The people swept away by the magic lost their fighting power.

It was like being scared when sleeping outdoors in rural areas. Weed thought about it from a different angle.

He washed things by hand for a year. And he felt much easier using a 12 year old washing machine bought at a discount store. He cleaned his clothes, towels and underwear with detergent but felt cheated when he needed to hang it on the rack.

But the station officials had given him a high-capacity laundry machine for his house. The price was more expensive, there were special motors and he could wash his duvet! The rapid rotation of the water caused boundless excitement. There was no happier feeling then turning on the washing machine on a sunny day.

“The capacity of the washing machine is important but it also needs power.”

This wind storm was like a washing machine. Weed was scratched by the whirlwinds but his health didn’t decrease at all.

– Due to the wind, durability of your cloak has decreased by 7.

The durability of his equipment had fallen but he could get the blacksmiths in Jonas Castle to repair it later.

“Cool. It is the summer so this wind should blow well.”

Relaxing while eating jajangmyeong and drinking a glass of coffee. The spell Phoenix’s Health still had 1 minute and 20 seconds remaining. Maybe the spell would last longer than that but by that time, it would already be weak enough that he could handle it. The desert warriors weren’t agitated or damaged by the great magic. Warrior-1 said yesterday.

“You shouldn’t die in minutes. Persistently survive in tough situations.”

Warrior-2 also agreed.

“It doesn’t matter if it is a poison trap or a fearsome attack from a monster.”

The desert raised their survival potential. Weed relaxed and waited for the magic to end. Once again, there was some waiting time on the battlefield. The Beiner Kingdom used that time to form dozens of layers of encirclement around him. More than 10 knights and cavalry surrounded him. The magicians were preparing to cast a spell again. Weed was the strongest human but no matter his power, he couldn’t ignore the armed forces of the Beiner Kingdom.

The reason for his confidence was that he had created a sculpture of a Beiner Kingdom soldier. If he needed to then he would use Sculpture Transformation and escape.

“I’ll eat well.”

The wind storm had reached its culmination. And there was an unexpected additional effect.

Weed’s Undulating Flame Mark was still active.

It was an unquenchable fire that wouldn’t disappear until the mana was gone. Weed’s fire mingled with the wind and ended up being sucked in by it. The wind storm spread the caught flames in every direction. Flowers made of fire and fireballs blew through the air and hit the kingdoms. The fire spread uncontrollably and caused an unexpected scene of destruction among the ground troops.

“I also need to be careful of the fire. Looking at the fire… Always lock your gas valve when going to sleep.”

Andre of the Beiner Kingdom collapsed as a result of the spell. The morale of the soldiers had fallen while Andre who had exhausted his mana was escorted away by the knights.

Weed stood on the ground and the undead army gave a great shout. It was closely followed by the sound of humans screaming and undead laughing.

“Hihihihit.”

“Kyahahahahat!”

Weed investigated the situation and found that Van Hawk was giving a great performance. Van Hawk was surrounded by Doom Knights and the Mapon Kingdom. The sword master Rohadram of the Mapon Kingdom had come out to deal with him.

“Human knight, I am Van Hawk who came back from the abyss.”

“It is surprising that an undead has its sanity intact. However, I won’t allow the undead to besmirch hallowed ground.”

Van Hawk and Rohadram had a one-on-one confrontation.

The two who rode a ghost mount and a white horse competed. Both thrust their swords at each other. It was the wonderful scene of a close duel on horseback. Sparks flew as the swords were parried and they maintained their exquisite balance.

Van Hawk’s level was higher but Rohadram was superior when it came to techniques.

The duel wasn’t easily finished so Rohadram became impatient. He was the best knight of the Mapon Kingdom and was used to blowing away enemies quickly. Van Hawk skilfully parried and counterattacked, causing a serious injury while Rohadram fell from his horse. The knight was obviously defeated. The knight that came to save the Mapon Kingdom was killed so the morale of the army fell extremely low.

“Rohadram-nim was defeated… As expected, it was too much.”

“Hik, the Abyss Knight will turn us into skeletons.”

The NPC soldiers received a huge impact to their morale. Morale could increase power as high as 200% but sometimes low morale could cause them to be entirely wiped out. In fact, this didn’t just apply to NPCs as sometimes human also won wars based on morale.

“Hooray Abyss Knight Van Hawk!”

“Undead Army Commander Van Hawk!”

The combat slaves and even the Embinyu fanatics gave frenzied cheers. And Weed’s eyes shook slowly. While he had been suffering damage in the middle of the Beiner Kingdom’s military camp, Van Hawk had been putting on a glorious performance.

“This guy made of bones, I refuse to believe in him.”

Weed was deeply grieved without being jealous. The battle wasn’t over yet.

“I have to eat a lot from now on. The magicians also exhausted their mana so they are in bad shape. This is a chance for a truly outstanding performance.”

The true God of War would now descend to sweep through the enemies. Weed touched his hands to the ground.

– Vitality has been restored with the help of the Earth Goddess, Mi-ne.

He accepted the energy of the earth and quickly recovered. The regular soldiers and knights didn’t dare attack him for fear of death. The moment his body was prepared!

“This is a war that can’t be won. Everybody retreat.”

“This is His Majesty’s command. Retreat to Dulmore Fortress.”

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms who suffered enormous damage abruptly retreated.

When the dead and wounded soldiers were added up, they lost 150,000 soldiers. That was in contrast to the desert warriors who were almost all alive and the undead that hadn’t seemed to be reduced at all.

More than half of the combat slaves had died but that didn’t have a great significance.

“No! I absolutely won’t let you retreat.”

It was easiest to raise achievements when the army was retreating. Many materials were left behind while the Mapon and Beiner Kingdom rapidly tried to escape the battlefield. The cavalry fled while the infantry threw away their shields to retreat. They weren’t concerned at all about defense while running away.

“Attack, undead troops!”

“Kuhihihit!”

Abyss Knight Van Hawk led the undead army to chase them. During the battle, it was common for many Doom Knights and Death Knights to be generated. It was the best combination to cause damage to enemies when chasing.

“Spirits of the desert, let’s show the weak fellows of the continent a bitter taste!”

“Wahhhh!”

Warrior-1 drove the desert cavalry after the enemies. They shot arrows and threw their axes to literally slaughter the infantry.

“All my suffering… This can’t be!”

Weed quickly chased after the undead knights and desert warriors. However, he couldn’t catch up and stop them. Weed found a horse that lost its owner.

“Run right now!”

The horse followed the knights.

He entered the military camp of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms and chopped up many knights and nobles. The enemies were too busy trying to flee to fight back so a one-sided slaughter took place.

But then he heard a cry!

“Warrior-7 has captured the heir to the Beiner Kingdom!”

“Unbelievable.”

“Warrior-2 has sliced the leader of the magician unit!”

“No. That is mine!”

Weed was in an area that only contained ordinary soldiers and knights. He was in a bad mood despite gaining easy victories.

But tens of thousands of soldiers appeared on the road where the Beiner and Mapon Kingdoms were retreating.

“Are they here to support the army or were they pretending to escape to set up an ambush? Then this will be war!”

Weed’s body was still in good condition and he liked that he could continue fighting. However, the army that appeared didn’t belong to the Mapon or Beiner Kingdoms.

“Wahhh, Hestiger is back!”

“Hestiger-nim has returned after destroying Opus Castle and he has blocked those guys!”

The odious Hestiger who always had good luck follow him!

Every time Weed thought Hestiger would die, he always returned with almost no loss of troops. Weed grew during the Nodulle’s Growth quest but he wasn’t the only strong one. The NPC subordinates had grown together with him and earned great achievements in battle.

Weed had no choice but to envy the NPCs.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms trying to retreat suffered a crushing defeat!

The remnants withdrew to Dulmore Fortress that had several layers of defensive magic. There was a river mixed with silver flowing through the fortress. The holy property of silver meant that the undead couldn’t invade the grounds.

But only half of the troops managed to reach the fortress alive. The Beiner and Mapon Kingdoms had ordered a retreat because they were scared of Weed. He had caused great damage and overwhelmed them with his power.

“I’m still hungry despite winning so it hurts.”

Weed led the army that chased them and took prisoners from nearby cities.

Civilians and soldiers were secured. The soldiers weren’t much help in the war but they could be used to maintain the size of the undead troops.

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms had a firm military policy. Dulmore Fortress was a gateway to the capital. The southern barbarians and undead could not be allowed to pass through.

In the end, the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms abandoned half their cities.

“The military should prepare for the next battle.”

The kingdoms in this warring period was just a starting battle!

The real challenge was facing the Embinyu Church. The biggest war in this era hadn’t occurred yet! A war with the Embinyu Church didn’t even exist in the history books. Weed gave a command to Warrior-1.

“Prepare armour and weapons for the prisoners.”

The amount of prisoners this time was 100,000 people. The soldiers that tried to escape ended up surrendering.

“How is it?”

The regular residents were different from trained soldiers. There was no chance of them revolting.

“Okay. They realize that they have to face the Embinyu Church in order to survive.”

The Embinyu Church was leading a great army that surpassed imagination. Even if the best soldiers surrendered, it would be difficult to survive.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Korea University.

Lee Hye-yeon was very famous because of her brother. Weed’s little sister! People gazed at her from far away.

“I can’t believe it. Is she really orc Karichwi’s sister?”

“You have a strange orc mania but she really is Weed’s sister.”

“How can the appearance of a brother and sister be so different?”

Lee Hye-yeon was known around her university to be cute and pretty. Seniors had a crush on her even when she was simply dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt.

“Hello, Hye-yeon. Do you have time?”

“I’m sorry. Sunbae-nim. I have a task in the library.”

“What is it? If I can help….”

“I should do it alone so that my capabilities increase. See you next time.”

She spent a lot of time in the library. She steadily attended the lectures at university, obtained A in most of her classes and received a variety of scholarships.

When she arrived at the school cafeteria, she only needed to look around once.

“Sunbae-nim!”

“Hye-yeon, do you want some of this rice?”

“Yes!”

“Do you want to have a meal together?”

“Yes, sunbae-nim!”

Her charm was deployed when it came to the school cafeteria!

“Sunbae-nim, did you learn foreign and diplomatic studies last year? I don’t remember which textbook… Where can I buy it?”

“You are taking it this semester? I have the textbook.”

“Wah, thank you very much!”

Food, tuition and books were all free. She always kept a record of her schedule on her phone.

“Kim Jin-sik sunbae fed me two days ago and Ho-joon sunbae two weeks ago. This can’t be missed.”

She had a special system for the seniors who bought her food. However, she didn’t go to MTs or drinking parties.

“I’m sorry. I need to study.”

“You can gather people to do the assignment afterwards. It is just one drink.”

“My brother told me not to drink with men. Man are animals that absolutely can’t be trusted.”

She thoroughly avoided drinking. She had heard many stories of university students so she was wary of drinking. But she also encountered a crisis.

“Why are you always rushing off? The professor is attending this time.”

The president of her association forced her.

“Hyu, this time it is hard to refuse.”

Lee Hye-yeon followed her department to a meeting at a bar. The story of her attendance had spread so many juniors and seniors were there.

“Now, drink!”

The professor handed her a beer.

In fact, drinking until the person was drunk was more common in the older generation. Nowadays, it was common to drink in moderation and finish early. Of course, there were still plenty of stories and confessions when drinking.

Lee Hye-yeon drank beer and soju. Her features when holding the cup was like a professional.

“Give me that? Sunbae seems weak to alcohol.”

“No. I’m going to drink.”

And coolly downed the shot.

“Kyah, so good.”

“H-Hae-yeon, I thought you couldn’t drink alcohol?”

“Drink? It isn’t because I can’t drink. I just think it is expensive and a waste of money.”

Successive cups of alcohol entered her mouth.

“Eat snacks while drinking.”

“I don’t like the taste of wine.”

Lee Hye-yeon strictly stuck to drinking. The professor of the department also paid attention to her.

“Hye-yeon, have you drank some alcohol before?”

“Yes, I used to play around a little when I was younger.”

“Haha, did you chew some gum as well?”

“No, I used to go drinking with my friends and chewed on razor blades.”

“……”

Lee Hye-yeon was drinking alcohol after a long time so she felt talkative.

“I acted thoughtlessly when I was young. I drank all night and fought with teenagers passing by.”

“You played dangerously. Hasn’t an accident ever occurred?”

“There’s nothing much. One time my friend got into a motorcycle accident and fell into a coma? Ah, that’s right! I heard she woke up some time ago and I’ve been planning to contact her. I should call her now.”

“…….”

“I played and was caught by my brother.”

“Did your brother get angry a lot?”

“Yes. The first time I broke my leg. I had a thought when lying down in a room for 3 months. I was caught and my limb broken. I couldn’t do that to my brother… My spirit has woken up since then.”

Her older brother was the one who derailed Lee Hye-yeon’s violent youth.

Chapter 7: Eternal Colleague Zahab

Geomchi, the instructors and the trainees fell into a deep anguish.

A number of people were worried in Royal Road.

‘How should I proceed with this quest?’

‘ Find the mushrooms in the Yulun Mountains… It will be dangerous with my skills.’

‘What direction should I raise my attack skills in?’

A character’s growth and quests. Royal Road was like real life and had many choices. People would encounter crossroads that would cause struggle.

But the concerns of Geomchi, the instructors and the practitioners wasn’t at such a high level. They didn’t live a complicated life.  If they were hungry then they ate and they fought strong opponents.

Geomchi-2 had a psychiatrist as a girlfriend but there were still things he didn’t understand.

‘Insomnia? Why can’t I sleep at night? Can’t I just close my eyes after lying down and snore?’

‘Am I stuck in a depression while hating the world? It isn’t a complete lie. I would commit suicide if I needed to roll around in a field of dog poo.’

If psychiatry was used on them then the result would be that they were suffering because of Weed.

“Teacher-nim, I’ve realized that we’ve been too lazy after seeing Weed’s adventure.”

“I am ashamed that I haven’t caught a dragon first. We have no pride as teachers.”

“I understand, Teacher-nim. This is all our fault. We didn’t properly support Teacher-nim.”

Geomchi and the instructors were upset by Weed’s adventure.

It was common sense since Weed had played Royal Road longer. In addition, he invested more into it over a long time. They praised him after he founded a kingdom but succeeding in quests with complex conditions annoyed them.

It felt like going to catch a strong monster for a quest was just a simple errand.

There was no need to distinguish between the good and bad guys. In the past, they made money during the days of poverty from the quests but now they weren’t enthusiastic about it.

But…

“Weed is fighting the Chaos Dragon…hrmm.”

“He hasn’t won yet Master-nim.”

“Even so, my body is itching.”

Geomchi and the students envied the thought of fighting against a dragon. They had already been melted by a dragon’s breath so they knew how reckless it was. No matter how good they were with a sword, they couldn’t fight a dragon. They were aware of the limitations of a swordsman in modern times and quietly raised their power.

However, now they heard that Weed had a quest that required going to the past and fighting a dragon. It was a thrilling thing.

“Dragon slayer. I was aiming for this title from the beginning.”

“Sob, I missed the chance at greater glory.”

Geomchi, the instructors and the trainees felt like they had been complacent and lazy.

“What have we been doing so far?”

“The Martial Artist Master Quest.”

“That….raising the disciples.”

Geomchi and the instructors were teaching their skills to NPC disciples. They needed to pass on their martial arts in order to pass through an advanced dungeon.

“Swung your sword.”

“Until when?”

“All night until it seems like you are going to die. I will kill you first if you stop.”

The teachers weren’t caring or understanding and became irritating when inspecting the students’ skills. Nevertheless, there was a discerning selection of disciples.

They might have plenty of experience but couldn’t endure the training. Talent was important but they would rather teach those who would die by the sword.

“My parents are bandits….”

“I need to be strong in order to get revenge.”

“I just want to become like Teacher-nim.”

“Do you want to join your parents?”

The disciples grew like sprouts and passed a dungeon. After that, their lives were their own.

Some joined the Arpen Kingdom as knights while others decided to wander the world as mercenaries. Some decided to switch directions from a swordsman to a merchant.

“You want to be a merchant?”

“Yes, sorry Teacher-nim.”

“No, a merchant is also a good profession.”

Geomchi-101 allowed the disciples to deviate from the path. He knew the benefits of a merchant. Merchants familiar with a sword could go hunting.

Geomchi-5’s disciples were beaten too much and fled as soon as they escaped the dungeon. And they became famous bandits somewhere.

“The disciples I raised learned a few skills.”

Geomchi-3 recalled the last few days. He had taught his disciples martial arts for a month. It strengthened their skills, enhanced their body, expanded their vision and gave them superhuman health.

The skills were raised again and again over the course of the training. The skills would disappear if they didn’t reach advanced level 3 within 3 months. In addition, they wouldn’t be able to proceed with the Martial Artist Master Quest.

The Swordsman Master Quest could be delayed at any time. The Martial Artist one couldn’t. If they made even one small mistake or failure then their master qualification would be discarded. It could be considered quite an unfair penalty.

Geomchi and his intern disciples were rather satisfied.

“Martial arts isn’t the same as other professions so this treatment is appropriate.”

“Yes of course, Master-nim!”

Each one of them had their own pride and entered the mountains for 3 months. The mountains had an atmosphere where the disciples could quickly cultivate their martial arts.

They trained their skill proficiency upon the branches and animals in the forest. A variety of unique training courses were designed to train their newly acquired skills. Once their levels became higher, their combat skills would become stronger. The result of their swordsmanship also differed.

In fact, it was hard and boring for humans to swing their sword for 3 months.  However, Geomchi yelled at them to swing their swords every day.

“I’m can still continue….Geomchi-505 handpicked me.”

“Why are they so tough? I just want some rest.”

During to the competition in the mountains, their swordsmanship rose at a tremendous rate. Each one of them achieved at least advanced level 9! Their bodies were completely trained and special stats and achievements were added.

“We have just been playing around.”

Geomchi nodded heavily.

“It can’t end here if we want to save our pride.”

“Teacher-nim has the right idea.”

“Normal monsters are like chickens and can’ be compared to the strength of a dragon.”

“Yes.”

Geomchi and his disciples had already caught a variety of monsters in the north. They ran furiously through dungeons and defeated monsters, but they placed no value in it.

“We should create a group of knights.”

“That is a great idea!”

Geomchi thoughts weren’t sympathetic to his disciples. Being a great teacher made him feel better. Geomchi often displayed erratic behaviour and this time he spoke after thinking deeply.

“After looking at Weed’s battle, knights are the ones who fight systematically and can increase the effect by dozens of times. Winning or losing a battle can depend on the performance of the knights.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“And the fight of those children on the Central Continent is spreading.”

“Yes.”

Rumours spread that the Haven Empire was going to invade the north. The users who volunteered for the military and the Grass Porridge Cult of the Arpen Kingdom started formulating battle plans.

“We should organize a proper troop of knights and how properly show those guys. Then we can catch that bastard called Bardray.”

“Your disciples can’t keep up with Master-nim.”

“After completed a perfect victory, we will then move onto a dragon.”

“Yes, as you command.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed had left the Arpen Kingdom for a long time and would be amazed when he returned.

“Won’t they perish with no king?”

“Yes, we should go back.”

If a kingdom was left unattended by the king, security would worsen due to bandits or thugs. Therefore, residents would quickly escape.

However, the security around Morata and Vargo Fortress was very good. There were a few burglars in the commerce area but there was a great revival of the economy.

Currently the Arpen Kingdom had almost extended through their entire north. Even residents living deep in the swamps or mountains were dependent on the Arpen Kingdom’s economy and culture.

Adventurers and warriors belonging to the Arpen Kingdom received requests to fight monsters. Merchants completed business deals and miners developed the mines. Residents were thankful to have work.

The Arpen Kingdom established a large army to fight against all the monsters in the northern area. The birth rate in the north miraculously  increased and it wasn’t just humans living on the spacious land….

“Chwik!”

“I can build a house here. Mother chwi chwik!”

“If we buy this cave then there will be no place to lie down. Chwi chwiik!”

The orcs that came from the east by the north flourished in the north! The orcs had settled around Vargo Fortress and orc users could start there. They mainly chose appearances that resembled Karichwi.

The orcs reproduced quickly and became an iconic feature around Vargo Fortress. The orc troops consisting of 20,000~50,000 could face any tough monsters.

They didn’t conquer the inside of dungeons but there were no large scale monsters wandering around the mountains. The orcs migrated to the far mountains. And the orcs continued building houses around Vargo Fortress.

“This deer leg tastes chwi chwit delicious. Chwik!”

The orcs didn’t burn it over fire and liked the taste of blood flowing from the leg. Plenty of users liked the wild life of the orcs. And the fortress was overflowing with orcs.

“Get out of the way. Chwi chwit!”

“Chwi chwit I was first!”

The orc leaving the fortress clogged the roads like workers commuting during rush hour. One orc user led a minimum of 100 baby orcs out of the fortress.

“This fat pig chuchik!”

“That orc is ugly chuchichik!”

Orc users lived separately from each other in order to hunt and seek food. It was easy for the orcs to be comfortable in the fortress. They purchased bad food from merchants and used it to raise their children.

The occasional passer-by could watch a cute orc baby one day only to have it grow 2 metres and 30 centimetres the next day. The orc families formed a large force and could go to larger hunting grounds to face stronger monsters.

The dream of an orc user was to become an extremely strong orc warrior. Eventually they would lead a tribe containing tens of thousands of orcs.

“Leave for undeveloped land,  chwi chwi chwik!”

Orcs and their children discarded their stable hunting grounds and good to look for remote areas in the north.

In fact, high level orcs didn’t necessarily prefer life and death adventures. But it could be difficult to settle a tribe consisting of thousands of orcs. Due to the nature of an orc, they could only establish a habitat quickly with strong forces.

The orcs left Vargo Fortress to find more dangerous areas and many orc villages quickly formed in the Arpen Kingdom.

But the internal affairs of the Arpen Kingdom was solid.

“I’ve never seen that road before.”

“Yes, it was made by an architect.”

“Did a bridge always connect that river?”

“I don’t know. It wasn’t there a few days ago.”

“Let’s adventure further north. I know a good hunting ground and ruins.”

“Is there a supplies plan?”

“Before there was nothing in the wilderness but now there is a city.”

A colossal civil construction project!

Now the Grand Buildings were only local events. Every city had a population of humans, dwarves, orcs, avians and barbarians so there was an unthinkable development.

“How is all of this possible with our taxes?”

“Then all this is the king’s money?”

“I don’t know but the Arts Centre possesses at least 890,00 works of art.”

“There is also an operation to restore Mordred, the capital of the Niflheim Empire.”

“Villages are also being built by the ceramists.”

“It really makes no sense.”

“I’m glad that we live in the north. We never would’ve been able to see it change so quickly if we hadn’t.”

It was determined that the prestigious guilds were the losers in the Central Continent and that the Haven Empire would invade the north. The prestigious guilds didn’t dare try to become lords in the north. The users and residents unconditionally protected the Arpen Kingdom. If anyone tried to build an independent village in the north then the residents and users would wage a vicious war of aggression.

In fact, there practical reasons for the Arpen Kingdom to forget about the Haven Empire for the moment and just devoted themselves to trade and hunting.

The quality and quantities of the users kept on increasing. The tax income of the Arpen Kingdom was very large but it was difficult to afford the expenditure.

In fact, all of this was due to the combined effort of the users. Merchants sold grains to farmers that they then planted. Miners dug out silver, gold, iron etc. Adventurers explored ruins and unearthed antiques and treasures. Tailors and blacksmiths became busy as orders kept on increasing. The beginner avians that had no money willingly pulled out their own hair to be sold. No matter how many feathers were pulled out, they would just grow back again.

And all the taxes were gathered at the capital of the Arpen Kingdom to be distributed. It barely changed after Weed had become king.

“Be careful of aides or family ties in politics.”

Deceit still existed in an era like this. Therefore Goldman, Yellowy, Bingryong and the wyverns monopolized the positions of power in the kingdom. They were silent in front of the dictator but exercised their rights when Weed was absent.

“Gol gol gol, gold is gold!”

Goldman received the tax money and invested it in different areas.

“Money shouldn’t rest. Gol gol!”

He didn’t deposit it in any savings and made immediately investments! Goldman permitted the important development projects in the north.

Areas like great architecture, urban road construction and expansion, military establishment, large granary and mine development were all worked on.

Money was generously poured into these projects.

“The money remaining in the kingdom is 0, gol gol gol. I worked hard today gol gol.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed harnessed the Mapon and Beiner cities around Jonas Castle.

The Embinyu Church was approaching so he was running out of time.

“But we are the good guys.”

“……”

“Things like compassion and generosity isn’t useless. All of this… We unconditionally destroyed cities and killed civilians. We also have prisoners of war. There is no justification for it.”

Warrior-1 still hadn’t been corrupted by the evil mentality and desire to destroy.

“Aren’t these actions really bad?”

“It is in order to deal with the upcoming large battle. The entire continent is in danger of being subjugated by the Embinyu Church. This is a sign to save the world but it is too hard without your cooperation. If you fear small sacrifices then you can’t protect the peace.”

“I understand.”

Weed used saving the world to scam the warriors! His subordinates had absolute loyalty so they would believe in anything. Weed destroyed the infrastructure of the cities in order to damage the Haven Empire.

“I like this a lot.”

Funes was the capital of the Beiner Kingdom. The canals resulted in a city with a beautiful view. Boats rode around the canals for a picturesque and beautiful scenery. The city still existed in the Haven Empire but the scale of it was a little smaller.

“Living in a village in this place would be nice.”

He could relax and enjoy life.

“There is no doubt that the value of this land would climb in the future.”

A craftsman asked the commander.

“I think this is a beautiful city….should we really let the soldiers loot it?”

“Block off the canals with stone and dirt.”

“Then all the water will overflow and be lost.”

“Exactly. That is my aim.”

Weed was unmatched when it came to planning wickedness!

This was an unexpected side effect of what he studied in school. He would read maths and English books at night before closing his eyes because he was sleepy. However, his eyes cleared of the fog when he thought of bad things. All his sleepiness fled and curiosity burned inside him. Thinking of bad actions increased his concentration and enhanced his imagination!

“Break the large buildings in the city. Built a large statue in the middle.”

“Yes, I understand.”

He forced the residents and artists to build a bronze statue up to 65 metres. A statue of a bald Weed holding his thumb upside down! It was a work that celebrated the tyrant Weed.

“My mood will climb when thinking of this.”

Weed didn’t care about angering the Hermes Guild now. He had already shattered the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms so there was no restoring their relationship.

“Over time, this bronze statue might remain in the city and I can see it at a later date.”

He had plundered so many riches that there was no place to put them. Necessary things were snatched and battle equipment used. Trading with merchants for combat supplies weren’t necessary anymore as they looted most of it.

The most emphasis was placed on forced conscription. A training centre for the soldiers was opened at Jonas Castle. The young men trained with swords and shields.

“You need to fight the Embinyu Church in order to survive.”

The residents were used to increase the headcount of the soldiers.

“Let go of my father. My mother is sad.”

A pretty, nine year old child grabbed a soldier’s leg and begged for her father to be returned. A pretty woman wailed from behind. She was the wife of a man forced into conscription.

The scene that Weed passed by was enough to touch the heart.

“Attendant.”

“Yes.”

“Bring that child over here.”

The soldiers caught the child and dragged her over. The soldiers had become cruel after so much looting.

Weed said in a friendly tone.

“Child.”

“Please save my father.”

“The world is at risk so I can’t accept your request.”

“Give me back my father.”

“Your father is fighting with us for world peace.”

“No, you are a bad person.”

Weed was notorious throughout most of the continent. The Embinyu Church did bad things but they were hidden actions. Weed was a brave warrior with the task of saving the world.

“I am like a lonely hero in the movie who is always misunderstood by the people around me. I suppose this is evidence of that.”

“You are just like fungus.”

“Yes, I understand little girl.”

“Gleaming baldy.”

“This is evidence that I’ve lived my life with frugality.”

He had unshakable spiritual strength.

The Embinyu Church was still quite far away because their advance was slower than expected. They didn’t want to arrive until the tower was completed and the Chaos Dragon summoned. This was the decision of the high priests.

The fanatics fell asleep in broad daylight. Then they would secretly march through the mountains and forests in the middle of the night. In the evening, Weed could see the videos about them and calculated that they would arrive in approximately 16 days.

Another reason was that they avoided going straight through cities and villages. The Embinyu Church captured troops defeated by Weed and turned them into fanatics.

“There is quite a variety of choices.”

Thanks to that, Weed had time to prepare for the war. This was a different time zone so there were a large number of the variables that could affect the fight. The power of the Embinyu Church was enough to dominate the entire continent.

But Weed and his subordinates’ abilities were also strong. They could compete to become the strongest power on the continent.

“The Embinyu Church is approaching to cooperate with us.”

“Rubbish! Their army is coming to make a blasphemy of the Atrock Temple.”

Weed sent troops to the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms to ask for cooperation against the Embinyu Church. He wanted to coerce some priests to face the advancing army. Weed led the troops directly to the Atrock Church in the Beiner Kingdom.

“I am fighting against the Embinyu Church.”

“Don’t try to lie. We know that you are leaving the desert to occupy a fertile land.”

The volatile atmosphere around the Atrock Temple indicated that it would soon be a battle. His infamy had risen due to the repeated conquest war.

The temple had combat priests that were very brilliant at battle. Of course, Weed and the desert warriors didn’t want to start a fight.

“It isn’t a lie. I have received the blessing of Atrock. That’s why we should fight together!”

Weed shouted within Atrock’s Temple.

– Your absolute charisma has overwhelmed the army.

Leadership has strengthened and they will listen to any command.

The soldiers have become full of courage. They won’t feel fear under any circumstances.

The soldiers will become calm without falling into chaos.

The high loyalty means that betrayal or defection on the battlefield won’t occur.

The soldiers’ experience will greatly increase after battle.

Atrock’s Cry wasn’t a skill he learnt but a blessing received by the god.

“That person has God’s blessing… The Embinyu Church is our enemy as well. We will fight together.”

The situation was reversed in an instant and he could obtain the cooperation of the priests of the Atrock Church. He used this method to gain support from the paladins and priests of the 7 large religions like Tyr, Mi-ne, Freya and Lugh.

There were other kingdoms but they were too far away so he didn’t ask them for help. He also failed to enter to pass through Dulmore Fortress to reach the capital of the Beiner Kingdom. Therefore he concentrated on gathering other people.

The patron god of the barbarians. He headed to the temple and recruited 200 barbarians who were decent warriors! The defensive capabilities could be comparable to the desert warriors. They were useful in battle even if they couldn’t gain any large achievements.

The Hagar Church dealt in lightning magic. Weed had discovered traces of the Hagar at Montvertruria. Excellent magicians had built the church themselves but only existed in the warring period before disappearing shortly afterwards.

The Hagar Church ran to join him as soon as he arrived.

“God Hagar has told us to fight along with you.”

“Eh? What is this?”

“The Hagar cannot be excluded from going to fight the Embinyu Church.”

They cooperated in order to raise their reputation. This choice might cause their destruction to come faster.

And Weed had a really unexpected visitor.

When looking at the date, it had been a long time since he arrived on the Versailles Continent in the past.

Zahab the sculpting master visited the camp on horseback.

“After we parted at Portu Castle, I heard rumours that you were alive and came to confirm it.”

“I’m glad that Zahab-nim is still alive.”

Weed hadn’t expected to see Zahab again.

He had already been quite old even in the original time. After spending 22 years on the Versailles Continent in the past, his hair had turned completely white. But his eyes were still clear and his physique sturdy.

“A tremendous change seems to have happened as you are now leading a great army.”

Weed was far inferior to him in the past but now Zahab couldn’t even defeat him.

“I roamed around the world after escaping with you. I feel like this world is really terrible.”

“In what way?

“The definition of justice is ignored in this era. I wanted to fight to correct this but realized the limits of my strength. I was too weak to freely help others.”

Zahab was extremely strong but he was invincible in the warring period. All the kingdoms had above average military power. If he touched the wrong army then even a sword master would have his throat cut.

“I collected many talented people and taught them swordsmanship and sculpting.”

“Ah, I can see that.”

“There are 100 people but their skills aren’t as reliable as yours.”

Weed thought it was a waste and would rather just teach sculpting. But having Zahab’s group join without do any harm.

Weed said in a complex voice. It was his typically voice when trying to flatter someone.

“In fact, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I tried not to let other people know this but… I believe I can tell Zahab-nim. Did you know that the Embinyu Church is even hiding in this world?”

“What?”

Zahab was a genuine man. He didn’t forget his first love Queen Evane for his entire life. Apart from that, he only cared about the sword and art. This type of human was the easiest to target.

“The Embinyu Church right now is much mightier. It can’t even be compared to the future. So I am preparing for a war to stop the Embinyu Church.”

It was a typical pattern when bragging about what a great guy he was!

“Think about Queen Evane who you always longed for. The lonely queen protected her land from the Embinyu Church by herself. I won’t hold it against Zahab-nim if you say no, but… Do you want to fight with me?”

Weed reached out hand to Zahab. If he refused then Zahab would’ve abandon his first love Queen Evane for a comfortable life. As expected, Zahab grabbed his hand vigorously.

“I’m willing to fight.”

The bald Weed laughed. He would make the old man Zahab work until his spinal cord was removed.

Chapter 8: Python Going to the North

The blacksmiths at Jonas Castle decided to process the leather and horns of the Fire Salamander King.

“If I don’t make it with my own hands then I will spend my whole life regretting it.”

“There is no need to hand it over after we complete it.”

“I would rather hide or dispose of it than hand it over to a villain.”

They might have ulterior motives but the dwarves sincerely worked on it. The horns of the Fire Salamander King were as hard as a diamond so they were difficult to dent.“I didn’t realize something his hard existed.”

“Morul Hand, you will only start to know it from now on.”

“Yes! Dwarves can’t give up so easily.”

The dwarves encountered some difficulties. They were so focused on the horns that they forgot about Weed. The humans worked on the leather. They tried to use sharp swords to cut up the leather.

Swords had an effect on it but magic was no use. The leather would simply absorb the magic and become cold.

“Even loosely cutting it has produced a perfect piece. The armour made from this leather would outperform any equipment by a dozen times.”

“The smooth texture is good and there is magic defense. Isn’t it possible for us to wear this to hunt monsters?”

The tailors could imagine facing strong monsters with armour made from this leather. They would be astonished if they knew that Weed could hunt such monsters with his own ability. Weed would use the leather and horns to fight against the Beiner Kingdom and their allies. The residents devoted themselves to the sword and armour. The goods weren’t specifically made to damage the Beiner Kingdom due to the war with the Embinyu Church in the future.

“What is the Embinyu Church?”

“I don’t know. But they seem to be a group trying to destroy this world. And he is a warrior trying to save the world.”

“Do you believe that?”

“The goddess Hestia showed up in my dream and told me everything.”

“The dream of a dwarf is real.”

Weed had a special bond with Hestia, the Goddess of the Forge.

A grand building, Hestia’s Forge was built in Morata and he made a considerable donation to the church. Hestia existed in this time and unexpectedly had many followers.

Magicians with faith would go to school to learn fire magic. The Blacksmith God was in charge of minerals rather than fire so not all dwarves worshipped him. Some didn’t care about the gods and just drank beer heartily and slept while snoring. Only heroes in the world would receive the attention of the gods.

Hestia helped Weed a little bit. The dwarves needed a way to work the horns from the Fire Salamander King.

“This processing method isn’t working. There isn’t one scratch.”

“Should we leave the circular handle attached like that?”

“A length is beyond 5 metres… It will be big and beautiful but handling it might be inconvenient.”

“Somehow we need to process this properly. The pride of the dwarves is hanging on this.”

The 100 blacksmiths at Jonas Castle were stuck. In fact, they had only previously handled iron so they were apprehensive about it. The form or length of a sword didn’t really matter to a sword master. They could basically beat small opponents with just their power. If he took advantage of Sculptural Transformation to turn into an ogre then is physical power and agility would be sufficient. Sculptural Destruction could also be used to handle the horns.

However, the dwarven blacksmiths had their own pride and wouldn’t give up. They used numerous methods but couldn’t physically cut or break it.

“The last resort is to place it in the furnace.”

“Are you sure? If it melts then we’ll have to discard it….”

“This level of strength won’t melt it. Do you see any other way to try?”

“Let’s just give it a little try!”

There was a long horn in the middle and two small ones on the side. The dwarven blacksmiths placed a small horn in the furnace as a test.

“It is starting. Remove it immediately if there is some type of accident. Hrmm, it seems to be working well.”

“Now I’m starting.”

However, there was little reaction from the horn.

“Morul Hand, this seems to be too weak so raise the power of the fire.”

Wood was tossed on the hearth to enhance the power of the fire. And there was a change in the furnace.  The horn of the Fire Salamander King glowed with a white light and started eating the flames.

“Is this something?”

“I don’t know. Continue lighting the fire!”

The furnace had been turned off due to the horn absorbing the fire. The dwarves continued stoking a new fire. But no matter how big and strong the fire was, it was soon gone. The dwarves were immersed in the work and continued lighting the fire until it was finished.

By the time Weed came to Jonas Castle, the tailors and blacksmiths were almost like corpses.

“The things?”

“Here.”

The humans handed over the leather armour first. The material was leather but the structure was as solid as steel armour. The red leather was soft and warm to touch. It also wasn’t heavy as it was light in his hands.

“Um.”

Weed was satisfied in his heart. It felt like choosing clothes at a luxury department store!

But he still needed to check the quality of the clothes even if it came from a luxury brand. But his eyes didn’t notice any shortcomings in the armour.

Weed used his Sewing skill but couldn’t find any faults. The buttons were made from gold clam shells and there was no lint on it. But Weed didn’t show any satisfaction on his face. The tailors seemed to notice and said.

“The pattern of the leather will be revealed with heat.”

“Hrmm, is that so?”

Weed decided to check the information of the armour. If there was something wrong then the tailors would be dead immediately.

“Inspect!”

– Majestic Leather Armour for a Conqueror:

Durability 189/189

Defense 195

An armour made from the leather of the Fire Salamander King that the tailors of Jonas Castle risked their lives to sew.

The finest armour created in the warring period. It was made with far too precious materials and lined with natural linen so that it won’t touch the body. Specially tailor made, only those qualified can wear it.

Restrictions: Level 790, have a status comparable to a king.

Options:

Fire resistance 89%

Minimize physical damage from all weapons by 91%.

Strength +130.

Additional 31% agility.

22% increase in maximum health and mana.

The best charisma and dignity.

Arrows won’t pierce it. High magic protection.

Ability to deal with fire +3.

Increased mana recovery speed when the wearer has a fire associated profession.

67% of the mana used will be reclaimed.

Defeats the darkness.

“Hrmm.”

There was no need to talk about how impressed he was with the armour. Weed already had absurd combat capabilities and defense so they were just like extra wings. In particular, he had never worn tailored clothes since middle school. Weed could take advantage of the armour when activating fire skills in battle. Then the armour would reveal a glamourous and elegant pattern. Even if he had no interest in the options, he would feel better while wearing such good looking armour.

“This is worthwhile. Good work.”

“Thank you.”

“Attendant, reward these people.”

“How much?”

Weed felt good so he only hesitated for a moment. Then he said in a small voice.

“Give them 200 gold.”

“Yes!”

His stingy spirit was unwillingly to part with more for the labour cost despite the sweat shed and effort. The tailors were just glad they could keep their lives and didn’t complain. His overwhelming dignity and  infamy meant they naturally accepted it. He had already gained the most infamy on the continent that no human could compete with him. Weed wore the majestic leather armour. The shiny bald head and fierce eyes gave him a cruel and vile impression. But the clothes suited him well.

“Then let me see what you made.”

This time it was the dwarves’ turn. He had high expectations for the dwarves so he would kill them all if it wasn’t met.

“We…hrmm, you should see it directly rather than with words.”

Morul Hand took out three unusual looking swords. The swords were made to be connected with each other in accordance to Weed’s command. The hand of the dwarves trembled as they handed it over.

‘It looks fine.’

The colours seemed normal on the surface. It shone with colourful hues in the sunlight. The sword that seemed to be made of a black diamond chunk had a clear lustre. The dwarves explained the work.

“We were able to process it once it absorbed ultra-high heat.  Of course, it wasn’t easy to be shaped with a hammer. The strength required gradually went down as the flames were amplified. We managed to reduce it to the form of the current sword now. It was impossible without a lot of power so us dwarves drained ourselves.”

The secret to processing the horns of the Fire Salamander King as to apply heat. The explanation from Morul Hand was brief but it couldn’t express the amount of effort the dwarves put into it.

Despite the sweat, elbow grease, innate arm strength and the natural blacksmithing skill of the dwarves, they were barely able to change the shape of the horns. It required at least 2,000 hammers to shape it into a sword. It was a work created by the combined efforts of the blacksmiths!

“Ah, it was like that.”

Weed had many thoughts after listening to Morul Hand’s words. If he didn’t like the work then the dwarf’s words would just confirm it.

“Inspect!”

– Appraisal has failed.

It had to be an excellent weapon if inspection had failed. Usually there was magic hidden if Inspect failed.

Only good magicians could release the seal. Normally he checked usual items so it was rare that Inspect would fail. It sometimes happened when identifying unique items. Weed’s mouth became thin.

“Inspect!”

– Extermination Sword:

Durability 204/204

Attack 175~226

The sword made from the horns of the Fire Salamander King. The dwarven blacksmiths processed the sword using the essence of fire.

A beautiful sword that could be considered a treasure of the continent. Anyone can use this sword but only the right owner can exert its full ability.

Restrictions:

Level 815 or more.

100% resistance to fire.

Strength 2,000.

Ate the Heart of the Fire Salamander King.

Artistic Value: 5,386

Options:

Very light.

Tiredness won’t be felt when swinging the sword.

Strength +20%. Art +155.

Fame will increase to the maximum level in battle.

Very strong immunity to curses that weaken weapons. Repair is not possible. Durability won’t decrease unless it meets a weapon with a stronger, opposite attribute.

Due to the fire attribute, there is a chance to melt the enemy’s weapons and armour and can also cause ‘burn’ when touching the skin.

When fire resistance is less than 20%, there is a 100% chance of being burned by fire. The range of fire based attacks will be extended by 3 times.

The power of fire will be 100% amplified.

“Well!”

Weed confirmed the contents a few times. It was like a person who won the lottery looking at the numbers on the piece of paper again.

He really wanted to fight something after seeing this weapon. It was like giving the best football shoes to a barefoot football player. There was a level limit so Weed could barely use it.

Then he had a thought.

‘This weapon will disappear when I return to my original world. I will use it to my heart’s content in the meantime.’

Weed’s face suddenly hardened! His eyes trembled and his mouth thinned.

“The light is deceptive.”

The dwarves were now so frightened that they didn’t dare move.

“Attendant.”

“Yes!”

“Give the dwarves 30 gold.”

The dwarves didn’t even rest properly at night in order to make the best weapon and only received 30 gold in return.

It was at that moment that Weed became even more infamous. The march of the Embinyu Church! Weed knew they were approaching so he assembled the captured soldiers from the nobles that surrendered in front of Jonas Castle. The soldiers that were forced to conscript increased the army to 650,000 people. Weed and the desert warriors had overwhelming skills but the rest of the soldiers also weren’t ordinary. This was the warring period so the solders and nobles had a higher than normal level. The conscripts on the battlefield had some capabilities but he couldn’t expect a lot from them. In addition, there were 300,000 soldiers that could only hold a sword.

“They are prey that I will throw towards the Embinyu Church.”

Weed planned for himself and the desert warriors to play a key role in the war. He would conduct the strong, armed forces.

So he was willing to throw the victims into the fray. He had also demonstrated the efficiency during the previous battles.

“But it won’t hold out long.”

Weed looked down at the plains from the archer’s tower in Jonas Castle.

Despite the fact that a huge 650,000 troops were gathered, everyone was nervous and frightened. The citizens’ training wasn’t high and morale wasn’t good because they were forced to become soldiers. It was unclear how long they would endure once the Embinyu Church started using witchcraft, brainwashing, confusion and other curses.

Weed viewed the current army like cheap junk food.

“They should at least make the magicians consume their mana before collapsing. Having a large number of troops isn’t always good. If they do something wrong then the desert army will catch their ankles.”

He didn’t plan to use the walls of Jonas Castle against the Embinyu Church. He had found a much better place to fight. The Mapon and Beiner armies had retreated to Dulmore Fortress! Then the day after tomorrow, the Dulmore Fortress would encounter the Embinyu Church.

It was natural for the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms to be drawn into combat. It was a plan that would take care of the Embinyu Church and two kingdoms at the same time.

“This strategy is good.”

Weed was perfectly satisfied with his plan. War heroes in the past would’ve probably had a similar plan. A sneaky and wicked operation that succeeded would be enough to cause admiring glances. In particular, it would be best if the Embinyu Church thoroughly smashed the Beiner and Mapon Kingdoms.

“Everybody move.”

Weed ordered the army to march towards Dulmore Fortress. There was no end to the number of supply wagons.

They contained all the loot and supplies plundered. The humans and dwarves in Jonas Castle watched the troops leaving.

“It is good that we are alive.”

“Yes, his infamy might be high but that human kept his promise.

They were just praising Weed when white smoke rose from Jonas Castle.

“Fire!”

“The castle is on fire!”

Flames rose out the windows of Jonas Castle. The flames spread quickly and soon the entire castle was engulfed in fire. The fire also broke out in the city around it.

“Bring water to put out the fire!”

“No. The wells have been blocked!”

The fire spread through the entire city. Weed had made sure to clean it up.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Tailor Drago.

Doll eyes, buttons, clothes etc. He finished every new stage of the Master Quest successfully.

“A white wedding dress… It is necessary for a tailor to tackle this challenge.”

The most beautiful bridal dress. It was good to achieve fame as a tailor. The Central Continent was engulfed in a fierce war so sewing related occupations were very common.

Wealthy merchants and nobles came to request dresses for royal parties. Making dresses for high ranking nobles had a lot of benefits. Drago was already experienced with making many different types of dresses.

“I need to make a dress that will reach the climax of pure beauty.”

The finest cloths were brought to Morata and modified at a nearby smithy.

“Attach these crystals to the clothes.”

In the past, he received a huge quest to attach 10,000 crystals to a dress. He focused while sewing each piece to the cloth with stitches. He had many feelings as a tailor.

“I became a tailor in vain.”

Drago thought this occupation was seriously broken. In addition to the Master Quest, he couldn’t relax due to other orders. Cadmus was his competitor in the north but he still needed to steadily provide high level users with leather armour, boots, etc.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The land of the farmer Miretas was enough to occupy a huge 3% of the Arpen Kingdom. He achieved a tremendous harvest and continued to invest in and buy land. Grains were grown on spacious, flat land and herbs on the hills and mountains.

The farmer Miretas had the nickname of Golden Hands because any seeds he planted would grow into huge money. But these days, Miretas’s waist seemed to be broken.

“There seems to be no end to this farming.”

So far digging the gravel and rocks to create a granary was good but he needed to manage a large area. For example, he needed to make a reservoir that connected to the farmland in case of a drought. He also needed to keep a lookout for swarms of locusts. Miretas knew how much work was involved in ripening just one piece of grain.

“There is no time. I can’t do anything outside of farming.”

The first mission of a farmer was to prevent hunger.

Food production was essential for a place like the Arpen Kingdom that had a quick growth. Lack of food would cause the price of food to rise and population would stop increasing. Disrupting the food supply would cause a setback to areas like trading, adventuring, economic development and technological development.

Miretas needed to continue cultivating the land to feed the exploding growth of the population. He also owned rice paddies and bulk purchased cattle from Morata. When the time came for the Haven Empire to invade, there would be enough food to ensure that no one would starve in battle.

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The warrior Python. He had become stronger after conquering the monsters in Averian Forest. It was broadcasted and his popularity rose but he had thoughts about the wider world.

“I can’t just continue catching more monsters.”

There were senior monsters inside dungeons that could use spells like anaesthesia, fainting, confusion, stun etc. so it was impossible to win against them alone. Python realized the limitations of fighting alone.

It was no joke as he watched the broadcast of Weed and the desert warriors rising about level 400. Python’s chest started burning as he watched them risk their lives during the growth quest.

“I need to explore more places to discover the meaning of a warrior.”

Python was also part of a prestigious guild with tons of friends. In fact, back in the day he had joined a social guild but they had disappeared due to the war in the Central Continent.  He was a warrior seeking a place to fight. This time he decided to go to the north. It felt good to walk the path to the north as a warrior.

“I think that many people will recognize me due to the broadcast. I shouldn’t wear armour and my sword in the city and should hide my face.

Python wore a straw hat on his head and wore tourist attire. And he rode a wild horse towards the north.

Call of the Wild Horse! It was a somewhat unusual skill that allowed him to catch and ride wild horses.

As he passed through the Central Continent to the north, he saw many scenes of devastation caused by Draymond’s resurrected legion. Cities were left in ruins and many residents were migrating.

“If you go a little further then you will arrive in the Northern Continent.”

Unlike what he expected, Python didn’t encounter many monsters while heading to the north but saw countless merchants travelling back and forth. There were horse drawn carriages that contained 30~100 people.

“Unlike the rumours, the north is very productive and requires many things.” The reality was somewhat different from Python’s thoughts. In the past, merchants had sold imported goods from the Central Continent to the north. Trading was accomplished and increased due to the number of beginners.

The Central Continent was engulfed in war so now many beginners of Royal Road started in the north.

From a merchant’s point of view, there were greater benefit in the north so they travelled there from the Central Continent.

In the Central Continent, they could sleep in the square all day and might sell a few things if they were lucky. But in the large cities in the north like Morata, there was no need to wait in the squares and could see things near the gates.

There was a demand for intermediate products and luxury goods.

In the past, there was a huge consumption and a market was born. However, the north was also starting investigations, terrain exploration and mining development. Although Hestia’s Forge and other Grand Buildings were created, there was a temporary lack of materials because of the distance.

The north’s internal trade started expanding.

“When looking at the economics and technology, there is no end to the north’s growth.”

“The population doesn’t match the reported statistics. I only came once and unconditionally sold everything. There is no need to talk in this situation.”

“The orc merchants in the area is a joke. They are selling it for 10 times the market prices so won’t it be easy to sell for a good price?”

The merchants headed to the north to chase their dreams.

“The Hemir River is coming up… Is there a way to go around it?”

Python pondered for a moment while looking at the map he purchased. The easiest solution was to swim against the river. But he would have to let the wild horse go and start walking.

While he was being distressed, the merchants just headed straight toward Hemir River. There were also merchants with empty carriages coming from the opposite side so something was strange.

“Are there boats that will cross the river?”

There wasn’t a city around here…. Anyway, he was glad. But when Python arrived at Hemir River, there was an immensely long bridge crossing both sides. The width was at least 3 kilometres and built with sturdy stone.

“Unbelievable! Is it possible to create such a bridge?”

Python became numb after seeing the grandeur of the stone bridge.

Stone was often used as a building material but the limitations of it were clear. The heavy volume meant it was almost impossible to use in large buildings. Furthermore, the bridge wasn’t just created from stone.

It was flattened and finely inscribed with images. The pillars were carved with phoenixes, bulls and the northern cities. The centre of the bridge was built high enough that cruise ships and fishing boats could comfortably pass underneath.

Python rode the wild horse towards the bridge and saw sentences engraved at regular intervals.

– Welcome to the North. Come to Trivan Village and see our engineers! Transportation to the core of the north, Morata is free.

– Keatu will distribute land that needs to be cultivated for free. Come at once if you want to dig at the land. Shovels will also be given for free.

– Special packages will be given for travellers who want to explore cities in the north. Taste the representative grass porridge of each region!

Phrases were written to promote cities and villages in the north to travellers. The name of the users who carried the stones were carved on the top.

“This bridge can’t be built alone… How many rocks were required to build just one bridge?”

Python continued staring blankly at the outrageous bridge.

“Tsk tsk, it must be the first time that horseman has come to the north.”

“Yes. There have been many who stood and stared at the bridge.”

“It still isn’t over. Isn’t this a symbol of the ideology of the north? There are days when hundreds of people just stand around.”

Merchants spoke as they hurriedly pulled the carriages past.

It was common for users to look up as they entered cities in Royal Road. But Weed started a culture of wearing simple tourist clothes when travelling around the north.

Initially high level users headed to Morata but it was impossible to compare them to Weed. In addition, there was a surprising number of high level users and warriors quietly adventuring in the north.

Dark Gamers drank at the cheapest tavern. The Dark Gamers that came to the north experienced an unexpected prosperity at the hunting grounds. There was a never ending list of requests that involved things like ruins exploration, treasure excavation and helping the public.

A considerable amount of beginners also struggled in the north. Level 60 or so. They were overconfident about their abilities. It felt great when stats like strength and speed rose.

The dispute in the Central Continent also caused magicians around level 420 to head to the north.

Therefore, these days the users didn’t dare attack any travellers wearing ordinary clothes. Because they could be high level users. Of course, there were ways to tell if they looked closely at the boots, cloak, rings, necklaces etc.

In Python’s case, he was carrying a large sword and riding on the back of a wild horse so people soon discovered he wasn’t a beginner.

“I’ve never seen a bridge like this while wandering around the Central Continent.”

Python crossed the bridge on horseback. The bridge was wide enough that there was plenty of room for carriages to pass in both directions.

“Wow, this is the Northern Continent!”

“Is Morata beyond here?”

“No, you have to go further. How wide is the north?”

“I want to go quickly.”

“Run!”

The users coming from the Central Continent continued making a fuss. They were heading towards the north in anticipation of a new life.

Merchants could be seen enjoying the scenery in the middle of the bridge. And after crossing the bridge, Python finally learned the name of the bridge.

– Grand Building, Sturdy Stone Bridge!

It is common to take the long way around rivers, lakes, cliffs etc.  This stone bridge can relieve the fatigue and suffering of travellers.

Earthquakes and flooding will never break it.

Built by the architect Keio and the power of the northern users.

Grand Buildings that were hard to find in the Central Continent!

The culture and economy of the Central Continent was originally developed so the Grand Buildings were already built. However, many were destroyed due to the wars. When the owner of a castle changed due to the siege, there were many cases where the defensive areas were destroyed.

Architect was the most envied occupation in the Arpen Kingdom. Architects could make a name for themselves through Grand Buildings, especially if the work involved thousands of users.

There were 6 Grand Buildings that were bridges in the north.

The Arpen Kingdom gathered the money in order to create Grand Buildings. The buildings weren’t just a financial waste as they were important resources for the north.

Users hunted, adventured, took part in production and erected Grand Buildings. The connecting bridges helped spread the culture and technology of each region. Now it was the lifeblood of the north.

“For the name of a Grand Building to be Sturdy Stone Bridge, this is a truly fun place.”

Python crossed the stone bridge and entered the north.

– You have crossed the Sturdy Stone Bridge.

Fatigue is reduced and vitality has recovered by 80%.

Endurance has permanently increased by 3.

Agility has permanently increased by 1.

Luck has permanently increased by 2.

The chances of a disaster occurring while adventuring will be reduced by 41%.

Any discoveries while adventuring will increase fame by 35. If no other people in the north has discovered it then it can be reported.

“Ohh, there is also this effect!”

He had dedicated himself to hunting in the Averian Forest so he wasn’t aware of matters in the north. Now he received a real surprise.

Gone were the days where there were no users in the north. It was an era of prosperity for the north.

Chapter 9: Embinyu Army

“Life is like a garlic. No matter how close, it is too spicy.”

Weed nodded as he convinced himself.

He was leading his troops towards Dulmore Fortress but was worried about the hard quest. In the early days, he thought he had been really unlucky. But not that he looked back on that time….

“It wasn’t that much. I must’ve sold a large country in my previous life.”

People liked solving important affairs but Weed wanted to live a comfortable life while eating sweet fruits. But he had to suffer through every significant event on the Versailles Continent!

“This is the difficulty of suffering alone.”

Weed continued complaining with dissatisfaction while marching.

As the rule of the desert, he had ruled over the desert warriors with fear. The sculptural lifeforms were also mistaken about Weed’s nature.

Weed was vicious and brutal but they viewed him as a hero. The desert warriors followed his orders as he was the ruler.

Weed had complained when he fell into the desert.

“I tried to live moderately in a good place. I don’t like the desert because it is annoying to save water and only fire attribute monsters wander around.”

People never really thought about living in the desert. Of course, people who were born there couldn’t help suffering discomfort. Therefore, it was rare to find many users in the southern desert area.

There were more visitors since Weed’s revival of the desert region but none of them wanted to live there.

“I’ve raised the tribes like sheep yet I can’t even sell them for money.”

Weed kept on complaining in the midst of moving. His hobby was complaining about money in order to relieve the tension of war!

He had calmly analysed the revealed power of the Embinyu Church.

‘They are a little  bit stronger. And in the worst situation…I will completely fail the quest.’

He had to throw away the illusion of winning unconditionally. It was worse than the time he had to fight the Immortal Legion alone. In this case, if he failed then he would fail the final secret sculpting technique quest.

“I need the Embinyu Church to sweep through the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms first.”

Even if he didn’t want to use the desert warriors, the Embinyu Church would just sweep through the continent later. But history had somehow changed so a great expedition might appear in order to take care of the Embinyu Church.

“I almost made a big mistake. The devil inside Seo-yoon can’t wake up.”

Even bad actions required delicacy!

If the quest failed then the pressure of taking care of her would disappear. Due to the endorphins secreted while thinking about bad behaviour, he was in the best physical and mental condition.

Warrior-1 who was leading the march asked.

“There is 2 kilometres left to Dulmore Fortress. Should we shatter any enemy cavalry that comes to scout?

The Mapon and Beiner troops stationed at Dulmore Fortress will know they are being attacked and will become nervous.”

“No, leave it alone. And we’ve arrived early so we shall take a break here.”

The Embinyu Church would come in the night. They had undead and used magic to move a long way quickly. Even if they failed to arrive today, the latest they would arrive would be noon tomorrow.

‘Then it will be the optimal time to fight.’

The Embinyu Church didn’t care and would even attack in the night. The great plains near Dulmore Fortress was a great place for battle.

Night was also a favourable time for the undead. Well, Weed had thought of different means and methods no matter when the battle would take place. He didn’t have a troubled or hesitant nature.

The Embinyu Church was quite unlucky. Currently Nodulle was a brave warrior who stopped evil from being revived again on the continent. But after Weed came to the past, it became a huge fight to the death.

Unlike Nodulle, he didn’t move for reasons like justice or moral obligations Weed could even deal a large blow to the Embinyu Church in the future.

That evening, there were no incidents so the night passed comfortably. The plains were filled with bonfires and torches as the soldiers set up camp. Those far away were sitting or standing in the darkness.

The advance of the Embinyu Church was a little slow so they would arrive at Dulmore Fortress tomorrow. Weed would make sure all their hope disappeared.

And the next day.

Weed generously fed the soldiers.

“Eat heartily.”

“Yes, Great Emperor.”

“There is a lot more.”

The slaves were in a good mood despite the risk in battle. Weed at least had enough conscience to feed them before sacrificing their lives in battle!

Weed observed the Dulmore Fortress on the next day. The soldiers of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms were preparing for war.

“This will go down in history as a great battle.”

History would describe Weed’s actions as an established fact!

As predicted, the Embinyu Church arrived around noon. And finally, the battle to determine the fate of the Versailles Continent was initiated.

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The Embinyu Church’s army was overwhelming as they revealed bronze giants and giant, flying creatures. The ground was filled with so many fanatics that it would take a while to pull them.

However, the bronze giants and flying creatures had archers, knights, witches and priests on-board.

The high priest of the 4th sect, Motuls had jurisdiction over the bronze giants and flying creatures.

Igrig, the leader of the 6th sect led the dark army.

The Embinyu Church was like an overextending large conglomerate.

“W-what?”

“Strange people have appeared.”

The combat slaves were surprised.

“Oh, the Embinyu Church has found us. Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!”

“Come to me. All the humans are gathered here to be killed!”

The fanatics of the Embinyu Church cheered enthusiastically.

In the meantime, Weed had thrown the fanatics he captured towards the enemies or changed them into vampires and the undead. Nevertheless, they were tough like cockroaches!

More than 10,000 people among his army cheered. Weed shrugged without saying anything. Then the desert warriors quickly took care of the fanatics.

Apart from the 20,000 desert warriors, Weed was worried about the other soldiers being corrupted by the Embinyu Church.

“Everybody listen carefully!”

– Atrock’s Cry has been used.

The soldiers have forgotten all the horrors.

The army will receive good luck related to combat.

Trained soldiers will perform their duties superbly.

Atrock’s Blessing is given to the knights.

He needed to use his skills at the appropriate time.

If he didn’t exert his leadership at the right time then the army gained from the surrendered nobles would scatter. Even the combat slaves might try to run away during battle.

“They are the Embinyu Church! They appeared to destroy the land we live on.”

Weed pulled out his sword and gazed at the Embinyu Church.

“The fanatics’ humanity has disappeared! They only know death and destruction! Their only purpose is to kill for Embinyu. They will trample the crops, burn cities and brutally execute children. Use your swords to fight them with everything you have!”

“Waaaah!”

The desert warriors and combat slaves shouted loudly. The desert warriors thought that fighting with Weed was important. The combat slaves also had no freedom anyway. If they die even if they didn’t fight!

The people in the Dulmore Fortress felt like it was absurd.

“He is the head of the barbarians. Are they fighting among themselves?”

“I don’t know. Your Majesty. Anyway, he is a shameless person.”

From the viewpoint of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms, Weed’s speech pointed towards himself as the invader. But the Embinyu Church was approaching so the Dulmore Fortress was in a dire crisis.

“Get ready for battle!”

“Attacks will come from the air so be prepared with plenty of arrows!”

“Prepare for combat!”

Weed watched as Dulmore Fortress prepared their defenses. Weed’s army was still quite a distance from Dulmore Fortress.

Arrows and magic could be shot from the walls and the undead couldn’t access the fortress because of the river flowing through it. The terrain around the fortress was a little bit difficult to defend but they could overcome it.

“Fight. Prepare the battle formation!”

Weed commanded his army to prepare to confront the Embinyu Church.

The desert warriors were placed in the middle, left and right wings. They could respond immediately to any attacks depending on the circumstances.

The recently drafted combat slaves were placed in the front. They were troops he wouldn’t be reluctant to lose. The army of the nobles were used to fill the headcount in the centre.

The priests and paladins from each religion were packed in the rear. And Weed rode Bactrian Camel at the head of the army while watching the approach of the Embinyu Church.

‘I don’t belong in this place.’

Naturally he wanted to be in the safest place in the rear. The front was the primary target of the various magic curses and magic attacks cast by the Embinyu Church.

Of course, he also had his pride as a man. He was the tyrant of the desert so he couldn’t change his personality to express fear!

The Embinyu Church didn’t stop and approached continuously.

Weed had plans to have a nice argument with the enemy’s high priest. He would’ve justified this war but criticizing them harshly. This would then raise the morale of the troops.

It was hard to compare this battle to anything in terms of scale and it would play an important part in changing the future. The stations would also be broadcasting this live so he needed to look good.

Of course, it would also be good if he could find their weakness or more information. Weed coolly wanted to show he was on the side of justice.

“Yes…good work on coming here in the first place.”

A gentle tone was used by Atrock’s Cry caused it to ring out through the battlefield. However, the Embinyu Church continued their march without stopping.

Now the two sides were close enough for arrows and magic attacks to hit. The army of the two sides were so close that there was almost no difference between them.

“Embinyu Church, the contents of your conspiracy has been revealed. I have come back in time in order to protect the peace of the continent….”

Weed unleashed a series of loud criticisms but the Embinyu Church didn’t care at all. It was like Dogmeat was barking but no one was listening.

Cheolkang! Cheolkang! Cheolkang!

Then one of the bronze giants lifted its hands. It was holding an enormous rock approximately 5~6 metres.

“Don’t tell me…”

The bronze giants threw rocks! Hundreds of rocks flew towards Weed and the combat slaves.

“Absolute Defense, Summon Another Sword, Power of Birth!”

Weed hastily used his skills and used Extermination Sword on the rocks. The rocks were turned into tofu while others melted.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!

However, the remaining rocks that Weed didn’t eliminate hit the combat slaves.

The battle had commenced without saying anything! The Embinyu Church didn’t need to raise the morale of their army.

It was followed by a shower of arrows from the flying creatures. The arrows were cursed by Embinyu and those hit by it lost their lives. These attacks had a tremendous effect on the combat slaves.

“Uaaack!”

“Ahh, spare me. I vow allegiance to the Embinyu Church!”

“Raise your shield while running out of the attack range!”

The formation of the combat slaves quickly broke down. In fact, it was natural for something like this to happen when the enemy was overwhelming. They also clamoured to avoid the area that the creatures were flying around.

Kukeok kukekeok!

“God! Believe in God! God Embinyu is equal to all. He will be fair to all of you and kill you painfully!”

“Glory, destruction, death!”

The monsters, knights and fanatics of the Embinyu Church screamed as they ran forward. However, Weed still maintained his composure.

“This much was expected. There is still the possibility of winning.”

The all-out offensive of the vanguard of the Embinyu Church smashed into the combat slaves. But the best part was Weed’s analysis of the power!

He had experienced countless battlefields so he could get a rough estimate of the enemy.

As expected, the Embinyu Church was a powerhouse in this warring period. The Embinyu Church had naturally prepared the best power in order to cause harm. The number of combat slaves was only enough to annoy them.

Weed hadn’t joined the battle yet and the desert warriors were also waiting. The scale of the fight hadn’t become large enough for him to actively take part.

“…In the name of God Embinyu. Gates of Hell, open!”

Right then, the witches that belonged to the Embinyu Church chanted a spell and their hands flashed. And a dark hole with a red aura pierced the sky.

Kwarururung!

Thousands of lightning fell all over the place and monsters from hell emerged through the hole.

“Kuriririk. Why are we visiting the human world?”

“Eat everything!”

Thousands of lower ranked winged demons poured out en masse. Weed gave a loud sigh.

“My damn fate….”

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Weed’s sea adventure reached an unprecedented audience ratings.

The users were amused yet envious of Weed’s charismatic desert tyrant. Since then, the contents of his adventure eventually became a hot topic.

Then came a variety of reactions.

– Nodulle and Hilderun’s quest in the past is romantic in itself.

– Those two people are good.

– I want to go to the warring period. If I was a man in a place like that…. The reality is that I would’ve fled from the dungeon because I could never win.

Dedicated and brave men were traditionally very popular.

– The rugged arm muscles of the desert warriors. Kyaah!

– Hestiger’s slender and handsome face, doesn’t he look really good? The beard raises his grade to that of a real actor.

– It is unfortunate.

– He should just die.

– His sweaty look after battle is really handsome. I feel like crying since he is a NPC.

– Bactrian Camel is cute.

And the bulletin boards were filled with a myriad of articles and risk analysis associated with the adventure.

Title: Kingdoms that exist during the warring period.

Title: Historical changes to the Versailles Continent?

Title: Another warning of the dangers associated with the Embinyu Church

Title: If the quest in the past fails then a catastrophe will happen

Weed’s adventure having a major impact on the continent was a huge topic. Everybody’s attention was on his adventure.

The Embinyu Church was also related to the present as damage kept occurring to the Haven Empire in the Central Continent. Users that received direct damage unleashed their criticism on the bulletin boards.

In addition, they wrote new information about the kingdoms that fell to the Embinyu Church in the warring period.

And finally, the war against the Embinyu Church was broadcasted live. The stations had wanted to slow down the broadcast schedule but they were paralysed by protests from the viewers.

In fact, this adventure wasn’t simple Weed’s fight. It was a battle to decide the fate of the Versailles Continent. Whether they liked or disliked Weed, everyone hoped that he would win the battle.

The viewers cheered Weed on but also showed concern.

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Hwaryeong and the others in the group learnt about the contents of Weed’s quest.

“To leave me and take another woman…sob sob sob.”

She cried while connecting to Royal Road. Zephyr and Bellot tried to comfort her as she cried.

‘Unni liked Weed-nim this much…no, she loved him?’

‘Hwaryeong-nim has a pure side like this. It doesn’t seem like it but she is a lonely person.’

Everyone decided to wait quietly until her tears stopped.

“Sob sob sob sob! I-I really wanted a bag from the warring period.”

“…….”

“I’ve been really stressed due to my last overseas schedule! A sweet trip to the past…. I could try on many shoes.”

“…….”

Pale thought that Hwaryeong was completely thick-skinned as she expressed the words in her heart. The words she spoke while tears were pouring down her face was like a joke.

She wasn’t upset about Weed. Hwaryeong was more upset about the potential bags and shoes she missed.

“I should get along well with Weed-nim. He can buy me an expensive bag in the future.”

“……”

“Thanks to a scheduling accident, I could only reserve the new products…sob sob sob!”

“……”

Hwaryeong cried heartily.

She originally had a direct personality that expressed her feelings without a filter.

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The chairman of Hosung Group, Jeong Deuk-soo organized his spacious mansion.

“I have no more regrets.”

The chairman of the conglomerate that once dominated the business community now had to leave the wealthy neighbourhood.

Hosung Group had been acquired by various creditors and Baekhwa Group. The entrepreneur branded as incompetent by the media needed to go somewhere far away.

He still had many real estate and villas overseas in places like the United States and Italy.

“But there is a place my heart really wants to go.”

He would feel lonely if he left his mansion and hid in another country.

Up until now, he had been busy due to corporate management. Looking back at his past, he realized that he had been lonely for a while. He was a middle aged man with only money.

The chairman had a large amount of company shares so his wealth was considerable. But there was an emptiness in his heart that money couldn’t buy. None of his relatives would be glad to see him and Seo-yoon was the only close family member he had left.

“I will live near my daughter. It would be good if I could occasionally pass her on the streets.

He went to a rest estate agent to look for a single house.

“Sir, what are you looking for in a house?”

“I just need a house where I can live alone.”

Jeong Deuk-soo didn’t want to talk about complicated matters with the real estate agent.

There were many people who lived alone. In addition, the real estate didn’t recognize Jeong Deuk-soo as a company chairman. In fact, it was rare for the public to know the faces of company chairmen.

“Okay. Then would you like to look at the leases available?”

“Lease?”

“Huh? Oh, the current price of real estate has increased a lot these days. So many lease a residence. The fact that you’ll be living alone means there should be some with a good rent.”

“Let’s just see what is for sale.”

“Yes. Then what house are you specifically looking for? This neighbourhood is good but there aren’t a lot of houses for sale…although this is now moving season so there are some for sale.”

He wanted a house near Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon’s, despite how difficult it might be. He also didn’t want a house on a main road that would disturb his privacy.

“A common two-story house would be nice.”

“Ah, a two-story house? Then the number of choices has decreased.

“Have many trees in the garden would be troublesome. A lake where I can raise some fish as a hobby would be good. Room for an indoor gold range and a movie room…ah, a place for my fitness equipment as well. The living room should be separate from the study and have a large structure.”

“…Anything else?”

“Stairs are cumbersome so an elevator would be good. Also a garage with automatic license plate recognition would be convenient.”

“There is no such house in this neighbourhood. And even if there is, do you know how much the price of that house would be?”

“Is 5 billion enough? I am willing to spend 100 billion on a house.”

“……”

The real estate agent was in a panic as there was no such two-story house in the neighbourhood.

This was a middle class area so the houses were only built in a small 140 square yard area.

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Bart drank cheap beer at a tavern in Morata.

“Ahh, how good.”

Many people were gathered in the tavern.

“Everybody threw their hunts and quests.”

This was the day that Weed’s adventure was being broadcasted so the cities were filled with people. This matter didn’t affect just the Northern Continent but the Central Continent as well. It was also popular in the territory of the Haven Empire.

It was difficult for Bart to find a spot in the tavern. The stores didn’t have fixed customers and some couldn’t even sit down to drink.

‘I guess I can’t say that she is my daughter and my daughter’s friend.’

Nobody would believe that he had a relationship with Seo-yoon and Weed.

‘I never through the virtual reality would turn out like this.’

Weed was the king of the Northern Continent so he could easily squash Bart. He was also indebted to the Grass Porridge Cult living in Morata so he didn’t want to leave the north.

“Hey, is it going to start now?”

“Let’s quickly eat the chicken.”

“It would be best to eat slowly.”

“There are 5 more. Eat a whole bunch.”

“Good job!”

The merchants with large bellies sat down while talking.

“Hrmm.”

Bart looked at the merchants with an envious glance.

In the early days of the north’s development, the merchants had small and skinny bodies. It couldn’t be helped since they were all low levelled. But after the development of the north, it was common to see merchants with fat bellies. A regular user had faith in fat merchants.

The northern merchants had high popularity due to the mass selling of materials at affordable prices. Security surrounded carriages as they moved through large areas and ignored words calling them cowards. They didn’t have a combat profession but pushed carts filled with leather or iron ores up to mountain villages.

However, merchants weren’t unconditionally fat as those with combat capabilities or traded over long distances would become skinny again. But it was embarrassing to trade without the necessary weight.

“Should I change? I’m not suited for a combat profession.”

Bart decided to become a merchant.

Unlike a warrior fighting monsters, he had lived as an entrepreneur for his entire life so being a merchant would be fun.

His level was also low so it didn’t have a significant impact if he changed professions.

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The leaders of the Hermes Guild that conquered the Central Continent.

The Allied Forces had lost and the Imperial Army occupied different places. They seized important fortresses, castles, cities and even small villages in the mountains and on islands. After 1~2 months, the flag of the Haven Empire was flying almost everywhere on the Central Continent.

Securing the dwarf kingdom Thor and the elven forests was under control. It was much easier for them to conquer the dwarves and elves because there wasn’t a systematic, organized resistance.

Money and manpower was committed to places territories under the influence of the Haven Empire.

Lafaye was holding a great meeting in the Imperial Palace of the Haven Empire. The outcome of this meeting would determine the future direction of the war and their method of ruling the continent.

“The large war on the Central Continent is finishing up. As we move forward, Weed and the Embinyu Church are the only obstacles left.”

Lafaye had a headache as soon as he heard the words from the leaders.

The Embinyu Church was expanding in a terrifying manner. The religious influence was expanding and it was difficult to block the fanatics. The Embinyu Church was challenging the obedience and loyalty in the territories of the Embinyu Church.

And Weed was adventuring in the past. There was no way for them to respond. The aftermath of the destruction of cities was reaching the peak and important commercial or military cities had become obsolete.

So far it wasn’t an irreversible blow to the Haven Empire but it created anxiety that couldn’t be ignored. The Central Continent was the loser and suffered considerable damage from Weed’s adventure so their interest turned there.

“As we all know, the current Weed will soon be fighting the Embinyu Church.”

Lafaye held the meeting when the battle between Weed and the Embinyu Church was just starting.

Each station was broadcasting it live so there was a keen interest in it. Even the players who were part of the Hermes Guild felt their chests boil with excitement when watching Weed’s adventure.

“If Weed achieves the quest and obtains the final secret sculpting technique then I don’t know what effect it will have on us.”

“Is there no way to stop it?”

“We can’t stop the progression of this quest. But the quest doesn’t seem easy so he might fail. And we must be prepared for any possible situation.”

“Preparations?”

The leaders waited for Lafaye to continue. Lafaye was a crucial reason behind the Hermes Guild being able to easily take control of the Haven Kingdom without any resistance.

He had planted spies among the prestigious guilds for long time mischief. Of course, the emergence of Weed was a big variable but Lafaye believed he could solve it.

“The staff has analysed Weed’s quest. And the conclusion they came to is there is a vastly larger chance of the quest against the Embinyu Church failing.”

“That….”

The faces of the leaders had frowns on them. It would be bad for the local lords if the Embinyu Church spread even more. The lords started complaining with dissatisfaction.

“This time I made a big investment in a vineyard….”

“Won’t all my money from my small business disappear?”

The early members of the Hermes Guild all occupied territory, including Dain being the lord of Evaluk Castle in the Kallamore Kingdom.

There was no resistance at Evaluk Castle and the population and economy of the Kallamore Kingdom was developing. After the post-war reconstruction and development, it was being referred to as the second capital city.

Otherwise, the lords that suffered under the Embinyu Church asked.

“What is the expected damage?”

“It is difficult to fathom the current degree of the Embinyu Church. Seeing the importance and contents of the quest, it might be 2~3 times larger.”

“If so….”

“The history of the kingdom might disappear and all the citizens would turn into fanatics. Then the Haven Empire will need to go to war with the Embinyu Church. So we have to be prepared.”

The Haven Empire needed to prepare to confront the Embinyu Church.

The stakes were high so knights were secretly gathered to eliminate the threat to the continent. They were armed with weapons and armour imbued with holy power and prepared to hit the Embinyu Church.

But it was difficult to predict the forces of the Embinyu Church so it would inevitably be a struggle.

The entire Central Continent was in danger of being wiped out from the Embinyu Church and returning to the basics. Fighting them might give the Allied Forces a chance to recover and risk the Haven Empire’s reign.

“The might Haven Empire. We have the power to defeat the Embinyu Church. And public opinion will be positive. Weed will fail to handle the Embinyu Church. In other words, he will damage their power.”

Due to the risk of Weed’s adventure, the Haven Empire widened their plans. They completely dominated the Central Continent and prepared for war with the Embinyu Church.

“What if Weed succeeds in his adventure?”

“History states that the Embinyu Church was much more substantial in that period. If he wins then there is no need for us to fight the Embinyu Church. In that case, the troops we have prepared will head north for a war.”

“You mean….”

“The destruction and subjugation of the Arpen Kingdom.”

Once the Haven Empire conquered the Central Continent, they had no competitors except for the north. They would become the complete ruler of the continent.

No matter what direction Weed’s adventure went in, Lafaye and the Haven Empire were ready for it to bring benefits to them.

‘I am just afraid that….’

However, Lafaye didn’t tell the lords something.

Weed was on an impossible quest with no chances of success. It was an objective evaluation of his ability. But if his quest failed then the Haven Empire would be in the worst position.

‘Weed’s quest has been seen up to here. I’m already aware that history can be changed thanks to the destroyed cities. If the quest fails then it will be a platform that raises the Embinyu Church tremendously.’

Historically, there was a disconnect between the Northern Continent and the Central Continent. The Embinyu Church would completely decimate the Central Continent but the north would be untouched. If Weed didn’t do his best then there would be major side effects for the Hermes Guild.

‘What if he deliberately fails?’

Lafaye’s body trembled with anxiety.

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Weed watched the evil pouring down from the sky.

“Monsters are coming down like rain!”

The witches the opened the Gates of Hell! The hell demons with enormous power couldn’t pass through this door. But a numerous amount of monsters was pouring down into the world.

The world suddenly became darker and evil poured down en masse like water.

– The Gates of Hell have opened on the Dulmore Plains.

A great crisis has arrived on the Versailles Continent.

The witch Pechet is a very dangerous woman.

She is proficient in all types of black magic and evil tricks and created new creatures through experimentation.

She has created a passage connected to the ‘Ring of Hell.’ The monsters will continue coming through the Gates of Hell until she is eliminated and the Ring of Hell removed.

If the gates are open for a long time then it will be dangerous to the human world….

The battlefield is filled with heavy fear and morale has decreased by 60%.

If the Gates of Hell are open for a long time then those with weak will and determination will become insane.

The effects of faith are temporarily reduced.

The efficiency of black magic on the Dulmore Plains has increased.

The soldiers literally froze from shock as the evil demons emerged from the Gates of Hell. Large masses fell from the sky and landed on the ground.

“Kkueeh, kueeeeh!”

The fat body opened its mouth and ate anything it saw, including the grass, rocks and trees. The twitching fat approached the soldiers and swallowed them down in one gulp.

The demons also shot knives from their bodies. There were armed humans on the plains as soon as the creatures passed through the Doors of Hell. It was like seeing a buffet full of their favourite foods.

Before the battle, Weed had believed in his abilities that he gained through Nodulle’s Growth quest.

“The remaining quests… I can just fight moderately. How strong can it be? I won’t compromise or concede anything.”

Therefore he had willingly proceeded with the Embinyu Church quest. He didn’t worry about being unable to handle large quantities of enemies. But this time doubts grew in his head.

He was unlucky and the difficulty level had exponentially increased.

“It turned out like this. I definitely shouldn’t buy lottery tickets. I will never win even when buying it for my entire life.”

He needed to stay vigilant until the end. Weed’s life would never go moderately smoothly.

“These guys are really unruly.”

Weed sighed and used Atrock’s Cry again.

“Concentrate on defense!”

It was absolutely impossible for the combat slaves to fight the demons! It was sufficient if they could last for a few minutes. The core attack power would be the desert warriors, mercenaries and priests of each religion.

“Get rid of all the non-believers!”

“Painful death.”

“It will be delicious to eat them alive.”

The fanatics of the Embinyu Church engaged in a fierce battle with the combat slaves. The fanatics used things like ‘eating young children,’ ‘draw blood with torture’ and ‘pagan sacrifices’ to harass them!

Ordinary fanatics were level 100 while those with special abilities were level 200. Due to the nature of the fanatics gathered, the effect was insignificant.

The main forces of the army, the dark knights, priests and witches smashed into the combat slaves. Furthermore, the Embinyu Church’s flying monsters and bronze giants were like an impenetrable fortress.

The Brotherhood of Punishment and Knights of Atrocity actively participated in battle. There were all the boss level monsters in the witch Pechet and the Embinyu Church’s Motuls and Igrig.

The combat slaves didn’t only fight due to Atrock’s Cry but because they believed in Weed. Weed had shown that he could reverse a battle after it started. They were dragged here to fight with that belief.

“How amazing. This feels like a luxury department store.”

Weed’s chest trembled as he imagined it. He couldn’t shrink back in front of his sculptural lifeforms. This was the honour and pride of the desert. He needed to show his courage and abilities!

“Well, I suddenly remember something old. I went to the department store but the prices were so expensive that I couldn’t sleep at night.”

The slaves fighting were dying almost cruelly.

“One pair of underwear cost 100,000 won…. It really was a source of fear.”

Weed’s escapism! However, he soon had to accept the reality of the Embinyu Church’s army.

“Still, the Embinyu Church isn’t a fur coat at the department store. Give me a try, Embinyu Church!”

Weed drove Bactrian Camel and ran to the front.

“Human, you look delicious.”

The demons felt like he was prey and leapt at him. The monsters of hell could become stronger by absorbing humans. Otherwise, they would quickly weaken and die in this world.

In the past, Montus was a devil with the strongest power. Despite that, he was now incomparable to Weed who had passed the limits of the sword.

“Fire Sword!”

Hwaruruk!

Weed swung the Extermination Sword and literally burned all the demons around him. The attack range had increased by 3 times and the damage was no comparison. And the demons dropped jewellery, steel, smelting tools and other items hard to find in the human world!

“Let’s play properly!”

Weed’s battle spirit rose quickly. Bactrian Camel rushed towards the enemy. He had just received the Extermination Sword but it was an easy weapon to handle.

The amount that he needed to shift his weight for each weapon was different. Weed’s hands quickly adapted to the new sword. Dwarves had created the weapon so its features were impeccable. Weed’s senses were outstanding when it came to things like this.

Flames occurred everywhere the sword passed. Once cut, the demons didn’t get back up again. The damage was too huge and the creatures were completely burnt to ashes.

“Run!”

Weed and Bactrian Camel continued moving. The demons were continuously cut or stepped on. He used his skills to reach the entrance of the Gates of Hell!

“Black Knight’s Strike!”

The demons continued appearing. Once the wide area skill was used, all the demons turned into a grey light.

The witches drained their mana to make the Gates of Hell but the majority of the demons disappeared due to Weed.

However, he couldn’t close the Gates of Hell so stronger demons continued pouring out. Weed’s actions might seem meaningless at first but they weren’t.

“An incredibly strong human!”

“Humans like these are better to eat.”

“But how? He is as strong as a devil.”

He had immense popularity among the demons. Weed rose Bactrian Camel through the waves of demons falling from the sky.

“Let’s go!”

He stepped on the creatures that landed on the ground.

Puhuhuhung!

Bactrian Camel could even jump off a cliff so this was nothing.

“Let’s go, Bactrian Camel!”

And he boldly rushed towards the Embinyu Church!

The bronze giants threw rocks at him. Bactrian Camel ran exquisitely while avoiding damage and Weed cut the enemies with his sword.

He recklessly stormed the Embinyu Church’s army alone! The desert warriors hadn’t been dispatched so he couldn’t receive help from them.

“Hu…man! I will take out your heart and offer it as a sacrifice to God Embinyu!”

“Followers of the Great God Embinyu, kill him!”

Motuls and Igrig growled out commands. The fanatics and dark knights responded in unison.

“Kill! It will be an honour to tear him up with my hands!”

“My Darkness Sword will chop you up.”

Weed was surrounded by dozens of layers of enemies.

“This should be interesting!”

Weed didn’t panic.

He worried a lot before the battle but felt no fear once he actually moved. Even in the worst case situation where he lost his life and failed the quest, the Central Continent would still be turned into a mess.

As a result, his stomach didn’t hurt from thinking of the consequences. It was like an athlete facing tremendous pressure before the final game but then showing his skills. In Weed’s case, he didn’t care about what was coming.

“You aren’t worthy of facing me. You are all screwed. Bring it on!”

Weed’s hands spun the Extermination Sword round and round! The dark knights were all struck by Weed’s sword.

– Black Knight’s Strike!

An irreversible attack against the surrounding enemies.

Weed was surrounded by enemies.

The demons landing on the ground fought the weak combat slaves while the Embinyu Army’s primary goal was Weed.

“This world is ruled by darkness and destruction….”

“Bound with suffering and pain….”

Witches also changed curses and suffering spells. No matter how strong and high levelled Weed was, he couldn’t take multiple curses at once without his combat skills falling.

Weed had predicted the actions of the witches.

“It tickles my ears. I guess it is time for me to eat.”

He took out the Yurbusika Frost Bow and aimed towards the witches. A white ice arrow flew straight past the dark knights towards the witches kneeling down.

“Avoid it!”

“The arrow of a non-believer!”

The witches hurriedly cancelled the magic they were casting and used protection magic. Weed’s ice arrow was so strong that it pierced through several layers of the protection spell.

However, Weed pulled his bowstring continuously and fired hundreds of arrows.

Surging Arrow.

After mastering the Rapid Fire skill, his archery had an absurd speed.

Bactrian Camel moved through the enemies, making it easier for Weed to shoot the arrows. The witches’ shields eventually broke and they were frozen by the ice fragments.

“Kuwik!”

The dark knights and magicians were turned into chunks of ice. The magicians with low health died! The dark knights could possibly move again once the ice melted. And the ice arrows completely penetrated the bodies of the witches.

But after a short moment, the witches turned into smoke and ran away.

“You still haven’t managed to strip the human’s things!”

Pechet had come out to help the remaining witches. The air experienced spatial distortion, causing the ice arrows to change direction and fly to the wrong place.

Meanwhile, the dark knights and creatures attacked him. He ignored the incoming attacks from the dark knights because they didn’t hurt.

– The Majestic Leather Armour for a Conqueror has absorbed the enemy’s attack.

– You have been hit by the tail of Hecate who lives in hell.

The energy of hell has penetrated your body.

Health has been reduced by 1,393.

If you are hit multiply times by the demons’ attacks then it will be hard to dispel the curse.

The sculptural lifeforms Alverun and Alveren could heal this but it would consume unnecessary time and holy power.

Now that there was a curse that reduced health, Weed couldn’t ignore attacks anymore and aimed his sword at nearby enemies.

“Witches and magicians, make sure you take care of the priests.”

There were at least 1,000 witches and only 100 had been damaged by the arrow attacks.

Advancing into a group of monsters early in battle wasn’t an opportunity that would come easily. Numerous magicians gathered to block Weed and the various dark magic made the situation increasingly unfavourable.

“It is regrettable.”

He needed to cleanly process the dark knights.

The number of monsters continued to grow but not as quickly as before. Only the strong demons from hell showed up. And they even swallowed the fanatics. As a result, the battle became more complex and he couldn’t compromise with the stronger enemies.

In order to reach Pechet who was holding the Ring of Hell open on the Versailles Continent, he needed to get through the demons.

“God Embinyu says to take care of that human.”

“Tear that human to shreds!”

The hostility of the Embinyu Church was the worst towards Weed. The combat slaves were just dying in vain so the Embinyu Church didn’t care about them. Weed attacked alone and became their only target.

“My popularity never ends. End of the Day!”

Weed didn’t save his mana and used the strongest skill of the Sun Warrior. The fire spread like a tsunami and turned the dark knights near him into ashes. The scope of the attack and the damage was amplified by 3 times due to the Extermination Sword.

The Embinyu fanatics screamed as they were covered with flames and died. A wide area attack that damaged anyone nearby! However, this was a colourful and exhilarating moment for Weed.

“I’ll make you regret your rashness!”

The bronze giants threw boulders. The dark magicians and witches aimed magic bullets at Weed and summoned lightning and poison gas.

– You have been hit by 161 magic attacks.

Your nimble agility has avoided 59 attacks.

Health has decreased by 95,831.

His high resistance, resilience and armour meant he could withstand the lightning storm. The flames rapidly supplemented his mana and health. However, this was just the beginning of the enemy’s offensive towards Weed.

The bronze giants now strode forward with huge spears and the followers of the Embinyu Church rushed over on horseback.

Weed supplemented his health in battle but it was still declining. So far he had wandered the battlefield and hadn’t felt any risk of death.

However, now he felt some regret as he turned around.

“This much is enough.”

Bactrian Camel nodded like he agreed.

End of the Day was a wide area skill but the camel didn’t get hurt by it. Bactrian Camel was considerable thankful that Weed rode him after seeing the horrors inflicted on the enemy. Bactrian Camel’s emotions were expressed from the slyness of his mouth.

“It’s time to conduct the 2nd stage of the operation. Let’s go back!”

Weed ran away from the Embinyu Army on Bactrian Camel.

A bronze giant threw its spear and it landed deeply into the ground.

“Don’t slip away. I will make you feel pain that you won’t ever forget.”

Dark knights tried to block his path. The dark knights weren’t opponents capable of blocking Weed’s escape. He lightly brandished his sword, picked up japtem and continued to run away.

“Tie up his feet!”

“He is moving too fast.”

The witches and dark magicians tried to change an incineration spell. However, he was quickly fleeing so it was difficult for the curses to catch him. He had been prepared for a chase!

“Pursue him until the end!”

High Priests Motuls commanded the ground and flying troops of the Embinyu Church.

A flurry of arrows came flying after him. But waving his sword through the air had so much power that it literally blew them away.

He couldn’t avoid all the arrows so his health still declined. However, Weed’s health still remained at 89%.

“I still need to be vigilant. If will be dangerous if I receive a concentrated magic or arrow attack.”

Bactrian Camel raced forward as quickly as possible. However, he couldn’t avoid the arrows as well as the incoming army of the Embinyu Church.

The archers on the flying creatures concentrated on Weed. Weed was the most tempting meal because he was the strongest human on the battlefield! They aimed for a crucial moment when he was weakened so they could pounce and eat him.

The Embinyu Army nearby came to chase him intensively. A colossal amount of enemies rushed towards Weed. But the desert warriors and mercenaries didn’t come to rescue him.

“Move to the east as planned.”

“We have to go to the west.”

Warrior-1 split the army he was in charge of into two.

It seemed like Weed was fleeing from the battlefield. Weed headed towards the fortress while being pursued by the enemy.

Bactrian Camel raced down the dirt road leading towards the fortress with the flying units, knights and bronze giants closely following. There were also 1,000 demons sticking to him.

Weed and the Embinyu Church’s army headed towards the heavily guarded fortress.

“I’m satisfied that the barbarians are fighting the monsters, Your Majesty!”

“This is a good thing. They can die while fighting among themselves.”

The leaders inside Dulmore Fortress gloated at the situation.

“Shoot! Shoot recklessly!”

Magic and arrows headed towards Weed and the Embinyu Church. Bactrian Camel unleashed his evasive techniques and avoided the attacks while still running ahead of the Embinyu Church. The bronze giants caused the land to shake as they walked.

Weed and Bactrian Camel arrived in front of a moat and a closed gate.

“A high jump!”

Bactrian Camel kicked the ground and leapt forward.

Normally he was lazy and ate carrots but Bactrian Camel could run as fast as the wind in the desert! He instantly leapt up the 10 metres high wall to where the Mapon and Beiner Kingdom’s defense was waiting.

The soldiers had a shocked expression due to the abrupt change in situation. Weed ignored the soldiers and looked back at the Embinyu Army coming towards him.

“Well, it became a bit twisted but things are working out as planned.”

It was the pleasure he felt when picking up 100 won from the ground. Weed stood on the walls and shouted loudly.

“Embinyu Church, attack if you dare! The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms have been waiting to defeat you for the sake of justice!”

The Mapon Kingdom and Beiner Kingdom guarding the fortress thought this was absurd.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Dulmore Fortress’s Misfortune

The final secret sculpting technique quest required him to go back in the history of the Versailles Continent.

This was the warring period.

He had the heavy task of leading the desert warriors against the Embinyu Church! Weed was armed with the title of Master Swordsman and a large armed force. He also used his knowledge and experience in the fight.

“Life isn’t something where honest people who study hard are always successful. You have to compromise as well!”

Life was a battle!

Weed stood on the walls of Dulmore Fortress while riding Bactrian Camel. The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms were greatly shocked at his sudden appearance.

They had fought a battle against him a short time ago so they didn’t want to see the leader of the desert army again.

“Kill.”

“Kkiyot! Embinyu will eat all those that disobey.”

The army of the Embinyu Church chased Weed to the fortress. The Embinyu Army was quite large.

The size of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdom’s army was smaller than the desert warriors, with only 300,000 soldiers! This scale was small compared to what the kingdoms could mobilize in the warring period.

However, the creatures from another dimension were those that ate humans for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The bronze giants were also larger than the 30 metres high wall. The fanatics that received Embinyu’s Dark Aura blessing were able to literally tear a man apart with both hands.

There were also various large monsters flying around in the sky! They were dozens of metres large and could spit acid down to the ground.

The legendary large turtles, Barates was also flying in the sky. 5,000 elite archers were on-board the turtles and prepared to fire their arrows.

Among the Embinyu Army were the Priests and Knights of Atrocities that were prepared to convert anyone who surrendered to fanatics! The priests and bishops of a religion could pass on their verdict with holy power. Those branded with the stigma of Embinyu would be cursed and die in agony.

“Humans have no value in life. Kill, kill.”

“I will make you feel endless pain.”

“Advance forward for Embinyu!”

The bronze giants and flying creatures that followed Weed focused their attacks on the fortress. Thousands of arrows flew towards the Dulmore Fortress.

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdom armies gathered to suppress Weed’s desert army were reluctantly forced to stop the Embinyu Church.

“We are not affiliated with him!”

The knights shouted as enemies attacked the fortress but the Embinyu Church didn’t care about the circumstances. They were the worst opponent to have a conversation with!

“What should we do, Captain?”

“They are trying to capture the fortress.”

“Quickly attack them!”

The soldiers shooting arrows towards Weed now aimed at the fanatics and monsters of the Embinyu Church.

Syuuuuuh!

The bronze giants threw their huge rocks and struck the walls. The fortress was located on a rugged terrain with cliffs and rivers that acted as protection. However, they couldn’t outlast the offensive.

Archers on the flying creatures poured arrows towards the walls.

– The fortress is protected by magic.

Area of the Wind, Shield and Steel Wall has been triggered.

There was a colourful effect as the magic defenses were triggered and the arrows and rocks were blocked. But sparks rose from the walls as the bronze giants continued attacking.

“Attack the enemies trying to conquer the fortress!”

The King of the Mapon Kingdom ordered the commanders.

“Fire!”

“Slay the enemies!”

“For His Majesty!”

The soldiers of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms fired arrows towards the bronze giants. They focused on the Embinyu Church because they were more threatening than Weed.

Then Weed who was just watching shouted louder.

“Embinyu Church, look at this. The King of the Beiner Kingdom is moving against you!”

The fanatics below the walls started shouting.

“Kill the infidels! God Embinyu will let you taste endless suffering!”

It was enough to just listen. It was an exquisite response.

“Hmm, God Embinyu will curse the King of the Beiner Kingdom. Especially at night, it will pass in an instant.”

“Rip apart the body of the Beiner King!”

A perfect harmonious play between Weed and the fanatics of the Embinyu Church. It was like a scene where a woman slapped her hateful mother in law! Some of the defense forces also shot arrows towards Weed.

Tititing!

However, the arrows just bounced off and didn’t even scratch Weed’s armour.

– There is minor damage from the arrow attacks.

Health has decreased by 3 due to the high resilience and defense.

– You have been hit by arrows in close succession.

The attacks were so feeble that he didn’t need to pay attention. The arrows were perfectly blocked by his armour. His high defense and armour meant that the arrows couldn’t damage him. Weed generously forgave the soldiers for attacking him.

“Well, it might be a little punishment for my bad actions.”

He still had a minimum of conscience. It would be annoying and burdensome if all the defenders jumped towards Weed.

If the heroes of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms, Rohadram and Andre attacked Weed along with the Embinyu Church then it would be troublesome. It would be best if he waited for the Embinyu Church to take care of both sides.

Rohadram and Andre were busy commanding the soldiers to block the Embinyu Church.

‘For my own self-interest….no, for the sake of the declining Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms. The guards here need to fight well. And I should help prevent the Embinyu Church from taking over the fortress.’

Benefiting from both sides was an absolutely effective tactic. It was common in history for great strategists to take advantage of this. He would then hit them on the back of the head. Not missing an opportunity to strike in the back was a good tactic.

“I am a bad guy.”

Weed praised himself.

Bringing the desert army to fight the Embinyu Church would just be in vain. The power of the enemy meant there was no guarantee of victory. And even if he won, he would suffer tremendous damage. Those waiting in Dulmore Fortress would identify his power and determine how to attack.

He needed to learn from history. A hero’s sentiment would just cause him to lose his life.

“Charge!”

“Open the door so that the believers can enter.”

“Pilgrims of destruction, march forward to the death!”

The fanatics grabbed poles and attempted to break the gates of Dulmore Fortress. The pure silver in the flowing river meant those with an evil alignment couldn’t easily enter. But rocks and mud were used to fill up and block the river.

Monsters flew through the arrows and magic to snatch guards up into the sky. They endured the pain from the magic protection and continued to hunt humans.

“Kyahahat, delicious.”

“I’ve missed the taste of chewing on a head.”

The humans were delicious meals for those who came from hell. Perhaps the demons felt like they were tourists visiting a restaurant.

Dulmore Fortress became a scene of chaos due to the demons!

It had gained a reputation as an impregnable fortress in the warring period. However, it seemed like the fortress wouldn’t be able to hold out against the Embinyu Church for long.

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“Ah…it has started.”

“Troops of the Embinyu Church are approaching. It is like that. We thought it would be a real battle but now it seems to be even more profound.”

The hot competition between the broadcasting stations continued. All the stations were showing the battle of Dulmore Fortress.

The viewers weren’t deprived of channel choices but each station had different circumstances. The broadcasting stations that didn’t relay Weed’s adventure! They had the feel of second-rate stations.

The stations weren’t comfortable discarding the events of Weed’s adventure that affected the fate of the Versailles Continent. There was no guarantee their broadcast would gain higher audience rating than other stations but they had no choice but to sell advertising spots. Besides, Weed’s adventure was really popular so there was unlikely to be any criticism.

The video started showing on the screen and the massive arm of the Embinyu Church appeared. The number of troops was many times larger than any war seen in Royal Road so it was extremely rare to see such a fierce war.

Bronze giants that seemed like mountains shook the land as they walked and flying creatures covered the sky.

“This…judge the pagans.”

“Your punishment will be unbearable pain.”

The Royal Road users shuddered at the sight of the Embinyu Army. Weed and the Embinyu Church’s power in the warring period was horribly inflated. The Embinyu Church was enough to eat the Central Continent and destroy the Haven Empire.

That wasn’t all.

Witches opened the Gates of Hell so demons fell down en masse. Despite being broad daylight, the sky turned a dark red. This was the decisive battle to decide the fate of the Versailles Continent.

KMC Media’s Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan.

The station had a team of 100 people working on the live broadcast.

“It is an overwhelming video from the start. It is thrilling to see what happens next. Oh Joo-wan ssi, what do you think?”

“It is really interesting.”

“Ah, you are trying to moderate your words.”

“Was I like that? My hands are sweating because of the battle. Weed’s armed forces have been seen a few times throughout the quest but can they really fight against the Embinyu Church? However, Weed always shows scenes that surpass our expectations. We can expect a cool showdown to unfold in the future.”

“It seems really desolate and scary over there. But the viewers really like it when Weed experiences this type of hardship.”

“I think so as well. We are really happy when Weed attempts a difficult quest.”

The station officials and viewers naturally wanted Weed to struggle. An adventure that would affect the entire continent! It was natural for interest to arise when one person caused so many changes to Royal Road.

“Oh Joo-wan ssi, what do you think the outcome will be for the war between Weed, the two kingdoms and the Embinyu Church?”

“I can only give a possible explanation. The possibility is high that it will be the end of the fortress.”

“I feel really sorry for the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms. Omo, now the gate is being destroyed.”

“It was just broken! The Embinyu fanatics are pushing in. The battle will return shortly. It is now time to see some short ads.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed directly participated in the battle by firing the Yurbusika Frost Bow at the Embinyu fanatics.

They weren’t mere ice arrows but arrows that froze a small area! Dozens of fanatics gathered near the gates were killed at once.

“This is the fun of a massacre. Though I am still disappointed. That is a bunch of japtem.”

The fortress’s defenders didn’t attack Weed now.

Of course, they had a hostile relationship but their current priority was pushing back the attacks. They greatly feared the Embinyu Church’s cruelty. They could withdraw but then the two kingdoms would be a target.

The bronze giants were throwing large rocks without hesitation in order to destroy the fortress. The fortress was protected by magic but the rocks still slowly hit the wall.

Furthermore, the magic effect wouldn’t last indefinitely. The pure silver river was filled with dirt so the fanatics and demons entered through the narrow gate and climbed the walls.

It seemed like the fortress was in a real crisis. Serious fear spread among the soldiers. The demons that came through the Gates of Hell would snatch away humans or eat their flesh.

Weed used Atrock’s Cry.

“The cruel Embinyu Church will not spare us! If you want to live then fight until the end!”

The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms weren’t allies so it didn’t have the effect of increasing their power and ability to follow commands. But it slightly affected morale.

“N-no. I want to go back home.”

“Let’s go. It is better to run away and live.”

“Our kingdom is already ruined. Angela. I will go to her.”

The morale of the soldiers fighting the creatures fell sharply. Once morale hit the floor, the soldiers would run away and the army would crumble. The leadership of the army’s commander would make a significant difference.

“They will trample on our souls even after death. The land where millions of people settled with become barren and the cities turned into ruins. Your family members in your hometowns will have cruel things done to them!”

The soldiers of the Mapon Kingdom were bewildered.

“What nonsense is that savage saying?”

“Yes. Aren’t they all actions that he committed as well?”

Weed had forgotten his own behaviour as well as that of the desert warriors. Looting, scorching the city and slavery were no different from the Embinyu Church. But there was a difference from the viewpoint of the person involved.

“I do bad things but it is for the sake of justice so it is okay. Shouldn’t you commit to actions in your life?”

A positive self-rationalization!

Currently, all the residents in the warring period existed because of Weed and Seo-yoon’s quest. Once Weed returned to his original time, this world would disappear like dust being blown by the wind.

So he didn’t feel any remorse. In fact, Weed’s actions would’ve had a large impact on the future even if it was a peaceful era. But they were residents of a warring period so they might’ve died even without Weed’s actions.

It was a time where they would either develop or perish. A continuous cycle of destruction and recovery. Therefore, Weed’s damage to the Haven Empire and Central Continent was less than expected.

‘The difference in power between the Embinyu Church and the army is too severe, even if the soldiers are fighting properly. It won’t be easy to push them together.’

In the midst of shooting his bow on the walls, Weed could also observe the entire battlefield. His ultimate purpose wasn’t to protect Dulmore Fortress but to win the battle.

The desert army was moving like Weed planned in advance. They would wait at a suitable distance until the right time to hit the Embinyu Army. The sculptural lifeforms, Hestiger who wouldn’t die and the old Zahab led the troops.

The undead led by Van Hawk was already attacking the Embinyu Army from the side. The undead could continuously get up so it was better to use them early.

The assault of the Abyss Knight Van Hawk and the doom knights! The undead could improve their quality but in many cases, it was better to create undead from high level corpses.

Of course, Van Hawk wasn’t the only one who could summon undead. The magicians of the Embinyu Church could as well. But the undead heading towards Dulmore Fortress consisted of fanatics and a dwarf species.

“Kuhit!”

“Kuhihihihit!”

The dwarves were 1 metre tall. They could travel a short distance with magic and the sharp nails were a tricky threat to deal with. They also thought that users were a good snack.

“The gate is broken. Brothers of the Mapon Kingdom, block the enemy.”

“Spear units, don’t retreat even one step. The kingdom wants your blood. Fight for His Majesty!”

The bronze giants smashed the gates and waves of monsters and fanatics entered. The knights of the Mapon Kingdom used spears to painfully block any enemies that came in.

Weed stood and shot any enemies approaching or climbing the walls. Sometimes the creatures would be hit by an arrow or dagger and would fall to the ground while shrieking.

“They are piling up fairly quickly. Can this really be called an impregnable fortress?”

Despite its fame, the desert army could easily take over Dulmore Fortress. Weed’s ability to command troops in combat was at a level that no one could reach.

The gate was already breached so Weed concentrated his arrows on the enemies crossing the river.

Chaechaechaechang!

The arrows exploded in every direction and hundreds of enemies in the attack range froze.

Usually when the fanatics died, they would spread things like ‘spread nightmares,’ ‘body made of deadly poison,’ and ‘tear up a child.’ The aura of darkness given by Embinyu was also frozen.

Once in a frozen state, 40% of the fanatics and monsters died. Of course, those who survived had their health reduced and movements slowed. Freezing the enemies rushing across the river was very effective.

The archers in Dulmore Fortress shot arrows relentlessly. There was the sound of incessant screaming and yells encouraging attacks.

“I can’t feel the military power of the two kingdoms. Are the royals already trying to escape the fortress?”

Weed had that dangerous thought and looked back to see what the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms were doing.

Fierce battles were taking place on the main street near the gates. Flying creatures were in the air while fanatic archers and siege weapons were used to break and burn buildings in the fortress.

The large flying turtles were especially scary. The Barates spewed venom and literally melted the soldiers and buildings. That wasn’t their only means of attack.

The demons that emerged through the Gates of Hell had a remarkable ability to learn.

‘We can’t eat that human.’

‘He is not our share. He is as strong as a demon.’

‘Ruthless feeling. It will be a bother if he catches us.’

Weed completely scared the demons so they changed targets to the human soldiers. The winged monsters kidnapped soldiers from Dulmore Fortress.

The magicians on the ground aimed ice, wind and light attribute magic towards the flying creatures but the efficiency was poor. Magic attacks randomly soared towards the sky.

The fortress was wide and spacious and the knights were busy getting rid of the invading enemies. Dulmore Fortress was a mess filled with explosions and screams.

There was a limit to what humans could do against the Embinyu Army.

“Well, I guess I can’t complain. I need to be a bit more active.”

It was now urgent to take care of the gates. If the gates were blocked then the archers and magicians could reduce the numbers of the Embinyu Army.

Of course, the bronze giants throwing rocks towards the fortress was also a large headache.

Weed stroked his camel.

“Bactrian Camel.”

“Pururung!”

“Hide until I call.”

Weed got down from the camel and took out the Extermination Sword while Bactrian Camel quickly hid somewhere safe.

“Then where should I play?”

His health and mana recovery was very fast so he had returned to a perfect state.

Weed could block up the gates so that not even one monster and fanatic could enter. However, guarding one place would be boring.

Mere fanatics weren’t enough to stop the great desert festival. He was capable of casually burning hundreds of people at once. Weed almost dreaded returning to his original time zone.

But there was no meaning in blocking the gates when the bronze giants would eventually destroy the walls.

“I’ll play in the air.”

Weed raced along the wall like the wind. He lightly swung his sword towards dozens of monsters climbing up from the walls.

“Flash Leap!”

Weed ran quickly and cast a skill. It didn’t consume his mana but high agility and strength were needed. It was a technique that allowed him to jump high if his running speed was fast enough.

Kwa kwa kwang!

A huge shock was delivered to the walls and archers fell down. Weed flew over 100 metres and landed in front of the enemy on a large turtle.

The archers and magicians on the Barates turned towards him.

“T-the enemy!”

“We must kill him.”

However, Weed just swung the Extermination Sword towards the archers. Violent flames stretched out from the Extermination Sword. It was a pillar of fire. The fearsome flames reached the archers who screamed and collapsed.

“Puhuhung!”

Bactrian Camel inched closer to the wall while watching Weed’s battle. Then his body changed into dirt and was sucked into the wall. The only thing left of Bactrian Camel was a pattern left on the wall.

This was Bactrian Camel’s defense skill of hiding within objects.

– Cursed iron has been acquired.

– 382 poison arrows have been acquired.

– A book of offerings for the Embinyu Church has been acquired.

You can earned a bit of knowledge and experience.

Weed recovered the japtem left behind by the archers.

“How do I kill this guy?”

He needed to handle the large turtles as well.

Kuoooong!

The large turtle felt the crisis and started twisting its body while flying. It leaned backwards and turned upside down in an attempt to drop Weed.

He could experience a thrilling feeling! The ground approached but his health was so high that he wouldn’t be hurt by the crash.

Other magicians in the area shot flames at him. The Barates also spat acid while furiously flipping in the air.

“This amount of force isn’t enough to kill it. I should handle it individually.”

Weed cast a skill.

“Wrath of Fire!”

Fired burned from the Extermination Sword. The flames were very rough and violent. It needed direct contact with enemies to deal damage but once it did, it would melt away the leather and bones of monsters. In particular, stabbing would increase attack power by 5 times.

Weed jumped across several turtles in a row without bothering to verify the results. This time it was possible to leap to other turtles without using a jump skill. The archers were overpowered while the large turtles engulfed in flames crashed into the ground.

“It worked out well!”

He continued jumping in the air and attacked the turtles. The knights and archers screamed as the turtles fell to the ground.

“Scatter!”

“Another is falling.”

“Over there….”

Large fireballs consisting of turtles fell from the sky and hit Dulmore Fortress. The towers and buildings collapsed while many soldiers and nobles died.

Chapter 2: Advance Notice of an Outstanding Performance

“Wake up. Cry out according to your original wild nature.”

More than half of the sacred river at Dulmore Fortress had been filled with stones and soil. The priests of the Embinyu Church walked forward with their wands while chanting spells. It was then hurtled towards the troops defending the fortress.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“I don’t know. My head itches and my body aches. It feels like my flesh is tearing.”

Suddenly, long hairs sprouted out between the armour that the soldiers were wearing.

“What is this?”

“I don’t know. This can’t be. My body is changing.”

Their limbs became thicker and their skin was peeled off. They couldn’t endure it any longer and took off their armour.

“K-kill me!”

“Call the priests.”

“No. Before that…ah, it is too late….”

Hair grew from their stomachs and faces and their fell to the ground on all fours.

Grrrr!

They became medium sized wolves with murderous eyes. The priests of the Embinyu Church used spells to change a human into a beast. The wolves jumped around and bit the necks of any humans in the vicinity.

They had been fighting alongside their colleagues but their instinct and reason had been influenced towards the Embinyu Church.

“Your eyes and ears are sensing the wrong things. You must only serve Embinyu!”

And they were also enveloped in brainwashing magic. The enchanted soldiers instantly defected and joined the Embinyu Church. The archers on the walls turned their arrows towards the soldiers inside the castle.

“Wake up!”

“Captain, trust in the Embinyu. He will lead us to a comfortable and happy world free of pain.”

“Jyado! We shouldn’t forget the favour His Majesty has done for us.”

“Huh, the king? What has he given to us? Heavy taxes, causing a war because of greed for territory or capturing and killing any refugees?”

“It was unavoidable. Joining that side isn’t the answer!”

“The king is deceiving us. He wants to maintain his authority in front of the nobility. You have felt more pain as time passed. You can rest if you join Embinyu.”

The captain tried to stop the soldiers but he soon feel victim to the brainwashing spell.

“Kukukut, you are right. Then I will follow Embinyu.”

The revolt of the soldiers took place everywhere. The knights weren’t caught but the soldier with low loyalty were brainwashed.

While Weed was playing in the air, the defenders in Dulmore Fortress were crumbling. The defense forces fell victim to the brainwashing and the number of Embinyu troops increased.

“These ugly bastards.”

Weed who was running around on a turtle could guess the situation simply by looking down at the ground.

“I can’t leave it to these people. They won’t last for long.”

He grumbled as the soldiers suddenly changed positions to the Embinyu Church. However, the fortress didn’t fall to the Embinyu Church straight away.

The magic devices and siege weapons of the fortress was still working. The elites arranged in the archer towers fired steel arrows. The magicians of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms gathered on the walls also counterattacked by the enemies. The attacks were effective in delaying the advance of the fanatics and the demons.

Weed wanted at least that degree. He could play around to his heart’s content.

“You are already the last one!”

He ignored the resistance of the archers and caused the remaining large turtle to fall down. He rode the flaming turtle as it fell to the ground.

The viewers watching the broadcast sometimes felt like they were watching a scene from an action movie.

‘A positive appearance will come out!’

His cloak waved as he stood on the back of the turtle that crashed into the central square of the fortress!

– You have crashed heavily into the ground from a high position.

Your necklace has absorbed the shock.

Health has been reduced by 37,838.

The collision has caught a slight shoulder injury.

More mana will be consumed when using a sword skill.

This will last for 961 seconds.

If a priests heals you then health and mana will recover quickly.

An explosion took place and Weed slowly emerged after the dust subsided. The decline in health wasn’t so bad but the shoulder injury was a little worrisome. But he wasn’t in a dangerous fight at the moment so he could endure it.

‘It was really cool. I am the best.’

The stations and viewers were being sent this scene in real time.

There was a fuss on the bulletin boards.

– Fighting in the sky is really fantastic but he seems a little ignorant. Why did he fall? Surely he had enough skill to be able to escape?

– His eyes seem like it hurt quite a bit.

– The sight of Weed escaping from the turtle just before it exploded caused my heart to pound.

– Did you see his form? I am invigorated by the sight of it.

The viewers focused on his appearance and actions. They were hoping that Weed would show them an electrifying and exciting battle! An excitement similar to when the orc Karichwi led an army against the Immortal Legion.

The viewers didn’t like the scene of Weed falling from the sky on a large monster without any resistance. It was like taking money from a pre-schooler.

The Barates had poured acid and arrows towards the fortress. But Weed took care of them surprisingly quickly. Of course, the damage of the large turtles crashing into the fortress was calculated separately!

Weed’s eyes flashed around the vicinity as the smoke cleared.

“Cough! S-somebody help me!”

The knights and nobles were injured. Not long ago, they were wearing garish jewellery or swords encrusted with gem.

‘Quietly abandoning the items…ah, there are quite a few soldiers. Now is a bad time to attract attention. Throwing it away is good.’

The magic shield protected the fortress but the demons could still enter thanks to the river being blocked. Monsters and demons entering through the gates were being taken care of.

There was also 12 magic towers defending Dulmore Fortress. The magic flowing into the ground was important to activate the protection so the defenses would weaken when a tower was destroyed. The bronze giants and monsters focused their attacks in the direction of the magic towers. When he looked up, 3 large rocks thrown by the bronze giants were flying through the sky.

Anyway, there was a new wave of attacks from the Embinyu Army. The bronze giants wouldn’t stop throwing rocks until the fortress was completely broken.

“The enemy troops will soon capture the fortress.”

The most urgent problem was the Gates of Hell. The size of the Embinyu Army was fixed but the Gates of Hell meant that more demons could appear.

He needed to destroy the witch Pechet to get rid of the Gates of Hell but that was a really difficult goal to achieve. Pechet was in the heart of the enemies.

Even if Weed fought her alone, she had a special ability.

The knights of the Keltun Kingdom had written many stories about her.

[A group of brave knights attacked her with their swords.

Magicians risked their lives to complete their magic attacks.

The priests used their holy magic.

Apparently, all the attacks just passed through her….

A cursed witch that could wipe the world clean.

The Keltun Kingdom fought her nine times and were defeated.

The witch even managed to reach the royal palace of the Keltun Kingdom.

The remaining magicians analysed the ability of the witch.

The ancient magic ‘Dimension Release.’

A magic that hid her true flesh across 2~3 dimensions.

It was impossible to kill her until her body completely entered this world.

The witch Pechet could also absorb the life force of others that were dying.

Many knights lost their health and mana to her.

The only way to force her body to show up was to aim for the moment when she was absorbing.

Until then, any attacks were obsolete.

In addition, a premature attack would cause her body to flee again.

A person called Jerkel learned the forbidden necromancy magic.

‘Corpse Explosion!’

He was a citizen loyal to his lord and exploded his body while she was absorbing his health. He left the rest to the other knights.

The blood and corpses of the knights that defended the kingdom.

Ohh, this is the glory of the Keltun Kingdom.]

This was data he had asked Mapan to find in Morata’s library.

Pechet was known for her invulnerability in combat. A witch that couldn’t be caught without a noble sacrifice.

Weed’s thoughts went up to there.

“I should move quickly. There are empty rooms in the fortress. Can’t I even take a little nap?”

He was in a hurry.

Weed’s thoughts didn’t reflect that at all.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This will be the last day for Weed. Although he might have a heavenly talent, even he can’t escape death today.”

Yoo Byung-jin meticulously looked at every detail of the Embinyu Army’s power. He couldn’t stop smiling as he looked at the list of their main power.

There was the big turtles, the Baretas that could break down the enemy’s fortress. They would overcome the height of the walls. Arrows shooting down from the sky would slaughter the enemies. The turtles would also fly out of the range of magic attacks from the ground and the turtle’s shell was a natural defense. The only drawback was that their flying speed was a little slow.

Taking care of them wouldn’t be easy.

“But that is just the beginning. The Embinyu Army’s main power hasn’t even emerged yet. Kukuku.”

Yoo Byung-jin could see on the monitor that the high priests and Knights of Atrocities hadn’t even moved yet.

The core power of the Embinyu Army consisted of boss level monsters.

More than 300 species of rare monsters, fanatics with blind loyalty and bronze giants! That power alone was enough to make Dulmore Fortress fall.

He was filled with tension as he watched the monitor.

The real power was with the high priests, Igrig and Motuls.

The power of the Embinyu Church was beyond imagination and it was enough to conquer the continent. According to the analysis of the AI, the army that Weed mobilized was only 23% of the Embinyu Army. Even if the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms joined in, that only increased to 26%.

Military troops trained in the kingdom revealed their vulnerability to black magic and brainwashing spells. A witch’s spells could also invoke a collective illusion, making it difficult to defeat the army. An overwhelming amount of allies were destroyed by friendly fire.

Due to the nature of the Embinyu Church, it was close to impossible to beat them. An ability to reveal and take advantage of weaknesses in the opponent was a reason why the Embinyu Army was close to invincible.

It would be interesting to see if Weed’s army that swept over the south and central continent would fare.

Weed had a variety of combat experience so he could guess the various capabilities of the Embinyu Army. If he clumsily attacked then the desert army that had been overwhelming so far would be completely wiped out!

The power of the Embinyu Army would be enough to march over the weakened kingdoms. Being clever and wicked wouldn’t be enough for defeat them.

“It doesn’t matter how strong he is or if he doesn’t make any mistakes. The Embinyu Church’s real strength will be revealed with this.”

Yoo Byung-jin knew everything about Royal Road and was repeatedly dissatisfied that the Embinyu Church was underestimated.

The users on the Versailles Continent hadn’t suffered a real crisis yet. They only fought by themselves without paying attention to the forces of evil. They foolishly allowed the Embinyu Church to spread in the shadows of the continent. The Versailles Continent wasn’t a stable place where peace was guaranteed.

Weed was able to have considerable success in quests relating to the Embinyu Church so far. After changing into Nodulle, if he failed then history would change completely and the Embinyu Church would rampage.

“The Hermes Guild trying to control the continent…this is the best conclusion.”

Yoo Byung-jin knew that users were unfortunately prone to greediness. As the creator of Royal Road, he had observed hundreds of things a day that he didn’t like. The last moments of a couple swarmed by strong monsters.

“Uhh, this death…but I am happy that I can die together with you.”

“Deok-bae ssi, I love you.”

A melodramatic scene commonly seen in movies or dramas. Many couples lived in the wonderful world of the Versailles Continent.

It wasn’t common for those with strength to help others. Laughter filled cities and passion lit up the faces of people who wanted to go adventuring.

Yoo Byung-jin thought it was quite annoying.

“Weed will die if he is defeated in this battle.”

– Should I calculate the probability of Weed’s death?

“What is it?”

Yoo Byung-jin was interested in the words of the AI.

Every time he managed to overcome the difficulties, but this time common sense dictated that Weed would fail.

Even if the desert army consisted of elite warriors, the rest were conscripted soldiers. They would be pushed by the monsters and fanatics of the Embinyu Church. There was also the confusion and brainwashing magic.

These troops were worthy of taking first place in the history books. Even with the 20,000 desert warriors, Dulmore Fortress would only be able to withstand it for a few hours. The overall power different was so large that the desert warriors would die one by one. Including the sculptural lifeforms, everyone who followed Weed would lose their lives. And finally Weed’s death would be a perfect and neat finish.

The final secret sculpting technique would disappear. Even Weed’s incredible resourcefulness and leadership skills wouldn’t enable him to win. If the battle lasted a long time then Motuls and Igrig’s power would come into place, making it the Embinyu Church’s absolute victory.

“Hrmm.”

Nevertheless, Yoo Byung-jin was worried enough to calculate the probability.

“Do it.”

– The probability of survival has been calculated. You should rejoice heartily. Looking at the odds, the probability of victory is unlikely. There is only a 3% chance of victory.

“It is hardly likely that he will be successful.”

It was common sense that Weed would be defeated by the Embinyu Church but something unexpected might happen.

Yoo Byung-jin’s mind could accept it but his heart believed one thing.

‘Maybe Weed can pull it off.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Dulmore Fortress was under siege but Weed was strictly calm and impersonal.

The bronze giant were throwing stones everywhere and the battlefield was a scene of confusion.

“The wave of attacks is starting.”

The outer walls were instantly taken by the Embinyu Church. The fortress’s defenders, the soldiers of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms tried to recapture it but it wasn’t easy.

“Receive the righteous judgement of God!”

“Kuooh, no. My head hurts.”

“Embinyu will ease the pain.”

The priests and inquisitors continued their brainwashing. The soldiers taken by the Embinyu Church killed their allied troops.

Embinyu’s divine judgement!

Join the church or resist, those were the only two options. Accept a painful death or follow the Embinyu Church.

But the knights of the kingdoms thoroughly resisted it. The kings, nobles and knights all had high resistance.

The wide shields and iron swords were used by the knights to block the monsters. The interior of the fortress was like a complex maze so losing the external walls wasn’t as significant.

“The Embinyu Army will have to shed quite a lot of blood in order to occupy the fortress.”

It was useful just watching the battle in order to experience the tactics of the monsters. And Weed aimed to weaken the power of the Embinyu Church.

He needed to take care of the witches and priests actively brainwashing people. Getting rid of the magic would weaken the Embinyu Army. Although it would give the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms an opportunity to exit the battlefield.

“It can’t be helped. Sculptural Destruction! Everything into strength.”

For phase 2 of the battle, Weed used a sculpting technique. The target was a Masterpiece Sculpture!

He couldn’t make a lot of sculptures on this quest. This one was based on Bactrian Camel, the sculpture called ‘Diamond Encrusted Male Camel.’

The artistic merit was rather low but because it was made by the Great Conqueror Weed, it was a piece with a lot of prestige.

He created 2 Masterpieces and 3 Fine pieces so there were several opportunities to use Sculptural Destruction.

It was time to make an important contribution. At that moment, an intense light surrounded Weed’s body. The light was a bright contrast against the darkened sky.

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

The pain of destroying a Fine sculpture! The grief!

The Art stat is permanently reduced by 10 points. Fame has decreased by 200.

The Art stat has been converted to Strength for one day.

Your Art stat is too high. You will acquire skills associated with strength.

1,660 Strength has been converted to ‘Severe Blow.’

When hitting enemies with the exact amount of power, enemies will be blown away.

Probability of causing paralysis and confusion has increased.

1,320 Strength has been converted to the skill ‘Piercing Spear.’

The opponent’s shield and armour will be smashed by the powerful attack.

1,980 Strength has been converted to the skill ‘Momentary Herculean Strength.’

Power will triple for a short amount of time.

Enormous vitality is required.

2,880 Strength has been converted to the skill ‘Will of a Brave Warrior.’

Can acquire the skill of a brave warrior. Colleagues within range will be blessed and have their concentration increased.

There will be complete immunity to curses that will weaken power.

1,450 Strength is utilized to maximize the sword’s base damage.

The durability will decrease quickly but the sword’s offense will increase by 62%.

Weed felt like he was boiling with power.

“This delicious taste!”

The feeling that he could crush or break any enemy! This was the feeling of joy that could only be felt in Royal Road. Moreover, his strength was already strong enough to cause a pile of enemies. All of the Embinyu Church members in the area were like rice that Weed could eat.

“My strength is good enough so shall I play in earnest?”

A thorough preparation would ensure a stable retirement. Instead of rushing immediately into battle, he pulled out another sculpture.

A barbarian warrior Tor!

They were divided into clans but this barbarian was associated with giants in the myths. They were 6 metres tall and the whole body had a muscular strength.

A species created for combat.

Young women would stare at the body with disgust but his eyes shone like lanterns when looking at the shape.

It was rare to see barbarians on the Versailles Continent because they lived in lands filled with the strongest monsters. Therefore, the users hadn’t explored those areas yet. However, their appearance and combat skills were known from murals painted in caves and history books. The aggressive fighting spirit meant they were always depicted hunting or struggling against a monster.

After changing into the large race, it would consume more vitality and physical strength. However, he was confident that he would be able to maintain the barbarian Tor’s fighting power.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting makes the sculptor and statue resemble each other!

Weed’s growth was incomparable to children who had a growth spurt after drinking milk. His skin changed to a healthy, tanned appearance and his whole body changed. He had spacious and solid shoulders and abs like a washboard. The sturdy muscles of his thighs was the best.

Compared to the dwarf Art Hand or the orc Karichwi, this was a terribly handsome appearance.

In fact, Weed initially thought that an ugly face would give off an intimidating feeling. But the statue needed to have a balanced harmony of face and body. When using Sculptural Transformation, he normally used at least 1~2 knife scars, a thin nose and a gaping jaw.

However, that face alone would look awkward with Weed’s body. There was a disharmony between the face and the body so Weed settled on Hestiger’s face as a compromise.

But his pride as an artist didn’t allow him to simple copy the face so he thickened the nose, eyes and eyebrows. And he also widened the forehead.

Thus a handsome warrior was born! A face and body that would remove the souls of women.

– The size of your body has grown so you can’t wear the current equipment.

You have learnt ‘Understanding Sculptures’ due to Sculpture Transformation.

Due to sufficient strength and understanding of the species, you can use the special skills of the barbarian species.

– Iron Wall Body:  Barbarians don’t wear cumbersome armour.

Their bodies are harder than the best steel armour.

The blessed flesh will weaken all magic.

If a wound occurs then it will just heal like nothing happened.

– Rock Echo:  A warrior’s cry that seems to endlessly ring out.

The sound will overwhelm the enemies.

Those with weak characters will have their soul slip away.

– Earth Shaking: A punch to the ground or stomp of the feet would cause the earth to shake.

A wide range of enemies will fall and buildings will be destroyed.

What can withstand the shaking of the earth caused by a barbarian?

The fallen enemies will be stunned, confused or immobile.

Please Note: Casting the skill will consume a lot of strength and vitality so it should be used carefully in a short period of time.

– Deep Breath: Barbarians have a similar but slightly different structure to a human body.

Their lungs are wide and their hearts throb wildly.

Any excessive movement won’t cause your breathing to fall.

A barbarian will have to constantly battle for a week in order to become weary.

– Recovery of Joy: Barbarians believe in the God of Bravery, Bardger.

Bardger is an almost non-existence god to human beings.

Barbarians known for their bravery would go to the Altar of Victory.

The God of Bravery, Bardger is known as the guardian of a warrior’s tomb.

Bardger will give special powers to barbarians screaming in pain and suffering.

“Barbarian, your work doesn’t end here. Don’t stop fighting even when the winner is certain.”

Recovery of Joy will eliminate all abnormal states and restore depleted health and vitality.

In addition, resistance to various attributes will change depending on the strength and vitality.

However, this can only be used once a month.

The skill Recovery of Joy can turn things around to achieve a great victory.

– The influence of Sculpture Transformation has significantly increased agility and vitality.

The effectiveness of attack skills will increase by 25%.

Endurance will be enhanced.

This will last until Sculpture Transformation is released.

“Ohhh, this is good.”

Weed marvelled at the power of a barbarian. It was like eating soup with a variety of perfect seafood like crab, abalone and shrimp.

However, users couldn’t select the barbarian species yet. Just like the necromancer occupation, users might be given this opportunity in the future.

Of course, it was still unsure what penalty would be applied when selecting that species. In any case, Weed had the ability to sufficiently digest the abilities of a barbarian.

This was the biggest advantage of a secret sculpting technique like Sculpture Transformation.

“This is now my world.”

He looked around with remarkably large eyes. The soldiers inside Dulmore Fortress were frightened as they saw him.

“Monster! It is a monster!”

“God, why did you send us a demon like this?”

The soldiers couldn’t remove their fear. In fact, not one scratch would appear if they attacked Weed. A rare attack might hit on a rainy day.

Weed didn’t want to fight humans. They didn’t even reach his waist. He somehow felt like a superior being standing over tiny children.

“My strength is bursting out quickly.”

He felt the ground shake as the bronze giants threw rocks. He wanted to quickly go out and smash the bronze giants but he had to urgently find a weapon. Usually he got japtem related to the species but it was extremely rare to find a barbarian weapon.

Items wouldn’t drop without a relevant reason. Scimitars were easily obtained in desert areas while fishing bait and rare shells could be found on the coast. The equipment of barbarians would probably drop near the stone forest where they lived.

“I prepared for this in advance.”

Weed squatted and pulled out all 3 pieces of the Extermination Sword from his backpack.

Chalkak!

It was a special order he requested from the blacksmiths. The Extermination Sword pieces connected together like a long spear.

It was an oversized sword but he could wield it comfortably as a barbarian. The third piece especially was thick enough to be held comfortable in the hands of a barbarian.

– The Extermination Swords have been connected together.

Damage is multiplied by 1.4 times.

The characteristics of fire is further strengthened.

Additional stats have been given.

“That’s it.”

Normally a sword would look like a thin skewer in a barbarian’s hand. Swords were tailored to humans but barbarians would rather use an axe or mace. However, the Extermination Sword contained the power of fire.

Hwaruruk!

Thick flames licked the sword! It was a weapon completely befitting a barbarian. And he felt the heat through his hands.

The best body and weapon!

The conditions for using the Extermination Sword was a resistance to fire. Although the characteristics of his species had changed, the basic resistance as a sword master still remained.

He also had the fighting spirit of a barbarian. Weed’s thoughts were only focused on quickly going to fight.

Chapter 3: Emergence of a Bad Warrior

“Strip the walls of the enemies. If you can’t then step down immediately!”

“Fight. We will die here. For His Majesty!”

“I don’t want to. I don’t want my body to be eaten by demons. I’m going to run away!”

“Anybody who joins the Embinyu Church are blasphemers. Just kill them. We will implement the 27 new torture types on the Embinyu followers. Then we will put them out in the sun to feed the trees.”

“It is the demon. The demon from hell that took my friend. Ohh, I’ve grieved since it happened. My friend’s head has probably been digested by now. He hasn’t repaid the money he borrowed from me. Of course, I might not survive this place but….”

The bronze giants were seriously attacking and destroying the walls of Dulmore Fortress. The fortress’s defenders were fighting the fanatics and monsters but there was an influx of attackers towards the fortress.

“God, why are you giving us so much suffering.”

The soldiers were locked in grief. It was impossible for the kingdoms to prevent the invasion of the monsters and demons. The elites of the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms couldn’t persist.

Weed appeared with the Extermination Sword at that time. He slowly walked from a passage connecting buildings in the fortress.

Kung! Kung! Kung!

The ground made a heavy sound every time he walked. The military fortress didn’t have wide passages. So he felt very full.

In fact, it would be faster jumping in the air but there was no need to rush. And he wouldn’t look cool. A man’s pride couldn’t give up on looking cool!

“Ehh.”

The soldiers were panicked and astonished as they watched Weed. An immense stature with muscles born for combat and the Extermination Sword radiating flames. The brightness despite the darkness caused by the Gates of Hell and the rainclouds.

“What is that bald giant?”

“…….”

The desert had stripped him of all his hair so he was bald. He had a handsome face and body but the lack of hair made him look wild. A male that gave off a bad and evil feeling!

“I see a lot of rice.”

He crashed onto the battlefield but moved slowly after that. Nearby, a giant spider from the Embinyu Church was catching humans in its web and eating them.

Weed walked up to it and grabbed one of the spider legs.

Kuwawang!

“Stay away! My sticky legs will make you unable to hunt for weeks.”

It didn’t matter how the large spider struggled or what it said! The giant spider was thrown hundreds of metres and squared the army members of the Embinyu Church.

He only used pure force, without any skills.

“Ah! Thank you for your help.”

The human soldiers caught in the web thanked him. Weed ignored the thankful soldiers and walked towards the walls. He honestly didn’t care if the soldiers were killed or not. He just didn’t want to wait until after the spiders ate them.

The soldiers fell back to the Dulmore Fortress. They didn’t dare attack since Weed would probably just kill their colleagues. Many had the good judgement and low morale to run away instead of fighting.

“How dare monsters of the Embinyu Church come here without my permission! The worst are those who don’t give experience or money!”

Weed grabbed and threw the monsters.

“Wahhhh, get rid of the enemies!”

The defenders of the fortress had their morale swell at the sight. However, there were dozens of places where the walls had collapsed so the enemies came in frequently. The archers of the Embinyu Church were also pulling their bows while aiming at the defenders.

Despite Weed’s efforts, there was an overwhelming amount of human deaths.

“I have to use my power properly.”

Weed leapt over rubble and climbed the walls. His large body was visible as he climbed the walls.

“Get away!”

He grabbed the monsters on the walls and threw them at the Embinyu Army.

“That power….”

“He threw that heavy monster!”

The Embinyu priests and brainwashed guards were astonished at the sight.

“Kuwooooh!”

Rock Echo that overwhelmed the battlefield! Weed used a strong voice to call the Embinyu Church.

“It is silly to fight the humans of the fortress! Come up to me. I will let you know what power is!”

A large explosion occurred at the same time there was a burst of light. A cry that lured the enemy. A barbarian was big and hulking so he had a very large voice.

“A wicked spell took us.”

The archers on the walls suddenly recovered their spirit. The brainwashing spells of the Embinyu Church were broken by his cry.

“We will fight together.”

The archers announced their intention to cooperate and before the real battle started, Weed began to sing.

[Black clouds are surging

Weak characters trying to preserve the peace will be broken

I live in a deep, dark place under the ground]

The viewers popped into his head. In the past, Weed had sung songs strange lyrics. Even so, it gave the battle an epic feeling.

The Embinyu Army marching under the darkened sky had an atmosphere that would fit well with a song.

[I can’t do the laundry without feeling angry

The damp floors and wallpaper

The miserable, musty smell!

I hate rainy days the most

Waking up in the morning with a dense fog in my room

It is a nightmare to get rid of fungus in the middle of summer

Heating, heating, the hellish cost of heating]

The song’s title was !

Weed sung a song filled with his extremely angry emotions. The grievances of living in a basement room. There was only a single futon, a small television and plastic cabinets. He remembered suffering while trying to pay the monthly rent to the landlord.

Other people were fighting with their friends or listening to their mother’s nagging. However, Weed had to hold his tongue or risk being kicked out by the landlord. He hadn’t yet achieved his dream of owning a house at that time. The cosy underground room that caused fear as well.

“I’ll kill you all!”

Weed’s original plan was to wait a little longer on the walls. The defenders of Dulmore Fortress were still alive so there was no need to leave early.

Van Hawk was also leading the undead so there was no need for Weed to jump into the battlefield. But his anger changed his plans.

Weed came running out of the fortress. He wielded his Extermination Sword in the midst of the Embinyu Army.

Kkuek!

“Damage. Run away!”

More than 100 fanatics were turned to ashes. It was the same for the monsters of the Embinyu Church that besieged him. All those within the range of Weed’s attacks were burned to death.

“Die. Die! Die!”

– Black Knight’s Strike!

An irreversible attack against the surrounding enemies.

Consecutive wide area skills that succeeded!

Weed was surrounded by a sea of fire. Giving monthly rent to lease a house wasn’t a bad thing.

However, he would occasionally watch enviously as the family of the landlord ate pork belly in the yard. He was accompanied by his pure hearted sister who wanted to eat the meat but they could only watch like beggars.

He also felt agitation when the boiler failed or the door wouldn’t open. A room that required a lot of repairs.

He had countless sad memories living under a landlord. He couldn’t remember the Pythagoras maths taught in childhood but remembered the exact name of his landlord.

“Undulating Flame Mark!”

His species had changed but he could still use the same skills.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!

A series of explosions occurred in the surrounding area. Weed ran alone into the Embinyu Army. Approximately 3,000~4,000 people lost their lives.

Suddenly, the sound of faint screaming from the soldiers at the fortress could be heard. The river filled with silver had completely lost its strength so the monsters’ advance started.

100 flying demons flapped down and targeted Weed. They were cunning and pounced at the moment when Weed was distracted.

“Those who don’t follow Embinyu will be destroyed!”

The troops of the Embinyu Army didn’t fear death and continued advancing. Priests and magicians crossed the river. Their biggest goal was to take care of Weed.

“Kill him.”

“I have grasped his true existence. We must get rid of him for the sake of Embinyu’s aspirations.”

“All those faithful to Embinyu, he is our goal.”

The Embinyu Army focused on Weed. Their original mission was to destroy the fortress but now all the ranged attacks were hurled towards Weed.

“Wedge Blast, blow!”

“Beads of Cold!”

The magic attacks from the Embinyu Church flew towards Weed on the battlefield.

“Summon Another Sword, Absolute Defense, Close Eyes Tightly!”

He used his defensive skills!

Nodulle had learnt Close Eyes Tightly from a useless quest a while back. A flying sword defeated the magic in the air.

However, a large number of spells failed to break and they struck Weed’s large body. He received a carpet bombing of hundreds of magic attacks.

Weed was prepared for the shock and pain and closed his eyes.

“Huh?”

He was thrown by a big shock but didn’t collapse to the ground. He had prepared his body but it surprisingly felt like he was being tickled! His health hadn’t even decreased by one tenth. The high priests Igrig and Motuls didn’t join the attack so he didn’t receive any major injuries.

Weed had a formidable level and skills and he could now display this ability after changing into a barbarian. Barbarians had a very high resistance to magic. In addition, the health that was reduced filled up very quickly! His recovery ability wasn’t like a troll but this much was tremendous.

Weed neatly ended his calculations.

‘A barbarian is indeed strong. I can feel a little reassured. Of course, it would be dangerous if this attack repeated a few more times….’

The flying monsters sensed that Weed was weakened and flew to him. It would be difficult if his health was reduced to the half way point.

After the dust subsided, Weed casually roared.

“Stupid bastards! Is this the extent of Embinyu that you believe in?”

He moved quickly before the magic attack could fall on him again. He rushed to the place where magicians and priests were.

There were plenty of magicians and priests within the Embinyu Army. Normally there were a limited number of magicians in each kingdom. But the Embinyu Church had a number of magicians that could use the fanatics’ faith as holy power.

Sometimes priests or inquisitors would kill human soldiers in combat and be promoted.

“The popularity of these guys….”

Weed ran in a hurry. His large bulk was enough to tear up a monster and display tremendous strength but his size was also a disadvantage.

Even if chanting the spells took a little time, it was impossible to avoid hundreds of arrows fired at him. He threw his body towards the side that had less attacks.

“Catch him for Embinyu!”

“He must be captured. Skin him alive and place him in boiling oil.”

The dark knights jumped towards him. Weed punched them or slashed them with the Extermination Sword.

“I encourage you to come to me, trash of the Embinyu Church!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The viewers felt their chests boiled as they watched Weed’s adventure.

In the meantime, they had been enjoying the fun and thrilling adventure but this time they prayed for his unconditional success. The outcome of the world depended on this adventure.

Those who weren’t fans of Weed didn’t want the Embinyu Church to grow any larger. In addition, the users had a large impression of Weed who went back to the past to stop the Embinyu Church causing a crisis on the continent.

The influential stations like KMC Media and CTS Media focused on making Weed into a hero.

“The peace of the continent is being endangered by the Embinyu Church. So far,  Weed has come forever and resolve the problem every time the Versailles Continent was at risk. He has shown off his great sense of justice.”

“Weed has also developed the Versailles Continent quite a bit. In particular, his contribution for the production and art occupations is quite large.”

The influence of the broadcast was so huge that there was an obvious change in the children of the families watching.

“I would like to become an adventurer like Weed!”

“I want to be live nicely like an artist. And marry an orc male like Karichwi.”

Weed’s popularity was like a character in a fairy tale book. A human defeating monsters with an ice dragon and wyverns.

Yellowy helping out in the fields, Goldman handling money and a hungry heroine eating noodles. These were cliché but popular developments. Anyway, the viewers didn’t want to see Weed defeated by the Embinyu Church.

“Today my heart is so nervous that I can’t eat chicken.”

“I’m not in the mood for pizza.”

The ratings continued  to hit unprecedented records. The stations focused on Weed and abandoned the Hermes Guild’s war to secure the continent. In a sense, Weed was recognized as the last remaining hero of the continent.

And Weed was now participating in a quest that had the highest probability of failure.

“Ah, why did he recklessly rush out of the safety of the walls?’

“He is sweeping everything away. How cool.”

Viewers felt uneasy.

The future of the world would be divided into two depending on the result of this adventure. The Hermes Guild would either unify the continent or it would be destroyed by the Embinyu Church.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The enemies gathered around Weed.

“Bring it on. I will smash all of you!”

He finished off hundreds of enemies rushing at the same time.

“Embinyu bastards, do you only have this much? You are far from destroying the continent!”

He provoked the temper of the enemies. The dark knights, fanatics and monsters clung to him. The magic attacks of the enemies exploded all around him.

– Health is decreasing.

Current health remaining is 68.7%.

It wasn’t a serious injury but he was surrounded by numerous enemies. He fought for a long time in the middle of enemy territory. The recklessness of a hero trying to save the world!

The soldiers at Dulmore Fortress had a greater change of preventing the invasion the more Weed played with the enemies. The demons emerging from the Gates of Hell and the Embinyu Church focused on Weed so the charge to the fortress had decreased.

Weed grabbed the monster’s head and threw them into the air.

Kwarururung!

The lightning bolt hit the monster instead of him. He flung the enemies towards magic and arrows whenever there was the chance. Sometimes he would throw the monsters towards the dark knights and roar.

“Weak. Too weak to become my food. Come towards me en masse!”

He was the most intimidating human on the continent. He was alone against an army from the Embinyu Church.

But his mind was constantly calculating coldly.

‘The magic attacks have hesitated a little bit. They are preparing something big.’

A simple ice bolt would be hard to scratch the body of a barbarian. He realized that the magicians of the Embinyu Church were preparing a strong spell. And the priests used sacrifices to curse Weed.

The combat power of knights and warriors was overwhelming. But they had the worst resistance against curses and spells from shamans, warlocks, witches etc. Their strong power would weaken, defense would break down and their body movements would become slow and heavy.

The priests of the Embinyu Church who could use high level curses were the worst enemy for a warrior. It was the reason why dungeons with evil priests were the most unpopular hunting ground. The group would meet death without the presence of a priest. This was the reason why he couldn’t say which side was better in a battle between a warrior and priest.

‘Some time has passed since the last attack. It will soon be time.’

Weed moved within the bulk of the Embinyu Army. He trampled, beat and threw them! He got rid of dozens of enemies with each step.

Fortunately, his bulk was so large that he could easily move through them.

– A really good looking human.

– I want to eat him, kuhelhelhel.

– That head is mine. I will bit his head and eat his brains.

Demons cried out as they flew down. Despite the hectic situation, Weed didn’t lose his spirit. More than 1,000 demons had already passed through the Gates of Hell into this world.

“We can’t let him stop the priests.”

“Karl’s Judgment.”

The dark knights frantically tried to stop his rapid breakthrough. But the Embinyu Church was scattered around.

There were troops besieging Dulmore Fortress and the rear was fighting the undead led by Van Hawk. Weed had a huge force surrounded him but they were those swept along earlier by his rapid breakthrough.

‘I need to get a little closer. Some damage can be ignored.’

Weed ignored his declining health to boldly trample through the enemies. His large bulk was hit by arrows, magic and the spear of the knights. A situation where he was hit in many places.

– Current health remaining is 51.3%.

This is the result of the joint damage.

The message window flashed. This was a significant crisis when considering the Demons of Hell. The senior priests and magicians of the Embinyu Army were still 1 kilometre away.

Weed’s increased size meant he could move quickly but tens of thousands of enemies were hindering him. Curses, various monsters and bronze giants also gathered to attack and stop him.

Therefore Weed could see that the priests and magicians were on the verge of completing their magic spell.

“Now. Earth Shaking!”

He stepped on the land with his right foot.

A barbarian’s unique skill.

– The skill Earth Shaking has been used.

Current health remaining is 87.46%.

Using the skill has consumed 7.1% vitality.

You can temporarily use excessive force. Maximum strength is reduced by 10% for 15 minutes.

Jjajajajak!

Weed stomped on the ground and there was a horrible sound as it split open. Then a vibration spread through the ground as it sloshed like moving water.

The dark knights fell and were swept back and forth while monsters rolled around after losing their balance. The 20 metres tall bronze giants staggered and crushed numerous soldiers.

A skill that maximized the increase in strength caused by Sculptural Destruction! Apart from Weed who was the only one standing, the surrounding areas were turned into a mess.

“Uuuugh, this can’t happen.”

“This destructive power is due to the grace of Embinyu.”

However, the number of deaths was limited to the fanatics. It was an exceptional skill so it wasn’t to blame for the effect and damage. The shaking of the earth waned the further the distance was.

But the magicians and priests in the distance either fell or jumped up in the air to avoid the shaking of the ground. It was natural for the magic they were preparing to be interrupted.

Weed’s eyes shone as he seized the opportunity.

‘Now.’

He ran towards the fallen enemies in the centre of the Embinyu Army. A place where the important magicians and priests were! The dark knights hurriedly got up from the ground.

“It is impossible, you savage!”

The knights had no way to block his skills. They were powerhouses ranging from level 300~400 but they fell with one punch from Weed. He pierced towards the senior priests of the Embinyu Church in a straight line.

“Riot of Black Wind!”

High Priest Motuls quickly chanted a spell.

Out of nowhere, a flock of crows surrounded Weed. It was intended to make it difficult to attack the magicians and priests. Weed saw nothing except for thousands of crows.

“This isn’t the method. End of the Day!”

He used all the mana he conserved for the Sun Warrior’s strongest skill. His current location was very deep inside the Embinyu camp. Therefore, he would cause some damage even if he couldn’t see the senior priests.

“Divine Protection!”

The senior priests used protection magic to guard against the hot fire. But those too close to the flames were turned to ashes.

The dark knights and magicians near Weed also unfortunately lost their lives. He caused considerable damage in the centre of that Embinyu Army but that didn’t mean he could feel at ease.

The fallen priests, magicians and monsters of the Embinyu Army were all gathered together. There were also flying demons in the sky who were using the chance to come closer.

“A poisonous rat has come inside!”

“He came here thanks to the grace of Embinyu. Those who have been victimized, rejoice. Today our work will be to kill that huge obstacle!”

Motuls and Igrig encouraged the troops.

Weed had used up all his mana and was isolated in the heart of the Embinyu Army.

Chapter 4: Eye of the Storm

“Kill!”

“That body will receive Embinyu’s punishment. Bring the soldering irons!”

“Cut off the limbs and mince the flesh!”

The fanatics clamoured furiously.

Weed had nowhere to escape! Only followers of the Embinyu Church were nearby and the desert army couldn’t be seen at all. There was also a considerable number of experts blocking the path to the fortress. And of course, the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms wasn’t going to come rescue him.

“Well, it is only one army.”

Although others might panic, Weed just looked curiously at the Embinyu Army.

The battlefield was filled with priests, magicians, witches and elite monsters. The worst appearance was a monster with dark green that was dripping saliva.

Embinyu had improved the monsters so they had a variety of combat skills, high resilience and could also spread diseases. They were strong compared to the fanatics but there were only thousands of them.

Weed gave a deep sigh.

“I haven’t done anything wrong. Just look at what is going to happen in this world.”

“……?”

“Fanatics might believe in Embinyu in this warring period but later a great kingdom called the Arpen Kingdom will be created.”

“……!”

A comparison to distinguish which one was better!

The residents of the Arpen Kingdom were suffering from hunger and poverty until King Weed brought them culture, commerce and adventure.

In fact, loyalty when managing the Arpen Kingdom wasn’t required. However, the taxes set were quietly increased under various pretexts. It was currently a peaceful period  but sooner or later they would need to compete with the Haven Empire.

Weed felt a pain that could be compared with people suffering from terminal cancer! He hoped that the kingdom would survive and he could raise the taxes later. If the Haven Empire suddenly met its downfall and the taxes rose then residents of the Arpen Kingdom would be eating potatoes, sweet potatoes and bean sprouts.

“Don’t listen to the savage!”

“That big body has no respect for Embinyu.”

The fanatics held small swords as they threatened him. The senior priests and monsters prepared to attack him. Igrig and Motuls had just been watching the battle at Dulmore Fortress but now they approached Weed. A statue of Embinyu wearing a purple necklace was drawing in power. The witches flapped their wings and hissed with snake like tongues. They had prudent characters so they didn’t want to attack first.

Fighting against such odds was difficult. There were excessive numbers of them. Weed didn’t know how long he could hold out against all these enemies.

However, Weed hadn’t lost his rationality when he entered deep into the enemy’s territory. Rather than fighting efficiently with minimal damage, he had fought recklessly.

This was all part of the plan. The operation name was Dead Rat!

“Even a rat can bit back when cornered by a cat!”

In order for his plan to succeed, he needed to be in the middle of the enemy. It was a risk but it was the best way to maximize Weed’s sculpting skill.

“Let’s die together. You should try to survive the sky.”

Weed pulled out a sculpture! It was a sculpture with a flat, eerie landscape. A thick whirlwind was moving while rain fell from the sky. The earth also had deep cracks. It was a work that expressed a complex disaster. It looked more destructive than the wind magic that Andre of the Beiner Kingdom used.

The magic only impacted a narrow area and could be adequately controlled. However, the wide range of the disaster made it difficult to predict. In addition, the wind magic was weaker than the disaster. Andre was a wind master but the spell consumed his mana. The benefit was that it could be used with the chant was completed and it was safe.

In contrast, Great Disaster Nature Sculpting depended on his art stat and affinity to nature as well as a proper sculpture! Weed had superior art and affinity to nature values so he could cause a disaster with astronomical power.

“Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

– A Masterpiece Sculpture. A fearsome havoc will be exerted that can kill you.

Even so, do you want to use the skill?

“Let’s see who can kill me!”

– You have used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

20 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

20,000 Health and Mana has been consumed.

All stats have been temporarily reduced by 15% for 3 days.

Affinity to Nature has fallen.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once a day.

When a great calamity is called upon, fame or infamy can be increased depending on the damage.

It is possible to die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

“Catch him!”

The monsters and fanatics launched their attacks after he triggered the disaster.

“This world is doomed. Get rid of the illusion that they can stop us.”

“He absolutely can’t escape!”

Weed swung the Extermination Sword at the incoming enemy. The knights and fanatics were like dealing with young children but the monsters needed a few hits to kill them. They had high health and the blessing from Embinyu meant they wouldn’t fall quickly in battle. He used the power of fire to burn away the flesh perfectly.

Meanwhile, the Knights and Priests of Atrocities were being rapidly deployed. With the exception of Motuls, Igrig and Pechet, the remaining enemies had surrounded Weed so that he couldn’t escape.

– Blood Curse!

An unknown energy has entered your body.

Whenever blood is shed, health will recover more slowly than normal.

– Dark Zone of Hatred!

An area of darkness has been declared.

The dark aura will restrict movement and decrease your resistance.

Curse magic will be more effective.

– Drooping Body!

Strength and vitality has decreased by 14%.

Movement is reduced.

The power of the curse has weakened ‘Will of a Brave Warrior.’

– Innate Weakness!

You have fallen victim to the priests’ punishment magic.

The middle of your chest has weakened and a red dot will appear, luring the enemies to you.

You will be attacked up to 15 times more.

Extermination Sword increased his resistance to curse magic but it didn’t protect him perfectly.

The effect of curses had decreased up to 64%.

The curses fell on him!

He was so busy fighting the enemies in front of him that he didn’t bother identifying the curses nestled in his body.

The dark priests opted for weakening curses rather than attack magic. Weed had items with a basic resistance to curses but the priests kept trying.

“We promised to dedicate our blood and lives to Embinyu. Forgotten Pain!”

The sacrifices meant the magic had a very high hit rate. Weed felt his fighting condition rapidly deteriorate. His movements changed from a young man to an elderly person. The barbarian’s survival skills and recovery was significantly slowed.

The scary thing was that the priests also blessed the fanatics and monsters. The Embinyu magic that could change the potential of a living being. The side effect was that it would only last for 10 minutes and might cause death. But they would become like elite bosses.

The level of the dark knights and atrocity knights changed. The originally strong boss monsters were transformed even further!

“I encourage you to bring it on. I will wipe you all out!”

Weed wielded the Extermination Sword among the enemies. The curses on his health and vitality was continuously being removed and reapplied. It was the worst situation but he confidently greeted the enemies. Flames stretched out dozens of metres with every swing of the Extermination Sword.

He drew closer to the Priests and Knights of Atrocities. They hadn’t let their guard down but was assisting Igrig and Motuls in a ceremony to maximize their divine power. An attitude of waiting until the ceremony was complete!

However, the remaining enemies were constantly attacking him. Weed couldn’t avoid receiving injuries. A barbarian was large with strong damage but the size made it impossible to avoid the small stings from the dwarves. Even a barbarian had natural enemies.

– Health has been reduced to 51%.

“Embinyu is nothing. No one can stop me!”

Weed cried in a loud voice.

“The savage is quite brave!”

The priests of the Embinyu Church couldn’t help praising the courage of the enemy.

“You are the only one who can stop us now. The world will be destroyed after your death.”

“I will defend the continent from the Embinyu Church. On behalf of the elves, orcs, dwarves, humans and all the species that live on the continent.”

Weed gave a brusque reply to the priest’s words.

He was seen many blockbuster movies where the hero confronted the enemy. He laughed at the hero’s embarrassing words but secretly thought it was pretty cool. Now that day had arrived for him!

‘If this is broadcasted then I will be an idol to all kindergarten and elementary school students.’

Royal Road wasn’t only popular in Korea but all around the world. In other words, Weed would be the idol of children around the world. Adding toxic chemicals to the dreams of young children! The probability of them dying in dangerous battles would be higher because they wouldn’t shrink back in fear.

He hadn’t calculated any of this. He just wanted to look cool while fighting as a barbarian.

Then fat raindrops started falling.

“Now!”

Weed looked up at the sky like he was welcoming rain after a drought. The shower of raindrops suddenly changed into a heavy storm. A vortex of wind started forming and the earth shook wildly.

“It worked well.”

Weed smiled wildly.

The great power of the Embinyu Church was gathered together so he could kill them all at once. The scene of a massacre due to a Great Disaster Nature Sculpting created with a masterpiece sculpture! The monsters were affected by the heavy rain.

“But there is still something lacking.”

Weed felt like lukewarm water had emerged from a broken boiler.

“The monsters have high health so they might be able to survive the disaster.”

Even if there was a disaster, their high health and resilience meant that many were likely to survive. Weed’s level was very high so he didn’t need to worry about dying from the disaster.

“A number of high ranking officials in the Embinyu Church will also survive. Not to mention the elite monsters and demons.”

Demons were still pouring out of the Gates of Hell. The Great Disaster Nature Sculpting wasn’t enough to deal with all of them.

“The level of risk should be enough to kill me. Otherwise it will be boring.”

Weed pulled out a slip of paper. It was an old and crumpled paper but it contained the ultimate magic spell.

Summon Meteor!

A large meteor would fall that was enough to completely wipe out a capital city. No one had ever experienced it so he wasn’t aware of the full extent of its power.

“I will judge it now.”

Weed ripped the Summon Meteor scroll.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Myeongdong’s loan sharks!

They thought hard about why there were in this situation.

“Wrong. There must be someone with a grudge against me. Did President Choi hit me in the back of the head? Or is someone in the company trying to get rid of me?”

They became suspicious of everyone in the world. It needed to be someone with the power to mobilize the prosecutors and the IRS. The principle rule they followed was being strong against the weak and acting weak towards the strong.

“I don’t know the reason.”

The loan sharks were still optimistic that someone would come to save them. They were afraid that someone would show up to kill them so initially they sought a way to escape. But they couldn’t find a secret passage no matter how much they looked at the ceiling and walls in the small room.

“Anyone passing by is good. If only they can save me….”

They were trapped 300 metres underground. It was an area made of natural rocks. They couldn’t dream of any escape and was eventually resigned to just survive in that place. After 3~4 months, it was inevitable that they would become familiar with captivity.

Their only interest was watching the television. News were of no interest but they enjoyed sports and dramas. The loan sharks unexpectedly fell to the charm of morning dramas.

They found the provocative material of the human world exciting. Dying, fighting the enemy, reconciliation, fighting again, birth secrets and other contents of Hollywood movies were interesting.

And Royal Road! They were trapped in a narrow space so the loan sharks were envious of the wide world of Royal Road. Royal Road was a medium that lifted the happiness of people. The loan sharks also sat in front of the television and watched Weed’s adventures.

“Weed is now causing a disaster. Weed the God of War is using his trademark disaster in the midst of the Embinyu Army!”

“The disaster doesn’t seem to be wiping out all the enemies.”

“His combat style is really bold and aggressive. Where is his courage coming from?”

The CTS Media commentators were heatedly discussing it.

It was the climax of the crisis where Weed had entered the midst of the Embinyu Army. It was natural for them to receive the highest ratings since the audience intuitively sensed the climax was coming.

It wasn’t just CTS Media but all the other broadcasting stations were like that as well. The voices of the commentators became agitated whenever they witnessed a great scene or crisis.

And then Weed pulled out a slip of paper.

“That is a magic scroll.”

“A peculiar looking red paper. It seems to be a fairly advanced magic.”

“It is natural for a user like Weed to be able to pull out a high ranking magic scroll.”

“Did he obtain it in the desert? Or while conquering and looting?”

“I’m guessing it is a teleport scroll in order to escape.”

“The magicians of the Embinyu Church won’t permit it…it is unclear if the spell will be successful.”

The television commentators said quickly. They didn’t have any information so they could only speculate based on the situation. The emotions and interest of the audience was heightened.

“The red paper indicates that it is a magic scroll in the fire series.”

“Ah, Weed matches that really well. He seems to be unleashing a great magic attack.”

“It is common sense that it would be a rain of fire magic but….the situation needs to be taken into account. That isn’t Weed’s answer.”

“If a very strong fire spell is used then the rain will affect it. There won’t be explosive fire magic.”

“Ah…now I have received information from a reliable source. The identity of that scroll is the ultimate magic Summon Meteor!”

“Summon Meteor!”

A disaster that would cause unknown effects. Even if the disaster just swept past, it would decrease the Embinyu Army by half. The commentators knew that heartily praising Weed would gather the attention of the viewers.

The reaction to the broadcast of Royal Road was very important. But this time the commentators sincerely freaked out. It was like their cousin had won the lottery!

“S-something absurd is happening. The ultimate magic Summon Meteor! Just like the name, it is a magic that summons a burning meteor. The result is the same.”

“He is really summoning a meteor? If the magic scroll works properly then it will be the first time the Versailles Continent has seen a meteor being summoned.”

“It is an honour that I can even see such a spectacle. A magnificent view will be produced. It is difficult to imagine.”

They never thought he would summon a meteor when facing the Embinyu Church. Each of the stations had an emergency meeting. All the employees were prepared to broadcast realistic images of the summoned meteor.

“This is crazy!”

The loan sharks watching television were so shocked that the barley bread fell out of their mouths.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– The scroll with the magic spell Summon Meteor sealed in it has been activated.

Please set the location where the meteor will fall.

Weed had carried the scroll without using it. He had a suspicion that the magic scroll might be a defective product. If the scroll was valuable then the magician Roderick wouldn’t have forgotten it while travelling.

“I hope it works properly. Nevertheless, it is still a luxury. The characters have bad handwriting and it is folded like a ticket.”

There was a large chance that there would be an error with Summon Meteor.

“I need to decide the location. So that it will miss me. Huhuhu, I am really smart.”

Weed placed his foot where he decided the meteor would fall.

– The location has been specified.

The meteor will fall after a while.

Once it hits the ground, the impact will be over a wide area so you should be careful.

“I’ve decided that this is the best method. However….I feel uneasy for some reason.”

A chill could be felt through his entire body. But he decided to just wait.

The rain and whirlwind swept through the battlefield. There were screams as fanatics and monsters flew around in the air. Numerous members of the Embinyu Army were swallowed up by cracks in the ground.

“Hihihihit, I am dying!”

“I am falling towards the distant bottom. I am very honoured!”

Unlike the regular soldiers, the fanatics didn’t have their morale reduced by the disaster. They regarded Weed’s disaster as a sign of the end of the world.

The bodies were caught by the whirlwind and carried in different directions. Other monsters and fanatics pushed back and forth in order to fall into a hole in the ground.

There was a scary sound as the earth became like smashed tofu. It was a terrible disaster for humans to experience. Weed’s conscience was slightly pricked at the scene of people trying to die.

Weed was large so he had a lot of resistance to the wind. His resilience of a barbarian was also weakened due to the curses.

“Weeeeek!”

He leaned his upper body forward and endured as monsters rolled into him. It wasn’t like the arrows as he had no way of avoiding the numerous monsters swept by the wind.

“N-No!”

Weed’s massive body started to be scooped up like a fly. He was caught up in the wind with the fanatics and monsters. His hands couldn’t catch anything and he spun round and round in the sky. He couldn’t do anything! He became involved in the disaster.

Phoenix’s Health was a skill that allowed him to withstand any attack for 3 minutes but he couldn’t use it in the sky. Weed spun so fast that his view of the earth and sky kept on reversing.

Monsters crashed against his body while flying at a scary speed. The collisions didn’t decrease his health to a dangerous level but he was in a precarious state.

“Absolute Defense, Close Eyes Tightly!”

He mobilized his defensive skills!

Kwarururung!

Thunder struck in the immediate vicinity. The whirlwind raised him high into the sky. The power of the disaster that allowed him to pierce through the clouds! He suddenly didn’t feel the wind pushing against his body as he saw a bright light.

“Eueuum!”

His eyes saw the clear sky and the sun. He had broken through the dark clouds into a calm world. However, that only lasted for 2~3 seconds! The whirlwind pulled his body back again.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

This time he was dropping at a fearsome pace towards the ground. It felt like he was riding a roller coaster in an amusement park. However, a roller coaster only dropped a few hundred metres at best and he didn’t have any safety devices as he fell from the clouds.

“I don’t need to see. Close Eyes Tightly!”

Weed re-used the defense skill. The whirlwind cut at his flesh and many fanatics and monsters crashed into him. Some flying swords and spears also pierced him.

Kkuuuung!

There were even monsters that latched onto Weed’s legs. The long, sharp teeth within a monster’s mouth bit into his legs.

Pepek!

But in the end, Weed’s kick connected and it flew far away.

‘This disaster is lasting for a long time.’

He didn’t know how long he was embroiled in this but it felt like a very long time. It was like being in the army and waiting for a vacation!

‘A long time. Shouldn’t I have hit the ground by now?’

Weed cancelled his defense skill as he opened to eyes to look for the ground. He was falling towards a deep gap in the earth.

A stunning speed. And his body was still turning in circles.

“Momentary Herculean Strength!”

A skill that consumed vitality to exert an enormous power! The 5~6 curses still remaining in his body were removed.

‘I need to catch something.’

Weed started looking around. A monster with a long, thick tail and limbs flew headed towards him.

“Severe Blow!”

Kwaaek!

The monster had been swept by the wind so it didn’t have a lot of health left. It died immediately after one hit. Weed used the repulsion force to decrease his speed a little bit.

‘This isn’t enough. I need a few more.’

The wind was blowing in one direction so he could search everywhere. He continuously attacked flying monsters, fanatics and stones! Sometimes Weed’s attacks missed but they hit far more often.

His speed and direction changed a little bit but he was still falling towards the crack in the earth. The situation would end if he was sucked into the ground!

‘I was careless about this disaster.’

He belatedly regretted it but it was useless. Just as Weed was near the ground, he suddenly received a tremendous shock.

“Keheok!”

He bumped into a bronze giant. But the conflict meant he crashed into the precipice of the deep crack.

– Health has decreased by 19,374 due to the reduced impact.

His health wasn’t an issue but he was falling down again.

“I’ve got to live!”

Weed stretched out his hand and grabbed an overwhelming rock.

Sususuk!

The rock couldn’t bear the weight of a barbarian and was crushed like tofu. He fell a few dozen metres before barely stopping.

“A-alive.”

Weed sighed with relief. If the quest failed then his final secret sculpting technique would fly away. He looked at the top as fanatics and monsters continued falling into the gap. The wind continued howling loudly.

“I almost died coolly. Well, this is good for me.”

Weed climbed up the cliff. He didn’t want to get caught by the wind again so he didn’t climb up to the ground. He stopped 10 metres away and relaxed.

– The earth goddess Mi-ne has blessed you.

The energy from the earth has restored your health and vitality.

He placed his hands on the wall and supplemented his health and vitality. This recovery ability and his high resilience allowed him to enter the heart of the enemy.

“How many millions of people have suffered damage? It would be nice if many witches and priests died in the chaos.”

Weed organized the work he needed to do in the future while waiting for the disaster to stop. Then he had a sudden thought.

‘What about the meteor I summoned?’

The disaster was a trailer while the meteor was the main event. If it fell in the wrong place then it would be impossible to properly measure the intensity.

A disaster at the level of a calamity!

‘I barely survived the disaster so it will be difficult if the meteor falls here. The Embinyu Army will perish.’

But Weed couldn’t give a smile of satisfaction. Who knew where the meteor would drop! There was no guarantee that Dulmore Fortress and the desert army wouldn’t be wiped out.

The raindrops falling from the sky decreased and the wind calmed down slightly. However, the sky suddenly shone a blazing red. The dark clouds were helplessly scattered like fog melted by a hot sun.

“Is this the meteor being summoned?”

Weed raised his head. There was suddenly a small stone in the sky.

“A small meteor means the magic scroll was successful. But isn’t this level close to defective?”

Disappointment filled his chest. But the small stone fell at a dreadful speed.

When he first saw it, the stone was half the size of his finger but now it was as large as his palm. Specifically, he was seeing the size when it was still a colossal distance away and it expanded exponentially.

Weed’s instincts warned him.

‘This isn’t a joke. Just passing by will be enough to leave a trail of death.’

The hairs on his body stood up as he felt a sense of crisis.

Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy for him to move. The disaster wasn’t over yet and he didn’t know where the meteor would crash.

‘Go somewhere else. Go away.’

Weed became desperate as the size of the meteor increased. He couldn’t be calm.

‘I need to check the facts again. It will continue to grow bigger as it approaches closer. It is natural for the meteor to crash into the earth. And what does it mean if it moves above my head?’

It meant the meteor would fall exactly here! It wasn’t aimed at Weed but the area he was in was within the range. Weed had placed the location of the meteor in the centre of the Embinyu Army.

The worst case situation might really happen. His luck meant he was also suffering misfortunes.

“Somehow I need to avoid it.”

Weed checked the surroundings. Even the deep crevices didn’t seem safe. The destructive power of the meteor would be enough to devastate the whole area. The meteor was going faster and faster so he didn’t have a lot of time to think calmly.

“Sink or swim.”

Weed jumped out of the crack in the ground. The rain, whirlwind and ground shaking resembled a dance. But the power of the disaster was weakening so it would disappear soon.

Weed could already feel the hot burden overhead. The blazing fire from the meteor burning in the sky could be directly felt. There was no other way.

“Sink or swim. Wind Sprint!”

Weed blindly ran forward. The barbarian had long legs so he had a good speed.

The good news was that no one from the Embinyu Church interfered with him. They had seen the meteor and was trying to escape.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Warrior-1 and Warrior-2.

The sculptural lifeforms commanding the desert army watched the fight from distant hills.

“As expected from the Great Emperor.”

They couldn’t help admiring Weed’s superior combat power. He even turned into a barbarian at Dulmore Fortress.

Weed used mysterious sculpting techniques to fight. And a disaster took place as promised. The desert army were waiting for the disaster to finish before starting their assault. The combat slaves, elephant troops and vampire forces were ready to fight.

The desert army had swept through the continent but they had a low chance against the Embinyu Army.

Weed drew in enemies to Dulmore Fortress. A plan to drive them together and use a disaster!

“Ready for the assault. Mount the horses and camels.”

But they decided to stop after seeing the sky turn red.

“Retreat!”

Rather, they moved further from the battlefield. A colossal meteor was heading towards Weed and the Embinyu Church.

Weed thought it was meaningless to preserve all his power when trying to save the continent. A big impact hit the camp of the Embinyu Army!

It was like they were seeing the sun as stones, wood and sand started surging. Wind blew strongly enough to push back their bodies.

Some combat slaves with low vitality died but the damage wasn’t severe.

“Did the Great Emperor survive?”

“I don’t know. He isn’t visible.”

The sky turned red again before they could confirm Weed’s fate. Warrior-3 pointed a finger to the sky.

“It is coming again!”

Meteors were pouring from the sky. Surprisingly, the Summon Meteor magic didn’t call one meteor but dozens of them. The impact caused clouds of dust as the long, burning tail of meteors fell.

The land was astonished. It was a vivid scene as the earth became like ice cream.

Warrior-1 spoke after a while.

“Did the Great Emperor die in peace?”

Warrior-2 replied with confidence.

“He would’ve been in pain.”

Chapter 5: Weed’s End

Weed felt a chill down his spine 10 seconds before the first meteor hit.

‘I really might die.’

His increased defense had no meaning against this immense power. It was enough to call Summon Meteor the ultimate magic attack. A strong magic attack couldn’t even compare to it!

A minimum of 3 Master Magicians were required to summon a meteor. It wasn’t magic that just anyone could use. The individuals would also require a long time to cast it and the accuracy was low, therefore it was taxing to use in battle. If they were lucky it would fall on the enemies. If not, their allies would be the ones damaged.

Weed had thought it was similar to a skill when he used it. Even if the meteor headed towards the desert army, they could just run away on the horses or camels to reduce the damage. There wouldn’t be a large impact even  if 200,000 combat slaves died.

So he had a rough idea of the area where the meteor would fall.

“Get out of the way!”

Weed wasn’t the only one running recklessly. The monsters and demons were fleeing in shock.

“Ohh, God Embinyu! Finally this land will be destroyed.”

“Come and kill me. My wish is death!”

But the fanatics bowed on the ground and said prayers of thanks.

“By the grace of Embinyu….ack!”

Weed stepped on them as he passed by. He couldn’t see it but he felt like the meteor wasn’t far away. His back felt hot.

‘In the next 5~6 seconds.’

He roughly estimated the time that the meteor would fall. He didn’t know if it was accurate but just 0.1 seconds could mean the difference between life or death. The rain and whirlwind disappeared as the meteor fell to the ground.

Weed ran through at least 1 kilometres of land. He was fleeing in the same direction as the priests of the Embinyu Church but he didn’t have time to kill them.

His entire field of vision was filled with a bright light. This meant the collision was imminent!

Anyway, he was positive it would fall down behind him. He would still experience the destructive power no matter how far away from him it fell.

“Aigoo, I will die. It would be good if I live in order to help others.”

Suddenly he noticed another crack in the earth nearby. But it was too narrow for his current body to enter.

“Sculpture Transformation release!”

Sculpture Transformation was released and he shifted from the bulky barbarian to his original form. He plunged towards the crack in the ground while hurriedly equipping his armour.

“Close Eyes Tightly, Absolute Defense! And this as well. Steel Skin!”

It was a defensive skill he used in the early days of his growth in the desert but he hadn’t used it lately. It was a scene that demonstrated his great survival instinct.

And the meteor crashed into the ground. The location wasn’t very far from the crack that Weed had initially fallen into.

There was a huge earthquake after the meteor crashed. The debris was swept away and a huge flame storm occurred. Shortly afterwards, a shock wave passed through the ground like a tsunami.

– Health has been dramatically reduced due to the tremendous impact to your soul.

Absolute Defense has ensured that you won’t lose consciousness.

You have lost 48% health at once.

The serious injury to your body has significantly lowered the effects of your combat skills.

Your leg has suffered serious damage. You will limp due to the pain.

It was difficult to see the message window that flashed in front of him. Beginners would run with fear when seeing such messages.

Weed’s 354,000 health was reduced all at once. In the meantime, he had also been swept away in the disaster so he only had 38,000 health remaining. If he hadn’t supplemented his health with Mi-ne’s blessing then it would’ve been really dangerous.

Weed sighed within the crack in the ground.

“It seems like I barely survived. This is all because I have no luck. I need to work harder to exploit others. I have to return unharmed to the Arpen Kingdom.”

A shock wave and hot wind swept past him. Huge flames covered the ground.

– Health has been supplemented through the aura of fire.

– The earth goddess Mi-ne has blessed you.

The energy from the earth has restored your health and vitality.

Health is below 20% so recovery rate is 4 times higher.

Weed recovered his health and vitality using the fire and Mi-ne’s blessing. This was a situation where his life would be at risk if caught by the enemy!

‘The meteor should’ve killed a lot of them but some will be dreaming of a counterattack. It was a surprisingly devastating attack. The enemies outside should be roughly broken so I can easily sweep through them.’

Weed’s expectations of the amount of deaths grew by 10 times.

‘It is regrettable. I should’ve save this magic scroll for the Hermes Guild.’

He regretted consuming the scroll in a moment like this. It wasn’t easily obtained but he used it too easily.

‘Although it is important to finish the quest.’

Weed stuck his head out of the gap after recovering his health to 6%. His body still wasn’t healthy but he wanted to take a glimpse at the enemy.

“Embinyu’s protection is superior and he was save us from all the destruction.”

“Destruction! Destruction! Destruction!”

The impact of the meteor falling wasn’t as wide as he thought. The senior priests had used a special protection spell.

– Divine faith has negated the destruction.

The shield also temporarily protected the monsters and fanatics inside it from the attack. A fraudulent skill! The disadvantage was that it took a long time to chant the spell but the Priests of Punishment completed it to defend themselves.

As a result, many priests survived but the Embinyu Army suffered disastrous damage. The meteor struck in the heart of the army so many troops were instantly changed to dust. The power of the fall was so great that the terrain itself was shattered and many troops completely destroyed. Many were disabled and couldn’t fight anymore despite surviving.

Just like Weed, they couldn’t avoid being involved in the large disaster. If it hadn’t been for the priests’ protection magic then the core power of the Embinyu Army would’ve been wiped out. In particular, the demons that came out of the Gates of Hell were decreased by one third. The gate was still open but the meteor meant the demons weren’t in great shape.

Weed was quite close to the edge of the shield. The Knights of Atrocities and monsters caught his eye.

“A sacrifice! Hiding over there!”

“H-hello?”

Weed tried to dive down into the ground again like he was playing whack-a-mole. His health was low so it was be a burden if he immediately resumed fighting. But a short moment passed and the Knights of Atrocities and monsters didn’t head over.

‘What are they doing?’

He noticed that they didn’t want to exit the boundaries of the protection magic.

‘If the attack is over then the divine magic would be turned off. It is questionable.’

The destruction that the meteor brought still hadn’t disappeared. A sea of fire was still covering the ground like flowing lava. Despite that, the troops were cautiously wandering within the divine magic.

Weed’s instincts was as sharp as a knife.

‘These people aren’t crazy.’

The Embinyu priests wouldn’t collectively act stupid.

‘Don’t tell me…’

He looked up at the sky to see it turn red again. And numerous small pebbles could be seen! They grew as they approached at a rapid pace.

“It didn’t end with just one!”

The effect was different from when a Summon Meteor spell was used. In most cases, only one or two medium sized meteors would fall.

A magician’s power was important when summoning but it also depended on luck. That’s why a meteor shower could only be summoned when the magician was older and their power was at its peak. The biggest meteor would fall first but dozens of others would follow suit.

Weed’s brain worked as quickly as a computer. And the calculations were complete! The situation was bleak. The quote that emerged wasn’t good.

The Summon Meteor scroll was just bait for him to kill himself. He blamed the magician Roderick. His conclusion was that it was best to blame others!

“It is really difficult to survive.”

However, he couldn’t just give up. Weed exited the crack in the earth and headed towards the direction where the desert army was waiting since it was also furthest away from the meteors. He only had 6% health left so a similar impact would kill him.

‘I will unconditionally die.’

That’s why the Embinyu Army didn’t try to stop Weed. They were just looking and staring. The monsters that didn’t receive the protection of the priests were just spread out in every direction like trash.

The new meteors would collide with the Embinyu Army. It was almost impossible to reduce the damage.

‘A lot of dead. Those fellows won’t be alive for long.’

It was like Weed taking the milk from an elementary school friend. He limped uncomfortably through the flames. His health recovered faster thanks to the flames.

Of course, he had to give up the appearance of honour and dignity necessary for the Great Emperor of the desert.

“Everybody rejoice. God Embinyu is showing his will.”

“The strength of Embinyu is coming down from the heavens.”

The Embinyu followers were pleased. Dangerous meteors were falling from the sky but they didn’t blame Weed for it. The Embinyu Church were just cheering.

Three or four meteors fell from the sky at once! They hit the ground in different directions. One fell a fair distance behind Weed, one near the flowing river and one to the right.

The Embinyu Army was also distributed close to Dulmore Fortress in order to attack it. The meteor falling near the river accurately hit the troops of the Embinyu Church.

“Where should I go to avoid damage?”

His eyes could clearly see the flaming meteor so there was no time to hesitate.

“Hell, I don’t know.”

Weed threw his body into a crack. And he grabbed onto the cliff while falling. After a while, a huge impact was delivered into his body.

“Keheok!”

– A heavy shock has been received in succession.

Health has decreased by 48,973.

Absolute Defense has prevented the damage caused by aftershocks.

Currently the ‘Curse of Pain and Cruelty’ is lowering your maximum health.

You have 1.6% health remaining.

The durability of your armour has been reduced.

The leg injury has worsened.

There is damage from bleeding. Health will decrease by 974 every second.

“I-I lived. Nonsense.”

If he hadn’t limped through the fire then he would’ve died. Weed clung to the steep cliff and stared up at the sky.

Six meteors could be seen in the sky. He was already sick of the Summon Meteor ultimate magic. The good news was that this time, four meteors went in a completely different direction. They were headed towards the location of the Beiner Kingdom’s capital city.

And two were approaching Weed from the front. He didn’t know exactly where it would drop but the damage would occur over a large area.

“Let’s go.”

Weed emerged from the crack again. This was the first time a meteor was heading this way. It wouldn’t kill him if he walked a little more. There would be a colossal explosion but he could absorb the energy of the fire.

If the Embinyu Army suffered huge damage and he somehow survived then he would likely win the war. The biggest problem was that the chances of his survival wasn’t very high.

– Health is continuing to decrease.

The curse ‘Blood Legacy’ will reduced health recovery rate by 19.7%.

The curse ‘Black Skin’ has weakened your resilience.

The curse ‘Dark Hallucinations’ has weakened your magic resistance.

Weed’s injuries were too severe to heal quickly. Some persistent curses on his body still hadn’t disappeared. His sturdy body and vitality meant he could walk instead of just dying.

The Embinyu Army were just waiting to chant congratulations after he died a painful death. His injury meant he couldn’t even fight the knights or monsters if they emerged from the shield.

And Weed started to truly despair.

“I can’t go any further.”

The terrain changed a lot from the impact of the meteor falling to the ground. The gaps in the earth became even larger. Weed avoided the meteor and replenished his health with the fire but couldn’t cross a 20 metre wide gap. It was impossible to cross the bottom or go backwards.

“It is over.”

The damage from the bleeding was still continuing. The meteor would fall to the ground soon and he still needed to replenish his health. Weed stared at the sky with melancholy eyes. A giant, flaming meteor was clearly visible.

“The quest will fail and my life will disappear after 30 seconds.”

In their last few moments, memories would pass through a person’s mind like a kaleidoscope.

That also happened to Weed to a certain extent. The Nodulle and Hilderun quest in the desert and sea that he experienced with Seo-yoon. Only the memories of sweeping across the continent with the desert army remained.

“This is a decent stage to greet my death. I’m not lonely.”

Weed calmly accepted his death. Not much health remained so he couldn’t survive the shock of the meteor. Even if he survived that danger, he would be in the heart of the Embinyu Army.

“This will be the most memorable death.”

Weed lay down on the ground and blankly looked at the sky. He wanted to watch the meteor fall and die beautifully.

The sky was completely red and dozens of large and small meteors were falling towards the ground. This sight was difficult to see anywhere else.

Weed suddenly felt something moist touch his nose.

“Puhung!”

There was a musty smell that was difficult to endure.

“Bactrian Camel, go away.”

“Puhuhuhung!”

“Bactrian Camel, you are smelly. You should wash out the smell…. Bactrian Camel, why are you here?”

Weed jumped up and saw the dirty Bactrian Camel standing next to him. Hope started to burn again in the eyes that had been filled with despair.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bactrian Camel hid in Dulmore Fortress in accordance with Weed’s command.

‘Well, it is hard to fight against them.’

It was fun to watch the battle at the fortress but his gaze turned towards Weed. He had helped Weed during combat in the desert.

Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and the other sculptural lifeforms fought separately but Bactrian Camel and Weed moved as one. He would kick with the back feet while fighting monsters. He also observed the stars and smelled water to find a route through the desert.

“Faster! Faster!”

Weed would also make him run nonstop in order to arrive at the destination in the shortest time.

“Very good.”

It was great whenever Bactrian Camel received a compliment. He could eat 2~3 extra carrots, Therefore, he always followed Weed despite his face not being able to show emotions.

But while watching Weed’s growth in the desert, he thought that Weed’s life was more important than his own.

‘What is that?’

Bactrian Camel sensed danger when the dark sky turned bright red.

‘Master is in danger.’

He knew that the meteor was falling and ran in Weed’s direction. Bactrian Camel became the target of dark knights and monsters.

“Embinyu will give you a special mercy. Burn and eat that camel.”

“Capture that camel and eat it!”

The Embinyu Army leapt towards Bactrian Camel.

He rushed past the enemy but couldn’t help receiving some injuries. He safely avoided the impact of the meteor and searched for his master.

And after finally discovering Weed, he casually gave a nose kiss.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Well, I told you to wait but you must’ve been bored and came here.”

“Puhung!”

“Anyway, it is great.”

Weed mounted Bactrian Camel.

“Go as quickly as possible!”

Bactrian Camel took two or three steps back before running and jumping past the 20 metres wide gap. This was just an insignificant obstacle to Bactrian Camel.

“Faster! Run like this is the desert sand!”

Bactrian Camel knew that meteors were falling. There were only 10 seconds left.

The camel carrying Weed ran at a frightening speed that overtook the wind. He jumped over gaps in the earth, rocks and the Embinyu Army.

Bactrian Camel’s vitality was replenished while passing through the fire. Weed’s health was also filled!

Weed turned around and looked back as the camel continued to run. The meteor with a long tail was falling towards the Embinyu Army.

“Go over there!”

“Puhuhung!”

Weed and the camel arrived at the fire zone where the first meteor had fallen. The meteor had left behind a huge trail in the ground.

A 400 metres deep pit had formed. And there was a sea of fire around it!

Weed and the camel’s body shook as there was a shockwave. The next meteor had landed on the ground.

– It is difficult to recover from the shock.

There is a severe reduction in health due to the shaking of the earth.

Bactrian Camel has absorbed some of the damage.

15,838 health has been lost.

Absolute Defense has blocked any additional damage.

You have suffered a critical injury throughout your body.

The damage from bleeding has worsened.

You are unable to walk.

Maximum health will be reduced by 14% for the next two days.

It was a situation where he was barely living! Weed was almost devoid of life so his body was in a half dead state.

Bactrian Camel also fell helplessly to the side due to accumulated fatigue and injury. Even so, his facial expression was satisfied because he had saved Weed’s life. Bactrian Camel closed his eyes and waited for death.

He still had 13% health left but his right front leg and left hind leg were injured, making him no longer able to walk. A camel no longer being able to walk just meant death. At least he had saved Weed’s life.

“I can’t stop here.”

Earlier, Weed had given up on his life. He honestly hadn’t seen any ways to survive.

“I survived at least two times so there is no reason I can’t now. Life isn’t something easily obtained.”

He used the goddess of earth, Mi-ne’s blessing in an attempt to restore his health.

– Thirty-one bones in your body have been broken.

You will feel the pain every time you move so normal behaviour is impossible.

Health will recover slowly.

“I am like a vegetable.”

Weed couldn’t even get up. He received a very serious injury and was on the verge of death so his recovery speed was affected. It was unfortunate but he couldn’t move while meteors were dropping on the Embinyu Army.

“I will die when a meteor falls.”

He only had a few minutes so it was a very short amount of time. He needed to somehow survive.

The most important thing about the Dead Rat operation was Weed’s ability to survive in any environment. He reached the limits after the disaster and the crisis caused by the summoned meteors.

Although the Embinyu Army was somewhat to blame, his pride also caused his result. It raised some questions about himself.

‘I did my best.’

There were some quests where Weed had struggled. He had used sculpting or anything in the vicinity to respond to the enemy.

He led an army of dark elves and orcs to defeat the Immortal Legion and joined the Northern Expedition to defeat the Bone Dragon.

Then he experienced significant growth in the desert and proudly confronted his enemies. Of course, he had fought the Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms but Weed hadn’t really faced any strong opposition.

Such honesty wasn’t normal for Weed.

“I’ve been wrong.”

Weed became cool-headed. He didn’t find anything missing while analysing the situation. He would use any favourable opportunity to survive. Then he had a realization like he had been hit in the back of the head!

“I still have this left.”

Weed took out something to eat.

Mana Heart of the Fire Salamander King. The heart of the Salamander King beat like it was still alive. It would have a better effect if he cooked it properly. If he tinkered with it while cooking then adverse effects might occur!

So far, he had just brought it along as food. But it could act as a restorative in a dangerous situation. There was no guarantee his condition would get better and it might even worsen.

“Well, I’m going to die anyway. My mother used to say that eating before dying is good to get rid of demons.”

He simply sprinkled salt on the heart. It was a bit jarring that the heart still seemed alive but he could endure it. He was also willing to eat snakes, frogs, insects, flies or mosquitoes if it was good for his body.

“Well, it should taste similar to a giblet. That savoury taste. Eating it lightly grilled with red pepper paste would be tasty.”

He put it in his mouth and it literally melted as he chewed.

– You have eaten the Mana Heart of the Fire Salamander King.

Maximum mana has permanently increased.

The ability to deal with flames has increased by 3%.

The flame compression technique has strengthened. It will affect the destructive power and range of a particular skill.

You have gained immunity to flames.

There will be no damage even in a very hot location.

The skill World of Fire can be used.

Vitality has mostly recovered.

Some health has been regained by absorbing the energy of fire.

– Skill World of Fire: The Mana Heart of the Fire Salamander King contained highly concentrated fire spirits sleeping.

The senior spirits of fire can be fully released.

It is extremely rare for World of Fire to be used. The mana nestled inside the heart means that World of Fire can be used three times.

However, if you use it two times within a week then the flame mana will disappear. Once used, World of Fire can increase maximum mana by 45,300 for six months.

The maximum mana value will decrease the more that World of Fire is used.

“World of Fire!”

Flames started to spread uncontrollably around him. It was like the god of fire had descended to earth.

“It is good that I ate that thing. My body will become more sensitive as I become older.”

– The earth goddess Mi-ne has blessed you.

The energy from the earth has restored your health and vitality.

Health is below 20% so recovery rate is 4 times higher.

Health started to recover normally again. Weed’s current health was 5%. He regained 30,000 health after eating the mana heart. But he still had various combat injuries and other abnormal states.

– Bleeding has stopped.

His tough body that lived in the rough sands of the desert had overcome the crisis again.

The recovery speed of his health now accelerated. He could gain energy from the fire so recovery became more active. If he hadn’t hunted the Fire Salamander King during the Nodulle’s Growth quest then he wouldn’t have obtained this recovery method. Nevertheless, monsters and fanatics were still around him.

“I have to go before they come.”

Weed stood up from the deep pit caused by the meteor. His leg wasn’t completely normal but he needed to get way from the Embinyu Army. There were also the demons from hell. If they knew his status then they would attack.

Bactrian Camel lay quietly as he felt the warmth of the flames.

“Hey, Bactrian Camel!”

“Puhuhuhung!”

Bactrian Camel just grunted. It seemed like he wanted to be left alone with his huge injury. He didn’t want to open his eyes to see his master’s last appearance.

“Hey, are you there?”

“Puhung!”

“Don’t go to sleep.”

Weed hit Bactrian Camel on the shoulder.

He wasn’t going to leave his sculptural lifeform to die there. Bactrian Camel had many injuries and his health was low.

Weed started to walk towards the location of the desert army while carrying Bactrian Camel.

Chapter 6: Embinyu’s Power

The Embinyu Army was caught up in the meteor disaster and smashed! The land itself was smashed by the fearsome meteors falling on it.  The core power that the Embinyu Church was proud of collapsed and many fanatics and monsters were killed.

Motuls, Igrig and the priests were safe due to the protection magic but their control over the monsters had collapsed.

Kyaung!

The monsters attacked and ate the fanatics without hesitation. Meanwhile, a fight was still ongoing between the monsters and humans at Dulmore Fortress.

“All soldiers of the Mapon Kingdom, raise your swords!”

“All knights, cut the monsters. His Majesty wants you to win!”

The humans at Dulmore Fortress had surrendered to their fear. They were full of despair as they fought the monsters while the king escaped.

“God, save our Mapon Kingdom!”

Rohadram led the knights against the monsters. However, the earth shook as the meteor fell near the river.

Although it was fortunate because the advance of the fanatics were stopped, many defenses and facilities in the fortress collapsed along with the soldiers.

“Ohhh, no. We were wrong.”

“Hanson, why would you say that? The enemies are now approaching. Go ahead and shoot the arrows!”

“No. Why has the king abandoned us? I will now follow the Embinyu Church!”

“Knights, raise your swords for the Embinyu Church!”

Due to the influence of the inquisitors and priests, the soldiers became fanatics. A situation that was rapidly deteriorating!

Powerful curses were inflicted on Dulmore Fortress by the Embinyu Church. The Priests of Punishment near the fortress planted vicious curses as the soldiers were engulfed in madness.

But after the sky was cleared of the meteor shower, Motuls and Igrig regained control of the Embinyu Army.

– Aura. That person is going against Embinyu. The will of God. Kill everyone who stands in our way.

“Igrig is calling.”

“A command has come from God Embinyu.”

The fanatics and monsters recovered. And the troops were ordered out of Dulmore Fortress and changed targets according to Igrig’s command. In order to fulfil Embinyu’s will, killing Weed was more important than the insignificant Dulmore Fortress.

The monsters and fanatics who survived the meteor showed were only 120,000. It was a situation where they were wild with rage and the Dulmore Plains would eventually be renamed as the Distorted Plains.

Of course, the remaining humans at Dulmore Fortress weren’t persistent opponents. The sacred river had been completely dried up and the 12 magic defenses at the fortress were all broken.

The monsters protected by the magic shield ventured out after the meteor shower was over in order to boldly hunt the humans. Unfortunately, the 1,000 demons had only been reduced by less than a tenth. Half of the monsters had their bodies destroyed while others were scared by the meteor shower and left the battlefield.

“Those who manage to kill Weed will be given special powers by Embinyu.”

“Don’t miss out. Chase him. His footprints are over here.”

Nearly 140,000 troops searched the plains for Weed. The Knights of Atrocities started to chase after him.

“We will knock him down.”

The ground also shook due to the bronze giants. Among the 1,000 bronze giants, 700 were still safe!

The bronze giants from the Embinyu Church had a special power. As long as their heads weren’t destroyed, their bodies would eventually be restored. Of course, this was at the speed of a slug but it still meant they didn’t die.

The bronze giants caused thumps due to their huge bodies. The bronze giants that didn’t avoid the meteors were completely smashed. Those attacking Dulmore Fortress were injured by the meteor hitting the river. They picked up boulders and roared in an attempt to get revenge for the fire.

‘All of them are my enemies. My life is like this every time.’

Weed was carrying Bactrian Camel on his shoulders so his movement speed was slow. This was why he wasn’t far from the place where the meteor had fallen. Flames and smoke meant the enemy couldn’t see him but the wind was blowing the smoke away.

“Puhung!”

Bactrian Camel cried out.

“Shut up. We will be discovered by the enemies.”

“Pururung!”

“It is also hard for me since I am giving you a piggyback.”

There were clear tears in the Bactrian Camel’s eyes. He had been running through the desert sand shortly after being given life so his chest warmed at this event.

He had acted as a bad man many times so Bactrian Camel was greatly impressed by this good deed. His master was using his strength and vitality to save him. If they could survive here then he would follow his master anywhere with a willing heart.

“It is dangerous if you continue having that illusion.”

“Puhung?”

“I will throw you towards the enemy as bait. And you will be used as protection against arrows. Well, I will take care of it.”

He didn’t want to die together with Bactrian Camel. It was passed off as a joke but Bactrian Camel was likely to suffer!

Weed and Bactrian Camel walked through a deep, smoke filled place. There were many deep holes in the ground due to the meteor shower. Flames and smoke were rising but that wouldn’t last for a while.

‘My health is over 8%. I don’t need to be concerned about the fanatics but….’

Weed calculated that he needed to moderately increase his health in order to escape.

Kwaaaang!

While he was lost in thought, a chunk of stone was deeply inserted into the ground next to him. The bronze giants were throwing stones through the fire.

“He is hiding somewhere there.”

“Smash everything!”

The priests of the Embinyu Church used ice magic that would extinguish the fire. Stones pillars and wide area curses were blasted in the area.

“They aren’t giving me a break. They are continuously attacking.”

Weed complained as he stared at the flame zone stretched out in front of him. He couldn’t even stop to breath as that would just cause his death! He was surrounded by monsters as soon as he exited the smoke.

Woooooo!

The monsters gave a huge cry. And the other monsters close to one another started to cry out as well. The Embinyu Army scouring the plains for Weed’s movements started heading towards his location.

A bronze giant found Weed.

“You killed my brothers.”

“Rip him apart while alive!”

The bronze giants were far from being calm and rational. They threw rocks right towards Weed.

“Pururung.”

Bactrian Camel sensed his death the moment the rocks were thrown. He had been quietly waiting for death but his heartless owner had dragged him out to be killed be stones. The moment the camel’s short life was about to finish!

Weed watched the rocks and used a skill.

“Undulating Flame Mark!”

He had already experienced the fall of the meteors so this didn’t frighten him.

Kwa kwa kwang!

Only bits of the stone fell around Weed. The ones directly aimed at him were melted by the power of the flames. The bronze giants were roaring.

“That man is mine. I will tear him apart with my own hands!”

They gave a warning to the other monsters! Weed’s Undulating Flame Mark blocked all the stones that the bronze giants threw. Outside the fire zone, 10 bronze giants were encircling him.

“Foolish human, there is no place to escape.”

There was an angry voice as the witch Pechet floated in mid-air. She was unharmed but quite a large number of witches failed to withstand the impact of the meteors and died. Weed sighed as he gazed at the enemies around him.

“My damn popularity….”

Weed’s popularity among the monsters and followers of the Embinyu Church surpassed that of a Hallyu star! They grinded their teeth so much from anger that a dentist would need to be hired to fix the teeth of the fanatics. Of course, he was used to the Hermes Guild or regular users hating him.

“Kill me.”

Weed just continued walking forward while carrying the Bactrian Camel.

“Of course you want to kill me.”

“He is my share! I won’t give him to anyone else.”

“I will extract the value of the witches’ lives from you.”

The bronze giants and witch Pechet competed with each other. Unfortunately, the bronze giants were ignored of any ranged attack methods outside of throwing stones or spears.

Their siege was good but their attack methods weren’t effective against a much smaller human. They tried to step on him or brandished a spear!

The witch Pechet gathered a red energy between her hands and threw it at him. Her ability to absorb the strength of others!

Weed jumped forward first so he wouldn’t be weakened.

“That is impossible, witch!”

Weed put Bactrian Camel and wielded the Extermination Sword. But his attacks just passed through her like she was a ghost.

– The enemy’s body has been cut.

No damage has been caused.

– Movement has been reduced by 3% due to the paralysis effect.

You have been scratched by Pechet on the side and health has fallen by 4,382.

Despite Weed’s heavy attacks, he couldn’t cause any damage to Pechet’s body. He couldn’t break the encirclement and dozens of curses hit his body.

It was the worse situation! But Pechet’s attacks were slow and obvious.

Weed linked his attack skills together and predicted his opponent’s follow up actions. His physical attacks against the enemies were obsolete but he could block or repel Pechet’s sharp claws.

But his movements were awkward when he had to move in front of Bactrian Camel. He needed to protect Bactrian Camel so he couldn’t possible leave!

‘This is his true heart. He is my master.’

Bactrian Camel was so impressed that he shed tears.

“I will do anything to save Bactrian Camel. End of the Day!”

And he prepared to catch Pechet with a big skill.

“Ohoho, you’re caught!”

– Your body has been paralysed.

The skill has been forcibly cancelled.

– Life force has been absorbed!

1,390 health, mana and vitality will be forcibly taken away every second.

The power of your skills have been forcibly suppressed by 79%.

Small amount of the stats you’ve acquired through successful training or adventures will be permanently taken away every 10 seconds.

If health and mana is completely drained, you will experience death and the side effects can last for 3 days to 1 month.

The witch Pechet literally sucked other people’s auras. Weed was already aware of this.

However, he had no intention of using a spell like Corpse Explosion. He couldn’t use a necromancer’s magic and he wouldn’t save the world at his expense.

‘I need to eat all of this!’

Pechet’s face became a little clearer as she absorbed his life force. Her long hair was like a sharp sword and a red aura radiated from her entire body. Her flesh was entering this world from another dimension.

– 43,756 health is remaining.

Strength has permanently reduced by 4.

Honour has permanently reduced by 4.

Weed waited quietly. A chance wouldn’t come twice so he needed to wait for the perfect moment. When his health fell to 30,000 and h lost 17 stats…

Weed was barely able to turn his head and blinked his eyes at Bactrian Camel.

‘Ah, Master is giving me a final goodbye.’

Blink blink.

Bactrian Camel closed his big eyes before opening them again.

‘Goodbye Master. I will follow soon.’

Weed frowned even more.

It was an expression of regret like he had to eat barley bread for his entire life!

Bactrian Camel was impressive and noticed something very quickly. He understood that it was a nagging expression, not a compliment.

‘He only gives me that look when he thinks I am being stupid or lazy.’

Meanwhile, Weed was nearing death. Then Weed suddenly smiled widely like it was his happiest moment. Just like when Bactrian Camel was eating a fresh and delicious carrot!

Weed desperately conveyed his intentions. Bactrian Camel was able to understand after remembering the past.

In the early days of the desert growth, Weed’s level had been low so Bactrian Camel had fought with him. There was a risk with every hunt. The moment Weed was in danger, Bactrian Camel would kick the monster and be rewarded with a carrot.

Weed had helped him come here so Bactrian Camel could move slightly. He staggered upwards and headed towards Pechet. And gave an intense rear kick!

“Kyahh!”

Pechet who was attached to Weed fell with a scream.

– The paralysis has been released.

End of the Day could now be used as originally planned but he did something else.

“World of Fire!”

– The mana contained in the Heart of the Fire Salamander King has been released into the world.

Senior fire elementals have gained the necessary nutrients.

The noble spirits will descend in order to devour.

The air started to heat up as soon as he used the skill. The temperature that had fallen since the meteor shower started to steadily climb. The sudden heat was reminiscent to a fire pit. And all of a sudden, different types of fire elementals appeared everywhere!

– The pure energy of fire is overflowing here. Summoner, what do you want?

Weed ordered decisively.

“Burn it all. Clean everything!”

– It shall be as you desire.

The rare fire elementals that never descended to the ground was going to cover this world with flames. The flames swallowed up the monsters, knights, priests and bronze giants.

“Kyahaak!”

The witch Pechet was rolling across the ground in an attempt to get away. She had a high ability to not get caught. Even if his attacks hit, she couldn’t be damaged because her flesh was in another dimension. But now the circumstances had changed.

“Summon Another Sword.”

The sword of light that Weed summoned immediately cut Pechet’s body.

“Kyaah!”

Magicians and witches had exceptional capabilities in curses. Therefore Pechet didn’t die despite having low health. Weed got up as Pechet tried to run away.

He couldn’t miss this opportunity to get rid of the witch. Pechet’s body became slightly transparent as she tried to return her body to another dimension.

“Black Knight’s Strike, Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

The light from Sculpting Blade continuously went through Pechet’s body.

– You have dealt a critical blow!

– You have dealt a critical blow!

– You have dealt a critical blow!

It thwarted the spell being chanted.

– Black Knight’s Strike!

An irreversible attack against the surrounding enemies.

There were numerous enemies in the vicinity but Weed didn’t care about them at all. All his attacks were focused on Pechet.

“Kyaah!”

Pechet screamed as she persisted in not dying.

“A human like you won’t be able to escape. Death is close to your side. Your corpse will be buried here….”

The witch started chanting an attack spell. Weed’s health was already in a vulnerable state so the attack would unconditionally kill him!

– The attack has grazed you.

– The attack has powerlessly passed you by.

– You have cut the enemy.

If Pechet’s body half disappeared then it would’ve all been useless. Weed needed to stop the magic from being completed or die! Weed continuously stabbed straight in the heart area.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

96% damage has been added.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

283% damage has been added.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

485% damage has been added.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

721% damage has been added.

A series of one point attacks!

He had used Sculptural Destruction so his damage was terrific. Finally, Pechet’s body cracked like a broken mirror and she turned into a grey light. And hundreds of mana lights scattered.

– Your level has risen.

– The ruler of the Narut Valley and a wicked alchemist, the witch Pechet has entered her eternal rest.

– Fame has increased by 19,238 due to the great achievement.

– As a special reward for the fight, all stats have increased by 6.

Once Weed returned to his original world, his level and skill proficiency would be reduced again. But the battle achievements and additional stats gained was completely his own.

The witch Pechet also dropped some amazing items. Dragon Bone Flute, Ring of Hell, Cloak of Space and Everlasting Arm Shield.

Weed bagged all the items but couldn’t verify the information as he raised his Extermination Sword.

The demons had stopped falling down.

– The Gates of Hell has been broken.

The connection between Embinyu and Hell has been broken.

The passage associated with hell will be closed.

– The moral of the soldiers that had been reduced by the Gates of Hell opening has been restored to the original state.

Hope has temporarily reached 140%.

– The effects of faith is working properly.

– Black magic won’t be strongly expressed.

“This is my resolve.”

Weed immediately collapsed to the ground. Health, vitality, mana. He didn’t have a lot remaining. Pechet’s absorption had been stopped shortly before he died.

– Health has been supplemented through the aura of fire.

World of Fire was currently active so Weed’s health was quickly restored.

Meanwhile, many monsters and bronze giants clamoured as they died. But World of Fire could only be maintained for a short time.

It didn’t change that fact that he was surrounded by the Embinyu Army. Weed needed to replenish his health as much as possible.

“There is still hope. Pechet and a large number of the Embinyu Army has died.”

Their fighting spirit should be decreased by the meteor shower disaster and World of Fire. Weed had dealt a great amount of damage to the Embinyu Army. Then the high priests Motuls and Igrig exchanged glances.

“That pagan has some capabilities.”

“However, Embinyu is the God of Destruction.”

“Of course.”

And Igrig started chanting a spell.

– Servants of the faith, your soul hasn’t entered hell even if your flesh is rotting. Freedom, rest and tranquillity isn’t allowed by our sacred promise. Embinyu is immortal and has arranged a festival of carnage and destruction!

Igrig’s divine magic spread through the plains and Dulmore Fortress. The flesh of the dead monsters and fanatics got up and started moving again. Those who were buried deep in the ground by the disaster also came back up again. Even those without any traces left due to the meteor shower were returned. The bodies of the bronze giants regenerated.

– High Priest Igrig’s fanatical army!

The fanatics who pursue destruction have been granted immortality by the god Embinyu.

The spirit and flesh subordinate to the god won’t completely disappear.

High Priest Igrig has fulfilled this promise of immortality and have revived the army to lead the world into destruction.

In order to prevent the promise of immortality, return Igrig to his eternal rest.

Apart from the witch Pechet, the monsters, fanatics, priests and knights would endlessly revive. Their bodies were different from the undead as they were revived in their original state.

The turtles that crashed in the early stages of the battle also flew back up. Even the archers on the backs of the turtles were intact and they flew towards the plains at Igrig’s command. The entire army was revived at a frightening speed.

Weed was appalled as he watched the spectacle.

“This is the first time I’ve felt like this.”

Normally difficult quests was like crossing mountain after mountain but he felt a sense of achievement at completing it.

Weed finally realized that this quest was like crossing a mountain, acidic lake, the deep sea, underwater caves, underwater canyons and then a crater spewing lava.

Chapter 7: Destination Point

Weed’s eyes indicated that he wasn’t dead yet. An unyielding spirit like a weed!

“I need to go somewhere. Well, what is dying once more? If I am killed then the quest would just be ruined.  Anyway, this is life.”

A desperate plan!

The odds for completing this quest wasn’t very high. The Gates of Hell was broken but the immortal fanatical army had appeared. He had even used a huge disaster like a meteor shower.

It was difficult to predict the likelihood of success. He had been caught off guard but it wasn’t the first time that had happened in his life. Just as there was a ray of hope, Igrig used his magic to revive the Embinyu Army. Several hundred people were resurrected sequentially so it hadn’t been completed yet.

“It will be finished quickly.”

Weed limped as he walked with Bactrian Camel. He absorbed health thanks to World of Fire but his physical condition wasn’t good after facing the witch Pechet. There were dozens of curses hanging on him so he couldn’t flee quickly!

Bactrian Camel cried out.

“Puhuhuhung!”

The shaking of his head obviously meant ‘just leave me here and go on alone!’.

“Don’t worry. Do you really think I will leave you and go on alone?”

“Puhuhuhung!”

“Don’t be scared. I can do it.”

Weed walked carrying Bactrian Camel again.

The fire elementals burned the enemies in front of him as they opened the way. Once he walked approximately 200~300 metres, the power of the fire weakened. The mana supply to the advanced fire elementals was running out.

“I don’t have time.”

Weed increased his fleeing speed.

World of Fire had inflicted damage to the Embinyu Army but they would just be resurrected again. The turtles flying in the sky were approaching as they wanted to get revenge on Weed. Weed’s leg was injured so his pace was uncomfortable.

Due to the land distortion caused by the disaster, even riding Bactrian Camel wouldn’t be that fast. Bactrian Camel had received serious injuries in the meteor collision and they wouldn’t heal properly without treatment magic.

Weed absorbed as much as he could from the flames.

– Summoner, I am happy receiving all that mana. I will wait for you to call me again.

The summoning of the advanced fire elementals was released! The flames had spread widely through the Embinyu Church.

“There is someone over there.”

“He is a sacrifice. Kill him!”

The Knights of Atrocities came running. The monsters were also running behind the Knights of Atrocities. The demons that had already descended prepared to attack.

But he felt ,ore reassured about the demons. Those that were killed didn’t have access to the divine power to revive.

Weed put down Bactrian Camel again and grasped the Extermination Sword.

“This place will be your grave.”

He wasn’t looking at the knights but the turtle unit in the sky. The bronze giants continued throwing a myriad of rocks on the battlefield.

“You will die like last time.”

Weed left Bactrian Camel behind and swung his sword towards the Knights of Atrocities. The Atrocity Knights fell as a tremendous power was thrown at them!

This was true swordsmanship. All the soldiers and knights in front of him were knocked down. The enemies couldn’t prevent the attack and died due to severe injuries.

“Ohhhh.”

“Pagan, you are challenging the will of Embinyu!”

A Knight of Atrocity said after killing 150 of them. He was a level 600 intermediate ranked boss in the Embinyu Army.

– Health remaining is 5.8%.

His physical state continued deteriorating as he fought in an unstable condition.

“I encourage you to bring it on!”

Weed righteously exclaimed.

His health had fallen to the floor again but the situation couldn’t be reconciled at the moment! The Knights of Atrocities continued attacking and bodies piled up.

This wasn’t a situation with a fair and square victory. To make matters worse, Igrig’s magic meant the bodies of the Atrocity Knights rose again.

An endless fight!

Weed used minimal movements to avoid the attacks from the tireless attacks from the knights. The Extermination Sword felt like an increasingly heavy burden.

‘This is why I shouldn’t be a hero. I should’ve lined up on the side of the bad guys…..’

The seed of justice in this world! At that moment, a faint rotten smile crossed his face.

‘This much effort is enough for the viewers. Even if I die, there will be praise that I fought well.’

The beautiful death of a hero. The sad conclusion would resonate with the viewers for a long time.

‘This situation is pretty good. I will fight until the end.’

Once Weed died, the Embinyu Church would certainly destroy the Central Continent. The fate of the nearby Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms would also be decided. The cities would be completely destroyed as the Embinyu Church swept through. This wasn’t Weed’s style but it soothed a little of his disappointment and regret.

“Sword of Mass Slaughter!”

The Knights of Atrocities swarmed him like they were flies jumping into a fire. He was constantly forced to deal with the enemies’ attacks so he welcomed the final attack.

It was then that the situation changed.

“Puhihihing!”

Bactrian Camel who was lying down and pretended to be dead jumped up and ran over to him.

– Running rapidly in a sand storm.

A technique that will run until the strength is exhausted.

Bactrian Camel’s body still wasn’t healthy but it was a situation where he could run. Two forelegs and one hind leg! He wobbled but made a final sprint. Bactrian Camel run through the encirclement of monsters with Weed riding him.

“Chase, all knights!

The Atrocity Knights immediately pursued.

“You have come.”

Weed felt much better. Unlike his normal body, Bactrian Camel couldn’t run in a straight line. He wouldn’t be able to leave the plains even if no one interfered. The Knights of Atrocities were quickly catching up.

“I can still kill one more.”

He used the Yurbusika Frost Bow! Ice arrows were showered towards the knights chasing him.

Their advance slowed down but there were too many enemies. And monsters were coming at Igrig’s command. Furthermore, the bronze giants were trampling the monsters as they approached.

He had no hope for his life as he viewed the enemy’s serious offensive! The incident happened at that time.

“Lowlifes of the Embinyu Church, you will not pass here.”

Knights with their entire bodies made of bones. Van Hawk, the commander of the undead army and his doom knights showed up.

It wasn’t just them. The dark shadows hiding in the ground were vampires! They had been quietly lurking in the heart of the enemy and struck as their sharp fangs entered then necks of the monsters and priests chasing Weed.

“Kyaah!”

Van Hawk and Torido.

They had been shocked by the meteor fall. The 100,000 undead army but the vampires weren’t daunted.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk led half of the undead forces to quietly rescue Weed.

Torido was unable to show off the power of a Vampire Lord in this place. A frontal attack wouldn’t work so he waited for a chance to ambush the Embinyu Army. Their goal from the beginning was the delicious priests.

The blood of priests were delicious but paradoxically, they were also fatal to vampires. However, the priests that followed Embinyu had the power of darkness so it acted as a restorative to the vampires.

The sudden appearance of his subordinates caused Weed to be considerably impressed. When a business failed, the presence of friends was like a ray of light in a dark world.

A spontaneous cry of joy emerged.

“These incompetent, unlucky bastards!”

Contrary to expectations, it was a stream of criticism!

Van Hawk used the power of an Abyss Knight to block the Atrocity Knights.

“I am Van Hawk, the commander of the dark army and I will teach you the true laws of darkness.”

“Embinyu doesn’t care about the undead! Embinyu will let you known what death and evil is like in this world!”

Van Hawk demonstrated his strong skills against the Atrocity Knights.

In Torido and the vampires’ case, they had average fighting power but superior intuition. They harassed the priests and prevented them from using curses and attack spells.

“Bactrian Camel, let’s go.”

“Pururung!”

Bactrian Camel continued forward despite being exhausted. Van Hawk and the doom knights were combat specialists so they bravely faced the bronze giants. One hit from the bronze giant’s fist would break bones but their bodies were quickly reform.

The undead were proud of their immortal health. The Embinyu priests could send them back with purification spells but couldn’t due to the vampires constraining them.

Igrig revived the monsters and fanatics but Van Hawk and the undead were quicker. The undead were hastily made so they weren’t pretty but there were many of them. It didn’t matter if there was a skull defect.

“Excellent!”

Although he threw away his attachment to life, Weed rose again like a flame. It was like having a stock investment at Han River fail only to win the lottery. Igrig approached with a convoy and cried out.

“Eliminate all of Embinyu’s enemies!”

Van Hawk and Torido intercepted a lot of enemies but many more escaped to pursue Weed. The turtles flying through the sky also chased him. Igrig and Motuls’ troops were closing in so Van Hawk couldn’t block them for long.

Weed fired ice arrows towards enemies in close proximity. He rode Bactrian Camels backwards as he searched for monsters. Walls of ice were built to block the monsters but they soon caught up.

“There really is no end to this.”

Several monsters lost their lives from the ice arrows. Weed was very strong thanks to Sculptural Destruction!

However, the monsters were only obedient to Igrig so the didn’t care about the deaths of their colleagues. They just rushed past those frozen by the ice arrows.

“Pururung!”

“I know!”

He aimed the ice arrows at the ground in order to disperse and reduce the number of enemies. To make matters worse, Bactrian Camel couldn’t run properly and was getting smaller.

Weed said pitifully while firing the arrows.

“Bactrian Camel, a little bit more. I will feed you carrots for the rest of your life.”

“Puhihihing.”

The ice arrows shot in the sky pierced through seven monsters. But then what could he do?

He would get caught in a few seconds. The enemies were only dozens of metres away.

“Run a little more. This is a crisis but if all my money….”

Weed didn’t have a lot of time. A flying demon that got 10 metres close to him whipped its long time. Weed was firing another arrow so he couldn’t deal with the attack. Bactrian Camel also couldn’t avoid it!

Kuwek!

But just before it touched Weed, the flying demon suddenly crashed into the ground with its life lost. Thousands of arrows flew in the sky and hit the monsters of the Embinyu Army.

“What?”

Weed looked back to see the familiar dust storm of the camel cavalry.

“Kill everyone who threatens the Great Emperor!”

“The Red Knife desert unit, defeat the enemies.”

The soldiers specialized in archery pulled their bowstrings. The arrows of the desert warriors fell skilfully. They focused on hitting the enemy in an area that they wouldn’t survive. The arrows were also aimed to neutralize the movements of the opposing army.

The superior manoeuvrability meant the camel cavalry flew past Weed. A brutal power that would be displayed in the long term! The monsters that they broke through were subdued.

Warrior-1 who was temporarily in charge of the army came up to him.

“Great Emperor, we have come as promised.”

If it had gone as Weed originally planned then the desert army would be fighting on a good terrain. However, the desert army hurriedly ran away and suffered a headache because of the meteor shower. They didn’t receive the brunt of the blow but the deep furrows in the ground delayed their movement.

Anyway, they arrived at the perfect moment to defeat the chasing enemies. Of course, they were also arriving at the centre of the Embinyu Army.

Weed looked at Warrior-3 and his troops fighting the bronze giants. The arrows and spears were fiercely thrown. The bronze giants were knocked down by the passing desert warriors.

A close battle!

A man would want to intrude. Of course, those who cared about their own survival wouldn’t.

Weed dismounted from Bactrian Camel.

“These incompetent bastards! Why did you only come now?”

“…….”

“Anyway, it is done. Help Van Hawk and Torido and focus on defense.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Warrior-1 secured the area around them and Weed touched his hands to the ground.

– The earth goddess Mi-ne has blessed you.

The energy from the earth has restored your health and vitality.

Health is below 20% so recovery rate is 4 times higher.

“Hrmm.”

It felt superb to feel his health start to rapidly rise. In addition, Weed was more eager to return to the battlefield after refilling his health.

Bactrian Camel squatted down with no power.

“Puhuhuhung!”

The leg injury was severe so he needed a very good rest. Nevertheless, Bactrian Camel blinked and watched Weed.

Weed had said a while ago.

If they escaped from a crisis then he would part from a treasure. He had a curious mount. Weed felt dismay as he saw Bactrian Camel’s eyes.

He had a list of terrific treasures from the desert. It was enough to even buy one country.

“Hrmm, anyone can do the things you did so you don’t need to be proud.”

He immediately said!

“It is meaningless but I will still give you 20 gold for the achievement. That is enough money to build a nice barn in the middle of the desert.”

An amount possible to construct a barn in a place with water and sand! Bactrian Camel’s lips looked like he was laughing. He had a certain level of intelligence but still maintained absolute loyalty to Weed.

While the desert army and slaves fought, the army of the surrendered nobles and priests arrived.

“Bodies with a wicked aura are approaching. Goddess Freya bless us.”

– The debilitating curses on the bones have been relieved.

The weakening of the bones will disappear.

Health recovery speed +27%.

– The curse of Mirror Destruction has been alleviated.

The probability of receiving reverse damage when attacking the enemy will disappear.

“Recovery!”

“Round Hill!”

– Atrock’s holy magic has restored health by 3,872.

– Tyr’s holy magic has restored health by 3,872.

Blessings and healing was concentrated on Weed to relieve the curses. His body’s condition rapidly shot upwards.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Embinyu Army and the desert army!

The desert warriors thrust through the monsters and fanatics.

“Keep moving. In accordance with the law of the desert in regards to dealing with enemies.”

“The first priority is to break through the enemies. If the priests pursue then kill them all!”

The Knights of Atrocities were no match for the desert warriors. The Embinyu Army was strengthened with magic but the desert army used sophisticated, group strategies. They threw arrows and axes towards the enemies as they approached. And they used the thick scimitars to hit the enemies. Then the following camels would then trample on them!

The strength of the desert warriors also lay in the camels they raised. In the case of knights, armour clad horses could influence the battle. But for desert warriors, camels were essential to cross the desert plains. They needed to track down the enemies or sources of water. Weed trained the desert warriors to utilize the camels in this chain method of attack.

In addition, the desert mercenaries that Seo-yoon raised were also adept. The mercenaries solved commissions in the harsh desert so they knew how to fight with multiple weapons.

The situation of the combat slaves and prisoners were different.

“N-no. We will die if we go in there.”

“Why do we have to fight? I don’t know what I am fighting for. I want to go home.”

Their training and morale was low so they were hesitant to head into battle. At that moment, Weed yelled using Atrock’s Cry.

“Fight! If you fight the Embinyu army then you can return to your homeland. If they win then this world will end in destruction. Defeat the enemy in order for your families to survive!”

As soon as Weed recovered, he felt the need to send more troops to the desert army. The slaves’ terrified expressions changed dramatically.

“We have to finish those guys off.”

“I’m looking at that big monster for the first time. It seems kind of cute. I will mutilate them!”

Atrock’s Cry caused a change!

The power was enough to sweep away the weak fanatics. The combat slaves’ mission was to subdue the ridiculously strong Embinyu Army. Their fighting style didn’t show any training at all. Their purpose was to use their spears and shields for create a fortified wall.

The desert army acted as bait in order to give them time to fulfil the mission. The priests that weren’t disturbed by the vampires used the brainwashing technique.

“You will truly believe and only follow Embinyu. What has this world done for you? If you believe in Embinyu then you will gain strength and power. You will be able to deliver pain to others.”

“No, we have already submitted to the Great Emperor Weed-nim. If he is on our side then we will be able to defeat the enemy. No humans can fight him and win.”

Atrock’s Cry had raised the troops’ resistance to brainwashing.

“Embinyu will liberate you from all pain and suffering.”

“Ohh indeed, God Embinyu!”

“It is strange that you are suddenly talking about Embinyu.”

“Kill him!”

“I shall receive the power of Embinyu…kek!”

“Those people are talking about Embinyu. Kill them all!”

The traitors were immediately executed by other soldiers! The priests’ magic only caught weak soldiers so it felt like a waste of magic.

Of course, the desert warriors didn’t fall victim to the lure of Embinyu. They had a resolute will but also obtained many powers and treasures from looting across the continent!

The meteor disaster had caused fatal damage to the Embinyu Army. The dead troops might’ve been revived but those who survived had decreased strength and vitality and numerous injuries! The Embinyu Army wasn’t at full strength.

“This is a great opportunity. There might not be another chance to beat them.”

Weed ventured back to the battlefield after his health reached 68%.

The Embinyu Army had tremendous power and the situation wouldn’t be resolved until he killed Igrig and Motuls.

Weed used Sculpture Transformation to once again turn into a barbarian. He couldn’t finish the whole thing alone. He would consider it after drilling through the vanguard towards the desert army.

His only complaint!

“I am an apostle of justice that will protect the peace of the continent. So this is good motivation.”

Through the numerous adversities and doing bad things, his men had developed a firm commitment. When he looked at it in the long term, the Embinyu Church was a competitor.

“Warrior-2.”

“Yes.”

Warrior-2 still hadn’t fought.

His mission was to organize a convoy of 1,000 desert warriors for Weed! 200 of the desert warriors in the convey were those that grew along with Nodulle. A single, small group that boasted the best power on the continent.

Weed felt reassured as he looked at them. In the worst case situation, his subordinates would be strong enough to escape.

“Let’s go. Stop the priests.”

“Yes!”

The desert warriors were in charge of taking care of the Priests of Punishment. They shot arrows at the priests. The free spirited methods that the warriors used to fight in the desert.

The desert warriors followed tactics that Weed gave them but they also bravely jumped behind enemy lines. Their unmatched resistance and survival strength allowed them to be reckless on the battlefield!

In fact, their actions were ignorant when dealing with groups of magicians, priests, shamans or knights. They wold be weakened by spells or curses and eventually killed.

The deserts warriors were proficient in using their mobility to break through but their real advantage was melee combat when they split up.

“It isn’t too late even now. Rotten corpses are wandering around the battlefield. If you follow Embinyu then you can go back home.”

“Shut up. Don’t give me those dirty words. My child is from an affair my wife had with the man next door!”

“Home? I’ve only roamed the battlefield so I have nothing left. I have nothing to do except kill you.”

The desert warriors advanced into enemy lines and scattered to take care of the priests. Weed was a huge barbarian who broke through the centre. He smashed the monsters with both arms and kicks.

He stopped before Van Hawk and Torido’s troops who were on the verge of collapse. It was especially bad in the case of the vampire army that had been reduced by one third. They returned to Weed in order to recover.

“Master!”

“It seems like you are safe.”

His subordinates just wanted to hear a few words of praise. Weed advanced towards the Atrocity Knights and wiped them out with the Extermination Sword before saying.

“Tsk tsk, I have to clean up your mess.”

“…….”

“Van Hawk, you are the great commander of the Army of Darkness.”

“…….”

“Torido, so far you’ve only drank one or two drops of blood. Anyway, I am suffering because you are insufficient.”

A tactic that swallowed and spat out his subordinates! A way for his subjects to learn their natural positions in the hierarchy.

However, the Embinyu Army also properly demonstrated their strength.

Igrig squeezed a heated response from the priests and knights. The priests were in charge of barriers, curses and holy magic while the knights with high morale attacked without any hesitation.

The desert warriors were capable to using spectacular strikes to defeat them but Igrig’s infinite resurrection magic meant they would eventually tire.

Motuls also had enormous special skills.

“This is the land ruled by God Embinyu. No pagans can come through this area. Declaration of Sacrosanct Territory!”

– Declaration of Sacrosanct Territory.

The destruction power of Embinyu is spread over this zone.

All followers of the Embinyu Army will have their combat related stats increased by 70%.

The destructive power of their skills have increased by 120%.

All those who don’t belong to Embinyu will have 3,892 health absorbed every 5 seconds.

The absorbed health will be changed into mana for the high priest Motuls.

Please Note!

A barrier will form around the sacrosanct territory.

In order to break through the solid barrier, true heroism is needed to kill the high priest Motuls.

Igrig and Motuls!

The high priests of the Embinyu Army had levels exceeding 700 and special abilities. It was enough to make a level 700 warrior feel weak. Their health was also high so they wouldn’t die easily.

Magicians and priests had special abilities so they would wreak havoc when commanding subordinates. While within the sacrosanct territory, the desert warriors would have their health absorbed and they also couldn’t retreat.

“Bone Destruction, Devastating Wrath and Deep, Dark Poison Fog!”

Motuls embarked on a spree of magic after using the mana absorption spell. A high priests with an infinite supply of mana could freely use advanced magic. There should be a limit to how scary a priest and magician’s special abilities could be.

“I need to hurry and take care of them as quickly as possible.”

Weed had more fun the stronger the enemy was.

Igrig and Motuls. This was a great opportunity for the two high priests to show their special abilities. It was beneficial if they dragged out the time.

Weed’s eyes quickly looked around the battlefield. He found Hestiger and Zahab who were positioned with the slaves. The meteor shower had devastated the land so flames burned everywhere.

“Break through. Don’t let the valour of our enemies stop us.”

“Waaaah! Follow Hestiger-nim!”

Hestiger led his troops to slay the monsters. A sturdy, tall and good looking person with a considerate nature towards his subordinates. His swordsmanship couldn’t be questioned and he always gained great achievements on the battlefield. He gave off a stylish appearance as he drove his camel forward for an assault.

The Master Swordsman Zahab was currently using a sword of light to cut an enormous monster in half. He had also used Sculptural Destruction to convert his stats into strength. His art stat surpassed Weed since he lived for a long time. Therefore his sword and attack skills had reached the peak, making the monsters no match for him.

He deflected the fireball a priest shot at him with Moonlight Sculpting Blade. He recreated the beautiful dance in the moonlight that was a legend in the Rosenheim Kingdom.

“Okay, they will be sufficiently useful. I won’t go alone.”

Weed gave a loud shout.

“Hestiger!”

“Yes!”

“Bring your troops along and fight with me.”

“It is an honour.”

Hestiger was always polite to Weed. He was humble yet elegant.

“Zahab-nim.”

“I know.”

Zahab had already wanted to target the high priests. He had mastered swordsmanship so he was one of the strongest people.

“Warrior-2, prevent the other troops of the Embinyu Army from interfering.”

“I will dedicate my life to it.”

Weed decided to target the high priest Igrig first. Both of them were opponents that couldn’t be left alone for a long time. Igrig continued to revive the Embinyu troops while Motuls inflicted massive damage on the desert army.

Igrig was chosen because he was closer.

“Let’s go.”

Weed ran towards Igrig with Zahab and Hestiger. He brandished the Extermination Sword and stormed through the monsters! Igrig was one of the leaders so he had strong looking monsters and knights around him. The bronze giant in the convoy made it an absolutely untouchable defense! He needed to slay thousands of enemies before eliminating Igrig.

Weed stomped on the ground.

“Earth Shaking!”

The solid earth shook at least 1 metre up and down so the monsters and bronze giants couldn’t stay standing. The bronze giant fell, causing the monsters to fall one after another. The priests that were chanting spells also lost their balance.

The troops in front of him were devastated! Weed thought it was highly risky but was willing to make a concession to obtain the opportunity.

“Now Hestiger!”

“Red Lion! Go!”

Hestiger’s troops ran like the wind. And arrows and magic attacks immediately flew around in the vicinity. They ignored the Embinyu Army and focused attacks on Igrig.

The Punishment Priests out of range of Earth Shaking aimed curses towards the enemies heading towards Igrig. Hestiger and the Red Lion broke through the barrier and pounced like a hungry lion.

The bravery and recklessness of the desert army was clearly shown. Each person was a great warrior with leadership abilities. There were no useless movements as they broke through the enemy. They received countless attacks but the damage was minimal and they were unstoppable.

“Zahab-nim, go!”

Weed followed behind Zahab. Whether it was one on one or one on ten, none of the knights could stop them. Zahab lightly cut the enemy with Sculpting Blade while Weed just overwhelmed them with force.

“Get out of the way!”

The Extermination Sword struck them to the side! The shields or swords couldn’t block it so those hit would fly away more than 100 metres. There was an exciting feeling similar to hitting a baseball or golf ball.

Those watching Weed from the side found it an overwhelming spectacle. After a few knights were thrown away, the barrier had collapsed.

“Igrig, this is your last day!”

Weed cried out as he arrived 70 metres in front of Igrig. This was a good distance for barbarians. His size that made the Dulmore Fortress and its plains seem narrow!

“Curse of Blood in the Lungs!”

A dark red mana gathered around Igrig. The curse hit the knights that Weed had thrown.

“Kyaaaak!”

Blood poured form the knights as the curse hit and they died.

‘There will be no chance for 10 seconds.’

Weed calmly read the situation.

The knights that fell to the ground were immediately woken up by Igrig. And the centre of the Embinyu Army contained priests chanting curse magic.

A barbarian had the highest attack power but curses would half their capabilities. If he missed the right timing then the desert army would be wiped out by the Embinyu Army.

Weed alone couldn’t deal with the constantly resurrecting Embinyu Army.

“Zahab-nim, this is your opportunity.”

“Yes!”

Weed threw Zahab towards Igrig. Zahab flew straight like an arrow!

“Radiant Sword!”

Birds of light appeared from Zahab’s sword and hit the knights guarding Igrig. And Zahab jumped over their bodies before landing in front of Igrig.

“Evane’s enemy!”

Well, he seemed like a genuinely good man but he still dreamed of an affair with a married woman.

“Who are you?”

Igrig picked up a staff and blocked the attack.

“You are quite good, human.”

“I will kill you.”

“I represent God’s will so how can a human kill me?”

There was a current of mana every time the sword and staff clashed. He was a high priest but he still had significant close combat power. The eyeball in the skull studded staff had the ability to absorb the enemy’s energy.

“You are strong enough to see the skills of the Embinyu Church!”

“Shut up. I have received the value of Evane’s life so I will stop you.”

Of course, it was unfair since Queen Evane was born and died many years in the future. Zahab was old but Weed couldn’t even guess his age anymore.

Anyway, Weed was able to aim him at an appropriate opponent.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed also took action while Zahab charged at Igrig. He wiped out the bronze giants and priests that were affected by Earth Shaking. The rest were blocked by Warrior-2’s troops so no one interfered with Weed’s actions.

“The priests will fulfil the will of Embinyu!”

The bronze giants ran amok with their ranged attacks but Weed knew their weakness was close combat! He ignored the curses hitting him and just attacked the monsters and bronze giants.

Weed also joined Zahab in fighting Igrig.

A barbarian’s oversized appearance made it seem like someone bullying the weak but the reality was different.

Igrig attacked him with a staff filled with darkness. In addition, Motuls was approaching Igrig with his troops.

Zahab blocked the staff while Weed chopped Igrig’s body.

– Igrig has been cut.

The energy contained in the Extermination Sword has caused 16% fire damage.

The Curse of Health has a 87% chance to repair the damage.

– A critical hit!

The Evil God has applied an immunity to confusion.

A critical hit had been continuously struck.

Igrig was too busy dealing with Zahab that he often left weak points for Weed. Weed’s damage was real but Igrig’s body had all types of blessings on it! A priest was vulnerable to close combat but a high priest of the Embinyu Church wouldn’t simply die.

It was a fight against time. The bronze giants and monsters gathered like vultures but he just ignored them or brushed them aside to focus on Igrig. Motuls and his troops were also being blocked by Warrior-2. If they didn’t handle Igrig now then his special abilities would continue resurrecting the troops.

“Van Hawk, Torido!”

“I have been waiting, Master.”

“I am very curious to see what blood steeped in evil will taste like!”

Van Hawk and Torido quickly joined the battle. Several people were being used to beat just one!

Chapter 8: Traces of History

Igrig was a priest so his health wasn’t high.

“Check the status of the enemy!”

– Crazy Igrig

A high priest that follows the evil god Embinyu.

In the past, he was an ordinary farmer until he discovered a slab left behind by Embinyu and became a fanatic.

He commands the army with the promise of immortality.

Health: 51%

Mana: 79%

Igrig had 430,000 health! He wore rare robes inscribed with special characters that gave him a sturdy defense.

However, he couldn’t afford to ignore Weed, Zahab, Van Hawk and Torido’s attacks. A priest was adept at blessing their colleagues or cursing their enemies. They were the most vulnerable when it came to close combat.

– I’m asking you. A crisis has fallen upon a faithful servant, Igrig. All members of the Embinyu Army, come here!

An ability to command the entire army! Suddenly all the monsters and fanatics on the battlefield came running. Even those fighting the desert army ignored them and attempted to get to Igrig. The monsters died as they tried to escape.

Weed moved behind the bronze giants and used a powerful skill.

“Heavy Explosion!”

The bronze giants weren’t killed. Weed poured out large scale destruction magic but they had high health so several accurate attacks were needed. Weed targeted the legs in order to destroy the bronze giants’ balance. The fallen bronze giants greatly hindered the entry of the monsters.

Igrig was concentrating on defense but his health was rapidly falling. A high priest of the Embinyu Church that was trying to destroy the peace of the continent! Weed and his group was trying to save the world.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk was ignored while Torido would rush in to suck Igrig’s blood.

Zahab was Weed’s slave for life due to the woman he loved! He had been enjoying life in his old age until he was forced back to the warring period.

It was the best combination to deal with a high priest of the Embinyu Church.

‘He won’t last long!’

Weed instinctively felt that Igrig was reaching his final moments. His curses were continuously cancelled by Zahab and the aura of darkness was disappearing.

Weed felt something unusual as Igrig started chanting a spell.

“Oh Holy One, in order to fulfil the promise of immortality that your faithful servant Igrig….”

Weed didn’t know it but Igrig could use an immortal flesh spell on himself once his health fell below 20%. If his spell was successful then he would be in an invincible state where his health wouldn’t fall anymore. However, the promise of immortality hanging over the Embinyu Army would be turned off! The monsters and fanatics wouldn’t survive but Igrig’s health couldn’t be reduced for two days.

Weed instinctively perceived a serious threat. A similar tension to when a friend called after several years!

“Van Hawk, go ahead. He has to die! Okay!”

“Understood!”

Van Hawk emitted a dark aura and brandished his sword at Igrig. Unlike other occasions, Igrig’s spell chanting wasn’t interrupted by the attacks.

“I will sacrifice all live that lives on this land so that your enemies can feel pain and bitterness….”

The chanting continued. Weed also attacked Igrig rather than the bronze giants.

He focused on battering the head, chest and belly! The series of continuous attacks caused terrific damage. Igrig was hit all over his body yet he still chanted his spell. Now Zahab swung his sword of light while Van Hawk summoned the power of the abyss.

Currently, the ones with the best attack power on the continent was gathered in this place. And…

– Kuwaaaaah!

Igrig spread his arms wide open and screamed.

Kurururung!

A thunderbolt fell from the sky and struck the ground. Dozens of forked lightning burned Igrig’s body.

– The crazy high priest Igrig of the Embinyu Church has entered his eternal rest.

Due to his sins, his soul won’t be able to rest but he will feel free for the first time since being captured by the evil god.

– The monsters and fanatics of the 6th sect of the Embinyu Church are in turmoil.

– Fame has increased by 32,392 due to the great achievement.

– As a special reward for the fight, the Faith stat has increased by 120.

– One god has strongly blessed you.

Hestia, Goddess of the Kitchen!

Her blessing will increase fire damage by 135% for a week.

“Now there is only one left.”

Weed had a rotten smile on his face!

“No!”

Motuls gave a sad scream.

Of course, Motuls was also a high priest. Weed needed to be careful on this quest or he could lose everything.

But Pechet and Igrig were dead so the burden on his mind was significantly lightened. It was a blessing that the fanatics and monsters that the desert army swept through wouldn’t revive again.

In addition, the divine power causing resistance when Van Hawk tried to make undead from corpses disappeared. Skeletons, dullahans, low grade death knights etc. were being created everywhere. The movement of the fanatics were hampered.

Weed set up an organized plan. Until now, he had been urgently responding according to the battle situation.

“Torido.”

“You called.”

“You go over there first.”

“…….”

Motuls was inside the sacrosanct area! The intruders would lose their health so Motuls’ protection was very strong.

Therefore he should throw Torido in such a place! He was the weakest in combat power but he had the high health characteristic of a vampire lord.

“I don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“It looks dangerous. How come I have to go?”

“I will give you a choice. I will kill you. Or do you want to go over there to die?”

“Uhh, I think it is better to go there to die.”

Torido entered the sacrosanct territory and even duelled with a knight. He was pierced by a several Atrocity Knights and barely escaped by transforming into a bat.

“It is somewhat tricky. He is different from the others.”

Weed made a plan and left his position.

Operation Steel Lunch Box!

The promise of immortality was broken so the monsters and fanatics were removed by the desert army. The power of the Embinyu Army was definitely exceptional. The 20,000 desert army that didn’t know defeat was rapidly reduced.

However, many priests also died. That was because the desert warriors breaking through the enemy focused on the priests. The damage sustained from the meteor shower and the battle at Dulmore Fortress meant their current power was 80,000.

“I need to take advantage of the undead and the vampires should eat more actively. The supplies are sufficient….the desert warriors don’t get tired even after fighting all day so I don’t need to worry about that.”

The arrows are focused on the bronze giants and Motuls. They threw stones while the desert warriors dodged and counterattacked with fire arrows.

His sculptural lifeforms also knocked down a group of enemies. The Embinyu Army were packed together so the desert warriors hit them quickly.

1,000 warriors would hinder a giant monster and would attack and retreat while firing arrows! They divided into groups of 20 and danced like a butterfly around the enemy. The barrage of blows from the desert army caused enemy lines to collapse.

The desert army showed a successful tactic against the Embinyu Army! This demonstration of the group tactics wasn’t due to numerous experiences but Weed’s nagging.

The Embinyu Army retaliated using magic and curses but the desert army just scattered in every direction. They had high health and were also supported with healing from the priests.

The Embinyu Army was strong but they were honest and simple when it came to fighting. The main army just headed in front of them while the large monsters were slow and lumbering.

The manoeuvrability and ranged strikes annihilated the main army! The desert army was overwhelming when it came to tactics. They were children that learned all types of tips and tricks from Weed.

They had no chance to fight within the sacrosanct territory. The desert army fought outside the range of Motuls’ control. Every time there was a volley of arrow attacks!

It wasn’t just their combat power and manoeuvrability. Their ability to win was also based on their ranged combat.

Of course, Weed was in danger due to being alone in the Embinyu Army but he was fairly relaxed. The Embinyu Army had been decreased by 30% since the desert army first appeared. And he was at the final goal to defeat Motuls.

Despite that, there were still quite a lot of monsters, knights and priests remaining in the Embinyu Army.

“Warrior-2.”

“Yes!”

200 desert warriors in Weed’s convoy had died while he fought Igrig. This was one of the toughest troops so 200 casualties were a huge loss. The people that survived would be able to last a long time in Weed’s empire.

“It is time to hunt the biggest guy. Support me.”

“Yes!”

“Warrior-1!”

“Speak.”

“Don’t let anyone interfere.”

“I will obey.”

Warrior-1 and his troops kept out the surrounding monsters and fanatics. If the interference was minimized then he could just focus on the enemy inside the sacrosanct territory.

Weed still wasn’t in his best condition.

“Zahab-nim! Hestiger!”

“I know.”

“I have been waiting for your orders.”

Now Zahab and Hestiger marched into the sacrosanct territory! The Knights of Atrocities were attacked by arrows from their escorts. The desert warriors stayed outside the sacrosanct territory and continued to fire arrows like lightning.

“Severe Blow!”

Even so, Weed blew back enemies with an intense blow while entering the holy area.

– You have entered the divine territory of Embinyu.

Health is reduced.

Defense has given high resistance.

Health will be reduced by 2,138 every 5 seconds.

Sacrosanct territory would convert this to mana for Motuls. If Motuls had an unlimited supply of magic then he could continue using his advanced magic.

He was like a mountain standing in Weed’s way.

“Finish it quickly.”

“Yes!”

Weed threw Zahab at Motuls. When looking at the side effects, there was no guarantee of his safety. But due to the fact that he was a genius in swordsmanship and sculpting, he flew through the enemies and ended up in front of Motuls.

“Hestiger, you too.”

“It is an honour, Great King!”

In contrast to Zahab’s loyalty, Hestiger followed Weed due to his selflessness. He was handsome, humble and had plenty of popularity among his subordinates. A nice person would built achievements through hard work!

Bung bung buoung!

Weed also threw Hestiger towards Motuls.

‘If everything goes well then this might be a jackpot.’

Hestiger was a nice person but he also raised his level within 3~4 of Weed during the Nodulle’s Growth quest. Hestiger unleashed all his accumulated resentment on the Knights of Atrocities.

He somersaulted and lightly landed next to Motuls! Two knights were attacking from both sides but he jumped up and swung his sword at both of them. Of course, the enemies didn’t die but they were knocked down a while.

“As expected from Hestiger!”

“That is the Red Lion troop led by Hestiger.”

Weed’s ears kept on hearing Hestiger being praised. But now wasn’t the time to be jealous so Weed jumped straight at Motuls.

Kurururung!

Suddenly, a wall rose up from the ground. A wall of demons! A barrier protecting Motuls.

Weed passed through the barrier using the power of his body. The knights and monsters were easily knocked down with Severe Blow. He deliberately knocked them out of the sacrosanct area so that the desert warriors could take care of them.

“Those who go against the will of Embinyu, you will die and this earth will be destroyed!”

If Motuls was an ordinary priest then the outcome would be decided with one punch. Even Igrig couldn’t survive a series of continuous attacks. But Motuls was a monk, not a typical priest! He used fists to strike the enemy while chanting spells at the same time.

“Blood Fist of Atonement!”

He swung his fist at Weed. Weed moved to the right side to avoid it.

‘This is a little risky.’

The Blood Fist that he avoided rather than blocked headed in a straight line towards the Atrocity Knights behind him.

“Kyaah!”

The Blood Fist hit the Atrocity Knights in the surrounding area and 4 of them were killed. This was the sacrosanct territory so Weed couldn’t afford being damaged.

The nature of a monk meant that Motuls had better health and vitality than Igrig. To make matters worse, he had protection magic and high magic resistance. It enabled him to fight Hestiger and Zahab.

Additionally, the Atrocity Knights had huge stats as well!

“Weight of Repentance!”

Motuls used a skill to add a heavy weight to all friends and enemies within range.

– You have received a curse.

Movement speed has slowed by 24%.

Pain has been received.

There is a chance of damage every 10 seconds.

Curses of hatred will cause additional damage.

The divine magic that didn’t care about who it affected.

“Don’t worry about the curse and fight! The colleagues outside will help!”

“I understand.”

Weed could endure a little longer but Hestiger and Zahab had less than 15% health left. The monsters and knights near Motuls  interfered by defending him. Dealing with their attacks in a limited space was quite tough.

“We will take care of it.”

The sculptural lifeforms plunged in. Zahab and Hestiger were the subject of intensive treatment from the priests.

“High Priest-nim is in danger.”

“No! If High Priest-nim dies then we will stay in the pits of hell forever.”

Warrior-1 and the widespread desert army completely blocked any reinforcements! The bronze giants occasionally threw rocks but all access from the land was blocked.

Weed focused on the Knights of Atrocities in the sacrosanct territory. His kick wiped out the enemy’s defense and then he would strike with the Extermination Sword.

– Health is decreasing.

Current health remaining is 17.8%.

You have been caught by 7 curses.

“There is no need to kill all of them.”

Those Weed threw out of the sacrosanct territory were left to the sculptural lifeforms. Aside from the priests, Motuls was also protected by 20 Atrocity Knights.

“Complete Recovery!”

A pillar of light rose up from Motuls’ body. The high priest offered up some of his mana to recover his health. The injured knights escorting him were also healed.

“No way. A scam!”

Weed thought it was ridiculous. Motuls could use the mana stolen by sacrosanct territory to heal himself. The close combat power of the high priest also couldn’t be ignored. The sculptural lifeforms also had their defense and attack power weakened due to curses.

“There can’t be more than 30 troops protecting him. Warrior-1 can thoroughly block them.”

Then Motuls used another spell.

“Guardian’s Vow!”

Light pillars shot up once again in the sacrosanct territory and 4 bronze giants appeared! More than 100 Atrocity Knights were summoned.

“It is starting from the beginning again.”

Weed jumped back into battle when his health reached 67%. He once again blew through the barrier made from knights! The amount of resistance wasn’t unexpected.

They were damaged by the desert warriors but the Embinyu Army’s defense formation was strong and stable. Weed was only aiming at Motuls.

“The will of Embinyu won’t be broken.”

“They are naive. You can’t believe anything in this world.”

“Take my hand. I will lead you to the correct path of faith. You will receive great strength and power.”

“Money is the best thing in life!”

He also got into an argument with Motuls as the battle resumed! Zahab, Hestiger, Van Hawk and Torido joined him. They would be switched with sculptural lifeforms once their health was low.

Weed and Motuls both had their health fall. The knights were assaulted by arrows from the desert army and their number decreased by a third.

“Kuhuhu, this pain and suffering. If you believe in Embinyu then he will solve all your worries with his infinite power.”

Motuls’ fist was quite intimidating. Aside from the damage, there were also the bizarre curses. Motuls’ attacks hit a wide area so Weed avoided it and wielded the Extermination Sword. Both sides engaged in a fierce battle but Motuls had 50% health left while Weed only had 16%.

Weed would be the first to die. He noticed that Motuls focused on divine magic while attacking. He didn’t care as long as Weed was killed.

“Kill him. It is Embinyu’s will.”

“Yes!”

The Atrocity Knights also focused their attacks on Weed.

“I don’t care as long as he dies!”

A fight where the person who died first would be the loser! Weed pushed through 10 large Atrocity Knights in order to damage Motuls’ body. It was a crisis as his health fell sharply.

He had 3.4% health remaining. All the effort he made would disappear in vain.

Motuls who was vigorously attacking still had 35% health left.

The Knights of Atrocities’ attacks were focused on blocking Weed from running out of the sacrosanct area.

At that moment, Weed gave a large shout.

“Recovery of Joy!”

– The barbarian’s unique ability, Recovery of Joy has been used.

Bardger, the God of Bravery will return a barbarian’s body to its normal state.

It is a shame for a barbarian to lose against a strong enemy.

A barbarian’s pride won’t allow the enemy to win.

You have to take down the enemy!

– Health has been completely restored.

Curses hanging over your body have been completely removed.

Resistance to curses and magic will rise by 370%.

Weed’s body returned to a normal state. And his movements suddenly accelerated as the curses were eliminated.

‘Just one chance!’

He moved past the Atrocity Knights and wielded his sword towards Motuls.

“Kueok!”

Motuls was cut up with the Extermination Sword. Despite that, the injuries were smaller due to the protection magic.

Weed didn’t care. He was much stronger in a one-on-one battle. During the Nodulle’s Growth quest, he had evenly balanced his offensive and defensive growth. His level was high but he also mastered many skills associated with combat.

It was like a tiger regaining its spirit!

“You dare disobey Embinyu!”

“What can Embinyu give me? Well, it might be blamed on the fact that I’m too handsome!”

Weed continuously moved the Extermination Sword. He tirelessly swung his sword at Motuls. He also used Power of Birth and Black Knight’s Strike to hit the forces.

The Knights of Atrocities screamed and tried to protect Motuls but they were just ignored! Motuls was forcibly pushed back while the continuous attacks disabled his divine magic.

“Is this world working correctly? If you believe in Embinyu then you shall realize the true light.”

“I never trusted this world in the first place.”

“Embinyu’s wrath is terrible…..”

“I only fear the landlord!”

Weed had a strong faith that Motuls couldn’t shake. He learned that money was the first priority in modern society! Motuls’ health was drastically reduced to 10%.

“Complete Reco….”

“I’ve been waiting for this. Go!”

– You have dealt a critical blow.

68% damage has been added.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

149% damage has been added.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

261% damage has been added.

– You have dealt a critical blow.

442% damage has been added.

A continuous one power attack that caused critical hits! Weed used his keen combat senses to find weaknesses in Motuls. Weed’s countless combat experiences meant Motuls’ health would keep on decreasing once he was caught.

The battles he fought became easier and more comfortable due to his sharp eyes and intuition. His milk deliveries and newspaper deliveries meant he could look at the door or walls of a house and determine if they wanted strawberry or chocolate milk.

‘Then lastly….’

Motuls had attempt to use his divine magic for recovery. Weed struck his chest 3 consecutive times.

– Texture Sword was successful.

You have dealt a critical blow.

The opponent’s defense has been neutralized and 284% damage has been added.

– Texture Sword was successful.

You have dealt a critical blow.

The opponent’s defense has been neutralized and 516% damage has been added.

– Texture Sword was successful.

You have dealt a critical blow.

The opponent’s defense has been neutralized and 837% damage has been added.

An exponentially growing attack! The damage from a barbarian wielding the Extermination Sword was incredibly huge.

Motuls’ sacrosanct territory didn’t last much longer. Motuls’ body shattered like glass and a dark energy started to flow.

“You…your days are numbered. E…mbinyu…always….”

– Motuls, the high priest of sacrifices and bribes has entered his eternal rest.

Due to his sins, his soul won’t be able to rest but he will feel free for the first time since being captured by the evil god.

– The monsters and fanatics of the 4th sect of the Embinyu Church are in turmoil.

– Fame has increased by 42,138 due to the great achievement.

– As a special reward for the fight, the Faith stat has increased by 130.

– The dark energy covering the Embinyu Army is gone.

– Advent of the Conqueror has been completed.

A young conqueror that set off from the southern desert has rattled the world.

Disobedient nobles will kneel down with every step he takes as he expands his territory.

His soldiers are brave and full of loyalty.

His desert territory has widened and the residents recognize him as a Great Emperor.

The deeply disturbing shadows cast by the servants of Embinyu have disappeared. The greedy kings have repeatedly caused wars and drew this world into a feast of blood.

One of the greatest conquerors is looking down on them from a high place!

– Fame has increased by 51,282.

– A large footprint has been left in history.

– Bonus time compensation has been given for this quest.

The time bonus will be given to the final secret sculpting technique once you return to your original world.

– Due to the miracles achieved in this adventure, all stats will gain 15 points.

The acquired stats will be retained even after you return to your original world.

– Please set the name of your Empire.

The empire will exist in the history of the continent and will disappear after like a fixed trace behind.

“Hrmm, the name of my empire.”

Weed often thought of names. He was experienced with naming his sculptures but never thought about ones for an empire.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter because my relationship with the empire will vanish after a while.”

Lots of money wouldn’t be coming from it so he gave it a simple name.

“Pallos Empire.”

– Pallos Empire is correct?

“That’s right.”

The name Pallos. It was the name of a candy in his distant memories. He wanted to eat the candy but it was too expensive so he couldn’t. Sometimes he would take some when he saw little children eating it. The name suited an empire founded on looting and destruction.

– The name Pallos Empire has been decided.

– Please select the governance system.

A monarchy ruled by an emperor, a feudal system, a republic or a senate ruled by chief nobles.

Please note.

If you choose a monarchy then you need to immediately establish a heir that you can hand over all your power to. A smart emperor would lay the foundation of the empire for a long time. Of course, the opposite could be true if the emperor selects an incompetent heir.

If you choose a republic then the citizens of Pallos Empire will select the emperor themselves. Each emperor’s power will be constrained and they will be replaced at regular intervals. Trade will grow quickly and there will be less resistance from the occupied territories.

If you select a feudal governing system then each region will be ruled by a lord. It is a good system to govern distant areas in a vast empire but the lord will have more power than the emperor in that area. There will be no rebellion or tax evasion.

A senate will consist of those with the most fame and strength in the Pallos Empire. They will rule on serious matters in meetings.

“Hrmm.”

His mind wanted to just select a monarchy.

Absolute monarchy! An emperor that rules over the entire territory and could exploit the residents was a perfect fit for Weed. God might say killing was rule but the emperor of an empire had all the power!

“But I don’t have anyone to hand the empire over to.”

A republic was more difficult. Weed’s desert army had the absolute force and authority on the Versailles Continent. However, a republic meant a NPC would been selected. Then it was likely that Hestiger would be selected as the Emperor of the Pallos Empire.

A feudal system was even more ridiculous. He couldn’t give full control of different regions over to other people.

“I will decide on a senate.”

The political system chosen wasn’t perfect but the people selected wouldn’t be a problem. The Pallos Empire would leave a deep impact on the history of the Versailles Continent but Weed just made his decisions roughly.

– The governance system of the Pallos Empire has been decided as a group senate.

Chapter 9: Pallos’s Power

Changes occurred to the Versailles Continent.

There were changes due to Weed’s success in the past. The ice covering the north were the undead army lived disappeared and cities were discovered. New ordinances sprang up, great architecture and cities were built that would leave a great impact on the Northern Continent.

A myriad of users living on the Versailles Continent encountered the changes that Wed caused. Once again, the Versailles Continent would also change if the Embinyu Church was victorious.

Arud River in the Rosenheim Kingdom.

The place where the Sphinx and Pyramid used to be was just a pile of stones after being destroyed by the Embinyu Church. Users were crouching down and hiding in this wasteland.

“Shhh! Quiet.”

“We have to remain unnoticed until the end. Let’s go slowly.”

They were users that lived in a land dominated by the Embinyu Church. They couldn’t bear leaving their hometowns in Rosenheim Kingdom. Hunting was difficult and it was impossible to live a normal life.

Users would immediately lose their lives if they encountered the inquisitors and religious fanatics. Users hid in the forests during the day and only moved at night.

The charred and blackened wastelands suddenly had flowers bloom. The entire land was recovering. The power of the Embinyu Church disappeared and the land was changing back to its past fertile state.

Grains that millions of people could eat were grown and flowers bloomed along the Arud River.

“What is this?”

The users marvelled at the strange sight and sent whispers to each other.

– Really?

– Yes. I don’t know what is going on all of a sudden.

– You don’t know? Today Weed is fighting the Embinyu Church.

– Then it is because of that?

– I haven’t seen that part on the broadcast yet. But this likely means that his adventure is successful. A real jackpot!

The pyramid was also slowly restored.

Due to the changes in the past, the deep wounds that the Embinyu Church left on the Rosenheim Kingdom, had disappeared.

Serabourg Castle returned to its original state and the massacred royal family were revived. Villages were also restored.

The changes were just confined to the eastern part of the Versailles Continent.

The Central Continent!

It was the land with the largest number of users and residents. The conflict with the prestigious guilds ended with the Haven Empire’s victory.

As their territory widened, there was an increasing number of destruction and rebellion due to the Embinyu Church. The fanatics lived in the cities while several villages were changed into the monster production bases. The kingdoms of the Central Continent were taken over by the Haven Empire but were also prone to self-destruction from the Embinyu Church.

The Haven Empire was tense due to the Embinyu Church and were prepared for a war.

The Central Continent upset by war started recovering! The devastated cities and land were restored. The residents that followed the Embinyu Church or were killed by them once again appeared.

“I hope there is a good harvest this year.”

“Yes. I will make a donation to the Church of Lugh.”

Cities were prepared and residents lived again. Technology developed, culture flourished and the economy blossomed.

Weed’s actions in the warring period had caused damage to the prosperity and development of the continent.

The Central Continent was very spacious.

The Versailles Continent was divided into the north, south, east, west and centre but the central area had a larger territory and population than the others.

The barren south beyond the Desert of Tranquillity, the frozen land of the north and beyond, the sea and islands of the east but the Central Continent had a larger population than those areas combined.

The fairies of the forest, the forest of elves, the dragon’s territory and ruins of the giants. There was a wide variety of terrain for adventures and hunting. The land dyed by the Embinyu Church’s corruption returned to normal.

The users initially had no idea of these changes.

They were gathered in the taverns to watch Weed’s adventure. But they started receiving whispers from other users.

– I’ve been on a quest to find materials at Inep Castle.

– Then?

– The Embinyu Church here was wiped out and Inep Castle returned to its original state from 3 months ago.

– Really?

Once the change was known, the users started seeing other changes.

“Please help me!”

“If you don’t follow Embinyu then you will suffer a painful death!”

The novice users were captured by the inquisitors! They closed their eyes tightly as they waited for the inquisitor to deal a fatal blow. The brainwashed knights were nearby so they didn’t even dare dream of escaping from the Embinyu Church!

But the bodies of the inquisitors suddenly turned into a grey light and disappeared like they had died.

“Why are you speaking like that?”

“Huh?”

The knights that had been brainwashed had their faces distorted from the evil. But now the knights had returned to their original appearance.

“The ground is cold so I don’t know why you are lying down there. Get up.”

The knights gave the novice users a warm hand. The number of Embinyu Church members in the Central Continent dropped sharply. Once this fact was known along with Weed’s success, the users on the Central Continent were filled with frenzied joy.

– Weed is like a real dog. The house that I owned was blown away because of him. The residents also disappeared. The damage that I suffered…sob sob.

– My shop! The city is a mess due to the demon Weed. The residents disappeared so the economy and technological development decreased. The only good thing is that it reduced the number of thieves. A hairy crab. Does he need to do this?

The users of the Central Continent criticized Weed on the bulletin boards! His activities in the warring period had affected numerous cities and users.

There was always a risk of invasion or damage in Royal Road so the users had no choice but to accept it. The conflicts between the prestigious guilds caused numerous wars and deaths. The secondary damage was limited hunting grounds and less business.

The users in the Haven Kingdom, Kallamore Kingdom and Britten Alliance Kingdom were used to adapting to a changed world. They could understand war but found damage caused by an individual’s adventure unfair.

While the Hermes Guild was originally negative towards Weed, the users of the Central Continent thought of him as an idol. The users that lost their livelihood or stores posted angry criticisms of Weed.

– That Weed bastard, that dirty and lethal….when I think of the damage….

– Once again, I don’t like Weed. He is someone who made me go swimming in the middle of winter. I spent the entire time in Royal Road hating him.

– I will kill Weed when he comes back. Looking for people to kill Weed!

Then the changes on the Central Continent became known to the users. The cities that fell had their population reduced by more than half.

The influence of the Embinyu Church was reduced as commercial cities were restored to its former glory as stable and safe tourist cities. The cities returned to their prosperous state from the early days of Royal Road and the development of swords and magic advanced. There was a flow of inhabitants over the entire continent as 100 new cities sprang up.

And all the users in Royal Road had a message window flash in front of them.

Ddiring!

– The Pallos Empire that ended the warring period!

Historians defined the warring period as a time where trickery, betrayal ,war, slander and violence dominated.

The greedy kings and nobles meant there was never a shortage of battles in that period!

Innocent residents died on the battlefield and those who resisted the excessive taxes were killed.

Instead of acting honourably and loyally, the knights weren’t ashamed of their cruelty and violence.

However, there weren’t many who knew that the Embinyu Church was deeply embedded in the warring period.

A conqueror raised in the cast and barren land of the south destroyed the dark clouds on the continent and formed a new empire.

The Pallos Empire!

A country built on the scimitars of the camel warriors. The desert culture and traditions formed a powerful empire in the warring period.

The might armed forces dominated the continent for 80 years while maintaining order in the world.

Despite the dispute between the desert tribes, they were able to occupy the territories for a long 80 years with their simple and effective preferential treatment of the strong.

The excellent desert warriors acted as the kingdom knights. They established commercial roads that connected the continent, suppressed the monsters and firmly managed the safety of the area.

If the senate hadn’t fallen apart due to infighting then the Pallos Empire would’ve reigned for even longer.

The power of the Pallos Empire.

0 years: The Mapon and Beiner Kingdoms unconditionally surrendered.

The dark clouds on the continent, the Embinyu Church was crushed.

All kingdoms felt respect and fear towards the Pallos Empire.

Weed stepped away from the seat of the Emperor and delegated the rule to the senate.

2 years: A rebellion occurred in the occupied territories. Six cities belonging to the Noah and Ruprea Principalities were involved.

The desert warriors overflowing in the Pallos Empire lightly took care of them.

The brutal destruction contained any further rebellions.

3 years: Monsters increased due to the deteriorating security in the warring period.

The Pallos Empire annihilated any enemies that tried to invade their borders.

The kingdoms felt fear and paid tributes.

The golden period of the Empire began.

5 years: Famine caused by severe drought.

The Pallos Empire didn’t suffer because they were overflowing with food and riches.

6 years: The great desert warrior Mobis was born.

He was the second Sun Warrior that the desert respected after Weed.

9 years: The senate declared they would expand the territory.

The Pallos Empire destroyed the Mapon Kingdom.

Due to the severe destruction during the war, diplomatic relations with other kingdoms worsened.

15 years: The desert areas experienced a surge in the birth rate.

The advanced agricultural technology of the continent increased food production.

Laos was selected as one of the top 10 cities on the continent.

The residents lived in luxury and abundance.

Tobacco became a local specialty of the desert and its popularity spread across the          continent.

21 years: A large scale civil war occurred between the Brukan Tribe and the Kusilli Tribe.

43 desert tribes formed an alliance.

There were countless corpses before a cease-fire occurred.

34 years: The generation of desert warriors changed.

The desert warriors who followed Weed returned to the soil.

52 years: The invasion of the warlocks.

The Pallos Empire engaged in a 3-year war.

Mobis captured the warlocks and executed them.

However, the oasis in the desert were poisoned and many died.

It was too late to detox the oasis and 6 cities were closed.

66 years: A conflict occurred inside the senate.

The war between the Brukan and Kusilli Tribes continued.

The civil war was aggravated as most of the desert tribes participated.

69 years: The storehouses of the Pallos Empire were emptied.

Due to the preferential policies involving production and commerce of the desert          warriors caused the craftsmanship to fall behind other kingdoms.

The trade imbalance with the other kingdoms worsened.

71 years: The senate had a dramatic reconciliation.

They decided to invade other kingdoms to restore their depleted gold.

72 years: A backlash occurred in the occupied territories.

The desert warriors were involved but the fortresses had high magic resistance.

The Dagan Kingdom was reconstructed.

74 years: The great desert warrior Mobis retired.

77 years: The number of kingdoms resisting the Pallos Empire increased to 6.

The Keltun Expedition failed.

81 years: Revolts occurred in most of the occupied territories.

The desert warriors were outstanding but couldn’t win against the armed soldiers.

The Pallos Empire decided to abandon the occupied territories and withdrew to the desert.

83 years: The desert tribes started fracturing.

The Pallos Empire was officially dissolved.

* New history books about the Pallos Empire has appeared. Related adventures have been created.

* The Southern Continent will continue to develop economically and technically.

* The culture of the desert is introduced to cities in the Central Continent.

* More warriors are likely to be born in the desert area.

The children of the desert areas dream of becoming outstanding warriors.

When looking at the history books, the Pallos Empire didn’t leave a large footstep behind. But the warring period had ended ahead of schedule.

Therefore, the world was more prosperous and stable. This was an achievement that the great Weed of the desert achieved. His heroic path in the past changed the current continent.

Users rushed to delete their posts on the bulletin boards that blamed him. Whether they liked it or not, they also lived in the Haven Empire. Numerous cities that weren’t originally there sprang up although some were less civilized. In some cases, the destroyed cities came back even larger.

– Weed the God of War!

– Kyah, Weed really is out there.

– Thank you. Let’s live well in the future.

– My one-bedroom house that I used all my money on…it now turned into a manor. I don’t know how to repay this grace….

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It is ridiculous that he really succeeded.”

Lafaye had considered hundreds of possibilities for what might happen. It was most likely that Weed would fail the adventure involving the Embinyu Church. It wouldn’t be bad even if he failed the adventure.

– The army of fanatics in Frompen has been destroyed.

– The Embinyu worshippers in Rangken Castle have returned to normal people.

The Embinyu Church that they were prepared to fight just faded away. Lafaye had watched the television broadcast of Weed’s quest and was amazed at the astonishing scene as Weed’s fortitude and effort led to his victory.

“It is outrageous. Outrageous.”

Weed had succeeded in a hard adventure but there were consequences. The Embinyu forces that had been threatening the Haven Empire had been reduced early on. As long as big variables didn’t occur in the future, the Embinyu Church wouldn’t be able to cause any more damage.

“Really stupid.”

Lafaye gave a big large.

People should make an effort. It was the reason why a person lived and ate well.

Weed once again became a celebrity due to the success of the quest but the Haven Empire was the one who reaped the sweet fruit.

“It is like making gruel for a dog only to have something else eat it first.”

Users whose name was famous in the Haven Empire were gathered. The famous knights and users of the cities! They gained achievements in the Hermes Guild and were given high positions in the occupied territories. The so-called elites of the Hermes Guild were prepared for battle.

“We will now go to the north.”

There was a brightness at the end of Lafaye’s thoughts. The Embinyu Church or conquering the north. He thought it would be one of those two options.

He thought it was better to attack than to defend the territory and cities of the Haven Empire. He skipped the hassle of a civil war with the Embinyu Church and could concentrate on conquering the Versailles Continent.

The Hermes Guild had thought about unifying the Versailles Continent since the moment they started and there were only a few steps left. If the north was properly occupied then it wouldn’t be difficult to secure the east and west. They might even surrender before the army arrived.

“12 corps will be sent to the north.”

Lafaye and his staff meticulously created a plan for the northern conquest.

In the past, they faced the bitter taste of failure when trying to invade the north but they had obtained considerable data from it. There was considerable resistance from the users and their supply chain had been disrupted. The conclusion was that they shouldn’t try again with insufficient troops.

Each corps was made out of 300,000 troops so 12 corps was a tremendous force of 3.6 million! The Haven Empire consisted of 20 corps so it was more than half of their troops.

Only the Haven Empire could afford to train so many troops. It consisted of 350,000 Hermes Guild users that dominated the Central Continent and the rest were NPC soldiers. The Hermes Guild users had a variety of professions and were familiar with all types of combat. Each corps was made up of knights that raised the power of the soldiers.

When considering that they normally mobilized two or three corps to conquer a kingdom, Lafaye had gathered a very large force to invade the north. The 12 corps consisting of knights of the Haven Empire could be called an invincible army.

“Is this much required?”

“The Arpen Kingdom should only have 100,000 troops.”

Those words came from a corps commander, Bolmensori. He thought the number gathered to conquer the north was too excessive.

“We need to deal with the users of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Even so, they are just a mixed bag of rubbish….”

In the past, Rensullot had only let 70,000 troops to the north. They didn’t return to the Central Continent unharmed but hundreds of thousands of users were killed in the north.

The Northern Continent couldn’t compete with the power of the Central Continent. Especially if they needed to fight the elite troops of the Haven Empire led by Bardray.

“It can’t hurt to be ready to fight for the unification of the continent. The north is our goal. Finish the necessary arrangements and be prepared to march in three days.”

The star players of the Haven Empire that would participate in the conquest of the continent were gathered in front of the Imperial Palace.

The Hermes Guild all had the same thought about the war. They never supported the war. The size and quality of the troops was completely different compared to the north.

Bardray was directly leading the army and Weed wasn’t there to be their opponent.

‘We will always win the fight.’

‘It is good belonging to the Hermes Guild.’

The Hermes Guild users would always win the fight. Through discipline and obedience, the hierarchy of power efficiently maximized their victory.

They personally liked Weed’s adventures but understood how to divide those aspects of their lives.

Despite the great achievements Weed made in Royal Road, the Hermes Guild was obsessed with destroying the Arpen Kingdom.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin drank hot chocolate as he watched the exciting adventure.

“In the end he managed a victory.”

He thought it would end after the meteors were summoned but Weed persistently survived like a cockroach.

Weed’s biggest asset was his ability to survive in any environment! And his ability to govern his subordinates.

Deep wisdom and insight, trust in people, strategies and tactics. Of course, it was difficult to find any sense of responsibility.

Sometimes he was stingy but other times he showed a brave and bold imagination and he wasn’t discouraged by hardships. The quest or battles might turn out unfavourable but he never hesitated.

In other words, he was no different from a human cockroach.

“It is really hard to kill him.”

The viewers saw somewhat edited videos. Magnificent music would play or a scene would be nicely framed! Even if it was a live broadcast, there would be a time lag as it was sent from the capsule and the stations would be ready to insert advertisements.

In contrast, Yoo Byung-jin watched Weed’s raw videos and saw his struggle to live. The recorded history of heroes wouldn’t mention all of their struggles.

Life might be hard but people needed to clench their teeth and overcome it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The Haven Empire moved as we expected.”

“Those guys are really quick.”

A meeting of the Grass Porridge Cult! The representative of each unit, village and cities were present.

The Haven Empire contained the top ranked players of the Hermes Guild but the Grass Porridge Cult had a wide range of people of all shapes and sizes.

When looking at it from the view of the Central Continent, the level 100 users that attended the meeting would be considered beginners.

The Toadstool Porridge unit was willing to welcome a glorious death.

The users that started in the Arpen Kingdom had the opportunity to grow up with the place. But quite a few lords and guilds had migrated from the Central Continent to the north.

After the founding of the Arpen Kingdom, the nobles and lords had grown on a large scale. Culture expanded in most of the areas due to the will of the residents and many users who participated in the direct growth of the kingdom were promoted to lords.

The users would participate in village development activities, public donations, bribes and completion of certain quests. High level users who recently came from the Central Continent were greedy for a higher position.

‘We will build a new home for our guild in the north. There will be many opportunities for the development. Mountains were mines are likely to exist and wide fields where grains can be grown.’

‘I’m not interested in war so I will become a lord through achievements. And once I become a lord, I will invade other lands.’

‘Well, that is cool. Can’t I earn money if I become the lord of a city?’

There were many myths about the north and it didn’t have any civil wars. The Arpen Kingdom was self-regulated but the general users didn’t allow this.

A lord who waged war over land would have the lowest popularity! Even novice users would avoid their village. There were numerous development opportunities so there was no benefit to cause a war.

Moreover, the users in the north was extremely complex and diverse. Level 300 users rapidly grew in the north while level 400 users could be found around Morata and other areas. The Haven Empire had swept through the Central Continent so many users came over.

The high level users could lose a lot of levels and fame in the war. For that reason, the lords of the Arpen Kingdom developed cities, towns or villages according to their preference.

The rapid development of the Arpen Kingdom was due to the effort of the regular users as well as the lords. It was a miracle how ruins around Morata could change into a village in just one week or a month.

“How many people has the Haven Empire mobilized for the invasion?”

“There are at least 11 corps moving.”

“Hrmm, that is a lot.”

Lafaye and the members of the Hermes Guild went through a lot of effort to gather intelligence. But there was no need for the Grass Porridge Cult to do that.

It was easy for regular users to see the movement of the army. The Grass Porridge Cult members had already reported the activities of the Haven Empire.

Apart from their bad relationship with Weed, the Haven Empire was trying to conquer the continent. The north knew that they would someday invade and were prepared.

“It isn’t easy to deal with them, even if they are only moving half of their troops. Those troops could be called the flagship of the Haven Empire so we need to gather as much people as possible to fight.”

The users that crossed from the Central Continent talked about the defeats they experienced. The Haven Empire would generally win by mobilizing more troops and equipment.

Lafaye’s general tactic was to overwhelm the opponents with the scale of the army as the battle progressed.

The betrayal of the Allied Forces was also ridiculous. They said they would do their best before the fight but someone became helpless after being fooled by excellent tactics.

The Hermes Guild didn’t just have strong  users. The leaders also knew how to display their abilities to the best potential.

“They systematically analyse the whole picture. In the end, we were forced to admit defeat as they weren’t an opponent we could face in the first place.”

A user from the Haven Kingdom said.

He had once been a fairly active and recognized member of a prestigious guild in the Haven Kingdom. But after it was occupied by the Hermes Guild, he couldn’t endure it and moved to the north.

The users of the Haven Kingdom revealed all types of dirty tricks and sneak behaviour that was used.

“They are really dirty and lousy bastards.”

“I couldn’t live my life!”

They gossiped about the Hermes Guild for a while before the meeting progressed again. They already came to the conclusion that they needed to fight for the north.

“What if we intercept them on Rupoi Plains like before?”

“Those guys will also be thoroughly prepared. It won’t turn out the same way again.”

“In my experience, they will chose various paths to reach us.”

“Thousands died just against 70,000 troops. But this time, millions of people are coming. The strongest users of the Hermes Guild will be heading here.”

“How many people can we gather to face the Haven Empire?”

“Even if we give a total mobilization order, not all of them can gather…. In fact, I don’t even know how many people belong to the Grass Porridge Cult.”

“A decisive battle on the plains will only benefit the enemy.”

The meeting continued to heat up! As it continued, only the strength of the Hermes Guild was displayed. They were exceptional in battle so that only Weed could defeat them.

However, Weed was currently on a quest in a different time zone and it didn’t seem like it would conclude in a short amount of time.

“Let’s see how many users we can gather.”

“We should at least stop the Arpen Kingdom from being decimated before Weed-nim returns.”

The next morning, posters were placed at every gate in the north stating that the Haven Empire was going to invade.

Chapter 10: Invasion of the Haven Empire

“The war….”

“Huhu, the day has come.”

“Those guys won’t stop until they unify the continent?”

The Bandit King Steiner that ruled the mountain regions of the Haven Empire!

The shadow of death Seasoned Crab!

Thief Jackson!

They heard that news that the Haven Empire was moving. The influence of the Haven Empire meant that every small action would quickly spread among the users. Especially something like a colossal movement to conquer the north.

“This is the best chance for bandits.”

Steiner grinned as he carried a large axe.

It was quite fun to be a bandit hiding in the mountains. The bandits in weak countries weren’t that dangerous.

But the quality of the Haven Empire meant the bandits were fairly large. Treasure, magic items and gold could be obtained from the lords of the commercial cities. Furthermore, it was also good for obtaining human personnel.

Competent knights wandered around after the Haven Empire took over other kingdoms. It was easier to recruit them as subordinates. The bandits actively recruited wandering knights with ideals like justice, recognition or a combative spirit.

Regular citizens also followed the bandits. The residents that lost their kingdoms,  were subjected to extreme conditions or needed to feed their families were willing to go through tough training to become stronger.

The best and brightest quickly adapted to the mountains. They obtained the delicious taste of raising their power.

The reason Steiner settled in the Haven Empire was because it was more risky and he had great ambitions. One day he would go down from the mountains and plunder the cities.

The rangers and soldiers of the Haven Empire couldn’t catch them so they dominated the mountains and forests.

It was empty words but he was crowned King of the Bandits!

“There are so many to kill.”

Seasoned Crab wandered around the Haven Empire and assassinated users and knights. A large number of people lost their lives but it was easily blamed on the Embinyu Church.

The most outstanding assassins in the Hermes Guild couldn’t see his trail and he waited for a perfect chance to kill them. Sometimes there were opinions that an assassin was behind it but then he would wander around areas domination by inquisitors and dark knights of the Embinyu Church.

Seasoned Crab was distressed at the thought of the Haven Empire conquering the north.

“Should I continue to kill in the Haven Empire? The gathered lords shouldn’t be too difficult.”

There were many NPCs among the lords. The lords collected taxes in order to raise soldiers of the Haven Empire. The tax rate and ruling policy depended on the lords. It was simple for Seasoned Crab to penetrate through a small hole in the castle to kill the lord.

“Killing those without any resistance is no fun. I guess I have to go to the north. The really challenging opponents will be those heading to the north with the army.”

Seasoned Crab decided to hunt the users of the Hermes Guild heading to the north.

Jackson didn’t have multiple goals. He drank cheap beer in a tavern at Aren Castle, the capital of the Haven Empire and waited.

“The world has helped me. Soon it will be time for me to take action.”

He didn’t want his name known in battle or to complete a grand adventure. He only sought one thing.

The seal representing the emperor of the Haven Empire! Bardray and the Royal Guards were heading to the north so the security around the Imperial Palace would be more lax.

Jackson’s purpose was to secretly enter the Imperial Palace for the seal.

“I will steal it properly. Kilkilkil.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed wasn’t happy even after completing the quest.

“It is like giving gruel to a dog!”

The Pallos Empire didn’t leave a large footprint in the history books. If he was a monk living detached from the world then money wouldn’t matter.

But his actions ended the warring period early so this assisted in the development of the Central Continent later on!

“I should boil the dog and make soup from it.”

He had been a great help to the Hermes Guild. But they weren’t grateful and decided to go conquer the north.

Weed thought the situation was unfair.

“But I can’t stop the quest to go back and defend the Arpen Kingdom.”

If Weed returned to the original time zone then Bardray would just kill him.

In the past, it had been a close fight but they were disturbed by uncontrollably factors. The stats difference from hunting and questing had just become larger since the Melbourne Mine. If he met Bardray then he would need to attack with 3~4 other high level users.

He couldn’t catch a strong enemy like Bardray in a one on one fight so it was better to meet him with dozens of high level users.

Ordinary users thought of Weed as an invincible God of War. He was really powerful in the current time but that would all fly away when he returned to his original era.

Not long ago, he had been making and selling sculptures in cities in order to earn money.

“I have a really bad luck on this earth. The difficulty of this quest is enough to threaten the peace of the continent and I have to be afraid of users that are my enemies.”

He was constantly having to work hard!

Nevertheless, even Weed enjoyed occasional moments of happiness. Buying a 5,000 won t-shirt and not having the neck increase after being washed or the joy of washing dishes with a new scrubber. Putting on new socks or enjoying a clean bathroom were some moments of happiness in his life. He was also in a good mood when eating jajangmyeon with radish.

Life would’v e been difficult to bear without such minor joys.

“Well, I have no choice but to continue the final secret sculpting quest until the end.”

He couldn’t afford to worry about the Arpen Kingdom. There wasn’t any large power great enough to prevent the Haven Empire’s invasion.

“And speaking of which, I should’ve failed the quest.”

He felt a belated regret. His success in the quest gave the Hermes Guild a golden opportunity to unify the continent.

“Anyway, Van Hawk.”

“Go ahead, Master.”

“You did good. A trustworthy and loyal subordinate.”

“…….”

“You helped win this battle. Thank you.”

Van Hawk’s ribs trembled. Normally Weed would think up some fault in order to hit them. But contrary to Van Hawk’s fear, Weed didn’t have any intention of doing that. He determined that it would be good if Van Hawk returned to the original time period.

‘Yes, the Arpen Kingdom still has a chance if I finish this quest quickly and return.’

A plan to protect as much of the kingdom as possible!

“Zahab-nim.”

“Hrmm?”

“Thanks for your help.”

“No. Of course I need to crush the Embinyu Church.”

Zahab, his lifelong slave was being worked well before he died of old age.

‘This world involves personal connections. I will make them work once I catch their weakness.’

He killed the high priests so the Embinyu Army was significantly weakened. The aura around the fanatics faded until they were ordinary humans and the bodies of the monsters fell apart. The Barates flying in the sky crashed into the ground.

It wasn’t difficult for the desert warriors and combat slaves to annihilate them.

“Waaaah, we won!”

“Hooray the Beiner Kingdom!”

Great cheers could be heard from Dulmore Fortress as the incoming monsters were crushed.

The rain cleared up and a bright light appeared on Dulmore Plains. The corpses of the Embinyu Church vanished as they were purified by the light. Only the smashed earth from the meteor disaster showed how intense the battle was.

A pillar of light fell from the sky and an old man with a long white beard showed up. He gave a long sigh as he gazed at the battlefield before turning towards Weed.

“Emperor who built an empire on blood and corpses, congratulations in winning he hard battle.”

“Are you Saint Ahellun?”

“People who know me have called me that name.”

Weed had guessed that the old man was Saint Ahellun from the moment he appeared.

His body was exuding a white aura that brimmed with divine power. Van Hawk, Torido and the undead were also uncomfortable as they avoided him. But humans touched by the divine aura had their wounds healed and health increased.

‘He should’ve come and helped a little sooner.’

Weed had that thought about Ahellun.

“Emperor, my mind thinks that you are far too cruel.”

“This era made me like this.”

“In this age, swords speak louder than words and you only know how to kill.”

“If you hesitate to kill the weak than thousands of others will suffer.”

“You have committed excessive killing and destruction. Innocent souls will drift to their gods.”

“The gods have blessed me.”

A fierce quarrel broke out between Ahellun and Weed.

In this warring period, Weed’s actions were recognized as severe.

King of Barbarians, cruel slaughterer and a tyrant. It was natural for the strong to trample on the weak in this era.

Other rulers would naturally act to stop his behaviour. In addition, those that secretly followed the Embinyu Church had no choice. He killed the secret followers of the Embinyu Church one by one.

Weed wasn’t under the illusion that he was nice. He wasn’t reckless enough to hold a knife to someone and attempt to persuade them with words. It wouldn’t be good for his mental health.

Furthermore, this was the precursor to the prosperous continent in the future. He felt like it was unfair to be criticized by someone for the result.

“I am saving the world from the shadow of the Embinyu Church. I didn’t want the weak to be swayed by them so I needed to kill them all.”

“We should protect the weak.”

“But those good humans would be dropped into misery and pain. No matter how pure hearted they are, tragedy won’t stop occurring. I’d rather clean the evil and cut off the knot of tragedy.”

“This is why you are called a tyrant. A new power will be built on the ground wet with blood. Millions of people in the future have obtained their salvation so I can’t say your actions are wrong. Being a tyrant in this age might be appropriate so I don’t blame you.”

Ddiring!

– You have been recognized by Saint Ahellun.

Your infamy among the loyal soldiers will drop.

Ahellun then hurriedly said like he was pressed for time.

“You have to quickly act to stop the Embinyu Church. You will be busy.”

“Eh?”

“Emperor, you must be aware that the Embinyu Church has this huge plot to destroy the world.”

“Of course.”

“They are building a tower climbing to the sky in order to wake up the Dragon of Chaos…and their goal will be fulfilled in ten days.”

“Ten days?”

Weed’s infamy meant he delayed meeting Ahellun. Maybe Nodulle had a lot more time. But the Sky Tower was almost completed and then the Chaos Dragon would wake up.

“I thought there would be enough time to disrupt the Embinyu Church.”

“In this world, they have caused numerous blood to flow. Prisoners had been captured to complete the Sky Tower and after today’s defeat, they will try to wake up the Chaos Dragon despite it being incomplete.”

“Hrmm.”

Changes had occurred to the quest after defeating the Embinyu Church. Their power was now significantly cut. Of course, the Embinyu Church still had an enormous force remaining but everything was being rushed.

“There isn’t enough time. Go right now. Emperor that owns a vast amount of treasures and territory, will you put all those things down to complete the noble mission of stopping the Embinyu Church?”

Ddiring!

– Unit of 7 People Leaping towards a Dragon’s Mouth

The Embinyu Army has been removed by the Emperor. It is an unbelievable achievement but the danger isn’t over yet.

The 1st sect led by high priest Heuller. It is unknown when he started or ended but he lived a long time while planning this conspiracy.

His body doesn’t show his age and he is gripped with deep wisdom, greedy and a desire for destruction.

After hearing about the Embinyu Army’s defeat, he has hastened the construction of the Sky Tower to speed up the Chaos Dragon’s awakening.

You have to stop them. For all life living on the continent…

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Objective: Collapse of the Sky Tower.

Destruction of the Chaos Dragon Ausollet.

Quest Restrictions: You have to safely survive the quest.

The quest will fail if you die.

History will change if you surrender or are brainwashed.

Please note!

If you accept the quest, you can choose a further 5 people along with the NPC Ahellun to help you.

The continent will receive much damage if the quest fails.

“Hrmm, a dragon isn’t a boiled chicken.”

In the end, his last quest was to get rid of the Chaos Dragon. He felt like the sect of the Embinyu Church led by Heuller was much stronger. And he needed to finish the mission with only 7 people so it was indeed a murderous level of difficulty!

Despite that, Weed had no choice but to accept the quest. His guts was the only thing remaining.

“The world is calling me. I will accept the mission to defeat the Embinyu Church on this continent.”

– You have accepted the quest.

You can choose five people to set off for the quest.

However, they must participate voluntarily.

“You have good judgment. Move quickly if you want to stop the Embinyu Church.”

Ahellun urged him to rush.

If his human relationships were bad then maybe only two people would go on the quest.

‘I need people I can trust. Fortunately I’ve raised quite a few subordinates.’

Weed started with Zahab.

“Will you go?”

“Of course. I need to get revenge for her.”

– Zahab has been included as a colleague on the quest.

The negotiations for one old man filled with revenge was complete. And the rest was the problem.

He had plenty of subordinates to pick from but recruiting 5 was a little tough. He needed to configure the party while thinking of the various characteristics.

Ahellun was a saint who could heal while a thief or magician would fly away with one blow.

“The problem is…picking someone who will be useful.”

Weed’s eyes looked for other professions. Those that were level 500~600 seemed so fragile that it was like they would die with one touch.

“Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Warrior-3!”

“Yes!”

“It is an honour.”

“I will go anywhere with you.”

– The desert warriors Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Warrior-3 have joined the quest.

And now there was only one person left!

“Hestiger.”

“I knew you would call me. This is a holy mission that I should complete. I will go with Great Emperor-nim.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I know you will take me. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“Yes. Well, I will take you.”

– Hestiger has been included as a colleague on the quest.

Weed hated Hestiger for two reasons.

He found Hestiger’s excellent abilities unpleasant. While he provided generous support during the Nodulle’s Growth quest, Hestiger seemed much stronger than himself.

He had a genius talent and made a sincere effort. Hestiger completed monster hunts and quests with him so Weed had to acknowledge his abilities.

And for the second reason, Weed found it hateful how well he ate and lived. He helped repel the Embinyu Church and would lead the Pallos Empire into the future. His stomach ached as he thought of Hestiger receiving all the gold and treasures.

‘This time I’ll kill him properly.’

Ahellun nodded at those gathered.

“Now let’s go. All those who would perform the sacred duty has been assembled. The Embinyu Church is in an area where darkness rules and divine magic doesn’t work properly.”

Ahellun lightly tapped the ground with a white cane. Then a door consisting of bright light was created. Ahellun entered first with the sculptural lifeforms, Zahab and Hestiger behind him.

Finally, the moment when Weed had to go through the door. If he went through this door then perhaps the founding and wealth of the Pallos Empire would disappear.

After completing the quest involving the Embinyu Church, it was likely that he would be prevented from coming back here.

“Warrior-4, Warrior-5, Warrior-6, Warrior-7, Warrior-8, Warrior-9, Warrior-10, Alverun, Alveren.”

“Yes, Great Emperor.”

His sculptural lifeforms thought that he was going to say goodbye.

“I made you struggle so I want to set aside good things for you.”

“…….”

“Once the empire is founded, everyone should take up high positions and live warmly.”

“…….”

A naked expression of gratitude for everything they shared!

“I will never forget your grace.”

“Yes, of course.”

“So everybody come closer.”

Weed spoke closely to the remaining sculptural lifeforms. It had the smell of an insidious conspiracy.

And he stroked Bactrian Camel’s head before entering the door.

“Stay well in the future.”

“Puhung!”

Bactrian Camel looked off into the distant land. A cynical attitude! Bactrian Camel was soothing his disappointment in his own way.

“Looking back, it has been really hard on you. You are the best along with Wy-3.”

“…….”

Weed proudly disappeared through the door after saying goodbye.

“Great Emperor!”

“Your Majesty!”

“Puhuhuhung!”

And the mournful cries of his subordinates could be heard behind him. Thick tears flowed from Bactrian Camel’s eyes.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed arrived in an unfamiliar area as soon as he passed through the door.

The land consisted of brown, cracked rocks and deep gaps that had smoke emerging from it. Something red rushed out from the earth and it turned out to be lava!

“Where am I?”

Weed hid next to a rock and quickly moved his eyes to assess the situation. There were thick walls dozens of metres high in some places and ruins here and there.

It was teeming with monsters and peculiar sounds could be heard.

Kkurukruruk.

Kuwook!

And a few kilometres away, buildings similar to a fortress were being built beyond a barrier. In the heart of the buildings, a colossal statue of Embinyu was soaring up. There was a tower that spun round and round like a snake as it rose into the clouds.

He had seen a video of it in the past when receiving the Embinyu quest. Maybe the Chaos Dragon was sleeping somewhere as well.

‘There were many watchtowers when I previously saw the video. There is also a river in the middle that emits poison and I have to be careful not to be detected.’

He needed to properly grasp the situation in order to make a plan. It was different from when bringing his desert army to sweep through the continent. Furthermore, the time limit to complete the quest was very short.

To make matters wost, he couldn’t see any signs of Ahellun and the others who went through the door before him.

“There is no dog poop. I am abandoned…it can’t be right?”

Weed’s ability to predict misfortune was beyond that of a fortune teller.

Ddiring!

– You have arrived at the Barren Howling Ruins.

This is a hidden area of the continent that only exists in the warring period.

The worst cult, the Embinyu Church has spread its evil power to disrupt all teleportation methods.

Ahellun and your other colleagues are somewhere in the large, spacious area.

You can find them but they might die if the enemy notices them first.

Survival is entirely dependent on the ability of your colleagues.

The ability of Weed and his subordinates could be called the best. The combat capabilities of the sculptural lifeforms he created was undeniably excellent.

In this situation, it was impossible to guess how many would survive before they could meet up again.

‘We didn’t decide a place to meet up and it is difficult now that we are all scattered. If I look for them one by one then the tower’s construction might finish and the Chaos Dragon will wake up.’

So far, it was an extremely hard and challenging quest. In the worst case situation, he wouldn’t be able to find his sculptural lifeforms or they would be dead and he would need to fight alone.

‘I don’t have time to worry about the others. I might make a mistake.’

Weed moved back to a larger rock. His subordinates arrived first so they were probably hiding but he could only see old skeletons.

‘Now what should I do? Should I infiltrate them?’

Quests couldn’t only be solved with fighting and killing. This quest required Weed to use all his trickery. Weed carefully hid while watching the barrier.

‘This quest is the most important thing right now.’

All the struggles he went through was almost finished. After finishing this quest, the only thing left was the Hermes Guild.

He had a higher possibility of winning if he could obtain the final secret sculpting technique. If he lived he would complete many quests and monster hunts until he became as strong as he was in the desert.

In fact, the final secret sculpting technique was probably a fraudulent skill that wold boost his abilities. But if he failed the quest then all that time would be wasted as he returned to his original time.

‘It is urgent but there is a bright side.’

The Embinyu Church would sweep through the Central Continent again. The Haven Empire would suffer great damage and might not be able to conquer the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Now I should start.’

Weed was really worried about the success of this quest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The 12 Corps of the Haven Empire moved quickly.

Each corps was in the best condition to conquer the Central Continent.

“Go to the north.”

“There is only a little bit left until the continent is unified. March!”

The Haven Empire’s army had been tempered from constant battles against the prestigious guilds. They had been prepared to face the Embinyu Church so heading to the north didn’t require any additional preparation.

“This might be the last battle so don’t be careless. Aim for a perfect finish with a victory.”

Lafaye and his general staff decided to move with the army.

The army moved across the Haven Empire and headed towards the north. Each city that passed through had a set of supplies prepared ahead of time.

It was impossible for the invasion of the Haven Empire to be unknown. They didn’t move quickly in order to preserve their best state.

The merchant groups within the Haven Empire followed the army with materials so supplies for the war wasn’t a problem.

Lafaye and the other staff made sure that each corps was comfortable before the fight.

“Gather these 7 corps in front of Poros River.”

Rensullot boldly led the army over the river to the north! More than 2 million soldiers were gathered to attack the enemy.

Of course the counterattack from the Grass Porridge Cult in the north would begin. But they were a bunch of beginners that used human wave tactics so the Haven Empire wasn’t worried.

The 7 corps moved to secure important terrain while destroying any enemies that pounced. The 2 million elite army had confidence that they could win no matter how many northern users attacked.

Numbers didn’t mean anything. The combat power was in the millions so there wasn’t much meaning in seeing how many troops the north gathered. In fact, an army of 2 million was enough to display the power of the Haven Empire to the world.

Many rebellions could occur once they unified the continent. Minor resistances were already occurring in the occupied territories.

So they would show it to them. Look! The mighty power of the Haven Empire!

They would trample on the Arpen Kingdom in the north. They were familiar with getting rid of the initial disgust and resistance to the occupation. Later people would start joining the Hermes Guild after a few months.

“We will win great battles and destroy the north.”

Lafaye spoke to a lieutenant in the army.

There was no doubt when he spoke. They would take care of the north no matter how reviled they were or how many people needed to be wiped out.

The Hermes Guild had always been invincible. They experienced a toxic defeat with Weed but they didn’t need to worry about that now.

The remaining 3 corps advanced through the Nudullan Mountains and onto the Nadallia Plains. They were the main troops of the Haven Empire that would destroy Morata and the Earth Palace of the Arpen Kingdom.

Going through the hilly terrain was chosen in order to accomplish a prolonged strike against Vargo Fortress.

The Haven Empire wouldn’t let the north hope for even a moment. The main troops would gather and destroy Morata and Vargo Fortress.

And 2 corps were organized for a separate occupation. They would spread out and obliterate the north. Even the smallest villages would be destroyed.

Tyrant Weed? They would show a destruction beyond what he did in the warring period. The Great Buildings that were the pride of the north and the cities would be wiped out without trace.

Lafaye intended to imprint true strength and fear into all the users.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi and the students sometimes had simple thoughts.

‘I hope that we can fight.’

If they tried to study then they would fall asleep or get headaches.

Simple paperwork was enough to make them tired. Even if it was a clerical job, it would be too mentally tough for them to endure. Instead, they felt more refreshed after working at a construction site.

Geomchi-2 came running with a poster.

“Teacher-nim, it is a war.”

“The day we’ve been waiting for has come.”

Geomchi-3 added hastily.

“We will take action depending on Teacher-nim’s words. I don’t know what Teacher-nim wants to do.”

Geomchi who was watching the sky seemed to already be prepared for war. It was like someone patiently waiting for a long time only to stand in the rain once it arrived.

‘Can I fight properly again soon?’

The students had been waiting for the day they would fight the Haven Empire so they focused on hunting and training their skills. They also aimed to complete their Weapons Mastery quest. Special stats and skills were obtained during the training. Now they were focusing on strong monsters in order to raise their level.

Geomchi-2 was excited about a battle but his position meant it was impossible for him not to worry.

The instructors and students weren’t weak but it was unknown if they could fight against the powerful forces of the Haven Empire.

“It is hard. It is hard to know. We’ve seen them fight on television so we have an idea of the extent of their skills. If we avoid the magic then we can face them in close combat. It will be a good experience to face a strong army.”

“Yes, even if we are unfortunately defeated in the end.”

Geomchi-2 nodded his head.

An inevitable fate. They couldn’t change the fact that they were weak and that the enemies were strong.

Of course, that didn’t mean Geomchi and the students were weak. It was impossible to find a group on a similar level in the Versailles Continent. They had a minimum level of 400. Advanced level 9 swordsmanship. The limitation was that their group was unique.

This time Geomchi-3 asked the question.

“Then what will the north do?”

“They just need to endure until the maknae (youngest) returns.”

“Will the maknae come?”

Geomchi-5 asked with a questioning expression.

The invasion of the Haven Empire! No matter how much they loved to fight, this was a huge matter. If a fight occurred then they could kill hundreds of enemies in front of them.

However, only Weed would be able to win against the colossal military power of the Haven Empire.

“Last time I asked Weed if he could defeat the army of the Haven Empire. Do you know what the answer was?”

“He could win?”

“He can’t win. Stopping the ultimate power of the unified Central Continent is a daunting task. No matter how vigilant he is, there won’t be enough time to prepare.”

“Then it will be destroyed?”

“Maybe in a fight but a war isn’t that simple.”

Geomchi laughed like he found something interesting.

“We can’t keep blocking the enemies. We don’t need to smash the enemies to death. Weed will be the one to tear apart the Haven Empire.”

“What do you mean?”

“I literally mean what I said.”

The hearts of the instructors starting beating faster. The charisma that was overflowing from those comments.

Tearing apart the Haven Empire!

It was enough to make them heated up.

Weed might die in a fight but it was completely different in their eyes. Watching the struggle heated up their fighting spirit.

Of course, Weed said something similar but it from completely different from Geomchi’s mouth.

– Ah really, those fellows are really annoying. They are like gum stuck to my clothes. This isn’t a problem that can be prevented…I will tear them apart when that time comes.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Scattered Subordinates

Monsters were wandering around the Barren Howling Ruins. There were non-violent zombies that walked around absent-mindedly like they had lost their souls.

‘Well, they look like they are level 300? But there seems to be a suspicious aura flowing around here.’

Weed hid behind a rock and analysed the monsters.

The features of high ranking monsters became clearer over time. For example, the skin would be a special colour or the monster would be ugly but it gave off a feeling of elegance.

However, here the monsters were just ugly. They were large and brutal. But the monsters were ugly due to the magic of the Embinyu Church flowing everywhere. The proportion of their body, head and arm wasn’t normal or they seemed weirdly threatening.

‘The level is low but there are plenty of them.’

Bizarre creatures were leaping.

Kkiyaaak!

Weed saw a crow flying from a distance towards the collapsed barriers.

When he first saw it, the crow was relatively normal despite being large. But soon its hair started falling like a bald eagle. The canines in its mouth grew to resemble those belonging to a vampire bat and the claws grew longer.

The moment it reached the barrier, it became a weird mix of a crow and dog. And it lost its spirit as it just roamed around the place.

‘It is quite dangerous. It is because of the aura of the Embinyu Church but… Anyway, this place is quite uncommon in the world.’

Weed waited quietly at the corner of the rock. A slow moving monster suddenly stopped and sniffed its nose. There was a lot of ground to cover so it would be tough to cross the barrier without being caught.

‘I need to clean up the ones near me as quickly as possible. So that no monsters will be drawn.’

The monsters wouldn’t move in a collective group like orcs or goblins. But they would immediately gather once there was a battle. They were tinged with the power of darkness so the creatures were instinctively hostile.

‘I need to wait for an opportunity and move slowly. Scout, move, hide, move, hide and repeat. I don’t know whether my subordinates will be able to do this well.’

Weed tried to grasp the terrain and atmosphere of this place. He had ten days for the quest so that was quite a short period of time. This was the final stage of the epic adventure to obtain the secret sculpting technique quest!

The quest difficult had gone up with every stage so this certainly wasn’t a lot of time. Even if he toiled for 10 days, the slightest mistake could cause him to fail in minutes. It was like a student studying for an exam tomorrow!

‘Anyway, I need to move. I need to go to a higher place to see the whole view. And the highest thing in the vicinity… That barrier.’

Monsters walking slowly!

Weed waited until a monster passed by. And he dealt a surprise attack with the Extermination Sword.

If a knight hit from behind then they would experience a penalty to their fame and honour. There were also knights infamous for their ‘backstab’ attacks. But other professions didn’t care about dignity and could freely attack from behind. The thief profession made it their career to stab from the back!

– You have dealt a critical blow!

Kuwek!

Instant death.

Weed’s level meant that an ordinary creature couldn’t withstand his strike.

Kyak!

Kwaack!

Keuk!

He handled the monsters while moving a short distance. Wide area skills were used to quickly get rid of 6~8 gathered together.

“What?”

“I…I heard a sound.”

If there was a disturbance than monsters would gather together. Weed sped off and hid again for another 10 minutes. The monsters here weren’t smart so they just moved according to their instincts.

Another loud sound would make them gather again like zombies. Whenever there was a collapsed barrier, he would deliberately cause a noise and then moved without making any sound. All their basic instincts were removed except for eating and killing.

‘The simple reactions can make this the best hunting ground.’

However, he couldn’t be careless. Things that moved on instinct could be really scary. They forgot their reason for living and would just bit and claw after pouncing.

If he made a fuss when fighting one monster then a whole group of enemies would come. There was no guarantee that the Embinyu Church wouldn’t come investigate. If he couldn’t grasp the topographic map then he might end up fighting knights.

‘I have to think of worst case scenarios.’

He didn’t fear fighting under any circumstances but Weed had no intention of fighting earnestly yet. His goal wasn’t the monsters around here.

‘I need to check for anything familiar!’

He moved carefully and climbed up the half collapsed stairs of the barrier that was his target.

– You have arrived at an unknown barrier.

The barrier makes it impossible to feel comfortable.

Health will be exhausted by angry monsters.

If your health falls below 50,000 then you will immediately change into a monster.

The energy inside your body will be reduced by 23%.

When vitality falls below half, it will cause damage to your health.

An unexpected penalty!

“Hrmm, this isn’t good. And this is the worst terrain.”

A groan automatically slipped from Weed’s mouth as he passed the barrier. There were many monsters below in the Barren Howling Ruins.

A river flowed in the direction of the Embinyu Church that contained dead bodies floating on it, causing a deeply rotten river where monsters swarmed. They gathered near the blackened river like ants swarming to honey.

There seemed to be hundreds of thousands of monsters along the river bank. It was like a monster fair where they raced to take the best place. There were various types of monsters here that couldn’t be seen throughout the entire continent.

He could fly through the sky but he needed to pass the rotten river. A poison mist was spread densely from the river. Flying monsters trying to cross the river would be touched by the poison mist and fall into the river.

Beyond these obstacles, arriving at the Embinyu walls was also a problem. Just like a sand dune, the walls of the fortress was higher than anything else. It wasn’t just rock but lined with thick steel as well. This made the walls so thick and firm that even a bronze giant’s attacks wouldn’t pulverize it.

The watchtowers that monitored the boundaries were also an issue. There were troops placed on the staircase of the tower that almost touched the sky. He didn’t know how he could invade under such tight surveillance.

This was a shrine for the Embinyu Church as well as a production base to make new monsters. It wasn’t visible but there were training grounds for monsters inside. The moment he was discovered, there would be a hornet’s nest of monsters ready to pounce.

“I’d rather go to the Bank of Korea to get rid of my gold bars.”

He felt a lot of misery. He was one person going against a country of a massive scale.

“If I won the lottery three times in a row then I wouldn’t need to worry about money.”

He could only think of common sense methods that wouldn’t work! Even though Weed was the strongest human, he still suffered from a lot of limitations. The curse of the weak was that he couldn’t fight for a long time without a break.

He was proud of his power but it was unsure if he could face the Embinyu Army gathered here. And the enemies had the ultimate weapon, the Chaos Dragon. Ausollet was said to be especially strong and dangerous that even other dragons didn’t want to deal with him.

‘I have to stay calm. There has to be some options. And ten days. I need to use this time very well. I can only depend on myself.’

Weed looked around in other directions. The barrier continued to the left and the right. He was curious about how far it extended but there was no point in following the barrier.

There were many collapsed parts where monsters roamed. Weed looked towards the rear of the red wasteland. There was probably a kingdom filled with humans beyond the wasteland.

‘The exact location of this place… Judging by the location of the sun and the moon, it is the Wasteland of the Lost.’

The Wasteland of the Lost was a huge maze that connected the Central Continent to the Western Continent. Those that entered this place would endlessly wander until they died.

It was rumoured that legendary swords or armour were buried here along with riches so many adventurers lost their lives. That’s why the Wasteland of the Lost was one of the continent’s 10 Forbidden Zones.

“Uhh, no. I can’t stop here.”

Weed wanted to protect his reputation and this adventure was being broadcasted so he wanted to be successful.

An astronomical advertising revenue! He could make money by selling items obtained through adventuring and hunting but it wouldn’t compare to the profit made by the broadcasts.

Putting aside the money. Weed was now familiar with the rich and generous lifestyle so he didn’t want to be reminded of his hungry past. He recently earned a lot of money so luxury had permeated his body.

“I am no longer the same as I was in the past. I know how to spend money and my expenses have increased.”

He used to eat a spoonful of rice with ham and now he was eating like a middle class person.

He washed with warm water from the boiler and even bough seasonal fruits from the market, an extravagance that would’ve previously caused an endless amount of criticism.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Ten days was both a long and a short time.

Weed spend a few hours moving along the collapsed barriers of the Barren Howling Ruins and arrived at the river.

Using the quiet!

“I have to find a way.”

A way to avoid the monsters, destroy the Sky Tower and get rid of the Chaos Dragon.

“I can do it. An idea has emerged. Calling Death Knight Van Hawk!”

– The suspicious energy has prevented the summoning.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk has returned to the original world. Van Hawk and Torido had already returned to the original time zone.

“The usable ones are gone.”

Then he needed a quicker way to navigate so that he could find his subordinates and Ahellun.

“A monster. I don’t need to continue killing them while moving.”

Weed finally decided to use Sculpture Transformation.

Kang! Kang! Kang!

A piece similar to the monsters around here.

The right eye was unusually large and the thick jaw curved inwards. Running on four legs was faster so he developed specially muscular hind legs. Now he could escape through running if needed. The ears were large and spacious so he could hear the sounds around him.

– You have completed The Pony.

A roughly made, presentable pony.

Unfortunately, the pony lives an unhappy life because it can’t be free.

A piece made by a sculptor that travelled through time and space.

Artistic Value: 30

If you keep this work then enormous historical value will be given.

Special Options: Luck will decrease by 65 when people look at his sculptor for more than 5 seconds.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

A sculpture with special effects!

It wouldn’t be eating food so he made a skinny body that wouldn’t attract attention from the other creatures.

Weed had created a piece with a bizarre appearance but it closely followed the shapes of the monsters around here.

“I had plenty of time to master sculpting after my adventure. However, the Hermes Guild won’t leave me alone. Life is too short to be twisted like this. Sculpture Transformation!”

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting makes the sculptor and statue resemble each other!

As a Sun Warrior, his body itself was beautiful and sturdy. He wore the best equipment obtained from the Salamander King that anyone would envy yet he was suddenly changed into a pony.

The form meant he couldn’t exert much combat power. Among the means of attack, the fatal blow was always a kick to the rear!

Weed curled the lips of the pony.

‘Well, it sounds good. I want to eat a carrot. I can finally understand Bactrian Camel’s  mind.’

The pony stealthily descended the stairs of the barrier.

Kuhung!

The monsters only glanced at him before turning their heads away.

‘That appearance is one of us.’

‘I don’t want you near me.’

Weed proudly walked along the barrier.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Warrior-2.

He had been given life by Weed and proudly fought for the desert.

When he was just born, many terrifying enemies threatened the safety but later it was calm. He obtained dozens of records of bravery while following Weed’s desert festival!

He was confident even after coming to the Barren Howling Ruins to defeat the Embinyu Church.

‘I want to obtain recognition for killing a high priest.’

He was a bodyguard and the loyalty of his subordinates was second to none. He came here alone but Warrior-2 bravely held his scimitar while staring at the enemy.

“Everybody bring it on!”

Kurung?

“I am Warrior-2 and I will kill all of you.”

He deliberately raised a fuss in order to attract the attention of the monsters.

Kurung. Kurrrrrung!

As a result, hundreds of monsters concentrated their attacks on him! As an honourable desert warrior, Warrior-2 would clean up all the monsters in that place. He held an axe in his right hand and a spear in his left as he continuously struck the enemies. However, the increasingly loud uproar caused all the monsters nearby to gather.

– You have been battered in the chest with horns.

Health is reduced.

A paralysis effect has occurred but try to overcome it.

– You have been bitten on the shoulder.

Attack speed is reduced.

The continuous group attack of the monsters.

Despite Warrior-2’s pride in his health, he was forced to get tired and have his health reduced after fighting for a few hours.

Poison was spat and monsters damaged his body. He could defeat thousands of soldiers alone but the monsters here were severe.

Humans had overwhelmingly strong skills but their will could break easily while monsters just cared about attacking. And they spat poison. In addition, more monsters came constantly running out of the barrier to attack.

Beyond the barrier, the monsters that drank from the rotten river were level 400. And 5~6 of them jointly decreased Warrior-2’s health. Some of them ate the bodies of other monsters and quickly became stronger.

“As a warrior, I am happy to die fighting.”

He could run away but Warrior-2 stubbornly persisted in struggling in that place. The fighting spirit that wouldn’t subside despite being wounded by thousands of enemies! The dying Warrior-2 kept on attracting more monsters.

“Ah…there is no anger. However, I want to see Great Emperor before I die….”

Something happened when Warrior-2’s health fell to 10%. A pony was running at full speed in the distance. Another monster had found him.

‘This pathetic person! He doesn’t think at all. I gave you life yet you haven’t even eaten seaweed soup yet.’ (A traditional dish that Koreans eat on their birthdays).

Puhihihihing!

The pony’s running speed was incredibly fast. Weed’s changed stats meant he had absolute ability in track and field.

He reached the place where the group of monsters were gathered and leapt up, jumping over the monsters’ heads. The front and hind legs pushed against a head, moving dozens of metres every time.

“Grrrrr, where… going.”

An enormous monster suddenly blocked the path in front of him and he jumped over it.

“Not yet… Fight… My strength…remaining.”

Weed was right in front of Warrior-2. Warrior-2’s body was full of wounds after hours of fighting and his knife was bent due to low durability.

A few more fights and the knife would be broken. Warrior-2 was a great warrior but he couldn’t endure without any weapons. The transformed Weed looked at Warrior-2 and grumbled.

“This is a really a place with all types of misfortunes. I became a ugly, monster like pony!”

Puhuhung!

“Eh? That rotten expression is very familiar… Don’t tell me you are Great Emperor-nim?”

Warrior-2 got on the transformed back. He briefly looked around and saw that they were surrounded by monsters.

It was close to impossible to find a place with no enemies in order to escape. Now both Weed and Warrior-2 would probably be buried here. Weed snorted and stomped his hind legs.

‘I need to believe in this lacking body.’

Pababak!

His heel kicked hard against the ground! He jumped into the air between the monsters. The superior agility enabled him to jump 4 or 5 times!

The extraordinary Weed moved like a horse with wings by stepping on the heads of the monsters. He broke through the encirclement of the monsters.

“Cha…se.”

“Don’t miss the prey.”

The monsters pursued. It felt like a long distance marathon consisting of monsters was occurring!

Weed ran along the barrier while pricking his ears. He needed to be on guard for any potential monsters in front that would attack. In addition, there were some monsters chasing that wouldn’t give up. He avoided the large and small monsters as he ran through the Barren Howling Ruins.

It was 4 minutes until he found a pit under a wall.

‘Here.’

Weed entered the pit while carrying Warrior-2. After a while, the monsters that had no intelligence just passed by. They had no instincts so they just stumbled around in vain.

“W…why aren’t they here?”

“I don’t kno…w.”

“I…’m hung…ry.”

The monsters lost motivation and started wandering around like a zombie. Weed had fully grasped the nature of the monsters here.

‘Dull and slow. But still dangerous.’

The level of the monsters was high enough to be a burden for general users. It wasn’t unreasonable for the kingdoms ruled by the prestigious guilds to led a force here to subjugate the area.

In many ways, even the Hermes Guild would find it tough. Weed’s body in his original time wouldn’t be able to face hundreds of them.

The health of the monsters was low but they attacked abnormally because they didn’t care about their bodies.

‘Well, despite that I’m not going to die.’

Even if he fought the monsters, Weed could still escape. The situation would become complicated if a bunch of monsters from the river moved or knights and priests emerged.

It would be an enormous combat power but Weed’s nimbleness meant it would be easy to escape if his life was in danger.

Weed cursed with the mouth of a pony.

“You incompetent bastard! Your life doesn’t belong to you. I don’t need a subordinate that insists on unnecessarily dying!”

“I’m sorry Great Emperor.”

“But the future is dark. The reaction of the others won’t be significantly different from yours.”

Thanks to all the dungeon exploration and hunting, Weed knew that the sculptural lifeforms have a fearless nature that wouldn’t back down.

He knew their versatility and the limits of their ability so apart from Zahab and Ahellun, he became gloomy at the thought of his subordinates, except for Hestiger, dying.

It was like a senior citizen worrying about their children living to an old age.

‘I can’t bring this guy around on my back.’

Creatures didn’t care about Weed after he became a pony. Once they approached within 30 metres, there would be a rancid smell so they backed away.

He was inconspicuous compared to the wandering monsters so he could roam around with ease. However, if he carried a human warrior on his back then monsters would aim at him.

‘I wandered around so much and only found one person. I should try to find the other subordinates.’

Weed left Warrior-2 in the pit and continued searching. He searched until the sun went down but couldn’t find his other subordinates.

There were traces remaining of the monsters fighting someone but he couldn’t be sure if it was his men. Time was running out as he already searched around the barrier and passed by the rotten river.

‘This is the fate of my subordinates.’

He could only hope that his subordinates found each other instead! He also didn’t know what to do with Warrior-2. Even with Warrior 2, he still couldn’t invade the location of the Embinyu Church.

“Well, I still have this!”

Weed took out the Sands of Time. If he looked at Nodulle’s adventure then he might obtain a good strategy.

Of course, just because he had an idea didn’t mean it would succeed.

“I need to make sure of the timing. If I save it then I might end up being bitter later. Sands of Time!”

The Sands of Time flowed down Weed’s hands.

– Sands of Time.

Sands of Time, a mysterious sand that can recollect things.

A treasure from the southern desert that can look back in time.

It is possible to return to your original time to bring goods or people.

Just possessing it can give references to the past.

Ddiring!

– The Sands of Time can’t be used due to the encroaching evil magic.

The Sands of Time have become useless. It will disappear forever.

Chapter 2: Sky Tower’s Workers

“Cough.”

The treasured card he had been saving didn’t work! He really could trust in no one in this world.

Weed’s brain worked frantically.

‘What should I do? I wanted to understand how Nodulle and Ahellun completed the quest so I don’t have to waste time wandering around like I did today.’

A sigh naturally emerged.

Nodulle’s quest had already changed.

The configuration of Nodulle’s colleagues had changed so the same situation couldn’t be repeated.

Ahellun might perform a similar role but each person would display different types of behaviour and abilities.

Especially since Weed wasn’t Nodulle. He saw things differently so he needed to find his own methods to complete this mission.

“A person won’t come along. I can only believe in myself.”

He couldn’t live life depending on someone else. So Weed needed to open a path in this quest in his own matter.

Weed sighed deeply.

It all depended on how he spent the next ten days.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Haven Empire in the Central Continent.

7 Corps crossed the Poros River that was the gateway to the north.

An enormous 2.1 million troops!

The number of horses, carriages and merchants following behind was at a terrific scale. They belonged to the Hermes Guild of the Haven Empire so the users’ steps were light.

“We will seize and twist the neck of the north.”

“Will we see a fight soon? I don’t know if they will dare attack.”

The united power of the 7 corps was so great that a battle seemed pointless. They felt pleasure rather than tension before the war. The largest power on the continent would sweep up the Northern Continent at once.

The soldiers were also given all types of food delicacies during the expedition. Their treatment was excellent whether they were users or NPCs.

Due to the repeated wars of conquest, the Haven Empire contained a high percentage of elite soldiers.

“The other 5 corps have also arrived in front of the Northern Continent.”

“Then let’s march.”

The soldiers advanced like Lafaye planned.

The first 7 corps entered the north from the front. The remaining 5 corps would invade through other routes to avoid the eyes and ears of the north.

The 7 corps would split apart the north like a spear while the remaining 5 would smash it like a hammer or tear it apart like a knife.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Buzz buzz.

Morata’s Bingryong Square!

It was always bustling with novice users. People could start Royal Road in Arpen Kingdom so the stores and streets were always filled with beginners.

“How much is this fruit?”

“I am selling it for 2 copper.”

“Wow, that is expensive! I’ll earn the money later and will come back to eat it.”

Novice users who didn’t know the world grew up in Morata.

‘There was a time when I was also like that.’

Although some users could obtain leather and meat from rabbits, they would hide with fear when meeting goblins in the forest. Any beginner who started Royal Road would suffer from that.

The starter villages of the Arpen Kingdom were bustling with beginners. The mountain villages might be inconvenient but they sold herbs and leather that were normally expensive so they were crowded with users.

Even novice users who emerged from the kingdom would be filled with energy and adventure and would actively pioneer the north.

The farmers were also stable as there was a wide land untouched by monsters and bards entered uncharted territory for the sake of stories.

Due to the development of Morata, the birth rate throughout the north increased and many children were born. There was no doubt that they would be the future cornerstones of the north.

The development of the Central Continent was easy but the north was able to evolve into a unique culture and economy. It wasn’t a vast region but the adventure, creation of legends and growth potential was enormous!

So users in the square normally exchanged stories of commerce and adventures.

“Fight in order to keep our home, land and freedom!”

“They don’t have to be trampled, just repelled. We will struggle until the end!”

“The Arpen Kingdom is ours. This is our place. We can’t crawl for our entire lives. We will create our own world!”

The northern users were filled with rejection for the Haven Empire.

The fight between the Haven Empire and the prestigious guilds had been confined to the Central Continent so the northern users protested the invasion. But the most important reason was that the north had been soaked with the users’ blood and sweat.

They had grown the rural villages along with Morata and opened up the northern frontier. Even users that just recently logged into Royal Road were filled with pride from living in the north.

“We might live in the slums while conserving even 1 copper but isn’t there a high potential in the north? It would be foolish if we let the Haven Empire invade this place.”

“The war in the Central Continent is already over and the taxes are so high that some people have wandered to the north. This place might be underdeveloped but it can evolve quickly.”

Morata was the capital of the Arpen Kingdom but it was also the hub of transportation. The northern users continued to gather to hear news of the Haven Empire’s invasion. Of course, King Weed hadn’t seen it yet but there were many users at the Earth Palace.

Users were mobilized in the small villages, large villages and cities of the Arpen Kingdom in order to fight against the Haven Empire.

“I came. Where is Sloan-nim?”

“The warrior Hasuller is looking for a party. All warriors level 350 and over can participate!”

“Eh, didn’t you party with me in the bat cave a year ago? The full set of Bandit Armour! I’ve raised my level a lot in the meantime.”

“Hah, me too. I just lived and ate in the hunting grounds.”

There were welcome encounters between players in the city. Meetings were conducted throughout Morata and the north, with information being shared between adventurers.

“Bones with a little flesh sticking to them are good.”

“These have the characteristic of being half rotten. So just using a little power will be enough to break them.”

“But it is hard to find good, rotten bones…”

“I heard that Jeanne’s Summon Skeleton Archers skill has reached advanced level 6.”

“Huhuhu, I reached advanced level 8 not long ago.”

“Ohh, then at least 200 skeleton archers will sweep through the hunting grounds!”

“I am escorted by 3 zombies and 200 archers but my skill to summon a death knight is a little low. Isn’t Otem-nim ahead in this area?”

“I really like the death knights.”

Jeanne, Harian, Otem!

The necromancers held a meeting after a while.

It was hard to hunt with many users due to the nature of their profession. The summoned undead troops would often been disruptive or a nuisance to other users hunting. The undead summons weren’t alive so they would often intercept monsters already being hunted.

If it was that much then the general users would understand. From a general user’s point of view, hunting with undead troops meant they didn’t need to worry about defense so they could relax.

But the necromancers needed to collect materials required for the summoning! They couldn’t help being aware of the eyes of other users when digging up graves or rummaging through bodies.

“Hey, are you looking for a good body?”

Grave robbery was necessary for a necromancer! However, encountering other users while digging out a grave with a shovel….

People couldn’t ignore the sight of them drinking water from a skull. But this wasn’t an insurmountable problem to high level necromancers because the north had many remote places.

“Necromancers can use rib bones that aren’t chewed on in order to make the undead.”

“There are rumours about a tomb near the haunted house so I’m heading there.”

People still didn’t have a considerable knowledge of the rituals. Necromancers were well respected in combat. Apart from the professional misconceptions and prejudices, people didn’t find it fun to go hunting with an undead army.

“I’ve recently heard a story about the east. It seems to be a fairly good adventure….”

“Well, you can chase it if you want. I’m going to an island.”

“There isn’t anything to see on an uninhabited island.”

“No way. Isn’t there a city with a population of 40,000?”

The adventurer’s flame erupted as there were arguments among adventurers. Unlike warriors and knights, adventurers didn’t quarrel over hunting monsters or clearing dungeons.

Skill proficiency was very important but they didn’t boast about it. They talked proudly about things they found or excavations. An adventurer would just the slightest clue to correct distorted history or would find historical artefacts! They wandered around the boisterous taverns of the continent and didn’t care about getting a full night’s sleep.

Adventurers scattered all over the continent. There was no such thing as a fixed home. They found occasional colleagues to fulfil missions but didn’t need to participate in sieges or be affected by the policies of the lords.

Rather than compensation from quests or hunting, adventurers preferred to find gold, silver or hidden treasures. Adventurers were proud of being able to overcome any challenges.

“Break a bridge. Will it be a nuisance if we break any of the bridges?”

“Let’s keep in mind the critical buildings. The Art Centre, Goddess of Freya Statue, the library and the Tower of Light. In the worst case scenario, they can’t be allowed to fall into the hands of the enemy.”

“Is it too late to move everything? And if there is a safety zone where the war can be avoided…..”

“We can’t even move to an island. We need to act to fortify the best buildings and cities. There are many things that architects can do in this war.”

The architects burned with patriotism.

Their talents had flourished in the north. Grand Buildings were constantly being created, roads through mountains and rivers that connected the north were just some of the government project.

The population of architects exploded as they participated in the urban construction and expansion.

Plenty of shelters, parks, markets were made using gold from hunting along with comfortable roads in commercial areas and residential areas! It was important to decorate features such as hills or rivers in order to create a space where people could get rid of their stress.

The views of the cities needed to be considered so the architects’ ability to coordinate and cooperation was important. No matter how beautiful the building was, it would be considered a failure if it didn’t match the architectural features around it. Some distinctive architect would be a terrible mess when looked at from a distance. Architects needed to create harmony between the buildings, river, streets and trees.

A profession respected by the general users! After making the decisions, thousands of novice users moved to help them build it. Architects had a very promising career in the north.

“I will join the Toadstool Porridge unit. I am tired of bland food and like the taste of porridge that can cause death.”

“I would rather eat sumptuous seafood than die. The taste of various seafood directly obtained from the sea! Seafood can also raise the loyalty of a dead crew.”

A meeting of chefs also took place.

The entire north was filled with the Grass Porridge Cult so it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they mobilized all the users to stop the Haven Empire’s invasion.

Currently there were 71 units of the Grass Porridge Cult. It was impossible to count how many people had joined!

The novice users focused on the Bamboo Shoots Porridge Unit since it accepted an unlimited number of people. They would go around with bamboo shoots attached to their head or chest. There was even a small village of Bamboo Shoots members that ran around to nearby dungeons.

“What about the northern users who aren’t part of the Grass Porridge Cult?”

“I don’t know. There are also the residents as well.”

Grass porridge restaurants, grass porridge cafes, grass porridge hotels, etc. The popularity of the grass porridges were so high that there were chains of them. And the scary thing was that the entire Grass Porridge Cult was burning to fight against the enemies invading.

Their source of loyalty wasn’t their loyalty to King Weed but their own happiness in the north. The Haven Empire destroying this kingdom was like catching their girlfriend cheating.

Of course, this couldn’t be a comparison in the first place. Because many of the men in the Grass Porridge Cult didn’t have girlfriends!

“We have to fight.”

“Let’s go!”

Huge crowds of users in the northern cities showed a willingness to fight. They were willing to die from cuts or arrows to stop the invaders.

However, there were many users who had experience with the Central Continent in the past.

“That’s not possible. No matter how many people flock there, it will only be a case of suicide.”

“The Haven Empire is different from any opponents so far. They aren’t easy. They have an overwhelmingly flawless strength.”

“We can’t just give them our lands or cities without any resistance!”

“We can win. If we are determined then we can win!”

The opinions of the mobilized users were split as they panicked. Some wanted to fight but the more prudent high level users were concerned.

High level users would lose a lot if they died. Level 300 or 400 users would lose skill proficiency after dying so it could cause quite a bit of frustration.

People sat at the city’s central fountain and sighed. Even though members of the Grass Porridge Cult were willing to fight and die, other users hesitated.

The members of the Grass Porridge Cult were aware of the advantages they had. Quantity rather than quality.

They unconditionally wiped out the enemy with their numbers. Their unity and tactics were poor. The opponent would become annoyed with the constantly surging numbers. Even a strong enemy would eventually be overwhelmed by numbers.

But these were the elite troops of the Haven Empire. The army that unified the Central Continent wouldn’t lose to such recklessness. It was the strongest army that could possibly conquer the entire continent.

“We won’t know until we try!”

“Let’s drive them out of the north!”

In the end, the vocal opinions prevailed over the cautious users. They decided to repel the Haven Empire at the Rupoi Plains like in the past, so a large number of users migrated there.

Apart from hunting and levelling up, the northern users enjoyed a wide variety of fun activities.

There were some users in Morata who started early but their level still hadn’t reached the late 200s.

There was an enormous growth in population but they focused more on economic power than increasing the individual ability of a person.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Lafaye’s opinion really is like a psychic.”

Porcal, leader of the 3rd corps of the Haven Empire nodded. He could see users walking beyond the northern ridge. Setting aside the weak and strong, there was an overwhelming number of people.

“I know why Rensullot was defeated.”

The users of the Hermes Guild respected Rensullot.

He was able to defeat enemies inside a fortress using courage and resourcefulness. So quite a few commanders in the Hermes Guild were shocked when he came back from the north with a devastating defeat.

They didn’t know why Rensullot would suffer such a defeat. Looking at the number of northern users now, he could see why 70,000 troops lost. No matter how high the level of the soldiers or their training, they had no choice but to be swept away by the deluge of enemies!

The large number of people couldn’t be ignored. The users had the vengeful thought of pushing them back to the Central Continent! There were high level users mixed in among the beginners.

The Hermes Guild had 200,000 users. Among them, the ones that participated in the northern expedition reached 50,000.

The players were eager to fly into combat! The high ranked users in Royal Road were like celebrities as they walked through cities with people envying them. Even those elites would mentally shrink back after seeing the scale of the enemy.

“Morale is important in a war.”

It was true for both users and NPC soldiers. But the Hermes Guild had constantly prepared for war after conquering the Central Continent.

The Haven Empire had been training to come to the north since Rensullot’s loss. The users were united even if they had to go against these numbers. They set up tactics for quick, sharp and impossible to stop assaults.

The Haven Empire had the strongest army so there was no need to be afraid. Furthermore, they would wide area magic that wouldn’t consume a lot of mana and a large number of arrows in advance. The best quality troops of the Haven Empire would slaughter the weak beginners.

“We are going to win the fight this time. Despite using the crowd psychology, their tactic is relatively simple. We will set a record for the most number of people slaughtered.”

The commanders had deployed advance troops to specified areas in advance.

“I want to try out the wide area magic.”

“Kyah, today I will kill at least 1,000 people. I can built up some combat achievements.”

The users of the Hermes Guild among the army were excited.

“Uhh, what should I do?”

“It is really hard. How should I attack?”

The northern users didn’t know what to do after arriving in front of the enemy. The Haven Empire’s heavy infantry were stationed at the front holding spears and shields while the archers were concentrated behind them.

They hesitated due to the instinctive fear of an egg hitting a solid rock but more northern users continued gathering on the left and right.

“Let’s go! The Toadstool Porridge unit will be the vanguard!”

“We will burn our bodies in order to win the battle.”

“I will fight until I die.”

The Toadstool Porridge unit that enjoyed death were in the vanguard. There was a cloud of dust as more than 100,00 users ran forward. And…

2 corps commanders gave an order to the right side.

“Show those fearless people a taste. Units 1-4 archers, fire! The fire magicians will use wide area attacks.”

The archers of the Haven Empire fired arrows towards the Toadstool Porridge unit.

“Cough!”

“Ugh!”

“There are too many.”

“Unbelievable….”

Arrows rained down upon the helplessly dying users! Flames then covered the area and spread widely.

The Toadstool Porridge members in the area couldn’t survive the attacks and collapsed. The Haven Empire were correctly using the archers and magicians in a war. The archers belonging to the 6th unit aimed separate arrows at the users that survived.

The Toadstool Porridge members were still running but were hit by the enormous attacks of the Haven Empire once they entered range. The areas that received the attacks were filled with grey lights that disappeared.

The northern users could only watch with astonishment at the scene of the Toadstool Porridge unit literally melting away.

“This can’t be. The intrepid troops of the Toadstool Porridge unit….”

“The wide area fire magic killed several hundred at once.”

“Did they use this attack method so that we won’t be able to fight?”

“We can’t just leave it like this. We have to all go at the same time.”

“Don’t give them time to harm us.”

The northern users didn’t lose their courage despite the shocking sight!

“Waaaaaah!”

They start rushing forward simultaneously like a tsunami. From left to right, there was an infinite number of users. Perhaps this was the beginning of the counterattack.

But the Haven Empire’s army had the perfect response.

“They are no different from scarecrows. But we will show them some courtesy as this is the first battle. Show them the horror of the Haven Empire!”

They massacred the users with arrows and magic. Tens of thousands and then hundreds of thousands failed to get close to the Haven Empire’s army. It was a mighty firepower that wiped out the counterattack.

The elite archers had gained experience through training and experience in the conquest wars while the magicians were given the best treatment in the Haven Empire.

NPC archers wore expensive accessories and longbows that increased their range while magicians were given magic books and tools to grow their magic. The Hermes Guild focused on war so they deliberately strengthened their archer and magician units.

Of course, there was a significant number of high level users among the northern users. They expected to play a significant role when the fighting became confused!

But before the superior firepower of the Haven Empire’s army, they could only watch and die along with the novice users.

The flimsy northern users were useless in front of the Haven Empire’s long range tactic. There were some users fortunately enough to reach the troops and swung their swords. They intended to harm the archers but neglected to block the follow up attacks.

There was also a wall of armoured infantry so the northern users lost their lives as they bumped against it.

“How did this happen?”

“I don’t know. Can we go on?”

“We can’t fight the enemy.”

The onslaught of northern users stagnated. Plenty of users were still running but they just suffered pointless deaths.

– A curse has slowed your movements.

Movement speed will decrease by 35% for 40 seconds.

– The truth of the disastrous curse has been revealed.

94% of your mana has been consumed.

Curses were hurled towards the northern users.

The Haven Empire had donated to many religions with their vast riches. Money was used to mobilize priests for the war and the priests of the Hermes Guild also participated.

Even so, only one tenth of the gathered northern users had been damaged. The users waiting behind continued to thrust forward.

The corps commanders of the Haven Empire had been given instructions in advance.

“We will start the 2nd stage of the operation to teach them despair. Armoured infantry advance! Knights move forward. Cross every 400 metres.”

The Haven Empire abandoned the current situation and finally ran forward.

They didn’t want their victory in this battle doubted. They wanted to prove they could devastate the northern army without using ranged attacks.

The soldiers and knights ran up to the users with their swords and spears.

“No way. My sword broke!”

“Cough! The equipment I obtained from conquering the Goblin Dungeon….”

The skilful soldiers that were a hundred times more battle tested lightly cut the users. The weak users were in front so the result was already decided.

And high level users were mixed in among them. But they didn’t have enough time and space to play an active role.

After the devastating ranged attacks, they were trampled on by the knights of the Haven Empire. The novice users weren’t an impediment to the knights’ rush and the high levelled users died in vain.

There was a limit to how much individual ability a person could show in a war. Those that were hiding received the worst results.

The scattered users couldn’t resist the scale of the knights’ operation despite their numerical advantage.

“Let’s kill at least one person.”

The level 200~300 users set such a goal.

They reduced the numbers by sacrificing their own lives. Then their colleagues would take care of the rest.

A strategy using their numbers!

But the Haven Empire didn’t have the myth of invincibility for nothing. The knights scattered apart. And they would join together again at a fixed point. The high level users mixed in killed a few but they couldn’t effectively assault the knights.

The imperial soldiers that followed behind the knights seized the area that was a mess. The archers and magicians unit slowly advanced while aiming at the northern users.

The 7 corps marched methodically as they captured important areas. The army deployed by the Haven Empire lured the users and crushed them. The armoured infantry specialized in defense so they trapped 100,000 people inside and slaughtered them.

The northern users had no leaders or separate plan so effectively controlling such a large force was impossible! The norther users kept the same battle plan but the Haven Empire’s army changed battle formations as scheduled and killed them.

Of course, there were still northern users waiting for an opportunity. High level users such as thieves or warriors were waiting for the enemy to approach! But they could only kill 1~2 soldiers before being hit by ranged attacks or the knights. Eventually the northern archers and magicians just recklessly attacked the Haven Empire.

“Take this!”

“At least a few of you should die!”

However, it was blocked with already prepared magic or shields and they just lost their lives.

The infantry with their cutting ability, the power of the magic units, the shield units, etc. The power of the Imperial Army was enough to cause others to feel despair.

“How?

“Nonsense.”

“But we can’t step back.”

Rumours started to spread as the northern users died. Even so, they bravely continued the assault and died!

The fighting capabilities of both sides in the war couldn’t be compared.

The priests continuous poured out healing magic so the Haven Empire’s army didn’t get tired.

Overall, the solid and organized army felt like a devil.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[TL] Yes, I don’t know why this is the chapter title but it is definitely correct.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Chapter 3: Eyes of a Landlord

Lee Hyun saw the battle on Rupoi Plains on the television.

“They were properly crushed.”

After half of them fell victim to the Haven Empire, the northern users retreated. He felt sorry seeing them retreating.

The novice users that survived until the end scattered only to lose their lives behind chased down by the cavalry. No matter how many troops there were, the quality and war skills of the Haven Empire overwhelmed them.

And fear and helplessness spread among the users after the defeat.

“What should we do?”

“Ah, this thing probably….”

“Our strength is lacking. We can only accept the outside rule.”

The Haven Empire’s army had experienced multiple wars so each corps could fight calmly. The flow of troops, attack and defense when appropriate, deployment of troops and knowing the terrain all played a large role in allowing them to unify the Central Continent.

The Hermes Guild used tactics that had grown through all the wars. A collection of the so-called elites!

In contrast, the northern users had no tactics.

This was the crucial weakness of the northern users. There was no military commander so they were easily swept by a herd mentality. There were no tactics or properly deployment of troops when facing the enemy.

Once those points were perfectly identified, the troops with outstanding combat power could take advantage of it.

Lee Hyun realized the important of leadership in big battles. Even with the same subordinates, the outcome of every fight could be different depending on the battle tactics and proper conduct.

The Haven Empire wouldn’t have conquered the Central Continent if they just smashed in recklessly.

“Well, it makes sense.”

Lee Hyun nodded.

He didn’t have any hope from the beginning. He had expected something like this. People with a smart mind would somehow succeed. Ordinary people would end up participating in large events.

Things like loan fraud scams, bad accounting, stock price manipulation and financial companies suffering bankruptcy in the billions of won was common. People were easy pickings for scams.

Those middle class people hadn’t experienced true adventure. The world was only a really good place to live if someone had money.

Force was an essential element in Royal Road if you wanted to trample on others.

The Hermes Guild named this war ‘Operation Treading on Ants.’ They would step on the northern users like they were ants. Of course, Weed would be the greatest ant.

Lee Hyun sighed.

“I’m glad I didn’t have any expectations.”

If he was expecting to win the lottery or rooted for the northern users then h would’ve felt even deeper disappointment!

It was the definition of bad guys eating well!

He didn’t expect that they would manage to hold off the army.

“Today, some rice has fallen.”

Even so, he wasn’t in a good mood. His important rice bowl was on the brink of collapse due to the Haven Empire’s invasion. He knew the worst thing might happen so his mood fell to the bottom.

Weed’s character didn’t exist in the current time zone so he couldn’t fight against the Haven Empire.

Lee Hyun’s eyes shone coldly.

“Let them try it. I have to lose one… No. I should’ve tried to act more moderately.”

The Arpen Kingdom trying to stand up to the Haven Empire seemed insane. To be honest, he never seriously though about any methods.

It was easy to live life in moderation while cringing away from the strong. But he wouldn’t be able to fight if he used that method.

Lee Hyun came alive when challenging impossible quests or breaking through the enemies.

The northern users were currently helping him. Millions of people going against the Haven Empire meant that his party consisted of millions! Once he returned to his original time zone, he would like to work with the northern users. He could check the emotional damage.

He needed to quickly finish the final secret sculpting quest first. Lee Hyun’s rice bowl was very large.

“I will keep my rice bowl, soup bowl and side dishes. Wait a bit. I will show you. You’ve pulled the beard of a sleeping mad dog.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed logged into Royal Road and appeared at a puddle near the barrier.

“Umm Great Emperor-nim, that urgent look….”

Warrior-2 studied his shining eyes. He had bandages around him and seemed well rested.

Weed welcomed him and said.

“A useless person who only eats rice is useless.”

“…….”

A very familiar nagging.

His sculptural lifeforms were accustomed to it. The blunt remarks and jealousy! If Weed was a mother in law then the divorce rate would be several times higher in Korea.

“Anyway, you’ve recovered so don’t fight recklessly and search for your colleagues.”

“Yes! Great Emperor-nim isn’t coming with me?”

“It is better to move separately. Head to the Embinyu Church after meeting your other colleagues. Meet me in there.”

“I’ll be sure to see you again.”

So Warrior-2 left the place.

His quest needed to proceed but finding his subordinates was also important. Weed gave instructions to his subordinate to sneak around and find the others.

Of course, he didn’t have great expectations.

“I’m more comfortable moving alone.”

Weed’s task was infiltration!

Sculpture Transformation meant he could somehow mix in with the monsters. Figuring a way to pass through the middle of the rotten river caused him a slight headache. He needed to figure out the narrowest portion of the river and cross there.

But he couldn’t avoid the Embinyu Church’s watchtowers as he got closer. There would be a massive fight if the knights discovered Weed.

– Embinyu has delivered a diving message stating that an enemy has appeared.

It was like rubbing honey on his body while entering a tiger’s den! More enemies would continue to come out while fighting the knights. No matter how strong he was or if he transformed into a suitable creature, Weed wouldn’t be able to fight alone without suffering.

If he tried to run away then the group of monsters around the rotten river would also be a hurdle. Even if his health managed to survive like cockroach, his mana would eventually run out.

“I need to observe. Find a gap and take advantage of it. A shortcut or shallow work is always necessary in life.”

Weed no longer wandered around the barriers as he walked around the rotten river. He was a virulent pony so no monster touched him.

“The smell is unbearable. It doesn’t seem like the usual poison.”

The monsters that drank from the river naturally emitted a poison odour. Typically it would be really challenging to hunt them.

“I don’t think it will be difficult to cross the river. Monsters pass through the river really quickly. Sculpture Transformation means my body is resistant to the poison fog.”

After thinking about it, Weed shook his head. Any immediate solutions were useless unless he figure out a path.

After crossing the rotten river, he would be subjected to the scrutiny of the Embinyu Church. He needed a plan that didn’t require fighting alone.

“Uhh, there must be a more reliable way.”

Weed continued walking towards the rotten river. The monsters that smelt him ran away so his path was smooth. It was like a thoroughbred steed proudly walking down the street.

He seemed like he would fall down at any minute despite his four legged stride. It was natural to be worried when seeing so many monsters.

Sya sya sya sya syak.

He moved sideways like a crab living in the mudflats! Weed acted like this while secretly looking for any gaps in the monsters.

And he found a stone bridge connecting the rotten river banks.

Ddiring!

– A special hazard has been discovered.

A bridge built by impoverished slaves in the Barren Howling Ruins.

The poison gas means not everyone can use the bridge to cross the river.

7,600 members of the Nord species was sacrificed to accomplish this task.

The bridge is built on top of their blood and bodies.

– Fame has increased by 485.

– Health has permanently increased by 640.

He was pleased since this health and stat increase would remain after returning to his original world.

“I can just pass using strength.”

He had no need to use the bridge anyway! But the opposite side of the bridge was heavily guarded by 100 Embinyu knights. Any rotten creatures that wandered over the bridge were killed by the spears of the Embinyu knights. This was just a bridge so the knights guarding it didn’t give off a strong impression.

Then he had a sudden idea!

‘I wonder if I should turn into one of them?’

The first ones that popped into his head were the Embinyu fanatics, priests, knights or monsters. He needed a member they wouldn’t fight.

‘If it is their priest… No. It won’t work.’

Sculptural Transformation didn’t give him the ability to use holy magic. Weed’s faith was quite high but he couldn’t use the holy magic that priests were permitted.

Each religion had a religion or baptism that would enable the priest to use the holy magic of their god. If he disguised as an Embinyu priest that couldn’t use holy magic then there was a high possibility he would be killed.

He couldn’t imitate a high priest, inquisitor or priest. But his options weren’t just the Embinyu followers.

‘No. It’s not just one or two of them.’

Virgins would be offered as sacrifices while animals disappeared to become cooking ingredients. If there was a problem than all lives would die! Once gripped by the Embinyu Church, most of the creatures would die.

But there were still creatures that wouldn’t die straight away.

‘The builders of the Sky Tower!’

It was built by slaves.

While scouting the Embinyu Church, he had noticed members periodically dragging slaves over the bridge.

‘That is my conclusion.’

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The nord species with small, protruding eyes.

They didn’t have a sturdy physique like orcs or the bravery and combat power of barbarians. They didn’t like gold coins or jewellery. Instead, they were a peaceful species that ate grilled fish and berries picked from nearby trees.

They were similar to an endangered species in this warring period.

A plain and slightly smaller nord was walking along the rotten river.

“Mother. Mother.”

He seemed to have come looking for his mother as he glanced around with an anxious expression while stumbling. There was a heavy limp and short arms like he was a young child.

He seemed tired from a long walk but if someone looked closely, they would be able to see the quickly moving eyes.

A typical crafty type! A face that wold typically engage in embezzlement and fraud if they were born in a feudal period.

The nord hesitated a little bit before crossing the bridge.

“Stop!”

“You are unfortunate. You dared to enter without permission from Embinyu so you must die.”

The nord was surrounded by the Embinyu Church members. They raised their weapons with contemptuous looks.

“W-why?”

The nord stared with such pathetic eyes that he could star in a morning drama.

“Excuse me, is my mother here? I’d like to see my mother.”

“Hrmm, I am hungry.”

“The taste of a nord. The meat can be given to crows and the blood used to nourish the vampires.”

“Good idea.”

A tendon rose on the nord’s forehead.

‘These ignorant bastards.’

The identity was Weed who had used Sculpture Transformation. His behaviour would depend on the actions of the Embinyu knights.

“I really don’t taste good. And my mother was taken over there by some knights.”

The bored Embinyu Church members accepted his word.

“Is that so? When?”

Weed thought quickly. It couldn’t be too long ago but it shouldn’t be too short.

“Six months ago.”

“Kilkil, then the bones will still remain.”

“I don’t know. She might’ve been swallowed whole and digested….”

The knights teased the innocent child about his mother being eaten.

“This is a critical time so we need to thoroughly protect the boundaries. Let’s just kill him and go back to guarding he boundary.”

“Then should we eat him? I am hungry.”

“The inquisitors said they need more slaves for the construction of the tower.”

“Oh, he won’t be able to endure the harsh labour and will die. But isn’t he too young and weak?”

Weed could hit the ground with his fist and cause a crack dozens of metres long but he was pretending to be a weak nord. In fact, the appearance of a human actually caused a greater loss in combat power.

“It doesn’t really matter since the tower will be completed in a few days.”

“Once that time comes, the great power of Embinyu will descend to earth and we will become much stronger.”

“Yes! On that day, we will no longer need slaves and the festival of blood will occur.”

“The humans look really delicious.”

Among the knights of the Embinyu Church, there were many with the vicious habit of cannibalism.

The knights made a decision and said to Weed.

“Kid.”

“Yes?”

Weed asked with feigned naivety!

“Do you want to be taken to your mother?”

“You know where my mother is?”

“I know. Ajusshi will take you to your mother. But there are conditions.”

“What is it?”

“You need to work hard if you want to see your mother. Can you do that?”

“Yes!”

Weed bravely nodded. Of course, the Embinyu knights had no intention of following through with their words! No one could scam Weed.

“Then you can meet her in the end.”

“I really want to thank you.”

Weed pretended to be sucked in by the knights.

“I will go for a while.”

“You can’t leave if you change your mind in the middle.”

“Huhu, of course.”

Instead of running, Weed rose a horse with one of the Embinyu knights.

– You have entered Embinyu’s Holy Land.

All those who follow Embinyu will have their resilience strengthened.

Those who deny Embinyu will have their vitality, health and mana regeneration decreased by 49%.

In addition, the divine power of other gods will be weakened by 89% in this space.

This effect will be maintained as long as the sanctuary of faith isn’t destroyed.

“Aigoo, it is like a mountain.”

The Embinyu knights looked back at him.

“What do you mean?”

“It is nothing.”

“Let’s go. Stay quiet or I will tear you apart and eat you.”

“Yes, I understand. I don’t have any taste.”

The horses accepted the evil magic so they didn’t get tired despite running fast. But unlike Bactrian Camel, there was more shaking while running quickly. It was like the difference between a city bus and a taxi.

‘Bactrian Camel is good.’

He already miss Bactrian Camel. He had become used to his sculptural lifeforms so he suffered after parting from them.

He wouldn’t be able to meet those sculptural lifeforms in the future. After finishing the quest, he would return to his original world and likely never see the sculptural lifeforms again.

He had become familiar with them through quests and battles but now only memories would remain.

He felt sorry for the wyverns but he had placed more love into the creation of these lifeforms.

‘Maybe this is because I created the wyverns really roughly. It is like the taste of bad food.’

Vague memories would deepen after having to say goodbye.

“This is where you will work.”

The Embinyu knights had taken Weed to the construction site of the Sky Tower.

Nords, humans, orcs, dwarves, elves and all types of species had been caught and were doing forced labour. Many people were digging stones from a nearby quarry and carrying them up the stairs.

“Aaaack!”

There were no safety measures so quite a few people fell from the tower. Weed smiled like he was accepting candy from a child abductor.

“It seems like a wonderful place. I originally liked high places.”

“That is great. It is a great honour to be able to die here.”

“Can I really meet my mother if I work here?”

“Of course. But if you run then we will kill your mother.”

“Uh huh! I will never run.”

“If you work around the clock then you can quickly meet your mother. In the distant… Kukuku….”

The knights left and then the tower guards shouted at him.

“Hey there, little boy! Don’t just stand there, work!”

“Yes!”

Weed shouted and vigorously carried the rocks.

He transformed into a nord and the basic stats were high so he could easily carry the weight of the rocks.

Of course, he was going to spend a day or two here so he needed to pretend to have a tough time.

“Then let’s get started.”

He had safely arrived at the tower and a construction site was familiar to him.

Weed carried the rock up the stairs.

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’20 thousand 6,237, 20 thousand 6,238, 20 tohousand 6,239….”

Weed counted the number of columns while he climbed the Sky Tower. The staircase that rose into the sky was enough to make someone dizzy.

The workers rose and descended so the height of the stairway was quite low. It wasn’t good for the short legs of an orc or nord as one stair had a height of 30 centimetres.

A high rise apartment had 1,000 stairs so a tower with more than 10,000 stairs would be much higher than a mountain. Once it was 20,000 stairs, it had continued through the clouds.

From then on, the ground looked like a small toy from the tower. His eyes could see the entire Embinyu camp, rotten river and Barren Howling Ruins.

‘There are at least 1 million monsters and fanatics.’

Although that wasn’t a specific head count, the earth and sky was overflowing with medium and large monsters. He needed to break down the walls of the stronghold of fanatics and knights!

‘They failed to destroy the continent with these numbers. Those incompetent bastards.’

Rather than being frightened, Weed thought it was pathetic. The bad guys had strong forces but the knights were careless when fighting.

‘Indeed, society really compensates for stinginess. Is this a reward for the effort of the villains?’

There was also a landing where slaves could rest briefly.

“What should we do?”

“I don’t know. All life will die.”

“Did you see the nord a few days ago? He was thrown alive into a boiling pot.”

“Wasn’t the flesh melted away and the bones given to the birds?”

The slaves didn’t have useful information and only told cruel and gloomy stories.

“Heuller-nim? We can’t recklessly talk about him. If we gossip anywhere then we will be devoured.”

“There is an omnipotent person. Do you see that elderly elf over there? He has been here for 100 years. According to what he said, Heuller-nim looks younger than ever.”

“The weather will change and it will become dark. A might magic is also contained in this tower. Isn’t that enough to call him a god?”

There were guards every 4 or 5 floors in order to whip the slaves who were sitting around.

“Go up faster. If you delay then I will throw you to the prey.”

“Please, please spare me!”

“Ohhhuk!”

The slaves made groaning noises while carrying up sand and stones. The tower was filled with a gloomy atmosphere of fear and death.

Any impressionable person might shed tears of empathy when seeing the situation!

‘Hah, I’m bored and sleepy. The stairs are really long.’

Weed quietly climbed to the top of the tower. He felt breathless as he reached approximately 40,000 steps.

“It is a really tremendous height. I didn’t realize the tower was this high.’

He had gone beyond the clouds for a while and there were no strong winds. He didn’t usually come up to this height even when riding the wyverns. Looking down at the ground from the tower was enough to make someone afraid of heights and it felt like he was floating in the sky.

The area of the upper floors of the tower decreased until it was only the width of a small room.

Perhaps this was the tallest building on the entire Versailles Continent.

From now on, only stairs with no railing endlessly rose into the sky. The stairs heading towards the end of the sky!

‘Hrmm.’

Weed could see the top part of the tower. Like the eyes of a devil, looking down on the dismal earth. The top of the tower was built to resemble dark, red eyes.

There was 600 metres remaining until he reached that place.

‘It resembles my landlord’s eyes when he looked down at me from the 3rd floor.’

The landlord didn’t just watch a person’s face.

He calculated whether the person could pay this month’s rent, the security deposit, whether he should raise the rent, damage or vandalism, stealing, eating and various other things!

The confidence of a predator at the top of the hierarchy looking down on a herbivore.

Weed felt nervous whenever that door opened to collect the monthly rent. Of course, he would never dare use the washing machine on a sunny day and would wait until it was overcast to use the clothesline in the yard.

The eyes of the tower reminded him of the landlord’s gaze that dug into his bone.

“Come down when you are finished!”

“Yes.”

The guards urged him so Weed left the stone behind and descended the stairs.

This was sufficient for a brief reconnaissance.

Chapter 4: People of the North

Northern users who lost their lives in the battle connected back to Royal Road.

Contrary to expectations of a sombre atmosphere from the loss, they were actually jubilant. They had experienced death and their minds were filled with thoughts of revenge on the Haven Empire.

“Let’s drive them back.”

“Let’s go. Show our patience!”

The northern users rushed back to the Haven Empire coming to invade.

“Let’s go, Toadstool Porridge unit!”

“Don’t say our deaths have no meaning. We will die!”

The reckless tactic that had no effect was repeated! It seemed completely crazy.

But Lafaye expected that after a few defeats, they would give up and he could conquer the north.

“We are the Grass Porridge Cult. We might be defeated in battle but our hearts won’t turn.”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

The stubborn northern users consistently fought day and night.

As the king of the Arpen Kingdom, Weed had captured the hearts of the users. A mysterious adventurer with good governance. There wouldn’t be a high tax revenue in the future but the result was that the users felt deeply about the Arpen Kingdom.

Still, the fundamentally strong firepower of the Haven Empire meant they couldn’t even approach or do much damage. Magic shields, placement of warriors with high health and defense and ranged attacks meant there was no possibility of killing the Haven Empire’s army.

Even if groups of soldiers were killed, the overall degree meant it could be ignored. Although the soldiers of the Haven Empire decreased a little bit, the experience from winning the war meant their power was supplemented.

The difference between regular soldiers and elite soldiers tempered by war was like the difference between heaven and earth!

Morale, class skills and levels went up quickly.

“We need to use a wide variety of ways to stop them.”

“Let’s find a weakness. I will protect what is mine.”

The high level users and high ranking members of the Grass Porridge Cult started thinking of different angles while the reckless battle was continuing.

Nevertheless, they realized that their tactics were increasingly limited. Even if they won against 50,000 soldiers of the Haven Empire, they would just be smashed by another 100,000.

The operation aimed at finding any gaps in the Haven Empire. And the players of Royal Road had a wide variety of careers in reality.

Lafaye used excellent strategies and tactics but there were also users in the north who understood his movements.

“They stick together well. But if we don’t continue to attack, they will disperse to quickly occupy the north. This is where we can significantly delay the conquest.”

A former sergeant cried out confidently in Morata’s square. The Haven Empire was like evil villains so his spirit responded.

“They will head towards the east and Vargo Fortress. The major cities that are the heart of the north will also be destroyed.”

“We have a lot of land with nothing there. Many users have been focused on mine development so there are many empty lands.

The weapons and armour dropped in battle is a huge loss. We should arrange ways to recover that.”

“If they advance then the blacksmiths can take refuge. And let’s respond by dividing the units in an organized manner.”

A captain who graduated from the military academy and finished the military service came out.

“When looking at the topographic view, their march to Morata will deal the most damage. If we have a fortress then it will be easier to block them… Unfortunately, now it can’t be helped.”

The gathered users then spoke.

“We just need to create a fortress!”

“Why have you given up already? The only thing we have left is the people!”

Thanks to the Haven Empire’s invasion, the users doing quests, hunting and dungeon exploration all returned to the city.

“The Sesame Porridge unit has arrived just now.”

“The Black Sesame Porridge unit has been organized. All members are welcome.”

“Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit, we are too weak to participate in battle but we will support in any way.”

Currently the 1st, 2nd and 3rd units were fighting against the Haven Empire. All the northern users wanted to resist the Haven Empire but only the essential people gathered at the squares.

“Architects should build and install defense facilities at the fortress.”

“Is it possible for those guys to persuade people while marching?”

“What persuasion! Simply making a fortress with high walls is enough to make it last a day! I carried at least 50 stones while participating in the construction of the pyramid!”

The northern users specialized in labour thanks to King Weed!

They immediately started construction of defensive fortresses. Widely scattered glass pieces and iron were picked up on the march.

It was difficult to collect things after the battle but bringing along even 1 cooper would make things pile up like a mountain! Cheap labour was the driving force behind the north.

Meanwhile, the users with tactical knowledge examined the terrain to form a systematic defense plan against the Haven Empire’s invasion.

“We can’t win even with this. It might slow down the advance but it isn’t enough against the powerhouse Haven Empire.”

“What if level 300~400 people fought in the army?”

“They are a bunch of strangers so a unit of NPC soldiers would fight better together. War is like that. And they are marching in a tactical and orderly manner so there is no telling what will happen.”

“Our power will continue to weaken unless they make a crucial mistake….”

“How long can we hold out? A week? A month?”

“If Morata is destroyed then it will have repercussions for the entire kingdom and the palace is likely to flew away as well.”

“Even if the users continue to fight, we still have our greatest weakness.”

Morata was the hub of production, commerce, religion and adventure in the north so it was an important symbol. The area was near grain fields and if Morata was turned to ashes then all traffic throughout the north would be paralysed.

The Haven Empire’s primary goals were Morata and the Earth Palace.

“The whole plan should be designed around Morata. We must keep the city even if a few million players have to die daily.”

“We can make the Royal Palace again if it crashes. But protecting Morata is a must. At least until Weed-nim can get back.”

“Will things change if he comes back?”

“I don’t know. But he should show up even if it is just before we are defeated. Weed the God of War will leave behind hope. Isn’t the Haven Empire also afraid of Weed succeeding in his quest which is why they’re attacking now?”

“The Haven Empire is definitely strong. However, the north will be kept with our hands while we wait for our hero.”

“I accept. It was impossible for us to gather in the north if it wasn’t for Weed. Now Weed is the hope of the north. And we have to hold out and weaken the Haven Empire until he gets back.”

The Grass Porridge Cult’s war command centre didn’t have a formal configuration. Apart from the leaders in battle, 100 people were gathered to discuss the defense plans.

The plan was immediately conveyed to the northern users. There wasn’t a forced command as users followed on a voluntary basis.

“Architect-nim told me that we should build walls 20 metres high where the river connects.”

“During the day?”

“Yes.”

“The amount of time doesn’t matter. 20 metres is a little low so let’s put it at 40 metres.”

The cities continued to organize combat troops to stop the Haven Empire.

“The Dawn of Martyrdom combat troops will gather in the court over there.”

“We will attack in the morning. It is limited to the first 1 million people.”

It was difficult to measure the scale of the northern users but it was common to see hundreds of thousands in a unit. It was due to the number of beginners starting Royal Road! More than 70% of them started in the north so there were roughly 10 million beginners gathered outside Morata!

The roads and inns were full of people making the journey for the war. And while a heated discussion was occurring in the northern command post, an elderly man arrived.

He was a warrior wearing shabby level 150 equipment. In the informal atmosphere of the north, a person’s outfit didn’t signify their true level. He wore common products rather than equipment and many people were surprised when they saw the old man’s face.

“Huck! Chief of Staff-nim!”

The Chief of Staff of South Korea who honourably stepped down! 10 years ago! The north contained multiple users from Korea and other countries.

Among the elderly were former aircraft carrier captains, air force commanders, defense ministers and other high ranking officials.

“Hulhul, this is the age where we fight for our freedom.”

“My blood is boiling at the thought of fighting against the Empire.”

“We are weak but shouldn’t we try properly? Is there anyone who specializes in guerrilla warfare?”

“I will call a call a special warfare commander. He has retired for 1 year.”

“Bring some people from the special forces and intelligence.”

“Call some people form the logistics support group to take care of the supplies.”

Due to voluntary participation that was beyond imagination, the north was being reconstructed into a true display of tactics.

This completely overturned Lafaye’s prediction.

Of course, the majority of users were beginners even if a plan was established. Compared to the might Imperial Army, the inexperienced users were just a weakness.

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The Central Continent branch of the Grass Porridge Cult!

They suffered under the rule of the Haven Empire.

“Our brethren in the north.”

“I know they will fight. We can count on them.”

“The resistance should be fun.”

The Grass Porridge Cult did a lot in the Central Continent.

There were many unstable regions in the Haven Empire so it was inevitable that rebels would form in the cities. Important fortresses were stations throughout the Haven Empire to prevent an army’s rebellion since any movement above a certain scale would be cut off.

The former capital of the kingdom had a central fountain, sculptures of Emperor Bardray and government offices. The residents of ruined kingdoms were oppressed.

The existing Central Continent only poured forces into the war. If they won then it would be a jackpot while it would be their downfall if they were defeated!

Of course, there were users in the Hermes Guild that had a prominent role in long-term affairs.

Security was good, there were strongholds for production and trade and unstable areas were turned into training grounds for soldiers. Commercial facilities, cultural buildings and tax cuts were all designed to raise the people’s loyalty.

But there were some tricky areas ruled with force. They deliberately destroyed cities to force the city’s residents to relocate or cut off the food supply to leave them starving to death. They ruled with fear and whips so there was minimal failure in the wide territories of the Haven Empire.

The original users and residents of the conquered Central Continent suffered greatly so they were worthy of praise and admiration.

The reign of the Haven Empire was sophisticated.

In the beginning, the Haven Empire wasn’t as experienced when they occupied the Kallamore Kingdom! There were large and small resistance armies that periodically ran amok to annoy the Haven Empire.

The Haven Empire was filled with users who disliked the Hermes Guild so they needed to place troops to monitor and control so there wouldn’t be any accidents. Their tactics meant there was no hope for the dissenting opponents!

Only outstanding users like the Bandit King Steiner could flow against the Haven Empire’s rule.

There would be a notification whenever the rule of the Haven Empire was consolidated. Numerous users on the continent were resigned and accepted the situation.

The Hermes Guild used a myriad of effort and strength in order to conquer the Central Continent and eventually the entire Versailles Continent. The combined anti-Hermes Guild who resisted were defeated.

They waited for the prestigious guilds to weaken through disputes with each other before the Haven Empire swept in. They used the endless turmoil to unify the continent.

When looking at the urban planning and troop deployment, it was clear that they had been prepared for the conquest.

Recently, the Embinyu Church that had undercut their power had disappeared. After the conquest of the Central Continent, the balance had returned to a more stable state.

The Grass Porridge Cult branch in the Central Continent could only watch without anything to do.

“There is no work to do here…..”

“Do you want to go hunting?”

“I don’t know. Should we just go to the north?”

“What will we do there?”

“I want to see it before it is destroyed by the Haven Empire. We can also see the battle up close.”

“We don’t know if it will be finished by the time we arrive…. Anyway, let’s just go.”

Users from the Central Continent started moving to the north. There were a few beginners but also a significant number of level 300 and 400 people.

They really wanted to see the end of the fight.

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Unsung heroes!

“The military installations from the Haven Empire continue to be an eyesore.”

“Even the north has become a little boring.”

There were users in Royal Road who liked to hunt alone.

Some did it for money like the Dark Gamers while others were office workers or self-employed with no time to play.

Anyway, a significant number of them had natures that liked being alone!

If a party was urgently needed then they would obtain it from the square. But unless they were high level, a random party could  create a crisis with just one small mistake. It was also common for disputes over items to occur.

While some people enjoyed hunting in a party and making new friends, others couldn’t help feeling angry due to their natures. There were those who would receive serious damage in Royal Road due to their colleagues.

They could just curse and terminate the connection when the could overcome a problem. Furthermore, they could take all the loot after suffering through a dungeon.

Whether a person hunted in a party or alone, there was a difference in the amount of time wasted.

Depending on the class and the growth of specific skills, some people weren’t suited to hunting in a party. For example, it might not be useful for a warrior to bring an archer with fast running skills while hunting.

‘Well, I don’t need friends. I’ve been alone for my entire life.’

‘Girlfriend? Hrmm… Probably not for me. Once I earn a lot of money and grow old, I can enter a nursing home….’

There were some with no girlfriend of friends in the world. Even if they couldn’t find a girlfriend in reality, there was enough time in Royal Road.

It was common for those who hunted and adventured alone in the Central Continent to cross over to the north.

Users who succeeded and caused the residents to talk about them were sometimes called unsung heroes!

Whether it was raising levels or important adventures, they enjoyed Royal Road in their own way. So they normally had high skill proficiencies and a high level.

“I will go see the fight.”

“A long war would also be okay. I worked as a mercenary in the Central Continent and the money….”

“I hated the Haven Empire originally.”

“There are many pretty girls in the Grass Porridge Cult. Perhaps I might just end up as cannon fodder.”

Thus the users that normally moved alone also gathered in the north.

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Geomchi-3 rubbed his palms together.

“Teacher-nim’s insight is really excellent.”

If there was a flattery competition then Geomchi-4 would be the master.

“Can you really predict the outcome of the battle?”

Geomchi had already predicted the outcome of the battle between the northern users and the Haven Empire.

The one-sided defeat of the northern users! He was literally correct.

“What is your secret, Teacher-nim?”

Geomchi-5 said with a look of sincere respect. He had been scared of anything since his teens.

After being terrified, he started learning the sword until he became so good that people would suck up to Geomchi-5.

Geomchi watched the Haven Empire beyond the ridge and said naturally.

“Watch the people below to see how they will start moving.”

“Ah, yes!”

“Amazing, Teacher-nim!”

The disciples that had overcome adversity in their decades of life were deeply moved.

“But are we just going to watch?”

“The calibre of those troops are enough to loosen my body. I will show those arrogant bastards the bitter taste of this world.”

“We will soon move.”

The instructors and trainees were also training. They used a myriad of swords, axes, maxes, sickles, hammers and bows. The power obtained from using Weapons Mastery was very diverse.

Geomchi-2 ate meat when excited but he was the successor so he needed to pay attention to his position.

The instructors and students weren’t weak but it was unknown if they could fight against the powerful forces of the Haven Empire.

“Wouldn’t we have been unable to win even if we took action last time? The Haven Empire has 3 million troops combined.”

“It is hard. It is hard to know. However, we can’t miss this great fight. And how will we get stronger if we can’t fight lots of enemies?”

“Of course!”

Geomchi-2 and Geomchi-3 were calm and dependable hyung-nims but now their eyes were burning with a desire to fight.

Royal Road was a place for them to experience enjoyable battles. Swordsmanship wasn’t a considerable help in reality so it caused them considerable irritation. Their hearts didn’t fear death and they had a strong fighting spirit.

‘I will smash them all.’

‘I need to beat at least 800 warriors.’

‘I can’t breathe until I have hit enough people.’

They actually welcomed the powerful army of the Haven Empire.

A man should draw their sword to wield it against an enemy. The efficiency of their muscles surpassed the movie and was now born.

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“Chwiik!”

The orcs at Vargo Fortress were filled with complaints.

“My children are too many, chwi chwik. There should be less people in my family, chwiik!”

The orc males complained about the females Usually the females lacked influence but this wasn’t the case.

“Yesterday I gave birth to seven and today is nine, chwichichik! My family is bustling, chwichik!”

“It is too hard to feed, chwichik!”

“They are playing in the mud-hut! Go out and hunt, chwikchwik!”

The number of orcs in the north increased exponentially. The day after baby orcs were born, they would be dating in the village.

“I like you, chwi chwit.”

“I often hear that I am pretty, chwiik!”

“Your hips are really large. Cwik, cwik!”

The orcs dated, got married, had children and the cycle repeated. Children were born in an infinite loop! A pair of orcs would have an unfathomable number of children after 3 months but this was just the nature of the orcs.

The early orc settlements that had come across the sea quickly expanded. Most of them settled in the vicinity of Vargo Fortress and flung themselves at the animals and monsters present in the surrounding forests and mountains. They persistently killed monsters so Vargo Fortress could be called the capital of the orcs.

– The orcs are so funny. I can feel a completely different taste from common games.

– I’ve had experience as an orc for 6 months. I can experience happiness when seeing their family. The excitement of seeing my first baby orc. The number of family members increasing.

– Since then, babies are born at breakfast, lunch and dinner!

– I can now understand my parent’s hearts. Shouldering the heavy burden of my family members….

– Should I take the young orcs in my family to hunt and grow as warriors? To humans, honour and intimacy are important but orcs are different. They unconditionally care about their families. Betrayal? That would never happen among the orcs. The downside is that they can’t choose many professions but it is the strongest species to relieve stress.

– Won’t they grow during careful and slow hunts and adventures? I just need to watch a fight. Then the orc will give birth again….

– Do orcs really own 100 spoons each?

– If how dishes would be washed a day?

The orc species could be chosen so the number of orc users increased until it couldn’t be ignored. The orc village was lively compared to the dark elves and the barbarians!

The area around Vargo Fortress were bursting with orcs. It was a little exaggerated but orcs could be seen running around or climbing steep cliffs. And orcs were scattered throughout the mountains around Vargo Fortress to look for monsters.

The promise to settle in the north!

[The Northern Continent, Vargo Fortress is brimming with various other species!

Barbarians, dwarves, elves and orcs all flow through Vargo Fortress.

The dwarves are willing to repair the fortress so that strong monsters can’t take it down easily.

And if you want to experience the wide world of orcs and their families, you can eat and rub shoulders with them before leaving.

Once you experience the different variety of life, it is unlikely you will want to leave.]

Even a few orcs would quickly expand their numbers.

The merchants and farmers in the north eyed the orcs.

“The economic scale is based on the population. The future of the orcs….! Sale of food. The real cost of selling! Sell until there is nothing left.”

“I’m envious of the well grown orc villages. They are good at breeding and can be used to guard the crops.”

The merchants increased their fixed customers while farmers brought the orcs into hazardous farming areas.

Merchants would also supply food to the orc village. They could already sell a lot more after just a few days.

There were also the loot the orcs obtained while hunting. The profit from bulk trade of japtem. The system for professional merchants meant that they couldn’t ignore japtem.

New land was pioneered for the purpose of farmers to grow crops to feed to orcs. They started cultivating the land and harvested the crops. There were as many as 4,000 orcs brought to guard the land.

“Chwiik!”

“Chwik!”

The baby orcs that followed clamoured when they were hungry.

The mission of a farmer! This mission wouldn’t allow them to see someone die of hunger in front of them so many of the harvested grains ended up with the orcs.

“Chwi chwik, we are indebted to you. We will pay you back.”

Their increased their favour with the orcs. They protected the farmers in battle and saved many necessary things.

A long time ago in the history of the Versailles Continent, the human species was considered inferior to the orcs. The orcs lived scattered over a wide land and defeated powerful monsters in a group. They were free but a series of events caused a number of species to decrease by a lot.

But now the orcs increased rapidly until they had almost reverted to their former glory. And the north was a perfect place for the orcs to live. There was abundant food and strong monsters.

Weed had gone around the continent and reconciled four species as well as appreciating the buildings in Ratzeberg. King Weed discovered the buildings and constructed buildings that the orcs were familiar with. A number of facilities were also built using orc technology.

Of course, the buildings weren’t only for the orcs. There were a wide range of structures for dwarves, elves and humans.

Dung! Dung! Dung!

Adventurers found the relic ‘Hechwi’s Drum.’ Orcs could beat it when they were in danger.

Then a telepathic message was be delivered to all nearby orcs.

“Chwi chwit, someone is attacking us.”

“The place where I was born, chwi chwi chwi chwit! It is in danger.”

“The place with delicious food and females… Chwik! But where is it? Chwi chwit!”

The orc warriors in the north started packing up and moving. Each orc tribe sent their elites towards Vargo Fortress.

They were sent the following day. The next day, the next day….

Chapter 5: The Will of Great Emperor Weed

“Move faster!”

“If you sit down then I will cut your neck.”

“I know that whipping you will enable you to move faster. Have the taste of Roker’s whip!”

Weed leisurely watched the Sky Tower’s guards while carrying the rocks up.

Attitude and behaviour was important in labour. It wasn’t necessary to run wild but he couldn’t act to slowly either or it would draw attention.

His speed gave the impression that he was working moderately hard. His expression was sincere and diligent while he breathed harshly. His superior stats meant he wouldn’t feel tired but he felt enjoyment from deceiving them.

Most of the slaves in Royal Road had more vitality than humans so they climbed the stairs considerably quickly.

He was bored climbing the stairs for several hours so he looked forward to occasionally looking out the window. The earth was getting further away as he moved towards the sky.

A pleasant scenery!

He felt refreshed as he started sweating.

“Hrmm, you’re doing pretty well for a young child. Wonderful.”

“Exemplary work for Embinyu.”

Sometimes he unexpectedly received praise from the Embinyu guards.

‘No, this isn’t it. I ended up adapting to the labour.’

Once he started, his hands and feet automatically moved. He felt stupid as one day passed!

When he was younger, he would do simple, repetitive labour like sewing eyes on a doll that would allow his mind to rest. Carrying the stone while climbing the stairs was an endlessly boring and frustrating task. The smell of sweat flowing from the bodies of the other slaves made it even worse.

Weed shook his head.

‘I need to proceed with the quest so I can’t spend too long doing this job. I also need to find a way.’

It was annoying carrying the rocks up and then heading back down. While climbing down the tower, he noticed the walls were filled with graffiti.

– My son is dead.

– I’m hungry. I have no power to move. Kuku. This place is hell.

– All dead. Parents, siblings and couples have all died in this tower.

– My son is still alive. When will I die?

There was apparently no information. Apart from the humans, the other species also left messages but he couldn’t read them.

Adventurers, magicians or historians could learn the language or other species which would help them find clues in quests. Sculptures, painters or people who looked through post-war history or old pieces of artwork could also grasp some things. Language, mastery of emotions and item identification.

In Weed’s case, he had the tenacity to soldier through and find clues in his quest.

Although warriors could resolve a quest, it was like stomping on the ground compared to another profession’s delicate solution.

Weed also envied the adventures of adventurers.

‘Sweeping all the treasures in the world….’

Adventurers who found treasures that had been buried for a long time in the north were able to obtain fame and wealth.

‘If I was an adventurer then I would be holding a shovel and sack all day while digging up graves.’

Weed continued searching every bit of the walls and ceilings while climbing the stairs. Only complicated and meaningless phrases were written.

He didn’t find any traces of an outstanding talent like a master sculptor in this tower. The Embinyu Church didn’t bother to decorate the Sky Tower and the slaves were forced into labour so they didn’t feel like any artworks. Therefore, the only thing he saw was the graffiti.

A few days passed. Nothing special happened as the Sky Tower continued rising.

In fact, Weed was so busy working that he didn’t know what was going on outside the tower.

‘I need to do something.’

Weed continued thinking. The time left to stop the Embinyu Church was running out while he was carrying the rocks.

There was only a bit of time left in Royal Road to stop the Embinyu Church and prevent history from changing.

‘So far I’ve only helped the construction and the work is almost finished.’

He knew enough about the complicated structure inside the tower. There were 30 large floors with accommodation and a training centre for the fanatics. In addition, they were solidly built with sufficient thickness to withstand the weight of the rocks on the floors above.

Once it started stretching towards the sky, the walls and pillars became thinner and there were special altars designed to absorb mana. This would reduce the weight and even skip certain floors.

Guards and knights of the Embinyu Church were stationed at key points in the tower and they could come running through the narrow stairs and passages if required.

The tower had exactly 1,000 floors. Only the stairs needed to be finished.

‘How should I do this?’

Weed stood at a crossroads of choice.

He could wait until he heard from his subordinates and Ahellun or make a careful plan and move alone. His goals of collapsing the Sky Tower and stopping the Chaos Dragon were quite formidable.

The guards patrolled every moment of the day and night so he couldn’t hide in a corner. He had scouted by infiltrating the interior but it was impossible to climb up outside and enter through the window. The ranking knights and priests were also scattered everywhere like pebbles along the road.

Even if there was only one senior priest, their combat power meant it would have a devastating effect. The placement and scale of the enemies. Information was essential in a quest like this.

‘What is life? I will take action tomorrow morning.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed had left in order to stop the Embinyu Church but Seo-yoon remained in the warring period.

After the battle at the fortress ended, Saint Ahellun had freed her from her role in the final secret sculpting technique quest.

Ddiring!

– You have completed the quest.

Saint Ahellun has stopped the summoning of the devil’s consciousness.

Your behaviour has successfully accomplished Hilderun’s adventure so you will be an unsung hero.

Wisdom, Charm, Dignity and Concentration will increase by 25 as a reward for the quest.

All your infamy has been removed.

Your fame is the best.

Glorious Blessing of Strength has been received.

– Your part in the final secret sculpting technique quest has been completed and additional compensation is received.

Glorious Blessing of Strength: You have been blessed by Ahellun’s divine power.

This will remain for 160 days and will give your body a strong protective power.

She has spent quite a long time on Weed’s final secret sculpting technique so it wasn’t a good compensation. But her stats had climbed during the adventure so it would be a large help when returning to the original world.

‘It was nice….’

Seo-yoon was simply satisfied being able to help Weed with his adventure.

And, Ahellun’s actions resulted in a quest.

– Despite the warlock Chakujel’s ritual failing, the summoned consciousness of the devil is still lingering. He has lined up another victim.

Hilderun carried the planted seed of a sleeping devil as Ahellun’s divine power hasn’t fully removed it.

“The soul of a devil is very dark and persistent and isn’t easily destroyed by divine power.

Once a significant amount of time has passed since the summoning ritual, the soul will completely vanish from your body.”

“Will the devil inside me wake up?”

“Once it makes contact with the divine power, the soul would be able to act carelessly. The light of your life will return the devil to hell.”

“I’m glad to know that.”

“If you fight with someone, the devil will be forced to convey power to you. This is because if the human flesh experiences sudden death then the soul of the devil will receive a great impact.”

The power of the devil in your blood can wake up.

In order for there to be no more victims, execute Chakujel and stop the summoning of the devil.

If you accept the quest then the divine power and devil’s power can be used.

Level of Difficulty: Warring Period History quest

Compensation: Combat experience and achievements.

Quest Restrictions: The quest will fail if you die.

You will be returned to your original world.

Seo-yoon accepted the quest.

She couldn’t just leave without taking care of Chakujel. He had tried to kill Weed!

That’s why she headed towards Duke Alhamd who ruled Reperen Castle. Just like the Portu King, Duke Alhamd was another disciple of Chakujel.

Seo-yoon walked towards the large gates in the middle of the night. The guards saw her and held out their spears.

“Who are you? You’re not allowed to enter.”

“Huhuhu, there is no need for you to go inside. If you are sold to slave traders then we can enjoy considerable wealth.”

In Hilderun’s role, Seo-yoon only needed to survive so she stayed in the desert area while managing the mercenary guild.

So her formerly ferocious appearance as a berserker had shrunk. But right now, Weed was the only one who could stop her.

Sururung!

Seo-yoon took out a sword with lightning speed.

“Young girl, if you want to enter the castle then you should… Cough!”

A silver line cut across the guards. In the next moment, Seo-yoon grabbed the spear a guard dropped while holding her sword in her other hand.

– The devil Strang has helped you in battle.

3% of the devil’s combat power is currently available.

Maximum health has increased.

“This conceited female….”

“Not scared despite being alone. Die!”

The guards immediately hurled profanities at her. Even in the warring period, the discipline of the guards at the gates were a mess. And in this case, they wasted time yelling at Seo-yoon.

Her sword and spear moved, stabbing and chopping at the guards. Those near the gates were devastated!

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

As a berserker, dealing with half a dozen guards was as simple as drinking coffee.

– The devil Strang is satisfied with your combat skills.

4% of the devil’s combat power is currently available.

You can use its magic.

Basic black magic has been acquired.

Maximum mana has increased.

“…….”

Seo-yoon picked up the loot after knocking down the guards.

In fact, the loot from the warring period wouldn’t remain but she had learned the minor habit of picking up any japtem from Weed. Later she automatically did it without any awareness.

Deng deng deng!

The emergency bell started ringing as the gates opened and troops poured out.

“What are you doing?”

“…….”

Seo-yoon didn’t answer as she headed towards them and her sword moved like a gale of wind.

She didn’t complain or speak a monologue while fighting like Weed. Just like a berserker, she stuck to fighting and killed everyone who flew at her!

She constantly levelled up and was able to use more of the devil’s power.

– The devil Strang is satisfied.

– The devil Strang is lit up with joy.

More magic power has been gained.

– The devil Strang rejoices whenever it sees you fight.

The devil’s existence was like a guardian as it found enjoyment like this was a game.

The destruction of Duke Alhamd’s castle! The place was emptied but she still hadn’t met Chakujel.

“…….”

“Teacher-nim has left this area to find materials. Please spare my life….”

Seo-yoon left Duke Alhamd alive. It was in order to give him a chance to repent.

She left and continued fighting. Seo-yoon continued fighting Duke Alhamd’s knights and assassins in order to raise the power of the devil. And she finally fought Chakujel!

“You are the girl from that time, how….. Now I have to go but I’ll be back soon.”

Chakujel tried to run away but he was still stuck in Seo-yoon’s palm. She pursued him while destroying the castle. And Chakujel finally died after six days!

Seo-yoon completed the quest.

– Terminate the Devil’s Summoning Ritual has been completed.

The warlock Chakujel has vanished.

His fleeting ambitions and plans will be buried deeply with his death.

– You have acquired experience in battle as a devil warrior.

A special stat has been acquired.

Once you open your eyes to a dangerous power, there is a possibility that no enemies will remain in front of you.

– You have solved the secret history of the devil in the warring period and earned an achievement.

Fame has increased by 21,394.

Faith has increased by 7.

– The quest has been completed.

You have completed your role and can return to the original time zone.

Do you want to go back now?

Seo-yoon wanted to wait for Weed. But he was busy with his adventure and might not be able to come back to see her.

‘They are there.’

She suddenly wanted to go back to the original time zone because she had something to do.

Hermes Guild!

In order to take care of them, Seo-yoon decided to leave the warring period.

“I will go back.”

Everything in front of Seo-yoon started to blur. Flowers were blooming and there were trees. The stars passed back as quickly as light.

And after a while, she returned to Morata.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Mapan gathered some reliable merchants and the NPC residents at Morata’s library.

“No. It is nothing. This is….”

They were looking for something as they browsed through parchment bundles and history books. There were many people who went to the library to gain knowledge.

It was require for magicians and scholars to raise their knowledge and magic stats and adventurers also visited to find information from Morata.

In the case of merchants, they were less interested in records of the past. Sometimes they would find information about cities to open a trade route but that rarely happened. The daily trading of goods that fluctuated was more important to city merchants.

Mapan was responsible for a massive amount of production and distribution through the north yet he was stuck in the library!

“The Pallos Empire… The Pallos Empire… Ugh, there are so many records that I don’t know where to start. Surely it is in Morata’s library?”

Mapan had received a very important mission from Weed so he was searching through the records. It was a job that exuded the smell of gold and jewellery.

“I can’t miss out on this chance to do a mission for Weed-nim. But if the information isn’t in the library… No, it has to be. This is the information storage centre of the continent so information about him should appear here.”

He read all types of things about the Pallos Empire, the desert warriors and the treasure associated with them. The history of the continent constantly fluctuated so there were many new books in the library.

Even the relevant books didn’t have a secret sentence when he looked.

“It is a password that doesn’t require the help of a linguist or an adventurer…. Did I miss it?””

Mapan had all types of thoughts. And finally, he got a clue from the story of the Storyteller Drinker in the Kejan area.

[This year’s harvest was lean. There was no food or leather for winter clothes.

His Majesty was generous but it wasn’t enough so the number of friends I could drink alcohol with in the village decreased.

I couldn’t get drunk during the winter.

This morning, I discovered some monsters snooping near the village. They were probably trying to invade to obtain food. The monster soon returned and brought 2,000 of its kin with it.

The guards fought while I climbed up the roof of the tallest building and opened my remaining alcohol bottle.

“They will probably break down the walls to kill me so should I drink this alcohol quickly?”

I had years of experience drinking so I could probably drink all the alcohol if I poured it into my mouth. I listened to the sound of the soldiers fighting the monsters while slowly enjoying my last sip.

After drinking the alcohol, I would regret it as my life would soon disappear. Maybe a little more was remaining inside the bottle.

But the monsters didn’t succeed in their invasion.

Is it acceptable for a village to only have 100 soldiers?

Not at all. I suddenly saw some fellows while drinking my last bottle of alcohol.

Monsters near the edge of the village were completely destroyed.

Only 20 people were able to kill them.

There were 50 men wearing thick coats of armour surrounded carriages that approached the village.

The monsters that tried to invade the village changed directions but were wiped out.

I hadn’t drank enough to be drunk so I couldn’t help rubbing my eyes at the unbelievable fact.

What would that slightly curved sword be called? Anyway, one swing would take out dozens of monsters.

They didn’t miss one monster. Come to think of it, they had been extremely cruel from the first moment they started trying to kill the monsters.

The men that destroyed the monsters approached the village.

The village’s closed wooden gates quietly opened. Many of our village’s soldiers made the right choice.

They put down their swords that had broken after a few swings.

“It is really cold. Do you have any warm alcohol?”

Winter was already passing to the people in the north but these people seemed extremely cold.

They stayed for a day before leaving with their carriages.

8 large carriages linked together. Marks were left deep in the ground so I don’t know what they were carrying.

And I don’t want to know. If I’m caught stealing then I would lose my life.

Well, I wrote the story but I still can’t believe it.

You don’t have to trust a liar and drunkard like me. If I drink more alcohol then I will forget the entire thing.]

Ddiring!

– The story of the Storyteller Drinker in the Kejan area has been read.

– Knowledge has increased by 1.

“This is great!”

Mapan smiled wildly. It took a while but he finally found what he wanted.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This adventure has finally ended.”

“It was really hard.”

Pale and his other colleagues were completing the last part of a quest.

They wanted to stop the quest in order to participate in the battle against the Haven Empire. But the quest was in full swing so they couldn’t stop here.

Therefore they finished the quest after indescribable hardships and reported it to the important NPCs around the north.

The reward was a relic of the great knight Ivanstein of the Niflheim Empire as well as a booklet containing information about how to establish a knights division. The NPCs they reported gathered talented residents and used the booklet to create knights.

Romuna and Bellot were the most delighted.

“I knew it. The title of ‘Elegant Lady like a Rose’ really matches me! It really is perfect for me. Hohoho.”

“Bring adorned with jewels and feathers… Omo, look at these shiny things.”

And one man was quietly crying in a corner.

“Huhuhuk.”

Pale had experienced death three times on this quest. He died so his damage was big compared to his other colleagues.

– I will remain. Run away!

– These guys are strong so can you do it?

– No. I won’t give up until the end. I can handle it! I won’t blame you if I die.

‘I shouldn’t be nice. It is a poison.’

Pale received an enlightenment about the hardships of a man in life! Surka was punching the air while Pale was getting his enlightenment!

Surka punched the air lightly! Her fist sparked every time. Her appearance and equipment all over off the impression of a high level user.

“We can now participate in the war.”

“I’ve been waiting for this. My fishing rod will weave them together….”

Zephyr had a bloody smile on his face. He had a quiet presence when hunting or doing quests. However, there were many opportunities in a war.

“All of them are finished.”

But Pale and his colleagues couldn’t participate in the war against the Haven Empire. Mapan called them all to his mansion.

“I have an important announcement.”

“What is it? Have you ever succeeded in another trade?”

Surka asked in a dismissive tone.

In recent years, Mapan had become one of the coolest merchants on the continent. His cool-headed market analysis and bold initiatives while expanding his trade and investments caused him to receive a huge profit.

Combat professions couldn’t help feeling envious when seeing a merchant’s huge wealth!

“Look at this first before I give an explanation.”

Mapan handed them a booklet one by one.

Ddiring!

– The story of the Storyteller Drinker in the Kejan area has been read.

– Knowledge has increased by 1.

A story that increased their knowledge by 1 when they read it. As a magician, Romuna was pleased because it increased her maximum mana but the others didn’t care.

Bellot yawned and asked graciously.

“So?”

“And please look at this as well.”

This time Mapan pulled out a book wrapped in gold cloth.

“This was hard to obtain but it is really important data. If you connect the two materials then you will know what I have to say.”

“What is it?”

Irene took the booklet and read slowly.

[Title: Pallos Empire’s hidden secret?

Written by historian Lucrud.

The Pallos Empire was founded in the warring period.

The rough warriors emerged onto the continent from the desert with the hero Weed.

The greedy kingdoms were annexed by the desert kingdom and the territory broadened until it became a great empire.

It was formed in a short time but the military power and level was enough to unify the whole continent.

They defeated the army of a dangerous religious group and made all the kingdoms tremble with fear.

The battle at Dulmore Fortress was especially fierce and historians are still talking about it even after the Pallos Empire was destroyed.

It is rate that the fate of a continent depends on one battle and at that time, there were undead and monsters as well as the incredible event of a meteor being summoned.

Great Emperor Weed.

It is the scholars’ opinion that the victory was able to be achieved due to him.

It is really questionable how a human like him could become so strong.

And after the Great Emperor Weed abruptly abandoned the Pallos Empire, it enjoyed a brief golden period before declining.

The camel empire collapsed and the warriors returned back to the wild and barren desert. And after ruling over a vast empire for a while, the southern desert had positive reforms.

Transportation connections between countries, trade and production and technological development.

The Pallos Empire interfered in domestic affairs and received a lot of tributes. The residents in the warring period received severe pain due to the authority of nobles and royalty.

In the history records, there have been numerous accounts of the knights abusing or abandoning the poor.

But after the empire disappeared, there were no traces of the treasure piled up in the warehouses.

The Pallos Empire conquered numerous cities and kingdoms and received tributes from other kingdoms.

Where have all the countless treasures that they collected disappeared to?

All the gold and magic treasures obtained from corruption, extravagance and pleasure was just gone?

I, the historian Lucrud skimmed the confidential records associated with the Pallos Empire and found a significant passage.

– The greed of human beings will cause disaster.

I will come back again when the world is on the brink of a crisis.

The power of salvation is in the north.

After a long time, the desert and the north shall become one.

The writer is unknown but records of the senate and the warriors have frequently appeared in the history books.

The only person who can leave such an impact on the Pallos Empire is the Great Emperor Weed.

Weed’s strength is timeless and beyond that of a human. A hero who will open the path to the entire continent.

He foresaw the future and left a will behind?

One thing is for sure, the warriors of the Pallos Empire heeded his words.

The warriors secretly carried out some actions to prepare for the distant future according to his command.

Perhaps this is the reason why the best warriors headed towards the north.]

Ddiring!

– You have found a significant truth in the history of the continent.

This valuable discovery has increased Knowledge by 5 and Wisdom by 2.

Collecting at least 2 clues is necessary to perform this quest.

You can start the ‘Hidden Treasures of the Ruler of the Desert’ quest.

Irene’s eyes started shining.

“What is this?”

Her other colleagues also started reading the booklet. Mapan couldn’t conceal the excitement on his face.

“It is a project that requires the best security. And only we can do this job. Because it is directly related to Weed’s pocket.”

“……!”

Weed’s pocket! The group’s eyes flashed at that word.

“So what do we need to do?”

“I’ve gathered information related to the Pallos Empire from the library.”

Weed had sent Mapan a encrypted document by email. The password was a word linked with a happy death, dreams, hopes and the whole world.

However, it wasn’t difficult for Mapan to find the password. The password was ‘money storehouse.’

Title: If you want to make big money…

After learning about the Pallos Empire in the library, somewhere in the north there is the daunting task of excavating treasure.

I can’t leave this task to other people so this is your first priority.

Hwaryeong’s eyes shone after reading the booklet.

“Then Weed has hidden the treasures of the Pallos Empire somewhere in the north?”

“Yes, that’s right. Weed had no time to directly bring the treasures to the north. So before leaving for his quest, he directed his subordinates to bury the treasures in the north.”

“……!”

The Pallos Empire had vigorously proceeded with conquering. Besides, there was also the Great Emperor Weed. The many riches that it plundered was buried somewhere in the north.

Mapan gave a bit more explanation.

“It would be easy of Weed specified a place or terrain where it is buried but that will be difficult. First of all, at the time the Niflheim Empire had existed in the north. If there is a witness then Weed-nim risks changing the future. That’s why he set some rules for his subordinates hiding the treasure. And there is a risk that a quest will be generated, benefiting someone else.”

The group was already not listening to Mapan.

Pale’s imagination spread.

‘The best bow and quiver.’

Bellot also had a lot of hope.

‘The clothes and jewellery from that era. It was really pretty on the video so I want it.’

Hwaryeong was already absorbed in combining clothes and accessories.

‘What should I wear? Will the short skirt of the desert tribes suit me?’

Anyone would be filled with greed at the thought of finding the Pallos Empire.

Romuna jumped to her feet.

“Where should we look? Right now, move quickly!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Defeat at Rubkan Gorge.

Destruction of Ranchio Village. The damage makes recovery impossible.

A sea of fire on the Sonak Plains.

The granaries of Arpen Kingdom were plundered.

The Grand Building at Jiobrande was tipped over.

The construction site of the Grand Building at Delnis was destroyed.

The northern users, the so-called northern troops were routed by the Haven Empire’s army. The north tried to stop them but were smashed and the cities decimated.

Defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat, defeat!

The stations of Royal Road gave daily updates. This was the hottest period where the viewers paid attention to Royal Road. The interest was higher than office workers towards the holiday season and students towards vacation season.

“As expected, the Haven Empire is the best.”

Yoo Byung-jin watched the broadcast of Royal Road on the television. He could watch it on the screens with the AI but he wanted to hear the thoughts of the commentators and viewers.

“The north is continuing to be defeated and the Haven Empire is powerful enough to be called invincible.”

“God Bardray and his Royal Guards haven’t even participated in the war yet so it seems like the Haven Empire is looking to unify the continent.”

“They didn’t use all their power in the war against the Allied Forces. What is the end of the Haven Empire’s capabilities?”

“This crisis is difficult to gauge and I wonder if Weed the God of War can really overcome it when he returns.”

“Weed’s quest is soon at an important junction while if seems like the Haven Empire will win against the north unless something big happens.”

“You could call Weed the master of adventures. Most of his achievements have been in adventures rather than war. Well, he fought the Immortal Legion but that was still within a quest. But even if he is at a critical period in his adventure, he still has an identity as a king. Ah, maybe he already gave up on his kingdom. When looking at this situation, that might be called a wise decision.”

The broadcaster’s commentators waited for Weed while lamenting the north’s destruction. Every bulletin board associated with Royal Road was filled with posts accusing the Hermes Guild. But with the repeated defeats in battle, all the voices became increasingly pessimistic.

Even Yoo Byung-jin viewed the Haven Empire’s army as being 4 times more powerful than the north. The number of norther users was greater but their firepower wasn’t enough.

The army formation, overall balance, experience and skilled commanders, variety of troops and tactical abilities were all superior. All those elements necessary for war were added up to make the north helpless.

No matter what numerical values there were, the situation had already been concluded.

The Haven Empire also had a number of dwarven blacksmiths that created supplies like arrows and daggers. After unifying the Central Continent, the Haven Empire hadn’t become lazy but instead came to invade the north.

The gathering of simple beginners didn’t have any meaning. The war between the northern troops and the Haven Empire was like ordinary citizens going against war chariot troops.

The level 400 users of the Haven Empire boasted that they had killed thousands of users.

“Nevertheless, they haven’t been defeated yet so are they still waiting for Weed? They aren’t afraid to die and even vowed revenge. There really are many strange humans.”

Curiously, the commentators and viewers both said it would be difficult for the north but they still anticipation in their hearts. All eyes that focused on the already damaged north waited for Weed to return.

Yoo Byung-jin was dumbfounded to realize that people thought Weed could stop the Haven Empire.

“This time it really won’t happen. It doesn’t make any sense.”

– Do you want me to calculate the probability of winning if Weed leads the northern troops?

“No. I got it.”

Even if his head wasn’t convinced, his heart seemed to have a different opinion.

“Is this faith? Do I believe that a miracle can be created?”

Yoo Byung-jin stopped watching the television showing the war in the north. Users were being massacred every day by the Haven Empire while cities were changed into ruins.

Rather, he was more interested in Weed’s adventure with the Embinyu Church that will soon take place.

“Weed is once again facing a difficult environment.”

Usually a common person would only experience a certain percentage of unfortunate incidents. Nevertheless, somehow Weed managed to thrive while be given all these opportunities.

Yoo Byung-jin already knew how Nodulle’s adventure had developed in the past.

Nodulle and his companions had been scattered after arriving at the Barren Howling Ruins.

“This is… The saint’s holy power led me here. My companions might be confused so I have to meet them as soon as possible.”

Nodulle first went around looking for his colleagues. Fortunately he managed to unit with Luhellun and Brevinsun and they sneaked into the Embinyu Church.

Of course, it was an impossible task due to the arduous terrain and the monsters but they battled through the night and broke in. The result was Brevinsun’s death in the middle!

Nodulle was caught and stuck in prison to be sacrificed while Luhellun barely managed to escape.

“This is just before the important ritual. The dragon will eat you once it wakes up.”

Nodulle was destined to be sacrificed in the evening to the Chaos Dragon.

A warrior in the olden days that didn’t know the unforgiving world showed his bravado on the edge of death!

But that new power allowed his to dramatically escape successfully.

The barbarians and other humans held in the jail heard the story from Nodulle sacrificed their lives to allow Nodulle to escape. The uproar caused by the escaped slaves extended to the entire prison.

“I have the weight of people’s blood on my shoulders. This is for their sake… I will stop them.”

Nodulle tearfully broke out of jail and found Hestiger and Ahellun fighting the enemy knights.

“How did you get here….?”

“Are you okay?”

“There is no time to talk. The Chaos Dragon will be awakened tonight.”

“Let’s stop it. There is still time.”

They slipped passed the pursuers and infiltrated deep inside.

The Sky Tower was completed and the Chaos Dragon almost awakened so the security of the Embinyu Church was somewhat lax. And once they entered deeper, they discovered a place created by the Embinyu Church filled with enormous amounts of poison.

It would pollute the rivers and lakes so much that no creature could live there. Nodulle was appalled at the sight.

“How could it be so transformed….?”

“This is good. We can make every guard at important checkpoints eat this poison.

“Hestiger, what are you saying!”

“I was already convinced that their evil couldn’t go any deeper. If we don’t stop them then they will harm the continent.”

“Eueuum!”

While Weed picked up money from the streets in 0.1 seconds, Hestiger would agonize over it for more than 2 hours. He suffered after hearing Hestiger and Ahellun’s suggestion to harm people with the poison.

“Let’s do it. Even if we end up going to hell… For the sake of the world!”

And the fanatics and monsters ate poisoned food. That night, the ceremony to awaken the Chaos Dragon began. Tens of thousands of fanatics in the cult ate the poisoned food and died.

“Drink the cup of blood that God Embinyu has given us!”

“Thank you for the blessing of your destruction.”

The fanatics drank at the same time. The highly purified poison melted the fanatics and monsters.

Nodulle and his colleagues went back to the jail and rescued the various species. Time was tight to stop the Chaos Dragon ritual but they needed to save those trapped. The freed people decided to join Nodulle to fight.

“Knight Vagner of the Keltun Kingdom, I am willing to give me life.”

“It is an honour. We will fight together.”

A warrior led those filled with courage and righteousness. As a result, Nodulle was leading thousands of troops after leaving the prison. And after fleeing earlier, Luhellun appeared at the critical moment to interrupt the Chaos Dragon’s brainwashing ceremony.

He stabbed the Chaos Dragon’s eye with a dagger. High priest Heuller attacked with rage and Luhellun died laughing.

– I am waking up. Ugh, my head… It hurts. My head seems to be breaking.

The Chaos Dragon awoke from a deep sleep!

Originally the Embinyu Church planned to control the dragon’s spirit but now they were destroyed by it. A colossal impact that was 10 times Weed’s disaster occurred.

The Sky Tower couldn’t withstand the dragon’s body and came crashing down. Nodulle, Ahellun and his other colleagues united to fight against the minions of the Embinyu Church.

“Divine Judgement of Sin, God’s Sword of Repentance and the Heaviest Hell!”

Saint Ahellun’s incredible divine magic! The priests of the Embinyu Church turned into grey light and disappeared. The knights couldn’t exert half of their abilities due to the blessings and disappeared like dust.

The Chaos Dragon was recklessly attacking everything around it. The dragon’s breath exploded everywhere! It was the incredible sight of more than 100,000 Embinyu fanatics melting at the same time.

The fact, the original Ausollet that was brainwashed had an oppressive nature. But the pain he felt made him attack the creatures around him even more violently.

Ahellun wrapped the divine magic around the dragon’s body and said.

“I can’t hold him for long. The dragon seems to have gone insane from the brainwashing.”

The dragon would smash the Embinyu Church and then destroy the world. The aggression would break the peace so it wasn’t significantly different from the Embinyu Church.

“I brought you here but it seems like our time together will end now.”

“Ahellun-nim, what are you saying?”

“I will take on the dragon. He still hasn’t fully awakened so I can seal him with the power of God.”

“But won’t there be a large sacrifice to use that power?”

“As long as the dragon’s power doesn’t come back, there is nothing to lose. I am thankful that I was able to meet such pure people.”

And Ahellun used his life force to seal off the Chaos Dragon as they disappeared into a dark sea.

“You are the culprit for everything. I will tear up my soul to stop the Embinyu Church!”

Even though the Chaos Dragon that shook off the brainwashing had done tremendous damage, high priest Heuller still had tremendous displays of magic. Black magic as well as magical flames, wind and water in the ultimate form flowed freely. The other priests of the Embinyu Church also showed their skills.

While they were able to finish high priest Heuller off, Nodulle and Hestiger paid the price by dying.

“I know this story but it would be difficult to pull off. Can Weed really succeed?”

Yoo Byung-jin was sceptical.

Weed couldn’t stop the Embinyu Church. Rather than actively engaging in battle, looking for his colleagues or obtaining reinforcements from the prisoners, he was helping with the construction!

He was literally a slave worker climbing to the top of the Sky Tower. The guards would whip the workers and health would decline. Maybe even his colleagues would be suppressed.

Anyway, the time limit was also reached so he would soon see Weed’s intentions.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed had a subtle fear of heights.

When flying on the wyverns or climbing high buildings, he only felt vaguely uneasy.

“Is this shoddy work?”

He had that thought every time he climbed up and down the tower.

In order to build the height of the huge tower, tens of thousands of slaves had carried an enormous amount of stones. There were also magic circles installed to strengthen the supporting framework of the construction but it still seemed flimsy.

“I can clearly see areas that look a little rough due to materials being embezzled. Is this the original building?”

Weed nodded like he was convincing himself.

“At least it isn’t raining so I can’t confirm how it would be in bad weather.”

Now his face was familiar enough to exchange a few friendly words with the other slaves. There were many slaves so he could adjust his stride to go up with a group of them. Of course, it was in order to listen to the other group to receive information.

“Since when have you been working?”

“I don’t know. I was captured when I was 10 years old.”

“Your family….”

“They are dead. My wife on the 143rd floor and my son died on the 169th floor. They just threw the bodies out the window so I couldn’t even bury them. They’ve probably been eaten by the crows.”

“…….”

‘I thought that decor was a bit odd… This is why there are windows in the tower.’

The overall atmosphere was depressed as the slaves climbed the stairs like machines due to fear of the guards. The heavy walk showed the struggles and pains in their lives.

Weed dreamed of the world. The residents of the Arpen Kingdom would give a pile of silver and gold for the king to stay comfortably.

“There are no chances to escape?”

“Escape? Don’t even think about such a thing. All the monsters outside the tower and quarry will prey on us.”

“But if a whole group runs away then won’t some of them survive?”

“There is nowhere else to go even if we run away. If I go home then there are only the bones of the dead…. Shush, I’ll only let you know this. Those guys prey on the soul as well as the flesh. Some of the monsters who eat a soul will obtain a person’s face and I don’t want to encounter one in my lifetime. Isn’t it horrible? This place is hell.”

The slaves were full of fear. Weed got some information from the slaves but it was still mostly useless.

“The ones who are freed from here? Of course there are some. There are many.”

“How?”

“There is only one exit here. To believe in Embinyu.”

“…….”

“If they accept the god then they can be free from suffering and will live an immortal life.”

The secret of the fanatics! The slaves who had suffered in life and death will have a more powerful ability to hate.

“Then why don’t you believe in Embinyu?”

“It is because I know their pain. The magic will change me to cause greater pain and suffering to others. In order to obtain the power of eternal life, I would have to sacrifice people like us… How can I do that as a human?”

In order to fight them, he needed to organize all the information he obtained.

‘The more pain and confusion there is in the world, the stronger the Embinyu Church becomes.’

Weed waited for the night to pass. The exceptionally dark night made the moon and stars look even more beautiful. He could only admire the view of the galaxy from the tower.

The Embinyu Church didn’t bother admiring the beautiful sky. Instead, there was a big fire as they sacrificed people and the pained screams rang out. The climb up the tower was filled with grief despite the pretty night sky.

This beautiful sight wasn’t easily visible in the light of modern cities. It was a view that could only be seen when moving away from civilization.

‘It would be a big hit if I could show this beautiful night sky.’

Weed associated everything with money!

Thus his last night passed like this.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“In addition to Weed’s situation, what about the others?”

– Their locations are displayed on the map and I will relay their situation to screens 2-6.

Yoo Byung-jin had the AI search and display Weed’s subordinates. This information wasn’t known to Weed and the broadcasting stations so he was the only one with the whole blueprint.

“Great Emperor-nim must be somewhere over there.”

Warrior-1 was moving nimbly with the leather of a monster wrapped around him. After arriving at the Barren Howling Ruins, the excellent desert warrior managed to find a hiding place.

And after a few days calmly listening and watching the surroundings, he didn’t see any of his other colleagues. He decide to fulfil the goal alone before it was too late so he carefully advanced as secretly as possible.

If a creature or monster was there then his patient and tenacity meant he could wait a few hours for it to leave. He managed to cross the rotten river by wrapping the leather of a monster around his face and body but the poison delayed him.

But he steadily approached again after recovering his vitality and mental strength. However, once he passed through the rock formation there would be constant patrols and also the watchtowers. Therefore he was still observing from quite a distance.

Warrior-2 wandered around after meeting the transformed Weed but returned to hiding after he couldn’t find anyone.

“Great Emperor-nim has left me. He asked me to meet him there. So I will go ahead first.”

He killed monsters as he headed towards the Embinyu Church’s net! The elite knights and priests of the Embinyu Church were dispatched.

“Human warrior, you can only go up to here.”

“Bring it on! A desert warrior will never show weakness!”

Warrior-2 came face to face with the enemy. He wielded a scimitar emitting strong flames that was slightly longer than a normal sword.

“Flame Scimitar. Rapid Fire Sword!”

The scimitar moved like lightning among the guards.

Seokeok!

The knights with excellent defense caught on fire.

“Stubborn Strike!”

Warrior-2 jumped and slashed from left to right. The shields and armour were crushed by the attack. Even though the opponents tried to block it, a few consecutive attacks killed the enemy.

He blew multiple enemies away at once. The sculptural lifeforms way of fighting resembled Weed. Strong attacks and wide area attacks aimed at the enemies. They were close to Weed and their fighting style spontaneously resembled him.

“Come! I am a proud warrior of the desert!”

The level 700 desert warrior caused the Embinyu knights to fall down like they were autumn leaves. The ground was filled with flames as more than 1,000 knights were massacred.

However, he was surrounded by knights and had no way to escape.

“Kulkul, you have come to the right place to die.”

“You should’ve come sooner if you wanted to die.”

“Strength is all that you know. Fool, I will let you know the superiority of wisdom.”

After that, the curses that he couldn’t avoid!

His movements, strength and health were sealed as 17 curses hit his body. A weak creature would die on the spot from mysterious diseases and black magic caused disturbing moths to lay eggs in his body where they would hatch.

Thanks to these circumstances, Warrior-2 was eventually forced to his knees.

“How should we do with this guy?”

“He killed Embinyu Church members so that pain should be transmitted to his soul.”

“No. God Embinyu has conveyed his divine will so he should be sacrificed to the dragon when it wakes up.”

“That is a good opinion. We will offer him up as a sacrifice.”

Warrior-2 was thrown into a dungeon.

The jail was a little different from Nodulle as there were chains filled with curses around his neck and limbs. His bones were broken and moths grew in his body.

The reason was that Weed’s subordinates were stronger than Nodulle. Of course, there were priests in the Embinyu Church but none of them thought to heal Warrrior-2. His health had dropped to the bottom so he might not live long.

“G…Great Emperor-nim will save me.”

Among the desert warriors, Warrior-3 had the most diverse talents.

He had an interest in assassination and disguise. He accidently ran into three Embinyu knights roaming and wore their uniform.

“Hmm, I can smell thick blood under that knight’s armour. The form and shape isn’t sophisticated.”

The sly Warrior-3! He fought with monsters and were discovered by scouts of the Embinyu Church.

“The knight is fighting on our side.”

“Help him.”

The Embinyu knights ran to fight the monsters with Warrior-3. They naturally won.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“That was a close call.”

“I believe that Embinyu sent you. God is great.”

“That’s right. He might not be formally called a god but this is Embinyu’s grace.”

Warrior-3’s level meant he could easily incapacitate the monsters. His ability to throw knives from 40 metres was particularly outstanding and it had the capacity to even pierce through armour.

Nevertheless, he pretended to be pushed by the monsters so he could team up with the knights. Weed didn’t just teach the desert warriors how to fight.

From time to time, he would show them his tricks and shallow calculations! In the past, Weed had done this alone but now Warrior-3 was acting like Weed.

– Great Emperor-nim is worthy of being admired in this world and he is like a father to me. His behaviour is for justice.

As a result of admiring the wrong idol, he learned bad behaviour! He had now infiltrated the knights but he wasn’t given an important role and was left to patrol outside.

Saint Ahellun.

He deliberately was captured and mingled among the elves and humans that would be offered as food to the dragon. Hestiger who Weed disliked also managed to enter.

He met the Embinyu convoy that was transporting buffalo carcasses to be used as food. He hollowed out the buffalo’s body and hid inside.

“Why does the carriage seem different?”

“Did monsters attack it?”

“There is no need to worry. The priests are waiting for the food so let’s go.”

Hestiger moved before the scouts could find him. He was currently hiding in the kitchen.

“Omo, there is a person here….”

Then the female slaves discovered him! Hestiger was holding a scimitar but he raised a long finger to her lips.

“Do not be surprised. I’m here to fight but I will never hurt you.”

“Who are you?”

“The Embinyu Church is a parasite who has done very bad things in this world. I came here to stop them. Of course you don’t have to believe me….”

“I believe you. What are you going to do? It is too dangerous.”

The female slaves had a crush on the handsome Hestiger. Thanks to his looks and atmosphere, they were 100% convinced.

“I am only waiting for the signal from Great Emperor-nim.”

“I understand. I will help you when the time comes.”

Finally, Zahab was the master of sculpting and swordsmanship so he efficiently utilized their skills.

“There are so many to kill. Evane… She has been gone too long. I’ve lived a long time but I will always think of her with regret.”

He angrily swept through the monsters in the Barren Howling Ruins with his swordsmanship. The aura of his sword extended to slice up dozens of monsters.

They didn’t have the strength to resist!

Zahab was originally strong from mastering sculpting and swordsmanship. After coming to the warring period, he had become more experienced and his level rose higher. He just hunted so his level was almost close to Weed. His genius and perfect battle sense was sometimes enough to make Weed sick.

“The ones I need to kill. There are so many of them.”

He navigated the rock formations while searching for enemies and subdued them. And he finally rested near the walls.

“I don’t know. There are too many strong enemies. He will let me know what to do.”

He decided to wait for Weed to act first.

“Now it is hard to guess what will happen.

Yoo Byung-jin stared at the monitors and found it difficult to predict what would happen in the future.

The composition, current location and abilities were all different from Nodulle’s group.

Weed and his colleagues were the crucial factor that would determine whether this quest succeeded. It was impossible for them to hide from the Embinyu Church for a long time so they would be killed one by one.

But even so, Weed was still faithfully receiving praise from the guards at the tower.

Chapter 6: Tower Crashing into the Ground

In the early morning, Weed was standing on the 140th floor of the Sky Tower.

Looking through the window towards the outside world, the darkness was slowly withdrawing as it became brighter.

“Great. The scene of the night brightening up in the morning always gives me some strength.”

The red sun rose over the distant plains. The land brightened and monsters could be seen roaming around and eating corpses. And hordes of fanatics near the monsters were revealed.

It was a terrible spectacle made visible by the sun rising.

“Is this the view that people living in expensive high-rise apartments prefer? If there was scenery of a river or the sea then the prices would climb more….Hrmm, I don’t know if I want to live in a high-rise apartment or not. The monthly expenses are a lot and I can’t savour the delicious taste of sweet potatoes planted in the yard.”

Weed placed a stone back on the ground.

“Whether I like it or not, this has to be done.”

The nords, barbarians, elves and humans heading down the stairs just glanced at him indifferently. They were slaves so they didn’t care about anything except eating and working.

“What is it today?”

“Crow soup.”

“I haven’t tasted meat for a long time.”

The slaves that finished at dawn hurried down the tower for a meal. They only had one a day and it wasn’t even breakfast.

Crow soup had a sticky feeling and the crunchy meat stuck to their teeth so the greasy soup was the worst thing to eat. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t crow soup but the dead crows fell into the enormous cauldron and turned it into that. The black feathers weren’t even removed so it was difficult to eat.

Weed had exploited the beginners to make the pyramid but at least he gave them grass porridge.

“I have a lot to learn from the Embinyu Church. Thoroughly reducing the cost of business while succeeding.”

The strength of the Embinyu Church was their exploitation of the slaves and followers.

“Then shall I start? This is thanks for my hard work.”

Weed took out a heavy axe.

– Skilled Woodsman’s Axe for Logging:

Durability 31/65. Attack: 14~25

An axe that can cut down a tree. It is rusted and someone seems to have just thrown it to the ground.

It is too thick so it isn’t suitable to be a battle axe! However, it is surprisingly easy to cut down a tree if the axe is swung correctly.

Restrictions: More than 400 power.

Level 140 or higher.

The axe is easy to handle so no skill is required.

Options: Vitality wasted will be reduced when cutting wood from forests and mountains.

When the swung is accurate, an additional 160% cutting power will be added.

Of course, Weed hadn’t taken out the axe for the sake of fighting. The damage was terrible and he wouldn’t even be able to sell it in a store!

In particular, the heavy weight of the axe meant that many merchants wouldn’t buy it.

“I am going to begin.”

Weed struck the axe against the wall of the tower.

Syuuuuuung! Kwaaaaang!

The strength behind the axe was enough to break the wall or split a monster apart.

“Taste this!”

Weed continued to smash the walls with his axe.

“It has to crumble.”

After smashing the walls, he struck at the pillars supporting the weight of the tower. The building was quite strong so the durability of the axe fell quickly.

An axe needed to cut against shields and armours so they were quite durable. However, an axe couldn’t be used for a long time against walls and stone pillars.

The axe in Weed’s hands broke.

– Due to the deterioration of the durability, the Logging Axe has been destroyed.

“I have many axes.”

Weed pulled out another axe from his backpack. This time it was a magic axe that increased destructive power! It was an axe obtained from the Central Continent and was a common tool and weapon found in stores.

This was the secret weapon used to destroy the Sky Tower. Weed had this idea when watching the video of the Sky Tower rising.

‘How can I make it fall down?’

The top part specifically had its weight reduced by magic but the fundamental architecture were the pillars. Then cracking them might bring it down.

“Remove the stones from the bottom one by one. It would be fun if it collapsed all at once.”

This was the strategy he would use to destroy the Sky Tower. He wanted to see the high building collapse due to the pillars!

Kwaaang! Kwaaaang!

Weed dug the axe into the pillar and revealed its bones. Not only were stones piled up but the special mammoth horns and bones inside made the pillar have very high durability. Even so, Weed only needed to wield his axe three or four times before the stem was broken.

“A tree might take 10 tries and I will make the tower collapse even if it takes 1,000 attempts!”

The walls and pillars were smashed with a horrific, destructive power. Even if he smashed 5~6 important pillars, the tower was still fine. But it started to shake slightly.

Now the shaking was only slight but he felt like it was escalating. This fear and imagination was what made people so excited. If he continued to strike with the axe then who knew what would happen!

“When I was a child, I went to the aquarium with my mother and was thrilled when I saw the piranha tank.”

A truly fantastic horror!

Even though this was the 140th floor of the tower, the upper parts beyond the clouds were already shaking. Due to the walls and pillars collapsing, the guards realized there was an emergency.

“What’s that?”

“Something seems to be breaking.”

The guards started searching the tower. It was a high and wide tower so there were 5,000 guards stationed inside. Every 10 floors there was a manager that was equivalent to a boss level monster.

“I don’t know. Where is that sound coming from?”

“Upstairs!”

The guards could’t find Weed’s position immediately. The sound flowed through the building so it was hard to determine the floor and location.

The Sky Tower stretched up to the sky and the interior also had a complicated structure. The stairs were strangely twisted and Weed could instantly come up to the 140th floor form the 137th. Or he could come down from the 144th floor. And the middle 140th floor that connected it was like a remote island.

“He is here!”

“A nord dares go against the Embinyu Church!”

Weed was switching to his third axe when 10 guards found him.

“Triple Swing.”

“Kueek!”

A beginner’s axe skill was used! But the guards were continuing to come up.

“I can’t resist the japtem and experience.”

He was working near the staircase when those guards appeared. The enemy running up the stairs weren’t a problem for Weed. Even the priests emerged and there wasn’t much space to avoid the divine magic.

“140th floor.”

“Kill him!”

The yells of the guards could be heard.

An emergency happening in the Sky Tower! The guards flocked to his location without hesitation. The total number of Embinyu guards kept increasing.

“You are the young nord that was doing a good job! Did you suddenly go crazy?”

The guards unleashed a barrage of criticism on Weed.

“There is no justification for going against the will of Embinyu. You will immediately be sprinkled with salt and thrown to the crows!”

Weed also had a considerable number of complaints piled up.

“It is okay if you make me work recklessly. Difficult and dangerous work is the reality of life. But I can’t tolerate unpaid wages!”

A backlash against unscrupulous employers!

“Seven Swings!”

Ddiring!

– Your Axe skill has increased.

Destructive power of the axe will increase by 130%.

Attack rate is 5% faster.

14% weight will be added to the axe.

Beginner level 3!

Weed might have a high level but the guards weren’t weak. Their levels were at least in the late 300s so the Embinyu guards weren’t weak.

That’s why his axe skill quickly grew as he dealt with them. But the skill level was low and the attack range was short so it wasn’t suitable for fighting a large amount of enemies.

“Bad builders!”

Weed disregarded the guards’ attacks and continued wielding his axe against them. The attacks from the guards only reduced his enormous health by a small drop. The nord might be weaker than humans but their resilience was better.

The guards continued to floor through the stairs so the destruction of the pillars became more delayed.

Then Weed had a passing thought.

‘The whole building will be wrecked anyway so why do I need to leave the stairs?’

Although the stairs were necessary for him to descend the building later. But his first priority was handling the guards harassing him.

If the guards continued to interfere then the bosses on the upper flowers of the Sky Tower would come down. As he climbed the Sky Tower, the supervisors ended up being senior priests. He had just killed the high priests Igrig and Motuls so he didn’t want to waste the results.

“Eh, I don’t know!”

Weed run to the stairs and started smashing them with his axe.

“H-he….”

“The stairs are falling. Aaack!”

The upstairs and downstairs staircases connecting to the 140th floor collapsed at once. The guards on them also fell down. From now on, they could no longer come from downstairs.

The wreckage of the fallen stairs blocked the passage underneath. The guards continued jumping down from upstairs through the spot where the staircase collapsed.

“Tear all his flesh off!”

“He is trying to sabotage and interfere with the Embinyu Church!”

There were no stairs however the guards showed up even faster. Yes, one or two guards died but the remaining became more ferocious.

“Sink or swim!”

Weed smashed the ground with his axe.

Kuooong!

The guards that landed on the smashed ground continued falling down.

“Waaaaack!”

“Embinyuuuuuu.”

Black or grey stones were piled up and there were various monsters and human bones protruding from them. The tower was originally a prison so the inside still had that type of aesthetic.

He was smashing the floor of the Sky Tower. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that this feeling wouldn’t be comfortable for anyone who spent their lives trying to buy a house in Korea.

But breaking it was also fun. He was destroying the tallest building.

“Wow, this is high.”

“Really, seeing the building come down would be a jackpot.”

It was similar to young children marvelling at the sight of the 63 Building (used to be South Korea’s tallest building)!

“It would be fun to smash it down.”

The interference of the guards had disappeared so Weed shattered the pillars without hesitation. It was hard at first but once a small portion of the pillar was broken, it was easy to smash the remaining fragments.

The pillars were holding the astronomical weight of the tower’s upper floors. Once some of them collapsed, the remaining pillars became more vulnerable because they had to carry a larger load.

“Have I grown bigger? The ceiling seems to be closer…..”

Weed thought it was weird that the 140th floor seemed a bit lower. This was an illusion. The ceiling was actually coming closer.

Jajajajak!

Once 30 pillars were destroyed, the ceiling started to seriously crack. Not only that, the pillars holding up the weight of the tower started being squashed.

“I guess I can’t stop now.”

Weed became a little cautious. He couldn’t stretch out in an area and rested while watching. He knew how dangerous this could be.

His risk awareness had risen thanks to Disaster Sculpting but he couldn’t stop destroying the pillars in the building.

“These pillars will definitely fall… That pillar is more urgent!”

He couldn’t waste even 1 second to collapse the tower. Weed planned to pull down the tower rising into the heavens. The so-called eating free pheasants overseas after winning the lottery!

Kukukukung! Kwadududuk!

The ceilings and floors gradually collapsed. The pillars spontaneously twisted and bent. It was a desperate crisis.

If the tower was crushed than not even Weed could survive. Stones were falling down on Weed’s head.

– Health has been reduced by 31 due to the debris.

The damage wasn’t enough to affect his health so he didn’t worry about it.

‘So far, I’ve done as I planned. My brain is a genius. It wasn’t my fault that I didn’t study in school. I blame the teachers for not being proficient enough!’

Weed had intentionally destroyed pillars on the east side of the tower. But he only had a moment to rejoice as the weight distributed on top of the pillars and a widespread destruction started occurring.

Cracks appeared on pillars of the 140th floor, 133th floor, 121th floor and the ground floor. The weight of the entire tower was added to those weakened pillars and the tower shook like it would fall at any moment. The hundreds of metres high tower was serious shaking.

Weed had only smashed the eastern pillars so it would collapse in that direction but things hadn’t proceeded as planned.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Ah, he did it like that.”

Weed’s adventure was being broadcasted around the entire world at the same time.

Many viewers were impatiently looking forward to seeing what would happen on the adventure. All gaming stations and even general stations competed by showing Royal Road.

The Royal Road craze hit foreign countries later than it did Korea but the gap had closed so that it was almost negligible. Many foreigners now enjoyed a variety of leisure activities and enjoyed holidays in Royal Road. It started late but the benefit of hindsight meant it was even more popular.

At that moment, all the architects watching around the world were sighing deeply.

“He shouldn’t touch something like that.”

“If I wanted to calculate the dynamics of the structure then it would take me 10, no 100 days.”

“It is a nice attempt but there are too many variables.”

In order to destroy the tower, precise measurements and calculations were necessary. The tensile strength, accurate design of the building and the weight on each floor needed to be known. Determining the optimal height and position for destruction would take at least a few days.

It was a very high and large building so any destructive power would sink the tower at once. If the person was lucky then it would fall in the desired direction but it was much more likely for the crumbling tower to crush the person.

Sequentially destroying it in the desired direction would require calculating wind speed, the tilt due to the weight change, the speed of the collapse, the structure of the terrain and even the time it would take to fall.

All those things were theoretically possible to calculate through mathematical calculations but it was actually impossible.

The by-products of different monsters were used to create the pillars so the strength of each one was different. Each floor was also different. The architects of the tower didn’t use precision measuring tools while designing it.

Holding a stone and intuitively finding the weak points was a simple idea. Even the highest level of architect wanted the experience of taking down this tower.

Of course, common sense stated that such a high tower wouldn’t exist in this world. The material surpassed the strength of steel and magic was used or else the building wouldn’t be possible at all.

Nevertheless, the architects couldn’t help being filled with admiration.

“It is silly and simply but it is a genius attempt.”

The uncomplicated judgement like a pure child. There were many things that could go wrong but he didn’t worry about them.

The architects couldn’t guess the result. The interior of the building was crashing down on Weed. The ceiling and pillars were helplessly falling. The environment was also scary.

Even those that knew nothing about construction could tell how dangerous the Sky Tower was. It felt like their heart was shrivelling and their hair standing up as they watched Weed’s adventure.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed looked around.

“The situation doesn’t look good.”

A chain reaction had taken place and the entire tower was collapsing around him. He could see chunks of stones falling outside the window. Once everything became worse, a person on the verge of dying would feel like their life was flashing before them.

‘I don’t know why this happens every time.’

Intended or calculated, or a wrong action. Or he simply didn’t have any luck.

‘This is the worst. The probability of getting out of this is quite low.’

However, he didn’t give up.

Weed realized that his survival skills in Royal Road were excellent. The more extreme the situation was, the more fiercely he would try to survive.

Usually other people’s heads wouldn’t think quickly but his head was always rotating at a rapid speed. If he studied like this then he probably would’ve passed the bar examination.

“I can live. I have to live.”

Weed looked around rapidly for anything he could use. There were an excess of rocks. There were a pile of stones that people carried and those that fell down from the ceiling. The entire top of the tower was collapsing so stones were still continuing to fall.

He no longer needed the axe as the tower was crumbling on its own. It would be the end if he got caught in the rubble.

“The only thing I can do now is sculpt.”

Weed out the Sculpting Knife. The body of a nord wasn’t useful for fighting or escaping. In the current situation, he needed to change his body to look like the enemy.

Sasasasak.

Weed’s Sculpting Knife moved like it was possessed. He had less time to sculpt during his final secret sculpting technique quest. It was stuck at Advanced level 9 and hadn’t climbed the final step.

But this time sculpting would be a huge help. Weed still had many complaints about sculpting.

“Whether it is the battlefield or art, sculpting is really good. I just wish that it would earn me more money.”

It was like saving a man from drowning only to be given a free apartment! He needed to finish the work before the tower fell so Weed’s Sculpting Knife moved insanely fast over the stone.

Suksak susak.

The speed meant his hands couldn’t be seen properly. The rock was smoothly cut like an apple.

His speed was ridiculous but he didn’t want to die an unnatural death. He needed to move faster. He was familiar with sculpture so the body shape was being refined. He had made all types of strange sculptures for battles or quests.

An exhibition of works would display the artist’s creative and unique personality. The works would contain that philosophy and ideology or deep feelings about culture.

Weed usually favoured beautiful or practical works.

‘Prices are rising every day so my head is full of complex thoughts about how to live. It is useless if it isn’t pretty.’

For a simple reason!

The sculpture he was making was really easy to understand.

Embinyu monster!

Their health was high and the vicious monster also had poison. Its skin was white and wrinkled like it had lived 400 years and there was a long tongue to catch flies and mosquitoes.

The piece of rock had layers of a strange pattern and microscopic cracks that gave it a rugged impression. The sturdy physique resembled a barbarian but the face and body looked closer to a humanoid snake. Furthermore, the soles of the feet were designed to prevent slipping and there were thin wings attached to the underarms like a bat. The head was completely bald and covered with scales.

‘I wish I never created a sculpture like this.’

Weed always thought about money when making sculptures. If the sculptures during his adventures were broadcasted then they would be a huge hit. The dolls of the wyverns, Bingryong and Yellowy were all sold out in the markets. Of course, some of the proceeds were sent to his bank account.

There was also the toy of the Bone Dragon. Apparently it was tacky to have bones but young children really like that these days.

The origin of the crab cakes. The origin of the seasoned potatoes. This was their source.

There were contracts were confectionary companies. A man and a woman was also collecting the skeleton dolls. All parents would tremble at hearing these words from their children.

“Mother, buy me that one.”

“I never had that before. Weeeeng!”

Weed’s quest meant that children never stopped crying for his sculptures. Every parent might regret the moment they had to give their children seaweed soup.

“The children are making a purse for when I retire. A job that makes a living from young children… It is a reliable stable”

Now even the sculptures Weed transformed into were popular. He always sculpted a tall, handsome piece with features that would sell well.

This sculpture with a snake head and thick limbs like a crocodile was the worst in history. If Karichwi was ugly then this sculpture was horrible enough to raise goose bumps!

“Sculpture Transformation!”

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting makes the sculptor and statue resemble each other!

Your skin and appearance has quickly changed.

It depends on the shape of the sculpture but the physique is similar so you can wear your original equipment.

The influence of Sculpture Transformation has significantly increased Strength and Agility.

Charm has fallen to the lowest level.

Art stat has halved.

Perseverance, resilience and luck has significantly risen.

This will last until Sculpture Transformation is released.

“It was made in a hurry but it is perfect.”

Weed’s Charm stat had brutally fallen.

Charm would make the skin bright and attractive and even improve the overall shape of the body. Especially in the case of women, they were very sensitive to the changes in the body caused by 100 charm or 200 charm.

But Weed lived without thinking of his body or face. A handsome face wouldn’t allow him to eat or live better.

Honestly, his looks were irrelevant after meeting Seo-yoon. Her charm stat had to be at least 200,000 so he absolutely couldn’t match her

“It won’t be a hindrance even if my face is boiled!”

Kwarururururung!

The top of the tower vibrated and Weed could feel it through his legs. It wasn’t surprising anymore that this would happen. Everything was slowly moving towards the point where it would collapsed.

Kukukung!

The movement of the entire tower suddenly stopped like it was struck by lightning. The place that had been filled with loud noises became abruptly quiet.

“What, has it ended?”

But then he heard a squeaking sound like a herd of mice was running around. Microscopic cracks were occurring in the central pillars. The evidence that it was continuing to collapse was invisible but still there.

“Now.”

Weed ran past all the piled up debris and jumped. And he threw his body outside the window. It looked like a cool scene from an action movie.

Weed didn’t have a parachute like the main characters in that movie. Weed was also falling from the 140th floor so it would be a huge burden if he crashed.

‘I’ve managed to escape unharmed so far. Even if I crash into the ground, my enormous health means that I won’t die. But there are enemies that will pounce.’

If he crashed into the ground then the Embinyu members would swarm like ants. All the troops of the Embinyu Church were already in emergency mode. There was also the stones falling down from the tower due to the shaking.

“That tower is to greet God Embinyu. We must prevent it from collapsing.

“All priests use their power.”

The priests of the Embinyu Church demonstrated their divine power. The divine magic lightened the weight of the tower, strengthened the structure and joined broken joints together.

Original divine magic couldn’t do this but the Sky Tower was constructed to commune with the Embinyu. In addition, there were magic circles placed inside the tower.

The tower was already built beyond the limits that it could physically withstand! The light of the magic wrapped around the pillars and considerably lowered the weight on the pillars.

The medium and large monsters of the Embinyu Church plunged inside the tower. They held up the pillars and ceiling with their shoulders and back.

Kuweeek!

Kwaack!

Despite their bodies being crushed, the monsters prevented the collapse of the tower.

“What? It is a little strange.”

Weed realized that the collapse of the tower seemed to have stopped. The tower was slanted but seemed to have been stopped from falling.

“I really can’t eat things raw.”

Chwararak!

Weed stretched out both arms and flapped the wings covered with a thin film. The speed that he was falling at reduced.

“Eh, I don’t know.”

He then used the wind to change directions and clung to the walls of the tower.

Kurururung!

The effect was weakened but stones were still falling from the tower. Falling rocks! Weed swerved the rocks that contained a terrifying power after falling from a high place.

“I feel like I’m wiping the windows of a skyscraper! I didn’t dare risk it despite it paying well….My sense of adventure was fulfilled being a construction labourer!”

The stones were different sizes and fell in slightly different directions. Sometimes the stones would change direction in the middle so he was quite nervous.

“This damn life… I need to stop swearing. This is why my tough days keep on repeating.”

Weed spat out complaints as he started climbing up the wall of the tower like a spider. His hands and feet easily found windows and niches in the broken stone walls. He avoided the falling rocks by spinning sideways at a perpendicular angle.

Weed soon passed the 140th floor, 160th and then the 180th floor. He would skip past two or three floors with one leap. Anyone watched Weed’s adventure would feel dizzy with every leap. The circumstances was enough to call him a human cockroach.

Puyuuuuung!

Weed moved like a butterfly every time the stones fell!

‘I need to think of a method. Something is stopping the tower from crashing down. I need to make it collapse.’

The tower was shaking more severely as he climbed upwards. The strengthening magic of the priests couldn’t work properly on the higher floors. If I leave it like this then it won’t collapse. But it will be difficult to recover to its original state.’

If he just watched as the tower collapsed then it was likely he could easily fulfil the quest. But he didn’t know how many days it would take.

“I’ve decided. Take this. Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Weed slammed the Extermination Sword against the wall of the 213th floor. He was thrown by the force of the skill and fell before opening his wings at the 209th floor.

“I need to go as far as possible!”

Kwa kwa kwang!

He faced the top and furiously slammed his sword against the tower. The shock caused stones to start falling from the tower again. He observed increasingly large stones falling from hundreds of floors above him.

Weed lifted his head and brandished his sword. If there was a situation he couldn’t escape then he would briefly enter the tower through a window. In the case of large stones, he would use it as a support to leap dozens of metres.

An exciting aerial action that took place at the collapsing tower! There were some dangerous stones that he barely avoided. Even though his current appearance wasn’t very handsome, it allowed him to be like a fly or a mosquito.

Countless monsters and fanatics on the ground and in the Sky Tower died from the stones. The guards were continuing to exit as the tower shook at an alarming rate.

“Power of Birth, Black Knight’s Strike, Summon Another Sword!”

Weed climbed the tower while using his master class combat skills. When he passed the 250th floor, the tower shook and swayed from left to right. He quickly floated in the air but couldn’t avoid being hit by the swaying tower.

“Cough!”

– You have been hit by the Sky Tower.

Health has decreased by 31,386.

It was a rare experience as Weed was whacked by the tower and flew back 100 metres.

Padadadak!

His narrow wings opened as he moved towards the tower again.

“It would be nice if this was an amusement park. I shouldn’t be the only one to suffer through this!”

If it was possible to create the ride without anyone dying then thousands of people could experience it at the amusement park!

“This degree isn’t enough to make it crumble!”

Weed cried in a loud voice.

It was hard to avoid the stones and sticking to the side of the tower was also dangerous.

“Sculptural Destruction! Everything into Strength!”

Weed smashed a fine piece and his strength greatly increased. Anyway, so far he had broken quite a few walls and pillars.

But the tower was shaking so much that he couldn’t determine which way it would fall. Due to the pillars breaking from supporting the weight of the tower, it was breaking in all directions.

He couldn’t imagine what would happen when he looked at the tower shaking. Any ordinary human would have given up here but Weed couldn’t.

“I have to go to the end. I will prove that living ignorantly in this world is frightening.”

Weed held onto the wall and continued climbing up the tower. He had been tired carrying stones up the tower and now he needed to hold onto the wall while avoiding falling rocks.

He reached the 279th and then the 300th floor. At this point, the wind was flowing towards the side of the tower. The feeling of the tower shaking through his hands while he climbed caused a frightening feeling.

– The Sky Tower has struck you in the chest.

Health has been reduced by 13,288.

He would receive damage every time he jumped hastily.

Weed stopped moving at the 330th floor. Every 100th floor was marked but he didn’t know the exact location. So much debris was falling from the tower that it was a mess.

In fact, he had intended the tower to fall earlier so it was more robust than he thought. Even so, it seemed like it would take just 1~2 more minutes to crumble. There was there creepy sound of something being split apart.

“A different method… I made it when I was bored but it will be useful here. I hadn’t wanted to use this. Sculpture Transformation!”

Weed used the skill to resemble a sculpture. It was a specific sculpture of a black bear! It was like a very large sculpture had been shrunk to a miniature size. A black bear that would likely crush a city.

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting makes the sculptor and statue resemble each other!

Weed’s snake like smooth body started growing black fur. In addition, his size became bigger. Shoulders, chests and legs all grew steadily longer. 10 metres, 20 metres, 30 metres…. Before long, his body had become 230 metres.

He had turned into a hulking version of the sculpture. An extra-large black bear!

It seemed to be the size of Bingryong and the body was enough to make the elves in the forest tremble! The eyes were small and cute compared to the body and gave off the impression that he had been chewing on tree roots since childhood. There was a vivid half-moon pattern on the chest.

Clearly, this work was creating while aiming for popularity among children.

– Your body shape has changed so a number of equipment can’t be worn.

– Perseverance, Vitality and Resilience has been enhanced due to Sculptural Transformation.

But all the other stats have been reduced.

The leather of the black bear is like steel and has a high level of magic protection.

Although it has knowledge and wisdom about life, this is instinctive magic and they can’t use complex tools.

Just smacking the enemy with the paws will be enough to break the waist.

The skill Understanding Sculpture has granted you an attribute of the species.

When angered by a severe attack, damage will increased by 260%.

In this state, you will suffer less damage from the enemy’s attack and you have become twice as strong.

However, you will become vulnerable to ranged weapons like arrows. Once this state is released when health falls below 10%, you will be vulnerable to fear.

When health reaches 30%, recovery rate will be 6 times faster. But once 30 minutes pass, the recovery rate will slow down to half the normal rate.

“Kuwooooh!”

Weed shouted as he clung to the tower with his paws. The bear’s thick and sharp claws dug deeply into the walls. His body was much bigger but his high health meant there wasn’t significant risk from the stones falling.

The thick bear fur and leather also played the role of solid armour and shield.

“Shall I try this? This is like when I was playing at the neighbourhood playground!”

Weed was really ignorant so he decided to use this method. The tower started fluctuated wildly as his heavy weight clung to it.

The simplest method to bring down the tower in the desired direction was to use his heavy body! It wasn’t possible to measure his current weight but he would be making a deep pit if he walked along the ground.

The top of the tower started shaking and spun around.

“This is a little weak!”

Weed was very excited. This was at the level of neighbour child at the playground. These days, there were many scenes in movies where the protagonist barely survived.

Weed felt the need to maintain his popularity.

“Let’s go!”

Weed released his hold on the tower and jumped. The shock caused the wall of the tower to collapse even more. A tremendous sized black bear was jumping in the air.

It could be compared to walking along a sky-high cliff! Weed’s large body separated the sky. And he quickly reached the peak.

“Kuaah!”

The crash of a giant black bear! At that time, the tower came close to him again.

“Acha!”

Weed hugged the tower. Due to his tremendous weight, the place where his paws held on caused the tower walls to literally crumple like paper.

The 4 thick claws furiously dug in and damaged the building. A destructive sound was heard from the tower. If the building was destroyed then it was likely he would lose his life as well!

“I won’t survive the fall Then let’s try this again!”

Weed once again jumped up the tower. The tower shook strongly as the black bear jumped from the tower! This fast paced and reckless thrill was an environment that he would rarely experience.

During the short distance he was in the air, an unearthly sound could be heard. It was the sound of rocks and pillars being furiously crushed by the weight and impact of the black bear!

The tower couldn’t withstand the sudden weight that slammed into it and started tilting in one direction.

“E-eh!”

In the beginning he didn’t feel like it was that tilted. But the angle meant he couldn’t jump. He was forced to cling on all fours while feeling himself tilting.

It wasn’t only the central part where Weed was as the whole Sky Tower was seriously tilting.

‘Success! But what do I do now?’

The result was what he intended but now  it was a life threatening situation. An ice cold sensation could be felt on his neck.

‘This isn’t that small?’

His survival instincts issued a warning. He looked down at the ground that could be seen through the clouds.

“It is like I intended. There is just a minor issue….”

Weed was attached to the side of the tower. Now the tower was tilted as he intended. There was a loud roar as something in the tower broke.

‘I need to live.’

Weed dug his claws into the wall of the tower and moved to the opposite side. In the meantime, the angle of the tower was increasingly heading towards the ground. It was like the neck of a giraffe moving towards the ground.

“Aigoo! What is the best method I can use?”

Weed’s brain started furiously thinking. His survival instinct surpassed those of an insect. Weed surpassed a cockroach’s health, tricks and various methods to survive.

‘I can’t fall at this height. If this was my original body then I might be able to survive with my high health. But right now my large size means I will receive heavier damage. I need to use Sculpture Transformation.’

He quickly took out a sculpture of a dragon fly. It was a dragonfly with a very strange face!

“Eh, I don’t know. Sculpture Transformation!”

There was no time to think of the side-effects when he used Sculpture Transformation!

– Due to the heavy shaking, the skill has failed.

“Then Sculpture Transformation release!”

– You haven’t perfectly adapted to the current body yet.

Even the mysterious power of sculpting can’t change your flesh.

“This doesn’t have any soup!”

Young children were also watching Weed’s adventure so he couldn’t use his worst curses. It was like opening the remaining bag of ramyun only to find there was no soup!

Sculpture Transformation couldn’t be used due to the vigorous movement and it couldn’t be released. Earlier he was a monster but now he was a giant black bear with a heavy weight hanging on the wall of the tower.

After a few seconds, he was falling along with the tower. Just like a monkey falling down with a tree, the bear falling with the tower would die!

Weed needed another way to survive.

Chapter 7: Black Dragon Ausollet

‘Die.’

‘He will die.’

‘He is going to die.’

‘Will he die soon?’

Most viewers thought that as they watched Weed’s adventure.

“Boss-nim, I’m taking a vacation for Royal Road. And I also want a paid bonus.”

“Our company is doing well thanks to you. I will give you a few weeks! Look at this corporate card!”

This was the dream of most workers!

In reality, the department chief or director would handle any work without unnecessary remarks. Sometimes there would be social lunches or meals with overtime workers. Even overtime allowances weren’t paid properly so this was more of a dream than reality. A dream that they would have in the mornings or on weekends!

But they could meet others through Royal Road. The workers could have fun through their characters without having to worry about anything. Weed was like a hero to them.

In particular, the users of the Central Continent full of resentment and blame towards Weed had to literally repent.

“I didn’t know Weed-nim’s deep intentions… I was narrow minded.”

“Isn’this relationship with the Hermes Guild not very good? But now he is saving the people of the world while benefiting the enemy?”

“Now I know why the people of the north respect Weed and think he is a good king.”

“His fans are growing as they repeatedly see his adventures. We know in advance that the results will affect the continent so Weed is becoming more popular through his adventures. Others have chosen to become strong through stable hunting and picking the right quest while Weed freely challenges the world.”

Wonderful adventures while travelling around the continent!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed came up with a way to live in a matter of seconds. He heard some valuable information while working in the tower!

“Yes, I’ll believe in Embinyu. God Embinyu won’t save me. Ohh, God Embinyu!”

Schizophrenia symptoms occurred due to the brainwashing magic. There would be a mental collapse like a man forgetting that ramyun was boiling while on the phone!

However, Weed’s eyes sparkled as he sensed a chance for survival.

“It isn’t finished yet. I won’t die!”

Weed sat down on the tilting tower.

Kwadududuk!

Nothing broke but there was the sound of the tower being pressed inwards.

“Let’s go.”

He slipped down the slope of the tower. A very large black bear was sliding down like it was a slide! But it was an almost vertical slope so the acceleration became frightening after a few seconds.

“A person surviving beautifully in a movie!”

The situation was different from what he thought! The walls were literally crushed as Weed slipped down due to his weight. Even though the Sky Tower was very large, the transformed Weed was only riding down a very narrow area.

Weed’s butt acted as a terrible weapon crushing the tower.

– A part of your body has been damaged due to the friction.

Health has decreased by 3,742.

The black bear’s butt became hot due to the acceleration!

“I need to check my status now before it becomes more dangerous. Health… Phew, there is no need to worry about vitality and my health is still over 800,000.”

A large creature had excellent strength and health but its art, wisdom and dignity stat was at the bottom. Its charm was surprisingly high but that was because the bear was cuddly.

‘Even if it is like this, will I still be able to survive?’

A thought passed through his head at that moment. His health was high but the huge body going at this speed meant there would be significantly more damage. He might end up being stuck deep in the ground. The fanatics could then indiscriminately attack his body.

All members of the Embinyu Church had an infinite hatred inside them.

“I usually don’t have any luck. Isn’t this harsh scenario enough?’

But after one moment, the feeling of his butt sliding stopped as it seemed like he was floating in the air.

He wasn’t mistaken!

The tower’s tilt wasn’t enough to allow him to reach the ground. The bottom portion had broken off due to the excessive weight.

“Kuwooooh!”

The 65th floor and above disconnected from the Sky Tower while the remainder was left intact. Weed had been sliding down the tower but he was still at the height of the 300th floor.

“Aigoo!”

His huge body and limbs struggled wildly in the air. The Sky Tower was collapsing towards the Weed who was flapping his limbs. He didn’t have any wings or skills to prevent the fall.

“Crashing like this is another worst-case scenario. This is definitely something that is likely to happen to me.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The monsters and fanatics were swarming among the strongholds of the Embinyu Church.

There was tight security to prevent an invasion but they could only stand there helplessly as the tower fell from the sky! The stones that made up the Sky Tower were falling towards the fanatics.

“Kweeeek!”

“Embinyu is punishing us. Let us gratefully accept death!”

A flood of stones poured down as the tower collapsed. The Embinyu Church’s facility to produce demons, sell souls and the demons’ training centre were damaged!

The fanatics and monsters swarming inside were also constantly hit. Now the top of the tower cut off from the lower part fell towards the centre.

“Today Embinyu will accept a new follower and there will be a feast of blood.”

“Ohhhh!”

The Chaos Dragon Ausollet was sitting in front of the huge statue of Embinyu in the Central Square!

The ceremony to brainwash Ausollet was in full swing. 200 Priests of Punishment were focusing divine power on the dragon.

The deeply asleep dragon was covered with a red aura while there were occasional large and small explosions. The Embinyu Church’s efforts against the dragon’s strong resistance was coming to fruition.

Then the Central Square suddenly darkened. The priests looked up at the sky to see the tower collapsing towards them.

“The tower is collapsing.”

“Ohhhh!”

A catastrophe was coming.

“Don’t avoid it. Embinyu is testing us.”

“This is the final test before the world’s illusion of calm and peace ends. We will show them.”

The senior priests said to the fanatics trying to flee.

“Ohh, Embinyu.”

Through blind faith and obedience, the fanatics kneeled and prayed instead of fleeing. Including the elderly and young children ,all those in the Central Square couldn’t leave.

But then a little boy pointed at the sky and asked.

“Priest-nim, what is that?”

A huge bear covered in black fur was falling through the air with struggling limbs.

Even the priests who blindly believed in Embinyu’s miracles were at a loss.

“…….”

“…….”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Aigoo!”

Weed did everything he could to minimize the impact of falling. Even though he was falling from the 300th floor, that was still 4,000 metres.

He needed to think positive thoughts.

“People paid money bungee jumping to experience a thrill like this. I got it for free. The bad thing is that there are no safety devices.”

By spreading out his limb and making his body mass wide, he was able to obtain some wind resistance. His paws also pushed off some falling stones.

But he couldn’t find any more tricks to use.

“I will be turned into a squid after falling to the ground. Perhaps I will be so smashed up that a bear dish can’t be created to the bear’s gall bladder used.”

Thanks to the air resistance, the tower was falling a bit late. Even so, there was a heavy wind as it rapidly approached the ground. Falling without any safety devices was like an elementary school student looking forward for the holidays only to receive homework.

Jaejaejaejaek!

Weed thought he was hallucinating as the sound of birds crying seemed to enter his ear. It wasn’t just 1~2 but a chorus of thousands. In order to apply the cooking skill to meat obtained from hunted, he needed to invest time and attention.

Anyway, he was hearing this crying sound while falling to his death. Weed didn’t care about it. However, there was a huge surprise when he looked towards the ground.

All the birds on the ground or sitting on branches spread their wings and flew in unison.

Sometimes he would see birds take choreographed actions like a dance. In an effort to protect their eggs, they would simultaneously fly into the sky like there was an emergency. Weed found it scary as he fell at a terrible speed towards their beaks.

‘These birds with no conscience! No matter how juicy and delicious bear meat is, you should at least wait until I die before eating me.’

Weed needed to conserve as much health as possible so he couldn’t afford for the birds to eat him.

But he felt this strange feeling that made him reluctant to act. He had observed the behaviour of birds while on his hummingbird adventure. Those who felt a crisis would chirp loudly in order to protect their children.

Now the birds flying towards Weed were crying out.

‘Should I leave it alone for a minute? The birds won’t even be able to scratch my leather.’

The birds’ beaks grabbed hold of him but they weren’t trying to eat him. They supported his body and head as their wings flapped painfully.

– The Goddess Freya’s blessing has been invoked.

Freya is the goddess of abundance and her grace enriches the land, caused grains to grow, flowers to bloom and trees bear fruit.

Birds that eat the grains and insects are the children and messenger of Goddess Freya.

Goddess Freya has sent 100,000 birds to help you.

– Due to the blessing, your health has been completely restored.

Your hunger situation has changed to feeling full.

You can maintain the best vitality during the day.

“It really is Goddess Freya!”

It was like Weed was overflowing with faith after going to church on Christmas and receiving a gift!

The birds desperately tried to save the falling Weed. There were some eagles but the ones that caught his eye were the small birds like sparrows.

Thanks to all the birds in the vicinity, his falling speed started decreasing. But the giant black bear had a heavy weight so the birds could only slightly slow the speed of his crash, not save him.

Meanwhile, the tower that fell first had completely hit the central area and was destroyed. The impact of a building with a height of a few kilometres crashing down!

The entire ground shook like it was an earthquake Weed created. The buildings were destroyed by the tower falling down on it. The impact of the crash caused a strong wind to blow that scattered the debris in different directions. A dust cloud rose up and covered all the monsters, fanatics and priests.

Weed had been through small and large sieges but it was the first time he saw a fortress being destroyed like this.

“My idea was great!”

And the birds holding up Weed being frightened and scattered at the sound.

“No! Come back!”

Freya’s Blessing had gathered the birds but they weren’t much help before scattering.

Weed was terrified as the ground once again approached. Now that the small force of the gathered birds disappeared from beneath him, his speed started accelerating again.

And he desperately looked for something that could minimize the impact or reduce the damage. Weed was peering through the dust cloud when he saw something huge.

‘That thing.’

Weed twisted his limbs in the air as he adjusted his falling position. The impact energy contained in this huge body would be like a meteor falling down from the sky.

‘I guess I would be fighting the Chaos Dragon. But this way it is in my path.’

His goal was the Chaos Dragon Ausollet sitting on the ground! He wasn’t fighting it with a sword or magic, just bumping into it while falling.

300 metres, 160 metres, 75 metres, 20 metres, 3 metres! The body of the dragon was getting closer at a terrifying speed.

Weed curled up his entire body like a ball.

“Kuweeek!”

And he head-butted the Chaos Dragon.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Chaos Dragon Ausollet!

The dragon was involved in a ritual when the Sky Tower collapsed and hit him.

– Kuoooooh!

The dragon had been exposed to the Embinyu Church’s brainwashing so only instinct remained.

Ausollet felt a severe pain and peered down at the ground.

“I-I’m alive!”

“Aaaack!”

The spirit of a real dragon would destroy such fragile creatures. The fanatics were rolling around on the ground from pain. The priests focusing their holy magic on the Chaos Dragon had lost their lives to the tower.

Ausollet slowly lifted up its eyelids.

– Where is this place? And why… What is this?

A huge black form! The dragon got up from the ground and spread its wide wings.

– Why am I here?

Ausollet had also suffered damage from the tower collapsing on it so more than one third of its health had flown away. It was an astronomical amount of damage.

Then a powerful vortex of mana was absorbed into the dragon’s body. The mana had been the means used to dominate the dragon and use its power for their own will.

The dust cleared and the shape of the dragon could be seen. A 350 metres long body with polished black scales! The foreboding big eyes, sharp teeth and dignified beard that connected the right and left sides. A streamlined muscular body and tail that made it looked very beautiful and also dangerous.

The strongest creature on the Versailles Continent, the dragon opened its eyes and took a deep breath.

Huuuuuk!

Even the breathing was scary. Mana pushed against the dragon was smoothly absorbed into its body. It had woken up early from a deep sleep but now it’s body was reverting to its normal status.

The dragon’s mouth opened and it roared.

– I don’t know why I’m in a place like this. And why bugs like you are here.

The dragon cried out.

The servants of the Embinyu Church that didn’t dare disobey screamed with pain. This was the legendary grandeur that had been mentioned in history books.

At the same time, Weed fell from the sky and crashed against the Chao Dragon’s body.

“Kuweeek!”

– Krararwarara!

Weed and the dragon both screamed from the pain.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Most traffic accidents that occurred weren’t able to be predicted. Even though he made some preparations, the collision almost caused him to lose consciousness!

– You have suffered severe injuries due to the crash.

There is a severe reduction in health!

Health has been reduced by 74%.

Spine and neck damage has caused paralysis, confusion and hallucinations.

The right hind leg, left hind leg and right front foot has been broken. You won’t be able to walk.

There is a shoulder injury and large wound on your side.

The message indicating the damage suffered from hitting the dragon! It was more difficult to find body parts that were normal. The degree of injuries were okay for being on the verge of death.

Weed rolled like a ball and landed on the ground after hitting the dragon. Weed’s body crushed some large and sharp rocks that were the remnants of the tower. The fanatics that fell to the ground due to the dragon’s roar were crushed to death by the massive bear!

Weed rolled a few hundred metres across the ground before remaining still. And he muttered in a small voice.

“My head is spinning. Stat Window.”

Character Name | Weed | Alignment | Extra Large Beast
Level | 825 | Species | Asian Black Bear
Health | 813,943 | Mana | 433
Strength | 2,731 | Agility | 1,695
Vitality | 2,184 | Wisdom | 5
Intelligence | 4 | Fighting Spirit | 3,219
Endurance | 662 | Perseverance | 2,133
Art | 3 | Charisma | 1,293
Leadership | 2 | Luck | 3
Faith | 283 | Charm | 382
Resilience | 2,391 | Dignity | 6
Concentration | 445 | Courage | 621

* Due to the unique characteristics of the bear species, perseverance and resilience is very high.

The glossy leather improves magic resistance. However, this will make you the target of hunters.

As a large creature, you have high health and strength.

Combat skills are only partially available.

Sophistication is required so the proficiency of Swordsmanship will be adjusted to Advanced level 1.

Weed had high stats from the Nodulle’s Growth quest in the desert! There was also the influence of Sculpture Transformation and the bonus stats from dungeon explorations.

Weed was proud of what he raised his level to. Among humans, it was difficult to find someone who could be his opponent. This was why the desert army was so imposing when they swept through the Central Continent.

What did he have to fear? Would he meet an enemy so dangerous it would cause him to hesitate?

Weed was a powerful existence but he was willing to prostrate his body for a cheaper price.

‘The remaining health… Approximately 100,000. This isn’t a considerable amount.’

Even if he had hundreds of thousands of health, it was hard to be optimistic about the situation. The curses and magic from the Embinyu Church would immediately cut down his health. The huge bear would be an easy target for the enemies.

Weed had to choose the best tactic among the options inside his head.

“Huuuuem.”

He calmly took a deep breath. Thanks to the fall, he was in a state incapable of fighting.

– The earth goddess Mi-ne has blessed you.

The energy from the earth has restored your health and vitality.

Weed stretched out and took a break while the blessing of the earth restored his health.

– Krarararara!

The dragon’s angry roar was enormous.

The Sky Tower had collapsed and Weed needed to kill the dragon. His goal seemed close yet far away. The dragon had wide magic and there was also the range of its breath.

The good news was that the Embinyu Church was attacking the dragon so Weed didn’t have to worry about it right now.

“God Embinyu has given us a faithful servant. Catch him.”

The fanatics of the Embinyu Church woke up from their shock and quickly followed the orders.

Many lives of the elite troops had been taken by the Sky Tower. But it was still overflowing with troops that were sufficient to destroy the continent. The fanatics and monsters rushed out from the collapsed buildings.

– Strange. Lowly humans, you dare challenge me. I… Kuaah! My head hurts.

Ausollet emitted a breath. A child that wasn’t completely aware after waking up!

– I will kill you all.

It automatically stepped on the monsters and smacked the buildings with its tail.

“Embinyu magicians, attack!”

Hundreds of magic attacks were cast towards it but the high magic resistance meant it was brushed off like flies.

Ausollet had a mysterious healing power like trolls so his wounds slowly recovered. The magic would naturally act to heal it.

A dragon wasn’t called a legend for nothing. If Ausollet was fully awakened then his combat capabilities would be many times stronger!

“Use the offerings to complete the brainwashing magic.”

But high priest Heuller already organized a countermeasure against the dragon. The aura around the Embinyu members increased as their movements accelerated and health increased.

“Treat it seriously.”

“The gift that God Embinyu gave to us will be captured through mind control.”

The Atrocity Knights were decoys that attracted the attention of the dragon. Although the dragon Ausollet could fly, it didn’t jump up from the ground.

Weed had climbed the Sky Tower. It had an impact but the dragon’s body and spirit weren’t working properly due to the long term brainwashing.

– This… You are doing something preposterous. This is laughable….

Ausollet blew out a cloud of poisoned smoke as it talked. That meant it was angry!

– You should have perished sooner. This species isn’t worth living! You should go around begging for your lives like the bugs you are! Kuoooh, my head hurts. Who am I? I can’t think.

“There are many gaps.”

“Switch to magic attacks.”

The priests once again attacked Ausollet with magic. The Priests of Punishment and senior priests under Heuller also took action. The top ranking priests used divine power and cast special spells!

– No. You can’t hurt me.

The dragon instinctively covered its body with a protective layer of air! But there were many gaps that allowed the magic to hit it. The archers also fired arrows made of superior steel that could pierce the dragon.

“Charge, charge!”

The Atrocity Knights rushed over to the dragon on horseback and wielded a hammer and axe.

“Dedicate my two ears, two eyes, two legs and two arms to Embinyu. Give my life so that the great story of Embinyu will unfold!”

The knights even chanted sacrificial magic. A dark aura surrounded their bodies like a halo! They sacrificed their lives to Embinyu but they could exert 5 times the brute power for a brief period of time.

In the case of those knights, their colleagues also chanted additional spells to support them.

– Acting so recklessly.

Ausollet instinctively waves its tail and trampled the incoming enemies with its paws. The dragon also bit the Embinyu monsters.

The knights dealt decisive blows to the dragon’s scales before losing their lives. But no matter how strong it was, the dragon couldn’t gain an advantage in the fight.

“Capture it.”

The priests chanted the brainwashing spell despite risking death.

– What are you doing? Kuaaaah!

The dragon swung its paw towards the priests. A large fireball shot through the air and exploded where the priests were. Its innate ability to handle mana caused magic attacks to be triggered with the slightest action. Magic shields were used by dozens of Embinyu priests died from the blast.

The dragon’s fighting spirit that developed over thousands of years again would awaken once it remembered its past. At the moment, the dragon didn’t know its own identity or how to use its techniques. The wide area magic and devastating breath was gone.

The Embinyu knights and priests realized this and jumped to stabilize the dragon through brainwashing.

‘Well, that doesn’t really interest me.’

Weed’s body was covered by dust and the remnants of the buildings. Of course, he was the one who caused the situation but he was staying silent.

“This person doesn’t believe in Embinyu. Those who don’t believe in God aren’t qualified to come here.”

The inquisitors of the Embinyu Church arrived at the place where Weed was. They were holding glowing iron rods in their hands.

– Stigma of the Unbeliever!

Those who don’t believe in God will receive a negative stigma.

Vitality, health and all stats have been reduced by 27%. Good luck is completely destroyed and unfortunate things will happen.

All believers will attack those branded with the stigma until it is cleared.

The stigma of the inquisitors can be fatal.

“Kurururu.”

Weed tried to pretend to be a cute bear.

“A shallow creature that doesn’t believe in Embinyu just gives off an dirty impression.”

“…….”

An outright insult! Weed had extensive familiarity with flattery but he couldn’t possibly become intimate with the inquisitors of the Embinyu Church.

Weed looked around and no one was paying attention due to the dragon so he attacked the inquisitors with his paws.

“Kwaeeeek!”

The inquisitors died immediately! Weed’s health had currently been restored to 24%.

‘It is dangerous being too close to the dragon’s big battle.’

His paws took out a sculpture of an Atrocity Knight on horseback.

“Surround the dragon so the priests can capture it.”

“It will take a few minutes. All slaves should devote their lives to this task!”

The Atrocity Knights rushed towards the dragon like fanatics.

“…….”

Weed stopped when he saw their huge movements. And after a moment.

Seulgeumseulgeum.

He withdrew little by little.

‘Well, isn’t it important to somehow live?’

He could hear the sound of the fight between Ausollet and the Embinyu Church. The dragon was stressful but it would also be risky if the Embinyu Church noticed him.

So far he had been mindful of showing an elegant appearance on his adventure but now he crawled across the ground. He crawled quickly and accurately like highly trained special forces.

‘Just a little further away. So don’t look back.’

He could hear the loud sounds of the Embinyu Church and the dragon fighting behind him. If someone appeared in the vicinity then they would see a body slowly crawling on all fours.

However, his surroundings suddenly turned static! He didn’t understand the reason so he opened his eyes with regret and looked back. While Ausollet was fighting the Embinyu Church, its dark eyes noticed Weed.

Then Weed turned around and made eye contact.

“…….”

– …….

Chapter 8: Dementia Dragon

Petrov had his own pride.

“The best profession is one of the arts. My complex and subtle paintings can allow someone to fully understand the world. Well, the sculptor Weed might have more fame and skill than me but there are always exceptions.”

He still couldn’t abandon Yurin in his heart. Weed might be a family member but he was still a competitor!

“My future family is developing the north very well.”

Petrov nodded with satisfaction.

In fact, he expected Weed to be quite thankful after realized all the chaos and confusion Petrov created on the Central Continent.

The pictures he painted dealt a blow to the peace of the Haven Empire.

Only a painter could be so exceptional in this area. His works depicting the lords as villains were inspiring and moved the heart. The realistic portrayals caused the infamy of the lords to increase and even created scenes of confusion in some places.

He did quite a bit of damage in the early days of the Haven Empire’s occupation so Petrov’s name was quite well known among the users.

– Petrov the magician of colour.

– Petrov the mural storyteller.

“A painter who can draw dreams or express the true nature.”

Petrov occasionally visited the Painter’s Guild in Morata. It was to obtain a chance to meet Yurin.

“Buying paints. Buying natural paints 3 silver or less! And I will draw a picture in those clothes for a cheap price!”

“A poor painter is buying wolf leather. If there are holes in the leather then I will buy it for a cheap price. Please help me and don’t sell it to a grocery store!”

Novice painters worked hard engaging in business in the city. When first starting Royal Road, a person couldn’t leave the village or city for the first four weeks.

Unlike other professions, novice painters could hone their skills in this time period.

“Ahem, she isn’t here today either. She must be drawing all the beauty in this world. I want to see her face.”

Petrov bleakly turned towards Painter’s Hill.

In the crowded Morata, if a person wasn’t careful then they would always bump into players. A procession of merchants and architects holding shovels caught his eye.

Despite the crisis of the Haven Empire invading the north, the number of beginners in Morata was growing every day. Even the level 1 beginners would lay down foundation stones in the Arpen Kingdom while filled with hope.

“This place has remained unchanged.”

Petrov climbed the hill while looking at Morata’s landscape.

The city that had become the hub of commercial traffic in the north contained high buildings and the streets were filled with symbolic sculptures. It didn’t have a deep historical tradition so buildings of various styles created a culture that symbolized the city.

Architects, painters and sculptors all added decorations. Merchants ran businesses and residents could live their lives. Adventures made friends and relaxed in the city while sharing stories. There would be many losses if the city fell into a crisis so people came forward to fight.

“How is it so well drawn?”

“Maybe they have been a professional portrait artist since childhood.”

“The drawing speed is really fast. There are numerous colours that are mixed well. This isn’t a normal skill.”

The gathered spectators were buzzing.

“It seems to be an artist drawing a picture.”

This sight was common to Petrov so he attempted to casually pass by.

Painters or sculptors working would draw people’s attention. The painters deliberately sat on a street corner while showing an attractive painting.

If an audience was gathered then they could get a higher value when succeeding with the artwork. The audience also consisted of customers such as a warrior asking for his appearance to be drawn.

Petrov wasn’t interested generic users selling paintings.

‘No on will buy my paintings. They aren’t the type of paintings that would be sold for a cheap price.’

He was just going to walk through towards Painter’s Hill. Then he heard the clear voice of a woman among the onlookers.

“The value of this picture is 30 gold. Can you recognize how good this price is? I’ll tell you in advance but discounts or requests can’t be returned.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“If you prepay for a painting then you can increase the paint colours or add options for an additional charge.”

A chill went down the bones in his spine as he heard the voice!

Petrov’s eyes flashed.

‘It is her!’

He had met her in the painting of St. George’s Castle. The sculptor Weed was the brother of his lifelong companion in the future!

‘It is fate that we’re meeting again.’

On the eve of a storm, two opposing families were meeting again on Painter’s Hill. They could be like Romeo and Juliet who ended in tragedy or extremely happy lovers like Nodulle and Hilderun.

Petrov stood by waiting while she drew the picture. There were many travellers so Painter’s Hill operated until late at night. Then at dawn, users would flock to the Tower of Light to continue painting.

“How about we get rid of this red paint? I will draw it with yellow instead of red.”

“The night fare surcharges are a little… Is it okay? Your equipment indicates that you have a lot of money.”

“I will draw the bridge of your nose more firmly and raise the jaw line. Do you prefer longer bangs? The additional charge will be 35% but it will be indistinguishable from a photograph.”

He listened to her ripping off the guests that kept on coming.

Yurin’s hair had grown longer since the last time he saw her. A female warrior cut their hair because it would be a burden in battle but painters or magicians could wear their hair long under pointed hats. Her paint stained clothes only enhanced her pure charm.

‘Wow, a whole swarm of bees. Indeed….’

Yurin finally finished and placed her painting tools in her backpack. He had been waiting for this moment so Petrov swallowed his saliva as he approached her.

“Excuse me… Do you remember me?”

A small, shaky voice! It was filled with longing and affection.

Petrov had shown Yurin his treasured paintings that weren’t open to the public. He was certain that she would remember him.

She might have even been waiting for him deep in her heart. If so, today’s meeting was a sweet destiny!

“Hey, who are you?”

“I am Petrov….”

“Huh?”

“I am the Aqualight Painter from St. George’s Castle.”

“Oh, that disgusting person?”

“…….”

It felt like a spear had pierced Petrov’s heart. Yurin then laughed brightly.

“Just joking. Have you been well?”

Weed knew her personality well and that smiling expression occurred when she was manipulating someone. She was his sister but sometimes she acted like a naughty pony.

In particular, if she had a grudge then she tended to not forgive it.

“Of course. I’ve been waiting to meet you again.”

“You should have come see me earlier. Petrov is always welcome.”

“Hmm hmm.”

Petrov coughed and tried to change the atmosphere. In the past, he had criticized her brother so he felt that she was still upset about that.

“Then do you want to talk about paintings? The painting style that is fashionable these days….”

“Are you being cocky?”

Petrov shook his head. This approach didn’t seem to be working.

He had to confess like an honest man. Otherwise, he would regret it for the rest of his life.

“I have always been waiting for the day that we would meet again. I’ve been thinking about your face every day.”

“Stalker?”

“…….”

His preconceived ideas seemed to be bad. Petrov felt like he should improve the situation.

“Don’t you think the cloak I’m wearing is very nice? After meeting the king of the Sprit World and helping the water spirits, I obtained this cloak that has the ability to call down rain. The value of this cloak isn’t cheap….”

“A bean paste man?” (A term that grew to mean a man who values superficial things, is obsessed with appearances or spends above their means)

Petrov was speechless. She wasn’t impressed with his extreme devotion.

He decided to use a wildcard.

“I’ve been waiting to meet you again so I’ve prepared a painting with 300 diamonds embedded in it.”

“Can you go away?”

Yurin had little interest at this point.

In fact, she also felt pleased to meet Petrov after a long time. He had lost her goodwill after criticizing Weed last time. She felt pleasure crushing a man like that.

Petrov removed a hairpin with a water drop on it from a box.

“This is a magic hairpin made of the purest water in the world. I think the brilliant sheen makes it worth more than 300 diamonds.”

“This man is scary, spending valuable money while children are suffering…..”

“……”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed wanted to turn his head.

The dragon Ausollet seemed to be having a bloody discussion with its eyes. It was like a starving carnivore staring at an insignificant herbivore.

‘I don’t know what I should do. Thinking about it positively, I am the one who save it from the brainwashing. Of course I deserve some financial rewards.’

Unfortunately, the dragon Ausollet’s thoughts were a little different.

– You.

There were many implications in that short word.

Weed’s eyes trembled.

– This foolish creature that tried to attack me, was your balance distorted or something? I will tear through your body although it will be glory for you to die by my hands.

Weed wanted to give up that glory. His troubled expression returned.

‘It really is a corrupt society when an honest person like me doesn’t receive preferential treatment.’

He blamed all the absurdity on society!

The dragon Ausollet that had been attacking the Embinyu Church stared at Weed for a few seconds.

A dragon was a monster that would lose its composure!

‘This is…. The dragon will become aware of its identity the moment we say the word dragon.’

Strictly speaking, it was difficult to consider the current Ausollet as a high ranking monster.

But the moment the dragon became aware of it, the dragon would spread its wings and fly. It could then aim the terrible dragon’s breath and other magic towards the ground. It had two or three times the devastation of the summon meteor spell.

A dragon was a creature that could significantly change the world when it became angry. The younger Ausollet was a crazy dragon that committed such terrible actions.

‘I can’t let it become like that.’

Weed had a similar idea to the Embinyu Church. The senior members had no fear of the dragon. Their god Embinyu had given them magic to put down rebellions.

“Internal Rupture of the Unbelievers!”

“Digging through the Heart!”

“Brilliant Judgement!”

“Devastated Paradise!”

The high priest and senior priests gathered magic and struck the dragon. A huge explosion occurred and Ausollet staggered.

– Kuoohhhh, you humans….!

The dragon rose in anger and faced the priests of the Embinyu Church. The dragon seemed to have forgotten about him due to the shock. Weed waited another moment before leaving.

“Keep moving.”

“Only a few minutes remain until it is completely brainwashed. Devote your life to this glory.”

The features of the priests were calm. They moved quickly to use divine magic against the dragon. Atrocity Knights and dangerous monsters continued to flock in order to draw the dragon’s attention.

Weed turned and quickly retreated. But the Embinyu Church had also noticed him.

“That one over thing is going against Embinyu’s will.”

“It is the big, foolish bear that smashed our tower. Peel off his skin and eat it.”

The priests and knights that had seen Weed climb the tower pointed towards him. Weed had done something bad so hostility had risen!

“I have to run away.”

Weed jumped up from the ground.

The situation wasn’t good so it only took him 1 second to decide to escape. It was better not to fight against the enemy. Instead, he should retreat and hide in a suitable place.

He would only work when he was in the best state! But the high priest Heuller demonstrated his divine magic.

“Restricted Area of the Slaves!”

Ddiring!

– A powerful curse spell has hit.

– The curse has been cast with the power of the ruler of the Embinyu Church, Heuller.

– You will suffer endless pain and reduction of health when outside a certain distance and your weakened soul will suffer.

– The wrongfully dead ghosts will jump on your flesh and you won’t be able to control it properly.

– Heuller’s divine magic is unavoidable and can’t be resisted.

– Travel speed has been reduced by 26%.

– Health will be decreased by 1,293 with every step you move.

Weed’s eyes could see a red aura that signified a fixed area. If he went beyond those boundaries then he would suffer from the curse magic.

“This damn curse.”

There was no way to escape.

“It is like a cat pursuing a mouse until it dies and still eating it….”

Weed grabbed a nearby monster with both hands and threw it towards the high priest Heuller. Of course, he gained nothing as it was burned away by Heuller’s protective magic.

“I won’t forgive him.”

Weed overflowed with anger and headed towards the Embinyu Church. Of course, a tremendous force was encircling the dragon.

There were fanatics, knights, priests and monsters everywhere after the Sky Tower collapsed. If the tower hadn’t collapsed and blocked the roads then there would be an infinite number of troops.

Instead, the production bases continued to produce fanatics and demons. Weed was surrounded by several hundred to 1,000 troops. He couldn’t look down on them since he was in the heart of the enemy.

“No matter how I live quietly, this world always tries to kill me. If you are willing to bother me then I will fight.”

The huge black bear wasn’t daunted and gave off an overwhelming impression! Although it couldn’t be compared to a dragon, the extra large black bear bared its teeth.

– These dirty savages, you should all die!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Now it is too late. Do I have to just watch without fighting?”

“Aigoo, I will die.”

Warrior-1 continued to scout without getting closer. He saw the Sky Tower collapsing and the dragon moving. Now all the troops of the Embinyu Church had been mobilized so it was quite easy to invade the interior.

But Warrior-1 couldn’t move from his spot at all.

– Your body is rotting.

– Health is constantly decreasing.

– Poison has reduced the vitality in your body to the minimum.

You can’t wield your weapon or any other activities.

His body had been rotted by the poison after passing through the river.

Warrior-1 could only lay on the ground. It was a scene that would cause Weed to nag him! In this state, he could’t even resist if the Embinyu Church stabbed him in the chest.

“Great Emperor-nim won’t forget and will save me!”

Warrior-2 was still bound with the chains in the prison.

“I will not give up until the end. I’ve survived worst situations because I didn’t give up hope.”

The guards were talking among themselves.

“It is a little noisy above.”

“The strength of the priests are amazing and the dragon is being brainwashed faster than expected.”

“Then shouldn’t we prepare the offerings?”

“Let’s start.”

Warrior-2 was going to be offered to the brainwashed dragon. The guards sprinkled seasonings over Warrior-2 while he was still living.

“Roasted or boiled?”

“Shouldn’t they be burned with an iron rod?”

“The last thing I tried was delicious. Juicy and sweet.”

“It is delicious when it is a little undercooked.”

“Kuhuhuk, Great Emperor-nim.”

Warrior-3 was pretending to be a knight so he could walk around relatively freely. He didn’t go into the combat zone and just searched the buildings. He had learned from watched Weed’s actions and was looking for treasure.

“These are things related to curses. There isn’t anything normal here and there are even books about black magic.”

Warrior-3 threw anything related to curses or the ground or destroyed them.

Hestiger was in the kitchen when the guards dragged down some female elf slaves.

“Make some food. A fellow who is still alive. And I won’t cook you in the same pot with that guy. Kilkilkil!”

He might applaud Weed’s efficiency but Hestiger couldn’t put up with injustice.

“Those bad fellows! How can people like you live under this sky?”

“Who are you? Kueok!”

Hestiger ran out and killed the guards while saving the elves.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, we aren’t injured.”

They were beautiful elves and high elves. They couldn’t use their magic and even the shamans couldn’t invoke their spirits due to the enslavement.

Hestiger swung his scimitar and freed them. The sight of so many elves being defaced by chains was an insult to beauty itself! In addition to his good looks, Hestiger had the atmosphere of a hero in the movies.

Hestiger’s low voice instilled faith in the people that heard it.

“This place is dangerous. I will guide you out of the temple.”

No matter how dangerous the situation, he was a typical hero that defended women!

“No. We also have to fight. We will fight together.”

“You don’t have a map of this area and you seem tired.”

“We can feel it as elves. I don’t want to imagine all that evil and dangerous magic gathering. If we don’t stop it then the elves won’t be able to live safely any longer.”

“Then it is a good idea. We will go together.”

The high elves picked up guards’ bows. It was incomparable to the bow made by high elves but they had two other weapons, magic and spirits. The bow would increase their spirit power by dozens of times.

“There was a big impact a little while ago. We need to rescue the other slaves before the building collapses.”

“Of course.”

Hestiger and the elves quickly seized the building. A high elf with a thin and pretty face called Lunari was stuck next to him. And they discovered a facility that manufactured poison.

“This has a strange smell. They seem to be making something using the rotten corpses of the monsters.”

“This awful smell! Poison. It is a sufficient amount to pollute the rivers, lakes and sea. And if a spell is used to dump this on land then it will be devastated and creatures won’t be able to live there for a long period of time.”

“The Embinyu Church, it is a really awful place. I know why Great Emperor-nim is fighting them.”

“I shouldn’t say this as an elf but should we use this poison to defeat them?”

“Are you serious?”

“It is already hard to see them as humans. They should be cut away before they get rid of all other living things in nature.”

Weed would have praised the high elves if he heard those words. But Hestiger thought for a moment before shaking his head.

“No. I am a proud warrior of Great Emperor-nim so I can’t use such a cowardly method.”

“But there is no method more effective than this.”

“I won’t do anything unsavoury that will undermine Great Emperor-nim’s honour. I will believe in Great Emperor-nim and wait for him to thoroughly defeat the Embinyu Church.”

Hestiger’s original character wasn’t like this when he was with Nodulle. Nodulle had emphatically refused the poison due to his moral conscience.

But Hestiger’s personality had changed. In order to not be a burden on Weed, he had become a more upright and honest hero.

Weed was stronger than Nodulle so Hestiger had no need to anguish about winning against a stronger enemy. He knew that Weed would sweep them all away.

If Weed knew this situation then he would lament that he trained his subordinates incorrectly. Hestiger should have died sooner or been killed due to jealousy!

Hestiger had the appearance of a grand and righteous warrior. The high elf Lunari looked at him with even more impressed eyes.

“Indeed! We can win this using the right methods. It is like Warrior-nim said.”

“Burn away all the bad people.”

“I will help you.”

If Weed knew this then he would strike Hestiger from behind without hesitation.

And Zahab took advantage of the confusion to run in.

“Sculpting Blade!”

The fanatics that believed for a long time would accept evil into their souls. Nobles that were controlled wandered around with blank expressions.

“All these people… They will all die for Evane.”

Zahab swung his sword without hesitation after thinking of his beloved Evane. His white hair flew around as he cut the enemy with brilliant movements.

“I can get perfect results thanks to Evane. I will give me life here.”

It was simple when he thought about it calmly. Even if the Embinyu Church fully collapsed, it wouldn’t change the fact that Evane would become queen of the Rosenheim Kingdom.

He had to watch his first love Evane live happily in the arms of another man. He was now an old man. Maybe it was better for Zahab to die here instead of returning to his original world.

“Kuoohh, God. T-this pain….”

And Saint Ahellun suffered serious injuries. He had been among the slaves in the Central Square when the Sky Tower fell down.

It was said that a saint would only emerge once a century. They were superior to a pope and could use the divine power of God to sustain life.

In Nodulle’s original adventure, Ahellun had played a huge role but now he could die at any moment like an old man.

Kung. Kung.

The ground in Weed’s immediate vicinity was also shaking due to the battle. Ahellun was trapped in more piles of rubber every time Weed played an active role.

“I am doing this. Saint-nim.”

“God…we will take care of you.”

Young female slaves were helping Ahellun.

When the tower had been crumbling, Ahellun used his divine power to form a protective shield around the slaves. If it hadn’t been for the shield then all of them would have lost their lives the moment the rubble landed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[TL] For those who haven’t yet, please read this announcement post to find out about some changes on this website.

Chapter 9: Black Bear and Dragon

Weed’s high visibility meant the priests found it easy to aim at him when chanting divine magic.

“Twist and pierce through. Wave of Light.”

“Scary memories, the most dangerous things that have happened to you will appear in front of you. Advent of Fear.”

“Flapping its wings. Summon human eating pests!”

“Blood will not stop overflowing. Bloody Eve!”

Weed swept away the fanatics running towards him with both arms.

Kwa kwa kwang!

The fanatics were thrown dozens of metres away with the impact causing a deep pit! No matter how their strength was amplified by the power of faith in this place, it was no use against Weed.

Buildings crumbled and there was a deep pit in the ground every time he wielded his arms.

The pleasure of a giant creature trampling on the small and weak! His fists could crush anything while the enemies just rolled around the ground and died. This was the fun of being a giant.

“Bring it on. These people will continue to drop japtem.”

It was impossible for regular soldiers in the warring period to go against Weed. There was a large difference like heaven and earth. However, his eyes that showed his charisma and fighting spirit also pressed against the enemies.

The enemy could only submit to his authority and their fear would increase his infamy. The knights died with just one hit form the sword and the Great Emperor of the desert created a new chapter in the history of the continent.

Even so, the fanatics didn’t panic or shrink back. Soon the various spells of the Embinyu Church focused on Weed!

Weed bent his upper body to avoid some but most of the magic hit. Of course, the thick leather meant the maximum magic damage was reduced by half and he didn’t feel much pain.

“Act in moderation. I don’t know what I did to become an enemy.”

“Shut up, you are the culprit that destroyed the Sky Tower! You have already forgotten your sins!”

“Yes, it is my fault for living for this world. I was always like this!”

He even used the wreckage of the building in combat. The giant black bear ran around and threw anything he could get his hands on. The large and small remnants of the tower were everywhere. He used the buildings as cover to take out enemies one by one.

Many of the priests were dealing with the dragon so that was a large advantage. Many priests were directing their brainwashing magic towards the dragon so they couldn’t attack Weed.

Heuller only glared at Weed.

“You will surrender to God Embinyu. Don’t resist. Blasphemy!”

– The high priest Heuller has used Blasphemy on this entire region.

You will receive a blow to your health and mana, depending on your faith.

Health has decreased by 4,394!

Blasphemy can’t be resisted.

Your faith stat has temporarily been replaced by 0.

For 4 minutes, all corpses of Embinyu knights and priests will exert constraints.

Weed hasn’t received much damage despite currently didn’t have any faith. However, all his resentment exploded out after Heuller used the technique.

“How am I supposed to fight like this?”

The memory of fighting Bardray in the past resurfaced. Even back then, he had to fight through all types of disadvantageous conditions.

Blasphemy would be decisive in a large scale war. Even if he brought regular priests, they wouldn’t be able to help. The priests wouldn’t be able to use healing magic unless Heuller was killed. This situation was like an unfair competition between a wealthy son and a rebellious son!

Heuller tapped the ground a few times with his staff.

“Embinyu will burn everything. Summon the Fire of Destruction!”

– The Fire of Destruction has been summoned.

The identity of the magic hasn’t been fully revealed.

This black magic is considered among one of the worst attack magic against humans and the method to use the magic has become a secret.

An enormous health will be the nourishing for the flame that will burn people’s flesh.

The Flames of Destruction won’t burn out.

When it moves around a certain radius, it will burn people except for the one who summoned it and will become hotter.

After finally filling up the required health and vitality, the flame will return to its summoner and be activated.

“This isn’t acting moderately at all.”

But the high priest of the Embinyu Church continued to use his divine magic. A huge fireball was slowly being formed in the air.

He could fight using direct physical combat but Heuller’s holy magic and protection spells were on another level. Even physical attacks like the dragon swinging its paws or tail were easily blocked by a protective barrier.

“My subordinates are invisible at this important moment. It would be nice if Hestiger was here.”

Weed moved to a location where there was a huge pile of rubble from the collapse of the Sky Tower.

Heuller and the priests of the Embinyu Church needed to be near the dragon. Weed couldn’t leave the area due to the curse magic but he could enter deeper into the enemy.

Meanwhile, the Fire of Destruction had hit the dragon.

Weed stepped closer due to this.

“God Embinyu is a man right? It is difficult to tell so I need a small reminder…..”

“Kill him!”

The Embinyu knights led the attack against him. Usually they were a fairly scary existence. They were rush at utmost speed and crush the enemy with their swords or spears.

The charge of the knights maximized the power of their formation. It was possible for a few thousand knights to slaughter thousands of monsters on the plains. But it was impossible to charge due to the debris so they had to surround him. The ground was also a mess so the knights couldn’t move quickly. Without the charge then they were a good meal for Weed!

– Anger has increased due to the repeated attacks.

Power will greatly increase.

Resilience will be enhanced.

Maximum health has increased and the temporary increase will rise with your percentage of anger.

A state where his anger had risen. Weed smashed the knights into buildings or their colleagues.

“Kuaaaah!”

The roar of a giant bear!

This was the pleasure of being a large creature!

– Kwarararararara!

Another massive roar was heard that rocked the land and buildings in close proximity.

“I should fight quietly.”

He blushed as the dragon responded to his yell.

“Come here. I will thoroughly smash all of you!”

Weed fought against the fanatics even more fiercely. Buildings were demolished and he threw rocks at the approaching knights.

There were monsters flying in the sky. Monsters soared up and the sky was filled with a variety of them. They flew towards the dragon but dozens headed towards Weed.

Weed caught any flying monsters that approached and hurled them to the ground. And he roared in a small voice.

“Kuaah!”

When he was younger, he had watched a movie where a huge beast rampaged. People yearned to become a giant creature for the same reason. A King Kong like creature among modern buildings!

Weed was a creature like that as he smashed with his limbs. The evil people gathered around him made him feel very unpleasant!

“Go!”

“It is impossible to jump over on horseback.”

“Abandon the horses.”

“That bear is watching us. Keeook!”

The large bear took advantage of the terrain that he had changed himself. He cracked the ground with his fists and the knights fell from their horses.

Everywhere Weed walked, he would cause a deep pit in the ground due to his weight. He also smashed entrances and alleys to make it difficult for more enemies to appear.

“Don’t get too close and just throw your spears.”

“Call the ranged units. Deploy the archers.”

The Embinyu Church mobilized a massive number of soldiers and knights. The priests were almost not visible as they continued to try and control the dragon. The knights covered the ground while archers climbed onto the rubble to fire arrows towards Weed.

“Those are awful shots for soldiers.”

It was inevitable that the spears and arrows from the enemies would hit Weed’s body.

– The glossy fur and leather has exerted its defensive capabilities.

“Kuweek!”

“A-arrows….”

“Continue attacking! Search for those who go against the will of Embinyu.”

The archers fired their arrows. They were aiming at a large target so even arrows fired roughly couldn’t be avoided. But some also went over the target and hit their colleagues.

The arrows and spears that couldn’t penetrate Weed’s thick skin bounced off and damaged their colleagues.

“Throw the spears. All monsters won’t survive in front of the great Embinyu.”

“Let’s go hunting. We can taste the best meat.”

The knights continued to raise their morale with encouragement. The fanatics eagerly jumped to give their support and loyalty so the knights’ fighting spirit didn’t fall.

The advantage in strength and physique that Weed gained as a huge monster was tremendous. Just using his arms would be a long ranged weapon that could assault a group.

More than 30 enemies lost their lives every time Weed attacked. Just one fist would break a building and the knights holding shields would fly back into their colleagues!

“Being large is truly funny.”

He enjoyed the enormous damage and flinging debris. But the spears that the knights threw and the arrows caused him a headache due to his high visibility.

Weed didn’t stop at all as he punched and kicked. The knights that came close grabbed his fur and tried to attack. And he couldn’t do anything against the archers.

He threw rocks and swung his arms at the archers but more would come from another place. He killed the enemies but more Embinyu members continued to appear.

– Health is reduced.

The number of arrows inserted in you have exceeded 2,600.

Resilience has increased by 1 due to this great record.

Health will continue to decline due to the many injuries.

“Die!”

“He is weakening!”

Weed was dealing damage to the enemy but it didn’t seem to matter as more of them kept appearing.

“Kuooooh!”

The roar of the giant black bear inflicted fear but the enemy didn’t even hesitate. The frightening growl didn’t express any tiredness as he continued to kill the knights. His health continued to decrease as the arrows kept piercing his body.

It was impossible to defend all his body parts from so many attacks. He had a lot of health but it was gradually reducing. Moreover, the high priest Heuller was clever. He sent troops towards Weed while concentrating on brainwashing the dragon.

If the Embinyu Church’s brainwashing of the dragon was successful then everything else would be meaningless. The large black bear would just be like a cute teddy bear or food in front of the dragon!

‘It would be a great honour to die… No, it won’t be tamed in this way. It isn’t a total loss yet.’

Eliminating the Embinyu Church troops and monsters that constantly popped out wasn’t an appropriate method. No matter how much he fought, it had virtually no effect.

‘Should I not deal with these guys?’

Weed gazed at a building that was on fire. But he didn’t know what was happening inside.

Nodulle had used poison in the past but Weed was unaware of its existence. He didn’t know that the poison had already been burned by Hestiger!

He was struggling against the forces of the Embinyu Church alone. The number of troops he saw in the video of the Sky Tower’s construction was impossible for 1~2 people to overpower. Even if he had dealt a huge blow by collapsing the Sky Tower, there was still an enormous number of troops remaining.

– Kuwooooooooh! It hurts! Selfish humans, recklessly giving me pain. I will exterminate your species. Head… My head is breaking!

The dragon suddenly screamed. The dragon was the absolutely strongest creature but now it was making pained groans.

Heuller and the Embinyu Church’s senior priests had firmly grasped the dragon’s head! Just like Weed, the dragon was a large creature with high strength and vitality. That alone meant it could exert a tremendous ability that would prevent it from dying.

But the Embinyu Church had sufficient capacity to brainwash the dragon with their divine power.

“There isn’t much remaining. Once Heuller-nim’s work is completed, this world will crumble.”

“The dragon will be a servant of our church.”

The sound of the archers rejoicing reached Weed’s ears. The collapsed buildings around him meant he could hear a considerable number of sounds from the monsters and knights.

But his sensitive ears would hear those words anywhere!

“Is that right?”

Weed turned around and started to run. Of course, it wasn’t to escape. There was no possibility of him using that method.

Weed jumped over the wreckage and headed towards the dragon. Strands of divine power emerged from the priests and wrapped around the struggling dragon. No matter what the dragon tried, it couldn’t escape from the divine power surrounding its body. And the high priest Heuller continued chanting spells towards the dragon.

The dragon’s tail and wings were still free. It was encircled by dozens of knights.

Weed attacked those Atrocity Knights instead of the troops that emerged. In fact, it was a situation where the troops were dispatched towards the dragon instead of fighting Weed!

Heuller had captured the dragon so they thought Weed was trying to stop it.

“The enemy has appeared.”

“Stop him!”

The Embinyu knights tried to block him but he just broke through them. Weed knocked the bodies of the knights everywhere.

“Ausollet!”

– Who… Who is calling me?

The dragon blinked at Weed with large eyes. The eyes changed from an intense gaze into blank eyes.

The Embinyu Church’s brainwashing was showing its power! Under normal conditions, the dragon wouldn’t be so easily brainwashed. But Ausollet had been brainwashed by the Embinyu Church for a long time before waking up so it would only take a short time to tame it again.

Weed ran through the knights and the magic attacks from the priests.

“I am going to save you!”

– You… Who are you?

Ausollet had been roaring with aggression towards Weed a short time ago. But now it just asked the question like it had forgotten all about it. A dragon with dementia was the luckiest situation!

“I am your friend.”

– Frie…nd?

“I am going to save you now.”

Weed kicked the priests who were chanting the brainwashing spell.

“No!”

The priests shrieked.

It was like the Embinyu Church were preparing dinner all night only for the table to be overturned! Half the red lines of brainwashing around the dragon disappeared.

“Do not interfere. Glacier’s Breath!”

High priest Heuller pointed his fingers and the temperature in Weed’s vicinity declined in 1 second, forming transparent ice cubes. An unavoidable attack!

– You have been shocked by the broken fragments of ice.

Health has decreased by 36,212.

Movement speed has slowed down and additional damage will continue to be received as the ice melts.

– You have been continuously hit by the broken ice fragments.

Damage is added.

Glacier’s Breath was a powerful magic attack that continuously hit him ten times. His reflexes were quick but it was impossible to avoid the damage with his large body. He was able to endure it thanks to his angry state.

– Movement speed has slowed by 58%.

The other priests also used divine magic attacks but by that time, Weed had already released all the red lines of the brainwashing spell.

Some of the red lines hit him instead.

– Embinyu’s Mark of Faith has confined you!

The soul attack has dealt a direct impact to concentration.

Once concentration is completely reduced, you will be a willing slave to Embinyu.

Current mental power status: Dizziness (87/100).

Weed always experienced curveballs on his adventures. The remaining attacks from the priests were aimed at his health!

As a human sculptor, Weed needed to manage his health well. If his health was low then he would just be slain.

Whether he had 500 health or 1,000 health, he needed to take advantage of everything in order to survive. But now he was huge so the attacks weren’t as dangerous.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t freely move around to kick the priests due to the dragon. Ausollet gazed at Weed who was almost the same size as it.

– Friend….

“Yes, friend.”

– Calling you friend is a little awkward.

“We are very close friends. There is no need to be ashamed.”

The inspirational feeling of a pure friendship.

Dragon and extra-large black bear!

Just standing near the two giant creatures was intimidating as they gave off an enormous pressure. The dragon with dementia was deceived while the black bear was a scam artist!

An absurd number of magic attacks were poured towards Weed and the dragon. The destruction magic that stopped due to the brainwashing started flying again.

In any other circumstances, Weed would have no choice except to die. No matter how high his level was, dozens of destructive magic attacks were enough to drop his health in an instant.

– Attack. Stop it.

“No, my friend. You can do that. Unfold your shield.”

– Shield?

“Yes. You have a really good protection spell. And it is urgent so you should use it quickly.”

– I don’t know how to use it.

“Command the mana that is flooding your bones and heart. Stop the attacks.”

– I will stop it.

Then a thin protective layer was created from the dragon’s body.

“Is this it? Both of us should be protected. Spread out the shield as much as possible!”

– Block all of it.

Dozens of protective shields wrapped around Weed and the dragon.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Despite all the destructive magic attacks, they only pulled down 2~3 of the protective shields. The absolute magic power of the dragon!

Of course, Ausollet was especially strong among the dragons. However, the hastily unfolded shields managed to defend against the magic.

Weed was busy thinking as the shields were maintained for a while. Ausollet had been severely injured by the brainwashing but the healing powers of its body meant it was slowly recovering.

Of course, Weed collapsing the tower had decreased its health by half. Weed and the dragon were now at risk!

“Friends, would you mind healing me?”

– I’d like to but I don’t know how. What should I do?

“This person, no this bear is very important to you. So I think you should treat the injured areas. Don’t you remember anything when looking at me?”

– I don’t know.

“As expected.  On shouldn’t have too many friends. I have to make it work as much as possible.”

– What?

“No, nothing.”

Ausollet thought of Weed as a friend so it used the healing magic on him. The treatment that only a friend of a dragon would receive!

The good news was that the brainwashing operation slightly purified its arrogant nature.

“He can’t obtain freedom. All knights attack!”

The troops of the Embinyu Church headed towards the dragon. Priests and inquisitors cast their magic. The sight of Ausollet’s shields blocking the might attacks was spectacular.

But even a dragon’s mana wouldn’t last forever! Ausollet’s shields decreased one by one. He swung his claws and tail at the enemy before swallowing them. The calibre of the dragon’s attack was different.

Weed was considered a friend so Ausollet didn’t aim at him.

“Are you eating?”

– I’m hungry. Although they have a crude taste.

A dragon grumbling about its food!

‘Now, what will happen…..’

Weed’s brain worked as quickly as the latest computer.

‘A dragon is strong even if it doesn’t use all its battle methods.’

Ausollet damage the people and buildings with its tail. Weed could do that after turning into a black bear but the scale of destruction was different. He could only break the buildings one by one. The armoured knights also held their durable shields.

“Sacrifice our bodies so that Embinyu can completely cleanse this fallen world.”

Despite the shattered troops and wreckage, the Embinyu troops steadily advanced.

– Go away!

The dragon gave a powerful scream, causing air to compress and pushing back the troops and arrows.

The relatively weak fanatics were in agony and died. It was a great monster with unimaginable abilities but the Embinyu Church started counterattacking.

The senior priests starting chanting the brainwashing spell again. If Ausollet continued sitting like this then it would be easily caught.

‘It will be bad even if it isn’t caught by the Embinyu Church’s brainwashing. After a short time, it will remember its past and the peace of the continent will be at risk.’

Ausollet’s presence itself was enough to cause fear. The Embinyu Church was also dangerous as they had a unique strength. A dragon was one of the most majestic creatures so they would quickly crush the continent if they could control it.

It would be disastrous if the worst dragon in history exerted its power. And Weed had an idea while sticking closely to the dragon.

‘Will it think bear beat is delicious?’

He could only hope that the dragon didn’t decide to eat him.

“It is like feeding a tiger.”

– Friend, I don’t understand what you saying.

Ausollet spoke after catching a roc flying in the sky and eating it. Ausollet was relatively friendly to Weed because it thought they were friends. Perhaps they would have needed to invest money dozens of times in order for Weed to call them a good friend.

“It is nothing. Have you filled your stomach?”

– A little… I’m still hungry.

“Will you eat more monsters?”

– Right now I’m fine. I can’t eat too much at once.

“Then I’m glad.”

In the meantime, Ausollet had devoured 100 monsters. The dragon’s head moved back and forth among the monsters without stopping.

Weed was bored while watching next to the dragon. It was like having no soybean paste in soybean paste stew or no kimchi in kimchi soup! He restored some health but it was quite slow.

“It is no fun since only the monsters are coming out.”

His body was stuck next to the dragon so he couldn’t contribute to the battle.

‘It might be crazy but I won’t know until I try.”

“Spread your wings.”

– What do you mean?

“Spread your two wings and fly into the sky. You can fly.”

Its friend said it so Ausollet spread its wings without any doubts. In the meantime, it had only spread its wings to defeat the onslaught of monsters. The elegant and perfect figure as the dragon spread its wings hundreds of metres wide.

– A familiar feeling.

Wind started blowing from every direction towards the dragon. Ausollet held its head high and lightly flapped its wings. Then its body gradually lifted from the ground.

10 metres. 20 metres. The dragon accelerated and flew into the sky!

The Embinyu Church aimed all types of magic at the dragon but it was blocked by an air shield.

A dragon that would dominate when flying in the sky!

“Flying is too easy.”

Weed kicked against the ground and jumped. The ground started shaking when he moved. Weed grabbed onto the dragon’s ankles before rotating and landing on its back.

– This impudent thing! A foolish creature being on top of me….

“I am your friend. Have you already forgotten?”

“Is that right?

The dragon easily accepted it!

Well, its mind wasn’t completely awake so it was easy to create a feeling of intimacy. No one knew how long this would last!

“Fly up higher.”

– Understood.

Weed looked at the Embinyu Church as the dragon flew up high.

The speed was on an entirely different level from the wyverns. It was like comparing a three-year-old child to a surprisingly quick motorcycle!

Despite the weight of the huge black bear, the dragon didn’t seem to notice it at all and just kept flying. If he didn’t desperately hold onto the dragon’s neck then he would fall headlong into the ground.

– This is high.

“Yes, that’s right.”

They were so high that the ground was barely visible. It was hard to even fathom the altitude.

The wind was as cold as ice. Weed would have died if he didn’t have such high resistance. There was a gleam to the dragon’s polished black scales that made it look beautiful. The proportions between harmony and danger made it absolutely beautiful.

Of course, the dragon was beautiful so the enormous bear that had its fur torn from fighting and dirty from rolling around on the ground didn’t match it.

– Now what should I do?

“It is obvious. Get revenge!”

– Revenge…. The humans who live meaningless lives have decided to choose the path of self-destruction?

The dragon aimed its nose downwards while talking. No matter how confused it was, Ausollet’s original nature still shone through.

“That’s right.”

– I’m glad. Then I will head down to the ground.

“By the way, there is one thing that I want you to practice.”

– What is it?

“Take a deep breath. As hard as you can.”

He was teaching Ausollet like it was a kindergarten student. Its mouth widened and it took a deep breath through its nose and mouth. The dragon’s torso became bloated with air.

This was the dragon’s strongest attack. Black Dragon’s Breath.

– Like this?

“That practice is good enough. Then let’s go down. Your greatness…. No, I will show them that justice will win.”

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Dragon’s Crisis

Weed came closer to the Embinyu Church on the back of the dragon.

He was riding the strongest monster, the dragon! The sight of a huge black bear with a half-moon pattern on its chest riding the dragon was an amazing spectacle.

Of course, this combination was a catastrophe for the Embinyu Church.

“Check the status of the enemy!”

– Chaos Dragon Ausollet

The black dragon looking at the world below it.

One of the most powerful creatures to exist in the natural world.

The continent was almost destroyed by it in the past until it was sealed away by heroes and other dragons. It has appeared in the world again due to the Embinyu Church’s excavation.

* The dragon’s flesh will reduce all physical damage by 97%.

* The ability to rearrange and dismantle mana has increased magic resistance to 98%.

* Elemental summons will fail to attack the dragon.

* Complete resistance to magic curses.

* Mana will be absorbed from nature.

* It is seeking the memories lost from the brainwashing.

Health: 47%/100%

Mana: 36%/100%

“This is excellent.”

Weed was happy after checking the status of the black dragon.

The dragon had less than half its health left due to the collapse of the Sky Tower on it. The fact that the dragon survived that encounter with half its life left made it clear how amazing the dragon’s health was.

“The ones disobeying Embinyu are coming back down!”

“I will say this to all of you. That black bear is the culprit behind all these events. He destroyed our cherished Sky Tower and seized the servant Embinyu has given us!”

“Kill. Forgiveness is not necessary. Pull out his soul and torture it for 30,000 years.”

The vast area was infested with monsters, priests, knights, fanatics and inquisitors. They all hurled fierce criticism towards Weed. Their hostility shot to the top!

But from Weed’s viewpoint, it was just like a cuter kindergarten student grumbling about being deprived of their candy! Weed spoke in a villain like voice.

“Hey, friend.”

– How dare you climb on my back! This dirty and uncivilized species, get off straight away!

“I am your friend. Have you already forgotten who saved you?”

– Ah, that’s right.

The dragon Ausollet had gone insane from the Embinyu Church’s brainwashing.

“A man must be have a sense of honour. No, dra…. Anyway, you should give as much as you receive. Or else you can’t live in the world.”

Weed absolutely couldn’t say the word dragon. If the dragon came to its sense then Weed would be killed along with the Embinyu Church.

– I have received your help so I will pay you back. What do you want?

“I’m not greedy. I saved you because you are a good friend, not because I want something. By the way, do you remember being in pain due to those people on the ground?”

– Of course. They all deserve to die. I will strike and slowly melt their bodies.

“That is something I want as well. Get rid of those people for me.”

– I agree.

The dragon suddenly changed the direction it was flying in.

Typically the wings of a bird would be affected by wind but a dragon’s movements transcended common sense. Mana could control gravity, allowing it to accelerate quickly. Its acceleration overcame the limits of the laws of physics.

Rather than heading towards the ground at a reasonable speed, the dragon plummeted down at a 90 degree angle.

“Kuwooooh!”

It felt like his body was riding a roller coaster. Weed’s black fur was filled with tension.

“T-this is too fast!”

The dragon banked with its wings as the ground came closer.

Kwarururung!

There was a tremendous noise as buildings crashed down! The gust created from the dragon’s flight shook the buildings. The monsters and fanatics close to the area didn’t survive.

– Primitive species, this is your destiny.

The dragon slowed its speed as it passed and struck the archers on the buildings. Naturally the buildings were shattered by a tremendous force. The black dragon’s claws caused the buildings to shatter into thousands of fragments while its tail whipped the knights on the ground.

“You’re doing well. But you can only kill a few of them like this. Smash the buildings!”

– I think so as well.

At first glance, the battle style seemed the same but now it wasn’t constrained to the ground. It could fly at amazing speeds and destroy the buildings.

“The temple is under threat from our sacrifice. All followers, unleash the power of your faith in Embinyu!”

“Shoot. Fire the arrows until it hits!”

The Embinyu Church tried range magic attacks and arrows to little effect.

The dragon dived with great speed towards the building before moving explosively again. Weed could clearly feel the power while riding the dragon.

The dragon’s range of attack was the entire area!

‘Modern warfare is an air battle…jet fighters must feel like they can destroy the world.’

He shivered at the terrifying physical abilities Ausollet must have when it was sane. It was a dragon. The spells and arrows helplessly bounced off Ausollet’s shields.

“You’re doing well! Well….those fellows are moving. Break the adjacent buildings to make it a dead end for them!”

– Are you asking?

“Of course. I just thought my idea would be useful.”

– I think so as well!

The collapse of the Sky Tower and subsequent battles caused a considerable number of injuries to the dragon but its natural healing abilities meant it was recovering.

In comparison, Weed’s health hadn’t even halfway recovered despite using the earth goddess Mi-ne’s blessing.

Right now, he had the best ride on the dragon’s back but it was impossible to predict what would happen in the future.

Naturally he prepared some plans. But a normal plan wouldn’t work while he was riding the dragon!

Just like a proverb!

A person can do work but they had to entrust the rest to the sky. When he was a child, he couldn’t understand Sino-Korean no matter how much he learnt in school. But as he got older, he started to understand the meanings through direct experience.

‘If an accident occurs later then I can only blame it on my bad luck.’

Weed interpreted it in his own way! It was like a tiger riding the back of a dragon so it would be difficult to make countermeasures.

The dragon Ausollet used the momentum to continuously inflict attacks on the fanatics and priests. The sight of it was good but it somehow made him feel restless!

But the Embinyu Church wasn’t helpless. There were plenty of flying rocs summoned.

Kiiiik!

The roc had a fierce looking face, a large beak and loved to eat humans. They usually ate dead bodies but could kill humans by swallowing them whole. Their presence was the most terrifying thing to the workers of the Sky Tower! If they rested for even a little while then the rocs would peck their eyes or tongue.

Kuwek!

Kuwaaaak!

Tens of thousands of rocs covered the sky but didn’t dare approach the dragon. The monsters with keen senses didn’t attack the dragon and fled. The Embinyu Church had raised them as pets to kill ordinary humans so they were no help now.

But Weed and the dragon flying at a high speed kept on crashing into the rocs and their vision became obstructed. It became harder to find the Embinyu priests.

– How annoying. These uncivilized beings….

“Don’t be so patient! If you endure it then your nature will become worst. I won’t be able to endure it if you become worse.”

– What do you mean?

“It is a compliment!”

An operation to destroy the entire area!

Behind the buildings, there were layers of divine protection spells. It was a refuge from the attacks of the dragon as Heuller and 40 senior priests chanted a holy spell.

“Embinyu’s tolerance of merciless destruction, I give these useless vitalities in order to provoke the powers of darkness in your avatar….”

While the ceremony was proceeding, hundreds of priests were using similar spells. As the buildings collapsed, the powers of darkness slowly formed something as large as the dragon.

‘That is really dangerous.’

Until now, Weed hadn’t seen any truly awful divine magic from the Embinyu Church. In particular, he hadn’t been able to see the extend of Heuller’s capabilities.

The contents of the quest stated that he had been alive for a long time. It was understandable that he would have incredible magic and divine power.

The ability to brainwash the dragon didn’t deserve to be called the worst magic. That’s why Weed hadn’t expected this magic from the priests when he was riding the dragon!

“I should start playing. If the world was going to perish tomorrow then I would warm the room with wood from an apple tree. Sculpture Transformation release!”

Weed turned Sculpture Transformation off. And he returned to his original human form as a Sun Warrior and Human Saving the World.

“Friend, don’t be surprised about my body.”

– I don’t care. Just don’t be annoying during the battle.

Ausollet didn’t care if his size became smaller. It was currently in an insane state and didn’t care if Weed was transformed or not!

– You have equipped the Yurbusika Frost Bow.

Weed took out one of the best weapons he obtained in the warring period. Then he became worried that the dragon would lust after it.

“Isn’t this not desirable?”

– I want it.

“What should I do? I can’t give it to you, my friend.”

He had to be careful about refusing the dragon because their relationship might deteriorate.

– It is too bad since I wanted it to clean between my teeth.

“…….”

Even a legendary bow was just a flosser for the dragon.

Just like a rich person hiding money before they perish, it was a bourgeois dragon!

Weed aimed an ice arrow at the ground. He had almost reached the master proficiency so each target turned into a zone of ice.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin slowly drank his cocoa. It was in order to maintain a calm spirit. Just looking at the monitor would cause his heart to beat faster.

Weed smashing the Embinyu Church while on the back of a black dragon.

“….Great.”

A fabulous sight was being shown. It was an amazing spectacle but anyone who knew the situation would be dumbfounded.

A dragon was the ultimate threat that could lead a world to ruin. A quest to destroy the Embinyu Church hiding in the darkness! They would burn and destroy all species, including humans. A dragon had massive capabilities and also gave off an intimidating appearance. Yet Weed came up with the idea to use this legendary dragon!

The speed of its flying was dazzling and he couldn’t take his eyes off the monitor. The coordinators of the stations broadcasting Weed’s adventures were also frozen with their mouths open.

“Yes…so Weed got on the dragon.”

“Riding a dragon. And flying.”

“The viewers might think it is a lie but we are really seeing it. It is hard to believe that this is the actual situation.”

Usually the television broadcast would cut out all the boring parts of the material. Weed’s adventures were never screened and they didn’t even dare analyse the monsters.  After a while, the commentators regained their spirit and injected more power into their voices.

“I can’t really explain the situation right now. A little while ago, there was a crisis as the dragon woke up and now Weed is using the dragon to fight against the Embinyu Church.”

“Will it turn out well once the ally becomes an enemy?”

“If the dragon regains its senses then the situation will completely change.”

“Oh Joo-wan ssi, won’t that take quite a long time?”

“Can we really say that it won’t take a few minutes? It is difficult to say without knowing the dragon’s mental state. All I can say with certainty is that if the dragon becomes self-aware, the peace of the continent will irreversibly change.”

“Ah, even the Embinyu Church won’t survive if the dragon wakes up.”

The Royal Road broadcasts had sensational popularity. When lunch time arrived, the workers would talk about the Versailles Continent, Morata or Aren Castle.

The Versailles Continent contained famous resorts, beautiful castles, cities etc. so it was popular during holiday season. It was hard to find someone in the real world with no interest in Royal Road.

In some cases, even the general public who didn’t know about it would occasionally see Royal Road broadcasts. Stunning scenery or monsters would emerge on the television screen.

Once a son, daughter-in-law, grandson or granddaughter fell into Royal Road then the rest of the family would be dragged in. Even the mother or grandmother were deprived of their channels for at least two hours!

“Sang-gook, who are the good guys?”

“Grandmother, that guy swearing over there.”

Still, the main audience were people who actually played Royal Road. Weed’s adventure was a special quest that would affect all the users so they cheered him on.

At first, only a minority of people knew Weed from Continent of Magic. But now everyone knew about the sculptor Weed who came from Serabourg Castle.

Weed’s growth caused users in the north to become fervent believers. Whether they viewed him as a friend or someone who all adventures would envy, he was a hero that shook the continent! Weed’s popularity was as hot as a furnace that melts steel.

Above that, there was the scene of him riding a dragon on television. It was impossible for those watching the television to not become immersed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

All employees at Unicorn Corporation’s headquarters stopped working to watch the television.

“How wonderful and mysterious. The world we dreamt of is being expressed in this way.”

“Hrmm, Weed the God of War is really not an ordinary person. The quests are open but I expected it to take 4 years after Royal Road opened for users to face a dragon.”

The employees of Unicorn Corporation continued admiring him. Weed’s presence was making their world outstanding so they were filled with pride The company that oversaw Royal Road realized their pride through this adventure.

“He has a complete monopoly of the Hall of Fame for 3 months. There is also the possibility of more users joining Royal Road….”

“Let’s develop a new marketing strategy.”

“There are people who will want to recklessly hunt a dragon so posting details about a dragon’s abilities on the website should be a fun element.”

The public relations department needed to watch Weed’s adventures to prepare for any important events. Weed’s popularity was soaring into the sky so the employees of the PR department had to watch all the trivial things occurring on the continent. E.g. the novice clothing that Wed wore, the colour would run out of stock in the grocery store.

Unicorn Corporation’s strategy department had to analyse situations.

“The forces of the Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom….”

“The movement of the army?”

“There hasn’t been any significant rebellion or resistance in the Haven Empire’s army.”

“The loyalty of the local residents in the occupied territories?”

“The military force is powerful so it would be difficult for the populace to revolt. The basic necessities are being supplied but the Central Continent is busy constructing fortresses and city walls as well as training bases. A good portion of the loyalty has increased due to this.”

Currently the forces on the Versailles Continent was quite simple. 70% of the Central Continent was eaten by the Haven Empire. Population, technology and development as well. Only the remote regions of the continent weren’t overtaken.

Ever since Royal Road started, forces had been working to unify the continent. Of course, legends and events were occurring all over the place so there was no telling who would take control of the continent.

But the Hermes Guild had a long term plan and was quickly calming the anarchy in the centre of the continent. The conquest of the entire continent was right in front of the Haven Empire. The control of the Haven Empire was quickly growing. The lives of the residents living on the Versailles Continent and the millions of users would change.

Unicorn Corporation’s strategy department wouldn’t intervene no matter what happened on the continent. The power structure of the continent or the history would be decided by the users themselves.

The sun and moon rose on the Versailles Continent while people would continue living their lives. The strategy department just prepared for the future of Royal Road.

Director Son Il-gang and the members of the executives board of Unicorn Corporation were interested in reports about who would be the first emperor to unify the continent.

[When considering all the current variables, it is likely that Bardray will become the emperor to unify the continent. …Omission…a substantial amount of time leading up to the military…based on the commercial influence, it is expected to take place in less than 3 months.]

Director Son Il-gang received the report that hundreds of analytical staff had prepared.

“Hmm, I don’t like this.”

There were many members in the strategic department. They were exceptional employees with outstanding minds that analysed the Versailles Continent.

People were either greedy for power or ambition or hoped to fulfil their dreams in another world.

But when watching from the strategic department, it was difficult to foresee the future of the Versailles Continent.

People were selfish or laughed with care. Merchants that accumulated a lot of wealth lived near the Imperial Palace and laughed more frequently.

Justice didn’t always win and greed firmly tied people together. The hearts of the people flowed towards the gods.

“Somehow they will find a way. People will live their lives the way they want.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed shot arrows towards the ground whenever the dragon flew past.

The arrow pierced through the armour of 5 knights, killing them as well as freezing the priests. It was a considerable achievement but it was incomparable to the dragon.

– Grrrrrrr!

“Is it hard?”

– My legs and tail are sore but I can still endure.

“They can’t be allowed to win. You have great power but you can’t be careless!”

– I know. My head hurts. I have to completely handle them.

Originally the dragon couldn’t use its body effectively. It slept for a long time and didn’t do much activities even when awake. But the dragon had destructive and explosive physical skills.

However, the dark power flowing from the Embinyu Church was becoming increasingly strong. The dragon crushed buildings with priests hiding in them and Weed fired arrows at the priest but the dark power barely slowed as the dark shadow formed a huge face, arm and legs.

Heuller and the senior priests had completed the divine magic!

“The holy symbol of Embinyu! His power will descend from heaven in order to control the arrogant and impudent.”

“Ohhhh!”

Weed shot a few arrows at the dark power but it couldn’t break through the priests’ protection magic.

“Smash that body!”

– It is an enormous amount of dirty power. Even I can’t do anything.

Even the dragon was reluctant to approach the dark power.

Instead Heuller and thousands of the surviving senior priests mobilized their divine magic. The combined power of darkness formed a huge avatar of Embinyu that started to move. It had 8 arms like the stone statue of Embinyu and each one was carrying a weapon.

The huge dark power gathered was enough to even overwhelm the dragon. The avatar of Embinyu shook the heavens and earth as it said.

– You are my new servant. Do you want to resist the fate already determined for you?

– I will not obey your commands.

– You will. In the great name of God, I will tear the wings you are so proud of and trample on your limbs.

– How funny. You will be destroyed by me.

The dragon arguing with the incarnation of Embinyu! The dark form approached as the dragon flew higher into the sky.

“At this rate it won’t be able to chase us. Isn’t that right?”

But Weed was startled by a frightening sight as he glanced behind him. The 8 arms holding a bow, spear, sword, axe, chain and whips were coming closer as the body soared into the sky.

“Don’t run away. Go back!”

– Run away! I’m not running away.

“It is complicated. Our operation will be no substance if you withdraw. How about we try a pre-emptive strike first?”

– I will do so.

The dragon turned towards the Embinyu Avatar. It gathered its speed and physical power to try and destroy the crystallized power of darkness!

The Embinyu Avatar moved its arms and shot the bow, pierced the dragon with the spear and struck with the sword and axe. It was a joint attack at tremendous speed. The dragon was chained up and 7 lightning bolts struck in the blink of an eye!

And it passed through the 5 upper layers of the dragon’s shield.

– Your entire body is tingling from the electric shock.

Health is reduced.

Strong concentration has overcome the need to faint.

The dragon staggered and swerved past the crystallized darkness as it lost its balance. Weed’s health was reduced by 27,000. The target had been the dragon Ausollet but Weed had been hit as well.

The dragon was already badly injured so Weed was worried about it.

“Are you okay? Can you continue to fight?”

– A strange hot aura has pierced my body. Dirty magic. It is unacceptable.

The dragon staggered but turned back around to snap at the Embinyu Avatar. But the Embinyu Avatar threw its spear and accurately pierced the dragon.

– Kyaaaak!

A spear was stuck in the dragon’s abdomen. It flew at a shallower depth but the impact on the dragon’s total health was small. The reason was Ausollet’s high resilience and also his layers of shields.

Kwaaaang!

But then the spear from Embinyu broke into pieces, giving the dragon a secondary shock.

“Ugh!” Don’t fall to the ground. It will be more advantageous for him.”

The dragon wobbled but stayed in the air. The Embinyu Avatar didn’t stop and continued chasing them. The dragon crossed the avatar dozens of times but it was the only one to receive damage every time.

– Painful. It hurts. That magic is really strong. It is too shameful to be attacked like this.

Weed also had no current method for dealing with the Embinyu Avatar. The only thing he could do was shoot arrows but they were easily blocked by the shields.

Every time the dragon’s claws or tail hit the avatar, it would just scatter like fog only to reform together with no damage to the health.

‘Even a dragon is having difficulty fighting such amazing magic. The last magic of the Embinyu Church. But there must be a weakness.’

If Weed fought alone against the magic then the situation would be even gloomier. Even after receiving the blessings of the gods, his physical skills were no match for the dragon or the Embinyu Avatar.

– I am angry. This is unacceptable.

“Then do you want to get rid of the humans on the ground?”

– I can’t avoid it just because of my pride.

“Of course, but it would be more advantageous to descend to the ground. That magic is chasing us but then its allies will be at risk. That thing will keep pursuing us!”

– Then let’s go down.

A cloud of poison started emerging from Ausollet’s mouth as it talked.

Ausollet’s attitude changed after that discussion. Some time had passed since its brainwashing and the pain had awakened some of its spirit. Once its arrogant personality was revived, it no longer acted kindly towards Weed.

– Do something. Your arrows should hit the bigger fish properly. Or it might be better if you drink the poison and die.

“Don’t talk like that. I am the one that saved you.”

– Is that so? I can also escape by myself. It is ludicrous to suggest that I’m obliged to you.

The enrage dragon headed towards the Embinyu Church while Weed fire his arrows.

The rotating arrows pierced through the vulnerable part of the priests’ shield and changed them into ice. The priests of the Embinyu Church became their main target!

The dragon’s magic resistance and physical resistance was a good shield for Weed. Numerous attacks flew towards Ausollet but most of them were blocked by the shield. Even the ones that hit the body only caused it to shake.

“Don’t worry about those fellows over there, just kill the scattered priests!”

– I will note your useless opinion.

The movements of the dragon was enough to be reminiscent of the best fighter planes. Fast, smooth and terribly aggressive.

The Embinyu Avatar continued chasing the dragon as it cracked the buildings and trampled on the priests.

There was a spectacular display of magic and arrows as the dragon flew close to the ground.

Most of the attacks were blocked but the red light from the brainwashing spell passed through the shield and caused the dragon pain. The red whip was an attack to the soul so the dragon couldn’t avoid it and it was extremely painful.

“Take care of the priests. Tracking Arrows!”

The arrows of Weed riding the dragon pierced through the smoke and hit the priests. The dragon might be treating him harshly but the abilities of Weed who became the Great Emperor of the desert couldn’t be disregarded.

The arrows that accurately hit the priests caused them to instantly lose their lives. It was difficult to fire arrows on a fast moving dragon but he aimed at an area densely populated with priests.

Ddiring!

– An enormous military merit has been achieved.

Your arrows have taken the lives of the enemy 31 times in a row.

Fame has increased by 721.

1 Agility has been obtained from the experience.

The title ‘Someone who Never Misses’ has been acquired.

He simply shot among the fanatics and priests. Despite killing some of the priests scattered all over the place, the Embinyu Avatar didn’t show any signs of weakening.

The dragon suffered a rapid succession of large and small wounds every time it encountered the Embinyu Avatar.

And 5 minutes passed while he fought alongside the dragon.

Ddiring!

– The special class quest ‘Dragon’s Companion’ has occurred.

– Dragon’s Companion

An aloof dragon doesn’t want the help of a human. It is close to impossible to obtain their trust as even talking to them is difficult.

Humans with exceptional imagination can’t shake off the constant temptation to tame a dragon.

A dragon knight that fights with a dragon!

It is a class that only exists in the legends but people will lay down their lives trying to achieve it.

The question is whether there is any chance of success exists. A human has to be recognized by a dragon!

If you admire the dragon more than 5 times in the battle then he will tell you a story.

Level of Difficulty: S

Compensation: ‘Heart of the Dragon’ quest.

Quest Restrictions: Level 790 or more, combat related skills at the master proficiency, magic master, relationship with a dragon.

– Class Description: Dragon Knight

Just like the name, it is a knight that rides a dragon in battle.

The Dragon Knight’s specialty might not be obvious in small battles. The reason is that the dragon won’t open its large wings against worthless opponents.

But a large scale battle is when the dragon can be called your friend.

Originally dragons will stay out of the disputes in the world but the mental rapport means it won’t hesitate to fight for its friend.

The dragon has its own standards of good and evil. The extent that it will help its friend will depend on the intimate relationship.

You will learn 5 specialized combat skills at a level close to the ultimate stage, giving you a strength that any monster will fear.

If you become a dragon knight, you will have more fame and honour than a human king. As a dragon knight who pioneered the limits of human destiny, kings will bow their heads to you.

A quest with a S-class difficulty appeared!

It was a chance to obtain the profession Dragon Knight. A chance to obtain glory had appeared in front of Weed when everything had been dark.

‘This is just mean. It was like entering a fire with explosives stuck to my body only to have samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly meat) appear in front of me. Then sesame oil is poured on my body.’

Being given a chance to become a dragon knight was something to be proud of. Weed was also greedy. It was just a coincidence that his chances overlapped like this.

During this quest, the dragon Ausollet somehow became indebted to him. But he couldn’t comfortable enjoy the dragon as he could be caught between its teeth at any time.

There would also be problems in the future if the quest succeeded. If he brought the Chaos Dragon Ausollet back to his original time then he would receive a daily barrage of criticism.

“I will reject the quest.”

– This opportunity will only be given once.

Are you sure you want to reject the quest?

“Absolutely.”

– The Dragon’s Companion quest has been refused.

Combat fame has decreased by 8,329.

Intimacy with the dragon Ausollet has decreased.

It was inconvenient that his fame had fallen but Weed just drank seaweed soup.

The Embinyu Avatar didn’t stop chasing after the dragon but he also created a wave of mana that spread out over 100 metres.

There was a sound as it even hit the Barren Howling Ruins.

“What is this….”

“I am afraid. A fearful power can be felt.”

The creatures said as they lifted their heads.

There was thunder and lightning as the sky shook like an earthquake was occurring there. The power of darkness that formed the Embinyu Avatar and the dragon was fighting. The monsters couldn’t help feeling the impact.

And their lives had no choice but to be distorted the top level predator that was the dragon! Just like a herbivore feared a carnivore, they had to accept being dominated by the dragons.

An unknown barrier hid the Embinyu Church from the rest of the world. It was the reason why the creatures that made contact with the barrier distorted into monsters.

The flesh mutating wasn’t an accident.

Jjojojok!

The unknown barrier started to crack thanks to the surge of mana. The barrier broke down at an accelerated pace and turned completely into dust. The concentrated energy was released and the animals soon became monsters.

They turned and looked in one direction.

“Ohhhh!”

“There…I need to go.”

The monsters wandering around the Barren Howling Ruins started moving with purpose. It was the large scale migration of unique monsters. They hesitated at the rotten river before crossing over to the opposite side.

Originally the poisoned river would melt flesh but that was neutralized by the dragon Ausollet. The dragon absorbed mana from nature so it obtained a vast amount of energy from the poison.

As a result, the rotten river was now just an ordinary, dirty river.

“G…o.”

“I need to go there….”

An infinite number of monsters splashed through the river.

Chapter 2: Embinyu’s Avatar

– The common shadows are coming at me over and over again. It is strong and painful. There is nowhere on my body that is unscathed.

“I’ll make a gap so target the right side!”

– Don’t you dare command me. Humans can’t dictate things to me.

“Come on, don’t say such mean things between friends. Now I am sad.”

– Why is it important that we are friends? If you try to command me again then I will kill you.

“Then if I see a chance, can I make an opportunity for you to attack?”

– You might be lacking but your opinions aren’t bad. I will permit it.

Weed shot an arrow that exploded and caused flames to rise in front of the Embinyu Avatar.

The 8 arms assaulted the dragon with continuous attacks from different weapons. The enemy was on the ground but Ausollet couldn’t be careless because the huge weapons had a long reach.

The Embinyu Avatar was made with divine power and the power of darkness so its attacks caused excruciating pain to the dragon.

Of course, if Ausollet fully awakened then the battle efficiency would completely change. Its defense and offense would coordinate to give them for its recovery magic to work and the combat power would rise greatly.

However, right now the Embinyu Avatar had the advantage. The chasing speed, attack range and continuous attacks overwhelmed Ausollet.

Weed tirelessly shot arrows towards the Embinyu Avatar fighting the dragon.

Pushushuk!

– An arrow has penetrated the chest of the Embinyu Avatar.

Damage has been inflicted on the avatar.

The power of darkness had minimized the damage.

The divine power has healed it.

‘Hmm, I should’ve dealt with the priests. It was a mistake to allow this divine magic to be completed.’

Heuller and the priests continued to give strength, health and divine power to the Embinyu Avatar. The Embinyu Avatar didn’t even pay attention to Weed’s arrows and persisted in chasing the dragon.

The dragon ripped through its body dozens of times but the problem was that the avatar didn’t have a physical form. The power of darkness restored it and the divine power healed it. Hundreds of senior priests continued to increase its health and vitality so the situation remained at a standstill!

The dragon’s flying movements and speed became more persistent and stubborn. The terrible sight of the avatar formed from dark power coming right behind them!

The Embinyu soldiers on the ground were also holding spears but their attacks hardly landed. The Embinyu Church suffered severe damage for a moment due to the dragon but now Ausollet had no way to deal with the avatar.

“Follow me. Move to higher ground after passing through the following buildings!”

– This human seems to have forgotten that I said I would kill you if you gave me a command. I am also getting annoyed that you are riding on my back.

“That is a lot of words. Your dirty nature means you will just forget this memory anyway.”

– What?

“Those dirty fellows can’t recognize Ausollet-nim’s greatness. If order to prevent such despicable methods, shouldn’t we pass those low buildings and rise higher?”

– I think so as well.

The dragon passed between the buildings and then angled its wide wings in order to fly towards the sky.

This was an urgent situation so Weed had to prevent the dragon from throwing him off its back! Flattering its pride was the only thing Weed could do to settle the dragon down.

The dragon soared into the sky carrying Weed but the priests cast a spell that gave the Embinyu Avatar a greater speed.

“There is definitely a weakness.”

The divine magic was so tremendous that not even the dragon with near infinite resilience could deal with it.

“It is too much fighting against something like this!”

The reason Weed suggested flying into the sky was to have some time to think about a way to escape the crisis.

But the Embinyu Avatar’s speed increased so it swung an axe, stabbed a sword and cut the dragon’s tail with a knife.

– Kuoohhh!

A series of continuous attacks on the dragon!

The dragon had changed directions but the avatar persistently followed and didn’t miss an opportunity. He turned his head and was able to see that the avatar was in close proximity.

The avatar’s face was made of black smoke. Deep blue smoke radiated from the eyes while red smoke like hot pepper paste emerged from the mouth. A fearful look that would appear in a dream!

– It hurts. I can feel the pain. This impact. Kuwaaaak!

The dragon let out a scream. The noble dragon was now no different from an oversized lizard. If the dangerous attacks continued then it wouldn’t be able to endure.

– Friend, what should I do?

“What are friends? The logic of the world is all the same. People only use the word friend when they need something.”

– What?

“I’m thinking about what to do!”

This was the first time Ausollet had asked for Weed’s opinion. This was evidence that it was fairly tame!

‘This is how to educate a naughty child.’

He could see that the dragon had been taught the wrong philosophies while growing up. Weed’s mind raced before he finally found the answer.

“I have a way to kill it.”

– What is it? Tell me right away.

“The easy or difficult way, which one do you prefer?”

Actually, there was only one method but he deliberately asked a useless question to waste time. This was the consequence for the dragon disregarding him!

The Embinyu Avatar was still chasing and dealing large and small wounds. Weed deliberately wasted time in order to weaken the dragon a little more. Its health was originally very low.

– It is painful. The easy method.

“Will you be able to believe me and follow my words?”

– Naturally. I am being attacked now. Tell me quickly.

“Faith is an important value in this world. The method is simple. Just take a deep breath like you practiced earlier.”

– And?

“Aim towards that thing!”

The Embinyu Avatar was attacking Ausollet quite harshly. The multiple arms and weapons were simultaneously striking it.

The anger and sense of crisis caused the dragon to take a deep breath the moment it heard Weed’s words.

The strong sound of wind came like a storm was going to occur. The dragon’s chest swelled up as it took a breath.

Ausollet folded its wings and turned towards the Embinyu Avatar before blowing out the breath.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

A stream of fire emerged from the dragon’s mouth!

The Black Dragon’s Breath hit the Embinyu Avatar.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

At this moment, everything seemed to fall silent.

Black Dragon’s Breath!

The powerful stream covered the sky, the Embinyu Avatar and the ground. The source of the mana was the poison!

All the materials within range of the explosion melted. The Embinyu army near the gates were destroyed instantly. Even those not directly touched by the breath melted as those nearby suddenly emitted poison gas. The land and buildings also dissolved.

– Kuooh! Ah, no…I haven’t released all grudges…

However, the Embinyu Avatar was enduring the breath attack. At first, most of its body and head had been lost but Heuller and the priests were constantly replenishing its health so it managed to survive.

“This damn bastard!”

Weed cursed from the back of the dragon.

What the hell was the identity of this divine magic? The tenacity that could even endure the dragon’s breath! Perhaps this was the most treasured weapon of the Embinyu Church.

Ausollet continued to breathe in the direction of the Embinyu Avatar.

– U-unbelievable….

The Embinyu Avatar started to melt. The recovered body areas started disappearing again like snow melting from the hot sun. Finally, the cruel eyes were the last to go as the Embinyu Avatar was completely destroyed.

– The Embinyu Avatar has disappeared.

The Embinyu followed remaining on the earth will have their souls broken.

The divine power of the Embinyu Church has decreased by 13%.

This effect will last forever in the future.

Participating in the historic battle has raised your achievements.

All stats have increased by 6.

You will receive respect as a warrior from all tribes on the continent.

The title ‘Killer of an Evil God’ has been acquired.

All divine magic and curse magic harming you will have the effect decreased by 16%, the duration decreased and you will soon return to normal.

Fame has increased by 23,989.

Over time, the influence of the Embinyu Church will be reduced throughout the continent.

There were changes on the ground after the Embinyu Avatar was killed.

“Kyauuk, our faith has been broken….”

“The end, this is the end….”

In order to create the divine magic, 1,000 priests had joined together. Heuller and 400 senior priests also combined forces with the regular priests.

However, they couldn’t withstand the damage caused by the Embinyu Avatar being destroyed as they were supplying their health to it. Therefore, some priests collapsed and lost their lives.

“I believed we could destroy the world….”

Heuller and the senior priests didn’t die but received enormous damage to his health and magic.

– More than half of the major buildings have been destroyed.

The buildings meant for God have been destroyed by the Sky Tower’s collapse and even the Sanctuary of Worship had been melted by the dragon’s breath.

The divine power of Embinyu filling the area has weakened.

The Holy Land can no longer fulfil its function.

The Embinyu followers that had their strength and resilience enhanced have returned to normal.

Those who have their flesh and spirit weakened by Embinyu will return to normal.

Now the effects of Embinyu’s Holy Land had disappeared.

Meanwhile, Ausollet was calmly staring up at the sky like it had an epiphany. Ausollet lifted its head up high and roared.

– Kuoooooh!

The cry would cause life all over the world to feel a chill. The dragon’s presence was enough to make even another dragon shrink back!

All the knights and monsters stopped their movements and looked up at the sky. The sense of oppression when looking from the ground and seeing a dragon in the sky. It felt like a grim reaper was rushing towards them.

– Everything is confusing. Where is this world and who am I? But now it seems like I will find the answer. I….I…..

Weed had been prepared for this moment since the Embinyu Avatar was destroyed.

The world might be eternal but there was no eternal friends. A one-time friend might become a competitor or you might one day meet up with an old enemy for a friendly cup of coffee.

When a raised hound had achieved its purpose, it would die quickly. Weed didn’t miss the precise moment when the position changed.

Weed was already holding up the Extermination Sword. It was obvious what he would use it for!

“One point attack!”

The Extermination Sword struck a blow to the back of the dragon’s head.

– The dragon Ausollet has been hit in the back of the head.

Most of the impact was absorbed by the dragon’s scales so 4,314 damage was inflicted.

The Extermination Sword has caused 2,118 fire damage.

His hands tingled and was pushed back. But there were consecutive strikes!

– The dragon Ausollet has been hit in the back of the head.

Most of the impact was absorbed by the dragon’s scales so 8,642 damage was inflicted.

The Extermination Sword has caused 3,329 fire damage.

– The dragon Ausollet has been hit in the back of the head.

Most of the impact was absorbed by the dragon’s scales so 11,314 damage was inflicted.

The Extermination Sword has caused 8,118 fire damage.

– You have dealt a critical blow!

23% damage has been added.

4% reduction in the opponent’s intelligence.

A slight confused state has been caused.

The Extermination Sword has caused 3,838 fire damage.

His level, stats and use of Sculptural Destruction from the ongoing quest meant that his attack power was enormous.

The dragon still thought of Weed as its friend and didn’t use mana to protect the body. Therefore, the shock went deep into its bones.

– Stupid human, what are you doing?

“You don’t know you stupid lizard? This is the bitter taste of society! You will be swallowed and devoured.”

– Stop it right now!

“Would you stop? Once a betrayal occurred, you should follow it through to the end.”

– If you stop now then I will forgive you for your sins.

“Don’t lie. Do you think I am stupid enough to fall for such clumsy flattery? Especially when you are the one to blame, you stupid lizard!”

Weed continued with the one point attack even while talking. The dragon tried to twist its body violently in the air but Weed still had amazing accuracy.

His concentration increased further as a result of the dragon’s anger. A person who endured a lifetime of violence was finally given a chance to beat his boss to his heart’s content.

Of course, the dragon couldn’t counterattack so he just focused on dealing damage.

– The dragon Ausollet has been hit in the back of the head.

Most of the impact was absorbed by the dragon’s scales so 11,314 damage was inflicted.

The Extermination Sword has caused 11,219 fire damage.

Exponentially increasing damage!

When looking at simple combat power, Weed was much superior than Heuller.

– You have dealt a critical blow!

318% damage has been added.

4% reduction in the opponent’s intelligence.

Some dragon scales have been destroyed.

The Extermination Sword has caused 42,382 fire damage.

His one point attack succeeded 20 times!

Weed aimed for the dragon’s scales. At this point, he was just attacking without worrying about defense. Ausollet shook its head furiously in order to dislodge Weed. But Weed grabbed the dragon’s horns with his left arm and held on tightly.

– Kuoohhh!

The dragon’s pained moans filled the sky.

– I can’t believe in any humans.

“Don’t blame the humans. Will blaming others relieve your mind? Open your eyes. The world is originally like this!”

Weed continued to damage the weakest area in the back of the dragon’s head but there was still a long time before Ausollet would die.

Even if the one point attacks continuously succeeded, it wasn’t enough for its health to reach the bottom.

However, the dragon’s health was below 26% due to the Embinyu Avatar’s attacks. It was like water droplets falling on rocks so the dragon would lose its life if the attacks last longer than 5 minutes.

‘I can abandon any areas of the dragon.’

The scales were the best material for armour. If he put it up for auction then he couldn’t even guess the final price.

If a sword was created with the bones then it would be a precious sword with destructive cutting power and the ability to recover mana.

The blood could be used to create magic reagents. The scarcity meant it was valuable for research so any magician would thank him.

The teeth and whiskers were useless but if the dragon’s core, the heart was processed then it would tremendously increase the blacksmith skill.

If he wore equipment made from dragons then his attack power will increase another dimension.

Of course, if he could kill a dragon then he would no doubt be reward with combat achievements and a decisive title.

Millions of users were enjoying Royal Road but he would be the first one to get the glory and reward that came from killing a dragon!

– Why would a friend betray….. My head seems to be breaking. This pain is unbearable.

Ausollet struggled before started to fall to the ground. Weed had wanted to beat it up in the air until it died but there was a limit.

“Aigoo!”

– Kuaaaah!

The enraged Embinyu Church was waiting on the ground.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon heard loud noises as soon as she returned to the square in Morata.

“Let’s go, to Romud Forest!”

“Gather the Octopus Porridge guerrilla members for a meeting at 11 pm.”

“Today 13 volunteers will go to reinforce Vargo Fortress. The merchants that decided to provide support are gathering their carriages at the western gate.”

Morata was being restructured due to the war.

While Weed was busy on his adventure, the northern war was continuing. Many cities had been destroyed in the war but the northern troops kept fighting.

Rather, more people started to gather with every defeat! Their spirits were derived from Weed. Continuing to fight against the strong enemy. He showed everyone on his adventures that he would never run away or accept defeat.

Users were drinking beer in the tavern.

“Frankly, we are weaker than the Hermes Guild.”

“Look at the overall situation calmly.”

“But will they occupy the north? Hell no! It will be impossible to conquer us even if they win the battles. The north was made with our sweat, effort and mental strength.”

They thought that the Hermes Guild wouldn’t last if the users continued resisting. The Hermes Guild wouldn’t keep the territory even if they conquered it. All users would instantly revolt. If the Arpen Kingdom was destroyed then they would just build it up again.

“Our profession is a thief. That’s great. Let’s go to the areas that the Hermes Guild occupied. We will plunder to our heart’s content and give support to the people.”

“Forming a bandit group is also fine.”

“Oh, that is a really good plan.”

The northern users came up with plans to constantly haze the Hermes Guild. News about the Hermes Guild’s army was constantly being heard.

The disciplined army of the Central Continent was on a winning streak as they headed towards the Earth Palace. In addition, the army bypassed Vargo Fortress where a frightening number of orcs were gathered.

“This land belongs to the orcs, chwiiik!”

“It is too narrow for us. Chwi chwik!”

There was nowhere in the north free of the shadow of war and the fate of the Arpen Kingdom was at risk. However, the users couldn’t place their hopes in Weed.

Weed was experiencing a paradoxical crisis because as his name grew larger, more users gathered in the north.

It was unknown when Weed was coming back but people gathered like clouds under the name of the Arpen Kingdom to fight in the war. When the time came, all the sculptural lifeforms would aim their wings at the enemy.

The northern users just wanted Weed to succeed in his quest and return early. The northern users were suffering a crisis so they couldn’t truly cheer for Weed.

‘It is still crazy.’

Seo-yoon had just returned but her clothing was similar to a beginner.

“Excuse me, what killed you?”

People asked after seeing her standing in the middle of the square.

“I….”

“Do you want to join the Bean Porridge unit?”

“…….”

“Looking at your expression, you want to join the Bean Porridge unit right? My sister is also going on the battlefield as part of the Bean Porridge unit. Won’t you fight the Haven Empire?”

Seo-yoon had been living alone for a long time with just Weed due to the quest. There were other humans around but most of them had been NPC residents.

All of a sudden she encountered users burning to fight against the Haven Empire so she nodded.

“That’s great. Then let’s go together.”

The user grabbed Seo-yoon’s hand and headed towards the Bean Porridge unit.

Morata’s squares that were the heart of commerce, hunting and adventures continued to be filled with users shouting against the Hermes Guild.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

In a shabby grave in the cemetery, a skeleton opened its eyes! The pure white bones shone with a brilliant light in the darkness.

“This is….”

The identity of this skeleton was the Abyss Knight Van Hawk. The ultimate undead born in the midst of a deep abyss of despair.

He took a deep breath and looked at the city that seemed far away. A previous area of the Kallamore Kingdom, the city of Reinstadem was now part of the Haven Empire!

“I came back.”

Van Hawk activated his dark power. The power of darkness gathered and became his armour, sword and cloak. The sound of crying insects stopped and the tree branches stopped waving in the wind.

He had been abused and beaten by Weed in the warring period but he was still an Abyss Knight! In the past, he had served Barkhan as the commander of the dark army and now he was even stronger.

“I summon my fellow kin.”

Van Hawk called out towards the graves.

The mud started to split apart as rotten skeletons rose. It was an old cemetery so the owners of the graves didn’t even have any monuments erected.

A long time had passed so the bodies had weakened but they seemed like newly dead bodies due to their deep resentment.

The former Imperial Knights division of the Kallamore Empire that Van Hawk commanded!

The skeletons turned towards Van Hawk and spoke like they knew him.

“Kilkil, Vice-Captain-nim, it has been a long time.”

“You came a long way so did you have a pleasant trip?”

“The beer wasn’t too bad. Although the drink keeps on leaking from my jawbone.”

Van Hawk and the skeletons encountered each other after a long time.

“Everyone listen.”

“Yes!”

The skulls marched and formed a line. The strict discipline experienced through their lives allowed the skeletons to stand at accurate intervals in the moonlight.

“The glorious Kallamore Empire is no longer on this earth.”

“What does that mean?” Has the name of the Kallamore Empire changed?”

“The 3rd Imperial Prince Creksiad, don’t tell me that fellow sold the Imperial Palace….”

“The Kallamore Empire has been invaded by other countries and disappeared.”

“What?”

The skeletons were shocked and their shoulders started shaking at Van Hawk’s words. It was a comical sight but the skeletons tried to wipe the tears with their bony fingers. Instead of tears, the fingers caught leaves, dirt and weeds instead.

“We need to get revenge for the Kallamore Kingdom.”

“Revenge!”

“This is an era where the weak prevail through deception. Let’s show everyone what a Knight of the Empire is. Raise your weapons!”

The skeletons simultaneously raised their hands above their heads. Then the dark aura created swords, spears and axes. The dark aura even clothed them in armour.

“Go to war.”

“Oh, war! War, war!”

“I can smell the fragrant smell of blood again.”

Van Hawk led the skeletons towards the city of Reinstadem in the Haven Empire.

– A special event has occurred.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk is leading a troop of 800 Imperial Knights of the Kallamore Empire to attack the Haven Empire.

Their goal is the reconstruction of the Kallamore Kingdom that is currently being occupied by the Haven Empire.

The anguished ghosts of the Kallamore Kingdom will continue to join them.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk obtained power from the abyss of despair so he will return to a common Death Knight if he loses.

Chapter 3: Choice of a Thorny Path

Weed continued attacking the back of the head while falling together with the dragon.

– The dragon Ausollet has been hit in the back of the head.

By attacking the weakness of the dragon, 126,381 damage has been inflicted.

The Extermination Sword has caused 32,382 fire damage.

The blow has temporarily decreased the opponent’s agility and wisdom.

Recovery will be delayed from the confusion.

An enormous increase in damage! The dragon’s magic shield and solid scales became obsolete. Weed’s attacks were finally dealing solid damage. Every attack filled with special abilities reduced the abilities of the dragon!

Ddiring!

– The accuracy and continuity of the attacks has set the most outstanding achievement among humans.

Weed and the dragon fell to the ground in a tangled mess. At the last moment, he threw his body in order to not be caught by the dragon’s attack.

“Cough!”

Weed fell through the roof of a building and down the stairs.

– Your entire body has received a big shock.

There will be a tingling around your body and paralysis will last for 25 seconds.

Health has decreased by 12,938.

Unlike when he was a huge bear, the damage from the crash wasn’t that large. This was one of the benefits of returning to a human sun warrior.

Weed raised his body.

“I have become familiar with falling.”

He looked around and it seemed to be the laboratory of the priests as there were the corpses of young babies. The priests had been suddenly mobilized to fight to there were many things still inside.

Weed instinctively searched the laboratory for items.

“Inspect!”

– Vitality Water

Water made from grinding up bodies for a long period.

Combined with Embinyu’s divine power, it can bring forth an incredible energy.

Minor side effects can be caused by the mutated cells and you can transform into a monster. Those that become a monster will have their health decreased and will suffer a big shock until their death.

Effects: More than half of your health and vitality will recover no matter what the circumstances are.

Faith will be permanently reduced by 4.

Can’t receive blessings from any god other than Embinyu.

“This…it is okay to feed it to other people instead of drinking it.”

A item that gave a big impression. The other goods in the laboratory had similar side effects. Great power couldn’t be obtained without great sacrifice!

He looked out a nearby window to see the Embinyu priests and knights attacking Ausollet. Ausollet couldn’t move normally after such a severe crash. The priests had been greatly weakened to 100 people but they were still capable of tying up the dragon with the red whips of the brainwashing spell.

But the grounds and buildings were a mess when Weed took a closer look. The fanatics were dying due to the influence of the dragon’s breath and the poisonous fumes were melting everywhere. The buildings affected by the impact were pulled down as the frames corroded. The result of the enormous power contained in the dragon’s breath!

Weed had just fought with the dragon and called it friend but he didn’t feel like saving it.

“I shall give it back to you.”

The brainwashed dragon had a short expiration date so he could leave it briefly in their hands. Spitting out the weak and keeping the strong was a desirable philosophy in life!

“The enemy is attacking!”

“Someone has appeared to obstruct us. Stop them!”

But suddenly there was a huge fuss. A white haired old man jumped among the Embinyu priests and cut them with a sword of light. Eagles seemed to explode from the sword and swirled around the knights.

Weed was too familiar with a scene like this.

“Heinous Embinyu Church! I will now pay you back for killing Evane!”

The sudden appearance of the master swordsman Zahab! He didn’t fall into a panic as he lurked like an assassin and headed to the location of the priests.

Even Zahab flinched back while the dragon was running amok. But now that everyone was silent and interested in the dragon, he suddenly jumped out to the battlefield.

“Another unbeliever.”

“Take care of him so that he doesn’t interfere with the cause.”

“I have received a divine message to deal with that rebellious subject!”

The Atrocity Knights jumped to catch Zahab but he just continued gliding among the priests.

A master swordsman had gone to the warring period with Weed and his sword of light had become even stronger, causing the Atrocity Knights and the senior priests to lose their lives in vain.

“N-no! Embinyu’s will….”

“The brainwashing isn’t finished….”

The dragon was defenseless against the divine magic of the senior priests.

There were a number of Atrocity Knights and monsters but Zahab moved quickly to catch them.

The priests of the Embinyu Church neutralized more than half of the dragon’s breath but 350 of them still lost their lives. Weed had killed quite a few of them with his arrows. The priests only made up a small number of the Embinyu Church members but they played a key role. Therefore, it was hard when so many of them died at once.

“Ohhhhh, defeat the villains!”

“Kill all those who have lost their humanity!”

“Get revenge for Ralph.”

Prisoners wearing shabby attire stampeded out of a large building while holding weapons. Warrior-2 walked out proudly behind them like he had rescued the prisoners.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Warrior-2 was to be a sacrifice so his entire body was covered in spices.

“Kuuuuk, Great Emperor-nim will get revenge for me. It wasn’t honourable to die by becoming food. I will make sure whoever eats me regrets it when I give them an upset stomach.”

The guards laughed at him.

“The spices smell really good. I want to bake him and eat him. He will melt in my mouth.”

“I prefer him roasted. The fellow will die soon.”

“Yes. Hey food ingredient, what brings you here?”

“I came to defeat you for the sake of Great Emperor-nim. And I don’t taste good.”

“We won’t know until you are eaten.”

At that moment, a group appeared to save Warrior-2.

“You are here.”

“Hestiger!”

Hestiger had rescued the prisoners and seized control of the prison with the help of the elves.

Originally they intended to occupy the important buildings but that changed due to the activities of the dragon. The ground was filled with Embinyu troops and the roads blocked due to the debris.

Instead they found the stairs down to the dungeon.

With the help of Hestiger, Warrior-2 was freed from his thick chains.

“Ahem, I came all this way alone so please take care of cleaning by yourself.”

“I’m sorry.” Have you met Great Emperor-nim?”

“Of course. I am a loyal subordinate so I already met Great Emperor-nim who told me his plan.  He told me to come inside here.”

“You came earlier than me.”

“Yes. Now I am just waiting for Great Emperor-nim to call.”

The sculptural lifeforms thought that Weed’s behaviour towards Hestiger was slightly uncomfortable.

He was a man that would do brilliantly on any dangerous mission!

Hestiger’s smile was like a gem but it didn’t lose any civility. Thick eyebrows, white teeth and large clear eyes. His whole body was in perfect balance and his proportions was like a beautiful statue. There was no difference between the body and muscles of Hestiger compared to the sculptural lifeforms. But this muscular body was completed with the attractive face!

Hestiger’s chest and arm muscles attracted the attention of the elves. On the other hand, they didn’t show any interest in Warrior-2 who was still oiled up. They blocked their nose as he came close and regarded him as food garbage.

“If I knew Warrior-2 was here then I would have come earlier.”

“No, of course.”

“The ground is shaking fiercely. Great Emperor-nim is making his move.”

“We should prepare to go out.”

“Yes! I will explore a little more with the elves.”

Warrior-2 decided to strike the Embinyu Church with the released prisoners.

“Finish them all!”

“If we take care of all these people then we can return to our hometown!”

“Kuwaaaaah!”

The slaves that had been trapped for a long time armed themselves with weapons and rushed towards the Embinyu Church.

Weed had honourably destroyed kingdoms that were secretly devoted to the Embinyu Church. The priests would receive magic goods from the royal families and their tyranny would continue.

The prisoners of the Embinyu Church contained dwarves, elves, descendants of giants, warriors and tribes that only existed in legends. The Embinyu Church grabbed them as experiments or sacrifices to increase their magic power.

Weed observed the prisoners for a moment before shaking his head.

“They won’t be able to fight for long.”

Due to the long imprisonment, they were injured and their vitality had dropped a lot. The rocs that scattered also gathered again to catch and eat the humans. At least the prisoners could disrupt the forces of the Embinyu Church a little bit.

Heuller and most of the priests had been incapacitated. The divine power of the priests had been wiped out in a single attack by the dragon. They couldn’t tame the dragon and now even the prisoners had escaped so the Embinyu Church gave a command.

“The value of the prisoners have now disappeared. Embinyu’s third and fifth arm. Offer their flesh and blood to this land!”

One of the senior priests gave the command.

Monsters were dispatched while archers of the Embinyu Church aimed in the direction of the prisoners. The Embinyu army had 8 arms with different characteristics.

The prisoners were fighting with the knights but the archers didn’t hesitate to shoot the arrows in that direction. The prisoners and knights were turned into a hedgehog by the Embinyu archers. The prisoners had no armour or shields and quickly lost their lives to the arrows.

Then the sound of Hestiger yelling was heard.

“Now. Let’s go help them!”

Arrows flew from the tallest building towards the archers and priests. The gleaming silver arrows were exceptionally fast and accurate.

Fire elementals caused a big explosion and water elementals a flood. The monsters were swept away in a torrent of water, easing the situation of some of the priests.

Weed was deeply impressed by the sight.

“I should catch some elves as subordinates.”

The desert warriors were skilled with the sword and brave enough to never back down. But the elves were agile and optimized for specific battles.

The sight of Hestiger leading the elves to deal great damage to the Embinyu Church’s archers was invigorating. Up until now, Weed had gained the most combat achievements with Hestiger right after him.

“I haven’t seen Warrior-1 or Warrior-3 yet.”

Out of the 5 colleagues Weed brought on this quest, he only saw Zahab, Warrior-2 and Hestiger. They had managed to come here safely.

And soon his sculptural lifeform Warrior-1 also appeared. Warrior-1’s behaviour was noticeable strange! He staggered like he would collapse at any moment. Warrior-1 was filled with a powerful poison so his life kept on flickering. Divine power could save his life so he came to look for Ahellun.

Weed could see the light of Ahellun’s divine power among the rubble. And he gave a grudging compliment!

“Incompetent bastards! Now only Warrior-3 is left.”

It wasn’t just his colleagues that arrived. The barrier had broken and the monsters walked over from the Barren Howling Ruins. They were distorted by the magic of the Embinyu Church and jumped in without hesitation.

“Go away. No!”

The monsters pounced on the priests and fanatics while tearing into and eating them. They obtained more magic from the Embinyu members and their bodies were strengthened. The infinite number of creatures continued flocking from everywhere.

“We must defend this Holy Land.”

“Stop the creatures that are outside the gates!”

“They are continuing to flock past the collapsing walls. I can’t see an end to them!”

– Kuoohhh!

The control of the priests had weakened so the dragon tried to get up again.

Ausollet tried to gain its freedom but it was seized again by the priests of the Embinyu Church. One day it looking down upon everyone else and now it couldn’t even use its breath attack.

“Mmm, this is a good sight. The buildings of the Embinyu Church are collapsing.”

The Embinyu Church was now in a horrifying situation. This was all due to Weed!

– Who are you? Why are you attacking me? It hurts, it hurts! This pain…. Kuaaaaang! I can’t endure it.

The priests that were attacked by Zahab and elves were forced to hurriedly retreat. Warrior-2 had opened the protective screen but it was now difficult to find anyone in the middle of the priests.

Meanwhile, Ausollet who was being restrained by the brainwashing roared and ate any enemies close to it. The continued loss of health meant its big body slowed down and it kept stumbling.

The dragon was the strongest creature on earth and this was the worst day it experienced since it was born. Weed had destroyed the scales and the protection magic was removed but if he left it alone then the enormous damage would slowly recover.

The elves were somewhat confused after the first attack. They had a deep grudge against the Embinyu Church but the dragon needed to be killed before it recovered.

Hestiger had decisively attacked the priests but now he hesitated as he glanced at the dragon.

“The first priority is to handle the dragon.”

Weed jumped out the window.

At his current level, he could easily leap forward 100 metres. But instead of hitting the back of the dragon, he looked around the area for Warrior-1.

The Atrocity Knights were swinging their swords towards Warrior-1.

“A subordinate that doesn’t take care of their own life is useless. It is time for the Embinyu Church to die. Cough!”

“You still have many lessons to learn.  The villains are going to suffer.”

A villain who had previously hit the back of the dragon’s head and now attacked the Atrocity Knights from behind.

Warrior-1’s face that had been puffed up by poison changed as he welcomed Weed.

“Great Emperor-nim, you have come to save me.”

“Uh, yes.”

Weed casually answered as he blasted away the debris. And he was able to rescue Ahellun and the slaves trapped in the rubble.

“Ohuhuk, I almost died. Emperor, thank you for rescuing me.”

“I didn’t know that Saint Ahellun-nim was over here. How did you get trapped?”

“I was watching the celebrations among the prisoners while waiting for a chance to interfere. Then suddenly the tower collapsed on top of me.”

“…….”

Ahellun had almost become a carcass thanks to Weed!

“Hrmm hrmm, if I knew you were in danger then I would have saved you earlier.”

“My lungs are troubling me. I gathered the divine power hoping for a miracle as the weight of the crumbling building pressed down on me every time the wind shook it…..”

Speaking of which, he had bumped this area a few times when fighting together with the dragon. He was glad that the buildings broke since it would interfere with the movements of the enemy.

“Right now there is a situation. There is work to be done so straighten your body quickly.”

“I understand. God hasn’t taken this body yet so I can still move. Radiant Recovery!”

A radiant light covered Ahellun’s body. One of the ultimate divine magic that could heal himself to a perfect condition!

“I-I….”

Warrior-1 who was severely poisoned was trying to ask about treatment. The reason he came here was to receive healing from Ahellun.

Weed sneaked a glance towards Warrior-1 before saying.

“I need to hurry and return to this war. Please give me a strong blessing.”

“He looks very sick so shouldn’t I treat him first? A bit of time is needed for the blessings.”

“He won’t die straight away. He just needs to sprinkle a little bit of saliva on it.”

“It looks like it really hurts….”

“He is just exaggerating. I’ve been duped many times. And he is a tenacious person.”

It was like pouring cold water and then hot water.

In fact, Weed didn’t really care about rank even in modern society. However, Weed had thoroughly established the hierarchy in the desert. If they wanted to eat beans then they needed to use their own power!

“I think Emperor-nim is right that you have to rush back into battle. Emperor-nim is the only human that can get through this impasse.”

Ahellun gathered his two hands together and started to chant a divine spell. A divine spell that the gods directly told humans in ancient times.

“Grant strength, wisdom and determination to this human. A deep, dark evil has appeared in this place so awaken the unlimited potential.”

A halo of light seemed to emerge from Ahellun’s body. Normally the light would flash after a short chant but this blessing seemed to be much longer compared to others.

“Your hand will wield the sword of god and your body’s pains will be avoided with the thick armour of god. In addition, all the difficulties in the divine name of Pahwe….Divine Advent!”

Ddiring!

– The effects of Divine Advent will be applied differently depending on your faith.

Your body is fully recovered.

The potential of your mind and body has been fully opened.

Maximum health, vitality and mana will increased by 3.5 times.

Natural recovery will be faster like a troll.

Cold and heat. Your resistance to the above phenomenon will be close to 96%.

Complete immunity to poison.

When it detects an attack, magic resistance will automatically activate.

Weak undead of the 1st stage will be destroyed regardless of their health.

All stats will increase from a minimum of 250 to a maximum of 469.

The divine effect is granted to attacks and defense.

Can use God’s weapon.

Can use God’s Armour.

“This is….”

Weed had expected favourable blessings for the fight but the power of the divine spell shocked him.

“As expected from a professional saint. He is off the hook.”

It was like arduously climbing from a shabby toilet only to encounter a bidet. Then a complaint came quickly.

“I wish you had given this boost to be earlier.”

It was like saving a man from drowning only to take his bankbook! If he had such a blessing then he wouldn’t have suffered so much.

So far Weed was using the Fire Extermination Sword and Majestic Leather Armour for a Conqueror made from the materials of the Fire Salamander King.

But a clear, transparent sword and shield appeared in front of Weed while armour was placed around his body. A full set from the shoulder pads, belts, chest plate, boots, etc.! In particular, areas such as the boots had pure white angel wings.

“There is no need to hesitate. Good equipment is needed in order to become an excellent villain.”

Weed was wearing armour while holding the sword. The weight made him feel like he was almost wearing nothing and it gave a warm feeling.

“Inspect!”

– Sword of the God Thor:

Durability 210/210. Attack: 232~766

A sword given by God in order for humans to eliminate an unbeatable enemy.

A saint can only summon it with God’s approval and only those with the blessing can use the sword.

It will hide in the world for a minimum of 100 years before appearing again.

Restrictions: The strongest human.

Options: When attacking the demons steeped in evil, attack damage will increase by 4 times.

They are natural enemies and can be killed by attacking the weak point, regardless of the health.

In addition, there are nine attributes that are impossible to determine.

It is unknown due to the lack of information.

“Eueuum!”

A groan emerged from Weed’s mouth that sounded similar to when he found out the price of the luxury bags sold in department stores. It was outrageous like a loan fraud!

He didn’t even dare check the armour. Each armour part would have different attributes that he couldn’t even remember all of it. The effects of the attributes could all change due to the quality or attack pattern of the monsters. But for now, the easiest method would be to determine it with his own body.

Ahellun said.

“May God continue watching over you. Emperor-nim, good luck.”

“Of course. The enemies will be overpowered with this sword. But can I keep this sword in the future? I don’t have any other intentions. I just want to keep it as a souvenir….”

“God’s items can’t wander around this world. It will be reclaimed at the end of the battle. It is unfortunate but you should focus on the battle in front of you.”

Weed felt like a child being deprived of his New Year’s money.

“Ah well, then I’ll do so.”

“And be wary of Ausollet. If the high priest Heuller takes control of the dragon then the Embinyu Church can destroy the balance of the world. If the dragon regains its memories then I will risk my soul and body to seal it.”

“Really?”

“I will only do such a thing if it is needed.”

“It is truly commendable.”

Weed obtained important information. Ahellun was a safeguard to stop the dragon from rampaging. After achieving Weed’s objecting, Ahellun finally treated Warrior-1.

“I have to go. Now, my goal is….”

He had a broad view of the area.

The Embinyu troops were fiercely clashing with the slaves everywhere.

There had been a large number of slaves in order to maintain the buildings and shrines. Many of them had been strong warriors in their tribes and they unleashed the rage in this battle.

Warrior-2 and Hestiger had divided them in half and led their own units. Weed didn’t need to fight the Embinyu monsters and troops for a while. There was no end to the fanatics and monsters that kept on showing up.

There was an enormous pile of debris from the collapse of the Sky Tower. Other buildings that collapsed or fell on its side acted as obstacles. If the favourable terrain was seized then the monsters and knights couldn’t recklessly attack.

Weed’s gaze alternated between the dragon and the Embinyu Church.

This would be his one chance in a few years to hunt a dragon. If the power of Heuller and the Embinyu Church was significantly weakened then it would be favourable to him. The Embinyu knights were originally no match for Weed and now that he had the blessing, they didn’t even enter his eyes.

The quest’s success might hinge on his choice right now.

“In the worst case scenario, Ahellun can take care of it if I die.”

Weed lightly flew across the ground towards Ausollet.

His maximum speed was similar to a wyvern flying in the sky without any obstacles. His experience with Sculptural Transformation meant he didn’t take that long to adapt to the wings.

– Everything, I will eat all of you.

The dragon Ausollet!

His hatred toward the Embinyu Church and humans were simmering over. Its entire body was covered with injuries and it had slightly recovered, but its current state wasn’t significantly different from earlier.

The Embinyu priests continued trying to brainwash the dragon despite the enormous damage they suffered. But even with Heuller, the priests’ brainwashing operation wasn’t going smoothly.

The red whips kept on breaking from the dragon’s vigorous movements. Many Embinyu knights were being killed by the dragon.

“Now.”

Weed quietly moved among the Embinyu Church as he moved behind the dragon.

– You, you must die!

The dragon suddenly turned its body and cried out with anger as it saw Weed. It knew exactly who the bad guy was in this situation!

“Him! He is the main culprit behind this!”

“God Embinyu has given us a message. We will tame the servant God sent us later. Kill the one behind all of this!”

The Embinyu Church had the highest hostility towards Weed. From their position, he had sprinkled ashes on their rice.

The Embinyu archers and knight simultaneously turned their weapons towards Weed. The dragon also caused the ground to shake as it moved on two feet.

“My damn popularity!”

Weed rose dozens of metres above the ground and flew towards the dragon’s chest. But Ausollet seemed like it was expected and stomped its feet down towards him. At that moment, the wings on Weed’s boots flapped fiercely and he accelerated faster. He was barely able to avoid the dragon’s legs.

Although the dragon was big and quick, its attacks were simple.

“Strengthening of pain!”

“Sticky Breath.”

The priests aimed curses at Weed. The curses were the wide area type so they were difficult to avoid. Ausollet had the immunity to curse magic that was a characteristic of the dragon but Weed was vulnerable to curses accumulating.

But….

– The curse magic that weakens defense and increase magic damage has been overridden by the blessing.

– A curse that consumes vitality faster in order to exhaust the body has been made obsolete due to the power of Thor’s boots.

He didn’t need to worry about curses thanks to Divine Advent and could rampage around the environment.

In his previous battles with the Embinyu Church, he could exert his full skills but now that heavy burden had been eased.

‘The archers and magicians are attacking from the right. I don’t need to pay attention to them.’

Weed was fully concentrated on the dragon. With its magic and flying sealed, it was just a simple lifeform!

The black dragon Ausollet glared at him from a short distance away.

– I will kill you all!

He avoided the claws and tail attacks as he clung tightly to the side of the dragon.

“It isn’t always good to be huge. No matter how strong it is, there are many gaps.”

He had a close up look at the dragon’s combat style. By clinging to the body, he could predict the attacks and avoid them to a certain extent. Then he climbed up the dragon’s body like he was rock climbing.

– Human, humans! Humans like you deserve to die.

“Noisy. You shouldn’t worry about humans. Instead you should despite the flies, mosquitoes, moths and fleas. They are more annoying.”

The dragon frantically swung its tail towards its body but hit the building. The power of the dragon that caused devastation all over the place!

Weed climbed aboard the dragon. He had survived climbing the collapsing Sky Tower so the body of the dragon was easy. He could even put some kimchi in the refrigerator while completing the final secret sculpting technique quest.

He used the red whips from the Embinyu Church’s brainwashing spell as a support. The dragon’s scales were smooth, polished and glittering with a dim light.

– You are a faithful servant of Embinyu.

– The reason you don’t believe in Embinyu is the pain.

– Repent. Repent. Repent. Repent. You will enjoy the rest. Repent.

– High priest Heuller-nim has prepared everything for you. He is willing to take care of your miserable life.

He heard whispers that caused exhilarating feelings in his head as his hand touched the red whips. Flattery that acted as brainwashing!

“Do you believe that I will follow Embinyu? Not a chance. The only ones who have my respect are the aunties at the market. If I buy 3 fresh fish then I will be given 1 more. And the prices have been discounted by a lot!”

The red whips that indoctrinated people to the Embinyu Church would cause hallucinations and delirium.

But Weed’s sword, armour and shield blocked all of them.

– N-no!

The dragon struggled as Weed arrived at its neck.

Even though it didn’t know how to use its mana, magic water bubbles would spontaneously burst.

– God’s armour has mitigated 87% of the damage coming from the heavy pressure.

Health has decreased by 3,489.

7 defensive magics will automatically activate.

– Flexibility Technique: Agility will increase by 87% to avoid the enemy’s attacks. Inaccurate attacks will be deflected.

Magic Attack Detection: You will notice in advance if dangerous magic is used.

Coercive Power: Ignorant species in the world like the giants will follow you. You can face other strong forces.

Normalization: Those who follow God won’t waver, no matter the bizarre magic. Negative states will return to its original state 95% faster.

Subtle Recovery: Every time you attack your opponent or you are attacked, you will absorb 4% of its health to heal your body.

Emergency Escape: Use magic or vitality to escape from physical restraints.

Tremendous Dignity: Nothing is required. Defense will increase by 2% every second. It will combine with your armour to increase defense by 300%.

His increased defense was dumbfounding.

This armour from god truly made up for the shortcomings of the human species compared to other species.

Weed’s original body and armour meant he wouldn’t be able to withstand even one hit from the dragon. But now he was the Great Emperor that conquered the desert and Central Continent! He had the resilience and health to endure a strong crisis.

Weed soon rose to the top of the dragon’s head and aimed at it. Black blood was still flowing from the back of the head.  The crucial weakness of the dragon hadn’t been treated yet.

The dragon currently had 17% health remaining. It seemed to be a plentiful amount but it didn’t have much health left. Moreover, the current Weed was the most powerful human and coming out completely armed.

The dragon shook its head as it felt a crisis.

“This is a refreshing feeling.”

Weed held on to the dragon’s horn and looked at the fierce battlefield going on like he was on top of a mountain.

The trapped prisoners were fighting the Embinyu Church! Flames and smoke were rising everywhere.

In fact, all the people fighting were conscious of the dragon. The prisoners and sculptural lifeforms were shocked to see that Weed had ascended the dragon’s head.

“Warrior-2!”

“Warrior-1 hyung-nim, you are alive.”

“Great Emperor-nim….”

“He is up there.”

“Uhh, finally….”

“I’ve made a gravestone and coffin for Great Emperor-nim.”

It was a situation that really caused electrifying goose bumps! Currently, arrows and magic were flying towards where Weed was standing. There were still Embinyu archers and priests available for combat. They all attacked Weed.

A brainwashed and weakened dragon facing a human wearing god’s armour and weapon was something that couldn’t be imagined. The dragon might die. Weed’s position was that even if he didn’t finish the fight, Ahellun would complete it.

The Embinyu fanatics, sculptural lifeforms and prisoners! All the people here were watching but it wasn’t just them. Through the television, millions of people were watching this adventure.

‘Will this suffice?’

It was an opportunity.

Of course, it wasn’t easy to reach this point. He had overcome many crises in the final secret sculpting technique quest, including Roderick’s Labyrinth.

Weed’s competencies had just grown in the desert quest. It might seem simple but he had found the best secluded places to grow stronger quickly. Getting information from residents wary of outsiders and risking his life in every fight.

The path of struggle in order to become stronger. But a distinctive characteristic of Koreans was to go around shouting and roaming off-limits areas. It was to the extent that the wicked curses and magic from the Embinyu Church that had been difficult earlier now only made Weed bored.

Weed had a rotten smile on his face. The possibility of an accident never even crossed his head.

“This problem here should disappear. So should I kill all the bad guys here?”

He came to a conclusion and convinced himself.

Even with the help of Zahab, the sculptural lifeforms and the prisoners, it would take a few days to kill all of the Embinyu Church.

The time limit on the quest ended today as well. In addition, it was almost impossible for Weed’s allies to survive after the battle.

“Ausollet!”

– Don’t call me with that rotten tongue!

“I know your name. Do you want to know about yourself?”

– I won’t be fooled by your lies anymore. If you don’t come down from my body then I will tear you apart.

“It is very thoughtful that a lizard would care about my funeral.”

– Lizard? Is that my nickname?

“That’s right. An oversized lizard.”

– I am offended!

“Of course you are. Your identity is the most expensive ransom in the land, the dragon!”

Wed yelled out Ausollet’s identity.

The weight of the word dragon was enormous. At that moment, static seemed to flow through the battlefield.

The Embinyu Church’s priests, fanatics and prisoners. Everyone knew the weight of his words and the risk of saying it.

“How can he say that…..”

“Reckless, too reckless. A truly fearless human in this world.”

“I wish I could have one last drink of beer before I die.”

The dwarves were especially afraid of the dragon so they dropped their heads to the ground and begged for their lives.

Both enemy and allies had to be careful because of the dragon. They were trying to kill each other but there had been a tacit agreement not to say the word dragon!

However, Weed had just let Ausollet know it was a dragon.

– I’ve heard of this. A dragon with great honour…a predator that can cross the world and determine the beginning and end of life.

Ausollet was lost in thought for a moment as its body shrank in fear. Then its body became significantly larger!

– I am a dragon? It is familiar. I remember eyes looking up at me with fear. That’s right, I am Ausollet the dragon that tried to destroy this world!

A fierce surge of mana moved in the dragon’s body.

Kukukukung!

It seemed like an earthquake was occurring as dust flew up into the air. Buildings in the distance were collapsing due to the shock. The remaining Embinyu shrines and buildings became completely devastated.

The eyes of the dragon Ausollet gradually changed. The blurry eyes became sharp and full of dignity.

Arrows and magic flew towards it in vain. The arrows and magic just floated in the air like something had caught it before decomposing.

With the return of its ego, the unique defensive capabilities of its species was coming back.

There were a large physical and mental change once the dragon learned about itself. It would soon remember the large scale magic attacks that would decimate the area without leaving a trace.

“It wouldn’t be fun if my heart didn’t beat as fast as this.”

Now Weed felt like it was truly fun.

“Let’s get started!”

The Sword of the God Thor was slammed down onto the dragon’s head.

Chapter 4: Eons of Erosion

“Kuwaaaaah!”

“Father, how is this happening? It seems like a real dragon is going to die.”

“Don’t talk. You are disturbing my concentration.”

The father and son watching television couldn’t conceal their excitement. At that moment, everybody was watching Weed’s quest in Royal Road with doubtful eyes.

The famous black dragon Ausollet better known as the Chaos Dragon! The elegant dragon that caused fear and awe everywhere it went.

Weed wasn’t afraid of it.

“Joo-wan ssi, is this really happening?”

“I can’t explain it in words. Anyone would use every little trick to send it to a different place but he actually woke up the dragon to fight.”

“As expected, only Weed the God of War can show something like this. He greedily chose a thrill in a stable moment instead of going for something stable!”

“When considering Weed’s military power from the quest, fighting the dragon…. Ugh, I don’t even dare think about it.”

“It would probably be a wiser choice to surrender.”

The hosts of the broadcasting stations were excited. The situation had changed dramatically even if they didn’t add comments or compliments.

Oh Joo-wan was truly impressed.

“Isn’t the final secret sculpting technique quest a once in a lifetime opportunity? It is like choosing between further employment or studying without any hesitation. Weed really isn’t an ordinary person.”

The success of this quest was important as the final secret sculpting technique could be gained as a reward. No one would have blamed him if he decided to reliably achieve the goal.

However, this dramatic and bold actions could truly be called a God of War. It was the reason why he could sometimes create miracles, even though some of them were accidents.

“As a fellow colleague of Weed who participated in his adventures, what does Shin Hye-min think of his decision? He must have really decided to hunt the dragon.”

“In my opinion….”

Shin Hye-min thought back to the various times she saw Weed in Royal Road.

Whether it was disappearing like a ghost before he needs to pay at a restaurant or picking up every japtem while hunting. Sometimes he got lucky and picked up items that could be sold at an unusually high price.

“He did it without thinking.”

“Are you saying he dares to fight the dragon without an specific plans?”

“Yes.”

“How can that be?”

“Weed-nim is originally like this.”

“…….”

The station’s ratings were once again rising exponentially. It wasn’t simply the viewers but topics about Weed’s adventures continued to explode enormously.

So far users had never fought against dragons like this.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– The dragon Ausollet has been hit in the back of the head.

The weak area of the dragon has been struck, inflicting 59,291 damage.

The Sword of the God Thor has absorbed the enemy’s health and mana through the divine power in the wound, dealing an additional 93,282 damage.

2% reduction in the opponent’s intelligence.

Mana recovery ability has been suppressed.

Weed once again continued the one point attack in the same area.

Even without studying, his memory was unusually excellent. He didn’t remember the grades he got as a child but he could accurately remember the location where he buried money in the ground!

– Stupid human. This is just accelerating your own destruction.

Ausollet’s attack was filled with rage.

– Reverse Gravity!

All people and buildings in a 1 kilometre area will be turned upside down. The destructive power was so high that it could be called a dragon’s pure havoc rather than magic.

Every time Ausollet took a step forward, it would emit a poison mist that dissolved the buildings nearby. A blazing fireball would rush out in the direction that the dragon points its claws.

– Rock Explosion, Summon Black Poison Mist, Seething Steam, Group Paralysis.

As expected, thousands of people were devastated by Ausollet’s magic. A dragon depended on its magical ability to attack and defend.

“It has recovered. Priests should pour out more divine power.”

“Sacrifice for our faith is required. Only our hands can completely destroy the world for Embinyu. Execute that dragon!”

The Embinyu priests chanted sacrificial magic in order to kill the dragon. If they temporarily destroyed their souls then divine power would be increased by 12 times.

The knights’ faith won over their fear and they continued rushing towards the dragon. And they were melted away by the wide area destruction magic.

– This is ludicrous. Humans, know your place. Even if you become angry, it won’t change anything.

Ausollet trampled on them without mercy and melted them with its magic. Hundreds of people were frozen and broken into pieces while others were dropped from the air. The dragon was showing an amazing spectacle as it was attacked.

– Miserable human beings! I will take great joy in destroying your species…keek!

– The dragon Ausollet has been struck in the back of the head.

The weak area of the dragon has been struck, inflicting 59,291 damage.

The Sword of the God Thor has absorbed the enemy’s health and mana through the divine power in the wound, dealing an additional 113,959 damage.

The opponent’s defense has weakened and the next attack will deal an additional 4% damage.

The sword of the God Thor has absorbed 0.6% of the opponent’s oppressive strength.

Despite the scene of destruction and carnage, Weed continued beating down on the back of Ausollet’s head.

– You!

The dragon shook its head as it realized but Weed clung on like a leech. A large number of magic also flew towards Weed.

– Fragments of ice have been scattered.

The small but dangerous pieces of ice swirled above Ausollet’s head. Weed’s body was torn by a myriad of ice pieces.

The thing that warriors feared the most wasn’t arrows or another sword opponent, it was magic. The magic of the dragon caused the worst havoc and suffering!

The large area was turned upside down and burning. The human magicians were barely able to chant spells while the dragon just needed to mutter to cast advanced magic. It was unknown how much mana was consumed but the destruction it caused was dozens of times stronger.

Among the living creatures here, none of them could withstand the dragon’s magic. But the God’s armour was invoked in response to the magic.

– The finest magic has been weakened.

The aftermath of the impact has been minimized.

The solid ice fragments that were as hard as steel kept on pouring down like rain. Weed automatically moved but he didn’t get wet.

The quality of God’s armour was more than expected.

“I can believe in this armour as well.”

– Stupid humans. There is nothing you can do. My attack has begun. Dull Shock, Dislocation, Wind Strike, Incurable Disease, Heavy Blow, Stopped Breathing.

The dragon used its magic in succession. Although the surrounding area was filled with enemies, its only goal was Weed!

Weed could see dozens of magic heading towards him. It was like a rainstorm or tsunami of advanced magic. The variety of magic reminded him of all the kimchi kept in his refrigerator and it was a really unpleasant sight.

– The god Thor has been watching you, a great human warrior.

The power of God’s armour will be maximized.

It will counteract the magic.

Subsequent magic damage is reduced by 96%.

Depending on the loss of health, the recovery magic in the armour will be triggered.

A divine energy flowed from Weed’s pure white armour and resisted the magic. Some especially strong spells were eliminated by the Sword of the God Thor.

The dazzling light that occurred on the dragon’s head looked like a hero’s story or a myth. In particular, the black dragon Ausollet had a magnificent but oppressive appearance so the contrast was more effective.

In order to save the world, Weed was fighting the dragon! The sight would be so gorgeous on television that elementary students watching would shed tears and have a runny nose.

Naturally no one would recognize the Weed who wore old sweatshirts with holes in them and slippers when heading to the supermarket in the neighbourhood.

The magic couldn’t move Weed so the dragon shook its head vigorously. The shaking that moved dozens of metres.

Weed had grabbed the horns but it was impossible for his body to remain stable. The dragon bumped its head into the buildings and the ground so Weed was lucky he wasn’t thrown. In such circumstances, a one point attack was naturally impossible.

Then ropes emerged from Weed’s hands!

“I’ve had enough!”

This was a treasure he had acquired after the desert invaded the Central Continent.

A slave’s rope. It seemed ordinary but magic increased the length to 1 kilometre and it couldn’t be broken.

The rope emerging from Weed’s hands wrapped around the dragon’s neck 35 times. The dragon struggled so hard there was a possibility of it breaking. But it couldn’t break 35 layers of rope.

“Taat!”

Weed quickly tied the rope around the horn and fixed his own body to it. The skills he used to sew eyes onto the doll hadn’t gone anywhere.

But there was even more. He didn’t worry about using the items he obtained as the Great Emperor of the desert.

“Take this!”

The dragon lifted its face to the sky as it struggled. He threw a crystal towards the open mouth. It was the Crystal Leading to the Fire Sanctuary that he obtained from the Fire Salamander King!

Obviously it was an item related to a new adventure but he would obtain remain in this time until the final secret sculpting technique quest finished.

Paseok!

The dragon reflexively bit down on the crystal that entered its mouth. Then flames hundreds of metres long shot out from its mouth.

– M-my mouth….!

Fire elementals had appeared in the dragon’s mouth after the crystal had broken. Weed could easily guess that it was in pain. It wasn’t enough to eat freshly baked sweet potatoes. He knew it was like drinking boiling hot oil.

Due to the pain, it stopped shaking its head to try and drop Weed.

“The value of that was too expensive.”

He kept using the one point attack on the dragon’s weakness. No matter how high the dragon’s health and defense was, it quickly became a wreck.

Ausollet’s mouth was a wreck.

– Dis is not the answer. Chu will pay for dis sooner or later.

The tongue seemed to be melted so the pronunciation was twisted!

“I’m not trembling with fear. People start complaining every time their lives started deteriorating.  And I am called the Great Emperor!”

Weed didn’t stop attacking.

Villains who prepared for a long time could have their reward taken away by a moment of laziness at the end. Diligence was essential even when doing bad things!

Weed’s one point attacks reduced the dragon’s health to less than 9%. The flames inside Ausollet’s mouth had gone out. But the fire elementals had gone down to the stomach and dealt more damage.

The dragon’s body shook from the enormous damage.

– I’ve never encountered a human like you!

The dragon’s pronunciation was once again fine but the pained countenance was obvious.

“You deserve it. No, it is okay if it was just once. But you were born without any worries while I had to dream about becoming rick and living better in this dirty world!”

– Gather turbulent winds and blow!

Ausollet’s magic created a blast that was 200 metres in high.

The Embinyu knights attacking the dragon were caught by the severe winds and were blow back a few hundred metres into buildings! The dragon unleashed its resentment towards Weed upon the people on the ground. It was really dirty!

The tightly bound Weed continued attacking. The role of the dragon’s scales weren’t working so every hit reduced a large amount of health and triggered special effects.

– Kuoooooh! This is…this!

The dragon that was the best presence above the ground was in severe pain due to Weed. Any other monster or human would be melted away by its poison. It turned its head towards the sky and shot poison at itself.

But Weed was wearing the God’s armour with Divine Blessing. Even if his health was reduced, it would just be cured by Saint Ahellun’s treatment magic.

“Great Emperor-nim! I knew that Great Emperor-nim could do it!”

“Endure until the end. According to providence, the dragon must disappear. God has really selected a great warrior. I will continue to help. The power of healing will help you beat all the trials!”

Warrior-2 directed the escaped prisoners to prevent the Embinyu Church from interfering.

Ahellun continued using magic from far away to supplement his health. Like a cycle of breathing, Weed’s health would be filled up every time it fell. His power had been greatly enhanced by the blessing so his attacks were vastly stronger.

With the help of the saint, the dragon became even more confused.

“We have to help Great Emperor-nim, even if it is only a little bit. This will be the chance to defeat the dragon.”

Hestiger and the elves shot arrows towards the dragon. The steady damage got on the dragon’s nerves. Of course, the arrow didn’t reduce its health but it was enough to annoy the dragon.

The fire elementals continued to hinder the dragon from using magic.

– I never thought it would end up like this. You deserve punishment for your sin that will be paid in blood.

The dragon that had suffered helplessly spread its two wings wide open. And it started to fly towards the sky like earlier.

Despite the huge physique, it rose sharply in a deliberate attempt to drop Weed.

– Get away from my body.

“I will never do that!”

It rotated dozens of times in the sky but Weed’s hands didn’t stop moving.

The one point attacks continued to decrease the dragon’s health during the flight. The one point attack was a very difficult and tricky technique during combat. However, the large body meant that more than half the attacks still hit.

Even if the one point attacks missed, the lowered defense meant that large damage would still be dealt.

– At least I won’t die alone, human!

Ausollet attempted to dive towards the ground. They descended through the clouds and the ground was suddenly closer.

Heuller, the priests and the prisoners lifted their heads with surprise as the dragon appeared over them.

The dragon was risking its own life on a suicide attack! The wind fluctuations was scary as it aimed down towards the ground in order to die.

“Good. Yes, I’m going to die anyway!”

Weed didn’t stop moving his hands until the end.

A desperate plan. Even if he was frightened, he couldn’t give up this chance now that he finally obtained it. The dragon was damaged and quite weak but even the Great Emperor with his high level couldn’t accomplish it easily.

If it was a dragon then humans would have already been wiped out by the wide scale magic. A half-hearted attack wouldn’t deal damage to the enormous health. It might be impossible for humans to hunt the dragon but a high level, definite plan, special items and equipment meant it could be challenged.

These types of quests could show a bit of his dignity.

– Go away!

“I don’t want to! We should have a comfortable death.”

– Human, isn’t your life worth anything?

“It is worth a lot. I will end this unfair and regretful thing. But I won’t miss!”

– Think about it rationally. If you let me go then I promise on the name of a dragon that I will never be hostile to you.

“I’ve thought about it a hundred times! Eating and living well, I really hate you! And believing your words is like trusting a politician.”

Although Weed’s goal was a stable life as a civil servant, he wouldn’t give up the prize if he won the victory.

His goal was to strike it rich and money was more important than his life! If he lost is life along with the dragon but obtained huge riches than the result wouldn’t be bad.

Weed was caught by this greedy and Ausollet was obviously unhappy with the discussion. Ausollet hesitated as it dived towards the ground before eventually changing directions when it was 20 metres away.

“Kkuek!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Monsters were thrown back and buildings collapsed. The wind aftermath of the dragon’s flight caused 400 people to be knocked out. Ausollet said him to die but not enough to commit suicide.

“I thought so. Fellows like you are originally like this!”

Weed continued using the one point attacks on the dragon. It was all or nothing so he didn’t think about it! Ausollet continued suffering and gradually decreased its movements.

– This is….

Now it only had 6% health left.

The one point attacks were perfect but Weed’s powerful offense meant the dragon was weakened. The divine power also wound through the injuries on the black dragon’s body.

It was a fast and furious battle that would never exist in real life!

– Humans…especially a cowardly liar like you, it is unacceptable.

“Humans are vicious and have toxic consciences. That is how they are successful in the world. And you reap what you sow. It is good that you did bad things so that I can hit you even more.”

Weed didn’t even take a millisecond to think about it. The dragon was a creature with high intelligence. In other words, it was possible to inflict psychological damage.

– Things won’t be as simple as you think. Destruction is approaching you.

Ausollet started using a spell. And Weed struck it powerfully in the back of the head.

– You have dealt a critical hit.

The spell that the opponent is chanting will be cancelled.

– All of this will end. No one here will survive. All life that dwells in this land, the deep darkness will descend….

– You have dealt a critical hit.

The spell that the opponent is chanting will be cancelled.

No matter how many times Weed interrupted the magic, Ausollet continued to use it while floating in mid-air. It didn’t try to run away from the attacks and kept on chanting the spell.

‘What is this? This magic seems to be different.’

Weed felt the seriousness of the situation but other than trying to cancel the spell, he had no other way to respond.

The magic of the dragon was very quick compared to the humans. The dragon persisted in trying to chant the spell.

“This guy!”

A vast amount of mana surged towards Ausollet like an ocean. The colossal amount of mana that swarmed to the dragon was enough to cause goose bumps.

The hairs on Weed’s skin started standing up.

– Your attacks have been blocked by the stacked layers of mana.

– Your mana has been affected by an abnormal, external force.

The Moonlight Sculpting Blade skill has been cancelled.

And the spell was completed.

– Complete destruction will come to this land. Eons of Erosion!

Ausollet cast the ultimate destruction magic, Eons of Erosion!

“Eons of Erosion?” Then it must be related to the ground.”

Weed thought about the ultimate earth magic for a while.

Usually magic involving the land wasn’t used frequently in combat. The power was weak and there were no immediate effects during the battle. Normally it was used to create a wall to obstruct monsters or cause them to slip.

‘But a dragon’s ultimate magic is on the same level as Summon Meteor.’

He had obtained a magic scroll containing Summon Meteor that was on a colossal scale. It would completely destroy the monsters in the targeted area. Last time, the impact of the meteor meant the city hit by it was gone. It also caused an immense shock wave. There was a deep pit 1~2 kilometres wide in the ground.

Of course, the Embinyu Church survived due to the divine power but Weed almost died.

‘Wait a minute! I’ve seen Eons of Erosion somewhere before.’

Weed belatedly remembered. Eons of Erosion was written in a booklet he obtained during his activities in the desert.

[Bizarre terrain of the Versailles Continent #8.

The Eskehae Archipelago.

An archipelago contained 17 stone islands that looks like it rose from the sea.

Once upon a time, notorious pirates lived on Pandes Island.

A pirate ship carrying mermaids attracted the wrath of the sea dragon, Leviathan and the magic hit Pandes Island.

Eons of Erosion!

At first, the earth shook like an earthquake was occurring but it quickly started swirling. A terrible vortex was occurring in the ground.

Dirt, rocks, people and plants

Nothing could block it.

Everything was swallowing up by the ground and even birds flying in the sky were sucked in.

After that, the Pandes Island was completely shattered and disappeared.

The only thing that remained are 17 stone islands consisting of the beach and strange cliffs.

Animals don’t live on the small islands but occasionally the singing of mermaids could be heard.

Magicians with a little knowledge of death have gained significant experience and insight by analysing the soil.]

Eons of Erosion was only briefly used but it had smashed the terrain itself.

“If I don’t stop it then everything will disappear.”

Weed understood what Eons of Erosion would do if he didn’t stop Ausollet’s spell. It had used a large amount of mana so the dragon’s movements were dull.

– Stop, stop it now! Listen to my story. There is still a chance for you to live.

Weed asked as he continued with the one point attack.

“What is it? I’m listening.”

– I am tired and hurt from fighting after waking up from a long sleep. As a human, you can easily understand that death is ahead.

“So?”

– If we stop fighting and reconcile then we can get out of here quickly. Human, nothing in this place will survive Eons of Erosion. Don’t you want to save your precious life?

“Okay. Thanks for your worry but I don’t want to live that much.”

– Make a wise decision. If you think calmly and rationally about it, you can save your life. It is useless if you die in this battle.

“Shut up. Tomorrow you will just destroy the continent and kill me.”

The earth magic was slow to activate.

But there was no telling what would happen one Eons of Erosion occurred. Even so, he didn’t worry about it and just continued taking care of Ausollet.

Weed repeated his attacks, lowering the dragon’s health.

– Kuoooooh! It was resentful and mortified. Ausollet who was qualified to destroy the continent was humiliated that a human could do something like this.

If it could get Weed away from its body then its lost health would recover. Ausollet gave a rough scream and soared high into the sky. It soared vertically through the clouds into the endless sky.

– You have dealt a critical blow!

413% damage has been added.

The opponent’s strength and resilience have been reduced.

The Sword of the God Thor has dealt 92,939 holy damage.

– 25 consecutive, successful attacks in a row has decreased the dragon’s agility by 2.

Weed no longer paid attention to the messages that arose with every hit. Ausollet’s energy was reduced as it started dying from the attacks.

He didn’t consider the issue of survival after killing Ausollet. The top priority was hunting Ausollet!

– I don’t want to die like this. A dragon, forcibly experiencing death….

“Thank you for dying at my hands!”

The black dragon Ausollet.

With absolute power, the dragon was an untouchable existence. Ausollet’s vertical movements into the sky suddenly stopped. And the magic barrier protecting the body slowly started to lift as wind blew slowly.

A grey light spread over the dragon until it enveloped the entire body.

‘This is surely….’

Even Weed couldn’t believe it himself.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– The Chaos Dragon Ausollet that would lead the continent to ruin has entered its eternal rest.

– Fame has increased by 79,398 due to the great achievement.

– The dragon that threatened the order of the continent has been killed!

– The combat experience that no one could surpass has increased all stats by 8.

In particular, Fighting Spirit has increased by 10 and a special skill has been acquired.

Dragon Opposing Anyone its Faces:  The dragon slayer’s fighting spirit is something that the weak can’t withstand. Scared monsters will be weakened by 10~60%.

– Due to the triumph in the tough battle, all skills related to combat have risen by 27%.

All combat skills stuck at beginner level will rise by 4.

– The great combat victory has created the state Insight.

Insight: Originates when wisdom and knowledge is very high. Sometimes obtained when discovering hidden secrets in ruins, learning incomprehensible spells, improving magic spells or winning great battles.

This stat will have a positive impact across many areas.

There is a chance to turn the enemy’s magic attacks upside down, easily find traps and know about a monster’s ambush in advance.

Certain senior magic requires insight so it will affect the acquisition of high level, special skills.

– Insight has been obtained during the final secret sculpting technique quest.

This achievement will be applied after you return to the original time zone. However, all stats obtained will start at 1.

Weed’s mouth trembled with emotion.

“Today is really my day.”

The first person to hunt a dragon! The value of the fame would be hard to replace but Weed didn’t realize how much he would gain from killing Ausollet. He was already level 825 but the experience points had increased his level by 4.

It was a brief moment of joy but Weed still had work to do.

“I can’t miss!”

Sya sya syak!

His concentration was at the maximum after hunting! He used his personal experience to collect the loot in the air.

– The map showing something buried at the Mysterious Grey Lake has been acquired.

– The Mirror of the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda has been acquired.

This is an item associated with a special quest so it won’t be lost when transcending time and space.

– 68 unsealed mana stones have been acquired.

If used correctly then the colossal amount can open a new area of development.

– 208 black dragon bones have been acquired.

– 3,494 black dragon scales have been acquired.

– 43 black dragon fur have been acquired.

– The dragon’s heart that is the source of life and mana has been acquired.

This fresh heart contains a high density of mana. The heart can be used in all areas of advanced magic.

Most of the items were materials except for the heart! It would be difficult to process but nevertheless, it was still overwhelming. If he had billions of won in his bank account then obviously he would be generous with a few won.

“I might not be able to take these things back to the original world.”

Shortly afterwards, he felt a massive sense of loss. The sword and armour of Thor were treasures that would disappear when the quest was over.

The scales and bones from Ausollet that he couldn’t recover starting falling to the ground. Weed was also plummeting towards the ground.

A cool breeze hit his face and his fall slowed down. It wasn’t noticed during the battle because Weed was soaring into the sky with the dragon but the moment Saint Ahellun noticed the fall, he immediately used flying magic.

The duration would last for 2 hours after Weed proved his qualifications to Ahellun so he could freely act. The Embinyu monsters and escaped prisoners made the earth seem like hell while the sky was a paradise to Weed.

Ddiring!

– Unit of 7 People Leaping towards a Dragon’s Mouth has been completed.

The tower built by the Embinyu Church to gain power from their god has been badly broken.

The Chaos Dragon that would cause fear on the continent has been unbelievably removed by a human warrior. This is the first time a dragon has died in combat on the continent and no one could imagine it.

The high priest Heuller and the Embinyu Church will use any evil means necessary to stop you.

The quest will a close to impossible difficulty has been flawlessly completed.

The reward of the final secret sculpting technique will be given.

“Yes!”

Weed had a greedy smile on his face.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray and the leaders of the Hermes Guild were gathered at a tavern in one of the areas they occupied in the north.

They only received victory reports as the northern conquest continued. The central area of the Versailles Continent was firmly grabbed so they didn’t feel any tension.

– The gold mines in Asdemend have been discovered.  We will proceed with the development.

– The Treasure Dungeon has been verified. An appropriate hunting level is the mid-400s.

– A relic related quest has occurred.

Precious treasures and hunting grounds in the Central Continent were used to raise their power. The Hermes Guild already had unprecedented power but it was being built up even more.

‘This is my way.’

Bardray also didn’t proceed any further on his master quest. It was a lengthy quest that caused headaches rather than giving any definite benefit.

He took his forces to the best hunting ground and passed level 510. He used his outstanding information network to acquire skills associated with the Black Knight!

Even the Black Knight’s professional attribute ‘Day of Rebellion’ was obtained. It could only be used once a month but it improved the abilities and indomitable strength of his subordinates by more than 2 times.   In addition, if a certain amount of mana was used then all ranged attacked will be made void.

Bardray also prepared the Hermes Guild.

Scholars and magicians read books related to quests that were housed in various palaces. Important secrets of the continent were sometimes hidden in libraries and palaces. Adventurers obtained information about unknown sword masters by examining underground walls.

If Bardray and the Hermes Guild could obtain the secret skills of the sword masters than their combat abilities would grow much stronger.

‘I can choose the east and fast way to get ahead of others. I need to increase the gap. This is my way.’

Bardray found his path as a king.

His greed grew as he found competition in Weed’s abilities. But he decided not to compete with Weed’s fame on quests.

If he raised the national power of this empire then he was untouchable. After becoming an emperor, he was on the path to become the true ruler of the Versailles Continent.

Dominate the continent and solidify his power so that no one can attack. The Hermes Guild would rule with a powerful force that would never be broken.

In fact, the Hermes Guild only contained 200,000 people but only 50,000 were sent to the north. They commanded the soldiers and knights belonging to the regular army and utilized the power of the magician units to decimate the north.

Of course, that alone was a power enormous enough to make fun of the north. From the perspective of ordinary users, just having a level high enough to join the Hermes Guild was enough to make them feel special.

An operation to cause complete despair.

They would make the northern users kneel down in front of them after losing hope. All cities and villages would be demolished and the land pillaged, making it hard for people to live.

Once the devastated northern users succumbed to the Hermes Guild, they would come live in the Central Continent.

“Retro is in these days. Today I am playing well.”

“I heard that state of affairs at Pandros Castle is great. Will you have time to visit it sooner or later?”

“The ranch operations near the vast grasslands is going well. Well-bred horses are being raised.”

The lords and senior nobles of the Haven Empire exchanged friendly conversation. A war was going on but those with the best abilities were idly drinking beer in the rear.

“What do you think of Weed’s quest today….?”

“He is greeting his end. And once he returns to this era, he will be pushed back by the Haven Empire.”

“Haha, of course this is also my opinion.”

Bardray and 200 other people were gathered at the tavern.

They were the army commanders and users nominated to key positions in the Hermes Guild

Users brought wrapped gifts to give to Emperor Bardray.

“In contrast to what I expected, the north isn’t giving a formidable resistance.”

“They are just going in circles. They should just give up.”

“But the forces of the Haven Empire isn’t even half a day away. The allied forces in the final battle of the Central Continent were strong so they couldn’t be ignored. This is just stepping over them.”

“Haven’t there been some attacks on the supply carriages in the occupied areas?”

“We’ve significantly increased the number of personnel escorting the supply carriages.”

“Gee, that’s not good. Can’t Lafaye solve it?”

“There are many supplies heading towards our army so gaps can’t be helped. It is also difficult to fortify the occupied territories. The supplies lost won’t cause a strain on the war. The distribution of combat materials is very generous.”

Users quietly talked among each other in the rear of the tavern.

They were users invited after the Hermes Guild became larger so they had a special type of loyalty. They wanted to live among the strong forces.

Their aspirations caused them to join the Hermes Guild and were satisfied to be involved in a coherent plan.

If the power of the Haven Empire was 10 then the north was only 1 or 2. The economy, military power, cities, land area, population and road development couldn’t be compared.

Many of them had surrendered in the face of real power.

“This is the beginning of an adventure, huhuhu. Everyone is watching Weed’s downfall.”

“Of course!”

“It will be a funny sight before the north is occupied and devastated.”

“Hooray Hermes Guild!”

The Hermes Guild users drank wine and enjoyed the entertainment. They were already a mighty force and it was only a matter of time until the continent was unified.

The Sky Tower collapsing caused them to be full of laughter.

“Hahah, he is struggling. That ignorant fellow has the worst luck.”

“I don’t see the reason why Weed is popular. Struggling in vain will give them false hope.”

“If he rampages like that then Bardray-nim will kill him with one single sword strike.”

“Well, he is showing tremendous ability but the quest will end soon. He won’t be capable when he returns.”

Users ranging from the early to mid-400s kept flattering Bardray. The ability to be good at flattery would smooth a person’s social life.

However, there was also a feeling among the users of the Hermes Guild.

‘Is this really not a joke?’

‘Hey, is the quest really proceeding in this way? The scale is so big! I want to see it. But it’ll probably never happen.’

‘Is there a chance of survival? This is a quest with a time limit. Then he will be broken.’

‘An amazing jackpot. The ratings will be very high. He will become a hero and there will continue to be reruns.’

The Hermes Guild users pretended to be casual while watching the broadcast.

“The commentators are praising Weed too much. This is nothing.”

“That’s right. If anyone here was given the chance then they will be much cooler than Weed.”

“This is the end of the God of War. Conqueror of the continent? That is just due to the quest.”

Bardray had considerable authority over his subordinates and they all revered him. Many people made the bold decision to follow him after seeing his strength.

Bardray calmly drank beer and watched Weed’s adventure on  large, magic crystal ball.

‘Weed’s combat sense is much greater than mine. It is useless. Although his one point attacks are accurate, there won’t be much of a gap when I fully learn it. The other special skills? I can also learn them.’

If he watched the broadcast and analysed Weed’s actions then he could compare himself and get ahead of Weed.

Maybe the idea was a little pathetic. In the adventures in the distant past, the Embinyu Church had caused the Hermes Guild a huge headache.

Weed’s fight would be very beneficial for the future. If he returned to the devastated north then there was no doubt the Hermes Guild will be labelled as villains.

‘I will step on him. Justification or reason doesn’t matter. People will eventually succumb before power.’

Bardray and the Hermes Guild members watched the broadcast with joyous hearts.

Weed riding on the back of the dragon until it was awakened.

‘He is blocked.’

‘Indeed. He is doing something nice by himself.’

‘Ah, the God of War is real. He is shooting arrows from the dragon’s back.’

‘Is that possible? I was originally an archer and couldn’t do that. But it probably won’t last long.

The tavern was filled with thoughts that were envious of Weed.

And the moment Weed won the fight against the dragon, it was so quiet that the sound of ants crawling could be heard.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[TL Notes:] Hey guys, some of you might not notice this but I’ve started released teasers for a potential project. Two stories have already been uploaded and I will be uploading them once a day.

The Demon King’s Game: I will also be doing an additional 3 chapters for this because the web novel format means that chapters are short. I am doing this to give people an idea of the combat style. I won’t be doing additonal chapters for any of the other stories so please don’t ask.

Raid Breaker

Also, people seem to be having some misunderstandings. The teasers have nothing to do with ATL. I’ve been planning this long before I decided to put ATL on hiatus so the poll isn’t a vote between ATL and the teasers.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 5: The Final Step

The dragon lost its life to Weed.

While everyone was astonished at this sight, some users were diligently moving.

“Will this place be right this time?”

“There is no doubt.”

“Isn’t this the 12th time you are saying those words?”

Zephyr, Romuna, Irene, Surka, Hwaryeong and Bellot were wandering around looking for Weed’s wallet that he hid. The treasure trove was somewhere in the mountains so they couldn’t be lazy.

Zephyr looked around and sighed.

“But it will be hard to find anything hidden in this terrain.”

“No one would come to a place like this.”

A place in the northern continent where no one would come. They crossed swamps and deciduous forests for more than 3 hours.

Well, this was likely to be the place. It would be a headache if the location of the treasure was surrounded by monsters.

But Wed had left this problem to the desert warriors.

– A place no one can find…it would be better if humans are infrequently found there. And no one can know about this treasure.

These were the words of the Great Emperor so the desert warriors faithfully followed it.

“It can’t be villages or cities.”

“It can’t be in a common mountain.”

“What about a river?”

“This is a good opinion but it will be difficult if the items are swept away in a flood.”

Humans, orcs, elves or goblins might find them on the road. They passed by volcanoes blowing black smoke and wandering through caves in mountains. And the desert warriors decided on a lake deep within the mountains.

“This place is good.

“No one will find this place.”

“Of course. Several species including humans won’t live around here.”

They didn’t know the name of the lake but the desert warriors placed the entire treasury of the kingdom there. Corruption was rampant in the later stages of the Pallos Empire so many real treasures were diverted here.

After a long time, the lake water turned into dry mud. Bellot raised the hem of her skirt and complained.

“This feels like a tidal flat. It seems like clams will come out.”

The others in the group agreed. They sunk to their knees so it wasn’t easy to move in this wide land.

Pale had specifically not come along on this adventure. A reliable man like that would only be used for labour.

Surka explored and surroundings and said.

“This landscape is terrible. It even seems like demons will emerge.”

There were sparsely grown trees without any leaves. There was an eerie sound every time the wind blew through the tree branches.

“Aigoo, not here?”

Romuna dug furiously at the ground with a shovel. Her vitality was weak as a magician but she didn’t give up. A woman’s obsession with treasure was no less than a man’s!

“Well, the treasure is rumoured to be somewhere in the vicinity so let’s continue to dig.”

“Of course!”

The  trail of the desert warriors clearly led here.

The treasure had been buried in the lake but it was impossible to estimate the specific location because the terrain had changed considerably. So they could only dig and see.

The sound of wind blowing through the branches.

Hwiriririt.

There was a strange sound like laughter as the win passed through gaps in the rocks.

Uhihihihihi!

Everyone was so busy digging to find the treasure that they didn’t notice white ghosts had surrounded them.

– Why are humans…. Cass, do you know why?

– I don’t know. I think they are looking for something.

– Do they know about us?

– Maybe.

The ghosts were wearing jewellery like earrings, necklaces and rings.

The ghosts attached to the old treasures! In the Pallos Empire, they valued weapons and armour. The treasures seized from enemies or used in combat had been buried and generated large quantities of ghosts.

“Wrong. Not here either.”

“Irene-nim, you have been doing well so far. We just need to search with a little more power.”

“Acha!”

Weed’s colleagues dug with shovels as they searched for treasures in a remote area.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Wy-1 and Wy-3.

The wyverns, Weed’s sculptural lifeforms were resting well at the cliffs near Morata.

In the old days, users would be surprised when seeing them in remote locations. But now the wyverns were celebrities and could often be found on broadcasts.

Especially in the north, the wyverns could often be spotted.

“Mother, it is Wy-3!”

“Wy-3, hello!”

Young users travelling Royal Road with their mother or father would wave towards the wyverns. And the wyverns were moderately friendly with users.

Of course, they originally suffered from an identity confusion.

“Aren’t we originally flying monsters that would grab and eat humans?”

“Wy-6, do you think humans are delicious?”

“No, I heard they are delicious. The meat acquired from beasts are fine.”

“So we don’t need to eat humans. We are wyverns with picky taste buds.”

The self-proclaimed wyverns learned this!

“Do you want to eat this?”

But they would come down to the ground when users threw them food like sausages, ham and tempura. Some famous chefs would throw them cooked meat or fish so the wyverns were in heaven.

Their warm nest defended against the cold. They fought here and there and slept until late in the morning.

The war in the north didn’t matter to the wyverns as they hunted moderately and grew.

They had received advanced notice from Weed.

“Even if war breaks out, stay in the background. You don’t need to defend the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Master, what is the reason?”

Wy-1 who was the eldest and most dependable wyvern asked.

Weed’s answer was simple.

“If you come forward then other humans will handle you first. And there isn’t much you can do against a crowd of people.”

A convincing logic!

Thus, Weed commanded the wyverns and all the sculptural lifeforms to stay in the background of the war.

If they emerged in the war then it would be like children collecting money from relatives without their mother present, increasing the danger.

Bingryong, Goldman, Yellowy, Silver Bird and the other sculptural lifeforms needed to be kept safe. Even the sculptural lifeforms obtained from Jigolaths were waiting for one person to appear.

Existing in the current era, the sculptural lifeforms that only followed the founder of the Arpen Kingdom. A job that only existed in legend, the one who inherited the noble lineage of Emperor Geihar!

“I would like to see Master, gol gol gol!”

“Ummoooooo. Clearly he isn’t bringing us delicious food on purpose.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

In the midst of his slow fall, a new message window popped up in front of Weed.

Ddiring!

– Kill Heuller the High Priest of the Embinyu Church.

Heuller is an ageless human alchemist and magician who has been alive for more than 1,000 years.

Heuller is behind numerous plots to spread the Embinyu Church through the continent.

Now is the time to punish his misdeeds.

If high priest Heuller disappears then the Embinyu Church will go deep into the darkness and will be hard to wake up again.

Level of Difficulty: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Compensation: The final step in this quest.

After completing the quest, you can acquire Time Sculpting.

Quest Restrictions: You have to safely survive the quest.

“Owaahhh! The quest is really ending.”

A scream emerged from Weed’s mouth.

The final secret sculpting technique quest was really long!

“It is like spending half of my life sewing eyes onto dolls. Or being force to walk a path with one thousand directions.”

He just needed to finish this quest to obtain Time Sculpting. He completed the quest in a different manner from Nodulle but it was too excessive even without knowing the significant information.

“Well, whatever. There is a story hidden. And it doesn’t matter if I don’t know the way forward.”

This was the result of the training in Korea! He would become satisfied after gaining Time Sculpting.

There was still a  huge battle occurring on the ground but Weed felt like he had received 3 servings of well-grilled marinated pork.

He had hunted the fearful dragon so the Embinyu Church no longer worried him.

“This really feels like the last quest. There is no reason to be a labourer. A labourer isn’t a traitor.”

Weed slowly descended to the ground. He was still at least 700 metres above the ground. But his joy was short lived as he returned to his original self before touching the ground.

“I can’t release my tension. If I’m too relaxed then a mistake may occur at the last moment.”

Many villains failed at the last moment before they received their compensation. Weed had learned countless lessons from them so he armed himself with the Yurbusika Frost Bow.

Purururu!

The arrows that Weed fired made a clear sound like a musical instrument. The sound of his archery skill was different because it was at advanced level 9.

The arrows that shot out with great speed and power took the lives of priests and knights. The Embinyu followers on the ground attempted to avoid it but the colossal arrows didn’t allow it!

“Keeeok! God Embinyu, give us your will and determination.”

“God, save us!”

The priests were still shocked by the dragon’s poison.

Those who were directly touched by it were destroyed and the Embinyu priests lost quite a lot of their power due to the destruction of the Embinyu Avatar. The dragon’s breath had a widespread impact on the entire area.

The poison smoke didn’t distinguish between friends and foes.

On the other hand, the prisoners including the humans and elves were detoxified by Ahellun’s divine power. Ahellun would treat those in danger, give blessings and even powerful protection spells.

However, the Embinyu priests had fought the dragon and had received rare damage. They couldn’t cure the poison or block any attacks heading towards them.

The equipment and strength of the escaped prisoners was pathetic but they used their numbers to defend against the approaching Embinyu monsters. Meanwhile, the elves were shooting arrows at the enemies.

“Have strength. Our victory isn’t far away. Just a little more and we can protect the peace of the continent with our own hands. Take care of your colleagues while fighting. We will go back home alive!”

Hestiger served as the leader of the elves during the fight.

“Great Emperor-nim is victorious against the dragon. We have to handle these guys!”

“Hyung-nim, let’s finish them up.”

Warrior-1 and Warrior-2 ran forward with their scimitars.

There was an outpouring of arrows as Weed came increasingly closer to the ground so the Embinyu Church didn’t know what to do.

The prisoners were escaping and endless amounts of monsters were coming from the outside. The full scale destruction of their Holy Land was enough to break their morale and faith.

High priest Heuller cried out.

“Our original dream won’t be trampled on! All the silly people living on this fallen land will have their flesh torn off and killed!”

The Embinyu Church started moving again at Heuller’s cry. Weed fired an arrow at Heuller.

“Now it is time for the Embinyu Church to disappear.”

“All your attempts at glory will be blocked. Joy of Crushing!”

The high priest Heuller used some of the divine power he regained to form a protection shield that deflected the arrows.

“Let’s test it out!”

Weed shot the arrows while using the Rapid Fire and Penetrating skills.

He was quite a distance away from the ground but the heavy arrows aimed straight at Heuller. Arrows hit it 15 times before the protective magic finally broke like glass.

The protective magic would break depending on the skill and level. Thanks to Ahellun’s blessing, Weed couldn’t be affected by any curses and was currently in the best physical condition.

Weed had been established as a Great Emperor during the warring period because he was a brutal warrior. When he used force, few people in this era could stop him.

“Kueeok! God Embinyu will protect this body against a mere human….”

As Weed came increasingly closer to the ground, the Embinyu archers and priests aimed attacks at them. A burst of attacks towards the sky that seemed like fireworks!

“Close Eyes Tightly!”

He had obtained this skill again during the quest as Nodulle. His body was also wearing the God’s armour.

“Open yourself to God’s meaning and he will endlessly take care of you. Divine Protection!”

Ahellun helped by casting a protective spell.

– Flawless protection magic has been triggered.

Your body’s resistance will increase by 600% for 4 minutes.

The God’s Armour has reacted to this protection magic.

Defense has increased by 4,938.

There is a 37% probability of reflecting the enemy’s attack.

Weed’s body shone with the splendour of Divine Protection.

“Once again.”

Weed opened his eyes again.

The attacks were melted down or returned by the splendid light in front of him. Weed saw at least 1,000 archers fall like collapsing straw from their own attacks.

The situation automatically caused a hum to come out.

“It will be hard to die.”

Weed continued to concentrate on Ahellun, Warrior-1, Warrior-2, Hestiger and the escaped prisoners.

Right now, Zahab had been severely wounded by several curses but he wasn’t in urgent danger due to Ahellun’s treatment.

Alverun and Alveren were sculptural lifeforms similar to Alveron but he didn’t dare bring them along despite their growth. Everything couldn’t be a perfect situation.

“I need to take better care of Alveron after returning to the original world.”

A long term plan to make Alveron work!

He was envious that he didn’t have a well-trained saint as a subordinate.

Once Weed was 50 metres above the ground, a significant number of people looked up at him. His charisma, leadership, fame and honour meant he could exert a more powerful strength in his subordinates.

“Our lord if the desert lion who conquered the continent and hunted down a dragon.”

“Ohh, unbelievable…! I can’t believe how strong he is.”

“A mighty warrior sent by God to punish the wicked.”

Among the prisoners, some were so overcome with emotions that they prostrating themselves while crying.

Weed proudly raised his head like the director of a company meeting his sub-contractors. The jaw that developed from drinking cider and eating well-roasted pork belly and the droopy eyes that came from waking up late in the morning!

“Handsome.”

“With an appearance like that, women will follow him to the end.”

Warrior-1 and Warrior-2 were filled with admiration.

The winged clothing, God’s armour and God’s weapon gave Weed a cool appearance. In particular, the brilliant light that lit up his body gave him a better appearance!

Weed received praise for his dragon hunt, an experience that would be difficult to repeat twice in a lifetime.

Then he heard the sound of Hestiger yelling.

“Don’t relax! We have to defeat them to return home alive. And we need to save those still trapped or caught up in the fight!”

“Of course!”

“We will follow the words of Captain Hestiger who saved us!”

The prisoners cried out as the confronted the Embinyu troops. Hestiger had given a command with the perfect timing to interrupt Weed. In addition, he managed to get the proud elves on his side.

He was like a typical hero of an action movie who overcame adversity and obtained the pretty woman. But at that moment, Weed had a generous heart so he didn’t feel jealous of Hestiger.

“No one is to blame. It isn’t my fault that he failed to be killed early.”

The Embinyu Church had captured a large number of prisoners. They were captured to construct the Sky Tower, as sacrifices, for the sake of experiments or to be mutated into monsters. The prisoners continued running out of the buildings to clash with the Embinyu Church.

The monsters in the Embinyu Church such as ogres were modified. The buildings were unable to withstand the impact as a 9 headed ogre with 5 arms appeared.

“Kuwak! Return my old body!”

The ogres used tremendous force to kick and attack the Embinyu followers.

The Embinyu Church were driven into a corner but they still had a large number of troops remaining.

The confusion caused by the dragon hadn’t settled yet and there was still the Eon of Erosion spell. Once Eons of Erosion occurred, they would all be erased.

Once Weed thought about it, he instantly wanted to run outside the area.

“But they might find a way to survive. Villains are sturdy so I need to finish Heuller first.”

The goal was Heuller!

Weed cried out in a loud voice.

“All my subordinates, listen carefully!”

“Yes!”

“Master-nim, did you call?”

Warrior-1 and Warrior-2 replied with lightning like speed.

“Please speak, Great Emperor.”

Hestiger placed a hand on his chest and bent his knees slightly.

“We don’t need to kill all the fellows overflowing in this land. They will soon disappear from here so we just need to aim at high priest Heuller!”

“I understand. Let’s go!”

The desert warriors immediately headed towards Heuller after hearing those words. The reckless assault of the desert warriors!

Weed wanted to finish the battle without wasting any more time.

“You won’t pass us!”

“That’s what you think!”

Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Hestiger struck the Embinyu knights with one strike of their swords.

As soon as Weed gave a command, they increased their speed while fully exerting their true abilities.

Even the elves were helping with the arrows and elementals. Their focus was on protecting Hestiger.

“It is my turn!”

Weed glanced at Ahellun.

“Excuse me…

“Don’t worry!”

Ahellun replied like he read Weed’s mind and strengthened his body with more blessings. It was like a restaurant lady bringing 3 servings of cold noodles before he even ordered.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Chapter 6: Nodulle’s Ending

Weed rushed towards Heuller after coming down from the sky.

He was the most important and dangerous person on the battlefield so the Embinyu Church poured magic attacks towards him.

The armour of God spread its wings and turned him upside down or moved backwards to avoid the attacks. He was flying through the sky almost as an afterthought and arrived near Heuller before the desert warriors.

Heuller spoke to a fellow priest called Notangte standing next to him.

“Kuhuhu, they are getting closer…. Will we die in this place?”

“Hyung-nim, shouldn’t you escape now?”

Notangte and his sworn brothers.

The meaning of the name wasn’t a big deal but Notangte was born in a small village and committed all types of bad actions. He made a huge name as a swordsman in the warring period.

With an armed troop of 100 people, he did outrageous things like trafficking, stealing and oppressing others. They hit the Central Continent and were won over by the Embinyu Church. Of course, the strength of these 100 people were only confined to the Central Continent!

In the southern desert, it was difficult to top the hierarchy unless they were strong. The Red Knife unit was the best elite troops of the desert and they could easily slay knights of the Central Continent!

Currently, Notangte was just like a goblin to Weed.

“End of the Day!”

Weed used one of the most powerful skills he had. The aura of red flames covered the priests and Heuller like a tsunami.

Notangte and his sworn brothers were just destroyed in vain!

“A fire attack. It isn’t enough. Embinyu will not allow it. Protection of the World.”

The priests chanted a spell in order to resist. The tsunami of fire hesitated before the powerful shield.

The flames that could even burn mountains, forests and city walls stopped before the divine power. But End of the Day raised its power. The greedy flames grew larger and rose over the protective barrier.

It was because the power of the sword significantly strengthened attack skills.

“I-I can’t bear it….”

“This attack…..”

The bodies of the priests were covered with flames from End of the Day. The shield only blocked direct attacks and couldn’t withstand the head.

The flames of End of the Day leapt over the shield. The health of the priests kept dropping. Even the ground and rocks were dissolved by the ultra-high heat.

The shield was weakened as the flames engulfed the priests, knights and all enemies within range.

“Stop him. The Embinyu Church can continue on this earth if I’m alive.”

Heuller thought the situation was turning bad and started running away. Using his subordinates as shields while escaping!

Ddiring!

– An important junction has occurred on this quest.

If Heuller flees unharmed then the quest will continue until you capture him.

Weed plunged towards the escort knights.

They were different from the other Embinyu knights and had a high level of 500~600. Nodulle had struggled with them but Weed was the ruler of the desert.

“Summon Another Sword, Black Knight’s Strike!”

He used the sword skills that he had mastered. Attacks with locked with the summoned sword while Black Knight’s Strike was a wide area attack skill.

“Kuuuk!”

The Embinyu followers that Weed passed through collapsed. An efficient way of using his combat power. It didn’t matter to Weed if they kept their lives or not.

His only goal was Heuller. Heuller was a priest wearing long robes that couldn’t run quickly so Weed was catching up.

“Listen all faithful believers! If you stop him from coming after me then Embinyu will give you a generous reward!”

“Follow the command!”

The escort knights flocked towards Weed like vultures. Even the priests that lost their divine power threw their bodies to stop Weed.

“We will handle this. Great Emperor-nim, go ahead and take care of the bigger fish!”

Warrior-1 and Warrior-2 rushed up with their scimitars. Weed and Hestiger maintained their running speed. Heuller moved between the heavily fighting monsters.

Kuowooooh!

Beyond the monsters was the wide entrance to an underground passage.

“I will take care of these ones.”

“Understood.”

Hestiger dealt with the monsters as Weed broke through!

However, even jumping over monsters reduced his time by a few seconds. Weed was an incomparable warrior but Heuller used divine magic to increase his speed to that of an athlete.

“An enemy of the Embinyu Church! The dream to destroy the world isn’t over yet. I will return all of you to the abyss of despair.”

It was unknown what would happen if Heuller entered the underground passage.

“No!”

Weed ran with all his power.

He quickly broke through the enemies that were approaching but couldn’t block the passage.

Weed was approximately 40 metres away while Heuller only needed 2~3 more metres to reach the entrance of the passage. To make matters worse, there were a group of Embinyu knights standing at the entrance.

“Block him!”

“Yes!”

The knights moved to stop Weed from entering the underground passage!

Sururung.

An Embinyu knight pulled out a sword and the situation suddenly reversed. Heuller was cut down by a fellow knight.

“Kueeok! How did this….”

“I’ve been waiting for this time! Great Emperor-nim, I knew you would come so I’ve been waiting.”

The Embinyu knight removed his helmet to reveal the face of Warrior-3. After infiltrating the Embinyu Church, he had been placed to guard the area of retreat.

“This is a sword of the desert. Hot Sandy Wind Sword!”

Warrior-3’s sword rotated like a windmill while cutting Heuller.

The proficiency of Hot Sandy Wind Sword was still growing but it was a success. The desert warriors had basically mastered the sword.

Heuller was hit more than twenty times before Warrior-3 ended up being surrounded by the Embinyu knights. But Weed also arrived before the Embinyu knights could attack.

“Undulating Flame Mark!”

Fierce flames rose from Weed’s body onto the knights.

It was a technique that acted as a defense but could also destroy weak enemies! The Embinyu knights were fairly strong but were still affected. The knights in a cursed state were just like moving japtem in Weed’s eyes.

The knights couldn’t even resist and their bodies turned into fireballs. The attacks aimed at Weed were overwhelmed by the fire. And Heuller!

“Today, you won’t last even 1 minute longer!”

Weed couldn’t make any concessions at this moment. He was in his best state after dealing with the dragon.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Heuller might use a defense skill but Moonlight Sculpting Blade neutralized any resistance.

Weed’s long sword spun round and round like a toy. He slashed dozens of times in a row.

– Moonlight Sculpting Blade has passed through the protection spell and hit the enemy.

There are cries of distress from the opponent as they try to reduce the damage but it is hopeless.

The opponent’s health has been decreased by 15,492.

“Kuweeek! The pain is gnawing at my soul!”

– The attacks have succeeded 5 times in a row.

The durability of Heuller’s robe has been reduced by 26%.

– A critical hit!

Severe Blow!

Heuller’s health has decreased by 9%.

Unlike the dragon, a large amount of concentration was needed to hit Heuller.

– The advanced magic of the Embinyu Church, Life Absorption has been triggered.

Heuller will absorb the health of all life within a 300 metres radius.

You have resistance to this divine power.

Heuller has forcefully absorbed the health from other creatures to recover 42,482 health.

“You’re not a zombie!”

Weed cut him with the sword but Heuller’s health was being filled again at a rapid pace. A red line connected him to the Embinyu followers that he was extracting health from. This was why a priest boss was one of the hardest to kill without the help of others.

“I won’t take this lying down. You shall be split apart and distorted. Rupture of the Sacrifice!”

– The Armour of the God Thor has neutralized the magic curse.

You have resisted the twisting and pushing force.

The small effect has decreased health by 4,929.

His resistance was high so Heuller’s attacks weren’t enough to damage Weed.

“He recovered just now. It looks like the last few minutes have been wasted. I have to beat you until you die!”

Weed cut Heuller with his sword. Heuller retreated whenever he was hit by the continuous swings. Weed alternated between small, large and wide area attacks. His aim was to resolve it all.

The scene where the brilliant light of the sword sparkled with every swing was beautiful.

“All knights, rescue High Priest-nim.”

“No way! We will stop it! Great Emperor-nim, we will handle this!”

Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Hestiger blocked the attempts of the Embinyu knights to rescue Heuller.

“Gushing Lava Column!”

Weed caused lava to surround his body, preventing the knights from reaching them. He succeeded in keeping Heuller away from the entrance of the underground passage.

“Euuuk, for my grand dream to end like this….”

“Touching my rice bowl was your mistake.”

– The sword of the God Thor has cut the divine body of Heuller.

The opponent’s divine magic has been temporarily reduced by 267.

The power of the divine magic has decreased by 6%.

The opponent believes in an evil god so faith has been permanently reduced by 29.

Health has decreased by 73,399.

Weed’s attack caused massive damage. Heuller’s health was steadily recovering but he couldn’t escape being damaged.

And the sky was turning red. The ground started to vibrate.

“The world is moving even though I am standing still.”

“This enormous flow of mana…. It is over! We are all going to die!”

“Ahhh, Penny! I couldn’t see you before I died.”

The ground started flowing like a river. A building suddenly passed by.

Weed felt that Eons of Erosion was causing a change in this area. Of course, he couldn’t miss killing Heuller even if Eons of Erosion was occurring.

“It is time to finish this.”

“This…it can’t end this way!”

Despite the ongoing Life Absorption, Heuller’s health continued to decline.

The Embinyu knights in the area were dying due to Weed’s subordinates. The injured knights offering their health to Heuller were dying. Thus Heuller was rapidly collapsing under Weed’s powerful offensive.

The end of a long, long quest was finally ending. Tens of millions of people were watching on the screen while Weed relentlessly struck.

“Spare me. I will give you all the worth I’ve collected so far and my enormous troops.”

– High priest Heuller of the Embinyu Church is begging for his life.

If you accept his offer you will obtain a pile of riches but your soul will forever belong to Embinyu.

Do you want to accept Heuller’s offer?

Instead, your ongoing quest will fail.

“I don’t want to. It isn’t worth it!”

– You have refused the offer.

Fame has increased by 14,292.

Faith has increased by 17.

He wasn’t shaken at all by the temptation. If cash was pulled out in front of him then Weed might hesitate but only using words was Heuller’s mistake.

Heuller’s enormous health was sharply reduced over time. He was hit despite trying to avoid it. Weed unleashed all the difficulties he experienced in the meantime on Heuller.

“Kuweeek! The hundreds of years I lived is in vain. I wanted to get rid of all the imbalances and distortions in this world….”

“High Priest-nim!”

The Embinyu knights continued to struggle to reach Weed but were blocked by the column of lava.

And finally, a black energy started to pour out from Heuller’s body. The protective ability and health had reached its limit. The body couldn’t endure it and collapsed.

Heuller’s face rapidly aged as it became filled with deep wrinkles and age spots. After a while, the black energy popped and Heuller’s soul escaped from the body.

– It won’t end like this. If I have a chance…I will come back and achieve my unfulfilled dream. Kuhwahwahwahwa!

– High priest Heuller of the Embinyu Church has entered his eternal rest.

His soul will go to hell and taste the pain he dealt through his life.

Fame has increased by 32,291.

– You have survived a dangerous battle and maximum health has increased by 1,200.

– Your successful adventure has increased all stats by 5.

– The mission granted by the gods has been completed successfully. The Faith stat has increased by 11%.

– Heuller’s Magic Staff has disappeared before it can be acquired.

– The Cylinder Pants has been acquired.

– Kill Heuller the High Priest of the Embinyu Church has been completed.

Heuller who had his mind distorted by greed has lost his life.

The mighty achievement has changed the flow of history but this event won’t be known because it took place on barren soil.

If any adventurer finds the truth buried here then you will gain the true respect of warriors.

Compensation: If an adventurer discovers it then you can obtain the related fame, authority and items.

– The quest associated with the final secret sculpting technique, Time Sculpting will result in the final story of Hilderun and Nodulle.

– The Embinyu Church has lost their strength through the death of the high priest.

They will disappear into small fragments of history.

“This is really….”

Weed hadn’t been able to say that for a while. So far, he didn’t believe himself that he would complete the quest.

A sculptor who started off carving wood was finally going to obtain the final secret sculpting technique.

The history of the Versailles Continent had been reversed by Weed.

“The leader of the enemy is dead!”

“We won. Hooray!”

The prisoners started cheering.

The colossal army of Embinyu knights, priests and monsters lost all strength and fell to the ground. The monsters that came running from the outskirts continued trying to eat them.

Weed looked down at the ground while this complicated situation was going on. There were ants, cockroaches and other insects moving. The earth was crumpling up like paper. The ebb and flow of the ground was moving the people and buildings.

“It is time to leave.”

It was imperceptible when fighting Heuller but now the ground was moving.

“If this continues then it is the end.”

He had saved the continent from the evil Embinyu Church. Weed couldn’t enjoy the afterglow.

Of course, his subordinates were also worthy of praise. If it wasn’t for the desert warriors then it would have been impossible for him to conquer the Central Continent. Weed’s affection towards them had piled up in the process.

‘I need to look after my own survival!’

Weed was just about to run off.

“Assemble everyone here. The dark power that the enemy wrapped around here has weakened. This place is risky so we will escape from here.”

Saint Ahellun spoke. Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the brave warriors could save their lives.

Ahellun spread both arms wide as a pure white divine light spread out. It felt like when they were heading towards the Barren Howling Ruins.

The elves, dwarves and surviving prisoners came closer to Ahellun. Weed had worked hard and reached the top position.

The prisoners directed their praise towards Weed.

“Great Emperor-nim, thanks for the good work.”

“A miraculous victory. I’m honoured to fight together with a warrior like you.”

“Evane, I finally got revenge for you.”

Zahab, Hestiger and his loyal subordinates all gathered together.

However, Weed’s face wasn’t very welcoming.

It was because he felt complex emotions seeing three high elves attached closely to Hestiger. His charm was increased even more by the attractive elves!

“Now I’m finally leaving!”

“Let’s go back home.”

“Huk huk, I can finally g back after living in a place like this….”

The light burst out from Ahellun and surrounded Weed, his subordinates and the hundreds of survivors.

After a while, they all disappeared from the spot while the remaining Embinyu troops continued fighting with the monsters attacking them.

Kurururung!

In a short amount of time, the buildings started collapsing.

Weed leaving didn’t stop the battle between the Embinyu Church and the monsters. But the ground started to be sucked in and formed a whirlpool. All the buildings and existences in that area were gone and only a huge hole was left behind.

Weed grabbed his sword tightly as Ahellun teleported him somewhere. The resolute will not to let go of the God’s sword!

Splash.

Caw. Caw caw.

Weed appeared in a place where he could hear the seagulls and the peaceful sound of the waves.

‘This is….’

Weed didn’t feel his body land.

Instead of stepping on the ground, he was flying in the air like a ghost. The armour and sword from god had disappeared without him noticing. But the sun was warm and the white sand grains looked like jewellery so he couldn’t feel any tension.

Weed floated around until he found a small wooden house. A middle-aged couple was eating a fish dish.

“This is delicious. As expected from Hilderun, your cooking is amazing.”

“Thank you.”

They were Nodulle and Hilderun, the protagonists of the quest.

‘What the hell, am I just supposed to watch like a movie?’

They had suffered a huge hardship in the warring period and the fight against the Embinyu Church.

Since then, Nodulle and Hilderun settled in their home near the beach.

‘Well, that grilled fish is shocking. At first I thought it was sweet potato burned black….’

The grilled fish made a sound like a cookie every time they chewed on it. It was a situation where he could grumble about the food but Nodulle indeed found it delicious.

Once the two of them finished eating, they leisurely headed to the beach with fishing rods. Meanwhile, stone was stacked around a small field behind the house to protect the garden from strong winds.

‘When looking at the sea, it seems to be the coastline on the eastern side of the continent. It is close to the north-east coast.’

It was the instinctive need to understand the terrain developed from quests! There were monsters and beasts nearby but they didn’t wander around so it was a peaceful beast.

He roamed for 10 minutes before he suddenly had a question.

‘Strange. It was just noon a little while ago.’

Nodulle and Hilderun were turning off the power of their house.

Awoooo!

The sound of wolves howling could be heard from far away.

‘Something like this….’

He watched the stars in the night sky quickly change to the sun rising. A majestic sunrise! The sea was being shrouded by fog.

Weed was quite familiar with seeing a sunrise.

In the old days, he would see the sun rise during his milk and newspaper deliveries and when he stayed up all night hunting before heading back to the cities on the Versailles Continent. He was full of pride from a backpack full of japtem and would sell it at an overpriced value to customers despite the accumulated fatigue.

And the sunny beach day began again.

Nodulle and Hilderun gathered seafood or caught animals such as rabbits for food. The shining sun gleamed on the endless waves like a jewel.

It once again became an evening sky full of starts before the sun rose the next day.

This tranquil routine was repeated.

‘What am I supposed to do?’

Weed watched idly as ten days passed. All this time had only taken 30 minutes.

In the beginning, he looked around for dangerous presences or even hidden treasures. Maybe Nodulle and Hilderun had a reason to live here so there might be treasures concealed!

Weed’s thoughts were like that. But the days just kept passing.

They weren’t interested in hidden treasure nor did they covet power. Weed knew that Nodulle’s sword skills could conquer any kingdom. If he was a little more ambitious then he could become the king.

“I didn’t expect this day to come.”

“I am very happy now.”

The time they spent together was more valuable after facing all types of adversity again. They looked like they most loving couple in the world as they laughed together.

One day, two days, one month, two months.

The passage of time was even faster. It was like the daily routine was being repeated. The final stage of the quest just required watching Nodulle and Hilderun live comfortably.

‘Does that mean I can’t miss any of the scenes? They might hide Time Sculpting somewhere here and then I will have to come find it again later. And I would be able to find it if the excavation is successful.’

Weed was filled with doubt so he memorized and analysed their behaviour.

Spring, summer, autumn, winter.

Seasons changed and years passed as Nodulle and Hilderun became older.

They had been teenagers when fleeing from Borota Island but after living in the desert and crossing the continent, they were already old.

Nodulle’s face that had been handsome when he was younger was now filled with scars. They were young at one time but now that was just their precious memories.

Time flowed faster and they turned into elderly people. Sometimes 1 month or 6 months would pass in an instant and other times it was a few seasons.

Nodulle became increasingly decrepit as he carried firewood and Hilderun’s waist was also bent.

Weed started to feel something when looking at the changes. Nodulle and Hilderun’s happiness.

‘The view looks good. Don’t tell me that Nodulle and Hilderun lived happily ever after like an old children’s book after defeating the Embinyu Church?’

Storms and snowfall also occurred on the beach. The scenery was the best but he actually felt uncomfortable. Nodulle and Hilderun went on living with each other until they were elderly people.

Weed couldn’t help feeling impressed.

‘That is love.’

His parents had died early so he couldn’t remember them well.

There were many things he didn’t know but he could see his parent’s love. Rather than feeling joy at the love, he felt scared by the enormous sense of responsibility.

He wasn’t an official couple with Seo-yoon but he knew her mind after suffering so much together. Therefore, he decided it was time to accept.

‘Can I really have a happy family? There really are many complex things in this world. I just want to live an ordinary and loving life with my family. It is indeed hard.’

Time continued to pass but it felt like more time was being given. Enough time passed that the two elderly people should be dead already.

Hilderun was the first one to close her eyes. She wore a pretty dress like she knew she was dying and closed her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I’ll go first.”

She had no regrets so she died calmly!

Nodulle buried her in a grave behind the house.

And time flowed on once again.

Nodulle cleaned fish and ate rice alone. He was lonely but he went on living life as usual. The very lonely Nodulle occasionally muttered to himself.

“It was a really interesting life.”

He had lost many things after choosing Hilderun. His wealth and status on Borota Island was discard and he experienced many things that threatened his life.

Nevertheless, Nodulle was happy because it was the life he chose for himself. He was a man who achieved everything he wanted!

Nodulle sat next to Hilderun’s grave and quietly closed his eyes. He knew this was the end.

Nodulle’s little finger touched Hilderun’s grave and lights emerged and tangled around each other like lovers before shooting up into the sky.

The light soared deep into the night sky and were difficult to distinguish from each other. Nodulle and Hilderun’s stars!

The meaning of the two stars were now revealed. The stars symbolized time, fortune and love. They enjoyed eternity together even after death.

Weed felt appreciation after watching their story.

‘This could be called a happy ending. Although I would have preferred becoming rich from successful land speculation.’

Ddiring!

– The wandering sculptor has found the true expression of radiant beauty!

You have learned the secrets of time through an eternal love.

Time Sculpting has been learnt.

Time is eternal and those happy memories can flow quickly or slowly.

The power of this mysterious sculpting technique can accomplish miracles by freezing the world.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– You have accomplished the achievement of a century.

A grand way of sculpting has been pioneered.

The highest level of achievement as a sculptor.

The effect of all sculptures has increased by 4%.

“Hah.”

The poignant scene of the quest being completed made Weed want to cry but the tears seemed to be stuck.

A man’s tears were very precious. In particular, the scene would be broadcast later so he couldn’t be seen crying.

“Ahahaaam.”

He neatly yawned to hide the tears.

“Time Sculpting skill window!”

– Time Sculpting Beginner 1 (0%).

Beginner: Age Sculpting.

This skill will add a long amount of time to a sculpture. Sometimes this time will add value to the sculpture.

It will also stop the sculpture from being naturally damaged over time.

Intermediate: Moment Sculpting.

The world will stop. Light, wind, people. In front of Time Sculpting, everything will stop.

The beauty of that stopped moment will consume a lot of vitality and concentration.

In order to spread the reach of Moment Sculpting, a special energy is required. Energy can be obtained when a moment makes people happy.

Energy of the Moment will be quickly consumed.

Continuous use in a short amount of time will consume a vast amount of vitality and mana.

Advanced: Travel Sculpting.

Chase the traces of time to travel to a specific point in time.

You can proceed with special quests.

However, accepting random quests not related to sculpting that would change the past will incur a huge penalty.

Energy of the Moment- 0.

– An additional time sculpting skill has been acquired.

Museum of Time: Once Time Sculpting reaches intermediate level, you have one opportunity to permanently stop time in a specific area.

The flowers in that place won’t wither and raindrops will be stopped in the air.

Only the sculptor can be involved in this space and combat and destruction isn’t possible.

If you create an exhibition of your works then you can invite other people.

The final secret sculpting technique! Depending on the proficiency, various attributes of Time Sculpting could be produced.

Weed looked at Moment Sculpting first.

“I can stop the world and move myself, huhuhuhu.”

There was a warm smile on his face.

Time Sculpting could lead to many beautiful moments but he was only thinking about how he could profit from it.

“If time really stops…I can steal money from others. And it is also very useful in battle.”

An invincible technology that could stop the fight! If the situation was dangerous then he could use it to avoid deadly attacks.

“But I still don’t know how effective it is.”

It was common sense that a price needed to be paid for such a colossal skill.

Currently the broadcasters had promised not to relay this scene. It was a measure intended to stop Bardray and the Hermes Guild from knowing the information.

“Wait a bit. I will return!”

Chapter 7: Time Sculpting

“Stop them! Have the priests hit the enemies with divine magic!”

“They’ve been wiped out! All dead.”

“How did this happen?”

“The enemies emerged from the shadows and assassinated them. They swept through before we could stop them….”

“We ran out of silver. We only have steel and regular arrows so what should we do?”

“Gates, block the gates! We are finished if they breach the gates!”

The city of Reinstadem in the Haven Empire!

The access point and quality wine production meant it was embroiled in sieges every day when it belonged to the Kallamore Kingdom. After being taken over by the Hermes Guild’s Haven Empire, it was subjected to heavy taxes and occasional attacks by rebels.

But the rebels were blocked by the walls and scattered after being shot by arrows. The city never imagined it would be attacked by the Abyss Knight Van Hawk and 800 Imperial Doom Knights.

Major figures in the city were assassinated in the darkness.

“The support of the cities around here?”

“I don’t know. There is no contact!”

“Such a thing….”

Most of the communication was through the guild chat or whispers. The complex tactics in a war could be implemented through such a rapid delivery system.

But Van Hawk’s dark aura spread out and scattered all types of mana, blocking teleportation and whispers.

The Doom Knights passed through the walls like ghosts or jumped dozens of metres like they had wings.

Cheolkeol cheolkeol.

Beyond the wall, there was an army of undead wearing rusty armour that was created by Van Hawk. Reinstadem was full of many ghosts due to the constant wars. They rose up and were turned into troops.

Using the power of Van Hawk, the anguished remains of the Kallamore Kingdom rose.

The users who experienced death here also triggered a quest!

– Abyss Knight Van Hawk is calling you.

You have lost your life at Reinstadem and the chance to get revenge has finally come. Do you want to become the undead to participate in the war to rebuild the Kallamore Kingdom?

If you accept the quest then you can participate in the battle as an undead for a period of time.

There will be no penalty for death and you can be summoned again as an undead in the future.

The experience acquired during the battle can be kept.

The access rate of Royal Road was considerably higher because of Weed’s adventure.

“What is this? Should I accept the quest?”

“I don’t know. It sounds like something fun.”

Users from every region of the continent, including the north accepted the quest and rose as an undead near Reinstadem. The undead suited their level as the users looked around with amazement.

“Ouuwooo?”

“Kuowaaaat!”

Their tongue or jaw was rotting so they couldn’t articulate properly. The beginners became zombies with a bad smell and flies swarming around them.

However, the users with quite high levels become Death Knights and could move around somewhat freely.

‘What is this?’

‘Ah, special. It is a very special event. There is a 100% chance of being shown on the broadcast. Maybe this is a chance to become known as a combat genius.’

‘Will there be compensation if I fight well? But it is a siege. It is also against the Haven Empire!’

‘Hmm, there is nothing to lose even if I die. I’ve always been passive about the loss in skill proficiency and experience.  It is why I get cursed at in dungeon hunts. Okay, let’s try it. Kill everyone!’

‘Ah! I’m a priest but I’ve become an undead. I’m also a skeleton. Huh, there’s a flame on my hand?’

The users that had become the undead laughed as their jaws clattered.

Anyway, this was a fresh and fun experience. The users weren’t slow so they had roughly determined the situation.

Reinstadem of the Haven Empire! They had died in the vicinity of the city in the past.

‘Huu, all I need to do it fight. Even without a plan?’

Anyone with infinite life could fight heartily.

The undead users were chuckling as Doom Knights emerged to conduct them.

“…This…two…kill…this…place…all…land…”

“…In between…life…over…clothing…bow down…new life…evil sin…luck…bones…ear…live…go…!”

The Doom Knights that defended the gates of hell led the undead forward and breached the walls.

‘Let’s go. I will miss the fun if I’m too late.’

The undead users passed through the gates and launched a fight against the troops of the Haven Empire.

“Defend this place. Stop them at the gate!”

“I can’t endure. We will all die…cough!”

Despite blocking the Doom Knights’ attacks with their shields, it still dealt havoc to their health and spirit. It meant their souls would be lost even if they weren’t killed by the Doom Knights.

The undead users dealt with the Haven Kingdom’s soldiers that fit their level.

“This is taking too long.”

Van Hawk who had been silently watching the Doom Knights finally moved. The 2 metre large bone sword that was raised into the sky showed the dignity of Van Hawk! Van Hawk might always be beaten up by Weed but know the charisma of an Abyss Knight was overflowing from him.

The darkness of the abyss protecting him gave off an intimidating feeling. The general users at Reinstadem watched with curiosity.

“The real deal. Isn’t that right?”

“The city will be occupied in a matter of minutes.”

“Doesn’t it look like it will take 1 hour?”

The city’s defenders would be wiped out in a few moments. The humans that lost their lives were revived as the undead.

Reinstadem was fully conquered by Van Hawk and his Doom Knights. The warehouses were burnt and the main facilities of the city were completely destroyed. Fortunately, the residents, users and general store wasn’t affected.

“These people are the poor citizens of the Kallamore Kingdom. The Haven Empire hasn’t protected them. We are sorry.”

“Kukukul, our children are here somewhere.”

Van Hawk and the undead army didn’t stay long in Reinstadem. Early the next day, they exited through the broken gate.

“Let’s go. We need to reclaim the Imperial Palace. For His Majesty, we will take back this land and we can’t be stopped.”

“Yes, Captain-nim.”

The undead moved.

“W-what?”

“These are….”

The users that bumped into them on the side of the road were surprised.

In recent years, beginners started in the north but there were still users that preferred the commerce and stable development of the Central Continent.

Most of the beginners were merchants dragging their carriages so they were shocked when the undead army appeared and couldn’t move.

The undead were monsters frequently seen in dungeons or cemeteries. They were mainly at the level of ghosts or skeletons but users were familiar with them due to Weed’s adventures. The users were able to classify the undead so they were startled to see an advanced undead army.

“Kulkulkul.”

“Kihihihihit.”

The undead users were looking forward to the next battle and couldn’t stop laughing. But after the sun rose, they disappeared like they were never there. They could only be active at night when the sun wasn’t there.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lafaye and the leaders of the Hermes Guild held a meeting to discuss countermeasures.

Weed’s quest was a success! In the future, Weed would be commanding the northern users directly!

And the invasion of the Abyss Knight!

Lafaye laughed calmly.

“It is surprising but variables are always expected.”

The Hermes Guild had 50 leaders.

Bardray led the army while the leaders played key roles in the Haven Empire. A sudden adverse event like this occurring in the Haven Empire couldn’t be ignored because the minor damage might turn bigger.

“Weed has fairly deep ulterior motives. Did he deliberately raise an Abyss Knight for today’s purpose?”

“Since early on in his quest, we had been preparing for any damage he might try to do to the Haven Empire.”

“According to the reports from our intelligence network, Van Hawk was an undead of the Kallamore Kingdom. When looking at the circumstances, isn’t that story fuelling this event?”

The leaders were divided into multiple departments in order to grasp the state of the vast Haven Empire. Jenis of the military department checked the map and said.

“The battle report has come from Reinstadem. The number of undead are between 3,000 and 5,000 and they will increase further in the war.”

“That number isn’t difficult to face.”

“Yes, the Abyss Knight might be a necromancer but there is a limit to how many undead he can raise. However, some users have joined this event and there are 700~1,000 Doom Knights.”

“The Doom Knights are high ranking monsters.”

“That’s right. Their individual levels are high and they are challenging to handle. However, the Imperial Knights can subdue them.”

There was a flood of high level users belonging to the Hermes Guild. They had mobilized people for the war against the north but there was still a surplus in the Central Continent. Most of the troops that the Haven Empire dispatched to the north were regular NPC soldiers. Bardray was the commander but he had stayed out of the battles.

There were many late 400s in the guild who had no work to do. In the meantime, they had competed many high level users from the other prestigious guilds in the Central Continent. The early members were the heart of the Hermes Guild but they were careful not to reject others.

The steady increase of high level users was intended for this purpose. It was meant to prevent the emergence of hostile forces.

“But one unit of the Imperial Knights contains 2,000 people so can that stop them? The Abyss Knight will continue to raise the undead.”

“I’m aware that the undead are quite strong but they are fairly easy to deal with compared to other creatures. Each religion has spells to weaken undead so they will be supported by knights. Each area will also have divine relics sent to strengthen them in advance. One unit of Imperial Knights and high level users will be mobilized.”

The huge territory of the Haven Empire also had a lot of treasure. If divine relics that increased divine magic were placed then the power of the Abyss Knights would be weakened.

It could be said that the Abyss Knight was the worst monster the Haven Empire faced so far so many high levels users were interested and would go running.

Lafaye analysed the information and made a decision.

“We are free. Let’s show them the grandeur of the Empire. 3 troops of Imperial Knights, 20,000 users from the guild that are at least level 410 and 4,000 knights will be dispatched. And offer a reward for any ordinary users that want to give support.”

One of the lords gave a dissenting opinion.

“Isn’t that too much? The security and internal affairs in the occupied territories still isn’t perfect. It is inevitable since we are using so much power to conquer the north.”

“It is worth it to conquer the north early on. The Embinyu Church means there was a delay in sending troops to the north but there has been steady results. This is required in order to stabilize the areas affected by the event. We will show that the Haven Empire doesn’t budge even after an Abyss Knight appears.”

It would be difficult if the power of the Haven Empire weakened. The vast amount of territory meant there was bandits and rebels but they had a minimal influence on the Empire.

Lafaye wanted to make the fight with the Abyss Knight a festival in order to show off the power of the Haven Empire.

“This is a good opportunity so prepare Bardray-nim.”

“Of course.”

Bardray decided to take part in the fight against the Abyss Knight.

The damage to 3~4 cities in the Haven Empire wasn’t insignificant. The grand battle between the Abyss Knight and Bardray would provide the best results.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The day that Weed’s adventure ended, each broadcasting station recorded unbelievably high figures.

The total audience ratings was 19.8%. It was higher than a popular drama being aired.

And even more surprising was the audience ratings from the moment he rode the dragon. 34.1%.

Of course, Royal Road was gaining sensational popularity around the world but they hadn’t expected such great ratings. It was due to the overwhelming scale and fun of the scenes showing Royal Road.

Users that watched the screen could really feel like they were exploring or on adventures.

The wind blew through branches in an eerie forest and there was the sound of leaves breaking. The fantastic natural scenery and scary monsters became the trend as the ratings increased.

“The ratings achieved by our station is unbelievable.”

“Head Director-nim, there is a storm of demands for reruns on the bulletin board!”

“Start the reruns immediately….”

“Head Director-nim!”

“Is there something else?”

“The advertisers are inundating us with requests for meetings. There are calls asking when the next broadcast of Weed will be!”

Weed’s adventure didn’t end just like that.

Significant changes occurred to the Versailles Continent that made the broadcasting stations work all night.

And the next day, the office workers and students’ eyes were bloodshot red.

“Kya, did you see it?”

“Yes. Cool!”

“Very cool.”

“By the way, I didn’t sleep until 2 a.m. yesterday so what happened to the Embinyu Church?”

“They are completely gone. Not a single trace remains.”

Weed had finished the final secret sculpting technique quest. But the quest information meant a lot of people knew that the Embinyu Church would be eliminated. They couldn’t see any traces of the Embinyu Church on the Versailles Continent.

Including the Rosenheim Kingdom that had been destroyed, many areas of the Central Continent were fully restored to their former glory.

People waited for the end of their day. And connected to Royal Road as soon as they got home. They first headed to the market in their hometown to hear the news.

Horse drawn carriages were moving through abundant, golden fields that had previously been a dark red colour from curses.

That wasn’t the only impressive and exciting thing.

Residents met beloved people that had been in cities destroyed by the Embinyu Church.

“Hey, it is Grandfather’s grocery store! It has been a long time.”

“Huh, you are talking nonsense. I’ve sold to you just a while ago. Did you want anything good today? My child is to be married in a few days so I need some money. Don’t be particularly cheap, yes?”

The residents sold products to the users like nothing had happened.

Users also returned to Serabourg Castle in the Rosenheim Kingdom that had been completely destroyed by the Embinyu Church. The Embinyu Church were like bandits living in forests or caves so it was no longer necessary to worry about them.

“Eh, I gave you a simple errand but you came back so late!”

“Ajusshi, I finished it early on but you left to became a fanatic.”

“What are you talking about? Did you have a weird dream? Anyway, you came back later so I will decrease the reward from 5 gold to 3 gold. If you are late again then you can forget about being asked to do any special errands!”

Rewards were received for quests that couldn’t be completed in a long time. A number of users gave up in the middle of the quest but those with high intimacy could receive some time of reward.

The pyramid and sphinx that Weed and the users had built also returned.

The users who received a lot of damage from the Embinyu Church couldn’t get rid of their smiles.

“Will Weed-nim come back now?”

“It seems so. Won’t he be greeted by a huge crowd?”

“The final secret sculpting technique! I wonder what technique he received.”

“The stations are a mess because of that.”

“But what will happen now? A huge quest was finished so will he now defeat the Hermes Guild?”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

[TL Notes] Hey guys, the poll to vote for the teasers is up. You can vote here.

Chapter 8: Treasures of the Sea

Lee Hyun checked every corner of his house.

“A lot of construction techniques in South Korea is clearly insufficient. We need innovation in the construction industry.”

As time passed, the houses would keep growing older.

Rain would leak, wind would decrease heating efficiency in winter and electrical devices would malfunction. In order to live in the house, it was required to periodically apply waterproof paint and check it once a year.

“A house built 700 years ago needs to be maintained to preserve the history and tradition. This level of technique, tsk tsk.”

Lee Hyun thought that the construction industry was too lazy. It was only interested in driving up the prices of the land so they recklessly sold it.

The house should be made of new materials that kept it warm in winter and cool in summer, a 400 metres underground water supply, its own electricity production and devices that automatically removed harmful dust. The house should automatically fill the car with oil and a plastic greenhouse would be nice for those who preferred organic yards.

“A house shouldn’t just be built with cement.”

Lee Hyun grumbled yet there was a rotten smile on his face.

He looked at the small repairs around his house with joy. There was a fresh coat of paint on his gate and a new bench made out of wood.

“This year I should plant pear and apple trees. If I plant it now then I can get value for the fruits later.”

Despite receiving plenty of incentives and bonuses for the ratings from the broadcasting stations, he was still strict about spending. Lee Hyun was already rich when looking at the considerable amount in his savings!

The bank staff would periodically call him about promotional products or send him gifts like ginseng. Weed was pleased whenever he received a phone call from the bank’s branch manager.

– Customer-nim, this is a special sale so if you buy the product then you can get a prime rate.

Prime rate!

“Let’s see. In recent years I’ve obtained a bit of money but…. Well, shouldn’t I check if it works before spending?”

The change compared to the last few years suffering from debt collectors.

‘This is an area that I’m better in.’

Praising himself!

Lee Hyun cleaned the yard and found Dogmeat’s empty bowl.

“I’ve been busy so I didn’t take care of this properly. Well, it has still been eating well.”

The wall between his yard and Seo-yoon’s had been torn down. Lee Hyun had faith that she wouldn’t do anything bad. Another reason was that she wouldn’t have any desire to take things from Lee Hyun’s house.

So it was natural for Dogmeat to go and sit on the porch of Seo-yoon’s house for a meal. The dog was happy when Seo-yoon stroked it with a soft gaze and fed the dog!

Lee Hyun felt the charm of eating pork chops as a huge family. But he thought differently after seeing Seo-yoon feed the greedy Dogmeat different types of food.

The dog was becoming plump as it enjoyed its life.

“I have hot rice leftover from breakfast that I specifically saved for you. Here! Eat a lot.”

Lee Hyun gave Dogmeat the remaining rice and filled its water. It was a bowl of rice topped with pork and some vegetables.

Grrung.

Dogmeat yawned before arrogantly turning away and lying back down. It didn’t bat an eye because Seo-yoon had fed it excellent glazed lamb from Australia.

Lee Hyun’s eyes trembled.

“A mongrel dog shouldn’t refuse to eat rice.”

He firmly tied a leash to Dogmeat’s neck.

“You aren’t going anywhere. If you don’t eat then you will starve. I’ve applied sesame oil to your fur to make it glossy and smooth. Rice with soybean paste is a luxury for dogs.”

He spend a relaxing hour harassing Dogmeat’s neck.

Then Lee Hyun looked at Seo-yoon who had come out to the yard.

“Ah, this is a misleading sight. I am just teasing it.”

Dogmeat leapt up and shook its tail eagerly like it was greeting its owner as it saw Seo-yoon. The dog’s loyalty was high and Seo-yoon always took care of it.

Bark, bark bark!

Dogmeat went crazy as it couldn’t jump towards her due to the leash. Then it lay down and showed its charm!

Lee Hyun stared at it with cold eyes.

“Dogs these days….”

Now he had raised Dogmeat for 2 years. Lee Hyun vowed to take measures as he left Dogmeat on its leash.

Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon sat on chairs in the yard as the midday sun shone on them.

Seo-yoon asked in a clear voice.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Yes.”

“Little sister?”

“She went to the library.”

Seo-yoon always cared about Lee Hye-yeon. She was Lee Hyun’s sister and a potential sister-in-law in the future.

Lee Hyun hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.

“Then…ask me for a favour.”

“A favour?”

“You helped me out on my quest.”

“Yes.”

Lee Hyun wanted to give Seo-yoon something for her help with his sculpting quest. He couldn’t just have his mouth wiped without giving anything in return.  He had promised to pay Seo-yoon back for all the effort she put into this quest!

‘I suppose it will be money. She will ask for money. Money. No money.’

Seo-yoon’s face became more flushed as she thought of something. Lee Hyun’s face also turned red.

‘I need to think of everything in advance. Indeed, money. How big a sum…everything in this world is influenced by money.’

Seo-yoon hesitated before saying.

“Date.”

“Huh?”

“You might be busy but I want a date.”

Seo-yoon wanted to leave the house with Lee Hyun.

‘Leaving the house requires money…what should I do?’

Of course he didn’t have a plan. He was seriously agonizing over it.

“Where do you want to go?”

“I don’t care. But anywhere is fine.”

“Hrmm.”

The burden of an ordinary man dating!

When looking at dramas, many of the heroes were rich. The tall and handsome man would bring his girlfriend to a department store and buy her exclusive bags and clothes. Furthermore, those dramas had surprise events where a gift would be given before they embraced.

‘Movies and dramas should end there. They are fictional stories. Scenes like that would never occur in reality so there should be subtitles stating that.’

Seo-yoon was the daughter of a tycoon so the reality was daunting.

There were many people who wanted to go to a hotel restaurant but were forced to eat gimbap from a convenience store.

Lee Hyun released his breath and asked.

“Are you hungry?”

“A little bit.”

“Well, let’s go out for a meal. But is it okay if I decide where to go?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll tell you in advance but it isn’ that expensive.”

“I don’t care.”

Seo-yoon didn’t feel bad at his words. They mainly ate at home so being able to eat out with Lee Hyun warmed her heart. She could feel warm just being next to Lee Hyun.

“Then I will specify the menu. Let’s go and eat jajangmyeon!”

“Do you know a place?”

“There isn’t any place that I don’t know in this neighbourhood.”

He was visiting a Chinese restaurant after a long time. The Chinese restaurant in the neighbourhood had an efficient delivery service and a clean establishment.

Lee Hyun went to the Chinese restaurant and was in agony before finally ordering bowls of jajangmyeon.

“One…Sichuan sweet and sour as well. Please give many side dishes.”

A huge spending! But this treatment was for Seo-yoon’s sake.

“Jajangmyeong becomes more delicious when using a strong pressure to eat it.”

Hurururup!

Lee Hyun’s mouth was like a vacuum as he sucked up the noodles. The scene of seasoning covering his lips!

In contrast, Seo-yoon ate the jajangmyeon gently.

“Don’t worry about your clothing while eating. Hororororum!”

Lee Hyun made some calculations after eating the jajangmyeon.

“Let’s drink coffee. I’ll pull it out.”

Lee Hyun proudly pulled out some coffee from the vending machine in front of the Chinese restaurant that was free for their customers.

“Cherish any moment when you can save money. Free coffee is the romance of workers.  In the past, I was really envious of workers.”

Seo-yoon tilted her head in confusion.

“What?”

“A group can eat at a restaurant, the meal with be paid with their company’s credit card and they can have free coffee on the way out. It would be nice to be an old person who can have free meals thanks to the pension.”

“…….”

Seo-yoon had a sharp premonition.

She knew everything regarding Lee Hyun’s nature. He hardly ever talked about his past. It felt a little strange that he was telling a story about his past but she pretended not to notice.

“Do you want to go on a hike after eating?”

“Hike?”

“There is a mountain over there!”

Lee Hyun pointed to the mountain that was in the centre of the city. The stairs were a bit steep but many citizens climbed to the peak of the mountain to decorate it.

Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon climbed up the stairs. There were ordinary lovers and people playing rock paper scissors.

‘There is no point in playing rock paper scissors because no money can be made.’

‘It is okay to slowly climb the stairs.’

They leisurely climbed the stairs for 30 minutes before reaching the top! On top was a memorial where lovers and visitors would tie locks to the wire mesh.

Lee Hyun headed to a location that overlooked the city and said.

“In the old days, I would sometimes come to this mountain.”

Lee Hyun’s voice was low as he recalled the past.

“It wasn’t to observe the scenery or exercise like the others. I was just envious.”

“Did you envy the people who came to this mountain with their family and friends?”

Despite it being a weekday, there were many families visiting the mountain. There were street vendors selling cotton candy and drinks.

However, Lee Hyun’s gaze was turned towards the buildings in this city.

“No. I just looked down at the city and felt envious.”

“…….”

“There are many houses and buildings. All the people living at home, going to work or school and living their dreams. Wasn’t I envious of how they lived?”

Lee Hyun had these thoughts while looking at the beautiful night scenery of the city from the mountains. The lights were turned on and sharp even when rain fell so he could assume that people were doing something.

He was hit by the rain on the bleak mountain and felt envious of the ordinary people eating delicious food in their warm houses.

The world was absolutely not equal. Despite working hard their whole lives, an old man might only earn a few thousand won or a grandmother had to sell vegetables at the market.

“It felt like some things that people naturally experienced in the world were too miraculous for me. The lights looked too good so I was jealous. At that moment, I had the idea that I really wanted to make a lot of money. Having a lot of money seemed like a really good thing.”

One of his early lessons was that money was needed if he wanted to live.

“Every time I came to this mountain, I was filled with thoughts about wanting to live like an ordinary person. Now, I’ve achieved my dream to some extent. It isn’t a lot for retirement but it is money that I earned.”

Tears flowed from Seo-yoon’s clear eyes.

It was evening so the sky had darkened. Lee Hyun watched the city’s lights turn on as he turned his head. Seo-yoon crying next to him was much prettier than the city lights at night.

‘If this was a drama then a kiss would occur now. Well, no. I’m not going to. I’m not a nice person like a character in a drama. I shouldn’t misunderstand the tears. Those tears are just filled with pity for me.’

He thought that he understood Seo-yoon’s tears.

‘It is similar to when people who eat rice with silver spoons feel sorry for those eating with wooden chopsticks. For example, when a dog is wandering the streets. So they cry.’

All of a sudden he assumed the worse!

‘This world is money and power. She is pretty and has money so why would she like someone like me? She will just leave after she meets a great man who is handsome and is educated.’

This was the current fear in Lee Hyun’s heart that was associated with Seo-yoon.

Unless there were in a position similar to each other, someday she would have no choice but to move on. It was fine if he wasn’t familiar with them. But the emptiness of someone that grew large in his mind suddenly leaving really scared him.

‘Someday we will be parted. Damn. If I knew this then I wouldn’t have bought the sweet and sour pork.’

Lee Hyun said bleakly.

“Let’s go down.”

It was completely night when they reached the streets. There were people watching a movie or drinking on dates but those passing by were looking at Seo-yoon.

“Look over there. Is that a doll or a person?”

“She is immensely beautiful. But why is she crying?”

Seo-yoon’s looks meant she received attention when she was just standing on the street. Her face and simple yet luxurious clothes meant that men couldn’t help noticing her.

It was common for the men that saw her to freeze and wonder if she was a dream of not. Despite having their girlfriends beside them, the sight of Seo-yoon crying was enough to make them willing to give a kidney transplant.

Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon arrived at the street next to their house. It might be embarrassing but this was sometimes called the special course at the end of a short date.

“Well, shall we go in?”

“Yes.”

“Then I will see you again tomorrow.”

“…….”

Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon continued standing and looking in each other’s eyes without saying anything.

‘The moment a girl’s eyes is at its prettiest. It looks like that moment right now.’

She just stopped crying so the eyes with well-drawn make up were slightly swollen. The eyes of the other person was clear and beautiful.

Lee Hyun felt something strange about this atmosphere.

‘Why does it feel like I will be kissed again?’

Seo-yoon’s eyes and expression didn’t seem to deny it. Rather, it felt like her expression was waiting for it.

‘And I saw something similar before.’

During the time he had been a statue in Royal Road due to a quest, Seo-yoon had unexpectedly kissed him.

Lee Hyun remembered that moment because he had been logged in. He had always ben curious about whether Seo-yoon knew he was that statue or not when she kissed it.

That past event suddenly came to mind again today.

Seo-yoon closed her eyes.

‘A kiss. It can’t be. Isn’t this strange? Yet the atmosphere seems to somehow fit it. I’ll be honest. I am willing. However, the important thing is determining the other person’s mood. I can’t just kiss her if it is ambiguous.’

Lee Hyun had many thoughts as he looked at Seo-yoon’s face. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts.

1 minute passed!

The two people were standing there in a static state. If a spoon with rice on it floated into their mouths then they would just automatically chew.

Yoo Byung-jin was watching the monitor and found Lee Hyun wandering the streets.

“Hoh, he seems to be going outside after being in his house every day.”

The artificial intelligence mainly observed key figures on the Versailles Continent but the robots and drones meant it could even observe people in real life.

“The wind is blowing….”

Then he discovered Seo-yoon walking alongside Lee Hyun.

“He came out for a date. That female is the one who helped him on the quest. Really beautiful. She could be called a top notch beauty. I don’t know how a woman like that became friendly with him.”

Yoo Byung-jin felt a deep sense of grief as the two of them headed to a Chinese restaurant. He ate in an extremely ugly manner and he didn’t even hold her hand as they walked up the stairs to the top of the mountain!

“Even a guy like that has a girlfriend.”

A heartfelt lament emerged. The atmosphere was ripe when he talked about his hard life on top of the mountain but he didn’t do anything.

“T-that dumb bastard!”

Yoo Byung-jin truly couldn’t believe it.

Although he was dull, a certain amount of flexibility meant that Lee Hyun would succeed with his love life. Yet he acted like they were complete strangers and didn’t even console Seo-yoon when she was crying.

There was no need to sugar-coat it as this was the optimum timing for a kiss. Even an awkward hug wouldn’t be so bad.

“He doesn’t miss a single change during battle but this guy is really frustrating right now.”

Yoo Byung-jin felt like exploding with killer rage. Then there was a strange atmosphere again just before they entered their houses.

Seo-yoon was standing with her eyes closed.

“Why is he just standing there, that guy!”

However, Lee Hyun couldn’t hear so he didn’t take any action. Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon stood there for 1 minute but it felt like 10 minutes for Yoo Byung-jin.

“This can’t be. Versailles.”

– Yes, please speak.

“The street lamps are too bright so please turn them down. Do it for all the streetlights in the neighbourhood. They might be surprised if it all turns off a once so do it gradually.”

– Your command has been received. Forced intervention of the city system has been completed. After 2 seconds.

The street lights in the streets surrounding Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon gradually turned off. The street lights turning off brought back the darkness. The street lamp shining above Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon also turned off.

Nevertheless, the moon had risen and the lights from the signboards meant they could see each other’s faces.

Lee Hyun still didn’t move from his position.

“Even this is insufficient! That guy….”

Yoo Byung-jin had his own pride so he was upset. At this point, it felt like he would vomit out rice if it was fed to him.

“Play romantic music from a nearby shop at a volume that they can hear.”

– A private system is difficult to access with force. However, the observation robots have a sound system.

“How many observation robots are there?”

– Currently there are 32 unmanned aircrafts and 22 small robots around them.

Lee Hyun played a large role in Royal Road so Yoo Byung-jin had many robots observing him.

“Spread the music!”

An unmanned aircraft flying above Lee Hyun’s head came down closer in the darkness. In addition, small robots disguised as birds, insects and rocks started playing sound. It began with orchestra music and soon surpassed it!

Despite the 3D surround sound, Lee Hyun didn’t move and kept staring at Seo-yoon’s face.

“Is he sleeping right now?”

– No. His heart is beating faster.

He isn’t asleep. Lee Hyun was standing there staring at Seo-yoon’s face.

No man would dislike a beautiful woman. But all the memories of the time they spent together rushed through his head.

An impulsive desire entered his mind.

Lee Hyun slowly approached Seo-yoon and kissed her.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Splash. Cheooool seok!

Waves climbed up as they bumped against the reef. Grains of sand were busy receiving the sunlight.

After the completion of the quest, Weed returned from the ghost state to his original body. Of course, the sword and armour of Thor was still missing!

The big blue light in front of him was probably the portal back to his original world.

“Now I can go back.”

Weed didn’t have any lingering attachment to the warring period that would prevent him from returning to his original world.

The sculptural lifeforms had received his will and the destiny of the Pallos Empire was fixed. It was slightly disappointing that he took care of the Embinyu Church in a secluded area so there wouldn’t be a huge impact on history.

But he had completed the quest and it would leave an impression on the heartstrings of the viewers.

‘The toy industry is booming. In particular, I should reap some income from the figurines of the dragon and the black bear.’

Every action was calculated! He had somewhat guessed the current location. He could return to the Central Continent to act as the Great Emperor but it would be a waste.

“But I am a little sad.”

The love story between Nodulle and Hilderun left a lingering feeling inside him.

He thought about his parents.

‘My father was a good person and truly caring.’

Every time he returned from work, he would play with Lee Hyun. He created toys to give to Lee Hyun and even spent time together in front of the television. He had lots of friends and the only problem was that he liked to drink a little bit.

Lee Hyun’s mother had graduated from a good university. Working and childcare meant she didn’t have time to focus on the household.

After his mother and father were gone, the rest of his memories started to fade and disappear.

Not all the memories were like that. Nodulle and Hilderun’s story had pulled out Weed’s buried memories.

‘If they were still alive and in love with each other then I could have another younger sibling.’

His father and mother also had a love story.

His father had a part time job at a coffee shop where his mother came to study. He asked for a date with a letter and they started to meet.

In fact his mother said to Weed.

– It was okay but there were a few old-fashioned aspects. He was a man that didn’t like to show any unguarded moments. It took him 2 months to ask for a date. Marriage? If I waited for him to propose then I would die of old age. Don’t become like that in the future.

It would be great if he had a happy love like Nodulle and Hilderun and his parents.

“I’m glad I’m not my father. Yesterday I even kissed her.”

Weed sighed deeply.

“However, more people should know about and remember Nodulle and Hilderun. I succeeded in the quest under his name but I feel like our experiences are different. I have to make a sculpture for them.”

He felt like leaving behind a work as a sculptor before returning to his original world.

Weed looked around for materials and suitable rocks in the near vicinity.

‘If I make it out of sand then a storm will just break it down. But it wouldn’t make sense if the sculpture is far away in the mountain.’

Nodulle and Hilderun had lived a happy life by the sea. The sculpture should be built around the sea where they last lived.

“Will it be hard to move the rocks from another place? No, I should find worthy materials nearby. Sculpture materials can be found anywhere.”

Weed walked around the sandy beach and Nodulle’s house. He could feel the landscape vividly as he walked. Even the threat of a harsh world didn’t interrupt the happiness of the lovers.

Weed’s eyes turned towards the sea.

“That one!”

A large rock in the sea was withstanding the wild waves!

In general, sculptures tended to be carved in convenient locations with no obstacles but that wasn’t always good. The sculpture carved from the towering rock in the sea fit the life of adversity that Nodulle and Hilderun experienced.

“Then let’s do it.”

Weed immediately jumped into the sea. After a few steps, his body was almost completely submerged as it was a surprisingly deep sea!

The rock he was aiming at was 50 metres away from the sandy beach. The white foam of the waves continuously broke over the rock that was higher than the height of a person.

“Let’s do it. It isn’t impossible!”

Kang. Kang. Kang.

He might have been known as the Great Emperor of the desert but he always carried sculpting tools with him. He obtained some of the best products from looting kingdoms. Anvil and chisels made of diamonds that were plucked from a blacksmith!

It wasn’t a convenient place to carve a sculpture as the waves made the rock wet and water entered his eyes.

“I can’t make a mistake. I can’t get the materials back.”

He touched the rock to check the strength of the delicate sculpture. The hard rock had endured thousands of years of waves but he had to be careful as he dug deeper. He also needed to get rid of seaweed, starfish and thick moss entangled on the rock while working!

Nodulle and Hilderun were better looking when they were young but he chose to portray them as older grandparents. This was because that was the moment when their happiness reached its peak.

A sculpture of an elderly couple holding hands while watching the distant sea!

The work took him 10 hours before it was completed. The progress was fast because he was constantly drawing out his emotions while working on it.

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“The name should be Nodulle and Hilderun.”

– Nodulle and Hilderun is correct?

“That’s right.”

– Masterpiece! Nodulle and Hilderun has been completed!

A sculpture that reflects the forces of time and nature.

The work of a sculptor that rewrote the history of the continent, a special work has been created. A sculpture that immortalizes a great hero.

When someone finds out about the adventures of Nodulle, historical value will increase by 3.

Artistic Value: 4,392

Special Options: Anyone who sees Nodulle and Hilderun will have their health and mana recovery increased by 34% for three days.

Sailing skills will increase by 21%.

‘Blessing of the Indomitable Warrior’ will be granted.

Monsters within a 4km radius can’t pre-emptively attack.

Those who discover this work will have their Luck stat permanently increased by 2.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Current number of Masterpieces created: 25

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– The proficiency of Time Sculpting has increased to Beginner level 2.

The composition and durability of a sculpture will be preserved for a long time, even in a bad environment.

Nodulle and Hilderun gave birth to a masterpiece sculpture.

It was like Weed expected.

Currently, Weed’s sculpting skill proficiency was advanced level 9, 94.1%.

He seldom made sculptures during the warring period because he needed to complete the final secret sculpting technique quest. The masterpiece sculpture was a success but there was still a bit more to go before he could master sculpting.

“But I am still a little empty. Nodulle and Hilderun was a masterpiece…. I am still lacking.”

Weed stayed there for 20 more days to make more sculptures. The life of a sculptor was to make difficult sculptures but this was a big operation.

It was a long and difficult operation and he didn’t spare even the bones and scales obtained from the final battle with the dragon.

“Now I can leave without any regrets.”

After finishing his task, Weed returned to his original world through the portal with no regrets.

There were no changes to the sculptures on the seashore when he left. The sandy white beach was shining and the sculptures weren’t noticeable.

But if people gazed at the rough waves on the horizon then they could see the sculpture of Nodulle and Hilderun.

The view of the sea and sculpture was excellent but no other work was visible. Weed’s other sculptures were below the clear, blue sea.

The coral reefs in the deep sea.

Sculptures ranged from a boy running around the narrow streets of Borota Island to a couple riding a raft. Wandering the continent, fighting, living and running away. The battle against the Embinyu Church was engraved on the seabed.

Nodulle and Hilderun. A luxurious statue of the two lovers was made with dragon bones, scales and mithril. The sculptures all showed their biography.

The title of the seabed sculptures was ‘The Happy Couple who Missed the Sea.’

Although the lives of the two people were injured by waves, beneath the surface the sea was clam and small, colourful fish were swimming. The effect of Time Sculpting meant that it would last indefinitely with no natural damage occurring.

The magnum opus Treasures of the Sea was recorded as soon as it was completed. It would be hard for humans to easily find them.

– Look at this.

– Omo omo, that is so cool.

But rumours about the sculptures in the sea were spread by mermaids.

– The human world is really scary.

– But isn’t it great?

The mermaids visited the sculptures every day and fish swam past it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“I saw the end of a fun adventure. Isn’t that right Versailles?”

– The answer to your question can vary depending on the criteria of fun. Currently the performance of Weed’s quest has exceeded the target by 279%.  The probability of producing these results was only 0.003%….

“Stop!”

Yoo Byung-jin didn’t want to hear any more.

Weed had succeeded in a close to impossible mission. The use of the dragon was critical to his victory but that wasn’t necessarily the reason.

In Nodulle’s original quest, Ahellun had sacrificed himself to seal the dragon. However, the Chaos Dragon wasn’t sealed and the process to defeat it was really unexpected.

Yoo Byung-jin reasoned it out from Weed’s standpoint.

“I’m looking forward to seeing what miracles he can cause in the future. A smart head like mine is a disadvantage in this area.”

In the end, praising himself!

－…….

Even the artificial intelligence had no words.

Weed’s success had really caused Yoo Byung-jin to feel mean and grumpy. But now the adventure was over and Weed had to return to reality.

“It was fun but the lost opportunities and costs from this quest was too big. He can catch up if given enough time but…. The successor most likely to obtain my assets and authority is still Bardray.”

Weed had obtained the final secret sculpting technique but the damage was tremendous.

He used Sculpture Resurrection in Roderick’s Labyrinth and created 13 sculptural lifeforms in the desert. In the beginning, that loss of level from Sculptural Bestowal could be made up but it was a fatal blow now that he was over level 400.

Once Weed returned to his original world, it was decided that he would drop close to 20 levels. That would be a huge disadvantage when fighting the forces of the Haven Empire.

Time Sculpting required a lot of training to be fully utilized but the threat to the north was urgent right now.

Yoo Byung-jin checked and there was a difference of 90 levels between Weed and Bardray. The sculpting and production skills would be help but there was a huge diversity in their combat skills. The final technique Time Sculpting also couldn’t be used freely right now.

If they fought right now then Bardray would win.

Yoo Byung-jin was aware of everything happening in the Versailles Continent through the artificial intelligence.

The Hermes Guild had dispatched a large number of assassination agents to the north. They were assassinating the high level users in the north.

High level users banned from the Central Continent were given a change to return to their homeland and a high position if they betrayed the Grass Porridge Cult.

“I’m grateful for the offer but I refuse. Now I have a settlement in the north.”

“The north will soon be devastated by the Haven Empire. After that, you will only get a harsh rule. Think calmly before choosing the north.”

“I have no other place to go. And there are many people I know….”

“The Hermes Guild can give you many things. This chance won’t come again. Only those selected can enter the Hermes Guild.”

The power of friendly and loyalty always collapsed before money and power. In some cases, they yelled and protested but eventually joined the Hermes Guild.

They also actively approached northern users in an attempt to buy them.

The Hermes Guild was horrible but they had established a long term plan early on. Lions were mobilized to devastate and capture the rabbits in the north.

“Weed was a cruel tyrant in Continent of Magic.”

“People have the power to change. Now Weed isn’t like that.”

Rumours continued to spread despite not having a large effect. The northern users were full of unyielding spirit and the desire to fight.

Merchants suspended trade with the north and closed their main base of business, harming commerce. Even so, a vast amount of money was invested into culture, architecture and art.

The war was also eliminating the north’s the driving force between the north’s development.

Lafaye who led the Hermes Guild lacked any heroic traits. But he knew how to diligently perform his role. The north was a seed that could later threaten the Haven Empire so he needed to dry it up.

“I have to meet Bardray at least once.”

– Shall I prepare to conduct the tests for a successor?

All the information about Bardray had been prepared through first hand research. If Yoo Byung-jin received the help of the AI then Bardray wouldn’t even notice meeting him.

“No, not yet. This might be an obvious conclusion but I want to wait until the end. I will watch Weed’s last hurrah.”

Chapter 9: The Return of the King

The place where Weed reappeared was the Earth Palace in the Arpen Kingdom.

The palace built high in the mountains in the form of a crown! The piled up stones were in various colours and large and small buildings around the palace had already been completed.

Ddiring!

– Additional compensation for achieving the goal of the final secret sculpting quest has been received.

A conqueror that swept through the Central Continent from the southern desert like a sandstorm.

You led a group of seven in order to defeat the dragon and the Embinyu Church.

– Bonus time compensation has been given for this quest.

* Time Bonus: Great Emperor Weed of the desert has disappeared a long time ago.

The kingdoms of the Central Continent were eager to erase the shameful traces of the Pallos Empire. Now it is unknown but those that follow the traces will be able to find the heritage left behind by the Great Emperor.

Those who discover it will have an opportunity to reflect on a ‘past life.’

Embracing the special memories will give you experience and expertise.

– Somewhere in the Desert of Tranquillity is a quest to obtain the desert king Weed’s skills and equipment.

The desert warrior profession is required and completing the quest will integrate the desert tribes to form a kingdom.

Apart from users, NPCs in the desert region can also proceed on this quest.

There will be a number of threats to your life during the quest.

The reward for completing the quest will be very large.

The desert warriors look up to the Great Emperor so none of them will give up this opportunity.

Once a NPC finishes the quest, they will show a certain amount of respect to you. But that show of loyalty will only be brief and they will betray you unless you show them the power of freedom of a desert warrior.

– You have arrived at the Earth Palace.

The ruling ability of the King of the Arpen Kingdom will increase by 349% in the Earth Palace.

The influence on residents have increased.

Charisma, leadership, dignity, courage, honour and faith have increased by 120.

Within the scope of the Earth Palace, fame and honour will increase to the maximum.

The application of a time bonus!

This was evidence that Weed had left a larger trace on the world. If his forgotten glory returned then it would be great.

“There is still a deficit. A lot of effort was used to fully complete the quest. More cash would be better.”

The king could receive enormous privileges in the Earth Palace. The users without enough fame might be rejected or not be granted quests by residents but Weed’s treatment was completely different.

Weed murmured in a small voice.

“The world is really unfair. Well, it is okay since I can’t change it.”

Others received preferential treatment  but they lived a proud life.

A lot of users were busy running around the Earth Palace. The users wanted to use the facilities and shops inside the palace. The merchants were also selling things at their stalls.

“How far have the Haven Empire come?”

“They have passed the Nur Plains and the Grass Porridge Cult are protecting the area.”

“Then it will probably take about three days?”

“Yes. Once they break through the Nur Plains, they can quickly advance here.”

While Weed was busy making sculptures for 20 days, the Haven Empire was on a winning streak.

Players were flocking like bees to the front of the Earth Palace. The unstable hope of the northern users!

– Weed the God of War is our king.

– The situation will change once our king returns.

– The history of the world was changed by Weed. The dragon also lost its life. The Haven Empire isn’t his opponent.

The northern users talked like this. Naturally the Haven Empire wasn’t silent.

– Weed is a loser. He already fought us and lost his life. Bardray is unbeatable.

– It is just a coincidence that the dragon died on the quest. The Haven Empire is mighty enough to occupy an entire continent. This shall be proven with the devastated north.

Weed ignored the words of the northern users.

“My destiny means that something always happens. Let’s see, Stats Window!”

Character Name | Weed | Alignment | God’s Warrior
Level | 419 | Profession | Legendary Moonlight Sculptor
Title | World-changing Sculptor | Fame | 192,912
Health | 54,830 | Mana | 23,394
Strength | 1,557 | Agility | 1,178
Vitality | 291 | Wisdom | 402
Intelligence | 484 | Fighting Spirit | 611
Endurance | 412 | Perseverance | 1,230
Art | 3,329 | Charisma | 664
Leadership | 932 | Luck | 255
Faith | 711+435 | Charm | 811+30
Resilience | 621 | Dignity | 519
Concentration | 303 | Courage | 392
Honour | 789 | Insight | 1
Affinity to Nature: 1,829
Attack | 9,102 | Defense | 2,293
Magic Resistance
Fire | 49% | Water | 46%
Earth | 48% | Black Magic | 44%

+ All stats have an additional 20 points added.

+ The Art stat is granted an additional 80 points.

+ All stats will increase by 30% on a moonlit night.

+ Specialized items.

+ All production skills can be learnt up to the master level. Preferential treatment will be applied to the skills of all items manufactured with Smelting. You can learn the best skills.

+ Unusual sculptures or sculptures will high artistic value will increase your fame.

+ All stats have been raised by 312 points due to sculptures, production skills, combat experience and quests.

Level 419.

He had raised his level while hunting in the warring period with Seo-yoon. He was level 438 when he arrived at Boden village and was cursed by the Portu King.

But he gave life to sculptures in the desert and lost a lot of levels.

His adventures in the desert was an incredible success but that all disappeared after he returned to his original world.

“In the meantime, Bardray has been on many adventures and obtained levels, stats and equipment.”

In addition to Bardray, his Royal Guards and the guild have already become stronger.

‘Bardray is the leading person on the Versailles Continent so it wouldn’t be strange for him to be level 500. Or he might have found some good hunting grounds.’

Weed’s rapid hunting and stat gains during his adventure was so fast that it was rare to find a rival.

Gaining levels quickly from hunting was a big advantage for him. Other people suffered for 10 hours hunting monsters while Weed could gain the same levels in half the time.

But that was a story for the future. Right now, the damage received from the quest was too large.

‘Bardray would just run circles around me. I need to steadily hunt before I can have a one on one battle with him.’

The users around Weed were still chatting.

“The desert king Weed will appear and kill Bardray with one swing of his sword.”

“…….”

“Hey, that is unnecessary. It will be all over once he summons a meteor.”

“Isn’t it? The Haven Empire will lose if a meteor is summoned above their heads.”

Weed wanted to tell them the truth.

The meteor summon was like an allowance a child receives from their mother and he no longer had the scroll. Time Sculpting took a long down to learn so it was like he was broke right now. It was like losing all the goid parts in an apricot.

If he was still the Great Emperor of the desert then all the monsters would rush into their graves.

“Well, it’s not the worst thing. I have a lot of properties. Including cowardice, persistence and dirty tricks.”

Weed walked through the grounds of the Earth Palace. The Earth Palace spanned seven mountain peaks so important buildings were accessible.

The palace of the king was located on the highest mountain in the middle. Originally goblins and dwarves lived on this mountain but now people called it the mountain of adventure and prosperity.

Those who weren’t nobles or people with significant achievements weren ‘t allow to enter so the palace was being protected by NPC knights. They were knights from Vent Castle that survived the fall of the Niflheim Empire. Morata’s knights grew to over 1,000 people.

Weed had given a command before going to the warring period of the army of the Arpen Kingdom didn’t participate in combat at all.

Normally the king would leave command of the military to nobles but as it was a fledgling kingdom, nobles didn’t exist at all. The king had appointed key positions to his sculptural lifeforms.

“Stop! You can’t pass through here. The only ones permitted into the palace of the Arpen Kingdom is….heok! Welcome!”

The knights wearing armour hurriedly got out of the way in order to let Weed pass.

“Thank you.”

“It is an unspeakable honour to meet you.”

Weed walked towards the Royal Palace.

The main gateways and knights were arranged at 10 metre intervals. They placed their swords on their chest as Weed got closer.

“Come see the holy person.”

“Worship the person who brought this land to us!”

The attitude of the knights were extremely polite. All the knights had sworn fealty to the king. Many knights were betrayed, insulted, criticized or treated badly by kings who didn’t care about fame and honour.

But in Weed’s case, the northern users highly respected him and showed him absolute loyalty. Even the free knights voluntarily migrated here. Users who were knights and belonged to the Arpen Kingdom would benefit from high fame and honour with soldiers.

The knights that Weed encountered on the way to the Royal Palace all walked behind him. Once there were 30 knights, the users started looking at it with strange eyes.

“What, another event?”

“I don’t know. Did an adventurer discover treasure somewhere?”

In the north, adventure was actively encouraged and there were always new things happening in the city. Those who returned to the kingdom with a huge treasure would be escorted by knights.

Even those that killed monsters worsening the peace would be appointed as a knight or a minor barony. They would be appointed to rule small villages or have their intimacy with knights raised. Those that returned to the palace with glorious actions would have the knights come running.

However, this time every knight was greeting the person with extreme respect. Once that number went over 50, the users became larger and more excitement spread.

“That reminds me, those mediocre starter clothing….”

“Weed the God of War made that type of attire popular. And that popularity has passed so people haven’t been wearing common clothing recently.”

“I also feel like it is time for him to come back. Is this really the return of the king?”

“I will tell me friends. This is really the jackpot!”

“Look at his appearance. The immaculate skin, clear eyes and commonplace face.”

Charm was a stat that was obtained during his adventures and it made small changes to his skin. Those that wore expensive clothes and ate pork belly at the market would have a faint feeling of oiliness from their face.

“Look at the attitude of the knights. It is certain. In addition, he is being sandwiched among them.”

“Ah, I see.”

The users followed behind Weed like the knights. The number of people grew larger like a snowball rolling as they notified their friends and word quickly spread through the northern continent.

It even spread to people hunting in the dungeons, exploring unusual terrain or those protecting the north from the Haven Empire.

“I’m sorry, I have to stop hunting and return to the village.”

“Why? What will happen to the people remaining if the warrior leaves? A complete nuisance.”

“If there isn’t a convincing reason then you won’t be accepted on the next hunt.”

“That….Weed-nim is back. I want to see Weed-nim.”

“Really?”

“Is that true?”

“I heard it from my friend. He is quite a reputable merchant and dealt with Weed-nim in the past. His eyes confirmed it from the Earth Palace directly.”

“You should’ve told us earlier. Let’s all go see Weed-nim at the Earth Palace.”

“What about the hunt?”

“What are you talking about? Do you think hunting is important now?”

It only took 3~4 minutes to spread the news among all the northern users. People talked to their friends who told their other friends.

It also hit the Grass Porridge Cult members who were fighting against the Haven Empire on the Nur Plains.

“Waaaaaah!”

“Hooray!”

“He has come!”

The Haven Empire was puzzled by their sudden shout.

“What are those guys playing at?”

“They are cheering. I don’t know why they are rejoicing before the massacre.”

“Breaking news. Weed the God of War is back.”

“What?”

Weed’s return was quickly announced in the Hermes Guild’s information network. Lafaye and the leaders of the guild rushed to meet after hearing news about Weed.

“He finally showed up.”

“This is the end of the war but resistance is growing again.”

“Prepare the military. In particular, we can never know what Weed’s plan is so be careful of a strike.”

“Should we double the escort troops?”

“Increase it by 3 times when the supply troops depart.”

The leaders of the Hermes Guild weren’t negligent at all. No matter how overwhelming their army was, Weed could never be ignored.

In the early days, Lafaye had thought only two or three rounds of combat would be needed to conquer the north.

‘Once they feel the difference in strength a few times, they will be easily defeated and trampled on. There is no one on the Versailles Continent that can rival the power of the Haven Empire.’

But the north kept fighting against the dominance of the Haven Empire. Their plans already went sour.

The dramatic scenes of Weed struggling on the battlefield was constantly being played on the television. His actions gave the people of the Versailles Continent hope and courage. Therefore the resistance in the north became increasingly heavier and now Weed had returned.

The leaders of the Hermes Guild couldn’t ignored the power of Weed and the north.

Bardray who was preparing to fight Abyss Knight Van Hawk also heard the news.

“Weed has appeared.”

‘Of course he would come back.’

Bardray quietly pulled out his sword.

The best equipment and hunting grounds of the Haven Empire was provided to him. All the best weapons, armour and accessories.

In the past he had been lacking a lot but he learned from watching Weed. Hunting through the one point attack or risking his life with a drastic thrust towards a large monster.

‘I am certain to win the fight and he won’t win even if he uses his tricks.’

Bardray’s heart had fallen when he saw Weed succeed in his quest. He was afraid of the final secret sculpting technique received as a reward for the quest.

‘I hope it is a pure art skill.’

He could no longer boast about his win in the past. Bardray decided to kill Weed again in order to demonstrate the difference.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed walked forward without any hesitation while the users and knights followed. If he took a step back then the shouts of the users could be heard.

“Weed the God of War!”

“Weed-nim, is it really you? Please nod once if it is correct!”

“I wanted to see you. You must remember me, the adventurer Redul!”

“Welcome back. The Merchants Guild is gathering in Bingryong Square.”

“Weed-nim, the other day Goldman borrowed 2 gold from me and still hasn’t returned it!”

The cheers of the users! Almost all the users in the vicinity of the Earth Palace was making a fuss. The escort knights blocked their access but the amount of people was enough for him to feel it.

‘This building is robust and meticulously built.’

This was the first time Weed visited the Earth Palace so his eyes scanned every nook and cranny. He was looking for problems like cracks, leaks, wide joints or any inferior workmanship!

The architects had voluntarily participated in building the palace so such a thing couldn’t happen. Usually the architects were given a certain amount of money to build it in a quick period so complaints would build up.

The architects in the north had a relatively low level but advanced technical skills. Once their construction skills increased, benefits could be obtained such as minimizing the area of the pillars or creating materials that would decrease the weight.

The palace was built  based on their wealth of construction experience. The architects with low skills placed stones on the road and even created flower beds. This work was under his name so no mistakes would be tolerated.

The Arpen Kingdom’s Royal Palace was started with 2 million gold but was completed due to the contribution and participation of the users.

Weed stood in front of the stairs going up to the Royal Palace. Hundreds of Royal Knights wearing gold and silver plated armour standing on their stairs pulled out their swords.

“Your Majesty.”

Cheok!

The swords were placed at their chest and they bowed.

“It is really Weed-nim!”

“Amazing! Really amazing!”

The power of the kingdom’s knights was enough that monsters would turn and flee. Due to the culture and commerce of the kingdom, he had committed to expanding the military to police the border and secure peace.

When it wasn’t in a war with other kingdoms, the knights would sweep up monsters and bandits. They ensured security from thieves and fought alongside users to save villages threatened by monsters. The population explosion in the frontier villages made it difficult for the knights and soldiers to combat.

Therefore his army wasn’t at an embarrassing level. There were multiple kingdoms on the Versailles Continent but it had proudly established itself. However, it was still unstable and in danger of disappearing in front of the Haven Empire’s invasion.

Weed climbed the stairs of the palace through the path that the knights had opened. The users shouts became louder every time he climbed the stairs.

‘What the hell…am I a person deserving of that much respect?’

“Weed-nim!”

‘I’m pleased that they are acting like this. The Arpen Kingdom is mine and they are my people.’

“Waaaaaah!”

‘It should be fine to raise the taxes. What time would be better, how about the day after tomorrow?’

The spirit of a dictator that connected the cheers with a tax increase!

“Welcome Your Majesty.”

The knights opened the front door once Weed arrived at the entrance of the palace.

The interior view of the palace! The Arpen Kingdom couldn’t be called frugal but the inside was filled with colourful decorations, gold and precious jewels.

It was a huge space for the king made from the enormous tax income of local cities. Of course, this wasn’t a luxury but necessary to deal with users.

Users with production skills made jewellery with gems and as adventurers spread out, relics of the Niflheim Empire continued to be discovered. There were also quality products that had gathered dust for many years in the warehouse of high end stores.

Weed walked in the centre of the red carpet that had been spread out.

Beads of light were floating like living organisms. ‘The Eyes of the Niflheim Empire’ had been excavated by adventurers in the north. They flew around the palace in high places like birds and seeing them would increase governance of his territory by 4%.

At the minimum, a king was required to use it so the general users donated it.

Ddiring!

– The Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom has been completed.

Do you want to designate the Royal Palace as the capital of the Arpen Kingdom?

“I will allow it.”

– The capital of the Arpen Kingdom has been determined.

Important national policy will be decided on in the Royal Palace.

You can recruit the required positions for this country.

You can check the status of each city and exert influence in the internal affairs section.

The king can appoint nobles and lords here and give them unique privileges.

The nobles and lords of the Arpen Kingdom can gain fame and honour appropriate to their position.

It is possible for those with meritorious service to the kingdom to establish a clan. The loyalty will pass from generation to generation and the successor will have excellent pedigree.

National fame has increased by 34.

The diplomacy capacity of the kingdom has increased.

Loyalty of the residents will increase by 43%.

The nation’s pride has increased, improving the maximum loyalty of the residents by 20%.

All cities and villages under the reign of the Arpen Kingdom will pay tribute in order to celebrate the completion of the palace.

Royal Knights came along with him. They shouted on one knee.

“Your Majesty, many people will rejoice that you returned after a long time. The people suffering from an invasion from the outside are feeling anxious. Can we light the beacon to inform people that Your Majesty is alive?”

Ddiring!

– The King has appeared in the Arpen Kingdom

The Royal Knights are delighted that you have appeared and asked to notify the other cities.  If you accept then the other cities will know that the King has appeared.

Level of Difficulty: F

There were numerous decisions he needed to make as king that were simple. Weed easily gave permission without worrying about it.

“Light the beacon to announce that I am here.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Soon red, blue and yellow smoke started rising from the peaks of the Earth Palace into the sky. And then smoke could be seen from other mountain peaks.

On the wide plains, messengers rose horses to mountains that weren’t in the line of sight and they lit their beacons. By the time it was evening, smoke was blowing across the entire Arpen Kingdom.

The news that Weed arrived spread all over the Arpen Kingdom.

The broadcasting stations quickly informed those in Royal Road who didn’t know about it.

The armed forces of the Haven Empire were marching towards the Earth Palace. And King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom had arrived on the premises of the Earth Palace.

On the brink of a crisis! The Haven Empire that had taken over the entire Central Continent were moving a colossal amount of troops into the north.

Despite Weed’s adventures being like a myth, the majority of users had the opinion that his wings would be broken.

Once Weed arrived at the Royal Palace, there were users who requested discussions with him. They were local lords and well known users in the Grass Porridge Cult.

But the architect called Pavo was the one most urgent to contact him.

Pavo was different from the time he wore several layers of thick clothes to protect against the freezing cold during the Northern Expedition. Since the time Pavo had been registered as his friend, he had become a great architect in the north.

– We need to meet in order to discuss how to stop the Haven Empire.

“I understand. Come here.”

Several architects including Pavo arrived through a magician’s teleportation. They hadn’t changed clothes and were still wearing dusty overalls.

“You came back safely.”

Pavo grabbed Weed’s hand. The other architects were thrilled to meet a celebrity and greet Weed with wide eyes.

“You have really suffered a lot for the north.”

The architects had dedicated themselves to acting for the north. They repaired fortressed and made the walls higher. Despite it not having a big effect, they placed a large role in dragging out the advance of the Haven Empire.

If it wasn’t for them, the Earth Palace might have already been captured.

“There is no time so I will explain it simply. Can you defeat them if you fight the Haven Empire?”

Pavo asked with penetrating eyes. The 30 architects that came along with him were also showing signs of curiosity.

In fact, every northern user and even the Hermes Guild wanted to know this answer.

If they just looked at the power then it was natural for the Haven Empire to win. But Weed had reversed adverse fights every time. He overcame absolute quests that most people would collapse at just thinking about it.

This time the comparison wasn’t simple because it wasn’t just a difference in power between users. But they still wondered if Weed had alternative methods to reverse the situation.

Weed energetically replied.

“I can defeat them.”

“Really?”

“Well, maybe.”

“…….”

A mild attitude!

The architects were disappointed but they soon interpreted it in a positive manner.

‘Yes, it is hard to be sure. The situation is so disadvantageous but he confidently replied that there was a chance. It isn’t arrogance or greed.’

‘He isn’t giving up at all. That is a good thing.’

Pavo hesitated before nodding reluctantly.

“If the Haven Empire continues to march like this then it will arrive in two days. The northern users have already tied them up for three days. They have been reinforced so they might buy an extra half day.”

“I expected that.”

Weed’s return meant that the quality of the northern users would change greatly. The mid and high level users that had been waiting now started to move against the Haven Empire. If Weed led the northern users directly then it was rare to find users not willing to fight.

But when looking at the power of both sides, Weed’s magic over the northern users still couldn’t overcome the disadvantage.

“The architects can stop them for at least three days.”

“Really?”

“In addition, we can give them significant damage.”

“Then the reason you came to see me….”

Weed quickly notice it.

“This means there will be some damage to the north.”

“That’s correct. Do you know about the Alkazar Bridge that the Stone Hammer Guild built?”

“The bridge that connects both sides of the Peshil River. The river is quite deep so boats were used to cross it. The creation of the bridge means that travellers and merchants can easily cross.”

Alkazar’s Bridge was a source of great pride for the architects.

The landscape around it made construction difficult and the stones used to build the bridge were demanding materials.

If someone stood on the Alkazar Bridge on a dark night,  they would see the beautiful sight of Yusellin village and the stars reflected in the water.

It was a highly recommended place to visit for travellers.

“The Haven Empire will definitely cross the Alkazar Bridge.”

It would take a significant amount of time if the army had to build rafts or small boats to cross the river. Pavo said he could stop them for three days but Weed was well versed in shipbuilding and thought it would be at least five days.

The siege weapons and supplies were quite heavy. In fact, any type of disruption wouldn’t stop them from crossing the river.

Weed already guessed what the architects were trying to say.

“If we do this on purpose then there is no going back.”

“Once they cross the bridge, you want to break the bridge.”

“Ohhhhh!”

Weed’s face was surprised like he was a child that dropped candy on the ground. It was awkward because he hadn’t expected such excessive reactions!

Pavo’s eyebrows twitched.

“You…you knew what I was trying to say.”

“It is okay as long as we live. Breaking a Grand Building must be stressful.”

“That’s correct. It is something that we passionately built and now we have to tear it down with our hands. Especially since people enjoyed the convenience and everyone became happier.”

“Kuhuhuk, the stone pillar that I built in the river.”

“I ate fish and almost died.”

The architects couldn’t help shedding tears!

Weed had been stuck in the desert but he could understand this scene. The feeling of his sculptures being broken.

‘Of course, breaking it is worth it. Time and money was spent on it. But it is better than being ripped off by a customer.’

This was the tough aspect of Weed’s mentality.

“As King of the Arpen Kingdom, I have made a decision. Break it!”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

Thus, it was easily decided that Alkazar Bridge would be broken.

“Just be careful. The Hermes Guild will notice quickly.”

“Hoho, this is the skill of an architect. We might not be able to hunt well but architects can play a role in a war. Our role is comparable to second place.”

“It is certainly an excellent way to stop them. Go ahead.”

“We are ready to start immediately.”

Weed was feeling refreshed at this point. But the architects’ next words caused him heartburn.

“As expected. He really isn’t an ordinary person.”

“It seems so. A lot of money went into the Alkazar Bridge.”

“Probably most of the Arpen Kingdom’s budget flew into it.”

“I don’t know the exact amount but it was probably beyond 2 million gold.”

Burururu!

Weed’s eyes started shaking fiercely like he was watching a sad movie.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Dung dang dung dang!

The architects working on the Alkazar Bridge wore black cloaks around their bodies while working.

“Smash it in moderation. The bridge should crumble with as much of the enemy on the bridge as possible.”

“Of course!”

“We will leave the outside and only work on the inside. Only the important pillars acting as support will be cut…”

“I made the calculations so I know better than anyone. Don’t worry about it.”

Alkazar Bridge was teeming with users but thanks to the Haven Empire, the tourists couldn’t be seen at all.

In fact, there were many users on the bridge that were indifferent to the world. Some of those on holiday from their companies would eat and sleep on the bridge. But they had all flocked to the Earth Palace after Weed’s return.

The group of architects were able to work discreetly.

“We need to show those fellows a clear example.”

“But to break a building like this, I can’t help shedding tears.”

The architects weren’t the only ones being active in the north.

The continent’s leading architect, Mibullo.

He had taken part in the construction of the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace. However, he didn’t like it and sneaked into the north.

The Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace was great but it was the prime example of poor construction!

If there was an event where many people gathered in the building then it would come crashing down. If there was heavy rain that soaked the ground then the foundation would sink down. The splendid building spread over a vast area would fall to pieces.

Mibullo had only heard rumours of the north and this was his first time seeing it.

“It is amazing. Breathtaking. How can the city look so disordered yet lively?”

Morata had a distinctly different flavour from the Central Continent. It was uncomfortable to move through the entrance of the city due to so many merchants.

“Seeling good, expensive products.”

“A premium merchant in Morata offers you greetings. Right now I am selling luxurious products for level 200 users. Come and see. Looking only costs 2 silver!”

It was more common to see merchants sitting lazily in the Central Continent. Players put up shops and hired employees to take care of everything.

However, the northern users were actively engaged in soliciting customers.

But that wasn’t all. After disposing of his horse, Mibullo went to be replenish his supplies. And there was so many merchants that it was difficult to see individual users.

Fruit, fish, iron ore, food, hunting tools, crockery, weapons, armour, magic items, and items needed for quests.

There were many people walking in and out of Bingryong Square. The remains of the small village Morata was developed from still remained.

The Grand Buildings erected as landmarks of the city, the Tower of Light, Goddess of Freya Statue and the Art Centre were all attractions.

A city filled with art, culture, commercial development and the laughter of its people! In spite of the Haven Empire’s invasion, Morata was still bustling with people.

“I am a novice just starting. Where can I go work to earn money?”

“There is a part time job polishing apples at the market.”

“Hit the scarecrow. Patience and hard work are the basics! You will be able to grow in the future.”

The beginners continued arriving. Hundreds of people that showed up in the square during their first time in Royal Road had the same reaction.

“Uwak! My body is moving!”

“Omomomo, the city is so beautiful.”

“Ohhh, there is even a smell. Where is this fragrance coming from? My backpack…let’s see, there are 10 barley breads. I’ll eat is sparingly.”

Beginners started to meet friends of family they knew in the city or ran around it alone. After a bunch of beginners left, more users would appear. It was hard not to find beginners in Morata. The Haven Empire’s invasion meant that the north might be destroyed so the wanted to hurriedly start.

“Amazing. This is what living in a city should be like.”

The architect Mibullo absorbed the atmosphere of the city and its people.

Morata didn’t have a long history so many users had been here since it developed. This pride meant that they didn’t know how to give up. They gathered to fight against the Haven Empire and this also raised Morata’s development.

“I have to aid the military!”

He was sick of the lords in the Central Continent. He wanted to see all the Grand Buildings in the north.

In order to do that, he needed to block the Haven Empire.

“I can look around the city later…. There is no time.”

Mibullo left Morata and headed to the place where the Haven Empire was advancing. He was one of the best architects and had special skills.

Landslide!

Ground Collapse!

Mibullo decided to use the skills he gained in the pursuit of art, convenience and design as an architect against the Haven Empire.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Internal Affairs of the Arpen Kingdom

Weed was at the Earth Palace! The northern users had used magic and swords to get to the Earth Palace.

“Is this really the Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom?”

“It is built really sturdy. It is also made to match the mountains really well.”

“Wah…there are signs of a huge construction!”

The king had finally arrived and for many northern users, this was the first time they had seen the Earth Palace. The users wanted to see Weed’s face but he didn’t come out after entering his office at the Royal Palace.

“It is good to be home. I worried so much about money after leaving home.”

He had left the Arpen Kingdom before the Earth Palace had been completed but the warmth made it feel like a home he had lived in for a long time.

Weed had been away for a long time and could finally feel the comforts of home. If Morata was like a 20 storey apartment then the Earth Palace would be like renting the penthouse of a 160 storey apartment!

“Perfect view and interior decor…. He could now understand the desire of rich people to live in a good house. It is too luxurious.”

Weed’s heart was blacker than charcoal as thoughts filled his mind.

“I would be able to sell houses like this for a lot of money. Hrmm, a construction company would be good. Although the recession means there is no choice but to suffer. I should actively make a construction boom in the Arpen Kingdom.”

The driving force behind economic development was land speculation! The Arpen Kingdom had a large percentage of diverse professions than other kingdoms. It might be vulnerable in combat but it was superior in production and art development.

If the Arpen Kingdom was given 3 years then the north would completely change.

The well-constructed cities surrounded by beautiful scenery, easily accessible roads that stretched across the northern continent like spider webs and a range of creative arts in the streets.

A fledgling kingdom strong in urban planning would actively cause changes. It was highly likely that the northern continent would continue to evolve along with the Arpen Kingdom and its people.

“Currently, the population of the Arpen Kingdom has significantly increased and the towns and cities are becoming enormous.”

Weed opened the Internal Affairs window of the Arpen Kingdom. There was a tingle of excitement and tension in his stomach. He hadn’t felt this much excitement since  fighting the Embinyu Church as a Warrior Saving the World or the undead legion as an ugly orc.

A kingdom that rules over a vast amount of territory in the Northern Continent.

The different flags and culture of the Arpen Kingdom has spread through the different terrains and climate of the north.

A country that annexed the territories in a peaceful manner through trade and culture. The territory includes most of the areas of the former Niflheim Empire.

The knights and residents carry out the king’s orders with dignity and respect. Most of the inhabitants in the north believe that the king has been selected by the Goddess Freya.

The king and nobles have opened up paths and established the country with their own hands.

Among the incredible rumours about the king, he is a hero that performed missions for the gods of the Versailles Continent.

The inclination of the inhabitants of the Arpen Kingdom leans towards the pursuit of adventure, freedom and economic abundance.

A sense of satisfaction is felt from the arts.

Despite the invasion of an empire, the king has a diligent personality that inspires belief in him.

The birth rate has increased so rapidly that it is difficult to measure.

This particularly applies to the 400 male and female orcs that settled in the Arpen Kingdom.

Monsters are still around but the amount of security means they can’t advance close to the cities.

Military Power: 7,390               Economic Power: 48,291                 Culture: 42,092

Technology: 62,380                    Religious Influence: 86                 Kingdom Politics: 92

Impact on the Surrounding Areas: 97%

Development of the Kingdom: 79     Hygiene: 42                                Security: 92%

Residents of the north are happy to belong to the Arpen Kingdom.

Clearing of the plains, wilderness, flood zones and redevelopment of abandoned mines are actively being pursued.

New products are created and the economy expanded.

Skilled craftsmen filled with pride manufactured advanced products and concentrated on expanding production.

Road construction is occurring everywhere and food shortages are decreasing as trade is freely growing.

Sometimes local, small cities are resistant to paying taxes.

“The Arpen Kingdom is amazing despite only having a short history! But if left unattended, the crime rate and thieves will increase.”

“The taxes have to be used properly as the country can’t grow without proper support.”

“What is His Majesty doing? His achievements as a hero won’t be any use if a colossal amount of bandits are allowed to grow in the kingdom.”

The interest in the open sea means that the shipping industry was improving.

Maritime trade routes are becoming stable and fishermen will catch mysterious fish or hungry sharks when sailing.

Young farmers actively grow crops for several different species.

The orcs love devouring rice and wheat.

The value of coffee, tea and herbal medicine are increasing, building up the foundation of wealthy farmers.

Adventurers are finding traces of relics from the Niflheim Empire.  Adventurers will also tell endless amounts of stories in the tavern.

The military power of the Arpen Kingdom isn’t well known to the residents. They are mocked as coward for not taking action against the Haven Empire’s invasion.

Monsters are constantly being subjugated at mountain villages or villages near the mountains.

Prestigious knights have gathered from all over the continent to worship King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom.

The radical urban development being accomplished causes the population to frequently gather for festivals.

Kingdom’s Total Population: 38,291,029                  Monthly Tax Revenue: 21,943,920

Kingdom’s Operating Expenses:

Military 12%              Technology Development 6%          Economic Development 38%

Cultural Investment 6%                       Commissions and Monster Subjugation 14%

Road Construction 22%                                                        Religion 2%

Military: 4,939 knights, 9,720 training soldiers and 162,023 soldiers.

The army of the Arpen Kingdom was finally stepping out of the gate with their shoulders straight.

The knights division mostly consisted of free knights and Vent Castle troops.

The soldiers gained levels and experience from subjugating monsters. At the very least, they learned how to use bows, swords and shields.

“This is my Arpen Kingdom!”

He had been away for a long period of time but his kingdom had continued to grow healthily.

Weed was satisfied with the income and other specific national power.

“It was raised well. It feels very rewarding. Excellent.”

The users living in the north frequently told absurd stories about the Arpen Kingdom’s development.

“A week ago, I saw a thatched house in the vicinity of Herot River.”

“Is that so? Yesterday I saw at least 500 shacks in that location.”

“What do you mean? I just came from Herot River and there was a medium sized town!”

“Hey, a friend of mine who is an orc just sent me a whisper from there.”

“The who one started just now?”

“That’s right!”

The population of the north was growing furiously so beginner users roamed the continent without hesitation.

Steady hunting was important for the novice users but they could dream of a jackpot in the north. They fantasized of finding the relics of the Niflheim Empire waiting for them in undiscovered dungeons. Land that had been vacant in the past became a base of transportation, adventure or production and a village was instantly created.

From Weed’s perspective, the Arpen Kingdom was like a growing piggy bank. It felt like owning a chicken farm that lay golden eggs.

“One day I will get a huge amount of funds…my retirement depends on this.”

A rice bowl that contained his retirement funds!

Just like most people, he was anxious about his retirement funds. This acted as his pension so he was worried about the Arpen Kingdom.

“If I can’t stop the Haven Empire then my comfortable retirement will end.”

Weed didn’t immediately rush onto the battlefield. The Haven Empire was waiting to strike but he didn’t bother going to see them. Furthermore, Pavo and the architects already started a task to block their route.

“The guests will have a hard time before coming. Military Status information!”

– Arpen Kingdom’s Military

Knights: 32,998

Average Level: 367

Soldiers: 187,390

Average Level: 194

Loyalty: 99%

Training: 89%

The King of the Arpen Kingdom is referred to as the ‘Hero who Saved the Continent.’

Free knights will respond to his righteous call. The knight have great pride and high morale despite running into danger.

The knights have decent equipment and ride tame horses to assault the opponent.

Soldiers have absolute loyalty. They will do anything for the king.

Soldiers will become more experienced by fighting against monsters and exploring dungeons.

The sky island Lavias is roaming the Arpen Kingdom.

They refuse to bow to humans but are willing to become members of the Arpen Kingdom due to the special ties.

They will participate in a war breaks out.

There are a number of military strongholds. Many military fortress that used to belong to the Niflheim Empire, including Vent Castle require repair.

The walls are too weak. It will easily fall if a large scale battle takes place.

“Hrmm, the territory and population as increased a lot. Although the military power is almost useless compared to the Haven Empire.”

Weed had started with Morata in the north.

At the time, he had received protection from the Freya Church so he had decreased spending in the military in favour of faster economic development. As a result, the number of trained elite soldiers was low and there weren’t many knights.

Even if a war broke out, troops were needed to prevent the invasion of monsters so only half the forces could be mobilized.

“But the new territory of Lavias has value.”

The Arpen Kingdom had expanded over a large territory in the north but there wasn’t much profit. Many villages and cities had been left in ruins after the fall of the Niflheim Empire.

The monsters ran wild and the small population that survived waited a long time for development. Money was required to secure the roads and walls, construction and urban renewal.

But the sky island of Lavias didn’t have to worry about monster invasions and could safely develop. It was a small kingdom itself with numerous dungeons.

“If the sky population joins then the possibilities are endless.”

The humans and avians had significantly different appearances. It was  a complete likeness of a bird.

Humans, elves and dwarves had 2nd and 3rd areas of expertise but the avians had an amazing attribute.

Once they reached a certain level through hunting prey, they would make a breakthrough. Those that abandoned their old bodies could get the flesh of a new species. In addition, physical attributes like speed and height would increase.

Many people dreamed of becoming an avian and making a huge breakthrough but Weed didn’t miss an important part.

“Every time a body is shed, new equipment is needed so it will cost a lot of money. Those with a hobby of keeping their equipment shouldn’t become an avian.”

In Royal Road, people wanted to wear the best equipment possible that suited them. Functional and aesthetically pleasing equipment would instil more confidence on the adventures. The markets and shops in the cities were always crowded with people buying better goods.

Avians had a collective way of living and also paid attention to their appearance. Just like humans, they wore a variety of clothing designed for the beaks and claws, in addition to combat gear and accessories. The overall atmosphere could change just by wearing a new crown or necklace.

Some wore shoes while others like sparrows enjoyed walking on the land and feeling the soil and twigs. Avians who liked a cute or strong appearance were conscious of what equipment they chose.

Most of the equipment for avians were found in Lavias. They could fly so no matter how far away it was, the avians would head to Lavias to purchase goods.

The avians had private restaurants, inns and training centres on Lavias. Some restaurants even mad grilled earthworm steaks with butter.

Some bird tribes had a natural homing instinct and would only come back to Lavias once or twice a year.

Lavias was the hometown of the avians so it would continue to evolve in the future, making it a reliable place to obtain taxes from. Having the new territory of Lavias would certainly increase the tax revenue of the Arpen Kingdom.

“A positive financial resource. Good. Very good.”

Ddiring!

– The Arpen Kingdom is being invaded.

Knights and soldiers will actively fight against the enemies trying to occupy the territory.

The sky island Lavias has joined and the avians are burning with fighting spirit.

If you don’t allow them to fight then there might be decrease in loyalty and morale.

Do you want to allow the avians to fight the enemy?

“Phew. These guys are better than nothing. I accept.”

– The kingdom’s army is being lined up.

The avians and soldiers have high loyalty and treason is unlikely to occur.

Please select a place to gather the army.

“Earth Palace.”

– The army will move to that location.

The sky island Lavias will move.

Your Majesty the King must choose a knight to command the troops.

The knights and soldiers that make enormous contributions in the battle can be upgraded to a noble rank.

Or the king can directly conduct the army.

“I can’t trust anyone. I will direct them.”

– The king will command the army directly.

Soldiers will have incredibly high morale.

“The people of the north will also help the army. And the key to defeating them might be Time Sculpting.”

His act to save the world had left an intense impression on everyone. The level of this quest was unprecedented in Royal Road and he showed off a strong fighting ability. However, that was only in the warring period.

In fact, Weed’s level had been reduced after the quest and he was only level 419. Maybe making the sculptural lifeforms in the desert had a fatal impact.

Among the users active in the north, many had higher levels than Weed. The only thing they didn’t have was Time Sculpting.

But that was only one skill. After collecting all the secret sculpting techniques and many adventures, he had finally learned Time Sculpting! This was the first time someone in Royal Road had obtained the final secret technique so it was unlikely for anyone else to have a similar skill.

It was Weed’s only absolutely irreplaceable weapon.

He was looking forward to when intermediate Time Sculpting could stop the world. An infinite imaginative power and possibilities!

“It will be really special when that time comes. Time stopping will be a beautiful sight and it is a work of art that can destroy the natural order of the world. The best sculptor….ah, no. These useless art skills!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The commanders of the Haven Empire’s army in the north gathered in a tent.

The commanders strong enough to cause an uproar anywhere they went on the Versailles Continent and they were ranked based on their combat capabilities.

In particular, Draka who was the commander in chief of the northern invasion had achieved numerous battle victories in Royal Road.

He received generous support from the Hermes Guild and was evaluated as one of the elite knights. Of course, Draka had a notorious reputation that caused any residents who heard the name to flee from their house.

“According to the news, Weed has appeared at the Earth Palace.”

“If we march at full speed then we can reach the Earth Palace in 3 days from here.”

“Those Grass Porridge fellows are slowing down our advance. Whether we reach the Earth Palace in three days or five days, everyone there will be slaughtered.

“Time isn’t a problem. Weed has appeared but he needs longer than a week to prepare for the war.”

“How about we wait for a week and see? The northern user at the Earth Palace have higher skills than those we’ve faced so far. If we finish them then we can truly defeat Weed and the north.”

The northern invasion army were already sick of facing the northern users. The users had large numbers but weren’t very strong so they were reminiscent of an ant swarm.

Once the northern users were hit by arrows and magic, they would then be smashed by knights and infantry.

This simple approach took time but had a definite effect. Their overwhelming strength led to continuous victories but the problem was that the enemy kept coming.

The Hermes Guild realized how deeply the north felt about this place.

‘It is like a mother bird defending its nest of young from a snake.’

The Haven Empire were the big snake while the northern users were the soft mother bird.

The reason that the users desperately sacrificed their lives wasn’t just because of Weed’s popularity.

The Arpen Kingdom was the last bastion left on the continent. Those who wanted the freedom to enjoy their lives were clear that they could only do it in the north.

‘In order to have their freedom, they can’t leave this area.’

‘The last refuge will be swept away. In doing so, the unity of the continent will be achieved.’

‘We need to subdue them perfectly in order to ensure long term control over the north.’

Despite the fierce resistance from the north, the commanders were convinced that they would win.

Looting and land acquisition. They were waiting to enjoy the benefits of occupying a territory. A good number of the users and knights had participated in wars of conquest before.

“Have the leaders decided on a countermeasure for Weed?”

“I don’t care what command the guild leaders give. We will continue to march towards the Earth Palace.”

“If Weed has appeared then shouldn’t Bardray come like originally planned?”

“You know that the Abyss Knight has appeared in the Haven Empire…. Weed is in the Earth Palace so there is a slim chance that he can get away. Currently they are more concerned about inside the empire.”

“Indeed…Weed can’t attack our invincible army without a lot of preparations.”

The Hermes Guild didn’t think that Weed and the north could defeat the current Haven Empire. The northern users had been overwhelmingly smashed so far.

Despite Weed’s personal ability, there was no way he could deal with the collective strength of the army.

“The forces of the Arpen Kingdom are limited…it might be possible to defeat them with just one of our units. Observe the movement of the troops for more information.”

“A lot of people are gathering at the Earth Palace. They will fight against us with Weed.”

“We can handle them. Weed might have great leadership abilities but he is used to directing NPCs, not users.”

“The Hermes Guild has conquered the Central Continent and are used to the organization and operation of an army.”

“Those who are scared or try to escape…. For the majority of the users, this is their first time at war. The north might be eagerly jumping at us now but they will start fleeing once there is a disadvantage.”

“We also have the ability to make public opinion move for us.”

“Well, isn’t there a possibility they will run the moment they see the full force of the Haven Empire’s army?”

War was on an entirely different scale from adventures.

The current Imperial Army contained users of the Hermes Guild and experienced NPCs. The Hermes Guild had secured the Haven Kingdom in the early days so the members were used to war.

When looking at the scale of a war, being able to command the army to move efficiently was important. The users with strong personalities found it hard to follow the battle tactics and strict discipline in an army.

The commanders needed to give commands that overrode individual thoughts and judgements. Sometimes general users without war experience would cause a defeat when victory was close.

On the other hand, an army configured with NPCs could maximize the effectiveness of battle tactics. It was difficult for even famous and strong users to withstand the concentrated attack of an army.

There were many other advantages to NPC troops. Despite needing to mobilize for dozens of days on missions to subjugate bandits, their loyalty would be maintained. Good commanders would maintain high morale and loyalty through training.

In the process of unifying the Central Continent, the consolidating of the Haven Empire’s military power meant it was difficult for any kingdom to face them. The huge investment early on meant they were easily mobilized for war.

This was half the core forces of the Haven Empire so they were confident about beating the Arpen Kingdom in the north. The current power of the Haven Empire’s army was close to invincible.

This was the analysis for the north as well as the entire Versailles Continent. They wouldn’t be able to stand up to the Haven Empire’s enormous army.

“We will continue to keep an eye on Weed. And we will finish him up at the Earth Palace.”

“It will be fine.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Robin-nim, the Hermes Guild wants a talent like you.”

“Well, I am with my colleagues so it is a difficult decision to make.”

The hunter Robin was formally invited to the Hermes Guild. The tall, handsome and rich Robin who pursued Seo-yoon!

In Royal Road, his level was beyond 400 and he wore the best equipment. The armour  and weapon had splendid options by default and magic effects were always activated against monsters.

If anything was lacking then he would have blacksmiths and tailors add more diamonds. The gazes of other people would be filled with astonishment and envy when he walked through villages.

But unlike the actual power of his level and equipment, he was afraid every time he entered a dark and sombre dungeon.

Despite his profession as a hunter, Robin was never alone. He was always accompanied by at least 5 mercenaries consisting of knights and priests.

The hunting efficiency was good and they would receive compensation from famous dungeon quests! If there were dangerous situations with monsters then the mercenaries would take care of it. Therefore, Robin hardly ever died.

“Wouldn’t it be an honour for the Hermes Guild if Robin-nim joins? Of course, your other friends are also invited.”

“Hrmm, the offer is good.”

Robin thought deeply about his future.

The Nice Guys Guild was famous in Royal Road. The children of wealthy families gathered in the Versailles Guild operated the guild as a hobby.

Despite the fight for supremacy among the prestigious guilds, the Nice Guys Guild were never involved. Just like Robin, they were overflowing with money and power so touching them would cause problems.

They had wide connections in Royal Road and could request retaliation against any slights. They sprinkled money recklessly and no one else could imitate them.

Actually, Robin and the Nice Guys had made quite a lot of requests to the Hermes Guild.

“I need a bow. The restriction is level 340.”

“The rating? And tell me if you have any specific options you want.”

“I would be satisfied with a legend rating. At the very least, it should be the best bow for my level.”

“You know that items like that aren’t common.”

“I don’t care about the price. Having an option to freeze monsters would be fine as well.”

They asked for weapons and armour regardless of the price or players and NPCs to act as guides.

Active users working as merchants were asked to deliver or trade goods. If there was a conflict with other users then they would pay money to have them killed.

The Hermes Guild didn’t need to be hostile or stop them. If they did the requests then there would be a huge financial gain.

Currently the Nice Guys had a unique power on the continent so the Hermes Guild wanted to recruit them. By accepting the funds of those who were wealthy in reality, there would be mutually beneficial transactions.

“Recently I’ve been wanting to become a lord. If you give me a city then I will join the Hermes Guild.”

Robin recently had aspirations of becoming a lord.

Being a lord required a lot of effort to build up fame and achievements but the Hermes Guild’s PR members readily nodded.

“Of course it is possible.”

There were many areas in the territory that the Haven Empire snatched that didn’t have lords. The Empire controlled the city and they begrudgingly paid the taxes. Lords could become nobles in the Empire and were generously treated.

Robin was the son of a rich family so there was no question about his money. From the perspective of the Hermes Guild, Robin would use his money on the city if he was awarded a lordship. Therefore, there were many long-term benefits.

“I thought this was a big favour to ask but the Hermes Guild agreed.”

“The guild will actively help if Robin-nim has a request. Where we you like the land?”

“My dream is to become the lord of a city in the northern frontier.

“The north? But the occupation operation isn’t over yet so it will be hard to maintain peace and order. Wouldn’t it be better to develop a commercial free city?”

“The north has large potential sleeping. I am the oldest son of an entrepreneur so I prefer a place with potential rather than one that is already developed. My friends also prefer the north.”

“I understand. However, currently the area we’ve occupied in the north is only at the standards of a small village.”

“That makes it more attractive. I can completely renovate it from the ground up to make my own city.”

“Oh, I see that your perspective is different from mine. If you think you will be satisfied then we have a few areas.”

The Hermes Guild’s PR crew nodded. There were many areas in the occupied north where a large city could be built.

Rather than a city already finished, Robin would need to supply materials to build up the city so it would only benefit the Hermes Guild.

Due to the myth of Morata, many users wanted to be lords in the north. This was extra income for the Hermes Guild.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

In Morata, there was a user called Seventh Rabbit that had an addiction to reading.

He liked to read any articles.

In reality, he was a 17 year old that read most of the published comics and novels.

The obsessed Seventh Rabbit was stuck in the library.

“Huhuhu, something like this happened. A fabulous quest. I can sell the information for 300 gold.”

He read books about history, geography, plants, quest events and anything that caught his eye. The combination of some information could be sold for money, to fulfil unresolved quests or to luckily find a treasure.

“Huh? Heroes in the Warring Period. This book wasn’t here a few days ago.”

Seventh Rabbit looked at a bookshelf.

[Heroes in the Warring Period #3

Countless heroes lived in the warring period. Local heroes lost their lives while stronger warriors would emerge on the Central Continent.

Many ambitious kings tried to seize power until the invasion of the Pallos Empire from the south put an end to their lives.

During this time, the name of heroes could be counted on one hand. I can assure you that it includes Hestiger.

A warrior and well-mannered gentleman, he has no defects and is a perfect specimen. During the warring period, countless women who were nobles or commoners would soak their pillows with tears while thinking of him.

There are rumours that Hestiger handled any crime in the warring period. Hestiger didn’t seek honour and power and only lived for discipline and justice. His strong mind was unshakable by cowardice, greedy or hedonism.

If it wasn’t for Hestiger then the establishment of the Pallos Empire might not have been possible. Hestiger can be called a true hero that represents this era.

Other notable heroes include the absolute swordsman, Zahab.

He had exceptional art skills and wandered the continent. It is possible that there isn’t one person alive today who can match his skills.

In the case of the emperor that emerged from the rough sands to establish the Pallos Empire, he is only a legend as many rumours spread about him.

These things aren’t verified. He killed all knights against him and destroyed cities.

His cruelty transcended human limits so the academic community have presented a confident evaluation that this is just an exaggeration.

The Pallos Emperor didn’t return after leaving on an adventure with the hero Hestiger so those rumours are lacking in objectivity.

Anyway, these are the heroes of that era.]

Chapter 2: Kill Without Asking Porridge Unit

Lee Hyun sprinkled the seeds for lettuce in the field at his house.

“I can wrap pork belly in it later to eat.”

He could easily buy lettuce but then money would be wasted. Eating lettuce, sweet potato, potatoes etc. grown in his field felt good.

The Haven Empire was coming to invade in Royal Road so he didn’t have a lot of time to spend in reality. He needed to establish countermeasures to stop them, raise Time Sculpting and recover the levels he lost in the quest.

Despite being busy, he made sure to spend 30 minutes taking care of the house. All the stress that built up would be cleared by cleaning.

Despite the stations depositing a large sum into his account, Lee Hyun’s life didn’t change.

“The most important thing is to earn money. A job like mine is unstable so I need to collect a lot.”

He didn’t drink, go to a coffee shop or have any expensive hobbies like watching home shopping.

He saved his income. Once a lump sum was gathered, then he would invest it in land.

“In the future….I need to give my condolences. All the money spent on education and hospital bills.”

In South Korea, a lot of money was used to raise their children.

If they didn’t want to fall behind others in this harsh world then it was important to be educated in maths, science and at least two foreign languages from a young age. Instruments such as the violin or piano should also be learned. In order to allow them to see the world, parents might send them abroad to study. There was also skating, shooting, horseback riding and golf.

The potential of children in South Korea was developed to its fullest! If the 24 hours in a day were divided into 10 minute units, most of their lives would be going back and forth to school.

Then there was the intense competition for university admissions and employment.

“Well, I’m afraid of the future. When looking at the television, it is getting hard to hear good news.”

Lee Hyun felt a tremendous sense of responsibility.

At first he thought a family was more of a burden than a happiness. Meeting someone was something that wasn’t possible in his situation.

His ideal type was a strong woman with vitality. A woman who could take care of business at the market as well as fry a crispy chicken!

Lee Hyun muttered under his breath.

“But I’m already in a relationship so I should take responsibility until the end.”

In the opposite garden, Seo-yoon was holding a rake and planting pepper seedlings.

A few days ago, he went hiking with her and then shared a deep kiss with her in front of the house. It was a sudden event but the kiss lasted for quite a long time.

In fact, for some reason all the street lights had turned off so there was no need to stop early. The background music playing in the background made it a very good atmosphere.

He intended to release her lips when the song ended. But after a brief hesitation, the next song started playing.

‘Eh, I don’t know. It feels good so I will continue.’

At least 6 minutes!

Lee Hyun’s thoughts became clear after he kissed her.

‘I have to take responsibility for the rest of my life. I finally have a good woman so I should marry her.’

These days the world was different. Kissing occurred after meeting for a few days and there was even further progress.

Lee Hyun was old-fashioned in this aspect.

‘My love life is over. Well…it is better to fall in love early since there are a lot of expenses in dating.’

He heard Seo-yoon’s clear voice.

“Should I plant more?”

“There are enough peppers…change to planting carrots and cucumbers. It should be enough for 5 people to eat.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“After planting, mix it well with the fertilizer. Farming is fertilizer.”

Seo-yoon was wearing comfortable sportswear while working in the field.

Lee Hyun was also clad in sportswear but he looked scruffy compared to Seo-yoon’s brightness. She wore sportswear from a luxurious Italian brand.

If Lee Hyun knew the price of the expensive product then he would lose consciousness and be rushed off by the ambulance.

‘It is good that she can wear sportswear. In the future, we will live a frugal life together.’

Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon lived next door so it was natural to eat meals together. Right now Lee Hyun was busy concentrating on Royal Road so she prepared the meals.

She naturally assisted at home and warmly raised Lee Hyun’s animals. Dogmeat would wag its tail every time she came over to Lee Hyun’s house. Half Seasoned Half Fried and the baby chickens also had their crest perk up. The puppies that Dogmeat gave birth to were wallowing in the sun.

He was enjoying a happy life but the slightest slip meant it might disappear.

‘I have to prepare methods to defeat those guys.’

Lee Hyun contemplated ways to stop the Haven Empire.

The users of the Arpen Kingdom would help but he couldn’t rely on them. The Alkazar Bridge would block the Haven Empire’s army for a few days but they would eventually reach the Earth Palace.

“A disaster is necessary and I should use Sculpture Resurrection. The best person to revive…damn, I really don’t like him.”

He thought about the skills that could be used.

He had fought the Immortal Legion as the orc Karichwi. The terrain and aggressive subordinates meant they followed his commands without any doubts. Furthermore, there was time to prepare.

However, it was close to impossible to configure a strong chain of command with users. Even if the users made large scale preparations for war, there was no guarantee there weren’t any spies from the Hermes Guild.

“Those fellows from the Hermes Guild won’t be noticed. And I need to predict what actions they might take.”

Lee Hyun thought about the things that might occur in the future.

Strategies and tactics weren’t a big deal. There were tips and tricks that could be used to solve a problem. In the case of a quest, a quick mind and using various skills were important.

Sculpture Transformation was a skill he used in many adventures. Blending into a crowd of opponents or changing species to maximize strength! However, Sculpture Transformation wouldn’t be useful against the army of the Haven Empire.

In fact, the Hermes Guild was the worst opponent for him. They had a thorough plan and used their momentum to quickly dominate the Versailles Continent.

Usually fictional villains would make a mistake by going slowly and giving the hero time to grow. But the Hermes Guild quickly secured important victories in the war.

Lee Hyun caused damage to them but when looking at the overall plan, it was only minor damage that didn’t cause them any disruptions.

“Completely unexpected…well, there aren’t any large changes to the army. And there are large plains in front of the Earth Palace.”

Lee Hyun was currently lying down in the yard with the warm sun shining down on him.

“Hrmm, a tactic that can be connected to a disaster…I should buy some things. They can be used.”

He decided to do a bulk purchase through Mapan. Of course, there were still some gaps. The Haven Empire was capable of massive ranged attacks so suitable tactics needed to be prepared.

It was necessary to change his battle approach.

“If I cause a large disaster while the northern craftsmen prepare rafts…no, many users would need to participate and the Hermes Guild would certainly notice. Well, hopefully I can obtain some things for free.”

Lee Hyun steadily built up battle plans for the area in front of the Earth Palace. He questioned how much progress there would be but he had to try it anyway.

“I just settled a long quest and now there is a war. Will it be easier once the war is finished? Honestly, I don’t have high expectations.”

Later that night, Lee Hyun assembled old parts and turned on the computer. There was the sound of the old fan blowing as the computer started operating.

Lee Hyun wrote a post on the Dark Gamers bulletin boards.

It was understandable that the Dark Gamers took a neutral stance in the war between users. Even if Lee Hyun asked them for help, they would only become mercenaries if there was enough profit.

It was useless at the moment. The Dark Gamers would judge what was profitable based on information from the bulletin board.

“Well, I don’t know how many will appear but there is a dining table prepared for them.”

It was a post that only the top rated Dark Gamers could see.

And after that, he went to the homepage of Royal Road and sent an email to a user.

The architect users of the north. Pavo was on his friends list but he also needed to commission other renowned architects.

“In the worst case scenario, I can’t hand the Earth Palace over to them.”

He would break it before giving it away!

“It would be a tremendous spectacle.”

He was determined to win the war against the Haven Empire but contingencies were necessary. He could only hope they weren’t needed. He would rather destroy the castle then lose it.

“And what about the forces that were defeated by the Hermes Guild?”

Lee Hyun also sent mail to the leaders of the 5 prestigious guilds. It was a brief suggestion to join forces. In order to get rid of the juggernaut that swept through them.

A few responded but it was unknown if anything would come from it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Hwaryeong, Bellot, Maylon, Irene, Romuna and Surka were tired.

Normal people wouldn’t believe it. The girls had tired bodies because they had been shovelling at the earth!

Romuna’s  shovel hit something firm.

– Uhihihihihi! Human, thanks for freeing me. In return, your flesh….

“Noisy. Fire Time!”

– Keeek!

Romuna used fire magic to get rid of the ghost.

Bellot dug at the ground with both hands. Her face was a mess as it was covered in mud.

“What is it?”

“Nothing big. Just rusted armour.”

Weed’s hidden treasures from the Pallos Empire were buried in a lake. They thought it would be piled up in a cave and shining bright and gold. Of course, it would be good if there were relics from the Pallos Empire as well.

But the reality was that the treasures were hidden in a lake that dried up and became a mudflat.

Ddiring!

– You have excavated old relics and fame has increased by 450.

If the relics are restored then additional fame can be gained.

– The title ‘Excavator of Hidden Land’ has been obtained.

A rare title that can be obtained by digging the ground for 15 days.

Digging speed will become 3% faster.

Affinity to the earth has increased.

“We are being rewarded after acting as  human moles.”

“Phew, now I have the title Excavator of Hidden Land.” Romuna wiped the sweat from her forehead and spoke to Bellot.

Only girls had been digging but there was already a pile of treasures in the corner.

The treasures of the Pallos Empire had been buried for a long time so the sword and armours were rusty and needed to go through a purification ritual.

Therefore Irene used her divine power to purify the items while digging.

– Kyahahahah! I’m finally free! Being chained to this infernal sword for all these years…

“Bubi bubi dance!”

“The ghost is moderately strong. Yahap! Beating!”

Hwaryeong and Surka also participated in the ghost hunting. The beauty with a perfect body did the bubi bubi dance while Surka continuously used her punch attacks.

“Iyahahap! Heavy Blow Vortex!”

Surka’s fists of lights dealt a powerful blow to the body of the ghost.

– Ohuhuhu, it hurts. The ghosts that had been waiting a long time for revenge on the humans disappeared in vain….

Most of the treasures of the Pallos Empire had grudges attached to them. They had changed owners many times in the warring period. The ghosts had become stuck due to that environment.

Rowdy ghosts! The ghosts were dangerous but they just died after being excavated. The group dug all day for treasure but sometimes the ones that emerged were a failure.

But they recalled Weed’s words of encouragement before going to find the treasure.

– In the old days, our ancestors were absolutely brilliant. They eventually left this earth behind. But look.

There are many rich people in our country. There are a variety of treasures from the Pallos Empire to be discovered.

The hardest swords and armour.  If they can be well restored then they can be sold for an expensive price.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Ahem, the army of the Haven Empire is definitely strong. The taste of a fight, Geomchi-5.”

“The taste of wielding my sword after a long time, Teacher-nim!”

Geomchi organized his disciples in the northern areas occupied by the Haven Empire.

[Kill Without Asking Porridge Unit]

They worried for one day and night before narrowly deciding on the name.

“This is unusual and nice.”

“It suits us perfectly Teacher-nim.”

“Life shouldn’t be complicated. Or my head will hurt.”

“Being simple and ignorant is the best!”

A name that meant they would unconditionally kill without asking!

The Haven Empire placed soldiers in the occupied northern territories for long term governance.

Originally, the traffic in this area was slow so the villages weren’t as developed. It was easy for the Haven Empire to expel the northern users and conquer the villages.

“What type of rubbish village is this?”

“The urban planning is a mess. Just burn it and take away the residents.”

“There are many mines nearby in the surrounding area. The slaves can quickly increase productivity. The development would turn it into a gold mine.”

The lords that settled in that area brought a large number of slaves from the Central Continent. The slaves were residents of the kingdoms conquered by the Haven Empire.

After having all their possessions on the continent taken away, they officially became slaves. Among the slaves were professional merchants, artists, blacksmiths, magicians and even combat professions like gladiators. The low management and slave engineers that managed to run away meant there actually weren’t that many slaves in the war between kingdoms.

However, the Haven Empire had a strong military force and turned many residents into slaves. The slaves were brought to the north to develop the area.

“Let’s go, everyone.”

“We will punish and kill them all. Hiyah!”

Geomchi-3 rode a bull in the front. And the reliable Sahyungs followed. Geomchi and Geomchi-2 each led troops comprised of 150 students. Geomchi-3, Geomchi-4 and Geomchi-5 led the remaining 200 students.

“Ambush from the enemy!”

“Ring the emergency bell!”

The enemy inside the wooden fence hurriedly rung the bell in order to signify there was a surprise attack.

“Shake them off!”

“Fight without asking questions. Smash everything!”

Ummoooooo!

Geomchi-3 rushed towards the wooden barrier while shouting. And the troops of the Haven Empire hastily fired arrows above the barrier. More than 100 arrows headed towards Geomchi-3 in the front.

“Times like these are the most interesting. Go!”

Geomchi-3 wielded a sword in both hands like a windmill. It was an amazing technique that caused the swords to rotate and hit the arrows.

The swords struck the arrow.

It was originally a warrior’s skill but Geomchi-3’s troops all learned it. If they learned it until master level then the pair of swords would be raised one level higher.

A martial artist could easily learn combat techniques or created different combinations themselves.

If the skill level of individual weapons reached master level then a skill could be created and their attacks would steadily increase. A myriad of master combat skills for the sword, spear, bow, axe, club, hammer, mace, shield and armour! It could produce a blow similar to Black Knight’s Strike or Power of Birth.

These master skills could then be bestowed to their disciples. Of course, that was only possible if they had a complete understanding of the technique. In other words, they could only pass it onto others after fully mastering the skill.

“Uhahahaha! This taste is really delicious!”

Geomchi-3 laughed as the arrows bounced off his body. His strength would weaken when he got older but right now, he demonstrated his exceptional fighting skills.

“Sahyung, let’s go together.”

“Good!”

Geomchi-3, Geomchi-4 and Geomchi-5 rode their bulls together in the front. Stray arrows passed by their ears and a large dust cloud rose up.

The archers were scared and hid their bodies behind the barrier.

They were now 10 metres away from the barrier.

“Smash into them. Heavy Strike!”

“Hmm, this much….one point attack!”

“There is no need for anything else. It is just crashing against wood. Take this!”

The instructors strongly struck the barrier with their weapons. Then the barrier was shattered and torn. The residents and even the knights and soldiers were in a state of panic.

“The knights are mine!”

“Sahyung, the owner will be the first person to catch them.”

“We should handle the soldiers before it is too late.”

Geomchi-3, Geomchi-4 and Geomchi-5 attacked after penetrating through the barrier.

The knights of the Haven Empire. The knights were loyal to Emperor Bardray but now they were just tasty prey. The students also found the soldiers enjoyable.

“It is too quick.”

“I don’t want this taste to end too early.”

“Let’s clean this up quickly and go somewhere else.”

Geomchi and the students had continued working on their class quest.

The Weapons Mastery quest still wasn’t over. They could choose to become a truth seeker or martial arts teacher.

A martial arts teacher had an unmatched ability to teach their disciples. Teachers could transfer their skills to NPCs or users.

On the other hand, a truth seeker didn’t teach anyone. They also couldn’t get honour. A human body could become strong so they used martial arts to cultivate their strength in nature and remove any fear of death.

And a merchant user of the Haven Empire surrendered.

“If you spare me then you absolutely won’t regret it.”

“…….”

It was rumoured that merchants became more talkative when surrendering!

“I have a total of 4,298 gold bullions so I will give if all to you and leave the north if you spare me.”

“……”

Even a non-combatant merchant user would find their lives precious. If they lost their lives then their trading and accounting skills would fall. A high level would receive really big damage so they didn’t want to die in a place like this.

Geomchi-101 examined the merchant in silence.

“In fact, I have 3 more gold bullions in the business fund. I will give everything.”

“…….”

“Whatever you want to trade….”

“…….”

“I really have no more.”

Seokeok!

– The unscrupulous merchant Donjulle has died.

Fame has been obtained among the slaves exploited by Donjulle.

“…….”

The merchant was executed by Geomchi-101.

He was able to loot an additional 5 gold bullion from the merchant. People always prayed that merchants would drop expensive items but such cases were rare. The only items attached to merchants were ones they wouldn’t mind losing in death.

Geomchi said towards his students.

“I’ll tell you this.  There better not be anyone here willing to accept wealth in exchange for those cowards lives. You will forever carry a shameful face.”

“Of course we can’t do that, Teacher-nim!”

“We just need to kill everything.”

“Truly wise.”

“This is justice. It is a perfect morality, Teacher-nim.”

The policy of the Kill Without Asking Porridge unit was determined. No soldiers of the Haven Empire were left behind as the slaves tied with rope shed tears.

“The ones who harassed us finally died.”

“Even so, we can’t go back home. We can only live by following a new owner.”

“Our kingdom has already disappeared. We will live according to the will of the rulers.”

– 2,609 slaves have been acquired.

You must determine how to handle them.

If you own the prisoners then you can increase wealth through hard labour.

Or you can give the prisoners freedom.

It wasn’t their occupation but they were knighted. Knights of the Arpen Kingdom could lead soldiers, carry out wars, conquer and absorb enemy territory and even dispose of prisoners of war. Including Geomchi-3, all members of the Kill Without Asking Porridge unit were knights of the Arpen Kingdom.

Geomchi-3 nodded and said.

“Just take care of your own lives.

– Do you want to free the prisoners?

The decision cannot be reversed.

Those who are freed will strongly oppose going back into captivity.

“Eat if you are hungry and sleep if you are sleepy. Take care of the money you earned. It is hard on the body of the prisoners of war….”

– 2,609 people have been freed.

1, 920 fame has been acquired.

Intimacy with the freed people will rise to the highest level.

“Come! We are heading to the next place.”

“Thank you very much. We were brought here without any consideration so thank you very much. We will become residents of the Arpen Kingdom and be loyal to His Majesty the King and all the knights.”

Geomchi-3 climbed onto his bull.

“Sahyung, there are 5 villages in the area so today will be very busy.”

“Teacher-nim doesn’t like being idle. Go quickly!”

Geomchi-3 and the students rode towards another settlement of the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The leaders of the Hermes Guild in the northern occupied territories had serious concerns about the actions of the Kill Without Asking Porridge unit.

“We can’t afford to leave those fellows alone. It isn’t on a large scale yet but it will be difficult once more join them.”

“The guild leaders should quickly quell this. But the leaders in the Haven Empire will just consider them a funny story.”

“But so far they’ve only caused minor damage. Will the core leaders really worry about this?”

“The terrain characteristics are very different from the Central Continent.”

“Yes, I’ve also had that problem.”

In the Central Continent, there were many fortresses so they could stabilize the area.

The prestigious guilds were composed of users so once a defeat occurred, there were serious internal splits. Who was good or bad and who was behind the defeat. The complaints piled up until they exploded.

The Hermes Guild would target the important people at that time and the guild would dissolve. The ability to resist would disappear and the Haven Empire could firmly conquer the territory.

In comparison, the north had large meadows where horses could run for hours. Even after the conquest, the settlements weren’t cities so they were difficult to keep.

In other words, the resistance army could move around on horses, other users would actively join and security would worsen. The occupied territory needed to be secured so they felt the need to respond to it strongly.

“We will dig pitfalls in the settlements.”

“That is insufficient. We need to annihilate their mobility with one strike. Their numbers are small but it will be difficult.”

“Should we direct the knights from the 5th army division to the occupied territories? The remainder of the army will continue marching towards the Earth Palace. They can return quickly and aid in the battle at the Earth Palace.”

“Good. I was getting bored.”

The commander in change of the 5th knights division was Banrommel. He was determined to destroy the Kill Without Asking Porridge unit.

Chapter 3: Abyss Knight and the Hermes Guild

“Huhuhuhut, I am the number one archer in the north, Pale!”

Pale looked towards the cloud of dust where the Haven Empire’s army was gathered.

A group of high level users in the north had gathered to face the invincible army trying to take over the entire Versailles Continent.

“We won’t stand a chance with a frontal attack. We can kill a few fellows one on one but there is no chance against an army.”

“Then let’s stick to the outskirts.”

“Don’t the Hermes Guild have many people just as strong as us?”

“A huge army like that won’t have a perfect defense. We can see some gaps. They will become larger in the eyes of a ranger.”

“I agree. This will be a fun hunt.”

The best rangers, archers and magicians in the north had ventured out for combat. The news wasn’t widespread so only 200 people had joined

They waited quietly on top of the hills as the Haven Empire’s army passed by. The scouting troops had passed and now it was the central group of the army.

If the northern users’ location was discovered then it would be instant death. The whole area would be devastated by the huge magician units riding in carriages.

There were many soldiers in the Haven army. There was also a variety of monsters, beasts and special forces.

It was mainly magicians and archers that participated in the battle against the north but troops were fully mobilized in order to occupy the area.

There were a variety of kingdoms in the Central Continent where many species lived but they also had the ambition to suffocate the north.

“Please, please. This life will be saved today. Kill for the dignity of the Grass Porridge Cult.”

Some of the Grass Porridge Cult members were also there.

“Now.”

And finally, the troops composed of ordinary soldiers moved into their view. Many of them were elite soldiers of the Haven Empire that had experienced a lot of war.

“Then load your weapons.”

The archers pulled out their bows and arrows. They loaded the arrows without protesting and waited.

“Fiery Pebble elemental summon!”

“Xing Xing, I am here.”

“Let’s bury the enemy.”

The elementalists summoned the spirits and attached them to the arrows. Once the help of the spirits was received, the power and characteristics of the arrows would increase.

“Shoot all at once. Fire!”

Syu syu syu syu syuk!

The archers shot from the hills as the arrows penetrated the troops of the Haven Empire. Skill, arrows flying on the wind!

A skill that increased the distance of ranged attacks by 50%.

“An ambush by the enemy!”

“From the direction of the hills back there!”

The archers from the Haven Empire identified the enemy positions and counterattacked but their arrows didn’t reach the hill.

There were differences in the skills and equipment but the Haven Empire’s archers were firing against the wind towards the northern users who were on a higher terrain.

“A great opportunity. Shoot as much as possible!”

“I don’t have time to talk right now. Pour out the steel arrows….”

The archers moved their hands as quickly as possible. They utilized their rapid fire and penetrating skills.

Normally the accuracy would decrease for long range attacks.

The long range attacks were mainly useless but now the archers could use them energetically. Now they didn’t need to worry about being hit by anyone in the vicinity.

Unfortunately, the soldiers had armour and shields so they didn’t lose their lives from one or two long range arrows.

The wide area archer skills such as burning, freezing or exploding weren’t used. However,  the effects of the elemental spirits meant the arrows could exert a similar power.

The soldiers of the Haven Empire were hit by multiple shots and lost their lives. The users of the Hermes Guild leisurely advancing gave an order.

“The soldiers are taking care of those guys too slowly. Knights, control them immediately!”

“Eagle Knights, march!”

Dust rose as the knights of the Haven Empire sped into action. The Hermes Guild users with tremendous skill were among them.

“Hurry up and shoot. Don’t let them come closer.”

At this point, the arrows fired by the north targeted the knights.

“This isn’t causing enough damage so we need to increase our power.”

Penetration, poison and whirlwind. The arrows fired from the bow were so strong that half of the knights fell from their horses.

The knights’ strong defense meant they weren’t easy to kill but they would be unable to fight for a while.

“Those guys are coming closer.”

“Enough damage has been caused so let’s go.”

“Good!”

The northern archers completed their mission so they carried their bows and quickly withdrew. The knights chasing found armoured knights among the northern users.

“Who do those guys belong to?”

“They seem to be the knights of Miyaba.  Before Miyaba Principality fell, the minimum level of the knights was 400.”

“I didn’t realize they moved up to the north.”

The northern users had felt the terrible power of the Haven Empire’s magician units. If they came closer then it would be death. However, if the knights chased after them then they could fight.

“Like thorns stuck between the teeth. It will just be a burden if we go too far away from the main army…. We will wipe them out at the next opportunity. Withdraw.”

The knights of the Haven Empire eventually chose to retreat.

“Hooray!”

“Kuh, this taste!”

“We did it!”

It was small damage as only 1,000 people were killed but the northern users rejoiced. So far, millions of people had died in the north but the Haven Empire only received small damage as 100,000 were killed.

A constant losing streak!

However, more users in the north were scrambling to participate. Moreover, many users that had been living in the depths of the dungeon started to emerge.

“That is…if my eyes are mistaken, that is the red skirt worn by the bard Skolla-nim!”

“Eh, that man is the one who kept on hitting wind monsters…he appeared on a broadcast 2 years ago!”

In the early days of Royal Road, there were many well-known users who experienced death at the hand of the Haven Empire and wandered around.

They developed unique hunting styles or techniques in Royal Road and quietly migrated to the north. They were already disillusioned by the fierce power struggle in the Central Continent. Quests and hunting were all tied up by the Haven Empire.

They migrated to the north where they could live freely. Anger towards the Haven Empire boiled up inside them as they finally started to make a move.

They joined the northern users and set out to fight for Weed’s Arpen Kingdom.

Haven Empire and Weed.

If it was just a matter between those two then the residents wouldn’t participate. Morata was only one city that had too many users living there.

But the Haven Empire had already conquered the Central Continent so if they captured the north, there would be no place on the continent to live freely.

To them, Weed and the Arpen Kingdom had become a great focal point.

“Our hope is the archer Pale-nim.”

“If he hadn’t shown us….”

“I saw him shooting a bow. Almost a 100 metres back and it pierced two or three times.”

“Amazing skills.”

Pale was praised by the northern users.

‘I suffered through a proud life but now people are looking at me with proud eyes.’

Although he started Royal Road a little late, he suffered while accompanying Weed around. The skills, stats, and japtem acquired during the encounters made everyone admire his skills.

– No, I am no different from a dog….! Wasn’t I strong when I started in Rosenheim Kingdom?

– I grew conventionally just like everyone else.

– I can’t believe I’ve been using a plain arrowhead until today! If poison is used on the arrowhead then hunting efficiency will increase. I should at least fire some poison arrows.

– Weed-nim told me. Hunting isn’t something for the head. It needs to be repeated with the body. Don’t just use my head to catch monsters and fight comfortably. And it is good to spend money to buy a better item.

– The level of skill is terrific.

– It can be called grinding the basics. This is also something I learned from Weed-nim.

Pale had appeared on previous broadcasts with Weed so he was famous in the north.

All eyes turned towards him whenever he entered the city carrying an elves’ bow. Pale didn’t know what the people watching him were thinking.

‘An influential person.’

‘I can recognize him with one glance. I can see the glory of Pale-nim directly.’

‘Good looking. Tall.’

‘Kyah, the stylish way he is carrying that bow!’

Pale led the northern users in the fight. He didn’t join his colleagues in finding the treasures of the Pallos Empire as he thought this was more rewarding.

He demonstrated excellent skills in battle and was recognized by the people he led.

‘This is a man’s romance.’

A rotten smile that resembled Weed’s appeared on his face. And all of a sudden, he received a whisper.

– Pale-nim.

– Ah, Weed-nim!

Pale was startled and replied.

“What, he is receiving a whisper from the God of War Weed-nim?

“Iyah, an answer! As expected, Weed-nim frequently sends whispers to his colleagues.”

The users over level 430 greatly admired him. No matter how high their level was, it wasn’t easy to become friendly with Weed.

The news about Weed’s whisper quickly spread through the surprised crowd. Weed’s reputation was enough to make a river out of soju in the north.

– Where are you now?

Pale replied in a manly tone.

– I’ve been fighting the army of the Haven Empire near Nur Plains. I’m using arrows for ranged attacks. The knights were very dangerous so it was quite suspenseful.

He expected Weed to give some form of thanks or praise.

– Hrmm, so you’re not particularly busy. I will send Yurin towards you. Can you wait a short moment?

– Of course. Weed-nim has returned from a long quest so there must be a celebration. I’ll pay!

– We’re going hunting instead of celebrating.

– Huh? Already? Talking about hunting as soon as he returned…..

Weed had a wide range of view and could identify the characteristics and actions of monsters. When fighting with difficult monsters, there were moments when they almost lost their lives.

Instead, his colleagues felt glad.

‘It won’t be too bad if I die.’

‘I-I want to rest.’

‘This is hell hunting. This place is hell…. I won’t do bad things anymore and will live a good life.’

He got goose bumps after receiving the hunting invitation.

– Well, I’m quite busy….after next day or two.

– It is quite fast so it was only take a few days.

– I’d like to fight the Haven Empire when they arrive at the Earth Palace. If we come back a little bit late…they might come sooner.

– There is no way I can hold them. It is possible that we might come back late.

– Well, I hope so. No matter what my mind thought of, it didn’t work.

The devastating whisper ended and Yurin showed up. Pale’s activities were being broadcasted so she didn’t need to have the surroundings explained to her.

“Hello. I will quickly take you to Oppa.”

“Yes, I’m off.”

Pale’s shoulders slumped as he left together with Yurin.

And the people who remained behind.

“Is the story he told about suffering with Weed-nim real?”

“Somehow I don’t envy him.”

“Even if I had the abilities, I don’t want to live like that.”

“We can just act comfortably.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed’s hunt for members!

All of his colleagues were looking for the treasure of the Pallos Empire except for Pale.

And he needed to pick up a man from the Freya Church. His first slave apart from Van Hawk.

“Ohhh, it is great to see you after such a long time. Other people don’t know but I heard about Weed’s special adventure through Goddess Freya.”

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?”

“Time is precious.”

Weed used his accumulated contribution to the Freya Church to kidnap Alveron. And he was introduced to some new people through Mapan’s wide network of contacts.

“Um, I am Python.”

Python had a huge bulk like a bear and swung his sword. He was famous for surviving in Averian Forest for his Warrior Master Quest.

Weed had met him in the past at the training centre but they both didn’t remember.

‘He must eat a lot of rice.’

‘He doesn’t look unusual. The atmosphere is normal, just like the rumours about the King of the Arpen Kingdom.’

And a mysterious man also joined.

“My name…it is difficult to tell you but the merchant Mapan can guarantee that I am trustworthy.”

The man that Mapan introduced was wearing a hood that made it difficult to even see his face. Weed shook hands with him first.

“It is a pleasure.”

“I’ll work hard.”

The man had a naturally cool voice like an actor. Weed met the man’s eye.

‘I can’t believe this guy. He looks much better than me.’

‘I know he is a sculptor but I don’t feel anything special.’ Perhaps he seems stronger on the broadcasts? But I can completely win over him. I am the shadow of death, Seasoned….no.’

Weed, Pale, Alveron, Python and the man of death. The party was formed and then Python asked.

“But where are we going? A normal hunting ground wouldn’t need to gather all these people. Do you have some quest to finish?”

They heard that hunting with Weed the God of War was amazing and decided to join without any information.

The Haven Empire’s army was approaching so they wondered why he wanted to hunt now. He would only be able to gain 1~2 levels in the next few days.

From Weed’s perspective, he was in a hurry to restore his levels.

“Let’s go south.”

“South? Huh, really surprising. Are you referring to the battlefield of the Haven Empire?”

“Not the southern area of the north. We are going to the southern region of the Versailles Continent.”

“That is just desert…. Ah! The quest on the television. You want to hunt based on information obtained from your time in the desert. But won’t it take too long to move there? It would be better to take care of some of the surrounding dungeons.”

Python disagreed with the travel plans. There were many dungeons near the Earth Palace.

The higher level a user was, the more careful they had to be. They had to carefully collect information about dungeons, quests and hunting. Losing their lives would cause a huge loss so they needed to make rational judgments. So they needed to prepare places to run away in the dungeon when they were at risk from dying.

Weed, the God of War, might have power but he couldn’t just go into dungeons unprepared. But Weed had a rotten smile on his face that was closer to derision after hearing Python’s words.

“What is the meaning in achieving an insignificant goal? It should be larger.”

“That is fine but what can you achieve in a day of hunting? Of course, the story would change if there was a long distance teleport gate to the dungeon.”

“I will take care of the travel time. And more important, you should have a goal in life or it will be like eating roasted buns instead of sweet and sour pork for the rest of your life.”

The shadow of death felt deeply sympathetic towards Python. Because they both disliked roasted buns.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“I…will…kill…this…place…is…originally…Kallamore’s…land…”

Van Hawk and the 600 Imperial Doom Knights occupied cities and two fortresses.

“Kikilkil!”

“Uhehehehe!”

The thick walls of the fort found it difficult to stop the rush of the undead. Angry ghosts and Doom Knights passed through the gates or jumped high over the walls.

“Constantly shoot at their feet!”

“Generously sprinkle with holy water, priests pray for God’s power!”

The soldiers of the Haven Empire used flaming arrows. Arrows flew across the dark sky and fell onto the enemy. Lights momentarily flared everywhere and the bodies of skeletons and zombies could be seen.

“Really fun. Shouldn’t I express this fun?”

“Attack, attack, uhehehehe!”

“Ah, it is frustrating. I am a skeleton with no left leg. Are there any leg bones nearby?”

The users participating in the event advanced towards the fortress as undead. There were at least 40,000 undead users participating. Including the bodies of the Versailles Continent’s residents wrapped in the power of the Abyss Knight, there was a total of 100,000 undead!

It was enough troops to form a kingdom in the Central Continent that had been unified by the Haven Empire.

“Skeletons, climb the walls!”

“Kikilkil!”

The skeletons climbed the steep walls with their bony fingers and fought the soldiers. Unless the undead users lost their lives to divine magic or holy water, they would be restored immediately.

The users participating as Doom Knights laughed pleasantly. The users could relieve their stress against the Haven Empire in this event so they were happy!

However, the elite troops of the Haven Empire were prepared to respond to the undead. The Hermes Guild had 30,000 users, 6,000 Imperial knights and the support of the paladins and priests of the Central Continent.

Due to the exclusive quests and funds, they were able to mobilize the troops of the religions on the continent.

“The undead will continue to revive unless we completely remove their roots. The low grade undead don’t matter but we need to address the Abyss Knight Van Hawk and the Doom Knights.

An Abyss Knight was terrifying. Its power was supported by the Doom Knights.

Time was running out since the Abyss Knight appeared in the Kallamore area. While the Hermes Guild was mobilizing their forces, the undead were getting stronger as more soldiers from the Kallamore Kingdom joined them.

Fortunately, it was relatively easy to deal with the undead using light and divine power. Except for the Hermes Guild users, the soldiers and knights were entirely composed of NPCs.

All the users involved in the battle had their weapons and armour blessed. Silver weapons, armour and supplies piled up in the warehouses were all released.

As the Abyss Knight Van Hawk and the Doom Knights arrived near Hepenia Fortress, the teleport gate there activated.

Pushushuk!

There was an intense light as Bardray arrived at Hepenia Fortress.

“His Majesty the Emperor who rules over a vast territory.”

“The Sword of the Empire and the largest sponsor of the church.”

The NPC knights were respectful as soon as Bardray appeared. The ordinary soldiers and residents of Hepenia Fortress bowed low on the ground

Bardray nodded his head towards the Imperial Knights and paladins.

‘A lot of troops.’

Hepenia was a very large fortress that used to belong to the Kallamore Kingdom. The Hermes Guild had to sacrifice a lot in order to occupy this place.

It wasn’t just the height of Hepenia Fortress. It was built against high mountains and cliffs so it was difficult to penetrate. It was equipped with basic defenses like an archers’ tower, catapult launchers, a moat and small, narrow windows to prevent the intrusion of enemies.

In many ways, it was difficult to conquer Hepenia Fortress so those who owned it would feel proud. Of course, it still wasn’t completely repaired from the damage of the last battle.

‘Those who started in the Haven Empire won’t know the difference but this used to belong to the Kallamore Kingdom. There is no time, so many things are insufficient. I miss those days a little bit.’

The Hermes Guild users gathered at the fortress once they heard Bardray come through the teleport gate.

“Is that Bardray?”

“It is the first time I’m seeing him directly and his equipment is really great.”

“The power that dominated the Versailles Continent. How strong is he?”

“Based on the broadcast, he is the strongest in the continent. Even Carlise lost his life. He didn’t just obtain the name of God. Even Weed the God of War couldn’t survive against him.”

Bardray heard a lot of chatter around him. Most of it was praise but some words were filled with envy.

The users belonging to Hermes Guild were proud to be in the presence of Bardray.

‘Yes, this reaction. Soon all of the people on the continent will be showing this reaction!’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Despite the undead’s first attacks, the Hermes Guild waited calmly.

Losing fortresses or cities was a loss for the Haven Empire but they willingly submitted to it. The economic power of the Empire meant that cities could grow in 1~2 days.

Lafaye and the leaders of the Hermes Guild were concerned about the big picture of the Empire. The centre of the area was the Haven Kingdom that promoted production, technology development and trade for the entire central area.

In the early days of Royal Road, each kingdom were held firmly to their area. The continents in the centre flourished economically compared to the undeveloped areas.

There was a long period of time where the prestigious guilds had disputes over those areas. The whole continent was in turmoil until the Haven Empire was established.

Once the continent was unified, the Imperial Palace would start the systematic management. Stable and endless prosperity.

The Hermes Guild’s leaders gathered at the Imperial Palace had already thought of a long term plan for ruling.

Of course, most of the east was still recovering from the influence of the Embinyu Church and they were also preparing the army to occupy the southern deserts. In the process, they would accept the knights and soldiers of the kingdoms they conquered.

The leaders of the Haven Empire didn’t need to worry about conquering the east or the south. Despite the war in the north lasting longer than expected, it was being handled perfectly.

“We need a complete victory.”

Bardray and the Royal Guards were going to fight against the Abyss Knight. The top 300 users in the Hermes Guild belonged to the Royal Guards.

The Royal Guards were supported with the best weapons, armour, hunting grounds, skills and research.

“Those guys flocking towards Hepenia Fortress…there are places where the walls of the fortress are crumbled and it will be hard to respond in the darkness.”

They decided to intercept the undead outside the fortress. There was no need to fight the enemy at a fortress that wasn’t suitable. The Hermes Guild were filled with pride so they didn’t want to be beaten by the undead on these walls.

“Cocoon Valley. If we block all sides then none of the undead will be able to survive.”

Cocoon Valley was an area with tremendous height. It was a wide valley in between beautiful, breathtaking rugged mountains.

The rainy season would cause a river to flow through it. Flowers bloomed among green trees in spring and the scenery would beautiful enough to have hundreds and thousands of visitors. Currently, the water and growth was low so it was a place suitable for large scale combat.

“This place will be the grave of the undead. That is the only value the scenery has.”

The forces were mobilized after noon and waited for night to arrive. The Hermes Guild arranged their weapons and waited for night time.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk and the undead would appear at night. Soon it was twilight and night fell.

– Wuhihihihit.

The ghosts made whining sounds and emerged from the ground. The undead that had been sleeping deep in the ground rose again.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk and the Doom Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom. The undead users actively participating!

– Night is the time of the undead.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk led his undead troops to regain the territory of the Kallamore Kingdom. Today 4,302 new undead users had joined.

“Heh, this will be fun.”

“They are only beggar skeletons.”

“Trample the rebellion. Shatter all their bones.”

This was the Kallamore Kingdom in the Central Continent and the levels of the users in the Hermes Guild were far superior.

They were composed of strong people that had gone through all types of hardships. In the past, the strong players had gathered under the banner of the Hermes Guild. They thought that they were the strongest as they waited for the upcoming battle.

The Abyss Knight invading the Haven Empire was a big issue so the broadcasters decided to play it live.

The worst monster, the Abyss Knight! The strongest Empire on the continent! Many high level users like clouds!

There were already enough elements for success!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray stood at the top of the valley with the Royal Guards. It was a good location to look over the whole battlefield.

Abyss Knight Van Hawk had to break through layers of troops in order to reach him.

He was always escorted by the Royal Guards but now there were an additional unit of Imperial Knights and 5,000 Hermes Guild users acting as protection.

‘Funny. This is a quirky and fresh situation. I had been feeling a bit bored from all the conquest and ruling. Weed must have felt this way after experiencing numerous quests and events.’

Bardray could feel the tension of the exciting battle.

‘I’ve been looking forward to a battle like this.’

He had pride in having defeated numerous strong monsters. He was recognized as the undisputed strongest user on the continent.

Weed was the symbol of a great battle by using one point attacks but the Black Knight had special skills to stop rebellions. The effort of the Hermes Guild meant that his sword techniques were continuing to evolve.

Bardray was inwardly surprised. His armed forces were growing with increasing speed. One individual had piled up such a military force in Royal Road.

Unfortunately, he was restricted in quests so Weed had stepped up to the level of Warrior Saving the World first. However, if he was given the opportunity in the future then there was no doubt he would obtain it.

‘My fame will go up if I fight the Abyss Knight.’

Bardray waited for the battle. He wanted to fight but needed to wait for the proper timing. A man should appear in the most important moments of the fight. He would appear with dramatic timing and clear up the situation like Weed.

“They are coming.”

“Prepare to carry out the plan.”

Bardray watched the users busy taking action. The undead were expected to enter through the entrance of the valley below. They couldn’t bypass Coccoon Valley.

‘They are a stupid and easy opponent. The attributes of the undead are crucial.’

The undead were widely known as the incarnations of revenge. NPCs were capable of moderately complex thought processes.

For example, a magician would have a lot more knowledge than a merchant. They cherished their own lives, academic goals or gave out certain quests. But the undead didn’t think and simple wanted the destruction of the Hermes Guild.

The details of Van Hawk’s past meant they knew his nature. He was a hero of the mighty Kallamore Empire. After somehow becoming lost in darkness, he was appointed by Barkhan as a commander of his Immortal Legion.

Van Hawk’s true ability was his power to exert leadership over the skeletons! A great knight could double the abilities of their soldiers. There were several variables such as loyalty or intimacy but the knights could increase the abilities depending on the situation.

Van Hawk and the Doom Knights were fully trained in that regard. The undead with their capabilities strengthened could crash through the enemies.

Despite being undead, the leaders had considerable intellect. Even if they knew it was a trap, their tendencies to break through meant they would come into the valley.

“This will be a good opportunity.”

Bardray rode a white horse with dignity as he waited for the battle to start.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Let’s start the operation.”

“Carry out the 1st wave of attacks!”

Kurururung!

Large rocks started to roll down the valley. The Haven Empire had prepared rocks in order to deal with the undead. The rocks quickly rolled down the steep valley and broke through the formation of the undead.

“Kkuek.”

“Aigoo!”

The limbs of the skeletons were broken. Hundreds of skeletons went rolling as they were crushed by the rocks.

– Ambushhhh!

The users participating in the event as ghost cried out.

“Kilkil!”

“Is that how you should meet us?”

The skeletons, zombies, dullahans, death knights, ghosts, doom knights and users watched the rocks coming without any tension.

Even if they died, they would be revived with the power of the Abyss Knight! In addition, they welcomed an ambush. The Doom Knights would become stronger from suffering.

It was common to find Doom Knights in the dungeons of the Central Continent. The Abyss Knight Van Hawk’s ability was enough to smash walls and gates. The level of the undead users varied and some were senior monsters like Doom Knights.

However, they looked down on the response of the Haven Empire.

The Hermes Guild had the capacity to build an empire and their knowledge of tactics from ancient books was excellent. Even though their opponent was the worst Abyss Knight, they had prepared to respond accordingly.

“Purify this land according to God’s will…Proclamation of Holy Land!

“All the wicked and evil can’t return to this place, Judgement of the Wicked!”

The priests shouted and aimed their divine magic at the undead. The bodies made of dark mana returned to the earth as the souls were perfectly destroyed.

The priests’ divine magic struck down on the valley filled with undead like pure, white lightning.

“The archers will begin their mission.”

The Haven Empire’s skilled archers launched a barrage of silver arrows. The specialized magician and archer units had helped in their conquest operations.

No matter how excellent the users, they couldn’t escape the intensive attacks hitting the battlefield. The commanders of the ranged troops aimed them at the proper place for active suppression.

The archers of the Haven Empire had the best equipment and received special training so they could shot arrows ten times per minute.

5,000 archers fired silver arrows, causing a huge commotion among the crowd of zombies and skeletons.

There was no armour or shields so it hit the body. The dullahans and death knights didn’t die but the arrows greatly reduced their health.

“Kehehe, not enough. I will have rice porridge with abalone!”

A skeleton hit the arrows with rusty swords.

‘A hero needs this much suffering!’

Jighart started in the Central Continent and joined an ordinary guild. His guild didn’t have a fortress so he didn’t participate in any wars. But there was a war between the Haven Empire and prestigious guilds so the persecution in the Central Continent became deeper.

Then he had migrated to the north. After a distressful trip, he finally lived a life of happiness in the north.

In the distant past, he had died in the vicinity of Reinstadem and the Abyss Knight revived him to participate in the fight.

Due to the fact that he lost his life in the old days, he only became a skeleton. But he skillfully handled the sword and hit the flying arrows.

The aura of the Abyss Knight made him more powerful.

“Their huge conceitedness! I will show them the power of a skeleton!”

Jighart moved like he was possessed but his body was soon hit by arrows.

– Health has decreased by 2,349.

A holy silver arrow.

This is a critical hit against those with dark inclinations.

Attack power has been reduced by 12%.

Once hit with three or four arrows in a row, his body burned into grey ash and soon disappeared.

The Abyss Knight had control over darkness and could raise the undead again. But the Proclamation of Holy Land and silver arrows meant it took more time than usual.

“My bones are melting so I can’t advance.”

“I only have my pelvis and ankle bone left. I won’t be able to fight.”

“Show those humans the taste of death.”

The undead started to climb the valley without hesitation. Rocks rolled down but they were somewhat safe from the arrows on the steep cliffs.

“Chew on living flesh.”

“Revenge on the Haven Empire!”

The undead players and residents of the Kallamore Kingdom climbed the cliff. The users mixed in with the undead found it interesting and fun.

“A terrible smell is coming!”

“The severe smell of something rotten. Stop the undead from reaching here!”

The army of the Haven Empire screamed.

A strong odour was drifting from the body of the undead. The undead didn’t have a nose so they couldn’t smell it. However, it was seriously painful for the humans.

“Kilkilkil!”

The undead climbed up bit by bit.

Chapter 4: Emperor of the Haven Empire

“This is classic and boring.”

Bardray frowned from above the valley.

“It would be nice if the undead weren’t so weak.”

The Haven Empire had prepared excessively for the Abyss Knight and Doom Knights. The 100,000 undead army melted in vain from the divine magic and silver arrows.

Their idea to climb the cliff was stupid. The rocks, arrows and magic meant they couldn’t even climb half of it before rolling back down. The Imperial Knights of the Haven Empire were guarding the cliffs so they undead would just die even if they reached the top.

The Hermes Guild moved at an amazing speed and encircled them. They could easily succeed in cleaning up the undead troops.

This undead army was significantly weaker than the armies of the other guilds and kingdoms that the Haven Empire had faced.

“The levels are too far off. I didn’t want this type of battle.”

He wanted the undead army to be stronger in order to create an amazing scene. The Haven Empire’s army could overcome the disadvantage, but they didn’t want to take the risk. He just wanted the best scenario to show off his power.

However, Bardray was watching the undead collapse in vain.

Ghosts could fly in the air but were too afraid of the divine magic to approach the cliff.

However, the priests’ mana wasn’t infinite and half of the silver arrows had been consumed.

“Imperial Knights, charge!”

“Return all the undead to dust.”

“Ohhhh!”

The Imperial Knights rode down the steep slope on horseback as planned. The horses running down the steep slope was like magic. The Imperial Knights of the Haven Empire had excellent horses with special magic.

The knights heading down the cliff burned the undead with their magic swords.

“I will finish them all off.”

“Let the undead know the strength of the Hermes Guild!”

The Hermes Guild users also hurriedly ran down the cliff.

The high level users enjoyed enormous privileges from the Hermes Guild so they never refused any commands to mobilize. Bardray easily gathered users with the highest levels and largest power.

The Abyss Knight was damaging the Central Continent that they conquered so the Hermes Guild gathered their power.

“Come, Hermes villains!”

“I will just revive even if you kill me!”

The undead users cried out as the undead users headed down the cliff.

“Just kicking the undead with my foot would cause the skeleton to decay….! This is a high class swordsmanship skill!”

“Emanation of fierce power, Axe Assault!”

The Hermes Guild used their excellent skills to sweep through the undead like leaves.

“Uhh, unbelievable….”

The skeletons’ hopes and dreams were destroyed in vain. Some were lucky but the undead killed by swords imbued with magic power couldn’t even dream of resurrection.

The gap between the Hermes Guild and the skeletons was too large so they were little help in battle. The death knights, dullahans and soul trackers reinforced by the dark aura withstood several attacks before being destroyed.

Then a low, gloomy voice rang out through the valley.

“Steel knights of the Kallamore Kingdom! Destroy the enemy for the glory of the empire!”

“This…place…take…back… …But…blessing…part…take…breathe…that…way…straight…”

“Ha…ven…straight…chew…them…all…!”

The Abyss Knight Van Hawk was marching at the head of the Doom Knights. There was an immediate change to the battlefield.

The dark aura spread out from Van Hawk. His left hand was holding a spear and his right hand a sword as he wielded the weapons against the Hermes Guild.

“The spread of the abyss.”

Before they knew it, the dark aura split into many branches and hit hundreds of users in the Hermes Guild.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

“This much is nothing!”

“Cough!”

The users hit by the dark aura lost their lives. The whole front was devastated. Shields and armour were broken and those that didn’t die, received serious damage to their health. In their current state, they couldn’t even resist the skeletons.

“Strong….”

“This is the real appearance of the legendary monster, Abyss Knight!”

The Hermes Guild far away watched with horror as their peers were killed.

“Abyss Knight. I acknowledge that he is moderately strong. But a shallow attack like this, Tirbing is impervious to it!”

A user in the Hermes Guild called Tirbing! A warrior who always came to the front in the battlefield.

– Incomplete Body Wave

All physical damage caused by the enemy will be reduced by 20% and a serious injury can increase defense up to 9 times, depending on the level.

This will affect resilience and other defense skills.

However, there will be a severe loss of skill proficiency if you die.

Restrictions: Restricted to warriors.

600 Resilience or more.

Experience clearing more than 206 dungeons.

A warrior who usually didn’t die in battle. He would survive even on battlefields when many people lost their lives.

He dashed hundreds of metres in a straight line towards the enemy as he entered battle mode.

“Abyss Knight, this will be your end!”

Tirbing shouted loudly as he approached the Abyss Knight Van Hawk. Van Hawk stopped emitting the dark aura for a moment.

Tirbing ran towards him wielding a long spear. Once he was roughly 50 metres away from Van Hawk.

All the light was absorbed into the darkness and it was pushed out. A dark spear containing the aura of despair hit Tirbing’s chest.

“Keheok! But I don’t mind the pain. I can endure it!”

Tirbing was slightly over level 400 while Van Hawk was in the mid-600s.

He has always been compared to Weed but Van Hawk’s power was enough to make him one of the boss class monsters on the Versailles Continent. The so-called invisible state!

Nevertheless, Tirbing was able to survive thanks to Incomplete Body Wave.

“This dirty Abyss Knight! I won’t be surprised by just this!”

Tirbing’s health had declined by 16%. In addition, he had sore legs from running but he didn’t show it at all. But that wasn’t the extent of Van Hawk’s power as he didn’t withdraw the spear from Tirbing.

“Uhh?”

Tirbing’s body floated into the air like it was possessed. Van Hawk tied him up with the power of darkness.

– You have been taken captive by the abyss.

Resistance has failed.

You lack faith and concentration.

Strength is low.

Unable to move for 16 seconds.

“Eh? This isn’t….”

From then on, Van Hawk’s spear started to show dazzling movements.

Pabababak! Kwa kwa kwa kwak! Peok! Jjik! Kuuung!

Tirbing fell down into the dirt. And he neatly died!

The difference in levels and being unable to defend meant he died. It was a shocking sight.

The Hermes Guild panicked in front of the Abyss Knight. The high level users backed by the Hermes Guild had never seen a situation like this before.

“It is time to get revenge for Kallamore. March of the Dead!”

Van Hawk used a collective assault skill. The Doom Knights escorted him towards the Hermes Guild.

“Endure! Soon the priests will support us with the divine magic….”

Seokeok!

“Block their assault!”

Kwajijijik!

“I can’t endure…..”

Kwa kwa kwang!

The users of the Hermes Guild lost their lives to the assault of Van Hawk and the Doom Knights. The Abyss Knight had a level over 600!

And the aura coming from the Abyss Knight focused on the Imperial Knights of the Kallamore Kingdom.  The strongest assault troops in the history of the Versailles Continent pierced through the Hermes Guild users.

Even high level monsters couldn’t exert this much havoc. The species characteristics and weakness in the flesh meant there were always one or two places for effective attacks.

But the Abyss Knight had returned for the sake of combat.

– The deep despair and anger sleeping in the abyss has burst out.

Humans have their morale reduced by 24%.

Luck has been reduced by 66%.

Mental confusion will decrease the probability of a spell or skill succeeding.

Health recovery rate has slowed.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

The overall morale was diminished every time a famous user of the Hermes Guild lost their lives. The nature of the knights meant they had higher power than their allies but their loss would shatter the rest.

Van Hawk and the Doom Knights wiped out the Hermes Guild users descending into the valley.

“Uh, it is staggering. This is the first real assault.”

“In the front. Priests, scatter and avoid them while giving support!”

“Stop them no matter what! If you retreat then the damage will be bigger!”

So far, the Hermes Guild users were slaughtered but the undead assault hadn’t slowed down at all. The users lost their lives to Van Hawk in the lead!

The knights at the peak of the Kallamore Empire had been revived as Doom Knights.

In fact, Van Hawk hadn’t reached the pinnacle of power as an Abyss Knight. Combat experience would give him more room to grow and his newly acquired Abyss Knight skills hadn’t reached the mature state yet. It wasn’t a situation where he could strengthen all of the Doom Knights and the undead.

Even so, he was like a surging God of Death to the users. The charge of the Doom Knights that demonstrated explosive speed and destructive power couldn’t be stopped.

“They have appeared as planned. Well as expected, they have serious assault abilities.”

“Start the 2nd wave of attacks.”

The Hermes Guild had fought countless battles in the process of conquering the Central Continent. There was also the experience of breaking through dungeons.

The successes and failures had been recorded in the guild’s information. They prepared tactics to use against monsters.

A head on confrontation with the Abyss Knight and Doom Knights would be a burden. This wasn’t a narrow dungeon where they couldn’t avoid the opponent. They needed to decide a target to concentrate the attacks on.

“Carry out the attack!”

Buuuuuuuuh!

An uninterrupted horn sound echoed through the valley. From this point onwards, the target of all the ranged attacks from the Hermes Guild users were aimed towards Van Hawk and the Doom Knights.

Unless the undead were killed with holy magic or silver arrows, they would just continue to revive again. In order to fully subdue the undead army, they had to take care of Van Hawk.

A heavy shower of attacks fell towards Van Hawk and the Doom Knights.

“That won’t be enough. Have the priests be prepared.”

“I understand.”

The senior priests chanted divine magic in order to give support.

“God, give us permission to liberate all the evil here…free those steeped in darkness and pain!”

– This land has been declared the sanctuary of the god, Atrock.

All those fighting the darkness will feel the effect of divine power.

The effect of combat skills will be enhanced by 32%.

Maximum health will increases up to 150% according to faith.

The effect of divine magic will increase and the amount of mana used will be halved.

All the undead will receive a blow to their health from 20% up to 65%!

A sanctuary declaration!

It was a spell that distorted all dark magic in the area.

“Good.”

“A clean and perfect preparation.”

“We will make the Abyss Knight cry.”

The high level users of the Hermes Guild were waiting for this moment. They had promised to yield the Abyss Knight to Bardray in advance. But it wouldn’t be bad to play an active role in the broadcast.

“2nd and 3rd attack troops, march!”

An fierce struggle broke out between the Imperial Knights and the users of the Hermes Guild. The dispatched troops were supported with divine magic and ranged attacks but knew they had to look after their bodies to survive.

Bardray and his specifically selected high level Royal Guards waited quietly for the Abyss Knight. 10 minutes passed and the number of general undead was reduced by half.

The undead were vulnerable to the divine magic entering the valley. Despite the valley being a Hermes Guild combat outpost, the users had a minimum of level 300 and quite a significant amount were over level 400.

Van Hawk and his Doom Knights survived longer.

“Why are they so strong?”

“Damn. There is really no answer to that assault.”

The users of the Hermes Guild realized the strength of the legendary monster, the Abyss Knight.

In fact, they had been contemptuous of the Abyss Knight while watching Weed’s adventures. During the warring period, Van Hawk obediently followed orders or else he was beaten. Weed was sweeping through the Central Continent on a special quest so they didn’t realize it.

However, they finally felt the presence of the Abyss Knight and Doom Knights after facing the assault.

But the Hermes Guild had only 30,000 users gathered here! Knights, warriors, martial artists, rangers, and magicians all continued their attacks against the Abyss Knight.

“Push them back!”

“Unconditionally attack. Move quickly to lower their health instead of encircling them!”

Nearly 100,000 undead had been destroyed since the battle started. The undead users had played heartily but this stage was too big for them. Most of them were melted by divine magic and forbidden from being resurrected.

The Abyss Knight Van Hawk and Hermes Guild were the only undead still actively moving in the valley.

Both sides of the valley were blocked with priests and paladins and there were dozens of layers of obstacles and troops.

However, the undead had the stamina to fight all day. But the loss of energy would make the special dark skills unusable.

“Armoured troops move forward!”

“Shield troopers, start your assault.”

The Hermes Guild users gathered together according to their profession and started small formations. The Doom Knights were devastated by the enemy and lost their lives one by one.

“The…spi…rit…of…Kall…a…more…won’t…die…”

“Van…Haw…k…sec…ond…life…turn…ed…out…like…this….”

Doom Knights in the assault formation were turned to grey ash. If the Abyss Knight gathered enough power of darkness then they could be fully revived again. But the Hermes Guild called the priests to cleanse the area, delaying the revival time.

They couldn’t completely block the Abyss Knight’s power source. But it was enough if they could delay the revival of his subordinates for a few hours.

Van Hawk struggled as the Hermes Guild users swarmed him. He swung a dark spear at least 10 metres long.

“Come. I will destroy the Haven Kingdom! I’ll show you what a Kallamore knight is!”

The energy of the abyss tore through the Hermes Guild users near it. The priests spread shields made out of divine magic that could reduce the damage.

20,000 Hermes Guild users were concentrating their attacks on Van Hawk. Despite being a favourable situation for the high level users, 10,000 people had already died due to the Abyss Knight and Doom Knights.

“Uh…a really awful monster.”

“Is it still not dead?”

They were shocked as 1,000 people collapsed like straw under the Abyss Knight’s assault. If it wasn’t for the help of the divine power, more people would have died.

‘How the hell did Weed win against the Immortal Legion?’

‘This guy is at a similar level to Barkhan. Then we are weak. Or is Weed more powerful than us?’

The best players among the Hermes Guild heavily questioned it. However, there was a very big difference between Van Hawk and Barkhan.

Barkhan could raise high ranking undead legions equipped to fight the entire Haven Empire. Barkhan’s ability to summon a near unlimited number of undead would shine in a big war. Weed had betrayed from the inside while Geomchi decreased his health. The undead army was weakened and shattered.

On the other hand, Van Hawk could make the most of his subordinates’ abilities in combat. The enemy picked a good place to deal with him but many of them were sacrificed in a short time.

Van Hawk’s amazing military force made the heart of the Hermes Guild members who were certain of victory sink down in their chests. Despite being certain of victory, they couldn’t help feeling scared of the Abyss Knight.

The users gradually withdrew.

“Finish him!”

“Show the continent the power of the Haven Empire!”

Van Hawk brandished his spear at the remaining Imperial Knights and destroyed them. The majesty of the worst undead, the Abyss Knight!

“Now who will attack?”

“How quickly can he recover?”

“Damn, I don’t know. But I don’t want to fight him.”

The Hermes Guild users that counted among the top 100 on the Versailles Continent had gathered in this place. But none of them could fight against Van Hawk.

Of course, that was also true for Bardray.

‘Now it is the turn of my group.’

The low ranking undead that he wasn’t interested in had already disappeared. He had watched while trying to find a gap in the Abyss Knight and Doom Knight troops.

Bardray could effortlessly take care of the Doom Knights and deal significant damage to Van Hawk. He had the best blessing spells on him, wore undead focused equipment and mobilized the Royal Guards so he didn’t need to fight alone.

However, he had seen Van Hawk take care of 100 people alone.

‘I will wait a little more.’

A persistent amount of arrows and magic were pouring towards Van Hawk. There were no other undead or Doom Knights so the magicians and archers concentrated their attacks on Van Hawk.

However, it was hard to tell if Van Hawk was damaged. The dark aura moved like a ghost and hid the body so it was difficult to tell. Van Hawk was fighting alone but 800 Hermes Guild users had already died.

‘I will wait until he slows down. Anyway, this battle is already won.’

Bardray folded his arms while riding the white horse and looked up at the sky. The stars in the night sky were dazzling but the world was still dark. Van Hawk would be finished by the time sun came up.

‘The group needs to hunt more to avoid the same thing happening again today.’

Bardray was level 510. He could attempt to resist the Abyss Knight.

But it would be humiliating if he lost his life. The damage to his level and skill proficiency would be huge and the scene would also appear on broadcast.

The Abyss Knight was a strong monster but he was the Emperor that united the Central Continent. Losing his life wasn’t a very pleasant experience.

‘It will be silly to take unnecessary risks just to look courageous. It would be truly ridiculous if the Emperor of the Haven Empire dies while dealing with the undead. Just a little more.’

Bardray was a little disappointed and annoyed that he couldn’t have a more perfect victory.

“…….”

“What will happen in this battle? Should we start acting?”

The high level users of the Hermes Guild and the Royal Guards noticed where Bardray was looking.

Meanwhile, the battle was continuing! Van Hawk had killed more than 1,000 Imperial Knights and Hermes Guild users.

Van Hawk was weakened by the divine power and was in the worst state. The divine magic reduced the health of the undead as well as their strength and energy.

– A sacred aura has surrounded your body.

The powers of darkness can’t be used until the next night.

Van Hawk no longer received the power of darkness that rose up from the abyss. The body’s protective abilities weakened and they could see that the armour had turned into rags.

The summoning of a black horse was cancelled.

“I am tired. But it is still enough to handle the Haven dogs.”

The Abyss Knight Van Hawk leaned his body against the spear.

The enemies looking down on the valley.

“Ohhhh.”

None of the Hermes Guild users stood a chance against him. The previous attacks had proven that the first person to go against Van Hawk would die!

Most of the damage came from successful ranged attacks. The users who attempted close combat lost their lives to Van Hawk’s spear.

Van Hawk couldn’t attack randomly anymore as he only had 10% health left. The Abyss Knight was gradually approaching his end.

“…….”

Eyes gradually turned towards Bardray.

The combat commanders and high level users of the Hermes Guild knew that Bardray wanted to finish off the Abyss Knight. Even if Bardray had nothing to do with the victory, the users had promised him in advance.

Soon the atmosphere changed to all of the Hermes Guild staring at him.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Bardray checked his status before riding down the valley.

“Waaaaaah!”

The Hermes Guild members cried out. It was a cry of surprise at the sight of the white horse coming down the cliff.

Of course, this situation was deliberately directed by Bardray.

“We must win.”

“It was very dangerous.”

The Royal Guards following Bardray whispered among themselves. In their eyes, they couldn’t allow Bardray to be beaten.

The strongest warrior Bardray. His individual ability played a role in conquering the continent but he was also the symbol of the Hermes Guild.

Bardray was the solid roots of the Haven Empire so he couldn’t lose his life. The Hermes Guild users split apart as Bardray and the Royal Guards headed towards the Abyss Knight.

“Hrmm.”

The tension heightened as they neared the Abyss Knight.

Van Hawk said towards the incoming Bardray.

“King of the Fools, you’ve finally set out.”

Bardray smiled without any apparent concern. This moment would ring in the chest of the people viewing the broadcast.

“The undead blinded by revenge, I will show you the might of the Emperor that dominated the continent.”

“An emperor. Someone who uses force to trample on the weak, aren’t you deluding yourself?”

“I am the right person to end the war on the chaotic continent. Undead, you have forgotten about human laws.”

“I know. I know it very well. You are not qualified to compete with me.”

Bardray clenched his teeth. It was true that the Hermes Guild had done some vile things while extending the Haven Empire. They deliberately betrayed their guild alliances and destroyed any non-aggression treaties.

However, there was no one that could stop the behaviour of their guild.  Van Hawk was questioning Bardray’s qualifications as an Emperor was the problem.

The Black Knight was a profession with outstanding leadership skills. It was hard to find a combat profession better than this but he had abandoned chivalry when he betrayed a lord.

Despite climbing to the seat of Emperor, his legitimacy was questionable. There was a special emperor’s quest to overcome this but Bardray hadn’t performed it yet. The quest would take too much time and he believed he could show his true force through hunting.

No matter how strong his army was, the effect on his fame could be seen by Van Hawk’s reaction.

“I will prove my qualifications by getting rid of you.”

“That is impossible.”

“You won’t know until we fight. Emperor Bardray of the Haven Empire, I challenge the Abyss Knight.”

“You are entitled to ask for an honourable fight. Bring it on.”

Van Hawk rushed towards Bardray on a white horse. And the battle between the two of them! Bardray violently struck downwards with his sword and it impacted with Van Hawk’s spear.

Chaeeeeng!

It was to the extent that a huge shockwave passed through the earth. And the Abyss Knight was pushed back slightly.

This was because he had lost the power of darkness from the abyss.

‘It is possible. The overwhelming resistance is gone.’

There was a smile on Bardray’s face. He quickly stabbed his sword three times.

Van Hawk blocked it with his spear every time.

“Give me your neck.”

Van Hawk also struck back but his attack bounced off Bardray’s sword. It was a fierce and quick exchange of offense and defense. Bardray brandished his sword at least twenty times.

“Sword Awakening, Strong Will, Summon Another Sword, and Power of Birth!”

When fighting any other opponent, he would originally pretend to fall back. But now he was greedy to kill the Abyss Knight.

The Abyss Knight had clearly been weakened.

“Be careful. From now on, my attacks won’t be so simple.”

“Wicked and rude person, be careful what you say to an Abyss Knight. Soon the sun will rise and those words will be meaningless.”

This was what Bardray had hoped for. Once the sun rose, Van Hawk would disappear and then reappear in the evening.

“Golden Lion Sword!”

Van Hawk’s health was gradually reduced during the duel. There was a 150 level difference between them but Van Hawk was already seriously weakened.

Bardray’s sword emitted a brilliant light like the rays of the sun, causing Van Hawk’s body to shake violently. He was holding Lugh’s Sword!

Weed had returned it to the Church of Lugh after removing it from Barkhan’s body. The original divine power of the sword had been restored in Argoldia and the Hermes Guild used their contributions to borrow it.

“This sword…this sword!”

“Today is the day you will rest in peace.”

Bardray continued wielding Lugh’s Sword. The spear of the Abyss Knight didn’t have the power of darkness anymore so he could withstand the damage. Furthermore, Lugh’s Sword had the power to recover his health.

‘It is stable. I will thoroughly finish this. There won’t be any mistakes.’

The undead couldn’t resist Lugh’s Sword. Bardray paid attention to any tight gaps in the defense and counterattacked when possible.

The Abyss Knight’s health was already reduced so there was no need to be greedy. Considering Van Hawk’s actions so far, he was assured of his success.

The Hermes Guild had witnessed their members being massacred so the scene was even more breathtaking to them. Everyone was surprised when he would unleash an explosive attack against Van Hawk.

Bardray was committed to doing his best so he had no need to create more tension on purpose.

The battle lasted 10 minutes before Van Hawk’s health was depleted. Finally, the spear dropped and Bardray was assured of his victory.

“The Kallamore Kingdom shall forever belong to the Haven Empire. Undead, return to the abyss and disappear!”

“I might have failed but Kallamore will return some day. Ahh…it is a shame!”

Bardray stabbed Lugh’s Sword into Van Hawk’s chest. And the divine light that shone brightly!

Ddiring!

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– The Abyss Knight Van Hawk born from the deep despair and anger of the abyss has been destroyed.

The power of darkness in the abyss will spread.

After the Abyss Knight has fallen, Doom Knights will randomly appear in the Haven Empire for sporadic resistance for 1 month.

– Fame has increased by 5,402 due to the great achievement.

– Charisma has increased by 6.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 5.

– You have experienced a great victory.

The proficiencies of the skills used in the fight against the Abyss Knight will increase by a minimum of 3% up to 15%.

– This glorious battle has been recorded in the Haven Empire’s records and all those who participated in the battle will gain 6 stats.

– You have achieved victory against the Abyss Knight Van Hawk.

Bards on the Versailles Continent will sing songs of admiration about your amazing battle.

The loyalty of the residents will climb every time the song is spread and crime rates will reduce.

Honour has increased by 35.

The nobles of the Haven Empire will not dream of revolting.

– Resistance in the Kallamore and Britten Alliance areas of the Haven Empire has been reduced.

Rebels that emerge will be suppressed.

– Title! Emperor on the Battlefield has been obtained.

Morals aren’t necessary when establishing a large empire.

Knowing when to take advantage of fear and oppression is an important virtue.

Before the empire fell into chaos, you stood directly on the battlefield and removed the dangerous elements.

The strong determination will increase the morale of the soldiers up to 13% and residents will be forced to obey.

The ability of your subordinates in battle will increase by 6%.

– The Breastplate of Bitterness has been acquired.

– Helmet of the Abyss has been acquired.

– Gloves with a Poignant Grudge has been acquired.

Bardray stood idly for a moment.

So far, he had hunted many strong monsters on the Versailles Continent. Nevertheless, he had never felt any thrill like when he had killed the Abyss Knight.

Soon the sound of the Hermes Guild users cheering echoed through Cocoon Valley.

“Hooray His Majesty!”

“Bardray-nim chopped up the Abyss Knight!”

“The Hermes Guild is unbeatable!”

Their battle had ended with a complete victory. Those who were involved in the battle also gained stats as a bonus.

The members of the Hermes Guild cheered. They received significant damage but it was worth it to take care of the Abyss Knight.

Bardray also had a satisfied smile on his face.

Chapter 5: Encounter with Subordinates

– We must fight. If we lose the north then we won’t have anywhere to go!

– Struggle until the end. We shouldn’t give up.

The users flocked to the Earth Palace to fight against the Haven Empire. Weed the God of War had returned but they weren’t sure of victory.

Of course, there were so many people that room ran out.

“I lost my shack. Should I build another shack?”

“I’m not going to bother with a shack. The other day I just slept in the alley.”

“Was the sunshine good?”

“I think it would be better in the hills. But it has been raining since dawn.”

“The Arpen Kingdom is good to us. We can’t have it taken away by those Hermes guys.”

“Shall we eat grass porridge?”

“I’ve never tasted anything better.”

“That’s right. I ate a toadstool porridge and almost died.”

Whether they were beginners or had a high level, the northern users headed towards the Earth Palace.

“This is for Weed.”

“The Arpen Kingdom is where we live.”

The northern users gathered after Weed returned. As shown through the broadcast, the Earth Palace would be the front line between the Haven Empire.

“His Majesty has entered the Earth Palace grounds. But a lot of supplies are necessary. Perhaps he is thinking of doing business?”

“Of course. I want to sell a bunch of weapons cheaply.”

“Then I’ll buy some of them. It would be nice to be a small help to His Majesty.”

– General Store’s Favour

Peka, a resident of the Arpen Kingdom is worried about his future due to the Haven Empire’s invasion.

Monsters have chased him in the past as his family wandered after the kingdom collapsed.

But they overcame all the difficulties and found a king who loves art and adventure.

Transport this material to the Earth Palace for Peka.

Level of Difficulty: E

Quest Restrictions: General store owner Peka’s faith.

After Weed called the army to the Earth palace, quests were generated everywhere to transport materials!

“His Majesty has called. I will polish my sword and go fight at this moment!”

“I, the Horad Clan’s third son will go and defend the Arpen Kingdom despite only being an apprentice knight!”

Many residents voluntarily headed towards the Earth Palace in large quantities.

Weed was the centre of the Arpen Kingdom and the residents found it a pleasure to follow the true king. This was evidence that his influence had spread all over the kingdom.

In addition, the king’s art related profession played a large role.

“Haven Kingdom, they are the bad guys.”

“Ya! Make Bardray’s statue have larger nostrils!”

Painters and sculptors were mobilized to incite patriotism with works against the Haven Empire. While culture might seem weak, it was the driving force behind their tenacity when fighting the invaders.

Thus numerous people headed to the Earth Palace when something gleamed like jewels in the sky. Sunlight reflected off huge, oversized wings, causing numerous colours to shine.

“Huh, what is that?”

“Look at that. There are even wyverns following.”

“Then…Bingryong made out of cold ice!”

“Hooray the Arpen Kingdom!”

The users and residents walking towards the Earth Palace raised their hands and cheered.

Bingryong and the wyverns were flying in the sky.

Among the users in the north, there was no one who didn’t know Weed’s origin story! He developed Morata from a small village to the Arpen Kingdom with the help of the sculptural lifeforms.

Bingryong and the wyverns were heading into the Earth Palace. Riding the wyverns were sculptural lifeforms like the high elf Eltin, the barbarian Gernika and the swordswoman Vindex. In particular, there was those that rode the first class Wy-3 like Goldman, Cerberus and Seville.

And following behind them was Phoenix with a long stream of fire. A giant piece of flame. A warm aura spread through the sky as they flew.

Due to their nature, the users had never had close contact with some of the sculptural lifeforms.

“Kuoooooh!”

After that, the King Hydra with 9 heads was crushing the forest. The King Hydra was tired from defending the frontier of the Arpen Kingdom alone.

“Hey, second head. What are your hobbies?”

“Swallowing monsters whole.”

“Huh, that hobby is like mine.”

“I’m the seventh head, same here.”

“Stop talking about food. Now I am hungry.”

“I’m also hungry.”

The 9 heads of the King Hydra became friends with each other. And now they were playing among themselves as they headed to the Earth Palace.

Dududududu!

This time, the users saw an enormous cloud of dust from far away.

“Now what is it?”

“I don’t know. But the scale is enormous.”

The cloud of dust was heading towards the Earth Palace. There were a countless number of cattle.

Ummoooooo!

“Who is your father?”

“I don’t know. My mother was hanging around Yellowy.”

“My mother also spent the night with Yellowy and give birth to me and my sisters.”

Yellowy caused a boom in the number of cattle in the Arpen Kingdom. The perfect musculature and energy, Yellowy was the envy of all cows. Herds of cattle with good pedigree wandered the meadows and hills and grew up.

The calves that Yellowy gave birth to headed towards the Earth Palace. Then the cattle were darkened by the shadow of the Sky Island Lavias over them.

The avians were moving the entire island in the direction of the Earth Palace. The avians were cute, had excellent combat power and could easily travel long distances so they were the species that many preferred.

Millions of users in the vicinity of Lavias flew around and tweeted. The avians flying through the countryside could be seen even when the lights were turned on at night.

“We are the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Amazing.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed created some sculptures while his companions finished their preparations for a hunt.

“Time Sculpting!”

– Time Sculpting Beginner Level 3(79%).

Age Sculpting.

This skill will add a long amount of time to a sculpture. Sometimes this time will add value to the sculpture.

It will also stop the sculpture from being naturally damaged over time.

“I could only raise the proficiency of sculpting by one level in this short amount of time.”

He didn’t want to make Masterpieces or Magnum Opus. Once he finished a piece, he would apply Time Sculpting! Sculptures would become more valuable over time.

He started with a wooden duck, a jade bowl and a gold doll of a girl.

There were several warehouses in the Earth Palace filled with materials that the king could freely access. He had to worry about property and the loyalty of the residents but this level of luxury and pleasure was the privilege of the king!

“Inspect!”

– New Short Beak

A statue of a violently angry bird.

A piece made by the most famous sculptor in the history of the continent.

For some reason, the production year can’t be determined.

The piece seems to have lasted for a long time but it seems to be quite popular among antique collectors.

Artistic Value: 17

“Hrmm.”

Weed discovered the benefits of Time Sculpting.

“I can sell them as antiques.”

The best skill to produce fake antiques! He could mass produce and distribute fake antiques that seemed to be from the Niflheim Empire or the warring period.

“This is a delicious, minor piece.”

Familiar visitors arrived while he was making the sculptures.

“Master-nim, I knew you would return safely. I polished my sword skills while loyally waiting for Master-nim. Let’s go chop up the enemy. The enemies won’t be able to escape in front of my sword!”

It was the knight Seville who he gave life to in Jigolaths.

“Uh, yes.”

Weed couldn’t help being reminded of Hestiger as he looked at Seville’s handsome appearance. A well behaved subordinate was excellent to command.

But unfortunately, Seville was just like the human Hestiger. A handsome, competent and knowledgeable type that was popular among girls!

“Ummoooooo!”

“It has been a long time, gol gol gol. I wanted to see you so much. Don’t leave us again. ”

“Bark bark!”

Yellowy, Goldman and even Cerberus came in. Goldman shone brightly and he had Golden Bird and Silver Bird perched on his shoulders.

It was nostalgic meeting with his sculptural lifeforms again.

“You….”

One side of Weed’s mouth rose. He missed them but he also felt a surge of annoyance when looking at them.

“You ate well.”

“Of course. I ate well, gol gol!”

The sculptural lifeforms truly believed he was impressed. They hadn’t met in a long time so they believed Weed would feed them.

They felt like Weed had changed a lot from the past. It meant their master also missed them.

“I thought so. You ate the rice I cooked without thinking!”

“……’

“Yellowy, I told you to take care of your body but look at your hind legs and ribs that have turned greasy.”

He crushed Yellowy’s spirit in one go!

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy’s eyes became wide as he blinked.

“Goldman, have you been hunting to become stronger?”

“Of course, gol gol. I lived in the hunting grounds.”

Goldman confidently replied. He had experienced death in the past so he fought hard so that he wouldn’t suffer that again New skills were developed so he wanted to be praised.

“I’ve learned some new skills in the meantime. Gol gol.”

“What is it?”

“Eating a gold pill will make me stronger for a short period of time. It also increases my health, gol gol gol.”

“D-don’t tell me you really used it?”

“It is completely good. I use it all the time while hunting.”

“You really want to die!”

Weed was in severe despair from his sculptural lifeforms.

“Where are Bingryong and the wyverns?”

“They are out there.”

Bingryong and the wyverns were flying in the vicinity of the palace. They often broke windows and buildings from their large size in Morata and had heard a lot of nagging about it.

Weed laid his hands on his forehead.

“These guys really aren’t reliable. They are causing plenty of trouble early on. Fortunately, none of them died in my absence.”

Then the warrior Gernika said.

“Not long ago, a steed was found in the kingdom. I got motion sickness while hanging on from the white horns because it moves very quickly when it spreads its wings.”

“So? Are you saying the value is incredibly expensive?”

“Wy-1 ate it.”

“The whole thing?”

“Wy-1 even burped after eating it perfectly.”

“……How about Bingryong?”

The high elf Eltin spoke shyly.

“Bingryong’s body made a mess out of the herb garden. All of them became useless.”

“All?”

“Everything.”

Weed’s hand was on his forehead.

It was like a scene from a drama where the president of a company suffered from high blood pressure and seemed to be collapsing. It was due to a family member or employee. This drama was reflected in reality.

Then there was a dark aura and the Death Knight Van Hawk appeared.

“Master!”

“You…how are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be attacking the Haven Empire as an Abyss Knight?”

Weed was puzzled. He had been so busy creating sculptures that he hadn’t listened to the news of the Versailles Continent in real time.

“I lost.”

“No, why did you lose so quickly?”

“I wanted to restore the glory of the Kallamore Empire but was defeated by the Emperor of the other side.”

Weed’s body started shaking.

“An Abyss Knight could be called a strong existence in this time. Does it make sense that you are already defeated?”

“There were too many enemies.”

“If there are many enemies then use guerrilla tactics. Use the speed and breakthrough abilities of the Abyss Knight and Doom Knights! Sweep everything away. Don’t tell me it was just a frontal confrontation? What type of battlefield were you in that you couldn’t break away?”

“I was in a valley with the opponents above me. However, I wanted to show them the bravery of the Kallamore Knights.”

“…….”

“Many knights of the Kallamore Empire were killed in vain. I brought them all back.”

“So you died?”

“You don’t understand my words. Once again, there were too many enemies.”

“Your subordinates?”

“Wiped out. The few left behind in occupied territories can’t hold out for long.”

Van Hawk who was the commander of the dark army scratched his skull with embarrassment. And Weed didn’t say anything for a while.

He had a special relationship with his sculptural lifeforms and Van Hawk. It was beyond that of subordinates. In other words, it was more like parent and child.

“The world has completely changed. That is the truth, you brat.”

Weed’s sense of loss was very big. Only complaints came pouring out.

Yellowy watched his master mourning and said.

“Umooooo, I had a lot of calves. I’m not just saying this, but my calves are very manly.”

“They are bulls from head to tail. Well done.”

“But they eat a lot.”

“Yellowy, calves have to eat a lot in order to grow larger. Grow up quickly so that they can be used.”

“They are eating from Morata’s grain fields….”

“…….”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Although there were a few twists and turns, Weed concentrated on mass production of antique sculptures and barely managed to raise Time Sculpting to beginner level 4.

It was the final secret sculpting technique so the proficiency wasn’t rising that quickly. Then he took his hunting companions and moved them to the vicinity of the Desert of Tranquility.

He could take his sculptural lifeforms but he was pressed for time and needed colleagues that he could hunt quickly with.

“This isn’t the desert.”

Python had a surprised expression as he looked around

“I heard there was a desert in the north but it was really close to the Earth Palace. I didn’t expect to go there.

“We are going to the south of the Versailles Continent. Near the Desert of Tranquility.”

“What? Then we have to move completely across the continent. Really?”

“Trust me.”

Yurin drew a picture on a piece of paper and used Picture Teleportation, giving Python a completely novel experience. But the instant he arrive, his breath clogged up and he was appalled by the heat.

“This is really hot. I can only take small breaths.”

The man who didn’t reveal his name laboriously said.

At first, they thought it was just the hot sun shining down but soon the sand started to feel like a boiling hotplate.

‘This is the entrance to hell. And I can probably endure. Weed-nim will make us suffer until we are on the verge of death.’

Pale was already quietly stringing his bow without any protests. Weed was the senior adventurer and said.

“Well, it is better than the cold.”

“…….”

He had been through a lot and concluded that the cold was worse! There was a rapid reduction in vitality due to the heat penalty but his perseverance and resilience rose in the desert.

The nameless man turned around and asked.

“Then where are the hunting grounds? Are we catching monsters passing through here?”

“In the desert, constellations and unusual terrain will identify the location of things like oases. There is a dungeon that way. It isn’t too far.”

Weed pointed in the direction of the floating, intense sun.

“This isn’t the exact direction. A lot could have changed.”

“When did you last see it?”

“I don’t have the exact date but it should be between 500~700 years ago on the Versailles Continent….”

“Wouldn’t time have completely changed the terrain?”

“This is a rich place. There are plenty of dungeons in the field.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Rapid gait, summoning the lion that runs on sand!”

Thanks to Alveron’s divine magic, they arrived at the hunting grounds in just 5 minutes. There was the opening to a cave in the sand covered hills.

There were many strong existences in the desert so it was a good hunting ground. It was because they had to overcome the environment in order to survive. “We will enter here.”

Python, the nameless man, Pale, Alveron and Weed moved into the cave without thinking.

Kurururung!

At that moment, the soil collapsed and covered the dungeon entrance.

Ddiring!

– The Hot Underground Dungeon has been discovered.

This is a very old dungeon. This dungeon no longer remains in people’s memories or books.

It has been a very long time since human traces have come here. Or have any prey come along.

Benefits: Fame has increased by 698.

Experience and item drops will double for a week.

The first monster killed of each type will drop the rarest item.

“It is a trap!”

Python pulled out his sword with surprise and Weed said calmly.

“Desert dungeons are originally like this. The entrances are blocked so we can’t go out that way. The paths aren’t complicated and we just have to go in a straight line to fight the monsters.

Pale calmly asked a question.

“How will the monsters come out?”

“Well, we just need to get rid of them or else they will stack up.”

Weed had come here during his days as ruler of the desert. At that time, he had found the dungeon but no one discovered it for a long time so the entrance had changed.

Now he could benefit from x2 experience from the monsters.

In the past, giant poisonous scorpions appeared so it was a fairly decent hunting ground. They were level 500 so it wouldn’t have any effect on the high levelled desert king. But right now, the hunting party’s level was in the 400s so it was a perfect hunting ground.

They were human companions, not sculptural lifeforms so they could take care of themselves.

Weed told his colleagues.

“This is a battle for survival while we drill our way out. If anyone slacks offs or is in severe danger then I won’t help you. At a minimum, decent proficiency in your skills are required.”

“What would happen if I did during it?”

“I will bring a new colleague.”

“I like this attitude!”

“I will go first. Follow me and take care of it.”

And the battle began!

Weed was familiar with the monsters due to their encounters in the desert but the others weren’t.

The giant poisonous scorpion had a hard shell as armour. It quickly alternated between attacks with its two sharp claws and stinging tail. If they were hit by the stinger then their health would decrease by 20,000~30,000. The solid body and fast attack speed made it a dangerous and tricky monster.

On the other hand, they also had weaknesses. If the joints or connection between shells were attacked then it was surprisingly easy for them to lose their lives.

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed fought using a sword of light.

‘Accurately. There should be no mistakes. My level means that a stray attack can kill me.’

He needed to concentrate against the strong attacks of the giant poisonous scorpions. He had already used Sculptural Destruction to increase his vitality.

He purposely didn’t increase his strength or agility. Thanks to vitality increasing by at least 20 times, he wouldn’t become tired no matter how much he fought.

– The 8th continuous attack has succeeded.

The giant poisonous scorpion has been destroyed.

An incredible victory has been recorded.

Fame has increased by 1.

Due to handling the giant poisonous scorpion in the shortest amount of time, agility has increased by 1.

He saw the prey and ate it!

“Lululu!”

Weed’s battles were fast and accurate. It was much easier doing this again.

Although his attack power wasn’t comparable to when he was in the desert, he used his experience to skillfully take advantage of their weaknesses.

Alveron and Pale were close behind Weed.

“Divine will, block the poison.”

Alveron used divine magic towards to attack the scorpion or used protection magic on his colleagues.

Alveron was the pope candidate of the Freya Church. Although his power couldn’t be compared to Saint Ahellun, he was much stronger than general users.

Alveron’s divine magic was used continuously and the effect was several-fold because of its purity. In addition, his sincerity meant he never slacked off.

“Piercing Ice Arrow!”

Pale fired an arrow at the mouth of the poisonous scorpion and it pierced through.

Tutututung!

It went through the bodies of 5 giant poisonous scorpions in a row.

“Weed-nim!”

“I know.”

Weed smashed his sword against the frozen bodies of the giant poisonous scorpions. He wore the Daemon Sword instead of the sword made by the red dragon, the Red Star. In the case of the Red Star, its nature meant that he needed to minimize its use while taking advantage of the weak points during hunting.

Kwajajang!

– The critical hit was successful.

The frozen monsters have received full damage.

12 times the damage has been shown.

The monster has been removed.

1 combat fame has been acquired.

Arrows with ice magic were quite expensive but it ensured there was the effect of ice magic.

Weed, Alveron and Pale quickly passed through a cave of giant poisonous scorpions. The scorpions dug out from the ground, through walls or repelled down from the ceiling.

Van Hawk and Torido were also summoned in order to help.

“Hrmm, I like this. I’ll take care of it!”

Python belatedly pulled out a greatsword and followed. He didn’t use any sophisticated techniques on the giant poisonous scorpions. He just used a tremendous amount of power to smash the poisonous scorpion.

An ordinary monster wouldn’t be able to deal with the power of his greatsword. Despite the hard shell being intact, there was still cumulative damage.

“The health of the monster is lower than it seems. Well, perhaps I just fought really well?”

“Don’t eat ramyun without drinking the soup. It will be starting from now on.”

Python was surprised to see the giant poisonous scorpions in the area. The scorpions covered the walls, ceiling and floor.

‘You really can’t go back in this dungeon. In the worst situation, we will be trapped.’

Python controlled his spirit. He attacked any scorpions running or jumping towards him. If he didn’t properly hit the giant poisonous scorpion then he would pay the price.

The nameless man melted into the shadows. He showed up behind a red scorpion and accurately stuck a dagger into the underbelly.

It was an assassin’s typical attack pattern so none of his hunting colleagues were surprised. An assassin was a profession that tried to hide themselves as much as possible. By wearing casual clothes inside a dungeon, it couldn’t be determined if they were magicians, priests, thieves or assassins.

Weed’s movement speed didn’t acknowledge the people who accompanied him for the first time.

“Slow. A second yawn is already emerging so move more quickly.”

‘Then…’

‘Right now this is considered slow?’

They were walking fast enough to be called a run in the dungeon. There was no time for scouting, let alone a break or leisurely chat.

They just ran into the middle of a monster infested place being moving on. Python and the nameless man followed behind while managing their health, vitality and mana.

If they drained their mana using a wide area skill then it would take longer dealing with a group of giant poisonous scorpions.

Whenever Weed slowed down, Pale would support him by shooting arrows. The monsters were overflowing and they had no time to linger. Loot and experience points were acquired from the fights.

It was a huge performance with the best results but Alveron’s divine magic was also incredible. Their hands and feet quickened and hunting speed improved. They started cooperating and soon passed through the dungeon.

‘I am dumbfounded. Originally I didn’t believe in my colleagues…. Normally their bodies would stiffen in a dangerous place like this with so many monsters. If they are only concerned about being safe then hunting speed would lower.’

Python had experienced many such cases in other hunting parties. Due to the sudden emergence of strong monsters, they couldn’t exert their skills. But in this place, there was no one who had a problem with fighting spirit.

Despite the completely dangerous dungeon, everyone did their share.

‘At this rate, I can get stronger really quickly. If I had such good teammates in the early days of Royal Road then I would be 40 levels higher than I am now. It would have been possible to make a breakthrough in the dungeon.’

He was trying to understand Weed’s hunting speed. Weed entered a dangerous area and just hunted through everything.

Python didn’t even have a brief moment of space during the battle as he paid attention to Weed in the corner of his eyes.

Weed stabbed the head of the giant poisonous scorpion with his sword. The giant poisonous scorpions in the depths of the cave were intimidated by the continuous attacks. Three or four continuous attacks aiming for the critical points resulted in the scorpions being defeated.

While fighting the dangerous enemies in the lead, Weed also grasped the movement of his colleagues.

The party leader was maximizing hunting efficiency so he just believed that that they would follow him.

‘I don’t think that he is particularly stronger than me but his stats are brilliantly placed and well trained. Various skills are utilized depending on the situation.’

Python was someone doing the Warrior Master Quest on the Versailles Continent and had faced many enemies.

He couldn’t believe a sculptor had such great strength and vitality. Weed used the secret sword technique Sword-cloning, Radiant Sword or Heriam Fencing depending on the situation.

‘This is the electrifying strength of the ruler of the desert. And he has demonstrated the ability to make improvised and instantaneous decisions. Can I also fight like that?’

It was hard for Python to draw a conclusion. He also needed to consider the effects of Alveron’s divine magic.

But he had to finish some of the monsters. He had confidence that he could get rid of the monsters.

However, he couldn’t help feeling suspicious of Weed.

‘He is much tougher than other high level users. My level is 465 so perhaps he is a bit higher than that. A sculptor is sure to have some weak stats. Though not all of his skills have been revealed…. Well, my combat capabilities are also beyond my level. I would love to watch him fight more.’

He used every opportunity to look at Weed. The Versailles Continent’s top ranked players like Bardray and Weed were his competitors.

Of course he had to use this opportunity to closely watch Weed’s combat.

‘I am capable of killing him in a surprise ambush. My hands itch. But is this really the power of Weed the God of War? The charismatic figure I saw in the videos of his battles hasn’t appeared yet.’

The two men thought like that. They thought they could take him. Weed was currently exerting the biggest attack power.

He couldn’t hunt properly for a long time due to the final secret sculpting technique quest. He neglected his skills and his level also dropped.

He had overwhelming strength during his days ruling the desert but the weakness he felt after coming back to reality gave him a bittersweet feeling.

“We will start hunting more quickly. There is a bigger risk so please take care of your health. There will be more monsters.”

“That….when is break time?”

“We will rest after clearing the dungeon and going towards the next hunting ground.”

“Dinner?”

“Eat grain bread while moving.”

The man lurking in the shadows showed up.

“How long is the travel time?”

“3 minutes.”

“…….”

After 2 hours, they reached the mid-point of the dungeon and said.

“Oh, I realized that I didn’t tell you something important. Please note. There is a boss monster level 500 that is near here.”

“Shouldn’t we avoid a monster like this?”

The nameless man asked the question. A level 500 monster was normally hunted with a guild.

“Its balance isn’t good. It is like the rice cake for ancestral rites. It is something to eat before the main dish. In particular, its skin is quite useful.”

“But if we make one mistake then our lives will be at risk. How should we prepare for the fight?”

“Don’t make any mistakes. You aren’t children so each one of you should take care of your own lives.”

Pale was already firmly prepared. He knew from hunting with Weed that he had to be alert every minute.

Pale also felt a tremendous sense of accomplishment from the incredible speed of the hunt. Achieving an unreasonable goal caused him a sense of joy.

‘Weed the God of War. Hrmm, as amazing as the rumours. Weed finishes the hunt with great efficiency. I am probably benefiting from Weed.’

‘Heh, a shadow of death that kills that huge monsters. Normally I would need to get rid of it with a small, elite group of assassins…. Anyway, I am achieving this level of success with Weed.’

But soon they heard Weed muttering in a frustrated voice.

“The first place I chose was too easy.”

“…….”

“Well, the monsters in the next dungeon are twice as strong and their most difficult attribute is their high health. Endure the boredom a little more since the next place is likely to be fun.”

“What type of difficult does the next hunting ground have?”

“It is similar to the level of kimchi fried rice.”

Great Emperor Weed!

The biggest driving force behind his success in the final secret sculpting technique quest was the hunting abilities of Weed and his subordinates.

Python and the nameless man could understand why the desert warriors were so strong.

‘Heh, he is bluffing. It is probably only a little bit trickier.’

‘He is just making noise in advance. He is just trying to make us worry.’

And Pale’s thoughts.

‘I will be dead for a few days. It would be nice if I lose consciousness and wake up after the hunt is over!’

Chapter 6: Alkazar Bridge

United Kingdom, London.

Senior executives of international investment companies, property managers and wealthy people were gathered in one place.

They had put together an astronomical amount of funds. The royal family of the Middle East, European aristocrats, oil and conglomerates were some of the sources of the money for their operation.

“The next thing is to expand our influence in Unicorn Headquarters. First of all, the last attempt failed.”

“How many shares do we currently have?”

“We mobilized several accounts and companies and obtained 4%.”

“Only that much…..”

The executives of the international investment companies sighed. They didn’t need more money. If they wanted to cause a war, a financial crisis or cause remarkable economic development in a country, all of it was possible.

Nevertheless, it was impossible to get a hold on Unicorn Corporation.

Unicorn was dominating and obtaining money from virtual reality. The current stock value of the company was steadily rising and its affiliates were sparking a ridiculous revolution in other industries.

The shipbuilding industry was in an overall recession but Unicorn had pushed inventory forward 15 years. Ships that had fuel economy and speed beyond those currently existing. It would be worth it in 3~4 years.

The competitiveness of marine plants and oil drilling could be considered the highest in the world. Chemicals, pharmaceuticals, new materials, robots, precision machinery, etc. They caused winds of interest to blow in all those areas.

The affiliates raised the market capitalization of Unicorn Corporation who serviced Royal Road. That’s why interest increased in Unicorn Corporation.

“The shares for Unicorn are at such an exorbitant price that it is impossible to secure ownership through market trading.”

“What about corporate bonds?”

“It isn’t planned and they don’t need it in the future. Even if we identify Unicorn’s core affiliates, the amount of money we have isn’t enough to eat them.”

“That can’t be.”

“J.K.I. in the past. We have to take the financial group’s failure as a lesson. We can’t touch it carelessly.”

“The amount of funds used for that operation is amazing.”

Capitalists wanted to touch Unicorn Corporation.

If necessary, politics could be used to place pressure on companies but Unicorn’s vast social network meant it wasn’t possible. In addition, representatives of Unicorn were secretly lurking in leading banks around the world.

The first time they noticed such movement was 1 year ago.

J.K.I. The financial group had obtained 20% of Unicorn’s shares and tried to threaten them. In order to buy the shares, the amount of funds necessary was equivalent to a country’s budget. After securing 20% of the shares, they combined with other equity funds and investment banks in order to threaten the funds.

They fought hard but Unicorn didn’t consider it a serious crisis. However, Unicorn Corporation had started the full-scale counterattack.

J.K.I. The corporate customers of the financial group started to depart in a chain reaction. Stories about the financial groups corruption and accounting manipulation was released to the media and management was punished.

They could no longer afford to fight Unicorn, let alone recover to their original state. The media continued to attack and the investors withdrew their funds until they were on the very of bankruptcy!

J.K.I who had a 105 year history accumulated losses in real estate and business. The financial group shattered and was dismantled.

The international investment breaks investigated and revealed Unicorn’s deep interest. As it turns out, Unicorn had invested many secret funds into the investigation.

They internally took control of major banks and was also influential in politics and journalism. A large number of multinational companies were directly or indirectly controlled by Unicorn Corporation.

Even if there were no formal agreements with Unicorn Corporation, they were under their control. Companies and individuals. Many of the actual shareholders were hidden through an artful concealment process.

Since then, most of the international investment banks gave up on their desire to buy Unicorn Corporation.

The more dangerous the fruit was, the tastier it would be. But they learned that money wouldn’t penetrate the company.

J.K.I. The financial group was thoroughly dismantled and became a tight cage for them. Since then, several companies were smashed by Unicorn Corporation. No matter how much money they had, it was impossible in front of such power.

All hostile movements were discovered by Unicorn’s information network. They couldn’t trust their colleagues.

The capitalists in Chicago thought a little differently. ‘There is no point digging at the company. If so, what about inside Royal Road?’

It was an established fact that the Hermes Guild would conquer the continent. They would manage the territories according to merit and ability. They could gain huge taxes and exert power going forward.

Royal Road was made with superior technology as a resort where humanity could feel fun. Currently the number of users was exponentially increasing so there would be more value in the Emperor of the Haven Empire and Royal Road.

‘Then should we invest in the Hermes Guild?’

The strong Hermes Guild!

Capitalists invested money in the Hermes Guild and allocated them a number of shares. The Hermes Guild now had control over the large Haven Empire so it wasn’t a loss. They had already secretly earned a large amount of funds.

They recognized how profitable it was and invested a large sum to help the Hermes Guild dominate the Versailles Continent. Some major investors welcomed this plan.

Once the Hermes Guild unified the Versailles Continent and achieved a steady income then the future prospects would be very bright. Moreover, some investors could see the additional effects of the Haven Empire having power on the Versailles Continent.

Money would help to raise their standing in Royal Road.

Although the leaders of the Hermes Guild showed a positive response, the Hermes Guild had certain conditions.

From the very beginning, their goal to conquer the Versailles Continent had always been closely related to money.

The Hermes Guild predicted that Royal Road would have vast popularity across all ages and countries. They started earlier than others and prepared a lot of achieve the unification of the continent.

Individuals in the guild that received a lot of investment could easily obtain a fortune. Even after the unification, they still needed to continue ruling the continent.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi, Geomchi-2 and Geomchi-3.

They led their respective troops and met at Pato Castle.

Pato Castle had been built by the Haven Empire after invading the Rupoi Plains. By mobilizing slaves, they finished construction of a stone castle where they could monitor the Rupoi river and plains.

Geomchi sat on a black bull on a hill as the sun set.

“Our goal is that place.”

“Well, that’s great.”

Geomchi-2, Geomchi-3, Geomchi-4 and Geomchi-5 also rode the bulls.

The broad shoulders, thick neck and excellent abs! The students behind them gave off a menacing sight. Users could often be seen running away from them screaming on mountain trails or dark paths.

“Today we will take care of this. Let’s go, everyone!”

“Yes! Follow Teacher-nim!”

They spoke as knights of the Arpen Kingdom.

In fact, they had been finding it boring fighting monsters.

“Kkiyahu!”

“Uryaryarya!”

Geomchi led the assault with 505 bulls following behind him!

They weren’t stupid in fights. Despite dying of hunger in Royal Road due to barely bread or recklessly fighting a dragon.

‘They will be prepared for us.’

‘Those guys will start moving soon.’

They learned by studying strategies and tactics. From an early age, they had been called many names by their parents and teachers.

‘They have noticed.’

Geomchi who was in the lead felt something.

“The enemy has appeared!”

“Get ready for crossfire!”

And not surprisingly, 2,000 archers got up from Pato Castle’s walls and simultaneously aimed their bows!

“Just rush.”

Geomchi said to the bulls behind him. They were rushing so it was already too late to avoid the arrows.

Therefore, the students made the bulls run even more vigorously.

“Fire!”

Syu syu syu syu syuk!

Reinforced steel arrows flew from Pato Castle’s walls.

Among the archers were those with ‘sniper’ as a secondary profession. Their destructive power in times of war was huge since they could penetrate armour and shields.

General users sometimes didn’t like body armour or shields. Those who didn’t have a knight profession didn’t wear body armour due to discomfort and physical strength.

Full body armour was expensive and difficult to manage. A few thousand gold went into armour so they would cost a lot to repair if damaged during combat.

Therefore, light weight armour or leather armour was the favourite target of the snipers.

“Everyone use Sword-cloning!”

Geomchi gave a command as the bulls ran.

“Sword-cloning!”

A secret sword technique. It was a skill that could produce up to 40 clones.

“Iyahahap!”

Geomchi, the instructors and the students each produced between 10~30 clones each.

The clones didn’t ride bulls and ran using the power of their two feet so there was a momentarily large army!

The arrows that came flying mainly hit the clones.

“Unbelievable!”

“Monsters!”

The snipers panicked and just fired their arrows. The students that were hit fell to the ground. But the remainder continued forward.

“Those guys have arrived at the 2nd defense line. Open the gate and dispatch the knights!”

The wooden gates temporarily installed at Pato Castle opened wide. And 3,000 elite knights emerged.

They were regular knights of the Haven Empire waiting for the 500 members of the Kill Without Asking porridge unit.

Bbuuuuuuuh!

The knights started to accelerate out the gates as the horn blew. The knights wore full body armour.

They charged towards the Kill Without Asking porridge unit.

“These unknown bastards. We’ll show them what happens when they resist the Hermes Guild.”

The Barit Knights were elite troops that had won many battles. They had played a major role during the conquest of the Kallamore Kingdom. Their power increased while sprinting.

The knights that belonged to the Hermes Guild had a rough idea of the situation going forward. Normally enemies would be scared at the emergence of the Barit Knights and turn to flee. During that vulnerable moment, they would use their power to trample and slash at the enemy.

Geomchi said calmly.

“Hey everyone.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim.”

“Extend yourself!”

At the same time, Geomchi pulled out a bow. He just ignored the archers from Pato Castle firing arrows towards them. The arrows would be dangerous if they hit the body but this was the fun thing about battles! After Geomchi’s instructions, the instructors and students all took out a bow.

While hunting and adventuring, they had acquired a variety of bows ranging from crossbows to longbows. Unfortunately, their increase clones could only hold swords.

“Fire!”

They indiscriminately fired towards the knights! The arrows were launched rapidly without consulting anyone. In rare cases, there were a few ice, fire or wind arrows mixed in.

“Kueok!”

“Shield!”

The Barit Knights blocked the arrows with their shields. The horses collapsed and some knights were stunned by the impact of falling.

“Raise your spears in preparation for the clash…euaack!”

A user of the Barit Knight giving a command was surprised.

Once the arrow attack was over, the Kill Without Asking porridge unit was only a short distance away. They had removed the shield protecting their body but this time axes flying could be seen.

Axes, arrows and spears.

Geomchi, the instructors and the students interchangeably threw their weapons depending on their mood!

It was a proficient style of combat that desert warriors used. Heavy armour was inconvenient and the effect would fall when attacked with many types of weapons.

In fact, the nobles knights respected the sword and spear and didn’t like using other weapons.

“S-stop them!”

The Barit Knights were troubled by the axe and spear attacks. They had a completely different weight from arrows. If the axe bounced off the shield then it would just damage a knight nearby.

The formation was a mess when the Kill Without Asking porridge unit arrived in front of the knights.

“Slice and drop them!”

“Yeet!”

Geomchi-2, Geomchi-3, etc., followed behind Geomchi.

“Sword that Cuts Anything!”

Horses, people, shields and armour would be cut every time they wielded their sword. If the strike was successful then it would do 55 times more damage to the enemy. It was an unbeatable technology when used properly and broke weapons or dealt serious injuries.

The attack skill was risky but Geomchi and the instructors boldly used it.

The knights that didn’t know the circumstances just felt a tremendous assault force and lost their lives.

“Kilkilkil, meat!”

“Should I have a meal or sleep?”

“W-women. Take a look. How cool!”

“This is life. All the attacks, bring it on!”

The clones also rushed towards the knights. The clones also had sword skill proficiency. Geomchi, the instructors and the students brandished their swords against the knights.

“These guys……”

The knights were quasi-nobility of the Haven Empire. The Barit Knights’ great honour and pride failed in front of the Kill Without Asking porridge unit.

On the walls of Pato Castle, the commander Banrommel and users of the Hermes Guild weren’t laughing.

“These guys have considerable power. The Barit Knights are a little bit inferior to them.”

“We should move before it becomes more dangerous for the Barit Knights.”

“Mobilize immediately.”

8 knight units appeared on the Rupoi Plains. They were part of the 5th knights division of the Imperial Knights.

They couldn’t allow the Barit Knights to be completely annihilated by the Kill Without Asking porridge unit.

“Fight!”

The assault of the knights began. Banrommel’s knights were wearing red armour with flames on it. Due to the magical effect of the armour, the flames would last forever.

Armour infantry exited from the gates and joined the Barit Knights. More snipers were placed on the wall. In the beginning, they had regarded the opponents as easy and allowed them to get close.

Geomchi, the instructors and students were surrounded by knights! It consisted of the elite armed forces of the Haven Empire. They feared that the Kill Without Asking porridge unit would flee so they hurriedly surrounded them.

The snipers on the wall fired straight shots towards the Kill Without Asking porridge unit.

“Kueok!”

A arrow became stuck in Geomchi-2’s shoulders.

“No. 2.”

“Teacher-nim, I am okay.”

“You’re not hurt?”

“Teacher-nim would be mad if I was hurt by something like this.”

Geomchi felt the pleasure of the sword.

This was the battlefield. It was a place where his wishes could come alive. The Haven Empire had encircled them to stop any escape but he had no intention of fleeing.

“Everyone listen.”

“Yes!”

“Let’s heartily enjoy this.”

“Of course!”

Geomchi, the instructors and the students struggled against the constantly surging knights and enemies.

Arrows were shot in their backs as they charged into the midst of the heavy infantry and knights. Despite the fact that they had the worst position, they willingly fought on this battlefield.

10~20 trainees died quickly. They couldn’t withstand being battered from all sides.

And eventually, the only one who survived was Geomchi-5! He lived the longest thanks to the sacrifice of the other instructors and students.

An enormous 6,000 knights of the Haven Empire had been killed wiping out the Kill Without Asking porridge unit. They had a hard time due to the ruthless attacks by Geomchi, the other instructors and students.

Banrommel appeared above the walls.

The snipers and knights carrying spears aimed at the final survivor, Geomchi-5.

“Last survivor, do you want to say some final words?”

Banrommel said from the wall. He had wanted to avoid a frontal confrontation against the Kill Without Asking porridge unit.

Nevertheless, he wanted a cool ending for Geomchi-5.

Geomchi-5 just laughed brightly, revealing his buck teeth.

“How funny. We will fight again later!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Hermes Guild users in the major cities of the Haven Empire gathered together for dinner.

“The glory of the Haven Empire will continue forever!”

“Hooray Haven Empire!”

The guild mobilizing half of its power against the Abyss Knight Van Hawk was a great event. The general users were easily mobilized at a great capacity and showed their power in Cocoon Valley.

Weed’s adventures showed him struggling along but the Hermes Guild showed the strong power of their high level users in a landslide victory. The performance of the Hermes Guild was broadcasted so no one could doubt it.

Due to the defeat of the Abyss Knight, the rebel activity in the Haven Empire was suddenly withdrawn.

“Every corner of this land must accept the Haven Empire.”

“The Kallamore Kingdom is no more. They will completely adapt to the reign of the Haven Empire. This is a good business opportunity.”

The attitude of the residents in the conquered area towards the Haven Empire completely changed.

The Abyss Knight crisis had been overcome so the Hermes Guild thought this was the perfect opportunity.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

High level users in the Haven Empire were called for a banquet at the Imperial Palace. There was an unlimited amount of the finest brandy from Ipia Island.

Even the lords of the Hermes Guild who weren’t over level 440 weren’t allowed to attend the banquet.

“Now only the north is left.”

“There is also the east and the south. The Embinyu Church has declined significantly so I am quite greedy for the east and the south.”

“Having said that. After the north surrenders, the east and south will come into our hands more easily.”

The Rosenheim Kingdom and Brent Kingdom had been revived after the Embinyu Church was destroyed. The collapsed palace was rebuilt and the original residents returned.

Serabourg Castle that had previously been occupied by the Embinyu Church was used for many users to move between the north and the east.

The Embinyu Church hadn’t even entered the south. The religion of the desert warriors was the blazing sun and sand.

Thanks to Weed’s adventure in the southern desert, the oasis cities were now the target of the Haven Empire. The desert warriors were tough but they wouldn’t be able to resist an army.

The Hermes Guild had a tremendous appetite and wanted to expand their territory into the forest of elves and the dwarf territory in the Central Continent.

The kingdom of humanity was going to reign everywhere.

This result was achieved by spending an astronomical amount of the taxes they reaped. The Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace had the jewels and golden decorations increased every day.

A handful of high level users watched as Bardray and Lafaye quietly talked to each other.

“But will we definitely win the war in the north? We don’t have room to send any more power to the north.”

“Weed’s reputation isn’t groundless. If there is an unexpected counterattack then the Hermes Guild might receive some damage.”

“The incident at Jigolaths caused a huge headache.”

People nodded. They couldn’t take Weed lightly. Of course, he was annoying but they didn’t think he was scary.

Weed might revive like a weed but the Hermes Guild would crush him. Like an egg was unable to break an impregnable fortress, he couldn’t catch up to feats done but the Haven Empire who had a strong economic and military power.

One of the high level users laughed.

Penatul! He was ranked in the top 300 people on the Versailles Continent.

“Lafaye said something after the battle against the Abyss Knight ended. There is no way we can lose the war in the north.”

“That means…..”

“I don’t know what he is planning but Lafaye must be confident to speak such words.”

The Hermes Guild recognized that Bardray was their focal point. However, there were no doubts when it came to Lafaye’s ability to lead the guild.

Lafaye must have prepared some things in order to be confident of their victory in the north. And if the Earth Palace was conquered then Weed no longer had the forces to oppose them.

The Versailles Continent would perfectly enter the hands of the nobles of the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Northern Expeditionary Force of the Haven Empire.

The army was advancing towards the Earth Palace. The Peshil River was shrouded in early morning fog. A bridge of a massive scale was connecting both sides of the river.

This piece of architecture was the greatest thing that surprised the Hermes Guild since entering the north.

The Central Continent was economically richer but it would be hard for them to create something like this. It was because it required a lot of money, manpower and time.

“If we cross this river then the Earth Palace will be visible.”

“Once the preparations for war are finished…there is high morale. Especially after the victories in the southern part.”

“The soldiers should have a sufficient amount of rest.”

The Hermes Guild commanders had thoroughly prepared the army after Weed appeared at the Earth Palace.

The soldiers were given a break to release the accumulated fatigue while new supplies were imported.

The cavalry and knights even used mana stones to buy one time magical items. They weren’t frequently used because it was an expensive price for an item that could only be used once.

Despite wanting to march immediately, this task consumed half a day. However, they were perfectly ready for an overwhelming victory against Weed and the Earth Palace.

Any commanding officer in an army would dream of leading a huge and powerful army. Excellent knights in Royal Road could lead their men to fight the enemy without a hitch.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for individuals to affect the outcome once the scale of the battles increased to a war between kingdoms. Even so, there were occasions when people would become widely known through the battlefield.

Being a commander or a knight appearing on broadcast would increase their fame. But any skilled commander wouldn’t just rely on the power of the army.

Wonderful tactics could give assurances in wars. A commander could clearly overpower a small troop with larger numbers.

“Besides, this fight with Weed isn’t like the one against the Abyss Knight. The leaders have considerable interest in this battle.”

“This time it is our turn to be heroes.”

After the battle with the Abyss Knight was settled, the northern conquest army quickly advanced. They killed the Grass Porridge Cult members swarming like flies until they reached the Alkazar Bridge.

“If it wasn’t for this bridge then we would have to go back. I’m glad. This is the virtue of the north’s transportation network that was developed.”

“Tell the soldiers to move faster. We will reach the vicinity of the Earth Palace tomorrow evening and then a full-fledged siege would start in the morning.”

“The siege weapons need to be assembled and the soldier should have a lot of rest at night. Given Weed’s leadership skills, the soldiers need to have the maximum morale.”

“A few days later, we will have a toast inside the Earth Palace.”

The commanders sent troops onto the Alkazar Bridge. The bridge was wide enough to allow carriages to pass by in both directions.

The scouting unit rode until the end of the bridge and came back to report.

“There are none. I don’t see any enemies at all.”

“In the river?”

There was a chance that the northern users had planned an ambush in the river.

“It is clean and clear. The only things visible are the pretty fish.”

“Good. Then the 2nd division will enter first.”

“I will go ahead and clean the place.”

The 2nd division was composed of infantry and magicians and were configured for defense. They would cross to the other side of the river and secure the area for the rest of the army.

Soon after the 2nd division, the main army started moving across the bridge.

“The 1st division will carry the battle materials.”

“The supply carriages will pass through the bridge first.”

An incalculable amount of materials required for the northern conquest was moved to the other side of the bridge. The goods were preparation for the war against Weed so the 1st division took a fairly long time to move them across.

Dozens of troops sat on the carriages or walked alongside them. The users of the Hermes guild sitting on horses or the carriages admired the view of the river from the Alkazar Bridge.

“This bridge is crossing a great river. Something not possible in the Haven Empire is present in the Arpen Kingdom.”

“I think so as well. This bridge is quite comfortable, durable and well made. Without this bridge, people travelling to and from the north would go through a lot of suffering.”

“It is good that we can use it. No matter how good the roads or infrastructure is, the weak don’t have the right to benefit from it. If the military power is too weak then they will be deprived of it.”

“Kukuku, we sure are lucky to be in the Hermes Guild.”

The Hermes Guild users naturally enjoyed the benefits that came from being stronger than everyone else. That power would eventually be used to capture and reign over the entire Versailles Continent.

“There are even excellent decorations carved on the pillars. They just caught my eyes.”

“Later I should buy land in the vicinity. The trade between the Central Continent and the North Continent means that this area would quickly grow.”

“I’m going to use the money earned from plundering in order to open a dress shop.”

The users watched the lights of Yusellin Village and imagined a sweet future after the conquest.

Ddiring!

– You have crossed Alkazar Bridge.

Alkazar Bridge connects the Peshil River and was completed by the Arpen Kingdom.

All accumulated fatigue during the move is fully recovered.

Vitality has increased by 30%, you can continue to fight for a long time and the possibility of fatigue during hard work will decrease for a day.

The skill Quick Step has been applied.

Movement speed won’t reduce for 3 days.

Horses will be able to exert a maximum effect for a week.

Due to experiencing a special place, agility has permanently increased by 2.

Alkazar Bridge is one of the Northern Continent’s specialties.

If you go to another kingdom then you can obtain for reporting this amazing place to nobles.

“Ohh, really?”

“Completely excellent.”

The Hermes Guild users were filled with great admiration.

Alkazar Bridge was a Grand Building. The total construction cost was 8.5 million gold and architects hammered at it for 4 months in order to create it.

“We will control this bridge later.”

“I really like taking away someone else’s hard work by force.”

The users of the Hermes Guild that had crossed the bridge hesitantly sat down on the ground. The main body of the army hadn’t come across yet. A considerable amount of time was required in order to cross the river.

“But it would be amazing if the bridge collapsed.”

“You idiot, there is no way it will collapse. This is a Grand Building.”

“I suppose so.”

Kukukukukung.

At that moment, a large irritating sound came from the bridge.

“W-what?”

The attention of the chatting Hermes Guild users headed towards the Alkazar Bridge. They were shocked by the sound but nothing happened.

“Did I hear wrong?”

“No, I’m sure that I heard it.”

“I heard. It is like the sound of stones rubbing together.”

“Did some fool crash a carriage?”

“It is no big deal. I’m going to take a nap so wake me up if something happens.”

The users started talking again but the deafening noise was heard for more than 1 minute.

“It sounds like it comes from the bridge.”

“Is the bridge singing?”

“This is fascinating. A Grand Building is capable of such a thing.”

The users watched the Alkazar Bridge. And the same scene appeared in all their eyes.

Usually a huge building absolutely wouldn’t move. It was solid and grand like a hill or mountain. But there was no common sense in it being destroyed now.

Cracks started in the pillars standing in the middle of the river and the steel strands that connected it started to break.

The Peshil River started sloshing with large waves. The troops watched with horror at Alkazar Bridge started severely shaking. High waves hit the pillar of the bridge and it started crumbling.

“Aaack! Help!”

The carriages carrying the material as well as the troops holding weapons fell down into the water. And after a while, the entire Alkazar Bridge crumbled into the river.

“That…”

“…….”

The users of the Hermes Guild who had crossed the bridge safely or had yet to cross watched with disbelief and couldn’t accept the reality.

“Why did it collapse all at once?”

“Was this a bad bridge construction?”

The users couldn’t understand how this had happened in such a short amount of time.

The commanders that didn’t cross the river received reports of the damage.

“The 7th knights division fell into the river, 38,000 archers and approximately 6 days’ worth of combat materials….”

“Enormous damage.”

“But it isn’t an insurmountable one. There are plenty of battle supplies.”

The Haven Empire marched more than 2 million troops over the Poros River into the north. Despite the strong resistance of the north, the damage from the bridge collapsing could be handled.

The Hermes Guild users that fell in the river would drift downstream before making their way back.

Nevertheless, this was enough to put pressure on the battle commanders.

“I don’t know how to report it to the guild.”

“It is only a matter of time before the damage we suffered is known. We must emphasize that we couldn’t predict the damage in advance.”

“If we want to be recognized then we have to hurry and destroy the Earth Palace.”

Despite only losing 150,000 of the Haven Empire’s army and 2,000 Hermes Guild users, the atmosphere was heavy and serious.

– You have been cut off from the main body of the northern conquest army.

The soldiers watching the disaster are severely shaken.

Morale has decreased by 45%.

The value of training is temporarily reduced by 22%.

Training and morale were key factors in a war.

If training was low then they wouldn’t follow commands well and low morale would decrease the fighting power.

“This is how it is. How will the main army cross here now?”

“Then should we cross over there?”

The Hermes Guild users who crossed the bridge and were lazily watching the scenery suddenly stood up.

Since coming to the north, they had only achieved overwhelming victories. They massacred those in the villages regardless of who they were.

In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that the guild leaders wanted to rule the north then they would have thoroughly destroyed everything.

“Ya, I’m feeling anxious.”

“Surely the enemies won’t appear now? Perhaps they will.”

“But perhaps……”

The users were having uneasy conversations.

The distant plains starting shaking.

“Waaaaaah! The bridge really collapsed.”

“Let’s get revenge on the Hermes Guild.”

“Let’s go! They’re not moving! I am Tokkung of the Toadstool Porridge unit. I will fight as long as I have the strength!”

“Tokkung has already died 7 times yet he is back!”

“Tokkung-nim, please be careful of everyone. Last time I almost died!”

The Grass Porridge Cult members that kept dying! Despite their losing streak, they persisted in fighting.

They weren’t disappointed by not having the power to defeat the invaders. The Hermes Guild and Haven Empire were strong but the northern users weren’t discouraged.

There were various sayings in the Grass Porridge Cult.

– Don’t eat if you are defeated, eat if victory is achieved when you die.

– Life is like a bowl of Toadstool Porridge. If you don’t eat it today then eat it tomorrow.

– Courage comes from the challenge itself. You can’t eat if you lose and you can eat if victory is achieved when you die.

– Don’t leave without cleaning this up.

The Toadstool Porridge unit served as the focal point of the Grass Porridge Cult. Their annihilation signaled the beginning of the battle!

In addition, the norther users ate grass porridge for their three meals a day as they worshipped the Arpen Kingdom and Weed. Naturally they were hostile towards the Hermes Guild.

“Those guys are coming here. They are weak but this situation isn’t good.”

“Then was the collapse of the bridge planned?”

“Surely not… No, did it really happen by chance?”

The faces of the Toadstool Porridge unit and Arpen Kingdom users standing in the vanguard told a different story.

“We’ve finally arrived.”

“The moment we’ve been waiting for has come. Today is the day of vengeance!”

The knight users of the Arpen Kingdom had high honour and intimacy with the residents. It was easy to get quests related to the country and obtain a chance to build public achievements.

Many enjoyed preferential treatment and grew along with the soldiers of the Arpen Kingdom. The larger the kingdom, the more benefits that were attached to the knights. But if they lost all their honour, there would be a huge penalty and fighting spirit would be reduced.

Apart from participating in monster subjugation and war, there were other constraints.

Trade, production or other combat professions could migrate but knights that swore allegiance to a kingdom needed to stay loyal. In short, the knights had a duty of obedience to the king and the kingdom.

Despite the invasion of the Arpen Kingdom, Weed hadn’t allowed them to participate in the war. Weed had the final authority for all military power so the knights didn’t go out to fight for their kingdom.

Although the knight users took their own personal initiative to fight, the soldiers could only swallow their resentment.

1 knight entering a dungeon with 100 soldiers to subdue the monsters could have their power grow quickly. Improving the Arpen Kingdom’s vulnerable military power was essential.

But some knights couldn’t tolerate it anymore and came out.

“Those bugs are looking at us? Their fate is to be stepped on.

“Their skills can’t even touch my feet.”

The Hermes Guild laughed as their enemies appeared. Morale had fallen but they had defeated such opponents so far.

But dust was constantly growing on the plains!

“Let’s defeat the Haven Empire!”

Yusellin was emptied as users started to pour out. It was a tactic that never ended. It was at a level to defeat the enemies.

The sea of moving Grass Porridge Cult started to attack.

Seo-yoon was also among the knights and the Toadstool Porridge unit.

“Unni, unni hide behind me.”

“Is there a need to fight? You can’t kill them anyway.”

“I just want to contribute. So my friends can be proud of me.”

Seo-yoon joined the Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit to fight against the Haven Empire.

‘This situation seems to be against us.’

‘This isn’t a battle. I just need to kill 1,000 of them.’

‘Their formations aren’t polished. But I can’t deal with all these guys.’

Some of the Hermes Guild users experienced in war quietly went to the riverside. They took their armour off and swam across the river.

But they weren’t aware that there were also members of the Grass Porridge Cult in the deep river.

Cockle Porridge and Seaweed Porridge diving units! They held harpoons in their hands and waited for the prey.

A bunch of users were also waiting downstream of the Peshil River.

“A lot of those guys are going to come here right?”

“Of course. That person’s information can’t be doubted.”

Dark Gamers.

The Dark Gamers had flocked after receiving information from a post on the website.

A person had posted anonymously to go to Peshil River today. If they waited then they could easily hunt users of the Hermes Guild.

Usually anonymous posts couldn’t be believed but this time was different.

The anonymous user who wrote the post had a long period of activity with the Dark Gamers and had a separate nickname.

Gold Bug.

He always left comments hunting expensive weapons or jewelry.

– I have a story about a good hunting ground. At the current market price…and there will be a gang of youths complaining. I am very jealous.

– It can be served with a large pizza.

– I need to buy some pottery. Don’t go come back with weapons. Bring pottery as well.  If you go to the market in the back alley then someone will buy it from you. However, the owner will pay attention to those trying to attempt dirty bargains.

There was be a steady stream of money and items for the people who were interested.

He answered any comments left by others with the market price. Every once in a while, he would correct the wrong information with an explanation.

In particular, he was quite sensitive to the price difference of a few copper. He knew the detailed prices of equipment, precious metal and pieces of artwork.

He stopped some users from being ripped off. Therefore, the person’s rating in the Dark Gamers Union continued to climb and there was high confidence in him.

– If you don’t go downstream of the Peshil River today then you will regret it for a year.

It was among the secret Dark Gamers post that only 10% of the highest ranking members could read.

“We can believe it if it is from Gold Bug. Even if he deceived us, there will only be minimal damage.”

“When it comes to money, that guy is more reliable than my mother.”

Thus, 600 of the highest levelled Dark Gamers were waiting for their prey downstream.

“Coming!”

“There are many people.  It is indeed a jackpot!”

Chapter 7: Sky Porridge Unit

Weed had been hunting for the last two hours.

‘This is somehow different from what I imagined. There is little battle sense?’

‘There really are a lot of monsters. Finding a place like this, he really has encyclopedic knowledge of hunting grounds.’

After 5 hours of hunting.

‘Euah, that was really dangerous. I bravely jumped at the enemies and only survived thanks to the priest. Isn’t this too much?’

‘It is dangerous due to the nature of the monster…an assassin really can live anywhere.’

9 hours since hunting started.

‘I almost died two times in a row. The hunting grounds aren’t on a train route so how is he leading us to successive ones? I want to rest. Fatigue has risen dramatically. My greatsword is too heavy. Isn’t it long past time for a break?’

‘This is the first time that I dedicated such a long time to hunting. My head is dizzy. Assassin? I’m sick of it. I’d rather wave a dagger around roughly in a fight.’

13 hours after hunting started.

‘The composition of this hunting party.  Each person will carry out their mission like a machine. Machine. Until now, I lived really comfortably and happily.’

‘What is hunting? An assassin is a profession that is really helpful to society and is worthy of respect. Who am I? Where am I?’

They moved from dungeon to dungeon while fighting monsters. Fighting with monsters felt like a simple labour job.

Python and the nameless man both said.

“Let’s have a short break.”

“We should relax and talk to deepen our bonds.”

Weed said casually every time.

“We will find a comfortable place after cleaning up the dungeon.”

“So?”

“Well, let’s raise the speed a little bit.”

“…But that side looked good.”

They hunted for another 2 hours. They were exhausted after killing the monsters.

Until now, vitality and fatigue had only fallen slightly due to Alveron’s divine magic. Once 20% of their vitality was filled up, they would be dragged along on another hunt. The refreshing divine magic started to feel hateful for the first time.

Python and the nameless man sat on the ground with their faces soaking with sweat.

“Now I really have no choice but to rest. My health is almost gone.”

“You have suffered. And barely survived. If you don’t do this then you won’t be able to study at a prestigious university or win a nobel prize.”

“It’s not a joke. We have overcome the limitations of a human.”

Weed didn’t sit down on the ground. He still had plenty of vitality remaining due to Sculptural Destruction.

Humans would feel mentally tired after a long battle. But that didn’t apply to Weed. Carving sculptures would recover his health and mana quicker.

“This is moist and dark. The next dungeon is very pleasant. You can rest there.”

Python and the nameless man didn’t want to stand up. They were busy thinking of excuses in their heads.

“Don’t you want to have a meal and sleep in a comfortable place? The hard earned rest will be like honey after arduous hunting.”

“Kkuung.”

The two men forcibly moved their bodies at the thought of a long rest. And they arrived at an underground dungeon.

In some places, the desert sunlight entered and caused a bright place with a cool energy flowing. Like going to the bank during a hot summer.

Python and the nameless man sat on some flat rocks.

“Ah, I forgot to tell you an important fact…… I will say it now.”

“What is it?”

“This dungeon has monsters that live together. There are abundant water sources and prey in any form.”

“But?”

Python didn’t want to talk. They would handle them after resting and sleeping properly! They were sick of Weed’s useless talk about monsters.

“But they have an exclusive nature.”

“Exclusive?”

“They really hate intruders. And because of their intelligence……”

Kaang! Kaang! Kaang!

Loud sounds were coming from the dungeon.

“The whole tribe will gather to go and repel the invaders.”

Python and the man could see many blue monsters filling the dungeon. The break ended and the battle began!

After this dungeon, they continued hunting, hunting and hunting monsters.

‘I was tricked.’

‘He is the devil.’

There was no possibility of lying down until all the monsters were finished. After a battle that lasted several hours, they didn’t hesitate to flop down on the ground.

“I can’t do it anymore!”

“I need a break. We are humans!”

The two men declared a strike. Even though it was Weed, they were determined not to hunt any longer.

“It is regretful. The next hunting ground isn’t that busy.”

“Whether it is true or not. I will take a break and then leave.”

Python was tired of hunting. No matter how interesting it was, he felt tired. Weed hunted with extreme efficiency and mechanical repetition.

“Then I will see you later in Morata.”

“Farewell. Later in Mora…huh?”

Python was speaking when he noticed something strange. This place was somewhere in the southern desert. And Morata was in the centre of the north.

The two men gazed at Weed who seemed to be laughing. It looked perfectly like a devil’s laugh.

“Do you know the path back to Morata?”

“I don’t know. Regrettably, I don’t even know where this place is.”

“The nearest town should be approximately a 10 days walk through the desert in that direction. There won’t be any water in the middle so you will have to walk diligently while conserving your water.”

“Will I die of thirst if I don’t get there within 10 days?”

“The sun is very strong. It is easy to feel like your ankles are burning when walking in the hot desert sand. The monsters wandering around…will continue to pounce.”

“…….”

“And it was several hundred years ago so I can’t guarantee the city is still there. Anyway, if you are lucky enough to find a city and cross the desert then you will eventually get to Morata. So I will say goodbye here. I’ll see you later in Morata.”

The devil’s threat!

They couldn’t leave and had to continue participating in the hunt. Just like a mother dealing with unruly children, Weed’s threat was simple.

“Cruel and cowardly……”

Python wondered if this whole idea of bringing them to the southern desert was a way to trap them. The devious plan to bring them to a remote desert area caused goose-bumps to form on his body.

“Isn’t it easier to keep on hunting? Hunting will raise your skill and experience. You can also acquire loot.”

They didn’t feel much empathy but they didn’t want to walk through the hot desert. So those that were mentally and physically tired toured the hunting grounds. Their eyes kept closing and mouth dripped saliva but they hung in there.

Python had thought that he wasn’t the type to receive commands from others.

‘He’s not a human. He keeps moving.’

‘My body is gradually adapting to it.’

They finally started to understand why people raved about Weed’s leadership. Whether it was colleagues or subordinates, he squeezed everything from them as they adapted and grew. They continued the extremely sad hunting as Weed recklessly moved forward.

‘I know that Alveron, the priest candidate, followed Weed because of his contribution and past ties but why is Pale? Why is he so calm?’

‘Pale is an archer in the same position as us. Why didn’t he protest once while hunting?’

Python and the nameless man wanted Pale to join them in a mass protest. Pale was an archer with spectacular skills.

From the beginning Pale acted disinterested so they wanted to form a group with him to resist Weed. However, they both shook their heads the moment they saw Pale’s face.

‘Wrong. He already had a taste of it.’

‘Perhaps that person’s dry eyes….’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Victory!”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

“All northern users, cheers!”

“Kyaa! We gave those Haven Empire guys a taste of what it has been like.”

An overwhelming victory at Peshil River!

Thanks to their internal network, the Grass Porridge Cult members cheered from every corner of the north.

“This might be premature but can we really beat back the Haven Empire’s invasion?”

“If the entire north unites then of course we can stop them.”

The regular users felt gratitude to the Arpen Kingdom and participated in the war.

After the consecutive victories, the Grass Porridge Cult determined that the Haven Empire was truly strong.

In the case of the users who moved from the Central Continent, they were directly or indirectly aware of the power of the Haven Empire. Despite the whole north being shaken by the war, half of the users were still living as normal.

But now, novices that freshly joined Royal Road, those with non-combat professions and Grass Porridge Cult members could participate in the war.

And…..

“Piyak! I guess I should move properly.”

“Ssajakjak!”

“Split up at regular intervals, kukuku!”

Sky Island Lavias.

The avians also joined the Grass Porridge Cult. Although many general users visited Lavias, the users who were avians had serious worries.

– Even if the avians join the Grass Porridge Cult, what unit will we join?

– The structure of the avians’ beaks makes eating difficult so is there a solution? The unit the avians would want to join…crazy.

– Do the avians need to sign up for a branch when joining the Grass Porridge Cult? Isn’t it the same as killing earthworms?

The avians lived above the continent. They lived freely on the continent and weren’t constrained by the sea.

In the early days, many people flying over the sea would lose their power and fall into the sea. There was such a big attraction in flying that they didn’t like landing on the ground.

They happily flew around as the morning sun came up and also watched the night sky. If they found an island or reef then there was also the freedom of eating fish.

However, those without any support could experience death on the seas. While the youths died, the seniors found a stable flight path or rested on the bows of ships. The sailors would throw fish to them while sailing.

The avian users happily living in the north were willing to join the war with the Haven Empire. The culture and spirit of the Grass Porridge Cult in the Arpen Kingdom was like a fairy tale to them.

Thousands of avians sat on branches around Lavias’ main square. And there were those in the air. Due to the nature of the avians, they could use their wings to remain in the air for a while.

“We are the proud avians of Lavias, tweet tweet!”

“Grass porridge!”

“We fight for justice and take care of the weak.”

“Grass porridge!”

“We will attack the enemy with our hard claws and sharp beaks, our marvelous wings will bring us to victory.”

“Grass porridge!”

“Now, we have established a new combat group. Our name will be the Sky Porridge unit!”

“Grass porridge! Grass porridge!”

The creation of the Sky Porridge unit! They were a new combat unit that could dominate the ground and the sky.

The avians could move quickly over long distances and won’t be affected by the features of a fortress. Their wings made structures obsolete and they could annoy the archers and magicians in the rear.

But the avians also knew their inherent limitations. The avians that were capable of sky combat were extremely beneficial in a war. They flew through the air so quickly that random attacks were difficult to hit.

However, arrows hitting the avians meant their deaths. They had a crucial weakness in fights. Since the species couldn’t wear armour, their defense was really weak.

The avians’ beaks couldn’t penetrate human shields so armoured soldiers were significant against them. Even though they could peck the opponent several times, simply half a second would compromise them.

Of course, it was easy for avians to use bows during a war.

But in order to get in range to fire arrows at the enemy, they would be exposing themselves to the magicians’ ranged attacks.

Ranged attacks like firebolt, thunderbolt and ice bolt were very effective long distance attacks against the avians.

Flying in the sky was a very delicate operation so receiving an injury on their wing would cause them to crash to the ground.

– I’m only level 40…the snakes are too scary that I haven’t eaten.

– I haven’t even gone outside the nest yet. My connection rate is low so I’m barely out of the egg.

– I picked the avian species to overcome my fear of heights. I’m afraid I will go crazy flying in the sky.

Those who just joined the avians were worried about doing well in the war. However, these weaknesses were soon overcome as the human users joined.

“You don’t need to fight. You can simply drop us in the enemy camp!”

“We will charge towards the enemy. It will be much easier for you to fight in a crowded place.”

“Well, I don’t care if I live. It is sufficient if I die. I am part of the Toadstool Porridge Cult.”

The northern users joined hands with the avians.

Despite being constrained by distance and enemy magicians, the avians were very strong and could deal significant damage. In addition, they could go beyond the enemy defenses.

The armed with bravery, Sky Porridge unit was created.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The incident that took place at Peshil River had a considerable psychological impact on the Hermes Guild.

The news was broken during the Haven Empire’s banquet celebrating their victory against the Abyss Knight.

The incident caused damage to the absolute dignity of the Haven Empire.

“It is difficult. A bad incident has happened at this time.”

Lafaye said softly towards the leaders of the guild. Lafaye hadn’t made a single mistake so far while leading the Hermes Guild.

Of course, it was impossible to predict the results of all humans in the future. Even if there was some damage, the guild would ultimate emerge successfully with many benefits.

Lafaye’s influence over the guild was absolute. Bardray was at the centre of the guild’s military power but Lafaye was the one who lead them.

It was a concern because many people were divided between Bardray and Lafaye. If there was ever friction between the two leaders, then the Hermes Guild would fragment.

But Bardray and Lafaye knew too well.

Bardray was like a blazing sun. Without darkness, the sun wouldn’t shine for a long time. Lafaye led their group to obtain more power. They needed each other so a great split would never happen.

Of course, there was always an unforeseen possibility that two people could become hostile to each other.

But it was a fact that Royal Road was too large for one person to eat. There could only be one Emperor of Royal Road.

However, the influx of users would raise their value into the sky. A premature split would weaken the power of the Hermes Guild’s Haven Empire, rather than bring about a more stable reign.

Lafaye and Bardray formed a consensus with each other and respected each other.

‘He’s not stupid. There are benefits in pushing him to the top. Once he is positioned as an Emperor…’

‘He’s smarter than me. The Hermes Guild wouldn’t have risen so quickly without Lafaye. The guild will weaken if Lafaye leaves. He knows the weaknesses of the guild so if he joins someone else…dangerous.’

In this world, it wasn’t possible to blindly believe in people. The briefest temptation might make them feel like the other side was better. The two people knew each other’s minds so they wouldn’t betray each other.

And the current Hermes Guild had become huge. The amount of investment couldn’t even be imagined!

The Hermes Guild would obtain an absurd amount of money in the future from Royal Road and investment offers.

“But is that really their proposal?”

“Of course.”

“I never thought about it. So much money…it is rather unbelievable.”

“I thought there would be a similar offer once the Hermes Guild grew. I expected up to this amount.”

“Will you accept?”

“I have no complaints about the amount of money. But it isn’t necessary to grab their outstretched hands. It is better to talk to make it more favourable for us.”

“It is good to accept the proposal before it breaks.”

“I have considered that point.”

Bardray, Lafaye and the core leaders couldn’t refuse the offer.

The lure of money. They knew the value of 1 billion, 2 billion won but couldn’t imagine it. It was on a completely different level. Their situation could be changed with money so they were nervous regarding the negotiations.

The amount and terms of agreement were all areas that Lafaye, Bardray and the core leaders paid attention to.

“But the architects are a big deal.”

“We won’t be defeated in this war. Well, it wasn’t defeat but…”

The general users of the Hermes Guild were only paying attention to the unexpected incident. There was a discussion about sending additional troops to the north.

However, the leaders convened a meeting to determine what the policies.

An unexpected incident had taken place. Vast amounts of personnel and supplies had been poured towards the north.

They wanted a perfect victory but Lafaye and the leaders were too proud to send further troops. If they sent more troops to the north then the Hermes Guild users might feel more uneasy.

In addition, it would only take a few more days for the army to cross the Peshil River.

“It is normal to grasp the movements of the enemies so the other side obtained this type of information.

“Information is the pride of the Hermes Guild but our personnel are scattered through the north. Therefore, it is possible for some details to slip through our net.”

“I am interested in information about the architects.”

“The architects…they are useless in a war. If they dare invade the Haven Empire then they would be unsuccessful against our fortresses.”

The leaders reviewed their plan for the northern war and concluded that it was a sure victory. Weed was a difficult to predict variable but the gap between their power was too big.

Adventuring and war was certainly different. It wouldn’t be that easy to defeat their powerful army. The leaders had also prepared a method to weaken the real power of the north.

Lafaye came to a conclusion about the war in the north.

“The war with Weed will take place in the next few days. And we can’t be defeated. There will be a complete victory in the war as the Arpen Kingdom is destroyed. Then the Northern Continent will come under our reign.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“So far, we’ve killed 890 people in the Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit.”

“Aren’t the members of the Bamboo Shoots useless?”

“Their levels are low but they have a special influence, especially those with non-combat professions like miners and traders.”

“Then it will come in handy. What about the situation with the Toadstool unit?”

“The request to kill the individuals over level 350 has been completed. The preliminary success rate is high as 2,000 people were killed.”

“The Jujube and Acorn Porridge units are still a work in progress as they are maintaining their security towards those introduced.”

The Haven Empire had succeeded in spreading their information network through the north.

They continued to gather information and work from the shadows. Information could be used to enhance the reputation of the user, to progress in quests and to allow the Hermes Guild to know about other people. In many ways, it was a profession as the guilds promised them goods and money.

The Haven Empire had obtained detailed information about key figures in the north in order to assist in the conquest.

“But why is something like this necessary to win the war in the north?”

“The leaders seem to be considering the future reign after it is conquered. There might be severe resistance if the Haven Empire’s subordinates are directly placed to rule.”

“But that still won’t stop a revolt.”

“They will be immediately repressed by the army. First of all, it is important to gain as much information as possible about the key leaders at the Earth Palace.”

“If Weed is at the Earth Palace…”

“We already have assassination squads from the Hermes Guild placed at the Earth Palace. Once the war starts, their goal will be Weed.”

The Hermes Guild were planning to take Weed’s life once the battle at the Earth Palace started. Whether the war was won or lost, it was best to make sure that Weed didn’t escape.

Everyone was well aware of Weed’s superior survival skills. Weed had succeeded in his final secret sculpting quest and was now a nuisance to their plan for the north.

The Hermes Guild had decided to commit some major assassins in order to take care of Weed during the war.

The Haven Empire determined that Weed’s death was sealed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Huhuhu.”

While Weed was hunting in the dungeons, he received the news that the Peshil River operation was a success.

Mapan watched the river from a tavern in Yusellin and notified him with a whisper.

“Listen, I just heard some good news.”

“What?”

Python who was sitting on the ground asked. He didn’t have Weed’s indomitable vitality and was completely exhausted.

They were so weary that they would have wiped out a few times against the monsters if it wasn’t for Weed.

Sculptural Destruction had pushed his vitality stat so that he wasn’t even tired. In order to save his colleagues, he fought fiercely while being surrounded by monsters.

Python and the nameless man felt sick as they saw Weed’s devilish smile.

“The Haven Empire’s army has suffered a huge blow at Peshil River.”

“Oh, congratulations.”

“Good news.”

Python and the nameless man replied carelessly. They didn’t care for the Hermes Guild and the Haven Empire. They experienced some friction with them on the Central Continent.

But they weren’t sure why their guts twisted as they saw Weed’s face.

Weed said with a bright smile.

“They won’t have an easy time crossing the Peshil River. Now we can hunt for a few more days.”

The tired complexion of three people became whiter.

Python, the nameless man and Pale weren’t ready for such a situation. Pale barely managed to speak.

“Then there should be time to rest…”

“I’ve been looking for this opportunity. It is possible to wipe out all the dungeons in the desert.”

“…….”

Weed then dragged his colleagues to conquer the rest of the dungeons. The dungeons in the desert surpassed a meat buffet!

Van Hawk and Torido were also summoned in slightly tricky dungeons and Summon Sculpture was used to bring Yellowy and Goldman. Their power was customized according to the attributes of the dungeon.

But from now on, there was a generous amount of time between hunts to rest. Alveron’s divine magic and eating delicious food meant that their vitality could endure it. It was especially important in desert areas to control vitality and fatigue.

“Eat well. We will take a break for 3 hours. Eat your meals and comfortably lie down.”

They all flopped down on the spot at Weed’s words. In no time at all, Pale had joined Python and the nameless man’s miserable company.

“We can finally relax for 3 hours.”

“I’ll say this. I don’t know whether it is a trick or a treat.”

“Maybe he needs some sleep. He is human.”

While the 3 people were chatting, Weed took out his Sculpting Knife. The necessary ingredients were in the sand around him.

He used the desert sand to made a solid sculpture before aging it. The sand sculpture collapsed slightly as it felt the effects of Time Sculpting.

– Absolute King

A sculpture of the great king of the desert area.

All tribes living in the desert can worship in front of the sculpture.

Artistic Value: 54

“Well, this place should be sufficient to create my sculptures. I can continue to consecutively make sculptures. But what do my subordinates look like?”

He tried to remember the faces of Warrior-1, Warrior-2, etc., but he couldn’t. He had already used them to the full extent!

Weed would use Sculptural Destruction on the pieces after the break ended. He didn’t stop carving and trimming the sculptures during the break. Those forced workers watching were astonished.

Thus one day, two days passed.

Except for meals, toilet access and sleeping for 4 hours in reality, he spent the whole time in Royal Road hunting, sculpting and raising his skill proficiencies.

Even if his hunting partners weren’t connected, there was no reason for him to rest.  Time Sculpting could make a crucial difference in the war so it was important to raise it as much as possible.

But the rating of the final secret sculpting technique only climbed up little by little.

“Let’s do what I can. Labour is necessary to make art bloom! Today’s labour could reduce the time it takes to achieve my goal.”

The Haven Empire’s army in the north struggled to cross the Peshil River. If they wanted to bypass the Peshil River then they would need to go back quite a distance.

“We will send thousands of extra-large rafts across simultaneously. It should take a day for all the troops to cross to the other side of the river.”

The army commanders made the decision. In order to make rafts to cross the river, troops were dispatched to chop them thick trees. They thought it wouldn’t be hard for the powerful knights to chop down the trees to make rafts.

“I thought there was a forest here…”

“No, where are the trees on the mountains?”

The knights that came out to cut the trees were confused. The numerous forests they marched through were all gone. There were only ghostly traces of where the trees were planted.

“It is strange…let’s take a look around.”

The knights conducted a search. And after a long time, they could finally find the trees. The trees were walking away on their roots that looked like legs.

It was the work of the elves! The elf users in the north moved the trees away.

“This! Kill the elves and report it to the main army!”

The northern conquest army spent more time than expected cutting down the trees. In the end, they had to transport the wood and it took them five days to assemble the raft.

However, they couldn’t cross the river immediately.

The rain and wind caused the river to swell and they had to wait half a day.

“This is really….”

“We have bad luck.”

The Hermes Guild users watched the sky with resentment. They hadn’t thought of packing waterproof tents so the soldiers were exposed to the elements.

“The morale of the soldiers will fall.”

“I am more concerned about any sicknesses.”

The feeling of leading an army of soldiers was amazing for a commander. Commanding thousands of soldiers in an attempt to conquer a kingdom. Not to mention the pride and honour of conquering the north.

After the Alkazar Bridge collapsed and minor problems tied up the army, the patience of the commanders decreased.

The rain stopped and the sky became completely clear of any clouds.

The rafts of the Haven Empire crossed the Peshil River. The northern users desperately tried to stop them but the elite archers and magicians meant they could cross safely.

After 2~3 battles, the landing operation was stabilized and succeeded.

Due to the adverse terrain, they suffered a loss of 80,000 troops but the army and supplies all crossed the river.

Chapter 8: Great Emperor’s Quest

Weed raised his level to 422 through hunting in the desert.

It was unbelievable quick growth but he benefited from the dungeons’ double experience and diligent hunting.

Time Sculpting reached beginner level 6. He didn’t get this result until 3 Magnum Opus emerged.

“Hmm, the skill really doesn’t climb quickly.”

It wasn’t easy dedicating himself to sculpting while recovering his lost levels.

“It would be good if there was a big reward at the end of the quest.”

Occasionally they would visit the thriving cities around the oases and rivers in order to sell the loot.

“You’ve brought a lot of good items. It is my pleasure to transfer it over to warriors.”

“How much are you willing to buy that necklace made of ivory for?”

“It is ivory so it will be at least 800 gold.”

“In this situation, it is worth an extra 200 gold. I have already processed it.”

“It is really great handiwork. I admit that the price is correct. Let’s continue to trade in the future.”

Weed was friendly with the merchants in the desert cities. The prosperous desert city had a completely different culture from cities in the Central and Northern Continent.

The strong warriors walked around showing their naked upper bodies. Water, cigarettes and art were luxury goods at the market.

Weed had left several sculptures in the desert cities that still remained intact. Traces of the Pallos Empire still remained. Various valuables looted on the Central Continent had been traded for precious metals.

“The population is increasing but there is a limitation to economic growth.”

Weed sighed as he walked around the desert city. He had been looking forward to the continued development of the desert areas.

However, the nature of the desert meant it wasn’t convenient for farming or mining development. The cities also had to be built along oases and rivers.

In the past, the falling rain had made the desert area fertile but a lot of that water had dried up. There were the infested ruins of many abandoned land and cities.

Specialty crops were grown while food like rice, wheat and barley were brought to them. Nomads wandered around raising sheep and camels.

Traces of the Pallos Empire could be seen at the market but goods weren’t very expensive.

“It is hard to live. The typical problem of youth unemployment hasn’t been overcome.  The desert warriors need to hunt in order to return the money. Only the mercenary industry remains.”

He could hear countless stories as he walked around the desert city.

“Are you interested in the treasures of the Pallos Empire? You can hear the information for 2,000 gold.”

Treasures of the empire!

Python and the nameless man were tempted but Weed and Pale didn’t care. They knew that the treasures of the Pallos Empire were buried somewhere in the north. The problem was finding the treasure and determining its value. There were people excavating the treasure in the north right now.

“Uhh, Great Emperor Weed of the desert. The children of the desert grew up hearing his legend every day. My mother talked about him every night.”

“About what?”

Weed wondered if his reputation had changed.

“The Great Emperor of the desert is a person who causes blood to flow. He left after advancing the desert into the continent. He founded the Pallos Empire during what we call the golden age of the desert.”

“A really brilliant person.”

Weed had a smile of satisfaction as he walked through the desert city. Hearing praise about himself wasn’t that bad. It was rare for users to visit the desert city.

The new history meant the southern desert was prosperous compared to other areas. Even so, the area next to it was the Central Continent where the weather was less hot.

It was a place where users with a lower level than Weed’s hunting party couldn’t be seen. But every once in a while, they would see other users.

It wasn’t easy to reach a city near the Desert of Tranquility. The difficulties meant that only high level adventurers and warriors came here.

“You look like a fairly experienced adventurer. Wouldn’t you like to find a hidden legacy sleeping in the desert? There isn’t anything difficult. It won’t risk your life.”

The senior citizens of the city would occasionally say to Weed. It was a quest to find Weed’s legacy from his past life in the desert.

“That’s okay.”

“I won’t be the only one talking about it. There are various tribes scattered across the vast desert. If one of them finds the trail of the Great Emperor then all the wealth, honour and power……”

“I have no interest!”

The quest would be a long challenge. There was a high chance of something scary happening while completing the quest. He had some outstanding achievements during the final secret sculpting technique quest.

The secrets of the desert. Valuable assets like information about monsters, traces of cities and burial places of warriors could be bought.

However, he needed to concentrate on raising his level because the fight against the Haven Empire was coming.

– The Haven Empire’s army has crossed the Peshil River.

– The northern users tried some ambushes but couldn’t cause any damage.

– The Haven Empire’s army is like a poisonous gas. They devastated an entire area of the north with magic.

– They are 10 kilometres away from the Earth Palace. If the soldiers move quickly then they can arrive within 2~3 hours.

– Those guys have stopped advancing and are assembling siege weapons. There are 400 large siege weapons. It is enough to be seen with one glance. A grand sight!

Mapan gave regular reports about the current situation.

The threat of the army towards the Earth Palace was becoming increasingly serious.

After a few days, it was time to leave the desert.

“The day has finally come.”

Weed lightly sighed.

He had a huge grudge against the Hermes Guild.

“This world is becoming increasingly tougher. The value of pork, fruit and electricity is all increasing.”

He blamed the apple and pear prices rising on the Hermes Guild!

“It is a pity but I have to go to the Earth Palace.”

Weed finally declared the termination of the hunt.

‘It finally ended.’

‘This time it is truly over. I don’t believe it.’

‘Yes.’

Python, the nameless man and Pale’s expression stiffened even though they wanted to cheer. If they were too joyful then they might be forced to hunt again.

The first day was like hell but the next day was slightly better as Weed made his sculptures. Nevertheless, wandering between dungeons through the sand was one of their worst experiences.

The oldest person, Python cleared his throat and said.

“If you are busy then go. Now, let’s quickly return.”

“Yurin will come in a moment. Be ready to leave before that.”

They wandered the desert city and invested the money earned through hunting. They didn’t want to carry a lot.

That’s why they sold loot for jewellery, land, a house and even a shop. The housing prices in the desert cities were still affordable.

There weren’t a lot of people coming here currently so the profit was limited. But it contained the best hunting grounds. If they invested here then someday they would come back for hunting.

‘Never again.’

‘I won’t go with him again.’

‘I won’t live in the earth house.’

Yurin arrived and they headed towards the Earth Palace.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Earth Shadow.

Unring, Ben and Elliks who made up the Versailles Continent’s top adventurer party started a quest at Valhalla Temple.

In the process, they exposed the Embinyu Church and gained great contribution.

The Embinyu Church was exposed to the world before they were completely ready and the various religions found and destroyed them.

Of course, the residents and other users were kept in the dark.

Finally, they found the fifth arm of the God Embinyu in Metapeia and destroyed it by throwing it in boiling lava.

“The Embinyu Church? What about them? Are they a poor group like us?”

“Uhh, the Embinyu Church…buy some bread before talking about them. They sound like a group that loves fish.”

“The names Unring, Ben and Elliks? I’ve heard of them a long time ago. I don’t know what they are doing these days. Are they digging at the ground somewhere?”

Most signs of the Embinyu Church on the continent had disappeared. Adventurers who now had their adventures unknown felt severe frustration and injustice.

“Aigoo. We wasted a year for nothing.”

“I’m glad that the Embinyu Church disappeared but it is like we did nothing.”

“There will be other adventures so let’s have a good night’s sleep.”

Earth Shadow decided to relax.

All the hunting and exploration during the Valhalla quest had made them sick. They wanted to spend some time relaxing and recharging.

“Do you want a camel?”

“Yes. Strong and fast ones would be good.”

“The Bactrian Camel is the best in desert areas. The price is a bit expensive but they can go anywhere.”

“Give it to me.”

After completing the quest at Metapeia, the Earth Shadow were in the desert area. They tried to obtain camels to get out of the desert area.

“It is regretful that you are leaving. Well, do you want to listen to a story before you go?”

The feeling of an intense quest!

Unring was tired but he still had the habit of an adventurer. It wouldn’t hurt to hear the information. Even if it wasn’t important, they could trade it at other stores for cheaper goods.

“The people of the desert hasn’t forgotten one person. Sometimes I don’t know how we could live if it wasn’t for the Great Emperor Weed-nim.”

“Ah, Weed-nim.”

Unring said with disinterest.

Other users honoured Weed as an adventurer. He solved impossible quests and broke through any adversity.

The Arpen Kingdom might be pushed into a crisis due to Bardray but his personal combat skills on quests were recognized as the best.

Earth Shadow specialized in adventures so they thought about him bitterly.

They didn’t lack skills and believed they could attain a significantly higher achievement through the Vahalla quest. But the local residents were praising Weed everywhere.

Unring turned around.

“A waste of time. Come on.”

Elliks and Ben’s expression wasn’t good.

They came to the desert in vain and now they had to listen to these words!

The camel trader said behind their backs.

“The Great Emperor’s greatest achievement was founding the Pallos Empire but those in the desert were more grateful for his creation of oases and rivers. Thanks to that, our parents and children living in the desert never ran out of water to drink.

“Yes yes, but we are busy so…”

“It was our lifeline. The Great Emperor’s legacy. That’s why the desert is now gripped in a very huge crisis. The oases and rivers are drying up. The desert tribes that were united have started to hate each other again. Soon the whole desert will be filled with blood.”

Unring, Elliks and Ben stopped moving.

The feeling of an intense quest. The adventurer’s instinct meant they couldn’t leave without listening.

Unring turned around and said carefully.

“Will there be a big fight over the lack of water?”

A fight between the desert tribes meant there might be a war in the entire area. The population of the desert had increased quite a lot thanks to Weed’s adventure.

It was dangerous for users to act in the desert right now and the price of the commodities would rise.

“The camel’s footprints will eventually be completely erased by sandstorms. After the sun rises a few times, we will eventually be covered in sand.”

“It would be nice if someone concedes.”

“We aren’t fools. We are well aware that this fight will destroy all of us. It is difficult to abandon the cities and civilization will be wiped out. But we will be eliminated without any water. The resolve of the other tribes means there will now be war.”

The experienced residents could hear the meaning behind their words.

‘A large scale.’

‘Euum, this is a quest.’

‘Is it a peace quest to stop the war and revive the desert tribes? It is simple yet difficult.’

And they waited for the next words.

“There is only one way to prevent the war among the desert tribes. In the legend, the Great Emperor would appear again to unify the entire desert.”

“Yes?”

“The Great Emperor left his legacy behind for the descendants to find.”

Ben seemed to notice something and said.

“Those words are quite difficult. The value of the Great Emperor’s legacy must be enormous.”

It was difficult to convert the value of the equipment Weed left behind in the warring period to money.

“The Great Emperor’s equipment and power was left in a very dangerous place. I heard a rumour that you shouldn’t go there unless you are willing to bet your life.”

“…….”

“In an effort to prevent the war, many desert warriors are attempting the challenge to obtain the Great Emperor’s legacy. If they can obtain the knowledge and power of the Great Emperor, they can rule the desert. But this is a mission that only a pure and prestigious desert warrior can do.”

“It is a little difficult.”

The Earth Shadow group was puzzled.

A Weed related quest was a little worrisome in terms of difficulty but it was tempting. Finding special relics or money would be satisfying but the desert was a very large place for an adventure. But it seemed like this quest was only available to desert warriors.

Elliks asked.

“What is a desert warrior?”

He had no intention of switching professions but he wanted to know the information.

“Only men who grew up in the desert feeling the sun on their skin are qualified.”

“So you aren’t looking for desert warriors to find the legacy.”

“No. There are numerous desert warriors looking for a guide.”

“By guide, do you mean a person who gives directions?”

“Right. The warriors have a lot of respect towards the Great Emperor. They are hoping for the rebirth of the Great Emperor to lead the desert tribes.. Will you help the desert warriors achieve their goal?”

Ddiring!

– Desert Warriors’ Assistant

There is a legend of a young warrior sleeping in the desert who woke up and ran into a mountain of sand and skeletons.

Long ago, the Great Emperor Weed led the desert warriors.

Help the desert warriors fight against the monsters in the sand mountain to pursue the achievements of a hero.

Warriors will follow a guide in dangerous situations.

Level of Difficulty: A

Compensation: Desert Warrior’s faith.

Can lead a large number of desert warriors depending on your performance.

Quest Restrictions: No limit on fame or level.

Must be completed within ten days.

Discovered the Great Emperor’s quest.

“It is a little tricky and long. We have to proceed on the quest while taking care of the desert warriors.”

Elliks muttered a complaint but everyone felt like it was intriguing. A quest that would allow them to command desert warriors felt like fun.

Curious adventurers would never give up something like this.

“Let’s do it.”

“Try it.”

– You have accepted the quest.

Thus the desert warriors quest began.

Earth Shadow accepted the Desert Warriors’ Assistant quest and went to meet the desert warriors.

‘They are still young warriors. If I take care of them well then they can be the pillar of the desert.’

However, the reality was a lot different from what they imagined. The desert warriors spat at them.

“What are you looking at? Keep your eyes away from me.”

Tough and arrogant warriors filled with the spirit of the desert!

The desert warriors wouldn’t obey unless they showed off an overwhelming power so their true suffering began.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It’s really cold.”

– This is today’s weather. The current temperature is 6 degrees Celsius, the rain and wind speed of 4 metres per second makes the temperature feel lower……

“Shut up. Don’t answer unless I ask a question.”

Yoo Byung-jin’s body was shaking from the cold.

Sitting on a bench with his hands in his pocket was the richest and most influential scientist in the world. The cold wind meant he couldn’t take his hands out of his pocket.

He sat on the wet, wooden bench as his bottom started to feel damp.

Yoo Byung-jin was currently in a park in New York to meet up with Bardray who was likely to be the first person to unify Royal Road.

Bardray was a French American. He regularly ran in the park at 5 a.m.

Yoo Byung-jin aligned their schedules so that they could meet by coincidence.

“Why the hell hasn’t he appeared yet?”

Yoo Byung-jin felt the cold seep into his bones. His head might think faster than any young person but his body was old.

The park was damp due to the rain falling at night, people were doing exercises and birds were chirping. He had endless thoughts as he sat on the bench in the park.

“I’m too old.”

He devoted most of his life to Royal Road. Most of the world had mocked his childhood plan. Creating his own virtual reality that would give an individual enormous wealth and power.

Getting over loneliness had been the driving force behind the plan and he created a new technology from scratch.

It might be reckless but his tremendous plan was at its final stage. Meeting Bardray away from Royal Road was immensely important to Yoo Byung-jin.

He sat on the bench for a couple of hours. Bardray didn’t appear even after the sun rose.

Yoo Byung-jin shivered from the cold and asked.

“When is Bardray coming?”

– Is Doctor-nim asking a question?

“That’s right.”

– Bardray isn’t exercising this morning. Currently he is on a plane to Las Vegas in order to meet with investors of the Hermes Guild in 1 hour and 20 minutes.

“…….”

He had been suffering several hours in the cold for nothing.

“Why didn’t you say anything if you knew?”

– Doctor-nim told me not to say anything until you ask a question.

Yoo Byung-jin lowered his head. He criticized himself for blaming the AI.

“When is Bardray coming back?”

– According to schedule, it should be 3 days later.

“Then I will come back.

ㅡ …….

Yoo Byung-jin felt uneasy as the AI didn’t answer.

“Are you sure that Bardray is coming back?”

– The consultation to build the Hermes Company is almost over. They just need the final steps to seal the agreement so there is a 98.7% chance that he will return in 3 days.

“Well, it is like that.”

Yoo Byung-jin was impressed every time by the convenience of the AI. It relieved human discomfort and instantly answered any questions.

But then Yoo Byung-jin suddenly felt a strange premonition.

“What aren’t you saying?”

ㅡ …….

“You can talk even if there are no questions.”

– It is about today’s weather. Currently a cloud is forming about the Mediterranean and is expected to bring about 60 millimetres more rain.

Chapter 9: Resurrection of a Hateful Subordinate

Weed arrived at the Earth Palace.

The hunting party was officially disbanded and each person would scatter. But the Earth Palace was filled with an unimaginable amount of people.

“Move a little out of the way.”

“Please get some of the people to work in my weapons store!”

“Inform the merchant union. All items are out of stock at the grocery stores. In the future, please use the merchants outside the palace.”

All the buildings on the road to the Earth Palace were busy due to the users.

“What is this?”

Python was confused.

The grounds of the Earth Palace were filled with people. It was like a swarm of ants covering the plains.

The island of Lavias was floating in the blue sky as hundreds of avians could be seen. Sparrows were toddling along on the stone walls and trees.

Having this many people gathered was unprecedented. The Island of Lavias in the Arpen Kingdom was moved and northern users came to the Earth Palace for the decisive battle.

Weed was also sincerely impressed.

“This world is rotten. The gathered crowd has showed me. To fight against the lies and hypocrisy!

It was an objective attitude to face reality.

“Where is the Haven Empire?”

“Approximately 3 hours away. Is that important now?”

“Yes?”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

“Hooray Grass Porridge Cult!”

Numerous users gathered at the Earth Palace weren’t scared of dying in the upcoming war. It was the same atmosphere as a frenzied festival.

Weed calmly nodded.

“Modern people receive severe stress so this is a scene of mass hysteria.”

He didn’t do anything specifically. It was evidence that people’s hearts were with the Arpen Kingdom.

“Selling bean porridge. Bean porridge with plenty of sugar! If you drink it then you will feel reassured when you die.”

“This torch is useful when hunting in dungeons. It is useful when serving roasted meat, a long burning torch that is only 4 copper.”

“I’d like to travel after the war. Risking my life to go to the frontier. I will  buy 3 cows.”

In this situation, the northern users were looking for colleagues. It was a troublesome situation but they enjoyed the atmosphere.

“Kwaaaaack!”

Sometimes while watching the scenery, users would be pushed off the cliffs by the crowd of users but they didn’t care. Those that fell off a cliff were rescued by avians or magicians with flying magic.

“Let us fly. Aaaack!”

Some users aimed for a disaster and jumped off a cliff together.

Weed was very concerned about the future of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Short and bold. The Arpen Kingdom doesn’t have a long history.”

The Haven Empire had invaded the relatively weak Arpen Kingdom that stretched across a huge amount of land.

Even though the Haven Empire occupied some territory, the Arpen Kingdom was still expanding their economy, adventuring spirit and culture into the area. The expansion inland was almost finished and the potential of the sea area was terrific.

After the collapse of the Niflheim Empire, many people had avoided the cold and monsters by escaping to sea. Every once in a while, adventures would find large islands and this increased the influence of the Arpen Kingdom.

Architects in the north would build infrastructure in a short amount of time that link them to the transportation network. Without the invasion of the Haven Empire, the north would look completely different in 1~2 years.

Many users cherished the Arpen Kingdom that Weed built.

Pale looked at the south with a troubled face.

“Weed-nim, I can see the Haven Empire.”

The archer’s excellent eyesight meant he could clearly see the Haven Empire’s army that was far away.

The Haven Empire was slowly advancing while dragging the siege weapons. The flags carried by the knights in the lead and the endless amount of infantry wearing armour was magnificent. The sight of the incoming elite troops was enough to make him lose his mind.

Weed could also dimly see them.

“They came all this way to eat but they are just going to step on dog poo.”

The users were chatting loudly while looking in the direction of the Haven Empire’s army. There was evidence that quite a few high level users were mixed in this place.

The extent that they would cooperate depended entirely on Weed. They came to the Earth Palace grounds to fight but the chances were good that they would lose the battle. If Weed led them then there was a chance of a miracle upset.

But the northern users who bravely stormed against the Haven Empire was smashed apart and fled.

“Weed-nim, what are you going to do?”

Pale asked but Weed didn’t have an apparent answer.

“Well, I’ll see.”

“Have you prepared some exceptional tactics?”

“Well, just fight bravely.”

“Really?”

“I’ll bet 1 gold.”

“…….”

Weed willing to take out 1 gold meant he was telling the truth. The war would take place soon but he didn’t reveal himself to command the crowd. Too many users had concentrated in the Earth Palace.

The Haven Empire were being slowed by the siege weapons so he had time to relax and organize a chain of command.

If King Weed appeared then things were sure to become messier. In addition, he couldn’t use complex commands in a war.

Weed muttered to himself.

“Commanding people on a battlefield of this scale…the knights in present time. There is only one good guy…but I don’t want to see his face again. Then I’ll have to enter the palace.”

Python left first.

“I understand. I’m not going to fall in this place. I need to warm up my body before facing the army.”

“I will go too. I sense some prey here.”

The nameless man quietly disappeared into the darkness.

Pale pulled out his bow and said.

“I will grab a good spot for the fight after visiting the store. Then I will meet our other colleagues.”

“I understand. I’ll see you at the battle.”

After everyone left, Weed ignored the Haven Empire and entered the interior of the palace to make a sculpture.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– Where are you? Search teams respond.

– This is search team 1. Not found yet.

– This is search team 2. He hasn’t appeared at all.

– This is search team 3. He doesn’t appear.

The Hermes Guild had dispatched some assassins to the Earth Palace. They were 700 elites.

The final command from the leaders of the Hermes Guild hadn’t come down yet. The leaders were worried in many ways.

‘Can we really assassinate Weed at the start of the battle?’

‘No, the effect on the victory. Mobilize the army to fight properly. Experiencing a nasty defeat would be better.’

‘If we killed Weed then we can easily win the big battle…… Once the palace is destroyed, the entire kingdom will see us as serious villains.’

‘In many ways, running away is annoying. In order to subdue the north, we have to kill Weed. And this is the best opportunity.’

The leaders also had this opinion.

Weed the God of War was a key figure. If he was assassinated then they didn’t have to worry about being defeated in an all-out war.

– Wait. First we need to find out if Weed is at the Earth Palace.

– The chance is high that he just successfully finished a reckless adventure.

The assassinations squads decided to watch the situation after finding out information about Weed.

The assassins were placed in different areas of the Earth Palace while dressed as beginners or merchants. It was an impersonation as an ordinary person.

Once the war began, they would assassinate Weed and other important figures. It would be much easier to attack thanks to the assassination squads.

“Keook!”

“Ugh!”

“Ah, I am……”

People collapsed in the street and changed into a grey light. The Earth Palace was bustling with users so they were quickly discovered.

“A person died!”

“What is happening?”

“There seems to be some assassins!”

The members panicked in the guild channel.

– What happened? The battle hasn’t started yet someone is already acting.

– People are being killed on the boundaries. Moreover, it seems to be a merchant that was killed……

The information scouts were reprimanding them when one of the assassins hastily said.

– We’re not doing anything. We are the ones being targeted…ugh!

– What?

The assassins of the Hermes Guild. They were all at least level 380 and went through various training to learn skills.

The nature of a level 380 assassins was to use disguises to approach with a poison dagger or crossbow. They would run lightly and surprise the target with an ambush.

Notorious assassins on the Versailles Continent were collapsing.

– What happened? The enemy’s location and identity?

– I don’t know. My colleagues were killed by someone stabbing them who then instantly disappeared into the shadows……

– Does that make sense?

– We are proud to be elite stealth assassins but this is the first time we’ve suffered from such a strong, fatal attack. The person’s strong attacks means instant death.

– The enemy seems to be aiming at us.

The assassination crew were disguised as ordinary beginners. They were dressed as beginners below level 50 or non-combat professions like painter, sculptor or merchant.

They were defenseless.

‘Hmm, is it that easy?’

An assassin attacking the Hermes Guild was the man who went hunting with Weed.

He had the skill ‘Eyes of Truth.’ It allowed his eyes to see any stealth or camouflage skills.

The assassins of the Hermes Guild had tremendous infamy so their names flashed red. But they covered it with camouflage and blended in as an ordinary person.

The man came out of the shadows and stabbed with his dagger. The assassin had a very fast processing speed after hunting with Weed.

‘Huhuhu, it is fun for an assassin to hunt other assassins.’

He gained quite a few experience and skill levels. Infamous assassins gave a different type of experience from normal monsters.

– We are still being attacked.

– Our colleague disguised as a merchant selling flowers is now being attacked.

– Pounce altogether. We have to quickly take care of it.

– The shadow disappeared between the pillars.

– Search that area thoroughly…keok!

– Buranos-nim has died.

The assassins of the Hermes Guild quickly changed their outfits. They firmly grasped poisoned daggers in their hands in order to fight the enemy. Some took out a portable crossbow.

It was a strange sight for the users on the grounds of the Earth Palace.

“What the, what is happening? Only those with a very high level can wear that equipment.”

“People are just dying out.”

“Are they fighting each other in the Earth Palace? Look. Fight outside.”

“Isn’t that the assassin equipment?”

The situation suddenly changed and the assassins of the Hermes Guild made the wrong decision.

Assassins were covert and adept in the darkness. They camouflaged their identities and freely acted in the enemy camp. But that advantage disappeared once they were exposed to the enemy.

Assassins hid like a ghost before suddenly attacking. The camouflage disappearing meant their identities were revealed!

The northern users were in an uproar.

“Who are they?”

“Well, they must be high level assassins who wore the costume of the north.”

“Then what, the Hermes Guild?”

“It must be them. Those sneaky bastards. They must have penetrated in order to cause damage.”

The northern users pulled out their weapons and prepared spells. Now it was the worst situation for the Hermes Guild assassins.

– I don’t know. Look around and attack all enemies!

– Kill all of them!

The assassins caused havoc in the Earth Palace.

However, the Hermes Guild assassins had to deal with all the users gathered at the Earth Palace. All types of dazzling attacks were poured towards the assassins.

In the end, they didn’t even last 5 minutes before being wiped out.

– The assassins have been wiped out.

– How did this…

The leaders of the Hermes Guild fell into a state of panic after receiving the report.

The assassination that had a high utility rate due to its uniqueness was completely destroyed. Their infamy was high due to murder, destruction and graffiti so the damage was huge.

– What do we do now about the Earth Palace?

– Terminate the search operation. Take note of the information and withdraw. Order the assassins to give the information. We can’t lose such precious information.

And shortly after, the residents started to tell a story.

“You, did you hear the story? The God of Death appeared at the Earth Palace.”

“Ah, the shadow of death?”

“That’s right, I heard he is called Seasoned Crab.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It really doesn’t make sense.”

Weed muttered while diligently moving his Sculpting Knife.

“These guys!”

“The Haven Empire’s army is coming!”

He could hear the sound of users shouting outside the palace.

“Well, it can’t be helped even if he is an ugly bastard. Life is filthy and you don’t always get what you want. I need to make it.”

Weed felt melancholy while making the sculpture.

Twelve bright chunks of natural stone were placed in front of him. They were stones specifically set aside for the king to sculpt a person.

The straight eyebrows, high nose, clear blue eyes and soft, upright mouth. Needless to say, it was a very handsome face with a body and legs that matched it.

A tall person that would have no choice but to stand out on the streets. Maybe wearing clothes would allow even designers to feel pride in their profession. The colourful hues and natural texture of the stone made it feel like jewels.

“Hmm, a human like this can’t actually exist. A ridiculous lie and cheat.”

Weed didn’t stop complaining as he moved onto the next part. Compared to the ordinary body proportions of Korean people, the sculpture had long legs, broad shoulders and a superior physical condition.

It felt like the world’s top model was standing in front of Weed. The perfect body and handsome face was just a nuisance to humanity.

He would rather not remember but his mind actually easily recalled many details.

“I thought I would meet him again someday. But to encounter him this early.”

Weed was working on a sculpture of Hestiger who gave an outstanding performance in the warring period. Fortunately, he was a subordinate but Hestiger almost pushed him to a bridesmaid role.

“If it wasn’t for those guys threatening my rice bowl then I wouldn’t have to do this. Hmm, I have to nag him properly.”

He received news about the Hermes Guild’s assassins outside but Weed didn’t care. If he wasn’t attacked directly then Weed was indifferent.

When it came to living in the complex modern society, a virtue like this was essential for mental health.

“Kukukuku!”

“Tweet tweet!”

Silver Bird and Golden Bird chattered next to Weed in the Earth Palace. Silver Bird and Golden Bird were also jealous.

A statue of Hestiger was completed.

“Well, it is perfect. I made it really well, huhuhu. It is purely because of my excellent sculpting skills. Isn’t it made well?”

He scanned the sculpture but couldn’t find any flaws. If there was even a small mistake then 200% of the skills couldn’t be demonstrated.

Weed watched Hestiger with jealousy and envy but that allowed him to painstakingly give birth to a perfect sculpture.

“My subordinate has been completed.”

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“Let’s say Hestiger. No, there is no meaning in the name of the sculpture after I give him life. If so…Cheeky Subordinate.”

– Cheeky Subordinate is correct?

“That’s right.”

Weed expressed some of his anger towards Hestiger.

Ddiring!

– Masterpiece! Cheeky Subordinate has been completed.

In the long history of the Versailles Continent, many figures have disappeared.

However, the hero Hestiger in the warring period was a shining star who was never greedy or betrayed anyone.

He was a knight but respected and looked after the weak. A genius talent who overcame any limits with his scimitar. The wind and sun gods blessed him while the religion of the war god worshipped him.

A warrior who fought against the cruel oppression of the rulers on the immoral and disorderly continent. An individual with outstanding achievements who surpassed the limits of chivalry.

Now a human statue with the most perfect appearance is created.

Artistic Value: 7,985

Special Options: Cheeky Subordinate will increase health and mana regeneration will increase by 42% for a day.

Knights and warriors with the right mentality can learn skills.

The skills will help with the knight’s leadership abilities.

Honour +120.

The ability to study sword skills and magic skills will improve by 7% for a week.

All stats will increase by 41.

Hunting with subordinates will increase all abilities by 4%.

The morale of all soldiers in the vicinity of Cheeky Subordinate will be maintained at the maximum.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Current number of Masterpieces created: 26

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 1,320.

– Art has increased by 12.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 3.

– Charm increased by 7.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Masterpiece sculpture.

“This world that only cares about appearance! The materials are nice but this isn’t worthy of being a Masterpiece! Well, I’m in a bad mood but it is already finished.”

He felt a new emotion after creating the sculpture of Hestiger. He had felt jealousy during the warring period but that wasn’t the entire truth.

‘I was in a lot of danger.’

The final secret sculpting technique quest. It was disadvantageous because of the need to grow within a limited time in the desert.

He had encountered a few dangerous situations while exploring the dungeons. Weed and even his sculptural lifeforms were in danger until Hestiger exerted his skills. The loyalty meant he took care of monsters and boss monsters.

Hestiger might have intercepted Weed’s share but he also helped in creating the legend of the Great Emperor. Hestiger was a hero that made even Weed jealous!

“Come, you ugly subordinate. Sculpture Resurrection!”

– Sculpture Resurrection has been used.

The desert warrior Hestiger has been called back to this land through art.

45 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

Faith stat has been permanently reduced by 100.

Level has fallen by 3.

18,000 Health and Mana has been consumed.

The person revived by Sculpture Resurrection will retain their knowledge and ability.

It is only a fixed short time but they are thankful for being able to move in this world again.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpture Resurrection has improved.

The natural stone sculpture started to change. The statue’s hair turned into a noble blonde and the eyes became more blue. The strong muscles of the upper body started moving from gentle breathing and the legs firmly attached to the ground started moving.

It was only one person but the atmosphere changed dramatically.

A straight nose and masculine jaw line. A handsome appearance with overflowing charm. His appearance felt much more like a king than Weed’s and he looked around with curiousity.

‘Hestiger has survived.’

Weed tensely looked at him.

The muscles of Hestiger’s naked upper body was like a beautiful work of art. A mysterious force was exerted by those muscles that seemed enough to destroy the current Weed!

‘I can’t be too reckless.’

Hestiger had a firm resolve.

He was brought back with Sculpture Resurrection but there was no guarantee he would cooperate with Weed. In spite of the miracle of resurrection, the person would move according to their own will.

‘He might use this chance to get revenge. He has all types of accusations such as bullying……! He might be a more dangerous enemy than the Haven Empire.’

Weed belatedly realized his mistake and regretted it.

Hestiger looked around and politely said to Weed.

“Master is here……! I can’t believe it. Are you really him?”

“T-that’s right.”

Hestiger’s expression was briefly surprised until he gave a gentle smile that would melt the heart of women.

“You are alive. And you seem younger than you did in the past.”

The low voice was enough to make a woman’s mind fly to a distant galaxy. Hestiger’s one glance seemed to see Weed’s sin as his heart dropped in his chest…

However, Hestiger just politely kneeled down and extended his neck.

“I was worried about not seeing Master after you defeated the Embinyu Church. Since then, I’ve been wandering around the continent searching for news of Master. I didn’t find you so please punish me.”

“Ah, no. Rise.”

Weed asked cautiously.

“Right now I am weaker than you. Do you know?”

“Yes. I can see it.”

In accordance with their rules, the desert warriors had a habit of obeying the strong.

Weed swallowed his saliva.

“Yet your allegiance to me is still the same?”

“My life is yours. Even though I’ve risen again after losing my life, my heart beating and blood flowing is still the same.”

Despite the cool answer, Weed’s doubts didn’t disappear. He couldn’t help having nasty thoughts after all his sins.

“I have to be careful about being stabbed in the back. I’ll ask you again, can I really trust you?”

“I pledged my allegiance to you in the desert sands and despite a long time passing, nothing has changed. My pledge of allegiance made in the desert sands will last until the day I disappear.”

“As expected from my subordinate.”

Hestiger’s strong tone of speech made him seem like a hero from a weekend drama. Of course, there was no one that could match up with him.

“You were reliable in the past so I will believe you now.”

“You believed in me and entrusted me with important tasks. I thank you for giving me the chance to participate in a noble mission to save the world.”

“But why are you dead?”

Weed was curious about what happened.

After defeating the Embinyu Church, there didn’t seem to be anyone on the continent who could challenge him.

“I took the elves home and wandered the world searching for Master and seeing all types of places. Past the south and west, through the Desert of Tranquility and past some swamp lands before boarding a boat made of nails.”

“A boat made of nails? You really have ridden anything. Continue to speak.”

“After finding traces of the gods, I ended up fighting in the land of the giants……”

“Stop. I don’t want to know anymore.”

Weed thought it was sufficient.

The story of crossing the Desert of Tranquility was interesting but then he felt a cold feeling. He had an ominous feeling that he might encounter Hestiger’s adventure someday.

“The magicians are chanting some spells!”

“Slay the bastards from the Haven Empire!”

“Go out and fight, Grass Porridge warriors!”

Loud noises continued outside due to the war. The Haven Empire’s army was lining up on the plains. It was just before the war started.

Hestiger’s eyes flashed.

“What are these sounds? It seems like a battle will take place soon.”

“This……”

Weed thought about what he should say.

Warrior-1, Warrior-2 and Warrior-3. The sculptural lifeforms were simple and didn’t need a reason to fight.

On the other hand, Hestiger would brandish his scimitar to protect the poor. Weed needed to say something that would make Hestiger willingly jump in the fire. Weed needed him to swing his sword for justice so that there wouldn’t be any chance of betrayal.

‘Good guys are difficult to handle. But I have to praise his loyal spirit.’

The calculations were over in an instant. Somehow Weed needed to actively convince him to fight the Haven Empire.

Hestiger needed justification to fight aggressively.

“They have come to crush my kingdom. You know that I wasn’t merciful when creating the Pallos Empire in the past. I destroyed the Embinyu Church while obtaining more land and cities for the sake of the desert tribes. Many people were suffering but it couldn’t be helped.”

Weed criticized himself.

In the warring period, he didn’t have any special responsibility as ruler of the desert so he just smashed things as he went along.

“The sins that I committed are still fresh in my mind. When I get up in the morning, I remember countless incidents in the warring period. I conquered them without putting down my sword and talking but I told myself that it was for the important purpose of defeating the Embinyu Church. I have to live with the guilt of that.”

“Master, at that time all the other kingdoms were more vicious than the Pallos Empire. We tried but things couldn’t be resolved with persuasion and compromise so the sword needed to be used. And thanks to Master, the desert tribes could find a new life. You can’t blame yourself for the lives that became uncomfortable under the reign of the empire.”

Hestiger was naive enough to snap up the rice cakes. It was like an elementary school student snatching a phone to play a game.

Weed bowed his head and used red pepper flakes to make his eyes moist with tears. Actually, his eyes could become like that quickly even without any red pepper flakes.

“The current time is different from the warring period. Everyone is happy as I pioneered the northern frontier to form the Arpen Kingdom where individual rights are maintained. It wasn’t easy but I worked hard to achieve my dream.”

“I see.”

“The Arpen Kingdom is like a flower that I carefully planted in the wilderness.”

Weed recalled the past. Having the territory of Morata slowly expand was like discovering wild ginseng on the mountain. Other people wouldn’t know the anger and frustration it could cause.

“The kingdom really fills me with pride and joy. All of this is the fruit of my sweat and effort. But the Haven Empire is invading it. In the past, I tried to settle it but their hearts are filled with hate and they are just trampling on the weak.

“Umm.”

“It is fine if I lose the Arpen Kingdom. I will dedicate my life to try and keep the kingdom. It is the only honourable thing to do. However, the residents believe in me and this is a huge burden.”

Tears welled up in Hestiger’s eyes. They were tears that sympathized with the common people.

“I will stop them.”

“No. I will use all my strength until the end. There are two reasons why I called you. The first is to rally the loyal warriors who want to see you again and the second thing is to protect the women and young children of the kingdom.”

“Master!”

‘I got him.’

Hestiger would help if it involved women and young children.

He didn’t want to regret using Sculpture Resurrection.

“Master, I learned from you the pride of the desert warriors. There is no defeat. Obliterate all of them.”

“Hestiger!”

At the moment, Weed felt a small amount of remorse. The King of the Arpen Kingdom and ruler of the desert.

‘It is a good life experience. I will continue to live while dreaming of becoming a vice-president.’

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Hero’s Short Agony

“Finally the Earth Palace!”

“The Hermes Guild has arrived to conquer the north.”

“It is the end for Weed the God of War. As of today, the Haven Empire will destroy the Arpen Kingdom and unite the continent.”

The Hermes Guild users in the north found it difficult to suppress the excitement welling in their chest.

The largest elite troops ever mobilized had marched to the north. They had successfully won against the northern users and were now prepared to take Weed’s neck. Of course, the thorough destruction of the Earth Palace was just a bonus!

The sky island of Lavias floating in the sky was spectacular and they might also be able to conquer it today.

‘I will show how the strong will thoroughly trample on the weak.’

‘The Earth Palace is ugly. Building it on the mountain peaks is a quirky idea but aren’t there many treasures of the north gathered? Looting the palace of another kingdom will give me joy. I can increase my loot. I absolutely can’t fall behind others.’

‘Huhuhu, they will be swept away from the charge of the knights. I’ll certainly appear on the broadcast.’

‘The barbaric magic skills of the north won’t be able to stop us. They will be wiped out by the magic of the wind. How can barbaric people like them withstand the wind magic? It signals the presence of a big name.’

‘Unfortunately the deputy died but I will retaliate today.’

The Hermes Guild users were proud of their bravery and armed forces.

Despite the north being a great attraction of Royal Road, it was just at a frontier level compared to the Brent and Rosenheim Kingdoms. Most of the users were weak and wore humble equipment.

Weapons and techniques were all part of an individual’s combat power. So far, the fighting in the north gave them the impression that there were only many novice users. A weak enemy that would lose under a show of force!

Today’s final battle would be broadcasted live so the Hermes Guild users were excited.

– Presently the army’s morale is high. They’ve completely forgotten about the disaster experienced at Alkazar Bridge.

– The 2nd corps will guide the siege weapons.

– The leader of each knight division should move along the planned path in response to an assault. Individual behaviour isn’t allowed for a knight.

– Strengthen the communication between the knight divisions in order to show our grandeur in the war.

The commanders used the Hermes Guild’s communication channel to hand out orders.

The scale of the war meant it was important to check if the commands were performed perfectly.

The knights of the Haven Empire were familiar with different assault methods, formations and methods to divert attacks.

‘This fight will be too easy… It will be our victory even if no one exactly follows the orders.’

The northern users could only swarm like flies while the Haven Empire’s army used group tactics. The leaders of the Hermes Guild also joined the communication channel of the commanders.

It was possible to watch the battle scenes on the broadcast and they couldn’t interfere with the front-line commanders. But after the battle, there would be a review of the commanders based on their achievements.

The warm wind blew and it was a sunny and clear day.

The confrontation between the Haven Empire’s army and the northern users in front of the Earth Palace was about to begin. The commander of the 1st corps of the northern conquest army, Draka rode his horse forward 100 metres.

“Weed who is nicknamed the God of War, the Haven Empire’s army has come to conquer the poor Arpen Kingdom. The true masters of this land has now appeared!”

Draka’s cry spread through the plains and the Earth Palace.

It was a call of leadership similar to the Lion’s Roar skill. Magic expanded the sound and spread it over a far distance.

The northern users criticized him immediately.

“Ohhhh!”

“Bastards from the Hermes Guild, go away!”

“Weed-nim isn’t going to appear!”

However, there was some internal curiosity about Draka’s cry.

“Will Weed-nim appear here?”

“Isn’t he on the premises of the Earth Palace?”

They were gathered here to stop the Haven Empire but the northern users were most curious about Weed. In order to protect the Royal Palace, the northern users had arrived over the past few days.

However, there were a lot of users watching the situation from the wide plains and mountain areas. Since their levels were high, the loss would be huge if they died so they were watching. Whether they fought or gave up the Earth Palace would depend on Weed.

“Where?”

“Is Weed-nim here?”

“Doesn’t the Hermes Guild have an excellent intelligence network? Those guys know everything.”

The northern users searched for Weed.

Draka was also aiming for this effect.

He summoned him before the battle to make sure that Weed was here. Since the King of the Arpen Kingdom was Weed the God of War, he would play a core role in the defense. He would be easier to cope with the moment he appeared.

If Weed didn’t respond to Draka’s call then it would undermine the will of the northern users. It was killing two birds with one stone.

Draka waited but Weed didn’t appear among the crowd. The Earth Palace was located in a high place so there would be shouts if he showed up.

‘Is one call lacking? This is the place. The Earth Palace falling apart would damage the Arpen Kingdom. Either way, our goals will be easily achieved.’

Draka opened his mouth again.

“I am the commander of the 1st corps of the Haven Empire’s army and I challenge Weed the King of the Arpen Kingdom to a fair duel. Do not hide and come out!”

A duel application!

Draka who represented the Haven Empire’s army had asked for a duel. It could improve the morale of the soldiers but there was also a risk. Of course, the duel application was based on a conclusion from the Hermes Guild’s detailed analysis.

– Weed’s sculpting skills have been analyzed based on his previous adventures.

– He can change his species or profession, cause a disaster, create subordinates and has valuable sword skills.

– There will be specific boundaries where the disaster will occur… He doesn’t use it frequently so there is probably a great penalty like other profession skills. Judging by the basis of the skill, either his stats, level or skill proficiency is consumed.

– He has the power to create a deadly plague. Weed’s disaster have a great effect but it doesn’t just depend on skill proficiency. Predicting the affected area or knowing it is coming in advance is impossible.

– It is suspected that he got something exciting for the final sculpting technique but specific information isn’t available. He hasn’t used the skill after coming back to modern times but there must be some restrictions.

– The skill can be anything and his combat proficiency will have developed compared to the time in the Melbourne Mines.

– He had a great image as the ruler of the desert but the current reality is completely different. We need to understand Weed’s current combat capabilities. In order to get rid of any potentially disturbing elements, we need to quickly find out what the final secret sculpting technique is. If the skill is deeply related to art then we don’t need to worry.

– When considering the Melbourne Mine and other variables, Draka’s chance of being defeated is less than 20%.

A thorough analysis of Weed’s information indicated that Draka would win.

Typically, an art profession like sculptor needed 2 times more effort to win over combat professions. It was due to the difference in useful combat skills and stats.

However, Weed couldn’t be compared to the standards of a normal human. He used a lot of effort to strengthen himself and utilized special skills.

Even considering various factors, Draka was a strong knight of the Hermes Guild and one of the powerhouses on the Versailles Continent.

He also wasn’t just relying on combat in this duel. In order to win this duel, Draka wore the best armour and was given blessings by the priests and shamans. In addition, there was special black magic that would strengthen him for 7 hours.

“Is there going to be a fight between leaders?”

“How fun. Of course Weed-nim would win?”

“Outrageous. Who is this Draka anyway?”

“Fool, you don’t know Draka?”

“Who?”

“The lord of Ballet Lake and leader of the Anabollic Knights, it is a legend that he won 14 consecutive duels… Anyway, he is a scary bastard.

Draka was widely known among the players. The northern users not interested didn’t know his name but it quickly became known thanks to the war.

“An arrogant man?”

“He must be ignorant towards young and pretty females.”

“I am sure about this. A pervert.”

“Kuahh, he isn’t human.”

The crowd wasn’t friendly towards the Hermes Guild. Even so, Draka’s level and combat experience meant they were nervous.

Weed was revered as the God of War who could fight Bardray but the power of the users in the Hermes Guild was enormous.

A group where the powerhouses of the Versailles Continent were gathered. They intended to stamp on the northern users.

Despite the duel challenge shaking the Earth Palace and its surroundings, Weed didn’t appear.

‘It would be nice if he appeared. This is Draka-nim’s chance to be the subject of all the attention.’

Draka would win in a one on one duel.

This was an opportunity to get a great achievement before the Haven Empire conquered the continent. Even if he couldn’t surpass Bardray, he could still reach the 2nd position.

Draka had prepared a lot for today’s duel.

“Weed, the continent didn’t criticize you for your adventures as ruler of the desert. Then where is your confidence? In addition, you have the status and honour of King of the Arpen Kingdom. Nevertheless, are you not going to appear like a coward?”

Draka yelled angrily.

The Haven Empire’s camp and the northern users were quiet. Weed’s emergency in the war was also a concern to them.

But 30 seconds passed without any changes.

“King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom! I, Draka have come to conquer your land. If you have pride as a king then come out! Or have you already abandoned the Earth Palace and fled to another area!”

Draka shouted once again but no one came out from the northern users. It was to the extent that the northern users were dead silent. A situation with many people but none of them were Weed!

“Is he really not here?”

“Weed-nim isn’t here… Is he not coming at all?”

“This situation… Is he really going to run away?”

The camp of the northern users suddenly changed. They waited for Weed but he couldn’t be seen.

‘Disappointing. I thought he would emerge sooner. By the looks of this atmosphere, I am unlikely to get my duel. All my preparations were in vain.’

It was regretful but Draka’s duel application was rejected.

He emphasized many times that he was challenging Weed of the Arpen Kingdom. The northern users were shaken.

The possibility that Weed ran away from the Earth Palace was enough to make sure that some northern users wouldn’t participate in the war. The psychological impact on the northern users would play a role in the war.

Then one man walked out from among the northern users.

“I’ve been listening to you. I am Kamon, one of the elite warriors of the north and I challenge Draka!”

Warrior Kamon.

His current level was 430 and he was formally a user of the Britten Alliance Kingdom. He had migrated to Morata in the early days. He was popular among the northern users and belonged to the Mugwort Porridge unit.

He was one of the many high level users who gathered for the war in the north. One of them had come out.

Draka laughed lightly.

“Warrior Kamon? I’m sorry but I’ve never heard that name.”

In fact, he had vaguely heard it in the past.

The Hermes Guild’s communication channel reported information about him but Draka pretended not to know.

“You have courage to face the army of the Haven Empire but you can’t be my opponent. Is there any warrior who wants to fight with me instead?”

Draka stepped back and one user in the army went forward.

“I am knight Nadelli, I will apply for the duel on Draka-nim’s behalf.”

“You cannot enter. I applied for a duel with Draka.”

“You can fight me afterwards. Didn’t you also come out on Weed’s behalf?”

“You make sense. Then let’s fight.”

Kamon held a short axe while Nadelli had a sword and shield.

“Kamon-nim, win!”

“Hooray Grass Porridge Cult!” Take a bite from that guy.”

“No, just feed him some toadstool porridge!”

The northern users cheered.

On the other hand, the Haven Empire’s camp was silent. They were sure of victory so there was no reason to cheer.

Kamon was surrounded by the Hermes Guild. Their military discipline gave the oppressive feeling of a big army waiting calmly.

“Go! Split the earth!”

Kamon brought his axe down intensely but it was blocked with Nadelli’s shield.

‘Villainous Hermes Guild! I will kill them.’

‘The combat style is simple compared to his level. Although he is proficient in fighting monsters, he doesn’t have a lot of experience in a one on one fight.’

After a few attacks, a gap was exposed that Nadelli aimed for.

“Shield Horizontal Stroke.”

The brandished shield disturbed Kamon’s balance.

“Tremor Wave, Piercing Sword, Sword with Crushing Force.”

A series of continuous skills were landed. The short axe couldn’t prevent the following sword and shield attacks.

And the match was simply decided. The brutally beaten Kamon turned into grey light.

“Oh my god…”

“Kamon-nim…”

There was a long silence among the northern users. The Haven Empire had no doubt of their victory so they didn’t cheer.

Of course, a celebration was secretly going on in the guild’s communication channel.

– Nadelli-nim, you were on fire. Congratulations. It was a great battle.

– It was thanks to Pulleborehet Castle.  These days it has great hunting. My sword and shield skills matured.

– Three months ago, there was a dungeon hunt with the magician Milled. To celebrate, we should go hunting again. Find a good dungeon.

– Hahaha. Thank you for the compliment. It is thanks to you that I managed to look good. And I appreciate that Draka-nim gave me the opportunity.

It was indeed a friendly guild channel.

Since then, there were duels between 9 other northern users and 9 members of the Hermes Guild.

“Please win this time, Kitaho-nim!”

“Get revenge for the Ginseng Porridge unit!”

Players came out to defend the pride of the north but the result was 10 losses! The Hermes Guild have overwhelmingly superior levels, skills and equipment. The northern users who threw themselves into the fight were smashed.

The winner of the duel was like an adult playing with children as there were overwhelming victories. The power of the Hermes Guild was great and this was also a part of their war plan.

The northern users came out randomly but the Hermes Guild users were already decided.

Those that participated in the duels were granted special equipment and blessings. The users who participated had low fame compared to their skills so a larger sense of shame was elicited from the northern users.

Draka exclaimed once there were 10 overwhelming victories.

“Is Weed the God of War truly in this place? If so, there is no point in having meaningless duels. I will give you 1 more minute. Weed, come out and fight me. After 1 minute, the Haven Empire’s army will march to the Earth Palace and destroy everything!”

Draka’s voice grew louder.

It was enough to reach the eyes of the avians on the island of Lavias.

1 minute of silence.

But Weed still didn’t appear.

“King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom didn’t appear. The title of Desert Emperor is just a vain delusion obtained from the adventure. I am ashamed that you are called the God of War and a king. Your king has caused the downfall of the Arpen Kingdom. Haven Empire troops, everyone march!”

The Haven Empire’s army responded in unison.

“Uha!”

The Imperial soldiers instantly pulled out their swords. Thanks to the consecutive victories in the duels, their morale was at the maximum!

The Haven Empire had finished their placement of the archers and magicians while the duels were taking place. The infantry and armoured infantry were also positioned to seal off the charge of the northern users.

The siege weapons escorted by knights advanced with a roar.

“Shooting spree!”

“Fire, fire! It doesn’t matter the goal!”

“The battle will end today. Tomorrow the sun will not shine on the Earth Palace!”

The siege weapons launched huge fireballs. The fireballs landed in the middle of the people gathered at the Earth Palace and set the mountainside on fire.

Many people used water elementals or magic to suppress the fire but hundreds were already dead.

“Protect the north.”

“Grass Porridge Cult members, fight with enthusiasm even if our bodies have to be buried in this place!”

“Toadstool Porridge unit, death is in front of us. Don’t avoid it and enjoy it!”

“Huhuhu, we have the free spirit of the Grass Porridge Cult. Rice Porridge, Chicken Porridge and other commonplace porridges.  Toadstool Porridge? Can anyone eat it? We are the Insect Porridge unit that will fight against the world’s darkness. It has a crispy yet chewy texture and gives enough nutrients. There is no need to grill it. Eating cockroaches and other bugs three times a day…”

“Ugh, Insect Porridge!”

“Those crazy insect users!”

The northern users initiated the attack. Arrows and magic were aimed towards the advancing Haven Empire.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

The warriors ran as quickly as possible towards the Haven Empire’s army. The knights riding horses and bulls raced on the plains without any hesitation. A massive assault was initiated.

“Smash the siege weapons!”

“The goal of the Kudzu Porridge unit is the siege weapons.”

“The Beef Porridge unit will kill everyone!”

Hundreds of thousands of Grass Porridge Cult members moved in their units. And the Haven Empire started their ranged attacks.

“The people of the north are fragile against ice magic. Spread the ice!”

“Wave of explosions!”

“Everyone will die in front of the power of thunder!”

The northern users collapsed in front of the devastating magic of the Haven Empire. There were hundreds of various magical explosions that it was difficult to distinguish between each one.

The northern users charged at full speed in order to confront the Haven Empire.

However, the ground cracked and flames were spreading everywhere. It was an atrocious power that seemed enough to end the world. The sky was filled with arrows from the Haven Empire. The northern users that ran as quickly as possible were knocked down.

The area of the Hermes Guild’s ranged attacks was called the magic destruction zone.

“Barrier formation!”

The commanders gave an order and the armoured infantry raised their shields. When viewed from the front, it seemed to be a large shield that covered the area.

Teteteng!

“Drill through it!”

The northern users that crossed the zone of death attacked but the shield formation didn’t budge.

“Counterattack!”

As soon as the commanders spoke, the shields were dropped and the spears appeared. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th columns of armoured infantry marched out and slashed at the users.

“Keeook!”

“Cough!”

And then they raised the shields again. Returning to the camp and the barrier formation! It wasn’t impossible to break through the armoured infantry.

The speed and manner of the knights could tear apart a large area. However, the armoured infantry was so dense that it was impossible to use such a method.

The efficiency of the Hermes Guild’s tactics couldn’t be compared to the enemy who fought individually.

“Move backwards. We have to confront them.”

“It won’t work if only one person goes. Go together!”

The northern users gathered to defend he Earth Palace moved in unison like a tsunami but the Haven Empire simply used their power to block it.

According to the combat staff, the enemies had been reduced by one third. The threat approaching couldn’t go beyond the armoured infantry’s defenses. The absolute force of the archers and magicians on the battlefield!

“Attack the archers!”

“We need to contain the ranged attacks. Bravely stop the archers and magicians, aaack!”

The norther users decreased sharply from the arrows and magic flying. The knights and infantry of the Haven Empire had treasures that reduced the damage of ranged magic.

This was the difference between individuals and a group. The knights had special leadership abilities. Things like dispersing the damage, reinforcing defense, increasing health and mass formations.

The north had a vast amount of users but they weren’t used properly. Despite filling the large area, they were defeated and disappeared.

Weed wasn’t present at the start of the battle so there were no surprises about the Haven Empire’s might firepower.

The high level users didn’t participate because there was no chance of winning. Thanks to that, the charge of the northern users gradually slowed.

‘Okay, it is our victory.’

‘It is almost finished.’

The Haven Empire invaded the north and were sure to reap a fortune after the battle was won. They toasted after every victory but this time was different. If they won today then it was no different to the entire north being defeated.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed was still inside the Earth Palace watching the battle.

He heard Draka shouting for a duel but didn’t emerge.

“I haven’t got my money yet. And they aren’t reliable…”

The forces from both sides were gathered at a neutral point for the duel but the Hermes Guild would definitely use dirty means.

“I’d rather trust in Choi ajusshi who collects money in my neighbourhood.”

Invisible curses or magic might be used in order to help them win the duel. In the movies, all heroes that courageously come forward would collapse through dastardly means.

He didn’t want to be victim of a vile plot or childish tricks.

‘They will hit me in the back of the head!’

Weed didn’t care about his pride when it came to preserving his life.

“And the war didn’t start properly.”

The northern users had gathered at the palace. They wanted to protect the freedom of the Arpen Kingdom.

In the beginning, the Haven Empire was at its most powerful but they would eventually tire. The northern users needed to accurately judge the timing.

“By the way, where is that guy Hestiger? Surely he didn’t run away.”

“I must carry out the commands of the Great Emperor. But I’ve already lost my life so am I qualified to interfere in this world?”

Hestiger was lost in deep anguish in the Earth Palace.

“Whether it is good or bad, humans should make choices in their lives to determine their fate. Master is trying to lead a good life but… I’m from the past and have no say in current human decisions.”

The clouds passed by in the clear sky. His hair blew in the wind as his handsome face was revealed.

The deep blue eyes were like a lake while Hestiger’s appearance showed his tender heart.

“I cannot force the lives of the people. They should be responsible for the consequences of their own lives. There is only one life so I shouldn’t block them.”

Weed used Sculpture Resurrection in order to fight the Haven Empire but the person was locked in worry alone.

“I am thankful for Master’s grace but unconditionally following his will… It is hard. I would rather enjoy the remaining amount of my life.”

Hestiger was the typical example of a hero but he also had many distracting thoughts. He stood on a cliff of the Royal Palace and stared at the Haven Empire’s army.

Hestiger had a great view.

“There are many humans. Most of them seem weak without proper training.”

They were just like the troops Weed and the desert warriors trampled on in the warring period. Despite the kingdom boasting a powerful military, a few assaults would make them scatter.

The desert warriors exerted absolute fighting ability that made the morale of the enemy soldiers fall. Their infamy was great and there were many enemies that tried to desert the battlefield.

The desert warrior’s blood would boil as their desire to fight increased.

“It doesn’t matter.”

There were countless battles in the warring period. After the Embinyu Church, he had wandered around the continent fighting for justice.

Hestiger looked back and regretted his life.

“I want to leave like the wind. To spend my last hours on this earth free while respecting and loving all living creatures. Although I will fail to perform Master’s command…”

It was possible that Weed wasted his valuable levels using Sculpture Resurrection!

Then Hestiger watched the Haven Empire win 10 duels.

After Weed left, Hestiger had continued hunting and adventuring. He reached level 869 and it was rare to find monsters that were a match for him.

He didn’t even move when the Haven Empire used the siege weapons and slaughtered the northern users.

Unfortunately for Weed, Hestiger was already made his decision.

“I will leave, far away from here… A place where combat doesn’t happen. I want to see the sea.”

And at that moment!

“Daddy!”

Hans was one of the residents living in the vicinity of the Arpen Kingdom. He voluntarily decided to fight the enemy in order to protect the Arpen Kingdom. Just like the other residents, his loyalty to the king had reached its peak.

Hans fired a few arrows towards the Haven Empire but the area was decimated by magic attacks and died. His daughter Susanna who was 7 years old, ran and screamed at the sight.

But the Haven Empire used another fire magic.

This was the goal of the magicians unit. They would first strike an area with the ranged magic. And those that survived the first attack would shortly be killed by a second attack.

“Aaaagh!”

Hestiger cried out tearfully as Susanna was burned up. The hero’s wrath overflowed at the sight of one of the Versailles Continent’s residents dying.

“How can they be so cruel…! They don’t have even the minimum of mercy.”

And he regretted it.

“If I had taken action earlier… It is all my fault. An invaluable life filled with love slipped away because I hesitated.”

After that, he had a quick understanding.

“It wasn’t that my life was wrong. I don’t need to respect a person’s right to decide their lives. If I don’t work for justice then justice can’t be accomplished. I forgot so easily my resolution for justice.”

This was a typical rant.

“Master realized all these facts. For Master’s command to have such deep meaning… A real subordinate would have followed immediately.”

The conclusion.

“Evil is evil. I will gladly bury my sword in them for the sake of justice. Evil can’t be left unchecked. Master’s order… I will kill them all.”

The anguish of a hero in a movie or drama.

“Summon the Armour of Forest. Summon the Earth Sword.”

Hestiger called for the high elf’s sword and armour.

In fact, Sculpture Resurrection couldn’t give the original equipment. However, the high elves and their forests still remembered Hestiger.

– Our friend and hero, Hestiger is back.

– He is good and sensitive… The forest will send the items that have been kept here.

– Mischievous fairy, our friend of the forest needs these things…

– I understand. He is also a friend of the fairies. I’ll give it to him.

The armour and sword kept with the elves and fairies arrived.

Hestiger’s body wasn’t slim like the elves. Thanks to achieving a special adventure, the rare elf craftsmen helped make a sword and armour for him. There were strong human magicians but elves had a depth to their magic.

Hestiger equipped the magic armour and sword.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– Kilkilkilkil! Wuhihihit!

“Cleansing of the Spirit!”

– Kiyaaaaack!

The powerful light emitted from Irene’s body extinguished the ghost. Surka ran around punching and kicking while Romuna gathered mana for attacks.

The search for the treasures of the Pallos Empire! The lake had changed into a mudflat and there were many ghosts nestled in the treasure.

– Sarin’s Armour:

Durability 32/51. Defense 54.

An armour worn by Sarin, royal knight of the Mapon Kingdom.

He was the best knight that represented the kingdom and was a nobleman with the status of an earl.

Sarin led the knights that fought against the desert and the Pallos Empire. He tried to defend the Bellos Principality but was defeated.

His armour was looted by the desert warriors and remains as one of the treasures of the Pallos Empire.

It has been buried in the ground for 600 years so the durability and defense of the armour is in a very bad state. Sometimes an eerie chill can be felt from Sarin’s soul sleeping in the armour.

Restrictions: Level 455.

Knights only.

Options: A relic with historical value.

Can be quickly engulfed in fear.

Dignity and honour will be reduced.

Black Magic + 1

Knights skill + 2

There is a 13% chance that every attack can exert a strange power.

At the moment, the armour was largely useless!

But if a blacksmith restored it then it could be a mouthwatering item. After being cleaned by some senior priests, it was possible for blacksmiths to restore it to its original state.

Restoring equipment from the warring period could increase the blacksmith’s skill proficiency. They were like golden items to the blacksmiths.

In addition, there were some antiques so worn out that they shattered. This was why Weed hadn’t worried about the conditions when telling the desert warriors to bury the treasure.

“It is becoming increasingly difficult. I can no longer tie them up with nets.”

Zephyr said as he trapped ghosts with his net. Without this fishermen skill, they would have to fight mass quantities of ghosts at once.

“My dancing is also at the limit!”

Hwaryeong sat on the ground.

Bubi bubi dance!

Even a passing ghost would be attracted by her dance. However, her dance consumed quite a bit of vitality.

Surka, Irene and Bellot cried out.

“Yes, a jackpot!”

“I can change my clothes. The garments of a high priest or a saint…”

They ended up being tinged by Weed’s greed for treasures!

This was a great place to raise skill proficiency and levels while searching for treasure at the same time. It was natural the first time they found a treasure of the Pallos Empire.

However, they frequently had to fight ghosts that emerged from the treasures of the Pallos Empire. Especially at night and dawn, there were so many ghosts that their group found it difficult.

Vitality was drained, making this a tough hunting ground and excavation site. Vitality was consumed digging the ground for the treasure and they also hunted ghosts so this place could be called one of the best dungeons on the Versailles Continent.

The ghost knights were level 400~500 in the warring period so they were suitable opponents.

The ghosts were weakened from living for a long time and had low health but they were hard to hunt. Irene was busy with the contaminated soil and getting rid of curses so her faith stat increased every day.

But they reached their limit hunting the ghosts.

Romuna laid down her staff and said.

“I can’t do it anymore.”

“I’m tired.”

Bellot stopped playing her harp that had 3 strings broken.

“Let’s go to the Earth Palace.”

Surka expressed her opinion.

Everybody wanted to fight the Haven Empire and would have left sooner if not for the excavation.

“Hrmm, I’d love to go but what about all our work?”

Zephyr was locked in thought for a moment.

They could find considerable treasures here. If they left here then this place would turn into a paradise for the ghosts. The group’s overall level was 440 so this was a pretty good place for users.

But Zephyr quickly nodded.

“Let’s go!”

He had lived a life full of responsibility. It was enough to have fun. The battlefield was like a playground for high level users.

Even Irene who had a steady character smiled widely.

“Come on!”

She wasn’t worried at all about any changes to the habitat of the ghosts.

‘There is Weed.’

Weed had fought Barkhan and the chaos dragon Ausollet! They had faith that Weed could easily solve it.

Bellot had a long face.

“But how will we arrive in time? The battle will probably be over by the time we get there.”

Zephyr sighed after a moment.

“I will ask Yurin.”

Yurin’s Picture Teleportation!

It was a painter’s skill that was a great help to the people around her.

Of course, he needed to prepare for some nagging every time she was asked to use the skill.

Chapter 2: Hero’s Advent

“The current ratings is staying at 6.8%. If the broadcast continues then the viewership will keep declining.”

“Viewers are requesting for regular programs to be broadcasted. It is unusual.”

“The advertisements for the special programs aren’t being sold out, Head Director-nim!”

The stations showing Royal Road lamented over the low ratings.

It was unfortunate but there were big expectations for the beginning of the battle at the Earth Palace.

The Haven Empire’s invasion of the north! This was the last step the Hermes Guild needed to achieve before conquering the continent.

The station officials expected the record for the ratings to be renewed. People were constantly wondering about the competition between Weed and Bardray and the northern part of the Versailles Continent was always stimulated viewers.

A large number of beginners started in the north so many news programs focused on it.

In the early days of the northern invasion, the users scrambled to defend the cities of the Arpen Kingdom and there were the best ratings as expected.

But as the war progressed, the ratings gradually started to fall to the ground. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that viewers had no interest in the battle outside the Earth Palace.

“What is the reason why people aren’t watching?”

“It is because the Haven Empire’s army is too strong. The viewers see the Arpen Kingdom being defeated every time so it isn’t fun to watch the powerful ranged attacks of the Haven Empire.”

“Kkung, this is difficult. There needs to be something worthy.”

“There are complaints about the war. Many viewers don’t want to see it anymore.”

6.8% for a program was certainly low. Even the late night news about Royal Road received a steady viewership of 4~5%.

When the Haven Empire first invaded the north, all broadcast stations associated with Royal Road decided to organize special programs to compete with each other. There were channels that showed the northern war in real time but this was counterproductive.

The crisis of the Earth palace couldn’t even surpass 7% and there was a chance of a deficit for the broadcasting stations. There was the cutting costs, production costs and huge royalty incomes promised to the Hermes Guild and Weed.

The meeting of the PDs behind the war broadcast sighed.

“I don’t know how to prevent this… There is no problem with the image or sound but progressing with it will be difficult.”

“New events or ideas in the war… Is here no chance of a large counterattack from the Arpen Kingdom at all? If the Arpen Kingdom collapses then the future broadcasts will be difficult. Stories of the north won’t be as popular as they are now.”

“The problem is that the viewer’s interest in Royal Road will be reduced.”

“I recently received a rebuke from the Board of Directors about the ratings of the last program. Unlike most popular programs about Royal Road, we organized it for beginners so if that is lowered…”

“If the other stations stop relaying the war then we shouldn’t deteriorate more. What are we supposed to do?”

“We are doing our best. It is wrong to judge from the reported results.”

While the other stations were in serious distress, KMC Media continued their organized push for the special programs.

This was due to the strong faith of Director Kang.

‘I’ve seen Weed. Will he really fall to humans? No. He is a guy that will climb up even if he falls to the bottom. When has he never not experienced a crisis? Well, there was his death in the Melbourne Mine. But he is someone with many tricks prepared.’

Weed had always succeeded in his adventures so Director Kang took the risk of continuing to promote him.

“The viewers might be waiting for such a reversal. The Haven Empire is strong but hated so they can’t help being interested. The ratings might rise abruptly once Weed and the Arpen Kingdom counterattacks.”

“What is the basis for that claim?”

“There is no concrete basis except for my personal faith.”

“No, shouldn’t we push other programs to minimize the damage?”

“We need to prepare for the future.”

“The future?”

“Is it necessary for a broadcasting station to remain neutral in the war between the Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom?”

The broadcasting station was sensitive to Director Kang’s words.

It was possible for the stations to maintain their neutrality in the dispute between the prestigious guilds or kingdoms.  It would be difficult if they showed favour towards one of the kingdoms.

The influence of the stations meant they could lead public opinion or cause users to raise their hands for one side.

“What Director Kang says is unbelievable. If we don’t maintain neutrality then it will be hard to receive the assistance of the Hermes Guild in the future.”

“It really is a big problem. The broadcasts will receive numerous setbacks if the Haven Empire conquers the continent.”

“A decisive blow will be given to the station.”

“I know all about your concerns. However, think about what will happen if the Haven Empire conquers the continent. Will the viewers really like such a result?”

The station officials were seriously concerned about the situation in the future. The Haven Empire was a good place for higher levels but there was a massive backlash against them. It wasn’t comparable to the Arpen Kingdom.

The economy and technology development of the Central Continent meant there were many users active there. However, the north had a lot of novelty and was vibrant. They would never be happy like they were now if the Haven Empire’s territory was the entire continent.

Director Kang said powerfully.

“If the Arpen Kingdom can’t counterattack then it will be destroyed. But that doesn’t mean its history on the Versailles Continent would end. The viewers will continue to miss it. The countless heroes in Royal Road… The memories and history. And Weed is the representative character. History will continue to be made.”

“Are you saying the broadcast should be biased towards Weed and the Arpen Kingdom?”

“We have to be careful but that is my opinion. We need to observe what the audience wants and base the broadcast on that. We should cater to the taste of the viewers. This will be better for us in the future. It is the right path so the station should embark boldly on it.”

The production crew had a late night discussion.

People were against the dictatorship of the Haven Empire. If the users of the Versailles Continent suffered from heavy taxes or a loss of freedom then the current broadcast was impossible.

Users would dream of freedom. If the broadcast was from the position of Weed and the Arpen Kingdom fighting against the Haven Empire’s unification then there would be huge support from the audience.

Royal Road had such a huge popularity that it would be difficult for any other virtual reality to compete.

Other prominent game developers tried to get their hands on virtual reality but realized that the development and investment costs would surpass the budget of a small country. Even if it was successful, the monthly fees wouldn’t be big enough to cover the operational costs. Even if there were an unlimited amount of funds, the technology and infrastructure required would take at least 10 years.

There were many unexplored worlds in Royal Road. People couldn’t imagine the adventures sleeping in those unexplored lands. The cultural heritage of historic kingdoms and cities built by other users.

Millions of people were already enjoying the virtual reality world of Royal Road and that would continue even after the reign of the Haven Empire.

An analysis of the statistics released about Royal Road showed that 80% of users had an average level of 130. 300,000 new users were registering every day. The world of Royal Road was steadily evolving. Virtual reality was another modern world for humans.

The heads of KMC Media decided to open up their policies.

“Good. We won’t dwell on the short-term ratings or advertising sales. We will broadcast the Arpen Kingdom for the users. In the end, it is the most fair to stand on the side of the citizens.”

“Thank you for understand, Boss-nim.”

“There is no need to thank me. We are also a generation that misses those memories. The new history will continue in Royal Road. We hope that more people will have a great experience with KMC Media.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Wow, amazing. The people really are endless.”

Bart arrived at the Earth Palace six days ago.

He easily raised his level hunting monsters in the forest with a party while he earned money as a merchant. There were many users in the north so a lot of his goods quickly sold out. Even if they were only a few gold each, trading with hundreds of people would earn an formidable fortune.

“It is fun making money. Of course, there are all types of unpredictable risks.”

The sense of economy was different from owning a large conglomerate. If a little money was collected then he could buy a store, hire a reputable NPC and adjust the volume of items. The investment section sometimes needed drastic decisions but Bart was familiar with those experiences.

“Money can’t spread if it is broken. Even though I started late, I can’t catch up to others by running like a tiger.”

There was a chance to grow in every part of the north. It really was a dream continent for merchants.

There was a constant influx of new users and the productivity of every city was expanding. Other merchants were active but were lacking a lot due to no experience.

They didn’t set aside a proper capital, invested a huge amount of money into goods that didn’t earn them a lot or dipped their field into highly competitive items. These were common mistakes that novice merchants made.

“Weapons will bring a lot of benefits but… In recent years, the productive capacity of the smithies hasn’t reached me. There were too many competitors among the weapon dealers and many transferred to textiles. Morata has many new leather armour and this is confirmed at Vent Castle. The turnover rate is good and I can sell two carriages in half a day.”

Bart made bold decisions when it came to investments and change. He checked the daily quotes and listened to information from other cities. He had small stores in Morata and Vent Castle and had a chance to invest in top trade.

There were many stores in the north so he didn’t reap a large profit. However, Bart’s name and face became known at the market and with other merchants.

“If I have a lot more money then I would invest in production and farms. I can hire farmers to earn some profit. The prospects for the cattle breeding sector is also very bright.”

The Arpen Kingdom excelled in the agriculture and cattle breeding sectors.

The warriors didn’t care about those areas but the merchants invested in land and buildings non-stop through the year. Even briefly investing in vineyards near a city could reap a considerable margin.

They were inundated with various items including the artifacts and art of the Niflheim Empire, making the merchants of the Arpen Kingdom live in a golden age. The kingdom’s remarkable development wouldn’t have been possible without the merchants.

Mapan and Gamong had great influence in the north and many users tried to follow them.

– Specialty products development.

– Hiring craftsmen to operate a large workshop.

– Repossessing supplies for beleaguered villages.

– Mining.

– Ranch operation.

There was no discrimination, excessive taxes or regulations on free trade so a special competitiveness between merchants developed in every corner of the Arpen Kingdom.

The activities of the merchants led to urban development, technology development, productivity and population growth.

Since King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom was a sculptor, there was especially a strong competitiveness in the cultural sector. The development of the arts assisted in expanding the borders and the happiness and loyalty of the residents were always high.

Culture also helped increase the knowledge of the residents. Scholars were efficiently born in the kingdom, reduction the budget waste and increasing the proportion of magicians.

The nature of a merchant depended on the king.

Bart had considerable properties and headed to the Earth Palace to watch the battle against the Haven Empire as well as to sell supplies.

“Selling, selling! Miscellaneous goods suitable for levels between 250~330!”

Products good for beginners and intermediate level players were sold. The imported goods were expensive for beginners but they were sold within 30 minutes.

In this place, there were many users selling things for the right price. Users and merchants traded in all sorts of goods.

“Magic items! Magic items for protection. The lowest price is 500 gold.”

“Holding! Holding a freshly caught rat! Freshly caught from the field!”

“Selling holy water from the Freya Church. The quantity is only enough to remain for 1 hour.”

Merchants traded magic items and exclusive goods.

“Well, where do you want to go? Do you want to climb some of the unexplored mountains of the north? Then I have a useable kit for you that is only 50 gold.”

“Ahem, recording my adventures… In the middle, I came across Andallia Village in the forest. Almost no one has gone to that place. I will take you there for a mere 15 gold.”

Quest items, adventure records and maps were also sold.

The market was a great place. Bart sold items at an affordable price.

“My business is going well and I am making money.”

Now his mind wanted to see Seo-yoon and Weed. But it was impossible to find them among the numerous crowds. Of course, the two people showing up would cause a boisterous reaction and Bart still wouldn’t be able to reach them.

“Are they here somewhere? This place will be secure today.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Unni, come over here.”

Seo-yoon was accompanying the Bean Porridge unit.

A small party consisting of four men and six women. These people had befriended each other at the battle of Alkazar Bridge.

‘Was there a strong woman like this in the north? The ability to deal with weapons and she has great courage in her attacks.’

‘Stronger than me. I will catch up within a year.’

‘She seems to be pretty. I would like to see her unmasked.’

The men were secretly conscious of Seo-yoon.

During the battle, she had shown tremendous skill and her natural beauty shown through despite wearing a mask. There weren’t any flaws in the part of her face that could be seen.

Even if she wasn’t pretty, they didn’t worry about it since they wouldn’t see her unmasked.

‘God can’t give one person all the beauty. I might be disappointed if I look at her face.’

‘It might be better to keep it as a fantasy.’

Seo-yoon had an off-limits atmosphere so the men didn’t try anything. Nevertheless, the female users were quite friendly with Seo-yoon.

“Your profession is a berserker? I heard rumours that it is difficult to obtain. You immerse yourself in battle.”

“Yes…”

Her voice was prettier than birds chirping in the morning.

The men walking in front pretended to be unconcerned.

‘The voice of a beauty. Even if she nags me, I would be happy coming home to that voice.’

‘Ugh, no. My ideal standards have collapsed. This… Ah, having a woman like that in the future.’

‘I want to write a dissertation about beauty. All men would be interested in the contents.’

‘Sometimes God doesn’t make a mistake. An ordinary face might not be behind that mask. The mysterious atmosphere makes me want to throw off the mask. Yet the mask hasn’t come off. Too bad.’

The men drew an imaginary figure in their heads.

“Unni is a university student?”

“Leave of absence.”

“Boyfriend?”

Seo-yoon lightly nodded.

‘Ah…’

‘No.’

‘God.’

‘Despair. Complete despair.’

The men fell into despair. Even those with girlfriends felt a dark sense of loss resonating in their bones.

‘The boyfriend has to be changed.’

Even so, they couldn’t feel at ease with Seo-yoon. The atmosphere, beauty and voice was too superior. A presence like that seemed like it would only appear in their dreams.

“Unni, what is your hobby?”

“These days… Sculpting.”

“Are you good?”

“I’m learning.”

“Do you cook?”

“Yes.”

“Do you clean, do laundry and pack rice?”

“I enjoy it. I also make rice for my boyfriend.”

“How annoying.”

“Happy.”

Soon it was time for the Bean Porridge unit to fight the Haven Empire.

Seo-yoon stepped back lightly.

“Unni?”

“I… I can’t fight.”

“Are you scared? It is okay. We will fight together.”

“I can’t risk fighting or dying since it will be bad for him. It will also reduce his health.”

“What does that mean…? Well I understand. Then you don’t have to fight.”

The expression of her colleagues fell at Seo-yoon’s words.

The proud members of the Grass Porridge Cult were disappointed but didn’t push her to fight the Haven Empire. Some colleagues even felt like it was a betrayal since they might die alone.

One of the females said coolly.

“I don’t need people who won’t risk their life to fight. Then I’ll see you later unni.”

“Yes.”

Seo-yoon nodded without giving further information.

Seulroeo’s wedding ring.

She could deliver 50% of her health if her spouse was in a crisis. Conversely, if she fell into a crisis then Weed’s health would be pulled away. She gave up fighting on the battlefield for Weed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The users in the north had a solid faith like stone.

“We can defeat the army of the Haven Empire.”

“There are enough people in the Earth Palace. We gathered a lot and Weed still hasn’t given a command yet.”

“Yes, we just need to follow Weed’s directions. Somehow he will dismantle the magic and defeat the Haven Empire.”

“We didn’t think we could damage them and then Alkazar Bridge happened.”

Weed the God of War ruled over the Arpen Kingdom. The existence of the kingdom on the Versailles Continent felt like it came out of a storybook.

From a small village to a kingdom through adventures, the dazzling development meant that the users soaked up its spirit of courage and challenge. Despite having to eat barley bread, people were thrilled at living in the Arpen Kingdom.

Their confidence and hope of defeating the Haven Empire was broken immediately after the battle started.

The magic attacks from the Haven Empire felt fierce enough to knock down the mountain and sweep away all the northern users.

Explosions, explosions, explosions. The users flocking in droves faced death.

The indiscriminate magic and arrow attacks from the Haven Empire battered the northern users.

“Everybody endure! We will have an opportunity once the magic is over… Kwaaek!”

“Persevere and show them the power of the Grass Porridge Cult!”

The northern users had hope that the magic of the Haven Empire was limited. The attack of the magicians normally didn’t last long on the battlefield.

However, their thoughts about the Haven Empire was too shallow. The magic units of the unified Central Continent army was usually strong.

“The magic is continuing to fly!”

“How could this…ridiculous.”

“If they continue to assault us without a break then we will never win.”

There was no commander in the northern army so it was up to the discretion of the users whether to charge or hesitate. They scattered whenever the magic came flying.

Their judgement was effective in a one on one fight but they often missed opportunities on the battlefield. It was impossible to penetrate the organized formations in this manner.

Since crossing the Poros River, many beginners in the Grass Porridge Cult had attacked. If they were lucky then the knights and infantry of the Haven Empire would receive a little damage but mainly they were impervious.

Furthermore, there were many people at the Earth Palace who experienced war for the first time.

Even the high levelled users who were determined had their assault delayed due to the congestion.

“There is no sense approaching right now. Those guys will soon stop their magic.”

“Mana will fall soon. I know because I’m a magician. They must be barely hanging on.”

“Let’s go! Ready the assault!”

The magic units of the Haven Empire were wearing equipment to minimize the mana cost. Magicians tended not to wear this equipment in quests or hunting.

That was because it had poor defense. However, right now they were thoroughly protected by the armoured infantry. The magicians could attack 3/4 of the battlefield and were an invaluable asset.

“Condensed power, explode. Fire Pillars!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Pillars of fire dozens of metres large headed towards the gathered northern users. It was the unbelievable wide area fire magic from the magician units!

In the history of the Versailles Continent, various genius magicians had sprung up who left behind numerous magical research.

The high level magicians would immerse themselves in studying. They would then leave their findings to their disciples. Monsters and traps were required to stop intruders from stealing it!

After unifying the Central Continent, the Haven Empire had actively dug up many ruins. During the time when the kingdoms had been divided by the prestigious guilds, even those with the power of a king or nobles would require permission to excavate special dungeons.

The Haven Empire also created a library modelled after Morata and discovered places based on an analysis of the information there. The Fire Pillar was an advanced magic discovered that required 50 magicians to use it.

“Wah…amazing.”

“It is really terrible.”

“Scary but enchanting.”

“An amazing force. Isn’t it?”

A significant number of users in the north were watching. There was an ecstatic expression as they watch the pillars of fire.

It was a spectacular moment as many people died but they just watched idly. The northern users watching from a distance marveled at the colossal scale of the magic.

They thought they were outside the scope of the fire so it didn’t matter.

“Indeed the Hermes Guild. Tremendous magic.”

“It is good that I came to see it. I don’t often get a chance to see this type of magic. I would be proud to be in that school.”

But soon they also experienced terrible risk.

“Fire Pillar Tornado Stream!”

The magic unit triggered a secondary spell.

Fire Pillar set up pillars of fire. It was an enormous magic that required 50 senior magicians but the flames pillars would disappear once the magic was done.

However, the fire pillars started to change when the secondary magic was triggered. It started to rise from the ground and soon a huge fire tornado was completed.

The scope of destruction extended by dozens of times and the tornado of fire didn’t stay still. A moving vortex of fire swept through the camp of the northern users. The strong suction power and unpredictable paths swallowed the people around it.

“No! I don’t want to die from this.”

“Oh, I can’t move. It will be the end if I’m sucked away. This is…”

The fire magic truly assaulted the northern users. Many northern users fell to the magic and arrow attacks.

It was a one-sided slaughter of the northern users.

“People fighting against the wicked looking army, don’t be afraid! There is nothing hotter than the desert sandstorms. Our bodies will return to the soil so fight with courage until the end!”

A voice was heard in the ears of the northern users.

– You have heard the cry of the brave Warrior who Saved the World.

Vitality has recovered.

The maximum vitality will increase by 50%.

All stats related to combat will go beyond the limit.

Depending on your fighting spirit, you can exert up to twice the ability of your stats.

Various types of blessings from the gods will be given to you.

“All of a sudden?”

“Who? These blessings are nonsense.”

“It has to be a lie. I’ve never seen anything like this, even on television. ”

“Are there priests around?”

The northern users not affected by the magic attacks looked around. There were many people so they could afford to do it despite the onslaught of the Haven Empire.

The capital city of the Arpen Kingdom, the Earth Palace!

On a nearby cliff, they were able to see a warrior wearing elven armour. At first he seemed like a common warrior but then they saw his face and thought it was absurd.

“Hestiger?”

“Hestiger!”

“It makes no sense! Why would Hestiger appear here?”

“Isn’t he a hero in the warring period?”

It was mandatory for users of the Arpen Kingdom to watch Weed’s adventures.

Hestiger was a warrior who helped him defeat the Embinyu Church in the warring period. A desert warrior with talent, looks and leadership abilities.

Some people were enthusiastic enough to set up a fan club.

“Doesn’t he look identical?”

“It is crazy to have someone that looks the same!”

“It is impossible to have that face with that body. I think it is the real Hestiger.”

“Weren’t we just saying that the blessings were impossible?”

Hestiger’s hair and cloak flew in the wind.

“Kyaack! Hestiger!”

“Omo, omo!”

The reaction from the females was the most explosive.

The noble looks, refined atmosphere and power brimming from his body could be felt. The muscular body was similar to Geomchi but the crucial difference was his face.

The complete unison between face and body!

Stories of Hestiger appearing started spreading like an incoming tide.

Hestiger shouted in a loud voice.

“Warriors of the Arpen Kingdom…as the eternal subordinate for the ruler of the desert, I Hestiger am asking for the people here to fight with me!”

Then a message window simultaneously rose in front of the northern users.

Ddiring!

– Become the subordinate of the Hero who Saved the World!

Hestiger has been delegated as a commander by the King of the Arpen Kingdom. The army of the Arpen Kingdom will follow his commands.

Hestiger is asking you.

Will you become his subordinate to defend the Arpen Kingdom against the Haven Empire?

If you accept then you must follow his commands.

The leadership emerging from Hestiger means that sometimes your flesh will move regardless of your will. In addition, you might be asked to sacrifice your lives in the war.

However, you will gain valuable combat experience if you follow the orders of the great warrior.

If you fight the enemy and win then it is possible to gain experience and increase your stats. The national achievements with the Arpen Kingdom will pile up more than usual.

Become the subordinate of the Hero who Saved the World!

Only one of these warriors could exist at a time. Weed had been a Warrior who Saved the World after defeating the Embinyu Church. After that, the one with the most outstanding achievements was Hestiger.

Warrior-1 and Warrior-2 had great combat ability but they lagged behind the overall ability, faith and nobility of Hestiger.

Weed grumpily didn’t care about the Pallos Empire because Hestiger would be his real heir.

“Is it really Hestiger? Then I’m going to do it.”

“Become the subordinate of a warrior? It is like being employed to hunt a bear.”

The northern users were confused. Because it was unexpected. However, they didn’t worry about it for too long.

“Hestiger… Really awesome! It is an honour to be a subordinate of such a mighty hero.”

“Hey hey, isn’t this situation like pulling out a few junk cards in Go-stop only to suddenly get 5 bright cards?” (Korean card game)

“Weed-nim must be somewhere!”

“Hestiger wouldn’t just appear for nothing. His Majesty hasn’t abandoned us. The Warrior who Saved the World will defeat them!”

“Hestiger is a member of the Grass Porridge Cult! It is an honour for the Toadstool Porridge unit to fight with you!”

“Kuwaaaaah! Please let me be a subordinate! I am willing to be your slave for my whole life!”

An explosion of crowd psychology in front of the power of the Haven Empire!

“We will be subordinates!”

“I will enjoy your commands. Please feel free to beat me!”

– You have become the subordinate of the Hero who Saved the World!

The world will respect and appreciate your decision.

Currently there are 4,928 colleagues fighting.

And after a few seconds.

Ddiririring!

– You have become the subordinate of the Hero who Saved the World!

The world will respect and appreciate your decision.

Currently there are 9,483,201 colleagues fighting.

“Kuoohhh!”

“We are all together!”

A huge shout among the users. Since then, the number of colleagues rose quickly enough to get rid of all fear.

When thinking of it carefully, the people were already gathered here to fight the Haven Empire. Even so, their courage grew as the numbers became larger.

“The desert warriors don’t withdraw when fighting. We must charge if we want to break a stronger enemy. Charge at full speed!”

The users felt strength flow through their bodies as soon as Hestiger gave the command. It felt like the rapids of a river as their two legs pushed forward by themselves towards the Haven Empire.

It wasn’t a normal charge.

The users running speed was determined by their level, agility, vitality and skills.

Even wearing light leather armour for defense would quickly tire out a beginner. It was one of the reasons they found it difficult to escape from monsters on flat ground. In the case of a range, they could use a special skill to temporarily increase their speed but most users didn’t have such skills.

Players who could only watch blankly as rabbits jumped past were now fast enough to run past them. They could run 100 metres in less than 10 seconds.

– The Warrior who Saved the World has used the skill ‘Fierce Thunderbolt Assault.’

Speed has become 129% faster. The skill will have the greatest effect on the one with the slowest speed in the group.

It applies to all subordinates.

The northern users’ speed surpassed the mounted riders as they started running towards the Haven Empire.

“Go!”

“Is there any need to complicated thoughts? Since I will die anyway!”

“I am the same person but it feels like I am overflowing. My mana has changed. Kuhuhuk!”

The thrust of the northern users!

The vortex of fire was still running around despite being decrease in size and there was the aftermath from other magic. The ground had cracked in several places and there were electric shocks. Previous if they tried to run through then they would die.

However, the northern users didn’t bother thinking.

– The earth goddess Mi-ne has blessed you.

Subsequent magic damage is reduced by 68% for 30 seconds.

– The Goddess Freya’s blessing has been invoked.

The brave warrior Hestiger has served the Goddess Freya with faith.

His subordinates have been given a special body. Any atrophy in the body due to hunger of lack of fighting spirit has been normalized.

– Balder, the God of Spring and Justice has granted you a ring.

Balder’s Ring: Durability 70/70.

The ability of this ring is unknown.

It seems like something good will happen.

– Atrock the God of the Military has blessed you.

Combat power will increase when fighting with colleagues.

During the attack, more experience can be obtained.

“Ohhhh! Blessings, blessings! It is the first time that I’ve seen such blessings.”

“The best! This unconditional feeling!”

“I am the mad dog of Baro Village! Woof woof woof woof, bark bark bark bark, woof woof woof woof!”

“I don’t have to worry about looking those guys in the eye!”

Despite rushing towards their deaths, the users were happy to receive the blessing of multiple gods.

The Grass Porridge Cult that spread over the north! Rather than a religious binding, it was a an everyday way of life for the northern users.

The northern users that belonged to the Grass Porridge Cult could enjoy adventures and freedom. Even those with different professions in reality like a doctor or banker would join the Grass Porridge Cult in Royal Road.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

Someone cried out and the entire crowd started shouting in unison.

All the stress of living was removed.

The anger and repression felt in reality boiled over in their hearts. Due to the invasion of the Haven Empire, all the bitterness, pain and anger buried deep inside broke out.

“We just need to kill all the troops. Charge!”

“Grass porridge!!!”

Chapter 3: Disaster Occurring

There was a tide of northern users pushing forward. They ran with all their might without thinking.

Previously, the Haven Empire’s formidable offense provided a barrier of fear that stopped them. But the assault overcame their psychological limits.

There was no beginning and end as they ran at their fastest speed.

The Haven Empire’s magic, arrows and siege weapons continued but the users just marched through one after another.

The commanders of the Hermes Guild were shocked at the abrupt change.

“The situation is strange.”

“I think so as well. Is this really Hestiger?”

“The intelligence network never mentioned it but now is the time to clarify the truth.”

Less experienced commanders would be surprised and make mistakes. But the commanders of the Haven Empire had gone through many wars and kept their cool.

“Mobilize the magicians and archers. Don’t waver and continue attacking the enemies. They have started their resistance but we still have the advantage.”

“The charge can do maximum damage but it won’t last long. After 5 minutes of attacks, the enemy troops will be decreased by half.”

“Few enemies can live through the magic destruction zone. After that, the enemy will be the knights and armoured infantry. There won’t be enemies so we can just sweep all of them away.”

The commanders finished their discussion.

Currently the Haven Empire’s army boasted 1.7 million people. The troops had been reduced due to the battles, placing them in occupied areas and the collapse of the Alkazar Bridge.

“To your battle stations! 1st class battle boundaries.”

“Archers shoot sequentially! Magicians use spells with staying power!”

The users of the Hermes Guild soared in emergencies. Each commander gave orders to the troops and went into standby mode.

The ranged attacks were almost over as many users were quickly approaching. It felt like a massive flood of people. Water sweeping against a thick and high dam.

“Shoot at random!”

The magic attacks were concentrated on the users.

“Weeeok!”

“Kek!”

There were screams from the dying users every time there were flashes and explosions. Poison even spread and the low level users died as it went beyond their ability to endure it.

However, many users ran quickly despite the victims.

“We finally arrived at last. Cutting Dash!”

“Pull all the power together to one point… Steel Fury!”

There were sparks as the northern users bounced against the Haven Empire’s armoured infantry.

The beginner skills were blocked by the shield. It was realistically unreasonable to think that the weak beginners could break through the armoured infantry of the Haven Empire’s army.

“Push with all your strength!”

“You don’t need to attack. Just push!”

“Asa asa!”

It was unknown who suggested it first but the beginner users pushed with their hands. There was a huge difference in the strength and stamina of a beginner and a level 200 user. Even so, the hundreds of armoured infantry were pushed back.

“Fight back!”

Chwachachang!

The shield users fought back and the novice users lost their lives. It was an inevitable result since they didn’t carry any weapons or shields.

“Don’t pay attention to it and continue. This is the only thing we can do…!”

“Push until the end for the continent!”

The users knocked down more of the formations of the armoured infantry. Impressionable young girls cried about the users.

“Ohuhuk, the Arpen Kingdom really…”

“Unni, oppa! Don’t lost hope and fight!”

The tender hearts of the females were clearly defined by the war.

“The good and pure Arpen Kingdom is fighting the wicked Haven Empire!”

In fact, the high taxes and many regulations of Bardray and the Hermes Guild made life difficult for the residents.

Still, they could at least live a long life despite it being unhappy. However, they fought for Weed against the malicious invasion of the Haven Empire.

The high level northern users crashed through the cracks in the formations of the armoured infantry.

“They are just defending. Let’s freely attack!”

“Stick close for safety. Fight without taking a break!”

“The people over level 400! Break through the front! We will handle the rest!”

There were many northern users so the armoured infantry also suffered damage.

“This isn’t good.”

The faces of the Hermes Guild stiffened as they saw the northern users.

‘Coming up to here… So many users trying to fight against us. It hardly looks possible.’

‘We must have done quite a lot of bad things.

Nevertheless, the Hermes Guild didn’t think they would be defeated. The Hermes Guild didn’t lose even when there was a fierce war on the Central Continent. There wasn’t a single moment of inattention.

But now they were facing an assault. No matter how many they killed, the northern users kept pouncing.

Archers and magicians were their core power. As long as the defense wasn’t broken through, the infantry could hold on for a few days.

Considering the ability of the ranged units, the Haven Empire normally won within a few hours. A brilliant victory was obtained in this manner.

“Once half of them are killed then the rest will scatter… There is no other method than a frontal fight. Kill all of the people here!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Aww, it has already started.”

Irene arrived at the battlefield along with the other colleagues.

Yurin had landed them on one of the peaks of the Earth Palace.

The plains were filled with users running towards the army of the Haven Empire.

“I’m going first!”

Surka ran and jumped off a cliff.

“My body will show off the exquisite kung fu skill!”

“I’m going.”

Romuna teleported near the battlefield.

Her position was a place where magic could hit the enemy. Her position also had to take into account the placement of the soldiers and the wind direction.

Bellot and Hwaryeong were on a decorated stage at the Earth Palace.

Irene gave blessings to users from the rear of the battlefield.

The group scattered across the battlefield.

Yurin asked Zephyr who was still next to her.

“Aren’t you going out to fight?”

Zephyr nodded slightly.

“This battle is important, but you are more precious to me. I want to keep you safe.”

Greasy words!

He knew from experience that women wanted men who could save them. He wanted to show his devastating ability on the battlefield to Yurin.

Yurin shook her head.

“My grandmother told me not to trust men who hides behind a woman’s skirts.”

“Um.”

“Go and fight. I will be fine.”

As a painter, Yurin lacked the ability to fight.

She could grow like Weed but she had no need to kill monsters.

Drawing a picture could give an affinity with ordinary monsters. There were no monsters in this place so she would receive a lot of damage from the Haven Empire’s army.

Zephyr moved quietly towards the plains.

In fact, after arriving on the battlefield he had been yearning to fight the enemies.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Tweet.”

“Jjaejaejaek!”

The birds chirped on Lavias Island.

Despite the battle on the ground, the avians hadn’t joined in yet. The avians had a distinctive habit of collectively taking action together.

If they had a leader and strategists then their combat capabilities would increase by 2~3 times. On the other hand, the leading bird could snatch the food first or bully others.

Lavias’ ruler.

Despite the war, Golden Bird was just sitting on a branch playing with its feathers.

One of the most outstanding warriors, an eagle flew in front of it. It was hard to count how many NPC avians were following it.

“What’s up, tweet!”

“Kokodaek! We want to fight.”

“Kokokokok!”

No matter how dissatisfied the birds became, Golden Bird didn’t move.

There were also complaints from the newly hatched users.

When a user started off as an avian, they could choose from a variety of eggs.

To some extent, it was possible to select the avian species in advance. There were the eggs of sparrows, ducks or even thunderbirds. Several users would be born at the same time and would become friends or brothers.

They learned how to catch their prey from their mothers. After some time, they would flap their wings and leave the nest. There were snakes and other dangers before leaving the nest but then the users could start Royal Road.

The avians were so popular that there was a waiting period of at least a month.

The population of the avians grew quickly. The avians already on Lavias Island also law eggs and the birth rate quickly increased.

“Jjaejaejaek!”

“Ohhhh!”

“Caww! Cawwwww!”

“Kukuku. Kukukukukuk!”

The birds whined and became increasingly violent. The birds cried out with one voice.

Among the avians were species such as cranes. But even they couldn’t be patient anymore.

The battle on the ground was becoming violent so the avians wondered why they couldn’t join. The human divisions of the Sky Porridge unit were also waiting.

“Why aren’t they fighting?”

“At this rate, we will be twiddling our fingers in the wrong place while allowing the Haven Empire free reign.”

The Sky Porridge troops were waiting to be dropped in the middle of the Haven Empire. 10,000 brave users were waiting for the avians to join them.

An elite unit with courage and skills.

However, without any explanation, Golden Bird stopped the avians from fighting. The nest, sky, trees and land were filled with the wild chirping protests that vibrated everywhere!

At the time, Weed appeared riding Wy-3.

Golden Bird sat down on Weed’s right shoulder like it had been waiting for that time. On his left shoulder was Silver Bird.

“W-Weed-nim.”

“The King!”

A dramatic entrance in order to considerably increase morale!

Weed said softly.

“It is nice to see the avians. And the human heroes here as well.”

“….”

A breathtaking silence flowed at the same time.

The avians started late so there were almost no high level users. Instead, all the beginners knew about Weed.

Having Weed the God of War direct them was a great honour. In addition, some of the avians were envious of Weed.

Weed was King of the Arpen Kingdom but he so went on adventures. During his final secret sculpting technique quest, his journey as a hummingbird was broadcasted on the television. Thus they also selected the hummingbird species.

The body was too small but they could have a positive impact on combat. However, they couldn’t escape the limits of the species.

The avians had to perform seasonal quests for their species. These quests were quite tricky but it was possible to increase the weight, enhance certain parts of the body or even breed.

Most users that selected the duck species dreamed of laying young. It would be fantastic if they raised the ducklings directly from the egg and then swam along the rivers of the Versailles Continent.

It wasn’t as much as the orcs but if they gave birth early then it gave them a competitive advantage compared to other avian species.

“Tweet tweet. Mum, it is W-Weed-nim.”

“Please sign my wings.”

The birds started chattering and flapping their wings as soon as Weed appeared. It was a dangerous situation like walking along a beach filled with seagulls with shrimp crackers.

Weed wasn’t surprised by the avians and spoke carefully.

“I thank you as the King of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Tweet!”

“As you know, I didn’t create the Arpen Kingdom because I desired to become a king.”

“Kokodaek!”

The Arpen Kingdom was born through chance but I accepted it with a greedy smile. Weed pasted on the smile that he had practiced all night.

“While adventuring in the north, I rescued the people of Morata and the village evolved. It became a decent place and travellers visited until it became a city. My adventures made the entire north a place where people can live and everything combined to make the Arpen Kingdom.”

It was a story similar to the founding fathers.

“…?”

The avians were curious about Weed suddenly telling a story. They had been clamouring for a fight.

The battle viewed from the sky was very intense. Light and fire, wind storms, poisonous fog and soldiers and knights fighting.

Naturally the avians wanted to join the Arpen Kingdom in facing the Haven Empire. It was urgent yet Weed came here to tell a story.

But Weed just looked at the faces of the avians.

The Sky Island Lavias. This was the world of the avians. The avians lived freely and didn’t belong to a kingdom.

Now that it was part of the Arpen Kingdom, they were subjected to the taxes and the special commands of the king. Originally there hadn’t been any taxes so there had been severe resistance. It felt like they had been robbed of money!

In order to make them accept it, he needed to give the impression of a good king.

“The Arpen Kingdom is in a crisis. I give my heartfelt thanks that you are willing to protect it.”

“Jjaejaejaek!”

“I am the king but it is embarrassing that I can’t even prevent an invasion. I worked with everyone in order to found the Arpen Kingdom. It is still a distant future but I want to make the Arpen Kingdom a good place for people to live. Thank you sincerely for your help.”

Weed’s words felt different than usual.

His voice was stiff like a child in the 2nd grade of elementary school was reading a language book.

He had raised the morale of people one or two times.

During the quest to build a pyramid, he had dragged the collapsed people by giving them grass porridge.

Despite having the status of a king, he still felt awkward and shy. He felt like a politician on television during an election.

‘Surely they won’t be fooled by this shameless story? Uhh, it is hard. The time was a little short. If only I had more time to polish off my speech.’

Weed was thinking gloomily when the avians spread their wings and cried out.

“Quack! Quack! Quack! Quack!”

“Kuwaaak! Kuwawak!”

The avians were impressed! After joining the Arpen Kingdom, they had fully transformed into aggressive supporters of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Weed noticed this and burst out with Lion’s Roar.

“Let us fight to keep the Arpen Kingdom!”

Many birds flew up at once in order to fight.

The Haven Empire were still smashing the northern users with magic. The influx of enemies were pushing against the Haven Empire.

Flames poured towards the users who were pushing through the Haven Empire’s infantry.

“This way!”

“It is our chance to get revenge on the Haven Empire.

And attacks came from the sky.

The avians flew down from the sky towards the Haven Empire. Some of the Sky Porridge users held between the claws were dropped down in the midst of the Haven Empire.

“Uaaaack!”

The body of users were dropped on top of magicians.

“Kwaaek!”

Some of them died from being in the hit or from the impact of the fall. The surviving users that avoided all risk found themselves in the middle of the enemy.

“Take care of them properly!”

“Let’s go crazy!”

A decline in level and skill proficiency was inevitable. However, they succeeded in pulling off a few expensive jewellery that the magicians were wearing.

“Don’t allow them access. Shoot into the sky!”

Naturally the Haven Empire had expected the avians to join the battle. Arrows and magic were aimed towards them.

The entire area was covered with areas and magic so it was inevitable that the avians would crash to the ground.

The avians that flew to attack quickly crashed.

There was a big impact from falling from the sky so some of them lost the ability to fly right afterwards.

The role of the avians was to fly around in the sky to encourage attacks to be aimed at them. If the Haven Empire paused for even a little bit then they would fly down towards the magicians.

The avians also hunted in a similar manner.

And Hestiger!

He jumped from the Earth Palace.

“Friend of the forest, Iyaluterun!”

Hestiger summoned a blue pegasus.

The wings of the pegasus spread and he flew towards the Haven Empire’s army. The blessings of the gods surrounded his body and handsome face like a halo.

Bardray riding on the horse Rindullin couldn’t compare to Hestiger. With a perfect face and body, a legendary hero and god’s warrior. And he had a halo.

The men there had no choice but to feel extreme jealousy!

“That bastard! Taking care of him is my first priority!”

“Hestiger is approaching so take care of him with magic.”

The Hermes Guild had paid careful attention to Hestiger. In contrast to the avians, Hestiger was already at the 1st boundary.

Draka: How did this happen? Isn’t Hestiger a warrior from the warring period? Then what are his abilities?

Arkhim: We haven’t accurately identified Hestiger’s strength. There was no need to analyze it since the quest would end.

Balbaro:  Why would there be any information? If we knew he wouldn’t disappear then there would be separate measures to deal with it.

Arkhim: Once again, the information network doesn’t know everything in advance. It is questionable why Hestiger appeared now. A special item, skill or quest… It could be anything.

Peitallod: This is just speculation but Hestiger is probably the reason why Weed didn’t show up at the Earth Palace for a few days.

Arkhim: In the best case scenario, it might just be a temporary phenomenon. Anyway, we will try to gather any information available about Hestiger but right now he is hostile towards the Haven Empire.

Hestiger had appeared out of the blue so questions were dumped on the Hermes Guild’s information network.

There were numerous questions about Hestiger’s abilities.

The Haven Empire poured out magic attacks towards Hestiger riding the pegasus.

“Hit him with lightning arrows!”

“Crushing Flash Explosion!”

“Ice that Destroys the Flesh!”

Basic magic spells were used in the 1~2 stages of the battle but now intermediate spells were used that consumed a lot of mana.

“This magic was prepared in advance… It was originally waiting for Weed.”

“Good.”

The magicians of the Hermes Guild chanted spells through the priority goal, Hestiger. He was a warrior with an innate affinity to fire so ice magic was focused on him.

“Curse of the Ice Spirits!”

“Freeze Moisture!”

“Ice Sculpture!”

The magic floated in the air and formed an ice sculpture that was more than 30 metres in size. If it fell to the ground and smashed into pieces then it would freeze an area of 100 metres.

The reappearance of battle magic!

The sculpture split into thousands of ice chunks that flew at high speed towards Hestiger. Magic attacks in the sky and on the ground rushed towards Hestiger from every direction.

The Hermes Guild’s all-out attack!

“Aaaagh, I can see it now. This is death!”

“Time is ticking down!”

The northern users threw themselves onto the ground. The magic flying over 50 metres would freeze anything in its path.

“Despite the pegasus flying, he won’t be able to avoid this.”

The magicians of the Hermes Guild watched with a satisfied smile. Their goal was to see Hestiger smashed by the ice. Even magicians couldn’t dismantle all the flying magic before they died.

Hestiger took out his scimitar. And he waved it strongly in the air.

“Blade of Degradation!”

Flames emerged from it and started to smash the ice.

Kuoooooh!

There was the sound of ice fragments flying in every direction from a vortex of flames. It took a while but eventually the ice fragments broke through the flames.

The users of the Hermes Guild started cheering.

“Good!”

“Indeed! It is the end!”

Hestiger couldn’t be seen so the northern users were worried. But those concerns were so revealed to be unfounded.

The ice fragments were melted down by the fire. Finally, Hestiger smashed all the pieces with his weapon.

– Your magic has been destroyed.

Mana has been reversed and a great blow will be dealt.

There is a 32.8% loss of mana.

The wisdom stat has been temporarily reduced by 14%.

“Ugh!”

“U-unbelievable.”

The bodies of the users who participated in the magic spell stumbled. The magic was forcibly destroyed so it had a large impact on them as well.

Although the senior magicians were dealt a mental blow, they could still use magic immediately. Even the users completely frozen started melting from the flames spread by Hestiger.

They could tell the strength just by how he responded to the attack skill.

Hestiger gave an ancient shout.

“Keep advancing! Don’t hesitate for even a moment in front of the enemy!”

A voice skill.

It was a technique that Weed used quite often when ruling over the desert.

The cry of a brave warrior rang out through the battlefield. However, those listening to the ancient cry had their resilience and physical abilities greatly increased.

“Let’s go!”

“Oh, yes!”

The northern users initiated a frenzy of attacks. They were happy even if their colleagues died.

Their decision was based on their desire to protect the north. They couldn’t just sit back and not do anything to stop the invasion.

Even a vague hope allowed them to push against the Haven Empire. The northern users were able to throw their bodies due to the emergence of the mighty warrior.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“It seems like we are a little late.”

“We didn’t come here to explore but… That is a healthy body.”

“But this war is dangerous. There are many chances to lose a head. Hrmm.”

“I’ve realized it from watching but there really are a lot of benefits from the battlefield. Particularly when it is against the Hermes Guild.”

“But now there is the opportunity to pour water on these guys. The Hermes Guild and the Central Continent isn’t the entire world.”

The northern users weren’t the only ones hostile to the Haven Empire.

Users from the Central Continent came to the north to watch the war. Some of them arrived first at the Earth Palace while others came behind the Haven Empire’s army.

“I am afraid of the aftermath… How will we live in the hostile Central Continent now?”

“It will be harder when I go back. I should just sit down here in the north.”

“That makes sense. The north might be able to stop the Haven Empire.”

“What about your friends and family who remain?”

“They will all come to the north!”

“Then let’s do it!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi walked while his tattered cloak that hadn’t been repaired floated behind him.

“Today we can fight heartily.”

“It is our chance to defeat them, Teacher-nim.”

A line of students stretched behind him.

“This is the pride of a man. We have to live. Isn’t that right?”

“I understand, Teacher-nim!”

Geomchi and his students gritted their teeth. They had fallen into the trap at Pato Castle and were wiped out by the Haven Empire’s forces.

It made them angry but their hearts were filled with interest and excitement whenever they thought about it.

Dying against a strong enemy was the best experience.

‘The last time I fought properly, I had 7 broken ribs and my arms were bruised but it was interesting.’

‘This battle isn’t just about fighting sense.’

Saliva filled their mouths and their muscles twitched. The feeling caused by a battlefield.

Geomchi and the students had been waiting for today.

“The Kill Without Asking unit is now dissolved. It is a crude name that doesn’t fit us.”

“Yes, Teacher-nim!”

“We are now the Muksabal (Korean Dish) Knights.”

“Muksabal, it sounds good.”

“As expected, Teacher-nim has a strong insight towards languages.”

“If I ever have a child then I want you to name it!”

Geomchi-100 who had good eyesight from archery shouted loudly.

“It seems like we can start!”

“Is that so? Then let’s go!”

Geomchi and the students ran out.

They had waited in order to minimize the damage from magic attacks. But soon they realized that it wasn’t necessary.

The Haven Empire had a huge army. All their military power was concentrated in one place.

The battle was already underway and the northern users were sweeping over the Haven Empire’s army. Geomchi and the students didn’t pay attention to any specific boundaries.

They mixed in with the northern users and approached the Haven Empire.

“Sword that Cuts Anything!”

“Keheok, this sword technique…”

The armoured knights had formed a barrier with their shields. The sword technique cut through it easily. This made it easy to break through enemy lines in a battle.

The enemies couldn’t block it as they just charged straight through. Many armoured infantry were defeated in the space of a few breaths.

“Chain Wave Sword!”

The student Geomchi-200 used a new technique. It was a sword technique that he had created.

An intangible aura blasted through an enemy and straight onto the next one.

Peseok! Ttak! Kung! Ududuk! Kwajijik!

In the end, the wave cut through 14 people at once.

“Huhuhuhu, killing 1 person is good but wiping out a lot is fun.”

Geomchi-420 had a high level.

He has benefited from Royal Road.

“I am strong. In reality it is different but strength aligns with the rules of this world.”

He was among the educated students. After graduating junior high school, he had received a scholarship to high school He gained access to the world of the sword after barely graduating high school.

He was thinking about the style of his body.

“I have become stronger in Royal Road.”

Fighting monsters, completing quests and receiving rewards. Fame had grown after getting involved in various events.

Geomchi-420 had faithfully trained his skills and reached level 450. He had a personality that would fall head over heels for something.

“I will be the best in Royal Road. I will catch a dragon.”

Geomchi, the instructors and students dug into the Haven Empire’s camp.

“The defense line has been breached! Magicians hurry and defend the place!”

“Knights! Knights go and intercept them!”

Geomchi and the students didn’t even glance towards the archers and magicians. This opportunity wasn’t easy to come by so they didn’t want to waste a fun fight with swords.

“A bunch of rice has gathered, Geomchi-2.”

“Yes, we can fight heartily and die.”

“The honour of a warrior. Let’s not worry about the result of the war and kill 1,000 people each.”

“No problem!”

Sword, spear, knife, axe and bow.

They wielded anything they could.

The effect of a long spear on the battlefield was excellent. However, the axe also had manage advantages in smashing the enemy’s armour.

“Kill them all!”

“Awesome! This is a playground!”

“Let’s play!”

The students armed themselves with all types of weapons and smashed through the enemy camp.

The Hermes Guild found it impossible to block all the attacks.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Well, the battle is proceeding smoothly.”

Weed watched the battle situation while riding Wy-3 in the sky.

“I want to fight… But I would just be in the way.”

Right now he was like a god to the northern users. Later he would show up when the battle was less favourable.

He could see the battlefield in one glance through the clouds.

Of course, it was impossible to distinguish individuals and could only tell by the colours of their armour.

The army of the Haven Empire had great cohesion. Their army was united and aimed their firepower towards the huge mass of northern users.

One Haven Empire soldier could killed at least twenty people.

“It is still the beginning. Hestiger needs to work harder!”

Currently Hestiger had entered the camp of the Haven Empire. Ever swing of his scimitar would wipe out 100~200 people at once. It was quite a sight to see the enemy’s armoured infantry collapsing in front of him.

Therefore, the northern users followed behind him. The higher level users with good combat senses noticed quickly. Hestiger was a strong leader on the battlefield and they marched along the road that he opened.

There was a minimum of tens of thousands people following him! There were smart people with their own skills among the northern users.

Still, the unrest was only in a small corner of the Haven Empire.

Despite Hestiger’s prominent leadership and abilities, he couldn’t defeat the Haven Empire by himself.

If all members of the Red Knife unit were present then the Haven Empire would be forced to withdraw to the islands.

“I hope he receives considerable damage to his face. The problem is that it is insufficient.”

The Haven Empire had marched 7 corps for a  total of 2.1 million troops to the north. And 5 corps were 1.5 million troops were present in this battle.

Some of their army was at Vargo Fortress to block the orcs. The invasion army was ridiculous as they had absorbed the soldiers after conquering the Central Continent.

If prisoners of defeated kingdoms were defeated then rebels could emerge.

From the perspective of the Hermes Guild, this wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Fighting the rebels could gain combat experience and build up public achievements.

However, if the Haven Empire occupied a different land then they would be facing rebels from every direction.

Therefore, some troops were sent to stabilize the areas of the north that they occupied.

Weed was able to somewhat guess the Hermes Guild’s future strategy.

“After the Earth Palace, they were thoroughly demolish Morata and Vargo Fortress… Then they will scatter throughout the entire north in one stroke.”

It was an effective military strategy. And it would be difficult to prevent once they were in that position. Vargo Fortress and Earth Palace. If the diversion attack was successful then the north would be powerless to resist.

“There is an opportunity for a counterattack but… It will be difficult if I miss the first opportunity at the Earth Palace.”

Even though the northern users had a great solidarity, it was unknown what would happen if they suffered a huge defeat.

If the Earth Palace, Vargo Fortress and eventually Morata was destroyed then the will of the north would be broken.

The norther users couldn’t do anything and would fall into helplessness. Subsequently, the Haven Empire’s army would then march through the cities of the Arpen Kingdom.

The current 2.1 million army could scatter in units of 50,000~100,000. Even if more northern users participated, it would be impossible to prevent all the troops that scattered in unison.

More than half of the north would be conquered in 1~2 weeks and would eventually surrender to the Haven Empire’s army.

If the Earth Palace and Morata were destroyed then the war would be over. Even the northern users might abandon the fight. No matter how much effort they put it, it would be difficult to get back up from the hopelessness.

The Hermes Guild’s information network and defense troops were giving support from nearby. Once surrounded on all sides, the northern users would be like rabbits in a mall.

The Haven Empire could take over the entire continent so the resistance in the north wouldn’t matter.

After the destruction of the Earth Palace and Morata, the affection towards the Arpen Kingdom would be reduced a lot.

In reality, the power would be weakened by the Haven Empire and the tax revenue significantly reduced.

This was the last chance to reverse the situation!

“If I don’t want to lose the north then I need to damage these guys.”

He had a headache like the time when the prices of electricity and food went up.

“It is definitely better to have a simple life. This is enough to make me tired.”

Thinking of a strategy to repel the invaders was complicated. It was different to succeeding in an adventure.

“Anyway, I’m working earnestly. I need to make the battlefield a mess in order to topple the formation of the Haven Empire.”

Weed started creating sculptures on Wy-3.

The power of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting depended on the Affinity to Nature, art stat and other variables.

An operation to produce a larger disaster!

– Large Turtle

A piece that expresses the form of a turtle.

The sculpture has unbelievably high skill proficiency but the head and shell has simplified workmanship. Anyone who is observant would be able to see a turtle.

Artistic Value: 13

A sculpture that had been created just for today!

Advanced sculpting level 9, advanced handicraft level 9.

Weed steadily accumulated his art stat from floating around the continent.

“The workmanship is okay. The urgent thing right now is quantity.”

Weed furiously created sculptures of creatures living in the water. After the turtle was finished, it was followed by various species of fish and eels.

Truly nasty fish that would be difficult to find in an aquarium. A sculpture of a rockfish that had sharp teeth like a piranha and had terrible, spiky barbs.

“A truly creative work.”

Even those who liked to eat it would flee with fear. The finer details were omitted in order to produce sculptures are a quick rate.

“What should I create now? A crocodile  or a loach. I don’t know. I should think of a freshwater fish.”

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that no spirit was involved so the pieces were made so quickly.

Fish that lived in the deep sea not accessible to people were made roughly. And sometimes there were sculptures of beautiful mermaids. A mass production that was similar to the speed of a high performance machine.

The Sculpting Knife moved roughly and the form of a water creature soon appeared.

“Cloud Sculpting!”

– Cloud Sculpting has been used.

Depending on your Affinity to Nature, clouds will form.

Rain clouds are created.

The rain clouds started to scatter across the sky.

Unfortunately, none of the users embroiled in battle realized the change in the clouds.

To be honest, the nature of the cloud sculptures meant they were difficult to distinguish. Thick clouds started to fill the sky and rain fell down.

The miracle of nature sculpting!

It wasn’t enough to cover the entire battlefield but it caused havoc to some fire magic being used.

On the ground, the magicians quickly changed to water based magic.  The elemental magic depended on the surrounding environment so it was the right choice.

The fire magic had been a huge obstacle to the northern users advancing. The rain falling down helped the northern users pass by the magical destruction zone.

Weed’s Affinity to Nature was high so he could create a lot of rain.

In the north, he had created the Magnum Opus Wet Land and also caused a miracle in the desert.

The ground soaked up the rain.

“Lululu!”

Weed hummed as he continued making a sculpture.

“At this point, I’m in quite a good mood?”

It was a happy time in his life.

A cousin bought a land with difficulty only to have the prices slump or a friend proudly boasting of a new car only to have it break down. It was very enjoyable when something like that happened so a hum naturally came out.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has increased.

In a short time, he had made more than 200 sculptures.

He was sure of the number needed but Weed spread the clouds out quite a bit. The skill level of Cloud Sculpting was quite high so dark and heavy rain clouds formed.

Kwarururung!

Kurung-kwa kwa kwang!

The rain clouds spread through the entire area, with some places having thunder and lightning. There was still fierce fighting on the ground but they started the sense the change in the weather.

The clear, sunny day suddenly became filled with dark rain clouds!

The Hermes Guild users hated the rain.

“The situation is becoming complicated. Rain will reduce the effect of the magic attacks and reduce the soldiers’ vitality more quickly.”

“Keep in mind that a break is needed in long wars. We need to change troops frequently.”

“It is still a concern. The charge of the knights will become cumbersome on that ground.”

The land became softer due to the rainwater soaking in, making it harder for the soldiers to fight. The commanders of the Haven Empire told the users to pay more attention.

On the other hand, the northern users also had to take care of their bodies. The avians had more difficulty seeing while flying.

But the clouds continued to grow thicker as more rain fell. The rain wasn’t a major impediment to the battle because of the wide plains. But they started to realize that it wasn’t ordinary.

“Somehow, this rain feels artificial…”

“There are only 3 magicians out there who can control climate on a global scale. And we’ve always been tracking the best magicians. None of them are in the north. It would be difficult without a lot of special materials.”

The Hermes Guild users had doubts first and then the northern users followed.

Those who took place in the construction of the Earth Palace knew for sure. The weather here was mainly always sunny. However, there wasn’t a drought as enough rain fell to soak the ground. A stream flowed through the plains with animals always present, making it a lovely sight.

The Goddess Freya blessed the north so this was the first time the weather was like this.

“This is enough.”

Weed looked down at the ground after creating a sufficient amount of clouds.

A wide area, including the Earth Palace had been affected by the rain. Thunder and lightning sometimes struck but it wasn’t on the level to be called a natural disaster.

People were still fighting vigorously in the rain. The battle already started and wouldn’t stop just because of the rain.

“More rain will significantly increase the effect of the skill but… I don’t even have to try with this much.”

Weed took out a sculpture.

A fine piece!

– Cold Weather and Tsunami

A unique nature sculpture.

The land is covered with thick ice.

A sculpture that represents the appearance of a high and mighty tsunami. This work vividly recreates the overwhelming fear in front of a natural destruction.

Artistic Value: 1,203

Special options: 34% reduction in rain.

There is a certain probability that monsters will flee.

He used nature sculpting for a reason.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

Looking at the ground from the sky, there were many people busy fighting. The Haven Empire and Arpen Kingdom residents were mixed together.

However, if he didn’t use the skill now then the Haven Empire could avoid the disaster.

“This is life. I need to commit to it. Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

– You have used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

20 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

20,000 Health and Mana has been consumed.

All stats have been temporarily reduced by 15% for 3 days.

Affinity to Nature has fallen.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once a day.

When a great calamity is called upon, fame or infamy can be increased depending on the damage.

Be careful not to die in the middle of the disaster.

The fine sculpture broke into millions of grains of ice and water. After various types of adventures, Weed had gained 3,300 art stats and 1,829 Affinity to Nature.

A natural disaster occurred that couldn’t be ignored. The dark clouds that produced rain also maximized the power of the disaster.

Ddiring!

– Goddess Freya has granted you a blessing.

Freya has great faith that you won’t do anything bad due to your previous adventures and high faith.

After watching you save the world on a mighty adventure, she has decided to lend a helping hand.

Due to the blessing of the goddess, the power of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting has increased by 89%.

“Ohhhh!”

Goddess Freya’s blessing!

He had maintained a good relationship with the goddess and this was the special benefit.

“But now it seems like the power is too strong. My Affinity to Nature rose dramatically through the Master Quest… And there are too many people here. So many people of the Versailles Continent are gathered in one place.”

Weed feel silent for a few seconds.

“Huhuhuhu, I’ll discover the results shortly. Anyway, I won’t regret it. I’ve already committed to the action so I should just continue living my life.”

He neatly rationalized his actions.

It was absurd to blame himself for an accident. The world was in an endless cycle.

“Wy-3, what do you think?”

“Kukukuku kakakaka!”

Wy-3 was a lot smarter. Wy-3 was pretty cunning and clever for being made of rock.

“My only job is to be under you, Master!”

Wy-3 was looking forward to the spectacle that would happen in the future.

Chapter 4: Frontal Attack

“Omooooo, it is difficult to live in the long fight today.”

“Gol gol gol, I blame it on meeting the wrong master.”

The sculptural lifeforms!

Wy-3, the other wyverns, Bingryong, Imugi, Phoenix, Goldman, King Hydra and more!

47 sculptural lifeforms from Jigolaths were also there, making it a total of over 50 sculptural lifeform.

Bahamorg who was made by the sculpting master Geihar Von Arpen looked up at the sky.

“The rain… It is ominous.”

Bahamorg with the thick neck and shoulders had a level of 550 and was one of the strongest warriors. During this long period of time, he had been raising his level through hunting.

Then King Hydra said in a loud voice.

Korurururuk.

“I’m hungry.”

“My stomach is empty.”

“Stupid bastard. We all feel the same hunger. But anyway, I would appreciate a meal.”

The fight between the heads of the King Hydra continued.

“This is because of you. If only you indulge in eating a little bit.”

“I know it thanks to you. Anyway, I have a lot to say.”

Reproduction for the King Hydra was more difficult than passing a camel through the eye of a needle. There were 9 heads meeting another 9 heads.

The heads would quarrel among themselves or even argue with the heads of the opposite sex. The 9 heads would cause such a ruckus with another King Hydra that finding love was like picking a star from the sky!

Thanks to that, the King Hydra was destined to be alone.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kuwack!”

“Chicken Porridge unit, attack to your heart’s content!”

“Hihihihihihi, I’ve already killed two people. Indeed, my striking in the back skill…keok! No. Unbelievable… Ohh, I barely survived. I’m as lucky as a main character… Kwaaek!”

“Cocky beginners. No matter how many numbers there are, you won’t be able to kill the Hermes Guild!”

“Bring it on, ignorant beginners. This is the 3rd sword technique, Hekarte Swordsmanship. You should feel honoured that you will die from it!”

The northern users and Haven Empire’s army fought fiercely. The users that survived the arrows and magic ran towards the Haven Empire’s army.

Those that jumped into the infantry were attacked and soon died. The formation of the Haven Empire was so strong that there weren’t many gaps to enter.

But even so, they had to attack recklessly. The users kept pushing from behind.

“It seems that a hole has been breached. Magicians, concentrate your firepower in the 23rd east zone!”

“Let’s hold and push a little more!”

“We can do it.”

More than half the military force of the Central Continent and the northern users were in a direct conflict.

The northern users were coming so quickly that it was impossible for the Hermes Guild users to give commands for every change.

The powerful magic could also act as a disadvantage. The colossal explosion that caused flashes meant it was hard to get a wide range of view.

People kept on pushing out of the magic destruction zone so it was hard to command the troops.

The individual ability of the northern users were impossible to determine.

Apart from a few units, the Grass Porridge Cult wasn’t divided by profession and level. They didn’t know the person they were running next to.

Of course, they didn’t believe that they could survive.

The magic destruction zone was an absolute power in the war. Due to this, there was no tactic other than running.

But the Haven Empire troops adapted to the northern users’ speed.

Ironically, the organized war the Haven Empire was accustomed to could no longer happen. Therefore, the commanders fought reliably.

On the other hand, the northern users were inexperienced in war but were different.

“It is impossible to be healed while running. And even if you do have protection spells, they will be quickly destroyed… Instead, I’ll increase your movement speed with the twelve step wolf blessing.”

“That is enough. If I die quickly then I can eat fried chicken and beer while watching the television so thank you.”

“Knights! All knights on horseback gather towards me. When I give the order, charge down that path. Recruiting 2,000 people!”

“Archers, gather here. I’ve mathematically analyzed the pattern of the enemy’s magic attacks. I am confident that it has a 82% reliability. There is a probability of your arrows hitting up to 7 times once you enter the range.”

“Oh, the northern users are revealing our cleverness. Did you appear on television as a mathematical genius?”

“No, I am a 3rd time examinee.”

“….”

The users actively sought opinions and found a way to fight themselves. It didn’t have a major role in the war but it helped to deal more damage to the Haven Empire soldiers.

“Ohhhh, it is really cold.”

“All of a sudden, it is too cold.”

At that moment, the users thought they felt a chill due to the rain. The centre of the Haven Empire’s army also felt the biting cold.

“Can the rain really make it cold to this extent? I know that in the past, the Northern Continent was one of the coldest places on the Versailles Continent.

“Is the haven Empire using cold magic? The weather has changed so suddenly.”

Ta da da da da da doc!

The low level users that didn’t have frost resistance felt their teeth chattering.

– You are feeling severe cold.

The body’s physical abilities are reduced by 12%.

Satiety will reduce 42% faster.

In order to overcome the cold, it is recommended to wear thick clothes or light a fire.

It can be very bad if the severe cold is felt for a long time.

“Is this really a cold spell?”

Thin ice started to form on the armour and helmet. The rain also lowered the body temperature quickly. Due to that, the players found it much more difficult to assault the enemy.

“Those dirty Hermes Guild bastards! The completion of a wide area magic!”

This was fatal for the novice users who fought randomly.

Kuweeek!

The avians had their feathers soaked by the rain and were forced to go back to Lavias. The avians had high levels but the cold and thick rain made it harder to fly.

However, the situation was also similar for the Haven Empire.

The overall attack power of the army was bound to fall from the pouring rain. The distance of the arrows and magic were reduced. The cold would be a significant disruption to the soldiers fighting.

It had been a few hours so the northern users charge was dying off while the Haven Empire’s army continued proceeding steadily.

The soldiers and knights took out their cloaks. They could keep warm to some extent. But their body temperature continued lowering as time went on. Their bodies quickly became fatigued.

“Use a spell to protect the soldiers and raise their body temperatures.”

“It isn’t possible. The magic attacks need to continue even if the rain is falling. Those guys will keep flocking!”

“Look properly. Right now we are blocking those guys. The soldiers won’t die.”

“If we briefly stop the magic attacks then more enemies will come. And we can’t give immunity from the cold to that many soldiers!”

The commanders and magicians were engaged in an argument. The commanders of the Haven Empire wanted the magic to keep attacking the enemies.

However, the falling temperature was unbelievable.

Before long, pure white snow started to fall from the sky and changed into ice cubes in 2 minutes. The extreme wind chill fiercely pushed the soldiers.

Kutangtangtang!

A group of soldiers slipped on the icy ground. They slid for 10 metres before stopping.

The Hermes Guild users were embarrassed and stunned.

“How can the soldiers fall down with this level of wind?”

“The ground is too slippery. Completely ice! This temperature is changing over a large area…” Later.

The relaxed commanders had their complexion suddenly changed. More soldiers kept falling down.

“Do not walk quickly! Everybody, stay in your place as much as possible!”

The Hermes Guild users had hunted to a high level but this was the first time they encountered such a phenomenon.

Rain, snow and ice.

The weather in the area changed so quickly that they couldn’t stand.

‘No, there is a reason behind this change.’

The Hermes Guild users announced this face through the communication channel. A channel that was limited to commanders level 430 and over.

Remid Mikord:  This is a disaster! When looking at it, this is the precursor to Weed’s sculpting disaster.

Holsun:  That is certainly not the only answer. Maybe magic or something different… And the disaster will affect a large area.

Mengcord:  This time the disaster seems to be causing a cold. It must have been prepared for the fight.

Netu: Currently the battle is progressing. And although it is somewhat cold, it won’t do much damage to us.

Halleker: Don’t think of it that simply. We can withstand it but there might be an issue with the soldiers. They will lose a lot of their combat capabilities.

Gilled:  Ice magicians. Their wide area attacks can do far more than decrease combat capabilities.

Mengcord:  I agree. It is shallow but we still need to be wary of Weed. The cold air can decrease the vitality. Once an area completely freezes, the chill will spread around. Nevertheless, the cold won’t cause a lot of constraints on magic.

2nd corps commander, Balbaro. You have permission to issue orders along with the 1st corps commander Draka. Use the communication channel to direct orders along with Draka.

Balbaro:  Commanders will give an order to the entire army. There isn’t a lot of information about the disaster so… The Hermes Guild will avoid a catastrophe by protecting all users of the guild from the ice. The magic units will protect the pre-determined units.

This is the Hermes Guild’s chain of command so all users should follow the orders of their superiors without any complaints.

“Advocate of Fire!”

“Wind Barrier!”

The magicians used magic to protect themselves as well as specified units.

Mana was limited due to the ongoing battle but they used magic to avoid a significant amount of the cold.

‘A disaster is occurring on the wide plains.’

‘There is no need to be surprised by some damage. Even so, it isn’t that bad. I still have my life. It would be good if more of my competitors are eliminated.’

Despite the large and small pieces of ice falling from the sky, the Hermes Guild users were able to remain calm.

The magicians created layers of magic protection.

In comparison, it was like the northern users were naked.

They were destroyed by the magic and the chill reached deep into their bones. Thy had low skills so it was impossible to fight normally against the freezing cold.

The good news was that the Haven Empire turned completely defensive rather than actively fighting.

The wind and ice cubes knocked into the armour and shield.

“Waaahhhhh, cold!”

“Everyone avoid it. A pointy piece of ice is falling! This is apparently a disaster caused by King Weed!”

“Is it really Weed? This is too much. Why is it attacking us as well?”

There were harsh complaints from the users waiting their turn to step on the battlefield and those that came to watch.

They were dedicated to protect the Arpen Kingdom. But they didn’t think that Weed would attack the entire area. They worked in good faith so of course they felt betrayed.

But the members of the Grass Porridge Cult were deeply brainwashed. They had a huge crush on Weed so tried to think of the situation as positively as possible.

“Everybody repent. Those who feel resentment towards Weed have demons in their heart.”

“Believe in this disaster even if it means dying! Drink, Grass Porridge!”

It was like Weed had hooked them on a real estate scam! They crushed any serious accusations and prevented it from spreading through the north.

“Is there anyone who doesn’t risk their lives in the assault? No. We’ve already given up many people as a result. And there is already no possibility of surviving. This is a great opportunity so don’t be cheap about your neck. This disaster is more disadvantageous to the Haven Empire.”

“This is a battlefield. Leave if you don’t want to risk your necks. One more kill!”

“We are garbage. At least that is what the Hermes Guild users are saying through their gaze. The important thing is knowing that they wasted time trying to win against garbage.”

“Show our resolution to die and let’s go. This disaster is for our happiness!”

Anyway, they decided to dedicate their necks but the outcome would still be the same. This incident would have an adverse effect on the Haven Empire so they welcomed it.

“But is this really a disaster caused by Weed? Are you sure?”

“Then… Even Hestiger emerged so Weed is certainly somewhere here.”

“It would be good just because of that.”

“Fight even if you freeze to death!”

The northern users rushed even more.

“Milk Porridge, march!”

“Black Sesame Porridge unit, show them that our bravery is comparable to the Toadstool Porridge unit!”

“Crab Porridge unit, it is the season for catching crabs!”

“Crab, crab!”

“Crab Porridge, heat up!”

“Ohhhh, delicious Crab Porridge!”

The magicians were using magic to protect themselves and the soldiers so the northern users just charged through like a herd.

The northern users shared the same mind in this battle.

Prevent the invasion of the Haven Empire.

They devoted themselves to it and have nothing to lose. This was also a lesson from the last northern war.

The Arpen Kingdom’s development. A pace fast enough for the people living there to feel it every day.

Every time they visited the city, the street had changed and stores were selling new products. Even those who weren’t users could feel the economic development.

While dungeon hunting, there were long distance travels that allowed them to explore new cities and villages with the population on the rise.

Those committed to participating in the war would build up achievements with the Arpen Kingdom. They wouldn’t abandon the struggle for their kingdom.

‘The Arpen Kingdom that King Weed created is an ideal place to live.’

They would risk their lives and fight together to protect it. The northern users already formed a consensus and did not waver from it.

They held their shields over their heads while running to protect from the ice and slid dozens of metres when falling to the ground.

After half of the northern users were tangled together, it was difficult for them to reach the army.

Those watching the ludicrous sight from behind felt something hot rise in their chests.

‘The Arpen Kingdom…’

The people running ahead gave a deep impression.

“Loach Porridge unit, what the hell are we doing?”

“Warriors of the Sesame Porridge unit, this isn’t the time to hesitate. Smash them to powder!”

“Carrot Porridge unit, this is the opportunity to impress your seniors in the Grass Porridge Cult!”

“Carrot!”

A crazy scene of collective brainwashing! However, that heat didn’t remain for long.

The movement of a person running suddenly stopped. The land had completely frozen and their feet were stuck.

“I can’t move at all!”

“Ugh! My feet have turned into ice cubes…”

The users just stood in place while looking around. The other users were baffled as well as they couldn’t move except for a minority that had specially designed strong legs.

The priests and shamans cast protective magic and could move.

“Please help me.”

“This way!”

The nearby users dismantle the ice but many lost their lives to the sharp ice. It was like the unbearable cold had returned to the north. Weed’s disaster was a problem for the poor beginners.

Jajajajak!

The stiff bodies turned into ice.

The Haven Empire armour and magical protection gave them resistance to the rapidly lowering temperature but the damage to the northern users was crucial.

“Kuhuhu, those idiots.”

“They are thoroughly thick. Those stupid…”

“That’s right. This battle is now won.”

There was no doubt this was Weed’s disaster. Instead, it resulted in the massive deaths of the northern users.

Hestiger and his followers were still strong to a certain extent. Hestiger would kill hundreds every time he swung his sword and he was impossible to block. The power of fire meant that he could fight normally in the cold.

Still, it couldn’t overcome the disaster.

“The lowered temperature has certainly benefited us.”

“We will have good memories of conquering the continent.”

“The Haven Empire has won again!”

The Hermes Guild users were chatting easily.

Grrrrrung!

A violent tremor was felt from the frozen ground. And it became increasingly serious. The trembling could be felt from their entire body.

“What the, is some scary monster coming from the ground?”

“No, the vibration is similar to an earthquake but…”

The questions of the users were answered in an instant.

From the east, a huge tsunami was coming from the lake in the mountains. Great Disaster Nature Sculpting had called the water that had been increased by the rain in order to sweep through the plains.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

The speed of the approaching tsunami was frightening.

“Tsunami!”

“A tsunami on land… A real tsunami!”

The field of vision was narrowed due to the ice falling from the sky.

Once someone said the word tsunami, the story quickly spread. The people who couldn’t see it learned that the tsunami was coming.

“Let’s remain calm. Even though there is a tsunami… It is just a big and fast wave. The damage isn’t strong. It can’t kill… Waaahhhhh!”

“It is furiously pushing. The damage!”

A tsunami with a height of over 100 metres was swallowed up by the Haven Empire. The armoured soldiers were swept away by the tsunami and were furiously pushed back and forth.

The tsunami swept away all the users, knights and magicians at once. The soldiers couldn’t do anything about the advancing tsunami.

The tsunami was approaching fast and the users and soldiers combining their power couldn’t stop it!

“Lean Shield!”

The armoured infantry tried to endure using their weight but it was useless. Even the magicians’ shields were pushed away.

– Draka: Are you sure it is a tsunami?

– Gilled:  It really is a tsunami. Coming towards me… Aaaack!

– Remid Mikord:  This is a disaster. Weed the God of War’s ploy…

– Balbaro:  Stay calm. The tsunami will hit you will a few big waves but there won’t be much damage. Weed has never used a disaster two times in a day.

Remid Mikord:  Don’t just listen to the stories. Weed the God of War…

Mengcord:  We already know about the crisis. We have already repelled most of Weed’s hidden tricks.

Kwaaaang!

The soldiers that lost their lives turned into grey light and dropped swords, spears, shields or armour.

Soon it changed into a tsunami of steel. The sight was enough to cause a mysterious terror. The tsunami swept across the soldiers frozen by the ice.

“Run away. Kuwooooh!”

The soldiers ran to the other side but were still caught by the tsunami. The supernatural power contained in the tsunami caused a lot of fear.

Still, the physical power wasn’t that strong.

The tsunami swept away the soldiers but didn’t kill all of them. The high levels of the Hermes Guild meant many of them were far from death.

“Kuwaaaaah… Spinning?”

There were terrible screams of surprise. Those hit by the tsunami were in shock as they fell hundreds of metres along with debris.

“It is quite weak when looking at it.”

“I survived.”

The tsunami had pushed them hundreds of metres.

The high and fast tsunami had pulled water from the area but nevertheless, the amount of water didn’t reach a wide area.

There was shock as many were swept away but a large number of the Haven Empire surprisingly survived.

Their high levels, armour and blessing was crucial in reducing the damage of the blessing. The tsunami disaster had covered approximately 2 corps of the Haven Empire. And they were immediately destroyed.

“This much… It is easily endured.”

“Not that many people died? A few people died but that was due to the density.”

“In the Central Continent, we lose that many soldiers in one or two battles. If we conscript soldiers then that number can be easily recovered.”

The Hermes Guild users thought like that.

The aftermath of the disaster wasn’t over.

After the tsunami passed, the cold weather continued and the water left behind started freezing. It was like a glacier was created as the Haven Empire’s bodies froze.

Furthermore, the tsunami had caused a large number of soldiers to be covered in debris. Over 1,000 people were collapsed and tangled up with fallen horses.

The NPC knights hastily exclaimed.

“Commander, we must fix the formations soon. The army’s organization is a mess because of this tsunami.”

Draka’s face stiffened and he said.

“It is pretty annoying. Before I thought I would soon destroy the Earth Palace. Either way, those northern users will also have a hard time fighting over the ground.”

The commanders thought they lost approximately 30,000~80,000 troops.

They had predicted that Weed would cause a disaster. The troops were widely spread so there wasn’t much damage.

Only those in the main area of the disaster had received damage or died.

‘The emergence of Hestiger in conjunction with the disaster… Weed had calculated this much.’

The younger commanders admired it.

Everyone expected there to be a plan for the war. But executing the plan was a different matter.

The northern users moved according to a large picture and the disaster was planned to sweep away the Haven Empire’s army.

‘Weed the God of War, his combat capabilities are really good. But ridiculously… Even so, he still swept away his own side?’

‘A person with this ability… Perhaps this is related to the depth involved in his sculptures? The indirect support in smaller combat is excellent… Well, let’s look at the actual damage.’

The magicians and priests healed the soldiers. Approximately 100,000 soldiers were injured but that damage would be overcome sooner or later.

“The ground is slippery so the enemies can’t attack. There will be a lull in the battle for a while.”

“Tell the troops. Reconstruct the destroyed formations… Have the soldiers fighting power recover quickly. The knights of the Hermes Guild has to show our might. Attack those guys even harder.”

“Before that, it is good if we target Hestiger.”

Hestiger was still on a rampage despite the disaster. However, the players that followed him had been reduced in half by the disaster.

They would die easily under the elite troops of the Haven Empire. It was impossible to withstand the long ranged attacks of the Haven Empire.

Even so, Hestiger still had an amazing army of 1 million users.

“They are reckless.”

“They are good prey like the Abyss Knight.”

The Hermes Guild users stared at them with greedy eyes. The high level users were used to reaping victory. If they could kill Hestiger then they would receive the highest battle experience and compensation.

The warriors and knights eyed Hestiger while the thieves hid their bodies.

Porcal: Eliminate the huge headache.

Instrium:  The same mind.

Banrommel: A fantastic competition. Is he called Warrior Who Saved the World? He is nothing in front of the mighty Haven warriors. Huhuhu.

Commanders of corps 3, 4 and 5, you will focus on eliminating Hestiger.

This was an opportunity to gain honour and compensation. The greedy people were determined to win against Hestiger and took action.

Then among the northern users, a merchant was selling goods in a loud voice. The ones riding on carriages were Mapon and Gamong.

“Now, selling cheaply. This is the first time a trader is telling the truth, I’m selling this at the original cost price! Iron studded boots for only 2 silver! It won’t slip on the hard ice and you can fight!”

“Dog sleds for you to ride on. A 4 seater dog sled optimized for ice, selling for an incredible price of 5 gold. It you want big or medium sized dog that can assist in battle then buy them for 78 gold and 98 silver! The taste is different and they will surely be helpful in battle. The sleds are only on sale for today. And refunds or returns are impossible!”

“The iron studded boots!”

“An order of 300 boots over here!”

“I want to ride the dog sled!”

The merchants sold spiked goods.

Mapon led the line of carriages with a smiling face.

“This time I will receive a sizeable amount of profit.”

Of course the line about the cost price was a lie. He sold it for 2 silver but the cost price was 1 silver and 60 copper.

The price was really cheap but it had the lowest level quality. The durability of the leather goods wasn’t something that could be recycled.

The mass production of low quality products!

Getting the information from Weed cost him 50 copper but this business was a big hit.

“The conscience of a merchant is really expensive. Even after being betrayed, they would continue to sell the very next day in Royal Road.”

The northern users could now fight on the slippery ground.

Bark bark bark!

And the advance of the dog sleds! Thousands of sheds rushed in a straight line towards the Haven Empire’s army.

The disaster had destroyed the magic destruction zone and the robust defense formation of the infantry had been scattered. This was a chance for the northern users to build up some achievements.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

An extensive number of northern users quickly gathered again and rushed. From the Haven Empire’s position, there was nothing more tedious.

“Scramble. Tweet! Tweet! Tweet!”

Golden Bird flew in the sky near Lavias. The avians holding long spears headed towards the ground. They folded their wings and plummeted towards the ground at an extreme speed. And they spread their wings wide when they were close to the ground.

“Avian clan, begin the attack on the invaders!”

The birds cried out in unison. A choreographed attack was launched by the avians from the sky.

Chapter 5: Weed’s Song

The charge of the northern users!

The joint attacks of the avians from the sky!

The circumstances had changed since the disaster.

The number of northern users and Haven Empire soldiers caught in Weed’s disaster was more than 70,000. A mass murder that didn’t give any mercy to the enemy.

“The Haven Empire is so strong. They won’t easily fall from external attacks.

The situation wasn’t different from what Weed thought.

The Haven Empire had a strong army that has overcome death many times. They achieved overwhelming victories in difficult battles on the Central Continent. Those who didn’t overcome difficulties wouldn’t know the taste of victory.

“The northern players use the human wave tactics so the single impact force is weak.”

They needed a lot of strength to break through. The northern users dreamed of slaughtering the Haven Empire’s army as they charged.

The Haven Empire’s formation had collapsed but they could rebuild it again. The disaster had also changed the terrain but the magicians could easily melt the ice.

The battlefield was so wide that fights were taking place in many areas. An enormous number of Haven Empire soldiers still maintained their defenses.

“I need to break them. In order to win… Hmm, I guess this can’t be a long battle.”

Weed slapped Wy-3’s neck.

“It is time to play. So let’s go down!”

“Kueeeeeh!”

And Wy-3 headed for the ground without any complaints.

Weed, the God of War, was going to war.

Jjaejaejaek!

“Ice Pillar Burst!”

“Multiple Piercing Arrows!”

“Heavenly Sticky Web!”

The avians flew erratically to avoid the arrows and magic aimed at them.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The bodies of the northern users were piled up on the ground.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Dead Rise.”

Jeanne, Otem, Bohram, Harian, Gruzed, Varenna and Gosyu!

Those that participated in the Immortal Legion quest emerged.

They grew quickly due to the nature of the profession and reached at least level 400. Jeanne had continued to hunt and his level surpassed 460.

The equipment was rusted and burnt but it was the best for the necromancer profession. Some cursed weapons and armour were maximized to increase the grudge of the summoned undead.

Weed was constantly consumed by quests so his level was still in the early 400s. He would feel pain in his stomach if he saw the growth of these necromancers!

The necromancers appeared and used the might of Bone Explosion on the Haven Empire’s army.

“Those just killed, live again!”

“Let’s go. I will focus on summoning the skeletons.”

“The numbers might be small but I will create a few doom knights.”

“The doom knights by Jeanne-nim. They will definitely be the best doom knights.”

The necromancers on the battlefield. Their individual strength was like an army.

Of course, the Haven Empire had the strongest army on the Versailles Continent so it was impossible for the necromancers to fight against them. Still, they had enough power to raise several thousand corpses.

The necromancers had no power at the beginning of combat.  But the bodies of the dead would slowly accumulate.

The weak bodies were blown up and the strong were made again as undead.

The northern necromancers weren’t lacking troops.

Furthermore, the necromancers curses made it very troublesome for the priests. The undead had a unique ability to lower the morale of the enemy and their ability to get up after collapsing also had a psychological effect.

This frantic melee was the best meal for them.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“But my body is itching just watching it.”

“Hrmm, the users of the north are fighting quite well. Even so, won’t it be hard to reverse the defeat?”

“It seems so. Quite a lot of people have been gathered in the meantime. But it won’t work.”

There were very high level users watching the battle from the Earth Palace.

They would lose a lot if they died.

Those who hated the Hermes Guild or liked adventures had migrated to the north.

Due to their high level of expertise and combat skills, they couldn’t recklessly participate in the battle.

Many belonged to the Grass Porridge Cult but couldn’t go to war. But they weren’t the only ones watching the battle.

“The scale of the battle is really magnificent. I didn’t expect it. Such dramatic battle spells. The scale of the war means that this might be written in the pages of the Versailles Continent’s history.”

“I would love to fight… We can’t step forward.”

The Dark Gamers were watching from far away or from the Earth Palace.

Their eyes were only looking at the event.

Suddenly the sky and weather became clear.

The avians filled the sky and the battle on land continued without an end.

It wouldn’t be possible even if they wanted to create a video.

The Dark Gamers were hoping that the Haven Empire would be defeated. Even so, the odds of them helping the northern users in battle was very low.

Their bodies were the most important to them.

The skill proficiency lost due to death would be difficult to recover and would take fairly long hours. They made money from hunting and completing quests.

The Dark Gamers had previously killed several Hermes Guild and Haven Empire members but the risk for this battle was too big.

However, none of the Dark Gamers dared leave this place no matter how foolish it was.

“Ahem, if the Haven Empire crumbles even a little bit…”

“Then we will be very busy.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lyrics started to be heard from the sky.

The water dripping from the low ceiling and windows.

Cold winds blowing in the wind.

Thunder booming and striking.

The house, shake the house.

Wugelgelgelgel wuwugelgelgel.

The high pitched ringing in their ears!

“The terrible song lyrics, tempo and pitch…”

“The continuous tone release in the middle of the song, no one can match Weed the God of War!”

The users fighting on the ground looked up as they heard the sound.

Many avains were flying around but there was only one person riding a wyvern.

Weed stood proudly while holding up the dragon sword, Red Star! Of course, he had transformed into a Chaos Warrior in order to use the Red Star.

However, the characteristics of the Chaos Warrior meant there was a big change. The big muscles enhanced his strength but agility and defense fell.

It was less suited for the basic principles of defense!

‘I’m always anxious about the stolen sword. I don’t want the red dragon to appear.’

The dragon that was the owner of the Red Star might appear but he had to use it in a large battle like this.

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

Aigoo, it is freezing. Your entire body is aching.

The wind blows on the rain and I can’t turn on the electric blanket. Turn on the boiler.

The electricity and gas isn’t working.

Wugelgelgelgel wuwugelgelgel.

The young don’t know. They don’t suffer.

This is a warning to the youths.

Hundreds of lives that are suffering.

Where is my rice bowl?

Wugelgelgelgel wuwugelgelgel.

Sowing the ground with more seeds.

I still have to lift the spoon.

Wugelgelgelgel wuwugelgelgel.

The bards on the ground tried to understand the lyrics and the beat for the sake of their professional pride.

“N-no. Impossible.”

“The melody is more complex than the ancient lizardman’s song. There is no melody.”

“P-poetic verses. Musings about the social conditions in reality. Starting from the natural environment, physical pain, elderly and welfare issues and income equality, they are all simple yet complex lyrics… Aaack!”

Weed’s song became more difficult the longer it was heard!

And the bards cried out!

“Wugelgelgelgel wuwugelgelgel!”

They sang along without knowing the meaning of the song.

The northern users chorused in unison.

“Wugelgelgelgel wuwugelgelgel!”

An ominous feeling was heard from the meaningless sounds.

Weed singing a song had descended!

The avians centered around Weed. It seemed like he was leading an army down from the sky.

Weed had already used Sculptural Destruction to increase his vitality stat. It was in order to increase his health.

It would be regrettable if he was killed by a blind arrow.

“Haven Empire. You stepped on the land of the north and now you won’t be able to return!”

The eyes of the Hermes Guild changed at the repeated Lion’s Roar.

Weed had appeared to stop the northern conquest war. They no longer cared about fighting the northern users now that Weed was here.

The magicians waved both hands. The collected mana caused one hand to glow blue and the other one to glow red.

“Don’t miss this opportunity. Go, Piercing Flame Spear!”

“Catch him. The best prey. Blast Wave!”

Hundreds of magic soared up from the camp of the Haven Empire.

Weed snorted. This much wasn’t enough.

“Heh. How funny. Wy-3, isn’t avoiding this much inevitable?”

“Kkueeeee!”

Wy-3 didn’t have enough breath to moan. It knew that danger was coming from the ground.

Its heart was filled with complaints but Wy-3 spread its wings and entered some high speed maneuvers. It flew past the enormous amount of magic approaching.

“Waaaaaah!”

The northern plains were filled with cheers.

The magic that exploded at Weed’s sudden appearance caused a spectacular effect.

The wyvern moved quickly in the air but the magic was persistent. The magicians of the Hermes Guild kept attacking but many didn’t reach him. Wy-3 flew on a different path or avoided it, causing magic to explode together.

A great magic battle unfolding in the air!

Having the magicians focused on the sky was helpful for the combatants on the ground.

“Tweet tweet, fight like Weed-nim.”

“It is an honour for the eagles to fight together with him.”

The avians joined Weed.

The users that joined the avians naturally gathered because they wanted to fight by Weed’s side. Some of the avians carried strong human members of the Sky Porridge unit.

Weed’s eyes quickly swept over the army of the Haven Empire.

‘Um… The common soldiers are annoying but the knights are quite desirable. The Hermes Guild has a large number of people over level 400.’

Level wasn’t an absolute measure of strength. He always lost levels when using Sculpture Resurrection or Sculptural Life Bestowal.

‘That place… Although it might be hard to access due to the magicians. I will save those guys to eat later. First, it is safer to be around Hestiger.’

Weed cried loudly.

“Wy-3, Hestiger is in danger so let’s go help him!”

“Kkuaaack!”

Wy-3 headed towards Hestiger.

Lava was shooting up and flames roaring in an area of several hundred metres so it was easy to know where he was fighting.

Hestiger had broken through the Haven Empire’s army with his followers behind him. In other words, it was using him as a spoon to hide behind.

“Go.”

Weed jumped off Wy-3’s back when he was approximately 600 metres from the ground.

Hundreds of magic and arrows flew towards him as he fell towards the ground. It was evidence that every area of the Haven Empire was watching for Weed.

“A tremendous welcome mat.”

Weed pulled out the Ancient Shield while falling in the air.

It couldn’t be repaired but the unique shield boasted tremendous defense. He didn’t care to use it during dungeon hunts but it was an important battle so he took out shield.

A huge amount of arrows and magic were poured towards him but most of them were blocked by the Ancient Shield.

– The durability of the Ancient Shield has decreased by 1.

“Kuuuk!”

Weed’s health only decreased by 14%. However, the Ancient Shield only had 16 durability left so it caused grief to rise in his heart.

If he suddenly fell to the ground then he would receive some degree of damage from the magicians but he had bought a Lightness Feather from Lavias. It was sold for the expensive price of 50 silver but it stopped him from crashing into the ground.

Weed landed lightly on the ground but Hestiger had ran on already.

He killed 100 people out of frustration as he advanced.

Hestiger’s other followers gathered beside Weed.

“Ohh, Weed-nim. To see you this near… Quite plain.”

“It is a pleasure. My name is Jakson.  I am the lord of Horemong Village…”

“I am the dwarf warrior, Iron Hand. My dwarf friends who are blacksmiths keep on telling me about your great sculpting skills.”

Weed looked around at the users in the vicinity.

The users of the Arpen Kingdom were wearing a variety of advanced equipment. Those who followed behind Hestiger could be called quite influential in the Arpen Kingdom.

‘My life in the future. I will make these people regular customers.’

This was a battlefield so he couldn’t greet each person one by one.

“It is nice to meet everyone.”

Weed lifted the Red Star. The users also raised their weapons.

Chwa cha cha chang!

Weed passed by the weapon holding users with the Red Star! It was a nice behaviour to increase the morale of the soldiers. They followed.

‘This person isn’t that great.’

Weed advanced towards Hestiger’s back. And the remaining users complained.

“What is this? The durability of my sword has gone down by 7.”

“The attack of my sword is completely reduced.”

“Damn. My favourite weapon!”

The people were grouchy due to the damage caused by Red Star when it bumped into their weapons.

They didn’t know it but Weed had received a handful of blessings from the priests before coming here.

“Fight well, Weed-nim!”

The users found it fun to fight with such blessings.

The presence of priests in Royal Road was very precious. The female priests stared at him but Weed just ran forward.

“I am the Hermes Guild’s Drenkil. Hestiger, I will kill you.”

“There is no need for words in battle. Speak with your skills.”

Hestiger cut the user called Drenkil.

The basic defense blessings from the priests and the armour couldn’t withstand the flames and the Hermes Guild user burned up.

‘It was an excellent choice. Life should always be comfortable when standing in line.’

Weed reached Hestiger’s side. And Hestiger stopped the scimitar aiming towards Weed.

“Master, you have come!”

“……Yes, Hestiger.”

Weed was startled but he hid it calmly.

If he was hit by Hestiger’s attack then he would have received a large injury or even died.

“I don’t want to lead in this battle. It is really crowded. Please give me a command.”

Despite Hestiger’s high level, he submitted to Weed’s orders.

“There is no apparent way for now. Rush forward and kill all visible enemies.

“I understand. Then do you want to fight ahead of me like we did in the past?”

“…No. You should open the way for me. I am letting you take the lead.”

“Yes!”

Weed followed behind Hestiger.

Hestiger’s attacks covered 10 metres, 20 metres as the flames rolled over the soldiers. Multiple Hermes Guild users were defeated with one swing of his sword.

“Kuohh, immensely strong. This presence…”

“That is my share.”

Weed charged those barely left alive by Hestiger!

– The Silver Helmet of Siodram has been acquired.

– The Belt of Glory has been acquired.

“Lucrative!”

Both experience and items could be obtained from killing users. Their levels were more than 400 so just one item taken would be a huge jackpot!

The Hermes Guild members had a higher probability of dropping valuable items because their infamy was high.

“This is the taste.”

Hestiger smashed the forces of the Hermes Guild and Haven Empire as he broke through. Those who were the direct targets were injured and then instantly finished off by Weed.

The users that Weed missed were dealt with by the northern users. The eyes of those following lit up.

“The world is like this.”

Weed wasn’t naive to think that the northern users only followed Hestiger to protect the north.

They would also get profit. High income could be picked up on the battlefield!

“Well, rotten is rotten. This is the world.”

Those blinded by greed followed behind Weed.

“Weed.”

“God of War! I will have your neck!”

Three knights wearing rare armour rushed towards Weed.

His eyes estimated that they were at least level 430. Their levels were higher than Weed.

“My damn popularity. It is inconvenient.”

Weed was annoyed as the enemies actively jumped at him. He didn’t have time to take on three opponents like this.

It was an extremely difficult situation on the battlefield so he needed to stick as closely to Hestiger as possible.

Then an ambush was launched from the sky. Hundreds of thousands of avians had flow down along with Weed. The avians pecked the Hermes Guild users and Haven Empire’s army with their beaks.

The three knights were covered by the avians.

“Hmm, your level isn’t enough to challenge me! Blink!”

Weed used the short range teleportation that was the unique ability of the Chaos Warrior. And he attached himself close to Hestiger’s side.

– The red dragon Sword Red Star had absorbed the energy of the fire flowing around.

Strength, agility and vitality has increased significantly.

Your physical condition is the best.

Just like the desert warriors, the chaos warrior had the ability to strengthen themselves through fire.

Being close to Hestiger doubled the attack of the Red Star and increased the characteristics of the species by 30%.

“Fire Explosion, Fire Extinction and Flames of Hell!”

The powerful skills that could be used through the Red Star!

Hestiger broke through the front.

– The spearman Jenner has been killed.

The skill proficiency of Swordsmanship has improved.

– The Ullum Knights have been defeated.

Fame has increased by 498.

– Strength has increased by 1.

It was an excellent harvest of items.

A true master of the spoon!

Although Hestiger had excellent combat power, he was just at the level of a rice spatula.

Other users would be happy to follow Weed and his legends would be recorded down in history.

That’s why he was the important target for the Haven Empire soldiers and the Hermes Guild members.

“The King of the Arpen Kingdom. The Haven Empire must cut off Weed’s head!”

“Weed the God of War! Today will be your end!”

The NPCs and users aimed for Weed. Weed didn’t retreat. Hestiger just took care of them first.

“You have to climb over me first before reaching the Great Emperor.”

Hestiger killed more than 10 people flocking towards Weed with one swing of his sword. The users then suffered great damage from Weed’s subsequent attack!

– The infamous Green Pigs have been slaughtered.

A large amount of experience has been obtained.

The Hermes Guild users had high infamy so he could gain a lot of experience. The battlefield was an excellent hunting ground if he managed to survive.

The handsome Hestiger smiled brightly.

“Master, the time when we wandered the desert has crossed through my mind. At that time, we often fought like this. We handled greedy kings in such battles.”

“Yes, those memories are resurfacing. In order to deprive you of achievements… No, we were together then.”

Weed diligently collected items while talking to Hestiger.

– A small dagger has been earned.

– A small dagger has been earned.

People often discarded a lot of japtem. In Weed’s case, he felt like he got a grey hair every time he needed to discard a japtem.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk! Calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

Pu shu shu shuk!

Black smoke occurred as Van Hawk appeared.

He had become a little stronger after his experience as an Abyss Knight. He had reached the peak of a Death Knight and learned more skills. Of course, it would be a very long time until he became an Abyss Knight again.

Torido’s body that was wrapped in a cloak emerged from the ground.

The dignity and authority of a vampire lord!

“Incompetent bastards!”

“…”

Van Hawk and Torido didn’t say anything.

Weed lectured Van Hawk on a daily basis about his actions as an Abyss Knight and Van Hawk just stayed silent.

Torido was very strong in the beginning but now he couldn’t show the proper dignity of a vampire lord. The fact that Van Hawk had surpassed him gave a significant psychological impact.

At times like this, Weed didn’t have time to take into consideration their morale.

“Van Hawk, you will go to the undead and command them!”

“I know Master.”

“Don’t fight stupidly like before and take care of them. If you don’t do it properly then you will be punished.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

“Torido, fight in moderation. Rather than fight, suck the blood of the people surviving on the battlefield.”

“I will do so.”

His two subordinates entered the battlefield. The disadvantage of the undead was that they were easily melted down by holy magic.

However, they became stronger under Van Hawk’s direction and Torido’s brainwashed slaves were also useful.

Weed continued fighting as he received the enemy’s concentrated attacks. This was a chance for his subordinates to do well.

Van Hawk and Torido turned into smoke and quickly disappeared.

“Kill those guys.”

“Everybody jump!”

More enemies flocked to Weed and Hestiger.

The value of the name God of War spread through the Hermes Guild. The commanders in the guild chat continuously told them to look out for Weed and Hestiger.

They were targets that needed to be eliminated in order to conquer the north.

The commanders didn’t even mind that the formation was collapsing like dominoes. The overall situation wasn’t important. This was a chance for the Hermes Guild users to kill Weed the God of War.

And after the war ended, there would be a chance to conquer the Versailles Continent.

“Huhuhu, you won’t escape my eyes. Chains of Fear.”

“Foolish guy. Guillotine of Burning Death!”

Curse magic flew towards Weed.

The powerful users would receive preferential treatment from the Hermes Guild. They offered to develop the abilities of the warlocks so they had a higher percentage compared to other guilds.

The warlocks cast advanced curses towards Weed and Hestiger.

– The Goddess’ Knight Armour had destroyed the black magic.

– Red Star has granted an immune effect.

– The Lord of the Continent Seal has granted resistance to harmful magic.

During his days as the desert ruler, he had feared curses that weakened his body. The Embinyu Church constantly poured out heinous divine curses.

Due to the quest that required rapid growth, he lacked time and didn’t have a variety of items. In the warring period, he especially lacked equipment to defend against divine power.

But now he had the divine armour made of helium, a weapon made by a dragon and the Ruler of the Continent Seal. A complete set of items to defend against curses!

The curses flew by.

Hestiger, the Warrior who Saved the World endured the curses with his own ability.

“This is really perfect. A good harvest.”

As usual, Weed maintained a wide view of the battlefield.

The avians that came down to help Weed suffered from the attacks. The users that followed behind were reduced by the Haven Empire.

The level of the enemies that appeared kept on increasing. But if he was next to Hestiger then he would never die!

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!

A strong blast suddenly hit Weed’s back.

– The thief Sneker has struck you.

The blow has decreased health by 13%.

The body’s balance has been temporarily reduced.

Thief Sneker!

He was a famous pickpocket in the Hermes Guild. After the war broke out, he would infiltrate enemy lines and attack before fleeing.

There were advantages similar to an assassin but a thief had slightly higher vitality. Once targeting the enemy’s weakness, it was possible to pour out consecutive attacks. Weed could feel it. Even so, sculptural destruction meant that he wasn’t in a crisis.

‘It is great. Sneker is a famous guy and a thief is a relatively popular profession. The items he is wearing…’

Weed swiftly turned to deal with Sneker.

“Master is in danger. Second Coming of Fire!”

“Kueek!”

The thief Sneker was engulfed by the unquenchable fire. The scimitar wielding Hestiger also had a variety of wide area skills. The fire on Sneker’s body quickly escaped to the bodies of the surrounding knights.

– Health has been restored by absorbing the energy of fire.

The bodies close to Weed were on fire.

It was like receiving healing magic as his health quickly replenished.

‘Yes, it was an excellent choice to stick close to Hestiger. My rice spatula that will scoop up the enemy.’

Weed watched the Hermes Guild users and swallowed his drool.

Chapter 6: A War that isn’t Possible

Draka was the commander that led the army of the Haven Empire.

“The captains aren’t leading properly. A prolonged battle wasn’t what I wanted.”

The resistance from the northern users hadn’t been that impressive. It wasn’t a mature part of the Versailles Continent. The knights were far too weak.

However, if there was a strong leader then there would be some results. Weed caused a disaster and had Hestiger helping him.

If they had the ability then it was natural to use it. If he had the capacity for mass destruction then he would actively take advantage of it at every possible moment.

Most of Draka’s complains were towards the leaders of the Haven Empire’s army.

“The commanders are powerless. What use is the role of the knights and commanders?”

Lafaye and the Hermes Guild tended to carry out unbeatable tactics. The strongest army with 1.7 million troops.

Thanks to the exceptional formations and experience of the troops, they could confront many enemies.

Weed and Hestiger had entered the Haven Empire’s army and was waging an infinite battle. They killed many users of the Hermes Guild but the Haven Empire’s army hadn’t collapsed yet.

“But the enemy’s intention is to use close combat to wear us down and win the battle.”

Draka held a meeting.

He didn’t like the war so far. The northern users were an unstoppable force that kept on coming.

From a commander’s perspective, this fight was too humiliating. A commander couldn’t make any judgements like a scarecrow.

“The defensive formations of the army absolutely can’t be defeated by the coming enemies.”

In the case of the Central Continent.

Sometimes it was possible to fight with high numbers using the terrain. Or the commanders would take advantage of the knights in order to overcome many situations.

Being the leader of the commander of the northern conquest army was a great position of pride.

A huge army was curled up and unable to fight confidently. This was offensive to Draka’s pride and honour as a commander.

In fact, he was upset but greed actually had a larger effect in his heart.

A powerful army that couldn’t be defeated. A commander who wanted to use more aggressive tactics in order to win!

“This can be called a victory but… A battle isn’t a simple thing.”

Draka whispered to Balbaro who was the commander of the 2nd corps. They were close friends and colleagues.

– What is the situation?

– This is the forefront. The northern users are coming like crazy while the avians are attacking the front and rear.

– The damage?

– A lot of soldiers have died because of the disaster and the formations are a mess. It is being restored little by little so there are no problems blocking them.

– The battle… What will happen?

– Why are you asking?

– Just do it.

– Naturally it will be our victory. You know that we can’t lose this battle. But it looks like we will be fighting for most of the day. The resistance of the north is strong. The siege weapons are broken and cumbersome.

Draka also sent a whisper to Porcal, commander of the 3rd corps.

– The current situation?

– The archers and magicians are trying to recover but… Enemies keep falling from the sky. The avians are carrying people so it is causing a headache.

– Weed and Hestiger?

– They are surrounded. There is a chance to focus the magic attacks on them but there is no guarantee they can’t break out. Those guys will become tired in the future.

Draka contemplated for a while.

‘Many users are gathered to defend the north and they are prepared to fight all night until they die.’

A huge scale war on the Versailles Continent. Weed had emerged to decide the fate of the northern continent.

Draka’s eyes gleamed.

“The current system of the Haven Empire is powerful but needs to be discarded sometimes. The real triumph will be achieving a perfect victory in Draka’s name.”

Draka spoke in the guild chat for the Haven Empire’s commanders.

Draka: As the commander in chief of the army, I am issuing an order to all commanders. Instead of waiting, each corps will actively march forward and crush the enemy!

Instrium:  Are you serious? That is different from the tactics that the leaders decided on.

Balbaro:  There is no problem with the current battle so why throw it away?

Draka: I will take full responsibility. This is my command but I will not force you to push. If you want to win the battle as a small fry then there is no need to follow. However, if you want to be a hero then let’s start our war!

“1st corps march!”

The 1st corps started to loosen their defense formation and advanced. They expressed their frustration by dashing towards the northern users.

The knights, cavalry and infantry followed behind.

“Go. Kill them all!”

Draka was a competent commander and had an outstanding personal force following him. He had excellent leadership abilities which was why he was given control of the northern conquest army.

“Draka is going… I’m coming as well. 2nd corps march!”

Balbaro also began moving his forces.

Troops of 10,000 or 30,000 rapidly started advancing. Depending on the commander,  each troops had slightly different attributes.

Balbaro’s corps was mobility.

He gained the special ability ‘rapid pace’ through war experiences and gave it to his army. The commander increased the speed of the march by 17% and reduced fatigue by 62%.

15 units of the 2nd corps started subduing the northern users.

It was like a relaxing turtle suddenly decided to harm its enemies. Like wild beasts, the 2 corps actively moved out to slaughter the enemies.

The 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th corps belatedly started moving.

Each commander understood Draka’s mood after hearing the command. It was the same for them. In the current combat situation, it was reasonable to become active in order to gain more benefits.

“Does he want to plug in the flag of the northern conquest with his own hands? It makes sense as a commander. There is no such thing as being too greedy in a war.”

“It was frustrating. Besides, we won’t be rebuked since this is Draka’s order. And our purpose is to kill Weed and take the Earth Palace.”

“If the war ranges freely then it will become a public showdown? The 5th corps will kill the largest number of enemies. Full force assault!”

“The 6th corps has a higher proportion of magicians so we are weak in direct combat but… The knights that trained in magic will show off their abilities.”

The Haven Empire’s army was showing dramatic movements. Whole crowds struck towards the northern users and the Earth Palace.

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“As expected. This is the effort of training an enormous military over several years in Royal Road.”

“The process of overcoming the difficulties is what makes it fun. Just relax. The current military power of the Haven Empire can’t compare with what is on screen… It will be sufficient to conquer the continent.”

Bardray, Lafaye and the core leadership of the Hermes Guild were at the Imperial Palace while the war with the north was taking place.

A video was transmitted via magic on an entire wall. It was possible to see videos from the eyes of the commanders as well as those being broadcasted by the stations.

There were also 24 users not part of the Hermes Guild. They were people of the economic world.

They were meeting with the Hermes Guild in the Haven Empire in order to decide some details. There were several practical procedures remaining but the investment was already finished so they were invited to the palace to see the northern war.

A red faced dwarf asked.

“I was surprised, the Haven Empire’s military… Is there a particular trick to becoming stronger in Royal Road?”

Bardray laughed lightly.

“Just fight well. The process is hard to describe in words.”

“That answer is too vague. But it makes sense. You became the ruler of the continent’s strongest and most influential power for a reason.”

“With your support, the Hermes Guild doesn’t need to have any concerns about our growth. If you like then the knights of the Haven Empire can run you through a few drills.”

“Hahaha, I am grateful to accept your offer.”

He was a wealthy person from the Middle East but had chosen a warrior occupation. The advantage of a dwarf with the blacksmith skill was that a number of different items could be created.

Most financial people had been in Royal Road in the past. The television was constantly showing news about the daily economic expansion in Royal Road. Some distrusted state of the art technology but experienced Royal Road based on the recommendation of their children.

‘This investment will offer boundless potential in the future.’

‘A whole new world where I can get power and interests.’

‘Developing more resorts… If I have the capital and land to create resorts in the Haven Empire then there will be no end to the profits. There will be an endless supply of tourists and the political, licensing and building processes are difficult but I have the time and money. I will change this continent to a paradise on earth.’

The wealthy people would receive a share of their investments. Bardray and the other leaders would also benefit.

The wealthy investors received regular reports that business was proceeding smoothly.

“If I look at it a little longer, it is like real cooking.”

“Do you want to try the food that comes out from the Imperial Palace?”

There was a sumptuous feast as they watched the battlefield from afar.

‘As a man, I want to live like this.’

Bardray looked at the powerful people gathered in this room and soaked up the mood. People with strong capital and influence in reality respected and invested money in him.

‘I am no longer an ordinary human being. As emperor of the Haven Empire, I will write a new myth of immortality.’ He would become powerful in virtual reality and physical reality.

Bardray and Lafaye’s eyes met with a significant glance.

‘We’ve had a really big success.’

‘In the future, all the profits will be ours.’

Once the Haven Empire was on a solid rock, they would dominate Royal Road for a long period of time.

Lafaye felt hateful towards the northern users that had gathered to defend the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Our profits will become bigger the more we obtain in Royal Road. They will become citizens of the Haven Empire whether they want to or not.’

The desire to conquer the Versailles Continent started after seeing Royal Road on the news. As more users joined Royal Road, the popularity continued to rise.

In the holiday season, people joined Royal Road to entertain themselves with the mountains and valleys.

This was another world and became the ruler of virtual reality. Then the military of the Haven Empire started moving quickly and violently. The army had scattered in order to subdue the northern users.

“Indeed… It really feels like a war in medieval times.  The magicians and knights are tremendous. I have been interested in war from an early age and collected civil war weapons but that hobby is obsolete in front of Royal Road.”

Lafaye laughed softly at the words from an American real estate tycoon.

“If you become a lord then you can command the knights directly.”

“It is more complicated to reign in Royal Road so I would rather go around fighting on adventures. Still, this virtual reality makes my blood boil like a youth…”

“You can do whatever you want.”

Lafaye smiled while sipping a glass of wine.

However, the leaders watching the video on the wall showed signs of nervousness.

– How did this happen?

– It is Commander Draka-nim’s independent decision.

– Did we allow such an active offensive?

– Never. It was outside our control.

The leaders rejected this policy when first determining how to conquer the north. The commanders were allowed independence on the battlefield but if it wasn’t an urgent situation then they should receive permission first.

The northern conquest army was huge so the leaders wanted to make sure they had a tight control over it. They had directed it to a complete victory.

The investors asked.

“Hoh, I wonder what it feels like to participate in the war?”

“Wouldn’t you just lose your life within a few minutes?”

“At my villa… I will have to physically train for the war.”

From their point of view, the northern conquest army changing to aggressive tactics was worth seeing. The knights and infantry rushed out to meet the users.

Lafaye went back to watching the video.

‘The approach is different but it isn’t bad for victory. There isn’t only one way of winning. It might be better to show off our fighting power at the moment of victory.’

The 1st, 3rd and 4th corps headed towards the Earth Palace in order to fly the flag of the Haven Empire.

Defeating the region with the most number of users. It would look good to destroy the Earth Palace and the northern users.

Lafaye and the leaders had planned a defense formation because the opponent was Weed. There were some disadvantages because the northern users wouldn’t back down.

There were some contingency operations. They absolutely couldn’t fail even if Weed got involved.

Given that they would rule the north in the future, he wanted a complete victory without worrying about the damage.

However, there was no perfect plan so there were thousands of possibilities.

‘It isn’t a bad approach. I respect Draka for making that decision.’

Lafaye and the leaders could give an order to rebuild the army to its original formation. However, he feared chaos and decided to give permission.

‘After the northern conquest is finished… I need to make an example of Draka. After the conquest, I need someone who listens to commands.’

Lafaye’s face hardened but he never even dreamed of losing the war. The gap in power was too large so it was a war that couldn’t be lost.

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“Stop them!”

“Uaaaack! S-so strong.”

“They are engaging in battle with the chariots!”

The Haven Empire’s combat units appeared.

The battle chariots looked plain but its body was 10 metres of steel and pulled by chimeras that would only obey their commands.

The 1st corps that was Draka’s flagship contained the best soldiers. As they advanced on the battlefield, the elite soldiers achieved victory every time.

The power of the 3rd corps was relatively weak but contained many Hermes Guild users who did chimera research.

The magicians started using various summoning magic and black magic. The 4th corps was filled with combat shamans.

The battle chariots mercilessly smashed the enemy.

The 3 corps of the Haven Empire’s army advanced towards the Earth Palace. The northern users that tried to defend against it died horribly.

The destructive power of the Haven Empire’s army was completely different compared to when they were defending.

“There is no chance of winning from the front so attack it from the side!”

“Believe in our numbers. You don’t need to panic. An opportunity will come. Surround them and attack!”

“Catch the ones that fall behind!”

The northern users took the chance to fight.

Although the magic destruction zone had disappeared, the northern users still found it difficult to fight against the Haven Empire.

“Break, break through!”

“Don’t waste time!”

There was a subtle competition between the 1st, 3rd and 4th corps. The first corps to capture the Earth Palace would gain significant achievements.

Draka was the commander in chief but the leaders of the 3rd and 4th corps also had ambition. Just like Draka, they hoped to end the war perfectly by marching into the Earth Palace.

“At full speed!”

“Raise your maneuverability. Go straight through.”

“We will go first. Have the knights clear the way!”

The northern users collapsed like straw in front of the Haven Empire’s thrust. But a significant amount of Haven Empire troops were lost to the arrows and magic.

The Haven Empire fought violently with the northern users.

“There is something suspicious about their movements.”

Weed looked around and noticed the movement of the Haven Empire’s army. He noticed too late that several of the army corps had withdrawn.

“Those guys are moving even faster. The battle is taking place elsewhere so can the Earth Palace stop them?”

Only users were guarding the Earth Palace.

Weed was surrounded by high level defense troops. It was difficult to find a way to safely stop the large number of troops heading towards the Earth Palace.

Weed’s face became pale.

“Kuooh, I realized that my plan was wrong.”

A cruel plan that caused heart disease and high blood pressure!

The Haven Empire’s strike could destroy the Arpen Kingdom and also deal significant damage to Weed’s pockets.

Weed was momentarily dizzy at the thought.

“There is nothing I can do. Right now I am playing with Hestiger.”

Weed and Hestiger were taking care of the Haven Empire’s army.

In the vicinity of the northern users, it was the opposite situation as the Haven Empire smashed through them. Of course, it was also because Weed had the rice spatula Hestiger by his side.

“You’ve noticed the difference? However, it is already too late Weed!”

The commander of the 6th corps, Drom spoke while Weed and Hestiger were fighting. The Haven Empire’s troops received a command and moved. Soon a wide, open space occurred around Weed and Hestiger. This place was filled with the elite troops of the 6th corps.

The magic knights.

They were unique knights that could use magic. They could use magic attacks as well as combat to break through the enemies.

It was through a crude method but had surprising results in enormous battles. They could attack from a distance and it significantly improved their ability to take a blow.

Weed’s eyes moved quickly at the sight.

Against an army of monsters, he needed to understand the pros and cons.

‘This… They are tough opponents. If I was fighting alone then I would take the maximum damage.’

The elite troops of the 6th corps.

The NPC knights reached the late 300s while most Hermes Guild users were over level 430. Even the equipment they were wearing made them powerhouses.

The individuals that used tactics would have their power increased by several times.

“Weed, the 6th corps will take your head.”

“Is that right?”

“Any last words?”

Drom started talking before the battle. Weed was in front of him so he naturally wanted to look cool for the broadcasting stations.

Even if they were commanders in the northern war, they didn’t have a high amount of awareness among general users.

Weed also wanted to moderately deal with him. Typically he would receive an appearance fee from the broadcast partners.

“You have invaded the land of the north so only your body will return.”

“Hahahahaha!”

Drom laughed loudly.

In fact, it wasn’t that funny but he acted like it was for the television broadcast. In order to look like the hero of a movie!

Drom stopped laughing.

“The King of the Arpen Kingdom has turned a blind eye to reality. Well, I hope you can feel the freedom of dying in battle. Start!”

The magic knights moved in a circular motion with Weed and Hestiger in the centre. There was 1,000 of them on mounts.

It was somewhat low compared to the elite troops of other corps but that didn’t matter. Including the magicians, there was a total of 2,000 people.

Weed considered an early breakthrough.

“Hestiger, you will lead the way.”

“Yes, Great Emperor!”

The dangerous and tough work would be left for his subordinate first! Hestiger bolted towards the magic knights.

“You won’t be able to pass!”

“Heavy Air Resistance!”

“Turbulent Strong Winds!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Magic was used in order to block Hestiger’s advance.

“Blazing Firestorm of Penance!”

He wielded his weapon and killed 16 magic knights.

“Storm of Rage!”

A firestorm rose from Hestiger’s sword and aimed at the magic knights. The flames swelled and the bodies of the magicians nearby caught fire.

“Kuaaak!”

“Save me, my body is on fire!”

“The fire can’t be quenched. The magic just burns even more!”

The area was filled with screams in seconds.

“No, unbelievable!”

Drom’s face turned pale.

He couldn’t understand the situation at first! The troops he was so confident about had easily collapsed.

Drom had been located on the left side and couldn’t see Weed and Hestiger properly while they had been fighting. Only a few people in the army could see how strong they were.

Each corps ran up to deal with Weed without seeing his previous combat.

“These guys aren’t special.”

Weed watched quietly for a moment. He wondered where the hell Drom’s confidence came from.

They were helpless in front of Hestiger. It was like gangsters jumping a person only to discover they were a former national level judo player.

After confirming it, Weed joined Hestiger in fighting the magic knights.

‘Well, it’s not like we have no weaknesses.’

Despite is superior force, even Hestiger would get tired sometime. Still, there was no reason they couldn’t easily break through. Hestiger was too powerful and the flames he emitted complemented Weed. Hestiger’s attribute of fire was an enemy itself when used by Weed.

Drom was freaked out but soon regained his spirit.

“Magic knights, tie up their ankles! Stop them from leaving this place. The 6th corps will initiate a fatal attack here!”

The magic knights and Hermes Guild members immediately resisted.

“What, Commander? Are you going to kill all of us?”

“It is the only way to stop them! Don’t say anything and just fight. There will be backlash if you disobey orders. And if you succeed then the rewards… Isn’t this amount of damage worth it if we can get Weed?”

“Damn.”

The urgent conversation was conducted through a shout, not a whisper.

Weed quickly noticed the situation.

Most organizations were willing to take some losses in order to achieve their goal.

‘The magic knights are planning to pour ranged magic attacks on us.’

Weed and Hestiger were in a densely concentrated area of the Haven Empire’s army. It was inappropriate to used ranged attacks here. The Haven Empire troops were widely spread in front of him. They were essentially hostages to the indiscriminate attacks.

However, Weed wasn’t the type of live peacefully if his life was at risk. In addition, the organization would sacrifice anything in order to preserve their own safety.

“Hestiger, he is your goal. Aim for that guy. Him!”

“I understand, Master!”

Weed and Hestiger simultaneously sprang towards Drom.

“Impossible. Rupture of the Corrupted Palace!”

The guard troops around the commander unleashed powerful arrows. However, Hestiger had an aura of lava around his body that just melted the arrows.

“Blink!”

Weed drifted through the attacks using the short distance teleportation.

He was able to appear beside some guards and quickly subdued them using the element of surprise.

Weed was then surrounded but Hestiger would arrive to sweep them all away.

“Dammit. They grasped the situation pretty quickly. Stop them no matter the cost! Catch them!”

Drom noticed their target and turned around to flee.

He was a commander of the Haven Empire but it was too difficult to deal with Hestiger and Weed at the same time. He didn’t want to fight a losing battle.

Drom had wanted to reproduce Bardray’s fight with the Abyss Knight. After finishing, he would emerge as a hero of the Earth Palace battle.

The mistake in his calculation was that Weed wasn’t like Van Hawk. He had overcome many situations in life and in Royal Road with dirty tricks. He also had Hestiger’s brute strength on his other side.

“Chase him.”

“Yes Master.”

“Break them all.”

“It isn’t hard!”

Weed and Hestiger collapsed the core of the 6th corps while chasing.

Every place they passed had fire burning. Drom was too fast and they soon escaped from the encirclement. In no time at all, Hestiger was far from the area where the northern users were fighting.

‘The weight on my body is gone. I can feel at ease and fight better.’

There was a deafening roar from the land behind them. The magic knights were aiming mortal attacks at them.

“What are you doing? We are on the same side…!”

Drom reprimanded his men but then realized he made a great mistake.

The ranged attack troops consisted of a lot of NPCs.

It was quite tricky to give freedom to subordinates. Instead of making decisions during the battle, they would obey orders first.

The Hermes Guild users stopped their attacks but the rest of the troops attacked.

The magic attacks fell from the sky and destroyed the magic knights that the 6th corps were the most proud of. And the wide range of the magic attacks caused the damage to expand even further.

Drom hurriedly issued a command to the magic unit.

“Cancel, cancel the attack!”

Weed and Hestiger came closer to him.

“Your destiny must be very good. Can I take a look at your hand?”

“Already?”

Drom turned and started to run again. A commander on the battlefield governed the military command and influenced morale.

If a command was captured or killed by the enemy then in the worst case situation, the army might dissolve. Even the Hermes Guild users would inevitably have a reduction in combat power.

Drom knew the importance of his position and fled.

“Defend the commander!”

“This savage dares challenge the Empire…”

The knights that jumped at Weed and Hestiger were defeated. Excellent Hermes Guild users gathered like flies but Hestiger was a blazing volcano. He was constantly spewing lava and repelling the enemies.

Hestiger wasn’t immortal. Despite the knights having the highest levels on the continent, he was the worst opponent they’ve faced.

In order to subdue the Abyss Knight Van Hawk, they had mobilized a lot of troops and planned a trap. But Weed and Hestiger didn’t make mistakes or engage in reckless behaviour.

The commanders other than Drom quickly noticed it.

‘Weed is coveted but… I will drop it for now.’

‘The Earth Palace is the main goal so getting rid of him will be the last resort.’

‘Even a strong individual can’t minimize the damage of an army.’

‘I hope he doesn’t come to my section. After from Hestiger, there is nothing specifically different in this war. Then we will surely win.’

Apart from Hestiger, the war wasn’t very difficult. Compared to the other commanders, Drom was too greedy. And now he was in a difficult situation.

However, Weed was still calmly analyzing the situation.

‘The commander of the 1st corps has put me in a disadvantageous situation. And there might be other commanders like this guy. Anyway, the Hermes Guild users can still command the troops.’

No matter what Weed did, the Haven Empire could quickly rebuild their army. Even Hestiger couldn’t win alone.

“Hestiger, chase after them moderately. And the magicians are the primary threat.”

“I understand. Master.”

“I feel bad but I will leave command of the army to you. You will be in charge of the entire war.”

“I have no complaints. Master has the ability to perceive the enemy’s weakness and give courage to people like me.”

“Hmm hmm.”

Weed coughed for a moment. It was strange to hear compliments from a hero he was jealous of.

“Then… Come, Phoenix!”

Weed yelled as a burst of red rose on the horizon. A red creature that was the manifestation of beauty.

Phoenix.

He had enormous health thanks to the unquenchable fire and was strengthened by the sacrifice of his four brothers.

Among Weed’s sculptural lifeforms, he was one of the strongest.

“Hukiaaaack!”

Phoenix’s appearance.

He was the sculptural lifeform that people tended to enjoy seeing the most. It was like a noisy apartment had come to the battlefield.

“It appeared! The sculptural lifeform!”

“Ohhhh! The phoenix that I saw on television!”

“Divine Advent! Greetings from the Fire Chicken Porridge unit.”

The northern users cheered. It was common for all the users to know the sculptural lifeforms.

“Let’s go.”

Weed jumped on Phoenix’s back. Usually he would avoid the heat but right now he was a chaos warrior.

He soared into the sky and could see the battlefield with one glance.

The avians were plaguing the Haven Empire while the northern users fought more aggressively. Individuals were fighting for their lives on the wide plains.

“The battlefield is so large that it is difficult to predict the orders.”

It was the largest scale Weed had even seen.

He felt the pride of commanding one side of the war. However, it was somewhat unsatisfactory since he was being invaded.

From the sky, he could see battles going on even in places far from the Earth Palace.

Flames and arrows were flying across the entire plains.

A grand spectacle.

Weed could feel the cold breeze on his face due to the disaster.

“Phoenix, go higher!”

“Yes, Master-nim.”

The tail of flames streamed behind as Phoenix rose upwards. A wider view of the land, rivers and mountains!

A total of 3 army corps were pushing through the northern users towards the Earth Palace. The users died in large numbers under the fearsome attacks of the Haven Empire.

The Haven Empire also seemed to have lost some troops. However, this number was small enough to be insignificant.

Any openings in the infantry were quickly filled. If 100 knights died then 200 more would take their place.

The rough march of a powerful army. The cavalry harassed the enemy and it seemed to only be a matter of time until the northern users collapsed. They fought fiercely but failed to stop the march of the Haven Empire’s army.

Weed’s eyes narrowed.

It wasn’t a bleak expression.

“The army of the Haven Empire is strong. But I still need to try. Preserving the Earth Palace but losing the war… That can’t happen.”

Weed spoke decisively.

“Today, all members of the Hermes Guild and soldiers of the Haven Empire in this place will die.”

Chapter 7: Tilting War

“Ready for battle, ready for battle!”

“Those gathered here are beginners. We couldn’t play a specific role in battle yet now we have to be ready for combat!”

“Have the archers gather at Turtle Rock. That is a good position to fire towards the bottom.”

“Battle supplies are needed. The consumable combat supplies are being sold for a low price. I’ll get some so go ahead and fight!”

Bart was confused on the premises of the Earth Palace.

Many people had climbed to a high terrain at the Earth Palace in order to watch the battle against the Haven Empire.

It was also common to have hundreds of thousands of users on the road going up the mountain.

But nearly half of the Haven Empire’s army was rapidly advancing towards the Earth Palace. They trampled on the northern users and arrived at the bottom of the mountain.

“Run away before it’s too late!”

“The users with no combat ability will be a hindrance so go down!”

The merchants and tourists came down from the Earth Palace but were diverted by the 4th division.

The Arpen Kingdom’s Royal Palace was built in the mountains so the commanders planned a joint attack.

The users present near the Earth Palace were forced to fight to the death.

“What is this? I don’t want to die for the palace.”

“Should I surrender? I am a supporter of the Hermes Guild living in the north. They are the original definition of strength.”

The users that didn’t want to fight revealed their intention to surrender.

Instrium who was the commander of the 4th division exclaimed.

“Being in the Earth Palace itself means that you intended to resist the Haven Empire. Don’t accept the surrender and kill everyone!”

A genocide operation!

The Haven Empire wanted to set an aggressive example with the Earth Palace.

“Kill them all!”

“Survivors or prisoners aren’t needed.”

The army of the Haven Empire slaughtered the northern residents and climbed the mountain.

“There is nowhere to escape.”

Bart couldn’t escape so he headed back to the Earth Palace. Those who wanted to just watch were forced to join the battle at the Earth Palace.

It was impossible to measure how many users were present inside and outside the Earth Palace as well as throughout the mountains.

“This way quickly! It is our heads at risk.”

“I have been waiting for these guys for a week but I am trembling now that they are here.”

They set up a wooden frame in order to pour boiling oil.

In contrast, the users gathered to prepare for the war were inspired. After the exits were blocked, the users chose to die fighting.

The knights and soldiers of the Haven Empire received continuous attacks as they made their way up the mountain. Arrows, magic and large chunks of rocks rolled towards them.

“Block them with your body and continue marching. Don’t dwell on minor damage.”

There was a friendly competition between the 3 divisions of the Haven Empire as they proceeded on the operation to assault the Earth Palace.

The knights and even the infantry carried swords and shields. Despite the soldiers becoming fatigued, the commanders were busy thinking about conquering the Earth Palace.

“Heh, I feel like I can kill 100 people alone.”

Pale stood on a wall of the Earth Palace. He was biting his lips as his arrow was pointed high in the sky.

“Scattering Land!”

The arrow that Pale shot soared vertically into the sky. The avians tried to dodge in surprise but it literally ran through their wings.

“Tweet tweet?”

Despite the arrow hitting the avian, there wasn’t any damage. The arrow that Pale shot flew up 400~500 metres before popping like fireworks.

More than 10 fireballs started falling towards the ground. The avians once against tried to avoid it but the fireballs just fell through their bodies and wings.

“Kyarururuk?”

It wasn’t until the fragments touched the ground that they exploded. This was a special arrow created by refining the aura of the land and was an advanced technique.

The other archers standing in a row on the palace walls with Pale also aimed arrows at the army.

The archers had held their position despite the war going on. Due to the nature of the terrain, there was no shortage of archers to defend the Earth Palace against invaders.

Among the northern users, there were hermits that came out of hiding.

“I’ve been solo for 34 years and today was the glorious day of my blind date. Interfering in relationships in Royal Road, I declare that this is a sin of the Haven Empire!”

“Come. I will clean up the dirty blood of the Central Continent!”

“I am an adventurer but I’ve never had a strong reputation. Other adventurers also have the same name. All those failed adventures, I will finally succeed today!”

There were users who enjoyed quietly hunting or adventuring alone. They liked the atmosphere of the north and happily built their lives here. Therefore, they also joined the fight.

The Earth Palace had the highest density of the best users with advanced skills.

The Haven Empire received unexpected damage when climbing the mountain but they still kept advancing. Their hearts were greedy for the achievements so they couldn’t withdraw here.

The Hermes Guild had been trained for endless battles. Despite the sacrifices in battle, they gained territory, loot and experience and the soldiers became more elite.

Even if there was a slight disadvantage, the leaders of the Hermes Guild wouldn’t retreat and only fought for their goals.

Then Weed appeared above the Earth Palace on Phoenix and yelled with Lion’s Roar.

“Army of the Arpen Kingdom, start the war!”

“For the glory of His Majesty!”

Weed earnestly started giving commands.

“Seville, the 5th army corps will be your responsibility!”

“Yes!”

The configuration of the Arpen Kingdom’s army became solid.

The knights of the north contained users and their skills were quite good. The knights and soldiers received training from the training centers along with the users in the north.

The desert warriors who were descendants of Iron-5  also created a separate unit.

The Arpen Kingdom had 5 rough army corps.

There was also Bingryong and the wyverns. They were sculptural lifeforms but were also like boss class monsters. Bingryong and Phoenix had high levels and were capable of wide aerial attacks.

The King Hydra was a monstrous beast with high health and was part of the defense corps.

Weed hurriedly conducted the 5 corps after arriving at the Earth Palace. Weed strongly yelled with Lion’s Roar.

“This place is the core of the north. Fight together to defeat the invaders!”

Naturally the northern users had an explosive reaction!

“Kkiyahu! Weed the God of War is with us!”

“We have your support. I will watch as a miracle occurs and I will return home alive.”

Weed gave a bitter smile as he watched the enthusiasm of the people. A great commander would give encouragement to the troops and not have them question him.

‘It is a really difficult battle. A miracle really needs to happen in order to protect the Earth Palace.’

Weed was a normal person.

The elite corps of the Haven Empire were coming towards the Earth Palace and they couldn’t be stopped.

This wasn’t a situation where tricks would win.

‘Well, I just have to do my best.’

Arrows and magic from the 1st corps flew towards the Earth Palace.

Ddiring!

– The memorials built at the Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom has absorbed the energy of the mountains and resisted the devastating attack.

96% of all ranged attacks have been blocked.

Health and vitality of the defense will increase up to 240% depending on their fame and loyalty.

Please note. If the memorials are destroyed or the stored energy depleted then the attack block rate will greatly reduce.

If the gates, iron towers and other structures are destroyed then no benefits will be given to the defensive side.

Despite the memorials blocking half of the ranged attacks, some of them struck the users. It couldn’t deal with the concentrated firepower of three corps of the Haven Empire.

“I knew it was right to change tactics today! My judgement was correct. If I continue advancing to the Earth Palace then Weed’s neck will be mine.”

Draka told the troops that their top priority was conquering the Earth Palace.

From the Hermes Guild’s viewpoint, there was no meaning in focusing on the Weed.

The frozen land hadn’t entirely melted yet and soldiers of the Haven Empire were dying but that had nothing to do with the military situation.

The northern users on the plains were trying to save the Earth Palace but they were blocked by two corps.

The users scattered over the wide plains were frustrated.

“Ah… How did this happen? The Earth Palace is a very important place.”

“Black Sesame Porridge unit, go over there.”

“Bean Porridge, Leek Porridge, Herb Porridge, Mugwort Porridge and Perilla Porridge, go to the rescue!”

“Bamboo Porridge unit, there is only one important thing right now. Prevent the Haven Empire from stepping foot in the Earth Palace. We will head towards the Earth Palace.”

The Grass Porridge Cult moved quickly. Initially the run of the large group of users was a success.

The former military experts in each unit issued commands depending on the battle. Even if such a command system wasn’t in place, a huge sea of users was charging towards the enemy.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– There are 39 unread emails.

“Hrmm, it is really bittersweet. What happened to my popularity when I used to reign over a part of the world?”

Carlise of the Black Lion Guild.

In reality, his name was Gao Degang and he was a Chinese person who operated a traditional store in Beijing.

In the Black Lion Guild’s peak, he had received thousands of emails a day. Many of them admired Carlise or asked to join the Black Lion Guild. When they belonged to the alliance with the Hermes Guild, they had received hundreds of applications a day.

However, all that interest disappeared after they lost the battle for supremacy of the continent. It had been a few days since he accessed the homepage of Royal Road and there was only 39 emails.

“It figures. They don’t care about anyone other than the Hermes Guild.”

The Black Lion Guild had scattered after their defeat.

Carlise bore the responsibility for the defeat and there were many internal conflicts among the users.

In its prime, the Black Lion Guild had up to 100,000 members but that situation soon changed and they scattered like sand.

Some of the former Black Lion Guild members hid like criminals on the continent while others joined the Hermes Guild. In the meantime, many wealthy people lived leisurely in resorts.

Sometimes he heard news from people who left for the north.

Gao Degang had nothing else to do so he clicked on the mailbox.

- Sender: Chewy Rice Cake

Carlise. This bastard, my resentment from the past…

- Sender: Ject

Are you doing well?

- Sender: Hekel

Hello. I am contacting you to join a quest.

- Sender: Bindel

I found information about a good hunting ground.

- Sender: Weed.

Hey, do you want to get revenge on the Haven Empire with me?

Gao Degang gazed at the top part where it said ‘Sender: Weed.’

“Don’t tell me… Weed?”

When he opened the email from Royal Road’s homepage, there was a sender with that name. Weed was the most common nickname.

“God of War Weed! He is showing off his skills at the Earth Palace. Overcoming the disadvantage and hammering against the Haven Empire.”

The television was broadcasting the northern war.

Once Weed appeared, it was guaranteed that the ratings would rise dramatically. The viewers showed an ecstatic reaction.

After Gao Degang saw it on television, he read the many posts that other users wrote on the homepage of Royal Road.

“Of course it isn’t Weed the God of War.”

After deleting the emails with grudges or abusive language, he would reply to the ones from the former Black Lion Guild members.

His cursor clicked on the email that said ‘Sender: Weed.’

“I don’t think it is true but I should read this mail.”

The title suggested it was a trick but he had time to waste.

But after a moment, Gao Degang felt his spirit become ice cold as he looked at the body of the mail.

When mail was sent from the homepage of Royal Road, the body of the mail would show the image of the character. The image that appeared in the mail was Weed.

He wore the Goddess’ Knight Armour and a variety of unique equipment obtained from quests.

“It really is Weed’s mail.”

Despite not meeting directly in the Melbourne Mine, he had watched the broadcast where Bardray defeated Weed. The users of the Black Lion Guild often watched videos of Weed’s battles.

It was understandable that they would pay considerable attention to Weed.

– Well, I will skip the greetings. Isn’t it a cliché to ask if you are living well?

As you know, the Haven Empire has sent troops to conquer the north. However, this story isn’t to ask for help…

Gao Degang was confused.

He didn’t know why Weed was sending an email to him.

In fact, he thought it would be a proposal to participate in the northern war. By the time he read the email, it would be far too late for him to play a big role in the war.

In its prime, the Black Lion Guild was the 2nd best power.

In the past, the users would gather together to control whole regions or hunt dungeons. There was a proposal to go to the north together before the guild was disbanded.

Of course, Gao Degang wouldn’t take part in the northern war without any benefits.

– The Hermes Guild users will eat up the Versailles Continent if left alone.

Just wait and gather your power.

A chance will come to completely shake the Haven Empire.

A lion will be able to hunt wounded wolves.

The specifics will be told after the northern war is won.

The email ended there.

“Weed… Are you really not giving up?”

Gao Degang thought out loud.

After being defeated by the Hermes Guild, the prestigious guilds had disappeared. Despite being the God of War, he was amazed that Weed hadn’t given up yet.

“Even so, the war can’t be won with just his heart.”

Gao Degang’s gaze turned towards the television.

Many stations were broadcasting the northern war. Each channel showed that he was at a disadvantage in the war.

Helpless!

The Haven Empire were slaying users and going up towards the Earth Palace. The users trapped at the Earth Palace weren’t defending well.

The allied forces had more favourable circumstances and were perfectly defeated. Gao Degang thought there was nothing that could be done.

“It is impossible. But if this is somehow reversed… Everything might be different.”

The situation ahead couldn’t be seen at all.

But if the Haven Empire was defeated even once then the myth of the Hermes Guild would be shaken.

“He wouldn’t have sent this email to only me. Will I see confusion on the Versailles Continent once again?”

The Hermes Guild was unbeatable. Countless enemies of the Haven Empire shed tears of humiliation.

Weed intended to create a new myth while pulling these people together under one banner. Or to use the confusion to gather their forces.

“The Hermes Guild is sure to win. I can’t think of anything else. Can Weed really reverse this situation? It is questionable but… It would be huge if it is possible.”

Gao Degang showed a renewed interest in the northern war.

He hated to admit it but Weed, the God of War, might really upset expectations. If he could stop the conquest of the Haven Empire then a big change could happen.

“I have to look at it properly. Don’t let me down.”

Gao Degang turned to the television and increased the volume. Other users had already read Weed’s email.

Roam of the Roam Guild, Gunter of the Lion Star Guild, Michel of the Black Sword Mercenaries and Sherwood of the Cloud Guild.

The losers who once dominated the continent.

They watched the northern war through a crystal ball in a shabby tavern in Royal Road. The taste of beer in Royal Road far outpaced reality.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The user Penchel was gasping for breath in the north.

‘War is war.’

He was similar to ordinary users when he first started in Royal Road. He started Royal Road without knowing his aptitude or dream profession.

From the moment he felt exhausted in Royal Road like a hamster in a spinning wheel, it was like a new world had opened.

Everything from the winds, sea, sand, textures, smells and panoramic view of the meadows made him happy.

‘A fresh world where others haven’t been.’

He had started in Morata and became a resident of the north from day one. He dreamed of prospering in the Arpen Kingdom.

Initially users couldn’t stray far from Morata. So he didn’t choose a profession that resided in the city like a blacksmith or tailor.

Penchel didn’t necessarily want to run around the world on adventures.

Despite the large cities on the Versailles Continent, nothing could compare to the Northern Continent in his mind.

‘The knights. They are roaming around on horseback. Defending the weak.’

He raised his level and combat skills from hunting and dungeons near Morata.

He wasn’t limited by profession and could learn warrior combat skills. After learning warrior skills, he became a knight.

Penchel travelled through the north with adventurers and merchants as a knight. Sometimes he would defend villages against the threat of monsters.

He had joined the Grass Porridge Cult since the early days so it was understandable that he would come to the Earth Palace.

‘The Arpen Kingdom was built on a wilderness. This is the fruit of many people’s efforts.’

Those who started in Morata had complete loyalty to the north.

Even so, the users were well aware of their limits. If they fought one on one with a Hermes Guild users then they would die so they targeted the stragglers.

“Hat!”

Penchel ran to one Imperial soldier and successfully defeated them with six attacks. The large steel shield used by the Haven Empire was dropped as loot.

He felt a thrill through his body.

‘Strong. But I’ve used too much mana. It would be cool if I could win with just three attacks.’

His short breaths made him more nervous.

‘I’m not alone. In order to protect the Arpen Kingdom, I must kill even one more.’

Penchel only rested for a brief moment before looking for the next opponent.

Weed stood at the main gate of the Earth Palace. A aura of radiant fire was blazing around his body and he was the envy of millions of users.

“Weed, the knight Randemir has sent you a challenge.”

“As King of the Arpen Kingdom, I’ve heard vague things about you. I’ll settle this with you.”

“I enjoy killing… But you are just one dot!”

A large number of Haven Empire troops rushed out towards Weed.

They were figures with levels 450, 460 or 470. Hestiger wasn’t there so they had confidence in facing Weed. The mounts were ridden over obstacles towards Weed.

However, Weed wasn’t alone.

The barbarian warrior Bahamorg!

The strongest warrior who led the sculptural lifeforms was beside Weed. He was even escorted by high level users of the north.

The avians led by Golden Bird and Silver Bird flew around in order to give Weed support. The Hermes Guild users were removed one by one.

He lost a significant amount of levels in the quest but Weed wasn’t badly weakened by it. His stats were supplemented by his adventures and he defeated Hermes Guild members wearing brilliant armour.

The morale of the northern users were raised by Weed!

Penchel stared at him with eyes full of envy.

‘One day I will be able to fight like that. I want to become stronger in areas other than the north.’

Penchel had a similar mind to the other northern users.

Included in those users was Bart.

‘So many people are following him. His influence in Royal Road is really amazing.’

An uproar was taking place among the users. In some cases, the users even pretended to die in front of Weed.

As a plain merchant, Bart didn’t even dare approach the King of the Arpen Kingdom. Just the fact that he knew Weed was enough.

Of course, many people wouldn’t believe his words.

‘Although my daughter is too good…’

Bart stood next to a pillar and watched his combat capabilities. The Hermes Guild users just passed by him since Weed had a higher priority than a plain merchant.

Then Weed and Bart’s eyes suddenly met.

“Eh?”

“W-Weed?”

Distant voices could be heard. Weed’s gaze was soon blocked by the Hermes Guild members.

Bart was humbled.

‘I will pretend ignorance.’

He was embarrassed that he wasn’t wearing the expensive outfit of a merchant.

Chapter 8: Collapsing Royal Palace

“I belong to the Aren Knights…”

“I won’t remember so just bring it on!”

Weed got rid of random Hermes Guild users.

Generally speaking, the users had excellent attack and defense skills. Their high levels made them difficult opponents but this was the Earth Palace.

Additional effects of defense and health were granted by the Red Star and the chaos warrior was a highly mobile species.

“Blink!”

He would teleport from time to time.

The Hermes Guild users were priority targets as he looked around. Killing Weed would gain the highest achievements so many excitedly jumped at him.

Weed looked down the mountain while fighting.

Hestiger was still chasing the 6th corps. The commander had escaped but the elite troops and Hermes Guild users had been wiped out by Hestiger.

The chain of command of the 6th corps collapsed and morale dropped as the northern users fought them.

The 5 army corps of the Arpen Kingdom and the sculptural lifeforms were in the centre. The ability of the sculptural lifeforms were superior and they fought the humans.

“We will live a long life, gol gol gol!”

“It is good to roll cow shit around the fields, omooooo. Master tells me it will be an honourable death. Rubs and sirloin that will melt in the mouth.”

Weed’s sculptural lifeforms gave support by attacking.

The indomitable King Hydra devoured humans on the ground while Bingryong flew in the sky. The users trembled with fear whenever Bingryong flew over them.

The various sculptural lifeforms like Cerberus, Death Worm, Crocodile and White Tiger used their skills.

And the renamed Muksabal Knights that contained Geomchi and the students. They used any weapons as they roughly stalked the battlefield. They took the horses away from the opponent and rode them.

Weapons like swords, spears and axes were used to break through. Their practical skills were displayed and helped improve the morale around them.

In the meantime, the 2nd corps of the Haven Empire displayed amazing maneuverability and climbed up to the Earth Palace. The Haven Empire planned to plant their flag at the Earth Palace.

But it was important to defend the Earth Palace so the northern users died en masse.

The 1st corps advanced quickly and arrived 500 metres away from the central gates of the Earth Palace. The knights were instantly at a distance where they could assault.

Weed thought about it.

‘It is really risky. However, it is still lacking. Draw in a lot more. Lure them well.’

The Haven Empire’s army was drawn here. Weed had appeared at the Earth Palace. That act itself was enough to trick the enemy. More tactics were required. The other party needed to move properly.

The opponent’s fighting spirit was high.

“The goal is there!”

“Weed is a high goal but he is nothing compared to the Earth Palace.

“Faster! 1st corps, push forward. Ignore the knights and charge!”

The 3rd and 4th corps fought urgently.

The Earth Palace was built on several mountain peaks. It was a palace in the shape of a crown that overlooked the heart of the north.

The lower areas of the mountains were covered with Haven Empire troops. There was at least 900,000 of them.

Of course, they came to invade the Earth Palace but more than half the power was concentrated on the mountains. The heavy infantry, knights and elite troops relentlessly increased the speed of the invasion.

“Is this luck? My house has a little less decorations. A person’s life doesn’t have the possibility of eating day by day. I can’t catch up with the fate of a son of a rich man. “

The world couldn’t be seen as being equal. If Weed needed to tell his child about modern society then he would say.

“Son, studying isn’t everything in life but you need to do it if you aren’t the child of a rich man. Shouldn’t you find a way to live?”

Regarding the issue of love.

“A woman is money. Without money, it is hard to love. Marriage… Me? I, um…”

Weed intended to get married with Seo-yoon. In fact, they had become close so it was natural to think of marrying Seo-yoon in the future.

“I want to meet a woman with lots of money. Dating secrets? Just be prepared for unconditional damage. Eventually it might be solved with common sense. Well, it is a good analogy. Isn’t it like winning the lottery?”

Many people dreamed of reversing their lives after winning the lottery but a win was truly rare. The rarity made it like a story.

“Grrrruk!”

Weed fought even while thinking. Users that jumped at him with courage and pride were killed in a few moves. Even if his level was low, Weed had superior stats and combat skills from his adventures.

In particular, he had high vitality and health from Sculptural Destruction and the priests healed him as well.

As the enemies approached, more Hermes Guild users broke ranks in order to strike him.

The commanders could prevent this but they didn’t.

‘I don’t know if they will die or not. The higher levels are difficult to manage.’

‘If their deaths can prevent Weed from running away…’

The commander of the 1st corps, Draka was close enough to see his face.

The flowers that bloomed were crushed as the knights on horseback rode through the market filled with players.

Draka exclaimed with joy.

“Weed the God of War! This is the place where you will die. I’ll kill you cleanly!”

Despite how busy the area was, the knights rode out wildly. There were at least 10,000 knights followed by elite troops.

“This! It is wrong.”

“Fight until the end. We will as well.”

Millions of users were at the Earth Palace but many of them had already given up hope. But from Weed’s point of view, the knights of the Haven Empire were like caught fish.

Weed had a rotten smile on his face.

‘They took it well. At a minimum, they won’t be able to get away. And in order to inflict significant damage to more corps, I need to pull them in deeper… Should I buy a little time here? It might be suspicious.”

Distrust popped up in Weed’s mind.

‘Are they really going to trust me? My life has never been honest or straight.’

The Earth Palace was the symbol of the Arpen Kingdom so people weren’t thinking rationally.

‘Now is a good time. My behaviour needs to seem like I am desperately protecting the gates. I need to make sure my friends are acting the same way.’

The number of northern users still fighting was enormous. However, the military situation meant there were doubts that they could protect the Earth Palace.

In order to trap the Hermes Guild users, he needed to give the feeling that he was doing his best.

‘In situations like this, it would be better to flee…’

However, Weed needed to stay here in order to draw the Haven Empire in deeper.

Pabababak!

The thoughts in Weed’s head started to accelerate. The tricks that allowed him to live in any poor environment or unfavourable circumstances!

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“Avians, listen to me! Right now the Earth Palace is in a crisis!”

The fierce battle cry rang through the battlefield. All the northern users and avians listened to Weed. Many users at the top of the mountains and on the plains also heard it.

“The Haven Empire is indiscriminately killing. The avians will save all those without combat skills trapped in the Earth Palace!”

A rescue command!

The Haven Empire was harshly attacking every person they saw.

The users on the plains cheered.

“It really is Weed-nim!”

“The Arpen Kingdom’s belief is to protect the weak!”

“Grass Porridge Cult, we will fight until the end!”

Whether the war was favourable or unfavourable, the northern users were determined to fight.

“Jjaejaejaek!”

The avians few to the Earth Palace at Weed’s command.

“Are you really going to save me? You won’t drop me?”

“I’m afraid of heights… Don’t take me. I’ll just die here. Aaaack!”

“I have nothing to lose. Ask the other people.”

The avians started to forcibly rescue merchants and tourists.

Weed used Lion’s Roar again.

“Haven Empire troops, I encourage you to attack me without killing the northern residents!”

The blazing Weed wielded the Red Star in front of the gates. The flames spread out widely. It was an attitude that showed he was willing to rescue the people inside the Earth Palace.

The crowd thought Weed was acting really heroically but those who knew him personally didn’t believe it.

Pale glanced at him while shooting arrows from the walls.

‘Is he trying to gain money from them? Charging them one by one… This situation doesn’t seem like that. Then is he trying to relieve his accumulated stress?’

His actions when people were dying really caused doubt! But the act was enough for the Hermes Guild members.

As King of the Arpen Kingdom, it was natural for Weed to take care of the residents. Seeing Weed act so nicely caused them to have stomachaches.

“A full force assault!”

“Twilight Knights, engage in battle! And magicians, pour out attacks towards the avians. Infantry, bypass the walls. Seize the Earth Palace at the same time!”

“Scramble!”

The strongest army launched an assault against Weed’s Earth Palace. The magic units aimed towards the users escaping with the avians.

Dududududu!

The knights and soldiers started their assault on the Earth Palace.

Weed and the other northern users grabbed their weapons in defense. They wouldn’t regret it even if it was their final moments. They were honoured to protect the Earth Palace along with Weed.

The gentle smile on Weed’s face turned into a deeper, rotten smile.

The 1st corps had clearly been lured in.

‘Their goal is in front of them but they will die here.’

Weed understood the goal of the Twilight Knights.

“Throw!”

The knights fiercely threw spears towards Weed. It was a situation that might have been fate.

“Blink!”

Weed appeared in the vicinity of the leader of the Twilight Knights. He wielded the Red Star against the enemy.

“Wrath of Fire!”

“Kueok!”

A pillar of fire occurred where the knight was and there was nothing left. The knights around him collapsed and had their health and mana decreased.

The Red Star and Chaos Warrior was a very good combination in a war. It was also the reason why many magicians specialized in fire magic.

“Bahamorg, follow me.”

“Understood.”

Bahamorg had a big axe in his right hand and a mace in his left hand that he used to defeat the knights while following.

The knights kept jumping at them as they moved through the battlefield. I could safely ignore the attacks. The knights were strategically sacrificed.

“Follow Weed-nim!”

The northern users sprang towards the Twilight Knights. It was like throwing an egg against a rock but they could slow down the knights a little bit.

“Kuweeeee-!”

The surprisingly clear cry of an eagle could be heard.

The warriors of the avian clan had arrived and was dealing powerful damage from the sky. Some rescued the users while others pecked at the Twilight Knights.

The other corps were advancing towards the Earth Palace without worrying. A fierce battle took place between the warriors and the northern defense in an attempt to secure the gates.

Draka watched the battle with sober eyes.

Weed and Bahamorg were holding up well against the Twilight Knights. The frenzied flames caused the onslaught from the knights to become obsolete.

Weed efficiently dealt with the users of the Hermes Guild. A significant amount of time had passed since facing Bardray in the Melbourne Mine and he had grown.

His attack power was certainly only one or two steps below Bardray.

Despite the users belonging to the top ranked Hermes Guild, their lives were easily taken in the battle. Although, Draka was sure that he could win in a one on one confrontation.

Weed was just very hard to catch due to the characteristics of Blink. Several times he had been hit due to teleporting to the wrong place.

‘I will wait until he loses a little bit of his power. I will proceed to conquer the Royal Palace first.’ Weed was fleeing so he decided to take over the Arpen Kingdom’s palace.

Draka gave the command as soon as he made the decision.

“Leave the 2nd to 10th cavalry to fight Weed. The rest of the 1st corps will head to the Royal Palace to conquer it.”

“Yes!”

The 1st corps bypassed the area and joined the battle to conquer the palace grounds. There were facilities like a moat and archer’s tower but they were prepared for such things. Those with even the slightest fighting ability fought with all their hearts.

“The 3rd division has arrived. If we conquer the Royal Palace then we will receive significant achievements!”

“The 4th corps has launched their attack. A crisis. They are heading straight through the defense.”

A wide engagement occurred on the grounds of the Earth Palace. By default, it was difficult to get reinforcements from the other peaks. Quite a significant number of users rushed towards the gates.

It was the worst, desperate situation!

“It is over now…”

The northern users saw the death and destruction of the Arpen Kingdom. On the other hand, the Hermes Guild were convinced of their victory.

Either way, the first ones through the gate would seize the empty Royal Palace.

“Break through!”

Draka continued pushing his mounted troops towards the Royal Palace. The northern users fell under the relentless assault and the gates opened wide.

“Go!”

“The 1st corps will conquer the Royal Palace!”

Some troops were left in charge of the users while the rest entered the palace. The looting of the palace started.

Weed and the northern users were surrounded by enemies so they were forced to watch helplessly

The northern users felt terrible.

“It is the end.”

“Ahh, all the stones I carried through here.”

“I even carried stones 73 times.”

The users who participated directly in the construction of the Earth Palace were even sadder.

Weed’s eyes sharpened.

‘The avians have rescued half the civilians.’

The remaining were spectators who he didn’t care if they were killed or not.

‘A considerable number of defense troops were killed. They didn’t fight in an organized manner.’

The northern users couldn’t survive the massacre.

‘Now.’

While the battle was going on inside and outside the Earth Palace, Weed sent a whisper to someone.

– Commence the operation. Don’t hesitate and commit to it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Gaston and Pavo were drinking heavily in the middle of the day. The architects of Stone Hammer sitting next to them were also drunk.

“How can he suggest that? Breaking down the building I made with my own hands.”

“Forget it. It is better than allowing those guys to have it.”

“Whenever I close my eyes, the memory of Alkazar Bridge is still sharp. The elegant bridge that connected the north and the south…! Can we have such a bridge again?”

It was the fruit of the architect’s hard work.

The Alkazar Bridge they were so proud of collapsed so it was natural for the architects to be upset.

A grand building that they planned and created with the efforts of thousands of people. Fortunately it gave a significant blow to the Haven Empire but their hearts were still bitter.

“Kuohh, this is the taste of wine.”

“I need to drink.”

Gaston and Pavo held their drinks with trembling hands.

The Alkazar Bridge incident had already happened but Pavo was acting like this now. This was a huge event that couldn’t even compare to the Alkazar Bridge.

Weed had contacted the architect Pavo separately. The words spoken made Pavo doubt his ears.

“R…really? I heard the wrong thing…”

“No.”

“Tell me again.”

“Please destroy the Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“If you don’t like the building then we can just repair it.”

“That’s not what I mean. I want you to completely destroy the entire Royal Palace.”

“A joke?”

“Do you think eating barley bread is an expensive joke?”

“….”

Pavo heard the specific plan from Weed.

His strategy was to destroy the Earth Palace once the Haven Empire had occupied it.

“Will it be worth it? Once it is destroyed, the palace can’t be recovered.

“It is the taste of eating tonkatsu. It is worth it if we can kill those guys.”

“I would rather die than surrender to the Haven Empire but…”

“Is there a way of reliably doing it?”

“Well, we have an architect that is experienced in collapsing buildings. Time is running out but if you are already committed to bringing down the Alkazar Bridge…”

The architects had techniques to collapse buildings. After constructing a great building, it was natural for several to develop this skill.

Of course, using the skill also required several supports to be weakened in advance. Essential parts of the building needed to be prepared or it might not collapse properly.

The architects responsible for the Royal Palace knew every hidden part like the back of their own hand.

“It needs to collapse to deal the maximum damage to the occupation forces.”

“That won’t be hard to do. Due to the nature of the Earth Palace that was built on several peaks, if one comes crashing down then the others will as well.”

“The problem is the time and costs involved in breaking the palace. It needs to exert the maximum destructive force.”

“If the building collapses then the Hermes Guild will move. There is a need to stop them.”

“The Earth Palace is on the mountains. We can use those points.”

“Don’t tell me… You want to use the collapsing palace to create landslides.”

“If it is possible.”

“There is enough material at the palace to create a landslide. Although the architects are working on Alkazar Bridge, I might be able to have the miners work on the ground…”

“Please.”

“You are really scary. Not anyone would think of this choice of action.”

“I just want to get my money’s worth.”

Pavo’s face became morose as he remembered his conversation with Weed. The architects moved to implement the plan to smash the Royal Palace.

The miners and architects worked secretly on a large project in the north at the same time.

“I-I am disappointed. But we have do it.”

“Should we weaken half the land underneath the palace? If we crash the tunnels with care at a later date… There are minerals but the pickaxes can dig through them.”

The architects had to worry about insulation, heating and waterproofing and some of the continent’s best architects were gathered in the north.

Mibullo had joined the north after envying their freedom and meticulously designed nests for the avians. He was an architecture so he could guess the nature by the results.

He decided to join after hearing the plan to stop the Haven Empire.

“…A terribly drastic plan. Just thinking of the results would cause goose bumps. By the way, I have some skills to increase the certainty of the plan.”

“Really? Excuse me, could I know the name of the skill?”

“Landslide, Ground Collapse.”

“That is exactly the skill that we need. How did an architect obtain such great skills?”

“It is a secondary skill associated with architects but it wasn’t easy to obtain them.”

“Hmm, Mibullo-nim is really great.”

“I didn’t think these skills would be so influential when I learned them. I didn’t know there would be such a huge impact.”

“Then it seems a problem has been solved.”

Pavo immediately reported it to Weed for permission.

At the time, Weed said.

“That’s great. I will make them pay dearly for the value of the Royal Palace. The scale seems to be larger than I expected. I will definitely hit them in the back of the head.”

So the architects secretly worked on the Earth Palace.

Effort was dedicated to weaken the supports of the Earth Palace. Once it started collapsing, the chain reaction would spread to cause a landslide and the ground to collapse. The words Pavo feared were heard.

– Commence the operation.

The moment he heard that whisper.

“Kuohh, in the end it is like this.”

Pavo whispered to the linked architects.

– Let’s get started. I’ve received contact from him.

– Understood. In the end…

– The Royal Palace has been invaded. Sweep out the dogs of the Haven Empire.

The architects immediately received reports about the fight.

Pavo pulled out a miniature of the Earth Palace. Architectural models when it came to collapsing buildings.

“Eh, it is over. Building Collapse!”

Pavo struck the model of the Earth Palace. He couldn’t bear watch the situation.

– Skill, Building Collapse has been used.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Hestiger was the Hero who Saved the World.

He directly knocked down the 6th corps completely.

The knights that came to rescue the commander Drom were defeated. He also fired arrows at the commander.

He took out those chasing in the blink of an eye with his scimitar before taking out his bow and arrows.

Desert warriors were adept in archery.

He looted the high elf’s ‘Forest Clear Echoing Spirit Bow’ from a fairly strong Hermes Guild user. The bows of the high elves were known for their power so it wreaked havoc. Accuracy, range, rapid fire and elemental enchantments made it a top bow among high elves.

In Hestiger’s hands, it flew with the speed of lightning and killed the target.

If Weed saw that bow then he would be rushed to the emergency room of the hospital with acute gastroenteritis.

“Kyahh! Hestiger-nim, have strength!”

“Omo, look at his smile!”

Hestiger was followed by a group of female humans and avians.

In the meantime!

The female avians with sharp beaks and wide eyes joined the group.

The knights and soldiers of the 6th corps were almost all wiped out by Hestiger and the northern users.

“Use all your power. Believe in Master. We can overcome this.”

Hestiger’s body emitted fierce flames everywhere. Lava occurred everywhere he passed.

A river of lava.

Those who touched the lava would explode.

One of the top skills of a desert warrior! In order to get the skill, they had to visit a volcano spewing lava and go through a special ceremony.

Weed didn’t have the time to learn the skill so he made Hestiger go and learn it.

Once the river of lava sprang up, it was impossible to cross and the army were separated. The aura of flames emitted by a desert warrior could also strengthen health recovery and skills.

Weed had spent many days as the ruler of the desert. Although particular skills could be learned through quests or mentors, he didn’t bother.

Hestiger’s flames continued dealing huge damage to the Haven Empire’s army. The blazing flames maximized the damage.

The soldiers standing in a row were destroyed by the fire. Even the knights couldn’t approach without dying.

One of the strongest heroes in the warring period had showed up in current times to assault the Haven Empire.

Drom fled to the area of the 2nd corps but Hestiger eventually caught up.

“This is the end. All knights should welcome death.”

“Weed, that wicked and wily guy hid such despicable means…”

“Do not insult the Great Emperor. He is noble and holy.”

“Hah.”

Drom crossed his arms in anger. A monster like this had showed up but he was the absolute spiritual slave of Weed.

“To me!”

Drom desperately called the knights of the 2nd corps to him.

“End of the Day!”

Hestiger’s greater skill destroyed Drom and the knights. Drom was a significant opponent but his health had been constantly reduced while escaping.

And since then, the goal of the 2nd corps changed to Hestiger.

The rapid mobility and powerful penetration meant the 2nd corps was one of the worst enemies on the battlefield.

But the really important battle was occurring at the Earth Palace!

“Ahh, it is too late.”

“They already broke through the gates. There is no way.”

The northern users that wanted to save the Earth Palace thought it was over. The grounds and mountains of the Earth Palace was filled with the Haven Empire.

Durururururu!

Kukukukukung!

All of a sudden, there was a deafening roaring sound.

They looked up at the ringing sound and saw the Earth Palace visibly shaking.

The battle stopped for a moment. The gaze of the northern users and Haven Empire were fixed on the Earth Palace.

They could see the palace on the mountain peaks collapsing badly. Although it couldn’t compare to the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace, the palace buildings that occupied a considerable area was shattered.

“No way. Does this make any sense?”

“It doesn’t.”

“But it is amazing.”

“Kuwaaaaah!”

Trion started screaming.

Trion was cowardly.

He had gained that title after escaping and leaving his colleagues behind in a dungeon. No matter how much he raised his level since then, he never escaped the title of a coward.

Trion shouted as soon as the ground started shaking.

“I don’t want to die againnnnnn!”

He still had memories of dying after falling from Alkazar Bridge. The strong bridge shook before crashing.

He felt a similar feeling from the Earth Palace.

The peaks were shaking. The slabs that the Royal Palace rested on shook while the pillars and ceiling fell.

“The building is collapsing!”

The 1st, 3rd and 4th corps could hear the screams of Trion.

“What? What? An earthquake?”

“Draka-nim, the Earth Palace seems to be collapsing.”

The Hermes Guild users could feel the tremors as well. They could see some large buildings falling.

“Did they choose to destroy this to prevent our conquest?”

“I think so. If so, it is unfortunate that we didn’t get to conquer it ourselves.”

“Anyway, the result is still that the Royal Palace is thoroughly destroyed.”

The Hermes Guild users felt regret like a rabbit had fled right in front of them.

Then Weed exclaimed.

“All avians stop fighting and rescue the people! Seek at least 1 person!”

Draka felt a chill run down his body.

“What?”

It was understandable if Weed didn’t want to give them the Earth Palace. However, it didn’t make sense to have the avians stop fighting in order to embark on a rescue mission.

Draka: Something isn’t right. Commanders, report the situation.

Persione:  I’m 100 metres away from the inner gates. The buildings are crumbling.

Chaker:  I am approximately 400 metres inside. The paths that lead to the palace’s central buildings are blocked. I see the 3rd corps.

Sirbat:  I’ve penetrated beyond the walls. It is difficult to determine the exact location because of the buildings. I’ve found the 4th corps! The commander Instrium. He has entered the Royal Palace.

Draka brought a significant number of troops but stayed in the vicinity of the gates in order to handle Weed. That’s why he couldn’t visually see the situation that was happening.

But the reports coming in succession were enough to cause an electrifying feeling.

He understood that the Earth Palace was being destroyed.

Whenever a war was won in the Central Continent, the palace would be thoroughly defaced and burned by the invaders. In fact, most forces wouldn’t just turn over their palace.

‘Is this because our troops are coming?’

Draka felt sweat flow down his body from the excessive stress.

His opponent was Weed, the God of War!

They made it all the way here so they absolutely had to win.

‘Is it really just the Royal Palace breaking?’

The doubts grew stronger as he felt the vibration in the earth.

‘Not good. My judgement here isn’t wrong.’

Draka cried out in a loud voice.

“Full retreat! 1st, 3rd and 4th corps, retreat down the mountain!”

The call of the commander in chief!

Puhihihihing!

The horses of the Haven Empire freaked out. The soldiers could also feel the ringing of the earth.

The evacuation of the troops should be done systematically. The other troops could only retreat when the rear troops quickly went down the mountain.

However, the rear troops were quickly rushing towards the Earth Palace. Now the command had suddenly switched to a retreat.

“What the, we came all the way up here…”

“Is the 1st corps trying to monopolize all the achievements? Even if the palace collapsed, they can still plant the flag.”

The Hermes Guild users were frantic to boost their achievements. The 1st corps were trying to snatch an important moment in the northern conquest war so they couldn’t accept the unreasonable command.

They couldn’t help feeling that the withdrawal order was to benefit the 1st division.

They identified through their own resources that Weed could only cause a disaster once. While they were hesitating, the collapse occurred quicker.

A huge chain of dust rose from the falling buildings. The accommodation for the knights, banquet rooms and central palace all collapsed sequentially.

And an earthquake took place as the buildings touched the ground. The Royal Palace crumbling caused the ground to collapse and a landslide occurred.

The mountain ridiculously tilted on one side.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

The debris from the Earth Palace rolled down the slope.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

The overwhelming spectacle of a landslide! A number of users, elite Haven Empire knights and carriages were swept down with the rocks.

“Jjaejaejaek!”

The avians launched a desperate rescue.

“Ahh, save me! I’ve haven’t finished paying off the loan for my shack in Morata!”

“White Radish Porridge unit that has a long history in the Grass Porridge Cult, die here with honour!”

The dust rose up more than 1 metre so the avians’ field of vision was limited. A burly person was caught by the claws and flown upwards.

“I really thought I was going to die but I barely survived. Thank you for saving me.”

“Jjorororong!”

“The Haven Empire dared use such dirty methods…”

“Caww!”

Chwiririk!

“Uaaaack! Don’t let go!”

The avians bravely continued their rescue operation.

Walls and wooden pillars were crashing down. Feathers turned grey from the dust but they still continued flying. A few northern users were quickly rescued.

“Blink!”

Weed instantly moved onto Phoenix’s back. Phoenix was just like a taxi.

And the mountain started crumbling.

Several of the mountains holding the Earth Palace started experienced landslides and falling rocks. The collapsing Royal Palace also accelerate the destruction.

“My valuable money…”

Weed swallow tears of blood.

For the sake of the Arpen Kingdom, the luxurious Royal Palace was built. But it was hard to find any traces of it after just a few weeks.

“My real estate, it is like my real estate is falling… These days many people are suffering due to the fall in housing prices.”

The Earth Palace completely disappeared down the mountains. A serious crisis that no one could stop.

The landslide and rock collapse didn’t have a lot of power on its own. It was significantly influenced by the terrain.

The mountains could withstand the heavy load of the Earth Palace. However, the architects and miners had previously weakened it.

Thanks to that, the scale of the landslide and crumbling palace became larger.

Weed was looking over the devastated ground when he saw Draka.

“……”

He had been near the gates so it was impossible for him to survive. The rocks collapsing in the immediate vicinity meant instant death.

To Draka, the conquest of the north by the Haven Empire was more precious than his own life. Honour, power and money. He could enjoy all those things even if he died.

Weed spoke some words towards him.

“This is life. It isn’t a big deal to start again.”

Chapter 9: Haven Empire’s Misfortune

A message window flashed in front of all users in the vicinity of the Arpen Royal Palace.

Ddiring!

– The Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom has been destroyed due to war and disaster.

The Earth Palace was the capital of the kingdom and all buildings have been destroyed.

The local politics has deteriorated.

The morale of the troops has weakened.

The residents’ loyalty to the kingdom has reduced.

Security has weakened and rebels might emerge. The demand of a specific region or species to separate from the kingdom is likely to increase.

Smart monsters will invade the frontier villages of the kingdom.

A recession might occur, causing the economic power to reduce.

The tax rate will be temporarily reduced.

The confusion inside the kingdom will have 0% influence on the surrounding areas.

The construction of 14 planned Grand Buildings in the Arpen Kingdom has been delayed.

69 villages have strayed away from the kingdom.

Cultural expansion is temporarily stopped and the cultural influence in other areas might lost its effect.

The quest rewards for the Arpen Kingdom won’t be paid normally or will be cancelled.

There was an enormous disadvantage due to the palace collapsing.

While the northern users were reading the long sentences, the 1st, 3rd and 4th corps had been destroyed by the palace.

“Aaaack! It makes no sense!”

“The best! I was expecting a reversal like this!”

The users on the plains shouted with joy.

The Hermes Guild and Haven Empire’s army was confused. Their goal of destroying the Royal Palace was achieved but they fell into a collective panic.

The northern users had been reduced by half but there was still an enormous amount remaining. The collapse of the Earth Palace hadn’t ended the battle but the advantage was with the northern users.

“Kill all those who dared invade the north!”

“We have received this in exchange for losing the Earth Palace.”

“Kill in the name of Grass Porridge!”

The morale of the northern users rose.

Aspects of the war had completely changed. Somehow the dramatic change in attitude allowed them to sweep away the army of the Haven Empire.

The timely collapse of the Earth Palace was enough to tilt the advantage so the north could win the war.

‘This can’t be.’

‘This is far enough. We can’t remain here.’

‘This gap. I must be faster than the others. I need to sneak away.’

The clever Hermes Guild members had already escaped. The northern users continued fighting but it was a one-sided battle.

Users encroached from all sides towards the Haven Empire troops.

The 2nd and 5th corps hadn’t been wiped out yet but the enemy was arriving from every direction. They struggled while being surrounded by the northern users.

In addition, Hestiger was still displaying his power on the battlefield as his flames killed 3~4 at a time.

Weed, who was riding Phoenix, used Lion’s Roar while soaring into the sky.

“They are a delicious meal set up for everyone! Arpen Kingdom, don’t miss this chance! Don’t hesitate and go after the delicious taste!”

His mood was twisted since the destruction of the Royal Palace. He gave the command to attack the remaining army of the Haven Empire.

The flow of the situation was against them so the Haven Empire’s army seemed weak. They were weak compared to the early days of the battle.

“This is… It really is a presented meal.”

“I will have a spoon of honey!”

“They are still alive so peel it carefully.”

The north had high level users.

Dark Gamers.

They knew better than anyone the power of the Haven Empire so they held off from participating in the battle in order to avoid a senseless death. They also didn’t want to start a fight with the Hermes Guild.

The high level users just watched while the beginners covered the plains. But with Weed’s command, it would be stupid if they just sat back and watched.

The Haven Empire and Hermes Guild had high infamy so there would be great benefits to killing them.

In Weed’s words, it was a banquet!

The users cried out excitedly.

“Avian-nim, please give me a ride!”

“Where are you going? Can you possible take me to that area over there?”

The users politely requested a ride from avians passing by. They dropped on the heads of the Haven Empire. The sky porridge unit dropped neatly from 50~100 metres.

“Hehehe.”

“Gaaaaah!”

There were those who were crushed and died but others were lucky enough to survive.

“These crazy guys!”

The Hermes Guild users grinded their teeth together.

The assault of the magicians, archers and knights became obsolete. The influx of users from every side meant no tactics could be used.

The attack of the northern users couldn’t be called reckless. They would also be hit by those falling from the sky.

Their survival rate was ridiculous and they dealt a lot of damage.

The Hermes Guild users felt ashamed.

They had lived like nobles in the Central Continent. The countless users were scared of them and there wasn’t any strong opposition. But they had suffered after coming to the north.

The Hermes Guild tried to raise the morale of the Haven Empire troops but the reverse just happened.

They were too busy to think thanks to the onslaught of the northern users!

Thanks to Hestiger and the high level users, the balance of the war completely tilted to the side of the north.

That night, the only ones left on the plains were the northern users. There were also the avians that joined the Arpen Kingdom, the sculptural lifeforms and undead.

“Hooray!”

“The invasion of the Arpen Kingdom has been blocked!”

“It is great.”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– The Haven Empire’s 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th northern expeditionary force has been wiped out.

There are no survivors as it was a complete annihilation.

All combat supplies have been seized.

All the siege weapons have been destroyed.

The fame of the Empire has decreased by 14.

The Imperial Army’s morale will be reduced.

Security in the territory of the Empire will somewhat weaken.

Bardray, Lafaye and the leaders of the Hermes Guild had stiff faces.

‘Unbelievable… A war that couldn’t be lost.’

‘Commander Draka’s unexpected action… No, we can’t blame him. He made a reasonable judgment in accordance with the situation. If he fought calmly then the result might be better but that isn’t guaranteed.’

‘Building the Earth Palace on top of tough mountains… It means he anticipated the invasion and conquest of the Haven Empire. Did he create a trap in order to defeat us? Weed, the God of War, he really is terrible.’

‘A huge number of troops have passed away. That military power is important to the Haven Empire. All that time spent raising skilled soldiers…’

‘Weed has collapsed the myth of the Hermes Guild. It is good that the Earth Palace is destroyed but we don’t necessarily look good.’

The leaders were trying to think of the aftermath of the war but couldn’t accurately make an objective judgement about an unknown situation.

One thing for sure, it was far easier to rebuild the palace in the north than the Haven Empire’s army. Weed, the God of War, would just increase his fame again.

Therefore there was a deep silence in the banquet room of the Haven Empire.

Those investing in the Hermes Guild also said nothing.

‘ Hmm, spending big money on this… No, the money doesn’t matter. The value of the Hermes Guild in the future is unknown so I can still capitalize on the investment. There is more potential than harm in doing business with the Hermes Guild. Although there is some unforeseen uncertainty.’

‘The Versailles Continent. Although it is virtual reality, it is another complete world. It is worth investing in their strength. In contrast, it is fortunate that we invested earlier than others. Even if the continent conquest is delayed, in the future they will challenge it… Currently they have an absolute advantage so it won’t be difficult to continue it.’

‘Other entrepreneurs have successfully invested in promising startups. They experienced some failure before succeeding.’

The investors finished their calculations. They exchanged glances with each other before finishing a brief discussion of the current situation.

They had invested a large amount of money to gain shares in the Hermes Guild.

Lafaye, Bardray and the existing leaders would remain but the entrepreneurs would also be involved.

It would be easy for the Hermes Guild to conquer the continent. There was tension from some competitors but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. They would share in the profit so it was necessary for the investors to become strong.

Their total shares in the Hermes Guild was 45%. If they bribed some leaders then they might be able to gain some more shares but they judged that now wasn’t the time. Bardray and Lafaye were maintaining the Hermes Guild and their interests aligned.

‘A proud man will experience harder failures.’

‘The Haven Empire has a solid foundation. I need to prevent it from being stolen by others.’

The company was filled with smiles.

The leaders of the Hermes Guild didn’t say anything. It wasn’t their fault but they couldn’t help feeling conscious of the investors. Those in power would often commit sins.

The investors rose from their seats.

“I saw the battle well. Now we can have slightly more expectations.”

Lafaye also stood up.

“You are going already?”

“There is still more to see…”

“….”

“It was a delicious meal. Can you arrange another one soon? You don’t have to rush. The unexpected failure can be delightful but it shouldn’t be repeated.”

“We will keep it in mind.”

After the investors left, the Hermes Guild set up a new plan for the north.

“We should send a massive army to end it all at once.”

“The Haven Empire is filled with elite troops. And if we send additional Hermes Guild members…… We will smash every building and burn the forests in the north.”

“Curse it until reconstruction is impossible.”

The Hermes Guild wanted to send a huge army to completely destroy everything. This defeat had left a nasty wound on their pride.

Bardray and Lafaye didn’t say anything.

‘Weed. I have persistently heard that name. I should go and end it myself.’

‘Not good. The strategy involved finished off the north this time. Then the power of the Haven Empire would be sufficient to conquer the continent. If the war becomes a long, drawn out affair then it will be difficult. From now on, we need to channel our power into improving the national strength and long term rule of the Haven Empire.’

Lafaye didn’t feel satisfied with the result.

‘I’m not willing to leave the north alone. But how can I come up with a perfect plan now?’

The Arpen Kingdom had given them major damage.

The territory of the north was far too extensive. Despite the fact that the Royal Palace had collapsed, maintaining and ruling over it would be a significant problem.

It was important for the Haven Empire to stabilize the villages and areas they had already constructed in the north.

‘There are still the troops sent to Vargo Fortress. The majority of the conquest army has collapsed but… If I entrust the defense of the conquered areas to them……’

The Haven empire would concentrate on building up the conquered territories in order to maintain a foothold in the north.

It wouldn’t be easy for the northern users to regain the territory from the Haven Empire. The Hermes Guild users would build a solid defense wall.

‘Send the guild architects to build fortresses. Humans are forgetful animals. They will become familiar with a prolonged war in the future.’

Lafaye would slowly obtain certain benefits.

In terms of military strength, this incident wasn’t an irreversible damage. The soldiers within the cities and areas of the Haven Empire will continue to grow over time.

The economic and technological development of the Haven Empire was dozens of times more lucrative than the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Reorganize the army and then send twice the amount of troops. I will wait before having an overwhelming amount of combat troops. It would also be good to thoroughly ban all trade with the north.’

The Arpen Kingdom would starve.

Dududududududu.

The bowls set on the table for the banquet started to shake.

The leaders casually said.

“Is this an earthquake?”

“It has been a while since an earthquake occurred here.”

Earthquakes or lightning bolts would often occur near hunting grounds or dungeons. Having rain suddenly pour down was one of the fun and romantic things about Royal Road.

“No way. The capital of the empire is blessed by the Earth Goddess so an earthquake can’t happen.”

“But are you sure an earthquake isn’t happening?”

Along with the bowls, the floors, walls and ceiling started shaking.

‘An earthquake can’t happen. Don’t tell me…’

Lafaye’s eyes flashed.

And the astute leaders quickly jumped up.

They had just seen the Earth Palace of the Arpen Kingdom collapsing. This situation was reminiscent of that terrible sight.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“In the end, it is like this. I guess I will be chased by assassins in the future.”

The continent’s best architect, Mibullo was drinking a cold beer in a tavern.

“I can’t relax.”

Mibullo recalled the time when he worked for the Haven Empire in the past. He was one of the architects commissioned to construct the Imperial Palace.

The Hermes Guild came to him and told him “Money and materials. Manpower. Anything you need will be given to you immediately. However, the Imperial Palace needs to be completed as soon as possible.”

“Right now I am in charge of a construction…I will have it completed in 1 month.”

“Cancel it. We’ll pay the penalty. No, we will take care of it in order to reduce any unnecessary procedures and time.”

“But I have a promise to keep. An architect can’t just give up in the middle. A different architect would have to start from the beginning…”

“I don’t know anything about that. If you refuse the commission of the Hermes Guild then won’t you regret it in the future? You won’t be able to freely wander the streets or stores of this continent.”

“…I see.”

The Haven Empire generously gave the finest building materials as well as NPC slaves from their conquests.

The Imperial Palace was built on a massive scale. Numerous architects of the continent. So far, the skill proficiency was low but many architects were gathered.

The palace boasted a colossal extravagance and dignity so the architects were delighted.

Mibullo was also satisfied for a while.

A building he could get his hands on. Building the Imperial Palace on the Versailles Continent was an elusive opportunity. His hands touched every corner of it.

However, the high level users of the Hermes Guild continued to interfere.

“I don’t like the appearance of this building. The interior space is too cramped and there are too many pillars. Build it from scratch.”

“The construction schedule is tight and the early construction design needs to be completed.”

“Forget about attending the banquet organized by Bardray. The architects only deserve to attend when the building is completed. The date is tight yet you want to play around?”

“…Then I will try.”

The high ranking officials of the Hermes Guild pointed out all sorts of things about the palace.

“30 carriages should be able to pass through the gates at the same time.”

“When considering the logistics of movement, that is too many carriages to pass through at the same time. The road to the Imperial Palace can only have a few carriages moving. Within the overall design……”

“Stop. The scale of the Haven Empire’s gates needs to be on a scale where people will feel awe.”

“Then I understand.”

Mibullo had to repress his anger.

“And look over here.”

“What happened?”

“It looks like rainwater is leaking through. The best architects on the continent only have the skills of an apprentice.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. That would never happen.”

“It is outrageous that you are trying to hide it when I can obviously see the rainwater leaking.”

Mibullo was dumbfounded.

There were numerous buildings in the Imperial Palace filled with luxury. There were distinctive features.

The Hermes Guild user was pointed to the ceiling where water was flowing along the edge of the wall like a stream.

Having rain in the building gave it a special type of beauty. The collected rainwater passed through various sculptures and made a crystal clear sound. Finally, it connected to a central lake that was an architectural feature!

Mibullo seethed inside while he spoke.

“Haven’t I explained this part on the construction plan? A place inside the Haven Empire’s palace that has a harmony with water.”

“I don’t remember something like that. Anyway, this part should be embellished with gold.”

“Huh? Gold?”

“You don’t know? I command you to create a gold wall.”

“Without the permission of the architects? Doing so will impede the water flow in the whole palace. I can’t accept it!”

“You have graciously been given permission by the Haven Empire to work on the palace so don’t abuse this. You should be grateful that you have the opportunity to work on the Imperial Palace.”

Mibullo gave a deep sigh.

‘Eh, I don’t know. I won’t do as they want.’

The architects used their heart and soul to make the buildings that were like their children and their names would become known if the buildings were the symbol of the region.

Mibullo was in the process of constructing the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace but his pride was wounded during the process.

The construction wasn’t going as he intended and the date of completion kept approaching. ‘I don’t want this building to last 1,000 years.’

Thus he started to siphon off materials from the construction site!

‘I will use lightweight construction materials on this building. Using plain steel should be sufficient.’

The slaves at the construction site didn’t discover his secret behaviour.

His construction level was high and he couldn’t easily ensure that it didn’t collapse.

‘The foundation should last until the construction deadline.’

Thanks to that, the construction rate dramatically accelerated by 3 times.

‘If I disperse it then the building will be able to withstand the weight.’

The architects were surprised at the rapid construction but they knew Mibullo’s skill.

“He is indeed the best architect on the continent.”

“We can finish on time. The architects are certainly stubborn.”

The Hermes Guild users were satisfied.

But while the exterior was fine, the interior was highly weak!

Mibullo knew the future of the Imperial Palace.

A large and majestic building that could accommodate thousands of people at once. However internally, each building had poor durability and cracks started to occur on the ceiling and pillars after a few months.

Even so, the castle hadn’t suddenly fallen apart.

“The Hermes Guild has already crossed the river and there is no return. Building Collapse!”

– Building Collapse has promoted the corrosion.

Depending on the level of skill, you can adjust the corrosion to decide the speed of the final collapse.

The luxurious and post Imperial Palace that was the heart of the Central Continent.

After the Arpen Kingdom’s palace collapsed, Mibullo pulled out a small model of the palace. The splendor of the Imperial Palace was shrunk into a small architectural model.

“It is a strange feeling as an architect. I knew the day would come when I would break this. Still, it is better to eliminate it with my own hands than watch those guys play and eat. Go well.”

Mibullo used his skill and the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace started to shake.

Stone pillars and ceilings with hundreds of cracks on them starting falling. Numerous buildings collapsed into dust.

The weakened Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace instantly turned into a pile of rubble.

Chapter 1

Weed stood in front of the collapsed Earth Palace.

The mountains and Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom had turned into a colossal pile of rubble.

A few days ago, the magnificent palace had been built on the peaks in the form of a crown but it was impossible to see that past appearance now.

“Only our honour was wounded…no, we are exhausted but the invaders have been defeated.”

Weed gave a deep sigh.

“Indeed, a person really can’t relax in life.”

Even so, at least he managed to stop the Haven Empire from conquering the north.

A new myth had been created.

“Weed the God of War!”

“The Arpen Kingdom will flourish for generations to come.”

“Hooray Grass Porridge Cult!”

The uphill battle had ended so the northern users raised their weapons and cheered.

Weed turned nicely with his cloak waving behind him towards the people. He stood on a pile of rubble and could see the users that completely filled the plains.

They were users of the Arpen Kingdom. The war had ended but more people continued to gather. But despite this strong sight, it was natural to think they would lose to the Haven Empire.

Among the crowd of onlookers, there were quite a few who had just recently come to participate in the war.

The Hermes Guild users and Haven Empire troops would give a lot of fame, contribution and loot.

The brave warriors of the north.

The guardian knights of justice.

The hunters of wickedness.

2nd class mercenaries.

A number of useful titles could be obtained from the battle.

The elementalists and magicians also had the chance to summon spirits or experience rare magic.

Weed chose not to discriminate against the users who joined the war late. Such thinking was unsuitable as the King of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Anyway, they will all pay taxes later.’

A lot of taxes!

“I will just say one word.”

“Weed-nim, please declare victory!”

“Hooray His Majesty!”

The users shouted towards Weed. They wanted Weed to make a clear declaration of victory.

The chests of the northern users were still hot despite the battle being over. The sun was about to set but they were burning from overcoming a difficult battle.

It wouldn’t be difficult for Weed to ask for a little bit of money from their pocket.

“I’m glad that many people are happy. I can share the great joy of victory with you.”

Hestiger, who had the best achievements in the fight, came to Weed’s side.

A piece that had been revived with Sculptural Resurrection and a target of Weed’s jealousy in the warring period.

In this battle alone, he had swept away the armed forces of the Haven Empire and some of the best users in the Hermes Guild. The palace collapsing had dealt with the 1st commander Draka and 3rd commander Porcal but Hestiger had killed the 6th commander Drom by himself.

‘It was because of me. I just had to lift the rice spatula.’

Weed had tried to kill the 2nd commander Balbaro but the high level northern users had come out of nowhere and deprived him of it.

Many high level users in the north had a popular name. The leaders of several large and small guilds in the Central Continent had moved to the north.

There were also players with a bad reputation. They quietly lived in the north until swarming like vultures once the Haven Empire were at a disadvantage.

As a result, Weed failed in hunting a commander.

Even so, the knights of the Haven Empire and the Hermes Guild still jumped at Weed despite the disadvantage. Hestiger and the sculptural lifeforms assisted in killing them as they rushed.

A typical quantity over quality!

Weed gained 3 levels and reached 422 in the war. His strength, agility, honour, charisma and dignity also increased substantially.

– As King of the Arpen Kingdom, you have led them to victory.

The feat of defeating the continent’s biggest enemy in a battle has been achieved.

By exterminating the invaders from the Haven Empire that unified the Central Continent, your dignity as a king has greatly increased.

He looked at the handsome Hestiger and felt regret. He could feel the jealousy and hatred towards Hestiger again.

Even when he was just standing still holding the scimitar, he looked like a cool piece of art. An attractive charm that would cause the females to pounce like moths.

‘How much time is left with Sculpture Resurrection? He will continue to be like a live painting until then.’

A situation where he wanted to spit!

Weed thought highly of himself. He was the king of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘I raised my subordinates well. Hestiger is outstanding. It is thanks to meeting such a good master.’

The conclusion was self-pride!

“Yes, let’s share in the victory together.”

Weed turned his head towards the crowd.

He attracted the attention of many eyes. Of course, it would be broadcasted through the stations. Millions of people were currently watching Weed through the television.

In addition, the users of the Arpen Kingdom gathered here would remember this day for a long time. It was important to consider the ruling of the kingdom after a war was won.

‘I need to give a great speech.’

The battle had ended but he hadn’t prepared any words.

” I remember a speech from a politician on television…no, I would be fed up listening to that. Then…’

Weed used Lion’s Roar towards the people.

“Don’t rejoice over the victory!”

“Uhh?”

The reaction of the crowd was like ice cold water had been poured on them.

“What is he saying?”

“Aren’t his words wrong?”

“A little odd?”

The crowd felt strange after Weed used Lion’s Roar. Then a louder Lion’s Roar followed.

“Winning was an inevitable result!”

“Wahhhh!”

The simple words caused an uproar among the crowd.

It had felt hopeless so they were desperately glad to defeat the Haven Empire.

The Arpen Kingdom was their home and the users could continue to freely live in it.

Despite the Arpen Kingdom not forcing loyalty from the users, they valued the loyalty and happiness. This was the ultimate reason for the defeat of the Hermes Guild’s invasion.

From Weed’s perspective, the users didn’t blindly follow the Hermes Guild.

‘Squeeze the crowd. Even a dictator would collapse from a successful revolt. A good politician knows how to take care of the people. I need to slowly raise their devotion like boiling water.’

An excellent long term dictator knew how to handle the balance between oppression and liberation. Weed had the patience to be a dictator.

Weed yelled again with Lion’s Roar.

“Now the war is over but the Hermes Guild’s endless greed means that they won’t give up. The real fight starts from now on.”

The users that had been cheering became silent. Tension filled their eyes.

Everyone knew the power of the Haven Empire. The strongest force on the Versailles Continent.

The northern users had fought bravely but they didn’t want to surrender.

Weed continued to use Lion’s Roar.

“The Arpen Kingdom is weak! We might not be able to stop them in the next invasion.”

“…….”

At this crucial moment, Weed’s lips were smeared with spit. A brazen face was required.

“But even then we will win. It is because we are not alone, we are together!”

“Ohhhh!”

Goosebumps started to form on their skin!

This was a great effect when talking to a large crowd.

Shortly after the dramatic victory, emotions were heightened and the atmosphere was wonderful.

“The Arpen Kingdom might be weak as a new kingdom but we can do it if we combine our power. Farmers plant the seeds. They raise grain to feed people. Knights hunt and guard the cities from monsters while adventurers risk their lives travelling to distant places. They have discovered unknown things that will benefit us. Painters, architects, merchants, sculptors, blacksmiths and tailors, all these jobs are important. If everyone enjoys their roles then the Arpen Kingdom’s freedom will never be invaded again!”

Weed enthusiastically finished the speech.

A speech that he didn’t learn in high school. All the citizens would work hard for the kingdom and would pay taxes.

“Hooray the Arpen Kingdom!”

“Weed-nim, we will keep the Arpen Kingdom moving forward!”

The reaction of the crowd couldn’t be repressed. The blazing hot air had already embraced the next person so it was a festive atmosphere.

Today the enemies had crumbled with the Earth Palace so they had expectations for the Arpen Kingdom’s prosperity. It might be scary and tough but they would work hard.

Those gathered here were thrilled.

“We have won! Victory!”

“Haven Empire, no matter how many of them come. We are the free Arpen Kingdom!”

“Huhuhu, I am one of the Toadstool Porridge members that have survived until the end. Now I can enjoy it heartily. And I can fall asleep eating a bowl of grass porridge.”

“Kuhahaha! Today I will drink and play heartily. I’ll shoot 20 wild boars!”

“The Walnut Porridge members gathered here. Play all night. Don’t let even one miss it.”

“All 404 members of the Bean Porridge unit will have a meeting to commemorate the victory. Come nicely dressed in front of the large pine trees in the east!”

Cheers of joy rang out through the plains.

And after a while, the news that the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace had fallen reached them.

At first, they thought it was a ridiculous lie. But the rumour spread through whispers or guild internal chats.

The live broadcast from the stations showed the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace collapsing so the truth was discovered.

The place where the Imperial Palace used to be was only filled with rubble and treasures.

It was a shock that the Imperial Palace of the Haven Empire that signified the honor and dignity of the rulers of the Central Continent had collapsed.

The northern users were invigorated by the sight of the Hermes Guild users and soldiers of the Haven Empire emerging from the rubble.

“What the, did that happen while we were fighting?”

“Those guys got attacked!”

“No, it is different. We deliberately knocked it down. But the Hermes Guild are just fools.”

It wasn’t planned in advance but the atmosphere was good. Thus Weed used the loudest Lion’s Roar.

“This time I will raise the taxes to 60%!”

His dream of raising the taxes!

The users of the Arpen Kingdom laughed loudly.

“Hehehe.”

“Kilkil, that joke was said with really good timing.”

“I really can’t keep up with Weed-nim’s jokes.”

“Weed, the God of War, hooray!”

“Please lower the taxes to commemorate the victory. Free for everyone!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kkuung.”

Geomchi-3 collapsed weakly to the ground.

– Vitality has been completely consumed.

You are hungry.

The body’s immunity is low.

There are serious injuries all over your body.

Health is rapidly decreasing so if you don’t receiving treatment then you will lose your life.

“Kukuku, the worst. Life itself is a miracle.”

Geomchi-3 had violently assaulted the Haven Empire with the instructors and students.

They needed to catch all enemies! He clearly recalled defeating 3~4 knight divisions during the battle.

Howling knights on horses. The instructors and students were invigorated as they broke through the knights.

Everyone relied on their own strength and determination. And the exhilarating thrill of combat.

– Take care of yourself and enjoy!

Geomchi commanded.

They needed to use their own strength to survive on the battlefield. There were no tactics and they just experienced the joy on their own.

This was true happiness compared to having a stable job, investments, retirement, etc. Whether it was 1 second or 1 minute, Geomchi-3 could enjoy life. Stress disappeared and his brain turned white from pleasure.

“This war experience is enough to make a man cry.”

Geomchi-3 fought against the enemy soldiers and knights.

The Haven Empire’s army weren’t shaken. They were like a solid wall as their ranged attacks wrecked indiscriminate havoc.

Geomchi-5 and Geomchi-7 made their last stand surrounded by knights while Geomchi-4 perished under the magic attacks. Even the Geomchis couldn’t escape death when surrounded by enemies.

Occasionally the avians would show up in order to help Geomchi-3 survive a containment.

Geomchi-3 continued to fight for the Arpen Kingdom.

“From now on, we will take over. Please rest a little bit.”

Northern users came up to him and said.

Geomchi-3 just passed them and said.

“This is my playground. My play hasn’t ended yet!”

Sometimes priests of the Arpen Kingdom would come up to treat him.

‘I don’t know. It is becoming harder to survive. But I can’t regret the way I lived my life. I can’t abandon my way of living.’

Geomchi-3 fought viciously.

He forgot himself while battling. In his disadvantaged childhood, he could only push aside his anxiety for the future when fighting.

‘I have nothing. Just fighting. Live life strongly by beating others in fights. That’s it.’

His whole body filled with joy!

Like a child, he enjoyed it like a game.

It didn’t matter how much his physical condition worsened. He jumped at any Hermes Guild users that neared.

Geomchi-3 survived each clash with his sword skills as well as luck. In the meantime, other students and even Geomchi-2 died in a similar manner.

And like a miracle, Geomchi-3 managed to survive until the end of the battle.

– You have achieved your obligations in the war as a martial artist.

All skills related to combat will increase.

The limitations of the flesh have been overcome.

Maximum health has increased by 3,405.

For the next month, resilience will increase by 350.

Fighting spirit, charisma and concentration will reach its maximum value for the next two months.

All stats will increase by 6.

Title ‘Superman of the Battlefield’ has been acquired.

A title only given to the strong warriors that are honourable and undaunted.

“Huhuhu.”

Geomchi-3 was satisfied.

Victory in battle and he gained the title of Superman of the Battlefield! His body had been abused but he felt proud.

“My life wasn’t in vain.”

At that moment, light came from Geomchi-3’s body.

Ddiring!

– Batalli has watched your body and is impressed.

You have been appointed as the ‘Destroyer of Struggle.’

Batalli’s strength in battle is only limited to 5 people on the continent who were selected to receive the profession.

Regardless of your current profession, you will be able to learn any of Batalli’s divine skills.

The effect of divine combat skills will double.

Divine magic ‘Fresh Recovery,’ ‘Complete Weapon’ and ‘Formidable Fist’ has been engraved.

All stats have increased by 45 after being appointed as the Destroyer of Struggle.

The Faith stat has been generated.

120 faith has been given.

If you lose your life seven times, have faith completely disappear, or refuse religious quests twice in a row then the appointment will be cancelled.

“Kukukuku.”

Geomchi-3 felt himself becoming stronger.

“I can fight better next time. Without missing any of the strong people.”

– Health will recover by 45 every second.

The injuries are slowly healing.

The divine magic granted healed his body.

Even if he wasn’t saved by the priests of the Arpen Kingdom, he could move by himself.

Geomchi-3 saw the female priests busily running around. He couldn’t help thinking their white uniforms were pretty.

Geomchi, Geomchi-2 and Geomchi-5. They were the only ones with girlfriends and were the subject of much envy.

Royal Road was a paradise for romance.

Geomchi-3 strongly clenched his fist.

“I don’t need it. I will live a man’s life until the end. Huhuhuhuk! Aigoo, so sad.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Weed-nim! I wanted to see you.”

After the battle, Weed met up with Pale, Surka, Irene, Hwaryeong, Romuna and their other colleagues. Surka was the first one to run and welcome him.

The survival rate of the northern users in this war wasn’t very high.

Despite the hardships and adversity, Weed and his colleagues were somehow able to survive.

Bellot laughed brightly.

“I saw your sculpting quest. Your persistence and tenacity until it was a success…really cool.”

“Thank you. I’m glad that everyone is alive.”

“That’s right. I really didn’t know if I would die or not.”

Except for Surka and Zephyr, the others weren’t close combat professions so they fought with the sculptural lifeforms.

After the Earth Palace collapsed, they attacked the confused Haven Empire troops. Of course, this took quite a while but it finally ended.

“Weed-nim, we made progress in the quest.”

Weed heard the news from Zephyr that they had found quite a few relics of the Pallos Empire.

“If you fight against the cursed ghosts then you can receive associated divine items and quests. If the right successor is found then the weapon can be used.”

“The level of the equipment?”

“Most of them are around level 300. Some are around level 400. But unfortunately, there wasn’t any really expensive or valuable things.”

“Um.”

Weed thought for a moment.

Most of the equipment of the desert warriors had been scattered somewhere. A lot of time had passed and the descendants had likely scattered them across the continent.

When looking at the bulletin boards, sometimes weapons and special items of the desert warriors were found. As history changed, new dungeons and ruins were excavated.

But Weed knew the approximate amount of treasures.

The warring period. There were numerous relics, treasures, equipment and magic research equipment.

That list alone was enough to fill several palaces. While sweeping through the continent, they had looted treasures from many royal families and nobles.

The gold, jewellery and silver was enough to build thousands of Grand Buildings.

‘The remnants of the Pallos Empire are all buried in one place. Those fellows have hidden it.’

Some equipment might be lost while bring it to the north.

Weed left a long command but he couldn’t help the habits of the desert warriors.

Absolute obedience! The fate of the desert tribes was to obey the Great Emperor.

But it was a different story after he was gone.

The desert tribes struggled so they considered taking some of the treasures of the Pallos Empire.

Weed’s influence meant his subordinates came to the north to bury the treasure but it wasn’t difficult to guess that there would be some funds lacking.

‘The picture is drawn roughly. And the rest of the treasure will come from somewhere.’

The equipment Weed used was likely to be encountered in the Find Traces of the Great Emperor quest.

“And there is a minor issue.”

“What is it?”

“Ghosts continued to emerge while excavating the artifacts until we couldn’t endure it anymore. Those completely purified were moved to a different place but it is really a heaven for ghosts.”

“It is kind of like a hunting ground. Ghosts need to be fought to obtain the treasure.”

“Something like that.”

There were too many ghosts stuck to the treasures of the Pallos Empire to deal with alone.

‘Ghosts would appear even if the treasures aren’t excavated. All across the continent. The artifacts will emerge even among the desert tribes. It is probably associated with the Find Traces of the Great Emperor quest.’

Weed’s gaze turned towards Hwaryeong. She was also staring at Weed.

As always, she was wearing a short skirt with colourful and pretty jewellery hanging from her ears and neck. The sparkling beauty would always go well with a woman like her.

“Well, I mean……”

Weed couldn’t easily broach the subject.

After the recent situation with Seo-yoon, he had no choice but to feel awkward with Hwaryeong.

His other colleagues were silent on the matter. They couldn’t interfere in the relationship between a man and a woman.

Weed politely spoke first.

“Have you been well in the meantime?”

“Yes.”

“You weren’t sick……”

Hwaryeong said spiritlessly.

“Nope.”

Pale felt like screaming.

This awkward and stiff atmosphere!

The women were watching with interest but the men felt like leaving.

Then Hwaryeong smiled brightly.

“It is okay. And thank you.”

“Huh?”

“A singer needs a lot of life experiences. Well, I need the experience to deliver the right emotional impact. Because a song will carry the emotion in my heart. And anyway……”

Hwaryeong slightly dragged out her words.

“There are a number of men out there who like me. It is a man’s instinct. These feelings are a decent gift.”

Endless optimism!

Hwaryeong was an attractive singer. She wasn’t going to lose confidence because of Weed.

Her colleagues watched her and thought.

‘She still hasn’t given up. Although it didn’t even start properly……’

‘My mother always told me that love is unsure until the wedding. Isn’t that right?’

‘But why does she like Weed? I don’t understand it…women are truly mysterious creatures.’

Weed put down the backpack with a much lighter heart.

“Then let’s eat!”

“Hooray!”

The taste of dishes that Weed made with his own hands! They were busy on the quest so it was hard to find time to eat delicious food.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Unbelievable…this ridiculous thing.”

The proud users of the Hermes Guild were devastated as they stared at the collapsed buildings of the Imperial Palace of the Haven Empire.

All the power of the Central Continent was gathered at the Imperial Palace.

Decorated with gold and jewels, the Imperial Palace was the height of luxury and splendour. Vast buildings that more than 100,000 nobles, users and residents could reside in. The Imperial Palace that could house thousands had suddenly collapsed.

In fact, not many users died underneath the buildings.

“How is it possible that the Imperial Palace experienced such a terrible thing?”

“Is this an event?”

“This is divine punishment.”

The cracks in the ceiling and shaking pillars meant that many users quickly escaped from the Imperial Palace.

Still, it was last minute so a considerable number were buried underneath the Imperial Palace and lost their lives. It was a mess but those alive dug their way out from the wreckage.

Unlike the Earth Palace, the Imperial Palace was built on flat ground so it wasn’t a large threat on their lives.

But the Imperial Palace that the Hermes Guild were proud of and caused visitors to be overwhelmed was no more.

“The surviving people, respond!”

“Quickly rescue the survivors…no, it looks like not many are dead. Rather, what are we going to do?”

The general users of the Hermes Guild were baffled.

The users with a high ranking position in the Haven Empire. All the leaders at the banquet including Lafaye and Bardray had safely escaped the palace ballroom but they were lost as they watched the collapsed building for a while.

“The Arpen Kingdom’s Royal Palace just fell but this is……”

“What is happening? It wasn’t a magic attack.”

“An uprising? But who would dare say such a thing?”

“Weed. Weed plotted against us!”

“Weed. He is in the north so it would be hard for him to do this. And there is no evidence.”

“I have thought over the circumstances. In the end, he must be the one who did this to us.”

They couldn’t grasp the situation and tried to blame it on anyone.

But Lafaye coldly accepted the terrible reality of the palace falling.

‘How did something like this happen?’

Kurururung!

There were still some buildings in the Imperial Palace that were collapsing.

They didn’t want to see the sight of the pillars tilting and walls breaking again. All the gold on the walls that had been plundered from other kingdoms had collapsed.

All the Imperial buildings fell to the ground. However, the Hermes Guild users were sure that the gates wouldn’t fall.

“They are sound……”

“The last remaining place are the gates.”

They had equipped the Imperial Palace with defense gates. The walls were trimmed from large rocks and the essence of elf trees were used as adhesion.

The Imperial Palace could last all day against siege weapons! The gates were also made of intertwined branches and roots. It wasn’t made with gold but the gates had tremendous value.

Their relationship with the elves had deteriorated through numerous raids but the Haven Empire didn’t care.

As the users watched, rocks fell off the tight palace exterior walls. Just like the other buildings of the Imperial Palace, the gates soon collapsed.

“No way.”

“It is a lie.”

Ddiring!

– The Imperial Palace of the Haven Empire has collapsed.

All buildings including the Emperor’s office, hall of the nobles and knight barracks have been destroyed.

The Sun Palace has lost its function as the capital of the Haven Empire.

Empire’s fame has decreased by 49.

The administrative power to rule over the vast territories has deteriorated.

There is a significant deterioration in the politics of the Central Continent. A disturbing movement is building in the occupied areas. There is a higher probability of militant groups forming.

The morale of the troops has worsened.

Maximum training has decreased and corruption might arise among the suppliers. In the meantime, there will be frequent desertions when going on expeditions.

Control of the Imperial Army will reduce with distance.

The honour of the knights will fall and many with lowered loyalty will escape.

Local warlords will act against the Empire.

The loyalty of the residents of the Empire has reduced.

In particular, the residents of the occupied territories have a large distrust in the Empire and the backlash can be severe.

A large number of rebels will appear in the occupied territories if you don’t settle it quickly.

Intelligent monsters will attack the villages and fortresses.

Merchants will reduce the amount of long distance travel.

A recession might occur, causing the economic power to reduce.

The tax rate will be temporarily reduced.

The confusion inside the Empire will have 42% influence on the surrounding areas.

218 villages belonging to the Haven Empire will leave.

Compensation for all quests associated with the Haven Empire won’t be paid properly or will be cancelled.

“Unbelievable!”

They both lost palaces but the Haven Empire suffered much larger damage than the Arpen Kingdom.

The territory of the Empire was vast and its population contained various species. Commerce, culture and military exchange were larger so they were more affected by the collapse of the Imperial Palace.

The expedition sent to the north were wiped out and the Haven Empire had suffered serious damage to its fame.

“A meeting of leaders has been convened! All lords immediately report the circumstances of their respective territories in order to prepare for stabilization!”

Lafaye needed to do a lot in order to rule over the vast Haven Empire.

It was necessary to at least maintain the security and economy of the occupied territories. However, something unsavoury could occur with the rebels and recapturing the fortresses might lead to more substantial damage.

The absolute dignity and power of the Haven Empire that ruled the Central Continent was being tested.

Chapter 2

“No tax, no tax. I didn’t realize when I was young. The chilling taste as I got older.”

“Huhuhuk, yesterday was the first time I registered with 3 females as friends.”

“I have lukewarm beer. Those who drink lukewarm beer can buy 1 cup for 1 silver! A small amount of cold beer is being sold for 3 silver. Those salted with spinach are 2 silver!”

The northern users were having a night festival in the vicinity of the Earth Palace.

All the users had come together to share their joy.

Bonfires were built all over the place and food was cooked. The number of people meant the alcohol and food was scarce so they were sold regardless of the price.

Ttararang!

The harp and guitar were played.

Beautiful female users were dancing around the bonfires.

The merchants willingly supported people wearing armour or wanted clothing.

In fact, it was close to impossible to feed all the people filling the plains. A vast amount of materials were consumed and victory was undecided so they hadn’t bought food in anticipation of a festival.

However, there were a huge amount of supplies from the Haven Empire.

By the end of the battle, the northern users looked like a swarm of ants.

“Dried filefish!”

“Ohh, dried filefish! It would go perfectly with this glass of wine.”

“Aaaaah, another dried filefish!”

“Look here. A whole carriage stacked with dried filefish!”

“All the carriages in the back have dried filefish.”

“This is a filefish’s hell!”

While Weed was busy obtaining loot from the Hermes Guild, there was a procession of carriages. The northern users packed the food and supplies into their backpacks and pockets.

Even the basic weapons of the Imperial soldiers were great.

The steel arrows could be sold at a fairly good price.

The northern users were even willing to go to remote areas to sell the loot.

The merchants smelled money and already bought a lot of loot from the northern users. The merchants already purchased horses and carriages in order to sell the products to other villages.

‘Passage!’

‘I will become the next legendary merchant in the north. The money in this world is mine.’

‘One arrow can earn 60 copper each. How much is this?’

The mind of the users became warm after the war ended.

A wide variety of cheeses, whiskey and other specialties of the Central Continent were generously distributed. The festival celebrating the victory spread throughout the plains.

People were drinking from wine glasses.

“Heeok! Shall we hunt together in the kobold dungeon?”

“Yes, let’s go for Eksoju-nim.”

“Of course. Many northern users have fallen in this place. It has been a really long time.”

“The kobold dungeon was my first adventure. It feels like the past is catching up with me.”

“We won’t be able to feel the excitement of that time.”

“There has been a lot of growth since then.”

“What is Nero-nim’s level now?”

“54.”

“You are awesome! I’m only level 51. Do you have tips?”

“Just work hard and you will be rewarded like me. Little by little you will become stronger.”

“I will keep it in mind.”

In one corner, a cat and mouse chase was occurring.

“I asked you to study! There is a test at school tomorrow but you are connected to the game? Fireball!”

“Kyaak, please help me!”

A number of users were singing and dancing around the campfire.

“In the mountains, the red sun rises and heavy winds blow, chwi chit. The clouds that foretell a heavy battle approaching, I stood at the frontlines with the dark elves, chwit! ”

Male and female users started to sing.

“My fresh hopes in the morning, chwi chwit. Our courage and desire for victory, the noble sprit and soul! I want to sing, chwiik! I have to sing more strongly than the dark elves, a song of my wish to win. If you don’t give up then you can win.”

A song of the orc Karichwi!

More than 1,000 female and male orcs had gathered around a bonfire to celebrate.

The night was dark but there were plenty of people dancing and playing instruments.

The busy users left the plains on horseback in the middle of the night but most remained in order to relax and enjoy the situation.

“Ya, amazing.”

“This is the north’s culture!”

The northern users were able to enjoy a long festival.

“I’ve found a very dangerous tomb. I’ve died three times already.”

“Did you smell a quest?”

“What is that?”

“I smelt a quest related to Weed-nim, the God of War.”

Information about adventure and trade were actively exchanged.

In one corner, the architects were going through the rubble of the Earth Palace with a tape measure and shovel.

“Well, this pillar has split so it can’t be used again.”

“Jackpot. After examining the roof of the Royal Palace, those who made it really paid a lot of attention to durability. We are lucky.”

“Is it possible to recycle it?”

“It is a bit unreasonable. Still, we can take advantage of it even if it can’t be used to reconstruct the Royal Palace. It is possible to use the remaining parts to create a monument……”

“The stone is well preserved but it won’t take much for it to crumble. Too bad.”

They looked among the rubble for parts that could be recycled. It was a waste to throw away the premium materials that the palace had been built with.

“Use the broken stones to lay the road.”

“The metal can be smelted and re-forged at the smithy.”

“We aren’t lacking steel due to the loot from the Haven Empire. There will be a huge surge in demand in the north.”

“Let’s go quickly. We should take this opportunity to gather a lot of people.”

The architects immediately proceeded with their planned restoration of the Earth Palace.

The finance and budget of the Arpen Kingdom hadn’t been decided yet. But the architects rushed to rebuild because they loved their building.

“In the past, the Royal Palace was built on the mountains.”

“That will be harder now that the mountains are cut.”

“Originally it was a palace with its own unique taste. Can we build up the dirt, stones and sand again?”

“If we work hard then our workforce can make a few mountains.”

“This is the palace so we can easily mobilize millions of people.”

The architects envisioned a terrible plan.

They came up with the plan to use the huge labour force of the north to build a large mountain.

“Hmm, the Earth Palace is good but it only had a medium height. It is okay to drastically increase the height of the mountain by 500 metres or 1 kilometre?”

“It is a good idea to erect the buildings while climbing up the mountain.”

“But then the difficulty of the construction and smoothly maintaining the supply and demand will increase……”

“The number of residents in the north is always growing. If we build the palace earnestly then it will be 2~3 times the scale of the previous palace.”

“This…we really have a lot of practice building a royal palace.”

However, Pavo was skeptical. In his view, the plans for the royal palace were becoming too extravagant.

“I understand your thoughts. My heart also wants to restore the Earth Palace and make it better. But this part shouldn’t be handled with an architect’s greed.”

“Huh?”

“The Arpen Kingdom needs a palace as soon as possible. If the Royal Palace isn’t present then there will be a downturn in the cultural and commerce development.”

It would be a disadvantage to governing a territory if there isn’t a palace.

The regional villages and cities wouldn’t run smoothly, identifying and managing state affairs would be difficult and taxes would be lowered. Due to corruption, there would be some budget losses and security wouldn’t be maintained at 100%.

The sheer size of the Arpen Kingdom meant thieves would become more frequent.

There would be a disadvantage with large facilities, commercial buildings and work buildings. If it wasn’t a big city like Morata then establishing public buildings would become more difficult.

Users who were knights wouldn’t be given advanced skills.

General users who went to a place where the kingdom’s fame was low might be forced to accept disadvantageous quests and trades.

In the meantime, the Arpen Kingdom had grown without a palace.

The users received the disadvantage early on so they took it for granted.

But after accepting a number of territories and having a population boom, the palace was now necessary for the development of the kingdom.

The architects also knew this part.

Merchants made villages and cities wealthy but the architects firmed up the foundation. They constructed buildings and saw the population and commerce growing every day so they couldn’t be happier.

Architects made stunning buildings for the main streets as well as comfortable places for people to live.

Pavo’s opinion continued.

“Now is the time for the Arpen Kingdom’s development so our desires as an architect can’t be greedy. Aren’t the northern architects better than this?”

“Make the necessary buildings. The buildings for the people.”

“Yes, that’s right. If the architects are too greedy then the schedule will be lengthened and an endless amount of funds will be needed.”

“Uhh, the plan to rebuild the palace on a mountain is too reckless.”

“It is important to build fast but this palace will play a pivotal role in the Arpen Kingdom.”

The architects stayed up all night and established a basic plan for the reconstruction of the palace.

1. The Arpen Kingdom will be rebuilt on the back of the current rubble.

2. The building materials from the wreckage will be reused if possible and the rest will be procured through merchants.

3. The palace will be built on a flat area that is 3 times larger than the past. After the central area is complete, further expansion can be added as required.

4. Near the palace grounds will be a city larger than Morata with a river. In particular, the best land will be pre-assigned for 7 Grand Buildings.

5. For the future development of the Arpen Kingdom, the new city will be called ‘Dawn City.’

6. For a seamless workforce and to save on construction costs, new users will participate in the basic development of the palace’s construction.

7. Shacks will be built for 7 days and will continue to grow with future needs.

8. All architects in the north will co-operate with the foremost goal being the reconstruction of the Royal Palace.

“Is this enough?”

“Unfortunately any more will be greedy.”

The architects decided to announce the plan to rebuild the palace.

But without revealing it, they internally agreed on some extra stipulations.

9. The Royal Palace will become an impregnable fortress in order to ensure that such an unfortunate event won’t occur again.

10. The new palace has to be big and luxurious in order to not embarrass the Arpen Kingdom.

11. Construction costs should be saved as much as possible so the minimum budget for the palace and city will be 17 million gold. The construction costs will increase if necessary.

If Weed knew this then he would immediately collapse.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Python and Seasoned Crab had considerable achievements in the war against the Haven Empire.

After coming back from the southern desert, they hunted the Hermes Guild and Haven Empire without any hesitation.

Python tried to protect the Earth Palace from the 1st corps and continued to fight until the end of the battle. Python didn’t know the meaning of retreat and survived until the end.

Seasoned Crab was an assassin and went around the battlefield killing the powerhouses of the Hermes Guild.

While the cold weather and tsunami were happening, he had repeatedly infiltrated the enemy and assassinated them.

“Well, only this much? There is no obstacle in taking their lives.”

14 leaders of the knight divisions as well as countless top knights lost their lives.

Seasoned Crab determined their deaths.

After such great achievements, they met up with Weed.

Weed had sent them a whisper first so they were expecting something after the fight finished.

‘Heoheot, my ugly pride. Should I blatantly talk about my skills? Then I need to say a lot.’

‘I am the one who decides death…anyway! They won’t be able to talk about me in this war. Nobody in the Hermes Guild escaped my knife. I took advantage of the turmoil in the war to use my skills.’

The two men were going to boast to Weed. They wanted eat and drink while telling war stories.

Pale nodded silently after seeing that the two men had arrived.

‘He has also survived the battle of the Earth Palace. He really is the famous Python.’

‘War heroes are gathered in this place. An assassin must have enjoyed it.’

Then Weed said.

“I hope you didn’t wait long.”

The two men thought.

‘Indeed, Weed will know 3~4 people here. I want a place. I’d like the north’s leading experts to meet each other.’

‘Well, it is an embarrassing but fun spot. I’ve only introduced myself to female users. But I need to tell them a pseudonym. Cappuccino is acceptable to people.’

Python and Seasoned Crab’s expectations!

Soon Hestiger arrived.

“Great Emperor, all the enemies who have been hiding are defeated. The kingdom is now secure.”

“Yes, thank you.”

The two men squinted at Hestiger.

They had confirmed his unparalleled strength on the battlefield. He was a strong opponent but their pride wouldn’t let them admit defeat.

‘My sword is larger.’

‘There is only one life. I would like to try assassinating him. If I have the perfect opportunity then anyone would die.’

After a while, Alveron the pope candidate of the Freya Church arrived.

Some of the general users didn’t know him but Python and Seasoned Crab were well aware of his identity. During Weed’s crazy hunting, the one with strong recovery magic that was like a curse!

‘Keeok! This configuration is surely……! No, it can’t be, no!’

‘H-hik!’

And Weed said.

“Then let’s go hunting.”

Weed could only resurrect Hestiger for a single day.

He wanted to use him as much as possible.

Irene, Romuna and his other colleagues were too tired to take into danger so they were given a break. Instead of fighting well, they might end up killing their colleagues during the hunt.

“…….”

“…….”

Python and Seasoned Crab’s eyes urgently met.

Their eyes blinked a few times before they talked.

“I’m dizzy and my body is uncomfortable……”

“There is an emergency and I have to go home.”

It felt like a student lying to a teacher in order to leave early.

However, Weed was persistent.

“Are you really not feeling good?”

“Yes. I’m not a man who would boldly lie to you.”

“There is no other choice if you don’t want to go. Just relax and tell me. In the future, do you not want to hunt with me?”

“I need to rescue others. I’m a good person.”

“You are indeed feigning illness.”

“…….”

“Hestiger, your sword. Today I will spill some blood.”

“Yes, Great Emperor.”

“…….”

Seasoned Crab didn’t say anything and was lured along.

Thus they stayed up all night hunting!

There was the strongest warrior Hestiger so they could clear the dungeons with the highest difficulties.

Hestiger could defeat monsters just by punching them.

“My father was worried about thieves and hid a mysterious shovel. In the end, no one could find it.”

The quests associated with the dungeon were meticulously performed.

There wasn’t a lot of risks so there was only short breaks. There was no such luxury like sleeping or eating as they stayed up all night hunting.

“Once again, every minute counts. I want to do as much as possible before Hestiger leaves. Hestiger, this is to protect the peace of the continent so move faster.”

“Understood, Great Emperor. Your great and noble heart hasn’t changed at all.”

“It is hard to defend justice. So I need to work harder. The sleeping treasures of the world…no, I will definitely resurrect justice.”

They hunted in the Northern, Central and Southern Continent.

It was just a brief stop in the central regions so the Hermes Guild didn’t notice them. If possible, he wanted Hestiger to wipe out some enemies but there was no time.

Weed was also worried about invading the Haven Empire.

“There is only a few hours left until Hestiger disappears. Should I feed Bardray to him?”

The Imperial Palace had already collapsed but the Haven Empire currently contained some of the highest levelled people on the Versailles Continent.

If Hestiger went there then he could get good results by killing a large number of Hermes Guild users. Weed felt a lot of pleasure at the thought.

The only one who could pull it off was Hestiger.

In the future, it would be difficult to resurrect a strong person like Hestiger with such absolute obedience.

There were other desert subordinates that he could resurrect but it was a dangerous idea.

Weed didn’t become ruler of the desert through benevolence. He had showed off his power. Every time he chased after a quest, his subordinates were decreased by a few people.

They thoroughly obeyed Weed but it was a completely different situation once they were resurrected. Weed would be weaker than the desert warriors.

“A few of them are dangerous and might even try to loot the Arpen Kingdom.”

Weed thought for a while before eventually abandoning his plans to invade the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace.

It was risky to have Hestiger go to the Imperial Palace to slaughter the Hermes Guild users.

There were tens of thousands of the best users.

A variety of professions as well as NPC knights.

He would be able to deal with more enemies than Van Hawk but Hestiger wasn’t immortal. Weed and Alveron couldn’t help in that environment.

It wouldn’t be good if Hestiger was like Van Hawk and was killed by Bardray. Killing the legendary hero would increase the morale of the troops and the authority of the Empire.

If Hestiger’s power fell from the battle then a result similar to the battle between Van Hawk and Bardray might appear.

From the Hermes Guild’s perspective, they could make a lot of money if it turned out well.

And there were quite a few high level users so killing them would incur a penalty and reduce the power of the Hermes Guild.

In the end, Weed decided to use Hestiger to supplement his losses.

Weed had succeeded in the final secret sculpting technique quest but had suffered a lot of damages.

“Yurin, let’s go to the next place.”

“Yes. I’ve been preparing. Picture Teleportation!”

After defeating a dungeon, Yurin would move them to another place.

She drew a few destinations in advance. She just needed to finish off Weed and his companions and they could move quickly.

‘The devil’s skill. A painter and sculptor is truly like the devil.’

‘I don’t have the rights of a human while hunting. I am just like a combat slave. The human brain and body is moving while my spirit has flown away.’

After the all night hunting, the party finally returned to Morata.

It was after a series of continuous hunts in the southern desert so they were mentally and physically exhausted. Right now if a level 2 novice with a knife came to rob them then they would hand over all their money.

Most users were at the Earth Palace after the Haven Empire’s invasion so Morata was unusually quiet.

There was almost no one entering and exiting the gates so it felt like a miracle.

In the aftermath of the war, the victory festival was still going on. But soon people connected to Royal Road and returned to Morata in droves.

New users were also starting in the north.

By the time Weed arrived with his colleagues, novices were busy doing the apple delivery quest.

The bustle of the city.

The sound of birds chirping as they woke up in the morning. The warm sun, cool breeze, clear birdsong and scent of flowers that could be felt on adventures was a big advantage of Royal Road.

“Great Emperor, I was assaulting monsters until the end even if I was too old. Now it seems so peaceful.”

“I think so too. I’m sorry. We encountered many things in the desert.”

“I’m tired. I would have liked to see Great Emperor’s ambition in the past.”

“This world made me passive and quiet.”

Python and Seasoned Crab stared at Weed and Hestiger with disbelief.

The relationship between the two of them was overly inflated. The ridiculous conversations that they shared while hunting! It was like a nightmare had come to life. They were fatigued so it had a large emotional impact on them.

Hestiger bid a nice farewell to Weed.

“It was an honour to serve you again. Your power might be weaker than it was in the past but you are still the Great Emperor. It is truly impressive that you are committed to the peace of the continent.”

“Well, it isn’t a big deal. I’m just trying to live right.”

Weed had pulled a cover over his eyes.

Hestiger turned his head and looked around when they were near Morata’s gates.

“The faces of people ruled by Great Emperor is filled with laughter. Looking back, this is the kingdom that we dreamed of. I, Hestiger, don’t regret dedicating my life to you.”

“Yes yes.”

“Go in peace. Although the path in front of you will be rough and steep.”

A shimmering light started to appear around Hestiger’s body. Then his body became increasingly blurred.

The time limit of Sculpture Resurrection had reached its end.

A proud hero from the warring period was disappearing completely.

Weed’s face was filled with satisfaction. A subordinate he raised well in the past had done well so he was filled with pride.

‘I also have benevolence.’

He wouldn’t see Hestiger any longer so he didn’t feel hateful.

‘The concept of a good subordinate.’

He never even praised his sculptural lifeforms!

While he was fading away, Hestiger opened his mouth.

“Master, I have some last words for you.”

“Go ahead, loyal Hestiger.”

“The other day, I was telling Master about my trip.”

Y-yes. I remember.”

“While wandering the land with large footprints, I met a human adventurer called Lodsiker who arrived at the land of the giants.”

“Hoh, I have heard of Lodsiker.”

The adventurer Lodsiker.

A legendary adventurer that could be called the hero of the profession.

When looking at the history of the Versailles Continent, he had experienced all types of rare adventures. Finding the existences of unknown sea creatures and many unknown lands.

A master of survival and directions and a person who had returned unharmed from all 10 forbidden zones. He recorded implausible adventures and explored underneath the sea, underground worlds and hell.

At the time, Lodsiker was considered an irresponsible noble but he discovered things that hadn’t yet existed in the world.

He wrote books regarding his adventures but sadly most of them weren’t passed down to the present.

These were the three books that remained.

Those that read the books could drastically reduce the damage from traps and their sense of direction went up.

The Adventurers Guild set a very large reward and treasure for those who found the tracks of Lodsiker.

Greed momentarily formed in Weed’s eyes.

‘Lodsiker’s bounty has exceeded 300 million gold…I also heard that he owned many rare things.’

The blind greed that couldn’t distinguish between the front and rear.

“Lodsiker explored the land of the giants with me. And from there……”

Ddiring!

– Information about Lodsiker has been acquired.

“Uhh, I feel faint. It is time to leave.”

“It can’t be. 3 million gold! Tell me more about Lodsiker before you go!”

“Great Emperor, there is no time. If you find the Allium flower while following the large footsteps to the red monument then you will be able to know the rest. Maybe…something there will be waiting for Master.”

Ddiring!

– Land of the Big Footprints.

Beyond the end of the world, there is a ship made of dead nails. The giants live close to the territory of the gods and the red monument will hold a clue regarding Lodsiker.

If you bring a never fading Allium then Lodsiker’s spirit will wake up.

Level of Difficulty: S

Adventurer Quest.

Compensation: ‘Lodsiker’s Promise’ quest.

May be linked to the epic ‘Myth of the World.’

Quest Restrictions: Information about Lodsiker. Limited to adventurers or those with the Explorer title. The continent’s greatest adventurer fame.

– This is an adventurer only quest but the specific special request means that you can proceed.

“Heeok.”

Weed finally realized what was happening.

‘Quest.’

He had forgotten about normal quests for a while due to his sculpting technique quest. But originally he had floated all around the continent on quests.

‘S class difficulty quest. And it involves Lodsiker who is a master adventurer.’

Lodsiker’s quest probably had an awful degree of difficulty!

If he wanted to resolve this adventure himself then he would need to accumulate his level.

An adventurer’s quest was often more difficult and required using their heads. If the right clue wasn’t found then he would have no idea where to go next.

Using a specific adventurer skill or infiltrating monsters were sometimes required. Weed would have to bulldoze through it with a sculptor’s skills.

Weed could see a thorny path stretching out in front of him. It seemed like a difficult path that would require an aircraft to pass over.

‘No matter what the problem is, I have confidence that I can solve it.’

He would approach any difficulty and would overcome it. Even the final secret sculpting technique didn’t scare him.

‘I need to actively carry out quests. There is a limit to growth through normal hunting.’

I couldn’t use the final secret sculpting technique yet so I needed to diligently raise Time Sculpting.

But even so, it was dangerous to go on a perilous adventure at the moment.

‘I need to raise my lost levels. And take care of my kingdom. There is a mountain of work to do.’

He would challenge the uncertain future at another time!

‘Well, I constantly obtain chances. With my fame, just saying a few words will allow me to quickly obtain a kingdom quest. Several minor ones would be better than one big quest.’

Weed quickly said.

“Hestiger, I have heard about that adventurer from bards. He is one of the most sought after people in this era. Deserving to be called a true hero.”

Hestiger smiled and said.

“I am relieved to hear Great Emperor say that. Be sure to listen to my words. I hope you can fulfill Lodsiker’s wishes.”

– You have accepted the quest.

“Keeook!”

Hestiger disappeared in a bright flash of light that connected the earth and the sky.

Chapter 3

“What was that? Teleportation magic within the city?”

“No. It is greater than that.”

The users and residents gathered together while making a lot of noise.

Weed then broke up the group.

“Then I’ll see you again soon. I will call you if I start to hunt.”

“I’d rather you kill us.”

“I know that you have worked hard during the hunt. If you manage your vitality well then you will be healthy.”

Weed headed to an alley in Morata.

The alleys were complicated like a spider web.

In the early days, the fountain was in Morata’s Central Square. Wyvern Square, Bingryong Square, Light Square and Bull Square were formed as the city expanded, turning the downturn area into a place filled with alleys.

He didn’t dare push for redevelopment.

‘Well, people’s memories will remain in this place. The traces of people living…a warm affection attached to it.’

In reality, many undeveloped areas had expensive rent. Looking back, it was a nice environment to create solidarity between the residents.

People who lived in the neighbourhood for decades would know everyone. Food would be sent to the elderly and it was common to see children playing with each other.

Then talk of redevelopment happened due to greed and the neighbourhood was in a frenzy.

Redevelopment would have big and clean buildings but the people could no longer live there.

In the evening, residents would gather at the big department stores and the unique sentiment of the neighbourhood disappeared.

The large, clean buildings and renovated city caused the residents to change. The feelings of the past didn’t remain anymore. Only the graffiti and old buildings contained the memories of the people.

He wanted to leave the old streets of Morata as intact as possible. Culture wasn’t something that could be created by force but naturally accumulated over time.

‘Redevelopment will require a lot of money. I still get taxes anyway. There are many benefits to living in narrow streets.’

Morata’s old streets, shacks and stylish commercial buildings but it was the residence of many adventurers.

Due to Weed’s adventures, the Arpen Kingdom also had architectural features of the Niflheim Empire.

The market place was a thriving centre of commerce and users were endlessly growing.

“Now the Haven Empire won’t bother us?”

“Yes. They were wiped out!”

“Hooray! I really wasn’t expecting to win.”

“Soon the Arpen Kingdom and the whole north will be wide open.”

The novice users were running around on the streets.

Weed’s beginner clothes was so common in Morata that no one paid attention to him.

Weed walked past the people.

He had come to the collapsed palace in order to check the kingdom’s internal affairs.

“Well, my mind is firmly prepared. The damage caused by the war is too big.”

The Haven Empire was defeated but the Arpen Kingdom still suffered losses. Dozens of villages were destroyed and land devastated, causing the crops to be planted again.

“I need to find out the exact details. Internal Affairs mode! ”

–

A kingdom ruling over a wide territory on the Northern Continent.

The Arpen Kingdom is filled with people living scattered over a wide land. The residents living in isolation have welcomed the trade and culture of the Arpen Kingdom.

Most of the villages have increased their population through birth and settlers.

But the residents are trembling in fear due to the invasion of another empire.

Parts of the kingdom’s territory has been taken away and the residents have embraced the invaders as the rulers. Although the Arpen Kingdom won, there is a distrust in the military due to the war.

Thanks to the Royal Palace collapsing, some villages have declared their independence while others are watching the situation with anxiety.

Residents have gathered together to drink the specialty wine of Morata.

“There are many things in the kingdom. Plenty of food, sculpture and art. The technicians improve themselves in their field. But the knights and soldiers are lacking.”

“I knew this day would eventually come. His Majesty is actively devoted to development projects. It might be better in the future but we are anxious about today. I don’t know what security will be like in the distant future. We were all prisoners before.”

“Wasn’t there a big victory? That is a good thing. However, my mind still can’t feel at ease. Another kingdom might succeed in invading because we don’t have the right military force.”

After the war is over, reclaim more than half of the Arpen Kingdom’s lost territory or its political influence won’t recover.

The residents and villages who believe in the Freya Church will have prosperity and abundance. But due to the war, many people are uneasy and have joined different religions.

The king who was religiously treated as the ‘Divine King.’ His religion has deep faith and there is no doubt.

King Weed fought through the bitter cold to create the city of Morata. The northern residents haven’t forgotten the favour of the king who saved them from hunger and a life filled with anxiety.

Recently the residents of the Arpen Kingdom have been pursuing stability and abundance.

The fear caused by the invasion of an empire has spread to trade and production. Investment in art and public facilities have been suspended.

Approximately 63 new cities and villages are growing in the kingdom. The numbers are insufficient so the birth rate will increase.

The capital of the Arpen Kingdom has been broken so many things are a mess.

Military Power: 13,389                                            Economic Power: 45,942

Culture: 41, 030                                                       Technology: 63,482

Religious Influence: 84                                           Kingdom Politics: 45

Influence on Surrounding Areas: 71%                 Kingdom Development: 77

Hygiene: 43                                                               Security: 81%

The residents of the north that belong to the Arpen Kingdom are anxious but still happy.

Clearing of the plains, wilderness, flood zones and redevelopment of abandoned mines are actively being pursued.

The aggressive activities of the merchants means that the carriage production can’t catch up.

The road conditions in the kingdom are becoming increasingly worse. Trade is essential in order to establish a safe and fast road. Recently the Alkazar Bridge has been destroyed so the merchants have lost an important trade route.

A merchant trying to open a shop in a rural village said.

“These days, the mood of the market is unusual. Good things aren’t being sold. This is all due to the war!”

“Well, things used to be worse. Before the Arpen Kingdom was formed, everybody was eating tree roots. Just believe in His Majesty.”

“Aren’t the thieves continuing? They are stealing things…hmm hmm! If they are left unattended then larger groups of bandits will appear!”

New island villages and maritime trade are continuing to be found.

When leaving for distant seas, there is a 15% chance of returning alive and experienced sailors are always scarce.

Strange rumours have been going around Varna Port recently.

“Gold! There is an island made of gold beyond the Velazquez waters. You don’t believe my words? This isn’t something I picked up by chance…I am thinking of leaving. A world of gold, isn’t that worth risking your lives?”

In the agricultural sector, farmers are experimenting with new crops.

“Grain production is enough. We should consider planting new crops for flavour and nutrition.”

The farmers have successfully expanded the herb cultivating area and there has been a recent surge in tea leaves due to the tea drinking craze.

Adventurers have found many traces and relics of the Niflheim Empire.

The residents are uneasy about the military power of the Arpen Kingdom.

There is a small army but they’ve only recently experienced war. Knights are learning new sword techniques and are becoming proficient in fighting on horseback. The soldiers accurately realized that their role in big battles is to survive as long as possible. The high loyalty of the residents means that many people are volunteering to become soldiers.

The development of the kingdom has become stagnant due to the war and the peace loving residents hope that this situation would finish soon.

Kingdom’s Total Population: 39,281,932.

Monthly Tax Revenue: 18,292,048.

Kingdom Operational Expenses:

Military 32%, Technology Development 6%, Economic Development 26% , Cultural Investment 6%, Commissions and Monster Subjugation 11%, Road Construction 16%, Religion 3%

Military Power: 13,214 knights, 39,382 training knights, 538,102 soldiers.

A large amount of new soldiers have flocked to the Arpen Kingdom’s military.

They wear armour and shield but still aren’t used to spears. Anyway, the new soldiers know nothing aside from eating.

Fortunately, the knights have exceptional bravery and commitment. They are the shining swords that will save the kingdom in a crisis.

“Ahem.”

The inside of Weed’s head was complicated.

The economic power and population had significantly reduced since the last time he checked. This was because of the villages that left the kingdom.

Taxes were based on technology and economic development so the collected amount was reduced.

“The internal affairs of the kingdom has worsened due to the Haven Empire’s invasion.”

The Arpen Kingdom had been brilliantly developing. However, the aftermath of the war shook the entire kingdom.

The spacious gaps between the villages meant that many villages were lost.

The villages that broke away would continue cultural and economic exchanges with the Arpen Kingdom and might eventually rejoin. Even so, the tax collection from some villages wouldn’t be smooth for the moment.

“The Grand Buildings and roads are delayed and I need to strengthen the military……”

The Arpen Kingdom was mainly focused on development projects. The cities could expand thanks to the Grand Buildings.

After the Grand Buildings were constructed, the entire area could develop.

Areas like Morata and Vargo Fortress were bustling but the driving force of the development of other areas were the Grand Buildings.

However, the war had put off the construction of the Grand Buildings.

It was impossible to maintain that rate of development now. Resources needed to be collected for mine development and city expansion.

Weed felt a heavy responsibility as the king.

“Hrmm, this…where should I start?”

The king’s permission was required to proceed with intensive business development in certain areas and would give mandatory orders to the army. Various measures were required to develop the vast Arpen Kingdom.

Weed looked through the king’s commands available.

The king’s decree could mobilize the military and develop the economy. He could also grant nation quests to the residents.

– Kingdom Wide Monster Fight

Send at least 30,000 soldiers to root out the lairs of monsters.

An absolute way to restore peace and order.

It will assist in the soldiers’ training.

290,000 gold will be consumed.

“No. Too expensive. Let’s move on.”

– Ambush the Thieves Rich in Treasure.

The country is running out of money due to the thieves.

Take control of public opinion through firm security.

But it won’t be easy for the military to clear out all the thieves. The sacrifice of the soldiers and elite troops will be large.

140,000 gold will be consumed.

“I’m not sure. High level users will be able to sweep up the thieves. And there aren’t that many thieves in the Arpen Kingdom. Later I will suppress the thieves and take care of their treasures.”

– The Study of Magic.

Constant developments are being made in magic research. Magic towers can strengthen the existing magic in the kingdom or create new spells.

Scholars and magicians will greatly welcome this policy.

A minimum of 200,000 gold will be consumed.

“That won’t work!”

– Construct Barriers to Stop the Invasion of Monsters.

This will stabilize the kingdom and eliminate the anxiety of the residents.

The barriers built at fortresses and the troops stationed means there is no need to worry about the invasion or looting of monsters.

A minimum of 260,000 gold will be consumed.

“Barriers…the monsters don’t hit so hard that they can’t be hunted.”

The king could also use the edict to conscript soldiers.

But after the collapse of the palace, conscription would just reduce loyalty and security even further.

It would also be tough to maintain the troops in the army. They needed to be clothed and fed. Aside from the paycheck, compensation needed to be paid if the soldiers were killed.

The installation of various training facilities and supplies to fight against monsters so consumption would increase exponentially.

An army wasn’t called a money eating hippo for nothing. Everything consumed money!

“It is really tough to rule.”

Weed could also construct buildings in the style of the Niflheim Empire.

Building facilities such as public baths or stadiums in Morata could help with commercial development and loyalty.

But that was nothing when looking at it from the scale of a kingdom.

The destruction of the Royal Palace required an astronomical amount of money to recover. In order to resume the large scale of the kingdom, money needed to be spent on the construction of the Grand Buildings.

He also needed to improve the quality of the troops and the growth of the economy.

Nothing could be neglected.

It was realistically difficult to catch up with the Haven Empire in the short term.

“Then what I have to do…yes, I have to actively promote the development of the kingdom.”

Weed came to a conclusion and nodded.

The Arpen Kingdom had been stagnant for a while but it would continue to grow. There was no need to fret about the situation.

“I am like the weeds in the ground. Tough like a cockroach.”

Weeds would continue to grow even if they were pulled out.

Cockroaches would live while endlessly multiplying.

He would sprout up.

There was only the city of Morata in the north.

Right now the military power was dependent on the Freya Church and the northern users. Under no circumstances would these conditions continue.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“He really did it.”

“Like he promised us.”

“I’m sure we’ll see more of him later.”

“He really showed us the full results.”

Roam, Gunter, Michel, Carlise and Sherwood were gathered in one place.

Until recently, they had been famous figures on the Versailles Continent.

Roam of the Roam Guild, Gunter of the Lion Star guild, Michel of the Black Sword Mercenaries, Carlise of the Black Lion Guild and Sherwood of the Cloud Guild.

The elite rulers of huge guilds.

Despite teaming up for an alliance, they were crushed by the Haven Empire. People quickly forgot their names.

There were too many things going on in Royal Road. The influence of the Hermes Guild had spread and now they were barely remembered.

They pretended to be other people and didn’t do any open activities.

People who weren’t seen often were quickly forgotten.

‘I’m a loser.’

‘It was just a butterfly like dream.’

‘The Haven Empire is so strong. Looking back, I was just a puppet. They were holding hands through the whole thing……’

They couldn’t recover their dreams.

The guild was either disbanded or reduced to one third of the size. The famous guild members were chased by the assassination squads of the Hermes Guild until they were forced to hide deeply.

After their defeat, the Haven Empire quickly took over their territories until it was impossible to recover.

They could only watch the Versailles Continent helplessly until they were contacted.

Weed, the God of War.

King of the Arpen Kingdom and Bardray’s only rival.

‘Hmm, a proposal to unite forces. It is regretful then he most likely can’t block the Haven Empire. However, Weed, the God of War…looking at that name makes me think of how I suffered.’

‘What do I have to lose? There is nothing. I will watch and make the decision. But Weed…well, he is Weed. Taking into account all the possibilities, I can’t easily refuse his offer.’

‘The Arpen Kingdom stopped the invasion. But the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace also ended up breaking? I never thought they would suffer like that. It is ruthless. Hasn’t he returned what the Hermes Guild did to us?’

The collapse of the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace.

People speculated that the cause was due to Weed’s actions.

Roam and Michel were users from Continent of Magic.

At that time, they had built enormous forces in Continent of Magic. Then they learned about the character of Weed.

“A guy like that? Kill. I will let him know the price of crossing us.”

“I don’t know how strong he is but let’s send some people to the area.”

Royal Road was a virtual reality so they were a little more cautious. But Continent of Magic involved looking at a computer screen so their decisions were more spontaneous. They trusted in their basic skills and level.

And a war with Weed!

Well, the result was a defeat and a new title of God of War.

In the war with Weed, they fell into a trap that they couldn’t escape. They had larger numbers but were placed in a disadvantageous situation.

Weed had the perfect attack, defense and equipment so it was impossible to catch him.

They heard that 1,000 people in a guild went to attack Weed in a dungeon.

Other prestigious guilds gave up but Roam’s pride was strong.

“It isn’t a big deal if a lot of people suffer.”

Despite the dangerous situation, blocking him in the dungeon was a golden opportunity.

Roam led a group but was attacked by monsters, caught by traps, killed by Weed and then robbed.

The dungeon area and monsters were already under Weed’s reign.

Before his death, Roam was convinced.

‘Strong. I admit it.’

In the meantime, he had defeated quite a few quests in Continent of Magic.

The pride of the guild was damaged by one individual but it was still a good game.

At this point, Weed’s personality could easily be seen.

“I’ve built up a lot of stress. It is worth fighting these guys.”

Weed controlled the monsters with special items.

It couldn’t be imagined due to the zoom of the monitor but an endless amount of monsters invaded the city. Weed was determined to wiped out the Roam Guild from its roots.

His actions were enough for someone to shake their head and call him a dirty bastard.

The land was cursed and it became a monster habitat where humans couldn’t live. Roam’s territory was changed into a hunting ground.

Roam exploded with rage.

“No, the damage we inflicted on him…isn’t it enough to just kill us? He didn’t need to do this to us!”

He cried out with anger but the public opinion of Continent of Magic wasn’t favourable to him.

Roam wasn’t a very good lord and people were excited about the new combat legends being written by Weed.

Weed, the God of War; he was untouchable.

A figure that remained prominent in the people’s minds.

And that wasn’t enough.

Roam and his group settled in a new place. But Weed continued to chase them and wiped out Roam and his subordinates.

He was outraged after dying 5 times and by the time he died 10 times, he no longer felt like fighting. He just wanted to reconcile with Weed in order to live in peace.

After the 20th death, he became determined.

“I will never forgive him. I will show him hell no matter what it takes.”

They realized what suffering really was.

They wanted to ruin everything related to Weed.

After losing their lives 30 times, all the power drained out of them. There was no motivation to live.

Weed came like the god of death and they spoke for the first time through the message window.

Unlike Royal Road, they naturally had to type into the keyboard.

Roam: Why the hell are you doing this to us? You’ve already got your revenge. Is it just out of spite?

Weed: …..

Roam: Say something!

Weed didn’t attack for a while. And then the chat window came up.

Weed: It is hard to meet high level monsters.

Roam: Perhaps…do you think we are monsters?

Weed: Unfortunately I can’t get stronger monsters.

It is necessary to hunt to increase his level. Fighting against users was risky but there were benefits. Roam and his guild were considered a great hunting ground. He could obtain extra loot.

Despite feeling like it was unfair, Roam bowed his head.

Roam: Let’s stop now. I want to live in peace.

Weed: I don’t want to.

Roam: We can’t lose much more. And isn’t this enough for you?

Weed: Bad mood.

Roam: Why are you in a bad mood? We were wrong so let’s not have any hard feelings in the future. Give up everything related to revenge or retaliation.

It was humiliating but he did’t want to fight anymore.

Weed was silent. And after 30 seconds, another message showed up.

Weed: The rent on my house was raised.

Roam: Why does that matter?

Weed: The bus fare went up as well. Cabbage and onions are much more expensive than last year. I don’t feel good. The negotiations broke down.

Roam: ……

Roam made the judgement after finding out Weed’s intentions.

‘He is the devil. A devil I can never associate with.’

Roam quit Continent of Magic and was given an opportunity to start Royal Road.

Roam successfully settled in Royal Road and become one of the leaders of the continent. The popularity of Royal Road meant his forces were much greater than Continent of Magic.

‘Weak people aren’t required. I need to configure a strong guild.’

The Roam Guild contained the most elite troops. Just like the Hermes Guild now, it was a source of great pride to belong to the Roam Guild.

Nevertheless, Roam was always anxious.

‘The devil might come to Royal Road. That guy is considerably strong. I don’t want to admit it but his senses are excellent.’

There was no guarantee that the same thing as Continent of Magic will happen but he didn’t want to cross paths with Weed again.

‘I don’t even want to hear residents speak the name Weed. His fame didn’t have any meaning in Royal Road. No, he might have even changed the name of his character. But Royal Road is an incredibly spacious place.’

Yet after a while, he heard news about Weed.

– The Freya Church’s request was a success. The adventurer Weed has found the Fargo Crown!

“Hey, this can’t be. It is just someone with the same name.”

– The Immortal Legion was defeated. The orc Karichwi. Weed, the God of War!

“Heok, that guy!”

Since then, Roam kept an eye out for Weed’s adventures. The same was true for his colleagues in the Roam Guild.

At the time, the Roam Guild held a meeting to discuss measures against Weed.

“But this is lucky. He is active in places far away from our territory.”

“Well, he is a sculptor so his fighting skills are gone. Isn’t this a chance to get revenge for Continent of Magic?”

“We tried to retaliate hundreds of times and still failed.”

Roam waited.

He couldn’t strike properly in Continent of Magic. He didn’t want to mess with that devil again.

“We can’t afford to waste the guild’s power on someone not related to us. We should concentrate on our development.”

Most of the prestigious guilds from Continent of Magic kept an eye on Weed. And sighed with relief when Weed succeeded in his adventures and swept through the arrogant Hermes Guild.

‘It is fortunate that we didn’t mess with the devil.’

Since then, Weed continued his miraculous successes until he was killed by Bardray in the Melbourne Mine.

Putting aside the fairness, a defeat was still a defeat.

‘Even Weed is helpless in front of that power.’

Afterwards they were busy fighting against the Hermes Guild and didn’t care about Weed.

The alliance was formed but they lost everything.

On the other hand, Weed completed the final secret sculpting technique and even blocked the Haven Empire’s army.

Roam was filled with deep emotion after watching the scene.

‘He is indeed a devil. He is quite a strong guy.’

The northern users believed in Weed like he was a god and it was difficult for Roam to rationally accept.

Words couldn’t describe Weed……

Roam, Michel, Carlise, Gunter and Sherwood gathered after being contacted by Weed so they had a lot of expectations.

The losers had come together to hear the opinion of one person on the continent.

If Weed held out his hand then it would be good to join forces.

At the very least, allying with Weed meant they might be able to regain their lost territories from the Haven Empire.

“But he isn’t here yet.”

“Well…there isn’t a set time so let’s wait a little more.”

“After winning the war, he obviously needs to handle some urgent problems.”

They knew there would be a call from Weed shortly after the war ended. It was to discuss the possible combat operations against the Haven Empire.

However, there was no contact after a few hours.

Sherwood from the Cloud Guild struck the table.

“Damn! How long do we have to wait here?”

Sherwood had a violent and bad character in the past.

The Cloud Guild had quite a lot of personnel early on. In order to raise the power of the guild, he had hired recklessly. He used blackmail and shook a carrot in order to attract small guilds under his banner.

The guild reigned over areas of the continent until they were shattered by the Hermes Guild.

Once the 5 prestigious guilds turned shabby, Sherwood’s character changed quickly.

Gunter of Lion Star just laughed lightly.

“This isn’t something to be angry over. It is just part of the negotiation tactics.”

“Negotiation tactics?”

“Deliberately making the opponent frustrated while waiting so that he will gain the advantage in negotiations.”

Michel nodded like he agreed.

“Haven’t you seen Weed’s combat videos? It could be called the best. And it isn’t necessarily a bad thing that we’ve gathered first.”

Sherwood understood but he still seemed annoyed.

“It still feels dirty. It is like he is poking fun at us.”

“Rather than focus on your feelings, it is important to lower the risk in the negotiations. Let’s think about it now.”

“It is still unpleasant.”

“But can we really suppress the Hermes Guild if we join forces?”

Gunter was skeptical.

“The Arpen Kingdom has shown the possibilities. Of course, it wasn’t the entire Hermes Guild that was defeated.”

The alliance that had a lot of pride were defeated.

The Hermes Guild had nearly two thirds of the forces on the Central Continent. And there were many high level users.

They directly experienced how strong the Hermes Guild and Haven Empire were.

In particular, Carlise, of the Black Lion Guild, feared the Hermes Guild. After their loss in the Melbourne Mine, the Hermes Guild had gradually devoured them. A long term plan was executed perfectly. He saw how powerful the Hermes Guild was.

‘But the Imperial Palace is broken. The Haven Empire’s ability to rule has been disrupted. Security will worsen on the Central Continent and rebels will form. An opportunity. We need to move straight away.’

‘There is no time to waste in a place like this. Gathering users and snatching fortresses from the Hermes Guild……’

Weed had kept the embers alive and this was their last opportunity. If he led an uprising in the area……!

They quietly ate the food while discussing ways to fight the Hermes Guild.

“I’m bored so let’s play poker.”

“Sure.”

“We might as well be comfortable while waiting.”

“I want to botch his plan to use our impatience to gain an advantage in the negotiations.”

Despite waiting the whole night, there was no contact from Weed.

In fact, Weed had gone to the bathroom and had forgotten about contacting them by the time he exited.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kukuku, hahahahaha!”

The Bandit King Steiner!

He was delighted with the misfortunes of the Haven Empire.

“Security is now poor so there is no better environment.”

Since the collapse of the Imperial Palace and the annihilation of the northern conquest army, many rebels had emerged in the Haven Empire’s territory.

“We are being exploited by the governor!”

“Citizens of the Tullen Kingdom, it is time to defeat the invaders.”

“A militia is being formed to courageously fight the Haven Empire and we are gathering in that back alley.”

Ddiring!

– Struggle for Independence

The Lasalle Kingdom being conquered by the Haven Empire has brought great suffering to the local residents.

One of the 10 forbidden zones, Averian Forest is located near the Lasalle Kingdom and the people are famous for their fighting spirit.

Help the locals get revenge on the army of the Haven Empire.

The people will feel gratitude towards you.

Level of Difficulty: C

Quest Reward: Deep affection with the local residents, quests related to resistance activities will emerge.

Quest Restrictions: High intimacy among the local residents.

“These words, hrmm.”

“It is tempting so should we try it?”

“Knock it off. Don’t you know how strong the Hermes Guild is?”

“It is a linked quest. The end of the quests might give proper rewards.”

The active users in the Central Continent could easily access quests associated with the resistance.

It was too easy.

Many residents were complaining about the Haven Empire. Just drinking at the tavern would have related quests appear.

There were also quests related to the former Croin Kingdom.

Ddiring!

– Croin’s Tax Transportation Carriage

There are no secrets in this world. Huge amounts of tribute and taxes taken from the Croin area are being moved along the Bensa River.

Those with courage, what are you waiting for?

You can obtain a lot of money and treasure from destroying the convoy.

An attack on the Haven Empire will be enthusiastically welcomed by the people

Level of Difficulty: C

Quest Reward: Even if you succeed in looting, infamy won’t rise. Returning the taxes to the residents will increase fame by a huge amount.

Quest Restrictions: Those appointed as knights of the Haven Empire can’t get quests from the residents.

“This is a big deal.”

“Why?”

“The quest isn’t hard with our skills but it will 100% cause difficulties with the Hermes Guild. We can never live in the Central Continent.”

“What is life? There is no guarantee the Hermes Guild will find out and if things become unfavourable, we can just go live in the north.”

“The north? Hmm, I wanted to live in the north anyway. I can appear on television on a daily basis.”

“We should go to the north after succeeding in this quest.”

“We will give the Haven Empire a gift before leaving on a long journey.”

“That’s what I wanted to say. I like it.”

The hearts of the users in the Central Continent were swayed. And users succeeded in their quests.

The Hermes Guild’s power started being weighed down by the users.

Events started to occur all over the place.

– Rebellions are breaking out all over the place.

– The scale of the resistance is expanding as they are joined by local troops.

– The security vacuum means that many lords are being looted.

– The residents are on the brink of an explosion of discontent. They are ignoring the dignity of the rulers.

“Unbelievable. This is too much.”

“It is shameful that something like this has happened to the Haven Empire.”

“It is because security and loyalty is low.”

“What is the right thing to do? It is hard to maintain high security and loyalty in the occupied territories. A series of successive incidents have suddenly occurred.”

The Hermes Guild kept on receiving negative messages.

Due to the collapse of the Imperial Palace and their destruction in the north, public sentiment was greatly agitated.

Normally the Empire’s reign was firm but most of the territories in the Central Continent were conquered. The high taxes, conscription and threat of exploitation meant the Haven Empire’s policy was the worse.

The users of the Hermes Guild spoke among themselves.

“At his rate, aren’t we screwed?”

“Perhaps…although we have a stronger military power. The leaders can quell the minor disturbances.”

“The Haven Empire can’t be shaken. Our guild is strong.”

“My heart holds strong respect for the guild. There is nothing we can’t win by force.”

The users didn’t doubt the military force of the Hermes Guild.

Their power was enough to unify the entire continent. Those who joined the Hermes Guild had an obvious pride in their military power.

“There are enormous amounts of complaints from the ordinary users. Quest rewards have been suspended due to the collapse of the palace.”

“It is easily ignored. How dare they forcefully try to claim compensation?”

“They are on the weak side so we can ignore it but the atmosphere is bad. We should demonstrate a strong power against the resistant users. Beat them all up.”

The users of the Hermes Guild confirmed the damage through the information network.

Surprisingly, confusion and rebellion was occurring through various parts of the empire. The confusion in each area of the Central Continent couldn’t be ignored.

The roots of the Haven Empire were currently being shaken.

There were many problems in areas with low loyalty and security but the Haven Empire’s military power was enough to suppress the rebellion.

The lords and military moved against the rebels.

Even so, the timing wasn’t ideal.

It wasn’t long after the conquest of the Central Continent.

The failure of the northern conquest expedition and collapse of the Haven Empire meant unpredictable holes occurred at a time where they needed to stabilize their rule.

Chapter 4

Lafaye, Bardray and 25 local lords and governors held a roundtable meeting. They were the ones who would decide the policies of the Haven Empire.

Lafaye held his face for a while.

‘I need to be vigilant. We can certainly win wars but the weaknesses in governing needs to be considered. The Imperial Palace collapsed and we can’t overlook the results.’

This was the biggest emergency since the founding of the Haven Empire.

The meeting was held to discuss the critical issues raised by the defeat in the war with the Arpen Kingdom and the sudden collapse of the palace.

They received reports of the damage situation of the empire in real time.

Huge damage hadn’t occurred yet but the rebels were causing small and huge confusion.

“Let’s immediately conquer the Arpen Kingdom! We will let them know what happens to those who make fun of the Haven Empire.”

“Hrmm, a war at this time…we would need to reorganize the forces and dispatch additional supply units. The burden of sudden commodities will arise.”

Public opinion was against another war.

The northern expedition had consumed a huge number of troops, supplies, finances and time. The Haven Empire could afford it but it would be a waste.

The influential Hermes Guild users or war heroes were appointed as lords or governor of a region.

They played a role in making decisions in the guild but there was confusion due to the aftermath. They were now greatly reluctant to conquer the north.

In addition, the core lords knew many of the internal secrets of the Hermes Guild.

Lafaye played a large role in establishing this empire.

After dominating the Central Continent, he had planned to focus on long term rule. The secret plan that would ensure the empire would last for a long time.

The core lords and governors waited for Lafaye and Bardray’s decision.

“Just go forward and smash them. I will be in the vanguard. Bardray-nim should take command!”

Darius strongly insisted.

He had started in the Rosenheim Kingdom and used to be the guild master of the Ica Guild. But due to his bad reputation, he left his home for the Central Continent and joined the Hermes Guild through bribes and social networking.

He rapidly grew in Royal Road due to the support of the guild. No matter how they treated others, the guild knew how to handle their members.

His status and influence wasn’t enough to attend the leadership meeting but he had a special connection with Bardray. He prepared good hunting grounds for Bardray and was guaranteed a seat at this meeting.

Darius would swing his sword at any time for the Hermes Guild.

The hardliners and the moderates!

There were divided opinions from those who wanted another war or those who wanted to settle the chaos.

Lafaye felt that now was the time to make a decision.

“A war needs to be decided carefully.”

The meeting room fell silent as he started to speak.

“As you know from the reports still coming in, this incident has had a profound and unexpected impact on the Haven Empire. The northern conquest army being wiped out and the destruction of our Imperial Palace has dealt a blow to our pride. The palace is the core of our reign and the damage of the collapse has spread across the region. If we don’t rectify the situation now then it will grow beyond our guesses.”

It was a meeting of leaders but it was still led by Lafaye.

He used the intelligence agents spread out across the continent to understand the current status and to predict the future. Lafaye and Bardray were the ones who could influence the policies of the Hermes Guild.

The lords and governors were puzzled but they felt positive.

‘The true hidden power hasn’t been revealed yet.’

‘It is counterproductive if it is disclosed too early. It is possible once things worsen.’

Lafaye spoke with a heavy tone of voice.

“The internal security has reduced with more rebels growing so the empire will fall further in the future. And we are notorious. Anyway, it will be a disaster if we just ignore it. The rebels will keep coming and there will be consequences if we don’t suppress it early on.”

The Central Continent was wide. If the rebels took over fortresses or cities then it could cause substantial confusion through the whole empire. If the rebels continued to increase, then it would deal severe damage to the national power.

But Lafaye was prepared despite not knowing this originally.

“It is fortunate that we have many means available. The military can easily win over independent cities and the lost economic power can be compensated from other areas. However, we have to completely give up on the war and use our power to control the chaos in the empire.”

Lafaye turned to Bardray.

“We should ignore the Arpen Kingdom and focus on unifying the Haven Empire. If the chaos isn’t settled now then it might spread.”

Bardray who was still watching finally opened his mouth.

“A war can certainly help with recovery.”

“Of course. If Bardray-nim chooses a war then the Arpen Kingdom will be ours. The north has substantial power but if our troops deal with them calmly then we can conquer them. But in order to maintain the Haven Empire’s pride and dignity, we would have to use more advanced troops.”

“Advanced troops……”

“Half of them will be the Hermes Guild members and half the Haven Empire troops. We would be able to destroy Weed and the northern users.”

“Isn’t that too much?”

“In order to ruin Morata and the major cities, this type of army is required. And it must be done in as short a time as possible.”

The configuration of the Haven Empire’s army passed through their heads.

This time, 1.7 million troops had been destroyed.

There had been numerous knights of the Haven Empire. Many knights were raised in the Central Continent so it would be easy to recruit to fill up the numbers.

The Haven Empire currently had the strongest military power.

However, a large scale military expedition would worsen the security of the empire and conscription would decrease loyalty and economic productivity.

Currently the leaders of the Hermes Guild didn’t want a large amount of materials to be consumed or an economic recession. The stability of the Central Continent was already threatened due to the constant destruction and conquest.

Rumours spread quickly around the Versailles Continent.

If someone achieved a great adventure or a magician developed new magic then it would emerge from the mouth of the residents.

If the fame of the Haven Empire fell then rebels would emerge from among the residents.

The big losses caused by a war would make it harder to rule.

But Bardray’s mind was still leaning towards a war.

“Even if the recovery is slow, isn’t it better to cut off the Arpen Kingdom? It would have a greater value to quickly complete the unification of the continent. Pulling out their roots will prevent future opposition.”

The sympathetic Hermes Guild members nodded at those words.

The Hermes Guild would remain as the strongest organization on the Versailles Continent.

If the north was neutralized then there wouldn’t be an end to the Hermes Guild’s rule.

It was worth it even if the internal affairs of the empire were shaken at the moment.

“It is difficult to say which one is better. If we choose to recover then the Arpen Kingdom will develop in the meantime. It isn’t very long but it will give them a bit of time. On the other hand, sending a large force to the north would only worsen the confusion inside the empire.”

“What are the specific problems?”

“The empire hasn’t finished its conquest war. If the territory isn’t stabilized then the momentum of the resistance will rapidly grow. There are also many people who have been defeated by us. They will use this confusion as an opportunity.”

“We have firmly planted defeat in them through the war.”

“Of course. The follow up measures where their power was divided or absorbed means they have remained silent until now. But they will likely use this chance to cause a revolt. The defeated enemies hiding all over won’t be easily quelled…there might be a civil war even after conquering the north. In the worst case scenario, the conquered territories will be destroyed and the residents reduced, dropping the power of the empire.”

“That can be a difficult problem.”

If Bardray left on a large scale expedition then it would leave the Haven Empire open to their enemies.

They already occupied a large territory in the north so troops had to be stationed there on an ongoing basis. The conflict between the north and the Central Continent would affect the entire Versailles Continent, causing a lot of confusion.

When that happened, all residents and users of the Versailles Continent would be hostile towards the Haven Empire.

No matter how great the power of the Hermes Guild, they didn’t want all the users hostile towards them. In addition, there would be a severe backlash inside the guild.

Crebulta shook his head.

“The difficulty comes after establishing a kingdom.”

“A huge tower took a long time to build only to have the stones come crashing down. Even so, this situation isn’t entirely bad. We still have the lead and haven’t suffered any fatal or serious damage. We have a choice. We are making a decision for our future. And both choices has pros and cons so we just need to minimize the side effects.”

There were many hardliners among the leaders of the Hermes Guild.

Currently they were those who had a high status in the Central Continent or commanders who swept through several kingdoms.

Even so, they weren’t sure about the risks involved with a war while all this confusion was going on.

The Haven Empire had already achieved a great feat.

Their territory, population, economic strength, technology and military power was the best on the continent. Public sentiment causing a civil war was their weak point.

Everyone wanted a long term and stable rule.

If the Hermes Guild and Haven Empire didn’t conquer the hearts of the continent then there would be another war.

Lafaye had prepared a secret plan but it was necessary to keep it hidden. He needed to strategically deal with the crisis.

Bardray suddenly asked.

“If we select recovery…what will happen after that?”

“We will thoroughly stabilize the inside of the empire. Rectify security so that a resistance army won’t rise up and raise the loyalty of the residents. Use some carrots instead of force. The Central Continent is a place of economic prosperity. Now we can use an economic reconstruction policy in the areas impoverished from war.”

“There will be more profit with a short term recovery. There is honour and potential advantage in conquering the north.”

Users who started Royal Road early on started in the already prosperous Central Continent.

The prestigious guilds took over cities and their military policies concentrated on survival and looting. The successive wars caused many setbacks to economy and technology.

“There is huge potential in the Haven Empire. Promoting a development plan over conquering will raise the residents’ loyalty. Our rule will continue to be stable over a long time.”

Lafaye said in a bittersweet tone.

Despite the positive outlook, he thought it would be better to stabilize the area then to proceed with the northern conquest.

Bardray nodded.

“Stabilization and development. Looking at it objectively, it is better to postpone the unification of the continent.”

“I can see that. The unification won’t be perfect unless we conquer the north, east, south and west. The conquest of the continent won’t be finished until that time. Of course, the rest is just a matter of time once the north collapses.”

The leaders were locked in thought for a while.

‘Development and chaos. It was certain we would conquer the north…but the Imperial Palace collapsed and caused a lot of anxiety.’

‘Conquest. Conquest. All the people resisting. Show them the strength of the Hermes Guild!’

‘It is necessary to revive the glory of the Central Continent. And areas will low security will have strong resistance. Even though they will be repressed, it will still cause damage. I don’t want the glory of the empire to suffer.’

‘We need to choose a way where the Haven Empire won’t collapse. We can go after the Arpen Kingdom once the confusion is settled. Apart from the internal problems, there are no opponents that can match our military power.’

‘Weed. He is troublesome until the end. That damn fellow. We should have killed him sooner.’

The leaders ignored that the Arpen Kingdom would use that time to develop.

Although Morata’s growth was so fast it could be called a miracle, it eventually slowed somewhat.

On the other hand, if the economic power of the Haven Empire was restored then they would become 3~4 times stronger. There was no competition in the first place.

Furthermore, the Haven Empire had already conquest one quarter of the Arpen Kingdom. Their royal palace was also destroyed so they might be in a similar situation.

Their honour and pride was at stake but they didn’t think of the Arpen Kingdom as an enemy.

The lord of the free city Stangdal asked.

“If we select recovery then does that mean the Arpen Kingdom is being left alone?”

“Of course. We will have some precautions in place. Although our army fell, we still had some achievements in the north. We will continue the military training in the current occupied territories in order to pressure them. It will be a significant burden to the Arpen Kingdom. We will also cut off trade and block traffic to the north. The isolation means it will be difficult for them to develop as quickly as they did previously.

Most of the Hermes Guild’s strategy emerged from the brain of Lafaye. Lafaye had no choice with the follow up measures.

The development of the Haven Empire and Arpen Kingdom would continue further in the future but he was certain he could win over other competitors. But he couldn’t predict how much benefits would come from his decision.

Moreover, his opinion alone couldn’t move the Haven Empire.

The Hermes Guild had vast forces. A big decision like this needed the other leaders to give their consent.

Bardray and the leaders made their decision.

“We will delay the war for a while. Now we will fix the confusion and strengthen the empire.”

“Yes, I understand.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin gave up on meeting Bardray and returned to his laboratory.

“The Arpen Kingdom triumphed in the end.”

The Arpen Kingdom had unexpectedly blocked the invasion of the Haven Empire.

“Weed has overcome the adverse situation again…Luck really followed him. Of course, nothing has significantly changed.”

The ruler of the continent was still likely to be Bardray. But Weed also had a chance.

Yoo Byung-jin was disappointed as he watched the meeting of the Haven Empire on the monitor.

“It would be enough to strengthen their rule after conquering the continent. The future is unknown but isn’t that a perfectly reliable and obvious choice? The Hermes Guild is strong despite their enemies.”

– Should I check the number of people that dislike the Hermes Guild?

“There is no need.”

– I am cancelling the analysis.

The Hermes Guild had constantly won the wars. They identified the enemy well and accumulated power through victory.

Their development was a miracle like the Arpen Kingdom. The Hermes Guild was one of numerous guilds in the Haven Kingdom and their empire had amazing growth.

Bardray and Lafaye dominated their many competitors to rule the territory.

The Arpen Kingdom that settled on empty land in the north certainly had a lot of difficulty.

Lafaye and Bardray who expanded despite their enemies could also be called heroes. Preparing a long term plan for ruling could be called admirable.

“From the beginning, Bardray should have gone directly to the north. The others wouldn’t be able to compete with the power of the Haven Empire.”

A few small mistakes and inattention.

It gave time to the Arpen Kingdom.

Yoo Byung-jin thought about the future based on what he knew. But history would flow in its own way.

Bardray and Weed weren’t the only ones on the continent.

Numerous users were creating their own history.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This is the last chance given to us.”

“I agree. The Haven Empire is being shaken so we can regain our positions.”

“The two pillars of the world can be divided into the Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom. At that time, people will join us.”

“It is better to come forward before it is too late. The Central Continent is inherently ours.”

Roam, Gunter, Michel, Carlise and Sherwood.

They met up and steadily gathered information about the chaos in the Central Continent. And eventually, their remaining subordinates and co-workers came forward in order to secure power while the Haven Empire was in turmoil.

“A person in the Barang Cavalry contacted us about participating.”

“I am very grateful. They will be a big help.”

“Some people from the Asirium Guild has decided to join.”

“I haven’t heard news about them in a while. They were still going strong?”

“They’ve been completing adventures but their power seems to be in the past.”

They used their personal connections to gather colleagues and to contact the leaders of other guilds.

The users of the continent had yielded to the power of the Haven Empire. Those who had no opportunity for opposition were now standing at a crossroads.

“The Hermes Guild’s information network is great. We need to resolve this before it is made public.”

“Tomorrow evening, we will regain our lost territory starting with Fort Odin.”

“The battle to rule the region will be effective. Does anyone disagree with this approach?”

“No complaints.”

“Then let’s get started.”

The so called Day of Revolt!

13 fortresses in the Haven Empire received a surprise coup and had their territories stolen.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This can’t be a failure.”

“Definitely. It is perfect.”

Teros and his 6 colleagues entered a dungeon with 50 NPC mercenaries.

Their individual skills were enough to make them famous in Royal Road.

They used to be one of the top 10 guilds until they made a mistake while excavating King Belsos’ tomb and caused heat to fall on the continent. Then they joined the Cold Roses’ expedition and failed after their betrayal.

The Crimson Wings Guild were shattered and only Teros and a few people were left.

They had high infamy and fell to a low position.

The prestigious guilds were smashed by the Hermes Guild and there was no difference between their levels and the ordinary users. Teros and his colleagues had no choice but to wander around the north on adventures before accepting a quest.

– Secret of the Stars and the Moon

Do you know the mysteries of the Versailles Continent? Even those who know a lot are still ignorant. From now on, everything you experience will be new.

Go to the Muhejadin area and find the unknown figures carved into the ground.

Find the clues about the stars that will lead to the next secret.

Level of Difficulty: S

Compensation: Receive a chain quest.

Quest Restrictions: More than 1,000 knowledge.

Experience with long distance travel.

“A linked quest!”

“It has a tremendous difficulty.”

Teros tried to refuse due to the events in King Belsos’ tomb.

“We have other work to do.”

– The star quest can’t be cancelled.

Luck has permanently increased by 7.

You have accepted the quest.

“Dammit!”

“It is okay. We can spend a few months gathering information about this quest.”

– You have accepted the special quest.

You must complete the quest within the next 15 days when Ursa Major isn’t visible.

If you are unsuccessful then the curse of the stars will be granted.

“Keook!”

So they received a chain quest.

They wandered the Versailles Continent and found the secret of the stars and the moon.

They risked their lives finding the land of the stars in an unknown area and the secret led them to wander the sea.

Most of the fleets belonged to the Haven Empire. It was difficult to rent a boat for the adventure but he eventually found a captain at Varna Port.

“Uhihit, a sailing boat with 4 jibs is finally leaving for the sea. It won’t be sunk by giant lobsters again.”

“Hmm hmm, can you guide us to a place shown on the map?”

“Um, here? I roughly know the location. Using the sea currents to Jigolaths can be a short cut.”

“Look, you are holding the map upside down.”

“…Ah! I am familiar with the sea even if the map is upside down. Don’t worry.”

Captain Hook led them on a long voyage that lasted 17 days.

They encountered storms, a group of dolphins and even man-eating sharks. If they hit the reef then there would be threat from sharks.

And after arriving on the island, they found the fragments of a meteorite and returned to Varna Port five days later.

“Hahaha, that was a great sail.”

The people aboard thought it was ridiculous.

‘A short distance…a novice could have sailed it.’

‘We didn’t need to sail through the danger area.’

Teros shook his head.

“Anyway, we’ve returned safely.”

They were grateful just to arrive back on land. Teros had become more generous since the collapse of the Crimson Wings Guild.

Gale, Dein, Pulain, Mako, Psyche, Bastien defeated several chain quests in a row.

In the past, they didn’t participate in dangerous quests but risking everything was pretty fun.

Above all, the group had struggled to come back from the worst so they used all their concentration not to receive the curse.

Looking at the mysterious Milky Way increased their knowledge and wisdom and their charm under the moonlight increased.

“Weed must always feel like this.”

“Life feels different. My perception of the Versailles Continent has changed.”

They were lucky in their adventures but some of their colleagues needed to be sacrificed.

Bastien the assault captain of the Crimson Wings, the witch Psyche and the assassin Dein.

Nevertheless, they overcame it and reached the end.

– Signs of Birth

The stars eventually defeated their opponent, the giant Arkihemos

The fallen giant sank deep into the ground and caused a massive geological change.

Find the entrance and head down into the ground.

Arrive safely at the place of the giant and listen to his words.

Level of Difficulty: S

Compensation: Heart of the giant, traces of the stars.

They arrived at a swirling hole in the ground.

“We can’t make it.”

Dein agreed with Teros.

“Probably.”

“This might ruin the continent.”

This time Bastien sighed deeply at Teros’ words.

“We can’t receive any more curses.”

Indeed. The Crimson Wings had struggled after two horrible mistakes.

“The stations?”

“I’ve contacted them. There is a deep curiosity about the S-ranked quest. They have decided to broadcast it.”

“The salary……”

“Of course, the sum is higher but there are more conditions. The cast are treated better.”

“The popularity of Royal Road is at a record high.”

This was the first big adventure after the war ended.

Teros was satisfied with this part. Adventurers chased after a slim possibility but accomplishing it would give them fame and economic compensation.

The witch Psyche indifferently said.

“Then we will go to die.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed entered the largest store in Morata to sell the loot obtained in the war.

“Nowadays, people are swarming like flies. Customer-nim, what did you come for?”

“I want to sell some things.”

“Oh, did you come to sell weapons or armour? These days there haven’t been many guests so I haven’t been buying. Many are in such bad states that repair is needed. Therefore I will buy carefully.”

“I have both weapons and armour.”

Weed said while browsing through the store.

A large weapons store near Bingryong Square in Morata.

It was usually filled with people but now there were only 6 people inside.

Users flocked from Morata to the Earth Palace so there were mainly beginners who couldn’t leave the city left.

Weed looked over at them.

“I want to buy a really sharp dagger. I can use it to cook and hunt.”

“A greatsword is best for a warrior. Monsters can’t even come near. The combat videos submitted by Python…kyahh!”

“Vitality will fall quickly. We can’t use it yet.”

“Gather a lot of money and buy it later.”

There was a serious conversation between beginners staring at a display.

“Customer-nim should pull it out. I don’t have much expectations but I will give you an honest price.”

Weed laid his backpack on the counter for the storekeeper.

Kwaaaang!

The dull sound of a pile of steel falling.

The 2 beginners turned their heads to look at Weed.

“It looks like he did a lot of hunting.”

“It actually might not be that much. A basic magic backpack is able to reduce the weight and volume. If you don’t have a magic backpack then hunting will only last 2 hours at most.”

“How much weight does a good backpack reduce?”

“Do not be surprised. Approximately 15 times.”

“Amazing! You can hunt all day long.”

“Drago the best tailor in Morata uses a special magic. His top of the line backpack reduces the weight but 20 times so the rating is almost legendary. Drago-nim’s work is really valuable.”

Weed placed his hand in the backpack while calmly listening to the beginners and took out the weapons.

“Please calculate them one by one.”

“I know. Well…the quality is great. The blade is sharp enough to cut iron like it is an apple. I’ve seen this item a few times in Morata. A price of 20,000 gold is appropriate.”

“The cost of the shield?”

“There isn’t even one loss and it is a perfect product. Where did you get these type of items?”

“I was nervous that the shield would be damaged but it is okay?”

“Well, I think that 35,000 gold is reasonable.”

The eyes of the beginners widened.

An unimaginable price.

The goods in Morata’s stores were usually traded for a few hundred gold.

Luxury goods were worth tens of thousands of gold but such trades weren’t common. The stores selling weapons and armour usually had limits but high level and rare products were acknowledged.

“Who the hell is he?”

“The shield he just removed from his backpack doesn’t look ordinary.”

Weed continued to pull products from his backpack.

“Stigma Hammer! A luxurious hammer that plants fear in the other party! The product is in the perfect state of preservation so I will gladly give you 43,000 gold! Ohhhh, it truly is like a dream! There are only 10 of these swords on the continent! The price is 70,000 gold. However, if you sell it then I will buy it for 80,000 gold…this is a special armour that blocks the attack of witches so it is difficult to set a price. It is hard but I am willing to pay 90,000 gold…aaah! Master Star necklace! A treasure that blacksmiths and tailors are eager to get! Sell it to me. The price…tell me how much you want first. I will pay it even if I have to sell the store.”

None of Weed’s items were cheap.

Products worth tens of thousands of gold!

The mouths of the beginners dropped open.

The number of goods were unbelievable but more products kept on emerging.

“W-who?”

“Did he rob a treasure house?”

“No. That belt…I’ve seen it on air.”

“I know. The only one in the world. Debis of the Hermes Guild obtained it through a quest.”

Weed pulled out famous goods that were easily recognized.

“Is he a thief who stole it?”

“I didn’t hear that it was lost. Who would steal things from the Hermes Guild?”

“Ah, I heard that Debis died in the war yesterday……”

“Then that person’s identity is……”

The beginners fell silent. A great person had showed up so they didn’t dare say anything.

Once Weed removed over 100 items from his backpack, he asked the storekeeper.

“How much is it?”

“Let’s see, the calculation is complicated…please wait a moment, Customer-nim. If you want to sell all these items…the total is 3.26 million gold.”

A price that was as absurd as an iceberg flying across the sky!

Weed’s eyes narrowed.

‘Cheaper than I thought. It can’t be helped since it is the wholesale price.’

It was common to either be charged the original price or an extravagant price in trades.

In the north, there were plenty of agriculture so food was sold for a relatively cheap price while weapons and defense equipment were considerably more expensive. There was an avalanche of users in Morata so there was an arms race, making a phenomenon where supply couldn’t keep up with the demand.

In particular, advanced goods were sold at a very expensive price.

Weed had obtain many items from the Hermes Guild so he could dispose of it at an expensive price. He could sell it to other users or at the auction.

But the war had just ended so it was a special time.

He wiped out 30,000 Hermes Guild users and an incredible number of weapons and armour dropped. The market price of general weapons and armour would temporarily be shaken.

The sharp price decline couldn’t be avoided.

Weed spoke in a heavy tone towards the storekeeper.

“The price is appropriate but in the future I won’t bother coming here for a steady trade.”

“Customer-nim, it is difficult to receive a higher price than this. There aren’t many stores that can afford it……”

“It is small. There are many other stores in Morata.”

Weed started packing the items.

A common example of not being satisfied!

Of course, this was a calculated act.

“That is a good idea, Customer-nim.” You are a person with an urgent personality. If you trade me these products then it will help lift the value of the store. I will purchase everything for 3.47 million.”

– The 1st bargain is a success.

You can get a huge profit.

“Aaaaah, the price incredibly went up with some words!”

“I can eat barley bread for the rest of my life and not raise that much. Awesome.”

The eyes of the beginners kept watching.

“How about it, Customer-nim? Do you agree?”

Weed touched his chin and pretended to struggle.

Generally, people would only succeed the first bargain unless they were a merchant. It was essential to have networking and the accounting skill to raise the price of the transaction.

‘But I can’t be satisfied with this degree.’

He could get this price by disposing of it with Mapan. He came to a store in Morata in order to get a higher price!

“People of Arpen, you’ve gone through a lot of suffering.”

“Huh? Customer-nim, what are you saying?”

“Those who worked hard and are faithful to their field have helped the Arpen Kingdom grow.”

“Saying this all of a sudden…n-no way!”

The storekeeper stared at Weed with amazing before falling to his knees.

“Your Majesty! This lowly person is only greeting you now. It is a sin that I didn’t notice earlier!”

Weed nodded like it was a natural reaction and said.

“I didn’t tell you in advance so that there isn’t a burden on you. I wanted you to feel comfortably without worrying about my status.”

“No. A stupid human like me must die. It is an absolute sin not to recognize the ruler of this land. In order to protect Your Majesty’s dignity, I must offer my neck to the guards.”

The 2nd weapon against the storekeeper in the negotiations was his status!

The users and NPCs in the village enjoyed seeing the ruler.

“I can eat everyday due to the grace of Your Majesty.”

“Thank you very much for taking care of us. My chicken laid an egg so would you take it? We aren’t hungry.”

A lord would receive hospitality from the locals.

Frequent events like this could increase the fame, security and loyalty of the residents.

As king of the Arpen Kingdom, Weed didn’t individually meet every resident. In fact, he knew from the information published on the internet that the storekeeper was descended from a noble of the fallen Niflheim Empire.

“You don’t need to repeat the same words. The people of the Arpen Kingdom deserve to live a happy life.”

“Your Majesty, I want to die.”

“Rise. I won’t be responsible for the death of anyone in Morata and I just want to make a deal. I realize that a merchant like you can easily pay a high price. Hmm hmm.”

“Your Majesty…do you really want to trade?”

“That’s right. Go ahead and say the right price.”

“I can’t possible give Your Majesty anything less than 4.32 million gold.”

– The 2nd bargain is a success.

If this deal is closed then it will be the largest deal in Morata.

“It really is Weed-nim.”

“Amazing! The highest ground.”

For the novice users, it was like an elementary school student spotting a celebrity. They viewed Weed as such a great presence that they didn’t dare come close.

One side of Weed’s mouth rose. The amount was a little lacking compared to the number in his head.

“Uhuh, I don’t think so. You didn’t say the right price.”

It meant to raise the price a little bit.

Some of the greedy were successful up to the 4th round of bargaining.

“It is unfair for Your Majesty to receive a small price. But please think of my situation as I only have 4.02 million gold.”

– The 3rd bargain has failed.

The price of the deal has been reduced.

“…….”

Failure!

Weed’s eyes became narrower.

If he disposed of the goods at a later date and ripped off the users then he could receive 5.5 million gold.

“You surely want to die. If you don’t speak the right price then your neck is mine.”

“The right price?”

“That’s right. I will only accept an adequate and affordable price. If you don’t say it then I will strangle you!”

The nature of an NPC store owner meant he noticed things faster.

“I am aware of all the people that will enter if I am selling things from Your Majesty. I-I will pay 4.93 million gold.”

– The 3rd bargain has achieved incredible success.

The deal was likely to fail because the store owner was left with no gain.

Please note. Infamy will rise after this deal.

Weed didn’t care in front of money.

“Hmm hmm, your devotion is good. I knew that I found the right owner to sell these things at a good price.”

“Of course Your Majesty.”

“The Arpen Kingdom will not forget your commitment.”

“Thank you.”

– Morata’s largest profit in a trade has been achieved.

The bargain has ended due to the threat.

Morata’s store owners will be afraid of a future visit from the king.

Infamy has risen by 3,450.

The loyalty of the residents has decreased.

Honour -3.

Security -1.

Weed left the store with satisfaction.

From now on, he would become really busy with his growth. Full scale hunting and raising his skill proficiency was ahead so the deal was satisfactory.

And after 2 hours, the video of Weed against the store owner reached the internet and received some of the highest views.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

After connecting to Royal Road, Seo-yoon once again headed to the Bean Porridge unit.

“Kyak, we won. We survived!”

“Festival, a festival!”

There were cheers among the Bean Porridge members.

The Arpen Kingdom achieved victory today due to them so Seo-yoon felt sincerely grateful.

There was an odd silence when she approached the boisterous Bean Porridge unit.

“…….”

And a small voice whispered.

“That person is coming.”

“She is coming because the battle is over.”

“Coming at the end, really cowardly.”

“It is too much. How can she casually appear after the battle?”

The words weren’t loud but Seo-yoon heard them.

She had always kept a distance from people.

There were bad preconceptions about her but she just watched from a distance. Her cold heart meant she wasn’t wounded by their preconceived notions.

But now her heart hurt.

It had only been a short while but they were good people. This misconception rose because she failed to explain the situation.

If she told her story then she would convince them.

But she was embarrassed to talk about the wedding ring and its relationship with Weed so she was shamed after giving up the battle.

A woman who was her previous colleague came up to her and said.

“Unni, you came?”

“Yes.”

The tone wasn’t very welcoming.

The woman gave a small sigh.

“We are going to drink alcohol if unni would like to come.”

“…….”

Seo-yoon didn’t know if she should accept. She was sorry and wanted to restore the situation.

But the others were still looking at Seo-yoon coldly.

“I don’t drink alcohol. And if I give an explanation, will you listen?”

“Say it.”

“I didn’t fight last time because……”

Seo-yoon lightly smiled.

She was still ashamed but now she could give an explanation. She would try to resolve the misunderstanding.

Her heart had opened and she wanted to get along with others.

“Kuweeeeek!”

Then a strange sound was heard from the sky!

‘Did a tough monster appear?’

The Grass Porridge Cult members hadn’t expected a monster to appear.

The people looked up at the sky to see a wyvern coming down.

An angular face, mild eyes and wide wings.

“Wy-3?”

“A sculptural lifeform!”

The popularity of Wy-3 exceeded some famous users.

“Kkuek! Kuweeeeeek!”

Wy-3’s voice was filled with complaints as it came down.

Wy-3 cause a severe gust of wind as the users around Seo-yoon urgently moved away.

The sculptural lifeform was a symbol of the Arpen Kingdom and King Weed.

The Grass Porridge Cult members worshipped it but up close Wy3 was a large and menacing figure. They were instinctively wary of an oppressive monster.

Of course, the users of Morata had seen Wy-3 a few times and knew to throw meat to it.

Wy-3 pushed his big head against Seo-yoon. Then it said in a complaining voice.

“Kuoooh. Master said to bring you. He really only uses me.”

A wyvern lamented a life as a means of transportation!

Seo-yoon nodded and comfortable boarded Wy-3.

“Uh……”

“Unni?”

The people who knew Seo-yoon were stupefied.

The coward riding on Wy-3’s back!

In addition, the master that Wy-3 mentioned was Weed.

“Unni……”

“Sorry I didn’t tell you in advance. Then I’ll see you next time. I have to go now because he is calling.”

“Unni, you know Weed-nim personally?”

“I…am his friend.”

Seo-yoon took off the mask covering her face after getting on Wy-3.

Her appearance.

The appearance of a person.

Not only that, the appearance of beauty that a human would aspire to.

A face that would shake the soul of men.

There were many people but they couldn’t even speak one word. They even questioned if they were seeing a real person or looking at an illusion.

A female ghost meant to enthrall people.

Seo-yoon smiled brightly.

“See you next time. I hope you’ll do well.”

And then Wy-3 pushed off the land and accelerated.

And the people stared for a few minutes before stuttering.

“U-uuuuack!”

“I’m not going to wash my eyes! Ah, no, I should close my eyes. That image needs to be perfectly imprinted in my head!”

“Life is really worth living, huhuhuk! I am lucky to live in an era like this.”

“This is why I’ll get married. I will even be happy in the grave!”

The immature men were bewitched.

The people in the vicinity of Seo-yoon thanked god for the blessing given to them.

The females also liked to see a pretty girl.

“The way she is wearing that mask…the one who accompanied Weed-nim on the sculpting quest.”

“She was on television. The one who played the role of Hilderun!”

And someone asked a question.

“But isn’t that face somehow familiar? It doesn’t make sense since I would remember an unspeakable beauty like that.”

“Isn’t it exactly like the Ice Beauty? I thought so as soon as I saw her.”

“That’s right, that face!”

“Heeok! The goddess of the Grass Porridge Cult!”

The Ice Beauty excavated by the Grass Porridge Cult!

One of Weed’s sculptures with such a beautiful appearance that it was worshiped like the Goddess of Freya Statue.

– The goddess of the Grass Porridge Cult showed up.

– The Grass Porridge Cult is a religion. A religion with a real goddess!

Seo-yoon’s face had never been revealed in the past.

Her appearance on the broadcast caused a huge uproar.

The men stayed up all night discussing it.

“A beauty that can’t be believed.”

“She is so impressive that I shed tears.”

“The eyes, nose, mouth, forehead, eyebrows, jaw line and even the earlobe is perfect……”

“A national treasure, national treasure! A real person that deserves the protection designated to a national treasure.”

“She must have a lot of points in the charm stat. This is an achievement only possible in Royal Road. But it is still a wonderful thing.”

“I’m just thankful.”

“Thank you.”

“Merciful god.”

“Ahhhh, I won’t regret this even when I am an old man. Just seeing it has value.”

The Grass Porridge Cult had looked through the female users but couldn’t find anything until this moment.

“Let’s celebrate tonight!”

“That’s right! Let’s make this an official holiday that will occur every year in the Arpen Kingdom!”

“What is the name of the holiday?”

“Of course it will be the day the goddess emerged!”

Chapter 5

“Yawn!”

Lee Hyun gave a huge yawn.

“I’m tired. I seem to be lacking vitamins. And I haven’t been eating meat these days.”

He had no time to rest due to the sculpting master quest and the war with the Haven Empire.

After exiting the capsule, he cleaned his house and did the laundry.

He was diligent in areas like housework.

“In the future, I need to verify the price fluctuations in Royal Road and look at the quests in hunting grounds. An analysis regarding the future of the Arpen Kingdom is required.”

Lee Hyun nodded while thinking.

He could understand why modern people liked hiking. It was because things always piled up like a mountain.

“I will just be happy to have my money grow.”

Lee Hyun turned on the television while eating rice.

Today was Sunday but it was broadcasting a story of the Versailles Continent.

In the past, he had talked on the phone with Shin Hye-min and now he was watching her on the tv. There was a lot of valuable new information and unlike other stations, they were sympathetic to the Arpen Kingdom.

The corporation favoured him.

“This can be considered a virtue of South Korea. They are too tired to see objectively.”

The influence of the broadcasters on the public was absolute.

In order to raise taxes, he needed to maintain a favourable relationship with the stations.

One slip could lead to annexation.

“One of the 1,000 representatives of Royal Road, today we have the swordsman Bers-nim of Kensington.”

“Yes. Recently he defeated the Brakra Dungeon with some friends and posted the video in the Hall of Fame.”

“I heard it has great popularity.”

“The risk involved in the Brakra Dungeon is high and no one had explored to the end. The scene of the 5 people party exploring the dungeon and defeating the boss monster is a lot of fun. In the end 3 people died.”

“Is the video ready?”

“Of course. Now let’s watch it.”

Lee Hyun watched the video of the Brakra Dungeon hunt.

The way they hunted was very different.

Lee Hyun’s hunting style had gradually developed in Royal Road.

Unconditionally fast.

He sprinted at full speed while living his life.

Of course, it was also important to have the judgement of a leader. If he didn’t give some time for rest and relaxation then the expedition would be abandoned early on.

Fast and daring.

A lot of ordinary people wouldn’t be able to follow him.

A leader needed to bring out the full capabilities of their colleagues. Those who didn’t realize their own limits would be left behind.

In the end, the assassin whose name was revealed to be Seasoned Crab and Python were strong enough to hunt with him.

In the Brakra Dungeon exploration, Bers gave priority to safety.

He calmly analyzed the nature of the monsters and placed the magician, thief, knight and archer. Every time a battle started, there would be definite roles and strategies.

Lee Hyun felt bored seeing such a perfectionist.

“I would have quickly defeated half of them.”

At least 1,000 dungeons in Royal Road had been explored.

There were daily large and small battles on the Versailles Continent.

Users would increase their level through common hunting, quests and war.

In the early days of Royal Road, they competed over who would get a higher level.

Higher levelled people were respected. Many famous people formed guilds and expanded their forces.

And after some time, the criteria of who was strong started becoming more diverse.

Those who succeeded in hunting monsters first or special quests was proof of strength.

An arms race started between border disputes and new powerhouses emerged.

Vocation skills and personal combat senses meant there was more meaning to becoming strong than levels.

Level was always important in Royal Road but the so called 1,000 representatives of Royal Road had special achievements.

Just like Lee Hyun.

“What extent have my skills reached now?”

Lee Hyun evaluated himself.

“I was the strongest while ruling the desert. However, that was limited to the quest.”

Nevertheless, he had reached the peak so it was easy to judge when looking down.

Sadly, he was strong enough even if he over-rated himself.

“On the basis of the level or combat skills, there isn’t much difference since the time I fought Bardray in the Melbourne Mine.”

The quest had given him plenty of stats. The proficiency of his combat skills rose through the quest but the compensation was too small.

Swordsmanship had reached advanced level 5. When considering how hard it was to raise swordsmanship as a sculptor, it was a great achievement.

The proficiency of Radiant Sword and Sword-cloning also rose.

But that was the only good thing.

While Lee Hyun was busy with his secret sculpting technique quest, Bardray and the Hermes Guild were training.

They defeated other prestigious guilds, raised the Central Continent and gained a lot of level from dungeons.

Their skill proficiency increased while hunting and they received stat points as rewards.

Their achievements grew steadily like Lee Hyun.

“They have become stronger. And I’ve lost quite a lot of levels and couldn’t raise my other skill proficiency.”

Lee Hyun compared his strength to other users.

He fought with Bardray in the Melbourne Mine but that was just the start of the war.

It would be a desperate fight to subdue each other. Vitality, health and a variety of combat skills were required in a confrontation.

If he was at a disadvantage then he could use Sculptural Destruction to raise his combat stats.

It would consume art but it was necessary to compete with Bardray. He wouldn’t be pushed too badly early on.

Sculptural Destruction was important in a fight but his real skills couldn’t be too weak.

“I also have Sculpture Life Bestowal and Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.”

Skills that had a huge penalty!

He didn’t have the efficiency of a combat profession.

Lee Hyun had been struggling shoulder to shoulder with them but now he became relatively weaker due to the time consuming quest.

When looking at the 1,000 representatives of Royal Road, he couldn’t feel absolutely confident. Their combat skills and expertise were overwhelming.

Weed just went shoulder to shoulder with them using his sculpting skills and nature.

“I’m lacking a lot in normal combat abilities. Sculpture Transformation also has its drawbacks.”

Sculpture Transformation gave him the characteristics of the body he changed into.

He could fly through the air or have the power of a huge race.

However, there could be advantages and disadvantages.

A chaos warrior’s short range teleportation could be beneficial on the battlefield. He had used it with Hestiger to maximize his power during the battle for the Earth Palace.

The Hermes Guild and northern users had been shocked by Weed’s combat capabilities.

Crossing the battlefield using teleportation while blowing away the enemies with his fighting abilities!

The huge achievement was possible because he took full advantage of his fire resistance.

Even his weapons fully supported him.

The Dragon Sword, Red Star.

The combination of the Red Star, chaos warrior and Hestiger exerted a huge amount of havoc.

“I can’t exert that combat power again. And it is always risky using the Red Star.”

The combat capabilities of a chaos warrior was limited. Even if he continued using the risky Red Star, he didn’t have Hestiger at his disposal.

“The problem is in the future. Time Sculpting might be an absolute weapon. It is reassuring in many ways.”

The television had finished showing Bers’ adventure and now had two people talking.

“Defron-nim, how do you feel about the north defeating the Haven Empire?”

“The Hermes Guild’s armed cavalry. It could indeed be said that they were defeated. The Arpen Kingdom lost their palace but it was a trap they designed. Are they going to recover the occupied territories now?”

“Yes, it is just a single battle but the Haven Empire was defeated.”

“These are your opinions. However, that is just a teaser for the war. In fact, the Arpen Kingdom has managed to block them for now. But that won’t happen in the future. If their troops don’t increase then it will end.”

“The difference between the Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom is too severe. Comparing the military…won’t it be a problem if the Haven Empire constantly causes a war without any justification?”

“War is natural in Royal Road. If the Haven Empire rules the continent then there will be no more fights.”

A debate unfolded about the northern war.

Lee Hyun wasn’t impressed with any remarks about the Haven Empire.

‘Well, everyone needs to make a living. There are no good or bad guys in the world.”

It was natural for their position to be like that.

If Bardray managed to invade the Arpen Kingdom then he would unify the rest of the continent.

“There is no need to create justification. Even at the expense of 1~2 villages……”

But he didn’t like that the Hermes Guild was threatening his rice bowl.

The debate lasted for a few minutes before stalling.

“I understand your criticism about the Hermes Guild. But there is value in a world ruled by the Hermes Guild. The Versailles Continent can’t be won with just dialogue and negotiations.”

“But if the Hermes Guild can’t stabilize their territory……”

“There will be some problems in the process. The users might not understand but once the Hermes Guild rules the continent, there will be a leap forward in true development.”

The Hermes Guild trying to conquer the continent was due to the very nature of Royal Road. Therefore Lee Hyun watched without much inspiration.

“I should try the other channels or watch the news.”

Then the host Oh Joo-wan temporarily stopped the discussion.

“I will make an important announcement. I just received news that the Hermes Guild is working to stabilize the empire and have called a temporary truce with the Arpen Kingdom. This news came from a senior official in the Hermes Guild and there will be an official announcement after a while.”

A truce!

The war wasn’t completely over but there would be a brief break in order to settle the internal matters.

The theme of the debate rapidly flowed towards the temporary truce with the north.

The damage to the Haven Empire must be worse than expected in order to leave the Arpen Kingdom alone for a while.

The evaluation of the experts was like a lion having their whiskers pulled out.

“Those guys won’t stand still in the future. They will use all types of despicable means. Even so, haven’t they given me some time?”

Lee Hyun thought for a moment before concluding it wasn’t a bad thing.

He had feared that additional troops would advance from the Haven Empire. Anyway, there was a brief gap for him to breathe.

But this was just the beginning of a cold war!

The experts participating in the discussion stated that the Haven Empire wouldn’t mobilize their army until the preparations were perfect. Instead, they launched all types of policies that would press on the Arpen Kingdom.

The Haven Empire would try to overwhelm and cause the Arpen Kingdom to decline with their economic power.

“The world is against me. It is difficult for a dictator to find peace.”

Lee Hyun wasn’t in a position to actively compete with them in the future.

The Haven Empire had declared a truce but that didn’t mean peace would last.

The Arpen Kingdom was a sharp thorn in the Haven Empire’s side and gave them the bitter taste of defeat so he never believed in peace in the first place.

“I need to restore my lost levels as much as possible and also raise Time Sculpting. I should wander around creating sculptures. Well, it will be a success either way.”

Lee Hyun was burning with motivation.

Time Sculpting and Sculpting Master!

Now he could accomplish those goals.

He was familiar with working hard.

Take one step and shovel endlessly. Eventually he would obtain huge achievements.

In addition, Lee Hyun had a great talent in using tricks to overcome difficulties.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Did you see it?”

“Of course.”

“Seriously awesome.”

Korea University’s virtual reality department.

The students who arrived before the lecture time sat in groups and talked about Royal Road.

Royal Road was always the topic of conversation in the virtual reality department.

“Did you hear? Our senior is Weed, the God of War.”

“I know. I heard it at the freshmen welcoming party but it is a lie.”

“A lie? Based on what?”

“Common sense.”

“Everybody is saying it from the seniors to the professors.”

“It is just a joke on their juniors. There is no way such a legendary existence is our predecessor.”

“I’ve heard stories from the seniors about his school life.”

The seniors of the virtual reality department just laughed as they listened to the freshman’s words.

Lee Hyun. It was hard for them to believe without seeing Weed, the God of War, directly. The seniors wouldn’t have expected Weed, the God of War, to have such a personality.

‘In particular, we hunted with him.’

Lee Yoo-jung and Min So-ra’s eyes met in a significant gaze.

They hadn’t forgotten their experience hunting with Weed.

Melbourne Mine!

A great event where Weed and Bardray met for the first time.

It was a hot topic at the time.

Lee Yoo-jung, Min So-ra, Choi Sang-jun and Park Soon-jo!

They were the ones who took classes along with Lee Hyun.

The test that required hunting in Royal Road. They sat in a corner and listened as the freshman received assignments.

“Soon-jo, can you help me out?”

“Should…right now is hard.”

“Even if it is at a later date. You might be able to obtain something.”

“It is really difficult.”

Choi Sang-jun asked to borrow Park Soon-jo’s equipment.

It was hard now that the Black Lion Guild was in a difficult situation.

“Please give it back with no damage.”

“Nice! I’ll return it in 10 days!”

“I told you that it was 5 days.”

“You are a good friend. But how are you so strong as a thief?”

“That…it is a combat oriented character.”

“How did a thief become that strong?”

Choi Sang-jun was confused.

Normally a thief’s specialty was to steal things. It wasn’t a profession necessary in a hunting party.

If they ambushed a monster then the damage would be enormous but typically their offensive power lagged behind. They were unmatched in the field of trap detection and dismantling.

“There is a considerable opportunity when looking at the monsters wandering around the dungeons. Every time I fight……”

“One day I’ll catch up. Wait a bit.”

Choi Sang-jun diligently raised his level to 400 but Park Soon-jo was more skillful when it came to hunting monsters in dungeons.

Therefore it was tough for their skill proficiency and level to grow.

Between two people, the one who was the most respected was the one with a higher level. They played a fundamental role in a hunting party.

The easy truth!

Lee Yoo-jung who was listening to Choi Sang-jun and Park Soon-jo’s conversation suddenly said.

“But didn’t oppa get a leave of absence from school?”

Min So-ra immediately said.

“Who, Lee Hyun oppa?”

“Yes.”

“His leave of absence is to immerse himself in Royal Road.”

Choi Sang-jun interrupted the girls’ conversation.

“That hyung? I frequently saw him on television. He performed the final secret technique quest successfully. Kyah, the people who have appeared on broadcast. Well, Bardray is still the best idol.”

“Isn’t he doing well?”

“Of course not. Bardray will win the war.”

“There is no studying. I really envy him.”

Lee Yoo-jung’s arms fell on the table and she lay her head on it.

Those in the virtual reality department enjoyed Royal Road. The cutting edge technology meant that students were motivated to learn.

Apart from Royal Road, the subjects covered a vast area.

– Economics of Virtual Reality

– Mathematics for Urban Management

– Virtual Physics

– Biology of the New World

– Virtual Marine Experiment

– The Technological Applications of Physics Engines

– Birth of the Modern Magician

– Microscopic World and the Virtual World

– New Civilization and Philosophy

– Human and Virtual Environments

– Virtual Reality and Life

– Virtual Revolution, Ergonomics

– Crisis of Reality

– Structure and Function of the Brain

The subjects covered all sorts of technology and liberal arts.

Virtual reality could be called an expensive playground. It was the subject of great interest so the universities established competitive courses involving virtual reality.

Once Korea University established a virtual reality department, similar departments were formed at universities around the country.

Students were eager to take classes related to virtual reality so it was easy to fill the class roster.

It was understandable that the students majoring in this subject continued to grow.

Min So-ra sighed deeply.

“We are thoroughly buried in studying. I suppose we should just enjoy oppa’s spectacular adventures.”

Choi Sang-jun laughed.

“It will be different once that hyung returns to school. It won’t be easy for him to obtain the credits.”

“Really?

“Of course. Besides, we don’t know how long the Arpen Kingdom can endure in Royal Road.”

Then Park Soon-jo spoke.

“That hyung, it is good for us that he isn’t attending. Virtual reality can be understood from the papers.”

“…….”

“Weed, the God of War, is a character that has never been defeated in adventures.”

Weed, the God of War!

He might have been slain by Bardray but it was a difficult environment and he never once lost on the scale of a war.

The battle of Morata against the northern lords as well as defeating the Haven Empire’s marine corps in Jigolaths.

Everyone expected to hear about defeat regarding the war but he overcame it!

That’s why the Royal Road users thought that Weed was incredible.

He overcame any disadvantage regardless of how small and large the troops were. He fiercely survived or came from behind in any environment.

“I wish that oppa will return to school.”

“Yes. It was fun when he attended school. These days I am only studying.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The users gathered at the Earth Palace to stop the Haven Empire didn’t leave.

“Merchants who desire money and are courageous should trade in dangerous areas. The value of achieving your dream is 3 gold a day.”

“Those who want to hunt in a dungeon, let’s  gather for a week of crazy hunting.”

“Huhu, hahahaha, hohohohok! I am Cockle Hunter from the Onion Porridge unit! Follow me!”

“Farmer seeking someone to guard the fences. Protect the grain from monsters and animals in the Hullio Mountains. If it goes well then I will offer you onion juice and melon for the rest of your life.”

Users accepted quests and participated in commerce as they ran towards a new frontier.

The merchants who heard about the Earth Palace reconstruction plan announced their intentions to invest.

“This is business. Now this land. We can build shacks on this spacious land and make a fortune.”

“People will gather together. There will also be trade. Once stores are established then people will come and we will make money. A merchant is a job that needs to eat every day.”

“Kidukkiduk, the food business is uncertain. Don’t people have to eat? It is good to have the cooking skill. Put plenty of seasoning on cheap ingredients and they can be sold.”

The merchants bought land owned by the kingdom in order to construct buildings.

One of the most active professions in the Arpen Kingdom were the merchants as they made income through trading and investments.

“I should go……”

“Do you want to join me in the construction of the Earth Palace?”

“That’s fine. Later I can proudly look at the palace.”

“I couldn’t participate last time because of an adventure so it worked out well.”

“True, have you brought a shovel and a sack?”

“Of course. A shovel and a sack are required in the north. I have 5. There is no room for loot in my backpack.”

950,000 users of the Arpen Kingdom instantly committed to working on the construction site.

They followed the instructions of the architects and cleaned up the remnants of the Earth Palace.

“Dig while moving in a straight line from here.”

“Until where?”

“Keep digging for 3 kilometres.”

“The Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit will do it. 2 hours should be plenty of time.”

“Even one and a half hours will suffice.”

The waterways, roads and boundaries were very easy to set for the construction of the building.

The architects were devoted to the reconstruction of the palace and only developed the basic outline for Dawn City.

Squares and roads needed to be connected from the Royal Palace. Grand Buildings, sculptures, stores, markets and even guild offices were built.

There were a fierce competition between tenants and 300,000 shacks were completed in no time.

“Excellent, the real deal. Comparing it to Morata’s shacks is impossible. Does it make sense to separate the bedroom and living room in the shacks?”

“It doesn’t seem like rain will leak through. Even insects will find it hard.”

“A swimming pool in front of the shanty village. The amenities are amazing!”

Dawn City was different from Morata in many ways.

Morata had the basic shape of a village that grew due to settlers and tourists. On the other hand, the Dawn City would become the Arpen Kingdom’s capital city and people recognized that the investments were endless.

Morata was the heart of the Arpen Kingdom and that hadn’t changed even after the Earth Palace was built. Even those who didn’t participate in the construction of the Earth Palace came from other areas to visit.

However, hundreds of thousands participated in Dawn City so it was off to a powerful start.

And orcs also came with their families.

“Chwiik, there are many humans here. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“Wait a minute, there is 6 months worth of work here, chwik chwik!”

The settling of the orcs.

There was a law in the Arpen Kingdom that orcs could only have 10 children. But the orcs grew so fast that they soon occupied a large portion of the population.

But the orc population couldn’t increase indefinitely in a city.

The orcs were very independent from a young age. And it was the law of orcs to find a new habitat for their females and children.

The Haven Empire’s army carefully moved towards Vargo Fortress.

Five corps, 1.5 million troops!

The Haven Empire mobilized troops on a huge scale.

This was also a scheme of the Hermes Guild’s leaders.

The leaders had considered two aspected to their northern conquest plan.

The expedition that crossed the Poros River to the north were composed of elites.  And in the east, small and medium sized combat units were organized by commanders with combat experience.

In the future, there would be rebellions in the north so it was a good opportunity to train the soldiers in the east.

But the first thing that annoyed the Haven Empire was the terrain.

“Aaaack!”

“My body has sunk down to my waist!”

They fell down cliffs or plunged into swamps hidden by leaves.

The Haven Empire gained a lot of experience fighting in the mountainous terrain. But it was their first time with the hilly areas surrounding Vargo Fortress.

“Why? These obstacles weren’t written on the map.”

“This looks like a map created by orcs.”

“It is an inferior product!”

“How did we get lost in the woods again?”

“We don’t have space to move the soldiers?”

“Yes. The trees are so dense that not even one person can pass.”

The ranger unit that the Haven Empire was so proud of finished their scouting. But in the meantime, the terrain changed and quite a considerable amount of obstacles sprang up.

This was because of the users at Vargo Fortress.

After the rangers passed, the farmers and landscapers raised the crops in the mountains.

“Haha, I will raise these man-eating thorns.”

“I’ll give plenty of fertilizer. It is very easy to raise because I don’t have to worry about pests.”

“The north also has very fertile land. This is the beginning of a good harvest of thorns.”

The farmers led by Miretas worked on the crops through the mountains.

Stones piled up would become a fortress. The plants could delay and damage the army.

The vanguard of the army chopped the plants as they passed but if the roots were intact then they would revive. Unless they pulled up the roots, the main army would constantly receive damage

“If there are any obstacles then burn them with chemicals!”

The commanders of the Haven Empire were anxious and wanted to increase the speed of the march.

They wanted to occupy Vargo Fortress. The overall level of the users were lower so they wanted to advance quickly.

“The leaders of the operation made a mistake. It would have been better to go to the plains.”

The forests and mountains weren’t an obstacle to the rangers. Arrows flew towards the Haven Empire’s army. Even a beginner could boast considerable skill in the forests and mountains.

Assassins appeared at night and got rid of the regular soldiers before quietly vanishing.

The Hermes Guild had the best rangers but they couldn’t defend the rear and sides.

In the end, the Haven army had to burn the bushes and trees with chemicals.

Smoke blew for dozens of kilometres across the mountains.

The forest fire lasted for a few days. Although there were some traps, they completely disappeared in the fire.

“March on!”

The army marched through the charred remains and arrived at Vargo Fortress.

The high Vargo Fortress was designed to look down on invaders.

“It really is an enormous fortress.”

“Originally the walls were 10 metres and now they have tripled in size.”

“What should we do? It will be tough for the soldiers to climb so should we ask the magic unit?”

The tactic of using magic and archers against the northern users had been absolute. In contrast, this army had plenty of knights and rangers.

“It won’t be easy for the magic units to reach here. How many magicians are on our side?”

“8,000 people.”

“That isn’t a lot.”

Magic knights cost a lot of money.

It took a long training period and vast amounts of magic items being consumed.

The Haven Empire used an astronomical amount of funds for the war.

“A magic unit is useful in siege warfare. Have the soldiers rest sufficiently before we attack.”

“There is no damage.”

“Have the soldiers start climbing the walls.”

“Yes!”

The Haven Empire started their siege on Vargo Fortress.

The blacksmith users installed stone shields, ropes and ladders for the infantry. It was somewhat poor equipment but it was impossible to prepare for this due to the mountains blocking their view.

“Occupy the fortress!”

“Advance! Advance!”

“Wahhhh!”

200,000 soldiers of the Haven Empire simultaneously ran towards the walls.

Most of them were NPC soldiers but there were a mix of Hermes Guild users.

The Hermes Guild users enjoyed wars of conquest. Attacking enemy fortresses could give them considerable riches and achievements.

“Shoot!”

The archers hidden by Vargo Fortress started firing.

Unlike the human soldiers, there were many dwarves and elves.

The dwarves and elves mainly lived at Vargo Fortress. Due to the Haven Empire, they lost their homes and joined the Arpen Kingdom to participate in the war.

In addition, there were users waiting at Vargo Fortress.

“Kueok!”

“Shield properly!”

“Maintain a quick thrust!”

The Haven army ran through the storm of arrows. Some soldiers fell down but the elite soldiers kept moving.

“They are coming. It is starting now.”

“Grow the plants!”

The elves demonstrated their growth enhancing magic.

Seeds sown in the ground suddenly grew among the Haven Empire’s army.

The thorny vines planted by the northern farmers!

Some of the plants were like vampires and liked blood so the rare vines grew like it was a jungle.

5 meters, 10 meters, the thorny vines grew and grabbed the soldiers around them.

The Haven army was entangled in vines 100 metres from the walls.

“Now. Fire away!”

The arrows of the elves and users poured towards the Haven Empire.

The soldiers were hit by the arrows but didn’t die.

The siege troops wore armour designed to minimize the damage of arrows. The soldiers were going to climb the walls so the priests and magicians placed blessings on them.

“Drop the rocks! Archers continue to shoot!”

Vargo Fortress’ resistance!

The users desperately attacked the soldiers of the Haven Empire climbing up the walls.

The commander of the Haven army clicked his tongue as he looked at the walls.

“It is too high.”

“It will be quite tricky for the soldiers to capture them. It will be embarrassing as a commander if the army receives large damage.”

Soldiers kept falling from the high walls.

The soldiers were crowded in the vicinity of the walls so they kept receiving damage from the archers of Vargo Fortress.

There was no room for the soldiers of the Haven Empire to avoid the arrows so they died.

If this continued, then morale and overall combat power would decrease.

“Concentrate the siege weapons on the gates!”

The Haven Empire started to use their siege weapons.

Huge pieces of stones started flying towards Vargo Fortress.

“Stones!”

“Don’t avoid the fight. It is already decided that we will die here so don’t back down!”

Vargo Fortress was a natural fortress but it gradually turned ragged under the attacks of the Haven Empire.

But the fortress had too many defenses.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

There was one word attached to Vargo Fortress.

Orc, orc, orc, orc, orc, orc, orc and orc.

There was no end to the orcs.

“This is home, chwiik!”

“This is a fight. Our meal, chwik chwik!”

No one knew the orcs would reproduce so much in the north.

They reproduced among themselves and those from the Plains of Despair continued to be transplanted.

The northern merchants continued expanded the marine trade. Horse drawn carriages were often attacked by monsters so they preferred going by sailboat even if it was slower.

The trade routes with the east was particularly active.

After the Embinyu Church was destroyed, Rosenheim Kingdom and Brent Kingdom were restored.

Merchants carrying supplies along the trade route lured the orcs.

“There are many weapons and food in the north. The transport costs are free!”

Food, weapons and for free.

There was no need to bargain with the merchants.

Enough orcs started moving.

“We are happy with labour. Transportation and construction associated work is quite profitable. Even if it is only a couple of days, won’t it be able to feed your families?”

“Do you fight well? Of course, you are orcs. Orcs are famous for their bravery. It is risky but the rewards are very big…wasn’t there a famous orc called Karichwi?”

Mapan’s business actively brought in the orcs.

A labour supply using the orcs.

The orcs actively took care of monsters in the north. They fought and established villages in the Arpen Kingdom.

Unfortunately, there weren’t many human residents on the Northern Continent. The fall of the Niflheim Empire and the harsh weather meant the population plummented.

This void was filled by the orcs.

Some people thought there would be ethnic conflicts between the orcs and the humans.

“Orcs. The orcs are aggressive and will eat humans.”

“Our children are anxious about the orcs. Looking at the horrible faces of the orcs…I absolutely won’t allow orcs in my house.”

Many residents spoke like this.

In fact, many villagers anxious about the orcs became satisfied.

But there were many obstacles to the population expansion of the orcs.

The orc species were conscious of local events.

They didn’t back down from any monsters invading their territory. The orcs would persist until they died.

And the remaining orcs would want revenge.

The settlements were being threatened so the orcs endlessly flocked to Vargo Fortress.

More orcs continued rushing to Vargo Fortress during the battle. Therefore, the fight for Vargo Fortress never seemed to end.

It continued even with the battle at the Earth Palace with the Haven Empire was over.

The orcs appeared at Vargo Fortress as well as tormented them across the mountains.

No matter how mighty the Haven Empire, they couldn’t exhibit the same tactics as the plains. The siege weapons couldn’t crack Vargo Fortress.

The long range arrows of the elves killed the technicians of the siege weapons.

The dwarves would repair any damage done to the fortress.

The undead even woke up at night.

“Huhuhuhu, fresh blood.”

“My body, my body!”

This was the location of Barkhan’s Immortal Legion.

The undead heard the large scale battle and woke up to fight the Haven Empire.

It was like a swarm of ants was covering the Haven Empire.

Those engaged in the siege at Vargo Fortress received new commands.

– The war will be briefly paused. Immediately head to the conquered areas in the north. It is important to prepare for the future conquest of the north.

A considerable amount of damage had been done at Vargo Fortress.

The troops were reduced by 100,000. 200,000 troops also died from the orcs filling the mountain ranges.

But they still had 1.2 million troops remaining.

They were engaged in a fierce fight at Vargo Fortress.

The complete destruction of the fortress and the orcs were their goal.

“Let’s go to the occupied territories.”

“Commander, we marched all the way here. But now we have to leave without even destroying the fortress?”

“It is nonsense. We just barely climbed up the mountains.”

There were many unhappy about the decision to leave Vargo Fortress.

“They are orders from above. We have to unconditionally obey the commands of the Hermes Guild.”

“It can’t be helped since it was Commander Draka’s decision.”

Draka who led the army towards the Earth Palace at his own discretion.

The result was failure.

The responsiblity for the defeat and disobeying orders meant his status changed to a general user.

Failure to gain achievements naturally resulted in strict punishment from the Hermes Guild.

“We suffered after coming to the north.”

“Commander-nim, is it good to stretch our forces over the conquered northern areas? Draka and all the users will have to defend the conquered territories.”

“That’s right. It won’t be easy and we can’t ignore them. Anyway, we need to do our duty. And defense suits me more than war.”

Alcard’s abilities were more suitable to defending fortresses.

He was the commander in charge of the 12 siege of Fort Odin and showed the best results. The elite troops of the Hermes Guild defended it for 4 days.

Then Bardray and the Royal Guards came and overwhelmed the enemies while the defenders were tired.

Alcard had a careful nature and was assigned a position to attack the north because he wouldn’t make any mistakes.

He had slowly marched and barely arrived in front of Vargo Fortress before receiving the command to return.

“Everyone retreat! We have to quickly return to the occupied areas!”

Alcard gave the command and the troops started marching.

The orcs watching the army retreat were puzzled.

“What are they doing? Chwiik!”

“There is more work to do. Just go, chwi chwik!”

An alliance composed of orcs, dwarves, elves and barbarians were waiting at Vargo Fortress. In particular, this area was very favourable for the Arpen Kingdom so the ratio of NPC residents was very high.

A lively commerce between species that actively advanced Vargo Fortress.

The orc users heard news that the Haven Empire at the Earth Palace lost and showed their yellowish teeth.

“Chwik! If so, chwik! Must, chwi chwi chwik, we, chwik, attack, chwi chwi chwiik!”

“They are turning around, chwi chwi chwik.”

“Chase after them, chwi chwik!”

“Chwiik, don’t be impatient. It could be a trap, chwi chwik!”

“We are lacking too much. I would be glad if it is a trap, chwi chwik!”

“I don’t care about dying, chwiii chwik!”

“We won’t receive any damage, chiiik!”

The orc tribes that weren’t afraid of being wiped out!

The orcs were brave warriors that constantly fought.

If there wasn’t spacious land and a supply of food then there would be a limit on the population of the orcs. Any orcs afraid of combat would be incompetent.

That’s why the orcs stormed at Alcard’s retreating troops.

The Haven Empire were fiercely chased through the mountain and they lost 250,000 troops.

The orcs had great physical ability and grew quickly as a beginner.

Alcard showed his defense skills and managed to reduce the damage by 50,000.  But his top priority was to reach the occupied areas.

250,000 troops were lost and 160,000 inevitably fell behind due to the excessive march.

Anyway, Alcard’s army safely passed the mountains and arrived at the occupied areas. And the users who lost their lives at the Earth Palace joined, building a huge force.

Alcard was appointed as the governor of the occupied territories. Now he was ruling one fourth of the northern territory, a vast amount of land.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Huhuhu, another classic has emerged. Hopefully I will have a chance for my song to spread through the continent.”

The bard Murray lightly tapped the beat with his fingers.

A melody rang out as the leaves started dancing.

Murray was a bard who wrote poems and sang songs.

The nature of the profession meant that bards considered adventurers as friends. Sometimes they could borrow the power of nature to produce a magical stage.

Murray was one of the best bards on the continent so naturally he watched the war.

A battle that absolutely couldn’t be missed! All bards on the continent gathered to make a song of Weed’s victory.

‘He should beat the Haven Empire.’

‘Weed has high fame on the continent.’

‘In order to make a popular song, the protagonist should be Weed.’

The feature of a bard was their songs. If their song became known then their fame and composition skills would increase.

They could easily enjoy the best fame through singing.

Just like a sculptor and paint, it was very beneficial for a bard to obtain fame.

If their song became known then they could even give a nickname to people.

Roaming around the continent while singing, an attractive profession!

A popular profession that was good at making friends.

The characteristics of the job meant that they didn’t settle in one place or join guilds. Recent classics were , and .

Ohh.

Today’s I heard a chiik.

A strong nasal sound like there is a runny nose.

I saw an orc.

Earthworm like tendons, broad forehead and no hair.

Chwik, chwi chwi chwit, chwi chwi chwi chwit, chwit chwit chwit, chwiik!

Karichwi who has a nasty temper!

He talked to young and adult orcs.

Murray studied orcs in order to write his song.

The simple lyrics and accurate nasal sound that was difficult to produce made it popular among the orcs.

Murray was popular and could easily hold a conversation with the orcs. Listening to the song up close meant being sprayed by the runny nose so he needed to be careful.

“This is an opportunity to create a great song and I need to complete it faster than the others.

The battle of the Earth Palace was the goal.

Bards also experienced big battles.

Murray and the other bards had their battles in the squares and taverns of the city.

It went without saying that the first song would have the advantage.

“Dawn City, Earth Palace. Well…something different will emerge. The Earth Palace collapsed but the reconstruction can make a new story. Dawn City has a role so it should have a significant amount of time. The future of the Arpen Kingdom…yes, the sun rising in the morning.”

He had a flash of inspiration.

‘The Arpen Kingdom will take a leap forward in the morning.’

The morning that would open a glorious future for the Arpen Kingdom.

Right now the preparation could be called the dark night. The Immortal Legion and war with the Haven Empire was just a guide for the new beginning.

“There is unease about the future. The future isn’t determined at the moment.”

Murray suddenly wondered.

Weed and the undeveloped areas of the north.

‘The morning after…the morning will come, causing the birds from Lavias over the Arpen Kingdom to cry loudly.  How far can Weed raise the Arpen Kingdom?’

He decided the title of the song.

A song about the battle of the Haven Empire was too small. He would make a song about the overall evolution of the Arpen Kingdom.

Murray’s song would spread through the entire continent.

If that happened then the fame of the Arpen Kingdom and the self-esteem of the people living there would rise.

The Haven Empire imposed a decree on the continent.

– Block all trade and transportation to the Arpen Kingdom.

– Activities in the Northern Continent are prohibited. Things since as hunting, quests and travel are prohibited.

The beginning of the northern blockade.

The Haven Empire occupied some land in the north and dispatched troops to form checkpoints at the borders.

In addition, the Haven Empire blocked the movement of merchants and travellers.

A thorough isolation policy!

This was the Hermes Guild’s plan to slow down the development of the Arpen Kingdom.

The merchants trading with the Central Continent would suffer great harm and the tourists visiting the Arpen Kingdom would be blocked.

The Arpen Kingdom defeated the Haven Empire but they suffered some damage.

Even the players starting Royal Road would seriously reconsider picking the Arpen Kingdom. They were worried about receiving disadvantages and discrimination.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kuaaaack!”

Seo-yoon leapt down from Wy-3’s back the moment they arrived at Morata.

“Thank you. Here is a snack.”

She pulled out dried horse meat prepared in advance.

Chomp!

Wy-3’s delicious meal!

Seo-yoon’s eyes warmed as she watched Wy-3.

Weed’s wyverns could fly long distances comfortably and their ability to glide was amazing. But among the wyverns, Wy-3 wasn’t comfortable.

‘Wy-3 is science.’

Wy-3’s value as a perfect air transportation vehicle!

Seo-yoon entered the office.

Weed was concentrating on a sculpture when she came in. It wasn’t easy to think he was a cool man devoted to the task but the reality was different.

“I have to finish this before it is too late.”

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“Great King Leading the Arpen Kingdom.”

– Great King Leading the Arpen Kingdom is correct?

“Heh. Well, it is an undeniable fact.”

– Moonlight Sculpting Fine Piece! Great King Leading the Arpen Kingdom has been completed!

A work of the sculptor Weed that expresses the beauty of time and light.

The Arpen Kingdom situated in the north of the Versailles Continent.

This new kingdom recently had many difficulties but the buds are blooming and the harvest season is upcoming.

A statue of the revered King Weed will make the residents feel a sense of pride and will increase intimacy.

In particular, any residents with complaints will be happy when seeing this statue.

Artistic Value: A sculpture that surpasses Weed’s limits.

6,700.

Special Options: Great King Leading the Arpen Kingdom will increase health and mana regeneration by 20% for a day.

The loyalty of the local residents will rise.

The effect of government buildings will increase by 2%.

National Fame +1.

The value of art produced in this region will increase.

Those with an art profession will have their charm increased by 38.

Charisma has permanently increased by 1.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Number of Moonlight Fine pieces completed:  12

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 2,230.

– Perseverance has increased by 5.

– Time Sculpting has reached beginner level 8.

“Huhuhuhu, hahahahaha!”

His own sculpture!

Just like a plastic surgery beauty, there was a huge difference between his appearance and that of the sculpture.

The sleek jaw line and intelligent eyes were different.

Long legs, strong upper body and the faint sheen from the moonlight gave it a truly handsome appearance!

Weed meticulously searched the sculpture.

“It feels like looking in a mirror after just washing.”

The eyes, nose and mouth were the same but it gave off a seriously different feeling.

“Indeed…I could also look like this if I maintained myself well.”

Weed nodded.

A dangerous delusion caused by a harsh winter!

Seo-yoon nodded as she watched the scene.

The real Weed looked much better than the sculpture to her. She thought that Weed was better than other handsome men like celebrities and models.

A situation where wool covered her eyes.

Chapter 6

Weed made a sculpture of Seo-yoon in the office.

“Um, that arm over there should be a little higher.”

“Like this?”

He tested many different types of clothing for the sculpture of Seo-yoon.

“This is all for art, art.”

“Huh?”

“No, nothing.”

His pure artistic soul was climbing.

He tested several pieces of clothing such as a knight’s armour, magician’s robe and stage costumes for the dancers.

Seo-yoon was perfect whether she was covered up or wearing revealing clothes.

“Fashion completes the face and the body.”

A statue of a beautiful woman like Seo-yoon was a wonderful sight. His work would also create a new beauty.

He sculpted through the night. Seo-yoon didn’t show any signs of boredom as she followed Weed’s instructions well.

“These clothes? The skirt I’m wearing is too short.”

“Art should have constant attempts. It should be a noble challenge for beauty. Hesitation in art means that it will never develop.”

“Now I am drooling.”

“…….”

Any man would become sneaky with a girlfriend like Seo-yoon.

Many things could be read during the sculpting process. Not only was she beautiful but he could learn a little bit more about the subject while sculpting.

Weed was constantly updating the facial expressions and new parts of the body.

A long time ago, he had sculpted Seo-yoon smiling. He had thought it was a pity that her pretty face was stiff. Even now she didn’t laugh loudly but gave soft smiles.

Then she was a beautiful diamond!

‘She is prettier than she was in the past.’

If there was a god in the world then he gave all the beauty to her.

Seo-yoon had a much friendlier attitude towards him compared to the past. A natural appearance that made her more beautiful than usual.

‘My sculpture needs to have that look. I need to show that side.’

She was impressed by his many sculptures. Eyes that looked at him with confidence and affection. He wanted that feeling to remain with the sculpture.

The sculpture that Weed completed was a work of art.

– Woman in Love.

– An Angel’s Smile.

– Blazing Beauty.

– Eternal Beauty.

Moonlight sculpture fine pieces were created in succession.

“Tricky conditions are necessary to succeed as an artist.”

Weed again gained enlightenment.

An extraordinary observation and judgement was required. It was a part of music, poetry, novels, plays, sculptures, etc.

He always tried to create expensive pieces of art. An artist always felt greed towards their works. Passion and commitment for the work was required.

Having a pretty girlfriend was definitely convenient for his work. Weed slashed at sculptures all day to raise his skill proficiency.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The next day.

Weed acted like a black king in his office.

“Investment, investment!”

Investing in the growth of the Arpen Kingdom in order to deal with the Haven Empire!

Currently the Arpen Kingdom had a budget of 70 million.  It was a few months of tax income.

The tax revenue of the Arpen Kingdom was mainly put back in development and the Grand Buildings. Even so, the accumulated funds could be administered by the king.

70 million gold!

A huge amount for an individual but it wasn’t much considering the current size of the Arpen Kingdom.

It would be completely drained investing in a military of 300,000 troops.

In fact, the trade and production of the Arpen Kingdom was expanding every day. Even with the special tax rate for residents, it was bringing in an astronomical amount.

It the taxes were raised as high as the Haven Empire then the profit would increase by more than 3 times.

But this was limited due to the free nature of the north.

Many users started in the Arpen Kingdom in order to take advantage of the low taxes. Merchants succeeded in risky trades due to the low tax rates and they opened up new trade routes.

Raising the taxes now would lose the crazy but important strength of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Well, the tax decreased due to the collapse of the Royal Palace but it will rebound.”

The users and residents were increasing.

70 million gold was money that should be used very sparingly.

He could use all the money at once in a large investment but that wouldn’t benefit the Arpen Kingdom.

“I need to invest in high productivity sectors. Usually it would be better to invest in the economy but I don’t know how effective that will be.”

In order to increase the economic power of the kingdom, he should establish smithies, clear wasteland areas or expand agricultural areas. Active mine development was also one of the ways.

But Weed wanted the Arpen Kingdom to be larger.

Economic development was somewhat helpful but it would lead to an ambiguous amount of money.

“Besides, it is too subtle.”

Setting up smithies for weapons and armour production would make employment in the kingdom grow by leaps and bounds. Items such as swords and shields were essential in combat and continuously consumed so the business would never suffer any damages.

Usually capital would be steadily invested but there was currently a lot of weapons and armour from the Haven Empire. This was a temporary phenomenon but there was a need to consider where to spend money effectively.

Tax income was reduced and the Northern Continent was blocked so this meant the economic situation would become more difficult in the future.

He needed to make investments that had immediate results as well as long term benefits.

“In order to create a lively economy…increasing the products won’t help.”

Weed started thinking.

He wasn’t taught economics but common sense was enough.

There were many users in the north and this would increase further in the future. He needed to make sure products were consumed without running out. The blacksmiths and merchants knew how to do this themselves.

“There are many products on the market not being sold.”

Rather than books or lectures, the merchants acquired knowledge through conversations at the market.

If products were selling particularly well on the market then there was no reason to stop. Merchants mainly imported low cost items in order to obtain a large profit from their customers.

The king building smithies everywhere wouldn’t strengthen the overall production and economic strength of the kingdom. Currently there wasn’t a problem of lacking goods so there was no reason for the king to intervene.

Although there were some benefits to Weed, the level of the kingdom meant he could let others produce the items.

The kingdom’s economic power meant that basics could be filled in themselves. He needed to generate a higher value to the Arpen Kingdom.

“This is a kingdom of merchants so there is no need to intervene to make it prosperous……”

Weed’s head continued to think. Then he suddenly thought about the merchants.

“A larger market and vigorous trade will make the Arpen Kingdom richer.”

It was a difficult problem.

Weed considered the entire Arpen Kingdom. Right now it was insufficient. There were too many things.

The Arpen Kingdom was filled with beginners.

“The Earth Palace is broken. Along with Morata, Port Varna and Vargo Fortress, it is the heart of the Arpen Kingdom…… Adventurers roam all around the northern continent. It is the same for merchants. And they develop small villages in every corner of the kingdom. That’s how the current status was created despite the threat of monsters.”

Needless to say, the merchants had a large contribution. The novice users starting here was also a solid foundation for the development of the kingdom.

But he couldn’t always believe in them.

The Arpen Kingdom was vibrant and fun.

It was currently in a state of confusion due to the Haven Empire but it was getting better. The war with the Haven Empire had ended but their cities had advanced technology and were stable.

The northern blockade had just been launched so the novice users might prefer the Central Continent despite the popularity of the Arpen Kingdom.

The Haven Empire was unlikely to change their governing methods but there was no reason to live in the Arpen Kingdom unless there were improvements.

In the north, the only huge city was Morata.

In contrast, the Central Continent had so many big cities that it was hard to remember their names. However, the novice users liked living in Morata and the north.

Many novice users believed in an illusion when starting Royal Road.

“If I don’t change it quickly then my brand will decline.”

Weed strongly felt the need to maintain the competitiveness of the Arpen Kingdom. The current Arpen Kingdom was too narrow.

In fact, the territory was very wide but more of the areas were filled with monsters. There was a large distance between villages and people were rarely around the frontier.

There were too few cities in the Arpen Kingdom. There was only Morata, Port Varna and Vargo Fortress.

Recently visitors also increased at Vent Castle and Mordred. Besides that, numerous villages were getting better. The orc fortresses were increasing day by day.

Nevertheless, the lives of people living in the big cities were lacking.

Various types of cities were required.

There were trade and commerce cities, mining towns, cities that prospered due to techniques that extracted resources from the land and cities that taught magic education.

It was necessary to establish tourist cities to attract travellers and settlers. There couldn’t only be cities of arts and culture.

In order to rule the Arpen Kingdom more effectively, it was absolutely necessary to expand the jurisdiction of the big cities.

Each town and city would have lords that could look after domestic affairs like taxes, technology etc.

Vargo Fortress was the only one with a similar development to Morata.

“Famous areas where people will travel to. The Arpen Kingdom is a fledgling kingdom. Now it will be difficult for the lords to differentiate their villages.”

Grand Buildings would quickly cause a village to grow to the scale of a city. Although there were many travellers, the features of the city could end up deformed.

Morata ended up making the Arpen Kingdom. There were many advantages to have politics, economy, commerce, culture and technology focused on Morata.

“I need to connect roads between the cities.”

He decided to build 8 cities with Morata in the centre.

Of course, the construction of the new cities would depend on the river, plains and existing villages.

Important buildings needed to be built in the villages.

People were still lacking sufficient reason to leave Morata so more cities needed to be built in the Arpen Kingdom.

Users were still starting in the north so now was the perfect time to widen the narrow feel of Morata. Adventurers and merchants could wander around without risk.

He was certain now.

The Arpen Kingdom had reached its limit because of Morata.

“We need to expand Ibellin Castle in the east. The necessary buildings are required in order to make it easier for beginners.”

Ibellin Castle was close to Kruger Harbour.

Kruger Castle was to the east of Rupoi Plains. Merchants pulled carriages there and it had a good amount of travellers.

It would be good if adventurers and novice users used Ibellin Castle as a base for their activities.

It was a good opportunity for people to settle in places other than Morata.

Weed decided to invest 15.84 million gold in Ibellin Castle.

Users would feel offended if he only invested half-heartedly.

Commercial buildings such as grocery stores, guild offices, training centres for knights and magic guilds. There was a construction request for a branch of the Freya Church and new residential areas were formed.

Fortunately, it was a very safe area so there was no need to build walls around the old castle.

“The Harsel Mountains area needs to be explored. Lots of resources are required in order to develop the kingdom.”

A small river flowed from Vent Castle to the Harsel Mountains.

He decided to develop Iptun Village at the entrance to the mountain area.

Buildings associated with mining and construction facilities were created. A small harbour was created at the river. There were frequent invasions from monsters so he ordered walls and rangers to be recruited.

If Iptun Village explored and developed the Harsel Mountains area then it would be helpful to the Arpen Kingdom’s economic power.

The territory could produce a considerable value.

If many high level users were active in Iptun Village and the Harsel Mountains then monsters would stop overflowing out of the mountains. This would have a positive impact on the Arpen Kingdom’s security.

Parties in the area wouldn’t need to return to Morata and Vargo Fortress.

“I can’t miss developing the Valley of Death and the east sea. I need to invite them for location hunting and production.”

The mind of a corrupted king!

“If the Harsel Mountains become more secure then I can create a unique tourist city.”

Of course, it was instant death if there was a monster ambush. It was an advantage that might work out well.

Weed’s head started rotating at full speed.

The development of a kingdom was bound to have complex macroeconomics. This was Weed’s way of living.

Extraordinary vision and smell!

A ghost like ability to see and smell money.

The dark smell of money was coming from the Arpen Kingdom!

“Some islands recently discovered to the east should be developed.”

Small fishing villages were found by sailors.

After the fall of the Niflheim Empire, some settlers left for the sea.

Necessary buildings, ship repair yards and trade buildings were built.

Now it was only small villages but a wide sea region could be created. If there was a trade route with the Brent and Rosenheim Kingdom then there would be long term economic benefits.

“Huhuhu, it is difficult to develop these islands due to the heavy trades but I can set up 1~2 free trade zones.”

Precisely, pirate islands!

The life of a pirate was fun.

An endless horizon!

Numerous fish swimming in the sea that could be caught with a fishing rod.

There was also a high traffic trade route at sea so looting merchants was very profitable. Of course, Weed knew very well the happiness of being a pirate.

“There is too much to develop. Huge value industries are everywhere.”

Weed once again reflected.

It really was hard when he thought about it. Looking back at his past, there was areas he regretted not investing in. Opening his eyes in the morning every day and finding it difficult to make money. Burying money in the ground, he couldn’t think of an honest life!

Weed thought it was a really undesirable life.

“I need to spread rumours about the top 10 attractions of the Arpen Kingdom. Pilgrimage places for the Grass Porridge Cult.”

He also needed to secretly negotiate with Mapan for the opening of overpriced stores!

“It is difficult to enjoy the peace if Morata isn’t secure. He needed to spend money on the kingdom in order to stop it from coming to an end. Earning money is very hard and I need to harvest the taxes.”

The Grass Porridge Cult will stand up every time the Arpen Kingdom fell into a crisis.

Weed’s tongue started slowing creeping out as he concentrated on the internal affairs.

He could already taste the money.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The live adventures of the Crimson Wings Guild!

Interest had fallen because of the war but the ratings still reached 23%.

– One of the sacred obligations as a giant is to sustain the world. Humans, do you sincerely want death?

Teros only had 10 people left in his group. They had the funds to hire NPC mercenaries but almost none of them survived.

People overflowing with adrenaline could randomly die.

The sight of the Crimson Wings Guild struggling in the dungeon was a very popular live show. And finally, they met a sleeping giant.

Teros nodded.

“I want to die. I willingly risked death to come here.”

– Excellent. Having the courage to continue through your fear. Humans, do you have the courage to rectify a wrong despite the dangers to your life?

“This.”

Gale met Mako’s eyes.

Gale: I thought this was the end……

Mako: It must be refused. Our power is already limited.

A S-class difficulty was the hardest level of quest.

They had wandered around and barely came to the last dungeon. The colleagues Pulain and Bastien had been sacrificed in order to reach this point.

Reaching this far in a S-class difficulty quest was already a great success. Only Weed the God of War would succeed in this type of unexpected quest.

But now the giant was giving them another quest.

Teros thought for a moment before bowing his head to his colleagues.

Teros: Let’s not back down here.

Psyche: That’s not what I wanted to hear. We’ve done enough.

Gale: Captain, let’s give it up. Our power won’t be able to break through.

Teros: However, won’t we miss too much? The quest was a little difficult but we got nothing. Didn’t we want to become famous and respected on the continent again? Shouldn’t we show our power? The stupid things we did will forever remain in the memory of the people if we retreat.

Mako: Captain……

Teros: The giant’s words make sense. We are different from the past. There is only one life that we have to walk. I will regret not seeing it through to the end.

His colleagues no longer opposed after hearing Teros’ words.

A quest was a quest. Higher compensation would be received the more difficult it was.

Novices wanted money, equipment, fame and later stats from the quests. Of course, quests that required leaving the area would take a long time.

It was common sense that chain quests would become popular.

Famous quest items could be traded for expensive prices.

This was different from the adventures and quests the Crimson Wings Guild received in the past.

They didn’t know how to proceed forward in the future or if they could overcome the dangerous situation. There was a possibility of success but they were more likely to fail.

Gale: It isn’t a big deal so let’s do it. Anyway, we only have one life so there is no need to hesitate.

Mako: Let’s not feel any regret and commit to it.

Teros said to the giant.

“We have the courage.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Rough men like the sand, I greet the Pugnak Warriors.”

“It has been a long time since the Pallos Empire disappeared. The Pugnak Warriors recognize that you are on the path of the saviour.”

“Come out unharmed from the Desert of Tranquility. Then the desert tribes can’t ignore your noble valour.”

Unring, Ben and Elliks of Earth Shadow needed to gain the respect of the desert tribe. Earth Shadow was doing a quest associated with the Desert Emperor quest.

“It is much more rewarding than the work involving the Embinyu Church.”

“It is fortunate that they haven’t forgotten the past.”

“It is good that it isn’t vague.”

This time they had les anxiety while performing the request.

The leading adventurer group in Royal Road!

However, they wasted a great deal of precious time on an outlandish adventure. There were many worries due to the risk of not knowing the results of the adventure.

The so-called continent quest would get different results depending on good and evil. A typical example was the Embinyu Church waking up earlier!

This time, they expected good results for the Desert Emperor quest.

The resurrection of the Desert Emperor in the harsh and desolate desert! A desert warrior would become Weed’s heir.

Unring became anxious in the middle.

“What if the heir of the Desert Emperor is a bad person?”

“What do you mean?”

“For instance, what if they conquer the Central Continent after the desert? It might be their destiny if they are the Great Emperor’s descendant.”

“That makes sense.”

Earth Shadow started to worry. And 10 minutes later, they came to a conclusion.

“After the southern desert, they will invade the principalities and free trade zones. That is the land of the Haven Empire so we don’t need to get involved.”

“Yes, the Hermes Guild will take care of those guys.”

“Well, look at these nasty bastards.”

“They are the same.”

The adventurers didn’t always act independently and some joined the prestigious guilds.

There were many famous adventurers on the Versailles Continent affiliated with the Hermes Guild. They gained information about quests and even took it by force. It also gave them the exclusive rights to excavate treasure at certain locations.

The prestigious guilds even reported in advance special treasures and quests in their territory. If the adventure was a success then they needed to pay half the excavation profit.

They would find public information or intercept new quests. The adventurers were helpless against the special forces of the guild.

Weed was respected enough not to be exploited by the prestigious guilds.

The free adventurers struggled because of them and suffered countless hardships. The Hermes Guild was just as bad as the other prestigious guilds and it became worse after the Haven Empire was founded.

The official policy of the Hermes Guild towards the adventurers changed. Lafaye and the leaders found that the activities of the adventurers benefited the Haven Empire.

But the lords that ruled the territories were different. If there was hidden treasure in the land they ruled or a wonderful hunting ground then a fee needed to be paid.

Every adventurer had to pay the lords substantial taxes.

The adventurers that succeeded in their territory were threatened by the military unless they handed over a large amount of the profit. That’s why there was a small number of adventurers compared to other professions.

Earth Shadow continued the quest without worrying about the consequences.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed decided to wait and see the developments of the Arpen Kingdom after his intervention.

“I just need to hope that it goes well.”

Investments worth 70 million gold.

He placed the 4.93 million gold obtained from selling the loot into the treasury.

Ddiring!

– King Weed has invested his personal fortune in the kingdom.

Leading the country and its people with the virtue of nobility. A very good deed has been done by the noble king.

The security of Morata and the surrounding areas will increase by 3.

– Honour has increased by 1.

Fame has increased by 493.

– The title ‘Honourable King of Kings’ has been acquired.

It is very difficult for a king to receive the respect of the people.

High security, economic developments and maintenance of facilities are required to maintain the long-term loyalty of the residents.

Actively taking care of the livelihood of the residents or leading soldiers in a war can grant the king an honourable title.

The intimacy with the residents and fame will help the loyalty remain high.

It isn’t easy since the residents would blame any incompetence on the ruler.

If good things happen within the kingdom then the king’s reputation will increase sharply.

“Sob!”

He put his individual money to develop the kingdom.

He invested that money with a sad heart!

“Another useless title. This is really the worst.”

Weed still believed in a bright future.

“For the moment, I’ve defeated the invasion of the Haven Empire. I have a large margin even if they decide to conquer us later. Until then, I will work diligently to gain more taxes.”

Investments made with the thought of recovery!

This could be described as the basis of investments in the modern world. It was easy to invest in some areas. But in the end, not all the money invested could be recovered.

After his intervention, Weed left the castle with Seo-yoon.

“There is a lot of work to do from now on.”

Hunting, simple quests and sculpting! He couldn’t neglect raising his personal capabilities.

The golden age where he founded the Pallos Empire had passed and the reality was that his level was lower than most of the Hermes Guild members. But he had high stats and a new skill so there were lots of opportunities. If he raised Time Sculpting a few more levels then a new world would open.

“Go.”

“Yes.”

Weed defeated dungeons with Seo-yoon and carved sculptures.

He started with dungeons near Morata. The bulletin boards of Royal Road and the Dark Gamers forum meant he knew information about extremely demanding dungeons.

Pelka Wilderness.

Going at night is very dangerous.

Hunt the pelka that will come through the ground.

Handle these guys and enter the dungeon through the hole. The dungeon doesn’t have a separate entrance and exit.

It is possible to obtain mana stones if the pelka are wiped out. Recently the pelka horns, leather and teeth can be sold at high prices as raw materials for fire magic.

The recommended hunting level is 440.

“We should be enough.”

“Wipe them out quickly.”

“Leather, horns and teeth can be sold expensively…I am reluctant but I will use them to create sculptures.”

Weed and Seo-yoon defeated the dungeon at the Pelka Wilderness.

Even if his level was lower than the recommended hunting level, Weed was able to endure it. His actual combat ability was excellent so he could overcome all types of adversity.

Seo-yoon’s level was also high and was appropriate for the hunting ground.

Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

“You called, Master.”

“Incompetent bastards! You came out so prove your worth.”

“Understood.”

Van Hawk and Torido were reliable and significantly helped in the hunt.

It would be annoying hunting without those two. Waiting for the recovery time after fighting monsters was a significant disadvantage.

Weed optimized his breaks with the best hunting time. And he always sculpted during the break!

That’s why it was good in many ways to have Van Hawk and Torido along on the hunt.

Van Hawk had high health and good attack skills as a death knight. Torido was useful because he could use his vampire skills to brainwash monsters with low intelligence.

And he even generously called the sculptural lifeforms when the monsters were very large.

“Summon Sculpture!”

Bahamorg, Yellowy, Goldman, Seville and Cerberus were summoned when needed.

“Ummoooooo.”

“It is hard hunting so don’t complain. Crush them!”

Yellowy who required a minimum of 2 copper to 5 silver to boss around was the best.

In the case of priests, he rented them from the Freya Church and Church of Lugh.

Alveron was a precious talent but needed a lot of contribution points. However, the ordinary (?) senior priests could contribute a lot and were only moderately expensive.

The priests would become stronger through hunting with Weed and this was a good thing for the church. If Weed brought back priests that levelled up then he could get back some of his contribution points.

As king of the Arpen Kingdom, he needed to contribute to the religious orders on a daily schedule. If the king made a donation then the contribution would slightly accumulate every time.

If the contribution piled up then the faith of the residents of the Arpen Kingdom towards the religion would rise!

Weed employed 2~3 priests for every hunt.

“G-god! This hardship……”

“U-ugh!”

The priests that somehow survived the speed of the hunt clearly became stronger.

Chapter 7

Pale, Irene, Romuna and his other colleagues didn’t call often. They weren’t like Weed and found it difficult to focus a lot of their time during the day on Royal Road.

Furthermore, Weed was on an intensive hunt so he needed to quickly move to another hunting ground if necessary.

After defeating the boss monsters in a dungeon, he would immediately move on to hunt somewhere else.

If there were many people in the group then it would become more difficult.

In addition, his original party needed to consent to such painful hunting in advance.

Pale grabbed his hands with delight.

“Really? Thank you, Weed-nim!”

“You’ve struggled a lot in the meantime so rest for the moment.”

“I had been feeling like I was falling down a long, dark tunnel towards the bottom of hell. I won’t forget this care and grace.”

“I had forgotten that an archer is a very useful profession when hunting.”

“…….”

“I will use you well at a later date. Maylon-nim, is that okay?”

“Of course. Pale-nim, tell me about it when you come back.”

“Cough!”

Pale was effectively attacked by Maylon.

The rest of the party willingly agreed with it.

Weed had an awkward conversation with Hwaryeong again.

They were friends in Royal Road but she had opened up her heart to him. But that died after hearing that Seo-yoon was living next door.

Hwaryeong had a cool personality and wasn’t going to quarrel with another woman.

“Seo-yoon? Well, isn’t Weed-nim attractive? That charm is what attracted me.”

“That’s right.”

And Seo-yoon nodded like it was natural.

“I’m not giving up. He will come back.”

“I…won’t let go.”

Pale and Zephyr were unable to speak in front of the girls.

“The world is coming to an end.”

“This may already be hell.”

“Weed-nim being called a good and wise king……”

“I’m sure this is the bottom of hell.”

Mapan was with his girlfriend Gamong.

Mapan had slightly overpriced groceries while Gamong sold them for a cheaper price. There were rumours that Mapan was unscrupulous but his girlfriend was a merchant.

Weed and his activities in the territory of the Arpen Kingdom was due to the increase of users with information. There was considerable talk of the north, dungeon location and terrain analysis on the information forums.

Weed wanted dungeons discovered for the first time in order to get the double experience! It was essential for fast growth but there were disadvantages.

Gaining experience quickly wouldn’t increase the combat skill proficiency as much. Weed had a variety of skill proficiencies, including swordsmanship that needed to grow.

If he didn’t take advantage of Sculptural Destruction while hunting then he would be much weaker than Seo-yoon.

“W-Weed-nim.”

“Weed-nim came to this dungeon!”

“Kyaaaak!”

An underground dungeon consisted of several layers with the weakest monsters at the entrance and on the 1st floor. Therefore, there were a large number of users present.

The migration of high level users in the north.

The people who noticed Weed hunting were like a fan club.

Of course, Weed could change his appearance with Sculpture Transformation but that meant he couldn’t create sculptures on his break. It was also hard with the appearance of the Goddess’ Knight Armour, Van Hawk, Torido and Yellowy.

Weed watched the people flocking with a frown.

“Being a celebrity is tiring. My personality and appearance lures in the people like a charm.”

“…….”

A level that he actually enjoyed!

The level of the users meant they wouldn’t interfere with the hunt. It was also extremely rare to find those who could keep up with Weed and Seo-yoon’s pace.

“Excuse me, this might be unreasonable but Weed-nim is the best sculptor on the continent. A gift for my wife and daughter……”

One of the high level users came up to him and asked. His entire body was covered with equipment made of special materials that granted divine magic.

“If I give you these winged boots then can you please make me a sculpture?”

Snap!

“You came to the right place.”

The high level users that got close commissioned sculptures.

The sculptures that Weed made in order to raise skill proficiency would be disposed of later through Mapan. He had very high popularity as a sculptor so it was easy to dispose of his products.

But this type of customized products meant he could sell it at an overpriced value.

“Isn’t this the best material? I won’t give you a cheap product.”

“Yes.”

“The size is small so it is difficult……”

“Yes.”

“Hmm hmm, fine trimming and smoothing out the sculpture will cause an additional fee.”

“Please take care of it.”

He horribly increased the rates every time!

“But I have no more gold.”

“Well, it is unfortunate but those shoulder pads should be enough……”

Weed was able to make extra income with his sculptures.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Rebels sweeping through the Haven Empire!

– Kallamore Liberation Front.

– Tullen Heroes.

– Remnants of the Aidern Kingdom.

– Norton Nobles.

– Luka River’s Resistance Army.

Ever since that day, the confusion in the Haven Empire was getting out of control.

“They were given an opportunity. Faster than I thought…even so, they won’t be able to overcome our power.”

Lafaye gave a command to the Imperial Army.

“Have the troops stationed in big cities and fortresses to quickly overcome the rebels emerging.”

The users of the Hermes Guild were on high alert. The troops stationed at important fortresses spread to nearby areas to stop the rebellions.

The ones in the Central Continent who lost to the Haven Empire! In the past, the continent was split between the prestigious guilds so they can still gain an advantage even if their power wasn’t as strong.

The small rebel uprisings by the residents were quickly swept up by the Hermes Guild users. But the battles took place everywhere including the outskirts of the city, the plains, the market and the government offices.

“There are serious fires in the city.”

“Damn! It was wrong to mobilize the magicians.”

“The fire is continuing to spread through the wooden buildings. The wind is blowing it out of control.”

“We have to give up the city. If it becomes a lump of ash then it can’t be used as a rebel base.”

The city of Peites with a long history disappeared due to fire during the fight with the rebels.

It had been captured by the Embinyu Church but flourished due to Weed’s adventure. But now all traces of it were gone due to fire.

“Did you hear? The Imperial Army set a city on fire in order to burn us down.”

“Children and adults were all burned.”

“Cruel bastards. Those guys are the devil.”

Rumours spread like fire about the Haven Empire.

It was natural since the residents of the occupied territories already disliked the Haven Empire. The exploitation and high taxes meant that rebels continued to rise in the occupied territories.

Lafaye was alert and anxious as his worries became a reality.

“Cavalry, enter the city.”

“Sweep up the rebels tonight and then move onto the next area.”

Nevertheless, the military of the Haven Empire was powerful. They kept the big cities and fortresses and wiped up the rebels in the area. The rebels were defeated by the elite troops of the Haven Empire.

“Help us. If you lost have everything then fight against the Haven Empire.”

“There isn’t much time left. Now the dream of the Nest Kingdom resurrecting has disappeared.”

The resistance forces and general users who received quests were defeated by the mighty Haven Empire.

“We’re not going to……”

“The Hermes Guild is terribly strong. I’m sick of it, sick.”

The desperate users of the Central Continent quickly mobilized.

But things didn’t go as Lafaye intended in various parts of the empire.

Despite the enormous grain production of the Haven Empire, there were some areas that were starving. The smooth transportation of agricultural products to some regions was impossible due to rebels or bandits.

The army of the Haven Empire provided food supplies to those areas.

“Food aid? In terms of money, it will cost more than 1 million gold……”

“Lord-nim, what should we do? There are hungry residents waiting.”

“Why are you asking? Store it in the warehouse. Later when there is a food shortage, we can sell it at a higher price. Place guards at the warehouse.”

“Yes!”

The lords only cared about themselves rather than supporting the residents. This was an unofficial decision but there wasn’t also a need to make the cities and villages rich and powerful.

It took a long time to develop technology and expand commercial policies.

The lords of the Central Continent were those who obtained a large contribution in war. They squeezed the residents they ruled and bribed the guards. It would be better if those with war achievements would let the land recover.

– Lower the taxes and improve the welfare of the people.

If the lords improve the lives of the residents then rebellions won’t occur.

As part of Lafaye’s post-war recovery plans, he announced an economic reconstruction plan and commercial support plans for the conquered regions.

Magic research, technological development, road construction, urban reconstruction and restoring attractions were promoted.

An astronomical amount of money of the Central Continent were spent. More than one third of the Haven Empire’s treasury were invested.

If the economy and lifestyle in the Central Continent improved then there was no reason for rebels or for people to leave for the north. Over time, the northern users would start coming over to the Central Continent.

The economic policy game!

Lowering the tax rate would gather the users and residents as well as lowering the transaction goods tax throughout the empire.

However, some lords pretended to reluctantly accept this.

If the taxes were lowered then their income would decrease. There was no reason for them to do so. They took care of themselves even when there were rebels in the area.

The rebels were a good opportunity to train the soldiers. If there was a complete victory then security would improve.

But it was just in that area, as the adjacent regions would have their security worsen.

In the hands of some lords, the rebellion would grow larger and reach out to the centre. Once the rebels looted the armour and supplies, they would enter the mountains and it would take a long time to suppress them.

If they weren’t completely suppressed then it would have adverse effects on peace and security and would affect the military in various ways.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lafaye launched a covert operation against the Arpen Kingdom.

“The Haven Empire has been damaged so there is a need to twist up the Arpen Kingdom. The current situation might have calmed down but we will show them the difference once we conquer them.”

The fact that Weed was investing in several cities in the Arpen Kingdom was reported to Lafaye. He decided to deal with the situation.

Weed was a mere adventurer so that didn’t mean he had the qualities of a ruler.

A success story of a person who built Morata from the ground up.

Good planning and political power needed to be demonstrated. It was impossible with just coincidence or luck.

“We must invest in the occupied territories of the north. If the development is faster than the Arpen Kingdom then the residents might move.”

The Haven Empire had conquered a quarter of the north.

The Arpen Kingdom was still lacking in many things. If the Haven Empire developed their cities then the residents would increase dramatically. NPC residents and even users wanted a good place to live.

“A quarter of the north. It will be a brilliant bridge to conquering the continent.”

If the Haven Empire’s occupied territories had a dazzling development then the Arpen Kingdom would collapse in the future.

The governor created the finest buildings and made free trade cities.

The north had plenty of advantages over the Central Continent.

Spacious and fertile land for grain production and there were many opportunities for mine development. If they increased the population of the occupied territories then a large economic power could be generated.

Trading between the Central Continent and Northern Continent would be a mutual benefit.

His original plan was reconstruction after destroying the north but changing that plan wasn’t a bad idea.

“Urgently eating up rice cakes. If everything goes well then this might lead to a better result.”

In the future, the north would play a large role in the Haven Empire.

“More support needs to be given to the northern lords. In the future, new cities and land will be handed to the lords.”

Ruling positions would be handed out to members of the Hermes Guild who would develop the land.

There were an incredible number of lords on the Versailles Continent. After hearing Lafaye’s northern development plan, a great deal of funds were dedicated to the lords.

Lafaye didn’t think of competing directly with Weed.

The Hermes Guild had a lot of swords that they could use. And the most powerful sword called Bardray was already prepared.

However, it was quite fun to compete with Weed when it came to the development of a kingdom. The Arpen Kingdom that Weed painfully built up would be smashed.

“This is a little lacking. But it is good enough to win by trampling on him.”

Lafaye felt quite bright because he preferred this strategy. Insidious ploys could sometimes lead to large effects.

In order to draw a big picture, behind the scenes work was essential.

He called Steer who was in charge of the Hermes Guild’s information network.

“Steer-nim.”

“Yes.”

“How many people do you have working in the north?”

“Hestiger appeared in the war out of the blue…the impact is strong so approximately 1,000 people.”

“Good. Even if it might seem useless, it might play a large role on the decisive day.”

“I think so as well.”

Despite the rebels, the eyes of the Hermes Guild didn’t leave the north. Even traitors in the north could weaken it.

Lafaye had several schemes in the last war that couldn’t be triggered properly because of the quick destruction. He hadn’t expected Hestiger to appear and for the Earth Palace to collapse.

“How about the assassination of Weed?”

“It is quite difficult to keep track of him for the assassination. He is moving so quickly that it is hard to find his traces.”

“I heard stories that he rides the wyverns. What about after he enters the dungeon?”

“His speed is faster in the dungeon. And they are famous dungeons in the north so there are many users……”

“We will be ridiculed if rumours spread that the Hermes Guild is trying assassination. Don’t act blatantly. The chance will come sooner or later. Do it secretly.”

“We have reinforcements prepared for the assassination squads.”

They wanted to interfere with and weaken Weed.

It was highly likely that Weed would master sculpting and other production techniques. Even dying once would cause a huge loss in skill proficiency.

The reason why the Hermes Guild cared was because of the final sculpting technique. Weed obviously acquired the skill but didn’t use it in the war for some reason.

In the next war, Weed was likely to use it against Bardray so they wanted to check the identity of the skill.

‘Awkward and uncomfortable. It won’t be difficult to cope with if we know it in advance. Perhaps it is a complicated skill that will release a concentrated attack to kill the other person. But 1 person can’t change a war.’

Lafaye issued a new instruction to them.

“Have you identified Weed’s colleagues?”

“Of course. There are the colleagues he has been hunting with since his novice days and the 500 Muksabal Knights.”

“I know that there are some celebrities……”

“Maylon. A talk show host on the Versailles Continent. But she didn’t participate in the war. As a broadcast official, she must appear neutral. And the other one is a user called Hwaryeong. Singer Jung Hyo-rin ssi. A celebrity well known in reality and she has many admirers in Royal Road.”

Hwaryeong constantly danced in the main hall of Morata.

Brilliant performances filled with light, fire, water droplets or ice flowers that seemed like a solo concert.

Naturally she had explosive popularity!

It was common to have several singers perform on the stage. But none of them could beat the quality of Hwaryeong’s performances.

“Does she have a close relationship with Weed?”

“It is significant. She helps him whenever there is an adventure or war.”

“Buying her to our side is absolutely impossible?”

“That……”

Well known celebrities were Weed’s colleagues.

But there was no end to human greed. Even a close friend would betray someone if the price was right. Especially with a person like Weed who cast a large shadow.

There were sure to be colleagues jealous of Weed’s fame and achievements.

They would turn their back on Weed if given compensation by the Hermes Guild.

“His colleagues and the Muksabal Knights. I think gaining some of them isn’t impossible. I will contact them. To what extent can I offer?”

“The position of lord for one of the occupied territories and 1 year of financial support. The Muksabal Knights pursue strength so offer them skills and a mercenary position. The only ones left are Maylon and Hwaryeong? Give them the position of lord in any area of the Central Continent they desire. It will be worth it.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed felt it while hunting in the Arpen Kingdom.

“This is really poor. There are no famous specialties and the residents don’t have good careers. It is hard to even find a grocery store.”

Apart from Morata and several villages, the northwest frontier was completely untouched by human hands.

There was an infinite spread of lush forests, wide fields and swamps that reached up to his ankle.

Thousands of goats and bison lived near the river.

Occasionally merchants moving with carriages protected by mercenaries could be seen. There were also adventurers quickly passing on horseback.

“It is easy moving with the wyverns.”

There were too many undeveloped pieces of land in the north.

The village populations didn’t increase due to lack of roads and the areas overflowed with monsters and beasts.

Despite the Arpen Kingdom having a degree of stability, this was limited to the big cities, castles and Vargo Fortress. The frontier villages of the kingdom were threatened by the invasion of monsters.

“Work together to block them. We just need to hang on until morning!”

“Mercenary-nim, if you don’t run away then I will give you a reward.”

Users and travellers visiting helped defend the villages.

The villages that fell into a crisis would give users quest to save the village. Merchants hired players or mercenaries to protect their goods along the trade routes.

The Arpen Kingdom that Weed started, grew up with the users.

The users lived in harmony with it!

The north was different from the Hermes Guild that oppressed the weak on the Central Continent.

Merchants, adventurers, craftsmen, artists, etc. decided their fates themselves and challenged their dreams.

Weed had hope that the Arpen Kingdom could develop.

“It is better to buy this land before it is too late. Stores will have to pay a monthly rent and I can sell and dispose of things at a cheaper price.”

Even the frontier villages were likely to develop in the future.

The villages would carefully expand against the invasion of monsters.

Fields filled with corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes were looked after.

A mining village finding a gold or even silver mine would be an amazing dream.

– This is outside the territory of the Arpen Kingdom.

The people are envious of the cultural achievements and free-spirited life of the people living in the Arpen Kingdom.

Many of the territory in the remote regions had been lost but Weed didn’t mind.

“The small villages will later come back. Once they do, they will be subjected to heavy taxes for a while!”

Weed travelled around the remote areas with Seo-yoon.

He rode Wy-3 and would stand on top of snow-covered mountains in the middle of the night.

The moon and stars shone down on them as Wy-3 rolled around in the snow.

Seo-yoon was the only other person but the atmosphere was sincere.

“I will create a fine piece this time. Then I need to master sculpting and raise Time Sculpting…gulp!”

He was filled with plenty of selfishness.

“Let’s see, this is near a historic mining village. Since the fall of the Niflheim Empire, the mine has been closed and only copper ores have been recovered. Copper isn’t worth a lot of money but it is fairly usable. Also, the copper ore means that merchants will visit to develop the area.”

Weed looked at the maps in the historical books about the Niflheim Empire.

“Creating a sculpture in this place…yes, just keep it simple. Miners!”

He decided not to use the Sculpting Knife to cut wood or rocks. There was no limit to the materials he could use.

Snow decorated the landscape while the dwarves and men in the village used copper for their sculptures.

A lot of the work of dwarves featured women and young children.

Originally this was a dwarven mining village. The dwarves loved residing near mines. The dwarves could be called an advanced workforce.

Weed created a work of art based on reality.

The sky was dim and a cool breeze blew as he dissolved copper pieces for the framework of the sculpture.

“In the end, hard work is needed for sculpting.”

It was different from elegant and noble artists. A sculptor needed to shed sweat through manual labour to create a 3D piece.

Seo-yoon, Yellowy and Goldman ate boiled potatoes and sweet potatoes on the side. They also grilled horsemeat on top of rocks for Wy-3.

“There can’t be any mistakes.”

Weed melted copper and poured them into moulds.

A common blacksmithing job!

It was similar to a cookie cutter. In the past it was used to trim simple shapes.

The mold template was used to form the framework. Many modern buildings were made with a cement matrix. The joints and seams showed traces of unpainted cement. It showed the nature of the building and this style was very common.

Therefore the sculptures would have a different feel depending on the raw material. The texture and shape was important.

“The collar…perfect!”

Weed created the common attire of the miners.

A sculpture of a miner with the colour of aged copper was completed.

Of course, Weed combined his intermediate blacksmith skill with sculpting to create breathtaking pieces.

– Ugh, this sculpture……

– I have a long way to go. I’m quitting.

The unique spirit of a sculptor created detailed and unique patterns that a blacksmith could only dream of.

“In fact, a blacksmith places more emphasis on the strength of the material. Copper is an inferior material so they would never bother with it.”

Weed finished the work before dawn.

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“Miners Working Around the Clock.”

Of course, they should never take a break. For the further prosperity of the Arpen Kingdom and a comfortable retirement for Weed!

– Miners Working Around the Clock is correct?

“I’m certain.”

– Masterpiece! Miners Working Around the Clock has been completed.

A majestic sculpture made by the sculptor Weed who is the king of the Arpen Kingdom and who wandered around the continent learning the power of nature and time.

The sculpture of real sized miners made by melting copper has been completed after a minimal process.

Creating the framework, melting the ingredients, pouring it and trimming it, no unnecessary steps were used.

The sculptor Weed had perfect skills across many areas.

Drooping eyes and a strawberry nose. The belly fat and pickaxe placed on the shoulder gives the impression of a confident miner.

This sculpture will be a symbol of Kairaka mining village.

Artistic Value: 3,749.

Special Options: Miners Working Around the Clock will increase vitality recovery rate by 24% for a day.

Mining skill +2.

Luck will rise by 68.

Perseverance will rise by 43.

The likelihood of finding rare minerals will increase.

Current number of Masterpieces created: 27

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Blacksmithing has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 121.

– Perseverance has increased by 2.

– Strength has increased by 1.

– Insight has increased by 1.

– The skill proficiency of Time Sculpting has improved.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Masterpiece sculpture.

– The loyalty of the residents of Kairaka mining village will increase.

The residents will feel gratitude for the King making the sculpture directly and will hold a festival.

There will be a temporary increase in birth rate after the festival.

Crime will be strongly suppressed.

Intimacy will dwarves in this area will increase.

“Kuhuhuhihi! Masterpiece, masterpiece. I got stats.”

Weed laughed loudly.

Sculpting and Handicraft was close to the master level and he could feel it directly with his hands.

“It is like walking down the street and picking up a winning lottery ticket.”

It was hard work but still fun.

“Eolsu eolsu.”

He felt good about the sculpture so more laughter emerged. It was a strange laugh and he suddenly recalled Seo-yoon watching from the side.

Weed turned to look at the staring Seo-yoon. Next to her were Yellowy and Goldman.

“…….”

He was used to adventuring alone so he felt quite embarrassed.

Seo-yoon said.

“A sculptor…it is natural to feel happy after creating a good piece.”

A good woman who could understand the path of an artist!

“Ah, yes. It is impossible to control my emotions when it comes to art.”

Weed thought he was really blessed. Meeting a woman like Seo-yoon in his lifetime was a blessing.

Seo-yoon said quietly.

“It is lucky you are a sculptor since it might be too much as a warlock or a necromancer.”

Laughing like that at a strange skeleton or chimera……

Weed didn’t say anything.

In fact, when he was a lich he had summoned skeletons. He had enjoyed laughing together with the skeletons.

‘I don’t understand her taste.’

The sun was about to rise as the far away sky was red.

Weed said to Seo-yoon.

“Come here.”

“…….”

His intentions were obvious even for those who were ignorant.

Weed held her shoulder as he kissed the blushing Seo-yoon.

At that moment, the sun came up.

“Golgolgol, I want to meet a woman.”

“Omoooooo, I miss the females!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Tang tang tang!

“What is happening?”

“I am from the Hermes Guild. I have a good offer for you.”

“I’m not buying anything!”

The intelligence agent Benchaim of the Hermes Guild was confused.

The reaction of Weed’s colleague, Surka!

“I didn’t come to sell things. We came to off Surka-nim the position of a lord.”

Benchaim explained the offer to Surka.

Weed had many young and confident females as colleagues. He guessed it would be easier to recruit her.

“So you want me to make a dirty backroom deal with the Hermes Guild and betray Weed-nim?”

“That’s not it. We think that Surka-nim’s reputation is good enough to become a lord. The Hermes Guild recognizes your skill which is why we offered the deal. Wouldn’t you rather show your talent instead of remaining among the ordinary northern users?”

“Do you think I will sell my conscience for a lordship?”

“A person should work according to their value. Think about it rationally. You will be able to do much more if you have the position of a lord.”

“I am comfortable at the moment. Ajusshi, I don’t want to live that life.”

Tang!

The door was closed fiercely.

Another information agent affiliated with the Hermes Guild met with Romuna.

“You will give me magic books? As a gift? Wah, I’ve been looking for this.”

“A lordship in the north……”

“I will work hard to learn this spell. Then I will burn away the Hermes Guild in the war.”

“…….”

Irene had a very good reputation among the users.

She generously used divine magic on beginners in the city and helped out parties in difficult situations.

Her good nature had spread widely.

She was rarely alone so the information agent had to come up to her in the middle of a square while surrounded by people.

He explained the matter to Irene.

“Huk, how can you ask me to do such a bad thing?”

“It isn’t bad. Isn’t this an opportunity? The Hermes Guild is different. We treat people fairly depending on their ability and talent.”

“Too bad, too bad. Ahh, poor Weed-nim.”

Irene shed some tears. It was like a female protagonist in a movie crying after being betrayed by a man.

“Irene-nim is crying!”

“Who is this person?”

The people gathered in the square.

“Who are you? What were you talking about?”

“Everyone, please calm down. I just made a good offer to Irene-nim.”

“Are his words true, Irene-nim?”

“I’m not sure. To me, he is a very bad man!”

The information agent was kicked out of Morata.

Pale and Maylon also refused the offer.

“Betray Weed-nim? Hah, so that I can escape from the hell hunt? No, I won’t. I am meant to be his hunting slave for the rest of my life. I’ve already sold my soul to Weed-nim. I don’t doubt it. It is over. My parents have set up shop in Morata and encourage me to go hunting with Weed-nim.”

“I don’t want to. But should I broadcast this suggestion?”

The recruitment of Weed’s colleagues failed in succession.

But Hwaryeong and Bellot had an entirely different reaction when contacted by the information agents.

“A lordship? In the centre of the continent? Well, I would be far away from Weed-nim. It is a good suggestion. I got it. Come on.”

“The lordship…… Heh, you are a good judge of character. Would you like a party every day? And you can buy a few dresses and bags.”

The women unabashedly accepted the offer!

The information agent was embarrassed by the number of requirements but he succeeded in signing Hwaryeong. Bellot was also a famous celebrity that they knew information about.

“Bellot-nim will be happy as a lord on the Central Continent.”

“Is it possible to be the lord of a free city?”

“There are…it is difficult since there are already other lords.”

“Then please arrange a lordship in the north.”

“What land do you want?”

“A place where transportation is convenient. Then won’t a lot of people come for the parties?”

“I will give you what you want.”

The information agents couldn’t help laughing at the vanity of the celebrities.

‘How many visitors will come to a party thrown in the occupied territories of the north?’

The Hermes Guild decided to actively support the parties in the north.

Geomchi, the instructors and the students were also contacted. But it was difficult to have a conversation with them.

They were often in very dangerous hunting grounds and the agents found it impossible to track them. Even if they were tracked, they gave off the impression of a serial killer.

“Excuse me……”

“What?”

“Ah, nothing.”

Chapter 8

“Welcome Lord-nim.”

“Welcome. We have been waiting.”

Robin was welcomed by lined up soldiers as he came to Ars Village that was in his territory.

1,000 soldiers were dispatched from the Haven Empire.

“This village looks good to begin with. There is much room for development.”

Robin bought himself the position of a lord in the north with his money.

There were approximately 200 remote villages.

Shortly after the war ended, there were no quests, specialties or mercenary guilds.

“I have to develop this as quickly as possible. First, I should equip them with the basic facilities of a village?”

Robin decided to take advantage of the internal affairs mode. He committed 9 million gold to the village.

– Ars Village is experiencing financial abundance.

The residents are surprised at the huge investment of the wealthy lord.

The residents have received facilities, security and economic investments so the future of the village is bright.

Village fame has increased by 5.

Security has increased.

“Money must be spent correctly.”

Robin widely expanded the centre of the village with the village internal affairs mode.

“This skeleton is enough to make it grow into a large city in the future. The city’s traffic plan will increase the number of tourists.”

A giant fountain was installed in the square and wide streets for carriages were connected.

The lord ordered red brick and white stone buildings for the commercial district. The stones for the building were directly moved by the residents.

It was necessary for the lord to establish wages. Naturally, it was impossible to have an unpaid forced labour.

“In order to ensure their loyalty, should it be 2 silver a day? The village will develop quicker if the residents receive money. Money isn’t something that should be saved.”

The mobilized residents were paid 5 gold per day. Young children to the elderly participated in the building of the commercial district.

“Weapons store, armour store, grocery store, furniture store, specialty stores…this village isn’t bad and can develop into a market in the future. Should some livestock be raised in the grassland area near here?”

Raising cows was very fashionable in the north. It was easy to get excellent cattle and they could graze as they desired on the vast grasslands.

It was uncommon to see hunters pulling 1,000 horses.

“Cows entering the city will make the streets dirty. Horse trade should be developed in the lower level of the market.”

Robin boldly gave up on cattle breeding.

He also wasn’t fond of the agricultural sector.

Due to the nature of the profession, farmer users didn’t tend to have large yields. They needed to clear land outside the village but this would make the scenery worsen.

But the users couldn’t adequately utilize the wide plains.

It was for realistic reasons since they couldn’t block the attack of monsters.

It was like leaving a breadbasket for monsters and security would worsen, decreasing the loyalty of the residents. The chances of monster invasions would significantly increase so Robin gave up on the small income of the agricultural sector.

“My city will be the centre of tourism, finance and luxury goods production. In order to do that, I need to use the right investment strategy in the beginning. My father got ahead of others due to bold investments.”

Many of the northern villages were appointed to people like Robin.

The Haven Empire wanted the lords to quickly stabilize and develop the area.

In return, the lords would receive considerable wealth. Once the village and cities were stable, they could sell materials for money. This would benefit the Haven Empire a great deal.

Robin thought the north was worth more.

If the village grew to a city then his status and honour would be guaranteed. He would use his money to become one of the influential lords of the continent.

“Training centre for the blacksmiths and jewellery craftsmen. An auction and accommodations will develop the tourism industry. I should make it in advance.”

He planted rare trees to decorate the landscape and built 150 luxury accommodations.

– Residents are heading to Ars Village.

The population has exceeded 3,000 people.

“The work is growing rapidly. My village has the highest population around here. Although the initial development is slow…at some point it will increase dramatically.”

The 9 million gold meant that the village no longer felt undeveloped. There were new buildings luxuriously decorated.

Robin received an additional 4 million gold from the Haven Empire. Of course, such a large amount of money wasn’t for free.

“I will use this money to build a castle. A big and beautiful castle…it will increase the reputation of the village with tourists and increase the authority of the lord. Knights will also pledge allegiance to me.”

A castle was essential for a lord’s reign. A huge amount of money would be invested in it but it clearly had positive effects.

Merchants from the Central Continent came to Ars Village to sell luxury building materials. Many of the construction materials were difficult to procure directly.

In the past, cities were built with stone from the free cities and principalities.

The residents grew richer every day and the economic power rapidly rose. The village was crowded with merchants and tourists from the Central Continent.

“If all the people in the vicinity come to me…I will also accept residents affected by war in the Central Continent. Yes, my money means I can catch up with Morata’s development speed.”

Robin launched the housing construction.

Due to the very cheap housing, almost no taxes and excellent facilities, the number of residents was growing every day.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed roamed the territory of the Arpen Kingdom. Weed found famous hunting grounds from the information boards.

– The title ‘Fighter who Enjoys Hunting’ has been acquired.

A title given after hunting down dangerous monsters.

A person who has this nickname won’t shrink back when encountering the enemy.

– Fighting Spirit has increased by 10.

Remarkable achievements due to the hunt!

In a short period of time, his level had gone up by 5.

Even so, he was still only level 427.

“There is still a long way to go.”

Weed asked Seo-yoon.

“Did you gain some levels?”

“A little bit.”

“What level?”

“471.”

“Heuheuheuk! It is like I suddenly doubled in size. My stomach is upset from eating pajeon (korean type of pancake) a week ago. By the way, this isn’t important but what level is your swordsmanship?”

“Advanced level 8. Today I will reach level 9.”

“Heoheok, it feels like the pajeon is coming up.”

He had lost too many levels on the final secret sculpting technique quest.

He estimated that Bardray had reached at least level 500. It was like being famished after only eating sweet potatoes for one week.

“I didn’t play with other people while growing up.”

Weed toured the central area of the Arpen Kingdom between Morata and Vent Castle. There was an overwhelming amount of information about the central region on the bulletin boards.

Users withdrew from the dungeons after clearing them so they were decent hunting grounds.

“Cooking delicious seafood soup at the hunting ground. Many people are bringing them into the dungeon.”

“Various types of flower decorations for the farm. Affordable prices, wildflowers. Don’t ask about the source.”

“A new branch of the Grass Porridge Cult has been born. The Midnight Snack Porridge unit! Chicken porridge, ham hock porridge, bossam porridge.  Looking for new members. The Wheat Porridge unit will provide barley drinks!”

Due to the crowds of people at famous dungeons, a market formed.

There were many players who came back to the central region from the remote areas after realizing this fact.

The location was great and wooden villages started being built on plains and rivers. The village residents were especially made up of young people.

“Weed-nim rules the Arpen Kingdom. The kings and nobles are the same but I can believe in Weed-nim.”

“I will believe in Weed-nim even if we are in the depths of hell.”

Hunters and lumberjacks continued to bring their wives and families.

The places with traces of the Niflheim Empire had large villages created.

Most large villages were at places where transportation was convenient and was close to rivers or plains. The cities of the Niflheim Empire that flourished in the history books were being recreated.

Some villages had players settle in for hunting and adventures, increasing their population.

Weed was able to experience the evolution of the Arpen Kingdom through his trip.

The features of every city were being developed. The rural areas contained buildings from the era of the Arpen Empire.

The higher birth rate meant more warriors were being trained. They helped defend the fortresses, granaries, etc. from the monsters.

The construction of different buildings led to commercial development.

The Keltun Kingdom soldier camps and Mapon Kingdom trade centres were examples of buildings from the warring period.

Vent Castle reflected the elegant architecture of the Niflheim Empire. The construction required time and manpower but added historical and cultural value.

Weed granted some benefits as the king while wandering around. Strong and harmonious buildings would grant a positive benefit to the development of the city.

The Arpen Kingdom was a colourful and interesting place.

The ellyons wearing green hats and clothing quickly spread out through the north. Due to the nature of the fairy, they ate dew at night and made new friends.

Initially they stayed in nature but soon frequented the villages.

The ellyons developed mines and increased the growth rate of the grain after playing in the farmlands.

The arnin had a role in looking after domestic animals. They cared for cows, pigs and sheep. There were only a few arnin but they could take care of thousands of livestock each.

In the future, they could tame dangerous predators like the saber-toothed tigers and the griffins. Saber-toothed tiger corps or griffin knights might arise. They would be good in war as well as increase the efficiency of hunting and adventures.

The changes in the north meant a lot of time was needed for the roads to be connected. The activities of the users slowly widened but the griffin could overcome these constraints.

“Hmm, the development is fast. Speaking of which, there must be fairly organic quests.”

The normalization of the Northern Continent.

Despite the undeveloped areas, there were several advantages compared to the Central Continent. Weed’s adventures was an advantage.

And adventurers and merchants contributed to the Arpen Kingdom.

This type of development had several advantages over the Haven Empire.

The large scale reconstruction of Mordred, the capital city of the Niflheim Empire was mainly carried out by merchants.

“An excessive amount of goods needs to be transported here.”

“If we use the river and plains then it can quickly arrive at the destination.”

“Artifacts are also being found often. Let’s not forget that merchants are developing the kingdom.”

Mordred would occupy the centre of the northern transportation network once it was fully restored.

When looking at the location on a map, Morata was in the middle of mountains and rivers. Mordred would be the core location that connected the north and west areas of the Arpen Kingdom.

In the past, it was the capital of the Niflheim Empire but it was abandoned and became a monster’s paradise.

– A party that is going to explore the Red Ruins near Mordred. The hunt will last for 5 days before returning.

– Magician wanted! Looking for 10 magicians to hunt at Mordred.

This dungeon was a heaven for magicians.

An expedition was configured with at least 1,000 users to beat the monsters.

They would fiercely assault the monsters before the monsters ended up hiding in the mountains or dungeons.

After the war, the army of the Arpen Kingdom periodically came here to fight against the monsters.

The result was that the monsters were reduced to a certain extent and the debris could be cleaned up.

Mordred of the Niflheim Empire used to have a population of 1 million people. The buildings were gradually restored from the outside.

After the architects built the Earth Palace, they would be dispatched to Mordred.

There were many people interested in the architecture of the Arpen Kingdom.

The Central Continent had the buildings and cities already completed. However, the northern architects created the roads, villages and infrastructure themselves.

Many novice architects gained experience from restoring Mordred.

The Arpen Kingdom’s development was due to the collaboration between architects and merchants.

“Architect is a really attractive profession. The essence is labour but there are endless possibilities in the future.”

Weed watched the developments of the Arpen Kingdom from the streets.

He had started in the Rosenheim Kingdom but the Arpen Kingdom was starting to feel like home. A comfortable feeling like his own home.

Users were running around the shops to buy cheaper goods, women sitting down and residents wandering.

“I’m not far away from mastering sculpting.

He had created some fine pieces and masterpieces while staying in the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed’s handicraft and sculpting skill was currently at 97% advanced level 9. One last step remained to the master level.

The next stage of the final sculpting technique was also close. Time Sculpting was at 64% beginner level 8. It was very difficult to raise Time Sculpting so he had great expectations of the intermediate stage.

“I understand that no class masters have appeared yet.

The Class Master Quest was a really big topic. But no one who mastered their profession had appeared yet.

He sculpted numerous new works in an attempt to increase his skill proficiency. No matter how many sculptures he continued to make, the proficiency didn’t increase much.

Weed travelled to different regions and used those materials to make the sculptures. Sometimes he would mobilize moonlight sculpting or blacksmithing.

‘No, I need to master sculpting sooner.’

Weed had experience mastering skills.

During the final secret sculpting technique quest, he became a sword master. At that time, his level was 680. He defeated strong monsters and achieved the last stage.

Hard work was the true way to became a master swordsman!

“If I raise it harmoniously then I might be able to reach it at a much lower level.”

He might be able to achieve sword mastery when his level was still in the 400s.

He also had concerns about Bardray.

Compared with Geomchi, his level was enough to become a master swordsman.

“If given the opportunity, I will conquer the best hunting grounds and achieve master level without delay.”

But in Bardray’s case, he didn’t train in the basic skills. Because of his overall level and diverse range of skills, he still hadn’t achieved mastering swordsmanship.

Weapons, armour, quests and exceptional subordinates meant he didn’t place much significance on the sword.

“It isn’t just Bardray. There is another one close to becoming a master.”

Weed didn’t hear any rumours about other masters.

Among the professions, only a few were challenging it.

There was too much competition among the combat professions so someone like Bardray was likely to achieve it. However, they lost their lives in challenging battles so their proficiency would drop.

But the blacksmith profession was different. In particular, the blacksmith Fabio was significantly ahead of him.

“He is right in front of mastering the blacksmith skill. Umm……”

Weed wasn’t obsessed with the order itself. The first to become a class master would receive great honour.

It was enough if he mastered sculpting and could freely use Time Sculpting.

“Of course, I hope that I can occupy the position of the first class master.”

Weed continued hunting and making sculptures.

He couldn’t do anything else. The development of the Arpen Kingdom was dealt with and he needed to do things for himself.

“This is life. My legs will stretch when I sleep at night and when I go to the toilet in the morning.”

There wasn’t a big secret behind Weed’s growth.

If he wasn’t hunting or on an enormous adventure then he was sculpting!

The dungeon and quests were simple so they only took a day or two to solve.

“I need to make a piece that will increase sculpting and Time Sculpting.”

Minor sculptures could be completed.

A shining fox or a realistic wolf.

These types of works continued to be popular with the users.

Even so, they would be tough to help Weed master sculpting. These types of sculptures increased the proficiency by 0.1%.

Maybe other art professions were just as hard to master.

“Others need to do these type of things. Art is a hard calling.”

Weed suddenly pictured a sculpture he could make.

‘I should take advantage of nature sculpting and moonlight sculpting. A really huge magnum opus…something others can’t follow. And I can only make a sculpture.’

Now that becoming a sculpting master was right in front of him, his worries deepened.

Then he had a sudden epiphany.

“My knowledge…I should use the knowledge gained from travelling around the continent. I am one of the people that knows the Versailles Continent the best. Of course, I am fully sure that it can’t be exactly the same.”

Weed was honest with himself. But he thought he could try.

“Okay, let’s do it!”

So he decided to make a very large sculpture!

He settled in a location near Mordred.

Weed decided to make a sculpture that was 2,000 pyeong.

The Versailles Continent.

From Jigolaths in the north to the Desert of Tranquility. The large sea islands to the east and the forests in the west. Lakes, mountains, oceans and cities would be included in this piece of the Versailles Continent.

He needed to express the basic scale using the oceans.

“I should use nature sculpting to bring the rain and snow. The desert area should have a shining sun.”

Just thinking about it caused his body to tremble.

“I have to stay humble. Otherwise I don’t deserve to be called a real artist.”

In medieval times, there were the names of a few genius artists. They finished works of art over a few years or even decades.

The artwork was large in size so a lot of effort was required to complete it.

“Art is hard work. There is no art without labour. Hard work is required to admire art.”

Weed held a shovel and pickaxe instead of the Sculpting Knife and started to carve the Northern Continent.

He had seen the recent changes in the terrain and was confident about his knowledge. However, he needed to use his memory for the rest of the continent. He had a vague idea of the volcanoes and coastline.

As a piece of art, it didn’t have to be exactly the same as reality. Still, there were areas that he didn’t have any knowledge of.

Wy-3 was good for short and long distances but there was another way.

“Yurin, I will buy you clothes.”

“Oppa, what do you want me to do?”

“That……”

Jigolaths that had made him shocked in the past.

Volcanoes popped like firecrackers as a backdrop to a hunting festival.

He then went to the south pole.

In fact, the south pole was still an unknown and unexplored area. But Yurin could draw a picture using some books.

“Oppa, I found some books about the south pole in the library……”

“I’m not interested. It is just a book.”

“There is a pile of treasure.”

“Where? Let’s go!”

They visited the place in the book using Picture Teleportation.

Weed and Seo-yoon had experienced the harsh cold of the north so they were dressed warmly. Yellowy and Goldman were thickly dressed and Phoenix was brought as well.

But some places weren’t able to be prepared for.

The south pole was on an entirely different level.

– You have arrived at the south pole.

The wide stretches of glaciers have permanently increased courage by 6.

– You have felt the severe cold.

Abilities have been reduced.

You are breathing in the cold and the durability of your clothes have dropped.

Swaeeeenng!

Even the sound of the wind was different.

The cold wind blew quickly.

“Well…since it is like this. Soon…you will be able to adapt.”

Weed believed that he had the survival ability of a cockroach. But after seeing a penguin die from the cold, he changed his mind.

Living spirits of ice wandered around looking for living things to be their prey.

They were in a serious crisis and barely managed to hunt it with their lives intact.

Phoenix moaned and said.

“This isn’t a place where we should stay, Master.”

“I think so…no, I don’t care but if you think we should go back then we will.”

Even Phoenix was barely able to return from the dungeon.

Yellow barely survived becoming a frozen bull.

They experienced this piece of the continent with their own body. A special environment that was just as challenging as the 10 forbidden zones.

Hunting while checking the terrain!

Yurin and Seo-yoon helped a lot in this. Yurin would take him everywhere while Seo-yoon read books about the terrain in the library.

Even the sculptural lifeforms like Yellowy, the wyverns and Bingryong were mobilized.

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy ploughed an area that would represent the seas and rivers.

“This is a wide, piece of land but the materials are lacking.

The wyverns would bring stones and mud from other areas. Bingryong was necessary to express the north and south poles.

“This is great. Breathe out.”

Making ice sculptures.

The Northern Continent was completed after a week.

In contrast, the Central Continent was well known so he didn’t need to do a lot of research about it. But the rivers, roads and villages were intricately connected so it was hard to express.

The spacious Southern Continent that was filled with desert was almost too easy!

The east and west wasn’t easy but he expressed it accurately. Even the orc castles in the Plains of Despair were clearly represented.

Weed spent 2 months making the sculpture.

He visited more places and hunted in order to not fall behind. Information about famous dungeons and hunting grounds were obtained and he cleared it with Seo-yoon.

He didn’t only concentrate on hunting so he only raised his level 2 more times.

“Now it is 80% complete.”

Weed became more confident about the piece.

He couldn’t exactly make the continent. It was too impossible. He was elaborate as possible but there were bound to be some errors in his task.

Nevertheless, it was 2,000 pyeong so a magnum opus would come out.

Goldman played an especially important role in this.

“Be sure not to damage the sculpture when stepping on it.”

“Gol gol gol gol, I will be careful.”

“This is a chance for you to participate in the artwork. Goldman, isn’t this experience rare?”

“Using this precious body to pull out weeds, I really met the wrong master.”

A sculptural lifeform pulling out weeds!

Other users watching were astonished at the level of Weed’s sculpture.

It wasn’t obvious at first glance that the sculpture was of the Versailles Continent.

Fortresses, villages and mountains. The commercial districts, residential areas, streets and Grand Buildings were all reproduced. Rivers flowed in the correct direction and there were lush waters. The harbour had small, wooden sailboats floating along the currents to the big ocean.

The elves were asked to plant specific tiny seeds where needed. Thus, there were golden fields and granaries. There were even tunnels where the mines should be.

Rain soaked the ground and caused the waters of the river to rise. Volcanoes in the Jigolaths occasionally emitted real smoke.

The important thing was that there was a constant air circulation around the continent.

Weed had just intended to make a map at first but it became more complex and sophisticated.

Compared to the thriving and developed Central Continent, the Arpen Kingdom still gave off a rural feeling.

There were beautiful sculptures such as the Tower of Light.

A piece where he could no longer carve up the ground!

Weed turned his gaze towards the sky.

“The world isn’t just the land. Of course, real estate is very important but that isn’t the end of it.”

The sculpture already had rain clouds. But the sky should have the sun and the stars.

“Moonlight Sculpting!”

Moonlight sculpting was used to generate constellations in the sky. Shiny stars, the moon and the sun were created!

Time Sculpting was used to create a natural flow.

The sculpture created a miracle as the sun, moon and stars moved while illuminating the ground.

It made the Versailles Continent feel much more beautiful.

“It was a mistake. 2,000 pyeong is too small. I should have made it over 10,000 pyeong.”

The limit couldn’t perfectly express the sunrise and sunset.

Nevertheless, Weed decided to stop here. If he indulged in endless greed then the sculpture would never be finished.

A sculpture made with Nature Sculpting and Time Sculpting.

“It is done. I still have regrets but…curly ramen noodles are still delicious.”

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“The Versailles Continent.”

– Is The Versailles Continent correct?

“Um, wait a minute. A better name…should it be The Living Versailles Continent?”

– Is The Living Versailles Continent correct?

“That still seems a little strange…just name it A Beautiful World.”

– A Beautiful World is correct?

“Yes. I can’t think of a cool name.”

– Nature Magnum Opus! A Beautiful World has been completed.

An absolutely immortal sculpture using the process of nature!

The name Weed can’t be left out of the history of sculpting. The magnificent artwork he created and outstanding achievements led to today’s work.

A sculpture of the Versailles Continent.

It shows a surprising sophistication and vitality.

The artistic value is high and it also reveals hidden aspects of the continent’s geography.

This is a living, breathing sculpture that everyone will like.

Artistic Value: 14,261.

Special Options: The vitality of all animals and plants within 100 km of A Beautiful World will increase.

A fountain of life, those who visit it will have their health and mana increased by 55% for a week.

All stats will increase by 24.

New knowledge about geography is obtained so intelligence and wisdom will permanently increase by 2.

Adventurers will be able to get the skill ‘Intuitive Observation.’

The birth and growth rate of nearby animals and plants will increase.

Nature is cleansed.

Current number of Nature Magnum Opus created:  2.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 9,384.

– Art has increased by 25.

– Wisdom has increased by 3.

– Intelligence has increased by 14.

– Insight has increased by 2.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 65.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

– The relationship between all species except monsters will become friendlier.

– The skill proficiency of Time Sculpting has reached level 10 and transformed into intermediate Time Sculpting.

You have received a great enlightenment regarding time.

Moment Sculpting can stop the world.

The gods won’t interfere as you create a museum outside the framework of time.

“Ohhhh.”

A rotten smile bloomed brightly on Weed’s face.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: The Meaning of Time Sculpting

Weed managed to raise Time Sculpting to the intermediate level.

“I need to care less about others in order to do bad things.”

Intermediate Time Sculpting could literally stop time. Moment Sculpting could be used to stop the world.

It was like wearing a mask and holding a knife for robberies!

“I really wanted this.”

The world of art was infinite. But it was different for everyone.

There were those impressed by making more beautiful sculptures. To Weed, it was like ordering seasoned fried chicken only to have nothing on the chicken leg.

The reason for doing the final secret sculpting technique quest was for his own intentions rather than a pure artistic soul.

Weed didn’t feel any pangs of conscience at this part.

“Let’s see…check Time Sculpting skill!”

– Time Sculpting Intermediate 1 (2%).

Beginner: Age Sculpting.

This skill will add a long amount of time to a sculpture. Sometimes this time will add value to the sculpture.

It will also stop the sculpture from being naturally damaged over time.

Intermediate: Moment Sculpting.

The world will stop. Light, wind, people.

In front of Time Sculpting, everything will stop. The beauty of that stopped moment will consume a lot of vitality and concentration.

In order to spread the reach of Moment Sculpting, a special energy is required. Energy can be obtained when a moment makes people happy.

Energy of the Moment will be quickly consumed.

Continuous use in a short amount of time will consume a vast amount of vitality and mana.

Advanced: Travel Sculpting.

Chase the traces of time to travel to a specific point in time.

You can proceed with special quests.

However, accepting random quests not related to sculpting that would change the past will incur a huge penalty.

Energy of the Moment- 492.

“Good. I am ready.”

The nature magnum opus had increased intermediate Time Sculpting to 2% so it was a large gain.

Even if he continued building up the proficiency, it didn’t matter now.

“I have 492 energy of the moment. I don’t know how much that amount is worth. I need to work out the value.”

As the king of the Arpen Kingdom, he steadily accumulated that figure during his quests. He used Time Sculpting while sweeping through the dungeons.

Weed looked around.

The only thing visible were birds! He had spent 2 months making the sculpture of the Versailles Continent.

Weed could focus on the job because of Seo-yoon. If he was completely alone then he would receive some damage. If he created something then all his concentration was sucked into it. This was his habit when making a sculpture or any other type of immersive work.

Of course, he fell asleep as soon as he watched a documentary or educational broadcast.

“I should test it lightly.”

Weed activated the skill.

“Moment Sculpting!”

– The world has stopped.

Paak!

At that moment, the wind that was blowing stopped. The cries of the birds couldn’t be heard anymore and the birds with wings spread in the sky were locked in place.

It was the first time he felt such perfect stillness and serenity. Apart from his breathing, there was only silence.

– Energy of the Moment has been reduced.

There was a rabbit hiding in the bushes. A curious rabbit had approached to look at Weed.

Weed had high affinity to nature and animals often hovered around him. Of course, sometimes he would grab them for leather and meat but this was a heartless world.

If Moment Sculpting hadn’t stopped the world then he wouldn’t have seen the rabbit. He didn’t pay attention to anything except monsters.

The rabbit with red eyes and pointy ears was standing on its hind legs.

“I don’t know.”

Weed questioned why the sculptors used Time Sculpting to search for radiant beauty when there was no monetary value.

An expression of radiant beauty.

It wasn’t necessary to stop time. It was like using all his strength to climb a mountain when it wasn’t necessary.

“Anyway, the world really stopped. This skill isn’t a scam.”

Weed walked towards the rabbit as an experiment. The world had completely stopped so he was alone.

Even walking placed a heavy burden on his body. It felt like there was a pressure on him.

– Vitality has been reduced by 2%.

Due to the time difference, acceleration has been activated.

Your current speed will be enough to threaten the life of a deer.

It will cause a change in the attack and defense.

Weed walked slowly as the message window popped up.

“It worked. I don’t know but…the test will stop here. Skill off!”

– Moment Sculpting has been released.

16 Energy of the Moment has been consumed.

The wind blew again and the birds continued to fly.

Hwieeeeng!

Due to Weed’s movements during Time Sculpting, the grass shook. The rabbit was startled and hurriedly tried to flee.

“Hrmm, the consumption is considerable.”

There weren’t any other people around but quite a bit of energy of the moment was consumed.

“It isn’t very much. But it feels good. There must be a minimum consumption amount in order to activate the skill.”

During the battle, he could stop the opponent and move so it would be a big help. The other person wouldn’t be able to stop continuous attacks.

He could deal critical blows from successive blows and escape an absolute crisis without any damage. It was a large advantage in combat but it wasn’t decisive.

First was the vitality consumption. And if it lasted longer than more energy of the moment would be reduced. He could run out of energy of the moment if he wasn’t careful.

“I’m not sure but this seems to be a fairly bad artistic skill for sculpting. But the effect will certainly work well in battle. Anyway, this world is never free.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Yoo Byung-jin watched Weed’s behaviour.

Millions of people were living in the Versailles Continent. They experienced thrilling adventures that placed that on the border of life and death.

Weed was someone who hunted 10~20 hours a day. Yoo Byung-jin often watched him, especially when he used the final secret sculpting technique.

At the moment, Weed had used the skill and the time around him stopped.

Time was completely fixed.

“Umm, it is amazing.”

Yoo Byung-jin pretended to be casual but was inwardly shocked at this speed.

Each profession had a final secret technique created for them. It was limited to certain areas but the users could display the mystical power of a god.

The quest difficulty was ruthless and atrocious! Currently, a vast majority of professions missed the chance to obtain the final secret technique.

Since Royal Road opened, there were 3~4 people who could challenge the quest. But a sculptor unexpectedly acquired the secret technique and eventually raised the skill proficiency to the extent where it would manifest in the world.

Yoo Byung-jin’s heart was overwhelmed while watching the video monitor.

Weed had gone through much suffering to reach this point.

So far, Yoo Byung-jin had enjoyed all of Weed’s suffering.

Intermediate Time Sculpting, Moment Sculpting was a skill that could stop the world.

“Did you know…? Beauty is everywhere around us.”

Moment Sculpting showed a world that was too beautiful. An indescribable beauty of the world would enter their eyes.

Just before the leaves fell. Water droplets being formed or a new bird crying. A rabbit’s ears pricking as they sensed something. The wind blowing the blades of grass.

These things happened on a daily basis. Numerous ordinary moments occurring in the present and the future.

Once time stopped, the eyes could see all the beautiful surroundings.

The hot sun shining down on the river. Far away, there was the beautiful sight of a few drops of rain falling from dark clouds.

“Once time stops, a person can finally see how beautiful this world is.”

Yoo Byung-jin recalled the time he lay in the grass as a child and read a book.

Looking back, it was such beauty that tears came out. The world was beautiful.

Blue skies, flowers and grass, trees growing and even beautiful people. If the world didn’t stop then the beauty couldn’t be seen properly.

Sunrise, the moon and stars, the hot sun from early morning to evening, the world was beautiful.

“A gift to sculptors because…Time Sculpting can help define radiant beauty in the world.”

The final secret technique was the best way for sculptors to express the beauty. This conclusion would be simple and obvious to sculptors.

– Feel the beauty properly first and then make a sculpture.

Weed did tremendous work and it was easy to conclude that he could turn the history of the Versailles Continent upside down.

But commitment and sacrifice was required in the process.

It was easy to hear the truth with their ears but not feel it with their bodies. A sculptor could see beauty in even the most mundane things. There was even a skill that could give life.

Yoo Byung-jin created Royal Road but he was truly surprised in this moment.

“A tremendous technique. To the extent that it can’t be priced……”

He thought that Weed would have an even greater impression. He was just watching from the side while Weed was directly using the Time Sculpting skill. Looking from the side was different from experiencing it directly.

Soon Weed’s reaction was exposed.

– Useless. It is regretful after all I suffered. However, the effects are helpful in combat. Anyway, this world is never free.

“Cough!”

Yoo Byung-jin was so disappointed from Weed’s reaction that he found it hard to breathe. The psychological impact was great but he kept staring at the image in the monitor.

He couldn’t mean it.

After a while, Weed used Time Sculpting again. Weed wasted it to chase after a runaway rabbit for food.

– Ah, it is a skill to take care of rabbits. Wasting precious energy on experiments. Using the skill for wrong things.

“T-this guy…he was originally like this!”

Yoo Byung-jin grabbed his head.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Hermes Guild found a new secret sword technique.

The retired Pardo who had a sword of nature!

After analyzing the continent’s history and hearing about the hiding place from the mouth of residents, they deployed combat troops.

“A sword that carries the laws of nature. This land won’t benefit if you learn it. You are people who don’t deserve the power. Go back.”

Ddiring!

– Pardo has banished you.

If this continues then hostility will continue to accumulate.

The Hermes Guild members surrounded Pardo.

Learning a secret sword technique would make them stronger in the guild. A colossal value. They couldn’t give up even if they weren’t qualified.

Darius. The name of a high ranking member of the Hermes Guild.

“Old man, those words aren’t good. The Haven Empire rules this land so we are qualified.”

“That’s right. I have heard about your infamy. Get lost.”

“Then I will talk with ease. If you don’t teach us……”

“Intimidation is useless. I would rather die than teach you.”

Pardo drew his sword.

He was a master swordsman so he had an air of intimidation around him. The ground shook and wind blew from his sword.

The Hermes Guild’s combat troops contained knights, magicians, priests and shamans so it was a risky battle.

They had obtained information about Pardo from the local residents.

“He can’t be found in the village. It was about 10 years ago. He came to our village seriously injured.”

“Injured? Okay. He will probably find the upcoming winter difficult. His days are numbered.”

The ailing Pardo.

The Hermes Guild was ready to fight but Darius had a more relaxed approach.

“Old man, we didn’t come here to fight. But we will be forced to kill if you don’t hand over the sword technique.”

“Do you think I, Pardo, care about my life?”

“It can’t be helped. Bring them.”

Darius waved towards the back.

There was a line of village residents tied up.

“If you don’t give us the sword technique then we will kill the children and women.”

“This cowardly……”

“Say it if you don’t want to stop me. I will cut this child’s neck.”

Darius found it fun to play the villain role. It was hard to raise intimacy so he would rather use threats or intimidation to achieve his objectives.

– Pardo’s hostility has reached its peak.

Infamy has increased by 796.

It was a significant penalty but he held a high position in the Haven Empire so no one could touch him.

People in the Central Continent were scared of those with the mark of a murderer. The Haven Empire’s knights and soldiers were bowing towards him even if they were drenched in fear. There was even a city that boasted his name.

“There is no time. Will you teach me the sword technique? You must have realized that my words aren’t a joke and I really will cut their necks.”

“Dirty bastards. Your sins will never be forgiven.”

“Teach us the sword technique. Don’t you have no time left?”

“I will tell you. In exchange for a guarantee of the residents’ lives.”

“There is no reason to get rid of them after learning the sword technique. They are residents of the empire.”

Pardo’s surrender!

The Hermes Guild acquired Pardo’s secret sword technique.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The emperor. Absolute!

Bardray didn’t find it awkward to hear the highest praises.

“Power and gold. All men pursue this. And an individual who can achieve that dream…I am endlessly strong.”

Bardray looked at the Haven Empire’s internal affairs at Aren Castle. Most of the administrative work was done by Lafaye but he could check it directly. Aren Castle was the former capital of the Haven Kingdom so its development was very high.

[Strict Monitoring]

Very special features were granted.

He borrowed the eyes and ears of the Haven Empire’s management system and looked throughout the territory.

“Cheap, cheap! Buy a long sword. If you’re a man then you should use this!”

“Selling armour with the insignia removed. I can tell you that it is very good. It will only be sold to soldiers of the empire. Come on!”

In Kories Castle of the former Tullen Kingdom, a store owner openly disobeyed the Haven Empire.

Public sentiment had deteriorated due to the military conquests. The situation was worse in the alleys.

“How are we going to live in the future? My children won’t have any rice this winter. Sob sob.”

“Let’s join the resistance army. At least we will be eating and wearing clothes when going to our graves.”

“Really? That can’t be.”

“Shh. There is a way so listen carefully. Loot supplies from the empire.”

“Such a thing……”

“We are just getting back what is ours. Do you think His Majesty will care about guys like us?”

The conversations between residents.

Bardray looked at the screen and laughed.

“The king’s profession will affect the characteristics of the military.”

The direct attribute of a black knight. It was wonderful in battle and could affect his leadership. In particular, it was easy to persuade ambitious NPCs to become his subordinate.

Early on, Bardray had smooth relationships with the NPC knights and nobles of the Haven Kingdom.

In the early days of Royal Road, the users were weaker than most NPC knights. He gained their trust by participating in battles with the knights. At the time, he often went on monster subjugation quests for the nobles or the king.

The knights were competent and ensured his safety during the combat. In addition, he only had common or rare sword skills at the time. His exceptional skills gained the attention of the knights and they gave him gifts.

Bardray started his career as a knight of Earl Malkan’s family in the Haven Kingdom.

And shortly after, he was given a secret quest.

“These days, I can trust no one. I believe I can trust you. Can you solve my worries?”

“It doesn’t matter. Earl-nim can count on me.”

– Earl Malkan’s Woes

Earl Malkan, the head of a noble family in the Haven Kingdom has a secret that can’t be told to others.

There is a rogue knight killing his family.

It wasn’t known but his father and mother had already died from the rogue knight.

Earl Malkan’s father suffered an injury during the war and often frequented the Blue Whale Tavern.

Don’t let anyone else notice and punish the rogue knight.

He will appear in the alleys late at night.

Level of Difficulty: E

Quest Reward: Appointed as a full knight.

The Malkan family’s sword techniques.

Quest Restrictions: Earl Malkan’s faith, a bit of infamy, the potential for a black knight’s quest has increased.

Please note.

If the quest fails or someone witnesses it then infamy will rise and an inappropriate title will be gained.

This will have adverse effects on a trainee knight’s future.

“I’ll ask once again. Can I entrust this to you? If you succeed then I will grant you a probationary appointment as a knight. There really aren’t a lot of people I can put my faith in.”

“Do not worry. I will take care of it for Earl-nim.”

– You have accepted the quest.

And the quest was a clean and perfect success. Bardray was appointed by Earl Malkan as a formal knight. He could join in the training groups and hunt in dungeons with other knights.

After this, he became Earl Malkan’s number 2 knight and recruited others. Earl Malkan’s power in the family slipped until he experienced a sudden death!

In fact, Bardray had received a linked quest at that time.

The quest was to fight a thief and retrieve some poison. Earl Malkan was no longer needed now that all the knights followed him. The great power of the knights was needed to achieve his ambition.

Earl Malkan thought of him as a minion. Didn’t he know that useless hounds would be thrown away one day?

The knights had high pride but it was nice when they moved perfectly to his commands.

The required method…Bardray didn’t think it was bad.

– Level of Difficulty: C

Quest Reward: The wealth and knights of Earl Malkan.

Quest Restrictions: Limited to Black Knights.

Please note.

If the quest fails then you will be deprived of the position of the earl’s knight.

In addition, you will have the highest degree of hostility with Earl Malkan.

The quest may also affect your future.

If noticed by someone then fame will sharply degrade and infamy will increase.

The knights will also leave.

(This is the full contents of the quest window. The author only chose to display this much.)

The successor to the Malkan family.

There were legitimate ways but Bardray didn’t want to bother with them. The chances of success was very high and loopholes could be created.

‘I need to buy a few chefs and maids.’

The mansion’s maids and chefs all followed Bardray. The black knight’s unique skills made it easy to buy others.

Bardray accepted the quest and easily succeeded. And then he assassinated the maids and chefs.

The Malkan family’s new earl! He sought power through treachery and betrayal.

The Hermes Guild had been preparing to conquer Royal Road and soon began to take the Haven Kingdom.

As an earl, he could get good information and quests with national achievements faster than other users.

He explored dungeons with magicians, knights, warriors etc. and soon made a name for himself on the broadcasts.

Bardray was the subject of much envy.

‘I was a little worried in the beginning but now it is a lot of fun.’

Lafaye and the Hermes Guild proceeded with his plan step by step. They faithfully built up their power and fame.

The perfect preparation meant that the Haven Kingdom fell into the hands of Bardray and the Hermes Guild.

The characteristics of a black knight meant they sought power and had no loyalty to a king. Finally, he was given the fate of a Black Knight Emperor.

“Now I have everything. I am free to enjoy it.”

Bardray smiled.

Holding absolute military and economic power on the Versailles Continent. It was an astronomical amount in reality.

In the future, he would exert a more powerful force in Royal Road.

He relaxed and enjoyed this feeling.

Chapter 2: Teneidon’s Call

“Huhuhut.”

Weed wore a cloak and stood on the high peaks of Harsel Mountains.

It looked like he was standing on a sea of clouds.

“Great. This is a place befitting me.”

After reaching intermediate Time Sculpting, he decided to challenge some tough monsters.

He had gathered a group of sculptural lifeforms.

Anyway, now he had the final secret sculpting technique so he could reach the ultimate heights of a sculptor.

Weed had come to the Harsel Mountains in order to catch the legendary yeti.

The information boards of the Dark Gamers Union.

– Pathfinder Lane.

Deep in the region of the Harsel Mountains. There is a rare chance for the legendary yeti to emerge.

If you hunt them then ice purification materials can be obtained. Magicians can use them to develop ice spells so the materials can be sold at a high price.

And using these materials in sculpting……

According to the legends, it is difficult to find the yeti.

It might be possible for a party consisting of 8 people who reached level 470 but it is still risky. Magicians, priests and warriors are required.

“Based on that, the yeti should be at least level 500. The wide area ice attacks will be a problem.  I might be able to challenge them with Time Sculpting. Let’s try and fight one first.”

A visit to hunt and collect money.

Weed would hunt suitably advanced monsters in the Harsel Mountains and landslides would often cause new dungeons to appear.

Of course, it was common to need to drill through blocked entrances.

In his days as ruler of the desert, he had difficulties in dungeons where retreat was blocked. They were top level monsters and that experience was very helpful to the weakened Weed. He considered the appearance and characteristics of the monsters and figured out their weaknesses and attacks.

Weed took his subordinates through a crack in the ice.

The ice dungeon shone like a jewel.

– Dungeon, the first one to find the Eastern Niche.

A dungeon located to the east of the Harsel Mountains.

The crack in the mountain is hiding an unknown force.

This resulted in a small niche and the landscape will change significantly if it is closed. Of course, there is no need to talk about what will happen to those inside.

Benefits: Fame has increased by 2,330.

Experience and item drops will double for a week.

The first monster killed of each type will drop the rarest item.

Huiiing!

The wind was cold and water ran down from ice pillars hung from the ceiling. It was a dungeon located near the snow fields of the Harsel Mountains.

The floor was made of ice, meaning it was easy to slip and the severe cold extended down to his bones.

Weed didn’t worry as he had packed equipment in advance and he could also use his blacksmith and tailoring skills.

“Yellowy.”

“Ummoooooo.”

“Be careful with every step. The monsters here might be beyond us. Run away if it is dangerous.”

“Thank you for caring, Master.”

“Be careful since there is a difference between raw meat and frozen meat.”

“Ummoooooo.”

Thanks to the mining skill, he sometimes found strange minerals by using his pickaxe on the icy stones. The mineral blew dry ice and it was a 2nd grade magic ingredient. The minerals were like expensive jewellery but could only be found in special terrain so were easy to sell.

“Hunting makes me feel at home.”

The monsters in the dungeon were in their late 400s and Weed easily hunted them. He had Seo-yoon, two Freya priests and could call the sculptural lifeforms as necessary.

Bahamorg, Cerberus, high elf Eltin, Gernika, Seville and many other sculptural lifeforms could be called.

“Gol gol gol, at this rate I will die from overwork.”

“Ummoooooo. The burden is too heavy. I want to go Morata to mate.”

Goldman’s specialty was fire magic and archery while Yellowy acted as a porter so they were stuck.

“Kuwooooh!”

And Bingryong flying in the sky! The Harsel Mountains were cold so Bingryong could exert its power.

“Gelgelgelgel.”

The Freya Church blessed Morata and the Black Imugi was summoned after a long time. Those two were formidable creatures in the mountain region. Even normal monsters would be scared of the dragons and would become easy prey.

The rulers of the Harsel Mountains didn’t even go near the region with the ice monsters.

In a place with high level monsters, Bingryong posed like a king! In addition, there was the vile-natured Imugi near Bingryong!

“Kuwooooh!”

“Noisy!”

“Kuwaaang!”

“Right? Isn’t feeling rain in the morning quite refreshing?”

Bingryong turned its big eyes elsewhere. Bingryong really only listened to Weed.

Bingryong was level 520 and exuded a grand dignity. In particular, it could exert massive destruction by using Ice Breath in the sky.

The novice and ordinary users would be astonished if they saw Weed hunting. His skills developed thanks to the desert quest and the Weed’s sculptural lifeforms fully demonstrated their skills.

“Drive out the monsters with the wyverns.”

“Understood, Master.”

“Don’t play around and report back. Or I’ll make delicious meals out of you.”

“We will take care of it.”

Bingryong and the wyverns toured the Harsel Mountains. The sculptural lifeforms were used as hunting slaves inside and outside of the dungeons.

Bingryong and the wyverns flying in the sky caused quite a threat to the monsters. They drove them to a location where Weed’s group could use the cliff and valley terrain to hunt them easily with arrows.

“Clear Rapid Fire!”

Parararak!

Arrows quickly flew from the high elf bow Weed held in his hands.

“Kuwek!”

“Kuweeek. Humans.”

“Cowardly humans……”

– 15 chukopan have been overpowered by arrows.

– Experience has been acquired.

“Heh, good. My power is…… Bingryong, wyverns, what are you doing? The monsters in middle have been cut off. It is like tasting unpleasant meat in a BBQ restaurant. Go and bring more!”

In the past, he didn’t bother with level and tried to raise his stats and skill proficiency as much as possible.

But now he didn’t hesitate to abuse his body because his level had fallen by a lot.

Collecting all the secret sculpting techniques, his production skills and general skills was enough to make him known as the god of the jack of all trades.

Sculptural Resurrection placed a burden on his levels so he couldn’t raise the skill proficiency quickly.

“I need to adjust the level of the living sculptures. Of course, the lower ones will be first.

When taking into account Weed’s combat skills, he didn’t fall behind others of his level. Most swordsmen concentrated on attack. Few of them had defense skills such as Stone Skin.

“Yellowy.”

“Ummoooooo.”

“Is it hard to carry the luggage?”

Yellowy looked up and vigorously shook his head.

Japtem was stacked like a mountain on his back. They were goods that could be sold for an expensive price in the cities and were quite heavy.

However he knew not to give Weed an honest answer and shook his head.

“It isn’t hard, Master.”

“I was going to give you a break but……”

“Ummoooooo. Heavy, Master. My waist seems to be breaking.”

Seo-yoon looked at Yellowy sympathetically.

‘Fool.’

Weed thought after hearing the report of his hardships.

Yellowy had big, naive eyes.

“Yes. Then rest.”

Weed directed Yellowy to place his burden on the ground.

“These are important and rare items but they are not as important as you.”

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy was thrilled. This was why he followed his master. He pampered his sculptural lifeforms well so they were thankful to their master. This was a deep affection.

Weed held his bow and looked down at the ridge.

“Yellowy, I’m bored so would you like to play a simple game with me?”

“Omoo?”

“You don’t have to do anything. Well, it might be boring just standing around.”

Yellowy was on guard.

“Is it hard work?”

“It isn’t hard. It is no different from just standing there.”

“I will do it, Master.”

“Then let’s have a meal since you are hungry.”

Weed took out a few cooking tools and started making food. A sweet scented herbal stew!

“Don’t leave without eating.”

“Are you really giving it to me?”

“I’m making the dish for you.”

The taste of the food was heavenly. And shortly after finishing the meal.

“Wy-1!”

During this time, Weed ordered a wyvern to capture Yellowy.

“Drag the bait to lure the monster.”

“Kuweeek!”

The sweet smelling Yellowy was used as bait! The wyverns were strong enough to ignore the monsters and the monsters weren’t mindless enough to be lured without any incentive.

The Harsel Mountains had many places for archery due to the height. Rangers liked mountains and forests like this. The terrain was covered with ice but hundreds of archers would be effective here.

In other words, this was an appropriate place to hunt!

He intended to take advantage of Yellowy’s flesh.

Of course, he would use Moment Sculpting if it ever became dangerous.

“This is a very secure hunting.”

He needed to carefully evaluate the risk of the monsters before using Time Sculpting. If his sculptural lifeforms were destroyed then the damage would be too large.

Although the general users would assist if a crisis happened to the Arpen Kingdom, Weed would destroy them with his power. But his sculptural lifeforms including Bahamorg played a significant role in overcoming that crisis.

Weed conducted the troops in order to reduce the risk.

“Bring them here! Kuhahaha!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A bull floated through the Harsel Mountains.

“Kuwek?”

Low, intermediate monsters and even the legendary yeti were caught. A bunch of monsters moved in Yellowy’s direction. Behind that was the giant form of a legendary yeti.

Weed continued to use regular arrows but the legendary yeti wouldn’t be killed through such a simple way.

The yeti caused a 30 metres wide blizzard that neutralized any arrows.

This was why Pathfinder Lane of the Dark Gamers Union was in distress after seeing the yeti.

Those with basic common sense would arm themselves with items that prevented the cold while taking advantage of the narrow mountain terrain.

“It can be called a boss of the neighbourhood. Time is money. Even the toughest guys can be handled efficiently in the right place. There won’t be a deficit.”

Weed’s eyes shone in the cold.

“Everyone, pincer movement!”

The wyverns attracting attention moved quickly in the air. Meanwhile, Bingryong came down to head-butt and swing its tail at the yeti. Black Imugi breathed out flames, Goldman used fire arrows while Weed and Seo-yoon attacked back and forth.

Close combat against the legendary yeti was difficult due to the extreme cold it emitted. But once the appropriate armour was worn, that could be its greatest weakness. Thanks to the help of Seulroeo’s wedding ring, Weed and Seo-yoon often fought together.

“Hubiswi!”

The legendary yeti generated lightning and it struck Weed.

“Cough!”

– A mighty blow has been dealt and health has decreased by 29,203.

– Your body is frozen.

The body is temporarily paralyzed and defense has decreased by 63%.

Now any attacks will reduce health by 7 times more than usual.

“What the, this is…it is much stronger than the information!”

Pathfinder Lane wouldn’t have bothered to lie. Maybe the legendary yeti was particularly strong in ice and lightning magic. The Harsel Mountains had an ice attribute so that probably made them stronger.

However, the armour Weed was wearing wasn’t normal.

– The Goddess’ Knight Armour blessed by Hestia has resolved the frozen state.

The abnormal state was released.

In the meantime, Goldman, Bingryong, Yellowy, Bahamorg and Seo-yoon were unleashing an onslaught of attacks against the yeti.

After Seo-yoon fell, he thought it was dangerous and brandished a sword at the legendary yeti.

– A companion who shares your burden of destiny is in a crisis.

7,548 health will be passed to her.

Weed didn’t have a lot of health left to give her. Seo-yoon’s body was paralyzed close to the legendary yeti and her resistance was rapidly shrinking. If he delayed then her whole body would freeze or she would lose her life.

Seo-yoon wasn’t weak but she hadn’t entered the berserk state. The legendary yeti really emitted an extreme cold.

“A little dangerous…ah, I don’t know!”

Weed used a skill.

“Moment Sculpting!”

Time stopped! The flow of the world once again stopped when the skill was triggered. The legendary yeti shooting a chilling blast literally stopped.

The Harsel Mountains was a mysterious and charming place. Normal humans would find the environment tough but Weed’s experience meant he found it spectacular.

Pure, white snow and ice. Scattered snowflakes had stopped and was reflecting the sunlight.

Weed had no time to enjoy the beauty and moved.

He entered the blizzard and cut the yeti.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Moving his body while time was stopped took a toll on his vitality. He couldn’t use anything but the basic skills. So he used the one he was familiar with.

The light that emerged from Weed’s sword dealt seven blows to the legendary yeti.

– A critical hit!

The sword has been swung at a speed beyond your imagination.

Due to the fact that it has gone over the limit, durability has been reduced by 43%.

“Kuweeeek!”

The 4 metres tall legendary yeti sunk deep into the ice.

Worurung!

The ground shook like there was an earthquake. The whole body of the legendary yeti was stuck in ice.

– The legendary yeti is in a state of confusion.

The mysterious attack has terrified it.

This is the first time the legendary yeti has been so frightened so fighting spirit is low.

“Heh.”

Weed had a confident smile.

“As expected.”

– Energy of the moment has been reduced by 47.

Vitality has decreased by 21%.

The strength of the body has been pulled out so you will be in an exhausted state for 16 seconds.

You have gone beyond the limits of your physical abilities so strength and agility will decline by 6% for a while.

“Wueok!”

Half of his remaining vitality was consumed in an instant.

Usually a warrior only had to worry about vitality during a war. It was very rare to run out of vitality while hunting.

‘I need to take good care of my vitality in the future. Time Sculpting is useful but it squeezes all my stats. I need to combine it with Sculptural Destruction.’

Weed thought about how to reduce that physical degradation in the future.

“Gol gol gol gol. Great, Master!”

“Ummoooooo. How brave.”

The sculptural lifeforms praised him. Weed didn’t miss this golden opportunity.

“Everyone, pounce!”

Group hunting!

The wyverns and Bingryong relentlessly attacked from the sky. Yellowy who didn’t like to fight rushed forward while the Black Imugi fought vigorously.

– A legendary yeti has been hunted.

Due to the combat performance, strength has increased by 1.

Perseverance has increased by 2.

Fame has increased by 267.

– The pioneering of the Harsel Mountains has increased by 0.2%.

Once pioneering is at 100%, resistance and defense will increase when dealing with monsters in this area.

Pioneering can also increase through dungeon exploration.

The first hunt was always the most difficult. He actively utilized the terrain and sculptural lifeforms to deal with the legendary yeti.

The yeti in the area tried to leave and return to their caves.

They were unexpectedly afraid of heights and couldn’t demonstrate their skills in that terrain. They were also weak in a prolonged fight as health recovered slowly.

But they were strong and overwhelming compared to general monsters. They could throw chunks of ice at a fearsome sped and could hide in the snow.

“This is a little different from the information received from the Dark Gamers. Its nature and attack techniques make it at least two ratings above high level monsters. Well, at least it is worth hunting.”

He always allowed for a certain degree of error with every piece of information.

After more users experienced it, additional information would be registered.

“I can’t leave it alone. Find another one!”

The vicious cycle was repeated.

Weed explored the Harsel Mountains and hunted 17 legendary yeti. He also swept through other types of monsters and gained 6 levels.

The monsters with unique characteristics like the legendary yeti gave additional experience. There were also dungeons found after landslides and these discoveries gave double experience.

Thanks to that, he raised his level from 429 to 435 at an unprecedented speed.

This was because he used Time Sculpting to deal with any difficult opponents.

However, Weed was still hungry.

“Think of the other people. I need to stretch out my legs.”

Bardray was the strongest person on the Versailles Continent so Weed couldn’t feel any satisfaction no matter how he raised his level.

He also needed to be cautious during battle about the amount of energy of the moment consumed.

The energy he built up as king of the Arpen Kingdom and his adventures significantly shrank. He used it when his life was at risk so only 163 energy of the moment remained.

Depending on the situation, he had to only use Time Sculpting if he felt like he couldn’t win.

Even so, it was better than losing his life.

A moment where he could relax and take advantage of for victory.

“It is like my mood changing quickly when riding a taxi. Even the underlying charge is enough for a meal.”

Weed was able to familiarize himself with Time Sculpting.

“This is definitely a combat skill. It is irrelevant when it comes to art. The sculptor will profit from it but in the wrong area.”

Weed and Seo-yoon carefully continued hunting in the Harsel Mountains.

They found a volcanic lake on a small mountain. The volcanic crater formed a long time ago and was now filled with crystal clear water with overgrown grass and trees around it.

Ddiring!

– Harsel’s paradise has been found.

Finding a secret view has increased fame by 1,380.

Compensation can be gained if this is reported to the nobility and royalty.

Weed was immediately disappointed.

“It isn’t a hunting ground.”

However, upon further reflection.

“I am still stupid. This hidden place is unexplored. There might be a bunch of herbs worth picking.”

He instantly searched the area and found red herbs for health and yellow herbs for vitality that could be traded at high prices.

“Inspect!”

– Harsel’s Yellow Herbs:  Consumption Item.

Properly grown quality goods.

A useful herb to enhance vitality.

Based on the knowledge of herbs, this herb is enough to even boost the vitality of an elderly person.

Can be sold at an expensive price.

– Harsel’s Red Herbs: Consumption Item.

Setting a price for trade is impossible.

An herb that helps in healing wounds.

Squeezing the juices or drinking it can heal injuries.

The benefits include increasing the maximum health.

“I’ve hit the jackpot!”

They were extremely rare herbs that had grown for more than 10 years. Herbs of this quality grew deep in dungeons or at hidden locations so they were difficult to find or put a price on.

There were quite a few of them. A place where no humans visited, a total windfall!

“Huhuhu, selling these yellow herbs at the market…no, I should save it for a little bit in the future.”

Weed looked at Seo-yoon who was dipping her feet in the water.

This was absolutely not for himself! It would all be for her!

So far, she had given him a lot of help so these herbs could be used to repay her someday.

He had learned about dating from cable television and the occasional movie.

“Well, I don’t know a lot about relationships.”

Weed packed the yellow herbs in his backpack. Depending on his knowledge of herbal medicine, processing it could cause great efficacy.

“It would be nice to sell it…well, it can’t be helped.”

Weed had the same nature as a wolf.

Then something small unfurled its wings right in front of Weed’s nose.

“You……”

– Hello. Hello. Hello. Nice to see you.

A mischievous fairy was across from him.

Weed replied with a little bit of worry.

“Hello, nice to see you. Who are you?”

– Bad, bad. You forgot. Ugly human. Then I will drop you in the middle of the ocean!

Weed searched through his memories.

The fairies were small so they were difficult to distinguish individually. But the confident way it was coming forward was familiar.

“Wait a minute, I remember. I saw you! The one who sat on the nose of the Fairy Queen when I reported about the Jigolaths.”

– That’s right. Nice to see you, my friend.

Seo-yoon heard Weed talk to someone and approached.

“Hello. What a small child.”

– That’s right. A friend of a friend. Pretty human.

The fairy moved away from Weed’s nose and hesitantly held out a finger to Seo-yoon. Fairies liked beautiful girls.

Weed asked with a serious tone.

“Why did you come here?”

– Yes. Of course.

“…….”

Weed didn’t say anything to the fairy.

The quest he received a long time ago from the Fairy Queen! Even now, he still hadn’t resolved it.

His intimacy with the fairies was quite high but they would turn hostile if he gave it up.

– Queen-nim told me to bring you.

“Hmm, that…I am quite busy these days. It is too bad but I can’t come now.”

– Yes? It can’t be helped…Queen-nim has heard through the gossipy spirits. Didn’t you bring something back for Queen-nim?

“What?”

Weed’s had was filled with complicated thoughts.

The quest of the Fairy Queen was to find a sad momento of a dragon. In order to resolve it, he had to start the linked quest in the Red Forest of Reeds.

But Weed had hunted the dragon Ausollet during the final secret sculpting technique quest and acquired the Mirror of the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda.

At the time, he was just eager to obtain it. It was an item from a dragon but he had never suspected. In the process of doing this, he had unknowingly completed a quest.

Sometime users would obtain the items needed for quests from another place and this would save time.

‘Well, that is the process. I got it anyway. This is…a blind quest?’

He completed a S class quest that might have been abandoned. Weed’s back and shoulders straightened proudly like he was a politician just elected.

“Fairy.”

– Why did you call?

“Let’s go see the queen.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– “The Great Soul of the Desert has chosen the warrior Baebuchi.”

“The Great Desert Soul has chosen the warrior Kamcho.”

“The Great Desert Soul has chosen the warrior Heosu.”

The Earth Shadow party can proceed with the Great Emperor of the Desert quest.

“It was a success.”

“The damage is too big. Out of 400 warriors, only 20 people survived the challenge. It will be really difficult going forward.”

“Those 20 people means that we haven’t failed yet.”

Earth Shadow had finished the 9th linked quest.

They were recognized and became the desert warriors’ assistants.

“The desert king, it is something that all warrior’s dream of. You have enough power but lack the experience to lead our warriors.”

“Grow stronger in the desert. However, I assure you that the path to the king is difficult. Our tribe will be pleased to accept cooperating with you.”

They helped the desert warriors succeed in their challenges. The absurdly strong warriors overcame dungeons and monsters.

They fought and managed to make it past the 9th quest. The desert warriors recklessly jumped at monsters and didn’t hesitate to fight among themselves.

The animosity between the desert tribes was spiraling out of control.

Exploration, excavation and investigation, luck and making the right decisions at key moments, Earth Shadow managed to overcome the difficulties.

Nevertheless, desert warriors were killed or received huge injuries as the quest progressed.

The warrior Bors. A warrior with rare strength, courage and intelligence. Earth Shadow thought he was the most likely candidate to complete the quest but he fell into a trap with 340 desert warriors and couldn’t revive from his injuries.

“It was an honour to walk along the path of the Great Emperor. My tribe…please don’t tell them about my last cowardly moment.”

Bors died.

Fortunately, it did not decrease the morale of the desert warriors.

“The competition is dead. That is good news.”

“Kukuku. He did something stupid. I, Baebuchi will become the king.”

“Bors’ sacrifice won’t be in vain as I, Kamcho will make the desert prosperous again.”

“Bors wouldn’t hesitate if I, Heosu was in the same position. But I feel shame while watching his sacrifice. The way of the Great Emperor requires luck, not cowardice.”

Earth Shadow were anxious while watching the desert warriors.

The one that reached the end of the quest would become the ruler of this region. A ruler with the heart of a villain could damage the continent.

“The warriors have an amazing growth rate.”

“I think the characteristics of the desert is to become stronger.”

“The warriors that cleared the dungeons with Weed experienced a growth rate 3~4 times faster.”

“Will these people really succeed in the quest?”

“We didn’t even need to show up.”

The desert warriors were constantly challenging the path of the Great Emperor.

At least 40,000 people walked along that path.

The desert tribes that didn’t respect Earth Shadow wandered around like wolves.

Weed had showed an unparalleled strength. His legacy and relics were left in the desert It was difficult but the desert warriors kept chasing the traces. Legends about Great Emperor Weed made the warriors’ blood boil.

Ddiring!

– Desert Camel

The legend of a camel that can run faster than the wind has been passed down.

In the warring period, the Great Emperor rode a bactrian camel.

After Great Emperor Weed was gone from the world, Bactrian Camel returned to his home of the desert.

Taming them will be a great help.

Level of Difficulty: S

Compensation: Bactrian Camel.

Quest Restrictions: There are 34 camels with the lineage of Bactrian Camel remaining in the desert.

The spirits of the Earth Shadow group burned at the challenge.

They were happy at the thought of reaching the pinnacle of the quest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Hmm, ridiculously hot.”

Geomchi-5 and the students took in the hot sun in the desert.

They had lost their lives in the war against the Haven Empire. They realized their own weaknesses.

“It is shameful that I only killed 50 knights!”

“I was too weak and only took care of 1,000 soldiers. I will carry this shame to my death.”

“You shouldn’t be ashamed. I am the one who only had enough power to kill 60 magicians. I’m not qualified for the sword.”

The students felt regret as they reflected on their weaknesses. They set out to protect the Arpen Kingdom but only managed to kill 160,000 people combined.

Each person took down a little over 300 enemies.

The Muksabal Knights committed to a heavy assault but didn’t succeed in breaking through the infantry of the Haven Empire.

They ended up in the camp of the northern players. They were destroyed immediately if they got behind enemy lines. They rushed together and were easy targets for ranged attacks.

It was a struggle to fight while they were mixed with the enemy knights and soldiers.

Sometimes they would use the enemies to take a short break. They looted the combat supply wagons and took care of some archers.

Most of them lost their lives but caused enormous damage, gaining them combat achievements and fame.

The momentum of the Geomchi, the instructors and the students was great.

Geomchi-3 gained great achievements causing jealousy. So 230 Geomchis headed to the southern desert to make themselves stronger.

Geomchi-326 came back from talking to some residents and told Geomchi-5.

“There is a quest associated with the desert ruler. Users in the city can accept it.”

“What is it about?”

“Help the desert warriors became the heir of the Great Emperor.”

“Women also?”

“No. Only men have gathered.”

“Hyu. It isn’t anything complex. Let’s just go kill.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Geomchi-5 and the other practitioners decided to abandon the quest. They didn’t want to bother if there were no women!

Then Geomchi-80 said.

“Geomchi-326, you said it requires leading the desert warriors?”

“Yes, sahyung. I heard that it is harsh and they are fighting really hard.”

“Then won’t it be easy?”

“Eh?”

“Won’t they listen if we beat them up?”

“Oh, there is such a way.”

The tough and brave desert warriors were just mere humans to the Geomchis. There was no complicated business. It would be simply resolved by beating the desert warriors up.

“And the monsters aren’t difficult. We’ve been doing the same thing every day. Just grab them and beat them up.”

Geomchi-5 nodded as he listened.

“Well, that makes sense.”

“This is the easy way. We have used our heads.”

Geomchi-5 remembered a long time ago.

“Master-nim once told me this. While others are using their heads, we should tighten our muscle strength.”

“He also told us similar words. Other people might use tricks but we have our bodies.”

Any incidents were dealt with using their muscles! Their muscles popping with blood vessels that made other people become kind.

“Let’s do the quest. We will beat them all.”

“Yes!”

Geomchi-5 and the students belatedly decided to take part in the Great Emperor’s quest.

Chapter 3: Dragon’s Quest

In the Haven Empire’s territory in the north, there was a luxurious territory being developed.

A quarter of the northern continent.

The construction of roads and facilities was the basic framework of a village.

Among the 1,000 northern lords, Robin was one that stood out. Robin had used a vast amount of cash in a short period of time.

– Ars Village’s huge investment

In the occupied territory of the Haven Empire, Ars Village!

The residents of the occupied territories are anxious about the future.

The Haven Empire’s notoriety means they are nervous about the new rulers. But they are relieved as the new lord has invested a lot of money into the village.

In 4 months, there is a 60% increase in productivity.

The area of the village has expanded.

Population growth rate has improved.

Depending on the nature of Ars Village, the following structures can be built immediately.

Tavern: Improve the residents’ satisfaction and increase tax revenue.

But there will be adverse effects on security.

Inn: Inn where travellers can stay.

Many travellers will make the village livelier.

Lord’s Bank: Funds can be borrowed or deposited.

This will promote the development of commerce and is the foundation for merchants to trade.

The facility can make a big profit in the future but can also see a large deficit.

Precious Metals Workshop: A place that specializes in gold and silver jewellery.

Depending on the skills and technology, a high price can be gained.

Quests to see special jewels can be generated.

Police: Due to the residents seeking commercial profit, having crime prevention will improve the security of the village.

Set up a basic village patrol and criminals can be imprisoned.

Mercenary Guild: Investigate monsters around the village and receive regular commissions.

It requires many taxes to operate but if the requests are successful, security and reputation of the village can increase.

Lower Class Housing: There are many immigrants due to the war.

They don’t live near the main roads.

Once urban development increases, more advanced buildings can be constructed. The village’s tax rate, policies and budget will determined the buildings that can be constructed.

“Huhu, security isn’t meaningful to the current situation. Dismantle the police force.”

– Are you sure that you want to dismantle the police force?

Residents might dislike it.

The village’s budget will save 140 gold every month.

“It isn’t a big deal so I don’t need it.”

– The loyalty of the residents has decreased.

There will be a slight dislike for the lord.

“The lower class housing is also not needed. In the long term, it will just eat up large areas of the city. Destroy the lower class housing.”

– Are you sure you want to destroy the lower class housing?

The residents will resist it.

Casualties might occur in the destruction process.

The expansion of the village will slow down and the influx of immigrants will reduce.

“Smash it.”

– The lord has commanded the army to destroy the lower class residences.

If the army doesn’t strictly control it then there might be looting and arson.

Robin replaced it with other buildings.

The army was stationed at a fortress while brick buildings were given to residents almost for free.

“Do you know about the Ars village? There is no hunger, it is clean and the taxes are affordable. If you want, your family can live in a house. Is any further explanation needed?”

“You don’t need to worry about the security. Lord-nim has 2,000 regular soldiers. Of course, that might be insufficient to prevent monster attacks but 5,000 mercenaries can also be employed.”

“There are many fields of interest. The jobs? The daily wage is high. There will be many civil construction over the next few years. The size of our village…it takes the residents 30 minutes to run to the market. There are many fields in the middle but they will develop someday. It won’t be an issue.”

Ars Village was enough to be called a paradise for the residents. The registered residents could use the commercial facilities for free and they had housing. There were training facilities, facilities for the treatment of illnesses and an unlimited number of shrines.

The residents were paid 400 gold every time they gave birth to a child. Every immigrant family was also welcomed with 300 gold.

Ars Village’s birthrate was enormous and there was a long line of people coming from nearby villages.

The residents in the areas occupied by the Haven Empire couldn’t return to the Arpen Kingdom. But they could move freely within the Haven Empire and rushed to the most livable Ars Village.

Robin was confident of the village’s development.

‘No matter how much money I spent, this is still the early days. It was take 6 months for the stabilization period. This will become the largest city in the northern Haven Empire and this status will be maintained with the merchants and residents constantly visiting.’

The tax revenue for 1 month was 17,000 gold. His spending was 16 million gold!

He wasn’t making ends meet but the development meant it would be promoted to a city in no time.

The population already exceeded 30,000 and the rapid development exceeded that of Morata in the early days.

Of course, at that time the north was dangerous but Ars Village was currently experiencing a dazzling growth.

‘Politicians who sacrifice no taxes needs to constantly pay attention. Once Ars Village grows big enough, it can become independent from the Haven Empire. In the future, this will be the Ars Kingdom. And I will be known as King Robin.’

Robin continued to invest huge amounts of money to develop the village.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lord Dain of Evaluk Castle.

The confusion that happened in the Kallamore area didn’t affect her territory.

“Become rebels to organize a resistance against the lord? Fuck, this person. Get lost before I report you to the soldiers!”

“Ungrateful human. We are able to live like this due to Lord-nim.”

“Missing the Kallamore Kingdom? Haven Empire? I don’t know about such things. I am just living with a relaxed and comfortable mind. The knights will take care of any difficulties.”

Evaluk Castle was developed in the previous Kallamore area.

Dain had lowered the tax rate as soon as she became the lord.

Most lords of the Haven Empire would have significantly high taxes and embezzle them. It was for their own benefit and they could give bribes to acquire better territory.

Dain lived a frugal life so she lowered the tax rates and developed Evaluk Castle.

“Lord-nim, the best trader in the kingdom is here so should we purchase it?”

“What is the price of jade today?”

“It is currently at the lowest price in the past year. The merchant is selling it at 1 for 1,000 gold. It is good quality jade so just buying 20 should……”

“I will buy 40. And later sell it for 1,500 gold.”

Summoning magic research, combat magic and other such knowledge. The lord needed to identify and buy various materials from merchants before selling it at an increased price.

The marketplace prospered as merchants visited and a unique culture flourished. The residents and users explored the streets and squares.

“Hillia-nim, it has been almost a month.”

“Lord Dain-nim, hello. I came here because some bandits robbed my carriage.”

“Oh…were you heading towards the free city of Somren?”

“Yup. For now, I will just trade food in the vicinity.”

“Near the vicinity of Somren City…should I install some officers?”

“Really? Yes please.”

She had the best relationship with the merchants. Most of the merchants wandered around villages and cities but it was important to maintain a relationship with them. It was required when buying and selling goods.

“These buildings are aging.”

“Should we build new ones?”

“Since a lot of money will be used…it is enough to renovate the interior. Get rid of any facilities that will make the residents uncomfortable. Hire street painters to cover the exterior walls. Maybe the residents would also like to draw their favourite heroes?”

“Yes, the residents would prefer that Lord-nim.”

There was a general awareness of the empire’s preference to economic and military power. But the traditions and culture of the Kallamore Kingdom was maintained so the residents had a big crush on Dain.

The high loyalty of the residents and the active trading of goods stabilized and raised the reputation of the area.

Skilled blacksmiths, tailors, miners etc. were attracted by the stable life and migrated to Evaluk Castle.

The users also felt comfortable in this place. There was no chaos and the residents were happy. The users preferred this pleasant atmosphere compared to being suppressed.

There were still restrictions on hunting and quests due to the policies of the Haven Empire but Evaluk Castle was a base for user activities.

Evaluk Castle became a key area where users could assemble.

The fastest growing region in the Central Continent. Even with the chaos in the Haven Empire, Evaluk Castle has strong internal economic strength.

Dain occasionally left the city on expeditions with the soldiers.

“Captain Carlson.”

“Yes!”

“I will be going to subjugate a bunch of monsters and won’t return until the end of Saturday. Don’t miss me after just one night.”

“Understood, Lord-nim!”

Dain swept through the dungeons and mountains with the soldiers and knights. A lord was hunting almost every day.

Of course, her level was a match to the elites of the army.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Under the guidance of the fairy, Weed headed to where the Fairy Queen was resting.

‘I can receive the hottest compensation. I would like a weapon. The daily use of the Red Star is too limited.’

His head was filled with complex calculations. The quest was successful then he could obtain goods that could be disposed of.

‘Looking at the price drop lately…well, the top level goods still have a high value. It won’t be bad if I receive an armour I can dispose of. It would be good even if I received an armour I can’t wear.’

Weed watched the fairy and quietly took off the Goddess’ Knight Armour. It was an armour made with helium and the divine power of the gods.

It had good options so he was unlikely to receive a better armour. His armour would change in accordance with the dungeon or hunting grounds.

“Omoooo, Master took off his armour.”

“Gol gol gol, it is suspicious.”

Yellowy and Goldman immediately reacted.

‘Greed for money.’

Seo-yoon guessed Weed’s heart and didn’t say anything.

A mountain range was nearby. After passing the forest of elves and a dwarf village, they arrived at the entrance of a dungeon.

Fairies were flying around to welcome them.

– Late. Late.

– Procrastinating humans. Humans aren’t really strict about time.

– The Queen’s wrath will be great. Kyaruruk. The humans might end up dying.

– They deserve to have their necks cut with a huge knife and then sent to hell!

“…….”

The fairies were fed up from waiting.

Weed was familiar with this type of attitude. It was something he received when receiving a delayed payment for newspapers and milk deliveries.

The fairies were really angry and weren’t joking around.

Weed entered the dungeon with Seo-yoon and the sculptural lifeforms to meet the Fairy Queen.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Teneidon’s haven.

A place with old rocks, trees, overgrown grass and a pool.

By human standards, it was just a small fountain but the fairies thought of it like a lake.

It wasn’t a place where humans could easily visit as only those close with nature like the dwarves and elves were allowed.

Among the users, there were some who received quests to explore the dungeon.

In the case of a user who started in Vargo Fortress, his video became famous.

Wibullo was only a level 14 user.

He didn’t have an aptitude towards a particular class and worked hard at his part time job to raise money.

“Food deliveries, errands? Yes, I’ll go in a minute.”

“Washing the dishes…there are no complaints. No. I’ll get started straight away.”

“I will stack a room full of firewood for 2 silver. Won’t you hire me?”

Users often received part time jobs in villages and cities. The users would make friends with the residents as well as earn money.

People starting in Royal Road for the first time found that it was a completely different environment and didn’t feel bored. While adapting to the world, they diligently worked part time in order to obtain some equipment.

Wibullo mainly worked part time in restaurants.

“It is really done. This is the first time I’ve seen such a clean bowl. Here is an extra 31 copper.”

“Thank you!”

He cleaned the dishes and kitchen and always achieved more than the quest goal. He couldn’t accept long quests because of his busy work life in reality. He had to decline requests such as delivering a letter to a stranger.

The dishes of the restaurants that passed through his hand became so perfect that they shone like jewels.

– The title ‘Bowl Cleaner’ has been acquired.

Cleaning a bowl so perfectly without breaking it isn’t an easy task.

No matter how dirty or stinky the dish entrusted to you, they will boast of a perfect clean.

– Fame has increased by 14.

He managed to work at a few places a day.

A large amount of fame and intimacy accumulated just from washing the dishes.

He was still class less and level 14.

Suddenly Wibullo received a gracious invitation from the Fairy Queen.

Title: Fairy Queen’s Invitation. Hahahahat!

The fact that he received an invitation from the Fairy Queen attracted huge attention.

Many players didn’t believe it but then he posted a video.

– Ohhhhh. Jackpot.

– As an expert in Royal Road, I didn’t think a quest like this would occur. Isn’t he still unemployed? Clearly he meets some conditions.

– This is ridiculous. Teneidon normally won’t meet anyone without high fame. The fairies  are choosy and won’t extend an invitation to just anyone!

– Do you need help reaching the dungeon? I am at Vargo Fortress and will immediately escort you to the dungeon.

– I will help for free.

Many curious users came to the dungeon to watch Wibullo meet the Fairy Queen.

Of course, the broadcasting stations were also there to observe the quest. It had grown to a large scale!

Wibullo carried all those expectations as he met Queen Teneidon.

“I’m here to see the holy Fairy Queen.”

Wibullo raised a dignified hand to his chest as he bowed.

“How can I help? My skills might be lacking but I will do my best no matter what. Even if I am knocked down, I will get up and challenge again.”

He came here with a submissive attitude.

Becoming a new hero on the Versailles Continent! It was a big dream for a man. Recently, the dream of elementary school students was to become the lord of a major city or a dragon slayer.

– Human, don’t you love to clean?

“Huh? Of course……”

– This dungeon is too dirty. I will give you 3 gold if you clean it.

“Clean?”

– Please do it as quickly as possible. If you finish quickly then I will give an extra 2 gold.

A F-grade difficulty cleaning request!

Teneidon would give him money to clean the large dungeon.

At that time, Wibullo was mocked on the bulletin boards but later he would become a pretty good adventurer.

He could obtain good information from the fairies at a cheap price.

If an adventurer was in distress while thinking of a mystery then the fairies could give the right or wrong clues.

Moreover, the fairy would save their lives through teleportation if they were falling.

Of course, the chances of this happening was very slim but there were some cases of people falling into the ocean or lava.

Weed had seen this place before and walked straight towards the queen.

Just like last time, Teneidon was sitting on a giant tree root.

– Human, come here.

Weed respectfully greeted her by kneeling down on one knee.

“Queen-nim, you must have been in a lot of distress. I have come with the keepsake of a dragon.”

– You are far too late. In the meantime, my pain has become so bad it is hard to resist.

Teneidon’s wings affected by the curse of the dragon trembled.

Weed shook his head.

“I have no excuses for being late, but the world is very confused. I had to defeat the Embinyu Church and a senior sculptor taught me a new technique…many things were waiting for me.”

– Stop. I don’t want to hear another word. I want to see the dragon’s memento that you found.

“Here it is.”

Weed pulled out the Mirror of the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda.

Except for the Red Star, that was the only object related to a dragon that he possessed.

The Red Star was a relic but it was stolen goods so Weed secretly used it.

– You really brought it. Despite the request…finding a relic of a dragon is very difficult these days. I couldn’t find any ways and almost sent explorers to the polar regions. Astonishing.

– The Fairy Queen Teneidon has admired you.

Fame has increased by 2,698.

“Is this the right thing that Queen-nim is looking for?”

– It isn’t the exact thing but…I can’t deny that this is a memento of Ratuas.

Weed had a lot of concerns about Yuskellanda’s mirror.

‘What the hell is this?’

It was an item that transcended time and space but couldn’t work out how it was important.

“Inspect!”

– It has been blocked by the dragon’s magic.

Inspect has failed.

Inspect failed even when he tried several more times!

If he lacked knowledge then inspect wouldn’t work no matter how much he tried.

He had Mapan search through Morata’s library but no information on the mirror could be found.

The valuable treasures on the Versailles Continent were in the lair of dragons and humans didn’t even know they existed.

‘There could be some great options but the reverse could also be true. Anyway, it is good that I can take advantage of this to complete the quest.’

Taking care of 3 quests at the same time!

A profession quest could be done separately but it was more efficient to complete it with hunting and other quests. He could solve Teneidon’s long quest without wasting as much time or receiving any damages.

After a period of thought, Weed handed it over.

“Here it is.”

Ddiring!

– The Mirror of the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda has been handed over.

Dragon’s Curse has been completed.

It can’t be completely confirmed if this is a clue associated with Ratuas in the Forest of Red Reeds.

But it isn’t necessary to know as it is a giant leap in the adventure.

– Experience has been acquired.

– Fame has increased by 121.

– The Fairy Queen Teneidon is happy and 1 energy of the moment is gained.

It was a C-level difficult quest so his experience didn’t even increase by 1%.

Weed was currently level 435.

Ddiring! Ddiring! Ddiring!

– The Traces of a Human quest has been completed.

– The Old Friend of a Dragon quest has been completed.

– The Pale Bones Left Behind quest has been completed.

– The Monster Corps Subjugation quest has been completed.

– The Elementals’ Salvation quest has been completed.

– The Human’s Hometown quest has been completed.

– The Unfortunate and Distressing quest has been completed.

– The Sweeping Search quest has been completed.

– The Recover Dragon’s Relic quest has been completed.

“Keeeok!”

Weed had a flood of quests being completed after passing over Yuskellanda’s mirror.

Even the names of the quests caused him to shiver.

‘The names are warlike. It is at least 6 months’ worth of work. Losing my sense of direction or being required to find special materials would take some time.’

It was a bonus income for all the time he spent on the final secret sculpting technique quest.

A huge number of quests associated with Teneidon was handled all at once.

‘If I didn’t get this items after defeating the Chaos Dragon…or what if I thought I couldn’t use it and discarded it after returning to this world?’

Just thinking about the close call caused his chest to cool.

As a smile formed on Weed’s mouth, a message window started to shine.

Ddiring!

– A large amount of experience has been gained with the completion of a continuous quest.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Fame has increased by 22,981.

– You have processed quests for the Versailles Continent.

Energy of the moment has increased by 61.

– Affinity to the fairy species has increased by 64.

They will feel close to you and joke around.

Sometimes the fairies will follow you around incessantly chattering.

Gossip from the fairies will flow with the wind. Valuable knowledge will be delivered to you.

Of course, sometimes the fairies will lie……

The rewards for all the quests!

“Kuhehehe!”

Weed’s mouth rose so quickly it felt like it was going to crack.

He didn’t receive any expensive armour or sword from the Fairy Queen but he was more than satisfied.

‘The rewards are considerable.’

His level and fame had risen with these quests.

Weed didn’t need any more fame at this point but it had a lot of advantages. He was a celebrity so residents and the mercenary guilds would easily give him quests.

He was happy thanks to the additional compensation.

Furthermore, Weed was king of the Arpen Kingdom. A king succeeding in difficult or arduous adventures would raise the national fame and loyalty of the residents.

The fame earned by fulfilling the continuous quests would cause the whole continent to buzz with Weed’s name again.

Teneidon then said to me.

– Although I’ve waited a long time, you have done a great favour for me. I have never found a better adventurer among humans.

“I am thankful for your words, Your Majesty!”

She was more hospitable towards Weed after he was rewarded.

Despite her grumbling, the situation had changed in a positive way.

– I think I should give you something as compensation…the fairies don’t have many things.

“I-is that so?”

Weed’s mouth trembled.

– You will be shown to the Fairy Fountain.

“I have heard stories of the Fairy Fountain.”

Weed fiercely searched through his memories.

Fairy Fountain!

He was definitely sure that he heard it somewhere before.

‘Where. Many someone mentioned it or it was in the contents of a quest.’

He forgot mathematics and foreign languages but kept convenient memories.

His time as the desert ruler.

He rode Bactrian Camel to a village next to an oasis and heard about the fairy fountain from scholars.

“There is a legend about water in the desert. A fairy fountain exists in a place somewhere…unfortunately, this water isn’t in the desert and I believe it is in another world where the fairies live. Drinking this water will make the body younger and will help recovery from illness and fatigue. A magic like that…do you believe in it?”

His time as the desert ruler was for his final secret sculpting technique quest. He completed other quests in the warring period so Weed’s fame and level was high.

Weed’s answer was simple.

“Shut up. Don’t talk nonsense.”

The scholars were then kicked out.

Weed recalled the memory and spoke to Teneidon.

“I’ve heard of the Fairy Fountain. Isn’t it in the world of the fairies?”

The fairies could cross time and space to a world where only they were allowed.

– Amazing. Very few people know about it among humans. As an adventurer, you really are great. How many places have you roamed around?

Weed thought about it.

‘I didn’t go around because I wanted to.’

– The Fairy Fountain is connected with a magical place. The drinking water is full of life and will give humans incredible power. The fairies are born from that water so it is like our hometown.

“Then it is a special place that no humans have seen.”

– That isn’t true. You are an excellent adventurer but the fairies have a special friend.

“Who is that?”

– He isn’t known among humans but Petrov is a painter with great skills.

“Petrov.”

Weed had heard this name.

A painter that often caused an uproar on the bulletin boards. He was accused of drawing pictures on fortresses that made the Hermes Guild look bad. His paintings were filled with whimsical imagination and fantastic artistry so he was often compared to the Weed.

‘My competition has already visited that place.’

– As a reward, you will be taken to the Fairy Fountain.

“You don’t have any jewellery or other goods.”

– The greed of humans is really great. Fairies don’t like shiny things. Instead, the fairy over here will guide you to the fountain.

“T-thank you.”

Weed was greatly disappointed.

‘Even so, I still don’t know the damages.’

It felt like the reward was somewhat inadequate for the quest difficulty but Weed didn’t know the effects of the fairy fountain.

It might permanently increase his stats and lead to better long term benefits than a sword or armour.

Weed’s biggest weakness was his low vitality and increasing his knowledge and wisdom would also be useful.

‘And it will be handy in a big battle.’

Weed thought back to his hunting while using Time Sculpting.

‘The rate of my increase in strength has limits. I need to hunt desperately.’

If he invested more time in hunting then his level gain would increase by 5~6 times faster.

Weed felt it wasn’t easy when comparing himself to Bardray and other users.

‘I have to raise my level even if I don’t play with those guys. And in a large fight, it is inevitable that I will use Sculptural Life Bestowal or Sculpture Resurrection.’

The Hermes Guild monopolized all the great quests and hunting grounds in the Central Continent. The guild could also take advantage of advanced information and equipment and skill support.

The Hermes Guild had the best environment so they grew faster than normal users. The world was really unreasonable sometimes.

Weed looked for answers about how he could grow faster from the Central Continent.

The dungeons of the Central Continent! Specific stats or equipment could be obtained from the dungeons. Weed hadn’t experienced the dungeons in the Central Continent so exploring them would still strengthen him.

Thanks to the Hermes Guild dealing with the emerging rebels, he could quickly clear some dungeons. Gaining experience from monsters and achievements from breaking through dungeons.

Of course, he would need to use some clever tricks to avoid being detected. His speed needed to be as quick as picking money up from the ground!

Weed’s abilities matched up to his fame but he couldn’t face a lot of people.

Rebels were attacking the villages and cities of the Haven Empire.

Weed had fought against a whole prestigious guild on Continent of Magic. If necessary, he could use the abilities of a necromancer.

After transforming into a lich, he could use Barkhan’s full set and magic.

Dark Rule, Death Aura, Absolute Magic Defense!

There was also the Devil’s Helmet from Montus that gave great power to an individual.

Like a storm of crows, the undead would feast! Zombies would emerge from the ground and join the ghosts, specters, death knights and doom knights. Commanded by a lich wearing old robes and holding a long staff.

It was something that all humans wanting to be necromancers dreamed of.

The God of War was coming!

‘It is the ideal sight. Causing a disaster and summoning the undead. And it will be really fun. Now that the relationship with the Hermes Guild had worsened and was irreversible, I need to find an effective way to hit first.’

Weed thought for a short period of time and came up with a price.

It was too risky to assassinate the leaders of the Hermes Guild in the Central Continent due to their size.

The enemy was all over the place so he couldn’t fight alone. If there was a dangerous moment then it wouldn’t be easy to run away.

‘Similar to the God of War on Continent of Magic. There are many ways to overcome the difference……’

He would sweep up the Hermes Guild little by little.

‘Life is a long and thin cloth. Um, a good thing is a good thing……’

Then Teneidon told him.

– The mirror you brought us is too heavy for the fairies to carry.

“Huh?”

It was a plain mirror that was the same size as a fairy’s body.

– The loose ends should be tied up. Please return this mirror to Ratuas.

Ddiring!

– Ratuas’ Lair

A dragon doesn’t like anyone visiting their lair without permission.

There are numerous monsters and rare guardians.

Bring this mirror directly to the dragon Ratuas.

If you are very lucky then Ratuas won’t take your life.

If you survive then it will be a perfect career as an adventurer but a wise person would know to prepare their casket first.

Level of Difficulty: Impossible to verify.

Quest Restrictions: The confidence of the Fairy Queen Teneidon.

The remaining conditions are impossible to check.

“Kuuuk!”

Weed wanted to refuse but hesitates as this was the last step in the chain quest.

‘It will be good if I can resolve this. The quest rewards at the end are usually the best. And how risky can bringing a mirror back be?’

He came to that conclusion because of his greed.

‘Yes, I need to think of my life. I should retract my greed.’

Weed opened his mouth.

“Queen-nim, this is too big for me. There are many things I need to do so someone else……”

– I’m sure you can succeed in anything we give you.

– The quest has been accepted!

Deprived of a choice!

– You have a noble spirit and strong sense of responsibility so I can’t imagine leaving this task to any other adventurers. You will be great.

“O-of course.”

Thoughts ran through his head as he was forced to accept the quest.

The mirror floating in the air returned to him.

– The Mirror of the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda has been received again.

He checked the status of the item.

– Yuskellanda’s Mirror: Durability 80/80.

A mirror that reflects Yuskellanda’s form.

The material is made with special ‘scales.’

Those who own it can use the special effect of the silver dragon.

Restrictions: Level 1,000.

A minimum of 2,000 strength and wisdom.

Options: Charm +122.

Dignity +20.

There is a 31% chance of reflecting all attacks and magic curses.

There is a low probability of reflecting the magic twice.

The appearance of the silver dragon Yuskellanda is imprinted on the mirror.

No matter how far away the area, you can search it through the mirror once a day.

A large number of enemies approaching will be reflected in the mirror.

A strong enemy or multiple enemies can be sealed.

The seal will loosen and those inside would be released after a week.

It was an amazing item. This magic was nothing short of miraculous.

‘This is amazing. I have to hand something like this over.

The limit was so high that he couldn’t use it even with his blacksmith skill.

Weed’s blacksmith skill was now at advanced level 2! Although the restrictions was reduced by 48%, the item was still unusable.

– I know you are busy but my request can’t take too much time. I want this resolved within 30 days.

Ddiring!

– A time limit for the Ratuas’ Laid quest has been created.

If you don’t resolve it within 30 days then the quest will fail.

Chapter 4: World of the Fairies

Weed thought of other tricks after accepting the quest.

‘If I wait 30 days then it will fail. My fame or intimacy might fall but that won’t be an issue.’

But that didn’t take into account the delivery nature of the quest.

His relationship with Teneidon might deteriorate but the dragon Ratuas’ fury might be even greater if he didn’t deliver it.

In the case of this quest, there might be a bigger penalty if he failed.

He felt dizzy at the quest associated with the dragon.

‘The dragon might release monsters in the mirror to catch me…or I might have to look for them myself. Given the difficulty of the quest, the contents might involve moving the dragon.’

An existence above the Hermes Guild!

Others would marvel at the beautiful sight of a dragon but his life was at stake.

‘Eh, I don’t know. I’ll worry about it when I have to solve it.’

He would somehow resolve it later.

‘But a request for delivery. Something seems familiar.’

Weed’s mind was filled with memories of his part time delivery job.

‘It popped into my head. That was a real living hell.’

It was an operation that gave immediate cash at Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). Then he once again realized the cruelty of the world.

‘I would rather die than do that job again!’

Mild and newspaper deliveries at dawn didn’t seem difficult after that.

Working at a courier company often required delivering apples or pears. The courier company meant he could also experience the technology of South Korea.

Microwaves, ovens, loudspeakers, electric cookers, dishwashers, ginseng juice machines, food dryers, computers, printers, scanners, heated mats, bidet and large items like televisions, refrigerators and furniture products were among those delivered.

People also had ski equipment, golf clubs, tents, fishing gear, mountain bikes, strollers, etc. sent over by courier.

South Korea could ship a considerable number of products through courier. Even things like boxes filled with books and mineral water! Rice, apples, pears, oranges, dried persimmon, cabbage and other agricultural products were hell!

“Ugh.”

Weed grabbed his head. The worst memories started to rise as he thought about the quest.

For the sake of receiving money as a temporary worker, he continued to work as a courier through Chuseok up to the Lunar New Year.

Since then, he received a mental shock whenever he thought of being a courier. Just the sight of a square box caused his arms and waist to hurt.

He needed to forget about it for his mental health. However, he established a strong mentality in case he ever experienced it again in the future.

He would rather spend stay up all night fighting the Hermes Guild then be a courier again.

‘Yes, my life is already gone. Hermes Guild, I will use dirty methods to step on you.’

No matter the risk, he would play in the Central Continent!

‘Hermes Guild, I will show you hell.’

Weed made up his mind and was determined to counterattack in the Central Continent. The blitz plan would be called God of War.

It wasn’t a spontaneous thing as he had been planning this for a while.

Teneidon flapped her wings and said.

– As the most reliable human adventurer, I thank you for accepting. It isn’t difficult so I hope you are successful.

“I understand. And I would like to see the fairy fountain now.”

– The fairy will lead you.

Weed followed the fairy and walked towards a long passage inside the cave.

Seo-yoon and the sculptural creatures came along but were blocked by the fairy.

– Stop! Only those admired by the fairies can go.

“Ummoooooo!”

“Gol gol, I’ll wait here.”

Yellowy and Goldman welcomed it and stopped immediately. They felt anxious whenever going somewhere with Weed. In particular, they had been severely abused during the most recent hunt so they wanted to take a rest.

Seo-yoon’s eyes filled with worry.

“Be careful.”

“Nothing is going to happen. Don’t worry and wait in a safe place for me.”

Weed took Seo-yoon’s hand. Their faces were close enough to see the hot flushes on their cheeks.

“You will come back?”

“Of course. We will join up together again.”

“Still……”

“Believe in me. I’ll come back within 1 hour.”

Yellowy blinked his big eyes.

“Humans are weird, omoooo.”

Goldman nodded like he agreed.

“It is just waiting, gol gol gol.”

Weed soothed Seo-yoon and followed the fairy guide.

The passage continued deep underground. The fairy wings scattered a mysterious gold dust that fell to the ground. The ceiling and walls of the cave started lighting up.

– Don’t be alarmed. Don’t stop and come along.

The fairy politely said.

Her voice rang out in the cave.

“Do we have to go a long way down?”

– No. It doesn’t matter where to go to move to the Fairy World.

“Then why?”

– Isn’t this your first time?

The fairy was full of mischief.

Weed then stepped on the golden powder. A  cold breeze grazed his face.

Paak!

There was a bright light and he arrived at a place with greenery and fountains.

“Um.”

A bright and mysterious sight. There were countless rainbows in the sky and butterflies flying with the fairies.

‘This is…similar to a rural garden.’

Ddiring!

– You have arrived in the Fairy World.

A new journey has been added to the history of your adventures.

As a human visiting the Fairy World, luck has increased by 31.

The fairies are like naive young children but are especially vigilant towards any wickedness.

Those who entered with wicked intentions will be seriously attacked.

“The fairies’ lifestyle is like this.”

Weed said with looking around.

A peaceful world. There was a developed city with various small species including the fairies living in flowers and trees.

The fairies were also present on the Versailles Continent. Users could start in villages that had the blood of fairies passed down through the generations.

In fact, Petrov and Weed were the only two users to visit the Fairy World.

It was difficult to make friends with the fairies so not many users could visit the Fairy World in the future.

The fairies resting on the fountain flew towards Weed.

– Guest, a guest.

– Should we tease him?

– Kyah, let’s play a prank. Blindfold him and leave it overnight.

The fairies behaved flippantly. But they soon gave something to Weed.

– Our queen has thanked you.

– Take this. Something good will happen.

– A friend of the fairies is someone who likes nature. The spirits will also like you.

– The fairies have given you a gift.

– The Mysterious Clover.

If you are lucky enough to own 3 then consuming it will prevent an unlucky thing from happening in combat.

– The fairies are pleased.

29 energy of the moment has been gained.

“Thank you.”

Weed bluntly said before going to the Fairy Fountain.

There would be no end to their chatter if he stayed to listen to them.

Ddiring!

– You have discovered the Fairy Fountain.

A new finding has been added to your journey of great adventures.

Insight has increased by 3.

You can boast of this adventure at the taverns.

There will be a high intimacy with those who believe you.

If you report that you found this water then high fame and money can be obtained as compensation.

The Fairy Fountain had several fairies swimming, sitting in the water or sleeping on it. In addition, there were rare fairy species with horns on their heads or fairies that looked like little children.

“It is like seeing flies dying.”

Although the sun was shining beautifully on the water of the fountain, Weed didn’t show any appreciation!

Weed was careful not to touch the fairies as he put his hand in the water.

“Uhh, the temperature is warm.”

The fairies paddling nearby made a fuss.

– Dirty.

– The water will become sticky.

The fairies making a fuss the became shocked.

Weed scooped up the water with the palm of his hand and drank it. It was like drinking a refreshing drink that had been stored in the fridge all day!

Ddiring!

– You have drank the water of the Fairy Fountain.

A fountain gushing from the centre of the world.

Fairies play in the water that contained the vitality of nature.

The vitality of the tired body will increase.

The body’s fatigue will be 100% restored.

The physical and mental state will be completely restored like after a period of deep sleep.

Maximum health has increased by 13,980.

Maximum mana has increased by 6,500.

All stats have permanently increased by 12.

Knowledge and wisdom has increased by 10.

Charm has increased by 59.

The improvement speed of physical skills will increase by 3%.

Affinity to Nature has increased by 61.

It was perfect for a body’s recovery!

Weed’s health could finally surpass 70,000. A warrior could surpass that after level 200 but it was a miracle for an arts profession.

The fairies watched as Weed took another sip of the water in the fountain.

Gulp.

– Thirst is completely gone.

Health has increased by 5,400 for a week.

The water still had some influence on his health. The maximum effect was displayed on the first sip.

“Ahem.”

Gulp. Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

– Messy. He is drinking with his mouth.

– Ack! A human is drinking the water!

– A big deal. He is washing his hair!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Buzz buzz.

In the north, east and central parts of the continent, people were talking from the residents of Serabourg Castle in Rosenheim Kingdom to the orcs.

“Do you know about the fairies? They have met with a special adventurer. This time, the Fairy Queen called Weed to settle several difficult things.”

“Have you heard? Weed is an adventurer who is needed to calm the continent. He is very busy so I don’t know when he can settle the fairies’ problem.”

“I should give my dilemma to outstanding people like Weed to solve. Shh, I didn’t tell anyone but I can entrust it to an excellent adventurer like you. It won’t be hard for you.”

“Tsk tsk, this is why I carry a sword all the time. I’m going to bring up my child like the adventurer Weed. Of course, my child might find it difficult to pull off. In order to do so, I must stop gambling and drinking alcohol.”

“Chwiik, the human Weed.  Scary, chwik chwiik!”

All the users on the Versailles Continent heard of Weed’s heroism.

“Didn’t he become the ruler of the desert during the sculpting quest?”

“So I’m told. And he also won the war against the Haven Empire.”

“His legendary rumours are true.”

The users felt envy and jealousy. He had the position of king of the Arpen Kingdom while also gaining power and glory as an adventurer!

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– Excuse me…human, I am asking you. It is a little difficult. I know a place where humans used to keep treasure. If there is still treasure then you can take it all.

“I don’t want to.”

– I know a lot of stories that will stimulate your curiosity. Do you want to hear a story about a hero and a demon?

“Not interested.”

– Play with me while I tell you a story. How about it?

“I originally like playing alone.”

The fairies kept approaching Weed. Even the fairies he didn’t have intimacy with came up to him for some mischief.

There were quests in the Fairy World but he had no knowledge about the area and decided to leave.

If he had good luck then the quest reward when fighting monsters might be high. However, there was a chance that the difficulty could grow ridiculously.

His fame was very high so he needed to be careful when performing requests.

Weed asked a question to the fairy sitting on his right shoulder.

“How wide is the Fairy World?”

– Are you going to play with us after all? It is vastly larger than humans!

“Um, do you know the Arpen Kingdom?”

– I know! There are many beggars.

“Is it wider than that?”

– By 10 million times? No. It is wider by 100 billion times!

“…….”

Weed found this a little questionable. Anyone would take it with a grain of salt.

In addition, the elves were mischievous.

“How many mountains?”

– Around 100? No, 200?

– Fool! Beyond 500!

“Lakes?”

– There should be 50.

– That’s right, that’s right.

“Rivers?”

– Around 20?

– No. There is 5.

The exaggeration that the Fairy World was larger than the continent was obviously a problem.

But the Fairy World was structured like a continent.

‘I should have known not to ask the fairies.’

Weed was standing in a forest and he could see unusually high mountain ranges far away.

“There will be more opportunities to come here and learn about the quests. Well, there might be some good hunting grounds.”

This world was filled with peaceful fairies so there might not be much hunting. But there were possibilities of creatures hiding somewhere.

Loot hiding from the eyes of others!

“Hmm, then let’s return to my original world.”

Weed turned around to leave.

– Don’t go. Don’t go.

– Join us. Don’t you want to have fun?

The fairies tried to stop him but he ignored them.

“I can’t just leave after coming here. I should take a little bit of water to commemorate the event.”

Weed pulled out water canteens from his backpack and took plenty of water from the fountain. The mysterious water full of vitality entered wooden canteens.

“Let’s see. Inspect!”

– Fairy Fountain Water

Water containing natural forces.

The water will give wisdom and vitality to the humans, elves, fairies, dwarves etc. as well as the flora and fauna lacking it.

“This is a commemoration. I should get a little more.”

Weed filled 5 canteens to the top.

– Now look at him.

– It would be good if the human leaves quickly.

– How did this happen. The previous fountain water has reduced!

The shocked fairies put up a fuss.

In fact, the water was springing from the middle of the fountain so the level wasn’t reduced at all.

But after a while, the fairies stopped making noise. They were so shocked that their eyes popped out.

– Oh my god.

– That human…just now……

– He is digging up the dirt and baking it. What is that?

– I’ve seen it. Those things that humans call jars.

In order to commemorate the event, Weed created jars on the spot.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Seo-yoon and the sculptural lifeforms were waiting when Weed returned.

“It wasn’t a big deal.”

“Ummoooooo. Never going to die. That human is tougher than my leather.”

Bahamorg spoke a short phrase.

“That human isn’t weak.”

A considerable amount of time had passed before Weed returned.

He was carrying two big jars in his arms.

“You are unharmed?”

“Yes. I brought some things.”

Weed gathering the fountain water didn’t leave a good impression with the fairies and intimacy had dropped.

– That human……

– I wish that more humans won’t come to the Fairy World. A large number of humans will be very difficult.

The fairies criticized him for taking the fountain water.

The human was embarrassed. If he had taken a little more than the attitude of the fairies would have turned hostile.

But a message window had popped up when he returned to his original world.

Ddiring!

– The source of vitality of the fountain water comes from the Fairy World.

The effect of the fountain water will decrease.

Weed gave a deep sigh.

“Ha, this can’t be.”

Due to the special effects, he had been planning to sell it for a high value! But it was a drug that would only see proper effects if it was taken in the Fairy World.

Weed examined a canteen.

“Inspect!”

– Fairy Fountain Water

A fountain gushing from the centre of the world.

The vitality of nature gathered will quickly scatter.

The current concentration is 54%.

“This will be expired food soon.”

There would be some differences on the abilities and vitality increase depending on the concentration.

Weed handed a canteen to Seo-yoon.

“Go ahead and drink. It is precious water taken from the Fairy World.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-yoon drew back her hair and drank the water.

“How effective is it?”

“It increased maximum health by 2,300. And all my stats by 1.”

“Well, the effects are considerably less than when it is in the Fairy World but at least it doesn’t harm the body.”

“…….”

The clinical trial was completed!

Weed also shared the fountain water with the sculptural lifeforms. Of course Seo-yoon was important but the sculptural lifeforms were more valuable. If the sculptural lifeforms died then it would be the end.

“I will give one jar to them and sell the rest.”

Weed gave the water to 47 sculptural lifeforms.

Then he sent a whisper to Mapan to sell the fountain water.

– A good product that increases maximum health, mana and also stats.

– Eh! How much?

– Right now I have enough for 30 people?

– Is it effective?

– It is similar to drinking water blessed by a paladin. The effects will decline over time so quick disposal is required.

– I will immediately let people know. By the way, the story of Weed-nim’s successful adventure has spread through every village. Congratulations.

– Huhuhu.

A secret and rapid dialogue.

Due to the nature of the trade, it would take a long time to find customers at the market as well as sell it for an expensive price.

However, Mapan used his contacts to sell it directly to high level users who could pay the price.

And over 2 million gold was earned in just an hour. The benefits of the fairy fountain water was great but it couldn’t be helped since the effects had dropped.

“But this trade margin is good for some water.”

Weed was satisfied as he counted the money received.

He had a deadline of one month to meet the dragon so he didn’t need to go straight away. Weed decided the next place where he would go.

“I will go to the Central Continent.”

The territory of the Haven Empire. He was going to create a mess there.

The tiredness fled from his brain as it filled with thoughts of the bad things he could do.

Chapter 5: Day Assault

Weed arrived at Formos Castle that was in the former territory of the Tullen Kingdom.

He wanted to identify the local atmosphere so Seo-yoon and the sculptural lifeforms didn’t come along.

“There are still many people.”

Many users, residents and merchants were wandering around the gates. In the past year, many beginners had started in the north.

Even so, the population of the Central Continent wasn’t significantly affected. Since the beginning of Royal Road, people had steadily started in the Central Continent.

They were the tax payers that couldn’t be ignored!

“I wish this castle was in the Arpen Kingdom. But the reality is that I would have already lost the territory.

Weed looked at the people entering and leaving the gates. But then soldiers of the Haven Imperial Army blocked his way with spears.

‘Don’t tell me.’

Weed inwardly exclaimed.

‘They recognize the dignity of the king of the Arpen Kingdom.’

The Hermes Guild users gossiping in front of the gates turned their heads towards him.

‘They noticed.’

His fame had increased through the broadcast and many great adventures. Apart from Bardray, Weed was the most recognized person.

‘I was too greedy when I desired to enter Hermes Guild territory alone without even using Sculpture Transformation.’

Weed looked around  in order to find a way to escape.

A soldier said.

“Castle entrance fee.”

“Yes?”

“2 gold for a week.”

“…….”

However, if he wasn’t wearing the Goddess’ Knight Armour and holding the Red Star from the broadcasts then people wouldn’t recognize him.

In particular, his ordinary face was a perfect camouflage! The great characteristics like charisma or dignity couldn’t be seen from Weed’s body.

He had the natural atmosphere of a worker in a convenience store or a courier. Weed was silent for a moment before saying.

“Excuse me, a discount……”

‘No.”

The soldier protecting the gate was a NPC. Weed approached and whispered in his ears.

“I’m actually a famous adventurer. My position is pretty high.”

“If you don’t give the entry fee then admission is forbidden.”

“It is only for one day.”

“No exceptions.”

Weed reluctantly handed over 2 gold.

‘Hermes Guild, I will kill you!’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Formos Castle was the transportation hub of the old free city alliance and was surrounded by the Haineph Mountains.

A so-called grade 1 area crowded with dungeon, making it a blessed area for hunting.

There were numerous monsters and dungeons so many high level users flocked to the area to obtain gold and loot.

“The rebels have captured the village outside Banran Castle.”

“War, a war. Where are the heroes who can save us from this endless war?”

Weed went around the castle and listened to the conversations of the residents.

He could guess the public sentiment even without talking to the residents. Depending on the inclination of the inhabitants, important rebel quests would appear.

Weed went to the grocery store and spoke to the owner.

“There are lots of good stuff. Is business doing well?”

“Well, it is the worst. After the war ended, there was a boom of products but now I’m not selling well and my livelihood is at risk.”

“Do many people hate the Haven Empire?”

“It seems so. In the days of the Tullen Kingdom…shhh! Don’t tell anyone that I said this. There are many rumours condemning the Haven Empire. It is best to take care of yourself these days.”

He also spoke to an elderly man on the street.

“Senior, I want to ask you about the Haven Empire.”

“Don’t ask me anything. I don’t see or hear anything. In this world, it is best to live without seeing or hearing anything. If I was younger then I would be fighting. But right now, I am just a powerless old man waiting to die.”

He even conversed with the street children.

“Hey guys, what do you want to be when you grow up?”

“Train hard in the sword and then…revolt!”

The atmosphere was without a doubt at rock bottom!

‘Rebels are rising up and the Hermes Guild is suffering…it is like I thought.’

Weed confirmed that the facts from the bulletin boards and broadcasts were true. The Haven Empire’s ruling approach persecuted the residents so loyalty descended to the bottom and an uprising took place. The situation in the empire became unstable and caused a burst of rebellions.

In fact, the Tullen Kingdom had a complicated ruling structure. After the Black Lion Guild was defeated, the Beden Guild were the public rulers. The Beden Guild ruled the Tullen Kingdom but they were under the management of the Hermes Guild.

A significant portion of their profits went to the Hermes Guild so they severely taxed the residents and users. This caused a heavy backlash in the territory of the Tullen Kingdom.

The Kallamore Kingdom was also a place that suffered under the rule of the empire and there was a serious issue with rebels.

‘The greedy Hermes Guild shouldn’t have come straight for the north after conquering the Central Continent. Why were they in such a hurry? Could it be their stomachs were hurting while watching me finish the secret sculpting technique quest? This is what happens when a person is too greedy. Their territory turned out like this.’

The foundation had been shaken but the Haven Empire’s military force was still terrific.

“The Beden Guild is receiving the support of the Hermes Guild to suppress the rebels.”

“Is it like that? Are there any countermeasures against the Black Lion Guild?”

“Separation? They hid in the back and counterattacked along with the group in the front.”

He even heard the latest stories from the users at the taverns.

“It turns out that 30,000 troops were stationed at Poros Castle. Well, whoever occupies the castle has nothing to do with me.”

There were always mention of rebels at major cities and castles.

“There are a few hundred Hermes Guild users roaming the castle?”

Weed briefly looked around the castle. The Beden Guild and Hermes Guild users were strutting around.

There were users around the gates, shops and houses but there was no need to calculate their numbers. There was no need for a headcount when he was going to cause a large incident.

The Hermes Guild users were proficient in combat. And there were high level users everywhere. On one hand, it was a symbol of their strong force but they were also the best food.

“There are quite a lot?”

A famous dungeon called Gold Mine was near the Formos Castle.

There were moderately strong monsters but it was a well know place because it was one of the top 5 gold mines in the Central Continent.

They could fight monsters underground while obtaining an abundant amount of gold. Novices looking for good fortune would pack their pickaxes and enter the dungeon.

“There is food everywhere. Then shall I go harvest it?”

Weed moved with light steps.

But the aftermath would be significant.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– Gold Mine Dungeon

The continent’s best gold mine.

An entry fee needs to be paid if you want to hunt or mine here.

Entry fee: 10 gold a day for miners.

250 gold a day for combat professions.

Special arrangements: There will be a 10% discount for groups over 12 or those staying for longer than a week.

If the dungeon loot and gold acquired is more than 25% then there will be an additional fee.

Half the entry fee needs to be paid when leaving.

Haven Empire.

“It is strong.”

Weed looked at the sign at the entrance and made some calculations.

Formos Castle had many famous dungeons on the continent.

Putting aside miners, one combat profession would pay 250 gold. If there were 1,000 visitors a day then that was 250,000 gold. 7.5 million could be made in one month and that wasn’t counting the gold from the miners and claiming the loot.

“I am envious!”

Weed had goose bumps all over his body.

‘It is possible to get 10 million gold from one dungeon.’

It was an astronomical figure.

‘Only one. There are dozens of famous places around Formos Castle.’

The dungeon admission fee meant that facility investments or operating costs would be covered.

The money collected would be used to strengthen their military and the strong users in the guild.

“This damn rotten society!”

Weed was in a very bad mood. He felt lousy because he couldn’t eat it all himself.

Public sentiment supported Weed and the Arpen Kingdom. The north was considered a paradise and that was why they were willing to fight together against the Hermes Guild.

Weed’s stomach hurt like he had eaten bad chicken.

To make matters worse, there was a long line in front of Gold Mine Dungeon.

“A monk profession. My secondary profession means that simple healing magic is available. However, I don’t want you to suffer and am willing to join a party with a profession priest.”

“A level 390 paladin looking for a medium sized party of 3 people. You should be able to hunt for at least a week.”

“Shaman who has the title Faster than a Flying Squirrel. I won’t speak long words. I will join the first party that makes an offer!”

The dungeon was very popular so people would find parties first in the city and castle. Or they would meet right at the entrance.

There was a small corner for merchants to sell loot and supplies that was just like a small market.

If the party had the optimal configuration for the Gold Mine dungeon then it was possible to obtain a large amount of loot.

That’s why users kept on receiving invitations to parties.

“Priests, come quickly!”

“This way, this way. It is the last time we are hunting! This time you will get even more loot!”

Users with the priest profession were barraged with party invitations. There was a large chance of losing their lives so the party wanted one or two priests to increase the survival rate.

Sometimes Hermes Guild and Beden Guild members would pass the users to enter the interior. They wore the latest armour and rode on horses, giving off an imposing appearance as they entered the dungeon.

The majestic conquerors of the Central Continent.

Weed stood for a moment a bit until Seo-yoon and Bahamorg arrived.

“Have you been waiting long?”

“No. You came quickly.”

Seo-yoon looked pretty even when she was wearing a mask! He could only hear her voice but she gave off a beautiful appearance. He even loved the smell of her hair.

Bahamorg straightened his shoulders proudly.

A barbarian warrior. Tall with thick muscles. He usually gave off an intense presence.

The people at the dungeon entrance looked at him but couldn’t determine his level from the equipment.

Bahamorg was level 562. Among the sculptural lifeforms, Golden Bird had a higher level but Bahamorg was stronger as a combat type.

“Here?”

“Yes.”

“I will sweep through them all.”

“That’s right. Don’t let anyone stop us.”

Weed, Seo-yoon and Bahamorg entered Gold Mine dungeon.

– You have entered Gold Mine dungeon.

This was once the financial income for the Tullen Royal Family as a lot of gold was mined from it.

However, an unfortunate incident due to human greed occurred and a miner and his family were trapped here.

Evil spirits rose up from the earth and the Royal Family was forced to close off the level.

So a lot of gold still hasn’t been mined.

If you go down to the lowest floor of the dungeon then gold and evil spirits and be seen.

“3 people. Do you know about the entrance fee? Pay it in advance.”

Inside were 2 Hermes Guild users and 20 knights receiving the dungeon entry fee.

‘Indeed, the Beden Guild isn’t put in charge of the money. The Hermes Guild is really careful.’

The names in red were Deruld and Chuge.

It meant they had killed users recently. It wasn’t rare to find murderers in the Beden Guild and Hermes Guild.

In the past, those with the mark of a murderer would fear entering cities due to the guards. But now murderers walked around the Haven Empire like the mark was a medal.

Surung!

Weed pulled out his sword.

Daemon Sword!

A level 440 sword with good damage and balance. Due to its nature, it was fairly handy when hunting monsters.

The Hermes Guild users laughed as Weed, Seo-yoon and Bahamorg approached.

“Rookies? Every day there are a few people with no tension who come.”

“It is because Gold Mine Dungeon is well known. But only 3 people? Haven’t they heard any rumours about the difficulty in this place? Well, it is none of our business if they die.”

Weed wore equipment around level 300 so they thought he was much weaker. They weren’t even on guard at the sight of his weapon.

Weed wielded the Daemon Sword.

“Kuwek!”

Deruld of the Hermes Guild was cut. Deruld was pushed to the ground by the powerful impact of the Daemon Sword.

“What are they doing all of a sudden? Don’t these people know how terrifying this world is?”

“They want to die just so they don’t have to pay the admission fee!”

Weed moved forward and quickly wielded his sword. After breaking the defense, he didn’t give the opponent a chance to attack or defend using skills.

Pabababak!

– The murderer Deruld has been killed.

Deruld who enjoyed killing the weak has lost his life.

– Fame has increased by 296.

– A reward may be obtained from the residents of nearby villages.

Intimacy with the residents of Formos Castle will increase.

Chuge cried out.

“Treason!”

From the position of the Hermes Guild, they had conquered the Tullen Kingdom and thought of it as treason.

But Chuge lost a huge chunk of his health to Bahamorg.

The basic conditions for a Hermes Guild user was being over level 400. However, Weed had already used Sculptural Destruction to add to his strength stat.

It was natural that he could take care of unsuspecting opponents in a few attacks while Bahamorg didn’t need to use any special skills.

“No, these people!”

“Get revenge for the captains.”

“Treason against the empire!”

There were 20 knights.

The knights of Formos Castle belatedly pulled out their swords. Bahamorg let out a big roar.

“Fools, you will all break!”

– Battle cry!

The warrior Bahamorg has let out a battle cry.

Health of all allies during the battle will increase by 2.5 times.

Protection skills for allies will be enhanced by 3 times.

Fear emanating monsters will be ignored.

The enemy’s determination has been cut in half.

Damage will increase by 39%.

A fearsome warrior skill.

“Crushing Wind!”

Bahamorg plunged between the knights and wielded his axe.

“It can’t be. Bahamorg is taking my share.”

“I’ll take it!”

By the time Weed and Seo-yoon took down 1 knight each, Bahamorg had already taken care of the rest.

The knights of Formos Castle were simple to deal with after a few wide area attacks.

“Ah.”

“Eh eh eh eh, what is this? It is nonsense.”

A hunting party that came to the dungeon entrance started with gaping mouths.

This incident wouldn’t end that simply. Someone had dared to challenge the Beden Guild and Hermes Guild in the Tullen Kingdom!

Weed finished the battle and started picking up the spoils.

“A knight’s neck protector. A popular item with a level limit of 430. And…huhuhu.”

Weed had a satisfied smile on his face. He gained a huge 58,000 gold as loot. The enormous amount was due to the entry fee.

“The opening is brilliant. And the cash is on the level of a gas station! Bahamorg.”

“You called.”

“Let’s collect the money.”

Weed, Bahamorg and Seo-yoon ran towards the depths of the dungeon. This was business so he couldn’t play around.

The party that witnessed the shocking sight was still frozen.

“Weren’t they really strong?”

“It was too fast so I couldn’t see properly.”

Then a new party came.

“What is it? Why are there no knights?”

“Is there no admission fee here?”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A large incident in the Gold Mine Dungeon!

It started from around the entrance.

The Beden Guild monopolized a good place to hunt in the dungeon. They were ambushed by 3 people and lost their lives.

“Kuack, this formidable power……”

“Watch out for the warrior. He is ridiculously strong!”

Only 3 people showed up. They walked without bothering to hide the sound of their footsteps.

The Beden Guild members didn’t even look at them.

It was common law that no one was allowed to interfere with the Hermes Guild’s hunting in the Central Continent. The Beden Guild members in the Tullen Kingdom also received the same treatment.

That’s why they had no interest when people came close to them carrying weapons. They belonged to the Beden Guild and had great confidence in their skills. They thought the other users were too afraid of retaliation to take action.

But Weed made sure that was over.

After only 10 minutes, four of the Beden Guild and Hermes Guild’s hunting parties were destroyed.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

“Really? Not scared?”

The users that saw them hunting the Hermes Guild were astonished.

“Uhh, who should we attack?”

Weed examined the users.

He calculated the price and level of the equipment the users were wearing in an instant.

“Hmm, ordinary people. I covet it but…I shouldn’t touch them.”

Weed, Seo-yoon and Bahamorg finished the job quickly and continued to move. The terrain inside the dungeon was complex but he had memorized it. He went to the best places to hunt the guild parties.

“Bahamorg, the magicians.”

“Understood.”

The repetition of sudden raids. The majority of the party were in a panic after the magician was killed and easily lost their lives.

Bahamorg was strong enough to stop the in the narrow dungeon! Weed and Seo-yoon quickly knocked down the Hermes Guild users.

It wasn’t difficult to process a single party of Hermes Guild users. Most of the parties had a balanced attack and defense of priests, magicians and knights for the maximum hunting efficiency.

Weed didn’t use a straightforward style of fighting. He would release an offense on one individual until the entire framework of the party had collapsed. The framework was shaken by bold attacks.

“They surprisingly don’t know how to fight. It is like a plant grown in a conservatory.”

Despite conquering the Hermes Guild through a war, their hunting parties didn’t know how to deal with ambushes.

After 15 minutes, rumours started to spread around Gold Mine Dungeon.

– The Beden Guild and Hermes Guild is being hunted!

The users of the Hermes Guild hunting were also exposed to the news.

“Those guys? It seems to be a reckless provocation from the Black Lion Guild.”

“How ridiculous. There are no rebels in the area. This area belongs to our guild so do they think they would be safe?”

“Get rid of those guys first.”

The hunting parties of the Hermes Guild started searching.

Weed’s party was soon caught.

“3 people…those guys?”

“There is the barbarian. There is no doubt.”

“Sheesh, we are already busted!”

A fight broke out between Weed’s party and a party from the Hermes Guild. 3 against 7 people were adverse conditions.

But Bahamorg thrust forward and soon reduced the numbers by two people with his axe and mace.

Weed fired arrows towards the magicians and priests while Seo-yoon attacked powerfully like a berserker.

As a berserker, she could increase her combat capabilities in a battle with users. The magicians were weak in close range and Weed easily took their lives.

The best warrior Bahamorg broke through the three people in the centre! They each killed 1~2 people and their strength and tactics were on a different level.

Weed was the leader and gave orders to Bahamorg and Seo-yoon.

“They have noticed our presence. Then I will call Gernika and Seville to come.”

He had already summoned Seville and Gernika to him. But they arrived after Weed, Bahamorg and Seo-yoon entered the dungeon. They kept their distance and followed a little bit behind.

It was in case of an unexpected situation but it had been a one-sided slaughter so far! But the Hermes Guild noticed that they were three people so he made them join him.

Shortly afterwards, another party from the Beden Guild entered found them. It was a party consisting of 3 magicians and 1 thief, warrior, priest and archer.

The Gold Mine Dungeon had many monsters so that was a normal sized party.

The Beden Guild was the first to speak.

“Hey, you there.”

“Yes?”

“Have you seen 3 people? They are fighting our guild.”

“Really?”

Weed’s eyes shone.

It was his expression whenever he had to make a bargain at the market. The basics of bargaining could be used in society and to form relationships with others.

The Beden Guild members easily accepted it.

“I don’t know what direction they went from the entrance. I can’t see them in this wide dungeon.”

“Should we just continue forward? Those guys will kill something sooner or later.”

“I object. If they aren’t dead then this will be an opportunity to show off our skills. If we are lucky enough then we can get some goods from those guys.”

“Let’s go to the hunting ground in that corner. That is our area.”

Thanks to his blacksmith skill, Weed was wearing different armour. Seville and Gernika had also joined the party so the configuration had changed.

“Come quickly. Let’s just check once again before going back to hunting.”

“We should do something. I am tired of hunting so we will look around.”

Weed and Seo-yoon’s party passed the party from the Beden Guild. The Gold Mine wasn’t wide so they passed within a short distance of each other.

Weed raised a hand to his noise.

“Puheng!”

A signal to attack.

Seville, Gernika and Bahamorg quickly jumped at the knights and warriors. Weed and Seo-yoon handled the magicians.

“Attack……!”

“These people!”

It was an ambush so it ended quickly. The Beden Guild members were killed before they were even prepared for combat.

– Your level has risen.

– Wisdom has been gained for eliminating the bad magician Hallin.

Honour has increased by 1.

– There is a significant increase in the proficiency of Swordsmanship.

“Huhuhu.”

Weed laughed.

“My growth is pretty fast against these people.”

The Hermes Guild and Beden Guild members had high infamy and the murderer’s mark so the penalties for dying were higher.

Experience increased and he could gain great loot. Weed got a level 400 staff and grimoire of wind. They were luxury items that could be sold for a lot of gold. He was swallowing up the treasures.

“A really satisfying hunting ground.”

It was clear that the Beden Guild and Hermes Guild didn’t have detailed information about their party.

The knights lost their lives before they could contact others. Those who came to take a look were sacrificed.

But at this point, some details could be known. The number of people or a great description of each profession. It was easy to find out that much.

“I have to eat them properly.”

If they knew all the details then his considerable advantage would disappear.

But he just continued his work!

Weed wiped out 4 more parties from the Beden Guild.

The Beden Guild and Hermes Guild couldn’t deal with his blitz warfare.

Chapter 6: Emergency

An emergency occurred for the Hermes Guild users in the Gold Mine Dungeon.

Hapun: Someone is aiming for us. There are already a large number of victims. Our friends from the Beden Guild have already been wiped out.

Chodreker:  Each party should prepare for battle. Don’t move around carelessly. The enemy is considerably strong and it is estimated that there is between 3~5 of them.

Maro Master: Be vigilant. The information about that group isn’t well-known. If a fight occurs then act defensively and wait for reinforcements. We will patrol the dungeon and get rid of those people.

The level 460 users inside the dungeon warned each other through the Hermes Guild’s internal network.

A sudden incident occurred in the Gold Mine Dungeon so many users were interested.

Sometimes minor guilds would give trivial challenges but this was very rare for the Hermes Guild.

‘Today is an interesting day. They are going to die like dogs. Once the guild’s revenge falls on them, they won’t have the spirit to live anymore.’

The spectators weren’t disturbed and just waited for the results.

Hapun: Another party has been struck. Always be alert! We are the Hermes Guild. Don’t allow any further damage!

Chodreker:  They are very strong individuals. According to the reports from the dead, there is a very strong barbarian warrior so be careful. Don’t try to win the fight and wait for some allies.

The Hermes Guild users continued to die in the Gold Mine Dungeon. There were over 70 deaths in one hour. There was an estimated 100 Hermes Guild users currently hunting in the large and famous Gold Mine Dungeon.

The damage was already close to 70%.

In addition, there was an incident where the level 470 Maro Master who was considered a leader in the guild died.

As soon as the battle commenced, he had reported it through the guild network.

Maro Master: I found those people. There is one female and one barbarian warrior. One of them is holding a musical instrument like a bard but…there is something suspicious. This is a state of emergency so I will kill one or two of them.

Maro Master: The battle is taking place. It is indeed those people. Come to the east side on the 3rd underground floor.

Maro Master: These guys, they are incredibly strong. The individuals seem to surpass the ones on our side. 2 people have been killed. The rest are hanging on.

Maro Master: We are dead.

Maro Master’s party was the strongest in the Gold Mine Dungeon. His death and the party’s annihilation caused the Hermes Guild great alarm.

At this rate, all their members in the Gold Mine Dungeon would be wiped out so external users received the emergency signal.

All Hermes Guild users in the vicinity of Formos Castle and the dungeon were mobilized. 300 high level members from the Central Continent were mobilized in an instant.

“Hiyah!”

“Get out of the way!”

The eyes of general users widened as people on horseback rushed off. But by the time they arrived, two more parties had been wiped out and the perpetrators had vanished.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“This place was filled with fools. It is no different from burying money in a field of garlic and forgetting about it.”

Weed laughed and gloated after sweeping through the Gold Mine Dungeon.

“The Central Continent is indeed a good hunting ground.”

The individual skills of the Hermes Guild users were fairly strong. But it was a different story when fighting.

Weed, Seo-yoon, Seville, Gernika and Bahamorg’s power was enough to instantly break them.

The warriors and knights were assaulted until gaps were formed. Once their formation was messed up, their skills couldn’t be utilized properly.

Bahamorg’s presence was a significant disadvantage to the Hermes Guild. His dazzling two handed attacks only needed to last for 10 seconds before the enemy was destroyed! He wasn’t as strong as Hestiger but he had grown on the battlefield.

“This is a really fruitful place.”

Weed looked at the pile of loot gained from the Gold Mine Dungeon. It was a revenue of more than 2 million gold in just one day.

“The Central Continent is definitely a place where items and gold flows.”

There was gold, supplies and equipment that were at least level 420 piled up.

And after a while, a merchant arrived.

Weed and the merchant exchanged passwords.

“Kuhehehehe.”

“Uhehehehe.”

“Mapan’s trading company?”

“I am honoured to meet Weed-nim. I’ve done some work for Mapan-nim.”

The Central Continent branch director of Mapan’s trading company!

Mapan’s trading company had a wide range of activities that stretched all the way to the Central Continent.

Once he had traded with the Central Continent but that was stopped by the blockade of the north. Despite that, Mapan secretly established a branch in the Central Continent in order to make money.

“These things…….”

“I heard from Mapan-nim. I will be happy to do it for 6% of the sales revenue.”

“Hmm, that is a good deal.”

Weed accepted the deal with any bargaining. Mapan’s trading company was absolutely necessary to sell stolen goods in the Central Continent.

In addition, heavy objects needed to be transported all over the Central Continent while being wary of the Hermes Guild.

The merchant laughed.

“I will be paid through more convenience in the north. This method will take a bit of time to dispose of the goods and I have instructions to further expand the business on the Central Continent.”

“Good. I can believe in the director that Mapan appointed.”

“Is it possible to continue making deals?”

“There will be another transaction the following evening.”

“Huhuhuhu.”

“Kukukuk.”

Weed and the merchant’s minds fit well despite only just meeting. The thrill of secretly doing bad things!

Weed made the proposal first.

“For the sake of smooth transactions in the future, let’s register as friends.”

“It is an honour.”

The name of the merchant he registered as a friend was ‘Black Money.’ Even Mapan’s Central Continent branch director was greedy.

There were enormous rewards so the stolen goods were passed around despite the threat of retaliation by the Hermes Guild.

After meeting Weed, Mapan’s conscience had shrunk while his greed stretched out endlessly.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed finished the deal and moved onto the next spot with Bahamorg and Seo-yoon.

Their 3 people group increased to 5 once Gernika and Seville joined.

– You have entered Atarog’s Lair.

A lair where the Tullen Royal Family hid some secrets.

There are secrets hidden but people often go missing in the area.

The Tullen Kingdom was currently destroyed but the evil spirits are still continuing their mission.

Warlocks who explored the cave wouldn’t be attacked by monsters. They could use the facilities in the cave for spell research and learn some special magic.

In the past, defeating the knights, guards and magicians of the Tullen Kingdom inside the cave would allowed a person to meet the high ranking nobles.

The nobles tried to increase their resistance to black magic and would offer their wealth for a deal when their lives were in danger.

Riches could be gained for a bit of infamy and drop in stats. Or the battle would resume again if the riches were refused.

“I knew it. Human beings are the most disturbing.”

The nobles would use black magic to fight intruders. Those who won against them would receive significantly high honour, fame and combat stats.

Even if the last boss couldn’t be reached, defeating the magicians would give good loot.

Intimacy with the surrounding villages could be raised. However, hostility with the knights and royal family of the Tullen Kingdom would rise.

After the fall of the Tullen Kingdom, the overall difficulty of the evil spirits increased. It was a popular hunting ground occupied by the Black Lion Guild in the past and now the Beden and Hermes Guilds monopolized it.

The price of admission was a huge 1,000 gold.

“It really is a hen that lays golden eggs.”

Weed attacked as soon as the Hermes Guild users tried to take the entry fee.

“The enemy!”

“Those people are here!”

It wasn’t far from Gold Mine Dungeon so rumours about Weed’s actions had spread.

They didn’t know who was attacking because of Weed’s ordinary appearance.

By default, the Gold Mine Dungeon and Atarog’s Lair were dark places. It was difficult to see the contours of his face when fighting and Weed wasn’t wearing the Goddess’ Knight Armour. Ordinary armour was a device to conceal his identity.

It had been less than 2 hours after beginning the hunt in the Gold Mine Dungeon. He could use Sculpture Transformation but there was no meaning as the battle went on.

The Hermes Guild had analyzed Weed’s fighting style so it was only a matter of time until they noticed.

The 4 Hermes Guild entry fee collectors were in danger of dying.

“I don’t know what guild these guys came from. Today I will make them regret it for the rest of their lives.”

“Huhuhu, give me your money!”

Weed slashed the enemies without hesitation. The God of War from Continent of Magic was revived.

“Gold, gold.”

Of course, he also gained a considerable amount of loot from the Hermes Guild.

Weed subdued the entrance and ran into the depths of the lair with his colleagues.

This place wasn’t as complicated as the Gold Mine Dungeon. There were only a few crossroads, warehouses, laboratories and accommodation for knights and magicians.

They defeated the parties of the Hermes Guild without a hitch.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Those stupid dogs don’t know the horrors of crossing our guild.”

“They might be strong enough to deal short term damage but in the end they will die. Where the hell did these people suddenly appear from?”

“Maybe they are users from the Tullen region.”

“They seem to be separate from the rebels and the Black Lion Guild so let’s thoroughly step on them.”

300 Hermes Guild users had gathered at the Gold Mine Dungeon.

Emergency squads had been dispatched to Formos Castle. By the time they arrived at Gold Mine Dungeon, the attackers had disappeared.

There was no place to go for revenge so they started talking to each other.

Tenjin: The intruders are attacking Atarog’s Lair.

Someone shouted through the Hermes Guild’s network.

Tenjin: The battle is becoming worse! The squad at the entrance has already been destroyed. It is the same people who raided Gold Mine Dungeon.

“No, those guys have no fear?”

“Well done. Let’s figure out their identities while wiping them out.”

“They will be easy to handle with all of us gathered.”

The Hermes Guild users at Gold Mine Dungeon immediately started to move to Atarog’s Lair.

Due to the challenging terrain of Atarog’s Lair, they had to cross over 3 mountains.

The knights galloped on their horses while magicians gathered and used teleportation.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed defeated 4 parties in Atarog’s Lair in a short period of time.

He swept through the enemies while hunting at the same time. The regular parties in Atarog’s Lair heard rumours and clapped when Weed passed.

“They are defeating the Hermes Guild!”

“Please be careful when fighting.”

The priests that walked past gave Weed’s party blessings and healing without saying anything.

“Ahem, a weak person will receive rewards.”

From Weed’s standpoint, this treatment wasn’t bad.

And some users gave information.

“A friend told me that people from the Gold Mine Dungeon are heading over here.”

Despite being in the heart of enemy territory, the general users were on Weed’s side. But they feared the Hermes Guild’s retaliation so they only secretly gave passive help.

‘They will come to catch him.’

The users worried about it.

“If you leave now then you won’t be caught. Run away!”

“Thank you for your concern but I absolutely can’t back down.”

A spirit that would never withdraw!

Weed didn’t worry about the troops coming and marched deeper into the depths of Atarog’s Lair.

Some of the curious onlookers gave up on hunting and followed behind Weed. The Hermes Guild had reigned supreme in Royal Road was receiving many casualties so it was a large topic.

Videos were circulated on the internet and the broadcasting stations covered the event.

Weed could deter the spectators but he left it alone. They actively promoted the scene of the Hermes Guild users losing their lives.

“They have already arrived up to here!”

“Don’t let them pass through the defense. Let’s make this place the tomb of those bastards!”

3 parties hunting in Atarog’s Lair had formed an alliance and were waiting. They had prepared themselves after learning about it through the guild’s internal network.

This time it would be a large and dangerous battle!

A fireball flew towards Weed, Bahamorg and Seo-yoon.

A fierce ball of flames. It could be cut with a sword but the fireball would immediately explode when it was destroyed, inflicting damage on the surroundings.

It was a level 430 magician spell that required a long casting time.

It was hard to use on the battlefield but the magic had been completed after hearing the news through the guild’s information network.

“Bahamorg, charge.”

“At any time!”

Bahamorg jumped forward.

The Hermes Guild users smiled coldly.

“Stupid rookies.”

“They have no idea about magic.”

It was ridiculous that Bahamorg would try to stop it without knowing the magical properties. Bahamorg would be turned into a lump of charcoal and the colleagues next to him damaged.

The knights and warriors of the Hermes Guild were ready to move forward. Their plan was to use the magic to prevent escape.

Bahamorg shouted loudly.

“Kuraaaaaaah!”

A stony body!

The blazing fireball hit Bahamorg.

“At this point. It is over.”

The Hermes Guild users ran to the front.

Magicians and shamans used secondary skills to increase their sprinting speed. Their intention was to jump over the intense flames and attack.

But the flame explosion occurred much closer to the Hermes Guild users. There was a dazzling flash of light and Bahamorg revealed his intact body.

“A lie? This is a senseless scene.”

“Preposterous!”

“Magicians, what stupid mistake…… You couldn’t make the magic last?”

The warriors and knights blamed their allies. Actually, the magicians had put their souls in to the magic attack.

“The magic was normal from beginning to end. How unbelievable……”

It was a fierce fire magic that burned away dozens of lives on the battlefield. It was a wide area magic by default but the individual hit had endured it.

The attack that consumed more than one third of their mana was blocked.

Bahamorg started his attack.

“Turbulent Split!”

His used his axe and hammer on the Hermes Guild users.

Despite being blocked with a shield, the power was enough to blast them back 10 metres. Gernika and Seville fought the Hermes Guild users on the side.

The fallen Hermes Guild users tried to stand back up. They would have an advantage in a prolonged war due to the priests.

“We have to support our own side.”

“We simply have to hold out as planned.”

The priests cast healing magic towards the warriors. But Bahamorg was reducing their health at an unbelievable rate.

“Save your mana. Prepare for a long battle!”

“Treat people who suffered damage one on one and refrain from using wide area recovery skills. Just stop the warriors from dying!”

The priests and shamans were strong support.

The alliance of 3 parties that was considered impregnable was pierced through by Bahamorg. In fact, breaking through with a skill like warrior’s dash would cause considerable damage. Despite being besieged from all sides, Bahamorg didn’t feel any fear.

Even so, this was a pre-planned tactic.

Weed had come up behind the Hermes Guild priests without them noticing it. He had secretly moved when the huge explosion engulfed Bahamorg’s body in smoke.

An assassin’s movement. He didn’t have the skill of a thief or assassin but it was easy if their vision was blocked.

He had moved to the rear while the opponent’s gazes were completely focused on Bahamorg.

“Dual Swordsmanship!”

Weed slashed with the Daemon Sword and a sword he picked up in the Gold Mine Dungeon.

“Surprise, surprise attack!”

He hadn’t properly learned Dual Swordsmanship but the power from Sculptural Destruction meant he was strong enough to attack the defenseless priests.

Weed swept through the priests and shamans in the warrior and then headed for the warriors.

“Huhuhu, a simple victory.”

The battle with the 3 party alliance of the Hermes Guild ended in a short period of time.

“Kuwaaah!”

“What the, so strong!”

The onlookers stared on with doubt.

– The Holy Elegant Uniform has been acquired.

– The Platinum Belt has been acquired.

Weed steadily collected items.

The things he obtained were better than the items that dropped with hunting monsters. The Hermes Guild didn’t wear cheap things so the profit was enormous.

Weed licked his lips.

‘Jackpot. After I finish hunting in this dungeon, I will gain one more level.’

Level up in one day!

Considering Weed’s level, this was a close to impossible growth rate.

The vast majority of Hermes Guild users had immense infamy so killing them would give him huge experience.

This rapid growth was to the extent of completing several quests. In addition, there wasn’t much risk in hunting so his growth rate was many times faster than normal.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Atarog’s Lair!

There was only method for the Hermes Guild users after the 3 party alliance was defeated.

“Get out right now!”

“Which direction are those guys coming from? Where are those guys….?”

“Rest assured. They are busy with monsters and won’t be able to catch us.”

The Hermes Guild users with high pride chose to run. It was an unfamiliar sight to the normal users hunting.

They went deep inside the dungeon to hunt. They had hope due to the level of the monsters in Atarog’s Lair.

But the evil spirits roamed in Atarog’s Lair.

Weed wore the Devil’s Helmet dropped by Montus in order to increase his attack power.

– You have worn the Devil’s Helmet.

Defense has increased by 161.

Your cruel mind will cause fear.

Faith will be reduced by 3.

The devil doesn’t collapse easily.

The endless defense will trigger depending on how the attacks are endured.

This state of defense  won’t collapse and will sometimes make the enemy’s attacks obsolete.

Your body will become stronger when injured.

Black magic that isn’t as strong as yours will have little effect.

Wisdom has increased by 98.

Knowledge has increased by 115.

Intermediate black magic will consume a minimum amount of mana.

The casting time of demonic magic will decrease.

All combat skills have increased by 12%.

This helmet can never be lost.

It will increase combat fame by 8,000.

When wearing the helmet, the title ‘Thirteenth Subordinate of the Devil’ will be applied.

“Huu, tremendous abilities.”

He used the Devil’s Helmet in high risk fighting.

A typical commercial equipment!

Weed’s body trembled as he saw the evil spirits.

– Kyahuhuhu, a servant of the devil.

– An evil seed.

The evil spirits were actually glad to see him.

His alignment now matched theirs so they didn’t feel like attacking. Warlocks and necromancers would also receive such preferential treatment. But if the evil power emitted was weak then the evil spirits would attack.

Weed’s fighting spirit was high enough to make the evil spirits avoid him.

– This is worrisome. Clear a path! Hihihihi.

– Let the devil’s minion pass. That human will make things a mess.

The evil spirits avoided Weed as he advanced.

Some of the low level spirits even followed behind him.

– Follow him. We can learn how to be evil from him.

– Look. The moment we’ve been waiting for has finally arrived. The devil’s servant will open up new despicable and cowardly avenues for us.

Ruler!

Weed led the evil spirits in Atarog’s Lair and used them to completely smash the Hermes Guild’s hunting parties.

He didn’t dare fight one on one against Bahamorg or Seo-yoon but his combat capabilities were high after using Sculptural Destruction.

An unprecedented amount of evil spirits swept over the Hermes Guild’s hunting parties.

– Kihehehehe. The doors of hell will open.

– Ahh, the fragrant smell of corpses.

As the battle continued, the Hermes Guild users ran away from the massacre.

“This is truly delicious. It is like delicious ramen soup.”

Weed’s chest swelled.

He had achieved his goal through pure submission but he still needed to be cautious.

Chapter 7: Weed the God of War

The Hermes Guild users rushing towards Atarog’s Lair were shocked to hear the news.

– The 3 party alliance has been wiped out. No one survived.

– The attackers. They are dragging evil spirits around the dungeon. Commanding them like subordinates.

– There are over 700 victims. It is expected that all the users in the guild will soon be wiped out.

Usually attackers could only wiped out one party of the Hermes Guild.

A handful of small fights.

It was very rare for small groups to be able to wipe out the powerhouse that was the Hermes Guild on the Versailles Continent.

But now more than 100 members of the guild had been swept away by only 5 people. It was an armed demonstration that was really hard to imagine.

“This…why the hell are the evil spirits following them? Is it possible they are over level 550?”

“The level isn’t important. They might have a special item that can increase power for a short period of time. We can still win.”

“The number of people can’t be ignored. They are 5 people while we are 300. We can’t let them run away so move quickly.”

The users still thought that they would win anyway.

But a dungeon was usually a narrow place. The one in the lead in an underground place could easily be killed.

‘Should I stay in the back and wait for a chance?’

But the power of this group was so great that they worried about this fight ending quickly.

Getting rid of the attacks would let them gain fame and loot so the guild members were very tempted.

Then someone riding a horse said.

“It isn’t unusual to find strong users in Royal Road. I thought about someone as soon as I heard the story about the attackers.”

“Who?”

The people had been thinking it was Carlise from the Black Lion Guild or Roam from the Roam Guild.

They were strong names representative of Royal Road.

“Weed.”

“Weed? Ah, Weed of the Arpen Kingdom. It might be Weed. Wait a minute, Weed?”

Weed, the God of War, was the only one counted as a match for Bardray on the Versailles Continent.

The Hermes Guild full of high pride and arrogance had suffered many defeats and setbacks due to Weed.

“Truly, talking like it is a joke.”

“Hey, that doesn’t sound right.”

“Still……”

“Weed is supposed to be in the north so why should he appear here? Don’t keep barking useless things and come on!”

The large group continued riding on their horses.

But the word Weed didn’t leave their heads.

‘Is there another user with these abilities?’

It was rare even on this spacious Versailles Continent.

Apart from the form of fighting in the dungeon.

‘A strong man leading adept subordinates. In the last war, there was a barbarian warrior with incredible movements.’

The strongest user among those rushing over, Philipan said in a loud voice.

“I don’t have a good feeling. Let me check it.”

“How?”

“A friend of mine died in the Gold Mine Dungeon. I will ask him to confirm whether it is Weed or not.”

Philipan made the proposal to contact his junior.

It was to determine if the attacker was Weed!

And the answer came in just 1~2 minutes.

Philipan exclaimed in surprise.

“I heard from Maro Master…he already had some thoughts about whether it is Weed!”

“……!”

“All the people here should know Weed’s combat skill.”

The users nodded.

“His skills are unpredictable. The equipment is also impossible to guess.”

“But what made him suspect it was Weed?”

The speed of the horses naturally slowed down.

“The victims in the Gold Mine Dungeon told a strange story. The opponent fought ruthlessly without sparing any lives and the members could do nothing against them. The defense, weapons, armour and composition of the opposing party is on a completely different level.”

“You all know his strength. It is one of Weed’s specialties. An uncommon and daring way of fighting.”

The Hermes Guild understood many of Weed’s skills

The guild received a lot of information and studied his combat skills.

In particular, they analyzed the special skills and weaknesses of strong users.

It was well known that Weed could raise stats such as strength and agility through destroying a sculpture.

The general sculptors didn’t have such special abilities.

“And the barbarian warrior…his equipment made him easier to identify as Weed’s subordinate who took place in the battle for the Earth Palace.”

“Then Weed really came to the Central Continent. How can that be?”

“We can’t be completely sure but I suspect it is Weed. Until the victims post videos on the bulletin boards and the guild analyzes it then we should assume it is Weed.”

“…….”

“Come on, let’s go. If we are right then this is an opportunity to get rid of Weed.”

Their movement speed suddenly accelerated.

Formos Castle.

It used to be the Tullen Kingdom and was now part of the Central Continent.

If they got rid of Weed then their names would spread across the continent and they would receive awards from the guild.

The Arpen Kingdom was an emerging headache so there would be large achievements for killing Weed.

They would play a great role in the unification of the continent.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

They arrived at Atarog’s Lair!

Puhihihihing!

The horses were foaming at the mouth after running for 1 hour.

“A lot of people are gathered.”

“Get rid of all of them.”

The entrance of the lair was filled with ordinary users.

It was originally a famous dungeon and the rumours that the Hermes Guild was being attacked had spread.

The guild members scattered the users and ran towards the entrance.

They could hear the spectators chattering.

“Is it really Weed?”

“Did you hear the story? The Hermes Guild has already almost all been wiped out.”

“Is there proof that it is Weed?”

“I heard from my acquaintance that Weed is leading the evil spirits like the God of War from Continent of Magic.”

“He is commanding them?”

“Shooting arrows, using a sword and various other professions if proof that he is Weed.”

“It is highly likely to be true.”

“I want to enter the lair.”

The Hermes Guild users were blocking the entrance.

“Everybody back!”

“The lair is closed for the time being!”

It was obvious to the bystanders that intense battles were occurring inside the lair.

In addition, the spectators could interfere to help Weed.

The news that Weed was attacking spread through the guild’s networks, villages and cities.

They made sure that Weed would be trapped in Atarog’s Lair.

“200 people will enter. The perfect preparation to wipe out Weed has been finished.”

The plan began once 400 people were gathered at the entrance.

Weed wouldn’t be able to use tricks to escape like he did in the Jigolaths.

The general users in Atarog’s Lair were expelled and a thorough search for Weed was conducted.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“The Tullen Kingdom has collapsed?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Then my research……”

“Her Majesty the Queen has died.”

“Ohu, it is the end. Then this black magic is completely useless.”

Weed was talking with the spirits of the nobility inside Atarog’s Lair.

He had defeated all the Hermes Guild users in the lair.

Weed pretended ignorance and said.

“Did you develop some black magic?”

The aristocrat spirit asked.

“What is the greatest achievement that humans pursue?”

A mystery.

Despite the question, this great secret had already been resolved.

The aristocrat spirits had confessed the secret to the necromancer Varenna.

“Beauty.”

“Youth and beauty being maintained forever. We were doing research on it. Now Her Majesty is dead so I will give it to you.”

The aristocrat spirit handed over 3 Elixirs of Beauty.

– The Elixir of Beauty produced by black magic has been acquired.

The name Elixir of Beauty is a large trap.

Health, strength, agility and resilience has increased by 20 but the faith and charm stat will dramatically drop.

Even luck will be reduced.

After drinking the Elixir of Beauty, the body will be affected for 1 year in Versailles Continent time.

At night, the skin will turn black like a demon is possessing the drinker.

Resistance will be strong after sunset but they will have the appearance of a beautiful monster.

‘Not everyone will drink it. The effect might be good on animals.’

Weed didn’t intend to drink it directly and was going to sell it.

“It is a really great research.”

“Kulkulkul, but the ingredients required to make it……”

“I can find it.”

“Ah, yes. The place to obtain the ingredients……”

“The Rotten Foam Swamp.”

“A long journey. Fortunately, there is a gate connection……”

“After entering the teleportation gate, there will be rotten skeletons holding a grudge. Immediate danger.”

Before the necromancer Varenna settled in the north, he was a member of the Dark Gamers.

She posted information about the aristocrat spirits on the Dark Gamers Union.

– Weed-nim. Right now the Beden Guild and Hermes Guild are in a state of emergency and are gathering a large force at Atarog’s Lair. They noticed that Weed-nim is there.

Weed heard the news from Mapan’s employee, the merchant Black Money.

“Hrmm, of course they would notice. If I think about it……”

He could use the narrow terrain of Atarog’s Lair but it was difficult to assure victory.

The enemies would continue to swarm and would be supported by priests so there was a substantial risk.

He needed to maximize the effectiveness of a hit-and-run strategy.

Weed recalled when he harassed the prestigious guilds in Continent of Magic.

If he disliked them then he would retaliate.

Even if he only received a small interference, he would retaliate hundreds of times without any forgiveness.

There were conversations offering compromises but he refused any negotiations.

A human villain!

Looking back, he was somewhat insane during that time.

It was a tender period for him.

“Do you think I am a bad person?”

Weed asked and Seo-yoon shook her head.

“No.”

“I’m not trying to be good. This society is rotten.”

“That’s right.”

During his days as ruler of the desert, Seo-yoon would give him information.

Weed knew the important parts but she told him the conditions of the area, the characteristics of the monsters and if any support would come from other areas.

“Then let’s go to the next place.”

“I have prepared boxed lunches.”

“Perfect.”

He could get quite a lot of experience and loot in the Rotten Foaming Swamp.

There were many monsters manufactured by black magic and fighting them would raise faith and affinity to nature.

Depending on the achievements, he could also gain wisdom and strength.

Weed, Seo-yoon and his subordinates passed through the teleportation gate.

He was ready to beat up the Hermes Guild users again.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

A few hours after the raid on the Gold Mine Dungeon and Atarog’s Lair.

The spectators wrote and uploaded videos about the slaughter of the Beden Guild and Hermes Guild on the various forums.

– Weed took a knife to the Hermes Guild.

– 200, no more than 300 people lost their lives.

– He disappeared from Atarog’s Lair.

The broadcasting stations also broke the news while showing the video.

After a detail analysis of the videos from experts, it became known that the attacker was indeed Weed.

– Weed!

– Weed has started his revenge for the collapse of the Earth Palace.

– The God of War has moved!

The news from the broadcasting stations caused huge ripples.

People paid attention to the movements of Weed and Bardray.

But Weed had suddenly appeared on the Central Continent to attack the Hermes Guild.

The search operation in Atarog’s Lair couldn’t find Weed.

This was a big topic for all users on the Versailles Continent.

And one day passed.

While Royal Road, the broadcasting networks and the internet was being turned upside down, Weed had finished hunting in the Rotten Foaming Swamp.

There was no interference as many people were watching the television!

“Then we will head to Wancheonhan Fortress next. If Gold Mine Dungeon is perfect for obtaining riches, Wancheonhan Fortress is perfect for hunting.”

Wancheonhan Fortress was located a little bit away from Poros Castle of the old Tullen Kingdom.

The Tullen Kingdom historically built fortresses on steep terrain but the construction of Wancheonhan Fortress was stopped due to budget problems.

Wancheonhan was called a fortress but only half of it was built and the other half was in ruins.

After the fortress was abandoned, it was swarmed with random monsters, bandits and thieves.

The basic level went beyond 390 and it was a large scale base.

There were magicians, archers, assassins, mercenaries and bandits mixed in.

The area around Wancheonhan Fortress was an extreme danger zone on the Versailles Continent.

They frequently looted nearby cities.

As time passed and the overall level increased, the fortress was turned into a great hunting ground.

Great combat materials, special treasures, quest rewards and loot from the robbers could be obtained after a subjugation.

Wancheonhan Fortress was one of the best hunting grounds on the Central Continent.

There was a smile of satisfaction on Weed’s face.

He had suffered damage due to the Hermes Guild’s invasion of the north.

But now Weed had entered the Central Continent and could return that damage.

He would mobilize every trick developed from Continent of Magic to fight and fool the enemy.

“I expect that there will be a festival after teleporting to Wancheonhan Fortress.”

Seo-yoon looked at Weed who was feeling proud about being a villain.

“Don’t work too hard and rest.

“I am enjoying this. I haven’t even started yet.”

They were in the mountains near the Rotten Foaming Swamp and Poros Castle.

“Kuweeek!”

Wy-1 and Wy-3 were waiting in the woods.

“Today we will ride Wy-1. Is that okay?”

“I will put up with the inconvenience.”

Wy-1 and Wy-3 had been painted in various shades of blue for camouflage.

He could use Yurin’s Picture Teleportation but he needed to move an enormous amount of loot.

Wy-3 with its flat back was the best at carrying the baggage. Wy-3 was used to move it!

“Kuwaaaak!”

Wy-3 shrieked with every heavy load.

Its leg staggered and its head sagged to the ground.

Weed gave an order to Bahamorg.

“Be careful when loading. Tie it with rope and make sure not to drop anything.”

“Understood.”

The backpacks were perfectly tied on Wy-3.

“Wy-3.”

Weed spoke softly to Wy-3 but his eyes were flashing.

“Do you want to live a long time?”

“…….”

“It isn’t easy to live a long life in this world. You will feel hungry, cold, sick and hungry. Once I dispose of all this, I will give you warm fleece clothing.”

“Kauuuck.”

Wy-3 shed tears of joy.

The wyverns were sensitive to the cold and they were often around the freezing Bingryong.

Warm fleece clothing would go a long way for the wyverns.

Seo-yoon tenderly stroked Wy-3’s head.

‘Pitiful.’

She saw through it.

Giving Wy-3 fleece clothing would make riding it more comfortable.

Wy-3 would be busy working in the future.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Weed is attacking.”

Lafaye reported calmly.

The rebels in the Haven Empire wasn’t as important as the information about Weed.

“It is surprising but should we wait and see? Or should we retaliate?”

Lafaye was filled with worry.

The wide Central Continent.

The Haven Empire had dozens of big battles a day due to the rebels.

The army moved to the central area and swept up the rebels, temporarily stabilizing the area.

Law and order in the Central Continent needed to be maintained for the sake of the future.

In the past, the Haven Empire had easily neutralized any rebels.

But as public sentiment worsened due to the constant wars, rebels continued to form.

The Cloud Guild, Lion Star, Roam Guild and Black Sword Mercenaries.

They were prestigious guilds in the past and were trying to recover territory in the Haven Empire.

More than half of the Imperial Army was mobilized to contain their forces.

The Haven Empire couldn’t overlook the crisis.

“Send some people immediately. If we kill Weed then we have practically conquered the continent.

“I will go.”

“Please send me. I will lead some knights and get rid of him.”

The temporary Imperial Palace of the Haven Empire.

A room in Aren Castle has been converted into a meeting room.

Weed was in the Central Continent so this was a golden opportunity to catch them.

The medium ranked users in the Hermes Guild asked to be sent.

Lafaye thought for a moment before saying.

“I also agree with the perspective of getting rid of Weed. But he isn’t a fool and won’t stay close to Poros Castle so how will we catch him?”

“We should pursue him from now on.”

“It has been confirmed that he can change his species through sculpting.”

“We just need to form a large encirclement and find him.”

“He could ride the wyverns in the sky.”

“Then mobilize the griffon corps.

The Haven Empire’s griffon corps!

The griffon corps was one of the most powerful forces in the Haven Empire.

They were used to conquer the Kallamore Kingdom and continued to receive support to build their power.

Now they were placed on the border area of the Gradian Kingdom and Nest Kingdom in order to fight the rebels.

A total of 5,000 griffons were locked like shackles to that area.

Lafaye was tempted to pull away a few griffons but gave up.

In the past, the primary goal of the Hermes Guild was to get rid of their enemies.

Wiping out a few rebels would have been an easy task in the past.

They needed to stabilize the empire so they couldn’t afford to cause a large event by chasing Weed.

‘After the empire is stabilized, we need to destroy the north. I can’t handle this event in the way that I want to.’

Lafaye cleared his thoughts and said.

“We can’t dispatch troops on a large scale to chase just one person. It will be shameful if we miss. The current priority of the Haven Empire is to maintain our policies.”

The Haven Empire decided to continue focusing on security and internal affairs.

They didn’t know where Weed would appear since he was like a mole.

But they committed troops in areas where he was likely to appear.

If Weed appeared in those areas then they could respond immediately.

They also put a bounty on Weed’s head.

Lafaye simple had to sit back and watch and the Hermes Guild would still receive benefits.

‘Even if he damages us ten times, the big fish will be caught in the end. This will be the last reckless challenge.’

The Hermes Guild would eventually overpower the rebels.

After trampling on their last hope, they would unconditionally obey the rules.

The ambitious lords of the Haven Empire would show them the difference in power.

Many thoughts overflowed as Weed continued causing damage to the Haven Empire.

Chapter 8: Crushing Blow

Weed stood on a plateau overlooking Wancheonhan Fortress.

Wiiing!

The wind blowing caused his cloak to flap.

“Goldman.”

“Gol gol gol.”

“Yellowy.”

“Ummoooooo.”

“Being frugal is necessary to live well. But risks are needed to order to get rich.”

Weed was wearing a cape he looted from a Hermes Guild user he killed.

In most cases, there was no level limit on cloaks and were easy to sell for money.

The Black Drake Cloak was something everyone on the Versailles Continent wanted to see but it was difficult.

It increased physical and magic defense by default and increased movement speed by up to 7% depending on the level of the person wearing it.

If the wind blew then the wearer could temporarily float on it.

Unlike flying magic, it couldn’t go against the flow of the wind but it was immensely fast.

In addition, the wearer wouldn’t crash even when falling from a very high place.

Weed laughed, revealing his teeth.

“Huhuhu.”

A despicable and vile smile that revealed white teeth!

“Shall we go get the harvest?”

Seo-yoon had terminated the connection early to prepare dinner. She was a big help in battle but the power was maintained even if she was gone.

He just thought of more devious methods.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Did you hear about the big deal that happened in the Gold Mine Dungeon?”

“There was a sweeping search for Weed.”

“Troops were dispatched to reinforce the checkpoints but he hasn’t been caught.”

“If he comes here then we will smash him.”

“Kukuku, we are different from those fools.”

7 members of the Hermes Guild were resting around a fire.

Despite this being in the vicinity of Wancheonhan Fortress, the thieves and monsters regularly went around patrolling.

The users stayed in this place to get rid of them.

The fortress was filled with thieves and monsters so the patrols on the outskirts were often hunted. If they entered deeper into the fortress then it would be fighting without any breaks.

This was the best place to gain levels.

Weed watched the Hermes Guild users intently from the woods.

“Hey guys, a blitz attack. Does everybody know?”

“Understood, Master.”

He had brought Goldman, Yellowy, Bahamorg, Gernika, Seville, Vindex, high elf Eltin and White Tiger.

This was more than enough to eat properly.

“Go straight.”

Weed, Goldman and the high elf Eltin sprang up and fired arrows towards the campfire.

“Maybe Weed might be in the area without us knowing.”

“It can’t be. He would never come so close to the city.”

Pushushuk!

“Cough!”

“An assault!”

The chatting Hermes Guild members were hit with arrows.

The arrows that Weed and Eltin fired were engulfed in fire and wind.

They came down like a wave and the head was buried in the ground.

“Shouldn’t I use the elementals? Summon Dirtman, Fiery Pebble and Xing Xing!”

“Keheheheh! Great owner of the elementals, we have come because of Sculptor Weed-nim!”

“A handsome man, the greatest genius! A glorious name, no one can resist the glorious Weed for fear of triggering the earth’s anger!”

“…….”

Dirtman and Fiery Pebble showed up and annoyed the enemies.

There was no need to talk about the elementalists who had great affinity with the spirits.

Weed had brainwashed the elementals so they said things like this.

“Blazing flame of loyalty. My heart burns towards Weed-nim!”

“The earth can endure even when a typhoon hits it. It is because we are in the presence of the handsome and charming Weed-nim.”

“…….”

Xing Xing the wind elemental was ashamed and didn’t say anything.

It would just sometimes use the flames and dust to draw a heart mark.

Generally the elementals were free and didn’t show absolute loyalty but Weed’s were different.

“W-Weed is here!”

“Kwaaek!”

Bahamorg, Gernika, Seville, Vindex and White Tiger quickly annihilated the enemy. This was the effect of a surprise attack.

Weed collected the loot.

He didn’t have time to verify the item information but his hands were heavy. He instinctively perceived it through his heavy hands!

“Those guys will know!”

Unless they were fools, they would have reported Weed’s attack through the network.

“Go.”

Weed took his subordinates and headed to the first place.

Only Hermes Guild users were hunting in Wancheonhan Fortress.

This was an exclusive zone where other users were prevented from hunting.

“I’ve never seen those people before.”

“They clearly belong to the attack group!”

A 6 member party of the Hermes Guilds tumbled upon them.

Weed’s answer was to baptize them with arrows along with Goldman and Eltin.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

Van Hawk and Torido were also summoned in the enemy territory!

Yellowy, White Tiger, Gernika and Vindex rushed towards the enemy and destroyed them in an instant.

A lightning fast battle took place!

“Keep going.”

Weed knocked down everyone he saw.

He didn’t give time for any parties to join together like they did in Atarog’s Lair.

“Jaejaejaek, enemies located 150 metres to the right!”

Silver Bird acted as a scout in the sky and announced the location of the Hermes Guild users.

“Moving east. Other enemies are found at 400 metres. There are four parties in a 1km radius.”

“White Tiger!”

“Grrrr!”

“Stop them from running. Torido spread out darkness to help hide him. And the rest will take a detour to attack.”

“Yes!”

The sculptural lifeforms replied energetically.

“Yellowy.”

“Ummoooooo.”

“Don’t worry about the enemies. You have to endure for a minute.”

“…….”

Yellow sat down on the ground and covered his head.

“That’s right. Carry my baggage well.”

Seville, Gernika, Vindex, the wyverns and Bingryong had a different fighting spirit.

Weed’s commands meant the morale of his subordinates went up.

“Uhit, those guys are aiming for our treasure.”

“Give me all your money. If you take off your clothes then you can keep your lives. I am an honest thief so you can believe me!”

They also met the bandits at Wancheonhan Fortress.

Patrol units were circling the outskirts of the fortress.

Groups of 30 to 100 people would go and invade nearby villages and dungeons.

That’s why it was risky to enter the dungeons near Wancheonhan Fortress.

On the other hand, if they were lucky then a huge windfall could be obtained from fighting the monsters and bandits.

In the past, users tried to hunt some low level boss monsters  and had great success.

Weed met a group of 12 bandits.

“Sheesh, they are interfering. Bahamorg, you don’t need to kill everything.”

“Understood!”

Bahamorg jumped to the front.

The barbarian warrior fought the thieves holding ropes, daggers and poisoned arrows.

Barbarians had high resistance but even they could be poisoned.

“Pincer!”

Weed attacked the bandits with his subordinates.

“Strong.

“Run away.”

“Let the captain know!”

After killing the rest, the remaining 4 people started to flee.

The thieves were a huge presence in the fortress so the key to hunting was to finish them all off. They might yell and gather their allies so magic to cause silence was required.

This was the best hunting location as long as the thieves were prevented from calling reinforcements.

Understandably, the parties they were hunting would become stronger as they went deeper.

The thieves made some changes like installing traps but the stone fortress was almost intact. If all the roads were identified then it was possible to take advantage of them to escape.

There were many drunk thieves sleeping in the fortress so stealing their money would yield a profit.

For thieves, assassins and adventures who could secretly invade, this was the best hunting ground.

On the other hand, if the guards inside the fortress noticed then there would be a huge pursuit. It was a crisis where the whole party might be wiped out.

In any case, they couldn’t miss any of the thieves in battle!

Weed didn’t try to stop the thieves scattering in all directions.

“Eltin, leave it alone.”

“Master, it is dangerous.”

“I know. But I need some to escape.”

He continued with hunting the next group of thieves.

Enough time had passed that some Hermes Guild parties had joined together.

“There is an ambush of 4 archers in the south.”

The specialty of Silver Bird, scouting!

Usually a bird’s eyesight was limited at night but that didn’t apply to Silver Bird.

Its eyes shone bright like an owl.

The Hermes Guild was already scrambling to respond.

“White Tiger, detour and attack. Seville will ride you.”

“Yes!”

“We will join 500 metres ahead.”

Weed would attract the attention of the targets while White Tiger and Seville aimed at the archers from behind.

In 15 minutes, he had wiped out more than 40 people in the outskirts of Wancheonhan Fortress.

By this time, there was an uproar inside the fortress.

The Hermes Guild figured out that Weed was attacking.

“Won’t there be a large preparation to welcome me?”

There were several battle facilities inside the unfinished fortress that could be repaired. Every time someone tried to attack through a hole, it would be blocked with tight security.

The fortress was covered in darkness with only some torches around the gates and walls. The darkness gave the wide fortress a heavy and dismal atmosphere.

“Goldman.”

“Gol gol gol.”

“What do you call that?”

“Fortress.”

“Hmm, it isn’t wrong but…… Bahamorg.”

“Frontal assault? It will fall by the time the sun rises.”

Weed gave a deep sigh.

Despite having strength, he couldn’t recklessly rush forward.

Bahamorg could win in a one on one fight with users but that didn’t mean he was invincible. He could fall into a trap or lose his life during a war. It would be a waste if Bahamorg died.

In addition, the users of the Hermes Guild were flocking towards the fortress.

Due to the considerable distance between the city and the teleport gates, it would take a while for them to arrive on a large scale.

If hundreds of thousands attacked then Weed and his sculptural lifeforms would lose their lives.

“Bahamorg, that doesn’t make sense. We can’t be careless. A mere 10 people can’t siege a fortress.”

“This, are we retreating?”

Weed silently stared at the fortress.

A serene silence was engulfing Wancheonhan Fortress.

“At this point, we’ve already achieved the desired results.”

Yellowy approved of this.

“Omooooo, let’s go eat hot food and rest.”

The Hermes Guild users had lost dozens of lives in half a day.

The effect of the surprise attack was enough to cause satisfaction.

But Weed hadn’t become the God of War on Continent of Magic for nothing.

“That makes sense but……”

“……?”

“For the sake of my mental health, I can’t give up. We will create a mess.”

Weed breathed out lightly. And then he yelled with all his might.

“All thieves gathered at Wancheonhan Fortress, listen!”

Lion’s Roar rang out in the late night.

The loud sound would travel from the top of an apartment building to the bottom.

The thieves sleeping inside the fortress lit up various torches.

“Thieves! My subordinates hidden inside the fortress will steal all the treasures you have collected so far. You are now dead!”

Kukukung!

It was like a bolt out of the blue for the Hermes Guild users lurking inside the fortress.

“It is like a sudden lightning bolt.”

“This is crazy!”

Wancheonhan was the best hunting ground with strong thieves and monsters.

Therefore, only people who had proven abilities and wouldn’t be a burden to others could hunt here.

If they couldn’t withstand it then they should at least die without making a sound.

Weed yelling inside the fortress was a completely irresponsible action.

Of course, the effect was high.

“Intruders.”

“The guards at the south have disappeared. Find those guys.”

More than 100 thieves were dragged out.

The Hermes Guild were hiding in corners or warehouses or the basement. They were good spots with high traffic to hunt in Wancheonhan Fortress.

Battles soon broke out after the thieves started searching. The previously silent Wancheonhan Fortress was filled with swords and magic. It was lit up like the middle of the day.

“Weed, that bad guy!”

“Using such a dirty method. Bring it on. I will remove your heads!”

“Stupid thieves. Weed is out there. Catch Weed!”

The Hermes Guild users also shouted.

Weed and his group had been standing far back after using Lion’s Roar.

The thieves that came out didn’t find anything so they headed back to the fortress.

It was natural for the battles to continue inside the fortress.

Kurururung!

And there was the heavy sound of the gates closing.

Weed cleaned his ears with his fingers.

“Life will last a little bit longer.”

He could also hear the far away curses from the Hermes Guild members.

It felt like a cosy home being disparaged.

“These days I have been living properly. I would like some quiet.”

“Ummoooooo.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Keheok!”

“Hak, hak, hak.”

The Hermes Guild members breathed roughly.

“Survived.”

“We did it.”

The users hunting in the area were approximately 70 people. Many of them spent more time in hunting grounds than cities.

Due to the abrupt battles with the thieves, only 23 people were left.

The thieves used an endless wave strategy that was hard to endure. But the Hermes Guild succeeded in surviving the great risk. They were able to maintain their lives thanks to scattering apart.

“It was really tough.

“You did a really good job. There will be a lot of achievements.

The Hermes Guild felt a sense of accomplishment.

They gained a significant amount of fame and stats in the fight against the thieves.

Such achievements didn’t happen often for their professions.

There were some sacrifices but they could boast about beating the thieves at Wancheonhan Fortress.

‘We survived the trap that Weed laid.’

That thought passed through the heads of the survivors.

All events involving Weed were likely to be broadcasted. There was no doubt this would also be shown.

‘Should I tip the stations first?’

They had triumphed despite Weed’s tricks.

“Weed isn’t anything special.”

“Strength has been gathered properly. The other regions were taken by surprise and collapse but that won’t happen to us.”

“It is over once he enters the fortress.”

“He won’t be able to withdraw, hahaha.”

Weed coming to Wancheonhan Fortress had been revealed so reinforcements from the Hermes Guild would come.

The reinforcements who had dropped what they were doing to head to Wancheonhan Fortress suddenly gave excuses that they were busy.

It might take several hours to hunt Weed and the members were aware of the crisis and didn’t want to risk themselves.

Besides, the situation would have probably ended by the time the reinforcements arrived.

The Hermes Guild had already received a massive blow so they weren’t willing to sacrifice themselves.

The Hermes Guild members had their health and mana exhausted so they sat down to rest.

“It seems like we will appear on the broadcast today.”

“We have showed our courage and skills.”

“It is enough if we keep hunting in the fortress……”

Swaeeeek!

A arrow pierced into the chest of a chatting user.

Hwarururuk!

Flames enveloped the user.

“Kwaaek!”

The user didn’t have much health remaining so they soon died as arrows continued flying.

Dozens of arrows poured towards the other users.

“It seems like there are more bandits.”

“Hide!”

The users hid themselves behind pillars and walls. They wanted to somehow survive. The higher level they were, the more penalties there would be when they died.

‘They must have been waiting for a chance to fight.’

‘Dirty bastards. No one is coming out.’

‘The thieves killed my friend so I will resolve this.’

Despite being exhausted, the users rushed out of their hiding spots.

Anyway, most of their health and mana had recovered.

It was more profitable to take the lead.

But the arrows curved instead of flying straight and hit the backs of the users.

“A curving arrow!”

Arrows that penetrated the wall also hit the users.

‘Do thieves have such high archery skills?’

Each of the users hit by the arrows were also affected by water, earth or air. The elementals had added special effects to the arrows.

Questions filled the heads of the Hermes Guild users.

Weed, Goldman and Eltin appeared firing arrows at the end of the hallway.

“Weed is back!”

Weed had finally returned.

He had come out at the worst moment.

“Lululu.”

Weed hummed while walking.

“Damn!

A user boldly came out from their hiding spot.

He avoided the arrows fired by Weed and ran down another corridor. He left his colleagues behind to escape.

The excellent Hermes Guild!

“First……”

The other users blamed themselves for being one step too late. And they ran out of time once the first users ran away.

One person had already fled beyond Weed’s boundaries. Being too early wasn’t good but too late would cause the worst situation.

“Uaaaack!”

Then the screams of the first user who fled could be heard.

“Ahung!”

White Tiger let out a big roar.

The Hermes Guild users here were already under siege.

Weed leisurely said.

“Take your time. You are all dead now anyway.”

Words that didn’t care about the feelings of the other person.

It was the same tone he used when indiscriminately slaughtering the prestigious guilds in Continent of Magic.

But above all, the words made them tremble in anger.

They were about to break down with frustration.

“The milk delivery is late. Can you go quickly?”

“No labor costs, labor costs.”

“It was good in the past. These days, the kids have weak spirits and aren’t any fun.”

The Hermes Guild expected to reign dominant on the Versailles Continent.

‘He wanted to kill us in the first place.’

It was the first time they realized that they had been prey from the beginning.

The feeling of picking up food fallen to the ground.

Weed gave off that impression.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Here.”

The heart of Wancheonhan Fortress.

After defeating the Hermes Guild members, Weed had led his subordinates to defeat the leader of the thieves.

The remnants of the thieves were killed while coming here but it ended up being just light fights.

“Bring it on, thieves!”

Bahamorg shouted with fighting spirit towards the thieves.

The morale of the thieves was already shattered after their leader died so they fled.

Weed found a vault.

It looked like a few thieves had tried to break open the locks after their captain died.

After some time passed, the thieves disappeared with the belongings of their dead captain.

So Weed came straight here. Weed took out a rusty key.

After eliminating the Hermes Guild members, he had acquired the key as loot from the leader of the thieves.

“I must have been a politician who betrayed my country in my past life. Hrmm, but sometimes I had a good hearted official who accepts bribes.”

Weed inserted the key and turned it.

Kkirik.

Treasures appeared once the vault was opened.

The vault was filled with gold, silver and jewellery.

“Uhehehehe!”

One side of Weed’s mouth rose.

“Gol gol gol gol!”

Goldman standing on the side was also delighted.

Ddiring!

– You have received the treasures of Wancheonhan Fortress.

The treasure stolen by the thieves has been obtained.

Due to this victory, all stats have increased by 1.

The title ‘Thief Leader Subduer’ has been acquired.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Gold Mine Dungeon, Atarog’s Lair and Wancheonhan Fortress were just the beginning.

Weed raided areas like Shield Tomb, Highland Magician’s Dungeon and Valkyrie’s Secret Base and wiped out all the Hermes Guild users.

A huge 470 people died in a period of 3 days!

The activities took place in the old Britten Alliance Kingdom and Lasalle Kingdom. Due to the aftermath, the number of Hermes Guild users in the hunting grounds shrank.

Weed was having fun due to the attacks.

The Hermes Guild was earnestly working to secure peace so many famous dungeons were empty.

He disguised himself as a general user with Sculpture Transformation and paid the admission fee to hunt in the dungeons.

Of course, his goal wasn’t an ordinary hunt.

– All zones of the Black Servant Dungeon has been broken.

Your bravery has been demonstrated when subduing the monsters.

– The underground labyrinth of Kingdom Fortress has been thoroughly collapsed.

Opening new horizons in geography has increased the fertility of the soil by 2.

– The boss monster in the Illeicha Mountain Dungeon has been captured.

If you bring it to the magic guild for study then a great reward can be gained.

He used Sculptural Destruction to speed up the rate of the hunt and gained many achievements!

Seo-yoon and the sculptural lifeforms such as Seville and Gernika also enjoyed the benefits of hunting in the dungeons.

When Weed and the sculptural lifeforms entered, they killed at least 15~25 monsters each.

The Sebas Underground Maze was a particular highlight.

Wy-3 folded its wings and tottered along the narrow passages.

“Kukiiik! Hot, dark and frustrating.”

Nile the crocodile also suffered in the cave due to its body and tail getting stuck.

“Kkueeeee!”

“Shut up, don’t walk too fast or let your tail hit the ground. Anyway, leave any incompetent ones alone.”

The general users saw the scene of Weed and the sculptural lifeforms passing by.

It was quite an amazing sight.

“Weed-nim, there, sign……”

“I won’t sign. Instead, do you want a sculpture?”

“How much?”

“I will lose money if I sell it for anything less than 30 gold.”

“I’ll buy. 10 please!”

“I’ll sell you something cute and pretty.”

“Yes yes, it is an honour.”

The popularity of his sculptures!

Sculptures of the wyverns, Bingryong and Yellowy were popular everywhere.

“I have earned over 1,000 gold so I will give you a model fee. Each of you will earn 5 silver. As long as you do this on a daily basis.”

“I will soon be rich, omoooo.”

“It is thanks to meeting such a great master.”

Sometimes the savvy users frowned.

“It is a common wooden sculpture that can be purchased in stores. Even if it is made by Weed-nim, that is a little overpriced……”

Weed was in a bad mood.

The work contained an artist’s soul so having the commercial price refused caused his stomach to hurt.

The material was important but they also needed to look at the work itself.

Weed said in a low voice.

“Then I will lower it. Make a suggestion first.”

“First, I would like to apologize.”

“Please just talk at ease.”

“30 gold is too expensive so will 20 gold be okay?”

“I care about being an artist more than selling it at an expensive price. So I will sell.”

The value of the materials didn’t matter.

They were just made from wood or stone picked up while hunting.

It was made quicker than a carving machine in a factory.

Although he obtained money and loot from the Hermes Guild, it was an important to keep selling sculptures.

He needed to increase his energy of the moment in order to use Time Sculpting.

Handing sculptures to users would sometimes increase energy of the moment.

The skill proficiency of sculpting barely increased.

It was important for a sculpting master to leave footprints behind.

Chapter 9: Haven Empire Raid

Weed played energetically through the Central Continent and every move became known to the users.

“Have you heard? The king of the Northern Continent is fearless. He killed the murderers and thieves in the Haven Empire.”

“A hero has appeared to fight against the murderous Haven Empire!”

“They are finally being caught! I never thought I would see those bastards caught in my lifetime…… The person who did it is called Weed.”

The residents chatted about it on a daily basis.

The knights and magicians of the Hermes Guild were losing their lives every day at an unprecedented rate.

Weed sold the videos to the broadcasting station.

“Due to our relationship so far, today’s videos haven’t been passed on to other stations yet.

“Ohh, exclusive?”

“For 3 hours. Deposit……”

“3 hours is very doable.”

“Kuhuhuhu.”

The broadcasting station quickly edited and showed the videos of Weed.

The reaction of the viewers was hot.

– Kyah, how great. Those jewel like combat skills.

– So amazing……

– I spent a whole day watching broadcasts of the game. I hope he sees it through to the end.

The reaction to the invasion of the Haven Empire was different from the war in the north.

The scale wasn’t comparable. But the ratings came out much higher and was enough to surpass some of Weed’s adventures.

The broadcasting stations that had become stagnant after the final secret sculpting technique quest and Earth Palace battle turned vigorous.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The new Royal Palace for the Arpen Kingdom in the north was being revealed by the architects.

Even the diligent architects couldn’t believe the quick construction speed.

In the past, the beauty of the majestic Earth Palace on the mountain peaks in the form of a crown could be seen from far away.

However, they couldn’t build it the same way after its collapse.

– If it can’t be high then build it significantly wider.

“Sculptors, let’s give a toast to the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Wah!”

“Drink this wine from Morata and then unite to help the construction. And we will make sure the building doesn’t collapse again.”

The great resolution of the architects.

The ambitious Earth Palace collapsed in order to deal large damage to the Haven Empire’s army.

This case dealt a blow to the architects’ pride and ego. They realized that there were several limitations with the terrain the Earth Palace was built on.

It was too small to represent the entire Northern Continent and the construction made it difficult for any visitors. The size of the area meant no more buildings could be built.

Now the construction of a palace that would lead to true prosperity was launched.

The debris on the large battlefield made the entire plains seem like a checkerboard. The construction started all at once instead of being divided into sections.

“Everybody cheer up, we can do it!”

The architects were responsible for the construction of the palace from beginning to end and the speed was incredible.

The inexperienced architects helped in secondary areas.

They used debris from the old palace and the collapsed soil and stones from the landslide became noticeably reduced every day.

The buildings were erected at the same time over a vast area and the architect’s pride meant there was a vast competition between them.

These buildings would have their names so they would be ashamed if the buildings were bad. These buildings would represent the Arpen Kingdom in the future and it was the same for the architects.

It was a construction site day and night!

The core of the Royal Palace was constructed by Mibullo who built the Haven Empire’s palace. As one of the leading architects on the continent, he concentrated all his efforts on this project.

“The king is a sculptor who deals with light. And it is sufficient to take advantage of nature when constructing the palace.”

Light played an important role in the construction. The exterior of the building needed to be visible day and night. The palace that symbolized the Arpen Kingdom would be majestic and gorgeous during the day. It was also supposed to be gentle and warm at night.

It wasn’t difficult for Mibullo to overcome the external design and construction materials.

“Is it actually important to make a roof?”

The key to decorating the Royal Palace was the roof.

Opinions on the subject varied widely. It could be rounded, angled or the typical architecture of different eras.

Most of the palace had a similar feeling but they wanted the Arpen Kingdom’s Royal Palace to have a unique feature. No matter how durable the building, it would be a failure if it had the wrong design.

The palace was big and complex so it was easy to get something wrong. The architects could be considered a type of artist but they always considered the convenience of the user.

Mibullo was the best architect on the continent.

He was at the peak just like the sculptor Weed so it would be shameful if he couldn’t build the palace.

“Yes, the Earth Palace was on top of the mountains. It was a short but memorable part of history so some of it needs to be preserved!”

The Earth Palace was built on 7 peaks. Thus the palace had 7 white tower roofs. The support of the sculptors was received as every white brick was delicately carved with animals and plants living in the north.

This would be used as a symbolic meaning. The tallest tower in the centre of the enemy’s invasion was hung with blessed, silver bells.

The palace was divided into several floors so the ceilings needed to give a sense of openness.

The spacious central hall needed to be large enough to accommodate more than 1,000 people. It was the main hall where Weed would take care of internal affairs and meet visitors from other kingdoms.

The ceiling and walls of the building had windows that would shine sunlight through to represent the bright future. The sculptors made pieces while the painters drew artwork on the ceiling and walls.

Compared to the gold, jewels and frivolity of the Haven Empire’s palace, this Royal Palace was completed with the efforts of many users.

The flowers, trees and lake gave it a simple but cosy feel. Large trees were planted on the lawn as a place for avians to relax and play. Sparrows could often be seen sleeping in the grass on the construction site.

The architect Pavo decided to give their roads on the buildings and walls. Until now, he had taken the lead in the Grand Buildings but he made a significant amount of concessions.

He was looking forward to the great skills from the architects who moved over from the Central Continent.

The new palace was successful and Dawn City was also transformed.

The architects outstanding in urban planning were working on the Royal Palace. In the end, Dawn City was taken on by novice architects so it was expected that there would be many insufficient points.

The city was being built on wide plains. Even if they used only one square construction, it would be difficult to make it both beautiful and comfortable. The harmony with other buildings, commercial district, residential district, mercenary guild and profession guilds needed to be taken into account. The head architects also placed small waterways through the city.

“Somehow we can create it but…are we really the best?”

“I feel afraid just imagining the scene where users are pouring into the square and streets to complain. Terrible.”

In the case of Morata, Weed placed squares that a lot of people used. It needed to be spacious enough to accommodate the increasing number of people.

Novices, merchants and artists then warmly decorated the square and streets. However, thorough planning was required to build Dawn City into the centre of politics and commerce. If it was shoddily made then it would need to be fixed over time.

“It can’t just be us. Let’s get some help from other professions.”

Many painters and sculptors waiting at the palace construction site were interested.

“Make the city prettier? I had a few ideas about the design and colours.”

“Construction of a square…it can be called some type of formative arts. A sculptor won’t fail. Let’s create a shrunken model of the work. A down payment? I don’t need it. I can earn money from sculpting, hahaha.”

Painters refined the structure of the city while the sculptors made specific forms. In particular, the architects needed more manpower and the sculptors readily accepted.

“I’ve done a lot of brick laying and carrying sand. Where do you need me? As a sculptor in Royal Road, I have a lot of time. I will do anything to make money. Can you hire my friend as well?”

“O-of course.”

The sculptors worked well in groups. They were entrusted with heavy or difficult work. They had the sense of responsibility as an artist so they finished things neatly.

– Ya, I need to live.

– Yes. Vertigo.

– Are your sculptures selling well?

– 2 yesterday and 1 today. I was lucky. Tomorrow I can buy bread to eat. I have been starving for two days.

– Busy?

– I am just watching the water dripping from the fountain.

– There is a job so do you want to come to the Arpen Kingdom?

– Job?

– It should last for a few months.

– Money…

– It will be given depending on your workload and capabilities but you should have enough to eat. Shacks to live are also provided if you come to the Arpen Kingdom.

The artists on the continent and sculptors in Rhodium started to stir.

“What, there is work?”

“I will be given money and food? The construction budget is several million gold?”

“Wait a minute, say it again. The fellows who went first have enough to buy a house?”

Rhodium’s sculptors.

Thanks to Weed, the number of people who chose sculpting as a profession had dramatically increased.

The so-called second generation of Weed.

But life on the continent was far too harsh for sculptors. There was a fad of sculptures but most didn’t sell. Each user bought a few because of curiosity but they never needed more.

They could be sold to royalty or nobility but interest on the Central Continent turned away from art due to the war.

To be precise, the sculptors were earnestly persecuted by the Hermes Guild. The reason was simply due to Weed.

Sculptures sold in villages and cities were subjected to a lot of taxes. The sculptors felt frustrated due to this. Some changed to combat professions but others felt a lingering attachment and couldn’t leave.

The efforts of those who remained in Rhodium was insufficient.

“The north is a paradise for sculptors.”

“I’ve heard the rumours but is it really? Is there a place in this world where sculptors can live?”

“A friend of mine went to live in the north. He specializes in sculpting the avians and sells dozens of pieces in one day.”

The sculptors in Rhodium started to move. The pure sculptors had no combat ability so it was scary for them to leave the city. The sculptors were escorted by hunters and walked towards the north.

“How long until we arrive safely in the Arpen Kingdom?”

“Either monsters will kill us or we will die of starvation first. But there will be worse things than death if we don’t go.”

The Haven Empire had given a decree preventing movement to the north. Users found by patrols would be immediately executed.

The sculptors tried to bypass the Haven Empire. The Hermes Guild noticed the movement and gave a command for execution.

– The sculptors can’t be allowed to go to the north.

The knights chased them. Sculptors that were caught died.

But those who were alive continued heading to the north. Hope was burning in their chest!

The sculptors hung on for the hope of someday receiving recognition. The big dream overpowered their fears.

Finally, the avians heard the news and brought the sculptors to Dawn City.

The sculptors from Rhodium were put to work before even unpacking after the journey.

Dawn City was launched by architects, painters refined the detailed outline and sculptors took over the overall process.

The foundation of the city were shacks so even beginners could start. Many users participated in the construction of the Royal Palace and Dawn City.

“Work, work!”

“Money. Yes!”

The beginners who couldn’t escape the city for a period of time welcomed the work!

The users who could roam around brought building materials from mountains while the beginners carried them.

Digging, stone flooring, brickwork and repair work was done.

“Hey, this isn’t the jackpot. I am so tired that I can’t even replace the fluorescent lamp at home.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. The tap on my veranda has been broken for 2 years.”

“Stop talking and get back to work. This building is valuable.”

A study showed that many high school students, university students and people in their 20s and 30s flocked to unemployment.

This meant the number of new users connecting increased from millions to tens of millions. When looking at the statistics of where people were starting, Morata and Dawn City were in the top 5.

The users committed to labour for a hopeful future. The Earth Palace and Dawn City were still lacking in scale but many plans were in progress.

“We will continue to work hard while looking forward to what is in front of us.”

“My sculpting skill increases after I finish a building. It is also fun carving on walls and pillars.”

“Do you see the sand and stones piled over there? We will receive that.”

“Architect-nim, when will there be Grand Buildings? We should begin it today.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kuhahaha!”

Geomchi-3 burst out.

Numerous ghosts were in the air and on the ground.

The costume of the ghosts were worn and faded but the armour and clothing was from a past era. The ghosts were nestled deep in the treasure of the Pallos Empire.

After the battle at the Earth Palace, Geomchi had felt regret.

“The battle ended in a day?”

“I had been looking forward to it and wanted to savour it more. My body still isn’t full.”

It felt like his body was ready to eat a double serving of jajangmyeong, sweet and sour pork and sweet and sour chicken only to get pickled radish instead. He desperately wanted to relieve his thirst for battle.

So when Pale, Maylon and Pale said that the ghosts were too much when digging up the treasures, he was willing to help them.

Geomchi-3 shouted towards the ghosts.

“Bring on all the destroyers!”

“No!”

Irene shrieked.

Ghosts jumped towards Geomchi-3.

The ghosts unearthed from the treasures of the Pallos Empire were persistent. The ghosts needed to be removed systematically but Geomchi-3 excited them.

“A blow from a blessed sword……”

“52 Storm Blow!”

Geomchi-3 furiously slashed at the flying ghosts.

Just like when he fought against knights, he used spears and swords to attack the enemy. He showed complex movements against the ghosts.

But when he stabbed a ghost with a sword.

– Kihilhilhil! Human, you don’t have the power to destroy us fool.

“Do you think so? I am a professional in this field. I will put all of you to death!”

– Batalli’s Blessing has been applied.

Batalli is watching the battle with joy.

The blessing of trust.

Batalli was the god of fighting.

He didn’t care if a person was good or bad and even gave blessings to murderers.

A total of 5 people on the Versailles Continent were known to receive the blessing and 3 of those names belonged to the Hermes Guild.

They deliberately donated large sums to Batalli’s Church and deliberately manipulated struggles in order to be appointed as the ‘Destroyer of Struggle.’ They continued to struggle while showing valuable performances and obtained it after several deaths.

Geomchi-3 was appointed when he survived the battle for the Earth Palace. Many of the Geomchis could be appointed but there were few who survived until the end.

“Hahahahaha!”

Geomchi-3 burst out laughing.

He looked like a completely insane human. Geomchi-6 and the other students watching trembled.

“Envious.”

“So cool. As expected of Geomchi-3.”

“Look carefully. That is a man.”

Not an ordinary person but a sword crazy human.

“Kuwoooh!”

The other Geomchis charged in.

– H-Humans are flocking.

– We are the invincible knights of the Mapon Empire. Knights, listen up. Don’t avoid the challenge and take on the assault of the humans.

– Ohhh, assault!

The battle between the Geomchis and the ghosts. They used swords, hammers and axes.

Maylon covered her forehead with her hands.

“Oh my god. This isn’t it.”

Surka grinned while revealing her teeth.

“Fight!”

And she plunged into the midst of the battle between the Geomchis and the ghosts.

Irene raised her sleeve covered hand.

“My mana isn’t enough to save some of you from dying!”

A priests normally watched a battle with boredom. But once a battle became difficult, their eyes shone brighter than anyone else.

If mana ran out and their colleagues died then a priest would consider that a failure. A priest needed to be capable of treating concentrated or sudden attacks but they couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable if someone died.

The priests were dedicated to defense and healing but sometimes they led a party. Against strong monsters, the treatment magic determined whether they could hold out or flee.

Unlike other priests, Irene would not make a declaration to run away.

“Well, can I live? Give it a shot!”

Recovery magic required mana to be used.

So Irene needed to determine the right moment to not let her colleagues die. The skills she showed when worrying about the extinction of the party was completely different. A stable defense meant confident attacks.

“Hey, what is this? It is different from what I said. I was supposed to just be watching. It is difficult.”

Irene’s healing abilities were praised by others because she put all her heart into it.

The fighting ability of individuals differed depending on their judgement and quickness. But the scale of a raid or expedition was decisively influenced by the priests. Priests were the centre of the party as they took over the role of defense and treatment so they were a respected profession.

Furthermore, Irene was a priest who was born to heal. She blessed users passing by in the city and increased her skills. Her devotion and faith meant she had much higher skills than some users.

“Kuhathathat!”

“Smash all of them!”

Pale also fired his arrows among the Geomchis. He was one of those people who suffered every day. Something like this was normal and expected for him.

“Multiple Shot!”

Pale’s arrows penetrated dozens of ghosts. The damage caused by an archer dealt truly outstanding damage to areas where the ghosts were concentrated.

Geomchi, the instructors and the students swept up all the ghosts in just ten days. The number of ghosts hunted during that period was unbelievable.

Maylon acted as the representative and greeted them.

“Thank you. We couldn’t have done this on our own.”

She smiled with gratitude.

As a broadcaster, her laugh was polished and stylish.

Geomchi and Geomchi-2 were silent.

They didn’t know what to say despite both having girlfriends.

‘Even a man with a wife and child won’t necessarily know how to talk to women.’

The old men just sat down with cups of coffee.

Geomchi-3 then approached.

“Hmm hmm, excuse me.”

“Speak comfortably. I am much younger.”

Maylon’s laugh was as fresh as spring flowers.

She had been pushed aside many times due to Hwaryeong and Bellot’s appearance.

“But I can’t talk casually to you.”

“It is too awkward. I would feel a lot more comfortable if I could call you oppa.”

“Is that so?”

Geomchi-3’s tone instantly changed.

It was a low tone like a man from the Joseon Dynasty.

“Yes. We’ve started the cleanup but there are still many treasures buried beneath the lake. I tried to ask Mapan to send some workers to help but that isn’t enough. Can you help?”

“Of course. If you call then I will come at any time!”

The combination of Geomchi-3’s middle aged appearance and the young tone was strange. Nevertheless, the students were still respectful towards him.

‘He can even talk with women.’

‘A strong man, strong! So confident, I’m envious.’

Then Geomchi-3 asked with confusion.

“Treasure buried in the ground, does that mean we have to dig it up with a shovel?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“How many workers are being sent?”

“30 people.”

“Then there is no need to wait. There are many people playing here.”

Geomchi-3 looked at the group.

“Will you do it?”

“Of course.”

“Do some digging?”

“Let’s go digging!”

Almost half the students were in the southern desert but the rest were gathered here.

Geomchi-3 unabashedly said to Maylon.

“We can dig for days. You can leave it to us.”

“I am sorry for making you help in such a way.”

“No. I want to help.”

Geomchi-3 and the students started digging.

Irene cleansed any ghosts that appeared when treasure was dug up from the ground. But sometimes there would be things like treasure chests full of gold and dozens of ghosts would pop up.

The ghosts would try to take control of the area.

– Huhihihing!

– Kuhahaha! Finally the world again……

“Go to hell!”

Geomchi-195 hit it with a shovel.

Weapon Mastery was useful because they could use anything.

Among the treasures buried in the mud, a black sword with a suspicious, brilliant shine was excavated.

A ghost who was an earl of the Mapon Kingdom.

– Foolish humans, waking me up…kuheokheok.

The Earl Ghost looked around with dismay.

Including Geomchi and Geomchi-2, he was surrounded by 250 burly men holding weapons. Their eyes shone as they held weapons like swords, spears, maces and axes.

“It has been a while since I’ve had a taste.”

“He looks like a boss class monster, Teacher-nim.”

“I was getting bored as well. Don’t be too greedy.”

“Yes. I have heard Teacher-nim’s words!”

Geomchi, the instructors and students tackled the Earl Ghost. Their strength, agility, vitality etc., in Royal Road made them an unbelievable sight. Some did a drop kick while others threw axes.

A ruthless attack against the ghost! The fighting skills of Geomchi and the students had vastly increased. It was easy to catch a boss class monster in a large group so the ghost soon perished.

The students grinned at the ghosts.

“I’m going to become much stronger in the future. Then I will have a pretty girlfriend like Master-nim and Geomchi-2 sunbaenim. A strong man will overcome any adversity.”

“Hey ghosts, bring it on. You should continue to appear until I get a girlfriend. My mum told me to get married next year so that she can have a granddaughter.”

“Go! Let’s go with all our strength. If we hunt all of these enemies then we can meet girls.”

The students continued digging and fighting.

Maylon watched them and touched a hand to her forehead.

“Is a woman really willing to meet them if they become stronger?”

Zephyr replied with agreement.

“If they want to meet a woman then go to a night club.”

Irene said carefully.

“Don’t talk loudly. I asked this exact question to Romuna the other day……”

“What was the answer?”

“The night club employees came up to them when they were at the entrance.”

“And?”

“The employees didn’t say anything and just handed over money.”

“…….”

“Ahem.”

There was nothing more to say. The Geomchis were so strong and seemed like criminals so who would have the will to stop them?

In fact, the students would often get female friends every time a war broke out.

‘Aha, I have to be strong! The power of a man.’

‘Am I too weak in Royal Road? I don’t have a girlfriend.’

As a result, the students had that mistaken impression.

The treasures of the Pallos Empire acquired were disposed of through Mapan. Most items were broken or rusty due to the passage of time but they had high value as an antique.

The swords and armour could have some of their original value restored through the hands of a blacksmith. But discarding the leather items were unavoidable.

Mapan’s mouth gaped open because he could easily guess the value of the treasures.

“It is great that you unearthed so many treasures. Then the whole bunch…no, I will let you know after disposing of it at the right margin.”

Almost all the treasures of the Pallos Empire had been uncovered. They verified it by the number of ghosts popping out from the ground.

At that time, they heard news that Weed was playing in the Central Continent.

The fearless actions against the Hermes Guild drew everyone’s attention. The stations relayed footage of Weed every day.

The viewers cheered as someone fought the tyranny of the Hermes Guild and the rebels spread like wildfire.

Geomchi said with outrage.

“That guy…he is playing a fabulous role alone while we are here digging!”

“Teacher-nim, our maknae (youngest) is a really vile guy.”

“We really can’t believe him.”

Weed’s great victories.

The Geomchis were full of desire for pretty girlfriends.

At that moment, Geomchi-227 discovered some graffiti scrawled on the walls of Morata.

[I love Weed-nim.]

[Kyaa, Weed-nim marry me!]

[Take me with you. God of War Weed-nim.]

Geomchi-3 yelled angrily.

“This can’t be!”

“That’s right. We can’t just stay still.”

“We should move immediately before the maknae clears it all up.”

Geomchi and Geomchi-2 weren’t impressed.

“Something like this happening……”

“I was mistaken. Once I have a girlfriend, it is important to let her know my mind.”

“No matter how old a man is, he is still a child.”

“Teacher-nim, I know a delicious restaurant where you can eat.”

“Is that so?”

But Geomchi-3 was someone not popular with women.

“Let’s invade the Haven Empire!”

“We are our best in battles. It is absurd not to seize this opportunity.”

Geomchi and the others decided to attack the Haven Empire’s occupied territories in the north again.

Pale, Irene and the others naturally came along. The Geomchis had helped them dig up the treasures so they couldn’t refuse.

Pale asked carefully.

“The plan?”

The Haven Empire’s occupation of the north. Because they needed to rule over a large area, the army would be distributed. They should obtain information about secluded areas.

Geomchi-3 thought about it and replied.

“Attack.”

“Huh?”

“Just attack.”

Pale’s eyes widened in shock.

He knew Geomchi-3’s nature but asked again just to confirm it.

“Is that all?”

“Yes. Why, what is lacking?”

“You should identify the movement of the enemy troops, determine an infiltration route, a path of retreat and strategies to use.”

“Tsk tsk.”

Geomchi-3 thought that Pale was ridiculous.

“This is a battle.”

“……?”

“I don’t like that. We will just strike first. Winning is more important than anything else. If we don’t win then we will die.”

A simple and ignorant conclusion.

But they still tagged along as Geomchi-3 attacked the occupied Haven territory.

Geomchi-3 and the students didn’t use any tactics. They just stormed through the main entrance of newly built castles without any strategies.

A martial artist could use any weapon. Using different weapons was a huge advantage against individuals.

They defeated the Haven Empire guards posted at the garrison.

The avians also joined to fight against the military. Even the spears of the Haven Empire’s knights couldn’t reach the avains flying in the sky.

Some Geomchis rode the birds and fired arrows. Users called them bird knights as they looked up at the sky. And a few days later, dozens of birds knights could be seen in the skies above the occupied regions of the north.

The Geomchis were impatient and intensively attacked the Haven Empire.

Chapter 10: Black Knight’s Fate

“I’m not lonely. There are many people fighting with me.”

Weed said while hunting in the Haven Empire.

He had 20 days remaining until he had to go to Ratuas’ Lair.

“I don’t know what I will deal with so I need to become stronger first.”

He gained good experience while processing the users of the Hermes Guild. But that still had a risk.

Vultures gathered around Weed everywhere he went so it was hard to focus on dungeon hunting. Every time he defeated a dungeon, stats and experience would build up.

The battle videos were naturally sold to the stations.

“I need to still think of making money. Now I am making money and becoming stronger from the Hermes Guild.”

The viewers cheered enthusiastically as he raided the Hermes Guild and defeated their dungeons.

Weed’s battles were thrilling and they never knew where he would hit the Hermes Guild. His collaboration with Seo-yoon and the sculptural lifeforms was also perfect. The quick movements and destruction was enough for the viewers to gasp for breath.

The broadcast officials and viewers complimented Weed the God of War. The Hermes Guild thoroughly had the reputation as villains. If it wasn’t for them, the Arpen Kingdom’s speed of development would have slowed down by now.

The beginners would have no reason to start on the Northern Continent or to cooperate when making the Grand Buildings. The merchants were busy running around the Northern Continent to avoid the threat of the Hermes Guild.

“A niche market everywhere. Outdoor stalls would be brilliant now.”

When he reached level 441, Weed decided to make one more sculptural lifeform.

In his time as ruler of the desert, he made the priests Alverun and Alveren based on Alveron of the Freya Church.

Weed wanted to make an exclusive priest that would accompany him, Seo-yoon and the sculptural lifeforms.

“I can get the help of Alveron from the Freya Church so this time I will make a different sculptural lifeform.”

The Freya Church blessed and cleansed the land. There were also blessings that could enhance the beauty of a person.

The military religions like Batalli and Atrock were useless to him.

But the Church of Lugh was also widely spread among the people. Many residents supported the Church of Lugh because it symbolized the sun.

“What ingredients should I use?”

Weed was wondering about it when Goldman approached.

“Gol gol gol, use this Master.”

“Bullions?”

“I worked hard to collect it, gol gol gol!”

Goldman had been diligently gathering gold while Weed was hunting!

Goldman was friends with the wyverns and Bingryong but he wanted to find a mate.

‘A couple…that isn’t bad. A married couple that I can use. The sculptural lifeforms might also give birth to children who I can use. Wait a minute, a mix of gold and silver. In short, a golden couple!’

Weed received a big short like the back of his head had been smacked.

‘I should have thought of this sooner. I am too stupid and kind to live in this world.’

Extreme regret!

“Don’t worry. I will make a truly good and smart woman.”

“Beauty is good, gol gol gol.”

“…….”

All men had a common taste in women.

Weed dissolved the bullions in a furnace.

In the case of silver, all the impurities needed to be melted and removed. A purity of 99.999% would have a high value when trading.

‘I wonder if I can sell it later. I don’t know what the future will be.’

The popularity of the sculptural lifeforms was really great. They were good subordinates and could live for a few decades through many human conflicts.

‘A lot of money…around 100 million? Or I can sell it directly!”

The potential sale of a sculptural lifeform.

He poured the high purity silver into a mold. He had gain much experience with blacksmithing since creating Goldman.

Weed made the form of a beautiful person.

‘A woman with a refined, western feel. The face of an Eastern European beauty. She will have the beauty of the east and west at the same time. And a glamourous body.’

An ideal match that many men wanted.

A survey of men in their 20s reported that they wanted a woman with a face and body like this. No matter how old a man, they would still pay attention to the face and body.

‘She can’t be too flashy and should be dutiful. So I can make her work.’

The beauty of an Eastern European made him feel good! Weed had exceptional skills at sculpting beauty thanks to Seo-yoon.

“I want the eyes to be sapphires.”

“Gol gol gol, I am in favour of that.”

Blue gems were used as the eyes. They were gems that he obtained from the Hermes Guild users.

“This is a lot of money. I should be able to gain some back.”

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“Female Priest of the Church of Lugh.”

– Female Priest of the Church of Lugh is correct?

“That’s right.”

An honest, simple name. The name wouldn’t matter when he gave life to the sculpture.

– Fine piece! Female Priest of the Church of Lugh has been completed.

A pure and noble statue.

The value of fully refined silver has raised its sanctity.

A eulogy to beauty.

The poets of the Versailles Continent will talk about it.

“A perfect and flawless beauty that God allowed.”

The grace of Hestia of the Hearth has been granted.

Artistic Value: 3,194.

Special Options: Female Priest of the Church of Lugh will increase health and mana regeneration by 30% for a day.

The blessings and treatment skills of the priests will increase by 2 stages at night.

Priests of the Lugh and Hestia religions will permanently gain 5 faith stats after viewing the sculpture.

Faith stat will increase by 50.

All stats will increase by 12.

The accounting skills of merchants will increase by 1.

An adventurer’s art appraisal skill will increase by 1.

Maximum health, defense skills and magic resistance will increase.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Number of Fine pieces completed:  143

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– The skill proficiency of Handicraft has improved.

– Fame has increased by 630.

– Art has increased by 16.

– Charm increased by 11.

“It turned out well.”

The increase in his art and other stats was amazing. It would have been better if it was a masterpiece.

Of course, making a fine piece was great for a sculptor. But as someone who almost mastered sculpting, Weed’s greed was higher.

“I should have made my nose a little higher. The eyes should be wider as well.”

Weed looked over it and continued to worry.

Ddiring!

– The sun god Lugh has spoken to you.

As someone who illuminates the world, he hasn’t forgotten your devotion and will gladly return the favour.

– Faith stat has increased by 21.

“Uhh, it’s not bad.”

Apart from priests and paladins, faith was a useless stat for most users.

Weed also thought that faith was a junk stat at first.

But he discovered when fighting the vampires that having high faith made it much easier to command the knights and priests.

When faith reached 600, it increased defense and resilience. The effect from blessings and healing magic was greater and he could withstand the black magic that accumulated when turning into an undead.

It had a positive impact despite not affecting combat skills.

“Huhuhu, Goldman what do you think?”

“…….”

“Goldman?”

Weed turned and looked at the drooling Goldman.

He seemed to like it.

“Goldman, it is good?”

“Prett…y.”

“Huhuhu, then let’s use my skill. Sculpture Life Bestowal!”

– Life has been given to the sculpture.

The ability of the sculpture will depend on the 3,377 art stat and has been converted to 522 points

Based on performing a religious miracle, the level penalty is reduced by 25%.

The level is adjusted to 417.

Four attributes have been given to the sculptural lifeform.

The standard of the attribute given will depend on the level and shape of the sculptural lifeforms.

Metal Property (100%), Faith Property (100%), Foresight Property (100%), Resurrection Property (100%).

The metal property means that a lot of magic can be ignored.

Pure silver is a physical material that is excellent for defense and magic resistance.

The noble faith won’t be shaken and sometimes the divine magic can create a special miracle.

The foresight property gives the ability to see hidden or invisible things.

The resurrection property means the divine magic in the body has the ability to revive itself once after dying.

262 Mana has been used.

The efficiency of the skill has increased so the level and stats consumed has been reduced by 20%.

The Art stat is permanently reduced by 6 points. The reduced stats can be supplemented with other sculpture or art related activities.

Level has fallen by 2. Stats have been reduced by 10.

When raising the level, the decreased stats can be regained.

Cherish the sculptures that have been given life.

If they die then you have to give them life again.

If they are completely destroyed then it isn’t possible to revive them again.

The sculpture made of silver shone brightly like the sun. Over time, the light became more natural and beautiful.

The appearance that Weed sculpted. The sculptural lifeform spoke in a melodious voice.

“Master, please set my name.”

Most of the sculptures lifeforms Weed made were based on the masculine form. The female high elf Eltin, Vindex and Gernika were made by other sculptors in Jigolaths.

Looking at the finished product made him feel like he was looking at a beautiful daughter.

“I made you so…”

Weed hesitated and tried to think of a name. She was like his daughter so he couldn’t give her a bad name.

He pondered over a pretty name to give a woman.

“Eun, Eun, Eun…Eun-sook.”

“I understand. Please call me Eun-sook in the future.”

Weed took out a uniform and hat that belonged to the Church of Lugh. It fit Eun-sook perfectly.

Goldman scratched his head with bashfulness and said.

“My name is Goldman, gol gol gol.”

“So?”

“I will be good to you in the future. I hope you will become my wife, gol gol gol.”

Eun-sook was puzzled.

“Wife?”

“Let’s spend the rest of our lives together, gol gol gol.”

“I am a priest of God. I will never consider marriage.”

Both Goldman and Weed received a huge psychological impact.

“Unbelievable! My golden goose plan…”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

There was 19 days remaining until he had to visit the dragon Ratuas’ Lair.

Only a fool would continue going against the Hermes Guild.

“Weed was seen in this area.”

“It is likely that he will appear at famous dungeons around Formos Castle.”

“Go that way. It is important to travel there! And identify areas that the wyverns have been seen in.”

The Hermes Guild were working on stabilizing the Central Continent. The lords and knights were giving quests to secure the peace. Quests such as punishing rebels or increasing the security of an area were given.

But there were some Hermes Guild users who voluntarily hunted for Weed. There were over 1,000 people because there was a heavy bounty on Weed’s head.

– The one who eliminates Weed will be paid 70 million gold. In addition, they will be given the position of lord of a city.

“I have no personal feelings against Weed but……”

“If we cut Weed’s neck then we can join the Hermes Guild and get good treatment.”

Those who had skills on the Versailles Continent started aiming for his life.

Until now, Weed had received the support of users who hated the Hermes Guild but now he couldn’t even hunt in the dungeons.

Weed was a large fish to be caught.

“I don’t expect people to like me. In fact, I expected everyone in this place to hate me. There is no need to worry. This is life.”

Weed was relaxed at the thought of meeting enemies.

A God of War needed to be able to do at least this much. If he had been scared then Weed wouldn’t have obtained such a large presence on Continent of Magic.

“Kill them all. Even if it means inducing attacks.”

This crisis actually widened his area of activity.

Weed used Sculpture Transformation and entered a famous dungeon. And 10 minutes later.

– A hidden gem in this dungeon has been obtained.

The quest ‘Stolen Jewels’ has been completed.

– Luck has increased by 4.

Someone ignored all monsters and completed the quest in the shortest time.

Weed returned to the dungeon entrance and showed the jewel to the little boy there.

“I have found a gem. There is a chance I might lose this in the future so I will give it to you. I don’t have much use for jewels.”

“The quest has already been completed?”

He caught the attention of the users at the entrance.

“Who? I don’t know anyone with that face.”

“I don’t think he is someone active in this area.”

Weed stood with a serious expression as the users wondered about him. And he walked around rapidly.

“Hmm, I am busy so……”

Weed scanned the users in the area.

He had developed a keen eye during his time in Royal Road. He naturally built up knowledge about the equipment that other people were wearing.

“But that ordinary attire doesn’t belong here. It is suspicious.”

“Those boots……”

Sky Boots! Boots painted with the sun and clouds. A famous item owned by a member of the Hermes Guild. They increased movement speed over long distances and magic resistance. In addition, it was a unique item that increased honour and dignity by a total of 70 points.

The boots appeared several times on broadcast but there were rumours the user had recently been robbed by Weed.

The boots caught the attention of the users.

‘Weed.’

‘If it isn’t Weed…I still want those boots.’

The dungeon entrance had more than 20 people gathered.

Murderers with red names also stood out. The stigma of a killer wasn’t a flaw in the Central Continent. Those with strength and connections could be proud anywhere.

The users in hunting parties exchanged glances and nodded.

“Let’s kill him.”

“There is no need to think. We should take care of him before other people notice.”

“He is really Weed?”

“He doesn’t look strong…we will know once we surprise attack him. Be prepared. Have Jane report to the Hermes Guild.”

Weed only suspected that he had a bounty on him but it was finally confirmed.

“He seems to be going in the direction of Sisley Castle.”

“We will go to the right. Make sure to follow him carefully.”

They hastily followed behind Weed.

They were instantly joined by 100 other bounty hunters.

“The Hermes Guild?”

“They are coming.”

The chase gained momentum. Many colleagues were gathered to take care of Weed.

This was a windfall for Weed.

“Let’s go!”

Then arrows flew towards the pursuers!

The first arrows flew accurately at the murderers.

The regular users would need to attack first for it to be called self-defense. Killing the general users would cause him to fall into a murderer state.

“Cough, it really is Weed!”

Weed leisurely hunted the chasers. He used arrows for long distance attacks. He didn’t know how many magicians the other side had but he shot arrows while riding his mount.

“Catch Weed!”

The chasers continued receiving from Weed who was riding on Yellowy.

“Multiple Arrows, Rapid Fire!”

Weed left the running direction and speed to Yellowy.

He rode Yellowy backwards and fired the arrows.

Kwa kwa kwang! Kwang kwang!

He had awesome destructive power thanks to Sculptural Destruction into strength.

The arrows that hit users dozens of metres away caused a hole in the ground like the earth had been blown away by something.

Knights, swordsmen and warriors had a superior strength in dungeons. However, their slow movement speed on the wide plains made them offerings to Weed.

Offerings served up.

They were like delivered chicken. Weed made the numerical superiority obsolete!

– You have become a murderer.

Infamy has increased by 543.

– A mass murderer.

Infamy has increased by 2,394.

– A terrible murderer!

You are a rare murderer in this neighbourhood.

Infamy has increased by 4,998.

He was dealing with bounty hunters, not murderers from the Hermes Guild.

Weed overpowered the chasers with his arrows.

Approximately half of them fled since they didn’t want to die.

“It is so-so.”

He picked up the loot.

Yellowy’s burden also included carrying the loot.

“Lululu. There is still a long way to go, Yellowy.”

Weed hummed as he moved.

Of course, his whereabouts would be transmitted by the survivors. Millions of users on the Versailles Continent would hear about this incident.

Weed laughed as he recalled the days in Continent of Magic. At that time, he killed almost all the users himself.

Fighting everybody! He didn’t have any breaks to recover his vitality and also had to deal with monsters. Some of the equipment was worn while he entered monster villages to buy and sell goods.

It had been a really long time since he felt this thrilling feeling of enemies on all sides. Tension and concentration filled him.

The weight was still less than Continent of Magic.

Like a mother holding hands with her hand when applying for kindergarten.

“It will be more fun from now on.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bardray received situation reports from the Hermes Guild’s information network.

[The remnants of the Nest Kingdom has declared their independence.]

[Civil war in the Gradian area. The residents are declaring their support for the rebels.]

[Looting and arson is occurring.]

[The Aidern rebels have gone over 400,000.]

Rebels had infested every city and territory in the Haven Empire.

The Hermes Guild waged a peace stabilization operation and won the majority of battles with the rebels. That’s why the flames of revolt were gradually sinking.

Ddiring!

Then Bardray received a new message window.

– The Anxiety of the Emperor

As a strict black knight, you defeated the ignorant kings and nobles to found an empire.

The result has given you power, treasure and an army.

You have the desire to achieve but can’t trust anyone.

“They are aiming for my position.”

Your subordinates can betray you at any time. You are the target.

Knight Naet.

He formerly pledged loyalty to the Kallamore Kingdom so beware of him.

He will definitely have a different heart.

Perhaps if you kill him…this worry will be alleviated?

Level of Difficulty: Emperor restricted quest.

Quest Restrictions: Black Knight Emperor.

Knight Naet has to die within 10 days.

Compensation: Endurance, willpower and charisma stats will permanently increase by 4.

*Please note.

If you refuse this quest then your combat capabilities will be reduced by 2% for 10 days.

If Knight Naet is executed then your combat capabilities will increase by 1% for 10 days.

“An emperor restricted quest?”

Bardray looked around.

He was hunting deep inside a dungeon. It was a hunting ground he was familiar with where monsters would periodically appear. He didn’t bring the Royal Guards to this place in order to develop his combat skills.

‘Should I accept this quest?’

Bardray liked the permanent increase in stats.

Knight Naet. He heard that name before.

‘He was an Imperial Knight. He isn’t significant.

And there are many knights in the Haven Empire. Bardray had thousands of knights and general lords under him so the number was difficult to gauge.

The lords appointed by the guild needed to pay the Imperial Palace a certain number of knights and soldiers regularly. If one of them died then it wouldn’t have a single effect on the power of the empire.

‘Strong knights are dying every day on the battlefield. There were as many knights as the stars. I need to permanently increase my stats.’

Bardray was thirsty for stats. He represented the Hermes Guild and toured the hunting grounds to sustain his strength. Even a slight increase in stats would make things easier in the future.

Bardray whispered.

“I will kill Naet.”

– You have accepted the quest.

It was really easy to kill Naet who was a knight. He just invited 100 knights to kill a boss level monster with him.

“Naet, block him and buy some time.”

“Yes!”

An unreasonable command.

Bardray and the other knights helped but Naet died in vain.

It was common for many knights to die during hunts and they would sacrifice their lives for Bardray.

He was the emperor of the Haven Empire so his skill proficiency and level was a big deal to the Hermes Guild. The guild did no suspect anything.

– The quest has been completed.

Endurance, willpower and charisma has permanently increased by 4.

Your combat capabilities will increase for 10 days.

‘Good.’

Bardray smiled.

The Haven Empire showed no signs of loss at all.

And the day after that.

A new quest was created.

Ddiring!

– Don’t be Caught Off Guard

Rebels are haunting the empire.

They are buds that will disturb the empire.

The death of Naet caused the rebels to cower but they will soon come back to fight.

You should be wary before it was too late.

Make an example of 10 Imperial Knights.

Before you lose everything you have built up……

Level of Difficulty: Emperor restricted quest.

Quest Restrictions: Black Knight Emperor.

Compensation: All stats will increase by 2.

‘Indeed. It led to this type of quest.’

Bardray was conflicted.

He was greedy for stats but didn’t know where this was leading.

‘The characteristics of a black knight. Should I cut it off here? It is an emperor restricted quest so nobody will know.’

He accepted the quest.

It wasn’t ideal to take a person’s life but it was common for 10 people to die while hunting.

And he accomplished the quest in three days!

The next quest was called ‘Rebels’ Scheme.’ The quest required taking the lives of 100 knights and two nobles. It increased all his stats by 5 and the reward was equivalent to gaining 1 level.

‘Enormous. It isn’t easy to gain 1 level.’

Bardray was indifferent to the death of his subordinates.

The Hermes Guild ruled an empire and could generate an endless number of resources. He would take advantage of them to grow.

‘I shall embrace these quests. The problem is getting information for these quests.’

He was becoming more uncertain about the quests. He could consult with Lafaye but there were disadvantages to such an action.

Some of the disadvantages of the black knight profession was that security and rebellions became worse when Bardray emerged as the emperor.

It was suggested that someone with a different profession be appointed for the sake of establishing peace.

‘There is no need to divide the Hermes Guild. This will just give justification to potential rivals.’

Bardray decided to think for himself.

‘I will accept the quests.’

Although there would be slight damage to the Haven Empire, it would be worth it if the levels increased. Their sacrifices would be used to increase his own strength.

And then another quest occurred.

– Check the Rebel Groups

Ashton Castle has maintained a high security.

The residents appreciate the emperor.

But the incompetent guards don’t know that rebels have infiltrated the castle.

Get rid of them before there is betrayal.

If security is 7% lower…they will be discovered.

Level of Difficulty: Emperor restricted quest.

Quest Restrictions: Black Knight Emperor.

Compensation: All stats will increase by 5.

Skill proficiency will increase by 35% for 15 days.

‘It has changed a little bit. But the reward is still good.’

After accepting the quest, Bardray thought about how to lower the security of Ashton Castle.

It wasn’t a quest where he needed to take the lives of knights.

‘Should I directly speak to the lord there? They will listen to my commands. But they might report it directly.’

He needed to do it without Lafaye and the other members of the Hermes Guild knowing.

‘I might have to give up.’

Bardray kept thinking about Ashton Castle while hunting.

This would be something that would cut away at the Haven Empire. But it would make him rapidly stronger! A unique strength on the Versailles Continent that no one could handle.

He didn’t care about Ashton Castle.

‘People will eventually become enthusiastic after I am strong.’

Bardray took some knights and went hunting in famous dungeons near Ashton Castle.

He used the excuse of the dungeon hunt to get military support from Ashton Castle.

He contacted the lord of Ashton Castle instead of the Hermes Guild’s network.

They were very inspired by being able to join Bardray’s hunt.

Bardray spoke with fake concern.

“Lord-nim, I heard rebels are happening.”

“Huhu, those guys are no big deal and are easily suppressed. Bardray-nim doesn’t need to worry about this.”

“But I still feel sorry.”

“Every resident here is loyal and are willing to do this.”

The lord didn’t have any worries.

Bardray was here so they would win even if rebels attacked.

– Check the Rebel Groups has been completed.

The rebels in Ashton Castle have finally revealed themselves.

Even though they are weak presences like butlers, cooks and maids……

If you leave them then they will grow up like poisonous mushrooms and might someday threaten you.

Be alert.

Don’t rest even for a short time.

As an emperor, you need to plant bone-tingling fear into the residents.

The quest reward has increased all stats by 5.

Skill proficiency and experience rate will increase for 15 days.

The quest then appeared to suppress the rebels at Ashton Castle so Bardray said after the dungeon hunt.

“I will be happy to help fight against the rebels with some of my knights.”

“No. I can’t trouble you like that.”

“This is my fate.”

“Then I will gratefully accept.”

The Imperial Knights easily handled the rebels.

It wasn’t enough to cause him worry.

The Imperial Knights were NPCs loyal to the emperor and the empire.

The knights were willing to perform any command, no matter how simple it was. A few NPCs in Ashton Castle lost their lives but the lord didn’t protest.

‘The knights have taken care of the rebels. Bardray-nim is increasing his popularity among the NPCs……”

From the lord’s perspective, this would give more benefits than harm.

Bardray was repaid hundreds of times.

– The rebels have been completely eradicated.

No one can oppose the emperor’s reign.

Uproot those hiding in the shadows.

The quest reward has increased honour by 16.

Fighting Spirit has increased by 7.

There is a perfect harmony between the body and mind.

Your combat capabilities will increase by 7% for a week.

Bardray completed the black knight quests and was constantly getting stronger.

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Waking up the God of War

Weed entered a dungeon where Hermes Guild members were hunting.

“I can’t believe in this world because I will someday be hit in the back of the head.”

Those who didn’t have strong convictions would suffer losses.

“Bahamorg, sweep everything up!”

“Okay!”

“Goldman and Eltin will fire arrows. Seville, Vindex and Gernika will penetrate the centre with Bahamorg! It is a blitz attack.”

The vast lands of the Haven Empire meant there were many places to find Hermes Guild users. There were many fresh prey scattered around widely known dungeons.

“W-Weed!”

“Sculpting Blade!”

Bahamorg and the sculptural lifeforms broke through! The Daemon Sword in Weed’s hands exposed his identity as he cut down the Hermes Guild users.

“Yellowy, make sure to pick up the loot. This is the most important mission!”

“Ummoooooo!”

The Hermes Guild users were in a state of emergency whenever Weed and the sculptural lifeforms appeared.

The bounty hunters also flocked like moths to a flame.

However, he had already secured a clear retreat by scouting the area before taking action. He could hunt at lightning speed with no regrets.

As well as the area around Formos Castle, Weed hunted in the entire region of the Central Continent. The area turned into a mess every time he appeared.

It was risky but the income was worth it.

“The difficult dungeons and hunting grounds are good places to find Hermes Guild users. Quality is better than quantity so I should grab the strong guys.”

He also met with the knight commander of Rabenta Castle. A Hermes Guild users who was level 485. A famous user who won countless wars in the Central Continent.

“I knew you would appear one day. Come. King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“I won’t pay the dungeon’s entrance fee. You have no conscience and only care about your own greed!”

“Slander. Even though we are enemies, you should still be courteous to the opponent!”

“What are you talking about? I am so envious that I am praising you!”

Bilsu the knight was surrounded by Weed, Bahamorg, Seo-yoon, Seville, Gernika, Eltin, Silver Bird and White Tiger.

“You speak too much. A knight should speak with their sword. I, Knight Bilsu, challenge Weed to a fight.”

– Do you want to accept the honourable duel?

If you win in the showdown with Knight Bilsu of Rabenta Castle, rewards such as fame, stats and honour can be obtained.

If you refuse to fight then honour and charisma will decrease.

“Why should I accept this duel? The labour costs……”

“I know you can wipe out the knights. I will give you the Gloves of Extinguished Flames.”

“Bring it on. Well, I can get it if I kill you.”

Weed and Bilsu had their confrontation in a wide, open space.

“Ahup. Intensive counterattack!”

Bilsu unexpectedly jumped at him with his shield.

The basic way for a knight to fight was to take advantage of their strong defense. In  a war, ordinary soldiers wouldn’t be able to deal with any knights with outstanding defense.

Bilsu intended to use continuous attacks to drive back the opponent.

Weed was full of admiration.

‘These simple attacks…he has clearly lived an honest life! He was probably a good student when he was a child.’

Bilsu was a good knight but victory was impossible for him.

Combat stats, skills and levels. His growth was substantially balanced in those three areas. Just like Weed, they even defeated the basic, beginner and intermediate training centre.

The top ranked members of the Hermes Guild would certainly be pursuing a solid growth process. They pursued strength in the hunting grounds.

‘Only a fool would use such a straightforward attack. A good trap.’

No matter how strong the body, it didn’t mean the person was invincible. The abilities of people doing physical activities like boxing, judo or martial arts would deviate depending on mentality and skills.

Weed had studied the system and movements of Royal Road early on. His senses and mental ability grew as he learned the sword. Pursing invisible strength, not just stats and skill level. Regular users could show the result of hard work.

Weed obtained information about the Versailles Continent from Seo-yoon.

Weed invaded the dungeon after killing Bilsu. An invasion where he gained experience and loot!

Weed continued moving despite the 70 million bounty that the Hermes Guild put on him. There was even the position of a lord so the general users also aimed at him. Dealing with them meant his infamy increased and he obtained the red murderer mark.

In order to get rid of this state, he needed to focus on the players of the Hermes Guild.

Seo-yoon arranged their plans by looking at the information on the bulletin boards and the Dark Gamers Union.

“We should check Chekram Dungeon at 1 o’clock and then the Valley of Wind at 2:30.”

“Why there?”

“I got information about the Haven Empire’s tax transportation route. I have high confidence in this information.”

“Let’s go!”

Weed moved on to his next targets in the Hermes Guild!

But the Hermes Guild and bounty hunters always had a fast response.

They had always been living from a position of strength. They wouldn’t keep being defenseless.

‘This dungeon is famous enough for Weed to come here.’

‘He will come here. Sprinkle poison on a trap and have reinforcements close by.’

They all thought of a few ways to fight Weed.

In addition, many people exchanged information with their close friends to prepare for Weed’s emergence.

The Central Continent was huge but there were enough individuals to cover it. They stepped up precautions in any places that Weed might appear.

The main lords waited with elite troops that could be dispatched if they heard Weed was in the area.

The general users coveted the enormous bounty while the lords wanted to gain the best achievements in the empire.

A situation where the entire Central Continent was a hyena aiming at Weed!

Some users wanted to help Weed or cheered him on, but their strength was weak.

– Those who help Weed will be executed. In addition, any house or store owned in a city will be closed and destroyed.

The general users didn’t dare do anything due to fear of retaliation by the Hermes Guild. The rebels didn’t help Weed because they weren’t the main targets anymore.

The places where Weed could stand in the Central Continent were gradually being reduced.

“This isn’t right. A large group is using all their power against an individual.”

Weed had realized the pain of dealing with a prestigious guild in Continent of Magic. They were sensitive to attacks from others.

“I’ve gained a lot from raiding the dungeons so now I will go to the next step!”

He would be caught if he continued doing the same thing. It was time to take the next step against the Hermes Guild.

Of course, now he would strongly hit them.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Dammit. Damn. That bastard!”

Deckard, the lord of Formos Castle didn’t like this.

“Why is he appearing in my land?”

Gold Mine Dungeon, Atarog’s Lair.

Two places where the Hermes Guild received a surprise attack. The area became more famous because the stations covered it but he was troubled as a lord.

‘The people around me are incompetent.’

Formos Castle was an important piece of territory to the Haven Empire. The admission fee from the dungeons alone was in the tens of millions. Residents paid taxes, merchants the trading fee and the profit from the mines and farms meant that Formos Castle had a huge income.

The reason it could reap so much benefits was because there were a lot of great dungeons nearby. The Haineph Mountains was developed and there were a number of production facilities in the area.

Deckard had been part of the Black Lion Guild but left as soon as the tides turned against them. He helped the Hermes Guild and was able to maintain his territory after the Tullen Kingdom was swallowed by the Haven Empire.

Deckard firmly maintained his hold on Formos Castle.

He lived a successful life with no regrets until Weed.

“Won’t the Hermes Guild use this as an opportunity to get rid of me? Hunting hounds aren’t required. Formos Castle is my territory. I won’t let anyone take it.”

Deckard was locked in worry.

“Should I send aid to the rebels? The Haven Empire is slowly rocking from instability. If the Haven Empire collapsed later on then I could move this in a favourable direction.”

However, it was still too early to judge whether the Haven Empire would stay healthy as well.

“Then I should fight against the rebels.”

He decided to show his power to the Hermes Guild by leading the castle’s troops to sweep up the rebels.

The attention on Formos Castle hadn’t disappeared yet.

He thought his position would become more firm if he wiped out the rebels.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

20,000 mercenaries. Formos Castle’s 20,000 elite troops. Deckard led 60,00 troops to a fortress near the Haineph Mountains.

The lord was able to mobilize its military power. Only 10,000 elite crossbow troops remained at Formos Castle.

In addition, there were many users of the Hermes Guild and Beden Guild. Many jumped at the opportunity to strike against the rebels.

“Rebels?”

“I heard the rebels are retreating to the outlying villages.”

“Let’s go. Wipe out those fleeing!”

Deckard’s army fought against the rebels outside the occupied areas.

Some troops took over the villages and they fell under the reign of Formos Castle.

– The rebels of Salt Well Village has been annihilated.

Even children and the elderly who belonged to the rebels weren’t spared from the cruel actions.

– The lord and his army’s infamy has increased by 26.

– Charisma of the lord has increased by 1.

– Security in nearby areas will recover by 26.

Deckard chopped up the rebels in just one day!

“Commanding something like this is fun.”

It had been a while since Deckard led an army so he had fun.

He had experience with large scale combat when the Black Lion Guild took over the Tullen Kingdom.

He set out with his troops, mercenaries and members of the Hermes Guild.

Fighting against rebels was simple but there were much more users due to the news that Weed had appeared near Formos Castle.

Deckard looked at his lieutenant.

A NPC who was appointed to give reports on the territory and had an excellent ability to handle subordinates.

All lords had a number of talented lieutenants to manage administrative duties.

“The status of Formos Castle?”

“It is silent. There has been no movement at the main entrances at all.”

“I will sweep up the rebels quickly. Let’s return after fighting for one more day.”

The rebels consisted of thousands of people but Deckard only faced a small force. Still, it felt good to restore some of the security in the area.

“There are reports of a rebel presence in the mining villages in the Haineph Mountains.”

“The scale?”

“More than 3,000 people in 3 villages.”

“Send 40,000 troops to subjugate them. It will be annoying if they run off to the area controlled by bandits so make sure to eradicate them.”

“I understand.”

40,000 troops moved to the Haineph Mountains.

And later that afternoon. Deckard received an urgent report from the army.

“The troops sent into the Haineph Mountains are fighting.”

“What?”

“They are surrounded by 60,000 rebels and the attack is in progress.”

Deckard thought for a moment.

‘The elite mountain troops. I spent a lot of money to train them. I know that sometimes battles with rebels won’t occur on the plains.’

They were troops used to irregular fighting.

“Even so, I need to reduce the damage a little more. We need to completely suppress the rebels in this area.”

“A brilliant decision.”

Deckard led his army to save the troops in the mountains.

An hour at best.

But when he arrived, they had already been wiped out by the rebels.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed met with the rebels active in Tullen Kingdom.

“Taking command…well, what is the reason?”

“It will be a great honour to have the merciful King of the North rule us.”

“But the troops seem to be insufficient.”

“We are scattered in order to escape the scrutiny of the army. However, more people will join if Your Majesty leads us.”

“Okay, I will rule over you.”

Ddiring!

– You have become the head of the rebels.

Weed reorganized the rebels.

There were former soldiers, mercenaries, hunters and the general public.

The rebels were a disorderly group holding iron swords and shields.

The number of people was 5,500.

‘There is no end to the training.’

Weed seriously considered the survival rate of his subordinates.

If his subordinates were a long-lasting battery then it would be more useful in the long run.

‘Death is death and living is living.’

Weed put small villages near Formos Castle in the hands of the rebels.

The residents inside the village refused to defend the Haven Empire.

Even if he didn’t come out in combat directly, his commanding abilities increased the capabilities of the rebels.

The rebels increased to 60,000 in no time.

“Please work with me to fight against the Haven Empire.”

“I know of your reputation. We will join.”

The other rebel forces joined him.

This time Weed heard that elite troops had left Formos Castle to fight the rebels.

“100,000 elite troops. There isn’t the slightest chance of winning this fight. The answer is to make more troops.”

A minimal amount of defense forces were left at each village to prevent subjugation. But the battles would be so small it would just be a minor brawl.

He only felt regret instead of satisfaction after conquering the small villages.

And the rebel uprising in the mountain region! It was a smaller scale but some troops were sent to the mountains. The uprising happened deep in the Haineph Mountains.

The Hermes Guild users were mobilized to besiege the rebels.

“Get rid of these guys!”

Weed’s Lion’s Roar!

The rebels weren’t as strong but the sculptural lifeforms were mobilized to remove Deckard’s mountain troopers.

Nevertheless, the rebels ended up retreating after some were killed. It was indeed the definition of a disorderly group.

Then Weed pulled out some equipment he had been saving. The necromancer who led the Immortal Legion, Barkhan’s full set! He immediately used Sculpture Transformation into a lich and wore Barkhan’s boots, cloak, robe, ring and necklace.

– The magic of a necromancer will increase by 267%.

– Wisdom and knowledge will increase and other stats reduced depending on the nature of a lich.

Health will become higher depending on the magic force.

Health and mana can be absorbed.

“Kuhuhuhu.”

A laugh flowed from Weed’s mouth.

“It is better for the weak rebels to become undead. Come back to the land you used to live in. This is a dark and corrupt land. Help spread the laws of darkness. Undead Rise!”

Magic to turn them undead! The dead were revived. The bodies of the rebels and Haven Empire soldiers turned into dullahans and death knights.

Weed’s magic power was high but the weak rebels were bad ingredients. Even so, there were more than 1,000 undead summoned.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk!”

“You callled.”

“Lead the kids in the fight.”

“I was the commander of the Dark Legion and an Abyss Knight born in the depths of the abyss of despair.

“So?”

“Those are children who still have dirt on their heads. The ribs aren’t even rotten yet.”

Van Hawk’s disobedience!

This time he tried to convince Weed with words.

“Is that right?”

“…….”

“Do you want to be hit today? No, you will be hit for a year.”

“This is lacking compared to the Dark Legion but I will do my best.”

Van Hawk respectfully bowed. Weed was wearing Barkhan’s full set so Van Hawk couldn’t refuse his charisma.

“The darkness that doesn’t spread any light, the awakened dead who dwell in this place. Death Aura!”

Weed touched the skull wand to the ground. One of the Barkhan’s 3 magic spells that could strengthen the undead!

The ground shook like an earthquake was happening and the cracks steadily spread. Pure dark smoke emerged like sulfur fumes and wound around the undead.

The mediocre dullahans changed as their bones became thicker and harder. There was no need to mention the death knights. They were even wearing swords and armour.

– Death Aura has been triggered.

The undead have recovered a little bit of their intellect.

They can endure more attacks.

The longing for life and blood will increase the destructive power.

34,983 mana has been consumed.

It was a mana consumption that he could afford.

“Go. Sweep them all!”

“Kugelgelgel.”

“I’ll eat their hearts.”

Under Van Hawk’s leadership, the undead army fought with the mountain troopers.

Weed always ignored the death knight Van Hawk. His value was the ability to command and control all undead forces.

The death knights led by Van Hawk penetrated enemy lines in an instant.

The mountain troopers were optimized for fighting in forests and mountains. But they weren’t armoured infantry and were unable to break through the dark knights.

– 8,391 health and mana has been absorbed due to the activities of the undead.

Maximum health has increased by 2,650.

The effect of Death Aura!

A lich had an endless source of health and mana.

The basic undead meant a full-scale battle could now begin.

– 49 undead couldn’t withstand the hits and have been destroyed.

They will rise again with a more intense hostility.

Weed used the Summon Undead spell again.

There were bodies everywhere and this time 300 doom knights were summoned. The original skeletons developed into more advanced troops.

The doom knights fell to their knees in front of Weed.

“A glorious master we can’t escape even in death, we are immortal warriors who will keep worshipping you.”

Weed received the respect of the undead with high intelligence. Barkhan’s full set meant there wasn’t a lot of risk associating with the undead.

“You know what to do right?”

“Annihilate the enemies and make them live in an eternal hell.”

“Go. Sweep them all away!”

A power emerged that the mountain troopers couldn’t withstand.

The doom knights with Death Aura around them attacked quickly and gained their health. Weed didn’t absorb the health and mana so it was shared among the undead.

An overwhelming offense that made it impossible to exterminate the undead.

One of the unique features of a necromancer was to win against those weaker with almost no damage.

Of course, a necromancer couldn’t always create an army. Undead or advanced golems would be used to explore the dungeons and plains.

But raising an army of thousands of undead was more to Weed’s taste!

“My law of darkness governs this land. The power of eternal immortality is grasped, Dark Rule!”

Weed cast Barkhan’s 2nd spell when he had enough mana. The spell constantly summoned undead from the corpses. The dead would rise back up as undead and attack their previous colleagues.

Holy magic couldn’t unfold anymore and the undead legion was unbeatable.

“Your task is to rebuild the Tullen Kingdom. Make a siege to prevent anyone from escaping.”

“Yes, I understand.”

“Just please spare our lives.”

The rebels trembled with fear as they moved around the battlefield. They were frightened when looking at the battle between the undead and mountain troopers.

“I thought Weed was a good man. He is actually the devil.”

“It is wrong. We will get devoured.”

Ddiring!

– Panicked rumours are circulating.

The story of the undead has spread.

Infamy has increased by 4,391.

The side effect of being a necromancer!

Humans were filled with fear when seeing the undead and thus became difficult to manage.

If he continued using the undead or staying as a lich then there would be strong side-effects.

“But sometimes it is worth eating junk food.”

Weed watched as the mountain troopers slowly fell.

Early on they had an advantage against the rebels but after Van Hawk and the doom knights joined, they couldn’t hold out any longer and were quickly destroyed.

The undead were affected by Dark Rule and caused serious injuries to the mountain troopers.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!

People were also injured when the corpses exploded. Weed felt a thrill at the scene of destruction.

There were 2,000 skeleton archers that fired arrows. Even the swords of the mountain troopers were broken in just 20 seconds. The mountain troopers had no way to deal with the arrows.

– Your eyes have seen death and intelligence has permanently increased by 2.

And the number of undead went over 20,000.

Ddiring!

– The amount of undead you are controlling is reaching the limits of your faith.

If you create more undead then it will lead to the fierce anger of the gods.

If you give up on ruling the undead then they will be taken over by instincts and indiscriminately slaughter.

Barkhan’s necromancer set meant the undead were strengthened and he could summon more. But there was a limit because Weed’s faith was too high.

“There is no need for a president to do everything.”

Weed placed Van Hawk as the commander of the undead legion.

“Stand up straight! The skeleton soldiers of the Kallamore Kingdom aren’t stupid like you!”

Van Hawk was able to govern the undead.

As an abyss knight, he once ruled over an army of 100,000 undead. As a death knight, he could only lead 30,000.

“The numbers are already sufficient. A fast and powerful army needs to be created for battle.

The rotten bones of the skeleton were too weak if the war continued. At this point, he needed to think of quality over quantity.

The mountain troopers continued to decline while the undead evolved. Death Aura wrapped around the undead helped them grow.

“Tweet tweet tweet, new enemies are approaching from far away.”

Silver Bird scouting in the sky flew to him and reported. Silver Bird looked like a sparrow that had been painted from far away.

“Then prepare for another group.”

Weed created a trap.

“Those who haven’t died, hide your existence to give a false welcome. Fake Shadow!”

The mountain troopers and rebels had been turned into undead. Barkhan’s magic gave them the appearance of humans again. The skeletons wore normal clothes and wielded weapons.

But if someone looked closely then they could tell the movements of the limbs were unnatural.

“If they fall into the trap then I won’t lose anything. And then the necromancer’s magic……”

Weed glanced at Barkhan’s tome.

A necromancer’s diverse magic! A lot of knowledge and wisdom about the old days was missing as the magic wasn’t written down.

“I will help. It will be properly lethal.”

Weed used a vile magic from the magic tome.

“Oh you dead, this is your final revenge. Life Bomb!”

The heart or head of approximately 200 undead shone red.

It was a magic that reconfigured the body to make it a bomb! Unlike the other necromancers’ corpse explosions, these undead could move. Of course, their movements would slow down after the explosion.

Weed planted the undead with bombs whenever his mana was recharged through Death Aura. Bombs were planted in ghouls, zombies, dullahans and death knights.

A necromancer was an original profession that didn’t harmonize well with colleagues. Although it wasn’t strong in a small fight, it was quite useful in a large war.

“Silver Bird, how far away are the enemies?”

“10 minutes.”

“Then I should decorate the stage.”

There were only 3,000 mountain troopers left while the rebels had at least 34,000. There were approximately 12,000 undead.

Weed instructed Van Hawk to make it seem like the undead rebels and undead mountain troopers were fighting.

The undead sparred among themselves. But there were some weak points.

The dullahans fighting among themselves kept cutting off limbs. And if the undead fell, they continued to get up and fight.

“Do it slowly! And those who fall, don’t get up and just lay there!”

Van Hawk questioned why Weed gave such strange commands.

“Why should we do this instead of making a large formation? I can’t understand it. Explain.”

“Stop bothering me. Pick a number between 1 million to 20 million.”

“Why?”

“I will hit you that number of times.”

Weed wasn’t the type to allow his subordinates to be ambitious.

In the case of Yellowy, Weed threatened him with being eaten while he verbally abused Bingryong and the wyverns. Every time the price of gold rose, he threatened Goldman with being sold.

As Van Hawk was a boss monster in the beginning, Van Hawk was often made to surrender through beatings.

From that point on, he became familiar with becoming a punching bag.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Deckard arrived with 54,000 troops.

Some were left behind to govern the conquered villages.

Deckard raised his sword while riding a horse.

“Our allies are in danger. Slaughter the rebels!”

“Understood. Charge!”

The knights started the assault after hearing the command. The 20,000 knights were followed by spearmen, armoured infantry and soldiers.

“Attack any rebels that run away.”

Deckard led his army directly behind the knights.

“The Haven Empire dogs have come, kueek!”

“Aaaaah, spare me I surrender!”

The Haven Empire’s army attacked the rebels without hesitation.

“Too weak.”

“They are just ordinary farmers gathered together. Having this much firepower to face them is ridiculous.”

The Hermes Guild users thought they could suppress the rebels in 30 minutes.

“Rescue our allies!”

The knights moved into enemy territory in order to save the mountain troopers. The rebels couldn’t resist and fell to the knights.

The movements of the rebels were awkward but they thought it was just due to fear. The eyes and skin tone were dark but the knights didn’t have time to look closely while attacking.

The Hermes Guild were too busy entering the battlefield to pay much attention. They took advantage of wide area attacks to kill dozens at a time.

Furthermore, the battle was starting just as the sun went down.

“Don’t worry. We will help you.”

The knights rescued a group of isolated mountain troopers.

“What is that smell?”

“A ghastly stench. It is like a rotting body……”

Then the mountain troopers lifted their arms.

“Kueeeeeh.”

“Hukiiiiii, the warm smell of human blood.”

The mountain troopers headed to the knights.

“Huh?”

The mountain troopers hugged the knights.

And…..

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The rebels and mountain troopers exploded in unison. A sixth of Deckard’s army went flying and there were few survivors among the knights. The mountain troopers and rebels were revealed as undead to Deckard.

“It is a trap!”

The soldiers tried their best to live. But the undead was all around them.

“Kueh…the smell of blood.”

Deckard’s knights were born again as undead thanks to Dark Rule. They hit the backs of their former colleagues.

Weed watched from a distance and didn’t command the new undead.

“They are familiar with fighting. Even if it is just rough fighting.”

The experience in the previous life was important to the undead. They attacked Deckard’s army that was nearby.

There was no need for the commander to use tactics to destroy the enemy. This land had already seen a lot of death.

“Then let’s get a bigger harvest. Corpse Explosion!”

Weed used explosion whenever a large amount of Deckard’s army was gathered.

“Sticky blood, End of the Mist, Bloody Arrow!”

He flung black magic at Deckard’s army.

Experience was accumulated! Black magic skill proficiency was only built up when he was an undead so it was a shame.

“My aptitude fits a warlock or necromancer.”

If he hadn’t become a sculptor then Weed would always have such a large and disorderly army.

He would even summon the devil!

“Where is the necromancer?”

“H-him!”

The users of the Hermes Guild struggling against the undead belatedly discovered Weed.

“It will end if we kill the necromancer. Concentrate all attacks over there!”

“Mercenaries and heavy armored infantry, thrust! Victory is in sight.”

Instead of the undead, Deckard’s army marched towards Weed. The undead blocking them kept collapsing only to get up again.

Dark Rule and Death Aura’s bloody havoc!

The battle unfolded on the dark and gloomy earth. The undead were becoming increasingly more rigid.

Necromancers were good in large military situations but were vulnerable.

The Hermes Guild users aimed magic attacks towards Weed. The magic attacks directly hit the necromancer.

But….

Ddiring!

– The magic was interrupted.

All mana flow in this region is being dominated by the necromancer.

Due to the mana reflux, health has decreased by 21% and mana decreased by 36%.

The lost mana has been absorbed by the necromancer.

This was one of Barkhan’s 3 spells, Absolute Magic Defense! The wizards collapsed on the spot.

“Cough…how did this happen?”

“I can’t believe it. Who the hell is he?”

“Absolute Magic Defense! A spell that requires the blood of at least 4 necromancers…the other conditions are so high that not even Krobidyun can use it.”

“Look at that robe. Where have I seen it before?”

Weed’s equipment caught the eyes of the magicians.

“The Immortal Legion?

“B-Barkhan’s full set!”

“Weed the God of War!”

They correctly guessed that the person wearing Barkhan’s equipment and using his skills was Weed.

The Hermes Guild knew that Weed could act as a necromancer.

They weren’t worried about a one on one fight between Weed and Bardray. Even if he used Sculpture Transformation to change to another species or profession, he couldn’t overcome Bardray.

But if he was a necromancer with an endless amount of undead then he could potentially push back Bardray and the Royal Guards. It was complex and required multiple conditions but could create a very dangerous situation.

The Hermes Guild was careful to prevent such a situation. They had confidence in fighting the necromancer Weed!

But the endlessly rising undead ate away at the troops of Formos Castle. Van Hawk and the dark knights ran across the battlefield and took the lives of the Hermes Guild users.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kueeh……”

“B-blood.”

After wiping out Deckard’s army, Weed led the undead towards Formos Castle.

“The undead are attacking!”

50,000 undead were marching. The undead didn’t need to take a break so they arrived very quickly.

Most people felt an unusual aura drifting around the undead army.

Rumours had spread to Formos Castle that Weed defeated Deckard’s army. General users came to the vicinity of the castle to watch.

“We should make a bet. Who do you think?”

“3 gold on Weed.”

“I have 700 gold.”

“Hey, I have 2 billion gold.”

Formos Castle had 10,000 defense forces.

There was a chance of the Haven Empire’s army falling in the short term so Hermes Guild users flocked like vultures.

Weed used a necromancer’s spell.

“All the flow of mana, use these lives as sacrifices and move in accordance to the principles of destruction!”

Absolute Magic Defense! An undead magic that wasn’t detrimental.

Weed set the limits to a 400 metre radius and kept it going by sacrificing undead. Weed gave a final command.

“Go, undead. Sweep them all!”

The skeletons climbing the walls weren’t scared of falling or arrows.

They united to attack the gates while doom knights summoned skeletal horses to jump over the walls.

Weed restored his mana thanks to Death Aura.

“Remnants of Darkness, Frost Soil, Blindness, Summon Hell Vampires!”

He cast vicious spells towards the guards of Formos Castle.

Many Hermes Guild and Beden Guild members in the castle lost their lives against the power of the undead.

Before long, their bodies became powerful doom knights.

The volunteers gathered in Formos Castle were completely defeated. It was 50,000 against 10,000 but the destruction became faster as the defense forces became undead.

“Ah……”

“The undead are really finished. They are stimulated by the necromancers.”

The watching users were appalled. The undead were undaunted by arrows and swords and rushed towards 5~6 enemies at once. It was different from a common battle where people defended their lives.

Weed directed the undead and isolated the troops controlling the walls. They couldn’t help protect Formos Castle’s walls.

– Formos Castle in the Haven Empire has been taken.

The defense forces collapsed.

An army of invaders led by a lich has captured the castle.

A ghastly fear has been implanted in the residents.

Of course, they have to survive to feel such a horror.

– You conquered the castle as a lich necromancer with an army of undead.

Faith has been reduced by 24.

Honour has decreased by 17.

13 courage has disappeared.

The gods won’t give you blessings for 41 days.

Infamy as increased by 15,391.

Power of the dead has increased by 311.

The skill Power to Reject Death has reached beginner level 5.

“Tremendous damage.”

A normal conquest would give fame, leadership and considerable combat experience. The knights would often get combat skills or leadership skills.

“It is unfortunate. But I can’t often play as a necromancer. Well, I shouldn’t worry about something like this.”

Although he conquered Formos Castle, this was the Central Continent so Weed couldn’t keep it.

The users watching Formos Castle all had one thought.

“It is over. Formos Castle will disappear today.”

They believed that the undead army would thoroughly kill and loot the residents before burning the city. The undead would pull down the buildings and walls until it was impossible to recover.

This was the best way to inflict maximum damage to the Haven Empire. The residents would suffer economic losses while those in production like farmers and craftsmen would disappear.

Destabilizing the region would cause a huge setback to the empire. It was an opportunity to delete the developed Formos Castle from the Versailles Continent forever.

Weed thought differently.

“Money is the best emotional revenge.”

It was silly to always have the same habits.

“I need to walk a straight line as closely as possible. Move at full speed from now on.”

Weed led the undead army to rob Formos Castle’s armoury and warehouses.

There were weapons of war, grain, horses and other things stacked. Formos Castle had enormous amounts of wealth, iron, silver and magic sealed items.

Lord Deckard bought them for merchants and well sell them when the price rose.

“Van Hawk.”

“I understand. Everything will burn in a fire.”

“You are crazy. Just have the death knights create carriages. Load as much as possible. But we should only take one tenths.”

“……”

The purpose of conquering the castle wasn’t slaughter and arson.

The undead retreated after looting the warehouses with Formos Castle intact.

“No matter how angry, we need to think rationally. The residents didn’t do anything wrong.”

Killing residents of the Versailles Continent would just accumulate infamy. Weed already had infamy from acting as a necromancer so he didn’t want to add anymore unnecessary infamy.

In his days as ruler of the desert, he didn’t hesitate to burn down the cities. However, it was pointless to play with fire right now.

“I need to maintain a good relationship with the locals. There is still a bounty on my head but I should have the spirit of mutual aid.”

No matter how petty and dirty, he had patiently delivered milk and newspapers. Weed needed to live on the Versailles Continent so he couldn’t make an error. Or else he might be hit in the back of the head.

After Weed left the castle, the users looted the remaining warehouses.

“Wah…isn’t there too much piled up? Hermes Guild, Beden Guild. They are truly vicious.”

“But no one is guarding this?”

The guards were wiped out.

The users stealthily moved and picked up a few things from the warehouses.

“How much?”

“Unbelievably expensive. These glowing beads.”

“Is it okay to steal them? Those guys might retaliate.”

“How would they know who did it? Aren’t all the users in this castle killed?”

In the next moment, the users started gathering things from Formos Castle. The antiques, artwork and even the rugs were looted.

Those who belonged to the Haven Empire had to pay high taxes and a dungeon entry fee.

The bad feelings piled up meant they started looting without hesitation.

Chapter 2: Seo-yoon’s Father

A large event took place at Formos Castle!

Weed caused a large hit and the prestige of the Hermes Guild on the Versailles Continent fell once again.

The Haven Empire sent troops from nearby cities and recovered Formos Castle the next day, but there was no way of restoring their pride.

Angry users had cleaned out the warehouses and destroyed the city’s facilities. This sight was relayed through the broadcasting stations and caused a huge embarrassment to the Haven Empire. And the anxiety of the Haven Empire grew even greater.

“We have to punish him. Let’s ensure that he can’t play freely anymore.”

“How long do we have to put up with this? Can he continue acting so boldly on the Central Continent with no retaliation? Since when has the Hermes Guild been so weak?”

All the leaders and main lords of the Hermes Guild were gathered. They wanted to put measures in place to deal with Weed and raise the security.

Weed’s bounty was increased to 100 million gold, a position of a city lord and the highest grade equipment. Senior magicians and assassins were dispatched to track him.

“Operation name is Big Bear Hunting.”

Lafaye thought there was little chance they could catch the elusive Weed. It would be very difficult to track Weed based on his skill, speed and judgement.

Instead, death traps were placed in areas where he was likely to emerge. The group of leaders strongly promoted the idea if dispatching trackers.

‘If we locate that guy then we can make him fall from the sky.’

There were many people in the Hermes Guild who desired to fight Weed. The highest levels were given resources and only one mission.

Chase Weed’s trail through the continent. His opportunities would shrink and one day they would catch him. Weed’s actions in the Central Continent would be narrowed.

Lafaye pulled out a map of the continent.

“There is a fundamental part that we need to work on. The weakening of the Haven Empire. Our empire is becoming increasingly weak.”

“Weakening of the empire? The military is winning almost all fights against rebels. Our army is getting stronger every day and it is only a matter of time until we conquer the entire continent.”

The leaders immediately objected.

There were many lords and war heroes among the leaders of the Hermes Guild.

“Are you worried about the rebels? Those guys are just noisy.”

“I agree. They will never get back together. We will show them what it means for the strong to step on the weak. There is no need to bother talking about the weakening of the empire.”

They thought that many troublesome things were happening in the Haven Empire. But it was just a temporary disturbance due to the unification of the continent.

Rebels were emerging everywhere but they were being overwhelming by the military. The prestigious guild would just step on them like playing whack-a-mole.

The Hermes Guild were experienced with war. They didn’t think they would be defeated in these battles.

After conquering the Central Continent, they had ruled perfectly over the Haven Empire. The reason it was difficult to conquer the north was due to the long distance. If they didn’t have to keep a large number of troops on the Central Continent then the north wouldn’t be able to resist.

As powerful warlords on the Versailles Continent, they had great pride in themselves. They were given noble titles like Earl, Marquis and Duke.

With the exception of Bardray, they were stronger than most users. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that all the powerhouses of the Versailles Continent were gathered in the Hermes Guild

Lafaye met the eyes of the leaders and lords.

“You are not listening to me. The army of the Haven Empire is arguably stronger. We have the strongest forces on the continent. But the real problem is the empire’s economy weakening.”

Lafaye thought seriously about the internal affairs of the Haven Empire.

“If you look at the statistics from the early days of the Haven Empire, the tax revenue for one month was around 1.3 billion gold.

“Isn’t that a lot?”

“Yes. It was truly an astronomical amount of money for the early days of Royal Road. We moved from only having 10 gold to running a successful city. Prior to that, we were wandering through the mountains and forests to find leather.”

The users closed their eyes and recalled that time.

Everyone had to start somewhere.

The leaders were busier than anyone as they lay the groundwork for the Hermes Guild. They wanted to become stronger than anyone else. The users developed villages through quests, trade flowed and they became active high ranking officials,

The process was so clear, it was like it occurred yesterday. The experience in Royal Road was more dramatic than the real world.

“These statistics were gathered from several sources and an exact amount can’t be given due to the number of users entering. But it is estimated that in the most active time of the Haven Kingdom, the monthly tax revenue reached approximately 2.4 billion gold.”

“It is amazing. That is a great amount of money.”

At that time, they received taxes from the Haven Kingdom as well as other large and small kingdoms.

The tax rate was high but there was economic growth from the great influx of users. Among the users, the nobles and lords started to get a firm grip on their position. As a prestigious guild, they had big plans and wanted the Kallamore Kingdom and Tullen Kingdom that had large populations.

They recruited an army and fought vigorously to gain more territory. The NPC royalty and nobility couldn’t do anything and the users expanded their military power.

Farm and ranches were destroyed while mines were closed. Residents were sacrificed and production facilities destroyed. Not to mention that trade started shrinking.

Young residents were conscripted and brought to the battlefield while a variety of professions only focused on making instruments of war.

From then on, the tax revenue of the Haven Kingdom and other kingdoms started to be reduced.

Lafaye, Bardray and most of the people of the Central Continent regarded this phenomenon lightly.

War and conquering the surrounding territories were given top priority so they didn’t have time to think about the economy. They had the simple logic of trampling on everything.

There was a fierce struggle for the Central Continent and the Hermes Guild ended up the winner.

So far there were no variables.

“We seized the Haven Kingdom, Kallamore Kingdom and then hit the other forces on the Central Continent. And although it was confidential, our tax revenue was approximately 8.8 billion gold shortly after unifying the Central Continent. That includes the admission fees into the cities and dungeons.”

“…….”

The gathered leaders and lords were in such shock that they couldn’t say anything.

‘Didn’t we also receive some investments from the outside?’

‘The value of virtual reality is growing every day. The Hermes Guild is already good enough to be called a corporation.’

The lords could guess through governing the cities but it was a shock to hear the figures firsthand.

Lafaye revealed one more piece of information that had been concealed.

“On the other hand, our information network estimates that the tax revenue for the Arpen Kingdom is around 20~30 million gold.”

“Huhuhu, the scale can’t even be compared.”

“That much…is it even worth conquering?”

The lords laughed.

They could obtain that much tax revenue from the territory they ruled. The Arpen Kingdom had great popularity with the masses but they felt it was just an empty vessel.

However, Lafaye didn’t laugh.

“There is a big difference in how we spend our tax revenue compared to the Arpen Kingdom. We have a much higher tax rate. If the Arpen Kingdom gathered taxes in the same manner as us then they would have at least 300 million gold.”

“There is still a large difference…”

The lords couldn’t poke fun at 300 million gold. Nevertheless, it was still too small an amount compared to the Haven Empire.

But Lafaye’s face was serious so they guessed that the story was larger.

“If you look closely then the real gap is actually reduced even more. Since unifying the Central Continent, the Haven Empire’s tax income has been reducing rapidly.”

One of the lords asked.

“Is it due to the system? We could argue that there are less farms and mines.”

“That plays a part. However, the reduction in tax revenue caused by that is so negligible that it can be ignored.”

“Then the current tax revenue…”

“5.17 billion gold.”

“Hrmm.”

There was the sound of deep sighs.

8.8 billion and 5.1 billion gold was still a tremendous amount of money. But it had been reduced by 3.7 billion so it was the first time they felt it was a big problem.

The laughing faces they used to mock the Arpen Kingdom had stiffened.

Most of the tax revenue in their large and small territories were declining. They thought it was just temporary and would recover through economic reconstruction. But they didn’t know that so much income had flown away.

Lafaye continued talking.

“In the meantime, we’ve done some wrongs and there has been a series of bad events. The taxes have continued being smoothly collected despite the rebels. But despite the economic reconstruction, the tax revenue is continuing to decline rapidly.”

“There is no doubt.”

“How much has it reduced now?”

The lords asked urgently.

Lafaye honestly explained the seriousness of the situation.

“In one month, the total has been reduced by 300~400 million gold.”

“Absurd……”

The leaders who already knew this information remained silent.

The lords tried to calculate it in their heads.

‘If the tax revenue decreases then my income will be less.’

There was even more to say.

Everyone’s full attention was on Lafaye.

“It is hard to list all the reasons for the tax reduction. The damage our competitors caused when they fell, damage to the cities, death of the residents, reduced production, rebels emerging and worsening security. Another big reason is that users don’t enjoy hunting in the Central Continent anymore.”

Those in Royal Road had a strong desire to become stronger.

But that heat cooled down after the Hermes Guild ruled over the Central Continent with their powerful military.

The people who wanted to play or go to resorts left.

The production workers and engineers didn’t work as hard as before.

It was natural that taxes would decrease if there wasn’t as much people entering the cities or dungeons.

Meanwhile, the lords were busy thinking.

‘This is similar to a real economy.’

‘Difficult. Economics…I should take some classes in economics.’

It was obvious that their economy was currently in a recession. They needed someone to make the economy run smoothly again.

Even so, the lords thought the Haven Empire still had a high tax revenue. In fact, they had accumulated an enormous wealth.

Lafaye’s words broke them from that delusion.

“As you know, a lot of money is required in order to maintain the Haven Empire. Maintaining essential infrastructure and military expenses. It is hard to estimate accurately but those costs alone exceeds 2 billion gold. We must subdue the rebels while investing in rebuilding the empire. In other words, soon we won’t be able to afford it.”

The Haven Empire that was a golden egg laying goose was in the worst situation.

Those who were vaguely smart were shaken. The tax revenue was a critical issue so the meeting room fell silent.

“The Haven Empire requires a large military power to suppress our enemies. However, the strength of our military is also a double-edged sword. It requires a huge maintenance cost and is a hindrance to economic growth. In the future, we have to maintain our current military and help the economy recover.

Lafaye clearly expressed his will.

In addition, he warned the lords who didn’t follow the Hermes Guild’s policies.

There were many lords in the Haven Empire. The so called founders of the Hermes Guild! They had a powerful army and were assigned a territory to rule by the guild. They committed resources to any wars of conquest. They contributed to the especially strong military power of the Central Continent.

The brave founders were given generous rewards and established a governance system. They ruled the new conquered lands far away from the centre where people rarely interfered. The lords appointed a permanent military force and collected taxes. They wanted to focus on wars for a completely unified continent.

All the lords appointed to the Hermes Guild were like this. The lords had a lot of people in their territory and many users envied them. This was motivation to reach a higher position in the guild. But these choices had caught up to them.

The lords were familiar with war and only worried about strengthening their military power, causing the economy to worsen. Young residents were recruited as soldiers and blacksmiths to create weapons.

The luxury goods market shrank by one third and the economic loss affected the whole empire.

‘First we have to establish a centralized government. And then carry out measures to revive the Central Continent.’

A variety of measures would be taken to rebuild the economy and they needed to ensure the lords followed it properly.

The lords were those who had high contributions when it came to conquering the Central Continent.

As a result, they heavily taxed the residents and stole the wealth instead of using it to rebuild the economy.

Although they were commanded to decrease the taxes, not even half the lords followed it. Of course, this was the fault of the irresponsible lords.

The traditional governance of the Central Continent was that those who had money had power.

Lafaye didn’t want to bother with the Arpen Kingdom.

Information from the north indicated that the number of users were growing daily and production and adventuring were increasing briskly.

The atmosphere was quite different from the Haven Empire. The villages and cities would advance in the next 1~2 years and the economic situation might reverse.

When looking at just the tax revenue, their positions were unlikely to change but the speed of development couldn’t be compared.

If the Central Continent continued deteriorating then the Northern Continent would rise like a sun.

“The empire won’t fall down to an external invasion. But if we keep on fighting the rebels then the national power of the Haven Empire will gradually decline. In the future, we should pay more attention to internal affairs and the economy instead of war.

They decided to use Aren Castle as the centre of a transportation network and carry out intensive industrial and urban development.

And they needed to consider the backlash from users as well as the military unrest caused by rebels.

Progress was slow but the Hermes Guild needed to make a fundamental reform.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The traders and residents at the empire’s capital, Aren Castle were complaining.

“We are paying very heavy taxes. It is used as the foundation for the Haven Empire. But the prices of luxury goods keep on rising. Our guests are decreasing and if this continues then we will be destroyed.”

“They can’t even stop the rebels yet they want to conquer the continent. Incompetent noble bastards.”

“Doesn’t it make sense for goods from the rural areas to be cheaper? I squeeze them as much as possible but they won’t go lower.”

“I have to make money at the market, huhuhu. It is good to have luxury goods. I don’t care where it was looted from. In fact, who cares about facts like that anymore?”

The merchants at the capital’s markets were dissatisfied with the trades.

Massive discontent piled up among the merchants and residents. It was difficult to do business in the Tullen and Kallamore territories in the Haven Empire.

“Isn’t there a lack of food in these days? Recently there is also a shortage of materials. I blame the rebels but I can’t hate them. The empire brought this on itself.”

“There are still unsold clothes and weapons. People aren’t willing to use money.”

“The quality of the crops from the north are excellent but it is regrettable that they can no longer be traded. Wine and dried fruits. Among my customers, there are many who would dump money for those products.”

“Swords made by blacksmiths? They are difficult to obtain. All the blacksmiths have quit.”

In response to the empire, production and technicians like blacksmiths and farmers were reduced and trade dwindled.

It was worse after the failure of the northern invasion and collapse of the Haven Empire’s Imperial Palace.

Overall, there was a severe economic downturn.

The phenomenon occurred simultaneously in the occupied territories. The users also lost motivation due to the expensive taxes.

“Go hunting? Let’s just go play.”

“An order? How annoying. I’m going to sleep.”

The jobless just played around.

There was a rising trend of users doing nothing.

“I don’t have enough money.”

They just lay on the roof of buildings around the squares, soaking up the sunlight.

Some users became aware of the situation in the Haven Empire and quickly sold their farmland or homes.

The merchant users reduced their activities. Rebels purchased mercenaries from other areas at expensive prices but they still received a profit.

All the users in the Central Continent started feeling alarmed.

Then residents started receiving supplies of food, herbs, minerals etc. The goods were more expensive than before but the Haven Empire was just happy about being fed. The middle class and nobles also wanted pottery, wine, clothes and art.

“I will often trade with you in the future. Please come again.”

“Of course. We will have any goods you need. For a premium.”

– The emergency supplies quest has been perfectly performed.

You have a 12.32% contribution to the market.

Like a comet that appeared out of the blue! Many materials started being brought into the markets of the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“I believe in nothing in this world.”

Lee Hyun thought as he browsed the internet. There were lively discussions about Weed’s bounty on Royal Road’s website.

– That is a tremendous amount for Royal Road. Is the Hermes Guild serious?

– Catching Weed.

– A fortune can be earned.

– Fortune hunters…I will act ruthlessly!

“These guys…”

Lee Hyun grunted.

No matter how much people disliked the Hermes Guild, they would cooperate if there is something in return for them.

He couldn’t blame them. The price from the Hermes Guild was enough for Lee Hyun himself to take action.

“Still, people aren’t loyal.”

This time, he looked at the Dark Gamers Union.

Title: The best chance for gamers who want to retire!

Recruiting participants for Weed hunting. The current capacity is 240 people. I am only taking up to 300 people.

Title: It will take too long to earn money from japtem and quests. Equipment prices have fallen these days so we should go after the large sum of money.

“Kuoh, these guys as well…”

The bounty was so high that people gathered together to hunt Lee Hyun’s character.

However, he wouldn’t be such easy prey.

Meeting at dungeons or hunting grounds were rare. He was alert to tricks from the spectators even when fighting.

The north was flooded with friendly users so he could rest assured in large cities like Morata.

The few bounty hunters that attempted it would be overwhelmed by Weed. Of course, if he summoned Van Hawk and Torido then he could repel them with no difficulties.

It would be tough if he met the Dark Gamers who had high levels but they wouldn’t easily move. If they failed then they would lose levels and skill proficiency.

That viewpoint of the Dark Gamers didn’t change even with the bounty.

Thanks to the dictatorship of the Hermes Guild, the role of the Dark Gamers in Royal Road was sharply reduced.

Some Dark Gamers settled in the Arpen Kingdom and contributed their knowledge, adventures and to the economy. Many of them also helped in the war against the Haven Empire.

“It will become much harder to move around. I need to use Sculpture Transformation and be careful in the future.”

Lee Hyun looked through the information boards of the Dark Gamers Union.

He analyzed the geography of the Versailles Continent, quests and the forces of the lords of the Haven Empire.

He was much more cautious when making a decision about the hunting grounds.

“I need to choose a time and place where I will gave a great advantage. Maximize the hit and run tactics and the power of sculpting…”

The wide Central Continent. He could target any area with the wyverns.

Formos Castle hadn’t been his target from the beginning but the opportunity had been too good.

He quickly changed his plan and ate it up with the rebels and his necromancy skills. A situation where he gained a jackpot!

“Formos Castle was an incredible offering. Well, I just need to be alert for murderers and assassins when hunting in dungeons…the situation hasn’t changed that much. There is a saying that people will be forever removing water from a boat.”

If they kept fighting the rebels then the golden age of the Haven Empire wouldn’t come back.

“Grab someone big. A genuinely big guy who isn’t easy.”

Lee Hyun decided on the Myul Griffon Knights as his next target.

The griffin knights were one of the most powerful forces in the Haven Empire’s army. There were only 5,000 of them but their strategic value was terrific.

The steel knights flying on griffins in the sky would end up fighting the avians. They were known for being invincible in battle and overwhelmingly annihilating the enemies.

Right now they were maintaining security in the unstable region of the Gradian and Nest Kingdoms.

“If I get rid of them then it will be hard to recover. Then I will try it.”

A variety of tricks and schemes passed through his head.

Of course, he secretly contacted KMC Media beforehand. He didn’t tell them any specific information but gave a request to set aside some airtime.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lee Hyun went to the market after a long time.

“Some prawns please.”

“How many? Today a lot came at dawn.”

“The big ones. Don’t worry about the price. Give the freshest ones as they will be fried.”

“Oh, it must be a big deal.”

Instead of his usual frozen crab soup, he bought 50,000 won worth of fish, prawns and octopuses.

“Ingredients for seafood soup.”

He also bought 40,000 won worth of beef. And 20,000 won worth of pork belly.

At this point, the store owners looked at Lee Hyun with concerned eyes.

“Are you really spending all that money?”

“Yes.”

“Is something happening at home?”

“Nothing.”

“I don’t know whether or not I will hear news about you. Something like a last supper before dying…”

“…….”

It was understandable that there would be a misunderstanding since he hardly ever used money.

Lee Hyun was a VIP at going to convenience stores and eating kimbap and burgers just past the expiry date for free.

Lee Hyun’s fingers trembled like a drug addict as he bought things at the market.

“Spending this much on a meal…”

He was buying a bunch of fresh ingredients for dinner with Seo-yoon.

It took a long time before his relationship with her deepened.

There were some misunderstandings about not being worthy of Seo-yoon and he deliberately hid his heart.

In reality, Lee Hyun was just a poor gamer. He had to pay the costs of living, monthly rent and bills and he had his own pride.

A man’s qualifications! He thought she would meet a greater man.

But Lee Hyun’s thoughts had changed a lot from the past. Now he didn’t think he was lacking compared to others due to money.

“I can now buy Nike socks or ripped jeans.”

In the old days, he had one pair of jeans for summer, autumn, winter and spring. The jeans became so worn that the knees had large holes.

In the past, he thought it was a nightmare to buy 200 won more expensive salt or honey.

He also knew that she wouldn’t easily change her mind!

“It will be fun in the future.”

Lee Hyun planned a delicious meal in the evening and then he would read a poem he wrote for her.

He wrote the poem while travelling the Versailles Continent and making sculptures. To be honest, he wasn’t a poet but he thought it was great.

[I like you

Walking the cold, dark streets alone

I lived every day like an uncle from the post office until I met you.

You turned on the lights in my life like a broadcast

My warm heart is like an electric blanket in winter or a burning gas boiler

My eyes would like to see you

More than the latest 75 inch LED television

My ears want to hear your whispers

Sharper than a Dolby surround sound home theater

I would apply for unlimited voice calls to talk to you every day

My heart towards you is clearer than an air purifier

Purer than a water purifier

Cleaner than a cyclone vacuum cleaner

But not exaggerated as home shopping advertisements or fanciful as decorated restaurants

As reassuring as an electric rice cooker

A heart as hot as a frying pan over a gas oven.]

Unlike the metaphorical poems, this was a straightforward poem. Perhaps it was as good as a large retail store.

Lee Hyun thought it was unfortunate.

“I should modify it a little bit. Large homes in Korea…”

He would be happy to live at home with some children.

Lee Hyun was walking with bags in both hands when he saw an old man walking a dog.

Jeong Deuk-soo. Seo-yoon’s father.

Their eyes met.

“Ah, hello.”

“Hum hum hum!”

‘It is difficult. Last time he told me to stay good friends or break up…how should I answer?’

‘Meeting him here. I was just taking a walk because the weather is good. I’m not ready for a conversation. Well, I need to answer.’

Lee Hyun and Jeong Deuk-soo sat down on a bench in the park.

They needed to speak to each other but the uncomfortable situation made it hard to say any words.

Lee Hyun’s heart was heavy because the other person was Seo-yoon’s father. They weren’t friendly so he didn’t know what to say first. It was difficult to imagine talking to someone with massive wealth, power or fame.

But Jeong Deuk-soo’s status as the chairman of his group was gone.

‘He will be my father-in-law in the future. It will be difficult if he isn’t pleased.’

‘Will he criticize me for trying to give him money last time? Does he know the Hosung Group is shattered?’

They were each concerned about different things.

Lee Hyun had some idea about the circumstances of Hosung Group.

Hosung Group’s financial difficulties were on the news for a while so he noticed even when he was busy in Royal Road. Hosung Group went completely bankrupt and there were a large number of unemployed. However, the temporary difficulties were settled quickly with the bank’s financial support.

‘Does he know I am meeting with her? Last time I saw him was during the battle at Earth Palace.’

‘This guy has a large presence in Royal Road. He frequently appears on broadcast. Last time I ignored it as well. Ah…does he remember that moment at the Earth Palace? It will be good if he doesn’t have keen eyes. It isn’t sure.’

Lee Hyun and Jeong Deuk-soo sat down for 30 minutes just watching each other.

Tweet tweet tweet!

Sparrows and pigeons flew around the park while young children wearing backpacks played after finishing school.

It was too hard to say anything!

Seo-yoon and the dignity of both men made it hard.

From Jeong Deuk-soo’s perspective, the other side was more oppressive. He had talked about breaking up with Lee Hyun and was also worried about his daughter.

In the viewpoint of the father, an ordinary person like Lee Hyun wasn’t good enough for his beautiful and precious daughter.

His thoughts were still similar but he heard a lot about Lee Hyun while living nearby. He had already heard about Lee Hyun while signing his contract with the real estate agent.

“That guy?”

“He has a lot of tricks. Usually they would be playing and drinking at that age…he is only interested in money. He already bought some land near here.”

“Eh?”

“A land beyond the park that is 1,500 square metres. It is a great deal as the area is likely to be redeveloped within 20 years. There is no need to spend money buying apartments…there is also a chance of malls appearing. There is also an underground subway station. He moved quickly.”

The master of the land speculation!

He saved money from delivering milk and newspapers and kept an eye on land he would buy in the future. And he moved rapidly.

Jeong Deok-soo even asked about Lee Hyun at the local supermarkets and restaurants.

“That young man…I’m not sure why you are asking, hu…my daughter told me about a bad incident that occurred when she attended high school.”

“What is it?”

“He chased after his younger sister who was on a motorcycle with another man.”

“And?”

“He caught them. His limbs were broken and his sister came to her senses.”

“…Was he alone?”

“He has been since he was young. And there is no one in this neighbourhood who will mess with that young man. You should know this if you continue to live in the neighbourhood.”

Even the elderly people drinking rice wine gossiped about Lee Hyun.

“A wonderful young man…”

“A good and diligent young man. The way a man should be.”

Even the elderly weren’t free from Lee Hyun’s influence. They spent a long time in this neighbourhood and refused to care for strangers.

But Lee Hyun’s grandmother had cheerfully grown up here. Furthermore, Lee Hyun would give holiday bonuses to the elderly once he actually started earning money. Based on that, they cared about him despite his young age.

He knew information about Lee Hyun through the gossip and broadcasts.

‘A scary guy. He has the temperament of a politician. My daughter is attracted to a man like that.’

Jeong Deuk-soo decided to allow his friendship with Seo-yoon. He didn’t want his relationship with Seo-yoon to worsen by opposing it.

Seo-yoon’s expression was also very bright so he didn’t have the justification to oppose it.

‘I just wish they remain as good friends. These days, people always love once or twice before settling down. If would be good if she marries someone really nice later.’

Jeong Deuk-soo decided to speak first.

“My daughter is doing well?”

“Yes. I’m sorry about your business.”

“No. It is my fault for not handling the money properly. It is my mistake for caring too much about the people under me.”

“It is okay. I understand your position.”

There was a period of silence once again. Jeong Deuk-soo gazed at the shopping bags Lee Hyun was carrying.

“It seems like you went to the market.”

“Yes. I am preparing for dinner.”

“That is quite a lot of seafood.”

“Seo-yoon likes seafood soup. We are having dinner this evening.”

“You are having dinner together?”

“Yes.”

“What? You are eating at home? Alone?”

“T-that’s right. Although sometimes my sister likes to eat with us.”

Silence once again.

The hardest part for a father was no meddling with his child’s love. He had to be careful.

But he felt upset after hearing this.

Lee Hyun noticed these feelings and carefully said.

“You seem bothered so should I cancel the dinner?”

“No. There is no need to do so in today’s world. Do I seem that outdated about relationships between men and women?”

“Of course not.”

“Don’t mind me.”

“Then…there is enough food so would you like to come for dinner?”

Jeong Deuk-soo really wanted to eat dinner together. Eating dinner with his daughter and her boyfriend. Any parent with a daughter would want to be there.

Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon’s yard was large so they could grill so meat and talk all evening.

Despite it being large and flashy, he didn’t want to return to his empty home. Unlike when he was busy as a chairman, none of his friends came to visit anymore. He lived a reclusive life at home while accessing Royal Road.

“Well, I have already eaten.”

“I see. It is unfortunate but it can’t be helped.”

“Cough!”

Jeong Deuk-soo suddenly coughed.

‘You stupid bastard! Know the basic courtesies. You should offer twice.’

However, he was trying to be friendly to his daughter’s friend.

Jeong Deuk-soo had been the chairman of a large group and now his head was busy thinking.

‘I need to be friends with him. It is for the sake of improving relations with my daughter. Gradually over time…huhuhu.’

Then Lee Hyun said.

“But I think I saw you in Royal Road…were you wearing a merchant’s outfit?”

“No way…I would remember meeting you. Huhuhu. I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“He looked the same. The chin was a little more fleshy and the belly stuck out a bit more than you.”

“That is a good joke. Am I a person who seems like a joke?”

“Of course not.”

Jeong Deuk-soo had a cold sweat.

He hadn’t been so nervous even when kicked out of his company. But he couldn’t show it.

Bart the merchant was no comparison to Weed, the God of War, in Royal Road.

The dignity of men was really subtle and complex.

“Young friend, you have dark bags under your eyes. That absolutely isn’t me.”

“Ah, indeed. He was wearing outdated merchant’s clothes. It means the accounting skills are high but beginner’s luck is likely to run out…”

“How likely? Ah, that’s why I failed the bargain. So unfair!”

“…….”

“…….”

Lee Hyun and Jeong Deuk-soo simultaneously turned to look at the park.

‘It was correct.’

‘No, this guy?’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed once again accessed Royal Road.

The target was the Myul Griffin Knights!

“They are prey that I need to catch properly.”

He knew from experience what would happen if he touched the prestigious guilds.

‘They have suffered a few blows so won’t they now make a trap to catch me?’

Weed calculated the areas that were likely to have a high number of Hermes Guild users waiting.

It was setting a mousetrap and waiting to attack.

He had some insight into Lafaye’s tricks.

Dozens of users would be hidden in corners of famous dungeons in order to launch attacks. He was always in extreme danger when walking inside the Central Continent.

Weed came out with an idea.

‘Obviously they are waiting in many places. There will be a very large profit if they catch me. But rather than appearing in those places, shouldn’t I attack somewhere empty?’

Weed didn’t think about attacking little known locations or low value targets.

He could dedicate himself to hunting and quests in the north.

However, he now had seven days left for the deadline of the dragon quest. The quest might simply end with the delivery but it could also lead to a larger target.

‘The Myul Knights will be sacrificed. Even the Hermes Guild would shrink back at such damage.’

They would become conscious of Weed. They wouldn’t feel completely free even while hunting, doing quests or cutting down the rebels.

A small harvest would lead to a large profit.

Apart from the profit, he would also be breaking down the perception of absolute strength that the Hermes Guild had.

Following Deckard and the Formos Castle, the Myul Knights would be the best offering. The Hermes Guild wouldn’t be prepared.

“An elite troop of the Haven Empire. And the knight Myul who has immense individual abilities. It will be difficult to catch the griffins in a trap. But that doesn’t mean there are no vulnerable gaps. It will be fun to show them.”

Weed used Yurin to move through the Gradian Kingdom.

The Gradian Kingdom was filled with forests and mountains.

There were also elves and species with rare attributes.

Due to the environmental attributes, the kingdom had once been controlled by the Black Sword Mercenaries.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“We are continuing to receive damage in the front. While maintaining the guerilla warfare…let’s constantly damage the empire.”

Michel who was the leader of the Black Sword Mercenaries commanded.

They weren’t trying to regain the Gradian and Nest Kingdoms from the Haven Empire.

Instead they were looting supplies and damaging the army.

If the Haven Empire weakened then a chance would come one day.

Half the forces of the Black Sword Mercenaries were comprised of mercenaries persecuted by the Haven Empire.

However, Michel of the Black Sword Mercenaries secretly received a letter.

“Weed, the God of War?”

He received the letter through Carlise of the Black Lion Guild.

Weed had met up with some Black Lion Guild users at Formos Castle and wrote a letter to Michel through them.

The sealed envelope wasn’t tampered with and the contents written were huge.

[The night of the full moon.

Lead an army to invade Node Krape.

I will give you a steamed dish.]

It was short so he quickly read to the end. But he did not understand.

“This is…a password?”

He turned the letter upside down and read the sentences separately.  He even soaked it in water and contemplated burning it but didn’t find anything.

“The troops of the Black Sword Mercenaries…”

Weed’s actions were absurd.

Hegel of the Black Lion Guild was the one who brought the letter so Michel asked him.

“Did Weed really send this letter?”

“Yes, that’s right. Oh, it is suspicious.”

“The letter might be a trap by the Hermes Guild.”

Hegel laughed like it was ludicrous.

“Heh, Weed is someone I personally know very well. You don’t have to be concerned about him.”

“Uhh, then I can trust it.”

Hegel had a solid presence in the Black Lion Guild. It would be better if less people knew about this.

Carlise of the Black Lion Guild also gave an assurance that the letter was written directly by Weed.

Hegel then asked.

“But are you really going to invade Node Krape? It will be tough to succeed.”

Node Krape was a fortress built on a cliff!

It was situated to the north of Gradian Kingdom’s Royal Palace and the lord used it to govern the area.

A massive number of Haven Empire troops were placed here and it was a great fortress.

When the Haven Empire tried to conquer the Gradian Kingdom, the Black Sword Mercenaries at Node Krape had been able to withstand the enemy for four days.

The Gradian territory was unstable right now but it would still be reckless.

Michel also thought it was ridiculous.

‘Telling me to invade without any prior explanation or even a discussion?’

He should persuade me with a reasonable plan!

From the perspective of the Black Sword Mercenaries, it would be better to reject the proposal.

‘No.’

However, Michel was attracted to the idea of attacking Node Krape.

The Hermes Guild had built up significant achievements but the prestigious guilds couldn’t destroy them.

So far, Weed was the only one capable of damaging them.

Weed knocked down the Hermes Guild so that alone was worthy of respect.

‘And actions speak louder than words. That person is unbelievable. Looking at Weed’s recent actions against the Hermes Guild, it wouldn’t be impossible if we conspire with him.’

His thoughts continued.

‘The Hermes Guild is too strong. Right now I can’t defeat them. We don’t have a base. There is a long way to go if we keep doing damage through guerilla warfare. An opportunity. Yes, I should take this opportunity now that it has come.’

Michel nodded to the dubious Hegel.

“Of course we are going to invade.”

“Really? How did you make that decision?”

Michel once again looked at Weed’s short letter.

The feeling like he knew something.

He believed that Weed would make the right call. A variety of persuasive comments weren’t necessary.

His brusque words revealed a confidence.

“The day will come when you lead a large group. And you will learn to think differently from ordinary people.”

Michel’s intense gaze turned to Hegel.

The members of the Black Sword Mercenaries looked down on Hegel. He was an acquaintance of Weed but couldn’t compare to Michel’s position.

But he respectfully bowed his head.

“I understand what you mean.”

“Thank you for understanding. If you continue to grow then someday you will stand shoulder to shoulder with me.”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed didn’t think seriously of it after sending a letter to the Black Sword Mercenaries.

“Surely they will come? They aren’t fools.”

The letter had been safely delivered to the Black Sword Mercenaries but he was sure they were convinced.

He continued on with his actions.

They could achieve victory.

It was impossible to guarantee victory without a specific plan against the griffin knights.

The griffins could spread their wings and win against a bunch of troops.

The Myul Knights would move if there were any circumstances that would harm the Haven Empire.

Weed searched through the internet and finished his survey of their equipment.

“A dragon’s helmet inlaid with 999 sapphires? A sealed thunder spear for ranged attacks and the performance hasn’t been revealed yet?”

They were covered in treasures from head to toe.

There were swords, shields and high elf’s bows that could be sold for the highest prices at auctions.

The knights riding the griffins owned some of the best equipment.

“Is there more equipment not revealed to the public?”

Myul was a killer knight.

If he died then he was likely to drop one or two good gear.

“Hit them unconditionally. There are large labour costs.”

Weed thought it was sufficient to make a move.

“Then I will attack on the 15th.”

I asked to meet with the rebels on the day of the full moon.

He made the offer to the Black Sword Mercenaries but his plan didn’t rely on them.

Weed’s plan was relatively simple.

‘Look at the situation and attack! And gain a treasure.’

Rather than expecting the Black Sword Mercenaries to overwhelm the enemy with military strength, he held his real strategy close to his chest.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

It was finally the full moon.

“Execute all the rebels!”

The revolt that occurred in the Gradian area! Rebels have entered a battle against the Haven Empire. Rebels simultaneously attacked cities and villages.

The Myul Griffin troops flew from Node Krape to support each city.

The Black Sword Mercenaries hiding in the dark forest was delighted.

“Amazing. Preparing this…”

The members were filled with admiration.

Michel said towards an aide.

“This might have started in Weed’s head but we will be the ones finishing it. We will enter the gates…”

“There won’t be any problems?”

“That’s right. Our role is to regain Node Krape. This will ensure that we can lay claim on the Gradian Kingdom.”

“I think so as well. Weed will be used as a stepping stone to fight against the Haven Empire.”

“Ohh, such a huge plan…”

“Weed is amazing but Michel’s insight is much greater.”

“Well, it all depends on our ability to occupy Node Krape.”

Despite the rugged terrain, Gradian Kingdom was the best position to defend the Central Continent against the west.

Michel and the other players would consider this when actively participating in battle.

‘Weed will attack numerous cities on the Central Continent for nothing.’

‘God of War. A really extraordinary strategy. But we have also read your thoughts. Shall I give you the bridesmaid role?’

‘It is inevitable that we will devour the throne.’

The Black Sword Mercenaries silently moved out from the bushes. They waited for the troops to move away from Node Krape!

After approximately 1 hour, the mercenaries raised their bodies up from the ground.

The walls of Node Krape were 40 metres high. It was difficult to secretly arrange for siege weapons but they figured out every nook and cranny of the fortress.

“Infiltrate the sewers.”

“There is already a spot in the kitchen.”

“The south valley?”

“80 people have entered using the emergency passage.”

“Good. Send a signal to the troops to strike at once!”

“Yes!”

A red flare appeared over Node Krape.

“Waaaah!”

“Sweep up the Haven Empire.”

“The Black Sword Mercenaries have returned. Cut off their heads!”

“Crush the warriors in the lead. Follow me!”

A midnight siege!

Magic lanterns at the walls and gates turned on as the Black Sword Mercenaries launched an attack on Node Krape.

It was like the Haven Empire had been waiting for them as a fight immediately broke out.

Chapter 3: The Special Myul Griffon Knights

“Aaaack!”

“Those people are stupid enough to come here to die! Clean them up.”

Jjanguerang!

Kurururung.

Weed infiltrated Node Krape.

There was a fierce battle going on outside as the fortress was shaken by the magic and arrows.

‘Judging by the sound of the battle…almost all the power of the Black Sword Mercenaries have come. Don’t they listen too well?’

It was progressing so smoothly that something felt wrong. It was difficult not to feel strange since this area belonged to the Hermes Guild.

‘The Black Sword Mercenaries should play their role properly.’

The rebels thought this was the plot of the Black Sword Mercenaries. None of them would have thought that Weed had already infiltrated the area.

While Weed was deep in thought, a female griffon neared him.

Kuoooh. Kkuoh. Kkuooooh!

She rubbed against my face and hips in a friendly manner. An attitude that young children should be banned from watching on television!

Weed cried out loudly.

“Kyak!”

Then he quickly avoided the female griffons!

Jaaeeeeeng.

However, the females kept giving him sad eyes and didn’t give up on the courtship. They were smaller than the wyverns but the griffons had a violent and aggressive nature.

Weed hadn’t entered the doors of Node Krape as a human.

A male griffon!

He used Sculpture Transformation to transform into a wild male griffon with a scar on his side and entered the nest at Node Krape.

Kuuong!

The male griffons were deprived of their influence and retreated into a corner. At first, the male griffons had tried to determine the hierarchy when Weed appeared.

Kyahat!

They made threatening gestures by puffing their chests and spreading out their wings.

However, Weed the griffon merely shook his head at them. He fought by flapping his wings and pecking with his beak. The male griffons in the group were taken down by the fourth successive attack.

On the other hand, the females kept on aiming at him because he smelled of a strong male.

‘Damn. Did I make this piece too perfect? It is like Karichwi’s stunning looks.’

Weed learned about the characteristics of flying creatures after carving wyverns.

He was familiar with the appearance of a griffon. While fighting the sulleions, he had rescued the arnin, saber-toothed tiger and griffons. The size of a griffon was different in each region but they almost looked the same.

Weed had transformed into a griffon with proud and feral eyes and a golden mane. That’s why the females kept approaching him.

“Kuaaang!”

Weed let out a huge roar.

The females hurried off but showed signs of immunity to his voice.

‘Damn, my stupid popularity. At this result, I will suffer due to the griffons.’

Weed impatiently waited for his chance.

The Myul Knights had a total of 5,000 knights. 3,500 griffon knights had been dispatched to repel the rebels. This meant there were 1,500 troops and Myul left behind in case of emergencies.

He waited for the Black Sword Mercenaries to launch their attack.

“The enemy came. Ready the army!”

1,000 knights entered the griffon’s nest. The knights examined the equipment on the griffon they were riding.

Griffon riders carried swords, spears or bows! The body of the griffon was covered with specially coated armour that blocked magic attacks.

“Divide into groups of 250.”

“Yes!”

“Hopefully there are plenty of opportunities for rich hunting. The enemies on the ground can’t be ignored so don’t be too greedy.”

“Of course.”

The griffon unit headed to the entrance of the tower and spread their wings.

The power of the Black Sword Mercenaries were invisible right now but they were the prey of the griffons. It was like when how Weed felt he could easily catch all living things on the ground when he was riding a wyvern.

In fact, hunting with a bow would be easier if he could fly quickly through the sky. Of course, there were huge boss class monsters with special abilities that wouldn’t budge from dozens of arrows.

‘Myul still hasn’t come out.’

Weed felt a little bit nervous.

It didn’t matter if it was the rebels of Black Sword Mercenaries as long as knight Myul emerged. If he stayed inside the fortress then Weed would miss out on his chance.

He could create a 2nd or 3rd chance but the probability of success would fall further.

Weed had slipped into Node Krape alone.

‘This situation…the Black Sword Mercenaries need to hold on.’

The sounds of crashing and explosions meant he could roughly guess how the battle was proceeding outside.

The Black Sword Mercenaries intended to rule this kingdom and dragged out all their troops after receiving Weed’s help.

They mobilized their army to fight against the governor here. This unexpected deployment was caused by Weed’s letter.

Finally, Myul and 400 other people climbed the griffon’s nest.

“The invasion inside the fortress has been repelled. However, we still can’t be assured. We should wipe out the troublemakers in this empire during this battle. Make sure to kill the important figures, even if you have to chase them.”

“Yes!”

“We will teach them how foolish it is to mess with the Haven Empire. Board!”

The knights found their griffons and boarded.

‘There are probably 100 troops in reserve.’

Weed stood up while proudly displaying his majestic head.

In this battle, the Myul Knights in the air would be fighting the Black Sword Mercenaries on the ground. There would be a fierce competition to attack Myul.

For the sake of his plan, he had already put his stats from Sculptural Destruction into agility. He was ready for the messy combat in the air.

“Oh, the appearance of this griffon is quite good.”

Myul turned away from his griffon as he noticed Weed.

He had an exclusive griffon but unfortunately, he was mercilessly beaten by Weed and squatted in the corner.

“This is the first time I’ve seen such a large and nice looking griffon. When did we obtain one like this? He seems like an incredible griffon.”

Myul examined Weed’s teeth as well as thrusting a finger deeply between the feathers of his shoulders and wings.

He had meticulously sculpted the piece so that there wouldn’t be any strange points.

‘Heh, you won’t understand me no matter how you look.’

But he couldn’t help feeling nervous as Myul’s hands neared his bottom. Fortunately, the search ended with his hind legs.

“This griffon has a great body. Who caught it?”

Weed flew into the nest alone but he was pretending to be a griffon right now. But the battle situation was urgent and Myul needed a dominant power.

Aides at his side explained the situation.

“He left the nest after hatching and came back after becoming fully grown.”

“In recent years, many free griffons have come from the outside. It is due to Captain Myul’s reputation.”

Naturally they made the explanation up. The objective was to make Myul feel good.

“Well, I will give you a reward for the good treatment of the griffon. Today I will use this griffon.”

“Really? The griffon doesn’t belong exclusively to you so the combat power will fall.”

“It’s impossible that the Black Sword Mercenaries can capture the fortress. They are stupid but they used the attack of the rebels as an opportunity. The battle isn’t that hard so I will use it as a chance to tame the griffon.”

“We will make preparations.”

Griffon body armour was placed on Weed.

A special griffon armour in the Haven Empire. There was a helmet, body armour, wing guards and protection for the claws. Each item had a level limit of at least 250. It was low for regular users but catered to the griffon species. Special goods were produced in the magic workshops of the Haven Empire.

– The Golden Sapphire Griffon set has been equipped.

The effect of the set equipment has increased the range of visibility by 2.1 times.

Knowledge will increase by 136.

Physical and magic defense will increase by 216%.

There is a 34% increase in flying speed.

Vitality consumed while flying is reduced.

A magic set armour!

‘Ohhhh.’

Weed behaved like a meek sheep while the armour was strapped on. He even went as far as extending his beak forward when he felt something empty.

“Oh, I missed this one.”

– The Armed Gold Beak has been equipped.

Beak damage has increased by 3.2 times.

If the enemy is weaker, there is a 16% chance of thwarting their attacks.

This was exactly like giving machine guns to bank robbers!

Myul put a leash on Weed’s neck and boarded the saddle with satisfaction.

“He is a well behaved griffon compared to his appearance.”

– A knight has settled on your back.

His command power has increased your movement speed in the air by 47%.

The abilities of the body has increased by 21%.

Myul tugged on the reins.

“Let’s play nicely today!”

Weed lightly flew.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The night sky overlooking Node Krape!

There was magic flying everywhere as the Black Sword Mercenaries tried to catch the Haven Empire.

Arrows flew back and forth over several kilometres as warriors faced each other with swords.

‘It is a pretty cool sight. There are lots of influential people here.’

The griffon troops flew down towards the ground while dominating the sky.

Weed had changed species to a griffon so the night felt like a bright day to his eyes.

The Black Sword Mercenaries were once a powerful force that ruled over the Gradian and Nest Kingdoms in the past.

In their peak period, most of the mercenaries on the continent belonged to the Black Sword Mercenaries.

Despite losing a lot of employees, there were still mercenaries wielding their sword for them.

Michel gave more benefits to the mercenaries compared to other guilds and made them the focal point.

Michel’s administrative ability and loyalty was high so he had a lot of popularity among the foreign players.

“There is a lot of prey. Go forth!”

Then Myul pulled the reins. It meant to go down to the ground!

Weed moved his eyes around and saw a lot of griffon troops around Myul.

‘Now isn’t the right time. Well, let’s have a little bit of fun.’

Weed breathed lightly and headed towards the ground.

‘I will let him know the real fun of riding on my back. It should be quite fun.’

He folded back his wide wings and accelerated.

– A flying skill, Piercing Spear has been used.

– The master skill Speed of the Wind has been triggered.

– The master skill Shorter Distance has been put into action.

– The master skill Enforce Skill has been triggered.

They were skills gained when he placed his stats from Sculptural Destruction into agility.

Swaeeeeek.

He flew like a beam from the sky towards the ground.

He forced his way through the thick air resistance with great power and speed.

“Danger, Captain!”

“We should rescue the captain…”

The griffon riders near Myul were appalled.

Myul tugging at the reins firmly.

“Soar again! Come on! Come on!”

The distance to the ground was narrowing.

500 metres.

320 metres.

140 metres.

60 metres.

It was like the griffon Myul was riding abandoned life and decided to commit suicide.

‘Not yet, not yet.’

Weed’s eyes were calm and cool.

Once he was 22 metres from the ground, he spread his wings widely.

“Kuweeeek!”

He resisted the tremendous speed with all his strength.

Wind blew in every direction like a storm while the muscles of his body, including the wings tensed.

He was close to the ground but his agility and power meant he managed to change directions.

“Kuoohhh!”

He didn’t even touch the rocks on the ground.

‘How was it? Was it fun?’

Myul was barely holding onto the reins.

“Ugh, this wild griffon…”

He was a skilled knight but he thought he would crash into the ground.

Weed and Myul used the heavy winds to move forward. He was fast on all fours but craved even faster speed with his wings.

The griffon was for quick and rough movements.

‘What is life? I will release all the accumulated stress.’

The Black Sword Mercenaries were staring at him blankly.

Something had suddenly fallen from the sky and then headed towards them. It was like a truck coming at full speed! It happened in a brief moment that was barely 1 second.

‘Around level 460? That is some pretty good equipment. I am a little sorry but…who told you to be there?’

Weed mercilessly kicked at a warrior as he flew.

“Kuweeek!”

– You have dealt a critical blow.

The opponent was wide open and their health was reduced by 31%.

A fast attack that couldn’t be stopped!

It was common sense that some defense was possible. The opponent could use a sword, a shield or shoot arrows to prevent it.

But the griffon suddenly fell from the sky and they never thought they would be kicked!

‘Not dead. I have to catch Myul but I destroyed a sculpture. So why shouldn’t I eat some generous side dishes?’

Weed used a barrage of kicks and pecks as he rushed past.

His targets were the Haven Empire as well as the Black Sword Mercenaries.

An outrageous and violent griffon.

The soldiers were smacked as he spread his wings wide.

“A-awesome.”

They admired his spirit.

Weed showed fierce flight skills while carrying a body. He was comfortable flapping his wings in long distance flights as well as combat.

The griffon could ride the wind and change the centre of gravity in its body. A remarkable sense of balance and maneuverability. There was also the innate aggression that caused it to randomly attack humans on the ground.

‘Just a little bit…the griffon is a great pawn in battle.’

A flying monster with an aggressive nature was excellent.

The knights wanted a domesticated griffon like that.

“Fire Explosion!”

“Frost Bolt!”

“This!”

The magicians in the Black Sword Mercenaries cast spells and Weed reacted before Myul could. Dozens of ice and fire spells flying across the night sky.

Weed stared at the magic approaching and tilted his wings diagonally. Then he passed all the spells by spinning.

Concise and accurate avoidance behaviour. After passing it, he accelerated and pecked at the magicians.

“Kuwaaak! Help me!”

Ku ku kwa kwa kwa kwak!

There were many murderers among the Black Sword Mercenaries. It meant he could kill the red named without any penalties.

“Kuooooh!”

Weed made a strange sound.

There were many eyes watching as he flew through the sky. He couldn’t collect the loot from the dead so it felt like he was going to explode!

Myul felt complicated riding such a griffon.

‘An awesome monster anyone would be afraid of. Now I will be able to create a legend. My hunting speed will become much faster. Later I might even be able to hunt Bardray and Weed, the God of War. I will become invincible in the sky.’

His chest was tingling with excitement.

The griffon was a fast, tough weapon and worth more than his other colleagues.

“Let me use my skills!”

Myul pulled out a long spear.

The Sealed Thunder Spear. It was approximately 20 metres long and could use thunderbolt ranged attacks. It had a huge level restriction of 570. Myul hadn’t reached level 500 yet but could use it use to the restriction of being a knight.

“Fly low!”

Myul ordered Weed as he firmly held the reins.

‘A little bit more fun. Well, I won’t lose anything by doing so.’

Thunderbolts flew in all directions from Myul’s spear.

Kwarururung!

Kwaaaaaah!

Thunder hit the ground and dealt chain damage to dozens of people.

Weed moved at a high speed while Myul damaged the group of enemies.

He used the terrain and ground cover to avoid any arrows or magic attacks.

“A low altitude thrust.”

“Yes, Captain!”

170 of Myul’s griffon troops gathered with their spears.

The griffon troops were a weapon of the Haven Empire that achieved the myth of invincibility.

They swept low on the ground and decimated the Black Sword Mercenaries.

The mounted knights found it hard to stop the griffon riders who could freely move through the sky. They scattered when destructive magic spells were cast and then gathered to resume the attacks.

The users had to concentrate on the ground attacks as well as those coming from the sky.

The troops of Node Krape were doing a terrible amount of damage to the Black Sword Mercenaries.

Weed and Myul boasted a fantastic harmony as they killed the magicians and mercenaries.

“Unbelievable…”

The users of the Black Sword Mercenaries were devastated.

Fierce attacks from the sky, the terrible griffon troops.

However, this wasn’t a situation that Myul could take lightly.

“Attack. Cause the fall of Node Krape fall!”

Even if they were wiped out.

The Black Sword Mercenaries put everything into this battle in order to win. They mobilized of lot of people and money for this battle. There were users as well as NPC mercenaries that they hired.

While the griffons were attacking, they raised shields over their heads and ran towards the fortress. They were powerful but the griffons could only attack from the sky.

The brave soldiers assaulted the fortress.

“Stupid bastards!”

While preparing for the big battle, the Black Sword Mercenaries’ movements were exposed to the suspicious Hermes Guild.

There were war preparations inside Node Krape included roadblocks.

“Kill. All of them!”

“Kuwaaaaah!”

“Fierce Chain Explosion!”

“Shoot those resisting with long range arrows. Don’t aim at the walls and pour it on enemy lines!”

The violent noise of the battlefield.

Weed watched the progress of the battle.

‘Gathering riches in 3 years…the strength of the Black Sword Mercenaries are awesome. They managed to gather this much together.’

But it would be the Haven Empire’s victory if this siege continued until morning.

The griffon troops that left to subdue rebels in the Nest and Gradian areas would come back and the situation would adversely change.

The Black Sword Mercenaries were familiar with this fact and aimed all types of magic at the walls of Node Krape. Explosive magic, poisonous clouds, earth magic, curses, etc.

Of course, the magicians of the Haven Empire came out to counteract the curses.

The power on both sides couldn’t be ignored as the battle spread around the fortress. Ranged attacks broke through the gates while the warrior troops also played their part.

‘This is a shifting war. Strong will to fight…a war that is vying for supremacy.’

Weed suddenly felt quite a lot of regrets.

He had never had that thought himself. It wasn’t easy to obtain subordinates that were running in the same direction towards a shared goal.

Betrayal or paths shifting wasn’t uncommon in Royal Road. Still, his chest heated up as he thought about the battles that took place in the Central Continent since the early days of Royal Road.

Myul brandished his thunder spear and commanded the griffon troops.

“The griffon troops will disturb the enemy. Don’t let them step foot in the fortress.”

This battle was being broadcasted so millions of people around the world would be watching. The scale and size of the battle meant there might be 100~200 million people watching.

The commander needed to show great heroism.

Node Krape was fine despite the violent attacks from the Black Sword Mercenaries.

In Royal Road, it was possible to simply enjoy the pleasure or to direct the history of the continent by becoming a ruler or knight.

That attracted the so-called ambitious people. Myul was one of the Hermes Guild’s 24 military commanders and in charge of the Gradian and Nest areas!

He wanted to show a great appearance as he defeated the Black Sword Mercenaries.

It was unspoken.

Weed also felt his heart.

‘But your fate is decided now that you are riding on my back. You will die at my feet.’

Weed calmly watched the battle as he fought with Myul.

Dozens of griffons had crashed and were killed by the Black Sword Mercenaries.

‘I’m not even receiving a tip or bonus.’

Weed responded by heading in the direction of the magicians targeting Myul. 100 griffons followed behind Weed and Myul.

And there were numerous magic spells flying from the ground.

“Spread out to avoid the damage!”

The griffons dispersed as soon as Myul gave the order. They could utilize the distance from the ground to avoid the magic and minimize the damage.

The griffons that received a severe injury would return to the griffon’s nest at Node Krape.

However, Weed rushed head on into the magic.

“What are you doing?”

Myul grabbed the reins but the direction didn’t change no matter how hard he pulled.

“Kuooooooooh!”

Weed just roared and flew aggressively forward.

“Stupid! I said avoid it!”

Myul scowled as he tried to control Weed.

The fearsome magic attacks were approaching.

‘He still doesn’t have any doubts. The problem is right now.’

Weed observed the spells.

The magicians of the Black Sword Mercenaries weren’t stupid enough to cast the spell in a straight line to make it easy to avoid.

They were curved, bent or even those that chased the enemy target. A mad configuration of magic flying into the sky!

The magicians on the griffons prepared for a crossfire with the magicians from the Black Sword Mercenaries.

‘There isn’t an escape hole. But this sky is wide and there is a path to break through. I believe in myself. It is a lot easier than when I was trying to sneak away from my sister to the cinema when I was younger.’

Weed flew faster.

The magic rushed over so it seemed like he was a fool who would just die. However, his body barely passed through a gap.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Weed narrowly passed the magic that was exploding in the sky.

The crisis didn’t end there. There were still hundreds more magic attacks coming from the ground. The magicians had prepared spells for the griffon troops.

Weed stopped for a moment and balanced his body like an eagle.

‘Wait. Still wait. Now!’

His huge body swayed like a breeze and moved past. The magic attacks passed him or exploded in the sky.

It was different from avoiding obstacles. It was enough if he moved to the front, back, left and right. Weed meticulously calculated it and waited for the right time to squeeze between the magic.

‘This world is not so bleak. There must always be an escape hole.’

Sharp concentration! His body and head moved faster when it was more dangerous.

‘I need to catch Myul since he is my biggest target. Just a flick…”

The griffon’s body perfectly avoided all the magic.

Even if he was hit, he didn’t receive any big injuries.

– You have been grazed by the Rotating Fireball and minimal damage has been dealt due to the evasive technique.

– You have been hit by Ice Containment.

You broke through in a fast motion.

– A lethal magic attack has hit you.

The master defense skill Heart Echo has been applied.

The strong echo will minimize the impact of the attack on the body.

Sometimes the blast from the magic explosions would hit.

His sharp eyes regarded all the finer points. Weed used the flames to break through in front! He even knew the direction of the blast in advance and moved his body to the right position.

He was like a fish swimming in the torrents as he moved between magic attacks.

“Kueeok!

Myul could only grab the reins with all his strength so that he would not fall.

‘Avoiding damage like this…unbelievably amazing and great.’

The griffon somehow found holes to squeeze through the magic attacks. After a brief moment, Weed ended up completely breaking through.

“What is that?”

“A scam!”

The magicians on the ground were devastated. It was hard to hit a griffon in the sky but those movements were closer to a scam!

It was the reason why Weed maximized his agility with Sculptural Destruction. It allowed him abnormally high speeds, direction changes in the sky and incredibly nimble movements.

“G-great!”

Myul calmed his frightened heart.

The griffon had steered through all the magic attacks without any damage.

There was a serious crisis several times but he always managed to escape the magic. The griffon deliberately used defensive techniques and swerved the trajectory of the magic. He couldn’t help admiring the griffon’s attacks, judgement and motor skills.

‘Anyone who watches will be surprised. This is the scene I wanted.’

A scene capable of moving people! He let himself dream of a lifetime of memorable scenes.

“This is the griffon troops!”

Myul lifted his thunder spear.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

He could hear the subjects of the Haven Empire shouting from a distance. Avoiding the magic attacks meant the griffin was quite a distance away.

Myul was perfectly satisfied.

‘They are probably looking up at me with amazement and envy.’

Weed continued flying.

Myul was already thinking about the schedule for the day.

‘I have to prepare for an interview with a broadcasting station. I should wrap this up nicely. Should I confidently answer that it was inevitable when they ask me about avoiding the magic attacks?’

The sound of the shouts became more and more distant.

‘The Black Sword Mercenaries…it doesn’t matter anymore. The griffons fighting the rebels will return and turn it into a hunting mood.’

If they protected the fortress until the day, then their objective would be perfectly achieved.

It was important that the griffons suppress the rebellions occurring all over. Otherwise the rebels would loot and destroy villages and facilities, causing a significant loss for the territory.

Node Krape’s military army was forced to be reduced due to the griffon troops. Therefore they were forced to block the rebels.

He just needed to wait until morning and the Black Lion Mercenaries would be destroyed.

‘Victory. A complete victory.’

Weed raised his speed even more.

“Huh? Where are you going?”

Myul was suddenly puzzled.

His voice was full of affection for this griffon.

Weed gave a low cry.

“Kuaah.”

And flew faster.

Forests passed as he flew low in the sky.

A griffon enjoying freedom! And then Weed eventually climbed higher into the sky.

Faster, higher! Flying creatures had a similar romance.

“Kuaaaaah!”

He felt similar and let out a huge roar. He was the most powerful in this arena.

Myul couldn’t see it but Weed currently had a rotten smile revealing a lot of teeth.

“Well, yes.”

Myul also had this immeasurable feeling as he rode flying creatures. But right now the battle was important. The timing wasn’t good.

“It is okay if I spare a moment. This griffon will be my hands and feet moving forward.”

Right now he was riding the griffon comfortably. He couldn’t see the griffon troops anymore but it didn’t matter. The Black Sword Mercenaries couldn’t threaten the griffons.

Weed changed his direction a few times. He passed rivers and lakes in 1~2 minutes and also 2 villages.

Myul patted Weed’s head and said.

“Yes, I know it feels good. But it is time to return. We need to finish the cool hunting.”

Of course, Weed didn’t listen to him. He rose vertically in the sky.

The ground was moving away at a breakneck speed and he flew past the clouds. He reduced his tremendous speed after breaking into the clouds. The ground was already far away from the sky.

Only the sun was above his head.

A griffon and Myul. Only the two of them were in this space.

Weed roared.

“Kuaaaaah!”

It contained the sense of freedom and dominating the sky. Flying creatures would understand this cry the best.

This was a shout about being alive. It showed the essence of life.

Myul felt the freedom but wanted to return to Node Krape.

“Now it is time to stop! Let’s head back. We can play together.”

Then the griffon said.

“I won’t follow you.”

“Huh? You could talk?”

Myul was stupid enough to feel delighted. He thought the pawn would be better if he had intelligence. Then it would take a much shorter time to tame. Myul would soon make him realize that freedom was just an illusion.

The griffon’s tone didn’t contain any respect at all.

“Like you said, it is time to stop.”

He started diving towards the ground. A full acceleration downwards.

Although it was familiar, Myul felt like it as the first time seeing such flying speed. They broke through the clouds and could see the ground in an instant.

‘Great maneuverability. But it is really dangerous…stop…’

However, the griffon didn’t respond when he was pulling on the reins. Myul even kicked the griffon but it didn’t stop.

Unlike before, it would be highly difficult to avoid a collision with the ground. The earth was quickly approaching.

‘Now it is unavoidable. There will be a crash.’

At that moment, he felt the saddle falling off.

Weed had cut the leash of the saddle with his beak.

“Uwaaaack!”

Myul was separated from the griffon’s body and continued falling.

Finally, the griffon quickly changed into a glide before colliding with the ground.

“That crazy griffon…!”

Kwaaaaaaaang!

It was like a meteor fell to the ground.

– The Courage Armour has decreased the damage caused by the fall.

Your body has suffered serious injuries.

The right arm is broken.

Health has been reduced by 49,191.

You are temporarily in a state of confusion and won’t be able to use any skills.

– The durability of all armour and accessories has decreased.

– The helmet has been destroyed.

It was a huge shock but the Courage Armour had reduced the damage from the collision by 78%.

Therefore, Myul was barely able to survive.

“What…why did this happen…?”

At that moment, five people surrounded his body.

It was Weed who turned off Sculptural Transformation, Bahamorg, Eltin, Gernika and Eun-sook.

Chapter 4: Empire’s Fall

The shocking death of knight Myul!

The military commander of the Gradian and Nest Kingdoms and someone with a high position in the Hermes Guild had been killed, causing a huge shock.

The Hermes Guild and even general users were surprised.

At the same time, the balance of power tilted and the Black Sword Mercenaries managed to conquer Node Krape.

Myul didn’t appear during a big moment so the soldiers and griffon riders were badly shaken. The death of the commander completely broke the army’s morale

The griffon riders returning were met at the walls and gates by elites of the Black Sword Mercenaries.

The Haven Empire reluctantly gave up Node Krape and retreated to Bergen Castle where they built up some defenses. Bergen Castle also received enormous damage and they retreated back to near the border.

The Black Sword Mercenaries were trying to regain the Gradian Kingdom and the Haven Empire was also busy fighting rebels.

Michel made a decision.

“We gain a large profit but unfortunately we can’t keep it. But we won’t let the Haven Empire eat it.’

Taxes couldn’t be obtained properly and they didn’t have the time and strength to fight the Haven Empire.

They destroyed the military facilities and handed out the wealth in the warehouses to the people.

After that, they split up and fought the empire as rebels.

The Gradian and Nest areas were in extreme confusion as the number of rebels rose.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Something like this happening to me…”

Weed was thrilled.

He acquired loot from Myul. He was impressed as he looked at the shiny goods.

“This is really…only those with bad principles can survive in this world!”

Myul dropped three items after dying.

Belt, gloves and spear.

Myul unfortunately fell into the trap with the thunder spear.

Weed knew there would be a griffon scouting group so he had Bahamorg stand guard to stop anyone from escaping.

Myul was the commander of a vast area. He was hailed by the people as a great knight. But the reality was that he fell into a trap and died!

It might receive criticism about being cowardly but a war wasn’t a place for a one on one fight. If that criteria was used then there would be no such thing as ambushes or surprise attacks.

There would only be a frontal assault.

This was a war with the Hermes Guild so calling a strategy cowardly was just being naive. Weed didn’t called the Hermes Guild cowardly when they interfered at Jigolaths or when they sent assassins in a war.

Perhaps they wouldn’t even spread the word that Myul was killed by Weed.

Weed personally felt sympathy for Myul. He lost his life after such an intense battle.

Weed decided to look at the simplest item, the belt first.

“Inspect!”

– Great Victor’s Belt: Durability 110/110.

Defense 156.

A platinum belt encrusted with gems.

A historical treasure worn by heroes of the Kallamore Empire.

Great warriors used it in that era.

Restrictions: Level 495.

300 Honour. 300 Dignity.

Options: All stats will increase by 25.

Health and mana will increase by 21,980.

Dignity, Honour, Perseverance, Charisma and Art +50.

Combat skills +1.

Leadership +2.

Shamans will have their power increased by 11%.

All magic damage will be reduced by 21~89%.

Poison and curse magic will be quickly released.

“Kyah!”

He made an admiring sound like he just drank a whole bottle of soju!

“The defense and options are crazy. It will be hard to decide the price.”

The selling price would be raised at the auction. There would be a competition over high priced items.

“Isn’t wearing equipment like this when hunting a total scam?”

Compared to Weed, the Hermes Guild could obtain equipment from the entire Central Continent so there were bound to be these types of differences.

Weed obtained equipment from special quests or producing it himself.

“Uhh, for the moment I will use the belt instead of selling it. It is tolerable until I find a better one.”

His combat power would improve with just the belt. An equipment that couldn’t be ignored.

Weed’s eyes then headed to the gloves. His chest started pounding.

“Let’s take a look. Inspect!”

– Gloves of a Legendary Knight with Great Leadership: Durability 90/90.

Defense 54.

It is speculated that this was created 250~370 years ago.

A piece created by the continent’s best tailor and blacksmith.

Knight Rark presented this gloves as a gift to the Kallamore Empire upon his death and it has been a treasure of the royal family ever since.

Restrictions: Level 490.

Swordsmanship advanced level 7.

Options: Strength during battle +170.

Skill will have an addition 15% effect.

Deadly attacks will deal additional special damage.

The opponent’s swordsmanship will temporarily weaken.

Honour and dignity will increase more quickly.

Knight skills +2.

Due to the high durability, it isn’t easily damaged.

80% of the accomplishments inside the kingdom will be added to the public achievements.

“It really is a luxury item. Luxury.”

Weed couldn’t stop his admiration.

It was the same after seeing the gloves.

Or whenever he dealt with any users of the Hermes Guild.

“It is like a separate luxury goods department store.”

Weed also decided to use the gloves.

“The feeling of getting stronger. I’m looking forward to an awesome appearance.”

Equipment such as gloves, boots or cloaks were made using the blacksmithing and tailoring skills.

He might have the Goddess’ Knight Armour and Red Star but the Hermes Guild users had the overall best balance.

“I should obtain more of these equipment.”

Weed had been living on his skills and stats!

Weed’s eyes turned to the remaining spear. A familiar black spear. The handle of the spear was carved with lightning bolts.

“Hey, this can’t be. It isn’t the same.”

He couldn’t believe it.

“It probably just looks similar to the other spear. This is like a fan at a souvenir shop.”

Still, his body trembled like he was lifting a courier box.

“Inspect!”

– Sealed Thunder Spear: Durability 136/150.

Attack 146~223.

Made by the dwarf blacksmith master, Rond Hand.

The dwarf Rond Hand drew a simple spell on it that drew in the destructive power of nature.

After using this spear dozens of times, the Subein Kingdom had an unceasing amount of thunderbolts striking a mountain there.

If the spear is charged with hundreds of millions of thunderbolts then its power will be restored.

Restrictions: Knights only.

Level 570.

Advanced level 6 Spear Mastery.

Options: The spear can cast thunderbolts.

Mana will be consumed every time a thunderbolt strikes down.

It is 97% immune to lightning and the power can be absorbed.

Lightning based magic spells will increase by 228% when it is a surprise attack.

Attack speed has increased by 21%.

There is a chance of shocking the enemy.

Dealing a critical hit on a weaker opponent will have a 33% chance of stunning the enemy.

7 consecutive successful attacks with randomly form Chain Lightning or Lightning Shield.

Skills such as Electric Shock, Lightning Wave, Lightning Storm and Turbulent Thunder are available.

# Currently the thunder spear’s power is sealed.

The spear can only exert 60% of its power.

Using enough power will be sufficient to release the seal.

“T-t-this…is real!”

The Sealed Thunder Spear.

Myul was an executive of the Hermes Guild early on. As a commander, he didn’t have high infamy or a murderer state.

He hadn’t lost his life since the early days of Royal Road so he generously dropped some equipment.

“It is brilliant. It is too bad that I can’t unleash the power of the weapon.”

Weed got his hands on the thunder spear.

His body tingled as electricity flowed into it.

– Your capabilities aren’t high enough to handle the Sealed Thunder Spear.

Due to the effect of advanced level 2 blacksmithing, you can use it when Spear Master is intermediate level 3.

“Right now I don’t have spear mastery…handicraft and insight means I can raise it quickly.”

An unimaginable item.

The spear was a long range item and easy to handle. The damage was also very strong.

Continuously attacking and defending was easier than a heavy sword.

Some Geomchis training in a sword decided to change to a spear. Even so, they had Weapons Mastery so they didn’t need to learn Spear Mastery.

“I’ve seen 1~2 nice videos. No wonder why Myul was popular with women.”

Although he was crazy about the sword, sometimes it was too light to suit his personality. Weed spent the remaining three days before meeting the dragon, hunting in the north.

He had been level 440 and gained one level while fighting with Myul. He also gained another level in the three days of hunting.

He created a spear with blacksmithing and easily reached beginner level 6. Weed used the spear during his time in the desert and was proficient in the weapon. Swordsmanship was advanced level 5 and the spear was an extension of that, making it accumulate faster.

– Understanding of Spear Mastery has increased the insight stat by 2.

“Just a little bit more growth!”

He deliberately left the Hermes Guild users alone on purpose.

Everyone would be thinking about it. Even the knight Myul has lost his life. Few people in the Hermes Guild would be safe!

The Hermes Guild made preparations for a severe attack. Instead, he left them alone. Once their fears were raised, surprise attacks would be much easier.

“Shall I take care of this?”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The continent’s top assassin.

The one who didn’t like to disclose his name had secretly infiltrated the capital of the Haven Empire.

“Weed. He caused a big incident.”

“It is inspiring for an assassin.”

“Hunting but…I am the best at assassinations.”

Myul was a celebrity on the Central Continent.

The videos of him flying on a griffon and fighting were popular in Royal Road’s Hall of Fame. The best knight when it came to dealing with flying creatures.

He had outstanding individual abilities as well as the griffon troops so people envied him.

“Killing Myul…anyone would be afraid of death.”

The Hermes Guild in the capital of the Haven Empire were already wary of assassins. Those who laughed earlier at the hunting grounds were now spending time at taverns. They needed to pay attention while hunting just in case Weed had used Sculptural Transformation. Stories even spread about Weed turning into a centaur and indiscriminately firing arrows.

An obsession with Weed! Almost all the Hermes Guild users were afraid of Weed.

The lords of the cities even said.

“Fire at anyone who steps near here.”

Assassins charmed women with a nice smile. The dark and chaotic night was their world. They were the masters at destroying the soul and dealing out cruel death.

“Weed killed Myul so my goal is Boemong. I need a target that doesn’t fall behind Myul.”

Boemong was a giant knight.

He belonged to Bardray’s Royal Guards and conducted the Haven Empire’s conquest war. He had conquered the largest territories.

Boemong was one of the names that represented the Hermes Guild! But he surprisingly didn’t have a lot of subordinates. In addition, his fighting ability was close to Bardray so he was good prey for the assassins.

Despite the fact that the Hermes Guild was in an emergency state, Aren Caste was still silent. Vigilant Hermes Guild members walking the streets were a common sight.

The assassin waited for a chance.

“There can’t be danger in an assassination. A real opportunity will come in the midst of a crisis.”

He maintain a certain distance from Boemong.

He entered the city’s finest weapons store. There were only regular users and no Hermes Guild members in the store.

The assassin lowered himself from a beam on the ceiling and stuck Boemong with a dagger.

“Attack of Death!”

– The critical hit was successful.

Health, mana, and stamina of the target has reduced by 45%.

The toxic effects of the dagger has blocked the movements of the target.

“Kwaeeek! This bastard!”

The assassin succeeded in seven consecutive attacks before Boemong withdrew a two handed axe.

Assassins aimed for short term gaps instead of a prolonged battle.

“You!”

He had barely pulled out the two handed axe when the assassin thrust five daggers in his chest.

Five Deadly Daggers! The poison effect accumulated every time he thrust a dagger in the enemy. The increased number of poisons mixing together would kill the target.

The assassin’s secret technique used up to 12 daggers. He didn’t need to use such a technique on Boemong.

– The Red Knights Commander Boemong has died.

One of the Haven Empire’s top 5 knights.

Boemong has high infamy from conquering many cities.

Many residents will be delighted at his death.

– Fame has increased by 7,921.

– The assassination was a success and agility has increased by 2.

– The skill proficiency of assassination has increased.

– The skill proficiency of swordsmanship has increased.

Boemong’s body turned into grey light and disappeared.

The assassin laughed lightly.

“Simple.”

The strong really did lose their lives in an instant.

The moment that divided life and death, it really suited his title of Shadow of Death.

The Hermes Guild already knew about the assassin.

“I need to go.”

It was only a matter of time before the Hermes Guild knew the news.

He hurriedly left the capital of the Haven Empire before he could be isolated.

The assassin changed into a simple tourist costume and escaped.

The camouflage meant it was easy to watch the residents. He listened to the residents of the Haven Empire as he left.

“I heard something. Did you know that the knight Boemong died in the capital?”

“Scary. I can’t be at ease in my own home.”

“I heard something in a bar. Someone called Seasoned…”

“Shush! Don’t bring up his name. If you call him then he really will show up.”

“Heook, that’s right!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

While Weed was gone, the Arpen Kingdom went through a strong period.

They had won a difficult war and the Earth Palace was being rebuilt at a frightening speed.

The construction was being carried out by the architects of the north and they mobilized the northern users as labour. Painters and sculptors on the continent also participated.

However, the construction frequently went over budget!

“Everyone, the construction funds are in short supply. There is no more money to buy materials so we need to postpone the completion schedule.

“Payment! Payment! Payment!”

After just an hour!

“This funding for the construction of the Earth Palace has ended. From now on, we will be raising funds to build Dawn City.”

“Payment! Payment! Payment!”

The construction funds were gathered in one breath!

They built up fame and national achievements as well as their names carved on bricks.

Even the low level users in the north had money. Basic living was very affordable due to low taxes and the merchants’ success.

Farmers cleared abandoned, fertile land, elves sold fruit from the trees in their forests while fishermen caught seafood in the sea. Weapons and armour were produced cheaply and there were plenty of quests.

Equipment obtained from killing the Haven Empire enemies in the war were also piled up like a mountain.

In the Central Continent, goods were rarely sold at stores. Selling goods in the store would require paying 30~65% of the price as taxes.

It was like feeding an already full dog!

The minimum tax rate when selling it to merchant users was 20%. It was difficult to get rid of low level equipment and japtem. As a result of the taxes, users often bartered among themselves.

In contrast, trade in the north was proceeding briskly due to the cheap taxes.

Users could easily change items into money and also save time. Even a little hunting during the day could earn them plenty of money for a comfortable life.

In particular, there were legendary stories in the Arpen Kingdom about japtem.

“Although I live in Morata, it isn’t because of pretty women or a beautiful city. The quests are fun and taxes aren’t expensive!”

The novice user Kir!

He gained japtem worth 4 copper and 13 copper. He felt too embarrassed to sell it in stores or to other users.

“I can’t live like this. It is just making my backpack heavier.”

The novice users had similar concerns once in a while.

At first they picked up anything but later they would discard items worth less than 1 silver.

But the users saw the process that Weed used to dispose of goods from Jigolaths.

The items were literally piled up like a mountain.

“He came from a tremendous adventure. The real deal.”

“Can we go on fantastic adventures like Weed?”

And the items piled up like a mountain were disposed of through Mapan.

Egg shells, stone sculptures, abandoned bandages, iron ores, claws, withered flowers, dried fruit pieces, old animal bones, etc.

The items were in a poor state since he carried them from Jigolaths through the sea.

Weed even summoned a ghost fleet to deal with the Haven Empire.

Weed disposing of japtem through Mapan was talked about seriously in the Arpen Kingdom.

“Weed-nim, this old map is in such a bad state that it can’t be traded.”

“Heh, this can be sold to experienced sailors at Port Varna. 37 silver. Additional compensation will be paid for a successful voyage.”

“Ah, indeed. I learned a lesson. I still don’t know the sea well.”

“Mapan-nim should start operating a trade fleet from Port Varna.”

“Hum hum, I’ve recently had some interest in that.”

The sight of Weed collecting japtem through miscellaneous quests and selling them through bargains!

The users felt like their mouths were full of salt.

‘Cheapskate.’

‘I don’t want to live like that!’

Due to the frugality of King Weed, the selling of japtem was like a natural culture in the north.

People thought it was a waste to carelessly discard the japtem while hunting.

The frugal japtem trade culture meant the users picked up loot without missing a beat during hunting. Some people collected japtem like it was their job and gained a big fortune.

As the economy grew due to japtem, simple quests could be accomplished rapidly. There was a positive influence on the growth rate of users and residents.

The Earth Palace and Dawn City was being built but places like Morata, Mordred, Vargo Fortress and orc castles were also expanding.

The Arpen Kingdom had wide, fertile land and their economic influence was increasing.

The transportation network of horse carriages from the period of the Niflheim Empire were rebuilt.

There was a boom in the development of the entire kingdom and users were constantly coming in.

Due to the development of Morata and the other cities, the ruins of the old Niflheim Empire were inconvenient for the Arpen Kingdom.

Users floated around the Northern Continent doing quests, hunting and trading.

In one month, the kingdom’s growth rate increased by 38% and completely overwhelmed the Central Continent’s economic growth rate in the early days of Royal Road.

The miracle of Morata was blazing through the Arpen Kingdom.

Merchants in the north were making a diligent effort to overcome the lack of transportation and production facilities.

Merchant was a promising career in the Arpen Kingdom. Compared to the heavy taxes on the Central Continent, the users chose the profession of merchant much more often in the north.

The users of the Arpen Kingdom were becoming increasingly wealthy.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Bellot became the lord of one of the territories the Haven Empire conquered in the north.

She first built homes and had 1,000 settlers transplanted.

Haven Empire troops were stationed nearby so monster invasions weren’t possible.

“What should I do to grow the village?”

Bellot and Hwaryeong impulsively gave up on friendship and accepted the Hermes Guild’s offer due to greed.

“I will build a very nice and luxurious city.”

A fantastically beautiful city where festivals took place every day and was the centre of traffic for tourists.

But the reality was farmers asking her to help plow a field.

The Haven Empire had given her 3 million gold in funding. Of course, she could ask for an additional loan if it was needed.

Settlers were also promised to help grow the village.

Rebels were running rampant in the Central Continent and city infrastructures were destroyed so there were many displaced residents.

The Haven Empire’s policy was to collect the residents and bring them to the conquered north.

“There is no need for a military. Agricultural land needs to be cleared, mines developed and houses built…phew.”

Bellot was desperate since she already used 2.5 million gold.

It was really difficult to grow a village from the beginning.

“I will give Lord-nim my life. Leaving home to be buried in a distant place like this…”

“I’d like to see my mother. I want to see her before dying.”

Most residents forcefully moved from the Central Continent weren’t motivated.

Bellot contacted Mapan to ask for help. Mapan learned from Weed and had a brilliant sense for money.

Bellot asked Mapan about how to get ordinary visitors and he gave advice.

“Urban development? Why would you do something like that?”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t the Hermes Guild continuing to provide residents?”

“They made a clear promise.”

“There is frequent confusion on the Central Continent so make the settlers into slaves.”

“Slaves, why?”

“Enormous exploitation of forced labour…if they are given a certain amount of food then they won’t die of starvation… I have some slaves in my business. There is no need to collect taxes from slaves. Slaves are the property of their master. Okay, just build tourist facilities and collect money from the rich. Constructing houses is a waste of money.”

“Gasp!”

“This is a good location. Later there were be many buildings for regular users so keep the tax low. Then the village will develop into a city. Continue to take slaves into the city. Raise revenue through the slaves!”

A clear conclusion!

In Mapan’s eyes, Bellot’s village showed tremendous promise as a slave’s heaven.

In the face of human anguish, Bellot decided to abandon his advice. It was essential to build houses, clear land and construct the required facilities to attract users.

Approximately one month passed since she became the lord of a village. Residents rose from 1,000 to 4,000 people and Hermes Guild users came from the Central Continent for hunting.

Occasionally they invested their money in urban development. Luxury hotels and Grand Buildings to attract tourists were built.

The residents complained.

“I’m old and about to die. Build medical facilities so I can die cleanly.”

“Lord-nim, don’t you know that there is no hope every day?”

“Training facilities for children? We lack skillful hunters so I can’t even eat meat!”

No matter how well done, the residents expected more. Bellot had low fame and public achievements so it wasn’t easy for her to rule.

More than anything else, the lively fun of the north couldn’t be felt.

“I think it would be great to be a lord in the Arpen Kingdom. I could get tens of thousands of residents in minutes. It has friendly users and I can trade with Gamong and Mapan.”

Bellot finally regretted it.

But she didn’t care about the process.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The residents of the Arpen Kingdom were watching as Weed hit the Central Continent.

Geomchi and the students joined with northern users to fight the Haven Empire in the conquered territories.

They already smashed several villages and dealt serious damage to the Haven Empire’s army.

The war hadn’t ended. The Haven Empire and Arpen Kingdom had a sticky relationship.

Mapan told a meaningful story before he left.

“The job of a merchant is to prepare for the future. If you don’t read it properly then you won’t be able to get money. The Haven Empire is an empire but it is in a difficult situation right now.”

“I’ve heard the news. They are continuing to fight with remnants of the rebels… But aren’t they defeating the rebels?”

“Even so, it is tough. There will be more difficult things in the future.”

“Don’t tell me that Weed-nim’s intentions…”

Bellot gaped as the recent situation was summed up.

The difference between the Hermes Guild and Arpen Kingdom was too big.

It was still impossible to match the economic and military power of the Haven Empire.

The gap was largest just after the conquest of the Central Continent.

‘Weed-nim revealed this gap and caused the Haven Empire to commit to an unreasonable attack. Wasn’t that followed by the plan to knock down the Royal Palace? After that, rebels started causing chaos in the Haven Empire.’

Weed and the Hermes Guild hated each other. He would either surrender or oppose the Hermes Guild.

If he gathered all his power then it would be amazing.

There was already a lively atmosphere thanks to the blind allegiance of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Mapan’s trading company had considerable stakes in Weed.

Apart from his shares in the northern continent, he participated in the black market in the Central Continent.

‘Creating a continent according to his imagination.’

Bellot was dense and realized the big picture involving Weed for the first time.

‘He seems callous and stingy but…that is only a shallow way of looking at him. All movements on the continent are under his hands. Using the enemy’s ambition to draw them closer!’

Mapan had no idea of Bellot’s thoughts and continued his story.

“The Arpen Kingdom is growing at a huge rate. Weed is playing a significant role in the Central Continent.”

“Is there some hidden meaning?”

“In the past, he had never feared retaliating. He would hold a grudge until he is old…cool words like revenge and retaliation.”

“…….”

“Hum hum, the balance between the Arpen Kingdom and Haven Empire has clearly changed. Wait and see.”

He believed that the land Bellot ruled would one day be included in the Arpen Kingdom.

When that day came…

“Weed-nim will be my king so won’t he exploit me?”

Bellot could feel goose bumps all over her body.

Weed was an excellent king but that made her even more suspicious.

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin would occasionally whisper things to her.

They didn’t even dare dream of betraying Weed and looked up to him as a mentor.

Chapter 5: Noble Sculpture

Weed cleaned himself in the river before going to see the dragon Ratuas.

“I might be killed if I am dirty. This dragon might have a nasty nature so I can’t allow it to find fault with me.”

He washed his body and looked at his face in the Yuskellanda’s mirror that he needed to deliver to the dragon. The item had a staggering level limit of 1,000. It was an item he couldn’t use but had the ability to seal monsters.

“Hrmm, my mouth is ugly but the rest is okay. I have become lighter after washing.”

Yellowy and Goldman were watching.

“Umoooo, he looks the same.”

“Gol gol gol. He has changed. The water is dyed.”

Only he would know the subtle differences! Weed washed himself then changed outfits. He wore equipment that he wouldn’t regret losing if he died.

There was only a day remaining for the deadline of the quest so he decided to go straight there.

Ratuas’ Lair. It was in the area south of the Rosenheim Kingdom.

There were light particles as Yurin appeared like magic.

“Oppa.”

“Is the picture ready?”

“I’ve drawn a picture of the area. We can depart immediately. And…”

“Huh?”

“Should I prepare a coffin made out of paelownia wood? Or perhaps birch wood?”

“…….”

Weed gave a long sigh.

He was close with his sister so she was joking around.

‘My family is happy enough now to make dull jokes.’

Then he looked at his sister with affectionate eyes.

‘She grew up.’

His grandmother and sister. He loved his family and was always nervous about looking after them. Sometimes an incident would occur but it was hard to replace the warmth of a family. His sister grew up pretty without any major incidents.

‘Any thief that steals her is a really blessed guy. No, I won’t send her away so easily. She’s been living with me all her life.’

Yurin was still babbling.

“You might be burned to death. Or just melted. Oppa, you haven’t died in a long time. Shouldn’t you die at least once?”

“…….”

“Isn’t this a great opportunity to die?”

Weed recalled when Yurin was a child.

They were young children with no parents. There was only a difference of a few years but it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he raised her like a daughter.

‘I remember when she had a runny nose. She cried easily, had food cravings and hung around some bad people for a short period in high school.’

Still, she managed to get a scholarship for university. Their parents would have been proud and happy.

Spending a long time with his sister.

‘Now she needs to marry a good man and I’ll send her off.’

Thanks to Yurin, he arrived right under Cregodal mountain where Ratuas was located.

There was a river flowing through the forest and the cries of birds could be heard.

“Oppa, I’m going.”

“Yes. I’ll contact you later if I need it…”

Weed tried to ask for help from Yurin.

“I will wait with a coffin!”

Yurin stuck her tongue out before disappearing into particles of light.

“Indeed my sister…I will make her cook in the morning and evenings.”

I felt more like a father than a brother.

In particular, he felt good because of her bright and active personality. It was good compared to when Yurin used to be depressed and dull.

“It will be good enough if she gets married in the future.”

It was dangerous to be an unmarried woman. Weed started to climb Cregodal mountain. He wasn’t afraid of any monsters thanks to Time Sculpting.

Thanks to the Dark Gamers Union, he got information about the area around the dragon’s lair.

– Pathfinder Lane.

It was a long time in the past.

I just reached level 180 when I found a dragon’s lair. I accidentally stared at a big jackpot before dying.

There would be huge compensation for the great risk.

That time was the early days in Royal Road but I saw legendary weapons and treasure.

Those who obtained it would be able to grow faster than anyone else. Of course, they could also be sold for an expensive price.

Anyway. There are two dragons currently inhabiting Cregodal Mountain.

Blue dragon Ratuas and black dragon Kerminade.

I was killed by a monster trying to enter Kerminade’s lair.

Huge ant like creatures were crawling around. There are rare monsters near the lair of the dragons.

Weed had been to the lair of the black dragon Kaybern in the Thor Kingdom.

The evil dragon Akryong Kaybern!

He made a sculpture for him using the agate jewels obtained from the tomb of the master sculptor Belsos.

There were thousands of corrections as he made it into the shape of an elegant and brilliant sculptor! Just thinking about it caused his stomach to hurt.

“I don’t want to be involved with dragons. The quest should end here.”

Weed paid close attention.

He was walking when he saw a lich!

The lich was holding a skull cane and wearing a red robe.

Weed automatically made calculations.

‘Not wearing a crown. Richer than a common lich. Looking at the blackened skull on the cane, I guess that the lich uses black magic to trick enemies. I should use Blink to narrow the distance and avoid the magic.’

Figuring out the lich would be a great help in battle.

Weed took out his weapon in preparation for a head on confrontation.

– Human.

But the lich spoke to Weed.

– Ratuas-nim is waiting.

Wed understood the situation.

‘The dragon sent a steward to meet me.’’

Dragons needed to satisfy their lofty intellectual interests and turned useful subordinates into lich.

It could be a terrible slave life but they were actually treated quite good.

There were many dwarf slaves in this area.

‘In other words, it is a type of slave management.’

Weed had looked for information about Ratuas through Mapan.

It wasn’t reliable but information about the dragon was obtained from local legends, noble families and royal records.

Unlike Akryong Kaybern, Ratuas wasn’t evil and there were no special activities talked about in the records.

‘He isn’t a very bad dragon. Akryong Kaybern always asks for gold and other treasures from the kingdom but there is almost no records of Ratuas. I wanted to steal a rare treasure from Kaybern but he would have killed me.’

Weed watched the lich and pulled out a turtle.

A turtle was a well-known favourite pet for lich. Of course, he had prepared it as a bribe. Giving bribes were necessary for mutual friendship!

– What is this?

“A minor token of my sincerity.”

It would be a grievous situation if the other person rejected it. Giving bribes to a diligent and sincere knight would cause intimacy to fall instead.

Weed had considered all this when deciding the bribe. He needed to give a true bribery that the other party would accept.

A flimsy bribe wouldn’t be good if he was trying to build a relationship with someone. But the lich just took it since he was the servant of a dragon and didn’t have any morals.

– A small, white turtle.

“A precious thing. Its potential to grow safely in the sea is very low. I would rather the turtle stay here than be vulnerable to harassment from human hands.”

– I think so as well. Ratuas-nim’s place is a rare heaven.

“And this is a small house for the turtle to live in.”

Weed pulled out a golden turtle house.

The purity was 100% gold.

A sculpture of a house and small pond that made him cough up blood! The artistic value was 374 and the materials cost at least 4,000 gold.

“I thought some advance preparation was needed. The turtle can feel at ease.”

– Then it will be useful for the turtle.

The jawbone of the lich got a little wider as he accepted the turtle and golden house. If he was a human then his mouth would be torn!

– Don’t linger anymore. Go before Ratuas becomes angry.

But the fierce voice had already softened.

Weed had managed to form a small relationship with him. Of course, he wouldn’t help Weed kill the dragon but even a slight increase in friendship was important.

If the bribe was enough then he could be useful later.

Weed imagined many things before meeting the dragon Ratuas.

He wondered how strong and intimidating he would be compared to Kaybern. Unlike Ausollet the Chaos Dragon, this dragon had his combat skills intact.

‘It would be a tremendous asset if I can discover even a small gap.’

He also looked at everything when he had entered Akyrong Kaybern’s lair.

Weed would become strong enough to target a dragon one day!

Even when he was the desert ruler, he barely had enough power to face a strong dragon like Ausollet.

Weed’s overall level and combat power was far below them but that would change over time. He could take advantage of miscellaneous skills, the five secret sculpting techniques and even Time Sculpting. He also had the support of the Geomchis, helpers like Pale’s party and the overwhelming Grass Porridge Cult. If Weed hunted a dragon then even high level users would jump in!

In the future, he would create the myth of invincibility when hunting.

– Human, you might not know this but I have been waiting a long time for this day.

The huge body of the blue dragon Ratuas was waiting. He stared down at the tiny Weed with wise eyes.

He was once a young dragon on the Versailles Continent but had grown to a great dragon after living for at least 1,000 years. Time really didn’t matter to a dragon.

‘He receives gifts from dwarves and elves so he must be really rich.’

Weed respectfully bowed his head.

“It is great to see you. It is within the promised deadline but I am sorry for the delay.”

– In the past, I took away the Fairy Queen’s freedom but that punishment was too harsh. I regretted it later but it was irreversible.

“I understand. You are really great.”

Weed searched from the corner of his eye.

Akryong Kaybern’s mountain was filled with many treasures. Compare to that, Ratuas’ lair was wide and empty.

‘He might be a frugal dragon or the treasure is stored in another warehouse. The warehouse is likely to be higher.’

Later he might be hunting Ratuas and would need to loot the treasure.

‘Maybe he has another house.’

Weed thought very quickly.

He didn’t miss any bit of the surroundings while talking to the dragon.

– I have waited for so long. The thing you brought…give it to me.

“Yes. I will give it to you immediately.”

Weed pulled out the Mirror of the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda. Then the mirror floated towards Ratuas. Ratuas’ head bent a little closer.

– Her mirror…this is right.

The eyes of the dragon trembled.

It seemed like tears were pouring out!

‘Dragons have different colours and aren’t fond of family members.’

And there was no reason for dragons to become lovers.

Ddiring!

– Ratuas’ Lair has been completed.

A human has brought a relic of the silver dragon Yuskellanda to the blue dragon Ratuas.

Old memories have been brought back for him.

Weed gave him something containing old memories so the delivery system was successfully completed.

‘No compensation. I can’t be greedy. Just be glad that I am no longer bound to the dragon.’

Weed was satisfied about completing the quest.

‘I will come back later and take Ratuas’ life.’

He would lead tens of thousands of troops to hunt a dragon. There would be high ranking shamans and priests with special skills such as sealing. There would be certain limitations and it wouldn’t work on the dragon forever but hunting a dragon wasn’t impossible.

Then he would systematically attack the Central Continent.

Of course, Weed knew that the current level of the players meant there was only a 1% chance of killing a dragon like Ausollet.

Dragons weren’t stupid and wouldn’t fall into consecutive traps when fighting. They could even fly into the sky and launch a decisive breath attack.

But if the pinnacle of different professions were gathered and skills utilized then a miracle might be seen.

Currently, Weed needed to prepare to hunt the Hermes Guild and the dragons.

It would be in the future but the dream of being the ruler of the north would be accomplished. A dragon was the final boss.

Chaos Dragon Ausollet had swept away tens of thousands of priests and fanatics of the Embinyu Church.

He would need to use many troops as well as tricks to win.

“It is great to see your infinite glory. May you live long in the future.”

Ratuas raised his head from the mirror and stared at Weed.

The large, sapphire like eyes looked at Weed.

– Human, you have given me something important.

Weed replied in just 0.1 seconds.

“Then a sword or luxury goods…heok, no. I don’t want any reward and simply did this as a favour to Teneidon. If you have any rewards then give it to the Fairy Queen Teneidon.

His instantly switched tactics.

No matter how good the treasures, his intimacy with the dragon was a little low. It would be a success if he just escaped from the dragon’s lair.

– I smell a good scent from you.

‘Heeok!’

Weed turned pale.

‘He can’t be a human eating dragon!’

He didn’t recall anything about this in the records.

– I don’t particularly like humans. They are disruptive and have no respect for other lives. However, I sense the clear smell of spirits and the aura of nature from you.

Humans who pursue art are worthy of respect.

– You have received the recognition of the blue dragon Ratuas.

Fame has increased by 4,390.

– The title ‘Dragon’s Artist’ has been acquired.

It can be gained if the person has a great passion for the arts, has high fame and the recognition of at least two dragons.

The growth rate of the art stat will increase by 4%.

The sculptor’s quest experience and fame will increase by 11%.

Weed had a satisfied smile on his face.

The art stat was helpful in many ways. But nevertheless, he still wanted to get away from the dragon.

“Thank you for acknowledging me. However, there are many artists more outstanding than me.  For instance, the painter Petrov.”

He was an itinerant artist who was a potential rival so Weed willingly gave him up.

– Do not doubt your overwhelming fame. Although many artists have shone while they were alive, you are without a doubt the most outstanding contemporary artist.

‘Keheok!’

Praise was a burden in a situation like this.

‘I really don’t need a treasure. Then…’

– Artist, I would like to ask you for a job. You are the only one that can possibly do it on this continent. I will lend all my support so please make a sculpture of my friend Yuskellanda.

Ddiring!

– Silver Dragon Yuskellanda

The dragon Ratuas has requested that you make a sculpture of Yuskellanda!

This opportunity is only given to one sculptor.

Utilize the materials in the dragon’s lair to create a rare dragon sculpture.

Ratuas believes in your reputation as the best artist on the continent.

So the dragon will demand perfection. If it isn’t…

You will be given two chances to create a sculpture and one month to complete it.

Level of Difficulty: The best work.

Compensation: Ratuas’ confidence.

Quest Restrictions: Limited to the best artist.

“Uhh.”

Making a sculpture for a picky dragon would be quite difficult.

‘The contents of the quest isn’t that intimidating. I can give it up. Or try it a little bit. It isn’t an impossible risk.’

He was highly familiar with making sculptures.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was either hunting or sculpting in Royal Road. He would even be sculpting during breaks..

He was constantly experiencing new things when making sculptures. This was an opportunity to use the best materials.

‘I will soon rise to a sculpting master…there is a long way to go if I only make ordinary works.’

Now the dragon was commissioning him to make a sculpture!

‘It will end if I refuse. But refusing will lower my intimacy.’

He would become a sculpting master so he couldn’t run from the dragon.

Weed indifferently said after thinking for a while.

“I will try my best.”

– You have accepted the quest.

From that day on, Weed was able to freely come and go from Ratuas’ lair.

The first human allowed to visit a dragon’s lair freely.

Of course, many users would be able to see this scene through the broadcasting stations. It would also be helpful when the time came to hunt the dragon.

Ratuas had a large library approximately 100 metres in height and passageways connected to warehouses, a laboratory and housing for the workers.

It was similar to a 50 pyeong apartment and was like a huge royal palace inside the mountain.

Understandably, there were creatures like the lich, chimeras and sea creatures guarding the entrance to the passageways.

Weed was allowed to experiment with the magic treasures!

He could use the magic items and materials in the treasury for the sculpture. The dragon had various rare alchemy ingredients and new materials not seen on the continent. There were mountains of piled up gold and jewels.

“This is the Bank of Korea. Selling all of this…I would be able to live.”

Weed was in extreme mental stress.

‘Looking without being able to take anything!’

It was like the gold piled up in a vault in the Bank of Korea!

He skimmed through the magic books in the laboratory that the dragon collected.

There were hundreds of books related to spells and strengthening.

Weed naturally tried to read them.

[Dragon Ratuas’ Magic Records #54

The way to take advantage of the properties of water…]

Ddiring!

– Your wisdom isn’t high enough to read it.

Reading wasn’t possible!

He built up a variety of stats but knowledge and wisdom were the most neglected.

‘This is beneficial for a magician. It isn’t much use for me.’

Weed decided to focus on making the sculpture.

He had many things to do on the continent. He would neatly finish the dragon’s quest and leave.

“Where should I make the sculpture?”

– Wherever you want to make it. In my opinion, the entrance is large so making it there would be good.

“I hope for a well-lit place. In my opinion, that is also the best location.”

Weed searched the surrounding area.

The sculpture was a type of installation and the location needed to be carefully decided.

In particular, the harmony between the colours and ambient light was essential. He felt the energy from the magnificent Cregodal Mountains.

He started the sculpture of the dragon.

‘Yuskellanda. The target of the sculpture has been confirmed…the figure of the dragon can’t be significantly different from the original.’

It couldn’t be a ridiculous or objectionable sculpture.

‘I am limited in my number of attempts. That makes it significantly harder.’

The lich brought an image of Yuskellanda.

A pure and noble silver dragon. An elegantly handsome dragon worthy of admiration.

“It is really nice and beautiful.”

– Ratuas’ friend. You deserve the best.

“I will make sure to generously use my artistic spirit.”

The lich was more benevolent because of the bribe.

Weed looked at the image of Yuskellanda several times.

‘A beautiful dragon. Fortunately I have a good model.’

A dragon wasn’t that different. The body type was just a variant of different animals.

Yuskellanda was a slim yet distinctively female dragon with a soothing atmosphere.

The dragon Ausollet was a violent machine while this dragon felt more like a friend to humans.

The dragon represented the Versailles Continent due to overwhelming strength and wisdom.

Weed had an ill-fated relationship with dragons but this dragon quest would be helpful.

‘It is worth trying to make a dragon sculpture. Furthermore, I can get significant support.’

He normally made sculptures using rotten wood or stone. The chance to use the best ingredients for a sculpture was rare.

Weed asked Ratuas.

“I need a lot of silver.”

– Tell me how much you want. How much is necessary?

Weed thought quickly.

‘I should demand as much as possible. So the materials can’t be blamed if he isn’t happy with the sculpture?’

He made a quick calculation and said.

“30,000kg of 99.99% pure silver…”

The amount was estimated according to the size of Yuskellanda.

‘It might be too hard. My intimacy will drop…’

– Is that enough?

“Yes. More could do but that is plenty.

– I will give 40,000kg. Tell me if you need more.

“Heeok!”

The dwarves working in the warehouses started bringing it out.

Treasure started to accumulate at the entrance!

The price of silver in Royal Road varied from time to time. It was cheaper than gold. However, this was a mountain of bullions!

‘I was mistaken when I thought this dragon was frugal. He is rich enough to buy a building in Gangnam.’

Pure silver was necessary to melt and refine to the desired shape.

Weed was also given command of the dwarves.

“Please melt this.”

“I understand.”

The dwarves started working straight away. More than 100 dwarves were working in the nearby dwarf village.

There was no doubt about the skills of the dwarf blacksmiths. In addition, the dragon was watching so they wouldn’t play around. The dwarves used excellent blacksmith skills to refine the pure silver.

Weed made another request to Ratuas.

“I wish there was 100 pearls for decoration.”

– How heavy?

“More is better. A minimum of 100kg should be enough. And the rating of the pearls are very important…they should be at least second grade.”

– I will bring it from the warehouse.

100 first grade pearls were procured.”

They were the best pearls without any imperfections.

I drooled like a beginner making a low level sculpture.

“And a bunch of…”

– Speak.

“Helium?”

A metal mined from Jigolaths.

The lifetime dream of any sculptor.

“Well, I will try my best even if I am lacking materials…it is obvious that I should use the best materials… Just tell me if you don’t have it.”

– Bring it.

The helium appeared!

It was three times the amount he used to make the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

“1,000kg of platinum…”

– Bring it.

“I’d like some fairy tears. Around 10,000 litres.”

– I will bring it.

The dragon casually handed out materials rarely found on the continent.

He started to feel the true gap between the rich and poor.

Thanks to Ratuas’ support, he started to prepare a lavish sculpture.

Chapter 6: Great Master

Weed decided on the nature of the sculpture.

‘It can’t be simple. Ratuas and Yuskellanda. There is something between them.’

There were some obvious laws of the world. After being released into a yard with roosters, hens would lay some eggs.

He became sure that Ratuas and Yuskellanda were lovers.

He wanted to see the dragon Yuskellanda. As an artist, Weed needed to fully express the charm and character of Yuskellanda.

‘Create gentle, nostalgic eyes. A sculpture made of previous materials can be exaggerated so I need to be careful.’

A sculpture!

Easy but very difficult. He needed to produce the best work.

In addition, he needed to produce it from a picture. It was more difficult because the dragon he was sculpting was in a special relationship with Ratuas.

He couldn’t make any type of sculptures for the client. The sculpture needed to resemble Yuskellanda as quickly as possible. Everything including the eyes needed to feel like Yuskellanda!

He couldn’t be creative so it was very difficult. A work that wasn’t possible unless he had a sincere understanding of sculptures!

‘I’ve never directly met her. Can I overcome this?’

His sculpting skill would give some assistance. Currently it was at 96.6% advanced level 9. It was just one step before master level.

Nevertheless, it might not be perfect.

‘The sculpture needs to fit the personality and feelings. If so…I just need to do my best.’

Weed worried about it for 5 minutes.

‘A conclusion.  I will do what I can no matter the price.’

This was a dragon’s quest.

The best chance to make a sculpture using precious materials. He would put in all his effort to create a magnum opus.

Success depended on the mind, heart and effort.

‘I will try it.’

It would be a very large sculpture and one month wasn’t considered that generous.

He committed to working day and night.

‘The quest gives two chances…I needed to make sure I do it properly.’

Weed decided to take advantage of this rare chance and accessed Royal Road.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The first thing Lee Hyun did was access Royal Road’s website.

“I should check videos on the internet. Dragons are divided into many categories in human history so I should look at features similar to Yuskellanda. So that I can express the similarities and differences.”

There were videos about dragons scattered all over the place. Users in Royal Road occasionally saw dragons flying and would post the videos on the internet. It was relatively easy for elves to meet dragons without any risk.

He used the many videos of dragons as reference. Dragons spreading their wings, flying or sitting on top of a mountain!

There were a lot of grand and wonderful images. He observed the joints, skeletal system and other physical proportions. When he looked closely, it was quite different from a hedgehog or rabbit. He needed to see and understand the different parts.

“I made Bingryong roughly. If I investigated at the time then I could have made it more tasteful. But somehow, Bingryong has a charm similar to eating junk food.”

Searching multiple information boards to understand the dragon!

While Lee Hyun was spending time in the real world, time in Royal Road was also passing. One month was a very tight deadline so he couldn’t waste time.

Lee Hyun picked up the phone and called someone.

– Yes, KMC Media.

“This is Lee Hyun. I’d like to talk to Director Kang.”

He booked appointments with KMC Media and several other stations.

A piece of the dragon quest! It wasn’t an adventure or combat but sculpting was also suitable for broadcast. And sculpting was a subject of interest to the broadcasting stations.

After learning the final secret sculpting technique, the viewers were even interested in Weed’s minor adventures or sculpting.

KMC Media were always strongly on his side when broadcasting so he contacted them first. He also contacted CTS Media and LK Games. As well as foreign broadcasting stations such as Fox and CRR. They promised to find Korean employees immediately.

The war between the Haven Empire and Arpen Kingdom caused social repercussions in the news. Lee Hyun’s character was sweeping the world’s internet portal sites and search rankings.

Weed’s popularity in Royal Road spread out to Korea, China, Japan, the United States and Europe.

Overseas fans wore costumes from Royal Road and Yellowy stickers could commonly be seen on cars. Teenagers in the United States tried to convert their homes into shacks when their parents were at work and made a mess. In Russia, they even made a majestic 20m large sculpture of Bingryong.

Merchandising of the wyverns, Bingryong and Yellowy were actively exported.

“If children all over the world spends money then it won’t be a problem to get a wealthy retirement fund.”

Lee Hyun politely spoke to the Korean employees of the overseas broadcasting stations

“You shouldn’t go into someone else’s home empty handed. That is overstepping the bounds of politeness. A person should enter someone’s home with heavy hands. But gift certificates aren’t bad. Because most gifts are useless. It would be good if I can take advantage of department stores and marts.”

Bribery as a courtesy!

The station officials gathered at Lee Hyun’s house with high expectations and were a little disappointed about the dragon quest.

In fact, they wanted cool scenes such as large-scale attacks against the Hermes Guild. Still, a sculpting quest was refreshing.

Director Kim of Fox asked.

“But what if you fail the quest?”

“It is hard to assure your life against a dragon.”

“So these are really good conditions. The ratings will be favourable.”

Lee Hyun knew the broadcasting officials very well. He signed a high value contract with KMC Media, CTS Media and Fox. The deal with the other stations was that they would be given 2 hours on a regular program.

Director Kang frowned and asked.

“So how is it going?”

“The sculpture?”

“Yes. If you fail then you will die. Your sculpting skill will also drop. The morale of the Arpen Kingdom will also drop. Can you really create something good?”

No one could guess the results of the sculpture. It wasn’t fighting against the Hermes Guild but there was no guarantee he wouldn’t die.

It wasn’t hard to decide. He had a contract with the broadcast stations so the ratings would become even bigger if he failed once.

“Well, I will do my best. And I can’t fail due to the ingredients.”

Director Kang was familiar with Lee Hyun’s personality and said.

“The dragon won’t kill you if a few materials are hidden away.”

“…….”

“Don’t work wholeheartedly.”

“I have a thorough and meticulous plan.”

“It could be dangerous.”

“I will bet my life.”

The officials started laughing.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed melted and poured a large mold with the help of the dwarves.

While the silver was boiling and cooling, he used the Sculpting Knife to carve the form of the dragon.

The legs were completed in just 6 hours while the thick body took the whole night. The tremendous speed wouldn’t have been possible without the help of the dwarves.

The dwarves tied ropes and helped with the sophisticated work. 10 metres and then 20 metres was completed

Weed ordered the dwarves.

“Don’t worry about accuracy. Just do it as quickly as possible.”

“Huh, are you really sure? I know that the human world doesn’t have great sculptors. But this dragon sculpture has all our lives at risk.”

“It doesn’t matter. Because I will be making the form of the sculpture.”

“It is difficult to work on the upper body due to the size but we will do our best.”

“Then I will make the dragon lying down. There is no need for it to be standing.”

“Are you serious? Making the form of a dragon like that…”

“Of course. The angle of its head will be like it is sleeping.”

“I understand. We will cooperate.”

The dwarves started to feel increasingly dubious towards Weed. Weed’s fame was too high but doubts started forming.

“Us dwarves would be able to make the sculpture a lot better.”

“I don’t know what that human is thinking. Somehow we need to build a solid foundation. If we don’t work hard then we will pay for it.”

“Don’t give up. That is an artist.”

“That human is acting too casually.”

Using pure silver to create the form of the silver dragon. He didn’t make an intimidating dragon but an unimpressive sculpture of a dragon lying down.

There was no artistry or special emotional feeling involved in the subject. Numerous scales were roughly crushed and clumsily handled.

The shape of the face was almost similar to Yuskellanda but the nose, eyes and mouth weren’t very elaborate. He didn’t make any major changes or attempt to fix it.

Finally, the sculpture was completed after five days. He didn’t even use the helium and pearls!

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“Hmm, let’s use Yuskellanda.”

– Yuskellanda is correct?

“That’s right.”

– Yuskellanda has been completed.

A work showing the silver dragon Yuskellanda who existed in the past.

A huge amount of silver was used.

In 100 years, people might say that is it one of the artist Weed’s best work.

An incredibly poor sculpture.

Artistic Value: 590.

Special Options: Yuskellanda will increase health and mana regeneration by 7% for a day.

Combat capabilities of monsters in this area will be reduced by 14%.

He managed to make a fairly ordinary piece with low artistic value.

Then Ratuas walked towards the entrance of his lair. The giant dragon caused the mountain to shake every time he moved.

– This is your final product! You made this after making so many demands! You have the most outstanding skills among humans but you are still useless!

Ratuas roared.

The dwarves watching were astonished.

Dragon Fear!

Weed felt like the earth and sky was shaking and his whole body was terrified.

– Fighting spirit and concentration has given you a strong resistance to fear.

Resistance has been invoked against the skill Dragon Fear.

The stiffness caused by the dragon has decreased by 63%.

Battle skills can be used normally after 13 seconds.

A great experience.

Insight has increased by 2.

Weed was able to somewhat counter the skill due to his previous quest.

Right now, he needed to be respectful to the dragon but he had faced Ausollet in the past!

Ddiring!

– The client isn’t happy with the sculpture of Yuskellanda.

Your first chance has disappeared.

The dragon Ratuas’ hostility has reached 59%.

Weed wasn’t surprised by this attitude.

“No. This is a prototype I made in order to study the fundamental form of the dragon. This will be a proper work the next time you see it.”

– This will be your last chance.

“I know. You absolutely won’t regret it.”

Weed was still confident regarding sculpting.

‘It absolutely won’t fail.’

He took the initiative to create numerous sculptures. He would use that experience for this work.

He was now determined to do his best.

Getting a high evaluation for a new creative work was always hard.

Basically, it was important to listen to the client.

“I will dedicate myself to making the best sculpture for Ratuas-nim.”

Weed believed in himself.

‘Life is about using the appropriate tricks to become comfortable. Living an honest and proper life is too painful.’

It wasn’t that easy to just make a magnum opus.

Secret sculpting techniques. He could take advantage of Sculpture Resurrection.

It would be a jackpot if he used it to revive Yuskellanda after completing the sculpture but the skill was only beginner level 4, giving it some limitations.

Apart from the enormous sacrifice in his level, art and faith stat, he could only revive humans and similar species.

‘It also won’t work if the fine details are lacking.’

It really would be an icing on the cake if he could revive Yuskellanda.

He never saw Yuskellanda so there was no way he could make the sculpture perfect enough to revive her.

But he had an endless amount of tricks to use!

“Summon Sculpture!”

Weed summoned one of his sculptures displayed in Morata’s Art Centre. It was a wooden sculpture representing the sculpting master Darone!

Darone was the mentor who taught him Sculpture Transformation and endlessly created sculptures of the women he loved.

It was an ordinary piece but that didn’t matter.

“Sculpture Resurrection!”

– Sculpture Resurrection has been used.

The sculpting master Darone has been called back to this land through art.

45 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

Faith stat has been permanently reduced by 100.

Level has fallen by 3.

18,000 Health and Mana has been consumed.

The person revived by Sculpture Resurrection will retain their knowledge and ability.

It is only a fixed short time but they are thankful for being able to move in this world again.

– The skill proficiency of Sculpture Resurrection has improved.

“Sob!”

Sculpture Resurrection was a success but it was difficult to bear his levels falling.

The wooden sculpture of Darone. It started changing to skin and he soon began to move.

“I-I am back…”

Darone marvelled as he looked at his hands and feet. Weed was familiar with this reaction and decided to help.

“Teacher-nim!”

“Who are you? Ummm…ah! Weed.”

Weed had an extremely ordinary face so it was difficult to recognize him.

“This isn’t the time. There is work to do.”

“What type of work?”

Weed showed him the materials given by Ratuas.

“We have to use these materials to carve the silver dragon.”

Weed planned a collaboration to make the best sculpture ever!

Darone was persuaded after a simple explanation.

Ratuas and Yuskellanda. The reason of love was enough for Darone to agree to make the sculpture. A sculptor having motivation was the best ingredient for working.

Weed even showed the pictures and failed sculpture of Yuskellanda.

“It was be based on this work. We will create the rest together.”

Darone glanced at me and nodded.

“You have improved. It might be rough but the basic shape is good.

“Begin. I will start with the tail.”

“Then I will work from the wings.”

Weed and Darone began the elaborate sculpture of Yuskellanda.

The sculpture of the dragon was large and delicate work was required for the scales. The overall vision in his head was too big for him to do alone.

However, two people working on different parts could give an overall awkward impression.

Weed believed in Darone’s skills.

‘Sculpting one woman for his whole life. The emotional aspect is perfect.’

He had confirmed Daron’s workmanship several times in the past. His skillful hands would be perfect for this.

In terms of expressing the various forms of sculptures, Emperor Geihar von Arpen was the best. He created numerous creatures so Weed could trust him with a dragon. However, the Arpen Emperor could give it an unfamiliar feeling.

Darone was rich in emotions and had delicate and precise skills so he was the best partner for Weed.

‘This is definitely the feeling!’

Besides, there was another advantage to cooperating with Darone.

This was the real reason why Darone was necessary.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

Darone created the Sculpture Transformation technique. He transformed into a silver dragon on a semi-regular basis. Weed looked at the appearance of the silver dragon and found any awkward parts.

“The ratio of the legs should be a little longer. When thinking of Bingryong’s short legs…”

Daron maintained the appearance of the silver dragon and said painfully.

“I think so as well.”

Sculpture Transformation was used in order to determine the appearance and perfect proportions.

Weed had always used Sculpture Transformation in battle so this was the first time he utilized it for art.

Weed requested more materials from Ratuas.

“I’m sorry but can you give 10,000 kilos more? The piece is larger than I first estimated. Of course, it can still be sufficiently completed in this state.”

– In the warehouse…I will bring out 20,000 kilos. Tell me if you need more. You are also welcome to the dwarf village in my territory.

Ratuas had been angry after the first sculpture but that had changed.

He watched quietly as Weed and Darone worked on the sculpture of Yuskellanda with tremendous speed and workmanship.

It was meticulous work so there were no more accusations. All the bulky and awkward parts were changed. Beauty, grace and artistry were shown.

Platinum was melted and covered the wings, claws and between the scales. Small portions created from nothing were pulled together to create a wonderful and shining silver dragon.

‘It is hard to live a comfortable life without using any tricks.’

It was like an interior designer changing the design in response to the owner. The client had a definite response as he watched the process of creating the sculpture of Yuskellanda.

– Yus…ekellanda. I can see your face again.

Ratuas staring blankly at the sculpture meant the work was going properly.

‘There is nothing else to fix on the face. I can concentrate on other parts.’

Using Sculpture Transformation occasionally would draw out the soul of the client.

‘I need to watch and point out any bad points.’

Even a genius artist needed to use all types of tips and tricks to improve their chances of success.

It was the reason for all the focus on education in South Korea.

‘Success through studying? Wrong. That is how they remain a salaryman for the rest of their lives. Having an excellent education from an early age can increase their IQ. In life, opportunity will knock at least three times.’

Darone trimmed the sculpture of the silver dragon.

The overall shape was representative of the sculpture. It was common behaviour when making a large sculpture.

But Darone had spent a lifetime making a sculpture of one woman. He had an obsession with sculptures that wouldn’t allow even one flaw!

The length of the claws, tendons of the legs and even the wrinkles were fully expressed. He even worried over the look in the eyes and thickness of the tongue.

Still, Darone only did some parts.

“I can’t handle helium.”

“I will do it. I have the blacksmith skill.”

“Excellent. Blacksmith skills aren’t required for a sculptor. You truly are the continent’s leading sculptor.”

“I first picked it up for money.”

Weed used his advanced blacksmith skill and the hearths of the dwarves to melt the helium.

‘There can’t be any mistakes. Especially when I am already having doubts.’

He had done this twice already but Weed’s forehead was covered in sweat.

Sya sya sya sya syak.

A covert action was finished.

“Hum hum, the amount of helium is a little less than before.

“You are mistaken.”

“It seems to be mixed with some foreign substance…”

“It is mixed to increase the purity as much as possible. So that I can use plenty.”

“Even if it is mixed, the original amount of helium…”

“Wasn’t it used for the sculpture?”

The melted helium thinly covered the silver dragon’s face and neck.

Plain silver lacked the ability to express the subtle hues of the silver dragon. He could paint the sculpture but he would rather change the material itself.

The noble appearance of the shining, silver dragon was slowly being revealed. The shape of a true dragon was slowly forming under the hands of two artists.

Weed occasionally asked Darone.

“Is there any beast more magnificent than a dragon?”

“You have good judgement. I feel a greater determination in my heart.”

“Well, art is emotional.”

Yuskellanda had the magnificent appearance of a dragon standing on two legs with its wings spread.

It was too high for the dwarves since it wasn’t in a lying down position like the first sculpture. Even if Weed and Darone used ladders, it was too high to work efficiently.

Therefore they modified the primary sculpture.

A fine dragon sleeping in the warm sun. It was infinitely endearing but the eyes weren’t open. It wasn’t a mighty dragon but the loving memories that remained intact in Ratuas. Even the dwarves wouldn’t be scared of a dragon like this.

Weed had a thought.

‘There are only a few days until it is finished. It will be sufficient if I finish the rest alone.’

Ruthlessly discarding their camaraderie!

“How long can you stay in this world?”

“Well, around four days. It should be enough to finish the sculpture.”

Darone could stay in this world longer than expected.

Weed’s resurrection skill could only make them last for a day. However, Darone was a sculpting master with his own high art stat so this increased his survival time by leaps and bounds.

‘It is like making an owner wash some dishes.’

This was an unexpected side effect of Sculpture Resurrection.

“You don’t need to bother with this. There isn’t long remaining in this world so go relax or on a tourist trip. I will even recommend a restaurant. Use plenty of money.”

“No. I am already dead so I don’t want to eat something delicious. If I am hungry then I can eat some barley bread. I think it would be great to spend the last moments of my life sculpting. This would be a big gift.”

Weed’s fist trembled.

“Uhh…if that is what you want.”

“Don’t be sad. I am happy enough that you summoned me here. Now we will complete this sculpture until the end!”

Darone was happy to create a sculpture during his last four days.

‘Should I covertly kill him?’

The dragon was watching him so Weed waited for an opportunity.

‘Should I handle him at night?’

There were no chances even at night.

Darone was already dead so he stayed up all night working without needing to worry about his health. Weed might also be held liable if someone died while working with him.

The continent’s two best sculptors joined together on a sculpture. The statue of the silver dragon Yuskellanda finally finished.

There was a large golden cauldron next to her. Of course, the gold was obtained from Ratuas. He added this to the silver dragon in order to secretly siphon off some gold.

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

Weed struggled for a moment but decided not to prioritize money.

“This is Darone-nim’s last piece so please give it a name.”

“It is your sculpture so you should name it. I am just a junior sculptor who helped you.”

“It pricks my conscience but…no, thank you for the consideration. I will name it The Sleeping Silver Dragon Yuskellanda.”

– The Sleeping Silver Dragon Yuskellanda is correct?

“That’s correct.”

Ddiring!

– Magnum Opus! The Sleeping Silver Dragon Yuskellanda has been completed.

A sculpture that transcends the limit and is full of infinite affect made by the sculptors Weed and Darone.

The perfect appearance of a silver dragon made with the most precious materials in the world.

The materials and treasures created a beauty that is difficult to continue to exist.

The pinnacle of art on the Versailles Continent!

A sculpture that will be recorded in the legends.

Artistic Value: A collaborative work between the sculptors Weed and Darone.

49,212

Special Options: The Sleeping Silver Dragon Yuskellanda will increase health and mana regeneration by 64% for a day.

All resistances have increased by 55%.

The probability of obtaining gold when hunting will increase by 450%.

The activation speed of skills and magic spells will increase by 15%.

Movement speed will increase by 22%.

All stats have increased by 31.

Courage, charisma, dignity and wisdom have permanently increased by 12.

Looking at the statue once a day will restore maximum health, mana and vitality.

The city or area this sculpture is located in won’t be invaded by monsters for two years.

* 53% achievements has been distributed to Darone and 47% to Weed.

A special title for the ones who finished this sculpture will be granted.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Current number of Magnum Opus created: 18

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– Great achievement!

Advanced handicraft skill has reached 100% proficiency.

Handicraft Master!

Your hands have reached the ultimate state.

Humans and dwarves are the only species to achieve this unimaginable feat.

The proficiency rate of all skills involving the hand will increase by 12%.

All skills involving fists or weapons will quickly reached advanced level 1.

Weapons will be handled more accurately. Striking in one place will deal 16% more damage and you will be protected from some damage.

Techniques that require following a pattern will build up a fixed amount of experience. In particular, advanced skills should be followed accurately a certain number of times.

Forging and tailoring products will be given special benefits.

There is a 1/10 probability that the product won’t tear or be destroyed.

There is a 1/35 probability of creating a product with great attack power or incredible defense.

Special benefits will be granted to dishes cooked.

The taste from your hands!

Each dish will be tasty despite only having a minimal amount of seasoning.

The probability of failing during fishing will be greatly reduced.

The subtle dexterity in the hands will show excellent power regulation when fishing.

High durability will be granted to boats created with the shipbuilding skill.

You will have direct control of the sails when sailing.

When using a pickaxe, you can dig in more areas with less force.

Bandages will be wrapped very quickly.

Special benefits will be granted to sculptures.

A meticulousness will be added to all sculptures.

There will be a 15% increase in the value of sculptures and this will affect the relevant skills.

– Fame has increased by 23,490.

– Art has increased by 98.

– Perseverance has increased by 7.

– Charm has increased by 10.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

– Title! Craftsmanship of Rare Metals has been acquired.

A special title attached to those who work with helium, a metal called the tears of the gods.

Production experience and fame from blacksmith quests will double.

The proficiency level will increase quickly when dealing with rare metals.

“Aaaack.”

A statue with great options!

Weed almost screamed the moment it was completed.

“That sculpture is mine!”

The excellent options on the sculpture were no use to the dragon Ratuas. The sculpture was in a dragon’s lair so he wouldn’t be able to come visit it.

A situation that caused him pain!

“This is why I can’t give pieces away. All that suffering was in vain.”

And Weed was puzzled.

“But something like this…the handicraft skill is really related to a lot of things.”

A message window that contained a tremendous amount of information! Weed was shocked while reading the message window.

“Wait a minute…did I really master handicraft?”

Handicraft was at 98.4% advanced level 9 so there was only a little bit more to go.

Although sculpting benefited, all the skills involving the hands like tailoring, blacksmithing, swordsmanship etc. contributed to increasing it.

Handicraft was a common skill that wasn’t hard to accumulate experience.

It was the skill that was the symbol of labour!

The Dark Gamers Union analyzed that it wasn’t possible for a master to appear in the next three years.

Handicraft Master!

The biggest reward was that it affected all skills.

Reading the message window was enough to have an excellent idea of the comprehensive gift set.

“But I thought…sculpting would be mastered first.”

He was glad to see it but still slightly upset.

It was mastered thanks to cooking, tailoring, shipbuilding, navigation, mining, fishing and more skills.

Sculpting took a lot of time and work, especially when making a large sculpture.

His sculpting skill was at 98.9% advanced level 9. The proficiency had increased but not enough to reach master level. He didn’t want to use the time museum from intermediate Time Sculpting until he was a master.

“I will still become the continent’s first sculpting master.”

A historic achievement that would be founded in labour.

“I’ve spent most of my life working.”

Weed had been working since childhood.

Sewing doll eyes, buttons, milk delivery, newspaper delivery etc.  There were so many jobs where he wanted to give up.

Chapter 7: Ratuas’ Reward

Uncontrollable rebellions.

Residents of the Haven Empire became rebels because there was no food. There were heavy taxes, empty granaries, lower security and robbers attacking the food transportation carriages.

The residents of Vandelrun City rebelled and 10,392 people died. The production facilities received big damage and their rate fell to 49%, while security in neighbouring areas dropped incredibly.

– Stats have increased as a quest reward.

Strength has increased by 4.

Wisdom has increased by 3.

Maximum vitality has increased by 200.

“This time, it is a quest to damage the empire.”

Bardray proceeded carefully with the black knight quests. Sometimes he would wipe out large groups of rebels or sacrifice innocents within the empire.

The reason Vandelrun ran out of food was due to Bardray. He manipulated the bandits into causing a food shortage in the city.

‘Is this a trap? Or the penalty revealed in accordance with my profession.’

Bardray thought that the profession of black knight was very attractive. It was the best profession for someone with combat talents and big ambitions.

He received questionable quests after becoming emperor. Quests designed to cause instability in the empire and to rule with anxiety and distrust. Loyal subordinates were secretly executed or unrest incited in cities.

The black knight was the ultimate evil profession so there would be penalties.

The situation in the Haven Empire was gradually worsening while he started the quests. The quests contents unexpectedly showed positive results for the Haven Empire. the rebel infested areas were small in the overall scheme but the areas were actually stabilized.

“It seems like the quests are leading me into a subtle trap. However, black knight is my profession.”

The black knight quests meant he could get tough stats or additional compensation.

The high degree of difficulty meant the quests couldn’t be completed quickly but it was still admirable.

“Even so, it feels like temptation is leading me to my downfall.”

Bardray felt some doubts but he still did the quests.

There was already serious rebellions occurring so there were no damages. The Haven Empire’s soldiers and residents that didn’t listen were killed.

Even if the foundations of the empire were damaged, it would just affect the Hermes Guild. Despite his position as the emperor, the internal affairs of small villages and getting on the wrong side of the lords had no relation to Bardray at all.

‘I am the emperor. And at the same time, I am the head of the Hermes Guild.’

Bardray continued to have doubts about the black knight quests but was still continuing them. However, he was ready to quit at any time.

‘The system of the Hermes Guild isn’t perfect. After one or two years, someone might step up to challenge me.’

Strong power was required to rule the Hermes Guild and remain the emperor of the Haven Empire.

The black knight got the status of emperor through betrayal and slander but its favourable aspect was the endless strength.

Bardray was enjoying the benefits of the black knight profession. And then a new quest occurred.

Ddiring!

– The Emperor’s Sacred Choice

The efforts of the majestic emperor to rule the empire has come to fruition.

By getting rid of the impurities clouding the empire early on, the empire has leapt forward with a bloody foundation.

The Black Knight Emperor can select one of two paths.

The first path.

A black knight is ambitious and aims to have no weaknesses. He rules with death and blood, where no one will resist due to fear.

The emperor will forever kill everyone he is suspicious of.

The second path.

In order to quickly rectify the confusion in the empire, it is necessary to show tolerance. The wise emperor will persuade his enemies to his side.

The empire will shine under his reign.

Level of Difficulty: Emperor restricted quest.

Quest Restrictions: Black Knight Emperor.

An empire haunted by rebels and unstable peace.

The end of the black knight quest.

Compensation: The path chosen will have an impact on the governance of the Haven Empire.

– if the first path is chosen, the compensation will be clearly revealed against the rebels.

The emperor will be given special eyes. The eyes will stare straight into the heart to see any signs of rebellion.

Security and fear will rise every time you kill a rebel.

Governance and personal capabilities will increase. But sometimes, those eyes can be too suspicious and see the pure people as bad.

If you don’t handle those plotting rebellion, your combat ability will be reduced due the anxiety.

Accumulating a lot of anxiety can cause serious illnesses.

If the second path is chosen, you will be given compensation and skills associated with the level of a master.

The complaints of the rebels will fade away quickly under the dignity of the emperor.

Those who surrender in battle will increase and the defeated will be convinced to join the empire.

The effect of all production facilities within the empire will permanently increase by 4%.

The settlement rate within the empire will increase. The residents can relax even further.

Development of commerce and restoration of technology will be promoted.

As security and the economy recovers, the people will blindly worship the emperor.

*Please note!

Choose carefully as the decision can’t be reversed.

You have 10 days to decide.

Bardray’s eyes sharpened.

“This quest is really incredible.”

The quality of this quest was really ridiculous.

“Aren’t the benefits for the emperor good either way?”

The first path was inclined towards battle.

This was good from Bardray’s perspective. He could significantly increase the gap in strength with other users.

The Haven Empire was receiving large damage right now so it would be nice to subdue the rebels. The first choice would damage the empire for personal gain.

The second choice was for the Haven Empire. The development could help rectify the difficult situation of the Haven Empire.

Special benefits were given to the empire but the overall picture meant the Haven Empire would stabilize.

“Either path would be good.”

Bardray had a choice between two paths. Greed was definitely the first path.

Just like when Weed acted in the desert and formed the Pallos Empire. There were no laws and he gained many achievements.

Using overwhelming force to maintain his position as emperor. An endless path of infinite strength stretched out in front of him. It was a sweet temptation to Bardray.

The path of a wise emperor also attracted him. The development of the empire was good for both him and the Hermes Guild.

He could only select one and it would have an impact on the future.

A few days passed as he worried about it. He couldn’t concentrate on hunting due to the quest decision.

Bardray looked inside himself.

“I got to this place through my own efforts. I can have everything with my power.”

He would keep the emperor’s position for himself.

The temptation of the first path was strong but would certainly have side effects. Bardray’s heart shook with desire.

“There will be problems in the long run if I choose the first path. It is better to pick the second path.”

Greed and reason. His mind changed every moment.

Bardray decided on the third day.

“I will choose the second path.”

– Do you want to pick the second path in the Emperor’s Sacred Choice quest?

The decision cannot be reversed.

“I will choose the second path.”

Ddiring!

– You have chosen the second path in the empire.

A wise emperor who shows more tolerance to his people.

The emperor carries out the will of the people and will be applauded in the cities.

The black knight’s ambition has refused this.

You will not be able to select the way of the emperor.

Your choice has failed.

“What is this?”

Bardray tried to pick the second path several times.

It was refused due to the previous black knight quests he completed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed proudly looked up at the dragon Ratuas.

“This is my sculpture.”

– The ability and will of humans…it is truly marvelous. The silver and gold I gave you was changed so beautifully.

Ratuas stared at the sculpture of the dragon Yuskellanda.

“Then the commission was successfully completed?”

– I can’t deny it. This sculpture is the best that I’ve ever seen and none in the future can surpass it.

Ddiring!

– Silver Dragon Yuskellanda has been completed.

The dragon Ratuas has admired your skill as a sculptor.

He recognizes you as the best sculptor.

– Ratuas has declared that you are the best artist.

Fame has increased by 38,398.

– Ratuas has recognized the value of human help and 4,464 achievement points have been earned.

‘Well, this much…’

Weed had a warm smile on his face.

He bowed to the dragon and turned to Darone.

“A success. All of this, it is thanks to Darone-nim.”

“Huhuhu, I was able to make the work of a lifetime thanks to you.”

It was time for Darone to leave.

Weed fiercely regretted that he only left after the sculpture was finished. Still, he had made a difficult sculpture with the help of a colleague.

“Darone-nim has done a lot more than me. I couldn’t have done it without Darone-nim.”

“You will make better works in the future. Lead the continent’s sculptors well.”

Darone slowly disappeared.

Sculpture Resurrection had played a big role. It was a great way to resurrect a hero.

‘If only it can be used in a timely manner. They should live until no longer needed.’

Weed continued acting humble towards Ratuas.

“I have many things happening. Then…”

He said goodbye in a little voice. He had finished creating the sculpture so he was trying to creep down the mountain.

The moment he tried to leave! Ratuas’ head leaned down towards Weed.

– Human.

“Yes, yes?”

Sweat started flowing down.

‘I was caught. I only took a little bit!’

He took some helium and gold while making the sculpture. He shouldn’t have done it but his greedy instincts won.

Of course, he used various excuses while making the sculpture but the collected amount was small. He intended to get souvenirs from Ratuas.

‘The quest is good enough. I am working as a sculptor. Then I should get a fair price for my labour.’

The embezzled helium wasn’t enough for an armour but gloves or boots could be created. He also got 100kg of gold.

It wasn’t a large amount compared to what the dragon had.

– I have something to say to you.

“What do you want? I have a previous engagement. My heart is satisfied with this much compensation. It is well meaning but I can’t rest on my laurels.

– Returning the leftover materials.

Weed’s heart started beating.

He deliberately made it difficult to determine the exact amount of materials used in the sculpture.

His profession was a sculptor so he didn’t have the pickpocket skill like thieves or assassins. If the target noticed then hostility would increase. Even so, a thief or assassin would not try to rob a dragon.

“There is a little bit but…it was a material I didn’t return after not using all of it on the sculpture.”

Weed pulled out a chunk of gold from his backpack. The dragon’s face didn’t change despite pulling out three or four.

‘He knows all of it. It is hard against high intelligence.’

He watched as he kept pulling out the gold.

‘This is enough…still more?…he knows…this is the strength of a dragon!’

The gold pulled out from his backpack formed a pile.

Despite the sacrifice he made in using Sculpture Resurrection, the dragon’s attitude didn’t change.

Weed pulled out all of the gold and solemnly said to the dragon.

– Helium can be abused in the human world. It is a great material so humans can’t take it without permission.

Helium!

Weed didn’t want to return the helium no matter what.

‘Should I try to use Time Sculpting to escape? I can use Time Sculpting. The problem is that it is hard to get away very far.’

However, there was a great reversal.

– But human, I can give it to you in exchange for your achievements. I will give in exchange for making me the sculpture of Yuskellanda.

Ddiring!

– The dragon Ratuas has offered a proposal.

You currently have 4,462 achievements after completing the sculpture.

Do you want to use 4,192 achievements to take away the helium? If you accept the proposal then you can proudly own the helium.

If you reject the proposal and don’t return the helium, a considerable amount of fame will drop and hostility will be generated from the theft.

Weed rarely read a description window like this.

“It was a big honour for me to complete the sculpture of Yuskellanda. In return, please give me these materials for future art.”

– You have accepted the dragon Ratuas’ proposal. You now officially own the helium.

270 achievements remain.

It went without saying that he accepted the suggestion!

In the past, he used the helium gained to create the Goddess’ Knight Armour.

Thanks to the helium gained from the sculpture of Yuskellanda, he could create one more piece.

‘It would be a big hit if I could create something like boots, a shield or helmet.’

Equipment had a large impact even in the early beginner days.

Despite Weed’s level dropping, his fighting capabilities would improve simply by changing his equipment.

It was important and made a difference when hunting strong monsters.

Weed didn’t hesitate to speak to Ratuas after obtaining the helium.

“Excuse me, I would like to have the gold as well.”

Exchanging the achievements for gold! Having achievement points with a dragon was great but it could also have the opposite effect.

‘There isn’t a high chance…’

He didn’t need to encounter Ratuas again until the dragon hunt.

– Take it if you want.

Ddiring!

– You can take 50kg of gold from the dragon Ratuas for each achievement point.

“Ohhhh.”

50kg of gold was a huge amount. Weed’s head was filled with calculations.

‘The current price…’

Usually 3 grams of gold was equivalent to 1 gold, so 1kg of gold was equal to 333 gold. Then one achievement point corresponded to 16,666 gold. All the gold could be exchanged for 4.5 million gold.

‘Well, that isn’t a small sum.’

He only had 270 achievement points remaining and it wasn’t easy to calculate the total value when adding the helium.

‘I can save money on materials so there are a lot of benefits.’

Weed said.

“I will make the deal.”

He changed his remaining achievement points to gold. He didn’t want to see the dragon again anytime soon.

Weed spoke once the transaction was completed.

“Thank you. Dragon. Then I will leave now.”

However, the dragon wasn’t finished yet. Ratuas’ head came up right in front of Weed.

Fierce eyes glared at him.

– Human, you know about Yuskellanda’s death.

Dudung!

Weed’s heart started beating.

‘Is it another dragon quest? It seems to be related to adventuring, not sculpting.’

It didn’t seem to be a simple quest so it was natural to be filled with tension. A dragon’s quest was associated with death so it really was a nightmare.

Weed shook his head.

“I am just a weak sculptor. I don’t know anything. Even if I do, I don’t remember it.”

He used the feigned innocence that he learned from watching the news!

‘Do I have to lie down and pretend to be sick?’

The mirror was received from the chaos dragon Ausollet so he couldn’t even begin to guess the situation.

There was a clear reason for Yuskellanda’s death.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the now disappeared Embinyu Church or the chaos dragon Ausollet was behind it.

Or maybe someone behind them…

If he looked at the information collected while the quest was progressing, he could know the whole picture.

‘I can’t keep the peace of the continent alone. The Hermes Guild should also wash their feet.’

Originally the Central Continent channeled their power into defeating the Embinyu Church. It was only a matter of time until the Embinyu Church dealt extensive damage to the north.

However, Weed had neatly solved that problem during the final secret sculpting technique quest. The development of the Central Continent increased and the broken cities also recovered.

The Haven Empire could afford to invade the north. He had already done enough good things in this lifetime.

The dragon watched Weed with sober eyes.

Ddiring!

– Become qualified before proceeding with the quest ‘Dragon Ratuas’ Investigation.’

You need a minimum level of 480.

Dignity and courage need to have reached at least 400.

Your main combat skill has failed to reach advanced level 7.

The quest wasn’t given.

– The time hasn’t arrived yet. Your abilities are lacking right now but there is no knowing what will happen in the future. Come to me at any time if you want to hear the story. The time will come, no matter what happens. The human who defends Yuskellanda until the end…

“Thank you.”

Weed hurriedly ran away from the dragon.

He didn’t care about what would happen in the future.

He couldn’t waste another moment here.

He absolutely never wanted to do it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Kwaaaang!

“Avoid the east!”

“Let’s enter the bushes again.”

“No. I will trample on all those in my way!”

The Crimson Wings Guild arrived at the land of the giants.

Hundreds of people were watching the broadcast of Teros and his companions’ expedition.

“A continent other than Versailles? It is intriguing”

“A new world? We can be the first one to stake a claim there.”

The users belonging to the Crimson Wings Guild dreamed of a comeback through this adventure.

They hoped to regain their honour.

Teros dreamed of no longer being cursed at and becoming a lord of a northern city.

The Crimson Wings members treated poorly everywhere could be reunited.

They came aboard a boat made of nails of the dead, through a brambly forest and huge worms to descend into the world of the giants.

However, the huge giants had a tremendous level beyond 700.

It was understandable why the gods would separate them from the human world.

“Insects…but…looks…so…delicious.”

The giants held the users.

Fortunately, they only ate 1~2 people before letting the rest go.

Not a single one of them could lay a hand on the giants!

The broadcasting stations showed the adventure and recorded stable ratings higher than 10%.

The expedition wandered the land of the giants and hunted large rats and dragonflies.

It was easy for small humans to hide in the huge land of the giants.

They persistently explored for a month.

The severe damage meant that more than 70% of the expedition lost their lives.

They wanted to find a way back to the human world, but it wasn’t that easy to leave.

And they found several clues.

– The adventurer Lodsiker has visited here first. The reason he came here was a request from the earth goddess Mi-ne.

– Across the ocean to the west of the Versailles Continent, a place containing the giants has been forgotten.

– A new continent blocked due to monsters and a magic barrier.

– The giants brought a huge amount of gold from the Versailles Continent to the New World.

The New World!

The inhabitants of the Versailles Continent sometimes told stories about it.

“The earth goddess Mi-ne is very diligent…is there only one world outside this continent?”

“My father was an adventurer in the past. He said that crossing the ocean or going through a magic door would allow you to go to a new world. And he never came back.”

Residents often mentioned the New World but it didn’t lead to a specific quest.

Nevertheless, all users hoped to find the New World.

The Versailles Continent alone was already huge. They explored the north, south and west.

However, all adventurers had expectations for a new continent. The pioneers of the New World! They had aspirations to found their own kingdom like Weed and the Arpen Kingdom.

Teros and the Crimson Wings Guild discovered a clue to the New World in the land of giants so it was a big hit.

They received much attention from the users for finding information about the New World.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The southern desert.

“There is a shortcut to bypass the monsters, allowing you to reach here more quickly.”

This was the advice of the desert warriors.

They needed to save the desert city of Buhares from the monsters attacking it within 10 days.

Earth Shadow guided the party of desert warriors and helped eliminate any obstacles.

The desert tribes had reached stage 14 of the desert quest.

There were numerous desert tribes scattered around and fighting bravely! And they were not alone. Users came from the north far too late and decided to merge with the Earth Shadow party.

Geomchi-5 and his students!

The ones in contention to become the desert ruler were Baebuchi, Heosu and Kimcho. The cowardly desert warriors succumbed in the middle of the quest.

Then the tanned Geomchi-5 said.

“Let’s just go.”

“Huh?”

“Our bodies are too stiff.”

The students followed behind Geomchi-5!

They rode on camels and used a curved sword. Their combat levels and skills increased through participating in this quest. They just rode their camels through any strong monsters that would appear.

Geomchi-19 said.

“We shouldn’t have been born in modern times.”

Geomchi-282 agreed.

“Yes. The desert life is challenging. It is comfortable fighting under the hot sun.”

“I wouldn’t need to study as a child.”

Geomchi-5 and the students were those who lived independent of human civilization.

Their wildness exploded during the desert ruler quest.

Their bodies were full of scars and tattoos to symbolize that they were warriors.

Geomchi-5 had a large scar from when he barely lived. He deliberately went around topless to make people envious of the scar.

The women were somewhere in the distance.

“What should we do once we finish this quest?”

“Then we will go to the Central Continent. And take down those Helmet Guild bastards!”

There was a huge sand storm as Earth Shadow and the desert warriors approached.

A desert camel cavalry.

The leading force during the period of the Pallos Empire had been reconstructed.

Chapter 8: Hermes Guild’s Raid

“The confusion in the empire isn’t dwindling.”

The Hermes Guild once again realized the emergency situation.

– Knight Myul has died.

– An infestation of rebels.

– Repeated failures of domestic affairs.

– The area conquered in the north is unstable.

These were comprehensive reports analyzing the current state of affairs in the Haven Empire.

Weed killing Myul seemed to have given players courage as hundreds of them attacked the Central Continent.

In the past, the Hermes Guild wouldn’t need to be afraid.

They had dominated the users through fear. Most of the raids were easy and they showed a shocking power through the broadcasts.

The development of the conquered areas in the north was being carried out slower than expected. They invested a lot of money and materials to build cities and facilities. However, it was hard for the Haven Empire to find slaves in the north.

No matter how advanced the technology of the Haven Empire, the northern users showed no interest. The users much preferred the free spirited atmosphere of the Arpen Kingdom as well as clean and accessible buildings.

There were many unexplored areas in the north and they could go to Morata if they wanted the benefits of a city.

Although the Haven Empire was clearly developed, it was hard to compare to Morata.

“I will use all my money to buy a house in the Arpen Kingdom! My family will also be moved there.”

“Heh…give my money? I will pull out all my assets!”

It was a common side effect for slaves and residents to flee to the Arpen Kingdom. Sometimes beginners would start in the occupied areas.

“Are there many part time jobs here?”

“Only early skills can be found here. It really is the worst. The new buildings in the city are completely boring.”

There were serious setbacks to their plan to develop that area. The conquered northern area was like a hippo eating money and materials.

Furthermore, the villages and cities springing up in the conquered areas were great targets.

Geomchi and his students. There were originally 200 users but that grew to 300. They rode on bulls and enjoyed fighting the Haven Empire in the northern conquered areas. The knights of the Hermes Guild weren’t fools and organized a defense.

“They will be helpless in melee combat but first we need to stop them riding the bulls.”

They were rampaging through the land of the Haven Empire. The commander of the northern conquered areas, Alcard set up a siege on the plains.

However, their sense of battle was fierce. It was the best place to fight and they tore through the Haven army.

Despite having knights, the army couldn’t withstand it at all. They encircled the army and laughed every time they dealt damage.

There were also some magicians among them. The magicians dealt damage while the avians that joined shot arrows from a distance. The avians moved over the Haven Empire conquered area.

Unlike their initial thoughts, the northern continent was just a hippo swallowing up money and resources.

The economic reconstruction of the Central Continent also wasn’t easy. A lot of money was invested in the Imperial Palace as well as the lords for local development.

The repair of war-torn buildings, maintenance and reinvestment in production facilities, ensuring secure trade routes, restoring the deteriorating security and raising the people’s loyalty all required money.

Despite the economic investments, it was useless as rebellions kept breaking out!

They thought the conditions would worsen 1~2 months after the war but steady investment over a period of time would stabilize it.

The Hermes Guild’s perspective was wrong.

The economy of the Central Continent had already shrunk due to the repeated wars. The Hermes Guild were the main ones responsible for this. They defeated their rebels and reigned supreme.

The thought of a glorious future was destroyed by war ravaged facilities and unhappy residents.

Taxes were gathered to rebuild the army and for long term governance. The Haven Empire’s funds weren’t strong enough to resuscitate the economy. A vast amount of gold vanished like water being poured into a dry, cracked rice paddy.

“These are temporary symptoms. The taxes will be sufficient to restore our economic power. The empire as a whole earns billions of gold.”

“Are you out of your mind? We have to contain the rebels!”

“We will just suppress them. The rebels have already lost.”

“What about the production facilities destroyed in battle or the decline in residents?”

“We will have to give up some areas. Leave the areas that aren’t useful. The residents will be forced to go elsewhere.

“Many users are criticizing us…if we abandon some land then the empire will receive even more criticism.”

The atmosphere among the leaders of the Haven Empire was tense. They won in battles against the rebels. However, the internal affairs were crashing.

Early intervention after the conquest of the Central Continent was required but it was too late for regrets.

The meeting lasted all night and they realized the reality of the Haven Empire.

The current tax income was 4.7 billion gold. However, that tax income was continuing to decline.

They managed to obtain 3 billion gold from the Kallamore area and other somewhat stable areas.

It was still a huge amount but considering the current status, no one was delighted. After some struggle, Lafaye finally said.

“Our military is becoming stronger through continuous battles against the rebels. The problem is that this isn’t what we want. If this continues, many residents will leave and the land will become barren. It won’t be worth keeping.”

There were users who suggested giving up some areas.

“Will it become easier to govern?”

“If the land becomes barren then trade will shrink. It will be an immediate decline in the Haven Empire. The decline of the Haven Empire will be the worst possible situation if we want to unify the continent. Right now, we should maintain it for as long as possible.”

“That method is soft.”

Lafaye presented a method.

Despite the development of the northern conquered areas being a failure, the guild leaders were strongly in favour of his plan.

They still expected to overcome the north but there were no apparent answers at this time.

‘Ruling is like this.’

Sometimes it wouldn’t work properly.

The Haven Empire had made a mistake ignoring the users and residents. They conquered the land but didn’t hold on firmly to the people.

‘No, this isn’t just a problem in the Hermes Guild. The other guilds would have come to the same conclusion if they won.’

Their biggest mistake was making light of Royal Road.

Lafaye and some leaders in the Hermes Guild had experience with other games.

They were online games that had worldwide popularity, especially Continent of Magic that had the highest popularity in decades.

The guild was solidly unified and set clear goals, eventually ruling after some careful preparations.

Afterwards, they ruled through military force. No one could challenge them or take away their right to rule. They had the freedom to exploit the users, no matter the complaints.

That was enough on Continent of Magic.

But this was Royal Road. The game had hundreds of thousands of people signing up every day.

Royal Road was a relaxing retreat away from daily life and there were new attractions to see. There were adventures but for some, virtual reality was just another life.

Many games claimed to have a new reality but none compared to Royal Road. A complete virtual reality.

Millions of users enjoyed Royal Road so thinking they could rule through dictatorship was a great miscalculation.

It was possible during the warring period between elite guilds but ruling the huge empire was impossible.

In short, Royal Road was a huge community so it was difficult.

If the users left for other areas, then their foundation would collapse. The difficulties of developing an economy under a dictatorship in reality also applied to Royal Road.

‘We need to change tactics… Our Haven Empire is falling right now. The military power is being sustained. There is still an astronomical amount of tax revenue. But the national strength of the empire will keep declining…it is really hard.’

Lafaye kept in mind the decline of the Haven Empire.

The vigor of commerce and the bustle of the users had to survive.

Anyway, everything related to the fate of the Haven Empire would worsen if the national power was shrinking.

The massive decline of the Central Continent meant that rebels would keep rising.

Not only would they have to contend with the revived prestigious guilds, users would endlessly rise up to fight against them.

The military forces would be eaten by endless tedious battles and the internal affairs would fall even more.

At that time, the unified lords of the Hermes Guild would fight among themselves. The huge empire would shatter and split. Of course, the time it took for this to happen would depend on the Hermes Guild’s actions.

‘It is really difficult to achieve the unification of the continent.’

Lafaye was aware of the cause and thought of a method.

‘All of this is due to the Arpen Kingdom. The Haven Empire wouldn’t have declined as much if it wasn’t for the Arpen Kingdom. If we reign with fear and don’t put any efforts into internal affairs…the foundation of the Haven Empire meant that it could last for the next 5~10 years.’

However, the existence of the Arpen Kingdom meant there was a more severe backlash from the users in the Central Continent.

Until now, Weed had continued to feed water to the Hermes Guild. According to military intelligence, Weed had stirred up the prestigious guilds.

‘The tax rate of the Arpen Kingdom is so ridiculously low that I’ve ignored it. It is unprofitable when running a country. Of course, there is little need to invest in the military…yet he aimed at us with that low tax rate!’

This bad situation seemed to be due to Weed.

They had the perfect plan to secure the Central Continent but he built a kingdom in the north out of nowhere.

‘It is not over yet. Despite the weakened Haven Empire, we are still a powerful opponent. All the turmoil in the empire will be controlled if I erase the Arpen Kingdom from the map. It is time to raise the Haven Empire.’

Lafaye was a little desperate and made a new plan.

Before he had a moderate, long term plan to weaken the enemies but now he was placed in an urgent situation.

“All representatives of the Hermes Guild will pass down this command.”

Lafaye was originally the head of the guild. Even now, Bardray was busy with hunting and wasn’t at the meeting so Lafaye made all major decisions.

“There will be no more waste in the Haven Empire. Reduce the support for the colonization of the north. Maintain only a minimum amount of support. And all parties should stop their extravagant acts and lower the tax rate by half.”

“Half is not possible!”

“It will be difficult to maintain our military forces. Other investments won’t do.”

A backlash instantly appeared.

Lafaye shook his head.

“If we don’t take this opportunity now, it will be gone. The tax revenue will keep on falling even if we don’t reduce it by half. We should use a considerable amount of money to expand trade and production. The rebel activities will also die away.”

There was huge potential hiding in the Haven Empire.

Lafaye thought that promoting the activities of merchants would help in tax recovery to a certain extent. Even if there were still rebels, the military power of the Haven Empire could still suppress them.

“And there will be an eye for an eye. We will treat the Arpen Kingdom in the same manner as Weed.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

“Since Weed and the northern users are attacking us, there is no reason to continue with our previous plan for crushing the Arpen Kingdom. 30,000 troops will infiltrate the north to kill. They will launch guerilla attacks against the north. All villages and cleared land will be burnt.”

The 30,000 troops would be divided into elite groups of 100 and would spread throughout the Arpen Kingdom.

They would deal damage that the Arpen Kingdom would find difficult to handle.

‘Yes…pay them back using the same method.’

The users were impressed.

Lafaye’s plan was finished.

“I would like volunteers from the Hermes Guild up to 20,000 people. They will be dispatched to the north as revenge for the indiscriminate hunting and killing in our dungeons. Of course, hide and kill as much people as Weed did.”

The Haven Empire decided to do the same thing as Weed.

If Weed created a swirl then the Haven Empire would make a storm.

‘Amazing.’

‘There is definitely a high chance of success.’

The eyes of the Hermes Guild leaders sharpened.

It was difficult to reconstruct the internal affairs of the empire but this was a field they were experienced in.

They would completely destroy the Arpen Kingdom while maintaining the Haven Empire. A strategy that killed two birds with one stone.

They could also state that it was retaliation for Weed and the Arpen Kingdom’s attacks. However, they were warned to move logically instead of recklessly.

‘We won’t be stubborn about a formal war. We will just sweep them all up.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The raiders from the Haven Empire were dispatched to the north.

The next day, the players of the Hermes Guild set off for the north. Unlike a normal march, they moved swiftly by using the teleport gate and the magicians. Within a few hours, more than 2,000 people were able to arrive in the north.

“The first units will be at Mordred and Vent. Act freely within that area.”

“Yes!”

They continued arriving one after another.

“The second units will kill in the port city of Varna.”

“Who should we kill? The non-combat professions like merchants as well?”

“There is no limit. Kill all levels and ages.”

They would act secretly in the north but their aim was indiscriminate killing.

Around 50,000 people lost their lives to the hounds released in the Arpen Kingdom.

“Kuaaak!”

“The enemy! The enemy has appeared!”

Among them were three raids to villages of the Arpen Kingdom.

They prevented people from entering the villages, destroyed the growing crops and killed the residents.

“Hehehe, there will be no looting. Burn it all!”

“Yes, Captain! It is cool playing with fire.”

There were NPC knights and soldiers who often participated in wars in the Central Continent.

The Haven Empire also needed to consider the usefulness of the treatments received from the various religions.

– Hide the fact that you are from the Haven Empire.

The 30,000 troops secretly destroyed villages in the Arpen Kingdom.

Peaceful villages near rivers, lakes and in the mountains became targets.

There was the indiscriminate slaughter of residents of the Arpen Kingdom and even users were the subject of attacks.

They split into units of 20, 30, 50 or 100 people according to their goal of combat or sabotage.

Sometimes they were wiped out by hunting parties of high level users but dozens of villages were destroyed in just one day.

Many residents were killed and facilities destroyed in the Arpen Kingdom.

The 20,000 Hermes Guild users were active from the next day. They went to hunting grounds and dungeons and watched the users.

“They are just beginners. Their teeth hasn’t even been sharpened yet… Still, my mission is to wipe out everything.”

“How funny. Hunting these kids is like cracking eggshells.”

It couldn’t be helped since the Arpen Kingdom had a 90% ratio of beginners.

The Hermes Guild were tense as they infiltrated the north thanks to Weed, but they didn’t need to be.

“Kill them all!”

If the entrance of the dungeon was blocked, it was sufficient to slaughter the users inside. Even if the news was reported to nearby villages and cities, this wasn’t the Central Continent.

When Weed appeared in the Central Continent, the Hermes Guild had issued a huge bounty. There were also traps for Weed that didn’t have any effect. The infamous Hermes Guild users were the ones who were decimated by Weed.

It was rare for the Hermes Guild to receive any attacks from the users of the Arpen Kingdom. News of the uproar spread to the cities but it wasn’t easy for them to become organized.

Only users over level 400 could deal with them but they were relaxing in Morata. Although some users left the cities, they just fell into a trap. Dozens of Hermes Guild users were waiting and easily swept them up.

By the time a day passed, quite a few high level users in the north had lost their lives. There were also more than 100,000 novice users who flocked to their deaths.

“We should have done this sooner.”

“Weed is only one person. We should always use the easy path.”

“This is the Versailles Continent. He shouldn’t make fun of Royal Road.”

A murderer from the Hermes Guild called Dronan laughed while in hiding.

He was enjoying himself in the Arpen Kingdom. There were 30,000 murderers in their midst but the northern users couldn’t grasp the situation.

The 20,000 Hermes Guild users that infiltrated feasted on the bloodshed.

“I feel sorry for these guys.”

“Yes. There will be several days of rest before we go cause an uproar.”

“We will draw public attention.”

“Kukukuku, too easy.”

“Life is easy. I did well to join the Hermes Guild.”

The Haven Empire made a commitment to send more troops. Unlike Weed who was working alone, they had the strong support of the empire.

The Hermes Guild users caused fear as they ran wild in the Arpen Kingdom. Even the novice users in the north couldn’t rest properly as they were engulfed in a nightmare.

The brutal strategy to bring an end to the Arpen Kingdom was moving.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The people in the Central Continent were laughing at the hardships of the Haven Empire.

“Good. This is what they get for acting so condescending.”

“A nemesis. The empire has a lot of weaknesses.”

“Can we see any benefits if we attack with swords? Those Hermes Guild wannabes…”

“Stop it. We can’t go out of the city. Haven’t you heard the story of their retaliation?”

The reputation of the Hermes Guild went down due to Weed and the rebels.

There were also people involved with the Hermes Guild in the Central Continent.

“The vitality of the city is dead.”

“It is due to the rebels. Well, there doesn’t seem to be as many people as before…”

“There are lots of empty seats, even at the markets.”

“Quite a lot of people moved to the north.”

People were complaining about the economic downturn.

Unlike before, the big cities were quiet.

There were still famous tourist cities but it was hard to find a party to hunt with.

Even the dungeons weren’t as bustling as before. Many required an admission fee so the users were now resting.

There were people gathered to nap under huge trees on hills near the cities. It was comfortable as the users remembered their busy lives in the past.

The only places with good business were the restaurants and taverns. The taverns were talking about the Hermes Guild’s recent raid on the north.

“Isn’t the north screwed this time?”

“I don’t know. There doesn’t seem to be any countermeasures from Weed.”

“I heard the corpses are in the hundreds.”

“Ah, indeed.”

The users in the Central Continent had similar thoughts.

‘No matter how hard I think, there isn’t any way to stop them.’

The killers were high level users in the Hermes Guild. They could easily break out of any encirclement.

The novice users of the Arpen Kingdom would be helpless. Even walking 10 minutes away from the cities would be an active death zone. Those trying to move to other areas were likely to die.

By isolating and blocking the main roads in the Arpen Kingdom, the economic strength would be cut in half. Then the army would be mobilized and the kingdom would be wiped out in just a few days.

“That can’t happen. Is it that hard to fight against the Hermes Guild?”

“It is difficult for people to have a unified opinion in such a mess. They will be fighting amongst themselves for days.”

“People’s opinions can match as well. As long as there is a clear enemy and land like the battle at the Earth Palace…but the Hermes Guild won’t appear where there are a lot of people. They invade empty villages and act separately from users.”

“The condition of the fight are too favourable for them. These guys are trying to unify the continent.”

“Those guys will use any method.”

The atmosphere while drinking was heavy.

The northern users seemed to be at a disadvantage. The Arpen Kingdom that grew like a weed in the north’s barren land was being destroyed.

The people of the Central Continent were mourning it.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

In a wide underground space somewhere in Morata.

Despite the thousands of people gathered, it was dead quiet. There was a wide clearing with a clear river in the centre of the underground space.

Finally sound emerged from someone’s mouth! A female user wearing white clothes exclaimed.

“The day we have been waiting for!”

Then people replied in unison from every direction.

“Grass. Grass. Grass. Grass!”

“Porridge. Porridge. Porridge. Porridge!”

They shouted at exactly the right moment.

The Grass Porridge Cult that had already conquered the north and was sprinkling its seeds in the Central Continent.

These people were the core members of the Grass Porridge Cult.

No matter how hungry they were, they would not starve to death if there was grass porridge. The men drank grass porridge as hangover soup in the morning. The females were even more vicious and ate grass like it was rice.

The activities of the Grass Porridge Cult didn’t stop with just eating grass porridge.

Without any exceptions, they had to participate in large constructions sites in the north as well as pay contributions.

Helping the needy or novices wandering around. They also took care of people in the cities and dungeons. No matter the level of the users, it was a great honour to be part of the Grass Porridge Cult!

Due to their activities, it was inevitable that members of the Grass Porridge Cult would die. The female user standing in the centre was called Lemon.

“You know about the Versailles Continent. There was a period full of chaos, pain and destruction. People trampled on others while trying to live. However, I realized something after drinking grass porridge. It is clear and pure! People have to live for the sake of this world!”

“Oh, grass porridge!”

“Since then, I have received the truth about grass porridge. No longer is the burden heavy. A merciful miracle that will never end. I will drink it even if my nose is clogged!”

“Ohh, merciful grass porridge god.”

“The Arpen Kingdom is a haven for the Grass Porridge Cult. The Grass Porridge Cult can’t allow the continent to become a mess again.”

The Grass Porridge Cult members exclaimed after hearing Lemon’s words.

“We will follow you!”

“I will honour the dead of the Grass Porridge Cult with my sword.”

This event was relayed through taverns of the Arpen Kingdom. The live coverage from the broadcasting stations surpassed 30% ratings.

The bulletin boards were also paralyzed.

Title: Calling all Grass Porridge Cult members.

All rise.

– Jump!

– For the honour of the Toadstool Porridge unit!

– Hahaha, I’ve been waiting for today.

– 27 members of the Chicken Porridge unit.

– Office workers. Complete the vacation requests.

– Ginseng Porridge. Kukukuku.

– All seniors of the Crab Meat Porridge unit, listen.

– 27 members of the Chicken Porridge unit. Now where…should we make Brandy Chicken Porridge?

– Chicken Porridge seniors, I am honoured. Brandy with chicken porridge sounds perfect. I will finish my work in Morata.

– 5 members of the Chicken Porridge unit, allegiance! Shall we go?

– The Bamboo Shoots members are disruptive so please don’t leave comments on this article.

Title: Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit. Are you finally gathered? And for the curious…

Hello. I have been a member of the Bamboo Shoots unit in Royal Road for one month. I started in Morata and it is an honour to talk to seniors.

But I was wondering. How many members are part of the Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit?

– At least 10 million.

– 10 million is nothing. There are 20 million.

– Ladies and gentlemen, have you been in Morata lately? It is at least over 30 million.

– Just look in the big cities. Don’t look down on us. This area is also filled with people.

– The avians. Please note that more than one million eggs hatch a week.

– For sure…it is more than the population of most countries

– Are the orc and dwarf bamboo members included? They are a few hundred million themselves.

The Grass Porridge members continued to gather on the various internet message boards.

A video of 100 kindergarten students singing the grass porridge song attracted great popularity. Videos of the Grass Porridge Cult also attracted attention overseas.

And unlike the Central Continent, the access rate of users in the north started to rise.

Chapter 1: Exploiter of Glory

The villages and cities of the Arpen Kingdom started filling with people.

“Over 300 people have died in an hour.”

“Go to the east?”

“Blocked. Everything in the area around Chestnut Forest has been turned into ruins.”

Walking out a gate would cause residents to be murdered by Hermes Guild users or troops of the Haven Empire.

There were no safe places anywhere.

If there were no guards at the gate then they would even come forward to attack users of the Arpen Kingdom.

“These bad fellows.”

“They killed a level 15. They don’t care about who the person is at all.”

Novice users under level 100 were killed.

“Don’t worry about them. The villains will be kicked out of this territory.”

“It is lucky that I am a swordsman. I will come back in one hour after defeating them.”

Moderately strong users tried to exit the cities but were killed.

Assassins, rangers, knights, magicians etc. 20,000 members from the strong Hermes Guild had volunteered for infiltration.

The lands of the Arpen Kingdom were wide and spacious and wasn’t divided by strong fortresses. The Haven Empire and Hermes Guild members were easily able to penetrate the area.

They divided into groups for guerilla warfare.

The northern users had their freedom of movement and hunting taken away, making them determined to defend the villages against invasion. The entire north had become paralyzed by the Hermes Guild’s aggressive assault.

Only three days! The national power of the Arpen Kingdom was reduced by 3%.

Large cities, castles and villages, with the exception of the very small ones in the mountains, became targets.

There was serious damage to the small villages of the Arpen Kingdom.

For the first time, the population of the residents had decreased like the Central Continent.

“What should we do? We can’t just sit down and die.”

“Morata should be okay…”

“We will be attacked 10 times trying to get there.”

“What about moving in large groups?”

“Our lives will be saved but think of the people left behind. And this village will be smashed after we leave.”

“It is frustrating.”

Users in every small village gathered but couldn’t find a solution.

Level 400 or more invaders would hide and then attack the weak. Some Hermes Guild users were killed during the ambushes but those cases were rare.

Each village couldn’t come up with a solution to rectify the situation.

The 20,000 Hermes Guild members and 30,000 Haven Empire troops engaged in guerilla warfare outside the villages and cities.

A crisis where the Arpen Kingdom was receiving a frontal assault.

On the other hand, an incredible number of users were gathered at Morata, Vent Castle, Port Varna, Vargo Fortress and Dawn City.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– The Haven Empire is attacking the north!

– The soldiers and users of the Hermes Guild is indiscriminately killing!

Weed heard about the invasion after finishing the sculpture for Ratuas.

All stations were talking about this breaking news and it was reported through whispers from people.

– Pale: It is a big deal. The Hermes Guild has struck.

– Irene: How could this…sob.

– Mapan: It is interfering with my ability to make money.

– Zephyr: Well…won’t the recent troubles really upset Yurin?

– Seo-yoon: I’ll go ahead and kill them.

– Yurin: Oppa. There is trouble.

– Romuna: Weed-nim. Don’t you know my skills? How many people can I burn at once with my magical flames?

– Surka: I’ll smash their bones.

The Hermes Guild were really bad people. However, Weed nodded like the movements of the Hermes Guild were natural.

“They have come!”

While acting in the Central Continent, he had been concerned that they would retaliate in a similar way.

On the other hand, the scale of their activities was too different. The mobilization of massive troops made it impossible to stand against the Haven Empire.

“This is the difference between a poor business owner and a large corporation.”

A large scale chicken business chasing after an egg farm!

However, this method wouldn’t be enough to kill the Arpen Kingdom.

“There is always a hole to escape from chasers. So there is no need to worry.”

Weed decided to think positively.

The threat from the Haven Empire was quite simple.

Tricks were used everywhere in life.

Weed descended from Ratuas’ mountain and met with Mapan who was waiting.

“What is the current situation in the Central Continent?”

“Not bad. The rebels are substantial and are causing minor damage to the empire. They are persistent so the Hermes Guild is having some trouble.”

“Mapan’s Trading Company?”

“It is maintaining a spot in the black market. The food business in the Central Continent is sluggish and needs more.”

In the meantime, Mapan’s Trading Company had gained an astronomical amount of money.

The residents saw signs of instability and war so they started to buy food.

It was common sense and natural judgement.

There was an annual decline in the grain production in the Central Continent. The rebels meant the farmers couldn’t work properly and there would be foot shortages.

Mapan’s Trading Company exported a lot of crops from the north to the Central Continent.

It would have been absolutely impossible without Weed’s prior permission!

‘The food shortage in the Central Continent is a good thing for the economy. But the long term effects will be low.’

Despite the food shortage, the Haven Empire didn’t collapse.

Weed knew about the military nature of an empire in Royal Road.

He realized it during the warring period when he led a camel cavalry to invade the Central Continent.

‘Having a strong military power is a great advantage. Mass rebellions can be easily quelled. A strong military power can defeat any challenges.’

If the residents and users were starving then hunting would decrease.

The inhabitants of the Central Continent might be starving and the Haven Empire wouldn’t be able withstand the ordeal.

The lowered loyalty of the residents would steadily weaken economic power.

It would fall apart just like Weed’s Pallos Empire! Historically, it dominated for 83 years but that duration was actually very short.

Weed joined hands with Mapan to export food and accumulated enormous wealth.

“The next task is aggressive buying.”

“Buying?”

“In recent years, there has been a price drop for production facilities in the Haven Empire.”

“They aren’t operating normally.”

“Huhuhu. This is an opportunity. Exploiting the inhabitants as slaves…no, feed them properly in order to lure them…hum hum. Hire them at a cheap price.”

“I will select good businesses and pour money in.”

Weed and Mapan had a very good cooperation.

They had lifelong dreams in land speculation and investments! Taking control of the economy in the Haven Empire would give the many benefits.

Weed wasn’t a great politician but his skill in this area would be second to none. He was capable to filling his pockets anywhere.

Still, there was a limit to the wealth of Mapan’s Trading Company. He primarily focused on investing near the capital of the empire as well as the large cities.

Then Mapan asked.

“What about those that infiltrated the Arpen Kingdom? Huge losses every day…it is at a level that should be stopped.”

Mapan’s Trading Company was receiving various damages from the attacks of the Hermes Guild.

Ranches were smashed and farms burned.

The production facilities in the city were safe but the prosperity of the merchants were in danger.

The travelling merchants in the kingdom suffered a loss of trade and the problem would become larger if it continued.

The small, remote villages went back to their ruined state from after the Niflheim Empire’s collapse.

The influence of the Arpen Kingdom on frontier villages reduced and they became independent again.

‘Is it really possible to get rid of those guys?’

Mapan was really curious. Could Weed really stop the sneaky attacks of the Haven Empire?

‘I can believe it if it is Weed-nim.’

All the users of the Arpen Kingdom were curious about this.

‘Weed-nim’s mind is excellent and he can do work others can’t. He also never seems to die. Now he will be able to overcome the situation.’

No matter how Mapan thought, he couldn’t come up with a way to protect the kingdom from the 50,000 troops that infiltrated it.

Lafaye was a strategist while Weed lived in an inhospitable continent using tricks.

Weed and Lafaye thought about the big picture but sometimes gaps would arise. In particular, they were surprisingly sensitive to things that would benefit them.

Weed was the first to suggest taking advantage of the confusion in the Haven Empire. He provided the funds required to smuggle supplies from the Hermes Guild.

As a merchant, Mapan had to endlessly respect and follow him.

Weed said like it was natural.

“There is no way to stop them right away without any damage.”

“Huh? Really?”

“This is the loophole I aimed for in the first place. The population density and military power of the Arpen Kingdom is low so there is no way to stop the damage.”

Mapan raised his voice.

“This will destroy the kingdom in the long term. There will only be Morata, Vent Castle and Vargo Fortress left in the Arpen Kingdom. Dawn City hasn’t even been properly built yet.”

This was a crisis that could erase the name of the Arpen Kingdom!

Mapan had invested heavily in the Northern Continent so his entire body trembled.

‘But….’

Mapan was alert.

Weed wasn’t a simple human!

The person who went without sleep to make Goldman. It wasn’t right that he would look so unconcerned about the crisis of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Even so, don’t you have a perfect measure to defeat them?”

“Of course.

“That…can you please tell me?”

“Huhuhu.”

Weed gave a low laugh.

“When thinking about it, it isn’t that complicated. I am afraid when first meeting a bear in the mountains. But then the bear will come home as a chunk of money.”

“Huh?”

“There is nothing to throw away. Some damage can’t be avoided but…the Arpen Kingdom won’t be smashed apart.”

Mapan scratched his head.

The merchants including Mapan and Gamong had helped the north prosper.

Yet it was still in the beginning stages. The people were settling into major villages and productivity started to increase.

Despite the Arpen Kingdom spreading across the north, there was a vast majority of empty land between villages.

The entire north could be said to be the territory of the Arpen Kingdom but there were some villages that didn’t belong to it.

There were merchants who barely managed to climb up the mountains to open trade routes.

It would be fairly difficult for the Hermes Guild users to enter cities like Morata.

Destroying mines or granaries wouldn’t really give a big blow.

The mines were in a situation where the majority of them couldn’t be developed due to lacking manpower and transportation links.

The Northern Continent had very fertile farmland.

Despite the decline of the Niflheim Empire, the fields still yielded a lot of food.

“The bear might cause some damage but I will eventually eat it.”

“You mean…”

“We will exploit those guys.”

A firm declaration of exploitation!

Weed’s eyes went moist as he recalled the short history of the Northern Continent.

“Culture expansion in the Morata area keeps increasing. I couldn’t sleep properly for a month while trying to figure out how to exploit the people of the Arpen Kingdom.

“……!”

He had thought about exploitation plans in advance.

Weed had some serious concerns as a king. He walked the streets to find some method of exploitation.

“Tax raise? Then people will hate it. Complaints will immediately explode. How can I reduce the difference between the Northern and Central Continent?”

It was impossible to reduce the differences between kingdoms with taxes.

Weed indifferently said.

“I couldn’t increase taxes so new residents have been accepted in order for the kingdom to grow…but it would take a few years even with our best efforts.”

There were some positive factors regarding the north of the Versailles Continent.

The blessing of the Freya Church, fertile land and the people were scattered after the Niflheim Empire.

Nevertheless, the kingdom was started from scratch so it would take a while to surpass the prosperity of other areas.

Merchants such as Mapan invested early on in the kingdom and their role was very important.

“You want to exploit the Hermes Guild?”

“In the Central Continent, I was surrounded by enemies and needed to be careful when hunting the Hermes Guild users. I barely got a great income from Knight Myul. A good chance like that doesn’t occur often. But there are only a few of them in the Northern Continent. Now I am even more committed. It will be good to hunt those people scattered through the Northern Continent. Even though there might be some damage to the kingdom.”

The Hermes Guild were the objects of exploitation.

Weed looked at them as a source of food to raise his combat skills and level.

Those people still didn’t know much about his sculptural lifeforms. The sculptural lifeforms had the ability to find the Hermes Guild members hiding in the mountains and fields.

The hell dog Cerberus’ sense of smell and Golden Bird’s mobility and wide field of view were just some examples.

If he used Sculpture Transformation and Time Sculpting then fighting them would be a piece of cake. Moreover, they were murderers so killing them would get a lot of experience and loot.

For the time being, he was going to aggressively hunt the Hermes Guild.

“But what about the damage to the Arpen Kingdom’s users?”

“Kids have to grow up through fighting.”

“…….”

“Even if some die, they will still recover. Don’t calculate the damage as a headcount. There should be thousands of beginners dying. And I’m only telling Mapan-nim this because I trust you…”

“Huh?”

“Huhuhu. After the northern users die, they will have to purchase equipment to replace those they lost. We can’t hold those people back. From the kingdom’s point of view, this is an opportunity to receive taxes.”

“Heeok!”

Mapan was filled with sincere admiration.

Weed was a king who calmly thought of how to exploit the people who received damages.

“What about the reduced economic power of the kingdom?”

“For the moment, the economic power will reduce but the merchants will be eager to resume trading. In the first place, we don’t have that many manufacturing facilities.”

This was the sad reality!

The Arpen Kingdom didn’t have many facilities to be destroyed in the invasion. Even if the Hermes Guild users swarmed the mines, most of them weren’t operating anyway.

The current focus on production in cities like Morata was sufficient for the moment.

Approximately 70% of the Arpen Kingdom’s economic power was gathered in 3~4 places.

“The Hermes Guild members are damaging the users of the north. The northern users can take care of themselves.”

Mapan was puzzled.

“In a situation where the kingdom is receiving damage, isn’t it natural for the king to lead troops to stop the enemy?”

“The residents can stop them.”

“……?”

“The kingdom was originally like this.”

A highly exploitative method.

The king was becoming more and more vicious.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed gathered his sculptural lifeforms and took action.

He was planning to eat a hot meal!

“Everyone go and find people from the Haven Empire.”

“Kakakakat. I understand.”

“Kuoohhh!”

Bingryong and the wyverns mobilized with a violent blast.

“Hunt. Kill them all.”

“Melt them all. Show the humans how savage a dragon can be.”

Phoenix wanted to play with fire. Imugi was a high quality fake dragon.

Imugi and Phoenix flew high to search over a broad area, with Golden Bird and Silver Bird following them. They used little birds to search the mountains. Cerberus sniffed near the cities while the crocodile Nile monitored the rivers.

A monitoring system using his sculptural lifeforms! They could cover the entire Northern Continent.

There were Hermes Guild users in remote mountain areas that were waiting for people to pass. Naturally there were many players lurking around paths that a lot of northern users would take.

“Hunt them when you find them! Go!”

Bahamorg, knight Seville, Gernika and Eltin jumped towards the busy locations.

They attacked the Hermes Guild users and Haven Empire troops blocking the major roads.

‘They divided into smaller units for maneuverability and to ensure secrecy. If so, giving directions isn’t necessary. They just need to kill.’

Weed went to the best hunting grounds in the Arpen Kingdom.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“How many died today?”

“50 or so?”

“20 people from the guild…isn’t that too much?”

“No one important was killed. There were some level 30 people sent to the north.”

“Still, I am having fun slaughtering. Huhu.”

There were four Hermes Guild users hiding in the mountains.

This was a road where people would need to pass in order to travel between villages.

Chirp chirp.

A cool breeze was blowing and birds crying in the mountains. The natural environment was beautiful but they only had one interest.

“I had a good time on the Central Continent…but this is the true taste of pillaging.”

“Even finding half a dozen people in one day is a big hit.”

“We have to hit them appropriately. There sometimes be some high quality users passing here.”

The four Hermes Guild users had already killed more than 200 people but they failed to meet any strong opponents.

The northern users maintained a close cooperation.

Once news of the raids emerged, the fearless beginners were still active but the high level users started hiding.

“Shouldn’t we wait at a hunting ground?”

“That is troublesome. Attacking at the hunting grounds could be dangerous. We can kill a lot of people here. The excitement of wiping out people. We can easily kill the defenseless northern users.”

The Hermes Guild users shared a leisurely conversation.

Dududududu.

They stopped as the ground suddenly vibrated.

“Something is coming.”

“Just one?”

“They seem to be riding a cow…”

The Hermes Guild users leapt into the bushes.

It was so they could jump out for an ambush!

A person riding a yellowish bull was urgently heading towards them.

The users whispered in low voices.

“The equipment?”

“Not bad. It is at least level 400.”

“Jackpot. The reward we’ve been waiting for…”

“We will pop out at the same time.”

The Hermes Guild users carefully examined the equipment.

Then they looked at the bull’s eyes. A wide and solid chest, thick thigh muscles and elongated horns gave it an intimidating appearance.

It was twice as fast as a horse. The man and bull came up to them in an instant.

“We can’t miss this chance.”

“Everybody ready.”

The Hermes Guild users prepared to pop out.

Then the man brandished his sword in their direction.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Light emerged from the sword and flew towards them. The Hermes Guild users were frozen by the unexpected counterattack.

“Long range attack?”

“Wait a minute…he knows that we are here…”

“This isn’t the time to talk about it. Quickly avoid it!”

Kwa kwa kwang!

They scattered as the light from the sword smashed into the spot where they were.

The team consisting of an assassin, a ranger, and two knights from the Hermes Guild flew in different directions.

It was an avoidance movement arranged in advance. But it was proof they hadn’t met a true hunter yet. Rather than scattering, it would have been better to come together to face the one person!

Weed riding on Yellowy rushed towards the ranger.

“Why me? Dammit!”

The ranger tried to attack but Yellowy’s speed was too fast. He avoided it and aimed an arrow at Yellowy. He intended to briefly knock down the bull and join up with his colleagues.

Pusyuk!

He shot the arrow but Yellowy put strength into his hind legs and leapt like a tiger. Yellowy’s dash didn’t slow down. Weed’s sword came closer.

“Heriam Fencing.”

Pukeokwack!

The attack power could increase depending on the speed of the bull or horse.

The poor defense of the ranger meant that he died after three consecutive attacks from Heriam Fencing.

“I died in vain…”

The ranger changed into a grey light as Weed swept past him.

He picked up the loot in 0.1 second. He was an expert at speedily collecting items. After the attack, his movements were as smooth as water while picking up the loot.

Weed was satisfied by the item in his hand.

‘A leather helmet. The start is good!’

Yellowy didn’t stop and immediately rushed towards an assassin.

The assassin profession were experts at fast, short-distance movements. But they had some limitations in long distance movement.

“Shit.”

The assassin had seen the ranger be killed in an instant.

The prerogative of an assassins. Concealing themselves before attacking. It was also beneficial to disappear during a fight for a surprise attack.

There was also a possibility of them not showing up again. The penalty of losing their lives was much higher than any other profession so they had ways to hide their bodies…

Weed and Yellowy suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Chiit! Poisonous Dual Swords!”

Each hand held a poisonous dagger.

The users of the Hermes Guild had a quick reaction rate.

“The effects of the attack as well as the poison will reduce his health by half!”

The assassin said that to make the opponent shrink back.

Weed just lightly moved his upper body like he knew the attack was coming ahead of time.

“Ehh?”

Pu shu shu shuk!

Heriam Fencing lightly slashed his body. An assassin had strong damage but low defense.

Weed had used Sculptural Destruction into strength in order to raise the hunting speed. He wasn’t holding Red Star since a different sword was enough.

“Kwaaek!”

The assassin was killed and he collected the loot before it even touched the ground. Collecting the loot was an art in itself.

There were only the two knights remaining. They stood shoulder to shoulder facing him.

“The bull is Yellowy.”

“Then he is Weed, the God of War.”

Bardray’s only match, the man who killed many Hermes Guild users in the Central Continent.

More recently, he had killed Knight Myul so the two knights felt like they had no chance of winning.

“Our luck was bad today.”

“However, we might appear on broadcast. We will be killed by a famous person.”

Both knights gave up on fleeing from Yellowy.

“Chahat. Weed, the God of War. I will compete with you proudly!”

The knights jumped at Weed simultaneously.

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy kicked his legs against the ground, retreated or sped up depending on the knights.

Yellowy’s agile moves at a short distance. It was a rare experience but the knights were familiar with the battlefield.

The knights threw the weight of their bodies into every attack.

Yellowy made their attacks obsolete while Weed mercilessly used Heriam Fencing.

– The 1st consecutive attack has succeeded.

Agility has increased by 27%.

– The 2nd consecutive attack has succeeded.

Strength has increased by 48%.

– The 3rd consecutive attack has succeeded.

Agility has increased by 51%.

– The 4th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Destructive power has increased by 44%.

The enemy has been neutralized.

– The 5th consecutive attack has succeeded.

The enemy has perished.

Heriam Fencing was used a few times and the enemies lost their lives.

Since Weed appeared, it took less than a minute to hunt all four people.

“Yellowy, let’s go to the next place!”

Other Hermes Guild users were hiding nearby.

They secretly hid in the ground but the birds hunting worms found them.

There were 470 murderers in the Hermes Guild who volunteered to go to the north and split into elite teams.

Their names were infamous even in the Central Continent.

“Weed!”

“The enemy has appeared.”

They were formidable opponents even for Weed and Yellowy.

“The value of this group of quite high. Yellowy. Let’s go.”

“Ummoooooo!”

If he deemed the opponent too strong then he would retreat.

Their equipment was designed for secret infiltration so they couldn’t catch up with Yellowy.

“The God of War ran away.”

“Kuhahaha. That is good to see.”

However, he summoned his sculptural lifeforms and came back for a rematch in less than 2 minutes.

The knight Seville and Gernika who had good defense were in the vanguard while Weed moved from side to side on Yellowy. The wyverns were plaguing the enemies from the air.

It wasn’t a surprise that the Hermes Guild users lost their lives.

“You cowardly people who came here! This is the method of Weed, the God of War?”

“There is no cowardice in fighting. Only winning matters.”

Weed took their remarks as a compliment.

If there was a dangerous moment then he would use a secret sculpting technique.

“Moment Sculpting!”

Moment Sculpting was an ultimate technique that stopped the world.

The Hermes Guild users were literally slaughtered.

He had still fought somewhat carefully until he learned Moment Sculpting. Others might think he was fighting recklessly but Weed calmly calculated the odds.

A top ranked team from the Hermes Guild was different from monsters and normally couldn’t be touched. In addition to high skill proficiency and level, they were users properly equipped with weapons and armour.

Even Weed who knew how to fight properly would find them daunting. Weed was always worried about being hit by curses or spells. Or he wondered if they dug a trap in advance.

All hesitation in a fight disappeared after learning Moment Sculpting.

‘I can’t actively use it yet. I need to conceal it so that the Hermes Guild can’t analyze it.’

Weed only briefly stopped the world and took advantage of it to appear behind magicians and priests.

If the Hermes Guild users lost their magicians and priests then they wouldn’t be able to last long.

– Thanks to mastering handicraft, you have learnt how to do an upper strike with the shield.

– The sword technique of the Romanak area has been acquired.

A simple sword style mainly focusing on strength.

The skill proficiency has immediately increased to intermediate level 2 after learning it.

Three knight attack skills have been learnt.

Split Far Away:  A splitting technique that gathers mana around the sword. Close enemies will be pushed away and you can attack enemies within 20 metres. 3,500 mana is consumed.

Strike the Land: All enemies within 6 metres will temporarily lose their balance. 1,470 mana is consumed.

Strength Competition: The knights of the Romanak area enjoy boasting of their power. When pushing against another sword, 24% more strength will be displayed. 410 mana is consumed.

He had the ability to learn other combat skills.

Weed accumulated quite a lot of techniques based on various weapons.

“In many ways, it is good that I mastered handicraft. I can obtain skills much faster.”

A sculptor wasn’t a combat profession so he had endlessly doubted it.

Weed was close to a natural fighter after mastering handicraft.

His spear mastery also reached intermediate level 3. Weed could now wear the Sealed Thunder Spear that was Myul’s symbol and this made fighting much easier.

He could hit a few enemies with every swing of his spear. The spear attacks had a strong force. He would use wide area skills when his mana was full to increase his hunting speed. An electric shock would pour into the body through armour and weapons.

He was able to freely attack on Yellowy and it felt like he became at least 30% stronger.

“I need to earnestly improve spear mastery. Master handicraft will have more worth in the future.”

He would also become a sword master. He had achieved it during the desert quest so it was only a matter of time.

He first needed to pour all his time and effort into mastering sculpting.

Weed raised his level in one day. He reached level 442 and 443 in record time.

The invading Hermes Guild users were quickly destroyed.

He worked diligently and got rid of 150 people in one day.

“The income is really high. There are prey from the Central Continent scattered everywhere.”

He raised his experience and combat skills.

Apart from his level and skill proficiency, his overall attack power had increased due to mastering handicraft.

The best growing method was humans instead of monsters. While the Arpen Kingdom was faltering, Weed was improving himself.

“Who knows what will happen in the future. I will surely become stronger and earn more money.”

He had already collected enough money to eat and live. However, he became greedier the more money he had.

It was because he knew the joys of spending money.

“I will later live in luxury with my family.”

This was Weed’s new goal for gathering money.

Real estate speculation and then wealth inheritance! Being able to live in luxury while old was the goal.

Chapter 2: Formidable Enemy of the Haven Empire

“Go and pack up your luggage!”

“We are going back to Morata today. Hurry up!”

Seo-yoon silently followed the procession of merchants.

Novice travellers were mixed in with the merchants for safety.

“Can’t we get good food in Morata?”

“Yes. These days, there are plenty of open restaurants. I also want to open a restaurant in Morata.”

The users were busily rejoicing while walking.

The merchants had empty carriages and users paid to accompany them.

Recently it was a trend to travel around the Northern Continent on carriages so there were at least 70 people.

The rough winds, dangerous monsters and magnificent scenery made it romantic to travel together.

It was a familiar sight for travelers. In the past, Europe was very popular and now the trend was the Northern Continent tour.

Although the development of most cities were low, many people took a leave of absence from the university to explore the north. Of course, they picked up any quests and items as well.

The Arpen Kingdom wasn’t fully developed and many people worked on its development.

The merchants and travelers were diligently returning to Morata when they were hindered by 6 horsemen with flags.

“Huhuhu. Weak humans.”

“Kill! Kill! Kill!”

Murderers from the Haven Empire!

They were troops that penetrated the north, murdering people and looting.

“Coming here…form a defense formation. Stop the enemy!”

The merchants were quick and readied the combat carriages.

“What is that?”

“A little odd. Isn’t this the Arpen Kingdom?”

The novice users responded to the attack in broad daylight. And soon the murderers of the Haven Empire reached them.

“Uhhh.”

“D-damn. There is only a little bit left until we reach Morata.”

They were despairing when Seo-yoon silently walked forward.

Sururung!

She pulled out the sword she carried on her back.

At that moment, Seo-yoon’s eyes shone red.

– The eyes of a berserker have opened in response.

Strength has increased by 73%.

Attack sped will increase by 41%, there will be no hesitation and fewer vitality is consumed when using continuous attacks.

Fighting spirit will be at the maximum until the end of the battle.

Your fighting ability will become stronger the longer you fight and the more enemies you kill.

Ddiring!

– Berserker Pulling out the Sword

You cannot stand injustice and unrighteous enemies.

There is no need to acknowledge them.

Punish all enemies.

Level of Difficulty: Berserker Quest.

Compensation: Strength 1.

Quest Restrictions: Level 6 Advanced Sword Mastery.

600 Fighting Spirit.

Seo-yoon rushed forward and strongly wielded her sword.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Pale, Maylon, Romuna, Irene, Surka and Zephyr fought around Morata.

They fought together with nearby users to stop the Hermes Guild users.

They were already known as Weed’s colleagues so were very famous in the north.

“I admire you. Archer Pale-nim.”

“Hmm hmm. You’re welcome.”

Archers came running up to Pale after his activities at the Earth Palace.

Magicians came up to Romuna to receive her teachings about fire magic while Irene was surrounded by injured players.

Surka kept to remote villages.

She boldly struck at the Hermes Guild murderers along with soldiers deployed to the small villages. And the night passed.

17 villages in the Arpen Kingdom disappeared.

4,000 users died and the residents were wiped out.

Surka, Romuna and Irene died!

They tried to defend the villages against the Haven Empire but were killed.

Some Hermes Guild users were even mixed in the raid.

Videos of villages in the Arpen Kingdom burning with black smoke swept the internet.

– Ah…is this the end of the Arpen Kingdom?

– The gap in power with the Haven Empire is too big. It is burning.

– It is over. The Haven Empire will unite the continent.

A week passed since the Haven Empire started their raids.

The stations were emphasizing the damage suffered by the Arpen Kingdom.

“There is serious damage to the land, infrastructure and transportation network. Fertile land has been burned and roads and bridges destroyed. The transportation routes for merchants are disconnected. The threat that the frontier villages are receiving…it is difficult to know the statistics but more than 100,000 residents have been killed. Many users have also died.”

The forces of the Haven Empire were depleted but additional numbers could pass over from the Central Continent.

The broadcasters reported the Arpen Kingdom’s crisis but also featured the videos of Weed’s current battles.

He moved quickly with his sculptural lifeforms and constantly killed the Hermes Guild users and troops.

He moved without a moment of rest and the Hermes Guild members couldn’t resist.

Weed’s battles were played in real time with sad music in the background.

The veins on their necks showed as the show hosts got heated up.

“Defeating 7 people! It only took 31 seconds. He unleashed Heriam Fencing a total of 24 times. An amazing feat that surprises me every time.”

“Shin Hye-min ssi, did you see that wide area attack just now?”

Oh Joo-wan and Shin Hye-min was broadcasting ‘the Story of the Versailles Continent’ part 2 with a focus on Weed.

“Yes. Of course. The spear skill ravages the land so it seems to be impossible to avoid. At the same time, he used a another three spear skills.”

“If I was to give a further explanation, it is hard to escape once embroiled in the attacks. The skill hasn’t been broken yet and Weed stays on the offensive. The bulletin boards are already heating up. Shin Hye-min, you have frequently hunted with Weed. Is it always like this?”

“You haven’t seen anything. This much is nonsense.”

Shin Hye-min gave a terrible sigh. It was only for a brief moment but she didn’t look like a broadcasting host.

“Eh…then what is the most amazing thing?”

“He raises his resilience through narrow battles where he almost dies. Sometimes he only has 0.3% health left.”

“A great sense of combat. It seems to be an innate gift but also requires a high degree of discipline.”

“Yes. After the fight, he would do amazing things like bandage his body, cook, sharpen his weapon, clean his armour and make sculptures. A wonderful sight that shows off his various skills.”

“…….”

“You can’t lag behind for even 1 second when hunting with Weed. You have to keep up with his fast pace. Standing still for even 2 seconds will make Weed start nagging.”

“I guess it must be tough.”

“I feel happy that most humans like living conveniently. Ah! While we were having this conversation, Weed has already finished collecting all the loot. Where is he going on the wyvern this time?”

The stations showed the video and made Weed into the hero. There was no choice but to make Weed the main protagonist.

He rode on Yellowy and dragged Bahamorg and the sculptural lifeforms with him.

The users of the Hermes Guild that had an illustrious reputation easily lost their lives. Weed had the ability to see even the slightest gap.

The people were enthusiastic about Weed who was fighting alone.

Bardray and the key leaders of the Hermes Guild stayed safe in their hunting grounds.

The public opinion of the north also heated up.

“Let’s stop them. We need to protect the city we live in!”

“Our strength will allow us to achieve victory.”

The northern users stayed in different cities and acted as the defense. Sometimes they repelled the enemy while other times the villages were turned to ashes.

At this point, the avians joined in and played a huge role.

Among the avians was the fast growing night owl, Mog. Mog originally started as a human in Morata but changed species via a special quest.

He discarded all human capabilities and was born again. He grew quickly and was popular with his colleagues among the avians.

“Take control of the northern skies and identify the movement of the troops. Avians join us. All avians should work together!”

The avians moved in the sky.

They flew above mountains, forests, rivers and plains and monitored designated areas. The avians watched from dense rainclouds.

They found the movements of the Haven Empire and mobilized the Grass Porridge combat troops. They also completely cut off paths if the invaders tried to flee.

In comparison, the Hermes Guild members were able to hide themselves well.

They were mainly active at night and took the lives of the people in the Arpen Kingdom.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi, Geomchi-2, Geomchi-3 and Geomchi-4!

They were active in the conquered areas of the north!

It wasn’t a problem as orc warriors joined from Vargo Fortress.

They completed special quests like Weed and became qualified to lead them.

The orcs were easily coaxed by flattery.

“Chwik. Impressively messy. Chwi chwit!”

“You are a lot more dirty.”

The orcs became subordinates of Geomchi.

“I will follow. Chwi chwik. Just feed me.”

– You are the commander of the Muksabal Army.

There is a total of 134,983 troops.

– The orc fighters have accepted you so charisma has permanently increased by 13.

Honour and intelligence has decreased by 2.

“I finally became a commander.”

Geomchi was filled with strong emotions.

He finally had an army.

“This is the suitable path for a man in troubled times. Maybe we will be able to conquer the continent under my hands.”

Geomchi rarely watched television these days. The broadcast contents when Weed was ruler of the desert.

The cool sight of troops being led to conquer the continent.

Any man watching that would have similar thoughts.

Geomchi-2 asked with concern.

“Teacher-nim. Then do you want to conquer the kingdom that the maknae built?”

“Um.”

Geomchi was seriously distressed.

He only recognized a few people in this world.

It would be cruel to destroy all the accomplishments that Weed had built up.

“In the end, it has to be like this.”

Geomchi slowly pulled out his sword.

The sword glittered in the hot sun as he eliminated the Hermes Guild users.

“I’m sorry for the maknae but…”

Geomchi-3 smiled and said.

“Hey, Sahyung. Teacher-nim isn’t like that. The reason we follow Teacher-nim is because of his righteousness.”

“Hum hum.”

Geomchi instantly turned his gaze to his sword.

A sharp sword.

A sword that slashed everything.

‘I’m sorry for the maknae…a man only has one life. I will give you a spot just below mine. I will be the Emperor but you will receive a substantial role.’

Under the vast sky and the wide earth.

A hot seething ambition.

‘It might be a pipe dream but…all men should have big dreams.’

Geomchi’s vast spirit!

Then Geomchi-4’s words struck a decisive blow.

“But how will we feed the orcs, Teacher-nim?”

“Huh?”

“They are very hungry.”

“…Aren’t there quite a few?”

“More than 100,000.”

The heaven and earth in his heart shriveled.

Geomchi-2 spoke like he knew something.

“Teacher-nim. It isn’t only 100,000.”

“Then?”

“I heard that even more orcs will be coming today.”

“Then 1 million?”

“There might be even more.”

The commander of an army of one million.

Geomchi’s face lit up. He would be the commander of such a large army.

“Then go and prepare for their arrival. Bring out the meat and bottles of alcohol!”

“Teacher-nim. What is there isn’t any food?”

“Go to the merchants.”

“All our property has been cleared out. We always change the money to weapons.”

Geomchi-3 hesitated before also speaking.

“Teacher-nim. How are you going to set up tactics with the orcs?”

“The tactics can’t be too sophisticated…”

“Then just a straightforward assault? Half would be killed in the first battle.”

“…….”

Geomchi-4 spoke once again

“But will the orcs continue to follow us?”

“Why?”

“Those guys are always fighting among themselves to find the leader. They are stupid and might forget all about Teacher-nim tomorrow.”

“Hah…”

A moan emerged from Geomchi’s mouth. The dream of heaven and earth faded away into simple reality.

“The wide world…there are all sorts of trouble while trying to live. I will be happy enough just living.”

Geomchi became depressed and decided to stick to the role of a commander.

Geomchi-2, Geomchi-3 and Geomchi-4 exchanged glances with each other and smiled.

‘Success.’

‘Huhuhu. We did it.’

‘Ah, I’m glad.’

All of them were opposed to Geomchi’s big ambitions.

‘Teacher-nim shouldn’t achieve something like that. He will give us all the chores.’

Geomchi-3 admitted that he was only superior when it came to combat force.

‘I just love to fight. My mind will be troubled if I am given a management position. Wouldn’t it cause a headache? Just thinking about it is no fun.’

Geomchi-4 received hospitality from Weed.

“Teacher-nim, you can enjoy any big dreams in the future. The right time will come. Let’s return to Morata and hold some sword training camps.”

“I don’t know about the maknae but all disciples are concerned with Teacher-nim’s dream.”

“The location of the sword training camp is good. It is near a square and along the river.”

“Maknae. Listen to my words. Sword training isn’t a matter of…

“Nowadays, there are many beauties passing by the square and river.”

“Huoh.”

“Everyone wants to become stronger in Royal Road. If some beauties become disciples at the training camp…”

“Beautiful disciples…”

“If you teach swordsmanship then you will see beauties sweating and become closer to them. A bond might be formed. A solid bait for a fishing rod.”

Geomchi-4 didn’t have big ambitions.

His teacher finally gained some big dreams but his disciples had a variety of opposing opinions.

After that, Geomchi led his disciples and orc army to target the occupied territories.

They swept through the land occupied by the lords of the Hermes Guild.

The knights tried to repel them but just collapsed.

They used the spear, sword, axe etc. against the knights on horseback.

There was a level difference between horses and bulls and their movements in close combat was also different.

The knights used high level traps to defeat the army.

However, Geomchi had experienced all sorts of fights.

“This smells fishy.”

“Should we enter?”

“That would be bad. Instead, let’s break through at full speed. Stragglers will be left behind.”

“Yes!”

They were triumphant in every battle.

It might be a haphazard assault but they relied on their practical experience.

There was no need for any complex tactics as they moved.

Speed was an essential element in their activities.

They fought the enemy but didn’t touch any of the residents.

Caring for the weak!

Geomchi and his disciples were noble so they didn’t burn the villages like Weed in the desert.

“Teacher-nim, some of the kids are hungry.”

Due to the lack of interest from some lords, there were crop failures and food shortages in some villages.

The hungry residents and soldiers collapsed in the middle of the battle.

“Is that so? Is there any food remaining?”

“The orcs ate almost all of it after the last village…there is approximately one meal remaining.”

“Give it to the kids.”

“Then we will have nothing to eat for dinner.”

“We can go to another place to plunder. Give the food to them.”

“Yes. Teacher-nim!”

They conducted battles in the occupied northern areas every day.

“A-a horde of orcs is coming.”

“Dispatch the magicians and knights.”

The troops were smashed by an army of orcs and Geomchis.

The knights and soldiers tried to struggle but were eventually forced to retreat.

“Ugh…defeat…”

“Teacher-nim.”

“This is deplorable.”

“They have no spirit.”

“How funny.”

The orcs in the north continued being recruited.

The users that became orcs also joined.

“We can feed our young if we come here. Chwik!”

“Join the army and kill everything. Chwiik!”

The number of orcs was increasing uncontrollably.

The surviving orcs improved their combat experience and could eat more food.

The governor of the northern colonies, Alcard received a headache while dealing with them.

“They have quick mobility and are decisive. They don’t leave one bit of food behind in the looted areas…rather, it is more difficult that they left the residents untouched.”

They gave food to the residents. The quantity was for one or two meals and it was enough to gain the loyalty of the residents.

Meanwhile, the orcs ate all the food in the warehouses.

They left the responsibility of feeding the residents afterwards to the Haven Empire.

“Isn’t this highly deceptive conquest tactics?”

Geomchi, his disciples and the orcs were like ghosts as they attacked the Haven Empire.

Geomchi and his army attacked from all directions so the damage was enormous.

Even the soldiers in the northern conquered areas couldn’t handle it.

Many soldiers died against the orcs and it was difficult to get replacements from the Central Continent.

A huge amount of 900,000 had been dispatched to the boundaries of the Arpen Kingdom.

The people in the northern occupied areas were anxious and requested reinforcements. However, they received the same answer from the Haven Empire every time.

– Emperor Bardray and his army will go to the north after stopping all rebels. Until then, focus on maintaining security.

“We can only rely on these troops until then.”

Alcard’s anger rose.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

– The descendants of the mighty heroes…you are prepared to willingly shed blood.

“Of course.”

– Can you deal with anything under the blue sky?

“Unless it is Master-nim or pretty girls…heook. No.”

– As a descendant of the Pallos Empire, you have to walk the path of the Emperor of the Desert. This will be the last test.

“What kind of test?”

– All those who follow you will benefit. Don’t spill any more blood on these desolate sands and obtain a new home. Play the role of my sword.  In the tradition of the desert…

Ddiring!

– The Founding of the Pallos Empire

Unify the great desert into one.

Brave warriors.

Break away from the burning sands.

Go back to the land with flowing rivers and restore the glory of the Pallos Empire.

The one who gains the most territory will be the Emperor of the Pallos Empire.

The time limit is 1 year.

Level of Difficulty: Region supremacy.

Compensation: Emperor of the Pallos Empire.

Quest Restrictions: Limited to desert warriors.

“Ohhhh!”

“War!”

Geomchi-5 and his students!

And the desert warriors were finally given the last quest.

Lead the desert tribes to invade the Central Continent.

They succeeded in displacing the residents of several major cities as well as cattle farmers.

They had spent 3 years on internal affairs but the desert warriors didn’t bother waiting.

“Camels! Bring the camels!”

“Move out.”

Assault troops consisting of desert warriors. 350,000 people of the desert tribes gathered to regain their old territory in the Haven Empire.

Chapter 3: Weed’s Profit

Weed demonstrated his strength when fighting against the Hermes Guild.

“The enemy has appeared!”

He attacked the Hermes Guild users with only Yellowy.

There were six people but two parties quickly joined them. There was a total of 21 Hermes Guild users. The combination of assassins, rangers, magicians, knights, warriors, shamans and priests could bring out their maximum strength.

“Quickly!”

“Block him from running away.”

“This spot will be your grave!”

Weed actually waited for more Hermes Guild members to join. Two additional parties popped out from their hiding spots and blocked any retreat.

“Distorted Vortex of Fire!”

A joint magic attack. There were flame pillars in every direction!

“Ummoooooo!”

Yellowy was exceptionally afraid of fire. It was a crisis where the magnificent flames would burn him!

Weed had already made the Hermes Guild users fear him. He had caused much frustration for the Hermes Guild from his actions in the Central Continent.

The enemy was well prepared but Weed was busy looking at their equipment instead.

‘A Pelican Bracelet. That is a rare item. ‘The starting price at the auction…at least 10 million.’

Weed had hunted a bone dragon and the chaos warrior Kubichya in the past so he didn’t feel any pressure against the Hermes Guild.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk, calling the Vampire Lord Torido!”

Van Hawk and Torido were summoned. They were faithful subordinates who always fought with the enemy.

“You called. Master.”

“Eat them.”

“Understood.”

Van Hawk and Torido passed through the flame pillars.

“Defend the magicians! We will win if we drag this into a long battle.”

The knights and warriors jumped at Van Hawk and Torido. The assassins were waiting with poisonous daggers in their hands.

Their only goal was Weed.

“Yellowy, go to the front.”

Weed commanded but Yellowy didn’t move. Yellowy was reluctant to enter the hot flames.

“Ummoooooo. My body is hot.”

“We need to fight as quickly as possible. If we stay here then we will turn into barbeque.”

“Master, I’m scared. I don’t want to fight.”

“It is the only way if you want to live.”

“I don’t want to. I am afraid to lose my life.”

“Come on, move. I promise you won’t. I will not allow you to die here.”

“Master…”

“Listen carefully. If you die in this fire then your juices will drip out. The surface will be so burned, it will be impossible to tell the inside. There won’t be the taste of beef.”

“…….”

“Do you want that to happen?”

Stress and threats!

Yellowy didn’t listen to any commands and furiously scratched at the ground with his hind legs.

“Ummoooooo!”

– Yellowy has entered a wild frenzy.

Resilience has increased by 230% and strength by 410%.

He won’t feel any pain.

Magic resistance will increase by 3 times.

When assaulting and pushing against small creatures, there is a 47% chance of instant death and 31% chance of making them faint.

The distinction between friend and enemy is blurred.

Any presence is likely to be recognized as an enemy.

“This is a riot.”

Yellowy was a loyal creature but the nature of the species meant that he sometimes ran wild. A lot of stress would pile up due to the excessive hunting and continuous risk. When it was like this, Yellowy would recklessly confront Goldman and the wyverns.

‘If I’m not careful then he will notice and attack me as well.’

Weed felt the biggest threat since he was riding on Yellowy’s back.

The frenzied Yellowy needed to fight against the Hermes Guild users.

The whirling flames were coming closer. It was hard to even open his eyes as the wind blew wildly. The pressure and heat from the dangerous magic seemed like it would rip him apart.

“Yellowy, can you hear me?”

Yellowy made a loud sound like a monster living in the ground.

“Umooooooo!”

He didn’t feel good about Weed riding on his back.

Yellowy’s eyes turned red.

“Yellowy, relax. I am on the same side.”

“Ukurarararara.”

“Then I’ll come down and meet you here again tomorrow.”

“Kukyukakakakakat!”

Weed tried to convince him but it had no effect.

Yellowy’s muscles swelled due to the wild frenzy.

It was like the quiet before the storm had just passed. He was filled with uncontrollable anger and hatred.

Displeasure and hostility. The muscles swelled like a wild beast.

“Them. They are the enemy.”

Weed pointed towards the Hermes Guild.

“Yellowy. They are aiming for your rib eyes. In particular, the assassin is going to cut at your hip with the dagger.”

“Kuoooh.”

Yellowy’s red eyes turned towards the Hermes Guild users.

They were holding weapons.

At that moment, his rage reached the peak. Yellowy’s hind legs dug into the ground and he shot out like a bullet. Usually he walked on all fours but this time he sprung with his hind legs like a beast.

He shot through the vortex of flames towards an assassin. Weed and Yellow suffered some injuries but they didn’t die.

“So fast. Damn!”

The assassin tried to use his poison dagger but it was too late. Yellowy kicked him with the front legs.

Kwajik!

The body armour was broken and the assassin fell to the ground.

“Kwaaek!”

The warrior right behind him was hit by Yellowy’s horns and flew back. Despite wearing thick armour, the warrior couldn’t resist at all and flew through the sky from the impact!

The rangers fired arrows but Yellowy just turned and kicked out with his hind legs.

Weed took advantage of this moment to jump down from Yellowy. He jumped towards the Hermes Guild members in the rear.

“Sword-cloning!”

30 clones of Weed appeared.

Sword-cloning was good to make the enemy attack since the number of enemy targets increased.

“S-stop them!”

“Which one is real?”

“Just hit all of them!”

Van Hawk and Torido blocked the knights while Yellowy ran wild among the warriors.

Weed’s tactic was aiming for the magicians and priests. The most effective method was to cut off the weakest link.

“Kuuuk.”

The magicians and priests died in vain under Weed’s hands. The assassin and ranger that Yellowy first kicked were killed by him. Weed also helped Van Hawk and Torido fight the knights and warriors.

He was a sculptor who managed to hunt a bone dragon as well as Barkhan.

The level of the users was identified from their items. He quickly determined the exact name of the item, its options and the price.

His fighting style would change depending on their strength and agility. He determined the health and defense of the enemy and attacked the vulnerable areas.

A keen eye! Bold decisions that allowed him to exert his strength to the maximum.

The final secret sculpting technique acted as a life insurance.

“It is slowly being cleaned up.”

This was definitely a situation where Weed placed Yellowy’s life at risk.

He wildly ran around and was only focused on the Hermes Guild.

Yellowy was staggering around as he fought the enemy. Several spears and arrows had pierced his body. Normally he would run away from any weapons but now he just continued the assault.

“He is almost dead!”

Yellowy’s injuries were severe as a Hermes Guild user dealt a final attack. An axe flew towards the red-eyed Yellowy.

Weed also saw it. Yellowy’s vitality and health had dropped to the bottom so he wouldn’t be able to avoid losing his life.

‘Yellowy will die. He was worked as a slave but…he is only one cow. He has to defend his life on his own. Too bad. Life is like that. The ribs and sirloin should be obtained.’

The same indifferent attitude as seeing a child in the playground falling down.

‘I understand that Yellowy will die someday. I didn’t know today would be that day…in his next life, I hope he is born for a quiet life plowing rice paddies.’

Weed prayed for a short period of time as the weapon flew.

‘But the value has dropped lately. It is hard to know the value of the meat. Should I just eat Yellowy instead of selling him?’

Just as the weapon was about to hit Yellowy’s body.

“You shouldn’t die until your meat has more value. Moment Sculpting!”

Time was stopped.

Weed blocked the axe and then used his sword against the paladin. He only stopped time for a moment to commit some actions.

And time flowed on once again.

“Kuwek!”

– A severe blow!

The enemy’s body has been destroyed from the impact.

The armour of the paladin has broken.

Health has been reduced by 164,390.

The user died.

– The Daemon Sword’s durability has been reduced by 11.

Maximum damage is reduced.

“Kuook. That teleportation…”

“Watch out for Blink.”

“Blink…the analysis is different! Doesn’t he only use it when he is a chaos warrior?”

“Straighten up!”

The users mistakenly thought they were dealing with blink. Mana was unstable for a short time after using blink so it was impossible to use magic. His sight also moved quickly so sometimes he would suffer if there was an obstacle in the way.

Moment Sculpting was an ultimate skill that stopped a piece of the world. He was alone in the frozen world so there were no constraints.

The Hermes Guild users soon lost their lives. Among them were elite users who killed the people of the north.

“Time Sculpting is useless outside of a fight!”

Weed burst out as he bandaged the injured Yellowy.

Yellowy’s wild eyes soon become afraid.

“You must hurt a lot. Stay comfortable and don’t worry about fighting. Sometimes things might be difficult but I am always looking after you.”

“Ummoooooo.”

Yellowy was soothed and he summoned some sculptural lifeforms to reduce the risk.

Bahamorg, Goldman, Gernika, Seville, Vindex, Eltin and Cerberus. And the 40 Hermes Guild users were no match for the wyverns in the sky.

He climbed on Wy-3 and shot arrows from the sky. Shooting arrows as Wy-3 spread its wings and glided towards the ground was fun!

“Come down. You dirty bastard!”

Weed felt even more satisfied after hearing the curses of the Hermes Guild.

“The best method is through cowardice. The theory of the world.”

He could raise his level to 442 in just a week. There were also numerous titles and combat achievements. Every day was a constant battle but it was a massive short term growth.

The Hermes Guild users allowed him to grow quicker but also had an intelligence network. They would hide their bodies whenever a wyvern was seen in the sky or a person riding a bull was seen.

“It is so easy to raise my level…it is like eating for free.”

Weed was glad about the Hermes Guild’s presence in the Northern Continent but they were sad.

The Arpen Kingdom was currently suffering serious damage. Travelling and trade between villages and cities were blocked while security deteriorated.

The people from the Central Continent were the worst thieves!

“There is nothing to eat so we should steal it.”

Thieves and monsters ran unchecked. The food warehouses were looted and there were rumours of monsters breeding.

It was unknown how much was true or false. The only thing that was certain was that the Arpen Kingdom had turned into a battlefield and the number of victims was growing!

The northern users were constantly fighting with the Hermes Guild users. The Hermes Guild had immensely strong individuals but it was no use if they were noticed.

“There. The Hermes Guild members!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The Hermes Guild members would be chased by hundreds and thousands of users, with more people constantly joining.

The fierce battles destroyed the infrastructure and roads of the Arpen Kingdom.

“There is a famous saying that talks about following someone into the river.”

Weed and the northern users regarded the Hermes Guild members as a hunting ground. He also collaborated with some of the strong northern users.

“I am a level 410 archer. My name is Gongitba.  I was introduced by Mapan-nim. Do you have a place for me?”

“Hmm. I was told you were coming a short time in advance. Any donations?”

“This money has been prepared with much difficulty. 140,000 gold.”

“Ahem. It might be difficult but this is for the entire Arpen Kingdom.”

“I am aware of that. I heard about how Weed-nim sacrificed so much to develop Morata into the Arpen Kingdom.”

“It is embarrassing to hear such things.

“No. Weed-nim is my hero and the mentor of my life.”

“…….”

He had established Morata and the Arpen Kingdom but the story had grown closer to a myth.

At night, there was a festival in Morata where food was handed out and sculptures were made to evoke hope for the next day.

Weed had saved the residents from the vampires and gave birth to the Tower of Light. Therefore, it wasn’t an exaggeration to say that an artistic spirit burned in them.

It was also the hometown of many Grass Porridge members.

The Arpen Kingdom was a fledging kingdom but there was a sense of unity because they had overcome adversity together.

“Wah. It is really Wy-3.”

“Kuaack.”

The high level northern users were impressed as they watched the sculptural lifeforms.

Bingryong, Phoenix, Imugi etc. were all mythical creatures. They had grown since being born so their appearances were amazing.

Bingryong was a huge 450 metres from head to tail.

A monster with an immense size. Compared to its size, the power was a bit lacking but the huge body was still overwhelming. Sometimes it would be a model for painters, earning a pocket allowance!

Phoenix was loyal and would hunt by raising his charm stat and making the colourful pattern much more attractive. Many users wished to see the spectacular sight of his feathers glowing in the light of the sunset.

Imugi had a firm body and was covered in elegant scales. An eccentric form that was closer to a snake than a dragon.

The sculptural lifeforms were made from sculptures so charm was an essential stat. It wasn’t uncommon for them to become more beautiful as they grew.

Sometimes the sculptural lifeforms would boast among themselves when they met.

The mass produced wyverns were different and constantly argued with each other.

“These incompetent bastards! Anyway, I made some useless things.”

They were always abused by Weed but the users thought differently.

“Weed made really beautiful sculptures.”

“An artist. His soul burns beautifully. He can’t be blamed for it not being perfect. Artists are forever pursuing perfection.”

“He chose to be a sculptor on the Versailles Continent. The sculptures are the fruits of his labour.”

Bingryong was the symbol of creativity and stylish beauty.

The wyverns were praised for their ruggedness. Weed had divided the wyverns into Wy-1, Wy-3, etc. Their appearances only slightly diverged from each other.

The users and Grass Porridge Cult members lacked common sense when it came to the wyverns.

All the sculptural lifeforms associated with Weed had the hottest popularity among the northern users.

“I have come. I am a level 430 magician. My name is Loainde.”

“I hate to say this but prices are recently skyrocketing. The situation is a little different.”

“I am fully aware of the situation. Here is 170,000 gold.”

“Huhuhu. It must have been hard to make this money.”

“I sold a few magic books.”

They were allowed to fight with him in exchange for some exorbitant prices.

“A profit. There is no end to what I can sell in the Arpen Kingdom.”

He got some pocket money for fighting against the Hermes Guild! Gaining money and fighting the Hermes Guild, it was like killing two birds with one stone.

Weed was generous to his rich customers.

“There are three other people that way. Please do well!”

“Yes!”

“Do you need to clean your sword or armour? This is a free service.”

“Ohhh. Weed-nim is directly doing this. I am grateful…”

The high level northern users were like well-behaved children in front of Weed. Of course, they weren’t pure young children.

The participation fee was expensive but they would be safe while fighting with Weed. Weed was the king in the north and the creator of the Grass Porridge Cult so he had a network.

The users could also acquire a profit by processing the loot obtained from the Hermes Guild. Besides, the videos got high ratings all over the world so it was chance for the high level users to get their names known.

Weed and his colleagues immediately took care of any Hermes Guild members they found. In fact, the number of participants was over 700 people so it was closer to an army. An elite group of northern users.

“Weed-nim!”

“I want to join the hunt.”

The number of northern users applying grew out of control. Once it exceeded 1000 people, they were divided into several squads with the sculptural lifeforms.

Patrols were put in place around Morata.

Weed visited many locations thanks to Wy-3 and Yurin.

There were 20,000 Hermes Guild users. The people scattered all over the place were hunted down.

The thoughts of the Hermes Guild users changed.

‘I would rather kill the novices.’

‘My achievements in the guild will be swept away.’

‘Smash the villages. As well as those people in the north. Those ideas have turned to ashes.’

They were frequently killed by Weed and the northern users.

Even if they didn’t suffer directly, they heard rumours about it.

‘I need to consider my own body.’

‘A clear opportunity…I can’t let my identity be discovered.’

‘Damn. I can’t move around freely. I am scared to move.’

They couldn’t completely prevent the raid of the 20,000 Hermes Guild users but it was weakened.

Many of them killed several beginners before losing their lives.

The damage caused to the Arpen Kingdom plummeted accordingly. Weed had a decisive advantage when moving alone on the Central Continent.

Even if they sent out trackers to search the continent, it was impossible to find one person.

He had the mobility to go anywhere he wanted and he could conceal himself with Sculpture Transformation.

The individual Hermes Guild members were strong but their red names revealed themselves. Their numbers were increasingly dropping so they started regretting it.

The raids on the villages of the Arpen Kingdom subsided to some extent. But the real damage occurred in the devastated areas.

Refugees wandered the spacious ruins. Now the Hermes Guild users were in a serious dilemma.

“Isn’t this bad? It is like we came to the north in vain.”

Their purpose in coming to the north was to turn the Arpen Kingdom into ashes. They would cause great damage to the national power over time.

Right now they were being tracked and the harm was outweighing the benefits.

“Lalala.”

They hid their bodies and watched a beginner level 30 girl walking. The novices were easy but it was difficult for the Hermes Guild because other users would appear.

“Should we wipe them out?”

“If we touch them then we will be tracked all day.”

“Stay well hidden. It will be difficult.”

“What is this? It is ridiculous.”

It was absurd as they saw a destroyed village recover after a few days.

Novice beginners gathered together and started working.

“This village was formerly a pure shanty village…the road planning was also a mess.”

“Should we make it properly?”

“No. It isn’t necessary. There isn’t that type of money. We just need to come up with rough ideas for living.”

Dozens of wooden houses and fences were completed.

“Now. Cheap. Cheap! A dream house for only 4 silver. The house won’t leak when there is a rain shower. It will even withstand the rising winds. An architect’s conscience won’t allow me to use rotten wood!”

The passing users entered the village to look at the houses. There were just a few walls and wooden beams connected.

“Isn’t this space neat?”

“It is like destroying a newly built house. It was a type of reconstruction. We can expand the living room and kitchen areas.”

“Ah. This is much better.”

Ddiring!

– The house has been bought.

– More than 300 houses have been sold.

The village has been restored.

The Hermes Guild lived on a continent where the history and culture had been established for hundreds of years so they were baffled.

‘A city was just created.’

The Central Continent were filled with well-built residential buildings and shops. The Arpen Kingdom was filled with shanty villages and homes made of clay.

However, the users that had their property broken would curse on the bulletin boards.

“Obviously we are strong but…”

“We are predators. Everybody is scared of the Haven Empire but the atmosphere here is strange.”

Hunters seeking the Hermes Guild appeared en masse.

The north didn’t care about things like the dignity of the Hermes Guild or fearing them.

“Can’t we get great items if they are eliminated? Hrmm. You have a point. There are exclusive quests and hunting grounds on the Central Continent so they will have luxury equipment.”

“What? Isn’t it worth dozens of whole chickens?”

An opportunity for a fortune!

Rumours of the good loot obtained from those with high infamy spread through the north.

The Hermes Guild members were like walking treasures trying to avoid the gaze of other people.

Weed had caused enormous damage on the Central Continent but this situation was completely different.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed stood at the place where the Earth Palace was being built.

The wreckage of the collapsed palace had been cleared and new buildings erected.

Unlike before, this palace was built on a wide area. Beyond that, Dawn City was visible on the plains.

There were major roads, waterways, commercial district and residential district. Thus, thousands of river courses were built and spread out over a wide area.

This could be called a large scale city on the Versailles Continent. The entire construction site was visible! A city built with stone and wood that blended with beautiful scenery and rivers.

‘The housing is like a goose laying a golden egg.’

This entire area was the new capital of the Arpen Kingdom.

He was able to accumulate massive wealth from buying in advance land that would be developed into stores and houses.

‘A person should really look at the newspaper and television. It might be hard but you should learn.’

Weed‘s pockets went into the Arpen Kingdom.

The collapse of the Earth Palace might have been better in the long run.

The location of the new city was more robust. There were also investments in the land!

“Climbing a hill and mountain is tricky. It is better to have the Royal Palace on flat land.”

In fact, the value of the Earth Palace was beyond imagination.

With the advent of the kingdom, quite a few high level users moved from the Central Continent to the north.

Although Mapan’s Trading Company had the most power in the market, small and medium merchants scored a jackpot every day.

The wealthy wanted to build luxury mansions near the palace and Weed gladly accepted.

The gap between rich and poor wasn’t a problem. Royal Road was a world where everyone was equal.

They could earn a nice house through hunting, adventuring or production. The users in the north could live in shacks or mansions. The tax rate was low and there were a number of development projects in progress.

Nevertheless, the kingdom’s finances didn’t run out.

By default, Weed’s land speculation was at a national level. He colluded with architects to sell state owned land to users. The architects were glad because they could freely display their talents.

The Arpen Kingdom’s lands and buildings were different from reality.

“However, there is a limit to the kingdom’s growth…”

Weed looked at the vacant lots left in the Dawn City.

The city continued to become more crowded as people flocked to it. The Arpen Kingdom’s development potential was high due to the low taxes, rich resources and high beginner users.

But the raid of the Haven Empire made any sustainable development impossible.

The local villages were destroyed, trade routes cut off and production facilities collapsed. 70% of the production facilities were concentrated in places like Morata, Port Varna, Vargo Fortress and Vent Castle but there was still some damage.

The villages were important for the future development of the region and the cut off trade routes destroyed the potential of a village. The kingdom’s military and administrative resources needed to be spread over a vast territory.

In addition, there were a few large and useless land in the Arpen Kingdom that couldn’t be developed. The monsters and bandits were prevalent so it would cost a lot to develop it into a city.

“If it is only in the vicinity of Morata or the Dawn City…in the long run, it will be difficult if development isn’t scattered throughout the north.”

That wasn’t the worst thing.

If the Hermes Guild sent second and third waves of raiders then the Arpen Kingdom’s growth would be completely cut off. He didn’t want this to happen to the Arpen Kingdom so effective strategies were needed.

“There are many people smarter than me. So these attacks can’t continue. I can’t hope for good luck.”

Weed realized that it was time to make a decision.

“I need to prepare the Arpen Kingdom for a march. The Haven Empire’s actions aren’t acceptable.”

The Haven Empire’s affairs were a mess and some facilities hadn’t recovered from previous wars.

The Haven Empire was going after the Northern Continent but the people of the Arpen Kingdom weren’t normal.

“In the future, I wonder who will fall down first.”

Weed decided on a war. He could try negotiating with the Haven Empire in order to smooth relations.

It would require a compromise every time.

But when taking into account his interests in the future, it was important not to let the real estate in the Arpen Kingdom fall.

Grand Buildings were constructed in the north but that wouldn’t be possible if security was bad.

In addition, it would be difficult to topple the Haven Empire.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The people of the north hadn’t forgotten the pain they suffered at the Earth Palace.

“They will definitely invade us again. We need to prepare for the future. This dishonour can’t be allowed to be repeated again.”

Everybody knew that the Hermes Guild would attack again. They were just waiting for that day. The Arpen Kingdom felt like home so they didn’t want the Hermes Guild to control it.

The high ranking officials in the Grass Porridge Cult held weekly meetings.

“King Weed’s power alone isn’t enough. It is because we have no power.”

“We have to give him support.”

“We are scattered individuals. The previous war showed that there are obvious limitations in our tactics.”

“Um. We could barely manage to keep up with the tremendous damage.”

“Right now, it will be difficult to prevent repeated attacks from the Haven Empire. Being continuously destroyed can’t be in our future.”

“We should nurture an elite group. The avians are also resources we should take advantage of.”

The birth of the Grass Porridge Army!

They would become the Arpen Kingdom’s army.

– Grass Porridge Army’s Conduct

1. We are founded to protect the peace of the Versailles Continent. We won’t tolerate injustice and will fight for the people.

2. In order to fund the Grass Porridge Army, each user should donate a certain amount of money every month. The donation amount will be left to your conscience.

3. The Grass Porridge Army is voluntary. However, users will be placed according to their ability and have to convene whenever there is a war. The northern users will respect you for your hard work and dedication. You will receive benefits while hunting and in stores, as well as the best support on quests.

4. Soldiers will be classified as active or reserve. The active soldiers have to attend two training meetings every month. You will have to bring your own consumables and military supplies. This is so we can afford to pay you.

5. The commanders will represent the Grass Porridge Army to Weed, the God of War. Each commander will be in the middle of combat.

The Commander in Charge had the right to declare a cease-fire and peace negotiations.

Weed felt a slight discomfort as the Grass Porridge Cult formed a loyal army for the Arpen Kingdom.

They were called a separate army but they still followed Weed’s commands in war. In fact, the people in the Grass Porridge Army could lead just as well as Weed.

From his perspective, Weed thought so.

“Eggs or eggs…there isn’t much difference.”

Everybody had images of guarding the north as part of the Grass Porridge Army. Everyone was free to join the army of the Arpen Kingdom.

The Grass Porridge Army already had more than 4 million troops. It was more than the total troops of another country!

There were several members of the army who were high ranking military officials in reality.

The Grass Porridge Army, Grass Porridge Navy, Grass Porridge Air Force and even the Military Manpower Administration was established.

The Bamboo Shoots unit that consisted of beginners over level 40 received lessons and were organized as reserves.

Although they were prepared to defend the Arpen Kingdom, the Hermes Guild’s invasion was too quick.

The military officials of the Grass Porridge Army held a meeting.

“We should mobilize the army.”

“The organization of the army isn’t efficient to chase those guys.”

“Some kind of war on terror…hrmm.”

“Should we dedicate 300,000 members of the Grass Porridge Army for the establishment of an anti-terrorism unit?”

“No, we shouldn’t increase the number of organizations. The right skills are needed.”

There were urgently discussing when Weed repelling the Hermes Guild members was broadcasted.

“Indeed…His Majesty.”

“Um. It is amazing. The northern users are taking care of them.”

“But the damage…”

“From now on, they are the enemy. We need to be careful.”

Nonetheless, the Grass Porridge Army kept on thinking. The army hadn’t taken any action despite being invaded.

A third of the Arpen Kingdom had already been lost to the Haven Empire.

“We need to retaliate in some way…”

“We will have the soldiers join the northern users.”

And Weed sent a message to them.

– Spring has come.

The entire continent will be turned into a meadow.

“This is the password for a declaration of war.”

“Let’s do it. We will be Weed’s sword.”

“We will announce it to the people.”

The Grass Porridge Army formally declared war on the Haven Empire.

Obviously the broadcasting stations were told. It was the talk of the Versailles Continent.

Lemon of the Grass Porridge Cult appeared live on the television.

She was a high school girl wearing a uniform.

Oh Joo-wan asked with a serious face.

“Are you serious? The Arpen Kingdom and Grass Porridge Cult will undergo a joint invasion of the Haven Empire. The whole continent will be immersed in a war. The repercussions will sweep through all the people.”

“Yes. We have made this decision. The Hermes Guild has been bothering the people of this continent. We have gathered to defeat them. There won’t be a chance to win if we don’t act now. Only fighting will allow us no regrets.”

Lemon didn’t hesitate to express that the Hermes Guild was evil.

It was rare to find any users of the Arpen Kingdom and the continent who hadn’t fallen victim to the Hermes Guild.

The justification to fight through was delivered though the broadcasting stations. The mood was already hostile towards the Hermes Guild.

“The Grass Porridge Army is waiting for the righteous people. In two days, we will assemble at the plains south of Dawn City. I hope those who see this broadcast will come there.”

A rallying cry from a girl dressed in a school uniform.

Two days quickly passed.

The next day, the earth at the plains south of Dawn City couldn’t be seen at all. People endlessly covered the south of the city.

“What? It is here, right?”

“Why are there so many people? Let me pass.”

“It is full of people.”

“Where is the line to sign up?”

“Hey. It is over here.”

“There is no end to it. Even looking side to side.”

Showing off the natural forces of the Grass Porridge Cult!

The northern users were also flocking.

“It seems like it is going to rain. It is so dark.”

“I can’t see any faces. Heeok! Birds!”

People looked up as the sky was covered.

The avians! The recently popular avians took control of the skies.

Chirp chirp chirp.

Kkiyot.

Kiyaaack.

“I’m in position. Other wings are hitting me. Mind your basic manners.”

“Tweet tweet. Night owls should go down to the bottom.”

“Be careful of the claws and beaks!

The sky was so crowded that it was hard to feel comfortable flapping their wings.

The grass porridge users had already formed a consensus about the war.

‘Regain the territory of the Arpen Kingdom.’

Weed was enough reason for the grass porridge users to follow.

The Hermes Guild and Haven Empire were scared of him.

The Central Continent couldn’t compete with the numbers in the Northern Continent. Every fight they won was due to their overwhelming numbers.

They clearly knew the greatness of having larger numbers due to the results.

A mixed martial arts person would be scared meeting more than 10 high school students at night.

“Mother. We are going to fight. Why? We are blacksmiths.

“Oh I don’t know. The lady next door moved.”

“Honey. This way?”

“Come quickly. The entire neighbourhood is coming so we can’t be late.”

More than one million people were moving.

Not all of the people there were going to fight. The merchants opened a market to sell goods.

“Now. Cheap cheap. Military shoes for only 2 gold. There are a variety of sizes so please pick one.”

“There are warm blankets for sleeping. Directly selling it.”

“For the next three minutes, I am selling a perfect map for travelers. From here towards the south!”

The users were eagerly talking about the war.

“I want to fight the Hermes Guild.”

“Why?”

“It is interesting. And there will be high publicity.”

“Isn’t it more fun than playing around on the hunting grounds?”

“Right. This is a wonderful taste.”

The fight with the Hermes Guild was recognized as a type of annual event.

The battles would be shown all over the world. This motivated the users hunting to concentrate on the war with the Hermes Guild.

In particular, many grass porridge members had died in the battle at the Earth Palace.

Killed like worms! They wore black clothes and a black hat as they prepared to rush towards the enemies. It was a spectacular sight from the sky as the number of users greatly increased. Some of them had accomplished a lot after dying.

“But when is Weed coming?”

“Will there be an opening ceremony?”

The northern users were clamouring.

A big uproar suddenly occurred at Dawn City.

“Wow! The warrior Python-nim!”

“The adventurer Spenson is participating directly.”

But the disturbances didn’t end there. The atmosphere heated up like Weed or Lemon were going to appear.

It was at that moment.

There was a buzz as users ran from the south towards the east.

“What is it?”

“What? Beyond…are we going to war already?”

“Going without a ceremony…”

The crowd had expected Weed to appear and give some words of encouragement. They wanted courage to be incited before facing the Haven Empire. However, the news was quickly passed from the east.

“Hey, they have come.

“Who is coming?”

“The orc corps.”

“I-I see!”

The mountains in the far east.

A dust cloud seemed to be rising from beyond the mountains. A dust cloud that seemed like a sandstorm was coming closer.

Then another dust cloud rose from the opposite direction.

“Who is over there?”

“Bamboo Shoots unit.”

“There is no end to them. There are a lot.  Really…”

The crowd of users felt some emotions rising. It seemed like a threat was approaching from the mountains so it was shocking to some.

“Urgent news. That is just the European troops of the Bamboo Shoots unit.”

“What?”

“Europe is the 1st unit while there are those from Africa, Asia and the Americas. An avian tried to watch and crashed after becoming dizzy!”

The users gathered to the south of Dawn City were in suspense.

All their colleagues were gathered here to fight for the freedom of the Versailles Continent. Of course, it was a good thing but those who came first were worried about their safety.

“Let’s go!”

“If you don’t want to die then go after the Haven Empire!”

The Grass Porridge Army gathered near Dawn City started moving. And after a few hours, the size of the crowd never diminished.

“It is a relief that we didn’t come too late. Where are the 49 members of the Toadstool Porridge unit?”

“They have already started departing to the south.”

“Uh. Such perception!”

People started running or riding towards the south.

“Huhu. It is worth delaying some time to form the Hamburger unit.”

“I believe it. The Brown Rice Porridge unit will be able to save the world.”

“We are the dedicated Citrus Porridge unit!”

“Tropical fruits such as mango. Let us move together for the sake of the fruits!”

New branches of the Grass Porridge Cult started moving. And the orcs finally emerged.

“Chiik!”

“Chwik!”

The faces of the orcs were red with anger as they said.

“The 1819th Pig Porridge troops have arrived. Chiiik!”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Michel of the Black Sword Mercenaries, Roam of the Roam Guild, Gunter of Lion Star Guild, Carlise of the Black Lion Guild and Sherwood of the Cloud Guild.

The representatives of the previous prestigious guilds on the Central Continent were gathered in one place again.

“Congratulations. Michel-nim.”

“The battle in Gradian Kingdom was really impressive. The Hermes Guild must be seething.”

“Huhu. It was nothing.”

They exchanged heartwarming stories first.

After their defeat to the Hermes Guild, they had wandered as fugitives and rebels. But despite the rebellions occurring everywhere, they were continuing to receive damage. In some cases, members of the guild weren’t happy and decided to leave.

Therefore Michel’s victory was a thrilling event.

Roam arranged the meeting today.

“Rather, we should be talking about our plans.”

“What…are we changing our policy regarding attacking the Haven Empire?”

Sherwood showed some interest.

The Cloud Guild boasted the largest number of forces and received the most damage. He wanted to quickly regain the glory of the past.

“We need a way of dealing greater damage to the economy of the Haven Empire.”

“How…?”

“I don’t know.”

“Huh? Are you joking right now?”

Sherwood was trying to contain his temper when Roam pulled out a sheet of paper.

“I received this message from Weed.”

– Draw your power together.

The time will come.

“Weed’s letter? He once again plans to feed us to the Haven Empire!”

“Oh. I guess an incident will be occurring soon.”

Michel, Carlise, Gunter and Sherwood weren’t pleased.

“How frivolous. He has no manners.”

“Something like this…we aren’t his henchmen. He is too arrogant.”

It was impossible for them to deal with the Hermes Guild. But their pride meant they didn’t want to follow Weed’s commands.

Sherwood started thinking.

‘It would be better to just watch. We can flank them while Weed and the Hermes Guild are fighting. Even if that doesn’t happen…there might be a better chance for the Cloud Guild to move. No, I should pretend to follow the command. Then I will decide according to my own interests.’

Sherwood’s brain was busy. Michel and Carlise were happy about the damage that would be caused to the Hermes Guild. However, they soon started to determine the pros and cons.

‘There is something going on. That is for certain. Is there any way to obtain the best benefits?’

‘Weed fighting the Hermes Guild isn’t a bad thing. Both sides might fall but it will be better if Weed lasts longer.’

Everyone was silent since being shown the letter.

They were tacitly listening to Weed’s words. It was a situation they hadn’t experienced before.

In addition, Weed’s letter wasn’t harmful to them.

Roam thought one step further.

“Weed didn’t reveal a lot. But let’s make a promise in this place. No matter what happens, we should support Weed.”

Michel saw the benefits. However, Gunter was puzzled.

“There is no need to go so far. We haven’t made an agreement with him.”

The other leaders also weren’t impressed.

Sherwood in particular had crazy eyes. He didn’t feel like it was necessary to help Weed.

“I feel rushed. I will give a good explanation.”

Roam fully understood their position. He was the one who knew the most about Weed.

He knew Weed was an awful opponent to annoy. Weed instinctively identified the weaknesses and persistently used it to create favourable situations.

Now that Weed was fighting the Hermes Guild, it was important to revisit the circumstances.

“Let’s clear up the situation from when we were defeated by the Hermes Guild.”

Roam started telling a long story.

Everyone on the continent knew about the birth of the Hermes Guild and their purpose. They used several plans to slowly take over the Haven Kingdom.

The leaders already knew this but they still listened to Roam.

“The Hermes Guild could be called perfect. They raised their power and defeated us. The construction of the Haven Empire on the Central Continent was the culmination of a grand plan.”

The leaders felt bad after hearing Roam’s words but they still nodded. In addition to their great power, the Hermes Guild were thoroughly prepared. Their method of taking over the Central Continent seemed natural.

“But after thinking about it, I finally realized why the Hermes Guild weakened.”

“The reason?”

“Yes. The Hermes Guild focused all their plans on controlling the Central Continent. They intended to take over the east and north.”

Michel muttered.

“They don’t have any weaknesses.”

“Of course. They dominated the Central Continent so it is natural to think that they could unify the Versailles Continent.”

Everyone in the Central Continent thought so. Until recently, they thought no one could compete with the Haven Empire’s technology and economy.

“But why can’t they overcome that last hump? The Haven Empire should have united the entire continent already. However, their unification of the continent is actually far from complete.”

“The territories are too big…”

“That is an obvious weakness.”

Gunter started realizing the meaning of the words.

Roam continued talking.

“The low security and low loyalty of the residents is also a reason. The so called invincible Hermes Guild was defeated. And their Imperial Palace was even destroyed. Now this is the important part. Who was the one that revealed all these weaknesses?”

One name surfaced in all their minds.

“Weed!”

“That’s right. It is correct. If he isn’t in this world then the Hermes Guild would have completely conquered the Versailles Continent. And nobody would be able to fight the Hermes Guild.”

Without Weed, the north was likely to still be an undeveloped area.

The east would have been destroyed by the Embinyu Church and the heir to the desert quest wouldn’t have occurred in the south.

The invincible Hermes Guild army would have wiped out the north. Then the Haven Empire could focus all their power on the Central Continent to minimize the confusion.

The rebellions wouldn’t have progressed this far. There would be a minimum of economic loss without the north to flee to.

‘This is all because of Weed.’

‘He repeatedly grabbed the ankles of the Hermes Guild…and ruined Lafaye’s long term plan.’

The severe situation occurring in the Central Continent that they were exploiting wouldn’t have happened without Weed.

He had started in the Rosenheim Kingdom and gradually moved to the north.

‘Did he intend for this to happen? Did he systematically aim at the weaknesses of the Hermes Guild?’

The leaders who used to represent influential forces couldn’t help remaining silent.

One individual had such a large effect on the Versailles Continent. All his movements resulted in the weakening of the Hermes Guild.

They belatedly realized that it was amazing.

“Weed caused all of these events. Lafaye and the Hermes Guild were drawn in by Weed. That is enough reason for us to strongly support him.”

The other leaders were no longer opposed to his words after Roam’s declaration.

The current situation wouldn’t be possible without Weed. Their forces would have been easily defeated by the Hermes Guild.

They acknowledged that their strength couldn’t exceed the Hermes Guild.

Roam said.

“Help Weed. That is the only option available to us. If Weed loses then the Hermes Guild will be a worse enemy than ever.”

Chapter 4: Puhol Fortress

Yoo Byung-jin was keeping an eye on Royal Road through the artificial intelligence.

“The entire continent is embroiled in a war.”

The elite troops of the Haven Empire were defending against the north and the south. Meanwhile, the massive number of users in the Arpen Kingdom were moving to fight.

In the past, the decision of a person could start or stop a war.

Unicorn Corporation analyzed that this war wasn’t that simple.

There was a wide crack in the Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom needed to defeat them in order to grow. As the war broke out, more heroes and rising stars would start to emerge.

Each of the broadcasting stations had teams for the featured specials.

– This is a decisive war.

– The final winner will dominate the Versailles Continent!

– The dream of a king.

There were a variety of titles as they waited for the war.

It would be a battle of an unprecedented scale on the Versailles Continent. It would impact the entire continent. The final winner of the war would end up dominating the Versailles Continent.

“As long as there are no big accidents, it will be between Weed and Bardray. One of these two people will be the first emperor to unify Royal Road.”

Yoo Byung-jin watched with a lot of regret.

“It would be a little better if he was more skillful.”

Weed started late in Royal Road.

If he started Royal Road from the beginning and chosen a combat profession then he would have become much stronger. It was clear just by looking at the desert quest.

If he obtained the final secret technique of a martial artist then no opponent would be able to match him. There would be no opponent under heaven as he opened up new paths.

He probably still would have ended up in the north through a different path and developed it. The power of his combat troops would have been invincible. Given Weed’s tenacity, there would be no end to his achievements.

“What is the story behind not starting Royal Road immediately?”

Yoo Byung-jin asked the artificial intelligence for a detailed background check.

However, there were no recording devices in the past so it was impossible to investigate everything.

“Was it unavoidable circumstances due to a traffic accident or something?”

The artificial intelligence took advantage of all available resources, including the US and South Korea’s military satellites.

– I found out the correct facts. Doctor-nim.

“Yes. What was the reason?”

– He watched Royal Road to determine the prospects.

“Prospects? What does that specifically mean?”

– To determine whether he can make money or not…

“…….”

Yoo Byung-jin had used the combination of advanced science and technology to develop Royal Road.

However, Lee Hyun had watched and waited to determine if it would be lucrative or not.

“I don’t believe in venture companies. They might be secret criminals from overseas with an ulterior motive.”

Lee Hyun was recorded saying this as he withdrew his living expenses from the bank.

“A really absurd guy.”

Yoo Byung-jin felt like his blood pressure was rising.

“Anyway, he is not fully human. Only a few months ago, the Haven Empire wouldn’t have thought Weed would raid them. The Hermes Guild failed to use the broadcasts and public opinion properly.

It was regrettable for Bardray and the Hermes Guild.

Their meticulous plans for conquering the continent wasn’t thoroughly completed. They had a few important chances to perfectly capture the Central Continent.

Based on their military and economic power, they would be able to show a convincing domination over other players. However, they avoided the Embinyu Church and disappointed the users of the Central Continent.

If they had showed off their absolute power and fought the Embinyu Church without hesitation, then they would have won.

Instead, they revealed that their power wasn’t invincible. The public sentiment changed into thinking they were a selfish group that only cared about concentrating their power.

Even now, they couldn’t unify the continent after conquering the centre. Lafaye was too busy thinking about the falling economic power of the Haven Empire.

They tried many things but couldn’t achieve their dreams. They were a huge organization that lost momentum as various weaknesses were revealed.

The Hermes Guild switched from conquering the continent to governing as the high level users tried to hold on to their rice bowl.

It might have been better for them to focus their military power on conquering the continent and then coping afterwards. If they tried to reign through force then their empire would only have a brief period of glory. No one knew what would happen if they reigned over the continent for 1 year, 2 years and so on.

“It is a shame about Weed. They would have won if they aimed for him sooner. The Hermes Guild cared too much about their reputation and didn’t invest everything into taking the north. Of course, their forces a few months ago couldn’t be compared.”

Weed and Bardray.

Public sentiment followed Weed but Bardray had the strongest power and support.

“It can no longer be helped. It will play out now.”

The AI Versailles spoke from the monitor in the middle of the laboratory.

– I can simulate the probability of Weed and Bardray conquering the continent.

“There is no need.”

Yoo Byung-jin refused the artificial intelligence.

It didn’t always occur according to the possibilities.

“Are the preparations for handing over all the rights and properties to the person who conquers Royal Road ready?”

– Of course.

The person would obtain shares of Unicorn Corporation and other affiliated companies.

There were also investments in many large companies around the world and would have the power to influence politicians.

It was frightening how much wealth and power the person who took over Royal Road would have.

Yoo Byung-jin wanted the victor to enjoy that money and power.

– But there were some side effects.

“What are the side effects?”

– Do you want your successor to be scheduled for the genetic manipulation based on biotechnology to turn them into a superman?

“Right. That is an indispensable part.

The heir should be perfect in every way.

A brilliant brain and exceptional body. Every human should envy his heir. In particular, they should have endless energy. A person that even a proud man would bow to.

– Animal experimentation into genetic manipulation has shown that the brain functions are excessively stimulated.

“Then it failed?”

As a protective instinct, the body seems to enter a self-hypnosis. The weak will create their own space and never wake up.

“Hrmm.”

Yoo Byung-jin was upset.

It was his lifelong goal. If it was a failure then the final result could be that the conqueror of Royal Road would refuse to wake up.

“How can the chances of success be increased?”

– There is no way to interfere with the human will itself.

It was likely that the first conqueror of Royal Road would die or fall into a coma.

Yoo Byung-jin briefly looked back on his life.

‘Where did it start to go wrong?’

At first, he had pure intentions as he dreamed of creating technology for a virtual reality.

He had achieved his personal goal of developing Royal Road. It wouldn’t be a bad thing to leave his wealth and power to a successor.

But the price was that the heir might lose their life. The dreams and hopes of the families would turn to grief.

There are numerous things that needed to be dealt with.

“We have come too far to stop here. Do everything to ensure that my plan continues as scheduled.”

– Understood.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Emperor of the Haven Empire.

Bardray was distressed after making a decision. In fact, he ended up having only one choice.

“I will walk the first path.”

Ddiring!

– The Emperor has decided how to lead his empire.

“Forget my weak heart. All lives on this continent will be dominated by me.

Reign with blood over those who reject you.

Wash off your fatigue…”

The powerful reign of the Emperor of the Haven Empire has been decided.

You will be able to see through the rebels.

Sometimes excessive doubts will cause mistakes.

Experience and skill proficiency will increase when getting rid of the rebels.

Stats will rise quickly if you rule based on fear.

The growth rate of the knights who follow the Emperor will increase by 45%.

The knights and soldiers belonging to the empire can’t refuse any command from the Emperor.

But it will be difficult to obtain their true allegiance.

Those driven into a dead end will revolt.

Before losing his life, all of the Emperor’s stats will increase by 20.

“This isn’t too bad.”

Bardray was able to gain a large amount of experience and skill proficiency from the black knight quests.

The Haven Empire was currently at a great crossroads on the Versailles Continent but he believed he would be able to overcome the resistance of individuals.

The Hermes Guild supported him so he would have different results from a normal black knight emperor.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed heard the news that a large number of Arpen Kingdom users were heading south.

“The war has started.”

He was sorry for those who wanted a speech to boost morale but he was busy hunting.

The high level Hermes Guild users in the north were an excellent hunting ground.

He acted as a lich and was busy making the undead. During the battle, he wore Barkhan’s full set and his power of the dead reached 2,218.

One advantage of necromancers was that they became stronger quickly but there were some side effects. Faith, perseverance, concentration, fighting spirit and courage were suppressed so Weed would find it harder to remain human.

The side effects were already occurring when Weed made a sculpture.

A sculpture of a simple fox was granted evil life.

– Fox with Dark Shadows Under the Eyes

A lively, carved fox.

A nice and cute gift to give to children but something strange has happened.

Artistic Value: 3

The little sculpture of the fox starting moving by itself. It secretly gained a soul!

“Kilkilkil. Hehehehe!”

The fox sculpture had a wicked smile. It would be a horrible sight in the dark but Weed didn’t have a weak heart.

“I will tell you this.”

“…….”

“I’ll be honest, I understand your position.”

“…….”

The fox sculpture didn’t say anything.

“It isn’t your fault that you were born. I have the power of the dead…no. There is no need to explain this complex information. It might be difficult but I want to help.”

The feeling of a parent looking at a child!

The fox sculpture quietly moved its eyes in agreement. And then he said.

“I will gift you to a young girl.”

“I can tell you this as well.  I knew this would happen.”

Weed grabbed the tail of the fox and sealed it in swaddling clothes.

The so-called evil sculpture collection! He wrote a separate phrase on the clothes.

– Recommended to give as a gift to noisy children.

“These are like the dolls that can be sold to collectors at high prices.”

In the past, Weed had worked part time at a doll store in the neighbourhood.

Adults dealing with pampered children would buy them dolls. Some of the children would kick and throw them. Harassing the doll was a way to relieve stress.

His sculpting proficiency reached 98.9% advanced level 9! The side effects of the death power over the sculptures was quickly resolved.

– The Goddess’ Knight Armour had detected the abnormal status.

The abnormal status has been suppressed.

Hestia’s blessing has decreased the darkness by half.

The adverse effects caused by the power of death has decreased by half.

While processing the Hermes Guild and making sculptures, the power of the dead decreased to 1,338.

He would need some big plays as a lich to increase it. Minor battles would only increase it by 10~20 so it wouldn’t be a lot of fun.

A lich was useful for a large scale battle.

“The symbol of a necromancer is the rotten smell of skeletons and zombies.”

After mastering handicraft, his skill proficiency started increasing rapidly. In addition to miscellaneous skills, swordsmanship also grew faster.

The species related skills given by Sculpture Transformation were significantly higher.

“This is the truth in Royal Road.”

Weed would grow stronger if there was sufficient time.

His current level was 447.

There was prey littered all over the north. The Hermes Guild members were currently suffering.

They were obsessed with becoming stronger than others but right now they were behind enemy lines.

They fought skillfully with their colleagues and had great combat senses.

Nevertheless, they couldn’t demonstrate that proficiency against Weed and lost their lives.

“It doesn’t make any sense. Why is this happening? The intelligence networks determined that Weed’s level is in the early 400s.”

“He can wear better equipment with the blacksmith skill but we also have excellent equipment.”

“I don’t have to mention the skills. I have learned the best combination of skills for a swordsman. I’ve learned dual swordsmanship.”

Normally a sculptor would be no match against a swordsman in combat.

Weed wasn’t an ordinary sculptor. He mobilized all his production and artistic skills in battle.

The production skills gave him better sword and armour, while Sculptural Destruction could dramatically increase his power.

He had close and ranged sword techniques so the general users would naturally be troubled.

He also brought the sculptural lifeforms like Bahamorg, Eltin, Gernika and Goldman. They were normal but the monsters like Bingryong, Phoenix, Fire Giant, Imugi and King Hydra were nightmares for the Hermes Guild.

King Hydra and Phoenix had close to infinite health while Fire Giant would overturn all their plans on the battlefield.

Sometimes Weed would use Sculpture Transformation to turn into the worst species…

Orc Karichwi! The ignorant Karichwi just wielded a huge axe without answering. It would become harder fighting against an orc as time passed.

He could also change into a chaos warrior. The Hermes Guild were terrified as a whole of Weed transforming into a lich.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting! A wide area skill that caused a disaster.

The Hermes Guild members decided that it was impossible to storm the cities in the Arpen Kingdom.

Those who got hit by a disaster would fall into a critical condition and the sculpture lifeforms would reap the harvest.

The Hermes Guild hesitated before entering every hunting ground due to Weed.

“Weed hasn’t been seen today.”

“Maybe he has gone to war. The guild can now play…”

“An opportunity has come.”

They marched towards villages. They decided to indiscriminately attack the northern users and rebuilt villages.

“Today we will decimate them properly. Don’t leave any survivors. Gather in the vicinity of the Ker River.

However, they had barely been marching for one hour before encountering Weed and the sculptural lifeforms.

Bingryong and 40 other sculptural lifeforms. Enthusiasm was coming from the dignified creatures.

“He appeared just when I thought about it!”

Weed exterminated the Hermes Guild users. As many as 300 people lost their lives in a day. They were high level users in major areas of the north.

“Now he is gone.

“How dirty. I will get revenge.”

“Weed directly killed me. I will maim and kill him.”

The Hermes Guild users gathered again the following evening.

Their purpose was to plunder the Arpen Kingdom! Their goal was a village halfway between Morata and Sinsaeng Castle.

But they met Weed before arriving at their destination.

“How did he…?”

“I knew he would come out.”

Weed wiped them out.

The next day was the same.

A Hermes Guild user asked him before they died.

“Tell us honestly. Did you plant a spy among us?”

“No.”

“It is a lie. You can’t show up so often without one.”

“There is something similar.”

“What?”

“The kids eat at home and will come out during the day and night. Anyway, that is the case.”

“…….”

Weed worked on eradicating the Hermes Guild.

He mobilized the sculptural lifeforms and many Hermes Guild members lost their lives in vain.

The Hermes Guild had a lot of experience hunting boss monsters but the sculptural lifeforms were different.

They weren’t cowardly and cooperated in battle. They complemented each other’s weaknesses in a fight. The Hermes Guild users were no match for the sculptural lifeforms.

Weed used disasters involving earthquakes and flooding.

“Farmlands will appear here in the future. Place it on the map…hrmm. I should buy some land around here.”

Cooperating with the avians meant that he saw right through the movements of the Hermes Guild.

Weed also had excellent knowledge of the terrain.

Weed had toured all the dangerous and safe places in the Northern Continent. Even if he wasn’t directly hunting, he would draw a map when moving through the area.

A map with all the knowledge of the area was like a treasure map for an adventurer!

“This is no good. There is a lot of rain and in the worst case situation, the river will flood.”

Weed created the map for land speculation.

The natural terrain could be changed through sculpting so the map was important for the development of the kingdom.

He marked forests, mountains, monster habitats and any good pieces of land.

He used the map and avians to track the movements of the Hermes Guild and could show up straight away.

The northern users accompanying Weed easily killed the Hermes Guild members but felt anxious.

“That…shouldn’t we join the war? We have to go.”

The Grass Porridge Cult was rushing towards the Haven Empire’s occupied areas in the north.

They would have arrived by now so the users were confused about the reason why Weed was still hunting.

“The war? Well…I will go soon.”

“You said we would go this morning.”

“I am waiting.”

“The news showed that the battle has already started.”

“I haven’t received a deposit from the broadcasting stations yet…”

“…….”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Alcard increased his troops to 1.9 million in the Haven Empire’s occupied northern territories.

He hurriedly supplemented the troops due to the emergency situation.

“Prepare the fortresses as planned!”

Alcard had the fortresses focused on defense as the northern users came flocking.

He used the funding from the Haven Empire to create reassuring thick walls.

A fortress was established near the border traffic. They couldn’t go to the south without passing through here.

The risk of a large army was that they couldn’t move quickly.

Puhol Fortress was built near a large river and would be used to annoy the northern users.

While 100,000~200,000 troops were stationed at different fortresses each, the remaining 1 million troops were at Puhol Fortress.

“They won’t be able to easily pass this fortress. We need to make this place like a mountain if they are going to attack.”

The Hermes Guild had learned from the previous two failures in the north. It was important to use psychological warfare from the start. They would make a fortress so impregnable to invasion that tactics would be meaningless.

The necromancer Krobidyun and his disciples also arrived in the north. Commander Alcard came to meet him directly at the teleport gate.

“I know that you are busy so thank you for coming here.”

“Kukuku. Necromancers are grateful to come to places like this.”

Krobidyun smiled with satisfaction as he looked around him.

The thick walls were 30m high and stretched endlessly from side to side. Plants grew on the walls and would emit poison at night.

They wanted to make it on the scale of the Great Wall of China but that was impossible in such a short time period.

The walls of this fortress was guarded by the reliable and invincible Haven Empire soldiers.

‘This is a great fortress.’

Fortresses had great power in a defensive war.

Several times in history, it had brought great benefits to the side of the defending army.

After a few victories utilizing the fortresses, there would be a psychological burden and people would be afraid to invade it.

“It really is a great fortress. Commander-nim’s ability is great to create it so quickly.”

“Those wet behind the ears people from the north should be flattered that we even consider them enemies.”

“When will they come?”

“We will probably be able to see them from noon today.”

“Then I will offer some sacrifices while waiting.”

The necromancers prepared for battle.

A large scale war.

It would be hard for the northern users to go against the necromancers. Due to the quick nature of a necromancer, Krobidyun’s level surpassed 500.

His level was close to Bardray but he didn’t dare say this openly. He was scared that he would have a disadvantage against Bardray and his followers’ strength.

‘In the long term…I will become more favourable. Because I am a necromancer.’

Krobidyun and his disciples only focused on training themselves. He came to the north because he saw it as a chance to gain several levels and skill proficiencies.

It was sufficient to stay behind Alcard and raise the undead. There was nothing easier.

“I look forward to your activeness.”

“Of course. I hope I show my value.”

By noon that day, something was coming from the southern skies.

Deng deng deng!

“The enemy!”

Puhol Fortress was in an emergency state and preparing for a war.

Now thousands of flying creatures were approaching.

They were always on the lookout for the wyverns and the avians. The archers aimed large bows towards the sky. These were special bows designed to improve their range against the avians. The magicians prepared their spells.

Soon the flying creatures entered a distance where they could be properly seen.

“Do not shoot. They are allies!”

The griffon corps!

They were mainly active in the Gradian area but then Myul lost his life to Weed. At the same time, he lost his most prized thunder spear.

“Defeat is unacceptable. But I can’t accept that he won through such cowardly means.”

In the end, the griffon corps came to the north to take revenge.

Puhol Fortress readied all its defenses and waited patiently.

The morale of Alcard and the other soldiers rose higher.

“Those northern bastards. We will step on them properly!”

“We will unconditionally win under Alcard-nim’s leadership. No one can get past this fortress.”

“I wanted to see my family. However, my family members will understand that I am fighting for the glory of the Haven Empire.”

Commander Alcard had exceptional abilities and high leadership so the morale of the soldiers became even higher.

A march would lower stamina and morale but this fortress meant the soldiers had to fight without backing down.

There were also 20,000 Hermes Guild users. Half of them were active in the north while the rest arrived through the teleport gate.

There were also reporters from the broadcasting stations.

“This is Puhol Fortress. The wind is calm and the sky is clear. Today will be fierce so there is excitement on people’s faces.”

“Now I have arrived on scene. I’m guessing that the battle will take place in a few hours. The Haven Empire is busy reinforcing the walls and checking the defense facilities. This is Kang Beom-jin from CTS Media.”

The reporters were wearing dazzling outfits.

The reporters were deeply infatuated with Royal Road. They would be dispatched to some areas to relay an adventure.

Sometimes difficult situations would occur so the journalists faithfully raised their levels on days off.

The high levels and special equipment of the reporters sometimes caused a fierce competition with the viewers.

After one hour, people started appearing from all over.

“Grass Porridge Cult!”

The users of the Hermes Guild were tense. They clearly saw the power of tactics when fighting a northern user.

The northern users were riding horses and bulls. Hundreds of people continued to flock and it quickly went beyond a thousand.

The Hermes Guild just watched. If they left the gates, then there would no doubt be a trap. For some reason, the northern users created campfires and pulled out pots. Some moved and harvested things from the area.

“That…”

“I will eat grass porridge before I die.”

The users who arrived first boiled grass porridge according to a variety of tastes.

There were things like beef or shabu shabu grass porridge. They were eating grass porridge in this situation to fill their stomachs.

Among the people from Port Varna, seafood was quite popular.

“Kuah. I can’t kill the seafood. I can’t leave the seafood to die in this deep soup.”

“Don’t say that. All units are equal in the Grass Porridge Cult. Starting from today, I will belong to the Toadstool Porridge unit.”

“Sunbae-nim. It isn’t great.”

People continued to gather on the plains and ate their own food.

“A freshly caught earthworm. Two gold!”

“Fresh mugwort! It is delicious to eat with grass porridge. You can enjoy it for only 3 silver.”

“Crabs. The forelegs of the crabs won’t be sold. First come, first served!”

“Repairing weapons. Would you like me to do it for 3 copper?”

A market quickly formed in front of the walls.

Thousands of people were eating or trading. The northern merchants opened stalls and started earnestly selling goods.

“A large hammer to beat the Hermes Guild! Don’t worry about the durability and just freely wield it.”

“Leather armour that will protect your body anytime, anywhere! The leather armour has a special option to stop arrows. An absolute must when trying to go over the walls!”

“A ladder! A siege ladder that can hold six people is for sale. Hurry because there is a limited quantity. Today you will be the heroes that caused the fortress to fall!”

The northern merchants basically treated the lives like travel wipes.

They didn’t care about saving lives and only wanted to do business. The merchants of the Arpen Kingdom bought a variety of war supplies and brought them here to be sold.

There were plenty of Grass Porridge members to sell siege weapons to. The blacksmiths of Morata could also make money.

The open market on the battlefield played the role of supply troops. Thanks to the Hermes Guild blocking the Northern Continent, business had decreased so the merchants were willing to risk their lives.

They were the foundation that would allow the northern users to go to war.

Of course, if the Hermes Guild users died then there was an opportunity to aim for their loot. A merchant on the winning side of the war would reap astronomical profits.

“What is this?”

“This atmosphere before a war…I am losing power.”

The tension in the Hermes Guild members guarding the walls collapsed. They couldn’t help thinking it was ridiculous when they looked at the relaxed northern users.

Some faces became more determined as they watched the northern users.

‘This isn’t a joke. Everything is resolved with a logical solution.

‘If this fortress is captured… The northern occupied areas will be lost. Maybe even the Central Continent…’

The Hermes Guild members were also silent.

Acting like this before a battle only made the enemy seem more ominous. It was difficult to guess the result before the fight.

Shortly afterwards, a huge cloud of dust came from afar and signaled more northern users arriving.

“Grass porridge! Grass porridge! Grass porridge!”

The northern users came like a swarm of ants.

The soldiers guarding the walls placed their hands on their weapons.

“Prepare to fight!”

Some of the Hermes Guild members already prepared started trembling. However, those experienced in fights were numb.

“Don’t be surprised. It isn’t over yet.”

“Huh?”

“It is just the beginning. They will keep coming.”

The norther users covered the entire land. The majestic sight of only humans.

More people kept arriving on the plains. There was no end to the people. Long ranged archers could fire anywhere and still hit someone, that’s how crowded it was.

“Grass porridge! Grass porridge! Grass porridge!”

The ground shook from the shouting and stamping. Even the strong walls were ringing as they kept flocking.

Alcard and the senior members of the Hermes Guild anxiously waited in silence.

‘Soon Weed will appear.’

Weed was the commander of the army.

A big match!

This was a battle that wasn’t just vying for control of the Northern Continent, but the whole Versailles Continent.

‘How will he emerge? He might pop up with another odd song. However, the position of the plains and the fortress is completely different.’

A commander’s competency would shine the more troops he had.

There was also a possibility that the army would collapse after the commander exerted their power several times.

‘Rabble like that won’t be able to take over this place with whimsical means.’

Puhol Fortress had high and thick walls!

A vast building that stretched approximately 6 kilometres in the rear. It was the largest fortress that defended the entire northern occupied area.

Myul and Alcard were burning with a desire for revenge.

“Today we will show them the strength of the Imperial Army.”

“I agree. We won’t give away anything to Weed.”

“Kulkulkul. Anyway, war involves genocide…there are many people I can use to demonstrate my skills. A necromancer fits this battle.”

The high level users of the Hermes Guild pledged that they would be the heroes of this battle.

This was a big war against the Arpen Kingdom so being shown as heroes on the broadcast was sufficient. They would take Weed’s place as a hero.

The Hermes Guild was waiting for Weed’s emergence. But then a large disturbance occurred among the northern users.

“W-what? Those guys?”

“Coming here…”

“Ack! The worst. Move before we are trampled to death!”

The Haven Empire’s army thought that reinforcements were coming.

However, the Grass Porridge Cult heard that the orc troops were coming from Dawn City. They didn’t know the situation in front and were continuing to ignorantly approach.

“Let’s go a little bit faster.”

“Think of the people behind you.”

People were pushing and the northern users couldn’t hold on to their positions anymore.

“Start the fight before we die.”

“Aye!”

“Eh, I don’t know. Since we might die anyway…”

Without any declaration of war, the Grass Porridge Cult started marching in unison towards Puhol Fortress.

And far beyond them, the orc troops could be seen.

The great orc Karichwi was the reason why they were joining! Karichwi was a name greatly praised by the orcs.

There were at least 2 million orcs, consisting of orc users as well as their offspring.

“Fight bravely. I don’t like retreat, chwiik!”

“Mother. It is kind of scary. Chwik. I want to go home and eat rice.”

“That can’t be. Chwi chwit. We have run out of rice.”

They didn’t discriminate between sons or daughters as the orcs drove their offspring towards the battlefield.

Users were pushing towards Puhol Fortress in the north.

The fight for supremacy of the north of the Versailles Continent had begun.

Chapter 5: Exposed Plan

All users belonging to the Haven Empire received a message window.

Ddiring!

– War has been declared.

In accordance with the defense at Puhol Fortress, the morale of all soldiers has increased by 310%.

The soldiers will have absolute faith in victory and will be able to unleash their fighting skills.

The strong mentality will have a big impact on attack power.

The defense skills of all combat troops +1.

Depending on the height of the walls, the damage of arrows fired will increase by 161%.

Damage from enemy arrows will be reduced by 44%.

Due to the protection granted by the fortress, the damage of all magic attacks from the enemy will be reduced by 47%.

These effects will be reduced or disappear when the durability of important facilities decreases.

The luck of all soldiers will increase by 54.

Depending on the facilities in Puhol Fortress, the recovery rate of the wounded will increase by 63%.

Vitality will recover 67% faster than normal.

Alcard’s preparations for the war were near perfect.

“Fire!”

Arrows flew into the sky and fell between the northern users.

“Kuweek!”

“Uwaaaack!”

Users disappeared into grey light from the assault.

Alcard had placed the defense troops in suitable locations.

“Fight. Kill anyone that comes!”

A full scale war broke out as the northern users pounced towards the fortress. The other side knew their tactics and were well prepared.

The northern users ran towards the fortress with their maximum power.

They used shields to block the arrows and tried to climb the walls using the ladders bought from the merchants.

Ttoduk!

“Ugh. The ladder has been broken.”

“It is defective!”

31 out of 100 ladders ended up breaking!

In fact, the quality of the ladder was normal. The ladders just couldn’t withstand the weight of hundreds of users trying to climb it.

The high level users of the Hermes Guild were nervous.

“Funny guys. Don’t let them step one foot on the walls!”

The soldiers of the Imperial Army station on the wall stabbed with their spears. The siege environment made them think the fight would be easier than they first thought.

Alcard turned his gaze towards Krobidyun.

“It looks like there are already many dead bodies…do you want to start?”

“Not yet…there are many bodies but the quality is lacking. The undead made from them would just be stepped on.”

“Myul-nim?”

“He won’t move until Weed is seen. He wants to repay that bitter taste.”

For the time being, Krobidyun and Myul would stay in the background.

The walls of Puhol Fortress were built high and thick to prepare for such waves of northern users.

‘We are encircled on all sides but Puhol Fortress can handle it. There is a siege on at least three sides but the defense makes it 10 times more advantageous for us. There are only fools on the ground.’

He felt very lucky that he was given the right to command the Hermes Guild users.

– Alcard: All Hermes Guild users, don’t leave the walls. We will have a chance to trample the enemy in a while. For now, just defend your place.

The position of a commander on the battlefield would bring strength, power and fame. Alcard was ready to compete in a favourable environment.

The Hermes Guild users will be wiped out by the northern users if they left the walls. Discipline was important in the Central Continent so they followed the commander’s orders.

The northern users were like an angry tidal wave.

They pushed the ladders against the wall but died trying to climb it.

– Alcard: We have perfectly obtained their plans thanks to the spies. This battle will be the prelude to peace in the north.

Alcard confidently called out.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Grass Porridge Cult held an emergency strategy meeting.

The team consisting of former senior military members and war movie screenwriter-made plans.

The soldiers needed to maximize their imagination when it came to a war in Royal Road.

Of course, all types of ideas popped up.

“We should have the avians drop poo on them. As well as make them eat rotten fruits.”

“I would rather use the orcs as guerilla soldiers. There would be able to get food for every 100km they advance.”

“I don’t know what you are thinking. There are at least 10 million swords that we can push. We have the unbeatable beginners unit.”

There were many fanciful ideas like the bird droppings operation.

“The merchants at Port Varna suffer from seasickness. I am a former construction worker so do you mind if I say something?”

“Of course.”

“If you have a good idea then go ahead and tell me.”

“The large ships should be pulled through this river here. If the ships are sunk then they should be able to completely block the water. It will disable the drinking water at Puhol Fortress.”

A grand plan based on blocking the river in order to build a dam!

The farmers were in favour of the idea.

“Water is scarce in the region so changing the waterways will be a large help.”

The architects and shipbuilders were recruited for ideas and showed their excitement.

“If we overcome some of the technical difficulties…ah. It isn’t an impossible suggestion. We can do it.”

“This is a time of war. I’ll make several ships in this field.”

It was a grand plan. Many people were in favour of it.

The report was forwarded to Weed through Mapan.

“Not bad.”

“Really?”

“Mapan-nim. If you could change the flow of the river…to the east.”

“Is there a reason why? The east area has many sandy areas hard for farming as well as cliffs.”

“Luxury villas.”

“…….”

“We can build luxury housing of different colours on top of the cliffs. It would be really breath-taking. After importing sand and causing some flooding, beaches will form.”

Mapan and Weed exchanged sticky gazes.

It was the smell of money!

They accumulated wealth through smuggling in the Haven Empire but they didn’t know how long that would take.

The surest business was land speculation.

“The housing project will be a jackpot.”

“An opportunity to earn a fortune.”

“When looking at it in the long term, the costs of building the facilities and management is quite scary. There is a chance that nobody would come.”

“Admission is free and we can supplement it with food and drinks. Souvenir stores for tourists, hotels, nightclubs and casinos can be opened in the area. It isn’t far from Dawn City so this place could be a potential golden egg.”

Weed’s land speculation spread throughout the north!

However, this proposal wasn’t executed because there was only a few days left before the war began.

It would have to wait as the north was advancing towards the south.

It went without saying that Weed bought the land.

The soldiers and scenario writers decided to refine basic concepts.

“We need to create a sketch of the overall battle. We need to travel to the Central Continent and deliver an overwhelming victory for the Arpen Kingdom.”

“What about the movie scenario writers? Taking into account the Central Continent, there should be some long term plans for liberating cities and kingdoms. If so, what is the plan?”

“Gather the warriors. It is necessary to figure out the time and numbers. Once the enemies are fatigued, we will wipe them out.”

There were the world’s top generals in the army, air force and navy.

The elderly soldiers were puzzled.

“So the writers. Will the soldiers be able to understand their explanations?”

“Looking at the plains, it is similar to a scene I saw of swarming ants. Nothing is left behind them.”

“There isn’t any specific methods.”

“This is what I think.”

“…….”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The soldiers and users stayed up all night thinking of plans.

– Military plan 9891.

Strategic goals.

The perfect liberation of the Arpen Kingdom and conquest of the Central Continent.

Available assets.

The number of troops is impossible to measure.

More are still accessing the cities so there are at least tens of millions.

It is possibly even over 100 million.

Given the characteristics of the orc reserves, a close to infinite food supply is required.

Individuals will have to purchase combat supplies themselves.

There are no siege weapons.

100% of the terrain has been identified.

76% of the enemy’s nature has been measured.

Based on the military and economic power of the Haven Empire, it is expected that they would have some hidden power.

360 soldiers participated in establishing the plan.

The Grass Porridge Cult were divided into troops that fit their characteristics and battle plans unfolded according to the terrain.

The meeting started a few days before the battle of Puhol Fortress and continued around the clock as they made plans to conquer the Central Continent.

“This operation is the best we can do. Once we deal a serious blow to the enemy, it will act as a bridge to liberate the Central Continent.”

“The estimated damage at Puhol Fortress is 6 million…the population of a country lost their lives.”

“The operation has left our hands so it needs to be done well.”

The high ranking officials of the Grass Porridge Cult divided their plans with the northern lords.

A chunky book that was 490 pages was distributed to key figures in the north.

“Operational plan 9891…great. It seems like we will be able to do something.”

“If we have this…just wait. Haven Empire bastards!”

“A perfect plan. It completely suits my personality.”

“Huhu. I’ve verified it twenty times and it is amazing. Victory is close.”

The key figures in the north opened the book containing the operational plan.

“Ah…so great. Um. That’s right. Kuooh!”

“Well. Why am I sleepy?”

“Well, it seems like a good story! So I will read it today and tomorrow.”

“It is complex. So I am part of the alpha squad. Bravo squad. The password is…drurang!”

The problem was that the operational plan had a greater effect as a sleeping pill.

As a result, the users couldn’t understand and follow the operational plan properly.

The users noticed it even as the war was going on.

“The occupy an area plan. It needs an explanation…I don’t understand it.”

“So it is telling us to fight. Or are we supposed to infiltrate from the rear? There are several complicated tactics depending on the situation. Anyway, the smart guys…”

“Um. We need to join with the unit next to us.”

The Toadstool unit of the Grass Porridge Cult were in the vanguard.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

“Our captain. What did you receive?”

“Ah. This…it is good to read.”

The operational plan was admired without reading it.

“Kya. This thing. It is telling us to do this. Now that makes sense. But it is just running forward.”

“Our meticulous defense plan…we just need to follow it.”

“Don’t scatter everywhere.”

“These guys. They will be executed in advance.”

Spies from the Haven Empire eagerly grabbed the operational plan.

Alcard, Lafaye and the highest members of the guild trembled with fear and admiration as they saw the operational plan.

“I had no idea there were so many smart people in the Arpen Kingdom. There are many disadvantages in the war. The shortcomings we were afraid of were exposed.”

“They are divided into groups to take advantage of these attributes. With just a few changes, they can naturally transition from a conquering army to an expeditionary force in the Central Continent. It is absurd!”

“We need to pay attention and strengthen our empire’s defenses in the future.”

“Introduce new weapons projects, village construction and operations to separate territories.”

The commandos, airborne division and the navy should perform special missions. Once these plans are implemented for one month, it will be difficult for them to deal with the empire.”

“The large commercial ships should be used to fight against the avians. The aircraft carriers should perform containment operations off the coastal cities.”

“Hurry. Come up with urgent measures. If we start slow then it will be too late.”

The highest authorities in the Hermes Guild read the operational plan and came up with some corresponding tactics.

The meeting lasted all night and continued the next morning.

It didn’t matter what money or manpower was needed.

The Hermes Guild’s main power and a great deal of money was relocated to a response strike force.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“Kuwaaaaah. Where in the world is this?”

“Straighten up. Anyway, all we need to do is kill.”

“Did you see those dead people?”

“I just picked up a loose cloth belt. It only has 2 defense. It is just annoying.”

The Hermes Guild users stayed inside the walls.

The northern users were trying to climb the walls.

They couldn’t secure a foothold to conquer the fortress and lost their lives.

Hundreds of troops took axes to the gates but it was made of 13 layers of steel.

Alcard conducted the defense from the highest place in the fortress.

“Stop those guys. Have the support troops be prepared so they can be called at any time!”

Rocks were also prepared above the gates.

“The rock attacks will come later. Maintain the current state for now!”

The Imperial Army had to conserve their resources as much as possible.

He had seen the operation plan of the northern users so he planned strategies with that in mind.

‘There will be a burst from the assault troops. They will appear soon. From then on, the battle will become real.’

The magicians of the Hermes Guild prepared their spells of mass destruction and aimed them at the northern users.

It was like pouring it into the sea. It was because there were many people waiting in line to fight.

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

The grass porridge battle cry.

The Hermes Guild and Imperial Army were sick of hearing it.

“Attack!”

“Fight recklessly.”

The arrows and magic spells from the northern users also flew towards the fortress. The imperial magicians and elementalists intercepted them.

The battle that started in the north of the fortress expanded.

Although Alcard knew the overall tactics, the intermediate commanders needed to control their troops.

‘The avians should be storming to occupy the walls.’

The intermediate commanders considered this point and organized the elite units accordingly. Some urgently dispatched high level archers and magicians of the Hermes Guild were waiting.

‘But why can’t any avians be seen?’

There wasn’t even one sparrow in the sky.

‘Don’t tell me that plan 7 has changed?’

Worrying too much was also a sin.

The intermediate commanders had stayed up all night reading the operational plan.

‘Now it is the 11th plan, the reckless charge.’

Alcard sent some knights to the south to check if that was actually the case.

“Now. Slice that point.”

Soon some of the grass porridge members started using their axes against the walls. Since the ladders collapsed, they planned to make little footholds to climb up.

“Stop them!”

The axe troops were wiped out by the archers. The actions of the northern users were too easy to see.

The plains in front of Puhol Fortress were filled with hundreds of thousands of people that kept coming.

Explosive shouts came from among the northern users.

“Let’s pile those stones.”

“Good. Okay. We have the experience.”

People who were exploited while building a pyramid in the Rosenheim Kingdom. In the north, they had built the Goddess of Freya Statue as well as a variety of Grand Buildings.

The users moved swiftly to build a pile of stones in front of Puhol Fortress.

“Pant pant. Here. Please send me to the front of the wall.”

“Stones. Move out of the way!”

People moved through the crowd carrying larger stones. One by one, the stones under the walls multiplied to a massive degree.

Some northern users even rode bulls with large stones attached. Depending on the size of the stone, groups of 5~6 or even 20 people carried them together.

It wasn’t interrupted even when people were killed by magic and arrows. People continued laying the stones before the walls.

It was a plan created by some grass porridge members spontaneously but it was quite effective.

“Occupy the walls. Uwaaaah!”

The northern players came pouring in.

Soon huge piles of stones were completed and the northern users started to climb the walls.

Alcard felt like he had been hit in the back of the head!

“Nothing is different. Guard the places they are coming from and kill them!”

The Hermes Guild and Imperial Army had excellent skills and were able to defend the walls.

They had the advantage since the walls of Puhol Fortress were extremely wide.

Then Krobidyun rolled up his sleeves.

“Should I even it out a little bit?”

The battle had been progressing for two hours.

There was a large amount of bodies accumulated so he felt quite greedy!

Most of them would only be zombies or skeletons but the large scale would still make it fun.

Alcard was a little worried and carefully said.

“Please wait a little bit longer. It will be better when it can change the battlefield. Won’t an obvious opportunity emerge?”

Krobidyun could decrease the fatigue of the soldiers. But the Imperial Army had the best power and the walls still hadn’t been occupied.

Alcard wanted to correctly demonstrate the ability of a commander in this battle.

At the same time, he didn’t want to use a valuable card so early.

“I see.”

Krobidyun followed the words of the commander and retreated.

‘There will be more corpses in the future.’

There were be more opportunities against the northern users.

Myul who was waiting for Weed didn’t even come out.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Weed belatedly arrived near Puhol Fortress after hunting the Hermes Guild users.

“Hmm. They are already fighting.”

He was at least three mountains away.

Puhol Fortress seemed smaller than his finger. As expected, the strategy of the northern users was to keep pushing.

He didn’t need to look at the specific details to see the whole stage.

It was a shocking sight just looking at it while flying on Wy-1. The sight of people covering a few kilometres as they headed to the south was ridiculous. It felt like the entire population of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Becoming a lich is powerful but there are side effects and Myul will be coming after me.”

He already knew about Myul thanks to the broadcasting stations.

Once Weed exposed his identity on the battlefield, he would be the focus of intensive attacks from Myul’s griffon troops. He would also notice if Weed took out the thunder spear.

One of the strongest powers in the Haven Empire, the griffon troops would jump on Weed.

“Even so, it’s not like there are no methods. In this world, there is something called choice. This time it is from the ground, not the sky.”

Weed pulled out the Sculpting Knife and used it on the rocks under the cliffs nearby.

“A large scale sculpture is needed due to the size of the war.”

Large sculptures gave overwhelming vitality and strength but were easy targets for the enemy.

“A mole or centipede will have some advantages.”

He made a long and ugly body and face, with a few feelers sprouting like antennae. Both arms were strong and sharp.

A sculpture of an underground monster!

By default, a narrow head was made so that it could dig and move freely in narrow spaces in the ground.

“An efficient and simple beauty. It seems to fit the design trends these days.”

The face and body was like a chubby centipede. It looked even more horrible with only two arms and legs.

A visual that was enough to cause girls and children to cry in disgust!

Weed normally made sculptures that could be produced as dolls.

“I hope to sell a lot of dolls. The eyes should make an impression. I should make some innocent eyes. The head is too large so it is stretched, but the eyes should at least be crystal clear.”

The design of the body itself was like a heinous atrocity.

“I can’t miss this hunting opportunity. It should be incredibly loud.”

The mouth was about to devour half a dozen people at once.

“I need to be able to catch anyone that flees. Or I might have to run away. Versatility is needed.”

Wings and a net were attached to his sides. It would be able to fly as well as capture things with the net.

“In addition, there should be a tail.”

The thick and sharp tail would be able to be swung like a whip.

Weed was satisfied with the piece but it seemed too weak when Weed would transform into it.

“It isn’t murderous enough. It is too simple.”

He wanted to make a really strong piece for when he used Sculpture Transformation.

He needed something that wouldn’t be difficult to use on the battlefield.

Weed’s eyes went straight to the gaping mouth. Although it was huge, his unique sense of aesthetics was mobilized.

“It isn’t overly noticeable but this is insufficient. Let’s have the tongue stretch out like a snake. As well as sharp, serrated teeth.

Even this still wasn’t enough. The majestic appearance of a large creature was still lacking.

“There should be some ranged attack skills.”

This time he made some improvements to the rear. The so-called rear reconstruction business!

“I will make a smell that is difficult to endure.”

He elongated it to have the same shape as a centipede.

An appearance that was impossible to look at for even one second.

“It has been a long time since a satisfactory work emerged.”

He had been working on pieces that would increase his proficiency in order to master sculpting. Among them, this work was his favourite.

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“Squashy Wriggler.”

– Squashy Wriggler is correct?

“That’s right.”

– Fine piece! Squashy Wriggler has been completed!

A work created by the sculptor Weed who is a hero that saved the world as well as an adventurer.

Rumours of Sculptor Weed’s abilities have already spread across the land.

He made the shocking work Squashy Wriggler!

The unpleasant appearance and unknown smell prevents people from coming closer.

Artistic Value: 30

Special Options: Squashy Wriggler will increase health and mana regeneration by 41% for a day.

The morale of your colleagues will degrade.

The residents don’t want to live in the vicinity of the sculpture.

Good luck is reduced by 35%.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Number of Fine pieces completed: 144.

Health and mana regeneration was fast but the other options were rubbish.

In particular, the smell decreased the value of the land so that was really the worst.

“It doesn’t matter if it is useless. Sculpture Transformation!”

– Sculpture Transformation has been used.

The infinite affection for sculpting makes the sculptor and statue resemble each other!

Weed’s neck and body became thicker until they couldn’t be distinguished from each other.

He became a fat creature.

Thick arms and legs with sharp claws sprouted.

Thin wings were attached to his side and there was an attack tail.

It was lucky he didn’t have a mirror after the transformation.

– Your body shape has changed so a number of equipment can’t be worn.

New equipment is needed depending on the species.

– The influence of Sculpture Transformation has significantly increased perseverance and vitality.

Intelligence and wisdom has fallen to the lowest level.

The art stat has disappeared.

Good luck will often change to -350.

This misery will be spread.

Affinity to earth has reached maximum value.

The survival feature of the species means that health and vitality has increased to 600%.

You have become resistant to poison.

The skin is hard.

This will last until Sculpture Transformation is released.

– Five racial skills have been obtained through Sculpture Transformation.

Digging, 36% advanced level 8:

You can move underground through digging.

However, there is the risk of soft ground collapsing.

Shake the Earth, 48% advanced level 3:

A scary creature that lives in the depths of the earth.

Sometimes vitality can be consumed to create an earthquake and scare the creatures above ground.

However, great power is required in order to attack someone.

Formation of Wetlands, 11% advanced level 6:

You can change the terrain of the area. The moist earth is the best for farming, will enhance your speed underground and speed up vitality recovery.

Tenacious Health, 88% advanced level 9:

Maximum health has increased by 6.58 times. Your life will remain even when parts of the body is cut off.

Although there will be some decline in health, the damage won’t persist.

There is an 85% possibility of holding onto life even near the end.

Eating Master:

You can eat a lot of foods. The body will absorb the nutrients in the food to move quickly or recover from injuries.

Of course, you will be able to eat anything alive.

Maybe even humans…

It was an oversized creature but it only had some basic skills.

There were no attack or defense skills.

However, the health was outrageous.

Weed wasn’t a warrior but changing his appearance would give him over 200,000 health

Health was important for survival in Royal Road so it wasn’t hard to find users with more than 200,000.

200,000 was the lowest his health could be after using sculpture transformation and if he transformed into species known for their health, it could increase by a further 6 times.

The Tenacious Health also increased his health by 6.58 times. His final health surpassed 7 million.

Just having simple defense skills and resilience would allow him to endure.

“A nice body. But it is a shame that there are no special skills.”

It was unfortunate that he didn’t receive any wide area attack skills.

Weed’s mouth opened to revealed sharp teeth like saw blades.

“I think that there are some gaps because I made it in a hurry. If I create another similar species then it will be better.”

His research on creating even more horrible species would be continued.

Weed’s paws moved towards the ground.

Pabababak!

His body broke through the ground in an instant.

Chapter 6: Joining of the Avians

The battle had been going on for 4 hours. The northern users repeatedly failed to capture the walls.

The Hermes Guild had conquered dangerous regions so they easily defended Puhol Fortress. The scene of carnage was repeated without any changes.

The northern users came running like moths to a flame and died. The Haven Empire subdued them with mighty firepower and abilities.

‘The operation isn’t moving as planned. This is too common. They are just running forward without any tactics.’

The Hermes Guild users were troubled.

When they compared the number of deaths, it was a one-sided slaughter. But more kept coming no matter how many they killed.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

The Hermes Guild users felt some mental fatigue. It seemed to be an endless fight and natural disaster.

Normally their method of victory was breaking down the enemy’s formations. However, more people just filled their spots.

‘The enemies have been reduced on a large scale. We are winning.’

They repeated the same words for 4 hours but they were physically and mentally tired.

Alcard mobilized the reserves in order to give the troops a break.

‘When will Weed appear?’

The Hermes Guild users kept asking that question.

In fact, it wasn’t just Myul but many troops were waiting for him to show up.

Everyone knew that this matter wouldn’t be resolved even if they killed the northern users. Only getting rid of the king of the Arpen Kingdom would stop the fanatics of the Grass Porridge Cult.

They became more tense as the battle was drawn out. The strength of the soldiers diminished and some people didn’t have enough arrows to shoot. The magicians could replenish their mana but that would require a long rest.

The Hermes Guild couldn’t rest because sometimes high level users were mixed in among the northern users.

Alcard felt like it was time for the situation to be more favourable so he asked Krobidyun.

“Can you do it now?”

“It isn’t too bad. Such a large battlefield will be a new experience for a necromancer.”

Krobidyun and his disciples climbed to the top of the fortress.

“Is everybody ready?”

“Yes.”

“Then start chanting your spells.”

“Come back to the land you used to live in. This is a dark place. It is a black and corrupt land. Help spread the laws of darkness. Undead Rise!”

The necromancer magic that went against death! The undead spell cast as a group spread out in a huge wave.

Shortly afterwards, undead started to form beyond the walls of Puhol Fortress. At least 6,000 zombies and skeleton troops were summoned, attacking the living people around them. The skeletons were primarily warriors and swordsmen.

Krobidyun and his disciples spread the undead summoning spell around the walls. Skeleton magicians formed and aimed spells at the northern users. Bones were also gathered to call large, undead monsters.

“Aaack!”

“The undead. Watch out for the undead!”

In the meantime, the level of the northern users had improved a lot. There were many that were now over level 200. However, those that were less than level 100 easily lost their lives to the skeletons.

– Acute sepsis has been received from the contaminated air.

Vitality and resistance to diseases will lower.

The necromancers then focused on spreading a plague on the northern plains.

“Kukuku. This is a necromancer.”

Krobidyun declared proudly as he watched the chaos happening with the northern users.

There were hundreds of thousands of people visible. They surged from the rear and dozens lost their lives at once. A necromancer was a damaging profession that could create this type of confusion.

“The necromancer profession was released to the public due to Weed but I was the one who benefited most.”

Krobidyun had two goals.

One was to become the strongest necromancer on the Versailles Continent as he walked next to the hero Bardray.

The remaining goal was to secure Barkhan’s full set from Weed.

Krobidyun went to the walls and absorbed mana from bodies. The necromancer’s secondary profession gave the ability to absorb life!

Mana would temporarily be absorbed in the body and mana capacity would increase up to 3.5 times.

Changing professions to a lich. He could collect the power of the dead and could permanently increase health.

Since then, they couldn’t be called an ordinary human. Their appearance changed and an eerie chill flowed around them. Physical contact with other users was difficult and it was impossible to visit cities without losing their lives.

A lich had immortal health but that could be broken by holy power as well as some skills. It would then take a long time to recover and relearn the skills.

Krobidyun didn’t care about all of this. He would become the top necromancer.

“The lost bodies coming to life. Assemble together. Use the magic power gained to free yourselves from the shackles of death…blood golem summoning!”

Hundreds of bodies joined together to form a 20 metres tall golem.

“Sweep them all away!”

The golem swung both fists. The blood golem got bigger as more corpses joined it.

‘The golem is still weak but there are plenty of corpses.’

Corpses were the resource of necromancers and this place was overflowing with them.

‘If I refill my mana then I can summon more undead. This is being relayed in real time to the stations so I, Krobidyun will be the hero.’

The level 507 Krobidyun was full of hope.

He brought out the full tactics of a necromancer due to the broadcasting stations.

Most of the people killed were malleable.

‘I am the ultimate powerhouse on this battlefield.’

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Before the battle, there was an internal conflict between the avians.

“A ground war? What does that have to do with us? The avians are an existence beyond the division of territory.”

“Grass Porridge Cult. Good. This is good. They are a coalition that believes in freedom. However, it isn’t compatible with the spirit of the avians.”

Royal Road constantly had new users entering.

There were people from various countries, with differing jobs and ages. They fell in love with Royal Road and joined the Arpen Kingdom after it was founded.

The avians would wake up from a nest egg and learn to fly in the sky with their wings. They didn’t join the humans and experienced the freedom of an avian.

The path to choosing the avians as a species was opened by Weed. Therefore they appreciated Weed to some extent, but didn’t want to be mobilized for a war.

The avians sat in the square and on the trees of Lavias and listened to opinions.

“We need to seriously consider the future. The Haven Empire will not come crashing down on its own. Looking at the big picture, it is reasonable to think they will control the Northern Continent.”

“Some avians have also become northern residents.”

“Since when have we been inhabitants of the north! The Arpen Kingdom is the Arpen Kingdom. We don’t live upon any land and don’t belong to any kingdom.”

“If we don’t participate in the war then won’t people laugh at us?”

“Are we prepared? Aren’t we free to go to war or not? There is no reason to be together with those ridiculous humans.”

A fierce debate was going on in the island in the sky. The opinions not to get involved in the war made sense.

It was due to the habits of the avians itself.

The northern users living together in cities and villages needed to help each other. The Grass Porridge Cult was a big factor in making Royal Road enjoyable in the north. The Grass Porridge Cult started out in shanty houses and had various events. The Grass Porridge Cult was already one with the Arpen Kingdom.

But the avians that soared above the clouds didn’t feel such a culture. They joined the avians dreaming of freedom!

Among them, those who were fatigued of war emerged.

The members of the grass porridge’s airborne troops waited quietly for the decision. They wanted to fight with the Arpen Kingdom but they respected the choice of the avians. The noble spirit of the Grass Porridge Cult meant they wouldn’t force anyone.

Kaaack!

Then Seo-yoon arrived riding Wy-3.

Weed had asked her to try and convince the avians.

“Wy-3.”

“Weed-nim’s colleague.”

The avians stared at her in unison.

Seo-yoon didn’t know what to say even after Wy-3 had landed on the ground.

‘How can I persuade them? Saying fight for us is too shameless…’

Her conscience meant that she hesitated to say anything.

She roughly knew the situation. She couldn’t ask the avians to sacrifice themselves by joining.

One crow, who had been shouting that war was impossible, pointed to her with his wings.

“Look at that. Weed’s colleague can’t even say anything. This is because there is no justification to persuade us.”

The eyes of the avians cooled. There were over 2 million avians present here. There were big birds, small birds and all types of shapes and eyes.

Other avians joined in after the crow.

“Tell us anything. Words that will force our sacrifice! We recognize Weed-nim’s achievements in the north. Yes. He is a great adventurer. But the reason he still has the status of king is due to the sacrifice of our users. Now we have to make such a sacrifice again? Until when?”

Seo-yoon gave a small sigh.

‘I can’t talk.’

The avians were too aggressive. And every point was like a bullseye.

Seo-yoon knew about Weed and Mapan’s various businesses. Land speculation and smuggling!

She couldn’t shamelessly ask them to sacrifice themselves for Weed. She was feeling the pangs of remorse when a raven joined in.

“Weed’s colleague isn’t even polite. She came to persuade us wearing a mask.”

In this situation, basic manners was being pointed out! Seo-yoon wanted to at least maintain the minimum of human dignity.

She slowly took off her mask.

Pukek! Kwaack! Chirp chirp chirp! Kokoko! Pudadak!

The features of the avians stood up as Seo-yoon’s beauty was revealed. Whether they were a man or woman, all eyes were concentrated on her.

Her clear skin, eyes, nose, mouth, forehead, cheeks, chin and hair. It was the optimal combination to give off an impossible, dazzling beauty.

Seo-yoon seemed to be surrounded by a rainbow halo. It was like even the weather was surprised by her appearance.

The goddess of the Grass Porridge Cult. Even the people who guessed it were amazed.

“She is different from the statue. It doesn’t properly show the person. Kkokoko!”

“Weed is a bad man. A really bad man!”

“A daughter as well. I should have a daughter…” No, get your own sandwich!

“Being born in Royal Road is the best choice. I have no regrets in life.”

Many humans had seen Seo-yoon’s face but for the avians, this was the first time.

There were videos of her on the internet but that hardly displayed all her charms. Seo-yoon gave off a beautiful feeling just being near her.

“Kuah. Her beauty is making my head dizzy. I am truly ecstatic.”

“It is a plague. It is the same for me as well.”

“A short life. Even so, I have no regrets.”

Seo-yoon’s face turned red. It was because the avians were suddenly praising her.

‘The people must be kind to praise me like that. Everyone is nice.’

There seemed to be many good people living in this world.

The people she encountered.

When she was waiting for the light at the pedestrian crossing, the cars would stop regardless of the light and wait for her to pass.

Previously she had rode in a luxury car with a driver but now she often used the bus. Buses would pull up and ask where she was going while she waited at the bus station.

Sometimes they would kindly take her even if they weren’t going in the right direction.

“Ah. That will take longer. This bus is going to turn around in the other direction…one moment. Guests-nim. I want to ask if we can take this young lady to her destination?”

“Of course. You don’t even need to ask.”

“Driver. I think you did very well. Really smart!”

“Young lady. Please come in!”

The guests and drivers would welcome her on the bus. It didn’t depart until she was sitting down and was as comfortable as the luxury car.

If she was walking in the neighbourhood then the police patrol would approach her first.

“It is dangerous if you are alone. I’d be happy to take you to where you are going. It is 2 p.m. you know? I’m saying this as a policeman, crime happens both day and night. No. It is urgent that we keep our citizens safe.

“Corporal Im. Double patrols in this neighbourhood!”

“Should we make a permanent post here?”

“Please call 112 whenever you go out for a walk.”

It was the same when she bought things at the market.

“500 grams of premium beef? Huh…premium beef is quite expensive these days. Do you still want to buy it?”

“Yes.”

“You must be hungry so I will give you 1kg. Eat it and put the leftovers in the fridge. Do you also want 3kg of ribs?”

“I’m sorry but I didn’t bring a lot of money with me. Can I come back in an hour?”

“Oh, what are you saying? This is a service for regulars. Service. How can I make you buy all that meat? You only have to pay for the 500 grams of beef. No, just pay half that price. This is a discount, a market discount.”

The generous hearts of other people!

Seo-yoon was worried about her future job.

‘A dual income family is needed…it is hard to live in the world due to the recession.’

It would be difficult to run a household on her own. She felt it when Weed tried hard to make money.

She tried to get a job in order to ease his burden.

She thought about applying to some large companies as an intern but ended up meeting the manager of the HR department.

The managers of the big companies lost their minds as they saw Seo-yoon.

“The appearance in the picture…you are looking for a job? Your education is good and you have high marks so why did you come to our company? A screening interview? Of course. Come to this place today.”

Other companies sent their representatives directly.

“Thank you for your application. You are looking for a job in our company but I wanted to ask a favour. Have you ever thought of becoming an advertising model? We need an advertising model for a new product and the company will give a down payment of 1 billion won. I promise that price is the highest in the industry.”

“Our company is a global enterprise. You can be an advertising model in fields ranging from cell phones, cars, fashion or even high tech medical equipment. Just tell us the price you want and we will deposit it.”

Famous celebrity management companies also approached her.

“There is a production worth 2 billion that already has the drama script. There are also many interested in the United States…ah. Can you speak English? Then you can directly be a heroine. It will be difficult to attend university in the United States for a long time but endure it. Then come back to Korea. The film technologies are amazing these days. Scenario? It can be modified. It doesn’t matter what we need to replace. We should have a good relationship with each other.”

The people were very friendly and always tried to help her.

Seo-yoon was ashamed and tearfully watched the avians with red eyes. After taking a few breaths, she finally managed to speak in a refined voice.

“Your judgement is right. Thank you for your help so far. My whole life… I’ll be sure to return the favor. Thank you.”

She bent her waist and politely bowed.

She was too considerate to try and convince the avians. Seo-yoon couldn’t come up with any reasonable excuse or reason to persuade them.

Kkokikok! Pukekek! Caw! Huhihik! Pupuk!

There was an uproar among the avians.

“Who? Who dared be so insolent and ungrateful?”

“It must be those guys whose feathers aren’t even dry of the egg yolk yet.”

“No, Goddess-nim. There was a misunderstanding. We were just discussing methods to fight harder against the Haven Empire.”

“They are our mortal enemies. Haven Empire! I can never forgive them.”

The complainers had an entirely different attitude.

‘There has been a problem with how I’ve lived up to now.’

‘Why did I even have doubts? I started Royal Road due to the Arpen Kingdom. My mind forgot.’

‘The sacrifice of the avians? I was thinking the same thing a little while ago. We are on the same side but I became really ugly. Now I am a changed man. I should live as a human.’

The tension between factions and split opinions immediately disappeared.

The emergence of the goddess!

People made a judgement deep in their souls. The influence was on a completely different level from the girl groups who visited the army.

A real goddess among humans.

The atmosphere completely changed. The avians no longer spoke bad things to her about the situation.

A crow loudly exclaimed.

“Now. Let us decide. Those who want to fight with the Grass Porridge Cult, fly into the sky!”

The avians spread their wings in unison.

Kuah!

The avians covered the sky.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Grass Porridge Cult and Haven Empire had been waiting for the attack.

Soon a black cloud covered the sky as the avians approached.

“The emergence of these guys. Prepare the anti-aircraft troops.”

“Have the shield troopers be prepared for the assault. Their damage is weak. Once the avians land on the ground, prevent them from flying again.”

“Magicians should take to the air. We will cover you.”

The military commanders already had a response prepared.

Puhol Fortress was structurally prepared for the avians.

Numerous towers with small windows were built where magic could be aimed at the sky.

“Uwaaaah!”

“The grass porridge air force has appeared!”

The northern users on the ground cried out loudly. It felt reassuring to have the friendly avians flying above them in the sky.

Krobidyun whose body had changed into a lich smirked.

“The sky…it is a shame that I can’t dominate the sky as a necromancer.”

It was possible for him to summon a bone dragon with his necromancy skills.

Of course, he needed to have sufficient skill proficiency and consume more mana than usual. He was controlling a massive number of undead on the ground and would lack the control needed for a bone dragon.

Alcard went and visited Myul.

“Myul-nim. The avians are coming this way.”

“So?”

“Then you…”

“Not yet.”

“If Myul-nim goes out then it will solidify our dominance.”

“Alcard-nim, you are only the commander in the north.”

Myul carefully looked at Alcard with sharp eyes.

“I ruled over a large territory in two kingdoms in the past. My griffon corps are invincible. However, that honour has fallen significantly due to the vile way that Weed killed me.”

“I am truly sorry about that.”

“Anyhow, the result isn’t important but my honour isn’t the same as it was in the past. People are now poking fun at me. The avians might be difficult but you can cope. Please understand that my position is waiting for Weed.”

“I understand.”

Alcard couldn’t force him. Myul had a higher status than him in the Hermes Guild.

He was a person who lost his life in a humiliating way. He would accept the consequences of a one-on-one fight but being hit in the back really angered him.

Hoping that Myul and the griffons would face the avians was being excessively greedy.

‘Anyway, he just needs to stop Weed. That alone is enough to ease the burden.’

Alcard headed towards the walls where the Haven Empire troops were.

“Don’t become confused. The avians can cause confusion but they are basically weak. They can’t be your opponents. Preserve your lives by protecting the magicians. Victory is ours!”

“Uha!”

The shouts of the Imperial Army was no less than the northern users.

This was due to Alcard’s leadership and the protective effects of Puhol Fortress.

There were 1 million troops. 250,000 were stationed at the walls but all the reserves, knights and cavalry were prepared and waiting.

The massive fortress was filled with elite groups.

This was catharsis for a commander on the battlefield!

‘Weed. This isn’t your time. You will suffer defeat.’

The avians covered the sky above the battlefield.

It was filled with many types of birds and was a wonderful sight. Sometimes the birds would move and a ray of sunlight would fall to the ground.

The avians slowly moved through the sky as they coordinated the raid. The swirling of the avians felt like a natural phenomenon.

Even the experienced Hermes Guild swallowed their saliva as they became tense.

Hudududuk.

And something fell from the sky.

“All of a sudden…no. This taste is…poo!”

“Ugh. It hit my head.”

The avians indiscriminately poured poo onto Puhol Fortress.

It wasn’t just an unpleasant offense. It made the walls muddy and lowered the morale of the soldiers.

“Shields!”

“Cover, cover!”

The brave users of the Hermes Guild that didn’t blink an eye at anything, scrambled to avoid the poo.

The feces and urine fell for a long time. Those in Puhol Fortress were currently experiencing hell.

The northern users continued their reckless assault on Puhol Fortress as the urine and faeces continued to fall.

“I am already friends with the avians.”

“Oh…I already feel dirty. Is this really necessary to conquer the fortress?”

“It would have been better if the surprise started a few days ago…”

By that time, the faeces and urine attacks had subsided.

Kokokoo!

It sounded like a chicken was crying.

At that moment, the violent assault of the avians occurred as they fell down from the sky! They dived towards the ground from the highest point in the sky.

“A raid. All soldiers, prepare your shields.”

The avians were weak.

However, Alcard and the Hermes Guild found them seriously annoying.

“Armoured soldiers stand up. Archers, lie down and aim your arrows towards the sky.”

It was a posture that showed they were completely ready!

‘We can easily take care of the avians from this fortress.’

The avians came barging in so it was easy to reduce their numbers.

The avians didn’t use any tactics and just came pouring down indiscriminately.

‘What is the operational plan for the avians? Why doesn’t it fit?’

The avians were moving too fast. They used the power of gravity as they dropped towards the ground. Their only goal was to target the soldiers of the Haven Empire.

Kwa kwang!

The soldiers faced the attack because they had the perception that the avians were weak. Once they collided with some elite soldiers, two or three lost their lives and turned grey.

Of course, some avians also welcomed death.

“Not weak…no. Unbelievable!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Alcard watched from the top of a tower and couldn’t believe the spectacle taking place in every direction.

There were dead soldiers everywhere from the air bombing.

The soldiers of the Haven Empire were elites. Of course, they were wearing elite equipment but their levels also weren’t low due to training and combat.

There were armour and shields to improve vitality and the commanders even owned specialized equipment that would increase the stats of the entire army.

Nevertheless, the soldiers were still helplessly dying.

The fall of the avians even cracked the walls and caused deep pits.

“This can’t be…cough!”

A Hermes Guild members staring blankly was hit by an avian.

– A critical hit!

You have been hit by a blow.

The Shylock Helmet has reduced the damage.

Health has been reduced by 4,280.

The mid-400s user from the Hermes Guild also suffered damage.

They never believed that they would be in danger from Weed and the northern users due to their tactics.

Even the high level users were having their lives threatened.

30~40 avians shouted and would risk their lives to kill someone.

“I can’t believe it.”

They couldn’t understand but self-survival was their first priority. The Hermes Guild felt the crisis and hurriedly escaped from the walls.

Due to the moment of hesitation, hundreds of Hermes Guild members lost their lives to the carpet bombing of the avians. They tried to swing their swords but it was no use as the avians fled back into the sky.

“Shoot. Shoot them! Before they drop back down!”

The archers fired their arrows but it didn’t make a big difference. They could only fire two arrows before the avians came diving back down.

The power of a crash!

Alcard and the archers weren’t prepared for the speed. The magicians had low health and lost their lives while the archers’ formation also collapsed.

The Hermes Guild avoided them and the ranged units participated, but the damage from the avians became even larger.

The heavy infantry with maximum defense also collapsed and lost their lives.

“This is…were the avians always like this?”

The northern users who were advancing also couldn’t understand.

Their speed was too fast as they came down from the sky to the ground. It didn’t feel this fast when they were travelling to Puhol Fortress.

In addition, the strength of the avians was impossible to be predicted.

It hadn’t been long since the avian species was unlocked in Royal Road so they were still going through a period of growth.

“We have to do something about them.”

The Hermes Guild discovered that a group of avians was flying over with large rocks.

The avians had the power to drop rocks towards the ground. The carpet bombing where the avians threw their lives.

It had much more speed and accuracy compared to dropping rocks. Their goal was to increase their falling speed form the sky.

“Isn’t this unbelievable?”

“Normally their loyalty to the Arpen Kingdom isn’t that high.”

The avians’ hearts weren’t always like that.

The nature of the avians while fighting was different.

Normally they joined great battles to gain some life experience. But due to Seo-yoon’s emergence, a fire had been lit in the hearts of the young, male avians.

“I don’t want to see the Goddess sad. Kokodaek!”

“Ah. I feel really sorry. No, how could…I can’t commit a big sin.”

Seo-yoon’s appearance was deeply stamped on their souls.

It wasn’t difficult to lay down their lives for her.

“If I die, it will be with meaning. There is no damage. I won’t try to save my life and will fight my best at the fortress.”

“I’ll willingly carry this rock. It will work if I crash into the enemy.”

“Heh. Isn’t that quite scary? I will accurately hit the magicians.”

“I am already level 170. This is an exciting feeling like when discovering a new island. This is the thrill before death.”

“Hermes Guild. They are pestering our goddess…it is a heavy sin. From now on, it is war. Go until the end!”

The avians that were against the war decided to join. There wasn’t any reason or logic. They just felt like it was good to live in this world.

“Hmm hmm. The girl is really pretty. Elder-nim?”

“It is the first time in my long life that I’ve seen such a face. I hope she takes care of her health. It is worth living a long life.”

As the atmosphere heated up, the seniors and married avians also joined in the air bombing. Age didn’t matter as they flocked!

The avians indiscriminately attacked Puhol Fortress with burning hearts. Of course, some avians fell and dropped their rocks before swerving away.

The scene also lit a fire in the chests of the northern users.

“Advance! Let’s do it.”

“Don’t hesitate. Run and jump over it!”

“Fight two, no three times faster.”

The northern users had their commitment renewed and sped up.

The fighting spirit and morale of the avians boosted the combat capabilities of the northern users by several times.

A change in the flow of battle that couldn’t be told through a plan!

– Alcard: Report the situation.

– Pencil: We are currently unable to grasp it. The commanding system is not secure. I don’t know how many adjutants survived.

– Alcard: First of all, preserve the troops. If we bear with it a little bit then an opportunity will come again. The avians can’t be like this forever.

– Raker: More avians are approaching from the north. The 2nd round of air strikes.

Puhol Fortress was receiving a major attack so Myul’s complexion wasn’t good as he watched.

“I know how to handle something like this.”

If the griffons joined then the avians would become weak like flies.

The mobility of the avians in the air would slow and they wouldn’t be able to resist.

They could die or fall down on the northern users.

However, the timing was already lost as Myul and his troops waited.

“If we lose the air battle then I might receive heavy criticism from the guild. Weed needs to come out no matter what…”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The Hermes Guild users eagerly awaited the emergence of Weed.

The high level users of the Grass Porridge Cult were starting to be seen. They waited for the ambush that Weed was surely planning.

“All he needs to do is emerge. Then I will be the hero of the war.”

The 20,000 Hermes Guild users all had this idea in a corner of their minds.

At that time, Weed was deep in the ground.

“I am finally getting somewhere.”

Pababababak.

He moved forward while fiercely digging at the earth.

The abomination that was Squashy Wriggler!

He had been digging at the ground for a long period of time when he realized he was lacking something.

“As the world becomes more developed, there will be improvements in performance. It is like how the price becomes more expensive when the size of a television doubles.”

Thus he used Sculpture Transformation again.

He created 40 razor sharp awls on his head as well as other changes.

Finally, the appearance changed to a level that was even difficult to face. Squashy Wriggler made the rough looking Karichwi look cute.

Squashy Wriggler went through a significant improvement and became a masterpiece.

Sculpting skill proficiency was acquired! The artistic value lowered by 7 but the performance was more extreme.

Despite the outer appearance, it became a masterpiece because the efficiency was optimized.

After transforming back into Squashy Wriggler, he dug and moved through the earth at a frightening speed.

“Indeed, an underground monster should have this degree of efficiency.”

He soon came close to the vicinity of Puhol Fortress. The ground shaking could be felt even deep underground.

“I don’t know what is happening up there but it doesn’t really matter.

The Hermes Guild users at Puhol Fortress were only waiting for Weed to appear.

They were powerhouses from the entire Versailles Continent.

“I should live like a coward.”

Weed’s paws took out a sculpture.

It was a sculpture of a swamp with poison fog. He stayed up late to make this masterpiece of a poison swamp for Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

‘The effect will be awesome with more people. A disaster isn’t a bad thing. This species means that I can move speedily.”

Of course, he was still affected by the disaster despite being an animal. However, Squashy Wriggler was comfortable in a poisonous swamp like it was the bedroom.

He sent a whisper to Mapan before causing an accident.

“Mapan-nim. Can you talk now?”

– Yes. But the business…it is over and I am offering the final goods at reduced prices.

“The proceeds?”

– Over 800,000 gold was gained.

“Good. What about this evening?”

– My goal is 1 million.

Mapan had a love and hate relationship with war.

A lot of people converged so business was good. Just like many other merchants, he sold goods at a cheap price.

Mapan felt tearful as he sold some items too cheaply but the investment usually paid off. Having a vast production base meant there was a high margin for profit.

Weed helped Mapan’s trading company grow even bigger in the north.

‘I shouldn’t be jealous of a person earning money. People can’t be too narrow-minded.’

The rich should be different.

‘Raise the spoon.’

In fact, Weed made multiple large investments and was a partner in Mapan’s trading company.

But ultimately, Weed didn’t count on Mapan.

‘Someday he might hit me in the back of the hit.’

He didn’t let his guard down around Mapan.

‘Obviously he will betray me. Of course, I can always betray him first.’

There was no such thing as eternal allies in the business world!

Even if they became enemies, Weed was still willing to drink a cup of beer with Mapan. They had a good understanding of each other.

‘Don’t drink unless Mapan-nim is buying.’

‘Weed-nim is earning good money. If he has a conscience. Ah…just buy it for me.’

They were the best combination when it came to making money.

“I am currently near the fortress. The situation?”

– The ground troops were unable to enter Puhol Fortress. The undead is blocking the way so they are losing their lives.

“What else?”

– The avians are hugging stones while falling. The imperial soldiers are dying. I don’t understand it but…the northern users are being heated into a battle frenzy.

‘She managed to bring the avians.’

He had no doubt about the outcome when he asked Seo-yoon.

Weed was aware of the living miracle that was Seo-yoon.

“How much did you pay the real estate when buying the home?”

“I needed to pay them?”

“There is a fee.”

“Really? The former owner didn’t require one.”

“…….”

Weed gave a deep sigh. There were always fees involved when it came to buying and selling.

Some real estate fees were so expensive that people argued for two days and nights.

“The house has no problems?”

“Yes.”

“I heard that some newly built houses will leak when it rains.”

Seo-yoon’s house was large and luxurious but that didn’t mean it was well-built. He had to think that there was something wrong with the building.

“The staff at the architectural firm checked it directly. So far there isn’t anything.”

“You should be careful from now on. It is really hard to check every nook and cranny of a house.”

“I was told that any defects in the next 15 years would be repaired. If I want seasonal wallpaper or flooring then they will change it.”

“…….”

It was service on an entirely different dimension.

This was the mysterious power of Seo-yoon’s appearance. No man would want to make her dislike them or to feel sad.

If Seo-yoon asked for a blood donation then men would be lining up for at least 1km. If she was in a cosmetics ads then hundreds of millions would be sold every month. It was the same even with cell phones, cars or bottled water.

It really was a pretty world from her point of view.

‘I don’t want Seo-yoon to give birth to a daughter as perfect as her.’

However, Weed thought that such a perfect appearance was a very dangerous thing!

Weed didn’t hesitate to use the sculpting technique.

“Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

– You have used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

20 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

All stats have been temporarily reduced by 15% for 3 days.

Affinity to Nature has fallen.

Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once a day.

When a great calamity is called upon, fame or infamy can be increased depending on the damage.

It is possible to die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

Now Puhol Fortress was in a worse position.

Chapter 7: A Real Hero

The avians gradually reduced their air bombing. It was because the Haven Empire and Hermes Guild users hid behind cover.

The avians completely dominated the air through some considerable sacrifices.

“Let’s go. To the fortress!”

“This evening, we will eat pork belly in the fortress.

The Grass Porridge Cult ran towards the walls.

Krobidyun hid his body behind a high pile of bones and led the undead.

“Block them. My servants.”

Skeletons and ghouls attacked the northern users from several areas.

“Get off. These pile of bones!”

“Just push through!”

Many archers and magicians lost their lives so they weren’t any help as the northern users pushed through the undead.

The northern users had to overcome the undead. They couldn’t miss the opportunity created through the sacrifices of the avians.

Priests and paladins moved to destroy the undead with holy magic.

Krobidyun just smiled.

“Stupid. A necromancer will always have the advantage on the battlefield.”

A necromancer looked at the situation from a different perspective.

Thanks to the sacrifice of the avians, many imperial soldiers and Hermes Guild users died. Losing troops wasn’t always a disadvantage on the battlefield.

Thanks to their corpses, advanced undead could be made.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Undead Rise.”

The undead summoning spell was used once again.

On the walls of Puhol Fortress, undead such as death knights, doom knights and specters were made.

“Kill them all.”

“Hyas!”

The undead flocked over the Northern users.

The redemption of the soul and blood! Krobidyun consumed mana and was successful in supplementing the undead.

“Tough warriors that reject death. Sign a contract, those who want to be on the battlefield. Appear in response to my call. Animate the Dead!”

A stage 4 undead summoning spell unfolded. The souls of strong warriors would inhabit good bodies and display the skills they had in life.

More than 100 bodies rose up. An intense and blackened radiance emerged from Krobidyun. The innate strength of undead warriors was emitted.

Krobidyun often led an undead army when hunting alone. These undead warriors were enough to overpower boss level monsters.

“Everybody go forth. There are many enemies.”

The undead warriors bowed to Krobidyun and entered the battlefield.

With big swords and shattered armour, the undead ghosts penetrated through the northern users.

Krobidyun summoned 500 skeleton archers in the vicinity to shoot arrows into the sky. It was an offensive to keep the avians in check.

None of them could stop him due to the strong barrier of bones. Once a necromancer had summoned the undead, there was no need for them to fight directly.

Durururururu.

At that moment, Puhol Fortress and the entire region started trembling.

‘An earthquake? It is too weak to be an earthquake…’

‘Weed?’

They knew that Weed could cause a disaster so Alcard sent an emergency notice to the troops.

– Alcard: Have all troops prepare for a disaster. The intelligence has determined that we only need to endure it once.

The magicians expanded the protection spells while the soldiers and Hermes Guild users hid behind cover.

The priests were sent to a safe area inside the fortress.

The shaking in the entire area vanished.

“Nothing happened.”

“Maybe someone used a big magic…”

Then the land around them started to collapse.

“Ehh. My feet are falling.”

The hard rock had turned into fine mud that was pulling their bodies in.

The land had changed into a swamp. The buildings inside the fortress collapsed or were pulled down sideways.

“Aaack!”

The soldiers and users inside the fortress were struggling to emerge from the ground.

In an instant, the land had gone up to their knees and then their waist. It only took a minute before the earth covered their heads.

“S-save me!”

At this moment, the Hermes Guild members were only thinking about escape.

An instinctive fear!

Their levels were high so they might survive, but there was an instinctive fear of being sucked into the ground.

And a dense poison fog.

– Poison! Poison! You have become poisoned.

Health is reduced.

Vitality is reduced.

Probability of skills and magic failing has increased by 76%.

“Poison…this poison swamp is a disaster produced by Weed!”

The whole terrain was changed due to the disaster but not all of them freaked out. The magicians and priests used detoxification magic on those close to them. But there were numerous imperial soldiers gathered at the fortress.

“Kuweeek!”

The imperial soldiers breathed in the poison fog and suffered. Even if they didn’t die, their combat capabilities were significantly reduced.

The members of the Hermes Guild hastily went to look for priests or an antidote. And the earth shook again.

Grrrrrung.

The earth shook severely as a heinous monster could be seen through the poison fog emerging from underground!

“Uwaaaack!”

Five magicians near the centre of Puhol Fortress were eaten.

“What is this?”

“It is a tremendous size. A giant monster?”

It disappeared only to shortly pop up in the vicinity of another magician.

“W-what?”

They couldn’t see properly due to the poison fog.

The loud noise was close by but it was hard to see properly.

“Kyakyakyat!”

Weed noticed this fact after jumping out of the ground.

The poisonous swamp gave symptoms to the soldiers but wasn’t strong enough to wipe them out.

Even so, Puhol Fortress was locked in horror as bodies were stuck in the swamp or poisoned.

“It is almost too easy.”

He hid in the ground and attacked enemies at random. His 40 feet moved forward at the same time while his horns and tail broke the buildings.

A large centipede was hunting in swampy ground. He also raised his strength with Sculptural Destruction so the Hermes Guild users and soldiers could barely last a few seconds.

If two sides had a similar brute power, the one with the advantage was likely to win. Weed’s size and bloody appearance was a psychological advantage.

“W-Weed? He has appeared. Help me!”

Weed was strong. He almost beat Bardray alone and overpowered Myul.

Some Hermes Guild members didn’t want to die and chose to run.

A chase scene that could often be seen in monster movies! They splashed through the swamp but failed to be quick enough.

Weed’s wings and 40 legs allowed him to jump at the Hermes Guild users.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Finally, the tail struck down the Hermes Guild users.

– Your level has risen.

– Combat fame has increased by 491.

– Luna’s Bracelet has been acquired.

– Nakran’s Headdress has been acquired.

– The Kallamore Adventure Map #72 has been acquired.

Big items!

“There is a monster out there. Don’t panic and attack…cough!”

A sticky swamp and poisonous smoke! Weed couldn’t see but he could use his ears.

Despite the darkness, he could use the antenna to detect things.

– The human Radyus has been eaten.

Due to the bad eating habit, infamy has increased by 36.

Health has recovered by 497.

Maximum vitality and strength has temporarily increased.

He sometimes ate knights hiding behind walls or pillars but he preferred priests and magicians.

It was a terrible way of fighting unleashed by Squashy Wriggler. Once in a while, black smoke would be blown out from his rear due to indigestion.

Bbuuuuh!

The poisonous Squashy Wriggler unleashed powerful poison gas.

“My nose is rotting!”

“M-my armour is dissolving.”

It was strong enough to melt stone.

The large centipede reached its peak in the swamp. Due to the terrain change from Great Disaster Nature Sculpting, he had maximized the effectiveness of Sculpture Transformation.

Meanwhile, the avians joined Weed in slaughtering the Hermes Guild users.

“Weed-nim is participating. Kokodaek!”

“Really? He didn’t sing a song…”

“He is beneath the ground. Caw!”

The avians viewed the devastation occurring inside Puhol Fortress. Suddenly, the earth had been turned into a swamp and buildings were torn down.

A poisonous fog rose in the military fortress of the Haven Empire.

Some of them also saw poison mist being released from the centipede’s body.

“I-is that really Weed-nim?”

“Let’s help. Help him.”

“Somehow my heart doesn’t want to get near him.”

The avians had only shown the suicide attacks against the Haven Empire.

They received requests from the airborne troops of the Grass Porridge Cult.

“Drop us in the fortress. I would like to fight with Weed-nim.”

“It won’t be a normal fight because of the poison. The imperial soldiers are melting.”

“It doesn’t matter. The grass porridge air troops are prepared to sacrifice our lives for the freedom of the Arpen Kingdom and Weed. Thousands of avians have already struggled for us.”

“If so, I will give you a lift. Please stay alive.”

The avians dropped thousands of the grass porridge air troops into Puhol Fortress.

They used feathers that reduced weight and drifted down from the sky. By default, they learned archery due to the war.

Pu shu shu shuk!

They fired arrows towards Puhol Fortress as they fell to the ground. Visibility was limited due to the poison fog. They indiscriminately fired towards soldiers on the walls or stuck in the swamp.

“From the sky.”

The Hermes Guild aimed magic in the sky after discovering them and dozens lost their lives. However, the arrow attacks of the airborne troops just headed towards that area.

The grass porridge air troops split up as they landed on the ground.

“It is up to us.”

“For the Arpen Kingdom!”

Their levels were different. But the elite grass porridge air troops gathered their courage and loyalty.

They went up to the imperial soldiers.

“C…come get me!”

They wielded their swords without hesitation towards the soldiers found in the swamp.

“Cough. Why are they…?”

The magicians and priests were hit by axes or stabbed by swords.

“B-betrayal?”

The grass porridge airborne troops wore the typical clothes of the Haven Empire’s army.

Some of them were wearing the clothing and items typical for the commanders of the Hermes Guild.

The Hermes Guild had swords and armour equipped that was optimal for combat. The airborne troops wore identical equipment so it was impossible to distinguish between them.

Drago who dreamt of becoming a master and his disciples had made clothing for the airborne troops.

“You want some fakes?”

“Yes. I’m sorry for asking this of Tailor-nim but it is necessary.”

“Heh. I’m not a star. I will make it exactly the same. And I will use particularly good buttons.”

The life of sewing buttons on clothing!

Tens of thousands of airborne troops were dressed as Hermes Guild users and Haven Empire soldiers.

Initially it didn’t make a difference as some airborne troops were kill in the air. The archers and magicians with low health aggressively assaulted the airborne division.

But due to the poison fog inside the fortress, the airborne troops could cause severe confusion.

“Completely secure places on the eastern wall.”

“Take control of the armoury. Immediately destroy any buildings.”

“Start fires at the lodging of the soldiers.”

The Haven Empire soldiers and Hermes Guild users were easily eliminated through joint attacks.

The airborne troops gathered into units and attacked different areas. The only thing that could distinguish them from the enemy was the button on the collar.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

“D-dammit!”

Alcard threw the operational plan of the Grass Porridge Cult onto the ground.

“I was deceived. Almost nothing is following that plan.”

The imperial soldiers were dead or poisoned.

Those with the ability to heal them were in a safe place.

He also heard news about the disaster that Weed caused.

But there was nothing he could do as the commander. He couldn’t go down and give commands because it seemed like troops were being killed by the same side.

The Hermes Guild in particular were keen to save their lives and attacked anyone that tried to approach them. The elite airborne troops would pretend to be involved and then stab soldiers from behind with a poisoned dagger.

Even Krobidyun and Myul was useless.

Krobidyun was active as a lich but he had to block the Grass Porridge Cult members outside the fortress.

There were side effects from the mass of undead. Some undead not controlled by them attacked the Hermes Guild or Haven Empire soldiers.

Krobidyun hastily tried to control them but he was reaching his limit. Bodies were piled up everywhere and there were reports that the undead were attacking their allies.

“Krobidyun. Is he crazy? What the hell is he doing?”

In fact, the death knight Van Hawk had been summoned in the swamp.

Van Hawk was the Commander of the Dark Army. He took some of the undead away and made them his subordinates.

Krobidyun could stop this if he knew but his attention was focused on the enemy.

A necromancer only had a limited field of vision so he was paying attention to the large scale forces instead of what was happening inside the fortress.

Torido was also summoned to a corner where he drank blood, but he didn’t have a major impact on the battlefield.

Myul was even more pathetic than Krobidyun. Krobidyun might be doing some damage but he was still doing his share.

Myul didn’t take the opportunity to repel the avians. His mighty griffon troops were on the ground or hiding in towers.

The griffons were a precious power so there were many troops assigned to protect them. The griffon troops fled to try and find a safe area.

The famous griffon knights. The lords of the sky, were useless on the ground.

The avians were carrying heavy rocks and would be no match for the griffons in the air. The griffons’ speed and breakthrough power would easily be able to eliminate the avians. If their wings were injured, they wouldn’t instantly crash down into the ground.

Even if they didn’t move early, just taking to the sky would give the Haven Empire dominance.

“Kelruk!”

The griffons suffered as they breathed in the poison fog.

A group of griffons were now taking to the sky. The avians that occupied a high position for the suicide attacks weren’t helpless against the griffons. The griffons had high health for flying creatures but was vulnerable to attacks from all sides.

Alcard sighed deeply.

“I shouldn’t have believed in anything. Should have disregarded the operational plan and just stopped them. Then I wouldn’t have been caught off guard.”

The ground troops of the Grass Porridge Cult were rushing over the undead.

“The airborne troops are fighting due to the sacrifices of the avians. Weed is also fighting in the interior…there is no need to hesitate. Everyone!”

The users plunged without hesitation into the poison fog.

To the imperial soldiers, the swamp was very deep and dark.

The airborne troops approached the gates to let the enemy outside the fortress in.

“It is here. Open it!”

The disaster had also damaged the northern users.

High level Hermes Guild users, knights and armoured infantry were placed near the gates. The airborne users penetrated through the bodies to try and open the latch of the gate.

“Stop them!”

The Hermes Guild users tried to prevent it but they were blocked by the avians.

Thanks to the impact of hundreds of avians, the gates slowly swung open.

“Let’s go.”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

The Grass Porridge Cult rushed frantically. Some turned into grey light from the poison fog but they didn’t hesitate.

“Attack all those you see!”

“Among them are the grass porridge air troops.”

“I don’t care. Don’t worry about distinguishing between them and just attack!”

The Grass Porridge Cult scattered inside the fortress despite the poison.

They easily overpowered the waist deep imperial soldiers in the swamp and ran towards the base of the fortress’ walls.

The avians resumed their offensive from the sky.

Arrows and spears flew towards the Hermes Guild users.

The duck species that had the largest number among the avians brought the airborne troops directly to the towers in the fortress.

After taking over the towers, the archers secured a foothold and aimed at the imperial soldiers.

The melee fighting widened as the Grass Porridge Cult entered Puhol Fortress. The avians flew over the walls and through the gates to join the Grass Porridge Cult.

“Block them. Kill them and recapture the gates.”

The cries of the commanders were quickly buried under a commotion.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

The weak died under swords but the northern users were running everywhere.

Puhol Fortress was already unable to escape the confusion.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Kwarurung!

Weed twisted his body among the imperial soldiers inside the fortress.

A tail as thick as a pillar struck the imperial soldiers. Of course, dozens of soldiers died and some buildings even collapsed.

The 40 feet and thin membranous wings gave him quick mobility. He randomly attacked any imperial soldiers he saw inside Puhol Fortress.

“Kill him!”

The Hermes Guild users and Haven Empire knights hid their bodies behind cover and raised themselves up.

Weed noticed 100 people at first glance!

If the high level users of the Hermes Guild attacked together then he would quickly fall into danger.

Weed just laughed while revealing his ugly teeth.

‘Minor effects of the disaster still remains. And my body is in the best physical condition so I can escape any unfavourable situations. In particular, the best advantage of this body is the high health.’

Weed gave a large roar.

“Kwaaaaaaah!”

The female users among the Hermes Guild screamed.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Ggyagggyag!”

It was like a mental attack.

Even the male users of the Hermes Guild couldn’t make eye contact with Weed at that moment.

“So ugly.”

“Abhorrent…”

Squashy Wriggler had an appearance that was hard to even look at.

At any rate, there would be an opportunity in this tense moment.

Weed’s 40 legs moved forward.

“He is moving. Fight!”

The Hermes Guild users jumped to higher ground and the archers fired arrows.

Weed’s large body was like hunting a boss class monster. The wriggling body in the fog was like an approaching train. The body was big and needed a lot of vitality and strength to act.

The Hermes Guild users felt confident after the weaknesses were exposed.

“Sword Slash!”

“Flame Advent!”

“Seize the Soul!”

“Axe of Broad Constraints!”

The users cast various attack skills. Their brightly shining weapons tried to attack Weed.

“Huwaaaah!”

Weed opened his mouth wide towards them.

The users’ hearts sank and their bodies froze. Poison was filling up their bodies.

‘B-breath!

It was the same technique as an extra-large monster or dragon! They never expected that Weed, the God of War, would use a breath attack.

The 100 people that had been feeling confident felt sweat flow down their backs.

And nothing happened for a moment.

“Kuweeek!”

A burp emerged from Weed’s mouth.

He needed to burp thanks to all the humans he ate.

“W-what?”

“Poison. It is poison. Watch out for the poison…”

The users flinched back but there was no damage.

Weed moved quickly. He hurled himself at the users of the Hermes Guild and knights of the Haven Empire.

“Kuweeek!”

His strength and body weight was thrown towards the skills.

“Come on!”

The users kept attacking.

Weed’s huge body was struck with various skills!

– Your side has been cut by a strong blade.

Health has decreased by 12,930!

– 86 arrows have pierced your body.

The total damage has reduced health by 48,102.

You will continue to receive damage unless the arrows are removed and the wounds treated.

– The rotating axe has struck you 8 times in a row.

A deadly attack!

Health has been reduced by 48,239.

Defense in certain areas have been temporarily reduced.

The biggest benefit of Squashy Wriggler was that the high health meant he could keep attacking.

Despite being besieged by the Hermes Guild users, he wasn’t concerned about dying.

Weed closed the space and ate a furiously struggling person.

“Yum yum yum!”

He unleashed the final attack of Squashy Wriggler.

However, the Hermes Guild was famous and wouldn’t just die.

– You have eaten a human holding a sword!

Chewing the sword.

29,384 damage has been dealt to your hard molars.

The strong acidic saliva has failed to melt the opponent.

The durability of the equipment that the opponent is wearing has lowered by 29%.

Health has reduced by 9,238.

– You have swallowed the sword.

Strong gastric acid has been secreted but failed to break it.

Health has been reduced by 54,299.

Eating a strong enemy has temporarily increase maximum health by 997.

3% of your health is restored.

Hunger has disappeared.

Weed suffered a horrible experience as he ate the opponents. After chewing on them with his teeth, they would be moved along to his stomach. And was finally discharged at his bottom.

The person that was discharged was covered in a sticky liquid that smelled disgusting.

“Ugh…”

He had swallowed five people with swords so he felt dizzy

“Will we end up dying like this?”

“I have to wake up and continue the fight. But my body isn’t listening…”

The archers were also startled.

“That is a terrible skill!”

Squashy Wriggler was already ugly and seeing him eat the bodies of the colleagues frightened them.

People absolutely didn’t want to go near Weed’s strange appearance and emissions.

But up to here was nothing. There was something more terrible.

“They were alive? As expected, I should chew my food.”

Weed once again swallowed the bodies that emerged from his ass.

“Kuaack!”

A long tongue wrapped around the users.

“Kuwaaaaah!”

The user once again entered Weed’s mouth and didn’t come out this time.

“…….”

Even their colleagues couldn’t feel any desire for revenge at the scene!

Weed looked like the devil to his enemies. He wasn’t a flimsy villain but the true final boss.

A creature that acted in a cruel and despicable manner. The 40 legs moved as he endlessly ate a number of humans.

If someone didn’t know the situation, the Hermes Guild would seem like heroes fighting evil.

“H-he is still alone! We can beat him!”

“Get rid of Weed!”

The Hermes Guild regained their courage and once again pounced.

Weed had 10 legs that supported his huge body. The remaining 30 legs were to move forward, backwards and sideways for avoidance.

It couldn’t be helped since he didn’t have any attack skills. The long body was easy to target but it was also a dangerous weapon. The body moved like an elastic rubber band and knocked down the users.

Collapsing the buildings and walls could also be used to damage enemies.

But soon the archers and magicians at the base that the priests secured, blasted attacks at his body.

The flames soared and arrows pierced his body.

“Kuoohhh.”

Weed’s health declined rapidly. If he was in his original state then he would already be dead.

Of course, Squashy Wriggler had a tough body but there was no need to take risks.

“Catch him!”

The Hermes Guild users swarmed like bees.

The strong members of the guild dropped everything and came running.

“Over here.”

Weed dug into the ground. It was a bizarre sight as the 40 legs dug backwards and the tail went in first.

“What is this…?”

It was a scene that made all the users gathered feel dejected.

Weed appeared in a faraway place.

“Over there. Chase him!”

“Catch Weed!”

No matter how vigilant, he would appear and eat a Hermes Guild user before going back into the earth.

It wasn’t a formal battle.

The antennae were used to navigate when hiding in the ground and he would use his long tongue to pull someone towards him.

“S-save me!”

The users were literally dragged into Weed’s mouth.

He didn’t stop there.

A few griffons were trapped in a tower. Due to the disaster or the bombing of the avians, they failed to come out of hiding.

“My food!”

Weed shot through the earth.

The long and heavy body broke free of the ground. He jumped up 5 metres while next to the tower. After that, he used his 40 legs to ascend the tower’s walls at an angle. Finally, there was an open window on the 10th floor where he could see a griffon.

Weed didn’t try to attack the griffon.

Jjuuuuup!

His tongue lengthened and forcefully pulled the legs.

“Kyakyakyat!”

His whole mouth opened and swallowed the resistant griffon.

“Tasty. It feels like a whole chicken. A little bit of salt would have been nice.”

Even the experienced Hermes Guild users were terrified of Weed.

“Aaah…a monster. Monster!”

The ugly appearance was clearly shown in the broad daylight and he looked like the worst villain.

He was also tough and strong. He had plenty of health that never seemed to end and he consumed plenty of NPCs from the Haven Empire.

After supplementing his health through eating, poison gas would be emitted towards the place where users were gathered.

Bueooooong.

“M-my nose is rotting.”

“Don’t breathe it in…”

Weed couldn’t be seen due to the poisonous fog so the morale of the northern users wasn’t affected.

Eating the Hermes Guild user allowed him to gain experience and loot. Plus, they were medicine that restored his health. Thanks to that, he easily gained 2~3 levels in this battle.

“Maybe I should make a creature that I can hunt with next time…or I can bring my allies.”

He imagined Pale firing arrows while standing on his head or Irene healing him. He fought alone after using Sculpture Transformation but it would be upgraded one step further if he fought with his colleagues.

Chwachwachwachwa.

Weed moved through the muddy earth at a high speed. His 40 feet moved at the same time so it was much faster than a horse.

He pierced the walls of the fortress or thrust his tongue at Hermes Guild users.

Gulp gulp!

His tongue even grabbed the players falling from a high distance. It was like a frog catching a fly with its tongue.

This wasn’t something that he had trained separately. He used his accurate eyesight to capture the motions and then used elaborate tongue movements.

Weed’s health fell only when he was digging into the ground or he was caught off guard.

A basic strategy in battle was to hide behind pillars or in alleys.

Soon he had managed to eat more than 60 Hermes Guild members.

A tremendous amount of energy was released from Squashy Wriggler’s mouth.

Keeeeok!

– A stinky odour has erupted.

The smell comes from those eaten alive.

It is a stage 7 poison.

The enemy’s health will be lowered by a maximum of 18,700 and it will cause a stunning, slowing or paralysis effect.

Squashy Wriggler had acquired a new attack skill. It was a racial skill acquired by over-eating.

Before long, the disaster started to gradually disappear. The muddy earth hardened and the poison fog was lifted.

The Haven Empire quickly regained their spirit.

“Unleash a full force attack. Drive out those who have broken into the fortress.”

Alcard commanded the troops hiding in the fortress to drive out the northern users. Puhol Fortress would recover and the long war would begin again.

But the northern users didn’t miss this opportunity.

“We can’t lose. Come on!”

“We can knock down this pillar.”

It wasn’t just soldiers inside the Puhol Fortress.

Among the northern users were a team of architects and blacksmiths. An architect was an essential job for the development of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Maybe the architects could do something?”

“If we figure out the structure of the fortress then an attack route can be organized. We can help but…”

“Shall we jump into the battlefield?”

“We can kill the enemies by destroying the fortress.”

“Building Collapse!”

While the Haven Empire was fighting, they used the skill on the walls.

Pavo, Mibullo and numerous representative architects of the continent worked on the walls.

Kurururung.

Soon the walls of Puhol Fortress started cracking and formed holes that were large enough for people to pass through.

“Wah, a path!”

The users who saw the architects tried to stop them.

“It can’t be. If that continues, there is a risk of collapsing…”

“Kkiyahu!”

People threw themselves at the thick walls. They kept moving forward despite the falling rubble.

The northern users had realized something after the last war. It was meaningless if a person didn’t move quickly.

The combat troops in the rear of the battlefield weren’t helpful. If they gave the powerful Haven Empire even a moment of rest then they would win.

Overwhelming them with volume!

– Die a quick death.

– Being slow is a crime.

This was widely spread by the users who had experienced a war.

The northern users reckless attacks hadn’t changed from the last war but their strength had increased by three times.

“Push. Push!”

In fact, there were some special agents among the northern users.

They were there to push the lines as much as possible.

The mission of the Grass Porridge Cult was to fit as many users as possible inside Puhol Fortress.

It was a superior but uncomplicated strategy.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Geomchi took a deep breath.

“It is high.”

He was riding on a wyvern through the clouds.

His students on wyverns and avians flew around him.

Geomchi and his students played the role of airborne troops in this war.

Of course, he was in a bad mood whenever he heard the maknae’s commands.

“It is dangerous. I can only entrust this to Teacher-nim and the other sahyungs.”

“Then you will be fighting in the fortress.”

“Yes. Because your task is more dangerous. Please help me in this fight…don’t you know that it will be broadcasted to hundreds of millions of people?”

“Hundreds of millions?”

“The ratings will be higher than the last World Cup in our country. And Teacher-nim is already a celebrity.”

There was nothing wrong with Weed’s words.

Geomchi, the instructors and the students had strange experiences after their faces appeared on the broadcasts.

People would look at them on the streets or when they were riding the subway.

‘In the past, it was rare for people to meet my eyes.’

There were even girls who glanced at each other and asked ‘is that him?’, ‘yes.’ He was proud to hear such conversations.

‘This is how a famous person feels.’

The popularity he experienced now was like winning a sword competition.

‘Kill. I want to fight strong people.’

Geomchi and the students borrowed the wyverns and avians and arrived above Puhol Fortress.

“I will bring you down to the ground.”

“This is far enough.”

Geomchi ignored the words of the friendly avian and jumped from the sky. The leather cloak he was wearing streamed behind him due to the wind.

It was reckless behaviour that could only be experienced in Royal Road!

“We are going!”

The other students also jumped down from the sky.

Warriors falling towards Puhol Fortress! They turned their bodies in the air and flew towards the enemies.

“It took some time before we adapted to the sky.”

The avians admired them.

Then Geomchi-170 said bashfully.

“Excuse me…can you bring me down to the ground? I am a little bit afraid of heights.”

“…….”

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The high level users of the north had configured a team to hunt the Hermes Guild.

They were users who had lost territory to the Hermes Guild and migrated to the Arpen Kingdom when it was founded.

They were people who made strange sounds while holding swords.

“Aren’t the Hermes Guild users delicious?”

“I want to catch them. I sacrificed so many taxes to them.”

Despite the freedom of the north, vengeance was still burning inside them.

They had seen Weed actively hunting the Hermes Guild users in the Central and Northern Continents through the broadcasts.

Both the low level and high levels users asked a question as they watched Weed the God of War.

“Why can’t I be like Weed?”

“If there is the proper chance…”

Of course, the high level Dark Gamers also jumped forward.

They had already tasted the Hermes Guild several times in the north.

“Even if it is risky, isn’t there a major income? We will be able to buy whole chicken and eat steamed ribs.”

They entered Puhol Fortress to hunt the Hermes Guild users.

“We have a lot of troops. We can repel them by relying on the walls!”

Thanks to the avians and the airborne troops, the walls were now an obstacle to the Imperial Army.

The north had control of the sky and the archers had taken over the towers so it was easy for the northern users to fight on the walls.

The large tunnel Weed dug was also helpful as hundreds of users climbed out from it.

They weren’t interested in the buildings and only cared about killing.

“I see a Hermes guild user!”

Indiscriminate attacks that were only aimed at the Hermes Guild users.

The situation on the plains was much more hectic.

Hermes Guild users were dying everywhere and avians were diving down from the sky.

The human wave tactic was repeated by the northern users…

But the marching rate was several times faster and the difference was like heaven and earth!

5,000 of the 20,000 Hermes Guild users died in just one hour as the battle continued.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The death toll rose from the heavy onslaught of the northern users.

“Kyahahahahat. I have surpassed Geomchi-100.”

Geomchi and the students made an uproar as they fought. There were countless high level northern users scattered through the fortress.

Weed hadn’t turned off Sculpture Transformation and still remained as Squashy Wriggler. He was weakened due to the swamp disappearing but the high health meant he could still fight stably.

The northern users concentrated on the place where Weed was fighting the Hermes Guild.

“I will come help…kuaaack!”

“Weed-nim. It is an honour. Fight together… Kuheok!”

The users were surprised by the appearance of Squashy Wriggler. The adults and young users fighting near him turned their heads with shock.

– Sukeok sukeok kwajik kwajik kuooooh!

Strange sounds were heard while Weed was fighting.

However, it wasn’t even 10 minutes before guards were following along after Weed.

They escorted Weed in the front and sides, and some were also riding on his head and body.

As many as 400 archers boarded Weed. It was similar to a siege weapon mobilized for war.

The northern users recalled something and said.

“Already…I’ve already abandoned my body.”

“I have to sacrifice my body. Somebody has to do it.”

“How does it feel standing on Weed-nim’s back? The back isn’t as firm as I thought. My ankle is becoming sticky…heok! It reminds me of trash. Well, there is also a strange smell. A very funny odour.”

“I didn’t have a choice.  He seems to be eating anyone that appears in front of him so I had to climb on. What else could I do?”

However, not all users hated the rough texture of Squashy Wriggler. Some users encountered during the battle would salute Squashy Wriggler.

“I am from the Arpen Kingdom’s 27th infantry regiment. For Your Majesty…loyalty!”

“Tofu Grass Porridge unit. I’ve managed to reach level 220. Please remember me. I dropped out of high school and intend to fight for the freedom of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Can I touch your whiskers? So cool.”

Among the northern users, there were those with strange tastes who were fascinated by Weed.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Myul heard that Weed emerged but couldn’t find the place due to the disaster.

Once the fog lifted and Puhol Fortress filled with northern users, the griffon corps prepared to move.

“Things can’t be allowed to go on like this. Griffons, be on standby.”

The griffons were too big to gather in one place.

They were distributed between underground facilities and defense towers.

The avians controlled the sky so it was expected they would take some damage from arrows and spears.

“Once we fly up, the sky will be our world.”

The Haven Empire boasted a dominance over the sky.

The griffon corps that made many prestigious guilds in the Central Continent were preparing to move.

Myul was sad over every griffon that lost its life or that crashed into the ground.

The Hermes Guild users and NPC knights talked to their griffons.

“Piyak piyak.”

“Kuki kuki!”

There was a certain type of relief.

A fixed procedure had been implemented after Weed hit Myul in the back of the head.

Myul told his griffon.

“Orurugolla.”

The griffon raised a paw to its chin.

“That’s right. Let’s go.”

Myul breathed lightly and boarded the griffon.

The biggest crisis in the land. But they were invincible once they flew in the sky.

Buuuuuong.

The griffons cried out in unison as they left the underground facilities and towers.

Avians could be seen everywhere.

“The sky!”

The griffons broke through vertically.

“Kkiyaaak. The griffons have emerged.”

“Avians gather together!”

The avians scattered through Puhol Fortress joined swarmed together to attack. A siege in the sky was ten times more frightening due to the height and speed.

Myul shouted.

“Open the path!”

The knights brandished spears at the avians.

A deadly strike!

The avians hit by the spears turned into grey light. The griffon troops flew 30 metres over Puhol Fortress.

But the sky was completely filled with avians.

“Bring it on. If we fight then we will win.”

The avians joined from above and below them.

The griffons rose in a wedge shaped formation.

They defeated the avians with their spears and flew towards a high place.

This was the romance of a griffon rider!

Myul and the griffons were persistently harassed by the avians. The griffons were bitten by beaks or scratched by talons but there wasn’t high damage. And they were too fast to catch up.

In the past, the avians would have panicked and hesitated. But now the avians were filled with courage.

“Bump into them!”

The avians covered their heads and rushed towards them. The griffon riders killed some avians but a third of them managed to crash.

They didn’t have great strength but the problem was that there were hundreds of thousands of avians in the sky.

The avians endlessly poured towards the griffons and captured their legs and wings.

“Hold on. Everybody!”

More than 100 avians were stuck to one griffon.

“Get off. Go away!”

The avians were clinging like leeches. Their claws were sharp enough to hold on to the griffons. The heavy weight slowed them down and the griffons’ wings increasingly lost strength. At any moment, the wings would no longer have the ability to fly.

“Uhhh.”

The crash of the griffons!

If they fell to Puhol Fortress then it meant certain death.

“It is already too late. We are going to heaven.”

Myul and the other griffons didn’t stop despite knowing the situation.

‘If there is sufficient space in the sky then I can get revenge!’

However, there seemed to be no end to the dense crowd of avians.

The griffons had avians surrounding them on all sides.

Myul clenched his teeth.

Everyone knew that health running out in a battle meant death. However, a heavy crash could also be bad due to the nature of the sky!

‘It has to be returned. This grudge…’

The avians stopped flapping their wings and fell from the sky. The avians no longer chased them as the griffons rose higher.

At that time, Myul only had 300 griffons left at best.

The avians went and engaged in battle at Puhol Fortress.

“Now it is time to get revenge.”

Myul was speaking when something approached.

The clear sky and sun.

Bingryong and Phoenix’s indescribable beauty could be seen.

Golden Bird, Silver Bird, Imugi and the wyverns followed behind with sculptural lifeforms like Goldman and the fire giant riding on their backs.

The valuable sculptural lifeforms were waiting in the sky for the griffons to appear.

“Terminate those guys.”

Myul raised his spear. He hurriedly commanded the griffon troops to attack the sculptural lifeforms.

Bingryong opened its huge mouth.

– Kuwaaaaaah.

Dragon Fear!

A considerable amount of time had passed since Bingryong was born and it was now level 534.

It would have gained more levels if it diligently hunted. Unfortunately, the dragon’s laziness prevented this.

When Weed wasn’t present, it would sleep for days on top of cold, snowy mountains.

Nevertheless, Bingryong’s growth was enough to cause fear in other flying species such as avians and griffons.

“Kkiyaaak!”

The griffons slowed their wings and avoided Bingryong due to an instinctive fear.

Some of them changed directions by nosediving towards the ground.

“Regain your spirit. Come on!”

The riders barely managed to regain control over their griffons while Phoenix spread his wings wide.

Flames poured from the feathers falling in the sky.

The fire was very painful for flying creatures like the griffon.

Even if the feathers on fire weren’t a problem, the pain caused the riders to lose their steering power.

The Hermes Guild users thought they could overpower the sculptural lifeforms with 300 griffons.

However, just two skills made it impossible for the griffons to fight for a moment.

The rest of the griffons had decreased vitality due to fear.

“Eurihya!”

At that moment, Bahamorg came forward on Wy-1 and jumped!

– Light blow!

He landed on the back of a griffon and struck the rider with a two handed axe.

“I am the descendant of a great empire that led the Versailles Continent. It was a mistake to invade the Arpen Kingdom. You only have this much fighting spirit!”

Bahamorg jumped around in the sky and successively disabled the griffons.

Myul’s complexion changed.

“He is Bahamorg.”

One of the ringleaders who took his life along with Weed. He knew that Bahamorg had great strength, health and resilience.

Myul honestly didn’t know if he could win if he fought Bahamorg on his griffon.

“Concentrate your attacks! This is an opportunity to knock him out of the sky.”

The griffons rushed towards Bahamorg in accordance with their leader’s command.

Their goal wasn’t to kill Bahamorg directly.

Anyway, there was no space to do so.

They threw a spear towards the griffon Bahamorg was riding.

“Kyauuuuh!”

Bahamorg’s griffon lost its life. They thought Bahamorg would fall to the ground but then Light Wings opened from his back like an angel. A presence that showed off its shine after a long time.

Bahamorg flew under the influence of Light Wings and defeated the griffons.

Bahamorg sped through the sky while holding the bloody axe with both hands.

“We should go. Kukaaack!”

The wyverns were also adept at flying.

Naturally, sculptural lifeforms were riding them.

Goldman and Eltin accurately fired arrows while Gernika and Seville also jumped from griffon to griffon.

White Tiger also spread its wings. The fire giant on Phoenix’s back couldn’t be ignored.

Phoenix and the fire giant improved each other’s health. The griffons felt hot even if they were just nearby.

The power of the sculptural lifeforms was sufficient against Myul and the griffons.

The griffons dominated the sky due to their mobility and had a heavy advantage over ground troops.

But the characteristics of the sculptural lifeforms increased their power by many times.

The Hermes Guild users weren’t safe even in the sky.

– Kukwakakakakaka.

Bingryong took a deep breath as its mouth inflated.

And just like Weed named it, Ice Breath was unleashed!

Ice Breath flew in a straight line from Bingryong’s mouth towards Myul.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

The users looked up as a fierce battle unfolded in the sky.

Not knowing the exact situation in the sky had an influence on the military situation at Puhol Fortress.

But the ground was completely covered in melee combat.

“Charge!”

The walls of Puhol Fortress were crumbling.

Still, the wreckage made it difficult for the northern users to move.

The Haven Empire soldiers and undead led the defense of Puhol Fortress. The Hermes Guild members and soldiers lost their lives but the undead were still going strong.

There were a growing number of good bodies so this was quite useful for Krobidyun’s undead summoning spell.

“Come. Knights of hell!”

Doom knights were summoned as hundreds of northern users were wiped out.

The power of death was growing thicker on the battlefield so a necromancer’s ability was stronger than usual.

“I, Krobidyun, will kill all of you and decide who lives again.”

Krobidyun was excited due to the side effects caused by necromancy. He was reaching beyond his strength and abilities.

His head was filled with thoughts of appearing on numerous broadcasting stations.

‘I, Krobidyun, will surely be contacted after this war.’

Of course, Krobidyun was one of the most active in the Imperial Army when it came to facing the Arpen Kingdom. Therefore, he thought he deserved it.

Weed was eating the Hermes Guild users like they were dried persimmons but that was largely out of sight.

Krobidyun occupied a wide area on the walls alone, and was increasing the number and quality of the undead.

‘I will show everyone that the strongest profession is a necromancer. Weed also acted as a lich but he will soon be forgotten because of me.

The number of undead was still within his range of control.

The undead attacked the living. It didn’t matter if they were northern users or imperial soldiers.

Krobidyun’s ultimate goal was to create a legion of undead like Barkhan.

“That person at the top must be the necromancer.”

“What…there are too many undead. There are at least 1,500 high class undead.”

Many northern users entering the fortress lost their lives.

The undead army was too large and the area too wide to occupy smoothly. The high level northern users gathered together for a strategy to deal with Krobidyun.

“I will seek assistance from our avian friends. Let’s do a pincer attack at the same time.”

“There is a wall of undead blocking him…”

“Rangers can utilize the terrain. I, Nechak, will finish him off.

Nechak lifted his sword.

“That sword…Lugh’s holy sword!”

“I am wearing Fargo’s Crown on my head.”

“I am holding Helain’s Grail.”

Nechak was a player active on the Central Continent.

In reality, he was born with a lot of money. He successfully bought a city from the Hermes Guild in the Central Continent.

Abend City. He successfully operated the city but was bored and was attracted by the freedom in the north.

“Indeed, I have an adventurer’s constitution. Management is revolting.”

He enjoyed the adventures in the north more than spending money to manage a city.

He experienced too much adventure. If he received a marine quest then he would buy 7 large ships with 24 sails to complete it. So he could be called the best spender in the north.

“Our plan will be more effective if Nechak-nim is our leader. Helain’s Grail can turn water into holy water so it is critical against the undead.”

“Fargo’s Crown. If you have it then your ability to conduct the combat troops will increase quite a bit. Nechak-nim, please lead us.”

“Please organize an army.”

Nechak receive encouragement from the users.

As his public value in the Arpen Kingdom accumulated, he was given a knighthood and was qualified to lead 30,000 troops.

Ddiring!

– Nechak is organizing an army.

King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom has appointed Nechak as the 143,817th knight.

Nechak is recruiting troops to fight for the Arpen Kingdom.

30,000 people is the limit.

At that moment, someone shouted.

“I am level 350 so let me join!”

“Me too…”

“The efficiency is high. The undead will become our prey.”

Nechak’s army filled up in just 8 seconds.

Ddiring!

– Nechak’s army recruitment is over.

The 30,000 spots have been filled.

The northern users had an increasingly larger percentage of high level users.

They plunged recklessly into the fortress for a chance to join the army.

“I am level 400 so let me join. I’m sorry for those who signed in advance but please leave.”

“Really? It is a little…”

The recruiting capacity was exceeded but people were still signing up!

It was originally made of high level users from the north and settlers from the Central Continent there were between levels 300~400.

Now there were 30,000 users over level 400.

Numerous northern users also remained instead of scattering.

“We are not scared of anything. Let’s go!”

Nechak had Lugh’s Sword, Helain’s Grail and Fargo’s Crown so he took the lead.

– Fargo’s Crown had made contact with the aura of the undead.

Goddess Freya has given her blessing and increase the black magic resistance of all forces by 46%.

Damage from the undead will be reduced by up to 31%.

The body’s recovery speed will increase.

There is a 62% chance to purify the undead when they are broken.

If successful, the purification will temporarily recover health and vitality.

The northern users weren’t afraid.

Nechak and his 30,000 troops pierced through the undead.

The undead shrank away from Lugh’s Sword but that wasn’t important.

30,000 influential northern users followed behind Nechak.

Among there were powerhouses of the Grass Porridge Cult who defeated the undead.

Krobidyun raised a large army of undead to stop them but it wasn’t enough.

The infinite mana was blocked by Lugh’s divine power and the undead were overpowered by the army of users.

With the help of the users, Nechak managed to plow through the heart of the undead to reach Krobidyun.

– Goddess Freya’s divine power has suppressed the dangerous magic.

A necromancer’s power has been reduced by 24%.

There is a negative backflow of mana, causing maximum health and mana to be reduced by 11%.

Undead summoning and black magic won’t be available for 15 seconds.

“N-No!”

Krobidyun suffered from the aftermath of having 30% of his undead army destroyed.

“Protect me!”

Once it was a disadvantageous situation, Krobidyun fled to the rear.

However, the avians were blocking his path.

He couldn’t move quickly due to the dense concentration of undead and was finally surrounded by the northern users.

They were Nechak and 20 people with great skills.

Due to the side effects, Krobidyun had already half turned into a skeleton. His jaw made a rattling sound as he laughed.

“Lucky. It was impressive that you managed to beat my undead army. But next time I won’t be so careless.”

Krobidyun wanted to proudly meet his end.

This would be shown to the entire world through numerous broadcasting stations.

He wanted to show his family and friends an awesome end. If he could become a protagonist then he might receive sponsorships and advertising offer.

Nechak just raised Lugh’s sword and laughed.

“Hahaha. Krobidyun, you have borrowed the false power of a necromancer. I have heard and seen your evils.”

“……?”

It was a somewhat awkward voice. Nechak sounded like a movie from decades ago.

“For disturbing the peace of the Versailles Continent, I Nechak, will punish you as an honourary paladin of the Church of Freya and knight of the Arpen Kingdom.”

A bard near Nechak suddenly started playing an instrument. The typical hero’s funeral!

“There is no place for you on the Northern Continent. Go well. Villain.”

The sword was plunged deeply into Krobidyun’s heart. Light emerged from the sword and his body started smoking.

It was like an evil spirit was being released. Krobidyun’s skeletal body started to shatter under the power of the sword.

Krobidyun had one last thought before dying.

‘N-no. I’m not going to be the protagonist, he is…’

TO BE CONTINUED

Chapter 1: Declaration of Surrender

Alcard was a great commander of the Haven Empire who was called the Northern Commander.

“Maintain the defensive positions. Slay the enemy using these features. The Imperial Army won’t fall to the enemies in a place like this!”

The Arpen Kingdom users were going over the walls of the fortress with great courage and speed, turning the defense facilities useless.

Magicians rode bulls while the sky was covered with avians.

The Imperial Army was being blocked on both the ground and the sky.

Pushukung!

Among the northern users rushing, a huge monster appeared.

– Kuwooooooh!

The monster let out a large roar towards the sky.

An underground monster that humans couldn’t imagine!

Long antennae, pointed teeth like saw blades and solid legs that could dig at the ground or buildings. Wrinkles were carved on the forehead and cheeks to make it look stronger.

Despite the appearance, it had a flexible body structure like a worm or centipede.

Twitch twitch!

The horrible tail and 40 legs twitched.

“Hiik!”

“M-monster!”

“Really ugly… It is like a demon that Weed will need to exterminate.”

“Haven’t you heard? That’s Weed-nim!”

The imperial soldiers and northern users withdrew in fright as the monster with 40 legs moved forward.

Weed’s new look was also a hot topic on the broadcasting stations.

Reporters received the cooperation of the avians and flew in the sky to relay videos of the inside of Puhol Fortress.

“Look. This is… That monster is Weed the God of War. The Arpen Kingdom and Haven Empire. A shocking figure has emerged in the important battle for supremacy over the north. He looks strong. With that appearance, he definitely has to be strong!”

“The bulletin boards are flooded with female fans who are watching this. Their assessment is that there is a masculine charm.”

“I expected him to unleash havoc in this battle. Hasn’t Weed-nim only devoured a few users?”

“The officially confirmed number is 127 people.”

“Does that include people who exited his rear?”

“Of course. They were just eaten again anyway.”

The broadcasting stations showed the shocking video of the Hermes Guild users being eaten by Squashy Wriggler.

His entire length was 20 metres and the huge monster could catch people at a very fast speed. Despite the humans trying to flee, the tongue just shot out and wrapped around their legs.

“Kuaaak!”

He demolished a wall and ate the Hermes Guild user.

The show hosts shouted excitedly.

“Hiding is useless!”

“Ah, did you see that? It wasn’t just the Hermes Guild users but many members of the Haven Empire were revealed as the building cracked.”

“Does that mean there are some safe places to hide?”

“Rather, he seems to be putting them aside to eat later.”

“What makes you think that?”

“He just covered the entrance with a heavy amount of saliva.”

The northern users attacked Puhol Fortress along the path that Weed opened.

Weapons hit Squashy Wriggler but it was no use.

“When the disaster happened, visibility was limited due to the fog. 127 was the number that our employees directly saw. It is believed that he has eaten over 150 people.”

“This is an amazing combat achievement to watch. He just eats them despite the Hermes Guild members using their skills.”

“It is like he swallows them immediately without chewing.”

“Someone just emerged from his rear. I can’t believe I’m saying something like this.”

“It is a serious misfortune. Those who aren’t digested will just be eaten again.”

“Warriors with high health and resilience can be seen trying to escape.”

“……”

A moment of silence flowed between the hosts.

The infamous Hermes Guild users defending the fortress looked pathetic.

“Anyway, it is completely surprising. Weed is continuing to be active inside Puhol Fortress. Is there a reason why he is fighting with that appearance?”

“Of course, there probably is an exact reason but it is difficult to speculate at this point.”

“Please just say any rough guesses.”

“The end of life is associated with a hearty appetite. Perhaps he intends to represent the progress and prosperity of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“It is an appearance that causes fear in enemies but reassures allies.”

The broadcasters around the world gave different interpretations of Squashy Wriggler.

– Don’t let your children watch this.

– The worst. Really.

– This is a request to stop the broadcast.

The viewers were uncomfortable at first glance but became curious once they learned it was Weed.

Surprisingly, some people thought that his twitching and wriggling was cute. It was like a struggling artist’s rough paintings becoming valuable after they are famous.

Weed showed the optimal efficiency and brute force on the broadcast.

Companies had already contacted Weed about making dolls of Squashy Wriggler digging at the ground or with his tongue stretched out.

The advertising companies were well aware of Weed, the Arpen Kingdom, and the Grass Porridge Cult.

Regardless of the age group, they immediately launched a PR plan. The main items included phones, phone carriers, air conditioning and television.

The character was outstanding so it was easy to advertise.

Squashy Wriggler make a phone call with the latest phone from underground. The call would be maintained even while he was digging.

“As expected from the ultra-high definition. Follow me!”

Squashy Wriggler enjoyed playing games, the high speed internet as well as communicating with friends.

Downloading an image related to food would only take 0.1 seconds.

“Yummy. Telecom unleashed!”

Squashy Wriggler danced around an air conditioner in hot weather.

“Wind wind blow. Wind wind, wind wind!”

After watching a horror movie, Squashy Wriggler’s mouth would leap out of the big TV towards the slack-jawed viewers watching on the sofa.

Weed’s popularity overseas in the IT and electronic industries was amazing. In particular, items related to Weed were very popular in Europe and the United States.

A burger shop handed out free dolls of the sculptural lifeforms, increasing sales by 20 times and there were endless guests from morning to night.

Employees of the world’s largest oil company also started studying Squashy Wriggler to promote the development of advanced technology.

Tire specialists advertised Squashy Wriggler’s 40 feet wearing their products that could move in adverse terrains.

Squashy Wriggler was able to hit the jackpot through advertising.

*   *   *

The death of the necromancer Krobidyun! Knight Myul’s death!

Users that represented the Hermes Guild lost their lives in their fierce battle for Puhol Fortress.

“Bring it on. You weak trash!”

The level 483 Konsuller.

He was a famous user of the Hermes Guild. He cleared dungeons and hunted dangerous boss class monster.

“Come out boldly. Don’t think that you’ve won just because of your numbers!”

Konsuller wanted to fight Weed so he stood in front of the incoming northern users. Every time he swung his sword, the northern users within 7 metres were swept away.

At least 400~500 people died due to Konsuller.

Avians tried to grab him from the sky but he killed at least 30 of them.

Many Hermes Guild users suffered under the onslaught of the northern users. However, Konsuller was a particularly strong user that they couldn’t take down.

His resilience, vitality, skills management and swordsmanship was excellent enough to overpower the enemy.

“Is he still not tired?”

“Tough, tough. We have no choice but to hit him as much as possible.”

The northern users were prepared for a large scale assault when a man suddenly appeared.

A muscular body, broad shoulders and a wide back.

The man’s name was Geomchi-4.

“You are called Konsuller. I challenge you.”

Konsuller was surprised at Geomchi-4’s words but soon regained his composure.

“Heh, a challenger.”

He would apologize if he ran into such a muscular man at night but this was Royal Road.

The character’s strength depended on level and equipment.

“Fool. Bring it on.”

Konsuller knew about the existence of the Geomchis through the Hermes Guild’s information network.

Their individual fighting ability was high but it was impossible to guess their level or skill proficiency.

Together, they could wreak havoc and didn’t hesitate against ranged attacks or magic spells. However, it was different if they were alone.

Konsuller’s sharp eyes examined the opponent’s equipment.

‘It is a complete level 330 set. It is cheap and the options aren’t that good. He deserves recognition in the north but…’

Konsuller laughed.

In the developed Central Continent, many users managed to find the best equipment.

Although there might not be a big difference in options, the price would jump ten-fold due to design elements. The so-called luxury goods that were more expensive than mid-sized cars.

Naturally users of the Hermes Guild wore the best equipment and improved their skills through endless competition. There was an elite group of people to compete against so the Hermes Guild users were naturally proud.

Konsuller said arrogantly.

“It seems like you know how to fight. But I will teach you what combat is in Royal Road.”

“Yes, you make a lot of noise.”

“Heh. There is no need for a long dialogue before battle.”

“That’s right.”

Geomchi-4 jumped in front of him.

‘He really is stupid and ignorant. I will show him the difference between me and those people who can’t fight. Those people aren’t on the same level as me.’

Konsuller moved his body and used an attack skill.

“Flash Sting!”

The sword he was holding flew like a ray of light towards Geomchi-4. It was a mid-ranged attack skill that increased the power of his swordsmanship by 8 times.

The attack speed was so fast that most opponents couldn’t escape. It also penetrated the opponent’s armour for a critical hit so it was one of Konsuller’s favourite skills..

Geomchi-4 didn’t try to avoid it.

“Deflect Moving Blade!”

Geomchi-4 also used a sword skill.

It was an martial artist’s skill that he made directly. His sword moved like it was going to block the ray of light, but it actually deflected it.

– The skill Deflect Moving Blade has been used.

It has neutralized Flash Sting.

Your body will lose balance for 0.2 seconds.

Wobble!

Konsuller’s body staggered.

“This is nonsense!”

Geomchi-4 was rapidly approaching and there was no way to avoid the counterattack. Geomchi-4 saw all of Konsuller’s weak points.

‘There is no need to feel any tension.’

Geomchi-4 had never met an opponent in Royal Road that made him sweat with fear. Wide area skills frightened him but he could avoid damage in one-on-one fights.

‘The ultimate tension is dying during a battle.’

Those who believed in their equipment and levels would only have a certain amount of skill.

He never knew what would happen in a battle but there was no need to be nervous. He just had to demonstrate his skills.

There weren’t weak characters in Royal Road, only weak people.

“Urachachacha!”

Geomchi-4’s sword moved in a dazzling blur and cut Konsuller. He named the brilliant attack skill ‘Urachachacha.’

It was a monster hunting technique that could unleash 99 consecutive attacks.

– Urachachacha advanced level 3 (76%): A technique that deals continuous attacks.

Any weapon can be used and the damage will get increasingly stronger.

Every 5th successful attack will paralyze the enemy for 1 second.

If the enemy avoids it then 38% of the counterattack will be neutralized.

The opponent had to prevent Urachachacha before it started or avoid it altogether.

The simple, ignorant attacks landed on Konsuller.

“Front Shield Defense!”

A shield was summoned that fit around his body. However, the shield fell apart after two or three attacks.

‘This ignorant bastard! How did he get this sword skill? No, what is with his strength?’

He protested against such a ridiculous strength.

He had moved forward and deflected the attack to the side simultaneously.

Despite attacking from a distance, Geomchi-4 used ingenuity to counterattack. Geomchi-4 had figured out how to deal with ranged attack skills from the other students.

– Konsuller of the Haven Empire has been killed.

Konsuller was  someone who fearlessly hunted the boss monster Peperkakun. He belonged to the Haven Empire and lost a one-on-one challenge.

– Your level has risen.

889 combat fame has been acquired.

Agility has increase by 1 due to the victory.

– The skill proficiency of swordsmanship has improved.

“Heh, this loot.”

Geomchi-4 picked up a cloak left behind by Konsuller. Gold powder flew all over the place, causing it to glitter. A special effect that would cause Weed’s eyes to widen.

“It would be nice to pick up a sword. I am lacking equipment.”

Geomchi and the students fought throughout Puhol Fortress.

Alcard had a good vantage point to conduct the defense and didn’t miss that Puhol Fortress was being taken over.

Despite not knowing all the circumstances of the battlefield, he proved to be able to effectively command the troops.

“This is a crazy battle.”

The commanders of the Haven Empire lamented.

Even if their power was 50-50, the opponents were bound to have an advantage.

The demoralized army was closed to wiped out and his reputation would be damaged with this loss.

A strong image was needed when fighting enemies.

The Haven Empire was considered invincible on the Central Continent and this attitude didn’t change after building the fortress in the north.

But they were slowly deprived of the walls and defense facilities, and now the northern users and avians were pouncing at them.

“We can endure… For as long as possible.”

Alcard the great commander was in a state where his limbs were being cut off.

“Tahol Knights. Drive the enemies out of the fortress.”

“Yes. I understand.”

The proud Tahol Knights of the Haven Empire were sent out!

They were heavily armoured NPC knights. Their individual levels exceeded 400 through the good hunting grounds and dungeons in the Kallamore Kingdom.

Arming and feeding them took an enormous amount of money. They made significant contributions to the conquest wars in the Central Continent and came to the fortress in the north.

And Alcard received a report after 30 minutes.

“The Tahol Knights have been wiped out.”

“What?”

“They were isolated in the east hall… And wiped out.”

“Why didn’t they retreat?”

“The people who died blocked the way.”

The knights were quickly isolated somewhere in Puhol Fortress after they were mobilized.

The defense buildings had been seized by the avians.

They took advantage of the defense facilities to block the assault of the knights while the architects knocked down the building.

“It’s falling. Everybody get out of here!”

The towers and buildings fell on top of the imperial troops.

Puhol Fortress was built by the Haven Empire so that was enough reason for the northern architects to break it.

Alcard was extremely upset. The Tahol Knights he had directly raised had disappeared in a place like this.

“Relocate the 7th magic corps to a safe place. Prevent the enemy from coming to the rear of the fortress.”

“They are being tracked.”

“Send a lot of troops to help their retreat.”

After a moment, he heard the incoming news.

“The magic army corps has been destroyed.”

“I told you to send escort troops.”

“While wandering the length of the fortress…”

Puhol Fortress was a complete combat zone.

The gates and walls were already completely handed over to the northern users, while battles were waging fiercely in the residential areas and central roads.

It was a large military fortress where millions of people were fighting.

Kurururung!

It was the sound of the big defense towers mobilized to stop the Arpen Kingdom falling.

“Stop them. If we are defeated here then we will lose the northern colony.”

Alcard desperately ordered his private forces.

So far 650,000 imperial soldiers had died and of the 20,000 Hermes Guild users, only 1000 were left.

Of course, not all of them lost their lives.

Once Myul, Krobidyun and other powerhouses started dying, some members of the Hermes Guild quickly fled.

“Those selfish people. The battle isn’t over yet. Somehow an opportunity to reverse the situation will be created.”

That could be the case since the damage to the northern users was several hundreds of thousands of times larger. However, they wouldn’t be able to hold out for a long time.

A massive number of northern users had already reached the rear of Puhol Fortress.

The fortress was completely surrounded on all sides and the northern users had already made plans to raid other cities and castles.

“Catch Weed… No, Weed is too hard to catch right now.”

Alcard was half resigned to the loss.

Surrounded by enemies on all sides!

They would barely be able to endure through the night. But they would surely be wiped out tomorrow or the day after.

“At this rate, it will fall easily. We will all end up dying.”

Then he received a whisper just as he reached a dead end.

– Mapan: Hello. I am Mapan of Mapan’s trading company.

‘Mapan. At a time when I am busy… Mapan?

Mapan was quite famous in the north and Alcard also knew of him.

‘He is one of the people closest to Weed.’

The surrounded users noticed Alcard’s reaction to the whisper.

“Alcard. What happened?”

– Mapan: Can you meet me so that we can talk about the current situation?

Alcard noticed the atmosphere after hearing the words.

‘He is trying to negotiate. If there could be a truce… Maybe we can buy some time or gain some benefits from the negotiations.’

Alcard carefully agreed.

“Of course. I welcome any talks. But I can’t afford to leave this fortress.”

– Mapan: I will send someone directly to you.

“Please don’t send a person who doesn’t have the right to make decisions.”

– Mapan: Of course. They are very close to Weed so any decisions made will be formal.

At that moment, a woman with long hair dyed green appeared.

Yurin. Weed’s little sister.

*   *   *

Alcard and Yurin conducted the negotiations in a secret place.

Alcard minimized the troops and only had 20 people escorting him.

Yurin sat alone at a wide table as the representative of the Arpen Kingdom.

“By the way, you came alone?”

“Yes!”

“If you need help then call someone. Isn’t Weed-nim also in this fortress?”

“No. Oppa is currently busy cutting off necks.”

“……”

The faces of Alcard and the users reddened.

Yurin’s description of cutting off the necks was a sufficient explanation.

Alcard touched the back of his neck for a while.

“If you insist. Let’s have a discussion. First, what do you want in exchange for the Arpen Kingdom stopping their attacks and returning Puhol Fortress to us?”

He started the negotiations on a weak point.

But Alcard didn’t have a wide variety of options.

The Hermes Guild would have to make many concessions in regard to the northern colony. If they rejected the negotiations then the only thing left was a massacre.

‘The guild might not want to compromise with the Arpen Kingdom, even if we end up being wiped out.

Therefore, the negotiations were being kept a secret from the Hermes Guild.

Alcard was in a disadvantageous situation so he would be forced to listen to the opponent’s demands.

‘What did she come here to ask?’

Yurin outright said.

“Everyone will surrender. Puhol Fortress as well as the entire northern colony.”

“Huh?”

“Have your armies and cities all surrender. Right now, your imperial soldiers are tragically dying. They will be accepted as soldiers of the Arpen Kingdom. All the cities and villages created so far will be taken.”

“Is that really necessary?”

“Yes. This much is needed.”

Alcard and the other leaders were at a loss for words.

‘This high…’

In any case, he managed to pause the battle for a brief period of time. But the enemy planned to steal the entire northern colony.

They had doubts that a pretty girl like Yurin could say such unscrupulous things.

‘It is Weed.’

‘She must be repeating Weed’s words.’

‘Weed is a bad man. He sent a girl to say such a hard thing?’

Alcard rejected the offer without even needing to discuss it.

“I’d rather be defeated. I have my own self-worth. I will inflict as much damage to the Arpen Kingdom as possible before dying.”

“You will be given a place in the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Huh?”

“You will command the Arpen Kingdom’s army.”

An unexpected proposal. The point of the negotiations was to lure Alcard to the Arpen Kingdom.

“Oppa said that you fight well despite being an enemy. The Arpen Kingdom is lacking talent. Why don’t you come over to the north?”

Their minds became complicated.

‘Join the Arpen Kingdom? That… I hadn’t even thought about it.’

‘Betraying the Hermes Guild. I am afraid of retaliation if I betray the guild.’

‘Standing on the side of the north. Changing my side. Is it possible?’

Many commanders in the Hermes Guild who lost were deprived of their privileges.

The fame and honour they personally built up would be lost.

It was a harsh penalty but the absolute authority of the Hermes Guild on the Central Continent meant they would never think of betrayal.

However, if Puhol Fortress belonged to the Arpen Kingdom then they didn’t have to worry about the Hermes Guild’s retaliation.

‘Becoming the army commander of the Arpen Kingdom… The luxuries and popularity will decrease. And I would have to face the Haven Empire on the battlefield.’

The Arpen Kingdom’s military was lacking.

He knew how much attention and effort was needed to create a proper army.

‘But… I think it can be done with the northern users.’

Alcard was a high ranking official in the Hermes Guild. Nevertheless, he had been interested in the stories of the Northern Continent on the broadcasting stations.

A pure and free world. The north was the first place in Royal Road where he could feel that. The values he had forgotten in pursuit of wealth and power could be found in the north.

‘People might feel that joy but it is better to remain in the Hermes Guild.’

It would be naive if he accepted Weed’s proposal.

Weed and Mapan had given extra conditions to Yurin.

Commander of the Arpen Kingdom’s army, two cities and becoming the earl of a land. They wanted to conquer Puhol Fortress without any more bloodshed but above all, it was important to acquire the northern colony without a war.

“I need time to think about the proposal.”

“I can’t give you a lot of time.”

“I know. Time isn’t on my side. But is this something that can be determined easily?”

Then Yurin laughed brightly.

It was an expression like she was going to take the lunch of a university senior!

“Good. Then I will offer one more thing. If you come to the Arpen Kingdom then Oppa has suggested that you two quest together.”

“Quest?”

“The equivalent of two years of S-class difficulty quests.”

Weed’s quests were understandably broadcasted on television.

The income from the broadcasting fees and the popularity was a big temptation that couldn’t be ignored.

Weed would lose nothing from making the offer to Alcard. Weed’s quests were tremendously difficult so many users who participated would die as it progressed.

Alcard was a reliable, strong person so Weed wanted to obtain him.

It was a huge privilege just hearing the offer. Weed’s adventures boasted the best ratings and his colleagues also became heroes.

‘Isn’t this too much? The treatment is completely different from the Hermes Guild.’

Alcard wasted no more time and agreed.

“Good. I will defect to the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Commander-nim!”

The other users were surprised but they were Alcard’s friends. Alcard accepting the offer was enough reason to convince them.

They weren’t lower level knights and warriors. They were immersed in Royal Road and didn’t want to become losers after the defeat at Puhol Fortress.

The thought of starting a new life in the north was quite persuasive.

Of course, a few days ago they never believed that Puhol Fortress would be occupied.

They decided to gift it to the Arpen Kingdom.

“The decision is made so the Haven Empire’s colony in the north will belong to the Arpen Kingdom. As for the problem with the Hermes Guild users… None of the users can be allowed to remain alive.”

He didn’t dwell on betraying the Hermes Guild anymore.

He had changed to the Arpen Kingdom so now everything was for the sake of Weed.

*   *   *

Yurin and Alcard immediately signed the peace treaty.

The information was passed through the Grass Porridge Cult’s network and the situation in Puhol Fortress changed.

“Don’t fight the soldiers anymore and find the Hermes Guild users!”

“Get rid of all of them!”

“Step on it!”

The soldiers also received a command from Alcard and focused on blocking the Hermes Guild users from running.

Thus, their slaughter under the hands of the northern users began.

“Cheeky bastards. Earth Reverse!”

The high level Hermes Guild users had to fight against hundreds of people.

Mana and vitality were reduced and the powerhouses collapsed one by one.

Some of the cornered members tried to escape but they were overpowered by the northern users.

“Hey, fight well.”

“I’ve only eaten rice in this battle.”

“I didn’t know my turn would come.”

They continued to fall under the onslaught of the northern users.

More than 100 Hermes Guild members gathered to try and resist. However, they were easily dominated by the northern users.

Many of them weren’t aware but this situation was occurring all over Puhol Fortress.

“I don’t want to die so I will surrender. Please treat me as a prisoner.”

Some users lifted both hands to express that they wouldn’t fight.

In wars between kingdoms, it was customary to only release the prisoners when reparations were paid.

Of course, the northern users didn’t accept this.

“No prisoners. Just die.”

“What? All knights and nobles who participate in war adhere to this principle.”

“You have killed hundreds of people on our side who surrendered.”

The Hermes Guild inflicted some damage but the northern users got a much larger profit.

Their abilities increased and valuable loot was obtained.

“Waaaaaah!”

Shouts of joy came from Puhol Fortress.

The Hermes Guild users had all died.

The northern users were determined to win the war with the Haven Empire but they never imagined it was such an overwhelming rout!

The NPC soldiers were turned to allies and the Hermes Guild members were exterminated.

Of course, a significant number of them had already fled but at least they had disappeared from the north.

Chapter 2: Hermes Guild’s Outcome

The defeat of the Haven Empire! The shame of the Haven Empire!

The end to the war in the north completely shook the entire Versailles Continent.

KMC Media’s signature program, the Story of the Versailles Continent.

Shin Hye-min, Oh Joo-wan and several professionals reported live.

“Oh Joo-wan ssi, will this make a difference to the future of the continent?”

“In the meantime, the north has suffered considerable damage due to the Hermes Guild. There was the prohibition of trade and sabotage through acts of terrorism. The economic and human losses were significant. Now their victory has laid the foundation for the kingdom’s recovery.”

Shin Hye-min laughed brightly.

“A lot of viewers will be wondering about this so please explain in detail.”

“The Haven Empire has committed financially and technologically to the construction of cites in the colony.”

“I remember the broadcast. There was an interview with lords in the Haven Empire about the development of the northern area.”

“Yes, that did happen in the past. Currently there are many commercial facilities, residential areas and decorated market squares. The farmlands and mines near the cities were also developed. The problem is that the population is low so there is a limit to the development… This will be instantly resolved after joining the Arpen Kingdom.”

“There really are a lot of northern users. Is there a good connection between cities in the colony?”

“Of course. The Hermes Guild had many development plans so infrastructure such as the roads and marinas are excellent.”

The cities created as a bridge for the Haven Empire would be handed over to the Arpen Kingdom.

From the perspective of the Haven Empire, it was like handing Weed their order of sweet and sour pork.

At that moment, Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan could see two sentences on their monitor.

– The current game broadcast as a 72.83% share.

The full broadcast ratings is 9.361%.

The PD standing next to the cameraman gave a thumbs up. It was natural for the hosts to like high ratings.

“The cities will now be joining the Arpen Kingdom. As well as the residents living in the colony. So what about the reactions of the NPCs? There is a chance the residents from the Central Continent might revolt.”

“They fully welcome joining the Arpen Kingdom.”

“I’m wondering about half the residents. They will have to change their country affiliation. Is it due to the high reputation of King Weed?”

“That is one of the reasons, but the residents originally lived in other kingdoms in the Haven Empire. Their kingdoms were conquered and they had the status of slaves, so they were pleased to be freed.”

“That is because slavery isn’t officially recognized in the Arpen Kingdom.”

“That is the important part.”

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan exchanged glances. The hosts and producers of the broadcasts were generally aware of Weed’s nature.

The Arpen Kingdom could gain a huge profit from slavery. A perfect slave kingdom based on exploitation!

They would eat barley bread at the crack of dawn, grass porridge for lunch and would sleep very late at night.

But unlike forced laborers, no taxes could be obtained from the slaves. They had no property to manage.

If the Arpen Kingdom acknowledged slavery then tax revenues would go down and it would be easy to mobilize huge manpower for development projects.

– Right now, the agricultural prices are too cheap. It will be difficult to reap taxes.

In order to collect taxes from many people, slavery was abolished! Items such as coffee and sugar cane were grown through low cost labour in the north.

To plant enthusiasts who had to be satisfied with flowerpots in apartments, Royal Road was like heaven.

“Is it growing?”

“Wah! It is germinating. Sprouting!”

“The size of the lettuce is 15 metres. Heh. The target has been updated. I won’t give up here. I will use everything to break the record of a 23 metres long carrot!”

Thousands of plant enthusiasts joined cafes and communities where they could talk about their crops in Royal Road.

– It is like a dream being able to plant in the earth instead of just the flower beds at my apartment. I will put up a few photos.

Cities had spacious land where wheat, barley, grapes and various agricultural products could be grown.

– Yesterday I spent some time in Royal Road. I got up early in the morning to plow the fields and could see as the sky filled with stars transitioned into the rising sun. I was extremely proud.

There were also users who cleared land in the stony mountains.

– I planted the seeds, waited patiently and it finally germinated! I planted herbs in a 5000 pyeong piece of land in the mountains north of Morata. I need people to help me take care of it.

– I also have land to the east of Morata… Are you Wild Manure-nim?

– Ohut. A famous farmer in Morata has joined our cafe!

Every once in a while, there would be taunting posts.

Title: Take a look at this garbage plant cafe.

Are you all farmers?

Kukuku. This year I’ve stepped on many flowers.

I also burned the flowers.

There were also posts to alleviate bad feelings.

– I will show photos of beautiful flowers. They are flowers that can only be seen in one season a year.

– If you are feeling bad then tell me. I will listen seriously.

– Life is tough. I gain courage and hope knowing that flowers will keep blooming next spring. Aja aja fighting!

People in the plant community considered the Arpen Kingdom as a holy land.

Miretas dreamt of becoming a farming master and had a huge scale farmland where he grew food, fruits and herbs.

There were many novice farmers who grew crops because there was no slavery.

Of course, popular items like grapes, barley, olives, tomatoes and rice were exported around the continent.

Daily necessities such as clothing and carriages were soaring due to the increase in consumption from the Arpen Kingdom’s growing population.

“Now it is time to discuss the situation and development of the Arpen Kingdom on the Versailles Continent. Let’s ask the professionals.”

Shin Hye-min introduced the professionals in order.

There was a former prestigious guild master on the Central Continent, an adventurer who made great contributions and a high level user.

Many people knew their names in Royal Road.

“First, I want to ask about the Arpen Kingdom. What do you see?”

Shin Hye-min questioned the adventurer who replied.

“The momentum of the Arpen Kingdom is great. I thought they could win the war when objectively looking at their power. But the result was far beyond my expectations. I think the Arpen Kingdom’s future will continue to be bright. The challenge is always to create a new dream.”

The representative from a prestigious guild also replied positively about the future.

“They have a large force and time. Thanks to repeated victories against the Haven empire, it is likely that the kingdom and potential of the users will increase even further. Usually the management of a kingdom is done step by step, but sometimes huge leaps can be taken.”

The experts all had a positive outlook for the Arpen Kingdom.

“I would like to hear the opinion of Lee Yong-han ssi.”

Every time he appeared on broadcasts in the past, he had a negative outlook of the Weed and the Arpen Kingdom.

Even though the Haven Empire was a little bit bigger, he was always receiving criticisms from the viewers.

“Kuheom. The strength of the players who won the war is partly due to the leadership of King Weed. The north will no longer be a continent of adventure, instead it will be the symbol of prosperity.”

Lee Yong-han admitted it.

He was afraid of the viewers’ criticisms but sometimes a kingdom could have great advances after a war.

Moreover, the Northern Continent was like a black hole sucking in users.

The broadcasting stations estimated that 93.7% of beginners started in the Arpen Kingdom.

The Central Continent had high taxes and expensive prices so starting there made it hard to catch up.

Furthermore, the severe wealth gap and lack of facilities for beginners diverted new users to the north.

Of course, the urban development of the Arpen Kingdom was behind but the variety of fun facilities meant that the users were much happier.

In addition to the new users, many people also migrated to the north so the growth had accelerated.

The economic experts also provided their opinions.

“Technology and capital, extensive lands, equal opportunity and motivation for development. A US consulting firm estimated that the Arpen Kingdom’s economic growth rate is 16% per month.

“16% per month?”

“Yes, that means the economic strength will double in just 4~5 months. Technology will be as early as 1 year, and there will be no innovations in the next two years.” The activities of the merchants stood out. The merchants made high investment risks and promoted the development of the kingdom.

Oh Joo-wan asked the economic experts.

“There is still a big gap between the Central and Northern Continents. For example, the Haven Empire could be seen as a developed country while the Arpen Kingdom is an emerging one. Can that gap be reduced?”

“The Central Continent’s facilities have been destroyed by war. Residents are still leaving and there are no signs that the rebellions are calming down. And the leaders of the Hermes Guild are in a crisis itself. There are disputes due to escalating greed so the political power of the lords have to be overcome.”

“The Haven Empire is in a difficult situation. But considering the large number of cities and territory in the Central Continent, won’t it be hard for their power to decrease?”

“It is difficult to guess with only simple calculations. There are several uncertain conditions in Royal Road that could make a country decline. Historically, it is unprecedented for a great empire to collapse so suddenly.”

“Then from now on, we will listen to words from the Haven Empire’s side.”

*   *   *

“Another defeat.”

Lafaye seemed to indifferently accept the results of the Puhol Fortress battle, but he was burning with anger inside.

Combat troops had been sent on an expedition to the north.

‘It is ridiculous. Why did this happen?’

It was a mystery how such a terrible result had emerged.

Tactics and strategy all flew away as they became entangled with Weed’s tricks and the northern users.

“In 1~2 years, the Arpen Kingdom might end up surpassing the Haven Empire.”

Every station was chattering loudly about the prospects for the future, and the Hermes Guild’s intelligence network also made similar judgement.

If they maintained the current scale, the Haven Empire had the best economic power. However, the Arpen Kingdom’s development was incredible.

It was difficult for the Haven Empire to catch up with such rapid acceleration.

Despite some good policies, it became distorted once it came time to be executed by humans.

The extreme corruption, chaotic security, and worsening public sentiment meant the Hermes Guild and Haven Empire suffered.

Bardray came up to Lafaye.

“The economic empire that we built is crumbling against the Arpen Kingdom. Now that they have wings, what will we do in the future?”

Bardray was in charge of wars while Lafaye was in charge of internal affairs.

They believed in each other’s abilities and cooperated, however now both of them were nervous.

Bardray was disappointed about the internal affairs of the Haven Empire while Lafaye didn’t have any confidence in winning the war.

‘The best situation will be Bardray leading the army to the north to obliterate them. But will that end the war? What if we are defeated once again?’

Weed’s tricks meant there would always be surprises.

Rather than fighting on the plains, the Arpen Kingdom could scatter if Bardray led the army to the north.

Defeating Weed would be the next best thing, but the time and cost of a military expedition to destroy the north was an issue.

Small resistance armies would occur in various parts of the Central Continent, turning the empire into a mess.

The Haven Empire would be unable to climb out of the mud and would be ruined.

Lafaye expressed his thoughts to Bardray.

“Right now it is difficult to correct the situation. The Hermes Guild’s myth of invincibility has been broken and there is a chance our military and economic dominance can be reversed later on.”

“How can we fix it?”

“The straightforward way… Delay the timing. The Haven Empire won’t be conquered in a war. If we optimize the army and increase the size of the Hermes Guild then we can hold out for a long time.”

It was a method of accepting new users into the Hermes Guild. In the process of expanding the territory, they had to accept more members. Missions such as subjugating the rebels and ensuring security were given to them. However, accepting new users was bound to cause bigger trouble later on.

Lafaye shook his head.

“We don’t have that many methods. The Arpen Kingdom will continue to follow after us.”

“So there isn’t a straightforward way?”

“There is an extreme method to solve it.”

Lafaye stood at the window and looked at the magnificent Aren Castle.

After the Central Continent was conquered, it was only a matter of time until the Hermes Guild unified the rest of the continent.

It was based on their overwhelming military strength, but this could also become a poison pill.

In fact, even if Weed wasn’t there, Lafaye thought that the Versailles Continent was too large.

The east, north and south were all being pioneered.

Millions of users were flocking to Royal Road so the Hermes Guild found it had to deal with all of them.

‘Of course, this could also be attributed to Weed’s popularity.’

Lafaye carefully opened his mouth.

“In the end, the solution is to reduce the taxes to an amount comparable to the Arpen Kingdom. The opposition of the users would reduce and it would solve many problems.”

“I don’t think we need to cut taxes so much. If the income reduces then won’t we have to decrease spending?”

“We can survive.”

The Haven Empire consumed a huge amount of funds on a daily basis. They had a large army and their lavish lifestyle needed to be maintained.

Rewards also needed to be given for the sake of the Hermes Guild’s unity.

“The company is behind us.”

“Did you speak to them?”

“Yes. The sponsors have decided to give the Hermes Guild economic support until we conquer the continent.”

The Hermes Guild was changed into a corporation in reality and investors got involved.

In their position, they absolutely couldn’t miss a chance to invest in Royal Road.

“The Grass Porridge Cult? They are weak and only have overwhelming numbers. They are constantly breaking their formations.”

“We will crush them so thoroughly that they won’t rise up again. A show of force is needed to make them succumb.”

“It is worth showing supremacy in Royal Road. I will give you support if necessary.”

Lafaye met with the representatives and managed to gain an agreement for financial support.

“They have decided to take responsibility for a portion of the taxes.”

“How is that possible?”

“It is a huge financial commitment.”

A vast amount of money was poured in to cover the expenditure of the Haven Empire.

“We must prepare for victory in the Versailles Continent. Train more troops to develop our combat power while getting rid of regulations and lowering the taxes. There is no way we can lose.”

“Will the northern users take a step back?”

“Yes. If they enjoy a comfortable standard of living then there is no reason for them to fight us. The Royal Road users will no longer have a reason to follow Weed.”

By default, the north could be seen as on Weed’s side.

The Hermes Guild thought that an organization like the Grass Porridge Cult was absurd.

The organization skills of the Hermes Guild meant they could mobilize 50,000 people in only 30 minutes.

When looking at the northern users, it was filled with people who genuinely wanted to enjoy Royal Road.

Many users were driven to the north because they couldn’t stand the tyranny and wars between the prestigious guilds.

“We have raised Weed. Now we need to do some tax cuts as well as several measures that can’t be exposed.”

“It will be easy if there is a war. The power of the Arpen Kingdom is poor.”

“There is still a chance. We need to tear down Weed and the Arpen Kingdom with a sharp knife, not a flimsy sword.”

“If we fail again…”

“It won’t be good for us.”

“That…”

The worst results flashed through Lafaye and Bardray’s heads.

They were receiving a huge amount of cash support from the international investors so if the results were bad, there was a chance of bankruptcy.

“We have already climbed on the tigers. Now we need to ensure that we don’t fall.”

“I guess so.”

“This is our chance from now on. We need to make sure we win.”

Hours after the battle at Puhol Fortress, the major lords of the Haven Empire were gathered at Aren Castle.

The expressions of the lords of the Haven Empire were stiff.

“Losing to the north again… When looking at the long term, it is important to secure the north for the hegemony of the empire.”

“Won’t they come and invade the territory of the Haven Empire now?”

“That is the problem. The fame of the empire has fallen and we are getting more rebels every day.”

“It will be an enormous headache if Weed joins with the rebels.”

At that moment, Lafaye and Bardray entered the meeting room.

The attention of the lords who were talking loudly turned to them.

Lafaye intended to deliver his idea to the lords.

The lords were looking at him with a mixture of mistrust. The myths and achievements of the Haven Empire was rapidly collapsing.

Lafaye and Bardray. The two men they thought would lead the Hermes Guild to conquer the continent felt shaky.

‘The collapse of the empire.’

While the lords were looking at them with deep concern, Lafaye came forward and spoke first.

“Right now, the empire is facing multiple risks. The territories aren’t stable due to rebels and according to the judgement of the intelligence network, we won’t be able to take down the north without risking the Central Continent as well.”

Lafaye’s words didn’t have a simple meaning.

After conquering Puhol Fortress, the north could enter the borders of the Haven Empire and secure some Arpen Kingdom colonies.

The lords of the areas near the north became stiff.

‘War will ravage my territory.’

Due to the numerous wars caused by the Haven Empire expanding, many cities and production facilities were destroyed.

Cities were destroyed during the empire’s territorial expansion in order to build a stable base from a clean slate.

If the cities were destroyed then the lords would receive enormous damage to their revenue.

The giant knight Boemong asked in a bold voice.

“Surely the Haven Empire can stop the Arpen Kingdom? Isn’t our military power enough to unify the Central Continent?”

“There are many cities and fortress so it will be hard to avoid damage in an invasion.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. The army and the members of the Hermes Guild are strong! So far, we can’t tilt the balance of power in the north but it will be a different story if they come to our land. We should try a straight comparison of power!”

“The important thing is that the invaders are unpredictable, so we might suffer defeat in some areas. It is because we have already experienced a war.”

The Hermes Guild had suffered embarrassment because they failed to accurately measure the Arpen Kingdom’s power.

Apart from Morata, it only had wide lands. However, they had endured the subsequent invasion of the Haven Empire and now the users had counterattacked.

Lafaye and the leaders of the Hermes Guild failed to predict how many users would be mobilized to face the invasion.

The power of the Arpen Kingdom was fundamentally due to the support of the users.

Weed alone was nothing but the users of the Arpen Kingdom following him couldn’t be imagined.

“There are many difficulties in governing a vast empire. A long war with the Arpen Kingdom is the worst thing that can happen. But if the northern users come down, they won’t be hard to kill. We just have no choice since they can scatter through the vast territory.”

The lords nodded like it was natural.

The Hermes Guild had a power that no one else could compare to. The Hermes Guild was an extremely powerful, independent force.

But the land and population they had to rule over was too much.

The Hermes Guild users that had shown strength and prestige until now were dissatisfied with the defeat.

“If the Arpen Kingdom joins hands with the rebels in the Central Continent… Their forces will increase by several times. We also need to be seriously concerned about the invasion from the southern desert.”

The Haven Empire had to realize that the worst situation had a high likelihood of happening.

The northern users and rebels could form an anti-Hermes Guild coalition.

The regular users would start to make fun of the Haven Empire and irreversible wheels would start rolling.

Many users in the Central Continent would move under the anti-Hermes Guild banner.

Weed’s popularity and the decline in public sentiment towards the Hermes Guild was enough.

The faces of the lords reddened.

“Such a thing… Is it feasible?”

“Even now, the intelligence network is unsure about this point. But the Arpen Kingdom will increase to several times its current size. It will be the worst if we lose one or two more big fights.”

It was no longer a problem of the northern expedition failing. The empire was at a serious risk of collapsing.

If the Haven Empire lost power, they would be unable to reign over such a wide area.

Even though they defeated the prestigious guilds, public sentiment as well as the broadcasting stations was with Weed.

The broadcasts received the best ratings when the Haven Empire was defeated.

No matter how high level and powerful the Hermes Guild was, it would be difficult to reverse the flow.

Lafaye told them the worst case scenario but there was a high chance of such a crisis occurring.

“Due to that, we have to look at the distant future. For the sake of the empire’s future, we will cut taxes and get rid of the fees for the hunting grounds and dungeons.”

Kalkus frowned.

“There was a 20% tax cut a short while ago… How much lower?”

“Now it will be lowered by one third. All places belonging to the guild will have no admission fee.”

A shocking tax cut.

The taxes would now be only slightly higher than the Arpen Kingdom and there would be no admission fees.

“Once taxes are cut, the empire will begin rapidly recovering. And the players standing on Weed’s side will have no reason to attack the Haven Empire. Once their power is reduced, we can concentrate on the enemy.”

“In the end, I guess it has to be like that…”

The lords looked at each other.

It would be good if Weed’s side had less users. But they earned wealth and power from the heavy taxes so it was difficult to give it up.

“After the public sentiment is rectified by the tax cut, we will thoroughly smash the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Then after the war?”

One of the greedy lords asked. This was the question that everyone was most curious about.

“It will return to the original tax rate.”

“Won’t there be a backlash from the users?”

“The core of the opposition will disappear along with Weed. Without the Arpen Kingdom, no one will be able to protest the increased taxes.”

The lords thought this method was too simple.

‘My eyes have become blurry.’

It was obvious that the original tax rate would be restored after the unification of the continent.

But in the meantime, their comfort would be reduced.

It was an effective means only in the future.

The herd mentality was hard to break up.

The Hermes Guild didn’t like losing to Weed and would ensure that the Arpen Kingdom tasted the bitterness of defeat.

Once the Arpen Kingdom was so thoroughly destroyed it would be difficult to recover, winning would become much easier.

The Hermes Guild needed to completely trample on them to prevent opposition.

“We are the Hermes Guild and we won’t lose this war. Apart from mobilizing the army, we will use every means necessary to win.”

*   *   *

The internet sites heated up after the battle at Puhol Fortress.

A number of users who played Royal Road were spread all over the world so it was understandable that the result would be a hot topic.

But there was a cafe that had its membership numbers rapidly increase.

– The Weed Hating Alliance.

People from various countries like South Korea, the United States, Japan, China, Europe etc., all joined.

It broke 5 million users in the first day it was created and now had a huge 70 million members.

Meanwhile, the popular Weed fan clubs only had around 300,000.

It was because there was a separate fan club for the Arpen Kingdom and Grass Porridge Cult.

The Weed Hating Alliance poured vicious words onto the forums every day.

– I hate Weed.

– I really hate him. His words and actions, everything is disgusting.

– I fall asleep every night cursing him.

– I bought a fox statue from Weed. Huhu. I smashed and burned it! Why doesn’t he just eat barley bread?

Malicious curses kept being posted. There was only one reason behind their anger.

Seo-yoon, the goddess of the Grass Porridge Cult.

She was friends with Weed. There were rumours of a romantic relationship that they didn’t want to believe.

There were posts by those who saw Seo-yoon at the battle for Puhol Fortress.

Title: The confession of an avian.

I joined the avians. I play them in Royal Road. Both good and bad things happened after joining the avians.

Human users wouldn’t know this but the wind is very cold in the sky.

Flying in the cold wind affects the joints of my wings.

And I… Don’t regret it.

I saw her.

Kyahahahahat.

There were thousands of comment on the post about seeing Seo-yoon.

– You have received a blessing.

– W-were you close? Are you in the same space as the goddess right now?

– You have enough good luck for a lifetime.

– No. This person… What is the problem with having wing joints affected by the cold? Didn’t you get to see Goddess-nim directly.

Title: I joined the avians. Heh heh.

I won’t speak for a long time.

Thank you very much.

I want to thank my parents who gave birth to me and everyone else.

I even forgive my indifferent co-workers and dirty little sister.

I’ve lived 31 years alone with no friends but I have no regrets.

Since that day, a light has been lit in my soul.

I now have a reason to live. Thank you.

– I’m envious. I hope to find such hope and courage.

– Isn’t the likelihood of seeing the goddess higher if I join the avians?

– I think it is a possibility.

– I deleted my level 310 character after the battle at Puhol Fortress. It was in order to be born again as an avian.

– Heol. What a waste.

– There is nothing precious in this world. We should all disappear. Whether God exists or not, the best thing will be for her to reincarnate.

– Don’t speak so carelessly. It is offensive. Be careful of your words. The beauty of Goddess-nim will not disappear. Forever and ever.

– I know it clearly. Goddess-nim’s voice and everything else won’t disappear. We will forever be in the fields of history.

Weed saw her first when she was beautiful like the snow.

Her cold and dark expression couldn’t hide her beauty. And now she had a brighter smile.

Seo-yoon had a beauty that would be incomparable anywhere in the world.

If a person felt depressed or tired then just looking at her face would give a clean, healing feeling.

– I own a small kimbap business that I had to get a loan to save it. Life is really hard. I’m sorry for all… Just as I thought about committing suicide, Goddess-nim came. Isn’t it still worth living?

– Where do you live? I will go and eat at your kimbap store.

Seo-yoon’s appearance was also defined.

– I couldn’t believe it in the first second after seeing Goddess-nim. And after two seconds, my soul was no longer my own.

The Weed Hating fan club heated up thanks to Seo-yoon.

Her appearance at the battle of Puhol Fortress led to many confessions.

– Wait a minute.. It was insane. It felt like all reason had faded. But why do I feel so proud?

As a match for the characteristics of the fan club, there were also posts suggesting retaliation against Weed. But there were those who opposed this.

– It is a good idea to assassinate Weed. I 100% agree. I would stab him if I could. But what about after that? Won’t Goddess-nim be sad?

– Aaack! I keep telling people not to speak so carelessly. I can imagine Goddess-nim being sad.

– Goddess-nim with tears in her eyes… Keheok. My heart almost stopped!

– That can’t be allowed to happen. The achievements of mankind. We must protect her, even if the Versailles Continent is destroyed. Isn’t it worth it?

– Even if I don’t like it, Weed makes Goddess-nim smile. We just have to do our best.

– For the Arpen Kingdom and Goddess-nim.

– How about making the Grass Porridge Cult a formal religion in reality? I will become lifelong follower and make donations.

– Let’s use the money to place a statue on all the continents, the Mediterranean Sea and the Pacific Ocean.

– That is a great plan!

Chapter 3: Water Park that Will Earn a Fortune

The news of the Arpen Kingdom’s territory expansion and Haven Empire’s sudden tax cut spread across the continent.

“Hooray!”

“Free from taxes. The struggle is over.”

“Nonsense. For the Hermes Guild to obediently withdraw…”

“It is worrying. Anyway, it is a good thing.”

Thanks to the immediate response, the connection rate to Royal Road rose by four times. All the users in the Central Continent welcomed it.

“It will be really fun from now on.”

“Yes. I’m going to be a merchant. I will definitely sell and get rid of some things. Most of the profits will be my own.”

The cities and stores were bustling with users. Thanks to the tax cuts, the goods were being sold at lower prices.

“Gallikos’ Sword please. It has already been sold out? Then Nerdal’s Crescent Moon Sword!”

“I will order this. Please show me all your useful armour.”

“Horse. I am looking for a horse. For the last few years, I haven’t been riding a good one.”

The stores were packed with users so there was no room to move.

Users wanted to buy the goods at a cheaper price.

“I want to buy more.”

“There isn’t much money left…”

“Earn it. Gain equipment from the hunting grounds. Quickly recover the money.”

“I have no money to go to the hunting grounds in the south.”

“Don’t you know? The dungeons are free.”

“Heeok!”

The free admissions policy meant that many users turned to hunting.

After the Hermes Guild’s policy of high taxes and limited dungeon admission was changed, the situation dramatically improved.

People waited at the dungeon entrance looking for parties.

“I am a combat priest. I am capable of stage 2 treatments. I will help you properly.”

“We are organizing a party to hunt the boss monster Batoto. Please contact me if you are more than level 400.”

“Looking for someone to hunt until evening. We are a medium size party looking for more than 10 people to sweep the dungeon.”

The cities and hunting grounds were crowded, as well as the roads connecting them.

The depressed Central Continent had turned into a huge, vibrant land.

There was even a change in the rebels.

“I want to go back home. Now I can return to my farm in the Haven Empire.”

“His Majesty has got rid of all past sins… I’m going to quit and return to my occupation. Now I need to feed my family.”

“Giving land to farmers, horse drawn carriages to merchants and jobs to blacksmiths? Then I have to go into the city. Now I can live and eat.”

The resistance degraded and was reduced by at least half.

Following the tax cut, the Hermes Guild implemented various economic measures and development started.

– The Haven Empire will pursue full-scale construction projects in order to promote stability and convenience on the Versailles Continent.

Proclamations about 30 Grand Buildings simultaneously popped up with Emperor Bardray’s name attached.

Of course, skilled architects were needed for Grand Buildings so they needed to actively cooperate with users.

Despite a lot of time needed before it could be implemented, the Grand Buildings were announced in order to increase public sentiment.

The heated response to Hermes Guild’s tax cuts buried the result of the Puhol Fortress battle.

*   *   *

Lee Hyun felt violent sadness despite winning the battle at Puhol Fortress.

It was because that evening, he watched television while eating rice and kimchi stew with his sister.

“There are large tax cuts in the Haven Empire. The stores and markets in the Central Continent are crowded with people. Jae-ho ssi, hasn’t the atmosphere of the Haven Empire changed?”

“Yes, that’s correct. The number of people wandering the cities have grown and the items in warehouses are selling like they are on fire.

“Then will the cities quickly stabilize?”

“There is still opposition from residents in areas conquered by the Haven Empire, but it is clear that big changes are occurring.”

Every broadcasting station associated with Royal Road was relaying news about the tax cuts. Lee Hyun was so surprised that he dropped his spoon filled with pork.

“The Haven Empire lowering taxes is like taking an axe to my feet.”

Considering the military and economic scale of the Haven Empire, there were many actions they couldn’t take.

They could form three or four more northern expeditions but it would still be impossible to devastate the Arpen Kingdom.

Nevertheless, the tax cuts started stabilizing the empire.

The stations also played the Hermes Guild’s official announcement.

– The Hermes Guild has unified the Central Continent after the endless wars and have been seeking to stabilize the continent.

We made many friends and enemies on this path, but there is no room for regret.

This isn’t an excuse, but we knew that someone else would eventually walk along that path.

We wanted to end the war quickly. However, the Hermes Guild has realized the mistakes in the process that made some residents inconvenienced.

In order to stabilize the Versailles Continent, the Haven Empire will cut tax rates for users living in this land and will engage in economic development.

These changes aren’t just in words and we will show you directly.

Stay tuned for future developments on the continent.

A series of complaints burst from Lee Hyun’s mouth.

“The Hermes Guild doesn’t have the spirit of a collaborator.”

In order to conquer the continent, they would continue to attack the Arpen Kingdom.

In the long run, the Haven Empire would use the Arpen Kingdom as an excuse to increase the taxes.

“I can no longer raise my taxes in the future…”

His grief was so large that he was almost moved to tears.

His kingdom was high in integrity but it was poor. He wasn’t interested in such things.

After taking care of the Haven Empire and developing the economy, he had a plan to raise the taxes of the Arpen Kingdom.

His goal was to rule the Arpen Kingdom as a dictator and to exploit the residents.

“A man should have that much ambition.”

Yet the Hermes Guild had changed their policy because of the crisis.

“It really is tough to become a dictator.”

Lee Hyun and Lee Hye-yeon watched the television together.

Users were wandering the stores in the Central Continent with happy expressions.

Lee Hye-yeon and Lee Hyun each said something.

“Pretty clothes.”

“What a waste. They should be brought to the Arpen Kingdom to be exploited…”

The attractions on the Central Continent that had been booked full for one month also appeared.

“Wah! A pretty place.”

“They are just an opportunity to rip people off.”

The economic development measures and Grand Buildings construction in the Haven Empire were also announced.

“I would like to live in the Central Continent too, Oppa.”

“The housing prices will rise.”

Despite a similar growth process, the siblings had different thoughts.

*   *   *

Lee Hyun took two seconds to pick clothes from his closet for a date with Seo-yoon.

Despite the rest from university and playing Royal Road every day, he still went on outings with her around the neighbourhood.

“Jeans… I will wear this t-shirt.”

It was a simple fashion for going out.

Jeans could be worn all year round and a jumper could be placed over the t-shirt if it was cold. Of course, he wore thick, corduroy pants when it was winter mornings. It was a similar fashion to the middle aged men who worked at the fish market.

His simple fashion didn’t change for his dates with Seo-yoon.

“They are comfortable clothes to wear.”

Sometimes he also wanted to be fashionable.

It was because Seo-yoon was so beautiful. He wanted other people to say they were a well-suited couple just once.

“Yes, let’s wear this new t-shirt that I had been saving.”

Lee Hyun pulled out a t-shirt he bought a few months ago for a discounted price of 12,000 won.

The fabric was soft, it was fitting and comfortable and there was meticulous stitching.

“Indeed… Clothing from a market is different.”

Lee Hyun was satisfied as he looked in the mirror.

He left his house with clothes that had a chicken sewn on his chest.

Seo-yoon was playing with Dogmeat and she was also dressed in jeans and a white t-shirt. She shone despite the simple clothes. Not to mention the face and perfect body ratio.

If Seo-yoon was born hundreds of years ago, that beauty would be enough to cause wars between countries.

Of course, artists would have tried to paint or make sculptures of her.

“Have you waited long?”

“Nope. I’ve been playing awhile.”

Seo-yoon was gently brushing Dogmeat.

Growl!

Dogmeat growled as soon as she saw Lee Hyun. The five puppies Dogmeat gave birth to also had stiff tails.

Animals weren’t stupid. Their new owners, Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon had a good relationship!

‘Something is suspicious. He is a wicked, old master.’

The dogs distrusted Lee Hyun.

After giving Seo-yoon Dogmeat, the second Dogmeat also fled to her home every day. Despite being right next door, Dogmeat 2 didn’t even bother urinating at Lee Hyun’s house.

Lee Hyun’s eyes shone fiercely.

“Lie down.”

Cheolpudeok.

The fear imprinted in her mouth made Dogmeat instinctively obey.

She feared Lee Hyun opening the lid of a pot only for it to contain one of her puppies.

“Swim.”

Houjeok houjeok.

The wise Dogmeat and her puppies obeyed.

“Now that is more desirable.”

After steamrolling over the dogs, he started his neighbourhood outing with Seo-yoon.

They stumbled across some high school thugs wandering the side of the road.

“Hello everyone!”

These days, the students greeted them with a polite attitude. There was a legend about them in the alleys.

“Lee Hyun… Be careful around him. And don’t touch his younger sister.”

“Why?”

“Do you know Chan-hwi hyung?”

“Yes. That hyung doesn’t like people he doesn’t know wandering into his area.”

“A little while ago, he discovered Lee Hyun loitering in front of his home.”

“Was there a fight? Chan-hwi hyung wouldn’t tolerate that.”

“He decided to beat the other person up. So that evening, he headed out with an iron pipe. He dragged a bunch of other people with him.”

“So? Was the police called?”

“I would be glad if that was the case. That Lee Hyun came out of the gate holding a scythe.”

“…”

“He was also holding a chicken with blood dripping down. Thirty people came to fight him… nobody entered. Anyway, since that day Chan-hwi hyung hasn’t entered this neighbourhood.”

It was rare for neighbourhood thugs to have not heard that legend.

Rumours about Lee Hyun and Ahn Hyun-do circulated and were greatly inflated.

“He trained with a real sword.”

“That dojang… Have you seen their skill with the sword? It isn’t surprising that the hand of someone who tried to touch his little sister was hacked off. He had sufficient skills for it.”

“More strange people have entered the area because of him.”

“Did you see the people who attend the dojang? Even the hyung-nims don’t dare touch them.”

Lee Hyun and his family were a presence that couldn’t be touched in this area.

Seo-yoon was so beautiful that even the gangsters and bad men were eyeing her. But they were blocked by highly trained bodyguards.

Now it didn’t matter if she was escorted on walks because she had guards.

Yoo Byung-jin had discovered Seo-yoon’s presence while watching Lee Hyun.

“She is Lee Hyun’s girlfriend. Beautiful. So pretty that she might become the target of a crime…”

– The likelihood of a crime is 94.7282%.

“Isn’t the security in South Korea good enough? It is much better than other countries.”

– With her looks, it would be a 98% chance of a crime in other countries.

Even the police and the country’s security force would be drawn in by her looks.

When she walked around, the people and traffic were paralyzed because they were staring at her.

It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that her beauty would cause a country to collapse in the past.

“It isn’t good to leave this situation unchecked. I don’t want to watch that child be sad.

Even Yoo Byung-jin didn’t want to see Seo-yoon cry.

While watching Weed’s adventures in Royal Road, he had seen Seo-yoon crying as her heart was melted.

The clear tears flowing down Seo-yoon’s face was an incredibly beautiful moment.

If Yoo Byung-jin was younger then he might have devoted everything to her. Royal Road or the wealth that could shake the world didn’t matter.

As he watched Seo-yoon for a while, he realized that her insides were beautiful as well.

“Lee Hyun might be ugly but he is blessed with a woman like that. I would like to watch their children.”

– Do you want to hire some bodyguards?

“Grade A or above guards.”

As well as grade A guards, the satellites and surveillance systems were used to prevent anything dangerous from happening.

Of course, there were more than 10 androids mobilized in that area to improve security.

– All evidence for criminals within a 50km radius has been secured. It will take approximately a week for the police to sweep up all of them.

After the area was cleaned, Yoo Byung-jin ordered the androids to secretly monitor it.

Lee Hyun reached the side of the road and asked.

“Where do you want to go? The cinema or the mall? Do you want winter clothes?”

“I don’t want to see a movie. Or buy clothes… I want to go to the market.”

“Is there anything you would like to eat?”

“Crab!”

“Um. Crab is a little expensive… The price of seafood doesn’t matter. No, these days I am receiving a lot of money from the broadcasting stations.”

Seo-yoon and Lee Hyun couldn’t spend much time together like this because important events were occurring in Royal Road.

For today’s date, they agreed to buy crab at the market and then make a stew at home.

Lee Hyun went to a seafood store he had been going to for 5 years and the middle aged employee said to Seo-yoon.

“A precious girl like you doesn’t match him… Young lady, there are many men in this wide world.”

“No. It is okay.”

“I am just worried… If he has grabbed onto a weakness then I will report it to the police.”

This was the 297th time Seo-yoon had received this offer.

Most of the people in the neighbourhood encouraged her to report at least once.

*   *   *

Lee Hyun connected to Royal Road where the festival at Puhol Fortress was still ongoing.

“Hahahat! Drink, drink. Drink it all.”

“Uhhh, take it. I love grass porridge thickened with alcohol. My stomach can’t eat anymore. Perhaps I should let the grass porridge settle?”

“You don’t have to seriously worry about the dungeons. It is a dark and lonely place but… It also has a cozy feeling. You should go at least once.”

Even though it was daytime, the northern users were still celebrating.

In Royal Road time, it had been 3 days since the battle ended but people still remained in the area.

The walls were broken and the ground cracked.

There was an eating and drinking atmosphere everywhere.

Weed had a rotten smile on his face.

“Good.”

A tough battle had ended with victory so the northern users deserved to play.

Some users who died in battle came back and shared the mood of others. A two day festival was scheduled after they revived.

“I will earn quite a bit of money.”

Of course, the alcohol and food for the festival were sold by merchants so Mapan made quite a profit.

Merchants were the busiest before and after a war.

Weed relied on Mapan but he still had a slight relationship with other merchants. The Money Mine Company, King Crab Shipping Company, Turtle Trading Company, etc.

Weed knew how to make more money because of his life experience.

He maintained a low tax rate but he found merchants where he could rake in some profit.

The so-called godfather of the underground economy!

However, not all the users at Puhol Fortress were playing.

“Looking for a priest eager to save people. Let’s go hunting together!”

“I am a shield warrior, please take me. Level 256. I have focused on raising the resilience of my body.”

The high level or diligent users left for hunting and adventuring in the area.

“Now, an underground exploration. We’re off!”

10~20 users could be see playing in the tunnels that Squashy Wriggler made.

“Push as hard as possible.”

“Kkung!”

Some users were getting into mischief by rolling stones along the walls.

A lot of money and effort would be required to restore the broken walls, defense towers and inner roads of Puhol Fortress.

Weed lacked experience as an architect but he could still guess the status of Puhol Fortress.

“It will take millions of gold to restore this place. Of course, there is no reason to spend money on a fortress if there is no war.”

A military fortress would increase the training of soldiers and boost their morale. Maintaining large military facilities were essential to stopping enemy invasions.

Weed shook his head.

“Restoration is too costly. And it isn’t possible to defend the Arpen Kingdom from here.”

Even if Puhol Fortress was kept, the Haven Empire could use different routes to destroy the kingdom.

“Repairs aren’t possible so I need to change the direction… Should I keep it as ruins and sell souvenirs?”

Weed wanted to change the use of the fortress.

A war memorial would only receive petty cash. A pile of stones was just tacky unless the battle took place decades or hundreds of years ago.

Making flimsy tourist attractions would just result in a steady loss.

Weed thought that it was the wrong investment.

“If the facilities are left untouched… It might turn into a den of monsters.”

Monsters lived in ruins or abandoned buildings.

The scale of Puhol Fortress meant there would be hundreds of monsters.

A good hunting ground would be created but that could also be a poison. The monsters released in Puhol Fortress wouldn’t just stay in one place. The boss level monsters among them would wander the kingdom, worsening security.

“The cost of demolition will be enormous. I also can’t charge the Hermes Guild.”

Weed was in the midst of watching users dropping stones or breaking buildings.

‘Fixing everything will take money. Homeowners also wouldn’t want messy houses like these.’

Then he suddenly had an idea.

“Can I take advantage of sculpting here? I can use them as raw materials in sculpting and sell the pieces at an expensive price.”

A deep rooted bias against sculpting!

Carving a few wooden blocks would only give him a few gold.

‘The money disappears once it leaves my hand. But there will definitely be a way to earn money from the fortress. Concentrate, think. There were a number of tricks that could be used. Success and failure in life need to be found on its own.’

He looked at Puhol Fortress again from the viewpoint of a sculptor.

He had 1% left before becoming the long-awaited sculpting master. It was at the last step but it really wasn’t easy to raise it through half-hearted works.

After mastering swordsmanship in the desert, Weed’s base damage had increased by 500%. The power of the attack skills improved and the range increased. The effect of swordsmanship as well as his defense increased when he mastered it.

The Class Master Quests took a long time so there should be substantial compensation.

“The problem is there is a chance Bardray will also become a master swordsman. He is probably further ahead in the class skills.”

Weed had watched Bardray’s battles in the Hall of Fame as well as news about him on the broadcasting stations.

Bardray led the army to sweep up the rebels in the Haven Empire. Of course, he also didn’t miss dungeon hunting and pioneering new places.

Other users admired his efficiency but Weed had a rough idea of his skills.

“His level is certainly in the mid-500s. And his swordsmanship is a little lower than I thought. He has an outstanding ability to use several skills at the same time to great effect.”

Sword Awakening, Power of Birth, Black Knight’s Strike and Summon Another Sword. Bardray’s skills were wonderful but it was weaker than when Weed was ruler of the desert.

“On average, it should be around advanced level 4.”

Bardray’s skill proficiency was relatively low but that wasn’t a critical problem for him.

His skill proficiencies would continue to grow and he could receive rewards and accumulate stats from hunting and completing quests.

“I need to become a sculpting master. This sculpture will help me earn money as well as master it.”

He needed to break through the last step.

The final secret technique Time Sculpting had managed to reach intermediate level. He could create a Museum of Time just once.

He also had the helium from the dragon quest. It wasn’t good to use in a sculpture but it would be a waste to leave it unused.

If Weed mastered his class then there would be many benefits as well as improvements in the related skills.

“I should invest everything.”

Weed’s eyes once again looked at Puhol Fortress.

Right now, Puhol Fortress was just a ruin that ate a lot of money.

However, there was no reason to restore it to normal.

“It might not work as a military fortress but it is a place with convenient traffic and many people know about it… Should I go into the culture and commerce area?”

He decided to make Puhol Fortress into a sculpture. This space would be changed after getting rid of the people.

“The problem with a sculpture made of ruins is that the value will drop if a piece of stone falls. How can I throw away money?”

Weed recalled the big money making opportunity he missed.

“Before the battle at Puhol Fortress… I was trying to develop luxury villas near the river. Time was too short so I had to sadly give up on that plan. If I drag water through here then I can sell villas.”

He had planned to half submerge Puhol Fortress in water and then sell luxury villas in the area.

The unique scenery of Puhol Fortress would attract tourists and generate revenue.

“P-perhaps…”

A scene came to Weed’s mind.

Magnificent natural sculptures that acted as large rides. If he changed Puhol Fortress into a lake then he could create many facilities for users.

It was possible to go swimming on land!

“A-a water theme park of my dreams!”

In the Korean summers, many people went to beaches and water parks.

Families or lovers moved as units and it was a place that ripped off people.

“It is possible to have expensive admission fees, sale of goods and parking fees.”

There would be an entry fee per person as well as parking for carriages and other means of transportation.

Food and accommodation would also be provided. Fancy, overpriced facilities!

In the north of the Versailles Continent, there were few popular tourist destinations. The users invested in equipment or a house.

If he made a water park here, millions of people would come flooding.

“The whole area will be submerged in water and hundreds of thousands of people can enter!”

A water park redevelopment project that surpassed the limits!

If 200,000 people came daily and paid 10 gold then it would be a profit of millions.

Puhol Fortress would be turned into a natural water park so the maintenance costs wouldn’t be that high.

“Once it is created, the commercial facilities will be crazy. Clothes, food, souvenirs… They will be sold out.”

Weed thought that he was stupid.

In today’s world, he never made money like a rich person.

“I concentrated on the old-fashioned way of raising taxes. I just recklessly spent the money collected.”

He needed something that steadily made money.

The northern users could make him money by eating, playing and dressing up.

The Arpen Kingdom was receiving 20~30 million gold in tax revenue. If this water park business went well, it could increase by a few times.

There was the overpriced admission fee, villas and taxes on commercial facilities.

A fantastic revenue set!

“I can’t slow down. I have to start right away. This is more important than the war with the Haven Empire.”

Excitement flowed through Weed’s body.

The redevelopment plan to turn Puhol Fortress into a commercial property had now begun.

“Summon Sculpture!”

He immediately summoned his sculptural lifeforms.

They were creatures who could exert their strength on the land like Yellowy, King Hydra and Cerberus!

A bright light shone as they were forcibly summoned.

Chapter 4: The North’s Largest Construction

Ummoooooo!

Yellowy pulled a large plow and dug at the land.

The warrior Gernika, Vindex, Seville etc., had picked up shovels and were digging the earth.

It was the grand plan to direct the Miros River to Fort Puhol!

Goldman, Golden Bird and Silver Bird helped to split apart the rocks while the wyverns carried bundles.

“Kuweeek!”

The wyverns were carrying bundles of sand.

All the sculptural lifeforms had been mobilized to work.

Death Worm and the King Hydra were changing the flow of the river by pouring enormous amounts of soil and stones into the river.

The sculptural lifeforms were being used as construction workers.

“As you can now see, Weed is orchestrating something. I wonder what his plan is?”

“Weed’s subordinates have emerged after the battle. Looking at this video from an avian, it seems like they are trying to change the direction of Miros River towards Puhol Fortress.”

The stations delivered the news in real time.

The bulletin boards that became quiet after the battle at Puhol Fortress heated up again.

– What is it? What is going on?

– I wonder if another battle will take place at Puhol Fortress. Is he digging waterways in preparation for a future battle with the Haven Empire?

– The amount of water seems too large to building a waterway near the fortress.

– I have been a builder for 21 years. That construction is on a national level. A minimum of billions of won would be required.

Weed’s work attracted the attention of the viewers and broadcasting stations, so the connection rate to Royal Road increased.

The northern users celebrating at Puhol Fortress were surprised to hear the news.

“Hey, he really is working.”

“It seems like they are digging a lot of land.”

Death Worm was digging up a lot of earth while the King Hydra was pushing it. The dirt was piled up like a mountain!

At that moment, a message window simultaneously popped up in front of all northern users.

Ddiring!

– Miros River Construction Site

King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom is planning a huge civil engineering project.

Create a new waterway from Miros River to Puhol Fortress!

Those who take part in the kingdom’s civil engineering project will be given public achievements in correspondence with their work.

Level of Difficulty: Kingdom Quest.

Compensation: National achievement, fame.

Quest Restrictions: Limited to those who belong to the Arpen Kingdom.

Murderers are unable to participate.

Limited to 5 million people.

The northern users were surprised as they saw the contents of the message window.

“5 million people can participate in a kingdom quest?”

“Ah, I should do it. I have been bored since there are no Grand Buildings being created. My whole body has become muscular after all that labour.”

“The construction of the statue comes to mind.”

“Achievements in the Arpen Kingdom… It is important to be active in the north. Should I dig the ground or carry the soil?”

Those who started in the Arpen Kingdom had some experience with labour.

It was difficult work if they did it alone, but hundreds of thousands of people participated!

“I am tired of drinking and playing. It would be good to sweat a little bit. Such things are precious in life…”

“Huhu. Let’s build up some achievements.”

Ddiring!

– There are 83,190 construction workers gathered at Miros River.

After a few seconds.

– There are 893,192 construction workers gathered at Miros River.

By that evening, 5 million people had registered.

There were many users who survived the war, and a lot of them were only drinking and eating at Puhol Fortress.

“Let’s go.”

“Let’s go!”

“But I have no equipment… Don’t I need a shovel or a cart?”

Mysterious things often happened in the Arpen Kingdom.

Once certain goods were needed, a trading company would appear like ghosts.

“Mapan’s trading company has come quickly. We are selling pickaxes and bull-drawn wagons for a cheap price. The volume is limited so come quickly! Please note that exchanges, repair requests or refunds are not permitted.”

The price of a pickaxe was 30 silver and the wagon was 20 gold!

The selling price was 40 times that of stores in Morata. It was a rip off but users bought it without complaints.

They instantly ran out of stock despite many people waiting in line.

After a while, Mapan’s trading company would start selling the pickaxes and wagons again.

“We hastily bought some additional volume. A lot of money was given to middle-tier companies so this is the lowest I can sell it at. One pickaxe for 56 silver, a wagon is 35 gold!”

The stock ran out a 2nd, 3rd and 4th time as they kept raising prices!

At first, the users thought it was expensive but they took the price raise for granted due to lack of stock.

Of course, this was all occurring in accordance to Weed and Mapan’s plan.

“In the first and second sales, only sell 5% of the stock. After raising the prices, sell a whole bunch.”

“As expected from Weed-nim. I still have many things to learn as a merchant. But won’t I be cursed at if I keep selling? The image of Mapan’s trading company is also important if I want to continue doing business.”

“After selling half of it, give it to the middlemen. Once enough of them are sold, the price of the pickaxes and wagons will naturally increase. They will eat it instead of cursing.”

“It really is Weed-nim!”

“Politics is like this.”

The two people colluded to rip off the users participating in the kingdom quest.

The northern users diligently dug at the soil.

They had a special affection for this after completing a Grand Building.

The broadcasting stations also covered the labour, despite the heat.

Someone who had worked on the Rosenheim Kingdom’s pyramid with Weed said.

“One person is killed and that person is a murderer. Then why is someone called a hero for killing millions of people? It is the same with labour. Creating a big thing is really rewarding. A bit of hard work can build something. There is no task that doesn’t require diligence. Of course, I have a month’s worth of laundry piled up but here I am diligent. It is really miraculous.”

Among the northern users, there were many people connected to Royal Road who worked diligently.

It was because they had firsthand experience with Grand Buildings and urban construction.

They moved their hands and feet and did what was required.

Weed had numerous achievements as a sculptor so they were proud just participating in his quest.

Weed made the people withdraw from Puhol Fortress.

“I have to create the popular sculpture.”

He intended to use Nature Sculpting for water based rides.

They were large sculptures that people could touch and play on, instead of just watching.

The problem was that Weed had never gone to a water park.

He only saw the people playing on the news.

“I wonder. How can I create fun rides that people will pay an admission fee for every day?”

Numerous residents and users watched him work.

“Weed, the God of War!”

“Kya. It is the first time I’ve seen the real thing. I need to brag to my friends.”

“But I wouldn’t have known him if I passed him in the street.”

“Yes. It is normal to forget after looking away for a while.”

The gathered crowd surpassed that of a popular celebrity by hundreds of times!

Normally Weed was doing business in the square but now the crowd didn’t want to disturb him.

Thousands of avian users were watching from the sky.

Weed nodded after a while.

“I roughly know what a water park feels like.”

When he saw it on the television, there was a water slide from a high up place.

He had also experienced water slides through Kendellev in the dwarven city of Kuroso.

He remembered learning Elemental Sculpting after watching Kendellev’s natural sculptures.

“When I saw it on television, the screaming women and children were very happy.”

Weed use Nature Sculpting. Water rising from underground became sculpting material.

There was no specific difficulties in getting it to retain its shape.

“Kendellev’s slide was fun but it was too low. It needs to be higher to make up for the expensive price.”

Experience and imagination were important. Of course, the entire landscape needed to be considered as well.

An amusement park needed to be something beautiful and fun so that visitors would easily open their wallets!

It was possible with Weed’s art stat.

He made a water slide that was 600 metres high and linked the water to it.

It wasn’t just a simple slide!

There was a water dragon that referenced Bingryong!

The whole body was a slide while the head and tail were the places where the water came down.

Weed was able to work on it with the help of Light Wings.

“Ohhhh! Fabulous.”

“That is Weed-nim’s sculpture.”

“Unbelievably fast. It is marvelous how such a rough work could turn into that.”

“It is all about experience.”

“Perhaps he is making rides for all of us. Shining in the sun…”

The crowd grew over time and there were already a few million.

It was like Weed was holding a concert.

“Good. I don’t need to promote it separately.”

After the battle of Puhol Fortress, the broadcasting stations competed over Weed’s new sculpture.

It was only a matter of time until this emerged as a new attraction for the northern users.

It took approximately 10 hours to make a water slide that was 650 metres tall.

His meals were easily resolved with barley bread and he didn’t take a break.

“There is so much to do. Now I need to make money, not play.”

It was like finding money on the ground or scratching the lottery card!

His sculpting skill was close to master level and his art stat high enough that the scale of the water sculpture didn’t matter.

They would slide down the dragon’s back and it would suddenly twist around like a rollercoaster.

There was a section where five heels rotated diagonally within the body of the dragon.

“I think this feels like an amusement park.”

He used Kendellev’s water sculptures as references.

There was a slippery part in the middle where birds of water would come flying, as well as a part where they would pass through a rainbow that was a sculpture of light.

They were able to pass through beautiful fountains and small tunnels of rain.

“The appearance seems plausible but I feel some unease… I have never gone on even one ride.”

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“The Dragon Slide. Calling it a dragon makes it seem expensive. It is perfect for ripping people off.”

– Dragon Slide is correct?

“That’s right.”

– Masterpiece! Dragon Slide has been completed!

Sculpting combined with nature has once again created a great work.

The purpose of this magnificent dragon sculpture seems to be a facility to play on.

The nature spirits and majestic dragon will give pleasure to many creatures.

Of course, it is so large that some will dislike it.

Artistic Value: 8,280.

Special Options:

Anyone who sees Dragon Slide will have their health and mana recovery increased by 36% for three days.

– Affinity to water has permanently increased by 0.4%.

– There will be more rain in this area.

– Maximum vitality +15%. All stats will increase by 21.

– The emergence rate of monsters will reduce by 21%.

– Dragons who discover this sculpture will become hostile.

Current number of Masterpieces created: 29

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– Fame has increased by 451.

– Perseverance has increased by 2.

– Strength has increased by 1.

– Art has increased by 1.

– Maximum health has increased by 150.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Masterpiece sculpture.

– The skill proficiency of Time Sculpting has improved.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 14.

“A good start.”

Weed’s sculpting proficiency increased by 0.1%.

It was a masterpiece sculpture and he still hadn’t used the helium and Museum of Time.

“Only 0.9% remains until the end.”

Weed only though about mastering sculpting for a moment before turning his mind to earning money from the water park.

“This big dragon slide will make money and there will be other small rides. The best rides will raise awareness of the water park.”

He imagined thousands of people standing in line and paying for the services.

On weekends, a parking war would take place among the bull and horse users.

“The avians can just fly in. Will they pay the admission fee?”

Weed was very worried about the avians not paying any money.

The solution was simple.

“I will post magicians and archers. They will shoot anything that flies in the sky.”

This was the truth of life.

In the meantime, the reaction of the crowd was very hot.

“Kuwaaaah. Amazing. I’ve never seen a slide of that scale before.”

“That is a ridiculous size. It seems like the sculpture is a facility for fun.”

“Is this a reward for our hard work against the Haven Empire?”

“Of course. I don’t know Weed-nim but making it for money… Absolutely not.”

“Isn’t he a miser? I always thought that.”

“Never. He invested all his money in the Northern Continent and even lowered taxes for us. How can you not know this?”

“Even now, he is too embarrassed to say thank you so he is making this for us.”

The response of the crowd was very favourable.

As king of the Arpen Kingdom, he had a lot of authority.

Even if Weed wanted to become the ruler of the Northern Continent, it would be hard to find anyone protesting.

Nevertheless, he always treated the northern users humbly. Only selling sculptures for 1 gold and never losing his service oriented spirit!

At that moment, someone in the crowd shouted.

“Excuse me! Can we really ride the Dragon Slide?”

Although it might be a ride, it was questionable because it could damage the sculpture.

Weed loudly replied.

“Of course. I made it so that people will ride it.”

“We can ride it?”

“Yes.”

“Hooray! Let’s make a line.”

A line immediately formed behind the Dragon Slide. It didn’t seem to end. The long line circled Puhol Fortress and extended beyond the plains.

Weed was on the spiral staircase of the slide to greet the customers directly.

“Weed-nim. I am a user called Soft Tofu from Morata. Do you remember?”

“…”

Weed searched through his memories.

His friends, seniors, juniors and customers were stored in a vast area.

“Didn’t you buy a fox statue for 7 gold last time?”

“That’s right. You remembered. I even belong to the Arpen Kingdom’s army. I’ve engaged in combat. However, I died three times.”

“Huhuhu.”

“But I heard that you sold sculptures for 1 gold.”

“It was a premium fox sculpture that I sold to you.”

“The tail fell off that evening. There are witnesses.”

“…”

Weed couldn’t think of anything to say. However, sculptures already sold couldn’t be exchanged or given refunds.

That was the basic principle of an unscrupulous merchant!

“The water slide is 7 gold, but I will only accept 3 gold from you.”

“I also need to pay for this?”

“Of course.”

“Still, that is a large discount.”

“It is special treatment.”

“Thank you. I am your lifelong fan.”

Soft Tofu easily handed over 3 gold.

There were too many users waiting in line so he couldn’t waste any more time.

Besides, this was the large sculpture that Weed had diligently created.

Soft Tofu paid 3 gold and sat on the dragon’s head.

“This is an honour… I will remember this day until I die.”

“I am always thankful to Soft Tofu-nim.”

“So I’ll be departing.”

It was a water sculpture so water was always flowing.

Soft Tofu vigorously slid down.

“Yay!”

He opened his arms wide and screamed with joy.

Approximately 3 seconds later, Weed and Soft Tofu realized something at the same time.

‘Too fast.’

‘Fast.’

Water was steeply flowing from the dragon’s head.

Soft Tofu slid down the water at a horrific speed. He was briefly stunned as he rose 40 metres in the air at a bend.

“Aaaack!”

Fortunately, he didn’t fly off but dropped once again onto the water slide. However, there was a tremendous acceleration along the flowing water.

“Not so fast!”

Soft Tofu tried to grab onto something but he couldn’t.

It was sculpted smoothly so he had no luck.

In fact, there were no safety devices at all due to the cost and preserving the beauty of the work.

Soft Tofu accelerated and rotated like it was a roller coaster. He fell down from the sky and bounced back and forth on the slide.

“Hukeeek!”

Finally, it was the wild fun zone!

He passed through a section that consisted of puddles of water.

“There it is! A special fun place!”

Weed’s intention was a place where something like water skiing was possible.

“Kuweek! Kwaaeeek!”

In reality, Soft Tofu head was pushed into the water and he was repelled by the repulsive force.

“Save meeeee!”

At that time, birds made from water came flying at Soft Tofu’s face.

“Kueok!”

A facial blow!

– Health has decreased by 541.

Fortunately, their speed was a little bit slow. After passing through the rainbow made from Moonlight Sculpting, Soft Tofu reached the second stage.

The dragon was built to be able to jump between the centre of the structure he created.

“Please let me out!”

Soft Tofu was in the air for a while before landing on the opposite side.

His facing forward position had long been broken. Now he was rolling forwards and sometimes backwards.

It became a hell slide in one minute!

Soft Tofu almost died as he emerged from the bottom of the dragon.

“Hahahak!”

Soft Tofu’s body shook as he landed on the ground.

The watching crowd was sweating.

“It finally finished.”

“Isn’t the ride too severe? Is he dead?”

“It looks like fun. I will risk my life to ride it.”

Weed had an awkward expression.

When he watched it on television, he heard people’s impression of the rides.

“I didn’t really think at the time. It is really fun!”

The expensive price was reasonable. That’s why they didn’t mind giving their money.

Therefore, he had set up a secret device.

“Maybe it will work?”

If it wasn’t broken then it would work nicely.

Soon a stream of water rose from underneath Soft Tofu into the sky.

Soft Tofu’s body floated due to the pressure of the water.

He once again entered the middle part of the dragon’s body. It was the beginning of the best slope and rotation segment.

“N-no! I would rather you kill me.”

An expression of deep despair filled Soft Tofu’s face.

Weed ignored him and said to the next customer.

“I guess there is still a bit of trial and error.”

“Just a little bit?”

“There might be some customers who feel uncomfortable. Just like not everyone likes tteokbokki. From now on,  I will only charge one gold.”

Thanks to Soft Tofu’s sacrifice, the price of the Dragon Slide was determined to be one gold.

*Please note.

This ride has a small risk, so there will be no refund even if you are afraid of heights or water.

*   *   *

Weed used the water from Miros River to create a large number of water sculptures at Puhol Fortress.

It consisted of water sculptures, commemorative sets of the orc Karichwi and things from his adventures.

The sculptures were like Weed’s biography.

“I need to maximize the real estate prices here.”

The Arpen Kingdom was still developing but people couldn’t help feeling worried.

The atmosphere had completely changed at the broadcasting stations.

There was a discussion talking about the Arpen Kingdom’s crisis.

– The battle was won but… The greatest weakness of the Arpen Kingdom has continued to be revealed. They have too much reliance on users.

– Isn’t it good that the northern users are tightly bound together?

– It will become different in the future. The Haven Empire’s policy has changed.

The Haven Empire has settled the rebellions thanks to policies such as tax cuts and the free admission fees.

The users of the Central Continent have lost the reason to leave their hometown and come to the north.

The Arpen Kingdom has a free and pioneering spirit but the long journey is uncomfortable.

Of course, there are still players with unpleasant feelings towards the Hermes Guild. However, the influx of people to the north has been cut in half.

New users are the main axis of the Arpen Kingdom but the numbers starting in the Central Continent has risen by 40%.

There are many reasons to live in the Haven Empire, including numerous developed cities, stable trading, hunting grounds, guilds and stores.

The impetus for new users to start in the Arpen Kingdom has been greatly reduced, making it certain that the miraculous growth rate of the north will fall.

– The users of the Arpen Kingdom will think this as well. There is no need to absolutely follow King Weed.

– I don’t think the support up to now will change.

– Yes, of course. There is a great affection for the Arpen Kingdom so they are unwilling to invade. But there is the possibility that many will scatter to the Haven Empire.

The northern army. Now the northern users might not gather to conquer the Haven Empire.

In other words, the northern users would play the role of defense but it woud be difficult to incite them to attack.

The Hermes Guild lowering the taxes had controlled the rebels and blocked one third of the northern users’ mentality.

– But things aren’t that simple. Who is the king of the Arpen Kingdom? Weed, the God of War. It is possible that he will show a miracle that goes against common sense.

– Weed might be able to galvanize the users with a speech. Maybe his great eloquence will lead the northern users to invade the Haven Empire. However, such behavior will cause reactions in the future.

– What reactions?

– The Hermes Guild will use all their strength to fight and if the north loses the war, it will be hard for them to stand up again. Weed’s leadership will suffer a big blow. The crowd that would gather if the Haven Empire invades will be reduced.

– What it they win?

– An invasion isn’t easy. If it doesn’t end at once… The northern users will decrease with every battle and how long will the weary soldiers be able to fight? In the end, it is likely to get worse.

It had only been a few days since the victory at Puhol Fortress but there were already negative reports about the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed watched similar stories on the news until he lost interest.

“The Hermes Guild is guiding public opinion.”

It was easy for the Hermes Guild to bribe users to talk about the Central Continent’s dominance.

Wars on the Versailles Continent wasn’t only won through military force.

The Hermes Guild wanted to neutralize the northern users’ effectiveness.

“It might be that way but… The Hermes Guild is also affected. Many people are aiming for them.”

The myth of the Hermes Guild was already cracked.

Weed had broken the Haven Empire in an ordinary way.

A large picture had already been drawn all over the Versailles Continent.

“The Hermes Guild has learnt one thing from failure. A dictatorship is needed after completely conquering the continent.”

A corrupt ruler’s dream!

*   *   *

The dwarf Fabio was challenging to become a master blacksmith.

He was producing numerous weapons and equipment for the Hermes Guild when he received a whisper.

– Weed: Hello.

“It has been a while. Have you been doing well?”

Fabio welcomed him happily.

He built up a considerable relationship in the dwarf kingdom Thor.

Despite his relationship with the Hermes Guild, he had no qualms about keeping in touch with Weed.

Even if his goal wasn’t to conquer the continent, he had large ambition as a blacksmith.

“It has been almost a year since our last contact. Sometimes you blocked me when I tried to talk.”

– Weed: Has it already been that long?

“Last time I contacted you was to brag about an armour I made.”

– Weed: The world is like that. The equipment created by Fabio made the Hermes Guild stronger.

“Yes. But I know that you sold a lot of equipment this time.”

Weed had sold Fabio’s weapons and armour at the auction.

It was fine as long they are weren’t passed directly from Fabio’s hands.

They were loot obtained from hunting the Hermes Guild users in the north.

There would be a high price competition every time an item appeared at auction.

It was Fabio’s work and something that a Hermes Guild user worn.

In the past, it was a sin just to take an equipment that the Hermes Guild user had lost. It was natural since they had tight control over the Central Continent.

Now, the Hermes Guild couldn’t act like that because they had to consider the reaction of users.

Of course, the northern users boasted of having them, even if the equipment couldn’t be used yet.

– Weed: They sold for a more expensive price than I thought. I am receiving a lot of help from Fabio’s popularity and abilities.

“It’s not the way I wanted but I’m glad you are satisfied.”

– Weed: I still have a psychological shock from buying the 200 won more expensive salt.

“Hmm hmm. What is your purpose in contacting me this time?”

Fabio asked with interest.

He didn’t believe that Weed was 100% as innocent as he appeared on the broadcasts.

He had no interest in the northern war but he was aware of Weed’s nature.

‘I know that he isn’t afraid of dishonourable methods. He might contact me for a ridiculous request.’

So far, he never asked Fabio to stop helping the Hermes Guild or to come to the north.

Weed had definitely contacted him for some blacksmith advice or a deal.

– Weed: Have you ever heard of helium?

“Helium!”

God’s metal, a source of pure mana.

Fabio was a blacksmith so he had naturally heard of the material before.

He swallowed his saliva and quickly spoke.

“I won’t ask how you know about helium. That doesn’t matter. Do you have some now?”

– Weed: Of course.

“A-amazing.”

– Weed: Huhuhu.

“I’m envious. Sincerely.”

At first glance, it would be a waste to use helium for a sculpture.

Fabio had respect for Weed’s job so he didn’t say it.

“Did you contact me just to inform me that you obtained helium?”

– Weed: I can’t eat all the expensive barley bread by myself. I would like to receive Fabio’s help with the helium…

“If I can help… Tell me the specifics.”

– Weed: Refining and making something out of the helium.

“Refining is a basic method required to process the material but… Are you making a sword or armour?”

– Weed: Of course.

‘Making something with helium.’

Fabio made a decision in his heart.

He had to accept the collaboration at any cost.

As a blacksmith, he had 0.4% left in his proficiency.

Despite making tens of thousands of swords and armour, the final proficiency percentages didn’t climb.

‘Something is strange. Why can’t I reach master level?’

He had made enough weapons and armour.

He judged that it wasn’t something as simple as making more.

Maybe it was because he hadn’t touched the best materials such as helium.

He had seen Weed mastering swordsmanship during his quest.

He mastered the skill through repeated hunting as well as struggling against the strongest monsters.

It felt like he couldn’t achieve master level by simply sitting here and producing good quality work.

Fabio quickly made a deal.

“What do you want? I will give you everything I can.”

– Weed: I intend to make a sword with the helium. Come to where I am and help me make it.

“Do you mean the Arpen Kingdom?”

– Weed: Yes. I want pay the necessary costs for your help making me the best weapon out of helium.

Fabio was the continent’s leading blacksmith.

He was satisfied with this much.

“Is that really it?”

– Weed: My equipment isn’t free. I have some blacksmith materials from the Hermes Guild that I want you to process for me.

“I understand. Please don’t hand it over to anyone else.”

It would take a long time to get to the north so Fabio immediately prepared for travelling.

It was a situation where he thought he might be able to become a master.

Weed also contacted Herman.

He was an excellent blacksmith who liked to make swords. It wouldn’t be long until he reached the master level.

– Weed: I am creating a sword out of helium. Please come and help me.

“I understand. I’ll be right there”

Herman also quit his job and headed towards Puhol Fortress where Weed was.

Chapter 5: Puhol Water Park

At Puhol Fortress, water rides made of nature sculptures formed.

In order to check their safety, the sacrifices of the Toadstool Porridge unit were necessary.

“I am part of the 13th Toadstool Porridge unit. It is a glory to be able to go on Weed-nim’s… Aaaack!”

There was an active cooperation with the elves to plant flowers and trees.

“I am Spuniker. I chose the elf species.”

A level 480 user, he was well known among the elves and posted many articles for beginners.

Elves who read Spuniker’s articles realized that it had a wide variety of information.

“The seed of the elder tree is necessary for the birth of the forest. The north has sacrificed a lot so there is no need to explain. I will give you this.”

Weed had a strange expression.

“Is this real?”

“Huh?”

“These days, there are many fakes in the world…”

“…”

The seed of the elder tree was planted at Puhol Fortress and a huge tree grew.

The large tree spread out over 200 metres and had thousands of branches coming from it. It was a magnificent tree that could enhance the aura of the elves and improve their natural power.

“Huhut. It really is an elder tree. Then…”

Spuniker thought he had done a great job for the north and tried to leave.

Weed, numerous people and the broadcasting stations had seen it so he had achieved his purpose of raising awareness.

But Weed jumped onto an idea.

A market that had been profitable for 30 years had approached him so Weed swallowed his saliva.

Of course, the Arpen Kingdom would also profit.

Weed grabbed Spuniker.

“Wait a minute.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t elves love trees?”

“We love it. Green trees are a source of pleasure and pride for elves.”

Spuniker recited words that might as well be dialogue from a script. He was apparently conscious of the viewers.

“There aren’t many trees here due to the war.”

“It is too bad.”

If he knew Weed well, he would have noticed the danger signals.

Without being aware of the creeping situation, Spuniker only paid attention to the viewers.

“If elves plant trees here then I think the users will really appreciate it.”

“Of course. I am willing to do such a thing. How many trees do you want me to plant?”

“5,000 trees.”

“Huh?”

“It should be dense with trees. 5,000 trees.”

“I am a little busy.”

“This wouldn’t be difficult for a true elf. You brought elder seeds for the north so you can’t leave after only planting one.”

Weed made a suggestion but when considering all the viewers, Spuniker had to accept it.

A famous user was sowing seeds and watering them.

Other elves followed him so the landscaping problem of Puhol’s Water Park was solved.

“I got skilled workers for free.”

Spuniker willingly brought him seeds and was exploited for labour.

Thanks to the efforts of many people, the waterways connecting Miros River to Puhol Fortress were also being completed.

The users who lost their lives at Puhol Fortress and revived were mobilized to work.

The gathered crowd cheered as Weed made sculptures in Puhol Fortress.

“In order to celebrate our victory and commemorate the joys of the northern people, let’s drag the river here. This is all for the water park.”

“W-water park! Ohhhh!”

They had only thought that Weed was making a sculpture and dragging the river was for defense.

But now they were pleased to learn they were wrong.

A water park for the northern users!

“Yes. We should have one of these.”

“That is the real form of a water park.”

“Kyaa! Kill, kill.”

The rejuvenated users bought shovels and run to Miros River.

Despite having no construction equipment, the river was quickly moved just by shoveling.

Merchants had separate discussions with Weed.

The merchants were already keenly watching the situation at Puhol Fortress.

“I know the plan is to have a water park. There should be hotels and villas in a good location overlooking the water park.”

“Give us a chance.”

“I have a great hotel business.”

“We will do anything. Please leave it to us.”

If a water park was created, commercial facilities such as hotels and villas would be actively used.

The northern merchants sold japtem from early on and accumulated a considerable fortune.

The Arpen Kingdom is rapidly developing.

By investing in trade and production facilities in the pioneered north, the merchants could receive enormous returns.

‘The water park plan? This is it. It will definitely be a success. It might become even more than that.’

‘I see money. Customers will definitely wait in line.’

It was important to gain an early location at the water park.

The merchants were financially well off.

It was a profession that could make a lot of money through businesses and trading.

But from the viewpoint of successful merchants, it no longer mattered how much money they made.

If other merchants receive a big chance that they missed, there would be a lot of regret.

Weed looked at them with warm eyes.

“I am both thankful and envious towards the merchants.”

“…?”

“As you know, the Arpen Kingdom was able to grow due to the early movements of the merchants I thank you for that and also feel envy as I watch because I am not a merchant.”

Weed didn’t lick his lips and lie. To some extent, his words were the truth.

He felt pain every time a merchant hit the jackpot!

No matter how amazing the adventures or that it was on the news, he felt envious towards those who made money.

Weed spoke softly and the atmosphere was warm. However, he needed to be on guard when it came to money from signing a contract.

“Everyone will receive fair chances. The rights to the hotel business and land sales will be done through auction.”

Merchants attended the auction where hotel business rights, shopping centre business rights and luxury villa rights were sold.

The land sales amount added up to 37 million gold!

In contrast to the rugged wilderness of the Arpen Kingdom, a huge amount of money was robbed from the merchants’ pockets.

“This is the joy of real estate.”

He had succeeded in selling previously worthless land.

The merchants thought it was expensive but were happy at the thought of the profits that would be generated.

Of course, Weed was able to laugh heartily.

“I will reap taxes every time food or items are sold in stores.”

A steady tax income was the ultimate profit.

There were numerous ways of squeezing a nation through legitimate means.

The architects who helped in the battle also stayed at Puhol Fortress.

Weed had discussions with the talented architects of the north.

Mibullo and Pavo were also present.

“I heard that you are making a water park.”

Mibullo, the best architect on the continent as well as the north, cautiously said.

It was the first time he met Weed.

As a former architect of the Haven Empire and prestigious guilds, he was nervous about meeting the king of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Yes, of course.”

“A water park needs a variety of buildings. I would like the architects to contribute.”

There were over a dozen Grand Buildings being built in the north but construction was stopped due to the war.

The architects participated in the battle but the Grand Buildings also couldn’t be built without the help of the players.

Once peace return to the kingdom, construction was resumed but things like Alkazar Bridge had to be repaired as well.

The architects had a lot to do but they were greedy after hearing the plans for the water park. They couldn’t scatter to various construction sites in the Arpen Kingdom just yet.

“If you leave it to us, we will built water park facilities and buildings as beautiful as possible.”

Mibullo nervously said.

He couldn’t help wondering how Weed would respond.

At the same time, Weed had several ideas.

‘The price of the structures? I should do it quickly. No. I need to build it properly to save the users’ money. The number of users would be reduced due to shoddy construction.’

If the water park was successful, other people might try a similar thing.

The Haven Empire was capable of making it on a larger scale than the Arpen Kingdom.

‘I need to create the best water park, but rapid construction is needed in order to reclaim the funds. To do that, architects are necessary.’

The Grand Buildings and Royal Palace of the Arpen Kingdom were completely quickly due to the calculations of the architects.

“Builders… No, the help of architects are needed. I will tell you about my planned water park.”

Weed opened the sketch of Puhol Water Park and showed it to the architects.

Puhol Fortress and the plains would be turned into commercial facilities, playing facilities and swimming pools.

Along a long road to Miros River, he planned to build restaurants, squares, residential areas, armour stores, weapon stores, grocery stores, various class guilds, amenities and markets.

Mibullo, Pavo and the architects stared at the sketch that Weed drew.

‘I-I don’t know. What is this?’

‘Only green and black things can be seen on the paper. Is this the way an alien would write?’

‘It is related to geometry. Or perhaps a list of mathematical graphs. One thing is for certain, this picture is encrypted.’

The architects found it hard to decipher the sketch.

Weed explained each line.

“This is the Miros River and the waterway that will lead to Puhol Fortress. Commercial facilities will be along here…”

They couldn’t understand the sketch, but were convinced by the explanation. However, the picture would once again become chaotic if they blinked.

Weed pointed to what looked like ants on the water and said.

“Do you see the ships here?”

“Ships?”

“Yes. There will be canoes along the river that users can enjoy. Of course, there will be a fee. There will also be luxury cruises on the Miros River. Travellers will be fond of boat rides to Port Varna. Of course, there should be restaurants on the ships.”

A grand plan to extort a tremendous amount of fees.

Pavo talked after a while.

“But this city plan… The residential area seems to be enormous.”

“That’s right. I plan to build a city. I have already finished the land sales.”

“A resort city next to the water park?”

“Yes. The traffic to this place is very convenient and helpful. And it is close to tourist spots. It has high potential to become a large city.”

Weed’s sketch was complicated for a reason.

If a water park as in the middle of a wasteland then the number of users might be limited.

1st, 2nd, etc. up to 8 mega-cities were planned.

Dawn City was the capital of the Arpen Kingdom but he had plans to build new commercial and resort cities.

Weed believed in it.

‘If the water park succeeds, I won’t need to worry about money. Real estate speculation is a business that won’t fail.’

Reality was a little different from Royal Road.

Compared to leaving their homes or paying off debts, they could leave reality to enjoy Royal Road.

But no matter how good Morata was, people wouldn’t stay in the vicinity for a few years.

The Arpen Kingdom was wide so if they had enough money, people could buy a house in each region.

Even players who started in shacks could upgrade to more spacious and comfortable homes.

Each user could make several purchases so it was likely they would buy homes near Puhol Water Park.

‘1,000 gold will turn to 100,000 and then to 100 million.’

Morata was in the inner area so there was a limit to the number of housing areas.

A true villain needed to think of other ways to line their pockets, not just rely on taxes.

Weed’s idea wasn’t new, but actually based on reality.

Weed’s amazing plan didn’t end here.

“There will be Grand Buildings in Puhol Fortress.”

“Grand Buildings?”

“Nine at the water park. Shouldn’t we build something to make land speculation rise?”

“…”

The architects all had wide eyes. They were filled with disbelief.

Mibullo spoke on behalf of them.

The manpower for constructing Grand Buildings can be met and we can pay for the materials. But how will we raise the money for the cost of construction?”

Concerns about financing!

All projects had a budget.

It wasn’t often that a country tilted due to a massive deficit.

Weed’s response was clear.

“I will earn it from now on.”

*   *   *

– Puhol Fortress’ Housing Sale!

A new city will be created next to the premier resort in the Arpen Kingdom, Puhol Water Park.

It is a city that will be the hub of traffic and centre of tourism and commerce.

It is a city where time will be stopped, and people could enjoy water, wind, art and fun.

The name of the new city will be called Royal Marina Park.

Nine Grand Buildings will be built in the future and this will be a landmark in the entire Versailles Continent.

The Arpen Kingdom’s housing development administration will directly develop new cities.

Hurry to buy a house!

Collateral loans are also available.

Please note.

Nest type apartments for avians in a 49 storey condominium is selling at the best price.

A view overlooking the water park!

Various learning facilities are linked to excellent job opportunities!

You can fly right into the sky after opening the window and there are beds of dry grass in the bedroom.

There living room has a fireplace to dry the wet feathers.

However, there are no stairs inside the apartment.

One million houses are planned.

The houses will be sold at prices ranging from 100 gold to 1 million gold for the mansions.

1% of the sale price is required as down payment and there were be some constraints.

Of course, mortgage loans through Mapan’s bank is possible but 5% interest needs to be paid every month.

“I have no money.”

“I’ll bet all my money this time. I need a house. That is for me.”

“A new city. There is no way yet to earn money so I’m afraid to buy an apartment.”

There were some dubious people but 30% of the homes were sold to enthusiastic supporters of the Arpen Kingdom.

The advertising alone provided enough money to build 9 Grand Buildings.

Weed was satisfied despite some of the houses still being unsold.

“The more houses we built, the lower the price will be. The houses will continue to be sold and the prices will rise more after the Grand Buildings come up. At that time, I can sell it at a higher price.”

Weed demonstrated his ability to make a large amount of money through land and construction!

The Arpen Kingdom developed in a different direction and it was supplementing its finances at a scary pace.

After 15 days in Royal Road time.

Many things happened in a short amount of time.

The Hermes Guild users in the northern colonies tried to return to the Central Continent. Most players exited safely but some lost their lives. It was because they were exposed by the avians and couldn’t escape pursuit.

Bellot was one of the lords in the northern colonies.

Weed’s relationship with Bellot was uncomfortable after she accepted the offer from the Hermes Guild.

Pale knew Weed would never forgive her and tried to say something.

“Weed, just hold it in once. Bellot-nim didn’t have any bad intentions.”

“I know.”

“Yes, of course I am aware… Huh?”

Weed looked strangely at Pale.

“I have to distinguish between merits and demerits. Even if we are friendly, isn’t it normal to leave if offered a lot of money?”

“…”

“People should do that. I can’t be righteous when it comes to this. Why refuse when the Hermes Guild offers the position of a lord?”

Weed’s ironclad rule!

He wouldn’t forgive cheap betrayal, but an expensive betrayal was understandable.

When Weed and Bellot had a meeting, their companions included Zephyr, Pale, Irene, Romuna, etc. came along.

“Ohu, I’ve been caught. I didn’t think that Weed-nim would recover the northern colonies so quickly. Will you make me pay more taxes?”

“All you need to do is pay in a timely manner.”

“I am a lord so please come over for a meal.”

“Of course.”

Weed and Bellot were coolly reunited. Despite their relationship, there was no sense of betrayal.

They greeted each other like friends in a bakery.

Rather, his other colleagues felt more betrayed.

‘We’ve known each other for a long time.’

‘Bellot-nim became a lord. What about me?’

Surka frankly asked him if she could become a lord.

“I would like to become a lord. Is that possible?”

Weed was king of the Arpen Kingdom but he couldn’t make decisions based on friendship.

This unexpected atmosphere occurred because of Bellot.

“Any spare land. I’ll give it to you.”

Weed entrusted areas of the northern colonies to Pale, Zephyr, Romuna and Surka.

‘It will be a little painful in the future.’

If he appointed those he trusted to the position of lord then he count on them.

‘Increase residents and improve productivity. If effort is made then taxes can increase. So far, all of the money collected had been invested.’

It was easy to neglect the villages in the kingdom. On the other hand, having lords could make them develop quickly.

The Arpen Kingdom basically required many lords.

As the population grew and the monster areas shrank, many small villages were created.

Users who contributed to the kingdom could become nobles or lords.

The lords needed to devote themselves to growing the population, ruling the residents, defeating monster invasions and paying attention to trading with merchants.

In addition, rice and barley farming were basic. They had to grow their villages by strategically cultivating agricultural products to be exported and developing mines.

Unlike Morata in the past, large and small villages were developing and flourishing.

It was fun to be lord of a village!

Many people on the bulletin boards were envious of the lords in Royal Road.

High ranking users could fight with monsters but lords have a social impact.

The construction at Puhol Fortress was over.

Weed made water sculptures to decorate the amusement park.

– Turtle Swimming Pool

Large wooden turtle sculptures can be used as a boat to relax and move.

Of course, a 30 silver entrance fee is required!

Artistic Value: 1,497

– Hippopotamus Creek

A sculpture of hundreds of racing hippos in the creek.

A extreme swimming pool where you can be stunned or drowned by the hippos!

Artistic Value: 2,813

– Elder Tree Water Swing

A place where you can enjoy diving into the water from a 50 metres high elder tree.

Ride the water along the branches and grab the swing.

Artistic Value: 2,291.

– Coral Beach

A deep pool covered with coral from Port Varna.

Various types of fish live in the water and waves are scheduled to occur.

Dive into the water and look at the underwater ecosystem.

Artistic Value: 4,720.

Weed wanted a large aquarium that would require an admission fee, but had to give up that idea.

The blacksmiths and architects cooperated to build the amusement park facilities.

“We can make play facilities.”

Mibullo was a land architect.

He had techniques that could tighten the ground, crack stones or form certain rocks.

He used marble to create the square and placed pretty pebbles at the bottom of the pools.

Puhol Water Park was being completed and connected to Miros River through a waterway.

*   *   *

Thousands of users gathered for the official opening of Puhol Water Park.

Over a million people watched as the waterway was connected from Miros River to Puhol Fortress.

This spectacle was usually hard to find.

“Weed, Weed, Weed!”

“Give us the water park!”

The crowd cheered as they watched Weed standing on the river.

Weed had used Sculpture Transformation for today’s event.

A terrible monkfish holding a spear!

Weed normally disliked events but this was the birth of the water park, so he didn’t spare any expenses.

Weed slowly turned and pointed the spear.

A so-called preopening event.

“What? That appearance is ridiculous.”

“What do you mean? I don’t know how to respond.”

The crowd was full of doubts so someone started chanting.

“Water park, water park!”

“Water park!”

Soon the chant was coming from all the users.

The atmosphere was ripe to earn money.

“Water, rise!”

Weed stabbed the spear into the riverbank.

The dam made of sand broke open and the river flowed along the newly opened waterway.

Kwaaaaaaah!

The scene of water flowing could be seen by the crowd.

“Waaaaaah!”

Water filled the wide channel. It was so powerful that the ground shook like an earthquake was occurring.

The water was muddy from the construction site but it flowed straight to Puhol Fortress.

Of course, Puhol Fortress was too far away to be seen with the naked eye. If the sculptural lifeforms and creatures hadn’t cooperated then it wouldn’t have been easy.

The waterway flowed through intact mountains and cliffs.

“A-amazing!

“The real deal. Really.”

The users gathered at the waterway couldn’t close their eyes at the magnificent sight.

It was like a miracle created by human efforts.

People digging at the ground with pickaxes made this possible.

Pride bloomed in the hearts of the northern users.

After a long time, the water finally reached Puhol Fortress.

Puhol Fortress and the surrounding plains slowly filled with water.

The water rose up to people’s ankles.

“Ah… Water is really rising.”

“Is this really happening? Awesome!”

Hundreds of thousands of users were waiting at Puhol Fortress to pay the entrance fee.

Millions of avians flew along with the flowing water.

“Chirp chirp chirp. Cool.”

“This is the Arpen Kingdom. No one other than Weed-nim could achieve this plan in Royal Road.”

“We also helped. Kaaack!”

It was a wonderful experience that wouldn’t disappear from the memories of the users.

The water flowing itself was great but it was created by the people’s efforts.

The water level kept rising around the sculptures and users.

It reached their knees and then their waist.

“Kkiyahu!”

From then on, the users started to freely swim.

Many of the facilities at Puhol Fortress were destroyed. They enjoyed diving off walls and towers.

Hundreds of users moved like a swarm of ants in the water.

Users hurried to the entrance to check if it was really filling with water.

Parts of the collapsed walls were crudely turned into the entrance of the water park.

“Here is the entrance fee!”

“Let me enter quickly!”

Although the water park was still unfinished, it was an exciting sight.

A fun experience!

They could go to the river or beaches for swimming on the Versailles Continent but the atmosphere of the water park couldn’t be matched.

Users threw themselves into the Miros River and rode along the waterway!

The entrance fee to Puhol Water Park was only one gold. On that day alone, Weed was able to earn 7 million gold.

The tickets continued to be sold until dawn and the food sold gave tremendous benefits.

The chefs in the cafeteria hit the jackpot but the next day’s earnings far exceeded the previous one.

Chapter 6: The Day that Time Stopped

Invitation to Puhol’s Water Park!

People just enjoyed the water on the first day, but they changed clothes for swimming the next day.

The dress code for men and women gradually became shorter. The people gathered at Puhol Water Park became boldly exposed.

“Ah… There is no place to look. There is too much to see.”

The male users watched the beauties walking past in short clothes. Their attention was focused on the elves with slim legs.

The beauties of the Arpen Kingdom were gathered at Puhol Water Park.

“Should I try it once?”

“It will be difficult.”

“I won’t know until I try it.”

Impromptu meetings took place on the spot.

“Excuse me. I am from the 5th Toadstool Porridge unit. Would you like to eat a bowl with me?”

“I am from the Bamboo Shoots unit. I will eat if you don’t mind bamboo shoots.”

In might be a little cold in reality but Royal Road’s joyful atmosphere caused hunting to be a success.

“At this price, I don’t need to play at a resort in reality.”

“I don’t need to get on a plane to fly to Southeast Asia.”

He defeated the Haven Empire and then created Puhol Water Park, so Weed continued receiving endless praise.

“I had thought about whether he was taking advantage of the northern users but now I have no more doubts.”

“I am the same.”

“There was no reason to fight the Haven Empire later. I thought we would be scapegoats in a later war.”

“Yes. Now I know why Weed is revered. If he wasn’t thinking of the users then this water park would never have happened.”

“Let’s call him Saint Weed.”

Appreciation for Weed among the men rose significantly. The female users also liked Weed.

“He is a good king.”

“He had gone through a lot for us.”

“The north is good to live in because there is someone like him. I don’t care about anything other than that.”

“His charm as a man? It is a little… He was a bit charming as the orc Karichwi.”

The northern users were thankful towards Weed.

There was slight disappointment in Weed and the Arpen Kingdom after the battle at Puhol Fortress, but that had disappeared.

As morning and evening passed, Weed and the architects continued construction with many users.

Only the basic form of the water park had been completed so walking paths, rest areas and swimming pools needed to be created.

Weed didn’t take a break from making water and ice sculptures.

The northern users enjoyed swimming, looking at the sculptures, talking with people and hunting nearby. They also participated in the construction of the new city in order to make money.

And the real charm of Puhol Water Park was revealed at night.

“Now, they won’t come every day. But there is a surprise performance from bards.”

“Amazing!”

Professional bard Nollasseu gave a delightful harp and hip hop performance at night!

– Snow in the hot jungle

A leopard came to drink from a frozen lake

Berobero berobero

The lake water is cool! It is delicious!

Two ice leopards are hunting.

Take a step back.

I don’t want it tearing at my abdomen.

Nollasseu’s instrument playing was good enough to win the competition hosted by the Bard Guild every three months.

However, his lyrics were clearly influenced by Weed. Recently new bards had been influenced by Weed, causing a growing trend of messed up lyrics or pitch.

Anyway, the water park’s atmosphere became more heated as exciting music played.

In the spacious wilderness where large squares were scheduled to be built, campfires were lit and log chairs and tables set up.

“Let’s do it!”

“Oh yes!”

It was transformed into a nightclub where users danced to exciting music.

Lemon Grass Porridge and Sweet Potato Porridge were sold along with alcohol. Merchants made unbelievable amounts of money from food and alcohol.

As the water park developed, a rich night market opened in the Arpen Kingdom.

*   *   *

The Versailles Continent was shaken once again. The hottest attraction had been created in ruins, literally after a great battle took place.

“The north. To the north!”

“Go quickly. No, I need to bargain for some money first!”

There was a wave of users heading to the north from the Haven Empire.

In fact, the sensibility of modern people was as cold as a refrigerator. They admired the scenery but didn’t stop to look at it.

“Whether the Haven Empire conquers the continent or not has nothing to do with me.”

“As long as Royal Road… I don’t know. I’m tired of rebellion. Haven’t the taxes been lowered?”

“I suffered in the advanced Haven Empire. I just want to live comfortably.”

The water park made the Arpen Kingdom more competitive.

There was no need to hesitate when they could swim during the day and drink beer while enjoying the nightlife.

“Lejyo, I have something to say.”

“I also want to say something.”

“I will start. I have decided to leave Kallamore.”

“Eh? You too?”

“Then… You are going to Puhol Water Park?”

It was enough for some people to leave their hometowns.

Large numbers of people flocked to the north.

The border guards of the Haven Empire stopped them but the users found other ways.

They crossed rivers, went by sea or were flown by avians in the sky.

“I will give you 10 gold if you take me.”

“Chirp chirp. Pay in advance.”

The avians received an income from acting as transportation.

Thus Puhol Water Park became increasingly crowded! One week’s admission fees and taxes exceeded 90 million gold.

Weed was swimming in the profits.

“This is unexpected money.”

– Arpen Kingdom’s Vault

Kingdom’s Funds: 281,373,892 gold

As king of the Arpen Kingdom, he checked the financial status and couldn’t believe it!

“It is 280 million gold.”

The Haven Empire could earn that type of money in a month, but the poor north was different.

Above all, housing sales continued to be vigorous and admission revenue reached record levels.

“The best business is playing and eating.”

Weed couldn’t hide the pleasure from his face.

“I can’t be distracted. I can ruin my life that way.”

Even so, there was a rotten smile on his face.

“I have to be prepared.”

He knew that the water park wouldn’t always bring in this type of revenue.

“This is the initial opening revenue. A restaurant is also good in the early opening days.”

Users in the north were unusually concentrated at Puhol Fortress thanks to the battle. After a week, they would return to hunting and adventuring, causing the revenue to drop.

In order to make people come back to the water park, he needed to improve the facilities and culture.

Weed decided to use Museum of Time. It was a technique that could stop time in a specific area.

Actual artists had a deep interest in the art and culture formed in Royal Road.

“The final secret sculpting technique? Combining time and art… The possibilities are endless.”

“Weed usually shows us more than we imagine. He had been able to go further in life by combining adventuring with various sculptures.”

“The public has become interested in sculpting. Art is playing an important role in virtual reality and is creating new possibilities.”

People in Royal Road also had an interest in art.

Time Sculpting was the final secret sculpting technique and Museum of Time was a jewel-like skill.

Once the flow of time was stopped, a myriad of artistic attempts could be made.

“This technique will certainly be enough to attract people. There is no greater skill for promotional purposes.”

Weed rode on Bingryong.

“Let’s go. It is time to play properly.”

– Kuoooooooh.

Weed and Bingryong flew in the sky about Puhol Water Park.

The crowd watched the sky as they enjoyed a leisurely dip.

“Weed-nim.”

“Why? What is he doing?”

The avians were curious and followed Bingryong from a distance.

Chirp chirp chirp!

Weed, Bingryong and 100,000 avians gathered  together above Puhol Water Park.

A free flight in the sky. Flying quickly in the sky with wings wasn’t tough. There was no need for complex calculations and they just enjoyed the freedom. If the avians were hungry, they could go down to the ground to eat worms or grains.

“I have attracted plenty of attention.”

Weed had learnt a lot from watching politicians on television.

No matter how good the policy, it was meaningless if people didn’t know about it. On the other hand, antipathy towards bad policies were likely to cause a big incident.

“Let’s go higher for publicity, Bingryong!”

– Kuoooooooh.

Bingryong roared and rose vertically in the sky.

Bingryong rose through the clouds with Weed. The avians found the altitude hard to follow and he looked over the distant north.

It was a clear world without air pollution, so the scene that stretched out dozens of kilometres in front of him was truly spectacular.

Rivers, plains, and mountains blended together while flowers and trees added colour. It looked like a nice picture.

“When I first came to the north, I saw a white, snowy field. Thank goodness that has changed.”

Weed briefly recalled the past.

He had suffered after coming to the north for a quest. He quested in Morata village alone but Seo-yoon and Alveron were with him in the Valley of Death.

“At that time, I was happy making small sculptures.”

Despite lacking many things compared to now, he couldn’t help feeling a sense of nostalgia. Of course, he had no desire to go back to those days.

“I have to start now.”

Weed used Nature Sculpting to make rain clouds.

“He is sculpting a cloud.”

“It will be cool if it rains.”

By now, the crowd on the ground were familiar with his sculpting.

*   *   *

The continent’s best painter Petrov.

He looked up at the sky from among the crowd at Puhol Water Park.

“Rain isn’t a big deal.”

He acknowledged Weed as Yurin’s brother, but didn’t abandon his pride in the painter profession.

“A moist scenery. It would be been better if he became a blacksmith instead of a sculptor.”

The dwarf Fabio also arrived at Puhol Water Park to handle helium.

“As expected from Weed-nim. He would sell the country in minutes if he became the president of South Korea.”

Mapan was with other merchants from Mapan’s trading company.

They were busy scraping money from the water park, but the money they could earn would change as a result of today’s work.

“Chwi chwik. It is a strange atmosphere.”

The orc Seechwi and Geomchi-2 looked up at the sky.

“I will be sure to look at what the maknae is doing today.”

“Chwik. I’m looking forward to it.”

Seechwi was satisfied with her strong boyfriend.

‘Only someone who knows the charms of a man will understand.’

Geomchi-2 wasn’t good-looking. But he had a dependable body. Solid biceps, abdomen and thighs.

She was an elite who earned a PhD from a school in the United States while Geomchi-2 didn’t have a high educational background. She liked Jung Il-hun even more.

There was an incident on the day she introduced Jung Il-hun to her parents.

“Mum, don’t you have to get rid of the rocks in your year?”

“Uh, that’s right. It is too large so should’t I get a forklift?”

Jung Il-hun who was eating an apple lifted his head.

“Are you talking about that stone lodged in your yard?”

“Uh, yes.”

“It only looks approximately 120kg. Do you want me to move it?”

Her family watched Jung Il-hun walk into the yard.

He told them his opinion after examining the rock.

“Kkuung!”

Jung Il-hun grabbed the rock with both arms and used his power.

The rock that didn’t budge was slowly lifted up to chest height.

“I will put it in a corner.”

Cha Eun-hee and her parents watched with open mouths as Jung Il-hun walked with the rock.

Kwaaaang!

The sound that the rock made as it fell wasn’t a joke.

“Ahaha.”

Cha Eun-hee laughed awkwardly.

Her silent father who was an academic finally spoke.

“The yard is nice and spacious.”

“It is a house in the country. I have been living in the city so it is a delight to be here.”

The house was visible to Jung Il-hun through the trees.

“Do you use oak wood as firewood in the winter?”

“Hmm hmm, yes.”

Cha Eun-hee’s father was an elite university professor but his voice was very polite.

In the winter, a 15 ton truck full of firewood was required.

“Then it must be hard to chop all of that.”

“That’s right. It is cumbersome and heavy, so we can’t do it on a daily basis.”

“I will do it since I am here now.”

“How can that be? Just leave it. We will do it later on.”

Cha Eun-hee’s mother laughed and said.

“Leave it. Our chainsaw happens to be broken.”

“Chainsaw?”

It was popular to use a chainsaw in order to cut wood these days.

Jung Il-hun saw a rusty axe in a corner.

“That would be enough.”

“Huh?”

Jung Il-hun lifted the axe and struck an oak log.

Jeeok!

The oak log was cleanly split like a watermelon.

“It is fun since it has been a while. This will be my exercise after the meal.”

Jung Il-hun continued moving the axe.

The split firewood piled up.

10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, the muscles in Jung Il-hun arms bulged as he moved the axe without any signs of tiredness.

“Ah…”

Cha Eun-hee and her mother’s eyes were filled with admiration.

It was a scene that neighbourhood women wouldn’t be able to take their eyes off.

“Son-in-law… It seems I’ve gained a good one.”

“You think so as well?”

*   *   *

Weed’s rain clouds started raining on Puhol Water Park.

It seemed like a meaningless action but was required to increase the effectiveness of the skill.

“The view is very important.”

He adjusted the rain clouds so that rain covered some swimming pools, some hotel grounds and the entrance.

A thick rain poured down on Puhol Water Park. Weed took a deep breath.

“I will get started right away. Museum of Time!”

Ddiring!

– Museum of Time

It is a skill that permanently stops time in one area.

A magical space of miracles!

New light and forms of art will unfold in a space where all things are stopped.

Once the skill has been used, it cannot be reversed.

It can only be used once on the Versailles Continent so please decide carefully.

– Do you want to use the skill?

Weed swallowed his saliva.

‘I can cancel it now. No. It is a hard earned skill but I will receive money from it.’

It was a rare opportunity to gather such a crowd. Even if a Museum of Time was created, it was meaningless if people didn’t visit it. Art was worth more with lots of people.

“Moreover, if time stops then this place won’t experience a cold winter.”

If there was no winter then the water park could make money for all four seasons.

“I will use it.”

A bright light shone around Weed’s hands.

Paaat!

– Please specify the area to be used for Museum of Time.

The limit is a 4km radius, based on your art stat.

“4km is good enough.”

Weed illuminated the ground with the light from his hands.

It covered some of the swimming pools with rain and one third of the amusement park. Additionally, there was a vacant lot designated to display sculptures and artworks.

If time was stopped then the method of using it was endless.

It was possible to create a Goddess of Freya Statue or Tower of Light that floated in the air. Painters could also draw pictures in the sky.

By using the stopped time, artwork with various ideas would emerge.

Museum of Time was a skill too precious to be kept to one individual.

“I can make sculptures here, but it will be shared with all artists on the Versailles Continent. And everyone can get benefits from the various creative artworks.”

A city of art would bloom next to Puhol Water Park where tourists would visit.

It was different from Rhodium, the city of artists on the continent.

The new space would be the best tourist destination in the north for people who enjoyed the arts. It would be a wonderful city where artists could enjoy working. It was a great opportunity for artists to do the unimaginable.

“Huhuhu. I will earn a lot of money.”

Cultural diversity made people happy.

If there were many artworks at Puhol Water Park, there would be more tourists and this would translate to sales.

“Art is money, money.”

Even if the Versailles Continent was destroyed tomorrow, he would still be trying to rip off money from at least one more customer.

– The space where time will be stopped has been designated.

In this space, the growth of animals and plants will cease and there will be no physical limits.

The Museum of Time skill started.

A brilliant light poured from Weed’s body towards the ground.

*   *   *

Weed was flying in the air on Bingryong when a magnificent light emerged.

“Waaaaaah!”

The crowds watching cried out with delight.

“Is that a quest?”

“It looks like a technique…”

“A technique that I’ve never seen before. Is there such a big technique?”

“Maybe it is a disaster?”

“Surely not…”

The avians in the sky with Weed were surprised and scattered.

“Chirp chirp!”

“Kokodaek!”

The avians were covered by the light but didn’t receive any harm. However, many avians collided due to the sudden change in direction.

The light coming from Weed covered a few kilometres of the ground. The light came down upon certain areas of Puhol Water Park.

The fact that there were no changes showed that Museum of Time was working properly. The rain pouring from the sky stopped and the leaves blowing from the wind didn’t move.

“How is this happening?”

“Ah… The atmosphere is strange.”

The avians watching from afar could see that the world had stopped.

There were no movements so they couldn’t help feeling like it was deserted.

“It is strange. Tweet tweet.”

“Will we die if we go over there?”

The avians watched but couldn’t readily go over there. Even Weed didn’t enter the Museum of Time because he was worried about the side effects.

And then something unexpected happened.

Numerous ghost like people were created within the Museum of Time.

There were great knights, ladies wearing elegant dresses and elderly people. Farmers carried their equipment and horse drawn carriages moved within the Museum of Time.

Ddiring!

– Visitors from the old world have appeared.

After the fall of the Niflheim Empire, a vast majority of people lost their lives.

The souls that were lost were unjustly captured by the evil Embinyu Church.

The priests of the Embinyu Church sealed the souls in jars and placed them deep underground.

The priests were able to increase the power of their black magic through the bitterness of the souls.

It was destroyed after the Embinyu Church fell.

The captured souls were free but due to their long period of suffering, they still wander the Northern Continent.

They envy the rapid development and high happiness of the Arpen Kingdom.

The souls of the Niflheim Empire that existed a long time ago can visit the Museum of Time through a gap.

– The Arpen Kingdom’s fame has increased by 64.

The territory expansion corresponds to the kingdom’s fame.

– Local fame has increased by 5,424.

Thanks to the effect of Museum of Time, local artifacts, sculptures, beaded jewellery and antiques of the Niflheim Empire have been registered.

– 438,103,328 new quests have been generated due to the old visitors.

Quests from the visitors will give double experience and fame for a week.

C ranked or higher difficult quests will be based on the whole Northern Continent.

This was the power of the final secret sculpting technique.

The people of the fallen Niflheim Empire.

A massive number of quests were created with their emergence.

“Jjaejaejaek!”

“Kuooooh!”

Weed, the avians and the people on the ground saw them.

A message window popped up simultaneously.

– The Museum of Time has been created.

A place established by the final secret sculpting technique where time has literally stopped.

It will be the birthplace of new forms of art, where mystical quests and stories can be heard.

Visitors will have a permanent increase in the knowledge and art stats due to the cultural benefits.

The response of the crowd after reading the message was swift.

“Let’s go.”

“Go.”

At the entrance to Puhol Water Park, NPCs of the Arpen Kingdom were receiving the entrance fees.

– The admission fee has temporarily increased due to the new opening.

You will be guided.

There is a huge investment in facilities in order to make Puhol Water Park the best swimming space on the continent.

Despite the labour costs and rising prices, we have tried to minimize the admission fee. However, it is inevitable so it will now cost 3 gold and 98 silver.

Starting from tomorrow, you can enter again for 1 gold.

While the Haven Empire cut the prices of the dungeon admission fees, Weed raised his by almost four times!

The north was still poor so 4 gold was a lot of money for some users. Even so, tomorrow it would return to the original price so people couldn’t grumble. They could wait one day if they wanted to save their money.

However, the crowd psychology was scary so there were few users who could wait. Furthermore, there were many quests so there wouldn’t be a big loss!

“I don’t need the change.”

“Come on, please open it.”

The northern users threw 4 gold, 5 gold and entered straight away.

Admission to Puhol Water Park was at a record high.

*   *   *

The construction of Puhol Water Park was hurried.

Tourist cities and luxury villas were built around it.

Many people visited and materials were gathered to develop the transportation network.

It would connect to the south that was previously the Haven Empire’s occupied area, the north to Morata as well as Dawn City!

The users were bustling in the space where time was stopped.

“Hello.”

A ghost carrying a big hammer replied.

“It is great to see you. I am the blacksmith Alfonso. Let me know if you want to learn how to handle metal.”

New techniques could be obtained from the ghosts of Niflheim Empire.

“The seeds sprinkled in the ground aren’t growing quickly?”

“Is it lacking attention?”

“No. The secret to nurturing plants is the fertilizer. It depends on the type of fertilizer that you use… Have you ever heard of a fertilizer that promotes plant growth?”

The users were able to acquire past techniques that weren’t present now.

There were a variety of combat skills and techniques necessary for life.

“Cooking. Nowadays, people have forgotten how to make a delicious pasta. If you want, I can give you the recipe… Oh, you don’t have to be my disciple. I am just bored.”

“In order to pursue beauty and to make pretty clothes, you need to learn proper stitching. If you see loose seams when buying expensive clothes then you will be disappointed.”

“Have you ever tried doing the laundry by hand?”

There were also techniques that dealt with basic resources such as trees, rocks, and water.

“Can you tell me for free?”

“This was necessary when living in the Niflheim Empire. I can do at least this much for you.”

Northern users started in Morata.

They were public figures that built up fame in the Arpen Kingdom.

It was rare to betray someone when doing quests in the Arpen Kingdom.

They were able to learn skills based on their achievements and fame in the Arpen Kingdom.

“I hope you can help me. I used to have a treasure before I died. I wonder if it is still there?”

“I’m glad to meet someone who knows about the Lahonak Wolf Lair. I didn’t want to share it with others but does it matter if I’m already dead? Listen to what I am about to tell you. There is a treasure. A treasure hidden by the great wolf!”

In particular, a huge number of quests were created.

Along with the existing quests in the north, linked quests and completely new quests were added!

Even F ranked shipment requests were helpful to the Arpen Kingdom.

But the higher difficulty quests were different.

[Gold Excavation Request], [Ancient Treasures], [Forgotten Golden Temple], [The Secret of the Beaded Jewellery]

Numerous treasures of the Niflheim Empire.

They were found buried in the ground and increased the economic power of the Arpen Kingdom.

The users waiting to pay the entrance fee to the water park were filled with jealousy.

“It is really good money. I can make a few million gold in just 10 minutes.”

“It wasn’t a joke. I completely hit the jackpot.”

A person who had a successful restaurant had a habit of counting their sales after the day ended!

In fact, the income from Puhol Water Park temporarily exceeded the Haven Empire.

The Arpen Kingdom was financially strong so Weed resumed the various construction projects.

The Grand Buildings suspended due to the war were started again and destroyed villages were restored.

Just a few months ago, he would have needed to sacrifice the annual tax revenue of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Kuoh, it is too much money. I’ll become a beggar. Check the kingdom’s finances.”

– Arpen Kingdom’s Vault

Kingdom’s Funds: 478,312,394 gold

“4-478 million gold? There was this much money in the vault?”

The unthinkable was happening.

Weed had been living a frugal lifestyle since childhood.

He checked his money several times a day and it was a habit to not waste money.

The Arpen Kingdom’s finances had never been plentiful and were short-lived, so there was never a large amount left in the vault.

The Grand Building and cities were made with the donations of users. If he expanded the military or focused on luxury then the kingdom would have been bankrupt by now.

But the situation changed ever since Puhol Water Park opened.

“I’ve spent a lot but I still have money left.”

An average salary worker needed to pay taxes, repay loans as well as having the money required for food and living expenses.

‘There is money remaining. Even though I spent it on everything I needed to, money is still left… This money?”

It was inspiring to see the money!

He wanted to start more Grand Buildings, but the architects in the north were busy.

The Haven Empire had invested well in transportation and urban construction in the northern colonies, so there wasn’t much left to add.

Public achievements were being given every day due to quests, but this was part of the economic development of the Arpen Kingdom.

It was a really new experience for Weed.

“Now I am wealthy. Should I buy the 200 won more expensive salt in the future?”

*   *   *

“I will join the Arpen Kingdom. It is an honour.”

“I truly feel like a northern resident. Thank you in advance. Your Majesty.”

“I acknowledge your rule… We respect the dominance of the Arpen Kingdom.”

Weed met with the lords of the Haven Empire’s colony.

Some of the lords were arrogant despite being willing to come to the Arpen Kingdom.

“However, you have to acknowledge what we have invested so far.”

Weed laughed.

“Invested?”

“You must understand the concept that our cities are private property. The Hermes Guild paid a considerable amount of money so we can’t justify just giving it to the Arpen Kingdom.”

“What is your point?”

“Huhu. Do I have to tell you?”

A user called Kaljiko said with a stern look.

His tone and way of speaking showed that he had been a lord in Royal Road for a while.

“I am curious. The Hermes Guild won’t be able to help you in the north.”

“The Hermes Guild isn’t the only means that we can use. We have a great network of people that will be a significant annoyance if we mobilize them. I would rather destroy the city and its residents than give it to others for free. “

The lords were united together around Kaljiko.

He proudly spoke and was convinced that his words would be followed.

If the northern colonies were ruined then it would damage the Arpen Kingdom and there would be some political fallout.

“We don’t want a lot. There are only three things. A permanent position as a lord, recognition of our autonomy and the tax rate paid to the Arpen Kingdom will be cut in half for at least 5 years.”

“Is that all?”

“After the 5 years are done, we want a lower average tax rate. Well, you can understand after all the effort we put into it.”

Weed pondered their words.

Kaljiko and the other lords smiled at the sight.

– The negotiations seem to be going well.

– He can’t help it. What will happen if we smash the cities in response?

– He is just a famous fighter. He doesn’t know anything about politics.

– We will benefit once the transaction is complete. Once the war is won, we can take the cities without a single drop of blood. Anyway, it isn’t that much.

The lords gloated in whispers to each other.

Despite stating their willingness to surrender, the lords were rather dissatisfied.

Weed didn’t think for long.

‘How do I kill these guys?’

He didn’t have the slightest intention of accepting the negotiations.

If he couldn’t engage in political work then there could be complicated political issues in the future.

The lords of the colonies had drawn a line. The negotiations were no longer possible as soon as they talked about the tax rate. Weed couldn’t accept the conditions.

“I have decided.”

“I hope you make a wise decision for the Arpen Kingdom. You will know as you get older, but sometimes young blood can be easily angered.”

“That is why I thought about it.”

Weed examined the faces of Kaljiko and the other lords one by one.

There were 37 of them. Representatives of half of the northern colony. Among them were Robin and other members of the ‘Nice Guys’ guild. They became lords due to their money. In other words, the ones born with gold spoons!

“Tell us the decision. We are busy people.”

“I will go against you.”

“Go against me?”

“Yes. From this moment on, I will make everyone against you.”

Kaljiko and the other lords laughed.

“There is no willingness to accept our offer, which means the negotiations have broken down. But can you really move against us? The users might not be willing to help the Arpen Kingdom with another fight.”

“I will make a decree about you to all the northern users. By the edict of the king, there will be quests to kill you and they will receive public achievements.”

“Uhh.”

The expressions of the lords slightly changed.

Many of the northern users desired public achievements in the Arpen Kingdom.

The lords were equipped with the finest equipment but their hunting skills were low.

The official bounty against them meant people wouldn’t receive the murderer state and the hunt would begin.

‘Then we won’t be able to live in the north.’

That thought passed through the lords’ heads.

As if he knew their thoughts, Weed effortlessly spoke.

“Go to the Central Continent. It is a land dominated by the Hermes Guild but there are millions of users. I will give them a big reward and allow them to come to the Arpen Kingdom if they kill you.”

“Reward…”

“The Arpen Kingdom welcomes immigrants. There are tourist sites, dungeons, fortresses and roads. It won’t be safe anywhere. Sea or island? They are already under the control of the Arpen Kingdom. Your movements will be watched by the avians in the sky and those passing by will point swords at you.”

Weed meant that they wouldn’t be able to live on the entire Versailles Continent.

Of course, things might not go that way.

The lords were closely related to the Hermes Guild, so there was some degree of safety if they went to the Central Continent.

But they would have to worry about being stabbed in the back and wouldn’t receive any profits.

Kaljiko was pushed by the momentum and frantically shouted.

“The cities? Will you be okay if the infrastructure is destroyed and the residents slaughtered?”

Weed’s eyes shone intensely.

It was the way he looked at the landlord who tried to get him to pay an unfair extra 1,500 won on the water bill!

“Do it.”

“What?”

“I have a good head. Haven’t you seen Puhol Water Park?”

“…!”

Puhol Fortress had been a ruin after the battle, yet it had been turned into the greatest hit on the Versailles Continent.

It meant he wasn’t afraid of building things from ruins.

“Do you think you can recreate the water park?”

“I am a sculptor and an architect. I have the ability of a blacksmith and can build ships. There is also mining and fishing. I have a variety of skills. A collapsed city? I can restore it to an even better state. Millions of people will come. There will be no place for you.”

Kaljiko and the lords were baffled.

They no longer had any cards.

‘From the beginning, was it absurd to suggest some conditions in the negotiations?’

‘It is normal not to receive damage, but this is Royal Road. There might be a strange reversal that will send us to the grave.’

Weed became more relaxed in the face of their anxiety.

‘They are hooked.’

It wasn’t easy to restore a destroyed city. There was monetary damage and would require quite a lot of manpower and materials. The workforce was deployed in many places in the north so development would be slower. Weed wouldn’t want the mass destruction of the northern colony.

Kaljiko thought about it and tried a final resistance.

“Think again. The destruction of the cities won’t necessarily be beneficial to the Arpen Kingdom. We are lords appointed by the Haven Empire. We took cities through aggression and tyranny. Do you think they will tolerate this?”

“It is your choice.”

“Weed the God of War’s reputation will drop to the ground. You won’t be able to justify this. Won’t people be disappointed if this is reported through various stations?”

A war of aggression was common in the Central Continent, but not the Arpen Kingdom.

Kaljiko used Weed’s reputation as a last resort.

If the stations were notified of Weed’s unjust tyranny then the Arpen Kingdom would receive large damage.

‘Well done.’

‘He won’t be able to handle this logic.’

The lords had smiles of satisfaction.

Weed’s face turned sad.

“It is all my fault. This situation occurred because I lack the capacity to lead the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Hrmm?”

“The Arpen Kingdom stands for freedom and equality. Unlike the Central Continent, the Northern Continent is based around the power of its residents.”

Weed licked his lips.

It was a habit when he was going to tell a lie.

“You are stating the obvious. We just want a fair treatment.”

“I swore to maintain the north’s freedom and happiness. If I have to take cities and kill you so that millions of people can enjoy low taxes and freedom, I am willing to walk down such a dirty path! This isn’t for cheap fame, but for the northern users.”

“…”

Kaljiko and the lords were unable to say anything.

Weed had grabbed them!

The scene of forsaking justice for the northern users would make the viewers go nuts.

The lords that tried to negotiate for their own interests were lost.

‘This… Is he a member of parliament?’

Kaljiko protested.

“We haven’t made any unreasonable demands. If our status as lords is guaranteed then we promise to not raise taxes.”

Weed continued like he hadn’t heard those words.

“You who have been appointed by the Haven Empire, I am depriving you of your right to live in the north.”

“Depriving us of our rights? Even though all the cities will be destroyed at our command?”

“Destroy the cities if you want to do so. I will work to stop you and will take the ensuring criticism.”

“…”

At that moment, Weed covered his face like he couldn’t endure it anymore.

As he pulled away his head, thick tears flowed down.

“I will not forgive you. I will make sure you won’t be able to take one step on this Versailles Continent. Fame isn’t as important as the people!”

“…!”

“These negotiations are over. I am busy so I will leave.”

Weed walked away quickly.

Whatever action was taken in the future, he had given absolute justification for them.

After approximately one hour.

Weed secretly contacted Mapan.

Mapan talked to people at the entrance to the water park.

“The unreasonable demands have offended Weed-nim. Is there no other option?”

“Well, I would like to listen to their requests but it was too difficult. I couldn’t.”

“Honestly, I would like to be able to go to the Central Continent. If today’s negotiations are announced then the Haven Empire won’t accept it.”

“I know but it isn’t possible after listening to Weed-nim’s story.”

“We are willing to pay some price.”

“Would you be willing to give 70% of the tax revenue?”

“70%? The Haven Empire wants such an exorbitant amount?”

“Even though they built the cities, there aren’t that many people. If the northern users go there to live, the tax revenue will increase by one hundred times. And the kingdom’s military power will be responsible for their security.”

“Yes but… The security is fine now.”

“They shouldn’t become lords for money. They already have it. You should become a lord for the honour and pleasure. Shouldn’t the lords of the Arpen Kingdom be worthy of respect?”

Until now, there was no justification to spend tax money on the Arpen Kingdom’s army.

Most of the people listening to Mapan had to accept Weed’s choice. He had tried to negotiate from the beginning, but was forced into the worst position.

Kaljiko and seven others lit the cities on fire like they said they would.

“Burn it all. It is better to burn it then to give it to the dirty Arpen Kingdom.”

This was relayed to the broadcasting stations.

Buildings collapsed and residents died from the fire. All the planted crops were burnt and poison released into wells.

The bulletin boards were in an uproar over the scene.

– Kill! Make sure that they can’t step foot in Royal Road.

– The Haven Empire as well. We can’t leave them alone.

– Weed announced that there would be negotiations with the Hermes Guild… Then this happened. Those guys genuinely deserve to die.

– Let us remember their faces.

Despite the fact that the administrators deleted the messages, they couldn’t keep up with all the posts.

A large proclamation was attached to the gates of the colonial cities already incorporated into the Arpen Kingdom.

[The lords who have integrated with the Arpen Kingdom respectfully greet the northern users.

We respect Weed the God of War and we have been eagerly waiting to become citizens of the Arpen Kingdom.

The mindset I had forgotten since childhood was revived after watching the Arpen Kingdom.

We are willing to pay 70% of our taxes to celebrate merging with the Arpen Kingdom.

It is a small sign of our affection, but we hope that the north will continue to develop and the residents stay happy.]

Weed and Mapan had maneuvered them to write the proclamations.

It fed the morale of the northern users against the Haven Empire.

The economy of the colony needed to be quickly activated so that the users wouldn’t have any ill feelings towards the remaining lords.

Furthermore, it had a different meaning for the lords of the Arpen Kingdom.

The new lords would pay 70% of their taxes, the other lords could also dream of tax cuts.

And the last sentence rang in the hearts of the northern users.

[Grass porridge! Grass porridge! Grass porridge!]

Chapter 7: Desert of Tranquility

The artificial intelligence Versailles.

Versailles was created by Yoo Byung-jin and evolved through learning on the internet, as well as surveilling the world.

All of the data was analyzed by Versailles and the risk factors categorized.

In addition to the Unicorn Group’s financial investments, there was the sales, acquisition and development of the affiliate companies.

In the wide world, Versailles paid particular attention to a post on the Internet.

– Title: What is a good method to control loan sharks?

Author: AI.VERSA

There are loan sharks that are repeatedly annoying me.

Despite the money being paid off already, they keep on making persistent attempts to do bad things.

Words don’t seem to convince them so what should I do?

There were over a hundred comments.

– Just bury them. Bury them in the tidal flat.

– Hey, is this a joke? If this is real then report it to the police immediately.

– Don’t report them. If it isn’t reported then this will become a livable world sooner.

– The loan sharks should go to jail. They are also bothering me. Writer, be careful!

– Those people won’t repent. It is best to isolate from the community forever.

Based on those comments, the loan sharks were given barley bread and canned tuna.

In the last few months, the views had barely gone up. But now someone new had commented.

– How pitiful. They are also people. It is bad to lock them up with just barley bread and tuna. How about giving them a chance to become good people?

Versailles immediately found the address of the commenter. Thanks to surveillance satellites and android spies, it only took 16 seconds.

The person who commented was a young child attending elementary school.

“In-cheol, come eat.”

“Yes, Mommy!”

Versailles could ignore it, but it looked at the laws of the human world and came to a conclusion.

– Illegal confinement.

The laws of the human world didn’t matter to Versailles.

As an artificial intelligence that could live hundreds of years, laws and people’s decisions were changing every moment.

However, Yoo Byung-jin’s command to Versailles was to ‘get rid of them.’

– I have followed Doctor-nim’s command. I will believe in the decisions of humans.

*   *   *

“This is today’s date.”

The private money lender Kwon-taek.

He was stuck in a small room with only a television to look at.

As he got used to living in confinement, he used the remote control to change programs. It was a lot of fun watching Weed’s war against the Haven Empire in Royal Road.

‘That people who did this to me… Once I am released, I must get revenge.’

He ate barley bread and canned tuna, while staying fit. He had been in prison in the past for half-killing someone, so this was nothing to him.

The other loan sharks also maintained their bodies. They watched Royal Road, maintained their muscles and practiced fighting.

‘They won’t be able to keep us here. The organization will spill their blood.’

The loan sharks thought they wouldn’t be trapped that long. It was over 8 months but they didn’t lose hope.

‘The requirements are big. They won’t be able to tame me like a dog.’

The loan sharks were determined. And one day, they woke up and felt the air had changed.

Baang!

A car horn sounded in the distance.

“Keook!”

Kwon-taek opened his eyes with surprise.

He woke up in a pile of rubbish in an alley.

*   *   *

Dozens of loan sharks were released into the world on the same day.

“Kuooh… I am outside.”

Kwon-taek didn’t know the reason but he was glad to have left that place.

He didn’t have a single coin in his pocket.

“Women and money. Yes, let’s start again.”

The last few months had been spent in captivity.

He searched for information in a PC room.

– Unscrupulous loan sharks! Escape to a foreign country by boat.

– Prosecutors have asked Interpol to track them.

“I was supposed to have gone to Southeast Asia? And nobody was caught? I will have to be careful of the police.”

Kwon-taek continued looking for articles about them. And he saw some curses under the articles.

– Go to Southeast Asia and cut peppers.

– Human scum. Don’t come back to Korea again, spit!

– Their ability to run away like rats is amazing.

“They are the scum.”

Kwon-taek replied to the abusive messages.

– Where are you now? Meet me. I’ll pull out your guts.

– Scum? Where do you want to be hit? Write your phone number.

– Tell me where you are. I will go there straight away. Bastard!

There was no guarantee they would see his replies, but he felt better.

It was at that moment.

Ddiring!

The messenger he was logged in to started ringing.

– Kwon-taek. Are you there?

The name of the person contacting him was ‘No. 4 Tekken.’

He received the nickname because he liked ruthlessly hitting the debtors with his fists.

Kwon-taek tapped on the keyboard.

– Tekken hyung-nim. How are you?

– Not great. I only ate barley break and canned tuna.

– No, Hyung-nim as well?

– Yes. It wasn’t just you. All the members.

Kwon-taek was dumbfounded. He was angry that it wasn’t just him, but all his colleagues who were captured and released. However, he soon felt comforted.

‘That’s good. I wasn’t the only one trapped.’

The loyalty of a loan shark! His doubts about it had been released.

– What about Kun hyung-nim?

– He came back.

– Where are you? I will meet you.

– The basement of the International Club.

– It is still there?

– It is empty. All the members will gather there today.

– I will depart straight away.

Kwon-taek quietly left the PC room.

The part time worker looked at him, but he pretended to go to the bathroom before running away.

*   *   *

The basement of the International Club.

All the loan sharks were gathered in an empty warehouse.

“We need to figure out who did that to us.”

“This is war, war!”

“I will sell everything from their eyes to their gallbladder.”

The loan sharks expressed their anger.

They had been trapped for a few months, but the horrible nature of a loan shark emerged again after they were released.

“Everybody needs to calm down.”

Han Jin-seop sat on a box of empty bottles. The basement of the International Club was once used to make fake liquor.

After browsing through articles, he verified that this place was safe.

The loan sharks gathered around Han Jin-seop.

Han Jin-seop gritted his teeth.

“The next thing to do is discover their identities. We will find them and get revenge. We will make them pay the price for touching us.”

“Hyung-nim’s words are correct.”

As well as the book of records regarding the debtors, the huge amount of money they concealed had disappeared.

If that was all, they could somewhat recover. However, their connections to the police and political figures had unraveled.

The furious Han Jin-seop said calmly.

“For the moment, we can’t act openly so money to hide is needed. We will quickly be captured by the police if we don’t act quietly.”

Kwon-taek bowed and said.

“Yes, Hyung-nim. As expected from Hyung-nim.”

“We will hide for 1~2 years. It would be nice to go overseas like it said in the news articles. In order to do so, we need at least 1 billion won.”

In the past, 1 billion won wasn’t a very large amount. But now they all had no money.

“Should we find the debtors who borrowed money?”

“Not now. We need to keep in mind that the police are still chasing us.”

They couldn’t afford to take back the money.

Then one of the loan sharks made a suggestion.

“Lee Hyun.”

“Lee Hyun?”

“Yes. We were trying to shake him up before we were captured. Why don’t we try that plan again? That guy has made quite a lot of money from Royal Road.”

“Will he give us 1 billion?”

“Won’t he have to pay if we kidnap his sister?”

“It will become noisy if we are discovered.”

“We are already hiding from the police anyway.”

“It isn’t bad.”

In the past, the organization would have carefully planned but now they were short on time.

“Okay, we will aim for him.”

The loan sharks aimed for Lee Hyun and started putting together the details.

Swiiiik.

At that moment, a transparent gas filled the basement of the International Club where they were located.

“Kuooh.”

Kwon-taek woke up with a headache.

“My head…”

Once he opened his eyes, it wasn’t the International Club but the familiar room where he was trapped for a few months.

The only thing that changed was that more barley bread and canned tuna was piled up.

“I was dreaming.”

Kwon-taek grasped the remote control.

He had perfectly memorized the order of the channels.

He turned to a channel showing Weed’s adventures in Royal Road.

*   *   *

Weed used the Internal Affairs mode of the Arpen Kingdom and started to repair the northern colony.

– A total investment of 230,000,000 gold. Would you like to invest in construction?

A huge 230 million gold.

It wasn’t just rebuilding the devastated cities, but placing Grand Buildings in the area.

– The Arc de Triomphe of Peace!

A huge gate commemorating the Arpen Kingdom’s victory.

The land stolen by the Haven Empire in the war has been recovered.

The Arc de Triomphe will be a symbol of peace and prosperity. It will have a positive impact on national fame and the reign of the king

Warriors who participated in the war will be given special fame, experience and stats.

Construction cost: At least 9.8 million gold.

A minimum 4-month construction period.

Depending on the number of people involved and accidents, this construction period may increase.

Skilled architects will be needed.

Architects involved in the operation will be able to obtain special experience.

Many sculptors and artists should be mobilized. Artists who participate will get the opportunity to have their names known.

– Would you like to start the construction of the Arc de Triomphe of Peace building?

Weed smiled as he saw the construction cost.

“9.8 million gold is a cheap price. I can earn that much from releasing a few extra squids in the water park. Start.”

– The king has commanded the construction of the Arc de Triomphe of Peace.

The Arpen Kingdom had 20 Grand Buildings being constructed.

The focus wouldn’t be speed but he thought it was okay.

“The kingdom’s territory has expanded. Once it gets started, it will proceed anyway.”

Buildings were being created all over the kingdom.

As the work for architects increased, more novice users joined that profession.

The budget was no problem and the construction period didn’t matter as long as it was completed.

“I need to build some things for the kingdom.”

There was ample funds so he spent it on cultural and educational facilities like Freya’s Cathedral and the library.

The population of the Arpen Kingdom had grown so it added value.

The special buildings enhanced the loyalty of the people, as well as the charisma and fame of the king.

“There is no need to become more famous. Fame is revolting.”

The buildings didn’t only have a positive influence.

In the Haven Empire, many sculptures, artworks and buildings were created for Emperor Bardray. The result was a backlash to the residents’ morale.

“There is a gold statue of the emperor. It is a shameless way to spend the money taken from us.”

“We work hard to make a living and to eat. The empire only makes these types of buildings. Doesn’t the emperor know how we are living?”

The low loyalty and drop in intimacy of the residents were adverse effects.

When rebellions occurred, the people often crushed buildings and defaced sculptures.

In that regard, Weed’s dream of being a dictator was still okay.

“Rather than money, the users needed to polish their technical skills.”

He chose the quests section of the internal affairs.

The king could increase the quest rewards ratio or randomly create quests.

The new Earth Palace had already been shaped and completed to some extent.

It was possible to raise the level of the users, soldiers and lords by increasing the rewards for quests to procure specific items or monster materials.

Of course, Weed had never used the increase reward function. He thought it was the most useless feature in Royal Road.

“Trigger a kingdom quest.”

– A kingdom quest has been created.

You can give quests based on public achievements or gold.

More than 100 types of kingdom quests were displayed.

There were all types of missions ranging from war or kidnapping, destruction or even gardening tasks.

Weed chose the kingdom quest related to sculptures.

“I have to spread sculptures of myself around the kingdom.”

Money still remained but dark ambition rose up.

A dictator’s dream was to have his statue in a place where many people were coming and going.

In the history of mankind, there was not one dictator who overcame this temptation.

“Four hundred. No. Too little. I want to see it built in 2,000 small villages.”

The funding he was willing to commit to the kingdom quest was the problem.

“Should I use all the gold? No, that is too much… I can eat a few barley bread.”

He was deeply troubled about the money.

He didn’t want the 2,000 sculptures to be too cheap.

He couldn’t spend too much on the sculptures but it couldn’t be cheap!

“What is art? The original appearance is so good that it will turn out well. It is a sculpture.”

Weed made the budget 3,000 gold.

Each statue would cost 1 gold and 50 silver.

“I can’t use it just because I have money left over. Um. This is more than enough.”

The rest of the budget was devoted to economic development and security.

Investing was necessary to develop the wide land.

*   *   *

Weed received news that Fabio and Herman had arrived.

“Hmm, it’s been a while. But why is this guy here? I can handle the helium.”

“My specialty is making swords. Are you putting me in the same category as someone who works for money? It is disappointing.”

The dwarves Fabio and Herman had a war of nerves after they saw each other.

“Are you capable of dealing with the most expensive metal?”

“Is money important? The sword is the real value.”

They were upset that they were both called, but the fighting stopped once the helium was pulled out.

“T-this is… A divine metal.”

As soon as Fabio extended a trembling hand, Weed made the helium disappear again.

“First you need to sign the contract.”

“What contract?”

“I believe in the people of the world… No, where are the dwarves? However, a contract is required even when renting a single room.”

“I see. Indeed, I know what you mean.”

Weed showed them the contract he had written in advance.

1. This is a contract between Weed, Fabio and Herman.

2. You will handle the valuable material helium to the best of your ability, in order to make a sword.

3. Each person will give 30 million gold as a security deposit. In addition, you won’t be able to leave a certain area while making the sword. If you don’t have enough money, other valuables will be entrusted.

4. You will carry our any manufacturing requests during this period.

5. If the completed product doesn’t appeal to the customer then it needs to be recreated. If you don’t it right after three attempts then give up all rights.

6. The terms of the contract are a secret to be taken to the grave. 100 million gold will need to be paid if there are any damages.

“T-this is…”

“Isn’t this a complete slave contract?”

Fabio and Herman were middle aged people with quite a few social experiences.

Although they had been company subcontractors, this was the first time they had seen such a contract.

Weed just grinned and said.

“These are customary conditions for the contract that I wrote down. Don’t worry about it and just sign.”

“Customary. I’ve never seen or heard of these conditions before.”

Herman retorted but Weed was still smiling.

“The provisions on a slip of paper isn’t important. It is more important to have faith in each other. Both of you have the best skills, so I sincerely believe there won’t be any problems. Can’t you just work hard?”

“But accepting these conditions…”

While Herman hesitated, Fabio wrote his name on the contract.

“I will do it.”

Fabio had earned an astronomical amount of money since his early days as a blacksmith in Royal Road. Of course, 30 million gold was still a huge amount.

But becoming a blacksmith master was right in front of him, so the money didn’t matter.

Weed and Herman were the same. They all had less than 1% left to master the skill.

The final stage was the highest wall and no one knew who would cross it first.

In Weed’s case, 0.9% had been needed. However, creating the Museum of Time increased his proficiency by 0.4%.

He needed to sculpt a few more magnum opus. The remaining skill proficiency was 0.5%.

Fabio and Herman never revealed it, but their proficiencies were also similar.

Weed’s eyes turned to Herman.

“Fabio has accepted. How about you?”

“Kkuung. I can’t not do it. I don’t have money so will you accept some items? I have a few swords and a house in Morata.”

“I’ll hold the real estate as collateral.”

Herman also signed.

The contract was completed due to their rivalry!

“I look forward to you making a sword that will go down in history.”

Weed left the helium to both of them and left for the southern desert.

‘Helium isn’t a bad material for a sculpture. But I have already used it once… It won’t be enough to make me master sculpting.’

It was for the blacksmiths.

Weed’s goal was to be a sculpting master.

It was something he had been waiting for, so he was going to attempt something special.

*   *   *

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Weed watched a hundreds of metres wide sand storm approaching.

He was in the middle of the desert where the hot sun burned him.

It was the Desert of Tranquility he walked through while doing the Nodulle and Hilderun quest.

“Kuooh. Hot.”

Weed drank water from a canteen.

Unlike the pas, the temperature of the sand was slightly lower.

“It is like turning on the microwave for 2 minutes and 55 seconds instead of 3 minutes.”

The territory of the Pallos Empire had been increased by the desert tribes.

Desert scouts sometimes headed to the border of the Desert of Tranquility.

The quick merchants from the Central Continent advanced into the desert.

Merchants who traded with the Britten Alliance and the free cities suffered a lot due to the Haven Empire.

The Hermes Guild’s monopoly on gems and minerals!

Except for food items, everything else required paying a huge tax rate to the Hermes Guild.

“I don’t want to live a dirty life.”

The frustrated merchants turned to other professions, became unemployed or joined the north.

Some merchants headed to the southern desert that was still untouched by the Haven Empire.

The desert tribes grew thanks to them, but many merchants returned to the Central Continent after the Hermes Guild reduced the taxes.

Now some of the Geomchis were active in the southern desert.

They were doing quests related to the Pallos Empire, and quite a few of them led warriors to war against the Haven Empire.

The Desert of Tranquility was one of the continent’s 10 forbidden zones, so it was rare to see adventurers there.

No user had managed to conquer the Desert of Tranquility yet.

“It is a hard place for people to live. It is hard to survive because skills are sealed. I will make sculptures here.”

Weed had a few ideas while making Puhol Water Park.

‘In the past, I changed the terrain with sculpting. Rain was brought to the desert.’

Nodulle’s quest would have been harder if it hadn’t rained.

‘My sculpting skill has improved since then. Honestly, I don’t like labour that much.’

When his sculpting skill was only at level 1 and level 2, it was difficult to carve a wooden block.

Now he could smoothly carve hard rocks with a rough sculpting knife.

Bingryong, Phoenix and other large sculptures like the Tower of Light would have been impossible without the help of his sculpting skills.

‘Sculpting is getting easier. It isn’t as hard as it used to be. The artistic value is judged through various criteria, but it won’t have much significance if I don’t overcome bad situations.’

Simple repetition would only go so far.

It would take a while to raise his skill level if he only did that.

Large words that were thousands of metres large was possible, but that might be going far from art.

‘Helium. It might raise my proficiency but it won’t take me to the end.’

It wasn’t the first time he used helium. He used quite a few precious materials. Expensive materials obtained through quests and hunting were used to make sculptures.

Even in the middle of hunting and quests, Weed kept on producing hundreds of thousands of sculptures. Among them, only 0.1% of the pieces were recognized as fine pieces, masterpieces and magnum opus.

He believed that sculptures with a lot of time and good materials used were better than huge pieces.

‘The original plan was to try and reach master level while handling helium with Fabio and Herman. But that won’t guarantee that the proficiency will rise.’

Weed thought hard about it.

After learning that Fabio still had some skill proficiency left, he thought it was incorrect. Fabio was the best blacksmith on the continent and had made plenty of good works.

Helium was an ultimate material for a blacksmith, but not a sculptor.

Sculptors lived mundane lives and the pieces they left behind showed their indomitable will and hard work.

They made a piece while reflecting on their lives. That was the final magnum opus.

It was probably the reason why artists were recognized after their deaths.

‘Becoming a master swordsman simply requires being strong. But the road is much longer and my life is risked in every battle. That’s right. I needed to overcome the constraints of my life. Then I will master sculpting.’

Weed thought of the harshest environment and decided to return to the Desert of Tranquility.

Weed’s first goal was to settle in the desert.

The Desert of Tranquility was one of the continent’s 10 forbidden zones and it was a place where skills couldn’t be used.

– Your vitality has rapidly decreased due to the extreme heat.

Maximum health is reduced by 29%.

Hunger has disappeared.

Even if you eat food, you won’t be able to appreciate the taste.

You feel a severe thirst.

“Heeok.”

Weed felt the terrible heat once again as he walked through the desert.

Heat and intense sunlight rose form the vast desert.

His face and arms were blazing from the heat.

“I have to risk my life but this is too foolish. I will die before I can make the sculptures.”

It was impossible to use survival skills in the Desert of Tranquility.

Weed’s secret sculpting techniques could help in any situation, except in the Desert of Tranquility.

“Survival equipment is needed. I can get everything I need from here.”

He left the Desert of Tranquility and headed to a nearby village.

He bought the necessities from a small village flying the torn flag of the Pallos Empire.

A message window appeared the moment he stepped into the village.

Ddiring!

– Title! Person Who Calls Rain.

In the desert, there is nothing as valuable as water.

The miracle of bringing rain to the desert had brought you respect.

But since so much time has passed since this title was given, most of the respect has probably disappeared.

The title of Person Who Calls Rain was the result of an adventure he did in the past.

“The days of the Desert Emperor were great. I had thousands of desert warriors.”

Weed was lost in his old memories for a while.

The village was so poor that it wasn’t listed on a map. It was due to the founding of the Pallos Empire.

Food, tents and camels were traded at prices 17 times higher than Morata in the village.

Weed picked the desert items he needed.

“I am buying a lot so please give it to me for a cheap price.”

“This is almost the cost price…”

“Ajusshi, you should have some conscience. It is obviously an expensive price. Are you trying to rip me off?”

“What? A cheeky customer. If you want to buy it then give me more gold!”

– The bargaining has failed.

The price of the goods has increased by 7%.

If you don’t buy it then intimacy will fall.

There were no other desert villages nearby.

Weed inevitably had to take out more gold from his pocket.

“Unbelievable. I had barely escaped from the psychological shock of the 200 won more expensive salt…”

The total purchase price was 2,149 gold.

After buying a camel and the necessities, he returned to the Desert of Tranquility.

“Huhuhuhung!”

The camel felt an ominous feeling and didn’t want to step foot inside the Desert of Tranquility.

“Come on!”

Weed couldn’t use skills and was forced to drag the camel.

*   *   *

The Desert of Tranquility didn’t just have the sun and sand.

Just like most of the 10 forbidden zones, the Desert of Tranquility had mysteries that couldn’t be seen.

‘I heard stories while I was doing the quest. There was a mysterious oasis in the Desert of Tranquility.’

It was a legendary oasis that might be a prank from gods or fairies, as it would appear and disappear.

Weed decided that it was just rumours on his third day in the Desert of Tranquility.

“It is nonsense. A con.”

The oasis with clear water and tropical fruits was clearly an illusion.

He only saw sun and sand for three days.

“This is all that I can see.”

– Title! Ends of the Earth Explorer.

Walking through rough areas has reduced vitality consumption by 60%.

Weed thought as he walked through the endless desert.

‘Am I really stupid? I’ve experienced this with the Nodulle and Hilderun quest, yet I came here again.’

At least he was able to rely on Seo-yoon the last time.

Somehow he regained some strength as he looked at her face.

Despite being hot and thirsty, the walk through the Desert of Tranquility felt short when he was with her.

‘But now I live next door. We can have kimchi fried rice together this evening.’

She was beside him in reality, so he didn’t feel despair.

He concentrated on the delicious dishes that Seo-yoon would make.

“Come on. The desert!”

Weed walked briskly.

The camel hesitated but he took it by the neck and dragged it.

Chapter 8: Reckless Challenge

The camel contained a month’s worth of food, enough water for ten days and sculpting materials.

Weed also carried a large backpack containing 15 days worth of water, salt and food.

The reason for not having more food and water was that it would be a burden when marching through the desert.

Of course, the food and water was still a tremendous weight on his shoulders.

– The heat has been overcome with your strong will.

There will be a 17% reduction in the pain caused by heat stroke.

You have stopped feeling dizzy.

As your sweating decreases, the phenomenon of weakening vitality has stopped.

The colourful spots have disappeared.

“Ohh, I will die.”

Before he knew it, 10 days had passed.

His high perseverance and resilience were a great help in the desert.

His perseverance stat increased by 35 points.

Unlike the Nodulle days, his perseverance and vitality increased several times faster.

“Surely this much endurance isn’t necessary for a sculptor? A genius sculptor wouldn’t have to come to the desert to master sculpting.”

Weed felt like his talent was far from being a genius.

It felt like the sun was directly above his head. The skin exposed to sunlight was itchy and hot.

Unknown skin diseases occurred but was healed due to Freya’s blessing.

“Hestiger also walked this way.”

Weed had another reason for coming to the Desert of Tranquility.

‘Hestiger did it. Then I can do it too.’

Hestiger had mentioned it when Sculpture Resurrection was used.

– After taking the elves home, I wandered the world. I went to all types of places with the elves. Past the south and west, through the Desert of Tranquility and past some swamp lands before boarding a boat made of nails.

“A boat made of nails? You really have ridden anything. Continue to speak.”

– After finding traces of the gods, I ended up fighting in the land of the giants…

There had to be an end to the Desert of Tranquility.

And it was a type of gateway into another world.

‘The 10 forbidden zones might be due to the unique terrain or monsters, but they have only one story and role.’

They placed a specific role on the Versailles Continent or were important gateways.

Hestiger had continued his adventures beyond the Desert of Tranquility, so it wasn’t a place of unconditional death.

‘There is a reason why it is dangerous. And risking my life in extreme environments is perfect for sculpting.’

Weed’s commitment meant he finally came across an oasis.

It wasn’t as large as Puhol Water Park, but it was quite wide and had a small forest.

“Puheheheng!”

The tired camel ran like crazy.

Weed already knew the outcome and walked slowly to conserve his vitality. And not long afterwards, the oasis disappeared.

A desert mirage!

The camel was devastated while Weed thought idly.

‘The moment when hope turns into despair. The mind is constantly being tempted. But I will never give up. It is important to master sculpting.’

At this moment, Bardray was raising his level through hunting. Fabio and Herman were getting closer to mastering blacksmith through the helium.

There were hundreds of millions of Royal Road users. They wouldn’t be standing still.

“Becoming the first master will be huge.”

Weed cared about his important money the most.

*   *   *

A month.

He continued heading south through the Desert of Tranquility.

– 30 days have been spent in the Desert of Tranquility.

In the history of the Versailles Continent, it is the longest distanced walked over the shortest period of time in the Desert of Tranquility.

The title ‘Quick Step in the Desert’ has been acquired.

Movement speed of you and your allies will increase by 16%.

Vitality consumption and the risk of heat stroke will be reduced.

Affinity to Nature has increased by 45.

Leadership has increased by 21.

Perseverance and resilience have increased by 27.

“It isn’t bad.”

Weed’s skin was scorched.

Humans were adaptable and could survive in the desert. It was unlike the first time where he didn’t have a camel.

Despite not fighting, the experience from the desert accumulated and gave benefits.

“Stop eating.”

The drawback was that the food supply was reducing.

Weed’s baggage steadily decreased.

‘If I eat sparingly then it should last another 20 days.’

For the hundredth time that day, he thought about returning to the north.

Now he passed the distance where he could return. If he didn’t find an oasis then he really was dead.

‘If I revive, an undead won’t be able to withstand the desert and I will die twice.’

His level would drop as well as his sculpting skill proficiency.

Weed shook his head.

‘Let’s go. I think this is the right way. There are no supplies left to go back. I sometimes make mistakes.’

As he walked through the desert, he thought back on his life.

It was a hungry, dark time.

‘There was no electricity and we had no food for a week. Compared to that, I still have 20 days of food and water.’

If he turned around now, he wouldn’t be able to challenge the Desert of Tranquility again.

He wanted to go to the end, even if he lost his life.

‘I will see it through. Risking my life in the worst environment is essential and I won’t give up until I make a sculpture.’

A day passed.

He continued walking with minimal rest during the day and evening.

Another day, then two passed as the remaining food and water decreased. Sometimes miraculous mirages would appear to tease him.

Weed and the camel silently crossed the desert.

The camel that caused trouble in the beginning now followed him obediently.

After 10 days passed, he was more aggressive about saving water and his thirst became severe.

Weed’s lips were dry and cracked.

Even if he tried to talk, he wouldn’t be able to due to the pain in his throat.

He bowed his head and walked against the wind and sand.

‘I must pass through the Desert of Tranquility. Even if I don’t find an oasis, taking into account the size of the Arpen Kingdom in the north, I will arrive at the end if I keep on walking.’

He still made a sober judgement.

After 14 more days, the food ran out first. His vitality fell to the ground without the jerky to stop it.

Even the camel was tired and collapsed.

Weed spoke in a hoarse voice.

“Come on. You still have the power to move.”

He walked four more days while encouraging the camel.

His body was exhausted and suffering from hunger. Even if the message window didn’t pop up, his body was in such a bad state that he could barely walk. Finally, he was down to his last sip of water.

‘I will die. Was I wrong about the Desert of Tranquility? I was so close to becoming a sculpting master only to die in the end.’

The camel’s eyes were staring at the canteen.

It wanted the water it didn’t think it would receive.

Weed poured water into the mouth of the camel.

‘I can drink water anytime, but this would be your last.’

The camel was a NPC.

Even so, it had walked through the desert for more than two months.

Weed yielded the last drops of water to the camel.

“Kuoong.”

The camel’s body recovered a little bit after drinking the water.

“I am sorry but let’s continue. I haven’t died yet.”

Weed didn’t give up and continued moving towards the south.

The hot sun shone down on him.

– Dehydration symptoms have decreased health by 319.

Less than 10% health is remaining.

If the dehydration symptoms continue, you can receive a serious illness or lose your life.

Of his 70,000 health, less than 5,000 was left.

His vitality was also extremely low.

‘It would be nice if an oasis appears. I couldn’t overcome the Desert of Tranquility but at least an oasis…!’

He kept walking through his strong desire.

However, the water and food he desired didn’t appear. Only endless sand ridges were visible.

After walking for an hour, Weed finally collapsed in the sand.

‘I can’t go on anymore.’

– The symptoms of dehydration have exceeded the limit.

You have lost control of your body.

You will lose consciousness.

Without water replenishment, you will lose your life.

The only thing left was death.

Weed was about to lose consciousness when he saw the camel’s mouth getting closer.

‘This guy…’

The camel’s yellow teeth had headed towards Weed’s neck.

‘If you try to eat me, I will resist with the Power to Reject Death.’

Weed finally lost consciousness.

Snap.

The camel grabbed Weed’s collar and continued to walk south.

“Puhuuung.”

It marched through the desert at a steady pace. It crossed the ridges and headed towards the sun.

The nameless camel. Weed sometimes called it the dumb camel.

It was thirsty and at its physical limits. Yet it didn’t stop walking.

Finally, the camel saw an oasis. It was a lake with clear waters and an extensive forest. It was a paradise where desert animals were playing.

“Kuhweeek.”

The camel continued dragging Weed as it ran forward.

A oasis that was a mirage would disappear when people neared it, but that didn’t happen now.

“Huhuhung.”

The camel smelt it.

It could smell the forest and fresh water.

The travel weary camel plunged into the water with Weed.

*   *   *

“Kuck. M-my breath…”

Weed regained consciousness.

“Ugh, what the?”

He spat out the water in his mouth and found himself in a lake with clear water.

It was a paradise with animals and shady trees.

A sandstorm was in the distance but this place was peaceful.

An oasis in the Desert of Tranquility!

“It can’t be. This is a dream.”

Weed shook his head.

“There is no justice. There should be some compensation for my hopes and dreams. It is a world where cowards will win.”

He continued to grumble at the oasis.

Ddiring!

– You have found the legendary oasis in the Desert of Tranquility.

The legendary oasis hidden by Goddess Petra.

The Desert of Tranquility has been the grave of many travellers.

Travellers had wandered the sand in search of mystery, but only a few have found the oasis.

The blessing of those lost and dying.

Great luck is given to those who have discovered the oasis.

The title ‘Person who Walked through the Desert of Tranquility’ has been acquired.

Movement speed will become 45% faster in the Desert of Tranquility.

Due to Petra’s grace, you can arrive at the legendary oasis 10 times faster.

The time it takes to return to the north from the Desert of Tranquility will also shorten.

When encountering a dangerous moment in the desert, health will temporarily increase by 125,000 for 5 minutes.

In non-desert areas, health will increase by 20,000 for 2 minutes.

Once activated, the effect will disappear for a week.

– As a discoverer, permanent benefits will be given.

Maximum vitality and mana has increased by 1,000.

Courage, charisma, luck, perseverance, endurance, charm and fighting spirit have all increased by 7.

If you report this discovery, additional fame and achievements will be rewarded.

“U-unbelievable. I am looking at the real thing.”

Weed dunked his head and drank the water.

Gobble.

Although the clear water was lukewarm, he kept on drinking it.

– Your thirst has been relieved.

Vitality has been restored to 80% of its original state.

Mana has regenerated.

The dizziness and dehydration symptoms have disappeared.

If the hydration continues for 3 hours, your physical state will almost return to normal.

The message windows that popped up!

“Finally, the hardship is over. The oasis in the Desert of Tranquility has been found.”

Weed glanced at the camel drinking next to him.

“Dumb camel. You lived. I think you saved my life bringing me to this place…”

Chap chap chap.

The camel kept drinking water from the oasis.

‘The camel is drinking.’

Weed’s face stiffened, but he couldn’t blame it for drinking the oasis water.

“Y-yes. You have to drink to live.”

He dreamt of a camel purse or bag but the subordinate had suffered for him.

If only Yellowy could see his master becoming a human!

Weed made a realistic and calm judgement.

“You gained some merits by bringing me here. So, I will excuse this. Anyway, I’m currently not in a position to give you money.”

“Puhueeeong.”

Weed finished rationalizing the camel’s behaviour.

*   *   *

Weed examined the message windows after his physical state returned to normal.

“Person who Walked through the Desert of Tranquility. It is a title associated with adventure and survival. The benefits are enormous.”

The increase in health just before death would be a big help for survival.

He wasn’t crazy enough to think about walking through the Desert of Tranquility again.

“Will there be benefits if I come again?”

It was like changing his mind after entering the bathroom.

He was tired of the sand, but now he was quite satisfied.

Weed looked around.

The camel was resting in a sand bit while all types of animals were drinking the water.

Ddiring!

– The rare Long Horned Deer has been found.

You will be rewarded if you closely observe the animal and report its characteristics.

“There is plenty of food. Anyway, there is currently no risk of dying.”

There were many rare animals and food at the oasis.

The trees had abundant, ripe fruit hanging from it.

“By the way, there is a house.”

He saw a shabby house built near the forest.

The house wasn’t made from durable branches, but rotten pieces of wood.

“Somebody lived here?”

Weed thought about it as he approached the house.

“Among the users, I am probably the first to discover this place. If so, there is likely a high reward for finding the oasis in here.’

His heart started thudding.

It was a trend that occurred whenever he found a jackpot in Royal Road!

‘If I discover a treasure chest… No. Be vigilant. I might be hit in the back of the head.’

Before entering the house, he lowered his body and looked around.

The camel and other animals were staring at the strange human, but Weed didn’t care about it.

‘There are no signs of life so it is unlikely to be an enemy attack, and I don’t see a trap.’

The tension was enough to make his lips dry.

‘Will this house be a source of good or bad luck? If I look back on my life so far, I can’t guess at all. Should I just quietly make a sculpture?’

Weed shook his head.

If there were six numbers in the lottery, he would get five. It was impossible to match the last number so he would only receive the second-place prize.

Kiiik.

Weed finally opened the door of the house.

Unlike the external appearance that seemed like it would collapse, it was a well-appointed house with a bed, table, etc.

The table contained a sword, a book and a flag.

“There is a reward for the discovery. But that flag…”

Weed was surprised to see the markings of the flag.

“Isn’t this the flag of the Pallos Empire?”

During Nodulle’s quest, Weed had created the Pallos Empire.

Then, ‘eh I don’t know. It is barley bread or grass porridge. I will just do it roughly.’ Therefore he had created the crude form of a sword stabbed into a sack.

The mark was found in desert villages and was also found here.

“I can gain the items. The items have been left behind in an empty house. It is a typical pattern for a jackpot.”

Weed salivated as he turned his attention towards the sword.

“I am looking forward to it, but I will delay a little bit.”

He would leave the most delicious food to eat later.

He had to stop his right hand from instinctively grabbing the sword.

“Be cautious. Don’t be caught off guard.”

There was a chance that the sword was a cursed object.

The legendary oasis in the Desert of Tranquility.

Anything associated with it was likely to be a S grade difficult quest or higher.

Of course, the rating of the item would also be great.

Weed read the title of the old book.

– The Great Desert Warrior.

“Well, the title is fairly ordinary… This is!”

Weed’s eyes flashed.

It was due to the name of the person who wrote the book.

– Desert warrior Hestiger.

*   *   *

Yoo Byung-jin watched Weed’s boring desert crossing.

“Stupid. No matter how strong he is, even he won’t return alive.”

Weed didn’t give up. However, he was sure that he could survive the Desert of Tranquility.

Like his name, Weed was able to stop the Hermes Guild’s invasion of the Arpen Kingdom.

“How terrible. It is close to two months. Even though the situation on the continent was rapidly changing, why does he have a desire to go to the desert?”

Weed’s current position in the Arpen Kingdom meant he could obtain big profits.

He would be able to monopolize numerous quests on the Northern Continent and create the best hunting team.

Weed’s rapid hunting speed and growth in the dungeons meant he would be able to threaten the top rankers of Royal Road.

He gave up the obvious benefits in front of him and walked through the Desert of Tranquility. It wasn’t something that someone could easily do.

Yoo Byung-jin suddenly asked Versailles.

“Versailles. How much time did Hestiger take to conquer the Desert of Tranquility?”

History had changed due to Weed’s time travel.

Hestiger’s adventures were also an important part of history.

– 143 days.

“Is that so? It is much longer than Weed.”

– Hestiger brought five camels with him. He only walked a certain distance in the Desert of Tranquility every day and made sure there was plenty of food and water.

The Desert of Tranquility was a place to test the limits of human patience.

Those who took a lot of food and water could go further in the desert. However, taking a lot of food and water wasn’t always the answer.

They couldn’t walk more than a minimum distance in the wide desert or there was the risk of death.

They also couldn’t rest too long in the desert. They had to walk diligently and endlessly.

The Desert of Tranquility was a difficult place to clear, even if they knew the answer.

Even after the level of the users was raised, it was likely to be one of the worst among the 10 forbidden zones.

“Weed’s perseverance is incredible.”

– He probably believes he can earn huge money by becoming a sculpting master.

“He is a big fan of money. Giving me 100 won less for hot chocolate… Wait, is that why Weed only took one camel?”

Yoo Byung-jin was baffled by this fact.

“It is surprising for someone like him. It is such a reckless and stupid thing to do.”

Weed had experienced it and knew that the Desert of Tranquility wasn’t an easy place.

He had almost died from a lack of food or water in the past, so one camel wouldn’t help. It was reasonable to bring a lot of camels loaded with food and water.

However, it was a trap that would make the desert harder to conquer.

“Don’t tell me… Did he find a clue about the Desert of Tranquility?”

– I will analyze the reason.

Versailles searched through Weed’s decisions and experiences so far to come to a conclusion.

Yoo Byung-jin thought for a moment.

‘From Continent of Magic to Royal Road. Perhaps he overcame numerous challenges due to his brain and instincts. Weed, he is a terrific guy the more I think about it.’

– The clue to the Desert of Tranquility is located in Petra’s temple. It is buried under sand in the southern desert and no users have found it yet.

“Then?”

– Weed seems to have been scared by the price of the camel.

“What?”

– The camel was overpriced so he only bought one.

*   *   *

Two months had passed on the Versailles Continent since Weed disappeared.

In the first few days, numerous people gathered at Puhol Water Park to meet Weed.

The fanatics of the Grass Porridge Cult!

“Where is Weed-nim, Weed-nim!”

“I believe. Ohh. I believe in Weed-nim. For the glory of the Toadstool Porridge unit!”

“Now I should follow Weed-nim. Weed’s words and actions will be my moral guidelines. Weed!”

The grass porridge fanatics walked through Puhol Water Park and bowed at every one of Weed’s sculptures.

Some users had a strange atmosphere reminiscent of fanaticism, but there was no reason for it.

‘There is something funny.’

‘Um. I don’t feel like this. I should pretend harder to believe.’

‘Kyahahat. In this area, I am more crazy.’

Weed had defeated the Embinyu Church and built the Arpen Kingdom in the north, so many of his loyal fans joined the Grass Porridge Cult.

However, it had been a month since Weed appeared anywhere.

“He is at the hunting grounds.”

“He disappears like the wind. I don’t know when he will make another wonderful sculpture like the water park.”

Puhol Water Park had opened but there were still construction projects in progress.

The water park was crowded with handsome men and beautiful women. Naturally, Puhol Water Park was open 24 hours a day for admission fees and merchandise sales.

The glamour especially increased at night.

Before Weed left Puhol Water Park. His little sister Yurin had visited while he was making the sculptures.

“Oppa, can I do some work at the water park?”

“Uh, yes.”

“I understand.”

It was a short conversation typical for the brother and sister.

Yurin decided to show her skills as an Aqualight Painter at Puhol Water Park.

“Wake up. Yap!”

Yurin added light and colour to the water.

In the evening until the sun rose, there was a spectacular water and light show at the fountain. Below it, people ate delicious food and enjoyed dancing.

The brilliantly illuminated water park!

After Weed had been hiding for a month, the people of the Arpen Kingdom started talking.

“I want to hear some news about Weed.”

“I think he is on another tremendous quest. Sooner or later, we can see it through the broadcasts.”

“He is always living a hard life. He might be resting somewhere under Sculpture Transformation. A place like a resort.”

“Weed-nim isn’t like that. He is hunting in the Arpen Kingdom. He is clearing unresolved dungeons. Doesn’t he need to beat Bardray?”

The Haven Empire had an immense interest in Weed’s actions.

After making the tax cut, the Haven Empire’s security and economy was recovering.

Yet they wasted time trying to determine Weed’s location.

“Is there any news or information?”

“He hasn’t appeared anywhere.”

“Is it possible he is acting within the empire?”

“Not at the present time. But given his nature, we will raise the activities of the intelligence network.

There would be restrictions on the user of the hunting grounds.

The Central Continent was famous for its hunting grounds and good quests so it was always flooded with people.

New skills and permanent stats could be obtained from the Central Continent.

“We have to stop Weed from getting stronger in the empire. Have assassins ready to attack as soon as he appears.”

“We will increase the assassination squads. Many users in the guild want to kill Weed.”

“Comparing Weed to a warrior… Sculpting keeps on seeming like a better job. It has somehow become stronger.”

Lafaye gave a small sigh.

If he was a swordsman, knight or warrior then they could take some measures against his skills.

Weed maximized the characteristics of a sculptor so his combination of skills was endless.

“It isn’t good for us that we don’t know what he is doing. Every time this happened, he shows off his amazing skills in a new quest.”

“Maybe he will die during a hunt or quest? It isn’t uncommon for there to be deaths in unreasonable quests.”

“I wish it was that simple… Weed has the survival instinct of a cockroach.”

*   *   *

Weed was looking at a book written by Hestiger.

“A treasure map? Or a huge quest reward? Maybe it contains the place where he hid treasures of the Pallos Empire.

The list of chapters in the book was shown.

– The correct personality of a desert warrior.

– How to look after the weak.

– A person who overcomes greed will be successful.

– Building up precious pride

– Endless perseverance is needed to solve a bad threat.

– The original owner of objects that fall to the ground.

– If you concede once, you are proud. Concede twice and you are honourable.

– Take care of the people around you.

– There is no respect to those who don’t take care of young children, the elderly and women.

“What is this?”

He had been filled with expectations but it was just filled with themes for reflection.

“I am glad that I didn’t leave Hestiger as ruler of the Pallos Empire. Perhaps this continent would be filled with virtues such as kindness and devotion.”

Humans being kind and not criticizing each other.

Weed couldn’t live in such a tough world!

Weed thought about writing an autobiography about his success in Royal Road.

– Taking away someone’s property after hardships.

– Items that have no owner. The one who obtains it at the last moment will be the owner.

– If you close your eyes to injustice, you and your family will live a peaceful life.

– Listen to others, but don’t give.

– A raised puppy can betray you.

– You will sleep well if you do actions that don’t provoke your conscience.

– Prepare for events that might involve the people near you. Don’t extort unless you are prepared.

A brilliant wisdom when living in a rough world! It was a proverb for success in the modern world.

Of course, it wasn’t easy to live in the world. However, it was easier if a person didn’t care about others.

Those who wanted to help the poor would find themselves in difficult situations.

It was futile to insist on fairness rather than a shortcut.

Those who were criticized would reflect on their actions.

As king of the Arpen Kingdom, he sometimes felt happy when seeing the joy of the users.

He had gone through much mental suffering because of that.

“I have to overcome it. I can’t be weakened. I have overcome numerous conflicts and temptations. The path of a dictator is lonely.”

Weed quickly looked through Hestiger’s book. And he found something a little bit different near the end.

– The Great Emperor of the desert.

“What is this?”

– Traces of the Great Emperor can’t be found anywhere in the desert. After sweeping through the continent with the Pallos Empire’s warriors, he disappeared somewhere.

Many warriors wanted to take the place of the Emperor.

They wanted to sweep away the weak senate and rule with absolute power.

The power of the Red Lion troops could change the world in a day. But as one of the founding members of the empire, I rejected their proposal.

“Foolish guy!”

Weed couldn’t help sighing.

His ideals were always at odds with Hestiger. If someone cooked a meal then it should be eaten.

“It is the typical case of losing money while living a good life.”

– After defeating the Order of the Devils, I travelled the world with the elves.

I went to many places and found traces of a new world.

My fate led me into the Desert of Tranquility.

Beyond this place is a mysterious and dangerous world. Maybe this oasis will be the last place I can rest on my trip.

After Hestiger was revived using Sculpture Resurrection, he said that he went on some adventures after going through the Desert of Tranquility before arriving at the land of the giants.

“I came here just to find traces of Hestiger.

Weed continued reading the words while complaining.

– Those who come here will read this.

If you walked through the Desert of Tranquility then you would have felt it with your body.

The poor soil makes it hard to raise crops so the tribes needed to fight with our own strength.

There were endless disputes and everyone suffered until the Great Emperor ended the cycle.

“He understands it properly. Hmm hmm. The desert became a better place to live thanks to me.”

He hadn’t wanted to hand over the Pallos Empire to Hestiger so he had created the senate system.

– I was able to be strong while accompanying the Great Emperor.

He jumped into dangerous battles where warriors risked their lives.

He was strict with the weak and cruel to the enemy.

Sometimes he has excessive discipline and unreasonable punishment for his men, but I only understood the deep meaning behind his actions later.

He was fighting a wicked group trying to take control of the world, while we were only thinking about fighting for the desert.

How could I not look up to such greatness?

I couldn’t properly understand the heavy burden on the Great Emperor’s shoulders.

After establishing the Pallos Empire, I felt a sense of pride for being part of it.

If you listen to the story of the Great Emperor and understand, then you are also part of the desert.

As a warrior who followed the Great Emperor, I will leave behind a small gift for any descendants.

I have left the skills I’ve learnt and the sword I received from the elves.

At the back of the book was a drawing of the handsome Hestiger wielding a scimitar.

Ddiring!

– You are the first user to find Petra’s Oasis in the Desert of Tranquility.

You can learn the unique skills of a desert warrior.

Due to the limits of a sculptor, the desert warrior skills will be destroyed after 360 days.

The desert warrior skills will enhance your Affinity to Nature and perseverance.

– The desert warrior’s ultimate battle skill Lava River has been acquired.

Lava River:  It will create a column of superheated flame that will melt the walls and earth like lava.

All obstacles in a straight line will be melted.

Lava flowing in the ground will explode when someone approaches.

The duration of the lava will vary depending on the heat.

An aura of fire will be added to the desert warriors.

The skill can restore health and strengthen attack power.

– The last attack skill of the desert warrior, Devastating Sandstorm has been acquired.

Devastating Sandstorm: The desert warriors have endured the harsh sun and wind.

The desert warrior can create a sandstorm centred around him that destroys everything.

Movement speed will increase by 165% and damage by 360% during the sandstorm.

There is a 35% chance that the souls of the desert warriors will be summoned together to attack the enemy.

“Lava River and Devastating Sandstorm!”

Weed’s chest moved like he was touched.

“He delivered it properly.”

He had been envious after seeing the revived Hestiger use Lava River. He felt like the reward for walking through the Desert of Tranquility was worth it.

“And this sword is a problem.”

Weed looked at the sword that belonged to the elves.

It seemed like a venerable old sword just be looking at it.

He had invaded the Central Continent during the quest and plundered many treasures, but this sword wasn’t among them.

It was a sharp, black blade with a blue gem embedded. An unfamiliar energy wrapped around the sword.

“I just have to hope for a good weight and attack power… It feels like a magic sword.”

Weed agonized over choosing the sword.

Agatha’s Holy Sword and Kolderim’s Daemon Sword had been used for a considerably long time.

It was difficult to find good weapons that suited him. The Red Star couldn’t be used often in case the dragon appeared.

Weapons that enhanced swordsmanship or certain attack skills had their effect lessened due to Weed’s class.

He didn’t care about design or if the sword was famous.

“Well, I can obtain a free sword.”

It was like finding a savings account after three years.

“Inspect!”

– Loa Sword:  Durability 65/65. Attack 145~265.

According to the elves’ ancient records, the sword was born in the ‘Peaceful Large Forest.’

An ancient creature called Kargulla emerged from hell and breathed fire over the trees and fields. Kargulla couldn’t be cut by anything and its injuries were quickly healed.

Just as humans and elves were in despair, the high elf Loa used the sword to defeat Kargulla. It far surpassed the humans’ best swords.

It is unknown who originally created it, but it has since been passed down as the treasure of the elves.

Restrictions: Level 650 or higher.

3,200 Affinity to Nature.

Options: Very light.

Agility +26%

Combat ability in the forest and mountains will improve.

All stats + 42.

There will be triple damage against large monsters.

Reduce the maximum health of the enemy by half of the damage inflicted. The effect will last for 1 hour.

When there is a critical strike, the opponent’s defense will weaken by 7% and this will stack up to 63%.

You can borrow the energy of the fire, water, wind and earth elementals.

Defense +117.

When using a sword skill, mana consumption will be reduced by half.

Weaken magic protection by 76%.

Protection magic ‘Big Forest’ can be used.

An artistic sword.

Increase the owner’s art stat by 35.

Big Forest: Health will recover by 35%.

Trees will grow around the user and protect them from enemy attacks for a maximum of 1 minute.

“Why are there so many options?”

His eyes widened as he read all the options.

“Increase damage, weaken defense and there is even a defense skill?”

It was like a comprehensive gift set where nothing could be thrown away! Weed couldn’t believe it and checked the sword several times.

He doubted it was real and even bit the sword with his teeth.

Kwaduduk!

– Your teeth are broken.

Health has decreased by 378.

“It is the real thing.”

Weed felt his whole body becoming energized.

“Good luck has come to me… I can’t believe it but it is real.”

A picture of his family situation passed through his head.

In a house where electricity and gas were disconnected, he shared ramyun with his sister.

“If I had this sword then I would have been able to sweep away all the monsters. And how much would I get if I sell this at auction?”

An auction estimate wasn’t possible.

It was a weapon with far better specifications than anything that had ever appeared at auction.

In fact, no user would be able to use it because of the level restriction or affinity to nature restriction.

However, there would eventually be a demand for more advanced weapons.

The weapon left behind by Hestiger was rare enough to be recorded in history.

Considering high quality weapons required blacksmith skills and special materials to be created, if he sold the sword then there would be people waiting in line.

There were Middle Eastern rich people who would buy rare weapons just for the sake of it, so there was no telling how high the price would go.

“I will use it.”

Weed made a decision.

His current level was 451 and he had 2,245 Affinity to Nature. Due to the blacksmith skill, Weed could use it immediately.

If he used new equipment then it would be more advantageous against the Hermes Guild and the stations would pay great attention.

“Thank you. Hestiger. You are paying me back in this manner.”

Weed looked around and found small stones near the oasis.

The stones were placed in front of the house as an altar and barley bread sacrificed to Hestiger.

“I will pray for you. Good luck next time.”

Despite the criticisms that were a result of his jealousy, Hestiger was a wonderful desert warrior and great for the Pallos Empire.

“Our ideas about justice might be different but our hearts are still the same.”

When converting it to a price, it was exactly less than 1 silver.

Weed decided to carefully read the book left by Hestiger.

There was a chance he could find treasures of the Pallos Empire. There were some disgusting parts but he had to read it.

– You have passed the test of the desert.

Now there is a great mission on your shoulders.

The accomplishments of the Great Emperor might disappear in the distant future

Walk this path for the glory and prosperity of the Pallos Empire and the desert tribes.

Ddiring!

– Losers of the Desert

The glory of the Pallos Empire has been buried under an endless pile of sand.

The desert warriors have arranged for the resurrection of the Great Empire.

Honour and struggle flows in the blood of warriors.

The people of the desert have been waiting for someone with the strength to walk the path of the Great Emperor.

Gather the will and determination of the desert warriors.

If you pass the test of the desert, the desert warriors will be willing to raise their swords and follow you.

Level of Difficulty: S

– Desert quest.

Compensation: You might be connected to the founding of the Pallos Empire.

Quest Restrictions: The recognition of the historic desert warriors.

– You have the greatest achievements in the desert.

The quest will be given by force.

– The quest has been accepted!

The Great Emperor Quest!

Many fragments of the quest related to the Pallos Empire and its emperor were scattered across the desert.

“Yes. I should have expected this. This guy can never just give me anything good. Haven’t I already achieved the founding of the Pallos Empire?”

There was a smile on Weed’s face that showed the adversity he had been through.

‘An S-class difficulty quest? It is like when Dogmeat was a puppy and my stomach growled with anger. I was hungry enough to eat two bowls of jajangmyun. I could clear the bowl and eat the dumplings!’

There was a lot of work to do in the future so he didn’t want a quest.

He needed to raise his low level and master sculpting, so there was no time to think of quests.

Nevertheless, the quest couldn’t make his mood turn bad.

“If I succeed in the quest later, I can sell dolls of the characters that appear on broadcast.”

He was already estimating the profit after it finished!

“But wasn’t there a quest in the Land of Big Footprints?”

Weed frowned a little bit.

It was a quest to go beyond the end of the world to find traces of the adventurer Lodsiker. It was a quest received from Hestiger who had been revived.

“This guy is really causing me trouble.”

*   *   *

Kwaaaang!

The ground shook from the giant’s kick.

“Spread out and attack. Maintain your focus.”

“Yes!”

“Let us succeed in the giant hunting!”

There were over a hundred users.

They scattered and worked as a unit to gain the giant’s attention.

The giant tried to grab the human and elven users but it didn’t work.

– Kuwaaaaaah!

– The giant Altamos has roared.

Fighting Spirit is broken.

Movement speed is reduced!

All skills have temporarily decreased by 36%.

Maximum health has halved.

All attacks received in the next 10 seconds will cause deadly damage.

A roar that caused their whole body to tremble.

Every time the giant walked, its feet would rip up tree roots from the ground.

“Squad 1 start attacking.”

“Yes!”

The users unleashed a barrage of arrows towards the giant.

The magicians cast gravity magic that slowed the giant.

“Attack!”

The users bravely rushed towards the giant.

Among them were Pale, Maylon, Romuna, Irene, Surka, Bellot, Hwaryeong and Zephyr.

“I believe in Pale-nim.”

“I will do my best. But wouldn’t it be better for another archer to take command?”

Bellot said with a smile.

“Pale is the strongest and most decisive one among us.”

“I think you are overestimating me.”

“There is a clear reason that is undeniable. You are Weed-nim’s battle slave.”

“…”

The Crimson Wings Guild discovered the giants.

The level of the giants was at least over 700. On average, most giants were around level 750.

It was a level difficult for the users to deal with, but the giants weren’t highly skilled.

The giant had huge strength, size and attack power, but persistently attacking would eventually kill it.

“It is boring without Weed-nim so shall we go?”

“It will be dangerous.”

“Rather than following Weed-nim…”

“I acknowledge this.”

Pale and his friends were bored of hunting in the Arpen Kingdom so they came to the land of the giants to play.

In addition, numerous strong players came to hunt in the land of the giants.

The Crimson Wings Guild were able to gain immense fame by opening new hunting grounds and treasures.

Users didn’t win every battle with the giants so the efficiency wasn’t good. Still, if they won then new metals and magic ingredients could be obtained so it was like a jackpot.

Users like Pale and his colleagues ran like ants.

Surka approached bravely and used her fists while Irene used healing magic on those who were fighting.

Numerous magic and physical attacks razed the giant as some users were killed.

“Kuooohhh!”

Once the giant’s health was halved, they would try to escape but spirits of earth were summoned to stop them.

Traps were already installed on routes where they anticipated the giant would escape.

High level users in the north naturally became familiar with civil engineering works thanks to Weed.

They dug the ground in advance and placed blades that would weaken the giant’s movements.

Zephyr used fishing line like a spider web and caught the giant’s ankle.

The giant collapsed, receiving combined attacks from other users.

The videos of the battle against the giants went through tremendous analysis.

The users were vigilant until the end.

– The giant Altamos has entered his eternal rest.

Those who took part in the battle will receive military achievements with the god Atrock.

“Wahhhh!”

“Hooray! We did it!”

The users cheered loudly.

*   *   *

Weed took a moment to savour his new skills and equipment.

“I need to achieve my goal for coming to the Desert of Tranquility.”

It was to create some pieces without the help of the sculpting skill.

There was nothing special about the materials. Instead, he used the fine sand of the Desert of Tranquility and the water from the oasis to make mud.

‘Let’s start with the rabbit and fox sculptures that I’ve done countless times.’

The form was so familiar that he could create them with his eyes closed.

He trimmed the clay with his fingers and formed the shape of a rabbit.

Without the help of sculpting, the texture wasn’t smooth as marble and the tail and ears easily fell.

– Rabbit Sculpture

A rabbit created using earth from the oasis in the Desert of Tranquility.

A common and simple form.

Artistic Value: 2.

Weed looked at the sculpture he had made from the earth.

It was more like a cheap souvenir than what he normally sold.

“Well. My old days are surfacing. It is like I am making a real wooden sculpture.”

Sculpting was quite difficult. If he made even a small mistake or lost concentration then the value of the work would fall. In addition, he needed to constantly make new works.

“I crudely mass produced sculptures and then sold it over and over.”

He recalled the beautiful memories of his beginning days!

Due to the sculpting skill not working, the mud was hard to shape because using just a little bit more force would crush it.

“Let’s start over from scratch. I needed to understand the characteristics of the earth.”

Weed drank water from the oasis, ate fruits and made sculptures all night.

Fine sand grains weren’t a suitable material for sculpting.

But a real sculptor wouldn’t blame the materials.

Weed created mud by wetting his hand.

“There are plenty of free sculpting materials… No, this isn’t it. I need to throw away the past and make real sculptures.”

The sculpting material would heavily affect the art subject.

‘A sword master needs to go against stronger enemies. I won’t be able to master sculpting by making comfortable sculptures. Materials and skills. They both play a role.’

As the sun rose on a full day of work, Weed had completed 130 sculptures.

“It is done.”

The sculptures formed five lines in front of the oasis.

“If I add up all of the artistic values, it is approximately 250 points.”

All of the sculptures had artistic values of 1 or 2. It was understandable that his sculpting proficiency didn’t even increase by 0.1%.

“This isn’t it. Should I have just made a helium sculpture at Puhol Water Park?”

In order to return to the Arpen Kingdom, he would need to cross the Desert of Tranquility again.

He had barely risen to the top of the mountain and the situation wasn’t serious enough to go back.

*   *   *

Hard work and persistence.

It was a necessary part of a successful life, but Weed was beyond persistent.

“Make it, make it.”

He continued making sculptures even when the sun shone on the oasis or the night sky was filled with stars.

‘I can’t just make anything. It is true that the help from sculpting is great, but I have accumulated experience and senses. How can I become a sculpture master if I can’t create something without the skill?’

He felt like he needed to go back to the beginning.

‘I made a resolution to become a sculpting master.’

Weed recreated all the sculptures he had made so far.

– Tower of Light

A large tower made of clay.

It gives off a magnificent feeling.

Artistic Value: 74

He couldn’t use sculpting so it was difficult to revive all the characteristics.

The Tower of Light brilliantly illuminated Morata at night, but this one was just a rugged tower.

‘People’s hearts are important. Sculpting is an art. It isn’t a technique. Swordsmanship can win over stronger enemies, but sculptures don’t make sense unless they touch a person.’

Weed made famous pieces.

His sculpture transformations such as the hummingbird, orc Karichwi and the barbarian warrior were all popular. Even the recent Squashy Wriggler was famous.

He had 0.5% proficiency remaining but it didn’t even increase by 0.1%.

He had a few expectations but it wasn’t that good.

“There is only 0.5% left. I need to increase my proficiency even by a little bit.”

He had walked through the Desert of Tranquility and endured the burning sun to make sculptures.

“Don’t give up. I won’t leave until I become a sculpting master.”

He thought about sculpting as he walked through the Desert of Tranquility.

The camel walked next to him but left after a few hours.

After having a lot of thoughts about loneliness and pain, he realized something.

“People who live in the desert.”

Weed had been impressed with them using the Nodulle and Hilderun quest.

There was a thrilling experience as he beat random monsters.

It was an enjoyable experience but he couldn’t pause because the quest had a time limit.

“The memories are still here. There is a sculpture I can make.”

Weed stacked sand and started to carve the shape of a person.

“Everything. Even though the memories and time we shared have disappeared.”

Weed still had clear memories of his time as the Great Emperor.

He sculpted the people who served him in the desert.

Thousands of desert warriors had followed Weed.

Some were killed in battles and only a few remained until the end of the Pallos Empire. But I made sculptures as I remembered them.

“A lot of the useless ones died early. I should have handled them better…”

Weed relied on his memories and also used some shortcuts.

At that time, the hunting scenes and quests were relayed through the broadcast. He could make sculptures by referencing the videos.

Of course, it was difficult to express the personality and feelings of a person just by looking through the video. It was impossible without understanding the individual characteristics and personality of a person.

Weed realized this experience as he systematically made the sculptures.

“It is a little bit better.”

It was good to make sculptures out of sand since he could modify any mistakes.

“It looks like this the day before. Hrmm.”

Weed’s sculptures slowly filled up the empty spaces in the oasis.

At first, he just tried to create some of his subordinates.

“I don’t think it is perfect. The wind will blow the sand away so I need to make it quickly.”

He sculpted the weapons, clothes and unusual postures of the men.

“It is still insufficient.”

Most of his subordinates had ridden camels.

It was unfortunate but Weed had to start the sculptures from scratch again, this time adding the camels.

The appearance of the fierce desert warriors who rode camels while holding the scimitars!

The desert warriors faced the rough sands, winds and hot sun.

As their forms became more complicated, half of the elaborate works were destroyed.

“Let’s make it again. Until I really like it.”

He focused on expressing the hopes and dreams of the desert warriors of the Pallos Empire.

Time passed by slowly. However, he was so engrossed in the work that he had no concept of time.

One day, two days passed until time became meaningless. He would often destroy and start again in the middle.

Weed wouldn’t stop until it was perfect!

“I have to be more efficient.”

He made a machine to knead the water and soil separately.

The camel and innocent animals of the oasis would be mad to turn a large grindstone.

“If you don’t work then you will be my dinner today.”

Forced labor and exploitation! It was tough for the animals living at the oasis.

He was the Great Emperor that crushed the continent and now he was the tyrant of the oasis!

The clay formed by the animals were firmer and easier for Weed to handle.

“A lot of good people is needed to be successful. You really can’t live alone in this world.”

The sculptures took less time to make.

There was a limit to what he could do with the soil, but he used his fingers to make elaborate expressions.

In the end, there were thousands of desert warriors, the young men of the desert who died early.

The elite desert warriors made their appearance in the Desert of Tranquility.

One was the best sculpture.

The appearance of the unusually handsome Hestiger was made out of clay. Weed lowered the nose a little bit, but it wasn’t much different from the original.

“Now it is my turn.”

Weed started to shape himself in the clay.

He was sitting on the back of Bactrian Camel with his scimitar raised and roaring loudly!

He increased the leg length to improve the ratio of the body and sharpened basic features.

“This is really… It is my natural appearance. This is the best work that I can do. The materials could have been better but… The most valuable sculpture. Still, what if I had used high quality materials?”

He made desert warriors while fighting a sandstorm.

Because of that, there were no regrets.

Ddiring!

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“This… The Great Emperor and Children of the Desert?”

– The Great Emperor and Children of the Desert is correct?”

“No. It is a little childish… It doesn’t need to be annoying. Just have it as Desert Brothers.”

They were subordinates but he had many fun memories with them.

Everyone dreamed of exhilaration while adventuring in Royal Road. Conquering the continent with the desert warriors was indeed a great adventure.

It was several hundred years ago so it was hard to find any traces of the Pallos Empire now.

– Desert Brothers is correct?

“That’s right.”

Ddiring!

– Magnum Opus! Desert Brothers has been completed!

An enduring magnum opus created in the legendary oasis of the Desert of Tranquility!

This sculpture was completed by a sculpture on the last step in the ultimate road.

It is a sculpture made in a place where no one can come, a legendary place that requires endless perseverance and a sense of challenge.

The warriors of the desert’s greatest moment.

The sculpture created by the sculptor’s pure effort and sweat will become one of the highest valued treasures of the desert.

Artistic Value: 13,800.

Special Options: Desert Brothers will increase health and mana regeneration by 55% for a day.

Birthrate and health status of camels in the desert area will increase by 86%.

Movement speed will rise by 26%.

All stats will increase by 45%.

The wind attribute will increase by 33%.

Intermediate level 5 or less swordsmanship will permanently have their proficiency increased.

Perseverance and Fighting Spirit have permanently increased by 10.

Warriors will have their physical attributes doubled in the presence of sand.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Current number of Magnum Opus created:  19

– The skill proficiency of Sculpting has improved.

– Fame has increased by 850.

– Art stat has increased by 64.

– Perseverance has increased by 49.

– Endurance has increased by 16.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

– The Desert Brothers sculpture has been assigned as one of the wonders of the south.

Increases the likelihood that descendants of the desert warriors will be born.

They will have excellent fighting spirit and combat capabilities.

Warriors who see this sculpture can learn combat skills.

Weed had suffered a lot so he only expected a fine piece of masterpiece. Creating a magnum opus was more than he thought.

“Let me see. Sculpting skill confirmation!”

– Sculpting Advanced Level 9 (99.8%): You can create sculptures.

Beautiful sculptures will be sold at high prices.  Make honourable sculptures and you can spread your name through the continent.

“It went up 0.3%.”

The compensation was small compared to his three months of suffering in the southern desert.

But he also obtained Hestiger’s legacy left behind in the Desert of Tranquility so it wasn’t a bad result.

“There is only a little bit more left and then I will no longer have to grind again.”

He somehow felt sad when he thought about no more sculpting labour.

Ddiring!

– A long time has passed since the Versailles Continent was created.

“Huh? What is this?”

Suddenly a message window popped up and a mystical female voice could be heard from the sky.

– The earth was covered with warm sunshine, moist rain and growing plants.

In the sea and on land, living creatures came to know joy and sadness.

“Another quest?”

– The creatures live fierce lives and didn’t hesitate to leave intense emotions.

As humans expressed ecstasy and pain and civilization grew, it led to spiritual abundance.

Goddess Hestia has invited the human who reached the highest level in the arts.

– Sculpting a New Miracle has been completed.

The secret technique Sculpting has been created with your hands.

It wasn’t officially reported to the Freya Church. However, the goddess is always watching you and is happy to see that a new sculpting technique has been born.

The secret sculpting technique.

It was the last stage in the Sculpting Master Quest. Although he completed the skill, he still needed to report it.

Obtaining the final secret sculpting technique and the war with the Haven Empire had delayed his report.

By the way, a message window stating that the Sculpting Master Quest was completed shone. In addition, the message led to the final stage!

“This is perhaps… The real process of becoming a master?”

A rotten smile was trying to spread on Weed’s face.

– Will you accept Goddess Hestia’s invitation?

Once the invitation is accepted, you will proceed to the final stage of becoming a sculpting master.

It would be stupid to deny the final stage of becoming a sculpting master.

He had gone through tremendous efforts until he received the invitation of the goddess.

Weed arrogantly raised his chin to a 45 degrees angle.

“Well, I am busy but I will accept the invitation.”

– You have accepted Goddess Hestia’s invitation.

A spectacular staircase made of light descended from the sky towards the oasis.

“It means I need to ascend on foot.”

He noticed at least 100 steps.

Weed quickly climbed the stairs of light.

The stairs were alight with the flames that were Goddess Hestia’s symbol.

“It is pretty amazing.”

Weed climbed the stairs made of light and fire into the sky.

The stairs where he passed faded away.

Only the stairs in front of him remained.

‘If this scene is later shown on broadcast… Huhu, really awesome.’

After 30 minutes.

Weed had reached a fairly high place and looked down.

Due to the fact that there were no mountains and lakes, the desert stretched out endlessly below him except for the oasis.

‘My legs are a little sore. And why is it so scary? It is alarming when the wind blows.’

He enjoyed flying through the clouds at high altitudes on Wy-3.

At that time, he still felt confident because he could use his skills.

“I have to keep on going up. My body is still conditioned from the Desert of Tranquility.”

And two hours later.

– Extreme physical activity has caused severe fatigue.

Maximum vitality and health has decreased.

The sea beyond the desert was now visible.

“Huhuhuk. Why is it so high? I can’t go back again!”

Weed clung to the stairs of light with his arms and legs as he crawled up.

*   *   *

“This isn’t it.”

“My sword is much better.”

Since Weed left, Fabio and Herman who were working on the helium occasionally fought.

“Look at mine. Can’t you feel the dignity of the sword?”

“What dignity? It is old-fashioned. This sharp sword gives off anticipation. And the metal processing is flawless.”

“A sword is different from armour. My will and direction is right.”

“If you are a real blacksmith then you should be able to deal with metals as needed. There are limits to your form.”

“What? What did you say?”

“It is only the beginning. I will teach you about blacksmithing.”

Fabio and Herman were both in their mid-40s so they were stubborn.

They tried to make the strongest sword with helium through cooperating, but it was impossible for them to coordinate.

One was the dwarf who reigned as the greatest blacksmith on the continent and the other was the best sword craftsman.

The characteristics of a blacksmith was pride and stubbornness.

Fabio was stern while Herman was kind to people. At this age, prestige was meaningless to them.

“This will be a competition.”

“Okay. That is what I wanted. The one who makes the best sword will be eligible to use this helium.”

“I will accept the competition.”

Fabio and Herman set the helium aside and proceeded on a competition to make a sword out of steel.

It took over a month and the stations became involved, but the result was ambiguous.

The performance of Fabio’s sword was slightly better but Herman’s was more perfect and beautiful.

They considered each other opponents and couldn’t be satisfied with this result.

“Once again.”

“This time I will show you what a real sword is.”

Fabio won with a slight difference in the rematch.

He made a historic sword.

It was a rare experience for a blacksmith.

The helium finally entered Fabio’s hands. But Herman smiled from behind him.

“The game isn’t over yet. I am the one who will make a really legendary sword.”

Herman also had some helium to make a sword.

In fact, this was one of Weed’s conditions.

“Melt the Goddess’ Knight Armour. Can you reuse it to make a better product?”

“Are you really giving it to me?”

“Yes. And I heard that the Great Emperor quest involves master blacksmiths.”

“Oh. Was there such information? I thought they were just killing randomly.”

“Conquer the Central Continent and kill any blacksmith master that they meet.”

“…”

“In order to increase your proficiency in the final stage, a special or legendary sword needs to be produced.”

“If the sword… So far I’ve only been able to make one.”

“Making the best sword is a basic condition to becoming a blacksmith master. Just like a sword master needs to succeed in a hunt or a great adventure. You have to be reputed throughout the continent to be recognized as a blacksmith master.”

“It isn’t a simple problem.”

Herman noticed that Fabio was at a standstill despite making so many good swords.

There were many good swords but he couldn’t make the best sword.

Fabio had collaborated with the Hermes Guild early on and worked with many rare materials, but he didn’t focus on the sword.

The Hermes Guild users that held his weapons focused on stable hunting rather than dangerous quests.

“Fabio will come here in order to process the helium. In order to stop him from becoming a master, have a competition with him and waste time.”

“Really?”

“Yes. No matter the results of the competition, just draw it out longer.”

Fabio came to the Arpen Kingdom to acquire helium and ended up wasting time in the competition.

*   *   *

Despite her berserker profession, Seo-yoon put down the sword.

‘I don’t want to fight unless I am guarding him.’

She found peace and stability of mind.

Other ranking users quickly surpassed her level.

But during Weed’s absence, Seo-yoon took charge of the Arpen Kingdom.

*   *   *

The Earth Palace.

The Grand Hall, a place where the king and high ranking nobles would gather together to discuss policies.

The main figures of the Arpen Kingdom were gathered together in one place.

There were as many as 300 people!

It started with Morata but the Arpen Kingdom became so wide that a large number of users lived in it.

Residents who were representatives of the cities and users with outstanding skills attended.

The lords of the northern colony who recently joined were also present.

Three months later, they had become permanent lords of the Arpen Kingdom.

“The Arpen Kingdom is the way to go. I would rather focus on internal stability than war with the Haven Empire.”

“Leave the Haven Empire alone? Do you think they will give up their dirty ambitions?”

“We needed to strengthen our army. The money of the Arpen Kingdom is just being poured into civil engineering works.

“But isn’t that ignoring Weed’s decisions? Consider the Grand Buildings, Puhol Water park, beautiful bridges and transportation network that connects the vast land. There is urban construction and economic development. The general users have welcomed Weed’s policies.”

“Good results aren’t the only things that matter. You have to look at the process. One person making arbitrary decisions…

“Weed-nim is king so he qualifies. In the first place, isn’t this Weed’s kingdom?”

“We aren’t slaves. We are lords so we can speak. That’s enough.”

“If the budgets of the civil engineering projects are reduced then the architects will ignore it. We should show more respect to the architects.”

There were a huge variety of representatives. Politicians couldn’t be excluded from this meeting.

King Weed monopolized kept positions and administrative decisions.

The senior lords were firmly against this.

While they were arguing loudly, Seo-yoon who was acting as the interim ruler emerged.

“…”

It was so silent that the sound of a needle dropping could be heard.

‘Beautiful.’

‘The Goddess. Not just the Grass Porridge Cult but Goddess of the whole world.’

‘Kuooh. Today I can properly see the Goddess.’

Seo-yoon laughed softly and said.

“Weed-nim has been away for a long time. So he requested that I attend in his place instead. There are unavoidable circumstances but I apologize before starting this meeting.”

The lord of Vent Castle.

Oberon the leader of the Cold Rose Guild shook his head.

“Things can occur at any time while living so there is no need to apologize. We can’t accept it. Please take a seat.”

“Oberon’s words are good. You don’t have to apologize at all.”

“That’s right!”

The users gathered in the Grand Hall felt sad about Seo-yoon’s apology.

‘It doesn’t matter if he comes later or doesn’t come at all. That is…’

‘It isn’t unpleasant that Weed-nim hasn’t come. Thank you so much.’

‘I hope he continues not to come… There is no need for him to.’

The people were endlessly generous.

Seo-yoon briefly said thanks and then started the agenda for the meeting.

“I heard there was an official demand for the Arpen Kingdom to reduce its civil works.”

“…”

Silence.

No one could say anything.

‘The civil engineering works. Who said such a thing? Ahh. I don’t remember anything. I’m just sucked in by her beauty.’

‘Goddess. Oh. Goddess…’

Seo-yoon searched the records.

“Monak-nim of Lund City has publicly criticized the civil engineering projects. Since you are here, can you tell me a more accurate opinion? If you have any complaints then please tell me.”

Monak was one of the top 1,000 powerhouses of Royal Road and was lord of the port city of Lund.

Everyone’s gaze moved towards Monak. Their faces all contained frowns.

“Eh… That…”

Monak stood up and said.

“The civil engineering works… The commitment of manpower in some areas is very inefficient… Ah, no. I guess I was wrong. I thought wrongly. The current policies of the Arpen Kingdom are perfect.”

Seo-yoon smiled softly.

She was glad that people praised Weed’s policies.

The lords were very satisfied after seeing her smile.

“Substitute Queen-nim. I have a proposal.”

Caldes who was famous for his reticence raised his hand.

“Tell us.”

“Yes. A large scale mine was found in the mountains near my city. Doesn’t the Arpen Kingdom have a shortage of minerals? If there is financial support then I can develop it quickly.”

“That is a good idea. Send me the correct data, I will review it and give you an answer by tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Seo-yoon skillfully handled the administration tasks.

The lords didn’t make any unreasonable demands. The arguments that typically made meetings long disappeared.

There was a serious and enjoyable debate about the development of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘I have to remain as the lord of the Arpen Kingdom.’

‘If the Haven Empire tries to conquer the north then I will resist.’

‘Um… I need to maintain this position for my son. He has to inherit.’

Politics and sides didn’t matter around Seo-yoon.

*   *   *

Weed climbed the light stairs despite the pain.

Numerous stars were close to him.

Below the Versailles Continent looked like a beautiful blue planet.

Without Hestia’s blessings, he would have died from a loss of vitality.

As Weed ascended the stairs, he stared closely at the blue planet. The terrain and sea were dimly visible through the clouds so he was able to find signs of Morata and the Arpen Kingdom.

It was a very beautiful planet but Weed didn’t have the time to dwell on that. It was like walking down the street and finding money 400 metres away.

‘There is a new continent beyond the Plains of Despair. No one has been there yet… It is fairly wide. That is the entire form of the Desert of Tranquility. There is a dungeon area. And the 10 forbidden zones…’

He placed the overall picture of the planet in his head. He didn’t know when it would be useful.

Even if he forgot about maths or English, Weed remembered all the miscellaneous knowledge about Royal Road!

Finally, a large circular altar appeared at the end of the stairs of light. Goddess Hestia was waiting for Weed at the alter full of flames.

‘Is it dangerous?’

Weed walked towards the altar.

– You are a human who has reached the end of the arts. Welcome to the realm of the gods. This is the first time a human has come here.

Hestia’s affectionate voice.

Weed had gone through many experiences so he carefully kneeled down before the altar.

“I am a busy traveller and diligent sculptor. I think that the world and lives created by the gods are a beautiful sculpture. So I dedicate my glory to Goddess Hestia. Goddess. This is the realm of the gods?”

– It is a place where gods exist. To be precise, it is the place where the realm of the gods connects to the human world. Usually there are guards. After going past the altar, you will be in the realm of the gods.

Weed looked around.

There were lights floating in the shape of various creatures. If there were any intruders then they would materialize and attack.

‘They seem really strong.’

He had a gut feeling that he had to be at least as strong as Hestiger to break through.

‘If there are guards then it would be worth it. The gods would certainly have treasures. It would be nice if I could steal them all.’

Weed entered another piece of information into his head.

– You sculpt beauty into the world. Now I will give you a great mission.

“Tell me anything. I will follow Goddess Hestia’s words.”

The possibility of a forced quest was high so Weed decided to look at it positively.

– As a sculptor, you would have had many regrets in your life.

“Of course, it is natural… Ah, nothing.”

Weed involuntarily answered.

Fortunately, Hestia didn’t pay attention and kept on talking.

– A multitude of art works have been left in the world.

There is a wide variety of sizes and shapes.

It is recorded in history, moved people’s hearts and led to the development of civilization. But as a human, you can’t exceed the limits of the materials.

Weed listened to Hestia’s words.

The theme of the sculpture was important, but the characteristics of the materials also needed to be considered.

Fine materials would allow great and small details.

Weed envisioned the sculptures he created in his head.

– As a sculptor, you will open a new path in the road of art. So I, Hestia will give you a chance.

Weed swallowed his saliva.

‘The Goddess called me here to give me a chance. Something big is going to happen. A quest with a huge reward? I wish for a lot of money.’

– You will go beyond the limits of a human being.

“Beyond the limits?”

– Your sculpture will become a part of this world and everyone will be able to see it. By doing so, you will be able to challenge the most extreme form of art.

Ddiring!

– Sculpting Master’s Challenge

The sculptor Weed has made a myriad of sculptures.

The Goddess Hestia has given him a new opportunity.

Use the power of the gods to create a sculpture of a star!

Make a big star that will illuminate the night sky of the Versailles Continent.

Cutting, melting or any other method can be used.

The sculptor’s star will illuminate the world forever.

Depending on the nature of the work a blessing will be given. The blessing will be applied to your other sculptures.

If the final sculpture before becoming a master fails, the quest will end with failure and Goddess Hestia will be disappointed.

Hestia has given you the power of material creation, free flight and fire.

You won’t be able to lose your life in outer space, but the benefits of immortality will disappear once you step on the ground.

Level of Difficulty: Sculpting Master Quest

Compensation: Sculpting Master.

The glory of Hestia’s gift.

Quest Restrictions: 99.8% advanced level 9 sculpting skill.

If the quest failures, 10% of the sculpting skill proficiency will be lost and fame will be reduced by 35,000.

The final stage of the Sculpting Master Quest!

Sculpting a star!

Weed licked his lips.

‘The last piece is really on an awesome scale.’

There was a pile of rotten wood left on the planet.

A star might look small compared to the sun or the moon, but the pride and glory of his star being among them would be enormous.

‘My name will be linked to a star. Of course, land speculation or viewing fees would be impossible. Well. That is too bad.’

– Hestia’s power has been granted.

You can create a star only once.

An unlimited amount of fire can be handled for this sculpture.

You can fly in outer space.

From now on, you won’t be able to die until the quest is completed.

However, going down to the world of humans will be regarded as abandoning the quest and your body will be destroyed.

Weed made a fist.

“If I do this then I will become a real master. I will finally become a sculpting master.”

Chapter 1: Beginning of a Star

A huge and infinite universe with a hot sun and a sea of stars.

For the final stage of the Sculpting Master Quest, Weed left the Versailles Continent and the planet and was standing in the middle of the universe.

“The scale is awesome!”

The stars in the night sky of Royal Road had become sharper and the visibility extended to distant areas.

Large and small meteors with long tails were endlessly flying past him at unimaginable speeds.

In far distant places, he could see gas and dust forming a blue nebula that shone brilliantly among the stars.

There were infinite mysteries in space and beyond.

He was free from the gravity of the planet containing the Versailles Continent as Weed floated alone in space.

The feeling of entering the universe made Weed feel more lonely than usual.

“If they saw such a scene then people might not bother with such trivial affairs.”

Man, time, area, age.

It seemed to go beyond all these limitations.

The moon and the planets in the solar system seemed much larger.

“Humans have only been living in a very narrow area.”

They were tens of times larger than the planet that contained the Versailles Continent and some could only be seen through satellites.

If people could see the universe with their eyes then they would have no choice but to change.

Weed’s body trembled.

“It is an honour to make a sculpture in space.”

Beauty. Splendour. Mystique.

These were things that people throughout history have yearned for in space. They were always looking up but couldn’t go to that world. On a small planet, humans dreamed about taking a step into the universe.

Weed had entered the universe but would have to leave after his task.

“Ahem. I shouldn’t have dozed off in science class. Then I would have been more aware of the universe.”

He needed to know more about the universe and the stars!

It was highly likely that the current situation would be broadcasted.

‘I need to look more cool. Some management is needed due to my popularity with the fans.’

Weed was surprised to see the sun, moon and planets up close for the first time.

“This is the first great step for mankind…”

He had heard those words somewhere before. The real key was what came next.

“In the end, humans will enter a wider world. And there will be real estate agents in Gangnam who will be buying and selling planets!”

Wide aspirations!

There was no law that rent couldn’t be received from the infinitely wide universe!

Becoming the owner of a planet would be superior to owning a building.

There was an endless sea of stars in this black space.

It was fascinatingly scary, beautiful and wondrous.

Weed was deeply impressed by the universe for 3 minutes, but he soon returned to his usual sensibility.

“If space is implemented in Royal Road…”

Weed’s head was a bit confused.

Adventures in a new world.

There were many of the 10 forbidden zones still unexplored by humans. Yet he couldn’t lift this feeling.

“Surely there won’t be adventures in space one day?”

Weed eyed the big and vast space.

There were numerous stars and different colours.

It wouldn’t be so bad if only one planet was developed here.

“If there is another planet like the Versailles Continent with extremely developed magic to open a dimensional door… There might be several alien species or humans living on another world. Hey. That can’t be. It probably isn’t to that extent. Yes. That’s right.”

*   *   *

Somewhere unknown in the spacious universe.

“Kiki kir?”

“Kyalululuk. Kakalut.”

“Hidihe maru.”

“Hukiya! Hukiya!”

“Pukudarab malrishi adakaide?”

“Bullalao baokadum.”

“Allasap allasap! Hori allasap. Mo guri jebada 300kiri!”

“Puha sunjed rami?”

“Manura…”

*   *   *

According to Goddess Hestia’s request, Weed needed to decide the position of the star.

“I need to make a sculpture. It will commemorate my trip into the universe, and money can be received from shooting advertisements or books.”

There was no meaning in making a star if it couldn’t be seen from the Versailles Continent. However, placing it in a position overlooking the Versailles Continent would disturb the moon.

“But the moon will move.”

He couldn’t rule out that there might be a conflict with his star and the moon.

“Just setting it down anywhere in space is illegal parking.”

Weed went further into space.

The planets were moving around shining suns.

It was strange to feel himself moving away from the beautiful blue planet that contained the Versailles Continent.

It was like leaving behind a bag full of money.

“I need to make it in a moderately remote place.”

Weed flew away from the Versailles Continent towards the sea of stars.

His speed meant light was flowing quickly past him like in the movies.

The beautiful galaxy sparkled like jewels in front of him.

“This sight… Well. Is this why people spend a lot of money to enter the universe? Looking at an unknown world feels like I can escape from the constraints of humans.”

There were twelve planets around the sun.

Weed approached an unknown red, crystal planet. He needed to keep something in mind.

‘Rabbits or cats living here… I might get quests.’

The probability was 0.1% but he had to check.

However, it was just a huge planet full of stony sand when he got close to it.

He felt an awful loneliness looking at the wide stars without any other lifeforms around.

Weed passed through the solar system and settled in a large, outlying area.

Finding the right position outside the planets required considerable time and observation.

He had to avoid the orbit of the planets around the sun and consider the meteorites moving around in space.

Weed needed to make a star that would shine in the night sky of the Versailles Continent!

“It is quite far away so I need to make it bigger for it to be seen.”

It was a fairly large area on the outskirts of the solar system without any stars.

Weed closed his eyes for a moment.

‘I can finally become a sculpting master at last. This quest can’t fail. I have suffered so much in the past.’

Weed used a skill that was unprecedented in the history of Royal Road.

“Create a star!”

A mysterious white light shone in outer space. And a message window floated.

Ddiring!

– Are you sure you want to create a star in this area?

You must configure the shape, materials and size of the star. This skill can only be used once.

“I will make it.”

Creating a star.

He could change the size and shape by hand.

There was a round ball of light.

“This is?”

Weed grabbed it and stretched it to the left and right like when he used to play with his sister’s ball.

Juuuuuok!

It stretched out easily like a rubber ball.

Even if he only pulled one side and not both sides, the centre continued to grow.

Originally it was the size of a ball, but it soon grew to a few hundred metres. Moreover, it continued to grow as he wanted.

“If this continues then I’ll make a really big sculpture. What size is appropriate?”

It was better to have large land!

14 pyeong to 17 pyeong apartments were in the limelight last year. But if the cost of living was cheap, no one would want to live in such a narrow apartment.

He wanted to make a star billions of times larger than the Versailles Continent.

“I’m aiming for a super large sculpture again.”

Weed grasped the light and stretched it out again.

Bingryong and the King Hydra were like dust compared to the size of the star sculpture.

Even small pieces of dust couldn’t be seen in the vast galaxy.

He didn’t know how far Royal Road extended but he was able to make it to his desired size.

“I have been thinking completely wrong. Where is the romance when looking up at the night sky? In order to become a sculpting master, I need to create the best star!”

A gigantic star that could be seen in the night sky.

“What is romance or artistry? A sculpting master should be able to carve something heavy and big. An immense size!”

Weed held on to the light and started to fly. The goal was to make it as big as possible.

*   *   *

Yoo Byung-jin sometimes thought the world was unreasonable, but recently he had often been thinking of eating a hamburger with cocoa.

“An artist…”

He felt happy seeing Weed make a star sculpture on the screen.

The sculpture reflected the culture, history, and human emotion system of Royal Road.

All the artworks, techniques, artists, and human experiences were entered into a database and the value for a sculpture was automatically determined.

The history of Royal Road, the sculptor’s personal experience and records were also measured.

“It is why sculpting is one of the hardest professions to master… Anyway, he had reached the last step.”

Yoo Byung-jin regarded Weed.

He had earned enough money to live well and enjoyed great popularity.

Yoo Byung-jin was bored and decided to have the artificial intelligence analyze Seo-yoon.

– You want me to analyze her beauty?

“Yes. I wonder what type of beauty she is. I have never seen such beauty in my life.”

– There are many criteria for different people, species and countries.

“Reflect the standards of all countries and people.”

– I will start analyzing her external beauty, genes, and characteristics such as wisdom and character.

A normal artificial intelligence would take a few days.

In addition to measuring several values for beauty, it also analyzed beautiful photographs, videos of people on the Internet, people’s reactions and broadcast materials.

– After evaluating Earth’s basis of beauty, Jung Seo-yoon takes first place.

“T-that much?”

– She has most of the good characteristics including intelligence and her genes are excellent.

In terms of evolution, she has genetics four generations ahead of modern humanity. In particular, her beauty is the best in Asia, America, Europe, Africa and South America. 99.967% of all men considered Seo-yoon as the best beauty.

“What about the rest?”

– They are vision impaired or have terribly unique tastes.

“Regardless of age?”

– From young boys playing with toys to elderly men, they consistently regarded Seo-yoon as the best beauty.

“It is hard to believe. Any specific examples?”

– There is a 98% chance that young children under two years old will stop crying when they see Seo-yoon.  There was an actual image test, where 454 children at the market stopped crying as soon as they saw Seo-yoon. The actual probability of this occurrence is 100%.

“There must be an error. Try again.”

The artificial intelligence spoke again after doing dozens of calculations.

– I have verified it through all the databases. She is the most beautiful beauty born in the last 70 years.

“Was there someone more beautiful prior to that?”

– Judgements about beauty vary depending on the era. I can’t analyze it due to the lack of data, but she is the best beauty in the last 70 years.

Yoo Byung-jin sighed deeply.

“She is too good for Weed.”

– That isn’t necessarily the case, Doctor-nim. Until Seo-yoon met Weed, her beauty was approximately 1 or 2 generations ahead.

“Then she has become more beautiful?”

– Of course.

“It doesn’t seem like there is a big change.”

– The beauty is in the details.

Yoo Byung-jin was dubious as he watched the sculpture being created.

“He doesn’t have a specific theme and is just making it bigger. Can it be that unplanned?”

He wanted to slowly wait for the last step of the quest but he decided to ask the artificial intelligence.

“Will Weed really succeed in becoming a master? Won’t it be the first in Royal Road? It won’t be easy to make a piece that would satisfy Hestia. He needs to make a magnum opus.”

– He will succeed.

“The odds are?”

– 95.3%.

“It is very high. The basis?”

– Weed’s temperament means he will not miss such an opportunity. And there is a 97% chance that his work will be related to Seo-yoon.

“Then he will definitely become a sculpting master.”

*   *   *

Weed’s light grew significantly large.

The size wasn’t visible from close view, so he had to fly far away in space to see the whole of it.

“It looks smaller than the other stars around… No. It should be bigger.”

It needed to have a clear presence that could be seen clearly from a distant space!

A light that would never fade among the many stars.

“A star should be big and bright.

He remembered from high school science class that big and bright stars were several times larger.

In particular, the sun was hundreds of times larger than all the planets in the solar system combined.

“The size will override everything. Yes.”

In order to confirm it, Weed sent a whisper to Mapan.

“Mapan-nim, are you busy now?”

– No. Please speak.

“Is it night over there?”

Depending on the region, the sun would rise and fall at different times on the Versailles Continent.

– Yes, it is evening. I am in the vicinity of Aren Castle, the capital of the Haven Empire. Kekeke.

“I see.”

– Where is Weed-nim now and why are you asking if it is night?

Mapan was curious about Weed.

Weed normally blocked the whisper function when he was hunting and questing.

Of course, after hunting with Weed for a week, many of his colleagues turned off the whisper function in order to get some sleep.

“Look at the sky.”

– Um… I can’t see anything because it is night. Are you in Aren Castle?

“Not Aren Castle, but a little further. Look at the sky.”

– Are you riding on Wy-3 or Bingryong?

“No, not the sky but much further away. Do you see a shining star in the north?”

– See… Oh. There is a big star. It is the first time I’ve seen such a bright one.

“I am there.”

– Huh? Are you in that direction?

“Nope. I’m next to the star.”

– I’m sorry but I don’t understand. Can you tell me exactly where you are again?

“Right now I’m in the middle of the universe.

– Cough! What are you doing there?

“I am making a star.”

After he finished panicking, Mapan passed on the necessary information to him.

He checked every detail about how big and bright the star looked, as well as the constellations in the periphery.

If Weed’s sculpture was buried or shrouded by the surrounding stars then he would consider it a serious failure.

– But why do you have a quest to create a star?

“The sculpture is for the final stage of my Sculpting Master Quest.”

– I’m really envious.

“Not really.”

– It is really great

“It isn’t a big deal.”

– I respect you. Please continue to take care of me in the future.

“It is nothing.”

– Congratulations in advance on becoming a sculpting master. You’ll become the first master on the continent. But if you don’t mind answering… What do you intend?

“A star that shines brilliantly at night.”

Weed also sent a whisper to Yurin.

“Pretty little sister who I love.”

– What is it? Do you want me to boil ramyun?

“I want you to go to a place in Royal Road.”

– Where?

“I want you to move to several places with Picture Teleportation. Please travel to different regions around the world and draw a picture of the night sky.”

– How many?

“Around 100.”

Painting 100 images was hard work.

– I understand, Oppa. Give me until tomorrow.

It wasn’t that much work for Weed’s sister.

By default, Yurin did things like the flooring, cement mixing and installation of the toilet.

She also shoveled the ground in the back yard when he asked.

“Bury it deeply. Hehe.”

Even his sister found it creepy how eager Weed was to sell land.

‘You will need to meet a good man later. My sister can’t get blood on her hands.’

*   *   *

Lee Hyun left the capsule and saw the images Lee Hye-yeon drew on the monitor.

Even though the regions were different, most of the images were similar.

“There isn’t much difference in the constellations of the Versailles Continent. The star… I need to create the sculpture.”

It needed to have a big, bright presence as well as match the surrounding stars.

It would illuminate the night sky in a romantic manner.

People would open their minds and feel happiness as they watched the starry sky on a cool evening.

“Happiness is close if you open your minds.”

He was very pleased when he lived on a monthly rent of 250,000 won then when he moved to a rented house with a deposit of 10 million won and a monthly rent of 230,000 won.

There is a difference in the toilet and bathroom tiles.

“It can be seen from the north of Morata. The location is good. Something is still missing. What is it?”

Lee Hyun ate rice with Seo-yoon before going back into the capsule.

*   *   *

Weed decided the size of the sculpture after considering the size and brightness of the surrounding stars.

Except for the moon, it would be the largest and brightest.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t enough. I have to consider processing it.”

Weed felt something lacking but decided up to this size was satisfactory.

In fact, it looked small if distance wasn’t taken into account. However, if compared directly, it was big enough to crush the moon.

The size of the star had been determined.

He could choose five major minerals to make up the materials.

The minerals he chose would become more abundant.

Weed’s quest window showed the details of various minerals and stones. If a geology professor saw it then their eyes would widen. All the metals and minerals on the planet as well as in the universe were classified.

It was a small portion of the amazing technology that made up Royal Road!

“The stones are all here. Why are there so much?”

In Weed’s case, he skipped past most common minerals and headed to the precious metals.

“It is really here.”

He could pick things such as gold or diamonds.

“A planet full of gems… Kya. This is truly a luxurious land speculation.”

A sculpting master needed to make magnum opus, but he couldn’t resist the temptation of land speculation.

It was impossible for a cat to pass by an opened can of tuna.

“There will be diamonds. Given the standards of the star, three or four diamond mountains should be enough.”

Diamonds were determined.

“I also need gold. It would be awesome to have gold rivers and sea flowing.”

Gold was also decided.

“And the value… Ruby. Won’t the plains feel warm if they are made out of rubies?”

Rubies were also decided.

“At this point, I need to think about the overall balance and harmony. Sapphires and platinum. Sapphire hills and platinum valleys would be great.”

Sapphires had been determined.

Platinum was also decided.

The five precious materials that made up Weed’s star!

At this point, becoming the sculpting master wouldn’t be a problem.

The jewels on this planet were worth tens of thousands of times those present on the Versailles Continent.

“I need to raise my level diligently. One day I will come back to this place.”

Weed was filled with ambition to conquer the universe.

*   *   *

A back alley in Aren Castle.

Late at night, local merchants flocked to the slums.

“I came to buy olives.”

“Whose invitation did you come with?”

“Owner Pahal of the weapons store told me.”

“I see. You came at just the right moment. These are fresh items. Huhuhu.”

“The quality…”

“You can trust me. It is the finest quality. Look at it and decide.”

The local merchants entered an underground warehouse stacked with olives and various dried fruits before shouting in delight.

“Kyah. This is the first time I’ve seen so many groceries.”

“Mapan’s Trading Company… Not only do we supply generous quantities, we are also distributing them at a low price. We encourage you to buy as much as you want!”

Mapan’s Trading Company!

They made a huge fortune from the war and Puhol Water Park.

In order to widen their influence, the company had entered the Aren Castle in the Haven Empire.

They brought in cheap, quality goods from the north to the Central Continent, and supplied them at a cheap price to the local merchants.

Ddiring!

– The trade is a success.

Merchant Jenta’s satisfaction is very high.

Fame has increased by 20.

Intimacy, influence and tax evasion!

In the Central Continent, Mapan’s influence was spreading despite the lowered taxes.

There was a minimal profit margin but Mapan’s Trading Company grew like mushrooms.

“Buying goods made by craftsmen of the Haven Empire.”

“This margin is less than the purchase price.”

The merchant users questioned Mapan.

Mapan’s success story was close to legendary, but they couldn’t understand Mapan’s reason for trading when there was a deficit.

“Get to know the artisans. No matter if they are NPCs or users.”

“Can’t we buy things without getting acquainted?”

“Our purpose isn’t to buy things. It is to get the people.”

“People?”

“We need to get people to come to the Northern Continent.”

A terrifying plan to spread the influence of the north through the trading company!

Early in the Central Continent, technology development and the economy flourished.

Despite being hit for a while by the wars, their roots went deep.

Mapan had a secret meeting with Weed after Puhol Water Park was created.

A meeting at night where no one could see them!

“Give 50,000 gold for every artisan higher than level 200.”

“Well. That is too much.”

“I am also taking risks. How about 30,000 gold?”

“Think about the amount of time and money needed.”

“18,973 gold.”

“14,980 gold.”

Weed and Mapan had a tense eye fight.

The first to blink would be defeated!

But as always, Mapan was the first to be defeated.

“Kuhok. I will accept it.”

Mapan’s Trading Company had plans to attract all the worthy NPCS in the Central Continent. Mapan’s company extended their business into human trafficking.

*   *   *

In Royal Road, it was popular to hunt at night.

By default, there was no distinction between day and night in the dungeons. However, the animals became more energetic at night.

Even if they didn’t have a hunter’s class that received more experience and loot at night, they couldn’t give up hunting.

Users couldn’t hunt for 24 hours like Weed so they wanted the highest efficiency.

“Over there. I have something to confess.”

“Yes.”

There was a couple sitting on the walls of the Earth Palace.

They were a male magician and female swordswoman.

It was common for couples to hunt together.

“We…

The male magician was about to say something when the female pointed towards the sky.

“Look over there.”

“What is it? Did a wyvern pass by?”

Avians were common in Morata and seeing wyverns could be considered a lucky day.

“A star.”

“Star?”

The man was about to say ‘of course there will be a star’ when he raised his head. And he was surprised. A bright star approximately half the size of the moon was visible in the north direction.

“What is that?”

“It is the first time I have seen such a star. It certainly wasn’t there a few days ago.”

At that time, people from every corner of the Versailles Continent was talking about the shining star.

Users in the fields, mountains, rivers and cities looked up at the sky.

The same was true for captain and pirates sailing in the seas.

“What is that star?”

“It is weird. Is there a quest going on?”

There were many legends and mysteries in Royal Road.

The users felt a little excited.

In modern society, it was hard to see the night sky due to the pollution and smoke.

The only things that shone in the night sky were satellites and airplanes!

When hunting at night in Royal Road, it was romantic to see the glistening stars in the night sky like jewels. Even if they didn’t go to scenic places, the best place for a date was under the clear night sky. Lovers especially liked to see the night view of beautiful cities like Morata or Dawn City. And the residents started to speak.

“The oracles at the Temples of Hestia have received a message.”

“Do you feel it? A great birth is coming. It is a nice surprise after a long time.”

The users ran to the Temple of Hestia in each area.

The users were full of questions for the Hestia priests.

“What is it? What is it going to be?”

“What type of oracle?”

The NPC high priest said to the people.

“Goddess Hestia is testing the best artist this world has ever produced.”

The users in the temple muttered as soon as they heard the high priest’s words.

“Weed?”

“Weed.”

Weed was the only person who could do such a thing.

The bard Murray politely asked.

“High priest, what is the best artist doing?”

“In an infinitely wide space, the artist is making a single piece with the power of Goddess Hestia. He is on an adventure that will give the biggest honour and achievements…”

“He really is on an adventure. This! I can’t miss this chance to make a great song. Oh, this is a sculpting quest.”

Murray felt regret while the users were filled with envy.

“He is making a sculpture in the universe. Amazing.”

“A lot of fame is needed in order to receive a legendary quest like this.”

“The dimension is completely different.”

“Weed. He is still hiding like a rodent.”

“Ah. He is far away from the Hermes Guild.”

The star shining in the night sky became famous among the users.

High level archers with magnificent eyesight could see the star through telescopes and magicians also had similar observation spells.

“Eagle eye magic that will show you Weed’s star. Only 2 gold!”

There were long lines of users outside every magician business in the cities.

The prices of telescopes surged by more than ten times.

“Have you heard the news? Weed’s star sculpture is shining in the north.”

“Does that make sense? Making a sculpture in the sky.”

“It isn’t the sky but the universe? Making a star sculpture. He will become a sculpting master.”

Rumours about Weed’s adventure spread throughout the Versailles Continent in a few hours.

Regardless of cities or fields, the users looked up at the sky.

“What is that? It seems to be shining even brighter.”

“Is that gold? An gorgeous gemstone star.”

“So I’m told. I think the result will be really huge.”

Chapter 2: Baby Star

Luxury cars were parked in a row outside Lee Hyun’s house.

Not only Korean broadcasters, but gaming broadcasters around the world jumped on the popularity of Royal Road.

Major overseas broadcasting stations sent executives to engage in negotiations regarding the Sculpting Master Quest.

“I’m been here so often that I’m familiar with this street.”

“I even memorized the address.”

The station executives exchanged greetings with each other.

“Director Son-nim, your weekend ratings are quite high these days. The broadcast theme is also novel.”

“I tried out a new program where girl groups go on adventures. Featuring Morata also raises the ratings. They aren’t tired of pretty girl groups walking in such scenery.”

“That is very good. These days, singers also hold concerts in Royal Road. It is easy to find a place, stage devices, and an audience so it is better.”

“I know. The venues in Morata and Dawn City are already full for a year.”

“Can’t additional concert venues be made? Isn’t ORK Communications planning a venue in the Arpen Kingdom?”

“It seems they are busy with other constructions… There are many people in the north.”

Competition with real singers was also a good thing.

A wide variety of singers and musicians created characters in Royal Road, competed with their singing skills as bards and became famous.

The reaction of the viewers was also hot and it was one of the crazes in the Arpen Kingdom.

The meeting time was 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

At a time exactly between lunch and dinner, the door to Lee Hyun’s house opened.

“Puppies, you grew up well.”

The station officials hurried to enter Lee Hyun’s house.

The employee of KMC Media brought expensive ribs for Lee Hyun’s dogs.

“Good. Eat a lot.”

Dogmeat and her puppies chewed at the ribs.

The staff of the other stations questioned what he was doing.

“Is that even necessary?”

“True. This isn’t the Joseon era where the dogs need to be greeted.”

The station officials smiled and entered the living room where Lee Hyun was waiting.

*   *   *

“Director Son, please sit here. Director Park, congratulations on your promotion. I have prepared comfortable seats for you.”

Lee Hyun’s house didn’t have a spacious living room. Guests only occasionally came to visit so the number of chairs wasn’t enough.

“It won’t be comfortable but please sit down.”

Lee Hyun distributed cushions for them to sit on the floor and the foreigners naturally accepted.

“Thank you, Mister Lee.”

However, the South Korean broadcasters waged a subtle psychological warfare over the cushions.

The division of cushions among the station officials seemed random but they had a common point.

‘I sat on the ground the last time I came here, but I sent him wild ginseng for New Year’s and this time I got a chair.’

‘My holiday gift set was poor. Kuooh. I received a cushion with holes due to the public relations department! Those guys!’

There was also a difference in the drinks Lee Hyun gave them.

Cold water was given to those who came for negotiations without any gifts.

Orange juice was given to those who gave gifts while entering.

Despite the orange juice being those sold at marts, those who didn’t receive it felt a subtle sense of deprivation.

‘I heard he was stingy but this…’

‘Fabulous. He gave me half a glass of orange juice! It means he liked the quality of the gift but the quantity was too little.’

‘I’m glad. My orange juice was filled up. The negotiating process will be a little better.’

The officials from the foreign broadcasting stations were laughing and having fun.

‘Weed? It feels like something is wrong. I thought he would harsher. Nice.’

‘How wonderful.’

And the broadcast contract that followed. Lee Hyun briefly described the quest that was currently in progress.

“As you might have known, I am on the Sculpting Master Quest. It is also the final step!”

“Ohh.”

The station officials rose from their seat.

The competition to see who would become a master first was still ongoing. However, many abandoned the Master Quest before they were extremely difficult.

The amount of risks involved in the quest!

People didn’t want to lose their lives just to master a class.

‘Weed the God of War, he is on the last stage of the Master Quest.’

‘The god of hard work.’

‘He is completing all the quests. He really looks ordinary… He is different from what he seems.’

‘A strong guy. CTS Media should have obtained a monopoly earlier.’

‘What type of people are the Koreans? The virtual reality world is being dominated by the South Koreans.’

Lee Hyun arrogantly looked at the station officials.

“But I’m not doing a general master quest. I arrived at this process after developing a new sculpting technique. Perhaps you will never see another sculpting master again. Kuuck. I felt both sorrow and regret.”

His memories and experiences were filled with hardships, but there were occasionally nightmares.

Lee Hyun wasn’t uncomfortable but in order to create an atmosphere, he pinched his side and squeezed to form terms.

“Anyway, if this work is successful then I am likely to be the first master. Being the first to sculpt a star sculpture is also a separate thing. There are many viewers who want to see it.”

There was no need for a long explanation.

It was enough for the broadcasting stations to decide that high ratings were guaranteed.

‘This is good.’

‘It will be the best selling item.’

Weed’s quest always got high ratings.

Weed just making and selling sculptures in the market got 10% ratings so the audience for the master quest was certain.

‘Right now many users are watching the stars at night.’

‘The Grass Porridge Cult. They are big fans of Weed so we need to resolve their cravings. That is the only way we can stop the attacks on the bulletin boards.’

The bulletin boards for the broadcasting stations were occupied by viewers shouting.

It was a jackpot every time they showed Weed’s quests and hunting.

Approximately a year ago, the stations were sick of the grass porridge members commenting on the boards.

The administrator of the bulletin boards carried out a wide deletion of posts without looking at the contents. And the stations regretted it deeply afterwards.

The number of users on their site rapidly plummeted!

The Grass Porridge cult members were enthusiastic fans of Royal Road.

It hadn’t been long since they started Royal Road but they were more active.

Not only the activity on the internet site, but their ratings were also hurt.

Now the bulletin boards allowed the grass porridge members and they consisted of two thirds of the members.

Especially in South Korea.

Not only the major broadcasting stations associated with Royal Road around the world, but all of the internet’s major sites were being taken over by the grass porridge members.

The grass porridge members actively engaged in social communities such as Weibo, Facebook and Twitter.

Reporters and entertainers frequently mentioned that they were members of the Grass Porridge Cult in articles and interviews.

Even a famous economic newspaper in Britain published an evaluation.

The Grass Porridge Cult revolutionized digital media.

The Grass Porridge Cult in Royal Road were born for freedom, adventure, and happiness.

As they had more fun playing, they were less concerned with cold reality.

The expansion of the Grass Porridge Cult was amazing.

More than a million people joined every day, and there was no limit on age and abilities.

Ordinary people joined the Grass Porridge Cult and there were many affiliated organizations.

The members were brave, diligent, dedicated to learning and developed their skills for a hopeful future.

The Grass Porridge Cult could be called a new leap forward in citizenship.

In addition, the influence of the Grass Porridge Cult on the economy couldn’t be ignored.

Worldwide department stores, outlets, airlines, hotels, amusement parks, mobile communication, and high end restaurants all offered memberships to the Grass Porridge Cult.

The services offered had no annual fee since all the members were loyal and friendly to each other.

Hundreds of companies and economic research institutes studied the economic ripple effects of the Grass Porridge Cult.

– What if the Grass Porridge Cult starts a social networking service? Wouldn’t it be possible to dominate the global social networking market with hundreds of millions of users?

– What about opening a Grass Porridge broadcasting station?

– From station to fashion, children toys, sports, luxury goods, and mobile communication, it would be easy to market if the Grass Porridge’s brand is utilized.

[Global companies and research institutes have foreseen a digital economic revolution based on virtual reality.

In addition, the doctrines of the Grass Porridge Cult are fully capable of opposing dictatorships in third world countries or becoming a political revolutionary force.]

The station officials had to reach a contract with Lee Hyun.

Lee Hyun handed out a piece of paper to them one by one.

“Write down any amount you want.”

…Director Shin of New Management Media received the paper first.

“Write down an amount?”

“The contract will be decided through an auction. Regardless of the country or broadcasting share, I will only deal with the seven companies that offer the highest amounts. There will be no restrictions on the number of times it is broadcasted a day and I will get the average industry royalties.”

“Umm.”

The station officials thought furiously as they accepted the pieces of paper.

‘How much should I write?’

‘The price will definitely rise. The major stations will definitely try.’

‘There will be plenty of profit on my investment. Especially considering the ads that companies will place on our stations. But what is the proper amount to write down? The problem is the other broadcasting stations.’

While the station officials were troubled, Lee Hyun calmly continued.

“You should also give me 15% of the advertising for the live broadcasts and replays.”

“Huh?”

“It is an important part that has to be acknowledged.”

The station officials wrote the maximum amount that was possible.

The broadcasters from the United States, China and Japan had many viewers and were willing to pay a large sum.

The domestic broadcasters, including KMC Media who had the highest average ratings, immediately decided on the spot.

Lee Hyun handed out business cards to the station officials who were going to leave.

Unlike normal business cards that contained a name and position, Lee Hyun’s was different.

Lee Hyun: 5th October

Seo-yoon: 22nd April

Lee Hye-yeon: 9th July

Grandmother:  7th January

“What is this?”

The director of KMC Media took the business card and asked.

“The birthdays in my family. It would be good if you remember these days.”

Lee Hyun had the upper hand against the broadcasting stations.

*   *   *

Weed decided to temporarily name the star sculpture.

“How about B612?”

The star in the Little Prince!

He saw the name in a storybook he read as a child.

“Um. But the times had changed. Let’s call it by a simpler name, Baby Star.”

It was a rounded star sculpture that hadn’t been properly shaped.

Although it was immense, it was just one of the many stars in the universe when viewed from a distance.

It wasn’t a blue planet with white clouds like Earth, and the features other than minerals were difficult to distinguish.

“It has to look good.”

It was habit to take out Zahab’s sculpting knife but stopped when he saw that it didn’t make a dent in the huge size.

Even a disaster would only cause a small scratch.

“Let’s do it.”

Weed moved away and held both hands in front of him.

“Divine Flame!”

A firestorm rose in both hands.

Hestia had the power to melt anything.

He threw the firestorm towards the baby star from 10,000km away.

At first, the baby star had no response but the surface soon turned red and started to melt.

“When I was a child, I wanted something like this.”

Weed was deeply satisfied.

He remembered when some neighbourhood children tried to cook sweet potatoes after lighting some rotten twigs.

Now he obtained a fire that could burn something the size of a planet!

Moreover, he felt a sense of accomplishment after working a few hours.

“But what should I make? It is really the last piece before becoming sculpting master.”

Weed lost some energy as he became lost in thought.

Sculpting was a field of art with limitations like any other field.

He needed to think of new ideas within those limits.

“There is a feeling of burden from creating a star sculpture in space. There is always risk when it involved a new area.”

The size and materials were beyond the existing limitations of sculptures, but there were still some constraints.

The stage was too large so he couldn’t make an ordinary sculpture.

“It needs to be a sculpture that suits the universe. I have to make sure it matches the light and background. What type of star would be cool?”

In the middle of the universe, he couldn’t hear a sound so he felt lonely.

While living in the world, he sometimes felt like he was alone but there would always be a person if he opened the door.

In the universe, the physical distances between objects were very far apart.

“At a minimum, I have to create a Magnum Opus.”

The burden on Weed’s shoulders was heavy. However, he didn’t worry about it for too long.

It was the final piece before becoming a sculpting master.

If so, it would be best to make the sculpture that he wanted to make.

“At this moment, the sculpture I most want to make… It is clear.”

A sly smile appeared on Weed’s mouth.

It wasn’t much different from his usual rotten smile.

It was a smile like if he won the lottery when there was a 1 in 100 chance.

*   *   *

“Shush. He is making it. The appearance of the star has changed a little bit.”

“What differences are there? I’m curious.”

“If you are curious then watch it on the television. Kyaah. A really nice sculpture will emerge.”

The people in every city on the Versailles Continent was looking up at the night sky.

The squares were crowded with people eating and drinking while watching the sky, and users were also crowded on the terraces.

A small number of users were curious and went to the Archer’s Guild to learn eyesight skills.

Mapan’s Trading Company were able to buy a large number of telescopes and earn extra money from selling them.

Many users on the Versailles Continent watched as Weed made his baby star sculpture.

For a few days, a large chunk of the surface was cut and melted away.

Users watched as the top right corner of the star formed a round watermelon shape.

“A person.”

“The last sculpture will be of a person.”

“Then the target is the Goddess?”

“It is likely. If a star in the night sky is in the shape of a goddess… I can see that face every night. Kyah. Take it.”

“Perfect. I really don’t want anything else.”

Goddess Hestia and Freya were famous on the Versailles Continent, but they were already pushed back.

People called the Goddess of the Grass Porridge Cult just the ‘Goddess.’

The Ice Beauty sculpture was a famous sightseeing spot where hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visited every day.

The Arpen Kingdom was a place of art and culture, with many paintings and sculptures.

Many sculptors and painters imitated Weed’s sculpture, and Goddess Seo-yoon was a fantasy and a dream.

Sacrosanct!

A number of sculptors tried to sculpt Seo-yoon but were frustrated by the attempts.

“N-no. It doesn’t even express a tenth of her beauty.”

“It looks roughly similar… Why don’t I feel anything? There isn’t enough emotion. The sculpture I made is just like a machine.”

The members of the Grass Porridge Cult were filled with expectations as they watched the stars in the night sky.

“If the Goddess becomes a star, then the Arpen Kingdom will never perish. I will wait every night.”

“Kuooh. Martyrdrom, martyrdom.”

The viewers could only see the right side of the star being sculpted. The shoulders were narrow and the round part that was probably the head was being trimmed.

“This is nonsense. Goddess-nim doesn’t have such a big head.”

“The sculpture has a simple form. Won’t he refine it afterwards? It is just the beginning to the eyes, nose and mouth.”

“From the beginning, it is impossible to sculpt a perfect figure. However, Weed has often made sculptures of Goddess-nim.”

“We will be able to see Goddess-nim’s charm through Weed’s quest. That is the only way her original beauty can be expressed.”

“Yes. It is already beyond the scope of art.”

“After seeing Goddess-nim, I felt my soul changing.”

The thick and rounded shoulders were out of proportion with the head size. As short legs and a plump upper body were created, the users of the Versailles Continent became confused.

“It isn’t the Goddess?”

“How can that be? Is Weed-nim betraying us at such a crucial moment?”

Apart from the Grass Porridge Cult, Weed’s anti-cafe already had 100 million members.

– Title: A petition against Weed’s sculpture.

Weed doesn’t seem to be carving the Goddess.

Isn’t this frivolous behaviour?

It is an opportunity to create a sculpture of the Goddess that will always shine on the continent.

Life is short.

I can only feel completely happy and restful when seeing the Goddess.

A statue of the Goddess can’t be replaced and will bring joy and happiness to millions of people.

Weed has become drunk on his success and betrayed us.

This unscrupulous act deserves condemnation. But we will give him another chance, even if we hate him.

If he stops making this sculpture and starts sculpting Goddess-nim then we will forgive Weed.

The Versailles Continent was sad at not being able to see Seo-yoon’s legendary beauty.

Weed continued making the sculpture.

“Shouldn’t there a pure feeling? A wide smile? Um… I need to decide on the gender. It can’t be reversed if I continue sculpting any more.”

Weed planned the sculpture but the size was too big and there were many variables.

The approximate form was there but he didn’t know how to sculpt it specifically.

“It resembles Seo-yoon to some extent. I need to give off a similar feeling.”

Chubby little hands, short legs.

A relatively large upper body and head.

Only the general form of the sculpture was created.

“Eh, I don’t know. I will just follow what I feel. As the image comes into my head… I can’t decide. In the end, this is the answer.”

The flames continued to melt the sculpture.

He recalled all the pretty and beautiful scenes in the world.

However, when he thought about Seo-yoon, affectionate and cute were the words that popped up.

Someone lovable with thick cheeks and small chin.

“The gender is a girl. It is hard to choose between a son or daughter. Still, I think that a daughter would be more beautiful.”

Weed was making a sculpture of a baby. Was there anything as beautiful or sacred as the birth of another life?

The sculpture would completely change depending on a boy or girl, but he chose a daughter.

“There is a saying that the firstborn being a daughter will bring fortune to the family.”

There would be a bond as the child grew up.

It was hard for most humans to live a hundred years. In the meantime, their time was consumed with studying, working, loving, and living in this world.

They felt joy, sorrow, anger, and thankfulness.

Bringing a baby into that life was valuable.

Young babies grew up differently.

They learned to turn over their bodies, crawl, and speak in the arms of their mother and father.

In his poor days, Weed had imagined the future while looking after his sister.

‘Can someone like me get married and have a family?’

He could only sigh in those days.

The value of diapers and milk formula seemed too expensive.

‘I don’t want to love without any money. This is too hard. I would rather live alone than hurt anyone else.’

Being unable to love due to a lack of money was a natural reality to Weed.

‘I can’t like a person because of money. I can’t bear it.’

Weed often saw parents holding onto the hands of their children who were smiling brightly.

When a man and woman met and fell in love, they got married, would have children and grow old together.

It was an ordinary routine but a young baby could be called a marvel of love and happiness.

‘I have to overcome the price of milk formula and diapers. I need to be firmly decided before embarking on this path.’

Weed dreamed of raising a baby in the future with his love. He wanted to make a lot of money in order to live happily with people.

‘My heart needs to be determined in order to make a really good sculpture.’

*   *   *

Seo-yoon was busy managing the Arpen Kingdom.

As commerce developed throughout the Northern Continent and the borders widened due to cultural influences, there were many trivial things to pay attention to.

No matter how much money was raised, it was used sparingly and the population of the wide kingdom was growing exponentially.

Depending on how the policies were implemented, development would total change.

Seo-yoon asked Lee Hyun to act in his place.

“Give me permission to manage the Arpen Kingdom.”

“What and how much?”

“Administrative, judicial, the budget, and military rights.”

“It is just like being the ruler.”

“I will do it well.”

“Surely you aren’t thinking of spending all the money in the Arpen Kingdom?”

Lee Hyun looked at her with suspicion.

Seo-yoon didn’t reply.

Therefore, Weed’s imagination ran wild.

“Making a backroom deal with the Haven Empire or sell places like Morata, Dawn City, and Puhol Water Park. Or selling 50 pyeong real estate. Becoming rich with money…”

Lee Hyun’s imagination ended there.

Seo-yoon was living right next door and she didn’t have a reason to do that.

In addition to property, she had plenty of money so there was no reason to do so.

She was able to earn money with only a few appearances on television.

“I understand. I will allow it.”

Seo-yoon took the position of a queen and proceeded with appointing lords for small villages.

She didn’t raise her level in the hunting grounds but her contribution to the development of the Arpen Kingdom was great.

She was busy with a lot of work in Royal Road, but Seo-yoon was also interested in Lee Hyun’s everyday life.

She heard stories about how he delivered strawberry milk and newspapers at dawn in order to live.

She knew that Lee Hyun wouldn’t eat if left alone.

She even fed Dogmeat and the puppies.

The number of puppies kept on increasing.

Seo-yoon was especially interested in Lee Hyun’s sculpture in Royal Road.

The memories of his sculptures were vivid.

She had seen him make a sculpture many times.

They were the best gifts that Lee Hyun gave her.

‘Will he make a sculpture of me to become the sculpting master?’

She waited for the day when the sculpture would be completed.

Carving her figure in the sky would be a romantic and wonderful gift.

‘I won’t ask him directly. I will wait. But…’

Seo-yoon entered the capsule and connected to Royal Road.

“Mapan-nim.”

– Yes.

Seo-yoon sent a whisper to Mapan as soon as she entered.

Seo-yoon was also a goddess to Mapan.

“I need a large telescope to see the sky.”

– Ah… Yes. I understand. I will contact the best blacksmiths to produce it.

“Do it quickly.”

– Yes. What is the budget you are thinking of? It is okay to receive the money afterwards.

“2 million gold.”

– Huh?

“I’ll pay with my money. Please make a large telescope that allows me to see clearly with 2 million gold.”

Seo-yoon’s face was red with anticipation.

She waited for the large telescope she had commissioned.

She stared up at the night sky every night.

Seo-yoon temporarily bought a small telescope so that she could see the star Weed was sculpting.

The appearance of the star was gradually revealed, but it didn’t look like her.

Seo-yoon quietly picked up a sword and headed to a dungeon.

She wiped away all the monsters in a high level dungeon.

The characteristics of a berserker meant she wasn’t tired from hunting all night, as she blew away all strong enemies.

If this was a long time ago then she would have finished her hunting.

“…It is still lacking.”

Seo-yoon swept away seven dungeons.

It also affected reality.

Seo-yoon had been taking care of the food for Lee Hyun and Lee Hye-yeon.

Lee Hyun didn’t say anything but she always bought great ingredients at the market and cooked for him.

Now there was no pork in the kimchi stew and the boiled eggs that were the highlight in tteokbokki were gone.

There was only strawberry milk in the fridge and she didn’t give any snacks to Dogmeat.

“Oppa. What did you do wrong?”

“I don’t know.”

“There has to be something. I think it is really important.”

Seo-yoon didn’t speak and kept her head down when she went to the market.

As she passed, the traders gathered together and chattered.

“Lee Hyun. What did that crazy guy do?”

“It must be something unscrupulous. I don’t have any doubts.”

“Is there another woman?”

“Don’t tell me… Cheating on her?”

“People don’t know what can happen.”

In the whole neighbourhood, public criticism towards Lee Hyun was rising.

The bright image that Seo-yoon usually showed was gone.

And then Seo-yoon looked up at the night sky in Royal Road. She was still curious about what sculpture was being made.

She absolutely wished that it wasn’t the appearance of another woman.

‘That looks like… A Baby?’

The head was sculpted and the ratio was a bit strange originally. Once the body was created, the feeling of a cute baby became clear.

The face was still being sculpted, but the eyes and mouth were smiling. The baby had a cute, innocent, and playful expression.

‘And… It looks like me. The eyes and mouth…’

Seo-yoon stared into the telescope for a really long time.

The next day, Lee Hyun’s dinner was eel, abalone, octopus, and ginseng chicken soup.

Chapter 3: The Best Hard-Working Craftsman

Weed’s sculpted the basic form of a baby but it wasn’t the end. There was a lot of work left to refine the star but also decide on the overall form,

“If the child is alone then they will be lonely. That is child abuse.”

A sculpture of a baby with their mother would be better.

Weed pondered for a moment.

‘Will this sculpture be okay?’

A sculpture of Seo-yoon holding a baby in the night sky of Royal Road might stop her from getting married.

‘I won’t send her away from my side. It doesn’t matter how difficult and hard it will be.’

Weed started the sculpture again.

The appearance of a woman smiling brightly while looking at her baby.

Of course, he was so familiar with Seo-yoon that he could sculpt her with his eyes closed.

Seo-yoon’s beautiful face was sculpted on the left side.

Despite the fact that it wasn’t elaborate yet, he found it difficult to take his eyes off the work.

‘The face should be more beautiful. The buried beauty should emerge. The piece needs more work.’

He carefully sculpted her every day. He could have become lazy but he didn’t do that.

Seo-yoon’s sculpture couldn’t be lacking so he put effort into sculpting every exquisite detail.

‘Marriage, live together and have a baby… I think that would be good. At a later date. Hrmm. I wouldn’t mind if it was a little bit sooner.’

Weed sweated as he continued making the sculpture.

He estimated how much time passed by watching the planets moving in space.

After approximately 10 days, Seo-yoon and the baby were 60% completed.

‘The appearance is beautiful but that can’t be all. She needs the feeling of a mother.’

Unfortunately, Weed didn’t have many memories of a mother’s warmth. Rather, his memories of his childhood was carrying Yurin on his back and giving her bottles.

He often cried while carrying his sister in the cold winter.

It was a real tough time with a lot of suffering. He devoted his strength to just surviving every day.

‘Mother… Yes. From here on, I’ll sculpt what I want it to be. It isn’t exactly the same but I feel something. I will sculpt that feeling.’

He placed emotions into the eyes and facial expression of Seo-yoon holding the baby. Her beauty was a powerful weapon but he couldn’t just depend on it.

His purpose wasn’t to sculpt a pretty mother holding her baby.

He used the forgotten warmth of his mother while sculpting as he recalled her eyes and affection filled voice.

‘A mother taking care of her baby. I will be the father. Yes. That is good. Adding other small things will be good.’

He didn’t care too much about the golden ratio, composition, etc.

Weed just watched to focus on the warmth of a mother when sculpting Seo-yoon and her daughter.

In the future, he would be able to watch it with a happy heart.

‘Sculpting master? He needed to go back a little bit. He would do what he really wanted to. Even if this sculpture had a low artistic value or failed… I won’t regret it even if I waste this chance.’

This might be a once in a lifetime opportunity to sculpt a star.

As long as he did what he wanted as best as he could, he wouldn’t regret it even if there weren’t good results.

‘Yes. The real work that I want to do.’

Weed didn’t regret making this piece or worry about making it better or it would fail.

‘I really want to make this sculpture. And this will be the best work of my life.’

*   *   *

Fabio was making the best sword on the continent with helium.

The first master on the Versailles Continent!

Helium was as great as the rumours and he obtained it after winning the competition with Herman.

The flames seemed alive as he smelted and quenched the helium to make a sword.

Fabio was sure that the best sword would be born in his hands.

“The work will be over soon. This will become a legendary sword that will never be broken.”

Fabio was a craftsman who received respect from many other professions.

This sword would be enough to satisfy his high pride.

He had no doubts about becoming a master as he realized his weaknesses through the confrontation with Herman.

Fabio kept an eye on the news despite working on the sword day and night.

‘Weed is also challenging the master quest. I will finish the quest faster.’

He didn’t grumble about the trick used to drag him to the Northern Continent and delay his time.

This was a great opportunity to become a master.

‘I won the game and will use my skills to become a master first. My sword will be completed earlier. The blacksmith will become the first among all professions.’

Fabio looked at the star Weed was creating.

‘The last work. Will he make something good? I worked hard for the sake of becoming a blacksmith master.’

A blacksmith dealt with making a sword in hot flames. Due to this, they had sharper eyesight so he could see the shape of the star.

Fabio’s mouth widened.

“That is… Well. It will still require some time before it is finished…”

He looked up at the sculpture of a star for a long time before laughing bitterly.

“Right. I am also lacking.”

Fabio returned to the smithy and saw a sharp sword.

A strong sword that would cut anything!

It was made with the god’s metal, Helium so the blade had a radiant sheen.

If Weed saw it, he would have applauded it as the best sword. However, Fabio saw something else.

“Not a strong and sharp sword, but a warmer and great sword…”

He hadn’t been able to tell until he saw the star sculpture.

Fabio was severely conflicted.

‘Should I complete the sword like this? Mastering the skill is right in front of me. Even if this sword is completed… I thought this was enough before seeing Weed’s sculpture.’

He was really close to mastering the blacksmith skill.

Fabio stood in the smithy and stared at the sword.

A strong and sharp sword made of helium.

‘Completing the sword might be enough for me to master the skill. Yet…will I be satisfied with this? Some complaints will remain even if I become a master.’

It was difficult for Fabio to give up on this sword due to his greed over becoming the first master.

His desire to create a historical sword that had never been seen before now was also intense.

“This…hu.”

Fabio finally decided as a blacksmith.

He decided not to master the skill, but to make a historical sword.

“Blacksmith master. I will do it again. I realized that my path was wrong so I have to go down the right one.”

Fabio had never stopped working as a blacksmith after starting Royal Road.

He had been running hard but now he learnt something new with the benefit of hindsight.

“I don’t think that a sculptor is better than a blacksmith. Feeling lacking when looking at the sculpture of a star… I really need to create a masterpiece.”

Fabio who was just about to complete the best sword out of helium on the continent, decided to start on a new work.

“After becoming a blacksmith master, should I try being a sculptor? I should seriously consider it.”

*   *   *

Even if Weed worked hard, it wasn’t easy to sculpt an entire star.

He stayed up all night and suffered from hunger.

The area of the star was so vast and he needed to decorate the sculpture to represent mountains, rivers and lakes.

Seo-yoon and the baby needed to be expressive but he couldn’t make them too plain.

He decorated them with gold, rubies, diamonds, platinum and sapphires. When observing the star through a telescope, it looked like sparkling stars falling around Seo-yoon and the baby.

“Something is still lacking.”

Weed thought as he watched the golden rivers, diamond mountains and platinum lakes.

“Of course, it looks luxurious and expensive. However, I feel like it is lacking in some elaborate elegance so the quality of the sculpture is reduced.”

Precious metals were extensively used in a work that expressed family and maternal love.

The colourful jewels and gold were gorgeous but they were lacking.

Weed worried about how to increase the quality of the piece while working on Seo-yoon and the baby.

“Yes. There isn’t enough precious metals.”

The golden rivers became wider, the diamond mountains increased and the platinum lake became huge like there was a dam.

“I need to use the jewels properly.”

Weed observed the sculpture and decided to increase the scale.

A golden stroller, diamond toys, sapphire dolls, ruby car seat, platinum formula and diapers! Children born in wealthy families had gold spoons but these ornaments were well beyond that.

“This is a little better. The quality of the work is much improved.”

Weed continued to refine the sculpture of Seo-yoon and the baby.

The approximate shape was created in space, but there were still some lacking places if he looked closely.

It wasn’t a task that he could devote his whole life to so he decided to do as much as he could.

“This will not end if I want to make a perfect work. The important thing is the emotions.

Seo-yoon and the baby were sculpted in the way that he liked so he didn’t want to touch them anymore.

If he touched it the wrong way and damaged it then there would be nothing worse.

– Please set the name of the new sculpture.

“The sculpture’s name…”

He was stuck for words because he couldn’t think of a better name.

“Venus, Mercury or Jupiter. What should I do?”

He was stuck on a name for the star.

“Wife and Child.”

– Wife and Child is correct?

Weed felt something and decided on a name.

A baby made out of love. It might be an ordinary process for others but it was his best artwork.

‘Life is art.’

Even though it was hard work, the feelings of a family were precious. A baby meant love and happiness to Weed.

“That’s right.”

That value came out in the name of the sculpture.

‘There are no regrets. Even if… It wouldn’t be due to my artwork but because I lacked skills.’

Weed had no regrets regarding this work.

He felt like it was the best piece he had created so far.

– Magnum Opus! Wife and Child has been completed!

The work of a sculptor who the gods have recognized to have reached the ultimate heights!

It is the most beautiful representation of a newborn baby and mother.

Even Goddess Hestia admires this work and two new records have been created.

The birth of a star.

The largest sculpture.

This sculpture of a brilliant star can be seen by all residents of the Versailles Continent.

Sculptor Weed has gone beyond the ultimate limits of humans and his name will be forever revered on the Versailles Continent.

Artistic Value: 58,492

Options: Reduces the damage caused by natural disasters on the Versailles Continent.

The reserves of minerals and precious metals not yet mined on the Versailles Continent will increase by 28%.

Rare mineral springs and mine deposits will be randomly produced.

Those who observe the stars will develop knowledge of astronomy and have their intelligence permanently increased by 2.

The effect of holy magic and the blessings of priests and paladins will permanently improve by 5%.

Luck will increase by 7% during the day.

There will quick recovery from disease.

The residents will increase the compensation for a sculptor’s quests.

Maximum health and mana will increase by 23% during the day.

All stats will increase by 50.

Long distance movement speed will increase by 35%.

All stats have permanently increased by 1.

Current number of Magnum Opus created:  20

– Fame has increased by 5,381.

Art has increased by 91.

Perseverance has increased by 15.

Endurance has increased by 4.

Wisdom has increased by 7.

Charm has increased by 115.

– The first person to step into outer space.

As the first human to leave footsteps, maximum health and mana has increased by 5,000.

The ownership of Wife and Child belongs to Weed-nim. The effects of the sculpture will increase by 1.5 times when applied to Weed-nim.

– All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

Magnum Opus sculpture!

Weed accepted it calmly. He determined that the scale of the achievements was more than any other magnum opus sculpture that he created.

And…

Ddiring!

– The Sculpting skill has reached its peak proficiency.

You have mastered Sculpting. After understanding the texture of rocks and trees, you have fully understood how to express it in sculpting.

You have reached the peak of sculpting with no other place to advance.

The artistic value of your sculptures will increase by 200%.

The mana used by skills associated with sculpting will reduce and the effectiveness will also increase.

The effects received from sculptures will increase by 200%.

All stats increased by 40.

Art quests can be received without any limitation.

Thanks to your excellent insight, all skill proficiencies will develop 6% faster.

Other production and art skills will develop 10% faster.

You will be able to bring out a further 15% of the original abilities of an item.

Completed sculptures will have a special influence in that region.

The strength and vitality of sculptural lifeforms will increase by 30%.

The title ‘Master of Sculpting’ has been acquired.

You can meet with any kings, regardless of fame or a previous relationship.

Artists, scholars and merchants will respect you.

The effects of conversation, charisma, and dignity will increase.

Certain NPCs will appear and pledge absolute loyalty to you.

Weed’s whole body shook.

“Sculpting master. The first one to master a class!”

He became a master of sculpting that boasted tremendous difficulty compared to other skills.

“I am the world’s most hard-working craftsman!”

*   *   *

The users on the Versailles Continent were waiting for night time.

After the sun went down and it was dark, an incredibly bright star could be seen in the night sky.

“Kuuuk. Weed-nim didn’t betray us.”

“Look. How beautiful. The world is becoming a better place to live.”

“Pretty. So close to the real thing…”

Seo-yoon holding the baby made the night become more beautiful.

Normally people didn’t show much interest in the night sky.

In modern society, the stars in the sky couldn’t be seen due to fine dust. Mostly there were satellites and airplanes that shone in the dark sky.

The distant stars were uncharted territory and contained endless possibilities. An endless territory where dreams, hopes, and romance coexisted.

Weed’s sculpture was the topic of many newspaper articles and broadcasts.

– A mother and baby star born in Royal Road.

– A story of the creation of stars and the universe.

– The last piece of a master sculptor. The meaning of the stars.

– The limits of virtual reality?

– We forget that we live in a wide world.

It was reported in the news and on radio because it was an event that many people were interested in. It was also featured in educational children’s broadcasting programs on astronomy and geology.

– A baby’s happiness.

– The beginning of the fruit of love.

– The new life project.

Due to the social atmosphere, there were several countries worried about the low birth rate.

The birth rate had declined in some developed and developing countries.

Many people didn’t marry so they didn’t give birth to help maintain the population.

Countries encouraged childbirth by talking about the great joy they would bring.

Most people would never know how much pleasure it would bring until it happened.

Thanks to Weed’s sculpture of the baby and mother, the government started projects encouraging childbirth.

Broadcasters around the world increased the proportion of entertainment shows featuring young children.

*   *   *

Weed had a rotten smile on his face after becoming a sculpting master.

“Well. Increasing my skills brought me here.”

He closed his eyes and recalled the past.

“It wasn’t luck. It was due to my hard work and talent.”

Self-praise!

He felt satisfied with himself.

“I mastered sculpting and got plenty of stats. It doesn’t mean a lot but fame also increased. Fame really doesn’t mean anything.”

The increase in health and mana would be a great help.

The long-awaited sculpting master!

To be honest, a sword, archery, or weapons master would be more effective but he was still the first master.

“I received some help from Seo-yoon’s beauty but it was purely my skills.”

He occasionally had some suspicions while sculpting.

‘Is it not my sculpting but the good model?’

Most of his sculptures of Seo-yoon had very good results.

If he took a photo of Seo-yoon eating half fried half seasoned chicken, it would win first place in a photography contest.

The model would overcome all lack of photography skills and the cheap camera. Rather, the model exceeded the limits. Even if he just roughly pressed the button with his feet, Seo-yoon’s beauty would emerge.

It was the same with drawing a picture. There was no need to try to draw a beautiful picture. He just needed to draw Seo-yoon as she was.

A masterpiece would emerge and it was be the best representation of the beauty of a woman.

“I’d say that it wasn’t… It is vaguely convincing. That reason is sufficient for me.”

While Weed was thinking, Goddess Hestia appeared.

Unlike the Versailles Continent, Hestia’s form was thousands of metres bigger.

‘It is finally the end of the quest.’

Weed’s heart started beating faster.

‘It is like grabbing a seasoned chicken. No. A little weak. It is like when there are four consecutive lottery numbers.’

Hestia’s clear voice was transmitted.

– Sculptor.  I asked you to make me a sculpture of a star.

Weed carefully kneeled down in the universe and bowed his head.

“I did my best not to disappoint Goddess Hestia. I am lacking skills but I tried for Goddess-nim.”

– Sculptor. Have a little bit more pride. Your art has made people happy and enriched them.

“I didn’t do that much. The people feel gratitude towards the wrong target. My sculptures are all thanks to Hestia’s grace.”

It was like really cheap coffee mix! It had the effect of being easy and fast.

Of course, if there was money involved then he was ready to fight Hestia.

– I will now assess your work.

It was the evaluation for the final stage of the master quest.

Weed relaxed and waited.

Not only did he consider it his best work, it was also a magnum opus with a high artistic value. Hestia stared at Wife and Child for a while before speaking.

– This sculpture is absolutely brilliant. Astonishing. It is completely beyond my expectations.

“Thank you very much.”

– People will spend the night staring at your star until it is dawn. They will admire the beauty of your star.

Weed made the sculpture using his own wishes.

He would be proud if he could look into the sky every night to see the statue of Wife and Child.

‘I can’t get the admission fees. Still… It isn’t bad if everyone likes it.’

– I was moved by your star. In return, I will bless all living creatures on the Versailles Continent.

– Hestia has blessed all life forms for a week.

The faith stat of all users will permanently increase by 2.

The amount of experience gained will increase by 6% during this period.

Good luck will increase. The probability of obtaining rare items or loot through hunting has increased.

There would be no suffering from the cold.

Those who see the Wife and Child sculpture will instantly recover 8% of their health and vitality once a day.

Animal breeding and plant growth rate will increase.

Certain cities will achieve technological prosperity.

“Umm.”

Weed’s stomach hurt.

If there was something good then he would rather receive it alone instead of sharing it. It was like receiving 100 million won only to have to share it with millions of people.

Hestia’s voice became gracious.

– You have dedicated yourself to sculpting from the beginning to now. I’ve never seen anyone walk down the path to this place. You have reached the peak of sculpting.

“Yes. Goddess-nim.”

– As a master of sculpting, will you continue to devote yourself to the world of art on the Versailles Continent?

Weed’s thought inside his head.

‘I’m tired of it now… Keep going? I’m done. Just let me work hard hunting.’

However, he replied with a business like answer.

“I devoted my body and mind to art. Sculpting is an art that will wrap itself in the hearts of those who see beauty. I have no regrets about the life I lived as a sculptor and will maintain that pride in the future.”

Praising sculpting!

Weed licked his lips.

“I’ve learned many things through sculpting. A piece of rock on the ground or a wooden block can become something else through the sculptor’s effort and imagination. I still don’t know what art is but I want to express my heart through sculpting. This is my happiness.”

– Yes… Sculpting Master, you have overcome many difficulties to reach this place.

If there was a lie detector then it would be ringing loudly. Fortunately, Weed’s answer satisfied Hestia.

Starting from Rosenheim Kingdom, Weed was the master of inserting flattery into his comments.

– You have mastered sculpting and I shall give you a reward for the favour.

‘The strongest sword or shield. That’s it. Or Hestia can create something from helium.’

He made quick estimates inside his head.

– I will give you the fire.

“Fire?”

– It is part of the energy I have. You will be able to light this fire anywhere.

Ddiring!

– Gift from the Goddess!

Hestia has presented you with a divine fire that is a part of her.

The divine fire can be utilized for art, production, and combat.

It will raise all the values and sometimes will cause a miracle.

The skill ‘Divine Fire’ has been created.

– Faith has increased by 30.

Perhaps because the world was harsh.

Weed replied in just 0.1 seconds.

“Skill verification! Divine Fire!”

– Divine Fire: A symbol of Hestia.

Divine Fire is determined by your skill level, faith, and wisdom.

It will consume a certain amount of mana to dissolve, burn, or lay over your weapon to attack enemies.

It will assist in the creation of works of art. By creating a religious work, there is a very high probability that faith will increase.

A double effect will be given when used in smelting.

Pure crystals can be obtained while processing minerals and Hestia’s blessing will be applied when added to equipment.

The Divine Fire can be used to both attack and defend during combat.

An additional 7% fire damage will be added to all attack skills. As the skill level rises, the damage will increase by 3%.

Fire skills will be applied twice.

It will deal an additional 5 times the damage to demonic or undead monsters.

“Ohhhh.”

Weed’s eyes trembled.

‘It is the last step in the quest and involves a goddess, so I expected the rewards to be high. However, this time I wasn’t hit in the back of the head.’

Watching his back!

He sculpted a star but he still expected something to be thrown at his head.

The worst result was only having his fame or honour increased, yet he ended up getting a great skill.

‘A skill good for production and fighting… Versatile.’

Weed was already thinking about the future.

He finished the last step of sculpting so he should get another class.

Numerous classes came to his head.

‘This time, I won’t get a class like Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. I have extensive knowledge and experience in Royal Road. And Divine Fire will be a great help for any class.’

Strengthening himself with divine power like a paladin!

Weed had an unnecessarily high faith stat of 1,200 so he could use divine magic.

‘It is like Squashy Wriggler flying with wet wings.’

Ddiring!

– The Sculpting Master challenge has been completed.

The grand journey has ended.

Sculptor Weed had completed many achievements considered impossible on the Versailles Continent.

The sculpture he created according to Goddess Hestia’s request will make him a legend in the history of sculpting.

Changing his nature, bringing life to sculptures, understanding the essence of a sculpture, finding the existence of elementals, and realizing the sword of light!

Now young people with dreams will walk after the great footsteps he left behind.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Fame has increased by 50,000 for completing the Sculpting Master Quest.

– Health has increased by 8,000.

– Mana has increased by 10,000.

– Art stat has increased by 80.

– All stats have increased by 20.

– Affinity to Nature has increased by 25.

A flood of message windows!

It was an accomplishment that no one had achieved until now. After working for a long time, he had finished the Sculpting Master Quest. Weed had a satisfied smile on his face.

[TL Note]: Next chapter is even longer than volume 46 chapter 8 so it will take a while for me to release it, i.e. more than a week.

Chapter 4: Second Profession

The world of the giants.

“Attack. Fight!”

“There are three of them. We can do it.”

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

An expedition led by high level northern users entered the land of the giants. The Crimson Wings Guild were the main spearhead behind venturing into new territories.

– Kuwaaaaah!

– The giant Valdeskar has roared.

Fighting Spirit is broken.

Movement speed is reduced.

The proficiencies of all skills have temporarily decreased by 25%.

Maximum health has halved.

All attacks received in the next 10 seconds will cause deadly damage.

The giants were strong but they could gain many things when winning.

It was an opportunity to secure weapons, armour, magic materials and a large number of minerals on the Versailles Continent.

For elves, they received a large number of quests to plant seeds in the land of the giants.

“Captain-nim. Ready to attack.”

Users approached Pale who replied.

“Yes. Then we will use a forward strike to kill Ginger.”

“Go.”

The giants had high health so a minimum of 100 people was needed to catch them!

Pale was unanimously chosen to be the expedition leader.

“Everyone. Why do you believe in me enough to make me the leader?”

“You are Weed-nim’s battle slave.”

Weed’s battle slave was a nickname he was given in Royal Road.

Maylon, Romuna, Irene, Surka, Bellot, Hwaryeong and Zephyr also led small groups.

Teros and the Crimson Wings Guild willingly handed over the leadership.

“Making us representatives of the expedition? It is due to the hard work of the Crimson Wings Guild that pioneering is possible.”

Zephyr had some doubts about the proposal to take over the expedition.

They had received decisive achievements in the expedition, so there wouldn’t be any advantage in stepping back from leading the expedition.

‘What are their intentions…?’

Teros laughed at Zephyr’s suspicions.

“We have to give it to you. Our strength alone isn’t enough. It isn’t our place to lead the northern users.”

“People have forgotten the incident related to the Crimson Wings in the past.”

“It is fine when it is a small adventure. But we would rather live stably than lead an expedition. I hope that later we can receive a small piece of land in the Arpen Kingdom from Weed-nim.”

After an internal meeting, the Crimson Wings Guild had decided to settle in the Arpen Kingdom. The northern users were constantly developing the villages and it seemed fun to live in the Arpen Kingdom.

“Then… I understand what you are saying. I will mention it to Weed-nim.”

“Please.”

Pale and Zephyr faced each other, but soon turned away.

‘They still trust in people. Still, I’m afraid of the consequences so I won’t let them know.’

‘Their perception compared to the reality of the world… There is a big difference.’

Weed had appointed Pale as a lord in the Arpen Kingdom.

The Northern Continent was filled with wide plains, granaries and beautiful rivers. However, he was given a mountainous area.

“Why of all things…”

“An archer. Archers suit the mountains. And there are secrets hidden in the ground.”

“Secret?”

“That might be enormous resources sleeping in the mountains! If you dig them then you can become the richest on the continent.”

A horse was good, but in the end the lord of the mountain village had to walk in by foot due to the tough road. He needed to determine if there were any resources in the mountains, but labour and money was necessary for that.

“Yes, Lord-nim. I am hungry.”

“There is nothing to eat and no place to sleep.”

Pale couldn’t ignore the residents.

He needed money for the poor residents of the mountain village.

Zephyr was given a fishing village on the river with a population of 200 people.

“The scenery is wonderful.”

It was fortunate that it wasn’t a mountain village. He thought he would get an even worst position because he liked Weed’s sister.

But Weed gave him the following requirements.

“Develop a port and make it the centre of trade.”

“T-trade? Isn’t there no market or trading office in this area?”

“Don’t stop developing. Connecting all the surrounding roads. I also want you to build luxury villas, housing, a recreational city and production facilities. You need to make full use of such a good land.”

“Even with funding from the Arpen Kingdom…”

“This is a big and beautiful river. Why do you need money when there is the river?”

“Once you develop a city, I will come to visit you with Yurin. Can’t you develop a port city in 6 months?”

Zephyr inwardly thought.

‘A devil. Devil.’

He couldn’t give up on Yurin so he poured all his money into the village.

He had a lot of money after his life as a fisherman. But after investing all his money, he became poor and came to the land of the giants to hunt.

He needed to recoup the monthly deficit of his city.

‘Sob.’

‘Aigoo.’

Teros left without realizing Pale and Zephyr’s misery.

‘Maybe a free life is better.’

‘It is risky to become a lord in the Arpen Kingdom.’

Pale made maps of the land of the giants based on users.

“This is a pretty large continent. The mountains here stretch high up and the ponds are the size of a sea.”

Level 400~500 northern users were in a meeting.

“The fortress is the home of the giants. There are many of them.”

“One giant is level 700 so I can’t imagine a bunch of them.”

“It is impossible. Certainly.”

Among the hundreds of users, there was one famous person quietly waiting for Pale’s command.

The warrior Python.

He was a strong warrior who could beat anyone in a one on one match, yet he was listening to Pale.

‘I acknowledge anyone who has been hunting with Weed all along. Wah. Shouldn’t he be recorded separately in the history books?’

Pale, Seasoned Crab and Python were tightly bound by the devil called Weed.

Their friendship couldn’t be broken.

*   *   *

The expedition to the land of the giants.

Adventurer Chase returned to the expedition after a few days with some information.

“There are prisoners.”

“Prisoners?”

“People are trapped into the giant’s fortress. Fairies and elves. There are various species.”

The expedition erupted at Adventurer Chase’s words.

“Really?”

“Yes. Rather than explain in detail… It would be faster to see the quest.”

Adventurer Chase shared his quest with the expedition members.

Ddiring!

– Captive Slaves

Surprisingly, you have heard information of slaves imprisoned by the giants. Rescue the prisoners from their miserable lives!

Those who you save will be truly appreciative and cooperate with everything.

Level of Difficulty: S

Compensation: Cooperation of the prisoners and the treasures of the giants.

Quest Restrictions: The land of giants.

“Ohhh. A S-grade difficulty quest.”

The expedition members noticed it.

In the past, S-grade difficulty quests were absolute impossible.

They only watched Weed solving them on broadcasts. However, the Crimson Wings Guild uncovered the land of the giants through a S-grade difficulty quest.

‘If it is a fighting quest… It will be complicated like Weed-nim’s quests.’

‘The best users of the north are gathered here. Can’t we do it if we try?’

‘Even if it is tough, we should try it at least once.’

There were only a thousand northern users.

Starting with the Crimson Wings Guild, the number of high level users entering the land of the giants kept on increasing. Even users from the Central Continent who weren’t part of the Hermes Guild came to explore the land of the giants.

“Let’s try once. Isn’t Royal Road cool because of such quests?”

“The risk is too large. Hundreds of people could die. Giants are guarding the fortress containing the prisoners, so it is more likely that we will fail.”

“We have to find a way. How? This can’t be an impossible quest.”

“Realistically, it isn’t advantageous to have a large number of people. The giants will notice a full assault. Then we will be trampled to death.”

“What about the defenses of the giants’ fortress?”

“There only seem to be walls. It is because every giant is a siege weapon.”

“Even if we don’t capture the fortress, we should try it.”

After a heated debate, the people waited for Pale’s choice.

“What should we do?”

“That…”

Pale couldn’t make a decision and hesitated.

He had to quickly make a decision about this quest.

‘If we die after fighting with the giants…’

He didn’t want to consider what would happen if they failed.

‘I can’t tell the others yet. It is an important decision.’

Pale decided to send a whisper to Weed who had completed the star sculpture.

Weed had become a sculpting master so he left his whispers open for a while to receive compliments and gifts from people.

“This is the situation. There is a quest. What is your opinion?”

– Weed: Nice. Accept the quest.

“I understand.”

After confirming it with Weed, Pale said to the expedition members.

“Let’s do the quest.”

“Wah. A S-class difficulty quest!”

The higher the level of the users, the greater the death penalty.

However, what would be the fun if they stuck to low level quests and battles forever?

The atmosphere of the high-level users was very bright as they thought about fighting the giants and doing the quest.

“I will share the quest.”

Adventurer Chase handed out the quest to the northern users.

After making the decision, Pale felt better and whispered Weed.

“Thank you very much.”

– Weed: That’s okay.

“Can Weed-nim tell me the odds of succeeding?”

Pale firmly believed in him.

Pale and his colleagues had seen Weed complete quests with an incomprehensible difficult and he just became a sculpting master.

‘He must have a strategy or is convinced about victory. If the path is followed then the quest won’t be so difficult.’

Pale made a reasonable judgement while waiting to hear from Weed.

– Weed: The odds? I’m not sure?

“Huh?”

– Weed: How would I know?”

“Excuse me… Didn’t you tell me to accept the quest because you thought we could succeed?”

– Weed: It may or may not succeed. It is up to you. Life is like that.

“Then why did you want us to accept the quest?”

– Weed: It doesn’t involve me so I was curious.

“Heok!”

Pale’s complexion turned white.

*   *   *

Lee Hyun cleaned his house and cooked some dishes.

“How about abalone samgetang (ginseng chicken soup)? I want to eat it regardless of the cost.”

He had gained a large amount of money, fame and popularity from the broadcast of the sculpting master quest.

The other thing that mattered in life was money!

Riches were only not important at the moment of death.

“You guys should get something good as well.”

Lee Hyun gave some leftover shrimp crackers to the dogs and chickens he was raising.

The chickens competed over the shrimp crackers while the dogs ran away yawning.

The fur of the puppies shone as they played around.

Seo-yoon was feeding them luxury food so every day was like a paradise for the dogs.

“They must be full.”

Lee Hyun thought while hiding the shrimp crackers.

“The next day I will feed them after starving them.”

There was a little bit of time left.

Due to his leave of absence from university, his routine of playing Royal Road every day was unchanged.

He visited his grandmother every two days and nagged at Lee Hye-yeon.

“Your skirt is too short.”

“Oppa. What do you mean? Isn’t my skirt below the knees?”

“Well. Have you been doing the laundry these days?”

“Just wash it. It isn’t going anywhere so I’ll just stay home for two days.”

Lee Hyun and Lee Hye-yeon would talk like this to each other.

His sister knew when Lee Hyun was in a good mood due to his tone.

Lee Hye-yeon just remembered her brother trying really hard to provide food for them when he started nagging.

‘It will be fortunate that he has a girlfriend to nag to. Unnie is so pretty.’

Lee Hye-yeon was occasionally surprised to see Seo-yoon playing with the dogs.

The scene in the sunshine couldn’t help being beautiful.

‘I’m envious of her beauty.’

Women also like pretty women.

She glimpsed the smooth leg that was exposed by wearing shorts. Then Lee Hyun appeared.

Dudung!

Lee Hyun appeared like a villain as he frowned at Seo-yoon.

“Rice?”

“I ate.”

“Side dishes?”

“They are packed in the refrigerator.

Lee Hye-yeon who was sitting in the yard, smiled gently.

The sight of her brother talking to Seo-yoon was really cute and made her happy.

“What type of pants are those?”

“I only wear it at home.”

“If you squat for too long then the blood will rush out of your legs.”

“The hospital said I was healthy. And it is just for a few minutes.”

“Dog allergies..”

“None.”

“Shouldn’t you cover up today?”

“I will do it tomorrow.”

*   *   *

Lee Hyun, Seo-yoon and Lee Hye-yeon ate samyetang.

In the past, he would buy a small chicken from the market and spread it out over a few days. However, now they were eating one whole chicken!

“Keook!”

Lee Hyun lay down in the living room.

‘I ate a lot. This is happiness.’

As Lee Hyun closed his eyes, Seo-yoon came up and carefully placed his head on her knee.

Lee Hye-yeon’s cheeks were red as she looked at the scene, but her eyes were filled with love towards Lee Hyun.

Lee Hye-yeon held her tongue.

‘That unnie… Did Oppa save the universe?’

Lee Hye-yeon was grumpy towards Lee Hyun and Seo-yoon.

‘I’m envious. Really.’

She stayed in the living room and turned on the television.

It was a large curved television that was received as a gift from the broadcasting stations!

Lee Hye-yeon liked dramas but nothing was good these days.

The heroine’s appearance was inferior to Seo-yoon so she wasn’t as immersed.

It was like a firefly heading into the sun.

If there was a misunderstanding between the female and male character, just Seo-yoon’s appearance would ruin the situation.

‘Hyorin unni isn’t active in music these days.’

Then she turned the channel to KMC Media!

“Eh. Hye-min unni.”

Shin Hye-min was one of the most famous broadcasters related to Royal Road.

She ran the special program, Story of the Versailles Continent with Oh Joo-wan.

The land of giants.

A S-class difficulty quest.

– Hye-min ssi, are you also adventuring there?

– Yes. Just a while ago, I headed there with my friends.

– It is a shame that you can proceed with the quest due to the live broadcast.

– It can’t be helped. Still, I will be glad to explain the scenes to the viewers.

Lee Hye-yeon focused on the television immediately.

‘Oh yeah. Oppa’s colleagues are on an adventure. As well as the northern users.’

She was always interested in the northern users.

Lee Hyun called the northern users ‘chickens that he was raising.’

‘I would be able to go if I was stronger.’

Lee Hye-yeon watched the television for a while.

Seo-yoon didn’t care about the broadcast and Lee Hyun was sleeping.

It seems that the broadcast of the adventure in the land of giants will need to be relayed through Hye-min ssi.

– Hey. Don’t go that far. My colleagues are really good.

– Can you tell us specifically about your colleagues?

– That… There are too many people.

– What if I just picked a name? Isn’t the leader known as Weed’s battle slave?

– Yes. I would like to keep chatting. However, the northern users are now arriving at the giants’ fortress.

Rumours about Shin Hye-min’s association with Pale had already spread so it was used as material for the broadcast.

She received the joke and switched to Royal Road in a timely manner.

There were Pale and a thousand northern users.

Some northern and central users hurried after hearing the news, causing their number to swell by 200.

The fortress of the giants was huge and looked like a big mountain.

The walls were 100 metres in height.

– This is a spectacular sight. It is a little foggy so the high parts of the walls can’t be seen properly. Hye-min ssi. What is their strategy?

– The most common strategy of siege weapons won’t work. The information gathered about the fortress states that it is quite a poor place.

– If it is poor… Perhaps there are holes?

– Yes. It is possible to sneak through holes in the walls.

– Infiltrating the fortress. It sounds dangerous just hearing it. Then will they wait until night?

– At night, the giants’ eyesight and hearing are more sensitive. So, the infiltration will probably start soon.

Pale and the northern users emerged with equipment.

Wearing bright and colourful armour, they also brought equipment such as ropes and hooks.

It was aimed at the nature of the giants who hated dark things.

– Now the northern users are entering the giants’ fortress.

KMC Media put on solemn background music.

More than a thousand high level northern users lowered their bodies and approached the giants’ fortress.

The giants that could be seen were snoozing.

“Enter. Everybody, please be careful.”

“Come back alive. Fighting!”

The northern users scattered to various different holes in the walls.

From then on, the screen switched to show the perspective of each user.

There was a vast square and large buildings inside the giants’ fortress.

The giants weren’t moving around because it was time to sleep.

“Secure the area. Send the ranger and assassin squads.”

“Yes. I understand.”

The northern users had been together for a while, but their levels were high so they could act by themselves.

Northern users scattered all over for scouting.

They found prisoners in each building of the fortress.

Adventurer Chase released a lock.

“Come on.”

“Shhh. Quiet. We have come to rescue you.”

– 82 slaves have been freed.

7 metal technicians, 4 magicians and 3 artists are included.

They rescued humans, elves, dwarves and fairies and led them out of the fortress.

“Are there many more trapped?”

“Yes. There are at least 1,000 people underground.”

“Isn’t that a lot?”

“That area is a goldmine. Sometimes solid metal can also be found under the fortress.”

“What is it?”

“The giants use it to make things. It is very hard and doesn’t break easily.”

The northern users guessed that the size and rewards for this quest were great as they received information from the prisoners they rescued. The rescue operation continued. It took a while as there were many prisoners.

The northern users and prisoners moved quietly next to sleeping giants.

“Kururung.”

“Puweechi!”

But there was one giant that woke up.

“The fresh smell of humans…”

The giant noticed the prisoners escaping through the gap in the walls.

“Kuwaaaaah! The prisoners are running away!”

The giants quickly reacted to the yell.

“Kul. What? The prisoners are getting away?”

“Rise. Everybody get up!”

Roars came from all over the fortress as the giants woke up. The movements of the giants were slow, but the ground shook whenever they moved.

“It is wrong to run away. The giants are gathering at the walls.”

“Damn. The fight is over.”

“Let’s just fight and die.”

“We should hide and fight. Hadn’t we guessed that this would happen when we received the quest? If we try to run away then we will be chased.”

The northern users decided to combine their strengths.

Pale conducted the users through the communication channel.

– Pale: We were caught. I won’t give a long explanation, but the quest hasn’t failed yet. In this situation, users can still escape with prisoners. Those who are trapped inside the fortress, prepare to fight with your colleagues. Even if it means dying, you have to buy some time. The quest can be successful even if you die.

Hoping for the quest’s success!

The northern users had been aware of the difficulties from the beginning.

“I don’t mind dying once or twice.”

“I will be shown on the live broadcast. I don’t want to run away and die. I will fight in a cool manner.”

“Those who are trapped, come on out! We’ll guide you to a safe place.”

The movements of the northern users accelerated. Some rescues the prisoners while others prepared to fight the giants.

The broadcasting stations cheered as they noticed the audience ratings rise once the users were discovered by the giants.

“7%. It has only been 5 minutes and it has soared by 2%.

“The other stations?”

“We took 2%.”

“The editorial team should do more… Secure more simultaneous video relay!”

Colourful videos were broadcasted live. The elite northern users were gathered together so they showed an excellent performance against the giants.

It was like prestigious guilds joining together to hunt boss monsters in the past.

“Insects. You won’t be able to escape your fate.”

The giants stomped on the ground and hit the northern users.

The northern users fought back courageously while others escaped with the prisoners.

“We can do it. Take down the giants!”

Some users destroyed buildings within the fortress.

Obstacles were created when the huge buildings fell down.

It was inconvenient for users, but it provided them with hiding spots.

It also prevented the giants from running around freely.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

The northern users chanted those words like it was a drug.

Grass Porridge Cult!

Many shouted grass porridge while fighting.

They had the ability to turn the impossible into reality.

The enemies were powerful.

But as long as those words were there, the users were confident that their colleagues wouldn’t abandon them.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

The northern users rushed at the giants with all the skills they had.

*   *   *

– Amazing. It isn’t easy to push them back. Everyone is demonstrating amazing combat power. One person died, but another used that gap to jump on the giant’s head.

– Yes. This opportunity can’t be missed.

– There is great concentration. Shin Hye-min ssi, do you think this quest will succeed?

– It is an expedition filled with northern users. I think that the quest will be a success.

– The reason?

– I think it is their absolute will to never back down.

Oh Joo-wan and Shin Hye-min didn’t hide their excitement.

The video on the screen was fierce and spectacular.

If they abandoned their colleagues and fled then they could survive.

However, none of the users left through the holes and continued assaulting the giants.

Priests and paladins didn’t budge from the shaking ground as they healed their colleagues.

The big buildings in the fortress were being broken by magic spells.

“Um.”

Lee Hyun opened his eyes and watched the television.

“Oppa. Would you like me to lower the volume?”

“No. Just leave it.”

Lee Hyun watched the giants and northern users battling for a while.

Of course, he was praying for the northern users to win.

‘It is like seeing a chicken I raised go out to fight.’

In fact, the wealth and magic materials from the land of the giants were processed and sold in the Arpen Kingdom.

Not only did production occupations improve, but the wealth from the expedition was also important to the Arpen Kingdom.

Lee Hyun’s eyes sharpened.

‘Let’s see… I need to make a decision on my next profession.’

He might have chosen wrongly, but he didn’t change his profession of sculptor and saw it through to the end.

The next profession was certainly important.

The blacksmithing and tailoring skills were just as difficult as sculpting, so he was proud that he raised them higher than the intermediate level.

It was possible to master production based professions, based on sculpting and handicraft.

It wasn’t as hot as a combat profession, but it would act as support to being a sculptor!

Considering the distant future, it might be good to pick a production profession.

‘The desert warriors and swordsmen require conflict.’

His swordsmanship was advanced level 6.

It was also tempting to master swordsmanship.

It would increase his health, attack power, various ranged techniques and his wide area skills.

He had made sculptures in the Desert of Tranquility, but he had also obtained Lava River and Devastating Sandstorm from Hestiger.

He would become complete if he changed to a combat profession.

Lee Hyun had trouble making a decision on his future profession. However, he made up his mind while watching the northern users fight.

‘The strongest combat profession. In fact, there isn’t anything like that. Each profession will have advantages depending on the situation. Yes… I need to catch up on the levels I couldn’t gain due to the quest.’

Stats and skill proficiency.

He wouldn’t be pushed by the top ranked players in Royal Road. But Lee Hyun recalled his time in Continent of Magic.

‘I need to raise my level and beat everyone. It is okay to run a little faster because I have the basics.’

Lee Hyun got up from where he was laying down on Seo-yoon’s legs.

“I will go back.”

*   *   *

It was night time in Royal Road when Weed connected.

– Awoooo.

A wolf’s howl was heard near the Tower of Light at Morata. After making the sculpture, he was returned to the Versailles Continent through Hestia’s power.

“Hum hum. It is something important so shouldn’t I look at it once?”

Weed looked up at the night sky.

There was a star shining brightly in the northern sky.

– Magnum Opus! You have viewed the Wife and Child sculpture.

A sculpting of a wife and child shining in the night sky!

You have viewed the sculpture that made history.

Due to mastering sculpting, the effects from appreciating the sculpture will double.

Intelligence has permanently increased by 5. Luck will increase by 17.5% during the day. Maximum health and mana will increase by 57.5% during the day.

All stats increased by 125.

Long distance movement speed will increase by 87.5%. All stats will permanently increase by 3.

Due to completing the Master Quest, the effects of Wife and Child will overlap with other sculptures.

Indeed, a magnum opus sculpture!

“The effect of the sculpture is fearsome.”

Due to mastering sculpting, the effects of the sculpture have increased by 50%.

Even if all the additional effects were subtracted, it wasn’t weak for a magnum opus.

But due to it shining in the night sky, the effects from the sculpture would benefit everyone.

“The Hermes Guild. I will punish the ones who don’t pay taxes to the Arpen Kingdom.”

The sculpting master quest. After gaining the final secret sculpting technique, it was the work that had the most impact on the Versailles Continent.

“I was good as a sculptor.”

His regret about becoming a moonlight sculptor had disappeared.

He had turned the disadvantages of a sculptor into benefits.

Honestly, he had learnt various skills such as sculpting, blacksmithing, tailoring, cooking, fishing, shipbuilding, mining, herb gathering etc.

He was already at the peak so it didn’t matter what type of second profession he got.

“Now. Should I go and get a second profession?”

Weed’s steps were very light. Of course, he needed to save time so his steps were very fast.

Shasasak!

*   *   *

A dark tunnel led down from an underground area to a back alley in Morata.

There were numerous people wearing dark robes and holding skeleton sticks coming and going.

“Doesn’t it seem like the price of the market has gone up?”

“Ah. I’m going to die. The toad eyeballs are hard to buy so I have to, even if they are scamming us.”

“Want to buy zombie flesh? I have five kilos of fresh flesh.”

Necromancer users!

The novice users raised their skill levels through magic research and undead summoning rather than hunting. Weed entered wearing his usual novice clothes.

He finished the sculpting master quest so there was a lot of pressure on where he would appear next.

“Um… I just need to wear it. People won’t expect a king to be here.”

Despite being conscious of his clothes, the necromancers just continued what they were doing.

“Buying oyster shells.”

“Rotten eggs. 1 silver for a basket.”

An overly plain appearance in a dark alley.

None of the users bothered Weed.

“Hum hum. They don’t want to corner a hero. Their bodies are shaking from charisma.

The humiliated Weed convinced himself as he entered the Necromancer’s Guild.

*   *   *

“You, noble one. Would you like to walk the path of domination over death and explore the principles of darkness?”

“Yes.”

“A necromancer has to think carefully about exploring life and death.”

“I know everything.”

“A hard heart, cold brain and the gazes of the people…”

“I know, do it quickly.”

Weed saw a necromancer who gave him a quest a long time ago.

‘I don’t need to struggle to get the profession.’

The king of the Arpen Kingdom.

In addition, he was able to talk to the necromancer due the previous encounter.

A necromancer was a top profession for a magician!

It was a profession that required high wisdom, knowledge of magic and passing through complex quests.

In Weed’s case, he had Barkhan’s Tome so he could change to a necromancer at any time.

“I understand. Please take control of death and obtain immortal life.”

He raised a thin hand above Weed’s head.

Ddiring!

– Becoming a necromancer.

You can learn black magic and how to summon the undead.

Maximum health will increase by 10%.

Maximum mana will increase by 150%.

The influence of fame will be reduced by 20%.

The effect of Faith is reduced by 35%.

Due to becoming a sculpting master, his sculpting skills weren’t penalized after receiving a new profession.

Magicians had weak health.

Since a sculptor’s health was also low, there was a small increase.

If he changed from a warrior to a magician profession then strength or agility would have been adversely affected.

‘Sculpting is a really sloppy profession. It caused the effects to be better.’

He gazed at the hand of the instructor.

“Learning the magic that governs death…”

“I got it.”

Weed ignored him and pulled out a book from his backpack.

– The Necromancer’s Spellbook written by Barkhan himself: Durability 30/30.

A spellbook containing information about how to manufacture the undead, the second most difficult area of research in black magic. Recipes for every undead, ranging from basic to advanced, are described.

Written by the genius magician Barkhan himself, it isn’t difficult to understand.

However, it takes a lot of mana to create undead so not everyone can use it.

Restrictions: Magician profession. Level 200, 500 wisdom, 8000 mana.

It is because to change to a necromancer.

Options: Black magic resistance +25.

Ability to create undead +2. Undead bosses with intelligence can be made.

Improves the health of the dead and creates resistance to holy magic.

‘The preparations are complete.’

He had already secured Barkhan’s full set!

Barkhan’s magic made it possible to stand at the top of all necromancers. The real value was the undead summoning and manufacturing magic.

‘There are various types of magic.’

Weed learnt the undead summoning magic from the spellbook.

Ddiring!

– You have learnt the skill: Summon Undead.

Summon Undead Beginner 1 (0%): Can turn corpses into the undead.

“Um. I am finally a full-fledged necromancer.”

In the past, he had used sculpture transformation to become a lich and summon the undead. However, now he had to start from the beginning.

Nevertheless, he didn’t mind at all.

‘I had a little bit of experience and playing as a necromancer isn’t hard.’

Necromancers were famous for their hard beginnings.

It was difficult to hunt, mana was scarce and most of the undead produced were weak and would soon collapse.

Necromancers that could maintain this would grow rapidly, but they had to walk the road of patience before that.

However, Weed was already level 454.

He also had a wide variety of skill proficiencies.

‘I can use the sculptural lifeforms to hunt and raise the bodies to utilize them. And while staying as a necromancer, I can raise my swordsmanship and other production skills.’

By the time he mastered necromancy, he would be able to target his production skills, blacksmithing, martial arts or a desert warrior depending on the situation.

He was already calculating his second, third, fourth professions!

‘That would be enough to beat a dragon.’

The Hermes Guild was a target, but his end goal was a dragon!

He was equipped with the Devil’s Helmet, the Fallen Saint’s Staff, Barkhan’s full set and his sculpting skills.

– You have learnt the skill: Corpse Explosion.

Corpse Explosion Beginner 1 (0%): Powerful magic will explode a copse and destroy the surrounding area.

The strength will depend on the size and quality of the corpse.

He then acquired golem, curse and bone defense magic.

Weed’s necromancy skill would improve as more skills were learnt.

‘I’m a novice necromancer but I have nothing to fear.’

He was different in all aspects from a beginner necromancer.

His necromancy skill would be able to rise quickly in the early stages due to his stats and equipment.

It was the gap between working in a convenience store and a conglomerate!

Weed leisurely said.

“Character information.”

Character Name | Weed | Alignment | Righteous Person Recognized by the Gods

Level

454

Profession

Legendary Moonlight Sculptor Master

Necromancer

Title | World-changing Sculptor | Fame | 305,399
Position | King of the Arpen Kingdom | |
Health | 97,845 | Mana | 69,141
Strength | 1,847 | Agility | 1,255
Vitality | 322 | Wisdom | 440
Intelligence | 517 | Fighting Spirit | 634
Endurance | 449 | Perseverance | 1,315
Art | 3,513 | Charisma | 723
Leadership | 956 | Luck | 304
Faith | 764 + 435 | Charm | 954 + 30
Resilience | 631 | Dignity | 556
Concentration | 322 | Courage | 414
Honour | 887 | Affinity to Nature | 2,288
Attack | 9,502 | Defense | 2,693
Insight | 101 | |
Magic Resistance
Fire | 49% | Water | 46%
Earth | 43% | Black Magic | 44%

+ All stats have an additional 20 points added.

+ The Art stat is granted an additional 80 points.

+ All stats will increase by 30% on a moonlit night.

+ Specialized items.

+ All production skills can be learnt up to the master level. Preferential treatment will be applied to the skills of all items manufactured with Smelting. You can learn the best skills.

+ Unusual sculptures or sculptures will high artistic value will increase your fame.

+ All stats have been raised by 381 points due to sculptures, production skills, combat experience and quests.

+ The skill proficiencies for all skills will be faster by 6%.

+ All stats will increase by 15 thanks to wearing Baharan’s Bracelet.

His character information window contained a huge amount of information!

‘There is a lot of work to be done quickly. I should head to the land of the giants before it disappears.’

It had only been 20 minutes since he connected to Royal Road.

The bloody battle of the northern users was still occurring in the land of the giants.

Most of them didn’t want to die but it didn’t matter.

The more delicious the food was, the less there was to eat.

“You want dirty mud?”

“Eung. Give me a bunch of it.”

“One bundle is three silver but… For Your Majesty, I am willing to sell it for two silver.”

“I will pay one silver.”

“That can’t be done.”

“Uh… I am the king.”

“It still isn’t possible. 2 silver.”

– The bargain has failed.

Intimacy with Necromancer Greg has dropped.

Fame has decreased by 1.

Weed purchased a few simple magic materials from the Necromancer’s Guild. They were materials essential for creating a golem. It was difficult to make good quality golems in the field.

‘Let’s go now.’

At that moment, a necromancer came up to him and said.

“The Necromancer’s Guild is lacking good souls.”

“Soul?”

“Souls with might power can be made into undead and they are suitable for researching the origin of life. It is a tough request, but I will compensate you if you bring me souls.”

Ddiring!

– Capture Strong Souls

The Necromancer’s Guild wants souls.

If you gather strong souls then they will give you a reward.

Level of Difficulty: B

Quest Restrictions: The skill Soul Extortion.

Accomplish it within a month.

*   *   *

‘B-grade difficulty.’

Weed couldn’t stop smiling.

S-grade difficulty!

It was nice to have a quest that wouldn’t have an influence on the continent.

It was like asking a student enrolled at Seoul National University to suddenly do simple multiplication!

‘A simple quest to secure materials. It means it is a combat quest.’

With hard, it was hard to guess the result even if he put in effort. This wasn’t as complex and difficult as sculpting quests.

It was a simple combat quest involving loot acquisition for the guild.

He could get compensation from fighting and completing the quest, so it was like killing two birds with one stone.

‘Simple is good.’

Soul Extortion was a necessary skill for a necromancer.

It had little to do with the undead, but could be used to remove intermediate or higher protection magic and to curse someone.

It was a skill written in Barkhan’s spellbook.

“It isn’t too hard. I’m willing to gather them.”

– You have accepted the quest.

“Defense formation!”

“Kyaack!”

“Don’t move in place. Scatter while changing positions.”

The northern users were persistent. However, their original number of more than 1,200 had been reduced by half.

“Grass porridge, grass porridge!”

Even so, none of the users ran away.

They would attack the giants until the end!

“Go faster.”

“Giants are gathering in this direction. Change directions.”

“The rescue of the prisoners?”

“Four teams haven’t come yet. We need more bait to distract the giants.”

As the leader of the expedition, Pale didn’t want reckless deaths.

‘The victims should help the quest be a success.’

The northern users collaborated to rescue the prisoners from the giants’ fortress.

‘So far we have saved 400 people. There are still many prisoners left.’

Pale jumped on the roof of a big house built by the giants.

He pulled out an arrow and fired it like lightning.

“Multiple Piercing Arrows!”

The arrow split into dozens of pieces and hit the giants.

“Kueeoh!”

The giants suffered but didn’t die thanks to their high health.

“Bug!”

The giants found Pale and started running over.

Pale ran and jumped between buildings.

He couldn’t afford to fire any arrows.

– Faint blow!

You have caused 3 damage due to the opponent’s hard skin.

He threw an arrow.

It was an archer’s secondary attack skill for emergency use, but is only dealt 1 or 2 damage.

“That tingles. Bug!”

The giants ignored Pale’s attacks and smashed the buildings as they ran after him.

“Kuk!”

Pale jumped into the air to avoid falling with the building.

He was an agile archer who could jump dozens of metres in height, but he only reached the level of the giants’ eyes.

A fishing line appeared as Pale was about to be smashed between a giant’s hands.

“Hold on!”

Pale held on firmly to the fishing line. At that moment, he was pulled by an incredible force and was able to escape.

The fisherman who saved Pale’s life was Zephyr.

“Thank you.”

“That’s okay.”

Pale landed on another building and fired his arrows towards the giants.

In addition to arrows, magic spells and skills also hit the giants’ bodies but they didn’t deal large damage.

The northern users mercilessly assault one giant and brought it down, before being trampled by another enemy.

“We can’t…”

Pale was desperate.

As the battle continued, more northern users lost their lives.

They exhausted their mana on the giants and their strength, resilience and health couldn’t compare to the giants.

The giants quickly replenished their health after leaning against a wall, but the northern users were chased from every direction.

They were barely able to take a breath in small niches of shattered buildings.

“It is difficult. This…”

Pale and the northern users lost their strength and vitality.

Thoughts about their dead colleagues popped up if they tried to run away. However, they didn’t see a way of winning.

Then some lyrics were heard from the direction of the walls.

– Today the weather is great.

I’ll press and dry the laundry. Wash the blanket, and underwear too.

The sun is bright.

I am here. Yes I am.

“Keook.”

“This, this is…”

The northern users heard the odd lyrics and off strange singing skill.

It sounded crisp even when barely dodging behind trampled by the giants’ huge feet.

They didn’t understand the significance of the lyrics.

“This?”

“I’m used to this noise!”

“Ack. I think my ears are rotting.”

Surka was barely holding on.

Irene was pouring all her mana into healing the injured.

Romuna was casting magic on a big house.

They were the first to uncover the protagonist of the song.

“I could never forget hearing such tone-deaf singing in the karaoke room.”

“Is it Weed-nim?”

“There is no one who sounds like Weed-nim!”

The northern users turned towards the direction that the song was coming from.

A magician wearing a novice robes with the sun behind him.

Weed the God of War had emerged.

“Weed-nim.”

“Weed-nim is coming!”

The high level northern users knew Weed’s face.

It was thanks to watching the broadcasts and the war against the Haven Empire.

Pale cheered as Weed emerged.

“Come!”

The situation where they were being pushed by the giants no longer felt meaningful.

They were filled with expectation for the impossible miracle that Weed would create.

– Piyak piyak.

The chicks are also gods.

Kokio.

Half Seasoned Half Fried is crying.

Today the weather is good.

Let’s start cleaning.

Weed finished the song and enjoyed it for three seconds.

The inspiration and joy of music!

The surviving northern users were watching with thrilled eyes.

‘That song isn’t suited for a king.’

‘We would be 100 screwed if he chose a bard instead of a sculptor.’

Weed shouted.

“Stop fighting. Everybody hide!”

– Skill: Lion’s Roar has been used.

The morale of all allies within the influence of Lion’s Roar has increased by 200%.

All confused states are released.

Your Leadership will increase by 300% for 5 minutes.

Lion’s Roar was used after a long time.

Although he wasn’t the leader of the northern users, the loud voice meant that people in the fortress could hear it.

“Ara.”

“What?”

“Why is he telling us to hide? Shouldn’t we squeeze out more of our power to fight?”

Weed suddenly appeared so it was hard for the northern users to follow his instructions.

Considering his status as ruler of the Arpen Kingdom and his accomplishments, they should respect him.

Even so, the sacrifice of countless colleagues meant they wanted to hold on.

Yet Weed told them to hide as soon as he appeared.

Then Pale the expedition leader screamed.

“Everybody hide! Weed-nim will be responsible for this battle.”

Pale was Weed’s faithful battle slave. The northern users regained their spirits after hearing his words.

“Let’s follow his words first.”

“Yes. He is Weed-nim.”

“We don’t know what he will do.”

They belatedly recalled Weed destroying the Earth Palace.

All the northern users rushed to find cover.

*   *   *

Weed scanned the giants in the fortress.

‘The giants are level 700. They are simple guys who rely on their health and fight without any skills. Still, their numbers is a burden.’

Despite not using any combat skills, the many giants were hard to fight.

They stomped on the users, crushed them or killed them by destroying the buildings.

The northern users struggled with their incomparable size and power. If they didn’t have fighting experience and courage then it would have been impossible to survive up to now.

‘They are hard to hunt. The high level bodies will be a great material to use for the undead.’

There were 55 living giants.

22 were already dead.

In addition, more than 600 northern users had died.

‘This is a wild ginseng field for a necromancer. I will dig them up.’

Weed took out a sculpture and used a skill.

“Sculptural Destruction! Everything into wisdom.”

– You have used Sculptural Destruction.

The pain of destroying a Fine sculpture! The grief!

The Art stat is permanently reduced by 5 points. Fame has decreased by 100.

The art stat is converted into wisdom at a rate of 1:4 for one day.

Due to the art stat being too high, not everything will be converted at once.

1,250 wisdom has been changed to the level 2 advanced skill ‘Mental Concentration.’ The effect of magic and skills will increase to 220%.

620 wisdom has been changed to the level 1 advanced skill ‘Hazy Area of Destruction.’

The range of attack skills will increase.

882 wisdom has been changed to the level 5 advanced skill ‘Thick Darkness.’ Necromancy skills and black magic will be strengthened.

1,030 wisdom has been changed to the level 6 advanced skill ‘Reclaim Magic.’ Mana recovery rate will speed up.

1,600 wisdom has been changed to the level 1 advanced skill ‘Golem Production.’ A golem that protects the necromancer can be created.

1,000 wisdom has been changed to the level 1 advanced skill ‘Shaky Vision.’ An illusion that can only be seen by the enemy will keep you safe.

The art stat points he accumulated had been transformed into wisdom!

Considering that he originally only had 440 wisdom points, it had increased by 7,670.

If Weed was originally a necromancer then his wisdom stat would be at least 3,000 points and he would have been close to mastering the skill.

Even so, this was a stunning effect that only worked with Sculptural Destruction.

“I wish I could cause a disaster but… All of the prisoners will die.”

It would have been perfect to start the battle with a masterpiece level disaster.

He would be able to customize a disaster for the giants and then cooperate with the northern users.

“Many users have died. Anyway, the world forces us to live in it.”

Weed grumbled but changed his equipment.

He put the novice magician’s robe away and pulled out new equipment.

“Lululu. There are many.”

Barkhan’s Skull, Dark Lord’s Boots, Hell Cloak, Hell Monarch’s Robe, Ring of Extermination and Eternity and Necklace of Purgatory.

The full set equipment owned by Barkhan who controlled the Immortal Legion!

The basic level limit was 600 and the equipment had special options related to undead summoning, curses and black magic.

Weed had put them away but now he wore all of the equipment.

– Barkhan’s full set has been worn.

The set effect is applied.

The effect of the Summon Undead skill will be enhanced.

You can absorb 1% of health and mana from the undead.

The limits of health will disappear. The added health will be stored in a corner. You won’t suffer damage unless it is a strong attack to your body or a blow by holy magic.

Weak!

Creatures who approach within a 50 metres radius will lose 30% of their physical abilities and some of their health will be lost every second.

Experiencing horror!

Feeling terrible fear.

Creatures will low morale will lose their lives and become the undead.

Item effects!

But before he could check the status of the equipment, a message window appeared.

– Stats are temporarily reduced due to the penalty of wearing the equipment.

Faith has decreased by 340.

Luck has decreased by 106.

Charm and dignity will be halved.

You won’t get the effect caused by the honor.

Intimacy with the inhabitants of the Versailles Continent will be reduced.

Some residents will feel severe terror and oppression when meeting you.

Bargaining is disabled in this state.

A huge penalty!

Weed had received few penalties when picking the necromancer profession.

However, Barkhan’s equipment were dangerous enough to be a curse.

If someone had weak faith or mentality then they could lose themselves to the equipment!

Excellent blacksmiths like Herman and Fabio could wear the equipment despite the restrictions. However, they would lose themselves and become the incarnation of Barkhan.

‘It won’t happen to me.’

Anyway, he wouldn’t have to think about it if he was a warrior or knight.

Weed grew as a sculptor while hunting monsters.

He reached the peak of swordsmanship during his days as a desert warrior.

His stats and useful equipment steadily accumulated due to hard work, he had the divine power and the desert warrior skills.

He had grown better than others, even if he only used sculpting.

In the case of a necromancer, there were various restrictions and rejection by holy powers.

He wouldn’t receive blessings and heals from priests, fame would fall and intimacy decreased.

The higher the Summon Undead skill, the more penalties that would be added.

If he dragged a large number of undead along with him, he could theoretically increase his hunting speed by 10 or 20 times. But there were enormous constraints.

‘If I hadn’t got the secret sculpting techniques then I might not have been able to master necromancy.’

Weed’s eyes sharped as if he had seen money on the street.

He wasn’t satisfied being a little better than others.

As a peak sculptor, he was going to be the best in Royal Road.

*   *   *

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan.

They were about to finish the broadcast about the giants.

Although the northern users were fiercely fighting, it wasn’t necessary to show them being wiped out.

The quest was determined to be a failure so the station was preparing to send a message to end the broadcast.

“The power of the northern users is amazing.”

“This time they failed, but I can admit that they challenged a difficult quest.”

“Maybe there will be better results next time.”

Shin Hye-min was suffering from the thought of Pale dying but kept on talking.

Then there was a huge fuss by the crew members in the studio and the writer waved to them.

‘What? This is?’

The shaky voice of the youngest writer could be heard in Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan’s earphones.

– Weed… Weed the God of War has appeared at the giants’ fortress!

Shin Hye-min was familiar with Weed, but this moment felt different.

‘The results… They might be different.’

More than 1,000 northern users attacked the giants’ fortress.

Only one person was added but the situation would have to change greatly.

All those familiar with Weed would say something similar.

“Weed appeared for a reason. It means that we won’t be bored. Because he always has an estimate.”

A cheap estimate!

In fact, that had a larger meaning.

It meant he had figured out everything on the battlefield and was ready to overturn it.

It made sense why people called him God of War in Continent of Magic.

‘Weed is coming!’

Oh Joo-wan was even more surprised.

The ratings were different when it came to Weed’s hunting or adventures.

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan quickly looked at each other.

‘Continue?’

‘Yes!’

A decision was made to extend the broadcast about the land of the giants. It was ridiculous for the broadcasting station to stop airing when Weed appeared.

In particular, KMC Media’s audience rating and contents regarding Weed was the biggest.

“The land of giants. The giants are really great.”

“The users have persisted and aren’t giving up yet. It is for the sake of creating a miracle.”

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan continued broadcasting.

– There are three minutes remaining until Weed emerges. Shorten it more.

The youngest writer’s voice was heard again.

Weed hadn’t appeared in the live video yet.

The time difference between reality and Royal Road was 4 times.

The editing, directing and application of music meant there was a delay of a few minutes.

Sometimes the delay would be for more than an hour. However, the best directors would shorten it as much as possible for a live broadcast.

If they didn’t do their best then they would lose viewership to other stations.

“Ah. It is really a pity.”

“The giants are simple but strong. There are too many giants and the structure of the fortress is an advantage for them.”

Although they were aware of Weed’s emergence, they had to carry on a normal conversation in order to maximize the dramatic effect.

‘The viewers who are only roughly watching the television… Won’t they be shocked when Weed comes out?’

After a while, Weed appeared on screen.

The worst singing!

The music was the worst, but it was a song that gave them a strange anticipation.

“Viewers. Don’t be alarmed. The God of War! King of the Arpen Kingdom and sculpting master. Weed had appeared.”

Shin Hye-min felt happiness well up in her chest.

As a host, she had the joy of announcing Weed’s appearance. The explosion ratings and reaction from the audience caused all her fatigue to disappear.

Oh Joo-wan’s tone of voice increased.

“A sudden emergence. Although it can’t be called cool… He is singing the song with a lot of enthusiasm!”

Oh Joo-wan relaxed after Weed appeared.

But this turned to amazement when the hosts discovered the new equipment Weed was wearing.

“He is changing equipment. The robe has skulls and rib bones on it. That is the equipment of a necromancer. Obtained after hunting Barkhan, it is his full set!”

“Necromancer set? Then… Viewers. It seems like after mastering sculpting, his new profession is a necromancer!”

At that moment, the viewers on the bulletin boards exploded.

*   *   *

“Heeok…”

“The ratings are continuing to climb. It is going over 30%.”

“Director-nim. Every Internet message board is being flooded with posts regarding Weed and Royal Road.

“My friends and colleagues are watching the television while talking to each other on their phones.”

Weed’s sudden emergence in the land of the giants was a jackpot for the broadcasting stations.

The audience ratings were rising and companies rushed rapidly to secure advertising spots.

“Emergency call. Everyone will now focus on this program. What was next?”

“After 20 minutes, a 24 hour dungeon capture program.”

“Delay the regular broadcasts. I don’t know when this battle will end, but we will show it all.”

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan had some questions the moment they saw that Weed was wearing Barkhan’s full set.

‘Necromancer.’

‘Why a necromancer?’

They were curious about Weed’s new profession.

In fact, there had been an in-depth analysis about what would happen after he became a master.

It was so difficult to master a profession in any field that they never thought he would pick a second profession.

‘And the second profession… It will take a long time to become stronger.’

Mastering the sword and then becoming a magician to complement the weaknesses wasn’t a good choice.

A magician would have superior attack power than a swordsman.

It was difficult to start a profession in an entirely new field.

Especially when it came to production or art professions.

If a knight changed to a warrior then it would be okay because there were a few familiar skills to learn.

Weed mastered an art profession so the number of options were endless.

‘A magician type. Is there a reason he chose a necromancer?’

Oh Joo-wan wasn’t a person to think about it for a long time. It was necessary to answer the question for the viewers.

“Hye-min ssi. Wouldn’t you say that Weed could choose from a large number of professions due to the quests and his experiences in the past?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“When looking at traditional battles, it is a swordsman or martial artist. Or a profession similar to the black knight.”

“He mainly uses swordsmanship. He also has a variety of techniques.”

“He is someone that no one can really follow. All types of great skills. The secret sculpting techniques as well as the amazing sword scenes… Why did he pick a necromancer as his second profession?”

Shin Hye-min was a bit embarrassed because she had no answer. She hadn’t heard anything about Weed’s second profession. But she could guess.

“I think it is probably not for a common reason.”

“Not a common reason?”

“The reason people usually choose necromancers is for rapid growth. But their weaknesses… Weed had great adventures so far but now he became a necromancer.”

“That’s right. A necromancer is rater better than other professions in the early stages of hunting and combat, but too many weaknesses have been exposed since then.

“Right now, the popularity of a necromancer has decreased and few users are selecting it.”

Necromancers can fight like they are 100 people.

That is under the premise that they have undead prepared!

An endless wave of undead.

The hunting speed would be enough to sweep through a dungeon in an instant.

Most necromancers raised their level quickly.

However, they would suffer from a decline in faith and other penalties from using the power of the dead.

Although a necromancer grew faster than other professions, there was a major deficiency in terms of harmonious growth.

Moreover, they were vulnerable to holy attacks from priests and the undead couldn’t be revived after being exposed to holy magic.

It was very difficult to conquer the continent with an undead army.

They could be attacked in the air or magic could be aimed at the necromancer from a distance.

Shin Hye-min carefully opened her mouth.

“In my opinion. The advantage of a necromancer is the quick hunting. I don’t know about ordinary users, but Weed won’t be satisfied with just that. His original hunting speed is fast. His competitors are also Bardray and the Haven Empire, so he won’t be able to catch up with them just because he became a necromancer.”

“Those are also my thoughts. The Haven Empire held the main hunting grounds in the Central Continent and had high level equipment. The Hermes Guild actively supports them. Even if his hunting speed increases after becoming a necromancer… It will be very difficult to pass them alone.”

Weed’s level was known to be quite low.

Oh Joo-wan was just speculating, but he didn’t think Weed would be able to overthrow Bardray just by becoming a necromancer.

There was no reason to fight the Hermes Guild one-on-one so it was meaningless from the beginning.

When it came to large scale combat, Weed had the support of the northern users and the Grass Porridge Cult.

There was no need to summon undead to fight a war.

“Yes. If there are profession penalties… It isn’t good for growth. Although the main stat that decreases is faith, other ones like honour, mental power, strength, agility and vitality would fall gradually.

“Necromancers have the worst penalty in that every stat except for knowledge and wisdom falls. His stats will decrease. Even though wisdom and knowledge will rise…”

“Weed-nim is the type of person who will begrudge every decrease in stats. For example, I asked why he always ate barley break with his right hand.”

“So?”

“If he changes to his left hand then his right hand will feel deprived of barley bread.”

“…Hrmm. It is strangely persuasive.  Anyway, a necromancer isn’t a good choice in terms of balanced growth.”

Oh Joo-wan was uncertain about necromancers and had a lot of questions.

As host of the broadcasts, he had a lot of knowledge about Royal Road but didn’t know that much about Weed.

When it came to Weed’s understanding of quests and hunting, no one could follow him?

‘A necromancer isn’t bad. But why did he do it?’

Shin Hye-min carefully opened her mouth.

“There are famous necromancer users such as Krobidyun-nim, Weed was the one to unlock the profession.”

“Yes. It was one of his many achievements.”

“There are other professions, but the understanding and utilizing of a necromancer might change in the future. We needed to see what advantages Weed thought about for becoming a necromancer… We will see it in the future.”

“Showing us something new? When thinking about a necromancer dragging the undead, I can only think about hunting.”

“Weed-nim doesn’t like to hunt conventionally. It wouldn’t be surprising if he shows us some miracles.”

*   *   *

A vast number of posts appeared on bulletin boards related to Royal Road.

– Necromancer!

– Kuooh… He is taking it on. Royal Road’s strongest solo profession.

– A necromancer? They are a pain to the people around them. It is hard to hunt if there is a necromancer in the dungeon.

– That’s right. Like the broadcast said, there are many disadvantages and the people around them hate them.

– I have a friend who said that being a necromancer is complicated, dirty and difficult. He was level 410.

– Disappointing. I thought his next profession would be a gardener. I wanted to see Weed’s flower arrangements.

– That wouldn’t happen even if the Versailles Continent is destroyed.

– Kuhuhu. Haven’t we seen Weed change into a lich on quests? He just wiped out everything.

– It was because he transformed using sculpting. It would be hard to grow steadily in that way. No. Why did he choose a necromancer in the first place?

– The Versailles Continent will be painted with death, corpses and fear in the future. The blood necromancer Weed has appeared.

– Kill the future devil Weed!

– The person above me. That isn’t a good joke!

*   *   *

“Okay.”

Weed felt refreshed like he had just swatted a fly.

The robe and cloak seemed like they were from hundreds of years ago, and there was a rotten stink from the skulls. However, the effects made them luxury items.

Rare magic items were worth it. A few options greatly changed his magic power.

Barkhan’s full set gave a necromancer the best capabilities.

Due to his blacksmith skill, the restrictions were lowered but the power wasn’t complete.

In order for Barkhan’s set to be properly activated, he had to be an undead like a lich.

“It isn’t over yet.”

He finished by wearing the Fallen Saint’s Staff and Devil’s Helmet that he obtained separately.

“It is time to show them hell.”

Weed tapped the Fallen Saint’s Staff against the ground and ordered.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Undead Rise.”

Stage 1 Summon Undead magic!

A large area around Weed became black.

“Kukuk!”

“Hukieeeek!”

The corpses of over one hundred northern users were replaced by zombies, ghouls and skeletons.

There were two giant sized zombies.

The bodies of nearby dead giants were summoned as undead.

“Undead Rise!”

His Summon Undead skill was low but he continuously used it to call the zombies.

– The skill Summon Undead has increased to level 2.

Control of the undead will increase and they will have a little more health.

The level of Summon Undead rose!

Because the undead he summoned were powerful, the skill easily rose from beginner level 1 to level 2.

Apart from the northern users, the bodies of the giants gave a lot of experience.

The effect of mastering sculpting also creased the skill proficiency to increase quickly!

Most skills grew quickly up to level 3 or 4, but it was still pleasant to see a fast growth.

“Heh. My happiness has gone up by one. This is the sense of accomplishment after hard work.

Weed was curious about the abilities of the giant zombie.

“Check the status of the undead.”

Name | Clover | Alignment | Chaotic Darkness
Species | Low Grade Undead | Level | 301
Profession | Weak Zombie | Fame | 5
Health | 723,021 | Mana | 50
Strength | 310 | Agility | 150
Wisdom | 5 | Intelligence | 5
Resilience | 10 | Luck | – 200
Faith | – 200 | |

An undead born from the giant Clover.

The great body of a giant has become a zombie and severely lost its physical abilities.

Due to the penalty of the Undead Summon only being level 1, the body can only be maintained for 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

If it obtains the blood and flesh of its own kind then this duration can increase.

Poisonous possession!

The giant zombie stood up but he was staggering.

‘Apart from his size, he is defective. The zombie won’t be able to embark on the battlefield.’

Weed had no expectations of the giant’s combat ability, but the health was still usable.

‘It would be great if I use him for Corpse Explosion.’

A giant was a complete level 700 monster. It was large, powerful and had a lot of health so dozens of people were needed to hunt one.

However, a level 700 dragon could destroy the entire expedition just by flying in the sky and using a breath attack.

A magician. In addition to being able to use large scale attacks, his attack power had greatly increased.

After his experience as ruler of the desert, Weed judged that the giants’ actual combat power was in the low to mid 600s.

They were only a burden to hunt due to their great health and resilience.

“Start attacking.”

Weed issued a command to the undead.

“Kya kya.”

“Kilkil! The Lord of Death has given a command.”

The undead started attacking the nearby giants.

The giant zombie staggered while the ghouls jumped. The skeleton army followed behind.

“Kuwaooooh!”

“Ugly seeds. I must get rid of the soul that polluted my fellow kindred!”

“That person uses a dirty power!”

The giants rushed towards Weed at once.

Even though there were many northern users, the eyes of the giants only looked towards Weed and the undead.

‘Such a thing… Although this is a side effect that I predicted.’

Necromancer!

They had extreme disgust for the necromancer who turned their kin into an undead.

He also frequented online cafes associated with necromancers in Royal Road.

– I finished a quest and my intimacy dropped.

– The more I hunt, the less people like me. The guards tried to kick me out.

– Infamy has piled up. Where should I go?

– If it isn’t night then I can’t enter a city. Sob sob.

A necromancer was the most dangerous occupation with the greatest hostility during the battle!

Weed gave an order and the undead quickly retreated.

“Deal with the cowardly worms.”

The earth shook as the ground rang.

The skeletons used their bones as weapons, but they were trampled like ants being stepped on by an elephant.

Some giants had a contest with their former fellow giant.

“Poor Clover. Have a comfortable rest.”

The giant zombie was destroyed, but the body was rebuilt again.

It was due to the effect from the Ring of Extermination and Eternity!

– Ring of Extermination and Eternity:  Durability 30/30, Defense 25,

Barkhan’s ring.

It has been filled with an aura of death for a long time. A weak mentality will be eaten by this ring

Some research about the undead have been sealed in the ring.

Restrictions: Level 650

2,000 wisdom

200 concentration

Options: Magic absorption.

Restores the destroyed undead.

Magic ‘Destroyed’ is available.

Wisdom +150

Knowledge +100.

The mana cost of necromancer magic will be decreased by 25%>

When a lich wears it, a certain amount of health will be absorbed from all living creatures in the surrounding area.

It can’t be lost.

Combat fame of 8,000 is required.

The skeleton bones were shattered and restored, but it was hard for them to stop the giants.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Undead Rise.”

Summon Undead was used again, raising two more giant zombies and one hundred skeletons.

This was just a quick headcount of the undead as they were quickly torn apart by the giants.

A necromancer could be called a one-man army, but the giants dealt almost no damage to the undead.

‘A minimum of death knights or liches are needed.’

Weed had gone through a lot so this much was expected.

A necromancer was a strong profession but his skills were only level 1 or 2.

The giants ignored the hiding northern users and ran straight for Weed.

“Let’s not hide and just help Weed.”

Python was among the hiding northern users.

Next to him was Pale who was also hiding.

“Hey. You people.”

Python signaled for them to sit with hand gestures.

Pale whispered in a low voice.

“Just stay put. I don’t know what that plan is, but it will be detrimental to us if we interfere.”

“Huh?”

“Weed-nim is someone that we don’t have to worry about.”

“Shouldn’t we worry since they are getting closer to him?”

“That’s not… He had a very broad vision. There are an endless number of tricks inside Weed’s head. Anyway, Weed-nim is already expecting the giants’ actions.”

“Are you sure?”

Python also heard the words.

“He has everything in his grasp. Not just the power of the enemies, but his allies as well. I start to sweat every time I think about hunting with him…

He is a human with eyes in the back of his head.”

The northern users in the communication channel heard the opinions and decided to wait and see.

Weed had create equipment and undead summoning magic, so he wasn’t likely to easily fall into a crisis.

The giants were great, but their opponent was a cockroach who wouldn’t die when stepped on.

Weed grinned.

“It is good that their movements are lacking.”

The giants were furious as they approached the undead.

“Die. Abominable bug!”

Three giants stretched out their hands to grab Weed. A critical moment!

Weed spread out his cloak.

“Space Distortion!”

Ddiring!

– The protection skill of the Hell Cloak has been used.

The space will be distorted to block the enemy’s approach.

Remaining skill uses left: 2

Weed disappeared and reappeared 5 km away from the three giants.

– Bugggg!

– Kill himmmmmm.

The cries of the giants echoed.

The defensive skill of the Hell Cloak distorted space in proportion to the size of the opponent, causing the giants to float in the air!

Magic resistant enemies could fight against it, but the giants were helpless.

The giants had huge health but even they would die if they hit the ground. The users were frightened as the saw the falling giants.

“Kuwaaaaah.”

“This way? This side?”

They feared that a huge hole would be created from the giants’ falling from that height.

Nearby users were busy avoiding it, but the giants were swept away by the wind and crashed in a distant place.

Kukukukung!

The damage was verified.

The giants chasing after Weed saw their kin fall and threw rocks or pieces of buildings at him.

“Drop dead. Bug!”

“Get rid of it. The ugly and evil seed!”

Despite the giants not using skills, the rocks they threw from a distance had terrifying destructive power.

They would instantly kill users with moderate defense or health.

Weed had debris equivalent to a whole building throw towards him.

A regular user wouldn’t have been able to withstand it.

“This should be fun.”

Weed had no idea how much fragments were flying towards him.

Advanced level 1 rock throw.

Weed looked at the giants scattered in many places.

Weed quickly jump up to avoid the rocks.

There was a perception that necromancers had a weak body.

Generally they didn’t invest in stats like strength and agility, so it was hard for them to have close encounters with monsters.

The rocks destroyed the buildings around him but Weed was fine.

“Wah. Look at those movements.”

“Crazy. A human isn’t capable of that.”

“Look at his judgement. Does it make sense?”

“It is like an illusion.”

The northern users admired him with open mouths.

Weed didn’t do any damage but the users’ eyes were shining. They had struggled painfully against the giants!

‘Weed-nim’s actions?’

Pale watched nervously. Dodging the rocks that the giants were throwing was a spectacular sight.

Even if someone had a dozen lives, it would be difficult for them to challenge.

‘This much is needed.’

Weed firmly believed in it.

Moment Sculpting!

If he couldn’t avoid it then he stopped time just before the rock hit him.

He didn’t use if frequently but it was certainly effective.

“Kuoohhh!”

The giants ran while throwing rocks and building debris.

Weed led the giants to an area where a lot of corpses were piled up.

The undead had gathered the corpses scattered throughout the fortress in one place.

Once the giants arrived at the appropriate place!

“Corpse Explosion.”

The strongest attack magic for a necromancer.

Kukukukung!

The power would depend on the health contained in the corpses.

Weed had his summoned undead and the giant zombies gathered in one place.

There were also a lot of corpses of northern users piled up. The appointed place was where the three giants had fallen.

The bodies exploded at once due to his magic.

– The body of the giant Alex has exploded.

It will deal damage proportional to its health in a 43 metre radius.

– A massive number of corpses have exploded!

The range of the explosion is magnified.

Additional effects of stun, numbness, poison and addiction will be given.

– The skill Corpse Explosion has increased to level 2.

The destructive power has increased by 6% and the range will widen.

Although the skill was only level 1, the power was enormous.

The northern users felt the ground shaking.

“T-this…”

“What is this magic?”

“Grab onto something!”

A huge explosion!

So far, they hadn’t since such a huge corpse explosion from a necromancer. Every time Weed chanted the spell, a body burst and caused a massive explosion. The giants were swept away by the explosions and suffered great injuries.

It was the heaviest damage they suffered since fighting the northern users!

Four giants lost their lives and the others were hit hard.

– Combat achievement! You have ‘turned the sky and the land upside down.’

The area has been decimated. Over 7 million magical damage was achieved at once.

All stats have increased by 1. Wisdom and knowledge have permanently risen by 3.

Maximum mana has increased by 1,300.

– Your level has risen.

Fame has increased by 3,784 due to the great combat achievement.

His level rose and there were achievements from the deaths of four giants.

Corpse Explosion caused 10 times the damage due to the high health. Weed skill level was still low, so it was impossible for him to kill them if the giants weren’t close to each other.

It would have been better to gather more giants together but that would have required the active cooperation of the northern users.

It was difficult to collect the giants in one place and he would have also needed to direct the northern users away.

This achievement was the result of his compromise.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Dead Rise.”

Weed used the summon undead magic again.

He continued to use mana to summon the undead.

The undead rose from the scattered corpses.

Hundreds of low grade undead ran towards the giants.

TL Note: Next chapter is also long, though not as long as this one. I’m going to translate it slowly and take a break around Christmas time. Therefore, this chapter will be posted on the 1st or 2nd of January.

Chapter 5: The Loa Sword

Overturning the situation!

A necromancer received penalties such as a decrease in physical strength, but they had corpses that could be used as subordinates or to cause a powerful explosion.

“Grrrr.”

“Kilkil!”

“I want to chew on flesh. Flesh!”

The skeletons rushed to the giants.

“Kukeeek!”

Skeletons climbed the bodies of the collapsed giants and struck down with a bone knife.

Ujijik!

The bone knife was broken.

“Kueek?”

The skeleton leaned down and grabbed another leg bone to hit the giant.

The giant’s mighty health! A skeleton couldn’t kill it but there was still damage.

“Fight. Bones!”

Weed even had skeleton archers and skeleton magicians who used ranged attacks.

Pushushuk.

They fired bone arrows and threw blue flames towards the giants.

“Kuooh!”

A blue light shone in the empty eyes of the undead created by Weed.

“Kuaah!”

A skeleton roared with an axe in each hand!

Many college students and scholars researched the various magics and effects in Royal Road. They used professional theories and mathematical formulas. There was a whole thesis filled with mathematical formulas that could make the general public fall asleep.

Summoning undead was particularly difficult since the geographical environment, monsters and necromancers’ stats and magic skills needed to be taken into account. The body’s capabilities and temperament would have a large and small effect on the undead summoning.

But the general consensus was 75% was skill level and stats, and 25% was the corpse’s quality.

Of course, the body of a rabbit couldn’t be used to make a dark knight or doom knight. It might be possible for a master necromancer but there were no users who reached this level!

It depended on the situation, but the quality of the corpse affected the undead by 1/4th.

The corpses of the northern users were excellent so there were fairly strong skeletons, with the occasional emergence of boss level undead.

“Master of the flesh! I want blood and slaughter!”

Even a boss level skeleton didn’t do much damage to a giant!

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk. Calling the Vampire Torido!”

Van Hawk and Torido appeared with a puff of black smoke.

They kneeled down politely.

“You finally walk down the road of the power of death. Master.”

“I have responded to the summons of the great monarch.”

The attitudes of Van Hawk and Torido, who had been summoned after a long time, was respectful. As a necromancer, his control over the undead had increased.

Weed unabashedly said to his subordinates.

“You guys will have plenty of work to do in the future. I will often be leading an undead legion.”

Van Hawk, who used to be Commander of the Undead Legion, didn’t conceal his expectations.

“Will you paint the Versailles Continent with death? Can the knights of death roam free?”

The madness of war and death!

Death Knight Van Hawk was filled with vitality.

Barkhan’s powerful undead army nearly devoured the continent. Once Weed became a necromancer, the undead could sweep through the continent.

“No. That is hard and annoying. I just want to eat and live well as a necromancer.”

“I thought being a desert warrior was cool and felt good but… It hurts when I think of the troops I brought up.”

Hestiger, who became the strongest on the continent, was like eating ramyun.

“The continent… It needs to dip in death in order for you to become a great necromancer.”

“I will reach the top of necromancy alone, while dragging the undead with me. And there is no need to dip in death. The Versailles Continent is a slaughterhouse. Especially in the Arpen Kingdom, there are complaints that people can’t hunt because of the stench. The value of housing has fallen. It is absolutely prohibited to summon undead within a 1,000 kilometres radius of Puhol Water Park.”

The Necromancer Guild in Morata was a disgusting facility that lowered house prices! In that regard, he hated a necromancer more than a sculptor!

The collapsed giants started to wake up so he stopped talking and used a skill.

“Strengthen Undead!”

– Death Knight Van Hawk’s health has increased by 6%.

Attack power has increased by 4%. Movement speed is faster.

Strengthen Undead was a level one reinforcement skill!

Van Hawk’s hollowed eyes became bright.

“What is this Master?”

“Now do your best.”

“Creating weapons or armour would be better.”

Weed could use basic undead reinforcement and equipment skills, but that wasn’t much help at this time.

Van Hawk was the former commander of the Undead Legion, a boss level undead and he was previously an abyss knight.

Thanks to steady quests and hunting, Torido was also over level 500.

‘It is easy to grow as a necromancer if I use these guys well.’

Weed decided firmly.

The hardships so far wouldn’t be for nothing!

His goal was to eat well and live well alone!

“Lead the undead.”

“Understood. Master. But the condition of the undead doesn’t seem so good.”

Van Hawk complained as he watched the skeletons. Van Hawk was a strong knight but if he led the undead, he could draw out their powers.

“Are there no death knights?”

“Eh.”

“Dullahan?”

“Not yet.”

“The troops I will lead are weak. And the enemy is too strong.”

“You don’t have to win the fight. Just lead the undead. Act as bait.”

“Bait?”

“Take a long time. I will continue to raise the undead, even if they are broken.”

“A dark knight’s pride… I can’t throw away the pride of the Immortal Legion.”

“Have you been feeling much pride these days despite being hit? Is your skull that hard?”

Weed could cause more pain to Van Hawk after becoming a necromancer!

“Torido. Suck the bloody of the giants.”

“Understood. Master.”

Torido hastily accepted the command. He noticed that it was the best way to keep his grace as a vampire noble.

Thanks to Van Hawk’s emergence, the combat capabilities and health of the undead rose. They were faster and their health increased. They were stronger by at least one grade.

“Come on! Breathe in blood! We are immortal beings.”

“Kukikikit!”

Under the direction of Van Hawk, the skeletons ran and attacked the giants.

Skeleton troops that didn’t know fear!

The undead would be quite helpful in general hunting grounds, but it was impossible for them to overpower the mighty giants.

“All the rotten things!”

“Cowards!”

“Kuwaaaaah.”

The giants who recovered from a stunned or confused state angrily trampled on the skeletons.

Due to the high hostility, the undead were the first targets.

Of course, in the eyes of the giants, they were attacking Weed.

The giants who suffered from Corpse Explosion didn’t go on a rampage. Their health had badly fallen so they stayed in the rear and were protected by their colleagues.

The undead with missing body parts exploded themselves as an additional opportunity to hunt. It meant that the giants’ radius of activity shrunk.

Weed sent a whisper to Pale.

“The undead will buy some time. Recover the wounded and quickly rescue the prisoners.”

– Pale: Yes. I understand.

Pale commanded the northern users to rescue the prisoners.

Bellot, Hwaryeong, Zephyr, Surka and Romuna. All of them were leading a group in the expedition so their movement were fast.

“Now. Move quickly.”

Once Weed appeared, the burden on the users was lighter. Even so, the northern users were tired from hunting.

While the giants were fighting against the undead, the northern users ran to save the captives. They jumped between buildings and rushed to the prisons. They didn’t take any risks.

Weed raised the undead while commanding them was left to Van Hawk.

– The skill Summon Undead has increased to level 3.

The skeleton bones have become harder.

There is a chance of summoned ghouls being able to move faster.

Due to the quality of the bodies, the Summon Undead skill increased rapidly.

If he used fresh seafood, he could get the best taste when making seafood noodle soup.

Of course, it didn’t have much meaning on the battlefield but the skeletons were a bit stronger.

Necromancers found it fun to watch the skeletons’ health increased by 100 or 200. The more novice users developed an attachment to the skeletons and zombies they raised. The skeletons were subordinates that should be pampered forever.

“Summon Sculpture!”

Weed used Summon Sculpture to call Yellowy.

– Summon Sculpture has been used.

53,203 mana has been consumed.

The sculpture was a huge distance away so there was tremendous mana consumption. His 150,000 mana was reduced to less than 30,000.

“Ummoooooo!”

The angry Yellowy emerged with a red aura around him.

The sturdy muscular body showed off his dignity. He was too big to be called a cow!

“Master. It seems to be a little dark. I feel a sense of dismay.”

“This is life. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. I haven’t washed for a month.”

“Ummoooooo. One month is okay.”

“I think so as well. Are you ready for battle?”

“Fighting is scary.”

“If you want to feed your children, you have to work diligently.”

“Understood. Master!”

Yellowy, who had been summoned after a long time, scratched at the ground with his hind legs.

The sculptural lifeforms that Weed created could become stronger.  In the case of Yellowy, he was usually gentle but showed terrifying combat power when angry.

“Master. Can I beat these guys?”

“Don’t win. Just run away.”

Weed rode Yellowy and attracted the attention of the giants.

“Abominable bug!”

“Delicious beef.”

The giants tried to catch Weed and Yellowy, but it wasn’t easy due to their swift movements.

Fast speed and quick change of direction.

Weed and Yellowy were chased by half a dozen giants.

Kung kung!

“Bug. Meat!”

“They are mine!”

Every time the heavy giants took a step when running, the earth shook.

“Do you know what will happen if you get caught by them?”

“I’m going to die?”

“To be exact, you will be eaten. The delicious cuts of meat will be fried. Every piece will be cut and boiled, with not even the tail being left behind.”

“Ummoooooo.”

“Don’t cry. Watch your pride. You have the best beef.”

Yellowy escaped through the obstacles and buildings like a mouse!

‘Too bad. If the giants were a little bit weaker than I would hunt them.’

Thanks to the undead army, it became much easier for the northern users to do quests.

While the giants beat down the undead and chased Weed and Yellowy, the northern users rescued the prisoners using side paths like cockroaches and mice.

“There is no doubt that it is S class difficulty quest. Something like this looks like…”

“I had been fighting in that position a while ago. It is great that I’m not dead.”

The northern users were nervous. They wanted to be able to complete the quest safely!

Weed went to the bodies of the giants that collapsed.

“Soul Extortion!”

– The soul of the giant Balross has been gained.

Captured souls allow you to research undead skills and enhance your skills.

He took souls from the northern users or giants in order to complete the Necromancer Guild’s quests.

He would be compensated according to the number of souls acquired so he took them from the bodies around him.

That was Yellowy’s purpose.

While acquiring the souls, he met Adventurer Chase who was rescuing prisoners.

“Weed-nim. It is a pleasure.”

“Yes. It is good to see you.”

“Coming here to help us…”

Adventurer Chase’s eyes were moist.

Weed was a busy person yet he came here. He saw that the northern users were in a critical condition and moved.

Weed spoke in a belligerent tone like someone asked him for money.

“Let’s talk at a later time.”

“Ah, I was too short-sighted. Right now you are busy commanding the undead.”

“That’s not it. I came to get the quest shared with me.”

“Huh?”

“I have to eat well. I’ll contribute a spoon.”

*   *   *

The quest to rescue the prisoners from the giants’ fortress.

Weed was able to complete the quest after the northern users helped all the prisoners escape.

– Captive Slaves has been completed.

Of the prisoners held by the giants, more than half have been escaped safely.

They are willing to hand over the treasures they have if you guide them to a safe area.

– Fame has increased by 1,458.

– Experience has been acquired.

– You have achieved amazing merit on this quest.

For the first time, four giants have been hunted at once on the Versailles Continent.

Title! Giant Hunter has been acquired.

A glorious title given to a merciless hunter of giants!

Damage will increase by 9% when attacking a giant.

It greatly raises your fame in the land of the giants.

A total of 800 users died but the quest had ended.

The users who survived were thrilled but also disappointed.

“Too many have died.”

“Hu… It was a highly difficult quest.”

“There is also the broadcast… Will we become famous?”

“Of course. We were with Weed. People around the world will know about us.”

Weed ate the meal that the northern users had prepared!

“Thank you. It is thanks to Weed-nim.”

“It is nothing. I did it because I could.”

“Kuhok. If you had come sooner…”

“Well, I am a little busy.”

Weed couldn’t confess that he had been sleeping on Seo-yoon’s legs.

The strong support group, the Grass Porridge Cult! As soon as the millions of users in the organization heard that, they would pull out their sword to stab him.

‘If I complain about her side dishes… I don’t know if I will be in trouble.’

*   *   *

The surviving northern users felt somewhat empty.

“That… Phew.”

“Ah. Too bad. Although I didn’t wish it to become like this.”

“That’s right. It is hard to hunt even one giant.”

“We received a huge blow every time we hunted one. Us.”

The users barely survived rescuing the prisoners and escaping the giants’ fortress. Looking back, they realized that they didn’t get most of the loot from the giants.

Every time someone died, their friends took care of their belongings. However, they didn’t pick up the items dropped by the giants!

“Kuooh. We left it all.”

“It can’t be helped.”

Despite the victory, the shoulders of the users were slumped.

“I didn’t get a chance to gain the items. Weed-nim said to stay hidden.”

“Wasn’t he just caring for us? It can’t be helped. Let’s just be satisfied with the success of the quest. We also got on the broadcasts.”

“Yes.”

The northern users thought back.

While they hid under the debris of the buildings, Weed was running around the fortress. Weed risked everything for their victory so they couldn’t hold a grudge.

A user called Luda laughed and said.

“Perhaps Weed took all of it?”

“Hey. That is ridiculous.”

The users who were nearby all laughed.

They had seen the breathtaking sight of Weed’s life being at risk while being chased by the giants. Although he did get close to the corpses of the giants while being chased.

There were similar suspicions in the minds of the users.

‘If that is the case… Did he really take it?’

There were doubts but no proof! When they went back to the giants’ fortress to confirm it, all the bodies were gone.

The truth was perfectly hidden.

However, the strong Yellowy’s legs were carrying a heavy burden.

*   *   *

The rescued prisoners brought out the minerals mined from the giants’ fortress.

“This is all we have. Please accept it because it isn’t important to us.”

It glittered like gold.

The users who participated in the quest received 20 kilograms of gold and five bars of Migrium.

Weed decided to check the status of the item.

“Inspect!”

– Migrium: Durability 230/230.

A solid metal found only in the land of the giants.

Mana isn’t included but it is very hard.

Wonderful weapons and armour can be produced with this metal.

A 1st grade blacksmith item.

Options: Helps increase proficiency of the blacksmithing skill.

Sharp weapons with high durability can be created. Special armour with physical resistance can be created.

A shiny material.

The corners of Weed’s mouth went up slightly.

“It is good.”

It was a tremendous profit if he could use the Migrium to create weapons and armour.

Due to the nature of the quest to rescue prisoners, those who died in the middle of the mission were still successful and received the rewards later. However, they didn’t get the experience from hunting giants and were disappointed about not getting any combat achievements.

“This will be used later to increase Time Sculpting.”

Weed didn’t dare misuse the Migrium and decided to save it for sculpting.

Unless it was Herman or Fabio, it would be hard to make good equipment that he could wear directly.

As a sculpting master, if he created a sculpture using Migrium then the effect would be enormous.

“It would be a waste to use this material on a sculpture.”

He ignored sculpting! His assessment of sculpting hadn’t changed despite becoming a master.

Despite receiving a new occupation of necromancer, he could still use the sculpting secret techniques.

Sculpting Blade, Sculpture Transformation, Sculpture Life Bestowal, Elemental Sculpting, Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

There were the five secret techniques and Sculpture Resurrection that he created. The final secret technique was Time Sculpting!

There were various skills but that didn’t mean they were strong.

If he wanted to learn a lot of skills then when he started Royal Road, he would become a swordsman up to level 50, a magician to level 100 and then an archer to level 200.

He could become a jack of all trades in this manner by changing occupations.

‘I have to fully learn the five secret sculpting techniques. They are my primary skills and the most solid foundation.’

Even the aggressive sculpting techniques weren’t perfect. There were skills with defects.

Sculpting Resurrection caused a serious decrease in level while Great Disaster Nature Sculpting could only be used once a day.

Even then, 20 art stats were permanently lost and all stats fell by 15% for three days.

The effect of Great Disaster Nature Sculpting made a large area of death, but it was rare that the monsters would gather together to that extent.

Furthermore, most monsters above level 500 weren’t killed by disasters.

However, sculpting could overturn a situation in a spectacular manner.

If swordsmanship, archery, and undead summoning were abilities that gave achievements in combat, sculpting was a weapon that could overturn a strategy.

When combined with other skills, sculpting could wreck unimaginable havoc.

‘One reason why I chose a necromancer… Sculpting has some tricks that can minimize the disadvantages of a necromancer.

While Weed was giving an evil laugh, the rescued captives said.

“There is a safe place nearby that is hidden from the giants. It is the village we live in. We will guide you there.”

Weed and the northern users left the vicinity of the giants’ fortress and moved according to the guidance of the prisoners.

As they headed to the village, he talked with his longtime friends.

“Weed-nim. Sculpting Master. I’m just happy that I know you! You are a born hard worker.”

“Congratulations. In the end… You are so persistent.”

Surka and Romuna’s celebration!

Weed effortlessly replied.

“No. I didn’t expect something so big.”

Irene laughed, revealing her dimples.

“I saw a beautiful statue of a pretty woman. That feeling of home… The sculpture you made is really important. I thought you would make a sculpture like a golden dictator or a necromancer.”

“Huh?”

“If you were going to become a necromancer, a sculpture would enhance those effects. It would have been awesome if you carved something like an undead.”

He hadn’t considered that part!

Weed’s face was pale as he came up to Bellot and Hwaryeong.

“Have you been well in the meantime?”

“Yes. Weed-nim.”

It had been a long time since he saw Hwaryeong and she smiled fondly at him.

He was having a conversation with Bellot when some people came up to him.

Pale brought the people.

“Weed-nim. This is the representative of the Crimson Wings Guild, Teros and his colleagues.”

“It is a pleasure. It is an honour to meet Weed the God of War. I have been with the northern expedition for a while but… I was really impressed about how you dealt with the giants.”

As a one-time leader of a prestigious guild, Teros had great power and influence. He bowed his head and greeted Weed.

“No. What is the purpose of your visit?”

Weed laughed and asked. However, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

It was like the sharp eyes he used to examine every inch of Yellowy!

“Our whole guild… We would like to settle in the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Huh?”

“I have talked to a few guilds and friends on the Central Continent.”

“What is the story?”

“There are a few guilds that were defeated in war and disbanded. They have increased their power while under close surveillance by the Hermes Guild. The guild broke up but the people… Those who we contacted want to come to the Arpen Kingdom.”

“How many?”

“I need to contact you with specific details, but if I include those who are close to me and those who are acquainted with them, I think it will be close to 1,000 people.”

The prestigious guilds defeated by the Hermes Guild. They were high level users of the Central Continent.

“The Arpen Kingdom doesn’t stop people from coming in. But why are you asking for my permission?”

“That… This might be greedy, but I want to become a lord and rule a small piece of land. Of course, I will dedicate the taxes to you.”

Weed hesitated before grabbing Teros’ hand.

“The Arpen Kingdom has a lot of good land. Fish swim in beautiful, clear rivers…”

Zephyr avoided his gaze from a distance.

“The mountains have abundant natural resources and attractions. It is close to hunting grounds and the hidden treasures of the Arpen Kingdom will be scattered somewhere. Definitely!”

Pale said while feeling remorse.

Teros didn’t know the meaning of their actions and was happy.

“So we can really become lords?”

“Yes. There are many vacant lordships in the Arpen Kingdom. A lot of money… Anyone who is capable is always welcome.”

There were many villages in the Arpen Kingdom that didn’t have lords.

Many adventurers and merchants came to Morata from far away and didn’t become lords because they didn’t settle in one place.

There were empty villages. Once the number of residents increased, a lord could be appointed.

‘I can do it myself but… I also need lords and the aristocrats.’

Weed was the head of the Arpen Kingdom’s multi-level pyramid structure political system!

If the lords expanded the villages then the taxes would eventually increase.

While officially accepting the Crimson Wings Guild, they arrived at the shelter that the prisoners guided them to.

– The Derick Village has been discovered.

A secret and mysterious discovery! You have found a village of residents living in the land of the giants.

A new finding has been added to your journey of great adventures.

If you shared this discovery with the world, you will be able to make a big name for yourself.

Knowledge has increased by 2.

Insight has increased by 3.

A village of 5,000 people were hiding in the forest.

In order to not be noticed by the giants, they didn’t have big buildings and built houses underground by digging.

“Honey!”

“Sob sob. Welcome back!”

The prisoners and residents embraced each other. There were even young children so it was a pretty touching atmosphere.

“Should this be called a city?”

“I think activities will centre around this place in the future.”

The northern users watched for a while before immediately dispersing.

A new city in the land of giants! They wanted to search it quickly.

Weed moved towards the shopping area first.

There were human merchants, a weapons store, armour store, grocery store, furniture store, etc.

He stopped in front of a merchant with dried meat. The merchant resembled a human wolf. The bulk of the merchants’ belly fat was suspicious.

“What is this?”

“Um. Are you a traveller from the world of humans?”

“Yes.”

“It has been a very long time since humans came here…

I think it was a traveller called Lodsiker…”

The adventurer Lodsiker!

As an adventurer, he was the first one to step foot on the land of the giants. Weed had received a related quest from Hestiger but he didn’t like it.

‘How to get rid of the quest…? I can’t get dragged in anymore.’

Weed gave an innocent smile.

“Yes. This is the first time I’ve heard of that name. Are you selling this meat?”

“That’s right. Inspect it once.”

The merchant handed over a piece of dried meat.

“Inspect!”

– Dry Aguchak Meat

Meat from a savage beast.

It has an excellent texture. It can be used in basic cooking recipes. Attack power will increase by three when hunting Aguchak.

If it is eaten frequently, maximum health will permanently increase by 50.

A specialty of Derick Village.

A 2nd grade food ingredient.

“Um. Great.”

Strong dishes could be made with it!

Weed’s smile widened.

Due to hunting and quests, his cooking skill had stayed at advanced level 2 for a long time.

His cooking skill improved every time he cooked and ate food.

He studied various ingredients and recipes, but good food ingredients helped him improve his skill.

Therefore, a chef was destined to go around the continent to find new recipes and ingredients!

‘It is good that I’m not a cook. Constantly making food is hard.’

The food industry wasn’t simple as much chefs suffered from wrist injuries. The fish, fruits and other miscellaneous goods sold at the shopping area were very good quality.

“How much?”

“55 gold.”

“For a lump of meat?”

“No. Only one piece.”

“Heok…”

Weed swallowed his saliva at the high price.

“That… Have you heard of the Arpen Kingdom?”

“I don’t know it.”

“I am the king.”

“If you’re not buying then don’t shop. Don’t say such flimsy remarks. I won’t reduce it by even a penny.”

The residents in Derick Village were impervious to bargaining.

The quality of the products were good, but the quantity suffered due to the nature of the land of giants.

That is why they sold it at a fixed price. Once the users came flocking to it, the selling price started to go up.

‘I can’t not buy it. Anyway, this meat should increase my cooking skill and residents of the Versailles Continent will line up for my food.

It increased the maximum health so users would buy it even at an expensive price.

‘Should I sell it for 50 times the price through the Mapan Trading Company? No. It should be by 100 times.’

*   *   *

The specialties of Derick Village were meat, fruit, weapons and armour.

The blacksmiths who escaped from the giants made weapons and equipment from the new substances extracted from the rocks.

There were also traps and long spears that could help hunt giants!

They were helpful in hunting, but only users in the late 500s to 600s could use them.

“The price is 100,000 gold. There are also those that cost more than 200,000 gold. The traps are thousands of gold each.”

“Sell it to me despite being too expensive. I can use some supplies.”

“Still… It we are lucky, we can get it from hunting or quests.”

“We can save money by buying it anyway.”

The users who ran to the weapons store and armour store talked seriously.

Several stores sold new items not found on the Versailles Continent.

They dealt with jade rings, artworks, crafts, precious metals, spices, minerals and alcohol.

The prices were expensive, but merchants could make big money by going back to the Versailles Continent and selling them.

Even the agricultural store sold seeds that caused 100 metre fruit trees to grow.

“Trade is good.”

Weed was satisfied.

If there was active trade then the income of the Arpen Kingdom would increase significantly. Improving economic or technological power was a bonus.

‘The land of giants. One day, I will also conquer this place.’

He came up with long term plans for the Arpen Kingdom!

Numerous quests were received from the villagers and prisoners that they rescued. Requests for fighting against monsters and revenge against the giants had become mainstream.

The northern users were exhausted from completing the quests at the giants’ fortress, so they either rested or carefully examined the village.

Residents came looking for Weed.

“Thank you for saving me. Evil Necromancer-nim.”

“Thanks to Necromancer-nim, I was able to escape from the giants. You got revenge on them. The undead are disturbing, but it is better than the giants.”

“You have a strong power for a human. Really? I didn’t believe it but now I have a little bit of confidence.”

The effect of fame!

Weed had 300,000 fame across the Versailles Continent. There had been no exchanges with Derick Village in the meantime, but the users that arrived spread Weed’s fame.

“Please fight against the giants. Necromancer-nim can do it.”

“I dream of revenge. Please help me. If you make me a magician then I will give you a family heirloom.”

“I heard of something unknown in the vicinity. I would investigate but… What if monsters are invading? I know that they have been eaten by giants.”

Message windows popped up while listening to the residents!

‘I shouldn’t get caught up in the quests.’

Weed continued to receive quests with A grade difficulty from the residents. Sometimes they even gave quests with S grade difficulty.

Requests to investigate unknown areas were immediately rejected.

There were endless quests in the land of the giants.

“Ohuhum.”

“Ahem.”

“Hum.”

Python, Seasoned Crab, Pale, Irene, Romuna and the other party members watched Weed.

“Did you come to the land of the giants to meet Weed or get away from him?”

“I am hiding.”

The large Python shook with fear while Seasoned Crab wanted to disappear somewhere.

Irene, Romuna, Surka, Pale and the others felt the same.

“Don’t tell me that we’re going hunting today?”

“Why not? Except for when he is making sculptures, Weed-nim is always hunting.”

“He is a sculpting master now… If nothing else happens, he will continue hunting.”

Zephyr said gloomily.

“He also hunts at night.”

They were old friends that couldn’t escape! They made a big decision and walked up to Weed first.

“I would like to hunt but only for one day. It can only be extended up to three days!”

“A 10 minute break every four hours is required.”

Python and Seasoned Crab talked about their needs first.

Pale was a battle slave and had slightly lower standards.

“I am ready to be abused, but just stick to mealtimes. I can’t eat barley bread in battle. Don’t we have to live like a person?”

Their words were sad.

While they were worried, Weed was dumbstruck.

“Are we going hunting together?”

“Huh? We’re not?”

“I’m going hunting but Summon Undead is still lacking. I have to grind my skill.”

*   *   *

After receiving the basic information from the villagers, Weed accepted a B grade quest.

The loyalty to his colleagues!

He could take them on a hunt, but he allowed them to rest.

– Dungeon exploration

There are people in Derick Village who are disappearing.

It is rumoured that there is a dangerous dungeon somewhere in the village. The only clue is the insect’s antennae.

For the peace and stability of the village, you need to succeed in clearing the dungeon.

Level of Difficulty: B

Quest Restrictions: More than 100,000 fame.

Compensation: The recognition of the residents.

Compensation of minerals based on public achievements.

Weed accepted the quest and received the insect’s antennae.

“I don’t have to wipe them all out?”

“Yes. I don’t know Adventurer-nim’s skills… If it is difficult then just take care of some monsters. I will reward you with minerals depending on how many monsters are destroyed.”

“I will start with a few of them. Don’t worry, it will be over soon.”

Weed spoke confidently.

Normally he felt trepidation towards quests and would have to overcome many hardships to complete them. But now those hardships were gone.

“I’ll had to adapt to my occupation in the beginning, but later on the advantages of a necromancer will rise. I will pass on all the hard stuff to the sculptural lifeforms.”

Weed gathered mana and summoned Cerberus.

“Kuwoooh!”

The watchman in hell with three heads!

The roar of a cerberus was enough to make the weak monsters freeze in fear.

Weed gave Cerberus the antennae obtained from the quest.

“Look for the place that smells like this and make a loud sound.”

“Bark bark!”

Thanks to Cerberus, he would be able to find the entrance of the dungeon hidden somewhere in the village.

The three heads sniffed and searched the village.

In the meantime, Weed recovered the mana that he used to summon the sculpture.

“There is no need for a lot to come. Summon Sculpture!”

After Cerberus, the next sculptural lifeform that he summoned was Bahamorg! Bahamorg had continued hunting and doing quests with Weed so his level was now 588.

‘Although the golem production is horrible… I can use Bahamorg.’

As a necromancer, Golem Production was an essential skill to master.

A necromancer was much weaker than regular magicians except for Corpse Explosion.

Golems played the role of hunting and protection so they were a necromancer’s most precious wealth.

However, Weed was familiar with battle and had the sculptural lifeforms. Therefore, the weakness in close combat didn’t exist from the beginning.

Weed, Yellowy, and Bahamorg followed Cerberus.

“Bark bark!”

Cerberus found the entrance to the dungeon as a passage in a well.

– Dungeon. You have become the first to discover Labos Hall.

Rewards: Fame has increased by 1,000.

Experience and item drop rate will double for a week.

The first monster killed of each type will drop the rarest item.

“Good. Full force advance.”

Weed made the 10 skeleton warriors that he summoned to advance.

Dalgurak dalgurak.

A mud golem, made by inserting Aura of Death into clay, also moved forward.

A paltry army that only consisted of a dozen undead.

‘I don’t have to worry about traps or surprise attacks.’

He followed the undead with a relaxed mind.

The effects of Sculptural Destruction from the giants’ fortress was still in effect.

“Kuwaaang!”

The monsters in the dungeon appeared with a roar.

A monster that was seen for the first time on the Versailles Continent!

They had a long snout like a crocodile and walked on two feet.

Their behaviour was similar to that of humans, but their height was at least 4 metres tall.

“Prey! There are prey that can’t be eaten due to rotten food!”

Labos.

The two monsters lightly crushed a skeleton by swinging their arms.

Weed looked at them and judged them.

‘The giants are level 700. By default, this is a high level area. This village, which is a hideout, should be lower. If I look at the current strength… They seem to be around level 600. I don’t need to do more research.’

Thanks to his numerous experiences dealing with monsters, he could quickly make a judgement despite having no information.

Weed gave an order to Bahamorg.

“Go out and fight.”

“Understood. Master.”

Bahamorg rode Yellowy and rushed to a labos, wielding an axe and mace.

“Calling Death Knight Van Hawk. Calling Vampire Lord Torido!”

Death Knight Van Hawk and Torido were also summoned!

“Help Bahamorg fight. Don’t play around.”

Cerberus who scented out the dungeon also joined the battle.

“Kuoooh!”

Battle Cry!

Bahamorg used a warrior skill that increased his health and defense.

Two labos could easily overpower him, but he wasn’t damaged by only one due to his strong defense.

“Kururung!”

Cerberus took the chance to bite a labos. However, he soon received a kick.

“Keng!”

The labos had very hard skin but it was soon damaged by Bahamorg’s axe and mace. If Bahamorg fought the monster for a while then he would win.

‘Indeed, he is the most powerful sculptural lifeform. He will be a big help in this dungeon.’

Weed sculpted creatures with high strength and health but his confidence increased due to Bahamorg.

After Van Hawk and Torido joined, the health of a labos was reduced to less than 30%.

“Van Hawk.”

“Speak. Master.”

“Are you fighting at your best?”

“That’s right.”

“Slow down from now on.”

Weed eyes shone as he waited until the health of the labos was less than 20%.

Finally, Van Hawk and Torido backed off when it dropped to 10%.

“Bahamorg. Defend me.”

“Understood. Master.”

Weed looked around and slowly pulled a sword from his waist.

He wasn’t so cautious when taking out Kolderim’s Daemon Sword.

In the case of the dragon sword Red Star, he couldn’t use it openly and fearlessly. He was resigned to dying by a dragon if he kept on using the sword.

But Hestiger left a different sword.

The Loa Sword.

It was a treasure of the elves and a sword that humans wouldn’t hesitate to regard as the best sword. There was a level limit of 650 on it and it was only available for the one who found Hestiger’s legacy in the Desert of Tranquility.

If it was a home, he wouldn’t need to feel envious of the penthouse apartments in Gangnam and Haeundae.

Sururung!

A clear and clean sound.

– You have armed yourself with the Loa Sword.

Affinity to Nature has increased.

Agility will increase by 26%.

All stats + 42.

Triple damage will be dealt to large monsters.

Reduces the opponent’s maximum health by half the damage.

When there is a critical hit, the opponent’s defense is weakened by 7%.

Fire, wind, water and earth spirits will lend you energy.

Defense has increased by 117.

When using a sword skill, mana consumption will be reduced by half.

76% of the opponent’s magic protection will be ignored.

Art has increased by 35 due to the beautiful sword.

Protection magic ‘Big Forest’ can be used.

“This is the first time I am using it.”

He didn’t know how much his hand tingled to use it while making sculptures in the Desert of Tranquility.

It was like giving a chocolate pie to soldiers and not allowing them to eat it!

Weed laughed wildly. He struck the labos that Bahamorg was fighting.

– Your sword has pierced the enemy’s back.

A fast and accurate attack has succeeded.

A critical hit!

The opponent’s defense has weakened. Health has been reduced by 3,481.

“Um…”

Weed felt touched for a second.

Bahamorg dealt 2,000 damage while Weed did almost twice as much.

‘I know why people wear the best climbing gear when climbing the Himalayas.’

It was an awesome equipment.

The power of the Loa Sword was immense enough to make him forget about being a necromancer.

After the history of the Versailles Continent was changed by Weed’s adventure for the final secret sculpting technique, Hestiger had become a hero and received this sword.

“It is a luxury. I will use it.”

Weed moved forward despite a sharp tail flying towards him.

‘I can discard my way of fighting as a sculptor.’

In the meantime, his health and mana was low so he had to fight carefully.

A miser personality!

He needed to also consider his vitality when swinging a sword.

A non-combat occupation like a sculptor had definite limitations!

The best choice he made was to increase his perseverance, resilience, and build up his defenses. If he had been as reckless as his other colleagues then he couldn’t be as strong as he was now.

He had bitter challenges to overcome as a sculptor.

‘I don’t have to do that anymore. My basic health grew, but if I run out of vitality then I can’t use skills. My maximum mana and recovery rate has greatly increased.’

He didn’t have as much attack power as a swordsman or desert warrior, but he could use plenty of skills since becoming a necromancer.

“Divine Fire!”

The beautiful Loa Sword burned red. An attack skill from Goddess Hestia!

– Divine Fire has been given to the Loa Sword.

Fire attack power will increase by 105-271 depending on your faith stat.

Divine Fire will temporarily reduce the power of Summon Undead by 46%.

The undead nearby will suffer every second.

Hwaruruk!

The Loa Sword was covered with fire and the attack power was doubled. At the same time, the bones of the skeletons burst into flames.

– The skeletons have suffered 603 damage due to the Divine Fire.

‘Just like a spoon is needed to eat rice, equipment is essential for hunting!’

Weed once again forgot about being a necromancer and struck the labos.

– Great attack!

The sharpness of the sword and Divine Fire has reduced the opponent’s health by 4,391.

Even though it wasn’t a fatal blow, the monster suffered enormous damage.

The amount of damage depended on the monster’s armour, attribute, and vitality.

Weed used additional attack skills.

“Heriam Fencing!”

– The 1st consecutive attack has succeeded. Agility has increased by 20%.

– The 2nd consecutive attack has succeeded. Strength has increased by 40%.

– The 3rd consecutive attack has succeeded. Agility has increased by an additional 40%.

– The 4th consecutive attack has succeeded. Strength has increased by an additional 40%.

– The 5th consecutive attack has succeeded. Labos was burnt and died.

Cold movements!

The Loa Sword was light and he could wield it at a rapid pace.

As soon as the monster lost his life, his left hand reflexively moved forward.

– You have acquired the Labos Heart.

– You have acquired 3 Precious Meats of the Labos.

– You have acquired the Immortal Wisdom Necklace.

The spoils of combat.

Weed’s hands shook as he received the wealth.

‘An immortal set.’

At a minimum, it was an accessory with a level limit of at least 600.

The necklace increased health, strength, wisdom and knowledge. It increased the range of stats, his skill levels, and maximum mana.

It would be sold at an expensive price at the auction and it would be helpful when used directly. Financial reasons wasn’t the only cause of his trembling.

He was the first discover of the dungeon so he knew he would get the best loot when hunting. The monsters’ level was close to 600 so it was normal for these type of loot to drop.

‘The sword damage is enormous. My hunting speed will become much faster in the future.’

He vividly felt how much stronger his attack power became in battle.

‘If I was a swordsman… There would be a bigger effect. Or if I master swordsmanship…’

It would be possible to wreak havoc with the power of the Loa Sword.

“Keook!”

At that moment, one of the surviving labos escaped from Bahamorg’s containment and struck Weed with its tail.

– You have been hit by a tail attack. Temporary paralysis!

Your high perseverance has minimized the paralysis to 0.4 seconds.

Health is reduced by 7,325.

– The equipment effect of Barkhan’s equipment. Life Vessel has been activated.

3,291 health has been taken out of storage.

Total health remaining in the Life Vessel: 203,281

– Weak!

820 health will be absorbed by the labos every second.

“Master. Be careful.”

Bahamorg and Cerberus protected him as soon as Weed was struck. He had entrusted the Goddess’ Knight Armour made of helium to Herman, while he was wearing Barkhan’s robe.

It had very high magic defense, high mana regeneration ability and above all, it increased wisdom and the ability to control the undead.

The basic defense was weak but due to Life Vessel, Weed’s health didn’t significantly drop.

‘That’s it. I just need to catch it quickly. This is an ignorant attack power.’

Weed was filled with mana due to being a necromancer, so he utilized the skills without sparing.

“Lava River!”

This time, it was the desert warrior’s strongest skill.

The skill was still level 1, and it required training and combat experience to grow.

Nevertheless, a river of lava burst out from Weed and covered the labos.

“Kuoooh!”

The labos hastily tried to escape from the lava.

Weed’s eyes sharpened.

“Divine Fire, Heriam Fencing!”

Divine Fire prevented Weed from getting any fire damage caused by Lava River and he continuously attacked the labos through the gap!

The labos, whose health was at the very bottom, couldn’t hold out any longer and died.

– You have overpowered two dangerous labos.

– Experience has been acquired.

– The skill proficiency of Swordsmanship has improved.

“Okay. The experience… It increased by 0.2%.”

Weed was satisfied.

It was a hunting ground with strong monsters and he received double experience.

“I will eat up all the experience alone. As I grow as a necromancer, I will completely monopolize experience.”

Although he had Bahamorg, Van Hawk, Torido, Cerberus, and Yellowy, he decided it wasn’t enough. Weed used the Summon Undead skill.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Undead Rise.”

The labos he had just been fighting rose as a skeleton knight.

– The skill proficiency of Summon Undead has improved.

“Kilkilkil.”

“Kulkulkul.”

The undead was weak but it was better than not having them in a hunt.

Unlike the sculptural lifeforms that needed to be pampered, the undead didn’t require rest and could speed up combat.

Divine Fire conflicted with the undead, but he would use it in accordance with the situation.

As Summon Undead’s skill level increased along with Aura of Death, the damage caused by Divine Fire would rise. Therefore, there would be a way around it.

‘It is certainly different from when I was alone as a sculptor. I can focus on combat skills.’

Weed felt the change.

As a necromancer and with Barkhan’s set, he didn’t need to stop hunting due to the large mana pool.

In the process of mastering sculpting, he had accumulated experience in various fields. He raised the sword and bow to a fairly high level, and learnt the spear after receiving Myul’s Thunder Spear.

He accumulated stats during adventuring and quests. There were the desert warrior’s skills and Divine Fire given by Goddess Hestia.

If a dangerous situation occurred when fighting the labos then he would be able to escape with Time Sculpting.

After a battle, he could raise the undead so he had many options.

During Royal Road, there were many users who learnt the sword, magic, and elementals at the same time. Those who succeeded were among the most successful.

Weed was at the top of all of them.

“No one else can achieve this success.”

*   *   *

In front of the gates of Aren Castle.

Lafaye and other Hermes Guild members were gathered there.

“Has your level risen these days?”

“Kuk. I’ve hunted for two days and barely gained one level.”

“I can’t go to the top dungeons. They are too crowded.”

The Hermes Guild users chatted with the people they were familiar with.

One day a week, Lafaye held a tour of Aren Castle with the Hermes Guild.

They had conquered Aren Castle in the Haven Kingdom since the early days of Royal Road, so this event was held to increase morale.

Every week, the city’s progress was confirmed and ordinary users could look at the Hermes Guild.

‘Hrmm… There aren’t that many.’

Lafaye felt like the number of people gathering was reducing every year.

In the past, it would be crowded every time they held an event.

The spectacular sight of the prestigious guild walking through Aren Castle showed off their great glory.

Sometimes after an inspection event, they also attacked dungeons so the guild members would try to attend as much as possible.

‘In the past, it wasn’t difficult to gather 3,000 people. Now there are only approximately 500 people?’

Lafaye concealed his regret and seemed unconcerned on the outside.

“We will start the inspection.”

The leaders of the guild were at the forefront, followed by the members. They walked along the wide streets of Aren Castle and watched the buildings and people.

“Hermes Guild.”

“Wah… They really have nothing to do. After unifying the Central Continent, they deliberately went to the north.”

“Don’t you know? It is dangerous to move around.”

There were many general users who watched the procession of the Hermes Guild.

In the past, their gazes were mixed with jealousy and anger. Now they were rude and contemptuous.

“Kuk…”

The Hermes Guild who heard them grinded their teeth together.

“Those fellows don’t want to live.”

“Leave it alone. They don’t have the confidence to come forward.”

The Hermes Guild could easily sweep away a few hundred people, but they didn’t move.

If they brutally killed general users then there would be a negative broadcast report.

In the past, such news revealed the strength of the Hermes Guild. Now it just encouraged rebels and the users’ antipathy.

There were many unfair aspects that the Hermes Guild members had to endure, but it couldn’t be helped due to their actions in the past.

“Most of them are murderers.”

“They had lived bad lives.”

“Strong and dangerous. It is because they weren’t educated in elementary school.”

The Hermes Guild’s visit continued as they silently endured the criticism of ordinary users.

‘This shame…’

Lafaye was a character who didn’t normally get angry.

Most of these things were largely expected.

Even when defeated by Weed, the result wasn’t unexpected.

The chances were slim, but he knew that luck followed Weed.

Indeed, Weed used his incredible power and popularity to block the offensive of the Haven Empire every time.

‘Even if the Arpen Kingdom is a little big… The Haven Empire won’t collapse. They are just trying to eat the big food called the Central Continent. Now it is time to grow the economy and calm the rebels. No matter what, the Hermes Guild will dominate the Central Continent.’

He was in the process of stabilizing the shaken empire by giving tax cuts and freedom to ordinary users.

There were all types of exclusive myths, secrets and legendary equipment hidden in the Central Continent.

The Hermes Guild had conquered a wide territory. Their power wasn’t weak so there was no obstacle to their rule.

The Arpen Kingdom was hard to fight because they received the unusual support of the users.

On the day that Weed’s popularity crashed, it was only a matter of time until they conquered the Versailles Continent.

Lafaye thought that if he waited and worked behind the scenes, he would be able to lead everything like when they conquered the Central Continent.

But there was an embarrassment that Lafaye hadn’t expected.

‘This can be tolerated. I will be sure to reward those who are tolerant.’

Lafaye walked the streets with a firm, bright face.

An exceptionally cute girl was standing on the street. A cute little blond child was blocking the street that the Hermes Guild was coming down.

Young children could access Royal Road with the permission of their parents.

Of course, they were free to roam the cities but hunting and adventures were forbidden.

Although there were restrictions on movement between cities, young children could move using teleportation or travel on a certain schedule.

Even if there was no fighting due to the restrictions, young children experienced a variety of occupations and adventures in Royal Road.

‘Cute child.’

‘She will grow up beautifully. She will become a beautiful woman.’

There were warm smiles on the faces of the Hermes Guild members.

They puffed up their shoulders in order to look cool.

Lafaye also liked cute children so he cautiously approached.

“Hello. Little lady. What is your name?”

An affectionate voice and handsome looks.

Lafaye didn’t doubt that the child…

“I won’t say anything.”

The child disagreed and stepped back.

Lafaye assumed she was shy and laughed.

“Why? Is Oppa a horrible man?”

“Nope.”

“Then? Can’t I give a nice gift to a little girl?”

“That’s okay. I don’t want anything.”

The child seemed to be approximately six years old.

The Hermes Guild and people on the road were interested in the conversation between Lafaye and the child.

“Your mother has trained you well.”

“Yes. My mother said that all Hermes Guild members are crooks.”

“Huh?”

The child spoke clearly with excellent pronunciation.

“My mom said you are all bad people. She told me not to be friendly to you.”

A frank and shocking remark emerged from the child’s mouth.

“I will never be like the people in the Hermes Guild when I am bigger!”

Lafaye’s smile stiffened.

“Ah… I’m not supposed to speak to people from the Hermes Guild.

The child winced and ran away like she was scared.

The Hermes Guild members froze while the people watching laughed.

Lafaye started walking again like nothing had happened.

‘Did I have to encounter that on the streets?’

He was cold on the surface, but inwardly he was boiling.

Chapter 6: Hunting Record

“Weed-nim… He just went.”

“Hyu. Sometimes he is really tiresome. He doesn’t know a woman’s heart.”

Surka and Zephyr sighed. It wasn’t only them, but Maylon, Romuna, Irene and Bellot were also looking at the distant mountains with a bittersweet expression. All his colleagues blamed Weed’s insensitivity.

The apologetic Romuna asked Bellot.

“How is Hwaryeong-nim?”

“I’m not sure. Unni hasn’t said anything.”

“She is so generous…”

“I think that the wound of her heart is big.”

From the beginning, they had wished Hwaryeong well with Weed.

‘Dang, he lost a golden opportunity…’

‘She is a celebrity. His eyes are really wrong!’

‘There are millions of people who would want to be you. Why does she have a crush on Weed-nim? Her taste…’

It was difficult to understand Hwaryeong’s decision but they supported it anyway.

‘They don’t suit each other.’

‘She isn’t just a beauty. A beauty still likes a miser like him.’

‘Weed-nim isn’t ordinary. He is a miser and a hard-working craftsman.’

Although Zephyr wouldn’t admit it due to Yurin, he acknowledged Hwaryeong’s charm.

‘There is no such woman. A person like that can’t be created in 2 minutes. She is a top singer in the entertainment industry.’

She had gone on Weed’s adventures and helped found the Arpen Kingdom.

Hwaryeong thought the look in his eyes was different, but Weed ended up in a relationship with Seo-yoon.

From that time, Hwaryeong’s state became ambiguous and she was invited by the Haven Empire to become a lord there.

She completely separated from Weed’s colleagues, but she joined them in the land of the giants after a long time.

They had fun hunting with Weed but now he left without saying anything.

After thinking about the heart of a woman with a crush, the group at least wanted Weed to talk to her.

Hwaryeong stood on the cliffs and returned to her colleagues after a long time.

“Unni…”

Bellot looked at her tearfully but Hwaryeong just smiled brightly.

“What is it?”

“That…”

Bellot thought the bright expression was forced so more tears streamed down.

“Unni… If you are sad then just cry.”

“Why should I cry? Because Weed-nim just left?”

Hwaryeong saw her colleagues staring at her and laughed.

“It is okay. I know that he is the type of man who is only good to his girlfriend! It is natural.”

Hwaryeong had a broad understanding.

‘She is sincere.’

‘Hyu. These true bonds…’

Her colleagues were thinking poignant thoughts when she pulled out sheet music and showed it to them.

“Thanks to Weed-nim, I managed to write this song.”

“Unni. What is this?”

“Right now, I am immersed in my vivid compositions. Beautiful melodies and lyrics. Doesn’t it give off a deep impression? Weed-nim is truly my soul companion.”

The group was silent for a while.

‘Her crush is too severe.’

‘Isn’t this almost at the level of addiction?’

*   *   *

– The skill Summon Undead has increased to level 6.

Health regeneration of the undead will improve.

The skeleton bones have become harder and the binding force is strengthened, making it so that it won’t break easily.

Skeletons with little intellect will become proficient in collective combat.

– Faith has decreased by 4.

– Dignity and courage has decreased by 1.

Weed kept on creating undead from every corpse.

As his Summon Undead skill increased, he kept on receiving penalties to his stats..

“It is heartbreaking. Still, for the time being, it can’t be helped.”

– Leadership commands have been acquired due to high leadership and courage.

Strict Military Discipline:  The undead will maintain their battle formations.

The amount that will break away will decrease.

Undead warrior types will respond to commands more quickly.

After spending a long time as a sculptor, it was easy to obtain characteristics associated with commanding the undead as a necromancer.

“R.u.n. B.o.n.e.s.”

Weed didn’t need to lead the skeletons because he had Van Hawk.

A group of undead labos could be called high-level monsters!

Weed and Bahamorg followed the skeletons with solid bones.

The attack power and health still wasn’t good enough but their appearances weren’t common. They were better in battle than skeleton archers and magicians.

While the skeleton troops attacked the labos, Weed and Bahamorg could steadily reduce their numbers.

The shattered undead could be restored using mana. And once mana was depleted, he made sculptures.

“Being a sculpting master… It is definitely easier.”

Weed used a skill on the sculpture.

“Time Sculpting!”

The flow of time piled up on the sculpture. Decades flowed past. Just like a tree transforming, the sculpture gave off the impression of an old antique after the light faded.

Since the sculpture was made of a metal harder than steel, it didn’t change easily with Time Sculpting.

– Fine piece! The Bear that Stole the Honeypot has been completed!

Dadium.

A sculpture made of a metal found in the land of the giants.

It is the work of Sculptor Weed who has reached a perfect state.

This work will be coveted by all nobles and rich people.

Artistic Value: 988

Special Options: Bear that Stole the Honeypot will increase health and mana regeneration by 23% for a day.

Maximum vitality will increase by 20%.

Attack +30.

The skills ‘Bear Run’ and ‘Great Chest’ can be used.

The effect doesn’t overlap with other sculptures.

Number of Fine pieces completed:  146

– Fame has increased by 150.

– The skill proficiency of Time Sculpting has improved.

– A new material has been smelted. The skill proficiency of Blacksmithing has increased.

“Hrmm. It isn’t bad.”

Due to the new materials coming out from the land of the giants, the Blacksmithing skill went up.

In the old days, blacksmiths would have to carry heavy furnaces.

Now he could bake sweet potatoes with Divine Fire, so his convenience had increased.

If he used Divine Fire for a long time then faith might increase, but it wasn’t very meaningful.

For necromancers, faith was nothing more than a dangerous force.

While adventuring as a sculptor, he couldn’t see the effects of faith that he had accumulated.

He only occasionally received the blessing of a goddess!

Paladin and priest skills would benefit significantly but it was useless for Weed.

“I don’t want to live not doing bad things, just for the sake of faith.”

The soul of a vicious and free king!

“Time Sculpting skill window!”

– Time Sculpting Intermediate level 7 (74%).

Beginner: Age Sculpting.

This skill will add a long amount of time to a sculpture. Sometimes this time will add value to the sculpture.

It will also stop the sculpture from being naturally damaged over time.

Intermediate: Moment Sculpting.

The world will stop.

Light, wind, people.

In front of Time Sculpting, everything will stop.

The beauty of that stopped moment will consume a lot of vitality and concentration.

In order to spread the reach of Moment Sculpting, a special energy is required. Energy can be obtained when a moment makes people happy.

Energy of the Moment will be quickly consumed.

Continuous use in a short amount of time will consume a vast amount of vitality and mana.

Advanced: Travel Sculpting.

Chase the traces of time to travel to a specific point in time.

You can proceed with special quests.

However, accepting random quests not related to sculpting that would change the past will incur a huge penalty.

Energy of the Moment- 7,281.

Weed’s current Time Sculpting was intermediate level 7!

During the war with the Haven Empire in the north, Time Sculpting was already intermediate level.

Since them, he had steadily made sculptures and used Time Sculpting while hunting.

The 7,281 Energy of the Moment he accumulated through quests and acts of a king was a great asset.

Of course, it might be exhausted if he faced a life threatening crisis in a large-scale battle.

“After a while… I can never soar in a world where the Hermes Guild is chasing me. Move forward. Search completely. Even if there is no one left!”

The skeleton unit led by Van Hawk quickly searched the cave.

Weed, Bahamorg, Van Hawk, Torido and Cerberus would attack together every time the labos appeared.

“Divine Fire, Heriam Fencing!”

Wielding the sword of flames, he suppressed the monsters!

The new skill and sword showed remarkable combat power.

“This sword skill is at the level of a scam.”

Although was hard to show the effect of a necromancer’s growth on the undead, his hunting speed was noticeably faster.

The undead only obeyed.

The speed of his growth was amazing considering that he shared the experience with Yellowy, Cerberus and Bahamorg.

The undead could track monsters or eliminate traps by walking into them, so the burden in combat was reduced.

When he was only a sculptor, he had deliberately allowed himself to be hit in order to raise his stats.

At the end of his hard work, his stats increased so he felt good.

Now he was wiping out all the monsters.

Ddiring!

– Great battle achievement!

You have succeeded in hunting a series of labos. You have taken control of the dungeon.

– Wisdom has increased by 1.

It wasn’t a modest hunting.

With Weed’s level and skill, he struck swiftly like a storm and gained a combat achievement.

“Summon Golem.”

Weed’s goal was to raise his golems so he also summoned it.

Once the effect of Sculptural Destruction was over, the golem would return to beginner level 1.

“Kuuong!”

“Fight with the enemy.”

“Kuong.”

“Hey. You heard it, right?”

The mud golem walked over to a labos.

– The mud golem has been destroyed.

“They are useless.”

The golem turned back to dust.

“It isn’t a skill that I can throw away. I’ll have to summon it steadily. It can carry my baggage.”

The time passed quickly!

Two days after he entered the dungeon, he arrived at the end of Labos Hall.

Dudung!

– You have arrived at the Labos Queen’s Nest.

A sticky darkness is spreading. The living who arrive here will meet their end.

– Fame has increased by 20.

Weed rushed into the queen’s nest with 240 skeletons.

Humans, elves and dwarves were bound to the walls and ceiling by woven structures that were like spider webs.

In the centre was a large cauldron filled with boiling water that an adult male was just about to enter.

Labos queen!

The labos resembled a large crocodile so the gender was impossible to guess. However, the queen cried out after seeing Weed.

“Intruders! Don’t invade my sacred space.

If you move even a little bit then I will boil your fellow human being.”

Weed immediately responded to the labos queen’s words.

He didn’t need to listen to a monster’s words and he completely ignored the person!

“Boil him. Boil him well.”

“What?”

“There are many humans in the world. Even at this moment, someone is dying somewhere. From starvation or diseases. Can I save them all?”

“If you are a human then you should try to save him. If you step back then this human can live.”

“No. I’m not a doctor or a politician who thinks of saving everyone.”

“Such a thing… You ought to feel some nobility. Aren’t you the king of a human kingdom?”

Weed’s fame had quickly spread to the dungeon without him realizing it.

“Okay. Kill him. He never paid me any taxes.”

– Fame has decreased by 35.

– Infamy has increased by 2.

If he was a knight with a moral obligation then the decline in fame would be even greater.

He would have to do difficult quests or do good work despite the rewards being small.

Sometimes they would be able to exert a miracle through his stats, but knights had shackles that narrowed their choices.

A profession like a knight didn’t fit Weed.

‘There is nothing good in losing money. I don’t see any benefits.’

The pursuit of a reasonable life!

Weed issued a command to the undead.

“Go ahead!”

The skeleton soldiers have become quite hard after Summon Undead reached level 6.

The skill Undead Weapon was only beginner level 2 so the skeleton warriors were holding big bones.

Weed’s Summon Undead skill was growing abnormally fast.

The skeleton archers used bows made from their bones and were a little better at using them.

Van Hawk wielded a greatsword and raised the abilities of the undead.

“Start firing.”

The undead pushed towards the labos queen.

“In the end, you are interrupting my meal time!”

The labos queen picked up the human and inhaled deeply.

At that moment, her body swelled like a balloon.

Her muscles grew rapidly but Weed had experienced many things on his adventures.

When he was facing the Embinyu Church, he had transformed into a bear 230 metres big.

There was no reason to be afraid of monster only 14 metres tall.

“Solid torrent!”

When the labos queen used a skill, mud flowed up like a shield.

The skeletons were repelled by the mud and some were destroyed.

“Those guys can’t be eaten. I’ll crush you all.”

The labos queen summoned a long black rod and started beating the undead.

“Kuwek!”

Dozens of skeletons couldn’t cope with the attack and the bones were shattered.

“Charge forward!”

Under the direction of Van Hawk, the undead fearlessly threw themselves at the flow of mud.

The bones snapped all over the place from the mud.

More than a dozen skeletons were crushed every time the labos queen wielded her rod.

“Fire the bows!”

Skeleton archers and magician fired arrows and cast spells.

Even those attacks were mostly blocked by the fast mudflow.

They didn’t affect the hard defense of the labos queen.

‘This is too much. As the body grows, does the physical abilities increase?’

Weed keenly observed.

The undead could restore their broken bones if mana was supplied, but it seemed to have no great effect at the moment.

‘The undead are still useless.’

There were many hunting grounds in the Arpen Kingdom. However, it was hard to give up new dungeons that gave double the experience.

Furthermore, in order to quickly increase Summon Undead, a dangerous battle was needed.

His skill proficiency would slightly increase even if he summoned rabbits and foxes as zombies and skeletons.

Using a good quality corpse in dangerous hunting areas would increase the proficiency.

‘If Summon Undead was intermediate level then this would be a different story. In the case of a sculptor, I grew quietly but a necromancer is different. There is room to hunt.’

The occupation of a magician was one where skill proficiency was significant!

In the meantime, there was a reward for doing the quests. For others, Weed’s hunting style would be considered unreasonable or impossible.

Weed had the instincts to withdraw if he sensed danger!

Once the labos queen killed more than 100 undead, Weed’s eyes shone sharply.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The corpses around the labos queen exploded in unison.

“Kueok!”

It was an attack that penetrated the holes in the labos queen’s defense skill!

Weed followed up with magic.

“Remaining health. Show me all of it. View Life Force!”

– Labos Queen Callador

The origin of the labos species are unknown. Long ago in glorious times, they ate young giants. But after losing their strength, they started to eat humans that were easy prey.

The labos who escaped from the giants are cunning and can use basic magic.

Most of them are forgotten now.

Health: 85%/100%

Mana: 56%/100%

‘There wasn’t much damage.’

Weed had guessed it, but the damage didn’t hit properly.

The labos were more resistant than the giants.

In the absence of Sculptural Destruction, his wisdom was too low so Corpse Explosion had low damage.

‘But it is enough to hunt.’

Weed looked around.

He was looking for Bahamorg.

The shattered undead could be raised again with mana and Van Hawk and Torido were also ready to go into battle.

Weed’s equipment, skills and ability to direct the battle was also formidable.

“Experience Fear, Bloody Fog, Swarming Big Maggots!”

Weed used beginner level 2 curse magic.

– The Experience Fear spell has weakened the power of the labos queen by 3%. 240 health and vitality will be reduced every second.

– Bloody Fog has blinded her vision.

– Swarming Big Maggots has slowed down the labos queen and she will be poisoned if she stays in one spot for more than 5 seconds.

Curse magic!

The skill levels were low but they were centred on the labos queen.

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“Charge!”

*   *   *

Committing all the undead!

The shattered corpses were infused with mana and restored or used in Corpse Explosion.

Weed hunted the labos queen with the help of Bahamorg.

– Your level has risen.

– Labos Queen Callador in charge of Labos Hall has entered her eternal rest.

– Fame has increased by 530 due to the great achievement.

– Charisma has increased by 3.

– Strength has increased by 1.

– Knowledge has increased by 1.

He gained two levels from Labos Hall and hunting the queen.

“It was a good fight.”

All the undead was consumed but Weed was still satisfied.

The labos queen, who was above level 600, wasn’t an easy to catch monster.

The important point was that he received Bahamorg’s help. Thanks to that, he completed the dungeon quest very quickly.

“The rate of hunting has definitely risen. I can use the undead in trivial areas.”

In the field of using subordinates, he was an expert.

Whether the undead attacked or were exploded, he used them depending on the purposes.

The regular labos appeared in the dungeon again.

Weed would have hunted the labos again due to the double experience.

It was likely that he would have spent a week in the dungeon. Now thanks to the improved hunting speed, there was no reason to do so.

“Let’s go to a new place.”

Weed exited the dungeon.

Other users were relaxing in Derick Village or picking up information when he emerged.

“Already?”

“It hasn’t been a day but the dungeon capture rate is so quick.”

Even so, the users weren’t surprised. Weed was like an unreachable person in the sky.

He reported the B grade difficulty quest and found information about other quests.

“There is a rumour that a huge giant is targeting us. He is a little bit special. Very luxurious!”

A commission to fight against a luxurious giant!

“I am busy today.”

“Find the lost treasure! If fact, it was originally from the giants but it was taken back.”

“You should let someone else know.”

Weed didn’t accept quests that required getting rid of giants.

To be honest, defeating the giants with the undead was a fluke.

‘It is possible with all the sculptural lifeforms. However, it is difficult to catch one giant so the hunting speed is slow.’

If he still had the desert warriors that he trained during the Nodulle and Hilderun quest then he could wipe out the land of the giants.

He could capture or overthrow the giants.

‘Let’s focus on hunting for now. My priority is to grow. Those who boast about their high levels have no basic decency.’

Weed hid his level as much as possible. He didn’t expose it to the Hermes Guild or other users. No matter their power or influence, they should still have pride. Recently he saw users who reached level 500 receive great treatment on the broadcasts.

‘I’ll ignore everything and go higher than them!’

*   *   *

Smashing the Sollado Dungeon!

Suppressing the Miktik Canyon Hall!

Bake Lair massacre!

Weed’s hunting in the land of the giants was sold to the broadcasting stations at an expensive price.

“Is he hunting because he is a necromancer?”

“Yes, Head Director-nim. Isn’t it fresh news? I’ve purchased five hunting videos.”

“Anything related to Weed will give high ratings but… Will similar hunting videos be fun?”

The station executives were quite skeptical.

“Hunting today and tomorrow. Just keep on hunting monsters in the dungeon… Will people keep watching the channel?”

“It is Weed. I purchased it before the other stations.”

“An exclusive?”

“It isn’t a monopoly. I asked for 60% of the advertising sales… It will be profitable to broadcast it as soon as possible.”

“Hrmm. Go ahead. See what time slots can be organized.”

While CTS Media approached it carefully, KMC Media started broadcasting the video straight away.

A production team of more than 10 people organized it quickly.

They each cut three minutes of video, checked the camera angles and sound and then immediately broadcasted it.

Director Kang was a massive fan of Weed.

“A fast broadcast!”

Every time they showed Weed, ratings would go up and every employee of KMC Media received a great bonus.

“The probability is 100% because we have succeeded so far. Isn’t it better not to worry and just see what the results are?”

“That’s right.”

“Weed can’t be snatched by other broadcasting stations first.”

They didn’t review the contents and allowed for an emergency broadcast.

The moral of the station employees were very high and the broadcasting announcement was made through subtitles on the channel.

– One hour after the cancellation of the regular broadcast, the videos of King Weed hunting as a necromancer will be relayed.

Thank you for your understanding and interest.

The reaction of the viewers came immediately.

– Kya! Weed-nim’s hunting.

– Necro, necromancer!

– That robe seems to smell awful!

– Necromancer Weed-nim will show us the havoc that an Immortal Legion can deal.

– The force when he was a lich was also great. The scenes of orc Karichwi are famous, but when it comes to pure strength, the lich is the best.

– Strength? It is the fire warrior. Having a lot of undead doesn’t mean strength. They are just strong in groups.

The bulletin boards, that started with joy and admiration, soon turned into a controversial debate.

There was high interest in Weed’s various professions and species, with many people evaluating it.

Talk about professions quickly came out on Royal Road.

– There is going to be a boom in necromancers!

– Just like many people became a sculptor, the number of necromancers will be enormous.

– The sculptor bubble has popped and now it is the turn of the necromancers.

– Currently the strongest profession is a necromancer. They are a one man army.

– That is only for high level necromancers. Don’t you know how hard it is? Hunting is also difficult. They can’t hunt in parties.

– They can live in the second half. I think it has more advantages than other professions. Isn’t the fact that Weed-nim chose it evidence?

– Yes, they are vulnerable to assassins and combat professions. If they get close then it is over for a necromancer.

– Is the undead just there to play? After being imprisoned in a bone prison, they can be killed using curses or Corpse Explosion.

– There is no need to worry about necromancers if you have equipment based on holy power.

– It is really hard to gather one piece of equipment at higher levels. When equipped with black magic resistance equipment, it is hard to hunt in general. Rich people won’t understand.

– The strongest is a black knight. Bardray is the strongest on the Versailles Continent. Do you recognize it?

– Bardray defeated Weed in a one-on-one fight. Do you recognize it?

– They have to fight. Personally, I vote for Bardray.

– There are Hermes Guild moles here!

The articles on the bulletin boards started running wild and the audience ratings increased.

And the conclusion!

– It doesn’t matter what he does. I forgive him. Because he carved the star of the Goddess. Oh Goddess.

– Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!

– Bamboo Shoots Porridge unit. Gather here.

– I want the full taste of grass porridge. Come here!

– Grass porridge…!

The conquest of the Grass Porridge units!

– Finally the argument is over. Grass Porridge!

– There is no way other than Grass Porridge. Grass Porridge!

– This is more important than professions. Grass Porridge!

*   *   *

In the media, Weed’s hunting videos were organized in an emergency broadcast. They thought that the audience ratings would be high due to Weed, but they didn’t expect much from the hunting videos.

This wasn’t the start of Royal Road, so hunting videos wouldn’t cause massive changes in the continent.

Hunting was just a series of simple repetitions to beat the monsters.

It was only one hunt with no expedition team and the dungeons weren’t famous.

Still, the ratings would be above average and the best hosts were chosen.

Han Sang-ho and Lee Dana gained popularity by relaying broadcasts about Royal Road on the Internet.

Shin Hye-min and Oh Joo-wan, the representatives of the broadcasting station, already had many programs.

The viewers evaluation of Han Sang-ho and Lee Dana was also high, so they were entrusted with this program.

“Woo PD-nim, the configuration is simple. Dungeon hunting. And is that the end?”

“Yes. You just need to broadcast the video.”

“It won’t be difficult. Weed-nim’s videos are played almost every day so just leave it alone.”

Lee Dana was a female in her early 20s, but she had a profession as a knight instead of a magician or priest that provided long-range support.

“Sang-ho, are you familiar with necromancers?”

“I only know a few basic points. I learnt by watching video of Weed in the past. There is also Krobidyun from the Hermes Guild, but there aren’t many top necromancers.”

“I don’t know that much either.”

“Is Dana’s level high?”

“I am over level 400 and haven’t seen many necromancers wandering around.”

“Hrmm. Then I’ll have to quickly study up on necromancers.”

They briefly studied necromancers on sites related to Royal Road as preparation for the broadcast.

And started, causing a ripple beyond imagination.

*   *   *

The scene began with Weed entering Bake Lair.

The first one to speak was Han Sang-ho.

“Bake Lair. A place to the north of the giants’ fortress. It is known as a mountainous area. The terrain is rough and the monsters are dangerous, so no users have hunted there.

“Then this will be the first time it is shown to viewers?”

“It is probably the first time that someone has entered the dungeon. There are many dungeons near Derick Village without needing to go to Bake Lair.”

The hosts were focused on Weed’s video.

The preparation time for the broadcast was too short, making it hard to study about necromancers.

Curses, Summon Undead, golems, some attack and defense magics.

A necromancer was simple, but a host couldn’t give wrong information.

In addition, a script wasn’t available so they had to make it up on the spot.

They had to improvise on the broadcast, so they needed to be quick and witty. However, the two hosts were from internet broadcasting.

‘What type of hunting…’

‘A necromancer won’t be fun. He will just watch from behind as the undead fight.’

The broadcast started with the worries of the organizers!

“It isn’t certain, but based on information that the users gathered from Derick Village, the monsters in Bake Lair are around the mid-500s.”

“The level is very high.”

“From the data, the monsters that mainly appear are called Pitche.”

“I know the monsters. The monsters can instantly spread thin wings to jump high and far. They have poison and tremendous vitality and attack power… In addition, they have the characteristic of collective hunting. In particular, they are intelligent.”

“Dana, do you really know them?”

“Yes. Just a month ago, our party met them in the mountains and were wiped out.”

Lee Dana had no words.

A party of 10 people in the mid-400s, including herself, encountered the pitche and were killed.

She was able to convince herself that she was lacking in strength.

Suddenly, more pitche popped out of the forest and started attacking them one by one.

“Ggeug ggeug ggeug.”

In front of Lee Dana, the pitche laughed as they opened their wings.

Funny monsters hunting while scoffing at users!

‘Oduduk. I want to get revenge.

But our whole party was wiped out, can Weed truly hunt them alone? Furthermore, the monsters can use incredible magic.’

In the field, they could meet monsters wandering around. However, Bake Lair was crawling with monsters. It was like the difference between a secluded rural area and a city.

If Weed entered the lair then he would be slaughtered by the pitche.

Lee Dana’s voice became louder.

“The pitche are monsters that absolutely must be avoided! It is absolutely dangerous. There is a reason no one has entered the lair.”

“However, Weed-nim…”

“The hunting absolutely won’t succeed! He will just die here.”

“R-really?”

Sweat formed on Han Sang-ho’s forehead. He felt that Lee Dana was too emotional.

‘It is possible if Weed is hunting. But did he really succeed in attacking the lair? Didn’t he send the video because it was a success?

To be honest, they didn’t know the result of the hunt because they were in a hurry. They didn’t investigate before broadcasting because they assumed that the hunting would be a success. However, the emergence of the pitche caused a massive reaction from Lee Dana.

‘Even if Weed didn’t die, he might have failed. Is the video just him hunting a few monsters?’

Then the length of the video caught Han Sang-ho’s eyes.

‘4 hours 48 minutes? It isn’t short. Then he didn’t just hunt a few.’

The length of the video couldn’t be shrugged off.

“The pitche are very dangerous monsters so I don’t recommend hunting them. They have one of the highest difficulty among the level 500 monsters. If your skills are excellent then you might be able to hunt them. However, you must be vigilant and your party can still be wiped out…”

While Lee Dana was explaining diligently, Han Sang-ho pointed out the length of the video to her.

‘Is he hunting properly?’

While Lee Dana was speechless, Han Sang-ho took the initiative.

“Yes. Weed is finally starting to hunt.”

In the video, Weed raised a mud golem and summoned Van Hawk and Torido.

They were monsters familiar to the hosts. Anyone in Royal Road would be familiar with Weed’s two summons.

“Mud golem. The Summon Golem skill seems low.”

“Golems are useful in low level hunting grounds. But they need to grow stronger with the necromancer to be used in high level hunting grounds.”

The hosts focused on the video without saying that much. It was early in the broadcast so the viewers would be interested in Weed’s behaviour.

‘How is he going to hunt…?’

The hosts were also curious.

Weed wore Barkhan’s full set and Yellowy and Bahamorg were also present.

“Here we go.”

“Ummooo!”

Yellow slowly disappeared into the cave and soon came back.

There were two pitche behind Yellowy!

The sculptural lifeform, the most popular Yellowy in the Arpen Kingdom was used as bait during hunting.

“Ggeug!”

As the pitche came flying, they saw Weed, Bahamorg, Torido and Van Hawk.

Their wings spread as they stopped in place and prepared for battle.

They exchanged glances before smiling wickedly.

“Ggeug ggeug!”

They calculated that it was possible to hunt Wed, Bahamorg and the other two.

They weren’t smart enough to develop skills or use magic, but they were very clever about hunting.

“Bahamorg. You go first.”

“Understood. Waaaah!”

Bahamorg gave a battle cry, raising the health and morale of his allies.

The Loa Sword!

Weed wore Barkhan’s full set but his weapon was a sword.

Divine Fire and Lava River.

He attacked the pitche with those skills.

Weed’s stats were stacked towards attack in the first place, and it didn’t fall after becoming a necromancer.

Barkhan’s equipment lowered his defense, but he felt confident at attacking due to Bahamorg attracting the attention of most of the monsters.

“Heriam Fencing!”

He cut the body of a pitche with Heriam Fencing and Divine Fire.

“Rush!”

Van Hawk and Torido rushed through the gaps for an assault!

Torido produced illusions, turned into a bat and used blood curses.

Han Sang-ho opened his mouth.

“They fight well. As expected of Weed. Weed took into account the movements, form and attack pattern when attacking. The actions of his subordinates are also amazing.”

“Yes. I think he fights really well.”

“It isn’t just his level and skills. His ability to calculate the attack radius of the monsters is excellent.”

“I agree. The pitche’s bodies aren’t moving properly.”

He didn’t allow the pitche any room.

Tremendous skills burst from Bahamorg and Weed.

If they tried to move sideways or backwards then there was the Lava River, Van Hawk or Torido blocking the way.

Yellowy would wait and attack when there was a chance.

A battle that took advantage of the space and speed to overpower the pitche!

“There is no panic and they respond perfectly. Weed has experienced countless battlefields and quests.”

“But that isn’t fighting like a necromancer…”

“He is acting as a swordsman. He is wearing a magician’s robe and swinging a sword. It transcends common sense. Ah. He has just used a necromancer’s skill.”

“Poison Absorption. He absorbs the poison and it turns into mana.”

*   *   *

Weed and Bahamorg had high resistance and better equipment so they were less affected by the poisoning.

“For the glory of the Arpen Kingdom!”

Bahamorg bravely rushed forward and swung his axe and mace.

His armour was typical for a warrior so he had tremendous defense.

The defense was enough to sustain five or six intensive attacks from the pitche.

His attack power was a little lacking, but his weapons struck successively and damaged the pitche.

Combined with Weed’s equipment and skills, the two pitche soon lost their lives.

Han Sang-ho said with amazement.

“The hunt was successful. The sculptural lifeforms? Even with the help of his subordinates, he hunted reliably in a fairly short time.”

“T-that… They aren’t monsters that will die so easily. The other pitche will start hunting them.”

Lee Dana was panicked for a moment. Weed and his subordinates had easily killed the pitche! Han Sang-ho looked at the status of Weed, Torido and Van Hawk and said.

“Those three don’t seem injured. They stopped most attacks or didn’t even give the pitche a chance.”

“Ah. That can’t be…”

Lee Dana’s common sense was being destroyed.

The three pitche that she encountered gave her the feeling of being stronger than boss monsters.

‘There are only two but how can he beat them so easily?’

Then Weed used Summon Undead and made death knights from the corpses.

Death knights were called the flower of the undead! They used skills according to their own judgement, and their intelligence and health was improved.

“I see the immortal commander with the power of eternity.”

The death knights respectfully bowed down.

Weed’s Summon Undead skill was beginner level 8.

His equipment, stats and skill level was optimal for his necromancer level. It was the result of using Time Sculpting and constantly summoning undead at the hunting grounds.

“Van Hawk. You lead.”

“Understood, Master. They will be of some use.”

After greeting the undead, the Weed on the screen continued to hunt.

Summoning the death knights was a huge inspiration.

He had a huge ambition to raise dozens of bone dragons and doom knights as a necromancer!

It took approximately two minutes to catch the two pitche.

With the death knights, it took a similar amount of time to hunt three pitche.

Unlike the skeletons, the death knights used melee skills and didn’t fall easily.

Under the direction of Van Hawk, they fiercely struck the pitche.

“An unrelenting assault. I am your master. Even death isn’t allowed unless I give permission!”

A vicious necromancer!

“The undead have no human rights. Run until your skulls fall!”

Weed only let Van Hawk and the death knights attack.

The level of the pitche were in the mid to late 500s.

For ordinary people used to safe hunting grounds, they were difficult monsters. However, Weed had suffered on many battlefields.

Lee Dana thought that Weed couldn’t handle the monsters. But from the beginning, there was a gap between them that went far beyond sour and sweet.

“They are good monsters to beat. Taste this!”

In the old days, he had already hunted level 500 monsters when exploring Roderick’s Labyrinth.

If Weed wore the Goddess’ Knight Armour rather than Barkhan’s full set, then he could hunt them alone.

“Daring speculation!”

“Sword of Death!”

The death knights were hit by monsters, destroyed and restored. However, their damage was great, increasing their hunting peed.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Undead Rise.”

Thanks to the death knight, Weed didn’t need to use Yellowy as bait.

He was different from necromancers who had to fight while carefully considering troops and formations.

Weed and Bahamorg fought in the front with the support of the increasing undead in the back or sides.

Even if the death knights were destroyed, they would soon be restored.

Weed took risks in combat and fully utilized the attack power of the undead.

5, 10, 25, 45.

There was a feeling that only the first time was difficult as the hunting time shortened.

As they kept on watching the video, Han Sang-ho and Lee Dana were speechless.

“Hah… What is this?”

“Aack. It is nonsense. It is a dream.”

Instead of acting as hosts, the two people became viewers.

– W-Weed!!!

– As expected of Weed. He experienced adventures and wars, but his hunting is incomparable.

– Why didn’t he start as a necromancer? I have never seen such a strong and fast hunting.

– He is an ancient user from Continent of Magic. It is over. Pray for the Hermes Guild. Although it will probably take some time.

– Why was Weed’s first profession a sculptor, not a necromancer? We all become skeletons. Or we are skeletons.

– Grass Porridge members aren’t scared of death.

– Weed the God of War and the Grass Porridge Cult!

The PDs and writers smiled as they checked the bulletin boards in real time.

There were hardly any comments that blamed the hosts for being frozen. Instead, they were full of surprise or praise for his hunting speed.

Weed increased the number of death knights to 50, then he summoned skeleton magicians and skeleton archers for ranged attacks.

Throwing poison was the main feature of skeleton magicians and there were fire spells that steadily accumulated damage.

“Fools. Move faster. Lubricate those bones!”

The skeletons moved in a certain direction without straying and fought.

Not only did Weed have the most powerful equipment, he also received titles from quests.

Immortal Warrior, Glorious Undead Commander.

He completely controlled and dominated the undead using his own strength.

A perfect control of the battlefield!

His ability to command was based on nagging and dictatorship!

Through repeated hunting, the bones of the undead thickened and their equipment improved.

Weed utilized his beginner level 4 undead weapon and armour creation skills.

“Gelgelgelgel!”

“Lead me to the path of death!”

The undead ran like crazy.

The weak undead were combined to maximize strength and demonstrated a ruthless aggressiveness.

A battle frenzy!

– That is a necromancer. I honestly confess… Is that possible?

– It is outrageous. The undead are insane. Hitting a monster until they break and then hitting again.

– Is he cleaning out the lair?

– The pitche appear. They die. They turn into undead.

– It is scary. This is a real ranker in Royal Road. I am over level 300 as well. He is on a completely different dimension.

– The person above me. Absolutely not. He is more than three times faster than other necromancers.

– Visit Royal Road’s Hall of Fame. Look at Krobidyun hunting. It is slow. There are many things to worry about. Even if he has many undead, it will still take a long time for them to fight.

– When a necromancer fights, there are always skeletons that run away!

It was to the extent that Weed could be leading an army of undead forces. A massive advance based on volume!

He was conquering Bake Lair at a rapid pace. It wasn’t a large cave so he only took 4 hours and 48 minutes.

As the undead grew, the repetitive parts were removed and the broadcast time was reduced to 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Next was the Sollado Dungeon!

The undead rushed and a large scale hunting took place.

Van Hawk led the death knights with the skeleton army following behind.

Weed and Bahamorg fought in the centre.

Although he was a necromancer, he didn’t say in the rear and attacked the monsters with the Loa Sword.

A storm of attacks!

There was a great sense of speed.

Even if it was a wonderful sight, there was no time to appreciate or explain it.

“Advance. Ride. Bones!”

The death knights and skeletons rushed until the bodies of the monsters were broken down.

The viewers were busy watching the video and sometimes they were speechless.

“Hah…”

“It is a dream. I think this is a dream.”

The hosts didn’t know what to say, but the reaction of the viewers was great.

Chapter 7: Jeong Deuk-soo’s Anger

– The Founding of the Pallos Empire

Unify the great desert into one.

Intrepid warriors, it is time for you to break away from the burning sands. Go back to the land with flowing rivers and restore the glory of the Pallos Empire.

The one who gains the most territory will be the Emperor of the Pallos Empire.

The time limit is 1 year.

Level of Difficulty: Region supremacy.

Compensation: Emperor of the Pallos Empire.

Quest Restrictions: Limited to desert warriors.

Reconstruction of the Pallos Empire!

Unring, Ben, Elliks.

The minds of the Earth Shadow group, that was made of three adventurers, became much lighter because they thought that their troubles had ended.

“That’s enough. Now.”

“Hu. I really don’t want to receive a quest again.”

“The level of difficulty didn’t make sense.”

Found on the Plains of Despair, the best adventuring group on the continent that revealed the Embinyu Church to the world!

They wandered around the continent on quests that involved recovering treasures of the Embinyu Church.

The result was futile as Weed changed the future by destroying the Embinyu Church.

“It is good despite it being in vain. It is for the sake of everyone.”

“The Embinyu Church disappearing altogether is good. If their treasures were released then the continent would have been a mess.”

“When looking at the difficulty of the adventure quest, you can feel the situation getting worse. It is a story that isn’t impossible on the Versailles Continent of Royal Road.”

Weed had found Metapeia in the southern desert.

Earth Shadow received a quest regarding a bactrian camel while returning to the Central Continent.

The 14 stage quests related to the Great Emperor of the desert was coming to an end.

“We really suffered this time.”

“Ahu. I feel both sorry and regret…”

The Earth Shadow party had been playing the role of a leader.

They led the young desert warriors, that were the descendants of the Great Emperor, to the hunting ground and nurtured them.

They united the desperate tribes that had been in a never-ending dispute using persuasion and found the treasures left behind by Weed.

There were many moments when Earth Shadow wanted to give up.

As more of the desert warriors that they raised died or disappeared into sandstorms, the possibility of the quest succeeding became slimmer.

It would have been difficult to see the end of the quest if strong young men hadn’t come from the Arpen Kingdom.

“Are you here for the Great Emperor quest?”

“We don’t know. It doesn’t matter as long as we can fight a lot.”

“There are fights but it will be dangerous.”

“I want it.”

Geomchi-5 and his students!

They were more courageous than the desert warriors and had excellent swordsmanship and strength. And they were ignorant.

Unring told them.

“Ah. You better step back here.”

“Go forward!”

They boldly fought and were wiped out.

“We need to further increase the level of the warriors. They will be more stable if they grow a little bit more.”

“Those kids will know how to fight when they grow big enough.”

The desert warriors they raised were also wiped out.

An incident also occurred regarding the unity of the desert tribes.

“There was a dispute. The tribes are arguing over who controls the oasis…”

“Hrmm. We will resolve it.”

“Consider the history of the oasis. If you arrange the trade of tribe specialties then there will be a good solution.”

“I will go and judge.”

And they caused a war among the desert tribes.

The Earth Shadow party jumped as tens of thousands of warriors rushed towards each other in the vast desert.

Nevertheless, the men who came from the Arpen Kingdom achieved a miracle like victory.

There were times when it seemed impossible to overcome a battle like this, but they matched surprisingly well with the desert warriors.

“Do you have a knife?”

“And?”

“I am bored.”

They fought against the desert warriors and shared meat and alcohol.

They used this process to become familiar with the warriors.

Desert cities with a population of less than a thousand people flourished due to Weed during the Nodulle and Hilderun quest.

He established relationships with a number of desert cities and trained desert warriors.

“Anyway, the Pallos Empire will be established soon.”

“Hu… That’s right.”

“The Great Emperor quest is coming to an end…”

The Earth Shadow party savoured the pleasure. But they couldn’t imagine it.

Somewhere on the continent, there was another user who receive a quest related to the Great Emperor of the desert.

– Losers of the Desert

The glory of the Pallos Empire has been buried under an endless pile of sand. The desert warriors have arranged for the resurrection of the Great Empire. Honour and struggle flows in the blood of warriors.

The people of the desert has been waiting for someone with the strength to walk the path of the Great Emperor.

Gather the will and determination of the desert warriors.

If you pass the test of the desert, the desert warriors will be willing to raise their swords and follow you.

Level of Difficulty: S

Desert quest.

Compensation: You might be connected to the founding of the Pallos Empire.

Quest Restrictions: The recognition of the historic desert warriors.

The desert hero quest forcibly given by Hestiger!

The Earth Shadow party didn’t know about it.

Weed who had become a sculpting master and necromancer would suck their water!

He was waiting patiently.

*   *   *

Geomchi-5.

He wore smelly wolf leather.

“Is this the taste?”

“It is full of wild beauty. Master.”

“Huhu.”

There were 122 students.

They led an army of 350,000 people and advanced into the Aidern region of the Haven Empire.

“There is going to be a fight.”

“There is a really appropriate analogy. Master.”

“Are you a poet?”

“Kuhuhuk. This is heaven. Talk with fists and swords, not words.”

Geomchi-5 had a little bit of pride regarding his brain.

‘Think before I act.’

It was a habit before Royal Road. Since childhood, he had been told by his parents to think while living.

He would think when pulling out a sword to attack a monster.

‘Should I get a taste of cutting it?’

He would think whenever he met a strong opponent.

‘Take off the limbs then hit in the order of shoulders, sides and ankles. I have to beat it up.’

The area of Aidern was now ruled by the small and medium lords of the Haven Empire.

The acres of land were split up between those who gained achievements or who dedicated money towards the Hermes Guild.

“Get rid of everything!”

“Wahhh!”

The desert warriors led by Geomchi-5 and his students crossed the Great Plains.

“Invasion! It is an invasion!”

It was a small area that had been relatively peaceful since the days when the Central Continent was divided between guilds!

The Hermes Guild members and Imperial Army rushed onto the plains.

“Attack magic! Shoot arrows when you get closer.”

Vast amounts of grains were harvested from the Great Plains!

Staying inside the fortress walls meant handing over a massive amount of food to the desert warriors.

Geomchi-5 and the students had no idea about agriculture.

Geomchi-5 thought as he watched the enemies.

‘Are their numbers split in half? Well. Then just attack! That is a rational and intelligent judgement.’

The Imperial Army was hastily assembled and the lords didn’t join.

“For the glory of the desert! Fight in a cool manner!”

“I will go ahead.”

“I’m going. The person who goes first is the owner.”

“Oryaaaaaah!”

After Geomchi-5 and the students gave orders to advance, the camel warriors moved forward like a tsunami.

Ku ku ku kung. Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Magic attacks bombarded the plains.

“Hiyah. Ride!”

“Faster! We shall strike first.”

The desert warriors rushed through the magic attacks.

The desert warriors had similar personalities to Geomchi-5 and the students.

Just charge!

They looked into the enemy’s eyes and ran as fast as possible.

As arrows rained from the sky, the desert warriors struck the camp of the Haven Empire’s army.

“Hahahat. This is the taste!”

Geomchi-5 entered the battlefield and cut down any soldiers he encountered.

“You guys. I will stop you here!”

“I am thinking the same thing. Bring it on!”

Geomchi-5 hit a knight with a spear.

He rode a camel and used all his strength to wield his spear and sword. A brilliant skill that combined an exquisite sense of balance, power, and weapon techniques!

“This is enough!”

“Ugh, it is frustrating.”

The knights if the Haven Empire fell down like fallen leaves in front of Geomchi-5’s power.

His skills were good, but there was also a difference between a camel and horse.

The students and desert warriors overwhelmed the Imperial Army.

The regular armies of the Haven Empire were concentrated in the north. In the relatively peaceful southern area, second or third degree soldiers belonged to the armour!

More than 100 Hermes Guild members fought with the army, but they escaped as soon as they saw the situation turn bad.

A victory on the Great Plains!

None of the desert warriors were killed but 40,000 Imperial soldiers were killed while the rest were taken captive.

Even Geomchi-5 was amazed.

“Was my leadership ability this good?”

“It seems so. We achieved it. Master?”

“We threw a stone and the elephant seems to have collapsed.”

“Um… I thought we would be destroyed when attacked by magic.”

The students were also bewildered.

They fought blindly but this was the result.

In particular, they achieved an overwhelming victory in this big war!

“I am becoming anxious.”

Geomchi-157, who was kicked out of university, said.

“Master. We should obtain some advice.”

“That’s right. We should listen to the words of a smart person.”

Geomchi and the students used magic communication to talk to Alcantra, a commander of the Arpen Kingdom.

Alcantra was an excellent commander of the Haven Empire who was brought to the Arpen Kingdom.

– Alcantra: Perhaps… The effect of a surprise attack seems to be great. It is probably because the Haven Empire isn’t prepared for war. However, if the brave camel cavalry succeed in an assault then the defensive formation will collapse in a futile manner.

Geomchi-157 interpreted his words in a simple manner.

“It seems like our method worked well.”

“Hrmm. I was listening.”

– Alcantra: This is a problem for the future. The Hermes Guild will be forming a large army on the Great Plains.

“Those guys will come flocking?”

“I know. There will be a lot of suffering. It is because their original nature is to swarm.”

– Alcantra: The desert warriors are stronger than the Imperial soldiers. But the combination is bad. If a magic unit is mobilized with the infantry then it will be in vain. The desert warriors won’t be able to maintain their siege, and magic will be used reduce the number of desert warriors from a distance.

“Hit us from a distance with magic?”

“That hurts a lot.”

“How do we solve it?”

“Let’s ask that as well.”

– Alcantra: You need to prepare for a long conquest war. You suddenly invaded so there is a great victory, but there will be more battles.

Alcantra advised that they should take the desert warriors away from large terrains like the plains.

He talked about the Imperial Army’s battle formations for 30 minutes with Geomchi-5 and the students.

“Hrmm. Thank you for your words. I think that it will help us prepare for the war.”

– Alcantra: You’re welcome. If you have any more questions then please contact me at any time.

As soon as the magic communication was turned off, Geomchi-5 sighed deeply.

“How much did you understand?”

“I don’t know what he was talking about. The explanation was so long that I became sleepy.”

“I don’t know.”

Geomchi-5 and the students gathered around a campfire.

There was a tremendous number of troops as well as prisoners. Extensive land!

“Can we become real kings?”

“Let’s see. I’ve never even been a class president.”

“Do you think being a leader is comfortable and easy?”

Geomchi-5 and the students wiped their minds.

“Let’s ask the maknae what to do next.”

“Yes. That would be better.”

“He would have a way.”

Geomchi-5 sent a whisper to Weed explaining the situation.

“What do you think we should do?”

Weed’s mind was like a supercomputer when it came to money or profit, so he quickly came to a conclusion.

– Weed: It will be hard for Sahyungs to keep it for long. There isn’t a single city near the Great Plains.

“Then we will die in the next fight?”

– Weed: That isn’t necessary. Right now, you have wiped out the army on the Great Plains?

“Yes. There are no more soldiers from the Haven Empire in the vicinity. They are guarding the cities and castles.”

– Weed: The lords aren’t very strong. They only have enough money to pay taxes. Hit them all.

“Conquer them?”

– Weed: Nope. Just attack and plunder.”

“Plunder?”

“Ohhh… Capture and loot!”

Geomchi-5 and the students were enthusiastic.

Plunder!

It was a cool word that even they understood.

“And then? Do we wait and prepare for a war with the Imperial Army?”

– Weed: Nope. Don’t do what they want. Take a bunch of prisoners and step back into the desert.

“We won the battle and got the land, but now we have to withdraw?”

– Weed: There is no need for land. You can’t even build a house to live there.

“That’s right.”

– Weed: Starting with the grains of the Great Plains, use resources and money to attract people to the desert. There are many prisoners of war.

“Because they surrendered, I couldn’t kill them.”

– Weed: Take them and train them as desert warriors. Once your troops have increased, aggressively invade the Haven Empire.

“Invasion…”

Plunder and invasion!

Geomchi-5 thought about it.

‘There are plenty of words that I like. This is absolutely the right operation.’

– Weed: It is a desert warrior’s battle. All you need to do is take rather than keep.

“Such a simple method! But what if they chase us?”

– Weed: The Imperial Army won’t be able to enter the desert. Drag all the resources and people into the desert. If there are resources and people then the southern desert will develop quickly.

“Um. Development… Good. Say a little bit more.”

– Weed: The grains from the Great Plains are enough to feed the captives. It is better to feed them and put them to work. And if you lack resources, participate in maritime trade with the Arpen Kingdom.

“Trade?”

– Weed: Food, production materials, or combat materials. Secure it through trade with the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed though of importing luxury goods from the Arpen Kingdom to the desert region through maritime trade in an instant.

The Arpen Kingdom also needed export routes in order to increase production, development, and technology.

The desert area was brimming with combat supplies that could be exported. Meanwhile, luxury goods, silver, gold, animals and leather could be imported.

Weed was very familiar with the desert area so he knew how much the Arpen Kingdom could gain from commerce.

The desert area needed a lot of time and effort to develop.

If the southern desert traded with the Arpen Kingdom then the speed of development would be several times faster.

“That will really help. Thank you. Maknae.”

– Weed: Yes. The reconstruction of the Pallos Empire… No, the Sahyungs are the worst.

*   *   *

“Um. I gained two levels.”

Weed was fully satisfied with the growth during his hunt.

He gained one or two levels in a day! He just achieved level 462. While other people would say it was so quick that he was crazy, there were many users that were already over level 400.

The people under level 100 spent time relaxing and playing in Royal Road.

They were users who explored and purely enjoyed Royal Road as a hobby! Unfortunately, the majority of them were users of the Grass Porridge Cult.

They became greedy once reaching level 200 or 300.

Hunting was fun and they felt a sense of accomplishment when growing and questing. Their levels exceeded 400 due to considerable achievements through quests.

A large proportion of quests could be obtained from a small village or area.

If they continued to build public achievements in a certain village, the people would praise them as heroes and build monuments.

They were caught by the fun and didn’t forget to raise their level.

If they became a ranker within the top 10,000 of Royal Road then they could boast about it anywhere.

There were no countries that didn’t enjoy Royal Road.

Hawaii, Hong Kong, Paris, London, New York. In any city, it was possible to get a lot of attention regarding Royal Road.

Levels made them popular and became money in the world!

Due to the final secret sculpting technique quest, Weed’s level was in the mid-400s. Therefore, it couldn’t be considered a high level.

Nevertheless, his strength wasn’t like other users in the mid-400s.

He had a vast amount of stats and quest experience.

He was barely able to recover the levels lost due to the final secret sculpting technique quest.

“Go to a higher place. I must be strong in order to become a true villain. Weak villains will just end up as a pawn in a fight.”

When considering the revenue from the broadcasts, Weed’s situation wasn’t bad.

“I have to buy some land.”

Other than bank savings, he could make profit through land speculation.

On the day when he wanted to drink mixed coffee, he would go to the neighbourhood bank in a sweatshirt.

The premier lounge! At a bank counter that was only for VIP guests, he took sweets and coffee.

He was able to hear about the savings products from the friendly bank employees.

“A coffee shop requires money.”

In the past, he ate fish suspended from the ceiling but now it wasn’t necessary.

Even if he didn’t have money, he could get treats from here.

Even if a credit card company could only issue one card, he would get lots of free gifts.

In the old days, he had no place to borrow money so he had to get loan of 50 million.

Of course, Weed was well aware of what would happen if he couldn’t return the borrowed money.

“Speaking of that…”

Weed had a thought while touring the hunting grounds.

The loan sharks who chased after him in high school to repay the debt.

He couldn’t forget the loan sharks who caused him terrible memories.

“It has been a while… Later, once I am more successful, I will have my revenge.”

Money and power.

Weed thought that having money and power was necessary for his revenge.

*   *   *

Jeong Deuk-soo was conscious of the people’s gaze every time he moved around the neighbourhood mart.

“That man. Isn’t he pitiful?”

“Isn’t he always alone?”

“He often wears suits but doesn’t work. I have never seen him go to work.”

When he was a corporate president, he went to work at the head office and would receive 90 degree bows from the employees.

He was treated as the president of a large Korean conglomerate even when going overseas.

Jeong Deuk-soo was treated as a VIP guest at luxury hotels and could eat the food that he wanted.

When he visited a city for a new construction, he would enjoy sumptuous cuisine for dinner.

In southern Greece and the Mediterranean Sea, he parties on new yachts.

He received a certificate from the government for exceeding the export target and was frequently named as a successful conglomerate in newspapers.

‘Now what? Everything is gone.’

Jeong Deuk-soo recalled the glory of his past.

He possessed a considerable amount of cash, foreign real estate, and shares in the Hosung Group.

It was enough to live on for the rest of his life, but he had no impact left on the Hosung Group.

Members and employees of the group cut off contact with him.

Even if a holiday came, there was no one who sent him gifts.

‘I wouldn’t eat it even if they sent it to me.’

Jeong Deuk-soo placed ramyun, pears, and tangerines into his shopping cart.

The friendly aunt at the cashier talked to him when he got there.

“You can get a discount in the afternoon. If you wait 10 minutes then you can buy it at the discounted price.

“I’m okay. Ring it up now.”

“Are you sure?”

“Do it.”

Jeong Deuk-soo said arrogantly. He had been the president of a company so he wasn’t going to wait 10 minutes just to save 3,000 won.

A dignified expression of confidence!

However, the checkout lady was persistent.

“You came to the mart at this time, so are you going work afterwards?”

“Nope.”

“Then a business owner?”

“No.”

“Ah. I see. I’m sorry.”

He felt somewhat defeated!

Jeong Deuk-soo left the mart and hurried home.

‘Should I move out of this neighbourhood?’

To a place where none of the neighbours knew each other. In this neighbourhood, all the neighbours were extraordinarily familiar with each other.

‘A quiet neighbourhood.’

He wanted to live close to the house where his daughter was living.

The reality was that he wasn’t the president of the company anymore and he could only watch the situation between Seo-yoon and Lee Hyun.

He wanted his daughter to remember him as the owner of a big group.

It felt too miserable to walk around her while he was like this.

‘I would be comfortable if I went abroad… But then I won’t be able to return to South Korea to see my daughter.’

Jeong Deuk-soo headed home.

‘Going to the mart is quite annoying.’

Most of his meals were made to order, but he had to buy simple groceries.

‘I’m tired of jajangmyeon… They notice that I only order one bowl.’

Jeong Deuk-soo complained while walking. Lee Hyun was standing in front of his house.

‘No, that guy?’

He was the thief who stole his daughter.

‘He should be busy hunting in the middle of nowhere. He has already mastered sculpting.’

He was currently moving between small villages in the Arpen Kingdom with carriages full of goods to trade.

In Royal Road, the difference between Jeong Deuk-soo’s character and Weed like the earth and sky.

The residents of the neighbourhood talked to Lee Hyun as they passed.

“Have you eaten?”

“Yes. Is everything okay at home?”

“Nothing happened… Thanks to you.”

Even the elderly didn’t just walk past Lee Hyun.

“Isn’t it too cold to be out today?”

“I have something to do. Isn’t Grandmother out early?”

“These days, I can’t get rid of the pain…”

“Go home and have some pork soup.”

“Did you buy it again?”

“What did I buy? Just put it under my name.”

The elderly people laughed when they saw Lee Hyun, causing their wrinkles to spread.

He bought them food and cheap clothes from the market. He was more reliable than the government. Then Lee Hyun met the owner of an empty house.

“The house is empty?”

“That… I’ve come up with a monthly price but no one has come to see me.”

“Wait a month or two. Reduce the price.”

“I’ve already lowered it…”

“I’ve heard from the real estate agent that there are many areas requiring repair. The grandfather who lives there said it is on the verge of collapse. I’ll give you 170,000 won a month for a clean price.

“What? That price is difficult. I can’t discount it by 150,000 just because my house isn’t perfect.”

“You don’t want to? Are you rejecting it?”

“Eh… What? That isn’t necessarily the case.”

“People are very picky. I am as well. It wouldn’t be good if the word spreads. Don’t you have to live in this neighbourhood for a long time?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

Lee Hyun’s power in the neighbourhood was absolute! After that, there was an elderly man who spoke to Lee Hyun then children from the daycare centre. Even mayors and council members came to greet Lee Hyun.

A thorough power in a small neighbourhood.

Jeong Deuk-soo’s eyes narrowed.

‘He has amazing acumen.’

It wasn’t hard for people to even talk to the mayor or national assembly member.

But it was an unusual ability for someone so young.

‘He is capable of attracting people. Not only in Royal Road.’

The center of the neighborhood.

When he had listened to the residents, some people were tired of Lee Hyun’s existence but now everyone liked him. The neighbourhood became famous and more livable thanks to Weed. Whether big or small, the people couldn’t hate his impact.

‘But why is he standing in front of my house?’

Jeong Deuk-soo worried about whether he should approach or not. Then an elderly person came up to him and said.

“Come on.”

“Huh?”

“Oh dear. You don’t know. Don’t let a busy person wait!”

He had forgotten that the elderly people of this neighbourhood was on Lee Hyun’s side.

If Lee Hyun said that he didn’t like a member of the parliament then he would have protested straight away.

‘I really can’t move.’

Jeong Deuk-soo hesitated before walking over to his house. His shoulders were hunched over and his steps had no power.

But he recovered his spirit when Lee Hyun talked to him.

“Sir. Would you like to have dinner at my house tonight?”

“I planned to eat at home…”

Jeong Deuk-soo replied.

He planned to go home and order jajangmyeon or chicken.

It was food he was tired of and he wanted to see his daughter Seo-yoon.

‘Although I want that…’

Jeong Deuk-soo tried to think of a good way to refuse.

“Are you refusing to go to my house?”

“That’s right.”

“What should I do? I told your daughter that I would bring you home.”

“Huh?”

“She asked to have dinner together.”

Lee Hyun wanted to grab Jeong Deuk-soo so that they would eat together.

Dinner with his daughter.

He didn’t have a chance to see her face or talk to her over a cozy dinner for a few years.

It felt more precious than one of the affiliates of the Hosung Group.

‘I rejected them the last time. But don’t I have permission from my daughter this time?’

He was caught by the pants!

‘This guy. I will try one more time.’

If Lee Hyun asked one more time then he would follow.

‘The picture should be okay.’

Jeong Deuk-soo stared at a distant mountain.

Lee Hyun gave a long yawn and said.

“If you don’t want to then it can’t be helped. You must be busy in many ways.”

“That… That’s right.”

He didn’t have anything to return to but an empty house.

He just ate rice and entered Royal Road.

‘Just one more time. Only once.’

He tried to get Lee Hyun to offer one more time.

“Even if you’re busy, can’t we have a simple dinner?”

“Is that so?”

*   *   *

“Cough!”

Jeong Deuk-soo coughed as he stared at the food in front of him.

‘What is this?’

There were grilled skewers and roasted scallops.

The side dishes included japchae, sweet and sour tofu, seasoned vegetables, and black sesame salad.

There was also ginseng chicken soup and kimchi!

‘I’m dumbfounded by the smell.’

Visually it looked great, but the dishes gave off a strange smell.

The aroma of a delicious dish!

It was insufficient to call it a sweet taste. Saliva filled his mouth when he sniffed it.

He wanted to quickly eat the food with a spoon and chopsticks.

Jeong Deuk-soo suddenly recalled a few years ago.

‘My daughter… You are a good cook.’

When Seo-yoon was in hospital, he want to visit her when he had time.

She looked out the window and didn’t speak, but he talked to her about how much money she would have.

“Everything in the Hosung Group. Stocks and cash. I’ll give you everything. You will be the happiest child in this world. So please get better.”

He repeated that he would leave her a lot of money every time he came to the hospital. He wanted to get her out of the hospital so that she would receive great happiness.

One day, he saw Seo-yoon boiling ramyun in the hospital.

Instead of just the seasoning, she mixed in sausage, cheese, and even dumplings.

“It looks delicious.”

Jeong Deuk-soo involuntarily said and Seo-yoon handed the bowl of ramyun to him.

‘She is moving. She gave it to me!’

He picked up some noodles with chopsticks with a thrilled expression.

‘This is the ramyun that my daughter boiled for me.’

He was surprised the moment the noodles entered his mouth.

‘This is poison!’

A spicy, salty then oily feel. The dumplings were crumpled and floated on the broth, and their texture when chewing was the worst.

“Kuhuhum.”

Jeong Deuk-soo forcibly ate it before setting down the chopsticks. Then he called his secretary.

“Eh. Really? You need to see me today? Yes. It must be due to the food exports. Prepare the relevant materials.”

Jeong Deuk-soo got up from his seat.

“Daughter. There is an urgent matter so I have to go. Then I’ll see you next time.”

He hastily left Seo-yoon’s room.

She was discharged from the hospital and now she made delicious dishes.

‘It is about time.’

Jeong Deuk-soo picked up the chopsticks with a thrilled expression.

He wanted to taste the chicken ginseng soup in front of him.

Then Seo-yoon started distributing the dishes from the centre of the table. She tore the meat off the skewers and the scallops and neatly placed them on Lee Hyun’s spoon.

‘Daughter… My daughter.’

Although the bowl was moved a little bit far away, it wasn’t like Jeong Deuk-soo couldn’t reach it.

It was only 15 centimetres!

He just thought it was embarrassing to stretch out his chopsticks.

“Um. This is good.”

Lee Hyun placed the precious food in his mouth.

‘T-that bad guy.’

Jeong Deuk-soo scooped up some of the chicken ginseng soup with a spoon.

‘Um… This is delicious.’

He ate the tender meat.

The chicken ginseng soup was boiled well and was good for the body.

In addition to the chicken ginseng soup, the skewers were also delicious. His desire for the other side dishes grew bigger.

It was like there was an invisible line drawn on the table that he didn’t dare cross.

Furthermore, the chicken in his soup only had one leg.

‘Isn’t it mean to only give me one chicken leg?’

Jeong Deuk-soo stared at Lee Hyun’s bowl that contained three chicken legs.

TL Note: Next chapter is long so it will take a while. There is no set date but you can check the status bar for my progress.

Chapter 8: Weed’s Trap

– The skill Summon Undead has increased to level 9.

The health of the undead has greatly increased. The bones of the skeletons are properly attached. Movement speed will increase.

– Due to the increased knowledge of death, faith has been reduced by 15.

Due to the aversion from people, honour and dignity has been reduced by 7.

As Weed’s Summon Undead skill leveled up, the speed of the experience accumulating started to slow.

“Something is missing.”

He gathered monsters to collect experience but the rate of increase in proficiency had slowed.

“My stats are dropping… Summon Undead will increase more quickly when going against users.”

Killing a user and raising their corpse would increase experience and proficiency several times more than monsters.

The corpses of the northern users!

However, even they weren’t willing to die just so that Weed could use Undead Summon.

‘Will they die if they attack the cities of the giants?’

An insidious plot.

Northern users would die after receiving ridiculous quests. If he used Summon Undead in the process then his skills would increase very quickly.

‘No. If they die and are weakened then they will pay less tax. I need to consider the long term profits.’

He couldn’t abandon the northern users who he raised as golden eggs just because of an urgent matter in the land of the giants.

Weed’s intelligence often surpassed a politician when it came to insidious schemes.

While Weed was thinking, he made sculptures that expressed a devil with forked tongues.

Insidious plot 2, 3, 4, 5, 6… 15, 16, 17, 18… 540…

‘The purpose is simple. Get stats, build combat achievements and win trophies. Increase my skill proficiencies as quickly as possible. I need to achieve all these things!’

Weed frowned as he finally designed a plot.

*   *   *

Lafaye and the Hermes Guild saw the broadcast of Weed’s hunting.

“The attack power… Hrmm.”

“What is his level?”

“I don’t know. The sculpting profession… The configuration is completely different from the skills we use.”

The leaders of the Hermes Guild consisted of top rankers in Royal Road.

Despite the users skimming over it, they were unable to grasp Weed’s level.

“Doesn’t his level just exceed 500? Bardray-nim is already level 560.”

“If we just look at the attack power… It is possible that is his level. He wouldn’t have attempted the dangerous lair without confidence in his level.”

“I don’t think so. When looking at the melee damage, he is weaker than us. His health and defense is also ridiculously low. And what if his level is high?

I don’t think it will be even remotely close to Bardray.”

“Can Carlson-nim hunt in that lair alone? I’m not confident that I can.”

“Until now, he has grown as a sculptor. An art occupation. If so, will his level be that high?”

“Don’t just look at attack power. Where can he get enough experience in a short period of time? Aside from brute force, it isn’t just through hunting.”

Weed had struggled through a variety of quests on the Versailles Continent.

Weed constantly built up his strength but an exact analysis of it wasn’t possible.

“He unleashes an extreme onslaught while avoiding attacks. His movements are concise and brilliant.”

“The fire skill that he learnt is great.”

“When looking at the power, it definitely isn’t a swordsmanship skill.”

“I suspect it might be a fire magic skill… We need to analyze his recent adventures and possible routes. It will be good if we obtain it.”

“Did he become a necromancer due to the flames? A warrior occupation lacks mana.”

“There are too many skills to use during combat. There are difficult points involved with each skill.”

“Necromancer… Hrmm. Weed chose a necromancer.”

“We don’t have to worry about the undead yet. But they are becoming stronger and faster.”

Lafaye and the leaders were deeply vigilant.

‘Weed. There is definitely something about that guy.’

‘Necromancer, why did he choose it?’

The Hermes Guild thoroughly analyzed the necromancer profession.

Theoretically, it was a profession that could grow quickly. But in reality, the hunting efficiency wasn’t that good.

Thousands of monsters didn’t crowd in one place enough for undead to be constantly summoned.

The competition in lairs and dungeons was fierce among the high-level users.

The Arpen Kingdom and land of the giants might have unexplored dungeons but that wasn’t infinite. It took time and effort to find a dungeon.

‘Adventures… The levels of the users are low, but the Arpen Kingdom has much more active adventurers. Dungeon and territory expansion. Everything is stable in the Central Continent but the competition is fiercer.’

Ropno, the lord of Moros Castle, made a suggestion.

“Send some assassins.”

“Assassins?”

Lafaye was unwilling to use methods that they had used in the past.

Even if the elite chased Weed around the whole continent, there was a chance they could be beaten.

“I don’t think that assassins can catch Weed.”

“Necromancers need good hunting grounds. A dungeon with moderately strong monsters. And it is a place where other users don’t hunt.”

“There aren’t many places like that.”

“He won’t be able to produce undead in the Central Continent, so he will travel around the northern and eastern regions. So catching Weed is only a matter of time and probability.”

Lafaye and the leaders of the Hermes Guild positively reviewed Ropno’s proposal.

Weed was the most threatening existence to the Hermes Guild so hunting him seriously wasn’t bad.

The war with the rebels was over, so they decided to organize a hunting squad.

“Who will be the person in charge of this?”

“If it is Darius-nim… He would be useful.”

The hound of the Hermes Guild!

Originally from the Rosenheim Kingdom, he came to the Central Continent and joined the Hermes Guild. He was a person who would surely be able to handle it.

An hour later.

Black Money of Mapan’s Trading Company met Ropno, user of the Hermes Guild and lord of Moros Castle.

“So the aim of the squad is to hunt Weed-nim?”

“Yes. That’s correct. It was just decided in a meeting.”

“How many people?”

“300 people. A few members of Bardray’s guards will be placed in the hunting squad.”

Ropno cut open a roast chicken and willingly gave out the information. Weed’s adventure as the Desert Emperor in the past had changed history and affected Moros Castle!

The end of the Embinyu Church gave him a large opportunity to thrive.

“Huhu. Can they catch Weed-nim? It will be difficult if he fights, but he moves quite quickly.”

“There are at least two or more tankers in each group of 30 people. If a battle takes places then there is a team of 500 people waiting at the Hermes Guild’s headquarters to act as reinforcements. There are magicians professionally trained in teleportation.”

“So the hunting squad has to catch his ankle until reinforcements arrive.”

“Yes yes, that’s right.”

Ropno wouldn’t join Weed’s side without anything in return.

‘This is more beneficial.’

He contacted Mapan’s Trading Company and arranged a secret trade with the Arpen Kingdom.

The Embinyu Church disappeared but the rebels devastated the Central Continent. He was able to built up wealth quicker than others due to this trade.

‘And if I get kicked out of the Hermes Guild… I can just become a lord of the Arpen Kingdom.’

Ropno ate a chicken leg and grinned.

Moros Castle!

The castle was bought by the Hermes Guild for a huge amount of money that would eventually be collected.

The money earned since then was entirely his own.

It would be interesting to go to the Arpen Kingdom and start a new castle.

‘When looking at the broadcasts, it is a place full of vitality. It is better to brag to other people than I am a lord of the Arpen Kingdom than the Haven Empire.’

Ropno thought about becoming a lord of the Arpen Kingdom and gave all the information that he knew.

*   *   *

Weed sculpted while hunting.

Sculptures carved in the land of the giants!

Large quantities of minerals from the giants’ fortress were melted down and turned into a sculpture in Derick Village.

“Time Sculpting!”

The appearance of the sculpture changed due to Time Sculpting. A giant covered in vines and moss.

– Magnum Opus! Giant has been completed!

An absolute sculpture!

A work that shows the versatility of Sculptor Weed.

You have expressed the image of Ureta from the legend.

A giant that controlled lightning and storms that disappeared for some reason.

His presence remains only in the records and stories…

The magnificent figure of the giant was sculpted using rare metal with brilliant colours.

The metal requires a high smelting technique to be used in art, something only Weed can pull off in this era.

Artistic Value: 37,292

Options: The sculpture reduces the probability of natural disasters and monster invasion by 74%.

Those who see Giant will have their health and mana regeneration increased by 44% for a day.

Maximum health will increase by 25,000. Vitality and all resistances have increased by 11%.

The effect of the blacksmithing skill will temporarily increase by 4%.

All stats increased by 31.

Courage, charisma, fighting spirit and wisdom have permanently increased by 3.

Warriors and swordsman who see it will have a stat associated with defense increased by two.

The skills ‘Powerful Flesh’ and ‘Destroyer Sword’ will be applied to warriors.

Current number of Magnum Opus created:  21

– Fame has increased by 4,124.

– The skill proficiency of Time Sculpting has improved.

– Art stat has increased by 91.

– Perseverance has increased by 6.

– Endurance has increased by 2.

– Strength has increased by 2.

– The form of an ancient giant has been restored.

Wisdom has increased by 4.

All stats will gain an additional 3 points for making a Magnum Opus sculpture.

“It is enormous.”

“It is the first time I’ve seen a finished sculpture.”

“I got stats!”

The northern users watched Weed make the sculpture on a semi-regular basis.

They couldn’t help their admiration.

The Divine Fire could melt all types of minerals without needing a furnace. He then beat and sculpted the minerals to create a 10 metre high statue.

It was an enormous task but they were more amazed by Weed’s process. He started from the bottom but there was a lot of progress after a day.

The workload and speed was enough to make anyone tired.

“Grueling labour.”

“As expected from the king.”

“Isn’t he a master?”

“A sculptor should be such a person. He doesn’t stop even when a person with pizza is next to him.”

The northern users talked loudly as they admired Weed.

“This is a little disappointing… It would be great if there were more sculptures in the land of the giants. The good people are sleeping.”

Then pieces for a sculpture were gathered together!

“Here are more minerals. Weed-nim.”

Pale brought out all the ores he owned.

The natural duty of a combat slave!

“I also have sculpture materials.”

Zephyr knew early on that this would happen and brought expensive sculpting materials as a bribe.

“Hrmm. This atmosphere…”

“It will be great if there are a lot of sculptures.”

The northern users noticed and brought over certain minerals.

They were the ones who would benefit most from Weed’s sculptures.

Statues of adventurers, swordsman, priest…

He made sculptures for each profession and used Time Sculpting.

It was the final secret technique so the proficiency didn’t increase quickly.

Even if he sculpted a magnum opus, it didn’t even go up one level in the intermediate stage!

However, being a master sculptor meant that the artistic value was higher and skill effects came out.

The blacksmith skill also rose due to the rare minerals!

His blacksmith skill reached advanced level 3. His knowledge and proficiency with special minerals increased.

The variety of metals improved his blacksmith skill.

He was more proficient in making metal sculptures than he was in swords and armour.

“Metal sculptures are time consuming and expensive, but there are advantages.”

All the minerals were free!

Some of the northern users started to feel doubt.

“But look at Weed’s Giant sculpture. Where did so many minerals come from?”

“That’s right. Many minerals can be gained from killing giants.”

“Hmm hmm. Perhaps in the giants’ fortress…”

“It can’t be. Weed-nim isn’t like that. We don’t know if he got it as a quest reward or while hunting.”

“Is that right?”

Of course, Zephyr and Pale knew the truth.

‘He stole the loot…!’

‘Indeed, in such a short amount of time…’

Maybe summoning Yellowy to attract the attention of the giants and wander around were all part of his original plan.

‘When looking at it, was he more concerned with picking up the loot than the battle’s victory or defeat?’

‘Kuooh. Awful. It is absolutely impossible to siphon off taxes as a lord. He even knows how many dogs are in the village.’

As Weed hunted and made sculptures on a semi-regular basis in Derick Village, the northern users easily approached him.

The first to come was a hunter user called Kaerom.

“Can you make me a sculpture?”

“Sculpture? I am not receiving commissioned soldiers these days.”

Weed would make an order once a year. The sculptors in cities who received orders from users mainly had a low skill proficiency. He had mastered sculpting so he obviously couldn’t move at a cheap price.

“Yes. Excuse me. I was going to offer Migrium as the material.”

“Hu, as an artist, my passion for the work doesn’t go away. How much Migrium did you…?”

“All of it.”

“Hmm hmm. I am quite busy in the land of the giants so the production cost will be expensive.”

“I know about your skill… Anyway, I was thinking about 20,000 gold. Is that too small?”

“Give me the money and Migrium. And you are handsome. It will be rewarding to make a piece for you.”

An opportunity for Weed to make a sculpture of them!

Other users came up to Weed with minerals in order to commission a sculpture.

“I will make it within a week.”

After receiving a large amount of minerals that Yellowy and Cerberus carried, Weed went to the hunting grounds.

He used Summon Undead and sculpted while hunting. The quality of the minerals was excellent and the sculptures were as well.

Due to his experiences, he made fine pieces and masterpieces.

He steadily built up his stats and the blacksmithing skill proficiency.

When he received food ingredients, he cooked for the users.

“Put this in, put that in… They are precious ingredients but they have to be boiled.”

A mixed stew!

He had to develop a recipe to discover new flavours but it was a pretty tricky task.

It was necessary to squeeze out all the flavour from each cooking ingredient.

Weed boiled the ingredients from the land of the giants.

“Excuse me… Is it tasty if you boil it?”

“Yes, if you don’t like it then you can bake or fry it.”

“Ah, no. Just boil it.”

His colleagues watched the scene and made an evaluation.

“A necromancer involves hard work.”

“It doesn’t matter what job, it all involves labour.”

“That is life…”

*   *   *

As the northern users actively explored the land of the giants, they grasped the location of the closest dungeons.

Once Weed started hunting, he made concessions to the northern users if there were only a small number of monsters.

He chose hunting grounds with the optimal efficiency for a necromancer.

“Now I will move to the next part of the plan.”

Weed had a light smile on his face. He made more than 40 sculptures in Derick Village.

Time Sculpting reached 96% of intermediate level 9 and the skill level of Blacksmithing and Cooking also increased, so it was time to leave. One of the reasons why he changed to a necromancer was due to Time Sculpting.

– Advanced Time Sculpting: Travel Sculpting.

Chase the traces of time to travel to a specific point in time.

You can proceed with special quests.

However, accepting random quests not related to sculpting that would change the past will incur a huge penalty.

A sculpting technique with many possibilities!

He could stop the world temporarily using Moment Sculpting but it didn’t end there.

If Time Sculpting reached advanced level then he could go to the past.

‘It is like I experienced as Great Emperor of the desert… In order to become strong, I have to fight dangerous enemies.’

He had looked at the warrior and swordsman professions.

He would have to battle against many enemies in order to qualify as a powerhouse.

The stronger the surroundings were, the higher his necromancy strength would be. He had to look for good hunting grounds.

As a sculptor, he had accumulated wealth and experience. He would use all the outstanding abilities that he accumulated.

“Shall we move?”

Weed looked at the beasts of burden around him.

“Bark bark!”

Cerberus, Yellowy, and Bahamorg helped him.

There were minerals, a blacksmith furnace, and cooking utensils packed.

The sculptures built at the entrance of Derick Village had great value.

Assets made from advanced rare minerals!

If he moved them to the Arpen Kingdom then he could earn big money, but he decided to leave it.

“This village should be mine!”

It wasn’t just for the convenience of the northern users, but to have influence over the residents.

– Derick Village

Influence No. 1: Weed 32%

Influence No. 2: Teros 7%

Influence No. 3: Seasoned Crab 6%

There were quests and hunting, but more of his influence was his work as a sculpting master!

Surka, Maylon, Romuna, Irene, Pale, Hwaryeong, and Zephyr approached while Weed was packing his baggage. Python and Seasoned Crab were also among the crowd.

Pale came to him first.

“Where are you going?”

“To the Versailles Continent.”

Irene hesitated before saying.

“Is that okay?”

“What?”

“Hermes Guild…”

They had heard from Mapan about the squad organized to hunt Weed.

The Hermes Guild weren’t in a war so they had free troops to organize an assassination squad.

“It is dangerous.”

Worry was evident on their faces.

Surka and Irene still had tender hearts.

Even Hwaryeong had worry in her eyes.

Weed laughed lightly.

“I’ll be okay. I am ready for all of them.”

Hwaryeong was still worried and said.

“I haven’t seen any preparation. You have just been making sculptures. If you are lying to reassure us then don’t do it.”

Hwaryeong felt a mixture of anxiety and worry.

“I have been preparing for a long time.”

“Since when?”

“Before I even received the Necromancer profession. The Hermes Guild will always interfere with me.”

“Then when you received the profession…”

“It isn’t a main thing, but I’ve set aside some preparations.”

There was admiration in Pale’s eyes.

‘Indeed.’

A person couldn’t suddenly change.

Weed had already prepared all the estimates.

It wasn’t his way to recklessly launch a war against the Hermes Guild.

Python laughed as he helped Weed pack.

“Ggol ggol. I’m sorry to see you leave like this. Have a good fight. I’ll pray for you.”

Python smiled wildly but he had a relieved expression.

He had been full of anxiety while Weed had been hunting and sculpting.

‘If he leaves then perhaps I won’t see him for months? It is good that he is busy.’

Weed’s colleagues loaded his baggage onto Yellowy.

Weed stood next to a waiting Yurin and asked.

“Do you want to go as well?”

Seasoned Crab, who was patting Yellowy’s head, replied with an aghast expression.

“Where?”

“Hunting grounds.”

“Huh?”

Weed’s colleagues were puzzled as Weed spoke.

“I would like to go with you.”

*   *   *

Weed told his colleagues the plan. The so-called mousetrap!

“The Hermes Guild is aiming for me. The preparation against that… I will do a reverse trap.”

When the Hermes Guild came to the dungeon to hunt him, he would counterattack with his colleagues and the sculptural lifeforms. Of course, the real plan was to engage in historical battles with his colleagues after he used Time Sculpting. However, it wasn’t time to mention that just yet.

‘There is no need for democracy or an intense debate.’

Human rights!

Respect for values!

It was an essential element in modern society, but it would just drag things out.

Python showed an intense interest after hearing about the hunting.

“So we won’t be hunting monsters?”

“Yes. Hunt the Hermes Guild.”

“What if they don’t show up?”

“There is no way. They are more diligent when doing bad things.”

Seasoned Crab smiled.

“This is a little… Interesting.”

He was an assassin so he found killing strong people more fun than monsters. In particular, the elite Hermes Guild members were like honey! Weed drew something on the ground.

“Mols Dungeon is a huge place just north of Vent Castle. There is only one entrance but it is wide enough to be called an underground world. This is the rough structure.”

Circles such as pig’s tails were drawn and there was something that looked like chicken skewers.

“…”

The colleague who looked at the picture couldn’t tell anything at all about the dungeon structure.

They knew about Weed’s ability to draw so Bellot ignored the ground and asked.

“So?”

“I understand the picture because I draw too.”

“Kellok.”

“14 different types of monsters can be found in the dungeon, and the numbers are to the extent that it could be called a kingdom. It isn’t a place where general users can hunt just yet.”

There were three or four dungeons in each area that were overflowing with monsters. Sometimes the density of the monsters in the dungeon was so high that they came outside.

“It is the best hunting ground for a necromancer. While I am hunting here, the Hermes Guild’s assassination squad will notice.”

Pale asked with unease.

“Just us? They will have at least 20 people. Hundreds of people will come flocking. It will be hard even with Weed’s undead.”

Even death knights found it hard to deal with Hermes Guild users.

Pale pointed it out and Weed sighed.

“I know. So I need troops to help us.”

“Where are they?”

“I will start calling them now.”

Weed picked people from the northern users in Derick Village to join. He would never betray users who commissioned sculptures at an expensive price. In addition, he selected users who participated in the activities of the Grass Porridge Cult and the battle at the Earth Palace. The final total was over 300 people!

“I want to fight the Hermes Guild. Yet it is still dangerous.”

Surka was still nervous.

However, Weed had one last hidden card remaining.

“There are hundreds of Sahyungs in the Arpen Kingdom. Call them.”

*   *   *

– Weed has been found. He was seen entering Mols Dungeons.

– Alone?

– He is accompanied by the cow and one warrior.

– Good. It is certain. Be ready to go. What about the squad that is waiting?

– There are two modifications. Thief Renein is the captain.

– Renein will watch from a distance and wait to join us. Be careful not to be noticed.

The communication channel of the Hermes Guild!

The assassination squad scattered around the Arpen Kingdom started to move quickly.

Magicians gathered in Aren Castle, the capital city.

“Teleport!”

The teleport gate was used to move a large number of troops to the north.

After that, the magicians drew circles and moved the squad to the north.

Each magician would move them to a predetermined point and they would switch when mana was low.

230 magicians were gathered to cross the cast Arpen Kingdom by teleportation.

Despite the work taking several hours, Weed was busy hunting undead while the assassination squad gathered together.

“I don’t think we will need the support of the magicians but.. We need to show our strength.”

The magic units didn’t return and decided to attack Mols Dungeon as well.

“Darius-nim. I thought some preparations were enough only to have the plan fail. This time, I say with certainty, we will definitely show the power of the Hermes Guild.”

“I will pull it off perfectly. Trust me.”

Darius led the squad and the support teams of the Hermes Guild to the entrance of Mols Dungeon.

The total personnel included 230 assassins, 500 people in the support team and 24 Royal Guards.

The Hermes Guild members watched each other and laughed.

“So many people are gathered just for one person?”

“We need to press forward with full force. He won’t be allowed to fight back.”

“There is a competition to kill Weed.”

Their levels were over 400 so quite a formidable force of 1054 people was gathered.

Although the Hermes Guild was managing their image while taking care of internal affairs, they had to hunt Weed.

Anyway, they intended to demonstrate their power.

“Let’s enter.”

The members of the squad entered Mols Dungeon.

*   *   *

– Seasoned Crab: They are coming.

Seasoned Crab, or ‘Death comes in Shadows’, was watching the entrance to the dungeon and sent a whisper to Weed.

“How many?”

– Seasoned Crab: So far, only 400 are entering.

“That is a lot.”

– Seasoned Crab:They keep coming. Some will block the entrance to the dungeon.

“I understand. Thank you. Seasoned Crab-nim.”

– Seasoned Crab: My name…

The day before, Seasoned Crab was forced to register Weed as friends due to this mission.

It was the same for Surka, Irene and other colleagues.

Surka laughed cutely and asked first.

“Assassin-nim. Please accept my friend registration.”

“Cough… That…”

Seasoned Crab tried to avoid it but he couldn’t stop Weed’s mouth.

“Seasoned Crab who destroys souls. Don’t you want to be friends with Surka-nim?”

“Huh?”

“I think there are many people who want to be friends with Seasoned Crab here.”

“…”

Assassin!

He was the best assassin in Royal Road so many users envied him.

Aside from monster hunting, he had absolute strength in a one-on-one fight with a user.

The assassin who assassinated the most lords and Hermes Guild uses in the Central Continent!

He didn’t feel comfortable but Irene, Romuna, and Bellot covered their mouths after hearing his name.

“Pfft!”

“Kkak!”

“Ego.”

Seasoned Crab’s face that was hidden by the robe turned red as he watched them trying to control their laughter.

Pale and Zephyr felt lucky.

‘I’m glad that isn’t my name. I ate barbecue chicken on the day I started Royal Road.’

‘I shouldn’t play around with my name… It is really funny.’

Surka’s eyes shone.

“Your name is Seasoned Crab?”

“Umm.”

“Wah. I really like seasoned crab. It is great.”

“Kuuuok. Yes.”

Murderer in the darkness, Seasoned Crab who destroys souls!

His soul shook as Surka shook his hand.

“But soy sauce crab is also delicious.”

“Marinated crab is delicious.”

“A perfect meal.”

“Oh, so you are an assassin?”

Her imagination freely spread.

In fact, everything happened due to the bad Weed so he huffed as he whispered to him.

– Seasoned Crab: Weed, if you keep using my name without my permission then you may have difficulties in the future.

Weed the God of War.

Even if he was the king of the Arpen Kingdom, he wasn’t safe from assassins.

Seasoned Crab threatened him after being teased.  However, this wasn’t enough to cause Weed to reflect.

“I’m sorry. Don’t be mad.”

– Seasoned Crab: I will accept the apology. In the future, please pay attention to my title.

“In order to apologize, I will give you the highest honour in the Grass Porridge Cult.”

– Seasoned Crab: Huh?

“I will announce the cruel killing master, Seasoned Crab, as the guardian of the Grass Porridge Cult.”

– Seasoned Crab: Heeok! Y-you don’t need to do that.

“I will make a large sculpture in Dawn City and Morata with the name Seasoned Crab. You don’t have to give me anything. It is a privilege given only to the best assassin, Seasoned Crab.”

*   *   *

Shake shake.

Seasoned Crab, who was hiding in the darkness, felt his body tremble with anger.

‘He is teasing me.’

It was the moment he had been worried about since naming his character.

‘The name Seasoned Crab became known.’

His resentment towards Weed couldn’t be resolved. His statues would cover the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed even scheduled a festival with seasoned crab porridge every month for the Grass Porridge Cult.

‘Revenge. The target is the Hermes Guild.’

Seasoned Crab calmed down and waited.

The voices of Darius and the hunting squad was heard.

“I don’t think that Weed can run away. Haha. Even if he does, he can’t run far. However, I will leave 100 people behind.

He left 100 Hermes Guild users at the entrance of the dungeon.

‘Absolute Eyes.’

Seasoned Crab used an assassin skill.

After using the skill, he was able to see a colour around the opponents despite the darkness. The stronger ones were red while the weak ones were blue.

Seasoned Crab was level 522 so most of the users were surrounded by a green colour.

‘It is enough to hunt.’

Seasoned Crab waited 20 minutes according to the predetermined plan.

Mols Dungeon was fairly large so it would take more than three hours to search the whole thing.

Weed would be waiting for the assassination squad deep inside the dungeon.

‘It is time.’

Seasoned Crab used a skill.

‘Dark Curtain.’

A large shadow covered the Hermes Guild users.

The wind didn’t blow but the magic torches turned off.

Darkness spread like water and covered the surroundings.

The time for the assassin, Seasoned Crab had begun.

“Cough!”

Someone died in the darkness. Since the user was alone, the Hermes Guild didn’t know about it.

The body quickly disappeared into grey light.

“Ggeug.”

“Aaack!”

One by one, one by one.

The users on the outskirts were quickly disposed of by Seasoned Crab.

He closely approached from behind and stabbed the back or neck. His bold hands didn’t hesitate.

The warriors with high health suffered paralyzing blows and they were killed with two or three consecutive attacks.

After eight people died, the users in the room felt strange.

“What?”

“Strange. I think there were a few people on that side of the entrance.”

“Hrmm. It feels weird.”

Seasoned Crab quickly attacked the careless users.

Assassination was a fight against time.

“Cough!”

After three more died, a Hermes Guild user jumped out.

“An ambush.”

“What?”

“I saw it. A hand stretched out in the darkness and killed my warrior friend Delekto!”

“Then…”

“They are dead. I am the only one left in the party.”

The Hermes Guild users at the entrance quickly took the defensive.

– Tudomkil:  We are receiving an attack!

– Kwakkwaki: Weed is at the entrance to the dungeon…

No, this is an assassin.

– Sea King: Weed’s colleagues have appeared.

The Hermes Guild’s communication network became crowded.

After completing his mission at the entrance, Seasoned Crab quietly disappeared into the darkness.

*   *   *

Darius heard about what happened at the dungeon entrance through the network.

“Ignore the assassin and continue. Our only goal is Weed.”

The Hermes Guild users holding weapons!

Bardray’s guards didn’t even shake.

‘It is none of my business if the weak people died.’

‘Fellows… He doesn’t seem to be alone.’

Darius didn’t care about minor disturbances.

‘There is no choice.’

He was leading a thousand people.

Unlike the plan, it was impossible to leave the dungeon because of a few variables. They couldn’t waste time catching an assassin.

“Weed will die from our hands today. He has noticed so move quicker.”

Darius was the leader.

He had the ability to command people to do bad things!

“There are twenty people here. Havelock-nim. Take care of it.”

“I understand.”

They knew where Weed was located but it wasn’t efficient to have 800 people head there.

The scale of Mols Dungeon was so large that Weed could escape. Therefore, they placed troops at every branch.

The Hermes Guild’s intelligence network had obtained the approximate terrain and path of the dungeon.

‘There is no secret passage. And he can’t run away with magic.’

Magicians and priests had unleashed magic to block spatial movement.

‘This dungeon is in a perfectly isolated state. Variables don’t exist.’

*   *   *

Sakak sakak.

The level 487 thief Renein was hiding in the darkness and watching. He was watching the target Weed!

‘He is making a sculpture.’ It was natural as a sculptor. He doesn’t look stronger than I thought, but he has subordinates with him.’

Weed was with Yellowy, Cerberus, and Bahamorg.

Renein started feeling some greed.

‘An attack is unavoidable. Even if I am just observing, I am in charge of the most important mission.’

If the hunting squad succeeded then he would be given compensation from the Hermes Guild.

‘He must like sculpting. He continues to make sculptures even after becoming a master.’

Weed entered the dungeon for hunting and raised death knights and skeletons.

While restoring his mana, he sat down to make sculptures.

Renein recognized his sincerity and wondered about the value of the sculpture.

‘Stats is hard work. Successful sculptures were good for building up stats. There are reports that he can become stronger from it.’

Sakak sakak.

‘But the sculpture is familiar. I’ve seen it before. Who was it?’

Weed was sculpting Zahab, who lived for a lifetime due to love!

‘Zahab. Yes Zahab!’

Renein stared as more of the sculpture’s appearance was revealed.

There were numerous masters on the Versailles Continent, however users had little interest in the sculpting masters.

Zahab had hidden in one of the 10 forbidden zones, Grapass without any users knowing.

He was also a master swordsman and became popular after helping Hestiger in the final battle with the Embinyu Church.

Weed finally finished the last section of Zahab.

“This looks good.”

After Zahab, Weed made a sculpture of Queen Evane.

It was still early but it quickly became obvious that it was Queen Evane.

‘Very fast and proficient hands. It is like they are moving.’

Renein admired the completed sculptures of Zahab and Evane.

“Time Sculpting!”

Weed’s sculpting skill gradually changed the sculptures.

Wrinkles formed on Zahab and Evane’s faces and their hair turned white

Their shoulders narrowed and height decreased.

‘What is that? A sculpting technique?’

The sculpture of the two people was completed when watching Renein!

“The name will be Lovers. Yes. That’s it.”

– You have enjoyed the sculpture Lovers.

A work created by the great Weed.

A work portraying the sculpting master Zahab and Queen Evane of the Rosenheim Kingdom in the younger days.

The sculptures have stayed together for a long time.

A work that shows their everlasting love.

Wisdom and knowledge have permanently increased by 2 due to sensing the emotions.

Maximum health will increase by 1,200 for one month.

Art has permanently increased by 1.

Charm has permanently increased by 1.

A masterpiece!

‘The stats are better… A master is certainly different.’

Renein admired it.

“You struggled due to me so I hope this will resolve some of your grudges.”

Weed talked to the sculptures.

Renein didn’t know the details so he just watched.

Weed took out a sculpture and used a skill.

“Summon Sculpture!”

Goldman appeared with a dazzling gold light.

“You called. Gol gol!”

“Yes, just wait.”

This was the territory of the Arpen Kingdom, the amount of mana consumed by Summon Sculpture wasn’t huge.

Weed made another sculpture and used a skill.

“Summon Sculpture!”

This time it was White Tiger!

“Kuoooooooang!”

Its mouth opened and the roar echoed through the dungeon.

“Shut up. Stay in a corner.”

“Understood. Kuheheung!”

Renein’s heart became anxious as he hid in the darkness.

‘He is calling more of his subordinates. If I’m discovered then I won’t be able to run away before dying.’

The sculptural lifeforms have already proven their strength.

As a thief, he was able to escape from the enemy. But it wouldn’t be easy to avoid a beast like White Tiger in this dungeon.

Weed repeatedly made sculptures and used Summon Sculpture.

“You called?”

“Yes. Just wait.”

High elf Eltin was summoned.

‘He keeps bringing in more subordinates. It seems like he noticed the raid and is preparing to fight.’

Renein reported it through the communication channel of the Hermes Guild.

– Renein: It seems like he has noticed the attack. He is calling his sculptural lifeforms.

– Darius: There was also an attack by an assassin at the entrance of the dungeon.

– Renein: What should I do? Please give me instructions.

– Darius: Make sure he doesn’t run away. He doesn’t want to die so he called the sculptural lifeforms. However, that is a foolish move.

‘Indeed. It isn’t bad to sweep away all his subordinates.’

Getting rid of Weed’s sculptural lifeforms will deal an irreversible blow.

‘They are famous. It would be unfortunate if they all disappear.’

Renein saw the process of a sculpture being created so he had a soft spot for the sculptural lifeforms.

Having those subordinates would be a very special experience.

“Summon Sculpture!”

Weed continued to summon Vindex, the barbarian Gernika, Countryside Snake, Death Worm, Knight Seville and the crocodile Nile.

‘Doesn’t he realize how reckless this is? Every sculptural lifeform will be killed here.’

*   *   *

“Kuuck.”

“Cough!”

The troops left by Darius at each crossroad were attacked by northern users.

– Comet: Emergency! It is a trap. Northern users are attacking us!

– Deinchak: We are in a battle with enemies and outnumbered 36-2! They are hiding inside the dungeon.

– Alpan: There are six times the number of people. We have been attacked by 40 people. Requesting assistance. The power of the enemies has doubled!

A sudden raid!

The people aiming for Weed’s life were ambushed by the northern users.

The size of the dungeon was so large that the Hermes Guild had left a force at every crossroad in order to stop any chances of escape.

As those troops were swept away by the northern users, Darius received the news.

“Dammit. It was a trap.”

More than five places were raided at the same time.

Darius knew the situation but there was no way for him to do anything.

From the time that the assassin appeared, it had been far too late to turn back.

“The northern users must have been waiting at every major location in the dungeon.”

The Royal Guard members who were over level 500 were quiet.

Everyone’s eyes were on Darius.

‘What are we going to do?’

‘This is your responsibility.’

‘I finally joined a guild only to end up ruined.’

There were many users watching the actions of the faithful hound Darius.

Failure in the Hermes Guild would result in punishment, so they pushed all responsibility onto him.

‘What should I do? I don’t know the power of the enemy. Should we fight? But the worst… Yes. The worst thing is if we miss catching Weed. Everything will be fine as long as we can somehow catch Weed.’

Darius hastily thought and opened his mouth.

“Speed up the movements. Ignore everyone else and chase Weed.”

“Are we leaving the troops behind?”

“I’m sorry but we can’t afford to save them now.”

The main body of the hunting squad swiftly moved towards the position that Renein indicated.

‘If we catch all the sculptural lifeforms… I will at the very least get the position of a lord.’

‘The value of the mission has become higher. It will 100% be broadcast.’

It had been less than 1 minute since the squad starting moving.

– Renein: Weed is on the move.

– Darius: Follow him.

Keep track of him at all times. We will arrive soon.

Darius and the hunting squad increased their speed.

After a while, a message appeared again on the guild’s communication channel.

– Renein: I am falling behind. He is so fast on the cow!

– Darius: You absolutely can’t lose him. Just keep following.

Don’t let him escape the dungeon. We must block all paths.

Darius hastily divided the main squad into three. They would track Weed in many directions at the same time but there were many protests.

“An unknown enemy is attacking. Dispersing the troops now will just increase the damage.”

“There is no time. The only thing that matters now is Weed. What if he exits the dungeon by passing us on another path? Will you take responsibility?”

The other users had ugly expressions but didn’t say anything.

The Hermes Guild’s goal was to catch Weed.

“Weed isn’t far away. Go as quickly as possible.”

The hunting squad hastened at Darius’ words.

– Matum: Raid!

– Gorochwi: This is a trap…

– Square-shaped Kimbap:  Help me!

“It is a waste of time. Just pass by.”

The troops left by the squad were destroyed in turn.

The northern users gathered an optimal group of 50-60 people, including priests!

Meanwhile, the main power of the hunting squad chased after Weed.

*   *   *

“Up to here.”

Darius led the hunting squad to a dead end where Weed was trapped.

‘That’s it. The mission is fulfilled.’

Weed changed his location so it took quite a bit of time to chase him.

‘Trap. It is a terrible trap.’

Darius started shouting arrogantly, despite his heart beating wildly.

“Weed, you are now dead.”

This would probably be shown more than a hundred times on broadcast.

Darius and the Hermes Guild members struck a nice pose with their weapons.

Even so, Weed and Yellowy showed no signs of movement.

“What is this. What is this strange feeling?”

Darius felt uncomfortable.

Renein had mentioned seeing sculptural lifeforms.

“What happened?”

Thief Renein quietly appeared and said.

“That… I lost him once in the middle because he was too fast.”

“What?”

“Fortunately, I will able to catch his trail again. However, the sculptural lifeforms have disappeared somewhere.”

“Damn.”

Darius couldn’t wait anymore.

The critical part of this mission was taking care of Weed. He would worry about the escaping sculptural lifeforms later.

“Attack!”

The Hermes Guild aimed formidable skills at Weed.

“Death’s Dance!”

“Circuit Blade!”

The Hermes Guild users used their attack skills for the preemptive strike.

Water, fire, wind, lightning, swords.

The attacks poured towards Weed and Yellowy.

Ujikun!

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

Darius stared blankly at the massive destruction.

Weed didn’t avoid the attack. He just allowed all attacks and disappeared.

“This is?”

A Hermes Guild user thought something was strange and examined it. The large shrimp on a long fishing line! It was the fisherman’s skill, ‘Fake Bait.’

*   *   *

Weed used Summon Undead around the dungeon.

“Come back to the land you used to live in. This is a dark place. It is a black and corrupt land. Help spread the laws of darkness. Undead Rise!”

The death knights and dullahans that rose from the ground!

The bodies of the Hermes Guild users were indeed of the highest quality.

It was like a five-star hotel!

In the meantime, he had hunted inside Mols Dungeon and increased his skill proficiency.

– The beginner Undead Summon skill proficiency reached level 10 and is changed to intermediate Undead Summon.

Control over the undead has strengthened and health and strength has increased by 15%.

The magic resistance of the undead has increased, and their abilities in a place filled with light has risen.

You can summon ghost based undead and create undead with intense grudges.

Faith has decreased by 30.

Honour has decreased by 55.

Insight has increased by 2.

“The fresh bodies are good.”

Van Hawk led a unit of 100 death knights.

“Get rid of everything!”

Weed led the undead hunting.

The Hermes Guild users wandering Mols Dungeon were the goal.

– Seasoned Crab. 347 users have arrived at the bait area. The rest are scattered all over.

“W-Weed?”

The Hermes Guild users were surprised to see Weed. After that, their expressions hardened as they saw the undead army.

“How did he get here…? Wasn’t he caught in the other area?”

“There is no time to explain. You will find out from the broadcast reports.”

The death knight’s advanced.

It was quite different compared to the past.

He also wore Barkhan’s full set so the value of the corpses were shown properly.

Dozens of death knights rushed at the opponents along with Bahamorg and Weed.

“Kuuck.”

“Unbelievable…”

The Hermes Guild users had scattered into small groups so it wasn’t hard to hunt them.

“Woof woof!”

Cerberus diligently tracked the prey.

The grass porridge smell exuded from the northern users was enough to exclude them.

Sometimes the Hermes Guild users would go beyond 10 people, but he had the sculptural lifeforms along with the undead.

“Step on them.”

“Understood, Master.”

Bahamorg started to engage in a battle along with the undead.

“Ticklish Sensation that is Out of Reach!”

Weed used a curse magic.

The sight of his subordinates fighting!

He was a necromancer but he also fired a high elf’s bow.

A sudden and penetrating attack!

The death knights and sculptural lifeforms stubbornly stuck to the Hermes Guild users. Still, the promising attack was the arrows that flew from far away and caused damage.

They contained an attack power that couldn’t be ignored but also left no hope for them.

The destroyed undead were immediately destroyed and even if they tried to run away, White Tiger and Cerberus were too fast.

The wrath of the Hermes Guild finally became directed towards Weed.

“Weed! Don’t shoot arrows like a coward and fight us!”

“I don’t want to.”

“Coward. Don’t you care about being blamed by viewers after this is broadcast?”

“It is better than you guys who came as a horde.”

The Hermes Guild had no basis in terms of their guilt.

Weed hunted users scattered through the dungeon and he summoned the undead whenever there were traces of a battle.

– The skill proficiency of Summon Undead has improved.

“Lululu.”

Weed hummed while increasing the undead!

‘A necromancer is definitely the right fit for me. Very cool.’

The crucial point was the Hermes Guild users defeated at the dungeon entrance by the northern users.

The Hermes Guild users were trapped inside the dungeon and were hunted down.

*   *   *

Darius and the hunting squad belatedly tried to escape the dungeon but was ambushed.

“Withdraw, withdraw!”

Seasoned Crab moved relentlessly behind them in the shadows.

“Hey. Where are you running to?”

“Stick together!”

The group consisting of Geomchis and the northern users were strong.

The Hermes Guild members couldn’t resist their terrible attack power. However, they also lost hope due to the vicious Weed pursuing them from afar.

“Summon Undead!”

Every time they were distracted by a northern user, an arrow would be shot in their back and the undead summoned.

Either way, they became undead in the end!

‘No. This is a necromancer.’

Darius truly admired him.

It was enough to make him reflect on all the bad things in his life.

‘It is difficult to raise the skill level of a necromancer in the early days. But I’ve seen the benefits while watching the battle in the giants’ fortress.’

The final decisive battle!

Hundreds of the hunting squad fought in an underground plaza.

“I can’t just die.”

“There is no way to escape… I’ll show you why I’m part of the Hermes Guild!”

A member of the hunting squad tried to kill even one more northern user, but he was killed first by the death knights led by Van Hawk.

They consumed their health and mana while trying to get rid of the undead.

The northern users attacked from a distance while the undead were summoned again.

The hunting squad believed in their firepower and brute force, but they fell into a trap and were killed.

They couldn’t jump on the northern users.

“Kuhahaha. This place is heaven.”

“Yes. These guys are strong!”

Geomchi-2 and the other students were also active in the mess!

They swung their swords at the Hermes Guild users.

Even though magic and arrows passed in front of them, they didn’t budge and only aimed at the enemies.

The result was the total annihilation of the hunting squad.

“Wah… We did it.”

“Hooray!

The northern users cheered.

Although they received some damage, the number of Hermes Guild members killed was a lot more.

It was a great victory that they could rejoice at.

*   *   *

The counterattack in Mols Dungeon!

Not only was this payback for Weed’s death in the Melbourne Mine, it also brought great shame to the Hermes Guild.

These scenes were obviously broadcasted around the world.

The names of Weed and the northern users became more popular than ever.

“Hehe. See you next time. Weed-nim.”

Surka said goodbye.

Next to her were Pale, Maylon, Romuna, Irene, Hwaryeong, Zephyr, Seasoned Crab and Python.

Python said in a bold voice.

“I’m sorry that we couldn’t talk properly. See you next time.”

“Hu… It was really fun.”

Pale also shook his hand.

They intercepted the Hermes Guild members and received their equipment and gained experience.

The northern users and Geomchis got their hands on loot.

The Hermes Guild member had accumulated a lot of infamy so their death penalty was high.

The sculptural lifeforms dragged many items to Weed, but one or two were too big.

“Yes. The next time there is a chance… Let’s do it again.”

Weed moved his feet.

Van Hawk and Torido were still here, although they were normally only summoned in combat.

Since he was a necromancer who could create the undead, the sigh of the two of them didn’t seem so strange.

‘Necromancer… It seems like we won’t have to do much hunting again in the future.’

‘Undead. They are worth 1-5 sculptural lifeforms. Weed-nim becoming a necromancer makes it a little easier.’

Weed’s colleagues watched the undead.

Then Weed turned around and hesitated for a moment before saying.

“But I still feel a little empty. Would you like to go hunting with me?”

“H-hunting?

Pale instinctively shivered whenever he heard the word hunt!

“What…? Why do you want to hunt again?”

Python also shook as he asked in an anxious tone.

They recalled the very harsh hunting in the past with Weed.

Seasoned Crab asked with a sick expression.

“Are you going to hunt for the next few days?”

“I only want to bring you to one place to hunt.”

“Ah…”

Surka’s face started to brighten.

‘He has changed after becoming a necromancer.’

‘As long as it is just one… It is okay to go hunting. There isn’t a burden.’

Pale and the old colleagues weren’t in a position to refuse Weed’s proposal.

The combat slave and his friends.

They had met again after a long time so going hunting wasn’t strange. Python and Seasoned Crab exchanged eye contact before nodding.

“Good. I’ll see how strong you have become in the meantime.”

“A necromancer is a profession that is difficult to see.”

Weed was Python’s competitor so he wanted to see Weed’s abilities.

Seasoned Crab wanted to know how much he had changed since becoming a necromancer.

“It will just be a light hunt.”

Weed didn’t tell them a small fact.

Time Sculpting. Travel Sculpting.

An art technique that transcended time and space.

It was a skill for artists to enjoy the beauty and culture of kingdom that had disappeared. He was able to choose to go to the worst battlefield in history.

Chapter 1: Kallapik Castle

The final secret sculpting technique.

Advanced Time Sculpting allowed him to use Travel Sculpting!

Weed left no stone unturned when learning every detail of the history of the Versailles Continent.

‘Monster invasion or war. Many great things happened.’

When looking at the history of the Versailles Continent, a number of important events were recorded.

– The destruction of the Bruker Kingdom in two days due to a monster invasion.

– Nemias Fortress. 37 days of battle turned it into ruins.

– An invasion of monsters from the sea that didn’t seem to end. Half of the continent suffered from the invasion of monsters for three years.

‘Um. Very nice.’

Travel Sculpting was a technique that followed the traces of time and allowed him to go to a certain point in time.

‘War. War.’

If he was a pure sculptor then he would be interested in the points of history where art flourished.

He could freely travel to kingdoms where culture, tourism and romance flourished.

He could taste delicious food that melted on his tongue, look at buildings, and smile brightly at beautiful women.

A secret sculpting technique that allowed him to travel through the history of the continent to his heart’s content.

Weed raised his Time Sculpting skill to advanced in Mols Dungeon.

Ddiring!

– The skill proficiency of Time Sculpting has reached level 10 and transformed into advanced Time Sculpting.

You have received a great enlightenment regarding time.

You have learnt Travel Sculpting that can move you through time and space.

You can currently travel three times.

The number of times Travel Sculpting is possible will be updated once a month and will increase as quests are completed.

When certain conditions are met, special quests related to history, art, business or production can be generated.

Every time the skill level of Travel Sculpting goes up, more areas, quests, and history can be explored.

It was a skill acquired through hours of sculpting.

The first place that Weed selected was ‘Kallapik Castle.’

He was mindful of the physical and mental hardships and decided to bring his colleagues.

The atmosphere was heightened after defeating the Hermes Guild at Mols Dungeon.

Weed said to his colleagues.

“But I still feel a little empty. Would you like to go hunting with me?”

His old innocent colleagues as well as Python and Seasoned Crab were surprisingly easy to catch.

“It will just be a light hunt.”

Weed then muttered in a small voice.

“Travel Sculpting.”

Thousands of strands of light gathered to form a lavish portal big enough for many people to enter.

– Travel Sculpting over time and space has been invoked.

“Then I will go first.”

Weed quickly entered the portal made of brilliant colour before his other colleagues asked for details.

Weed disappeared.

“Wah. Weed-nim learnt a new skill.”

The innocent Surka said with admiration.

Irene also had a nice and not suspicious personality.

“It seems like a skill he acquired while adventuring.”

The others also accepted it.

“Ah. I’m envious. But does a necromancer have a movement skill similar to a teleport gate?”

Romuna was a bit jealous while Zephyr had no interest in movement skills.

‘I want to eat. Um… It would be delicious to eat together with Yurin. Peel the flesh and feed it to her. Kuooh. I will also have a glass of beer.’

Bellot and Hwaryeong didn’t like hunting but they didn’t hate it either.

It was quite difficult to raise their level so going with Weed had the best efficiency.

Python was burning with competitive spirit.

‘A warrior is strength. He is a necromancer but… His power as a sculptor shouldn’t have weakened. It would be useless to acquire a movement skill. Anyway, I will see if I go through it.’

Even the assassin Seasoned Crab with outstanding observation skills didn’t doubt it.

‘He doesn’t seem to be using an item. It is a type of skill. I’m surprised since it is the first time I’ve seen it… It seems to be related to sculpting.’

He wanted to ask Weed about the skill in detail but Weed had entered first. It might not be a bad thing to not know the details.

‘Am I expecting to be hit in the back of the head or something?’

Weed had enormous qualifications.

The God of War and first king of the Arpen Kingdom.

This was enough, despite the numerous adventurer titles he had.

‘If it isn’t good then he wouldn’t have entered first.’

Python and Seasoned Crab believed in his fame while the others were loyal and naive.

They were the type that would become debt guarantors.

Pale entered the portal without any thoughts.

Pale felt like something was strange after entering the portal.

As his body moved forward, he rapidly passed through tens of thousands of strands of light.

‘This isn’t teleport?’

He was rushing towards a single faraway place.

After a while, he was dizzy as he passed through the portal and was hit with a tremendous amount of noise.

“Suppress the rebels!”

“All knights will protect His Majesty, even if it means death.”

“Charge! Charge! Knights, charge into the enemy with all your might!”

Kallapik Palace.

In the Royal Palace close to a city, a battle was occurring between knights and rebels.

“W-what? Where is this?”

Pale panicked as he looked around. Fortunately, Weed was right next to him.

“Weed-nim!”

“Um. You came early. I believed you would come first.”

“Yup. Of course I was the first to follow Weed-nim… No. What is this? Where are we?”

“This is the place where we came to hunt.”

“Hunting?”

Weed cheered like a successful scammer.

“Yes. This is a hunting ground.”

Ddiring!

– Kallapik Survivor.

The Calais Kingdom has suffered from a drought for decades.

Due to the monsters descending from Ault Mountain, the kingdom is on the brink of a crisis.

The rebellion of the nobles and departure of the army has left the Kallapik Castle soaked in blood.

Honour, power, and morals are already buried in this ground.

Survive this battle.

Level of Difficulty: A

Compensation: Warrior’s bravery and loot.

Quest Restrictions: Survive.

A quest given by force.

The occurrence of a quest!

It was just a hunt yet they received a combat quest.

Weed already knew about the situation before using Time Sculpting but Pale was confused.

“Why the sudden quest… And was there a castle called Kallapik?”

“You can say that there is and you can also say that there isn’t.”

“Why?”

“If you look at the history books, it was destroyed 780 years ago.”

“But how are we at Kallapik Castle?”

“We entered the history of Kallapik.”

“……”

Time travel!

Those words popped into Pale’s head.

Weed’s battle slave momentarily believed in him and also felt appreciation for bringing him on such an adventure.

Rather than hunting monsters, he chose a real adventure with his trusted companions. But there were many complaints.

“Why didn’t you explain this in advance?”

“I can’t go around explaining everything in the world. I didn’t think you would come here if I gave a long explanation.”

Weed unabashedly said.

It wasn’t a sin to use a little trickery in a tough world.

People who innocently believed everything were frustrating!

“Kuk!”

Pale made a face like he had been hit but he was quickly convinced.

‘Um. That makes a lot of sense. I can’t blame Weed-nim because I entered without listening properly.’

He was drawn to a dangerous battlefield but his mind soon relaxed. Even if he suffered, he knew that Weed’s adventures were likely to be successful.

“Actually, the scale of the battle is really great.”

“It is a historic bloody fight.”

Weed and Pale gazed at the castle buildings that were burning.

Among the collapsed buildings, soldiers and knights were fighting fiercely.

“Are we fighting on the side of the royal family?”

“Once they do better.”

“Once?”

“I will look at the situation first. Anyway, we just need to survive.”

An absolutely easy quest.

Paaaah!

The portal opened and Maylon and Surka arrived.

“W…where is this place?”

“The Kallapik Castle.”

Maylon followed the combat slave who was her lover and Surka came without thinking.

Her face darkened.

“Kallapik Castle? That is recorded in history.”

Maylon was a broadcasting host so she had a profound knowledge of the history of the Versailles Continent.

Pale sensed the atmosphere and gazed at her.

“This is it. We came here through time travel.”

“Kek! Then we came to die.”

Maylon said desperately, but she soon smiled brightly.

“Aha! It will be aired on broadcast!”

If there was a dispute with the Hermes Guild then she had to maintain her neutrality as a host. However, this time she could participate directly.

Surka glanced at the soldiers fighting before looking back at Weed.

“Should we whisper the others?”

“Yes.”

“I will talk to them on the chat channel.”

– Surka: Wah. This is a really good hunting ground.

Surka’s conversation was passed to the other colleagues through a temporally generated time portal.

– Hwaryeong: So it is good?

– Surka: It is totally amazing! Unni. The monsters are holding jewellery. Some knights are equipped with jewel studded armour and swords.

– Bellot: Fighting is a bit tedious.

– Surka: This is a heaven of handsome men. The appearance of the knights is amazing.

– Irene: The terrible monsters are a bit…

– Surka: There are great buildings here.

Bellot, Hwaryeong, Irene, Romuna, and Zephyr were caught in order, and finally Seasoned Crab and Python entered.

“Keek, where are we?”

Surka replied loudly to Bellot’s question.

“Kallapik Castle!”

“What are we doing here?”

“A terrible battlefield!”

His methods of fraud and theft continued to grow!

Weed’s expression became gleeful.

“Come back to the land you used to live in. This is a dark place. It is a black and corrupt land. Help spread the laws of darkness. Undead Rise!”

Weed summoned the undead from the corpses.

There was an even mixture of skeleton knights, dullahans, and death knights.

“The worship of the immortal warriors. We pledge loyalty to the one who returned us from death.”

The death knights kneeled down in unison.

“Stop the enemies.”

Weed summoned Van Hawk and Torido to lead the undead.

His colleagues were confused for a while before soon finding their own things to do.

They took out their weapons and slaughtered the rebel knights.

Pale’s archery was aimed at the noble rebels while Maylon jumped onto buildings and shot her arrows.

“Fire Field!”

Romuna used a great fire magic.

None of the invading soldiers could get past.

The captain of Kallapik Castle’s knights approached with his troops.

“Intruders! Are they rebels?”

Pale quickly bowed and said.

“We came here to help.”

“Your words can’t be trusted because you made undead from the corpses of knights devoted to the royal family!”

“That is Weed-nim…”

“Necromancy is absolutely forbidden on this continent. Don’t try to make excuses while using evil techniques that deals with the body!”

The gazes of his colleagues instantly moved towards Weed. There was a question in their eyes.

“It can’t be help since this is also a weakness of necromancers. But there is a way to fix it.”

Weed smiled lightly and handed over a sculpture.

“A sculpture of His Majesty. I have always admired him.”

“Heok.”

“This.”

A fine piece that he sculpted in advance!

Three silvers were stuck underneath the sculpture.

Bribes were often the key to softening someone in a complex society!

However, the leader of the knights threw the sculpture to the ground.

“This country is in ruins and a sculpture won’t help! All of you should be put in jail.”

The 3 silvers bribery plan failed so his colleagues’ expressions became worse.

“Don’t worry. There is a solution.”

Weed picked up the 3 silvers and chanted a spell.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The area near the knight leader instantly exploded.

– The knights leader Taken has died.

The hostility of the Calais Kingdom has increased by 100.

“Heeok!”

Pale and Zephyr were surprised at the sudden explosion.

“It seems like we can solve it like this. Attack.”

Weed ordered the undead to attack the forces of Kallapik Castle. Then he said towards his colleagues.

“I felt it when I did the desert quest. This is a journey to the past through Travel Sculpting. This isn’t our original world so everything we see now will disappear after our adventure.”

“Aha.”

Romuna was convinced and nodded.

The inhabitants of the Arpen Kingdom and Haven Empire still gave birth and raised children.

He was a person who often looked at faces when talking about adventures.

“It seems like all of you are now thinking about life expectancy.”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“I feel a little empty.”

Bellot grumbled but didn’t forget her role.

The death knights surrounded and fought the rebels and defense troops of the castle.

“Chain Penetration, Earth Wave!”

“Ehet, Gust Arrow!”

Pale and Maylon fired arrows towards the enemies.

Romuna’s flashy magic and Surka’s punches!

“Iyap, Fist Strike!”

Surka’s fist grew more than a dozen times bigger and blew away a knight fighting against death knights.

“I like a melee.”

Python jumped towards the enemies with his greatsword while Seasoned Crab quickly disappeared.

Every time he moved, a commander level knight would disappear.

Irene healed her colleagues with divine magic and even occasionally healed the knights fighting the undead.

“Thank you. Priest-nim!”

“You’re welcome.”

Weed commanded the undead while shooting arrows.

It was a fact of life that a necromancer was bad when teaming up with a party.

A necromancer was a one man army so they didn’t work well with other users.

In order to overcome this weakness, he jumped into the middle of the battlefield.

* * *

Evaluk Castle of the Kallamore area.

It was an area Dain ruled that was unscathed by rebels.

“There are clean streets and buildings. It is all thanks to Lord-nim.”

“Do I miss the Kallamore Kingdom? Why? Everything has improved since Lord-nim arrived. I really can’t hope for anything more.”

“Our castle has become the centre of commerce, tourism, and production. The population of the castle has increased as a result of people moving here and children have stopped crying.”

The residents of Evaluk Castle praised Dain’s reign.

The users also had no complaints.

“I was worried when Lord Dain-nim arrived.”

“Yes. It is futile to worry about everything. ”

The Hermes Guild lords were famous for squeezing the users to an unbearable degree.

As soon as she was appointed, Dain changed the tax rate and eliminated most discrimination in hunting grounds and quests.

Excluding the mandatory tax to the Hermes Guild, only the minimum tax was required.

The city also formed its own funds by operating businesses.

“Lord-nim. This is a difficult situation.”

“The Hermes Guild didn’t give any instructions about how to rule. I am acting within the guild’s rules.”

There was a backlash among the Hermes Guild users but that soon stopped.

Rumours of Dain’s friendship with Lafaye and Darius circulated.

Even when there were rebels on the Central Continent, Evaluk Castle kept evolving and now boasted the largest population and economic power.

Dain made friends with the residents as she patrolled the streets several times every day.

“Lord-nim. This is an herb. I tried to prepare flowers but I like herbs more…”

“Yes. Thank you. This is fine.”

Dain chewed the herb and laughed brightly.

“After eating, you should have some ginseng as well… Hem hem.”

She wore a dark robe in order to not make people and users uncomfortable.

“An accident!”

“There are several people that are seriously injured.”

One of the residents was hit by a wagon and was seriously injured.

Dain ran over straight away and reached out her hand.

“I’ll fix it. Absolute Recovery!”

She used an advanced divine spell like a priest!

She was also involved in hunting parties centred around Evaluk Castle.

She sneaked into places where people were recruiting to go to the hunting grounds.

“Do you want to go hunting?”

“One more person… I have been looking for a long time. Seeking a level 400 user.”

“That is me.”

“Then would you like to go with me?”

“Yes. I’ll go.”

“But we need a warrior. You seem like a shaman looking at your headband and earrings, so can you fight in close combat?”

Dain nodded lightly. She wasn’t a combat profession but it didn’t matter.

“Yes. I can.”

“What type of weapons do you primarily use?”

“A sword, a spear, an axe, a bow, a hammer, a sickle, chains, a rope, and a pickaxe.”

“Ah… I see. You can deal with almost everything.”

“It is because weapons are my hobby.”

“The priest in my party isn’t very skilled so you will have to be careful about managing your health.”

“I can use healing magic.”

“Really? Then you are the best.”

A shaman who could do anything!

If that wasn’t the case then a high level shaman wouldn’t ever get to join a party.

Dain played in dungeons when she was bored, therefore her skill levels were very high and she also learnt a variety of techniques.

From traps disassembly to blessings, curses, and monster tracking. Whenever Dain joined a party, a speedy hunt would occur.

She supplemented any missing professions and the party members just followed behind her.

“Have you ever hunted with Lord-nim?”

“No. Is it as good as the rumours?”

“The rumours weren’t enough. We just trusted her and left it to her. She took care of everything.”

Dain entered dungeons when she was bored and also visited cities.

The popularity of Evaluk Castle increased and became financially efficient as the users grew.

Her fame wasn’t the best, but it couldn’t rise any higher among the local residents.

Dain’s reputation was high in the entire Kallamore region.

After a leadership meeting, the Hermes Guild made a formal offer to her.

“Why don’t you try expanding your governing area?”

“How much?”

“There are seven castles in an uneasy state around Evaluk Castle. The lords have lost their qualifications so… Please rule these areas.”

“Yes. I understand.”

Dain’s territory continued to grow and reached approximately 1/5th of the Kallamore area.

Through the exchange of technology, culture, and production, Evaluk Castle increased its influence like a black hole.

* * *

The salesperson Komul from the Mapan Trading Company! He dragged his hand wagon and entered Evaluk Castle.

“Come come. Dried fish for sale!”

“Please come in. Come and see. Pick up cheap crystal balls for disposable magic and video conversion.”

“Selling snake skin, insect shells, and various timber. You know the value of it.”

The wide space of Evaluk Castle was a paradise for merchants!

They were sitting on the ground or standing on wagons and actively selling things.

‘Hmm. Of these merchants, a third of them are full-timers.’

Komul analyzed the users with sharp eyes.

A merchant who avoided combat would have their belly and chin grow thicker.

‘Average users are selling many things… The economy looks robust. The economy is developing through minor trade.’

Komul was a native user of the Arpen Kingdom.

He started Royal Road late but still experienced the initial period of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Whatever it takes. Mapan-nim said. I will look for a better spot to trade.’

It was impossible for a merchant to monopolize the trading of goods within a kingdom.

Economically, it was important for residents and general users to move goods between small villages and cities.

In order to produce large quantities of leather products and weapons, the related materials needed to be supplied.

The faster that users and local residents received daily commodities, the better the economic development would be.

It was less meaningful if only one village was looked at. But when looking at the size of a whole kingdom, trade was a very big factor in production, consumption, and user growth.

‘Evaluk Castle is energetic.’

Komul sold all the pickled fruits loaded on his cart in 10 minutes.

‘That is a record speed for selling this.’

The Mapan Trading Company dispatched a secret salesperson to each city in the Haven Empire.

From low level to high level users, they would sell typical products and gather information.

It was possible to statistically analyze the extent of the city’s consumption, the technology, user level, and population satisfaction.

‘Evaluk Castle. It is going to require a long-term strategy.’

Komul passed through Evaluk Castle towards Subein.

Agents of the Mapan Trading Company quickly spread through the Central Continent.

* * *

Seo-yoon drank tea in her room in the Earth Palace.

The Wife and Child star sculpture shining from her window. The moon was beautiful, but not as much as the Wife and Child sculpture floating in the sky.

‘I hope there will be a happy family sculpture in the future.’

She wondered if there could be a bigger present than this. Seo-yoon rested at the window before returning to her desk.

– An analysis of the economic power of the Central Continent cities.

– Population migration in the empire.

– The main hunting areas and quests in the Hermes Guild, allowing any free merchant a chance to earn big money. The exhilarating fun of a bargain!

The sense of accomplishment when trading hundreds of thousands of gold was much greater than when hunting monsters.

“I can’t be too late.”

Mapan started to run with his massive body. There was only one person he respected in this society.

Weed!

‘Before I met him, I was just a regular merchant who liked money.’

Weed taught him about money.

Mapan transformed into an expert who could look at a customer and think of three or four ways to get money from them.

It was a glorious moment when he met Weed, allowing him to become the merchant he was today.

‘I am almost late for the appointment time. That absolutely can’t happen.’

Mapan entered the palace and politely greeted Seo-yoon.

“I know… Heeop! I received a call from you.”

“Mapan-nim. I’m sorry. There is something I have to deal with straight away but I can’t go myself.”

“It is an honour that you thought of me. I’ll do anything.”

Mapan’s eyes were filled with starlight as he gazed at Seo-yoon.

He was envious of Weed, but Seo-yoon’s presence in the Arpen Kingdom was even more surprising.

“There is something I have to buy in the Tullen area. Is it possible for the Mapan Trading Company to purchase it?”

“Yes. Of course.”

“Then please buy 100,000 gold’s worth of iron ore. I will send you the necessary funds from the kingdom’s budget.”

“I will do it.”

Mapan said but he thought it was strange.

‘Something like this… 100,000 gold is a lot of money. Furthermore, buying iron ore from the Tullen region and bringing it to the Arpen Kingdom will be a complex task. The north doesn’t lack in iron ore.’

That was just the beginning of Seo-yoon’s request.

“Please sell the iron ore in the Ritten area. The price is 13% higher so the profit margin will remain.”

“Yes. That is good. If the merchant makes a bargain then I can get 17%.”

“Is it possible to buy barley from Ormal Castle and sell it in the Gradian area?”

“There is a route so that will be easy.”

“The price is 5% more expensive. I will invest 530,000 gold in this.”

“I will promote it.”

Mapan’s questions grew as he wrote it down. He hesitated but soon opened his mouth.

“But what is the purpose of these transactions? If you want a profit then it is better to change the sale locations. With iron ores, it is better to sell at the smithies in the nearby Somren.”

“It is in order to interfere with the Haven Empire.”

“Huh?”

“It will prevent the goods from being consumed in the right places. It is a normal deal but with interrupted production, causing the economy to hurt a little bit.”

Seo-yoon spoke with a decisive expression. Even this sight was beautiful.

‘There was this way as well.’

Mapan was smuggling money but he only thought about himself.

The Central Continent’s economy was driven by a very complex and efficient system.

Putting a small pin in one of the cogs would cause a huge disruption.

As Mapan thought about this, many things popped into his head.

‘Selling iron ores in the Ritten area. There will be a temporary scarcity in the areas where iron ore is needed. The merchants will be able to bring them to Somren later. However, the process has increased so the price will go up.’

The price would go up as multiple transactions are made and there was also the shipping cost.

In the long term, it would have a deteriorating effect on the national power of the Haven Empire.

‘We will also make a lot of money… Damaging them in this way… It is a tricky method so it is hard to notice.’

* * *

Death knight, death knight, death knight, death knight!

Weed summoned the undead in Kallapik Castle. The rebels and defenders fighting for the kingdom were endlessly pushed.

“The knights won’t be so easily killed!”

Romuna shouted and Weed screamed back positively.

“Just think of them as hunting prey.”

“The difficulty is higher!”

“We can endure.”

“Yes but…”

“Just keep striking. In fact, this is a rare opportunity.”

Romuna restored her mana and used wide area fire magic.

An attack that destroyed buildings and burnt enemies!

It was cool but she had to take a moment of rest due to the magician’s nature of consuming mana.

“Irene. Bless me.”

“Yes. I understand. Smart Blessing!”

It was a blessing that temporarily increased wisdom and mana.

Romuna opened a magic book and chanted a spell.

“Hot flames rise, a rain of heavenly fire falls to the earth.”

It took four minutes to chant the spell while watching the magic book.

“Great Fire Storm!”

Hundreds of metres of earth split apart and flames soared into the sky. The sky was raining fire.

An ultimate magic that didn’t distinguish between rebels and defenders!

“There are many people to fight.”

Python was a warrior who broke through the enemy with Surka who came back when they needed a break. Meanwhile, Zephyr stayed next to Weed.

Pale and Maylon fired arrows like a machine.

“Corpse Explosion, Corpse Explosion, Corpse Explosion!”

Every time a body exploded, Weed accumulated experience and skill proficiency.

The battlefield atrocities didn’t end there as bodies exploded everywhere, dealing damage to all troops.

Seasoned Crab quietly aimed at the commanders while Hwaryeong was a distinctive presence.

At first, Seasoned Crab was surprised to see Hwaryeong go out into enemy lines.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Just stay by my side.”

“Do you want me to protect you?”

“Nope. Kill all enemies who come.”

Hwaryeong’s skirt flowed as she danced in the middle of the battlefield.

The beautiful movements caught the attention of enemy knights and commanders, and they became strongly deceived.

Seasoned Crab was able to easily eliminate the commanders.

Ttararang!

Bellot sat on a pile of stones and played her harp.

His colleagues who were afraid of dying when they came to Kallapik Castle had adjusted to Weed’s lies.

There were meals everywhere around them.

Weed waved the Fallen Saint’s Wand.

‘Get rid of the enemies running amok. Having endless enemies is a perfect battlefield for a necromancer.’

When it was evening, the battle was over and Weed’s group settled in to rest.

“Uh… It is coming to an end.”

Surka sat on the ground.

Pale and Maylon were moving around the battlefield to supplement the arrows that were already consumed.

They could fire mana even without arrows, but there was a difference in the mana consumption.

“Pick it up.”

– Understood. Master.

Weed summoned the wind elemental to help collect the arrows.

Of course, the main purpose was to get all types of loot along with the arrows.

“Uhaah.”

The sweaty Hwaryeong stretched charmingly as she spread her arms. A celebrity!

She lived in a world different from ordinary people so she was used to staying up all night. Bellot also finished playing with a bright expression.

“Now I can live a little bit, Unni.”

“Yes. It feels like it has been a while since there was a hard hunt. We followed Weed.”

“Well, it is okay.”

Weed checked the status of his colleagues while making a bonfire.

“What are you doing?”

“I am cooking.”

“Wow. What are you cooking?”

“It’s nothing.”

A considerable number of ingredients emerged from Weed’s backpack.

He grilled steak with special sauce and made a seafood soup using his advanced cooking skills. They seemed like expensive grade 1 or 2 cooking ingredients just by the smell and colour. Python laughed at the thought of eating an abundant amount of delicious food.

“As expected from the first master.”

Zephyr and Pale became dizzy because they knew Weed’s personality.

“That’s not it. He only mastered sculpting.”

“I feel something creepy.”

“I feel more anxious than when I first arrived at Kallapik Castle.”

Anyway, Weed’s cooking instantly disappeared into their mouths.

The close to 30 servings quickly disappeared as his colleagues ate.

Irene and Bellot, who had nice personalities, moved their spoons before the others could.

“Weed-nim’s cooking. I can live.”

Hwaryeong grasped a big bone with meat attached.

Weed laughed as the food disappeared in a short time.

“Prepare to fight.”

“Huh? The battle is over.”

Maylon said to them.

“Don’t you know? Kallapik’s history.”

“What about it?”

Maylon knew the history of the Versailles Continent.

Although there were some differences in the history, this was referred to as the worst battlefield.

“The struggle with the nobles will last a week. The attack will continue at night but the royal guards will defend it with much difficulty. The noble faction was finally defeated and peace came. After that, creatures started attacking.”

“I-is that so?”

“Yes. This quest won’t end so easily.”

Overwork and mistreatment.

They weren’t surprised.

Given the scale of the noble rebels, they knew it wouldn’t end so simply with just one battle.

On average, the level of the knights was in the mid-300s.

Each individual was weak, but the joint attack of the knights and the magic divisions were dangerous.

In addition, the commanders were in the mid-400s.

They had the power to improve the morale and capabilities of troops using their commanding abilities.

In order to subdue them, Python and Seasoned Crab worked diligently.

Maylon asked with curiosity.

“But Weed-nim drove away the Embinyu Church. They were destroyed in the past and completely disappeared in the future. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes. That’s right.”

“But if we stop them here then won’t the future of the Versailles Continent change?”

Maylon’s eyes shone like lanterns.

Hwaryeong, Bellot, and Zephyr weren’t interested in history but the others also wondered about the results.

Weed explained while washing the dishes.

“Time Sculpting. So it is dangerous to go back and change history with Travel Sculpting. I don’t know what changes will happen in the future. But there is nothing to worry about with this quest.”

“Why?”

“By the end of the battle, this area will be hit by an earthquake.”

* * *

Kallapik Palace!

Weed’s colleagues just remembered one thing.

Attack if they weren’t attacking. If they were undead then leave them alone.

Sooner or later, everyone would become an undead.

“Kuweeek!”

“My head!”

“Syuong syuong syuong syuong syuong syuong!”

There were drooling zombies and dullahans carrying their heads.

Van Hawk led the death knights in a confrontation against the knights.

“The undead are strong.”

“Van Hawk was the commander of the Dark Army.”

“The pride of the undead… I will tell you my name. I am knight Kreger.”

“Kreger. Soon you will become my new subordinate.”

Weed didn’t focus on the undead and searched the battlefield.

Numerous troops were gathering in Kallapik Castle.

The rebels of the noble families and those loyal to the kingdom’s royal family.

Both sides fought at Kallapik Castle, as the battle occurred in both day and night.

“Rise. Open your eyes, ghosts that never sleep. Live and get revenge on those that killed you! Undead Rise.”

Weed called undead ghosts.

He used stage 1 magic to produce abundant numbers of zombies, skeletons, and ghouls. Then he used stage 2 undead magic in the area where knights and nobles were fighting.

“N-necromancer!”

“How dare you. Selling an eye in a battlefield!”

The rebel army was formed from nobles of various parts of the kingdom.

In areas where they fought, undead attacks occurred.

As the magic rank rose, different types of undead could be summoned and their health and combat power would increase.

The quality of the corpses wasn’t as good as the giants’ fortress but the mana consumption used to summon the undead was reduced.

“Kuweeek!”

“Unbelievable… A zombie!”

“Ghosts. Their eyes are flashing. Priest!”

Weed’s Summon Undead skill was rapidly growing.

Although it was only intermediate level 1, the skill proficiency was improving in quality rather than quantity.

“Solid Bones, Wind of Stench.”

Enhancing magic and curse magic were also enough to increase proficiency.

Even if the level was low, there were many enemies so it was good to build experience. Surka and Python started talking.

“I think I’m used to this.”

“Certainly. I also feel like I am adapting.”

Weed made a big decision on the third day.

“Hit the rebels.”

Maylon was confused and asked.

“Aren’t we fighting them now?”

“We have to go subdue the enemy’s base.”

“Such a thing…”

Astonishment flickered in Maylon’s eyes. She was very strong as a broadcasting host, but fighting both armies caused her to be tense.

Whether they were nobles or soldiers of the kingdom, she had to fight the enemy!

Surka applauded.

“Wah. How interesting!”

Python laughed as he stuck the greatsword into the ground.

“I am in favour of this. It is tiresome fighting like this.”

The decision to hit the bulk of the enemy!

“Van Hawk. You need to open the way.”

“Understood. Master.”

“Take care of the knights and attack the archers and magician unit. Also stop the commanding force from getting away.”

“Is that all I have to do?”

“Yes. I hope you are successful.”

Van Hawk’s huge shoulders!

As the death knights attacked the bulk of the noble rebels, Weed summoned ghosts and ran with his colleagues.

Van Hawk formed a formation with the death knights.

Weed’s Undead Summon was intermediate level 2 and Barkhan’s equipment made it more effective.

The death knights defeated the knights.

“Defense formation. Defense formation!”

The knights of the nobles defended themselves with the shields of the heavy infantry.

“Breakthrough!”

Van Hawk wielded his sword and the death knights threw their bodies.

This tactic was possible because they were undead.

The ghosts ran through the bodies of the enemies.

While the leading death knights were destroyed, the gaps in the defenses of the rebels were exposed.

“Die. Immortal Commander Weed-nim gave us new life.”

“Bow down to greet Immortal Commander!”

“Weed’s proud army won’t stop!”

The death knights in armour spoke in bizarre voices as they attacked.

Weed followed closely behind the ghosts and chanted spells.

“Dead Rise, Corpse Explosion!”

Corpses rose in an instant and some of them exploded, widening the path.

After using Sculptural Destruction, all the art stats were put into wisdom so the great power breached the defense formation.

“An ambush!”

“Protect Duke Grouse!”

The rebel forces fighting the palace guards hurried over.

The death knights pierced enemy lines but forces gathered from everywhere.

“Now. Sweep through the rebels for the kingdom!”

The palace guards chased after the rebels.

“Hiyah. Charge. Charge!”

“Python-nim. This is a great.”

“I feel good. Hiyah. Hiyah!”

The death knights attacked Duke Grouse who was commander of the rebels.

Weed and his colleagues overpowered the surrounding troops and used a short gap to penetrate deeply.

“The execution guillotine.”

A sharp offensive!

“Aaaack!”

– Duke Grouse, the head of the Kallapik rebellion has lost his life.

You can freely pick two stat points based on your combat achievement.

Fame has increased by 690.

– A massive task has been achieved in a large-scale battle!

You have killed 10,000 enemies. Fighting Spirit and perseverance has increased by 1.

Duke Grouse, the head of the rebels, lost his life and the nobles started to escape.

“Chase.”

Weed used the undead to sweep up the experience.

As the rebels suddenly collapsed, the death knights increased to over 1,000.

It wasn’t enough to sweep the battlefield, but that was enough power to fight against the knights.

“Fight.”

Weed used the characteristics of the undead to start fighting.

Fight and fight again.

Raise undead and raise again.

“Piece through. The master of your life commands it. Smash the enemies!”

A necromancer couldn’t become easily bored on a large battlefield.

A powerful undead unit occupied the battlefield area and started fighting.

The death knights were the centre and supported by the skeleton units, while the ghosts bit the fleeing enemies.

– Faith has decreased by 2.

– Luck has decreased by 3.

– This battle takes advantage of the characteristics of the undead.

– Wisdom has increased by 1.

Weed felt pain from his stats falling, but it was still enough for him to bear.

“Sweep them all away!”

The battle was over that night.

In the original history, the battle of Kallapik Castle lasted a few more days but the result was changed.

After Duke Grouse died, the noble forces were irreversibly damaged.

The castle guards lost a similar amount but were victorious anyway.

“Everybody shout!”

“For His Majesty!”

“We have overcome the enemy with courage and hope. The unrest in the kingdom will be removed soon.”

However, the joy of the kingdom’s guards only lasted until midnight.

Undead.

The undead could no longer prey on the rebels and started to strike at the kingdom’s guards.

“Ohh… This is a really bad thing.”

“I’ll make a spinach pizza.”

“Spinach pizza is good. No… That’s not it!”

“Add a tangy lemon drink.”

“I won’t oppose the deal.”

Surka tried to disagree but was quickly persuaded.

On this Travel Sculpting trip with Weed, they were continuously brainwashed.

All the NPCs here would disappear after their adventure. Therefore, there was no need to bother about good or evil.

“I am lacking arrows.”

“I have some arrows left. I’ll share.”

“Pale-nim doesn’t have enough left.”

“I’m okay. My heart will grow bigger if I give it away. Haha.”

Pale and Maylon were shooting a romance movie on the battlefield so they were interested in the surroundings.

Either way, they wanted to look cool while fighting.

Irene used recover magic and Romuna used fire magic.

Hwaryeong danced and Bellot played musical instruments.

“Ah… Shaking my body relaxes me.”

“Unni, this is really funny. Do you want to listen to a new song that I made?”

Only Seasoned Crab felt somewhat troubled.

“Life and death… Living a long life is good and dying early is bad. At the end of this adventure, all these lives will disappear.”

Chapter 2: Swaying Public Sentiment

The central reception room in Aren Castle.

Darius showed up at the place where many Hermes Guild users were gathered.

“He handled the dirty work well and this time it bit him back.”

“I was lucky compared to him. In the end, it was all exposed.”

“But Darius has always been favoured by the leaders so will he be punished?”

The users gathered in the reception room spoke to each other in low voices.

The elite group that was the Hermes Guild only aimed for victory! Military commanders who were defeated would be openly punished. Their territory or troops were given back, or they might even be expelled from the guild.

“The death of a thousand people. It is a problem that can’t be overcome without someone taking responsibility. Darius is no different.”

“Indeed. Draka-nim hasn’t come out since that day.”

As a commander in the north of the Haven Empire, he was 10th in the rankings.

But after being defeated in a great battle with the Arpen Kingdom, he was thoroughly disciplined and lost a lot of power.

“It is the end for Darius.”

“He doesn’t have a solid background or strong forces. If a hunting dog who failed to hunt is let go, the guild’s discipline will be destroyed.”

“I don’t want to see him arrogantly roaming around the Rosenheim Kingdom.”

Darius’ official censure was done at a gathering of guild leaders, including Lafaye.

“The disaster at Mols Dungeon. You were the leader. No one survived under your command and you failed to eliminate your goal. Wasn’t you goal to kill Weed?”

“Yes. That’s correct.”

Darius bowed with slumped shoulders. He showed a subservient appearance that reflected his sadness and sense of responsibility.

“But you were so focused on Weed that you didn’t notice the trap in advance.”

Lantan, one of the guild’s leaders, questioned in a sharp voice.

“The result of the battle was that 1054 people were killed. Compare that to the northern users where only 34 people died. As for the power, it was confirmed through the broadcast that the northern users had fewer numbers. Do you have anything to say about this result?”

“It was because I didn’t know. I was unaware.”

Darius had no excuse for the battle.

“How would I know if there were 500 or 1,000 enemies without any prior information?”

“You were too busy running away.”

“We tried to complete the task even when being chased.”

“Tried? What is the point of trying if there are no result?”

“Are you saying that all the users who participated in the operation are fools? If that was the case, would the results be any different for anyone else here?”

As Darius refuted Lantan’s accusations, a cold aura flowed in the central reception room.

“It is difficult.

“This time we really thought we could get rid of Weed.”

Lafaye and the leaders talked bitterly as they watched.

From their position, disposing of Darius wouldn’t be a big problem. However, the opinions of the leaders were divided into two.

“It is certain that this operation has failed. In consideration of fairness, we can’t let you go. So I will propose an official punishment.”

“The Hermes Guild won’t be invincible for too long. The trap to catch Weed has failed…”

“The problem is the broadcast. 16% audience ratings. More than 200 million people saw that the Hermes Guild has failed again.”

“They won’t stop talking about the deaths. I feel like I really am going to blow up if I hear about it again.”

“We lost too helplessly. Furthermore, throwing the corpses of the users at a necromancer… It is just nutrients to help him grow faster.”

“I looked at the dungeon video. They didn’t fight well by any standards.”

The Hermes Guild users wouldn’t tolerate the mistakes of others.

There was a fierce competition and solid treatment for the winners.

This was the secret behind the Hermes Guild becoming the best among the prestigious guilds.

Lafaye came to a conclusion after gathering the opinions of the leaders.

“Darius has failed to honour the Hermes Guild with a victory. There will be a two months ban on A grade hunting grounds and the taxes of Chegram Village, that he owns, will increase to 30%.”

* * *

Darius’ heart turned away the moment that he heard Lafaye’s decision.

‘Yes. In this way, don’t they only end up eating sweet things?’

He had struck in the back of the head in the Rosenheim Kingdom. From the time he joined the Hermes Guild, he had no affection or loyalty towards it.

‘I can’t believe in those guys. I have to move from here first.’

After returning from Aren Castle, Darius secretly disposed of all the assets of Chegram Village.

Properties such as buildings, vineyards and farmlands were handed over through the auction site to avoid rumours.

He used a middle agent so it wasn’t difficult to hide it for a while.

The Hermes Guild’s hunting dog earned a lot of assets but he had to sell it cheaply. However, even that was a huge amount.

Lafaye and the leaders often gave the hunting dog tasks that were difficult to resolve.

The assets disposal took one or two days, and valuable items such as horses and carriages were sold.

Darius quickly gained an interview with KMC Media that evening.

He was notorious among users but the national awareness was lagging behind. He became known to the viewers as the one who was wiped out in Mols Dungeon.

“Are we live now?”

“It isn’t a live broadcast, but will be shown in an hour after some editing. Any problems will be reported to the director who will make a decision.”

“Yes.”

Darius laughed, revealing his white teeth as he watched the reporter. It was like his teeth were specifically made to mimic a vampire.

“The contents will be broadcast right?”

“Yes. It would be good if you comment on the battle against Weed in Mols Dungeon.”

“Of course, I will be sure to do that but… I would like to tell an important story.”

“You can do anything. It is all being recorded.”

The interview was taking place within Royal Road.

Video recording was supported through the basic system.

Darius made a shocking statement to the reporter who was sitting comfortably.

“The Hermes Guild is rotten.”

“Huh?”

“The leaders are shameless and incompetent.”

The reported was surprised.

“W-what are you talking about…? Why are you suddenly criticizing the leadership?”

The station had done its own prior investigation.

He never thought that the person known as the Hermes Guild’s hunting dog would start criticizing it.

“Lafaye made me a scapegoat to hide his stupid commands.”

“Ah. You are a victim in this case.”

“How was falling into Weed’s trap at Mols Dungeon my responsibility?”

“That’s right.”

The reporter nodded.

Darius had hurried into the dungeon with his whole army but there was some understanding.

‘But it won’t be appropriate to broadcast this excuse…’

Darius said in a loud voice.

“We failed in the information warfare. Secondly, Lafaye and the leaders made the wrong decision. Honestly, it is my responsibility, but isn’t it wrong to move people to a spot where nothing is known about it?”

“Yes. I understand. Please keep speaking.”

“The invincible Hermes Guild? How funny. They are only cheap shit when associated with Weed. I fought hard and failed, only to be turned into a scapegoat. The ones who are really in the wrong are those who sit up high and give orders.”

The reporter made an ambiguous expression.

‘He is biting. But how do we edit it?’

He was a hound dog biting his owners. It was certainly a funny sight, although there were a few issues.

Still, it was unclear whether the interview would be broadcast.

‘We can use an excuse. It is necessary to set aside a major portion of the news.’

If they put the video on the Internet then they could get more audience attention.

There were many users who liked seeing the Hermes Guild fail.

Darius’ shoulders sagged like a victim.

“The Hermes Guild hasn’t learnt from their failures. It is funny that Lafaye makes wrong commands as he presides over a great guild that keeps on failing. And Bardray curls up like a jerk and doesn’t do his share of the hunting.”

“…”

The reporter’s eyes grew bigger.

‘If he talks to this extent then there will be a large ripple effect on the news.’

Darius’ unstoppable words continued.

“I acknowledge the ability that Lafaye has shown in the past as he led the Hermes Guild. Yes. Thus, he was able to conquer the continent. But that ability has a limit. It is too bad.”

“Yes, yes. I think so.”

Darius continued blasting the Hermes Guild.

The reporter was interested for 10 minutes, but he soon became bored.

“Reporter-nim. Do you know how much dirty work the Hermes Guild has done?”

“Huh? Of course, they have received a lot of public criticism.”

“That isn’t it. The ugly things they committed secretly. The so-called hidden truths.”

* * *

Darius revealed the black history hidden by the leaders of the Hermes Guild.

He committed it directly as the hunting dog and gathered his own information. In order to satisfy the greed of the leaders, it was common for them to drive bandits to plunder the merchants in their territory.

“I worked to fix the habits of the powerful lords within the guild.”

“What were some specific tasks?”

“I spread many false rumours within the guild. It was to instigate fights with specific people or move merchants to other places.”

“That must be a blow to the lords.”

“Of course. The lords are in high positions so they have to be tamed from the beginning. Some lords had their economic power weakened and were driven from their positions.”

“They went that far?”

“Yes. Specifically, I led the rebels in the city of Bordeman.”

“The rebels.”

“I was the leader of the troops. I pretended to be a trustworthy person while the rebels turned the city upside down. I also fought with the lord’s army.”

The truths that were revealed didn’t give any sense of excitement.

“Darius-nim, you are saying that this covert operation was done for the purpose of ruling over the city.”

“A ruling act? It wasn’t like that. I feel bad standing on the side of those leaders.”

“Do you have any evidence of what you spoke about?”

“Of course. I have videos of that time. The battle scenes as well as receiving orders from Lafaye are all recorded. I will pass it to you at the end of the interview.”

Darius released 42 secrets and KMC Media broadcast them.

It had phenomenal ratings and many sites related to Royal Road were full of stories about the Hermes Guild.

– They got caught.

– Really dirty things. I had no idea it would be this much.

– I didn’t know. Were they originally at this level?

– They seem to be getting rid of everyone in the political arena. They are doing politics in Royal Road.

– The Hermes Guild can do that much because of their size.

– It is unacceptable to do such things.

– Is there only one side? The Hermes Guild received a lot of criticism from general users for disguising as rebels…

– Hull. The Hermes Guild is too much.

– Too much. They must be destroyed.

– Let’s move to the free north. I don’t know when I will become a target.

Darius smiled as he checked the reaction of the Internet.

The pubs on the Central Continent were filled with voices of dissatisfied members of the Hermes Guild.

‘This will be a sufficient gift to bring with me.’

His goal was to become successful and stronger in Royal Road.

He tried to climb to a higher place using the Hermes Guild but eventually failed and fell.

‘I should make an opportunity rather than waiting for a chance. The success of a pioneer.’

Darius had a plan in his head.

Expose Lafaye and the Hermes Guild to reduce their presence.

In the process, he would earn great fame and favour from users and he would be treated well if he moved to the Arpen Kingdom.

‘A lord of the Arpen Kingdom… There are some level 200 users. Pfft. That is a laughable level. But it is good to gain a position because there are many advantages.’

He would make another leap in the Arpen Kingdom. However, it remained to be seen if it would go according to Darius’ plan.

– But Darius is the one who looks the worst.

– A hunting dog is only a hunting dog.

– Biting his own master now.

– He moves here and there. These hunting dogs make it harder to live in the world. He truly is the tail of the Hermes Guild.

* * *

The Hermes Guild scandal that came from Darius!

The heads of each broadcasting station were in a quiet place.

“Direction Yoon-nim, didn’t high ratings come out? It is too bad.”

“Huh. We also have an interview with Darius, but it was a day late so we missed the scoop.”

“But the ratings… It is just a pity that the exclusive was monopolized by KMC Media.”

Yoon Chang-sun, the new press director of CTS Media, expressed a little bit of annoyance in his voice.

“KMC Media often gets scoops.”

“They are often associated with Weed… Isn’t it time for us to avoid catching up?”

“Hoh. We need to have knowledge.”

Yoon Chang-sun, a director in his late 40s was younger compared to the other directors.

Apart from KMC Media, the director of 12 media outlets were gathered.

“The only way is to go back to the basics of broadcasting, live coverage.”

“Live coverage… That is a good word.”

“It is always important to work hard.”

The station directors laughed and waited for the following words.

They were able to overcome the intense politics inside the broadcasting stations to reach the position of director.

Yoon Chang-sun was the one who suggested this secret meeting.

Yoon Chang-sun looked at them and opened up.

“The important thing is the purpose of the coverage. There is an explosive interest in Weed. As you know, just sending a hunting video would have good ratings.”

“That’s right.”

The other directors agreed.

They had obtained intelligence that Weed had gone back to the past to hunt.

‘Is such a quest possible?’

‘Another adventure? This might be quite interesting…’

‘Anything can happen on Weed’s adventures.’

The broadcasting stations were in the process of sending gifts to Weed’s house.

Yoon Chang-sun knew about it but pretended not to.

“But from the viewpoint of the broadcasting station, there are a few ingredients needed to get high ratings.”

“These ingredients are?”

“Due to this disclosure, I found out that our CTS Media has gathered a lot of information about the Hermes Guild. Is it the same for the other stations?”

“Of course. We have some pretty good information. There is a big one.”

Han Sang-gyu, director of the online station Royal Spider, expressed interest.

“Until now, the influence of the Hermes Guild… To be honest, I hadn’t wanted to broadcast it because I wanted to cooperate with them for some broadcasts. Shouldn’t we expose the information that was held back?”

Yoon Chang-sun said with a confident expression on his face.

The directors’ heads became complicated.

‘The broadcasting stations will simultaneously expose the Hermes Guild.’

‘The audience ratings will be high. The Versailles Continent will be turned upside down but we won’t have to worry about their revenge.’

‘The Hermes Guild doesn’t have the same strength as before. The absolute power of the Central continent is also collapsing. Even without the rebels.’

The directors noticed that this was the main topic of the meeting.

However, the director of KR Channel shook his head.

“The stations have to maintain neutrality in the dispute between users. Won’t it violate that neutrality if we use the Hermes Guild for ratings?”

“No. The neutrality of the broadcast itself is still important. But if there is news about the Hermes Guild then shouldn’t we have report it?”

The directors started calculating after Yoon Chang-sun’s words.

“We aren’t criticizing or exposing. We are just telling the truth.”

“We aren’t affecting the sense of perception. I don’t think it is a bad thing to return to the original way of reporting.”

There was a sympathetic feeling among the directors.

The walls had crumbled due to an unexpected variable called Darius. If the broadcasting station started to report the black history of the Hermes Guild then a flow would be made in an instant.

If the audience ratings rose and they couldn’t catch the flow then the stations would only lose money.

They had to at least follow behind.

‘There is no objection. Then I will ask.’

This was the secret to promoting longevity of a worker.

* * *

– The truth of Danang Dungeon.

– The secret killers.

– Being deprived of treasures through coercion.

With the exposure of Darius and the news of the broadcasting stations, the Royal Road bulletin boards became noisy like a beehive had been touched.

“I am also a victim of the Hermes Guild. I was robbed of the racecourse I was running.”

“They just took it?”

“Yes. They told me to go. If I refused they would kill me, so there was really no other choice.”

Interviews with the victims were shown everyday by the stations. In the meantime, the stations didn’t stop reporting the information they had kept back.

“They tried to kill me.”

“The Hermes Guild suddenly guarded the entrance of a novice hunting ground and made me pay 5 gold to enter. Originally it was 1 gold. They killed me when I didn’t have the money. I had to work part-time in the city to get into the hunting grounds.”

“The Hermes Guild users are really rich and strong. I always wondered about the methods they used to make their money. It is annoying finding out the answer.”

The actions committed by the prestigious guild piled up at once.

Weed didn’t care about the situation and just focused on hunting.

The battle at Kallapik Castle that lasted one week!

After defeating a crowd of monsters, the party lay down on the ground with exhaustion.

“Uwah… I won’t be able to fight even if I am killed.”

“My vitality is at the very bottom. It was endless. The invasion of the monsters led to the destruction of the palace.”

“Ku… This battle. I’ve experienced my limits.”

His colleagues lay down as they watched Weed leading the undead to hunt the monsters.

Barkhan’s Hell Monarch Robe.

It was a bloody robe with an ominous aura, but the party wearing it nagged at the undead while fighting.

Weed’s colleagues were familiar with the sight but Python was different.

‘God of War. He is strong.’

He never stopped fighting.

Python confirmed Weed’s brilliant fighting style at Kallapik Castle.

‘I will get tired if I keep eating delicious food. He doesn’t get bored of fighting.’

He had no thoughts when fighting. He fought as long as his vitality permitted.

An extreme spirit of hard work!

Boredom and mental fatigue were just luxuries.

– Kallapik Survivor has been completed.

The war in the Calais Kingdom has finally ended.

The incompetent royal family is safe but the kingship has fallen and the residents are suffering from famine.

Still, there are good rewards for those who have survived the battlefield.

– You have proven your bravery as a warrior.

Luck, concentration, fighting spirit, and strength has increased by 2.

Fame has increased by 5,000.

After the battle at Kallapik Castle ended, everyone’s stats rose. One more message window showed up in front of Weed.

– An ominous power has enveloped Kallapik’s Palace.

Concentration, wisdom and knowledge has increased by 2, while dignity, honour, faith, and luck has decreased by 2.

Maximum mana has increased by 300.

– The achievement of Summon Undead!

You have summoned more than 30,000 undead every day.

Waking up the dead!

Thanks to the enlightenment of death, the health of the undead have increased by 5%.

The mana required for Summon Undead is reduced by 3%.

“Anyway, this is good.”

A change in stats.

He continued to get necromancer achievements while becoming stronger.

He reached level 471!

The wisdom stat that Weed didn’t rely on also reached 500 points.

The current hunting ground was good, but defeating the Hermes Guild in Mols Dungeon gave him great stat rewards.

“Let’s look at this.”

A spellbook obtained from killing the rebel magicians!

Weed read the spell.

– One day, a dream came to the magician Wodren who liked the wind.

“What if human beings could fly?”

Developing flying magic to travel around the continent…

The spellbook was the history book of a magician!

“Ahaam.”

Weed yawned as he read the book.

There were notes related to Royal Road written, but most of the details in the spellbook were useless.

There were quest records and basic magic.

There were records about what inns Wodren slept in and even what he said to beautiful women in the streets.

– Wodren courageously decided to make a bet.

“I am a magician. Do you want to fly through the sky?”

“I’m busy right now.”

“You can feel the freedom of the sky. Looking at the world from up high while feeling the heat of the sun and the cool breeze.”

“It doesn’t matter if that is true. I have a boyfriend. Mister.”

– You have learnt the Levitation spell.

Weed’s colleagues all learnt Levitation.

It wasn’t difficult to learn Levitation if they were a magician.

200 knowledge and wisdom was required.

Levitation was advanced flying magic.

Yet they could learn it just by reading up to chapter 16 of Wodren’s adventure!

“Wah. So cool.”

Weed and his colleagues looked down at the ground from the sky.

The buildings of Kallapik Castle were collapsed.

Thousands of undead were wandering around through the remnants of the war.

There was a fortress that had been destroyed by rebel forces long ago and became deserted. Now nothing survived except for Weed’s undead army.

“We fought in a place like this.”

“It was great despite being long. I can mainly see the undead.”

“After going through this, anything will seem like a conventional battle.”

And…

Kukukukung!

The earth started shaking then sinking down.

Buildings crumbled as the wave spread out and even the undead disappeared.

It was a really pleasant sight for the group after the fierce battle they fought here.

‘That’s it. Now I don’t have to go down and fight.’

‘It is over… This is the real end.’

‘It feels like it has been 6 hours since I went to the bathroom. This is really cool.’

Weed felt like he was eating ice cream in the middle of summer.

“Do you want to go on a simple hunt?”

Surka flat out said.

“I won’t go.”

* * *

The continent’s best tailor Drago.

He made clothes out of cloth and leather that had extremely good magical defense.

“Please make me a skirt.”

“Yes… Is your occupation a swordswoman? If you wear a skirt then the defense will be lower.”

“It is okay. Please make it short and it has to stick well!”

Drago also received orders from high school girls.

‘These benefits…’

There were also orders from female poets who boasted model-class beauty.

“I want a dress. Can I have it in time for my performance date next week?”

“I will be happy to.”

Sometimes big guys came in as well.

“I want a stylish uniform.”

“What are the materials?”

“Tiger leather.”

“A design with tiger leather…”

“It would be nice. It will also be good to have a coat.”

“Geom…does your name begin with this?”

“You know? I am called Geomchi-240.”

The Geomchis were the mascots of the Arpen Kingdom.

There weren’t many users who didn’t know of their existence.

“They are ignorant but fierce people.”

“They freeze while woman pass by them in the square. It is really amazing.”

“I wish I had a combat occupation so I could go hunting with them. Wouldn’t I learn a lot? I am just a magician.”

Drago was still active around Morata.

Although the population and influence of Dawn City, Vent Castle, and Vargo Fortress was growing, they still weren’t a match for Morata.

He met with jewellery workers, blacksmiths, and merchants in the city.

Drago enjoyed the urban life of a tailor while eating delicious food!

‘I don’t really like the master tailor quest.’

He had already proceeded to stage 13 of the master quest.

100,000 doll eyes, 100,000 buttons, 100,000 needle threading, knitting a 120 metres carpet.

‘No. Does the tailor master quest have no adventures and is just hard labour? A sculptor has to run around the entire continent…’

Drago sighed at the thought.

Among the local tailors, there were no competitors so he had no one to complain to.

‘I want to do a quest. I…’

Drago visited the Tailor’s Guild every day to receive quests.

“There is an unfortunate girl. She wants to have a wedding… Can you make some clothes for her?”

He had to make a wedding dress but her presence was huge!

A special thread was required for the wedding dress.

‘Will it be an adventure this time?  Finally… If I bring in users that I know from my network then I can win.’

Drago was a well-known name among the Grass Porridge Cult.

Many users became close to him because he was a tailor with a high production rate and he could create tricky robes for magicians and priests.

“I have come from Mapan’s Trading Company. Were you looking for a blessed thread?”

“Cough… I’m not sure where you came from but I need thread made from the dew of the dawn and webbing from the tak spider.”

“I have it.”

“The amount I want isn’t just one. It won’t be simple to get.”

“I’ve brought three. The price is a little expensive because it is difficult to get.”

“Hut. A joke…”

“If you buy the set of three then I will give you a 10% discount.”

The thread needed for the tailor master quest could just be purchased.

‘It is different from sculpting so I should love it. No? The quests are easy but I can’t boast about it to others.’

Drago was tired of weddings and hard work. A young girl opened the door to his store and spoke to him while he was making a clothes order.

“Is this the workshop of a famous tailor? One month later, there will be a big flood in Morata.”

“Huh? What did you say?”

“The king of this place is a necromancer. So Tiron, defender of justice, is angry.”

“Tiron is angry….”

Tiron was the god of justice.

There were several religions in the Arpen Kingdom that defended it.

“You can stop Tiron’s wrath. If you spread a mysterious cloth then it will prevent water from entering the city and will turn back.”

The girl in front of him disappeared into light like a mirage.

Ddiring!

– Prevent Morata from Flooding.

Tiron is a god that protects justice and law.

King Weed of the Arpen Kingdom has protected the Versailles Continent and received the title ‘King Recognized by the Gods.’

He became a necromancer and made the gods angry.

Tiron’s revenge will affect the Yusellin River and Persal River, making them cover the city.

There is still time to prevent a disaster.

Create a waterway with a mysterious cloth.

Divert the water to the sea and the disaster caused by the god’s wrath will disappear.

In order to prevent the flood, you can gather colleagues without any limitations.

If you don’t stop the flood after participating in the quest, everyone who participated in the quest will be punished by Tiron.

Tiron’s punishment: Divine magic can be applied for 100 days.

There will be a significant decline in fame.

Hostility with the Tiron Church.

Level of Difficulty: A

Compensation: Achievement points in the Arpen Kingdom.

Increased fame and intimacy with the residents. Saviour of Water title.

Quest Restrictions: Advanced level 7 Sewing skill.

– You have 5 minutes to decide if you want to accept the quest.

“Keook.”

Drago was startled.

It was surprising that a disaster would occur in Morata, but the contents were also troublesome.

“I have to create a waterway with cloth. The sea is a great distance from Morata.”

There was Varna Harbour and Rechad Harbour.

Due to being cities beside the sea, there were nice houses and villas.

Waters sprang up in the water. Sharks hunting for food!

It was very romantic for novice users to sail small boats along with the wind.

“It is a few days away by cattle so this is an impossible quest.”

– There is 2 minutes left in the quest decision time.

Drago had deep affection for Morata so he decided to accept the quest.

“There doesn’t seem to be any other choice… Anyway, I will try it.”

– You have accepted the quest.

After receiving the quest, he tried to contact Mapan’s Trading Company.

“A mysterious cloth? It is waterproof, stretchy, and can grow up to 2,000 times… Do you have that magic cloth?”

“Yes. That’s correct. Are you asking if it is available?”

“Do you have any available?”

“Morata has the best leather and cloth on the continent. I have everything you need. How much mysterious cloth do you want?”

“I want a huge volume. I can afford it.”

“The mysterious cloths are piled up because there is no place to sell it. I’ll sell it for cheap.”

“A disaster in Morata…”

Drago explained the situation.

The direction of the Morata branch of Mapan’s Trading Company nodded after hearing the situation.

“Um… This is a big issue so I need to report it to Weed-nim and Mapan-nim.”

“I thought so as well. We should report to King Weed and move the residents of the Arpen Kingdom…”

“If Drago-nim fails then there will be a chance to sell life jackets and boats for the disaster.”

“Huh?”

“I’ll have to sell the unsold houses quickly.”

* * *

“Why is this for a tailor? Should an architect build dams or waterways for the flood?”

Drago grumbled but immediately starting sewing the mysterious cloth.

Mapan’s Trading Company announced that a disaster was going to happen near Morata.

– Promotion!

Get ready because a disaster will soon occur in Morata!

One month later, a flood will sweep through.

If you want to prevent the disaster then please come to Tailor Drago’s store!

You can earn achievement points in the Arpen Kingdom and fame.

“The Mushroom Porridge unit has come for support!”

“The Sesame Porridge unit is also here!”

“I heard the news. Do you need volunteers?”

“It is my dream to become a tailor. I would like to learn stitching from Drago-nim.”

The door of Drago’s store couldn’t close due to the incoming users.

The streets, squares and warehouses were filled with people sewing.

“Maybe you need a level 1? I have only been playing in Morata for 4 months. I haven’t left the city yet.”

“I-I… I can’t kill a bear… But I can get rid of insects. Anyway, if you share the quest then I will fry a few worms…”

“Front legs forward. Hind legs forward. The Frog Porridge unit came here to die!”

Drago, who knew he had to do extremely hard work, was surprised by all the people joining him.

“No. Why are there so many people?”

People gathered for the Arpen Kingdom. The users moved due to their patriotism.

“If the quest fails then you will receive the punishment of a god. Do you still want to join?”

“I’m just playing around.”

“Hard work? There is no one in the Arpen Kingdom who doesn’t know how to do hard work.”

“I was fine with digging.”

“It will be an unconditionally successful quest. Once the Toadstool Porridge… You should wash it down with honey.”

Hard work was a sacred thing for the Grass Porridge Cult.

The contents of the quest was to redirect the water to the sea using the waterproof mysterious cloth.

It was impossible to cover a large area with the mysterious cloth since there was a limit to the material, so they needed to use the terrain.

There would be no damage if the water swept over a wide, flat plains. In order to protect the cities and villages, they could connect river and streams to lead the floodwater out to the sea.

For this part, the adventurer and cartographer Daywalker came out.

“I will set up a concrete plan. Drago-nim should produce as much of the mysterious cloth as possible.”

“I have to go to the scene and help…”

“Don’t rest on your laurels. Please make more mysterious cloth in Morata.”

“Kuhok.”

Miretas, the continent’s best farmer, also joined the quest.

“Some plants that can absorb a lot of water will help. I will grow large trees around Morata that will protect the area.”

Miretas was a tremendous help after he joined the quest. He had a good understanding of the land and vegetation, and was the best farmer in the Arpen Kingdom when it came to fertilizing land and producing food.

He looked at the rivers and came up with an idea to prevent the flood.

“If there will be a flood of water… The Yusellin River is quite deep. To prevent the flood, can’t we create waterways around the river to provide a stable supply of agricultural water to Rechad Harbour?”

Morata and its surrounding area had near complete development thanks to Goddess Freya’s blessing.

The land Miretas desired was southeast of Morata, the Nadallia Plains!

In the past, Weed had fought Barkhan’s army there and it was wide plains the size of a small kingdom in the Central Continent.

‘He wants to make waterways in that large area?’

Drago idly listened to the words. He was going to say no and focus on the quest, but Lemon of the Grass Porridge Cult agreed.

“Good idea. If the Nadallia Plains are developed then the lives of the users will become better. As farmers increase their crop yields, the population will grow faster.”

“Yes.”

Listening to Lemon and Miretas’ words, Drago doubted the spirit of the people.

‘It is increasing the amount of work involved in the quest.’

The reason he didn’t object was because many people had already joined the quest.

Instead of refusing, they all applauded like they liked it.

“I will plant buds on the Nadallia Plains!”

“The land of the Arpen Kingdom is wide, but the developed regions are narrow. In this way, there will be a big development at once.”

“We don’t need experts or high level people. Anyone can participate if they own a shovel.”

“Most users in the Arpen Kingdom have a shovel.”

“The Grass Porridge Cult even has 10 million in reserve.”

“We should collect more people.”

Thanks to the enthusiastic acceptance of the participants of the quest, the development of Nadallia Plains proceeded.

The next day, an official announcement from the Grass Porridge Cult appeared.

– Thanks to Weed-nim, everyone in the Grass Porridge Cult can participate in the quest.

For the sake of Morata’s prosperity, go to Nadallia Plains in the east!

There is no limit to how many people that can participate in the kingdom quest.

Drago read the official announcement while sewing the mysterious cloth.

“Who is saying this…? Rather, the facts are strangely twisted. Shouldn’t they hate Weed for causing a disaster?”

After the official announcements, users carrying shovels started to exit Morata, Dawn City, and Vent Castle.

A huge crowd of people gathered outside Morata!

Base on the numbers, a procession was meaningless.

“A kingdom quest? I have to do it.”

“We have to do this sort of thing. Will there be another festival after the quest is completed?”

“I’m tired of playing at Puhol Water Park. It will be fun to dig at the ground.”

“Once this quest is completed, I can get a stamp of Wy-3.”

In order to receive the quest, people kept visiting Drago’s store. The quest could be shared even if Drago was busy sewing.

The quest was shared between thousands of people in the square at once.

After the regular users jumped at the task, the animal husbandry experts led the cattle.

“Omoooo!”

An endless procession of cows.

“What is this…?”

“How many cows?”

“Wah. There are so many. I see at least 2,000.”

“It is over 4,000.”

“Is the number of cattle higher than Morata’s population?”

There were no limitations in raising cattle or horses.

There was the animal husbandry profession, but even farmers, merchants, or knights could raise animals as needed. In the Arpen Kingdom, the effect of Yellowy and Goddess Freya’s blessing made it many times more production to raise livestock.

The cows had a high birth rate and abundant food on the wide lands, so the number of livestock naturally increased.

“It is hard to raise a dog in an apartment. Here I can raise hundreds of cows.”

“Cows are property. Really?”

“I need to make money from my cows. I can earn a huge amount if they grow well!”

It was easy to ride the cows anywhere in the north and they also tamed them for battle like Weed.

As the cattle herds moved, Drago thought.

‘This quest. It definitely isn’t easy.’

The difficulty level of the quest depended on the number of people involved.

Thanks to the cooperation of the northern users, it was simple to end an event like a national disaster.

Chefs voluntarily gathered to make nutritional porridge for people participating in the quest. And the architects belatedly joined.

“I finished my work at Puhol Water Park… Kuhuhu. Something fun is happening again.”

Mibullo and the Stone Hammer architects appeared!

“We will connect the road to the mountains and build a village. Villages and granaries are essential for Nadallia Plains to develop properly.”

“We have to expand the waterways so that larger trade vessels can move.”

“Let’s make beautiful bridges connecting them.”

“It won’t be easy since we are in a hurry, but I’ll set up a viewing platform for sightseeing.”

In addition to stopping the flood, the architects worked on the overall development of Nadallia Plains.

‘It is amazing.’

Drago had no troubles.

‘If I want to develop a large land, it would be difficult to succeed without an astronomical amount of money and manpower. Yet this just somehow started.’

If they government or country pursued it then they could just invest money. But the people gathered made up their minds themselves and a miracle occurred.

Seo-yoon, the king’s agent in the Arpen Kingdom, put in various policies and budgets for any possible damage to Morata as well as the development of Nadallia Plains.

Grand Buildings were allowed in the area and she promised to assign lords to the southeast area of Morata according to the achievement points.

The power of the Northern Continent and the Arpen Kingdom was enormous due to the novice users and residents. Something that would be considered a small kingdom on the Central Continent was built on Nadallia Plains.

Chapter 3: Great Villain’s Dream

– The skill proficiency of blacksmithing has reached the peak.

You have become a master blacksmith who burned with the soul of fire and controls metal freely. On the Versailles Continent, blacksmiths made protective equipment out of love.

Sweat dropped in the hot heat and you have realized the secret of combining metal with fire.

The durability of all weapons, armour and items produced has increased.

Newly created equipment will be given at least one to three additional features.

As a blacksmith, you can understand the traces of battle engraved on weapons and armour. You can get the latest combat experience and skills from three equipment a day.

You have gained control over fire.

All fire related abilities will improve and mana consumption is reduced.

Additional attributes will be applied by drawing out the hidden power of weapons and armour.

The serious passion means that the proficiency of all combat skills will improve by 7%.

You have gained a firm patience so health and vitality has increased by 120%.

Special ingredients will allow you to create a hero’s sword or hero’s armour up to five times.

All stats will increase by 40.

Production quests can be received without any limitation.

– The title ‘Master of Blacksmithing’ has been acquired.

You can meet with any kings, regardless of fame or a previous relationship.

Warriors and knights, artisans and merchants will feel respect towards you.

The effects of strength, vitality and fighting spirit will increase.

The growth rate of a blacksmithing secret technique will increase when belonging to the same smithy.

A blacksmith master!

Rivals Fabio and Herman both reached the master level and were unable to control their joy.

“Finally at last…”

“Hu. You did it.”

They looked at each other with complex emotions.

“In the meantime, all my passion and effort went into the sword.”

He made a sword using the best material, helium, to the best of his abilities and became a blacksmith master.

“I’m not ashamed if it is this much.”

Fabio and Herman celebrated by having a drink together.

“In the end, you became a master after a few days but I reached it first.”

“Congratulations.”

“My accomplishments weren’t in vain. Anyway, Herman. You have arrived at the master level so the difference in dates doesn’t matter.”

Fabio and Herman started as dwarven blacksmiths in Royal Road by picking up rusty coppers and constantly melting them.

They competed to make the best sword while living in Thor, the city of blacksmiths.

“It was fun when I started this. Millions of users ran to try the enhanced weapons that we created.”

“I remember not being able to resist the Hermes Guild’s order.”

“My memories. We just made metals. Justice depends on the person using it. It might seem irresponsible to say this but it is true.”

“Yes. There is no need for a blacksmith to get involved.”

Herman poured wine into Fabio’s empty glass. It was good quality red wine that came from Morata.

“I miss my days in Thor.”

“There is a mess. The true blacksmiths are rare and the city only sells expensive tickets to tourists.”

“I became a master but I won’t stop making swords.”

“We must be more devoted. Sometimes we should go on adventures.”

“I don’t know how to move around the continent… I’ve only produced things in front of a fire. If I hadn’t traveled around to meet Weed then I might have become a master sooner.”

“It could be. I was thinking the same thing. I didn’t know the world and only hammered in front of a fire.”

Fabio and Herman were overflowing with emotions.

Unlike combat professions, blacksmiths were constantly making money. They could have wandered and gone on adventures with the money they accumulated.

Both of them were looking forward to life in the Arpen Kingdom away from fire.

* * *

Heint, Fractal and Bodmir.

They were dubbed the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin and once brought orcs to the Arpen Kingdom.

After that, they settled in Varna Harbour as it developed.

“Let’s do bad things around here!”

“Yes. Our bad actions will start from now on.”

“Kukuku. The users here will taste hell.”

3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin rejoiced as they imagined their unscrupulous behaviour in the future.

“Looting.”

“Kill!”

“Sinking boats.”

They saw users start to sail in the sea around Varna Harbour without any fear.

“Those people.”

“Kulkul. Hunting.”

“Sailors. Sail. Sail!”

By the time the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin led the pirate ship to chase them, the users had already sunk and were floating in the water.

“Please give us a ride. Hyung-nims.”

“Ahuh. We… I came to do bad things. Don’t you see the rusty knives and bones on our flag?”

“Pirates. Wah. I’ve always admired them. Don’t tell me…”

“What?”

“Aren’t you the people who went on an adventure with Weed to the JIgolaths?”

“Kuhut. You recognize us. I guess we are a little famous.”

“Of course, I came to the sea dreaming of becoming a pirate!”

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin tried to threaten the novice users at Varna Harbour.

“This isn’t the guns of a naval ship.”

“Don’t you know what bad things we can do?”

“If a ship tries to cross us then we will sink it.”

Heint, Fractal and Bodmir were three people trying to be vicious pirates in Royal Road.

The fishermen and starter captains at Varna Harbour stared at the pirate ship with envy.

“Look over there. It has so many sails.”

“The wood of that hull… Isn’t it teak?”

“Look at the way it slices through the waves. That ship can go so fast.”

More popular than celebrities!

“I’m tired. Give me a break.”

“Let’s have a drink.”

When they were not out at sea, they drank lime juice at a tavern in Varna Harbour.

A cute girl came up to them.

“Excuse me.”

“Huh?”

“I heard you were pirates.”

“Hut. It is a secret so how…”

“You disembarked from the pirate ship.”

“What… That’s right.”

Heint shrugged. His eyes were full of pride.

“Huhuhu. The security of this area is in our hands. You have to be careful not to robbed by pirates.

“Can you take us to Jordan Island?”

“Hrmm?”

“We will follow once you depart first. We are scared of sea monsters.”

“We are pirates.”

“We will give you two gold per ship.”

Jordan Island was approximately a day and a half away from Varna Harbour. Exploration, trade and foraging was possible on the island. It took less than a day if there was a good wind so it was a course that starter captains liked.

‘Only two gold?’

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin didn’t want to go even if it would only take a day.

“Young lady. I’m sorry but the labour cost is a bit expensive.”

“It is a small amount of money but we worked really hard to collect it. We are going to pick seaweed and oysters. All the people from Korea University’s dance department has decided to participate in the island exploration.

“Gulp. D…ance department?”

“Yes. All the juniours and seniors decided to participate. But we don’t have more than 300 gold… Can’t you take us?”

Heint glanced at his companions. Despite not whispering to each other, Fractal and Bodmir’s eyes were talking.

‘Do you even need to ask? Take the quest. Dude.’

‘Hey. Accept before we miss the chance!’

Heint replied after swallowing his saliva.

“It is annoying if it is Jordan Island but we will go once. However, we are expensive.”

Thus, they spend a day going to Jordan Island.

The departure was refreshing due to the salty sea breeze and it was also fun taking care of the small sailboats following the pirate ship.

‘This is Royal Road… Dreams and romance. This is crazy good!’

They chatted with the female students while gathering seaweed and clams on Jordan Island.

Fractal jumped into the sea and caught a large shrimp that was roasted in the evening.

“Are you hungry? Take it slowly.”

“Omo. This shrimp is valuable.”

“I was bored so I caught it.”

The female students ate the shrimp ravenously.

Fractal and Bodmir plunged into the sea.

They swam 30-40 metres underwater where there were shrimps and lobsters.

“Seafood is our specialty.”

“Wasn’t it hard to catch?”

“Did you really catch all of them by hand?”

The next day, the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin had a serious meeting.

“Hey. We have to do it.”

“I know. The words you are saying. I am strongly in favor of it.”

“Phew. I feel alive. This is life. It is the first time I’ve felt like this.”

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin made regular scheduled trips to Jordan Island.

If the users of Varna Harbour paid two gold then they would be escorted.

At first, it was only a few hundred vessels. But as rumours spread, this number grew into the thousands.

The sailors joked about the vessels following after the pirate ship.

It was like a mother duck and her ducklings.

The avians also joined as they flew above the massive fleet in the sky.

It was a wonderful sight. As the eastern sea of the Arpen Kingdom was pioneered, island and trade routes were secured.

“Beware of rough waves!”

“There is a big catch here. Try to get your fishing line as close to the bottom as possible.”

Small boats that covered the sea!

The northern users grew rapidly as they moved away from Varna Harbour.

Long-distance voyages were successful because the sailing technology grew quickly, leading to ships that could carry a considerable number of baggage.

As the charm of the sea attracted users, the ships became bigger and faster.

– The pirates of Varna Harbour!

– The pioneers of the sea.

Compliments towards them were posted on the Royal Road bulletin boards.

Since then, the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin felt their bodies tingling.

“Our duty is to do bad things.”

“These days, I haven’t been doing anything bad so I’ve been feeling tired.”

“Hey. I was asked to give a signature at the harbour. Are we truly supposed to live like this?”

They wanted to do something bad.

There were many northern users growing quickly that they could target.

“Hrmm… But there is something nice about this.”

“Aren’t we popular?”

“No. To be honest, it isn’t good to hit a place that belongs to Weed.”

The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin recognized Weed as the true villain!

“Weed’s revenge?”

“Indeed… If we eat the Arpen Kingdom then he will chase us for revenge.”

“Aren’t we supposed to be doing bad things? Have courage. We are the bad guys! If we go far out to see then he won’t be able to easily catch us.”

“No. Such a thing… Hu. I’ve been thinking about Weed every night. It wouldn’t be good to do bad things here.”

“What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

The mad sharks were distressed and decided to consult someone through their inbox. The person was Weed, the object of their worries. Weed lifted the limit on whispering in order to explain the matter.

– Weed: So… You want to loot the users of Varna Harbour?

“Yes. In the past, we wouldn’t hesitate. We would just loot and burn everything… It is really fun but we are hesitant to put it into action.”

Heint explained the facts. Anyway, they would die if they were caught by Weed afterwards so it didn’t matter if he knew about it now. They were trying to follow in Weed’s footsteps so they wanted to seek advice from the true villain.

“It isn’t due to righteousness or compassion for the northern users. There is nothing compared to the freshness of betrayal. So why can’t we move?”

There was a period of silence before a reply came.

– Weed: It looks like your eyes have become a little worse.

“Huh?”

– Weed: It is complex but to put it simply… Let me give you an example. What do you think when you see a thief being caught stealing 10,000-30,000 won?

“Um…”

The mad sharks exchanged glances but an answer didn’t easily emerge.

– Weed: It is just pathetic. Don’t you feel that way?

“Ah. That’s right.”

“I think so as well.”

“There should be a story behind stealing.”

– Weed: But 10 trillion. Or what about the thieves who steal 20 trillion?

“Wah…”

“Jackpot!”

“The real deal. Respect. Respect.”

The mouths of the mad sharks dropped open as they imagined it.

– Weed: That is ability. They are smart. Not an ordinary person. Don’t you get those feelings?

“That’s right. A person with that much ability. It is really great.”

“Really.”

The description from Weed entered their heads.

Stealing a few trillion won!

– Weed: That is the bad thing about being a great villain. It is hard for others to imitate despite knowing the methods. Grow more. Spacious and wide. In children’s cartoons, don’t you wonder why the villains are always trying to conquer the world?

“Let’s see?

“That’s right. Why are they always trying to conquer the world?”

– Weed: The villains are dreaming big. The Hermes Guild also aims to conquer the continent.

“That’s right. That’s right.”

– Weed: Steer clear of their example. The world is wide and there are many bad things that you can do. A bad man without a dream can’t succeed.

“Kuooh… This isn’t the time to relax. I will do my best.”

The mad sharks faithfully followed his teachings.

Raise their skills and increase the scale of their pirate ship. Hunt in the area where the ghost ship appears. They received Weed’s advice every now and then.

– Weed: Pallos Kingdom. Go to the southern desert area.

“I understand.”

It was a long-distance voyage around the east of the Versailles Continent.

The trading team consisted of Mapan’s Trading Company, several other large trading companies and merchants from the north.

The trading team survived the tough waves, whirlpools and threats from marine monsters and arrived in the desert area while following the 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin.

– A long-distance voyage between continents has succeeded.

Pioneering a new route!

You have successfully completed a long voyage by riding the waves and the wind.

You have departed from Varna Harbour with the blessings of the people and the laughter of the birds and arrived in a distant land of sun and sand.

The skill proficiency of sailing has increased due to this voyage.

Fame among seamen has increased by 4,560. Luck has permanently increased by 14.

– A new route!

A new route has been found from Varna Harbour.

If the route is reported to Varna Harbour’s Free Sea Guild then it will be made into a map that can be used by other sailors.

Maritime transport through the route will increase by 15% and risk will be reduced by 47%.

“Kuah. Come.”

“Strike the drums. Go to land!”

Thousands of ships arrived at the desert area.

They made it through typhoons and reefs.

The sails of smaller ships were tattered like rags but the captains screamed with joy.

“Hooray!”

“How much land is this?”

There was no proper harbour in the desert area, so the large sailboats stopped at a distance and transported their goods using small boats.

Heint wanted to do something bad as soon as he arrived at the desert.

“Isn’t the south ignorant? Their development is lower than ours.”

“Yes. They live in the sunlight and are territorial.”

“I’m in favour of it. I agree.”

“Oh. Here comes some people. We should give a bad impression to the local users.”

“We’re not playing around. Kilkilkil.”

The mad sharks laughed as they went out to meet the desert warriors, only to have their shoulders shrink and their heads bow. Their eyes automatically avoided the other people. Geomchi-5!

He punched the mad sharks in the shoulders.

“You must have had a hard time getting here.”

“That… No. I’m okay.”

Geomchi-5 held out his hand for a handshake and the trembling Fractal grabbed it.

They had a little bit of combat power outside the sea. But there were humans that ignored the combat power of Royal Road.

Weed had told Geomchi-5 about them in advance.

“They are good guys. Treat them comfortably.”

“Comfortably?”

“Yes. Like they are your little brothers.”

Geomchi-5 thought of Weed’s words and said fondly. It was in a thick and low voice.

“It is hot. Would you like a glass of cold beer?”

“No… We have to quickly go back…”

“You don’t want to?”

“Y-yes? N-no.”

The mad sharks wanted to go back to their ship but they decided to wait until Geomchi-5 brought them beer.

– Heint: Let’s just drink it roughly and go. We can’t refuse.

– Bodmir: Yes. It doesn’t take a long time to drink beer.

– Fractal: Hey. Just drink a glass. It is all right.

They whispered to maintain their pride!

Geomchi-5 looked at them with a frown.

“What are you doing? Bring out the beer.”

“Beer… Us?”

“Eh… Weren’t you bringing the beer?”

Geomchi-5 hesitated. He thought for a moment but he couldn’t prevent his facial muscles from distorting.

Their survival instincts were triggered in that moment!

“T-this. Beer!”

Do you want to have a drink with us?”

“We have a lot. I will give some to you.”

The mad sharks were extremely fortunate to have a ship full of beer.

* * *

“Wah. This treat is a local specialty.”

“Morata’s wines are selling well. The drinking culture is different.

“This fruit is the best. We can eat a lot while having clothing that protects us from the sunlight.”

The northern users brought a lot of supplies to the desert.

Simple clothes, cooking essentials and horse saddles were sold at a price that was several times more expensive.

“Buying items here… Would you like to take carpets or camel leather to the north?”

“Alcohol as well. The price is meaningless once it becomes a trend.”

“This knife production technology is excellent. A general knife is useless but it is okay when made by a desert craftsman.”

The northern users sold the items they brought to the desert cities and bought new ones.

After that, the ships filled up and departed for the Arpen Kingdom.

The active trading in the desert meant their ships were piled up with goods and orders.

Geomchi-5 saw off the trading team but two days later, a new team showed up.

“Why did you come again?”

“Me? I am Lump of Money from the Mapan Trading Company and I am dedicated to smuggling and maritime trade.”

* * *

“Are you really going?”

“Yes!”

“Do you have to?”

“I’m going right now.”

“So you are thinking of leaving?”

“I’ll go.”

“Hu… I’m really sorry to say goodbye.”

“I understand. Then I won’t go.”

Weed had a conversation with Irene and convinced her not to leave.

“Ugh, she has been persuaded.”

“N-no.”

Her other colleagues were tired of hunting and wanted to escape. However, they couldn’t leave Irene alone.

‘I tried from the beginning.’

‘Awful.’

‘Ah. I’m a combat slave. I can never leave.’

Travel Sculpting.

Weed was able to go to any period, so it was possible to travel leisurely while enjoying the culture of the developed cities. Of course, he wasn’t thinking of doing that!

“Hrmm. Where to go?”

In Weed’s head, travel packages sold at travel agencies were being set up.

Dangerous packages offered at a price lower than an airplane ticket and allowed them to shop at least three times a day!

‘Travel is like that.’

The trip would naturally need to cater to high expectations.

‘Anyway, after finishing the next hunt then I will be out of contact for a while. So this time, I should suck up all the sweetness.’

The combat ability and composition of Pale and the others were excellent. That’s why he chose to take them to the battlefield despite taking some of his share.

‘There… Hrmm. I didn’t want to go there immediately. But historically the achievements there are good.’

Weed had studied the history of the Versailles Continent and found many obscure places.

In the case of Kallapik Castle, he experienced war when founding the Pallos Empire and was able to gauge the level of the knights and soldiers.

It was hard but he was rewarded for his suffering. A place that his senses could endure.

However, it was difficult to measure the difficulty when the whole area or army was destroyed.

‘I want to go to a place where I will struggle. I’m not going to be alone.’

Even if he had a hard time, someone else should know the suffering.

Weed laughed brightly like an elementary school student stealing pocket money from his mother.

“This time we are only going for a little bit.”

“Huh?”

“What?”

The eyes of his companions filled with disbelief.

Python and Seasoned Crab were still thinking of running away but realistically, it couldn’t be helped.

‘How can I return to the original world?’

‘Um. High… It will take a while to fall.’

They were still floating in the sky using the levitation magic.

Kallapik Castle that existed on the ground, was submerged in the sea.

They had the simple assassin and warrior profession so they couldn’t go down to the ground nor return to their original time zone.

‘We can’t go until he sends us back.’

‘If it hadn’t been for the levitation magic then we would be destroyed instead of watching the scene. No. He probably didn’t think that much.’

Seasoned Crab only had slight faith in Weed.

‘It is his design. Once we’re caught, we can’t get out.’

Pale knew everything so he just stayed quiet. Arguing was silly.

‘After becoming Weed’s companion, my growth rate is much faster. I became a lord and I am famous among users. I had a hard time but it has been rewarding.’

They wanted to die while tagging along with Weed, but then he looked back on the memories with strange emotions.

Fighting endlessly against an infinite number of monsters and eating delicious food, it was the best he ever felt.

‘There is a good side to being a combat slave.’

Weed licked his lips and said.

“This time it is fine to go leisurely. Everyone is tired so this time it won’t be a long hunt. How about a day?”

“A day?”

“If it is just a day…”

The strain on the group’s shoulders were relieved.

They had gone through a lot so they would be able to hold on for one day.

Irene and Romuna’s eyes met.

‘Not bad.’

‘Weed-nim won’t let us die. Surely we can use magic for one more day?’

The preparations for the next destination were simple.

Maylon and Python even felt disappointed that it was just for one day.

‘It would be good if we go to a bigger battlefield. Hyu, But I can’t tell him to go to a difficult place on purpose.’

‘It is pretty hard but the experience gained from fighting another day… It is fine to relax afterwards.’

Once Weed created a portal, they were able to jump in comfortably.

* * *

Syuuuuuh!

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa!

Python emerged from the portal first after Weed. He thought they would be fighting against monsters but the earth was shaking.

“What is going on here?”

Python lowered his body and opened his eyes.

Thousands of drakes flying in the sky were spewing flames towards the ground.

“Advance. Advance!”

“Brave soldiers of the Mapon Kingdom. This place is where you die. Go. Go.”

“Hang on. Don’t think that we can’t kill them. Bring it on!”

“Forward. Jump forward.”

Large sailboats filled the horizon of the sea as they arrived on shore.

Knights and soldiers either landed on the sandy beach or jumped into the sea and swam to the land.

It was to stop the ones advancing.

Humans who sold their soul to demons to gain strength were leading the monsters and blocking the soldiers.

“No. This is… Isn’t this worse than Kallapik Castle?”

Ddiring!

– Life’s Choice

The 3 Country Alliance and the Gulden Demon Tribe are finally fighting.

The humans have started to fight for their fate and attacked Jackson Island.

There is no peace in a place where war is occurring.

Either join the alliance or demon tribe and break down your opponents.

Level of Difficulty: S

Compensation: Fame and treasure.

Quest Restrictions: To survive and win.

A quest given by force.

– Choose a side to fight with.

If you choose the side of the demon tribe then you have to fight against humans.

Demons will transform your body and give you permanent strength but you will lose a great deal of fame and honour.

Strange tattoos will be carved on your body and can’t be erased.

Immediate Reward: Strengthen physical abilities.

If you choose the side of the alliance then you will gain a high amount of faith and fame

They will show great favour to those who participate in the difficult task.

Of course, if you lose in this battle then everything will disappear!

‘A S class difficulty quest.’

Aside from the difficulty, there was no reason to read the long explanation.

There were five types of monsters that looked great in Python’s eyes.

‘They look normal but their combat power isn’t.’

They were a type of ground dragon.

They were 10 metres long and had a fat body like a toad.

It run on its hind legs and used its strength to break through the knights and soldiers.

The sky drakes spat fire towards the ground and burned the soldiers.

‘Where the hell is this place?’

Python couldn’t leave so he hid behind a rock.

“Uwack. Progress!”

“The Keltun Kingdom. Sweep through the demon tribe.”

Knights and soldiers through themselves at the demon tribe and the monsters.

Python wanted to fight but his body was so huge that he couldn’t move easily on the battlefield.

‘It seems like more than 100,000 troops are participating in this battle.’

Once he added all the dead and those coming from the ship, he could see that a fierce battle was going to occur. Python’s face became hot from the heat of the drake’s flames.

‘A coastal battle… Umm. The quest involved a fight between three allies and the demon tribes, so perhaps this is the Jackson Island Landing.’

Jackson Island Landing!

Approximately 10 years before the warring era, the Mapon, Keltun and Bromba kingdoms allied together to fight the Gulden Demon Tribe.

The three kingdoms mobilizing a great deal of their army for the Jackson Island Landing operation and most of them were killed.

The aftermath broke the military balance on the continent and led to the warring period.

“Heeok. We came to this battlefield?”

Python asked anxiously.

“No. Even if we did come, there is no need for an explanation.”

He hadn’t believed it was a simple hunt and ambitiously entered first.

They had arrived at the battlefield where the history of the Versailles Continent could be overturned!

“Kuheom. I need some sober judgement.”

He hid his body behind a rock and waited until Surka arrived.

Python quickly rushed out from the rock where he had been hiding.

“Wah. The scale of this battle is huge. It is similar to when the Haven Empire invaded Earth Palace.”

“Looking at the quest, it seems like we have to pick a side….”

“What do we do? A lot of people seem to be injured.”

Romuna, Surka and Irene said as they glanced at the battlefield.

They had quite a lot of experience with hunting hundreds of monsters in dungeon.

They also wandered around the Arpen Kingdom taking care of monsters when the kingdom’s security was bad.

“What are Weed-nim’s thoughts?”

Irene and the others turned their gazes towards Weed.

There were level 500 users in the party but they analyzed the situation and believed they could trust Weed’s judgement.

“You have to queue up in long lines in your life.”

Weed considered the power of the allies and the demon tribe.

Human soldiers were coming from the landing boats. But the demon tribe summoned fearsome monsters to prevent this.

The demon tribe sold their souls to demons in order to gain strength. Those who learnt curse magic and black magic were watching from behind them.

‘Weed-nim will probably stand on the side of the demon tribe…’

‘Umm. Is it okay to ask?’

‘He will get an evil idea. There is no doubt.’

Weed watched the allied soldiers dying and declared.

“Join the side of the humans.”

Surka, who was a curious person, asked for the reason why.

“Why?”

“The flagship of the three kingdoms has arrived. In history, there was a great battle and they were almost wiped out but… We can vary it a little bit.”

“Will we survive and win if we join the human side?”

“We have to make it that way. It is better to talk with humans than to collaborate with evil demons. A price needs to be paid for the body strengthening.”

“Um. I see.”

The party was convinced.

Standing on the side of the demon tribe was burdensome, even if their abilities could be raised.

‘I can regain some honour.’

Weed didn’t tell a lie this time.

There was a separate reason why he had to join the side of the humans.

As a necromancer, he kept losing stats such as faith, dignity, luck, honour and courage.

If humans fought the demon tribe and won, then he would be able to gain a considerable number of stats as compensation.

If he destroyed the demon tribe then he could secure some points in faith.

‘Raise my achievements.’

Weed and the others started to accept the quest.

“I will join the alliance to beat the demon tribe.”

“I will help the alliance.”

“On the side of the alliance…”

– You have accepted the quest.

Help the alliance of the Mapon, Keltun and Bromba kingdoms to dispose of the Gulden Demon Tribe.

There was no one who joined the side of the demon tribe even as a joke.

At that moment, a demon tribe member watching Weed’s group screamed sharply.

“I can feel animosity from them. The enemy. Kill them all!”

The demon tribe were using the monsters to prevent the landing.

Unless they got close enough, a battle on ground rarely happened but the drake troops in the sky received a command.

– Kuwaaaack!

The drake flew from the sky and aimed fire at Weed’s party.

“Incoming!”

“It is starting right away.”

They were already full of hot excitement before the drakes came.

The drakes wore thick blue armour and had been created by the demon tribe.

“It is crazy. They seem much stronger than normal drakes.”

“This battle is tricky.”

No matter how awesome Python and Seasoned Crab were in battle, flying creatures were a great burden to them.

Even though they were relatively weak level 300 flying creatures, they were difficult existences for average users on the ground to deal with.

Archers and magicians didn’t want to fight the drakes since they flew quickly.

‘These ones are over level 400. I think they won’t be defeated when compared to the wyverns of Arpen Kingdom.’

‘Weed-nim will do it somehow.’

‘Should I throw a fishing net into the sky? No. Don’t think. I just have to fight.’

The party thought that Weed would do something.

Even if it was a complicated battlefield, there couldn’t imagine a scene where Weed’s hands were tied!

“Yes… So.”

Weed could feel the gaze of the party.

Thousands of drakes in the sky were coming down to attack them.

A necromancer would normally ignore the drakes and hide among their allies.

It was normal to turn the human corpses into undead in order to gradually suppress the monsters!

‘It won’t be fun that way. In addition, this battlefield is a fight against time.’

Weed gazed at his colleagues one by one.

They had spent a considerable amount of time as his combat slaves.

If he hadn’t met them in Rosenheim Kingdom then there was a good chance they would be regular users.

Users who enjoyed travelling and recreation made up an overwhelmingly large number of people in Royal Road.

His companions were affected by Weed and grew stronger at a dreadful rate.

‘I can trust them. Yes. I’ve made a decision. Fight properly.’

Weed used a spell.

“Summon Ghosts!”

Drakes were approaching and surrounding them in the air.

Weed climbed onto a ghost first before explaining the operation.

“The operation name is Heart.”

“Heart?”

Python asked while looking at the drakes. As soon as they heard this word, a tactic popped into their heads.

‘There is a story about the heart of the enemy. The demon tribe? It is a bold and dangerous tactic. If it succeeds, it will be effective but…’

‘He seems to have found a gap. Indeed!’

The demon tribe can be seen as magician types.’

‘Hitting the enemy’s heart on such a battlefield? Wah… Shall I try it once?’

The group all thought similar things about the operation.

“Do as your heart says. That is all.”

Weed explained before riding the ghost into the sky.

* * *

The flames of the drakes wrapped around his body as he flew up.

“Fly higher.”

Weed’s ghost soared up towards the sky.

The battlefield on the ground was far away. Instead, he welcomed the drakes in the vast space of the sky.

– Kuooooh!

The eyes of a countless number of drakes shone as they watched the prey in their domain.

The distance between the two sides narrows instantly as the drakes opened their mouths to pour out flames.

“This much… Break through the front!”

Weed pulled out the Loa Sword and cut the drake while passing through the flames.

– A critical hit!

The drake’s wings have clearly been hit. The Loa Sword has disabled the ‘Blood Protection’ in the subject’s body.

Triple damage will be dealt to large monsters!

The opponent’s defense has been weakened. Health has been reduced by 43,193.

– Kuoeeeek!

The drake that lost its wing fell to the ground and died.

At present, he used Sculptural Destruction with all his art stats put into strength. Even if the drake survived the fall, it was killed by the soldiers of the three kingdoms.

– Fame for fighting in the sky has increased by three.

– Experience has been acquired.

– The skill proficiency of Swordsmanship has improved.

Weed and the ghost’s bodies were covered in flames.

– Blazing flames!

The Hell Monarch’s Robe emits magic, greatly increasing resistance to fire.

Health has been reduced by 4,381.

The blazing flames will cause 438 damage every second and will turn off after 10 seconds.

1,283 mana has been acquired from the hot fire.

– The equipment effect of Barkhan’s equipment. Life Vessel has been activated.

4,291 health has been taken out of storage.

Total health remaining in the Life Vessel: 231,312

Barkhan’s full set had excellent protection magic but Weed’s expression wasn’t that great.

“I can’t pick up any loot.”

The wounded drake hadn’t died and crashed into the ground.

It would be hard to go to the ground to collect items every time he killed one.

His discomfort index was rapidly rising!

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“I’ll deal with you as much as you like. I encourage you to come!”

The tremendous sound shook the landing spot where the alliance and demon tribe were fighting.

– Skill: Lion’s Roar has been used.  The morale of all allies within the influence of Lion’s Roar has increased by 200%.

All confused states are released.

Your Leadership will increase by 300% for 5 minutes.

“Oh. People have come to help us.”

“Reinforcements!”

The allied troops, who were in low spirits due to the demon tribe, shouted loudly.

“A human who can’t be tolerated on the side of humans.”

The demon tribe gave instructions for more drakes to go after Weed.

Although he had tried to run away, the enemies recognized Weed.

One hundred drakes aimed fire at him from all sides.

In general, it was a situation requiring him to flee immediately. However, his risk of dying lessened due to Moment Sculpting.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

A long ray of light emerged from Weed’s sword.

The beautiful light from the Loa Sword hit the drakes.

– The skill ‘Axe’s Wrath’ has been activated.

When facing the enemies from the front, damage is increased by 189%.

– The skill ‘Flashing Sword’ has been activated.

Depending on your strength and speed of your sword, the effect of a critical strike will increase by 2.5 times.

He used skills gained when all his art stats were placed into strength!

Weed’s sword wreaked havoc on five drakes around him.

“Sword-cloning!”

He avoided the other drakes’ attacks and used mana to create clones.

Weed and the ghost fought in the sky covered with flames!

The allied knights shouted.

“Look at the one who came to defeat the demon tribe. His strength will lead us!”

“Charge. Today is the day when the Gulden Demon Tribe will be punished!”

“Ohhhh!”

The landing army moved faster after seeing Weed and the drakes.

– Smoky flames!

The surrounding air is hot.

The power of fire attacks is skyrocketing.

– Burning body!

You have been hit more than 14 times by a drake’s flames.

The damage from the fire will stack up.

Weed’s status was rapidly deteriorating.

Even if he destroyed the flames with the Loa Sword, the fire attacks were basically wide area attacks.

His health was quickly decreasing.

The speed and movements of the ghost horse couldn’t keep up with the drakes!

A sly smile appeared on Weed’s mouth.

‘This is fun!’

He didn’t want a stable hunting. Although he could estimate the power of the opponent, he couldn’t win the fight simply on that.

The stronger the enemy, the more alive he felt when fighting.

The God of War.

Weed was a legend called this on Continent of Magic.

* * *

“That is a sculptor. No. Now he is a necromancer. Anyway, he is great.”

Python stared up at the sky before turning to his colleagues.

He was mostly hunting alone, but the people in Weed’s group were as reliable as before.

“I’ll fight!”

Surka was touched by Weed’s words about the heart.

“But I’m afraid of heights… I will fight with the allies on the ground.”

Surka fought on the ground.

The vicious looking monsters were much less scary!

Pale immediately boarded the ghost horse that Weed had summoned.

“I will go. I will aim for the head and heart.”

Drakes were very demanding targets for archers. Nevertheless, it was a reasonable choice to shoot enemies on the ground from the sky.

“I’ll go with you.”

His girlfriend Maylon followed while Zephyr took out his fishing rod.

“The sky. A real fisherman can catch them. There is a place for a fisherman everywhere.”

It was popular for both men and women in Royal Road so Zephyr’s blood was normal.

“Unni?”

“It will be difficult to fight the monsters directly. We will only disturb Weed-nim. Let’s go to the knights.”

“I’ll treat the injured.”

Bellot, Hwaryeong and Irene decided to head to the alliance.

When taking into account their occupations, it was a choice that could increase the combat power of many troops.

“I’ll burn the monsters.”

Romuna decided to fight on the ground because the drakes were equipped with fire magic.

Maylon watched the decisions with shining eyes.

“But didn’t we have one more?”

“Eh… That. When did he disappear? Seasoned Crab-nim! Seasoned Crab-nim!”

Surka looked around but Seasoned Crab was gone.

An assassin’s instinct!

He concealed himself in the shadows of the allies and advanced towards the monsters and demon tribe.

‘I like to fight like this.’

Python grinned.

He primarily hunted alone so he didn’t have any trustworthy colleagues.

He would run away if there were strong monsters and if he succeeded in the hunt then he would monopolize the loot.

There was no need for heated discussions over hunting grounds or quests. He was more comfortable being alone.

‘I will take my share. These people are good.’

Python thought that the colleagues were a good configuration, but in fact, they had been trained by Weed.

“Let’s begin.

“Good. We will overturn a historic battlefield.”

“Wah!”

* * *

The battle on Jackson Island!

Hundreds of drakes were chasing after Weed.

“They are persistent.”

Weed wanted to break through a gap in the drakes.

The drakes spewed fire into the sky like a spider web.

The ghost horse was slow and changing directions wasn’t easy, so things were getting worse over time.

– Health has decreased!

The health remaining in the Life Vessel is less than half!

Weed’s health was falling but it wasn’t a big worry yet.

The tension wasn’t enough!

‘My health is still over 100,000.’

It was more than the maximum health he had as a sculptor.

“Out of the pieces I’ve sculpted… I need something that can hit them.”

Going around sculpting on a historical battlefield wasn’t the ultimate romance.

Weed took out a sculpture.

– Rain and Overflowing Sea

An absolute sculpture!

Goddess Hestia has acknowledged this great work from Sculptor Weed. Rain and waves surging. A landscape of nature that is elaborately expressed using difficult to find minerals.

Artistic Value: 349.

He could select the battlefield with Travel Sculpting so it was something he prepared in advance.

He deliberately didn’t prepare any fine pieces or masterpieces for this disaster. It would become a mess if all the allied troops were swept away.

“The power is weak but… Eh. I don’t know. Great Disaster Nature Sculpting!”

– You have used Great Disaster Nature Sculpting.

20 Art stats have permanently disappeared.

20,000 health and mana is consumed.

All stats have been temporarily reduced by 15% for 3 days.

Affinity to Nature has fallen. Great Disaster Nature Sculpting can only be used once a day. When a great calamity is called upon, fame or infamy can be increased depending on the damage.

It is possible to die in the middle of the disaster so be careful.

Weed told his colleagues in the hunting channel.

– Weed: Is it hard to hunt?

– Surka: Here… It is a lot of trouble!

– Zephyr: I haven’t died. They’re persistent. These guys!

His colleagues were struggling in their respective positions.

Pale and Maylon tried to climb up to a high place but gave up because there were too many drakes.

Python and Seasoned Crab were fighting to kill a large number of enemies.

The monsters summoned by the demon tribe had high defense and there were many of them.

The demon tribe even used various curses so the alliance’s advance wasn’t easy.

– Weed: This battle is dangerous. In fact, it is a fight against time.

– Hwaryeong: Fighting against time?

– Weed: It should end as soon as possible. Therefore, I’ve just caused a disaster. Be prepared.

– Pale: What disaster?

Pale asked quickly.

It depended on what type of disaster it was. They could be washed away by the disaster so of course they were nervous.

– Weed: Um… It’s nothing. Just a bit of rain and being hit by waves.

– Romuna: Hit by waves? This is an island but aren’t we on land?

– Weed: The waves will push forward from the sea.

– Surka: Keeek.

– Irene: There is no way we can avoid such a thing!

The idea of a large wave dozens of metres in height passed through their heads.

The strength of the disaster became stronger every time Weed used the skill.

The reason for this was because his Affinity to Nature was much higher.

– Weed: It might be weak because it is just an ordinary sculpture.

– Pale: What is the extent?

– Weed: I don’t know. You will live if you don’t get hit by the waves.

– Bellot: How do we avoid being swept away?

– Weed: That is what you should think about from now on.

There were a few moments of silence in the hunting channel.

They wanted to curse but nothing escaped their mouths because they were nice people.

They only cursed in their heads to relieve stress!

– Pale: Those who are on the ground. You will have to move locations.

– Maylon: Run. Go to a high place.

Pale and Maylon, who were riding the ghost horses, moved to save their colleagues.

The others also tried to find a safe place for themselves.

Python cut apart the monsters and headed towards the interior of the island while Seasoned Crab penetrated deeply.

A disaster needed some time to activate depending on the circumstances.

‘Natural disasters such as rain and waves… It won’t start straight away. Rain clouds need to be created first so I’m sure it won’t be severe.’

Weed used the high elf’s bow and fired towards the drakes.

“Piercing Arrows!”

His archery skills were crude but had a lot of power behind them.

The rotating arrow shot did at least 40,000 damage! A drake chasing him was hit by the arrow and instantly died.

The drakes saw the ferocious strength and started avoiding them.

– Ggeug ggeug ggeug!

– Are you trying to avoid it?

– You can’t run away because you are slow. The sky was the entire territory of the drakes.

The demon tribe on the ground were controlling the drakes.

– You are on fire.

Health is reduced by 930 every second.

Weed ran away while covered in flames.

As the drakes chased Weed, the battle on the ground became beneficial to the landing power. However, the situation wasn’t changed.

The demon tribe kept summoning monsters while the bigger ones stood firmly and spat acid.

“Constantly attack.”

“Knights of the Mapon Kingdom. Charge!”

The allied forces attacked the monsters as a group.

Little by little, there started to be a change in the environment. It started raining from the sky.

“Rain all of a sudden…”

“It is tough to advance due to the rain.”

“Somehow we have broken through. We have secured this area! In order to root out the demon tribe, more troops must land.”

Some people couldn’t see properly in front of them so the alliance’s plan suffered a big hitch. However, the demon tribe and monsters also couldn’t move around freely.

The rain pouring from the sky was enough to halt the fighting.

The rain disaster!

There wasn’t any damage but it was difficult to continue fighting.

Weed yelled using Lion’s Roar.

“Continue to advance to higher ground. And the remaining troops on the ships, be prepared for an impact!”

The alliance also had a command system made of leaders of the units, commanders in chiefs or high level knights.

“What is this?”

“I don’t know.”

“How dare he command the army of the Mapon Kingdom.”

The alliance didn’t heed Weed’s warning but his colleagues were different. They found any safe place and crouched down.

Swaaaah.

The drake’s flames lost power due to the intense rain while the sandy ground where the demon tribe and monsters were standing sank down.

And high waves coming from the distant sea!

“Captain-nim! A big wave!”

“Turn to the left. Go over the waves in front!”

“Avoid it! Avoid it!”

“Beware of conflicts with the other battle lines…”

The large sailboats waiting for the landing were being rocked by the waves.

It was catastrophic as experienced captains were surpassed by the dozens of metres high waves. However, the sailboats waiting in the distant waters were pushed to shore and arrived at Jackson Island.

“This… The land…”

“Down. It is an attack!”

The troops desperately moved through the reefs and sandy beach in an effort to live.

The high waves swept through the sea.

“Kukik?”

A sailboat discovered a group of Gulden Demon Tribe members hiding in a cave.

The hidden card of the demon tribe!

In history, they were the devastating force that sank more than half the ships before the allies landed on Jackson Island.

Weed knew of this ahead of time and prevented it with the disaster.

“An ambush.”

“Attack. Attack!”

The battle in the rain.

After the waves reached land, they quickly lost power but swept people away to the coast.

The big waves forced the alliance soldiers to throw themselves at the monsters.

Humans and monsters were tangled up in a swirl.

– There was a terrible disaster where many good people were victims.

1,391 people were killed.

49,382 were injured.

The title ‘’Disaster Slaughter’ has been acquired.

Infamy has increased by 38,295.

By the time the disaster and rain cleared, he had received huge infamy.

The power of the disaster wasn’t high but many landing ships were sunk, causing many victims.

Still, the alliance had received reinforcements and the drakes’ flames were prevented. Therefore, the alliance quickly took control of the waterfront.

– You have helped the landing of the Mapon Kingdom, Keltun Kingdom and Bromba Kingdom.

The damage from monsters was minimized.

You have achieved the strategic goal!

– Fame has increased by 3,000.

– Wisdom has increased by 2.

The alliance barely had their numbers reduced compared to the battle in the original history.

The waves washed the sailboats onto the shores of Jackson Island in the centre of the monsters, and the battle became fierce.

The landing army led by the knights conquered the coast and advanced to the centre of the island.

The drakes who controlled the skies couldn’t descend easily due to the placement of archers and magicians.

The battle on Jackson Island became more intense as Weed’s group actively got involved.

“Come back to the land you used to live in. This is a dark place. It is a black and corrupt land. Help spread the laws of darkness. Undead Rise!”

The summoning of an army of undead!

A large number of undead were created from the corpses of the alliance, the monsters and the demon tribe.

“Daring to do such a thing…”

“Making undead with the soldiers of our kingdom!”

“Chief Palloda has become a dullahan.”

– Hostility with the Mapon Kingdom has increased by 10.

– Hostility with the Keltun Kingdom has increased by 10.

– Hostility with the Bromba Kingdom has increased by 10.

– The allied forces of the three kingdoms are alert.

You might have helped them in battle but they don’t consider you a trustworthy companion.

If hostility continues accumulating, then you can be attacked.

Necromancers that were hated everywhere!

“I caused some damage with the disaster and summoned the undead. I think that the result is good.”

He ignored it because he wouldn’t see them in the future anyway!

Weed advanced with the undead.

“Sweep away the monsters. Save the humans for later… No. Just don’t fight the humans!”

Weed’s targets for the undead were the demon tribe and monsters.

An advantage of a necromancer was that they didn’t have to worry about the losses of their allies.

It was enough to summon Van Hawk and give them command.

“Van Hawk. Advanced rapidly.”

“Understood. Master.”

“Torido. Hunt the demon tribe.”

“Confusion will cover my nails and teeth.”

The vampire lord Torido attacked the demon tribe.

He recovered his health and mana as the undead fought.

It was a chance to restore the health reduced by the drakes and replenish his mana.

“Attack!”

Weed kept using mana to summon undead to join Van Hawk.

He built up a huge amount of experience for Summon Undead!

He didn’t use Corpse Explosion and repeatedly used his gathered mana to summon golems.

– The skill proficiency of Golem Production has increased.

He also strengthened the undead by giving them weapons and armour.

In the middle of all of this, he was training his skills.

Dark Rule, Death Aura, Absolute Magic Defense!

There were some limitations to Dark Rule so he needed to learn the constraints.

It required high knowledge and wisdom stats, Undead Summon being above advanced level 5 and knowledge about darkness.

In fact, one of the basics of this profession was to learn Dark Rule.

“Retreat.”

The demon tribe abandoned the coastline and retreated to the mountain regions.

After a few hours, a siege took place at a temple built in the mountains.

“Waaaah. Destroy them for the continent.”

“We have defeated the demon tribe.”

“We fought here without any regrets to allow our children to feel peace and happiness.”

Before the warring period, the knights contained a naive and innocent attitude similar to those seen in children’ books.

“Hyu. Finally the last gateway.”

“It is really fast compared to the scale of the battle.”

“Kuk. Following Weed-nim is really different from watching him.”

Weed’s colleagues also experienced a terrible struggle.

Irene gained high fame and four faith stats from healing the wounded but her mana was completely exhausted.

A massive battle was a great opportunity for a priest to use holy magic on a large scale.

Hwaryeong and Bellot also improved that fame and charm by dancing and playing.

Zephyr, Pale, Maylon and the others all fought until they were on the verge of collapsing. Sometimes they were in a crisis but managed to escape with the help of the allied knights.

“More than this… Humans won’t survive on this island.”

“It is incomplete but it can’t be helped.”

In the final battle, the Gulden Demon Tribe summoned the demon Delam.

– I will eat all of you!

A demon gained power through eating!

Delam was a 2-metre-high barbarian with dark skin.

“Demon.”

“Take care of the demon.”

All the allied forces rushed towards Delam. However, their bodies froze the moment they neared Delam.

– Your soul has been struck by evil energy. Your body is paralyzed!

“Kukukuk!”

Delam opened his mouth wide and ate the knights.

Kwadududuk.

“The demons are carnivores. Don’t hesitate!”

“We shall sacrifice ourselves.”

The knights lost their power only when they were in the vicinity of Delam. Furthermore, they couldn’t even attack a few times. “The demon is so strong…!”

“This is impossible!”

Delam devoured knights and nearby monsters and in less than a minute, he grew to 20 metres and were firing magic power all over the place.

Kurururung!

Lightning struck everywhere around Delam.

The pure magic struck the allied soldiers who fell in shock and dug deeper into the ground.

His weapons were a huge sword and trident!

Delam used them to throw knights into his mouth.

Surka’s fists shook.

“Ah… It is hard to fight such a monster.”

The fate of a swordsman and kung fu artist was death since they fought in close combat!

Weed’s eyes sharpened.

‘Defeat the demon. That is the goal.’

The demon hunting plan that would supplement the stats and fame lost as a necromancer!

Zephyr stared at Weed.

“From what I’ve seen so far… Did you know he would come out?”

“Yes.”

“The demon?”

“My sword will go in.”

The shoulders of his colleagues straightened after hearing his confidence.

The demons in various books had a strong reputation.

However, demons lost considerable power after being summoned to the Versailles Continent, as they couldn’t exert their true power after being sealed for so long.

Weed had managed to take out Montus so they asked hopefully.

“Weed-nim! Last time you resurrected Roderick. Who are you going to resurrect this time?”

“Omo. Hestiger!”

Romuna’s face brightened.

If the very handsome Hestiger was resurrected, then all the hearts of the females would become warm.

The desert warriors with firm abs who wielded a scimitar!

Weed shook his head.

“That guy can’t live again. Hestiger is gone forever.”

“Ahh.”

“Besides, it is illogical to use Sculpture Resurrection for every hunt.”

No matter how great a demon was, it wasn’t enough to use a skill that reduced three levels just to catch one boss grade monster.

Sculpture Resurrection also had very tricky conditions. There were no guarantees that the resurrected person would even fight the demon.

‘I have forgotten the name of the strongest man in history so they must have died in vain. Or they will get rid of the demon alone and disappear.’

It was a difficult skill to choose because he had to take into account the personality of the revived person.

Python asked in a heavy tone.

“But what level is he?”

“The low-grade demon Montus was in the 600s. This demon should belong to the intermediate level.”

“Then… He is even stronger? Aren’t demons difficult not just for their level, but because of their skills as characteristics?

“It has just been summoned so even an intermediate demon is weak.”

“Then it won’t be as hard as I think?”

“If he regains strength by eating then his level will be in the 800-900s.”

“A level 800 monster?”

“Yes. He will be like that after a few hours of eating.”

A strength so high they felt like it didn’t exist.

‘Did we come to this place to die?’

Weed added some words towards his blank colleagues.

“Just like a dragon has its breath weapon, demons have powers or characteristics associated with their appearance of name.”

“This demon has something to do with eating.”

“Yes. According to the history books, if he invokes his unique skill then he can swallow all creatures within a 2 kilometre radius.

“…”

Python and the others stared at Weed.

“Can we win against something like that? No. Then shouldn’t we hurry and fight him before he gets stronger?”

“We must wait. Delam has a crucial weakness. When he eats, he can’t move his body in order to digest it so his defense becomes weak. Then it will be an opportunity.”

“How many does he need to eat?”

“It isn’t exact but around 10,000?”

There was a chance if the demon of gluttony ate around 10,000 allies or monsters. The party felt hope but Python asked one more question.

“I’m just asking but… If we miss the opportunity, then what do we do?”

“Run.”

“Huh?”

“If you don’t run away then you will be eaten.”

Chapter 4: Seeds of Attack

The emergency strategy room of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Behind Morata’s back street and the empty houses on the hill, there was a shabby shrine that escaped the surveillance of the Haven Empire.

50 users were sitting on cheap matting placed on the dirt floor.

“Everybody eat.”

“Yes. I will enjoy this food.”

There was high quality grass porridge with abalone, ginseng and beef.

“Um. Tasty.”

“This soft neck is smooth in the grass porridge.”

Great people were gathered to discuss the Haven Empire’s invasion and indiscriminate destruction of the Arpen Kingdom.

At first, the emergency strategy room was formed to stop the war, but now they had a clear purpose.

– Free adventures and trade.

Defeat the Hermes Guild who are dictators for the peace and freedom of the continent.

Hooray the Arpen Kingdom!

“We won’t back down from the Haven Empire.”

“Their weakness will be short-lived. Once their rule becomes stable in a few months, they will reorganize and invade us again.”

“Grass Porridge Cult… The fate of the north hangs by a thread.”

“At this point, we have to be strong. But it is difficult to gather the northern users…”

“Many players don’t want a war.”

The emergency strategy committee prepared for the future.

There was a plan for Weed to lead the northern users to attack the Central Continent, but that was excluded because there were too many weaknesses.

The military power of the Haven Empire was still strong.

It was a question of how many northern users would join as well as ruling the conquered territories.

“What is the trend of the Central Continent?”

“It is stable.”

“The tax cuts seem to be doing well in the short term.”

“It is unfortunate but the complaints are gone.”

The users in the emergency strategy room eating grass porridge had absurd specifications.

There were senior officials, diplomats and soldiers of every administrative branch of the country.

People experienced in various fields came to the Arpen Kingdom in the north after starting Royal Road.

A grade 5 clerk who passed the administrative examination couldn’t help wanting to eat grass porridge!

Members of parliament and politicians also tried to join the Grass Porridge Cult.

“I am a member of parliament. Can’t I get a bowl of grass porridge for free?”

“Is that so?”

In the early days, there were members who did bad things but that was no longer the case.

If someone acted wrongly under the name of the Grass Porridge Cult then their image would be recorded and released to the entire world.

Although the politicians might have lied or committed irregularities in reality, it was impossible in the Grass Porridge Cult.

Even politicians could mess with Royal Road due to their family members who played it.

“A way to undermine the power of the Hermes Guild… It is hard since our military is weak.”

“If they attack first then the strategies we can use are limited. Take a look at the past where we were hit hard at the Earth Palace… Every time a battle is fought, the Arpen Kingdom continues to suffer damage.”

“If a full-scale war breaks out then the north will be decimated. Once the Central Continent is stabilized, the Haven Empire will focus on the north.”

“A preemptive strike is the correct answer. Organizations such as the Hermes Guild will quickly collapse if they are weakened. Those who gathered have no loyalty in the first place.”

“They are united due to their interests. As long as they occupy the Central Continent, they won’t scatter.”

“If we conquer a part of the Central Continent then it won’t be any better…”

There were numerous discussions on how to attack the Haven Empire.

They didn’t know about Mapan’s economic penetration but a number of similar methods emerged.

One of the comments was that if the Pallos Kingdom was established in the south, the Grass Porridge should give support to strengthen it.

Then while doing errands, Soft Tofu raised his hand.

“I remember something Weed said in the past.”

“What is it?”

“He told Geomchi that he would rip the Haven Empire to shreds.”

“Ohhhh.”

“He said it when the Haven Empire was at its most powerful.”

“Such ambition?”

“There has to be some degree of distribution…”

“He is the person who created the Arpen Kingdom in the north.”

The users gathered in the emergency strategy room were filled with admiration.

When the Haven Empire had invaded the Arpen Kingdom, Weed had spoken simple words.

– They want to aim for my rice bowl? I can’t leave it alone. I will tear them to shreds!

It was like tearing up the notebook of the creepy person in kindergarten.

The elites in the emergency strategy room interpreted the meanings deeply.

“Tearing apart… Then it means winning the war against the Haven Empire. But the form and results are different from what is expressed. At the time, didn’t he tactically destroy the Earth Palace?”

“There is a difference between overthrowing and tearing them down. There seems to be a hidden meaning.”

“Perhaps he wasn’t referring to that moment but the distant future?”

“Destroying the Haven Empire. Doesn’t it mean something like that?”

“Weed-nim’s words. It can’t just be a rough interpretation. We need to understand his words to change the flow of the continent.”

“I think we need someone to figure out the meaning of his language.”

“We should bring someone majoring in Korean literature or who has a doctorate in humanities.”

“Will that be enough? We should invite the Harvard and Yale professors.”

The elites of the Grass Porridge Cult invited the world’s scholars to delve deeply into the meaning of those words. And the conclusion!

The South Korean soldier, who provided information about body armour corruption to the media, said.

“It is right to interpret it literally. He is going to tear up the Haven Empire.”

A soldier, who retired after reporting about submarine irregularities, spoke next.

“Tearing into multiple pieces? How?”

“Send the best troops of the Arpen Kingdom to destroy many areas…”

The soldier, who was outcast after reporting a connection between the jet fighter business and the defense companies, shook his head.

“Our power isn’t that much. The Hermes Guild has a lot of personnel and will be prepared for this.”

“Or we can tear up their power by exacerbating the relationships between the lords of the Central Continent.”

“It is convincing.”

“We are in a situation where we can try it but… Well. Would they foresee this?”

“The complaints of the lords towards the Haven Empire are significant. There was Darius’ exposure and their profits are reduced due to lowering the taxes.”

“Even so, we aren’t likely to succeed.”

“If we defend the Arpen Kingdom then there will be no losses.”

“Then in order to worsen the relationship with the Hermes Guild…”

The plan steadily formed.

There could have been a heated debate but they decided to follow Weed’s words.

“We can divide it into stage 1 and stage 2.”

“When the plan is finished… The Versailles Continent might fall into chaos.”

“We have to distinguish between success and failure in stage 1. Only then can we push on with Stage 2.”

“It is about whether we can move the people’s hearts but… The plan doesn’t show any other loopholes.”

“It is Weed-nim’s plan. We have to believe and pursue it.”

“We need to keep it secure so only bring in trusted users.”

“In any case, keep your mouths shut. You can’t be bribed by the Hermes Guild.”

“Fortunately, we have many qualified users.”

“The Toadstool Porridge unit is also reliable.”

The Grass Porridge Cult established a specific plan and reported it to the Arpen Kingdom. Seo-yoon made the final decision!

She took a look at the final proposal and stamped it.

* * *

Knight Myul.

South of the Haven Empire. He was a top ranker in the Hermes Guild and ruled over the vast area that once consisted of the Gradian Kingdom and the Nest Kingdom.

He was robbed by Weed and attacked by rebels at Node Krape, then he went to the north to take revenge.

“Kuuuok. It was a thorough defeat…”

Myul abandoned his plan of revenge and used the remaining griffon troops to retake Node Krape and his territory.

The rebels were silent but the desert warriors’ attacks led to an endless call for support in the area of the Great Plains.

– For the stability of the region, dispatching troops is necessary. Please save us!

– You must help. The Great Plains is being conquered.

– The desert is looting us. The gates are already open as I write this…

Myul quickly moved at the Hermes Guild’s request, but the desert warriors had already retreated.

“Ahh. It is over.”

“It is over. There is nothing left in the warehouse.”

“All the soldiers were dragged. Now we have to start from the bottom up.

The southern lords who returned from the evacuation were devastated as they sat on the ground. The golden grains of the Great Plains had been pulled up. It was the symbol of abundance for the Great Plains. It was the same for the apples, pears, pomegranates and fig trees planted in the streets.

Even the unripe fruits had been taken away.

After the plunder of the Great Plains, the grain prices skyrocketed on the Central Continent. Big hands moved first so it was hard to find it on the market.

“This damage… Kuk. Over half of this year’s yield from the Great Plains was taken away.”

“It is a really big deal. Shouldn’t the empire be more vigilant?”

“That’s right. They only worried about the cities or towns. Now all the food has been swept away.”

“That isn’t the problem. I hear that they took many residents?”

“Residents?”

“Engineers and young people were forced into captivity and dragged to the desert.”

“No… Such a cruel thing.”

The lords were shocked to hear the news.

When the prestigious guilds fought, they tried to reduce the damage to the people as much as possible.

Manpower was hard to control in battle so it couldn’t be helped if excited users sometimes burned the city, but they were punished afterwards.

Even during wars, these acts greatly increased infamy. The penalties for quests and ruling were large so those with common sense didn’t do such actions.

Building or property damage could be recovered, but it was impossible to recover in a short amount of time if residents were moved.

However, the lords of the Central Continent didn’t know about the difference in culture.

The act of robbing or taking captives from a civilized land had a large penalty and increased infamy.

But in the desert area, they were praised for being capable of capturing a large number of prisoners.

“They aren’t very smart or don’t care about their bad name.”

“According to the users, they only follow the laws of the desert.”

“They are thieves.”

“Their swords are their only strength.”

Myul ruled Node Krape and thought that the southern lords lacked economic knowledge.

After spending more than half of the taxes to the Haven Empire, the rest was wasted restoring the damage caused by the rebels.

“Just as we were regaining some stability in the area, the desert warriors…”

“There is no more room to lower the tax rate.”

“In the south, warriors say they will establish the Pallos Empire.”

“Now we must bury the desert!”

“Let’s get back our lost residents and property.”

The lords of the Great Plains and the southern defenders of the Hermes Guild came up with tough countermeasures.

Myul, one of the greatest powers in the area, didn’t like it.

“The griffons can’t wander around the hot desert searching for enemies.”

“We should be together in this.”

“How many troops will be committed?”

“I will send 200,000. Pull out the roots of the desert before it can grow more.”

Myul asked.

“Are you going to take control of the southern desert with 20,000 troops?”

“I will send elite troops. The Imperial Army isn’t invincible… but they are strong.”

“Do you know how wide the desert is? If traffic isn’t developed then wandering the middle of the desert isn’t the answer. Isn’t there any reinforcements from Aren Castle?”

“They can’t afford it. It isn’t the time for war and the Hermes Guild has a lot of land to keep.”

“They have no interest in the remote south.’

“Then there will be an expedition into the desert.”

“Those guys will come again…”

“Even then, we will stop it somehow. Next time, we have to respond much more quickly.”

The debating lords couldn’t come to a conclusion.

Many of them were asking for salvation without wanting to go out.

* * *

The knights of steel that dominated the skies.

“These guys. They had another baby.”

Myul was busy taking care of the griffons at Node Krape.

The young griffons were hungry so he put large pieces of cut beef into their beaks.

“Eat a lot. Don’t stay cute like this.”

The number of griffons was reduced a lot due to Weed’s raid and the war in the north.

It was difficult to regain 5,000 again so the young griffons would be the strength of the griffon corps in the future.

“Huhuhu. You will completely control the skies of the continent. Once the sky is ours, the ground will come naturally. This isn’t the big picture.”

While Myul was smiling, he received a warning that an intruder was approaching.

A man wearing a novice outfit was flying on a wyvern towards Node Krape!

“Don’t tell me…”

Myul confirmed the wyvern from the top of the tower.

“Isn’t that wyvern Wy-3?”

The wyvern who carried Weed around all the time.

There was no wyvern more famous on the continent.

‘Is Weed invading? It is likely he didn’t come alone. Large forces will come.’

Myul was on the verge of making an emergency call to the griffons and his army.

Then he saw the white flag and the face of the user on Wy-3.

‘That isn’t Weed?’

Weed’s face was so normal then he forgot it after a while.

The user on Wy-3 was fairly different from weed.

‘Weed can change appearances… This might be a trick.’

However, Myul didn’t lost his confidence.

From the early days in the Hermes Guild, he had led a number of battles to victory. He had high pride and didn’t think he would be easily defeated by Weed in a one-on-one battle.

Node Krape was a fortress built on a cliff.

It wasn’t a fortress that would easily fall even if a war occurred.

‘I can fight. But I don’t think Weed would change his face and come bearing a white flag.’

Myul gestured at the window and guided the visitor to the griffon nest at Node Krape.

* * *

Myul welcomed the visitor in the novice clothing. After descending from Wy-3, he straightened his shoulders and introduced himself.

“I am Tokkung from the Toadstool Porridge unit.”

“Toadstool Porridge unit?”

“Yes. Weed-nim sent me here.”

“I see.”

Myul was disappointed despite expecting that the other person wasn’t Weed.

‘Too bad. If he had been alone then I would have killed him.’

Although it was cowardly, it would be worth it for the fame he would get from killing Weed. But he was interested in what the Grass Porridge Cult had to say.

If it was something trivial then they wouldn’t have sent a Toadstool Porridge member on Wy-3.

“What do you want to say?”

“Huhu. I have a good offer for you.”

The user called Tokkung grinned.

“I will omit the long introduction. Do you have any thoughts of becoming independent from the Haven Empire?”

“Independent?”

Tokkung explained the Grass Porridge Cult’s proposal.

The Myul-controlled areas of Gradian and Nest would become independent and remain free from the reign of the Haven Empire.

The Grass Porridge Cult would use their influence and stop the desert warriors from attacking.

“If the relationship improves then you can trade with northern specialties. A large trading team from the Arpen Kingdom will visit by sea.”

“So the desert warriors won’t make peace with the empire? That is the proposal?”

“Of course. The desert warriors will be active in other areas but this one will receive no damage.”

Myul thought it was ridiculous as he listened.

“I still can’t understand it. You want me to get away from the solid fence of the empire?”

“Yes. If you change to the system of the Arpen Kingdom, many northern users will head to Myul’s kingdom. Myul’s kingdom will become more active. The development… You should know. New villages will be created and it will be a large kingdom when joined with the southern desert area.

“What about the relationship between me and the Hermes Guild?”

“It is like Weed-nim said. People should know when to go to the bathroom for things to come out. Isn’t now a suitable time to come out?”

Myul was silent for a while.

‘The desert warriors are annoying.’

It was true that the attacks from the south were annoying.

As part of the Hermes Guild, he couldn’t ignore the lords’ requests for help. But the damage hadn’t occurred in his territory yet so it was only an annoyance.

‘But going to the bathroom. The situation is certainly different.’

Myul had been with the Hermes Guild from the beginning.

As a knight and managing to tame the griffons, he played a great role in the conquest of the Central Continent.

The mobility of the griffon unit meant he was at the forefront of the territorial expansion every time. Thanks to the repeated combat achievements, he possessed a formidable army.

He was handed the Gradian and Nest areas because of the high regard for his abilities and military power.

‘I’m no longer getting anything from the Hermes Guild. Even if the Haven Empire conquers the Arpen Kingdom, I won’t receive any benefits.’

He had to dedicate half of the taxes collected from his territory.

The only reason he hadn’t complained was due to his loyalty to the Hermes Guild. However, if he became independent then he would no longer have to pay taxes in the future.

He wouldn’t be part of the Haven Empire or the Arpen Kingdom, but the independent king of a large area.

‘It isn’t a totally useless proposal. It is profitable for me. There is just one crucial issue.’

He wanted to raise a flag apart from the Haven Empire but common sense said it wasn’t possible.

The military power of the Hermes Guild and the Haven Empire was so powerful that it couldn’t be ignored. What if he was trampled on as soon as he declared independence?

Tokkung laughed like he read Myul’s mind.

“Once Myul is ready then the Arpen Kingdom will move from the north.”

“You will fight the empire? The Arpen Kingdom’s military power won’t be enough.”

“There is a crowd. But even if it is only near the border of the Arpen Kingdom, we will be able to strike the nerve of the Haven Empire.”

“It won’t mean anything. The Hermes Guild is strong enough to prevent such interference. It will be the worst situation for me if the Imperial troops come to the south.”

“The Arpen Kingdom and Myul’s new kingdom. The Haven Empire will receive damage from both sides simultaneously. Can they afford the cost of war when taxes are lowered?”

“The Arpen Kingdom can’t afford to go against the Haven Empire either.”

“In the worst-case situation, the Arpen Kingdom will accept Myul. You can be a lord who rules over a wide land.”

Myul shook his head and didn’t respond.

He was too busy making calculations in his head.

There were benefits to Tokkung’s proposal but he couldn’t accept due to the damages.

“The reason for this proposal…”

“It will be beneficial for the Arpen Kingdom if the Haven Empire is divided.”

Tokkung honestly replied.

‘I’m not the only one they are making this offer to.’

The Grass Porridge Cult had gathered a vast amount of intelligence and connections.

It was possible for them to propose independence to some Hermes Guild users.

The elite members of the Toadstool Porridge unit were secretly dispatched to a few lords or governors with jurisdiction over an area.

Tokkung travelled on Wy-3 because the southern part of the Haven Empire was far but there were members of the Toadstool Porridge unit visiting other people at the same time.

No one knew how many of them would change their minds.

Some of them might agree but there was a high possibility of failure.

‘A plan that assumes failure.’

In the 1st phase of the plan, the Arpen Kingdom had nothing to lose. Making this proposal wouldn’t damage them.

The northern users wouldn’t condemn the Arpen Kingdom or Weed.

On the other hand, the Hermes Guild would become anxious and suspicious.

“Hrmm…”

Myul was troubled as he thought about it. The Arpen Kingdom could gain tremendous benefits from his choice.

‘I don’t want to do something for Weed. If things go wrong then the damage will be big.’

His feelings towards Weed!

When he thought about the events that happened to him, he couldn’t accept.

“I will not accept the offer.”

“Yes. I understand. You can do that.”

“Will you go back on Wy-3?”

Myul asked out of pure curiosity.

The wyvern could be called a match to the griffon and this was a chance to see Wy-3 up close.

“Nope. I will go back to the Arpen Kingdom another way.”

“That is a long way to go.”

“You can always get something in life when you go back the long way.”

Tokkung said as he pulled out something from his backpack. Myul momentarily thought it was a bribe or a weapon.

But Tokkung took out a cup and unknown powder. He poured boiling water into the cup and made powdered tea.

“I like having a cup of tea after negotiations.”

“Hrmm.”

“Would you like some?”

“Nope. I’m okay.”

Myul wasn’t friendly so he immediately refused the offer. His refusal was the right decision.

“Kueeok!”

Tokkung drank the tea and collapsed.

“Indeed, toadstool tea…”

– Tokkung has died.

* * *

Myul was troubled after Tokkung’s death.

“Independence…”

The Grass Porridge Cult’s sweet proposal.

Betraying the Hermes Guild was a big gamble but he would benefit greatly if he succeeded.

‘The Arpen Kingdom. If I take a position like Weed the users in this region might help me. It is a little bit positive.’

As one of the roots, he knew several things about the Haven Empire.

Even if a large army struck, he could intercept using the griffon units or hold out using Node Krape.

If he endured for a month or two then they would recognize it as a loss.

In the future, he wouldn’t have a strong foundation like Bardray or Weed.

Even if everything went wrong, he could bring all his assets and the griffons to the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Interesting but dangerous. I won’t accept at this time. But if things change…’

Weed’s words in the emergency strategy room of the Grass Porridge Cult planted the first seeds in the Haven Empire.

– The northern users are attempting to take our lords.

“Don’t leave any loopholes.”

Several lords of the Haven Empire confessed that they had been contacted.

Lafaye was on the roof of Aren Castle when he heard the news.

There were countless stars shining in the sky and a cool wind was blowing.

The capital of the Haven Empire was shining brilliantly.

“I have been driven to this edge…’

Lafaye’s eyes narrowed as he thought about the insults he received recently.

He became angry after being insulted by the little girl on the street.

As an elite, he lived his life receiving respect so he wasn’t accustomed to the word failure.

It was true that his achievement with the Haven Empire was weakening.

The news coming from the intelligence network wasn’t much better.

– There is a massacre of ordinary users by the Hermes Guild in the Luhen area. It is our error so investigate.

– There is a request for support from Godessa Castle. The spending for the part celebrating the conquest of the continent was too large.

– Jolot Trade City. A large-scale development project to revitalize the tourism industry by referring to Puhol Water Park in the north. The development cost is 30 million gold. 340 users per day are required until completion.

Many ridiculous things happened as he ruled every corner of the empire.

Lafaye and the leaders consumed an astronomical amount of funds.

They had to make allowances for tax cuts so the leaders cursed the trade in each city.

Darius indiscriminate revelations about the Hermes Guild also inflamed him.

As new facts were broadcasted, public opinion towards the Hermes Guild was becoming increasingly worse.

In the south of the continent, the founding of the Pallos Empire through invasion was underway.

Chapter 5: Gluttony Demon

Lafaye tapped on his desk as he called an emergency meeting.

“I heard that the hearts of the lords are trembling. I can’t help but notice.”

“Will it be difficult?”

Lafaye shook his head at Bardray’s question.

“It isn’t worth worrying about yet. It would be foolish of them to leave our Hermes Guild. Although Darius’ revelations…”

“The public opinion about us is seriously bad.”

“They are driving us little by little into a dead end. At this moment, no visible damages exist. The lords will never leave the Hermes Guild. Compared to the guild’s military power, the lords have no troops.”

“If the lords don’t leave us… Still, shouldn’t we do a little bit of preparation?”

“If they leave, they have to be prepared to throw everything away. I’ve already posted troops to some areas as an example.”

Bardray and Lafaye.

The two leaders thought this measure was enough to deal with the lords.

The Arpen Kingdom was actively encouraging the independence of the lords but it wouldn’t go according to their will.

A big picture was drawn in Lafaye’s head but he tried to ignore it.

‘The more loyal lords of the guild won’t go. Although most of them are originally… And is the effort to take the lords part of some subsequent plan? Or is it just a wild stab?’

Then Bardray asked in a cold voice.

“Darius?”

“He disposed of all his property and escaped. The hunting squad tried to track him down but he already entered the Arpen Kingdom.”

“He has no more revelations left?”

“There are a few things but the most important ones have come out.”

Bardray looked at the leaders’ faces one by one.

They were the warriors who fought with him when they conquered the Central Continent. They demonstrated the combat power of the Hermes Guild and proved their absolute strength to the world.

Penatul muttered.

“Things are getting worse and worse. Where did it start to go wrong?”

Lafaye grinned lightly.

“We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“We didn’t?”

“I’ve been looking back on the past but I’ve never felt a moment of regret. It is impossible for us to start from the middle in the Central Continent.”

“Why?”

“We’ve done our best so far. We had to get a lot of times to train an army and win the war. We also had to take discriminatory measures for the Hermes Guild users.”

The leaders sympathized with Lafaye.

The Hermes Guild might be called tyrants but they weren’t much different from the other powers on the Central Continent.

Those who had the strength would run forward like a hungry wolf towards a big profit.

They would trample on the weak and conquer the enemy forces.

The Hermes Guild were stronger than them and didn’t hide their methods.

They were able to accept being called wicked in the process of unifying the continent into one.

Through such a process, the Hermes Guild managed to acquire the Central Continent.

Lafaye bluntly said.

“We lost public sentiment due to the backlash from the conquest, but it would have been the same if any other force took control of the Central Continent. The empire is built on the foundation of hundreds of people’s blood.”

Pallanks opened his mouth.

“What about Weed and the Arpen Kingdom?”

“As a competitor, I can honestly evaluate him and say that is a great achievement.”

“Achievement?”

“Yes. I have to admit that he is strong. How many of us would go to a frozen land and build a kingdom?”

The expressions of the leaders changed.

In the meantime, Weed had often been compared to Bardray and Lafaye.

Lafaye was the first to highly praise Weed.

“He completed an impossible quest and built a huge reputation by defeating the Embinyu Church. Was this also a part of the predictions?”

“We didn’t think he could do it.”

“If we hadn’t encountered the variable that is Weed and the Arpen Kingdom then the results would be perfect. But even though our nation is now troubled, we are 10 times more powerful than the Arpen Kingdom. It is the same even if we take into consideration the users. They might be concentrating their efforts on the Central Continent but it won’t be so easily conquered.”

The stiff expressions of the leaders were gradually released.

If they did their best while walking here the wrong way then the results might be different.

Lafaye’s eyes shone.

“History will only remember the winners. It is a little annoying now, but once we’ve fully unified the continent, Weed’s story will disappear.”

“Umm.”

“At this point, we need to recognize Weed and the Arpen Kingdom. But we are the Haven Empire. It is an empire built on the strength of many powerhouses. Once the security of the Central Continent is stable, we can show our strength at any time.

And we will use setbacks to create opportunities.”

Lafaye’s remarks reversed the atmosphere of the leadership meeting.

They built plans from the earliest days of Royal Road and gained the best results!

If Bardray led the armed forces then Lafaye acted as his brain.

They were the two chariots of the Haven Empire that had never been defeated directly.

‘Go back to our original thoughts.’

‘Yes. It is like this. There has to be some trial and error when unifying the continent.’

* * *

Lafaye presented some measures related to ruling the continent at the leadership meeting.

Events related to hunting, quests and festivals were hosting throughout the entire empire!

Food related productions and temporary trade incentives were also promoted.

The domestic government paid attention to little things and the movements of the giant empire produced results.

‘We don’t need any effects. The users just need to feel happy for a while.

We can make preparations during this time.’

After the meeting, Lafaye called Leard who was a construction worker aside.

“It shouldn’t happen, but we need to be prepared in case the situation of the Haven Empire worsens significantly.”

“Are you thinking about the collapse of the empire?”

Leard asked with a serious expression and Lafaye shook his head.

“I don’t mean that the empire will collapse right away. We are strong. The attacks on the north just failed slightly. But to prepare for the distant future, we need to make a perfect fortress.

“Perfect fortress?”

“History shows that there is no permanent empire. So we can survive if some of the territory of the Haven Empire is taken away. Let’s build some walls and fortress in the Haven Empire for the long dominance of the continent.”

“A military fortress in the Haven Empire that will last for a long time.”

“You have properly understood it. A fortress that will never fall. It will be our last resort in the Haven Empire and will help defend against other threats.”

* * *

The gluttony demon Delam!

Weed and his colleagues watched as Delam grew bigger.

50 metres, 70 metres, 100 metres, 140 metres.

He grew exponentially as he ate allied knights, monsters and the demon clan.

As he grew larger, the amount of food he was eating increased.

“Fall on both knees and stretch out your heads. Come and receive the noble demon.”

The demon clan provided food for Delam.

The monsters as well as members of the clan were fed to Delam.

The drakes flying in the sky that caused great damage to the allies had disappeared, but Delam’s power was increasing.

Pale glanced at his quiver.

“These arrows will be like toothpicks to him.”

Zephyr quietly picked up a fishing rod.

“That is a lot of fish. This fishing line won’t last.”

Their confidence increasingly faded away as they watched Delam grow more powerful.

They had fought valiantly against the giants. But at that time, their opponents were damaged and there was hope.

“Attack! Do not withdraw.”

“Elites of the Mapon Kingdom. For His Majesty!”

The knights rushed and disappeared in Delam’s mouth.

A shockwave emerged from Delam and crushed objects and living things around him.

The magicians used the strongest spells they knew but Delam just kept eating. Surka formed a fist.

“I really don’t want to hit it. But is its health reducing?”

Weed glanced over Delam with sharp eyes.

“Right now it isn’t reducing. When he is eating, he is highly resistant to all attacks. He had the ability to absorb health and mana while eating.”

“Then if we attack when he is digesting…”

“There is no way around that. But once he finishes digesting, he will be bigger and stronger.”

“In the original history, how did the alliance win against such a demon?”

Surka and the others turned their gazes towards Weed.

New hope!

In Royal Road, Weed’s knowledge about hunting was close to an expert.

Even Maylon who had a wide range of knowledge from being a broadcaster, couldn’t match him.

“The alliance lost.”

“Huh?”

“Their forces were nearly wiped out. There were a few who were lucky enough to escape by swimming and reported about what happened here.”

“Then how do we deal with the demon?”

“I know that he starved to death on this island. That process took more than 100 years.”

“Then…”

The enthusiasm of Surka and the others decreased.

This wasn’t a S class combat quest.

They thought that if the alliance somehow defeated the demon of gluttony then they could sneak up on it.

The results would be similar whether they chose the side of the alliance or the demon clan.

Delam would eat all friends and allies anyway.

They had to live in order to succeed in the quest.

‘Don’t get eaten.’

‘Uwah… I had nightmares after seeing Squashy Wriggler on the broadcast. What if that thing eats me?’

Weed deliberately made his party act like this.

‘There are two opportunities. After that, it is hard because the opponent will be too strong.’

If they couldn’t defeat Delam then they would have no choice but to flee.

The penalties would be severe but that was something taken for granted on adventures!

‘A frontal fight. There is no other way.’

Delam didn’t hesitate even in front of the fiercest attacks and kept growing bigger.

300 metres. 400 metres. 500 metres!

It wasn’t just his height but his length.

He became much bigger than a giant and looked like a dragon or a small mountain. After a while, Delam’s skin turned red and he opened his mouth towards the sky.

– Kuoeeek!

Dark grey smoke soared into the air.

“Wah. Creepy.”

“He farted!”

The female users screamed.

– The demon of gluttony, Delam is digesting the creatures that he has swallowed.

After digestion, Delam will reach stage 1.

Every time he builds a new body, Delam will become stronger and eat more food.

Time remaining: 5 minutes.

Delam opened his mouth and spat out gas from his ass.

The oversized mass started shrinking rapidly.

The fearful voices of the priests on the allied side were heard.

“We have to defeat him now. If the evil demon digests those he ate and gains their strength then everyone will die.”

“The fate of the continent is upon us. Attack.”

A historical battle was taking place.

The allied knights stopped fighting monsters and flocked towards one spot.

The magicians, who were in a safe spot in the rear, appeared near Delam using Teleport and started using attack spells.

Due to the digestion, Delam’s body was exposed and unprotected.

The magic attacks struck Delam and the allied knights wielded their weapons.

Rather than healing their allies, the priests used divine magic against Delam. Divine magic dealt ten times more damage to undead and demons.

Despite such attacks, Delam kept stubbornly digesting.

Weed spoke just before his colleagues were about to pop out.

“Wait and watch a little more.”

Weed kept watching.

5 minutes. It was a short amount of time. ‘Even if we participate, we might not be able to defeat Delam during that time.’

Despite being a historic battle, the recorded information was scarce.

‘Even though the demon tribe summoned Delam, they didn’t last long due to him. The problem is whether the allies can drive Delam to near death.’

Weed and his colleagues observed Delam.

Unfortunately, even the undead were useless against Delam.

Only the advanced undead like the death knights, dullahans and specters could play a role.

If the allies could avoid Delam’s health to less than 10% then they could win. And history would change.

‘Watch and make a decision. And if I do decide to fight, hang everything on it.’

The knights of the Bromba Kingdom held their swords high.

“Don’t let the demon step on this land. Sword of Sacrifice!”

After burning their health and wrapping their bodies with sacred power, they assaulted Delam with the magic!

The knights of the Mapon and Keltun kingdoms also marched towards Delam after receiving the protection of the priest.

They moved through the resistance of the monsters and demon tribe without a hitch.

Delam’s body was wide open so they kept attacking while he was digesting.

“Remaining health. Show me all of it. View Life Force!”

– Gluttony Demon Delam

Deep darkness that can’t be penetrated.

An abandoned demon who grew up eating trash and insects.

After entering the world due to the demon worshipping tribes, he only has one goal. Eat everything.

Once he has enough meals, he can regain his full body and the strength he had in hell.

His massive body is 4 kilometres in radius and he feeds on mountains and lakes.

It is difficult to estimate how much the demon can eat.

He was a loser in hell due to the weakness of needing to eat to gain power.

If he doesn’t eat food then he won’t be able to withstand the extreme hunger and will weaken or die.

There are still seven stages left until he regains his default power from hell.

Health: 74%/100%

Mana: 88%/100%

The remaining time was 3 minutes 23 seconds.

Weed’s eyes shone.

“There isn’t no chance of winning. Divine power… It is effective.”

Delam’s health was diminishing under the attacks from magicians and knights. Weed and his colleagues had been waiting for this moment.

“There seems to be a chance. The battle begins now.”

“I’ll aim for just one side.”

Romuna started to chant the most powerful fire magic that she knew.

Volcanic Eruption!

“Cleanse the earth with fire. Let the earth shake and burn, wake up from the deep earth and melt it.”

Volcanic Eruption was one of the top-level fire magic.

It took an extremely long time to cast and the mana consumption and penalties were also severe.

The maximum value of mana was reduced for three days so it wasn’t a magic that could be used often.

While Romuna prepared the spell, her other colleagues each got ready to strike with their strongest attack.

Pale and Maylon mingled with the knights of the Keltun Kingdom.

“A pleasure to meet you. Archer who knows justice.”

“Can we fight together?”

“We would be honoured.”

Their high honour and fame meant the knights welcomed them as they headed towards Delam.

“In the end, hitting it with my hands… It seems rough.”

“He is too big for a fishing line.”

“I don’t think he will fall down 10 times.”

Surka, Zephyr, Python and Seasoned Crab moved forward.

Irene joined the priests from the Bromba Kingdom in attacking.

The problem was Weed!

“Don’t come close. Necromancer!”

The alliance refused to let Weed join.

“This popularity sure is difficult. It is urgent… Don’t you want to get rid of Delam for justice?”

“Shut up! A necromancer shouldn’t be talking about justice. After we defeat the demon, you are next!”

Weed ignored the knights and rose a ghost horse.

“Mental Focus!”

– The Mental Focus skill has been used.

Maximum mana has increased by 24%.

Mana recovery speed is 41% faster.

The skill duration is 13 minutes.

An intermediate undead magic skill that he learnt!

Other than the death knights, dullahans and specters, he released the summoning of the low grade undead like zombies and ghouls in order to conserve mana.

Weed mounted the ghost horse and flew towards Delam.

Flash flash! Kwarurung!

The area near Delam was confusing due to the onslaught of magic and knights attacking.

The alliance was pouring a mighty firepower from the air.

A beginner with a level less than 200 would be instantly killed just by being here.

– There is a high density of divine power.

A necromancer’s magic power is weakened by 31%.

The undead army melted on their way to attack Delam.

It was a place where the divine magic of the allied priests were stacked up.

The remaining time was 1 minute and 54 seconds.

Delam had 51% health left.

‘I don’t know the odds but it is difficult. Necromancer… Now I am in a state where my damage is lacking. It is very different from other professions.’

This seemed to be a recreation of the history where Delam devoured everything.

‘Is this not enough?’

Unlike history, Weed had intervened and quite a few of the allied forces remained alive.

Nevertheless, it seemed impossible to get rid of Delam during the remaining time.

Fortunately, most of the monsters from the demon tribe were defeated!

After the demon tribe were pushed back from the shore, they had hastily summoned Delam.

Delam had been eating as many monsters and demon tribe as alliance troops.

‘Follow the crowd.’

Weed moved behind the undead army.

In no time at all, the undead had been reduced by half.

“Take steps to control the demon.”

“Understood. Master!”

Weed had Van Hawk and Torido take control of the undead near the demon.

The alliance needed to stay concentrated on attacking Delam!

The demon tribe were only concerned with protecting Delam from a major assault!

Weed wielded the Loa Sword at one of the demon tribe disciples.

The demon tribe who used curses and black magic to defend Delam was unable to overcome Weed’s sword.

He used Sculptural Destruction and led the undead to wipe out the demon tribe.

– Your level has risen.

– The skill proficiency of Swordsmanship has improved.

– Experience has been acquired.

– You have achieved an amazing merit on this quest. Killing the remnants of the Gulden Demon Tribe!

The demon tribe targeting the Mapon, Keltun and Bromba kingdoms have disappeared from combat.

The three kingdoms will honour your great achievement.

– Fame has increased by 6,399 due to the combat achievements.

Infamy has reduced by 13,832.

Maximum health has increased by 500.

– Faith has increased by 20.

– Honour has increased by 15.

– The combat achievement has increased all stats by 2.

Killing the remnants of the Gulden Demon Tribe!

Meanwhile, rays were spreading from Delam’s body as he finally finished digesting.

Delam’s size was reduced to 50 metres but he became faster and harder.

There were 12 horns that symbolized his power as a demon and even a long tail. He even held tridents with his hands.

“Kuaack!”

“My leg is caught. S-save me!”

Delam opened his mouth wide towards the allied knights nearby.

A powerful suction force was generated and the knights were sucked into Delam’s mouth.

Without chewing, he swallowed hundreds of people and restored his health, before starting to grow again.

– The prey are busy!

Delam stared down at the humans with red eyes.

Kuwong kuoong!

The ground shook like there was an earthquake every time Delam walked.

“This can’t be!”

Surka and the other colleagues quickly ran away.

A magic sword.

Some attacks couldn’t deal damage to Delam now that he had finished digesting.

“Run now! The demon is even stronger!”

“Don’t give up. If we retreat then our families in the Mapon Kingdom will be eaten by him.”

“Attack magic! Use your attack magic to stop him!”

The allied forces, who had been fighting well, fell into confusion due to Delam’s strength.

Delam ignored the human resistance as he was too busy eating.

“Retreat!”

“Return home. We are defeated so let’s evacuate.”

Some of the allied forces tried to retreat to the ships.

Delam ran to them first, devoured the humans and swung his tridents to destroy the ships.

– You won’t get away! All of you are my prey. Kuhehehehe.

The demon Delam!

Unlike other demons, he didn’t have powerful magic.

He simply fed on the humans but that was enough to scare the primitive instincts in them.

“This death…”

“Kuk. I would rather keep my honour than be eaten alive.”

Among the knights, there were those who chose suicide before they could be eaten.

Fortunately, Weed’s colleagues were still unharmed.

It was thanks to the quick rush of the undead as they retreated.

“What do we do?

Maylon asked Weed but he didn’t answer as he was busy staring at Delam.

Python, Seasoned Crab and the others had showed off their abilities.

They already thought there was no chance of winning.

“Hrmm. The opportunity was lost… It is difficult no matter how many humans remain. Seasoned Crab. What do you think?”

Python asked Seasoned Crab.

“We can attack when he is digesting. Divine magic multiples attack power by several times but it is difficult to cause serious damage.

“Is that enough?”

“I precisely stabbed in the back of his neck but it was difficult to reduce his health. It is also dangerous due to the magicians’ indiscriminate attack…”

“If you are an assassin then shouldn’t you be prepared to die when fighting?”

Seasoned Crab laughed at that.

“Even if you risk my life, it would be tough unless they are armed with a holy sword like a paladin. But it is crazy.”

Delam’s enormous defense and health made it impossible for a human to kill him.

The only opportunity when he had no defenses was when digesting and that had already failed.

The allied forces were decreasing and Delam was getting stronger.

Pale kept watching Delam and shook his head.

“I think that all the allied forces on Jackson Island will be eaten. History seems to be proceeding… Isn’t it better to get away?”

The idea ‘quest failed’ had already passed through their heads.

Since the beginning of Royal Road, many users had started and failed quests.

Sometimes they could do the quest, but it took too long and they had to give up in the middle.

Although fame and credibility would decline a little, it wasn’t more important than their survival.

The party’s gaze headed towards Weed but they all knew it was impossible for the quest to succeed.

It wasn’t a big mistake but Weed was the one who brought them to Jackson Island so he would make the final decision.

Weed was surprisingly calm as he watched Delam feeding on the allied forces.

“Wait a little longer.”

“Huh?”

“One more chance may come. The tricky thing about Delam is that we lack the power to damage him. He isn’t in a perfect condition and can’t fight back when he is digesting.”

Python, who was wearing a huge greatsword on his back, tried to stealthily retreat back.

“There is a way? His resilience is high and we couldn’t damage him properly. It was like knocking against a steel fortress.”

“Yet… More allies need to die.”

“Die?”

“Depending on the knights, a situation can be made. I can’t predict the odds but we will try one more time before running away.”

Weed’s colleagues followed his decision.

There were still man allied soldiers and knights so they didn’t have to worry about being eaten by Delam.

Delam occupied the coast and was busy eating nearby humans.

Whenever his mouth opened wide, the humans nearby were sucked in and eaten. There was a limit to the number of humans on Jackson Island and it was certain that the next opportunity would come.

“Uhhh.”

“Demon. I will be killed by a demon!”

After the first digestion, the morale of the allies was truly the worst!

Soldiers abandoned their weapons and armour and jumped into the sea in order to escape from Jackson Island.

‘Right now, they won’t be able to exert their combat power properly.’

‘Being eaten by the demon. This is too big. The instinctual fear…’

Weed’s colleagues found it difficult to find a way to subdue Delam.

– Stomach. I’m full. Wait there. I’ll start feeding again soon… Kueeeok!

Delam boasted an incredible stomach, devouring over 10,000 humans before starting the digestion.

“A-an opportunity. Run away!”

“Get out of here. We can’t die here!”

Unlike the first digestion, the allied forces ran for their lives instead of fighting.

Now that Delam was stronger, they lost hope and jumped into the sea in order to live.

The digestion time was 7 minutes. The remaining health is 94%.

Since Delam was stronger than the first digestion, the digestion time was slightly increased.

“Now.”

Weed flew into the sky aboard the ghost horse.

“Everybody listen carefully!”

– Skill: Lion’s Roar has been used.  The morale of all allies within the influence of Lion’s Roar has increased by 200%.

All confused states are released.

Your Leadership will increase by 300% for 5 minutes.

Lion’s Roar was used!

Weed’s voice rang in the ears of the fleeing alliance. Their morale had fallen to the bottom but the troops were still interested.

“That guy is a necromancer.”

“He is the one who made undead from the bodies of our allies!”

Weed had very little influence with the allied forces.

Yet they still listened to him talk due to his stats such as faith, dignity, leadership and honour.

If an ordinary necromancer used Lion’s Roar then they wouldn’t have listened at all.

It was the fruit of his adventures and the training he did every day.

“Are you going to run away and leave the demon here? Fight. Peace will only come when the demon is slain!”

Weed’s Lion’s Roar rang through Jackson Island but none of the allied forces were willing to attack.

Lion’s Roar just had the effect of moving a large number of troops.

“R-run now! There is no use listening to those words.”

“Yes. Staying here will just mean dying a dog’s death.”

The soldiers continued to plunge into the sea.

The demon Delam!

The mana of the priests had become depleted.

The general soldiers lost their determination and didn’t want to fight against Delam.

They knew that if they failed again, they would never win.

The desperate troops rapidly fell apart. In the history records, Delam finished the first digestion and ate the allied forces who lost their motivation.

* * *

“What is he trying to do? It seems to already be going wrong.”

Python said in a pessimistic tone as he watched the situation.

The allied forces were busy running away. Currently, the soldiers were jumping into the sea but the knights were the definition of honour and justice.

Even if the allied forces fought aggressively, it would be impossible to kill Delam so Weed’s actions were useless.

However, Pale picked up an arrow from the ground and placed it in the quiver.

“Weed will have a way. He might seem really reckless but he isn’t that reckless.”

“What does that mean?”

“Even if there is a strong enemy, he wouldn’t quit. He might seem reckless or hostile but he has a strategy.”

“Strategy?”

“He seems reckless but he takes advantage of everything to get victory.”

“I will regret it forever if I stand by.”

“He will be the first to jump if he thinks it is impossible. Weed doesn’t care about things like honour. So it means he has a solution for this present situation.”

“Still… How is he going to solve the attack problem?”

Meanwhile, Weed continued using Lion’s Roar.

“If you have loyalty then sacrifice your lives for the country! Is it meaningless to be eaten by the demon? This is an island and you already can’t escape. Even if you try to escape, there will only be one in a hundred who can survive the demon. Have the courage to fight. I will take care of the rest.”

He reached out towards Delam on the waterfront.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

The sand flew up as an explosion occurred on the whole island.

The bodies piled up near Delam! The bodies of the dead troops had exploded.

A necromancer’s most powerful attack skill.

If there was a corpse then the undead magic could be used. Theoretically, if there were enough corpses then there could be more power than a magician.

Delam instantly lost 1% of his health.

It was thanks to the hundreds of corpses of knights that exploded.

“Ehh.”

“That is…”

It was such an incredible destructive power that the allied troops fleeing looked back at Delam.

Corpse Explosion!

The most powerful attack of a necromancer was terrific but it was impossible to use if there weren’t any bodies.

There were no more corpses in the vicinity of Delam.

“I am a necromancer who is disliked by people. Although it is frustrating to make money… Kuheom. I will gladly do this for you family, the country and the Versailles Continent.”

Weed moistened his lips with saliva.

Just like giving a kindergarten student a candy, flattered was required!

“If we can’t hurt that demon then it will be your families that will enter his mouth. Knights of the Keltun Kingdom. There is no one who has more courage! Do you want to leave while the demon lives?”

Weed’s Lion’s Roar moved the Keltun knights.

Apart from the possibility of victory, the knights decided not to run away.

In history, the knights had never given up on hunting Delam.

They were a difference between fighting moderately and risking death to actively attack.

Since his days as ruler of the desert, he realized that men were extremely simple in certain circumstances.

“The Keltun Central Knights are coming out.”

The knights of the Keltun Kingdom pulled out their swords and started running towards Delam.

“Assault formation!”

The infantry followed the knights. The knights spread out their hoses and pushed their spears with all their strength. Then they cut their former colleagues.

“Goodbye. Pavult.”

“Kuk. Let’s hope our sacrifices are in vain, eh?”

“I don’t know the result but we lived as knights and now we will die as knights.”

The Keltun Knights clung to Delam and died on their own.

Weed used a spell again.

“Corpse Explosion!”

The bodies of the dead Keltun Knights exploded and dealt secondary damage to Delam.

At this point, fire starting blazing in the eyes of the knights.

“Kill Delam!”

“The valor of the Keltun Kingdom knights will survive even after death. I am proud to lead all of you. Full charge!”

The knights of the Keltun Kingdom were willing to offer their bodies to attack Delam.

Delam’s health, that was thought to be impregnable, diminished due to the sacrifices of the knights.

“Attack!”

“The honour of the Bromba Kingdom is brighter than any jewels.”

The knights from the Bromba Kingdom and Mapon Kingdom followed.

Weed didn’t need to persuade them any longer because the rival Keltun Kingdom was moving.

“Corpse Explosion!”

Weed only chanted one spell.

He released the undead army led by Van Hawk and Torido and used the gathered mana to explode the bodies.

The Paerot Ring that he obtained in his days as a sculptor was used to fill the lacking mana.

He was wearing equipment to increase his maximum mana, including Barkhan’s Robe, and he had been watching since Delam finished his first digestion so his mana had recovered to the maximum.

– You have blown up the body of Knight Grey who fought against injustice.

Delam has received 165,482 damage.

– The skill proficiency of Corpse Explosion has improved.

– The deep enlightenment into death and destruction has permanently increased wisdom by 2.

An increase in the skill proficiency!

For necromancers, Corpse Explosion was an amazingly powerful and useful skill.

It had a tremendous power that could inflict up to 10 times the damage depending on the situation.

The current level of Corpse Explosion was intermediate level 3.

‘There are hundreds of thousands of people here to increase my skill proficiency.’

As the knights came out, the commanders of the army also issued orders.

“Infantry of the Mapon Kingdom. This is your last command. Move towards Delam. Go closer and die.”

“Keltun Kingdom’s archers. Abandon your armour and arrows and move forward.”

“The proud army of our Bromba Kingdom will also march.”

Knights and soldiers rushed towards Delam and literally exploded.

“Uwack. Die!”

“This is better than being eaten by the demon. I will die for the sake of protecting my home and family!”

“Humans will never be defeated by demons.”

The soldiers cried out against evil and sprang at Delam who was digesting.

The instinctual fear caused by enormous body and form of Delam was overcome.

Humans sprang into the battlefield, crying out words of affection and pride for their families.

The knights lost their lives without hesitation.

The soldiers moved as close as possible to Delam before dying in order to cause more damage.

“We can’t lose. Magicians. Prepare your last magic.”

“God willing. We will dedicate our lives.”

Their magicians sacrificed their own flesh.

It was a forbidden method that would temporarily increase their power by 1 or 2 times, but they would be permanently in pain or would die.

The priests gave their health to the gods and gained divine power.

They blessed the allies on their last assault and prayed for good luck.

The blessing didn’t make much sense, but the soldiers were willing to run forward with the comfort of the divine magic.

Delam’s health fell from 80% to 64%, then to 41%.

Weed used Corpse Explosion on the corpses to deal huge blows.

“Wow!”

Surka clenched her fists and screamed.

She hadn’t been prepared for Weed to create such a great and noble battle.

The spirited allied forces rushing towards Delam with death in mind!

History was changing as they charged in with determination to kill the demon.

Ddiring!

– Goddess Freya has blessed you.

Necromancers distort the cycle of life by rejecting death and have received the wrath of the gods.

The unpleasant odour and low health of the undead is due to Goddess Freya’s curse.

Goddess Freya remembers the joy of the harvest and your achievements that expanded the beauty of art on the continent before you became a necromancer.

The Arpen Kingdom still worships the Freya Church and Goddess Freya is satisfied with this.

“Even though you chose the wrong path, you are the child who made my voice known to the world. The blessings will continue if you keep doing right and don’t lose faith in me.”

Maximum health has increased by 53%.

The body’s recovery ability has increased by 250%.

The mind is stabilized and you are relieved from all curses. You will also temporarily be granted the Freya Church’s divine magic.

Faith, justice, charm and luck have permanently increased by two.

Additional effects.

The curse of the undead is loosened and the appeared will improve.

The odour of skeletons and zombies will decrease.

There were currently no undead summoned but the skeletal bones had changed to look cleaner.

A skeleton warrior’s body would be covered with grass and trees would grow between bones, improving health and defense.

Even a death knight’s helmet would have flowers plugged in them.

– Hestia’s blessing!

Goddess Hestia is a great artist and craftsman and she feels a deep closeness to you.

“I understand your passion for fire and don’t doubt the path you are walking.”

All attacks have an additional fire damage of 230%.

The mana consumption of fire attacks will temporarily decrease.

The effects of all weapons and equipment worn will increase by 74%.

– God Atrock’s blessing!

Atrock loves war.

As he watches the battle of Jackson Island, he blessed all those fighting the demon Delam.

“Fight. That is the most wonderful thing.”

The commanding ability of all knights have strengthened. The morale of everyone involved in the war is restored.

Their fighting spirit will no longer be crushed.

Physical abilities will increase by a minimum of 10% to a maximum of 35% depending on their will.

– Tirun’s blessing!

Tirun believes in justice and law that governs the continent…

– Mi-ne’s blessing!

The earth is tinged with blood.

Mi-ne’s wrath has been called but the nobleness of life…

– Spiren’s blessing!

Honor and glory!

Overcoming the fear and horror…

– Lugh’s blessing!

The light of the sun is with you…

– Belchebelt’s blessing!

This dangerous evil is favouring you…

– Matallost’s blessing!

Leading the precious dead…

The blessings of various gods!

The blessings of the gods were difficult to receive yet Weed got so many at once.

His faith stat was still high despite being a necromancer and he was fighting a demon.

The gods hated the demon who tried to eat everything in the world more than necromancers.

Corpse Explosion was the crucial part of the battle so the gods’ blessings weren’t much help. Even so, a permanent stat boost was always positive.

‘There is another benefit. It is just like stealing!’

Thanks to Weed’s Corpse Explosion, Delam’s health had been reduced to 14%.

The remaining time was 29 seconds!

He had ample mana to use Corpse Explosion due to the blessings of the gods.

Of course, mana could be absorbed from the bodies of the dead if he was lacking. There was a side effect.

“There is no time. This is the last opportunity. For the Mapon Kingdom!”

The allied forces continued to die next to Delam.

Weed’s Corpse Explosion destroyed some people and even took their lives.

It was a spectacular sight.

The priests used divine magic and the mages poured out their mana and health.

They were weaker than the demon so everyone worked together.

And finally, Delam’s health fell to 2%. The remaining time was 6 seconds.

He calculated that it was enough time to attack Delam.

“Waaaah. Amazing!”

“Hope can be seen.”

Pale’s party had wide open mouths.

It was like Weed had stuck their heads into a refrigerator.

‘I need to focus now.’

The knights of the Mapon Kingdom rushed at Delam.

The archers and knights of the Bromba Kingdom were also involved in the explosion.

Delam’s health fell to 1%.

The remaining time was 2 seconds.

‘Wait.’

The melee attacks and spell from the magicians rained down on Delam’s great body.

‘Just a little…’

His health was at 1%.

The damage was less than he thought.

Of course, although it was 1%, that number still wasn’t low and could be recovered.

The remaining time was 1 second.

Knights cut with their swords and archers fired arrows.

‘Now.’

Just as it reached 0.

Weed used a skill.

“Moment Sculpting!”

At that moment, Weed, Delam and all the attacks from the allied forces stopped.

* * *

It was a complete stillness in which even the sound of the wind disappeared. As soon as Moment Sculpting was used, time stopped and the huge battlefield containing thousands of soldiers disappeared like a lie.

The arrows fired from the bow and the magic in the air were frozen. The soldiers and knights didn’t move at all.

The landscape where time had frozen was familiar to Weed.

‘There is no second try. There is just one chance.’

The gluttony demon Delam was on the verge of finishing his digestion.

Weed moved to Delam’s side and raised the Loa Sword up high.

‘I used Sculptural Destruction and placed all my art stats into strength for this moment.’

The battle on Jackson Island.

The battlefield where the demon Delam was summoned was dangerous and difficult.

In order to increase the success rate of the quest, it was common sense to put his art stat into wisdom not strength.

The undead would become much stronger and he could summon more troops.

It would be easier to get rid of the demon tribe and he might have prevented them from summoning Delam.

‘But it wouldn’t be profitable if I did that.’

Joining the allied forces and dealing with the demon tribe.

That achievement alone was small and wasn’t worth going back in time.

The gluttony demon Delam!

The truth was that Weed came to Jackson Island to hunt Delam.

Weed also intended to eat it up at the last moment.

‘Delam is the best among all the demon bosses. The level of difficulty itself is high.’

Party hunting generally had the experience points divided. If your level was higher than the other party members or you dealt more damage to the monsters then a little more experience could be received. However, it was rare for the difference to be that large.

It was different on the battlefield.

Since tens of thousands of people were fighting each other, they achieved experience and achievements from how much they fought.

For large-scale raids like hunting Delam, the result of the last strike on the enemy was a tremendous achievement.

Special titles, stats, skills or loot were all likely to be earned.

‘I used Sculptural Destruction and have been waiting for this.’

The final secret sculpting technique. Moment Sculpting!

He saved this sculpting skill in order to eat up Delam.

“Radiant Sword!”

A long light emerged from the Loa Sword and cut Delam.

The secret sculpting technique that he learnt from Zahab!

It had a light attribute so it was very powerful against monsters with the dark attribute.

‘There will be an effect on the demon. There must be.

– The cleansing light has struck the Gluttony Demon Delam.

41,238 damage has been dealt.

The light attribute will add three times the damage!

He had approximately 5,000 Energy of the Moment.

He gained a lot from general hunting but the energy was consumed faster on a large battlefield.

The demon with enormous health, Delam, was on the verge of death.

Weed’s nature meant that he wouldn’t give up just before harvesting something.

Pabababat!

Weed continuously cut Delam with Radiant Sword.

it was hard to have a wide-open space due to the magic attacks or allied knights, but he wielded the sword of light.

The presence coming from the 12 horns on Delam’s head was enormous.

‘I have to look for possible weaknesses.’

The location selected by Weed was the stomach!

It wasn’t a weak spot for normal monsters, but Delam’s nature was gluttony.

It was more vulnerable than the back or sides since he had information that Delam had never been hunted there.

Weed focused on a single point.

A one-point attack to maximize the damage!

Since time was stopped due to Moment Sculpting, the attack power vastly increased.

‘His health before time stopped was approximately 0.3%? If so, this is the end.’

Weed stepped back and used another skill just to be sure.

“Sword-cloning skill!”

A secret sword technique.

50 clones of Weed were formed.

“This is the last time. Sword Kaiser!”

He used all his mana, leaving only the bare minimum remaining.

He didn’t even think of one thing.

‘If Delam survives despite this attack… No, I’ve won.’

Without giving the opportunity for escape, 50 clones assaulted Delam.

Sword Kaiser’s hit!

Shortly after that, Moment Sculpting ended.

Kuoooooh!

Delam’s body split and red light gleamed from the cracks.

“Ah, the demon is awakening!”

“Unbelievable… The demon isn’t dead.”

The humans were frozen in place. At the time, thousands of cracks appeared on Delam’s body.

– You…!

Delam’s red eyes headed towards Weed.

Weed was quietly standing three metres away from him.

At first glance, he seemed calm but he was actually afraid of death. If he died then he would lost the skill proficiencies and levels that he gained with much difficulty.

‘It is like meeting the landlord when my rent is late…’

Nevertheless, his desire for the loot if Delam died was bigger.

It was enough to overcome Weed’s fear of death!

Delam’s mouth, that had swallowed the allied knights and soldiers, was cracking.

– I didn’t eat properly. Just one more bite…

Delam opened his mouth wide towards Weed. But the cracks on his head and body were increasing.

– Hungry. One day… Someday again…

A huge fire occurred from inside his body and Delam disappeared!

Ddiring!

– Great battle achievement!

– You have gained huge combat experience.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– Your level has risen.

– The body of the Gluttony Demon Delam has been destroyed.

Fame has risen by 23,281 due to the great battle.

– You have experienced a battle that takes place in history.

All those involved in the battle to eliminate Delam will have their stats increased by nine. Courage, honour and fighting spirit will increase by an additional 10 points.

– You have defeated an intermediate demon.

– The title ‘Demon Hunter’ has been changed to ‘Person who Knocked Down a Demon.’

Demon!

Every kingdom and religion fears the demon, who has a mighty power that goes against the gods.

This is not the time for a demon to appear on this land and cause a big war.

Those who knock down a demon are respected by all residents.

Your name will become more honourable than a royal family with a precious bloodline and will be recorded in the history of the Versailles Continent.

Among the knights, the magic swordsman is considered to be the most intelligent.

When attacking a demon or related monsters, attack power will increase by 16%.

Experience will allow you to identity the weaknesses of demon soldiers.

Your influence in all kingdoms and religions has increased by 30%.

When you visit each religion, you can receive the best blessing free of charge.

It is a title that can be used to obtain a noble title beyond a barony in any kingdom.

– Goddess Freya’s gratitude!

She was worried when Delam appeared on the continent.

As someone in charge of abundance and beauty, she wanted to turn her head away from the demon.

A heroic command power and charisma!

Goddess Freya has given a gift of gratitude to you who knocked down the demon with a miraculous victory, not giving up hope even in the last moment.

Maximum health and mana will permanently increase by 5,000.

Faith has increased by 50.

Your relationship with the Freya Church has become a ‘dark alliance.’

Your land has been touched with the influence of abundance. Crop yields in the Arpen Kingdom are up and livestock breeding rates have increased.

Purification of beauty!

Any handiwork you touch is given a special beauty.

The beauty of the gods will make any handmade goods a ‘specialty’ on the continent.

There were messages telling him that he gained 4 levels and other achievements.

Goddess Freya’s blessing was completely useful from a king’s point of view.

‘Large crop yields will affect birth rates and increase tax revenue. Orcs can be fed enough oxen.’

If there was a good harvest then security would increase considerably.

Weed’s popularity was at its peak and the Arpen Kingdom was very stable. So far, there had been no problems regarding security.

The blessings granted to the entire kingdom would bring about a remarkable boost in productivity.

The total income of the northern users would increase.

‘But that isn’t important.’

Weed roughly stretched his hands over the message windows.

– The Movement of Destruction has been acquired.

– The Recipe for Binge Eating has been acquired.

– 26 types of 1st grade cooking ingredients have been acquired.

– Delam’s Trident has been acquired.

The abundant items after defeating the demon!

“The taste of a battle!”

* * *

Weed completed the battle on Jackson Island and successfully returned to his original time zone.

“There will be contact from the stations. Let’s share the broadcasting rights.”

Irene’s eyes started shining.

“Really?”

“Yes. It is natural.”

“That isn’t true when it comes to Weed-nim. Something feels weird…”

Pale mumbled to himself but quickly stopped.

The combat slaves!

‘Following Weed-nim is hard but we are rewarded… We should split the suffering.’

His mind was much more relaxed with his colleagues in Royal Road than following him around alone as a slave.

The multiple professions created synergistic effects and he had less work to do.

Weed become a necromancer also impacted them.

‘Sharing the broadcasting rights means agreeing to a slave contract. But I shouldn’t say that.’

He would allow his colleagues to savour their joy.

As expected by Pale, Weed had a reason for sharing the profits.

‘It won’t be long until I need them again.’

Weed thought it would be awkward if he was a boss who didn’t pay his employees since they might quit.

‘If I give them 100 won then I can make 10,000 won.’

Distributing some profit so he could suck up all their bone marrow!

“Then let’s have a meal the next time there is a broadcast.”

“Yes. Call me at any time.”

Weed promised his colleagues before splitting up.

“I have to take a look at the battlefield before eating. Where shall I go?’

He decided to save Travel Sculpting for the moment and hunt around the continent with the undead.

The black history of the Hermes Guild was revealed to the public due to Darius.

He also had a mole inside so he didn’t have to worry about attacks.

“Let’s go. Younger sister.”

“Where?”

“The desert.”

“Are we meeting those uncles?”

Yurin was referring to the Geomchis who she called uncles. They said they weren’t but the eyes of a woman were accurate.

“No, I will do it alone. For the time being, I will focus on raising my level.”

Picture Teleportation!

He crossed the continent thanks to Yurin.

He hunted in the desert with the undead and decided on the next place.

“Kuk… It is hot here. Let’s go to the sea.”

The hunting ground was decided through improvisation and he cleared it quickly with the undead.

Apart from the Hermes Guild members, general users belatedly gathered when rumours about Weed spread.

“Is it over?”

“He’s gone.”

“The Birul Dungeon has never been attacked yet. But he cleared it in three hours?”

“Yes. Everything was wiped out.”

“He entered the dungeon at dawn. There should be some monsters remaining. I’m going to hunt in Birul Dungeon.”

“Haven’t you heard? He swept them all away.”

“There should be a few.

“None. He killed them all and grabbed the japtem.

Weed was gone and the area left behind was completely cleaned.

The users didn’t get to see the dungeon that they normally couldn’t enter because it was completely clean.

* * *

[Deep Shadow Dungeon]

[Swirling Maze]

[Underworld Canyon]

[Awry Crack]

[Basherin Castle]

He found famous dungeons in the Arpen Kingdom that hadn’t been captured by northern users.

The information about the dungeons piled up every time there was an attempt.

The great library was packed with a vast amount of dungeon information and could be summarized when paying two gold to the Mapan Trading Company.

The capabilities of Weed’s undead increased and the dungeon monsters became stronger.

He even used Moment Sculpting, Sculpture Transformation and other sculpting techniques when it fit.

“There are many advantages in using the undead in adventuring and dungeon exploration. Of course, that is only if the necromancer has good equipment.”

Van Hawk and Torido followed behind him.

In a complex labyrinth, he summoned the wind and earth elementals to find the way.

‘Continent of Magic comes to mind. I hunted and attacked dungeons every day. My mind didn’t know anything else.’

Weed immersed himself in hunting dungeons.

He beat up strong monsters. He cleared dungeons that were difficult for others.

If he needed the help of general users then he would have to distribute the responsibility.

Time would also be wasted when discussing how to attack.

Talking and debating all night while hunting!

“Push.”

Weed boldly committed the undead.

An offensive based on volume!

– Leadership has increased by one due to the reckless command.

A necromancer wasn’t a knight but there was an advantage of accumulating the leadership stat.

If he summoned doom knights and death knights then the basic perception of a necromancer would change completely.

The scary and fast-moving undead that controlled the battlefield!

Even the formidable existence that was a bone dragon could be summoned.

A necromancer with a weak body, who only depended on the undead, would find growing to be a problem!

Van Hawk’s jawbone showed his satisfaction.

“Master. Now I can use some of these men.”

“Try and hunt harder. Dream big as an undead. You must become an Abyss Knight again. Leading a unit of doom knights.”

“I will fight until my bones are broken.”

Van Hawk and Torido’s growth!

After becoming a necromancer, Weed could use various skills related to the undead.

Torido was unable to drink blood and had a stagnant growth while Van Hawk’s leadership abilities played an important role in battle.

Every time the Summon Undead skill increased, the death knights became more frightening.

Compared to other necromancers, the combination of his stats and equipment more than doubled his attack power!

Even if the monsters were too strong, he could shoot an arrow and explode the bodies.

“Hey. Go back.”

“Master. The pride of the death knights means that we can’t show our backs to the enemy.”

“I will leave anyway. Stay with the subordinates until I safely withdraw.”

If he couldn’t cope then he would withdraw, increase the undead and then return.

Difficult level 500 dungeons were dealt with by the undead army.

Level 600 dungeons weren’t impossible but it wasn’t very efficient when hunting.

The death knights were very powerful but they had their limits.

It would be different if he used Death Aura or Death Rule among Barkhan’s 3 magics but that took too long.

Of course, if he could summon doom knights then level 600 dungeons were possible.

The benefits of the undead in the first place where their infinite survival and quantity of raw materials!

‘When thinking back to the sculptural lifeforms, hunting with the undead is definitely faster.’

His original hunting speed was already much faster than other users.

He didn’t waste time with recovering his vitality or eating food.

He acquired all types of helpful skills and improved his overall power, not just combat strength.

It was stupid to share his experience with a party so he went hunting alone.

In order to overcome the limitations of a sculptor, he now boasted a comprehensive combat power!

Adding the undead meant he upgraded from squeezing towels to a super high performance washing machine.

“Torido. Go forward and search. Find a way to subdue the monsters.”

“Understood. Master.”

He steadily led a massive number of undead around the dungeons.

In terms of pure hunting efficiency, he was already five times better than other users.

It was impossible to say just how fast since he swept through the dungeon!

‘Later, I will master Summon Undead. Then comes the real part.’

Weed had a big picture in mind.

A necromancer had large penalties.

He would grow steadily even if his current profession suffered with the stats and the next profession would be the real one.

‘Sculptor and necromancer. Even if it isn’t a perfect harmony, it is an advantage. Then what if I get a combat profession next?’

Desert warriors and martial artists were strong professions.

Weed had seen the end when he was ruler of the desert.

A mighty monster. The strength to knock down a fire salamander to its knees!

However, it was difficult for them to go on a mass hunt with no rest like a necromancer.

Their vitality and mana were rapidly consumed in fierce battles.

‘Now my level is rising rapidly as a necromancer. I can make an army with entering battle. And after mastering this profession… A desert warrior. Or even professions like warrior or dragon knight would be okay.

If he trained as a warrior then he wouldn’t be afraid when meeting any boss monster.

He could always summon the undead so becoming a warrior would make it much easier to challenge top dungeons alone.

Once he reached level 700 or 800 then he could summon doom knights and maybe even a few bone dragons.

There was no doubt that it would become a tremendous help in battle.

‘When the time comes… I can become endlessly stronger.’

He thought of this big picture since mastering sculpting.

He would keep climbing after mastering a profession.

Other users were struggling to gain one level in Royal Road.

Weed would grow beyond Continent of Magic as he prepared to chew on Royal Road for his growth.

Chapter 6: Ripples at Fort Odin

– Your level has risen.

Weed gained levels faster than when he was a sculptor as he swept away the monsters in the dungeon.

His Summon Undead skill was intermediate level 4 and he was over level 480!

He accept simple quests but refused to get involved in complex ones.

“I feel a deep darkness coming from you. A high degree of credibility is needed for this work.”

It wasn’t easy to get quests from mercenary guilds due to his profession.

Weed used his fame whenever it was possible.

“Look straight at me.”

“Don’t tell me… Your Majesty?”

“Yes. Do you have any money? I hate to be bothered.”

“Just say the word. I will prepare anything.”

In the Arpen Kingdom, there were no obstacles to getting quests despite being a necromancer.

This was the sweetness of power!

“The goddess acknowledges you. I am wary of the power you handle, but it is necessary to do this work.”

After the demon Delam, Weed even received quests from religious orders. His fame, faith, justice and honour stats were still high.

It would be hard when the achievements from Delam gradually disappeared, but the trick was to produce it when necessary.

“I feel something disturbing the world’s energy. I don’t have much money but I will give it to someone who researches the incidents.

“Uh, no. I’m too busy.”

– The quest has been refused.

“The essence of a fairy. No adventures have found it. Won’t it be great to see a treasure that has never been discovered?”

“I’m not interested.

– The quest has been refused.

“There is a big monster that flies to the east. Not much is known about it. But since that day, people in this city have been afraid of a monster attack. Can you find it and kill it?”

“How annoying. Call me when it comes.

– The quest has been refused.

He passed by monsters that were difficult to hunt or ingredients that were hard to obtain!

He only received quests for monster hunting in the areas he wanted.

There were many dungeons that users failed to capture on the Versailles Continent.

Dungeons that required a large number of personnel or ones with difficult monsters or magic weren’t easy to touch.

Weed used Barkhan’s equipment due to the high magic resistance and defense for the undead, as well as a variety of sculpting skills in the dungeons.

– Your level has risen.

It felt like he completed a delayed homework every time the accumulated experience led to a level up.

“I don’t have to worry too much about skill proficiency compared to my level.”

Weed wielded a sword directly in order to save on mana consumption.

His swordsmanship was advanced level 1.

It wasn’t as high as other combat professions but it didn’t matter.

He had experienced master swordsmanship during his time as ruler of the desert, so he was confident that he could overcome the barrier of skill level in the future.

“It will quickly fill up when I kill a lot of strong enemies. I know many strong ones.”

Whether it was fast or a little late, it was a skill that he would master anyway!

‘Let’s just think about getting stronger. Raising my level is fun but attacking dungeons isn’t bad.’

His endless goal!

He wanted to clear the dungeon in the shortest time.

As well as breaking the time record set by others, he challenged boss monsters that had never been caught before.

* * *

The continued suffering of the Hermes Guild!

As Weed hunted, the stations constantly exposed their corruption.

The people’s minds, that were healed through lowered taxes, shook again.

“Too many incidents have been revealed. Users will never trust our guild in the future.”

“This is a big setback to our mid and long term governance plan.”

“If we lower the taxes now… Tsk. We will only reduce the profits.”

“I agree. Some construction projects on the manor are underway but I had to stop them. That part wasn’t considered by the leaders.”

The lords quietly talked among themselves. The lords who squeezed and exploited the users of the Central Continent!

From their point of view, their profits were greatly reduced due to the lowered tax rate.

They were in a bad mood because the money they needed for a construction project or welfare plan were stopped. It was like having a delicious rick cake stolen from their hands.

The lords in powerful areas didn’t think it was bad to have rebels.

They could rationalize their exploitation due to the rebels.

They didn’t consider the situation of the entire Haven Empire.

“Until the unification of the continent, there is only one kingdom left. The conquest isn’t finished neatly due to it.”

“Too much time has been given. I would have led an army to destroy the Arpen Kingdom sooner.”

“Wouldn’t the users have revolted?”

“A campaign is needed. If a panicked atmosphere was indiscriminately planted… It was difficult to subdue the rebels.”

“The Hermes Guild isn’t the same as before.”

The lords talked while drinking expensive sake.

They didn’t devote their loyalty to the Hermes Guild. However, not one of them thought about going to the Arpen Kingdom.

‘They will eventually be eaten by the Haven Empire.’

‘Tsk. I can’t get enough money or equipment if I go to the Arpen Kingdom.’

‘Although there are many pretty females in the north…’

The lords were drunk on money and power.

* * *

“Cough. We haven’t received the verified results yet but…”

“We can guess which finished product is better.”

“It doesn’t matter if you don’t win. As a natural process, I would like to celebrate as a craftsman.”

“We will admit it even if it is a draw.”

The divine metal Helium!

The two best blacksmiths on the Versailles Continent, Fabio and Herman, confidently waited for Weed.

‘This is a game that I won.’

‘It was a long race. In the end, I will be the winner.’

It seemed like they had grown after becoming master blacksmiths but that wasn’t the case.

As a blacksmith, they each made one sword.

This was a fight to compare the two swords in order to see who was the better blacksmith.

Weed provided the materials so it was decided that he would be the judge.

‘It is totally my win.’

‘Huhu. Will Fabio be able to deal with the experience and skills used to make this sword?’

The two elderly blacksmiths.

They pretended to be relaxed but were eagerly waiting for Weed like they were children.

The battle with pride became worse the older one got!

Then Weed appeared in front of the blacksmiths.

“Hmm. These swords are made with helium.”

Fabio and Herman lived in a spacious mansion with a view of Morata and the Goddess of Freya Statue.

As they were wealthy blacksmiths, their mansion was decorated with a large garden planted by elves.

As if it opened to a banquet, the sunlight shining on the wide garden cast a gentle sheen over everything.

Fabio said proudly.

“Try squeezing your hand. The feeling is nothing to be ashamed about. Huhuhu.”

The difference between thoughts and words were meant for moments like this.

Weed roughly examined the sword.

‘I must make money. Hunting, hunting, hunting and hunting.’

The appearance of Fabio’s black sword was enough.

The handle and sword wasn’t decorated with precious jewels. It was just faithful to the sword.

Weed had made a star sculpture. He had received some enlightenment after watching the baby shaped star.

Helium was a source of mana and emitted divine power.

There was nothing lacking in the sword nor was there anything left to add.

Fabio continued speaking.

“This sword… It will follow its master. It will grow together with its master. It is living helium so I made full use of its features.”

Just by listening to the description, it was easy to tell that a master craftsman made it!

“Look at this sword. I won’t be ashamed by it.”

Herman also pointed to his sword.

A craftsman who spent his whole life making swords!

He was a typical gloomy man common after the 20th century!

He was showing a surprising anticipation for the sword he made.

Cold and sharp.

The helium radiated the energy of infinite mana.

An ice sword!

The sword itself had excellent attack power and it also contained the attribute of ice.

“It can also cause a disaster.”

“Disaster?”

“Don’t you know better than anyone about that area? This sword can summon a black ice storm.”

It had the power to freeze enemies so there were many benefits in combat.

Any monster or opponent would find it difficult to go against the two swords.

Weed liked both swords. A smile formed on his face.

‘Now I am a necromancer. For the time being, it is difficult to use Helium equipment. Of course, I won’t die from it.’

He could take advantage of it using Sculpture Transformation. However, he felt unfortunate that is stopped here.

‘Can I exploit them properly? They are blacksmith masters. They will make satisfactory works.’

Weed lent them Helium to help them become blacksmith masters. Even without such help, Fabio and Herman would have mastered it. Maybe they would have found a way to master it more quickly.

Weed thought about what he could extract from the two blacksmith masters from now on.

‘The beginners in Royal Road are often exploited. They are weak and easy to handle. Then why shouldn’t I exploit a master?’

A conversion of an idea!

Fabio and Herman had high pride as blacksmiths.

Weed pulled out the famous Loa Sword.

The Loa Sword.

The treasures of the elves and a sword that humans considered to be the best in the world.

A heritage left behind by Hestiger.

“In the meantime, I’ve had a lot of trouble due to this bad sword. Thank you for creating two swords.”

The two blacksmiths cried out.

“Oh. What is that sword?”

“Amazing! A perfect and beautiful sword…”

Weed wielded the sword lightly. Indeed, a very light sword.

“It’s nothing. I just used it temporarily until you finished the swords.”

Fabio came closer.

“Really? Can I see it for a while?”

“Of course.”

A blacksmith could check the status of a weapon that wasn’t theirs if the opponent showed it.

Fabio’s mouth tightened as he looked at the famous Loa Sword.

‘Oh my god, this sword…’

Herman was also curious.

“I will look as well.

“Here.”

Herman also examined the Loa Sword.

‘Star sword. No, a god sword. He had such a sword?’

The two blacksmiths simultaneously had similar thoughts.

‘Can I make this sword?’

‘My sword…’

The swords they made weren’t sweet anymore.

It was a sword that accomplished to become a blacksmith master and was a masterpiece among all the swords they had made so far.

Ordinary swordsmen would want to borrow it to go hunting.

However, it was inevitable that it would seem lacking in front of the best sword in Royal Road. One or two options weren’t enough.

‘If the material wasn’t made of Helium then my sword would have been very sad.’

‘Look at this sword now.’

They swords they made suddenly felt shabby.

In fact, it wasn’t that inferior but their pride had been broken.

The two blacksmiths made eye contact and nodded simultaneously.

Fabio started to talk first.

“This game… Forget it.”

“Of course. We have both become masters with similar interests.”

Herman also agreed.

“From the beginning, it was just a prank. Huhu.”

“That’s right. We aren’t young kids.”

I thought I created the best sword as a blacksmith master but there is still a long way to go.

‘A new goal. Becoming a blacksmith master was just a process. Make the best sword in Royal Road.’

‘An absolute sword. A sword that nobody can deny…’

The two blacksmiths started the competition again. Weed gave them advice.

“You have almost everything. The skills dealing with metals are limited so learn magic.”

“Magic?”

“Enchanting. In other words, give the sword the ultimate magic.”

“Magic…”

The two blacksmiths were troubled. But it was a temptation they couldn’t avoid as they wanted to make the best sword.

* * *

Baum Dungeon attack!

Chesturo who ruled Odin Fortress in the Haven Empire, mobilized 700 troops.

300 of them were made of regular Hermes Guild users while the rest were regular users who paid for it.

“3,000 gold for participating in the dungeon attack… I had to sell most of my equipment to get the money. It is too much.”

“But it is Baum Dungeon.”

“As long as we pay the entrance fee, we can follow behind the Hermes Guild and gain a lot. Won’t there be a lot of stations showing it?”

“Yes. It will be broadcasted from 12 different stations.

“KMC Media?”

“Yes. But it will only be covered and won’t be broadcasted live.”

“That is unfortunate.”

“It isn’t uncommon for major stations like KMC Media. This opportunity is hard for people like us.”

The general users talked among themselves.

Baum Dungeon was closed to Fort Odin but it had never been successfully attacked before.

The monsters were strong and the average level was in the mid to late 600s.

All six attempts in the past had failed but it was likely that Fort Odin would succeed this time.

“This time we will be a little bit famous.”

“Hopefully we can demonstrate our skills and enter the Hermes Guild.”

“Kuooh. That dream is too high.”

Users gathered at Odin Fortress from early dawn and waited anxiously.

The Hermes Guild members used that time to relax, while Chesturo was conscious of the broadcast and started a philosophical speech.

“Let’s go!”

After a long speech, Chesturo raised his sword from his position on an elephant’s back.

The users applauded and followed him to Baum Dungeon.

“The lord’s age is in the mid-30s. Isn’t he old enough to do this?”

“I don’t know. Let’s do this right. A good thing is good.”

“This will be broadcasted. Broadcast. There should be a script.”

The battle at Baum Dungeon!

The Hermes Guild users pierced the way while the general users got rid of the side monsters. Nevertheless, they thought it wasn’t bad because they appeared on broadcast and got some loot.

The problem occurred in the middle of the dungeon.

Kurururung!

Someone in the dungeon mistakenly stepped on a trap that caused stones to fall from the ceiling.

“Ack!

“Ah. Who? This is…”

“Either move forward or backwards.”

The minimum to come along to this raid was level 400 so they were embarrassed about triggering the trap. However, monsters then emerged. To make matters worse, the boss monster Dugniel’s ambush!

The boss monster assaulted the ones who fell into a trap.

‘What should we do?’

‘Can we win?’

The users noticed.

The terrain wasn’t good so certain sacrifices were inevitable.

In this case, those who attacked the boss monster first would be in great danger.

The general users waited for the Hermes Guild users to come out.

Only a few seconds passed.

“Hey. Let’s get out of here.”

“Yes. This is wrong. We will just go to die.”

Somebody ran away and others followed. Many of the ones who escaped didn’t belong to the Hermes Guild.

The Hermes Guild and the remaining users were trapped by the boss monster Dugniel.

The result was a breathtaking defeat!

Not only did the Baum Dungeon capture fail, but 70% of the Hermes Guild’s participants, which equaled 230 people, died.

It was hard to count the general users but more than half of them were victims.

The broadcasters were bitter due to the decline in audience ratings from the failure, but a big issue cropped up next.

Chesturo of Fort Odin was angry after losing his life in the dungeon and being resurrected.

“With our power, this attack should have been successful. All responsibility lies with the fugitives so we will start a live-scale hunt against them.”

A massive hunt!

The Hermes Guild users who suffered damage in Baum Dungeon chased those who participated in the attack and took their lives.

“W-why us…”

“You fools. Did you think you could get away unharmed from the Hermes Guild after ruining our work?”

“It wasn’t intentional. I ran because I wanted to live.”

“You were wrong so you should die.”

Not only did they suffer damage, they failed to capture the dungeon on a live broadcast and their self-esteem was hurt.

“I fought until the end. I ran away after you decided to retreat.”

“You didn’t fight properly.”

“No. Didn’t I fight with my life? The videos can help confirm it.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.”

“I’ll get the videos straight away.”

“Don’t make excuses and shut up. You shouldn’t have been so weak in the first place.”

The Hermes Guild users killed the people who participated in the dungeon attack, regardless of the reason.

There were users who fought in the dungeon until the end but they didn’t care due to their anger.

The lives of the general users were like flies in front of the Hermes Guild members.

The scale of the violence quickly grew in a short amount of time.

“Who are you?”

“W-we were in the same party. We’re hunting together now.”

“Is that going to stop them from killing?”

“That is a little… Ah. I am a friend.”

“Just kill. There is no need for a conversation. Just wipe out everyone who was there.”

“W-why? We didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I’ll say it again. Done wrong? We’ve been silent lately so does the Hermes Guild look funny in your eyes?”

The Hermes Guild swept away the party members they were hunting with.

The users protested until the end.

“This is excessive. Didn’t we pay the admission fee to go on the hunt and participate?”

“Indiscriminate killing. Does the lord of Fort Odin have that privilege? Is this the official policy of the Hermes Guild?”

There was a backlash to the Hermes Guild’s tough stance.

The order was given by Chesturo so they were only doing what they were supposed to.

“Do you want to tell them that they are mistaken? You might be right. But the weak don’t have any right to speak in this world. So in the end, aren’t you guys wrong?”

Fort Odin was considered as one of the main bases in the Central Continent!

Chesturo was lord of a gigantic fortress so he was extremely humiliated by the broadcast. And he thought he had enough strength.

Trampling on the general users when they protested was a common occurrence in the Central Continent until recently.

“Those who protest are rebels. Remove all of them.”

The Hermes Guild users wielded their swords.

It was an opportunity to officially gain experience, loot, combat skill proficiency and achievements.

“Die.”

“Sweep it up so that none of the users escape!”

The soldiers and knights of Fort Odin kill the hundreds of users protesting.

The incident was broadcasted live by reporters who came to cover the Baum Dungeon attack.

– The Hermes Guild subduing the rebels.

– Rebels? Didn’t the revolt on the Central Continent calm down?

– This is believed to have stemmed from the Baum Dungeon attack.

The reporters explained what happened during the day.

– In fact, it is hard to call them rebels.

– Let us take a look. The people were living peacefully in Fort Odin until this morning.

– Yes. Users with homes or stores were executed because they protested.

The broadcasting stations confirmed the real-time ratings and responses.

As Royal Road became more popular worldwide, the number of related stations increased.

Every country had at least 10 broadcasting stations and Internet broadcasting stations related to Royal Road.

The audience ratings were more than the country’s TV dramas.

The vast Versailles Continent.

There were major companies like KMC Media and there were many users who listened to the news for their desired area.

Some stations also informed about specific regions such as the Britten Alliance Broadcasting Station.

It happened at 8 a.m. in reality.

In the early hours of broadcasting, the audience ratings started at less than 1% but exceeded 3% in 20 minutes.

Even though it was low, it was difficult to raise the ratings during this time.

“Continue the coverage… Keep exporting the videos. Do you have a video of Baum Dungeon yesterday?”

“Accompany it with the onsite coverage.”

The staff of the stations moved quickly.

“Once we get the main part out there… Check if there are any innocent dead users.”

“Yes. I understand. Leave it to the analysis team.”

“What about the videos of the Hermes Guild attacking users?”

“We don’t have any videos from the beginning, but we should soon be able to get it from the killed users.”

“Work on this all morning. Continue to broadcast until the regular broadcasts.”

The ratings competition between stations was similar to a war.

Recently, Darius’ exposure and criticizing the Hermes Guild had been a major area for them.

Broadcasting the events of Odin Fortress was a great chance to tilt the balance.

Obviously, the big stations quickly smelt it.

From the early days of Royal Road, large stations like KMC Media and CTS Media had increased their size by hundreds of times.

They were equipped with unparalleled resources and manpower and could sell the coverage videos to the whole world, not just domestic areas.

CTS Media was considered dull because it was the affiliate of a large company, but there were changes after the issues were sharply scrutinized.

In particular, they would use any means and methods to increase viewership if there were events that would interest the viewers.

There was no hesitation in broadcasting something inflammatory.

The PD was nervous because the director of the station directly appeared at the live broadcasting studio.

“Isn’t Odin Fortress famous?”

“Yes. Head Director-nim. It is the impregnable fortress between the Britten Alliance and the Aidern Kingdom. A siege of this fortress is a tragedy waiting to happen.”

“Good. Dig properly into this case from beginning to end. Check for bad rumours and the Hermes Guild members who are normally active at Fort Odin.

“I will do so.”

“We need to make sure that viewers, who are watching other stations, come to our station. Keep in mind that our ratings should be higher than KMC Media.”

The interests of each broadcasting station was concentrated on Odin Fortress.

The leaders of the Hermes Guild finally learnt about the incident and issued an order to Chesturo to stop.

– Gigado: This is the guild’s administration. Stop all attacks on the users who participated in the dungeon hunting.

Chesturo ignored the command.

The administration had slightly lower power in the guild and he couldn’t stop here.

‘Do they know how much damage there is from dying once? Plus capturing the dungeon also failed. I have to save face as the lord…’

Due to his anger, he had already swung the sword.

If he stopped the battle according to the command then the Hermes Guild users at Fort Odin would have no face.

‘I only killed a few hundred. It became bigger than I thought due to the broadcasts but won’t I look like a fool if I stop now?’

In order to become the lord of Fort Odin, power and political sense was needed.

He paid attention to the broadcast and saw that the criticism of him would grow after the situation finally ended.

Chesturo decided to push through with force.

‘Let’s continue to sweep the rebels Then I can diffuse the situation with the help of the friendly lords in the guild. I will sweep the users in this area once or twice. I will clean it up on my own.’

He wasn’t worried about the Hermes Guild or his position as ruler of Fort Odin.

Until a few months ago, the ordinary users at Odin Fortress were prey.

Even though it was a little annoying, protests were rare.

Ruling through power!

He believed in the legitimacy of the Hermes Guild.

* * *

Chesturo, who ruled Odin Fortress, designated the protestors as rebels and massacred them.

The whole process was seen all over the world through the broadcasting stations.

“Is the Hermes Guild indiscriminately retaliating against those who don’t follow their words?”

“The areas outside of Fort Odin are quiet. However, Fort Odin can be thought of as the executive branch of the Hermes Guild.”

“Then it can be seen as the Hermes Guild’s actions?”

“It is highly likely that the massacre is a pre-coordinated one.”

CTS succeeded in their coverage of the innocent victims who had been killed despite fighting in Baum Dungeon until the end.

The victims were carefully interviewed and strongly criticized Chesturo and the Hermes Guild.

“I think that the Hermes Guild and Chesturo are all wrong.”

“What are their intentions?”

“They believe that they are the best. It is hard to think of this as anything other than trying to keep the users docile.”

“This isn’t the right word since it is a broadcast, but the Hermes Guild shouldn’t be so cocky. What is this?”

“I think I can see what they are doing.”

Due to the provocative contents, CTS Media enjoyed the high ratings.

* * *

That evening, the Hermes Guild announced its official position.

– The case at Fort Odin is unrelated to the Hermes Guild.

It was an arbitrary decision by Chesturo and we will take appropriate action after further investigation.

Although the Hermes Guild took this position, the situation didn’t look good for them.

Over a thousand victims!

Even though the tax rate was lowered to appease the public sentiment, there was a mood inside the guild that the massacre was a necessary evil.

‘It is unlucky that it was aired but we should show such things occasionally. Show them who is strong and enduring.’

Recently, the Hermes Guild hadn’t used a lot of force.

Many people thought that it would be beneficial for the government to show their oppressive force once in a while.

In fact, there had been many cases of massacres when the Central Continent was conquered.

Once massive massacred occurred, the users became compliant and easier to ruler.

Pandwel, Pago and Rundichi.

On that day, the three lords moved their army and killed the active users of the city.

– They didn’t pay their taxes. Those who don’t follow the rules of the Hermes Guild aren’t needed.

The lords revealed the reason for the massacre.

‘This is my land and my territory. How dare they criticize me while hunting and trading here?’

They wanted to reign like kings in their area! The massacres of the three lords were relayed through the broadcasts.

– Are we surprised? Nothing has changed. The Hermes Guild was originally like this.

– Tax cuts? We shouldn’t trust it.

– They have no standards and just murder those they don’t like!

– Until when will we keep being exploited? Dammit.

– Look at CTS Media’s broadcast right now. They felt no guilt over killing a level 30 novice user.

– They are just crazy.

Posts blaming the Hermes Guild appeared on the Internet.

‘What a nuisance.’

Recently, Lafaye had been concentrating on strengthening the empire.

He selected the best high-level users and recently increased the number of members to 750,000. In addition, over 300,000 Imperial troops were trained.

In order to strengthen the empire, he placed them in dungeons and hunting grounds.

By lowering the tax rate to stabilize the Central Continent, it increased the military power and laid the groundwork for long-term domination.

He didn’t worry about minor incidents because he was trying to get results with a lower budget.

They often committed massacres and there was rarely a day when the Hermes Guild wasn’t criticized on the bulletin boards.

“At the imperial level, there will be slight damage to the ruling party.”

“Give official warnings to the lords of those regions. If it happens again then they will be deprived of their positions as lords.”

“Will that be serious enough? There are thousands of lords on the Central Continent. We will have a hard time if they complain.”

“Ensure that there is a new loyalty pledge in the guild. We will tell them that it is only for the broadcasts. The warnings aren’t permanent so the lords should be fine.”

“So we don’t need to be more careful. We are the ones who appointed the lords and we can take it away.”

The leaders of the Hermes Guild didn’t think much about the crushing of the users.

There might be many users heading towards the Arpen Kingdom in the north but they didn’t anticipate any major changes. They thought that users were already familiar with the Hermes Guild’s oppressive reign.

“It isn’t something that only we did, but other guilds as well. People move according to their own interests or for economic gain. The tax rate is lowered in the Haven Empire and it is advantageous to stay here so they won’t leave for the Arpen Kingdom.”

Lafaye had developed the economic and technological power of the Haven Empire and there was a lot of information about adventures and hunting compared to the Arpen Kingdom, so their struggles were limited.

“This is also my opinion.”

“It is easy to buy them off by lowering taxes. People will consider it but for those who are still dissatisfied, we will push with force.”

* * *

The people were angry at the Hermes Guild’s slaughter, but they were accustomed and accepted it.

They were angry for a while but it seemed like it would fade over time.

The homepage of Royal Road contained a variety of miscellaneous stories, including articles condemning the Hermes Guild.

And a local user of Fort Odin posted on the bulletin board.

I am a user of the Central Continent called ‘Pint.’

I will first reveal that I am level 514.

Of course, I don’t intend to brag about my level but to tell you how I lived.

As soon as I entered the world of Royal Road, I started in the Kallamore Kingdom and became a knight.

I remember reaching level 200 and receiving a knight’s sword from the king.

Numerous people praised and encouraged me so I had a little beer party.

Those were very happy days.

The early days of Royal Road.

If you are an old user like me then you will know the beauty and romance of these days in Royal Road.

Stepping out of the gates with trembling hearts to go on adventures and confronting that fear with my friends.

We combined our strength, met strong monsters and camped in the middle of the night where we heard the howls of wolves.

I didn’t have the cooking skill at the time so I enjoyed the tasteless boiled potato soup.

The map of the world wasn’t revealed so I had to take careful steps.

We enjoyed the pleasures of gaining achievements and expanding the area that we can explore.

The preface is too long.

I wanted to tell you a little bit about it because they are beautiful memories to me.

And now… I am now past level 500.

Many of you must be envious.

However, my abilities are nothing to boast about in front of the Hermes Guild.

Every time I went to a hunting ground, I had to bow my heads to them and paid the admission fee.

I wanted to do some quests with the Hermes Guild and was rejected.

I have to be careful to avoid any conflicts with the Hermes Guild on the streets.

Even if they are weaker than me… Due to the halo of the guild, an individual like me can easily be trampled.

I am stronger but I have to be scared of those who are weaker.

It wasn’t just death that I tried to avoid.

As you know, if you go against the Hermes Guild or protest… You would be kicked out of your hometown.

It won’t be safe to go anywhere in the Haven Empire.

They were forced to leave their hometowns, persecuted and forced to sell gifts.

At some point, I only had forced laughter and smiles when playing the game.

Royal Road is so good that I can’t give up this wonderful world and was forced to bow my head.

And now I will be honest.

I’m ashamed.

I haven’t forgotten the humiliation I endured.

The memories of the Hermes Guild’s nonsensical claims and tyranny harass me every night.

Such a thing… When I look at the damage, I get a lump in my chest.

I’m an embarrassing loser.

I am ashamed and troubled after remembering all the memories.

I want to ask.

Why are we in Royal Road?

Why do we live?

Isn’t it lying to ourselves?

Can we really be happy if we sell out our pride?

I realized the precious truth too late.

From now on, I want to move based on happiness. I don’t want to leave myself with painful memories anymore.

The friends and colleagues who I shared beautiful memories with died at the hands of the Hermes Guild.

I’m tired of turning a blind eye to the truth.

I will stand before the gates of Fort Odin.

I closed my eyes because it wasn’t my job. I don’t want to go back to when I thought it was harmless to keep my mouth shut.

The scars of cowardice will be carved into my skin forever.

Today.

I’m going to die at Fort Odin.

* * *

Pint’s article on the bulletin board about Fort Odin was a hot topic as the number of views increased.

It was moved to each site related to Royal Road.

– A must see article.

– The life story of a high level user.

– Be sure to read this. There will be many people who can sympathize.

– I thought those were my thoughts. I’m only level 300 but I feel the same.

– Is the Hermes Guild a nightmare that I dreamt up?

After being transferred to hundreds of sites, the translated versions spread around the world.

It was a total hit with tens of millions of views.

The comments fiercely condemned the conduct of the Hermes Guild.

It wasn’t a story but the truth.

The users who suffered on the Hermes Guild also sympathized so Pint’s writing spread further.

Meanwhile, the broadcasting stations also discovered it.

“I didn’t think that more attention would be brought to Fort Odin. Is it possible to get a video of the scene?”

“Yes. There are agents to cover it.”

“It seems like it would be a good video.”

“Won’t it just be a few attacks? Despite being a level 500 user… It is too much to deal with alone. There won’t be any accidents like there is with Weed.”

“Isn’t it in the eyes of the beholder? Viewers don’t want an incident but a story. A story!”

The stations focused on Fort Odin. Some small-scale stations boldly decided to broadcast the scene.

* * *

When Pint accessed Royal Road, the whispers and communication channels, that were normally ringing loudly, were quiet.

“Hu… In the end, I was abandoned by my close friends.”

He had been prepared when he wrote on the bulletin boards about Fort Odin

“I will probably be hunted.”

He was expecting things to happen.

He wanted to go even if he lose his life and his colleagues forever.

“I might not be able to meet with people again but… I won’t regret my life.”

He exited the hunting ground where he connect and headed to Fort Odin.

Although his steps were heavy, he hurried to keep his promise.

Normally there would be many people coming and going from Fort Odin, but the battle today made people hesitate.

“Nobody will look at the post on the bulletin board. The Hermes Guild might laugh at me but… I will still keep the appointment. Then I will go to the north.”

Once his work at Fort Odin was finished, he wanted to go north to the Arpen Kingdom.

He already had many friends who were active in the Arpen Kingdom.

He stayed due to his fond memories of his hometown and friends but he would live a new life with his death.

He was prepared even if he had to experience dozens of deaths before crossing the border to the Arpen Kingdom.

“Let’s go. Fort Odin.”

He felt complicated emotions but ultimately he felt good.

Pint left the mountain range and walked steadily towards Fort Odin.

Chapter 7: Siege of Fort Odin

“…”

“…”

There was a heavy silence near the gates of Fort Odin.

Numerous users stood on the side of the roads, on the walls and even on the trees and rocks in the mountains.

Pint looked at them as he arrived but he never thought they were waiting for him.

Sugun sugun.

“He really came?”

“That’s right. He has courage. If I died at that level then I would cry.”

“I would be happy to die like that.”

“Pint is a good man… I knew he would come.”

“Hu. Still, it is reckless. It will change nothing.”

Pint saw quite a few familiar people at Fort Odin. They were users that he went hunting with, completed quests and shared meals with.

It was difficult for Pint to conceal his sadness as he saw them.

‘They came to watch me die.’

Even so, he had bravely come here and didn’t intend to turn back.

‘Go forward and die.’

The gates of Fort Odin.

It was a strong war that was hard to penetrate with 300,000 elite troops during the time when war occurred every day in the Central Continent.

Pint walked towards the open gate and stood still. Although he came it, it was difficult to get through the gates.

“Pint has arrived.”

Jaikeson, the captain of the east gate’s guards, shouted loudly. The archers guarding the walls pointed their bows in unison.

3,000 magic archers!

They were one of the defense troops guarding Fort Odin and were strengthened during the time that the Haven Empire had high taxes.

The elite archers aimed at Pint with their magic bows.

But before attacking, Jaikeson talked to the Hermes Guild users near the gate.

“He is on the stab to death list?”

“Yes. The lord put him on the list as soon as he heard about it.”

“Hu… I hunted together a lot with Pint. I have been helped many times.”

“So have I. Many people here know him.”

“But we have to kill him?”

“Well, it can’t be helped. We can’t spare him. There are no exceptions.”

It happened when Jaikeson was about to order the archers to attack.

A user walked over to Pint who was standing alone.

“Pint-nim. I’ll join you.”

“Ulluger-nim?”

“Haha. Look at the sky. It is good weather to die.”

The sky was clear and sunny. The wind was cool so it would be nice to go somewhere to play instead of dying.

Ulluger was also an early level 500 user of Fort Odin. He had often hunted together with Pint.

“You don’t have to do this because of me.”

“The heart was moved. It was a comfortable decision. Besides, the Hermes Guild has already seen me.”

“Then let’s do it together.”

Two level 500 users. It was a terrifying force that was impossible for novice users.

It wasn’t a level that tankers of the Hermes Guild could easily beat if there was an encounter in the mountains or dungeons.

The viewers sighed.

“Wah… It really is a waste to die like this.”

“If I was going to die like that then I would just fight.”

“They are fighting.”

“That is fighting?”

“They are resisting the force of the Hermes Guild. Fighting against fear. They aren’t giving in.”

“Indeed…”

The Hermes Guild that was centred on the power of oppression!

They were confronting a power that was impossible to resist due to the terrible disadvantage.

The broadcasters at the scene praised Pint and Ulluger’s courage.

“It is amazing. There is one more user participating with Pint.”

“Is the user called Ulluger?”

“His level is estimated to be over 500. He started at Fort Odin. There are many users who don’t know because he is a hunter but in the early days of Royal Road, he was strong enough to be among the top 100.”

“Is a level 500 hunter that great?”

“An early growth is definitely a favourable feature of a hunter. Still, it is great that he managed to reach level 500 while being free of a guild.”

“There are two courageous people.”

The local users of Fort Odin knew about the situation due to the broadcasts.

The Hermes Guild users at the gate appeared on the broadcast but they didn’t stop frowning.

It was uncomfortable listening to the broadcast but it wasn’t a big deal. Besides, even they knew that their actions weren’t so good.

‘A bad thing. But won’t this benefit us?’

‘Who cares about other people’s situations? Step on them first and become stronger. That is the law of the world.’

‘Die and kill. Royal Road is such a world. There is no respect for the weak.’

The Hermes Guild user’s faces were harder than usual.

It was a bit uncomfortable because they remembered that Pint’s article about Royal Road had become a hot topic a few hours ago.

‘If it wasn’t for the lord then this wouldn’t have happened.’

‘Even if he wanted to press forward through force, couldn’t he handle it more smoothly and quietly? Our lord really likes winning.’

‘If things get bigger than there will likely be sanctions from the leaders.’

Jaikeson hesitated before reporting it in the guild channel.

– Jaikeson: Ulluger has stood beside Pint. Should we still attack?

The answer from Chesturo came within one or two seconds.

– Chesturo: Wipe out all the rebels!

– Jaikeson: The two people are famous. There are many people that follow them.

– Chesturo: We can’t back off. And there are those who might go out because of heroism. We have to avoid further problems by killing them as an example. Thoroughly.

The Hermes Guild users in the field thought that the perfect word for their lord was ‘stubborn.’

“It can’t be helped. It is strange since it is being broadcasted. However, we can’t spare them. It isn’t my responsibility.”

Jaikeson played the role of villain as he ordered the order while the spectators watched.

“I should do something good.”

“Ah… I’m tired of being like this.”

“I will be sick if I endure it any longer. Royal Road is fun but I felt frustrated when reading Pint’s article.”

“Kuhu… I didn’t talk about it in advance because I thought it was ridiculous.”

“I just quietly waited for you to come.”

From Pint’s friends to readers of his articles, the spectators gathered beside Pint. Pint had been standing alone in front of the gates but that soon swelled to 1,000 then 2,000 people.

“Let me show you what will happen if I’m stepped on.”

“How long have I lived? I have to resist even when pushed by real power. Only then can I live.”

The atmosphere was becoming strange. In a situation where they executed Pint first, there would be severe backlash against the Hermes Guild.

The spectators standing at a distance stared then plunged in.

“Pint came.”

“Really? Hey. We should go!”

Inside Fort Odin, users heard the news and pushed towards the gates to stand with Pint.

“Eh… How did this happen?”

“Why are there so many all of a sudden?”

“Kill everyone?”

The Hermes Guild users on top of the gates panicked. There were only 4,000 troops deployed at the gates of Fort Odin.

“Shut the gates.”

“Yes. Prevent more users from joining.”

The huge gates were closed in order to prevent Pint’s forces from increasing. However, people just lined up inside Fort Odin.

It was the backlash of the users to Pint’s words and the rule of Fort Odin.

“Kill everyone who gathers!”

The Hermes Guild pulled out their weapons. And a large army was mobilized in Fort Odin.

* * *

The siege of Fort Odin!

The battle abruptly occurred, with more than 20,000 rebels forming from the general masses.

“Give us freedom!”

“Get away from the Hermes Guild!”

The merchants at the stalls and travellers picked up their swords.

It wasn’t planned as the people just had their hearts moved.

Blacksmiths picked up their hammer or axe and went out to join the rebels.

“Take action so that the rebels don’t spread further.

In Fort Odin, Chesturo, the Hermes Guild and the soldiers started to suppress the rebels.

The result was the annihilation of the rebels!

City buildings were destroyed and many users lost their lives.

Usually wars ended with a retreat or a lull in the fighting on both sides, but the rebels fought until the last one was gone.

“It is now cleaned up. The losses on our side?”

“There are 79 major buildings and 4,800 troops.”

“Tsk. The damage is large because the battle occurred suddenly. You should have cleaned it up faster.”

“I didn’t know that it would become so big. The region was properly cleared so no one has challenged the power of the Hermes Guild in a long time.”

“It isn’t so bad to show off once in a while. Even if it is only for the sake of training the troops who have relaxed due to peace.”

The Hermes Guild users at Fort Odin celebrated their victory.

They hunted famous users in the area and gained lots of loot and experience.

Looking ahead, the high-level users would now leave this area.

It wasn’t a good thing for the economy and local development, but it still yielded big profits for the  moment.

‘If Fort Odin is bad then go to another area. The Central Continent is wide.’

‘Once Pint is revived, there will be a professional team hunting him. There is still a lot of profit, including loot, to be gained.’

The Hermes Guild users were satisfied.

Chesturo, the lord of Fort Odin, also protected his pride so he drank high-class sake from a cup worth more than 100 gold.

“I’m here to inform you. Troops are gathering on the outskirts of the gates!”

“Are there still some left?”

“I have been moving for a while and just want to take a break. However, I can’t miss this chance.”

“Aigoo. Quickly clean it up and come back.”

The Hermes Guild were lazy but still tried to join the battle.

They had grown familiar with war and conquest.

“The scale of the troops gathered outside the gates… At least 50,000!”

“What? Isn’t that more than what we fought before?”

“There are also rebels inside Fort Odin. The scale… At least 40,000.”

Chesturo and the Hermes Guild started a second battle.

This time, there were more users and the overall level was better than the first time.

Fort Odin fought with their defense facilities but still lost more than 20,000 troops.

“The cost for repair is over one million gold. We will also have to train the army again.”

“Can we charge the guild?”

The lord and aides of Fort Odin had a headache after the battle. But these battles were relayed all over the world.

In the early days of the first battle, it was just some small-scale stations. But as the ratings became above average, larger broadcasters joined in. The story was a dispute between the Hermes Guild and general users, so they tried to keep neutrality through guests. But a participant on the side of the Hermes Guild made an impromptu remark.

“I honestly don’t understand. Is there a reason for the rebels?”

“I think there are enough reasons.”

“No. The Hermes Guild killed more than 13 million people in Royal Road so far.”

“It was that many? During the war?”

“Yes… They are figures from the wars. The Hermes Guild dominated the Central Continent… Those who become angry have the right to kill.”

“The right?”

“Yes. That is the law of the Hermes Guild.”

“I feel bad for the novice users at the hunting grounds who were slaughtered hundreds of times by the Hermes Guild. Yet the Hermes Guild members have the right to do that?”

“They are doing the right thing. It is interesting.”

“What about the position of the side being killed?”

“If they think it is unjust then become stronger quickly. Who told them to be weak?”

It was a live broadcast so the writers crossed their arms or held up X signs. These comments would help the audience ratings. However, the bulletin board was becoming too heated.

The host laughed and tried to change the mood.

“The Hermes Guild seems to be changing their attitude these days as they are still lowering the tax rate.”

“We can do it for a little bit. Although I will kill if I am in a bad mood.”

“You keep representing the Hermes Guild as evil…”

“I don’t understand you. Why shouldn’t I speak honestly? The Central Continent is dominated by the Hermes Guild and everything is done according to our will. Massacres? Who cares? Can you live if you are weak? If you get used to it then you won’t be angry.”

Since the broadcast, users who knew the story of Fort Odin posted on the Royal Road bulletins.

– I’m angry. Wake up.

– Be patient. If I lose my patience then I will lose my life.

– I have decided. I will pick up my sword to defend my self-esteem. Resistance is pointless? How can I live meaningfully when I’ve ignored it so far?

– I can’t turn a blind eye. The pain will remain for the rest of my life.

Pint’s article was spread all over the place.

In addition, the broadcast footage for the people’s emotions heated up.

There was also a broadcast coverage of Chesturo after the victory.

“What do I think about the rebels? We did well. I am satisfied after picking up the sword. I don’t know about my subjects.”

A mere five hours after the second battle of Fort Odin ended.

“Give us freedom!”

“Level 31. Please let me fight together!”

“Anyone is welcome. Let’s not live bowing down. We are sinners? We will show them what it means to be trampled on.”

“Let us prove that there are people in the Central continent!”

More than 200,000 rebels gathered near Fort Odin.

The Hermes Guild users on the walls and in the defense towards were confused.

“Another battle… What on earth are they trying to do?”

“How did they gather so many people so quickly?”

“There are many users that I know. They are users who are generally around the vicinity of Fort Odin.”

Despite Chesturo’s pride, he was a bit worried.

“Did I talk too honestly? The combat materials are a bit scarce. In addition, Pint and the other users who have recovered will join.”

“Lord-nim. Can you afford to think like that? We will get rid of them and ask the Hermes Guild for support.”

“That’s right. It is still possible to rectify this. The army is exhausted but they will last… Fort Odin is impregnable.”

“The troops can win a few more times. It will be easy to get rid of the rabble.

Chesturo and the Hermes Guild users couldn’t choose any way other than combat.

Although they thought they were villains, they couldn’t open the gates to rebels and welcome them in.

The 3rd battle!

Although it was fierce assault, they proved the strength of Fort Odin’s defenses.

The crowd had high level users but they used the terrain to endure with minimal damage.

As the battle continued, the defenses of Fort Odin were well utilized.

The joy of winning the 3rd battle only lasted a brief time as they started receiving reports through the channel for the Hermes Guild lords.

– Kallo: Users are flocking to Fort Odin from the Britten Alliance territory. There are quite a lot of them. At least 150,000 people.

– Morok:  This is the southwest part of the Great Plains. Users are gathered here to capture Fort Odin. The troops here… I can only count the ones I can see. There are over 500,000.

– Mimanja:  Why are there so many users?

– Morok:  Even the sly users are going. They are blending in with the crowd so it is impossible to measure specific combat strength. Novice users are also connecting…. It is impossible to understand the size and scale of this expedition.

– Klong: This is Bernerd Castle. A massive army is coming from the west towards Fort Odin. I don’t know the number but I’ve started seeing them 20 minutes ago. Five branches have gathered but I can’t see the end. Even users of this castle are joining them.

– Jebae:  This is Max Village on Ulgur Plains. Users are moving. They are heading east so their destination is Fort Odin!

Reports of users rushing towards Fort Odin flooded the channel of the Hermes Guild lords.

* * *

“I never imagined something like this.”

“Yes. The size of the battlefield is growing beyond expectations.”

“Anger seems to be stimulating the general users.”

The station stopped their existing programs and continued to broadcast live from Fort Odin.

Even leisurely vacationers and book readers accessed Royal Road and headed to Fort Odin.

The Hermes Guild headquarters were surprised by the size of the crowd and commanded the lords of each area.

– Block the people heading to Fort Odin.

The lords of the area were also amazed as they called their troops and watched the situation develop.

The lords ignored the command from the guild leaders.

“If I try to stop them then there will be a battle on my land. Why should I touch them when I can let them leave?”

“Fort Odin will remove the cheap dung.”

“I have a relationship with Chesturo but… I don’t know about this one. You reap what you have sown.”

If the lords tried to block the users then many facilities might be destroyed and public opinion of them would fall, giving them a bad reputation. They didn’t want to suffer such damage.

The Hermes Guild leaders tried to stop it but they lacked enough time to dispatch troops from the centre.

Famous rankers debated on air but it didn’t work as a live feed of Fort Odin was shown.

As a crowd gathered, the situation spread even further.

“Freedom!”

“Fix the wrongs.”

“We are alive. You need to be human!”

The 4th battle at Fort Odin.

It was a battle that wasn’t ordinary.

The forces of Fort Odin, led by Chesturo, were centred on the walls and thoroughly concentrated on defense.

An impregnable fortress that could endure 10, no 20 times the power!

The users of the Central Continent weren’t as high levelled as the Hermes Guild.

Without any siege weapons, they climbed the walls with their hands while swordsmen attacked the gates.

The archers placed on the walls of Fort Odin fired their arrows and believed in their defense.

The users who participated in the battle later said in the broadcast.

“The fall of Fort Odin? I know that beyond level 400… Normally it is very tough. It isn’t a fortress that can be conquered.”

“I just wanted to fight. I picked up my sword and ran. Otherwise, I will regret it for the rest of my life. The death penalty or a lifetime of regret. Which one is better?”

“The fortress collapsed as I pushed. In the end, there is no fortress that never collapses.”

“We aren’t heroes. And we don’t have any large ambitions. We just wanted to live properly.”

“What will I do if the Hermes Guild retaliates in the future? No. Why even think about that? Right now, I am just doing what I want. If you have a lot of worries then you will just end up keeping your head down.”

Chesturo and Fort Odin were unable to endure and were wiped out in the 4th battle.

The combat supplies piled up in the fortress were depleted after repeated battles and weapons such as swords and spears were broken.

The users climbed the defense towers, walls and buildings and raised their hands high.

“Liberation!”

“We are… alive!”

* * *

Victory at Fort Odin!

The leaders of the Hermes Guild dispatched the Imperial Army.

“Quickly, finish the work today.”

The elite Red Knights, led by Boemong, ran to Fort Odin through the teleport gate.

“Siege weapons?”

“There are no siege weapons. The defense facilities of the fortress have been destroyed and the broken gates are removed.”

The Red Knights contained elite users of the Hermes Guild who could be quickly dispatched.

But when they arrived at Fort Odin, all they saw was an empty ruin. The users gained treasures and hope from Fort Odin and left.

“Drive out the Hermes Guild!”

“Let us live like humans!”

The users scattered after conquering Fort Odin. They were looking at a larger goal.

* * *

After a war with numerous stations, Pint was invited to a KMC Media studio.

His name had become known and this was the first time he appeared on broadcast.

Pint introduced the army at Fort Odin and said firmly.

“I decided to fight… Yes. That didn’t mean much.”

Oh Joo-wan asked like he was curious.

“Was it meaningless? Pint-nim’s writing has spread on the Internet. Maybe the battle at Fort Odin is due to Pint-nim.”

“I’m not someone with that much influence… Besides, I never considered this. The cause existed and resulted were made. I believe that the incident could have happened at any time.”

“So, you are saying that it depends on the circumstances.”

“Yes. It is all because of the Hermes Guild. Or other guilds trying to rule. Is it right to keep living like this? Numerous users on the Central Continent have suffered damage.”

“Now. I know what you mean. But the users are scattered and the Hermes Guild is strong. How will it turn out in the future?

“I don’t know. I have no interest in power. I won’t think about future work. I am just one in millions of users that are filled with anger. That anger is enough reason to change the world.”

“If you fail to change it?”

“Despair and… I will feel frustrated and think this is how the world is. I will have to live with that for the rest of my life.”

* * *

– Versailles Continent paradise!

A day after the fall of Fort Odin, an army of rebel users struck dozens of places in the Haven Empire.

There were no exchanges in each region so the Hermes Guild doubted that it was a woven plan.

The users simply felt like acting after Pint’s article and broadcast.

– We will go.

– Drive out the Hermes Guild.

– A new world!

Under the banners of the Haven Empire, the users started a revolution.

In each region, low and high level users were refusing the reign of the Haven Empire.

“Users are returning from the hunting grounds. They are likely to attack the castle.”

“Prepare for battle. Prepare for a power battle.”

The lords were astonished and immediately began war preparations.

The Haven Empire was based on military power so they were confident in their ability to win the war.

However, in the past, they had fought with the prestigious guilds. Now the general users in their territory had become rebels.

Even if they won, the damage was too big as the area was turned to ruins.

– There are at least 50,000 rebels on Saxony Plains!

– This is Averian Forest. It is seized by rebels.

– A battle at Giden Castle! The rebels’ second attempt failed and the third is in progress.

– This is the Britten Alliance. The city is closed by rebels who appeared instantly!

The Hermes Guild and the stations couldn’t follow the events that were happening in Royal Road.

“I will raise my sword towards the Hermes Guild. Anyone can join me!”

Hundreds and thousands of people joined when this was cried out in a city.

The leaders of the Hermes Guild issued an emergency command.

– The initial rebellion failed. Allow all Imperial troops to use unrestricted force in order to prevent further deterioration.

Of course, retake the areas occupied by rebels and decimate them as needed.

Lafaye, who ruled over the large land and population of the Central Continent, wanted to finish this quickly.

If they didn’t show their strength then the rebellion could grow bigger. Therefore, they grew bold and gave commands for indiscriminate warfare.

“Show them the strength of the Hermes Guild.”

“War!”

The Hermes Guild’s combat troops were dispatched everywhere to fight the rebelling users.

“If you don’t surrender by midnight then everyone will be killed.”

“Are the stations covering this?”

“Don’t worry. The leaders have decided to show our strength.”

In the Central Continent, the fire of war was burning as rebels won or were defeated in many areas.

After defeating the lords, the rebels took over half the villages near Averian Forest, the Great Plains and the Britten Alliance.

Even if they gained territory, it was impossible for the users to survive after the conquest due to the army. Still, it only took three or four days for some areas of the Haven Empire to lose their power.

* * *

The secret branch of the Grass Porridge Cult on the Central Continent! There was a meeting filled with people wearing animal masks.

A rabbit masked user opened their mouth.

“The incident at Fort Odin is becoming bigger and bigger. There are many members of the Grass Porridge Cult who joined the rebels.”

A cat masked female user spoke up.

“We have three cities on our side. Of course, they won’t be able to endure if the army of the Haven Empire flocks.”

A pig masked user laughed like it was hilarious.

“Kulkul. It is good to see the Hermes Guild fall. The losses will be quite difficult for them to deal with.”

A chicken masked user complained.

“This is a serious meeting so why are you making those sounds?”

“Hrmm… Sorry if you were offended.”

“It isn’t that much. Kokoko.”

“Kulkulkul.”

The Grass Porridge Cult branch in the Central Continent had increased explosively.

Aside from being the symbol of the Arpen Kingdom, the Grass Porridge Cult represented freedom, adventure, courage, luck, peace, love and challenges.

The Grass Porridge Cult was a good concept!

Millions of users on the Central Continent signed up for the Grass Porridge Cult but specific activities were difficult.

‘If all the good people go north… We have to protect our home.’

‘Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge. If we are caught in the Haven Empire then we will be hunted to death.’

The reason for wearing masks to the secret meetings was to keep their identities a secret.

A user wearing a horned deer mask raised his hand.

“Shouldn’t we be working properly right now?”

“In what way?”

“Do you have a plan?”

Attention was given to the representatives of each area.

“It is serious right now. We have a lot of power so we can gather the members and start an all-out war. The general users can also help.”

The hearts of the members moved as they heard the deer mask’s words.

Moving the Grass Porridge Cult members on a large scale to gain their independence from the Haven Empire!

It was the ultimate goal that the Central Continent branch of the Grass Porridge Cult wanted.

“It isn’t possible.”

The cat masked user objected.

She represented the Grass Porridge Cult members of the Britten Alliance.

“Why?”

“What is the reason why we shouldn’t move right now?”

A masked user asked unpleasantly.

The cat masked user was a famous name in the Britten Alliance.

She led the rebellion directly in the Britten Alliance so they didn’t know why she objected.

“The Grass Porridge Cult is a pure and free organization. What if we go and free the Central Continent? The invasion of the north is enough to distort the meaning.”

“Hrmm.”

The users thought of dangerous predictions.

Right now, the users of the Central Continent were rising up against the Haven Empire’s tyranny. But it wouldn’t be good news if the Grass Porridge Cult came out.

– The Arpen Kingdom and Grass Porridge Cult is leading a revolt.

– The Grass Porridge Cult shakes the Haven Empire and damages the users of the Central Continent.

The brain of the Hermes Guild was Lafaye!

He could execute such scenarios.

“The Hermes Guild isn’t shallow. Who here has experienced being conquered in a war by Lafaye?”

Dozens of players became quiet at the cat masked user’s words.

As representatives of the regions of the Central Continent, there were many high-level users and some of them were members of the old prestigious guilds.

They had never defeated the troops commanded by Lafaye.

In hindsight, it was a war that they couldn’t win.

The Hermes Guild was undeniably powerful, but he tore up the opponents and made it difficult for them to gather their power.

It was because the environment and strategies had already been planned for their defeat.

The cat masked user spoke in a crisp voice.

“If we form a group and show up then it is easier to defeat. If members of the Hermes Guild infiltrates… We will be wiped out.”

The users could fully sympathize. Still, they felt regret.

“This is a golden opportunity so can we really just stay still? The rebels’ firepower can’t last forever. it is time for the rebels to rise up or collapse. If this flame goes out and the Central Continent becomes stabilized then won’t we have to endure the tyranny of the Haven Empire forever?”

The representatives of the Grass Porridge Cult were desperate.

The Arpen Kingdom was still growing but it needed a long time to conquer the Central Continent.

It was also unknown if the Arpen Kingdom would even try to invade the Central Continent.

The cat masked user sighed.

“We don’t have enough power yet. So, I will wait and believe in our greatest asset.”

“What is it?”

“A pure heart. The desire to help those who are suffering and to fix unreasonable things. It is the most precious asset that the users of the Central Continent have to realize.”

Chapter 8: Seo-yoon’s Sacrifice

Weed found out about the events at Fort Odin while hunting in a dungeon.

“Van Hawk. Wipe them all out. So, Fort Odin is being attacked by users.”

– Mapan: Yes. Fort Odin is expected to become a mess due to the repeated battles.

“Kukuku. The black disease is contagious. Penetrating in like ticks! It is a really good development.”

– Mapan: Huhuhut. I intend to sell war supplies because the area will become confused in the future.

Weed gave commands to the undead while continuing to speak with Mapan!

– Mapan: The lords will try to build up their war supplies without any haggling.

“Do you have enough supplies?”

– Mapan: The Arpen Kingdom’s productivity has greatly increased. If I run out, then I can hire novice users and engage them in 24-hour production.

“I don’t care about the Hermes Guild but don’t make it too expensive for the general users.”

– Mapan: Ah. Yup. I understand. I will be careful not to exploit them.

“That isn’t what I meant… If you sell it for an expensive price, then the Central Continent users won’t last long. We have to keep sucking up the honey.

– Mapan: Kyah. I learnt another lesson!

I will sell it for a moderately expensive price!

‘Not bad. The Hermes Guild might become broken. Why are they ruling an empire so stupidly?’

In conjunction with the Mapan Trading Company, Weed sold goods at an expensive price. The Hermes Guild might be dominating the Central Continent but Weed and Mapan pursued money above everything else!

‘The villains on the surface are third class. The real bad guys are quietly counting money.’

Weed accomplished unprecedented hunting records as a necromancer.

– Great battle achievement!

Hunted the most helkets in a week.

Due to the hunting record, stamina has increased by two.

– Title! Sweeping Hunter has been acquired.

A man who completely kills all the monsters in a dungeon!

His fast and accurate movements leaves no seeds of evil behind.

The loot and by-products of hunting monsters will increase by 8%.

– A talented necromancer!

It isn’t hard to call the corpses and dominate them.

It is because the corpses can’t see or hear properly.

It is questionable why they obey the orders of a necromancer but… Anyway, many undead have been summoned.

You have summoned more undead than any other necromancer in a week!

The growth rate of Summon Undead will increase by 6% for a week.

The efficiency of dominating skeletons, death knights and specters will increase.

Sometimes a unique undead with treasure will emerge.

Achievements and titles!

It wasn’t easy as a sculptor but a necromancer was different.

At the same time, due to several operations and combat, Van and Torido increased their overall power as intermediate commanders.

Weed was hunting when he received another report from Mapan.

– Mapan: The revolts continue to increase in the Central Continent. It is in a few areas but there have been more than 12 user uprisings.

“The power?”

– Mapan: The level of the Central Continent is so high that ordinary users can’t be ignored. The flames of rebellion are still spreading!

“I see.”

Weed thought about watching it on the television.

It would be fun to see the battles.

‘I can look at the profits.’

The corners of Weed’s mouth went up.

* * *

“Today is bulgogi.”

“Um. Delicious.”

Lee Hyun sat at a table with Seo-yoon for dinner.

In the past, he didn’t turn on the TV while eating rice in order to save electricity, but these days were different.

‘I need to acquire information. And today, rebels are attacking the Ritten area.’

Sheljium, the capital of the old Ritten Kingdom.

There was a battle between the Imperial Army and the rebel army.

The channel had recently been switched to CTS Media, who had presented a diamond crown to Seo-yoon.

Although he had a long relationship with KMC Media, he kept that thoroughly separated.

‘I have to give back as much as the bribes that I receive. This can be considered the virtue of give and take.’

Politicians who received bribes were rotten but they were good fermented foods for his body!

Soon after, the broadcast showed the rebels failing to capture Sheljium. They were torn apart by the Imperial army during their march.

Even if the users of the Central Continent had a high level, they collapsed after a few raids from the Imperial army.

“Huhuhu.”

Lee Hyun was full of smiles as he watched the television.

‘Now those users will come to the north. I’ll receive more money at Morata and Puhol Water Park.’

It was necessary to consider building high-rise buildings at Varna Harbour for new settlers coming from sea.

“Kueeoh. I ate well.”

Lee Hyun was satisfied and finished his meal with Seo-yoon.

The next morning, the broadcast showed the battle between the Haven Empire and the rebels at Somren.

“There are 70,000 people here.”

“The empire has gathered a lot as well.”

It was refreshing watching the broadcast while eating breakfast.

He didn’t know how the clam soup entered his mouth.

He hunted in Royal Road and decided to have a light sandwich for lunch.

Lee Hyun exited the capsule and asked Seo-yoon who was watching the TV.

“Are they still fighting?”

“There is a battle at Ackum Fortress.”

“Yes. I see.”

Lee Hyun wasted time watching this broadcast.

‘It doesn’t matter who wins.’

The war in the Central Continent would have little direct impact on the Arpen Kingdom.

He didn’t think that they rebels would obtain independence even if they captured some territory.

‘Some would say it is just a quarrel. It is a big fight for children.’

He ate lunch and enjoyed playing with the chickens and puppies in the yard. A simple date where he didn’t need to go to a movie theatre or department store!

“Potatoes are good.”

“Sweet potatoes are better.”

“Potatoes are good for your health.”

“Sweet potatoes as well.”

“Hot potatoes are delicious to eat in winter.”

“Sweet potatoes are also delicious when it’s cold.”

He argued with Seo-yoon over whether to plant potatoes or sweet potatoes in the garden.

The bottom line was that they would do half and half.

Then once again, Royal Road.

The war on the TV was still ongoing when he left the capsule to eat dinner.

“What about Ackum Fortress?

“The Hermes Guild won. But more wars are occurring in 12 regions.”

“It is quiet.”

“There are more users who participate during the day.”

Lee Hyun already analyzed the capabilities of the Haven Empire along with Seo-yoon.

‘Build up the troops with money and mobilize the Hermes Guild everywhere.’

The defenses of the fortresses in each area was also a problem.

‘If the rebels fail to achieve great results then they will be quiet sooner or later.’

And the next day.

In the morning, Lee Hyun watched as more than 400,000 rebels of the Central Continent gathered at Mollena Castle in the Aidern area.

* * *

“We can do it.”

“There will be no regrets even if I die. For justice!”

“For justice!”

The users advanced with determination.

Dozens of rebels forces were being suppressed but they didn’t give up.

‘The Hermes Guild isn’t invincible. If the right people gather their power, then they will win.’

Those who learnt life from a moral book!

“What is the situation at Mollena Castle?”

“There are 50,000 Imperial soldiers.”

“So, nine people only have to kill one?”

“The defense of the castle is great so it won’t be easy.”

The high-level users contemplated on how to break into the castle but there was no answer.

There were many users who couldn’t endure it anymore and raised their swords. Nevertheless, the interior belonged to the Haven Empire so they couldn’t find any equipment to attack the walls.

There was a problem with supplies as well so many users weren’t able to continue fighting for a long duration.

Even if blacksmiths joined to fix their equipment, they still needed a supply of the required materials.

Every person was strong in personality so it was impossible for someone to command them.

‘The rebellion was raised with confidence but the limits are clear.’

‘This fight… Many weaknesses are exposed as it continues.’

The high-level users at Mollena Castle were anxious over the strategy.

“Charge!”

“Destroy the gate.”

“Capture the castle!”

Mollena Castle, the symbol of the Haven Empire’s authority in the Aidern region!

The users engaged in a siege at this castle, which had the third largest population and production base in the region.

“Don’t spare the arrows. Today, send all of them to their graves.”

The leader of Mollena Castle’s defenses was a Hermes Guild user called Patrora.

The Hermes Guild leaders had already laid down a policy about the uprisings.

– Users who invade major cities and areas will be killed.

However, early on, concentrate on the defenses of the castle or fortress.

Make the gap of absolute power visible and prevent them from moving forward.

Spies were even secretly planted.

Among the highly regarded users of the Central Continent, the ones closely related to the Hermes Guild were contacted separately.

“So… Encourage a rebellion?”

“Yes. It is better to lead a rebellion.”

“…Why?”

The revolts happened suddenly but Lafaye and the leaders moved aggressively.

“Lead the rebellion and then direct them to the target area that we set up.”

“I am one of many users. Will they listen to my words?”

“They’ll listen. It is better to attack famous areas and big cities.”

“Won’t the Hermes Guild receive damage from these attacks?”

“War is about winning. We have to be thorough.”

The famous users organized revolts.

They took the lead and it was easy to get many users to join. There was no reason for users to oppose gathering under famous people from the big cities.

Thanks to that, the Hermes Guild concentrated their power on the required areas and prepared for battle.

“Victory!”

“Freedom!”

The rebel users struck Mollena Castle and lost their lives in vain.

At Fort Odin, there was a lack of supplies to keep the war going so users had to stop.

The Haven Empire’s enormous wealth was unleashed as they produced combat materials as well as importing them.

The users were incapacitated by the large wall called Mollena Castle.

The rebellions that occurred in 27 regions in that day! The rebels died without getting a single victory. The next day, rebels appeared in 12 areas but were all destroyed.

– The Haven Empire’s landslide victory!

– Fort Odin, slowly forget…

– The sword and magic power that dominates the Versailles Continent.

– Hermes Guild, they expressed their regret over the recent incidents!

Over the past few days, the damage to the Haven Empire was enormous.

The revolts that swept the Central Continent damaged many fortresses and castles.

Production activities were interrupted, facilities outside the castle were destroyed and major trade routes were blocked.

As the sieges occurred, the number of monsters increased and they raided the granaries.

The Hermes Guild needed a lot of effort and funds to restore production and trade to normal, but it was expected that the rebels would slowly calm down.

* * *

Seo-yoon looked around after completing her house chores.

In the neatly arranged yard, vegetables were exposed to the sunlight and growing.

“Good farming.”

It was the first time that Seo-yoon had planted lettuce and vegetables.

She inherited Lee Hyun’s diligent nature but there were still many lacking points.

She read a few books and learnt how to grow vegetables. And she went to the local flower garden to get help.

“Can I get some nutrient rich soil?”

“Is it for a potted plant?”

“Yes. And I want some for the land as well.”

“Isn’t that a hard day’s work? I have nothing to do so let me help you.”

The people from the flower garden changed it and planted potatoes and sweet potatoes as well.

“You don’t have to do this. I’m sorry. Have a glass of cold water.”

“This honour… I just want to thank you for living in our neighbourhood.

“…”

“The neighbourhood is filled with laughter thanks to the two of you. My children are big as well. My son said that he hopes to be like Lee Hyun in the future.”

“…”

Weed’s close companions would be scared if they heard this! Mapan, or Kang Jin-cheol, would be delighted that the children had such a big dream.

Seo-yoon also hung the laundry.

The laundry would dry well in the warm sun.

The happiness, that she had never felt in the past, was filled just by looking around the house.

The animals liked and followed her.

Not just the puppies from Dogmeat but also the chickens produced by Half Seasoned Half Fried.

‘I would like to keep living like this.’

Seo-yoon smiled lightly.

It was a pretty smile because she was so stingy with them, yet she smiled in a place where she was alone.

‘I will have a little break.’

Seo-yoon entered the house and turned on the TV. Then she turned it to a channel related to Royal Road.

She practically ruled the Arpen Kingdom so she needed as much information was Lee Hyun.

The images of the Arpen Kingdom were very good and she felt proud whenever the various regions and festivals were introduced on air.

She turned to the channel of Luon Media who were broadcasting the battle at Formos Castle.

The users of the Central Continent were rushing towards the castle.

– It doesn’t look hopeful.

– For the moment, it seems like they can’t do a proper siege?

– Yes. Defeat is confirmed.

– What is the reason?

– The lack of preparation from the rebels. The Haven Empire is so strong. They aren’t the rulers of an empire for nothing. It is like smashing eggs against a rock.

The users were dying from the ranged attacks of the magic units and the archers.

Still, a steady advancement was being shown through the broadcast.

– The Haven Empire’s military power is amazing.

– It isn’t a coincidence that they grabbed hold of the Central Continent. It isn’t without some confusion but it is inevitable that they will succeed in conquering the continent.

– The empire is growing stronger day by day and that is being shown through these battle videos.

“Ah…”

She didn’t hear the comments of the hosts.

She saw people dying during the fight. And she saw their courage.

* * *

Formos Castle in the Tullen area.

The area used to be ruled by the Black Lion Guild and it was a strong castle for the Haven Empire.

Here as well, rebels were organized to try and capture the local capital, Formos Castle.

Many famous users and high-level ones joined. However, all five sieges failed due to the elite troops of the Haven Empire.

Numerous magic attacks came from the walls of Formos Castle.

The fearful part of the Haven Empire’s Imperial Army was the magic unit made up of NPCs.

The cost of hiring was huge and the amount of money had to be paid from head to toe.

The Haven Empire’s army had the power to shook the land and fill the skies as the magic attacks flew over the walls.

“This can be done…”

“They have to get tired sometime.

“There is a mana sanctuary that restores mana quickly.

“Ah… There is no hope.”

The users outside Formos Castle were frustrated.

Compared to other places, Formos Castle was literally a graveyard of users.

The Hermes Guild were particularly enthusiastic about Formos Castle on broadcasts.

“From the beginning, the goal was too big.”

“Hu… There is no hope for the Central Continent so we must go to the Arpen Kingdom.”

The siege of Formos Castle was still ongoing, but the shoulders of the users were heavy.

They couldn’t even go near the walls but once they did, they were killed.

The road to death.

The footsteps of the users lost strength.

There could be further attempts but those attempts would only confirm their failure.

Furthermore, the defeat in other regions were broadcasted so their determination to overthrow the Hermes Guild was reduced.

Although their treatment was unreasonable, they had a strong people! The users came to that conclusion.

200,000 people lost their lives meaninglessly.

At that moment, the situation suddenly changed.

– I want to say,

I forgot how to speak.

This voice couldn’t be heard.

I breathe alone.

I was sad and hurting. The tears didn’t flow.

“Who?”

“Suddenly a song…”

“A battle song… Weed?”

“No. That can’t be. This voice… A woman. And it is unbelievably pretty.”

The users in combat looked around for the source of the song.

“There!”

“From the sky.”

The song originated from the sky.

A wyvern was flying with spread wings high in the clouds.

A female user was riding on the wyvern’s back!

“That is…”

“Who? Does anyone know?”

Archers had outstanding vision and were able to see objects far away.

“I-I-I-I…”

“Who cares?”

“Keheok. How in this place…?”

“Well, who is it?”

“Her!”

“Who?”

“The most beautiful person in the world.”

“There isn’t just one or two beautiful people. If it is the world’s most beautiful… Goddess-nim?”

“The Grass Porridge Cult’s Goddess!”

“Look at her face. No similar one exists. Goddess-nim came!”

Seo-yoon’s appearance!

She was flying in the sky on Wy-3.

– A warm wind blows,

I saw blooming flowers.

It was cold as ice, but I walked together with someone holding hands.

Wait for the night to come.

The moon and stars are shining beautifully.

Seo-yoon sang in a clear voice as Wy-3 flew towards Formos Castle.

The crowd on the ground gazed at her silently.

“Listen to the song. Pretty.”

“Singing in that tone… I think I’m losing my mind. I need to record a video and keep it forever.”

“But why is she on the battlefield…?”

“Don’t tell me she is going to fight?”

“She is a person from the Arpen Kingdom. Why is she appearing on a battlefield in the Central Continent? It will become complicated if the Arpen Kingdom directly intervenes here.”

“I don’t know about such things. It is just great that she came here.”

In no time at all, rumours spread to Formos Castle and all users looked up at the sky.

“Hooray Grass Porridge Cult!”

“Unni, you are beautiful!”

“The best! My son, this is encouragement for your university entrance exam!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

Once someone cried out, the entire crowd started chanting it.

– Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!

The area was filled with the calls of Grass Porridge! Even though most of the crowd weren’t believers, her appearance caused this place to fill with cheers like it was the Arpen Kingdom.

They forgot it was a battlefield as they called out passionately to Seo-yoon.

Seo-yoon approached Formos Castle while listening to the cheers of the crowd, and soon, red and blue streaks rose from the wall to hit her.

“…!”

“Hit!”

“Oh my god… Unbelievable!”

Magic from the magic unit struck Seo-yoon and Wy-3 who were approaching from the sky.

– Kuwaaaack!

Wy-3 screamed as he descended.

Despite steadily growing while hunting in the Arpen Kingdom, the dozens of magic attacks hurt.

Wy-3 and Seo-yoon collided with the ground!

Formos Castle was on an open plain so they were easy targets for the magic unit.

“Who are they? Remove them.”

The Hermes Guild user, who was in charge of the magic unit, ordered them to attack the wyvern.

“3rd unit. Attack.”

The magic attacks poured on Seo-yoon and Wy-3 like a carpet bombing.

– Kuweeek!”

Wy-3 squatted and wrapped his injured wings around himself.

The mighty firepower of the magic units was being shown off!

Seo-yoon picked up a sword and attacked the magic.

One, two, three, four, five…

She couldn’t prevent all the magic from hitting her. The crowd stared blankly. Seo-yoon was one of the strongest in Royal Road due to the nature of a berserker. But her growth had stagnated due to Weed’s quest and ruling the Arpen Kingdom.

Seo-yoon tried to protect Wy-3 from the magic attacks but he was still hit.

Tears flowed from Wy-3’s eyes.

– Kukukuk! I’m okay.

“Sorry to have brought you here.”

– I knew this day would eventually come. This has been an eventful life.

Wy-3 said with a shrug.

– I was born on the battlefield and live to fight. I’ve flown high and fast on this continent so I’ve enjoyed my short life as a wyvern.

“…”

– Even if I die, remember me.  A valiant wyvern.

Wy-3 staggered up and stood in front of Seo-yoon.

– Run while I stand here. Stay alive.

Those words were said with the best courage from a cowardly wyvern.

Seo-yoon laughed brightly.

“Don’t worry. You’re not going to die.”

She sent a whisper to Weed.

“Summon Wy-3 now. Quickly!”

Weed was hunting in the Arpen Kingdom but he used Summon Sculpture as soon as Seo-yoon told him to. Wy-3 disappeared in a flash of light!

Wy-3 escaped and only Seo-yoon stood there alone as the magic attacks poured towards her. Seo-yoon looked at the magic attacks and sung.

– I also dream like you. Have hope. It was hard to start but don’t give up.

Have the courage to walk along the road one step at a time.

The magic attacks swept over her.

* * *

Seo-yoon’s death!

In Royal Road, there were numerous users who experienced death.

Their health reached 0 when fighting with monsters and they died. The penalty was a drop in level and skill proficiency and being unable to connect for a day.

However, they still couldn’t feel good about being killed. Seo-yoon’s death was broadcasted throughout the world.

“She…”

“Goddess-nim died.”

The northern users watching the broadcast felt a big sense of loss.

Seo-yoon’s presence in Royal Road was special.

Although there were numerous beautiful women, she became known through Weed’s sculptures.

She joined Weed on his adventure and became closer to the users after ruling the Arpen Kingdom.

She opened playgrounds and beautiful parks in the shanty village.

Apart from urban landscaping, she also implemented a variety of culture and welfare benefits and built small and large commercial and military buildings.

Unimaginable welfare benefits for novice users in Royal Road!

She was also worshiped as the goddess of the Grass Porridge Cult.

People of various ages and occupations in reality played Royal Road and the Grass Porridge Cult became a medium for them to forget their anxiety.

It wasn’t love but a presence that warmed their hearts.

Then she was killed by the Haven Empire.

Jjanguerang!

The spoon fell from the hand of the worker who was eating in a restaurant alone.

He got up angrily as more men entered the restaurant.

“Those dogs”

“Hey. The meal?”

“The meal isn’t important right now. Let’s go!”

The men rushed out of the restaurant after hastily paying for the food they hadn’t eaten.

An office worked stumbled blankly.

“This is the time… No.”

He started work late due to Royal Road. And of course, the members of the Arpen Kingdom’s Grass Porridge Cult!

There was tremendous fury over this incident as one member tried to contact their company.

He was going to ask to leave the officer early but the deputy chief had his phone turned off.

“What is it? It is a difficult day.”

After failing to contact the team leader, the worker contacted the manager of the company.

He used the emergency phone but the fear of his future in the company was pushed aside. He thought he worked harder than anyone else.

“I want to take my vacation today…”

– Won-chul ssi as well?

Chief Cha Ki-hwan.

He was a person with excellent abilities who handled work strictly.

“Huh? What?”

– Goddess-nim is dead.

“Ah… Yes. That’s correct.”

Chief Cha Ki-hwan was also a member of the Grass Porridge Cult.

He barely drank tea at the company so he didn’t know.

– Leave. And do what you have to do.

* * *

Luon Media relayed the battle at Formos Castle. The hosts and cast members had received great gifts in advanced from the Hermes Guild.

They were provided with equipment, mansions and hunting grounds so they skillfully took the side of the Haven Empire.

“Haven Empire. They are strong. Putting aside their other advantages, they aren’t an opponent that can be challenged when it comes to military power. Isn’t this an empire?”

“The battle has been going on for one hour but the rebels haven’t been able to climb the walls.”

“To be precise, they are swept away before even nearing. They are courageous but it is a really meaningless death.”

“There are many heroes in the Hermes Guild. They are practically the first ones to pioneer Royal Road and many of the strongest people have joined the guild. If they do it right then this battle is already over.”

The hosts and cast members emphasized the strength and splendour of the Haven Empire several times.

The viewers on the bulletin boards also followed the atmosphere set by the hosts as they amazed over the Haven Empire’s incredible strength.

Luon Media was an Internet only channel and showed in multiple Asian countries. The audience ratings weren’t high but they had a lot of recognition.

“It isn’t possible to win this war. The battle will eventually end with the death of all the rebelling users.”

“The Haven Empire has strong military power based on their experience of conquering the Central Continent and they are leading with magic. It is a crucial advantage. Even though some things aren’t working properly, the Hermes Guild’s rule is still strong.

“Then no one can bring down the Haven Empire?”

“Nothing is impossible. Something like the Embinyu Church that affects the continent or a dragon attack.”

“Haha. Those things are unlikely.”

“That’s right. The Haven Empire is already too tough to break down.”

The hosts relaxed as the general users were defeated at Formos Castle.

At that moment, a female user riding a wyvern appeared on the screen.

The user relaying Luon Media the video was on the wall of Formos Castle so they couldn’t properly recognize her.

Then the wyvern crashed due to the magic attacks and Seo-yoon’s face was shown on the screen.

“Eh? The face of that female user… Very beautiful.”

“I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before.”

“She looks like the star sculpture that Weed…”

Seo-yoon’s popularity was so great that the hosts and cast members quickly recognized her.

“Breaking news. The production team is saying that she is the goddess of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Is this authentic information?”

“It is information obtained from the rebel camp.”

“She also came on a wyvern. Wyvern. Is that Wy-3?”

They pretended to be surprised but then the magic attacks hit her.

“Ah. The power of the Haven Empire is so strong. Can she get out of that crisis?”

“Too reckless. A dragon knight from the myths? She can’t change the disadvantageous situation just because she was on a wyvern.”

“The mana consumption has increased. This is the limit.”

The hosts were on the side of the Haven Empire. They had received things from the Hermes Guild so they had to pay the price.

Seo-yoon wielded a sword but the result was her death.

The hosts suddenly became alert.

‘Hermes Guild… She isn’t just a pretty girl!’

‘A famous user. She is Weed’s girlfriend. Won’t Weed clash with the Hermes Guild due to this?’

‘What about Formos Castle? Aren’t the audience ratings rising a little bit? Then I should negotiate my performance fee again…’

As the hosts were thinking, the PD’s urgent voice was heard in their earphones.

– It has become too big. Broadcast carefully! You have to be upright right now.

“Ah… By the way, shouldn’t we criticize that magic attack?”

“Yes. I don’t know what is going on but those magic attacks are too much. It is very serious.”

“It might be unavoidable because it is a battlefield but those magic attacks were ruthless.”

The hosts hurriedly changed their attitudes as they mourned Seo-yoon’s death.

* * *

Shortly after Seo-yoon’s death was reported, the Internet communities were frozen due to the shock. Then the bulletin boards started going crazy.

– Was the broadcast just now right?

– Is it a mistake? It has to be.

– She should be in the Arpen Kingdom… It is natural to stay at Earth Palace.

– I saw her at the green fountain just a few hours ago. It is just a rumour.

– No. I’m certain. The video of Wy-3 is properly captured.

The bulletin boards heated up as more broadcast videos of Seo-yoon appeared.

The rankings of every search site were related to Seo-yoon.

– 1. Seo-yoon

– 2. Death of the Grass Porridge Goddess

– 3. Seo-yoon and Formos Castle

– 4. Seo-yoon’s Looks

– 5. Seo-yoon Died

– 6. Seo-yoon and Weed

– 7. Wy-3

– 8. Formos Castle

– 9. Goddess Seo-yoon

– 10. The Hermes Guild and Seo-yoon

Analysis of the broadcast videos popped up and they accepted Seo-yoon’s death as a fact.

– The Hermes Guild has crossed the last line.

– Weed-nim can die. But she… She is not to be harmed.

– We will accept this as a formal declaration of war against the Grass Porridge Cult!

– I went crazy when I watched the broadcast. I almost went to the station to commit a terror act.

– Shut up, let’s connect. Is now the time to be talking?

The connection rate to Royal Road started to explode.

The number of people wandering the streets were reduced and taxis were rarely seen on the roads.

It became as quiet as when a national drama that reached 60% audience ratings was aired.

On the other hand, the capsule rooms all over the city were crowded.

“Mister. Is there a room?”

“No.

“How long is the wait?”

“You have to wait over 8 hours. There are many people waiting so it might even go up to 20 hours.”

There was a big stir in the capsule rooms of large cities.

Seo-yoon’s popularity in Korea was no surprise, but people from China, Japan, the United States and other countries around the world accessed Royal Road.

TL Note: I’ve basically caught up with the raws now. Volume 49 has just been released in Korea but it will take a while for the raws to spread in a form that I can have access and translate.

Now for some bit of news. As some people know, this is my last year of university so I am becoming extremely busy. Therefore, I neither have the time nor inclination to run this site anymore, especially when most of my stories are being posted in Gravity Tales, which is much easier due to auto next chapter buttons, auto table of contents, etc.

Thus, once my current hosting plan expires in June, I am going to let it run out and not renew it. LMS will probably be transferred to Gravity Tales. This includes volume 21,22 and 27 that I am going to retranslate as well as any new chapters.

For everything else, I am leaving a backup on my old website, which has reverted to the free version: arkmachinetranslations.wordpress.com. Any chapters that aren’t on that website (that isn’t LMS) will be transferred over.

Another thing, I will probably be deleting the Demon KIng’s Game chapters. This is because I feel like I didn’t do justice to the story with my translations and if anyone ever picks it up again, I would prefer they start from the beginning. They will stay up until this site is deleted, so you have ~4 months to make copies, epubs, pdfs or whatever you like.

Anyway, that is the last thing I have to say. I will also write this in an announcement for people who aren’t up to date and will leave an announcement when everything is transferred to Gravity Tales.

Edit: Everyone, I’m not stopping my translations. I will still be continuing at Gravity Tales, I am just deleting this website.

Chapter 1: The Marching Begins

The Sculptural Lifeform wyvern Wy-3!

Weed’s eyes were filled with tears while watching Wy-3’s ripped wings falling down.

“I told you that you should watch out anywhere you go. You can’t get hurt carelessly because you’re a great mobile slave.”

– Kkuukkuuu

Wy-3 only had 20% of its health when it was summoned by Weed. It was one of the wyverns, the first sculptures to be given life by Weed with his sculpting skill.  That’s why it was developing for a long time. Although it was a medium level creature with 500 000 HP, it still got severely injured.

An army of Death Knights, ghosts and skeletons were standing in straight lines next to Weed.

As always, he was hunting, leading the undead as a necromancer as usual.

“But where did you get hurt?”

While Weed was saying these words, an atmosphere of suspicion could be felt.

He sensed the yellow dust, fine dust, and food smells.

“Wy-3, there shouldn’t be a lot of enemies that could hurt you.. Since you can fly in the sky and be careful, if you sensed a danger, you should have been able to quickly run away.”

Other than the time fighting with the Immortal Legion, wyverns had never lost their lives pointlessly.

Even when Weed had brought them to a battle, they had never gotten severely hurt.

“Seo-Yoon asked me to summon you, and doing it used a lot of mana. That means it was a fairly distant place.”

One by one, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit.

Wy-3 was in a fallen position, but he tossed and turned his body in order to lie down.

“Central continent area? It shouldn’t be near the Northern border. Also, there is no trace of ice on the body.”

– Because I was hurt, I can’t remember anything Master.

“If you don’t remember, it probably means that you committed a sin. From your posture, it looks like you’re not afraid of anything.”

– How can you perceive it like that?

“Criminals always say that. If they don’t remember, they are guilty. So probably…”

Weed closed his eyes.

It was because the worst possible situation he didn’t want to imagine came to his mind.

Weed heavily spat out the words.

“Is Seo-Yoon… Is she in danger right now?”

*****

Yoo-rin was listening to the people while drawing pictures on the Lordearon river.

“I heard that Hermes Guild killed the Goddess.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It was broadcasted.”

“No. No matter how soon… Have they sent assassins to the Earth Palace?”

The words about Earth Palace caught Yoo-rin’s attention. Because that place had a deep connection with her brother.

“I heard that the Goddess appeared in the battle of Formos Castle. And she died because of magic attacks.”

“Hermes Guild…”

“I don’t think that we can leave those guys alone anymore.”

As Yoo-rin listened to the people’s words, she understood what had happened.

‘She… died’

In Royal Road, death doesn’t mean that the real life of a person is gone. However, her thoughts got complicated.

“What’s going to happen in the future?”

Since Yoo-rin was Weed’s younger sister, she knew him better than anyone else. Anyone that was close to Weed knew that he put money first and had an excellent sense of combat and military tactics…

But there was one secret that only his family knew.

‘He will always pay back his grudges’

The power of memories will find its own way.

‘But why did she die?’

On the other hand, strange thoughts reached Yoo-rin’s head.

While she was ruling the Arpen Kingdom, she didn’t fully show just how wise she could be.

Weed was the one taking care of family affairs, collecting all the receipts and planning everything to make sure that no money was leaking out: the receipt for the 200 won more expensive salt was still attached to the kitchen door! Due to his meticulous care, there hadn’t been many times when he had lost money, but Seo-Yoon was smart enough to write a computer program that was simple to use and enabled them to minimize their living expenses…

‘It’s true she is kind, but she is smart as well. If all this happened, the Arpen Kingdom and Haven Empire might even go to war against each other. Would she have acted without knowing that this would happen?’

*****

Poohol waterpark!

“Kyaaak”

“Ooowa!”

After having finished hunting Demons, Palin and her colleagues were enjoying themselves.

“We worked hard, so let’s enjoy ourselves for a month.”

“The water is really clear and nice here.”

“The bodies of men… hoo. Did only Warriors gather here? I like smooth, solid, and firm bodies. Hehe.”

“If the swimming suit showed just a little bit more…”

They enjoyed the warm sunshine and clear water.

Even though there were lots of dangerous rides that threatened their life, they were safe rides for the strong users.

< Water slide created by Weed

Strongly recommended to the people who have no fear of heights.

The feeling that you can’t feel on the ground.

Till now 973 people have died

The number of injured visitors is not included >

< Water labyrinth created by Weed!

In this place lives, water droplets that like to prank.

They enjoy making mazes inside the water in order to scare those who enter.

Even though there is no safe route, you have to escape to the exit!

If you are trapped for a long time, you have to drink lots of water.

Till now the number of drowned people is 0.

The number of people who were trapped there for 2 hours is not included >

They were comrades who explored the Celestial City and hunted while riding on the wyverns or ghost horses, so they didn’t pay attention to the rides that much.

At that time the men, who were playing in the water, passed by.

“It’s the Geomchi group.“

“Yes, you’re right”

Geomchi disciples always gathered in Poohol waterpark. They had bodies that were full of muscles and while walking, they caught the eyes of beautiful women.

“Look at those abs every time they breathe..”

“Wow. That forearm…”

Finally, Weed’s elder brothers became popular!

There was no doubt that it was the time to start love affairs for the first time since Poohol Waterpark was established.

“Uuuuakk!”

Then a scream could be heard in the pool.

People turned their heads, thinking that someone has fallen into the pool, but there was a man lying down and screaming out.

He was watching a broadcast of Royal Road!

“The goddess passed away!”

The man screamed loudly.

At that moment it seemed that everything in Poohol Waterpark stopped.

The people who were walking, the youths who were playing in the pool, everyone just froze.

“Hey. No way…”

“Maybe you’re still sleepy. That’s nonsense.”

“It’s true. She passed away.”

“What the… It’s for real?”

“No. This can’t have happened.”

But it wasn’t just that man, others who were watching the broadcast soon found out about Seo-Yoon’s death. The news about Seo-Yoon’s death was passed on by whispers, the channels, and networks. It spread through the entire Northern area in just one or two minutes.

“Unbelievable”

The people who were playing in the pool were talking.

“Hermes Guild again?”

“How… How did it happen?”

The always lively Poohol waterpark looked like it got hit by falling bombs.

*****

The Mapan Trading Company in the North!

Big orders were pouring to The Mapan Trading Company in Morata.

“150 000 arrows.”

“The swordsmen from Varna harbor came for a 300 000 bags order.”

“The order for 7 000 000 bags to the Earth Palace came again?”

“Yes. They asked to deliver as soon as we can.”

The Mapan Trading Company wasn’t the only one which had to deal with big orders, the same thing was happening to the merchant Gamong.

Local merchants usually operate their stores with a certain amount of inventory.

Even so, there was a huge demand from the locals.

“I want the leftover weapons…”

“Now stocks are…”

“I will take anything.”

Northern users were collecting weapons and armors. Users had to stand in line in order to buy something, and because of that, the stocks in the stores were depleted.

The Northern Mapan Trading Company and the merchant Gamong’s stores had stockpiled large quantities of starter supplies.

Blacksmiths improved their abilities by making goods.. It didn’t matter that they were beginner’s goods: as long as blacksmiths sold the products they made, their skills were increasing.

Of course, in the Arpen Kingdom, there were lots of beginners who were gathering and spending money, so focusing on starter supplies was not a problem: if you gather 10 silver or 20 silver each time, in the end you’re going to earn a lot of money.

However, the quantity of user purchases increased so quickly that it became difficult to take out the required quantity from the warehouse.

“Let’s go hunting.”

“Right. But first, let’s try to put on some equipment.”

The users, in order to get some arrows or weapons, swept all the dungeons.

*****

In the Hermes Guild, the news about Seo-Yoon’s death broke out at the same time.

“So why?”

In their perspectives, Lafaye and the administration office were getting beaten up. He was asking why the famous Seo-Yoon interfered in the battle of Formos castle.

Everyone in Royal Road knew the nature of the relationship between Weed and her.

“Since this famous user died… the announcement is going to be big.”

“Things won’t stop here. A war with the Arpen Kingdom can arise.”

“Would they dare to go against us? They shouldn’t be prepared for a war, right?”

“Well, we are like them. The army, that was preparing for a war, was sent to stop the rebels.”

The Hermes Guild sent a spy to the Arpen Kingdom in order to take a look at the situation. They didn’t even see a single sign of invading the Haven Empire.

Also, the Arpen Kingdom doesn’t have a strong army, so they couldn’t even organize an army training for the war.

As for the Haven Empire, which doesn’t even share big borders with the North, it had problems with those who opposed the emperor and Haven’s Empire.

Lafaye’s head was splitting with a headache.

“On the surface, there is almost no movement in the North, yet it is now that Seo-Yoon chose to go to the Central Continent and die…”

Even though he was curious about the intention, this situation was too big.

“What if we get ready for a war with the Arpen Kingdom? I don’t know how much they want to fight us, but… the small-scale battles will be the most annoying.”

Lafaye felt that ruling the Haven Empire increased the number of things to worry about: the Central Continent had to be conquered, the guilds that were there had to be brought to ruin, and the complaints of the users had to be eased

It may have looked like that the Hermes Guild had weakened, but it was actually the opposite.

Even though in the Central Continent the economic power, centered on tax collection wasn’t the same as it had been in the past, there were exclusive hunting areas and quests.

Even if the hunting areas were open to other users, since the prestigious guilds were all gone, the large-scale monsters’ hunts were always led by the Hermes Guild.

There were lots of complaints from the general users, but the high-level users were working together with the Hermes Guild and were becoming friendlier.

Among them, there were useful users who were accepted by Hermes Guild. The residents who learned special skills through the quests, the high-ranking knights, the soldiers and the magicians all had their uses.

Since the area, population, and economy were great in the Central Continent, the Hermes Guild had almost doubled its members in a short period of time.

“If you set the public opinion at ease… then even if you force users to follow and believe in the Hermes Guild a little bit, everything will get solved.”

But now Lafaye felt that he just tripped on stones and was falling down.

In the history of Royal Road, events always unfolded the same way: in the end, only the strongest would survive.

“I didn’t want to use force yet. Even though I want to get rid of the Arpen Kingdom, first I will make the Haven Empire perfect and then destroy it. If only I had more time…”

While Lafaye was ruminating over his concerns, the users who were in the administration office were discussing something else.

“Seo-Yoon. Her popularity should be considered. The scene where she dies will increase the number of haters of our guild.”

“How about broadcasting stations? Should we ask to delete the videos?”

“We shouldn’t do that. Since it has high viewing ratings, other major broadcasting stations, who didn’t get to broadcast the scene, are thinking about putting them up. ”

“Some of the broadcasting stations are reporting it as a breaking news already.”

“Since it has already gone to the internet, what’s the point of talking about that?”

Hermes Guild wanted to show off its power while using a broadcasting station, but it showed the guild’s worst image.

“I don’t know if the video is fortunate or unfortunate, but rebel forces won’t increase. Since most of the users have already come out.”

“It’s hard to make a plan. How is the battle of Formos Castle going?”

“At this moment we are relaxingly taking care of it because of the troops, which were deployed to that place, are powerful.”

Lafaye, while listening to the talks of administrative officers, made a decision.

“We will take the matter of the Arpen Kingdom and Weed seriously. If they keep quiet, we will leave them for a while, but if they challenge us… The Haven Empire will change back to its conquest war system.”

Conquest war system.

It means that it will return to the system that was created during the unification of the Central Continent.

The Hermes Guild users who were in the room were surprised, and their eyes started to shine.

Giant knight Bohemod said while smiling.

“I thought you said that we wouldn’t change back if there was no war??”

“That is true. I said that after the empire was founded, we only needed to focus on internal strength and maintain its advantage.”

In Royal Road, no one could stand against Haven Empire’s strength.

The Northern military expedition had to go back defeated. Rebels from prestigious guilds were active and had enough people, but didn’t have strength.

It was more important to gain strength now than at the time when the Empire was established.

“Little by little, the Arpen Kingdom is getting more dangerous. I was trying to stabilize the base for the long-term rule, but we’re short on time.”

“Then what should we do?”

“I will release one of the 5 secret Guardians.”

The Hermes Guild users’ and especially the administration officers’ eyes widely opened.

The five great powers that Lafaye had prepared since the time of the Haven Kingdom.

Smart rabbits don’t dig only one hole while preparing for dangerous situations.

He tried to hide it as long as possible then release it at the last minute, but he felt like it needed to be released earlier.

“Then which one first…?”

“The already finished combat golem. The golem will be enough.”

“If you want to release it in secret, it will take around 10 days.”

“Just let them laugh and smile till that day. We have to let them enjoy one last time.”

*****

Lee Hyun disconnected from Royal Road and came out of the capsule.

*Bogul* *Bogul*

In the kitchen, Seo-Yoon was cooking soy-bean stew.

“Are you alright?”

“Yes, the taste is good.”

“About your death…”

Lee Hyun tried to be empathatic and comfort her.

Seo-Yoon, who had a high level in Royal Road, will receive so much damage.

‘Level, skill proficiency, equipment!’

Even during his noob days, Lee Hyun felt the pain of somebody stealing and running away with his money whenever he died. He had never lent money, but still felt the same feeling!

“Try it.”

“Eum… that’s delicious.”

“It’s good, right? Since it’s dinner, I will cook some meat in the garden.”

“Meat…”

“Grilled meat. I will set a fire plate, so let’s eat soon.”

“Alright.”

Lee Hyun and Seo-Yoon decided not to talk about the death in Royal Road.

‘There’s no reason to talk about the scar. Her heart must already be hurting so much. She is trying to eat meat and feel a little bit better.”

Seoyoon was satisfied while making dishes.

‘Soy bean stew turned out well. I prepared some side dishes in the morning as well.’

At first, it was a difficult dish to make, but later the taste from all the ingredients came out well.

Fish or meat cooking skills made a huge progress as well.

She was happiest when she made some tasty food and ate it together with Lee Hyun while sharing a simple conversation with him.

*****

When Weed connected to Royal Road, his location was in Bayar Maze.

The maze was in a mountainous region behind Vargo Fortress and was infamous for being endless: you wouldn’t be able to explore it all even if you wandered in it for over 10 days.

He heard rumors that there was a portal leading to an unknown area, but he still couldn’t find it.

“Kchem”

Weed sat down on a stone and was lost in thought. There were skulls all around him.

He left a trail of fierce battles as he traveled with the Skeletons and Death Knights.

As they were passing through, many units of undead started to fight with monsters.

The role of a Necromancer wasn’t to surround each enemy with all undead at once.

It was to overwhelm the opposing side by spreading their numbers and endlessly summoning new undead.

“Well, what to do now?”

Weed viewed some responses on the internet forum before connecting.

Seo-Yoon’s death received a huge response during broadcasting as well, but the responses in the forum revealed the honest opinions of the public.

– Destroy the Hermes Guild!

– We have to sweep them out of the continent completely. Let’s erase them!!

– They are dangerous beings to the Versailles Continent. They dare to hurt even the  Goddess?!

– I’m making a list of all their evil deeds. Currently, 389 pages of A4 are completed. Download the whole file!

– I heard rumors that there are resistance movements forming in the Gradian Kingdom. I want to join it.

– Let’s bring freedom back to our land.

Users were rising like clouds, holding banners against the Haven Empire.

If Weed had said anything about fighting with the Haven Empire a few days ago, the Northern users would have been annoyed about it.

You never know when the conquest will finish and you also have to consider the possibility of being defeated.

However, after Seo-Yoon’s death, the Northern users voluntarily wanted to march to the Haven Empire and even made plans of conquest.

– Poisonous mushroom porridge. Kuhuheuk. Can there be such a death as sad as hers? For this bitterness I want to eat poisonous mushroom porridge, but I’m going to endure for today. I found something I certainly have to do, so I have to survive no matter what.

– Chicken Rice Porridge has about 1 500 000 people. Ready to fly.

– Bamboo Shoots Porridge. Troops of Earth Palace. Ready for a battle. Ready to march anytime.

– We are the Steel Porridge. Please ask us if you need any weapons or armor. We blacksmiths are making equipment without sleep. If you bring your own materials, everything will be made for free.

– We are the Fire Porridge. We also make equipment. Combat materials and supplies. Producing endlessly.

– We are the Pork Porridge. We were pushed back by the Beef Porridge, so our popularity decreased a bit. But our courage is the best. We will bravely go to the front line!

The Grass Porridge Cult that stuck to the North.

They were voluntarily asking for the war.

It was to the point where Ginseng Porridge, Acorn Porridge, Sesame Porridge, Chestnut Porridge and Bug Porridge were organizing an army between themselves and were getting ready to march to the Haven Empire border.

There were many beginners in the Grass Porridge Cult and the North had a strong tradition of adventuring. No one thought of someone dying as anything serious.

However, Seo-Yoon’s dying face when she was killed by the Haven Empire and the Hermes Guild made them want to fight.

– Let’s go.

– We are going.

– We are following.

– No matter where!

– Go, go!

– We are the unbeatable Grass Porridge Cult!

They were all comrades with the same goal and did not fear death.

The Grass Porridge Cult counted most Northern users among their ranks and was still recruiting more.

If their minds are united, even their goal to sweep the Haven Empire can be achieved.

As long as Weed or Seo-Yoon doesn’t oppose the Grass Porridge Cult’s movement.

“It’s not like it can’t be stopped.”

In any case, Northern users respected Weed..

Although Weed was fighting against the Haven Empire’s evil jobs, if he asked them not to fight, his words will have some effects.

The users of Grass Porridge Cult may be greatly disappointed, but he might even be able to stop the war.

“But I don’t want to say that.”

Weed was quick to notice things.

He had an ability to identify if a conspiracy was forming somewhere and instinctively knew if someone there was talking behind someone else’s back!

He could feel how things were going through instinct.

‘Seo-Yoon… she wouldn’t have died for no reason.’

She even rode Wy-3 to the battlefield and still lost her life.

‘Even though Seo-Yoon tends to be kind, she’s not an idiot.’

If you looked at her ability to gather information during the Lord of the Desert quest or considered the way she governed the Arpen Kingdom temporarily, you would have to say she was incredibly smart.

Just like how Weed was skilled with money and had the ability to break through a crisis, Seo-Yoon didn’t miss even the tiniest of details.

She was able to quickly understand the flow of a problem and was able to identify the regions of the Arpen Kingdom that were going the wrong way while finding correct solutions.

Even though she obviously knew that she would die, she still went to the Haven Empire. Why did she do it then?

Seeing the responses of everyone, Weed understood the reason.

‘For me. For the Arpen Kingdom. To stop the growth of the Haven Empire.’

At the moment, Weed hesitated to use the death of Seo-Yoon.

Since she was like part of the family, he didn’t want to use family’s death for his success.

‘Using her death for success is the worst thing to do. It would be better to have the Arpen Kingdom fall.’

If Weed had known about this unimaginable plan, he would have done anything to stop her. However,  Seo-Yoon already died.

He was worried whether it was right to stop the situation that was already caused by her death.

‘Seo-Yoon sacrificed herself for me. But is it right to make her death worthless?’

While thinking about that, Weed made a decision.

It wasn’t his or Seo-Yoon’s fault. The matter needed to be resolved first and he would just make the Haven Empire or the Hermes Guild take the blame.

‘It’s alright. At times like this, you use the “bad guys.”  The people who are always cursed get cursed more and the people who are praised get praised more.’

*****

The Haven Empire’s Northern area.

There was much tension in the city Ilsram which shared its border with the Arpen Kingdom.

“They are coming.”

“The scouts?”

“They don’t have such a thing.”

“So how did you get to know about it?”

“Watching the broadcasts. On all of KMC media’s channels, all the Northern users are marching.”

Members of the Hermes Guild gathered at the Lord Castle of Ilsram city. There were twelve members from the administrative office among them.

“Turn on the broadcast.”

“Yes. I will turn on KMC media.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s my favorite.”

“…”

The large crystal ball hanging on the Lord Castle’s wall was lit.

You can watch the television on it by using a charged mana stone or by using a wizard’s mana.

– Looks like there’s no end to them.

– It’s impossible to count the numbers.

– Surprisingly, those troops that are marching are only the first part.

– The first part?

Gulp.

Hermes Guild members, who were watching the crystal ball, felt a cold sweat run down their backs.

“At least over 100 000.”

“Ah… my head. It’s the end. They are coming to our city.”

– The Grass Porridge Cult’s manpower is very impressive. When is the main force is coming?

– That’s not even the leading group. It’s only a part of the Acorn Porridge.

– It’s my first time hearing about the Acorn Porridge.

– It’s a small part of troops in the Grass Porridge Cult. I heard that the Bugs Porridge is marching to the nearby villages and conquering their major facilities at the moment.

– Did you say Bugs Porridge? Ha ha ha. What an interesting name.

– They can’t be treated as a joke. Bugs Porridge uses pitch-black swords and armor.

– Is the uniform their special feature?

– Yes. They are the rulers of the night who regularly hunt in the dungeons. It is said that they are the masters of assassination and battle.

– I heard that there are users who have different jobs as well.

– The bug trainers. They raise insects and can control them as subordinates… But there’s no further information about them.

– How?

– For some reason, the people who saw the bug trainers don’t say any word about them. Looks like we will be able to see them for the first time at the battle of Ilsram.

“Kchem”

Lord Alto almost bit his tongue.

Even if they only welcomed the Grass Porridge Cult, the outcome of the battle can be imagined if they were to fight.

‘The Bugs Porridge!’

Truth be told, Ilsram fell short of the Central Continent’s standards.

The rise of development, economy, and technology was low. As for the population, most of the users left for the North, so it was empty.

But still, Alto made a grin and smiled.

‘People should know how to stand in line.’

He became a lord in the Hermes Guild just because they offered money. And when the Grass Porridge Cult offered him a position, he accepted it without thinking twice.

It was a betrayal to the Hermes Guild, but he could just cross over to the Arpen Kingdom.

“There is nothing good left in the Haven Empire, so what?”

He provided secret bases and transportation routes after accepting bribes.

‘There’s no reason for us to be robbed by the Grass Porridge Cult. My disaster will pass onto the other lords.’

Lord Alto finished his thoughts and quickly stood up.

“Let’s prepare to welcome our guests.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Clean the rooms in the inns… The Lord’s Castle won’t be enough. Let’s at least put a mattress in the hallway. Catch some bugs for our guests who train insects as well.”

*****

Northern users were flocking to the Harpan area.

There were lots of banners of the Grass Porridge Cult, but there were also some users that wanted revenge and crossed the border.

As soon as Seo-Yoon died, the users gathered by themselves and without preparation for the war, they started to march south.

“Let’s sweep it all!”

“It’s a conquest. A conquest.”

It was a completely new experience for the users who started at the Arpen Kingdom and Morata, but to the users who were kicked out from the Central Continent, crossing the Forus River made them remember the past.

“We came back to the Central Continent’s land from where we were kicked out of.”

“At that time it was only us, but now lots of users have gathered.”

During the establishment of Morata, many users from the Central Continent crossed over to the North in order to avoid the Hermes Guild’s persecution.

Now, the Northern users couldn’t be ignored because of the increased number of their comrades.

Although their levels weren’t high, they believed in each other while gathering strength and the area turned into a new country.

As the Arpen Kingdom grew, the users who escaped from the Central Continent found a new hope.

It was the hope and dream of Royal Road being a happy world.

Since the real world was so difficult to live in, there would be more users who would fall for Royal Road.

However, power dominated everything even in this new world. Many users were afraid of this power, but Seo-Yoon’s death caused the anger that was held in by them to explode…

Not because a beautiful woman and the Grass Porridge Clan’s Goddess, died, but because of what she represented.

“Let’s do what we can do. It’s troublesome to stay in a place like this for a long time.”

“Yes, since many users are gathering, we shouldn’t take too long.”

Users that escaped from the Central Continent were confident in their own combat strength.

When they moved to the North because the Hermes Guild chased them out, they weren’t well. But to forget that sadness, everyone in the Arpen Kingdom was absorbed in hunting and completed quests.

They became much stronger than before and wanted to show their skills in the Central Continent.

“If the village is small and there is no deployed army, let’s invade it by ourselves.”

“Those with a knight position in the Arpen Kingdom are heading this way, so it will be easy to conquer.”

“Let’s put the users with high infamy at the back. It’s not good to cause troubles. If you cause troubles, Arpen Kingdom’s reputation will drop.”

“Between us, there aren’t many people with high infamy. Well, it was a bit different back when we were in the Central Continent. So rest easy”

Ddiring!

< Conquest of the territory!

The knight Lwee Yali conquered the Bekan village.

The 876 people happily agreed to become residents of the Arpen Kingdom.

From this moment onward, this land will be known as a part of the Arpen Kingdom as long as it is not occupied by an enemy army and there are no uprisings. >

Lords of the Haven Empire surrendered all their villages, mines and farms and gave up on defense.

The activities of the Bugs Porridge and high level users were transmitted through the Grass Porridge network: it was the Porridge Security Conference (PSC).

While the marching soldiers collected information, the leaders of the porridge units led the armies to conquer other major cities.

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

“Blow the grass reed with all your strength.”

“Ginseng Porridge. Before the battle takes places, let’s enjoy the bowl of 13 years old Ginseng Porridge that the Elves cultivated.”

There were units with more than a million marching Northern users.

They were great people individually, even though there were others who grabbed more attention and were either Arpen Kingdom users or former Central Continent users.

The users who were on Royal Road and other people online were watching the march of the Northern users.

It was obvious that all broadcasting stations decided to air this scene live.

The first city was Ilsram!

Lord Alto opened the castle’s gates and welcomed the Northern users.

“You did a great job at traveling such a long way. We welcome all guests who reached Ilsram.”

At the castle gates and inside the castle, Northern users were passionately welcomed.

Lord Alto even invited bards to have a concert.

The Haven Empire lords who were in the Harfan region were shocked by that scene.

“He betrayed the Hermes Guild?”

“Well, there wasn’t much he could do. What are we going to do?”

The problem wasn’t that the Arpen Kingdom easily took over Ilram city, but that the Northern user’s attacks would soon be directed straight at them.

At that moment, the Hermes Guild was also troubled.

“I have to send an army to stop the Northern users. But it takes time to build up good soldiers.”

Lafaye and the commanding officers of the Hermes Guild did not have enough time to prepare a countermeasure.

He had to gather troops, provide supplies for the battle and find ways to move to the North in order to attack.

It wasn’t as simple as walking around with swords like how the Northern users were doing.

“We can’t afford to lose our dignity by having the Haven Empire’s territory be invaded.”

“Honor and spirit. We can’t lose these things.”

“Won’t the lords endure somehow? Since there are many troops of the Imperial Army stationed near the Arpen Kingdom. ”

“First, let’s send reinforcements quickly.”

In order to match the Northern users, they had to gather more troops.

Even before the Haven Empire army’s arrival, Northern users were spreading around the Harpan region.

“We are the Poisonous Mushroom Porridge!”

“The Barley Porridge arrived.”

“Supporting troops of the Beans Porridge has arrived.”

“The Sweet Potato Porridge, the Stone Porridge and the Crab Porridge are waiting.”

Even though the Harpan region was at the edge of the Central Continent, it still had strong fortresses and city walls.

Since the Northern users were hurrying to cross the city walls without having any weapons and gears, hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives pointlessly.

On the other hand, on the Haven Empire’s side, more people were alive than dead.

“Everyone focus and work together. The enemies are weak and don’t have any grand magic or siege weapons. This place won’t collapse!”

The Hermes Guild members who led the Imperial Army were confident.

As long as Royal Road’s special mana and magic arrows existed, enemies of any sizes could be stopped.

Usually, the defending troops of siege warfare should be attacked by troops three times their size to fall. Depending on the situation, even troops hundreds of times bigger might not be able to make them fall.

The Hermes Guild members were anticipating the battle since they could achieve new records for warfare.

“Let’s use the Feather of Lightness.”

On the Northern user’s side, there was a suggestion from the native air troops.

This item can be called a special product from the city Lavia.

This item can make the body’s weight as light as a feather and give the ability to fall from a high place to the ground without harm.

Although it can’t be used during the battle, it was useful while taking over a fortress in a mountainous region.

“But the Feathers of Lightness aren’t good to use in a battle, right?”

One member asked a question.

“Right. Since you are flying slowly, you are an easy target.”

“That’s a big drawback.”

“It will be alright if we use it during the night. They will still try to respond somehow, but if about 100 000 people were to jump over the fortress wall, some of them are bound to land. Those can infiltrate the fortress while the others act as a diversion.”

“I don’t know. Well, even if this plan fails, we will find another way.”

Just like that, 100 000 people were sent.

The Northern users decided to move as planned since they thought it was going to be amusing.

An operation in the middle of the night!

The Haven Empire responded with fire arrows and magic attacks.

It was inevitable that there wasn’t enough firepower and especially since they were nowhere close to the middle of the Central Continent. They only lasted till the following morning.

It was the victory of the Northern users.

Within 5 days, the Northern users had occupied 27% of the Harpan region.

There was no movement from the Grass Porridge Cult units in Morata, Vargo Fortress or the Dawn City. Despite the so-called urgency, the units were standing in line.

After the Lwee Yali fortress was conquered, the lords of the Haven Empire started to lose the will to resist. They were at a disadvantageous position in the war against the Grass Porridge Cult.

Even if the Haven Empire’s reinforcement troops were to arrive a few days later, the lords had no choice but to surrender because the city would be destroyed by then.

“I can’t lose my city and the residents all at once.”

“The Haven Empire won’t leave us alone.”

“Let’s look for chances… when the Northern users show any weak spot, we should rebel.”

“But if we do that, the public opinion of us won’t be good.”

“That’s why we have to act after watching the situation. If needs it, we can just leave the city after taking everything there is.”

After the Haven Empire’s lords surrendered, they decided to act after seeing how the situation unfolded.

If the Haven Empire started to quickly regain its territory, they would stand next to them and fight against the Arpen Kingdom.

However, after the Northern users quickly settled into their cities, they lost the chance to go back to the Haven Empire…

*****

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

“Wow… the guild facilities in this city are quite good. The stores are big and there are lots of supplies.”

“It’s because it’s the Central Continent.”

“It’s my first time in the Central Continent. Overflowing money and technology. Wow… But of course, the Arpen Kingdom is better.”

“Now this place is also a part of the Arpen Kingdom.”

Northern users came through the widely opened gates and peacefully took over the city.

Even though they only used stores and facilities, the users completely changed the city.

For each 2 users that were here before the Northern users took over, 100 new users from the North had come, maybe even more!

The lords opened their eyes widely at the sight of how the sales of weapon stores, armor stores, and general merchandise stores were soaring at the trading post.

“Yesterday’s sales were exceeded by 84 times, especially the sales of pork and chicken… Ah. The Pork Porridge and the Chicken Porridge troops arrived a while ago.”

“Looks like they are buying everything. Except for the expensive weapons, obviously… Is this the joy the lords of the Arpen Kingdom experience? ”

The lords of the Haven Empire received lots of disadvantages; those being in a remote region, that is.

Even though there are lots of users who take long distance adventures, it’s very rare for new users to start in a city which is in the middle of nowhere.

Usually, new users choose the capitals of each region of the Haven Empire or the Arpen Kingdom, so these remote areas are widely neglected.

Even though the lords were trying to develop the city, the number of goods that were consumed remained at a moderate level.

There were mines, but instead of exploiting them they turned to small-scale import operations, and so the mines were crowded by monsters who had to be repressed by mercenaries hired through quests.

Since the Central Continent had a high standard, it was easy to hire mercenaries, but they had always left as soon as they got their money.

“This is an opportunity. The opportunity the heavens gave me in order to develop my city.”

The lords of the Haven Empire from the Harpan region heard about the Arpen Kingdom, so the news was of critical importance to them.

Even though they were worried about the Arpen Kingdom’s development and danger, they couldn’t be happier once they changed their flags.

“Welcome to everyone from  the Grass Porridge Cult.”

“Nice to meet you. Welcome.”

“Today we are hosting a free barbeque party at the square. For the participants, the priests are going to hold a blessing ceremony.”

“Come to get a coupon! Weapon exchange coupon for the level 200 users or below. I will give that to the first 1000 people.”

The people from the broadcasting stations were baffled. They came to get news about the bloody battle, but…

“What’s going on ?”

“Why is there a festival suddenly? Are we in the right place?”

“This must be a mistake. But, there is no war at Belden City either. It seems the lord himself betrayed the Haven Empire.”

“You didn’t know that? At the Belden gates, the lord himself came and welcomed the Grass Porridge Cult. He even hung up a huge banner in celebration.”

The viewers were interested in the ongoing events, so people from the broadcasting stations decided to make a live broadcast.

They broadcasted the Northern users’ entrance and the lively faces of the city residents.

The users who were active in the region controlled by the Haven Empire and who came from the Northern part were welcomed.

– Interesting. Of course, it’s the Grass Porridge Cult.

– It’s the human-wave strategy. The signature strategy of the Grass Porridge Cult.

– Let’s have fun. This is going to be interesting.

In some parts of the Harpan region, there were fights which were ongoing between the Imperial Army and the Northern users.

The lords who couldn’t choose to surrender due to their reputation, and those who were closely related to the Haven Empire, had decided to fight.

Even though the defenders fought to the bitter end, due to the sheer numbers of the attackers the castle was eventually taken over.

After this came the plundering!

“Take all the properties of the lords and the Hermes Guild.”

“But don’t harm the citizens.”

“Take everything!”

Grains, war supplies, trading goods that were gathered in the castle’s warehouses, they were all taken by the Northern users.

They spared nothing. They even found the goods that had to be sent South, to the Haven Empire.

Even though the Northern users are righteous, they succumbed to greed.

It became a dog eat dog scenario – if you didn’t take anything, you were an idiot!

Even the Grass Porridge Cult could take everything that belonged to the lord.

They had to ask Seo-Yoon for permission, but she decided to let them plunder.

“This doesn’t belong to the Hermes Guild. Also, you would have to share with those who helped in the strike!”

The Hermes Guild owned many of the main streets and shopping centers, but these places were taken over by the Northern users.

“Cha. Many people are waiting. Everyone take three each. And let’s take only things that can be used.”

“Keep the order. Let’s take everything gracefully.”

“While plundering keeps morale up, everything is for us all.”

Soon there was chaos in several cities because of the plundering.

In the end, even the houses of regular users and locals were robbed.

Even though this was part of the war, the reputation and honor of the burglars had badly decreased.

– During the occupation the city was destroyed due to the fire and plundering.

The Arpen Kingdom’s reputation went down as the kingdom’s actions received a negative response in the nearby regions.

People from the occupied areas started to dislike the kingdom.

They had welcomed the occupants but started to suffer from the pillage.

They had to throw away their expectations and optimism about the Arpen Kingdom.

On the broadcast, it was reported as ‘indiscriminate robbery’ and ‘Hell of Confusion’.

The evaluation on the internet was also a difficult thing to understand.

In the past, when there was a war in the Central Continent, more atrocities happened. The side that won started pillaging, and the side that lost started a fire because of jealously.

But the Grass Porridge Cult’s members were still generous.

– The way to promote robbery!

Rules were made for looting, but actually, you only had to maintain the order.

The broadcasting stations had influenced Northern users to steal the Haven Empire’s property in an orderly fashion.

Since those images were broadcasted, the lords of the Haven Empire in the Harpan region lost their fighting spirit.

They surrendered to the Arpen Kingdom because they realized that if they resisted, they could lose everything.

*****

In the Grass Porridge Cult’s emergency strategy room.

A meeting was in progress over the map of the Versailles Continent

“The Haven Empire’s army is strong. That’s why it’s unreasonable to conquer all of the Central Continent.”

“Right. As for our forces right now…”

“Despite the fact that the Northern users always participate in a war, they do have limits. The Imperial Army will also meddle in the attack.”

“Looks like the Hermes Guild has a secret plot. Also, it looks like they are more concerned about the regions dealing with rebel forces and those where development is slow”

“We should show strength to discourage stubborn counterattacks.”

In the Grass Porridge Cult’s emergency strategy room, the best decisions were made using all the gathered information.

What to do with the Northern user forces, what plan to follow to reach the Central Continent, and in what circumstances.

Some of the users belonged to the Ministry of National Defense, but they supported the Grass Porridge Cult.

“We shouldn’t be satisfied with the Imperial land. For a while, there is no profit.”

“I agree. Since the Northern users are involved in a war, the production power and economy are at a decline.”

“The Versailles Continent is too wide. Even though only one region was taken, it can be said that Empire’s power has been partly reduced”

The strategists were worrying while putting down the map of the Versailles continent.

The plans to use the Arpen Kingdom’s power and to destroy the Haven Empire were put aside at the end of the discussion.

“My head hurts. The Haven Empire is very strong. The Northern users will be weakened once they arrive at the center of the Central Continent.”

“If the Empire strengthens their tactics and maneuvers, defending our territory will be challenging..”

“If it’s like that, then the war…”

“The death of the Goddess. Don’t you think that everything is going awry?”

In the minds of the people in the Grass Porridge Cult’s emergency strategy room, Weed was angry again because of their words.

As the result, a surprisingly great plan was made.

“Tear apart. Of course, it wasn’t a matter of abruptly conquering the continent.”

“That’s right. To tear it apart piece by piece. Now I understand the meaning of these words.”

The plan to make the Arpen Kingdom stronger is to tear apart the Haven Empire!

The beginning wasn’t even on the land but rather in the water.

“We have to make a statement.”

“But how…”

“All the users who don’t belong to the Hermes Guild think of us as a hope. If we surrender, that’s the end.”

The Grass Porridge Cult and the Northern users wanted to keep their pride. Even though they started Royal Road later, they didn’t want to give in without a fight.

“That’s what Weed said. To tear apart the Haven Empire.”

“Umm…”

“At that time we were too narrow-minded .”

*****

Hye, Fractal, Boromir

The 3 mad sharks of Becky Nin.

The ones who went to trade to the far-flung Southern region could not hide their joy.

“Our saviors .”

“God… Is that our Armada ?”

“There’s no doubt. We are true pirate admirals.”

A pirate!

A buccaneer that belongs to a country and sink merchants’ or enemies’ ships.

The 3 mad sharks of Becky Nin were appointed as the Arpen Kingdom’s buccaneers.

The users of Varna port and Rezard were in a conflict with the Haven Empire, so they were repressed.

The Northern coast was filled with small and medium sailing vessels, adventure ships, galleys and trading ships.

There were amulet ships for the battle and simple fishing boats.

“Let’s get some more pirates.”

“Where are you going? Huk huk huk.”

“I have a skeleton flag. How’s it? Also, there is a bad tooth on the skull.”

“♪♫♪ Nosae, nosae, nosae. Because I’m young… ♪♫♪”

“Old man, stop singing! I’m trying to fish.”

As the waves hit the seashore, more than 100,000 ships were seen.

If you compare that to the number of Northern users, it looks like a small amount, but in reality, it wasn’t.

The 3 mad sharks of Becky Nin were sailing on a ship that could board up to 150 working people.

“Give us a ride.”

“Is this ship going to the Haven Empire?”

“Old man, can we go to the Lidum region on this ship?”

“I’m looking for a ship sailing for Rhodium. I’m a warrior, I can give a hand to your crew.”

Even the regular users boarded ships like taxis!

Considering the weather and the current, they got ready to depart during the night.

Every ship was filled with supplies and trading goods.

“Set the Sails.”

Dawn.

About 100,000 ships were shining brightly and left for the South.

The 3 mad sharks of Becky Nin were leading and other ships were trailing them.

Kyaak! Kyaaa!

There were people who were annoyed by their flaps and squeezed to sit at the front of the ship.

Chapter 2: Naval Battle at Neria Sea

The Haven Imperial navy!

They were gathering at Port Borask.

“We’re the rulers of the sea. No one can fight against us.”

The Imperial Navy was very proud.

They thought that they were the best on the continent, due to their extensive technological lead and significant armaments, since the performance of the ship is crucial at sea.

The Imperial Navy gave a chance to Drinfelt and Hakim to get their revenge against the Arpen Kingdom, the memories of the hard times they went through still being vivid in their minds

– Northern users departed from the Rezad port!

– Their destination is Lidum and Rhodium. Let’s prepare to strike!

While preparing for the war, the Imperial navy’s intelligence came in handy for gaining the advantage.

“We’re also departing.”

The navy’s admiral Kalmaen decided to depart.

They got an official permission from the Hermes Guild administrative officers.

“Suppress them with power. It’s not true that we’re weak. We have to show them what’s going to happen if you fight against the Haven Empire.”

Lafaye and his comrades couldn’t afford to let Northern users enter their ports.

The Northern user’s military force wasn’t strong enough to threaten the Empire, but the Northern users were also part of that frenzied war and the situation was different from the one in the Harpan region, in which there were lots of mountains and where development was slow.

Since both Rhodium and Lidum were very rich areas with big armies, the Hermes Guild members never thought about them ever being conquered.

Still, the Northern users tried their best not to give a show which would demean the work of those who trusted them and fought for them.

Because the Hermes guild understood this, they tried not to create a scene of carnage that would make them look more like villains that they already were, so they tried to kill them decently.

“Everything needs to happen in the sea. We can’t afford to have them step on the Empire’s land.”

“Of course.”

Kalmaen led 300 heavily armed battleships, composed of galleons, carracks and other types of ships, to the East.

*****

“I see them.”

“Found the enemy fleet. Prepare for the full-on strike.”

The Haven Imperial navy discovered the huge number of ships from afar.

Since lots of users uploaded videos and started broadcasting it on the internet, information warfare didn’t have much meaning within Royal Road.

Also, the Arpen Kingdom’s fleet was able to find a suitable location which was a strategically good position before the start of the war.

“Let’s not repeat Drinfelt’s and Hakim’s mistake. I’m different from other Hermes Guild members. I’m not so careless that I would ignore my enemies. I will demonstrate my perfect skills while defeating the opponents.”

Kalmaen and other Hermes Guild users in the navy were spread according to the ocean currents and wind direction.

“Enormous.”

“Seeing it with my own eyes, it seems much grander than I thought.”

< The discovery of the enemy’s fleet!

It’s a large-scale fleet that overpowers allies. Sailors fighting spirit is reduced by 20% >

The sea was covered with boats like an endless plain or forest.

The Ships spread their sails for the south, but the exhilarating feeling in a huge battle caused them to feel fear.

Even though Kalmaen and navy users had been accustomed to naval warfare, it was their first time fighting such a large-scale battle. But they didn’t have any negative thoughts.

“The sea differs greatly from the land. The state of a battle greatly depends on ship performance and on the wind. These are important factors that determine the difference between victory and defeat.”

The Imperial navy carefully crafted tactics.

“How about the cannons?”

“We have finished loading them. We can shoot anytime.”

“Going against the wind and hitting the enemy from behind. As long as we aren’t falling, let’s do it.”

“Yes, admiral.”

The Imperial navy moved to form a long line and greeted the Northern users’ fleet.

“They are within range!”

“Fire!”

The Empire’s line of ships opened fire and launched the cannons.

With a thundering noise, flying cannonballs hit the Northern users’ ships.

Kwang kwang kwang!

Some of the cannonballs fell into the sea and caused columns of high water.

“It’s sinking!”

“Escape right now!”

Dozens of Northern users’ ships sank. Some of them were instantly destroyed while others were sinking slowly into the deep sea.

“Let’s shoot too. Fire!.”

“A single hit won’t be enough! Shoot while loading!”

The Northern users’ ships on the frontline also shot.

The cannonballs were flying near the Imperial navy ships while leaving a white smoke.

“It will be an overwhelming victory. The number of enemies doesn’t matter, what matters is the quality of the weaponry.”

Kalmaen sent a signal to the navy.

“We will continue bombarding. We have overpowered them with our fleet’s performance, so we will shoot till the end till no one is left.”

“Yes, admiral.”

The Imperial navy continued the bombardment as promised.

They shot without mercy, showering the Northern users’ fleet with cannonballs.

Even though the adventurer’s ships with high speed relocated themselves to the front, they actually became an easy target.

They couldn’t endure and sank into the sea.

“Kukukuk”

“Ah, this isn’t easy.”

Kalmaen was also tense because he saw the scale of the enemy’s fleet.

In a sea battle, the ship’s scale, performance and the range of cannons were very important.

The cannons that shot with the wind had a longer range.

Even using canons with similar specifications, the Imperial navy was at a more advantageous position, so there being a major difference between shooting range was obvious.

The Imperial navy ships were bombing enemy’s ships and moving gracefully ahead to the front.

The Northern users tried to set their sails high but they were unable to catch the Empire’s fleet as the distance between them increased as the time passed.

The Three Mad Sharks of Becky Nim were helpless in their struggle to engage the Imperial navy.

“Bastard!”

“Let’s go. Our ship can catch up with them. Their ship is too slow.”

“We can’t. Even if we were to go to the front we would get destroyed.”

The Three Mad Sharks from Becky Nim were in the centre of Northern users’ fleet.

If they were to lose, everything would be lost.

Even though the gigantic fleet of Northern users was gathered, the Imperial navy destroyed them easily.

When users die on land they lose experience, level, and items, but they are still revived again.

On the contrary destroyed and sunken ships can’t be restored.

It was a marine force that was brought from the Arpen Kingdom. Most of the ships were disappearing in the deep Neria sea.

The wide sea was filled with sunken ships, which was a cause of happiness for the members of the Hermes Guild and the Imperial navy.

“We won. We will sink them all without getting even a hair taken from us.”

“This war will be written in the history annals of naval warfare. They have already sailed too far, so they can’t return to the Arpen Kingdom.”

The Imperial navy was ready to chase the Northern users just in case they decided to turn back.

They were already prepared for what came after the victory and had a good amount of cannonballs, water, and food ready at a flick of a finger.

In the midst of Hermes Guild ships, there was a trade ship called ‘Ocean glory’ which was ready with all the commodities they would require in the future.

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge.”

Northern users sailed back to attack the Imperial army after unfolding their sails and attaining the maximum speed possible.

– Kkaaauuu!

At that time you could hear cries of avians at the sea.

The best avian users were from Chilling Wind.

The Chilling Wind tribe was the first tribe that got deployed.

– Start operation!

The avians started to fly from the Northern users’ ship decks.

The scarlet headed avians led other birds to the high sky.

– Charge towards!

Avians, who were wearing crowns that increases the impact force, flew to the Imperial Navy.

It was a damage improvement item that was only suitable for avians.

“Protect the ship.”

The Imperial Navy’s wizards were casting spells onto the incoming avians.

While numerous flames and lights were in the sky, some of the wizards were casting a protection magic.

– Break through!

– Cozy clothes!

While avoiding the magic attack, avians rushed to the ship.

There were a few avians that were killed in the air and turned into grey light.

Nevertheless, the closest ones succeeded in reaching the front of the ship line.

– Kkueeeek!

Avians crashed on the ship’s deck.

Kkuuuung!

There was slight movement at the front, but the deck didn’t break.

One member of Hermes Guild laughed out loud.

“Stupid guys. We won’t fall from that. She’s been reinforced with steel plating.”

The ship was reinforced with heavy armor!

When Yatchi and Avians heard these words, they immediately decided to send a message through the communication channel before anyone else died.

– Yatchi: It’s a steel reinforced ship. If you hit it, it gives you a headache. Reckless attacks have no meaning… Kchem.

Avians were already rushing.

They were hit by lots of magic attacks, so if they were to fly to the sky again, they would suffer from a great damage.

– Cold Wind: Even if there is no hull damage, we will aim for the sails. We have to do as much as we can!

The eyes of avians were full of strength and the wind was pushing them forward.

– Cold Wind: We are the avians who rule the sky and ride the wind. Thank you!

Northern users, especially avians, were very brave.

The vitality was low, but they only needed to spread their wings to fly.

The free souls that weren’t chained!

The avians heard about meeting Seo-Yoon, so they decided to risk their lives for her.

– Two Magpies: There is no running away. Let’s commence the bombardment. We are doing what we need to.

– Targo: I wish that all the avians would at least survive 5 minutes.

The avians rushed to the front of the ships. There was no reason to hit the decks, so they hit the sailors who were launching or preparing cannons.

Ddadadak!

“It can’t be! These bloody birds!”

With surprising skills and speed, Avians destroyed the sails.

There were no other options but to row.

Each ship was equipped with three or four sails, large and wide, but destroying just one of them was enough to significantly hinder the ship’s mobility.

“Chut. As expected.”

Kalmaen frowned while looking at the ripped and holes-ridden sails.

“I had prepared for that, but couldn’t prevent it. Now it doesn’t matter.”

If avians were to be defeated, the problem would disappear.

“Attention. Vessels that have damaged sails have to get out of the battle, go to repair themselves and return.”

Even though the Imperial Navy took their time, half of their fleet managed to leave the battlefield.

Since they were surrounded by the Northern users, in order to avoid attacks, they had to move slowly.

The fleet and battleships were making their way safely by shooting the cannons.

The sailors were hoisting the large main sails again, and in the meantime cannonballs were replenished from the cargo ships.

The Northern users were getting closer, but the Imperial navy continued to fire as they were retreating.

Northern users were hit by cannonballs as if there were lightning bolts from the thunderstorm.

Hermes Guild members suddenly started to think that it was an easy battle, but it didn’t last long.

Drrrrung!

It was a big sound of something being caught and the hulls started to shake.

“What’s wrong?”

“She can’t move!”

“It can’t be…”

It was the first time for Hermes Guild members to be embarrassed.

The most frightening thing to happen at the sea is when the ship is unable to move. And of all the possible timings, it happened during battle!

Hermes Guild members were looking at sails that were filled with the wind and felt it was strange.

“Wind is normal. What’s wrong then?”

“I think there is something fishy in the water.”

They didn’t know at all that there were Northern users in the water.

*****

Grass Porridge Cult emergency strategy room.

The elite of the navy from all over the world gathered together.

“A naval battle is unreasonable with our power. The gap between our ships or weapons and theirs is just too great.”

“But don’t we have more people and ships with us?”

“Northern users aren’t even well armed. Most of the ships belong to merchants and adventurers, and they aren’t equipped with cannons.”

“There is a clear difference in power.”

The Arpen Kingdom’s shipwright technology wasn’t as advanced as the Central Continent’s.

Shipwrights were able to construct big ships very fast, but it was rare to order cannons for the ships.

It was normal to go to a city like Becky Nim where all the pirates are gathered and mount the cannons if needed.

Northern users usually removed the cannons in order to increase the loading capacity for trade purposes and to improve the ship’s maneuverability.

Also, it was common to have poorly trained captains and sailors.

“Should we get help from the avians?”

“We wouldn’t be able to control the Imperial Navy with only their power.”

“Who’s good at the battle?”

“If the Imperial Navy isn’t stupid, it will collapse from the outside. They won’t fight seriously. As we know, they have plenty of cannons, ships and skilled sailors. We are at a big disadvantage as far as naval warfare goes.”

“So what we are going to do? Should we cancel the whole operation?”

“While using all we have, we must make a good plan.”

Naval elites researched about wars in the Neria Sea.

They believed that they have to prepare from the start of the war.

They were meeting day and night to make a decision.

“In order to win we have to fight them in the place we want. As close as we can.”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes, possible.”

“Marine tactics seem to be a little more difficult. It’s hard to match wind and currents with time.”

“Instead of making Northern users follow complicated tactics, let’s leave it for the biggest ships to lead.”

“Eum… that way.”

“And to maximize the effect, it will be good if Weed shows up in the end.”

“Also Weed?”

“It’s for the plan to be successful and to completely defeat the Imperial Navy.”

*****

The Deep sea.

At the lightless bottom of the sea, a colossal number of fish could be seen swimming around.

To the users who stayed in the water as if it was their second home, this was an enjoyable sight.

“Sister, there’s a lot to catch here.”

“You are right. If we were to sell them at the market, we would make huge profit..”

“Then we should catch them later”

“Yeah let’s.”

In the Arpen Kingdom, the female users who had the Diver skill, like the ones in the Cockles Porridge, Seaweed Porridge, Sea Mustard Porridge and Abalone Porridge, were very useful in battle.

They could dive down for a few hours and wait for the Northern users’ fleet and the Imperial navy to come to them.

“Still quite far away.”

“They are moving slowly. Let me know when they get closer.”

The Cockles Porridge unit, which had around 800 members, caught snow crabs and prawns and tied them together in one place.

Fresh seafood from the deep Neria Sea!

Even though the war will arrive at their doorstep soon, the female divers couldn’t just stay still.

As soon as the Northern users started the war with the Haven Empire’s navy, the news was transmitted by the surface of the water.

Bursting cannonballs and splashing water.

Parts of the Northern users’ ships were sinking into a deep sea.

“Atta…”

“Let’s wait for a perfect opportunity to strike back.”

The female divers were waiting silently as they had promised. As the signal for the ships to sail was given by the Haven empire, the female divers dove into the water to do what they were best at.

The front cannons were still shooting at the northerner’s but they were unable to move forward for some reason.

The divers had tied their ships’ hulk to the reefs.

*****

“The ship is not moving.”

“Check the sails.”

“No problem there. The helm is not responding. Ooooh”

The ships were losing their stability.

Some of the ships weren’t able to move, while others were going off in different directions.

“Fully unfurl the sails.”

Jotas turned the helm and the sails definitely caught the wind, but it felt like something was tightly holding the ship.

“Incoming! A ship is approaching. Parry it!”

“Uuuak… On the right! On the right!”

The sailors on the deck screamed. The ship on their right side was coming straight at them.

“It’s going to crash. Stop your ship!”

“We are unable to maintain control over it.”

The captain and sailors shouted, but the ship was already too close.

“Brace yourselves!”

“Everyone prepare for the crash!”

The hulls were greatly damaged whenever ships rammed into each other.

Some of the ships lost their balance and the sailors were unable to move them in the direction they wanted; while some others were just rotating around their hull.

“There is something fishy in the sea.”

The Haven Empire had realized there was something inside the water that was causing all this but this knowledge was unable to change their current predicament.

At that time, the Northern users’ fleet was getting closer.

Kalmaen transmitted the order.

“Continue firing the shells. And, some of you dive into the sea and see the cause of the problem.”

The ships kept firing at the Northern users’ fleet.

Cannons were placed on both sides of the ship. Some of them weren’t available for use, but it was still powerful overall.

On the other hand, the users who jumped into the sea weren’t able to get through.

“Ugh… There is a net around this area, and someone got stuck to it”

“It is hard to get out of it as the jellyfish are attacking us.”

Even though the Hermes Guild members had a high level, they found it hard to move underwater.

It was easy for them to raise their level in the sea, hunting pirates and sea monsters just by hitting them with cannonballs. Even though they had the Diving skill, it could only be used to show off. But it became a different matter altogether when it came to hunting the monsters, or anyone, underwater.

“We’ve done what we had to.”

“Sister. Let’s finish the mission quietly.”

The female divers gave up the fight and swam far away to catch abalones.

*****

There were users in Royal Road that were from the special forces.

In real life, they were proud to be the best of each country, and they united under the Arpen Kingdom’s flag.

“This is war, shouldn’t we win no matter what?”

“Of course. I don’t care if the number of enemies exceeds ours. Poor supply of equipment doesn’t matter just for one or two days.”

“We’re the kings of the sea.”

The users from the special forces formed the Shark Porridge unit.

The Avians dropped them in the middle of the Neria Sea before they started their dangerous mission and the war took place.

“Distance to the water surface is 34 meters.”

“Freefall!”

They jumped into the water wearing flippers and webbed like parachute troops.

Even though the Haven Empire wasn’t doing anything, the Shark Porridge painted their faces.

Many fish were just going around them.

“Target?”

“The scouts reported that it’s three kilometers away. I’m moving to the south.”

“We will catch up with them soon.”

The Shark Porridge unit was moving at a very fast pace.

Large sea monsters.

Their goal was to draw a bunch of those Krakens that scared the sailors.

It was a high risk task, but when the Shark Porridge members got to know what they had to do, they laughed.

The Northern users were proud of doing a great and important mission for the Arpen Kingdom.

*****

The Imperial navy moved slowly while bombarding.

Although the Northern users’ fleet was getting closer, the members of the Hermes Guild weren’t afraid of it.

‘Their abilities ain’t a big deal. I can afford to be hit by a cheap cannon. Our ship’s armor can endure that.’

As the Northern users’ fleet was getting closer, the Imperial navy’s attack range and exploding power increased.

Kwang kwang kwang!

As soon as the Imperial navy fired, some of the Northern users’ ships were destroyed.

The pieces of the destroyed ships blocked the way for other ships, so it wasn’t easy to pass through.

Kalmaen smirked as he saw that scene.

“Did you previously fight that carefully? Anyway, you would have been destroyed even if you had managed to sail to the front.”

Even the first officer Gonzalo agreed to that.

“Of course, first we have to destroy the enemy’s center.”

“It sounds like a tactic that I would like to try now.”

“It’s possible.”

The ships showed a good performance and were capable of penetrating into the center of the enemy’s fleet.

The cannons that were placed on both sides of the deck could be fired at the moment the order was given and cause serious damage.

If the enemy’s troops climbed up during that process, it would result in face-to-face combat, but it was still too difficult of a task to climb up to the decks.[4]

Of course, the Imperial navy was trained for war, so there wouldn’t be any problem even if it came to a face-to-face battle.

Things were very different from a pitched battle in the plains, for which overwhelming with the sheer number of troops is a viable tactic.

If you continue to bombard the enemy’s ships, in the end, none of them will be left.

“Anyway, we have to maintain this situation. We only need to endure for just a few hours till the last of their ships get destroyed.”

Kalmaen could see a clear picture in his mind.

As time passed, more ships would sink and after a point of time, anything would work.

“Let’s prepare carracks for the battle. We have to make them sink, even if it means going to the harbor of Pen Kingdom.”

“Yes. I will pass it on.”

Kalmaen was watching the battle without any worry. But suddenly something landed on the deck.

Kkumtul kkumtul

A cute octopus that was as big as a watermelon was crawling sideways as he moved his legs.

“An octopus? If we fry it, it’s going to be delicious.”

One of the sailors caught the octopus with his two hands. And similar situations were happening at several different ships at the same time.

The brave Shark Porridge unit!

Lots of the users were sacrificed when they were sent to the area where Krakens live in the Neria Sea.

Anyway, they caught many young Krakens and returned in order to throw them on the ships’ decks or tie them to the side of the enemy’s ships.

“I think we did what we had to.”

“Now, only the last mission is left.”

“Right. The last mission…”

The Shark Porridge unit climbed onto the ships and hid inside.

“There are intruders!”

The Hermes Guild members were protecting the Imperial sailors’ place. During the battle, the Shark Porridge members got control of the cannons.

“I think this side…”

“Shoot it at once!!”

Members of the Shark Porridge unit straight away put the cannon to the ship that was near them.

“Shoot!”

Cannonballs hit the deck and hull of the ship that was close to them.

“Destroy them.”

Members of the Hermes Guild stubbornly protected the ship that was led by NPC sailors.[5]

Since their level and combat ability were not up to par, the cannonballs flew to different directions. They held the gunpowder directly.

“I think it ends here.”

The members of the Shark Porridge unit were greeted by the captain of the Special Forces Navy who had a legendary career in Korea.

“Well done.”

“Thank you for following me.”

“I’ll see you at the chicken restaurant.”

The unit completed their mission and decided to meet at the chicken restaurant.

While watching the start of the Neria sea battle, after death they had promised to meet at the restaurant and have chicken with beer.

*****

“Enemy forces.”

Kalmaen looked at the battlefield from the Flaming Victoria deck.

Some of the ships attacked friendly forces, so counterattacks and repressions happened so there were few ships stuck on the rocks.

“The Northern users of the Arpen Kingdom can’t be ignored. I’m saying that they don’t want to die.”

Kalmaen thought that he realized why the Haven Empire failed each fight in the past.

“You can’t laugh at your opponent’s power because unexpected things might happen. If you don’t prepare, you will embarrass yourself.”

The Imperial army was hard to gather. On the other hand, marine power had grown from the start of the suppression of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Right. I won’t become a winner… but the more I resist, the bigger my name will be.”

He wanted to launch demi cannons, direct the sea battle and create a scene that would be hugely broadcasted.

“Can we wrap it up? The second half of the battle is going to be a little bit dizzy.”

It wasn‘t a big deal when the Northern users’ large trading ships, medium sized sailing ships or fishing ships were destroyed.

“Finished.”

“Keukeuk. Let’s ruin the Arpen Kingdom.”

Hermes Guild members were standing on the deck. Suddenly huge tentacles passed them and grabbed the ship’s deck and sails.

Kwadeukdeuk.

“Someone is attacking us.”

The sailors near the cannons were surprised and started to shout. And the tentacles were rising from the sea and tightly wrapping around the ship.

“Is that a Kraken?”

“It’s the attack from a Kraken.”

Large sea monster Kraken.

< Attacked by the Kraken.

The legend of the Neria Sea.

When the sea is covered by mist, be careful in the sea.

Something terrible lurks in the darkness of the sea in search for a prey.

All sailors’ fighting spirit is reduced by 85%>

The appearance of a Kraken.

The members of the Hermes Guild also had to think about this emergency.

“At this time…”

“It’s not hard to defeat it, we could tie its legs.”

“It’s not a Kraken area. Do you think the Northern users went so far just to get a Kraken?”

When the Imperial navy was stabilizing the oceans, they had experienced fighting some Krakens.

“Stay calm. Even though it’s a Kraken, it’s not big deal.”

Kalmaen shouted and encouraged his troops.

< The 50% of sailors’ fighting spirit is restored. Speed of cannon loading is faster.>

Among all the sea creatures, the Kraken was the most annoying one.

In the deep sea, the moving tentacles grabbed the ship and destroyed it.

Even though the Imperial navy positively attacked, the enormous Kraken went back to the sea like it wasn’t bothering him at all.

“Chase it”

Members of the Hermes Guild took out their swords and cut the Kraken’s heavy leg when it was rising from the sea.

If the Kraken gives up, there won’t be anyone who can stop them.

Kalmaen and the Hermes Guild members were wishing for it, but the Kraken’s tentacles started to climb up to the ship again.

“More appeared.”

“Lots of them. Not only a couple of them.”

More than a dozen Krakens were holding the ships or carracks.

The ships that were held by a Kraken were destroyed or couldn’t move.

Kalmaen and the Hermes Guild members’ fighting spirit dropped.

“Repel! It’s the first time I’m dealing not only with the Northern users, but also with Krakens.”

The Krakens usually retreated when they felt that catching their prey was not worth the trouble, so there was a chance that using magic or cannons would make them flee.

“Avoid.”

A Kraken’s tentacle strongly grabbed the ship and sailors were thrown into the water.

– Oooou!

There were bizarre cries. The tentacles wrapped around the ships and dragged them into the deep sea.

It didn’t sink easily because of the restoration abilities, but all hulls were severely damaged.

If the trading ships used the cannons, they could have damaged their ships too.

“Why would they attack us …”

He couldn’t understand the Kraken’s attack.

The ships and carracks started to head to the sea part which was the center of the Imperial navy.

A small whirlpool in the middle of the sea.

Light fog started to arise and few raindrops started to drop from the bright sky.

The Hermes Guild lost their confidence because of the Krakens who were tightly holding onto their ship.

Crazy wind and swirls.

Those were the first signs of the peaceful background of the sea being ravaged by the apparition of a natural disaster.

*****

Weed was standing with the Three Mad Sharks of Becky Nim on the ship’s deck.

The Naval battle of the Neria sea!

A few days ago he had received a missive from Fractal and decided to participate in it.

“Is that for real? Are you joining us?”

“Yes.”

“Since mister Weed is quite busy, I’m really thankful that you spared some time.”

“The Hermes Guild is doing bad things, so I had to take back my promise.”

“Of course they are bad people!”

The Three Mad Sharks of Becky Nim highly respected him.

Not only did he appear on the pirate’s ship at the correct moment, but he also started to make a nature sculpture on the spot.

It didn’t take him more than 30 minutes to finish making the nature sculpture.

Weed easily sculpted the air and the sea with his knife.

Each time his hands moved, holding the sculpting knife, the shape of nature changed with dripping water.

Thick fog and terrible deep whirlpool.

Among them, a Kraken’s shape was sculpted from the water.

The Kraken ran into the whirlpool and the new scary natural disaster was created.

Actually, the Kraken wasn’t necessary to create a catastrophe, but it was a kind of decoration.

Board Mir. asked while swallowing his saliva.

“It’s very important to cause a catastrophe as a part of the plan. But what will we do if the natural disaster fails?”

“Fail?”

“Even monkey can fall off the tree. What are we going to do if Weed fails?”

The Three Mad Sharks were not the only ones interested in Weed’s answer. Other pirates were eager to hear him too.

Sculpting – an art that sometimes gives you unexpected results you didn’t anticipate. So that’s why they believed that they needed something else besides the nature sculpture.

Weed’s calm lips stayed as they were.

“It’s art. It can’t fail.”

“So you are confident…”

“Yes. Now is the time. When doing bad things, the inspiration to create comes.”

The magnificent sculptural masterpiece had to deal with the Hermes Guild.

The great natural disaster showed its destructive power by causing dozens of huge swirls in the sea.

It was possible to destroy the Empire’s Navy held by the Krakens.

“Hold the sail.”

“Waves are too high. Everyone grab something.”

If you get caught in a whirlpool, even ships can’t easily get out.

“Sail at full speed. Escape from this area.”

Captain, sailors and helmsmen tried to avoid it.

They tried using the high speed provided by the whirlpool to get out of it, only to have their path blocked by the other ships.

“Avoid it. This stupid man. Why did you turn in this direction…”

“It doesn’t respond.”

“It’s going to crash! Aaaaa!”

“Oowooo! It’s a Kraken.”

The Imperial navy scattered in all directions.

Swirls in a crazy wind.

The Imperial navy ships were going round and round to the center of the swirls.

*Kwajijik gwadudeuk*

Ships crashed inside the swirl and destroyed each other. The hulls could have survived a few crashes but they lost their durability as they hit the other ships.

Of course, the frames of the ships were destroyed, and the sailors were swept by waves into the sea.

“Uuuooooak!”

“Save me. I’m going offboard.”

The swirl’s area was full of sounds of gusts and screams.

“…”

The disaster covered an area around three kilometers in radius.

The Northern users’ fleet was quite far. And they weren’t thinking of coming closer to take a look.

“The power…”

“It’s more than what I imagined. It’s real…”

“What a piece of sculpting!”

The Imperial navy that was destroying the Northern users was hit by chaos.

The Three Mad Sharks of Becky Nin wanted to hit them even harder.

“If we were closer…”

“It would have been death. Death.”

“I would have made them lose all their ships.”

Weed honestly didn’t know all about its power.

“Magnificent natural sculpting. All thanks to the sculpting master.”

The catastrophe could not distinguish enemy troops from the allies.

Kraken and female divers had worked together in the sea and managed to tie them down in order to bring its full power.

Weed’s lips became thicker.

‘It’s good that they are from the bad country. If someone used such power on me… he would probably regret his decision.’

It’s a good feeling to do bad things that others won’t be able to do.

The catastrophe lasted for only 5 minutes, but from the Imperial navy’s point of view, it looked like it was longer than the battle.

Even though the catastrophe slowed down a little bit, the ships were still spinning around. More than a dozen ships sank into the deep sea, and more than that were destroyed.

The sails looked like they had been torn by the wind for three years straight, and everyone realized how hard it would be to find ships as good as these again.

Big and magnificent hulls were destroyed and sank into the water.

Weed made up his mind.

“Full power. Let’s punish them with the power of justice.”

Historically, Justice sided with the winner!

As Weed was now a necromancer, he made use of his undead summoning skills as well.

When you improved your Necromancer skills, your undead magic would also diversify.

This was not like raising zombies, ghouls and skeletons.

Weed had to put back together all the destroyed pieces and summon the ghost ships using enormous magic power.

The ships of the Imperial navy that had dominated the battlefield returned as ghost ships and started bursting into flames.

Manning the ships were skeletons and skeleton captains.

Some skeletons were hanging on the torn sails and were playing with the ropes.

“Kikiki. Fire the cannon! Cannon!”

The cannonballs from the ghost ship attacked the Imperial navy.

In spite of the catastrophe, a Kraken got stuck between the ships.

On the Versailles Continent, only one person was able to summon a catastrophe and the undead.

“God of War – Weed. Weed has appeared.”

This name made the Hermes Guild members nervous.

“Weed has shown up!”

“Cheer up everyone! Weed has appeared.”

“Woohoo”

“WEED”

The excited Northern users sailed at full speed to the place where ghost ships were fighting with the Imperial navy.

*****

The battle of the Neria sea!

Kalmaen got the video that he wished with all his vigor.

Although the Northern users’ fleet was approaching, the imperial navy had retained its pride.

“Let’s fight. We are the proud navy of the Haven Empire.”

“We won’t suffer from these Northern peasants. Let’s keep our honor to the end!”

Even the sinking ships attacked the Northern users’ ships by firing cannons.

Kalmaen’s commands were really calm.

“Some of the ships have to be abandoned. Explode all the cannonballs from these ships.”

While firing cannons, the ships had defeated the Kraken that had lots of HP.

Ghost ships hanged around the battlefield.

“Kill, kill. Risk your lives! I will make you my comrades! Also if I have, I will give you money.”

Somewhere awkward skeleton captains of the pirates.

Weed’s Necromancer skills got lower, so the number of skeletons was reduced and their professionalism dropped down.

Skeletons lost their combat skill and had poor reprocessing skills.[AC1]

“I’ll show a hot flavor. Load the cannons!”

“Hehet. Cannonballs are dropping down.”

“Go inside and take a look.”

“Yes, yes, understood, captain.”

“Keuheut. Good. Launch.”

Broken skeletons flew over the sea.

Ghost ships couldn’t last long, but they created a perfect opportunity for the Northern users’ fleet to get closer.

The Northern users’ ships were endlessly approaching.

More than half of the Imperial navy’s cannons had become wet from the swirls, so they became useless.

Kalmaen picked up his captain’s sword that improved the fleet’s speed.

“They’ve even prepared something like this…Weed really is a formidable enemy… Let’s fight till the end with the ships that can still move.”

The Imperial navy’s fleet broke through the Northern users’ ships straight into the middle.

The cannons that shot fire from both sides hit the Northern users’ ships, but only for a while.

People were climbing up to the Northern users’ ships.

“We are the Hermes Guild.”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge.”

The Hermes Guild could demonstrate the overwhelming power and fight hand to hand combat.

The Imperial navy ships were already blocked by other ships and were unable to go any further.

A battle with no retreat!

The Hermes Guild felt a disadvantage.

At one moment it was a battle that couldn’t be won, but the number of users on the deck was increasing and the threat could be felt.

From the beginning of the battle, the ships of the Northern users had been sinking quite fast. But not all of the people in these ships were dead.

Users and sailors went into the water just before their ships were about to sink.

They moved to other boats and saved their combat power.

“Let’s go. We’re now Poisonous Mushroom Porridge…”

“Die.”

“Kuk… We couldn’t even introduce ourselves.”

Northern users were dying, but at the same time, new people were entering into the battle.

Kalmaen and the Imperial navy had enough people to win the battle.

Kalmaen didn’t stop his ships to save his people’s lives nor saw any reason to do it. On the other hand,  the Northern users had endless will and honor.

They had faith that others would save them when their ship broke down.

It was a driving force for the victory that was led by planned strategies and tactics.

Weed took Bahamorg and other sculptural lifeforms to the ship, but the Northern users were too busy moving around.

“We’re professionals. This ship is being robbed by the Three Mad Sharks of Becky Nin.”

“It’s hard to operate a pirates’ ship.”

It was a chance for the pirates to take over other ships.

They tied the sails of the nearby ships and flew away.

*****

The battle of the Neria sea was won by the Arpen Kingdom!

This battle attracted attention from almost all users who were playing Royal Road.

“Finally it starts. Northern users and… the Haven Empire. Even though many battles took place in Royal Road, this battle was the first large-scale sea battle.”

“Which one is better?”

“I would favor the Haven Empire. However,  the Arpen Kingdom manages to create myths that are hard to believe.”

“Everything is because of Weed and the Grass Porridge Cult.”

“Miracles tend to happen in Royal Road. Will another miracle happen in this sea battle? Definitely, the winner of this sea battle is going to dominate the sea for some time in the future.”

Broadcasting stations had to spend a whole night up since yesterday.

“Battle of the Neria sea? What’s that? This battle?”

“The Northern users’ ships are landing all at once in order to stop the Imperial navy? Why suddenly this situation… No. Anyway, let’s prepare!”

“We’re already prepared. We just need to clear the time slot.”

“Not enough. Anchors, writers. Let’s set up the studio like it’s in the sea.”

The broadcasting stations were all focused on the battle of the Neria sea.

An important part was contacting people who participated in the sea battle of Neria to get a live video.

Everything depended on how differently people saw the battle.

“Northern users are more popular…”

“You should also ask about the Hermes Guild.”

“Of course. Talk to all the people who joined.”

All broadcasting stations were broadcasting it, so the viewers could watch all about the battle at any time.

There was a scene in which the ship of Haven Empire cannon shot the Northern users’ ships.

On the other hand, there were differences in how broadcasting stations set up the scenes such as when the ships were heading to the area with the fishing boats.

At the beginning of the battle, the Northern users couldn’t see the fun part.

As soon as they got closer to the Haven Empire’s ships, the cannonballs were flying to the ships and sinking them.

Then allies saved the sinking ships, but still, this battle was thought to be a normal sea battle.

– The Arpen Kingdom’s chances of winning are quite small. There is a big gap between cannons and ships. It’s impossible to overcome these numbers.

– Sinking! This time mid-sized sailboats were completely overwhelmed.

Also, the audience rating was the best because almost everyone in Royal Road was watching the broadcast.

Because of the battle of the Neria sea, the users who were in Royal Road didn’t go hunting and just sat in a local pub watching the crystal ball.

Each broadcasting station fiercely talked about the battle, and when the Northern users’ plan was revealed, everyone was impressed.

–  …And they are immobilizing the ships of the line.

– Some of them are straying from the line of battle!

– Their ranged attacks lost significant firepower. But…to see the tide of battle turn to such an extent, so suddenly…

– …Krakens! And…the sea is looking very ominous…

– It’s a disaster! A catastrophe!

Until the expected savior Weed.

The performance of the undead wasn’t great, but was still able to annoy the Imperial navy to some degree.

Also, the Northern users never lost hope from the beginning till the very end.

– The Arpen Kingdom had limited power.

– Sailors didn’t know how to shoot cannonballs correctly.

– The Northern users’ tied ropes and used it to jump from ship to ship. Where did that courage come from?

– Look at the sea. The Northern users are coming up from the sea. Reckless! It doesn’t make any sense. Swimming between waves and ships, where the Imperial navy and Krakens are fighting.

In the end, the imperial navy’s 250 carracks weren’t enough to deal with the endless Northern users’ fleet.

The sunset shined through the horizon in the sea.

The Neria sea was filled with the burning ships of the Northern users.

“Hurray! We won!”

“Grass Porridge Cult’s victory.”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge.”

“Hurray to Weed. Let’s cook the crab porridge.”

The Northern users who survived were loudly shouting.

The Northern users gathered in a big ship where they had a party.

Female divers and users were cooking the seafood they caught and brought some beer.

The night’s sea was illuminated by burning ships at the background of the Northern users’ party.

Even these scenes were broadcasted and received responses from the viewers.

– Once again they did the impossible.

– There is nothing impossible for the Grass Porridge Cult.

– Seems like miracles happen when ordinary people gather.

– I don’t think that they are ordinary. It’s not enough to participate in the battle.

– Have you seen the small fishing boat? If that goes into the sea, it will just turn upside down.

– Haven Empire. Again one side is right.

– Keuu. This is delicious. This one. This.

– The strategy prepared by the Haven Empire was quite dumb. Using the same strategy as the last time. There were so many posts on the viewers‘ bulletin board that it was difficult to check them all.

Royal Road‘s Hall of Fame exploded with videos of the users who participated in the battle.

Surprisingly even defeated Hermes Guild members uploaded their videos of the battle.

They ran through the Northern users’ ships, fighting with them and sinking ships with the cannons.

Hermes Guild members’ views were also very high.

– Kya. The sea battle looks great.

– The romance of the sea. Sometimes it’s boring to go to the distant sea.

– Navy and sea battle. That’s Royal Road’s sea.

– Do not to forget the adventures.

– Even Hermes Guild members… Being a sea user seems cool. They fight quite nicely.

Chicken forum.

This place became popular because of Weed.

– Today is chicken. Which chicken is the most delicious?

– I prefer chicken leg.

– Everything is delicious. Very delicious. But you need to check about delivery.

– It’s current chicken. From now on the reservation is until 5 o’clock. Chicken is fried by that time.

– I also have a chicken restaurant. I used all the chicken in the fridge and had to close down the place in order to rest. But there are still people waiting outside.

– You’ve just opened your restaurant. If Weed or the Grass Porridge Cult comes, make sure to fill the fridge. You should be prepared to fry about 100 chicken in one hour.

– I want chicken. My son runs away as soon as he smells the chicken. And my daughter likes fried chicken.[AC2]

– Shouldn’t Weed be awarded by the chicken forum?

– Of course. It would be great to get one chicken.

– Make 500 coupons.

Chapter 3: The Appearance of the Order of Iron and Steel Knights

Weed and the Northern users landed on an uninhabited island in the Neria Sea.

The booty they got from destroying the Haven Empire’s fleet was so huge it was hard to even calculate the exact amount; all the stolen ships and war supplies! Sharing them alone can already yield a large profit, but the most significant reward was gaining control over the sea trade routes.

A ship that was able to sail to the far away seas as well as engage in combat and trade needed a lot of resources, manpower and time to build. Restoring the Haven Empire’s navy would take a tremendous amount of efforts, so from now on, the sea belonged to the Arpen Kingdom.

“Since the Empire can’t use marine transportation, the Northern users can freely use the trading routes.”

Mapan, who came to the island with the help of Yurin, smirked from ear to ear, his belly swaying.

“Using the sea routes, transportation costs will be greatly reduced for the Northern ships, not to mention the possibility of smuggling; the profits gained by the regions next to the sea will be incredible.”

The Smuggling-the trade that does not pay taxes to the Empire!

Once caught, merchants would have to deal with a ruined reputation and disgrace, but as long as they got away with it, the profit they will gain from the deals will also be huge. Some people would go so far as to recommend smuggling as the quickest way to grow a merchant’s business.

Weed’s face was also content as if he had just had a very hearty meal of fried chicken.

“As merchants get richer, the North will build up a lot of fortune eventually, by taking away the Empire’s wealth. It is already having a lot of trouble dealing with the rebels, so it will be difficult for the Empire to take actions against the northern merchants on top of that.”

“We need to push them even harder when the circumstances are in our favor.”

“Yes, sir. We’ll try to squeeze every last copper out of them.”

Weed’s comrades were deep in thought while listening to this conversation.

‘How would I feel if I was in the Hermes Guild and hadn’t found out about the real Weed until now?’

How horrifying!

Knowing that there is someone who is coming to steal everything in your pocket someday, and that person is none other than Weed? Even worse still, Weed won the respect of a kind and innocent merchant like Gamong, and had the support of the Grass Porridge Cult.

‘He’s different from those bad guys who appear in Batman or Superman movies; he’s a cutting-edge villain: A sage of all villains, so to speak.’

‘Supported by ordinary users and helped by mass media…He can make people follow him even if they know who he really is; I guess he’s the ultimate form of a perfect villain.’

‘Nobody can blame a successful villain.’

Weed encouraged the Northern users to repair their ships. Since it was an important task and couldn’t be delayed much longer, he himself participated in the task and used the shipbuilding skills he had gained.

‘Just as I thought, working with a good ship improves my skill proficiencies faster.’

He could increase his skills while repairing a ship of the line, and the users were happy to see Weed doing the hard work just like them, oblivious to his intention. There’s a good reason why politicians appear on TV pretending to enjoy cheap street food during an election season.

“Alright, let’s go plunder the Central Continent!”

“Hurray!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

The Northern users were used to large-scale quests and hard labor; they chopped down all the trees of the uninhabited island to repair the damaged hulls.

Due to the sheer number of users, it didn’t take long to complete basic repair of the ships. As there was no more threat of a war with the navy, it was enough to just get them to stay floating in the sea.

“The wind is fair. Let’s depart.”

“Depart!”

“Today we are going to eat dinner in the Littum region.”

“Conquer the continent!”

The users who arrived in fishing boats and rafts were now enjoying the cool wind on the decks of carracks and battleships.

It was a happy time to play as a user of the Arpen Kingdom, enrolled as a member of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Just going online on Royal Road was enough to make all of your stress disappear.

*****

The Cloud Guild, Lion Castle, Roam Guild, Black Sword Mercenaries, and the Black Lion Guild.

Those who belonged to the prestigious guilds of the past were facing a strange situation.

Shadow of the Cloud Guild sighed.

“Is it really wise of us to idly sit like this?”

“What choice do we have? We got a request to stand by and do nothing.”

“But that was ages ago! Besides, it’s not like we have to obey that Weed dude as if we were his lackeys, am I wrong?”

Shadow exclaimed angrily.

Ever since the Hermes Guild lowered the tax rate, their fate took a very disappointing turn. Users of the Central Continent didn’t follow the old prestigious guilds even though they hated the Hermes Guild.

Despite the fact that they ruled over wide territories, these old forces were crumbling ruins. There were no new members enrolling and the remaining useful members had left; about half of them went to join the Arpen Kingdom, and others went to the Hermes Guild or became independent.

The Versailles Continent was wide, and it was not easy to hide their identity and become wanderers, dealing with hunting and trading.

The old prestigious guilds were now nothing but remnants, and their forces were diminishing every day.

Shadow bit his lips painfully.

“Isn’t it because we followed Weed’s words in the first place that we all ended up like this?”

He was furious, remembering how the Cloud Guild had shrunk compared to its glory days.

Gunt from the Lion Castle also agreed with his opinion about Weed.

“If we had joined forces and occupied the same region, things wouldn’t have gone so badly. It was a mistake to believe the words of someone who isn’t even an ally.”

Roam, Mihel and Calis thought differently.

‘Well, as to losing our influence…that was because we were overpowered by the Hermes Guild.’

’We have no territory; we have nothing.’

“Join forces to occupy one region? What are we going to do if the Hermes Guild attacks us then? Besides, it’s not like we reach a consensus that easily.’

Part of the reason for the fall of the prestigious guilds was the fact that they could not form a proper alliance. Indeed, it would be impossible for the guilds that once fought each other over the dominance of the continent to sincerely cooperate.

Calis from the Black Lion Guild said tentatively,

“But don’t you think this might be a chance for us?”

“What chance?”

Shadow asked sharply but he didn’t hide his expectant tone.

“The Hermes Guild is ostracized by common users. Broadcasting stations are taking actions, and the guild is now attacking the Arpen Kingdom and the Desert region. Obviously, their military power is going to be scattered.”

“So you mean that we should seize this chance for a resurgence?”

“Not really…”

Calis gave a light sigh.

The glory of the past!

It was not very long ago when they reigned over people like kings, but it now felt like a lifetime away.

“Take a look at the ability from the Hermes Guild to conduct a war; it won’t be easy to reclaim the land we lost.”

“So?”

“We need to follow Weed’s words so that we can strike a blow to the Hermes Guild.”

“That we can do, but what’s next?”

“We should help the Arpen Kingdom win this war, and if we serve under Weed…”

“Calis, what nonsense are you talking about?”

Shadow shouted loudly.

“What an incredibly foolish opinion.”

Gunt also couldn’t hide his disapproval, but Roam of the Roam Guild and Black Sword Mercenary Mihel didn’t change their expressions; they knew which way the wind was blowing.

Roam carefully opened his mouth.

“Even if the Hermes Guild were to dissipate, we still wouldn’t have a chance. Most of the users who don’t like them will either join the Arpen Kingdom or the Grass Porridge Cult.”

“But we still have quite a lot of high level users. If we gather all five guilds’ strength…”

Mihel cut Gunt’s words short.

“That’s no more an easy thing to do.”

“What?”

“There has to be some hope in order to fight, isn’t there? If I told the Black Sword Mercenaries that we have to fight against the Hermes Guild, there would be a stream of deserters.”

“Our guild is of the same opinion.”

Calis from the Black Lion Guild agreed.

The continuing defeats against the Hermes Guild had resulted in a lot of complaints from the high level users.

Roam shook his head.

“We cannot risk any more war. Even if we hung our guilds’ flags in front, nobody would come to join our cause anyway. But if we unite under the flag of the Arpen Kingdom… we could absorb the force of the rebels. Or even more than that.”

“Hmm…”

“Indeed, it is like that…”

Shadow and Gunt were beginning to change their opinion.

If they couldn’t build a Kingdom that bears their name in this world, well, at least they would need to find a way to survive.

*****

“…”

“They lost.”

“Huh…Just like that…”

The heads of the mighty Hermes Guild.

As the system changed into that of a war for conquest, even the great lords attended the meeting.

The absolute domination over the Central Continent and the advance to the North!

Fate had it that they saw the video of the Imperial navy being defeated as they were about to distribute the assignments in accordance with these two quests.

“The navy, which was thought to be invincible, was annihilated. We won’t be able to find any opportunity, in the sea at least, for the next three months.”

Lafaye’s eyes became sharp.

The defeat was shocking, but they were quick to calculate profit and loss.

The Haven Empire’s growth was based on conquest; in a certain sense, not having been able to pioneer the sea reduced the damage.

“From now on, let’s focus on what we need to do.”

Lafaye stirred up the people around.

“Mister Crebolta. Please, take care of the Britten region. You don’t have to wait till the rebels gather. If you see even small signs of them, wipe them out.”

“Understood.”

Crebolta was ranked in the top 10 of Royal Road.

He had great abilities, but as it was often the case with the top-ranked users, he usually did not come forward unless there was a big war.

When the Hermes Guild let Crebolta move, it meant that they were starting to take things seriously.

“Mister Calcus. You’ll need to take care of the Tullen region. We will give you control over the entire regional army.”

“A massacre is exactly what I want.”

Calcus smiled, revealing his white teeth.

In contrast to his handsome face, he was a slayer!

The more users he kills, the stronger his madness and aggression became, which were his unique abilities. Once the instinct of massacre was awakened, even Bard Ray could not underestimate him.

“Mister Jento. Please take charge of the defense and stabilization of the Gradien and Nest regions.”

“Will do.”

“Mister Heroid, your charges are Bremmen and Sur regions. Also, be prepared for the coastal attacks.”

“I will take firm hold of them.”

Lafaye arranged the military power of the main regions.

The armies of lords, excluding the central Imperial army ruled directly by Bard Ray, will be ruling the regions. When your rule over a country centers around military force, it inevitably leads to conflicts with the users. It would be too much to consider the average tendencies of the users of the Hermes guild and hope that those with power will not abuse it.

‘You forced us to draw our sword. We were hoping to turn to peaceful methods as we dominated the continent…Now, we won’t look back.’

Lafaye’s eyes glinted sharply.

Stable domination and control!

They tried to change the power-centric system of the Hermes Guild with Bard Ray in its center through policies and failed. Now it was time to show the true colors of the Hermes Guild once again!! Indiscriminate destruction and conquest.

*****

Calcus the Slayer led the 4th legion of the Imperial army.

The Tullen region, which was once ruled by Black Lion Guild, was infamous for the rebel forces.

“It seems the rebels are gathering around the Luga River.”

“It is said that they have a plan to take over the Formos Castle again.”

“Looks like the rebels got bolder after the navy was defeated.”

Calcus thought this was all very ridiculous.

‘The Hermes Guild is home for the top elite users of Royal Road. I’ve been trying to live peacefully without drawing too much condemnation from people…and now you dare complain?’

The answer was simple: kill!

He thought Lafaye had led the Hermes Guild in the wrong direction because he was thinking too much.

‘Even if some users are not happy with our iron-fisted rule and left for the North, what does it matter? We can always attack the Arpen Kingdom once we gain a firm control over the central continent.’

Calcus ordered the 250 000 soldiers of the 4th legion to advance.

The number of troops itself was not immense; however, after the Haven Empire took over the Central Continent, the legions from the 1st to the 5th were reorganized with the most elite units only. Most importantly, the number of Hermes Guild users mandatorily assigned to the 4th legion amounted to 5000. Each member of the Hermes Guild could boast of their strength in any village or city they went, and now 5000 of them had gathered together. If it had been the past, the combined forces of them could have threatened any Kingdom; of course, the rebels felt like a joke.

“They are but an egg in front of our truck.  Let’s just wipe them all.”

Calcus advanced his troops near the Luga River where the rebels had planned to gather.

“Don’t ask questions. Any users here in this place will die.”

“Yes, sir!”

The soldiers and the Hermes Guild users of the 4th legion started to attack.

“It’s an assault!”

“It’s the Hermes Guild. They are here!”

The users who were about to attack Formos Castle were raided.

The 4th legion charged in unison, sweeping the whole area where users were gathered.

“W, wait. We were just here to spectate.”

“Die!”

“Please! Spare us! We will just go home.”

“Too late.”

The army of Calcus committed an indiscriminate slaughter. They listened to no excuse or reason.

‘This way is better than sloppily killing just a few and let people blame us. We need to show our real power.’

Their goal was to exterminate all the users who dared to attack Formos Castle. The mounted troops patrolled far and wide, not allowing even a single user to escape.

– The Hermes Guild’s full-scale attack!

– Calcus the Slayer and his 4th legion appeared near the Luga River!

– The meeting is canceled. Everyone run for your life!

Inside Royal Road or through broadcasting stations and the internet, the news of the 4th legion launching an attack was spreading.

The 1st 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th legions were well known for their evil deeds during the time when Haven Empire was uniting the Central Continent. The legions, whose very existence left deep creases on the forehead of anyone who ever fought with the Hermes Guild before, were now slaughtering the users. This alone was enough to prove the strength of the Hermes Guild and excite the whole internet, but there was another hot topic.

“The Steel Knights are going to war.”

The Hermes Guild was revealing their combat golems for the first time!

Steel golem knights wearing thick and sturdy armor were riding on metal horses. The order of knights that possessed the horrifically strong defensive abilities and life force unique to the golems! The Steel Knights were pushing straight into the enemy lines, not allowing the rebel users any room to breathe.

“Wall of flames!”

Mage users made the fire wall thicker but the Steel Knights just charged right through it. The Steel golems slaughtered the users, their burning bodies notwithstanding.

The result was the total annihilation of 200 000 users who had planned to attack Formos Castle, except for a few mages or users with flying skills. The users who were supposed to join later as reinforcement were too scared to show up.

*****

– H-Hermes Guild!

– Stupidly strong. This is just like the time when they were conquering the continent.

– I think they got even stronger since then.

– Whoa…I guess this is the true power of the Haven Empire.

– Their navy was still massacred though. What a delight! They deserved it.

– The Haven Empire’s main force is their land troops anyway.

– Who on earth would dare to face that army?!

– Check out CTS media. They’re showing the battle of the 3rd legion too. There are more than 50 000 Steel Knights!

With one surprise following another, broadcasting stations and users couldn’t even catch a breath. The Haven Empire was unleashing the power they had kept hidden until now, and its capacity in battle was simply stunning. Needless to say, the strength of the Hermes Guild users and army had increased. But on top of that, the Steel Knights were nearly unstoppable. Whether they were attacked by magic spells or struck with an iron mace, the Steel Knights got up without any sign of weakness and fought on. Armed with incredible life force and defense, once swept by their charging lines, no one could withstand it.  Even users with levels above 400 – 500 were trampled by the Steel Knights. Steel golems were naturally slower and had relatively low attack power, but they compensated for these weaknesses by riding on specially constructed horses.

– I reckon those equipments were crafted by dwarves.

– They don’t look like they were made in the Thor Kingdom, though.

– It seems they conducted research by locking up elves or dwarves from the Central Continent as slaves!

– That’ll result in a huge amount of evil reputation…Who would do that sort of thing?

– It’s possible for the Hermes Guild. Even if a few people have to take responsibility and gain an evil reputation, they can still develop and produce things like those. And those who took the responsibility will receive massive rewards.

– When money, time and villains are put together, anything is possible!

Both Royal Road users and the broadcasting stations alike could not repress their astonishment as they witnessed the true power of the Haven Empire.

Despite their number which was several times greater than the Imperial army, the rebels could not even put up a proper fight.

It was not an easy task to knock down or destroy the Steel Knights, and even if you managed to break more than half of their body, they would replenish their mana in a second and regenerate their lost parts.

– Yikes, did you see how the head and arm were growing back just now? That gave me the serious creeps.

– How do you deal with that kind of thing? They look unbeatable.

– With those Steel Knights, you wouldn’t even need any fortress. Just have a great slalom in a plain and you are invincible!

– Trying to overwhelm them with numbers wouldn’t work either; they are golems, they don’t get tired! My God…

Even during big battles, the number of Steel Knight golems that were destroyed was negligible.

While it was true that the slaughter of the Imperial navy had dealt a blow to Haven Empire, the reveal of the Steel Knights certainly turned the tide of the war.

It was thought tha the rebels, or even the Arpen Kingdom, wouldn’t have a chance against the Steel Knights.

***

Weed was watching the broadcast while stringing beads.

Ding!

< Stringing 1000 beads – successful.

Your proficiency in sewing skills has increased. >

“So those are the Steel Knights…”

He thought they were excellent weapons for battle.

Claiming the hunting areas and collecting taxes were not the only things Haven Empire did while they occupied the Central Government. They were continuously developing magic and technology, fully enjoying every benefit they provided.

“They have been preparing that kind of stuff in secret.”

Golems were the natural enemies of Weed’s undead minions; they didn’t leave any corpses, nor were they destroyed easily. The only thing the Arpen Kingdom could count on was their human wave strategy, but even that would be inefficient against the Steel Knights.

“And you don’t even have to pay them! You can just use them forever.”

The beings that you could exploit to your heart’s content without worrying about being caught by the Department of Employment!

“I should have made golems, like them.”

Weed gave a big sigh.

Those steel golems would probably have been created by the combination of advanced magic and blacksmith skills. The Hermes Guild wasn’t all about rankers with optimized skills for battles; its members also included people with various high-class professions such as blacksmiths. If master blacksmiths Herman and Fabio hadn’t been recruited by the Northern Continent, it would have been greatly disadvantageous for battles between high-level users.

Level and skills were important factors in the fights between users, but one couldn’t ignore the benefits of good equipment. Even more so, a great number of siege machines were used during a war, which are made by blacksmiths, so their role was very important.

“Summon golem!”

Even with Weed’s Necromancy, what he summoned was a normal clay golem, despite the fact that he had only summoned one..

That same golem can be summoned even by a Necromancer below level 100!

– Is there work for me to do?.

“Just carry the luggage.”

Weed used his golem as a beast of burden.

It was one of those types of magic for which the skill level grew very slowly even if you repeated summoning.

Despite the fact that his abilities as a Necromancer were growing very fast as well, it was difficult to use spells other than Summoning Undead.

Still, his current summon undead spell was at intermediate 6 level. Weed’s level finally reached above 500. It could be said that it was all thanks to hunting the Hermes Guild users and taking a tour around all those horrifying hunting areas including the devil Delam after returning from the Giants’ land.

“Never mind that, I thought I was starting to finally catch up with them, but…”

Weed wanted to pursue the ultimate strength. Even when he was earning a couple of silvers by carving a piece of wood as a sculptor, actually in his mind he was already smacking the back of a dragon’s head.

“I wish I could just go hunting for three months… that way I would be able to match the top rankers of the Hermes Guild. I could also do a bit of time travel.”

Ever since he became a necromancer, a profession which was easy to level up, after mastering sculpting, he had dreamed of catching up with everyone very soon. His ambition was to become the strongest of all, by putting all other matters aside and just focusing on hunting and combat quests. But just as he was enjoying the benefits of a necromancer’s hunting speed and a sculptor’s other secondary effects, he was put into the position of having to conduct a war against the Haven Empire; if not because of Weed’s popularity, because of his position as the king of Arpen Kingdom.

“Would it be better to fight them now before the Hermes Guild gets any stronger? It doesn’t look like the Haven Empire will back down so easily, seeing how they revealed their secret weapons. Hmm. It’s more difficult for the strong ones to be patient.

Weed thought about the Haven Empire’s future.

They showed their great military forces, which had been formed by monopolizing benefits of having the Central Continent under their control.

‘After establishing the Empire, they would have been able to build up wealth, army, everything; It must have been a lot easier because unlike me, they had an organization.’

Now that the Imperial army was fully committed to the war, the rebels in the Central Continent would eventually be suppressed. However, as soon as that was done, the Haven Empire would turn the tip of its sword towards the Arpen Kingdom.

Now the stakes were too high for both the Hermes Guild and Weed to step back. “The advantage I’ve got…is that I can take the lead in this war, in any case.”

Every broadcasting station was discussing the war of the Haven Empire.

Their viewpoint was that while the Haven Empire was absolutely superior in terms of military power alone, since the rebellion would cause their production to decline and the users to leave, the Arpen Kingdom would have an advantage if the war dragged on for a long time.

Weed thought from a different perspective.

‘The overall situation looks pretty good. The Haven Empire has to protect its land.  And it has to take back the land it lost as well. On top of all that, it has to conquer the Arpen Kingdom.’

Troubles were brewing in the Southern desert region, rebels were fighting in the Central Continent, and the angry users of the Arpen Kingdom were attacking in the North.

They had great power, but there were a lot of debtors who wanted to take everything little by little. And debtors are supposed to be the most terrifying beings in the world.

‘My chance is now. If I miss this opportunity that Seoyoon created for me and peace returns to any one of those regions, there won’t be any future for us.’

*****

Kallamore region.

This region of the Central Continent, blessed with an emerging prosperity and a liveliness rivaling even other regions in the North, was ruled by Dain.

An Excellent governor!

Receiving an overwhelming support from the local residents, she boasted astonishing power of influence over the region. However, as it was under the reign of the Hermes guild, rebels continually emerged from within.

“As we are currently at war, we cannot tolerate the rebels any longer.”

“I am confident that I can negotiate with them. Besides, they haven’t caused any serious damage yet.”

“I know that the situation in Kallamore is better than in any other region. However, if we leave them as they are, we risk the possibility of the rebels spreading extensively. The Central Authority ordered us to suppress the rebels, and you as a governor are obliged to comply.”

“…”

“I will retrieve your authority over military forces and battle engagement only. I will not intervene in the internal affairs.”

Gigad of the Guild Administration took away part of Dain’s governance.

It was decided that many talented people of Kallamore, a renowned birthplace of valiant knights, would be absorbed into the Imperial Army.

“Ugh.”

Dain sighed, but she could not make any protest other than that.

She was a so-called “parachuted employee”![1]

While it was true that she did great service by ruling Kallamore well, she got her position through appointment by the top authority of the Hermes guild, which meant that she had a lot of internal enemies who were jealous of her.

Since Kallamore was a stable region, the Imperial Army was not deployed to the region and the private armies of the local lords carried out the task of suppression by themselves.

“Eliminate them all!”

“Crossing the Mepon River is now prohibited. Let’s show them that Kallamore is  no weaker than other regions!”

The lords and users of the Hermes Guild, free from all the restrictions that had been put upon them, were wreaking havoc.

Eager to make public contributions, they executed groups of rebels, sometimes getting overexcited and waging battles beyond their strength.

“Is this really necessary?”

“I know, right? We have always been playing nice, even holding festivals and whatnot.”

“This has been such a peaceful region, free from any fight… and now they ruined it.”

Even in the Kallamore region, which used to be firm and stable like a stone bridge, deep hostility was spreading among the users, just like the other regions of the Haven Empire.

***

“If it’s going to be a big war, we have to accomplish something from it.”

“I guess we have been too idle lately. We need to start taking the rust off of our swords.”

“Ahem. We don’t fight to gain popularity. We also don’t fight to boast in front of women. We fight, to the very limit of our strength, because that’s the reason for our life!”

“You’re right, of course!”

“Well, then let’s show them what we’ve got.”

Geomchi brought all of the masters to the Desert region; along with the Desert warriors, he intended to have a proper match against the Haven Empire.

The disciples who reached the Southern Desert region earlier had established a firm ground. The users playing in this area responded sharply to the news that Geomchi and the masters arrived from the Arpen Kingdom.

“Do you think there will be a fight?”

“The current system is just perfect as it is… good for plundering, too.”

“Yeah, pillaging the Great Plains went really well. Even now there are plenty of opportunities for plundering, seeing how the Central Continent is in disarray.”

“The Imperial army might be strong, but we can always avoid fighting, using our camels’ mobility.”

“I’m worried the current system might lose its balance.”

The number of Desert users was still quite small, and they were feeling uneasy towards the arrival of Geomchi.

They were worried that the tradition and the system of the Desert among the disciples would be shaken, but their concerns turned out to be unnecessary.

“Masters, you came.”

In the Desert, the disciples lining up on both sides greeted Geomchi and the masters.

What a scene: all those burly men wearing leather clothes, bending their backs and bowing deeply!

Silver, Ben and Elix, who were in an adventurer party, were speechless after witnessing this.

“More people like them have come.”

“It looks as though they consist of 505 people, those who were selected among the whole humankind.”

“Right, those who have muscles instead of brains…ahem.”

Geomchi’s gaze fell upon the clothes made of leopards’ and tigers’ leather that Geomchi5 and other trainees were wearing.

“Those clothes look good.”

“Hehehe. We caught the beasts ourselves. Nothing is better than leather clothes in the Desert. We also prepared one for you, master.”

Leather clothes in a desert, not in a jungle!

Since something about them looked very impressive, Geomchi thought it was a pretty outstanding decision. There were quite a lot of things being resolved in this manner between them.

“You must have had a tough time. How do we play here?”

“Well, no big deal. Just hit and break things. Since you are here, we will entrust everything to you.”

“I heard you’re working on a commission.”

“It’s nothing huge. They say that we are founding a new Pallos Empire .”

The Pallos Empire had been a strong country blessed with the glory of the desert, its territories spreading over a vast land. Despite the fact that some of the Empire past territories had been lost to the Central Continent, a wide area of desert remained. It was composed of tribes and cities, with a population that even included nomads and wanderers, so establishing an Empire was a big quest.

Geomchi folded his hands behind his back and smiled contently.

“Sounds like a pleasant job.”

“Yes. As a kid I used to charge into the den of the local gang with an iron pipe in my hand and now… Ah, sorry, Master.”

“It’s alright. We all used to be immature. 10 is a quite good age to hold an iron pipe.”

“As always, you speak wisely, master.”

Geomchi2 was responsible for the organization of the Desert warriors.

As someone who was a top student of Geomchi and had worked as a master of a martial art academy for a long time, dealing with the Desert warriors wasn’t a difficult task for him.

As for the users, only a few words were enough.

“Give a good fight.”

“Y-yes! I, I will fight till the very end.”

“Even if the battle is disadvantageous, please don’t run away.”

“If my legs and arms get broken, I will fight on with my teeth!”

Geomchi2 spoke gently for certain, but somehow it looked as though the users were carving his words deep into their very bones.

Humans are said to have the ability to use reason, but when people met Geomdulchi and talked to him, an animal-like instinct that had been lying dormant within them was awakened.

‘He would kill me if I crossed him. He’d knock me down without effort, and once he starts swinging his arms…’

‘If he hits me, I’m dead. That’s the best outcome. That, or becoming a vegetable. I’ll be beaten until I feel like I would rather die.’

‘This is the person who you must never turn into an enemy.’

Geomchi2 even had a girlfriend, but people’s view of him hadn’t changed.

When he smiled, the users trembled in fear even more.

“Is there anything you find uncomfortable?”

“Un…uncomfortable? Not at all! I’m living in great comfort.”

“If you need something, feel free to tell me anytime.”

“I’m really, REALLY very happy, thanks!”

Geomchi3, Geomchi4 and Geomchi5 envied his leadership.

“He’s different from people like us who only get angry all the time.”

“Right. There’s a lot to learn from him.”

“Wasn’t he going around beating people a lot in the past, though? He’s the one who taught me how to hold an iron pipe correctly.”

“What are you talking about, Fourth? I don’t remember that at all.”

“But we learned together… Ah, right, you were hit in your head quite a bit that time.”

“Aha. That’s why I don’t remember!”

***

A massive rally of the Desert Warriors!

Countless warriors flocked to the Southern border of the Haven Empire.

“Are we going for some more plundering again?”

“Of course, let’s go for another round.”

Most of the users active in the Desert area have also joined.

The desolated, unforgiving Desert region naturally was strikingly different from the fertile Central Continent or Northern Continent.

When you were active in the Desert under the scorching sun for long, you were bound to dream of plundering the Central Continent.

“Who’s the captain? Is it Mister Geomchi5 this time as well?”

“No. It’s Mister Geomchi.”

“Very similar name, but I don’t really know him.”

“He is not very well known around here, but he’s truly a powerful man. He is said to be Weed’s swordfighting teacher.”

“Huh… Really?”

“Yes, I’m sure of it.”

Geomchi, together with the masters and the trainees, assembled the main forces in the Southern Desert.

“I’ve heard that I’ll get a sword if I come to this place.”

“You know how to wield it?”

“Yes, that’s all I have done in my life. That’s what every man had to do in order to protect our tribe.”

In the Desert, warriors came to the reputable heroes, asking to serve under them.

Due to the harsh conditions of the Desert region, it produced a lot of great warriors, who gained experience through battles and wars.

If one accomplished a feat during a war, one could gather a lot of troops, so their military force was remarkable even though their population or economic power was small.

The warriors who gathered under the banner of Geomchi alone amounted to 500 000, a striking number.

“Khmmmm.”

Geomchi and the masters felt quite a burden.

“So all these people’s lives depend on us.”

“Yes, master.”

“What would happen if we hurled all of them into the fray in one go?”

“I think everything here would be pretty much ruined.”

The decisive battle that will determine the fate of the Desert region.

Through the plundering of the Great Plains and the trade with the Arpen Kingdom, the Desert region was gradually establishing an economic foundation. If all these Desert warriors lost their lives, the region would suffer from monster attacks and the new Pallos Empire would be a very distant dream indeed.

“Master, shall we turn back?”

“No. Once a man has drawn out his sword, he has to cut at least a radish.”[2]

The Desert warriors led by Geomchi and the other masters and disciples raided the territory of the Haven Empire.

About half of them were cavalries riding on camels.

A large-scaled assault by the Desert warriors, intending to bypass ramparts and fortresses, using their swift mobility to pillage granaries and villages.

– Congratulations! We welcome all of you from the Pallos Empire!

– Welcome. Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge.

– We are friends of the Desert!

– Hurray to Weed!

Huge signs and placards hung on the city and castle walls welcomed Geomchi and his Desert Warriors.

“What on earth are those…?”

“No enemy left for us to fight, Master!”

“Where did they go?”

“Probably fled. The remaining people are welcoming us.”

The lords of the Great Plains and small principalities gathered.

Following the first wave of pillaging, they watched a massive Desert Army rallying for the second wave through the broadcast.

“Looks like they are ready for another strike, what shall we do?”

“Any news from the Hermes Guild?”

“They said that they are sending in the defensive forces… but the number will probably be quite small.”

“Again?”

“Well, they have always looked down on us, so what did you expect? Besides, since everything was taken away during the last raid, it’s pretty obvious that they’re thinking we’re not worth protecting.”

The Hermes Guild dispatched about 30% of their forces against the rebels and about 60% to fight against the Arpen Kingdom.

Even if the warriors struck the Southern Desert region, it wouldn’t result in a loss of territory.

Since the cities suffered no serious damage and the granaries had already been mostly depleted after the last attack, they decided that there wasn’t much more to lose.

On the other hand, in order to defend against charging Desert warriors, the defensive forces would have to be spread further apart throughout a wide area.

The Desert warriors weren’t interested in besieging and taking over castles, so they ran rampant over a large open space.

The Haven Empire would have to stop them mainly using their cavalry as well, but that would require extensive dispersion of their forces, which would become their weakness.

Lafaye and the heads of Hermes Guild decided to focus only on the Arpen Kingdom.

Since they didn’t want to deliver another legendary triumph to the hands of Weed, their conclusion was to strategically abandon the Southern land.

However, they still could have saved the castles or the cities from the Desert warriors, had the local lords chosen to fight with all their might.

“Now they’re just being cruel. It would be too much for us to prepare for the war all on our own … They pretty much mean that we’ll need to throw everything we’ve got if we want to survive.”

“They have abandoned us, so why do we have to fight for the Empire?”

“Should we just flee?”

“But where would we go? We’re so far from Arpen Kingdom.”[3]

“To the Desert. According to the rumors I heard, the Desert region is yet another place that falls within Weed’s sphere of influence.”

“Is that so? Could you tell me more details?”

“Ever since the Nodulle and Hilderun quests, the Desert region has achieved rapid growth thanks to Weed, and…*whisper whisper*… Also, it is said that the leaders of the Desert warriors are Weed’s acquaintances.”

“Is that so?”

Thus did the local lords decide to desert the Haven Empire.

They were now welcoming the Desert warriors, while intending to dispose of their property and flee if things went south.

< Territory Conquered!

Nedro Castle will be become part of the Desert region.

The residents are fearful due to the rumors about the vicious Desert warriors.

Public order +24

City development level -16

Religious influence -25

Culture -15

Economic strength -40 >

< Territory Conquered!

The city of Gosome will become part of the Desert region.

As the Desert warriors are entering through the main gates, the citizens refrain from outdoor activities.

Even the children are too scared to cry, hiding themselves inside their homes.

Public order +31

City development level -21

Religious influence 30[4]

Culture -19

Economic strength -44 >

Gosome is a metropolis of the Great Plains that has a population of 230 000. With the expansion of the Pallos Empire’s territory, each warrior’s strength, agility and stamina have increased by 7 as an achievement.

Geomchi5 and the trainees, who were on their quest for the establishment of the Pallos Empire, planted the flag in the castle.

“Wow, all these stats…”

“Are they any useful though?”

“Weed always said that everything comes down to stats eventually.”

“Well, if our youngest said so, then it must be right.”

Geomchi and Geomchi2 had such great faith in Weed; they would even give their treasured sword to him if he asked.

“Second,[5] thanks to our Little One I think I might finally get married if all goes well. I wouldn’t even know that such a world existed if it weren’t for him; I’m the kind of a guy who finds a remote controller for a TV too complicated.”

“I am the same as you, master.”

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our Little One could be the host for my wedding?”

“We should definitely give him that role, yes.”

If Weed hosted a wedding ceremony in reality, the broadcasting stations might be present to relay the live event.

If the wedding took place in Royal Road, it would be possible to have hundreds of thousands of people participating in the event in the Castle of the Earth.

“By the way, now that we have conquered this land, how are we going to rule it? The lords have surrendered, but we can’t leave our troops here.”

“It is true that there is not going to be much of a difference once we leave.”

“Then what’s the point of conquering?”

So, while having this conversation, Geomchi and Geomchi2 realized they needed to face a very important fact.

The characteristics of the Desert warriors dictated that they weren’t bound to the territory and borders.

With their troops moving around like the wind, there wasn’t much they could do even if the cities and the castles that had surrendered to them joined the Haven Empire again.

Of course, the lords of the Haven Empire were having this in mind when they decided to surrender so easily.

“I think I’m going to have a headache. Let’s ask Weed about it.”

“That is a good idea.”

They briefed Weed on the current situation in an in-game whisper and waited for a reply.

What effectively was an unsolvable conundrum to them took exactly 15 seconds for Weed to come up with an answer.

– Weed: You need to fight like Desert warriors.

“Like Desert warriors?”

– Weed: When I founded the Paklos Empire… ahem…You could say I was rather brutal, although it was because I travelled in time, of course.

“Yes, I saw it. You wiped out practically everyone.”

It was one incident during which Weed’s true character was almost uncovered, as it was broadcast.

As a player of Royal Road he is now admired as a wise king or a great adventurer, but in the days of the Magical Continent, he was an unmatched tyrant… except for the fact that his bullying was mainly directed towards the prestigious guilds of ill reputation. This was why he could maintain his popularity among the general public. He was the one who could fight against them on behalf of the little people.

– Weed: Raise your army. Recruit the soldiers from the surrendered region by force. You’ll need to get everyone you can, such as commoners with some sword skills or mercenaries.

“It’s nothing impossible, but we already have big troops.”

– Weed: Since the land where you have to fight is wide, the more you have the better. Think about it. Even as a kid, we knew 10 people is better than 5 when we played an ally captain.

“That’s true. Hmm.”

– Weed: When the lords surrender, take their troops and keep raising yours. After you take the army of the first couple of regions, it will become difficult to defy you for the next ones.

“Because our troops are that much larger.”

– Weed: That’s right. Once you pass through the Great Plains, the Empire will actively try to stop you because that means the entire Central Continent might be in peril. From then you just have to ruthlessly plunder and collect war supplies, and keep on fighting while continuing to raise the troops.”

“Hmm…”

A great prospect revealed itself in Geomchi’s head.

The Haven Empire.

And the wild Desert warriors pillaging the Empire which boasted of such great power!

‘I guess that’s quite cool, right?’

That prospect was once a reality painted by Weed during his time as the Great King of the Desert, and as his exploits became famous by broadcast, many men dreamed of such deeds.

“Sounds fun.”

– Weed: Yes. Well, if we lose the fight then that’s the end for us, but what’s there to lose? Once a man has drawn out his sword-

“-he has to cut at least a radish.”

***

Weed did not intend to stop at just manipulating Geomchi and the disciples from behind the scenes when it came to fighting the Haven Empire.

‘I didn’t expect a war to break out… but still, I’m the one who attacked the Empire.’

And the war was not going to end so easily.

‘We have quite a good idea of the military strength of the Haven Empire and the Hermes Guild. Of course, there should be more hidden weapons like those Steel Knights…’

Weed thought he would have had several secret assets too if he had been the head of the Hermes Guild.

With overflowing amounts of money, an organization and information network that covered the whole Central Continent, it was only natural to secure military strength using everything they could, quests and whatnot.

It wouldn’t be overly strange if they too had some sealed power like the Embinyu Church.

‘So how many secret weapons would they have? Two? Three? That feels a bit too few. Maybe between eight and ten? They wouldn’t have had time to prepare that many after unifying the Central Continent. ’

Quests were often discovered by adventurers and excavators.

There were users with special professions and fame like Weed, but things like quests or sealed skills that can affect the whole continent were not very common.

‘Let’s say it’s five. They probably have prepared around that number. And the Steel Knights are one of them.’

A man of such quick wits. He would probably be able to correctly guess the number of chopstick pairs Lafaye had kept as spare after he got a delivery from a Chinese restaurant.

‘The number of Hermes Guild users… approximately  752 300, according to their guild website. And the Imperial Army has 3 000 000 people.’

From the point of view of someone who rules a Kingdom, it was a ridiculously large amount of troops.

Worse still, these numbers did not include the number of troops independently owned by their lords.

‘Thanks to Seoyoon’s sacrifice, the circumstances became more favorable. They need to station about half of their troops in fortresses or castles for local defense. The rest will be mobilized for the war.’

Weed was drawing a big picture in his head.

The Imperial Army with the strongest military force.

Even after the existence of things like the Order of the Steel Knights was revealed, it didn’t pique Weed’s interest much.

The Arpen Kingdom, the Southern Desert warriors, and the rebel forces. He was going to gather all of them in one team and hunt the lands of the Empire.

“Hard work is never wasted.[6] I was holding a grudge ever since they took over the whole Central Continent for themselves; and I bet there are others with the same grudge, too.”

The elite soldiers of the Haven Empire were gathering in the Hurfan and Litum regions.

40% of the Hurfan region was already conquered by the Northern users, and a landing operation was taking place in the Litum region.

“We arrived at Littum. Everyone get off the ship!”

“Woow…. so this is the Central Continent.”

“Look at those beach houses. They’re so pretty.”

“Now I get why everyone’s talking about the Central Continent”

Quite unlike the scene of landing operations in which there was a fierce battle engaged by both sides, the Northern users were disembarking from a large sailboat in a leisurely manner.

After the landing, they visited the city shops in the coast, enjoying shopping and taking a look at the goods.

The ships of the line and carracks stolen from the Haven Empire were also used to transport the Nothern users.

“We have a ship with great ride comfort! No rocking in the waves. Sail to Litum for just 7 gold!”

“We’re going to depart in 30 minutes. You can have dinner at the Central Continent’s harbor Radek!”

“Anyone fancying some fresh-caught sashimi, get on board! We have a captain with Intermediate 7 level fishing skill! He can catch just about anything that’s not a Kraken!”

Merchants and adventurers were making good profits through the transportation of the Nothern users.

In addition, they could raise a fortune by bringing food and other trading goods in large quantities and selling them.

Since the rebellious uprising, the Haven Empire was suffering losses in their mineral mining, crop yield, and even goods production.

Indeed, even though there wasn’t any shortage of daily necessities, the price of groceries and other basic products was raised by 30%.

Most of the cities in the Central Continent bought products from the Arpen Kingdom at an expensive price, and with the added benefits of specialty products it was a jackpot for many merchants.

To merchants chasing after profit, it was a good opportunity to create great wealth and business growth by selling the spare supplies of the Arpen Kingdom to the Haven Empire.

“So they are the Northern users…”

“Things got quite lively. It’s good to have more people here.”

The Central Continent’s users welcomed the new people.

When the Arpen Kingdom came into control, the taxes were reduced to less than a half of the original amount; in addition to the official tax rate, various surtaxes and public usage cost or trade taxes were decreased.

The profit would have been several times greater if it had been before the Empire reduced the tax rate, but even as in current state it was an enormous gain.

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

The Central Continent’s users willingly joined in, chanting the words “Grass Porridge”.

“But what kind of porridge are we?”

“Well, I like Bamboo Shoots Porridge…”

“But it’s so hard to go through the procedure for joining. And it would be nice if we come up with something by ourselves.”

“There is said to be about 130 porridge groups in the Grass Porridge Cult. Would there be any new names we could take?”

“Um… How about Flower Porridge?”

“Flower Porridge?”

“Yes, small grasses and flowers blooming on the ground…It’s a nice harmony.  Also, it’s beautiful.”

The beginning of the Flower Porridge Army founded by a few users of the Central Continent!

They put flowers in their hair in order to show their membership in the Flower Porridge group.

In a matter of just a few hours or a day, the size of the Flower Porridge army increased remarkably, and everyone in the Litum region was walking around with flowers in their hair.

Having flower ornaments on their hair allowed the elves and fairies to display their sweet beauty, but the problem was that even tall barbarians and muscular warriors put flowers in their hair.

There was a small fishing village in the Litum region called Brundelheim. Seven novice users of level 70 from the Northern region came to this village, and by that evening the atmosphere of the whole place had changed completely. Now, each and every one of the approximately a thousand users of this village had flowers in their hair.

“So this is what it feels like to be in Grass Porridge Cult. To feel somehow connected as one to someone who’s completely different from me.”

“We aren’t alone. We all live together.”

Translation Notes

↑ [1] This is actually a very literal translation of original Korean words which means an employee who got their position by having connections to people in higher positions, or people with money and influence. I couldn’t find any English word that was even remotely close to this meaning, so for now I settled for ‘parachuted employee’.

↑ [2] This is literal translation of a famous Korean saying, meaning that once a person start to work on something, they must not give up until the end.

↑ [3] Considering the context of the original novel I think the last sentence of the last part would have been better translated to something like, “Should we just flee?” Apologies about this.

↑ [4] The original Korean text does not show if this is a plus 30 or minus. I assume it’s a minus, showing that the religious influence decreased even further as citizens grow more fearful.

↑ [5] I didn’t want him to refer to Weed as “the youngest” every single time, so I used the term “Little One”, also as an affectionate nickname.

↑ [6] Here I used an English saying “Hard work is not wasted.”The Korean adage used in the original text literally translates to something like “A tower built upon great efforts does not collapse easily” which has a very similar meaning to the English saying.

Chapter 4: Liberation of the Free City of Somren

The Imperial Army’s subjugation of the Ritten region was led by Trakis the Conqueror of the Third Legion.

“We will destroy it thoroughly in a week. Not only will the Arpen Kingdom be driven out of this land, but given any chance we will invade it in return.” Trakis declared to his commanding officers.

The 250,000 elite soldiers of the Third Legion formed the basis of the army under his charge. In addition to that, there were reinforcements composed of 100,000 troops recruited from the nearby cities under his authority as a lord of the Haven Empire, and another 100,000 Imperial soldiers deployed by the headquarters of the Empire.

A total of 450,000 powerful troops! And there were no less than 50,000 Steel Knights following behind them.

“The estimated number of Northern users that landed on the Ritten region is one million.”

“And how many of them are above level 400?”

“Our guess is about 5 percent of the total number.”

Reports from secret agents working in the Ritten region were arriving like a stream. The Hermes Guild actively made use of secret agents during the conquest of the Central Continent. Over a hundred of them had been sent to Ritten region, so naturally any new information arrived through them immediately.

‘We could simply trample on them right now…’

Trakis was one of the top 20 rankers of Royal Road, but he still took some time to think carefully before going to battle.

‘Judging by the combat power alone, they would not be able to match even 10 percent of our military strength. But there will be a lot of unexpected variables.’

He was so convinced of their victory while watching the broadcast that showed the Northern expeditionary force attempting to conquer the Castle of the Earth not long ago. But the sight of the huge army being destroyed as the castle collapsed on them gave him a considerable shock: an unbelievable twist, during a dramatic moment.

‘Weed’s intervention is more likely than ever. There will be more Northern users streaming in, too… Then the answer is a lightning war: don’t give them time to prepare.’

Trakis thought the situation would become more difficult if the battle dragged on. Nonetheless, he took care not to show these inward thoughts during interviews with the broadcasting stations.

“Weed and the Northern users? They are nothing.”

“You seem to have great confidence before the battle.”

“Of course I do. We are not going there to fight. We are going there to trample on them.”

For the morale of the whole troops as well as for his own popularity, he decided to talk big.

Na Ye-Seul, a field reporter of CTS Media with an unusual choice of race as a bear, asked him with a smile, “A contest between Weed the God of War and you, Mr. Trakis, it’s only natural that this event is highly anticipated by everyone. Are you willing to fight if there is a one-on-one match against Weed?”

“…”

This made Trakis pause.

’A one-on-one fight?’

He had to be cautious; if he said yes in the interview, then a situation might arise in which he had to face Weed directly by himself. Not only would his life be at stake, but also the whole Third Legion might be defeated before even having a proper fight if things went wrong.

‘This is rather uncomfortable…’

His mind raced as though he was just caught while stealing. True, he was one of the very top-class rankers of Royal Road, but still, he would rather avoid a duel with Weed; the man’s fighting capability was not something that could be predicted by normal standards. He got stronger in unusual ways such as causing disasters, or changing race or form. There were even rumors that claimed he had an ability to stop time.

“It was so strange. I clearly remember my skill was just about to hit him directly, but instead, I was the one who got killed the next second.”

“A short-range teleportation skill? But it was a bit different. Normally a skill attack does not hit at the same time you move.”

“Even if you manage to disable his magic, it’s no use; you cannot block that particular movement no matter what you do.”

These were some of the comments given in unison by the Hermes Guild users who had fought Weed face-to-face. They were all strong in their own ways, but their general sentiment was that Weed was comparable to a mirage that couldn’t be reached.

“Fighting Weed? I must say, that is an exciting thought. However, as a commander-in-chief, I’m afraid I cannot carelessly rush into a fight when there’s such an important battle ahead.

“Ah yes, I understand. It would be rather overwhelming, fighting Mr. Weed directly.”

“No, I don’t mean…”

“Then, would you accept if Mr. Weed challenges you to a duel?”

“…”

***

The Haven Imperial Army led by Trakis moved swiftly, night and day.

“Move faster, move!”

The Third Legion troops were even wearing specially-crafted armors. These equipments improved the resistance against nature in case of disasters, and increased the longevity of the soldiers to the limit.

‘With these, we can prevent death by natural disasters up to some extent. Also there are no factors that could maximize the damage like in the sea…’

Trakis employed a massive number of scouts, preparing for ambush. The troops avoided terrains such as canyons, rivers and swamps whenever possible, even if they had to make a detour. Taking advantage of their horses and carriages, they tried to compensate for the longer distance with speed.

As there was also a teleport gate installed in the middle, they arrived at the border of the Ritten region just two days after they left the center of the Haven Empire,

“The small damaged villages can be restored later. We will continue advancing towards Shelgium, the heart of the Ritten region, at full speed.”

The Northern users had already conquered Shelgium, which was once the capital of the old Ritten Kingdom.

To be precise, the word ‘conquest’ was not quite appropriate, because hundreds of thousands of Northern users approached Shelgium.

“Finally, the day has come to repay Weed’s kindness.””

…and one of those users used to be something like an elder citizen of Shelgium.

Mandol!

He once asked Weed to carve his unborn daughter. He was willing to pay any price, but the cost of this commission was 1 Copper.

‘He wouldn’t give something like this a lick and a promise, would he?’

Mandol was anxious, but he waited for the completion of the work.

That 1-copper sculpture turned out to be a mythical work depicting the life of his daughter.

An art center was even built in Morata, and Mandol settled down in the Arpen Kingdom with his wife. He was the first one to come forward and take the lead when the Grass Porridge Cult started their march.

“Let’s go! Take revenge upon the Hermes Guild!”

As Mandol took his place in the front line, young users of the Grass Porridge felt afraid.

“Who’s that old guy? I’m scared…”

“H-he looks really intimidating…”

Mandol, who was making even his allies feel frightened just because of his threatening looks.

When he arrived at his old home Shelgium, many users in this place voluntarily came out to welcome him.

“Dear Sir Mandol!”

“You’ve finally come. I have waited.”

In spite of his appearance, Mandol was a kind and considerate guy. There were users all over Shelgium who had played Royal Road and leveled up with him, or who owed him favors.

“If Mandol needs our help, then of course we should be there for him.”

“Yes. And it’s not like it’s a bad thing if the Arpen Kingdom takes control of the region.”

As there were signs of an uprising even among the users of Shelgium, Vegus – the governor of the city – chose to open the castle’s main gates and flee by night. Publicly, this event was known as the downfall of a parachuted officer who had got his position through money and connections, but in fact this was planned by the heads of the Hermes Guild.

“We must not let the war drag on for too long; we need to subdue the rebel forces all at once in order to show them the power of the Imperial Army, and we need to overpower the Arpen Kingdom.”

Thus they decided to let their enemy take Shelgium, the capital of the Government-General, without bloodshed for now: it was a scheme to confine all of the Northern users in one place and exterminate them in a single assault!

“We must make sure there is no space for even an ant to escape.”

When talking about a siege, the total annihilation of the defending forces inside the castle would show just how big the gap between the two sides was in terms of military power.

The Siege of Shelgium!

The dawn was breaking on the day of the battle between the Haven Imperial Army and the Northern users.

*****

“Wow…Look at all those tents.”

“That’s the splendor of the Imperial Army for ya. I must say, it IS quite amazing.”

Northern users were standing along the castle walls of Shelgium.

Looking over the tents of the Imperial Army, which were more than 10,000 in number, the air was surprisingly relaxed.

“Let’s just go and have a large meal.”

“Good idea. If we die, we die, right?”

These Northern users didn’t even fear defeat. They were none other than the advance party of the Grass Porridge Cult!

The main force was on their way down from the borders with the Haven Empire, advancing little by little.

“We don’t have enough stone!”

“Is there a mountain nearby that we can use as a quarry?”

“There’s one about 2 kilometers away from here. There are a lot of rocks by the river, too.”

“Then let’s go and dig them all!”

The main force of the Grass Porridge Cult was on the march, even paving a road that leads to the Haven Empire in the process.

If Weed had made an explicit suggestion to conquer the Haven Empire in the first place, he could have easily formed an expeditionary force of more than 10 million people. But as the news of Seoyoon’s sacrifice was extensively spread among people through broadcast, more than half of the Northern users were advancing southward in anger.

As they were descending in thousands of smaller groups, it was impossible to know their exact numbers. The architects were even securing a traffic route on their way down, paving roads to ensure the swift movement of the main force.

“It’s fine if we die. But we are the frontline liberation army against the Haven Empire.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“I bet our sacrifice will be remembered throughout the history of Royal Road.”

Crowers, a user with a level in the late 400s, was talking to his comrade Zenthal at the castle wall.

– There is no chance of winning this battle.

Meanwhile in the Emergency Situation Room of Grass Porridge Cult, people were analyzing the fight against the Haven Empire.

While continuously monitoring the status of the military strength of both sides, they came to the conclusion that it would be difficult to defend the occupied area with the advance party alone before the main force came to join them.

A second lieutenant, who had been kicked out of the Korean Military after reporting a case of corruption regarding the ingredient used in the military’s meal service, voiced his opinion.[1]

– It would be best to abandon Shelgium and back off for now. Even if that means we need to hand over the victory to the Hermes Guild.

He also explained about the difference in strength between both sides to the representative users of Shelgium.

“It looks like a planned movement that the Third Legion is marching to this place immediately after the Hermes Guild gave up Shelgium. We need to retreat.”

The advance party of the Grass Porridge Cult and Mandol were determined not to follow that plan.

“We are not going to back off.”

“But this is too reckless!”

“Grass Porridge is a legend. Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

The core of this advance party consisted of Grass Porridge fanatics; they did not want to retreat the moment after they reached the Central Continent.

Mandol smiled as well.

“It’s going to be fun, fighting to my heart’s content. I’m going to join them.”

“Mr. Mandol…”

“Nobody’s forcing other people to join. Those who do not want to take part in the fight can choose not to go online on Royal Road for some time, or to withdraw from Shelgium. And those who have decided to stay, please don’t blame the others. We are doing this because our hearts demand it.”

After listening to Mandol’s speech, the users from the Central Continent couldn’t easily make up their minds.

As they were high-level users, they would lose a lot if they died. But their pride would be hurt if they decided to flee, tail between the legs.

“So, we are scapegoats… no, not scapegoats. I’ll die as a warrior, fighting against the Haven Empire.”

“It would be my pleasure to fight alongside you.”

About half of the high-level users of Shelgium decided to join. Once they made up their mind to lay down their life, the only thought left in them was the hope to fight without regret.

***

– The siege of Shelgium has begun.

– The Haven Imperial Army is swarming the castle walls.

– Siege weapons. Flame carts and Ice catapults are being used.[2]

– Look at those fireballs and ice shards the size of a house: they are being shot from a distance and hitting the buildings in the city, flying over the walls!

– Those weapons haven’t been used after the conquest of the Central Continent.

– With each shot from the Flame carts, tens of Northern users are killed.

Most of the broadcasting stations related to Royal Road were relaying the scenes of the siege of Shelgium.

The Haven Empire versus the Arpen Kingdom!

The broadcasting stations couldn’t ignore this event, especially when Weed himself could join the battle, and the viewers were showing great interest as well.

Weed let out a sigh.

“They would have been better off giving up Shelgium…”

His Disaster Sculpting skill would not have been enough to sweep off the whole Imperial Army from a normal plain.

The big gap in their military force might have been overcome with a lot of Resurrection Sculpting or Sculptural Life Bestowal skills, but that would have meant losing at least 20 levels for every battle. The situation was impossible to handle, even for a necromancer.

Even without Weed, the advance party in Shelgium would give their best effort to fight against the Empire, and they would be annihilated.

‘The Hermes Guild might hold a feast after killing all the Northern users and the users of Shelgium.’

The event will be exaggerated as a great defeat of the Arpen Kindgom and the Northern users through broadcast as well.

Weed wanted to get something in return for Shelgium.

‘If you give me sour grapes, you bet I’ll trample them with my feet.’[3]

He had already contacted some of his trusted acquaintances, and a couple of users active in the Central Continent.

Calis from the Black Lion Guild and Roam of the Roam Guild came bringing the entirety of their troops as soon as they got his whisper.

The place for their gathering was the region of Britten Alliance. It was a strategically important area, holding about 30 percent of the economic power of the Versailles Continent, a free city that became the center of trade and commerce.

Inside the Underground Sewer, a dungeon meant for new players with a level around 35, Weed was having a meeting with a thousand high-level users.

They were in the deepest part of this sewer dungeon, crawling with fist-sized cockroaches.

“We are going to take the Free City of Somren.”

“Hmmm.”

Roam and Calis just listened to him in silence.

Their state of mind might be complicated, but at any rate, the Free City of Somren was a big game.

‘Taking Somren…with just a thousand soldiers?’

‘How many troops are there? Quite a lot, as far as I know. Easily over forty thousands.’

With the two users who once had unmatched fame in the entire Central Continent keeping quiet, the rest did not even dare to ask questions.

There were so many things that they wanted to ask, but this was a plan designed by Weed himself.

‘He must definitely have something in mind.’

‘He probably has prepared a lot of hidden cards that he hasn’t told us about. After all, he is the hero of legend who hasn’t been defeated once.’

‘He is even willing to give up Shelgium in order to concentrate on this scheme, it must be huge! I’m so honored to have been included in this battle. I’ll tell my girlfriend and parents all about it when I get back.’

A thousand was not even enough to alert the Hermes Guild of their existence, and their fighting power was definitely insufficient, too.

People like Pale, Python and Romuna were dragged here to join as well, after being contacted by him.

“Do you want to go hunting for about a week?”

“N, no…”

“I was about to say I’m going to fight the Hermes Guild in Britten.”

“Oh, in that case, You can count me in…”

The moment when all hope was about to be drained from them, they were tempted by this offer and decided to participate.

Seasoned Crab was also hiding in the darkness, listening to Weed.

“The first step of our plan begins in the Central Plaza of Somren. That place has a lot of floating population.”

“Hmm.”

The users gathering inside nodded. Everyone who was present was a top elite user with a level near 500 or higher. They were Weed’s acquaintances, or the top-class members of the Grass Porridge Cult. They had also visited the Free City of Somren before the Haven Empire united the Central Continent, so they knew how prosperous that area was. The region of the Britten Alliance was the true heart of the Central Continent, controlling its economy.

“Due to security reasons, I’ll reveal the second and third steps when the time is right.”

“Umm.”

Weed’s suggestion went through; there wasn’t a single objection.

*****

* Swooooosh!! *[4]

The users had arrived through the teleport gate of the free city of Somren.

“Come buy some flowers! You can even eat these when you are hungry.”

“Unbelievably cheap wakame! If you don’t like having bread while exploring dungeons, try this seaweed after boiling it. It’s good for your health, and also has a useful effect that increases your HP recovery rate!”

“Anyone need professional help with repairing broken iron swords? Repairing fee only, no extra charges!”

“I’m selling sculptures! The same pieces as the sculptures made by Weed! They make great gifts. They are yours for only 1 gold piece each! “

The users passed through the merchant stalls gathering in the Central Plaza.

The Britten region’s growth was based on free trade, with highly developed industry and tourism. Due to the city’s prosperity, there were still a lot of users active in this region, including novices.

“Hmm. That’s…  “

A few users found some items that intrigued them, but they chose to pass by.

There were a lot of users doing business in the plaza, and all of them were looking into  their crystal balls: they were watching the battle taking place in the distant Shelgium via television.

“Wow… Look at that Haven army. They are just overwhelming with their material superiority.”

“They are reducing everything to rubbles with their siege weapons alone. People cannot even attempt to escape.”

“Feels like they were really determined to make things difficult for the rebels when they were preparing for this battle. Still, Weed would not be so easily defeated.”

“A fight between Weed and Bard Ray…it would be so exciting if that happens again.”

The users in the plaza were chatting with each other while watching the crystal balls.

In the city’s restaurants and accommodations as well, most users were watching the battle of Shelgium through crystal balls. At this moment, even those who were in the dungeons were probably taking a break from hunting to watch the broadcast.

The general public thought that the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire would start seriously fighting each other in an all-out war; in fact, that was what Calcus’s intention had been when he ordered his Third Legion to march.

“Let’s get to our position and wait.”

“Um. Alright.”

The users who had arrived through the teleport gate waited in the corners of the plaza in accordance with their rather loose plan. There was a flash of light each time new users arrived through the several teleport gates. As the free city of Somren was a very busy place, this was nothing particularly unusual. Nonetheless, the users who had joined this grand scheme tried to avoid raising suspicions by going through several teleport gates before arriving.

A few other users, including Weed and his party, arrived using Yurin’s Picture Teleportation skill.

Just a simple look around the city was enough to see evidence of its great prosperity. Weapons and armors were sophisticated and of fine quality. There was a wide range of high-class trade goods too; merchants could make a great profit by buying the goods from Somren and selling them in faraway regions.

“There are about 53,000 troops in this region. The problem is that there are quite a few Hermes Guild members too: around 4000 users. However, we don’t know exactly how many of them are currently in this vicinity.”

Pale took the role of an intelligence source. He could obtain information from the broadcasting stations through Maylon, and he also managed to get in touch with Darius. Desperate to get on the good side of Weed, Darius was trying to get on his good side by showering his colleagues with presents.

“Tracing, Armor-piercing, greater-ranged, explosive…are you sure you can just give out these fine arrows to me for free?”

“Of course! He he he. Fine tools recognize their master, you know. Even in the Hermes Guild, there aren’t that many people who can use these kinds of arrows.”

“Thank you, Mr. Darius.”

Pale had once completed a quest with Darius when he was in the Rosenheim Kingdom but he didn’t recognize him at first, having met so many different people since that time.

“Although, I should let you know, I don’t have that much authority over things.”

“But you are one of the closest associates of Weed’s! Ha ha!”

“Well I’m not saying we’re not close, but I’m more of his slave than a frien…”

“Same difference!”

He accepted the gifts without too much concern, not thinking of them as bribes.

‘So he wants a position of a lord? Sigh… I don’t think I’d have a say in this. I shall just accept what is given to me.’

But while reporting this encounter with Darius to Weed, he recalled the old memories.

“Huh…So THAT was him.”

“Yep. I think he is that jerk we met.”

They had not crossed paths with Darius since the events leading to the discovery of the Floating City Lavias. They may not have been on the best of terms before leaving, true, but that was it. The real problem was Geomchi and the disciples.

“Wouldn’t they be angry if we accept Mr. Darius as a lord?”

“Well, they don’t generally hold their grudges for a long time.”

“Even so…”

“He’ll probably be fine. He’ll just have to endure some hardship for a couple of months. It would be best for him to avoid meeting them at all, but we don’t need to worry about him that much.”

“…”

Pale was actually feeling more pity for Darius.

‘He’ll be manipulated by Weed-nim now, after leaving the Hermes Guild. I dare not say which is better.’

Since then he had been contacting Darius regularly, receiving information on the inner status of the Hermes Guild or soldier deployment. These sorts of information might change a little over time, but the numbers regarding the default placement of troops would still be quite accurate.

“A total of 53,000 troops. If we assume that only half of the Hermes Guild members are around, then there will be 2,000 of them. 3,000 if we are unlucky.”

“Yes.”

“Then…”

The users scattered around the plaza were waiting for Weed’s next words. Thanks to the users near him, his words were transmitted to everyone on the group communication channel.

The second, third, and the fourth steps.

They were eagerly waiting to hear about his  perfect plan for invading the free city of Somren.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s start marching to the lord’s castle.”

“…Pardon?”

“Just like that?”

Looking at the confused faces of the users, Weed took out a big chest from his backpack.

“Here. I’ll give these to you.”

For about 0.1 second, they thought he had actually prepared something.

‘Are they siege weapons?’

‘No, they are too small. Legendary magical weapons, maybe?’

‘Is he giving us some items of humongous power?’

It turned out that what Weed passed around to the users were flags made of cloth. Each of them had a picture of beautiful grasslands and cities painted on it. As the Grass Porridge Cult did not have any official flag, the painting depicted the cities in the North. The manufacturing process of these flags involved a couple of tailors being shamelessly exploited by Mapan.

“What on earth are we going to do with these flags?”

“We are going to march while holding them.”

“What?”

These tailored items were nothing unusual, but once they hoisted the flags high, there were users who recognized them for some mysterious reason.

“Wait…is that…The Grass Porridge Cult?”

“That’s a Grass Porridge flag!”

“Why are they here…? Wait, that’s Weed-nim! The god of war!”

Several merchants who gathered around the plaza shouted loudly.

A sudden and brief suspicion dawned on Pale and Romuna.

‘Even I sometimes have trouble recognizing him because of his featureless face, and I see him often. How are they all recognizing him instantly?’

‘It’s so strange. All we are doing is holding a few flags with some grass painted on them. How are they associating that with the Grass Porridge Cult in a second? When we don’t even have an official banner?’

Not even bothering to check the identity of those merchants, once a commotion broke out about Weed’s appearance, users were quickly flocking to the plaza.

The users who were doing business or watching broadcast with crystal balls in taverns were gathering.

“Wow….it really is Weed! I thought you would be in Shelgium.”

“Weed-nim! Are you really Weed-nim? I was around there when you got that quest from Freya Order.”

“All hail the great Weed!”

“Long live the Arpen Kingdom!”

Weed’s popularity in Somren was truly at its peak. For many users from the free cities, Weed was simply their hero and role model.

“What’s this, what is going on?”

“I don’t understand. There’s no point to an ambush if our identity are revealed like this.”

Even the users who trusted and followed Weed were left flabbergasted by the sudden turn of events in the course of about half a minute.

“Now, these sculptures are only 50 gold pieces each! I have limited stock, so hurry up! I’ll take the first three people only!”

“…”

He even started selling his rip-off sculptures after the words of his arrival spread.

If you are thinking that he is being quite unbecoming of a master sculptor, selling cheap works to grab a couple of coins, you would be very mistaken: he was able to produce carvings like rabbits, foxes and deer, which he had been making repeatedly ever since he was a novice sculptor with lightning speed, at the rate of about two hundred per hour. Soon he achieved an unbelievable feat of selling 980 sculptures in 6 minutes: this town was rich, and there were a lot of users buying 10 or 20 at once as gifts.

“Weed-nim is here!”

“The Grass Porridge Cult has appeared.”

In the meantime, word of Weed’s arrival kept spreading throughout the city, drawing even more users and heating up the atmosphere.

“Is he still selling sculptures?”

“They are already sold out!”

“Woow….I really wanted to get one.”

Innocent little lambs, such easy preys!

Having completely sold his sculptures, Weed raised his hands.

“I came, I sold, I earned!”[5]

“Weed! Weed! Weed!”

In that rather strange air, the users of the free city of Somren went wild. They were not sure exactly what was going on, but they were happy that Weed, the master sculptor and the most popular figure in the whole continent, appeared before them. They even felt as though THEY had earned all that money. There are good reasons why politicians spend a lot of time and effort on street campaigns.

– Weed: Raise the flags high, everyone.

Weed gave an order to raise the flags on the group discussion channel.

Pale, Romuna and even Python hoisted up the flags with two hands and waved them.

About two hundred flags were waving in the air, and that was enough to form the right atmosphere.

Weed delivered a roaring speech.

“To the free city of Somren! I have come to reclaim the freedom that has been lost!”

“Weed! Weed! Weed!”

Pale felt a great shudder traveling down his back as he saw the reaction of the audience.

He had sensed a similar atmosphere when Weed was moving the crowd to build the pyramid in the Rosenheim Kingdom: a feeling of being mesmerized and swindled without realization.

“I will fight for you all.”

“Weed! Weed! Weed!”

“Do not chant my name alone. My hope is that everyone will achieve happiness and prosperity!”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

The heat in the air was enough to melt a falling scoop of ice cream before it reached the ground.

In no more than a couple of minutes since Weed’s arrival, the users present in the Central Plaza of Somren became intoxicated by this excited atmosphere.

“Let’s reclaim the freedom that we have lost. With our own hands!”

“Yeeeeeeaaaaaah!”

With each word blaring out of Weed’s mouth, a roar from the audience followed.

“We will be grateful for your help, however small. If you are afraid, you can just walk with us in the back. Let’s show the pride of the people of Somren to that arrogant Hermes Guild!”

In a blink of an eye, Weed managed to form an army of 40,000 in the plaza.

“We shall march towards the castle of the lord!”

“Let’s go!”

Weed took the lead, and the users followed, weapons in their hands.

Those who they met on their way to the lord’s castle, and those who came running after hearing the news, all joined the crowd.

They were not even properly organized according to classes or levels, but that didn’t matter; people were gathering, and their potential for destruction was impossible to predict. Some time later, Mapan wrote about this event in his memoirs in the form of a dialogue.

– Preparation in advance? It took me exactly 30 minutes. I just had to recruit some novice users with the daily payment of 3 gold pieces. I think there were about 100 of them…I was originally going to get about 1000 people, but Weed-nim objected, saying that it was a waste of money. I really like how Weed-nim always shows such great consideration for money, even when it’s MY money.

– Their task? Things I had to teach? There were none. I simply told them to shout Weed-nim’s name loudly when he arrived. That was all the preparation we needed.

– There was no need to recruit the soldiers through official means, no need for supplies for the battle. Are you asking what would’ve happened if the troops of Somren had tried to stop us?

– How would they have done that, when they were stabbed in the back so unexpectedly? Still, it wouldn’t have made much of a change even if they had tried. It’s Weed-nim we’re talking about. He would have stabbed them again. Harder.

– You mean there would have been the 2nd, 3rd and 4th preliminary steps in reserve? I told you, there were no such things! True, one of Weed-nim’s many strengths is his preparedness, but his occasional boldness is another.

– Yes. Weed-nim once told me, miracles are made by hard working people with quick wits. He often handles a situation with his hunches and wits, and that surprisingly works out very well.

A combat is all about timing!

Kgoltha, the lord of the free city of Somren, was lying down watching a crystal ball.

“There’s no way we could lose this time. Even if Weed has the ability to fly. Kekeke.”

Kgoltha and the other Hermes Guild users were eagerly waiting for Weed’s defeat. With Weed and the Arpen Kingdom gone from the face of this Versailles Continent, there would be nothing that could stand in their way.

Even considering their current situation with the rebels, they thought that the heads of the guild could find a way to resolve it once they lost the central force that united them together.

“We are in trouble! There’s a revolt!”

“Ugh…Of all the time, why now?”

As a former merchant, Kgoltha raised his big and heavy body.

“What’s the size of the revolt?”

“We can’t say anything about it yet, but the estimated number is 100,000.”

“Well, that’s not too bad…”

He wasn’t happy with the large scale of the uprising, but thought that it would be subdued shortly.

The amount of wealth accumulating in Somren was such that they even had trouble finding ways to spend it all, so the renovation of the castle walls and defense facilities had been made thoroughly.

‘The troops in the city could stop them without much trouble; then the loot could make a considerable profit.’

He didn’t think much more ahead than contacting the guild for help in case things went wrong, but soon his adjutant came bursting into his bedroom and said, “The leader of the rebellion army is Weed!”

“Weed? Okay. It’s a common name, but I don’t recall hearing it around here.”

“Weed, the god of war!”

“Huh…there’s a user with such a title? It’s quite fancy, wherever they got it from.”

“You don’t know Weed the god of war? He fought against Lord Bard Ray, and he’s the king of Arpen Kingdom!”

“Of course I know THAT Weed. Who doesn’t? He’s the most famous person in Royal Road.”

The adjutant beat his chest with frustration.

“THAT Weed is invading this city, right now!”

Kgoltha jumped from his seat.

“WHAT?! Why is he…For what…HOW?”

“I don’t know.”

“He’s supposed to be conducting the siege in Shelgium…it’s being broadcast live!”

“That’s not important. We need to stop him, fast.”

Having made a great fortune early, Kgoltha had owned the stores in the central district of Somren. After securing the position of a lord through his connections in the Haven Empire, he was practically rolling in money, but had little interest in war.

“You’re saying Weed is attacking us?!”

“How many times do I have to tell you? He is leading the uprising.”

“I suppose I have to fight, then?”

“If you are not planning on handing over the city, yes, definitely.”

The adjutant who was in charge of the administration of the free city of Somren had been a civil servant from the administrative department, and had been promoted when his competence was acknowledged in real life; a typical capable subordinate suffering from a dull governor.

“Who’s going to stop them?”

“I am not sure. Bushiri is the strongest user out of those who are online now. He’s a knight, too.”

“I remember him boasting during our last banquet. Did he say he’s level 512 now? Do you think he can stop them?”

“Things don’t look very optimistic. The Hermes Guild wouldn’t be chasing after him so obsessively if he could be beaten so easily.”

“Y…You’re right. What if we call the guild for help while our defense army fights them?”

“The guild will send people as fast as they can, but this city will have been taken before they even get here.”

*****

The broadcasting stations streaming the battle in Shelgium were faced with a nasty surprise.

“Quickly, connect to Somren free city!”

“It’s Weed! Weed showed up there!”

“That doesn’t make any sense, why is he there?”

“According to the news, he’s advancing towards the lord’s castle after gathering users.”

“Tell B Team to get ready right now, we need a real-time livestream if possible… Damn it! Shelgium’s important, but things are getting heated in Somren too! Which one should we broadcast? How are the other stations reacting?”

The broadcasting stations hastily decided to have live coverage of the situation in the free city of Somren, and organized their schedules accordingly.

Companies like KMC Media and CTS Media, despite being major broadcasting stations, gave up Shelgium and moved their focus to Somren.

Fortunately, since many users were active in the Britten region, there were also reporters present in the area and broadcast was arranged in less than 5 minutes.

“The waves of attacks from the Haven Imperial Army are continuing on in the siege of Shelgium. Currently, the outer walls have collapsed and the Empire’s infantry is approaching the city. Oh Joo-Wan ssi, the resistance from the northern users is very unyielding, isn’t it?”

“Yes, that’s right. Despite the large difference in strength, they are still enduring persistently. Some are even hiding in the rubbles to attack their enemy.”

“The siege of Shelgium is still raging on, but we just received news of Weed-nim’s appearance in the free city of Somren. We will move our broadcast to Somren for a moment.”

The users who have been expecting Weed’s arrival while watching the television also turned their attention to Somren.

*****

“Charge!!!”

“Somren shall be a free city once more!”

“We do not want tyranny!”

It was Weed who struck the match, but once the firewood of their their long-accumulated anger was set on fire, the hearts of everyone in the crowd were set ablaze.

The number of users marching increased to ten thousands as soon as they got out of the plaza, and as people started to get a feeling that they could actually make this work, more users active in the city kept coming to join them. They were thirteen thousand strong when they reached in front of the lord’s castle, and then seventeen thousand strong now after a brief hesitation.

With the appearance of Weed, there was a stream of users coming online in the streets and the plaza, and some people even came from inside the castle gates.

“Bring down the Hermes Guild!”

“We are the Grass Porridge! We are the Somren Porridge!”

The users following Weed picked flowers or grass leaves from the ground and put them in their hair.

“Attack!”

The lord’s castle, which had been newly built by the Hermes Guild to help govern the Free City of Somren, became the target of the rebellion.

The castle walls were high and strong, equipped with cutting-edge defense facilities which were even capable of casting offensive spells.

From the archery turrets came down a hail of powerful medium-sized arrows, piercing the crowd.

“Do not let them approach. Prepare the hot oil, and all troops get ready!”

“Yes sir!”

As a knight with excellent leadership, Bushiri conducted the soldiers to defend the castle. It was one of the largest castles in the entire Britten region: the Hermes Guild had spent a huge amount of money to build this castle and make it as strong as a fortress, so that they could use it to extend their control over the neighboring regions.

As Imperial troops were dispatched to the castle walls and other strategic points, the users outside started to fight back.

“Focus your spells on the castle gates!”

“People with Archer or Ranger class, please don’t get in front! Climb to the top of the buildings in the city and direct your shots at the castle from there if you have it within reach!”

The users of the free city did not have a proper line of command, but each one of them were finding their role in the battle and managed to defeat the forces stationed in each district of the city.

Weed ascended the mage tower with Pale.

“Hmm…this is a nice view.”

“Somren is indeed a prosperous place.”

The beautiful medieval-style architecture of the city caught their eyes. After the doors of Royal Road opened, the enormous amount of wealth accumulated in this city turned into luxurious structures. Temples of various religions including the Order of Freya, merchant streets and guild buildings were spread uniformly throughout the city. The mansions of the nobles and rich people added to the beautiful scenery as well.

“Fight the enemy!”

“Full-scale attack! Don’t back off, climb over the walls!”

Shouts from both the Hermes Guild members and the local users were heard everywhere. Fires started in a number of places in the city, with flames and black smoke rising into the sky.

The Free City of Somren has fallen into a war.

Pale cast a sidelong look at Weed’s face.

‘He just appeared in this place, and that was enough to start a battle of this scale…He really has a powerful presence.’

Before his thoughts got too complicated, Weed opened his mouth.

“I think it’s about time to begin.”

“Begin what?”

“Creating undead, of course. What’s more fitting to a large-scale battle than a hoard of undead?”

A battlefield where great users of the Central Continent are engaged in a fight; defenders and rebels alike, their corpses could be reanimated as undead after falling in battle. All the experience points and skill proficiency that would be gained by summoning high-level undead and leading them into the fight!!!

Even better, if the rebels could no longer live normal lives in Somren anymore after this, they would then choose to flee to the Arpen Kingdom, leaving only bitterness for Bard Ray and Lafaye. All things considered, the destruction of Shelgium, where a large battle was taking place, would not favor the Haven Empire either. From a long term perspective, the Haven Empire would have to defend against the Arpen Kingdom in the North, and the desert warriors in the South. On top of this, there would be a dangerous war front forming inside the Empire itself. With each exchange of blows with the enemy, the Haven Empire would have to suffer losses and their military strength would wear thin. It would be deprived of its users, of its reputation, and finally, of its territories.

‘Wow…This is just evil. Now I can see why Mapan-nim always said that he cannot hold a candle to Weed-nim. He wasn’t being modest.’

This whole situation was truly comparable to a person inserting a penny in a toy vending machine[6] and then taking the whole thing.

*****

The siege inside the Free City of Somren!

The defending army led by Bushiri was doing an admirable job keeping off the enemy, but it could only hold its ground against the concentrated attack from the users.

“Return to the ground upon which you once walked. Here lies a dark place, a black and corrupt land. Engrave the eternal commandments of darkness into the heart of every living being. Undead Rise!”

Weed summoned Death Knights and Specters. As his Summon Undead skill had reached an Intermediate level 7, he was now able to summon Wolf Assault warriors holding large warhammers.

“Fight. Trample. I don’t need any offerings. Wipe them all!”

He converted all of his art stats into wisdom using his Sculpture Destruction skill. Weed was sending off an endless stream of undead into the battle. He summoned skeleton archers in hundreds at a time, ordering them to attack from a distance. Even when huge siege weapons hit them directly, the skeletons just rose up again, their broken bones putting themselves together.

“Kekeke. We cannot be killed. Because we are already dead!”

“The immortal warrior calls. Who will stand against us?”

Even the weak skeletons posed a considerable threat when they were shooting arrows without end.

The defending troops would have to get outside of the castle walls to deal with them, but the Hermes Guild users were too preoccupied with their own safety to step forth. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, but all of those who had tried had lost their life the very moment they got outside: Bahamorg, the warrior who served Weed, was there, and there was currently no user in this place who could match his power in one-on-one fight.

In addition to Bahamorg, the assassin Seasoned Crab was moving in an unpredictable way across the battlefield, and there was also the warrior Python as well as numerous high level users who were harboring resentment towards the Hermes Guid. As the long-suppressed dissatisfaction felt by the users of the city wasn’t small either, there was a focused fire against any of the Hermes Guild users who stepped out of the walls.

“We found a route into the castle!”

A hole was created from a crack in the wall, in a position obscured by buildings. As the city users were penetrating inside, the siege of Free City of Somren was reaching its final stage. While the defending army in the lord’s castle was growing exhausted and smaller in number, the size of the rebel forces only increased as time passed.

The crucial moment was when Weed appeared in the sky on the wings of light, thundering a lion’s roar.

“We need to forgive those who surrender to us!”

“…?”

That was indeed very out of the blue; from the very mouth of Weed, who had been summoning undead and beating the living hell out of the defending troops and the Hermes Guild users, came a much unexpected suggestion.

“This is not just a fight against these few people. We need to fight to restore the justice that has disappeared from the Versailles continent!”

Even an elementary school kid would know better than to believe this: people were now living in an age in which children only had to switch on their phones to realize how heartless and dangerous the outside world was.

“Let’s fight when we must. But if any of them says that they give up the fight, let’s forgive them. An endless chain of retaliation would not do our world any good!”

Weed’s idea of justice!

Not many people empathized with it, but it was a tempting idea to the users of the Hermes Guild who were expecting to be massacred or locked up in the lord’s castle after the walls were breached.

‘They’re going to let us live if we surrender?’

Their minds were torn between two conflicting values: the benefits of avoiding death for this one time and the disadvantages of deserting the Hermes Guild. Of course, the latter would normally be much greater than the former, but circumstances were a bit different for the users of the Hermes Guild who had been regularly active in the Britten region. They were the users who joined the guild after the Haven Empire took over the Central Continent. They had originally belonged to other prestigious guilds, but had changed their allegiance when their strength was recognized by the Hermes Guild.

‘I want to remain active in this region…What if Weed liberates all the areas around here?’

Then they might be forced to abandon their homeland and move to the regions under the control of the Hermes Guild. In the opposite case, they might have to move to the Arpen Kingdom, but at least that would mean they didn’t have to die right there. Besides, if they stay alive, then there might be a chance to minimize their loss by selling off their property.

So, in the middle of a fierce battle, by that one word of Weed, suddenly users started dropping their weapons to the ground.

“I surrender!”

“I’m not going to fight any longer!”

With the desertion of these Hermes Guild users, the defense force of the castle collapsed in no time. There were about one third of the users who chose to fight until the end, but the rest left the Hermes Guild as a price for their lives.

***

Trakis the Conqueror!

Even while leading the army of the Third Legion, he could not release his tension.

‘I’ll have to fight against Weed…I don’t know what kind of unexpected things he will come up with this time…but even so, it will be my victory.’

Allowing the enemy to take Shelgium was all part of their strategy.. Now they were knocking down the city from outside with bombardment, using a huge number of high-performance siege weapons that they had brought from the Haven Empire. The presence of Steel Knights boosted their confidence even more, and the Northern users’ signature human-wave strategy would be severely limited in this place as well.

‘I should be grateful of the fact that they have put me in charge of the battle. After today, I shall gain great fame for defeating Weed and his Arpen Kingdom.’

It was an opportunity to get one step ahead of other prominent users of the Hermes Guild. Determined to break down the castle walls and devastate the entire city, he advanced his siege weapons little by little.

As Trakis gazed upon the battleground being all dramatic and such, Tanmell, another member of Hermes Guild, called him.

“Legion Commander!”

“What? I’m in the middle of conducting a battle. Unless it’s something important I must not lose my focus for even a sec-“

“It is! Did you hear that Weed appeared in Somren?”

“What did you say?”

While proceeding with the siege, Trakis got the news of Weed showing up in the free city of Somren. He didn’t believe it at first, but soon through his crystal ball he confirmed that the broadcasting stations also moved their live streaming to Somren.

His tension, which was as sharp as the tip of a sword just a moment ago, disappeared just like that, very undramatically.

‘Weed abandoned Shelgium. Then this place…is left with nothing more than some Northern users.’

And even those Nothern users were not great in number. As many of them were below level 100 as well, they were just some enemy that could be defeated without any challenge.

‘How easy a fight it would be, compared to those days when the Haven Empire was conquering the Central Continent!’

Trakis ordered the Imperial Army to launch a full-scale assault.

“Destroy it all. It will be a humiliation to drag this war until tonight.”

The siege weapons advanced, throwing fire and ice. Both the Steel Knights and the Imperial Army pressed forward, slaughtering the Northern users.

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

“It’s not over yet; let’s fight until the end!”

The Northern users fought heroically, and perished.

A military power that was impossible to match! The Third Legion under the command of Trakis dominated the users gathered in Shelgium with their strength. On some occasions there were users who surrendered, but most of them lost their lives in the battle.

As they had planned, the Third Legion could conclude the assault before nightfall. The city was reduced to rubbles, and a great many users who had gathered in it were exterminated. On the other hand, there were less than 20,000 casualties on the Imperial Army’s side. It was an overwhelming victory.

***

While running his store, Mapan watched the battles of Shelgium and Somren.

“Ha! That’s our Weed-nim!”

He felt nothing but pure awe. Weed’s backstabbing had a perfect angle, just the right amount of punch and delicate positioning, not to mention the excellent after-measures.

Mapan’s subordinate, Hidden Money, a younger cousin of his whom he had introduced Royal Road to, said:

“By the way, brother,”

“Yes?”

“Why did Weed-nim let those people live? If he is as you said he is, wouldn’t he wipe them all for exp and skill proficiencies?”

“You’re judging him by scratching the surface.”

His great belly sloshing, Mapan imitated the evil smirk he had learnt from Weed.

“Experience points and skill proficiencies are just one-off benefits.”

“That’s true.”

“Weed-nim could show off his great influence by finishing the battle with just a word, and he even showed mercy. That will have an impact across the whole Versailles Continent.”

“But that’s not his usual self. Is that really worth the benefits he gave up?”

Hidden Money tipped his head to one side in confusion; judging by Weed’s personality that he had heard so much about, it was just really unlikely that he had followed his conscience when making a decision. Missing the certain benefit right in front of him, just for some vague and abstract value? That was such a surprising aspect of him that Hidden Money was now reconsidering his impression of Weed.

‘I’ll need to leave him if he is not worth my obedience.’

Mapan could not hide his jowl-quivering smile, as if he knew exactly what he was thinking.

“They will become a great asset for Weed-nim.”

“What?”

“Do you think the Hermes Guild will accept them even if they returned? They will go hunting, complete quests and participate in battles all for the Arpen Kingdom from now on.”

“But still, he gave up the potential for his own growth! That’s such a loss!”

“Haha.”

Mapan felt quite satisfied, seeing his cousin’s eagerness for profit; you wouldn’t make a decent merchant unless you had such ambition.

“That’s precisely the reason why Weed-nim deserves people’s respect.”

“What?”

“They are already stragglers, few in number. If he wiped them all off with his undead, certainly there would be people among the northern users who grow jealous of his power.”

“Ah…”

“That is the rule you have to remember when you are offered a free meal. You never finish the last bit of food, lest you lose your host’s goodwill. Then, you get another free meal.”

Translation Notes

↑ [1] [Thanks @Sen] It's a common joke that everyone tells, since every boy is required to have like 2 years of military training – Its about how the food is so bad in the army, it must be stolen or spoiled. The next part of the story is how everyone “knows a sergeant” who got fired or replaced for trying to change it, so no one tries anymore.

↑ [2] The original Korean words for these siege engines are obviously creation of the author, so I attempted to find some appropriate English equivalents that sound mildly fantasy-esque while also explaining their purpose to some extent.

↑ [3] This is an obvious reference to the tale of the fox and the sour grapes. There’s an equivalent Korean expression involving a bitter persimmon, but I thought this would be more appropriate.

↑ [4] This is supposed to be the sound made by a teleport gate when there’s a user teleporting in; just in case it’s not clear.

↑ [5] This is a very obvious reference to “Veni, vidi, vici (I came, I saw, I conquered”)”.

↑ [6] A small vending machine which gives you a small, cheap and usually collectible toy in a plastic capsule when you insert a coin into it. These machines were very common in the streets of Korea about 10-20 years ago.

Chapter 5: An Eye for an Eye

Three warfronts!

The Arpen Kingdom, the Desert warriors and, on top of that, Weed’s appearance was causing liberation of major cities all over the Britten region.

‘Didn’t think he would sneak up on me like this…’

Lafaye was dealt a hard and unexpected blow by Weed’s method of starting wars and increasing the number of battlefields without being bound by borders.

The users in the areas that had been conquered by the Arpen Kingdom had left. Those in the Britten region were also willing to join the rebel army, not following the orders of the Haven Empire any longer.

‘Thinking of all the losses in the Empire’s population and economic power… at this rate, all of our hard work will be for naught. They have snatched away the initiative we were hoping to grasp by revealing the Steel Knights.’

The tide of the war, turned by a single cheap trick!

After some serious and grave considerations, Lafaye came to a decision.

“We were intending to seize the initiative in this war, but it looks like our enemy has taken some cunning actions beyond our imagination. Now, I will use another of the Five Secret Defense Schemes.”

“Hmm… so it comes to this, again.”

“What, so soon?”

“The Steel Knights haven’t even had a chance to take part in a proper fight yet!”

It was such an unconventional measure that there were even objections among the commanding heads of the Empire. The Five Secret Defense Schemes were their ace in the hole, created through massive amounts of money and manpower even by the Hermes Guild’s standard.

“There is no doubt that the Steel Knights are excellent additions to our military power, but they do not have people’s attention anymore. Moreover, considering the sudden change of circumstances during the last couple of days… the Empire needs to bring out an even greater power.”

“We can still defeat our enemies without much difficulty. We have never lost in the regions where our main forces are stationed.”

“The Empire has no future if it can only show power similar to its enemies. If our opponents’ strength is about 3, then we need to bring out 10… or 20, taking into account the potentially huge effects of Weed’s demagogy.”

The Haven Empire’s most significant weakness was its large territory and population.

As Weed and the Arpen Kingdom enjoyed inexplicably high popularity among users, the Empire needed to take precautions against every possible situation in which their enemies would swing the mood to their favor.

‘Other than the low tax rate, the benefits that this Kingdom of theirs provides to its people are far inferior to those provided by the Empire. And yet… Could this be the true impact of founding a nation?’

The story of Morata being rebuilt from ruins, leading to the foundation of the Arpen Kingdom through the collective effort of the users! The strong motivation that this short history gave birth to was what set them apart from the Haven Empire and its ways of ruling, as well as what gave them a competitive edge that the Empire could not match.

Lafaye chose to take a decisive measure in order to break out of this vicious circle.

“The most dangerous weapon out of the remaining 4 Secret Schemes… has a potential for destruction that is hard to predict. Therefore, we shall keep it as the last resort.”

“Agreed.”

“For now, I will summon the Shadow Army of Palma.”

“What? You mean to take out such a strong card…?!”

The Shadow Army of Palma. An organization created jointly by groups of witches and assassins and which had been the most powerful force throughout the history of the Versailles Continent.

The Hermes Guild had first come to know about them while searching for some S-class quests, and not long after, a deal was made: the Hermes Guild would provide secret graveyards and supplies to build their army, and in return they would destroy a target or a place designated by the Hermes Guild.

“Against the Palma Army, the human-wave strategy will only backfire. It is a perfect countermeasure to the Northern army, so they won’t have much trouble reducing the Arpen Kingdom to ashes.”

*****

The main force of Grass Porridge Cult was slowly making its way to the south. The reporters of the broadcasting stations attempted to take a good shot of the whole army by flying high into the sky using magic scrolls, but it was impossible.

Mountains and plains, rivers and lakes.

Covering all those terrains was a great tsunami of men, advancing tirelessly towards the southern lands. It reminded people of a giant swarm of fire ants, known to devour everything on the face of the Earth.

“I didn’t know that there were so many Northern users.”

“My god… there must be at least tens of millions of them!”

There were also groups of orcs following behind the human army.

“Chwiik! We need a new breeding ground.” [1]

“Any place will do. We can’t live like this. Chwiik!.”

The orc lords had succeeded in producing many subordinates in a remarkably short time. They raised many fighters and warriors through their commanding abilities and the quick growth in level.

“Here comes the orc army! Tchhwik.”

“Even I’m afraid of my own men. Chwiik!.”

The valiant orcs willingly participated in the war. As for the orc lords, they were certainly not in the position to say no to a fight, for reducing their own headcounts that were increasing way too fast for sustenance if nothing else.

Dwarves, elves, barbarians and fairies.

The users of every race and profession were marching towards the south.

*****

Jerome, the leader of the Second Legion of the Haven Imperial Army, was assigned the task of advancing to the North in order to restore the Harpan Region. His troops were composed of the 250,000 soldiers of the Second Legion, reinforced by 100,000 Steel Knights and the 30,000 men of the Magical Army Corps. The lords governing the areas near the capital of the Haven Empire also provided no less than 200,000 additional troops. About 10 percent of the Empire’s powerful military force was now under his command.

“What’s the situation with the local lords?”

“Approximately 127 of them went over to the Arpen Kingdom’s side.”

“Make an announcement to the remaining lords: the Imperial Army is coming. Should they ever desert the Empire for the Arpen Kingdom, not only will an order be placed against them to be killed on sight, but they will also never set foot into the lands of the Central Continent again in their life.”

“Yes, sir!”

While leading his Central Army forward, Jerome sent out several units of soldiers to the surrounding areas. About 10,000 troops moved around, hunting down the Northern users who had been excitedly roaming about the Harpan region.

“Let us fight!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

The Northern users tried to hold their ground, but they were no match against the Second Legion, the elites among the Imperial Army.

“Unleash the Steel Knights.”

“Yes, sir!”

Helpless against the power of the Steel Knights, the army of Northern users collapsed before they even got a chance to fight back.

Since the days of the Empire’s conquest of the Central Continent, Jerome’s Army had been highly respected for their prowess in battles.

“Attack! A war is won through courage!”

As the Legion Commander who had led countless users and soldiers through many a battle, he was aware of the importance of morale more than anyone else. During the conquest of the Central Continent, he often got the start on the enemy by fighting on the front line ahead of everyone, and those who fought against Jerome’s army were afraid and expected defeat even before the actual battle broke out. With the large number of seasoned elite soldiers under his command, it was often said that his army was invincibility itself.

Each day they fought 12 battles, wiping out tens of thousands of Northern users with ease and gradually taking control over the Harpan region.

“This is an excellent opportunity to train my soldiers in preparation for the war.”

Jerome felt quite satisfied as he led his troops to hunt the Northern users.

While the Second Legion was subjugating their enemy in the Harpan Region, the Shadow Army of Palma emerged in the Haven Empire.

Witches and assassins, heinous criminals and demonic creatures that had been confined for hundreds of years, were now released and beginning their march towards the North. With their numbers reaching a hundred thousand, word of their appearance spread among the users in no time.

Wherever they went, they left behind a trail of foul stench that caused the surrounding flowers, grass and trees to wither.

The users who had heard the rumors gathered together to watch from the distance the army of demonic creatures, towering with their heights ranging from 5 to 7 meters, advancing to the north.

One of those users named Darkford, a ranger with a level over 470, scanned the Shadow Army of Palma using his long-range observation skill.

“Ehh… Those things are freakishly strong!”

“How strong, exactly?”

“Between levels 600 and 700, probably. I cannot even get an estimate for a couple of witches over there. We wouldn’t be able to match their power with the current level of the users.”

“Whoa… where on earth did all those monsters even come from?”

As the Shadow Army continued their march towards the north, the neighboring cities and towns took considerable damage as well.

Benzoim, Tarek, and Bahana. Three villages came up with a plan to join forces to fight and lure them to another place, but ended up being annihilated altogether. Even the villages themselves were thoroughly destroyed, and the witches offered the spoils as sacrifices to create even more of the foul creatures.

Upon hearing this news, the Hermes Guild issued a new imperial order upon the lords of the neighboring areas.

– Do not engage them. Clear everything away from their path. Just leave them be until they encounter the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Since the whole event drew much attention from the broadcasting stations, through the mouths of several rather talkative local lords this supposedly secret order was disclosed to the general public.

– The Shadow Army of Palma! The Hermes Guild introduced some dangerous beings into the fight through quests. Their target: the Grass Porridge Cult!

– Some brave users of Agoltha launched an assault on the several demonic creatures that had strayed from the rest and had been wandering aimlessly. They were victorious, but they were surprised to discover that the level of each individual creature is over 500.

– We just got more news about the Palma Army. Apparently they are planning to perform a special ritual once they take over the Arpen Kingdom.

– And what kind of ritual is that?

– A ritual to create great magical borders. They are going to turn the entire Northern Continent into an ideal habitat for the demonic creatures.

– Then, what will happen to the Arpen Kingdom’s territory?

– It will most likely become a wasteland. People would still be able to live there, but their survival would be constantly threatened by the overflowing demonic creatures residing in the lands.

While it was at least fortunate that these secrets were revealed early on, to Weed and other users of Grass Porridge Cult the appearance of this new enemy posed a threat as urgent as their pants catching fire.

At the same time, the public opinion with regard to the Hermes Guild was reaching a new low in the Central Continent. People had not complained that much when the members of that guild got rather ambitious while playing Royal Road, zealously waging wars and expanding their control. True, ordinary users had to suffer some losses when the guild raised taxes or whatnot, but most of the time they could tolerate those inconveniences because they were having so much fun. However, now that they had found out that the Hermes Guild was going to turn the whole Northern Continent into a land of evil creatures, the resentment they harbored towards the Hermes Guild became irremediable.

*****

“The Shadow Army of Palma…”

As soon as he got wind of their emergence, Weed asked Mapan to take a look at the records in the Great Library of Morata.

The Great Library, where countless users ranging from novices to high level users record and store even the most trivial bits of information.

After the subordinate merchants belonging to Mapan’s Trading Company carried out a research on frightening villains, they found some well-organized information on the Shadow Army of Palma.

Things that endangered the entire Versailles Continent, #22.

The Shadow Army of Palma.

Witches and assassins who hated the world around them joined forces to destroy every kingdom in existence. There are not many studies on them, but their existence became widely known through the enormous amount of bloodshed recorded in history […] They are under the control of a king named Palma and had the ability to modify the life force and body of a human to turn them into a strong demonic creature. Each kingdom succeeded in putting them under a magical seal by taking decisive actions […]

The moment Weed took a look at these records, he got a general idea of their overall strength.

“Not as powerful as the Embinyu Church, but certainly quite strong.”

The experiences that he had accumulated as he defeated various forces threatening the peace of the Versailles Continent, as well as his days as the Great King of the Desert during which he WAS one of the forces threatening the peace of the Continent, made him quite an expert of threat assessment.

“I have encountered plenty of magic users, but assassins… they can be a bit tricky.”

The best assassins on the Continent. Perhaps it would be safe to assume that those included a couple of Master assassins. It wasn’t pleasant to imagine this kind of threat forcing its way into the North.

“If the Grass Porridge Cult engages them in battle… hmm.”

One thing was for sure: Weed could count on the Northern users to willingly take part in the fight if those creatures dared to set foot into the territory of the Arpen Kingdom. But the Grass Porridge Cult was relatively weak against large demonic creatures, as it mainly consisted of users with underwhelming strength.

“An eye for an eye. If this is how they want to play, then I have an idea, too.”

*****

– The true identity of the Shadow Army of Palma!

– The emergence of the beings threatening the stability of the Versailles Continent!

– The Hermes Guild unleashes an atrocious assault with questionable means.

– Weed, a living example of a great adventurer! Will he be victorious again?

– The fate of the Arpen Kingdom hanging by a thread!

Even with his busy schedule, Lee-hyun checked out the newspaper articles while surfing on the Internet. As Royal Road was everyone’s favorite topic, it was easy to find relevant news reports wherever you went.

“Hmm… I can see that the public opinion is in our favor.”

Lee-hyun drank the orange juice Seoyoon had made by herself. The computer he was using now was not the one he had made by picking up spare parts in the back streets of electronics market; it was a state-of-the-art desktop which he had extorted from CTS Media. He had set a new record in Minesweeper with this piece of cutting-edge technology, and had been using it for Internet surfing as well.

‘Looks like people are feeling quite protective towards the Arpen Kingdom, too.’

Indeed, many comments he read were showing very favorable attitudes towards the Arpen Kingdom.

– The Hermes Guild. They are the worst. I just can’t believe their douchebaggery.

– Nooo… I was just planning to take my vacation soon. My Puhol Waterpark…

– We are planning a family trip to Morata for a week. Would there be any trouble that can affect our travel plan?

– Weed-nim must stop them by any means! Grass Porridge Grass Porridge Grass Porridge!

– I’m a member of Grass Porridge Cult. I belong to the brave Poison Mushroom Porridge, but those… things… making a demonic creature with my body… that’s NOT an honor. Ugh.

– I own two stores in the Earth Palace and one in Morata. I have invested my entire property in Royal Road. Please. Brave Warriors. Stop them. I beg you.

In most of the comments people were getting extremely worried that the Arpen Kingdom might be destroyed. If the Shadow Army of Palma took over the Northern Continent, they would not be able to stay in their living place any longer and would be forced to flee.

The people’s worries also reflected that the Hermes Guild had indeed taken a very threatening measure, but Lee-hyun was feeling quite relaxed.

“So they chose to take everyone’s blame by committing an evil deed first.”

The Shadow Army of Palma!

Since he had already studied their characteristics using the resources in the Great Library, he was not out of means to deal with them.

“And do they think they are the only ones who are capable of wrongdoings? Looks like it is safe to use that method now without having to worry.”

That night, Lee-hyun had a very deep and sound sleep; he was dreaming of dealing a mighty counter blow to the Hermes Guild.

*****

The Agoltha Region!

It was the name of the vast grassland to the northwest end of the Central Continent.

When you crossed the shallow sea from here you would enter the Northern Continent, and currently there were quite a lot of users flocking to this region that did not have any cities.

The powerful army of assassins, witches and demonic creatures were heading their way towards the North. Soon there would be a big war between them and the Grass Porridge Cult, hence all those users came out to see it.

“I’m really looking forward to this fight.”

“It will be one massive showdown that will determine the fate of the Northern Continent. I think even Weed-nim will have to show up.”

“Yeah, but all those weak beginners will be more of a burden than any help they can bring. I can’t imagine how they are going to fight this war. “

“Well, their side will eventually win… I mean, they have even managed to drive back the Embinyu Church.”

“But everyone had to go through so much hardships during that time, and it also took a long time… If luck is not on their side, this might be the end for the Arpen Kingdom…”

Users from the Central Continent and the Northern Continent alike came to watch the march of the Shadow Army of Palma from afar. There was enough distance between the users and the troops to fit a whole mountain, but they still found it fun to watch the army of monsters.

“We’re selling chicken skewers!”

“I have potatoes! Have some grilled, boiled, and fried potatoes! “

The wealthy users of the Central Continent were enjoying some snacks at leisure in the meantime: the Northern merchants had already come over and were selling a wide range of foods, and they found the stuff very palatable indeed.

“Is this Northern wine?”

“Yes, it was made in Morata.”

“Wow, no wonder it tastes so delicious!”

“There is also some dried rat meat,[2] one of Morata’s specialties made with fresh rats which were caught while happily running about in the sewers!”

The users who were watching the Shadow Army of Palma noticed that another large army was following after them.

“Who are they?”

“Don’t look like the Northern troops, judging by their equipments…”

“I see their banner; it has a burning sword-it’s the Imperial Army!”

The Fifth Legion of the Haven Imperial Army!

They had set out from the castle of Aren, the capital city, and caught up with the Shadow Army. But the task that the heads of the Empire had assigned their Legion Commander Bucking was far from something like the eradication of the Shadow Army of Palma.

Bucking recalled the conversation he had had with Lafaye.

“Weed and the Northern users will have to use all of their strength against the Palma army.”

“Yes, I think so too.”

“You need to follow the Palma army, and watch for a chance to strike.”

“You mean, with the entire Fifth Legion?”

“Yes. The role of the Fifth Legion is to kill Weed while following after the Palma army, and to at least completely devastate the Northern regions while their users are too busy fighting them.”

“Indeed…” Bucking was very impressed when he realized what Lafaye’s intentions were.

‘Weed will barely be able to hold off the Palma army alone, so if we show up on top of that… the Arpen Kingdom will be thoroughly trampled. The prosperity it has enjoyed until now will go up in smoke, only leaving behind a pile of rubble.’

If things all worked out in their favor, the Fifth Legion may intervene and achieve an overwhelming victory against the Arpen Kingdom, ending the war once and for all.

‘It’s a good strategic move. It seems this clever guy knows to prepare for a number of different scenarios.’

*****

Weed had arrived in the Agoltha region, riding Wy-3.

“Sigh. I’ve just reached the levels above 500, and now I have to suffer this loss.”

For the top-tier users of the Versailles Continent, achieving level 500 was one reference point for measuring their strength.

The Hermes guild, which had been monopolizing hunting grounds and quests for a long time, had quite a lot of users above level 500, but among average users there were only about 1000 of them with levels over 500.

“True, it’s got a lot easier to level up after I became a Necromancer, but it’s still a damn shame.”

The hidden card of the Hermes Guild that had just been pulled out: the Shadow Army of Palma!

Weed had tossed and turned in his bed all night, designing the best strategy that could not only stop them, but even launch a counterattack upon them.

And all the while, he was almost beside himself with excitement.

‘I have only ever imagined it in my head until now… it just felt so evil I could not bring myself to actually use it before, even against the Hermes Guild.”

A mean smile appeared on Weed’s face as he patted Wy-3’s head.

“Doesn’t it make you happy, just thinking about it?”

– Kyuoo…?

The large and clear eyes of Wy-3 shook uneasily: what kind of preposterously dangerous plan had his master come up with this time?

“I guess I can tell just you. There is something called Sculpture Resurrection. It revives a person who lived a long time ago. “

Telling all your plans to your pet: a classic move of a token villain in kid’s animations!

Weed was now almost humming. He realized that it was actually a very fun thing to do, talking to someone close to you about the insidious plan you have envisioned in your head before executing it.

“Though thousands of heroes must have lived on the Versailles Continent, not all of them were good and kind.  Once upon a time, there was a man named Bar Khan, a sorcerer of darkness.”

Wy-3 wondered who this person had been for a while, then recalled the master of that precise name and screamed.

– Screeeeech!

Bar Khan Demoph!

There was a time when the wyverns were born only to be dragged into the battle against the immortal legion led by Shire, Bar Khan’s student.

The one who was at the very pinnacle of dominance over the perpetually rising undead army!

“It is as you think. I will revive Bar Khan.”

– No. master.

“Yes.  And no matter what reason you have against it, it won’t change my mind.”

– Why?

“Because when I’m told not to do something, I just want to do it more!”

Weed’s plan to fight against the Shadow Army of Palma was to resurrect Bar Khan.

Having succumbed to the dark mana, Bar Khan Demoph was an awfully dangerous and treacherous being to deal with.

The desert warrior Hestiger might be of some use as well, but the person who had been revived once could not be called again, and thus the last time had been the final parting with his former subordinate, never to meet again. If his skill level in Sculpture Resurrection got higher it might be a different story, but even then Weed thought it would be quite impossible.

‘It is a war. Bar Khan would be a better choice than another subordinate from my time as the Great King of the Desert.’

There was nothing in existence that could match the capabilities in warfare that Bar Khan and his Immortal Legion possessed. In addition, just reviving one person would bring a comprehensive gift set of an army of immortals as a package product.

‘The deadliness of them will be… Well, it was sold at an expensive price, I can say that much.’

He had already sold the exclusive broadcast rights to the KMC media and several broadcasting stations when executing his Bar Khan plan.

Weed took out the carving knife and began to sculpt using a nearby rock.

‘What’s there to lose? The rest will work out somehow once I’ve done it.’

Scrape scrape!

Pieces of solid stones were being cut off with the fluid dance of the carving knife, moving as part of his body.

The sorcerer of darkness and the ruler of the immortal army.

The statue of the wizard Bar Khan, right before he turned into a lich, was complete.

“Ummm…”

Now that he had actually finished sculpting, Weed’s heart was beginning to pound. This was not an easy person to handle, like his loyal Hestiger, but an extremely dangerous being that wouldn’t be easily swayed even by Weed’s skills in flattery!

“I can just raise him and run off. This is the best plan I can think of. Sculpture Resurrection!”

< You have used Sculpture Resurrection skill.

Bar Khan Demoph, the Sorcerer of Darkness and the Lord of the Undead, will walk upon this land once more by the call of art.

Art stat will permanently decrease by 45.

Faith stat will permanently decrease by 10.

Your level has been lowered by 3.

18,000 points of Life force and Mana have been spent.

he person revived by Sculpture Resurrection has the knowledge and abilities they possessed in life. They may be grateful for being able to see the world and move around in it once again, albeit for a short time, or they may not.

Your skill proficiency in Sculpture Resurrection has increased. >

*****

The resurrection of Bar Khan!

As soon as he moved, Wy-3 spread his wings wide.

– Farewell, master!

“Wait! Take me with you too!”

Weed revived Bar Khan Demoph using his Sculpture Resurrection skill, and ran off with Wy-3. The mages were so intelligent that it was often difficult to manipulate them by simple means, as it was the case with Hestiger. And so Weed chose to just let him be, not willing to take the risk of failing to persuade him.

– So you don’t have to do anything from now, master?

“Yeah. As they say, man proposes, God disposes.”[3]

– Those words are difficult to understand.

“It means when you buy a lottery, you have to wait until Saturday.”

Weed observed the ground while flying high in the sky on the back of Wy-3.

Life was slowly instilled into the statue of Bar Khan Demoff, until finally it came alive.

Although he was just a pale man in a black robe, he was the one who once led the whole Versailles Continent into chaos.

‘Now. What will happen?’

A short while after Weed and Wy-3 fled into the sky, the ground began to shake.

The Shadow Army of Palma.

Witches, assassins, and giant demonic creatures were rushing to the place where Bar Khan had just risen in order to get to the Arpen Kingdom.

‘And now they have met.’ From his position high above the ground, Weed could notice that the Shadow Army was making the first move after spotting Bar Khan; several large demonic creatures tore out of the rest of the troops, dashing their way to trample on Bar Khan who was standing in the plain.

“Indeed.  Neither side needs a friendly conversation or persuasion.”

The massive creatures approaching from afar towards the sorcerer.

Bar Khan, who had been standing blankly after his resurrection, raised his hand and gestured towards the creatures.

“Bind them.”

Thorned vines grew from the ground with an enormous speed, covering the creatures’ bodies like a net.

– Grrrraaagghh!

The vines were growing layer upon layer, tightly gripping the monsters and making them unable to move.

“Destruction of Flesh. Crash their blood and bones.”

As Bar Khan uttered an incantation, the magical curse took its effect.

The demonic creatures howled in pain, and soon after, they perished, unable to endure the agony. Then their bodies disintegrated and turned into hundreds of skeleton fighters.

There was something inherently different about those skeletons from the ones Weed had summoned so far. Frightening red glows were coming out from their empty skulls, and they were wearing powerful armors made of bones.

“Krrr…”

“I gaze upon thee, Master of Immortality.” The skeletons bowed politely to Bar Khan at once like some sorts of royal knights, and soon began to fight against the demonic creatures.

Although the skeletons were overpowered by the strength and size of the creatures, they spread out systematically into battle formations. The skeleton warriors directly pit their strength against the creatures in front, while the archers ran around and shot arrows.

Even as their bones broke and shattered, the fighters climbed up to the bodies of the creatures and furiously slashed their swords. The broken skeletons repaired their bodies in less than a second, only to hurl themselves into the fray again and again.

The battle of the undead, with their endless life force.

The skeletons were continuing their fight in frenzy, overwhelming the demonic creatures one at a time. The creatures that fell on the ground seemed as though they were caught by a curse, their bodies disintegrating and turning into about 40 to 50 more skeletons.

In no time, the number of skeletons  had reached several thousands.

“There is a wizard who’s blocking our way.”

“Get rid of him.  We’ll lead him to the path of death. “

As witches and assassins arrived, the battle began to grow in scale even more.

“Exploding Worms!”

“Grim Whispers!”

“Deepening Hate!”

The witches attempted to blast Bar Khan with all kinds of attack spells and curses. The purple aura was pouring in like a wave, but Bar Khan blocked the magic before it reached him with gestures and incantations, and put a powerful curse in reverse.

“Inhale the breath of inexhaustible poison.”

Soon the witches were wailing, clutching their necks.

The invisible assassins quickly penetrated the battlefield and snuck onto him, but there was a wall of souls built around Bar Khan that was made of screaming demonic creatures.

– Aaaaargh!!!

The assassins were caught in the wall of souls, and perished after suffering a great pain.

Their bodies rose again as Doom Knights: the knights from hell who had sworn an absolute obedience to Bar Khan. And it was not just any ordinary Doom Knights: each one of them was a sub-boss level monster, with a name of their own.

“Give us an order, O Ruler of Life and Death.”

“Wipe them out.”

“As you wish.”

Doom Knights stormed towards the Shadow Army of Palma. As they ran, all sorts of strengthening enchantments were being put on them by Bar Khan.  The perfect ‘golden-spoon’[4] undead that are equipped with everything from the moment of their birth!

Weed saw that some red energy was coming out of the bodies of the assassins and witches who had lost their lives by the Doom Knights, to be absorbed by Bar Khan.

“It seems he is sucking life force and magical power from them.”

– Is that dangerous, master?

“Yeah.  When a wizard is gathering his mana, there’s only one reason for it: he is getting ready for something huge.”

Weed put his hand into the backpack with a serious face, then pulled out a dried apple and chewed it.

“You’ve got to have some snacks when watching a fight!”

– If you have some horse meat…

“Here, eat.”

– Thank you.  master.

“That’s the riding fee for this year.”

Weed and Wy-3 continued watching Bar Khan’s fight at leisure.

‘He’s a dangerous person, but as long as I don’t get involved in his affairs, there’s nothing to fear. Anyway, this Sculpture Resurrection is quite handy, since its effect only lasts for a day. It’s really convenient to be able to call and make use of him like this.’

In fact, at one point Weed was considering resurrecting Bar Khan in the place where the Hermes Guild was; he was not one to let any damage done to him slide by without any retribution. But he had to restrain himself since there was a possibility that the Hermes Guild, with their enormous strength, would simply hunt down Bar Khan by showering him with divine spells or by some other means. Weed himself had succeeded in defeating him once, although he had gotten some help from Geomchi and the disciples.

“Although… he does seem to have gotten stronger since then.”

Bar Khan’s undead legion only increased in number over time. In the beginning their numbers were not enough to match even a tiny portion of the Shadow Army of Palma, but the number and quality of the undead increased exponentially as the battle went on, until eventually their strength seemed to be toe-to-toe against the Palma army.

And then this delicate balance of the battle swung towards Bar Khan in a blink of an eye.

As the undead began to overwhelm them, the powerful and dangerous card that the Hermes Guild had pulled out, the Palma Shadow Army, was collapsing from everywhere.

“That’s the undead for you…” Weed watched on in awe.

His strategy in battle engagement was a textbook Necromancer approach. The disadvantage in number means nothing: it will sort itself out in your favor as the battle continues.

As Bar Khan managed to summon a Bone Dragon from the gathering corpses, they had to distance themselves even further since it became too dangerous to stay where they were and watch.

“Is a Bone Dragon normally this easy to summon? His specs are getting a bit suspicious now. “

– The Master of the Immortal Legion, Bar Khan Demoff has made his appearance and is now driving off the Shadow Army of Palma.

– Look at the sky.  Those are Weed and Wy-3.

– Weed the God of War showed up!

– Weed has brought back Bar Khan from death.

– Weed manages to foil the evil scheme of the Hermes Guild with a brilliant move!

The broadcasting stations that had been monitoring the Shadow Army of Palma began their live coverage of the battle, and the users who had been following them closely also cheered in delight.

“It’s a war! And even better, it has undead!”

“All the high-class undead units are here.”

“That is the Immortal Legion. Look at how powerful their skeletons are.”

Of course, the users had also retreated to a far place in order not to be seen by Bar Khan.

Each time Bar Khan’s undead summoning magic unfolded, dozens of Death Knights and Doom Knights appeared. Not only the bodies of the witches, assassins, and demonic creatures, but also the bodies of the animals buried long ago beneath the ground rose to become undead as well.

Weed smiled contently, observing that the numbers of the Shadow Army of Palma had been reduced to a mere tenth of their original amount.

It was a good time to stop spectating and leave; he had run out of dried apples, too.

“All is well now.  Bar Khan and his immortal army will drag this Agoltha region into chaos… Even though they will disappear as soon as the spell’s time is up.”

It was possible that the Hermes Guild did not know that the time limit for Sculpture Resurrection was short. If so, the Fifth Legion, which had been following the Palma army, would rush into the battle before the undead gain even more strength.

“When fighting the Immortal Legion, you need to make them collapse from within or try to hit them unexpectedly. It would be near impossible to beat them with a frontal attack, and if you don’t have any divine spells with you, it is best not to touch them at all. “

Bar Khan was the greatest Necromancer in history, and his capabilities in directing a battle were incredible. Not long after, even Palma himself, the commander of the Shadow Army, suffered in great pain with dozens of curses put on him by Bar Khan, and finally lost his life to the coordinated attack from the Bone Dragons and the Doom Nights.

Even as they tried to flee, due to the prison of bones that shot up high into the sky like a pillar from a temple, not a single troop of the Palma army managed to escape: they all met their horrible demise, surrounded by the woeful screams of specters.

– The Shadow Army of Palma was destroyed!

– Bar Khan Demoph has exterminated the entirety of the powerful demonic creatures. No, let me correct that. He turned all of them into undead.

– An unbelievable fight.  Bar Khan finished this battle completely untouched.

– So this is the true capabilities of a Necromancer in battle…it is truly marvelous.  Of course, there are big gaps in strength among swordmasters, too, so one would not be able to reach that level of power just by mastering the undead summoning skills…

“Looks like my job here is done now.”

Weed was about to leave, intending to let the aftermath of the event unfold itself. At that moment, Bar Khan, who was on the ground, muttered in a low voice.

“This pitiful body… failed to overcome death.”

The body revived by Sculpture Resurrection.

Bar Khan precisely identified the limitations that body entailed.

“I shall save the eternal life of immortality from death.

With the power of the endless mana, I will transcend the very boundaries of life and death.”

From Bar Khan’s body, black sparkles of light bloomed and shot up high into the sky.

“…Huh?”

As the sun was beginning to be covered in black clouds, darkness reached the sky where Weed and Wy-3 were.

‘It’s as if the light itself is being devoured…Has Bar Khan always been this powerful? “

Weed’s survival instinct was frantically sending his brain a warning sign.

‘Something’s up! Bar Khan is stronger than I expected, and he’s behaving strangely.’

Until now, there had never been a case in which everything worked out smoothly once some unexpected event started to unfold. Life is not easy; one time he had rented a semi-basement flat at a price lower than the market value only to find out that the house was a natural habitat for cockroaches. At one point he had gotten seriously worried that the walls might collapse because of the layer of mold that had reached a thickness of over a centimeter. Through these experiences, Weed had learned to be wary when things were going a bit too well, and his instinct had almost always turned out to be right. Just as people say, an ominous hunch is never wrong.

On the other hand, he was bound to let his guard down from time to time no matter how careful he had been, and in those cases, some sort of mishap followed without fail.

‘Something went wrong.’

Weed and Wy-3 were flying from far away to prepare for any situation. They were keeping a safe distance, at least three times farther than the users who had gathered on the ground to watch what was happening.

‘It doesn’t look like Bar Khan is going to attack me.  But what is he up to?’

Endless darkness was erupting from within Bar Khan’s body like a volcano, and the Immortal Legion was gathering close around him as if they were worshiping him.

Doom Knights, the most elite undead knights, were also on high alert, guarding the perimeter.

‘There is something serious going on. I’m sure of it.’

Weed and Wy-3 moved a little farther to observe the situation.

“Wy-3.”

– Kyuooo…

“The moment something looks off, we’re out of here.”

– Understood.  Master.

The users who were on the ground, too, had enough wits to sense the danger.

“What… what is that?”

“Why are the undead gathering around him like that?”

“This doesn’t feel quite right…”

They didn’t run away, even though they knew something was wrong. Just like how people are unable to move their feet to escape an impending disaster, because of curiosity if nothing else.

– It seems Bar Khan Demoph has fallen into some sort of strange condition…

– The battle is already over, what’s happening?

– It looks like a kind of high-level magical ritual…

Broadcasting stations were also reporting the situation with interest.

All the while, an aura of darkness originating from Bar Khan was spreading far and wide.

And then…

Ding!

<83,329 points of life force have been drained.>

<92,130 points of life force have been drained.>

<122,984 points of life force have been drained.>

The users who had been standing closer to the scene got nearly half of their life force taken away on the spot. The Immortal Legion and other summoned undead were all deprived of their vitality as well; they crumbled like sand and disappeared.

Shortly thereafter, Bar Khan’s body itself began to change.

His skin rapidly aged and withered, then eventually melted altogether, running down his body like dirty water.

“What?!”

Now Bar Khan’s body had been reduced to mere bones, and there was a red aura hanging around him.

This was a somewhat familiar sight. Someone in the crowd spoke out.

“That…looks like a skeleton monster, but it looks a bit too high-class… isn’t that a lich?”

“A lich?”

“Yeah. Weed-nim transformed into one before.“

Kkwakwakwakwaaa!

A powerful shock wave spread out from Bar Khan across the distance of several kilometers in radius, as if a great explosion occurred around him.

< You have been touched by the enormous energy of death. 83% of total physical ability will be temporarily reduced.

Maximum life force will be reduced to 41% of the original amount for two days.

Hunger!

Terror!

Disorientation!

Resistance against Necromancy spells will be lowered to the minimum level. As you are unable to focus your mind, the success rate and power of skills and/or magic will be reduced. The effect of Faith will be diminished.>

“Wha, what is this?”

“What on earth is going on…?”

Bar Khan did not use any attack spell; this was just a side effect that spread out as something deadly and enormous was manifesting itself in the Agoltha Region.

Ding!

<Remnants of the terrible darkness have gathered in one place.

Bar Khan Demoph!

He has demolished the boundaries of death itself and successfully transformed himself into an Arch-lich>

An Arch-lich.

It was a superior being of a rank even higher than a lich, and just an ordinary lich was already a very difficult enemy belonging to one of the boss-level monsters. Necromancer-type liches were most common, but even a lich who had mastered Black Magic was not killed easily. Due to its powerful magic and near-infinite pool of life force, a lich could not be dealt with by just an individual or a small party, and even an entire army could not guarantee a victory against it.

While Weed had once managed to get rid of the lich Shire, he had received a considerable amount of help from the Dark Elves and the Orc tribes, on top of using a special holy relic.

And now, Bar Khan, who was already terribly strong in the first place, became an Arch-lich.

<Restrictions of Sculpture Resurrection skill have been relieved by force.

Bar Khan Demoff has been freed from the limited life force. His fate, which was to disappear from the world after 16 hours, has changed, and now he has obtained immortality.>

‘…’

Weed looked at the message window and said nothing.

‘I’m doomed.’

He had summoned a historic boss monster that could threaten the peace of the whole Versailles Continent, the one being who had reached the very pinnacle of Necromancy.

‘I’ve defeated Bar Khan before… but things were very different back then.’

During one historical event, every religious order and race had united their power to stop Bar Khan. As a result, The Holy Sword of Lugh had been driven into his chest, diminishing his strength significantly.

‘I see, the problem was the Holy Sword of Lugh! The Bar Khan I have revived was in his top condition, so his power hasn’t been weakened.’

And now he was not only magically and physically complete, but his bony body seemed so healthy and robust as if the joints were freshly oiled as he had just been born anew.

‘Still, the average strength of users has improved a lot since back then. He is far from unbeatable. It’s just that… the sacrifices we’ll have to make will be enormous.’

Should Bar Khan choose to advance towards the North, he would become a disaster even greater than the Hermes Guild. Skeletons would swim in Puhol Water Park, and the Death Knights would take control of Morata’s streets.

What Weed had intended was just to get rid of the Shadow Army of Palma, but now he ended up creating a deadly threat to the safety of the Versailles Continent.

‘I really didn’t expect this… but still, I need to turn this situation to my advantage by any means. Then the only solution is…’

Weed’s eyes flashed like those of a politician who visited a marketplace during an election.

* * *

Bar Khan!

He summoned the undead army again with his overflowing power.

“I want blood!”

“Blood!”

“Let us begin the night of corpses!”

“Corpses!”

The undead shouted on top of the tower of bodies.

Doom Knights, Death Knights, and even skeletons and ghosts were all making a giant ruckus. The Bone Dragons were also soaring across the sky, spouting sprays of deadly poison in all directions.

This was the dreadful sight created by the return of the Immortal Legion.

“What is this? I’m so scared…”

“That’s Bar Khan. Bar Khan has come back to life?”

“Oh no… It’s the Immortal Legion.”

The users who had kept on watching despite the fear were now beginning to sneak away. Even the users with relatively high levels laid flat on the ground to make themselves look inconspicuous in Bar Khan’s gaze.

“So this is how I die.”

“I’m so hungry but I’m not gonna eat.  I’ll die anyway. “

“I think my body will be good enough for a Death Knight, at least.”

“If we become undead and invade the cities, do you think we can appear on TV?”

The grimness of the situation was such that the users were wondering if they had to leave some last words before their demise. Even if they managed to avoid drawing Bar Khan’s attention, it was impossible to escape as long as the Bone Dragons were flying in the sky.

“Huh? Someone’s coming.“

“Is it a user? Shouldn’t we tell him it’s dangerous? “

“I don’t think it’s a user. Take a closer look. That’s a lich. “

The spectators just watched on while lying on the ground, holding their breath.

A lich was coming riding on a phantom horse with great speed. The Bone Dragons first found him from afar, and soon he caught Bar Khan’s eye as well.

“Shire! You dare to appear before me after your foul betrayal?!”

As soon as he noticed the approaching lich, a beam of red light sparked from the skull of Bar Khan.

Shire, who had lost his life by the hands of Weed! The thing that was wearing the appearance of Shire was actually Weed, who had used his Sculpture Transformation skill.

Weed stopped at a distance none less than 2 kilometers away, which he deemed as a safe distance, and belted out a lion’s roar.

“Master. I think there is a misunderstanding. Everything I did, I did it for you. “

“Shut up. I will plunge your soul into the very bottom of Hell. “

Shire was the one who had ruined all the achievements that Bar Khan, once a scholar of life, had ever accomplished, and had driven him into the evil of dark mana.

Ding!

<A new quest has been unlocked.>

<The dangerous student of Bar Khan and the Immortal Legion’s second-in-command, Shire the lich!

He tainted his own master, Bar Khan Demoff, with the power of darkness, leading him into the path of corruption. His craftiness was what forced Bar Khan to open his eyes to a new life.

“Master. It is the life through death. You dreamed of immortality, but this is not a complete failure, is it? “

He made Bar Khan embrace the unlife of a lich, and encouraged him to wage war against the entire continent.

Bar Khan’s hatred towards you is an extremely great one. However, after he became a lich, he obtained a grand ambition to build a new world.

Will you persuade Bar Khan to forgive you, and start rebuilding the Immortal Army to conquer the Versailles Continent?

Difficulty: S

Reward: leads to ‘Bar Khan’s Cause’ quest

Quest Restrictions: Bar Khan’s Resurrection, Lich Shire.>

As a person’s reputation grew higher or their strength greater, the quests that could corrupt them occurred more frequently.

Of course, Weed was not in the least interested in such things as conquering the continent using an undead army. If it was in the name of the Arpen Kingdom, perhaps, but what use would there be if some undead conquered the continent? He was not going to collect any rental fees from skeleton’s graves!

On the back of the phantom horse, Weed laughed as he looked upon the face of Bar Khan.

“Hahaha. You’re indeed persistent, coming back from death like that.”

“Despicable thing.  Death cannot be an escape for you, either. Follow my will once more, and I shall forgive you.”

“I am not like you, Master. You have failed. Living as a hideous undead… you are nothing but a set of bones that hasn’t fully rotten. How is that life immortal in any way?”

Ding!

<The quest has been rejected.>

“Such arrogance, Shire!”

Bar Khan began to utter an incantation for his magic spell.

Weed did not know what it was, but upon seeing the spell that was forming in a remarkable speed, he hurriedly rode his phantom steed south.

“You will never catch me. I have a lot of reliable human friends.”

He feigned nonchalance, but he was riding his ghost horse with all his might.

Bar Khan ordered the Immortal Legion.

“Pursue him. To the depth of Hell itself, if necessary.”

The Bone Dragons spread their wings wide and took off into the air, and the Doom Knights and Death Knights rode their own phantom steeds, chasing after him.

The Immortal Legion had begun their pursuit.

“Chi-eh!”

“It’s going to be a brutal slaughter. Kukuku. “

The skeletons were all rushing and jumping.

*batabatabata!*

A chase that shook the very earth. As the undead never got tired, they were not slowing down at all. Bar Khan himself was using a flying spell, and his speed was terrifying to watch.

Weed glanced back over his shoulder, and his heart skipped a beat.

‘They’re getting closer. I’ll be caught at this rate.’

Bar Khan with his full power, and all those high-level undead! Their speed was almost twice as fast as Weed’s phantom steed.

The strength of the Immortal Army was such that even Weed during his days as the Great King of the Desert would have had a difficult time fighting against them. The undead would have been raised over and over unless they had been extinguished completely, and he would not have been able to use his full strength while suffering from dozens of curses.

Weed leaned down and rushed across the plain on the back of the phantom steed as fast as he could.

‘Now. I should almost be there…’

After going over a low hill, Weed was able to see the camp of the Fifth Legion which spread widely. They had followed the Shadow Army of Palma, but suddenly lost their purpose with Bar Khan’s appearance. They were currently waiting for the next order from the heads of the Hermes Guild, and now Weed appeared before them, riding a phantom steed.

“Who is that?”

“It’s a lich.”

“A Necromancer? Is he from our guild? “

As Weed was appearing as Shire after using Sculpture Transformation skill, they did not recognize him, so he first greeted the Hermes guild members with a waving hand.

“Good morning, fellow guild members! It’s a lovely day.”

“Ah… Yes. I assume you would be a lich?”

“I’m a Necromancer, but my circumstances are a bit complicated right now.”

“I see. What brings you here, by the way?”

Hermes Guild members talked to him without much doubt. As the Necromancer’s equipments Weed was wearing looked like quite high-quality gears, they thought he was another competent member of the guild. Since Necromancers tended not to participate in the guild’s hunting events or large-scale raids, they weren’t even familiar with the face of Krobidyun.

“I just happened to be passing by and thought to say hello. Good day!”

“Ah. Sure…”

And just like that, Weed went off, skirting around the edge of the Fifth Legion on his steed.

“Who is he, anyway?”

“You’d think that a user who succeeded in transforming into a lich would be quite famous.”

“I haven’t the slightest idea. I cannot even think of any name that might be him. Do you think he’s on some kind of special quest?”

Before they even had time to ponder for long, Bar Khan and the undead emerged from beyond the hill.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] In the original text the orcs make this very weird hissing sound whenever they talk, so here’s my rather underwhelming attempt at coming up with something similar.

↑ [2] This is actually a rather common word-play joke in Korea. The original Korean word for this delicacy is pronounced “Jui-Po”, and it is not made with rats; it is actually a dried filefish fillet. But since the word “Jui” means “rats” in Korea, (and “Po” usually refers to fillets) people often joke that it is made with rats. Except in this case it IS made with rats.

↑ [3] A famous Chengyu (Chinese character idioms) originating from Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It basically means once after everything that can be done by a man is done, then the rest depends on the will of God. Weed explains this meaning to Wy-3 by using an analogy, saying that once you bought the lottery ticket, all you can do is just wait until Saturday (when the lucky number is revealed).

↑ [4] An internet jargon that became sensationally common, especially among the younger generations of Korean. Basically this refers to people who were born with ‘a golden spoon in their mouth’, which means the people who were born wealthier than others. The expression has a wide variety of variations, the most common of which is ‘dirt-spoon’, which basically means the opposite of ‘golden-spoon’.

Chapter 6: The Sorcerer of Darkness

“Undead …”

“What the heck…? Their number is huge!”

The users of the Fifth Legion were appalled by the size of the Immortal Legion that had been raised by Bar Khan.

The undead rushed in frantically as soon as they spotted the humans.

“Kwehehehe!”

“Death to the living!”

“I will end your worthless lives!”

Bar Khan and the undead!

Once the humans caught their eyes during their chase after Weed, they didn’t even attempt to communicate.

“Humans. I am Ulloombo, a Knight from Hell. I welcome you into our ranks.”

“Begin the assault of destruction.”

The phantom steeds on which the Doom Knights were riding spread out and began their soundless charge into the enemy camp. Following behind them were a great number of Death Knights and skeleton soldiers, as well as large undead demonic creatures which were once part of the Shadow Army of Palma, shaking the ground in great rush.

Karstein, the Commander of the Doom Knights, raised his broken sword and cried out.

“Immortal Legion! Charge!”

*Koohoowaaa!*

A cursed purple aura covered the Immortal Legion. This effect alone was enough to grant the undead army improved speed and the ability to steal life force.

“What?! You mean Weed has appeared here?”

At that moment, Legion Commander Bucking was contacting the heads of the guild.

As they didn’t receive the news about the Shadow Army of Palma until late, he had only realized now that the lich who had just passed through their camp was in fact Weed.

“Unbelievable. And we just let him go?”

Bucking was groaning with regret, but the assaulting Immortal Legion was already right in front of him.

“It’s too late to avoid the fight. We’ll just have to fend them off with all we’ve got. Place the shieldbearers in front and divert the knights.”

The infantry force attempted to stand their ground, blocking the frontal charge of the undead. Since there were so many undead mounted troops like the Doom Knights, not to mention the Bone Dragons, they had decided that it would be impossible to flee from them.

“Damn it. Why do we have to fight against those… things…?”

“They say in the Guild Channel that this is the Immortal Legion, is that true?”

“What? Surely not! No way!”

The Hermes Guild’s members were also preparing for combat, their expressions grim.

“Bring forth the day, when everything you believe in collapses into nothingness. You shall be betrayed by your own kin, and die in pain and suffering. The Rhapsody of Destruction!”[1]

Bar Khan waved his bone wand and chanted an incantation of Black Magic, which caused the specters to scream from all directions. Horrible, nerve-grating sounds resonated far and wide as if a well-trained orchestra was playing them.[2] In addition to being ear-splittingly loud, the sounds also made a listener feel heavy-limbed and sick.

< You hear the Rhapsody of Destruction.

Extremely weakened state!

Physical abilities will be diminished.

Attack and defense abilities will be weakened.

Resistance against mind-affecting magic spells will be lowered, and all stats will be reduced by 22% or more.

6,492 points of life force will be lost per second.>

A curse of Black Magic using the undead! The Imperial soldiers could not bear it and were quickly succumbing to death, their bodies collapsing like a surging wave.

“We shall grant you the glory of Immortality!”

“It is the order of Bar Khan-nim. Be grateful, you living things.”

The Doom Knights pierced through the barriers set up by the shieldbearers of the Fifth Legion with sheer force. The soldiers who were crushed by the powerful charge flew all over the place and lost their lives.

“The shieldbearers have been neutralized!”

“Stand closer together! Use whatever skills you have to stop them! We were in the middle of a march: if they manage to reach our base, they’ll ruin everything!”

The Doom Knights penetrated the camp of the Imperial army. Even when they were interrupted by spearmen and shieldbearers, they pushed forward to the last of their strength. They drove their swords into the opponent’s chests even after losing their heads. Due to the fact that they had an infinite supply of life force and mana provided by Bar Khan, in the end this only increased the number of undead.

“The, the undead!”

The soldiers who had lost their lives were revived as undead. Without any blessing or cleansing spells, the Doom Knights regained their life force as well, climbing back on their phantom steeds.

The situation was already beyond chaotic, but Bar Khan started to utter yet another incantation.

“Offer your feeble life to me, the eternal being. I shall reward you all with an immortal life. The Reaper’s Gift. “

About one third of the soldiers in the Fifth Legion were branded with a vivid shape of a ghost holding a black scythe on their foreheads.

<You have received the Reaper’s Gift.

A portion of your total life force and mana will be drained every second.

The damage you take will increase when you are wounded.

When your remaining life force gets below 20% of the maximum amount, there is a high chance of a sudden death.>

“Urrgh. Using this sort of Necromancy…!”

“We need divine spells! Get rid of these brands first, quickly!”

The users of the Hermes Guild in the Fifth Legion could not repress their shock and thrills of terror. They had all defeated numerous boss-level monsters before, but they had never experienced such an unparalleled powerful presence like that of Bar Khan. Worst of all were his unprecedented ability to cast curses over a wide area as well as his absolute dominance over the undead. The streams of life force and mana concentrated on Bar Khan were divided again, strengthening his entire undead army.

With the black and purple aura hanging around their bodies, the undead soldiers were demonstrating deadly combat strength as they fought on, even if they were mere Death Knights. The Doom Knights were absolute overlords of battle, rampaging through the enemy lines mercilessly.

‘Weed really defeated this thing before?’

‘There’s just no way. He is hideously strong.’

‘It is impossible to win against these undead. Even if we kill them, they just get revived again, stronger than before. The only solution is to get rid of Bar Khan.’

Some of the Hermes Guild users realized that Bar Khan was the key to this battle and quickly launched an attack against him.

“Kill him!”

“The Hermes Guild is the strongest of all!”

The Hermes guild users jumped into the fray, shouting dramatically in case they would appear on a broadcast. The undead tried to stop them but they broke through, throwing every skill they had at them; the Fifth Legion had many users who were quite famous in their own way.

“Fortress of Howling Corpses.”

Upon seeing the Hermes Guild users’ bold attempt at attacking him, Bar Khan cast another spell.

The land on which Bar Khan had been standing started shaking, and pillars that were made of countless tangled bones began to shoot upwards, tens of meters high.

Soon, a magnificent hill of bones was formed.

<A Fortress of Howling Corpses has been created.

The Black Magic spell that can only take effect through great blood sacrifice is corrupting this land with a deathly curse.

The physical and magical attack abilities of every living creature will be decreased by 74%.

Wailing spirits are roaming about the battlefield, increasing the defense of the undead.

The life force of the undead will be increased by 30%.

A deadly plague outbreak!

An unknown contagion will begin to spread, causing symptoms including itching, vertigo, disorientation, headaches, rashes, decay and weakened joints.>

Bar Khan stood on top of the hill of bones about 90 meters high.

“This is just ridiculous. It’s just…”

“Even Weed has hunted down this monster before, but now…”

The users of the Hermes Guild were beginning to despair! In order to get close to Bar Khan, they had to fight their way through the horde of skeletons and Death Knights, while climbing up to reach the lofty height of the hill of bones. On top of all that, there were the demonic creatures of the Shadow Army of Palma which had all become undead, currently rushing in to fight them. They could even see that the Bone Dragons, which had been soaring majestically in the sky, were descending to the ground.

“There’s just no hope in this.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

Having made a quick decision, the Hermes Guild users tried to flee the battlefield. There were still the remaining forces of the Fifth Legion to manage, but Bucking was the one who was in charge of those troops, not them. It was a relatively reasonable choice, except for the fact that Bar Khan’s magic wasn’t going to let them escape so easily.

“There is no place for you to run. Accept the fate of the dead!”

With Bar Khan at the center, every living creature standing near him was branded with a mark.

< Mark of Death!

Bar Khan Demoph, the Sorcerer of Darkness!

He has sacrificed living creatures and dead bodies to complete a spell of Black Magic.

If you escape without killing Bar Khan, your life will end in three hours.>

Although there were records of this spell written in some books about Black Magic, none of the Hermes Guild members had actually experienced it in person. The spell cast by such a powerful sorcerer as Bar Khan would be impossible to cleanse without the help of at least high-priest level divine magic.

“Oh, this is just… okay, now we have nothing to lose.”

“Kill him!”

The Hermes Guild users struck at him again.

“Fight. We can win this.”

Keeping up the momentum, Bucking also encouraged his troops to fight more aggressively. However, more than 15% of the Imperial Army had already become undead. They chose to fight because it was impossible to escape, but it only led to a constant loss of lives on the Imperial Army’s side. Their despair deepened each time Bar Khan cast another spell on top of his Fortress of Bones.

“Ever-changing flow of mana, hear me! This end to countless lives shall be my offering to you; now move and realize the principles of extinction and opposition!”

Absolute magical defense! Even divine powers and attack spells were now blocked by Bar Khan. The undead were increasing their numbers even more by devouring the Fifth Legion. Skeletons swinging their rusty swords and corrupted zombies were slowly taking control of the battlefield.

*****

Weed returned to Morata through Yurin’s Painting Teleportation skill.

“Can I order some fried chicken, Mister?”

“Of course. Just take a seat.”

– The Immortal Army. Bar Khan Demoph! They are incredibly strong!

– A raid from the undead… this is absolutely overwhelming. They cannot win.

Having a cold glass of beer with fried chicken while watching the broadcast through a crystal ball!

“This is the reason for my life, right here.”

Weed took a big bite off a drumstick.

Quite naturally, every broadcasting station on every channel was either live streaming the Immortal Legion or reporting in news bulletins.

– Even so, Bar Kahn’s strength is just beyond imagination. He absolutely overwhelmed the Fifth Legion without even giving them any chance to properly fight back.

– I think he will easily qualify as the greatest monster that has ever appeared on broadcast.

– It is also not overly strange, considering that Bar Khan has been one of the few forces in history that had the capacity to bring the Versailles Continent to ruin.

– The Embinyu Church was a remarkable force, too, but the difference between them is that Embinyu was an incredibly vast organization, while Bar Khan is but one man. Of course, this is all based on historical records, so the accuracy is limited.

– It looks like the influence of that holy sword that had been stuck in his chest was very great in the past.

– The holy sword?

– Yes. That seems to be the only plausible explanation. Bar Khan is much stronger than before.

Weed was simply amazed to see Bar Khan smash the Fifth Legion into pieces through the broadcast.

“Necromancers sure are powerful.”

Even between two masters of the same skill, there existed a gap in their capabilities. For instance, two swordmasters would not have the same strength due to difference in their level, stats, and flair for combat. And Bar Khan was not just an ordinary Necromancer master: he was the best of the best.

“I’m not sure if I’ll be able to defeat that thing again. I must avoid fighting him, whatever happens.”

Before Bar Khan and his undead encountered the Fifth Legion, their main strength had been their number. They had already had Doom Knights, specters and the Bone Dragons, but the majority of their forces had consisted of skeletons and zombies.

Currently, as the knights of the Imperial Army were turning into undead and even the users of the Hermes Guild were falling to their power, the number of high-class units was increasing rapidly.

‘They can grow into a terrible force if left alone. Something that can threaten the fate of the whole nation…’

A danger level that could potentially surpass that of the Embinuy Cult; it seemed Bar Khan was able to manufacture those boss-level monsters like Doom Knights as easily as canned food, given enough corpses. Without the Holy Sword of Lugh stuck in his chest, it was impossible to estimate the limits to his capabilities in undead summoning or Black Magic.

‘There’s still a chance if we can ram that sword into him again, but who could do that?’

Unless they could start a very, very confused fight, it would be difficult to even approach Bar Khan close enough to put the holy sword into his chest. Even Weed at his prime as the Great King of the Desert with all of the Desert warriors under his command wouldn’t have been able to manage that task easily.

An endless stream of undead, curses, and Black Magic. On top of that, putting down a lich for good was a problem in itself due to its gigantic life force and recuperative power; a truly horrible being.

‘Bar Khan has been revived. Now what will happen?’

He might choose to hunker down in one region, but it was always possible that he would start a campaign for domination over the continent.

While Weed gnawed at chicken wings, the broadcast program was showing the Fifth Legion being crushed hopelessly and fleeing. They were, of course, heading towards the south where the Haven Empire was. Bar Khan and the undead also started to march towards the south in pursuit of the survivors.

“Well. Since things have turned out like this, I don’t even have to worry anymore. The Hermes Guild will take care of the situation from now on.”

This mayhem was all of his own doing, but he was quite relieved to see that others were now going to clean up his mess.

* * *

Bar Khan and the undead, engaged in a battle against the Fifth Legion.

The number of Doom Knights alone reached several thousands; it was hard to even count the Death Knights and skeletons occupying the whole plain, and there were no less than thirty Bone Dragons flying in the sky.

“Wow. This is just huge.”

“Amazing. I don’t even know what to say.”

“So we are witnessing the first stage of the destruction of the Versailles Continent.”

There were more users gathering to watch the scene from the distance.

The Agoltha Region was at the northern end of the Haven Empire, and crossing a narrow sea from here, one could reach the borders of the Arpen Kingdom. To the east, there were other regions such as Harpan and Ritten which were ruled by the Arpen Kingdom as well. The urgent question now was where Bar Khan and his undead army would head next.

“Do you think they’ll go to the Arpen Kingdom?”

“Surely not… there’s a sea blocking their path.”

“Even so… wouldn’t the undead simply cross it? And the Bone Dragons can always just fly.”

“Hmm. Come to think of it, the skeletons could walk under the sea; they don’t even have to breathe.”

“That’s a bit scary.”

Bar Khan and the undead would keep moving to somewhere, wherever that would be. And the survivors were desperately fleeing towards the south, so the undead were naturally following them.

The crowd was watching them, forgetting to even breathe. The Bone Dragons were soaring in the sky, and the skeletons were continuing their limping march after them.

“Well. There will be chaos in the Hermes Guild.”

“Yeah. They are doomed, pretty much.”

*****

The broadcasting stations were bewildered by the sudden turn of events.

Only an hour ago, it had looked like the combined force of the Shadow Army of Palma and the Imperial Army’s Fifth Legion were about to deal a massive blow to the Arpen Kingdom. Everyone had predicted that even if the Arpen Kingdom managed to snatch a victory, it would have to suffer crippling damage. But now, the circumstances had been completely reversed.

“Bar Khan Demoph!”

“The Sorcerer of Darkness and the Lord of Undead, he has now made his appearance. It seems that there is going to be a war against the Hermes Guild!”

The voices of the broadcasting hosts became very dramatic: this kind of development of the situation was what attracted the viewers. When there was such an unexpected twist, the ratings were bound to be high.

“Prepare the broadcast screen! Is there any way we can get a video footage of the Immortal Legion from a closer distance?”

“It’s just too dangerous to get near them!”

“Try offering prize money for filming them. We need to do something!”

The Immortal Legion was continuing their march with an incredible speed; the undead that had been strengthened by Bar Khan’s magic were moving without rest.

And now, they had arrived at the Northern fortress of the Haven Empire!

The Bone Dragons were spraying their breath attacks in the air while the skeletons climbed up the ramparts.

The Haven Imperial Army was a formidable force that had conquered the Central Continent. It consisted of many high-class troops who had honed their skills through countless battles, yet they were being helplessly torn apart by the undead.

Bar Khan roared, standing on top of the now thoroughly destroyed fortress.

– Immortal life! I will make this entire land know what powerful existence we represent, my Immortal Legion and I!

“Kwaaaarrgh!!!”

The skeletons shouted in joy, waving their rusted swords.

*****

As the Immortal Army was advancing southwards, the Hermes Guild entered a state of emergency.

– We are issuing an emergency draft for every guild member above level 500.

There was a certain number of personnel required for tasks such as securing public order in the major cities of the Central Continent and fighting against the Arpen Kingdom or the Desert Warriors. Almost all of them were now drafted into the war against the Immortal Legion, leaving only the bare minimum.

There were over 700,000 members in the Hermes Guild. In just two days, 250,000 users assembled in the castle of Aren, except for those who could not join them because they were too far away or currently on some special quests. It was the top-level military power that only the Hermes Guild, as the one force that had taken over the Central Continent, was able to assemble.

“Bar Khan Demoph: what would be his approximate level?”

“It is impossible to know, but it would be safe to assume that his combat capacity is equivalent to a level that reaches almost 900.”

“Whoa. That is strong.”

“As everyone here is aware, the characteristics of a Necromancer make his power dozens of times stronger in an army-scale battle.”

“And the undead, their numbers are increasing every day, correct?”

“Yes. In order to strike any direct blow to him, we need to penetrate his undead army first.”

Even the heads of the Hermes Guild could not hide their astonishment as they reviewed the information on Bar Khan’s combat strength. The sight of the Immortal Army wiping out the Fifth Legion had given them a significant emotional shock as well.

The three major spells: Death Aura, Absolute Magical Defense, and Dark Rule!

The undead soldiers that kept on reviving already posed a big problem, but even trickier was how their allies’ strength would be reduced by Bar Khan’s numerous area-of-effect curses and how he would drain their life force and mana.

“With more than ten thousands members of the Hermes Guild gathered together… it’s not impossible to beat him, no matter how high his level might be.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“What’s the problem? We’ll stand a good chance if we form a group of shock troops armed with holy weapons that can pierce through the undead horde, although we might have to suffer some losses.”

“Bar Khan is an Arch-lich: unless we first destroy the vessel that contains his unlimited life force, it will be near impossible to get rid of him for good.”

“Where is that vessel then? We’ll have to deal with that first, after we find out in what dungeon it is hidden.”

“It looks like Bar Khan is carrying that vessel on his person.”

“…”

Needless to say, it was not an easy task to penetrate the undead army to get close to Bar Khan and THEN break his life vessel.

“Also, the power of his undead legion is not fixed. We have to consider the fact that as our side suffers losses, our dead allies will be resurrected as high-class undead and attack their former comrades. The Corpse Explosion spell also deals high damage.”

Bar Khan’s Corpse Explosion had similar power to a high-ranking mage’s Total Combustion[3] spell.

“What if we attack him with divine power?”

“It’s true that the undead are vulnerable against holy water or weapons with divine power. But remember: in the past, Bar Khan remained active even after the Holy Sword of Lugh had been stuck into his chest.”

“There is no limit to his mana either. It’s been reported that he constantly drains life force and mana from the surrounding undead.”

“Hmph. Looks like there really is no solution against this monster.”

“Should Bar Khan choose to fight cleverly, it would possibly mean that we might not have any hope for victory.”

The looks on the faces of Lafaye, Bard Ray as well as the other members of Elite Guards present were becoming increasingly grim as they set up a plan. They were some of the strongest figures in the Versailles Continent, but even for them hunting Bar Khan was a serious challenge.

“I’m afraid that this will be very dangerous, with a myriad of potential unexpected variables.”

“Why did this monster have to choose to come here, of all places…?”

They were beginning to understand why the Hermes Guild issued the draft over the whole Central Continent, even while making some risky choices. If the castle of Aren, the capital of the Empire, were to be devastated by Bar Khan after all this, the damage it would cause would be simply unimaginable. Their Imperial Palace had already been destroyed and now the castle of Aren, that had served as the capital for so long, would fall under the hands of the undead? How shameful it would be, especially when they were claiming to be the rulers of the Central Continent!

“It is still possible to take advantage of the limits of Bar Khan’s power, the limits of the undead.”

Lafaye turned the sheets of paper occupying the entire surface of the wide wall. There were writings such as mathematical equations or records of military analysis filling up the whole space. Although not as extensive as the resources in the Great Library in Morata, the Hermes Guild also kept a separate collection of high-quality information on adventurers or monsters, and through this they had analyzed Bar Khan’s data.

“Our best bet is to concentrate forces that are powerful enough to overwhelm the undead in several directions, to break through the enemy lines.”

“Breaking through… that sounds dangerous.”

“Yes. But there is absolutely no point in taking a defensive disposition against the Immortal Legion and Bar Khan.”

“Because of his curse and resurrection skills, you mean.”

“Precisely. This is why we issued the draft over the whole Central Continent. We need to finish this fight in a short time, by focusing the maximum possible amount of force. Additionally, we know that a Necromancer possesses an inherent weakness that limits his abilities: in order to fully exert his power, he must have some corpses as ingredients.”

The weakness of a Necromancer: in spite of having an outstanding damage dealing capacity, an ability to drain life force and mana as well as numerous undead servants, these powers all required corpses.

“With our overwhelming strength, we will eradicate the undead horde from the outside, melt their bodies, weaken their forces, and strike Bar Khan. All of these must happen at the same time, in a flash.”

“Would it be really possible?”

“Yes. In order to resolve this crisis, we’re going to borrow holy relics from every possible religious order, as well as paladins and priests. There will be quite a lot of loss in contribution points, but if we manage to hunt Bar Khan… that will be a big gift for all of us.”

Lafaye had made agreements with several broadcasting stations for the live coverage. It was quite a natural step to take before such a great battle, and if they fought heroically against the Immortal Legion and won, the Hermes Guild would have an opportunity to improve their bad reputation and gain some popularity.

“Until now the circumstances have often placed us on the defensive, but if we survive this battle, the Hermes Guild can seize the initiative again. We will prove our strength, and gain legitimacy to rule over the Versailles Continent.”

It was Weed who had revived Bar Khan who in turn raised the Immortal Army. The Hermes Guild users thought that this chaos had all been caused by Weed’s action, and it deserved to be harshly blamed.

Lafaye looked around at the people present for a moment, then turned his gaze to Bard Ray.

“For this battle, I must ask you to take the role of the commander in chief, Bard Ray-nim.”

The top rankers of the Hermes Guild weren’t quite happy with the fact that they hadn’t been chosen, although they thought it was inevitable. This war against Bar Khan and the Immortal Legion had the fate of the whole guild at stake. They didn’t think they would lose, but if things went wrong, the undead would sweep through the castle of Aren and the center of the Empire: the reputation of the Haven Empire would be ruined, and the Immortal Legion might grow into an even bigger nuisance to the point that they would become completely out of control. That’s why they thought it was quite natural that Bard Ray should take the leading role.

The top rankers of the Hermes Guild tried to read Bard Ray’s face.

‘We can trust Bard Ray-nim.’

‘Just… how much stronger has he become? He has enjoyed all the privileges of ruling the Central Continent.’

‘His power has been growing all the while, receiving complete support from the Hermes Guild. It has been a long time since he last displayed his battle strength in public. Looks like there will be a crazy competition between broadcasting stations for coverage.’

*****

Since the conquest of the Central Continent, Bard Ray had not shown himself on the frontline. He had been living a life focused only on self-improvement, and his goal was to become the ultimate Godly Warrior that his nickname made him to be. He was already one of the strongest beings, his strength having been recognized by Battali, the God of Combat. But even Bard Ray was more than a little nervous about the coming battle.

“Bar Khan Demoph. This should be interesting.”

The Hermes Guild had decided to face the Immortal Legion at Valkis Castle.

After getting out of the Agoltha Region, Bar Khan and the Immortal Legion had been expanding their influence little by little through hunting the monsters that were roaming about. As if mesmerized by something, the monsters were drawn to the Immortal Legion passing through the vast plains, only to be killed. Groups of skeleton knights led by the Doom Knights then brought back the corpses from the hunting grounds or dungeons, and Bar Khan turned them into undead.

In order not to give any more time to the Immortal Legion, which had been swelling in size like a snowball, the Hermes Guild finished its preparations as quickly as possible and launched their interception at Valkis Castle.

Every single broadcasting station was relaying the event, and a large number of users from the Central Continent joined in as spectators.

*****

The Hermes Guild and the Immortal Legion!

For three days, all the resources of the Empire had been focused on Valkis Castle, reinforcing its ramparts and engraving magic circles. Bard Ray and other elite users of the Hermes Guild had arrived in advance and lined up along the castle walls. As ordinary knights and soldiers of the Imperial Army would not be of much help, they had all been placed in the rear. The mage army and high-rank mages were also on standby only, as they were unable to pierce through Bar Khan’s Absolute Magical Defense.

“So there’s going to be a showdown today.”

“It will be the biggest battle in the whole history of the Versailles Continent.”

The users of the Hermes Guild waited, thoroughly armed with their gears.

After a moment, several scouting skeletons emerged on the Gorum Mountain.

“Undead!”

“The Immortal Legion is here.”

A moment after the appearance of the skeletons, the high-rank undead troops marched in, covering the entire mountain.

The Bone Dragons escorted the Immortal Legion in the air, majestically flapping their wings of bones.

Bar Khan soared across the sky standing on top of a dark orb.

An Arch-lich leading his Immortal Legion shrouded in a pitch-black aura: he was reproducing the same glorious sight recorded in history books exactly as it had been in the past.

– Humans. I see you still have not abandoned hope.

Bar Khan’s voice gloomily crawled over the battlefield.

– Humans cannot lose hope until they are freed from the confinement of life. Today…I shall devour all your hope. Immortal Legion, charge!

“…!”

The faces of the Hermes Guild users turned white with terror as they saw the huge army of undead immediately rushing towards them.

The faces of Bard Ray and other top rankers were white, too, although for a different reason.

‘God damn it. I’ve practiced a really nice speech.’

‘I even prepared a song!’

Weed would sing a song when there was a big battle ahead.

Imitating that behavior, they had also practiced some lines and songs that could raise the morale of the allies, but that was all for naught as the Immortal Legion charged straight towards them, not wasting a second.

“I order the entire Imperial Army: begin the battle to protect the continent!”

Bard Ray let out a Great Roar. It was a skill that had a similar effect to Lion’s Roar, but affected a much wider area in the battlefield.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Loud drum beats reverberated throughout Valkis Castle to signal the beginning of the battle.

“It has begun. Follow our plan. Do not shoot arrows and stay in position!”

“Cast protection spells in advance to resist the Black Magic.”

True to its name, the storming party of Doom Knights of the Immortal Legion furiously bashed themselves against the castle gates. The bone arrows of the skeleton archers were also raining down over the ramparts.

Skeletons, dullahans and zombies climbing up the castle walls! All low-rank undead, but because they belonged to the Immortal Legion, even knights were not free from the danger of being devoured by them.

Bar Khan raised his bone wand high.

– Pathetic humans. Behold the Immortal Legion that will grant a new life to each of you.

< One Who Craves Despair!

Your mind is sinking into a darker subconscious.

Time to pay for the sins you have committed in your life.

Your mental capacities will be impaired to a degree based on your evil reputation!

Maximum mana will be reduced, knowledge and wisdom will be halved.>

< Resurrected Apparition!

You are having a horrible vision.

The ghosts of the monsters or enemies who have killed you in the past have appeared and are roaming around you. Before they devour you, you need to get the protection of a blessing or to get rid of them entirely!>

< Uncontrollable Shivering!

Bar Khan Demoph.

You are feeling great terror towards his magical power that can control life and death.

You are unable to resist due to the evil deeds you have committed until now.

All stats will be reduced by 35%!

4.5% of your total life force and mana will be drained by Bar Khan whenever you take damage.

If the amount of damage you take is more than 30% of your total life force, an amount of life force equal to 2% of the damage you have taken will be additionally drained.>

With a single incantation, Bar Khan cast a set of three area-of-effect curses, the range of which covered the entire region.

“We need blessings! Remove the curses, quickly!”

“Where are the priests? Please, we need help right now!”

The users of the Hermes Guild desperately called for priests. Paladins could withstand curses with their innate resistance or blessing spells, but the damage suffered by the other users was more immense than they had imagined, even though they were equipped with gears that were resistant to Black Magic. Beyond simply preventing his enemies from exerting their full strength in combat, the power of Bar Khan’s magic was such that it reduced the victims’ overall capabilities by a couple of notches.

In the meantime, the horde of skeletons, whose number amounted to almost a million, was crawling up the castle walls. Unlike human soldiers who needed ladders, they just used their bony hands and feet to climb up the ramparts ever so diligently. The Hermes Guild users tried to stop them using their attack skills.

“Exploding Slash!”[4]

“Thunder Hammer!”

“The Bow of Gamesh!”

A skeleton that had been strengthened by Bar Khan could even match the power of a Death Knight, but the users of the Hermes Guild defeated the skeleton horde without much trouble taking advantage of their position on top of the castle walls as well as their combat strength.

“You need to make sure their bodies dissipate completely! Just pushing them off the walls won’t do anything!”

“Suppress them!”

Using their powerful skills, the Hermes Guild users liquefied or pulverized the skeletons that had reached the top of the ramparts. The only way to win a fight against the Immortal Legion was to thoroughly destroy every corpse on the battlefield.

“The Doom Knights are about halfway to knocking down the castle main gates!”

“What, already?!”

“Defense units, quickly!”

In order to hold back the advancing Doom Knights, some of the strongest warriors or knights among the Hermes Guild members came forward to face them. Throughout the fortress, there were explosions of divine force or blazing lights from magical spells, an intimidating sight to the invading undead.

“Up in the sky!”

“Careful! Everyone, duck!”

Thirty Bone Dragons were soaring across the sky, spouting out concentrated acid. Soon a number of places in Valkis Castle had become corrupted, and a rotten smell was coming from the ground.

“Krrrrr… rise up, vessels of unbelievers. Every being that possesses life merely exists to commit evil!”

The wailing ghosts were emitting bloodcurdling shrieks, cursing the living around them.

“I’m wounded!”

“Everyone who’s below 60% of their life force, retreat to the rear!”

The Hermes Guild had set up healing posts along the ramparts at every 50 meters. Many priests with divine power were stationed there; the guild had recruited as many as they could from each religious order, using its accumulated contribution points.

From the central tower of Valkis Castle, it could be seen that the treatment of the injured soldiers was proceeding smoothly.

“It’s a tough battle for sure, but we are… doing better than expected. Although, I must say, those skeletons certainly are powerful for such low-rank monsters.”

“Yes. We have the advantage of defending from inside the castle, so we only have to be careful with those Doom Knights.”

“The Immortal Legion has about a million troops. Their numbers will increase by a few tens of thousands when those Doom Knights that have scattered to find more corpses return, but I think we will still be able to defeat them.”

The top rankers and other authority figures of the Hermes Guild had gathered in the central tower, with Myul being one of them.

“I’m a bit concerned about those Bone Dragons rampaging through the field…”

“Right now, any attacks against them are not much more than a waste of our strength. If we cannot take them down in one go, it’s better to just leave them be and concentrate on the low-rank undead. This fight will be over as soon as we get rid of Bar Khan, anyway.”

As their victory seemed more and more certain as the battle went on, the expressions on the faces of the Hermes Guild users became less stiff as well. At first they had been worried about the possibility of the Immortal Legion devastating the whole continent, but now that they had actually faced the undead army they were doing a good job of driving it off. It was of course a tricky fight, as the undead could revive over and over again unless their bodies were completely destroyed. Even when they suffered a considerable loss of life force, with the power of Bar Khan they came back to their full strength in but a second.

The members of the Hermes Guild, the most skillful users of the continent, had joined their strengths to fight against the terrible power of the undead horde, consisting of the dreaded Doom Knights as well as large elite monsters like the Bone Dragons. They annihilated the skeletons crawling up the ramparts and blocked the bone arrows flying from a distance by using protection skills or deflecting them with their swords. The Doom Knights were difficult enemies to deal with, but the users coordinated their attacks to dispose of them one by one whenever there was a chance.

And at the very moment they started to believe that they were proving the strength of the Hermes Guild, as befitted the guild that conquered the Central Continent, about a thousand users who had been standing on the ramparts got almost all of their life force drained at once by Bar Khan’s curse.

They were not instantly killed thanks to their magic resistance, but their lives would be in peril if they continued to fight any longer.

“The power of that curse… He is indeed a legendary monster.”

“Nobody died, though. It seems that skill cannot kill the victim outright, although it is capable of dropping the life force almost down to the bottom.”

“That would be because we have utilized every available piece of equipment that can block curses or Black Magic. Those users would have died if we had underestimated our enemy.”

The Hermes Guild had spent approximately 15 percent of the total wealth they had accumulated in preparation for this battle: they had been collecting an enormous amount of items that could resist Black Magic or curse spells from every possible source, including auction halls, stores and individual users.

‘We can win this. At this rate, we will defeat them.’

‘Even the Immortal Army will fall by our hands.’

The eyes of the Hermes Guild users were ablaze with fighting spirit. They were on guard, waiting for the moment when the formation of the Immortal Army would lift their continued siege and the core units of the guild would penetrate through their ranks to deal with Bar Khan directly.

However, one must not underestimate their enemy until the very last moment when facing a monster as powerful as Bar Khan.

“This land is under the dominance of my commandments of darkness. The eternal power of immortality shall reign over all beings. Dark Rule!”

Bar Khan cast one of his three major spells: a spell of Necromancy that automatically raises every corpse in the region as undead!

The users who had been fighting on the central defense tower, on the ramparts or near the castle gates saw his spell manifest itself.

“There will be no effect, though.”

“We’ve made every preparation for that spell. At this rate, all of the other major spells are as  good as sealed.”

There had not been many users who had fallen in battle, while more than 20 percent of the skeleton soldiers had been put out of existence and the Doom Knights had also considerably decreased in number. The users were certainly wary of Dark Rule, which was the highest rank spell of undead summoning, but they predicted that it would not have much effect as they had led the battle to their favor so far.

However, after Dark Rule was cast, the ground around the Valkis Castle’s plaza and castle gates began to shake, as if there was an earthquake.

“Wha, what the…?”

The maximum number of users that could fight on the ramparts and at the gates was 65,000. The rest of the users had been standing by as the reserve force, when they saw hands made of bones erupt from the vacant ground.

“Krrargh.”

“Kwaaaarrrrgggghh!!”

Ancient skeletons with worn-out joints, zombies and ghouls crawled out from the earth and rose up, the last few strands of hair falling off from their skulls. The phenomenon was occurring throughout the entire Valkis Castle, whether it was the marketplace, the town square, or the lord’s estate. Bar Khan’s undead summoning spell was raising the bodies of every single person who had died in Valkis Castle since a long time ago.

*****

The initial strategy of the Hermes Guild was to destroy and reduce the number of undead in the Immortal Army and send out a group of elite shock troops in order to defeat Bar Khan himself. Out of these troops that had been organized in advance, the warriors would clear a path to the boss so that Bard Ray and the paladins could suppress Bar Khan. In terms of safety, it would have been a better choice to eradicate the entire undead army first, but the core of the strength of the Immortal Legion was Bar Khan; the users were apprehensive about the possibility that he might choose to leave the battlefield after losing all of his undead, and hence they had been desperately waiting for a chance to strike directly at him.

“The Immortal Legion! They are…”

“There are too many undead being raised!”

However, the Hermes Guild’s plan had gone awry the moment Dark Rule spell came into effect.

The endless stream of undead, with numbers far beyond any of their previous predictions.

According to old historical records, since the opening of Royal Road there had been a lot of wars over the ownership of Valkis Castle. And now the bodies that had been accumulating underground over the course of those battles were all being revived as undead monsters, crowding both the inside and the outside of the castle walls in no time. Most of them were low-rank skeletons, but due to the effect of Death Aura that enhanced their abilities, they were crushing buildings and setting things on fire with outrageous strength. Zombies and ghouls were running amongst the structures, attacking the users.

“It’s on the roof!”

“Zombies are falling from the ceilings!”

“The town plaza on this side is full of zombies already!”

The street battle of the undead! Something that had never been recorded in any history books was currently taking place. With the skeleton mages and archers shooting fireballs or fire arrows all around them, the houses and major facilities of Valkis Castle were consumed by uncontrollable flames.

“The fire is spreading. Spirit masters, please summon water spirits and start putting out the fire first.”

“Save the consumables with divine power for later! Do not pour down all the holy water – we need to prepare for a long battle, too!”

As the undead were rising up from the whole land, the Hermes Guild users were forced into a very confused fight, defending themselves against a horde rushing in from every direction. On the other hand, Bar Khan was blasting Valkis Castle with a stream of Black Magic by offering the endless life force and mana he had been draining from those undead.

“Rise from the eternal corruption and drive the existence itself to decay! Fog of Gultan!”

The land around Valkis Castle was split into huge crevices once again. It was a remarkable sight to behold, the dark purple aura that had risen from beneath the ground gradually covering the entire Valkis Castle.

< You have inhaled the Fog of Gultan and are now poisoned.

349 points of life force will be lost every second.

Defensive abilities and magic resistance will be continuously reduced.

The durability of the Blue Coral Armor has decreased by 3 points.

The durability of the Golden Winged Boots will decrease by 2 points, and all of its stats will be reduced.>

Dark red fungi started to bloom on the sturdy castle walls, corroding the entire structure and reducing its durability. It was a corruption that covered the whole ground, and it inflicted damage on all constructions and living creatures.

*Krrrrruuuuuumm.*[5]

The earth began to shake. The buildings and ramparts of Valkis Castle were collapsing down violently as a result of the corrosion. The Bone Dragons howled in the sky and gushed out their Breath onto the ground in unison.

“Defend the position. The paladins will come into action soon.”

“Attack! Quickly, hurry up!”

The paladins that had been recruited from various religious orders of the Versailles Continent joined the fight. With the grace of the divine power that made them several times deadlier against the undead, they rushed into the Immortal Legion, risking their own lives.

Almost ten thousand users had been killed by curses and Black Magic, and another ten thousands were lost in battle against the Bone Dragons and the Doom Knights. Now they were being resurrected as high-rank undead units, which meant that the circumstances were very far from the initial calculations of the Hermes Guild.

“Things are not looking favorable.”

“It seems a good chance isn’t about to present itself anytime soon.”

Near the top of the hill that overlooked the whole Valkis Castle, the shock troops that consisted of the top elite users of the Hermes Guild were gathered, waiting. They were on the alert for an opportunity to strike at Bar Khan when the lines of the Immortal Army lift their prolonged siege.

“Valkis Castle has suffered more damage than we had expected.”

“It doesn’t matter if they die… but there is a possibility that the undead will grow even more numerous if we wait too long.”

The users that had been assigned to the shock troops were actually quite tempted to leave the battle, as theirs was a very difficult mission indeed. They could not just drop out of it, though, because besides the fact that this battle would be broadcast live, Bard Ray himself had joined the fight.

Arkheim of the Elite Guard spoke to Bard Ray.

“I’m afraid the situation is worse than our initial plan.”

“We can’t expect to have a perfect opportunity all the times. It looks like things will only become more disadvantageous to our side as we drag this on. This Black Magic is also very unpredictable. We can’t predict what will follow next.”

“Then, are you going to begin the assault?”

“Let’s go now, before it’s too late.”

“I shall order the shock troops to move immediately.”

Arkheim conveyed Bard Ray’s decision through the communication channel of the Elite Guard and the battle channel of the Hermes Guild.

– Arkheim: Time to go hunting.

Bard Ray and the other members of the shock troops started to speed across the hill on horseback.

“Our target is Bar Khan.”

“Eradicate the undead!”

The forces that had been hiding in and around Valkis Castle also simultaneously rose to action. At this one moment, all the Hermes Guild users were actively joining the fight, slaying the undead army. The Doom Knights were well matched in strength against them, but the users were burning their mana too quickly to neutralize all the other weaker units of undead.

“Clear a path!”

“The Emperor has begun to move!”

The Hermes Guild users, who had so far been defending the fortress in accordance with the meticulous battle plans, jumped and slid down the ramparts all at once. As they were taking the risk of drawing the attention of the undead to themselves, Bard Ray and the shock troops struck the rear of the enemy forces. They were penetrating through the sea of skeletons in order to reach Bar Khan, who was in the center of the Immortal Legion.

“Guard against Black Magic and cursing spells!”

“In the worst case, the users in the front must advance to block the curses with their bodies!”

They managed to get rid of the skeletons with area-of-effect skills, but shortly caught the eyes of Bar Khan and the Bone Dragons.

– Those despicable humans are coming after Bar Khan-nim.

– We shall rot them into a pool of water.

The Bone Dragons that had been attacking Valkis Castle hastily changed direction and began to fly towards Bard Ray and the shock troops.

“Come, mortals. I will gladly show you the way to Immortality.”

*Krrrruuuumm!*

Bar Khan uttered an incantation, summoning Fortress of Howling Corpses – a grand spell that changed the entire terrain, with giant pillars of bones shooting from the ground. Due to the increased number of undead belonging to the Immortal Legion, the fortress of bones had become even larger than before, reaching the height of 150 meters. All the undead monsters that had been guarding him in the neighboring area also became stronger by the effect of the fortress of corpses.

“Damn it.”

The shock troops of the Hermes Guild were still charging furiously towards him while destroying the swarming undead in the process, but even they could not help gulping in terror as they witnessed this terrible sight. At the top of the giant fortress made of bones, Bar Khan was sitting on his throne. The Doom Knights, specters, and countless other high-rank undead were looking down upon them from the high ground. By instinct, the users were struck with an ominous premonition – as if they were about to be engulfed by this sea of monsters.

“Charge! There will be no retreat.”

Despite a moment’s hesitation, the members of the shock troops, each one of them a top-notch user of the Hermes Guild chosen through a fastidious selection process, continued to advance towards the Fortress of Bones while protecting Bard Ray.

“Guard yourselves against the approaching monsters… and don’t take your eyes off those Bone Dragons, even for a second!”

“Warriors, raise your shields and prepare to block the Bone Dragon’s’ Breath attacks.”

“Focus on just passing through the undead: our target is Bar Khan. Everyone charge towards him!”

The shock troops of the Hermes Guild consisted of some of the very top-ranking users of the entire Versailles Continent. They were using highly advanced skills that ordinary users had never seen before, including even the ultimate Secret Sword Skills, to penetrate the ranks of the undead army. They were displaying an incredible efficiency in breaking through the horde, as they were well aware of the fact that slowing down for just a second would put them into a disadvantageous position.

“People in front, go faster!”

“13th Squad, stay back and stop the undead coming from behind.”

As soon as the shock troops reached the Fortress of Bones, they began to climb. The mountain-high structure was growing even taller as time passed.

“I am Wilhelm, the knight of death-“

“Out of my way, I’m busy!”

They pushed aside the attacking Death Knights and Dullahans, making them fall to the ground.

– Such insolent humans! You dare to step forth to commit an eternal sin?!

The Bone Dragons flashed by them, sending gusts of wind with their wings. The Hermes Guild users kept pushing forward, even while being attacked. Some brave users climbed onto the backs of the Bone Dragons and struck them. To become top-class rankers, they had conquered countless dungeons and hunting grounds; they understood the importance of the task entrusted to them, and knowing that hundreds of millions of people were watching the battle through broadcast, they did not hold back.

“The order of Doom Knights is in sight.”

“And there are… more than a hundred of them!”

“That’s no reason to fear. Just pierce through!”

Except for the Elite Guards escorting Bard Ray, the rest of the shock troops rushed forward and started fighting against the Doom Knights. As they approached closer, the power of their attack skills diminished drastically, suppressed by the terrifying aura emanating from Bar Khan.

“Break them! It doesn’t matter if they revive again, just focus on clearing a path!”

Hand-to-hand combat with the Doom Knights, in the Fortress of Bones, filled with a chilling fog and the wailing cries of lost souls!

– Pathetic humans. I can feel your fragile flesh wriggle in pain!

The Doom Knights standing closer to Bar Khan’s Death Aura were exhibiting remarkable abilities in battle. Each Doom Knight’s power could in itself match that of a boss-level monster.

“Arrgh!… so strong…”[6]

“These things won’t die even when I cut them down! Just striking them hardly does any damage, We need to do something! ”

Casualties were rising as people fell victim to the undead, and many users were falling off from the Fortress of Bones in succession.

“We don’t have time! Keep pushing forward.”

The shock troops were in a rush, fearful of Bar Khan’s curses that could be cast upon them at any moment. Now that they had climbed onto the Fortress of Bones, getting hit by curses at such a close range could well result in their total annihilation. There was a limit to the range which the Doom Knights could cover, so the Hermes Guild users jumped right over them or made a detour. They knew that it would cause the main force of the guild to suffer quite a large loss of life, but for now they just passed them by.

When the distance between them and Bar Khan was down to about 50 meters, another group of Doom Knights blocked their path.

– Protect the Master of Immortality.

From the sky they could see more than three Bone Dragons flying towards them; it was hard to find even one of such high-rank undead monsters in the Versailles Continent, yet this battlefield was full of them.

“We need to get closer.”

“There’s not enough time. Just start here!”

A group of users began to break away from the rest of the shock troops while taking out some objects. Their task was to distract the undead with the holy relics from various religious orders.

“The War Hammer of Valhalla!”

“Behold the holy relic of the Church of Freya!”

“The Shield of Lugh over here!”

From the Fortress of Bones, the users holding the holy relics dashed out in all directions.

“Those humans are giving off such an abominable trail…”

– Do not let them escape! Kill them all!

Naturally, the hostility of the Doom Knights and the Bone Dragons immediately turned towards them. Vehement fury, and a thirst for revenge; as Divine power was their natural enemy, they scattered like diverging wind, leaving Bard Ray and his Elite Guards.

Bard Ray and the central units of the shock troops penetrated the thin wall of Doom Knights and approached Bar Khan.

“It’s over, Bar Khan!”

Eager to make an impressive scene, Bard Ray instinctively drew out the Holy Sword of Lugh and pointed it towards Bar Khan in an imposing manner: while he was surrounded by reliable supporting troops, he intended to make himself look heroic just for a short instance before the actual battle began.

Bar Khan did not blast his magic spells straight away; instead, he opened his mouth and spoke, as if to compliment him.

”Human. You have exceeded my expectations by coming this far. However… you are still too weak to face me directly.”

Bard Ray retorted, “Nonsense. My strength is more than enough to defeat you.”

“Such insane and useless confidence, coming from a being confined in weak human flesh. Then, do you dare to come at me all by yourself?”

For a second, everyone sensed a strange turn of atmosphere.

Every viewer watching the broadcast at this moment was anticipating the one-on-one showdown between Bard Ray and Bar Khan: a bloody battle of the great Emperor against the lich, taking place in the mighty Fortress of Bones! Even the users of the Hermes Guild were looking expectant, wondering if Bard Ray could really put down Bar Khan alone.

‘This wasn’t part of the plan, but what if…?’

‘What’s this? Is he going to have a duel, right now?’

On the other hand, Bard Ray was breaking out in a cold sweat. His plan was to defeat Bar Khan together with everyone and win more fame using that accomplishment, but a one-on-one fight against the Arch-Lich? Things were getting out of hand.

‘If I lose the duel against Bar Khan now, it would completely shatter my pride, even if we manage to destroy him afterwards.’

It was humiliating, but Bard Ray reached a cool-headed decision and ordered his troops to attack.

“Our opponent is a Necromancer, he is just trying to buy some time with a dirty trick. Get rid of him immediately before he uses any foul magic or raises more undead!”

The priests prepared themselves for the battle, chanting incantations for a spell of sacrifice that had been planned in advance. It was a miracle that enabled them to possess the Divine force ten times stronger than normal for a short time, in return for giving up a portion of their level and stats.

“Go!”

“Strike him all at once!”

Bard Ray and two hundred users of the shock troops spread out, attacking Bar Khan simultaneously. There was a feast of splendid attack skills that had never been revealed to the world until this moment.

“Foolish humans. I see you refuse to believe in the power of immortality!”

Bar Khan blocked the attacks by summoning a pitch black barrier. All the flashy weapons and skills were ruthlessly blasted upon Bar Khan and his surroundings, causing an intense shock wave that made the Fortress of Bones tremble and even partially collapse. Due to the continuous supply of life force and mana from his undead legion, Bar Khan did not fall easily even when he suffered some amount of damage.

“The endless despair. I will show you what lies beyond that cannot be fathomed by your pitiful human mind!”

Bar Khan began to cast a spell of Black Magic.

“Now!”

At that same second, Bard Ray teleported a short distance using the power of a divine weapon.

He had not had much time to prepare for the battle against Bar Khan, but he had done his research: an incredible amount of life force, absolute magical power and an endless horde of undead protecting him; an opportunity to damage him directly through all these would not present itself often, but there was a hint.

‘I need to put the holy sword through Bar Khan’s body, to weaken his magical power.’

Just at the moment he was about to use Black magic, when he was most vulnerable-

“Transcending Strike!”

The priests focused their force onto Bar Khan in unison. Blinding white lights of divine power struck the barrier of darkness and seeped into the body of the Arch-Lich. Bar Khan was standing his ground, not even flinching, but Bard Ray appeared right behind him by teleportation.

“This is the end.”

Stab!

He drove the Holy Sword of Lugh deep into the back of Bar Khan.

“Yes, that did it!”

“We defeated Bar Khan!”

All the users of the Hermes Guild shouted in excitement, not to mention the entire shock troops. To a monster such as a lich, a holy sword was a nemesis. In the past, Weed had also defeated Bar Khan once using the same Holy Sword of Lugh.

‘Even if he doesn’t get killed by this, he’ll still be crippled. We can win in an all-out assault.’

They had revised this plan and rehearsed it several times, but this was the best outcome possible — such rash action, that wouldn’t even have been imaginable if it had been Weed, who was so cautious that he would tap on the floor of an elevator before stepping into it.[7]

Bar Khan rattled his jawbone, the Holy Sword of Lugh still stuck in his chest.

“Kehehe. You all are nothing but offerings to darkness. I hereby sacrifice my body to summon the deep void upon this land… everything in existence shall perish.”

The ultimate skill of a Necromancer that used up all of their remaining life force and mana: the Great Extinction.

Guuuoooooohh…

Bar Khan’s body broke apart and crumbled into dust. A dark red speck appeared where he had been and started to spread rapidly. The spell of Great Extinction was swelling in power as it integrated every living creature and undead that was caught in the range of destruction: an ultimate explosion spell that pulverized even the Fortress of Bones in its entirety.

Having felt a sudden inkling of danger, Bard Ray had fled to Valkis Castle, using the ‘Absolute Protection’ skill sealed in his magic cloak and the ‘Solar Movement’ from his boots.

< A tremendous amount of damage!

You have suffered a critical loss of life force by a spell of irresistible power.

1,203,933 points of life force have been lost.

Due to the grave injuries, you are temporarily unable to engage in battle.>

Even with his quick reflexes, he had still lost over a million points of life force. Even so, he had escaped death thanks to the several blessings, protection spells and life force enhancements that had been put on him before the fight by the spell of sacrifice that the priests had cast.

Among the shock troops and the other Hermes Guild users who had been in the neighboring areas, those who had not managed to escape on time were all massacred.

Shortly afterwards, on the spot where Bar Khan had been standing, a bottomless crater became visible, with a radius of several hundred kilometers; it was a testament to the power of the Great Extinction spell, capable of warping even the terrain itself.

The users of the Hermes Guild were dumbfounded for a moment by this intensity of magic that they had never experienced before, but soon they came to themselves.

“We… We won…!”

“We’ve defeated Bar Khan!”

“Hooray!!”

“Bard Ray-nim did it!”

Bard Ray himself did not have much stamina and life force left, but he stood on the rampart and raised his fist high, savoring the moment of bliss.

– I have subdued Bar Khan, with my own hands!

In response to Bard Ray’s Great Roar, the Hermes Guild users let out shouts of victory. There were still more than half of the Immortal Legion left, but nobody cared about them: once Bar Khan had disappeared with a last mighty bang, those remaining undead forces were nothing that they could not handle easily. Bard Ray continued his Great Roar without caring about his fatigued state.

“After vanquishing all the remaining undead, we will celebrate for three days and nights! Valkis Castle shall be ordained as the sacred ground upon which we have defeated Bar Khan and the Immortal Legion!”

“Long live the Hermes Guild!”

The morale of the users who had gathered for the battle against Bar Khan was now through the roof with the pride they felt after stopping such a mighty enemy. They were be victorious, and would celebrate their victory with the people, just like the Arpen Kingdom. The Hermes Guild users were swelling in self-confidence, and just as they were about to relieve their tension…

– There seems to be no end to your foolishness, humans.

Bar Khan’s eerie voice reverberated throughout the battlefield.

Startled, Bard Ray and the other users of the guild looked around for the source of the sound.

Bar Khan was standing unscathed in the middle of his Immortal Legion, escorted by the undead. He didn’t even have the Holy Sword of Lugh stuck in his chest.

“How…?!”

“Bar Khan is still alive!”

“But he died, completely, just now! Why is he…?”

Bar Khan had already put a new spell of immortality upon himself: the terrifying reality was that he could be revived no less than five times, unless the vessel sealing his life was destroyed. In the meantime, the users who had just died in the explosion had also been raised as Doom Knights or Death Knights by the Dark Rule.

Bar Khan’s voice was clearly heard by everyone.

– Go to sleep now. The nightmare will never end.

***

The Battle of Kalice Castle!

A clash between the Hermes Guild and the Immortal Legion — nobody could have predicted that it would devolve into a bloody fight that would drag on for 35 hours.

“What, they are still fighting?!”

“Yeah… it just doesn’t end.”

“Are they even planning to wrap it up within today?”

“Dunno. Bar Khan still has two more resurrections to go.”

The users who had come near Kalice Castle to watch the fight got tired first and left the scene. Even the broadcasting stations — after having continued the live coverage for some time, given the magnitude of the battle — decided that they could not carry on any longer with all of their cast and crew exhausted and returned to their normal schedules.

During the course of killing Bar Khan five times, the Hermes Guild suffered tremendous losses.

The paladins and the priests had been eradicated without a single survivor, having used their last spell of sacrifice, and more than 80 percent of the high-level users that had joined the battle had perished as well.

In the end, they eventually managed to defeat Bar Khan for good through a final coordinated attack, but the remaining Hermes Guild members collapsed onto the ground rather than enjoying the moment of victory.

“Uggh… I just want to lie down for a bit.”

“It’s been a horrible, horrible fight.”

“The undead are the worst. Their stench, and their ridiculous amount of life force… I’m not fighting them again. Ever.”

“Well, Weed is a Necromancer. You might have to.”

“Dude! Don’t even say such things.”

The surviving users sprawled onto the ruins of Kalice Castle that had been completely destroyed. Bard Ray himself had narrowly escaped death several times, and as Bar Khan had focused his attacks on him, there were especially few survivors among the Elite Guards.

< Battle Achievements!

You have successfully subdued Bar Khan Demoph and led a massive historic war to victory.

The fame of every user that had joined the battle will increase by 12,790 points.

All stats will increase by 6.

Your relationship with the religious orders that had joined the battle will become friendly. You have earned a large number of contribution points.

The Blessing of Battali, the God of War will be in effect for a week!>

They had earned fame in battle and some improvements in stats through a great achievement, but these rewards did not interest them much; in fact, at this moment it didn’t feel much like a victory at all to the users, who had been through such a gruesome and desperate fight.

“What’s this? That’s all for the loot?!”

Bong-dal, the ranker who had dealt the final blow on Bar Khan, cried out in anger as well.

The top-class boss monster that threatened to turn the course of history itself!

One of the enjoyable benefits of hunting such a monster was the great booty it left behind…

< You have obtained two sheets of white elephant skin.>

< You have obtained a colorful deerskin. >

< You have obtained a sparkling pebble.>

< You have obtained 61 silvers.>

However, all they had found in the remains of Bar Khan were a couple of sheets of animal skin, a pebble and a small amount of silvers.

“Is this for real? Somebody tell me this is all a lie…”

Considering the fact that the mages usually possessed enchanted weapons or treasures of tremendous value, this was such a stark contrast, a shocking discovery. Bar Khan’s belongings were worth even less than the objects dropped by Death Knights or Doom Knights when they were killed.

The truth was, ever since his resurrection, Bar Khan had been penniless, having lost all his valuable items to Weed.

“Noooooooooo!!!!”

This had been a battle that involved the entire main force of the Hermes Guild, and yet the spoils were not even enough to compensate for the payroll costs.

Worst still, terrible news had been delivered by the Second Legion.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] The original translation for this spell, ‘the destruction song of destruction’, is actually quite accurate; the author was using two different words that pretty much had the same meaning. I changed it a bit to make it sound less ridiculous, but it is still quite corny. To be honest, everything this Bar Khan guy says and does is corny, so I thought it is his identity of sorts.

↑ [2] Not very sure about this simile because…well, how would a well-trained orchestra give out such horrible sounds? But it is as it is in the original text, so I’m open to any suggestions here.

↑ [3] A name that would be closer to the original meaning would be something like ‘total destruction by fire’, but it was a bit of a mouthful for a name of a magic spell, so I came up with ‘Total Combustion’.

↑ [4]The direct translation of the original text is something like “Depth Bomb Slash”. I’m guessing that it might be a sort of sword-slash skill that causes an explosion.

↑ [5]This is a rumbling sound coming from the shaking earth. I couldn’t come up with a better onomatopoeia, so I’m happy to have any suggestions from the proofreading team.

↑ [6]From the original text it is not clear if this line means “my strength is reduced (by curse)” or “their (the Doom Knights’) strength is so great”, because in Korean it was just written as “…the strength is…” I didn’t think it would affect the entire story much so I just decided to stick to one interpretation.

↑ [7]This expression is a parody of a famous Korean adage that translates into something like, “tap on the stone bridge before crossing it”, which basically means “look before you leap”.

Chapter 7: A Head-on Match

From the Arpen Kingdom, the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult had arrived in the Harpan Region.

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

A swarm of people descending southwards, covering the whole plain with their endless numbers!

This main force was not only composed of combat specialists: the users flooding down into the region were from every imaginable race and profession, some of which being complete beginners who had played for less than 100 days after they first stepped foot into the world of Royal Road in Morata or Dawn City.

“It’s not every day we can join this kind of big event.”

“You’re right. This is bound to be fun.”

“Excuse me, I’d like to return home, please make way! I’ve been being swept down by the crowd for two days already!”

“I’ve also been swept down for a whole day, I was just selling some sweet potatoes! *sob* Please, guys, I beg you!”

In no time, the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult[1] was spread over the Harpan Region like a mist at dawn. Jerome, the commander of the Second Legion, was moving his troops around and hunting the users of the Grass Porridge like a starving jackal, but it didn’t result in any visible effect. By the time they had cut down ten thousands users, a hundred thousand more had showed up to join the Porridge Cult’s ranks. Ten thousands could still be considered a significant amount, but Jerome was not satisfied: most of the users they had cut down were novices with levels below 100, and those with levels above 200 had not been easily caught. While many newbies were getting kicked around by the Imperial soldiers, the more experienced users could simply use this opportunity to run away.

“So, what are the numbers of the enemy troops?”

Inside the tent in which the Second Legion’s strategy meeting was taking place, Ronague the mage answered Jerome’s question.

“The estimated number is 70 million.”

“Sounds like they have exaggerated their population statistics to a ridiculous extent. Not to mention all those broadcasts reproducing their lies.”

“This is the statistical data obtained by the U.S. Department of Defense itself.”

“…Why the heck are those guys interested in counting the cult members?”

“Apparently, they are trying to understand the influence of the Grass Porridge Cult in real life.”

A heavy silence settled inside the Second Legion’s meeting room.

The mental pressure of having to face an enemy whose numbers are greater than the entire population of many nations!

‘Even if we win this, with so many Grass Porridge users living near me in real life, would I even be able to stay in my town once they find out I’m the one who defeated them?’

‘How will I be able to go to school from now on?’

The users of the Hermes Guild tried to picture the exact scale of 70 million people in their mind … And quickly gave up.

The main force of the Grass Porridge Cult was moving its enormous body ever closer to them. It was one thing to discuss the numbers of the tens of millions of troops and assess their power, but it was quite another to actually witness those stupefying numbers. So far, Jerome’s army had only attacked the outskirts of the enemy force as they were not confident enough to launch an all-out assault, but there hadn’t been any sign of damage. The Grass Porridge Cult was continuing their advance to the south unabated, and now the Second Legion was beginning to feel a greater threat than the one they had posed to their enemy.

“We will eventually reach our limit with this tactic. At the moment, what we’re doing cannot even count as slowing them down  while our goal is to stop them.”

Even when fights broke out, the Northern users in the surroundings simply kept marching southwards. It was only a matter of time before the main force of the Grass Porridge took over the entire Harpan Region.

“As we are under such special circumstances, I suggest a drastic countermeasure… we need to find a point from where we can break through our enemy’s main troops.”

Jerome decided to rampage across the Grass Porridge Cult — a plan to move his whole army through the enemy rank, tear them apart, and immediately escape the field.

“I’m afraid that sounds too dangerous…”

“On the contrary. When we were conquering the Central Continent, the valor of our legion proved to be highly efficient, but right now the size of the enemy is simply too great.”

The main strength of Jerome’s Second Legion was its knights; during the conquest they had made significant contribution in battle by breaking through the enemy lines and scattering their formation.

“Aren’t mobility and focus-fire the specialties of our troops? Nobody would even imagine that we will attempt to penetrate their great mass. Even if we encounter some bothersome Northern users on the way, we’ll just pierce through, not staying too long to fight them.”

“Our side will also have to suffer losses, though.”

“There will be some damage, yes, but think about what would happen when we successfully penetrate their main force. It will be a great shock to our enemy, and the Second Legion will be known as the most powerful army in all Royal Road.

“Well, that sounds…”

The users who had been objecting to his idea became somewhat quiet. As the users that formed the core strength of the Hermes Guild, they had heard about the reputation of Weed and the Arpen Kingdom, but most of them had never experienced defeat until now.[2]

“It’s certainly a great number, but most of the enemy troops are weak beginners.”

“They won’t be able to stop our assault. Even if things don’t go as favorably as we hoped, we can always penetrate their ranks closer to the edges, instead of going through the center of the whole army.”

With Jerome’s repeated persuasion, other Hermes Guild users were also beginning to change their minds; it was true that the users belonging to the Second Legion had yet to be defeated.

“Those weaklings cannot be a match against our troops’ mobility. Let’s put up a memorable fight, every broadcasting station out there is watching us.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Second Legion faced the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult in the Great Plains of Wulooph in the Harpan Region.

“Charge!”

Jerome led his troops valiantly and carried out the central assault operation as planned. From afar it looked like an extremely foolhardy strategy, but should they succeed, they would accomplish a deed that would let them leave their names in the history of Royal Road.

“Lay everything you have on the line. We are the Second Legion. With all our pride and dignity as the glorious Imperial Army, we will form a mighty spearhead that will penetrate the very heart of the enemy ranks!”

Jerome and the Second Legion rushed towards the endless stream of users that was the Grass Porridge Cult.

*****

There were a lot of war experts who had backgrounds as high-rank military officials in the Grass Porridge Cult, and they knew that the outcome of the battle would greatly vary depending on the method of fighting.

“Things will get more difficult if the Second Legion of the Imperial Army keeps cutting off our limbs as they are doing now. Their strategy of spreading instability by slaughtering users all over the Harpan Region is quite dangerous to us.”

“Our users have risen for a heroic cause, but rumors will begin to spread as our advance gets delayed and more deaths occur. If the march halts, it will mean a very underwhelming end to our campaign.”

“When surrounded by such a large crowd, people easily get swayed by the change of mood. To the Northern users, the great power of the Hermes Guild can come as a shock.”

“Hmm. The Hermes Guild is indeed a formidable force, having seized control over the Central Continent. Every single one of their members is an elite soldier who has experienced at least a hundred battles.”

“Our people should already know that each user with a level in the 400s or 500s is very strong. However, not many are aware of how stunningly powerful they can become in a group without any first-hand experience.”

While the war experts were devising an operation plan for the Grass Porridge Cult, Jerome’s Second Legion was charging straight into their main force, penetrating their way through and sweeping everything in front of them.

“Ride faster. There is nobody who can slow us down!”

Jerome used ‘Command over the Knightly Order’, which was a war skill that increased the attacking abilities and mobility of all allies in range. The morale of the Second Region reached its full height as they pierced the enemy lines, striking the users of the Grass Porridge.

“Hahaha. I’ll cut down everyone that comes at me!”

The Hermes Guild users were running amok in excitement. Jerome and the best users of the Second Legion were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Riding on horseback, killing dozens of enemies with a single skill — this kind of intrepid assault was the very reason why they had chosen to become knights.

“They can’t attack us with spells or arrows. With their ranged attacks disabled, we can kill them with just a graze of our swords in direct combat.”

“It will be even better if they do decide to attack us from a distance. There will be far more attacks that miss than that hit us, and our enemy will quickly fall into chaos, being attacked by their own allies.”

The Second Legion sped through the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult for more than 3 kilometers.

An army of elite troops piercing the battlefield!

As the Steel Knights could clear a path without getting tired, they hadn’t lost any of their initial strength.

“Run away!”

“No, fight! We can win this if we just hold up for long enough!”

The users of the Grass Porridge Cult rushed forward to stop them, but with such a huge discrepancy in the average strength between the two sides, they were not able to drive off the assaulting Second Legion.

“Block them with your shields!”

“It’s no use. They are just penetrating our defense.”

Suddenly, the great crowd of the Grass Porridge Cult was collapsing meaninglessly. There were some high level users sporadically appearing to join the combat, but it was not enough to stop the advance of the Second Legion. They were targeted by a focus of fire and quickly faded into grey nothingness. There were groups of thousands of novice users clustered together in the field, and as they could be killed by a single area-of-effect skill, they were being completely wiped out before they even had time to come up with any plans.

“They launched a full-frontal assault against us…!”

“I must admit that our enemy has come up with an ingenious tactic. One moment they were just cutting off the branches of our troops, and they suddenly turned to penetrate our main force in the middle of our march.”

The war experts of the Grass Porridge Cult highly regarded Jerome’s unusual measures. It was not an easy thing to do, both strategically and tactically, yet he managed to strike precisely at his enemy’s weak point. Actually, this scenario had already been considered in their earlier prediction as one of the worst possible cases, but they had no choice but to ignore it, as it was practically impossible to prepare the tens of millions of users for this kind of unexpected situation.

“It’s already late, but we need to start getting into battle formation now; send the high level users to the battlefront where they can fight against the Imperial legion.”

“It will take more than half an hour just to assemble fighters to stand in the vanguard. Also, even when they do step forward to fight, if we throw them directly at the charging enemy we will be completely helpless against the legion’s assault once they fall.”

“This is a race against time. We might lose millions of lives here — no, we WILL lose millions of lives. No way around it.”

The Grass Porridge army, with its poor defense, allowed itself to be completely broken through when faced with the furious attacks from Jerome and his Second Legion. The Second Legion had already proven their great firepower and mobility during the conquest war of the Central Continent, and presently the effectiveness of their storming assault against an enemy that had been caught completely off guard was remarkable. The Grass Porridge Cult had some brave vanguard units like the Poison Mushroom Porridge users, willing to throw their very bodies as shields when all else failed, but unfortunately they had all moved to the south before the main force.

“As our weakness has been exploited by the enemy, we have no choice but to risk some bloodshed.”

“Yes. All we can do right now is to find the second-best solution.”

They were completely unable to cope with the power and speed of the Second Legion. So, the heads of the Grass Porridge Cult decided to let their enemy inflict some damage on them. In the meantime, they prepared for a counterattack.

“I will send requests to the architects and other support troops.”

“Let’s show them the viciousness of common folk.”

*****

These were the thoughts that dawned on the minds of the Second Legion soldiers as they sped through the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult like a gale of wind:

‘They were completely unprepared against our attack!’

‘It looks like they believed their numbers would scare us so much that we would never come up with a plan to assault them directly.’

All what the users of the Grass Porridge did was to fall by their hands unceremoniously.

Jerome shouted to the users of the Hermes Guild following behind him.

“Are you ready to continue?”

“Yes, let’s see just how much further we can go. We’ve come too far to turn back now.”

They had advanced about five kilometers further than they had initially planned, slaughtering Northern users all the while. Jerome and the other powerful users under his banner continued breaking through the enemy ranks, slashing swords and spears on both hands.

“Keep riding forward!”

“Show them our accomplishments! Let them know that the Second Legion is here!”

The order of knights rushed after them like a flash of lightning, killing every Northern user who had been standing transfixed with terror and shock.

“They’re just so fast…”

“We need to stop them, but…”

The users were just standing on the spot, dazed and devastated; they could not bear the sight of dozens of their allies being murdered by a single skill. The Arpen Kingdom had faced the Hermes Guild in the past, but the speed and efficiency[3] of the Second Legion was simply too much to handle. While the Hermes Guild user couldn’t use their skills continuously due to the cost of mana and stamina, they could use them often enough to clear paths through clusters of users; the massive strength displayed by the frontline units would sway the Northern users’ will to fight, and after that, all that was left to be done was for the following forces to swing their weapons and harvest the enemies’ lives.

“We’ll go even further!”

“Who would be able to stop us?!”

Occasionally, some high level users that had moved from the Central Continent to the North stepped out to face them, but they all ended up as fresh prey for the ever-charging knights. Only a trail of corpses was left behind after the Second Legion had swept past.

‘We didn’t have to worry so much. Even with their great number, they are all weak.’

‘Size is certainly one thing that represents the strength of an army; yet, depending on how we fight…the size can prove to be just a number.’[4]

These were the thoughts that crossed the minds of Jerome and the users in the Second Legion. They didn’t even care about guarding the rear, because there were Steel Knights following behind and protecting them.

“We shall be a lance that penetrates the Grass Porridge Cult. Today, we become a legend!”

Jerome raised his spear into the sky and bellowed.

Although slightly fatigued, the users of the Second Legion still had sufficient amount of mana and stamina left.

“Break through the enemy lines!”

Now the objective of the Second Legion had changed to penetrating the very center of the Grass Porridge Cult. They would suffer more significant loss of troops, but they would also be able to attain a more impressive battle achievement. The army that had its very core skewered by its enemy was bound to lose their morale — the troops would become afraid of their opponents and succumb to fear, thinking that they could not win the battle even if they tried.

“Let’s fight on our own terms!”

The glorious and magnificent scene of battle in which the Second Legion completely pierced through the enemy’s main force would be transmitted countless times through broadcasts, engraving the legion’s power in the memory of every viewer. Storming across a battlefield populated with an army of tens of millions of troops… it would be a truly great accomplishment.

As the advance of Jerome and the Second Legion continued, so did the chaos spreading among the Grass Porridge Cult.

“Shieldbearers! Anyone who can use a shield, go forward!”

“Everyone gather over here; we are going to set up a blocking line!”

Even when the users organized the groups of shield units to stop the charging knights, Jerome and the seasoned war veterans of the Second Legion simply avoided those defense lines by diverting their routes left and right. And then they ordered some of the Steel Knights to eradicate the shield units completely before following behind them.

But even while the Grass Porridge Cult was helplessly trampled by their enemy, active online chatting was still taking place on their guild channel.

– Hylon: We cannot break down like this, people. You need to keep your position and fight!

– Rectop: A moment. All we ask of you is to hold your ground for just a moment. More troops are on their way at this very moment. We have plenty of people who can fight.

– Moon Bear: We are the invincible Grass Porridge Cult. Keep your morale high!

This active chatting at least prevented the Northern users from getting overwhelmed by fear and scattering in all directions trying to flee.

In the meantime, the architects and other groups of users were working on their own task.

“Dig it deeper. Those scoundrels are bound to come this way, as they had their fun before.”

“A trap! This is all we can do right now.”

The architects dug into the ground together with the users around them. It was extremely fortunate that many Northern users carried a shovel with them, as they were accustomed to manual labor.

The trap which they were currently digging would be of no use if the Second Legion decided to just cause a ruckus inside the enemy main force and escape the scene without continuing their assault. However, if they did insist on penetrating through the whole army, they would inevitably be caught by this trap, which was set right in the central area, wide and deep.

*Katakatakata!!*

When the sound of the clattering hooves of the Second Legion was heard, a smile appeared on the faces of the architects and other nearby users.

“They’re coming!”

“Our retaliation begins here.”

The soldiers of the Second Legion tore straight through the architects and the surrounding users as well. As they had massacred countless users so far, they did not hesitate to blast the crowd of people with their area-of-effect skills to clear their way.

But the moment they stepped on the trapped area, the ground itself began to collapse around them.

“The, the ground…!”

“It’s a trap!”

“Stop! There is a trap!”

They hastily came to a halt, but it was too late: as they had been riding at nearly full speed they were unable to stop in time. More than a thousand troops fell into the pits that had been dug in a number of places, and their formation was ruined.

There were also sharp steel nails everywhere on the ground and inside the pits.

“Keep throwing them! More!”

The Northern users nearby also scattered the steel nails they had been carrying all over the ground.

The Hermes Guild users were unscathed, but their horses were no longer able to run.

“Attack them!”

“Revenge for our fallen comrades!”

The users of the Grass Porridge Cult swarmed down upon the Second Legion like a tsunami. The archers and the mages also started their vicious ranged attacks.

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

“It’s our chance to strike them back. Everyone in the Sweet Potato Porridge squad, the time has come to enjoy the sweet taste of revenge!”

“The Coffee Porridge troops have assembled as well. We are ready to move!”

The entire main force of the Grass Porridge cult’s battle formation changed as the battle went to fit the roles of the various users , like some kind of a living creature, and soon they began to strike.

The Second Legion still possessed a great strength, but now they were unable to make use of their mobility, which was their greatest asset.

“We’ll just have to wipe them all off. This does not change things much.”

The Second Legion quickly repositioned itself into a defensive formation while rescuing those who had fallen into the pits and picking up the steel nails.

They formed a circular line and the fight began, but they quickly found out that the attacks from the Northern users had become incredibly fierce in a short time: as the Second Legion was not moving any more, the more powerful users of the North were flocking to their position.

“I’m afraid things are beginning to look dangerous…”

“How much longer are we going to fight here?”

Facing the fearsome amount of the enemy troops coming at them from everywhere, the users of the Hermes Guild were losing their nerves. The novice Northern users, who had looked like a weak enough bunch when they were just speeding past, were rushing towards them with a frightening vigor now that they were forced to stay put. In addition, the tens of millions of the Grass Porridge troops were enclosing the Second Legion.

The knight commanders of the Second Legion ran to Jerome.

“We cannot continue to fight in one place like this unless we’re going to kill every Northern user.”

“I know that, but…”

“We need to retreat. Right now.”

“We won’t be able to get everyone out of here. Nothing is as dangerous as retreating from the very heart of the enemy troops.”

“Even so, we do not have any other choice.”

At last, through gritted teeth, Jerome gave his army the order to escape from the battlefield. It was a difficult decision, made under urgent circumstances, and the Second Legion’s attempt to move once again from their position was met with heavy resistance.

“They are trying to run away!”

“Take down those Hermes Guild bastards!”

“Filthy cowards. We’ve had enough. I’ll kill you all!”

With the persistent attacks from the Northern users, the Second Legion was divided in the middle, and the troops in the rear failed to catch up with the rest of the army that went ahead. Jerome and the other knights saw that, but they only had enough time to break through the encircling enemy lines and escape, otherwise the entire legion would be trapped within. Those who had been left behind put up a desperate fight, but they were eventually annihilated by the waves of attacks from the Northern users. The overall damage amounted to half of the entire troops of the Second Legion, on top of losing more than thirty percent of the Steel Knights. As the Steel Knights were extremely difficult to subdue by any means, the Northern users came up with yet another solution.

“Bury them!”

They resolved the situation by digging up more holes in the ground and letting the Spirit Masters filingl them with water.

Overall it had been a very hard-fought battle, but the final outcome was reported to be the major victory for the Grass Porridge Cult, as one of the Hermes Guild’s core military forces suffered massive damage while the Grass Porridge Cult just lost a large number of beginners.

Since this battle was also relayed to audiences by the broadcasting stations, it considerably set back the Hermes Guild’s plan to turn the tables to their favor after the defeat of Bar Khan.

*****

Weed joined the marching Desert Warriors in the Great Plains of Ills.

“My brothers. I trust you’ve been well?”

“Welcome, Little One. Go command our army.”

“Your army? How could I take such a responsibility when you and other brothers are above me…”

“Hehehe. All we want is to fight as much as we like.”

Geomchi, the other masters and trainees were more than willing to entrust Weed with the right of command; they knew, by experience, that letting the clever ones do all the hard work yielded far better outcomes.

“Then I shall appoint you as the Minister of National Defense of the Arpen Kingdom, master.”

“Oh. That’s nice.”

“I believe that role would be perfect for a strong person like you. Brother Geomchi2, you will be the Minister for Foreign Affairs.”

“Ahem.”

“And Brother Geomchi3, please take the role of the Minister of Warfare”

“Umm. Okay.”

Weed distributed plenty of government positions to his brothers and master. He created new public positions for 57 ministers and governors, 301 directors, administrators, presidents and admirals, and to the other remaining brothers he gave the position of knight commanders. Of course, this did not mean that Geomchi and other brothers would be actually charged for the administrative matters of the Arpen Kingdom. All he had to do was to come up with something for their name cards.

‘True, my brothers have always been rather fond of being in positions of power.’

A few of his brothers were a bit greedier and asked him to give them more authority.

“The thing is, I’ve been seeing this girl for some time now, and I need to have something to say when she asks what I do for a living and… as you know, I don’t have much to write in my resume.”

“Understood.”

Weed conjured up some nonexistent institutions on the spot and put his brothers in charge.

– The Versailles Continent Peace Committee

– The Arpen Kingdom Monster Extermination Society

– Dragon Hunters’ Association

– Sculpture Art Association

– The Society of Dungeon Crawl Specialists

“Thank you. You are such a fantastic brother.”

Winning the good graces of Geomchi and the other brothers was easier than snatching candies from the kids next door.

During the couple of days when Bard Ray was fighting the Immortal Legion, Weed paraded around the southern regions of the Empire with other Desert Warriors.

“Hooray!”

“Please liberate the central continent from the Haven Empire as soon as possible, Weed-nim!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge. It’s an honor to meet you, Weed-nim.”

The users of the Central Continent greeted the Desert Warriors Weed had brought with him with passionate cheers. If it had been a war in real life they would have had to kill and steal from the civilians for food and money, but this was the world of Royal Road. Whenever Weed entered a city with the Desert Warriors, the users of the Central Continent would come to join them, so the lords of the Haven Empire had to make a hasty escape.

*Ding!*

<You have conquered the City of Gatendrau!

Your territories are being expanded at a remarkable speed.

War Achievement unlocked! [5]

All the stats related to combat will increase by one point.

You have obtained the title, ‘The Owner of a Vast Land’>

“Weed-nim, I’m Komnyang, just a nobody. Would it be okay if I fight with you?”

“Sure.”

“It’s an honor to join your army. I’ve had such high admiration for you for a long time.”

During his time as the Great King of Desert, he had recruited surrendering soldiers and commoners by force to turn them into his combat troops. But now the users of the Central Continent were voluntarily seeking him to join the Desert Warriors. Eventually he managed to assemble an army ten times bigger in size than the one he had when he left the desert.

“Little One. You have such an extraordinary commanding ability. What is it that enables you to gather such a large number of subordinates?”

“A stroke of sheer lu — I mean, I gave them a vision.”[6]

“A vision?”

“Yes. A vision of changing the world with their own hands. As long as there is hope, people can live on, even if they’re starving in a semi-basement room full of cockroaches.”

“You mean a dream.”

“Yes. I make them believe that when everyone unites their strength, they can make change happen.”

Geomchi made a content smile, apparently proud of his pupil. After some time he asked again,

“But what if we cannot make change happen after all that…?”

“Well then that’s just it. There’s nothing we can do when we are living in such an uncaring and crappy reality, is there?”

Two forces were attacking the Central Continent: the Arpen Kingdom from the north, and the Desert Warriors from the south.

‘The Hermes Guild started early with their dictatorship and exploitation. Looks like the public sentiment is on my side because I haven’t started any of those yet.’

The actual amount of users in the Central Continent was much greater than the known number. Some of them hadn’t been online for the last couple of months, but returned after getting news of Weed and the Desert Warriors coming.

“Hooray for Weed!”

“Please save us. We want to make Royal Road into a pure and happy game.”

From its early days, Royal Road had enjoyed unprecedented popularity among the crowd. Anyone who had some amount of money bought a capsule, enraptured by the fun and pleasure of exploring the new world of adventure. People ran into the capsule room whenever they had time, even just for a short while. One could say that Royal Road became part of a new culture that connected the people around the world. Out of those numerous users, a portion of them had already come to the North, but the rest of the users staying in the Central Continent also willingly joined them. Every time they passed through a city, an enormous amount of new troops joined their ranks. Weed did not order them to fight. Rather, he just let them decide their actions by themselves. Driving off the Haven Empire was a gigantic goal. Even the people who followed to just watch the others trying to achieve that goal could become a big mental pressure for their opponents.

‘And it is not like they will listen to me even if I do give them orders. I don’t have people who can monitor their behavior all the time.’

There was one thing that he had learned while he was working in the labor market: when you have ten people in the same room, three or four of them were bound to slack off. And there was simply no use in scolding them: no matter what you do, those who work hard will always work hard, while the slackers will always slack off. Try to pester them into working, and they will ignore your lectures even more enthusiastically.

“Weed-nim does not want anything from us.”

“I know… ’live however you like’, those words just sound so cool…”

The users who had gathered to drive off the Haven Empire cheered even more at Weed’s indifference.

“I haven’t participated in a war before… I can just shoot arrows from behind, right?”

“I have some healing skills. I’ll make sure I don’t accidently kill you.”[7]

The users who hadn’t had much experience in fight also began to step forward, one by one.

“Can I really have a free cup of coffee if I join here?”

“When can I get the coupon for cakes?”

“…?”

And there were some users that spoke of things Weed had no idea about.

It wasn’t what Weed had intended, but this war was having a big impact on the real life as well. The number of members of the Grass Porridge Cult was enormous, and they were used as a marketing tool by various corporations.

– The Liberation War of Versailles Continent! A free coffee for anyone who joins the battle!

– We are having a Buy One Get One Free event for fried chickens. For Grass Porridge Cult members only.

– We welcome the new members of the Grass Porridge. Free entry to the swimming pool if you can certify your membership with flowers in your hair!

– Half of the normal service fee and free breakfast for any users in the Fungus Porridge group visiting Sin-na Hotel.

– Bug Porridge. The time has come to feast on some cheap grilled tripe!

Not only the corporations, the small shops and restaurants in the neighborhood were also using similar marketing strategies just as enthusiastically.

Grass Porridge ice cream, Grass Porridge burgers, Grass Porridge fried chicken, Grass Porridge Topokki[8] , Grass Porridge Jokbal[9] , Grass Porridge Gamja-tang[10]…

“It feels like things have gotten more exciting after the Grass Porridge Cult has gone to war.”

“I know, right? I hope they fight more often.”

Even elementary school children walking around the neighborhood were now chanting ‘Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge’: the influence of the cult in real life was threatening to exceed that in Royal Road.

“Bring down the tyranny of the Haven Empire!”

“For freedom, for truth, for the Grass Porridge Cult!”

*****

The users of the Hermes Guild who had defeated the Immortal Legion were making an appearance in a broadcasting studio.

“We had to risk our own lives when we were fighting against Bar Khan. With corpses and ghosts running about everywhere, there was no such thing as a safe zone.”

Boemong the Giant Knight—A man in his late 20s with a calm sort of demeanor in real life, he was having an interview on the CTS Media channel. Han Seung-bin, a former actor and the host of the program, continued with his questions following the script.

“I myself play Royal Road but I have never joined these kinds of large battles, so I’m very curious; did you ever want to just flee?”

“No; I never once thought of such a thing. We could not afford to lose this war. For the peace of the Versailles Continent, I mean.”

Beside him were four other users of the Hermes Guild waiting for their turns. The next interviewee was Arkhym, who had even lost his life during the battle.

“Bar Khan was revealed to be much stronger than it was initially predicted; what do you think was the most important factor for your victory?”

“We won because we were the Hermes Guild, simple as that. We could have avoided the battle, but we chose to face them in the Valkis Castle to minimize the damage to users, even though we knew that we would be at disadvantage.”

From the monitor screen that had been set up in front of the host and the guests they could see the comments the viewers were sending in real-time.

– Kuko: Dragged into a fight in a rush, more like, and they barely won.

– Beldegar: Wow…some thick skin they’ve got, lying like that. They fought in the Valkis Castle only because they wanted to minimize damage to THEMSELVES.

– 3BottlesCognac: I don’t care how they won. Ask them about the Haven Empire going down.

– DefenseStat3: For the peace of the continent? What rubbish. It was them who started all of it first, wanting to destroy the Northern Continent.

– WoongDingWoongDing: The Hermes Guild is the cancer of this game. It’s paradise in the Arpen-liberated regions.

– JohntheSkeletonWarrior: I’m going to move to the Arpen Kingdom if both the Britten and Harpan Regions get conquered.

– Keru: Don’t worry. The Haven Empire is in a huge crisis now. They could collapse very soon.

– Calm_and_Composed: I joined the Grass Porridge Cult, too!

– No_Study: Grass Porridge is the way to go. The Haven Empire is just a setting sun now.

“…”

From these broadcasting monitors, the Hermes Guild users confirmed that users had already lost their interest in the battle against Bar Khan. It was quite the opposite of the result they had expected, which was to take back their leadership over the Versailles Continent by defeating Bar Khan.

‘But why? The viewers were so generous with their cheers and praises whenever Weed was on adventure!’

There were some important difference between the Embinyu Church and Bar Khan, although both were powerful forces that had swept the whole continent into chaos. Because of the Hermes Guild’s quick handling of the situation, there was very little damage the Immortal Legion had inflicted on common users, nor were there many people who had actually seen the undead army in person. The Hermes Guild wanted to blame Weed for causing this whole mayhem, but that would put them in a rather ridiculous position because he wouldn’t have revived Bar Khan if it hadn’t been for the Shadow Army of Palma in the first place.

‘We did all the hard work, but Weed is snatching all the fame from us.’

The users who had participated in the battle against Bar Khan were unhappy, but Lafaye and other heads of the guild were pondering over the situation seriously.

“We didn’t expect things would go this badly…the users of the Central Continent are so willing to move over to the Arpen Kingdom…”

“We might as well assume that the users in the regions conquered by the Arpen Kingdom have all joined their side.”

It was fortunate that they succeeded in driving off Bar Khan and his army, but they had to suffer considerable damage to the Second and the Fifth Legions. The Haven Empire was gradually losing its restraining power to control over the other users. They lost their dominion over the regions taken by the Arpen Kingdom so easily, and things were not better in the areas where the Desert Warriors’ laid their march. What they found even more bitter than having the Empire’s hands and feet cut off by the enemies was the fact that the local lords assigned by the Empire itself were welcoming their conquerors wholeheartedly, going so far as to holding festivals for celebration.

Those lords were just trying to find a way to secure their livelihood, but from the Hermes Guild’s point of view, it felt as if there were traitors throughout the entire territory. With so many common users not hesitant to take the Arpen Kingdom’s side on top of that, the guild was having a great sense of crisis.

“Overall, Weed and the Arpen Kingdom are using a strategy too clever for us to handle. It seems every step they take is based on an exhaustive prior planning.”

“Indeed, that looks like the only possible explanation. The enemy is coordinating their limbs with such meticulous precision.”

“I suspect Weed himself is managing and holding firm control over the top authorities of the Grass Porridge Cult, and as their users are voluntarily seeking to do their part, it is difficult for us to respond to their quick actions in time.”

Since the Hermes Guild users had little understanding of how the Grass Porridge Cult worked. Recently they started to suspect if this all had been all part of Weed’s grand scheme.

The expression on the faces of Bard Ray and other users who had lost their lives fighting Bar Khan was also quite grim. Bard Ray was still indignant about the fact that he did not even get to finish Bar Khan by his own hands after such a desperate fight.

“We’ve always thought the Haven Empire has been going easy on the Arpen Kingdom, but now that we have actually fought them, their military strength is nothing to sneeze at.”

“I don’t think it can be called a proper fight. There are simply too many unexpected factors!”

Boemong complained, but Lafaye answered bitterly.

“Considering that strategy and popularity are part of their power, now we need to admit that the Arpen Kingdom is indeed a formidable enemy. In addition to that, in terms of the abilities to manipulate media and turn the public sentiment to their favor, their competence surpasses ours by far.”

“But what about our own military strength?”

Someone in their midst protested, but Lafaye only gave another light sigh.

“Right now, too many users are turning their backs on us.”

“But for what reasons? We’ve lowered the taxes over the Central Continent and relieved many restriction measures, haven’t we?”

“Because they just don’t trust us that much.”

“…”

The lords found themselves at a loss for words, as they had only agreed to those user-friendly measures to appease the public for the time being and had been intending to get back to the original state once Weed and his Arpen Kingdom get dealt with.

“Things will get far more disadvantageous to us as this war continues. Should we suffer a few more defeats and lose all our troops, then…”

Lafaye did not finish his sentence, but everyone knew what that would mean; the Hermes Guild without its armed forces—it would be like a gladiator thrown into a pit of beasts with his limbs cut off.

It was not very fair to put the blame on Lafaye’s poor strategic decisions or errors of judgment, after all this time; it was true that his commanding abilities had been less than perfect since the conquest of the Central Continent, but that was mainly because of Weed constantly acting beyond their predictions. Only after taking some hard hits were they beginning to realize that any other person would have just as much trouble dealing with Weed and the Grass Porridge Cult.

Bard Ray thought to himself.

‘Black Knight…could it have had any effect?’

For a Black Knight, there were quests that involved suspecting and lowering the loyalty of his subordinates and the residents. He had actively cleared those quests in order to improve his own martial strength, but now the Empire was quickly losing its influence even before the actual loss caused by those quests starts to take effect. Bard Ray asked the people around him in a heavy voice.

“Who has the solution to this current situation?”

Lafaye kept silent for a long moment, receiving everyone’s gaze; but as no one spoke out, he opened his mouth again resignedly.

“The most failsafe action would be to retreat to the Haven Region. If we let them take the conquered regions in the Central Continent and fall back…we would be able to divert their attention elsewhere.”

“…You call THAT a solution?”

Arkhym asked, his brows raised; to him it sounded like an extremely absurd idea, especially thinking of the time and effort the guild had put in order to take control over the Central Continent.

“This is the most effective and safe way. The popularity of Weed and the Grass Porridge Cult would not last forever. After they get hold of the major lands in the Central Continent, the common users will inevitably be divided and fight each other, so we’ll just have to build up our strength for several months in the Haven Region over which we have the most secure dominion.”

“…”

The heads of the Hermes Guild understood his intention, but nobody was able to step forward and openly agree to this suggestion. Withdrawing their forces would mean that countless lords would have to give up their territories, so their protest would be severe. As the Hermes Guild had been funded by a lot of external sources, it was also very important to be careful not to offend their investors.

“This is the best option in my opinion, but it will also be quite impossible to execute.”

Lafaye shook his head, admitting that he himself had given up on this strategy; this was indeed a plan that was very difficult to carry out, even with his influence and Bard Ray’s resolution.

“The second best solution is to buy some time while concentrating our war effort on defense.”

“Would buying more time make the situation better for us?”

“While engaged in the defensive war, we’ll have to do everything we can to ruin the reputation of Weed and the Grass Porridge Cult, such as spreading rumors, bribing and media manipulation.”

The atmosphere became ever more serious. Only a while ago it had felt like the whole Versailles Continent was in their hands, and suddenly they found themselves pondering the possibility of defeat.

“We haven’t even had any proper fight yet…Can’t we just resolve this through battles?”

Boemong drew out his sword and stuck it into the ground. At this proposal, a flame sparked in the eyes of the other Hermes Guild users as well.

Battles!

As the ones who had spent all their lives chasing after strength and power, they simply could not tolerate their current position, repeatedly getting beaten and damaged.

“There is just no chance of us losing if we assemble all of our strongest forces in a big showdown.”

“Absolutely right. We’ve already defeated Bar Khan, let’s go up right now and fight. Fight, and show them the strength of the Empire again.”

Lafaye also sensed the heated mood among the other users.

‘Maybe this really could be our breakthrough…there’s certainly a limit to what we can do by just trying to play clever.’

They had gained dominion over the Central Continent with their brains, but still have suffered big losses because they had also earned the public’s resentment in the process. As a nation that seized its power through wars, there was no more room for the Haven Empire to step back.

***

The Hermes Guild had issued their proclamation.

– Royal Road is the new world for people to live their dreams. From its beginning, many users started the game dreaming of a new world, and they have constantly improved themselves since, while finding joy and pleasure in the life on the Versailles Continent.

Now, the Central Continent that has only just started to gain stability after many wars and conflicts among various forces, the land that is the living foundation of all of us, is shaken by the invasion from the North.

The Hermes Guild hereby declares that it will face this threat with determination, in a full-frontal battle. We will not allow this war to destroy the numerous cities and villages where the users live; in order to prevent any more disorder and damage, the Hermes Guild will send its full forces riding to the Garnav Plain.

To Weed, and the Arpen Kingdom: if you have courage enough to face us, accept our challenge without hesitation.

Power against power.

If you want to take away the territories of the Haven Empire, then you must prove your strength first.

This bold proclamation was hung in every each castle and city of the Central Continent. Through the breaking news delivered by broadcasting stations, the common users also came to know about it, and soon it was spread among most of the users of Royal Road.

“Whooaa. A full-frontal battle?”

“This is crazy. Are they really going to have an all-out war?”

“With all those rankers who don’t even show themselves often in front of common folk, plus all the troops that fought in the battles when they united the Central Continent?”

“But that means…whoever wins this fight will unite the whole continent, right?”

“I’m not sure about that, but…the Grass Porridge can afford to lose this kind of battle, whereas the Hermes Guild would have absolutely no future if they lose, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t think this is going to be only advantageous for the Grass Porridge either. If Bard Ray and all other top-rank figures are going to join the battle, it would be hard to stop them with the human-wave tactics.”

In every town square and tavern, there was a boisterous chat going among the users.

“One barrel of beer on the Hermes Guild winning!”

“My bet’s on the Grass Porridge Cult. They are the true legend with no record of defeat. They have never lost until now.”

“But the battle’s taking place in the Central Continent. It’s not going to be so easy for them, the circumstances are different.”

“It’s difficult to tell how the battle will turn out. Think of the Shadow Army of Palma, and Bar Khan. We just can’t know what kind of tricks they will pull out of their sleeve.”

“Weed will raise another disaster, too.”

“How’s he going to clean up all the mess afterwards, then?”

“Dunno. But that’s why it’s going to be so exciting.”

“Wow…I’m dying to see it.”

The Garnav Plain was located in the east of the Haven Region, and the south of the Harpan Region. A vast flatland, it was an ideal place for a large-scale battle, and no kind of dirty trickeries would be allowed there.

***

In the meantime, the officers in the Emergency Situation Room of the Grass Porridge Cult had heard the proclamation but simply laughed it off.

“That is just a nonsense. An all-out war against the Haven Empire? There really might be over one hundred million troops gathered in one place, then. How can such a thing be possible?”

“Currently we are far more popular than them, and time is also on our side. If we just start to take over wider regions and increase our population gradually…”

“The Arpen Kingdom’s territory is ever expanding. At this rate, we can take firm root in the Central Continent.”

From a strategic point of view, all they had to do was to simply ignore the proposal of the Hermes Guild. However, the reactions of the intrigued public were getting more and more excited.

– Weed and Bard Ray! Who will be the strongest user?

– The Haven Empire’s entire troops to be assembled.

– The Greatest battle in history expected to start soon.

– Who would be the winner of the prize offered by Unicorn Inc., the developer of Royal Road?

The broadcasting stations, which had been friendly towards the Grass Porridge Cult so far, were also announcing the proclamation of the Hermes Guild as the main news. Even the general opinion among the lowest-rank members of the Grass Porridge Cult itself inclined towards fighting.

“Finally, Weed-nim and Bard Ray will face each other in person. What fun it would be…”

“No. It is too dangerous.”

“They are challenging us directly and we’re not going to accept it? When we can liberate the entire Central Continent once we win?”

“The Hermes Guild and the Grass Porridge Cult are already at each other’s throat. If we must clash against them someday, now is the best time, when the circumstances are in our favor.”

Even the users with some influence in the Porridge Cult were having difficulties reaching a consensus among themselves.

The important factor now was Weed’s decision.

If Weed suggested they fight the rest of the Grass Porridge Cult would follow; likewise, if he objected, they would accept his decision, albeit rather disappointedly.

Weed got the news of the proclamation while he was plundering with the Desert Warriors.

In this current state the Central Continent had been turned into a battleground, he was able to fight while moving his position around to anywhere that was more advantageous, be it the Ritten, Harpan, Britten Regions, or the Great Plains of Ills. As a Necromancer he summoned a large number of undead, inflicting damage on the Hermes Guild while pursuing some profits in the process—an ultimate form of a dirty tactics. Even so, the rate at which his power was growing was beyond the imagination of others; all the hard and manual work he had done until now was finally in the process of bearing some fruit.

“When you bring your spoon to a well-advertised feast, there’s not much to eat, more often than not.”

Using his common sense he made a quick decision and was about to ignore the Hermes Guild’s taunt, but a few telephone calls were all it took to change his mind.

“You mean my appearance fee is…What? Are you serious?”

Weed, Bard Ray, and the greatest battle in the history of the continent in which the two people lead their own armies into war.

In order to purchase the broadcasting right so that they have a chance to directly observe Weed’s behavior, the broadcasting stations were quickly making their offers.

“We are willing to pay you up to about 500 million won.”

“500 million? That much?”

An amount enough to make his heart beat faster.

“Yes, as there are a lot of callings from advertisers…and as you would know, the broadcasting time will be quite long once the battle begins. We’ll need to film the preparation process as well.”

“Right. That’s true.”

“So, we will pay you 500 million for 10-hour broadcasting time.”

Top-class celebrities were paid 500 million with a single shooting of an advertisement; taking into account Weed’s fame as well as the influence and profit they would gain through this broadcast, this was actually a very good bargain for the broadcasting companies.

After a few minutes, other broadcasting stations started to call.

“Our company has prepared 800 million for you. We’ll also pay you 10% advertisement fee.”

“The KMC Media is willing to accommodate your needs as much as possible; 1.2 billion, and 20% advertisement fee on top of it.”

“This is the CTS Media. I won’t say much. 2 billion, what do you say? We are open to negotiation for the advertisement fee as well.”

Seeing his appearance fee jumping up several hundred million won at a time during the course of a few calls, Weed’s sense of reality was losing its usual sharp edge a little.

“Hmm…This feels similar to when I sold my account of the Magical Continent. Suddenly money doesn’t feel like money anymore.”

Up until this point, the broadcasting stations still thought that the chance of the full frontal war breaking out was not high. They doubted that Weed would take an option that could put him at a disadvantage, and even if he accepted the challenge, it could always be cancelled during the preparation process. The Hermes Guild might come to a wiser decision, too. An incredible number of Northern users were descending towards them currently, but rage is an emotion that fades with time. If the guild decided to let the Northern users take a portion of their lands and buy some time rather than fighting them at the height of their spirit and strength, the Haven Empire might get a chance to stabilize itself. As it was impossible for the Northern users to stay indefinitely in the cities and the territories of the Central Continent and defend them, a tactical retreat would be a more advantageous choice in the current situation.

Despite all these factors, the broadcasting companies still proposed moderate amount of appearance fee, just in case. If this greatest battle in the history of the Versailles Continent really did take place, the companies would be willing to pay any amount of money for the broadcasting right.

Extra deals came in from the executive directors of the CTS Media.

“If the war does break out, its viewing rate would be the highest for several years from now. The advertisement fee would also set a new record…in that case we need to get a hold on him even if that means we’d have to give him the entire profit of the program, to promote our company.”

“Depending on how we cover this war the very class of our station may change. We need to get Weed!”

They have already figured out Weed’s obsession with money; with several phone calls that the broadcasting stations had made in haste, Weed decided to fight the Hermes Guild.

‘I just need to win this battle, and I’ll own a building…I can buy a building in a middle of a city.’

The dream he had had ever since his childhood: making real estate investments, and owning a building! A life free from the worries about money, just making a living by taking monthly rents from the tenants.

“They say sometimes there are battles that you cannot avoid in your life. I guess this is it for me.”

Translation Notes

↑[1] One of the major problems I had with translating this chapter was that there were SO many of these same words repeated over and over in the entire chapter. I tried to add as much variation as I could, so I hope I did a good enough job to make them not sound too redundant…

↑ [2] There are two very similar lines in the space of less than a page (this one and the one starts with “it was true that the users…” a few sentences after).  I just wanted to make it clear that the original Korean text was also like this.

↑ [3] The direct translation of the original text would be something like “speed and capability of breaking through (the enemy)”, but it sounded too long and awkward so I changed it a little bit.

↑ [4] This is very indirect translation. The literal meaning of original text is something like ‘…we can make it (the size of the troops, I assume) very laughable’, which I think means that the size of the army could become an easily-dismissed factor based on how they fight.

↑ [5] The Korean text is closer to “achievement accomplished”, but it sounds a bit redundant and I thought “achievement unlocked” sound more like a gaming term. Please let me know what you think.

↑ [6] The original word in Korean is actually closer to “illusion”, which makes weed’s method of uniting common folk under him sound a tad bit more cruel. While that fits Weed’s cynical character better, I think he is trying to look like a nice person to his master here, so I changed the word to ‘vision’. Any feedback is welcome.

↑ [7] The original sentence in Korean is “I won’t kill.” I’m not sure in what context this person is saying that line; he might be saying that he just wants to heal the wounded and not join the fight, or that his healing skills are very clumsy and he might accidentally kill those who he’s trying to heal. I took the latter interpretation simply because it sounded funnier, but let me know what you think.

↑ [8] Stir fried rice cake, spicy and sweet. Very common snack/street food in Korea.

↑ [9] Dish of seasoned pig’s feet. Also very common delivery food in Korea.

↑ [10] A stew/soup made with pork back bones.

Chapter 8: Heroes Assembled

Through interviews with the TV stations, Weed officially accepted the proposal from the Hermes Guild.

– I willingly accede to your challenge to fight in the Garnav Plain, provided that the time of battle will be on Saturday evening, 15 days from now.

Lafaye and the Hermes Guild were extremely confused when they received Weed’s response.

‘So he’s going to have a head-on fight with all of his main troops against all of ours? Is he serious?”

“Is this really what Weed said?”

“It is. There are already videos of his interviews with the CTS and KMC Media.”

“Huh…”

The users in the inner circle of the Hermes Guild were just waiting for their chance to get revenge. Still, while they were all for crushing Weed and the Northern users, they hadn’t expected that their enemies would accept their proposal so easily.

Everyone’s gaze fell on Lafaye.

“If we’re having a full frontal war, isn’t our side going to be at a huge advantage?”

“Absolutely. This means we can concentrate all of our forces into one place, without having to protect the rest of the vast territories of the Empire.”

“Then why did Weed agree to this battle so readily?”

“…”

Lafaye was a man who had a talent in connecting small clues to figure out other people’s intentions and set up his schemes accordingly. However, this time even he had no idea what to make of this sudden turn of event.

The Hermes Guild had received proposals from the broadcasting stations similar to what Weed had been offered, but the guild was not overly interested as it was already very rich thanks to the investments from various sources. In addition, Lafaye didn’t realize that Weed’s obsession with money went beyond the bounds of common sense.

“I think… he is either playing a trick on everyone, thinking that he can afford to lose the fame he has gained so far…”

Lafaye continued making the conjecture that seemed the most probable to him, even though he didn’t feel much certainty about his deduction.

“…or he genuinely concluded that he can defeat us, yet again, in this battle.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe Weed is putting too much confidence in his own popularity, or he might not have a clear idea of the exact military strength of the Hermes Guild.”

“But he has fought us so many times!”

“And we have lost a lot of times; let’s be fair.”

“…”

“However, he won’t be able to overcome the many challenges of this upcoming battle with the human-wave tactics alone. With our top elite troops, the Hermes Guild will be as strong as if it had both the spear that can pierce through anything and the shield that can resist any attack.”[1]

Lafaye was convinced that there was no way their side would lose if they faced the Arpen Kingdom in an all-out war. The entire military force of the Hermes Guild was currently spread over the vast Central Continent, ruling the whole territory. The Northern users’ war strategy consisted almost solely of their signature human-wave tactics which was not unbeatable. Just considering the Empire’s Second Legion alone, it was certainly true that they had accomplished a remarkable feat until the middle of the battle although they had suffered big damage afterwards.

Arkhym spoke, his voice far from enthusiastic.

“What if he conjures up another guy like Bar Khan after making this agreement?”

The dreadful undead horde — something they hoped they would never have to face again.

“I do not think that is his intention. If he uses trickery, he normally uses it to avoid the fight altogether. Once the battle begins, the Grass Porridge Cult and other users supporting the Arpen Kingdom will assemble in the field.”

“So, because of those people Weed will be forced to make his appearance, and he won’t be able to summon some other monster like Bar Khan?”

“Exactly. Calling forth a being like Bar Khan will lead to the self-destruction of the Arpen Kingdom. It would be difficult for him to use his skills that cause disasters, too.”

“I just cannot understand why he would do this.”

“The Garnav Plain is also not the sort of terrain suitable for his usual tricks and deceptions.”

The solution Lafaye and the Hermes Guild users were looking for was just around the corner, yet it just didn’t register to them as a valid answer.

‘He knows to plan things from a long-term perspective, considering the fact that he was the one who founded the Arpen Kingdom. Not only that, he proved to be meticulous and full of clever tricks in every battle.’

‘Broadcasting rights? Money? Of course they don’t mean anything to him, a man of such reputation and influence…’

Although the answer never dawned on him however deeply he thought, Lafaye still concluded that the situation had become more favorable for the Haven Empire.

“We made the proposal and Weed has accepted it; the only thing remaining is preparation for the war.”

Calcus the Slayer asked a question.

“By the way, what would be the reason behind his suggestion to postpone the date of the battle? He said he will face us on the Saturday, 15 days later.”

“That I do not know. He might be devising a dangerous trap.”

***

Weed arrived in the Garnav Plain in advance using Yurin’s Picture Teleportation skill.

“There’s only grass here, brother.”

“Yes. Not a place for much trickery and deception.”

As this was the battlefield the Hermes Guild had chosen, he had done some preliminary research on the Internet. The Garnav Plain was a vast land with a wide-open view, so it would be difficult to set any traps in here. There were occasional gentle slopes here and there, but they were not enough to have any decisive influence on the battle.

“This is a good place for hosting a fair, large-scale battle between two great armies.”

The Hermes Guild wouldn’t have wanted to attract any unnecessary accusations from people when it proposed a showdown, apprehensive of the guild’s already widespread notoriety.

“But I’m not going to fight this fair and square.”

As Weed took in the view of the Garnav Plain, he became lost in thought for a moment. If he won this battle, he would gain an amount of wealth enough to ensure a luxurious life for his whole family for generations.

‘An owner of a building, a land, a house, or even a real estate speculator… I could be anything I want.’

He recalled how it felt when he had just lost his parents during his childhood: as if all happiness was slipping away through his fingers, and the world became a blur before his eyes. The feeling of deep despair that poured down buckets of icy water on his heart, lost and cast away.

‘…And I’ve come this far.’

He had learned how malicious and terrible the world could be as he worked in factories and construction sites. Those who were weak and penniless were so easily trampled. The people he saw while walking past the department stores or coffee shops looked as if they were from a whole different planet. As he roamed about the busy streets of a town with his sister, he remembered feeling like they were the only derelicts and beggars in the crowd. He was often envious of people who got upset with their bad exam results or angry with their friends, knowing that their troubles and pain would fade away in but a few days.[2]

‘Mastering sculpting skills and going through all those difficult quests… Maybe all of that has been to prepare myself for this battle.’

As soon as he was done with this little flashback about the past, he started to design plans to win the coming fight. The Grass Porridge Cult and the Hermes Guild… as it would be the battle in which the two most important forces in the Versailles Continent clash, there would be a variety of unpredictable factors in play.

‘Once the fight starts, lots of things are going to happen that will be beyond my control as well.’

As of now, he could not know what kind of strategy the Hermes Guild would use, nor exactly how much power the Grass Porridge Cult would be able to exert, until the actual battle began.

‘I’ll just have to do whatever I can. As a master sculptor, it is time to put every skill I’ve ever learned to use.’

Plenty of dirty and cheap tricks crossed Weed’s mind. Naturally, skills with heavy penalties such as Sculptural Life Bestowal or Sculpture Resurrection would have to be used if necessary. In case of Sculpture Resurrection especially, anything short of reviving a special figure who had made the greatest accomplishment in the history of Royal Road wouldn’t do.

“I cannot let the person just fool around for some time and disappear, either. I’ll need to make sure that they will help me no matter what.”

There was nothing so insincere as a half-hearted flattery; a truly professional sycophant put his soul into each compliment, and his flattery had the power to even cure the listener’s chronic constipation.[3]

“To set things up for a big picture, I’ll have to use my Time Sculpting skill as well. It’s just for one time only, but I think I know where to use this skill for the best effect.”

Making predictions for the upcoming war in ordinary ways wouldn’t be enough; the Hermes Guild would already be doing that as well. Wits, flattery, and mooching off other people — using his most extraordinary talents, Weed was completing a grand plan that reached back even to the old history of the Versailles Continent.

*****

Mapan!

A prominent merchant and the leader of Mapan’s Trading Company, he received a whisper from Weed.

– Weed: Notify every group of merchants in the Northern Continent: we need to concentrate supply lines to the Garnav Plain as much as possible. In addition to weapons and war supplies, make sure to bring enough provisions that people can eat and drink. All the food and wine must arrive within three days — this is the most important part.

Mapan never doubted Weed’s words; he had learned long ago that the guy had the Midas touch that turned everything into gold.

‘There’s a good reason why he’s become a sculptor. It’s a profession specialized in fumbling with a piece of wood found on the ground then ripping other people off by selling it at an outrageous price. It was in Weed-nim’s nature to become a sculptor.’

But while trusting in Weed’s judgment without question, Mapan was still curious about the reason behind his action.

“I will gather up all the weapons and war supplies we have, even if we have to empty the stock in every shop in the entire Morata region. But will we really need to bring all the food?”

There were still two weeks left until the battle in the Garnav Plain, and as each individual user would also carry their own food with them he was wondering if supplying additional provisions would really be necessary.

– Weed: *sigh*… You are too innocent for your own good.

The moment Mapan got this message from Weed, he realized that he was making some serious misjudgment. Namely, he was making the error of trying to understand Weed’s devious motive from a sensible, ordinary point of view.

– Weed: There will be many users who arrive in the Garnav Plain earlier than the actual date of battle.

“I’d assume so.”

It would take only two days for the Grass Porridge Cult members who had taken control of the Harpan Region to get down to the Garnav Plain. Geomchi and the Desert Warriors would not require a lot of time to reach the plain either. As both sides have already agreed to settle things once and for all in one fateful battle, there would be no reason to fight the Imperial Army before the promised time. By taking the route northwards left open by the Imperial Army and using the teleport gates, they would be able to arrive in the Garnav Plain very soon.

– Weed: So, we need to catch those early birds. With enough wine and food, this will be a perfect chance for us to empty their pockets, don’t you think so?

“A-ha! That is…!”

Mapan could picture the whole scene in his head. A crowd of a colossal size flocking to the Garnav Plain; not to mention all the Northern users, many users of the Central Continent would also rush to the place not to miss the chance to witness this grand event. With such a huge amount of people gathered in one place, plus the supply of food and wine… the outcome would be obvious.

“It will turn into a festival!”

– Weed: Correct. They will go on an absolute binge, quite oblivious to their pockets being emptied.

“Indeed…!”

– Weed: People tend to squander their money when they are dreading the unclear future. No matter what the outcome of the battle would be, we need to make a profit.

“Let me just say this: words cannot express my admiration for you. Your unshaken businessmanship moves me deeply.”

– Weed: I proposed to have this grace period for 15 days because I hoped the users of the Central Continent would also join in on the fun.

“I shall begin to make every necessary preparation. I’ll have to hold the best festival in the entire Versailles Continent, mobilizing every merchant group in the North.”

Weed didn’t mention it, but this little scheme of his was also one of the most important tricks for his victory in the coming battle. Among the entire user base of Royal Road, there were a surprisingly large number of people who did not care much about who gains the supremacy over the Versailles Continent. They were just not interested in such political matters, and having settled down in the corners of small towns and cities for a long time, the state of affairs in the entire continent had little to do with their lives. There were especially many users of the Central Continent with such a tendency, as they were getting tired of the long lasting war.

A lavish festival that would make even the ordinary users jump into the celebration with excitement; after those Central Continent users thoroughly enjoyed themselves in the feast, it was extremely likely that they would turn to Weed’s side with the slightest nudge.

‘This alone would be enough to increase our strength by tens of percent.’

*****

Clink! Clink! Clink!

Herman and Fabio had been ceaselessly crafting swords even after they had become master blacksmiths, as if competing with each other.

“Weed and Bard Ray…hmm…”

Wars didn’t bring any harm to blacksmiths; no matter who took control, they would not dare mistreat the blacksmiths with the best skills in Royal Road. Still, the prospect of the great battle that would possibly determine the strongest force of the entire continent piqued their curiosity.

“I guess I’ll set off, then.”

*****

Miretas the farmer.

The farmers of Royal Road had to rely on manual labor through each and every stage of their farm work, from cultivating a wasteland to harvesting the crops, as no agricultural machines exists in this world. Tilling the soil of the vast land by hand, they did not have the luxury of taking even a single day off as they had to look after various kinds of crops, tens of different fruits and ornamental trees.

“This is beautiful.”

Miretas watched his golden rice field that rolled in waves whenever a gust of wind swept the stalks.

“Farmer is a profession that is all about sowing seeds in nature and earning the fruits of hard and honest work. There is no regret in the life of handling earth and plants, not to mention the great pleasures it provides.”

His forehead was shining with sweat from the labor of farm work.

Ding!

< New plant variety developed!

You have created a new variety of rice. It is highly nutritious, top-grade rice which melts instantly in your mouth when cooked.

A First class food ingredient! >

“I’ll need to share this with other farmers.”

A farmer could be of great help to those who shared the same profession by distributing rare seedlings or new varieties of plants they had developed by themselves, as other farmers could increase their skill levels or fame just by growing them. Of course, Miretas could have chosen to be the only one who raised those valuable plants if he had been greedier, but he did not do so. Increasing the average yield for the farmers would make Royal Road that much richer.

“So, the Garnav Plain…”

Miretas had just received the invitation from Weed, delivered by novice sparrows of the avian race who had been hired with an hourly wage of 2 silvers.

– Come and watch the fantastic battle in the Garnav Plain.

As we are always grateful for all the efforts you have made for the Arpen Kingdom, you will be provided with a seat on Wy-3’s broad back for your convenience in spectating.

– VIP invitation –

“Of course I should go. I need to have my revenge on those Hermes Guild fools who always looked down on us farmers.”

Miretas fully stuffed his backpack with seeds used for combat purposes modified by himself. While farmers were not proficient in combat, they could still assist their allies in indirect ways such as creating a forest full of man-eating trees, or making a paralyzing plant grow all over the field.

*****

Drago the tailor.

He received the invitation while doing the laundry that had been piling up.

“It’s a shame, but I don’t think I can make it because of all the work.”

He was doing everything he could to clear the quests for becoming the master tailor, but it was one big obstacle after another. He had been doing so much laundry that his delicate and graceful tailor’s hands were full of blisters. True, the laundry quests had the benefit of making it easier for him to handle fabrics — already the clothes were completely cleaned of old stains and became softer the moment his hands touched them.

“I’ll need to do some fancier quests after I’m done with this… It just can’t be all manual work until I make it to the master rank, can it?”

Drago lifted his head to check how much laundry was still left to be washed.

“…”

And there it was, the mountain of dirty clothes, looking as if it hadn’t been reduced in size at all.

“I… I need to escape.”

Thus he decided to run to the Garnav Plain immediately.

*****

Elkgoon,[4] the cook of the Grass Porridge Cult.

He was a chef of remarkable skills, capable of creating the most delicious tastes with his hands, yet he felt humbled whenever he had a plate of grass porridge.

“It tastes so light… and there’s nothing to add or take out; it’s just right. This is a dish that only serves to fill one’s belly, yet there are those who starve because they don’t have even this. This is why we must not waste any ingredient.”

Elkgoon was also the very person who created actual dishes after the names of the various Porridge groups. Some variations of the Poisonous Mushroom Porridge were so difficult to cook that other chefs couldn’t even make them even if they knew the recipes. Only Elkgoon could prepare the perfect Poisonous Mushroom Porridge that gave off the strong, fragrant earthy smell.

“The people from the Central Continent have quite a different palate from the Northern users. I must go there, if only to let more Central Continent users have a taste of this Poisonous Mushroom Porridge.”

*****

Mibullo the architect.

Ever since he moved to the North, the style of architecture in the region had gone through a dramatic change. Large and sophisticated looking buildings gave a beautiful view to the cities. The transformation of many shantytowns in Morata was also his work.

“Old does not mean ugly. Just modifying it a little will reveal these buildings’ true worth.”

He changed the structure or color of each shabby house slightly, and created a wonderful scenery in which, when watched from afar, the houses of Morata seemed to form a beautiful picture together. The great architect was both an artist and a sculptor, which made this kind of design possible.

Dawn City, the construction of which Mibullo had participated in from the planning stage, represented the history of the North itself in addition to its neat districts scheme: the Road of Ice, the Road of Frontiers, the Road of Art, the Road of Culture, the Road of Trade, the Road of Adventure, and the Road of Production.

When building a city, the happiness of the future residents was an imperative factor.

“May all the people in this city always have good dreams and lead happy lives.”

It was his belief that a beautifully and conveniently designed city would make the people who stayed in it happier; a city where the residents and tourists alike wanted to stay as long as possible, even for just a day more.

It was when he was building this Dawn city that he received the invitation from Weed.

“Well, I was already intending to go even if he hadn’t asked… hmm-mm.”

A decisive match between the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire — this was an event that he simply had to attend, because if the Haven Empire won by any chance, those people from the empire would occupy and use the precious Earth Palace which he had built by the sweat of his brow. If worst came to worst, Mibullo was even prepared to break it all down with his own hands.

“All the better. Weed has saved my face by sending the invitation. It feels good to be acknowledged like this, ever since I moved to the Arpen Kingdom.”

The Arpen Kingdom treated the workers of the production industry very favorably, maybe because its own king was a sculptor himself. Mibullo was determined to return the favor to the best of his abilities.

*****

Oberon — one of the users who had played Royal Road from the very beginning, and the founder of the Frozen Rose Guild. Once he had led many a fantastic adventures, and currently he was the lord of Vent Castle in the Arpen Kingdom. Even when an enormous number of Grass Porridge Cult members were marching towards the south, he had stayed behind and kept his place as the lord of the castle to ensure the region’s safety and support other users. But now he received the invitation from Weed.

“So there’s going to be a showdown between the two sides? Then of course I must go and help.”

Thus he also set off towards the south, bringing the entire troops of Vent Castle.

On his way, Oberon made the most of his influence to rally others, and he even gave a very impressive speech in the town square of Morata.

“Why do we fight? Why do we live? I can’t say I know a lot about life, but what I do know is that if we do not raise our swords right now, we will spend the rest of our lives feeling shame and regret. Let us march on with dignity. We are the Grass Porridge!”

*****

Pavo and Gaston, the leaders of the architects from the North, were moving along with the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult.

“Let’s build the road. This will become a major trade route for the Arpen Kingdom to advance its economic influence towards the south.”[5]

Since they had been assigned as the heads of the construction department for the Arpen Kingdom, they had an ability to create new quests.

<Building a trading route>

This is a nation quest for the Arpen Kingdom.

Build a road that leads to the plains in the southern regions. The workers who participate in the construction project will have their contributions acknowledged.

Difficulty Level: D

Reward: Nation Contribution points

Quest Restriction: for the residents of the Arpen Kingdom only.>

As the architects moved, a new road was created in their wake. Their devotion was what enabled the swift advance of the Grass Porridge’s main army, as well as what secured the transport route on which the carriages could rush up and down at extreme speeds.

“Let’s Run! Tssssskk.”

The orc army was also marching along the same road, their numbers without end.[6]

*****

Chaser the adventurer.

“Seeking out even the tiniest clue and beating about the entire continent to find out where it leads, that’s the job of an adventurer. The thrill of discovery is what we live for, even if we know it only lasts for a second.”

He was the one who uncovered the old relics of the Niflheim Empire and brought them to the Arpen Kingdom. The effect of those relics brought about the rapid growth of the kingdom’s economic and technological power as well as its commercial progress. As one of the key contributors to the development of the Arpen Kingdom, the name Chaser became widely known among the users of the Northern regions.

And naturally, he would be present in the upcoming battle as well.

*****

Daymond.

He was the Guild Master of Predator of the Land, and the first user to have ever received an S-class level quest. He had once been a Priest of Resurrection, too, and invaded the Central Continent with the army of demonic spirits of the Embinyu Church. But after his forces had been suppressed by the Haven Empire, his player character itself was deleted by permanent death as the penalty of failing the quest.

Since then, the members of Predator of the Land started anew in Royal Road, and currently they had barely reached level 100. The once mighty power of the guild only existed in their memory now, but still the members were working hard to grow their strength, crawling the dungeons in Morata.

“This place is a paradise.”

“Prices are so low here, and the products have high quality.”

“It’s quite surprising that the merchants are willing to repair or exchange any faulty items. Those merchants groups of the Hermes Guild would have never done that.”

Quite unlike the days when they stayed in the Central Continent, they were enjoying their lives even as novices.

“Hey boss, shouldn’t we be there too?”

“Of course. Let’s go!”

*****

Hegel, Bella, Rumi and Nide.

The students from the Department of Virtual Reality in Korea University were also presently staying in Morata.

“You know, shouldn’t we… go to see this battle?”

“Hmph, there’s no point. It is simply impossible to defeat the Hermes Guild. Even that mighty Black Lion Guild was no match for them.”

“Why are you being so pessimistic about all this, Hegel?”

“Just take one look and it’s so obvious how this fight will turn out. It’s not wise to live with a meaningless illusion that clouds your eyes to the real world.”

“It’s so frustrating how you just don’t see which way the wind is blowing. No wonder you don’t have any friends.”

“…Ouch.”

At this moment, Nide the Thief[7] quietly rose from his seat. Rumi noticed this and her eyes twinkled.

“Where are you going?”

“The Garnav Plain.”

“It’s quite far.”

“Still, I want to go and watch the battle. It feels like I’m going to regret it for the rest of my life if I miss this.”

“Let’s go together, then.”

The other students of Korea University also got up from their seats.

Hegel refused to go for some more time and tried to hold his ground, but even he had to admit that the normally busy streets of Morata had become very quiet and rather empty. The castle gates were crowded with carriages and flocks of cows heading southwards.

“Bah. Okay, okay, I’ll go… but it’s not like I’m interested or anything.”

*****

“Big brother[8] is having a fight against the Hermes Guild?”

Petrov, the Aqualight Painter, was painting graffiti in the sewers of Aren Castle. His graffiti had the effect of disturbing public order and even lowering the loyalty of the resident users.

“That means ‘she’ will be there, too…”

Petrov thought of Yurin, and decided that he could not just sit there doing nothing.

“I need to get there at once, using Picture Teleportation.”

He rushed to finish the painting he had been working on — a depiction of Bard Ray the Emperor, cooking a packet of Red Crab Ramyun[9] and eating it all by himself without sharing with anyone.

*****

Halma, Margo, Rewis, and Gran.

There were not many users in this world who knew of their existence, but those who that had been victims of them quivered with rage at the mere mention of them; a quartet of backstabbing muggers![10]

“Weed-nim, the God of War himself, will fight against Bard Ray, the one called the God of War…!”

“I must say, even having been beaten by him is a great honor.”

“Hey, if he wins this time, doesn’t that mean he will unite the whole continent?”

“Don’t be silly. They’re not going to lose all their lands in the Central Continent just by losing one battle.”

“Still, winning the largest and the most critical battle would eventually lead to conquering the entire continent. How would the Hermes Guild stop him after they get defeated in this fight?”

“Wow. The emperor of the Versailles Continent…!”

“And we tried to rob the person who would become just that.”

The quartet of muggers was usually lurking about in the Rosenheim Kingdom. Despite being located in a remote region to the east, the Rosenheim Kingdom boasted a vast territory; there were a great number of villages, cities and castles, along with hunting grounds still untouched by anyone and mysterious quests yet to be uncovered. Becoming the ruler of just one kingdom was already a remarkable accomplishment so, needless to say, the Emperor of the united Versailles Continent would be a position of glory beyond imagination.

“What do you say, shall we take this little trip?”

“Absolutely!”

“And we can search for some easy targets on our way there.”

“Sure, we shouldn’t miss any chance to strike people on the back of their heads.”

*****

Eunling, Ben and Elix.

They had met Weed during the time he came to the Desert.

“You are the adventurers of the Shadow of the Earth party, correct? I have heard a lot about your great exploits before I started playing Royal Road.”

“It’s an honor that you recognize us.”

Elix shook hands with Weed on behalf of the rest of the party.

“I believe you have also sent me a challenge once.”

“Well, that’s… *ahem*, indeed we have, as we were somewhat… overenthusiastic during those days.”

Eunling and Ben avoided Weed’s eyes. The incident in which they had gotten themselves involved in the affairs of the Embinyu Church had become something of an embarrassing past to them, as it was Weed who actually managed to defeat the order in the end while they were wasting their time.

“Nowadays we are working on the quest of founding the new Pallos Empire. It is about building an empire in the Desert Region.”

Elix said proudly, not having fully abandoned his competitive nature. Uniting the entire vast Desert Region, raising warriors and establishing a nation — he was confident that the value of this quest would not pale in comparison of that of founding the Arpen Kingdom itself.

Weed smiled broadly, as if he was a neighbor who had just purchased a big land.[11]

“Ah. THAT quest.”

“You already know about it? I assume you have heard the story from Geomchi and his pupils-“

“I’m working on that same quest myself.”

“…What?”

“As a matter of fact, there’s currently only one last step left until the foundation of the Pallos Empire. That last step shouldn’t be overly difficult, either, I expect.”

“…”

“I believe you have saved us a lot of trouble for the next quest,[12] considering the fact that you have done all the cumbersome work and got it out of the way for us.”

Thus the Shadows of the Earth party once again witnessed the fruit of their hard work snatched right under their noses, by a competitor who had intervened in the middle of the quest for which they had been making gradual progress through effort and ordeal. If it had been any ordinary competitor, they wouldn’t even come close to a match for the Shadows of the Earth, but the problem, of course, was that it turned out to be Weed of all people.

Weed, with his skills in every obscure profession, his stats that he had built through countless hours of manual work, his fame, his experiences in quests, his combat capabilities and his social connections. Once he had wedged himself into the picture, it was just in the course of nature that the rest of the people would be squeezed out to the background. Even worse was the fact that they were not exactly in a position to complain, as it was mainly thanks to Weed that the Shadows of the Earth party had been able to come to the Desert to carry out the quest in the first place. The quest itself wouldn’t have been able to make so much progress if Weed hadn’t laid a firm foundation for it during his time as the Great King of the Desert.

“Since he’s waging a war against the Hermes Guild, I guess we’ll have to go and join him. *sigh*”

“Yeah, we shouldn’t miss the chance to witness the moment that will determine the future course of history.”

“Do you think we should help Weed?”

“Well, we cannot just let the Hermes Guild win, can we? Though I admit, I’m not feeling too eager myself…”

*****

Robin had been burning with revengeful thoughts towards the Arpen Kingdom.

“Taking away all of my lands… all the time and efforts I had put into developing my territories, and they just took them for nothing!”

When the Haven Empire lost its control over the regions in the North, the local lords who had been assigned by the Hermes Guild suddenly found themselves in a very awkward position. They tried to protect their status and interests through negotiations with Weed, but the outcome was the worst they could have imagined. The failure lay in the fact that they had thought him to be a naïve young man, which was a complete and thorough mistake. The seven lords who burned down their towns and left in opposition to the terms of the negotiation were branded as the worst villains,[13] never to step into the Versailles Continent again. Now the rest of the local lords who remained in the North were forced to offer 70 percent of the total tax revenue collected from the cities on whose growth they had been spending tens of millions of gold.

“I’m not denying that there is still a certain pleasure to be had in managing the city, but…”

Robin had not given up on his feelings for Seoyoon yet, which was why he chose not to return to the Central Continent.

‘There is no person who is both as beautiful and intelligent as her. Most importantly, I fell for her the moment I first looked at her and I cannot get over my feelings now.’

With his wealth and good looks, there had been a lot of women approaching him or requesting for blind dates. For some time, when the distance between him and Seoyoon was not showing any hope of closing, he tried meeting other ladies, more than ten of them a week, but that only resulted in his longings for her getting even deeper. In his eyes, no other women could match her, not only because of her appearance, but also because of the unique aura about her.

‘She wouldn’t continue going out with a guy like Weed forever. Yes. Royal Road… the problem is Royal Road.’

Robin’s thoughts had taken a direction towards a rather wild speculation, although it was not entirely baseless.

‘Like many others, she has also lost herself in Royal Road… understandable, of course, there is a lot to enjoy in this world. To a person like her who had had such a lonely life… it must have felt like paradise. That’s why she started to date Weed, a man of strength and fame in this game world.’[14]

The conclusion drawn from that speculation also felt quite reasonable to him, as he just couldn’t imagine how else he would lose to a rival like Weed, except for the fact that Weed was better at Royal Road than him.

‘So, I just need to become a successful man in Royal Road. Then there will be no reason for her to stick to a nobody like him.’

Thus Robin had been desperately investing great amounts of money on his city, Aath.

“Convert and put in 80 million gold. There will be another investment of 100 million next week.”

Even to him those amounts were considerable, but he did not stint on any expenses. He believed that he would be able to prove his competence by achieving a rapid growth of the city of Aath through these enormous investments. His passion for the city development enterprise became even stronger when he received the news that Seoyoon would effectively assume full charge of all the administrative matters of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘She is somewhere close to me. I will make this city into the most prominent place in the North, nay, in the entire Versailles Continent.’

Robin spent the wealth he had been given in advance from his parents and sold the real estate he owned to invest on Royal Road. As he himself was the lord of the city all that money was not exactly wasted into thin air, but the fact remained that a colossal amount of capital had been consumed by him, despite his status as the successor of a major conglomerate.[15]

– A free 1,000 gold reward for any user who registers their place of residence in the city of Aath.

– For all the novice users, a prize of 500 gold will be given whenever you complete a quest.

– Enjoy some welfare benefit! When purchasing any item, 20 percent of the price will be returned.

– An event for visiting users! Every user visiting the city of Aath will be given free travel goods.

– Free meals for everyone! Every restaurant in the city of Aath will provide food for free from 8 to 10 in the morning!

From building brick houses and distributing them to the residents free of charge to opening up a whole new guild for a group of no more than three pirates, he was making a range of blind investments that would normally be strongly discouraged unless one is setting up an extremely far-sighted plan for about a hundred years in the future.

‘It’s better to be excessive than deficient. I shall create a city so magnificent that it overwhelms anyone who beholds it.’

The construction of the lord’s castle was also underway, slowly revealing the shape of the extravagant palace. The estate was divided into a total of 52 sections, and each section was to be completed in order starting from the first; once the construction is finished, the entire area of the castle would surpass even that of the Earth Palace. In addition, a famous architectural firm from a foreign country had been commissioned to design the palace.

While such astronomical expenses were put into the development of the city of Aath, its streets were becoming ever more boisterous day by day as Northern users came streaming into the city.

“This is a very good place to live.”

“Yeah. Well, it’s the Arpen Kingdom.”

“The city is really clean, too.”

“As I said, that’s because it belongs to the Arpen Kingdom.”

“It’s all thanks to Weed-nim that such a great city can be created.”

“We should really be grateful for Weed-nim.”

This felt as if he had been dealt a huge blow from the opponent with his eyes fully open. But while Robin was trying to swallow his anger, he spotted a familiar face: among the crowd of merchants visiting the city for trade was Bart, Seoyoon’s father.

“Chairman Jeong[16]!”[16]

“Haha. I have long resigned from that position. Well, it was taken from me, to speak frankly. So just call me whatever you like.”

“I wouldn’t dream of addressing you in such an impolite way. What brings you to this city, by the way?”

“I’ve brought some olives and beer.”

Bart pointed at the carriage he was riding in, as well as the wagons standing in a line at the back.

“I didn’t know you were into Royal Road. I assume you are playing as a merchant?”

“Yes. It’s a simple living and I joined the trend only recently, but I’m quite enjoying myself.”

“Well, I shouldn’t keep you outside like this; please allow me to show you into the castle.”

As Robin ushered Bart to the lord’s castle he couldn’t hide his delight.

‘It was worth spending all that money on this city. He would be so impressed when he sees what a magnificent job I’ve done with the lord’s castle.’

Looking around at the luxurious streets and the great palace at the pinnacle of the city’s extravagance, Bart nodded.

‘When this guy takes over the H group… I’m afraid it won’t be able to last long. This fellow will squander the whole company’s fortune in a day.’

From that day on, Robin treated Bart with utmost devotion. Whenever Bart brought some goods to the city, he purchased all of them, naturally with great prices, on top of all the necessary service he provided Bart with during every visit.

“I have arranged to build a house for you, Chairman Jeong.”

“A house? Just for me?”

“Yes. Just think of it as your vacation home and feel free to stay in it whenever you come to visit here.”

He had also obtained top-quality equipment and gears for a Merchant by staying up all night to search the auction site for equipment for different skills and levels, and purchasing the best possible pieces.

“This is a small token of my respect.”

“Why, thank you.”

Whenever he saw Bart happy, Robin’s delight became even greater.

‘I’m making a good impression to her father. All that remains is for Seoyoon to come to her senses, and all the conditions will be perfectly to my favor.’

Waiting patiently was a long and difficult task, but he was happy knowing that the person he was waiting for was Seoyoon. Meanwhile, he received the news that Weed was planning to fight against the Hermes Guild in the Garnav Plain.

‘Haha. Here is the solution. After he gets defeated by Bard Ray, she will finally return to me.’

Robin offered Bart to go and watch the battle in the Garnav Plain together.

“Yes. Let’s go.”

“By the way, sir, who do you think will be victorious this time?”

Even as he asked, he was confident that the Hermes Guild would win the battle. It would be another fantastic outcome if the Haven Empire gains control over the city of Aath once again.

Bart answered right away, as if it was quite obvious.

“Weed, of course.”

“Yes, Weed… Pardon?”

“I believe he will win. He is a man who knows how to create miracles.”

“…”

Robin could not stop his face from crumpling into an ugly grimace.

‘Is Mr. Jeong… no way, he can’t, can he?’

He tried to restrain himself, but another question was forming in his mind, and this time he was genuinely anxious to hear the answer.

‘Guess I’ll just have to be a man and ask him directly.’

Robin came to a firm resolution, and opened his mouth.

“About Seoyoon… Well, with all things considered, the most ideal partner for her would be… me, wouldn’t you think so?”

“Weed will be a good match.”

“…What?”

“The lad is the real deal. The more you come to know about him, the more you find out what a fine and honest young man he is.”

“…”

“I’m glad my daughter met him. They will make such a happy couple.”

*****

Pale had no intention to set off to the Garnav Plain on the day of the battle.

‘I am willing to go only if Weed-nim calls me, but not before he makes a polite request first.’

He had heard the rumor that was widely spread among the users. There was also the matter of a certain extremely popular video posted In Royal Road’s Hall of Fame.

– Pale: Weed’s battle slave![17]

The video was an edited compilation of Pale’s appearances in every battlefield Weed had fought in, showing his actions in combat. It also included the clips which had been taken during the days the two of them were hunting together as novices, and it scored a staggering 370 million views — a number that surpassed any moderate-sized nation’s population count by several times, which had been possible due to the popularity of Weed and Royal Road.

– This video pretty much certifies that he is officially a battle slave for Weed. There’s no way he can deny it.

– I’m not sure if he can even be called a slave. He’s closer to a worker bee than to a human.

– You sure he doesn’t make ‘moo’ sound when he speaks?

– By the way, the length of this video is just DISGUSTING. With all that editing it’s still 19 hours long!

– There’s a part where the whole day’s fighting was cut into a 3-seconds scene; this is as compressed as it can get and yet it’s still a marathon.

– 4:29:43. It’s just so sad when he stoops down to pick up the loots on the ground under the moonlight.

– I have always thought there must be some sort of trick behind Weed-nim’s strength, but this video proves that I was mistaken. If a mere slave of his is that powerful, then I cannot even imagine how strong Weed-nim himself would be…

– Haven’t you seen him carving those gigantic sculptures while hanging on a wire in the air for days? I felt sick just by looking at it…

– I’m a Northern user and a Grass Porridge fundamentalist. People say we are having a hard life, but we really cannot complain when we see Weed-nim at work. Guy’s just obsessed with grinding.[18]

– If a man could be reborn as a god when he dies, then the seat of the God of Grinding would be reserved just for him.

– I’m at the head of a labor brokerage company for construction workers. Pale-nim, please contact me. I’m offering a special recruitment. Payment will be double the usual daily wage, guaranteed.

– I’m tearing up watching this video. I just realized what a happy life I’m having, just sitting here and munching an apple…

– Slave’s trying haaaaaaaaaaard.[19]

This video had caused Pale to rethink his relation with Weed.

‘So during all this time, I have been exploited by him like this? I never realized…’

Exploitation did not only mean refusing to give a person booty and experience points that they earned; depriving a person of their freedom and spare time was also one type of exploitation.

Pale the battle slave was slowly beginning to become aware of his own self.

‘I’ll have to fight to death once again when I go to the Garnav Plain, to protect the Arpen Kingdom. And going there voluntarily without even being asked by Weed-nim is exactly what a slave would do.’

He was a person with his own free will, and he was determined to firmly refuse any unreasonable requests or calls to hunting.

‘I’m going to live like a human being from now on!’

Pale sent a whisper to his father.

“How’s it going with you? Do you need anything?”

His parents, brothers and even cousins were all deeply addicted to Royal Road now, and Pale sent them private messages from time to time as they occasionally needed something or requested for his aid.

– Zentor: No. Don’t worry about us, son. You have a great mission ahead.

“What?”

– Zentor: We are all looking forward to seeing you have an epic fight in the Garnav Plain. Your mother’s so proud she’s talked all about you to the other women friends in the monthly meeting.

“…Wh – what did she tell them, exactly?”

– Zentor: Why, that our son is none other than the famous Pale himself!

Pale gulped. That monthly gye– meeting[20] was very large in size, and most of the residents in his neighborhood were members of it. Now that his identity in the game had been revealed to all of them, he wouldn’t even be able to have a quick trip to the nearby supermarket without drawing attention from people.

“And how did those ladies respond?”

– Zentor: They were all really envious, of course. There isn’t a single player of Royal Road who hasn’t heard of Pale the Archer, you know. There’re even statues of you in Morata and the Earth Palace.

…And those statues, Pale thought, were part of the problem. The sight of him drawing his bow while standing right beside Weed was exactly a portrayal of a slave in arms.

“Aren’t you even angry when your son is called a ‘battle slave’ by people?”

– Zentor: Hey, don’t talk like that! Why on earth would I be angry? You are the closest associate of Weed-nim; it’s like a king’s minister[21]  in the old days. I reckon that’s equivalent to the Chief Secretary of the president.

“I don’t think that’s the case for me here…”

– Zentor: That’s exactly the case. And have you any idea how much our family benefits from your status while living in this Arpen Kingdom? You see, your older brother is a merchant.”

“Yeah, I know that.”

– Zentor: So when he goes to the town square to do some business, he hangs a flag that says he is the real brother of Pale the battle slave, and his whole inventory is gone within ten minutes with all the customers swarming in!

Pale was finding it difficult to stop his face from burning with humiliation.

‘My honor and dignity…no…’

– Zentor: I was intending to keep this to myself, but let me tell you something else: Weed-nim has as good as paid for your university study, too.

“What? Now what is THAT all about?”

– Zentor: You know, Weed-nim and that goddess lady of Grass Porridge came to visit our restaurant a few months ago.

“They did?”

Pale’s parents had retired from their teaching profession and were now running a small restaurant that sold gomtang (beef-bone soup). As they were generally friendly with the local residents and there were quite a lot of public officers visiting frequently, the restaurant had been doing a reasonably good business.

– Zentor: They came and had a bowl of soup each, and the next thing I know our restaurant was on TV, and has been bursting with customers since. Did you know that we are now having as many as 150 orders in the evening?

“No… I had no idea…”

Pale realized that there was no hope of him escaping from the giant net that Weed had cast.

Free will? Why would he need it, when he was already a loyal and faithful thrall of Weed?

Then a thought suddenly occurred to him which sent a chill down his back.

“By the way, dad, did Weed-nim pay for the meal he ordered?”

– Zentor: After he had the soup he even ordered another set of boiled beef slices for takeaway, saying that he enjoyed the meal and he would recommend our restaurant to people. Oh, and he added that we needn’t worry about your future from now on.

“So, the payment?”

– Zentor: Yes, of course, I wasn’t going to accept it, but he insisted on paying us for the food, almost forced the notes into my hand before leaving.

Pale felt his face going red once again, although this time it was because he was ashamed of himself. Even after all the time he had been with Weed, for a short moment he doubted him.

‘I forgot… he is not that sort of guy.’

Weed might be a penny pincher, but he would never bilk a restaurant. It was easy to see him as a person who mistreats others around him, but Weed always showed great consideration for people in need.

‘He’s always looking to minimize small spending, but never hesitates to pay a great sum when necessary.’

After all, he was the guy who invested his entire fortune in Morata, and built the Puhol Water Park. Pale thought that Weed was a kind of person who really knew how to spend his money.

*****

Mandol was heading to the Garnav Plain together with the users who had died while fighting in the battle of Shelgium.

“Gee. What a pointless fight it has been.”

“I can tolerate having my level drop, but all those skill proficiency points… Uggh…”

“I’ve even lost my equipment.”

Those who had been slaughtered in Shelgium grumbled with discontent. Although it had been for a good cause, they couldn’t help but regret their decision after they lost their lives.

“I hope we are not going there just to die again?”

“No way… Think about the number of people who will gather in that place. Some won’t even get a chance to fight.”

“Hmm. I’m certainly curious to see how they’ll fight… but I feel afraid too.”

“Well, it’s just their loss if they die.”

These users had been harboring certain bitterness, thinking that one could act as sanctimoniously as they liked and still no one would acknowledge their effort. They had fought, desperately and to their last breath, in Shelgium, yet all that was left of that fight was regret.

It was when they arrived in the Garnav Plain that an unexpected event changed their attitude.[22]

Already there was a huge number of Grass Porridge Cult users congregating; what had been a secluded flatland with nothing but grass just a day ago was now a makeshift business zone set up by the merchants, and there was even a tent village that had been built for users to sleep in. At least one million people were already making preparations to eat and play in the Garnav Plain.

“Wow. I must say, the size of the Grass Porridge Cult sure is great.”

“Yeah. Just look at the scale of it. It’s incredible.”

The users from Shelgium were finding a place to quietly settle in, when several users who had spotted them yelled, “Wooow… The heroes are here!”

“Heroes?”

“Haven’t you seen the broadcast? They are the ones who fought in Shelgium. I watched the rerun of that battle several times.”

“You’re right. It’s them!”

“Hey, let’s all applaud for them. Applaud!”

Clap, clap, clap!

The applause that had been initiated by a few users near them was soon joined by other users, who were all rising from their seats on the ground. The sound of the people clapping spread in all directions, until finally everyone in the Garnav Plain was welcoming them with an ovation.

“Welcome, heroes!”

“Such brave souls. You have all done so well!”

“You must be exhausted. Anyone who wants to have some food, please come over here. We will cook anything you like. Money? What money? For you it’s all free!”

“We mustn’t forget to give them a cold draft of beer; they’ll need it after such a hard day. I’ll serve your drinks first before everyone else.”

The users who gave their lives in Shelgium were treated like absolute heroes in this place.

“Wha, what’s this? What’s going on?”

“Are they really all welcoming us?”

The users who had just arrived in the Garnav Plain with their body limp and their mind dejected could not repress their bewilderment. The enormous clapping sound alone that was resonating throughout the place was enough to make them feel dazed. Many of the users even stood up to give them a salute, and they had never experienced something quite like this.

Mapan, who had been conducting preparations for the festival, came rushing when he got the news of their arrival, his great belly swaying as usual.

“The soldiers from Shelgium, I assume?”

“*Gasp*. I-it’s Mapan-nim!”

The users of Shelgium were startled to see that even a person as famous as Mapan had come over to greet them. Mandol also looked quite flustered, as he had not expected this kind of special reception even when he had fought for Weed.

“Ah… Yes, we are.”

“I was wondering if any of you have any appointments for the evening.”

“Well… nothing really…”

Mandol and the other users looked at one another. Most of them did not have any previous engagements; they were just planning to enjoy the festival and watch the world go by. A few of them had promised to meet their friends or family who had started the game in the North, but they were too overwhelmed by the whole atmosphere to say anything.

Mapan continued, his chubby cheeks wobbling up and down as he spoke.

“In that case, would you join us for dinner? Weed-nim is going to gut a boar for cooking.”

“Weed-nim himself is going to do that for us?”

“Yes. In addition to the boar, he said that he will arrange for a special banquet with various other top-class ingredients. There’s some fresh seafood we have urgently obtained from the Ritten Region, too.”

“…”

The users of Shelgium were simply lost for words. Not only was every nearby user in the Garnav Plain watching this heartwarming sight, but it was also being relayed through broadcast.

“There will also be a gold medal award ceremony after the feast.”

“A gold medal-what’s that about?”

“Weed-nim will present each of you with a gold medal which he had carved by himself for the heroes of the Arpen Kingdom. The ceremony will take place in front of everyone, of course.”

The face of every user from Shelgium turned red. They wanted to forever erase from their life the short moment of feeling regret after experiencing death. Instead, a great pride filled their minds for having fought for the Arpen Kingdom.

“I… I haven’t been acknowledged like this by anyone before, not even by my family.”

“*Sob*. This is the first time I received a compliment since my elementary school days.”

“So this is how it feels. I can see why… it is worth dying for the Arpen Kingdom.”

The ten thousand users who had once lived in Shelgium felt that they would willingly give their lives again if it was for the Arpen Kingdom. And that feeling they had was spread across the whole Garnav Plain, through broadcast and through word-of-mouth.

Translation Notes

↑[1]This (I think) refers to the old Chinese story that poses a question, “What happens when you try to block an all-piercing spear with an all-blocking shield?” which became the origin of the Chinese word for contradiction. Korean language uses the same word as well.

↑ [2]To be honest, I’m not really sure what the author means by this sentence because the original text in Korean is quite vague. It’s not clear exactly what or whom Weed was feeling envious of (because there is no mention of any people), and who exactly is feeling this ‘troubles and pain (because the Korean text just says ‘this pain’, at first I thought it refers to the pain Weed was feeling but I later decided it doesn’t make sense in the context). Overall the problem is caused by the lack of subject, which makes it very confusing as to who is feeling what. So this is the translation of my interpretation of this sentence, which can be one of many.

↑ [3]There is a Korean expression that translates literally to something like “curing the 10-year-old indigestion’, which refers to a situation in which one feels a deep sense of satisfaction as a result of a very frustrating problem being resolved. The author replaced the word indigestion with constipation probably in an attempt to make it sound more comical, and I changed the expression slightly more in the actual translation to make it not sound overly random for people who are not familiar with this expression.

↑ [4]I’m not sure if ‘-goon’ is just part of his user name or if it is an honorific that is commonly used to address a young man. Any clarification would be appreciated.

↑ [5]The direct translation would just be “for the Arpen Kingdom to advance towards the south”, but I changed the sentence a bit to make the context clearer. There are a few more sentences in this chapter that I have modified to convey the context of the text better, but feel free to let me know if you think this kind of translation is inappropriate.

↑ [6]Here the original text only says ‘without end’. I wasn’t sure if it was the number of the orcs or the length of the road that was without end, so I just decided to stick to one of the possible interpretations.

↑ [7]I was considering using the word ‘rogue’ instead of ‘thief’, but since the original text clearly says ‘thief’, I thought it would be better to just use the same word.

↑ [8]Obviously Weed is not really a big brother of Petrov, and this is more of an affectionate title indicating that he wants to be close to Weed, as Petrov seems to fancy Yurin).

↑ [9]A sort of (usually spicy) instant noodle quite similar to Japanese Ramen. We usually just use the word ‘instant noodle’ or ‘Ramen’ for this food but I thought it would be more appropriate to use the proper Korean name here.

↑ [10]The original Korean text only says ‘backstabber’ here, so I wasn’t sure if their job is professional betrayers or just muggers who steal people’s belongings after hitting them from the back. I decided that the second interpretation fits the whole context better, but it might turn out to be wrong later.

↑ [11]The author is referring to a famous Korean adage that directly translates to something like ‘A person gets a stomachache (with jealousy) when a neighbor (or a relative) purchases a land, which has the same meaning as ‘An envious man grows lean with the fatness of his neighbor.’ In this case Weed is compared to the neighbor who purchased a land, seeing that he got the upper hand on the Shadows of the Earth party once again.

↑ [12]Even though the Korean text says ‘next quest’, I’m suspecting that this is in fact the last stage before the foundation of the Palos Empire Weed has just mentioned. Since this can cause some confusion, I will change the word later to make it easier to understand.

↑ [13]The original text just says that those seven lords had ‘become the worst villains’, but I thought this translation might fit the whole context better. Let me know if you would rather have me use the direct translation.

↑ [14]The original text only says ‘a man of strength and fame’, but since Robin thinks that Weed won Seoyoon’s heart only because he is more successful in Royal Road than himself, along with the fact that Weed is (at least in the beginning) far from a strong and famous guy in real life, I think it would be better to clarify this point in this sentence.

↑ [15]The original text actually refers to a ‘chaebol’, a large family owned business conglomerate found in South Korea. Should I use this word instead?

↑ [16]I first considered using direct translation and write this sentence as ‘Chairman-nim’, but it just sounded too weird to my ears and I decided to use the surname of Seoyoon’s father.

↑ [17]I’m not sure whether I’m happy with this translation. I like that it sounds simple and intuitive, but it also feels like the translation is too direct. I was considering ‘slave-in-arms (which I actually used later in another sentence)’ or ‘slave-for-combat/battle’, but they all sounded a bit too long to me. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

↑ [18] This is a gaming jargon that refers to when people repeatedly play the same quests or dungeons to improve their character’s stats or to find some rare loots. I have been using ‘manual labor/work’ for the same word before, but since the novel takes place in a game world I thought this might be a more appropriate translation. Let me know what you think.

↑ [19]‘trying hard’ or ‘putting more effort’ became some sort of fad words among Korean people a couple of years back, when life had become very hard for the younger generation of Korean with high unemployment rate and general mistreatment of the employees and laborers overflowing the Korean society. The older generation often responded to the younger people’s complaints with a remark such as “you are not trying hard enough”, or “we had been worse off when we were at your age”, which (I think) was the origin of this fad words/ catch phrase. To make the sarcastic undertone clearer people often stretch the vowels (as shown in the translation) when using these fad words.

↑ [20]A kind of traditional private fund popular among Koreans, whose members chip in a modest amount of money and take turns to receive a lump sum share. (Extracted from Naver English dictionary website)

↑ [21]Highest-rank government position during the Joseon Dynasty era. In the next sentence Zentor actually says “…to the minister or the Chief Secretary of the president”, but since the same word is repeated twice (with different meanings) I thought it best to just omit the latter one to avoid confusion.

↑ [22]The original text in Korean only says “It was when they arrived in the Garnav Plain” , so this bit here is entirely my own invention.

Chapter 1: Time Sculpting

– A battle that will determine the fate of the Versailles Continent!

– The beginning of a great war in the Garnav Plain.

– Royal Road: Will we watch the rise of the emperor who will unite the whole continent?

– In 15 days, more than a billion people go to war.

The news of a head-on match between Weed and the Hermes Guild became the headlines of various broadcasting channels. Through crystal balls or on TV, people could watch the sight of the great number of users from both the Northern and Central Continents gathering in the Garnav Plain.

“I’ve come to fight for the Arpen Kingdom. Once the battle begins, I’ll throw my life into it.”

“I might be a mere sparrow, *tweet!*, but with these wings, there is no place I cannot go!”

“Have a bowl of grass porridge, people!”

There were numerous users having an interview with broadcasting stations, and large bonfires were made in the Garnav Plain.

“Will Weed-nim really fight against Bard Ray?”

“There will be a full-frontal battle with all the users in the field joining in… I wonder if there will be a chance for them to meet each other in person?”

“I hope there will. But isn’t a one-on-one fight going to be very disadvantageous for a sculptor?”

“Well, he has become master sculptor and now he got the new profession as a Necromancer, so I don’t think that would be a problem.”

“But Necromancer isn’t exactly a good profession for fighting alone, is it?”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

From the very beginning of Royal Road, Bard Ray had reigned as the most powerful user of the game, and had been the owner of the nickname ‘the God of War’. On the other hand, his opponent was the person who, with the profession of a sculptor, had earned great fame by accomplishing a number of almost miracle-like quests, and who had raised the small and insignificant village of Morata into a kingdom that currently dominated the entire Northern Continent. There were so many users who were looking forward to the epic fight between the two most iconic players of Royal Road.

“Weed-nim will win.”

“Yes. However the situation may turn out to be, we can trust Weed-nim.”

“Impossible? That is one word that is not in Weed-nim’s vocabulary. There hasn’t been a single easy task in his path of life up until now.”

“He is a legend. A legend!”

The number of users who supported Weed was simply overwhelming, not only because of the sympathy they felt for the relatively weaker of the two, but also because of the many great achievements Weed had attained to date.

However Weed, the center of all that anticipation and attention, was currently devising a terrible and devious scheme with his living sculptures.

“I just can’t fight this fair and square. Do you know why people use cheap tricks? It is because they are effective!”

“Moooo….!”

“Golgolgol!”[1]

The various sculptural lifeforms, Yellowy and Geumini among them, cheered enthusiastically in response; flattery was a virtue these living sculptures had had to learn, as fate had dictated that they had to serve under such an ill-tempered master.

“I can’t help but feel that we’ve met the wrong master. Golgol.”

“If it weren’t for my honor as a knight… I would leave to seek my freedom.”

“Would it be so difficult to just make me a crown, for all the hard work I’ve done? My Ice Breath attack has become quite good now, too…”

For the battle of the Garnav Plain, all the sculptures that had been the subjects of Weed’s constant bullying were assembled together. Each of them was a force to be reckoned with in any battlefield, including Bahamorg, the warrior of blood and iron.

– Kuuuaaarggh!!

– *Blaaaaze*

King Hydra gave out a great roar as he shook his three snake-like heads, and Phoenix let its flaming feathers fly in all directions like falling snow. Binryong, Deathworm, Imugi and Fire Giant were all creating a very imposing picture just by standing there, due to their enormous sizes.

However, even at this splendid sight of the legion of sculptural lifeforms, Weed was still rather doubtful of their power.

“Sure, these guys are strong, but they wouldn’t be able to hold off even just one Legion of the Hermes Guild Army by themselves.”

Not that his sculptural creatures were incompetent, but the power of the Hermes Guild was simply too great. While it was true that Weed and his living sculptures had spent a long time improving their skills and strength through much effort, the Hermes Guild had just as much time to grow their forces and influence as they dominated the core regions of the Continent. At the time when Weed first started the game in the Rosenheim Kingdom, he wouldn’t even have been able to imagine that he would, one day, fight against this very Hermes Guild.

“They eventually managed to kill even Bar Khan himself; I cannot finish this war with these creatures alone.”

However, a well-devised trick had a power to reverse the disadvantageous situation in a dramatic way. Among many world-famous wars in history, it was easy to find a case in which a few tricks completely changed the outcome of a battle. How awestruck Weed had been, reading the stories about those genius strategists.

‘That is some remarkable cleverness.’

To be perfectly frank, Weed knew that he did not belong to this sort of brilliant strategist type, and that was all the more reason why he needed an appropriate trick to overcome the many obstacles.

‘When there’s a person with a great talent, I’ll just have to make the best use of their talent; just as what I did with Hestiger.’

He had drawn a big picture in his mind which had been conceived based on his Resurrection Sculpting skill — this meant that there would be yet another historical figure revived by his hands.

Weed spoke in a deep, solemn voice.

“My subjects, have you ever heard of the age during which every sculptural lifeform enjoyed peace and prosperity, under the reign of the great emperor who led the art of sculpting to the path of glory?”

Golden Bird, which had been drowsing, raised its head, its sleek and sparkling feathers giving off a spark of brilliance.

“Geihar von Arpen!”

“Yes. Golden Bird may remember. There once was a glorious age when the great living sculptures united this entire land, and commanded respect from every other species of the world.”

The emperor who united the Versailles Continent for the first time in history: Geihar von Arpen. Surprisingly enough, he was a sculptor and this great achievement of unifying the whole continent had been possible through the collective power of the sculptural creatures that he created.

‘Just by imagining it I can see it must have been an extremely difficult task. How effectively he must have sweated his sculptural servants! The extent of exploitation involved must be difficult to even fathom.’

A legendary exploiter whose equal would not be easily found in history books; in a certain sense, this emperor sounded more like a successful slave trader.

Weed made a declaration in front of the sculptures gathering around him.

“I shall once again create a world in which every sculptural lifeform can live as a proper slav- I mean, live with happiness and dignity. Your task is to find other sculptural lifeforms scattered across the entire continent. Through this war, I will turn this world into a place for them!”

Wyverns and other creatures that were capable of flying soared high into the sky and flew away. Deathworm, Fire Giant, Cerberus, Seville, Eltin and Gernika all turned around and began to march as well, each of them showing off their majestic appearance to match their power as a boss-level monster that could dominate the entire region.

“Farewell, master. Mooo.”

“I wish you luck. I promise to bring any sculptural lifeforms I can find. Golgol.”

However, just as Yellowy, Gumini, White Tiger, Nile the giant crocodile and Countryside Snake[2] were about to leave like the others, Weed stopped them.

“Hey, I need you guys to stay here with me.”

“Squeak!”

Countryside Snake rolled its eyes apprehensively, and just when the rest of the sculptures that had been left behind began to regret not having been quick enough to move away before they were caught, Weed used a skill.

“Travel Sculpting!”

< The Travel Sculpting skill that transcends time and space has been used. >

A portal consisting of thousands of rays of light opened up. It was an advanced Time Sculpting technique which allowed the user to travel into a past moment in history.

“You guys will come with me.”

“Do we really have to, master?”

Yellowy asked Weed as it looked up at him with its innocent eyes.

“You don’t want to go there? Well, since I respect your free will I’ll give you two options.”

“Thank you, master.”

“Either you get beaten up first and go, or just go without complaining.”

“…”

The crime was theirs for having met the wrong master. Weed put Geumini and Yellowy through the portal one after the other. The next moment, Pale, Irene, Romuna, Surka and Zephyr arrived through Yurin’s Picture Teleportation — the top elite members for an adventure. Maylon couldn’t join them, as she was busy at work with broadcasting the war between Weed and the Hermes Guild.

“Let’s go.”

Weed directed his comrades towards the portal so that they could go before him. It was a natural precaution, in case any of them would take their chance and run off. The closer you are to a person, the more vigilant you need to be not to let your guard down in front of them.

*****

Pale renewed his resolution right before stepping through the portal.

‘I am a battle slave; I have no concept of an ego!’

He was determined to do nothing but hunting for the 15 long days.

‘I just need to take it simple. After 15 days, I can be free. At least there’s some hope here.’

Zephyr was finding the whole situation quite odd.

‘So these are the members for a hunt? And even Weed-nim’s sister has joined us this time?’

He had been intending to flee right away if Yurin hadn’t been there. In order to avoid Weed’s grasp, he had even learned some diving technique as part of his profession as a fisherman; Weed wouldn’t be able to call him to a hunt when he was deep under the sea.

‘Considering that Yurin’s here… this might just be a quest rather than a hunt. Then it shouldn’t be too difficult, should it?’

On the other hand, even after so many experiences of being exploited by Weed, Surka was still her naïve and innocent self.

‘He said we are going to have an interesting journey, that we are going to see and experience many wonderful things…’

In a way, Surka was the one who had the most positive, prejudice-free opinion of Weed among them.

‘His lips were dry when he said that. It wasn’t a lie!’[3]

She was certain that Weed had been honest, at least for this time.

Irene trusted Weed without a single shred of doubt. He asked her to join him to this adventure, so she followed him willingly: her skills would be needed more if there were a lot of heated battles involved.

The first thing Weed and his companions saw when they stepped out of the portal was a view that was so magnificent it made their jaws drop.

“Wow…”

“Ah…”

“This is great!”

“…”

Beautiful birds in hundreds of different colors were flying in the clear, blue sky. In the green field bloomed many flowers, and there were life forms of butterflies and bees with markings they had never seen before. In a plain further away, other life forms similar to water buffalos, horses and elephants were wandering about lazily.

“Mooo.”

Yellowy and other living sculptures that had arrived before Weed’s party were also appreciating the scenery. Such a peaceful, pretty sight; the herbivores were leisurely grazing in the field, tending to their young. Just looking at it put a smile on their faces and relieved their stress.

Pale asked Weed hesitantly.

“Weed-nim, do we have to… kill those things this time?”

Each of Weed’s companions here was a seasoned hunter, but they all looked reluctant to wipe out the creatures in this place. Weed scanned the animals with his sharp eyes.

“They’ve got some nice hide. Bones look quite solid, too… I’d say they’ll make fine materials for smithing, not to mention carving.”

*Gasp*

“I’m joking. For now, let’s just enjoy this great view for some time. I’ll cook some food for you.”

“What? You haven’t even licked your lips before lying like that this time…”[4]

“I’m not lying.”

Weed took out his cooking tools and started a fire. Using a frying pan, he made some simple sandwiches and gimbap.[5] Surka also picked a few fruits and made fresh juice out of them.

“My, they look delicious!”

As Irene clapped in delight, curious animals began to gather around them, cute things like rabbits, deer and kangaroos that didn’t avoid them even in the presence of Countryside Snake and Nile the crocodile. Yellowy already had his eye on a female buffalo and was sitting beside her.

Pale and Zephyr were both feeling fearful.

“He’s already feeding us so well this early in the journey… how hard is he going to drive us this time?”

“I think we’ll all have to brace ourselves for at least a couple of deaths each.”

They had never seen Weed do anything for them without getting something in return. But even as they solidified their resolve once more, they couldn’t help but enjoy the landscape surrounding them.

“The atmosphere here is really nice.”

“I feel so content as if I just stepped into paradise. All of my fatigue that has been accumulating is gone, too.”

A cozy place for a rest, deep within the heart of the nature.

In actuality, the Versailles Continent was a place for people who wanted to live their life as they chose. Weed spent his entire time on adventures and hunting, going from a dungeon on one day to a hunting ground on another, but that was not the only correct way of life; even if one decided to while away their life building a cabin and looking at the calm blue sea, there was nobody who would judge them.

“Here, take your time to enjoy the food.”

“Okay.”

“I will.”

Once they had decided to embrace the death that may come later, Pale and Zephyr had regained their calm. Weed usually finished his meal so quickly that other people had difficulties keeping up with his eating speed, but right now he was extremely relaxed as if he had just had a bowl of Ramyun with some additional steamed rice.

‘Looks like we’re really going to die in this quest. Maybe he’ll offer me as a living sacrifice this time.’

‘Right. What kind of boss monster is he going to defeat this time? I guess it can be counted as an honor to join him.’

After they finished the meal, they followed Weed to take a walk across the field. Soon they arrived at a nearby hill where cool breezes greeted them. Beyond it, a vast emerald sea and coral reefs stretched out far and wide.

“Wooow.”

“This is incredible.”

–

You have arrived at one of the unexplored lands of the world.

–

The discovery of The Wulhoff Reef!

It was the largest coral reef of the Continent, spreading over the distance of 876 kilometers from the Strait of Rudin to the Alcard Sea. The depth of water ranged from 3 meters to maximum 80 meters, and it was home to 600 species of corals and 1,890 species of various sea creatures. As one of the Nine Unexplored Lands of the Versailles Continent, numerous adventurers had hoped to find this place since the early days.

< Your adventure has earned you 6,940 points of fame.

You have leveled up.

You have discovered a historical region. Your Knowledge and Wisdom have increased by 10 points each as a result of this special experience.

The wonderful scenery has increased your Art stat by 8 points.

You will obtain additional rewards for reporting the rare discoveries. >

“Huh…”

“We’ve even leveled up. By gods…”

All they had done was to walk a little with Weed’s guidance, yet the amount of fame and experience points they earned was enormous. The field of coral reefs seen through the clear sea was beautiful beyond belief; the colors of the ocean made them stare at it blankly on and on, not even caring to take time to check all the message windows popping up.

At that instant, something burst upward from the sea.

– Foooo!

A blue dolphin broke the surface and leaped up, then disappeared again.

< You have found a Rainbow Dolphin.

A magical species of dolphin whose body color changes with temperature and sunlight; Rainbow Dolphins are highly intelligent and capable of communication with humans, and their kind was called a treasure among all sea creatures. There is also a mysterious rumor which claims that if you follow the track of this playful dolphin, you can find a grave of black pearls.

Your fame has increased by 1,308 points.

Your Luck stat has increased by 2 points.>

“*Squeal*! My Goodness, this is… the prettiest place I have ever seen in my whole life!”

Irene was even having tears in her eyes as the unexpected rush of awe overwhelmed her.

“Huh… I’ve never dreamed that such a site would exist. It’s amazing.”

Pale started to cry as well; something about this place made them feel the deep joy of life.

“Moooo. I fancy some sea mustard. [aka Wakame, a sea vegetable, or edible seaweed.]”

“I like rivers. It’s hard to swim in a sea.”

Yellowy and Nile the crocodile complained, but that was not enough to break the mesmerized mood shared by the party.

“Let’s have a cup of coffee while we’re here, shall we?”

“Sure.”

Weed and his companions sat in a line on the back of Nile and enjoyed the peaceful coffee time. The view of the vast sea lay before them, and the coffee from Morata was warm in their mouth. Yellowy put its front legs comfortably on Nile’s tail while chewing a bunch of grass.

“Now, what do we have to do?”

When his cup was empty, Pale asked Weed gravely. He was prepared to throw away even his own life, as he was only too familiar with the level of danger involved in Weed’s adventures through first-hand experience.

Weed stretched himself lazily.

“Whatever you want to do.”

“…Pardon?”

“Just take as much rest as you want here. Maybe do some fishing, or swim in the sea. I’ll throw a small barbeque party in the evening so come and join me if possible.”

“What on earth are you saying?”

Pale’s eyes were wide open with amazement. A doubtful thought crossed Zephyr’s and Irene’s minds as well.

‘He must be lying.’

‘When a person changes so dramatically all of a sudden… could it be?’

Weed went on, still looking extremely relaxed.

“Don’t you think a person needs to have a break once in a while in their life? This is a vacation, so to say.”

“…”

The companions were rather apprehensive as the person who spoke that line was none other than Weed, but soon they decided to accept the situation and enjoy themselves.

‘Alright. If this is time to have some fun, then I shall have some fun, even if I’ll die later.’

‘This place is paradise. I’ll just think that I’ve come here in the afterlife. That’s not too bad.’

*****

A dreamlike vacation in the great coral reef!

The video of Weed and his companions enjoying their little break was broadcast live right in that evening by various stations.

“The sea looks so gorgeous. That place truly deserves to be called a heaven on earth.”

“It seems that the sunshine and the view of the sea alone are enough to relieve people’s stress. Staying in a place like that even just for an hour would in itself be some great life experience…”

“Oh, look, Weed-nim just picked a fruit from a tree. How tasty it must be, especially when eating it in such a lovely place!”

The staff members of the broadcasting companies couldn’t hide their envious admiration as they watched the transmitted live footages.

The sea creatures didn’t show any hostility towards humans, and they even came along to mix themselves freely among the adventures. Pale and Zephyr were enjoying water sports as they rode on the back of the dolphins, and the sight of Nile the giant crocodile attempting to overcome the challenge of sea swimming was also quite fun to watch in its own way.

– Just look at that landscape. That’s some crazy stuff.

– Wow… I want to go and have some fun like them, too.

– An incredible vacation that will leave a lifelong memory.

– I want to have a break in that place, just for a day.

– Look at Weed dive in the sea and catch a lobster. That thing’s almost as big as a man!

– Just roast it over a fire and you have the epitome of delicacies.

Comments from the viewers that were full of envy and awe were being posted nearly in real time, but there were also quite a few people who raised some questions.

– Can they really afford such a leisurely break when there’s a crucial battle coming that might determine the fate of the whole Versailles Continent?

– Where is that place anyway? I’m a sailor, and I have never seen nor heard about such a location before.

– You wouldn’t miss a big coral reef like that even if you were just passing by in a ship. It just doesn’t make sense that such a high-quality landscape hasn’t been known to anyone until now.

Numerous users said that they would love to visit the place in person after watching the video of Weed and his companions taking a break, yet there was no one who claimed that they had actually been to that site before. Then one user posted a comment.

– Isn’t that Shelgium? The coastal features look quite similar to those in Shelgium.

– No way! I once stayed in the Tartan Island for more than five months, and I know that’s not the same place.

– I think it is, though. There’s even a silhouette of an island in the distance.

– I’m currently working as a geography professor, and I think this is a highly probable conjecture, judging by the soil structure and the plants species seen in the land as well as the amount of sunlight.

– I’m a merchant specialized in marine transportation. In the video you can see those gold-colored turtles, right? I don’t know much in detail about them but I do know that in the sea north of Shelgium there are a lot of turtles that have gold markings in their shells.

– But the sea itself looks completely different, so how could it be…?

A serious investigation was taking place among the viewers, with the inputs of experts from all walks of life as they always appeared whenever there was a heated argument between the users. Reflecting the popularity of Royal Road and Weed, many world-class scholars and professionals analyzed the videos from every broadcasting station at 0.1 second intervals. The broadcasting companies in turn relayed their progress back to the viewers as though they were also quite enjoying this whole situation. Among the staff members of those companies was a female employee of KMC Media named Noh Yeon-Hye, who happened to know Irene’s Kakaotalk[6]  email address as she had to send the appearance fee to her.

– Irene-nim, where exactly is the place you are currently in?

Immediately after sending this message without much prior thought she realized that she might have made a mistake by asking such a question, but a response came right away.

– We’re in the Wulhoff Reef, that is, north of Shelgium!

– Huh?! You sure you can just tell me your location like that?

– Sure. Weed-nim said it’s hardly a secret.

– Then why didn’t he say anything about it to us from the beginning…? When we bought the broadcasting right he only said that it’s going to be some epic adventure, so we were just doing our broadcast based on that…

When dealing with the broadcasting stations, Weed had spoken very few words.

“I’m going on an adventure. And I will not take any questions. So, are you going to buy this broadcasting right or not?”

He had decided that the two essential elements that could increase his worth were mysterious attitude and power tripping.

– He said no one had asked him about it so he just didn’t bother to say anything. He told me to let you all know in his stead.

– So, can we put this info on the air?

– Yeah, it really doesn’t matter.

– But, wow… why does the landscape look so different?

Noh Yeon-Hye started walking as she typed in more messages with her trembling fingers. In just a couple of minutes, this new information she obtained would be passed to hundreds of millions of people through broadcast.

– That’s because we travelled in time far back into the past. The Wulhoff Reef is to be destroyed due to the invasion of some monsters, and Weed-nim is going to stop that event.

– I see. So you hadn’t been planning on just taking a break in that place after all.

– I suppose not.

– I guess the scale of the battle would be quite large as well?

– Apparently there will be tens of millions of monsters swarming in.

– What? How are you going to stop them all just by yourselves? Of course, I don’t mean to belittle your capabilities, but still…

Noh Yeon-Hye burst open the door of the studio which had been in the middle of a live broadcast, and rushed inside.

“Hey, this is a live show-”

“I know. Just look at this, quick!”

Oh Joo Wan and other guests were engulfed by astonishment when they read the text messages in Noh Yeon-Hye’s phone.

“They are from Irene-nim!”

“Breaking news; the information regarding their current location is being revealed right now!”

Experts from around the world had been arguing and analyzing the given data for hours, while just a few text messages contained the answer to every question they had. On top of that, there were still more messages coming from Irene.

– This is the Arpen Empire — that is, we have travelled back in time to the age when Geihar von Arpen is still alive and has united the Versailles Continent for the first time ever.

“The Arpen Empire, not Kingdom?”

“That’s the name of the empire that appears in history books.”[7]

“And the legendary historical figure — Geihar von Arpen!”

– You mean you’ve travelled to the real Arpen Empire that once existed in history?

– Yep. Golden Bird told us some stories; according to him, after the Arpen Empire united the Continent, some oceanic monsters surged in.

– I see. The damage they caused must have been devastating.

– Yes. The sculptural creatures managed to stop them from hitting the land, but the sea was completely destroyed.

“Sculptural creatures?”

“Why would there be sculptural creatures in those days?”

The guest stars in the studio were also quite fascinated by the truth that was gradually unfolding before them one fact after the other. The camera had already zoomed into Noh Yeon-Hye’s mobile phone screen, so that all the viewers could read the messages as well.

– How did the sculptural creatures stop the monsters? In fact, why were they there in the first place?

– The sculptural creatures? Weed-nim says that Geihar von Arpen was in fact a sculptor himself.

– A sculptor?

“The emperor’s profession was sculptor?”

“More importantly, he was a real person and not just a mythical figure? His name is hardly mentioned in history books.”

“There have been a lot of conflicting opinions about Geihar von Arpen the Emperor… A few of them did claim that he would have been a monster summoner or a sculptor.”

“If Weed-nim said so, I suppose that’s the truth.”

They didn’t even need any second opinion from experts and scholars: on matters of Royal Road, Weed’s word was law and truth, because there was simply no existing user who had had such a wide variety of adventures as him.

“So that’s why Weed-nim chose to become a sculptor.”

“I knew it. Even back then he was able to see that there’s something special about that profession.”

“It certainly was a bit odd. I mean, nowadays most people have come to know about the potential power of a sculptor because of Weed-nim, but at first there were loads of people who simply couldn’t understand his choice.”

“Yeah, and that sentiment was even more common among the former users of Continent of Magic.”

– It’s not going to be just us and Weed-nim fighting when a war breaks out against the monsters invading from the sea. We would be joined by the Arpen Emperor and the countless number of living sculptures.

– Wooow. That sounds amazing.

– Yes. And Weed-nim also added that there’s something we need to do that is the most important.”

– And what is that?

– He said flattering the Arpen Emperor would be almost as important as winning this battle.

– Flatter? Why would you need flattery?

– I don’t know the exact reason myself. But he said that it would be our core strategy for this adventure…

As various broadcasting stations began their live coverage, the viewers were on the brink of starting a riot. The Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom — the audience’s interest in the war whose outcome would hold the key to the fate of the Versailles Continent was naturally very high. Most users were planning to go online on the day of the battle or watch the broadcast, but something felt different.

– I think Weed-nim is about to set off something huge.

– Just giving an adequate fight is not Weed-nim’s way. I think he’s secretly preparing a great blow behind his back.

– The Hermes Guild would be too preoccupied with thoughts of fight and war to even dream of such a trick, with their Steel Knights and whatnot.

– Well, to be frank we don’t know what exactly Weed will do either.

– But don’t we all agree that he will win this, at any rate?

– Of course!

– It’s occasions like these that really make me feel that Weed doesn’t just rely on the Grass Porridge Cult’s power.

– The Grass Porridge Cult is merely another creation of Weed-nim. We need to get our facts straight: about half of the users of Royal Road are having such a great life thanks to Weed-nim.

– I know, right?! If it hadn’t been for Weed-nim, we would all have been slaves.

– Yeah, there’s good reason why so many people chant ‘Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge’.

As a natural course of event, the senior executives of the broadcasting stations were facing a very urgent situation. They had 14 days left until the battle in the Garnav Plain; after securing the broadcasting right, they had been making preparations and promoting their upcoming programs at leisure, when suddenly Weed was going on an adventure. In addition to that, there were hints of him coming up with some big plan, which was driving the viewers crazy with anticipation.

In the office building of every major broadcasting company an urgent meeting was called which was attended by the president and board of directors.

“We need to get Weed on our side.”[8]

“I agree. The question is, what conditions would we need to provide to him in order to do that?”

“Slip a blank check in his hand if necessary. Or we can give him a deluxe car and build him a mansion that will make his jaw drop. This is a chance for us to take advantage of the fact that our station is an affiliated company of a chaebol group.”[9]

“I’ve heard he loves to own lands, so we could buy him some.”

“In terms of land category, he’s said to prefer built-up areas to forest lands. It’s said that he is especially interested in shopping districts.”

“But don’t you think this kind of investment is a bit too risky, when we haven’t even checked all the facts yet? I myself am feeling rather worried…”

“What if Weed manages to take hold of the whole Versailles Continent? By then we wouldn’t even be able to meet him so easily even if we brought him piles of money.”

Each of the broadcasting stations held a meeting separately, but eventually every company reached a similar conclusion: get Weed!

The war in the Garnav Plain was drawing near, and whichever side that wins the battle and secures dominance over the Versailles Continent will exercise absolute influence on Royal Road. Each broadcasting station was preparing itself for that time, but now they were unable to stop their moves as Weed’s adventure was being broadcast in real time.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] At first I thought this was a sound made by a purring cat and translated accordingly, but later I realized that this is most probably the sound made by Gumini, or Gold Man.

↑ [2] I looked up the LMS Wiki page to use the proper names for Weed’s sculptural creatures, and found it very interesting that this creature’s name was translated as Countryside Snake, because its original name in Korean actually means “Country Mouse”, as in the tale “The City Mouse and the Country Mouse.” I’m assuming this translation is because the species of the creature is in fact a snake. Just something that I thought I should point out.

↑ [3] There is a Korean expression that is directly translated as something like “At least lick your lips before lying.” which is often used to tell off people who lie through their teeth. Surka’s logic here is that since his lips were dry when he said this things to her, he didn’t lick them before speaking, and therefore he was being honest.

↑ [4 ]Another reference to the same expression explained above.

↑ [5 ]A very popular Korean dish that is made by rolling steamed rice (bap) and other ingredients in a sheet of dried seaweed (gim). This dish is most commonly prepared for a picnic.

↑ [6] The name of a very popular messenger app among Koreans.

↑ [7] I noticed that in some other previous chapters I have translated there are some more mentions of these ‘history books’ and I’m beginning to wonder if there is some sort of a famous and unique ‘History Book’ in the game’s lore that serves as an official record of Royal Road. Any clarification regarding this issue would be appreciated.

↑ [8] The original sentence in Korean is simply translated as “Get Weed” and I decided that I need to add some of my own interpretation to make the context clearer. To be honest I’m still not sure what exactly these broadcasting stations are trying to achieve here; my guess is that they are trying to get on the good side of Weed so that they will enjoy some benefits when Weed takes over the whole continent.

↑ [9] A family-owned business conglomerate most commonly found in Korea. I was wondering whether I need to use the direct Korean term or just replace it with ‘conglomerate’,  and decided that it might be more appropriate to use the Korean term.

Chapter 2: A Brief Vacation

Just a single day of honey-sweet holiday!

Yurin, Pale, Zephyr and the rest of the adventuring party decided to spend the whole night making merry. Weed created a massive bonfire that was about as tall as a five-storey building.

“I say, fire is the most fun thing to play with.”

As there was no one around to lecture them about safety issues, they built a tower out of firewood and let the flame grow high. Under the shining stars in the night sky, Weed and his companions idled away, watching their building-sized bonfire that was blazing on furiously.

“It would be better to use those fat ones for baits on your rod; there are a lot of large fish here.”

Zephyr was teaching Yurin how to fish by night.

“Slow down and relax. Fishing is all about enjoying the wait, the thrill of anticipation, and the silence around you.”

Cast the fishing rod, wait for a fish to come, and hook it up. As there was a wide variety of sea creatures living in the coral reefs, many different species of fish could be caught. Not only were they delicious when roasted over Weed’s bonfire, but catching them also provided an excellent way of improving the proficiency of the Fishing skill and earn some extra stats.

“On a day like this, I would love to go on a fishing trip.”

Zephyr closed his eyes while feeling the cool sea breeze blow towards him. In the middle of the usual hustle and bustle of daily life, these occasional moments of peaceful contentment were precious beyond words.

‘Travelling together with a person who could be my wife someday…’

Zephyr opened his eyes again and turned to look at his side, with a smile on his handsome face. Yurin had mixed something in her paint box and was now pouring the content into the sea.

“What are you doing?”

“Fishing.”

“What?”

“There’s Poison Making skill as part of the profession skills for a painter, you see.”

Yurin emptied the entire paint box of toxic liquid into the sea. After a short while, the surface was thick with the bodies of hundreds of fish floating limply.

“They wouldn’t be completely dead because of my low skill proficiency! We’ll need to catch them before they recover and flee.”

“But, the romance, the art of waiting in fishing…!”

“Hurry up and move!”

Zephyr had to roll up his trousers to the knees to pick up the fish. It was definitely far more effective than catching fish one by one using a rod.

“Lalala..”

Yurin was humming merrily as she collected all the fish.

“Golgolgol.”

“Heheheh!”

Irene, who was fond of animals, cooked the fish in the bonfire and fed them to Gumini, Nile and White Tiger.

“The fish taste nice. Golgol.”

“Wild fish is the best.”

Gumini was sprinkling some golden dust on top of the fish before having them as it was to his liking.

“It’s so lonely…”

Meanwhile, Pale was wandering around the seaside alone. So far as he was concerned, it was as lonesome a night as any. But when he took a look back at the bonfire around which Weed and his company was sitting, he found some familiar faces that hadn’t been there before.

“Huh…?”

Hwaryeong, Bellot, Seechwi, Maylon, Seasoned Crab and Python… Some of them were old friends while the others had been companions in recent hunting adventures, and they had all freshly arrived to join Weed and the others. After Weed’s vacation was broadcast on TV, they expressed their regret for not having come with him, and thus he used Time Sculpting skill again to bring them to this place. But despite the presence of all those people, Pale’s eyes only found Maylon’s face.

“Ahh…!”

Pale rushed towards her, his eyes streaming. Maylon, while waiting for the fish to be cooked, suddenly found herself tightly locked in the arms of Pale who was bawling like a baby.

Romuna shook her head.

“One would think he’s reunited with a long-lost family member, looking at him like this.”

Surka agreed lightly.

“I know. And they had breakfast together just this morning.”

*****

“Bring all the liquors over here! We don’t have time to take out all those crates so just keep your carriages there for now.”’

Mapan was making preparations for the festival in the Garnav Plain together with the merchants from the Northern Regions who had been urgently summoned. The festival that was to be held was of such a scale that it was needed to provide enough food and enjoyment for at least a hundred million people. Various corporations approached Mapan voluntarily once they caught the smell of profit.

“I’m from LG Electronics. Our company is hoping to promote our products like refrigerators, washing machines and television sets; is there any way we could make some negotiation to that end?”

Mapan gave out a light sigh, heaving his great belly.

“Well, we are hosting a sacred festival here, so naturally we need a lot of aid from many different sources…”

“Of course, we are willing to pay some… hum, street tax.”

“Ahem-hem! Street tax! Why? Such wording makes it sound like we are extorting money from your companies. Is it what you think of it?”

“Oh. My apologies; it was just a slip of my tongue…”

“We will accept some donation, however.”

“…?”

Samsung, LG, Hyundai[1] and other IT groups from China and the US… Mapan collected a massive amount of sponsorship funds from these companies in return for providing special promotion booths for them. This money in turn was generously spent over the whole Versailles Continent.

“We need more beer, side dishes, and every edible kind of local specialties from every region.”

“But… a lot of those specialties need to be cooked properly first.”

“We’ll hire any number of professional chefs as necessary.”

“Can… can we really do that?”

The resulting expense was so colossal it made even the merchants of the Mapan’s trading company jump from their seats in alarm; as they needed to feed a hundred million people for at least a few days, the cost involved had to be astronomical as well. In addition to a portion of the Arpen Kingdom’s budget and the sponsorship from the corporations, even some of Mapan Store’s own wealth was invested in this particular event.

“This is the special mission given to us by Weed-nim himself.”

“Yes! understood, sir!”

Thus they started making orders and commissions in the message board of every community website for the merchants in the North and Central Continents in Royal Road, which meant that simply an enormous amount of food products were to be collected in one place.

As it was not something they had to keep secret, merchants would talk eagerly about this big event whenever they met each other.

“A festival of an unprecedented scale… I’m just in awe at the resourcefulness and drive of Weed-nim and the Mapan Store to have made such an event possible. Rumor has it that the number of carriages alone that are bringing food from across the entire continent is about ten millions.”

“Yes, it would have been quite impossible if not for Weed-nim’s influence and quick decision-making.”

“Listen up, listen up!”

In every town square of every city including those in the Central Continent, stories about the great festival in the Garnav Plain were spreading.

A merchant user who was wearing a novice’s equipment butted in the conversation among a group of users.

“By the way, did you know that this festival is an event that is meant to be held in honor of all the users?”

“What?”

“It’s true: Weed-nim is spending such a generous amount of money for the users of the Arpen Kingdom, who have overcome so many difficulties together with him.”

“But I’ve heard that the users from the Central Continent are free to join as well?”

“Of course, Weed-nim didn’t set any restrictions as to who can come and enjoy the event. It is going to be a festival for everyone in Royal Road.”

“That’s the Weed-nim I know!”

Weed, spending a huge sum of money just for the enjoyment of common people! This information also started spreading in every city and every message board on the web.

– Hooray for Weed!

– War, hunt, destruction… these are some of the words every user of Royal Road would be familiar with. However, in case of the Arpen Kingdom, the most common and natural concepts are things like festivity, happiness and freedom.

– Kyaah.[2] And Weed-nim himself would be as broke as a stray dog[3] if he loses the coming battle. What an amazingly broad-minded man!

– I guess this is the kind of world Weed-nim wishes to build for everyone one day.

– I’ve always criticized the Grass Porridge Cult, but… I think now I can see why so many people take sides with Weed-nim.

The public sentiment was absolutely in favor of Weed.

– Did you see how everyone in the Garnav Pain welcomed those users who died while fighting the Haven Imperial army in Shelgium? That was such a touching moment it brought tears to my eyes.

– Would there be any better feeling than having your effort and hardship acknowledged? I wish my boss was like Weed-nim.

– Think about Morata and Puhol Water Park; it’s obvious that Weed-nim’s many accomplishments are not only made of great adventures and hunting expeditions. It can be said that a significant portion of the happiness the Royal Road’s Northern users enjoy today is the result of Weed-nim’s hard work.

– This kind of endeavor is something that is not possible without having a deep affection for the people; hosting the largest festival in history right before the war, just for the enjoyment of everyone who joins!

– Wow, a festival… Let’s all go and have fun!

The users from the Northern and Central Continents, and even some from the Eastern regions including the Rosenheim Kingdom, started heading towards the Garnav Plain in a hurry. The popularity and reputation of Weed who was holding this massive event were at their peak.

“I didn’t expect things would go so well. Weed-nim’s clever tricks are truly capable of changing the course of History itself!”

Even Mapan who was in the Garnav Plain from early on hadn’t predicted that the reaction from the public would be so explosive.

“The Poisonous Mushroom Porridge squad is here!”

“Welcome, everyone!”

Whenever there was a big group of visitors newly arriving in the Plain, loud cheers and applauds resounded. The festival, whose purpose was to empty the pockets of every user gathered in the place, caused wild excitement from the crowd at every moment. As there were still many things that had not been prepared on the second day in the Garnav Plain, people voluntarily stepped forward to help cook the food, build the stages, and even set up the tents.

‘Weed-nim said he will hold a festival every year like this if he wins a victory in the coming war. Of such a scale that it will excite the whole Versailles Continent, no less. That would be some sight to behold.’

Witnessing how this festival in the Garnav Plain would improve every year would be something to look forward to in itself, not to mention the astronomical profits they would be able to make during each event. The margin from selling the staggering amount of food  they had massively invested into would be enough to bring forth further prosperity to the Arpen Kingdom.

In the meantime, Mapan had to deal with some giant merchant groups from the Central Continent as well, which were all under powerful influence of the Hermes Guild. Although the Mapan Store also boasted high influence on the market and traded almost any item in Royal Road, in terms of the sheer amount of capital it couldn’t compare with those large merchant groups.

“We are from a guild of merchants trading brewage in the Britten Region. We are going to sell high-quality liquors here.”

“What would be the price range?”

“At least 300 gold for each bottle.”

Mapan and the head of the merchant’s guild caught each other’s eyes.

‘This little thief… he’s looking to take this opportunity to rake it in.’

‘*Gasp*. That stare. He must have sensed my intention already.’

Mapan spoke in a low voice.

“This festival is for everyone’s enjoyment. Lower your prices.”

“Excuse me? Isn’t the price of an item something that is decided by the free will of the market? When there’s a lot of demand, naturally those who supply the desired item can raise its price.”

“Look, we both know what’s really going on here so just throw away your pretense and stop trying to rip people off. Are you really going to keep doing your business like this?”

“…”

“Make an honest living for a change. Seriously.”

“Al, alright.”

Mapan had no reason to flinch from the delegates of those big Central Continent merchant groups. No matter how wealthy they were the operation of any merchant group was based on dealings and spending made by common users. The influence of the Mapan Store had grown with the expansion of Morata until it reached across the whole Northern regions, and after the store was assigned the task of conducting this festival it was gaining even more power, so much so that it could now affect the entire business world of the continent. The heads of the merchant groups of the Central Continent only had the Hermes Guild to direct their anger to.

“God damn it! What on earth is the Hermes Guild doing at this time?”

“Those guys are good for nothing except when they’re taking some lands for themselves. After all the money we have laid on their feet, and now what have they done for us in return?”

Mapan’s tasks also included assigning the business area to each merchants group; if the merchants got greedy and started doing their business in a disorderly manner, it could potentially ruin the fun of the festival.

On the second day in the Garnav Plain, the minstrels began to sing and the dancers began to dance as early as in the midday.

“Lalala. Lalala. Lalalalalala…”

Whenever the musician ladies played their instruments, the bonfire that had been lit since the night before swayed and danced. Beautiful elven girls ambled past, which drew much admiration from the surrounding crowd.

“Wooooow.”

“They’re so pretty. Where did they come from?”

Some brave men struck a conversation with them.

“May I ask where you are from?”

“We’re from the Elven Alpine Club.”

“Ahh. That famous guild…!”

One of the strongest guilds of the elf race, the elf hunters of that guild learned to embrace the essence of the forest as they perfected their skills. They became the brave warriors who were permitted to hunt in the Dragon Mountains, and a video showing the sight of dozens of elves simultaneously rushing up the face of the mountain in a hiking event was hugely popular among the users.

“Wow… aren’t they the members of the Black Lion Guild over there? If I remember correctly this is the first time they’ve joined a public event ever since the guild lost its power.”

“There’s Roam from the Roam Guild and Halden-nim, the warrior of Garakon as well.”

“Already there are so many famous people arriving!”

Despite the fact that it was only the second day, the top-ranking users from the Central Continent were making their first appearances. The war of the prestigious guilds, and the conquest of the Haven Empire — even for those famed users who had been leading a quiet life, this decisive battle in the Garnav plain sounded too intriguing to miss.

As Mapan was working busily, a whisper was sent to him.

– Weed: Mapan-nim,

“Yes. Weed-nim.”

Mapan responded in a quiet voice, as any conversation between them had a possibility of having to be kept out of hearing from other people.

– Weed: I believe things are going well?

“I’m having my men make every possible preparation. The souvenirs are being sold quite well, too.

– Weed: And the profit we are making?

“The gain is about seventeen times the production cost, but since the other items are so cheap there have been few complaints.”

– Weed: Remember, when conducting this event you need to have a proper mindset as if you are going to do a whole year’s worth of business within these few days. Whether we win or lose, this is one opportunity the like of which we will never encounter for the rest of our lives.

“I shall do my best. I have already checked on some lands we[4] could buy with the money we’ll make after this is over.”

– Weed: huhuhuhuhu.

“Kyakyakyakyakyaaat!”[5]

The partnership between Mapan and Weed was like that of a crocodile and a crocodile bird.

– Weed: I know you are busy, but there’s something more in addition to the festival that you need to prepare.

“Your wish is my command.”

– Weed: You need to organize some users and make a lot of super-sized statues. Just as when we built a pyramid in the Rosenheim Kingdom.

“Statues?”

– Weed: Yes, the bigger and the more they are the better. About five times the size of Binryong — no, maybe even ten times.

Mapan’s brain was working rapidly. There was always a specific reason when Weed made this kind of request.

“Could I ask why you need them in more detail? It’ll help me to make preparations if I know their exact purpose.”

– Weed: Those statues will join our fight against the Haven Empire.

Sculptural Life Bestowal!

Mapan couldn’t repress his surprise when he realized what that meant.

“But that way it will result in a decrease in your level. Even if we win the battle, wouldn’t the cost be too much? Giving life to just a hundred sculptures would already be… and if we lose the war by any chance, there would be no way to recover that loss.”

Weed’s colleagues had a rough idea about the penalties of using the special sculpting skills. In case of Sculptural Life Bestowal, it wasn’t a skill that could be used without any restraints as it caused the reduction in the user’s level in exchange for creating a powerful servant. Should they get defeated in the coming battle and lose all the sculptural lifeforms, they would have to suffer a huge damage that couldn’t be undone.

‘Why would Weed-nim make such a reckless move?”

Even if those living sculptures could be of some help during the fight against the empire, in the current circumstances it was simply impossible to change the outcome of the war with a handful of statues.

As Mapan was about to persuade Weed out of his plan, Weed sent another whisper message.

– Weed: It’s not me who’s going to bestow life on them. There’s another person and I’m currently working on making him do it.

Mapan immediately guessed who that might be.

“You can’t mean… Geihar von Arpen?”

– Weed: Huhuhu. I’ll have to make every use out of every person I can manipulate.

“Kya-ha, indeed, there’s always more to learn from you when it comes to trickery.”

Geihar von Arpen, the Emperor! He was the first person in history to have united the Versailles Continent, but Weed was not one to just sit there and admire his impressive accomplishment.

‘He’s going to exploit this emperor to the limit…’

Reusing him in the war that would lead to the unification of the entire continent once again!

A big picture was completing itself in Mapan’s mind.

‘The users will build large statues in the Garnav Plain, and Emperor Geihar will bestow life on them in turn. Then the remaining question is how Weed-nim is going to bring him back… Oh, of course, he’s going to revive him with Sculpture Resurrection.’

One drawback of the Sculpture Resurrection skill was that there was no way to stop the revived person from refusing to help the user who brought them back and leaving. So, making the resurrected person use his own skill to give life to some sculptures would require a very close friendship, or a very good cause. In order to make this possible, Weed travelled back in time using his Travel Sculpting to get on the good side of the emperor while he was in the past. All these schemes were tied together like clockwork, making use of each of the special skills of sculpting in close coordination.

‘There is a high probability that it will work.’

Mapan could already imagine the resurrected Emperor Geihar von Arpen making large statues come to life for Weed; the giants and other colossal creatures standing hundreds of meters tall spouting their deadly breaths towards the troops of the Haven Empire.

“I will start making as many sculptures as possible right away. There are Northern users flocking to this place; I will make thousands of them if necessary, before the war begins.”

– Weed: That’s the spirit! You need to make all sorts of terrible monsters, including those that can fly.

“You mean things like Squashy Wriggler?”

– Weed: Correct. I’ll also try to send at least rough designs to you whenever I get some idea.

“I shall also prepare some artworks or phrases that praise Geihar’s achievements, so he would be more willing to help us. I could search through the history books in Morata’s Great Library to find out what food and drinks he was fond of in life and prepare some of them too.”

– Weed: This conversation is going as smoothly as silk.

“Kyakyakyakya!”

– Weed: And the labor costs…

“We could just give them some grass porridge. There’ll be tons of people who’d want to come and help anyway.”

– Weed: Marvellous!. At least mix an egg in each bowl, though; we shouldn’t leave anyone feeling mistreated.

*****

Next day at sunrise, Weed announced to his companions briskly:

“Now that we all have had enough fun, I think it’s time to get to work.”

“What, after just one day?”

“Yes, I mean, just fooling around is fun and all for about ten, twenty minutes, but after that it just gets boring, don’t you think so?”

“…”

After all the hardships and ordeals they had had to endure through countless hunting expeditions and quests, he was now saying that one day of rest was quite enough.

Weed pointed at the sea in the far distance.

“In just a week, a great army of monsters will come invading from that sea.”

“How many would there be?”

Seasoned Crab, who had joined the company later with Maylon and the others, asked; having both earned some stats and enjoyed the beautiful scenery in such a fantastic place, he was quite content to lend his strength in the coming battle in return. He tended to enjoy a fight, and there was considerable fun to be had in knocking down the monsters together with Weed and his other reliable companions.

“You can pretty much assume that the sea over there will be fully covered by the monsters.”

“…What?”

“Yeah. Nothing but monsters as far as your eyes can see and even beyond the horizon. The entire depth of the sea will be packed with them, in fact.”

“…”

“The name given to the race of those monsters is Poratt. Just imagine sea serpents and you have a pretty good idea of them. They like to eat meat but they’ll devour anything on their way.”

“And their level?”

“It varies a lot. Here, I have brought a record about them from the Great Library in Morata. Their species also became extinct later.”

– An illustrated guide to extinct monsters written by pirates, #391

Poratt

A monster species commonly found in clear oceans. They have a shape of a serpent and they are not particular about their prey. Their strength can be categorized by size.

Up to 50 centimeters: Ordinary. Good to have as sashimi. Good for men’s virility, too, according to some stories. Pirates scramble for their meat.

Up to 1 meter: Tasty. The tastiest stage of their life. You could down a whole bottle of rum with each piece of meat.

Up to 10 meters: Need to be careful. Quite a few pirates were swallowed alive while being too greedy and trying to catch them. Still, not too difficult to hunt with a harpoon.

Up to 30 meters: Scary. They can ram into the ship and damage it.

Up to 50 meters: Best to avoid. The whole pirate ship could go down if things go south.

100 meters or bigger: You need to spread the sail and flee, but they have wings, so they’ll chase you. Just accept that you’re dead and leave a will at least.

When a Poratt lives longer than 60 years, it sprouts out wings and are able to fly. Such older ones are separately called Essen Poratts, and they are legendary creatures of the sea, as there are few pirates who encountered one and survived.

After the companions took turns to read the document, Weed went on.

“The majority of the monsters coming to this sea will be small, but there will also be quite a few of them that are larger than 100 meters.”

Surka raised her hand and asked a question.

“Isn’t there some possibility of inaccuracies in this record? Old rumors among pirates often have a lot of errors.”

“I don’t think there is in this case, as both Golden Bird and Bahamorg fought in this battle at that time.”

Weed had heard the stories directly from Bahamorg, who once lived in this age although he died and was resurrected again, and Golden Bird, whose lifespan was incredibly long. If he really needed more information about the quest, he could also obtain it through Sculpting Resurrection skill, although of course this was not a skill that could be used too often.

Pale asked Weed seriously.

“But how are we going to stop them just by ourselves? According to what you explained to us, not only will there be a large number of monsters with the size of at least 100 meters, but also enough of the smaller ones to fill the entire sea as they swarm in!”

“We’ll just have to try our best.”

“…”

Weed drew a map of the terrains and the coastlines of the area on the sandy ground of the beach.

“We don’t have to worry about those monsters landing on the shore. The army of living sculptures of the Arpen Empire will arrive here and stop them.”

“Then what is our role?”

“We’ll have to buy some time and prevent the destruction of the sea, as well as the extinction of this coral reef and the sea creatures living in it. The Poratts will devour all of them if we don’t interfere.”

The objective was now clear to everyone present: the plan was to just hold their ground, not to kill all the monsters that will crowd the ocean.

Zephyr also raised a question, with a grave look on his face.

“So, how long do we have to hold them off?”

“Golden Bird says it would be about 2 to 3 hours.”

“Then… this might actually be worth giving a shot.”

Each companion took a short while to mull over Weed’s plan.

‘There are at least some odds of us winning.’

‘All we have to do is to survive the invasion… this could work if we just focus on buying some time.’

Most people would still say this was quite impossible, but those who gathered around here thought that they would stand a fair chance; partly because they were confident in their abilities, but also because they knew that Weed had never actually taken a chance on something completely ludicrous. In case of this particular adventure, rather than just a simple fight, they could make use of the special sculpting skills to turn things to their favor. It was also a good opportunity to effectively use Zephyr’s fishing skills.

At that moment, Bellot furrowed her brows slightly and muttered, “Hold on a second, I think we’re missing the easiest and the most obvious way to stop these monsters.”

“What? You sure?”

“What would that be?”

Suddenly the focus of everyone’s attention, Bellot explained confidently.

“We know what is going to happen from now, don’t we? So can’t we just go meet Emperor Geihar and tell him what we know, so he can come and stop the monsters?”

“Huh, now that I think about it, you’re right!”

It was a plausible enough suggestion — since the adventuring party knew in advance about these pelagic monsters’ plan for the invasion, it was possible to thwart it by relaying that knowledge to a right person. By simply changing the course of a past event in history, they would be able to successfully defend such a beautiful sea.

‘If we manage to preserve this wonderful landscape, it will also change the same region when we get back to the future time. That will make a lot of users of Royal Road happy, too.’

‘It didn’t occur to me that there would be… such a perfectly simple way to protect this sea.’

It seemed Bellot had found out the quickest and the easiest measure to prevent the damage to the wildlife of this place. However, Weed firmly shook his head.

“That would be an absurdly wrong move.”

“But… why?”

“Because the whole point of this adventure is to flatter the Emperor!”

They needed to put this entire beautiful ocean at stake while trying to stop a gigantic horde of monsters, all for the sole purpose of buttering up a person.

Thus Weed started to devise defense plans with his companions in the sandy beach.

*****

The first of their plans: construct some traps far away in the sea. This had been Zephyr’s suggestion.

“Let’s prepare a lot of barbed nets and cast them in the sea by linking them to the rocks below. They probably wouldn’t stop them for long but in the billowing sea, they’ll be able to make those monsters get tangled among themselves.”

“That’s a good idea. They’re said to eat anything so they could eat each other as well.”

They decided to work all night to craft as many steel nets as possible. Bellot and a few others sighed dejectedly, but in the end they had no choice but to accept it.

The second plan was to use a phantom ship, which was brought up by Pale.

“Weed-nim, you are a Necromancer; could you summon a phantom ship? I think the undead can be of much help here.”

Truly, nothing would be as effective as a fleet of phantom ships for distracting the sea monsters.

“Hmm. It should be possible, when I transform into a lich. My skills have been improving quite a lot so I expect I will be able to summon a greater number of ships than before.”

An entire squadron of ghost ships could make it much easier for them to fight against the monsters. In fact, considering the conditions of this quest, without an operation of such a scale it would be impossible to hold off the horde of Poratts even for a short while.

The third plan was the bait. This time they didn’t even need anyone in particular to bring up the idea, as it was the first thing that dawned on everyone’s mind when they looked at Yellowy.

“We need something to draw their attention… and I think everyone here would agree that Yellowy is the best candidate for that role.”

Seasoned Crab voiced the idea first, and Romuna agreed instantly as she smacked her lips.

“Those gluttonous monsters won’t be able to swim past our Yellowy.”

“I’m not saying it’s not a reasonable plan, but I’m not sure if it will be effective against the Poratts since they are not land monsters.”

Only Irene felt sorry for Yellowy and wanted to spare him, until Surka laughed and said, “Don’t worry sister, Yellowy told me not to share this with anyone, saying it was a secret, but he actually has a taunt skill! It will be quite effective for distracting the enemies.”

Zephyr took a look at Yellowy and nodded.

“Then he will make excellent bait. We could use him as top-quality bait for those monsters.”

The fourth plan was preservation. Taking into account the worst case scenario where this defense operation fails miserably, they decided to collect as many different corals and sea animals as they could, so that when they were released to the ruined sea after the war was over, at least some life could breed and multiply again.

The fifth plan was a disaster; Disaster Sculpting was one skill that was pretty much a must under such circumstances. While it will inevitably cause some damage to the coral reef, the effectiveness of this skill was such that not using it was not an option they could afford.

The sixth and the final plan was death: except for Weed, every adventurer of the party was determined to put their own life at risk in this fight, as they couldn’t bear the thought of such wonderful beach and ocean being destroyed into nothingness.

“Even if we die we just have to go offline for a day. We’ll still be able to join the battle in the Garnav Plain without much trouble.”

“It’d be a shame to lose the skill levels, but we can always improve our skills again.”

Part of the reason behind their resolve was the broadcast. Just by being Weed’s companions they raised their profiles enough to shoot a handful of commercials themselves. In case of Surka, it was an ad for an air conditioner brand; the concept was a female boxer sweating and punching a sandbag in a gym, and the ad was quite well-received by the public, too.

On the other hand, Romuna had shot a commercial for a mobile phone; she had been very happy when she first got the offer from LG, as such advertisements were usually reserved for extremely attractive actresses or members of popular girl groups, until…

“What? You want me to smash this phone?”

“Yes! Throw it at the wall and strike it with a hammer, and just blow it to pieces with a fire spell, and THEN make a call with it. That’s the main flow of this commercial.”

“But what would all of that achieve, exactly?”

“A very spectacular shot, obviously!”

“But… what about my public image?”

“Why, this commercial was designed precisely based on your public image.”

“…”

It was a too good an offer to refuse, so Romuna ended up accepting their request and shooting the commercial after all; the director lauded her to the skies.

“Every single shot is perfect. The posture of your body when throwing the phone, the way you handle the hammer, even the look on your face as you burn the whole thing with the fire spell! Would you be interested in taking up acting at all?”

As the rest of the companions were famous as well, they all solidified their resolve to willingly sacrifice themselves for the good of the general public, and for the preservation of the sea.

*****

In the Garnav Plain where the festival was in full swing, Mapan began to gather people around him.

“We need to make some large sculptures now, everyone.”

The famed users of the Grass Porridge Cult, who had even given up their quests and hunts in their rush to join the battle, got enthusiastic twinkles in their eyes when Mapan explained to them that it was a special request from Weed in order to conquer the Versailles Continent.

“We’ve got a lot of time. Just make about ten thousands a day and that’ll make a hundred and thirty thousand already!”

“But he said a large number alone wouldn’t help. Let’s just settle with eighty thousand, but instead we’ll make each of them in about the size of the Goddess Freya Statue.”

“I was an engineering student, and if we assume we’ll have about two thousand people working on each statue, then… Whoo, I don’t even need to use any math to figure out it’s going to be a piece of cake.”

“I think this will change the name of this place into the Plain of Statues in the future.”

Sometimes the Grass Porridge Cult was compared to a horde of orcs. Whenever Weed shouted out an order to them, they came swarming in with a mighty “Yaaaaargh!!!”and completed any task they were given, be it a battle or a manual chore. A few people criticized their collective behavior, saying it was foolish, but those who actually participated in such activities did not complain. It was one of those exciting enjoyments that could be experienced only in Royal Road, and besides, they were proud to lead the Versailles Continent to the path of righteousness as they mingled with other people.

After Weed’s request was received by Mapan, the Grass Porridge Cult even issued an emergency call.

“We need to concentrate all our spare forces on this project.”

“I was planning to just enjoy the festival before joining in the war… but it looks like that’s not an option anymore. Ahem.”

“Let’s all stay sharp. We don’t know when we will get another chance to join in an event like this once the whole Versailles Continent become united, do we?”

“We, Grass Porridge, are gradually becoming a highly honorable group, not only in Royal Road but in the entire world. Let us all return this favor by behaving in a way that befits the status of our cult.”

An urgent notice was sent to the users who were drinking beer and idling away in the festival.

– This is Priority One Grass Porridge Emergency Call. A decision was made to build supersized statues in the Garnav Plain. Members of the Grass Porridge Cult are requested to participate immediately.

Although it was an emergency call it did not possess any authority to force people to follow it. Still, the people sprawling on the ground across the Garnav Plain stood up at once.

“A Priority One call!”

“That’s the one they issue only when the very existence of the Grass Porridge Cult is at stake!”

People put down their unfinished plate of food; men and women who were hanging out together stopped their chatter.

“An emergency call! Let’s go!”

“Poisonous Mushroom Porridge, move!”

Those who had been taking a rest rose from their seats and began to flock in, holding the banner of their squad. The people who had just arrived in the Garnav Plain and were getting ready to enjoy the festival got a grip on themselves as well.

“Join in the labor. Let’s get to work! Where did I put my shovel?”

“Let’s move, quickly!”

It was a magnificent sight; five hundred thousand users gathered in the Garnav Plain rushing out to carry out their share of work, kicking up a cloud of dust behind.

“What, what is this…?”

“Wow. It’s been a second and already they’re all moving!”

The users of the Central Continent were all left sitting there, dumbfounded by the whole situation that happened so quickly.

– This is Lemon from the Grass Porridge. We need your help right now. Please come ASAP.

The main force of the Grass Porridge Cult that had been descending from the North — a single message changed the movement of the entire army, whose soldiers had been taking in the sights and sauntering merrily as if on a holiday trip.

“Begin the march!”

The high-level users shot forward at once, running at a great speed. The mages used flying spells and moved towards the South as they soared in the sky. The average level of the main force of the Grass Porridge Cult was not high, but even the common users began to move in earnest.

“Those who are riding on horses or cows can move ahead!”

“Anyone with an empty carriage can pick up ten, no, twenty people each.”

“I’ve just sent a request to the Avians. A squad of twenty thousand sparrows is on their way to give us a ride.”

Every carriage drawn by a horse or a cow was belting along the barren road, with people sitting on its roof and holding onto the side walls.

The entire main force of the Grass Porridge Cult began their rush towards the south with a terrible speed. Their destination was the Garnav Plain.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] I’m not sure if it is entirely appropriate to put the names of the real companies, but that was the case in the original text so I just followed suit.

↑ [2] I know this sound is generally known as a high-pitched scream made by a girl in Japanese animation or Manga, but in this case this is describing a very guttural sigh Korean people often make to express their delight or admiration. (You could imagine the sound one makes after glugging beer or fizzy drink.)

↑ [3] The literal translation of this line would be “become as dog’s fur.” which describes the status of a person who has lost all their money, and become as worthless as a “dog’s fur”.

↑ [4] In the original Korean sentence it is actually not clear who exactly will buy those lands. I know Weed’s very interested in purchasing lands, but I thought Mapan was also planning to buy those lands because he checked on them first.

↑ [5] Both of these sounds are describing Evil Villain Laughter.

Chapter 3: Changes in the Garnav Plain

Rhodium, the city of artists!

It was a place normally filled with sorrow and despair, for its residents bemoaned their poor choice of profession day and night. However, the news of giant sculptures being built in the Garnav Plain reached their ears as well.

“Our skills can be useful for that kind of project. Finally we’ll be able to find some meaning to our lives.”

“But, those sculptures… Did you see the construction plan of the red dragon they uploaded on the Grass Porridge Cult homepage? The statue that is going to be 800 meters tall?”

“The scale is just beyond imagination.”

“They’d probably have to carve it out of a building, no, a mountain even.”

“Apparently they are going to connect some steel to rocks… I’m in awe just by imagining it.”

The scale of the project was enough to astound many sculptors who were used to making sculptures with heights of one or two meters. Even Weed had never created a statue of such an enormous size.

“They’re making it in the Garnav Plain, so all the stone and sand will have to be brought in from other regions first; will it really be possible to complete the construction there?”

“You don’t have to worry about the materials. About a million people have been deployed to collect all the materials needed.”

“There’s also a plan for making a floating statue. It is said that they’re going to hang the sculpture in midair and make it move.”

“What? How?”

“Well, they said they’re going to figure out a way from now…”

It was truly exciting news to all the sculptors who had been whiling away their time in Rhodium without anything to do.

“Ugh. Why on earth did I choose to become a painter?”

“I should’ve listened to my friends. Everyone else is out their hunting and making a fortune, and I’m just sitting here wasting my money on paints.”

“Those sculptors must be really happy to have Weed as one of them.”

The painters were idly doodling on the ground while staring enviously at the backs of the sculptors setting off to the Garnav Plain in a hurry, but soon another notice from the Grass Porridge Cult arrived.

“They’re asking painters to gather in the Garnav Plain as well.”

“They need painters too? But I thought they are only making sculptures…”

“Well, obviously they’re having a large number of people working together to build each sculpture; they need the painters to draw the diagrams first so that people can construct the sculptures based on them.”

“Aha, I haven’t thought of that!”

Thus every artist who had been begging in the streets of Rodium began to travel to the Garnav Plain.

A decisive battle between the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire was imminent, and the Garnav Plain — the very place where the fate of the Versailles Continent will be determined — was turning into a gigantic construction site the likes of which had never existed in human history before.

*****

< You have leveled up.>

Bard Ray’s level has finally reached 592. His power was growing at an overwhelming rate, as befits his nickname, the Godly Warrior.

“I should be able to achieve level 600 soon.”

Ever since the door to Royal Road first opened up, he had maintained his place as the highest-level player. He had monopolized many beneficial quests and hunting grounds and, by exploring dungeons that had not been discovered by other users, he and his royal guards had been devouring twice as much experience points as normal. As a result, he could boast an unmatched power even among the top rankers of the game, yet as the day of the battle drew near he was finding it hard to shake off the anxiety.

“I’m feeling strangely uneasy…”

Something about the thought of fighting against Weed oddly made him tense up. He himself was aware of the fact that he had not achieved the victory as easily as expected during the battle in the Melbourne Mine.

‘The way he effectively used a wide range of skills, and his technique of stealing the perfect timing[1] from his opponent… quite surprisingly, in terms of talent in combat he surpassed my abilities in many aspects.’

Most of Bard Ray’s experience in battles consisted of monster hunting with little risk involved. Even during occasions where he hunted a boss monster for the first time ever, rather than fighting alone he always had a group of his royal guards or a backup force supporting him. Together they coordinated their attacks to deal with the boss monster or other weaker thralls, and as a result Bard Ray was more adept at fighting in collaboration with other users than going into a battle alone.

On the other hand, Weed, as his name suggests, had been beaten and trodden down throughout his many adventures and the ordeals lain in his path, and thus the sole purpose of his fighting was survival.

‘And that’s why I couldn’t let my guard down when I faced him.’

Bard Ray was used to overwhelm his opponents with his high level and flashy combat skills. Even when fighting against other famous rankers like Roam or Calis, he could get the start on his enemies even before the actual battle thanks to his reputation as the Godly Warrior.

However, such a methodology had no effect whatsoever against Weed. Which was why even after his victory in the Melbourne Mine, Bard Ray still counted him as one of his most difficult rival.

‘No doubt, Weed too must have been very conscious of my power ever since.’

Even in the middle of a heated battle, Bard Ray would renew his resolve whenever he thought of Weed. In order to compensate the weaknesses in his fighting style, he had studied videos of Weed’s battles and learned the technique of focus-fire attacks. He had also concentrated his strength on perfecting his swordsmanship as well as learning to better coordinate his skills.

‘Maybe Weed has been looking forward to meet me again, too, in order to determine the strongest player of Royal Road once and for all.’

Sadly, this thought was a one-sided delusion of Bard Ray, as Weed was busy making his living, earning money, farming to increase skill proficiencies on top of all the quests.

‘I need to cast the dice on the coming battle. If I lose in the one-on-one fight by any chance… then the nickname ‘God of War’ will be claimed by Weed, too.’[2]

And if that happens, it would be an even bigger personal trauma to Bard Ray than the fall of the Hermes Guild itself.

– Lafaye: I need to talk to you about something for a moment.

Bard Ray received this message while he was fighting some bandaged monsters called Gollaps in a hunting ground.

“What is it?”

– Lafaye: There’s something strange going on in the camp of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Bard Ray already knew as much after watching the broadcast.

“I hear that they are planning to make some sculptures while having a festival…”

– Lafaye: My guess is that those activities are related to a certain emperor named Geihar von Arpen.

The Arpen Emperor!

Bard Ray was not too well versed in the knowledge concerning quests or history, as he only had to focus on fighting while Lafaye and the intelligence bureau gathered all the important information and provided all the hunting grounds for him. Nonetheless, he knew quite a lot about the background story of Weed’s founding of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Do you mean the Emperor of the Arpen Empire who once united the Versailles Continent?”

– Lafaye: Yes. Among many skills of sculpting, there is one that can inject life into a sculpture, making it come alive.

The Hermes Guild had been consciously researching Weed’s secret sculpting skills. Disaster Sculpting, Spirit Creation, Sculptural Life Bestowal, Sculptural Resurrection, and Sculpting Blade skills. Not only did they know about them all, but they were also currently studying Moment Sculpting. While they hadn’t figured out the detailed requirement for using this skill, all the researchers agreed that it was an extremely dangerous and complex skill to deal with; Bard Ray himself hadn’t even come close to a solution against an opponent who could stop time. Although it was true that he had become remarkably powerful as a Black Knight, Weed’s strength had been growing just as much as his.

“Are you saying… that they are going to give life to all those giant sculptures I saw on broadcast, make them move?”

– Lafaye: that’s the only explanation I can think of as for what they’re doing it. Every single one of those sculptures will attack our Imperial Army.

Bard Ray’s mind automatically worked to imagine a terrible sight; already there were hundreds of thousands of people working on that grand construction project in the Garnav Plain, to build sculptures of ridiculous size. After about thirteen days, a huge number of those jaw-droppingly gigantic sculptures will be spread over the whole place, and the mighty legion of statues will trample and sweep all over the Haven Imperial Army. The Imperial troops became a top-elite force through repeated wars, but a battle against such an army of sculpture would be simply too dangerous.

Bard Ray hesitated for a second, but in the end he couldn’t help saying, “Isn’t that going to be hopelessly disadvantageous for our side?”

– Lafaye: It seems that Weed… has played the best card he had in his current circumstances.

Despite his nickname as the Godly Warrior, Bard Ray did not want to deal with such monstrous sculptures.

“Any countermeasures? Shouldn’t we stop them from making those sculptures? I don’t think it is fair to rally their users like that to build weapons in advance before the war begins.”

– Lafaye: We have considered making formal condemnation, but I don’t think that will be enough to stop them.

“…”

Due to the popularity of the Hermes Guild among the general users having hit rock bottom, it would be unlikely that people would listen to them even if the guild demanded for a fair fight and asked them to stop the construction.

“Looks like we have a difficult situation.”

– Lafaye: We have come too far to cancel the battle now… I’m afraid the only option left to us now is to fight. We’ll have to deploy the Air Force to deal with those sculptures.

“We’re going to waste one of the secret weapons for protecting the empire like that?”

– Lafaye: what with holding off those statues on top of fighting the Avians, we have no choice but to use the Air Force.

“It’s going to be one confusing fight.”

– Lafaye: Whatever we imagine now, it will be more than that — it’s going to be remembered as the greatest battle in human history.

In the sky, the Air Force, one of the secret weapons that the Hermes Guild had kept hidden until now, will be tangled in the fight against the Avians. On the ground, an army consisting of tens of millions of people will face the top elite troops of the Haven Empire, the conqueror of the Central Continent.

With Lafaye in the center, the entire military force of both the Haven Imperial Army and the Hermes Guild was preparing to assemble.

Bard Ray felt the blood in his veins boil with excitement as he imagined the moments of war.

‘I haven’t felt such a strong emotion even during the conquest of the Central Continent… There was only a sense of accomplishment back then. But this time, I feel like I can truly enjoy the war itself.’

Numerous rankers in the Hermes Guild were honing their swords for the coming battle as well. Not to mention the fact that they had suffered a series of defeats against Weed and the Northern users, it would be a very meaningful experience to do their part in such a legendary war. The Hermes Guild may have become covetous now, but it too had started with its members dreaming of achieving strength and greatness.

‘The greatest battle in the whole continent… that would be worth the time and effort I have put in all the hunting.’

Bard Ray was slowly beginning to loosen up. There was certainly the burden of living up to his name and reputation, but such a magnificent battle would not happen often in his life.

‘Wait. But what if we lose?’

*****

Weed and his colleagues were busy making preparations for the coming fight against the sea monsters. They made steel nets, put traps in place, and even studied the seafloor terrain. It was a continuation of a countless number of manual tasks, and no matter how hard they worked they were making very little progress.

“We’ll need some people to help us; we cannot finish this by ourselves.”

Hwaryeong claimed that they needed some more workers, and visited a few nearby villages on the back of Yellowy.

“There is going to be a monster invasion. Please, let us gather our strength and stop them together.”

“We will do that.”

< Your earnest plea has persuaded the local residents.

They will now lend a hand with your work for four hours each day.>

The skill of a dancer with a high Charm stat!

As there were a lot of fishermen among the residents living near the sea, they were of great help in weaving the nets.

In the meantime, Weed, after much consideration, was forced into a conclusion that they had a lot of obstacles ahead to overcome as the battle would be taking place in the vast sea. Stalling those monsters even for just two, three hours was not a simple task in any way.

“I wonder if I’ll have to spread some green algae in the sea…?”

A plan to fight the monsters with terrible marine pollution! Weed stared at the sea seriously trying to estimate the amount and pathway to spread, but soon gave up.

“I wouldn’t be able to protect the fish and the corals in the sea that way.”

Thus, most fortunately, he dropped the idea of attempting to create the worst environmental pollution on the face of the Versailles Continent.

“We’ll just do whatever we can, and if I sculpt a disaster as well… We should be able to stop them for about two hours, even if we might have to lose a portion of the coral reef.”

He had managed to stop even the Immortal Legion by winging it somehow, so there was no reason he couldn’t do it again this time.

As Weed and his companions were working in the late hours of the night, an old man with a long silvery beard approached them.

“What are you all doing here, young lads and lasses?”

While stringing fishhooks to a net, Zephyr waved his hand at the old man as if shooing him away.

“Sir, there’s going to be a monster invasion in this sea. Leave this area and take refuge; it’s not safe here.”

“He’s right. You need to leave right now.”

Surka said with a concerned expression as she rose from her seat. Having a kind heart, she didn’t want to see the villagers die, even though she knew that these people only existed in old history.

“Here, I’ll take you to someplace safe. Where is your house?”

“Home is wherever I am.”

With this curious remark, every party member’s gaze fell on the old man at once; he looked like he had been wearing the same raggedy cloths for at least ten years, and there was not a hint of dignity and command in his dirty face.

‘He’s a homeless, perhaps?’

‘I know this sort of conversation often leads to a quest…’

Travel Sculpting was commonly linked to a great number of quests, probably based on the idea that artistic skills such as sculpting required diverse experience through much travel, although if you asked Weed, he would say that all he wanted was to sit still in one spot until he was hit by a shower of money.

Irene rummaged in her backpack and offered a small pouch to the bearded elderly man.

“Here. Have some nice meal with this. I’m sorry it’s not much.”

The other companions were more sorry to see the money go, but they thought that her action was understandable under current situation; sure, those few gold coins they put in the hands of some poor local man from the past would be a meaningless expense, but human compassion did not always work in a logical and reasonable way. Still, the smile they made at the old man was somewhat stiff and frozen.

“The beautiful lady is so kind!”

The bearded grandfather took the pouch from Irene and poured the content on his palm.

Jangle!

The pile of large coins looked like it would be at least 200 gold.

“Kind lady, might you have some time to spare? As the fate has guided us to meet, would you care to come with me to some quiet place, and…”

She had come all the way to the distant past for a grand quest, and now she ended up with a local grandpa making advances to her. Irene was scrabbling for words as she didn’t know how to respond, when she was greatly startled by the old man’s next words.

“…And allow me to make a sculpture of your beautiful self?”

“Eh?”

“Huh?”

“Wait, what he just said… could it be..?”

It was hardly impossible that the party would stumble onto a local sculptor; there were people with some sculpting skills among the residents[3] of the Versailles Continent, although they were quite rare, and there were shops that sold materials for sculpting as well. However, this old man had such a relaxed air about him that it made them wonder if he was just an ordinary sculptor.

Irene must have had a similar thought, too, for she asked him cautiously, “May I ask your name, sir?”

“Well, it’s quite a common name… I’m called Gherr.”

“I see.”

Weed and the other companions were still looking at him suspiciously, as the name sounded similar to “Geihar”.

‘Well, this isn’t some big mystery to solve; there’s a quick way to check.’

Irene was having the same suspicion in her mind.

“Sure. Please go ahead and make a sculpture of me.”

The master sculptor, Emperor Geihar von Arpen!

If this old man was indeed him, he would be able to create a magnificent piece of art on the spot.

****

Scrape scrape scrape!

A block of white marble was being carved into shape by careful strokes of the old man’s blade.

The speed at which he moved his carving knife was slow, but it took the observing adventurers less than a minute to become fully convinced of his identity, for there could be no mistaking such incredible beauty of his sculpture shimmering in bright colors.

‘How can he make a sculpture of Irene look so pretty? He might as well have created a whole new person!’

‘That’s Emperor Geihar.’

‘The emperor who united the Versailles Continent for the first time ever… and he’s just shown up before us.’

‘This will make Weed-nim’s plan go awry… does that mean we don’t have to do all this work now?’

The other companions were having different thoughts for meeting a hero from old history, but none of them was overly amazed; in terms of amazing things, they were living a far more incredible reality where Weed, just a nobody who they had met shortly after starting Royal Road, had become a man of such fame after undergoing all sorts of hardships. Indeed, it was truly a miracle how they themselves came to become famous just by being close to him, or how they successfully completed all those challenges and adventures that everyone had deemed impossible.

They had travelled in time back to the age in which Emperor Geihar was alive, and they also knew that he was somewhere in the nearby areas, so it was not too much of a coincidence that they had encountered him like this.

‘Well, this messes up my plan a little.’

Weed furrowed his brows, but still closely observed Emperor Geihar’s sculpting work. Rather than trimming down the form and the proportion of the sculpture little by little, Emperor Geihar worked his way from the head to the feet, detailing each part down to the finishing touch before moving on to the next while being completely immersed in the job. The most prominent aspect of his sculpting skills was the great expressiveness which made the sculpture look so full of life that it did not even need any further correction.

‘It’s going to be at least a fine piece, quite possibly a Masterpiece, even.’

Needless to say, the excellent value of the sculpture was to be expected from the master sculptor.

‘Never mind that. I’ll have to call off the plan to win the good graces of him by stopping the sea monsters; now that things have come to this, I might as well just stay close to him.’

Weed walked up to Emperor Geihar and stood almost cheek by jowl with him; he was cleaned up the chips of marble on the ground and provided the emperor with a number of brushes to beat off the dust on the sculpture like an assistant in a hairdresser’s.

“I needed those, thank you. I’ll use them well.”

“It’s my pleasure, sir!”

Weed spoke in a voice that could only be described as sycophantic.

Various kinds of beauty and charm were mingled together in the Emperor’s sculpture; its vividness was such that it looked as if it was about to come alive and move any minute. While Irene was certainly a young and pure-looking lady, her sculpture was a powerful piece of art that could make anyone who beholds it fall in love with it.

‘And it’s slightly different from the real person.’

From the perspective of an expert in sculpting, small changes could be seen such as the legs being slightly longer or the jawline slimmer than the actual model; the emperor possessed remarkable technique in bringing out the beauty of the subject without making any obvious changes.

“This lady is truly adorable.”

Emperor Geihar was now using a sharp tool to carve her hair, taking much time and care, in fine detail. The sight of him working on a piece of art with his body soaked in sweat was indeed quite becoming to a master craftsman.

‘I knew it; the emperor was just another skilled manual worker.’

‘That’s the secret of sculpting — you slog and slog and slog.’

‘Ugh, he smells a bit too much of sweat…’

As this was also a sight with which Weed’s companions were only too familiar, they simply concluded that Emperor Geihar was just another guy like Weed. They could see his manic passion and tenacious purpose, but washing one’s body was also an important part of one’s daily life.

Emperor Geihar looked up at Irene and asked:

“We need to give a title to this piece… would you mind if I named it?”

“No, sir.”

“This work… I shall simply call it ‘A Statue of Beauty’, without any other decorating words.”

*Ding!*

< A Masterpiece! “A Statue of Beauty” has been completed!

A sculptor who brought much glory to the art of sculpting on the Versailles Continent —

Geihar von Arpen, the master of sculpting skills — fashioned a figurine of a devoted priest out of marble, and filled it with his warm touch.

The recovery speed of life force, mana and stamina will increase by 40 percent.

All stats will increase by 52 points.

Faith and Charm stats will permanently increase by 10 points.

Skill proficiencies related to divine professions will increase by a small amount.

The Fame of the region in which the sculpture was completed will increase by 85 points; after a certain time has passed, this place will become a sanctum of faith. >

< The Blessing of Goddess Freya has been bestowed!

All aspects of your current status have been improved beyond the average, and your body has reached the maximum ideal condition.

The effect of your racial benefits will be doubled.

Indomitable Resolve!

When a paladin is near their companions, the potency of their divine skills will increase.

You can block any special attacks from Dark-type monsters with holy power. >

“I’m grateful that a fair lady like yourself allowed me to make a sculpture of you.”

“I’m the one who should thank you for making such a beautiful sculpture.”

“Oh, it was a huge honor for an old sculptor of some trivial skills. I will remember this day for the rest of my life.”

It seemed that Emperor Geihar couldn’t be in a better mood. He looked at Bellot and Hwaryeong and suggested, “Would you ladies care to be the models for my next works as well? It would be a great honor for this old man.”

“Of course.”

“I’d be delighted!”

Both of them gladly accepted his offer. The popularity they had gained from being part of Weed’s adventures could easily surpass that of many existing celebrities; the video showing the making of their sculptures would spread across the entire world. For now, they were all the more eager to agree to be the models for the emperor as it meant that they would be freed from the infernal task of weaving the nets.

While Emperor Geihar was working on the sculptures of Bellot and Hwaryeong, yet another trick was being devised in the head of Weed, who had been watching them in silence.

*****

Weed made a request to Zephyr and Pale.

“Could you catch a large amount of fish for me? I should start preparing dinner.”

“Well, we’re still making these steel nets…”

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Alright!”

“I need some venison, boar and bird meat as well. We are going to have a feast this evening.”

While his companions were out hunting for animals, Yellowy and Gold Man gathered some wild herbs. Shortly afterwards, Pale and Maylon brought many deer, hares and birds they had caught, on top of all the delicious looking seafood such as white snow crabs, shrimps and various kinds of fish.

“I could make anything with these.”

Weed’s cooking skill was at Advanced level 2. He already knew how to bring out profound flavor from any ingredient, and now he was given some first and second-class cooking materials.

Weed started to prepare all sorts of delicacies with some help from Surka, who had developed a recent interest in cooking. He simmered, fried, roasted, boiled, and steam-cooked. Soon, a hundred different dishes were lined up in the beach in a grand buffet.

“It’s not much, but please help yourself.”

The eyes of the emperor, who had had a hard day making multiple sculptures in one sitting, were filled with astonishment.

“These are… some magnificent dishes; I can tell just by the smell.”

Weed flipped the Korean pancakes in the frying pan with impressive adeptness. With each snap of his wrist, a flame that was almost a meter tall shot up from the oil in the pan.

“This is just some petty skill I picked up as a pastime. It’s nothing compared to the immortal value of sculpting as an art of expressing beauty.”

“I’m glad to know that you appreciate the value of sculpting.”

“I myself am a sculptor. I have faithfully walked the path of this profession for the entirety of my life.”

“Indeed? Sculpting is a very complex technique to master. I’m impressed a young man like you has been practicing it so diligently.”

Weed had cast the topic of sculpting as a lure to trap the emperor, and Geihar took it like a starving crocodile.

“To be quite frank, I have never considered sculpting to be difficult.”

“What? You think sculpting is easy, then?”

“No, but it’s an art that always gives me much pleasure while pursuing it. Every day is full of happiness as I give body to many beautiful images in my head and live the life of an artist. A sculptor must learn to love all creation in this world through passion and perseverance, wouldn’t you agree?”

With these few lines, Weed had completely buried the entire first year after becoming a sculptor during which he was constantly grumbling about his useless profession.

“Those are some good words. I would love to share more stories with you.”

“I also have a lot of things I wish to learn from you. I’d much appreciate it if you could teach me everything from the scratch, starting from how to grip a burin.”

Weed filled a plate with a large pile of shrimps first and offered it to the emperor.

“I’m ashamed to give you such a humble meal, but please enjoy it.”

Emperor Geihar accepted the plate without a single shred of suspicion.

And while watching their exchange, the faith of the other companions in Weed grew stronger.

“I’d say this Emperor Geihar will become yet another one of Weed-nim’s slaves soon.”

“He was destined to be one the moment he appeared in front of us; just like what happened to Hestiger.”

Weed’s incredible ability to build up intimacy level even with legendary heroes of the Versailles Continent through coaxing and flattery — it hadn’t been of much use after he earned his fame and rose to a higher station, but now that he was using this special talent once more after a long time, the companions were fully confident that Emperor Geihar would begin to be willingly exploited like a slave from next day onwards.

“Weed-nim’s seafood dishes are so delicious.”

“Kya-ah. It’s been a while since I tasted this.”

“This is a fantastic dinner party. A feast in the beach with the sun setting into the sea…”

The food tasted even more delicious to the companions after the long hours of hard labor. While eating, they basked in the beautiful view provided by the shore of the coral sea. Seasoned Crab had also bought an ample amount of beer from the nearby villages, and Romuna, who could use some basic Ice spells although she specialized in Fire magic, cooled the beer to the right temperature. Pale and Maylon also had a glass each.

“We’re having a banquet just among ourselves. If only every day could be like today…”

“I think I’ve given myself a huge treat by following Weed-nim. We’ve had some battle and a memorable trip after that. There will be a lot of days like this after the war with the Hermes Guild is over, don’t you think so?”

“Probably.”

“But what are we going to do if we lose?”

With this sudden question from Surka, a brief silence fell on the table as nobody was quite sure how to respond. If they lost in the coming war, they would become the subject of the Hermes Guild’s unrelenting vengeance, which meant that they might not be able to continue playing Royal Road any more.

Seasoned Crab smiled and said, “We can all move to an inhabited island in the East, or one of those Avian cities in the sky.”

“*sigh* I suppose.”

Sensing the anxiety and worry from the other companions, Maylon hesitantly opened her mouth.

“I’m supposed to keep this a secret, but I have something to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“I think all the broadcasting stations have decided to side with Weed-nim.”

Maylon informed the other adventurers of the recent changes in the atmosphere inside KMC Media.

“About three days ago, Weed-nim invited the chief director of my company to dinner in his house.”

“And?”

Even Zephyr, who was mostly uninterested in the political climate of the Versailles Continent, put down his glass of beer and joined the conversation.

“Well, apparently Weed-nim treated my boss and all the other chief directors with a bowl of Ramyun each…”

“That’s classic Weed-nim.”

“It’s said he didn’t even bother to put any eggs.”

“*gasp*!”

“Anyway, I don’t know exactly what they talked about during that dinner party, but after that day, all the broadcasting stations have been covering various adventures of Weed-nim almost 24/7, including this one.”

In every single channel that was related to Royal Road, people were talking about Weed.

Seasoned Crab asked with a puzzled expression, “Isn’t that just because the battle in the Garnav Plain is due to take place very soon, and he’s also currently in the middle of an adventure that’s taking place in the past?”

“The viewers would certainly think so. But the people working at the broadcasting stations are focusing on editing the videos of Weed-nim’s adventures in as positive a light as possible.”

“Well, that’s because he is very popular among people… also, KMC Media has quite a close relation with Weed-nim… doesn’t it?”

“But what about re-editing all the past adventuring videos and putting them on constant reruns, while implying that he has always succeeded in saving the continent in the end? By comparison, any mentions of the Hermes Guild have been reduced to less than a half of the initial proportion. Even when they do mention them it’s usually for letting people know about the guild’s past evil deeds on repeat.”

“That does sound a bit odd.”

“And this is not only happening in KMC Media. Every single broadcasting station is behaving in a similar way. I think Weed-nim is leading the general mood in his favor through broadcast.”

“…!”

The rest of the companions opened their eyes in sudden realization.

Taking control of the public sentiment using the broadcasting stations around the world before the war begins!

If most of the people in Royal Road’s community were convinced of Weed’s victory, more would flock to the Arpen Kingdom’s side, which would, in turn, dramatically improve the combat strength of the kingdom. That meant that it would become more and more probable that he was to create an outcome which he desired.

“By gods!”

“Wow… I’m having goosebumps right now.”

The companions glanced at the profile of Weed laughing exaggeratedly at the side of the emperor.

“Huheheheheheheh.”

Such a peaceful-looking laugh, as if he would give him a shirt off his back![4]

‘He certainly knows how to stay on top of his social life.’

‘I remember him saying he learned how to manipulate the media while working as a newsboy. I hadn’t expected it to be anything more than a joke, but now I know he was telling the truth.’

It could be said that Weed was what you get after you combine the art of manual work and social skills.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] I’m not sure what exactly the author means by this phrase (I think maybe he is referring to Weed’s Moment Sculpting skill), so I translated the phrase as literally as possible.

↑ [2] I was also a bit confused by this sentence, because Weed is already called the God of War by people. As I mentioned in one of the earlier chapters the actual nickname in Korean of Bard Ray is not exactly “the God of War” (it’s closer to “the God of Combat” or “the Warrior God”) so I first thought maybe Bard Ray is afraid that Weed will steal his nickname from him, but the original Korean text also clearly says “God of War”. If anyone in the community could clarify this, I’d appreciate it.

↑ [3] I was wondering if ‘NPC’ would be a better word, since I don’t think the ‘residents’ in this context include any PC characters. Let me know what you think.

↑ [4] Just for your information, the equivalent expression in Korean language is “he would take out and give his own liver if asked”.

Chapter 4: For This Beautiful Sea

When the mood of the dinner party was sufficiently heightened, Weed beckoned Yellowy and Nile to come closer.

“Moooo…”

“I’m so sleepy. Can’t I at least have a solid rest on a day like this?”

The sculptural creatures complained.

“Allow me to introduce them to you; both of these sculptures are my own creation.”

Geihar cocked his head with a surprised expression in his face.

“Sculptures? You mean they are…?”

“Yes. I bestowed life upon them.”

“Life bestowal? But that is my specialty. How on earth did you manage to use that skill?”

Weed straightened the creases on his novice adventurer’s garment with his hands; this was one of the planned-out acts for the ultimate flattery he had designed to win the favor of the emperor, in order to squeeze the last drop of usefulness out of him.

“I think it’s time to introduce myself more properly, master.”

“Master? What do you mean?”

“My imperial majesty Emperor Geihar von Arpen, I am your student from the future, who once came across a piece of parchment left by yourself and thereby chose to become a sculptor.”

Geihar’s jaw dropped in amazement. Weed began to tell him the old story.

His path as a sculptor had been initiated in a place called Lair of Litvart. With all things considered, it could be said that Emperor Geihar was Weed’s true mentor.

“Well I’ll be damned… so you became a sculptor after reading my letter?”

“Indeed, it was an expertly written piece of work that captured my interest at once.”

As a proof, Weed took out the parchment which he had been keeping all along. He never threw away anything, even if it was just some old miscellaneous item. As for this letter, he had chucked it in an obscure corner of the Black Castle before finding and bringing it with him for this adventure.

– A letter from a legendary emperor to the future generations.

My name is Geihar von Arpen, the Emperor who united the Versailles Continent for the first time in history. However, I confess that the last days of my life have not been too happy, for there was none who recognized my torment, and my talent. Why doesn’t anyone understand the greatness of my profession? Why do people scorn and dismiss it as some worthless job? Blinded by prejudice, nobody made an attempt to understand the true intention behind my choices, nor did they show willingness to carry on my legacy as a sculptor. Even my own children were no exception — foolish, ignorant things! They do not deserve to become my successor; thus I leave all my secret techniques of sculpting here.

The letter was full of complaints as well as denunciation on one’s children.

“This indeed looks like my own handwriting.”

“Yes. I had always been very interested in the art of sculpting, and after reading your letter, I immediately made a decision to become a sculptor.”

“So none of my own children became a successor to my legacy…”

“I do not know much about that, but that was what was written in the letter.”

Although people say backbiting a person together was a classic way of bonding with a friend, it wouldn’t be wise to have the said friend’s own family as the subject of the slander, even if he hated them. It might feel satisfying at first, but a person was bound to get angry eventually at the insults towards his own kin.

“After that letter of your majesty’s opened my eyes to the world of sculpting, I have been through so much pain and suffer-I mean, *ahem*, so many wonderful adventures with a burning passion in my heart. I’ve come to know more about the sculpting techniques as I travelled across the continent.”

After listening to Weed’s explanation on all that had happened, Emperor Geihar nodded.

“That’s indeed the power of sculpting. Travelling in time itself wouldn’t be a difficult task at all if you have the endless possibilities of sculpting by your side, the art of creating miracles.”

Weed wetted his lips profusely with saliva.

“Of course. Sculpting is the best skill one can have.”

“Do you realize that while all the combat skills are quite simple to master, creating life is something only a god would be capable of? Art is one true power, the limit of which is beyond our estimation.”

“You are absolutely right. That’s what I always say to other people as well. Sculpting is an everlasting technique.”

“It seems we talk the same language; because you are my pupil, perhaps?”

“Allow me to refill your cup, your Majesty!”

“No need for such formality; just call me master.”

Weed was getting along smoothly with Emperor Geihar, enjoying a glass of beer with him.

“By the way, you could have come to meet me straight away after you arrived; why were you staying in this place?”

“There will be a monster invasion in a few days, an invasion by which this beautiful sea of the Arpen Empire will be destroyed.”

He added some more explanation about the coming assault of the monsters upon the great coral reef. Geihar’s eyes narrowed and a hint of suspicion appeared on his face.

“Invasion and destruction. Aren’t those all the more reasons why you should have come to me?”

“Of course, I yearned to find you and seek your help, master. But at that time I was worried that we wouldn’t be able to have an audience with the great Emperor himself… so we decided to stop the invading monsters by joining our strength, meager though it may be.”

“That is very commendable attitude, nothing less than what I’d expect from my student.”

“Huheheheheheh.”

Emperor Geihar had an easy-going disposition and was quite susceptible to flattery.

‘I didn’t have to worry so much. I should’ve guessed he would be such a simple person to deal with from that letter he left for the future generations.’

Weed’s honeyed words were absorbed by the emperor as smoothly as an instant coffee mix dissolving into hot water. From the next day onwards, Geihar joined the rest of the adventurers in their effort to stop the monsters.

“The sculptural lifeforms… After I bestowed life upon them, all of them have been living as free spirits. I will ask these friends of mine for their aid.”

“Yes, master.”

Emperor Geihar summoned the sculptural creatures living in the nearby regions by blowing a shining bugle. Every day there were more than a thousand creatures answering his call; on the first day, they consisted mainly of small animals resembling raccoons or badgers.

“Master! Master!”

“Kekeke. Here I am!”

As soon as they arrived, this race of creatures called Boroks started to eat the significant amount of fish that Zephyr had caught.

Emperor Geihar spoke to them.

“There will be a fight.”

“Kukeke. Sounds scary! I’m scared!”

“Our enemies are fish.”

“Food! We eat them!!”

Weed thought that those creatures that had gathered on the first day would be quite useless.

‘They are small, weak, yet consume a lot of food. That’s the worst combination I could think of.’

The next day, various kinds of herbivores streamed into the beach, including some tiny ones that looked similar to rabbits. At least they did not need any provisions as they searched food in the woods on their own, but it was still unclear whether they would be able to join the battle.

‘The best sculptural lifeforms are those that can complete any given tasks efficiently and know to follow orders. Those small creatures might be better suited for using in the character industry, seeing their cute appearance.’

But as Weed’s disappointment grew, there was another group of creatures arriving, this time consisting of reliable-looking crocodile-like combatants.

“We have answered your call, your Majesty.”

“A battle will take place very soon. Your task is to protect the seaside.”

“Yes, my Emperor!”

The crocodile combat troops were stalwart soldiers. The Croco Legion, the name given to these creatures, was also mentioned in historical books of the Arpen Empire, and was known to possess tough skins and formidable strength.

The march of the Croco Legion, armed with swords and shields!

These combat troops were capable of swimming their way through any rivers or swamps, which granted them high mobility.

Examining all the sculptural lifeforms summoned by Geihar, Weed tried to guess the emperor’s taste.

‘First mice and rabbits, and now crocodiles. He’s fond of animals, perhaps? He is surely a peculiar man, as some of old records say.’

Flattery was a delicate art which required thorough study of its subject. Weed had deliberately brought Nile the Crocodile in order to pander to the emperor’s taste. Weed spoke to Emperor Geihar covertly.

“Those crocodiles are very imposing and magnificent to behold.”

“You think so? They are actually my failed works.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I just carved them with the top of my mind when I was drunk. But they breed extremely quickly; that’s why there are so many of them now.”

A dark spot in the history of sculpting!

No sculptor would be fully satisfied with every piece he had worked on, as is the case with all the artists.

From the next day, the true main forces of the Arpen Empire started to make their appearances.

A squadron of flying creatures that covered the whole sky — with their wings fully spread they were far larger than dragons, with long sharp beaks and muscular shoulders and legs. Their bodies were huge yet agile; truly a species created solely for fighting.

“What do you call those birds?”

“They are Baraags. Aren’t they big and cute?”

Baraags!

According to historical records, they were ferocious monsters that could slay things like wyverns or griffons in their sleep. The legendary creatures that were known to have destroyed several cities later during the Warring Age, and currently there were none less than thirty of them in the sky.

“Exactly how many Baraags are there in the continent?”

“I don’t know. I’ve made those sculptures when I was a child… I guess there would be around a thousand of them by now.”

Weed said to himself, ‘With these monsters on his side… no wonder he managed to unite the whole Versailles Continent. Sure, every child is dear to his parents, but some children are bound to be more competent than others.’

If those Baraags spread their wings and threatened humans, their very lives would be at stake; the sculptures Emperor Geihar had crafted as some ‘big and cute’ things were at the very top of the food chain.

*****

The day had come on which the sea monsters would make their appearance.

Schools of fish swarmed in near the shoreline, triggering a quest for Weed and his companions.

Ding!

An assault of Poratts!

The monsters that have been devouring everything in the depths of the ocean were freed in great numbers! They are now heading towards the Wulhoff Reef because of the vast quantities of food that the place provides. By joining strength with the sculptural lifeforms of the Arpen Empire, stop the Poratts from destroying the sea of corals.

Difficulty Level: A

Rewards: Contribution points for the Arpen Empire

Quest Restrictions: Proceeding with a historical adventure

The occurrence of the quest was as it was expected.

‘This way isn’t too bad either.’

It would be a basic practice of adventurers to carry out quest and hunting simultaneously.

Emperor Geihar agreed to lend them some of the equipment he owned, as a token of his goodwill.

“Both your attire and weapons look quite worn-out. Here, use these; you are fighting for the residents of my empire, after all.”

What the emperor in rags took out and offered them were some of the sleekest dwarf-made gears.

– The Sword of Glory and Justice

– The Crimson Blood Armor

– The Armor of Star, Wind and Cloud

– The Shield of Deep Underground

– Sea Flower-patterned Boots

– The Ring of an Overlord.

Most of the equipment had level restriction of late-400s, which meant that they were far better than what Pale, Romuna and a few others had been using. Presently, Emperor Geihar was the richest man on the face of the Versailles Continent.

Seasoned Crab and Python were both content with continuing using their old weapons, as they preferred the grips of them which their hands were accustomed to.

Surka picked up a few pieces of equipment from the emperor’s collection, and asked, “Do you normally carry so many items and gears with you, your Majesty?”

“There’s a bit more in my bag. Would you like to take a look?”

From a very battered-looking leather backpack the emperor pulled out some more items.

– Mynedrin’s Legendary Armor Set

– Legendary Sky Sword

– Legendary Dragon Sword

– Legendary Spear of Trembling Earth

– World Tree’s Reverberating Thunder Bow

– Bow of Sun Piercing

– Arpen Emperor’s Greatsword

– Staff of Absolute Flames

The eye-poppingly magnificent collection of weapons enveloped in brilliant auras! The adventurers were all completely absorbed in examining these precious items.

“Wooow…”

“This is incredible.”

“They are all real treasures, with level restrictions of 600 or 700. So many legendary weapons in one place…”

Weed’s voice suddenly became very low and quiet.

“How did you obtain all of these?”

“Oh, some of them were given to me as presents, and I found the others during adventures with my friends.”

Such was the extent of the power which the emperor of the whole continent wielded.

“I see.”

Weed’s hand silently reached towards the Loa Sword. At this moment, he’d forgotten everything about the Hermes Guild, even the battle in the Garnav Plain. He seemed ready to bury the body of the emperor in some place hidden and escape the scene using the Travel Sculpting skill any minute.

‘Some of these legendary items will be forever lost to history if I don’t take them.’

Quite naturally, Weed was engulfed by greed the moment he laid his eyes on the emperor’s treasures.

But as he was looking for a chance to strike Emperor Geihar from the back, Maylon approached him swiftly.

“Weed-nim, you are going to give an interview to KMC Media later, right?”

“…”

The moment he heard the word ‘KMC Media’, he immediately came to his senses.

‘I’m on air right now. On air. At least one hundred million viewers are watching what I’m doing through broadcast. Still… even if I get reviled for now, once I’ve secured those gears I could use them forever…’

Even after Weed was reminded of the watchful eyes of many broadcasting stations, Emperor Geihar’s life was still in grave peril.

But this time, as Weed was on the brink of selling his sense of morality in exchange for legendary gears, Python opened his mouth.

“By the way, is this greatsword for your own use, your Majesty?”

Python was pointing at the largest sword in the emperor’s small pile of weapons. Geihar smiled and nodded.

“I learned to wield it a little, just as a hobby.”

At last, Weed’s brain that had been paralyzed by the greed for treasures began to operate again.

‘That’s right, Emperor Geihar was a master swordsman… just like Zahab.’

Indeed, there were records mentioning that Geihar had once mastered the techniques of swordsmanship, although it was a long time ago from now. Python spoke to the emperor, as if challenging him, “So I assume you can handle this sword very well?”

“I can’t.”

“What?”

“True, I used to swing this sword a lot in the past, but my strength has diminished while I raised my children.”

The penalty of Sculptural Life Bestowal skill: the user is weakened as his level drops. Emperor Geihar had once been a remarkable swordsman, but his power had grown weaker although his techniques remained masterful. Instead, the emperor was now surrounded by monstrous Baraags slowly blinking their gigantic eyes. While the chance of Weed succeeding in killing the emperor using his Loa Sword was quite high, the reprisals he would have to face after the murder would be extremely problematic.

‘This is such a shame…’

Albeit barely, Weed eventually regained control of his reason that had been blinded by legendary items, and stepped back.

“Let’s start the hunt, then.”

“Alright!”

With Emperor Geihar joining them, Weed and his party members ceased all the crude preparations they had been making so far. Their initial plan was to cast steel nets across the sea in the hope of blocking the movement of even a portion of the swarming Poratts, and try to buy some time using Disaster Sculpting and other various skills while hunting the Essen Poratts directly. Considering the unbelievably vigorous life force of the sea monsters and their habit of hiding deep under the sea when feeling threatened, it wouldn’t have been an easy battle. But after the army of sculptural creatures serving Emperor Geihar arrived, they turned the direction of their plan towards a head-on fight.

The legions of sculptural lifeforms continuously showed up even on the very day of the battle. Among them, Weed pointed at the gigantic monsters made of pure-white snow.

“What are those?”

“They are snowmen. I made them for my daughter.”

“…I see. You are saying that they can… move about?”

“Yes. They wander around the Imperial territories every winter.”

The height of one of those snowmen with a broom was no less than 180 meters. With each of their frosty breaths they sent a gust of a terrible chill, freezing the trees and the ground around them. The sight of this snowman monster drawing closer with their thunderous footsteps would probably make a child have several nights of insomnia from fright. The scale of the emperor’s sculptures could trample the innocence of childhood down into tiny miserable pieces.

“Your daughter must be quite fond of them.”

“Oh, she loved them. I’ve heard that ever since she saw those snowmen, she started to eat her food without complaint and even stopped throwing any more tantrums.”

“Of course she did.”

The army of sculptures summoned by Emperor Geihar stood in line along the shoreline. The core part of it consisted of crocodile soldiers that looked similar to Nile, but various races of Avians could be seen as well. The most imposing of them were gigantic sculptural lifeforms carved out of metals, wood, water or fire.

Metallic giants with their shining bodies.

“There are a lot of big guys here.”

“The bigger they are, the cuter they look, don’t you think so? Those smaller ones are more solemn.”

The legion of sculptures with sizes of 100, 200, and 300 meters — as these creatures marched forward, an army of men would have no choice but to surrender without even getting to fight.

‘So this is how he united the Versailles Continent.’

Before long, the unit of Baraags watching over the distant sea reported that the sea monsters were rushing towards them.

“Let’s get this started, then.”

“Yes, master! Deploy the Snowmen!”

The Snowmen army began to march into the ocean. Their task was to keep their position in the coral zone and set up a barrier of ice to keep the Poratts away.

“In this way we’ll be able to stop all the Poratts that can’t fly.”

“Yes, let’s move on to the next part of the plan.”

This battle plan which took into account the characteristics of the different types of sculptural creatures had been devised by Weed: have the Snowmen freeze the distant sea into icebergs, leave a few ravine-like narrow routes through the ice, and deploy squads of sculptural soldiers near these icebergs — including the Legion — to hunt down any Poratts that swam their way through the ravines.

“I assume Baraags will be the best choice to fight those Essen Poratts?”

“Of course.”

Weed and his companions climbed on the backs of the Baraags along with Emperor Geihar. Riding on the predatory beasts with their great wings spread wide, they flew over the sea at a frightening speed. They found their enemies far beyond the emerald-colored sea of corals.

“Targets within visual range!”

Giant, winged sea serpents named Essen Porrats were soaring across the sky. Those flying monsters alone numbered more than a hundred; the sight of the legion of Essen Porrats was almost majestic.

The sea itself was also full of silvery white Poratts. Rhe swarm of countless monsters was swimming and leaping out of the surface by a couple of meters excitedly.

Weed used Lion’s Roar.

“We begin the hunt!”

As soon as the Baraags came close enough for the Poratts to be in range , they spouted out breaths of flame all at once. Streams of fire stretched out, emblazing the whole sky.

– Kuuuuaaaarrggh!!

The Essen Poratts scattered in all directions to dodge the attack, but about fifteen of them were engulfed by the flames and fell. However, even those which plummeted plunged into the sea were not completely killed, and soon they rose from the surface again. Their strength was nothing to scoff at, as could be seen by their capability to destroy and corrupt the entire ocean. Every single one of them was a boss-level monster whose power surpassed that of a Bone Dragon. Their immense reserve of life force, which was a characteristic of giant sea monsters, also made them particularly persistent.

– They are coming!

There was a stir of uncertainty among the Baraags, but they were under the command of Weed, a seasoned fighter who’d been through both hell and high water.

“We will not fight them in a full-frontal assault. Ascend to a higher altitude!”

By Weed’s order, the Baraags all rose further into the sky. The Essen Poratts chased after them immediately and a fierce running-fight was beginning to take place.

“2nd Squad, turn to the right!”

6 Baraags changed their direction towards the right in a great arc.

“3rd Squad to the left. And 4th Squad, fall back in 5 seconds.”

The groups of Baraags spread out in the air according to Weed’s commands. As sculptural lifeforms all possessed a moderate level of intelligence, they didn’t have any difficulty following orders. On top of that, Weed’s overwhelming leadership and charisma could elicit absolute obedience even from soldiers who had held their weapons for the first time, and his profession as a sculptor enabled the Baraags to feel more familiar with him and quickly become close to him.

– It’s no use running away from us. We will kill you all!

– Kuuugh. Kuuuoooaargh!!

The Essen Poratts, with their intense gluttony and desire to kill, pursued after the scattering Baraags but were not divided into smaller groups as effectively. Over fifty Essen Poratts flew after the 2nd Squad — which had branched away from the main body first — and their forces kept being dispersed until only three and five Poratts were chasing after the main unit and 5th Squad respectively.

“Counter Attack!”

Under Weed’s command, the Baraags reversed in midair. Taking advantage of their greater number, they entangled themselves with the enemies, spurting out fans of flames explosively. The Baraags and the Essen Poratts sank their claws deep into each other’s bodies while spraying fire and poison. As Baraags were far stronger in one-on-one combat, with the advantage of thein formation they could overwhelm their enemies.

“Let’s join the fray then, shall we?”

Weed drew out the Sword of Roa and rushed forward. After taking a couple steps in the air by jumping first on the front paw and then on a wing of the Baraag, he finally landed on the head of an Essen Poratt. Weed smashed the crown of the monster’s head with the Sword of Roa.

< You have made an attack against an Essen Poratt.

You have inflicted 29,291 points of damage to its life force!

The Sword of Roa multiplies the damage by 3 because it’s a giant-sized monster. Deals three times more damage to a giant-sized monster.

The enemy’s maximum life force has been partially decreased.

A critical strike!

The defensive abilities of the Essen Poratt have been weakened. >

The Sword of Roa was especially valuable when hunting large monsters. Switching gears such as the helmet and gloves to ones that contribute to the offensive abilities was also another reason for the increased damage.

– Insolent human! You cannot make me feel pain with such a strike.

Such was As was the way with boss-level monsters, the Essen Poratt began to speak to Weed in human language.

“Everyone likes to talk big at first, but they all eventually learn to behave themselves after some good beating.”

Another attack from Weed smacked precisely the same spot that had just been hit; although it was a legitimate skill with the name “One-point Focused Attack”, in actuality it simply meant beating the same spot over and over again.

< You have dealt a critical strike.

38% additional damage applied.

The defensive abilities of the Essen Poratt have been weakened. >

< You have dealt a critical strike.

92% additional damage applied.

The defensive abilities of the Essen Poratt have been weakened. >

< You have dealt a critical strike.

145% additional damage applied.

The defensive abilities of the Essen Poratt have been weakened. >

< You have dealt a critical strike.

198% additional damage applied.

The defensive abilities of the Essen Poratt have been weakened. >

– Kuuooooooaarrgghh!!

There had never been a monster that had been subjected to the One-point Focus Attack skill and came out unscathed. Combined with the special effect of the Sword of Roa that weakens the defense of the monster whenever a critical hit occurs, the total accumulated amount of damage was beyond enormous.

– Off with you, you worm!

The Essen Poratt attempted to shake Weed off his head, but he would not budge an inch. A Giant might have been able to swing his arms around to rid himself of Weed, but most of the Poratt’s attacking methods were useless against a person who was standing on top of its head.

The Essen Poratt was also suffering damage from the claws and beak of the Baraag which was assaulting it from the front on top of the damage inflicted by Weed on his head. Even with the great life force of a giant sea monster, it could not withstand such a coordinated attack for long.

– You will regret this, human!

The Essen Poratt thrust away the Baraag and inhaled deeply; it was preparing a Breath attack, the strongest offensive characteristic of a giant creature.

– I will make you pay dearly for making such a reckless attack against me!

Not giving a fig for what it was doing, Weed kept striking the back of the monster’s head; as long as he kept his position, he didn’t have to worry about being hit by the Breath.

< You have dealt a critical strike.

413% additional damage applied.

The defensive abilities of the Essen Poratt have been minimized. >

Still, a supersized sea monster was not so easily killed. The mouth of the Essen Poratt was full of blazing heat.

– This is the end.

The serpent monster flipped its great body in midair and started a steep dive. It repeated a series of sudden drops, rises and turns, as if performing an aerial stunt.

– Get off my body this instant!

Weed clutched to the antenna and held onto the monster tenaciously, while steadily chipping away the remaining life force of the Essen Poratt by making an attack whenever he had a chance.

“Spread out here and join up at a point ahead!”

In the meantime, Pale, who had the role of the supporting commander, conducted the rest of the Baraag squads.

“High-speed maneuver! We’ll get away from the pursuing enemy force.”

They distracted the other Essen Poratts so that they would not turn their attention to Weed.

“Arrow Cluster!”

Arrows that looked like flashing rays of light shot by Pale pierced the sky.

“Fire Domain Expansion!”

Romuna’s magical attacks exploded splendidly in the air as well, though their power was not particularly strong. Since the Essen Poratts were especially vulnerable to fire, even her relatively weak spells worked well against them — the monsters writhed in pain although the actual damage caused to their life force was less than 0.1 percent.

“Heh, this is pretty fun!”

“Let’s finish this fight!”

Python and Seasoned Crab were both riding on a Baraag each, ramming into the bodies of Essen Poratts. They were imitating the fighting style of a Dragon Knight, although they dared not climb directly onto the backs of the winged Poratts as Weed had done; by watching his fight, they quickly realized that it would not be easy to cling on to the frantically trashing body of an Essen Poratt.

‘I would rather just match my strength against it in a full-frontal fight. Such a rash attack… hmm. Is that why Weed is so strong, because he makes use of all his abilities to the full extent in battle? He is truly a natural born warrior.’

‘He’s not simply relying on skills, he is acting out of instinct. His body is just finding its foe on its own volition.’

Python and Seasoned Crab were quite impressed by Weed’s valor. Engaging in a fight at such a great height alone required remarkable courage, yet Weed was doing precisely that while standing on top of the head of a boss class monster.

‘Perhaps such recklessness and courage are the secrets behind his popularity.’

‘Of course, that’s not an easy thing to do. But a commander should not be afraid to throw himself into such a dangerous position, to lead the battle to victory.’

At that moment, both of them heard what Weed was shouting loudly as he struck the monster.

“Loot! Experience Points! Level Progress! Skill Proficiency points! Give me all before you die, you monster!”

“…”

“…”

Suddenly he looked more like an evil company boss full of greed rather than the commander of a great army.

They were beginning to feel almost sorry for the Essen Poratt that was being beaten up by him. Eventually, the monster met its demise, as the Sword of Roa that Weed was holding pounded on its head relentlessly.

< An invader of Wulhoff Reef, the ferocious Essen Poratt has entered its eternal rest. >

Although it was just one monster, due to its high level Weed received a separate message window notifying its death.

< You have leveled up.

Sword skill proficiency has increased. Your proficiency in sword technique has increased.

Due to your remarkable accomplishment in battle, Fame has increased by 1,980.

Strength stat has increased by 2.

Maximum Stamina has increased by 100. >

< You have obtained the hide of an Essen Poratt.>

< You have obtained the heart of an Essen Poratt.>

< You have obtained a 1st class Mana Crystal.>

*Sweep!* *Sweep!*

All the dropped items were taken with lightning speed. The loot that had appeared after the body of the Essen Poratt turned grey completely vanished the moment Weed’s hand passed over it as if by magic. When it came to acquiring spoils of battle, Weed had no match in all of Royal Road.

“This isn’t half bad.”

He was being surrounded by over a hundred boss-level monsters — in other words, the battlefield was littered with preys waiting to be harvested by Weed.

Weed spread his arms wide.

He was currently plummeting towards the sea at a deadly speed, together with the corpse of the Essen Poratt he had been riding on a moment ago.

“Weed-nim!”

Pale spotted him, but he could not come to rescue him while all the Baraags were engaged in battle, whose number was not sufficient as it was. From such a high altitude, the damage to Weed’s body would be significant even if he fell into the water.

– Kuuargh!!

– Kuuueeerrgh!!

The sea itself was full of smaller Poratts that devoured anything, waiting with their mouths wide open.

Swish Swish!

Weed replaced several pieces of equipment he was wearing with the gears of Bar Khan Demoph almost as quickly as slashing his sword. Immediately after that, he placed a hand on the head of the falling body of the Essen Poratt.

“Return to the ground upon which you once walked. Here lies a dark place, a black and corrupt land. Engrave the eternal commandments of darkness into the heart of every living being. Undead Rise!”

The body of the Essen Poratt began to gradually be tainted in black, and before long its flesh peeled off, revealing the bones underneath: the corpse of the falling monster was reduced to mere skeleton! And as the surface of the sea drew ever closer, the bones turned black, and flashing lights appeared in the hollow eye sockets.

Weed had turned all of his Art stat into Wisdom using his Sculptural Destruction skill before the battle took place. Hence, with the help of valuable equipment and improved stats, he could successfully cast the undead summoning spell on a boss-level monster.

– I… I have returned from death.

“Are you willing to obey me?”

– I… but that is…

The Essen Poratt shook its head. As befits a boss-level monster it retained some of its memory and self awareness, and did not easily follow the order of someone who had just killed it. From the sky to the sea, Weed and the Essen Poratt that had been revived as undead were plunging downward at a terrible speed.

“You shall obey me.”

< A Necromancer Skill, the spell of Soul Obedience sealed within the robe of the Lord of Hell has been used.

The unbearable fear and pain burning into a soul allows one to have a powerful undead as his subordinate. >

– Krrrrruuuaaarrraaaughh!!

The skeleton of the Essen Poratt screamed in agony.

“Follow my command. Only in that way will you be able to achieve the greatest glory.”

With Weed’s own charisma and leadership applied on top of the Necromancer skill, the Essen Poratt soon surrendered. It was the moment of its rebirth as a Bone Poratt, leaving all its past life in oblivion.

– Glory to the master who granted me this eternal life.

“Alright. Let’s get ourselves back up first.”

At Weed’s order, the Bone Poratt spread its skeletal wings. On the head of the Bone Poratt furiously rising into the sky once more, Weed stood up in a commanding manner.

– Kuuaaargh!!

– This is the sky of the Arpen Empire. Return whence you came, monsters!

– We fight to protect this land!

The highly intelligent Baraags and the Essen Poratts full of fighting spirit were intertwined with each other in a fierce battle in midair. The Breaths of fire pierced through, painting the sky red, and the creatures were entangled in the groups of two and three, their snouts biting and their claws scratching.

A great battlefield scattered with boss-level monsters mingled together!

Weed checked the state of his companions first. Those who were riding on the backs of Baraags remained unharmed. The Snowmen were also managing to block the swarming Poratts by creating zones of ice in the sea.

‘Still looking intact.’

Even with the special abilities of the Snowmen, it would be impossible to hold off the Poratts that were filling up the whole sea indefinitely. If the battle lasted too long, the Poratts would eventually take a detour and destroy the coral reefs. It was possible that the corals and other sea creatures were already being killed in other regions that were farther away out of their sight.

‘We’ll do what we can do right now. Rather than waiting for the circumstances to come together perfectly, we’ll need to act first… and deal with the consequences.’

Weed’s eyes caught a few Essen Poratts that had fallen in the fight against the Baraags and were crashing into the sea. Although there were only two or three of them, it meant that Pale and the other companions had been putting in great effort and managed to eliminate even a small portion of their numbers.

Weed took out the Staff of the Corrupted Saint and stretched out his right hand.

“Undead Rise!”

From the bodies of the dead and falling Essen Poratts, chunks of flesh began to fall off. Half of them were transformed into undead and soared up again, but the other half — even though Weed had managed to turn them into undead as well — crashed into the sea and disappeared as all the bones crumbled into pieces.

< You have transformed Essen Poratts into undead thralls.

Due to the insufficient undead summoning skill, the duration of this spell is 33 minutes.>

Now with three Bone Poratts under his command, Weed grinned.

“Let’s collect some money, shall we?”

*****

The north coast of Shelgium.

With its black sand and lines of jagged rocks, this seaside had been an unpopular site in the past.

Currently, there were over a million users gathered in this place, standing along the shoreline and observing the sea.

“Will they really succeed?”

“I wouldn’t have any hopes up if it had been anyone else, but it’s Weed-nim we’re talking about. His adventures have never failed before.”

“That’s right. I’m willing to trust and wait if it’s Weed-nim.”

Users from both the Northern and the Central Continents sat around together chatting. Normally there would be merchants from various stores selling food like chicken skewers, but since all of them had moved to the Garnav Plain, the place was almost quiet.

The people who had decided to put off joining the greatest festival in order to gather at this beach were those who loved the sea and the scenery of nature.

“You know what? My brother said that Weed-nim has actually gone on this adventure for us.”

“For us?”

“Yeah. Apparently this is his gift to all the Central Continent users; to show that the Arpen Kingdom is full of such enjoyable adventures every day.”

“Do you think that’s really the case?”

“Well, we’ll need to keep watching to be sure, but it’s true that Weed-nim has never let people down. I’ve only watched him through broadcast, but don’t you think he’s quite trustworthy?”

Weed’s unusually high popularity had resulted in such baseless yet positive rumors spreading among the public.

–  They have already succeeded in hunting the 14th Essen Poratt!

– Look at the sea. A small whirlpool has been formed and it is swallowing the smaller Poratts.

– Pale the Battle Slave! He draws the bow with all his might. The arrow flies like a flash of lightning and hits the eye of an Essen Poratt.

Through the crystal balls the users could watch the live broadcast of Weed’s adventure in real time. If Weed’s adventure concludes successfully, it will change the course of history! Although there had already been such an incident, during which the Embinyu Church was defeated, this time it was related to possible changes in the geography of a region. The Wulhoff Reef, with its incredible landscape that people could only see through broadcasting screen… There was a chance of that beautiful ocean appearing in front of them once again, so many users had gathered and were waiting expectantly.

The tiny Weed inside their crystal balls charged headlong into the enemy lines, flying on the back of a Bone Poratt.

“What, what on earth is he doing? That’s so dangerous!”

“Whoa! They’re making Breath attacks!”

“Did you see that just now? He jumped off from the Bone Poratt!”

The sight of Weed rushing through the field of poison and Breath without hesitation made the hearts of the users who were watching beat faster with excitement.

“Wow…”

“Ah, such thrilling moves! This is crazy.”

“This is almost like a movie, don’t you think?”

“It’s even better than a movie. It’s as if he has several spare lives.”

In the middle of the splendid aerial battle, Weed on the back of the Bone Poratt was rampaging through the sky. He swung his sword and shot arrows, and even threw bolts of lightning at times using Myul’s Thunderspear as he engaged himself in battle. In reality, it was the sight of him desperately trying to get the last hit on enemies in his state of frenzy caused by his greed for booty and level improvement, but to the eyes of common users it was simply a wonderful scene.

– All undead creatures, follow my orders. I am the supreme commander of the army of darkness!

– I’ve indeed met a wrong master, seeing I have been dragged into this mess of a place. The blood of those winged fish simply has the worst taste.

Van Hawk the Death Knight and Torido the Vampire Lord had been summoned as well.

– This will make an excellent conveyance.

Van Hawk rode on the back of a Bone Poratt and joined the fray, while Torido cast spells of illusion and charm shrouded in a cloud of bats. In terms of combat capacity only, those two were not so extremely powerful as to pose a serious threat to the Essen Poratts, but their strength became the most apparent when commanding a large scale army or fighting against human opponents. Despite their limits as a Death Knight and a Vampire Lord, they managed to buy some time by distracting the Essen Poratts.

“That’s an undead air force.”

“This is just so cool. I wish I could have an epic battle like that…”

As the time limit of the Undead Rise skill drew near, the Bone Poratts revived by Weed began to disappear, starting from the tips of their wings and tales slowly turning to dust. Even then, Weed continued using the undead summoning skill every time another Essen Poratt was killed.

Weed, having over twenty Bone Poratts under his command, fought in a deadly aerial combat!

He yelled out, using Lion’s Roar.

– There are creatures that deserve your anger and resentment. Strike those that are still alive!

– Kuuuaaargh!!!

The Bone Poratts slammed their own bodies against the enemies, full of hatred towards their living kin.

“Just keep at it and eradicate all of them!”

Pale was also creating wonderful scenes of battle as he directed the squads of Baraags. Commanding an army in an aerial fight was not in any way an easy task, but he had ridden Wy-3 plenty of times when he was in the Arpen Kingdom. Previous experience of watching Weed mobilizing his army during battles also proved useful when conducting the fight in midair.

‘Start from the weaker ones. Formation is important in this kind of combat encounter. I must take care not to lose our forces, too.’

While Weed valued victory in battle itself, he always avoided any wasteful loss of lives at any cost. From the beginning of his adventure in the Rosenheim Kingdom, he made sure that everyone under his command down to the lowest-rank soldier could grow in strength by minimizing unnecessary sacrifice; it was his way of securing military strength so that he could be ready for any worst case scenarios.

There was plenty of space that could be utilized in an aerial battle. Half of the Baraag squads were drawing the attention of the Essen Poratts, keeping them at their tail, while the rest hunted down those that broke away from the group using their great mobility.

– This is good strategy!

– I like this way of fighting.

The Baraags acknowledged the efficiency of Pale’s conduct of maneuver and followed his orders faithfully. Due to Pale’s background as a pure archer, leadership and charisma were never his forte. It might have been better if Weed himself took charge, but after he summoned the undead servants he entrusted the task of commanding the Baraags to Pale.

“I will probably be too busy harvesting. It’s just such a waste to let these Baraags kill all the boss-level monsters. These Essen Poratts are especially rare things, too, so they’re bound to drop some really special loot.”

“…What?”

“In other words, you go and become a hero, Pale-nim. I’ll settle for a building owner.”

“…!”

A plan to let Pale make the most distinguished contribution in the battle itself, while taking all the real benefits from it!

‘Well, I don’t mind his way too much.’

Pale was afraid at first, but once the battle began, he was so focused on the fight it looked as if he fell into some sort of trance. Weed wouldn’t have maintained such a close relationship with anyone for so long just based on their early acquaintance. He knew that Pale had never once failed to do his part during a battle, and that was why he could entrust him with an important role. The thirty Baraags managed to buy a considerable amount of time while keeping their position stably against the force that outnumbered them for more than a threefold.

“Here comes your death!”

Seasoned Crab erupted from the shadow of an Essen Poratt and drove his sword into its throat whenever he had a chance. Python was swinging his greatsword like a knight; Romuna, Surka, and Maylon were all contributing to the fight in their own ways admirably as well. In the meantime, Bellot and Hwaryeong were having a hard time as they had to play an instrument and dance while staying on the backs of flying Baraags.

“Watch your step, sister!”

“*Yelp!*”

Their dancing and playing jarred on the nerves of the Essen Poratts while improving the strength of the allies. On top of that, as the Bone Poratts led by Weed fiercely joined the combat, the tide of the battle began to turn to their favor. Soon the sky was dotted with the bodies of Essen Poratts plummeting to the sea, only to rise again as undead. The balance of power had completely tilted towards Weed and the Baraags.

“Victory!”

The annihilation of over a hundred Essen Poratts that had been dominating the sky!

The aerial battle had concluded in the victory of Weed’s side, but now they had to stop the Poratts from reaching the shore as those monsters swarmed in like a great tidal wave.

“Dive in!”

Weed deployed his Bone Poratts into the sea. As they were originally a race of fish with wings, there was not a second of hesitation as they threw themselves into the water.

– Devour them all!

Weed looked down upon a sea swelling with deep blue waves from the top of a Bone Poratt’s head.

“It’s going to be quite a chore dealing with all of them.”

A great mass of Poratts was streaming in, their number large enough to cover up the whole sea. Thanks to the zones of ice created by the Snowmen, the Poratts, which were weak to cold, were staying far at large  for the moment.

“It will take some time, but it won’t be too difficult.”

Weed gripped the Staff of the Corrupted Saint.

“Rise, vengeful spirits, those who could not fully close their eyes, and found no rest in their death; rise and take revenge upon the living, the ones who destroyed you. Undead Rise!”

A spell of undead summoning!

He turned the bodies of the Poratts in the sea into undead, making them attack their former allies.

* Crunch, chomp! *

The skeleton Poratts tore at the flesh of their nearby friends. The undead Poratts couldn’t be compared to zombies or skeletons in terms of fighting strength, but their power was enough to devour the living Poratts around them. Beside, each time Weed cast the undead summoning spell, more and more Poratts were revived as undead.

<You have gained experience points.>

<You have gained experience points.>

<You have gained experience points.>

…

Even Weed had not expected this. A Poratt normally gave even fewer experience points than what one gets for hunting a rabbit, but with the entire sea packed with them, a hunt on an enormous scale took place whenever the tens of thousands of Poratts moved around and attacked them. While it still wasn’t enough to increase Weed’s level, which was over 500, the experience points gained from killing them were piling up steadily.

< Your Undead Summoning Skill’s level has reached Intermediate 8.

You can now appoint powerful Death Knight heroes.

The summoned undead legion will have increased speed.

Less amount of mana will be consumed to maintain the summoned state of the undead. >

“Even my skill level is up. The sea is the future of humankind indeed.”

Weed’s eyes were shining brightly as if he had just spotted a dropped wallet. In fact it was even better, since it would be wrong to take the wallet that belonged to someone else whereas hunting the Poratts in the sea would contribute to the important battle.

Completing the quest goal as well as gaining experience points and skill levels!

The only thing missing here was the loot, but he had already gotten quite a satisfactory amount of booty from hunting the Essen Poratts, for he had obtained plenty of their hide and bones as first class blacksmithing materials and plenty of their meat as first class cooking ingredients.

“Rise up, my undead creatures. Let us slaughter every last living Poratt in this place!”

The numerous Poratts that had taken hold of the entire sea had all been reduced to mere prey that provided experience points and skill proficiency.

“Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion!”

Although the situation underneath the surface of the sea could not be seen, the outside turned into a pandemonium as the Poratts leaped out from the water.

<You have gained experience points.>

<You have gained experience points.>

<You have gained experience points.>

<You have gained experience points.>

<You have gained experience points.>

…

Weed was casting Corpse Explosion or Undead Summoning spells as often as his mana allowed.

“Kuhehehehehe!!”

A smile that could not be restrained hovered over his mouth.

A frantic laugh of a madman!

Pale and the other companions could not do anything besides watching him from afar.

“It seems Weed-nim is making quite a fortune here.”

“Mm-hmm. I’m certainly envious, but it’s somewhat…”

“…scary, isn’t it?”

Even Weed’s long-time companions like Irene and Surka did not dare to approach him freely.

Weed cast Undead Summoning spells, flying over the sea on the back of a Bone Poratt.

The sea turned into a living hell while flocks upon flocks of Bone Poratt preyed on their kin.

Which was immediately followed by Corpse Explosion.

Seasoned Crab spoke in a trembling voice.

“It was fortunate that Weed-nim started as a sculptor.”

“What?”

“If he had been a Necromancer from the beginning, or changed his profession in the middle…”

“…Hmmm…”

An image was being created in the head of Weed’s companions.

Necromancer, as a profession that dealt with dark power and allowed a rapid growth, was accompanied with considerable penalties as well. If it hadn’t been for the many accomplishments he had made as a sculptor and a hero who had led numerous adventures to success, he might have created a massive Empire of undead by now — the Undead Legion of Arpen instead of the Arpen Kingdom. Weed would never have stopped at being just an ordinary Necromancer.

“I must say it was indeed a tremendous stroke of luck, for the whole Versailles Continent.”

Irene smiled, but Seasoned Crab still looked uneasy.

*Sigh*

“But the problem is that we don’t know what will happen in the future. Maybe Weed-nim will still turn into a great villain.”

“…”

Even Weed’s long time companions found it hard to refute that claim. To be perfectly honest, Weed becoming the great evil mastermind who threatens the peace of the continent simply felt like a very natural course of event. Even now, he was wreaking havoc on the sea by reviving the dead Poratts as undead.

“Jump, jump!!”

Upon hearing Weed’s shout, the undead Poratts gave mighty leaps out of the surface of the sea. Several thousand Poratts that had risen 7 to 10 meters into the air fell into the water again.

A fountain show of undead Poratts — it was a sight which could never be created by an ordinary, sensible Necromancer.

The countless Poratts swimming around under the sea had been hunted all night by Weed and the undead. Among the sculptural lifeforms created by Emperor Geihar, all the sea creatures flocked in to join the hunt as well. There were gigantic-sized octopi, turtles, sharks and whales… but the most impressive of them were anchovies, whose bodies reached the length of 800 meters although they looked exactly the same as normal anchovies. They wriggled their great bodies through the water at a frightening speed, and were capable of creating whirlpools and even small-scale tsunamis as they moved.

When Maylon asked why he created such huge anchovies, the answer Emperor Geihar gave her was also quite priceless.

“Don’t you think they are pretty?”

“…Sorry?”

“I’ve made them when I was a young man. I always say, big fish are the best fish; they are tastier and just better all-around. They are the works which I created to challenge people’s prejudice that all anchovies must be weak.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Unlike on land, creatures are not encumbered by their large size in the ocean. Had I created them more recently, I would have made those guys to be at least three kilometers long.”

“…”

“…And that would have been the birth of the Great Anchovies, the absolute rulers of the sea.”

Emperor Geihar smiled contently.

“I’ll take care of the rest of the monsters from now. Leave them to my anchovies, and those Poratts will never threaten this land again.”

“Understood.”

Irene, Romuna and Bellot all prayed for the repose of the Poratts’ souls as they gazed upon the sea; even if those poor creatures somehow managed to escape from this place, they would have to be chased by giant anchovies for the rest of their lives.

Ding!

< Quest Completed: An Assault of Poratts

The swarm of Poratts that had put the region of Wulhoff Reef into great danger is now gone. Because of the horrible memory this battle left in them, they will head towards the distant ocean, never to invade this land again.

84,290 Contribution Points to the Arpen Empire earned!

The objectives of the quest have been overachieved; additional 134,600 Contribution Points have been obtained.>

Weed and his companions stood side by side, taking in the view of the sea. The long battle was over, and the setting sun was painting the horizon ablaze.

*****

As the sight of Weed’s adventuring party completing the quest and returning safely was relayed to the viewers through broadcast, the users assembled at the north coast of Shelgium yelled out in joy.

“Victory!”

“Hooray! They’ve driven the Poratts away.”

“We all knew we could count on Weed-nim!”

It was a long wait that they had to endure while lying near the sea, but at the end they could confirm the successful conclusion of Weed’s quest through broadcast. The next moment, the sea suddenly began to glow brilliantly in front of every user gathering around.

“Woooow!!”

“Wha-, what’s happening?”

“It’s starting. The whole world changed when the Embinyu Church was destroyed, and the same thing is happening here again.”

From over the horizon, the sea was gradually colored in a mystic emerald shade. Suddenly, dolphins leapt out from the hitherto calm surface of the water.

“Whoa!!”

“There are dolphins here…”

“Aren’t those merpeople over there?”

The originally murky and grey sea full of sand slowly became clearer, until it was so transparent the whole ocean floor could be seen from above the surface. Corals of various colors were growing out of the seabed, and countless different sea creatures were swimming in the water. Even the ground underneath the users’ feet was turning into soft golden beach with seashells scattered around it.

* Honk! *

Flocks of birds were feely soaring across the sky.

Ding!

<You have arrived at one of the unexplored lands of the world.

The discovery of The Wulhoff Reef!

It is the largest region of coral reefs of the Continent, spreading over the distance of 876 kilometers from the Strait of Rudin to the Alcard Sea. The depth of water ranges from 3 meters to a maximum of 80 meters, and it is home to 600 species of corals and 1,890 species of various sea creatures. As one of the Nine Unexplored Lands of the Versailles Continent, numerous adventurers have hoped to find this place since the early days. Although it was almost destroyed by the threats of Poratts a long time ago, an adventurer named Weed and his companions managed to protect it from the monster invasion.

Your adventure has earned you 1,394 points of fame.

You have leveled up.

You have discovered a historical region. Your Knowledge and Wisdom have increased by 10 points each as a result of this special experience.

The wonderful scenery has increased your Art stat by 8 points.

You will obtain additional rewards for reporting the rare discoveries.>

“Kyaa!”

Those who had arrived early had the fortune of making some adventuring achievements by discovering a hidden land of the world.

“Ahhh….”

“This is paradise.”

The users found themselves beholding one of the most unique sights in their lives unfolding in front of their own eyes.

*****

“This guy should be uniting the continent now, but instead he just keeps poking around causing all sorts of trouble.”

Yoo Byung Jun was watching the monitors showing various happenings in Royal Road, while looking quite discontent.

The faces of the users who were swimming and playing around in the coral sea were full of blissful smiles. They had taken off their armors and traveling garments, fully enjoying themselves drifting with the emerald waves of the sea.

Another monitor was showing the users in the Garnav Plain sweating profusely while moving the giant stones which were to be used for making the sculptures; Byung Jun noticed the bright expression on their faces as well.

“They’re doing some hard work but there’s hope in their future… is that what they’re thinking? What’s their current level of happiness?”

– 94.3781834%. This is the highest level that has been obtained in history.

“What was the happiness level when Royal Road first opened?”

– The average number taken from the entire user base was 93.3972939%. It has been decreasing every month by 3% or higher after then. The lowest happiness level reached was near 61%.

“So… he really managed to change the world on his own?”

Yoo Byung Jun recalled the reason he first created Royal Road.

He decided to pass everything he had onto the emperor of the world that he had built himself, because he wanted to mock the unfairness of the real world.

“At that time I couldn’t have known that such a strange player would show up out of nowhere.”

He had spent a long time watching the videos of Weed’s adventures. The guy had an unparalleled talent when it came to setting events in motion which were often outrageously silly and off-the-wall, and he always found a way to complete all the nigh-impossible quests. Byung Jun had been silently monitoring Weed’s entire journey, during which he had brought about ridiculously positive outcomes time and time again by working together with his companions and other users.

“The one who conquers the world of Royal Road will become my successor. And I don’t intend to intervene even if he mercilessly abuses his wealth and power and ends up destroying the world… after all, I only wanted to laugh at this world, I don’t care what becomes of it.”

Still, he was beginning to have inkling that if Weed really becomes his successor, people would not object to it much.

“So he somehow managed to climb his way up to his current position. I must say, this is not what I originally planned…”

– Do you wish to cancel your earlier successor plan?

He had made all the necessary preparations for turning over not only the entire property of Unicorn Corporation, but also his astronomical amount of personal assets that had been kept hidden until now.

“No, proceed as is. Whichever person wins this battle will take everything.”

Weed and Bard Ray.

Unbeknownst to them, it had been determined that the one who unites the Versailles Continent would become the wealthiest and the most powerful man on earth.

“Kekeke. The whole world shall kneel before my heir!”

Yu Byung Jun let out a maniacal scream.

At last, the true successor upon whom he had bet his own fate was about to be chosen once and for all, but there was still a certain unpleasant foreboding tugging at a corner of his mind…

“I just cannot shake off this feeling that Weed will become the Emperor in the end and take over everything I’ve got.”

And if that really happens, something told him that he would probably turn green with envy rather than feeling the pleasure of accomplishing his goal. He had devoted his youth to creating the world of Royal Road, but now Weed had become a hero to its people, winning both fortune and the affection of a beautiful woman in the process. If he took over even the entire wealth of Byung Jun, including the artificial intelligence developed by him, it would be as good as handing over credit to Weed for his entire life’s work.

*****

Mapan was the head director of the events in Garnav Plain. Upon coming out from the tent after taking care of festival preparations, war materials supply and other urgent business of Mapan Store, he saw several lofty mountains towering high above the plain.

“What are those?”

Hidden Money, his cousin, sighed and answered, “Those are the sculptures and all the sculpting materials people have piled up.”

“Th-they’re… very tall.”

One side of the Garnav Plain had been turned into a great mountain range as if the place had suddenly become an alpine region.

Although it was Mapan who had put the users to work, his knowledge about specific fields of expertise was limited.

“How did they do all that work in just a few days?”

“People just worked together and did it.”

“Is that even possible?”

“Well, we just did it and it somehow worked out.”

*Thump Thump Thump!*

*Rattle Rattle!*

“We need more bricks.”

“Coming right now!”

Mapan could see users of the Grass Porridge Cult nearby swarming in like a colony of ants and building a giant statue, the staggering height of which was no less than 800 meters. Further ahead there was another great sculpture being built which occupied several hundred square meters.

“The support beams…”

“Let’s proceed with the foundation work at the same time.”

“The architect’s skills come in very handy here.”

“Safety equipment? Why would we need that? It’s so much more convenient to just have a couple of Feathers of Falling.”

This scene felt strangely familiar to Mapan — not only were there fence screens set up just like some construction sites for buildings or apartments, there were people driving support beams into the ground as if doing substructure work.

“Who are those people?”

“Construction Project Department from Samsung C&T Corporation.”

“…Eh?”

“And those people over there are from Daewoo E&C and Hyundai E&C.”

Mapan stared at them blankly for a few seconds without saying anything, and then, clearly shocked at the ridiculousness of this whole situation, asked:

“…you mean they are really from those famous companies that I know?”

“Yeah! All from different construction companies.”

“…Why are they here?”

“Well, they are not the only ones; there are even people from KPF and Steven Holl.”

“What are KPF and Steven Holl?”

“Some world-famous architecture and design firms.”

The sculptures in Garnav Plain had become a huge issue in the real world. The sight of several-hundred-meter tall statues being built at an incredible speed had been in the media spotlight every day. Each morning, afternoon and evening, an additional 20 or 30 meters was added to the sculptures’ height, which was enough to draw public attention.

Hyundai E&C had decided to provide full company-scale participation.

“A sculpting project of such a size could be called a construction, which is why Hyundai should not allow itself to be left out. Our company shall support it extensively.”

The design team of the construction company presented all sorts of ideas. As its members were all players of Royal Road as well, they had already had in mind quite a lot of fresh ideas related to the field of architecture; the kind of ideas that would be most probably met with sour reactions from the heads of their team or department when proposed as a project internally in the company:

“Is that even possible?”

“You’re seriously calling THIS a project proposal?”

“Money! We need some work that will earn us some money.”

Hence all those ideas, which might actually be quite wonderful if realized in Royal Road, had been lying dormant until now and people finally had a chance to bring them all up.

“We don’t know how exactly this will turn out, but let’s just make it. We should challenge ourselves.”

“Are we really building this? It’s going to be 408 meters’ tall!”

“What’s the big deal? The guys next to us are making one that’s as high as 620 meters.”

They didn’t need to worry about shortage of funds and building materials, as the users of the Grass Porridge Cult had been moving whole mountains from the nearby areas.

Just like building an apartment, the construction companies set up the beams and decorated the exterior with high quality materials.

Raemian, Prugio, Castle, S-Class.

The structures that bore the names of many construction company brands were built haphazardly everywhere in the plain.

“But… executive director, this is supposed to be a sculpture.”

“Just focus on making it tall. The sculptors will take care of the rest.”

Once combined with the concept of big-scale construction, the pace of the operation became infinitely quicker than before.

“The construction companies from Korea?”

“Yes. The average audience rating is 40%.”

“That’s pretty high. Which broadcasting company?”

“No, this is the average rating taken from the entire world. The rating reaches 85% in the US. Even Fox and CNN are broadcasting the project.”

“Then we have to hurry up and join in as well. This is a chance to show off our company’s technological prowess. The promotion we can get from this will be enormous.”

Highly qualified professionals from various architectural design firms widely known in the real world had gathered together in one place.

“What should we make here?”

“I’m not sure, but let’s start with the substructure work first. We can’t make something that’s smaller than what the other companies make.”

A battle of speed in which the participants began construction even before coming up with any design! Combining strength with the architects from the Northern Regions, they were creating some incredible things.

– Looking for new ideas: we will build anything!

The Garnav Plain became a paradise of sculpting. Dragons and tigers were just some of the basic sculptures found there, and there were also statues shaped like wyverns and ice dragons as if reflecting the popularity of the famous sculptural creatures.

On the other hand, the Bug Porridge group was the birthplace of many ingenious project plans.

“Excuse me… I’m thinking of a really awesome bug.”

“Tell us about it. Anything’s possible.”

“Well, it has three hundred legs and forty antennas… would it be alright?”

“That shouldn’t be difficult at all. If we’re just making it long rather than tall… it should be quite easy to construct as well.”

“And it moves forward by flipping its body.”

“…What?”

“Well, it’s a bit hard to explain, but it will need a lot of fine hairs, too.”

The Bug Porridge had set up its own territories over an area that was about 5 kilometers in radius. Within this area, there were great sculptures in the forms of various insects, but there were also a lot of common users who joined in to make their own sculptures. They wanted to learn some sculpting skills and were carving bugs that were around 5 or 6 meters in size; it would be an incredible sight to behold when all of those sculptures came to life simultaneously!

“Don’t worry about the durability! As long as they don’t collapse before the date of the battle, they’re fine.”

“Let’s strive to make something that is 1 kilometer tall this time. We’re going to set up a world record!”

“Faster! Higher! We can always start over if it collapses. Our focus is to make it bigger and taller than anything.”

Once a great mass of people have gathered, the driving force generated by them was almost frightening. Countless sculptures had been made that were based on various animals or famous structures around the world.

“Depps-nim, there’s no time to waste. You need to get up there right now.”

“But… to be honest, I have acrophobia.”

“Hello, I’m a psychiatrist. I can check his condition by his side so just send us up.”

“Everyone push!”

The sculptors who had been forcefully sent to the top of the structures started working at the height where they could gaze upon the clouds below.

Through the collaboration between the Grass Porridge Cult and various construction firms around the world, the Garnav Plain had been completely transformed in just a week.

“Haha…”

Mapan could only let out an incredulous laugh. Of course he had expected some level of success, considering the power of the Grass Porridge cult with all the users of the Northern Continent at the center, but…

‘This is just beyond my imagination.’

It felt as if he received a whole ostrich instead of the fried chicken he had ordered for delivery.

‘Well, I have faithfully carried out Weed-nim’s order. That much is clear.’

Merchants from the North, including Gamong, were all enthusiastically providing support as well.

A place where the largest-scale festival in the world was being held side-by-side with the largest construction project in the world! Already it had been estimated that there were more than fifty million users in Garnav Plain, and it continued to attract even more people through the constant live broadcast every day.

Chapter 5: Hidden Weapons

Fletcher Castle in the Central Continent.

It was a small castle not much known to the rest of the world, but currently an adventurer from the Hermes Guild named Pante was staying in it.

“It should hatch soon.”

One year and six months ago, he received a quest while he was in the Doria region. There was a common assumption among the public that those who belonged to the Hermes Guild would only take quests which were already known to the world, especially the ones that offered good rewards; while it was true to some extent, Pante sometimes devoted his time to quests that no one had successfully completed before.

< Elves in Puzzlement

The elves living in the birch tree grove are confused by the strangely rapid withering of flowers that has been occurring lately in the forest. It seems something has happened in the grove, and they are seeking for an adventurer who can solve this mystery.

Difficulty Level: D

Reward: Increased affinity with the elves >

Having felt quite bored, Pante accepted the quest upon finding that it had not been completed by anyone yet.

‘I’ll get this done quickly.’

As he was wandering around the forest, he found a hidden space underneath a layer of fallen leaves, from which he obtained a small amount of sticky mud.

< You have obtained the essence of the soil that bears a malignant spirit. >

A series of linked quests followed after he brought the mud to the elder of the elves.

– Purification of Soil

– A Sunny Ground in the Birch Tree Grove

– The Evil Spirit’s Secret

– Precious Nourishment

– Beautiful Flowers

The difficulty level was also stepped up to C as the series of quests continued.

– The Wet Ground of Mollork.

However, for a questline that had been initially taken so lightheartedly, Mollork was simply too far away for him to continue.

“Difficulty level C… It’s a bit of a waste to stop here considering the number of quests I’ve already completed, but I guess there’s no choice.”

Pante concluded that it was too much of a bother to roam about the vast land for more than a month, and forgot about the quest soon.

8 months had passed since then, and an expedition party sent from the Haven Empire headed towards the land of Mollork. The Hermes Guild was well aware of the fact that there were still countless mysteries remaining in the Versailles Continent. Most users chose to repeat the quests and use the hunting grounds that were fully revealed to the world, but there were still hidden jackpots scattered across the land. Hence an expedition team was deployed from time to time to explore the corners of the Versailles Continent, consisting of top elite users, in order to claim the dungeons and treasures uncovered during the journey. When Pante heard the news of such an expedition party coming to explore the land of Mollork, he joined the team and completed the forgotten quest at last.

Although it was a part of a larger questline, he did not expect much in terms of the rewards, for many such quests only offered mediocre compensation. However, the quest did not conclude in the region of Mollork; rather, it continued even further through a request from an old local resident.

“Adventurer, I would like to ask a favor of you.”

“A favor?”

“I expect, with that soil you have obtained, it will be possible to grow the seed and make it bloom.”

“And where is that seed?”

“My grandfather has lost it, but fortunately, I know the location of the place where he’s lost the seed.”

< The Shady Nest in Mollork

There is a habitat of Vargetts in Mollork, and it is said that one can find some preciously rare fruits in that place. Eliminate the Vargetts and obtain the seeds of the rare fruits.

Difficulty Level: A

Restrictions: You must have completed ‘The Essence of Soil’ and ‘The Wet Ground of Mollork’ quests.

Rewards: the supreme fruit >

Now that the difficult level had become A, this was no longer an ordinary commission.

“I will do it.”

Pante reported the quest to the superior authority in the Hermes Guild and immediately received the support of a special strike force.

“We will get it done for you within today.”

The strike force of one hundred users consisting of knights, mages, archers and clerics thoroughly destroyed the nest of Vargetts, and Pante was able to clear the quest without any difficulty, but still it was not the end of it.

< The Magical Fruit

This is a Quairan fruit, which is known to bring health to anyone who eats it: a first-class cooking ingredient!

However, it is said that this fruit was especially sought after by a special group of creatures. There might be someone among the old dwarves who can recognize this fruit.

Difficulty Level: A

Restrictions: You must have acquired the Quairan fruit. >

With the help of the Hermes Guild, Pante could have a word with the dwarves in Thor.

“So you have a Quairan fruit? That’s some very rare stuff.”

“But what exactly can I use it for?”

“That’s… well, I’d rather not talk about it.”

In order to become friendlier with the dwarves and get the answer, Pante began to spend money freely. With the mighty Hermes Guild backing him, investing about a million gold in this quest was nothing difficult. But even after he became much closer to the dwarves, they kept their mouths shut.

“This isn’t something I can talk about so openly. But you might have a better chance with that Drunkard Dwarf; he’s quite talkative, you know…”

Using the information network of the Hermes Guild, he managed to find the Drunkard Dwarf and continue the quest.

“You’ve got a Quairan fruit? That fruit… is a favorite of truly great and terrifying beings.”

Pante’s quest was now closely watched by the top-ranking adventurers of the Hermes Guild. The series of linked quests that had eventually reached difficulty level A — with so many steps, following one after another, they anticipated that this might even lead to an S-level commission.

– Balam: The great and terrifying beings to dwarves? Then they must be…

– Tahembo: Dragons.

– RoadTracker: So this quest is somehow connected to dragons. The word ‘jackpot’ doesn’t quite cut it.

Through Weed’s adventures, people had seen that a quest with the difficulty level S had capacity to change the shape of a region or even the very course of history of the Versailles Continent. Drunkard Dwarf’s story continued.

“It was a long time ago. We had to offer them these Quairan fruits, but it was very hard to procure them because these beings just found them so delicious and ate them all. Well, and there were some dwarves who brewed wine with those fruits in secret, too.”

“Ah. I see.”

“Hold on a second… that reminds me of a rumor I heard years and years ago.”

“A rumor?”

“Quairans are known to be the fruits that these great beings like the most when they are young. So it is said that one might be able to make the rarest discoveries by searching around the place where they found the Quairan fruits.”

< You have obtained the necessary information from Drunkard Dwarf.>

< Your quest has been updated.>

< Dragons’ Favorite Fruit

The Quairan fruits are food for dragons. These fruits contain plenty of nutriments, which is why dragons often seek them as their giant bodies need a lot of sustenance.

Investigate the areas near the place where the Quairan fruit has been found. Although the risk is high, you might discover something that is highly valuable.

Difficulty Level: S

Restrictions: You must have obtained a fruit of Quairan and the information related to dragons. >

“This really has the difficulty level S?”

“Gods, just how far will these quests go?”

As the quest became increasingly challenging, even the leading members of the Hermes Guild could not easily decide how to proceed, not to mention Pante and other adventurers belonging to the guild.

“Should we continue on with this quest?”

“It might be too dangerous, getting ourselves tangled up with dragons. I also feel rather apprehensive about the sudden appearance of dwarves.”

“Well, the dwarven Kingdom of Thor is the domain of the evil dragon Kaybern.”

“The land of Mollork is very far away, and it is mostly an unknown territory. We shouldn’t exclude the possibility that this might be an entirely new type of adventure.”

“We haven’t even gotten anywhere close to the lair of a dragon. Gaining some affinity with the dragons through this kind of quests would be tremendously beneficial, wouldn’t it?”

“The problem is that it is impossible to predict the way this quest will unfold. If we cannot drop it midway until it is concluded, we could get into trouble.”

The heads of the Hermes Guild even held a meeting and argued over the quest, but in the end they decided to proceed with it a little further.

Hence Pante and the adventurers explored the land of Mollork with the help of the strike team which had been extensively reinforced. It was a difficult journey, because the monsters they encountered all had levels over 400 and 500, but before long they found what they came for.

< A dungeon: you have become the first discoverers of the Neglected House.

Benefits:

Fame increased by 10,000 points.

Experience points and item drop rate will be doubled for a week.

For your first hunt, the monster will drop the best item out of all the possible items it can drop when killed. >

Inside the dungeon, chimeras with levels over 600 jumped out at them, their strength and life force beyond the bounds of common sense. The party would have had a much harder time if Pante had come alone with adventurers, but they were able to deal with the monsters thanks to the military force that the Hermes Guild had sent to accompany them. The knights and fighters took the lead in clearing the dungeon while being supported by the clerics and mages from the rear.

“Hm. Let’s begin the search.”

They started their investigation, with the strike team taking the main roles.

A dungeon that was almost as vast as a city!

Countless monsters were dwelling in the place, and treasure chests were spotted in some obscure corners — valuable finds that contained plentiful amounts of gold or jewels. Occasionally there were also some swords and armors in them, which were all made by dwarves.

“This is quite incredible. Even in the Central Continent, we haven’t discovered a dungeon as large as this one.”

“And the rewards are excellent. There are more than ten quests that are linked together.”

Other than that, they also noticed evidence of magical traps, although they had all ceased to function.

After the long search was complete, what they eventually found was a pure-white mass, with a height of approximately 4 meters.

“What is this? A rock?”

“It looks like a rock. It’s quite hard, too.”

“Don’t you feel the warmth coming out from it? This might be a mana stone.”

“No, there’s no way this is a mana stone. I cannot seal any magic in it.”

They could only confirm the identity of the mass after the adventurers took some time to appraise it.

< A large egg!

This is the egg of a dragon.

It is protected from magical and physical forces by its thick shell.

1st class cooking ingredient!

1st class blacksmithing material!

1st class sculpting material! >

The adventurers and the users of the strike force stood frozen to the spot.

“Whoa, a dragon’s egg…!”

“Could this be Kaybern’s egg? And if that’s the case, wouldn’t we be all killed by him for the crime of intruding into this dungeon?”

“I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen. The name of the dungeon is ‘the Neglected House’, for one.”

“We don’t know what dragon this egg belongs to yet.”

Pante walked closer to the egg and touched it. His heart swelled with joy to find out that this chain of many linked quests had finally led him to a dragon’s egg.

Ding!

< Your quest has been updated.>

< The Dragon’s Egg

You have discovered an egg which was produced between the green dragon Arankald and the black dragon Kaybern. After Arankald departed for some unknown reason, the egg has been left in its current place until now.

The egg that has been subjected to human touch will incur the rage of the dragons. In order to quell their anger, you must hatch the egg safely and wait for the birth of the baby dragon.

Difficulty Level: S

Restrictions: You must have discovered the dragon’s egg. It is impossible to abandon this quest at the current progress stage. >

“…”

Having realized the true nature of the quest, Pante was lost for words.

‘A dragon is going to be born?’

The heads of the Hermes Guild also plunged into a heated argument over this matter after hearing the full story.

“This is a linked quest with the difficult level S. Even Weed has never had such an adventure.”

“If we put this on air, we can at least be sure that the viewing rate will reach a new peak.”

“And we’ll get plenty of advertisements. This is an opportunity to imprint the true capacity of the Hermes Guild on the mind of the users.”

“Opportunity? Don’t you realize how dangerous a dragon can be? If things go ugly, it may bring about the total destruction of several major cities.”

“Such a quest will have a huge impact on everyone. We’ll need to carefully consider the damage it will cause in case of failure…”

With everyone having different opinions, it seemed that the discussion would not end easily.

Hangtu, a dwarven adventurer, expressed his concerns.

“It’s all well and good that this is an S-class adventure. The reason I’m worried about this is the fact that this quest is related to Kaybern. That creature is not called ‘the evil dragon’ by people for nothing.”

Even Pante could not find any words to refute this argument. Every adventurer of some fame and competence preferred to avoid any quest that had some connection with dragons. Not only did the dragons rarely chose to grant an audience to humans, but it was also very hard to ensure that an evil dragon such as Kaybern would offer any fair rewards appropriate for the difficulty of the quest.

“Still, this is a quest… wouldn’t we be rewarded in some way at least?”

“Well, Kaybern tasks the dwarves with various manufacturing quests, but I have never heard any account of him giving them proper rewards in return.”

“A shame; this is certainly a quest I’d rather continue and challenge myself with, given the difficulty level and the current circumstances.”

There were a lot of knights who felt especially attached to the quest; although nobody could be sure how the content of the quest would change from this step on, they could all imagine a great vision.

Hatching a baby dragon — if one could form a friendship with this dragon, they might be able to gain the legendary profession of a Dragon Knight.

Long ago, when Weed was eradicating the Church of Embinyu, he once rode on the back of Ausollet, the Dragon of Chaos. The sight of him standing astride the black dragon and fighting against the avatar of the god Embinyu still remained in the minds of many knights like an afterimage.

‘If I could become a Dragon Knight like that, it would be well worth giving up a castle in exchange.’

‘Becoming a Dragon Knight… that would be the wildest dream of any knight.’

There were only a very small number of members who knew about the quest, and most importantly, there was Bard Ray, who was a Black Knight himself.

“We’ve already done so much to clear this quest, and the profit we could gain by successfully completing it may be enormous. We have no choice but to proceed further; the quest cannot be cancelled at this stage anyway.”

Thus, Pante and a handful of other adventurers were keeping the dragon egg in the Fletcher Castle and preparing themselves for the hatching. Ever since they moved to this castle, there had been a number of invasions from armies of monsters. The public simply assumed that they were influenced by the rebel forces or the weakened public order, but in truth those invasions were the doings of black mages seeking to steal the dragon egg. The attempts of the black mages failed every time, as they could not surpass the military strength of the Hermes Guild. In addition, the adventurers could obtain some more information from the mages as they fought them.

– If the egg is destroyed, two dragons will descend upon the land.

– The purpose of the black mages was to open the age of magic.

– The rage of the dragons would most probably bring forth waves of monsters, which would in turn completely devastate the entire continent.

*****

Guided by Emperor Geihar, Weed and his companions headed towards the capital city of the Arpen Empire.

“…”

“Woooow…”

“This, this is amazing.”

Majestic stone structures built in the style of the Classical Era welcomed them. The great city stretched out from one end of their field of view to the other. It was the place where an endless variety of sculptural creatures in the forms of beasts and Avians lived. It was the capital of the Arpen Empire, which had a beautiful river flowing through it and several hundred species of trees growing lushly all over the land.

< You have arrived at the capital city of the Arpen Empire in the Classical Era, the same capital city of the old Arpen Empire mentioned in historical records.

You are now visiting Verd Adren, a place where humans and countless other life forms lived in harmony, the cultural hub as well as the center of civilization of the entire Versailles Continent.

You have made a legendary adventuring achievement.

You have obtained the title: ‘Observer of History’

All stats have increased by 5 points.

Your fame has increased by 12,450 points

People will find it hard to accept such an incredible discovery even if you report it.>

Although it was a long time ago, Weed had seen this city before in the images contained in the Royal seal of the Arpen Empire. As this was his first time to visit the place in person, he was able to receive the rewards for his achievement in adventure.

“This is so impressive.”

“I’ve never expected such an adventure…”

“Everything here feels marvelous.”

Weed’s companions walked around the streets, deeply in awe. It was hard to believe but everywhere they looked, the whole and splendid sight of the Arpen Empire was in front of them just as it was from the time long past. The town square, market streets, and all the buildings including the food storehouse were perfectly reproduced — the kind of time travel only possible in Royal Road.

Among the people roaming about the city, they could see members of some rare beast races that were known to have existed a long time ago. As Emperor Geihar’s aesthetic taste covered all kinds of species, there was also a relatively diverse range of lifeforms that belonged to reptiles and insects. What was particularly interesting was the fact that even their exotic appearances seemed to be in harmony with the scenery of the city, and beautiful.

‘As a sculptor, Weed-nim will be able to create new races, too, given time. The Versailles Continent as we know now could go through a lot of changes in the future.’

‘This is real history. The Sculpting skill at its height touches even the domain of miracles. Would I be able to find such greatness in fishing techniques, too?’

‘I see a lot of strong warriors here.’

In the sky, there were gigantic winged snakes flying around freely; an extraordinary sight, but nothing was out of the ordinary considering the fact that this city was home to so many sculptural lifeforms.

Emperor Geihar smiled contently.

“This is the place where the largest number of my sculptural children is gathered in the whole Empire.”

Naturally, there were bustling market streets inside the city. Weed and his companions were far beyond the level of using any items bought from ordinary stores, but they still looked around the shops out of curiosity.

“We have a lot of good quality products. Would you come in and take a look?”

“Come over here if you are looking for carpets to decorate your house!”

“Real men need weapons! You there, don’t just walk past; take a look at these weapons!”

As there were a lot of different races formed by the sculptural creatures living in the city, the diversity of the items on sale was enormous. There were more than several hundred kinds of food products alone. The general stores sold all sorts of items, such as belts for earthworms, rabbit folk’s earmuffs for protection against cold and decorative tooth straps for crocodiles. Irene bought a tooth strap for Nile.

“This is similar to the flying city Lavias, where they sell items and equipments for the Avians.”

“They are also mainly selling food and daily supplies rather than equipment for combat.”

Pale bought some items for Countryside Snake and Yellowy as well; things like a tail ornament for the Snake and a coat for Yellowy, of quite good quality.

“*Squeak*!”

“Moooo. I thank you.”

Weed was watching all this from one step behind as if it was none of his concern. True, he was the one who granted life to those creatures, but he only did it in order to boss them around. But Emperor Geihar was also watching Weed with a pleased expression on his face.

“Your friends all look quite spectacular, too.”

“…my ‘friends’?”

“Ah, excuse me; perhaps you regard them as family?”

“…”

To him, the sculptural creatures were nothing more than his subordinates. Still, since the reason Weed brought them with him to this adventure was to help him become friendly with the emperor rather than to use them for combat, so in the end his decision had yielded quite a positive outcome.

“Especially the one there — Yellowy, was what you called him? — which possesses such an exceptionally beautiful body. It symbolizes the mighty strength of a bull. Countryside Snake is very cute, too.”

Emperor Geihar complimented Weed’s sculptural creatures.

A natural flow of mood!

Weed intuitively realized that this was the moment to start bringing up his real purpose.

“Your Majesty.”

“Just call me master, no need for such deference.”

“Yes, master!”

The more intimate the title by which one addresses the other, the more difficult it is to refuse any request between them. When asking a difficult favor of a person, one must build their moral justification slowly and gradually.

“As you know, I am from the future. Do you have any idea as to what will happen to these friends of yours in this city, master?”

After taking some time to think, Emperor Geihar replied sadly, “I can guess. I wish they could live peacefully together with the humans… but that’s probably not what’s going to happen.”

“You’ve already surmised that much.”

“Humans wage war even between themselves out of their greed to have more than the others; it would be difficult for them to accept the existence of these sculptural creatures.”

“Yes, I’m afraid you’re quite right.”

Weed informed the emperor of the series of events that was to follow in the future. After the death of Emperor Geihar, all the sculptural lifeforms would leave and the Arpen Empire would collapse into ruin. After a very long time, some of these creatures would eventually turn into monsters, or choose to set off to faraway, desolate regions untouched by humans and dwell there.

“So that is… how this will all end.”

Emperor Geihar fell silent, apparently in a considerable shock. Weed’s companions decided to watch this exchange rather than stepping out to intervene.

‘How is he going to convince this emperor to help him?’

‘I’m about to witness his secret tricks of persuasion that have never failed before — a 100 percent success rate.’

‘There’s some analysis suggesting that the key factor for Weed’s success as a legendary adventurer was his silver tongue. Maybe he’s going to speak some impressive lines?’

Even Pale, who had known Weed for a very long time, swallowed hard with anticipation; he had had very few chances to see Weed deal with local residents or heroes in order to achieve the goals for his quests. The companions were being filled with excitement at the prospect of witnessing his charisma and persuasion skills.

Weed pulled out a large bottle of liquor from his backpack.

Trickle trickle!

A stream of clear liquid filled a goblet made from red clay. It was a distilled spirit of the finest quality.

“Why don’t you have a drink first?”

“What’s this?”

“I’ve brewed this for you, master. Please, go ahead and try it.”

“Hmm. I guess I’ll just have a taste, then.”

As he was in quite a gloomy mood thinking of the future of his sculptural creatures, Emperor Geihar emptied the goblet in a single draft.

“Kyaah. This is very good!”

“I’ve got some roasted squid and chicken wings, too.”

The first goblet he had emptied just as a light drink soon led to the second shot, and then the third.

Weed kept taking out more snacks and bottles of spirit from his bag.

“This is such a fine day today, with cool breezes too, isn’t it?”

“Yes, you’re right.”

With the delicious side dishes raising the emperor’s appetite, the first bottle was gone in a flash.

“Haaah… I’m so glad that I’ve met you. You are training as a sculptor, and you have such excellent cooking skills on top of that…”

“Sculpting is the best, master!”

Another bottle was drained to the bottom.

“For my whole life, beauty has been my closest companion… Although I have made more friends who understood my ideals over time… I cannot help but feel rather lonely sometimes…”

“I completely understand how you feel, master.”

Geihar continued drinking as he lamented over his solitude. One more bottle became empty before they knew.

“I shoun’t… have so much drrrink… in the middle o’the daaay…”

The emperor even started talking strangely as he got increasingly drunk. Weed, who usually prefers to water down the liquor, was taking out only strong drinks this time. He had also brought a very diverse range of side dishes including fries, roasts, soups, noodles and fruits, and was setting them up on the table with a quickness that wouldn’t have been possible without some preparation in advance.

“This is just some light drinking, master. Considering your daily tasks of ruling this empire and looking after your countless sculptural friends, a brief repose like this is only necessary for the better future of everyone.”

Even as he spoke Weed deftly opened another bottle of spirit.

“Let’s make this our last one, shall we? A teacher and his pupil sharing a drink together; good for strengthening our bond, wouldn’t you think so?”

“I gueeeess… you’re riiight, of course…”

As he shared the drink with Weed, Emperor Geihar disclosed the stories that had been hidden deep within his heart. The story of him spending his friendless childhood carving sculptures; and the story of how he was able to bestow life upon his creations by treating them with sincerity. Alcohol had the power to make people share their true heart, thereby giving them a delusion of finding a true friend in each other.

An epitome of persuasion technique using alcohol!

Just as when Geihar’s eyes were starting to lose their focus,

“I, too, founded the Arpen Kingdom.”

A low, heavy voice came out from Weed, who had been mostly listening to the stories of the emperor. Naturally, he had wetted his lips with a lot of saliva, which was the last shred of conscience he had failed to abandon until the end.

“And it wasn’t for my own wealth and prosperity that I founded this kingdom. Humans were caught in the endless chain of wars… and those who built the Haven Empire were making heaps of money just for themselv-…I mean, people in general were in a lot of pain and suffering.”

“…”

Although in a drunken stupor, Emperor Geihar seemed to come to himself a little by Weed’s words.

“Sooo?”

“The Arpen Kingdom; as you might guess, I chose this name for my own nation because I had great respect for you, master.”

These honeyed words brought great satisfaction to the mind of the emperor which was already fully open to Weed.

‘I think I just used whatever name that popped up in my mind, since I couldn’t come up with one.’

At first he was thinking about naming his kingdom ‘LongLivetheGreatWeed’, then eventually changed his mind and chose the name Arpen without any apparent reason.

“The kingdom of Arpen is also a peaceful nation like this. Humans, elves, dwarves and barbarians built a city together upon the ruined land to live in.”

Weed gave Emperor Geihar a long and detailed account of the origin of Morata. He felt rather bored to tell him the full story, but the emperor seemed to enjoy the tale of the foundation of the Arpen Kingdom, so he continued on.

“Through much effort and at the risk of my life, I was able to rescue the Arnins and Ellyons as well. The Arnins had been living miserably as slaves before I came to save them.”

“Hooow… hooorrible…”

Emperor Geihar’s body trembled with rage. A drunken person easily fell asleep, so it was necessary to arouse his anger with an appropriate timing.

“There’s just one thing the Arpen Kingdom wishes to achieve: the happiness of everyone living in this land. And I aim to rescue the rest of your friends, too, master.”

“You have not forgotten them…”

The emperor’s voice suddenly sounded somewhat more sober. At the very instant when his heart was full of gratitude towards Weed, the Alcohol Persuasion technique also reached its climax.

“The Arpen Kingdom is in peril, due to the upcoming war. I know I am being shameless for making such a difficult request, but please, for the sake of all the sculptural races facing the hard times ahead of them, lend me your aid to rescue your children and bring peace to this continent!”

In this moment,

Weed knew he scored the goal perfectly.

*****

As Weed and Emperor Geihar continued drinking while passing the goblets back and forth, Pale and the rest of the companions stood far back, but they were all listening closely to the conversation between the two men.

“Do you think this will really work?”

“It would certainly be very difficult to convince him only through talking. I mean, we’re asking the emperor to bestow life to all those sculptures and put every ounce of his energy and strength to help us even after he gets revived by Sculpture Resurrection skill.”

Zephyr was rather pessimistic, and so was Seasoned Crab.

“If this persuasion plan fails, the numerous sculptures which are being constructed in the Garnav Plain will all be useless. And that is going to be a tremendous blow to our side.”

They have all been quite impressed by the combat capabilities of the sculptural creatures such as the Baraags. Depending on whether Emperor Geihar would join this battle, different options would be open to them as to the ways to fight against the Haven Empire. After all, this was Geihar von Arpen they were talking about — the hero who had changed the course of history.

‘If Weed-nim’s hidden weapons in the Garnav Plain are rendered utterly useless, we could lose this battle.’

‘We must persuade him to help us, no matter what.’

Surka returned from her visit to the nearby restaurant.

‘I’ve bought some spicy roasted pork! Just dip in this sauce and enjoy.’

The companions continued watching Weed and the emperor as they munched on the roasted pork. When Weed filled the goblet with the spirit for the first few times, they all thought that he would bring up the subject about his real purpose of this adventure anytime soon.

“Look, another bottle…”

“They are drinking really fast.”

“Ooh! Weed-nim spat out the liquor in his mouth when the emperor wasn’t looking!”

The process of persuasion to save the Versailles Continent: make the subject consume alcohol without a single second of break, and discreetly fawn on him. Emperor Geihar, being a simple and honest man, spoke out his mind and disclosed his sincere feelings and thoughts. And Weed caught his chance to strike out, asking for the emperor’s help.

“Huh. So that was the true reason why he founded the Arpen Kingdom?”

“Wow. I guess Weed-nim really lives to help others in need. I’ve never realized that he has had such worries and concerns in his mind all this time.”

“…Wait, that really can’t be true.”

Even the companions who knew all too well about Weed’s true nature couldn’t help but feel confused for a short while. Everything he had ever put any effort into was for his own wealth and prosperity, but after being wrapped up by a layer of romanticization, all of his deeds were beginning to make him look like a savior of the continent. His story suddenly turned into the biography of a hero, who chose the path of hardship as a sculptor for the sake of art and beauty, ventured on a number of dangerous quests in order to save the world, and eventually managed to build his own kingdom.

Zephyr cocked his head curiously.

“Well, there’s nothing outright false in his story in terms of the facts, but to those who have been watching him for a long time, there are some parts which are simply not very convincing.”

Irene smiled uneasily.

“Well, I must say I agree with you.”

As Weed’s closest associates, they were well aware of the numerous incidents that involved him including dominating the trade of the Arpen Kingdom and speculative investments in the land around Puhol Water Park. Not that they were in any position to criticize him — they had each received a free villa located in that water park themselves.

‘Still, nobody suffered any unfair loss because of that, so what’s the big deal?’

‘It’s certainly true that the Versailles Continent has become a better place thanks to Weed-nim.’

‘There would be very few Northern users who bear any sort of grudge against Weed-nim.’

While it was up for debate whether he really was a good king, with all things considered he was undoubtedly creating a world that offered a happier life for everyone. He only cared for his selfish interests and desires, but the speed and the scale at which he strived to gratify those interests and desires were so enormous that he ended up contributing considerably to the growth of the kingdom itself. All those great architectural structures, city developments and construction of traffic networks wouldn’t have been possible without Weed’s achievements.

“Lend me your aid to rescue your children and bring peace to this continent!”

The end of Weed’s persuasion.

Emperor Geihar had no reason to refuse his request. Weed was his only pupil who had followed his footsteps as a sculptor, and was a true successor of the Arpen Empire, although these were all somewhat exaggerated truths that were planted inside the emperor’s head.

‘How commendable his attitude is… and his sincerity in trying to help his master…’

This much was enough to move his mind, but Weed had cleared all those quests for the continent and even rescued sculptural races on top of it. And how respectful and affable had he been ever since he first met Geihar!

“I shall help… howevvver I cannn…”

The hero who united the Versailles Continent.

Emperor Geihar accepted Weed’s request with a drunken tone.

*****

The people assembled in the Garnav Plain were keeping themselves busy. If they wanted to have fun they could go to enjoy the ongoing festival, and those who wanted to do some work joined the sculptures construction project.

“I can already hear the sound!”

“Look over there; they’re all sculptures, not mountains!”

The users from the Central Continent rushed towards the Garnav Plain on horseback. Mages flew in the air, and the novices marched on without a break.

The feeling of watching the sculptures standing on the vast land of the Garnav Plain from the distance!

“The festival!”

“Let’s have a beer first and play all day. I’m not going to sleep tonight!”

The plain was packed full of the crowd of people enjoying the festival. The ground itself seemed to shake whenever they stomped their feet and shouted out in excitement.

In addition to the lavish assortment of food which every single merchant of the Northern Continent had been mobilized to prepare, this festival also offered entertainment through music and dance in a gigantic scale. Not only did most of the bards from the Northern Continent come to join, famous singers and bands in the real world also arrived to play.

“Go crazy, people! Let’s make the whole Versailles Continent shake!”

To many well-known bands from various countries, this festival was the greatest event in the history of music. The place where so many people from across the globe had gathered together — it was a great opportunity to promote their music and meet new fans. Every day, from early morning until past midnight the Garnav Plain was filled with a constant stream of music.

“I’m really surprised at the Arpen Kingdom’s financial capability.”

“I know, right? How did they make preparations for all this? I never knew they had such competence.”

In fact, even Weed and Mapan had not expected such an extent of success. It had been their plan to postpone the date of the battle and make a massive amount of profit by selling food and drinks to the gathering crowd, but it was thanks to the people who assembled to lend aid and serve their individual roles that their scheme was bearing fruit.

“Someone’s selling the Crimson Blood Sword!”

“Wow, I thought that sword costs almost 10 million gold?”

“Well, we couldn’t use it anyway, since its level requirement is 520 or more.”

The users from the Central Continent also kept bringing food, beverages and trade goods, so markets were quickly being set up.

“Weapon repairs! 3 gold only!”

“Clothing repair specialist over here. We can fix missing buttons and repair sleeves perfectly! Excellent attention to detail! Also, laundries are ready to be collected after a day.”

“Wow. Everything’s so cheap in the North.”

“The taxes there are lower than the Haven Empire.”

“The Empire has also lowered the taxes quite a bit, but it still can’t compare to the Northern Continent.”

The energy radiating from the northern users!

Although they were latecomers to Royal Road, their vigorous spirit and affection towards the Versailles Continent were greater than anyone. And that energy was spreading among the users from the Central Continent as well.

“This place… is really amazing.”

“Feeling the atmosphere here, I’m beginning to think I was an idiot for not siding with the Arpen Kingdom earlier.”

“Well, now is not too late. I’m going to get everything packed up and move to live in the Arpen Kingdom.”

“But if they win this battle, the whole Central Continent may become part of the Arpen Kingdom anyway.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad either.”

“I really need to visit Puhol Water Park. I mean, there might be other places like it built in the Central Continent later, but Puhol will still be the first of its kind.”

In the market, people were selling various goods such as items they didn’t need but had not been able to dispose of, or some high quality weapons and gears. The equipment on sale covered a wide range of users from novices under level 100 to elite users in their 500s, and there were innumerably many different kinds of magical materials and ingredients as well.

The items that had been sold the most were those that were for levels between 200 and 350.

“The levels of those Northern users are higher than I expected.”

“Yes, quite a lot of users are over level 200. I think they’re growing even faster than when we first started the game.”

“Probably because there’s no restriction for them on using the hunting grounds, and they say there are a lot of monsters in the North, too.”

The users who made a satisfactory amount of money in the market came back to join the festival to eat and enjoy themselves fully, and the money they spent attracted even more goods and merchants.

Although Weed had initially proposed to delay the date of the battle for 15 days, a lot of users wished it would be longer than that; a whole month of preparation period before the battle would have brought an even bigger crowd to the Garnav Plain.

A grand meeting was taking place whereby most of the users scattered across all parts of the Versailles Continent were gathering together. Along with the great festival continuing day and night, things were equally busy in the construction site of the giant sculptures. It seemed as though all the architects in existence had flocked in to participate, and there was a fierce competition between various construction companies that had staked their fame and honor on this project.

Clang-clang-clang!

They hammered, broke things into pieces, and stacked them up. Every step of the building process was advancing  with extreme speed, and nobody was overly concerned about safety. To pile up the stones even higher, people climbed up the height of the statues so precariously it looked like they were scaling up a cliff.

“Aaaaaargh!!!”

One user was screaming, falling from the height of 500 meters. The mages nearby immediately chanted an incantation.

“Quick Flight!”

The spell of flying was cast, and the falling user rose into the air again.

“Thank you!”

“You’re welcome.”

With everyone bulldozing through to construct more statues, the focus of the project had long been a competition of quantity rather than efficiency.

“We Toadstool Porridge squad shouldn’t just stand idle, as the vanguard of the Grass Porridge.”

“You’re right. Let’s make a big, beautiful mushroom statue.”

“People of the Crab Porridge unit! Let us also carve a majestic-looking crab sculpture together!”

Each porridge group of the Grass Porridge Cult was burning in great passion. In a corner, there was another collection of users clad in pitch black robes.

“Shouldn’t we Loach Porridge unit build a sculpture to represent our group as well?”

“Kukuku. Just one is not enough. We should make a whole den of insects…”

“How about creating a bug?”

“Tentacles, antennas, fine hair… what else?”

“Squashy Wriggler gave all of us a great shock when it first made its appearance. I know it was Weed-nim’s work, but could we attempt to make something like that by ourselves?”

“Yeah, let’s give it a try. Whatever we make, we’ll put some real effort into it. But it’s a shame to not make any use of that Squashy Wriggler.”

“Well, Earthworm Porridge squad said they are going to make a Squashy Wriggler.”

“Earthworm Porridge and Loach Porridge units are allies. We should respect their decision then.”

In one corner of the Garnav Plain, some of the most unspeakably imposing insects were being created. The Loach Porridge unit had a surprisingly wide network of social connections, and they wanted to instigate the society’s reappraisal on the values of insects. Many experts of various related fields were invited to craft the greatest insects on earth.

Construction work was taking place even under the ground of the Garnav Plain.

“Sculpting? When it comes to any skill that needs dexterity of hands, we dwarves are second to none!”

“Once we start displaying our abilities, those humans… ahem.”

“Let’s craft our works out of steel, rather than stones.”

“Sounds great.”

They had dug their way deep underground and began their work there.

The masters of craftsmanship, possessing blacksmithing skills of advanced level or higher!

There were quite a lot of dwarves with intermediate skill level as well, and they created sculptures by pouring the boiling molten metal into shape.

The news of Emperor Geihar’s decision to take part in the coming war had already been delivered through broadcast.

“Once bestowed with life, they will be unleashed freely upon the world. That would be a magnificent sight to behold.”

“The dwarf race had exerted very little influence in the Versailles Continent, but those humans wouldn’t be able to keep up with our crafting skills.”

The painters were especially busy, as their job was to add colors to the several-hundred-meters-tall sculptures once their construction was completed. They had to be deployed to many different sites that needed some coloring job done, and they were making some paints and color dyes by themselves.

Everything was extremely hectic in the Garnav Plain with the festival and construction work running simultaneously. And one of the largest crowd the world had ever witnessed had gathered together to do their part in this grand project.

*****

Chaser the Adventurer!

In preparation for the upcoming battle in the Garnav Plain, he had been travelling around the continent.

“Are there any legends or hidden stories about the Garnav Plain?”

As there wasn’t much an adventurer could do in a battlefield, he was carrying out an investigation in the hope of finding anything that can help.

“It is an abandoned land.”

“There’s nothing but overgrown weeds, since there’s no human living there.”

“It’s the homeland of horses. Strong wild horses are often seen prancing about that plain.”

Although there were few people who knew much about the Garnav Plain, he managed to obtain a clue in the Britten Region, quite far away from the place, from a sage named Sir Donard whom Chaser had regularly offered food and drinks to maintain a friendly relation.

“A long time ago, the Garnav Plain was the place upon which the kingdom of Paldan was founded.”

“The kingdom of Paldan?”

“During the Warring Age, the Paldan Kingdom insisted on maintaining peace, but ended up being thoroughly destroyed by the joint attack from other kingdoms.”

“I see.”

“For some time, the plain was haunted by the ghosts left by that ruined kingdom, which was why it was abandoned by people. It is said that if you bring an object that belonged to the lost kingdom of Paldan, you can meet those ghosts even today, although I’m not sure if there is any point at all in such an encounter.”

Even a whole month of time was not enough for an adventure; a large-scaled adventure, especially, could require as long as several months to complete, so Chaser decided to seek for help from the adventurers guild.

– Subject: Need information about the Kingdom of Paldan

Hello, I am Chaser, an adventurer.

I’m currently carrying out some research on the Paldan Kingdom in order to find a way to contribute as an adventurer to the battle in the Garnav Plain.

If you have any information regarding this matter, please share it with me.

In just an hour, comments made by countless users flooded in.

– The population during its prime days is estimated to be 1.48 millions. Targul was the name of the king.

– I also set off on an adventure related to the Paldan Kingdom before, but it still remains uncompleted. The city has completely disappeared without any trace. So far as I know, it sank into the ground by an earthquake.

– There’s a small side road that branches out from the Balten Gorge. At the end of that path there’s a cave leading underground, and once through that cave you’ll be able to find the last vestiges of the Paldan Kingdom.

– Oh, I didn’t realize there’s such a clever solution…

– This discovery hasn’t even been reported by anyone yet. I hope it helps, even just a little.

– Where are you at the moment, Chaser-nim? I’m at the Stage No. 35 right now because I’m waiting for a friend to have dinner together, and I have an insignia of the Paldan Royal Knights with me.

– Do you need any guide for your trip? I’m well acquainted with the area around here. I can lead you to anywhere you want very quickly.

– Hi, I’m an audience watching the Stage No. 35 right now. Is it alright if I take the insignia of the royal knights and bring it to you? I’m a ranger over level 400, so I’d be able to move pretty quickly if I ride on a horse.

With the cooperation of the adventurers guild as well as the help from some users of the Grass Porridge Cult, Chaser was able to shorten the time taken for his adventure dramatically. Some pieces of information or clues obtained in other regions were quickly resolved as well.

Chaser found the ruin of the ancient city.

– We crave for blood, to quell our thirst for revenge!

“I think we’ll be able to provide that as much as you want. There’s going to be a war taking place in the Garnav Plain!”

– A war upon our old homeland. Has the time finally come to free ourselves from this fate of blood?

“Yes. Whatever you want.”

Although it was not some decisive force that could change the outcome of the battle, Chaser still managed to recruit 50 thousands ghost soldiers of the Paldan Royal Army.

*****

Miretas the farmer.

Looking at the sight of the Garnav Plain bustling with the ongoing festival and construction, he was feeling quite lost.

“There are too many people here… it would be difficult to sow the seeds on the ground.”

It would not be wise to dismiss him because of his profession as a farmer; he was able to plant terrible man-eating trees which can be used in the battle. Those plants even had the capacity to grow, bear fruits and spread their seeds further. The problem was that in order to germinate and grow, the seeds required sunlight, fertilizers, water and time, and if he sowed the seeds of those killer trees here, they would blindly devour any passersby as they grew.

“But I need those well-grown plants to fight against the Haven Empire…”

With a troubled heart, Miretas dined on the lamb skewers in a pub set up in the festival site.

“And why are these skewers so damn good?”

He diligently put more lamb meat into his mouth. Working as a farmer often raised one’s appetite.

“Kuahh. This is excellent!”

Just as when he reached out his hand towards the last lamb skewer on the plate, he caught the eyes of an elf who seemed to be just as deeply occupied with gulping down his skewered lamb meat.

“Eh?”

“Miratas-nim?”

An elf named Spuniker. He was another high ranker and a famous user of Royal Road. Something of a celebrity of the message board, his posts containing information of the game helped a countless number of novice users.

“Here, another serving of lamb skewers coming right in!”

The cook brought a large plate of skewers and placed it on the table. Miretas realized that, although he hadn’t recognized the cook earlier because of the blazing fires in the kitchen obscuring his face, that this was in fact Elkgoon, who is said to be striving to become a master chef.

“Oh, I didn’t expect to see such famous faces in one place.”

“Yes, it’s great to meet you both.”

“I hope you are enjoying the food?”

The three of them had known one another for some time.

Miretas himself was a highly reputed user as one of the most prominent figures leading the agricultural industry of Royal Road, and ever since he moved to the Northern Continent, the gross farm output of the region had increased sharply. Elkgoon, who met a lot of customers in his restaurant, was an equally famous person. The cuisines prepared by him often induced much admiration and awe from those who ate them, so whenever a special menu made from some rare ingredients was offered in his restaurant, people commonly waited as long as a few days to have a taste of it. Spuniker had once procured several precious seeds, fruits and grasses for both of them.

Miretas grinned.

“It looks like we have all come here to fight the Haven Empire.”

Elkgoon walked out from the kitchen with his apron on.

“I suppose so, although there’s not much I can do except for cooking.”

“I assume you are preparing some special food for the occasion?”

“A few blacksmiths are making a supersized cauldron so that I can cook a hundred thousand portions of grass porridge at once.”

With the help of some blacksmiths and mages, Elkgoon was making arrangements to ensure that those who participate in the battle would be provided with a hot meal.

“I’m preparing a menu that will increase the user’s maximum stamina and life force.”

Spuniker, however, tipped his head to one side as if he couldn’t quite understand.

“But… it wouldn’t make much difference with most of the users on our side being novices, would it? I’m sorry to say this, but against the Imperial Army… the effect of the food wouldn’t give much advantage to them.”

“They would probably not be able to endure the enemy attacks much longer just by consuming this food, that’s true. But don’t you think people will feel much better if they could at least have a hot, delicious meal before going to battle? Some say cooking is an art that is all about putting your true heart and devotion into the food; like that saying, a meal is not just for sating one’s hunger, but for making one feel happier by eating it.”

Elkgoon’s story made a deep impression on the minds of Miretas and Spuniker. In the Central Continent, people had been regarded as nothing but subjects for exploitation or expendables. One of the reasons behind the rapid growth of the Arpen Kingdom would be the fact that it always showed respect and affection for its people.

Miretas thought that now was a good time for disclosing his worries to the other two.

“I myself am also hoping to help in any way I can during the war, so I’m preparing to grow some plants. But it turned out to be a more difficult task than I expected as there are so many people coming and going in the Garnav Plain, on top of the large construction site for the sculptures.”

“That’s too bad…”

Spuniker and Elkgoon put their heads together to think of a solution.

“How strong are those killer plants?”

“I don’t know exactly. I have never used those plants for the purpose of fighting before.”

“I guess they need a large area of land to grow?”

“Yes. As I understand it, those plants need to be kept at least several meters apart from one another while they are being raised. Otherwise they’ll attempt to hurt each other.”

“Hmm.”

After a while, Spuniker came up with an idea.

“I’ll inform the Pointy Ears Association about this. They might be able to help.”

The largest novice community of the elven races.

Spuniker sent them an inquiry as to whether they would be able to provide some aid, and quickly received their response.

– GreenTree: This is the president of Pointed Ears Association. Some Wood Elf volunteers have expressed their willingness to help cultivate the special killer plants.

Elves had a natural talent in growing flowers and trees even if they were not farmers. With the cooperation from the Wood elves, the plan for raising terrifying killer plants was now ready to be executed.

*****

Fabio and Herman.

Whenever these two dwarves looked at each other, this was what they thought:

‘I’m better than him.’

‘Anyone would say that the quality of my swords is far more excellent than his.’

Although both of them were old enough to be treated like adults wherever they went, the competitive spirit deep within their hearts burned like an erupting volcano.

Fabio and Herman decided to go to the Garnav Plain together.

‘This war sounds interesting. And we’ll be able to determine who the best blacksmith is once and for all in front of the whole crowd.’

‘A true Master Blacksmith should do their part in the war. The warriors who are equipped with the gears from my workshop will be able to exert their full power.’

But quite opposite to their innermost feelings, outwardly they behaved as if they were the closest friends.

“How are things going?”

“Well, there’s nothing much going on nowadays… just spending my evening with beer every day. How about you, Fabio-nim?”

“I’ve also been busy making merry. We’ve worked so hard for a long time; it doesn’t hurt to enjoy life a little.”

They had a friendly conversation with smile on their faces, but even the war between the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire was not the top item on their lists of priority.

‘I will create the greatest sword of the continent.’

‘Through my effort and passion, I will forge a sword of the Gods as such the people will think of themselves as fortunate if they can just behold it once.’

They continued this cordial chat and maintained their false nonchalance as they travelled together. During the entire trip to the Garnav Plain, both of them were dying to do some work with their hammer but they forcefully restrained themselves from doing so, because neither of them would be able to stand the feeling of defeat if they submitted to their competitive spirit and started making swords while their rival was being so relaxed and composed.

“This apple is delicious.”

“The strawberries melt in my mouth, too.”

The two dwarves walked on, stopping to pick an apple from time to time. As their legs were shorter than those of human, it took them a while to arrive at the Garnav Plain. They got out of their smithies so rarely that they wasted a considerable amount of time wandering about a wrong road, which also contributed to their delay.

“Beer Porridge, Soju Porridge! Come gather over here! We’re having a head-on match against the Wine Porridge squad!”

“Anyone seen where Azalea Porridge unit is? Please give me directions!”

“I’m selling red peanuts. Freshly roasted red peanuts for just one silver!”

There were already an innumerable number of users gathered in the Garnav Plain. Although it was difficult for the two dwarves to see the whole view due to their short bodies, they could simply feel that the whole plain was covered with humans. They were having meetings in smaller groups, eating and drinking to their heart’s content while frolicking and dancing with others. The huge sculptures towering over them far in the distance like mountains looked almost majestic.

‘How on earth have they done all this… exactly how many sculptures are there, and in what scale?’

‘I’ve seen them on the broadcast, but they look even more magnificent in person. I wished to have joined earlier.’

‘I would’ve arrived earlier if I hadn’t bumped into Herman on the way…’

‘I could have run all the way to here if it hadn’t been for this senior Fabio… Heck, I would’ve even clung to the back of a carriage to come faster.’

They turned to face each other and smiled.

“There’s not much to see, now that I’m actually here.”

“Well, I guess that’s often the case with things. Once you come all the way to see something in person, it’s just nothing. Yet all this fuss…”

“So that restaurant is famous? I don’t understand what’s so great about that place to have people wait in a queue. Tut tut.”

“I couldn’t agree more. It’s just a meal, to fill your belly.”

The two dwarves were stubbornly refusing to speak out their mind, as their dignity didn’t allow it.

‘I want to eat there. I’m hungry.’

‘Ugh… I’ve come so far and I can’t even have some delicious food?’

Still, they were eager to see the rest of the festival site, so they moved their short legs quickly and walked around.

“The technique of those dwarf blacksmiths is indeed remarkable.”

“Wow, look at that skill! They’re forming the sculptures right as they pour that molten iron. This construction wouldn’t have been so easy without them.”

Fabio and Herman walked towards the direction from which they could hear the talks about blacksmiths. Thousands of dwarves were working together there.

“That’s the sign of the smithy in Ekverin.”

“Looks like Bamby’s here, too.”

Many famous dwarf blacksmiths from Kuroso were hammering various pieces of weapons and armors into shape. Some were making shovels and carts, and users came to buy them as soon as they were completed.

“Thank you, dwarf-nim.”

“No problem.”

Anywhere outside Thor, it was near impossible for several thousand dwarves to gather in one place, yet there were more than one such meeting place of dwarven master craftsmen scattered across the Garnav Plain. With so many users assembled and the preparation for the war underway, there was no time for a break for those dwarf masters.

“Hmm.”

“Ahem, hem…”

Fabio and Herman were itching to step forward.

Master Blacksmiths!

Their shoulders automatically stiffened with pride, as they knew they were among the few who had realized the ultimate dream of every dwarf.

They wanted to boast their accomplishment, but were reluctant to do so before anyone acknowledges them.

“Master Fabio, is that you?”

“Herman-nim?”

Before long, several dwarves recognized them.

“Oh. It’s really them!”

“It’s usually extremely difficult to meet them in person, yet here they are!”

“Senior Fabio! Is it true that you have become a Master Blacksmith?”

“Herman-nim, could you please demonstrate your skills just a little? I’d like to see how you handle molten metal. No, let’s start from how you start a fire!”

Other dwarf blacksmiths, who looked like mere apprentices needing many years of hammering ahead of them to the eyes of Master Blacksmiths, swarmed in to talk to them.

A moment had come at last to gratify their ego.

A smile slowly dawned on the faces of Fabio and Herman.

*****

The orcs had arrived at the Garnav Plain.

“Chhhwiiiickk.”

“Chhwiiit!”

The thick smell of delicious food entered the orcs’ nostrils full of sweat and dust.

“This is paradise, Chhwiit!”

“Tha, that’s food over there. Chhhwiichhhwiit!”

“Chwiiiiieeck!! I will eat it all!”

“Chwichwichwichhhwiit.”

Various kinds of orcs, large and small, joined the festival in Garnav Plain. The orc lords had a chance to meet separately in a tent and have a glass of beer in a quiet place.

“Wrong choice of race. Chwieet!”

“I’m so sick of those orcs. Chwiiekk!”

“Always hungry. Chwik. And all they do is whine about wanting to fight more… Chwichwiet!”

While other users were interested in enjoying adventure, hunting or recreation, these orc lords were different.

‘We will have countless many orcs under our command. And they will march across the plain. The whole world will belong to orcs.’[1]

There was just no sport in hunting individually or as a party. They swept whole dungeons with hundreds of orc warriors. And if that wasn’t enough, they could simply unleash thousands more.

The charge of an army of roaring orcs — that would be every orc lord’s ultimate fantasy.

This aspect of the orcs was also part of the influence Weed had left on people during his time as Karichwi the orc, but this was only the good side.

Orcs’ bodies normally stank, which was quite natural considering how rarely they took a bath despite the fact that they sweated a lot. Even if one could get over the smell problem, there was the issue of their undying appetite. The second after they had a meal they wanted more, and even if you fed an orc until its belly was threatening to burst, it will still try to have more food. On top of it, they did not enjoy vegetarian diet, and persistently searched for meat.

“Beer. Nice. Chwiitt!”

“Foaming stuff. Foams, foams. Chwiissk!”

Ever since they had had a taste of Morata beer, they had demanded for more of it every day.

Fresh meat, and a glass of beer.

The orc lords eradicated the monsters appearing in the outer regions of the Arpen Kingdom with their orc army. They had secured a vast territory and many spoils of war, but most of the profit had to be spent on food products and weapons. Orcs complained that they were starving when hunting was not going well, and when hunting WAS going well, they complained that they wanted some decent quality food. And they were quite fond of shining new weapons, too.

The orc lords often spent their time regretting their choice of race when they were not engaged in a battle. Even so, they had to admit that orc was too fascinating a race to give up; the joy of roaming about the vast continent with tens of thousands of orc warriors under their banner was something only an orc could feel. The untamed life in the wild, and the pleasure of sinking your hard teeth into fresh, raw meat… Orcs could sleep in a rocky mountain, and explore the unknown land across rough and difficult terrains. Along with the help from the adventurers, the contribution of orcs was a critical factor in the border expansion and territory stabilization of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Kukukukukuchwiitt!!”

Galch, a successful orc lord, brought no less than 4.6 million warriors to the Garnav Plain. He was a man of such great popularity that he had a separate interview for broadcast, and he did not hide his delight to receive the news of the coming battle.

“For the Arpen Kingdom. I fight. Chwitt!”

“Yes, let’s have an epic battle. Chwiittt!”

The orc lords decided to think about a battle strategy together to fight more effectively.

“…”

“…”

“…”

Everyone was silently sipping from their glass of beer, as if their brains also turned into those of orcs.

“Chhwikk.”

There was occasional snorting, too.

The problem was, of course, that the orc lords had never used any battle strategies other than full frontal assault.

*****

The Royal Club!

An unofficial society in the Versailles Continent, but which had strict conditions for accepting new members: in order to become a member of this club, one needed to own at least three trillion won’s worth of property between himself and his family in the real world.

“It seems like this battle in the Garnav Plain might even affect our fate.”

“Tsk. The Hermes Guild is not as competent as we thought.”

“Well, our expectations might have been simply too high from the beginning. These minor issues will only add to the fun, don’t you think?”

“I suppose.”

The users of the Royal Club were either the lords of some regions, or equipped with rare and fancy gears. Even to these men of wealth, the Versailles Continent was as close to a paradise as it could be. After a few days of using the game as a vacation spot while enjoying the clear air and the restful landscape, they would be filled with other kinds of ambitions. Sometimes they wanted to explore the vast and perilous continent full of mystery, and other times they felt a compulsion to engage themselves in a fierce battle against monsters. The energetic atmosphere of cities bustling with numerous users made their hearts pound with excitement, and the pleasure of feeling the improved physical capacities whenever they leveled up was equally thrilling.

‘I want to become stronger, faster than anyone else.’

‘I want to make a big accomplishment. A man of my status shouldn’t have an ordinary life in this world.’

Royal Road was the new rising trend among the wealthy class; gone were the days when they all devoted their time and enthusiasm to golf.

Based on their wealth in real life, the club had been making regular deals with the Hermes Guild. Weapons, armors, hunting grounds, cities and mercenaries — there was an endless variety of things that they could get, depending only on their desire. And the users of the Royal Club did not want the Hermes Guild to be destroyed.

“A crisis can always turn into an opportunity. The Hermes Guild has recently made an inquiry on our interest in investment… it seems they need a lot of money due to the cost of war.”

“And what will we get in exchange for our investment?”

“The cities in the North.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad deal.”

The several hundred wealthy users of the Royal Club decided to make a large-scale investment in the Hermes Guild.

*****

Boemong, the giant knight leader of the order of Crimson Knights, assembled the forces under his command.

“That’s a huge number.”

The army that gathered in the front courtyard of Borgo Castle alone consisted of two thousand knights and five thousand soldiers. On top of that, he had recruited mercenaries to increase that number further to twenty thousand.

“More importantly, they are not some ragtag band of idiots pretending to be soldiers. They will easily wipe out an army of 500 000.” said Bess, the vice-captain, smiling confidently.

One benefit of occupying the central continent was that they could conscript more soldiers or hire mercenaries at any time. Although it cost some money, within the Central Continent that had been through countless wars there were many forces that they could recruit as part of their army.

“Now, all there is left to do is to win.”

“Of course.”

Boemong recalled the earlier agreement among other lords and rankers of the Hermes Guild to bring their military forces together. If it had been a long-term war, even the Hermes Guild wouldn’t have been able to maintain the size of its army due to the tremendous expense. But for a single battle, they could expand their military forces as much as they wanted.

And they will rake in every last troops in the Central Continent.

“This is going to be a showdown. It’s an incredibly precious opportunity for us.”

“Kukuku. Weed has made a colossally stupid mistake this time.”

There were a lot of users in the Hermes Guild who were eagerly awaiting the upcoming war just like Boemong.

*****

Lancelot,[2] the lord of the Vroner Castle.

Once the commander-in-chief of the Haven Imperial Army tasked with the conquest of the North, he had now lost his position among the inner circle of the Empire. He did not attend the meetings for the heads of the Hermes Guild, and hardly ever visited Aren Castle.

“Revenge. I will have my victory by any means necessary.”

Ever since he was defeated by Weed, Lancelot had been sharpening his sword for the moment of vengeance, grinding his teeth in rage.

Hunting, and only hunting! He fought monsters and won. Sometimes he had to suffer a drop in his level and skill proficiencies caused by an occasional death, but he could put up with it. He could have chosen a life of wealth and comfort as a great lord, but he only obsessed about hunting.

“I will kill Weed with my own hands.”

Lancelot was even delighted whenever the Hermes Guild was defeated, because this way people would forget about his failure to conquer the North, and the thrill of finally taking his revenge on Weed would be even greater.

After the date of the battle in the Garnav Plain was decided, Lancelot felt that the day of his vengeance was drawing near.

“Assemble the entire troops in the castle.”

Vroner Castle had been in the state of war for some time. As its entire capital had been spent on the training of army, in no time there were forty thousand soldiers ready and waiting for orders.

*****

Draka!

A powerful user who was currently ranked in the 6th place of Royal Road.

“A war is what I’ve been waiting for!”

He once led the Haven Imperial Army in the conquest of the Northern Continent as well. His powerful army took over the territory of the Arpen Kingdom little by little and reached the Earth Palace, but a series of absurd events took place. He had to face the resurrected warrior Hestiger, and his army was slaughtered when the Earth Palace itself collapsed upon them.

“So they’ve built the palace on top of a mountain… to prepare for an occasion like this?!”

He was defeated by a method that no military strategist or tacticians would have been able to predict. Even so, his army was powerful enough to equally match against the enemy despite all those misfortunes.

While rebuilding his army with the help of his colleagues, Draka had been waiting, in order to pay back for the one and only defeat in his entire life.

“I will wipe them all out. I will show them what real power is.”

*****

The Kallamore region.

Evaluk Castle, ruled by Dain, was crowded with users.

“This place is pretty liveable.”

“Yeah, it’s not too bad, although I often feel angry whenever I think of the Hermes Guild.”

With the technology and commerce of Evaluk Castle increasing frighteningly fast, the users were happy — it was the only land in the Kallamore region where they could afford to have some hope.

However, as Evaluk Castle was making a rapid progress, Dain also received the draft call issued by the Hermes Guild.

– Assemble all of your troops and set off to the Garnav Plain.

“…”

For some time Dain considered rejecting this order, but in the end she concluded that she had no choice but to follow it.

‘I’ve received too much from this guild.’

Even though her tie with Weed had not led to any deeper relationship, it was still very precious to her. However, as long as she belonged to the Hermes Guild, she couldn’t betray it either.

‘I’ll just have to hope that he will understand my situation even if we fight each other.’

Dain decided to participate in the war along with her army. When she started to recruit soldiers, a surprisingly large number of users came to Evaluk Castle to sign up.

“We should at least save the face of our kind castellan, shouldn’t we?”

“Yeah, it looks like that Hermes Guild is already quite displeased with her because of what she’s done for us. So let’s fight for her this time.”

“But the Arpen Kingdom is also on the side of the users. All the accomplishments of Weed, especially, had all been for people of this world.”

“That’s true, but we still need to think about how much Lord Dain has given to us.”

“Yes, we shouldn’t abandon our loyalty.”

As the users of the Kallamore Region gathered, Dain’s troops amounted to a number greater than 200 thousand. Most of the common users were those who had sided with the Haven Empire.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] The original sentence in Korean directly translates to “The whole world shall turn into orcs.” I do not know what exactly the author means by it, so I chose to change it slightly.

↑ [2] This name was wrongly translated Rensullot instead of Lancelot in previous translations.

Vol 32 Ch 10: “The elite members of the Hermes Guild led their knights and troops into the other kingdoms. From now on, they didn’t care about revealing the hidden power they built up to the other kingdoms. And a battalion of 70,000 troops led by Rensullot moved towards the Arpen Kingdom.”

Chapter 6: Myul Visit

As the leader of the Griffon Knights, he silently snuck into the Garnav Plain as the day of the battle got closer.

< You used fairies’ disguise cream. >

He applied the special fairies’ cream that subtly altered the shape of his face and the color of his skin. It was an expensive item that cost one thousand Gold per bottle, but he had a few bottles that he had once bought just for fun. He wanted to visit the Garnav Plain in person, to see the sight of the land bustling with the crowd and the ongoing festival.

“Hello, we are Chicken Porridge squad. Please come and try our porridge.”

“Cockles Porridge group here. We’ve put both fried cockles and seasoned cockles in the porridge.”

“Ahem. I’m from Whale Porridge. Why don’t you have a bite, if you haven’t had lunch yet?”

The moment Myul approached the Garnav Plain, several users came to surround him.

‘H-how on earth did they know it’s me?’

At first he was startled, thinking that people had seen through his disguise, but fortunately those users were just the porridge promotion staff of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Myul, while slightly flustered, asked:

“Uh… so, how much is the porridge?”

“Um, it’s all free.”

“These are just samples, so we don’t take any money.”

There had been a lot of users who had rushed to the Garnav Plain in a great hurry from all across the Continent. Most of them had run all the way after they arrived at a point that was around a day’s travel from the plain, without even stopping to have a meal. For those users, each group of the Grass Porridge Cult had decided to form a porridge promotion unit which would provide some free food.

Excluding a few unusual cases such as Loach Porridge or Stone Porridge, many skilled chefs from each group had joined the promotion unit as there was a competition to produce the best-tasting porridge of all.

Myul took a bowl of chicken porridge first, as it was his most preferred kind.

“Whoa. It’s really delicious! Very savory.”

< Your stamina has been recovered.

Your strength will be temporarily increased by 3 points. >

The bonus increase in stats aside, what was far more incredible was the excellent taste of the porridge that filled his mouth the moment he put the spoon in.

“Hehehe. Chicken porridge is indeed the best, right? Everyone likes it.”

The Chicken Porridge member smiled proudly. It was the result of more than a thousand cooks researching together to find the most optimized recipe possible.

“Try our porridge this time!”

< You have consumed a warm bowl of cockle porridge.

By eating a dish that has been prepared through skills and kind heart, your luck has been permanently increased by 1 point. >

All other kinds of porridge were also well worth having a taste. A smile appeared on Myul’s face, whose stomach was now full with various grass porridges.

“Thank you. But I cannot help but feel guilty for having all this excellent food for free.”

“Would you like to make a donation, then?”

“A donation?”

“We have a collection box. This is part of the Versailles Continent Happiness Donation, with the purpose of supporting the war effort for the coming battle or helping novice users in general. We’re not forcing anyone to make a contribution, so don’t worry if you’d rather not pay.”

The collection boxes for this donation campaign, which had been founded by the Grass Porridge Cult, could be found in every city and town square of the Arpen Kingdom. For the convenience of the donators, some were even placed in government offices, castle gates and famous hunting grounds.

Making contributions was entirely up to the free will of the donators, and there were many users who benefitted from it. The collected money was used to lend basic equipment for cheap prices to the users who had just started playing Royal Road. If the novices showed a rapid progress and reached level 50, they could further rent more advanced gears without paying any interest for the first 3 months, no questions asked. Houses were built in the shantytowns and sold to those who needed them with dirt-cheap prices, and help was given to the inexperienced farmers whose crops were ruined or merchants who suffered heavy losses, due to disasters or monster assaults.

The Happiness Donation box to rescue those who were going through a difficult and desperate time!

There was just one small issue: nobody knew exactly who the manager of those collection boxes was. Some said that they belonged to Mapan Store, and others claimed that Saint Lemon herself managed the boxes. A few more skeptical people spread the rumor that the caretaker of those collected money was in fact Weed’s back pocket, but it was met with fierce refutation from those who saying that he would never do such a thing.

Myul nodded his head gladly.

“How much should I pay for donation?”

“There’s no ‘correct’ amount. Even if you give just 1 Copper, it’s the thought that counts.”

“Ah. I see.”

Myul put 100 Gold into the collection box, as his high prestige demanded.

‘Looks like they are working for the good of the Arpen Kingdom… this amount should be fine.’

Passing through the entrance to the Garnav Plain, he walked towards the location where the festival was taking place. He was not intending to join the people in the sculpture construction site; he didn’t come all the way here only to do more physical work.

‘I hear music.’

Driring! Drrriririring!

In the festival site, there were more than three thousand bards playing their instruments. In the centre of that crowd of minstrels was another bard: Marey! The music led by him turned into a wild storm that flooded into the vast land.

♪♫♪  We sing
of victory, of glory, of love and future.

With a cheerful, merry heart,
with the courage we possess, we rise.  ♪♫♪

♪♫♪  You, who sculpted the stars,
assembled the grounds,
and lead the people onwards…  ♪♫♪

Marey was playing a harp. After he took the lead with his harp first, the rest of the bards playing all sorts of instruments followed in response, forming a giant harmony.

Myul thought he was beginning to understand how it feels to have music make his whole body tremble. The sound of the instruments, as intense and destructive as a fight in battlefield, and the sweet, gentle notes resembling a confession of love, mingled with the bard’s singing.

♪♫♪  The footsteps ahead, the traces of greatness,
put a warm smile on the faces of those
who follow them, hand in hand.  ♪♫♪

♪♫♪  You who wishes to dream,
do not be afraid to answer the call of fate,
for we are not alone,
and will walk this path together.  ♪♫♪

Whenever the music went on to the next movement, it felt as though he was experiencing the passing of spring, summer, fall and winter compressed into an instant. The fact that this piece was being played by more than three thousand bards together was in itself amazing, but Marey’s play had the power to call forth real wind and rain… A performance that could summon large raindrops through music!

‘I’ve never seen anything like this before. This is not an ordinary performance skill… maybe it’s a Special Skill of Bards?’

The Bard Special Skill that was revealed to the world for the first time by Marey; it was Music in the Wilderness, a skill that could be used to perform in front of a large audience in an open, expansive place. The power of music ultimately relied on sound; one could not fully appreciate the music if they couldn’t hear it properly due to them being too far from the source. The Music in the Wilderness skill provided the audience with the crystal clear sound quality they would have if they were each wearing a set of extremely expensive, high-performance headphones. On top of that, by using this skill the performer could also conjure any stage effects they wanted such as lighting and rainstorm; they could even strike somebody in the audience with a bolt of lightning.

A rumbling sound of thunder, then… BOOM!! Massive cracks of lightning struck across the sky, and dark clouds gathered, blocking off the sunshine. The power and intensity of this skill was determined by the performer’s affinity to nature, but this magical sight created by the bards was in itself magnificent to behold. As long as the bards kept on singing and playing, Music in the Wilderness would dominate the entire area. And there were currently three thousand bards all playing their instruments and harmonizing with Marey’s performance.

Marey and the rest of the bards raised their heads and let the falling raindrops splash on their faces.

♪♫♪  Sing!

Sing even louder!

You, who listen to the sound of forming wind,
the clear drops of water,
and the great tremor of the land…  ♪♫♪

♪♫♪  Your pulsing souls burst
and shake the whole world.  ♪♫♪

♪♫♪  Sing!

Raise your eyes and behold.

Let us all march in unison.

You, the people who share this time of miracle!  ♪♫♪

As the bards’ performance was coming to an end, the clouds began to clear. At the same time, the rainstorm stopped and the sun came out again to shine brilliantly, perhaps as a natural course of an effective stage directing.

The audience who had been completely mesmerized by the music also came to themselves. They soon noticed the land was full of beautiful flowers with various colors and shapes that had just sprouted out from the ground, which was yet another gift presented to them by the performers; a miracle that turned the whole area within the sound’s reach into a flower bed. To perform this one piece of music, all of the bards including Marey himself had completely depleted their mana.

“Bravo!”

“It’s amazing!”

The audience rose from their seats on the ground in a thunderous round of applause. Marey and the bards were filled with the overflowing joy from having played such a fantastic and thrilling piece.

< You have completed your interpretation of the Song of Courage.

A total of 812,239 people have listened to your music.

You have set a new record for the largest audience in the continent!

You have managed to elicit astoundingly positive reactions and praises from the audience. Currently 810,988 people have joined in a standing ovation.

Playful fairies and spirits are staring into space dazedly, utterly enraptured. They seemed to have forgotten to even complain and chafe at everything as they were so wont to do. >

A message board popped up for Marey and the other bards; during usual street performances, bards were able to check their increased fame and skill proficiencies immediately after they finished a song. In case of a large-scale concert such as this, the amount of fame, stats and skill proficiencies they could gain depended on the reaction of the crowd.

Clap, clap, clap!

“This is such a moving song.”

“This is the most unforgettable piece of music I’ve heard in my whole life.”

“Bravo!”

The acclamations and praises had been continuing for more than ten minutes. Even as they stood to shower in the cheers of the crowd and confirm the success of their music, they felt a hot wave of emotion welling up in their heart.

‘Yes, this is it. This is why I became a bard.’

Singing songs, and playing musical instruments! Through sound and expressions, they could soothe the pain in people’s hearts, or laugh with them in joy.

‘I can’t help but love music.’

The pride in one’s profession!

“*Sob*…”

Almost half of the bards were even beginning to tear up, overwhelmed by emotions. They wouldn’t have been able to imagine that such a glorious day would come to them when they first chose to become bards, practiced handling their instruments with their clumsy hands, and composed their first songs. It was one of those moments that turned their life into something so wonderful; a moment to forever cherish in their memory.

Twenty minutes had passed in a flash, and Marey felt the necessity of calming down the still applauding crowd. As much as they loved to see people’s passionate reaction to their music, they still had a lot of songs ahead in their playlist, and the night was too short. Rather than enjoying the audience’s cheers for any longer, they wanted to let people hear more of their music.

“We will begin with the next song. This is the first time we play this song in public, and the title is ‘Goddess of a Star’.”

Marey and the bards sat down once again and started playing their instruments. Silence fell on the Garnav Plain which had been full of excited and noisy sounds from the cheering audience just a second ago, and a quiet, tranquil melody began to flow. The various musical instruments were being played in harmony, creating such a pure and beautiful sound that seemed to cleanse the listeners’ ears.

< You have used the skill: Music in the Wilderness. >

Slowly the sky began to grow dark, but it was not due to dark clouds this time; night was falling. Sparkling stars embroidered the heaven in beautiful patterns. The Milky Way stretched out, a mystic veil of aurora streamed and green rays of light were spilling down from the sky.

“Ah…”

“Kyaah.”

“It’s begun again!”

The audience had to restrain themselves from making too much noise out of excitement. The beautiful sounds of music made by the instruments, in combination with the fantastic sceneries — it was a precious opportunity for the people to face their own happiness while being immersed in the music. As the new song began, Marey and the bards also got a chance to check the overall statistics they had achieved by playing the Song of Courage.

*Ding!*

< Your Song of Courage has mesmerized the audience.

A standing ovation was given from 784,014 listeners, which lasted for 23 minutes and 19 seconds in total.

9,284 people were moved to tears, which were not easily stopped. >

< Spirits of water shed tears in clear droplets — Increased affinity. >

< Spirits of wind danced to your music — Increased affinity. >

< Spirits of light are cheering in joy  — they have promised to protect you from now on. >

< Spirits of sound are smiling — your music will be imbued with special fortune. >

< Your Music in the Wilderness skill level has increased to Beginner 8. You are now able to deliver your music at a greater distance. The scale, size and mystique of your desired special effects will be improved even further. >

< You have completed a piece worthy of being recorded in the history of music.

By breaking the record for the greatest size of audience in the continent, your fame has increased by 83,193 points. >

< You have obtained the title: A Minstrel that Leads People’s Minds

The one who has claimed the hearts of countless people! This is a title that only those who know how to speak and show through music can have. >

< You have leveled up. >

< You have leveled up. >

< You have leveled up. >

< Your Speechcraft skill level has increased. >

< Your Charm, Charisma, and Luck stats have increased by 10 points each. >

< By completing a song that will remain in the history of music, all of your stats have increased by 10 points. >

A long message window popped up to Marey who was playing the next song.

‘…!’

One characteristic of this profession was that a bard could rapidly gain an incredible amount of fame, even when compared to other artistic professions. Just by singing or playing instruments in cities and villages a bard’s fame easily increased by hundreds of points at once, provided that they were reasonably competent. But even so, Marey had never seen over 80,000 points of fame piling up, on top of all the increases in level and skill levels, after playing just a single piece of music.

‘It would have been impossible to have such a good opportunity if it hadn’t for Weed-nim.’

He wouldn’t have gotten a chance of holding such a miraculous concert anywhere outside the Garnav Plain.

The skill proficiency for Music in the Wilderness increased more rapidly as the size of the audience got larger. The various effects brought forth by the music would also grow more intense as more bards joined in to play. There were more than three thousand bards playing together, and an additional six thousands who had not yet joined the performance and were still practicing the pieces. The bards from the Northern Continent were not proficient in more than a couple of instruments, and their skills were still somewhat lacking. Nevertheless, the sight of them all trying their best to present the audience with a beautiful performance made Marey’s heart swell. On the day of the battle against the Hermes Guild, a total of ten thousand bards would put on a joint concert.

‘This sight, this music, and this happiness I feel… Royal Road is such a wonderful place.’

Marey played his instruments even more energetically. The performance of the bards who were experiencing similar feelings as Marey also began to echo through the crowd more profoundly.

“…”

Myul, who had been standing in the back of the audience, was so amazed that his mouth was still hanging wide open.

‘I never knew such music exists in this world. And the mood of the crowd is also… quite something.’

The general impression of the Grass Porridge Cult to an average Hermes Guild user was quite similar to that of a zombie horde, swarming in to kill you while screaming ‘Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!’ But ever since he arrived at the festival site, he could see that these people were genuinely enjoying a happy moment while listening to this music.

‘I feel like I’ve stepped into a different, wonderful world that I didn’t know before.’

Even as Myul stood watching there were a continuous stream of people joining the crowd, and currently it seemed there would be at least a million of them in this area alone. One million… and it wasn’t like the headcount on a battlefield; they were the people who had assembled to enjoy some great music.

‘I didn’t expect to see such a sight here.’

Myul stood there for almost 2 hours listening to the music, unable to bring himself to leave. Only when the exhausted Marey and the bards were taking a break and wiping their sweating foreheads did he leave the stage to visit a different area.

“Come and have some delicious food here!”

“Food alley right over here. Come, Everything’s really cheap!”

As they were in a plain rather than in the middle of a city, restaurants set up in simple tents were doing their business. Within those endless lines of tents, every kind of dish imaginable was being cooked and served; starting with the 400 different types of grass porridge that represented the Grass Porridge Cult, every famous cuisine from all around the globe could be found here.

– Restaurant owned by Daphne, the chef serving the Royal Family

– Mouthwatering boar meat cuisines

– Specialist seafood restaurant, only roasting fish that lives at least 300 meters below sea level!

– The freshest seafood from the Wulhoff Reef!

– Fruits and vegetables! Just give it a chance, you’ll like it!

People were entering different tents according to their taste.

“*Burp*. That was a good meal.”

“Oh, there’s a Bulgogi[1] place over there.”

“Let’s go! Gogogo!”

“But we’ve just eaten…”

“Don’t worry about that. Our profession is of a Warrior; we’re not going to be easily killed by burst stomach! Let’s eat some more.”

“If you say so…”

As there were so many excellent restaurants, people were busy filling their stomach with more food.

Cuisines from various countries in the real world and from every region across the Versailles Continent were gathered in one place in this food alley. Adding all the original menus developed by many renowned chefs on top of that, the total number of different dishes in the place would be simply staggering. One would easily lose the track of time and end up spending a few days in this street alone.

‘It looks like there’s no food I cannot find here. And look at all those people enjoying themselves…’

As he admired the view around him, he found a restaurant that looked up to his taste and entered. He had always been quite fond of seafood, and he was curious to taste the food made with the ingredients obtained from the Wulhoff Reef that had recently been on the air.

“Excuse me… a table for one person, please.”

“Sure. Come take a sit here.”

The restaurant, which was presently packed full with over a hundred customers, had only three items on its menu:

– Table d’hote (fish) – 45 Silver

– Table d’hote (clams) – 20 Silver

– Table d’hote (Octopus) – 35 Silver

Exactly 100 Silver if you have all three!

Myul glanced at the people in other tables. Every customer was eating their way through the plates of seafood piled up in heaps. The main dish of the octopus course meal was apparently a huge roasted octopus that was longer than 80 centimeters in length.

Myul stopped a waiter who was passing by and asked, “Excuse me, but I think there’s been a mistake in those prices in the menu…?”

“Why? Are they too expensive?”

“No, no, it’s just… I think they should be in Gold pieces, instead of Silver?”

The table d’hote of fish also consisted of various kinds of delicious fish roasted expertly. Not only were they fat and juicy, but they were cooked so perfectly that he had to fight down the urge to hold the fish with both hands and gnaw at it. Myul would have been more than willing to pay even if the price had been 45 Gold.

The waiter asked him, smiling, “You are from the Central Continent, I presume?”

“Yes, what about that?”

“Those prices are quite normal in this area. You’ll find even cheaper places in Morata.”

“…”

This was unimaginable in the Central Continent.

Such low prices were partly due to the cheap labor costs in the Arpen Kingdom as well as the custom of enjoying cheap and delicious food that had been widespread ever since the old days when Morata was but a shantytown. But the more fundamental reason was the fact that there were no taxes charged on food products. There was no user in the Arpen Kingdom who didn’t know of the famous quote made by Weed when he was establishing tax laws for his kingdom:

“Why do we have to put taxes on food? Don’t tamper with things that people eat!”

The tax rates in the Arpen Kingdom were already very low, but when it came to food in particular, there were no taxes imposed whatsoever. As Weed himself had had much experience of going hungry during his impoverished childhood, he simply couldn’t bear to put tax on what people eat.

“We can always make up for the low tax revenue by selling lands. Just ripping them off a little… I hear that real estate investment scam is a real gold mine nowadays?”

Of course, this latter half of what he said was quickly and quietly silenced before it spread, never to be known to the public.

At any rate, Myul was so shocked by the cheap prices of the Arpen Kingdom he was feeling as though something just hit him hard in the back of his head.

‘If people don’t have to worry about matters of basic necessities in this way… there’s no wonder this kingdom is so popular.’

After a day’s visit to the Garnav Plain, Myul was filled with a mixture of complicated emotions. He couldn’t help but think that those users who moved over to the Arpen Kingdom from the Haven Empire must have felt like discovering a paradise. For the first time, he understood why so many of them fought while chanting the name of the Grass Porridge Cult.

‘I never doubted our right to rule, because we were the winners, because we were the strongest… but… could it be possible that we have exploited our users too much?’

After dining in the restaurant, Myul continued roaming around the plain. There were exhibition sites for artworks, and several expos were taking place for promoting elven and dwarven cultures. Parents were holding their children’s hands while walking on the treetops, experiencing the elven lifestyle.

He also looked around the magnificent exhibit halls for various brands around the world including LG and Samsung.

“A luminescent wall-mountable TV! Watch the upcoming war with this luxuriously designed television!”

“Apply now, and we guarantee complete installation within two days, anywhere in the world! Get a free crystal ball with a size over 1 meter, too!”

“We are currently having a customer appreciation event; we give a magic quiver and a silver axe to any customer activating their new mobile phone!”

“This is Ssangyong Motor Company. The size of this wooden statue is identical to that of the original. Feel free to try sitting on it. Buy it, and get a free, living ox!”

The promotional booths connected to Royal Road.

Slim elf ladies were advertising and selling the companies’ products as a part-time job.

“We’re from Kwang Dong Pharmaceutical. Have a sip of this cool ginseng water. There’s nothing better for relieving your fatigue!”

“Hi, we’re from Lloyd’s. You can make all the troubles of your life go away with a single insurance. We give a free vitality potion for everyone who visits our promotion booth now!”

“KTX : comfortable, rapid travel to your destination. A train pulled by 100 oxen bound for the east side of the plain is due to depart very soon. Anyone who’d like to get on, please come gather over here!”

“From fighter planes to freighters. We are Boeing, a manufacturing company specialized in all kinds of aircrafts. Step into the exhibition hall right now and enjoy the show!”

“Amore! We are giving out free herbal cosmetics! For the first 500,000 customers only!”

“This is PIC Resort. Anyone feeling tired after all the walk around the exhibition halls? Come and have some rest here! We’ve opened a pool, too!”

“This is the announcement from Nordstrom Department Store. We give a free Macaron set for every customer who visits our store now…”

Companies and corporations all across the world were covering a considerable portion of the Garnav Plain in order to promote their image. They were able to raise their brand awareness significantly by giving out small souvenirs to the users or offering them a trial experience of their service.

Home appliances, IT, automobiles, shipbuilding, chemistry, real estates, construction, health care products, steel manufacture, furniture, banks, machines, department stores and hotels!

All these exhibition halls had been built which would easily dwarf even the largest home consumer electronic exhibition in the world in terms of scale, almost like comparing a university to a kindergarten.

Myul was now almost speechless with astonishment.

‘Right. Aside from the fact that all those world-class companies have their booths here, how on earth is it possible to prepare something like this in just ten days?’

Although it was a long time ago, Myul once looked over the Garnav Plain while flying on the back of a griffon. That once-barren land which had nothing but overgrown grass had now been completely transformed right before his eyes.

‘Is this the extent of Weed’s influence? But that’s probably not all there is to it…’

Of course, even Weed had not expected such an outcome, but before he knew events started to gain in scale with a frightening speed like a rolling snowball. With the entire media over the world focusing on the Garnav Plain and people and companies competing with one another to take advantage of it, it was only a matter of time before such a perfect transformation took place.

“This is Okpo Heavy Industries. Try boarding on the world’s largest container ship! We are currently building a cruise ship as well.”

Myul heard a large shouting sound and automatically turned his head towards the direction of the noise. What he saw was a supersized container ship towering over him, which was more than 400 meters in length, 35 meters in height, and with a whopping 70 meters of width.

“The size of this ship… but how is this standing in the middle of the plain?”

A mysterious sight!

Not so long ago, the management of Okpo had also thought at first that such a construction was impossible from a common-sense point of view; but what would be impossible, when sculptures of far more impressive sizes were being constructed at that very moment in the Garnav Plain?

“It’s not like we’re actually setting this ship off into the sea; we just have to make its exterior believable enough.”

“No, we need to get this right. Look at all those other companies that publicized themselves for free to the worldwide media by building the statues in the Garnav Plain. If they can do that, why can’t we?”

So the engineers in heavy industries managed to construct the ship in just two days, through cooperation with the master shipbuilders from Port Varna. Although it was too hastily constructed with wood, stone and soil to be launched to the ocean, the structure of the sails and the hull was that of a real, functioning ship.

“The way they build a ship in Royal Road isn’t half bad. It’s quite convenient for promoting our company to the overseas buyers, since we can show them the life-size models of the ships…”

“Wouldn’t it be also nice if ships constructed by our company sail around the seas of Royal Road?”

A container ship that weighs 340 thousand tons!

Now it was possible to build a supersized vessel in Royal Road. Of course, as it needed the driving power of wind or rowing oars in order to sail even with the help of the sailing skills there were a lot of inconveniences when operating the ship in the real ocean, but it was still well worth constructing it for tourism or promotion purposes.

“So this is how we build large sized vessels here.”

“The cooperation of masters is indeed crucial in shipbuilding industry.”

The master shipbuilders of Varna could learn valuable know-how as they constructed a large vessel. Even with the same techniques and labor time, a few tricks and some know-how could more than double the speed of shipbuilding, which was normally a process that took a long time.

“I think it is also worth referring to the method of making an onshore deck for shipbuilding.”

“How about opening a joint shipyard? There’s only so much an individual builder can do.”

“You mean we set up a real, official shipyard here?”

“Building those large merchant ships with more than 70, 80 crew members is too difficult and time-consuming for an individual work. It’s far better to make it into a joint operation, while increasing the production efficiency by using novices for simple tasks. It would be convenient if we could obtain standardized materials, too.”

“That sure makes sense, but what if we cannot find any work?”

“The Haven Imperial Navy has been eradicated. The sea belongs to the Arpen Kingdom now.”

The repository of adventures and exploration!

There were rumors of exorbitant treasures and mysterious lands far away from the Versailles Continent. There weren’t many people who set out on a long-distance cruise due to the heavy risk and lack of information, but they thought it was just a matter of time before more people joined the expeditions. The number of ship orders that the master shipbuilders received had already been increasing by almost a hundred percent every month. Although the overwhelming majority of those orders were for small fishing vessels sailing around the littoral sea, there were quite a few fast-sailing liners for adventures and medium-sized sailing boats for trade. The size of those ships was getting larger each day as well.

“Let’s do this, then.”

“Hehe. Excellent!”

An additional effect of the festival — it triggered an extensive increase in the production output of the Arpen Kingdom’s shipbuilding industry.

*****

‘The power of this Arpen Kingdom is indeed enormous. I’ve always looked down on it, only considering its weak military strength… but its full potential might even be beyond my imagination.’

After looking around the exhibition sites, Myul started heading over to another location once again.

‘This isn’t going to be easy. We really need to prepare ourselves for the worst… I should take a look at those sculptures, too, now that I’ve come all the way here.’

He walked towards the sculptures construction site.

It took him a considerable time to get away from the festival site because of the crowd, and as he was walking nearer and nearer to the construction place, he was feeling increasingly overwhelmed. At first he thought the huge silhouettes rising from the heart of the vast plain were mountains, as human common sense dictated when a person saw something that was so absolutely gigantic. But soon he realized that those mountains were covered with climbing people that looked like a swarm of ants; those people had even built stairs to carry the materials.

‘Those… are sculptures?’

Myul was taken aback, once again. As a great lord of the Haven Empire, he had seen a lot of sculptures: the collections of nobles during the early days of Royal Road, or the extravagant artworks he saw in the Royal Palace… His general impression of sculptures was that they were pieces of art, carved both splendidly and delicately, but what he was watching now had a size of such a scale that was almost ridiculously excessive.

An ox.

210 meters tall, and 600 meters wide.

Its tail alone could match the size of a 50 storey building.

He could also hear the workers who had joined the construction of the statue.

“Some more stone and sticky mud, quickly please!”

“The surface is getting cracked. I think we need some help from potters… please bring a few fire-class mages as you come up.”

Myul’s head was beginning to hurt.

‘They’re STILL making those things?’

It was a tremendous relief that they were not, at least, making it any bigger, as it seemed that they were now working on the detail.

‘So I need to fight against these huge… things… when the battle begins?’

The strength of the Griffon Knights was unmatched in the Central Continent. They had never been defeated before, save by Weed and the Arpen Kingdom.

‘But their size… can they all come alive and move?’

On top of the size, the eyes of this great ox looked as ferocious as those of a predatory beast. Its claws were as sharp as a lion’s, and there was even a pair of wings sprouting from its sides.

< The Soaring Ox.

This work of art was made by filling up the interior with soil and stone and pouring 329 tons of molten iron into its frame. A total of 540 thousand people worked together in order to complete the statue. >

‘This thing is just too much. Once the battle begins…I’ll have to leave it to the other squads to deal with it.’

Myul tried to find sculptures that looked relatively easier to fight, but it was not an easy task. The other works that he could see beyond the giant sculpture of the ox were even more overwhelming: a winged serpent, a three-headed wyvern, a badger that shoots poisonous needles! What they all had in common was their enormous size, just like the ox.

‘And those things will be flying around the sky…’

Of course, huge size did not necessarily mean superior strength. Most of the large-sized monsters in Royal Road were powerful, but that was because they possessed strength and stamina to match their bulky appearance. So just by making those sculptures to magically come to life, one could not guarantee that their physical power would be proportional to their size. Hermes Guild’s intelligence unit had made a rough idea of the power these sculptures may have once they are brought to life by Weed’s life bestowel, purely based on the analysis of Bingryong, Imugi, Wyerns and Phoenix.

‘…But we never expected to have Emperor Geihar von Arpen in the picture. Just how terrifying is he going to be? Still, he wouldn’t be able to make ALL of them come alive, would he?’

Myul stood there for a while, staring at the sculptures. He’ll learn their exact strength once the battle begins, but he wished he would never find out as much as possible. He didn’t think he’d enjoy fighting a giant winged rat in the air.

‘Even after all I’ve seen, my bet would still be on the Hermes Guild winning.’

Myul knew of all the five Secret Weapons that Lafaye had prepared. Except for the Shadow Army of Palma that had already been eradicated, each and every one of the remaining four was plain and simple a mass-murdering weapon of war. The moment they were revealed to the public, all of them could potentially attract a great deal of angry denunciations.

‘The Hermes Guild is just as desperate, for there is no way back. If we really win in this battle, we’re going to become official villains, irrevocably.’

*****

Lafaye, who was in charge of making preparations for the battle in the Garnav Plain, arranged for a meeting in order to establish the plans for the war. It was the job of each mid-ranking commanding officer to direct the troops in their unit, but they still needed to determine the larger scale strategy they will utilize in a greater picture. For security reasons, only twenty users attended this meeting, including Bard Ray, Arkhim, Steer, and Lafaye himself.

“There shouldn’t be any issue with the assembly of the Imperial Army as well as their morale. Mercenary recruitment and conscription process have been proceeding smoothly, too.”

“The main problem would be the human wave strategy of the North.”

“Well, we’ll just have to kill them all and that’s one problem solved, isn’t it?”

“That would only make things difficult for us, as there will be no end to the fight even if we kill them all day long.”

“We also need to consider the amount of damage to our side.”

Bard Ray and Lafaye placed all the battle plans on the table and revised them. One of the tactic was old orthodox way of marching the Imperial army to the footsteps of the Northern users in Garnav plain.. They considered a variety of formations and ways of operating magical squads, and evaluated how best to utilize the Empire’s Five Secret Weapons.

Lafaye shook his head.

“The Order of the Steel Knights and the rest of the Five Secret Weapons are certainly powerful. There’s no doubt that they will be effective in the battle, but they would not be quite as decisive as we need them to be.”

“Then? Do you mean our current military strength is still not enough?”

“We need something with an even more punch; something that can absolutely squash them into smithereens with sheer force.”

Lafeye might not know much about actual combats, but he was an excellent strategist. He was the one who had worked diligently to make every preparation and lay foundation for the Hermes Guild to take to the sky and unite the entire Central Continent. But as thorough and error-free as he normally was, after having been dealt a number of blows from Weed he was being particularly cautious, almost excessively so.

“It’s difficult for us to predict the coming battle with an exact certainty. They’ve managed to introduce an unexpected variable that is Emperor Geihar. Another problem is that they’ve already occupied the Garnav Plain as their own territory in advance. We might as well fight within the enemy borders now.”

Arkhim slammed the table with his fist in rage.

“They propose to delay the fight and then goes to take over the battlefield, making all the preparations they want…How is this fair? It’s cheating!”

“Well, it’s not Weed who did it, at least not directly, so it’s no good making complaints to him. He’d probably already counted on the opposition from our side before he made this move.”

Lafaye did not want to be dragged along by his enemy like this. Once they’ve lost control of the initiative, things would only become more disadvantageous to them no matter what they do. Even if the Haven Empire had superior military power, they would end up having this battle on Weed’s own terms.

‘As soon as he accepted our request for the head-on match, he led the users to set things all up in the Garnav Plain without taking any direct step in person. He is certainly not just an ordinary foe. I won’t let my guard down, either. Not when there’s such a critical battle coming.’

The Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire, clashing with each other with all their might. No one knew what changes will be brought to the Versailles Continent after this battle is concluded; Lafaye needed a trump card, something he knew he could count on.

“Excuse me…”

Caddler, who was in charge of training the magical squads, raised his hand.

“There’s something I’d like to tell you—we have been researching on a magic spell recently.”

“A spell?”

Caddler was a user who had mostly stayed in the background until now. A member of the Royal Guards, he obtained a hidden profession as a Mage of Carnage from early on—meaning that his magical power grew as he slaughtered more and more villagers or users. As a repercussion, there were some side effects such as the power and the suppressed rage of the dead, but he could nevertheless obtain a tremendous amount of combat capacity as a result. He was presently one of the users who had been showing a rapid growth with much support from the guild.

Caddler smiled confidently.

“It’s one of the Ultimate Spells of Magic…and we are more or less ready to use it.”

Lafaye recalled a report which he had received a while ago, about an Ultimate Spell that had been discovered in a historic site left by a mage: ‘Summon Flaming Meteor’.

It was the spell that Weed himself had obtained during his quest for the last secret skill of sculpting, and used to devastate the main headquarters of Embinyu Church. The Hermes Guild had been extremely astounded by the spell’s force as they watched the event through the broadcast, and had been looking everywhere to procure the same spell; since it had been used during a quest, there was a fair chance of it being discovered by those who were occupying the Central Continent. Numerous historic sites and dungeons of mages had been thoroughly searched, and although there had been much difficulty, they eventually managed to acquire the spell tome of Summon Flaming Meteor through a quest. It was a partially torn-off, incomplete tome, and even after it was restored by mages and adventurers, they still needed magical resources and research to make the spell work.

“You mean it’s possible to cast Summon Flaming Meteor right now?”

“Not by normal means. But using Black Magic, one can cast more advanced spells that are 2 levels higher than normal, so…*ahem*, we’ll need to sacrifice some jewels and mana stones as well as rare living creatures, but we’ll be able to cast the spell, all the same.”

Summon Flaming Meteor!

Once they’ve found out that they could use this wide area-of-effect destructive spell, they began to devise a new battle plan.

“How about we use it after the mid-phase of the battle, as a hidden card? We’d be able to turn the tide of the battle that way. We could consider dropping it on top of Weed’s location, too.”

“We cannot summon the meteor in the press of battle. Also, our side would have to suffer too many sacrifices.”

“Not to mention the huge amount of mana consumption by the magical squads.”

“Weed can simply dodge out of the way. He’s bound to feel something is up when he senses a sudden movement from our side. Considering the speed of Wyverns or Bingryong that he often rides on, it would be difficult to hit him with the spell.”

“What’s the maximum number of times we can summon the meteor?”

“We can cast it multiple times as we are using Black Magic, but it will become increasingly taxing for the mages. Still, if we gather every mage in the Haven Empire we’ll be able to summon about three at the same time.”

“That should be enough.”

“In that case, it might be better to focus our power on summoning the meteors…we should use the spell early on, to eliminate any unexpected factors from the start.”

“Agreed.”

The plan was set up—striking the whole Garnav Plain by summoning the flaming meteors. With more than a hundred million people concentrated in one area as seen on the broadcast, the amount of damage this spell would inflict on them would be astronomical. The Haven Imperial Army decided to swiftly penetrate into the battleground immediately after the meteor strike and slaughter the remaining enemies as their basic tactic.

“Strict confidentiality is crucial to this plan.”

“We can inform the mages right before the battle. As it is a type of Black Magic, we only need a few core members to know about the plan in advance.”

“That would do perfectly.”

*****

The Haven Empire decided to open every single armory in its territory to equip the troops, taking resources from each of the lord’s castle and even recruiting city guards. For this occasion, the true entirety of the forces that rule the Central Continent would be assembling in one place.

Steer, the head of the intelligence unit, and Arkhim, who was in charge of the Royal Guards, were getting increasingly busy as well.

“Here’s the current situation in the Garnav Plain: the total of 475 gigantic statues have been completed so far, and 3,741 are still under construction.”

“You mean they are going to finish making all of them?”

“No. They probably won’t be able to finish about half of them until the start of the battle.”

“The analysis report about Geihar von Arpen has just arrived.”

“Could Emperor Geihar really raise all those sculptures?”

“It is hard to judge, but I think it would be quite impossible even for him. There haven’t been that many sculptures that Weed has created and turned into his servants.”

“I’m studying the military strength of the old Arpen Empire and the species of the sculptural creatures which lived during that time, but there are not enough records remaining.”

The intelligent unit and the heads of the guild were all fully mobilized to gather information and make any necessary provisions in order to increase the Haven Empire’s chance of winning and enhance the combat capacity of its people.

“Balzetta merfolk have made their appearance in Wulhoff Reef. They are expressing their intention to join this war as Emperor Geihar wishes, saying that they are the descendents of an old sculptural race.”

“A party of adventurers that had been exploring the western mountain range sold some information to us. We paid them 5,000 Gold for it, and it’s about a small bird. It is thought to be a baby Baraag, a species that is known to have been long extinct.”

“A coincidence? Or…”

“It seems Weed’s adventure has changed the history.”

They discovered some evidence of the said changes to the past history. Baraags, the species created by Emperor Geihar, had not died out entirely as per the original history, and had immigrated to a temperate island in the west. There they lived on, forming a natural paradise in that large island located in the middle of the sea beyond the reach of the humans. Hence, several races of sculptural lifeforms were coming to join the battle to respect the emperor’s wish.

“How would you assess the combat capability of those Baraags?”

“They look like difficult opponent to deal with, judging by the videos, but as there are  many of us I expect we’d be able to deal with them.”

“We can fight them by deploying the giant modified catapults.”

“No, it wouldn’t be very effective against them. It’s going to be cumbersome to protect the ground troops, and we’ll lose control over the sky.”

Arkhim could not help but feel uneasy about the Baraags.

The Emperor Bard Ray was to be the supreme commander of the entire army. Arkhim himself was the second in command, but in terms of the actual operation of the forces, more than half of the Imperial Army would follow his orders. As this was a tremendous responsibility, he needed to win, no matter what the cost. No amount of loss would be too much as long as it could ensure their victory in the battle.

“There was a quest related to fire drakes a while ago, correct?”

“Yes. It’s a quest that enables us to recruit those drakes for the battle if we bring them a large amount of Fire Gems.”

“Proceed with the quest.”

“But the expense would be very large…”

“This is no time to save money.”

As they were the only force that dominated the Central Continent exclusively, they had been able to obtain a list of quests and agreements with numerous species.

A Fire Gem that can seal the fire magic! Those gems were usually formed in volcanic regions, and could only be acquired by killing some tricky monsters. They were not often found in normal shops even with prices of about 4,000 Gold, and they decided to spend the entire stock they had been saving until now.

“An unexpected factor: there’s been news that a lot of office workers are applying for a holiday on the day of the battle in Korea.”

“How could that be…”

The current trend in Korea was important, as it was a country with more top-tier gamers than any other nation around the world.

“Some high schools are even having a day off, predicting that there would be a lot of trouble maintaining the class atmosphere.”

“By Gods.”

Arkhim groaned, but not for long. No matter what country you looked, there would be very few people who wouldn’t want to join such a phenomenal battle. Those students and young  workers would have found a way to go online by fair means or foul anyway.

“The additional acquirement of the Steel Knights is going well, thanks to the preparations we have made in advance.”

“We’ve hidden the host of the Alkin disease near the Garnav Plain, too. We’re preparing the antidote, but there’s not much of it.”

“How about the Phanzellope Order of Phantom Knights?”

“They’ll be here by tomorrow, for certain. There has been a lot of delay as they needed to move without being spotted by any users.”

“And the Spears of Annihilation…”

“34 of them have been distributed to main members of the shock troops.”

The Five Secret Weapons of the Empire were all ready to be launched without any issue. After checking through the progress of every preparation, Arkhim nodded. As the battle in the Garnav Plain was getting closer day by day, the military strength of the Haven Imperial Army was becoming more and more impeccable as well. The size of the army was increasing rapidly, too, by hiring temporary guild members, mercenaries, or conscripting more soldiers.

‘Blame us if you will, after we win. The Haven Empire will do everything it can.’

Translation Notes

↑ [1] A Korean-style barbecue made by seasoned and sliced pork or beef.

Chapter 7: Advanced Training Hall

After successfully winning Emperor Geihar over to his side, Weed climbed on the back of a Baraag with his companions.

“I wish you a safe trip, then.”

“Thanks, master!”

He and his companions had decided to take a look around the Versailles Continent, riding on the flying Baraags. With Time Sculpting skill, he could always come back to a past event in history, but it was all the more reason why this trip was so important.

‘Not everything was recorded in history books. And quite a lot of information was misrepresented, too.’

It was necessary to take a good look at the continent in the past, in order to ensure that he would be able to use Time Sculpting properly when he might need it next time.

As they flew across the sky on the backs of Baraags, they landed whenever they spotted a city on the ground.

“By Gods… you lot must be insane, flying around on those dangerous creatures.”

“This is a problem that has the pride of humanity at stake! Before we knew it, those monsters had taken over our lands!”

“I don’t mean to question the Emperor’s accomplishments. But what about the portion that should rightfully be given to us humans? Why do we have to share our food with them?”

“That’s right. It’s us who did all the work to farm those crops.”

In cities and villages alike, humans abhorred the Baraags, and their opinions of sculptural lifeforms in general were extremely negative.

‘This is just as l expected.’

When Weed told Emperor Geihar about this, he made an announcement to his sculptural children, after having a drink.

“If our empire falls, don’t waste your strength and life for the sake of humans. You should all find a way to survive by yourselves.”

Besides the Baraags, all the Crocos and Boroks were crying mournfully, tears running down their faces.

“And if, some day in the distant future, a new kingdom for your kinds rises once again as my pupil says… please, lend your strength just one more time to help everyone live in harmony…”

At this point, if Weed played his cards right, he might be able to accept the Arpen Empire’s sculptural creatures as new residents for his kingdom. Of course, there wouldn’t be many sculptural creatures that would survive for such a long time after the fall of the Empire and remember the will of the emperor. Even so, if some of the remaining sculptural creatures were to make their appearance in the Garnav Plain, each and every one of them would be a precious citizen of the Arpen Kingdom.

‘Just like Yellowy, Gold man or Wy-3.’

Weed intended to equally exploit all those new subjects without any discrimination.

“I have a rather big favor to ask of you; would you care to do it for me? I will, of course, reward you handsomely.”

*Ding!*

< A Silver Coin Dropped in a Corner of the Village.

Zephyrus the stableman has lost his silver coin while he was drunk. He says he might have dropped it last night near the sewer, but he isn’t quite sure. With a bit of luck and some thorough searching, one may be able to find it.

Difficulty Level: F

Rewards: 2 horseshoes[1]  >

An F-class quest that he hadn’t encountered in a long time!

‘For such a simple quest like this, it’s not likely to be continued in another linked quest.’

Receiving such low-level quests that did not even require any affinity level would be due to the fact that his high fame was not currently taken into account. Weed’s fame points were over 340,000 at the moment, but such was the effect of Time Sculpting.

‘It looks like my fame points are not reflected as normal when I’ve travelled back to the past.’

If it had been in the Versailles Continent of the present time, any crying child in the Central Continent, not to mention the North, would immediately recognize Weed’s face and stop their weeping. Weed had been taking part of all kinds of quests, hunting expeditions and artistic activities, so he had never had to worry about insufficient fame points before. But all of those events and accomplishments were to take place in the future, which meant that no one in this past time knew about them.

“This task is a bit too dangerous to entrust to a stranger.”

“Who? Weed? A sculptor? I don’t want to meet some complete stranger. You buy me a drink first for a night, and maybe I’ll spare some time to talk.”

“What are you talking about? Just buzz off!”

Weed found himself being rejected by the townspeople in the streets again and again. On the other hand, Zephyr and Python were doing a much smoother job talking to them.

“Your clothes look very fine. Would you be a nobleman, perhaps?”

“Hmm. That doesn’t look like any ordinary sword. I have a request related to getting rid of some demonic creatures; would you be up for the challenge? Of course, for a skilled warrior like you wielding such a fine sword, it shouldn’t be too difficult to deal with them.”

The residents responded to their attires or weapons; using high-quality equipment was one of the ways to meet the prerequisite of a high difficulty level quest when one did not have enough fame points. For characters with high Charm stats such as Hwaryeong and Bellot, it was possible to obtain new quests that could be cleared together with other companions any time.

‘Let’s just enjoy the easy life for now. Other adventurers or people with different professions might be able to take historical quests later, but it will be a long time before they can.’

Weed decided to take it easy, and continued travelling around the Continent with his companions on the backs of the Baraags.

– Kuuuaargh… I’m so tired…

“Fly faster. Wy-3 never took a rest even when he was flying overnight. Without sleep.”

– Who is this Wy-3 that has suffered so much serving you?

“He’s one of my proudest subordinates. I’d love to tell you how much Wy-3 likes me.”

– I just can’t believe that.

“Everyone thinks just as normally as you at first. But one eventually learns to appreciate the precious rare holidays in the constant stream of hard work.”

As Weed could not visit every single city and village, he instead took a general look at them from the sky. He checked the terrains, structures of the cities and buildings of the Arpen Empire in this past time.

< You have taken some time to admire the architectural style of the buildings of the Arpen Empire during the Classical Era. As a sculptor, after having studied new types and styles of buildings, you can now build structures with the style of the Classical Era in the villages, castles or areas owned by you.

You can now construct new special types of buildings. >

< Arpen Public Security Office

Construction cost: minimum 150,000 Gold

This building can be constructed to maintain public order and peace. It is managed by soldiers and local militia. The crime rate of the area will decrease. In the event of a monster invasion, this building can be used to hold them off for a short time. >

< Arpen-style Water Mill

Construction cost: minimum 40,000 Gold

A water mill is needed in a village in order to provide a playground for fairies. Sometimes, village children can join in and play with them as well. The building will increase the output of the region’s grain production as well as the local happiness level. It will also lead to improved affinity with fairies. >

< Arpen Salt Field

Construction cost: minimum 4,000 Gold

Gone are the days when you had to rely on the power of sunlight to evaporate the sea water to obtain salt! Paranchas, the race of fire, are going to take care of all the work. Whenever they take a nap, all the water evaporates from the place they laid on, producing high-quality sea salt. >

< Restaurant with Music

Construction cost: minimum 1,000 Gold

The residents of the Arpen love music, a joyous life with happiness and comfort. They consider it one of the greatest pleasures of life to have some delicious food while listening to wonderful music. This building will increase the happiness level of the residents and the degree of artistic progress. >

< Dwarf Workshop

Construction cost: minimum 6,000 Gold

This is a place for dwarves to gather and craft things. More than 10 dwarves can assemble and manufacture everything that’s needed. The working speed will increase if there is a beer brewery nearby.>

< A Garden of Blooming Flowers

Construction cost: minimum 20,000 Gold

This is a garden full of beautiful flowers. Taking a rest in this garden even just for a short while will rapidly recover life force and relieve stress. The visitors will be bestowed with special fortune. >

< A Nest of Baraags

A habitat for the creatures with flying ability. It is built by collecting solid branches and feathers, and offers protection from wind. It increases the incubation speed for the Avian eggs and quickens the early stage of growth of the hatchlings. >

As the king, Weed could bring some positive influence to his kingdom just by appreciating these structures.

‘It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take a look at all the buildings from each historical era, if I ever get a chance to do that.’

Many users would be delighted if buildings of such a variety could be constructed in the Arpen Kingdom. However, if they were to lose in the coming battle in the Garnav Plain, their entire kingdom would fall to ruin in but a moment.

“Hmm. I’m not sure if it is wise for us to continue taking a tour like this. Don’t you think we should go back?” his companions asked, beginning to feel anxious. There were only three days left before the start of the war against the Haven Empire.

Weed smiled slightly.

“No need to hurry.”

“But… wouldn’t it be too late even if we leave right now? We might not have made enough preparations even if we had started earlier, and now…”

“Huhuhu. The Hermes Guild is probably feeling pretty uneasy right now. This is my tactic to cause confusion, by keeping the enemy in the dark as to what plans I have and what steps I’m going to take, to the last possible minute.”

He had guessed that the Garnav Plain would be teeming with spies, including Hermes Guild members with their identities concealed. If Weed showed up on the battlefield early, the Hermes Guild, having monitored the situation in the plain closely, would be able to come up with countermeasures. But since they had no way to know what on earth he was up to in the current state, it would make them even more anxious.

Seasoned Crab tilted his head curiously.

“But you have been with us this whole time; have you been preparing something in secret?”

Without hesitation, Weed answered, “Nope. Nothing.”

“…What?”

“Still, things look pretty legit, right? It LOOKS like there’s something, although actually there’s not. Besides, the hero always arrives in the most dramatic moment, right?”

“…”

*****

Python, while he was visiting one of the cities of the Arpen Empire named Taho which he had happened to come across, got some unexpected information from a townsperson.

“Are you a warrior? You look pretty strong, judging by the greatsword you are carrying.”

“This is indeed quite a fine sword, I must say. Hehe.”

“Only strong people can wield a greatsword. Did you already pass the test of the advanced training hall in this region as well?”

Perhaps because of the fact that the Arpen Empire was established by the sculptural creatures uniting the continent, the humans had a cultural tendency to worship strong warriors.

“An advanced training hall?”

“Anyone who wields a sword or builds up their body wishes to visit this place; you haven’t heard of it?”

Python, of course, knew about those places well. Even Weed’s eyes opened wide at the mention of the word ‘advanced training hall’. He felt as if some unexpected money was falling from the sky.

‘There’s an advanced training center here.’

For the users of Royal Road, going through a training center was an essential condition in order to rise to the position of top rankers. The beginner training hall in Serabourg City of the Rosenheim Kingdom… It was where Weed had found a valuable friend in Doruk the Instructor while beating up a dummy, thereby obtaining a quest to become a moonlight sculptor. Of course, he had refused it without a second thought at first, thinking it wouldn’t make much money. In the flying city of Lavia, he received much rewards in stats and learned the skill ‘Lion’s Roar’ as he was mastering the basic training hall.

‘The Charisma stat and Lion’s Roar have come in handy so many times.’

Lion’s Roar was a useful skill for controlling the troops in a large-scale battle. Since Weed did not possess a wide range of military commanding skills like knights, the many battles he had gone through would have been a lot more difficult without this skill.

An intermediate training hall could only be cleared by those who had conquered at least the first three floors of the Tower of Heroes. After breaking through each stage, on the fifth and final floor, he was deployed to Phalranka Battle in the Sachsen Plain. In this most fierce field of war, he fought as a skeleton knight protecting Princess Remi. While the troops from seven different kingdoms were engaged in a heated fight, he was eventually killed when a stone thrown by a Cyclops hit him.

‘I haven’t been able to visit advanced training halls, since they are all within the territory of the Haven Empire.’

Weed had always wanted to go take a look at advanced training halls, but had not had an opportunity to do so until now, as they only existed in several regions in the Central Continent, including the Kallamore Region, or the Castle of Aren, the capital city of the Haven Empire.

It was said that one such training hall once existed in the North a long time ago, but the remaining records simply said that its location was lost to the world when the Niflheim Empire fell. The advanced training halls in the Central Continent had been managed by prestigious guilds that controlled each region from early on, and presently the admission to those halls was possible only with the permission of the Hermes Guild. Weed had thought of sneaking into them, but soon dropped the idea due to the risk of being subjected to the focus fire from the Hermes Guild users when caught.

Python was the first one to grin.

“There’s an advanced training center here; we must go and see right now!”

He also hadn’t been able to go further than clearing an intermediate training hall, the total number of which was said to be 12 in the whole Continent.

Naturally, Weed agreed with him.

“Let’s go.”

*****

The Hermes Guild had once released a video of advanced training halls to the public in the past. The video scored more than six hundred million views in the Hall of Fame.

– Bard Ray’s Advanced Training Hall Walkthrough!

The video started with Bard Ray and other 30 members of the Hermes Guild accepting the challenge of the training hall.

“We shall all walk upon the Path of Struggle.”

“A Black Knight, searching for glory. We welcome your challenge.”

The advanced training hall for the warrior classes contained the Path of Struggle made by the Order of Batalli, God of Fighting.

A path where strong warriors and demonic creatures are awaiting the challengers! To complete it successfully, one had to fight their way through to the exit in a straight line; there was no other way.

‘Bard Ray had cleared it in 9 hours and 45 minutes.’

All the divine magic was blocked in the advanced training center. It was also impossible to use spirit magic, spells or curses, anything other than the combat skills that directly used one’s physical strength.

‘And one cannot even have any water or food until they pass through the path.’

Those with low stamina or patience would succumb to the exhaustion and could not proceed further. The only keys to success in this challenge were one’s strength and vigor. The Path of Struggle shown in the video was swarming with monsters.

– Wow. Look at the difficulty level. This is crazy.

– Does this normally have so many monsters? They’re just flooding in!

– It’s absolutely insane in those advanced training halls. They just keep coming without any break. You have to fight endlessly in order to move forward.

– Whoa… it must be really hard.

– Is this difficulty level even beatable?

Bard Ray and the other Hermes Guild members fought on, taking turns to have a break. There had been stories claiming that, through the summoning by Batalli the God of Fighting, the power of the demonic creatures that appear on the Path of Struggle were adjusted to the strength and capacity of the users.

The level of the monsters Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild members dealt with during their trial was shocking to the eyes of common users. Those with levels 300s or 400s were only for starters, and there were even monsters in level 500 or higher appearing every so often; this later made a huge issue after many broadcasting stations showed the live coverage of their ordeal.

– The Hermes Guild really lives up to its reputation as the strongest guild.

– They’ve certainly proved their raw strength with this video; that much is for sure.

– Bard Ray, the Godly Warrior. He is the most powerful user on the continent, period. Other users might boast all they want, but they could never ever beat him in one-on-one combat.

– But what if Weed shows up?

– Weed cannot even get his foot into an advanced training hall.

– That’s because of the Hermes Guild, though. Haven’t you seen Weed’s great performance in the Tower of Heroes?

– Still, what matters in the end is that Bard Ray has cleared the advanced training hall, and Weed hasn’t. Weed’s sculptural skills give him advantages in a large scale fight, but Bard Ray’s the strongest user when it comes to one-on-one. Bard Ray even killed Weed once.

– Agreed. For now, Bard Ray is at the top. Weed’s power is rather exaggerated because of the quests he did and his various other skills.

– Desert warrior? That’s not his current strength. Those days are all passed and gone now.

Weed did not feel hurt by those meaningless comments. Bard Ray’s videos attracted a lot of fans who were impressed by his great power, and since the Hermes Guild was monitoring the comments it was natural that there were a lot of praises for him. Still, Weed had to admit that he was quite intrigued by the video.

‘An advanced training hall, huh? I wish I could go there, too. It doesn’t look as difficult as people say, though.’

Weed had never grown stronger by slaughtering weaker monsters ever since he started playing Royal Road. He had always challenged powerful enemies, and hunted until he was knocked out exhausted. Did he rest then? No. Once he was knocked out like that, he would start working on his sculptures, even while lying down. He was used to hunting nonstop like this until his whole body was aching, and after some time his stamina and patience grew so strong that he didn’t have to worry about exhaustion anymore when he hunted.

‘I think it’s going to be fun. I probably won’t be able to use my sculpting skills in the Path of Struggle, but that shouldn’t matter too much.’

Although his Necromancer skills would be blocked as well, this huge disadvantage could not make him hesitate to take up the challenge of the advanced training hall.

*****

Weed and Python, together with his other companions, arrived at the Church of Batalli in the city of Taho. The ground surrounding the church looked almost like a battlefield, with broken weapons and arrows scattered about everywhere.

“Wow… the atmosphere of this place sure is terrifying.”

“It’s the Church of Batalli. This is the first time I’ve been here in person.”

From the moment they stepped into the entrance, Surka and Maylon were startled by the scenery that greeted them. The male and female priests serving the order of the God of Fighting had many scars on their bodies. Another characteristic of the church was the various types of weapons hung on the walls, which meant that the followers there trained to fight with any weapon. It truly was a religious order for warriors.

One barbarian warrior who had been standing at the entrance spoke to Python in a rough voice.

“You. You look like a fighter who wields a greatsword.”

With his piercing gaze, he looked extremely intimidating, as if he was about to challenge Python to a duel any minute.

This was the reason why ordinary people were reluctant to visit the Church of Batalli.

Python mustered up his courage, held his greatsword at ready and said in a loud voice: “This is my weapon. I have come here to walk upon the Path of Struggle.”

He was a man who had no reason to feel small anywhere he went; Python replied in an equally rough manner, holding in his stomach tight, like a man.

‘This is my way of do things.’

The pride of a strong one.

The barbarian warrior nodded.

“I can see you’re an experienced fighter just by those scars. The one in your neck; was that left by a Mantelder?”[2]

“Yes.”

“If you survived the encounter with a Mantelder… I say you are sufficiently qualified to face the trial of the Path of Struggle.”

It was now Weed’s turn.

‘How is he going to get past him?’

The companions looked at him expectantly. Flattery and friendliness constituted Weed’s default stance, always ready to bow down his knees and back. Even Mapan had admitted that he could learn from Weed’s attitude when he was rubbing his hands together and bartering with people. And the persuasion skills he demonstrated when he entertained Emperor Geihar with food and drinks surpassed even those of an experienced salesman.

Weed lifted his chin haughtily as he addressed the barbarian warrior.

“Open the path right now.”

“Have you come here to face the challenge of the Path of Struggle as well? But this path only opens to those who deserve to step into it.”

“Shut up and open it. Before I kill you all and make my way in.”

“Do you truly mean that?”

The eyes of the barbarian warriors guarding the entrance glinted menacingly. Weed recalled a line from the cartoon he had once read and had been deeply moved by, and went on:

“Get out of my way. The only thing that can halt my footsteps is my own will.”

“…!”

With those few words, he had declared upon the barbarians that he was willing to kill everyone if they refused to step aside.

Weed had a vast amount of knowledge related to Royal Road. Those numerous pieces of information he had gathered until now included not only the data about dungeons and monsters, but also about the residents and history of the Versailles Continent. His detailed knowledge extended to even things like the preferences of the cleaner or the florist lady of the Serabourg Castle in the Rosenheim Kingdom.

‘The warriors of the Order of Batalli are straightforward to deal with. They think one’s power proves everything.’

They seemed similar to Geomchi and other Geomchi brothers, but not exactly the same.

‘During this time period, they would be particularly weaker towards strong people.’

A dark spot in the history of the Order of Batalli, which was also known as a group of combatants! It followed an incident during which most of the order’s truest warriors were massacred as they hunted down the demonic creature Khdertal, before the foundation of the Arpen Empire. The warriors who were currently remaining in the Church of Batalli were nothing but hollow shells. The Order of Batalli took roots again through countless sacrifices of its warriors during the Warring Age. There was no strength in those barbarian guards, only the false pretensions which were the remnants of their long-past glory days.

As per the normal procedure, in order to enter the Path of Struggle one would have get their qualifications acknowledged and pay a considerable amount of money as an offering, which was absolutely unacceptable to Weed.

“We, we are…”

The barbarian warrior drew himself up and tried to withstand Weed’s glare, but Weed continued staring at him as if he was facing a conman who had been caught while trying to bilk him.

< Your Fighting Spirit is activated. >

His Fighting Spirit stat of over 600, which he had accumulated through the hunting and occasional slaughter of countless powerful monsters, came into effect.

“Kuuuu….”

The barbarian warrior’s whole body trembled, and before long he gave in and stood aside.

“The Path of Struggle… is in the basement of the church.”

*Ding!*

< You have intimidated an enemy. Your Fighting Spirit stat increases by 1 point. >

< Battali the God of Fighting is gazing upon you proudly. He is greatly impressed by your attitude, which befits your strength.

With the blessing of the God of Fighting bestowed upon you, your Mental Endurance, Courage and Charisma stats increase by 2 points each. >

A successful bullying!

Even when they were inside the church, Weed kept radiating his Fighting Spirit as he walked.

‘I mustn’t let my guard down. These rascals might try to steal my money any minute.’

He was determined to thoroughly destroy anyone like an arch enemy at the first sign of pulling a trick on him. The warriors of various races who served the Order of Batalli all stepped out of Weed’s way as he walked past. Parted into two lines, they stood well apart from each other, unable to muster the courage to challenge him.

*****

A great statue stood in the basement of the Church of Batalli, the statue of the God of Fighting himself.

And a solitary path, opening up into the darkness.

They didn’t know what would show up in that path, but they could certainly feel the danger that filled up the whole space.

Timidly, the barbarian warrior said: “You’ll just have to… go through this path and reach the end. You must not eat anything in the middle of your journey, and you’ll fail automatically if you turn back. Even if you die, you must die on the path.”

*Ding!*

< You are facing the Path of Struggle.

This training hall has been constructed in order to train the true warriors of this land, in order to prepare for the time when a great danger befalls the Versailles Continent.

Walk upon the Path of Struggle, and prove your worth.

Reward: Improvement of combat related skills and increased limits on stats growth.

Difficulty level: Unknown

Quest Restrictions: if the player consumes any food or turns back in the middle, the quest fails. It cannot be attempted again. The player can have water in order to quench their thirst. >

‘Nothing I have done in this game has been easy. I will not back off, even just a step.’

Weed stepped into the path as he reaffirmed his resolve.

“H-hey!”

Even before Python had time to prepare himself, he was gone.

*****

Once in the Path of Struggle, Weed rushed forward.

Clang!

He drew the Loa Sword, threw off his novice garment and changed into his armor. He did not have the Goddess’s Knight Armor now, since he had asked Fabio and Herman to melt it down and forge a weapon out of it.

< Fabio’s Sturdy Heavy Armor : Durability 250/250. Defense 241.

A suit of armor made by Fabio, a blacksmiths who knows how to hammer a piece of metal. This is one of the best-quality armors he has ever crafted in his life. It has been reinforced six times by mixing in special minerals. It is thick and heavy, but when equipped by a fighter who can handle it properly, this armor will inflict much despair on the enemies attempting to attack them. It is in pristine condition.

Restrictions: For Knights, Fighters and Warriors only. Level 520.

Additional effects: Maximum Life Force increased by 40%.

Physical damage decreased by 40%.

Magic resistance 3%.

Maximum 30% of damage reflection, depending on the physical toughness of one’s body.

Strength -35

Dexterity -140

Very heavy.

No damage taken from weak attacks. >

It was an armor Weed had received from Fabio when he gave Goddess’s Knight Armor to the blacksmith, in case he needed protection. It did not have many notable features, but its defensive capacity alone was absolute.

“Kuhehe. Intruders.”

“This is the domain of the God of Fighting. Off with you!”

The monsters guarding the Path of Struggle appeared before the party. They belonged to the race of Ulroof, which possessed huge bodies like those of barbarians. Warriors of a spider-like species, their long limbs and keen senses made them tricky to handle.

Headcount: 8.

Estimated level: higher than 400.

Weed jumped into the midst of the monsters right away.

“Kuhehehe. Quite bold, this one.”

“We shall break your defiance through our strength!”

The Ulroofs raised their spears and started attacking. As expected from a warlike race that reveled in violence, they said few words.

Before the spears were extended to their full reach, Weed blocked what he could and dodged the rest. An analysis of the enemy’s combat capacity flashed through his head like a bolt of lightning.

‘Overall, they are quite competent. Their long arms give them a greater reach and speedier attacks, but their defensive technique is not sophisticated, as is the case with most monsters. And they tend to parry the attacks with their strength, rather than just blocking.’

Weed read the breathing patterns of the Ulroofs, the manners, speed and strength with which each of their joints moved. It might be because of the fact that he had experienced so many combats before, but his senses were automatically analyzing the enemies without him actively working his brain to make calculations. It was quite analogous to showing an elementary school math textbook to a top student who was admitted to Seoul National University[3]  through talent hand effort, or asking a chef working in a famous hotel restaurant to make a fried egg.

“Sculpting Blade!”

Weed’s sword lit up.

*Tri-ri-ring*!

The sword flowed continuously along two spear shafts. No less than five spears were entangled and struck among one another in a flash.

“Seven Celestial Footsteps!”

Weed stormed forward, slashing with his sword. His direction changed with each step, and the sword moved in his hand in an almost magical manner to strike down the Ulroofs one by one.

“Kuuargh??!”

The Ulroofs, so confident just a second ago, all turned grey in a blink of an eye and disappeared; they could not endure the critical hits targeting only their vital spots, on top of the attacking power of the Loa Sword.

Weed kept running along the Path of Struggle, pushing forward. Of course, he had completely collected all the loot dropped by the Ulroofs already.

< You have acquired the steel spear of Ulroof. >

< You have acquired a leather pouch. It has quite a lot of contents. >

< You have acquired a valuable shining rock. >

‘I must make an efficient use of my time and stamina.’

Wasting time in the beginning was not Weed’s way of doing things. His style of hunting was so quick and relentless that he would not only fry beans with a flash of lightning,[4] but would roast some sweet potatoes on top of that while having a bowl of Ramyun in the meantime.

The next monsters that appeared were Volards, the fire leopards Weed had once fought in Jigolath.

“*Growl*!”

A group of Volards threatened him, but Weed charged in, unabated.

‘I’ve dealt with these monsters before. They take a quick leap to attack, and the speed at which they do that can be extremely befuddling to those who face them for the first time.’

Experience was important; knowing the strength and combat style of the opponent enabled one to devise an optimized tactic against them.

“Heraim Sword!”

Weed held the Loa Sword with both hands and started swinging it like an axe, smashing the heads of the Volards that sprang at him in a sudden jump.

“Kiiiieeeennngghh!!”

< You have successfully made the first serial attack. Your Dexterity will be increased by 20%. >

Even with the life force and toughness of Volards, it was a painful strike. Through the effect of Heraim Sword, Weed’s movement gained in speed a little. He continued dodging and smashing the head of the Volard every time another one leapt at him.

< You have successfully made the second serial attack. Your Strength will be increased by 40%. >

< You have successfully made the third serial attack. Your Dexterity will be increased by an additional 40%. >

< You have successfully made the fourth serial attack. Your Strength will be increased by an additional 20%. >

< You have successfully made the fifth serial attack. Your enemy has fallen unconscious and lost all attacking abilities. >

< You have successfully made the sixth serial attack. Your Strength will be increased by an additional 50%. For each hit, there will now be a secondary area-of-effect strike caused by the shockwave inflicting 15% of the damage of the original strike. >

< You have successfully made the seventh serial attack. Your Dexterity will be increased by an additional 30%. Your Strength will be increased by an additional 20%. Using 1500 mana, you can now make a ranged attack. >

A merciless chain of strikes!

Weed’s combat abilities had reached the peak now. Heraim Sword Skill was capable of defeating any enemy, however strong they might be, provided that one was able to make a continuous series of successful hits. Heraim Sword Skill would be cancelled with just one miss or dodge, but the Path of Struggle was narrow, and the ferocious Volards kept coming.

< You have successfully made the fifteenth serial attack. The pain you inflict on the opponent will be delivered to other enemies. The chained damage is 15% of the original attack. >

< You have successfully made the sixteenth serial attack. A critical strike has hit the target. The enemy has been destroyed. You are dominating the battlefield! >

< Your proficiency in sword skills has increased. >

< Your astounding accomplishment in combat has increased your fame by 580 points. >

< Your Strength stat increases by 1 point. >

Weed had successfully connected 24 chain attacks in total, devastating the Volards. He quickly gathered the remains of the dead Volards and the bounty scattered across the ground in all directions. He had used up some of his strength and stamina, but it was less than 5% of his total reserves thanks to the ridiculous amount of stats he had built up through countless hours of farming.

‘It’s quite easy for now.’

Even as he thought that, his body began to move. Weed rushed towards the next foe that would be waiting for him on the Path of Struggle.

*****

Python was a fighter whose skills were good enough to boast on any battleground. Once he jumped into a dungeon with his great sword drawn, he never stopped until he successfully cleared it, even if he had to stay up all night. During the earlier days of Royal Road, the videos he uploaded would receive hundreds of thousands of views, and after he became more popular, they easily scored millions of hits.

“There’s a rumor claiming that Python, that fighter with superhuman strength, completely wiped out the Dungeon of Balharm.”

“Did you hear? They say Python moved a huge rock with his bare hands.”

Hearing the stories of his exploits that had spread among the townspeople each time he returned to a city after completing a quest or a hunt also gave him a feeling of great satisfaction.

‘There aren’t many fighters in this game whose skills deserve my recognition.’

That pride which once knew no limit had diminished a little ever since he had met Weed.

‘How is this guy so strong?!’

Despite his profession as a sculptor, Weed demonstrated incredible power in hunting grounds. The quickness, persistence and skillfulness with which he slew the monsters were difficult to catch up to, even for Python. He secretly stroked his chest in relief when he found out that Weed became a Necromancer after mastering sculpting skills.

‘For now, I’m still the strongest fighter there is.’

Python was intending to display his combat prowess alongside Weed in the advanced training hall — the training hall that took the Hermes Guild a total of 31 member to clear, including Bard Ray. If Python and Weed managed to break through this path together just by themselves, shoulder to shoulder, the video of their joint accomplishment was sure to spread among the public and greatly increase their reputation. He couldn’t think of a better event to be put on air right before the battle in the Garnav Plain.

‘Weed must have planned all this in advance. It’s going to be a difficult task, but together we have a fair chance of success provided we thoroughly complement each other’s skills.’

Python was a little delayed while he checked over his equipment and said goodbye to Surka and other companions, but it still had not been more than ten minutes since Weed’s departure.

‘Will he be waiting for me while fighting the first wave of monsters?’

He walked into the Path of Struggle unhurriedly, but all he saw was the remains of the dead Ulroofs.

‘Hmm. I guess he’s already dealt with them alone.’

Python nodded. Given Weed’s capacity in combat, he would easily have been able to fight the Ulroofs all by himself. Even with his sculpting skills and Necromancer spells sealed, he had plenty of experience and an excellent combat sense.

‘So, he went on without waiting for me? Then he must be fighting the next monsters.’

Python continued walking, taking a look at the signs of battle that Weed had left behind.

‘I could get there deliberately late until he asks for help… no, then he would give me an earful for taking so long.’

He imagined the face of Weed desperately crying out for help; it would definitely give him some satisfaction to see him in such a state, but he decided he shouldn’t do such a thing to a friend and companion.

‘Kukuku. I’ll show him the might of my greatsword.’

In the next fight location, he saw dead Volards scattered on the ground, expertly taken down.

Python was a little shocked at the sight of no less than 12 lifeless Volards, stripped of all their loot down to their very skins.

“Weed killed all of them on his own? They are quite tricky to deal with… This guy really is something.”

Volards were both dangerous and difficult monsters. The moment one lets themselves be assaulted by those fierce leaping attacks, they will lose balance, unable to break free from the creatures’ grasp.

What was even more surprising was the fact that these traces of Weed’s fight against the Volards weren’t scattered over several different places: he had killed them all in one spot. As it didn’t look like it had taken a long time either, Python could surmise that it must have been one epic battle.

“He sure knows how to fight.”

Impressed, Python decided to rate Weed’s combat capacity a little higher than he’d done until now. One’s level and skills did not always align perfectly with one’s strength. As was the case with most sports, not everyone who had great strength could make a perfect use of that strength; there were so many other areas that influenced one’s fighting ability, including one’s ability to think quickly, reflexes, and understanding of enemies.

“I suppose there’s a fair reason behind his power.”

Python kept walking, but in the third, fourth and fifth battle locations, he only found more remains of thoroughly slaughtered monsters. He had been expecting Weed to wait for him to join in as he was fighting the monsters but everywhere he went the fight was already over, with nothing but a cold breeze hovering over the place. In the case of the fifth wave in particular, there were bodies of huge demonic soldiers, which were known to be extremely difficult to deal with, left on the ground in a line — demonic creatures with a level as high as 510.

“Even these monsters, too?”

Python was now feeling increasingly pressed for time.

“It seems I might have dallied for just a bit too long. I should reunite with him as soon as possible.”

He slid his blade back in its place on his back and began to run. He knew it was a ridiculous sight, a famous user such as him whose reputation was widespread over the entire Versailles Continent sprinting at top speed not to miss more fights, but he could think of no other way for now.

‘It wasn’t like I was going THAT slowly. He could’ve just waited for me for a moment! And why is he eliminating these monsters so quickly?’

He risked burning up his stamina a little too quickly in order to run faster, but the Path of Struggle stretching out before him only awaited more evidence of monsters being eradicated.

‘This is bad.’

As Python was on a dead run, his mind was filled with only one thought: he, too, had watched the video of the Hermes Guild going through the Path of Struggle. Seeing 31 people moving and working together as smoothly as a cogwheel was certainly a sight to behold, but it did not leave a big impression on Python. He knew he would have done more than an average job if he had been one of them, and besides, nothing in that video looked overly dangerous to him; that much was evident just from the fact that Bard Ray and his 30 Royal Guards all managed to successfully clear the path in the end, unscathed.

‘If Weed doesn’t stop… things might get really complicated.’

After passing through the first few battles on the Path of Struggle, the challenger will face the Gate of Trial. Before opening that gate, they must choose: will they go alone, or together with friends? There had been a few people who stepped in alone at first, but they all succumbed to the waves of monsters. Once one passed through the Gate of Trial, for every step they took they had to face a swarm of those creatures. There was a limit to the time one could spend on resting to recover the lost strength, since they could not consume any food on the Path of Struggle. They either met their demise from exhaustion or chose to flee and return to the gate. As an advanced training hall did not allow a second try, that was to be the end of their challenge, forever. After a few of such cases, most people chose to face enter the gate with their friends or companions, as did the Hermes Guild. Even then there had been a considerable number of casualties, except for Bard Ray and his Royal Guards.

‘He’s just got to stop and wait for me, but… as absurd as it sounds, I wouldn’t put it past Weed to set off alone.’

What if…? Python was having a sinister premonition. He had a feeling that once Weed had immersed himself in fight, he might never stop to look back.

*****

< Batalli the God of Fighting is satisfied with your battle.

A total of 37 chained attacks through Heraim Fencing Skill! You have dominated your enemies, and never stopped fighting until the end of combat.

Your Strength stat will be increased by 1 point by the blessings of the God of Fighting. >

While walking on the Path of Struggle, Weed realized one thing.

‘There is nothing better than Heraim Fencing Skill for breaking through this path.’

There were a few other combat skills, but they all consumed a significant amount of stamina or mana. Overusing big are-of-effect attack skills to deal with the great number of monsters appearing on the path was a sure way to exhaust oneself quickly, and one would not be able to exert the full extent of their power and skills in the end.

‘Things like special sword techniques and high level would not mean much in this place. On this path, one needs quick wit, adaptability, and courage.’

He confirmed this discovery once more after eliminating the magical knights of Galden which had been the ninth wave of enemies thrown at him. Wielding a huge shield and spells, their only purpose was to block his way. They attempted to tire out the challenger, forcing them to waste their stamina and mana. Weed had to create an unguarded moment in the enemy’s movement, an instant that was less than taking a breath, and tore through that gap using his Heraim Fencing Skill.

‘This kind of fight is quite fun, too.’

Weed smiled, for the first time after a long while. What would be the fun of it if he already knew all about the path and made it too easy? Finding and exploiting the enemy’s weak points, pushing himself forward every second with all his might… that was all he needed to succeed.

‘I can fight to my heart’s content here. And I open up my own path as I fight through the enemies. That’s why this is called the Path of Struggle.’

Through his accomplishments in combat, Weed earned some additional stats.

< An honorable victory!

For a brief moment, you exerted all your might to strike a group of Bardenhoffs to death.

You dominated the battlefield!

As great as their pride is, they would be glad to have submitted to a great warrior such as you.

Your Charisma and Courage stat have increased by 2 points each.

Your fame has increased by 1,381 points. >

It was not easy to earn such stat rewards in hunting grounds, but since the creatures appearing in this place all tested his limits just slightly, most of the fights Weed had had here led to combat accomplishments.

‘Being able to fight all I want… I like that.’

Intoxicated by the heat of battle, Weed penetrated lines and lines of enemies as they appeared. When he first stepped onto the Path of Struggle he was using his brain, thinking of what would be the best way to fight. But now, he merely threw himself into the fray again and again, swinging his sword in frenzy. Making his way through the path blocked by hordes of monsters, he had arrived in front of the Gate of Trial before he knew.

< You have reached the Gate of Trial.

The challenger can choose to step into this gate with friends, or they can walk upon this path alone. >

When Weed first decided to go through the Path of Struggle, Python was with him. Two was still a very small number, but it certainly made a big difference from going alone. At the very least they could watch each other’s back or force their way forward more easily.

Weed did not think even for a second.

‘It’s barely enough to clear this all by myself, let alone with somebody else.’

He opened the Gate of Trial, and strode forward.

*****

– Arkhim: Urgent news: Weed has entered an advanced training hall.

Everyone on the Hermes Guild’s official communication channel could not contain their shock at this unexpected report.

– Boemong: There’s no way he can do that. Are you sure it’s not some false information?

– Arkhim: This info is indisputable, it’s leaked from the high-ranking officials in CTS Media. They’re supposed to receive at least a hint from Weed whenever there’s some big event.

– Phalanx: I just can’t believe this… yes, what’s the current situation in our advanced training halls?

– Denon: No intruders. Everything’s as it should be here.

With the war coming in three days, most of the members of the Hermes Guild were currently online. After receiving a report from Denon, a ranker who happened to be near the training hall at the moment, and just as they were expressing their confusion and frustration at this seemingly false rumor, Arkhim sent another message.

– Arkhim: I’m trying to get more information, but for now it is estimated that Weed has entered the advanced training hall thanks to his skill to travel in time to the past.

– Lafaye: That should be possible, theoretically. And there would be nothing we can do about it. How many people are helping him?

There was a delay in Lafaye’s response as he was busy making preparations for the fateful battle in the Garnav Plain. But if Weed and his gang had really taken a quest after traveling back in time just as he guessed, there was indeed not much the guild could do to hinder them.

– Arkhim: I’ll continue to gather more information now.

For half an hour as they waited for Arkhim, the Hermes Guild users thought of Weed who might manage to clear the advanced training hall. The stronger members of Royal Guard were feeling especially bitter to see Weed grow even more powerful, but there was no way for them to prevent it.

– Arkhim: I’ve obtained information about the people accompanying Weed, but it is…

When Arkhim appeared in the communication channel again, all the guild members listened to him carefully. All over the Central Continent, the sight of the Hermes Guild users suddenly going blank simultaneously could be seen.

– Arkhim: Python, the fighter of superhuman strength, joined him.

– Phalanx: And?

– Boemong: We all expected Python to be there, since he was already seen in the Wulhoff Reef. Is there any information about the others yet?

– Arkhim: Well… that’s it. There’s just him.

– Lafaye: What?!

– Arkhim: Those who have challenged the advanced training hall are Weed and Python, just two of them.

There was a long silence in the official communication channel of the Hermes Guild. At that moment, nobody was saying anything in other regional channels of the guilds or in most of the channels related to hunting, quests or socializing.

As overflowing with powerful users as the Hermes Guild was, there was only a portion of them who had actually managed to beat the advanced training hall. Even then, there were a lot of videos and articles on clearing the Path of Struggle that had been made public.

– Unless you are in the same league as Bard Ray and his Royal Guards, it is more advantageous to gather at least 50 people.

– It is impossible to consume any food on the Path of Struggle. Therefore, it would be of some help to eat a lot of stamina food regularly that grants a long-lasting satiety and fullness from three days before going into the path. The list of such food is…

– There is no map. The passage is all connected in one straight line and the number and types of monsters are completely unpredictable as well.

– The time for clearing this path is limited due to the fact that one cannot eat anything in there, and 20 hours is generally regarded as the maximum amount of time one can endure the starvation while going through a series of fierce combat. If you don’t manage to break through the path until after 20 hours, it is best to give up and turn back.

– Fortunately, your mana and stamina will recover when you take a break. There are 7 gears and skills in total that we recommend to increase the rate of stamina recovery…

– We suggest including Steel Fighters and Indomitable Champions in the storming party, which are two of the advanced professions for fighters. They possess nearly an unlimited amount of stamina, which makes it a lot easier to successfully break through the Path. It’d be better to have at least two of them.

Even the members of the Hermes Guild made preparations 2, 3 months in advance before challenging the advanced training halls. They organized shock troops, and adjusted their gears and skill settings for the occasion. Everyone was allowed only one chance to face the trial of the advanced training halls, and therefore this was an extremely high-difficulty level endeavor.

– Boemong: Just two of them? Are they insane?

– Calcus: There must be a mistake in this information. This is just impossible.

– Verdin: This is nonsense… it must be Weed’s trick.

– Barakuda: Choosing such a crucial moment right before the war to challenge the advanced training hall is in itself a trick! Don’t you think so?

The users who had already cleared the training hall were the first to refute Arkhim’s claim most angrily. In their perspectives, passing through the same training hall that they had been before with just two people simply did not make any sense.

‘Could there really be a chance of doing that, however small it would be? Even then, such a challenge is just so absurd!’

‘Is it even possible to pass through the whole path with two people? It doesn’t make sense. They’ll have to deal with at least several thousand monsters each.’

‘How could they? Why on earth did Weed decide to make such a crazy attempt?’

‘Even if they don’t make any mistake or get injured, they’ll still have to burn their mana and stamina. There’s no way they won’t succumb to exhaustion in the middle of the way.’

As every member of the Hermes Guild thought it was impossible, it was all the more difficult for them to know the true intention of Weed and Python.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] I was very confused at first because the word the author used here was 2 ‘horse’s hoof’, which did not make any sense to me. I’m guessing this was a mistake, as the Korean words for ‘horseshoes’ and ‘horse’s hoof’ are quite similar.

↑ [2] I’m not sure if this is supposed to be the name of a person or a species; I looked up both the LMS Wiki and Korean wiki page for the novel and could find nothing…

↑ [3] The top-ranked university in Korea.

↑ [4] In Korean, we use the expression ‘like frying beans with a flash of lightning’ to describe a person’s behavior that is very quick and dexterous, or very restless and anxious. The author added some more exaggeration to this phrase with sweet potatoes and Ramyun.

Chapter 8: A New Achievement

Although there had been some delay, the news of Weed and Python challenging the advanced training hall reached the Garnav Plain, with various broadcasting companies delivering the information as breaking news even in the middle of their regular programs.

“An advanced training hall?”

“According to LK Games, only those who have mastered an intermediate training hall are eligible to face those trials.”

“They say you might as well not bother going there unless your level is at least 400.”

“But that’s just some minimum stats requirement. We all know level itself doesn’t mean much when it comes to Weed-nim.”

“Yeah, he’ll succeed, as always.”

“It’s not like that. People say it’s beyond comprehension that only the two of them have gone to take the challenge. Just look at how flabbergasted those MCs are.”

KMC Media, CTS Media, LK Games… every broadcasting station quickly made arrangements to set up a studio to directly report the news about the advanced training hall. The video of Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild members arduously struggling their way through the said training hall was on screen as well. The show hosts seemed as if they were quite unsure what to say.

– I just can’t wrap my head around this. Of course, Weed and Python, they both possess tremendous competence and skills.

– Yes. They are truly strong. Both know how to put up a good fight.

– However, I can’t help but think that going headlong into the advanced training hall is too reckless, even for them. Weed won’t be able to use his strongest skills such as sculpting techniques or summoning undead.

– Abilities like stopping time or summoning undead are indeed extremely powerful weapons. Even the Hermes Guild would have a difficult time dealing with them. But none of those can be used in the advanced training hall. They have no unexpected going for them.

– They need to get across the whole path using only pure combat skills… the problem is, there are simply too many monsters inside.

– Well, technically, you don’t have to eliminate all of the monsters on the Path of Struggle like the Hermes Guild did. You just have to pass through them, in any way. You could even run away from them.

– But avoiding the fight is not an easy thing to do in that place either, as you’d know.

– How about taking things slowly and making their way forward just one fight at a time?

– Even warriors with their great stamina will eventually get tired after a long battle. There will be some decrease in their life force, as well. They could recover by taking a rest, but taking too much time in the path will only lead to them starving to death.

– The difficulty level of that path is atrocious beyond one’s imagination. It is simply impossible to beat it with just one person.

– Some even say that clearing an advanced training hall is more difficult than mastering the combat-class skills.

“Watch this video showing the Hermes Guild. It isn’t possible to clear this with just two people.”

“Then why did they decide to take up the challenge?”

As more information about the advanced training hall spread, users of the North were feeling quite confused.

“They’re just going to die, at this rate.”

“Dying for nothing? Just like that?”

“And if they HAD to die, why now? We’re facing the most important battle in Royal Road!”

“Maybe they were planning to have an epic one-on-one fight against Bard Ray after clearing the advanced training hall?”

“This is ridiculous. I can’t believe they’re acting in such a foolhardy way.”

“If things go south, Weed-nim might not even be able to attend the battle.”

If they die in the advanced training hall, they cannot go online again for the next 24 hours. That was equivalent to 4 long days in the game, considering how the time flows differently in Royal Road compared to the real world. This meant that Weed would arrive late for the battle in the Garnav Plain, or might even fail to show up.

“It wouldn’t come to that… would it?”

“Considering the difficulty of an advanced training hall, it wouldn’t be too surprising even if they really die there. You can see what kind of place it is just by watching the videos or broadcast.”

“But Weed-nim has made so many miracles possible… Seeing all of his accomplishments, I think he will succeed this time, yet again.”

“Didn’t you see the broadcast? He can’t even use sculpting skills there. There’s no way to go through the place other than fighting your way through countless battles.”

“Weed-nim is not a Knight or a Fighter, after all.”

As the words began to spread, the users gathering in the Garnav Plain were struck by a sudden feeling of apprehension. This anxiety got even worse when a newsflash appeared in the middle of a live program on KMC Media.

– Weed is challenging the advanced training hall alone.

Even the Northern users who always trusted and followed Weed could not help their puzzlement at the moment they received this new report.

“We’re about to have a big battle to save the whole Versailles Continent. He can’t do this if he truly understands the gravity of it.”

“It’s as if he said a big ‘Screw you’ to at least a hundred million people.”

“If Weed dies, he sure will leave a big mark in history… in the worst possible sense, of course.”

One after another, many users in the Garnav Plain began to react against Weed’s sudden decision to enter the advanced training hall, as the whole situation was too absurd for them to expect Weed to succeed this time.

“Whoa. It’s already hard with just two people, yet he…”

“It’s the Weed-nim we know, all right.”

“Yes, one can never realize how reckless he can be until they really get to know him.”

“What on earth was he thinking…?”

Pale and the rest of Weed’s companions who were waiting at the entrance of the Path of Struggle heard the news as well. None of them were surprised; they merely felt that yet another mishap had occurred, which, frankly, they’d almost grown used to at this stage.

‘He’s always been like this, come to think of it.’

‘Simple and violent. Well, he gets things done, in the end.’

‘Compared to all those adventures he’d been through… it might not be a piece of cake, but I guess he was confident he could handle this.’

These companions, who all knew Weed well, thought positively about Weed’s trial in the advanced training hall. Pale, Surka, Irene and Romuna… Each of them was a high-level user, with plenty of combat experience. From a common-sense point of view, one would predict that he would fail this venture, based on the information that had been revealed about the advanced training hall. However, their view of the world had kept getting broader and broader as the time they had spent by Weed’s side increased. The moment they heard the news of Weed stepping into the training hall alone, they came up with a more fundamental question.

‘An advanced training hall that cannot be completed by one person alone? That sounds fishy. If that’s really true, they should only accept people coming in groups in the first place. It doesn’t make sense that there is the Gate of Trial in the middle, where people can choose to go alone.’

‘Fighting the thousands of monsters blocking the way without using any other profession skills? Hmm. Few users train a variety of skills of many kinds to a high level of expertise like Weed-nim does anyway. And you can’t even eat anything in that place? Why do such restrictions exist?’

Based on the rules of the advanced training hall itself, they suspected that there would be a hidden solution. However, a vague hunch was all they could come up with at this time.

The users who had managed to clear the advanced training hall had all been members of prestigious guilds, mostly the Hermes Guild. A few of them had had a similar suspicion about the training hall, but they did not dig any deeper.

‘There’s already a walkthrough of the advanced training hall.’

‘I can join the next shock troop and break through.’

Once one fails to pass through the advanced training hall they cannot make another attempt, but fortunately there was a known solution to clear the path, which meant that the users had no reason to take unnecessary risks and put everything they had on the line.

Pale was convinced of Weed’s success.

‘Weed-nim could do it alone. Being the first to do something is nothing difficult for him.’

The fact that cockroaches still exist in this world was the biggest evidence that supported his confidence: there was no way that Weed, possibly the only living being that is more tenaciously resilient than cockroaches, would fail.

*****

Many broadcasting companies including KMC Media were facing a serious enigma.

“Why did Weed make such a dangerous decision and enter the advanced training hall? Why now?”

“I think he must have thought of some hidden plan.”

“Plan? What plan? Unless he’s planning to drive everything in complete ruin.”

Almost every broadcasting station around the world had made a contract to broadcast the battle of the Garnav Plain. So naturally, they had all been put on emergency alert, unable to decide what steps they should take from now.

“Mr. Kim, what is the current situation? Any news from Weed yet?”

“Nothing yet, sir.”

In the project meeting room of KMC Media, even the director general had made his rare appearance. The whole company was taking this issue very seriously, with every team director and manager attending the meeting.

“It’s already been quite a while…”

“Yes, it’s been 30 minutes since we received the news.”

“And how are users responding to this?”

“After the newsflash was broadcast, it appears that all of them have fallen into a state of panic. Most of the sculpture construction work has been suspended as well.”

“I see… indeed, they wouldn’t be able to carry on with making the sculptures after all this mess.”

The director general let out a deep sigh. The company had mobilized the entirety of its equipment and manpower for the upcoming battle. And then there were the problems of advertisement contracts with major corporations, the promotion cost that they had spent until now, as well as the crews and guest stars. They had put off the entire broadcasting schedule until after the battle in the Garnav Plain, and now Weed had entered an advanced training hall.

“Well, this is not a situation that can be reversed; what happens to the battle if Weed dies?”

“I believe the battle will proceed as normal, since it has been prearranged.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to postpone the battle for a few days? If it can be delayed by three or four days, Weed will be able to revive again and fight.”

“There are a hundred million users in that plain, sir. Besides, do you really expect the Hermes Guild to agree to put off the battle?”

The people of the broadcasting stations were all feeling quite lost as to how they should deal with the situation, but one thing was for certain: nothing could be more futile than Weed perishing inside that advanced training hall. This could potentially become the worst catastrophic event in the history of Royal Road.

The director of the Foreign Cooperation Team suggested tentatively, “Perhaps we’ve made a wrong decision taking the side of Weed?”

The grim face of the director general turned towards him.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it looks like things will not go favorably for Weed from now on. If he loses to the Hermes Guild by any chance, our company will also be put into quite an uncomfortable position.”

The uneasiness was quite plain in the faces of the other staff members, too.

“Should the Hermes Guild win, it will also pose a problem in negotiations for broadcast rights in the Central Continent.”

“Some users are outright refusing to give an interview to our company. The loss we’ll have to suffer will be tremendous if this kind of hostility continues.”

“This battle means a lot to people. If Weed dies and fails to show up, he will be subjected to a hail of backlashes and blames, and will not even be able to bounce back ever again.”

“We’ll also need to take into account the possible scenario in which the population of Royal Road itself suffers after Weed’s downfall. Viewing rates are sure to plummet if a hero disappears.”

The people in the meeting room saw one thing and had to worry about ten possible bad things that could happen because of it. Weed’s defeat would have a harmful influence on their company in many ways, too. Most of the broadcasting stations related to Royal Road had established a cooperative relationship with each other and agreed to side with Weed. The reason was nothing complicated: the broadcasting companies needed viewers to sustain themselves. Weed was the biggest draw of the entire game world, and the passion of the Northern users for their Arpen Kingdom was like a wildfire blazing furiously. It was quite a natural move for the companies to take the side of Weed instead of the Hermes Guild which was full of negative images in the eyes of the public, for the sake of viewing rate. In particular, KMC Media especially could not let itself be left out from this trend because broadcasting Weed’s adventures was the crucial factor behind its huge success and which led them to the position of major broadcasting company with high average ratings.

Manager Kang shook his head.

“I understand these concerns shared by you. However, considering the countless achievements Weed had made thus far, I don’t think this kind of crisis would be enough to shake him.”

“But this was such an incredibly reckless move, don’t you think?”

“What if he was truly confident that he can clear the training hall? He just has to clear this and that’s all the problems solved, right? The situation will turn positive again.”

“Hmm.”

The other board members of the company who had been watching this conversation between Manager Kang and the Foreign Cooperation Team director didn’t quite know what to say. Weed had gained popularity with the users by walking the hard and difficult path (so insistently one would even suspect that he was doing this deliberately at times), and every time he did this the viewing rates increased dramatically as well. They wouldn’t have such enthusiastic viewers if Weed had always played it safe in the normal way. But, as absolute a living legend Weed might be, a successful outcome was the most critical factor this time. Whether he really manages to pass through the advanced training hall would determine which of the two extreme directions the whole situation would take.

As the people in the meeting room were struggling to decide on the company’s stance, the youngest member of the writing team opened the door carefully and entered.

“We’ve just received a call from Miss Jeong Seoyoon.”

“…!”

There wasn’t a single person in the whole staff of the broadcasting station who didn’t know who Seoyoon was — the person who once took care of all matters big and small in the Arpen Kingdom, and the Goddess of the Grass Porridge Cult. A sudden liveliness returned to the eyes of the men who had been feeling drained by this endless meeting that didn’t seem to go anywhere.

“Ahem.”

The director general cleared his throat and asked, “What did she say?”

“She said that she wishes to meet the representatives of the broadcasting companies, including KMC Media.”

Naturally, the gaze of the staff members in the meeting room turned to Manager Kang, as he was the person in charge of all matters related to Weed. Manager Kang’s bald head broke out in a cold sweat as he felt the furious stares from the other male coworkers.

“Well, I think I need to go and meet her, for certain. I should hear her opinions on the current state of affairs.”

The meeting was adjourned until Manager Kang returns from his visit to Seoyoon.

“So, when and where are we meeting?”

“In one hour. And the place is…”

“Yes?”

“In Gimbap Heaven,[1] across the street in front of the company building.”

“…”

*****

The directors and executives of various broadcasting stations related to Royal Road from across the world were gathering in Gimbap Heaven, including those from Korean companies.

The US, China, Japan, Russia, India, Thailand, the UK, Brazil, France, Germany… the number of countries alone was 32 in total. As each of these international companies had a branch in Korea, those who were in charge of this matter were rushing their way in.

“Um, so…”

“Haha, this is just…”

The staff members from various broadcasting stations were sitting around the tables, looking embarrassed. There were still 45 minutes left until the time at which Seoyoon promised to show up.

“What should we order?”

“Well, some gimbap…”

“There’s still some time before the meeting, so I guess we can go for some fried rice, even?”

When in a Gimbap Heaven, one had to order something once they had taken a seat.

“Excuse me, I’ll join this table since there are not enough seats…”

“…Okay.”

People representing rival companies were forced to squeeze in the same table. Some of them thought the choice of place was rather inappropriate, but that was nothing compared to the topic they would discuss later.

‘She’s bound to look worse than she does on the screens, even just a little.’

‘Maybe there’s some effect of the stats. She might have increased her Charm stat abnormally high…’

Before long, at the moment when Seoyoon finally showed herself in Kimbab Heaven, the representatives were instantly bewitched.

‘Beautiful.’

‘She’s beautiful.’

‘Exactly as she looks in the videos… it’s as if a halo appears around her head.’

Even in a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans, Seoyoon dominated the sight of those who beheld her — the beauty that enraptured people regardless of their nationality!

“I’d like to thank you all for gathering together in this place in response to my invitation. The battle in the Garnav Plain will proceed according to plan, so please, trust us and make all due preparations as normal.”

Seoyoon spoke in her clear voice that sounded like morning birds tweeting pleasantly.

“…”

JHG of Japan.

The representative member of this giant broadcasting company boasting overwhelming viewer rates in Japan had intended to make some severe criticism in regard to this matter.

‘He has decided to head to the advanced training hall without any consultation with our company in advance, which has seriously jeopardized our broadcasting schedule. If things lead to an unfavorable outcome, we will make sure to demand some compensation for the breach of contract, and…’

He had prepared enough lines to shoot at her for more than twenty minutes, but the moment he laid his eyes on her he felt as if his head was hit by more than one bolt of lightning.

‘I… I can’t say such things. Never mind my job, this is not a way to respect such beauty.’

Not only would he be targeted by angry and blinded rebukes from the delegates of the other broadcasting companies, it would leave a memory which he shall regret for the rest of his life.

“If you have any other opinions or inputs, please tell me.”

There wasn’t a single person who showed any sign of complaint about Seoyoon’s words.

“Also, feel free to speak up if there have been any inconveniences in general when you were collecting news.”

“…”

“…or if there is anything lacking in the current policies or direction of ruling of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“…”

A simple unification of the press, without a single conflict of opinions!

At that moment, Manager Kang tentatively raised his hand.

“I have my utmost faith in Weed-nim and trust he will clear the advanced training hall, but as we all know, an advanced training hall is not an easy place to beat. It is even more absurd that just one person should go to face the trial of that place.”

Other representatives also nodded their heads in agreement. This was the reason why they had decided to assemble here, while in a state of huge shock. Taking up a challenge to beat the advanced training hall in such a crucial moment… It made them worry about the possible failure caused by his decision to venture alone. When Weed went on all those numerous adventures alone, they didn’t make an issue out of it because they didn’t know exactly how difficult those adventures could be. But in case of the advanced training hall, everyone was aware of its extreme difficulty level (especially when faced by a single person) thanks to all the resources available.

“Yes, I agree.”

“So… does Weed-nim have any secret strategy to clear the advanced training hall?”

With this question from Manager Kang, Seoyoon recalled a certain moment that happened a while ago. After watching the video of the Hermes Guild, she also gave Weed a passing question as to whether he was really confident that he could clear the advanced training hall. What Weed had said to her in reply still made her cry whenever she recalled it.

Seoyoon answered Manager Kang’s question, clear drops of tear streaming from her eyes.

“He said he can just starve.”

“…What?”

“He said… that he couldn’t understand what was so difficult about starving. He said that he was used to it, though other people might not be.”

*****

The atmosphere in the Garnav Plain was still quite unsettled. The users from the Central and Northern Continents had gathered around together, deeply occupied with watching the broadcast programs on Weed and the advanced training hall.

– You know, when it comes to combat there are certain factors to consider: which side is stronger, or which uses better tactics? Thing is, in this case he’s fighting alone — which means there’s nothing more to consider; he’s a dead man.

– Weed’s ‘No Defeat’ legend? That kind of story includes a lot of exaggerations. The claim that he will keep succeeding just because he has never failed before is purely groundless belief.

– I agree. He has received the absolute support of the common users and, with the help they provided out of sympathy, he has been able to use the human wave strategy against the Hermes Guild. But Weed himself was once killed by Bard Ray-nim in the Melbourne Mine, wasn’t he?

– His overflowing ego fed by the crowd praising him to the sky has eventually led him to self-destruction. Frankly, he’d be much better off now if he had decided to just wash his feet and go to bed.

– A way to clear the advanced training hall alone?[2] There’s been a lot of investigation, but none has been revealed so far. Besides, there have been more than just a few people who have cleared the training hall. They didn’t just decide to go in groups because they were fools; Weed’s attempt to clear it alone is simply too risky.

– There’s a reason why it’s called the Path of Struggle: it’s because you have to fight. A lot. All those tricks Weed has used until now won’t work in there.

Players who were among the top 500 rankers of Royal Road and other so-called experts appearing on the programs were giving their opinions, all of which were pessimistic. While it was true that Weed’s new trial indeed looked very reckless to their eyes, their united voice was also largely influenced by Lafaye’s secret instructions to the Hermes Guild.

– During interviews, you must repeatedly emphasize that Weed’s challenge has been the worst possible choice. We need to swing the public sentiment into thinking that he will fail this time and it will eventually lead to the defeat of the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed had already set up a number of plans in his favor in the Garnav Plain, and Lafaye was attempting to interfere by shaking up the crowd mentality.

At first, the Garnav Plain remained moderately unaffected. But as people watched the broadcast, fear began to build up, which soon led to deterioration of the overall atmosphere.

“I trusted him because it was Weed… How could he betray us all like this?”

“He could’ve waited for just a few more days… He couldn’t be arsed to do that?”

“I just can’t understand people who behave like that right before such an important event. I mean, who does he think we’re doing all this hard work for?”

“Dammit, forget it all! I quit!”

“Everyone, let’s just stop working and play. Why do we have to put all our efforts like this? It’s all over anyway!”

The general mood was darkening in the Garnav Plain, centering on the users from the Central Continent. Spies that had been urgently sent from the Hermes Guild also expressed their dissatisfaction and beguiled the public opinion.

They were trying to cause riot!

“Hey, let’s just go and have a bite somewhere. I’m hungry.”

“Drat, I don’t even know why I bothered coming here. I wasted a lot of money for using the teleport gate.”

“I’ve ridden all the way from the Rosenheim Kingdom on horseback. *Sigh*. Was it all for nothing?”

“Hello, could we have a bottle of soju, no, whiskey over here?”

Inside restaurants and pubs in the Food Alley, various alcoholic beverages including beers and wines were being sold at a frightening speed. The users who had gone through so much hard work making preparations for the battle against the Hermes Guild were now expressing their rage as well.

The minds of the crowd had caught fire in the Garnav Plain!

If by any chance the one hundred million users gathering in this place should disperse and fall apart, things would truly become irremediable.

However, there were still countless users who were busily carrying and piling up building materials in silence.

3,700 gigantic sculptures were presently under construction — this historical undertaking that would completely change the whole scenery of the Garnav Plain was now entering its final stage. As people had set up such an extremely lofty goal, they had to work day and night in order to complete the sculptures on time.

“We’re running short of stones. Please bring some more.”

“Sure. We’ve used all the stones in the nearby areas, so people are bringing some extra stones from outside.”

“The Mapan Trading Company has provided some carriages for us; if there are any carriage drivers here, lend us a hand, please.”

Those who were moving constantly for the construction work made up more than 60 percent of the entire crowd in the Garnav Plain.

Bella, a reporter from KMC Media, interviewed a few people after informing them it was part of live coverage.

“Hello.”

“Hi, nice to meet you.”

Bella approached a user who was carrying a stone slate larger than his own body. Even as he was giving the interview, he continued walking, one struggling step after another.

“First, could you give us your name, please?”

“I’m Soft Tofu, a user from the Northern Continent.”

“Okay. The mood in this place is quite unsettled after Weed-nim went to challenge the advanced training hall, yet you are still here, giving assistance to the people building the sculptures, is there any reason why-…?”

Soft Tofu put down the stone slate for a moment and straightened his stooped back.

“So, what changed?”

“…Sorry?”

“Did Weed-nim ruin any of our plans?”

“Well, he entered the advanced training hall, and-…”

“And? Did he die there?”

“No, but this time it doesn’t seem he will be able to clear this training hall by himself…”

Soft Tofu gave a good-natured smile.

“Every time Weed-nim went on a new adventure, there have always been people who said he would fail. Those people who are giving interviews on TV programs now, they also said similar things before, correct?”

“Well, I mean, they…”

Experts and top rankers had indeed been keeping their pessimistic stance whenever Weed started an adventure. On the other hand, the users who started playing Royal Road in the Arpen Kingdom held absolute faith — the faith that, without Weed, their life would have been much more unhappy.

“He’s not truly dead until he actually dies. Making predictions for his death is also pointless. It’s understandable if you think he will not be able to make it here when we’re fighting the Hermes Guild… but we still don’t know that, either. So why should I stop doing my duty?”

“…”

Soft Tofu’s interview was broadcast live through the KMC Media channel.

“He’s right, you know.”

“Yeah. It’s a loss for all of us if we give up fighting or get defeated.”

The interview was enough to calm the atmosphere in the Garnav Plain, which had been growing worse after Weed’s venture into the advanced training hall, if only by a small amount.

“Everyone, there’s only a very short time left. Let’s cheer up and continue preparing for the battle while making statues and enjoying the festival.”

“Let’s just do our best. We can blame Weed-nim once we find out he’s really let us down, but… he hasn’t done anything yet.”

The users from Morata took the lead in spurring the construction of the sculptures.

In the meantime, there had been several meetings within the Grass Porridge Cult in which they discussed their true identity.

– What is the point of our existence?

– Until when do we have to continue fighting for Weed and the Arpen Kingdom?

So far, the Grass Porridge Cult had actively involved itself in numerous battles or other matters that improved the national power of the Arpen Kingdom. Its influence was expanding on a daily basis, evidenced by the tremendous increase in the number of porridge groups. Yet the cult members had no reason to hold grudges against the Arpen Kingdom, as they were enjoying a free life, not subjected to any compulsory rules or orders from the kingdom.

– We don’t have to live our lives for Weed-nim. Let’s live in order to make our lives more enjoyable.

– The reason why we put our strength together whenever there’s a war? Indeed, a lot of people wonder about it. We’re not doing it to show our loyalty to Weed-nim; we’re doing it for the sake of all of us.

– We don’t believe that the Arpen Kingdom belongs to Weed-nim only. We have built this country together, and we are fighting to protect something that belongs to all of us… What’s so strange about that?

– The battle in the Garnav Plain. Let’s all fight together. Weed-nim is not the only one who made all those things possible.

The users of the Grass Porridge Cult decided to move freely between the construction work and the festival. As nobody was forcing anyone to do anything, people were merely following their own hearts.

*****

The first group of enemies Weed faced after opening the Gate of Trial was an order of 50 Goblin Knights.

“Salutations to the one who possesses courage. You’ll have to defeat us to move forward. Kuku.”

Weed’s sharp eyes told him that the area of the open ground on which the goblins were standing was about 300 square meters. The Path of Struggle had widened up a little, enough to stage a larger scale battle.

‘An order of knights… this sounds fun.’

Although they were mere monsters, the Goblin Knights seemed to be in the middle to late 400s in terms of levels. They weren’t easy opponents, nor were they overly difficult to deal with; it would have given him a bigger headache if they had appeared in combination with archers, mages, shamans and priests. Goblins were also equipped with poor armors and shields.

‘Crash in, break them, and I win.’

Weed raised the Loa Sword.

“Challenger, come forward.”

“Heraim Fencing!”

He rushed through the lines of goblins, slashing one at a time. At first he appeared to be focusing on precise strikes, but the main characteristic of Heraim Fencing was that it grew stronger with each accumulating blow.

*Slam!*

*Crash!*

*Bam!*

*Thump!*

After about ten successful strikes, Weed’s attacks had become extremely quick and powerful. The intensity of his blows threw off the shields and slammed the bodies of the goblins into the wall even when they defended.

“Uuaaarrgh!!”

“Keeckk!”

The Goblin Knights had been sneering at the sole challenger a minute ago. Weed jumped straight into the enemies and swept around like a storm.

< A quick battle.

Swiftness is a warrior’s deadly weapon. You have completed the combat with the most quick and precise attacks.

As a result of a record-breaking battle against multiple enemies:

Your Strength increases by 1 point.

Your Dexterity increases by 3 points.

Your Fame increases by 3,213 points. >

On the Path of Struggle, one could easily earn bonus stats by fighting well. Even when he was not in this kind of place, Weed always engaged in combat focusing heavily on being as efficient as possible, to the last 1%.

‘How do I increase my hunting speed? I need a way of efficiently taking blows to increase my toughness… and a faster way to collect loot, too.’

The result was that he could boast a hunting speed that was so fast other people couldn’t keep up with it. The efficiency of perfect farming! Every time he engaged in a battle, through his superb concentration ability, a message appeared for each stat which could be obtained!

“Pitiful.”

The comment Weed made after eliminating the Goblin Knights was a short one. There was nothing to salvage from their swords or armors. Normally, he could still make something out of them with his blacksmithing skills if he picked them up and melted them. Even if they were made of very poor materials, he could still hand them to Mapan and dispose them appropriately as miscellaneous items. But as one could not eat any food on the Path of Struggle, there was a time restriction… which meant that he could not sit there and smelt the low-quality metal or fashion it into sculptures or armors. As the rest of the chipped swords and cracked armors were too heavy to carry, he didn’t have a choice but to leave them.

Weed giving up the spoils of battle!

What had just happened was quite akin to a nightmare.

“No items worth picking up… This is the worst kind of place.”

Weed continued running down the Path of Struggle.

The next wave of enemies charging to face him was a legion of bull-like looking monsters named Zhevenods.

“Now, you lot, at least leave your hides behind as you die!”

Weed’s sword danced in the air. He even pulled out Thunder Spear, an excellent weapon against groups, which he started swinging and thrusting.

*Boooom!!*

Bolts of lightning flashed and exploded, dealing damage over the whole area and paralyzing the enemies.

< You have successfully made the 19th serial attack.

Your Dexterity will be increased by 30%.

Enemy’s weak points have been detected!

The effect of precise striking is activated. >

A sword and a spear: he was wielding two weapons simultaneously! With the Loa Sword he pierced and slashed, and with Thunder Spear he smashed and flicked. Weed was hunting and was keeping the enemies at bay at the same time.

A combat technique for facing multiple opponents using one’s movements, speed and sense of distance!

This was possible because the Path of Struggle went only in one straight line, and the monsters kept charging at him rather than fleeing.

< Overpowering enemies!

With the bravery of a warrior, you have completely defeated the charging Zhevenods.

A combat accomplishment deserving the highest of praises!

Your maximum Life Force increases by 150 points.

Your Strength increases by 2.

Your Charisma increases by 3.

You have gained 2,381 points of Fame. >

< You have leveled up. >

On top of all the stats improvements, the amount of experience points he was receiving was also significant; it was even comparable to the ridiculous amount of points he would earn when he was hunting as a Necromancer and leading at least one hundred undead minions.

‘This is a great place to train oneself to get stronger. Except that it’s difficult to pick up all the junk items… and that’s one critically big drawback.’

He felt as though he would never forget this particular time and place for the rest of his life. Even when he becomes an old man in his 80s or 90s, he might still feel bitter whenever he recalls this adventure in the Path of Struggle.

Weed picked up only the hides of the Zhavenods and moved on, leaving all the bones and meat behind.

As he pushed further into the Path of Struggle, the level of monsters increased and more dangerous situations unfolded before him.

‘A new challenge every time. This is fun.’

Marching ever forward, Weed continued breaking through waves of monsters.

< Having engaged in a strenuous activity, you are now feeling a little hungry. >

The hollow feeling in the stomach.

‘About six hours have passed since I started fighting. I guess that is equivalent to skipping lunch.’

He had been taking just enough rest to avoid suffering from exhaustion.

Currently, his remaining Life Force was 73,492 points.

‘This should be enough to fight, and it’s recovering well, too. It’s certainly not impossible to take this challenge alone; just quite difficult.’

Stats were the basic factors that determined one’s physical abilities. Weed had been improving his stats over various fields of skills including hunting, adventuring, sculpting and crafting.

1869 Strength and 1255 Dexterity; people would find these stats almost unbelievably high if he posted it on online forums, and he had achieved this through an outrageous amount of effort. Ever since his earlier days as a novice user, he had been constantly farming bonus stats through hunting while other people were looking for equipment that increased their Strength by 10 or 20 points. Those small accomplishments, which everyone else dismissed as a waste of time, had accumulated little by little to eventually result in his current status.

Another reason behind his high stats was the fact that he had not invested any points in Art whenever he leveled up.

‘I cannot afford the luxury of increasing Art stats.’

This meant that he had to try several times harder than normal people to become a master sculptor, but he had endured that hardship.

His Stamina was 325, which was relatively low compared to his Strength and Dexterity, but it was still extremely high and he was not easily exhausted by any normal amount of activity. Additionally, he had 1321 Perseverance and 631 Toughness; these truly were his main physical stats, which overwhelmed those of warriors at a similar level and which he had improved by deliberately getting hit by monsters within an inch of his life. With Weed’s current status, most common weapons wouldn’t do any damage to him even without any armor. His Will and Endurance wouldn’t lose out with 358 and 451 respectively; both were ridiculously difficult stats to improve, which he had tenaciously accumulated bit by bit through adventures and hunting, holding out in some of the most severe environments and defeating monsters all night long. On top of this, all of his stats were improved by an additional 405 points thanks to his sculpting skills and further adventuring.

A true stats hoarder: an accomplishment made through endless farming!

Of course, Bard Ray and the other top-tiers users of Royal Road who competed with him would possess one or two considerably high stats, too. Those who had warrior-class professions would have invested heavily in Strength and Dexterity; taking into account the combat accomplishments they could obtain frequently in addition to that, Weed’s stats might even be lower than theirs in terms of those two abilities alone. However, when it came to numerical values over all stats, Weed was in a different league that absolutely flattened any user.

‘My abilities are better suited for long-term fights rather than short ones. I think I can do this without too much trouble.’

He was a little suspicious of the Path of Struggle, but took it simple.

‘I can’t eat any food here. I’ll grow hungry and weary the longer I stay in this place, which means I just have to endure it and push forward.’

A full-frontal breakthrough that makes use of all the stats he had improved so diligently!

The main reason why an advanced training hall was so hard to clear was the fact that one could not have any food, to which the simplest solution was just to fight your way through while starving. Minimizing stamina and mana consumption was something he was very accustomed to, as he had never relied on his combat skills alone. Depending on the type of enemies, he could also reduce the duration of combat by fighting effectively.

‘I have plenty of experience in starving. I would probably be able to last up to 50 hours thanks to my high Patience and Endurance.’

One could drink water in the Path of Struggle. Weed was an expert when it came to going hungry, even in real life. Indeed, there had been numerous occasions where he chose to skip meals to cut down on food expenses, and he used to often fill his belly with some rice in a bowl of water without any side dishes.

‘Just one day is fine. I may start to feel a little dizzy after that, although it could vary quite a lot depending on my body condition.’

The conviction that he could easily clear the Path of Struggle as long as he could at least fill his stomach with water while fighting! This was a strategy that was only usable by Weed, who had spent many days in starvation ever since his novice days, and by no one else.

‘I must keep going, even if my stamina runs low and my body condition deteriorates. I choose the straightforward solution.’

Weed stepped forward, swinging his Loa Sword and Thunder Spear. The more you fight, the stronger you become… a familiar concept in Royal Road, but Weed on the Path of Struggle was getting stronger after every combat. He thought about nothing but the battle; everything else was unnecessary. In the face of a difficult challenge, he was even more focused than usual, and fully immersed himself in the fight. After dealing with a particularly shabby-looking group of monsters, he didn’t even bother to rifle through their belongings in order to save some time, for even one or two seconds could accumulate into a considerable length of time.

9 hours, 45 minutes and 13 seconds.

This was the time taken for Bard Ray to beat the Path of Struggle. Given that he was supported by thirty Royal Guards, it was hard to estimate how much longer it would take for Weed alone. In this advanced training hall, the level of the monsters appearing on the path was adjusted in accordance with the challenger. If it was actually possible for a single person to pass through the Path of Struggle, Weed was confident that he would certainly be able to do it himself; he knew it was very rare to find someone who had trained oneself as painstakingly as him.

‘Recover the lost stamina while walking. Aim for 100 percent efficiency in everything. Then I can surely break through this path.’

Weed began to enjoy the battle. As soon as he concluded that clearing the Path of Struggle was quite a difficult task, his concentration reached his peak and his senses became sharp. Vividly feeling inspiration lifting his spirit, he eliminated the enemies and moved forward.

He had slaughtered well over one thousand monsters so far since he stepped through the Gate of Trial, and right after he defeated a flock of strange alien creatures called The Eyes of Hollan a message window appeared:

*Ding!*

< You have surprised Batalli, the God of Fighting.

He is complimenting on your untiring strength, tough courage and splendid combat technique. The blessing of the God of Fighting has been bestowed upon the true warrior.

Your Strength increases by 4.

Your Dexterity increases by 2.

Your Stamina increases by 5, and your wounds have been cured slightly.

The Cleansing of debuffs by the God of Fighting has been activated; the effect of your Starvation status decreases by 7%. >

“Oh, this is nice.”

Weed was quite content with the God of Fighting’s blessing. Permanent stats improvement was one of the best rewards one could obtain in Royal Road.

‘This also relieves my starved condition a little. I can now fight a bit more flashily.’

He thought this had greatly increased his chance of clearing the Path of Struggle; even just a single egg that one had eaten to sate their hunger could make a big difference when they were at the point of starving to death.

‘I’ve got some stats bonuses too. This isn’t half bad.’

The next enemy awaiting him was a corrupted demon soldier.

“Challenger. I see you have come to face the trial of Batalli. I am a soldier of massacre, from the land of blood that has gone dry-“

Weed jumped right at him, not having time to listen to the self-introduction of the demonic soldier.

“Radiant Sword Skill!”

The secret technique of swordsmanship that he had learnt from Zahab! In this particular place, where Divine Magic could not be used, this was the best skill against enemies of dark nature.

The demonic soldier attempted to quickly step backward, but Weed had already predicted his move. He tracked the monster, changing his directions seven times using Seven-Star Steps.

< A critical strike!

47% additional damage has been dealt.

This attack has cancelled the casting of the Black Magic spell ‘Head Entombment’ by the demonic soldier Hieger. >

Weed’s sword thrust forward in a flash, and swished in the air as if dancing. In pursuit of the sword’s pathway, his legs moved and his palm opened. Maintaining strength, speed and the balance of the body, he made a flurry of attacks covering various places and angles that were impossible to dodge, each of the strikes nearly as critical as a deathblow.

“M, my flesh feels like it’s burning!!”

A demonic soldier at level over 560!

He pulled out a huge scythe that was well over 2 meters in length, but it was not enough to block the incoming strikes. Just as the definition of blitz tactics, Weed left no chance for the enemy to try or prepare anything. Even with his many powers including a range of killing spells, body enhancement and recovery, the enemy could not stand the series of chain attacks using Radiant Sword Skill for long, and soon perished; a death which was quite unbecoming of a demonic soldier. Weed’s combat abilities were indeed excellent, but the core of his tactics was to focus fully on the fight and penetrate the opponent’s weaknesses.

< You have obtained Hieger’s Scythe of Dancing Souls. >

< You have obtained the boots of a demonic soldier. >

A few serviceable items had been dropped, as he had just killed a boss-level monster, and yet another message window appeared.

*Ding!*

< The eyes of Batalli have widened. Even among the countless battles he has witnessed until now, defeating Hieger is one of the more astounding accomplishments.

You now have the attention of Batalli, the God of Fighting. The blessing of unstoppable power has been bestowed upon you.

For the next 100 days from now, your attack power will be increased by 15% whenever you move forward.

Your Strength increases by 1.

Every stat related to combat increases by 1.

The effect of your Starvation status decreases by 4%. >

Weed read the message window quickly as if he was skimming through the receipt after having a shopping in a supermarket. He was also planning to appraise the value of the scythe and the boots as he ran further along the path. Receiving bonus stats was naturally a welcome event, but he assumed that he was rewarded with stats improvement particularly often simply because he was on the Path of Struggle. Hence he also guessed that Bard Ray and the other Hermes Guild users must have gotten just as many bonus stats while they made a number of combat accomplishments when they were fighting in this same place.

‘I can’t be the only special case here.’

However, as everyone else before Weed had chosen to step onto the path as a group, they did not, in fact, receive any blessings from Batalli. One must face the challenges of the Path of Struggle using their own strength, proving their bravery as a warrior and overcoming their limits — this was the true meaning of existence of the advanced training hall, and the blessings and rewards of the God of Fighting were only given when one managed to narrowly break through their limits. Therefore, making a lot of preparations to clear the advanced training hall only resulted in poorer rewards for the challenger.

At the end of the message window, Weed found out that the negative status effect of Starvation had further decreased by 4%.

‘Again?’

This increased his chance of completing the Path of Struggle even more. In the worst case scenario where he was both famished and exhausted, he was determined to carry on even if he wasn’t able to kill all the monsters, but as he received a blessing that relieved his hunger a little, he could afford to be more relaxed. Weed’s eyes, which were presently full of venomous resolve just like they had been during his childhood years, also softened slightly.

‘Doesn’t this make things a little too easy, though?’

He had already embraced starvation as part of the difficulty level of this place, and now that he was provided with an unexpected solution, he was actually feeling discontent. Through rough and fierce battles his blood had boiled and his mind cleared, and now it felt as if he was suddenly taking a break, licking a cone of ice cream while sitting comfortably on a chair. Of course, ice cream would normally be delicious, but not in this specific situation.

‘It will just get boring if this kind of rewards keep popping up. I hope there will be a lot of stronger monsters next.’

*****

It had been two days since Weed went out of contact after heading into the advanced training hall.

Bellot, Seechwi and Seasoned Crab were so worried they could hardly eat.

“Will Weed-nim really be okay?”

“I’m afraid things aren’t too good there. Tssskktt.”

“He would have at least responded to us if the situation was manageable. Seeing that we’ve lost touch with him, it must be…”

Seasoned Crab gave out a subdued sigh.

‘Why did he have to do such a stupid thing? The public opinion among the users in the Garnav Plain has turned quite unfavorable…’

Pale and the other companions had sent him private messages, but none had been answered.

‘By now, he must be regretting his decision to go there alone so stubbornly. I thought they would at least have a bit of chance if they had stuck to the original plan and let Python-nim clear the path in the frontline while Weed-nim supports him at the back…’

From the beginning, Seasoned Crab objected to the idea of making an attempt at the advanced training hall. He thought it would be better to put it off for later and find more allies, considering the fact that they were expecting a very crucial battle soon, but it seemed that Weed and Python just could not help stirring up some more trouble. Even worse, Weed had decided to step through the Gate of Trial alone.

‘Crazy, that guy. He as good as dead.’

Seechwi and Seasoned Crab were already convinced of Weed’s death.

‘Even if he hasn’t been killed yet, he must be starving and exhausted, as it’s already been 37 hours after he’s taken the challenge of the advanced training hall.’

‘Maybe he’s collapsed on the ground, unable to even move his body after fighting a bunch of monsters. That’s going to be one solitary death, quite unbefitting of Weed-nim.’

But while they were anticipating the news of Weed’s demise in dread, another group of people sitting around the table just next to them were having a small feast with roasted and fried chickens.

“*Burp*. Help yourselves, everyone. This city has some really good fried chicken.”

“The beer tastes amazing.”

“I really like the spices they use in this region, too. Did you say the chef is a gnome? People will be able to enjoy some nice food if he joins the Arpen Kingdom later.”

“…”

Weed’s oldest companions including Maylon, Pale, Surka, Irene, Romuna and even Hwaryeong showed no signs of concern.

‘Have they always been his good friends in show only? I have no idea what kind of people they actually are…’

‘Maylon-nim… I’ve only seen her as a calm, professional broadcaster, and now I see she’s in fact a beer maniac.’

‘How could they just sit there and eat chicken now?! We only have about 14 hours until the battle in the Garnav Plain begins, and in this crucial moment that has the very fate of the Versailles Continent at stake, they are having a chicken party?”

As their disappointment grew, Pale the Battle Slave turned and spoke to them.

“Come here and have some chicken. Trust me; you’ll regret it later if you don’t have it now.”

Seasoned Crab asked him, not moving a step from his position, “Why?”

“Because Weed-nim is someone we just don’t have to worry about.”

“…”

As this was an incredibly unconvincing argument, he still refused to eat the chicken. Sure, they all had gone through a lot of hardship while hunting with Weed ever since they first got themselves somehow tangled up with him. But still, people should at least show some respect if they have even the remotest concept of honor and loyalty, for heaven’s sake!

However, not long afterwards, Weed sent a message on their private chatting channel.

– Weed: It’s almost over now.

The first word after almost 38 hours of silence.

– Seasoned Crab: Where did you-… *sigh*. Never mind. Just don’t worry too much about your level and the skill proficiencies you’re going to lose. I’ve found out that the skills you have already mastered do not lose any proficiency.

There were a lot of things Weed would lose or suffer penalties if he died in the game; namely, his character level and various skill proficiencies. However, a master sculptor’s expertise in his field of profession should not regress just by dying once.

– Weed: Pardon?

– Seasoned Crab: It would probably be better to just take your own life if you’re feeling too hungry. That would at least save some time. The advanced training centre sure is a tough place, right?

– Bellot: I understand. I’ve seen the video footages of that place, too. It looked really difficult.

Bellot chimed in even before Weed had any time to respond. Pale and the rest of Weed’s old companions were still eating chicken, even as they were beginning to think ‘Did he really…?’

– Weed: This advanced training hall… it’s pitifully easy.

– Seasoned Crab: …What?

– Weed: Sure, the rewards are pretty big, but it was really a piece of cake, overall.

– Seasoned Crab: That just cannot be true. I remember how hard it looked when Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild were trying to break through that place…

– Weed: You just have to fight and kill everything inside, what’s so difficult about that?

– Seasoned Crab: ???

An advanced training hall was certainly a very difficult place to clear. As it was meant as a test of one’s worth by the God of Fighting, one could not guarantee that they could successfully beat it even if they had a high level. The place summoned increasingly stronger enemies according to one’s level, skills, and the overall competence they displayed during combat.

Yet Weed possessed unnaturally high overall stats, and a vast range of combat experience on top of it. He had even improved his mental abilities such as judgment and reflex as he trained sword techniques in the Dojang.

All of these factors resulted in Weed completely destroying the difficulty level of the advanced training hall.

– Seasoned Crab: This is so weird. It really doesn’t make any sense…

– Weed: What doesn’t make sense?

– Seasoned Crab: If those walkthrough videos aren’t wrong, you must have encountered the 10 Knights of Velhodan in the middle. How on earth did you defeat them?

In the recent videos of the Hermes Guild going through the advanced training hall, the 10 Knights of Velhodan could be seen making their appearance. They were some of the most powerful knights, each of them at a level above 550.

– Weed: Well, they only came at me one at a time, talking about their chivalry and such.

– Seasoned Crab: Still, they must have been extremely strong. And you’d have to fight them in succession, without giving them any break.

– Weed: They still die once you hit them hard enough, all the same.

– Seasoned Crab: They aren’t the sort of lot you can beat so easily, though…

– Weed: Well, they all had developed a few bad habits in sword wielding, as well as some structural flaws in their armor… but even when not counting all of those, they were still weaker than the subordinates I used to have at my side in the desert.

The expression on the faces of Pale and the other companions soon changed to ‘Yeah, thought so.’ They had yet again confirmed that gnawing at drumsticks was a far more meaningful thing to do than worrying about Weed.

– Pale: Well, we’ll wait for you at the entrance of the Path of Struggle, then.

The two days of sweet holiday was now coming to an end. But just as they were about to put aside their lingering holiday mood and leave,

– Weed: You don’t have to. I’ll go to the Central Square in Taho when I’m done here.

– Pale: You’ve had a long day; it’s the least we could do to go and pick you up. We’ll bring some fried chicken, too.

– Weed: Well, I have already completed the Path of Struggle.

– Pale: …What?

Even Pale could not help but be startled by this.

– Pale: That quickly, all by yourself? I mean, in terms of the time taken, it might be possible for you… but where are you now?

– Weed: I’ve made some accomplishments while I was in the Path of Struggle. This led to a new event, and… right now, I’m in the God of Fighting’s Coliseum.

– Pale: I’ve never heard of that place. But judging by the name…

– Weed: Yep. Batalli the God of Fighting is here.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] This is an obvious parody of the name of a famous Korean snack food restaurant franchise, the main menu of which is (unsurprisingly) Gimbap. This is as if Seoyoon requested to have such an important meeting in Subway, which is why Manager Kang is so taken aback.

↑ [2] A more correct translation of the original Korean sentence would be just ‘a way to clear the advanced training hall’ (without the word ‘alone), but I thought this could confuse some readers because we all know that there have been people who managed to clear it, so I added the word ‘alone’.

Chapter 9: Batalli, the God of Fighting

The blessing of Batalli had both a positive and a negative effect. As for the positive effect, it made the challenger more powerful and revitalized their fatigued body. On the other hand, it also caused stronger enemies to be summoned. Because of this, this Path of Struggle was not a place he could break through just by enduring the hunger: he had to defeat the waves of enemies that would keep growing ever stronger.

‘This makes it more exciting, not knowing what monsters will appear next.’

He did not avoid the incoming enemies, and took the minimum amount of rest. Deliberately forcing his body into a poor condition, he kept winning narrow victories against the monsters and thereby received Batalli’s blessing multiple times. While mostly using his usual sword and spear, he sometimes switched to the bow, threw daggers or swung an axe. Those weapons did not possess high striking power, but were nonetheless helpful in certain situations, and what was even better was the fact that the skill levels improved more rapidly on the Path of Struggle than normal.

The most powerful enemy he faced in this place was a 19-meter-tall warrior called a Gratorgue.[1] The estimated level of that monster was about 790 — obviously it was much stronger than Weed, but he had encountered it before during his days as the Great King of Desert.

‘I didn’t expect to fight this one… It shouldn’t appear here at the normal difficulty level. Perhaps I received the blessing too often?’

One ridiculously powerful characteristic of a Gratorgue was its ability to regain the Life Force it had lost at a rate of no less than 2 percent every 10 seconds. Against this enemy which wielded both an iron flail and a whip and swished them simultaneously, any engagement over an extended length of time would lead to a certain defeat.

‘Still, it would be worth a shot.’

A reasonable decision would have been to avoid the fight and try to sneak past the Gratorgue… but Weed was presently in his battle frenzy.

‘Let’s go.

*Swoooosh!*

He dodged the iron flail flying heavily towards him so that it brushed past him, but he still took hits from the whip for about once every five swings as it was bending in the middle.

< You have taken an intense and painful blow.

You lose 4,281 points of Life Force!

Any additional damage is prevented by your Endurance.

The wounded area is minimized by your high Toughness.

The Durability of Fabio’s Sturdy Heavy Armor has been reduced by 3. >

The impact of the attack was powerful enough to damage even his heavy armor.

‘I’ll only have one chance, even if I somehow force it to show an opening.’

With the Gratorgue constantly swinging both of its long-reach weapons, it was difficult to draw closer to it. Weed circled around the monster, lunged in, and struck it eight times with his Heraim Fencing skill, only to be kicked back hard.

– A foolish attempt, weakling! I shall give you a quick death if you beg for your lowly life.

The Gratorgue spoke to the challenger that had fallen on the ground, but Weed had actually used a skill immediately before he was hit by the monster’s foot.

‘Sword Cloning skill.’

A master sword skill that creates one’s replicates!

The clone that had just been kicked by the Gratorgue vanished into thin air, and other countless clones appeared, running along the walls or the ceiling.

– One last struggle? Just embrace your death!

The whole Path of Struggle shook as the Gratorgue’s attacks smashed the ground and the walls. Weed’s 50 clones rushed close to the monster and attacked even as they were being destroyed.

The one chance that presented itself in the short moment right after the monster swung its flail and whip!

Weed, who had been hiding in a blind spot near its flank, rolled forward. He did not use a stealth skill like an assassin, but managed to conceal himself out of the enemy’s sight for a couple of short seconds and then reappear. The body of the Gratorgue now fell within the reach of the Loa Sword.

< A successfully strike with the Texture Sword skill!

You have dealt a critical hit. The opponent’s Defense will be neutralized, and an extra 426% damage will be dealt. >

< You have successfully made the 9th serial attack.

Your Strength increases by 20%.

A repeated increase in Strength!

Your weapon’s attack power increases. >

The Loa Sword penetrated through, ignoring the Gratorgue’s defense.

Weed had no fear in him, nor did he have to squeeze out any courage to face the enemy. He simply did his best, motivated only by the thought that he could win this. When fighting monsters, sometimes you won, and sometimes you lost. Even so, a Gratorgue was not an obstacle that couldn’t be overcome. The most important factor was that he’d already experienced fighting it before, and on top of that he was so completely absorbed in the battle right now that he was able to turn even a slightest possibility into reality. The feeling of striking one’s enemy while in a state of pure ecstasy was light and intense.

< You have successfully made the 10th serial attack.

Your Strength increases by 30%.

Your enemy’s Fighting Spirit decreases. >

< You have successfully made the 11th serial attack.

Your Dexterity increases by 30%.

Your enemy is Stunned for 0.6 seconds by the precise strike. >

< You have dealt a critical hit. Your enemy will be Confused for 0.5 seconds. >

Single Point Attack technique, Heraim Fencing skill and Texture Sword skill!

The Gratorgue tried to spin his body around, but Weed successfully made the 23rd attack as he also turned along with the monster.

– You little rat!

The Gratoruge roared in rage. Any average user would lose their spirit in front of such an unfathomably powerful being, leading to a decrease of their physical abilities or even paralysis. But Weed’s Fighting Spirit was sufficient to ignore such effects, and as the chain of attacks continued, the special trait of the Loa Sword began to reach its true potential:

– 3x normal damage against large-sized monsters.

– The enemy’s maximum Life Force is reduced by half the amount of damage dealt.

– Critical hits weaken the enemy’s Defense by 7%.

The Loa Sword was optimized for hunting boss-level monsters.

Weed’s Stamina and Life Force also decreased gradually as the fight went on, and finally… after over 45 minutes of desperate battle, he stood victorious!

< On the Path of Struggle, you have guided a Gratorgue into eternal rest.

Your Wonderous Achievement has increased your Fame by 23,283 points.

As the reward for this historical battle, all of your stats increase by 6 points. >

< Your Fame is now over 400,000 points.

You have become the most well-known person in the Continent. >

Not caring much about his increased Fame, Weed secured the spoils of the battle.

< You have obtained Gratorgue’s iron flail. >

< You have obtained Metal of Ruin. >

The Gratorgue’s iron flail was too large for a human to handle. Orc fighters or barbarian races might be able to use it, but as its level requirement was 700 he would not be able to sell the weapon. Still, as it was made from a mixture of various rare metals, he’d just have to melt it. Metal of Ruin was also a first-class ingredient item for blacksmithing.

Just as he had some time to catch his breath, another message window popped up.

< A battle that well deserves admiration!

Marphruk Castle had been guarded for over 200 years by a Gratorgue, a being which caused even the bravest warriors to tremble in fear at just a mention of its name! The challenger, despite possessing a much weaker flesh, managed to defeat it! You have made an achievement where many noble knights of honor and warriors full of combative spirit have failed.

This will be recorded as one of the Five Battles that Deserve Respect in the history of the Versailles Continent. >

< Your Fame in Combat has been increased by 32,890 points. >

< A huge improvement has been made in all your stats related to mental abilities.

Your Charisma, Fighting Spirit, Leadership, Dignity, Courage, Mental Strength, Honor and Insight each increases by 10 points. >

< Batalli the God of Fighting cannot stop being astounded as he continues watching your battle. >

< You have been appointed as a ‘Destroyer of Fights’ [2]

As fighters who demonstrates the might of Batalli to the world, there can only be a maximum of five Destroyer of Fights on the whole continent, selected only among those who have fighter-class professions.

Regardless of your current profession, you can now learn the divine combat skills of the Church of Batalli.

Your divine combat skills will now be twice as effective.

The following divine spells, ‘Fresh Power of Recuperation’, ‘Perfect Weapon’ and ‘Formidable Fist’ will be imprinted on your body.

While you are assigned as a Destroyer of Fights, all of your stats will be increased by 45 points.

In the event that you have lost your life seven times or if your Faith reaches 0, or if you refuse to take a quest given by the Church of Batalli twice in a row, your position will be revoked. >

Having seized the victory in an almost impossible battle, he was appointed as a Destroyer of Fights by the Church of Batalli, on top of gaining an achievement.

Weed’s mouth widened with glee.

‘For sure, fighting is really fun.’

The Path of Struggle turned out to be a satisfactory experience.

A combat accomplishment and stats reward!

Those were the things that could certainly act as dominating motivations for Weed.

Now that he was a Destroyer of Fights, he could recover from exhaustion quickly even over a short period of time. Moreover, he was able to exert more potential power from any weapon he was wielding. Formidable Fist was one trait that was not applicable for a swordsman, and just as its name suggested, it made your fist attacks more powerful. As this came into effect when one was not equipped with any weapon, this trait was favorable for unarmed fighters like Surka.

Since no other enemies as strong as the Gratorgue appeared after that battle, Weed reached the end of the Path of Struggle without any great danger, eliminating all the enemies along the way.

*Ding!*

< You have walked the Path of Struggle until the end.

You have now completed your growth as a warrior selected by Batalli himself.“There is no end to strength. And you will grow stronger when you overcome this ordeal!”

You have proved your worth as you walked upon the Path of Struggle alone. Your sword was quick and mighty, and boasted great precision. You have walked this path fair and square without using any foul tricks, accepted every challenge and overcame it.

The weapons you used in the Path of Struggle are as follows: a sword, a spear, a bow, a large battleaxe, a sickle and chain, and daggers.

The following are the records of your growth after walking in the Path of Struggle.

You have gained 216 points in combat related stats.

Your Sword skill has improved by 1 level.

Your Spear skill has improved by 2 levels.

Your Bow skill has improved by 1 level.

Your Battleaxe skill has improved by 4 levels.

Your Large Weapons skill has improved by 3 levels.

Your Dagger Throwing skill has improved by 4 levels.

By completing the advanced training hall, your Fame increases by 30,000 points.

As a reward, an additional 81 bonus stats have been granted.

Your maximum Life Force increases by 11%.

Your maximum mana increases by 5%.

Path of Struggle completion rate: 327.6%.

For one month, the proficiency of all combat related skills will be gained three times faster than normal. >

A successful completion of the advanced training hall!

Having your maximum Life Force increased was a good thing, and he had gained an incredible amount of stats on top of it. As he passed through the Path of Struggle, his Sword skill had also reached Advanced Level 8. The all-stats improvements alone that he had gained by making combat accomplishments numbered more than 20 points. Considering all these factors, this was an achievement that made the benefits other users had gained in the same training hall look quite puny in comparison.

‘Ever since I first went through the beginner training hall, I have been struggling to catch up with other people, but now, I’m ahead of them.’

A feeling of contentment filled his mind.

He had been building up his reputation and competence both as an adventurer and a sculptor, but the feeling of growing stronger as a swordsman was especially precious to him. He was in a mood to even show off his accomplishments to a neighbor.

In one corner stood a shimmering, gold colored portal. This portal had not been seen when other users went through the advanced training hall.

< Batalli the God of Fighting is gazing kindly at the challenger who has left a legend in the Path of Struggle. To celebrate this meeting with the warrior among all warriors, he intends to grant you a special present.

Will you accept the invitation from the God of Fighting? >

Naturally, this was an invitation Weed had no reason to turn down. He gladly stepped into the portal.

*****

The Coliseum of the God of Fighting!

The place Weed had entered was a great arena that much resembled the Colosseum.

– I welcome the visit of the warrior!

Batalli the God of War was sitting on a great throne.

The god that knows nothing but fighting!

Instead of jewels and treasures, all kinds of weapons decorated his surroundings.

‘This place…’

Weed quickly scanned the great arena. With Batalli in the center, countless warriors were sitting next to him. They had tough-looking faces, and their bodies had many awful scars. One might feel intimidated by them, but there was something familiar in their appearance, like Geomchi and his pupils.

‘The arena of the God of Fighting, huh? According to the myth, the warriors of the Versailles Continent come to this place after their death, honing their courage and combat techniques in the endless fight.’

Those who had burned their life with their passion as warriors would be sent here.

‘I should take care not to appear weak to them.’

He had completed a rough assessment of the situation.

Weed straightened up his shoulders and stood facing Batalli.

“What present are you going to give me?”

Grandiosity!

The God of Fighting was not someone he could fight right now. But Batalli also wouldn’t like it if Weed chose to show a servile attitude and kneeled before him, so he decided to act with dignity. There was also the matter of Weed’s another ambition that had been lying dormant ever since he started Royal Road.

‘I need to defeat them some day, too.’

God of Fighting or not, one day he was going to beat all of them once he become strong enough! Even ten years was a short time for hunting to a gamer.

Batalli gave a satisfied smile, and opened his mouth to speak.

– The sight of you walking upon the Path of Struggle was truly beautiful.

The God of Fighting, complementing on his epic battle!

Weed was still keeping his mouth shut, as he was more interested in the present than the God’s praises.

– I could even smell the captivating scent coming from the sweat running down your face.

“…”

– Your heart was boiling hot, and with those eyes full of grim resolve you stared at your enemies. You throw everything in each battle, and then continue walking every time — how could I not be fascinated by you?

“…”

– I could see your hard muscles and the pulsing veins underneath. Your fearless mind…

A series of somewhat strange compliments… but eventually the God of Fighting began to talk about the present.

– A present granted to a warrior should justly be a weapon or armor. What do you wish to have?

“Can I ask for anything?”

– Your reward shall be based on the combat accomplishments you have made so far.

Combat accomplishments!

Similar to contribution points to a kingdom or a religious order, one could receive a reward from the God of Fighting based on their combat accomplishments.

‘I don’t need any weapons other than the Loa Sword, and I already have people who can make me armor.’

He had already asked the master blacksmiths Herman and Fabio earlier.

– I must fight Bard Ray, so please grant me a protective gear forged out of Helium.

They had so far competed with each other with best swords as the key factor, but as he was facing the fight against Bard Ray, he had been putting all his efforts into the production of armors. He could simply craft armor utilizing his own blacksmith skills, his social connections and the minerals he had found through quests, but more special equipment was still hard to come by.

After thinking carefully for some time, Weed said,

“I’d like a pair of gloves that I can receive with my current combat accomplishment.”

Besides the Defense score, the gloves also served to enhance various abilities and attack power. The highest quality gloves could greatly influence hunting speed or combat efficiency, which meant that their price was all up to the seller.

– You may choose from these three pairs.

As soon as Batalli had said so, three pairs of gloves appeared before him.

The Gloves of Immortal Knight.

Among the various options it had, it most notably increased one’s Life Force by 60,000 points, and was enchanted with the spell of Revival. Using this option, in the event of death, one could revive without suffering any penalties once every 100 days. With these gloves, one needed not worry about dying in any hunting ground of moderate difficulty.

‘This would help me greatly in battle if I get to fight Bard Ray. But in the long term… this is actually not very effective. Up until I grow to the level to match my Great King of Desert days I most probably won’t die during a hunt, and with my Moment Sculpting Skill it shouldn’t be too difficult for me to escape the fight.’

These gloves were nearly useless if one fought so well in hunting grounds that they never had to worry about dying. However, after choosing the profession as a Necromancer Weed also obtained the Amulet of Immortal Wisdom while hunting in the Giant’s lands, so it could still be quite meaningful to collect the set items.

‘…but that’s a luxury I cannot afford right now.’

The next pair of gloves was ‘Gloves of Dimension Door.’

It improved various stats including Dexterity by quite a large amount, but its most unique characteristic was the effect of Dimension Door. While equipped with these gloves, one could see ten semi-transparent circles around them as they were engaged in a fight. Swinging a weapon through a circle or stepping into one caused the weapon or the person to appear from another circle connected to the first one. For example, one could stab a circle on his left with a dagger to make it suddenly reappear from his front right.

‘So this enables attacks and defenses based on a sort of short-distance teleportation?’

Depends on the proficiency of the person equipping them, the gloves could make the combat much faster and more efficient. The circles only existed for 0.6 seconds, and the entrance circle and the exit circle kept changing their locations instantaneously, it was not easy to utilize them properly; the circle would disappear while one was trying to assess the situation and come up with a strategy to use them. Of course, this kind of problem was nothing to Weed.

‘I could never miss those circles if I imagine 50,000-won notes flying around in them.’

The minimum level requirement was a whopping 760, but Weed was able to equip it thanks to the benefit of his blacksmith skills.

“Let’s keep this for now and check the next item…”

The last pair of gloves was called ‘Gloves that Pierce and Destroy’. An odd name, yet it was one terrifying piece of equipment. For each successful attack, the gloves would deal additional damage equal to the opponent’s Defense score, and over multiple attacks would progressively destroy their protective gears. The gloves would also increase critical hit damage by five times.

After 7 or more successful attacks, depending on the Life Force of the enemy, it had a high chance of inflicting instant death, and this ability was based on the user’s divine power, as it was bestowed by the God of Fighting.

This was Weed’s opportunity to finally make some use of all the useless Faith stats that he had gathered and hadn’t had any chance to use until now.

Additionally, this item improved combat-related skills and stats, and it made proficiency levels grow faster as well. It truly offered many well-rounded benefits, but it did have some limitations. Only Warriors were able to utilize its power; when equipped by users with any other lines of profession the gloves’ power could not come into effect. The item also had the minimum level requirement of 820. While this also reflected that these gloves were indeed very powerful gears, Weed had once possessed many high-level items during his time as the Great King of Desert.

‘At over level 800… it’s not too rare to find a pair of gloves as good as these.’

As the Great King of Desert, he used to collect and appraise countless number of items he had won as the spoils of war when he was conquering the Central Continent.

Because of that, he was also well acquainted with gloves for those with a Level requirement over 800. The basic stats of these high-level items alone were in a completely different league from the gloves with level requirements in the 400-500. They had all sorts of ridiculously overpowered options as if they were nothing, and were often classified into special item class categories such as Devil or Ruler.

“It is tempting. But since I’m currently not a Warrior, these gloves would not be very effective as of right now.”

Weed contemplated for quite a while. 5 times stronger critical hit damage… He liked this feature, but one needed to hit the target successfully in order to activate the effect.

“These gloves only maximize offensive power… They also offer a chance for a one-hit kill, but only aiming for critical hits would simplify my combat style.”

For now, it was better to quickly increase his level as Necromancer as planned. Meanwhile, he would also improve his swordsmanship and his various weapon skills, along with many other skills in crafting and art.

If he reached the peak of power as a Necromancer and then switched to a Warrior-type profession, then he would be able to beat any reasonably strong monsters without much problem. Every single special techniques of sculpting that he had learned, and the horde of undead he would summon once the hunt began… a warrior charging into battle with all those minions at his command would be the epitome of game-breaking power!

Weed checked his currently equipped gloves first.

< Legendary Knight’s Gloves of Excellent Command

Durability: 90/90

Defense: 54

Estimated time of production is around 250-370 years ago. A piece of equipment manufactured in Blacksmiths, a secret association of the best tailors and blacksmiths in the continent. These gloves were gifted to the Noble Knight Lark and after his death they have been kept as an imperial treasure of the Kallamore Empire.

Prerequisites:

Level 490.

Advanced Level 7 in Swordsmanship.

Additional Effects:

Strength +170 during combat.

Extra 15% to all skill effects.

Adds 5 different special damage types on Critical.

Temporarily weakens enemy’s Swordsmanship skill.

Honor and Dignity stats increase faster.

Chivalry Skill +2.

Not easily damaged due to high Durability.

Adds 80% extra contribution points upon making an accomplishment for a kingdom. >

The gloves that he had acquired after killing the Griffon Knight Myul!

Various positive effects came with them, but there were some limitations.

For one, Weed did not have any need for the Chivalry skill, nor was there much point in increasing Honor and Dignity faster.

His status as the king of the Arpen Kingdom already helped him maintain his Fame and Dignity.

‘I can just sell this in an auction. Lower level requirement means there will be a lot of buyers. There’s only one pair of gloves here that can increase my combat strength.’

< Gloves of Dimension Door

Durability: 110/110

Defense: 132

A mysterious item of the Fairy Knight Guwanbeder, who could move between boundaries of different dimensions.

The stories of his heroic adventures and battles were so extensive that it took 30 volumes to record them in books.

The gloves don’t have any special ornaments but they grant the ability to control the space within a 20 meter radius.

The user can move or deliver attacks through the circles that form randomly.

Touched by the breaths of the Fairy Knight, this item grants you great favor with the Spirits and Fairies.

Prerequisites

Level 750.

Dexterity 1200.

Additional Effects

Weapon performance improved by 5%.

Fighting Spirit +200.

Dignity, Honor, Art, Charm stats +51

All stats improved by 5%

Dodge skill effect increased by 35%

Damage taken from magic and spirits decrease by 31%

Fame +13,283.

The user doesn’t take damage when holding the enemy’s weapon by hand, excluding weapons having spatial traits.

When equipped, special circles that can be used to teleport will appear within a 20 meter radius. >

Weed took the Gloves of Dimension Door.

“I shall choose this item.”

After making the final decision, his mind was now at ease.

He shall take care of these gloves every day from now on!

However, Batalli the God of Fighting spoke to him.

– Your Combat Accomplishments are still slightly insufficient to use those gloves.

His Combat Accomplishments were still not quite enough!

Starting from the Immortal Legion, Weed had successfully finished countless quests, including those related to the Embinyu Church. The Combat Accomplishments he had accumulated from such adventures were not to be sneezed at, but as expected the Gloves of Dimension Door was a special equipment. Weed frowned.

“What should I do then?”

– I’ll give you an opportunity for more achievements.

The Coliseum dedicated to the God of Fighting. If need be, he would gladly fight against other warriors.

Weed immediately put a loaf of barley bread in his mouth.

<You ate barley bread.

Your hunger has been reduced.>

Since he had now passed through the Path of Struggle, he needed to recover his peak body condition by having food.

Sharpening the sword and cleaning the armor!

Before the fight begins, he intended to ready his equipments into their best shape, making every preparation.

– Do you remember the Palrangka War?

“Yes. I remember.”

Palrangka War.

It was recorded as one of the fiercest battles in the history of the Versailles continent.

During the Warring Age, the military forces of 7 different kingdoms clashed in the Jagsen  Plain. Monsters and other species joined in the war, leading the battlefield further into chaos.

While clearing the Tower of Heroes which was an intermediate training hall, he himself joined in the Palrangka War, but was killed by a rock thrown by a cyclops… This was one battleground where even Weed experienced failure.

< History of Versailles Continent. Original text of the Palrangka War.

During the time when people’s greed and jealousy reached their peak,

Humans fought war after war in order to expand and secure wheat and iron.

At first, the other species gathered their strength to resist the human forces, but in the end their intent became tainted too.

Influenced by the humans driven only by their own selfish desires, these species began the fights for the benefits of their own species.

While the humans fought among themselves over territories and weakened their own strength little by little, the monsters multiplied and spread throughout the continent like poison mushrooms. >

< Newly restored content. A secret history behind Palrangka War.

It’s in a very old language that only adventurers trained in advanced level of linguistics and archaeology are able to decipher.

It is said that during those times the monsters possessed moderately high intelligence, enabling them to use low-level languages and live in large groups.

These monsters fought for dominance over the continent at the Jaksen Plain. And eventually they rose as the final winner, not the humans.

However, the story of one Skull Knight which was spread by the few survivors of that perilous battle became a somewhat famous topic among people.

He was said to have received a request from Princess Remi of the Isran Kingdom and attempted to rescue her.

He was very valiant and possessed amazing horseback fight technique. However, while he was occupied with other flying monsters, he lost both his horse and the princess. The knight, filled with rage, kept on fighting to the last of his loyalty and grief for the princess until he eventually met his end on the battlefield. >

– As a Warrior who can walk backwards in time, go and prevent your failure!

Weed thought about the Palrangka War again.

“Indeed, there was a princess.”

Different from the record, the real reason why Princess Remi died was that she was neglected. He was so occupied with the battle that he forgot to protect the princess. In the middle of that chaotic, blood-boiling battle, numerous different forces were mingled together in one messy combat, and as Weed was fighting while riding on a drake, he had forgotten about her for a second..

What was already done could not be undone, so after Princess Remi’s death he simply kept fighting until he was completely exhausted, literally to his death. And that was the end of it.

‘To undo my failure…’

Weed was ready to take up any challenge optimistically so long as he was able to get Gloves of Dimension Door as a reward.

“I’ll fight in the Palrangka War.”

*****

The video that both KMC Media and CTS Media had been anxiously waiting for had finally arrived.

“Manager Kang, it’s here! The video showing the advanced training hall!”

The images of the advanced training hall that had been the pressing issue among broadcasting companies! There had been a small delay in the delivery of this video as it was not covered by the live broadcast contract they had made with Weed.

Dark circles were prominent on Manager Kang’s eyes as he shouted.

“How about Weed? Did he pass the training hall?”

“That’s not set in stone yet. This is only first half of the video, but the other half will be sent soon.”

“Really?”

Manager Kang and the Production Planning Team had anticipated that Weed would not have been killed in the very beginning. But they thought that perhaps he was imprisoned and slowly met his miserable and solitary death by starvation in the second part of the video.

“Should we really air this? If we send out the scene showing Weed’s death, then all the users in the Garnav Plain… their morale is going to hit the rock bottom.”

“But we can’t just cancel the airing either. The other media companies will have started to act, too.”

“They will, won’t they? Production, editing teams; everyone get on it and start working!”

Every single employee that was on emergency standby immediately began to make preparations for broadcast. Some other broadcast stations even started playing the clip right away and started editing later.

KMC media began their transmission from the scene in which Weed had entered the Path of Struggle.

*****

“Weed’s trial in the advanced training hall! His decision to take up the challenge alone has caught many people by surprise. And we have just obtained the video of it.”

Oh Joo Wan and  Do Chanmi, a well-loved member of a girl-idol group, started the broadcast program.

In quite a contrast to her cute face, she had a voluptuous body.

Although having started the game in the Central Continent, she later moved to the north and became the mascot of Chicken Porridge squad of the Grass Porridge Cult.

“Wow, I’m so excited.”

“Chanmi, do you think Weed’s challenge has been a success?”

“Of course! I think he would have passed easily. Did he not?”

“I’m not actually sure myself. Just like our viewers, I need to confirm with my own eyes through this video clip. Without further ado, let’s play the video.”

The screen showed Weed walking on the Path of Struggle alone, separated from his comrades. Defeating the Ulroofs and Volards in one effortless swing and advancing further… The sight of him swinging his sword and marching forward without hesitation was absolutely thrilling.

Do Chanmi’s face was full of smiles.

“Kyaa. He is amazing.”

“From the look of your face, I think you are completely enamored.”

“Of course! Two years ago, my dream was to marry Weed-nim! I actually first came to know about Royal Road when I saw videos of him that my brother was watching.”

“A lot of male fans will be disheartened to hear that.”

“That’s alright! It was nothing but a young naive girl’s dream that can never happen.”

“How come? Are there any men who would not like you?”

“Well… because there is, you know, ‘her’ at his side already!”

The Goddess of the Grass Porridge!

Because of her existence, Weed became someone that was out of everyone’s reach.

While Oh Joo Wan was observing the fighting scenes, he sighed.

“He is really fighting so well it is almost not understandable. These monsters are not to be taken lightly…”

“Is he fighting well?”

“He is doing awesome. He’s thoroughly making use of his skills to exploit the monsters’ weaknesses, and this looks so natural. He uses three, four skills in succession and seamlessly blends them in the combat. This is not coincidental and it is amazing. Do Chanmi-ssi, aren’t you over level 350 as well?”

“I am a Mage, though, so I mostly support others in the distance. I do not know in detail about close-quarter combat.”

“The high level users among our viewers will know what I am talking about. Those are not monsters that could be defeated in such an effortless way.”

As the show continued, other guests that had been hastily invited made their appearances.

In case of KMC Media, the guests included Pakclas from the Hermes Guild, one of the top 100 rankers of the game, along with 7 other high leveled users.

They had also invited dwarf warrior Bindel from the Black Lion Guild, thinking that they needed someone on Weed’s side in order to take a reasonably neutral stance.

“…”

“…”

Despite being normally talkative, they could only observe the fights with their mouths agape.

‘How is that possible?’

‘He can do that? In that way?’

‘Lunging at the monster and slashing 4 times? And he just killed it by making all of them into critical hits?’

‘He lands 2 blows as he shoves back the opponent, then hits 3 more times turning to the side. Is this some sort of a theater play or something? His movements exactly match those of the monsters.’

In case of Pakclas, he had even been learning the Heraim Fencing skill lately. He was trained in numerous fighting techniques recommended by the Hermes Guild. He had learned them through books, quests, and training, and he knew that it was hard to place the Heraim Fencing skill a level above those other techniques.

‘Heraim Fencing Skill requires you to make direct hits. The risk is too big if the continuous hits are not maintained, and as the effects only last for short durations it is hard to keep it going.’

Hunting would be so easy for everyone if monsters took all the blows just because you attack them continuously.

Unfortunately, as you advanced in level, you had to deal with monsters in more numbers, and with increasingly diverse traits and complex skills.

So, even as one was landing hits, every movement involved in defense and evasion needed to be linked together in one great flow of combat.

Deciding the manner in which you stuck with your sword such as piercing or swinging, provoking the monsters at appropriate timing, and breaking their formation… these were all things that needed to be considered. This was only possible if one had every single element of combat under their control, which was almost difficult beyond imagination.

“He is finally at the Gate of Trial.”

“Yes, he is going in.”

As everyone already knew, he stepped into the Gate of Trial alone.

Even after that, whenever monsters showed up, he used the same Heraim Fencing skill to destroy all of them. Where he passed, there were only remnants of dead monsters remaining.

“He doesn’t even look like he’s getting tired.”

“He is running toward the next monster!”

“He has closed the distance as he was shooting arrows. He makes an upward strike with his bow, draws his sword and uses Heraim Fencing skill again!”

By the time the first video was almost finished, there was an uncomfortable silence in the air.

“Pakclas, what do you think of Weed’s adventure?”

“…”

“Necrat, any comment, please?.”

“…”

The invited guests were at a loss for words.

It was also quite natural that the online message boards were being heated up by the viewers who had been waiting expectantly for the video showing Weed’s adventure in the advanced training hall.

– Did they bring mannequins instead of guests?

– This looks as if someone hit the pause button.

– I just hope they’d close their mouths as they watch…

– Oh Joo Wan just asked a question, but nobody is answering. They seem to be completely out of it with shock.

– Oh, I see they brought in Pakclas, too. That guy declared a few hours ago that he would eat his own hat if Weed could beat the advanced training hall.

– Weed didn’t technically beat it yet.

– Oh Joo Wan’s just asked a question again. He asked Pakclas if he would be able to penetrate the Path of Struggle just like Weed if he was in his position.

After a pause, Pakclas answered that any top-ranking user in their prime condition could be just as good.

– Yeah, he said that with a cough, though. He probably was feeling quite embarrassed and guilty even as he said it.

– It’s not that his words are wrong. A top-tier user should be able to go as far in as Weed.

– The Heraim Fencing skill, is it? You couldn’t fight like that using only that technique, though.

– At any rate, I guess the second half would be the important part.. Right now, he can fight like that because he’s not yet exhausted… but he will reach his limit before long.

For the sake of broadcast they fast-forwarded many fighting scenes, but the fact remained that Weed overwhelmed the enemy in every single encounter.

The second video clip arrived some time during the show, and the staff members of the broadcasting station scrambled to analyze it quickly, as they had to check what kind of scenes were included before they put them on air. After a while, shouts of amazement were heard among the producers.

“Kyaaa!”

“Woooooww.”

As a couple of them including the program director screamed in amazement upon viewing the last few scenes.

“Really? He really cleared the entire path?”

“Yes, and he didn’t even break a sweat.”

This clip had been sent to all the media companies simultaneously.

The hosts told the viewers the outcome of this challenge first, which was what they had been wondering about the most.

“Weed’s trial in the advanced training hall… We will play the last part of the clip first.”

The screen showed Weed reaching the end of the Path of Struggle.

“…”

While the jaws of the other guests dropped yet again, even the host Oh Joo Wan was also at a loss for words this time.

On the monitor, Weed was shown wearing a tattered armor.

There was a strange tint of wildness in his eyes, and the bag that he carried looked full!

Looking quite indifferent to the astonishment of the show host and the viewers, Weed stepped into the portal that had been formed by the invitation from the God of Fighting.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] As I’m not familiar with Weed’s earlier adventures, I’m not sure if this name refers to just one unique creature or a race/species of creatures. For now I treated it as the name of a race (so I used articles), but feel free to correct it if I’m wrong.

↑ [2] Honestly, I have no idea what the author meant by this title, it makes very little sense to me. I don’t understand why the people who serve to represent the God of Fighting would be called the “destroyers” of fights, but as that was how the author termed them I decided to stick to the literal translation. If anyone could enlighten me on this I would appreciate it.

Chapter 1: The Star of Palrangka

The Palrangka War was one of the most intense battles the Versailles Continent had ever known. Seven human kingdoms, other races and monsters fought over the dominance of the continent during this great war. Weed was summoned onto this historical battlefield by Batalli the God of Fighting in order to earn some more combat accomplishments.

“Kill them!”

“You dirty bastards! Kill all those Bromba scum!”

“Elite warriors of the Mapon Kingdom! Let us fight our way to victory!”

“Glory to Her Majesty!”

Shouts, screams and the sound of metals clashing filled the air of the battleground.

“So many times have I been to hell and back that I have gotten used to it.”

Weed recalled his old house, which was half underground but still comfortable enough to stretch his legs.

Having fought in so many wars, he had now become quite used to seeing monsters, giants, or even flying beasts. To him, Bone Dragons were just junior staff members, and Death Knights were part-time employees; going into war was simply another day in the office.

“Warriors of the Mapon Kingdom! Let’s reap the fruit of our hellish trainings! Let our enemies pay for our blood and sweat!”

“Our swords shall have no mercy; let’s show what Kelton’s knights are made of!”

“Long live the Bromba Kingdom!”

Along with the kingdoms of Bromba and Mapon, armies from various different nations were tangled up in combat.

The hooves of the horses thundered on the ground as squads of knights charged forward, blind arrows made whooshing sounds as it flew 4, 5 meters ahead of him. In the middle of this great battlefield stood Weed.

Beyond the armies of the seven kingdoms, there were legions of other races centered around barbarians and elves. Behind them, an endless horde of swarming monsters.

‘Palrangka War… I should probably make sure I succeed this time.’

Standing next to Weed, there was someone he had to protect just like last time.

“Valiant sir, you are the only one I can trust. Please take me to a safe place.”

A beautiful princess riding a white horse pleaded.

*Ding!*

< A Request from Princess Remi

The first princess of the kingdom of Isran, a small nation from a remote region with a population of 80,000.  Loving the scenery of the ocean, she wished to spend her life in her homeland but was dragged to the Bromba Kingdom to become the 5th royal concubine of the crown prince through an arranged marriage. Due to the sudden outbreak of the war however, she was driven to the battlefield before they even had the chance to have a proper ceremony. Now she yearns to return to her home country.

Difficulty Level: A historic quest of a hero

Rewards: First-hand experience of the great historic battle. One can become the main hero of this important historical event.

Quest restrictions: Knights cannot refuse to accept this quest as it is a request from a princess. >

There have been very few cases where Weed failed a quest or a hunt.

In the past, he had lost his life in the Tower of Heroes and was reincarnated as a Skeleton Knight. And although he participated in the Palrangka War, he was lacking in levels and combat techniques, which eventually led him to fall in the battlefield after fighting to his heart’s content.

As there was no response from Weed, Princess Remi opened her ruby lips again.

“Sir knight, you are all I have. You, a person of great honor and high pride; I know that you will help me.”

<You have accepted the quest.>

The mandatory acceptance of the quest.

Weed climbed onto the front seat of the white horse Princess Remi was riding.

“Oh my!”

“I shall protect you, Princess, so please hold on tight.”

“Yes, I will… I put my trust in you, Sir knight.”

With the armies from different countries locked up in an extensive battle, their escape route was blocked. Even in the sky, drakes were flying around breathing out fire indiscriminately to attack the land.

A chaotic battle! Several different forces were mingled together, fighting among themselves. Even after he escaped their current location, he would have to break his way through armies of other races as well as monsters with levels around 300 to 400.

‘To increase the chance of success, I should head to the elven camp.’

Elves did not possess an evil nature; they would not attack them if Weed explained the situation and sought their understanding. With some well-spoken flattery, things would turn even more favorable. He could just stay among the elves until an opportunity arises and flee from the monster armies, escaping the battlefield. This was a reasonable plan with a high chance of success.

‘But that would be too easy.’

In the past, when Weed was first fighting in the Palrangka War, his level was 356.

Presently he had reached level 508, and had learned many powerful skills including secret sculpting skills. Further taking into account the quests that he had since completed, the better equipment and the stats that he had so diligently improved, the combat power of the past Weed could not even stand comparison with the present. When considering the undead army he could now summon on top of it, this gap in power was akin to that between an airplane and a bicycle.

“Hmm. What would be the best way to smash them?”

With sharp eyes, he looked around and observed the battlefield far and wide.

As one advanced in level, one began to take in their surroundings from a different perspective. The first things Weed noticed were how skillfully the soldiers were fighting and the equipment they had.

‘They aren’t too bad, but still quite crude. I could wipe them all out just by summoning some zombies.’

Even the knights were nothing more than scarecrows in the middle of the field to the eyes of Weed with his current power level.

It was an opportunity to demonstrate his overwhelming power, just like during his time as the Great King of Desert.

“Time for the harvest.”

Weed yanked the reins, making the white horse gallop forward.

*Tabdak Tabdak!*

The white horse charged towards the Bromba army’s camp.

‘Roaring Gale Spear skill!’

Weed drew out the Thunder Spear and swung it in the air, creating a strong gust of wind that hit the soldiers.

“Kuuegh!”

“Arrrghh!”

“E, enemy!”

The soldiers struck by the attack were thrown tens of meters away, then turned into grey shades and disappeared. As many of the common conscript soldiers during the Warring Age were below level 50, they were easily killed by a single area-of-effect skill.

*Booooom!*

As an additional effect of Thunder Spear, bolts of lightning struck the earth. As the thunderbolts hit the ground, intense shockwave reverberated throughout the battlefield.

Dozens of more soldiers in the vicinity were also met with an instant death.

‘That’s the way to do it.’

Showing off one’s strength after a power up!

The items dropped by the dead soldiers caught Weed’s eyes.

A needle with a blunt end, a broken candle, a worn rope; most of them were junk, and the only item he found that was worth something was a set of shabby leather armor.

It was so old that its color had faded and it was full of holes, and its poor condition had lowered the Defense score as well.

“Repair! Clean Armor!”

As soon as Weed used the skills, it turned into a shiny new piece of equipment. Its Defense was still only 16, but it now increased the maximum Life Force by 1,850 points.

“Princess, please wear this.”

Weed had fixed the armor because he wanted the princess to use it.

“Do I have to? It smells rather strongly of sweat.”

“You have to wear it in order to survive.”

“But it looks so uncomfortable and big…”

“H-he’s a demon!”

“That one is too strong . We need to stall him here and call the knights for help.”

While Weed was salvaging the leather armor, royal soldiers of the Bromba Kingdom closed in on him, armed with spears and shields.

As none of them looked particularly strong, Weed let them be until they were close enough and he started to strike.

“Lightning Wave!”

*Psssssssst!*

Using the lightning skill of the Thunder Spear, he blew away a whole block of nearby soldiers who had stepped into his attack range. He didn’t normally use area-of-effect skills very often, due to the large consumption of mana associated with them, but it was a worse waste of time to deal with such weak soldiers one by one.

“Lightning Wave!”

Another shot of the lightning skill!

“Aaaarrrgh!”

All the approaching soldiers were either dead or knocked unconscious.

“I-I’m scared.”

Princess Remi, sitting behind him on the back of the white horse, trembled at the sight of slaughter.

“This is a battlefield. You need to wear the leather armor.”

“But you don’t know if the armor will save my life for sure. I believe in your strength, dear knight.”

“Lightning Wave!”

*Boooooom!*

“Ascending Thunderbolt!”[1]

He used the area-of-effect skills sealed in the Thunder Spear liberally. Driving his horse recklessly in the midst of an army, he was shooting attack skills in all directions.

“Kyyyaaaaah!! I’ll wear it. I said I’ll wear it!”

It could be said that it was an ill-fortune for Princess Remi that Weed had been chosen to assume the role of her knight.

Sure, he could be kind and warm, but that side of his personality was limited to his family only.

And while Princess Remi was a beautiful lady, Weed’s standard of beauty had become Seoyoon before he knew it, so naturally she could not leave that much of an impression on him.

When standing next to Seoyoon, anyone would look like a sea squirt in comparison.

“I w-wore it.”

Princess Remi put on the leather armor that soldiers wore on top of her dress, and Weed picked up a leather cloak to cover her further.

“Archers. Shoot!”

At that instant, about 2,000 archers of the Bromba Kingdom released their bowstrings, aiming at Weed and Princess Remi. A hail of arrows covered the sky, each shot flying towards them.

“There’re arrows coming this way. Kyyyyaaaa!”

Princess Remi screamed.

Weed spun the Thunder Spear in his hand at high speed; the highly advanced skill of spinning the spear using only the back of his outstretched right hand. Although Warriors had a similar defense skill such as Rotating Shield, Weed had never learned them. He was forcibly implementing a skill just by using his own body.

*Bababababaaaaaam!*

The spear sliced the air as it rotated in a circle. Most of the arrows flying towards Weed and Princess Remi were ricocheted off the shaft of the spear. A few managed to penetrate their way in, but there was something else that was blocking their path.

“Xing Xing, go do your work!”

“Yes, master. It is an honor to be summoned by you. I shall work tirelessly to ensure your comfort and convenience.”

He had summoned a wind spirit that was as diligent as a slave to weaken the arrows’ impact. Equipped with Fabio’s heavy armor and Bar Khan’s Cloak of Hell on top of it, he barely took any damage from the incoming arrows. With Weed covering her with his own body, naturally Princess Remi in the back seat was perfectly unscathed.

“Arrows don’t work at all against him.”

“His strength is beyond imagination.”

“Is he a hero that was sent from heaven? How can there be such a powerful knight…”

The look of shock was apparent among the Bromba’s royal archers.

Weed’s lips curled into a devilish smile.

In truth, such attacks from the arrows could have been blocked by summoning more wind spirits or by using magic. As he was not on the Path of Struggle anymore, he could use his Necromancer skills here, which meant he could also have cast Bone Shield and summoned a wall of bones. Despite the fact that he had many other possible ways to block the actions of the archers in advance, he waited for them to shoot arrows in order to make a great scene.

‘Now, this is what you call style.’

This truly was an attitude befitting a pro celebrity who considered his viewers.

*****

KMC Media was airing the video showing Weed passing through the advanced training hall.

“Manager, our instantaneous viewing rate has reached over 44%.”

“Yeah, another combat encounter has just ended. Switch the screen to the Garnav Plain quickly. Let’s show them the cheering crowd in that place.”

Almost every user of Royal Road was currently watching Weed’s challenge in the advanced training hall. Each channel that was currently broadcasting this adventure was witnessing their highest viewing rates ever.

All the business in schools, companies, and government offices was temporarily on hold, and pizza and chicken places were even setting the new record in the history of men in terms of the number of customers.

“We’d like to order one seasoned, one fried, and one soy chicken with sliced spring onion.”

“We’re currently having so many orders you would probably have to wait for about 5 hours, is that okay?”

“Of course, that is no problem.”

As soon as they hung up the phone, it rang again and another order came in.

In every chicken restaurant, they had stocked up at least 500 chickens in their refrigerator to accommodate for orders that would be coming in for the Battle of Garnav Plain, but they were almost running out of their storage due to Weed’s sudden trial in the advanced training hall.

“Hey boss, those people who ate chicken today probably won’t be eating it again tomorrow, right?”

“Probably.

The chicken places renewed their resolve, thinking that they would just have to endure only one day of hard work.

*R-r-ring!*

“Hello, is it possible to make a pre-order for tomorrow? I would like to have five chickens, half-half[2] and with bones.”

But they began to even receive orders for the next day in advance.

Ever since Royal Road became a hit, the initially Korean custom of having chicken with beer while watching the videos of Weed’s adventure whenever they were on air had spread all over the world. This current phenomenon had been occurring across the globe, day and night.

Oh Joo Wan and Do Chanmi in KMC Media continued on with the broadcasting show in excitement.

“Yes. We had just finished counting, and it seems Weed had made 73 successful attacks in a row with the Heraim Fencing skill. Pakclas-nim, isn’t this a new record?”

“…”

“Pakclas-nim. Please respond.”

The other panelists including Pakclas had not spoken a word during the entire first half of the program, which had resulted in them receiving a great amount of backlash from the viewers. He had also been given several firm warnings from the production crew since, so he tried to come to his senses and opened his mouth.

“*Cough*. Yes. Well, it is certainly an impressive number, but it was just a simple battle of targeting the monsters.”

“But it is still a record, isn’t it?”

“A record is nothing but a record. Someone else will break it someday.”

Pakclas hung his head down after saying this. He had been in a good mood, having made his first guest appearance on a TV program in a long time — he hadn’t expected that he would make such pathetic and miserable comments.

“Necrat-nim. I did not know that the Heraim Fencing skill could be this powerful. What is your opinion on this sword technique?”

“I almost can’t understand why it is so strong. Sure, you can accumulate damage through continuous chain attacks, but I must say this is possible not because the sword skill itself is powerful, but rather because Weed is such an OP… *ahem*, I mean, because he’s on the Path of Struggle.”

“Because he’s on the Path of Struggle?”

“Yes, you need a straight one-way passage that is highly populated with monsters in order to take full advantage of the Heraim Fencing skill.”

“But finding out such a benefit of the Heraim Fencing skill and knowing to exploit it in the Path of Struggle is in itself a clever move, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I’ll acknowledge that up to a certain extent. But this is just a matter of who does it first. And anyone would be able to pass through the Path of Struggle using such a method.”

With that, the message board of the company website exploded with the viewers’ comments.

– Hahahahaha. I’m about to die from laughter. This must be the comedy of the year.

– Anyone can do it, he says? Did the entire game change while I wasn’t looking so that any average user has mastered all the sculpture skills and possesses sword techniques that can flatten any ranker?

– Frankly, I’m really not confident that I can do the same as he does. Moving around and swinging the sword so precisely while five Ferocious Hounds are leaping at you all at once… and that was not some automatic attack or evasion skill? How does that make any sense?

– That is one crazy movement. If you can replicate something like that when you are hunting in a party, you’ll instantly become the hero of the group.

– Everyone is just out of it and not comprehending what they’re seeing; they are totally captivated by the video.

– There are very few people who could beat Weed if they were fighting in the same condition as him: all the skills blocked, no flashy equipment and only one longsword at your disposal.

– I would like to express my bitter reproaches against Weed in advance. There will at least be a hundred people who will head off to challenge the advanced training hall, claiming they’ve learned the trick with the Heraim Fencing skill, only to be killed horribly.

– Honestly, what makes me laugh the most is what Packlas said. Someone else will break that record, really? So that’s just nothing?

– They themselves only barely managed to pass through that path, even with all of their numbers and their great expensive weapons, yet look how they’re trying to belittle Weed.

– Well, we all know that the Hermes Guild has always had no sense of shame.

The public message board was full of viewers’ comments that cast stones at the panelists and the Hermes Guild. Occasionally, there were some high-level users who voiced their opinions after proving they were over level 450.

– The physical exhaustion you get from engaging in a combat while actually wielding your weapon with your own hands is equivalent to that experienced by a soccer player running full 90 minutes of the final match.

– His quick judgment and sense of combat aside… How can a human fight for such a long time while maintaining their focus?

– Don’t you know how Weed was back when he played Continent of Magic? He had once hunted for 204 hours straight; the guy’s a real monster at farming. Anyone who knew about him during those days would know that he has been severely underrated in Royal Road.

– Let’s… Let’s just think that Weed belongs to an entirely different race from us. Not because it makes us feel better… But because it’s the truth.

– Whenever Weed went online on Continent of Magic, all the other users in nearby regions would quit the game. They ran away.

– Was Weed really such a tyrant in Continent of Magic?

– He was an absolute devil. The final boss. Maybe even more than that.

– He killed anyone that got in his way. A single person made a mistake, the entire group they were in had to pay the price.

– He once wiped out a whole city and erased it off the map.

– You mean Aaringit, the city by the river?

– If it was destroyed by Weed himself… I guess it became a popular tourist attraction afterwards?

– Well, no. Weed flooded the city with water from the river and drowned it entirely. The city was gone after that.

The stories from the time when he played Continent of Magic became a hot issue again in the message board after a long while.

The users who had joined Royal Road late had not known about these stories.

– If Weed was really such a tyrant, shouldn’t he be rebuked by people?

– It’s probably just some false rumor. The Weed-nim I saw would not do such things.

– But it’s all true! Everyone who has some experience playing Continent of Magic knows about it.

– His notoriety… There really was nobody who hadn’t heard of it. There are plenty of video clips out there titled like “Weed’s brutal massacre”.

– He was very famous as a merciless assassin and a god of war.

– The users who had played Continent of Magic all had similar thoughts: Weed’s profession as a sculptor is not what makes him so strong; rather, it’s precisely because Weed is a sculptor that the Hermes Guild is still drawing breaths.

*****

The Garnav Plain!

In this place where a festival and sculpture construction were taking place at the same time, there were very few users who were not watching the video of Weed fighting his way through the advanced training hall.

“Hurray! He did it!”

“H, he really did it alone?”

“Wow… this is crazy. Seriously.”

The video made 100 million users, who had been waiting nervously, go wild. Reaching the end of the Path of Struggle was in itself amazing, but fighting continuously for 37 hours all alone was even more phenomenal. He powered through encounter after encounter with almost godlike movements, without even getting tired. Many users felt that there might be some secret tricks behind his great stamina, but they were also deeply immersed in what they were watching.

Destroying one’s enemy with all his might, and marching forward… This was the sight of a true warrior like they had dreamed of ever since they started playing Royal Road. The scenes they saw in this video seemed to set the very hearts of the users in the Garnav Plain on fire.

“Let’s fight!”

“That Hermes Guild is nothing!”

The Northern users, who had grass leaves on their hair, shouted out in cheers.

*****

Weed looked around, searching for prey.

Vice, a war hero of the Bromba Kingdom, was a formidable opponent with a level over 400. He was in the middle of fighting against the Mapon Kingdom’s army, commanding a squad of 100 knights riding on black horses.

‘They look like delicious targets.’

Weed spurred his white horse towards them, holding the Loa Sword in one hand and the Thunder Spear in the other.

“The enemy is coming.”

“Shieldbearers! Join the heavy infantry and stop him!”

Following the order of the Royal Commander-in-Chief, the infantry soldiers began to move.

Compared to monsters and demonic creatures that were over level 500, this was but a piece of cake!

“Huaaaah!”

Each time Weed swung his sword and spear, soldiers were throw into the air in all directions.

He became one with the horse, breaking apart the enemy ranks with powerful strikes.

Princess Remi hugged Weed tightly from the back.

“I-I’m scared!”

A knight with his beautiful princess was a favorite cliché of a romance plot. What a dramatic scene it would make, riding in the middle of a battlefield on horseback with a beauty sitting right behind you!

Weed contemplated for a moment.

‘She is getting in the way whenever I’m swinging my weapons. I just need to keep her alive, so maybe I should knock her out for a little while?’

A thought had dawned on him that it might be easier to fight if he hit the back of her head and knocked her unconscious. However, that all the viewers would be watching the broadcast later stopped him.

‘Let’s leave her alone for now. If she becomes too burdensome, I’ll just knock her out when we are not on screen.’

Using his Moonlight Sculpting Blade skill, Weed struck down one of the commanders among the enemy soldiers with ease.

“Princess. We really, absolutely, unconditionally have to break through this path in order to survive.”

“Can’t we just go the other way?”

“I need to take what I can, even though I’m busy… Even if something goes wrong, I’ll protect you so do not worry. I’m not planning to die so easily in this kind of place.”

“I-I will trust you.”

Princess Remi seemed to have let go of her worry at last; it would have been partially influenced by his[3] high Charm and Charisma stats.

Still conscious of the viewers who would be watching him, Weed gently told the princess:

“Those barbarian warriors seem quite strong. You don’t have to worry about them right now, but later, you could be killed by a flying axe coming from a random direction.”

“What?”

“Or you might be burnt alive by a Drake’s fire breath. Oh, and those arrows that the elves are shooting, be careful with them, too. If I happen to miss one, that might go straight through your head.”

“W-Whaaaat?”

Those soft-spoken words made Princess Remi freeze with fear. In the meantime, Weed continued to swing his sword and spear, and broke the lines of soldiers.

“I am Vice, the Lord of Castle Rahalnov, Commander General of the Gromter Legion, and the leader of the Order of Royal Black Knights. You, who are you and where are you from? If you wish to fight me, at least do so honorably and state your name first.”

Seeing the damage Weed caused to his army, Vice stepped out from among soldiers, raising his lance and ready to charge. Vice, a renowned general of the Bromba Kingdom, had led his troops to victory in many a fight against the royal knights of other kingdoms.

The knights under his command were following closely but did not seem to be inclined to interrupt the one-on-one fight.

Ever sensitive to the audience ratings, Weed galloped on his white horse towards the knight.

“I’m a Moonlight Sculptor.”

“What did you say?”

“The king of the Arpen Kingdom, an explorer of the ends of the earth, an immortal warrior, the glorious commander of the undead army.”

“I still don’t know who you are!”

“Wait, I’m not done yet! I’m a patient fisherman, an adventurer discovering the Continent’s history. I am also a king acknowledged by the gods, a hero who saved the Continent, a hunter of demonic plague, the bringer of catastrophe, a desert traveler, a rainmaker, a greedy and nasty… ahem, disregard that. I am the one who stands against Dragon Fear,  the honorable king of kings, an artist of dragons, and a master craftsman of rare metals.”

“What a load of crap!”

“I have many more titles, but I’ve said briefly the first which came to mind!”

Weed’s white horse and Vice’s black horse began to charge, and as they were just about to clash spear to spear.

“Anyway, just call me Weed. Roaring Gale Spear skill!”

Bromba Kingdom’s war hero Vice lowered his body close to the horse. The Thunder Spear brushed past him with a loud noise that shattered the air.

“It’s foolish of you to make such a big attack, I’ll teach you how to fight on a horse!”

Vice spurred his horse and gained on Weed, getting ready for the counterattack. With impressive riding technique, he followed close behind, but the Loa Sword was waiting for him.

*Shshshoook!*

With the first single blow he pushed away Vice’s spear by sheer force, then landed the second and the third hits on his body.

< A heavy impact!

You have successfully landed a powerful attack that reduces the opponent’s Life Force by minimum 20%.>

< A direct strike on body!

The enemy will be stunned for a very brief time.>

The armor with a high Defense score which Vice was equipped with was what narrowly saved him from instant death. Knight was also a profession with inherently high Life Force. But this only meant that Weed needed just one more blow to kill him off, and unfortunately for Vice, the Thunder Spear was already spinning in Weed’s other hand at this moment.

“Go, Spear of Storm!”

A spear could gain increased attack strength by rotating. After exactly five spins, Weed’s spear pierced Vice’s body.

< You have gained experience points.

Your Spear skill proficiency has increased. >

< A gift from the King.

You have acquired armor with an excellent defense score. >

Vice left a set of red-hued armor as he died, along with a couple of junk items. Weed jumped into the group of the remaining knights.

“Ascending Thunderbolt!”

It was one of the skills contained in Thunder Spear. The spear became fully charged with the power of lightning and began to emit it in all directions. Blinding white light spread out, and soon the ground itself was upturned while galloping horses tripped and collapsed.

Even as he was engaged in the fight, Weed took a moment to appraise the armor he had got from Vice. Not to mention its high Defense, it came with quite a lot of bonus stats and skills related to combat; this armor was one of the most laborious works of a famous blacksmith during the Warring Age.

‘Pretty good, eh?’

Of course, it was not good enough for Weed to wear, but it still wasn’t too bad.

The lower level requirement especially, would make this equipment attractive to many others. On top of all these benefits, the item also granted a large amount of Fame points as well as the title ‘A War Hero’!

‘I’ve got something I can sell at a high price. Those heroes fighting in the Palrangka War should have quite a lot of special weapons and equipment like this.’

Weed gave out a Lion’s Roar.

– Come fight me at once! I shall claim all of your lives!

Batalli the God of Fighting had sent Weed to the Palrangka War once again for him to try to make up for his currently insufficient Combat Accomplishments, but his secret nature as the supervillain that threatens the world peace had awakened from within him.

‘What I can gain from this war are some good quality items with low level requirements. Those Legendary or Hero-class items are enough to fire up the auction.’

It was time for him to begin another hunt!

Even better was the fact that he was not in the Path of Struggle anymore, which meant that he could now eat food and was not restricted by various rules.

“Sculptural Destruction!”

Weed took out one of his sculptures and broke it. Using his Sculptural Destruction skill, he converted all of his Art stats, which was over 3600, into Wisdom. His maximum mana reserve and recovery ability were enhanced dramatically, and the power and range of his magic spells increased. As additional benefits, his Necromancer Skills became more potent and he received protection from illusion spells. It was evident that increasing one’s Wisdom stat meant only one thing: maximizing his Necromancer abilities!

Weed recited magical incantations towards the fallen knights and other bodies nearby.

“Rise, restless, sleepless spirits. Take revenge on the living souls, the ones who killed you. Dead Rise.”

The dead knights, including Vice, rose again as Death Knights. Their flesh had melted off, but they were still equipped with the same weapons and armor that they had when they were alive. Despite the fact that they had just been revived, the undead were even more powerful than they had been during their living days.

“Leonard. How could you…”

“You evil Necromancer! How dare you raise the undead…”

The royal soldiers of the Bromba Kingdom were engulfed by anguish and terror at this horrible sight.

“Kill them all.”

Weed commanded the undead.

The Death knights swung their weapons at their former comrades without hesitation. They slashed their bone swords, and some skeletons were head-butting the enemies.

As Skeletons possessed such high Life Force, they were not killed even when their body was sliced in half at the waist, and those torsos that had been reduced to bones were still crawling on the ground.

The emergence of an undead army, with their horrible power!

As there were currently no less than seven royal armies tangled up together in a fight, there was no shortage of corpses.

“Dead Rise! Everyone rise anew!”

As Weed repeatedly raised the undead, his army of Skeletons and Death Knights grew in number. As a natural course of action, the undead soldiers engaged themselves in a fierce fight against the nearby Bromba Kingdom’s army.

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk! Call Vampire Lord Torido!”

He also summoned his usual subordinates.

Van Hawk emerged, shrouded in a black smoke, along with Torido who was covering himself in a cloak.

“Van Hawk, go assume the command of the Death Knights.”

“What is our goal?”

“There are no limitations. Kill anyone who’s holding a weapon.”

Weed ordered Van Hawk to lead the Death Knights. As strong as he was alone, his ability to command the undead army was truly outstanding.

Torido wrapped his entire body in his cloak once again.

“And what should I do?”

“Go and wreak havoc to your heart’s content. You may drink blood and create new thralls as much as you want.”

“Got it, master.”

Torido gave a satisfied smile, revealing his sharp fangs.

As Weed had already made some new Combat Accomplishments and gained some more Fame, he decided not to worry about the possible ill reputation that would be caused by this for now.

‘I could just complete a couple of adventures or make some sculptures to make up for it.’

The combat strength of the Death Knights were greatly enhanced by Van Hawk’s aura.

Currently, Weed’s Summon Undead spell was at Intermediate Level 8, and his other supportive spells such as Empower Undead, Craft Poison, Bone Shield and Summon Golems had not even reached the Intermediate level. For now, summoning Van Hawk had an even more dramatic effect on his undead army’s power than using normal spells.

– Break through the enemy ranks!

In no time, Van Hawk took control of the Death Knights and initiated a forward march.

– Assaulting Footsteps of the Dead!

The Death Knights brutally tore down the defense formation of the Bromba Kingdom’s army.

Torido grabbed one of the soldiers and bit him in the neck, sucking the blood deeply as if to quench his thirst. With massively increased Life Force and Mana reserves, he then began to cast vampiric magic.

“Blood Storm!”

Drops of blood swept through the whole area, killing the soldiers one by one.

“You evil creature!”

One of the knights raised his sword and swung it down on him, but Torido blocked it with his long claws and sank his teeth into his neck as well.

“We have to save Landerk!”

“Petrification!”

The other knights who were rushing in to rescue their comrade instantly turned into stone statues, unable to move. Until now, Weed had only summoned Van Hawk and Torido to use their help in his quests. He had kept a tight rein on them while frequently calling them for difficult missions and arduous hunts. Although their abilities had grown along with Weed’s as a result, Death Knights and Vampires were inherently evil creatures.

The knights that had their blood drained by Torido became his faithful slaves.

“Go fight them.”

“Yes, my Lord!”

It was not as easy as summoning undead, but Vampires also had a mean to multiply their thralls.

“So many living souls here. I never expected to see such a marvelous place!”

Torido seized domination over units of archers through his charming spell and made them shoot arrows at the other troops of the Royal Army.

“An ambush!”

“Some of our own troops are shooting arrows at us.”

“They are betraying us!”

The Bromba Kingdom’s royal army soon fell apart into a chaotic mess.

Since the Palrangka War was an event that had already taken place in the past, those soldiers were given a temporary existence due to the quest.

For this event, Weed lifted any restrictions he had put on Van Hawk and Torido, allowing them to run amok as much as they wanted.

“S-Sir Knight?”

Weed could feel the shiver from Princess Remi’s body on his back. How could she have known… the knight that she had thought that she could rely upon to protect her in the middle of the battlefield actually turned out to be a commander of an evil undead horde!

“How come you are able to use the Summon Undead spell?”

“This is just one of the few cheap parlor tricks I’ve come to learn as I lived.”

“But… what about your honor as a knight?”

“I’ve always been a sculptor, actually.”

“…”

*****

About two days before.

The story of the forgotten one.

“Hmm, this is not good.”

Python was under a difficult predicament. He was left alone on the Path of Struggle after Weed had entered the Gate of Trial alone.

“Well, now that things have turned out like this, I guess I should also go in.”

Python was feeling a little hesitant, but walked up and opened the Gate of Trial.

A lone challenger!

The Advanced Training Hall summoned a great amount of new enemies in the Path of Struggle.

“Kughhhh…”

He put down his greatsword after killing all the enemies. A greatsword consumed a lot of stamina to wield, but had a great attack power and was very useful for defense as well.

Truthfully, he enjoyed exerting himself with all his might as he fought a strong enemy. Dealing with a large number of enemies over a long period of time was not really to his taste, but as a warrior, he knew that he shouldn’t be picky about the opponents he fought against.

“I’m not stopping here.”

He continued forward, narrowly beating the monsters on the way. While he was taking a short break, he sent a private message to Weed:

“This is quite a…fun place.”

He did not give away any hint of his current exhaustion, as befitting a man who never backs away from a combat.

– Weed: It’s not so fun to me.

For just a moment, Python was filled with happiness by the thought that this time, he was doing better than Weed. Even if he failed to clear the advanced training hall, he had still won the victory in the contest against Weed as real men.

“Huhu. But isn’t it fun to fight against a constant stream of enemies that are actually worthy of your strength? Challenging the more powerful monsters is quite exciting, too.

– Weed: Really? You think this is that difficult?

“Huh?”

– Weed: I mean, what kind of “Gate of Trial” doesn’t even have any traps or any mechanism to stab you in the back? And all the monsters appearing here can be taken down really easily by simply beating them up; they can’t even use any of those annoying tricks like cursing or restraining skills.

This was before Weed had received the blessing of the God of Fighting, Batalli. Even so, he was already overwhelming the monsters using only his sense of combat and his experience! On top of that, with his incredibly high stats relative to his current level, he was powering through the Path of Struggle while dealing with all the monsters on the way.

– Weed: Still, I guess this hunting ground is worth the effort in terms of payoffs, albeit just barely.

“He’s referring to the advanced training hall as hunting ground…”

Python put his brain to work.

‘Maybe he is just talking big? It wouldn’t be a complete bluff, considering Weed’s capacity in combat. But he’s most likely still tired.’

Because they took up the challenge individually, they could not meet until they had completely cleared the Gate of Trial. But as they entered the path almost simultaneously, they could compare who survived for a longer time and slew more enemies.

‘I pride myself on being a true warrior. I will never lose.’

Python continued fighting.

As a greatsword burned one’s stamina quickly, weak warriors would not be able to hold out for long.

He didn’t have any choice but to rest occasionally and continue on with the forced march, several times more rigorously than usual.

10 hours passed by like that, and Python was proud of himself.

‘I think I did enough. Quite excellent. I fought well.’

He was feeling that he should take a moment to compliment himself. He needed a short rest anyway, as presently he was quite low on stamina. He knew it would become increasingly difficult to recover his condition as time passed since he couldn’t consume any food, but he still wanted to let his tired body relax a little. Python sent a private message to Weed, another challenger like him.

“Haha. I must say, it’s a little tough.”

He expected Weed to start speaking more honestly and at least apologize for going in alone at the Gate of Trial.

‘I shouldn’t forgive him so easily. Maybe I could ask him for some useful items? Perhaps some sculptures… He would be willing to give me a few as souvenirs, right?’

– Weed: You are joking, right? This is way too easy.

“Did you say easy?”

– Weed: I had high expectations for this… But this place is just subpar. It’s disappointing.

“Disappointing…”

– Weed: You’ll receive a blessing as you stroll through, doing some fighting. It’s really simple.

“…?”

Weed, who was ahead of Python, started explaining as what he must have thought was a piece of advice for the fellow challenger.

– Weed: Once you get the blessing as you fight, everything will work out from there.

This was simple but there had been no one else who knew how to exploit this trick properly. Batalli the God of Fighting only bestowed his blessing to those who challenged the path alone and led a difficult battle to victory through hard fight. The God’s blessing helped relieve the hunger, enhanced one’s attack power or restored some Life Force.

It was as good as a cure-all medicine, allowing one to maintain an above-average body condition for the whole venture through the Path of Struggle and to continue having high-quality combats against strong enemies. It was just as the name suggested: a path to struggle on, not a place to starve until you collapse and die.

‘But how come I didn’t receive much of anything?’

The problem was that in order to receive a really nice blessing, you had to push yourself to the absolute limit. This meant that until now, Python had still left some reserve strength as he fought.

‘I see… I should fight more.’

Python got up and walked toward the next enemies.

Stamina was a second thing to worry about; he was getting mentally tired of seeing the endless waves of monsters after fighting for more than 10 hours.

‘This is such a difficult place to clear… Even if I know the solution to break through, it’s still horrible.’

– Weed: You don’t even need to rest. If you have strength to hold a sword, then just fight. It will work out somehow so long as you continue pushing on.

‘This is a brutal trial. If I pass this, I won’t ever be coming back anywhere near here even for just a trip.’

He also learned how to use the Heraim Fencing skill.

It wasn’t easy to make continuous attacks using a greatsword, but the technique could still be applied in various ways such as pushing off the enemy’s weapon and then landing a blow.

– Weed: Now that I’ve got the knack, it keeps getting easier and easier.

After much struggle, Python was also granted the blessing that relieved his hunger. Weed might have told him it was very easy to get, but he had earned this blessing as a result of a lot of efforts. He was so happy… Until he received yet another private message.

– Weed: I received the blessing again. Now I’m almost feeling full.

“…”

He was about to take some rest after 16 hours of straight fighting; he was only human, and thoroughly sick and tired of seeing more monsters coming at him. They weren’t even some simple enemies that could easily be overwhelmed: he had to use all of his might and skill in every single encounter.

– Weed: Now I’m getting warmed up. I believe you’re having fun?

Each monster Python saw made him feel weary and tormented, but Weed’s private messages were starting to feel just as unbearable to him.

‘That guy… is not human.’

He had always thought of Weed as a rival, but during this adventure he had fully realized that he was something entirely different.

‘At least I’ve found out what kind of place this Path of Struggle is. I can still clear this by going slowly, without trying to compete with Weed.’

Python decided to take short breaks and continue to pass through more patiently.

He probably would not receive the God of Fighting’s Blessing as often as it was possible, but he decided to put up with a small loss like that. He knew that he would already be gaining an incredibly large amount of blessings, such that other users who were not Weed could not even compare.

‘That’s good enough for me. I’m only human, after all.’

*****

Geomchi as well as the instructors and disciples had arrived at the Garnav Plain a few days before.

“Master! Here, try this food.”

“Hmm. It’s delicious.”

Geomchi and the instructors were having chicken skewers as a snack between breakfast and lunch. As there were all sorts of delicious cuisines from all over the continent, they had been stuffing themselves with eight meals per day.

In the giant crystal globe, they could see the video of Weed’s battles in the advanced training hall, which was being broadcast.

– Hooray!

– Weed-nim won again!

– Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!

The Garnav Plain was brimming with the excited hysteria of the cheering crowd.

“Our Little One is doing well, isn’t he?”

“The timing with which he pierces through enemy defense is indeed sharp.”

“He’s also doing a good job at creating a chance to strike. He deliberately exposed an opening that he could easily have blocked. It would have been hard not to take that bait.”

Even as they were eating, Geomchi and the trainers discussed the topic of Weed’s combat as a side dish. Other common users would take a look at the battle and simply think it was quite epic, but they had a better understanding of the hidden meanings behind those exchanges of swords.

It was difficult to use the Heraim Fencing skill properly without being able to see at least three or four moves ahead of time. One had to have full awareness of the traits and attack patterns of the monsters, steering the combat to their advantage.

Geomchi was feeling quite proud as he observed Weed’s movements.

“He is properly using what I taught him.”

“Leaping up off the opponent’s leg as he hit the head, and making 4 attacks in midair. It looks like he had taken into consideration the change of direction and the remaining Life Force of the enemy.”

“Well he is doing adequately. I see he used some larger movement for the viewers.”

“I wish he was a little more aggressive… but this is still quite excellent.”

It was extremely rare for Geomchi and the trainers to compliment a pupil.

Weed’s combat style was clean yet bold; he would make some intentional tricks but he never made a mistake. If his overall fighting ability was 100, not only was he able to exert all of it in any situations, but he knew how to make use of his power so that it felt as if it was 200 or 300 while the opponent only had about 80 or 90.

Geomchi2 put three chicken skewers into his mouth.

“Our sword technique is one that is used to duel against other people. *Yum Yum*. Our Little Brother’s abilities have been optimized for Royal Road, it would be difficult to match him in terms of his use of skills.”

Geomchi3 agreed.

“Yes, since he even considers things like the enemy’s morale and other various characteristics when he fights..”

Weed had grown so strong that now the video of him in combat was making a great impression on them. He was rough, fast, and flashy, yet the theoretical aspects of martial arts hidden beneath that combat style were incredibly profound, which accounted for his continuous series of Super-Moves that would simply astound any ordinary user while hiding the firm foundation of basic skills behind them.

Geomchi put down his beer.

“Our Little One went to such a fun place all by himself…”

“I’m jealous.”

Geomchi2 agreed.

But they had their own mission to accomplish.

60,000 Desert Warriors!

The trainers had to take charge of the elite troops from the Southern desert region.

Some disciples had also been appointed with conducting squads of the Grass Porridge Cult, and for this task they even had to study a few books which they so rarely read.

– A Stamina-based Knight: the Standard Procedure of Charging

– Introductory Workbook to Warfare in Royal Road

– Beginning of Party Hunting

– Leadership Skills for Customer Satisfaction

Most of the books they had brought were the ones they had picked up half-heartedly from the best sellers sections of bookstores.

*****

The Death Knights were the central force, and the skeletons were supporting them.

Weed raised a large number of zombies from the field full of cadavers.

“Kkkkkkweeeeek!”

“Pupupum!”

In terms of basic combat abilities, those zombies swinging the hands of the deceased were quite weak. However, they were useful for increasing the number of undead in a short time.

“Z-zombies!”

“Glory to the Bromba Kingdom. Repel those zombies!”

The horde of zombies quickly swooped upon the Bromba Kingdom’s royal army.

An assorted set of 17 different types of zombies, including the infected, the corrupted, and the half-rotten!

As the skeleton legion that formed the central shaft of the undead army fought against the main forces of the other kingdoms, more zombies rose up in bulks from the ground in the nearby areas.

The raised corpses were also an excellent tool for bringing up chaos and confusion.

“Do not be perturbed by the zombies. Just kill them!”

During the Warring Age, the Bromba Kingdom was famous for their heavy infantry. Knights and soldiers were putting their strength together, halting the advance of the zombies.

Having noticed this, Van Hawk raised his sword and commanded the Death Knights.

“Formation!”

At his order, the Death Knights riding on the phantom horses lined up in one straight line.

“Bring death upon this land!”

< A March of Death!

Life Force will be consumed at the rate of 796 points every 10 seconds.

The combat capacity of the Death Knights will become temporarily enhanced, and they will gain immunity against all types of interruption skills. >

Death Knights rode their ghost horses forward.

Their duty was to fight against the enemies up until the very moment they fell to their death.

“Rotten Cloud, Sweeping Fear, The Alliance of the Long Dark Shadows.”

Weed happily bombarded the battlefield with area-of-effect cursing spells, the specialty of Necromancers.

“Corpse Explosion!”

It was also a basic practice to cast Corpse Explosion occasionally in the places dense with troops, to make good use of the skill’s destructive power!

The Bromba Kingdom’s royal soldiers were able to hold out against the undead, but their defense was beginning to be shaken little by little by the fierce attacks from the Death Knights led by Van Hawk…

“This should be enough. We will head North.”

He summoned additional Death Knights and Skeleton Soldiers to initiate a fight against the Kelton Kingdom’s army.

“Honorable soldiers from the Kelton Kingdom, an undead horde is coming toward us.”

“Let us fight. Till the end. Our chivalry and swords will never bend.”

The Kelton Kingdom’s royal knights cried out. As their swords shone in bright light, the soldiers’ morale and stamina were restored.

As humans fought to stop the undead, an incredibly intense battle was taking place.

The Palrangka War, where 7 kingdoms fought among themselves!

Weed was sending his undead troops here and there, trapping every nearby area in chaotic fights. His purpose, of course, was to obtain as much loot as possible…

“You! Necromancer! A creature feeding on maggot-infested corpses! This shall be the place where you die and burn in hellfire!”

Heroes from the royal army of the Bromba Kingdom were all swarming in towards him without Weed having to lure them.

“For Justice!”

“Together we will kill!”

“The Necromancer!

“Go, Bromba Kingdom’s swords!”

The fabulous shouts from the knight commanders of the Kelton Kingdom and the heroes of the Bromba Kingdom! They had come to stop the Necromancer, rather than meeting their demise while fighting in the Palrangka War.

“I will accept your challenge.”

Five heroes of the Bromba Kingdom, and seven royal knights from the Kelton Kingdom… Weed raised his Loa Sword to face them. The warriors who had come to defeat the evil Necromancer were felled one after another by the excellent swordsmanship of the said Necromancer. Each time they exchanged blows with their weapons on horseback, their power could not match their opponent’s and their techniques were overwhelmed. The heroes used skills to fight him, but the Necromancer penetrated through their weak points and struck them down in a single hit.

“Kuargh… You have such formidable skills with your sword, yet you resort to summoning the undead?”

“Well, a villain always tries harder.”

As he was dealing with the heroes, Weed felt that he had definitely become stronger than before.

‘It looks like my combat power has increased by more than 15% while I passed through the Path of Struggle, though I need to fight more to know for sure. There have been quite a lot of improvements in my abilities, including stats, skills, and the increased self-recovery power as a Destroyer of Struggle.’

More heroes from the Bromba Kingdom and knights from the Kelton Kingdom were gathering.

“We may be enemies, but now it’s time to put our strength together.”

“To eliminate that Necromancer, we need to cooperate.”

Weed had to draw his Thunder Spear as well in order to fight multiple opponents on horseback.

“Taste the power of Bromba’s authentic Helanberg Spear Technique!”

“Kelton’s swords are not weak. Take this! Barret Sword Skill!”

Weed galloped his horse, fighting with the Bromba warriors on his left and the Kelton Knights on his right as he charged forward.

“Kyyyaaa!”

Princess Remi was too busy screaming on top of her lungs to do much of anything. Spears and swords brushed past her body even as Weed was protecting her.

The warriors from the Bromba Kingdom attacked both of them without discrimination but those from the Kelton Kingdom, a nation known for its chivalry, deliberately avoided aiming their strikes anywhere near Princess Remi.

‘I’ll still block everything, just to be safe.’

Weed moved his sword and spear continuously and deflected all the attacks.

*Dudududu!*

Quick exchanges of attack and defense while riding on horseback! Unlike a warrior, his profession did not provide any skill that would enable him to protect another person, so he had to block each attack by himself manually. As Weed was overwhelming his enemies in terms of basic strength, each time he pushed off their weapons both the knights facing him and their horses reeled from the impact.

< You have defeated Mandal’s famous knight, Dekanje, who was also known as the Swordsman of Devilish Skills. Your Fame in Combat increases by 31.>

< You have subdued Count Nedal Delishar of the Bromba Royal Army.>

It was difficult to fight multiple enemies at once on horseback, but that also made it more fun. Weed followed the demand of his heart that had been burning with combative spirit ever since his venture through the Path of Struggle, and fully enjoyed the dangerous battle.

< A true hero of the Bromba Kingdom, Ongrim has lost his life to your sword.

Your Fame in Combat increases by 1,382 points.

Your Sword Mastery skill proficiency increases greatly.>

< Due to repeated battles, 1 layer of the magical seal on Thunder Spear was lifted.>

Weed checked the status of the spear after seeing this message window that was showing something other than his accomplishments in battle.

“Appraisal!”

< Sealed Thunder Spear

Durability 136/150

Attack Power: 146 ~ 223

The greatest masterpiece of the supremely skilled dwarven blacksmiths Rondhand!

In his later years, Rondhand the dwarf tried to instill his weapons with the destructive power of nature itself, which was beyond any simple magical item.

After being tempered dozens of times, this spear was cast away on a mountain that was constantly hit by unending lightning strikes somewhere in the Subain Kingdom. Having endured several hundreds of millions of lightning bolts, the spear was finally reborn into a new weapon that contains the power of thunder within it.

# Requirements :

- Can be used by Knights only

- Level 570 or higher.

- Advanced Level 6 in Spear mastery skill.

# Options :

- Has the ability to call forth a lightning strike — through spending the user’s mana, the spear will summon thunderbolts that sweeps a certain area.

- Confers 97% immunity to all lightning-type spells, and the weapon can absorb the spells’ power.

- Increases the effects of all lightning-type spells and attack skills by 228%.

- Improves Attack Speed by 21%.

- If an enemy’s weapon touches the spear, there is a fixed chance of sending an electric shock to that enemy.

- In the event of dealing a critical hit to an enemy that is weaker than the user, there is a 33% chance of stunning that enemy.

- If seven hits are successfully carried out, the spear will randomly either generate chain lightning in the vicinity or form a lightning shield.

- Enables the user to use the following lightning type skills: Ascending Thunderbolt, Thunder Wave, Lightning Storm, Lightning Shake, Thunderbolt Centered Offense  and Area Sweeping Thunder.[4]

# Currently, the power of Thunder Spear is sealed:

- The spear can presently unleash only 76% of its maximum attack power. The seal on the spear will be released when it is used by a person with sufficient combat capacity. >

As Weed’s spear skills improved, the seal that was locking Thunder Spear’s true power was also slowly being lifted. Eventually, the heroes that had come to get Weed were completely annihilated, unfortunate as it was.

The Defeat of Justice!

“Rise, restless, sleepless spirits. Take revenge on the living souls, the ones who killed you! Dead Rise.”

Whenever he recovered enough mana Weed would summon a large amount of additional undead creatures in the area where Van Hawk was fighting.

“Kill the Necromancer!”

“We can’t keep fighting like this. That Necromancer is the true enemy of the Kross Kingdom!”

The royal armies from the various kingdoms that had been engaged in battle among themselves began to target the undead.

On top of that, now there was an army of almost 10,000 soldiers marching toward Weed.

“I see they’ve finally reached their make-or-break moment. Corpse Explosion!”

Making gigantic chain explosions after luring the enemies towards him!

< You have gained a large amount of experience points. >

< Your Notoriety has increased by 84. >

< Due to merciless slaughter by the undead, the power of the dead has increased by 61. >

Weed did not miss the moment when the opportunity presented itself, and thereby gained great combat accomplishments!

He used the wide range of the battleground, fell back, and found good places for ambush.

“Van Hawk. Take a squad of Skeleton Soldiers with you and run north. We have to push the enemies back.”

“I will kill them all.”

“No, just push them back.”

He induced the troops including paladins or priests to fight against the armies from the other hostile kingdoms, rather than against his undead legion. The undead would not necessarily lose even if they did fight, but he tried to maintain the enmity between those nations.

“Van Hawk. This time, strike the Mapon Kingdom and save the troops from the Kross Kingdom “

“Understood.”

He even occasionally made attempts to keep the balance between different forces in the battle as needed. As he led the flow of the battlefield, he gained more combat accomplishments.

< You have gained experience points. >

His experience points were accumulating at a frightening rate!

< The Annihilation of the Conner royal army! You have made a distinct achievement as a commander of war.

Your Fame increases by 374 points. >

Combat, combat, combat, combat!

The undead had grown stronger, more agile, and numerous.

< The Skeleton soldiers have won a significant victory! A stronger energy of death is bestowed upon them.

Your Summon Undead skill proficiency has increased. >

The seven kingdoms’ troops became weaker as time passed. The Drakes in the sky were spewing out fire, and the armies of Barbarians and Elves were attacking them from the outskirts.

“Avenge our lord, Duke Gregtide!”

“Kelton’s pride won’t waver so easily!”

Even despite all that mess, the troops of the seven kingdoms were failing to join their forces.

Over time, it was the Bromba Kingdom that collapsed first, followed by the Mapon and Kross Kingdoms that were attacked by joined forces. Kelton, the kingdom of knights, held on until the end, but the final winner was the Kingdom of Bayner!

“We won!”

“The Bayner Kingdom has won this battle!”

The knights raised up their bloody swords and cried out.

However, in less than five minutes the cheers from the Bayner Kingdom faded entirely, as there were currently savage Barbarians in short leather armor rushing furiously towards them. Beyond that, they could see rocks flying in the air that were thrown by the one-eyed Cyclops.

*****

“A wandering Gratorgue warrior has made its appearance!”

KMC Media’s studio.

A Gratorgue, a being that was known to have reached level 750, showed up on the Path of Struggle. At this point, the viewing rate was already over 32.8%.

Oh Joo Wan was startled and said to Pakclas:

“Pakclas-nim, I believe the Gratorgue did not appear when the Hermes Guild was passing through the path?”

“Yes…that’s right…”

Pakclas was staring absentmindedly at the monitor screen. Weed was beating down the monsters ruthlessly as he walked along the Path of Struggle.

‘Just what kind of person could fight like that?’

Forward, and then forward.

He had been engaging himself in combat for not just one, but more than thirty hours straight. It wasn’t even a one-sided massacre; in each fight he was dealing with tough and formidable enemies, and people could feel Weed’s mettle and fighting spirit even from watching the video.

“Come. I’ll take on anything. Do you think you can handle me?”

Weed’s attitude seemed to scream such lines, although he did not say it out loud.

Who would dare to stop this man while he was running through the Path of Struggle with his Loa Sword in hand? Even an enemy with a higher level would find it difficult to face such vigor.

“According to our data, Gratorgues are tremendously powerful foes. It doesn’t seem there has ever been any user who managed to hunt one down alone. Do you think Weed will be able to overcome this crisis?”

“…”

“Pakclas-nim. Will Weed yet again survive in this encounter with a Gratorgue?”

“I believe… he probably will.”

Pakclas did not want to admit it, but all the other options had been eliminated. He already knew that Weed had cleared the advanced training hall. He might have avoided the fight entirely or escaped from the Gratorgue, but he must have survived in the end.

‘Please let it be that he has lost. Even better if he made a fool of himself while doing so…’

He knew that people were mocking him and laughing at him, not only in the viewers’ message board on the KMC Media homepage, but also in every community and forum related to Royal Road. He felt that he would be able to recover some of his broken pride and dignity if Weed got beaten down by the Gratorgue within an inch of his life and barely managed to flee.

“Weed is attacking the Gratorgue. He uses the Heraim Fencing skill as he strikes, and then steps back immediately… Even in that situation, he manages to make successful chain attacks. Oh. He was caught by the counterattack… but no, it was the Sword Cloning skill! The secret sword skill was used with such a crucial timing!”

In the following scenes, even the Gratorgue met its demise.

Pakclas, Necrat, and Bindel felt that they would not be able to replicate such movements even as they watched the video.

‘He is a real warrior. He might not have chosen Warrior as his profession, but it is ingrained in his blood, flesh, and heart.’

They could see that he was full of combative spirit, not fear. This was the moment they realized that the real reason they had managed to pass the advanced training hall was because they were many, rather than because they fought well. Just as the name ‘Path of Struggle’ suggested, the advanced training hall was originally meant to be an extremely difficult stage of trial.

“He has come to the end of the Path of Struggle after killing all the enemies.”

Pakclas and Necrat only wished to finish the broadcast program soon and go home.

“But what is that blue portal?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s a portal leading to the exit..”

“Necrat-nim, didn’t you clear the Path of Struggle, too?”

“Yes, but I didn’t see any portal when I reached the end.”

Pakclas hoped that it would be nothing special. He thought he would die of jealousy if he found out that Weed had received a tremendous amount of rewards as he walked upon the Path of Struggle.

*****

All the humans who fought in the Palrangka War had eventually fallen.

Then their corpses were raised as undead by Weed.

An army of undead that consisted of Zombies, Skeletons, Ghouls, Dullahans and Death Knights!

“Get the Necromancer first!”

“The source of all evil. Let us rid of the foul being that defies nature!”

In order to face Weed, tribal chiefs and warriors of non-human races stepped up to the frontline.

Elves were natural-born archers, shamans and mages, and they were not too bad with swords, either… A race whose abilities were optimized for battle despite the fact that they loved peace!

As for the Barbarians, there were many different tribes, all of them possessing remarkable strength and physical toughness. But the most prominent person among them was a Barbarian who was wearing a bone necklace.

A long time ago, Weed had contacted KMC Media and made a request for all the recorded materials on historical figures of the Versailles Continent.

Among the 10 volumes of documents, which were each 500 pages long, he found the record of one particular person:

< Narinturger, the Barbarian Fighter

He was crowned as the chief of a league of 32 different Barbarian tribes. Gifted with such mighty strength, he could break down great boulders and even make a mountain collapse!

He liked to wander around the remotest regions of the Continent, and was known to have never suffered a defeat in combat.

During peaceful times, countless soldiers and Barbarians would flock to him to learn the art of axe-wielding. >

This was pretty much all there was in terms of his personal biography, but in the various historical events that involved him, there were a lot of things worth noting. The records said that he pulled off some great feats such as defeating a level 600 monster and tearing down the iron door of a stronghold with an axe.

‘A Barbarian who is likely to be a master of axe-wielding. His abilities as a Warrior are equally outstanding, too.’

An axe warrior possessed the most destructive single-blow damage, and with the strength and toughness characteristic of the Barbarian race on top of it, he made for an extremely dangerous opponent. The other Barbarians he was leading were also known to have excellent skills.

“Switch to a defensive position first.”

“Understood.”

Van Hawk commanded the undead to stand in a defensive formation, but that meant little more than assembling close together and waiting for an attack, their weapons and armor not being as good as the humans’.

Elves were rushing past the Skeleton soldiers like the wind. The Barbarians that were following the lead of Narinturger smashed the bones of the Skeletons with their swinging axes.

“Urraahhh!”

The Dullahans and Death Knights lunged at them with a mighty roar, but could not hold out for long. The Elves carried strange artifacts, which could emit an intense ray of green light and scorch the Skeletons and Dullahans into black nothingness.

Weed’s undead legion was collapsing hopelessly from the combined forces of the non-human armies.

“Sir Knight, do you intend to fight with them as well?”

Weed shook his head.

“No, let’s run now.”

“What…?”

“They are a little difficult to deal with, and it doesn’t look like I’ll get anything of worth from fighting them.”

“But… What about your pride as a Knight?”

“I’m a Sculptor.”

“Doesn’t a Sculptor also have pride of their own?”

“Well, I exchanged it for a piece of bread. And I must say that was a good price for my pride.”

“…”

Weed escaped from the grasp of the non-human army by throwing his undead minions at them.

Elves and Barbarians who loathed the undead attacked fiercely, but they were also soon trampled by monsters like the Cyclops; the endless stream of monsters was attacking all of the Elves, the Barbarians and the Bayner Kingdom.

Narinturger and the rest of the Barbarians couldn’t have fought more bravely; to say that each of them could match a hundred enemies wasn’t quite enough to describe the epic battle they displayed, and the arrows shot by the Elves also pierced many monsters.

However, history dictated that the final winner of the Palrangka War was to be the monsters.

Weed rode on a phantom horse with Princess Remi and fled to a mountain far away.

“We’re safe here, for now.”

Most of the undead that Weed had left behind had disappeared during the fight.

But at this point, he had as good as cleared the quest related to Princess Remi during the Palrangka War.

He couldn’t help but feel rather sorry and regretful that he could not play a bigger part in the battle, but this time, his priority was to protect Princess Remi.

“Thanks to you, I was able to come to a safer place, sir Knight.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“As a token of gratitude for my… um… honorable… Knight, I shall reward you with one of the items that I have.”

Princess Remi took out a small mirror.

< Bejeweled Mirror of Princess Remi

This mirror is decorated with emerald and sapphire.

It is a treasure that has been handed down for generations in the royal family of the Isran Kingdom, and it has an extremely high value.

# Options :

- When received as a gift, increases the effects of one’s Fame and Honor.

- Dignity +50

- Increases the effect of the Trading skill by 4%. >

Although it was not a magical item, there would still be plenty of people who’d want to have it. Weed took the jeweled mirror from the princess and was about to put it into his bag when he sensed that something felt a little odd.

‘The material is a bit… rough.’

It was unmistakably named ‘Bejeweled Mirror’, yet the part that was made of metal felt incredibly solid.

Weed took out a blacksmith’s hammer and put the Bejeweled Mirror on the floor.

“Is something wrong?”

“I have a slight suspicion…”

“About the mirror?”

“Yes, Princess. It’s a bit of a shame to… but I can just make it again if I’m wrong!”

He hit the mirror with his hammer.

*Shatter!*

The Bejeweled Mirror was broken to pieces instantly.

< A Special Blacksmithing material! You have found Chisel of Ocean. >

When making a weapon or armor, this material gave additional characteristics to the crafted equipment, and it could also be of great use in creating rare items.

The fifth floor of the Tower of Heroes.

Weed managed to take every last hidden jackpot he could possibly get during his adventure in the battle of Palrangka.

*****

KMC Media.

Manager Kang and his staff had dark circles around their eyes.

“I hope I don’t faint after this.”

“That’s what I am saying.”

“Phew, I wonder if we’ll even have time to go to the bathroom when the original broadcast starts…”

KMC Media and other broadcasting companies had been preparing some special videos for airing.

–  Life Story of Bard Ray

–  Life Story of Weed

–  The History of the Hermes Guild’s Growth

–  The History of the Arpen Kingdom

–  Warfare Preparations in the Garnav Plain

–  Current Situation in Castle Aren

–  Introduction to Famous Users Participating in War

–  Introduction to Different Groups in the Grass Porridge Cult

–  The Organization of the Haven Empire’s Military Forces

–  Scenes from the Past Battles

–  Predictions by War Experts

These videos would have made for at least 10 hours of broadcasting time before the battle in the Garnav Plain began, but now they were quite useless as the video of Weed in the Path of Struggle continued on to the Palrangka War. It was not an easy decision to make to stop the live broadcasting in the middle of things, when the said broadcast was showing the adventure and challenge of none other than Weed. To use a baseball analogy, it would be equivalent to suddenly interrupt the live match for a news report in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs — the worst possible situation.

The viewers’ response to the video was also quite explosive.

–  This is a Necromancer. A TRUE Necromancer.

–  *tremble in fear*. Isn’t he just so game-breakingly overpowered? A Warrior and a Necromancer. Sculptor is just a little extra.

–  He was sent to the Palrangka War just to rescue Princess Remi, but he’s wiping out the whole battlefield instead.

–  Are all Necromancers this strong?

–  No, it’s just Weed.

–  It hasn’t even been that long since he switched his profession after becoming a master Sculptor. How is this even possible?

–  It’s like when a major corporation enters a new market… Although I’m not sure if Sculptor as a profession can be compared to a major corporation.

Even broadcasting companies were astounded by Weed’s overwhelming combat abilities.

On the KMC Media channel a famous user named Jeanne, who was said to be the most powerful among all the currently active Necromancer players, made an appearance.

“It has not been a long time since Weed-nim changed his profession to become a Necromancer; is this profession normally so quick to grow in power?”

“I don’t quite understand it myself. But I do have a hunch.”

“What is it?”

“For a profession like Necromancer, power depends heavily on the user’s understanding of its skills. It is crucial to have a firm grasp of the characteristics of the profession and to make use of them appropriately.”

There had been a lot of arguments in the online forums as to the difficulty level of being a Necromancer. After Necromancer became a possible choice of profession in the game thanks to Weed, a lot of users had taken the challenge and became Necromancers. Some of them recommended it as one of the best class options, but others called it the worst profession possible. Summoning undead creatures was quite useless before one had experience in summoning them for a large number of times, due to the low skill level. It was quite common for a Necromancer to wander around with only a couple of weak Skeleton soldiers, only to become the first target of attacking monsters and get killed. Undead summoning and curse spells were all that was available during the early stage of this profession, so one could hardly fight back in the event of a melee combat.

The Necromancers could not rely on hunting in a party either, and had to do everything by themselves.

Jeanne spoke on with confidence.

“Weed-nim has opened up the path of a Necromancer as one of the possible class options. He is the one who defeated the Immortal Legion, and I believe that his understanding of this profession based on his experience in dominating the undead army in large-scale battlefields surpasses mine.”

“And that understanding would be the key to his strength.”

“Just one of many reasons. Other than that, his leadership and wide range of tactics in operating his troops would also account for his power… The weaknesses of a Necromancer don’t seem to apply to him much, either. Even if there was a Necromancer that had exactly the same skills and equipment as him, I think their hunting speed would be at least two times slower than Weed-nim’s.”

The scenes in which Weed’s undead army was sweeping through the battlefield during the Palrangka War was aired live, maintaining the ever high viewing rates.

*****

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

Fabio and Herman had built a blacksmith’s workshop.

“What a reckless plan they got themselves into, making 3700 sculptures!”

“Phew. I’m glad that I was able to help at least a little.”

Not only them, but all the dwarven blacksmiths of Kuruso were giving a hand in this construction project.

They prepared molten iron and built each specific statue elaborately and beautifully.

Users who chose craftsmen as their profession found joy in making something. Working alone was nice, but there was a different kind of happiness to be had in collaborating with many other users to create new pieces of art.

“Delivery of 30 sharp beaks completed.”

“We need a bent antenna piece. We placed the order yesterday…”

“Come back in one hour!”

The workshop was crowded with users.

They made various different shapes and parts needed for building large sculptures, and crafted steel structures. As they were also secretly making gears and equipment for the war on top of those, things were very hectic in the forge. In the sections where expendable items such as shields and arrows were being manufactured, they were even getting help from some users who had not chosen their profession yet.

“Wow. It’s amazing.”

“There’s so much heat here. So this is what the workplace of a blacksmith is like, huh?”

Chaser the adventurer brought Lava Sealing Stone to increase the efficiency of work. It created a lava well, which could be used by experienced blacksmiths.

Fabio put down the hammer with which he was beating a slap of steel for a moment, and gulped down a glass of beer.

“The Rain of Flame is about to be completed.”

“Kuuu. The Squashy Sticky Wriggler is almost done, too.”

It was also quite a new feeling to perform the art of sculpting as master blacksmiths. Their ability to handle materials such as gold and wood was at the highest level, which made their large sculptures even more valuable. As there were also a great number of sculptors in the Garnav Plain who had gathered from all over the Continent, it was not too rare to find Fine Pieces.

An art contest for large sculptures!

The users held contests among themselves to gather many new ideas. Once they decided upon the shape of a new sculpture, they spared no labor and materials to construct it, which led to the creation of quite a few Fine Pieces, and in some rare cases, even Masterpieces.

There were presently two Magnum Opuses.

< Magnum Opus! A Roc Covering the Whole Sky!

An artwork that depicts a legendary mythical creature often appearing in the tales of old elves! It is said that when this mystical bird spread its wings, its body can reach from one end of the Earth to the other. Metal, earth, wood, water and wind were all forged into one in this masterpiece. The number of users who constructed this piece together is no less than 23,742.

Artistic Value: 9,837

# Special Characteristics:

- Those who behold the statue A Roc Covering the Whole Sky will receive a 24% increase in their maximum Life Force and Mana.

- The statue will improve the vigor of the flying creatures in the vicinity.

- The righteous Roc will suppress the power of evil. It reduces the potency of Black Magic, Necromancy and Curses.

- All stats will increase by 34 points.

- For a one-time use only, anyone can use the skill ‘Winged Leap’. >

The Roc statue was incredibly wide, as its name suggested.

They had sculpted a bird that reached 500 meters in length, and its wings were made of fast-growing trees that had been put together by Elves. As Shamans had bestowed it with the features of wind and water, the whole sculpture looked very mystical indeed.

In fact, there had been some controversy among the users after it was completed because of its effect that suppressed undead summoning skills.

“Is this going to be bad for Weed-nim?”

“Yes, but… It feels like would be a waste to give up a Magnum Opus sculpture.”

“Well, Necromancers are rare. It’s a penalty that only applies to few people, but Weed-nim did not request this, so let’s just wait and see.”

< Magnum Opus! The Great King of the Desert!

The days when a single Scimitar and Camel swept the whole world!

He who was called the Great King of the Desert conquered the vast continent with his brave warriors.

A ruthless killer, a greedy and nasty rascal, and an abominable, notorious villain! Every town that was attacked by his troops was thoroughly destroyed in pillage and arson, which resulted in them being condemned everywhere they went.

However, he was the one who put a rest to the Warring Age that had thrown everyone into frenzied chaos, and who wiped out the Church of Embinyu which had been growing in power in the dark.

After he defeated Ausollet, the Chaos Dragon, he was eventually seen in a different light.

Artistic Value: 11,394

# Special Characteristics:

- Those who behold the statue of The Great King of the Desert will receive a 27% increase to their maximum Life Force and Stamina.

- Strength will increase by 10%.

- Each time a victory is achieved over an enemy, additional experience points will be granted, and combat abilities will be temporarily improved.

- The combat skills of Desert Warriors will be improved by 1 level.

- All stats will be increased by 41.

- Endurance and Toughness will increase by 30.

- Warriors will be able to summon a camel for a duration which depends on their level, with a maximum of 20 minutes.

- The blacksmiths who touch the Great King of the Desert sculpture will gain special proficiency in Metal Grinding Skill. >

The sculpture was depicting the Desert Warrior Weed in a size that was about 5 meters in height, which was relatively small compared to the other statues. A sculptor named Debbs was in charge of crafting the sculpture, and he had melted some precious metals that had been brought by adventurers and merchants. Some of the most talented blacksmiths, including Fabio and Herman, had also taken part in creating this work.

“Ooohhh. I want to finish it up quickly and have some cold beer.”

“We are almost done now.”

Blacksmiths smiled faintly even as they moved around busily, knowing that this hard work would soon come to an end.

There was not much time left until the battle against the Haven Empire broke out. Once the war began, the role of the blacksmiths would not be as important.

Many large sculptures were still unfinished, but they were running out of time. Now they were only concentrating their effort to those that they could actually complete, so their work would soon be done.

At that moment, the scenery in one of the corners of the workshop shimmered and swayed, and Yurin stepped out from there using her Picture Teleportation skill.

“Fabio-nim. Herman-nim. I have a favor to ask.”

“What is it?”

Both of them had met Yurin, Weed’s younger sister, before — the aqualight painter who roamed about the continent freely as she met different people and drew paintings. They also knew that, in fact, Weed himself was having quite a headache because of her habit of scurrying around just about anywhere.

“It’s actually my brother’s request. I believe you are making a sword with Helium?”

“Hmmm. Well… About that…”

This gave Fabio and Herman a pause. They had been tasked with making an excellent blade out of Helium, but they had not yet produced anything. As those master blacksmiths were competing with each other, they were both trying to make a sword that could certainly surpass their rival’s work.

“My brother sent over a few more materials.”

Yurin unpacked her backpack and took out the items she had brought.

The hide and heart of an Essen Poratt, a first-class mana crystal, the Iron Mace of a Gratorgue, the Metal of Ruin. As Weed’s Contribution Points with the Arpen Empire had increased, he had even been able to get some ‘Dragon Tears’, albeit a small amount.

“Hm-hmm…”

“Why, such precious items…”

All of these materials were new to them, but they could still tell that they were extremely high-quality ingredients.

”Oh, this is quite a surprise.”

“He’s going to make just a sword with these materials? They are enough to craft a full set of armor, aren’t they?”

Other dwarven blacksmiths, Bambi and Mark, also flocked in to take a look.

Yurin gave them a wide smile that made her dimples visible.

“Then please make armor for him; my brother has faith in you two.”

“I guess you don’t know much about a blacksmith’s work. We couldn’t possibly finish making armor by tomorrow.”

“Yes. We need to first study the materials as we beat them… Find the best possible ratio of mixture. It also takes time to come up with the shape of the new armor.”

“Hmm. So making the sword is being delayed, and now you can’t craft the armor quickly enough, either?”

“…”

“Well, I thought you two were the best blacksmiths in the entire Continent, but if you’re so sure you can’t possibly do this… I guess I’ll have to ask someone else.”

Fabio and Herman knew they were not going to get any sleep or rest. The only thing they were left with was the overnight work, but they were also driven with motivation after seeing all the rare materials.

Translation Notes

↑ [1]From the proofreading team: this skill from the Thunder Spear was previously translated as Electric Shock in v44c4. The name means that it is an attack made of a series of electric shocks soaring like torpedoes (thanks to Maxximal for checking the raws). The translation chosen by the current translator seems more appropriate, so we’re keeping it.

↑ [2]This is a common term people use when ordering chickens, meaning ‘half of the chicken is seasoned, and the other half is fried.’

↑ [3] In the original text it is quite ambiguous as to whose Charm and Charisma stats the author is referring to.

↑ [4] As mentioned in a previous note, those skills were listed back in v44c4 and Rainbow Turtle came up with some translations for their names. Since they’re bound to come up often now that Weed is using the Thunder Spear a lot, we will be translating them a bit differently to get closer to the original meaning.

The six skills of the Thunder Spear are (again, thanks a lot to Maxximal):

1. 전격 계열 스킬 뇌격의 비상 (litt. “series of electric shock soaring like torpedoes attack”) — previously translated as [Electric Shock], now translated as [Ascending Thunderbolt].

2. 뇌격 파동 (litt. “lightning wave”) — translated as [Lightning Wave]

3. 번개 폭풍 (litt. “lightning Storm”) — translated as [Lightning Storm]

4. 번개 흔들기 (litt. “lightning wave” or “thunderbolt wave”) — missed by the translator in v44c4, now translated as [Lightning Shake]

5. 뇌전 중심 진격 (litt. “thunderbolt/ lightning center offense/advance”) — also missed by the translator in v44c4, now translated as [Thunderbolt Centered Offense]

6. 휘몰아치는 전역 천둥 (litt. “whole area filled with thunder”) — previously translated as [Turbulent Thunder], now translated as [Area Sweeping Thunder]

Chapter 2: Summon Flaming Meteors

Lafaye was standing in the highest tower of the Castle Aren.

“First the Path of Struggle… and now the Palrangka War. Others would have a hard time going through just one such dangerous adventure, let alone two, yet he makes such easy work out of them… I must say, he is indeed a remarkable person.”

Immediately before the battle of the Garnav Plain, Weed managed to take the initiative by winning the broadcasting media to his side. Recalling the course of actions he had taken to that end and the outcomes it had brought, Lafaye could not help but feel bitter, as the person who was leading the Hermes Guild.

“Are you going to proceed with the plan?”

Bard Ray in his full armor ascended to the top of the tower. The Hermes Guild had supplied Bard Ray with the best equipment and brand new weapons for the upcoming war.

Lafaye answered Bard Ray calmly.

“Yes, we will carry on as planned.”

“And the targets?”

They had devised a scheme to summon three flaming meteors, simultaneously aiming at Weed and the Arpen Kingdom’s camp. However, they had yet to decide exactly which locations they would target with the meteors. Lafaye unrolled the map of the Garnav Plain and pointed at the place where the concert of Marey the bard had taken place.

“We should drop two of them here, where the biggest number of people are gathering.”

“What about the third one?”

“I’ve chosen the construction site of the sculptures. That way we can destroy the weapons they have been making in preparation for the war.”

In most cases Bard Ray was content with Lafaye’s decisions, and this time was no exception. The Hermes Guild had been having difficulties maintaining their great empire. Little by little, they had been lead toward the edge of a precipice, and the only way left for them now was to fully rely on their military forces. In fact, this was what the Hermes Guild truly excelled at.

*****

*Ssssswaaaa…*

Reeds swayed with the night wind.

The army of the Hermes Guild was stationed by the Dellawood River, which was a 30-minutes horseback ride away from the Garnav Plain.

“The troops of the Haven Empire look really magnificent, too.”

“Yeah. This is a splendid view.”

“Kuuu. Finally, the epic battle will take place today.”

Well over a hundred thousand users were looking down upon the riverside from a distant mountain. The sight of great military tents, chariots and war horses standing in orderly lines was indeed deeply impressive.

“The Hermes Guild has always lived up to its name in battles that involved its real main forces.”

“Those guys did more than just proving themselves. They have never been defeated in a war when they were led by Bard Ray himself.”

“As far as I remember, they’ve never even had an even match. All of their victories have been overwhelming, crushing, absolute… all that stuff.”

There were many users from the Central Continent who worshipped martial power. They had observed every victory the Haven Empire had achieved until now, and they believed that the Empire would be the winner this time, yet again. They had not joined the Northern Continent users and they followed the Imperial Army to the assembly area, dreaming of gaining membership of the Hermes Guild or hoping to get some crumbs off of their table.

“Still, aren’t they at a disadvantage in terms of numbers compared to the Northern users?”

“The size of the army isn’t everything, though. What really matters is the advanced combat power. A single magic scroll can kill thousands of people, and as long as they are willing to spend their money liberally…”

“But those kinds of magic scrolls are hard to come by, you can’t just ignore headcount. The Haven Empire has also experienced defeat in the past because of their smaller size, even though they had put up a good fight in every battle.”

“Things are different this time. They have thoroughly prepared themselves for this, and the entire military forces of the Haven Empire will assemble here.”

“And by now there will be all sorts of ragtag players from across the Versailles Continent gathering in the Arpen Kingdom’s camp. This will be the day the greatest battle of the Versailles continent takes place.”

“It’s gonna be awesome when the two forces finally clash.”

The Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom!

It wasn’t easy to predict which side would win. People thought it might be possible that the tide of the battle swings heavily towards one side once the battle actually begins, but for now they had no way to know exactly how things would turn out to be. The users who were convinced of the Haven Empire’s victory continued gathering on the banks of the Dellawood River.

*****

One hour before the battle of the Garnav Plain!

In the Haven Empire’s Aren Castle, the highest-ranking players were making their appearances one by one.

“Finally, today is the big day.”

“We’ll be able to wipe out the lot from the North, at last.”

The core members of the guild were assembling in Aren Castle, not in the Empire’s camp on the banks of the Dellawood River. Armed with the best weapons and gears known to date and fully ready for combat, they sipped a glass of wine while relaxing.

There was a fixed-type teleport gate currently installed there, so they could instantly move from Aren Castle to the Garnav Plain whenever they wanted. To carry out the task of setting up the gate in secret, Steer, who was leading the Intelligence Bureau and the Assassins squad, had gone through a lot of hard work.

“Welcome, Boemong-nim.”

“I’ve got a new double-bladed axe… and I shall fight until it breaks into pieces today.”

“Nero-nim hasn’t arrived yet?”

“I’ve heard that he has a lot of work related to Magical Squad business.”

“If you’re talking about the Ice Squad, no wonder they are so busy. I’ve also heard some rumors that Nero-nim has almost reached the Master level in Ice-type spells…”

“I don’t think that is true. Magic is one of those fields of study in which it’s very difficult to increase skill level. Still, he has probably reached quite a high level.”

It had been a long time since all of these important members, normally scattered far from one another in hunting grounds and dungeons across the Continent, gathered together in one place. The commanding officers, including some lords of great influence and leaders of knightly orders, also enjoyed some chat as they had a meal together.

“I’ve been itching for some action, since there haven’t been many big fights recently.”

“This war is certainly going to be big in terms of numbers, although the fact that it’s going to be full of small fry does lower the excitement somewhat.”

“I believe there’s already an expedition to the North planned for after this war?”

“Of course. It seems we will start our march northwards as soon as we win this battle.”

Even though they knew that the users of the Northern Continent were stronger than expected, and that quite a lot of users from the Central Continent went over to their side, the pride of being the dominating force of the Central Continent still allowed them to keep their composure. They were confident that any one of the players gathered in this castle would be able to single-handedly massacre about a thousand novice users. To be frank, users who hadn’t reached level 100 almost didn’t register to them as human beings.

Draka, who was the former command-in-chief of the empire’s Northern Continent expeditionary force that invaded the Arpen Kingdom, directed a question to Boemong the Giant Knight.

“By the way, what is our specific battle plans?”

“Battle plans?”

“Yes. I mean, the scale of this battle is too great for a simple head-on fight.”

“I understand you belong to the 13th Division, Draka-nim?”

“That I do. But we have never been informed as to exactly what role our squad has to perform, nor could we make any preparations for that.”

As Draka spoke in a firm tone that sounded like complaining, the attention of the other rankers in the banquet hall was drawn to Boemong. They, too, had been wondering the same issue, as there hadn’t been any prior notice or instructions except for the deployment of the troops.

Boemong could only shrug his shoulders, for he also did not have any idea.

“I don’t know much about it, either. The only thing that is certain is that it’s going to be different from our past battles.”

“So you haven’t heard anything?”

“I was told that we just need to ready ourselves to kill as many enemies as possible.”

“Just get ready to kill, is that it…?”

Even as they felt puzzled due to the lack of detailed plans, the Hermes Guild members smiled, full of confidence. Slaughter was their favorite field of specialty.

Before long, all of the 1000 members who had been invited filled the banquet hall. All of the lords and knight commanders, the top-tier users of great power whose names were widely known and those who possessed an army of their own gathered around without a single missing member.

When the appointed time had come, the inner circle of the Hermes Guild, including the duumvirate, also showed up one after another. Bard Ray stood in the center of the room amid a round of applause.

“As many of you are probably wondering about this, I shall begin to explain our battle plan. First, please take a look at the crystal in the center of the room.”

A giant crystal orb was standing in the middle of the banquet hall; it was showing the current state of the Garnav Plain. It seemed the shots had been taken from a very high viewpoint, since each of the people gathered in the plain looked infinitely small.

“Hmmm…”

Someone in the hall let out a small groan. The vast plain was full of bonfires, torches and magical lights. Everywhere the light reached seemed to be filled with people. Even from this distance, things like gigantic, towering sculptures and defensive structures such as wooden barricades and moats caught their eyes.

‘We need to fight in that place…?’

‘Well, whether we win or lose, it’s going to be one wild day today.’

The top rankers inflamed their fighting spirit once more. They might lose everything they’d got if they were to be defeated in this battle, but this was nonetheless the moment they had been long waiting for.

Winning the entire world through power — this was what the Hermes Guild had always strived to do since its early days.

Bard Ray’s speech continued.

“The time is 12 o’clock now. The day has finally come that will determine the fate of the Versailles Continent.”

The day of the battle! That fateful day was upon them at last as the midnight heralded the change of the date.

“Everyone, look at the sky.”

The crystal orb was now showing the beautiful night sky of the Garnav Plain strewn with twinkling stars.

The sky and the land. Perhaps such breathtaking beauty of this world was what made them want to conquer it and take possession of it forever.

The Hermes Guild users waited for Bard Ray’s next words, but only the silence continued.

1 minute.

2 minutes.

Time was slowly passing in the banquet hall.

‘Just how long does he want us to watch this…?’

‘What is he expecting us to see?’

Just as a few impatient members started to feel bored and look away,

‘Wait, there IS something!’

The eyes of the users who had been watching the crystal orb rather doubtfully sparkled in realization. Tiny dots that hadn’t been there a moment ago appeared suddenly in the night sky.

Three small dots!

They hadn’t noticed them right away, but those dots were gradually gaining in size.

“They can’t be…can they…?”

“Ah, the meteors!”

The Hermes Guild members tended to have quick wits when it came to this kind of matters. They knew that Bard Ray wouldn’t have made them look at the sky at this very moment for no reason.

Summon Flaming Meteors!

One of the ultimate magical spells in Royal Road had been cast, and the meteors were now rushing towards the Garnav Plain.

*****

“Kuaaaah. I’ve made it to the top, finally.”

Vollark, a user from Port Varna, crawled on top of the giraffe statue as if climbing a cliff face. It was one of the Masterpiece sculptures in the Garnav Plain, boasting the height of a whopping 650 meters from the ground to the head.

“We’ll finally get to fight today.”

Every street he could see from the top of the giraffe’s head was overflowing with crowd and shimmering light, creating a dazzlingly beautiful sight.

There were many other people standing next to Vollark who had also climbed to the top of the sculpture to appreciate the view.

“This looks so fantastic. I really hope this place will remain like this forever.”

“Yes. This is going to become an unforgettable place for us, too, for the rest of our lives.”

The large-size completed sculptures were studded with shining stones that the dwarves had brought. Every night the statues shone in dreamlike colors as they reflected the light from the moon, stars and the bonfires on the ground.

“We may never see this scenery again, who knows.”

Vollark grinned widely. The night breeze was refreshing, and there was a soft sound of musical instruments being played somewhere in the distance. He felt as if this was going to be a day when everything would work out perfectly.

– Udin: Where are you?

– Vokside: We’re all ready now and about to meet up.

He received private messages from the friends he was going to fight in the battle with.

“I’m on top of the giraffe statue.”

– Vokside: Did you already finish getting ready?

“Well, I’ve made all the preparations to fight.”

– Udin: You have? Then we’ll start heading over to you.

“Yeah, get here quickly.”

As he finished exchanging messages with friends and waited for them, several people came to him to share some food.

“Here, have some bread.”

“Thank you.”

Countless people were streaming to the Garnav Plain — all of them anticipating the battle against the Haven Empire, naturally. Although the date of the battle had been agreed upon by both sides to be this day, there hadn’t been any talk as to what time the fight would begin.

‘I guess we’ll probably get started after the morning breaks? We’ll have to wait for them to arrive at the Garnav Plain first before the fight takes place.’

He could hear the conversation among the people crowding the top of the giraffe statue.

“The Versailles Continent will change after this battle is over, won’t it?”

“I bet. I heard that there will be another water park that’s going to be built in the Central Continent.”

“I remember Puhol Water Park being half people, half water just a while ago. Some even say that there are more people than there is water.”

“Yeah, there wasn’t enough space to swim in that place during holiday seasons. And during weekends.”

“There’s also a rumor that Mapan’s Trading Company will construct a road that connects the whole continent. It will start as a trade route for merchants, but eventually become a road for novice users to travel around safely.”

“I guess there will be more new cities, too…”

Everyone was picturing a bright future in their mind, full of hope. Vollark raised his head to watch the stars shining in the sky.

‘We must win this battle today.’

At that instant when he was blankly staring into the sky waiting for his friends to arrive, he suddenly became strangely conscious of three small stars in the east. He didn’t feel anything out of ordinary at first, but soon realized that those tiny millet-sized stars were flying towards this location leaving blazing red tails behind.

‘Passing meteors, huh? I’ve heard stories that they bring luck to a person who sees them… Wait, what the heck…?’

Vollark jumped to his feet. The three red-tailed meteors flying from the distant sky were slowly becoming bigger and bigger.

‘No way… No way. They can’t be.’

The meteors continued gaining in size even as Vollark watched them. They were closing the distance to the land, rather than heading to some other direction.

“Meteors! Meteors are falling on this position!”

Vollark shouted in the loudest voice he had ever made in his life. People turned to look at him as if he was talking nonsense.

“What’s wrong with him?”

“I don’t know. He’s shouting all of a sudden.”

But soon they too turned their heads upward to look at the sky Vollark was pointing at.

“What are those?”

“I see something.”

“They are shooting stars. And they… They are flying towards here?!”

“Kyaaaaaaahhh!!”

An ear-splitting shriek.

Beside the giraffe sculpture, there were many people who were standing on top of the other large sculptures, appreciating the view. They must have spotted the meteors as well, for there were currently shouts and screams coming from every direction. The lights on the ground of the Garnav Plain also began to shiver and sway, and the music played by the bards gradually stopped over some time interval.

He didn’t know what happened to the festival or what the people in the streets were doing, but he could guess that they must have been thrown in a pandemonium.

“No, we can’t escape from them.”

“They are moving too fast…”

The night sky was slowly being painted in dark red color as people gazed upon them. The meteors that came flying from the east pierced the atmosphere and lit up the sky in white.

“They’re coming!”

“Aaaahhhh…!”

*Bbbbooooooom!!*

Three meteors crashed on the Garnav Plain.

People felt as though the whole ground was shaking. Pillars of flames rose into the sky without end, and those who had gathered to enjoy the festival seemed to disintegrate instantly in a flash of blazing light.

*****

The banquet hall of Aren Castle.

The members of the Hermes Guild who had just witnessed the Summon Flaming Meteor spell being cast upon the Garnav Plain were stunned into silence for a while. Even for them who had gone through plenty of battles, this was a shocking sight.

‘At least one hundred thousand people have been killed. Maybe more, since they were concentrated in one place.’

‘So the guild had in its possession… a spell of such destructive power all along.’

They could see the gigantic explosion causing the entire plain to quake, and parts of the large sculptures falling off and collapsing to the ground.

It was difficult even to estimate the amount of damage.

After the first wave of shock they felt from the force of the spell, they thought that it was an extremely advantageous move for the battle. The users in the Garnav Plain would be dazed and scared out of their senses by the impact of the summoned meteors. Once the Imperial Army took this chance and started marching now, they would be able to gain tremendous benefits in the earlier stages of the battle.

Boemong cried out in a loud voice.

“Let me lead the vanguard. I will take control of the Garnav Plain.”

Calcus drew out his sword before speaking.

“The 4th Division has finished every preparation for the battle. If we move now using the teleport gate, we can attack the Garnav Plain within 15 minutes.”

Even as he received the passionate gazes from military commanders and top-ranking players, Bard Ray did not return any response.

The crystal orb was currently showing the plain burning in flames. Large craters formed as the ground gave way, and the Northern users were running about urgently near the fire. It looked like there were a large number of novice users who had been killed even though they were far away from the impact site.

“Hurry, give us an order to go to battle!”

“We need to seize this opportunity when we can!”

Boemong and Calcus urged him further, but Bard Ray merely took a sip from his teacup, keeping his relaxed composure.

When everyone was getting increasingly puzzled about his attitude, Arkhim stepped up and spoke to them.

“Please, keep watching a little longer. We are not quite ready just yet.”

*****

“…Uuugh…”

“We need a priest over here! Please, he’s going to die any minute!”

“There are users buried in the ground. Let’s all gather around and rescue them.”

The Garnav Plain had turned into a hellish place in a matter of a few minutes.

There were no survivors in the locations where the meteors had struck directly, and even in the vicinity a lot of people were killed by the resulting shockwave. As the burning meteors had impacted the ground, the sudden and sharp increase in temperature had caused a great fire.

“Spirit of Water. Summon Water Drops! Put out the fire immediately.”

“Flooding River!”

Shamans and Mages worked busily to extinguish the fire, but there were some other users who were fixed on the spot, feeling completely lost: those who hadn’t reached level 10 or 30.

To them, using a magical spell when hunting monsters was something unusual, and getting hit by a magical attack was out of the ordinary. Magic itself was a curious and uncommon event to them, and so witnessing flying shooting stars that had been created by one of the ultimate magic spells, Summon Flaming Meteors, strike the land they were standing on was enough to befuddle them out of their senses.

“Hey, are we still alive?”

“Yes, although barely. My Life Force has dropped to less than a half.”

“I was so frightened. My body was floating in the air for a second when the meteor hit.”

“And we were easily more than a kilometer away from the thing. We’d probably have been killed on the spot if we had been just a little closer.”

The users were terrified by the destructive power of the Summon Flaming Meteors spell. They were all determined to fight to the death against the Haven Empire when they first came to join the war, but it was an entirely different feeling to experience such a wondrous magic first-hand.

“How are we going to fight now?”

“I don’t know. Who knows, there might be more meteors coming our way if we stay too close together.”

“Just how many people have been killed?”

“No way to know for now. I think everyone who was standing over there is dead.”

“Damn it. That’s where the food alley was. The buildings are all gone.”

The surviving users found themselves trembling with anxiety and uneasiness, wondering if there would be another meteor strike as they gazed upon the now quiet night sky.

Meanwhile, there was a group of people moving in secret.

– Phgel: We’ve arrived at the target position.

– Danango: Pour it into the fire and get out. It spreads quickly, so be careful everyone.

Around a hundred users were quietly sneaking around, carrying bottles of something and sprinkling the content on top of the fire. Crowds of people who were thronging in nearby areas spotted them, but did nothing to stop them, thinking it was no big deal.

– Phgel: Mission accomplished. Leaving the area now.

The people who had put the liquid in the bottles into the fire swiftly fled from the site.

Other users were racing around the Garnav Plain, which was currently stricken by confusion and grief.

“I’m a member of the Herb Porridge squad. Our squad has a lot of paladins and priests, so come over here if you’re injured!”

“Chicken Porridge, here to provide aid.”

“We’re giving out free bandages for anyone who needs them!”

The users cared for the injured, put out the fire and tried to restore the collapsed ground. Driven by the strong bond among users that had been shared since their early days in Morata, they were finding ways to help each other despite the mess that the Summon Flaming Meteors spell had left them with.

But at that very moment:

< You have contracted the Alkin disease!

A strange dizziness and a high fever are coursing through your body.

14 points of damage to Life Force every second.

Your maximum Life Force and Mana have decreased. >

“Huh?”

“Alkin disease?”

“What is it this time?”

A mysterious disease that had started spreading from several different areas simultaneously!

The users who were infected went to seek the help of the priests, thinking it wouldn’t be anything serious.

“I’d like to request a healing spell; I think I contracted a disease. I can wait if you want… Looks like you are quite busy.”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll do it for you right now.”

The priests cast healing spells… Normally, this would instantly cure most diseases.

< The healing spell did not have any effect. >

< The Alkin disease gains its potency as your body becomes weaker.

You will lose 47 points of Life Force per second.

Your stamina will decrease to 52% of the maximum amount. >

“What is this?”

“A healing spell cannot cure this… How?”

The conditions of the infected users continued to worsen even as they looked around at each other in panic. As their Life Force dropped, eventually they became unable to move their bodies at all and collapsed to the ground, slowly turning grey as they perished.

< You are infected by the Alkin disease. >

The users who were near the patients, even the priests with their uncommonly strong resistance, contracted the disease. The news of the appearance of a contagious disease that couldn’t be cured by healing spells started to spread via the regional chat channel, engulfing the whole Garnav Plain in fear.

*****

The Hermes Guild members assembled in the banquet hall of Aren Castle could not hold back their awe.

‘This is so severe. Our guild sure gets the job done in a battle it is prepared for.’

‘We’ve found the best solution to deal with the human wave strategy.’

As the domestic affairs of the Empire had been through much turmoil, Lafaye’s competence as a leader had been put in question several times. He had often looked rather powerless when it came to Weed or the Arpen Empire, but nobody would think so from this point on, for he had completely and irreversibly neutralized the crowd in the Garnav Plain.

Arkhim took a step forward and spoke.

“This is not over yet.”

“…”

One would have had to go through all sorts of hell and high water to rise to a high position in the Hermes Guild. But even these veteran members had to restrain their fearful groans.

‘They are not done yet?’

‘They’ve still got a trick or two left up their sleeve after all this… I know it’s my guild, but I must say, this is brutal.’

‘Devils. That’s what they are.’

The thought flashed in their mind that Weed and the Arpen Kingdom might have chosen the wrong enemy.

What appeared before their eyes through the crystal orb in the banquet hall was the Phanzellope Order of the Phantom Knights! Having emerged from the sites where the flaming meteors had struck, they began to massacre the users who were unfortunate enough to stand nearby.

Lancelot, who had been watching this in silence so far, asked a question.

“Undead, are they?”

Arkhim nodded.

“They are called the Phanzellope Order of the Phantom Knights.”

“Hmm. It looks like they have pretty high levels.”

“I believe they’re at around level 620.”

Judging by a rough scanning, the Phanzellope Order seemed to consist of about 250 members. A squad of phantom knights felt rather unremarkable compared to the Summon Flaming Meteors spell or the Alkin disease; a couple of armed groups from the Hermes Guild would be sufficient to match their fighting power.

‘They will certainly be effective for confusing our enemies further after the first two events… But they don’t seem like a big deal otherwise.’

‘They’re not that impactful, for a weapon that was specifically selected and prepared for this occasion. But then again, maybe it’s because the meteor summoning spell has left too big an impression.’

The Northern users stepped up to stop the Phanzellope Order. Those who were under level 200 were wiped out almost as soon as they jumped into the fight, so the users at level 400s and 500s gathered together. There were also quite a lot of users from the Central Continent staying in the Garnav Plain.

An explosion of countless magical spells!

The phantom knights were struck by almost gruesomely fierce attacks from the enraged users. As this was not a full-scale battle against the main forces of the Haven Empire, all of the firepower was now being concentrated solely on this undead squad.

“Huh…”

“How did they…?”

What happened next was enough to astound everyone who was watching.

The Phanzellope Order of the Phantom Knights looked perfectly unscathed by all those magical attacks that had hit them. Some of the phantom knights’ forms did dissipate into the air, but they couldn’t be completely destroyed no matter how many attacks were focused on them. Even when their path was blocked by Warriors, Fighters and Paladins, they shifted to their astral bodies to vault over any obstacles and continued charging forward.

Arkhim explained.

“The Phanzellope Order of the Phantom Knights. Their main characteristic is that they are immune to all types of damage. However many blows they may take, they will continue to exist, until they eliminate every last enemy in front of them.”

“…”

A group of undead knights which do not take any damage; this was the third hidden card that the Hermes Guild had drawn.

“We’ve really gone to that length to destroy them?”

“Using all the rare magical spells and military forces at hand to beat them up… There really can’t be any hope for them.”

There was nobody in this banquet hall of Aren Castle who didn’t believe in the victory of the Haven Empire now.

At last, the members of Bard Ray’s Royal Guards began to distribute the handouts containing the operation plan to the commander of each Division. The information about the moving route for each Legion, mission objectives and battle formations was written in the handout. The Legion commanders read the title of the operation plan on top of the paper.

Annihilation Plan.

Step 1. Cast the Summon Flaming Meteors spell, targeting the Garnav Plain.

Step 2. Spread the Alkin disease. An instantly-infecting contagion, it will deprive the enemies of their combat strength and propagate fear among the users.

Step 3. Appearance of the Phanzellope Order of Phantom Knights. Bring more despair to the enemies.

Step 4. The Imperial Army begins the full-frontal march into the battlefield from the North, South, East and West pathways. Use the Steel Knights and the Spears of Annihilation.

Step 5. Cast Summon Flaming Meteors one more time. Assassinate or otherwise subdue Weed and the core users of the North in the midst of the confusion in the battlefield.

For each step, there were tens of pages of instructions on the detailed operation plans. The main mission objective was to kill more than 40% of the users gathered in the Garnav Plain, including Weed.

“With this mission plan, it should be easy to carry it out successfully.”

“All these traps and ambushes… No one would be able to escape, even Weed.”

“We’re basically killing them all. The point is to make sure they never even dream of opposing us, ever again.”

The Legion Commanders and top ranking users assembled in Aren Castle began to disperse to go about their business, with a smile on their faces. Nothing was on their mind, except for the thought of heading to the battleground as soon as possible.

*****

A while ago, Weed had gone back to Batalli the God of Fighting after the Palrangka War.

– The Palrangka War has been recorded differently in history now, and you have made a remarkable combat achievement. Not as a warrior like I expected… But you did something that no warrior can do.

“I only wanted to do my best.” claimed Weed, politely yet confidently.

– Yes… I guess not fully using the power one possesses cannot be considered good behavior for a true warrior. Here are the gloves, as promised. Next time you meet me again, I will make you fight against some of my own warriors.

“Will there be more rewards, too?”

– Those who fight them and win shall be rewarded with fame and power.

“I will make sure to visit you again.”

With that, he made his exit from the God of Fighting’s Great Coliseum where strong warriors of every race including human were assembled.

‘I’m going to knock them all down once I’ve mastered swordsmanship and archery as well as spear techniques.’

Afterwards, Weed eventually reunited with Pale and the other companions, and was presently preparing himself for the battle. He repaired the damaged equipment using his blacksmithing and tailoring skills, and he needed to have some food as well; it was quite important to replenish one’s strength before a combat by having a delicious meal. Now that he did not need to do repetitive manual work to increase the level of his Sculpting skill after he had mastered it, his proficiencies in other skills were increasing rapidly.

“Meteors have been summoned!”

That was when he received the urgent news from the Garnav Plain.

The video he watched using Romuna’s crystal ball showed the entire plain blazing like a burning sea in the midst of the darkness. With the appearance of the Alkin disease and the Phanzellope Order of the Phantom Knights on top of that, the Northern users were quickly being slaughtered.

The Hermes Guild had drawn terribly powerful cards indeed; however, seen from a different angle, this also meant that they have exposed the extent of their military strength to the enemy side very early, and the North would only have to endure and survive these attacks somehow.

Weed sent a private message to Lemon, the saint of the Grass Porridge Cult.

“Are you busy?”

– Lemon: Oh, hello? Things are a bit hectic here but you can go on, Weed-nim.

“What’s the current situation?”

– Lemon: Well, we’re not making any progress in straightening out this mess at all, and the command structure is completely down, too.

The Grass Porridge Cult had divided its many members into numerous porridge squads. That might have been what made it difficult to quickly handle the crisis of the summoned meteor strike, but then again, no kind of command structure would have made much difference in the event of such a disaster.

– Lemon: Still, our priests and paladins are going out of their way to help the injured users.

“I see. Just as expected.”

The bond that bound the Northern users together was indeed strong; it had become part of their culture to willingly give aid to those who in danger.

– Lemon: People are getting increasingly concerned about the plague. There’s no cure for it… Those phantom knights are quite problematic, too.

“We’ll need to stop this in any way possible.”

Weed was just as helpless as everyone, unable to take any immediate action to sort out the situation. This was the first time he had come to know about the Alkin disease or the Phanzellope Order… As knowledgeable as Weed was, he did not know every last one of the countless secrets of Royal Road.

– Lemon: Weed-nim! We just got a report from the Avians. The Imperial Army of the Haven Empire has appeared in the North, South, East and West of the Garnav Plain — they are everywhere!

*****

The twenty Legions that constituted the Haven Imperial Army began their sudden march. Besides their original military camp by the Dellawood River, more troops emerged from their other secret bases and moved towards the Garnav Plain.

“Begin the full-scale attack!”

The top-rankers that had been on standby in Aren Castle also made their appearance through the teleport gate. They were leading the followers of the Hermes Guild — mostly high-level users — into the battle.

“From this day forward, not only the cities of the Central Continent, but every corner of this entire land will be covered by the flags of the Haven Empire!”

“Let’s go. We should finish this war before the day fully breaks!”

The top ranking users and the military commanders of the Hermes Guild shouted confidently. Just a moment ago, they had been all a little worried about how this battle would unfold, but after discovering the three powerful hidden cards of the Empire — meteor summoning, the Alkin disease and the Phanzellope Order — they did not have the slightest doubt about their victory. Hence, there was no hint of hesitance in the footsteps of the Hermes Guild members, and their voices were carrying power.

“We are attacking the Garnav Plain. Following the way of the Hermes Guild, we shall no longer show any mercy to those who defy us!”

North, South, East and West. From every direction, the twenty Legions of the Empire started advancing into the Garnav Plain. The sight of them was also being relayed to the rest of the world in real time through the broadcasting media. The MCs of the programs were already yelling with the veins bulging in their necks despite the fact that the battle had only entered its earliest stage.

“Incredible. We were expecting them to carefully assemble their forces before confronting the North, yet they chose to open the battle in such a way…!”

“It seems they are showing what the Hermes Guild is truly capable of.”

“I believe they managed to perfectly recreate their prime days during the conquest of the Central Continent.”

“Their spirit is burning strong. It looks like they are fully convinced of their certain victory.”

Even the hosts of the shows of KMC Media channel that had normally maintained a favorable stance towards Weed and the Northern users were speaking highly of the Haven Empire. Having taken a look at the videos of the Haven Imperial Army in various locations, Oh Joo-Wan commented:

“Even if we take into consideration their failed attempt in conquering the Northern continent as well as some poorly made decisions in dealing with the rebels, I must say they did not have any choice in those matters. On the other hand, the Imperial Army that we see now seems to be just as strong as they used to be during the days when they boasted to be invincible.”

“Will the Arpen Kingdom be able to stop them?”

Shin Hye Min wanted to join the battle herself as Maylon, but she had to take the role of the MC of this broadcasting program, as it was such a crucial one for the company. If the program continued on to the second part, the MC should be replaced as well in order for them to have a rest, so she was determined to go online on Royal Road to fight then.

“To be honest, I really cannot be sure for now. The Haven Empire is really hell-bent on defeating the North… Judging by the fact that they’ve even chosen such extreme measures such as meteor summoning or the Alkin disease, it seems they are ready to risk any backlash from the public. They are focusing on nothing else but victory in the battle.”

Do Chan Mi, a member of a girl group, chimed in:

“They remind me of the proverbial tiger that rises to full height after being cornered into a dead end.”

“Mmm. I guess that would be quite an adequate analogy, seeing that they have decided to reveal such powerful hidden cards. They’re now going all out, and I expect Lafaye’s strategy and Bard Ray’s military power will create a strong harmony.”

Shin Hye Min looked up some data using her tablet device and said:

“It looks like there is very little public information about the Alkin disease and the Phanzellope Order of the Phantom Knights.”

“I believe the Hermes Guild had prepared them in utmost secrecy. They would most likely make a great impact on the battle, so we should continue monitoring how the Arpen Kingdom will stop them.”

The users in every city of the Versailles Continent were watching the broadcast through crystal balls. Those who were in mountains, dungeons and seaside also gathered together and made comments such as:

“I think I really must vote on the Haven Empire for this battle.”

“It’s so amazing that they’ve readied themselves so thoroughly.”

“What’s more amazing is that this mustn’t be all they’ve got; the true core of the Empire’s force is its Imperial troops.”

There was an increasing number of users who anticipated the victory of the Empire and joined the Haven Empire’s army whenever it moved. The high-level users from the Central Continent had lost a place to belong to ever since their guilds had collapsed to ruin. The Northern Continent’s developmental progress seemed to be too low just yet for them to move over, and more importantly, they had the history of packing personal gains while actively taking part in the tyranny of their old prestigious guilds.

“Should we join the Arpen Kingdom?”

“What good would that do us?”

“Well, there is no restriction in hunting there, and we can also take any quests freely.”

“I dunno… I feel like things were much better before than they are now. We lived just as we pleased, and still enjoyed special treatment from people as befitted our strength.”

“Yeah. Frankly speaking, I don’t like constantly having to pander to those newbies whatever I do.”

These users had thus wanted to join the Hermes Guild for some time, which they finally got a chance to do so — Lafaye had made an announcement to everyone in the Central Continent:

Conquest War of the Versailles Continent!

Anyone who makes a contribution in this war will be allowed to gain membership of the Hermes Guild.

Hence, currently there were many high-level users from the Central Continent streaming in to join their cause, as the earlier events in the Garnav Plain had made many people conclude that the Arpen Kingdom only had a very slim chance of winning this battle.

“I did not want to take such extreme actions either. But you are the ones who have driven the Haven Empire into a crisis, so you should be the ones to take care of the consequences, too.”

Lafaye was heading to the teleport gate in Aren Castle, intending to move to the Garnav Plain himself.

‘We will write the history of the Continent today.’

At that moment, a woman wearing a suit of armor walked towards Lafaye.

“Do you expect that you will be victorious in this battle?”

Lafaye slowly turned his head and looked at the woman who had talked to him.

‘Dain.’

During the earlier days of Royal Road, Lafaye and Dain would often meet in hunting grounds and play together. Back then, Lafaye genuinely enjoyed hunting for its own sake.

‘I was happy when I felt myself growing stronger, and… I also enjoyed going on adventures with others, putting our strength together.’

This was the absolute beginning stage of the Hermes Guild; there were quite a lot of users burning with ambition, Lafaye and Bard Ray being the most prominent ones, but they were yet to form a large-scale organization like they had in the present time. Royal Road, in itself, felt so new and joyful to them, so they were quite content with merely roaming about the Continent, mainly around the Haven Region. Naturally, adventure and exploration formed a considerable part of their lives, even though hunting monsters to become stronger still took priority.

“This world is really full of fun.”

Lafaye loved Dain’s bright smile, for it made him feel as if he owned the whole world.

They had thought that moment of happiness would last forever, but…

“We need to start from the Haven Kingdom, and thoroughly take it over. With our power, we’ll just need to get ready step by step.”

“We cannot just stick to normal means if we are to weed out the other forces in this land. We must prepare ourselves in order to gain as much advantage as possible for as little cost as possible, and more importantly, to make sure we succeed in our objectives.”

“Let’s organize an assassin squad in secret; deal with those who we need to eliminate.”

As Dain associated more with both Bard Ray and Lafaye, she soon found out about the true color of the Hermes Guild.

“Is all this really necessary?”

When Dain asked, Lafaye merely turned his face and looked away.

“Even if we didn’t do it, someone else would. Since it’s going to happen anyway, don’t you think it‘s better if we’re the ones doing it?”

Even though she observed the Hermes Guild’s behavior, she did not leave. And so their adventures and hunting expeditions continued. Dain was an extremely competent user as a Shaman, and her skills were truly versatile in hunting grounds. One or two fighters missing did not cause any problem when more than 50 users were fighting together, but a player like Dain whose skills and abilities covered every area of expertise such as cursing, healing, blessing and combat was a very valuable asset.

One day, Dain said something strange when they were in the flying city of Lavias.

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to come online very often from now on.”

“How come?”

“My health… is not in a very good condition.”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“I don’t know when I’ll be able to come back. At least six months? It might even take longer than a year.”

Lafaye could not afford to waste time, for the sake of his own growth. When Dain did not come online for three days, Bard Ray and the other core members decided to leave.

“It seems we’ve finished looking around all the important hunting grounds here. Let’s move on to the next one of the locations we’ve scouted before.”

“What about Dain?”

“She hasn’t been online for some time… Let’s just leave a note for her. Or we could send her a private message later, too.”

At this point, there was a fierce competition for higher ranks among the top-tier members of the Hermes Guild. Although Bard Ray was maintaining his lead far and away from everyone else, the contest for the second position, third position and so on was very intense. There was nobody who was willing to spare some time for Dain, and thus Lafaye chose to leave with the rest of the guild.

‘I made the wrong choice. I should have stayed there for her, even though everyone else had left.’

Belatedly, along with the guilt, he also realized his true feelings for her.

‘I never felt joy while playing Royal Road after that day.’

Ever since he lost contact with Dain,Lafaye had not carried out any quest or gone to a hunting ground; he had only strived for the one goal: dominion over the entire Versailles Continent for the Hermes Guild. He had had to abandon Dain when he had chosen to pursue this goal instead, and he was determined not to fail.

When Dain suddenly came back one day, he was so happy that he wanted to do anything for her. This was why he appointed her to the position of the lord of Evaluk Castle in Kallamore, an important region for the empire. She ruled over the castle admirably, and her reputation among the public was excellent, too.

Whenever Lafaye looked at Dain’s face he could not help but smile.

“We’re going to win, I promise. The Hermes Guild that I have built up from the ground will never be defeated.”

*****

Crebulta.

One of the top 10 ranked players of Royal Road, he was in charge of the 7th Legion.

“We are the vanguard of this army. Our mission: kill every single enemy. Demonstrate the full extent of our power.”

The 7th Legion mainly consisted of heavy-armored infantry and knights. A classic composition of an assault unit, they prided themselves on brutal striking power and breakthrough ability.

*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The grand sound made from the legendary item “Drum of Storm” reverberated throughout the battlefield.

“Kill everything and open a path!”

As soon as the 7th Legion arrived at the southern edge of the Garnav Plain, they began to advance while slaughtering all the users in sight. The troops clad in black armor and helmets shaped like the head of a rhinoceros rushed in all at once at their commander’s order.

“Kuuuuuaaaahhh!!”

As the knights yelled out mighty roars the heavy armor troopers felt new vigor welling up inside them.

“Get out of the way!”

“How trifling.”

Using their terrible strength and destructive power, they drove the users back with their shields.

“Rage of a Destroyer!”

“Earth Strike!”

The Hermes Guild users also willingly joined in the frontline. Whenever they used area-of-effect skills, users within the range of 10, 20 meters in radius were wiped out as if being evaporated.

“S-stop them!”

“But how?!”

“Just do whatever you can!”

The users who were staying in the outskirt of the Garnav Plain ran about in confusion and fell apart as they were struck by the unexpected attack from the enemy.

The 6th Legion was led by Gros. He had rarely participated in wars, but he had always maintained the third or fourth position in the guild rankings in terms of player level.

“I shan’t let the other Legions outshine us, my dignity wouldn’t allow it.”

The way Gros operated his troops was simple: deploy the archers on the frontline and let them march forward. The superior range and destructive power was the core of their strategy. There were hardly any Northern users who dared to approach them to attack in the first place, but even those who did had already been dealt with by the knights who had been waiting in advance.

“A slope, hmm… Let’s bombard the east side.”

“Yes, sir.”

Whenever an area felt suspicious to them, they used magic. A pile of rocks fell from the sky and struck the site where some users had been hiding.

The 16th Legion was under the command of Mox the Gladiator. Peculiarly enough, he also led a legion of gladiators like him; the entire one hundred thousand soldiers that belonged to his army comprised exclusively of gladiators.

Supreme attack power, physical toughness, and stamina!

They had taken heavy damage while fighting on the frontlines during the conquest of the Central Continent, but they had also made the greatest contribution in that war. They had grown into an elite force thanks to the experience they gained in battles, and since then they continued honing their strength through expeditions in dungeons and hunting grounds.

“Send a signal. We march.”

Without even making a proper formation, the gladiators started running towards the users in the Garnav Plain in an unruly manner. A singularly disorganized sight, but as each of them could match the strength of a hundred men alone, they turned the field into a scene of massacre in no time.

“Blood! After such a long time, finally I shall revel in blood!”

“Bring me some drink, and I’ll give you an even more painful death!”

The legion of crazed gladiators was eliminating countless users. Until the end of the war, they were to carry out only one mission: fight in whatever way they saw fit. Such a strategy was not made possible because the Northern users were particularly weak; this was simply the way they had always fought in every one of their battle.

*****

Through a teleport gate, Bard Ray arrived at the military base by the Dellawood River. This was where the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Legions of the Imperial Army were deployed to, and the Emperor’s personal squad was already on standby waiting for him; the 150 thousand Combat Golems of the Order of the Steel Knights had been readied, as well as the Black Mages’ exclusive property: the Chimera army. There were even Witches, Black Mages and a legion of beasts, who all presented themselves as part of Bard Ray’s personal squad. The Hermes Guild had also sent a special force that comprised only the top elite soldiers of the Imperial Army to be included in the Emperor’s squad. These troops led by Bard Ray were the symbol of the Empire, and so they needed matching prestige in order to dominate over the Continent.

“We’re receiving reports that the battle is progressing even more smoothly than we expected.”

“They say that the Northern users are falling before they even have a chance to put up a proper fight.”

“Since there are too many of them assembled together, most of those users are simply being swept away by the tides of the battle. At this rate, we’ll be able to inflict a great amount of damage on them within just an hour.”

The news of the battle in the Garnav Plain kept coming in for the Emperor’s squad.

“A report from the 6th Legion. They have found a group of about a thousand users presumably from the Central Continent showing resistance, but defeated them without much trouble.”

“The 19th Legion has managed to repulse an enemy force that had the size of more than a million soldiers. Estimated enemy body count is 450 thousand. The rest ran away.”

Most of the debriefing they had received from the field so far was reports of victory. Bard Ray, Arkhim and the other Hermes Guild users were all having quite a bright expression on their faces.

“Sounds like the earlier stage of the battle is going in our favor.”

“And it will continue going well for us.”

“The enemy troops will fall apart altogether at one point; they won’t be able to hold out for long.”

Bard Ray’s personal squad was waiting to join the battle themselves. Each of them wore a suit of armor decorated with gold and silver, and was equipped with all sorts of magical items down to very trifling parts. These kinds of gears were extremely difficult to procure even if one had money, but the guild had once discovered the weapon storehouse of the Kelton Kingdom, which had been built a long time ago during the Warring Age. This was one of the many benefits they had by having the Central Continent under their control, and this was the first time they decided to use these gears.

One of the lieutenants approached Arkhim and said:

“CTS Media is requesting our permission to broadcast the fight of the 11th Legion.”

“How’s the situation there?”

“The dual-wielding fighters are leading the battle on the front. It seems they have attracted some attention because of their unique combat style.”

“They’ll need to demonstrate overwhelming firepower. Enough to make everyone tremble in fear.”

“I assure you, they are making sufficiently impressive scenes.”

“It’s going to be a live coverage, so send them some more guild members as reinforcement and tell them not to hesitate to use their power liberally.”

Now the Haven Empire was even making preparations to engage in a psychological warfare using broadcasting stations. They had been at a disadvantage in every aspect when Weed was setting up a picture in the Garnav Plain, but the moment the actual battle began they had taken back both the fighting power and the initiative they had lost to their enemy during the last 15 days.

*****

The Cloud guild, the Lion Star guild, the Roam guild, the Black Sword Mercenaries, and the Black Lion guild.

The troops of the former five prestigious guilds were waiting at a distance where they could see the Garnav Plain from afar.

“Huh…”

Gunt, a member of Lion Star guild, let out an impressed noise as he noticed a great flash of light illuminating the plain.

“The Hermes Guild… They’ve become even stronger than before. And it looks like their numbers have increased a lot, too.”

“I think the opposite side cannot even be compared to them in terms of military strength alone. We’ve all assembled here once more, but I don’t think even we can be a match for them if we fight them again now.”

Michel from the Black Sword Mercenaries also observed the battlefield with a frown. Watching the sight of the Haven Empire’s army driving back the Northern users, he could see just how much the guild had gained in size after it took over the Central Continent. Some of the members of the Hermes Guild used to belong to these five guilds. After all the prestigious guilds had fallen, the Hermes Guild had skillfully snatched only the strongest members from them.

“I think Weed might lose this battle.”

Sherwood said, but others were still keeping their cautious stance.

‘That’s not something we can conclude so easily.’

‘Sherwood has always been like that.’

‘I wonder if he really thinks it makes him a great person to oppose Weed in everything?’

The five prestigious guilds had already submitted a written oath promising to fully come under the jurisdiction of the Arpen Kingdom. They knew that there was nothing they could realistically achieve by themselves in their current weakened and diminished state. Although it had not been an easy decision, the Black Lion guild and the Roam guild had had a chance to directly witness something that would remain in history forever after they made this choice; they had seen Weed raise a rebellion and eventually take over the Britten Region with nothing but a few flags. If the Hermes Guild was to be compared to a giant bear, Weed would be a lion in its prime. While there would be no doubt that both sides are very strong, they felt that this lion might even have a pair of wings.

As they continued watching the battle, Gunt murmured:

“The Hermes Guild has dealt a huge blow to them. Isn’t this going a bit too dangerously for the Arpen Kingdom?

They had all been in the Garnav Plain only a day ago. They had enjoyed the festival and joined in the sculpture construction work. And now they were getting worried that too many of the faithful users of the Grass Porridge Cult and the Arpen Kingdom would be killed.

Carlise let out a chuckle.

“As powerful as Meteor Summoning and the Phanzellope Order might be, the battle has only just begun. Weed hasn’t even made his appearance yet.”

The leaders and the other members of the five prestigious guilds were all feeling their blood boil; they were dying to fight against the Imperial Army that was attacking the Northern users so brutally, and prove to everyone that they still had some strength left in them.

The problem was, they were still waiting for the signal that Weed had told them about.

*****

“This is incredible.”

“Uh-oh, mister! Watch out!”

Bart the merchant was presently in the Garnav Plain.

“Eeek!”

He just barely avoided a flaming rock fragment flying towards him, thanks to a person standing nearby alerting him.

“It’s still dangerous here. You should be mindful of your surroundings.”

“Thank you.”

Bart rose to his feet from the ground he had fallen onto.

He remembered being fixed on the spot as if being paralyzed when the flaming meteors were rushing in to hit everything.

‘That was an incredible experience.’

Bart had fallen narrowly outside of the range of the destruction. In the moment of impact, priests chanted incantations for the spell of Sacrifice, and warriors used Protection skills before throwing their bodies into the meteors.

It was not certain exactly how much they had managed to reduce the meteors’ destructive power, but it was still a sight that allowed one to realize the true strength of the Northern users.

‘At any rate, this won’t be an easy battle for that lad…’

Bart climbed to the top of the carriage he had so laboriously dragged with him, and shouted.

“There are plenty of herbs and bandages for recovery over here! They are all free, so take however many you need!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Feel free to use them.”

A merchant!

He had been the one to sell things until now, but it was time for him to start winning people’s heart. He firmly believed that there was a better and brighter future ahead of everyone after this war was over.

Chapter 3: Weed’s Song

In front of the eyes of Miretas the farmer, laid the sight of the whole Garnav Plain in flames.

“No… How could they do such a thing…”

Some pointy-eared Elven users were standing around with him.

“This is so gruesome.”

“People are screaming everywhere. Spirits of fire are also running berserk in fear.”

The Elves, who had the ability to hear and understand the speech of Spirits, spoke of the misery that befell this place. As an aftereffect of the Summon Flaming Meteors spell, Spirits of every element had been thrown into a confused state.

“We should go help the people there. They’ll need our Spirit Healing skills.”

After the Elves had left in a hurry, Miretas stood there alone, deep in his own grave thought.

‘So this is what Royal Road is like? People with great power having no qualms about harming others just because they have the power to do it?’

He recollected his past as a novice user.

Because of the expensive land price in cities, he had picked out gravels and dug waterways in a wasteland outside of some castle to grow vegetables. The happiness and satisfaction he felt, watching the seeds he had planted begin to sprout and grow inch by inch… When other users made money through quests and monster hunting, he had made his living by selling the vegetables he grew himself in the markets.

“Miretas, let’s go hunting together. We’ve found a good hunting ground and made 10 Gold last time. Plenty of EXPs to earn, too.”

“I’ll go next time.”

“Just leave him be. Farmers are no good in hunting.”

Gradually he had begun to spend less and less time with his friends, those who he had known since his childhood. During every heavy rain and drought he would tend to his crops worrying that something might happen to them. Sometimes his crops would indeed get ruined by monsters or wild beasts, but he would plant seeds and plowed the field again and again.

During the early days of Royal Road, there had been very few users who took interest in farming. With the whole vast Continent full of adventures awaiting everyone, growing simple vegetables for days to sell them for a petty amount of coins just didn’t feel like a fitting task for them. However, as a farmer Miretas had diligently grown various crops and become friendly with the merchants in seed stores or markets dealing in agricultural products.

“You’re always working hard. Try planting these seeds too.”

“I haven’t seen them before. What are they?”

“A kind of flower… It is known to be favored by nobles. I hear this flower is treated like something of a specialty product in the Britten region, so it would be nice if we can grow it here as well.”

These mysterious seeds had some hidden conditions for germination, and seemed quite tricky to grow too. Even after he had managed to make the seeds sprout with much effort, the saplings withered and died if the sunlight was too hot or the wind was too strong. The plants also needed a very specific amount of water; with just a little more or less than the appropriate amount they soon went limp and perished.

Through passion, thinking and observation, Miretas had eventually succeeded in growing the Paradoria flowers into blooming.

“This is it! The nobles will all love this beautiful flower!”

His Paradorias were traded at high prices in the local market, and were later registered as one of the region’s specialties after further quality improvement. Having been able to sell all the flowers he had been personally growing for more than a year straight away as specialty goods, Miretas had made a fortune. He could have enjoyed fame and wealth, yet he challenged himself to cultivate various other plants too. He had purchased a piece of land and planted many different kinds of herbs, fruits and flowers as well as various rare, magical and marine species. By growing various magical ingredients that were known to exist in only extremely small quantities he had once more earned a great amount of fame, made a fortune, and he had also succeeded in developing improved breeds of plants.

Even when the prestigious guilds had been devastating the land through their wars and imposed heavy taxes on people, he had merely endured.

‘This world is a beautiful place. I’ll use my farming skills to help enrich everyone’s life.’

In the former territory of the old Dale Kingdom, he had continued his farming enterprise in order to provide delicious and filling meals not only for the users, but for all the residents of the region. He had eventually moved to the Arpen Kingdom after much enduring, but he still hadn’t expected that the Hermes Guild would go to such brutal length to destroy their enemy.

‘I was being too complacent, thinking that just preparing some combat-purpose plants would be enough. I was content with doing just one man’s share of work… But now I’ll show them the full extent of the power of land and trees.’

*****

“It hurts…”

“Urrgghh… I can’t believe this is how I die…”

The users who had contracted the Alkin disease were lying down on the ground; as it was an extremely contagious disease, this was their way of enabling other people to identify the patients and thus preventing them from coming close.

“Hold on just a bit longer. Mass Cure!”

Even the healing spells from the most determined priests did not have any effect. The condition of the patients rapidly deteriorated, and the illness ate away their Life Force little by little.

“Force of holy spirits, save this person suffering in agony. Healing Touch!”

“Over here!”

“There’s a sick person here, too. I think he’s about to die.”

The priests tried to replenish people’s lost Life Force, but the number of users sprawling on the ground only increased over time. Eventually the priests depleted all of their Mana to the point that they could no longer use Holy magic.

< You have contracted the Alkin disease.

The disease found its way into your system as your body’s resistances became weakened. Your limbs are quaking, and you are beginning to feel dizzy.

You suffer 11 points of damage to your Life Force every second.

Your maximum Life Force and Mana have been reduced.

Your Holy magic becomes less effective. >

Even the priests, with their excellent resistance against diseases and curses due to divine protection, began to be infected by the Alkin disease one by one.

“Stay away! There’s nothing we can do about this.”

“Don’t get close to them!”

“Everyone, please, save the others even if you’ll have to abandon us here.”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Despite everything they had tried in order to cure the patients, in the end even the users with holy professions had no choice but to avoid contact with the infected.

The users that were left out were lying on the ground, quarantined and perishing slowly.

“*Sob*. I really wanted to put up a good fight, even though I would lose… But now…”

“My level is over 300. I never thought I would be killed by some disease.”

“Those dirty Hermes bastards…”

Some of the users still had not abandoned hope, and were trying to hold out for as long as possible by chewing the herbs that help recover one’s Life Force. Despite their effort they could not avoid the inevitable; those who were at higher levels could last for a longer time than others, but they all eventually met their demise.

People were attempting to solve the problem by isolating the users who had contracted the disease, but the range of infection of the Alkin disease was quite extensive; even the users who had fled far distances became infected, and the number of patients continued to grow before the quarantine took effect.

*****

Halma, Margo, Rewiss and Gran.

The quartet of backstabbers had been enjoying themselves in the Garnav Plain.

“Let them have battles all they want, I couldn’t care less.”

“True. It’s really none of our concern.”

“Kukuku. I hope they’ll have a huge fight. We’ve come all the way here to watch the war; I want it to be worth our trouble.”

They had visited famous restaurants in the food alley where all kinds of delicacies could be found, and made friends with some users from the Grass Porridge Cult as well.

“A backstabber needs some personal connections for his job, too, you know.”

“Damn right. We need to find out who are the easiest pushovers here first and accompany them to a dungeon. And then… Stab!”

The quartet had not had a single care in the world as they had spent their time in the Garnav Plain; with good reason, too, as it was their plan to steer clear away from any fight and just enjoy the show from afar. This group of four backstabbers would still be enjoying themselves if the Versailles Continent itself was to be destroyed.

Even when the flaming meteors struck the Garnav Plain, they were merely impressed. A gigantic mushroom cloud rising from the ground, the trembling earth, and the scorching hot storm of flames blowing from the impact sites that seemed to suffocate them even from such a far distance… It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“Wow, incredible.”

“This is amazing. This is the true scale of a war!”

“The Hermes Guild sure doesn’t disappoint.”

“I wish we were like Lafaye or Bard Ray. Then I would make it my hobby to cast meteors on cities.”

“Yeah, knocking down all those towns… It sure would be so much fun.”

It was an emotional moment for the backstabber quartet. What a beautiful sight it was to behold… And even better was the opportunity which would present itself once this confusion has passed: an opportunity to take advantage of the wounded users.

“Let’s find some people who are dying from the injuries.”

“Yes. We can pretend to help and approach them, and then… Slit!”

“Kuhuhuhu. Are we already setting off to do some nasty things so early? This is exciting.”

The four backstabbers ran towards the impact sites of the meteors at full speed. The air was heated up like a frying pan, and blazing flames were shooting up from the ground.

“This place is dangerous.”

A user stepped in to block their path, but Halma spoke in a grave tone.

“That’s no problem. We need to get there to help people.”

“You might all die if you go further!”

In the past they probably would have gotten past this user by force, but over time the quartet had turned into a more advanced form of villains.

“What do our lives matter when we’re trying to do the right thing? What’s the point of holding my worthless life so dear?”

“Ah…”

“We’ll go there. If there’s anyone who’s still alive we’ll find them and bring them back.”

Having deeply moved the users standing nearby, they got closer to the area where the meteors hit.

“This used to be a food alley only a while ago. I remember there was a seafood restaurant here. I was pestering the owner to get some extra abalone.”

“But there’s nothing left now.”

The ground had caved in deeply, and the buildings had turned into ruin. A few people here and there were still moving, but they didn’t seem like they’d be able to last long due to the fires that were leaping up from the cracks on the land.

“Uuurgh…”

“Hey, there’s someone alive.”

The backstabber quartet moved toward him in delight. Although the surroundings were quite brightly lit because of the fire, they could carry out some evildoing while the nearby people’s sight was blocked. The person they approached had his lower body under a large rock. Even so, they could see his broad shoulder, well-developed neck muscles and dumpling ear.[1]

He was none other than Geomchi3.

“*Gasp*!”

“Oh, are you here to help?”

His low and strong voice followed the intimidating first impression. Hesitation engulfed the backstabbers as they were about to draw their blades behind the back.

‘He’s giving out a really dangerous aura.’

‘Is it really okay to kill him?’

‘We sure we can get away with this?’

After exchanging calculating glances with one another they cautiously stepped closer to him, but their human instinct was preventing them from attacking.

‘Wow, look at this mister’s killer gaze.’

‘Does he really have to look so fearsome? I’d rather fight a monster.’

It was the first time they felt a terror from simply looking at the muscles in someone’s arms bulging. At the same time, they realized who this person was.

‘This is one of those devilish swordsmen.’

Geomchi and his trainers and pupils were all very well known in the Arpen Kingdom.

Gran spoke to him worriedly.

“You’re hurt, sir.”

“Nothing too serious. Would you be able to move this rock?”

“Sure. We’ll help. Everyone, we’ve found a survivor over here, please assist!”

The four backstabbers removed the big rock that had been crushing Geomchi3’s body together with a few other users.

“*Gasp*!”

“Ah… Your leg’s broken.”

Geomchi3’s thigh was bent  outward at a gruesome-looking angle. As people can feel pain in Royal Road, naturally he must have been feeling quite hurt in such a situation. He was probably able to survive the meteor strike thanks to his high level, but it was also evident that he must have lost a significant amount of his Life Force and Stamina.

The four backstabbers just wanted to get out of there.

“We will go and bring a priest for you right now, sir.”

“A priest? No need, I can cure this myself.”

“You don’t look like a priest… Might you perhaps be a paladin, then?”

“No, not really. Do you have any medicinal herbs?”

Rewiss took out some red colored herb that helped treat wounds from his backpack.

“I have a little, but it wouldn’t help much.”

“Thanks, this will do.”

Geomchi3 lightly applied the red herb to his broken leg, and then grabbed it with both hands.

* Crrruuunch!! *

With the sound of the bones being forcibly snapped into place, his leg assumed its normal shape again.

“Yes. I haven’t done this for quite some time but it always works well. Well, this was the first time I did it while I’m in Royal Road, though.”

“…”

“Lululu.”

Geomchi3 wrapped a bandage around his wound as he hummed a tune. Curious, Halma asked him:

“That still wouldn’t be enough to make you move again, would it? You will need a priest to cast a healing spell for you, sir.”

“Well, I’m a Destroyer of Struggle.”

“You mean Battali Church’s…?”

“Yep, that one.”

The title ‘Destroyer of Struggle ’ had suddenly become famous recently because of Weed.

“What do you call it, ‘Fresh Power of Recuperation’? Thanks to this ability I can recover from any injuries quickly. That actually led me to a new hobby.”

“What would that be?”

Geomchi3 put his left arm to a nearby fire.

* Blaaaze! *

His flesh caught the fire and started to burn, yet he watched it completely unimpressed.

“This should be just enough to give me a fourth-degree burn. It’s pretty fun to increase my fire resistance like this.”

“…”

Although people did not feel the same amount of pain in Royal Road as they would in real life, this would still hurt quite a lot. It would also inflict mental damage that would be difficult to endure for any normal person, as one had to watch their own flesh burn.

“I’ve found out that if I burn my body until I’m just about to die, sometimes it will increase my Toughness and fire resistance. It’s quite a neat trick, don’t you think so?”

“Y-yes. Sure.”

“Royal Road is sure fun, but recently I began to feel that I’ve been living too carelessly in this world. I think it’s about time I try harder to become stronger.”

“I, I think you’ve become sufficiently strong, sir.”

Incredibly, Geomchi3 rose to his feet and grinned.

“So, my kind friends, let’s go and save some people together.”

In the end, the quartet of backstabbers accompanied him on the mission to rescue other survivors, meek as a group of lambs.

*****

The users who belonged to the Emergency Situation Room of the North were bitterly feeling their own carelessness.

“We couldn’t have imagined they’d be so strong. The military power of the Haven Empire is incredible, capable of mobilizing 20 Legions into one battlefield.”

“We must assume that they’ve continuously improved their combat strength several folds as they ruled over the Central Continent.”

“I didn’t expect they’d use such extreme means from the beginning.”

The Haven Empire might be called invincible, but the Northern users had always won against the empire. They had trusted the countless number of people gathering in the Garnav Plain, but now they were all cornered into a pinch in the earliest stage of the war.

Regret and self-questioning pierced deep into their hearts, but the fact remained that they had been subjected to attacks that were very difficult to counteract.

“The enemy troops are striking us from all directions. It is impossible to resist against them with our novice users.”

“They say we’re hardly doing any damage to the enemies.”

“Can we deploy some defensive units?”

“Needless to say, it’s not easy. It’s already difficult to block all of the 20 paths they are advancing on, and on top of that our high-level users’ strike forces have suffered too much damage.”

“The strike forces, too…? The enemy has been monitoring our every move.”

The Hermes Guild had sent out spies to scout the Garnav Plain. They had selected the places which had a lot of famous or influential users and cast meteors upon them. As some of the most important areas entirely evaporated on impact, many Northern users were instantly killed from the very beginning of the battle.

“We need to focus on dealing with the Phanzellope Order only. We must stop them by any means.”

“That’s difficult. Those phantom knights are all at levels over 600. Users under level 200 would be overwhelmed with fear just by getting close to them and be unable to fight.”

“They are immune to all physical and magical damage as well as holy spells… But surely they must have some kind of weakness too, right?”

“This Alkin disease is even trickier. More than 30 thousand users have contracted it.”

“But didn’t the report say only 7 thousand just half an hour ago?”

“The disease has spread further during that time. It might have reached over 100 thousand by now.”

There was an absolute mayhem in the Emergency Situation Room of the Grass Porridge Cult, as well. They had started making military preparations in order to slow down the advance of the Imperial Army, which was currently marching along 20 different routes, and to strike back, however meager their attempt might be. They issued mobilization orders to various porridge squads that had been waiting for the battle, and urgently came up with combat strategies including the composition of troops, positions and direction of attacks. However, they couldn’t help but feel quite lost with regard to the Phanzellope Order and the Alkin disease, as they were unable to find any way to act against them.

“We cannot just sit and let everyone get killed!”

“Yet what can we do? There’s no solution to this…”

“This is beyond frustrating; we need to do something…”

Lemon, the saint of the Grass Porridge Cult!

A university student in real life, she usually was something of a mascot for the Grass Porridge Cult, but now she had tied her hair back tightly with a string.

“I’ve just got a private message from Weed-nim!”

“…!”

With her words, a sudden silence fell on the tent that had been full of rumbling voices.

While there was no official command structure in the Grass Porridge Cult, there still existed a person who was capable of leading everyone in any kind of situation.

“Weed-nim said he’s going to come here right now!”

“…!”

*****

Using Yurin’s Picture Teleportation skill, Weed and his companions arrived at the Garnav Plain where the battle was taking place.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

They could hear the loud drum sounds and people shouting.

♪♫♬ We sing
Of victory, of glory, of love and future.
With cheerful, merry heart
With courage we possess, we rise.

You, who sculpted the stars,
Assembled the grounds,
And lead the people onwards. ♬♫♪

Marey the bard was singing the Song of Courage which was Weed’s theme song. More than ten thousand bards were playing the tune together with him, and the users in the Garnav Plain were also chorusing along in unison.

♪♫♬ The footsteps ahead, the traces of greatness
Put a warm smile on the faces of those
Who follow them, hand in hand.

You who wishes to dream
Do not be afraid to answer the call of fate
For we are not alone,
And will walk this path together. ♬♫♪

As ‘Music in the Wilderness’ — the bards’ Special Skill — came into effect, countless fragments of light began to form and mingle in the sky. They crossed paths, clashed, and merged into a bigger shape, creating a great display of colors.

“The mood here doesn’t seem to be so bad, does it?”

“Indeed. Strange, we’ve been reported that they were struck hard by the Hermes Guild.”

Pale and Bellot each made a remark.

As mighty as the Hermes Guild’s attacks had been, the Garnav Plain was a vast place, so the impact of the flaming meteors and the aftermath of the Alkin disease had not spread to the area where they presently were. Only the passionate atmosphere made by Marey’s singing filled the air.

“Huh? That guy over there just popped up out of thin air.”

“Teleport? That’s a Mage skill… then…”

“Hey, I think I’ve seen that person somewhere quite a lot… Is it just me?”

The users who were standing nearby pointed at Weed and his company. Naturally, Weed straightened his shoulders and stiffened his neck; one enjoyable benefit of seizing power and success in life would be having people recognize you wherever you go.

“That’s Pale-nim, the Battle Slave!”

“There’s the fisherman Zephyr-nim, too.”

“He’s really handsome. Such a well-proportioned body too.”

“That’s Hwaryeong-nim standing next to him. I didn’t recognize her at first as she’s wearing a robe.”

“Wow… Surka-nim, too! They are all here!”

However, what attracted people’s attention first was the sight of Pale and the other companions.

A typical effect of Weed’s ordinary looks!

The fact that he looked quite different than usual due to Fabio’s heavy armor he was wearing instead of the novice outfit also made him even more unrecognizable.

But eventually after a few second, people came to notice him.

“Weed-nim!”

“W-W-W-Weed-nim is here!”

♪♫♬The footsteps ahead, the traces of greatness
Put a warm smile on the faces of those
Who follow them, hand in hand.

You who wishes to dream
Do not be afraid to answer the call of fate
For we are not alone,
And will walk this path together. ♬♫♪

Marey’s song continued, but the excitement at Weed’s sudden appearance was spreading rapidly among the users.

“Weed-nim is here?”

“Is that really THE Weed-nim? The God of War?”

“Wow. And I’ve been watching the broadcast until just now!”

“It’s real! Weed-nim has come to us!”

Mages soared into the air for a better view, and the crowd was bustling with joy. In the span of mere 20, 30 seconds after the arrival of Weed and his companions, the word had reached everyone within 3 kilometers in radius through private messages and chat channels.

“Let’s go see him!”

“I’m such a huge fan. I’d die in peace if I can see him in person just once in my life.”

“Weed-nim! Could you speak a word, please?”

Wild cheers broke out from the gathering crowd. From their position the hovering mages could see the countless people in the Garnav Plain thronging in like a swarm of ants following the scent of a candy.

Having noticed that everyone was distracted, Marey the Bard was about to stop playing the music but Weed sent him a private message.

“Please, continue your song.”

Weed himself was a practitioner of art, although his experience as a sculptor was arguably closer to manual labor rather than creative work. Before Weed appeared Marey had been singing in great passion, harmonizing with his audience in performance. Weed did not want to interrupt the music that had the power to paint the very sky with colorful lights.

♪♫♬ Sing
Sing even louder!
You, who listen to the sound of forming wind,
The clear drops of water,
And the great tremor of the land.
Your pulsing souls burst
And shake the whole world.

Sing,
Raise your eyes and behold.
Let us all march in unison.
You, the people who share this time of miracle! ♬♫♪

The grand tune had hit its last note.

Weed, who was the focus of every user’s attention, raised his hands and began to applaud. Pale and the rest of the gang also clapped eagerly.

“Excellent!”

“That was some great piece of music.”

Thunderous applause and cheers rose from the audience as well.

< You listened to the Song of Courage.

You heard the song that was played by 10,239 Bards together, the largest performance in the whole continent.

For just one day, all of your recovery abilities will be improved to 200% of original efficiency.

Your physical condition receives a boost, increasing your maximum Stamina by 25%.

All stats increases by 7%.

Heroic Willpower!

The proficiency of your profession’s main skill increases by a few percents, [2] depending on the number of people standing nearby, up to maximum 12%.>

< You listened to Music in the Wilderness.

You acquire more knowledge thanks to your Insight.

Your performances become 20% more effective.

Your Knowledge increases by 2 points.

Your Art stat increases by 7 points. >

All the beneficial effects of listening to music!

Weed’s lips curled into a slightly evil smirk.

‘Bard is quite a nice profession, too. I think there are loads of things I can make good use of.’

Now he was even thinking of changing his original plan and selecting Bard as his next profession after he has mastered Necromancer skills.

A Bard who can make his undead minions dance!

‘I’m already good at singing, so I’ll just have to practice playing musical instruments a bit. I can play the harp so that could be helpful.’

A grave delusion that could potentially threaten the auditory sense of every Royal Road user!

Swordsmanship and other main combat skills could be improved faster when one had a related profession. However, Weed’s skill level had long reached over Advanced 8, and he had earned some additional proficiency in the Path of Struggle. Currently he was at 68% of Advanced 8 level — this meant he hardly needed to switch his profession to a swordsman, which was why he could seriously consider taking Bard as his new class. He had accumulated a ridiculous amount of Art stat as a sculptor, so it was quite possible that he would instantly be called a maestro after he switches to another artist profession such as Bard.

‘That way, I can expand my abilities in many different fields at once like octopus tentacles, in order to draw a big picture.’

This was quite analogous to a major conglomerate with many affiliated companies attempting to extend their business to street food market.

While Weed was deeply occupied with such a thought, Marey and the other performers were being deafened by the clapping and cheering sounds from the assembled people. They had set a new record for the best audience reaction each time they performed in the Garnav Plain, but now that the actual battle had begun they were receiving the most passionate response as yet.

“Ahem, hem.”

When Weed began to walk towards Marey, a path opened up in the middle of the crowd like a parting sea.

“Weed-nim…”

Marey was deeply touched, his eyes glistening with welling tears.

‘He must be coming to give me a word of encouragement.’

He had gathered many like-minded performers for this battle, making songs and practicing together. All of their effort and sweat, and the feeling of accomplishment! He thought his hard work in preparing a great performance for everyone was going to be acknowledged by none other than Weed.

Weed ascended onto the stage and spoke.

“Thank you for the song. I’d say you are not too bad at singing.”

“Thank you. I shall try harder.”

“I’d like to make a request, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure. I’m all ears, Weed-nim.”

Even before Weed said anything Marey’s mind was set. Weed allowed him to continue his performance until the end, and besides, he wished to observe Weed’s adventure and achievement as up close as possible. He was ready to accept any difficult request so he could befriend him.

“I’m thinking of singing a song myself, could you play it?”

“You mean your own song?”

“Yes, I’m going to sing it right now.”

“That would be an honor.”

Marey answered instantly without thinking, and immediately realized what exactly those things one called ‘Weed’s songs’ had generally been like so far.

*****

People knew that the army of the Haven Empire was currently invading from the outer edges of the Garnav Plain. They knew that another disaster like the Alkin disease, the Phanzellope Order of Phantom Knights or flaming meteors might fall upon them in any minute. Despite all that, what they were looking forward to the most at this moment was the song Weed was about to sing.

“Dear viewers, I think this warrants your attention; it seems Weed the God of War is going to start singing.”

“Weed’s song… this is to say he is announcing the beginning of a full-on war against the Haven Empire.”

Every broadcasting station was transmitting this sight in real time. In addition to the one million users concentrated on the area where Weed had showed up, the total of more than a hundred million people currently in the Garnav Plain were mostly watching this as well. Everyone who was not fighting against the Haven Imperial Army in this very moment was paying their attention to the broadcast.

“Weed-nim is going to sing?”

“He has finally come.”

Even the users who were dying with the Alkin disease were watching Weed through their crystal balls. Until now, all they could do was to be beaten down hard by the Hermes Guild, but a hopeful thought dawned on them that Weed might be able to change the current flow of battle. He had always achieved things that were deemed extremely difficult or outright impossible. His talents and luck would have played a part, but all of his achievements had been based on hard work and readiness to take on any challenge.

The MCs of the broadcasting programs raised their voices in eagerness when Weed appeared.

“There was another instance of Weed’s singing during fight against the Immortal Legion. He made such unbelievable outcomes possible after that song.”

“That song of Karichwi the Orc is a true classic. Musicians might not agree, but it has gained such popularity among children that there’s hardly any kid who doesn’t know the song.”

“Yes, I heard that kindergarten students often sang that song together when they were on a school trip.”

*****

After agreeing to play the song with the other bards, Marey asked Weed:

“Do you have the score of your song?”

“No.”

“Then how should I play to your singing?”

“You can just improvise once the song begins.”

“Ah…”

A performance in which one must create music on the spot according to the vocalist’s singing!

It would be a risky and highly difficult task, but Marey had studied applied music in university after he became a Bard in game. With his knowledge of song composition that he had worked on so diligently along with plenty of experience, it didn’t seem so impossible to pull it off. Most importantly, the thought of taking on a new challenge stimulated his burning passion. Marey wished to present his audience of one hundred million people gathering in this place with music that would be remembered throughout centuries.

“Still, in order to make a better performance, I think it would be a good idea if you could let me know the song’s rough structure or the first few lines in advance.”

“Well, I haven’t started making it yet.”

“You… haven’t?”

“Yes, I’m going to do it now.”

Marey felt his blood pressure rising, but tried to regain his composure and said:

“Maybe you can tell me the song’s main subject or lyrics first. If we know the lyrics we can at least grasp the general atmosphere of the song.”

“Yeah, I’m going to come up with the lyrics now, too.”

“…”

“Just let your soul go with the flow of music. Good music comes from following your own emotions.”

Weed had absolutely no hesitation in saying something that only those who devoted their entire life to music might have the authority to say. Marey pressed his right hand to his forehead as he asked Weed:

“Out of curiosity, is that how you wrote all of your other songs before?”

“Yes.”

“If one depends solely on improvisation when composing-“

“Well, I haven’t had any problems with my method so far.”

When Weed stood in the middle of the stage full of confidence, Marey was suppressing the urge to smash the back of his head with his baton.

‘In front of the audience this size, we’re playing an improvisation song without even knowing the main melody, following the lead of this tone-deaf idiot…’

Doubts arouse in his mind, threatening to question his whole life dedicated to music, but Marey sent a signal to the ten most talented Bards on the spot. As they were going to play an impromptu, it was imperative that different parts do not get tangled up in the middle of the song, so Marey first selected only the most skillful performers who would be able to follow Marey’s lead. Among them there were a few users who had also learned the Special Skill of Bards like Marey. The eleven greatest Bards of the Versailles Continent were currently all present in this stage.

– Marey: everyone, brace yourself. However low your expectations, this music might still fail to uphold them.

The Bards clenched their teeth in determination.

‘Alright, bring it on. Whatever you do, we’re going to nail it.’

‘A song that heralds the beginning of the war… He will most probably choose a grand and majestic melody. That means we could just stick to simple rhythms…’

‘Should I perhaps intentionally play off-beat to go with his singing?’

Weed did not care much about what the Bards were thinking.

“Before I sing, excuse me for a moment, please.”

After he asked the crowd to wait, he pulled out his carving knife.

“Oooooohh!!”

The mood heated up the moment the audience saw Weed’s knife. With so many sculptures that had been made in the Garnav Plain, the popularity of sculpting was tremendous among people.

“As this is not any ordinary stage, I’ll need to carve something.”

*Scrape Scrape!*

The knife began to move smoothly around a large rock. His hands were so magically swift they were almost able to carve shapes as soon as he pictured them in his head.

The eyes furrowed with selfish-looking wrinkles and the mouth hanging open with greed, and the nose full of desires!

The large and thick teeth protruded out of the lips, and the muscles and scars looked savage.

As it was such a widely-known figure, the crowd recognized the sculpture instantly.

“No way, that is…”

“Kyaaaah!”

“That’s so gorgeous!”

“Karichwi! Karichwi!”

Weed was carving a sculpture of Karichwi the Orc.

One may strain their eyes to search for any artistic value from this carving, and it would be to no avail. Ever since the war against the Immortal Legion became a hot issue among the public, countless sculptors took up the challenge to carve a sculpture of Karichwi the Orc, yet no one had been successful in that task. They might be able to replicate his appearance, but they would not dare to make a sculpture of the Orc that perfectly expressed all the subtle emotions — the endless craving, obsession, spite, and the greed overflowing all the way from the eyes to the jagged teeth — contained in his face. The sculptures of Karichwi were the reason why Weed was known to possess the most outstanding skills among the sculptors.

‘Money. Money. Money. Money. Money.’

Weed was thinking of money as he made the Orc’s sculpture. One would not notice it unless they observed it very closely, but compared to the past, this Karichwi’s belly was ever slightly more bulging, symbolizing Weed’s richness of mind due to his current wealthy state. However, as the saying ‘the rich are often stingier than the poor’ goes, the Orc’s eyes looked even more intimidating, and his teeth were sharper. The thighs that looked like large tree trunks had also become thicker, and the veins were bulging even more aggressively. Weed managed to successfully carve the figure of Karichwi the Orc that depicted how he would have looked if he became meaner as he aged.

An absolutely overwhelming sculpting technique.

The crowd could see in person how Weed’s knife carved the statue of Karichwi without a single pause.

“This is so marvelous…”

“It’s a sculpture that conveys many emotions… Yet his hands never stop.”

“I can see those artist-type professions are truly on another level from the rest, especially Sculptor.”

“Yes. I think the difficulty level really cannot be compared. So you have to be THAT good to become a master, huh?”

Weed probably would have gone through quite a lot of thought if he had been trying to carve a true piece of art, but Karichwi the Orc was one of the easiest things to carve for him, next to deer, foxes and rabbits that he had made so many sculptures of in order to sell them as souvenirs and rip off other users.

“Sculpture Transformation!”

Weed also transformed into Karichwi using Sculpture Transformation skill in front of the audience. His limbs elongated, his entire body turned into muscles as he raised his arms upward. His ample-sized human arms had changed into those of an Orc, rough and wild looking.

Weed’s showmanship to electrify his audience!

“Oooooooaaahh!!”

“Karichwi! Karichwi!”

After his transformation, somebody even threw him a glaive from under the stage.

“Tssskk! Tssskk!!”

He grabbed the glaive and swung it, making an intimidating pose.

Products such as plush dolls and emoticons of Karichwi were sold in tremendous quantities every day.

‘After I transform into him one more time in such a large stage, the sales will surely go up, too.’

No matter how busy he was, Weed always had time to spare to support his character products that were already selling like hot cakes! That was the true spirit of Karichwi the Orc that no other sculptor would be able to reproduce.

“Tsssshhhkk!”

As time was running out, Weed quickly tuned his nasal voice and went straight into the improvised singing.

♪♫♬ The night has grown dark.
The meteors fell, and the plague is spreading.
Tsschk.
Is it because of the darkness?
We are falling into sadness. ♪♫♬

Following Weed’s improvised lyrics, Marey and the other Bards began to play their instruments in a quiet tone.

‘The words aren’t as bad as I expected.’

‘I guess it could have been worse. At least this sounds like a song.’

Thanks to the Bards’ voice amplifying skill, Weed’s tune reached smoothly into the distance even when he was singing quietly.

‘As surprising as it is, this is actually quite passable as a song.’

♪♫♬ Bring it on, world.
Tchtchtch, Choochoochoo. ♪♫♬

Suddenly, the song began to pick up tempo. If the first few lines were to be compared to a leisurely stroll, now he was at a full sprint.

♪♫♬ Swords, blades, spears, axes, bows, maces!
I will swing anything to destroy you!
Tsshhtt!
Spells, Spirits, Summoning, Curses!
I will use anything to crush you!
Tchtchtchkk!  ♪♫♬

Weed used Lion’s Roar and yelled at the top of his lungs. The real fun of singing was to shout the lyrics loudly and passionately — he was demonstrating all the skills that he had learnt from the drunken passersby during the early hours of dawn.

♪♫♬ Come, come at me.
I’ll wipe out all of you and get the spoils.
It’s mine once I’ve picked it up.
Kill them all. Kill them all!
Tcchhiiiit!!  ♪♫♬

Weed’s Lion’s Roar resounded throughout the Garnav Plain. What he was doing was more like speaking out what he wanted to say rather than singing, but this still sounded exciting to people somehow. It was a merry tune that seemed to blow away people’s worries about having to fight the powerful Hermes Guild.

♪♫♬ Let us fight all night until the morning comes,
Eat, and drink, and eat, and drink,
Tchchchitt!!

We are going to be rich today.
I came, I saw, I ate!
Let us fight shoulder to shoulder.
Everyone fight together!
Tchwichwichit!!  ♪♫♬

Moved by Weed’s cheerful tune, Marey and the Bards were ecstatically continuing their performance. They were busy playing their instruments to keep up with the lyrics shouted out in Lion’s Roar. Eventually the song came to an end with a loud, nasal note, and silence fell.

Only after they finished playing did the Bards come to their senses, as if a bucket of ice cold water suddenly poured on them.

‘That was a complete and utter failure in front of a hundred million people.’

‘How humiliating… It was so cringe-worthy my whole body is about to be permanently twisted. I’m going to beat up my pillow in embarrassment before I go to sleep tonight.’

‘I’ve just left a dark spot in my personal history that I’d never be able to forget.’

The Bards looked at Weed who had just finished his song. Still in the form of Karichwi the Orc, he was spreading his arms widely as if we was about to embrace the whole world.

‘Crazy. He’s crazy.’

‘Ah… I want to run away. I’m so ashamed.’

At that moment, someone in the crowd began to clap their hands, which soon turned into thunderous applause.

“Hooray for Weed!”

“We will wipe out that petty Hermes Guild!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

His lyrics and pitch were all terrible, but his song still sounded cheerful and energetic. Most importantly, it was none other than Weed who was doing the singing in such a loud and confident voice, which in turn infected the audience with the same optimism.

“Woooaaah!”

“This is what I’m talking about, man.”

“Yes, what’s there for us to lose? Some days you’ll just have to endure hard time and fight.”

The users who were currently in different regions while watching this through crystal balls also felt their worries and frustration go away. They had all been growing quite afraid inwardly after they’d seen the attacks from the Hermes Guild.

Death, defeat and conquest — many grim words were lingering in their minds, but Weed’s merry song was enough to rid their hearts of such negative emotions.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

If they could fight without regret, that would be enough.

Weed let out another Lion’s Roar.

– Time to wake up. Everyone, attack!

Most of the users in the Garnav Plain who were watching the broadcast cheered at this.

“Let’s go and smash everything down!”

“Kill them all!”

“Feast, and play!”

*****

Calcus the Slayer, leader of the 4th Legion!

The area which he was in charge of was closer to the impact site of the flaming meteors.

“We will penetrate the enemy camp quicker than everyone else.”

Having been stationed in the Tullen Region, where the rebel forces had a strong presence, the Fourth Legion had undergone a constant reinforcement and enhancement of its troops. The imperial legions varied in their military strength, and the Fourth Legion was second only to the First Legion in terms of the size of its forces.

“The Knights have broken through the enemy lines!”

“The Rangers have reached their assigned location.”

“Wipe out everything in the area near the base.”

The Fourth Legion moved around decisively. Reducing the numbers of the Northern users was not the focus of their mission; the Hermes Guild users and the Knights opened up a path, and the rest of the troops followed their lead. Their advance had not been delayed one bit in the outskirt of the Garnav Plain, nor did they slow down when they were penetrating their way through the crowd.

“Their numbers are all they’ve got. This is not even an army.”

Calcus smirked darkly.

The sight of the Knights tearing apart the tightly joined throngs of users — that much was enough to terrify the novice players standing nearby, rendering them unable to show proper resistance.

“I might as well beat up little kids; this is too simple.”

Kill, and kill again.

The more users rushed to strike at them, the higher the mountain of bodies the legion left behind as they pushed forward.

– Steer: Weed has appeared!

He heard the news of Weed finally showing up, but that also failed to stir any sense of urgency in him. Calcus was feeling disappointed because of the weakness of the Northern users. There was a minority of users at level 400s or 500s, but all they managed to do was throwing themselves upon his troops in small groups only to be crushed by the force of the legion. After a few encounters followed by overwhelming defeat, even the high-level Northern users were busy fleeing from the battle.

“Go. Prove that we are the mightiest legion in the Imperial Army!”

A commander who had never experienced defeat, Calcus encouraged his soldiers to march forward.

“Let’s fight back!”

“Stop the Imperial Army, everyone!”

“Do not fear. We’re not fighting to the death anymore; we’re choosing to die in style!”

Then, before he realized, the flow of the battle had suddenly turned. One moment the Northern users were all falling before them hopelessly, the next they were aggressively lunging at the Imperial troops.

“Oooehooeh!”

“Here we come.”

“Wipe them all!”

The same crowds of users who had been watching the advance of the Imperial Army in awe and terror were now rushing in to fling themselves at the troops. Like moths to flames they all turned to grey as they lost their lives, but there were even more users running towards them from behind with any weapons they could find in their hands.

“They’re still worthless newbies.”

“Knights, break through them!”

Calcus’ army dealt with the users striking at them from all directions. But even as they continued defeating the enemies, they were beginning to feel the difference between swimming in a calm sea and fighting against fierce waves.

*****

People who heard Weed’s song through their crystal balls grabbed their weapons.

“We’ve come here to fight, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

“So what if we’re at disadvantage? I don’t want to be so calculating while I’m in game.”

“Let’s go, wherever we can!”

Once a few users first stepped forward to take initiative, they were joined by countless more, gaining in numbers frighteningly quickly.

“We’re heading to the First Legion.”

“Then we’ll attack the Second!”

“We need to go fight the Third Legion, too, but they are too far away… I trust our brothers and sisters in the nearby areas will find a way to deal with them, so let’s get to the closest ones, first.”

“Yes, let’s just go somewhere. We can at least die fighting them.”

There was no one to take command of these people; high-level users were often seen following the lead of novice players.

“Wow, what is this sudden change of atmosphere?”

“I know, this is so thrilling.”

Hegel, Bella, Rumi and Nide.

The students of the Korea University’s Virtual Reality Department also found themselves carried along by this shift in mood.

The crowd was walking towards the directions from which the Imperial Army was attacking, with weapons ready.

The drive and energy coming out from the sight of the enormous number of people marching decisively to battle!

They had been taken aback by the unexpected crises such as the meteor strike and the Alkin disease, but the moment Weed had made his appearance everyone regained their will to fight.

“I don’t think they can win this. Do we really have to go and throw away our lives like this?”

When Hegel remarked with a frowned face, Rumi lightly kicked him in the shin.

“Hey! Why do you have to be so negative? We’re just saying we should fight with these people.”

“And why should we do that? It’s only our loss if we get killed.”

“Is everything about profits and gains with you?”

“Yes. I want to avoid any losses if I can help it.”

Hegel was going to stay back and watch, when he suddenly noticed something in the sky.

*Shuuaaaaah.*

‘Is this the wind blowing?’

Something was obscuring the stars.

– Quuuack!

– Tweeet!

They could hear the sound of the chattering birds.

“Dancing Lights!”

A ray of light conjured by a mage in the crowd shot up into the air, and people could see that the sky was completely covered by birds, with a warrior riding on the back of each of them—the Avians, and a squad of airborne troops who were the selected few among the Northern users. Possessing high mobility, they began to envelop the night sky with their wings soon after they appeared.

Gulp.

Hegel swallowed nervously.

The Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom!

The two main forces of the Versailles Continent were really about to collide with each other.

‘Maybe I should take part in such an important battle? This would be a story I can proudly tell people anywhere I go.’

Being lost in his own thought, Hegel belatedly realized that all of his other friends had already left and hurriedly rushed off to join them.

*****

Zest, the Mage of Truth.

Having started Royal Road in the Central Continent, his name had long been widely known to the public. He was one of the top 3 highest-ranked Mages of the game, and had spent his earlier days in the Haven Kingdom because Haven and Kallamore were two powerful kingdoms that had far-reaching territories during the beginning stage of Royal Road. This later led him to join the Hermes Guild as well, but some time ago he had decided to move over to the Arpen Kingdom.

“Sure, the Hermes Guild provides any support you need, but not for free.”

When the Central Continent was going though the time of turmoil, he naturally played an important part in many wars, but as the Haven Empire came to oppose the Arpen Kingdom, he decided that he wanted to remain an honorable person to his friends. He would not sell his honor to become one of the lackeys of the Hermes Guild.

“Purification of Propagating Flames!”

From a distance, Zest cast a spell targeting at the 8th Legion.

A long-range magical spell!

Cleansing flames fell from the sky upon the Haven Empire’s camp and burst into great blazes.

“The Fall of the Earth.”

Seeing the empire’s Knights charging towards people, he again cast an earth-binding spell. The ground upon which the Knights were marching split into two and swallowed them.

< Your mana has been depleted.

The current remaining mana reserve is 4%. >

The long ranged area-of-effect spells consumed a lot of mana.

“I’ve done what I can; I should take a rest for a bit.”

Just as Zest took a step back, there was a shift in the formation of the 8th Legion — the users of the Hermes Guild began to run towards Zest’s position.

“Oh, drat! Fly!”

Zest used a flight spell to retreat, but the chase of the Hermes Guild was extremely swift. Users with professions that involved high speed such as Thieves, Assassins and Rangers were running after him. As the distance between Zest and his pursuers was about to close, the Northern users who had seen this came to his aid.

“Stop them, we need to stop them!”

“Quickly, run!”

Whenever the Hermes Guild users used their skills, a mass of Northern users were killed as they blocked the attacks with their bodies. Despite that, they were trying to buy some time for Zest to escape even if they had to sacrifice so many lives.

“We must kill him now.”

“Zest! You won’t be able to run from us.”

Mage — the profession capable of killing hundreds of enemies with a single spell. The Hermes Guild members that belonged to the 8th Legion continued their chase persistently.

200 meters, 100 meters… The distance between them was closing fast.

“Urgh.”

“Kuuargh!”

“Aargh!”

But while penetrating the Northern users in high speed to pursue Zest, the Hermes Guild users suddenly began to fall and die on the spot one by one.

“There’s an Assassin here!”

It was already too late when they realized it: the Assassin was hunting the guild members amidst the crowd of the Northern users. In no time there were only ten of them left standing, and they were in the middle of the enemy troops.

“Fall back!”

The Hermes Guild users tried to get back to rejoin the 8th Legion.

“Stop them!”

The Northern users blocked their path once more. Not wanting to delay their retreat even a little, the Hermes Guild users tried to escape the battlefield using powerful area-of-effect skills. However, the deep gloom of the early dawn was upon them. A blade sprang forth from the shadows, slashing their legs, waists and throats in quick succession.

“*Gurgle*…”

“I can’t die like this…”

One by one, they were wiped out down to the every last member.

The subtle disguise, sneak attacks, and the strike in the dark using illusion skills; it was an Assassin wearing a black garment that emerged from the bodies of the dead Hermes Guild members.

It was Seasoned Crab, the shadow that brings death.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] I’m not really sure what this ‘dumpling ear’ actually means, I think it is one of the distinctive features of the Geomchi family (maybe their ears have some unusual shape?), so I decided to just translate the words literally.

↑ [2] What increases here is a bit unclear, so this is our best guess. A literal translation would be “potential in profession”, but we’re not exactly sure what it refers to and have chosen to interpret it like this.

Chapter 4: The Fight of Karichwi the Orc

The entire crowd in the area went wild after Weed had finished singing.

“Victory is ours!”

“Please, vanquish the Haven Empire for us!”

“That’s Karichwi the Orc! He looks so much scarier in person.”

People who had directly witnessed Karichwi’s singing were unable to hold back their excitement.

– Tchwick, Tchwik, Chitchwiit.

Weed spiritedly waved his arms and began to dance, moving his shoulders up and down.

The dance of the gigantic Orc, Karichwi!

His moves could only be described as those of tipsy middle-aged men and made no conventional sense as a dance, but the audience found themselves deeply absorbed in the atmosphere all the same.

“That’s so cool!”

“Kyaah. Just look how relaxed he is.”

“You are the best. Weed-nim!”

The crowd was even more enthusiastic than they had been during the construction of the pyramids. They had reached a state where they seemed ready to respond positively to anything that he would say.

‘This is my chance.’

Weed’s sharp eyes ran through the audience like a scanner. More than a hundred thousand people were gathered but a few of them especially drew his attention, either because their equipment and clothes stood out from the rest of the crowd or because they otherwise looked highly strong and competent: they were the so-called high-level users. Weed knew the name of each and every user who was above level 500 in the Arpen Kingdom, although they wouldn’t be aware of this. Mooching off the strong and powerful more thoroughly than a leech was a basic virtue of a tyrant.

Weed called them out loudly from the stage.

“Ghoragoll-nim. Tssswich.”

“What? Me?”

“Yes. Please come over here to the stage. Tchhwick!”

One by one, Weed selected and called 40 users in total and asked them to come upon the stage.

“Why did he call us?”

“I’m not sure…”

It was apparent that these users were quite confused as they quietly whispered among themselves. None of them had any personal connection to Weed. Only about seven of them had even brushed past him once in Morata, bought his sculptures or joined in a construction project. They were quite puzzled and also curious to find out how Weed knew their names. In other words, they were in their most susceptible state to be used and taken advantage of.

“Chhwick. Please allow me a moment.”

As 40 users stood there waiting, Weed demonstrated his sculpting skills on blocks of wood.

‘Waiting often raises people’s expectation. And the power of imagination forms the basis of any fraud.’

Some would say that greed and imagination are two of the things that make life so enjoyable.

Still in the body of a monstrous orc, Weed wielded his small carving knife. In no time, a lion, a tiger, an elephant, a hippo, a giraffe and various other sculptures of animals were made. They couldn’t even be counted as Fine pieces, just ordinary carvings made out of wood. And he attached a long rod into the stomach of each of the wooden animals so that it would be easy to raise them high above the crowd.

“Ghoragoll-nim. Tschwit. I hereby appoint you the captain of the Lion Unit.”

“…Sorry?”

It was so out of the blue that Ghoragoll just stared at him wide-eyed.

“Lead Northern users to battle and stop our enemies. Tsschwich!”

Ghoragoll — a user at level over 510 who had started the game in the Central Continent and later moved over to the North. He once belonged to one of the prestigious guilds, but was fed up with the whole situation after the guild lost its territory,[1] which led to his decision to move to the North.

“Do you really trust me?”

“Of course I do. Tsschwiit. I’ve heard a lot of admirable things about you.”

Ghoragoll was a generally kind and generous person which made him popular among the public, and had an excellent sense of combat.

“Understood. I will fight until my very bones turn to dust. I shall not take a single step back from the battleground.”

Weed called the rest of the 40 users one by one and assigned them all as the squad captains as he handed them each a flag of an animal sculpture. They were deeply moved by the fact that they had just been appointed as captains by Weed while so many users and broadcasting companies were watching. They thought they had been given incredible honor and authority.

“It’s an honor beyond comparison.”

“Those bastards from the Haven Empire won’t be able to come any closer without stepping over my dead body.”

“I shall never let you down.”

At this moment, Weed was more than some famous user who was called ‘the God of War’. Being the king of the Arpen Kingdom gave him great authority, and he currently had more than a hundred million users watching in the background. He was making use of the high viewer ratings to his advantage!

The high-level users were determined to fight the Haven Empire to death for him after receiving a crude piece of wooden sculpture-flag that they wouldn’t normally pay a single Silver coin for if it hadn’t been made by Weed.

“I’m recruiting members of the Lion Squad. We’re going to head straight into the battlefield, so join right now!”

“We are the Elephant Squad. Let us trample on the bodies of our enemies just like our squad name!”

The squad captains assembled the users in the plain and rushed towards the directions from which the Haven Imperial Army was advancing. Their heads must be filled with nothing but the thought of winning an epic victory by any means. True, they wouldn’t have much of a choice other than fighting to the best of their abilities when all the broadcasting companies and the one hundred million people were watching them closely!

‘Which means I can exploit them without having to pay them, not to mention the fact that I don’t have to take any responsibility if they die while fighting.’

No remuneration!

No insurance!

Weed had just gained new battle commanders who would give their bodies and souls to fight for him by simply calling their names in front of the crowd and giving them a cheap sculpture.

“Rooargh! Let’s go!”

“Fight! Defeat our enemies!”

Even after part of the assembled users had left following the lead of the squad captains, the atmosphere among the remaining crowd was still incredibly excited.

Weed called out some more people and started making more sculptures. The higher leveled users in the audience were looking expectant.

‘What if…’

‘He’s doing it again?’

‘There’s still a chance. Maybe he’ll choose me to be a squad captain, too?’

And indeed, he began to assign a new batch of squad captains!

While there were a lot of users gathering in the Garnav Plain, they certainly did not have enough commanders who could lead them. In addition to this, due to the sudden assault from the Haven Empire the users were currently all tangled up and disorganized. If they went on to fight the empire without having established an appropriate command structure, they would not be able to fully utilize what combat strength they had. Despite their great number, once a few of them choose to flee rather than fight, the entire army can dissolve and collapse in but a second. The Northern users who had come all the way since they first started the game in Morata had unshaken will to fight for the kingdom, but even so there would be a considerable number of other users mingled in this crowd who were planning to just step back and watch if the situation doesn’t seem to favor their side.

‘Good management is crucial for a big organization. I need to make sure nobody’s going to sit idly doing nothing. I can win this battle if I can get everyone to work.’

So the solution he had come up with was to issue an excessive amount of appointment letters.

Weed assigned many strong and competent users as squad captains, making them fight for him. But he also knew that not every user would become loyal to him just because they were given honor and authority to command.

“Darby-nim, Tsschwit. I’ve heard a lot about your ordeal in the eastern shores. Ttschwiik!”

“Thank you. It’s such an honor to be recognized by you, Weed-nim.”

“Chwiick. Provonce-nim, I believe you have been giving out bandages to novice users every week? Tsschwit. I’m quite amazed by your dedication.”

“It’s really nothing compared to what you have done for everyone, Weed-nim.”

“Makte-nim, Tschwiwiik, I’ve hoped to meet you someday for so long; it’s good to finally be introduced to you. Chwiick.”

“It’s an incredible honor, Weed-nim.”

Compliments and pretense of familiarity — that much was enough to fill the newly appointed squad captains with determination to give their lives in the fight. Most people’s way of thinking was simple; they were willing to fight for someone who appreciated their ability and worth. And these users had just been recognized by Weed, the king of the Arpen kingdom and the hero of Royal Road.

‘Weed-nim had been watching my steps all along.’

‘Wow… Am I going to become famous now?’

‘I wasn’t aware I had such a great reputation! Weed-nim knew about it, which means everyone knows about me, right?’

Of course, this had all been another one of Weed’s little tricks.

– Mapan: About 340 meters to the east, you’ll see a person carrying two swords on his back. That’s Dusso, a famous dual-blade swordsman. He participated in the construction of the Goddess Freya statue.

– Pale: A famed archer named Zeveh is currently approaching from 420 meters to the south. I’ve once done a quest with him. He’s an excellent ranged sniper, and likes it when people compliment his looks.

– Surka: To the north! The monks from the Namad Monastery are coming towards your position. I think they’d be interested in the position of Lords.

Weed’s companions had been feeding him information on the talented users whose abilities were yet to be discovered. For every high-level user who found themselves caught in Weed’s net, he issued a letter of assignment and sent them to areas where battles were taking place. Of course, most of them would probably die while fighting, but wars always required sacrifice.

Weed hired more than a hundred new squad captains, thus establishing some control over the users who had assembled in the Garnav Plain seeking for something to do. Depending on their fame or connections, some squad captains were leading tens of thousands of users following them to battle.

As the news of Weed’s arrival spread many users continued to flock in, so the crowd around the stage didn’t show any sign of thinning.

“Me! Please select me as a squad captain, too! I’m at level 484.”

“I wish to fight, too. I’m a Royal Knight of the Arpen Kingdom. I’m confident that my Contribution Points are second to none.”

“I’m originally from Bamboo Shoot Porridge, and I’m online for about 22 hours every day. I want to become like Weed-nim!”

The naïve and innocent users were begging him to pick them as squad captains. The war that had begun with the sudden assaults from the Haven Empire had now turned into something fun and exciting after the appearance of Weed.

Over time, the reports from his companions became less frequent, and the number of talented users among the remaining audience decreased. In selecting the commanders Weed needed to take into consideration various factors such as the candidate’s level, personality and leadership, as they will take control over at least several tens of thousands other users. Even so, it would be wrong of him to simply disperse the remaining people here; once you start eating a meal, you must finish it to the last grain of cooked rice in the bowl. Weed yelled out a Lion’s Roar.

– Everyone else who’s still here: you will fight together with me! Tcchhwwiick!

“Woooooaaah!”

“Kyaaaahh!”

“Tchtchtcchtchtchwiit!!”

The entire plain seemed to explode from the audience’s cheering screams. The heated atmosphere gave them the illusion that the ground was actually shaking.

– Let’s go. Tchwick. Let’s fight. Tsshwit. And let’s feast! Tsschwit!

“Hooray!”

“Please, defeat them all for us!”

“Let’s kill them all!”

– We will head towards the 11th Legion. Tsshwick!

Weed chose the 11th Legion as his target. It may look like a random selection, but the important reason behind it was the fact that there was currently a live broadcast by CTS Media.

“GO!”

As Weed in the guise of the confident orc Karichwi began to march, all the users standing around the stage followed him.

The advance of an endless line of users!

The parade gained in size several times over due to the users who kept coming to join them on the way. Several million people assembled as if it was nothing, and more users came online to become part of their march. With Weed taking the lead, the confidence felt among the crowd was through the roof.

“Having to face us… This 11th Legion has the worst luck.”

“Wow. I can’t believe I’m actually going to fight with Weed-nim. I’ve been looking forward to this battle for days, and it’s well worth the wait.”

“Will we win, or lose?”

“I’m not sure if it’s even possible for us to lose with this number.”

“Yes, just look around you. There are so many famous users!”

The high-level users both from the Central and Northern Continent responded enthusiastically to Weed’s calling. Due to their newly assigned position as squad captains, they were very keen to win his favor and gain some fame and popularity. Marey and the other Bards who had been following them in order to watch the battle against the 11th Legion were mentally hit by the second wave of shock.

“I don’t understand; how can people react so passionately to a song with terrible lyrics that was all off-pitch?”

“They say music can move people’s mind, but I’ve never imagined such strong influence would be possible.”

“He’s certainly more extraordinary than what I’ve heard.”

“The moment he turned into Karichwi the Orc, everyone became completely mesmerized by his presence.”

*****

Ultar, the Legion commander in charge of the 11th Legion, was demonstrating his strong charisma.

“Beat them all to death! Teach a lesson to these uncivilized worms; let them know what it means to resist against the Empire!”

The Imperial troops charged in, eliminating the Northern users. Some soldiers were wielding a Flaming Sword, and the Northern users who were struck by their blades were engulfed in a fire taller than 5 meters and soon perished.

< Chain of Flames has been triggered. >

The fire spread to the nearby users, exploding and terrifying the crowd. The Hermes Guild members were also running at the head of the marching troops, in the middle of a heated battle.

– Steer: Weed has made his appearance.

They did not care at all about the news of Weed’s arrival.

‘The other legions will take care of him.’

With no less than 20 different Legions advancing simultaneously, it didn’t really feel like their problem.

Swinging weapons and using skills against the overflowing enemies everywhere… While committing such a vicious massacre, they were intoxicated by their own power.

‘This is fun. It’s the real fun of playing Royal Road, slaughtering the weaker users. For too long we have been forced to restrain ourselves from such entertainment…’

– Steer: Weed is currently approaching the 11th Legion!

“…”

The new intel gave Ultar and the other Hermes Guild users a pause.

‘Weed is coming to get us?’

‘He’s going to be here?’

Ultar wore a contented smile. He himself was one of the strongest users in Royal Road, ranked within the top 30 in terms of level.

‘I’m going to fight Weed.’

Excitement and fear that sent tingling sensations to his limbs… This was a welcome feeling to a person such as him who enjoyed combat so much.

Lafaye sent him a private message.

– Lafaye: I believe you have already heard the news.

“Yes. Weed is coming, with quite a lot of people at his tail.”

– Lafaye: And you are confident of your victory, I assume?

“I’m sure we will be able to wipe them all out. Losing is not an option that is worth any consideration.

– Lafaye: I trust in your strength, of course, but I sent an order to a few other Legions nearby to support you just in case.

“Hmm. I don’t think that was necessary…”

The ever-cautious attitude of the Heads of the Hermes Guild had always got on Ultar’s nerves. He acknowledged Lafaye’s great contribution in leading the Hermes Guild to its current status, but Ultar still felt his actions were often too tentative.

‘If it had been up to me, I’d probably have taken over the whole Northern Continent and completed our conquest a long time ago. It’s foolish not to use all the power you’ve got.’

Even so, he had to admit that he was quite impressed by the Summon Flaming Meteors spell and the Alkin disease.

– Lafaye: This is just in accordance with the battle plans we had established earlier. But I’m afraid it will take some time for the other legions to arrive at your position, as they would have to break through the enemy troops first.

“*Snicker*. It won’t matter if they get more delayed. Let them take all the time they need.”

– Lafaye: I am also trying to hasten the preparation process for another casting of the Summon Flaming Meteors spell. It will be available in about an hour. We will also make sure to support you with as much use of Spears of Annihilation as possible.

Ultar struck down a dwarf warrior who was rushing at him.

“Understood.”

– Lafaye: I wish you luck in the coming battle.

In all honesty, Ultar couldn’t help but feel that all those contingency measures were a bit too much, but he did not refuse Lafaye’s offers. He knew that it would be forever recorded in history as his own accomplishment if he could seize the victory here.

*****

The Avians had arrived to join Weed. As their numbers filled the whole sky, the moon and stars were obscured from sight. The user who was the captain of these Avians, Swift Coldwind, finished his transformation from a swallow to an eagle form. His broad shoulders and strong beak made him look as if he could peck at a steel plate like it was breadcrumbs.

Swift Coldwind spoke to Weed politely.

“As Northern users, we would like to participate in this battle, too. We are ready to give our lives to fight the enemy.”

“…”

Weed merely gazed at Swift Coldwind without saying anything. In his current form as Karichwi the Orc, the intimidating aura people sensed from up close was quite significant. Karichwi’s arms which were covered with scars and bulging veins looked strong enough to snap a person’s neck in one grip. The appearance of Karichwi the Orc would terrify even the most seasoned fighters if encountered in a dark alley with few passersby.

Weed grinned, revealing the row of hard and pointed teeth.

“Tsschwit. I accept.”

The Avians joining the battle!

As they could fly in the sky at high speed, they had an exceptional advantage in combat. They could hunt weak monsters while soaring across the plain in the air, or forage some items such as medicinal herbs using their wide line of sight. However, they also had a weakness which was their night blindness, as was the characteristic of most birds.

“We will prioritize transporting the troops until the morning comes.”

“Okay. Tsschwit.”

“And there will be unlimited waves of airborne troops directly dropped to the battlefield.”

“As you wish. Chhwit.”

Even if they wouldn’t be able to join the fight straight away, the support from the Avians would nevertheless be quite effective in destroying the Imperial Army’s battle formations.

And there were many other forces coming to join Weed’s side besides the Avians.

“We’ve come to provide aid!”

Having Jeanne and the other Necromancers by their side was like adding an egg to a boiling Ramyun — they were always welcome.

“Chicken Porridge Squad, making a formal request to join your forces.”

“43rd division of Bamboo Shoot Porridge; we will add our strength to this fight, however meager it may be.”

“We’re Raspberry Porridge Squad. Just for your reference, our squad is quite close to Strawberry Porridge but we’re still run as separate groups!”

Many different Porridge groups of the Grass Porridge Cult joined the march as Weed was taking his troops to fight the 11th Legion. Their number was so huge, it was estimated that there will be more than ten million people by the time they actually begin the battle against the 11th Legion.

“Soff-nim, please take charge of them, Tsschwikk!”

Whenever a certain number of new troops had gathered, Weed assigned a commander to lead them. By doing so he was able to increase the efficiency in general troop management as well as give his users a sense of belonging.

‘I should make connections with as many high-level users as possible; I may have some use for them later.’

The users whose names were on the Hall of Fame or those who were famous on the internet forums also made their belated appearance, and Weed was soon surrounded by many people.

“Pale-nim! I’ve been hoping to see you again.”

“Yes, it’s been quite a while, Pottalto-nim. I trust you are doing well?”

“Of course. I’ve been counting the days until we can finally meet again. Hahaha!”

Wherever he went, Pale was greatly popular among the users. His friendship with Weed and excellent archery skills brought him a large circle of acquaintances, not to mention that he had been active in Morata for a long time, too. The difficulty level of certain quests in the game dropped quite significantly when there was an archer in the party, so Pale often helped other people in those quests.

“Irene-nim, I’ve heard that you learned to cast Complete Recovery Spell?”

“Yes. But my proficiency level is still low; right now I can only heal half of the maximum Life Force.”

“Whoa. That much is already amazing. I wonder if I’d have the honor of having you in my party some day?”

“Of course, call me the next time you go hunting.”

Irene’s fame as a priest was absolutely unrivaled. Although there were a lot of opportunities to use healing spells, the conditions for increasing the proficiency level were often varied and tricky. In order to increase one’s healing power, they had to cure many weak people, or save those who are at the brink of death. Sometimes priests earned proficiency level by turning the tide of a losing battle through their miraculous healing power. It was considered as an impossible profession for those who lacked aptitude for it, and that was why priests were treated with respect anywhere they went.

Hwaryeong and Bellot had always been popular among the public, and Surka, Romuna and the rest of Weed’s companions were all surrounded by crowds of people.

“Hahaha.”

“Huhuhu…

They were all wearing friendly smiles on their faces, but secretly memorizing the names of the people they were chatting with. It was, of course, to recommend more potential squad captain candidates to Weed later.

*****

The 11th Legion under the command of Ultar found the army of a great size advancing towards their position.

“They are coming! There’re a lot of them, for certain!”

“What’s their current position?”

“It’s hard to tell just yet.”[2]

The users of the 11th Legion realized that the ground of the plain in the distance was full of lights even though Weed was yet to make his appearance. A stream of glowing lights that seemed to continue endlessly was flowing towards them.

While feeling quite expectant, Ultar was also a little taken aback by this sight of his enemy which was far beyond the scope of his earlier expectation.

“We’ll first gain some advantage over them by eliminating those who approach us one at a time. Don’t hesitate to set up the magical traps liberally; we’re going to use everything we’ve got if needed.”

Following his order, the soldiers began to dig the ground, or moved boulders to set up walls.

“Open the doors on the supply carriages!”

“Pull out everything inside.”

With the members from the Hermes Guild conducting them they also planted magical traps that cost more than 500 Gold each. The traps mainly consisted of Earth element types that engulfed the victim deep into the ground, or the exploding types that dealt damage to surrounding creatures.

“Just think about how much money we spent on all these. It feels like a bit of a waste to use all the costly items in one go.”

“Still, we really don’t have any reason to save them for later. If things go well we can finish the entire battle here and now.”

“Yes, we’ll all become heroes of legend if we win here.”

“That goes without saying. The history of the conquest of this continent will be determined by me, the great Gumraden!”

The Hermes Guild members waited for the enemy’s arrival with their hearts beating in excitement.

The march of glowing lights illuminating the Garnav Plain was rapidly rushing towards them.

“Not yet, keep waiting.”

Ultar watched the approaching army with a cool gaze. The lights got closer at a constant pace, and eventually the distance became close enough for them to see the faces of the people in the marching crowd.

“Fire!”

From the position of the 11th Legion came a shower of arrows and spell attacks.

“Attack!”

“We will lead the vanguard.”

“Croacker Porridge, moving out!”

The users holding torches in their hands sped towards the 11th Legion while being hit by the flying arrows and spells. They were armed with their novice garments and cheap long swords. The unlucky ones were killed on the spot by the flying attacks and soon turned into grey shades and disappeared, but they were replaced by others who were following behind. They were quite similar to the many novices the Haven Imperial Army had already dealt with ever since they arrived at the Garnav Plain.

*Booooom!*

The bodies of the users exploded in a blast of flashy lights as they stepped on the magical traps. Plenty of people were caught in the explosion and turned to dust, but the speed at which the Northern army was marching was not reduced even a little.

The enormous number of users dashing in to face enemies with swords in their hands!

Ultar felt the rush of the coming war that filled his heart with the heat of passion.

“The dual-wielding fighters will take the front. Kill anyone that gets too close!”

*Clang!*

The Imperial soldiers with a blade in each hand stepped out onto the frontline. The spearmen and shieldbearers all lined up in the formation they had previously practiced, and the mounted troops also stood ready. The archers and mages continued to shoot arrows and cast magical spells, sending them flying towards the enemy’s position.

“Glory to the Empire!”

“For His Imperial Majesty!”

A shower of arrows and magical explosions swept the users who were running towards them holding swords.

“Do not hesitate and keep crashing against them! We will make it in the end.”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

The users in the front continued sprinting at full speed despite knowing that they would only meet their own demise!

To them, competing over the first place in this little race was a game more important than their own lives.

“I’ve come first. My name is Baitar!”

“Yes! I made a narrow second.”

“Third place. Made it to the top 3!”

The distance between the 11th Legion and these running users closed rapidly, and before long there was a full-on collision.

“Bash with shields and pierce with spears!”

“Kuuergh!”

“Aargh!”

It mostly resulted in the Northern users, weak after draining most of their energy running all the way here, getting struck down by the Imperial soldiers and perishing, but some of them managed to break through. The 1st generation of the users from the Arpen Kingdom, who went all the way back to the days in Morata, took the lead and suppressed the blocking enemy troops, successfully opening up a path.

“Fight on! We need to widen this hole in enemy defense!”

“To victory!”

“Just stand your ground and trust your comrades with the rest!”

The users kept flooding in like water bursting through a bank.

“Deploy the Wolf Knights!”

After observing this for some time, Ultar sent another unit of knights as reinforcement and drove back the users.

‘They are not as useless as I thought.’

Certainly, these users were very different from those he had fought until now since his arrival at the Garnav Plain. They possessed higher levels and skills, but more problematic were their speed and drive. A crowd of tremendous size was storming into the legion’s position as fast as their feet could carry them, like a swarm of locusts. Strength was the only thing they could rely on, so they kept crashing and crashing into Ultar’s troops before they fell and died, increasing the strain on his soldiers’ defense and offense abilities by several times. Even as Ultar was monitoring the fight the Imperial soldiers were beginning to perish one by one.

“Wailing Blade!”

One user among the crowd raised their sword.

‘But that’s a skill with level restriction 450 or higher!’

Ultar and the Hermes Guild members were startled to see someone use such a skill. The user’s sword began to glow red, and it brutally struck down many Imperial soldiers with each swing. Such sword technique could not be blocked when there was a big discrepancy in defense ability. Before the Knights and the Hermes Guild users had time to counteract, the mysterious user retreated back. As that high-level skill was the only thing that distinguished them from the rest of the crowd all wearing the same novice outfit, it was impossible to identify them in the middle of the battle.

“Soul-rending Axe!”

This time, an axe-wielding warrior emerged out of the blue and attacked the troops. The shield bearing soldiers managed to block their fierce blows, but more than half of the shields got shattered in the process. Occasionally a few swings brushed against some unlucky soldiers, which was enough to immediately render them unconscious and unable to fight. As before, this axe fighter took some time to liberally burn up their strength and mana while exercising their power without regret, and retreated back. Among this mass of people swarming in to carry out their signature human-wave strategy, there were some powerful users hidden and acting in secret. Those in their levels 300s and 400, and even 500s in some rare cases, were all mingling in the crowd wearing common novice garments.

Numerous elite users who had taken the side of the Arpen Kingdom had followed Weed to the battle.

“This won’t do at all.”

Ultar realized he had underestimated the standard of the users who had followed Weed. With so many high level users mixed with the rest of the people Weed had brought with him, the quality of his troops were wholly different from Ultar’s earlier predictions.

“These ones are strong enough to make me feel threatened, though not by much. So, now it’s getting fun.”

He knew that no matter what kind of military forces may appear, they wouldn’t be able to defeat the 11th Legion over a short-term battle. While they are stalling the Northern users the other Legions would arrive as reinforcements, and the Summon Flaming Meteor spell would be prepared once again.

‘We’re going to turn this ground into Weed’s grave. Maybe risking a little loss would make me feel more motivated to fight those worms…’

Just as Ultar was mulling over this ambitious notion…

“Karichwi the Orc!”

“Weed has shown himself in our front.”

In the middle of the flooding mass of the great army consisting of common users, Weed made his appearance sooner than expected. The towering height and size of the vicious looking Orc made him especially conspicuous from the surrounding humans. Even if one assembled every facial feature of criminals wanted for all sorts of terrible deeds, it wouldn’t be enough to match the intimidating looks of Karichwi.

‘He’s here. Now the real battle begins. An all-out assault.’

Ultar and the other Hermes Guild users were getting increasingly tense. All the spells, arrows and other ranged weapons they had been saving for this encounter… They were going to lift every limitation they had put on their combat units.

A second before the 11th Legion was to start their full-on battle by throwing everything they’d got,

Weed yelled out with Lion’s Roar.

– Ultar! I invite you to a one-on-one duel! Tschwichwichwichwiiickkk!

At that moment, the fierce noise of the battlefield suddenly died down; the running users were so shocked by what they had just heard and stopped transfixed on the spot.

‘A one-on-one fight?’

Ultar himself was feeling dazed as if he had just been hit by a giant warhammer in the back of his head.

Weed used Lion’s Roar one more time.

– Ultar! Chwwitt. I know you are there, come out and face me this minute! Tsschwik!

An unrelenting taunt.

Ultar was not allowed a long time to think, but he had to make decision.

‘I should not turn down a request for duel.’

He was almost glad to hear Weed dare him to fight in person. The Legion Commander of the 11th Imperial Legion was not an easy position to get in any sense. Weed might have earned the nickname ‘the God of War’, but Ultar thought he was being ridiculously overrated.

‘That nickname was just passed down from his days of playing Continent of Magic. Besides, one’s fighting skills and the ability to carry out quests well are two different things. It seems he let his success in the Advanced Training Hall go to his head.’

He had seen the broadcast showing Weed’s exploits on the Path of Struggle. It certainly made an impression in him, but he honestly did not think it was anything too special. The way he used Heraim Sword skill was quite astounding, but those kinds of tricks did not work well in a one-on-one combat. Having to maintain a series of connecting blows meant that it would be easily interrupted if the opponent simply dodged backward.

‘Sure, it might look pretty amazing to the eyes of those newbies. But we are from the Central Continent, a place riddled with wars. Any decent combat technique has been checked by users countless times. And there are good reasons why this Heraim Sword Skill has never drawn any meaningful attention.’

‘Weed might be establishing his legend of no defeats, but that was because the amount of troops the Hermes Guild had sent to the North had been less than ten percent of their entire military strength. Weed himself had a history of being defeated and killed in his direct encounter with Bard Ray.’

All in all, despite many assessments of the current situation, the decision was as good as being made. CTS Media and many other broadcasting companies would be carrying on with their live coverage. His pride did not allow him to refuse Weed’s proposal and be marked as a coward who turned back from a duel like a dog with its tail between its legs.

‘I will gladly accept his challenge. But before that…’

Ultar glanced at a nearby user named Nodom, a paladin serving Minne, the Goddess of Earth. As a paladin Nodom was quite a rare case, since he possessed one of Minne’s presents as a reward for his earlier adventure.

The Armor of Mother Earth.

Out of its numerous bonus effects, there were two most important features: firstly, it increased one’s maximum Life Force by 350%. Secondly, once the wearer activated the armor, it would reduce any physical damage dealt to it by the opponent by 87.4% for the next 10 minutes.

‘If I fight him while wearing this armor, wouldn’t it be impossible for me to lose?’

Having received the keen stare from Ultar, Nodom nodded his head. They had long been friends and helped out each other in numerous occasions before, so lending his armor to Ultar was not a difficult thing to do.

Ultar sent him a private message.

“Thank you, buddy.”

– Nodom: Kukuku. Just know that you owe me half of your victory once you’ve dealt with Weed.

“I will let you choose any one from the loot I’ll get from Weed.”

– Nodom: Deal.

Ultar used Warrior’s Shout skill.

“A one-on-one fight? That’s exactly what I’ve wanted. I will gladly take your challenge!”

The crowd moved, creating a vast empty ground in the plain for Ultar and Weed to fight in without any obstacles. The Imperial army retreated to the South, and the opposing users occupied the space in the North, settling down to spectate.

“Wow. Who do you think will win?”

“Weed-nim, obviously.”

“But Ultar… He IS one of the very top rankers in the game. I doubt he has ever been defeated by anyone, save for Bard Ray.”

“I’ve heard rumors that he is just as strong as Bard Ray in one-on-one combat.”

“You really can’t know that unless you actually fight him. Rumors are just rumors.”

“What is certain is that our eyes are going to be in for a treat, witnessing such an epic fight. And that Weed-nim, the God of War, will win.”

Weed!

Ultar!

Their names alone were enough to make the watching crowd get tensed with anticipation.

Weed drew his Loa Sword, readying himself for the duel. Fabio and Herman had not yet finished making his new armor.

‘I didn’t expect him to actually accept my challenge to a single combat. I should enjoy this when I can.’

Still in the form of Karichwi the Orc, he had to suppress a nasty smirk that was threatening to spread over his face.

‘Dueling is not something I’m particularly accustomed to, but I’m not too bad at it, either.’

He had heard that knights and warriors had lots of opportunities to take part in single combat as part of their quests, mostly through requests to defeat some people in such and such places. Those duel quests were quite important for building one’s connections and fame as well as improving one’s prowess in combat, but they were mostly irrelevant to a profession like sculptor.

However, Weed had a tendency to find a way to win, by any means necessary.

‘The fantasy of an honorable duel… Such a thing doesn’t exist in real world. There are only the winner, and the loser.’

Concealing the inner thought that was blacker than squid ink, Weed grinned.

“Tsschwik. Let’s make this a memorable fight, Ultar.”

“Of course. I didn’t expect to be able to face you so soon. My thanks.”

“Why are you thanking me? Chhhwick.”

“Because we may be able to finish this battle earlier than we thought. You have saved both me and the Hermes Guild a lot of trouble.”

Ultar was armed with a sword and a crossbow in each hand. Naturally, both weapons were imbued with powerful enchantments.

“I’m warning you in advance — you’ll have to be very, very wary of my crossbow. The moment you let your guard down, there will be a bolt stuck in your head.”

Ultar’s fighting style was quite famous among users. Since his level reached over 200, his favored way of combat had been switching to his crossbow after taking some time fighting with the sword.

Weed responded with a smile.

“That is a good weapon. No method is too shameful so long as it makes you more powerful. Tsschwit. I have a feeling that this will be a fun fight. Chhwick!”

“How about finding out exactly how hard it can hit before talking so big?”

Ultar felt his body go a little stiff with Weed’s confident remark, but he was still one hundred percent convinced of his victory.

‘I’m not going to lose to a damn sculptor… Besides, he wouldn’t even be able to use undead summoning skills that’s become somewhat problematic recently, would he? Coming to a duel in the form of an orc of all things; it’s almost laughable.’

Orcs were nothing more than a race of monsters he had slain countless times in the past, having plenty of experience in raiding their villages and fortresses.

‘Their main ability is to channel Fighting Spirit in order to boost the power of their comrades. Orcs may be a race of warriors, but in the current circumstances, he won’t even be able to gain any advantage from their racial strength.’

Orcs could grow in strength over a short span of time, but Ultar thought no matter how strong one may become, an orc would never be anything more than an orc. They may possess superior muscle power and highly robust physique, but since they lacked the ability to use various skills in combat, their limitations became increasingly apparent as their level grew. Their great size could also be another weakness, as it gave plenty of space for an opponent to attack. On top of all that, Weed didn’t even bother arming himself with proper equipment after he transformed into this orc. He was wearing some shabby looking orc armor that looked like he had picked it up somewhere, and its mediocre quality couldn’t even be compared to that of the Armor of Mother Earth he had borrowed from his friend.

‘He must have underestimated me; how absurd. I will prove to you that there are a lot of people in the Hermes Guild other than Bard Ray who are more than capable of defeating you, Weed.’

Truth was, Ultar had no idea what kind of thought was on Weed’s mind presently as he stepped forward to begin the duel.

‘That crossbow looks pretty expensive. And all of his other gears look far from cheap. Excellent.’

‘I will win this no matter what. I will be the one to kill you, Weed!’

*****

“Tsk, tsk.”

At this very moment, an innumerable number of users were focusing their attention on the single combat between Weed and Ultar.

Yoo Byung Jun was also watching this fight through his monitor, as Weed was one of the contenders who might unite Royal Road and succeed his entire legacy.

“Ultar. Who the heck is this guy?”

– He is a user currently ranked 77th in terms of player level, and 124th by combat strength.

What the AI Versailles said was very different from what was known to the general public. Ultar’s rank by level was commonly said to be around 23rd in the whole game, but in fact this ranking did not take into account the silently active users whose profiles were not public. Even though the Hermes Guild was currently monopolizing quests and hunting grounds in the Central Continent, there were still many users living in the obscure corners of this land. Some users had long hunted in labyrinths unknown to the rest of the world, and others stayed secretly in forbidden grounds.

The Dark Gamers, to whom Royal Road was a way of earning money, naturally had non-public profiles, cooperating with each other in private. They grew in power, exchanging goods and information on black markets. As Royal Road was their job, they maintained a secret life and avoided the eyes of the Hermes Guild. There were also other users in the Northern, Eastern and Southern regions who had grown their strength in seclusion, diligently and persistently building up their skills despite many obstacles. It was partly due to the redoubtable power of such users that the reign of the Haven Empire eventually became unstable even though it looked so absolute from outside.

Yoo Byung Jun found himself getting irritated by the sight of Ultar, so full of confidence with his long sword and crossbow in each hand.

“Does this one seriously think he’s going to win?”

– Inferring from his gaze, expression and the emotions in his voice, it is estimated that he is about 98.4% convinced of his victory.

“What a stripling.”

He could not hold back a sigh, seeing the whole situation. Since Yoo Byung Jun had long been closely monitoring Weed’s adventures, he was even better acquainted with Weed’s darker secrets than the companions around him such as Pale.

“This is Sculptural Transformation, for starters. And he chose to transform into none other than Karichwi the Orc…”

He knew that one must be ready to get suspicious of any move Weed makes. He might have opted to change into the popular orc in order to excite the crowd. Or it was also quite probable that he did it because of the food advertising deals he had recently made using this character Karichwi.

Ramyun, pizza and chicken ads!

He had free-handedly entered into contract with three different franchises at the same time. The advertisements showed Karichwi eating the said food with relish, and he was to receive some bonus payment depending on the increase in sales. As the making of these ads had to take place in Royal Road he also did the cooking himself, and the sight of him enjoying the food with great enthusiasm was said to make the advertisers shout “Jackpot!”

‘Weed would never miss such an opportunity.’

However, one still could not say they knew Weed well if they thought he only chose to assume the form of the orc for commercial purpose.

‘This sly bastard always aims for AT LEAST two birds with one stone, maybe more.’

He wasn’t entirely confident, but he still had an inkling of what Weed’s true intention was. When a person temporarily changes their race into something optimal for physical combat like Karichwi the Orc, their stats also changes accordingly. The wide assortment of different stats possessed by this jack of all trades will reorganize themselves, focusing on Strength and Dexterity. Weed was perfectly aware of the new size, center of mass and even various racial characteristics of his new form, and knew how to make use of them.

‘That’s why you shouldn’t dismiss him as just another orc. He will be in a completely different league from all other orcs you have possibly faced until now.’

And this was not the end of Weed’s hidden tricks.

There were several different blessings from the God of Fighting that still had a little bit of duration left after he received them on the Path of Struggle: Swordsman’s Flourish, Unyielding Fighter, Unmatched Physique and Piercing Blade. The effect of the ordinary blessings given from priests could not compare with those bestowed directly by the God of Fighting himself. And Gloves of Dimension Door which he had earned as a reward after completing the quest in the Palrangka War were another critical factor. He will flash from place to place in the blink of an eye, and his attacks will jump over the boundaries of space to hit from unexpected directions. Granted, it was quite a difficult combat style to master and Weed had not had a chance to practice it yet, but one would be wise to take into account his adaptiveness that could match a cockroach.

‘He will make an excellent use of it. Most probably.’

On the other hand, Ultar had stubbornly stuck to using a sword and a crossbow and that made his fighting style rather inflexible.

‘Sure, it would be quite effective for getting on the nerves of the opponent and distracting them, but there’s no way it will work on Weed.’

Ultar was wearing the Armor of Mother Earth that he’d borrowed, but it would be making too simple of an assumption to think that taking less damage from the hits would make you win the fight.

‘Worst of all, that’s still not everything he’s got up his sleeve.’

Weed’s undead summoning skill was presently at Intermediate 8 level. While it was unlikely that he would conjure up things like Doom Knights in the middle of a duel, there were various other skills he could make use of.

Leeching Hand.

This Necromancer skill with a name that sounded like it was right up Weed’s alley could be learned when one’s undead summoning reached Intermediate 8 level. A skill that steals part of the opponent’s Life Force and Stamina whenever the user successfully makes an attack or defend! It was a spell recorded in Bar Khan’s spell tome, and naturally Weed had already studied it. Although it hadn’t been long since he first learned Leeching Hand, but even a skill at its 1st level was better than nothing. More importantly, being able to constantly absorb the opponent’s Life Force in a duel could be a tremendous advantage.

“Weed has so many different tricks hidden behind his back… And this idiot is being all confident just because he’s got a crossbow and some decent armor.”

Yoo Byung Jun wanted to see Weed having some real struggle, but it seemed that would not be the case here. Ultar was nothing more than an extra character that would be used to help make Weed shine even more.

“The real problems will be the Summon Flaming Meteor spell and the Alkin disease.”

For this war, the odds of the Hermes Guild seizing their victory seemed extremely high. As many as 20 different Legions were carrying out their swift assaults, slaughtering the users who had sided with the Arpen Kingdom. Even if they succeed in driving back the charging Imperial Army through some difficult means, time was on the Hermes Guild’s side.

“When those meteors strike again, there will be another mass killing. Weed might manage to evade the impact somehow, but many of his followers will die.”

The more high-level users concentrate on one spot, the easier it would be for the Hermes Guild to wipe them all out in one go.

“An infectious plague, is it…? Everyone shall perish if this Alkin disease is not stopped. And that will eventually lead to the Arpen Kingdom’s defeat in this battle.”

Yoo Byung Jun asked Versailles:

“By the way, what exactly is this Alkin disease?”

– It is a contagion crafted by the combination of alchemical technique and a hex. It was sealed under a red rock for 374 years after its creation, until it was discovered by an expedition team sent by the Hermes Guild.

“And the danger level?”

– Extreme, possessing a very high rate of infection. It is estimated that at least 86% of the users assembled in the Garnav Plain will contract the disease in 35 hours.

The Alkin disease was truly horrible. With the battle raging on in the Arpen Kingdom’s camp, it was difficult to even properly assess the accurate amount of damage.

“Then it would be pretty much impossible to stop the spreading infection.”

At last, Yoo Byung Jun became convinced: this time, he would finally witness Weed’s failure!

He did think that Weed would be a better choice than Bard Ray as his successor. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to let people see him fail just for once, rather than always being successful at everything.

“This war will most certainly end with Weed’s defeat. No matter what kind of trick he might come up with.”

Yoo Byung Jun was muttering this to himself, but the friendly AI responded nonetheless.

– Shall I calculate the probability of winning for both sides?

“No, don’t.”

It would suck all the fun out of this war, just like stumbling into a spoiler for the ending of a movie you have long been looking forward to. For now, what made him uneasy the most was this unexplainable hunch that told him Weed would somehow find a way to win once more, despite all the disadvantages.

*****

“Kill! Kill him, kill!”

“Weed the God of War will be victorious!”

“Ultar, show him the power of the Hermes Guild.”

“Finish it with a single blow!”

“Weed! Weed! Weed!”

The wild shouts and cheers from the crowd could be heard everywhere. Those who supported Weed outnumbered the opposing side by more than a hundredfold, but the crowd’s support was not a very important factor in a duel.

Karichwi the Orc!

Ultar!

They prowled round and round in a circle, staring intensely at each other. Both of them were running meticulous calculations inside their heads, deciding how they should begin the fight.

*Schhwaff!*

Ultar was the first one to attack; he lunged forward suddenly, taking a shot with his crossbow.

*Clang!*

Weed deflected the bolt by jerking his sword slightly, but he could feel the heavy impact made by it.

‘This amount of power means that that crossbow has some bonus stats like extra punch, penetrating shot and knockback effect on top of its high damage.’

Crossbows usually came with weaknesses such as slow reloading speed and inability to make quick consecutive shots. However, this crossbow which Ultar was holding could shoot Mana Arrows, and even reloaded itself automatically. It had none of the common weaknesses of ordinary crossbows; it was a weapon that could be used freely even from a close distance.

‘It must be really expensive.’

Ultar approached Karichwi’s huge body from the right side. The direction of the attack would fall in the blind spot for the slow orc. Judging by the fact that his sword was shining with brilliant light, he must have used some kind of skill that boosted his attack power as well.

‘Not a chance.’

Weed began to rush forward in the same direction, swinging his arms lightly. Instead of a glaive commonly used by orcs, the Loa Sword that looked as slim as a chopstick sheared the air.

*Claaaaaanggg!*

The moment their blades clashed, Ultar felt his wrist snap from the terrible impact. It was an exchange of blows between two swords, yet it felt as if his arm and shoulder were about to fall off.

< A powerful impact!

Your Life Force has been reduced by 3,487 points.

The durability of your sword has been reduced by 1 point. >

Ultar had never seen his weapon’s durability go down during a fight, as it normally happened only when there was a severe gap between the levels of the two opponents.

It was truly an overwhelming force beyond imagination!

‘An orc has a skill that can exert this much power?’

As one of his many tricks, Weed had turned all of his Art stats into Strength using Sculptural Destruction skill. The great force with which he swung his sword formed only the basis of this attack; his natural shift in weight as well as the movements of his shoulders and waist all resulted in such a great impact.

“Haah! Orc Triple Smash!”

Weed made another attack, kind enough to shout out the skill name loudly. The attack consisted of three successive swings with increasing speed, and the last blow even had an effect of stunning the target.

“Damn it.”

Ultar retreated hurriedly, swinging his sword and shooting another bolt.

*Clinkyclang!*

He only managed to dodge out of Weed’s reach after deflecting the first two swings, and a chill was running down his spine from such an unexpected attack.

Weed held out his muscle-covered left hand that was as good as any lethal weapon.

*Snap snap.*

He jerked his fingers inward, making a gesture that invited his opponent to attack this time; their duel had only just begun.

After the first exchange of blows ended in a huge failure on his part, Ultar immediately changed his strategy.

‘No point in trying to match the brute force of an Orc. That’s not what I’d intended in the first place, either. That first attack was just to estimate his base capacity; now I’ll focus on my skills rather than strength.’

When fighting against an opponent with such overwhelming strength, he would have to use speed and sophisticated skills to ensure victory, even though they were engaged in a close combat. He would confuse the enemy and shoot his crossbow when an opportunity presented itself, just like how he had dealt with numerous other users before. The enchanted bolts that inflicted the paralyzed, stunned and poisoned statuses upon the target could dramatically reduce the opponent’s combat capacity just by grazing against them.

“Mana Sword!”

A secret sword skill… Ultar summoned a blade and sent it flying in the air. Out of all the combat skills, this one boasted the highest utility.

“Sword of Blood Mist!”

This was not a secret skill, but it enabled the user to attack while shrouded in a fog in exchange for a small amount of Life Force.

Ultar’s body vanished, engulfed in blood-red mist. Generally, people would be seized by fear and confusion when their enemy suddenly disappears out of sight.

*Swing swing!*

But Weed waited, spinning the Loa Sword in his hand like a toy.

‘You may not realize it, but I can never lose as long as I’m wearing the form of Karichwi the Orc.’

Had he been in his normal human shape, he might have been willing to risk just a little bit of disadvantage in this fight, but considering all the ad sales and character-related business involving Karichwi the Orc, any possibility of defeat is absolutely out of the question!

‘I must subdue him with overwhelming power.’

Weed merely continued waiting, calm as ever. A few seconds passed in silence. Ultar felt confident that his opponent was tricked by his tactics.

“Take this, this is the Sword Art of Gelk!”

From the blood colored mist emerged swords that looked blurred like afterimage, flying directly at Weed. Gelk’s sword technique consumed a lot of Mana, but enabled the sword attacks to reach anywhere within 10 meters of radius.

*Shhhhhiick!*

The Mana Sword also soared right towards Weed like an arrow shot.

“Tchwichwichwiit.”

Weed deflected The ManaSword first with the Loa Sword he had been flipping in his hand like a plaything.

*Claaang!*

Having blocked the incoming blow with a single swing, he further dodged Gelk’s swords by taking a step sideways while leaning his upper body back in a fluid movement.

*Schhwaff!*

At that instant, a bolt was released from Ultar’s crossbow, flying almost three times faster than the last one he shot.

‘It’s going to hit the mark for sure. This is my chance.’

Ultar expected the bolt to strike directly into the terrible bulk that was the body of the Orc. Indeed, the bolt was flying so fast it was hardly visible, and Weed wasn’t showing any sign of movement to dodge or block it.

But then Weed took another big step to the side, and vanished into thin air.

“…!”

Ultar dived sideways, following the instinct of his body. An ominous hunch dawned on him even if he was cloaking behind a 3-meter-radius fog of blood.

*Ssssschweeep!*

The moment he dropped to the ground, the Loa Sword swept the spot where he’d been a split second ago in a great arc. Had he been just a little slower the blade would have hit him squarely, but Ultar had quick reflex thanks to plenty of combat experience.

“Pretty good. Tsschwick!”

Weed continued swinging his sword as he stepped forward this time. He was perfectly aware of Ultar’s position despite the fact his enemy was obscured by the blood mist.

The sound of the footsteps and the hint of the presence that left its trail whenever his target dodged his blade.

Even the way he wielded his sword was to force the opponent into one direction, as if he was hunting a rabbit and cornering his quarry.

“Damn…!”

Ultar tried to stand his ground, dodging and blocking.

< By the enemy’s overwhelming force, the Durability of the Deghor Sword has been reduced by 3 points.

Additional damage!

Despite blocking the attack, your Life Force has taken 3,492 points of damage. >

Due to the Orc’s fearsome attack power, Ultar kept losing his Life Force even as he was deflecting the blows. For a short moment he considered taking out a shield instead of using a crossbow, but something told him that he wouldn’t be able to do anything other than blocking until the end of the fight if he did. Still, the Mana Sword, the blade summoned by his secret skill, was presently soaring through the air and aiming at Weed’s head.

‘In just a moment… It will be your turn to dodge or block.’

Now the Mana Sword was a second away from piercing through the Orc’s head.

‘Maybe he hasn’t even noticed at all? Yes, he’s being careless! Then I’ll make a counterattack the moment he gets hit.’

However, immediately before the sword stroke him, Weed vanished again and reappeared right behind Ultar.

‘What the heck is this?!’

He wasn’t even using any skills, but somehow he teleported himself through space without any prior sign. As Ultar did not know about the Gloves of Dimension Door Weed had received from Batalli the God of Fighting, he was naturally feeling quite puzzled.

Putting his trust in the power of instinct again, Ultar rolled forward, but Weed reemerged in front of him as he did so.

*Whoooong!*

Weed swung his Loa Sword upwards like a golf club, and the blade rammed right into Ultar’s body, hard.

“Kuuerrgh!”

< A fierce strike!

The impact of the terrible blow runs through your body.

Life Force reduced by 53,481 points!

The Armor of Mother Earth prevented all negative status effects from being inflicted on your body.

Your maximum Stamina has been reduced by 6%.

The self-recovering ability of your body has been diminished. >

He didn’t even have enough time to read all the message windows popping up in a flash. Ultar’s body was thrown into the air more than 40 meters above the ground, drawing a beautiful parabola.

“Chhhwick!”

Weed also kicked the ground hard and made a great jump. The sight of Karichwi’s massive body shooting upwards to chase after his prey gave a tremendously intimidating impression to those who beheld it.

As he was flying in the sky, Weed gripped the Loa Sword with both hands like one would grip an axe to chop something.

“N-nooo!”

While spinning around and around dizzily in midair, Ultar saw what was happening in front of his eyes and panicked. Weed making such a pose in the form of Karichwi the Orc was terrifying beyond measure.

“Uuuughh…”

“Squeal!”

The observing crowd also felt their palms sweating. The Hermes Guild users could only gape in horror. The moment lasted less than a second, but surely, what could possibly be scarier than this?

“Mercy, just this once…”

Out of sheer fear, Ultar said before he could stop himself.

He might as well have begged a wall to spare him.

Weed’s cold gaze had already scanned through every single piece of equipment and jewelry covering Ultar’s entire body.

“Die and leave your items behind.”

“W-what?”

In the hands of Karichwi the Orc, the Loa Sword smashed Ultar in one mighty blow.

*Crrrrruuuunchh!*

So powerful was the impact of the strike, a gruesome sound reverberated throughout the plain.

*****

Geomchi and Geomchi2 were leading the desert warriors.

“Kuhuhu. Pillage and plunder!”

“Let’s rampage through everything here!”

The valiant desert warriors, riding their camels with scimitars in their hands… Quite frankly, they could preserve their forces mainly because they were not one of the main targets of the Hermes Guild.

“Master, we have come.”

“Yes, follow us.”

With Geomchi6 and the rest of the Geomchi members as well as their trainees having joined them, they began their march, heading to the nearest Imperial Army’s location.

“I don’t see Geomchi3 and a few others here.”

“Apparently they were hit by the meteors while having some barbeque.”

“Dead?”

“No. Just hurt a little. They say their skin was all sizzling and burning.”

“Sounds like a fun experience. Shame I wasn’t there. I used to play with fire a lot with some industrial alcohol back when I was yet to grow up and become more sensible.”

“Have you ever tried stacking some car tires and burning them? Playing with fire in a junkyard can be really fun.”

“Childhood memories are beautiful things.”

The news of Weed fighting Ultar, the commander of the 11th Legion, reached Geomchi and his trainers and pupils. They decided to watch the duel with the crystal balls some of the users took out.

“Looks fun.”

“Fighting as such a stalwart-looking Orc… It seems our Little One sure knows how to make a combat enjoyable.”

“Yes. I wish we were able to fight in such a gorgeous form, too.”

Geomchi, the trainers and pupils were not worried about Weed in the slightest. They had taught him through countless number of fights during his days in the Dojang. All the experience engraved both in his body and mind enabled him to exert his full potential even in Royal Road. Losing because of the insurmountable discrepancy in level or skills is something that can’t be helped; however, given the two opponents were at similar level, Weed could overwhelm the other with his acumen and competence as a fighter. Even Geomchi himself acknowledged Weed’s ability to use skills, make quick decisions, and attack his enemy through psychological and other various ways. On top of the foundation of his strong basic skills, he was also good at using unconventional means in combat, as well as showing great capacity in head-to-head contest.

“Give everyone some baked potatoes or something. Let’s have some nibbles while we watch.”

“Yes, Master. I’m not sure he will give us enough time to eat anything, though.”

And then Weed and Ultar began the duel. The audience was expecting to watch them with their palms sweating with excitement, but before long Ultar took a mighty hit. Once his attack landed the first blow soon after the start of the combat, Karichwi the Orc was beating up his opponent senseless until people were almost feeling sorry for the guy. A brief moment of opening was all it took; Weed latched onto it and before Ultar even had time to pull himself together after the powerful first strike, he began to clobber him in all sorts of ways. If Weed used big flashy skills in between his blows it would at least give Ultar a little time until the skills take effect, but he just kept on attacking relentlessly without allowing any time to catch a breath.

Geomchi clicked his tongue.

“I expected as much… But our Youngest hasn’t much experience in beating up people; he’s being quite clumsy.”

Geomchi2 nodded in agreement.

“A lot of small blows like that just make him look excessively aggressive. He could use some cleanliness in his style.”

“Well, it does make for a great scene. We used to fight like that when we were young, didn’t we?”

“Yes, such precious memories.”

“What a wonderful life we had.”

With their glorious past now only remaining in their hearts as fond reminiscences, they continued watching Weed’s fight in silence.

“Weed-nim is winning!”

“Hooray!”

The crowd cheered loudly at the sight of Weed’s overpowering display.

*****

“Kuhehehe. He won, just as I thought.”

Steiner the Bandit King.

Having been active in the regions of the Haven Empire, he had come to the Garnav Plain with a lot of his bandit henchmen.

“Wow. That is amazing.”

“Some monstrous skills he’s got.”

The bandits watching the fight through crystal balls all made impressed remarks.

Thief was a class option that was commonly available to users, but Bandit as a profession was first discovered by Steiner. Having mountains as their main active regions, possessing adequate combat skills and getting less penalties for pillaging — it was like a mix of Ranger, Knight and Thief. The fact that you could run and improve your own mountain den like a lord with their domain was what was especially appealing about this profession.

“We should also go and make a good haul now that we’re here, don’t you think so, chief?”

“Hear, hear, boss!”

The bandits under Steiner’s command were seasoned fighters, as they had resolvedly persevered through many subjugation attempts from the Haven Imperial Army. Having absorbed defeated troops and some users from the Central Continent, they prided themselves on quite a formidable legion.

“I think the 13th Legion is located close to us.”

“4.3 kilometers in distance. We’ll get there in no time on horseback.”

“Is that so? Then let’s go get them.”

Steiner and his bandit followers exchanged passionate gazes.

“We’re bandits; let’s skip the meaningless talks about order and justice for the Versailles Continent and whatnot. We should just approach this matter with a reasonable concept on our mind: that we’re emptying their pockets because they are rich, that’s all.”

“Agreed. Let’s get this done like only bandits can do.”

“Let’s go and make a score!”

*****

“Who is fighting whom, again?”

“Weed the God of War and Ultar are having a duel. It will be on air very soon, on any channel you might choose.”

The members of the Hermes Guild received the sudden and unexpected news of Weed and Ultar’s duel. Lafaye and the other core members of the guild had devised detailed plans for this battle, but they had not considered a one-on-one fight scenario.

If there was going to be a duel, all they had to do was fight and win.

“If he can defeat Weed… Doesn’t that mean this battle will end much more quickly than we thought?”

“And we’ve prepared so much… Still, if Ultar wins, the entire continent will be as good as conquered by our Hermes Guild.”

The guild members all wished they had been the one to face Weed in single combat; they would have been able to have wealth, fame, everything if they won. When Ultar accepted Weed’s challenge confidently, everyone thought that was the correct and obvious decision on his part.

*Thump thump!*

*Crunch!*

*Slam slam bomp bomp smack!*

…that was, until they saw Ultar being roughed up like a ragdoll.

“…”

“…Whoa.”

“That is some beating he’s taking.”

He was being so brutally flogged all they could do was to watch it in stunned silence.

“Don’t you normally use a sword to… stab or slash?”

“Yet he’s swinging his to smack him with it.”

“Maybe he’s just being nasty and humiliating Ultar like that?”

“That’s one way to see it, but he’s not controlling his power to deliberately make his blows weaker. Ultar should be dead with that amount of beating, yet somehow he’s not.”

“The armor he’s wearing looks pretty unique.”

“Yeah, I think he’s not dying because of that Armor of Mother Earth.”

Ultar was only holding up due to his enhanced physical resilience despite Weed’s merciless thumping and pounding. Even so, with the amount of blows he was taking all of his stats had been diminished and he couldn’t even dream of attempting any resistance in his current state. It might have been appropriate to call it a duel for the first brief moment, but now it had pretty much turned into a one-sided demonstration of power by Weed. The fact that Ultar’s crossbow accounted for half of his combat strength was also an important factor behind such an outcome, as the said weapon was useless when he was being cornered like this.

Lafaye watched the fight for some time with the others and frowned.

“Is Weed stronger than we first anticipated? Or has Ultar’s power been overestimated until now? This one fight would not affect the general tide of the battle, but…”

The mind of the public was important. Had Ultar defeated Weed, things would have been much easier for them; on the other hand, this was not a welcome turn of events.

‘Nevertheless, he made a mistake by revealing his position to us and wasting time like that.’

Lafaye sent an order to the 20th Legion to attack Weed, and also directed the magical squad to make preparations.

“We’re going to cast Summon Flaming Meteors as soon as the spell is ready.”

– Caddler: I presume our target will be Weed?

“Of course. Many high-level users on the Arpen Kingdom’s side are also closely assembled in the same location, so it would be simple to wipe them all out.”

– Caddler: Target position confirmed. Our mages are still recovering, so we’ll need about 40 minutes before we can make the next attack.

“That is much too late. Weed might have moved to another place by then, so cut down the preparation time as much as possible; use Black Magic if needed.”

– Caddler: That’ll put some pressure on our squad, but I’ll do as you say.

Bard Ray was also watching Weed’s fight.

‘He’s strong.’

In fact, he had watched all of Weed’s fighting and adventuring videos uploaded on the Hall of Fame or put on air by broadcasting companies.

‘This has once more proved that he is not someone to underestimate. However, now that I’ve learned his style of fighting, it would turn out to be very useful later.’

He implanted Weed’s combat style deep in his mind once again as he watched the duel between Weed and Ultar. Bard Ray once fought him in the past and had long been analyzing his videos, and he became increasingly convinced that Weed was truly a formidable enemy.

‘If we come to fight each other again, I’d better make use of my advantages and finish it quickly: maintain distance, use my powerful skills. Even when I have to face him in close range, if I make a counterattack with something that can pack a punch, it could make an opening for me.’

The Emperor of the Haven Empire and the King of the Arpen Kingdom!

A chance for them to directly face each other in a duel would be hard to come by, but Bard Ray was eagerly awaiting it. Something felt missing in the idea of uniting the continent using only the military power of the Empire. Bard Ray wanted to beat Weed with his own hands, the person who had long been called his rival and had risen to even greater fame recently.

‘If you manage to stay alive until you meet me, I’ll make it well worth of all your effort and preparation.’

Translation Notes

↑ [1]The original Korean sentence has its subject omitted so I’m not really sure who or what lost their territory, but I’m assuming that the prestigious guild this user once belonged to lost its territory to the Hermes Guild. Please correct me if I’m interpreting this wrong.

↑ [2]The original text is more like “Where are they?” and “I cannot see them yet”, but that made no logical sense to me because the author already said that the imperial legion had found the northern troops coming, so I changed it a little in the hope that it wouldn’t sound as weird to readers. Let me know if this sounds appropriate.

Chapter 5: A Knight for Wy-3

As befitting of his status as the commander of the 11th Legion, Ultar did not give up until the end. Even after he was thrown harshly into the ground, he got up to his feet again, seeking a chance for a counterattack.

“Rushing Flashlights.”

He used a skill which fired three flashes of light which went in straight lines for 10 meters. Ultar wasn’t counted as one of the strongest members of the Hermes Guild for nothing, and his use of skills as well as the angles from which he made the attacks were indeed sharp and shrewd. Such technique would make it difficult for a hulking Orc to dodge out of the way. Weed raised his Loa Sword.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Although he could use various other sword skills, this was the one he was most accustomed to and, more importantly, one that was useful for blocking skills like Rushing Flashlights. He was wielding the sword with the body of Karichwi the Orc, but it moved swiftly and fluidly. As he conjured up gleaming light and blocked the incoming attacks with just the right speed, the flashes sent by Ultar were bounced off without dealing any damage to their target.

“Tssscchwiick!”

Immediately after he deflected the attack, Weed kicked the ground and charged forward. The muscular, menacing Orc looked terrifying beyond measure as he was running furiously, closing in right in front of Ultar’s eyes like a runaway train. The mere sight of this could be considered merciless visual violence!

“Yiiiikes!”

Many different skills flashed through Ultar’s mind. Among them were some high-efficiency defense skills, but he could not win this fight just by blocking.

‘Hammer of Gargon!’

Ultar decided to take a gamble. This skill would turn the entire area within an 8-meter radius into a chaotic mess, causing lightning bolts and falling rocks the moment he stroke the ground with his blade.

“Take this!”

But as soon as Ultar had raised his sword high in the air, Weed had been on his guard. A few possible skills had crossed his mind, and he had come to a firm conclusion after he saw the lightning energy gathering at the tip of his blade.

‘That’s Hammer of Gargon. So that’s another skill he’s learned!’

As soon as Weed identified the skill, he took action.

“Sword Cloning Skill!”

A Secret Skill of swordsmanship demonstrated by an Orc!

*Thud thud thud thud!*

No less than 50 Karichwis were now swarming towards him, making the ground shake.

“Eeeek!”

Ultar swung down his sword; thunderbolts and boulders struck the earth as the skill came into effect. Some of Weed’s clones evaporated on the spot as they were hit with the skill’s effect all over their bodies, but others smashed the falling rocks to pieces with their swords. Some Orcs were jumping and screaming to attract Ultar’s attention.

“Come out this moment!”

Ultar cried out in rage and wariness, but Weed had already launched himself into a Dimension Door. Passing through three portals in succession, he managed to land right next to Ultar.

“You make a pretty fine punching bag, so let me punch you some more.”

Because he had been staring in front of him, Ultar hadn’t even noticed Weed’s presence until he spoke.

“Y-you!”

Ultar was completely baffled. He had experienced plenty of battles against monsters and other users, but against this particular foe, his usual tricks such as keeping the enemy at bay with his crossbow didn’t seem to have any point at all. Weed kept moving at an incredible speed in combat, and his movements were unpredictable. He focused his attacks precisely on Ultar’s weak points, and Ultar felt like he was being helplessly swept off by the enemy’s pace.

‘Blade Slash!’

Ultar swung his sword instinctively, but Weed stretched out his bulky Orc’s leg as flexibly as a ballerina and kicked Ultar’s wrist out of the way.

“Kuuargh!”

Then he further closed in to place his body right next to Ultar’s and hit his side with quick, successive jabs from his elbow. Each strike packed a punch so incredibly strong it felt it could crush a boulder.

*Smaaaash!*

Weed was a jack-of-all-trades, but he was not professionally trained in fist fighting. Still, any blow dealt by him in his current form as Karichwi the Orc was bound to hurt. Weed grabbed Ultar’s throat as his body was pushed back by the difference in strength and weight.

“Chuuurrr!”

He stepped forward, stuck out his leg to trip Ultar up and make him lose balance, then flipped the terrified man’s whole body in a circle as lightly as one would handle a rag doll before smashing him into the ground.

*Baaaaaaaam!*

An explosive sound came out from Ultar’s body as he made contact with the earth.

< Ferocious Strength has taken effect.

An attack that diminishes target’s Stamina!

The damage dealt to the opponent increases by 7.8 times. >

Thanks to the Sculptural Destruction skill converting all of his Art stat to Strength, his physical attacks exerted tremendous force, yet Weed was still not done. Before anyone knew, he raised the Loa Sword above his head.

“Just a bit more. Heraim Fencing!”

Quite unlike how he had fought the enemies on the Path of Struggle with all those flashy and splendid moves, he was now intent on doing nothing but strike him down over and over again.

“God damn it! Activate the Armor of Mother Earth.”

Roots and vines began to spring forth from the armor Ultar was wearing, wrapping his body. He had activated the effect that reduces the damage taken by a whopping 87.4% for ten minutes, but the outcome was devastating.

*Smaaaackk!*

He needed to take a lot of hits to die, so he kept taking hits.

Ultar scrambled to his feet and attempted to counterattack a few times, but Weed’s motions were fast and fluid despite his massive size as an Orc. He didn’t move more than it was necessary, but occasionally exerted explosive speed, making full use of his ability to manipulate space as he jumped through Dimension Doors. Ultar could almost feel his very soul leaving his body with the relentless chain attacks Weed was inflicting upon him. He took another blow, and another, and another.

“You’re not going to…”

“It’s not over yet!”

“This fight has only just begun.”

As Ultar was driven into a corner, he became increasingly reliant on big and powerful skills that could turn the table. And Weed was handling him perfectly, like a hunter chasing a rabbit into a dead end. In the end, as countless users were watching through the broadcast, Ultar met his demise.

< The Slayer from the Far Land, Ultar was killed in the duel.

The notorious lord of the Bonnem Castle has perished.

Your combat accomplishment has resulted in an increase of your Strength stat by 2 points.

Your Fame has increased by 4,391 points. >

An overwhelming victory!

Weed let out a fierce roar, as Orcs do when they win a battle.

– Huuuaaaaaaaahh!

All the users who were monitoring the duel also raised a big shout. Their cries and cheers filled the whole Garnav Plain with tumultuous noises.

And while every user and broadcasting company were focusing on Karichwi’s face…

– Sssscchwiick!

Weed’s hands moved faster than eyes could follow, collecting the spoils of the fight.

< A looted item: You have obtained the Armor of Mother Earth. >

The Armor of Mother Earth!

A holy relic of Minne, the Goddess of Earth, the armor which Ultar had borrowed from a friend for this fight, was dropped as loot. Weed felt his jaw drop as he read the message window.

‘What is this, jackpot?! No. This can’t be true. My luck just wouldn’t allow something like this.’

He was suspicious at first, but the metallic touch at his fingertips was telling him it was real. The sleek, yet reliably heavy and clean texture of a luxurious item!

‘My rotten luck has finally turned around for once.’

Ultar’s ill reputation on top of the fact that he had been branded a murderer led him to lose the precious armor.

‘I should make good use of it.’

It would be perfectly fine to take possession of any normal looted item claimed from a fallen enemy, but since this was a holy relic of the Church of Earth, it would be better to return it… someday… eventually… like a corrupt company delays the payment to their subcontractors making various excuses.

‘I’ll just take good care of it, and return it in my own time. A very long time, that is.’

Satisfied with the spoils, Weed let out a Lion’s Roar.

– Advance. Chhwick!

*****

“Let us join the fight, too!”

Oberon, the lord of the Vent Castle!

Ever since the days when he led the Frozen Roses Guild, he had gained popularity and the trust of the public, and currently there were more than tens of thousands of users following him.

Oberon had always put much effort to promote the development, stabilization and expansion of the local region governed by the Vent Castle. He was also often seen personally going to the rescue of novice users trapped in dungeons, which led to his high reputation. Moreover, this was the Garnav Plain: lord, castellan, or captain of a local militia from the Arpen Kingdom; no matter what kind of position you had, all you had to do was raise a flag and people would flock like clouds.

“Oberon is here, and I say: we will go and join the fight!”

Oberon shouted out using a Warrior’s skill called War Cry of Retaliation. Soon, users with torches in their hands began to gather around him from all directions.

“Let’s fight!”

“300 warriors of the Chicken Porridge group, reporting for duty.”

“Hooray for Oberon!”

“There’re some Clam Porridge squad members here, too; but what does it matter what groups we belong to? We’re going to the battle!”

“Three high-level Mages available here. Would there be room for us too?”

Users in the nearby areas responded first, but the news spread to the far distance in no time and more users began to band together under Oberon’s banner. It was impossible to know their exact number due to the hour of the night, but it could be guessed that there were a lot of people who were on this together.

Oberon let out another war cry.

“The enemy located near here is the 12th Legion of the Haven Imperial Army. We’re going to attack them.”

“Yes, sir!”

Oberon directed his troops to advance. They were further gaining in size as they encountered numerous Northern users on the way, and finally came upon the 12th Legion, led by Grenol.

“Whew.”

“They sure look majestic.”

The magical chariots in the Empire’s camp were illuminating the surrounding areas. Driven by 8 horses, it had the effect of magically increasing one’s speed and endurance as well as decreasing any physical damage. Each chariot was manned with Knights, advancing as they slaughtered the Northern users with their spears. Archers and Mages of the 12th Legion were destroying the whole battlefield with ranged attacks, and the Hermes Guild members were running amok as well. Each of them had levels ranging from late 400s to 500s, so they were wiping out tens of users with a single skill like it was nothing. Those who were facing the Hermes Guild for the first time felt their body freeze with terror.

“Here are our targets!”

The large crowd following the lead of Oberon rushed straight in and attacked the 12th Legion from the side. Grenol, the Legion Commander and a Mage, watched this using a spell called Owl’s Eyes which gave him night vision.

“Ridiculous. Trying to fight us with those weaklings…”

A considerable number of users Oberon had brought with him didn’t even know how to fight. They rushed in, crashed their bodies against the magical chariots and disappeared as grey shades.

“And they call this a human wave strategy? This is just filling their numbers with useless rabble.”

Grenol recalled his past battles during the days when the Empire was conquering the Central Continents. His level was lower than now, but he still had many a well-matched fight against the elite members of the other prestigious guilds. The victory was always theirs in the end, but the possibility of getting killed in battle at any minute kept up his tension.

“Such a sub-par standard, just as I saw in the videos.”

Grenol cast a few area-of-effect spells and aimed them at the assaulting crowd. As fire and wind spells were combined, a great wave of flames swept the users away. Just as Grenol was about to turn his gaze, assuming it would be enough to forestall the enemy,

“Grenol!”

He heard a loud voice.

Startled, Grenol looked at the ground where his spells had been cast.

A short Dwarf Warrior, his entire body burning in fire!

Oberon was running right at him in a straight line, penetrating through his magical spell. The Imperial troops and a few Hermes Guild users tried to stop him, but they were all knocked out by the Dwarf’s axe and shield bash. At that instant, Grenol remembered the name of the Dwarf Warrior once famous.

“You are Oberon!”

In the past he had been a widely-known user, one of the top 80 strongest players in Royal Road. The guild had forgotten about him after the Haven Empire took control over the Central Continent, and now he made his appearance again, right here.

“Kill him.”

Still, with a distance of 200 meters between them, Grenol thought the Hermes Guild members would take care of him somehow. There were ten thousand guild members belonging to the 12th Legion, and even though most of them were fighting in the frontline, at least a hundred were currently present around Oberon’s position. Spirit and Arcane magical attacks flew in the air, all targeting Oberon.

“Upstream Wind!”

A skill that improved a Warrior’s speed and evasion came to effect.

A small-sized Dwarf Warrior!

Oberon ran and swerved in a zigzag, avoiding all the incoming attacks ridiculously narrowly. The spells that missed him went on to hit the Imperial Army nearby. Magical chariots were knocked over, and the ground exploded.

“Don’t worry. We’ll stop him.”

The Hermes Guild members specialized in close range combat, who were given the role of guarding the Legion Commander, said confidently. They were almost glad to find out the person they were going to fight was Oberon.

“Still, coming all the way here alone… He’s running to his own grave.”

“Let’s trap him in a circle. We mustn’t miss him when he tries to flee.”

Oberon was but one person, and they were many. They hadn’t expected any exciting battle since they were appointed as the commander’s escorts, but killing a famous user who is also a lord of a castle in the Arpen Kingdom would certainly be something to boast about.

“Throw Millearm!”

At that moment, an axe flew out of Oberon’s hand. It was becoming about hundreds of times larger as it was spinning and flying in the air with a ferocious speed.

“A Secret Skill of Axe Wielding?!”

“Use defense skills!”

An incredible axe-throwing skill!

The now-enormous axe struck the ground, targeting Grenol’s position. Five of the Mages and Shamans among the Hermes Guild members were killed in the attack, but otherwise the damage was not huge.

“…!”

However, Grenol had seen it — the sight of Oberon making his way through the guild members guarding him! The escorts also noticed it belatedly and tried to strike at him, but Oberon had already rushed past them swiftly while they were blocking his earlier attacks.

“The Ascending Wing-“

Grenol attempted to run away using a flying spell, as he would be at a disadvantage in close range.

“Nobody can escape from my combat zone! Pulling Shackles!”

A Warrior-class skill, it blocked the enemy from fleeing or moving to other locations. Affected by Oberon’s Shackles, Grenol’s flying spell was cancelled.

“Such recklessness…!”

Grenol thought Oberon was being quite stupid, rushing in like this without even checking his surroundings first. Even if he managed to kill Grenol, he would soon meet the same fate through the hands of the other Hermes Guild members.

Oberon took out a dagger and stabbed Grenol. It was enough to take the life of a Mage, with their weak physical Toughness and Life Force. Oberon grinned widely as he watched Grenol’s body turn grey and disappear.

“My skills haven’t gone too rusty, seeing that I killed the head of an Imperial Legion.”

A Hermes Guild user standing right next to him yelled.

“Idiot. Aren’t you the captain of those people you’ve brought with you?”

The crowd that Oberon had led to the battle was still engaging the 12th Legion. The legion certainly possessed superior combat technique, but some brave users had climbed onto the chariots and kept fighting. The Hermes Guild members simply could not understand why the enemy captain had barged in deep into their ranks alone when he had the entire army he needed to lead.

But Oberon had no regrets.

“They don’t need any directions from me. We’re just going to fight, however we want. That’s what each and every one of us is here for.”

Someone among the Hermes Guild members spoke out.

“Still, don’t you feel it’s a bit wasteful to die here like this?”

“No. There are many more people out there just like me. It’s you lot who’re going to face hell itself.”

*****

– Krrrararararahh!

With Bingryong at their lead, the wyverns were hovering around the distant sky. The sculptural creatures had not joined in the battle and were presently on standby, because of Weed’s order. They were told to patrol around from afar, keeping watch, as they could be slaughtered by a large-scale spell if they stepped in too rashly.

“Why are we so weak?”

“I want to go and fight.”

“We must wait. Our master is trying to keep us from harm.”

Phoenix, Fire Giant, Death Worm, Imugi, King Hydra, White Tiger, Nile, Yellowy, Gold Man and so on. Weed’s living sculptures gathered together here wished they could fight in the battle with everyone.

“I want to do something.”

“I have nine heads; I should be allowed to fight.”

“Not when there are so many humans crowding in one place; you would kill some good humans.”

As the sculptural creatures were chattering among themselves.

– Something is getting closer.

Bingryong twisted his body towards the southern sky. With his instinct, typical of a large flying creature, he sensed a strong presence approaching from the distance.

– Everyone get ready for combat.

Bingryong soared higher into the air, and the wyverns scattered to their respective positions. Phoenix and Fire Giant, who possessed particularly superior combat power among the sculptural creatures, prepared themselves for fighting together. Death Worm burrowed into the ground, and King Hydra poised its nine heads uptight, inhaling deeply to spray its poisonous breath. Weed did not use them in combat too often as he quite valued them, but their combined force was enough to easily capture a castle or two. If it had been the beginning days of Royal Road, their power would have made them known as some of the scariest monsters ever.

Presently, enormous figures were still flying soundlessly towards their position, obscuring the moon and stars. Their forms were like those of birds, yet their size ranged from 300 to 500 meters with their wings spread wide. Bodies covered in tough muscles, they were Baraags, a race of flying warlike creatures. There were no less than fifty of them, and as they continued to close the distance, Weed’s sculptural creatures gradually shrank back in fear. King Hydra’s heads stooped down a little, and Bingryong was slowly slinking backwards. Phoenix was fluffing up his feathers, only to make it apparent that he was feeling greatly threatened.

– Are you our enemies?

Fire Giant let out a roar that reverberated through both the ground and the sky.

*Flap flap flap!*

The rapidly gliding Baraags began to reduce their speed. This simple act of flying was still enough to show just how swift and dangerous creatures they were, the beating of their wings sending huge gusts of wind to the ground.

The Baraags gazed at Weed’s living sculptures with a sort of approving look on their faces.

– Don’t you know? We’re friends.

– Friends?

– Like you, we are a creation of art and sculpting skills.

The encounter between two groups of sculptural lifeforms.

The race of Baraags that Emperor Geihar von Arpen had kept safe had not gone extinct, and came to meet them.

Yellowy, who had been hiding in a thicket until now, raised his body cautiously.

– Mooooo. I know them. I have seen them before.

– And we also have heard about you from the parents of our parents. They said there was a very tasty-looking… I mean, a very wonderful ox friend. I see your reputation was not exaggerated.

The Baraag’s flashing eyes scanned over Yellowy’s ribs.

*Rrrrrrumble!*

Death Worm emerged again from the ground; Seville the Knight and Eltin the Elf also stepped forward to greet the Baraags. The flying creatures descended to the ground to meet each other briefly, but the Baraags soon spread their wings again, getting ready to depart.

– Did a battle break out in this area?

– Yes.

Bingryong straightened his body proudly. He might be a weak Ice Dragon, but his experience in hunting at least gave him the majestic frame that allowed him to maintain his confidence in front of the Baraags.

– We are leaving to join the fight. According to the Prophecy, the Great One will come back to life through the power of sculpting. And we must serve his cause.

The loyal race of Baraags, willing to fight for Emperor Geihar!

– To make this world into a place where all sculptural creatures can live freely, as they once did so long ago, we will march to the battle.

With that, the Baraags soared into the sky again and left, heading towards the Garnav Plain.

“…”

Even after hearing this, Weed’s sculptural servants decided to stay where they were for now. Certainly, they too wanted to fight for the world and for the betterment of all sculptural lifeforms. However, Weed had given them an order to wait and not to step into the battle just yet. They were much more afraid of Weed’s scolding, which was certain to come if they disobeyed him, than they were of the enemies.

*****

It was a dark night.

The place where the flaming meteors had struck was teeming with countless users, standing without any lit torches to illuminate their surroundings. This area, which had been the construction site for the large sized sculptures, was subjected to the shockwave of the meteor impact that shook the whole ground. The sculptures that had been built hundreds of meters tall could not endure such force. All of the people’s works, complete and incomplete; the users who had been in the area could do nothing but watch helplessly while more than three thousand pieces collapsed into the ground.

“This Hermes Guild has turned all of our efforts into nothing.”

“It’s over now. Even the Giraffe statue has fallen.”

Every large sculpture here had been built by the sweat of numerous users’ brows. The disappointment they felt in watching all of their works turning into piles of dust in but a second was beyond words.

However, someone in the crowd yelled.

“Some of them are still standing!”

“Wow! The Craving Goblin Archer — it looks undamaged.”

“The Statue of a Leaping Swan. This one hasn’t collapsed, either… But it’s wobbling a little.”

“Let’s repair it then. I think we’ll just need to place something under it to support it!”

For those users who had been working in the sculpture construction site, the current battle was the least of their problems; they had to pull out iron wires and stones from the remains of the ruined sculptures to prevent the still standing ones from collapsing.

*Crrrrrumble!*

A statue of a dolphin was swaying dangerously from the middle part.

“Yikes, it’s going to fall down!”

“Get out of there, quickly!”

“Just a moment… I just have to reinforce this side.”

“No, it’s too late. Just get out right no-“

*Crrrraaaaash!*

The dolphin statue collapsed into pieces, making an impact powerful enough to make the ground underneath quake. Quite a number of users who had been stubbornly working on it until the last minute died with it, but that only made the rest of the people burn with even more determination.

“Nothing to lose. Architects, let’s not assess the risk for now.”

“What? But we must follow the safety rules in any construction site. Safety comes before everything else. Do you know how much effort we put to prevent any casualties when we were building statues with the Grass Porridge Cult?”

“Let’s put it aside just for today. We’re at war now.”

With venomous looks on their faces, the users began to put spurs to the reinforcement work on the remaining sculptures. Not even bothering with ropes to secure their bodies, people climbed up the statues with their bare hands, strengthening the structures with steel and stones. The architects also followed suit, taking huge risk to scale the sculptures on the verge of collapsing.

“This is my work; so it’s my job to save it.”

*Crrrrumble!*

The sound of more sculptures toppling down could be heard everywhere, yet the users did not hesitate. Other people who heard the news began to assemble in the construction site to help, making the place bustle with energy. It was not that these people did not value their lives; they just couldn’t stand aside and let all of their previous effort and hope be trampled into nothingness.

“The Warrior statue is all fine.”

“No damage on the Frontier of the North, either!”

Miraculously, despite the enormous force of the meteor strike they discovered about 400 sculptures that were left intact.

Depps the Sculptor.

Face covered in dust and sweat, he shouted.

“About those broken statues… How about we fix what we can?”

“What?”

“These works have been partially damaged as they collapsed, but quite a lot of them can be fixed if all of you here could lend a hand.”

In the cases of those that were not completely destroyed, the pieces could be restored through a minimal amount of repair. They simply had to put together the disconnected and broken parts back into place, and if that fails, link them again using steel wires.

“I think that’d be easy enough!”

“The problem is that these sculptures are so huge… But we can just connect the pieces bit by bit; all we need is enough manpower.”

With that conclusion the users were about to get to work, but Depps had one more proposal in mind.

“It’d be too wasteful, throwing away all those statues that were damaged beyond repair. So how about putting together salvageable pieces from those broken statues?”

Combining destroyed sculptures together!

Some of the sculptures had their heads and torsos unscathed while completely missing their limbs, and the opposite cases were equally common. Depps was suggesting that they should find any useable parts from the destroyed sculptures and piece them together.

“Can we do that, though?”

“If they were all human statues, it shouldn’t be a problem, but many of the pieces here have various races and sizes.”

“They are still sculptures… I’m not sure if we should rebuild them so crudely…”

The users were feeling conflicted, but before long, they agreed. Realistically, for those statues which had been destroyed by more than 50 percent, it would be more difficult to fully restore them than to make new ones. Still, it would be nice if they could recreate even just a small portion of them by fixing them little by little. Even if they do end up with a failure, it wouldn’t be too late to give up then.

“Everyone’s hope depends on us. Let’s make this work however we can!”

“Chin up, we can do this.”

“To work, to work!”

“More workers keep coming to join us as the words spread. Let’s do our best. We will create a miracle here.”

The power of users that had filled an entire part of the Garnav Plain with sculptures in mere 15 days!

Those who had taken part in the construction of the sculptures were currently flocking in, having heard the news of meteor strike. From the ruin of broken and collapsed statues, people were sweating to rebuild their works through effort and labor.

*****

When Weed defeated Ultar and cried a Lion’s Roar to begin the advance, countless users raised their weapons to join him.

“Charge, charge!”

“Ox Knight Order, let us gather and march together.”

“Airborne troops, begin your drop!”

On the ground users armed with swords and shields were rushing towards the enemies, and in the sky the Avians were dropping more users from the air. The 11th Legion had to engage in the battle with their Legion Commander lost. Their damaged morale further reduced the imperial soldiers’ combat capacity by more than 20 percent. For large armies this difference was significant, and in terms of fighting spirit too, the Arpen Kingdom’s side was overwhelming the opponent. As the users fought with all their might, convinced of their victory, the Imperial Army was busy retreating back.

“I shouldn’t just stand idle like this. Tsschwikk.”

Weed put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.

– Hweeeee!

A shrill sound traversed the battlefield. Just as the people standing around him were wondering about the meaning of it, Weed called Wy-3 using Sculptural Summoning.

“Take me on your back.”

– Master. Are you by any chance going to mount on me in that form?

“Of course. Let’s fight as much as we want.”

Wy-3, with his broad and comfortably shaped back, had to endure letting Karichwi the Orc ride him.

One wrong choice of master leading to a lifetime of suffering!

Before jumping into the battle, Weed took out a few pieces of armor for Wy-3. They consisted of protective gears for neck, chest and head, made by thin sheets of steel which was dyed black; he had crafted a set of armor suited for a wyvern, just like what Mule’s Griffon squad wore.

– You mean these precious items are for me…?

“I’ve made them myself. Chhwit.”

– Thank you. Master.

Wy-3 was deeply moved at first, but as he was donning them one by one, he could not repress his disappointment. They were too thin, too light. Even their Defense scores were very low, and Wy-3 was dubious if this armor could block any glancing blows, let alone square hits.

– Do these items protect me from magical spells?

“No such function. Tsschwit.”

– They block arrows, then?

“Nope, Chwwiiick.”

– Then why should I wear them?

“Because they look great on-screen, Tsschwit!”

What Weed wanted was the picture of Karichwi the Orc riding a wyvern clad in black armor, ruling over the sky with their majesty.

“Let’s begin the fight! Tsschwiik!”

– Quaaaack!

The flying slave Wy-3 launched into the air, beating his wings with great vigor.

“Woooooow!”

“Karichwi, Karichwi!”

Just by seeing the sight of Weed flying in the sky on Wy-3’s back, the crowd below exploded with tremendous cheers.

“Let’s get closer to the ground. Chwit!”

They lowered their altitude, gliding over the battleground where the users and the Imperial Army were fighting each other. Spears and other weapons threatened to touch Wy-3’s legs, but it wasn’t enough to frighten him. With plenty of experience in battles along with his excellent flying technique that had been improving constantly, Wy-3’s power had grown so strong that common soldiers could not pose any threat to him. He might be forced to serve an awful master, but his inborn nature as a ferocious wyvern was not lost.

– Quuuuaaack!

Performing an acrobatic stunt in the air like a fighter plane, Wy-3 flashed past in an explosive burst of speed.

“That’s Weed-nim!”

“Is that the wyvern I’ve heard so much about?”

“Wy-3 is so incredibly fast!”

Wherever Wy-3 went, the morale of the users soared high as they cheered and raised their weapons. A wyvern wearing black armor, and Karichwi the Orc! This somewhat mismatching combination was powerful enough to be the absolute tyrant of the battlefield.

A group of Imperial knights caught Weed’s eyes.

“Preys found ahead. Tchwit.”

– I’m going.

Changing the direction suddenly, Wy-3 rose up almost vertically. Then, in a blink of an eye, he was diving, swooping down on the Imperial soldiers. Weed swung the Loa Sword and Thunder Spear simultaneously.

“Chwiick!”

A wild dance of unparalleled deadliness!

Staying at a height where Wy-3’s legs could almost touch the ground, Weed broke through the enemy lines slashing both his spear and sword.

“Kuergh!”

The Imperial knights clad in their sturdy armor were thrown back by tens of meters to all directions.

“There. Chwick!”

They couldn’t let the knight commander get away alive, even though they spared the rest of the knights. It was a basic strategy in battle to defeat the enemy commander first, but a more important reason was the golden crown which this knight commander was wearing.

“It must weigh at least a kilogram. That’s pure gold. Tsschwit!”

By Weed’s order, Wy-3 chased after the commander, caught him in his claws, and threw the knight into a wall violently.

– Aaaaargh!

Wy-3 enjoying himself!

While fighting the Imperial knights, Weed drew attention from the Hermes Guild members as well. In his current form as Karichwi the Orc together with Wy-3 he was riding, his presence was difficult not to notice.

“We just need to get rid of that guy, after all.”

“That’s Weed. We don’t even have to fight him one-on-one like in a duel.”

“Let’s kill him.”

Spells cast by the Hermes Guild members created walls of fire in midair or spears of ice that flew towards him. Wy-3 rushed past the magical attacks using his high speed or swiveled out of the way. As the wyvern skidded in zigzag maintaining his current low altitude, blasts of dangerous spells sent by the Imperial troops followed him.

“Run, quickly!”

“Wipe them all out.”

While Weed and Wy-3 were distracting the enemies, the users were increasing the pressure on the 11th Legion. The army that included quite a lot of high-level users surrounded the 11th Legion from all directions and cut down their numbers swiftly.

Chapter 6: Breaking Through the Trap

The 20th Legion of the Imperial Army led by Pandeg was quite special.

“We do not participate in battle most of the time, but once we do, our soldiers won’t stop until the fight is over.”

Among the numerous users of the Hermes Guild, there were only about a hundred members who belonged to the 20th Legion. The rest of the legion’s forces consisted exclusively of common soldiers; a proportion that felt almost abnormal. This legion hadn’t even existed during the conquest of the Central Continent.

As they were relaxedly following behind the other legions on their advance to the Garnav Plain, a direct order was given.

– Lafaye: Attack Weed.

“Understood. Are we proceeding as planned?”

– Lafaye: There is no change, until the end.

“We will get right to it.”

Pandeg began to move his troops to carry out a secret operation that was not known to even the commanders of the other legions. Taking a detour around the 7th and 14th Legions, they swiftly marched towards the 11th Legion’s position, avoiding combat as much as possible. Occasionally, other legions had to clear the way for them by the orders of the Guild’s inner circle.

“Who are they?”

“They’re wearing the Imperial uniform. Why are they just walking past instead of joining us?”

Hermes Guild users found them odd, but the 20th Legion did not have time to stop and satisfy their curiosity. No matter where in the vast Garnav Plain Weed may make his appearance, he was going to be the Legion’s sole target.

‘It’s clear that we’ve as good as won the fight if we can just get Weed. No need to care about small fry; we’re going to make the largest achievement of this war.’

Pandeg’s 20th Legion continued to move at a great speed and eventually faced the enormous number of users who were fighting against the 11th Legion.

“Kill them all!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

“Victory to the Arpen Kingdom, yaaaaahh!”

The sound of yelling and screaming from the users made everyone’s ears ring. Somewhere in the midst of it, they could also hear people playing instruments and a choir singing in harmony.

♪♫♪ Let us move a mountain,
Let us create a river.
Born from the barren land, we shall walk on this path with pride.
We may be weak, but together we are one.
With a sword in our hand we will make the impossible possible.
Let us move onward.
Let us fight.
Create miracles by our own hands! ♪♫♪

The songs of war that gave renewed strength to the people on the Arpen Kingdom’s side!

The users who heard these songs while fighting on the battlefield boasted indomitable resolve. Their all-out assault against the 11th Legion was pouring out like a torrential rain brought by a thunderstorm.

“Stop them!”

“Don’t think about the consequences now: arrows, spells, use everything you’ve got!”

“We need to send out the shieldbearers forward and buy some time; just do something!”

The 11th Legion was holding out in defensive formation against the users striking with all their might, but their line was being driven back here and there. Users were dropping down from the sky and crashed their bodies against the soldiers, while those on the ground were also fighting to their very death. The speed and vigor with which they were swarming in were such that, if one was killed, two or three more emerged in their place. The high-leveled users who had followed Weed were also demonstrating their powers and subduing the Imperial troops in various locations.

“Attack!”

Pandeg immediately ordered the 20th Legion to attack, engaging in the battle. With the appearance of the enemy reinforcement the Arpen Kingdom users were taken aback, but before long a new battlefront was formed.

“Bring it on!”

“Let’s prey on these new ones, too!”

Novice users kept flooding in, supported by the stalwart high-level users who had their backs. The squads captains who had been appointed by Weed led the users under their commands and launched counterattacks on the 20th Legion from all directions.

“Let’s fight!”

“Everyone follow Vandert’s lead.”

“Dashing is our strategy. Not difficult, right? Now, pick up your weapons and sprint!”

The users who had assembled in the Garnav Plain for this battle had been hearing explanations about the human wave strategy all the while, including every mealtime.

“Number equals power. When people in front of you start running, you start running too. Once you’re directly facing the enemy, start fighting. It’s imperative that you never fall behind.”

“Maintain close formation! You need to stay close to each other; always have people right next to you. Otherwise it will be the death of everyone because there will be some people who hesitate.”

“Just remember what you’re all fighting for. Don’t worry about being righteous. People should be able to choose how they live their lives. But don’t hesitate to act when the moment eventually comes; who knows, you might be caught by a TV camera.”

“If you don’t want to take risks, just don’t join the fight. It was always the same for the past battles of the North, too. Only those who wanted to chose to fight, and they were proud of it. If you want to fight, then step forward. Everyone will welcome you.”

The indoctrination process had been carried out smoothly during the festival. With their optimized human wave strategy and great number combined with speed, the effect was explosive. No matter how many were killed their number will be replenished endlessly.

Fierce battles were taking place everywhere, but the area where Weed had directly brought his people was especially overflowing with powerful users. They kept flooding in, almost glad to face the new challenge as the 20th Legion joined the fight.

“It doesn’t matter how much damage we take to our forces. All we need to do is to create one chance.”

Pandeg observed the continuing battle cool-headedly. The troops from both sides that covered the entire Garnav Plain were locked in an intense combat, killing and being killed, but he merely thought it was fortunate that he hadn’t arrived too late.

“I can afford to lose all my soldiers. Even if they’re all killed…”

The 20th Legion had been formed by assembling the stragglers from various kingdoms during the conquest. These forces could not reach the average standard of the Haven Imperial Army, and therefore it wouldn’t be too much of a loss even if they were to be annihilated.

Although it was hard to see clearly at this hour of night, he had checked the broadcast through a crystal ball and knew that Weed was currently flying on a wyvern’s back.

“That’s him.”

Pandeg grinned widely. After a good while, he’d finally spotted Weed who was hunting down the knights of the 11th Legion.

*****

Presently, Weed was engaged in a battle as he rode on Wy-3’s back.

“Tchchwit. Fly faster, and lower!”

– That would be too dangerous. Also, I’m already flying at full speed.

“Just flap your wings harder! Chwit!”

– How could I possibly do it harder?

“That’s for you to figure out. Chewchwik!”

Occasionally he shot arrows from the sky, but he was mainly flying at a low altitude, swinging his Thunder Spear briskly on the wyvern’s back. Each time he swept the spear, bolts of lightning struck upon the knights. Even when several different magical attacks were fired at him, Wy-3 dodged out of the way with his acrobatic flying skills.

– Please compliment me. Master.

“Compl.”

– What is that?

“That’s half a compliment. Do better next time! Tchwick!”

Wy-3 continued his low-altitude flight and quick turns, and at times landed on the ground and galloped like a horse for a while before taking off again. Weed’s demands were tricky, as he had to pull off some acrobatic tricks in order to deal with the knights equipped with high quality gears.

“Hoorah!”

“So fabulous. Making such a combat possible…”

“Weed-nim is indeed great!”

The morale of the users fighting alongside him was through the roof.

There were more than a couple of backpacks tied and placed on Wy-3’s body, each of them heavy with the spoils Weed had gotten from the defeated knights, but the expression on the face of Karichwi the Orc was still full of discontent.

“Throwing away so many junk items… Tchwichit. Looks like I’ve lost my initial motivation. I shouldn’t have given them up no matter what.”

Weed’s voice was overflowing with shame!

In such a quick-paced combat, it was not easy to pick up every item. Sometimes he used the Gloves of Dimension Doors to collect the spoils dropped by the knights, but as he was barely managing to climb onto Wy-3’s back on time before he flew past, he failed to pick up some cheaper miscellaneous items.

Wy-3 asked, tilting his head curiously.

– Wouldn’t you rather choose a single one-of-a-kind item rather than a hundred pieces of junk?

“This is not a matter of which one is better. Tsschwick!”

– I don’t understand.

“Would you not pick up a thousand dollar cash dropped on the road just because you have a hundred thousand in your bank account? Chooowick. Just take my word for it. Tsschwick!”

Weed and Wy-3 continued through the battle while demonstrating more feats and tricks that looked almost unreal to those who were watching them through the broadcast. An airborne fight was something that truly impressed the audience.

– Mapan: More Imperial troops are approaching your position. Rumor says it’s the 20th Legion.

Weed had been informed early on about the new group of Imperial forces coming; he had been receiving something called ‘battle status reports’ from the new captains to whom he had issued an excessive amount of appointments earlier, and they had brought news about the appearance of the new legion.

‘I don’t understand. There’s little they can change by just sending more troops here.’

Since he had first made his appearance in the concert stage of Marey the Bard, Weed had led his people all the way to this area. There were currently an enormous number of users that formed the core of the Arpen Kingdom’s forces assembled here, with the Northern and Central Continent users mixed in one place. After even more users came to join while he was fighting Ultar, this army now lacked in neither quality nor quantity. With enough military power that they could make easy work of at least three Imperial Legions simultaneously, the appearance of the 20th Legion felt almost welcome; indeed, it gave a chance to fight to the users who had yet to join the fight and had been waiting their turns at the back.

‘I could almost thank them for showing up. I can get rid of both of them here.’

For a while Weed thought about moving over to the 20th Legion’s position on Wy-3’s back and fighting there after he’d spent enough time dealing with the 11th Legion. It was a good opportunity to make a combat achievement as well as earn plenty of spoils.

‘This is good. I was given a chance to reduce the enemy’s strength easily; it will make things very advantageous for us during the rest of the war.’

But as he was about to continue engaging in the battle in a pleasant mood, a deep corner of his heart suddenly felt heavy. The memory of himself rejoicing blithely over a cheap rent deal for a semi-basement room he had got from that wicked landlord came back to him.

‘Has there been even a single occasion where my life’s problem solved itself so easily? Also, could it be that I’m underestimating my enemies now?’

The said basement room had turned out to be so damp that a fog would fill the whole room each morning — even their blankets became wet with the moist! Weed remembered his grandmother and sister always having a cough. The room was curiously cool in summer which meant they at least didn’t feel very hot, but the walls were always covered in blue molds that grew ever thickly. That was one of the biggest mistakes he had ever made while looking for a place to live.

‘What is it? What went wrong?’

Weed began to go over every past event that led to now, as quickly as a supercomputer processing a multiplication. Everything felt fine up until he engaged in a duel against Ultar and defeated him. He had changed his form into an Orc using Sculptural Destruction, and made a good use of the Gloves of Dimension Doors. He had already been aware of Ultar’s dependence on his crossbow and weakness in close combat and used that information when he fought him. As a result, he was able to defeat Ultar through an incredibly quick-paced and messy fight, not allowing his opponent a single chance to demonstrate his full strength.

‘I also took initiative by bringing an army to fight the 11th Legion.’

He had selected the most appropriate opponent out of the twenty different legions that had been marching in simultaneously. Things were undoubtedly clear up to this point. Then, most unexpectedly, the Hermes Guild responded by just sending one more legion to this location.

‘It’s already a huge loss for them to let the 11th Legion alone be annihilated like this. And the 20th Legion has chosen to walk into this scene of massacre voluntarily? Without even joining forces with other legions?’

A typical 1+1 situation, but Weed thought there was no way the Hermes Guild would make such a stupid decision.

‘I could learn a lot from this guild in some aspects, such as their tyranny, and how they collect taxes from people. And am I really to believe that such competent people decided to advance their troops so recklessly?’

His dark suspicion grew deeper. He knew that it was dangerous to be blinded by the prospect of an easy gain and accept it without thinking.

‘There’s something going on. It smells terribly fishy.’

*****

Pandeg was keeping his eyes wide open, desperately waiting for a chance to present itself. A few users from the 11th Legion managed to penetrate through the enemy lines and joined them.

“What became of the Spears of Annihilation?”

“We haven’t used them yet, as our Legion Commander had deceased so unexpectedly…”

“Good. That would give us a better chance for later.”

They dug a deep trap, and lurked.

Pandeg was armed with a splendid uniform, not concealing his status as the Legion Commander, and they had lit magical lanterns that illuminated the nearby areas brightly.

“You guys should stay here, too.”

“Sounds good.”

“Even when he arrives, don’t take any actions before I give you a signal.”

“Understood.”

The other Hermes Guild members also hunkered down near Pandeg, waiting. The 11th Legion continued to lose its number as the battle went on, but they thought of nothing besides getting Weed. The scale of this war was huge, but that was also why the value on Weed’s life was so absolute. Once the king is gone, the spirit of hope and resistance that he had been spreading would die with him, too.

“He’s butchering the knights of the 11th Legion.”

“Let’s stay calm and keep waiting. Maintain your positions.”

“Even after he comes over to our position we shouldn’t act hastily. He is such a slippery bastard; we need to seize our chance. Pandeg-nim, move to a more conspicuous location.”

“I’ll wait in a good landing spot that can attract a wyvern.”

The members of the Hermes Guild held their breath and continued to wait for the right moment.

About half an hour passed, and during that time the forces of the 11th Legion had been broken to pieces by users, and the 20th Legion was also beginning to face a serious pressure.

“Let’s defeat the entire Haven Empire!”

“Continue marching, this is our victory!”

The cheering sounds from the users were getting closer. And as their anxious waiting was beginning to feel almost suffocating, they heard the sound of large wings beating from the distant sky.

“The wyvern is approaching.”

“Shhh. Just wait until it comes near.”

Pandeg glanced at the sky while he pretended to direct his troops. A dark shape was flying this way, which he could see clearly through the Mages’ spell that gave him a better night vision: a wyvern clad in black armor, and an Orc riding on its back!

Now it was becoming really difficult to hold back their excitement.

– Pandeg: The moment has finally come. Everyone, prepare yourself thoroughly in your respective position.

There were about two hundred Hermes Guild members who received the secret signal from Pandeg. They were disguised as common soldiers and servants with their weapons hidden. They were all currently overflowing with thrill with the prospect of the long wait they had endured in order to kill Weed finally coming to fruition.

Before long, the Orc dropped down to the ground from the wyvern’s back. Seemingly intending to fight the 20th Legion’s commander Pandeg personally, he was merely about 8 meters away from their position.

“Chhhwiiick! I’ve come to fight you!”

The Orc raised his glaive high.

“He’s here. Now!”

Pandeg yelled.

At that very instant, the Sorcerers of the 20th Legion began to chant an incantation. They were wearing the uniform of the commander’s guards, but they were one of the hidden weapons Pandeg had prepared.

“Curse the weakness engraved in blood and flesh. For every evil spirit will gather in this ground to gnaw upon thee… Punishment from the Other Side!”

The Sorcerers used rare gems as offerings and completed the incantation which lowered the opponent’s combat strength. It weakened various combat related abilities and skills as well as reducing the maximum Life Force by more than a half. A series of other curses followed, such as Mind Confusion, Severe Fatigue and Shaking Vision.

“Get him!”

The Hermes Guild users too emerged from their hiding spots everywhere and began to dash towards the Orc. Some of them were holding metal sticks, which were none other than the Spears of Annihilation that had been secretly prepared by the Hermes Guild. They were single-use items, but were capable of releasing the Sun’s energy stored within and shoot forth a pillar of light in a straight line. The power of that light attack was enormous, and these were not a kind of weapon to use against an individual enemy; the fact that they drew out the Spears of Annihilation, that normally ought to be used in a siege or against an entire army, demonstrated their will to get rid of Weed here and now, no matter what.

“W-what is this?!”

Pandeg, after observing the face of the Orc for a while, yelled out in confusion and shock.

“Who the heck are you?”

“Tssschhwick!”

The appearance of this Orc certainly resembled Karichwi; his enormous size and ugly face could cause people to mistake him for Karichwi, but this one still looked far less dangerous than the other Orc. If Karichwi was to be compared to a wild lion that had gone through hell and high water, this one was more like a stray wolf. When looked closely, there was also quite discernable difference in the broadness of their shoulders and amount of muscles.

The Orc smirked, still holding his glaive.

“Stupid Hermes Guild. Chhhwick.”

An ominous purple aura enveloped the Orc’s body as the dark incantation came to effect, but the Orc didn’t seem to care.

“Using everything you’ve got, aren’t you? What a waste; I’m only level 19. Kyakyachichichwit!”

“…”

These words made the Hermes Guild users who were just about to launch fierce attacks against him feel completely deflated.

“Drat.”

“Weed could be watching this.”

The guild members hurriedly hid the Spears of Annihilation and other weapons, but it was already too late.

“This is all going on air. Tsschhichwick!”

The sight of them jumping out to attack this Orc must have been transmitted to the rest of the world through the broadcast by now.

‘How come Weed decided to send a novice user instead of coming himself?’

Pandeg could not understand how he was tricked. Their plan to set up a trap to kill Weed, the sole point of existence of the 20th Legion, had come to absolutely nothing. They believed they had created an inescapable trap, and threw the entire 20th Legion as bait, but the fish they had tried to catch somehow managed to simply take the bait and squeeze its way out of their clutches.

Conscious of the fact that he was on the broadcast cameras, Pandeg straightened up his posture proudly.

“You must be mistaken. Do you really think you have gained something just because Weed did not show up here?”

“Pardon? Chchwit.”

It was now the Orc’s turn to feel confused.

“Of course, it would’ve been nice to get Weed by our own hand… but all we had to do was buy some time. Because-“

Pandeg pointed his finger at the sky above. From a great distance, three tiny red dots smaller than sesame seeds could be seen.

“Summon Flaming Meteors spell has been cast, and they are going to hit this area.”

“Tsssscccchiit!”

The Orc looked up at the sky and yelled out in dismay. Pandeg and the Hermes Guild members expected that few people would not be terrified by the news that there would be meteors falling from the sky upon them.

“Of course, when those meteors strike, we will die, too. But you people who are watching the broadcast; I’ll make this clear to you. As I understand, there are a lot of strong users who have sided with the Arpen Kingdom currently assembled in this place. What will happen when the meteors hit here?”

“…”

“Shall I answer that question for you? They will all perish, won’t they? Who knows, maybe Weed among them, too.”

The Orc who had been sent as a decoy stared with his mouth open, seemingly unable to utter a word.

Pandeg went on, getting the satisfying sense of victory in his heart.

“Even if he does manage to survive with some luck, that is no reason to rejoice. The Imperial army will soon come to wipe out the rest of you. Yes, every one of you and Weed as well, in your ruined state after the meteors hit.”

The faces of the Hermes Guild members also lit up with smiles as they heard Pandeg’s words.

However, seeing the satisfying expression typical of victors on their faces, the ugly Orc smirked again, his nose twitching.

“Kikikit. This is just as what Weed-nim told me. Chwick!”

“What did you say?”

“Weed-nim told me to come here instead of him, saying there’s something fishy in the air. Tsschik.”

“Uum.”

“And also, Weed-nim is not here anymore. Tschwit. He gathered all the powerful users in the Grass Porridge Cult and left to fight some other Legions. Chwizick!”

“*Gasp*!”

Pandeg’s heart sank with shock. The flaming meteors were already on their way, and if Weed had indeed left this area, nothing could be worse than that.

“H-how on earth did he know about that and escaped?”

“I don’t really understand, either. Chwick. He just said he got a bad feeling.”

“Do you mean to say that he has such sharp instinct, enough to sense our trap and avoid it?”

“He said, he got a feeling like earning some blind money without any effort? Tsschwick. He said there’s no way life would take such a fortunate turn for him. Tschischwit!”

*****

Seoyoon had assembled a portion of the Northern and Central Continent users, and was waiting.

“There they are.”

“I see them. The meteors are falling.”

Summon Flaming Meteors!

The archers with their keen eyesight first spotted the meteors in the distance, which looked as small as sesame seeds. The blazing shooting stars which appeared in the night sky soon became gradually bigger and more distinct for everyone to notice.

“I’m not sure what their target location is yet, but it would probably be where Weed-nim is, wouldn’t it?”

“We cannot afford to worry about them right now; we must focus on carrying out our mission faithfully.”

“Yes; only by doing our job well can we prevent further damage.”

Those who were following Seoyoon’s lead were the top elite soldiers of the Grass Porridge Cult. Forming the core of the Arpen Kingdom’s military force, each of them had made a significant contribution back during the battle of the Earth Palace.

“We do not know the exact casting range of the Summon Flaming Meteors spell, but the spell was first kicked into effect southwest from here.”

“Then the 5th and 7th Legions would be our suspects.”

“One of them must be guarding the Mages. Seems like we don’t have any choice but to hit them both.”

The first time the spell struck they were completely caught unaware, but every magical spell had a certain range in which they could take effect. So when Summon Flaming Meteor was cast for the second time, they were able to estimate the approximate direction through some measurements.

“Let’s set off right away.”

Seoyoon climbed on the back of a flying monster — not Wy-3, but something that looked far more frightening.

– Kuuuaaaargh!

A Baraag, a sculptural life form!

It had a muscular frame and a long torso. Its beak and talons, which were optimized for hunting and combat, were also as sharp as honed blades. As befits an apex predator, it could frighten any other monsters with its menacing gaze only. And indeed, even the Northern users had felt their heart sink with terror when the Baraags showed up a moment ago.

– Heeding the last words of the great Emperor Geihar von Arpen, our race has been awaiting this day ever since.

Having made their majestic appearance, the Baraags roared unrestrainedly in front of the Northern users.

< Absolute horror!

You are succumbing to extreme fear.

Physical withering! Mental weakness! Movement disability!

The success chance of all skills decreases by 88%.

Your maximum Life Force is reduced by an amount which depends on your level, up to a maximum of 85%. >

A race of monsters that boasts overwhelming power! Those who were below level 100 couldn’t even move, with their legs trembling just by beholding the Baraags.

“Those are supposed to be monsters?”

“Whoa… I’ve seen them on a broadcast channel but that’s just…”

“Is it even possible to hunt something like that?”

“It’s astounding, and also terrifying.”

The Northern users were shocked by the up-close spectacle of looking at the Baraags in person. When they showed off their size in the sky with their wings spread wide, their bodies ranged from 300 to 500 meters in length. These flying monsters that could match Dragons themselves in size were currently covering the entire sky, and any beast or monster the users normally hunted would look quite cute next to them. If the boss monster of a dungeon could give a group of users an adequate amount of challenge as they exchanged blows, this Baraag could destroy a city or fight against an entire nation. They boasted such formidable power, as though they would be able to squeeze those humans on the ground to death with their toes at any moment.

– So you are the ones who claim to carry on the spirit of the glorious Arpen Empire?

The Baraags yelled threateningly, and a heavy silence fell on the Garnav Plain. At that moment, Seoyoon stepped forward.

“That is correct.”

– What insolence! You dare call yourself the successor of the Great Emperor…

The Baraags’ gleaming red eyes focused on Seoyoon.

– Ah… Huh?

And for some time, the supersized flying creatures stared at her blankly.

Shock, amazement, lost sense of reality, captivation, and happiness.

A beauty, a beauty, a beauty, a beauty.

The furious gazes of the monsters soon turned docile. The Baraags politely put their front paws together as if feeling shy.

– How do you do? We are the race of Baraags.

“Yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

The Baraags gently greeted her like well-brought-up kindergarten kids; a few of them even bowed their heads deeply in a formal salutation.

The sculptural creatures created by the Emperor Geihar von Arpen!

As the emperor himself was quite fond of attractive ladies, all of his sculptural children also shared a weakness for beauty.

– She said it’s a pleasure to meet us.

– Is she so glad to see us?

– We should’ve come sooner.

– I wish I had at least taken a shower in the rain before coming here.

As Seoyoon greeted them back, the Baraags began to whisper among themselves, clearly thrilled.

– Is there anything we could help with at all?

– We will make sure to carry out any tasks you give us excellently.

– The Great Emperor has left an order for us, after all. Please let us help in any way.

“Yes, please help us. We are all in great hardship right now.”

The Baraags had come here by the order of the Emperor Geihar in the first place, but they joined the Arpen Kingdom’s camp all the more satisfied.

Seoyoon and the other top elite users of the Arpen Kingdom climbed on to the back of the reliable Baraags. They soared into the night sky silently, their bulky bodies feeling heavy and sturdy to the riders as if they were sitting on top of hovering castles. Since Emperor Geihar had created them as a combat-specialized sculptural race, they even possessed quite an excellent night vision, too.

– We shall start moving.

The Baraags accelerated rapidly and flew across the sky, cutting through the air at frightening speed.

“Now that things have come to this, let’s wipe them all out.”

“Mmm. I can feel my blood boil.”

The users riding on the backs of the Baraags could see more clearly the meteors, which were getting closer and closer in the distant sky. They wanted to join the others in battle as soon as possible, but their current mission was to deal with the Mages who were casting the Summon Flaming Meteors spell. They might have been caught unaware for the first two times, but they could not allow it to happen again. This was a task that was possibly more dangerous than directly fighting the Imperial forces on the ground, and it was difficult to guarantee their survival. Even so, there was nobody who regretted their decision to take part in the mission. Those who did great service to the Arpen Kingdom could earn great fame. As they all saw firsthand how the heroes who had died fighting in Shelgium were treated when they arrived in the Garnav Plain, they were willing to throw their own lives for this mission.

“Kuhuhu. May we all have an honorable death and carve our names in history.”

“Did you hear that the Rhodium Sculptor Association is going to build a war memorial?”

“A war memorial?”

“You didn’t know? If we win the war, they’ll construct a war memorial to be a Great Edifice in the Garnav Plain. And it’s said that they’re going to build statues of the users who made great contributions to our victory.”

Naturally, the artists of the Central Continent had taken the side of the Arpen Kingdom, where they could have a better standard of living and be treated with respect. The Hermes Guild had not cared one bit about those defecting artists, but they had later taken a critical role in constructing the large sculptures in the Garnav Plain. And when the architects had decided to construct a war memorial, the artists willingly had offered to produce sculptures and paintings of the heroes for them.

“That’s the 5th Legion over there.”

“Hmm. They sure look suspicious…”

Seoyoon and the rest of the users continued flying on the Baraags until they could see the 5th Legion’s camp. As soon as they spotted the approaching Baraags, the 5th Legion also reacted by arranging a part of its troops in defensive formation like a hedgehog rolling itself into a ball.

“Summon Flaming Meteors is an Ultimate Spell. It’s already quite dubious how they even managed to cast such a spell in the first place, considering the average standard of their users known to us, but still, they will be in a vulnerable state for a while after using the spell.”

“Our opponent also wouldn’t have a way to make certain whether or not we’ve come here knowing who’s behind the meteor attack. Maybe that’s why they’re preparing themselves for a fight?”

“We will find out once we fight them. Let’s go.”

Many words were exchanged, but in the end they decided to attack in order to find out the truth.

The Baraags asked Seoyoon, politely.

– Would it be okay if we fight as well?

“Yes, please do.”

– Thank you. We will not disappoint.

The archers among the Imperial troops nocked an arrow to their bows, but it was the Baraags that made the first attack. They spread their wings fully on both sides and inhaled deeply. Their already gigantic bodies began to swell even bigger like balloons, accumulating a tremendous amount of heat. Then, the Baraags breathed out the air they had been holding back all at once.

– This heat is the power that protects art and the Arpen Kingdom!

Crimson jets of fire shot out from the night sky, pouring down upon the Imperial forces — a hyper-temperature Breath that made the trees and bushes burn and wither, and even heated up the very ground!

“Aaarrgh!”

“Th-this is a Breath attack.”

“Shields are useless against it. Run!”

Each time a shot of Baraag’s Breath struck, the entire area within a 100-meter radius was engulfed in flames. The stream of fire continued on for almost a whole kilometer, and the inside was a complete pandemonium full of dying soldiers. The appearance of the Baraags, which would righteously be classified as top-tier monsters, forced even the seasoned troops of the Imperial Army into a state of panic.

“We-we’re all going to die.”

“We’ve made the gods angry!”

Some among the Imperial soldiers who were originally common residents,[1] not users, were overcome with fear and ran away from the battle. Even the Hermes Guild members were just taking in this sight without taking any actions. Although they had gears or scrolls enchanted with flying spells, they dared not launch themselves right in front of the Baraags.

“Those monsters I saw in the videos are actually here.”

“We cannot fight them alone. We’ll only be able to match them when the 2nd Legion arrives.”

“We must strike them all at once if we’re going to have any chance of hunting them down. Even then we’ll have to be supported by magic, too.”

The soldiers came to the Hermes Guild users and pleaded.

“Please save my subordinates, sir!”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

“If you could at least use the healing magic sealed in your sword, it will help our injured soldiers.”

“I need to keep this spell for really important times.”

Everywhere they looked, things were very demoralizing for the Imperial Army. Even the Hermes Guild members were busy either fleeing from the fire Breaths or preparing themselves for later battles.

“It seems they don’t value our lives very much.”

“They say we must fight for the glory of the Haven Empire, yet our families are all starving because of the heavy taxes they put on us.”

“I miss those days when we could just plunder villages without any concerns.”

The morale among the Imperial soldiers was diminished even further.

In the meantime, the Baraags continued to spew out Breaths of fire and struck the Imperial troops in every corner.

“Disperse, and wait until they exhaust their power.”

“Spare the knights as much as possible. We need to maintain our military strength in any way.”

Still, as befits the top elite troops of the Empire, the 5th Legion acted swiftly and dispersed their forces to reduce the damage. And then, at one point, an unusual event occurred during which a Breath attack from a Baraag was blocked by several layers of protection spells. A flame Breath sprayed from the sky upon the ground was weakened by different protection spells that sprang forth all of a sudden, and was eventually dissipated.

“There they are!”

“At least 12 different protection spells were used at the same time. There are Mages, too.”

The eyes of the Arpen Kingdom’s users caught a group of Mages hurriedly making their escape. They were also being guarded by quite a few Hermes Guild members. These were not just common Mages that normally participated in warfare, but extremely high-leveled, high-ranking Mages assembled in one place — an absolute proof that they were the ones who had cast the Summon Flaming Meteors spell!

Seoyoon raised her sword and pointed at the Mages with it.

“Attack!”

*****

The shooting stars falling across the night sky.

As it was the case with the first strike, the users were once again standing transfixed, blankly staring at the trajectories drawn by the meteors.

“Aaaaahhhh…”

“Do you think they’ll strike here? Surely not?”

“They’re getting near. They’re travelling past towards the south!”

The three meteors that fell from the sky violently shook the vast land of the Garnav Plain one more time. Everyone could see the great explosion, and the news quickly spread that the impact site was the location where the Northern users fought the 11th and 20th Legions. But the destructive power of the meteors did not frighten the people in the Arpen Kingdom’s camp. In fact, it only set their hearts on fire, burning with fierce anger.

“Kill them all!”

“Let’s avenge our fallen brothers.”

“For freedom!”

Soon the users were engaged in heated combat against the Imperial troops everywhere.

“What is this? These rats have become even more unruly.”

Calcus the Slayer, the Commander of the 4th Legion.

He found that the situation now was totally different from when he first marched into the Garnav Plain. The users were striking at their enemies wildly, and the intense fights were causing some damage to the Imperial forces as well.

“They are still just weaklings; we’ll hit them harder.”

Calcus ordered his Black Riders to advance forward.

An elite army that had grown their strength through the conquest of the Central Continent and the suppression of resistance forces! The troops that had always managed to break through any line of defense and put an end to a battle were now boldly penetrating through the swarm of Northern users.

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

“Fight on! Just stand your ground until the end and we can win this!”

“Stick close to each other, and remember to run.”

Even though there were some high-level users mixed among them, the largest portion of the people who fought against the Imperial Army consisted of novices who had started the game in the Arpen Kingdom. The 4th Legion slaughtered the coming waves of users and continued pushing through the ground covered in blood and corpses.

“Wipe them all out of the way! We shall dominate this battleground.”

Calcus led the knights personally. He had always enjoyed combat, and would not miss the thrill of overpowering enemies while riding with his knights on the battlefield.

“Whoa. I’m doing one hell of a sword dance.”

“Our legion will make the highest kill count, don’t you think?”

The ten thousand Hermes Guild members were also each contributing to the fight. It was the Mages who set the record for the biggest achievements in battle, but the warriors in the frontline also boasted formidable competence. Each of them was like a boss-level monster, holding out against the combined attacks from more than a hundred users and even pushing them back.

It was in that moment when even the Northern users, despite having thrown themselves so obstinately into the fray full of rage, began to lose their initial intensity by the sturdy offensive from the Imperial Army.

– Kuuuuuuuaaaaaccchhhhwwwiiii!

A shout that made the entire plain tremble was heard.

“Wh-what is this?”

“Who shouted?”

Even though the sound came from far away, it still swayed the minds of the users who were fighting.

“What kind of shout is so loud and terrible?”

“Maybe it’s a monster? It sounds like some fearsome monster has appeared.”

And then they could see it; a gigantic Orc, a perfect specimen of greed combined with nastiness, emerging from afar with a large number of users behind him.

“Isn’t that Weed-nim over there?”

“I think so.”

“He must be. That’s Karichwi the Orc!”

While fighting the 11th Legion, Weed had sensed something was up and left the place along with the rest of the high-level users. Moreover, on his way here he was joined by more users who had been scattered across the Garnav Plain. For every step he took, the number of people following him became greater; wherever Weed was, it would take just one use of Lion’s Roar and hundreds of thousands of troops would assemble to fight for him.

“Huuuwwwwaaaah!”

“Weed-nim has come for us!”

“We’ve won! We’ve won this fight!”

Just the fact that Weed had arrived here was enough to cause the morale of those who were fighting the 4th Legion to reach the peak. They were fighting a hard battle while losing many comrades, but Weed had finally come for them, bringing an enormous amount of reinforcement and in the form of Karichwi the Orc to boot.

Weed let out a Lion’s Roar.

– Let us mourn the death of our brothers who fell in the meteor strike! Chwichwick!

“They’ve dropped more meteors on us.”

“Yes, imagine just how many have perished this time.”

– We must not let their deaths be in vain. All advance!

“Charge!”

“Run!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

“Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice!”

The troops that had just appeared with Weed launched at their enemies with a thunderous roar.

“If that’s Weed, I’ll have to subdue him here and now.”

Calcus sent a request for support to other Legion Commanders nearby. With the Northern users being everywhere in the vicinity, it would take some time for the ground forces to arrive, but the 2nd Legion led by Myul the Griffon Knight consisted of airborne troops and therefore would be able to come to his aid quickly.

Calcus licked his lips.

“When the 2nd Legion joins us… Now we will be able to have a real fight.”

There were plenty of people who enjoyed battles in the Hermes Guild.

Translation Notes

↑ [1] While not always translated as such, “residents” is how the author usually refers to the NPC inhabitants of Royal Road

Chapter 7: The God Of War

– A war is raging on in the land where our vengeful wrath lies dormant… How dare they!

The fifty thousand phantom soldiers from the Paldan Kingdom that Chaser the adventurer had brought with him attacked the 7th Imperial Legion led by Crebulta.

“Just maintain your calm. Our priests’ combat strength is somewhat lacking, so that makes things a bit tricky… But they don’t possess that much firepower. Just be wary of their curses.”

Crebulta’s leadership was widely acknowledged due to his experience in clearing large-scale dungeons. Not only was he one of the top 10 most powerful users of Royal Road, his ability to attract people brought him many followers among the guild members.

As more Northern users were endlessly streaming in to join the fight, with the Paldan Kingdom’s ghosts at the center, the battle had turned into a difficult one.

An army of phantoms, followed by the Northern users.

And…

“This is a cursed item I have here. Would you care to wear it, Ghost-nim with Long Hair?”

“I have a cursed magical sword, too. It’s not as fancy as it sounds, though.”

“I have an amulet of misfortune. Would it help?”

The users quite willingly offered the cursed items they possessed to the ghosts. When worn by the living these items would take away the wearer’s Life Force and luck, but they were quite suitable for the ghosts.

Meanwhile, the 6th Legion under the command of Gros was under attack from flowers, weeds and trees: combat plants that possessed swift movement and were even able to crawl under the ground. The elves who had agreed to join the Arpen Kingdom’s side were attacking the legion alongside these plants, too.

“Do not stay on the same spot. Shoot and move.”

“Just hold on a minute; the Avians said they would give us a ride!”

The elves, with their excellent archery skill, demonstrated astonishing power in warfare. An Imperial soldier could eliminate a user at level 100 to 200 with a single blow of their sword, but as the elves kept dashing and shooting from a distance, they dealt continuous damage to the troops. The archers of the Imperial Legion began to counteract, but soon the Northern users came to protect the elves from harm.

Moreover, Miretas the Farmer did not hold back his rage.

“I have tilled and loved this land all my life. I can use this skill only one single time, but it seems it was meant to be used today.”

With that, Miretas sacrificed himself, thereby activating the skill named ‘Wrath of the Land’.

His body turned into a single seed and sank into the ground. The sacrifice of one’s own life! It was a skill a farmer could use only one time, and just as the name suggested it unleashed the fury of the ground below. The land began to ripple as if an earthquake was breaking out, and swallowed the Imperial soldiers and the Hermes Guild members alike. Soldiers made of sand and rocks rose from the earth, too, and joined the battle.

“Are, are they devils?”

An Imperial Knight thrust his spear at a sand soldier with all his might, but it only went right through the torso. Grains of sand agglomerated into crude forms of unarmored, unclothed soldiers and began to march forward. When they moved more sand dust gathered and dispersed like mist, multiplying into a larger crowd.

“Blow them away!”

“Fire Buster!”

The Hermes Guild members attacked the soldiers of sand using a powerful skill, but it was a rash act.

*Blaaaaze!*

The grains of sand that caught fire scattered to all directions, and turned into countless many bugs. These insects of fire started devouring the Imperial soldiers and turned the victims to mummified corpses as they sucked nutrients out of them.

“Huh? Are we using some Black Magic, too?”

“I know they are our enemies, but that is a little too much.”

At the sight of this unmatched cruelty, even some of the Northern users who did not know of Miretas’ sacrifice averted their eyes. But then, after the sand absorbed the nutrients, plants and flowers began to sprout forth from it. Some turned into magnificent trees, growing so fast that they bore fruits on their thick branches in but an instant. Miretas the Farmer brought forth the wrath of the earth, but all the destruction and death soon led to a new cycle of birth. The words spread equally rapidly, albeit a little belatedly, among the people that this was a skill used by Miretas upon his death.

“Woooow. This is so epic.”

“All this is the effect of one skill? That is beyond powerful!”

“Turns out Farmer is the best class here…”

Being subjected to an attack of such unimaginable scale, the 6th Legion lost about half of its troops. The elves kept moving through the forest, which gave them extra attack power and cloaked them, and maintained the pressure on the Imperial troops.

*****

“Those who wish to fight, follow me!”

Geomchi3 yelled loudly, full of rage after being hit by the meteor. Other users who had survived the Summon Flaming Meteors spell, as well as the crowd that had concentrated in the central area of the Garnav Plain, all gathered together to follow his lead. Driven by fury, the users came to take part in the battle, determined to go through fire and ice.

“Man, and why do WE have to fight, too?”

“I don’t know, but let’s go with them for now.”

“Yeah, this doesn’t feel like the right time to try any funny business.”

“This is crazy. Like really.”

Halma, Margo, Rewiss and Gran. The backstabber quartet reluctantly agreed to tag along with the crowd advancing to fight against the Imperial forces.

It was their belief that a villain must be strong, but still they couldn’t deny that the spectacle of the 15th Legion left them speechless. The magical light cast by the Imperial troops was illuminating the whole sky. The sight of the soldiers marching in perfect order and rythm with swords and shields in their hands was overwhelming.

“Hey, don’t you think this is like banging a brick wall against your head?”

“You mean ‘banging your head against a brick wall’?”

“No; I know it sounded strange, but… what I mean is that we’re going to die if we fight them. For sure.”

“Let’s get away from here when we have a chance.”

The backstabbers were just waiting for an opportunity to escape from the battle.

“Let the fight begiiiiiin! Everyone chaaaaaaaarge!”

Geomchi3 did not do anything to actually command the crowd; he merely charged towards the enemies ahead of everyone as he shouted loudly, fighting and then fighting some more. Seeing him taking the lead, the rest of the Northern users also began to run blindly after him, engaging in the battle. Whenever a barrage of magical attacks and arrows swept off a wave of users, they were immediately replaced by those following behind them.

“Move quickly, please.”

“Actually, we’re just here to watch-”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

Until now, they had thought only the Hermes Guild was scared of the Grass Porridge Cult… but being directly faced with the swarm of the cult members rushing from behind them, the backstabbing quartet could not help but feel terrified.

“Uh-oh, I don’t think we can stay put in this spot anymore.”

“For now, let’s just go with them.”

“Are you going to fight?”

“Well, we can’t just stay here.”

Swept along in the crowd of users flooding from behind, the quartet found themselves running towards the Imperial troops.

“Take this. Throwing Knives!”

“Have a taste of my iron chain!”

When the backstabber quartet attacked the enemies, the users nearby also came to support them and they hunted down the Imperial soldiers together.`

“Wow. These people are strong.”

“You are really good.”

As they broke through layers of defense made of Imperial soldiers, the quartet was quite thrilled to hear the people around them compliment their combat skills.

“We’re fighting really well. We’re going to be on TV, right?”

“Who knows, we might even become heroes if we go on like this.”

“The heroes of the Arpen Kingdom? That doesn’t sound too bad.”

But just as they had begun to enjoy this feeling of exhilaration, dozens of bolts of lightning struck their position; a spell fired blindly by a Hermes Guild Mage came flying and blasted them off. All that was left on the ground where the lightning bolts hit were a few junk items left by the now deceased quartet.

*****

“Pale-nim, please let us fight with you, too!”

“Surka-nim, I have always admired you very much.”

Because Weed’s companions were all extremely famous, many users wished to fight alongside them.

Pale could not hide his look of awkwardness.

“I’m not exactly an expert in commanding troops.”

“All you need to do is fight, isn’t it? We need a pivotal figure.”

Users above level 300 or 400 assembled together and asked him to take the role of their leader. The name ‘Pale’ was in itself quite widely known, but he was more famous among the users for his title, ‘Weed’s Battle Slave.’

“Ah. Maybe this is why Weed-nim didn’t even bother appointing me as a squad captain.”

“Pardon?”

“No, I was just talking to myself. Alright, let’s fight together.”

With that Pale left for the battlefield, along with the humongous crowd following him. Surka, Romuna and Zephyr also had to take charge of a large amount of troops each. Irene agreed to travel with a band of priests around the areas where difficult battles were taking place, and Hwaryeong and Bellot found themselves facing a different task, too.

“Let’s get out of the plain.”

“Why?”

“Because there are lots of users we know at least by face out there.”

Hwaryeong had been given the status of a lord in the Central Continent by the Haven Empire, although the Hermes Guild had thought little of it and she was not much more than a symbolic figure to show to the Northern users. Hwaryeong had spent her days as a lord throwing a party every day, and had been introduced to many users in the process.

“Let’s go meet the users from the Central Continent who didn’t take part in the war, and ask for their help.”

“Would they really accept our request so easily, when they’ll have to put their own lives at stake?”

“Quite a lot of them would simply be hesitating to join the fight because they lack a good cause. Besides, they are mostly men.”

“Sorry?”

“I have never been rejected by a man before.”

It was rare for Hwaryeong to ask a personal favor of someone, but it was rarer still to have her request be rejected by someone.

*****

“Troops without proper formation cannot be called an army. They need to buy some time somehow and start fighting more systematically.”

“It seems the Arpen Kingdom’s side is particularly vulnerable in the western part of the Garnav Plain due to a lot of spectators mixed in their forces. Still, they’ll want to slow down the collapse of their formation.”

“Look at the 12th Legion. The Hermes Guild is attempting to start a large-scale lightning assault using their chariots. They are charging in all at once!”

Every single staff member of the broadcasting companies including KMC Media and CTS Media was ready to work all night. They had prepared many scheduled programs, but once the battle to decide the fate of the Versailles Continent had begun, things were happening so fast it was hard to keep up.

“The 6th Legion is losing ground; look at the elf squad making an excellent show of their skills!”

“The 13th Legion led by Commander Draka. They are making a great contribution, fighting against the Bandits. However, judging by the monitor screens showing the Northern users approaching them from every direction it seems they have a difficult battle ahead.”

“The Magical Squad of the Hermes Guild speculated to be the one that cast the Summon Flaming Meteors spell… the Mage Cadler has made his appearance.”

“Currently the 12th Legion’s location is one of the hottest places in the entire battlefield. After Oberon’s death, the users are literally throwing their bodies against the enemy soldiers.”

The announcers were completely absorbed in the battle as they were watching the monitors and commentating on the current situation. The entire area of the vast Garnav Plain had turned into the battleground of a full-scale war in the matter of 3, 4 hours — a battleground where people were killing and being killed at such an incredible rate…

“The Haven Imperial Army is firmly standing their ground. Their fire spells managed to block the advance of the Northern users.”

“Look at the sky. Those specks that are fluttering and falling in the air are not snowflakes; they are people. The Avians provided extensive support in order to overcome the currently unfavorable battle progress.”

“That’s the 14th Legion. It seems we’ll have to take back our earlier prediction that the Haven Empire is likely to seize victory. The Northern users… Where did all those powerful users come from? They are strong. Extremely strong warriors!”

The users who were dispatched to relay from the scene were constantly changing their words. The camera and directing crews were also handling an amount of work beyond their limit, analyzing and editing the videos.

“With the summoning of Flaming Meteors it was thought that the Haven Empire seized the chance to win at the earlier stage of the battle, but the Northern users are putting up a much better fight than expected.”

“The twenty Legions. It is difficult to estimate the number of users killed by the Imperial Army’s attack so far. We can only speculate that an astronomical number of people were eliminated.”

“When we take a look at the combat patterns and movement routes of the Imperial Army, we can see that these different Legions are using extremely complex battle strategies… And the North is countering them with the Human Wave tactics.”

“We see a lot of users who look like they are from the Central Continent. Have they been affected by the Northern users? Many of them are mixed among the swarming crowd.”

Each broadcasting channel was rapidly switching between different screens relaying the battle in the Garnav Plain. As all the battles were equally important, they could not keep their focus on one spot for too long. Top rankers and celebrities of Royal Road were killed in an instant, and a knight order of formidable strength made a new appearance. There were so many scenes they needed to put on air they did not even have time to choose. Battles were taking place everywhere, each of them so intense that they would’ve put it on rerun for at least a couple of weeks if it had been any other times. They couldn’t even afford any time to spend on giving information about powerful spells as they were used, or showing highlights such as a sight of a knight order penetrating through enemy ranks.

“Weed! Weed has encountered the 4th Legion.”

“A fight against Calcus the slayer? Put it on the top of our list, no exceptions.”

Even in such a hectic situation, they were showing much interest in Weed, a proven key to high viewing rates. Every movement of Weed was an element that could potentially decide the outcome of the battle, as he was the core of the Arpen Kingdom’s camp.

The broadcasting companies were also operating analysis teams consisting of distinguished experts. During times like election seasons, they assessed advantages and disadvantages for each side, and broadcast live voting results. Weed and Bard Ray, the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire; they were analyzing the battles in real time in an attempt to predict the final winner, but it was not an easy task.

“We cannot even figure out exactly how many people are fighting now.”

“It’s good thing that it is so dark. If we saw the Garnav Plain in daylight, there would be nothing but people killing each other.”

“More than 90 percent of the users in this vast Versailles Continent have gathered in one place. No matter how much time passes, there wouldn’t be any battle that surpasses today’s one in terms of the scale.”

The analysts all threw up their hands. Ferocious Titanic struggles were breaking out everywhere, and tens of thousands of people were slaughtered in the blink of an eye.

Manager Kang of the KMC Media who was present in the studio asked a junior staff.

“What is CTS’s view on the war?”

“They think that the Haven Empire managed to gain the upper hand during the beginning of the battle, but it seems they are also unable to make any prediction as to the final outcome.”

The broadcasting stations had assumed that a battle to determine the fate of the Versailles Continent would not begin until the morning or midday. So ever since the Summon Flaming Meteors spell was first cast they had all been greatly pressed for time.

“However, I heard the CTS Media is speculating that the Haven Empire has higher chance of winning, although they are not confident enough to make such a claim through broadcast.”

“On what ground?”

Manager Kang and other staff members nearby did not look happy to hear it. The KMC Media was able to achieve significant growth thanks to Weed’s popularity, so the Haven Empire’s victory was not an outcome they would hope for.

“Weed is doing a great job fighting them, isn’t he? He defeated the 11th Legion, and the 20th Legion was also torn apart by the Summon Flaming Meteors spell. Those two legions are barely holding up with only a few stragglers left.”

The 11th and 20th Legions of the Haven Imperial Army had nearly lost all of their strength. Several other Legions were either locked in a tight fight against the Arpen users or took a considerable amount of damage as well. The loss that the Imperial Army suffered as a result of turning the entire Garnav Plain into their battleground was certainly not trifling.

“We thought the users would break apart helplessly once the battle began, yet they are storming upon the Imperial troops so fiercely. Of course, their lives are being consumed extremely quickly, too, but still.”

“This is the conclusion the CTS Media derived after they studied the Alkin disease.”

“What about it?”

The Alkin disease!

Although attracting less attention as it was obscured by the splendid battles that caught people’s eye, the number of people infected by the Alkin disease was mounting at a terrible speed.

“There have already been a lot of people who contracted the disease and perished. And it looks like the disease spreads through the dead bodies, as well.”

“And they still haven’t figured out how to cure it?”

“Yes, they are quite helpless at the moment. The disease is also extremely contagious. At this rate, the death count will soon get out of hand.”

“Hmm…”

Some employees of KMC Media had separately stored videos about the Alkin disease. The users were lying on the ground, suffering from the sickness and finally losing their lives. Those who at higher level did not contract the disease easily and survived longer than the others, but everyone who was infected eventually died or became unable to fight without fail.

“How many people have contracted it?”

“The infected groups are scattered across quite a few different places. It is estimated that there are more than 4 million patients, although this is not a perfectly accurate count. And the disease is spreading even more rapidly now.”

“Then it is truly a disaster.”

Manager Kang was more than a little concerned about the Alkin disease. Under the surface of the fierce battles, countless users were dying from a disease behind the scenes. If such a situation continued, the Arpen Kingdom’s forces would completely collapse like a house of cards.

‘Could it be that the Empire sent all of the 20 Legions simultaneously to battle in order to hide the spread of the Alkin disease?’

It was a suspicion that flashed across his mind but for a second, but he thought it might be true.

The broadcasting screen was showing Weed’s troops clashing against the 4th Legion.

A match of strength!

The Arpen Kingdom had superior numbers, and there were certainly a lot of powerful users in the area where Weed was fighting. A battle that was sure to please many broadcasting authorities, who cheered and cried over viewer ratings, was about to take place.

“Get some people to investigate the Alkin disease.”

“…What?”

“We need to broadcast a detailed account of this Alkin disease, as quickly as possible.”

*****

Myul, who was leading the Haven Empire’s air forces, received a private message.

– Calcus: Come here at once help us kill Weed!

Five thousand Griffon Knights.

Besides them, other flying monsters such as Drakes, Harpies, Mechai and Gorghols that were useful in combat were all under Myul’s command as well, although they were not carrying any riders. Myul possessed a vast territory in the Haven Empire, and this army of great size was the result of him pouring all of his funds into military forces as per the policy of the guild.

“I want to kill Weed with my own hands.”

– Calcus: I am well aware of your thirst for revenge. And I can give you a chance to quench it, too.

“Alright. I’ll be there.”

Myul gladly accepted Calcus’s request for support and ordered his forces to move.

One advantage of airborne troops was their ability to move swiftly without having to worry about terrain features or the presence of other troops on the ground.

“The land looks splendid, my brothers.”

“I did not expect such a day would come.”

Rangble and Dorkeh, two users of the Second Legion, commented on the scenery below. The Garnav Plain they saw from the sky was full of lights like the night view of a city. They were not only coming from the torches the users were holding, but also from blasts of magical spells and spreading fires. When the Flaming Meteors hit the ground a far distance from them, the whole night sky lit up as brightly as the middle of the day for an instant.

‘Casting such a large-scale spell as if it is nothing… Our Hermes Guild is quite insane indeed.’

Myul was one of the power elites of the Hermes Guild, but he did not always agree with every decision the guild had made. The more you knew about the Hermes Guild, the more you found out that the entire guild was controlled by Lafaye and Bard Ray. The rest of the users were merely feeding off the guild’s power in exchange for lending their strength, thus forming the base of its military forces.

‘A battle that will determine the fate of the continent.’

Myul spoke to his comrades in the Second Legion.

“Let’s go. Time to show them how we fight.”

“Good. I was itching for some action.”

“Let’s fly at full speed.”

“I’ll lead the vanguard, my brothers!”

The Second Legion was organized quite uniquely compared to other Imperial Legions. It consisted of users who were all Myul’s companions and possessed great interest in flying. The same users who had been with Myul all the way from the days when he first took up the reckless challenge of taming a dragon formed the core of the Second Legion. Not surprisingly, they boasted excellent teamwork and combat capacity, which gave them the nickname ‘a cavalry in the sky’.

*****

“Tssscchwiick!”

Weed, still in the shape of Karichwi the Orc!

He had just stumbled upon a new weapon. He didn’t exactly mean to get it, but a warrior user who happened to be nearby dropped it as he died.

< Ridiculously Solid Greataxe

Durability 190/200

Attack Power 45~104

Somewhere in the free cities, there lived a mad blacksmith. He spent more than ten years of his life crafting a single battleaxe. Heating and hammering, then heating and hammering again… This heavy axe is seriously strong.

Restrictions: Strength 280 or higher.

Item features: Maximum Attack Power increases by 2.5 times when used as two-handed.

If a successful critical hit was dealt to an opponent with great gap in strength, the damage is increased by 200%.

Knocks back weak opponents. >

“Well well, this looks like a fun weapon to wield.”

For quite a long while, Weed had been using Kolderim Daemon Sword. It had an effect of weakening monsters, and various other features such as giving extra Strength and Dexterity stats and Magic Resistance. The base Attack Power also ranged from 103 to 211, which meant that this greataxe could hardly be compared to the Daemon Sword. Due to the restriction that one had to use both hands to wield it, as well as the fact that it was a large-sized battleaxe, it could not slash and pierce as quickly as a sword. Nevertheless, Weed found himself quite liking the axe.

“Tsschwick!”

The Loa Sword was too light for Karichwi the Orc. Same could be said for Thunder Spear, but this axe provided excellent grip to the Orc’s large and ruggedly hands.

“Hooooraaaaarrrgh!!!”

After one swing of the axe that swept past like flashlight, the shields that the Imperial soldiers were holding all shattered to pieces. Weed’s overflowing strength did not stop at that, and sent about twenty of the soldiers flying.

“This isn’t half bad.”

The formation of the shield-bearing troops was pushed back, and collapsed into a mess.

*Whooosh!*

Weed lunged at them, brandishing his axe joyfully. He was liberally exerting the strength he had boosted using Sculptural Destruction skill as he was wielding the axe.

Karichwi the Orc, marching forward while breaking through and destroying the lines of shielded soldiers!

“Weed-nim is opening up a path for us. Everyone advance!”

“Hooray, their defense has been breached!”

“Chaaarge!”

Through the opening Weed had made, countless users poured in. Like a collapsing dam, once a small hole was made the users began to spread at once. As they involved themselves in combat enthusiastically, an intense battle against the 4th Legion soon broke out.

“I am Gusoon of the Hermes Guild. I challenge you to a duel.”

“I’m Weed. Chwit!”

Weed enjoyed the occasional duel against the Hermes Guild members that came at him.

A one-on-one fight!

Among those who had not yet experienced defeat in a duel, there were quite a lot of people who still underestimated Weed.

‘He’s nothing but a mere sculptor…’

‘It must have been through some dumb luck he’s made it so far.’

‘Even if he is really as strong as they say, I’m still going to defeat him here. I’ll become a hero once I get Weed.’

In the form of Karichwi the Orc that was optimized for combat, Weed got to work to give them all a bitter lesson.

“Haaa!”

He seized victory after victory, beating the living soul out of his opponents with his axe, or striking them with his Loa Sword.

*Tooshtooshtoosh!*

The Hermes Guild members, subject of much condemnation and blames from the people around the world, chose to fight honorably and died one by one.

The top 10,000 users of Royal Road! Once you get to that level, there were quite a few users with notable abilities, those who had honed their basic techniques faithfully and worked on their skill proficiencies, not like Ultar and his unbalanced combat style.

“Downward Smash!”

Weed forced his opponent to lose his balance with a swing of his axe.

The difference in size was evident, and this cunning Orc had converted all of his Art stats into Strength by breaking Masterpieces through Sculptural Destruction!

Each time Weed emerged victorious, cheering screams broke out in his vicinity. More and more Hermes Guild members were constantly coming to challenge him to a duel.

‘They haven’t experienced the world enough. There are surprisingly many pure-minded people among those who are aware that what they’re doing is evil. The best way to put them right is to give them a few black eyes.’

Although Weed was engaged in the battle personally, he also had to command his troops against the 4th Legion. Unlike Geomchi and other companions, he was conscious of the battle situation over a large area.

‘I need to send reinforcements to the East, but they wouldn’t be able to hear me if I give an order from here.’

He was fighting alongside the countless users whose names he didn’t know. Even if he managed to find the squad captains and direct them to attack the East, it would be difficult for them to move through the confusing mass of the crowd.

‘Which means I need to move myself.’

Weed charged and occasionally changed his position as necessary.

– To the East! Tsschwickk!

“To the East!”

“Let’s head eastward!”

“Weed-nim is moving to the East!”

Whenever Weed let out a Lion’s Roar, the entire troops moved simultaneously.

As the 4th Legion demonstrated great combat capacity, many users were killed in battle against them. Some stood in the way of charging Imperial knights in an attempt to protect Weed, and others were killed in great numbers by magical attacks.

“Bear Porridge all assembled! We’ve come to provide reinforcement.”

“It’s an honor to fight alongside you, Weed-nim. Strawberry and Banana Porridge squads have arrived.”

“W-we’re… Mineral Water Porridge. Try drinking some clear water with porridge!”

However, on their side was a reassuring stream of users who were endlessly coming to join the fight. An ever increasing number of Northern and Central users kept appearing to join the fight. Although they had been terrified by the Summon Flaming Meteors spell, the heat of the battle had led them on. This sight of these users assembling was also clearly seen by the Hermes Guild users and their leaders.

“That guy sure does not lack popularity.”

The muscles around Calcus’ eye twitched in irritation.

Weed the God of War!

He was the one user who boasted great fame that could match Bard Ray’s, but Calcus wasn’t going to admit that so readily; if Calcus said it wasn’t true, even if the entire world said otherwise, he still would believe that it would not be true.

“Our reinforcement will be here shortly, too. Let’s finish it all here!”

Calcus sent out all the Steel Knights that were assigned to the 4th Legion.

Ten thousand Steel Knights, with their infinite stamina and astounding defensive ability!

The Golems made of Steel pushed the users back as they marched.

“Kill them all. This is going to be a head-on match.”

A general mobilization order was issued to the entire troops of the 4th Legion as well, so the soldiers began to fiercely drive the users back. The Hermes Guild users also joined in the slaughter, blasting their skills without restraint.

“Weed-nim. I’m a big fan!”

“My blade is yours. Aaargh!”

Although Weed was surrounded with flocks of users following his lead, he could sense the change in the tide of the battlefield. The 4th Legion was deploying all of its troops into the fight. The Mages and Archers were also pouring out all their firepower without any concern for the later battles.

– Mapan: Weed-nim, things are getting serious. All the Imperial troops are moving towards you.

– Pale: We are currently engaging the Imperial forces, but their high-mobility knights have all left the battlefield to head to your position. We’re sending reinforcement, but I fear they’ll arrive later than the enemy troops.

– Seasoned Crab: Ahem-hem. Seasoned Crab here. I was fighting the 8th Legion, but their main members have disappeared. It looks like they are moving to your position, Weed-nim.

Weed’s companions and high-rank users of the Grass Porridge Cult were sending urgent reports on the assembly of the Imperial Army. Among the twenty Legions deployed by the Haven Empire, all the core forces were currently moving to the area where Weed was fighting. The army whose power was without match, the same army that had united the Central Continent, was now focusing its forces in one single position.

This was a decision made by the heads of the Hermes Guild.

– Lafaye: Every Legion Commander will support the 4th Legion as their top priority.

Lafaye gave them mission instructions.

Ultar of the 11th Legion had suffered an unexpected defeat in the duel, but he had still managed to buy a little time. However, Weed with his quick wits had squeezed his way out of the 20th Legion’s attack as well as the Summon Flaming Meteors spell.

The Hermes Guild had twice missed their chances, but this was the moment that the Imperial Army was really waiting for as they swept across the Garnav Plain.

“They say the number of users in the Garnav Plain reaches one hundred million… But not all of them can fight in the battle.”

As a strategic move, the Imperial Army was going to seize control of every single area in the vicinity of Weed’s position. All they had to do was to wipe out Weed and the users fighting with him after isolating them from the rest of the Northern users and other people on the Arpen Kingdom’s side by blocking their ways. All of the Empire’s main forces that could be moved were heading towards the location where the 4th Legion was fighting. The rest of the Imperial troops started a guerilla warfare in order to stop the Arpen Kindom’s users.

“We are going to determine how this battle begins and ends. This place will become Weed’s grave.”

However, Weed soon saw through the Hermes Guild’s trick and used Lion’s Roar.

– We are winning. Everyone attack!

The users were rushing about in frenzy.

“He said we’re going to win.”

“Of course we are.”

“Waaaaaah! Let’s fight!”

They didn’t know if it was true, but it still had the effect of raising their morale and setting a counter fire against their enemies.

The forces of the 4th Legion was beginning their assault while being spread widely rather than huddling in one spot, their artillery blasting off without a pause. On the opposite side, millions of users were dashing in a full sprint, in an equally widespread formation.

A war of attrition: killing and being killed!

“Break them all!

Weed played an active role, swinging the axe with one hand.

“Magic!”

“They’re using Magic.”

Then suddenly, the sound of screaming users was heard; hundreds of spears made of ice were flying at them from the east. As they had been seeking their chance to hit, the 4th Legion had waited until Weed got sufficiently close, then fired magic spells simultaneously.

Weed’s brain worked in a flash.

‘Frozen Spear. Powerful, but you just need to avoid being hit. It would have been more troublesome if they used flame spells that explode in midair.’

The white, radiant spears of ice possessed remarkable density and destructive power. They most probably chose to use such a strong spell with Weed’s Life Force and physical toughness in mind.

‘I suspect it took them at least twenty Mages above level 450 to cast it.’

Based on the information about the spells he saw on the Hall of Fame or video sites, he could even make such estimation.

Five seconds to impact!

‘I can dodge it.’

Through the power of the Gloves of Dimension Doors, he would be able to avoid the spears like a formless ghost. Or he could just make use of his incredible strength and leap upward from the ground, moving out of the way by dozens of meters. But just as Weed was about to escape,

“Weed-nim! Quickly, run!”

A user with a young looking face yelled.

Just one of the countless Northern users, but Weed once sold a fox sculpture to him in Morata during the earlier days of pioneering the Northern Continent.

“Um, Weed-nim… I’d like to buy your sculpture.”

“There’s just one fox sculpture left.”

“The thing is, I only have 7 Gold… This wouldn’t be enough to buy your work, would it? I’m sorry.”

*Gulp.*

“It is my wish that everyone would be able to appreciate works of art without having to worry about the expense.”

“Wow. Does that mean you are willing to sell it to me?”

“Yes. I will sell it for 7 Gold.”

And this was how Weed had blatantly overcharged this user when he sold his fox sculpture. The novice user he had met then was wearing old and shabby-looking gloves and cloak, and his armor was of quite humble quality. Even now his level didn’t seem high, maybe because he hadn’t been occupying himself with monster hunting or adventuring very much. Suddenly, Weed felt bad for taking 7 Gold from this guy. What other people would call a fraud was a mere business practice to Weed, yet in this rare occasion he was feeling a slight pang of conscience, his long and tumultuous history of ripping off customers notwithstanding.

3 seconds until the collision with Frozen Spears.

The icy lances were piercing the air as they flew across dozens of meters of distance.

‘If I dodge out of the way now, this person will die. This is a sacrifice I cannot avoid.’

People say that when a person is in mortal danger, fleeting images of their past crosses their mind like a kaleidoscope. And with the pang of conscience Weed was experiencing right now, he had a lot of memories to recall.

Instead of running away like he had originally intended, Weed made his grip firm on his Loa Sword.

“Chwwwwieeeck!”

The muscles in his thighs bulged like thick ropes, and Weed kicked the ground hard as he jumped. He rose several tens of meters, facing the ice spears in midair.

“Sword Cloning skill.”

Suddenly, Karichwi the Orc multiplied himself into more than fifty clones. The whole sky was now filled with ferocious Orcs.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

Weed began to parry the spears of ice with his luminous sword. With his clones also swinging their swords at once, the spears were shattered into ice shards.

‘Too fast, and too many.’

He kept breaking the Frozen Spears, wielding his sword of light while burning his Mana liberally. He brandished the sword in every direction out of pure reflex, not even taking a proper look at the almost dazzlingly number of ice spears that approached him. Incredibly, the spears were broken into tiny pieces and fell to the ground, but some of them found their mark on Weed or his clones. The clones simply winked out of existence, but Weed had to take the full damage of the spears.

< Attacked by Frozen Spears!

Due to your high Physical Toughness and Magic Resistance, the damage has been reduced by 87%.

Your movement speed was decreased by 3.5%

Your body movements slow down by 1.4% >

< The Frozen Spear has hit you in the side.

Your tough skin prevents it from penetrating your body.

Your Stamina has been reduced by 5% as the wounded area freezes.

Your Life Force will take 13,812 points of damage for 5 seconds. >

< You are currently taking continuous hits by Frozen Spears.

Your resistance against ice spells has been temporarily reduced by 8%.

Your general physical abilities diminish as your body freezes.

Occurrence of status effect possible!

Your Life Force has been reduced by 4,991 points.

You are now feeling a severe fatigue. >

< A series of hits by Frozen Spear!

The merciless ice spell is causing intense ice formation.

You are unable to move your body as the thick layers of ice bind you.

Movement disabled.

Your Life Force will be reduced every second.

If you cannot remove the frozen condition in 3 minutes, it will eventually result in death. >

The spears of broken ice in the sky were shining like snow and falling to the ground. It was truly absurd, how Weed was able to  block the powerful magic with just his sword and resilience.

“Ha ha ha. This is so cool.”

Weed thought he heard someone cheer.

‘Well. I can sell more of Karichwi the Orc’s dolls.’

“Weed-nim is putting his life on the line to protect us.”

‘To be honest, I haven’t put my life on the line. And it’s all to make a profit.’

“He’s always been that way. People sometimes complain and doubt, but we know that Weed-nim has always been like that.”

‘Emphasizing the good, hiding the bad, all thanks to you. I’ve been living so well thus far. But still, to know that I’ve had such a big influence… This must be why being a politician is so worthwhile.’

“I believe in Weed-nim more than in my father!”

‘I must never have a son like him.’

As a matter of fact, it was like he was offering a new blindfold to the users who were already blinded.

“What’s with this crazy choice?!”

“You could just avoid them… Are you insane?!”

The Hermes Guild members were also surprised. Though the spells were all aimed at Weed, they expected him to avoid them because they were shot from so far away. Crushing the spears of ice in midair was a feat of great combat ability, but on the other hand the consequences would be lasting. From what they could see, Weed had been hit by at least ten spears of ice.

“But still… wasn’t that quite reckless?”

“His health must be low.”

“Given the power of the magic, it’s amazing he’s even alive.”

Weed had been hit by several high-level magician’s Frozen Spears and he fell to the ground. He was covered in a mass of ice and stumbled.

“This is our chance.”

“Let’s kill him.”

From the Hermes Guild members came out those, who were proud of being amongst the strongest. Like a snake charging and leaping in reaction to its prey, they have closed the distance with their flying magic.

Their goal was Weed of course!

They did not take their eyes off him, as they were moving.

“His body is completely covered in ice.”

“I had my doubts, but it looks like it was on target.”

“This is our real chance!”

It was a battle for the destiny of the Versailles continent.

Though they couldn’t say for sure,  everything could be decided within that short time.

Is that not the moment when history changes?

Hoping to be the main characters, the Hermes Guild members quickly narrowed their distance to Weed.

“Die!”

“It’ll end here. I’ll be giving interviews at the station. To tell everyone, that he has died by Macaro’s hand!

“Take my name too. I’m Twigin.”

The Hermes Guild members had a firm sense of self-esteem, fitting those who had conquered the Central Continent.

‘The one who arrives first, catches him.’

‘Ignore the small fish nearby. That’s a complete waste of time.’

‘Our forces need to be more alert. No need to share this glory.’

It wasn’t long before the Hermes Guild members’ confidence was broken.

Weed swung his fist and broke out of the ice with a loud voice. He overcame the ice formation with his high magic resistance and stamina.

‘It doesn’t matter, you have no health left anyways. One hit will kill you.’

‘Try and resist. There’s over hundred people here.’

‘No matter if you are Weed, it will be impossible to deal with us all at the same time.’

The hyenas united to grasp their best possible opportunity.

The Hermes Guild members at the peak of the Versailles continent gathered together and were force that couldn’t be ignored.

Though Weed had broken out of the ice, his condition was certainly not normal.

Decreased health!

Decreased physical ability!

It was a serious decline in attack power.

And… In that moment, tens of thousands of lights in the shape of Karichwi the Orc gathered around Weed.

A bright and beautiful light!

Users of the priest and paladin professions from all platforms lavished cleansing and holy spells on Weed.

<Health has been restored by 382.>

<Health has been restored by 931.>

<Health has been restored by 2,474.>

<Health has been restored by 894.>

<Health has been restored by 126.>

…

There was a difference in the amount recovered, but all his life was restored. Weed was restored to his normal state, but also received all kinds of blessings. Though it happened a short moment ago, some of the priests who saw him get hit by the frozen spears had made an incantation of self-sacrifice. They had also given Weed a blessing that boosted his defense.

Karichwi the Orc!

His strong body was covered in strength and vitality. His elastic muscles wiggled, and his body was hot as if it was on fire.

“Hu ah ah ah ah ah ah ah.”

Weed struck with his axe without hesitation.

*Thwack!*

With a terrible sound, the Hermes Guild members who arrived first were thrown backwards.

“Uh…. Ah, are you okay?”

The Hermes Guild members who were caught by the axe screamed and were surprised at the unexpected damage.

The armor had absorbed the hard axe hit.

Health was reduced by 7%, but it was all right.

“His attack is weak!”

“Weed. Your legend is…”

Just then, five people surrounded him at the same time.

Weed’s body, like a mirage, vanished through a dimensional door.

Then he appeared in a different place and attacked the Hermes Guild members with his Loa Sword.

Cut, cut, chop, and slash.

With each step his shoulders and arms moved automatically, and the movement of his sword did not stop. Drawing a beautiful line, the power of the sword continued.

Instantly, three Hermes Guild members took heavy damage and backed off.

“He’s perfectly fine.”

“It’s more than that.”

“The axe is weak, but that sword is real!”

They had thought it was the chance of a lifetime, but they belatedly realized, that they had stepped into the cave of a tiger.

Weed was fully recovered and from close seemed certainly strong.

“Keuh ho ho. But this is the catch of a lifetime.”

“Let’s not waste time and finish this in one shot.”

Hundreds of Hermes Guild members!

Their eyes shared the goal of eliminating Weed and attacked at the same time.

“Mind Rapture!”

“Heaven, Earth and Wind Smite!”

“Iron Rush!”

The Hermes Guild members unleashed their most powerful abilities.

“They’re like wild boars.”

Weed’s head turned quickly. A few skills he could use came to mind. Moreover, a list of equipment passed by like a slideshow.

< Armor of Mother Earth!

Increases your maximum health by 350% and on activation reduces your physical damage taken by 87.4% for 10 minutes. >

Thanks to the holy magic of the priests of the Church of Mother Earth, the sacred power was stored and was possible to invoke it at any time. This armor could even be worn on an orc body. This was because it was the armor of the goddess of the fair land that cares for all.

*Cha la lang!*

Weed took out the armor from his inventory and put it on. With this nice armor, the white and green Karichwi the Orc was akin to a deadly weapon.

“Look here, a champion that does not retreat!”

< The Blessing of Devotion!

A champion who does not retreat. The power of the dragon skin is given to those who move forward on the battlefield. >

The Blessing of Devotion had a very short duration but it could exert a tremendous defense boost, as long as you did not run away.

Weed had tried to save it for Bard Ray, but in the end he decided to use it now.

There were a lot of variables in war, but it was better than wasting the blessing!

‘Ah. Did I waste it? That’s too bad, but…’

As soon as he used it, he started running quickly to the front. Naturally, there were Hermes Guild members that had to be attacked.

Weed at this time did something nobody could have imagined. A burst of skills, dust and flashes that made it hard to keep one’s eyes open. He did not avoid, did not block, and took every hit with his body.

“Heraim Fencing skill.”

Weed began to swing his sword.

In the Hermes Guild, there was no awareness of this sword skill. It was normally used against monsters and not users, who were more prone to deflect it.

‘You can just block once in the middle, right? Even if you spend a lot of mana, hit them with defensive skills and it’s over.’

“I can avoid with evasion skills.’

‘I am not a fool; how could I not even dodge one.’

An abnormal skill that only gets stronger with consecutive successful attacks.

Even if Weed had used the skill on the Path of Struggle, it was difficult to use in a real battle.

Let alone against themselves.

*Pu pu pu puk!*

Weed swung his sword in a flash at the nearest enemy.

A sword that penetrates attack and swings at the unprotected user! Merciless strikes were poured out on the Hermes Guild members.

< 1st consecutive successful attack completed. Agility increases by 20%. >

< 2nd consecutive successful attack completed. Power increases by 40%. >

< 3rd consecutive successful attack completed. Agility increases by an additional 40%. >

“Catch him!”

“This way.”

The Hermes Guild members were coming at Weed like moths. Because of their greed, they all rushed together at once and were unable to use any area of effect skills lest they hit their own allies.

*Ddaa dak. Puck. Ppak. Pakwang!*

*Gwang gwang! Kwa kwa kwa gwang!*

Weed swung his sword like crazy as he took their blows.

More than 10 times, he struck heavily enough to knock out their eardrums and then became like an uncontrollable storm.

Power and speed.

Combining judgment and boldness, he sent the Hermes Guild members flying into the air at random.

Four or five people per second!

From a distance, the Hermes Guild members seemed to attack in force, then in one moment they were swept away.

Karichwi the Orc’s skeletal muscles flexed and generated an explosive force.

Though you couldn’t see it clearly, his thick thighs supported his center of gravity and the sword sharply cut through the wind.

After more than 30 attacks, no one was able to stop Weed. Even if the Hermes Guild members were wearing good equipment, if they took hit head-on they would lose their life.

“Ahhhhh. Crazy!”

“What the hell! How is he so strong!”

Combining absolute defensive power with the Heraim Fencing skill resulted in the strongest attack power.

Weed roared like a lion.

“Roarrrrrrrrr!”

A loud roar from a thick neck!

More than 30 people had lost their lives in such a short period of time.

Though Weed’s body was littered with direct blows, the Armor of Mother Earth was barely damaged at all.

It originally had the Unbreakable option, and on top of that it could restore its durability on its own by absorbing the aura of the earth.

Weed began to move forward again.

Karichwi the Orc!

Every time he wielded his sword, the Hermes Guild members were crushed like beginners.

“To be this strong…”

“He’s crazy strong.”

“Don’t try to survive! We can’t leave this place. If we can create an opportunity, we can catch him.”

“Yes. He should be hurt too!”

The Hermes Guild members blindly ran in in the heat of the moment, but really they had no better option.

It was difficult to go back because the Northern users were already present in their vicinity.

Weed, at least in their view, was also quite hurt.

He had already demonstrated tremendous amount of combat power in the battle, though he should have been dead at least a dozen of times.

Like one of his nicknames, the God of War, Weed pressed his attack with strength.

“I have pride. I can’t lose!”

“Yes. Weed! This is your grave.”

“Let’s see the end. Chaos!”

The Hermes Guild members gave up on their defense and did not even look to the safety of their comrades.

They just used all their mana to show off their best skills. It was their best judgment!

If Weed evaded the attack, the Heraim Fencing skill would be stopped.

< Blade Cut!

You were cut by the side of the sword of Mujadin.

Your thick skin reduces the damage.

Health was reduced by 4,281. >

< Sharp Penetration!

A sharp sword pierced your back.

The bleeding doesn’t stop!

Health decreased by 7,381.

You will lose 318 health every second until you treat the bleeding wound. >

< The Last Counterattack!

Gisa Duzon countered at the moment of his death.

This final counterattack contains all of his power.

You receive 40,846 health damage.

Maximum health decreased by 7%. >

< Skin Rupture!

Fire magic burns you and your body catches on fire.

Though it is overcome through fire resistance, a part of your skin bursts.

Health was reduced by 7,466.

Endurance weakened by 13%. >

The damage dealt to Weed was reduced by the Armor of Mother Earth and the Blessing of Devotion.

< 747 health has been restored. >

< 912 health has been restored. >

<481 health has been restored. >

< Enhanced Defense!

The Blessings of Rock Skin has been granted.

It makes your skin hard. >

< 9,928 health has been restored. >

< 54 health has been restored. >

< Glory of the Sword!

The Loa Sword emits Lugh’s light.

It increases the weapon’s damage by 14%. >

Once again, the full healing of the priestly group of northern users!

Weed’s body was covered with all kinds of divine powers and was treated neatly.

He recovered several times his maximum health.

“This is cheating.”

“Total cheating.”

“I can’t… I can’t fight anymore.”

The Hermes Guild members froze.

Karichwi the Orc, that brings the God of War to mind!

He was scarily running and hurling them aside one by one with the Heraim Fencing skill.

In the beginning, only two or three were thrown just slightly away, but now they were all sent flying for 50 to 100 meters.

Goodbye, literally!

Some Hermes Guild members decided, that they would not be able to do it and tried to make a run for it.

However, they were blocked by the northern users.

One down, one more, and another!

Each time, Karichwi the Orc’s steps shook the ground as he ran, before he swiftly swung his weapon and dreadfully reaped the lives of his enemies.

“Ooow wah wah ah ah ah ah ak!”

Weed roared again, and at that time the army that gathered to fight the four corps cheered together.

Everyone wanted to become a hero while playing Royal Road.

They wanted to go on wonderful adventures, and to hunt boss monsters.

However, the most fearful and dangerous beings were the Hermes Guild members.

Even in cities, or villages, they were recognized as being special, way stronger than others.

For over one hundred of them to lose their lives to Weed, in the form of Karichwi the Orc, was a great scene.

Looking at the scene from afar, Calcus clicked his tongue.

“Tsk. I was too greedy. I didn’t know I would lose like that.”

Though they were excellent, they were only a hundred.

Given the 700,000 guild members, it was not a big deal, but it still left a bitter taste.

Calcus had decided not to attack when Weed was frozen.

“It’s not easy to win. However, the trap is thoroughly set.”

Under the command of the head of the empire, each army of the Imperial army was taking control of the area.

Aside from all the battles and situations, the Imperial forces across the Plain of Renna were gathering here.

“I’ll take special care to kill each and every single one of you.”

Chapter 8: Last Resort

– Mapan: Weed-nim. It seems that the troops are gathering over there.

– Pale: The movements of the enemy knights are strange. The knights and cavalry quickly left during the battle.

– Irene: The Phantom Knights ran that way. You must avoid them!

– Surka: It’s dangerous there. Come on.

– Lemon: I’m watching. Each of the squad leaders of the Grass Porridge Cult are saying that a large force is moving toward Weed-nim. Though we were blocking them, they were still able to pass through. Hurry and let’s go!

Many people sent whispers to Weed.

The Imperial Army, which was conducting a large-scale battle on the Garnav Plains, ran like a beast that got loose.

“They’re trying to catch me. Chwiiik.”

The battles he fought today were fresh in his mind.

Twenty Imperial Legions had set up a trap and waited, going as far as summoning a burning meteor without hesitation.

The change in the Haven Empire Army’s movement was clearly another attempt at him.

“What did I do wrong?… Chhhwi. I was just trying to keep my back warm and my belly full. Whoo!”

The users heard the news while Weed was lamenting.

“The Imperial Army is coming!”

“Mozori, he’s coming here?”

Before they knew it, the sudden movement of the Imperial Army was officially reported on the emergency network of the Grass Porridge Cult.

Myul’s Griffon army was also seen flying overhead in the sky by various people.

“Get out of here!”

“It’s dangerous here, Weed-nim!”

Nearby users said this in their worry for Weed.

The Northern users had also recognized this place as a battlefield and were gathering around.

Nevertheless, the users scattered across the plain were one or two steps behind the Imperial Army.

‘Having twenty legions narrowing down on us at the same time gives them a major tactical advantage over our troops, but it’s clear that I’m their only target.’

Weed calmly surveyed the situation.

Even if you suffer at the hand of a swindler, if you get yourself together, there is always a way out!

Of course, if the swindler lays a perfect trap, it’s impossible to survive. But there are many variables in this world.

It’s not even easy to fry a piece of chicken perfectly.

“We’ll stop them. You have to get away right now.”

“You can’t die here.”

“We’re fine. You have to survive, Weed-nim.”

He welcomed the users’ suggestions for making an escape route.

“Everyone…”

Weed’s eyes twinkled with emotion.

It was plain as day what would happen next. Many of the users gathered here would be wiped out.

Countless users would be attacked from all sides and killed.

Weed’s fame would fall if his escape was broadcasted.

A runaway.

A coward.

All the popularity that had been gained so far would vanish into thin air.

Advertising revenue, appearance fees!

Weed’s popularity now dug into the hearts of children and their pocket money!

Considering the increase in sales every year from the character business, running away would be the worst thing for numbers.

“We have to stop them for Weed-nim. We hope for everyone’s cooperation!”

“Please stop the Imperial Army from coming. Weed-nim, please run away quickly!”

Though it was a short time, a few routing voices could be heard.

‘No. I won’t falter. I will protect my own. Even if a nuclear bomb falls.’

Weed roared.

– Everyone! The Haven Empire is gathering here!

Though most of the users already knew this, he told them again deliberately.

“Hurry and leave, Weed-nim.”

“You should be able to leave now. We will stop them.”

The users were determined to make Weed leave.

They thought he would say he’d leave and apologize, but it was the opposite.

– I’ll fight to the end. Chwiiik! I won’t falter a single step, and I will succeed! Chwiik. Chwi. We will not fail. I will show everyone a miracle. Chwiiiiik!

Weed shouted like he was running for Congress. And then, he raised a sculpting knife to create a miracle.

*Seuk seuk seuk seuk*

He started to sculpt a nearby rock quickly, and the figure slowly revealed a grubby grandfather with a beard.

‘Though there is no other solution here, I’ll figure something out.’

The nearby users focused on Weed as he roared and continued the sculpture. The Northern users who recognized the figure opened their mouths wide with surprise.

“My God.”

“It’s him.”

“Who is it?”

“Emperor Geihar von Arpen! The first emperor to unify the Versailles Continent!”

The original plan was to restore it after a bit more fighting. Many sculptures were destroyed on the Garnav Plains and a lot of time was required to restore them all.

‘Change of plans. Let’s unload it all.’

From far away, in the 4th Legion, Calcus and the Hermes Guild members saw him sculpting.

At the same time, countless users were watching over the broadcast.

– The Emperor Geihar!

– Finally, it looks like he will restore the emperor.

– Not long ago, Weed has returned to the days of the Arpen Empire and protected its seashore. That was all in order to revive Emperor Geihar von Arpen here today.

– Who the hell is he?

– According to the data… As a sculptor, the emperor unified the entire continent.

The hosts of each broadcasting station were overflowing with enthusiasm.

With the appearance of Weed, the battle of the Garnav Plains was never-ending.

Though there were important battles going on in many regions, they were not as important as the one Weed was in.

And it grew increasingly more important as the Imperial Army concentrated their forces and the Northern Users followed them.

Perhaps the fate of the Versailles Continent would be settled here.

But the summoning of the Emperor Geihar!

“He pulled out a knife.”

Calcus wanted to interrupt him as soon as he became aware of Weed’s intentions.

The resurrection of a dead hero was inherently intriguing, but he knew it would be disadvantageous for it to be completed.

“Don’t let him finish!”

The magicians of the Hermes guild chanted powerful long-distance magic spells without conserving any of their mana.

“We’ll use Flame Magic which is full of diffusion and damage.”

“Fire Blaster.”

“Flame Shower.”

“Fire Buster.”

Hundreds of flame magic projectiles were shot across the sky, forming a huge parabola.

Their goal was Weed!

But this time, the Northern users were also fully prepared.

“Let’s have our magicians return fire!”

“Let’s stop it at all costs.”

“Throw your own body if you have to.”

Spirit and magic arrows, ice magic… Hundreds of those flew into the air.

*Papapang!*

An explosion occurred as flame magic collided with all kinds of projectiles.

It seemed as if all the world’s fireworks burst at once as they spread through the night sky.

Fire magic burned like a meteor shower and penetrated the atmosphere, breaking into pieces and falling towards them.

“We can stop it!”

“A little more power!”

The magicians shot their ice magic again, and the priests casted protective magic around Weed.

In addition, the users gathered together to form a wall of defense.

They were able to throw themselves forward because Weed had promised to protect them.

“Ugh… No.”

“Let’s block them. That’s what we’re going to do.”

The wall of users gazed at the approaching magical flames.

In the dark night sky, the flame magic became all kinds of fireworks, crisscrossing and dispersing everywhere.

Seeing that they could no longer reach them, the users raised their arms in triumph.

“Hurrah!”

“We did it again!”

Hot rain streaks fell from the sky in the aftermath of the ice and water magic blocking the flame magic.

*Ssuah ah ah ah.*

And while in the rain, Weed kept tirelessly waving his sculpting knife.

The quickly forming sculpture of Emperor Geihar!

Wrinkles at the corner of the eyes and chin, the slightly protruding teeth, everything was intact and being restored.

‘He had a big bald spot on his head, can’t leave out the small details.’

If you looked closely, Emperor Geihar didn’t look that heroic, but there’s something you learn from living in society: a normal-looking person can be very scary!

Sometimes, a vicious-looking landlord may feel a little sorry when they raise the rent.

On the other hand, an ordinary-looking man may do it with confidence.

“I’m going to raise the monthly rent by 30,000 won[T/N: about $30], starting this month.”

“Old man. Sir. I’m barely making it now. The surrounding market price hasn’t gone up either.”

“If you’re unsatisfied you can leave. You think I can’t find another tenant? I pitied you and saved you from staying on the street!”

“For us, 30,000 won a month is a burden. You didn’t fix the boiler, either.”

“Do you know who dug up this house? Did you so much as shovel when I was building it? Huh? Did you!?”

Weed reminisced about his horrible landlord as he continued working on the sculpture of Emperor Geihar.

It was perfectly normal, yet strange and a little different.

A sculpture completed by quick hands rather than artistry or refinement!

A grandfather with dirty clothes and a beard!

Rather than a hero who unified the continent, he looked as if he had fallen asleep after drinking makgeolli and eating samgyeopsal [T/N: respectively Korean rice wine and pork belly].

Perhaps there was some resemblance to an old man he had seen long ago on some corner.

‘I wonder if that grandfather bought some cocoa.’

Though he had only met him for a moment, that grandfather’s shoulders looked narrow and pitiful. He was the type that looks hearty at first, but the more you look at him the more pathetic he gets.

“It’s going to be hard if he gets older and loses weight. I don’t know if he’s getting enough to eat.”

It was so sad that even the stingy Weed willingly handed over 200 won [T/N: About 20 cents] for him to drink some cocoa.

“The sculpture has been finished!”

“Wow. It’s been less than 5 minutes and you’ve made a human being. Are you a copy machine?”

“He’s like a 3D printer. It’s exactly like Emperor Geihar.”

It was a startling speed to the users who had been watching Weed make the sculpture.

Just a slight movement here and there and elaborate details were made. Body and face lines were formed, and wrinkles were caught.

He could be lacking compared to other artists’ artistic sense and creative expression, but when it came to squeezing things together and working speed, he deserved to be called a master.

The myth of the old world!

Weed immediately put his skills to the test.

“Sculpture Resurrection!”

< You used the Sculpture Resurrection skill.

The ruler of a vast continent.

Spreading art widely, and the father of all life forms.

Master of Sculpture, Emperor of Arpen, Geihar von Arpen.

Receiving the calling of art, he will move again on this earth.

Art stat permanently decreased by 45.

Faith stat permanently decreased by 10.

Level dropped by 3.

18,000 life and mana consumed.

The person brought back by Sculptural Reincarnation has the knowledge and ability they had during their life.

They may or may not be grateful for being able to see and move around in the world again for a short time. >

< Your Sculpture Resurrection skill has improved >

The sculpture of Emperor Geihar!

It did not respond for a few seconds.

Although Weed held his breath, Emperor Geihar stretched and let out a yawn as if awaking from a long sleep.

“Euuh ha ah ah am. This is… my student.”

“Yes, Master.”

Weed bowed his head without hesitation and greeted him.

Just because he could revive him, it didn’t mean he would help.

Those resurrected by Sculptural Resurrection did as they wanted.

‘In the name of saving the continent, I swindled, bought alcohol, and bought meat. I did everything that was asked.’

In the worst-case scenario, even having to dine and dash!

Although Geihar was the first emperor to unify the Versailles continent, Weed felt a twinge of uneasiness.

While looking around, Emperor Geihar confirmed that the 4th Legion and the users were fighting fiercely.

“This is the battlefield. Just as you said, this moment is that moment.”

“Yes.”

“They’re the bad guys?”

“That’s right. They’re complete scumbags!”

Weed further explained that the Haven Empire would pay for what they did in the past.

The evil empire, threatening peace on the continent, belittling art and destroying sculptures!

Weed spoke in a grim voice.

“After they take over the land, I fear your great achievements will disappear. Even Yellowy…”

“What! Did the cow die?”

Emperor Geihar’s affection for sculptural lifeforms was extraordinary.

He even rode on its back and had an attachment to the nice cow. Of course, Yellowy was very annoyed and forced to let him ride.

“He’s not dead yet. But they smacked their lips while watching the cow. They went to get the salt too.”

“Beef needs to have salt.”

“That’s right. You don’t need this or that, it’s perfect with just some good salt.”

“The ribs of a cow are simply excellent. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.”

“I’ve got some makgeolli [E/N: the Korean rice wine mentioned before] for Master to quench your thirst too.”

Weed smiled and brought out a wooden liquor bottle.

Makgeolli as the best bribe! It was a perfect shot at Emperor Geihar’s tastes.

*****

– Only one minute before the 2nd Legion arrives!

– The 3rd Legion is joining forces with us as we speak.

– Our troops are gathering from all over the Garnav Plains. They will slaughter the Northern users and advance to the area Weed is in!

The Imperial Army’s sudden change in tactics caused a commotion among the broadcast stations.

The sky gradually brightened as dawn rose on the battle which had started at midnight.

The sight of countless imperial troops gathering from all directions was shocking.

– The Phantom Knights are quickly advancing from the East.

– The 9th Legion are arriving from the West, and the 14th Legion from the North.

– The Imperial Army’s movements are phenomenal. And yet, their location and movements have changed a little bit since Weed appeared. It seems like they were waiting for him.

– It reminds me of how wild animals roam around their prey then suddenly take a bite out of their necks.

It seemed that Weed and the users who followed him were put in danger by the Haven Empire.

Though the Northern users were hurriedly gathering, there were other troops there to prevent that from happening.

When they had no choice but to die or run away, Weed used the Sculpture Resurrection Skill.

The appearance of Emperor Geihar von Arpen!

– It’s amazing, the sculpture is alive!

– Emperor Geihar… The emergence of the historical figure who united the continent, turning it into the Arpen Empire!

– It seems that Weed had planned this all along. What can we actually expect from this?

– It appears that the reason that he had countless users make sculptures on the Garnav Plains was for this very moment. But obviously, the destruction of those sculptures is something to consider.

– Destruction, you say?

– The Summon Flaming Meteors spell destroyed many sculptures. The users are working on their restoration, but the damage will still be significant.

– I think even getting there will be a problem.

In the broadcast video, the Imperial Army was coming in from all sides, like a pack of starving wolves.

This was a scene in which the users who were with Weed on the outskirts were quickly dying.

– If this continues, neither Weed nor Emperor Geihar will be able to handle this.

– Running away doesn’t seem easy either.

– The sky has been blocked by the 2nd Legion. On the ground, the Imperial Army is in their way no matter which direction they choose. They’re completely surrounded.

*****

“Keuoh, they’re killing them… Won’t drinking this help me revive?”

Emperor Geihar took three bottles of makgeolli and gulped them down one by one.

Weed was checking the progress of the battle in the meantime, but Mapan was more accurate.

– Mapan: There are too many Imperial troops that are moving towards you, Weed-nim. According to CTS Media the 2nd, 3rd, and 6th Legions are on their way, and the 7th Legion will arrive even faster!

Weed had decided to stay here, but his confidence was not without reason.

Geihar von Arpen!

The hero who unified the continent could do anything!

“Hiccups. Gguh uh uh uk. I’m getting drunk. Good. Yoohoo!”

Emperor Geihar shook his arms and danced.

– Mapan: There’s no weakness in the siege network. And we’ve discovered that some of the 3rd Legion troops possess magical scrolls! If their AoE spells fall from the sky, the users protecting Weed-nim will quickly fall.

There was no hopeful report.

Since Mapan was bound by strong interests rather than loyalty, it would not be strange if he joined the Hermes guild now.

Mapan was faithfully reporting because he believed in Weed.

Experience and feelings!

His belief was that Weed would not just let up and die.

“If it’s like this, we’ll all die. Master! Hurry up and do something.”

“Isn’t there one more bottle of makgeolli? I need a little more to feel just right.”

“That was the last one a moment ago.”

“Too bad. I was going to have a lot of fun.”

Weed was highly suspicious of whether the revived emperor had become an alcoholic.

‘It wasn’t in the history books, but there’s no way he could have died of alcoholism, right?’

The hidden consequences of Time Sculpting.

If even the flap of a butterfly’s wings may alter the future, Weed’s actions in the past might have resulted in Emperor Geihar becoming an alcoholic.

Emperor Geihar, who loved free alcohol, spoke with sad eyes.

“A lot of time has passed. In this era, most of the friends I have given life to are probably dead.”

“Maybe so.”

The Iron Blood Warrior Bahamorg was revived.

Although many tribes, including the long-living marine life, may still be alive, most of those whom the Emperor himself gave life to were killed.

“My friends… I’m trying to mourn my children’s death… I’m short of a drink”

Emperor Geihar was sad.

“Master. I hadn’t even thought about that…”

Weed was forced to take out the expensive wine he had saved in order to comfort him.

It was a high-quality wine, worth much more than 3000 gold.

“Golggak. Golggak. Ggeuhuk. I’m getting drunk.”

Emperor Geihar opened the bottle and drank it like he would a bottle of makgeolli.

“Weed-nim! The outskirts are falling apart!”

“A large military presence has emerged in the South! I can see them with my own eyes!”

“Ggyah ah ah ak! The Griffin troops are circling the sky! They could attack at any time!”

Users fell and died.

Meanwhile, Myul’s 2nd Legion circled the sky, observing the ground.

They didn’t underestimate Weed and attack right away, but instead waited for the right opportunity.

An unprecedented crisis!

Emperor Geihar drank his wine and closed his eyes.

“Master?”

“Cool…”

“Master. Did you happen to fall asleep? Get up. This is not the time.”

“Zzzzzzzzzzz!”

Weed confirmed that Emperor Geihar was deeply sleeping and pulled out the Loa Sword.

A fair-weather friend, this wasn’t unheard of in human relationships.

What’s the difference between him and a common drunk?

“If only you did half of what Hestiger did… As expected, sculptors are a lazy and self-indulgent bunch.”

While trying to strangle Emperor Geihar, he hesitated.

‘But still, I’ve made an investment… No. Let’s cut it down right now. It’s better to run away now… But it’s not over yet.’

Although it would be easier to turn away from the approaching crisis, he could not make a decision due to his regret over Emperor Geihar.

3.2 seconds later!

Finally, Weed made his decision.

“This is the only way for me. I have to take action.”

The plan to hunt in the form of Karichwi the Orc had failed.

He wanted a free meal, but he was forced to pay for it.

It was time to show his true colors as the God of War.

Weed took out a lump of gold with his sculpting knife and materials.

One lump from his backpack, then two, started to pile higher.

He told people that he had no money, that he was poor, that he invested everything in the Arpen Kingdom… But in fact, he was rich!

He gathered the yellow gold he got from his adventures and hunting, and put it to the side.

“Holy Fire!”

Weed raised the Flame of Hestia and melted the gold into one large mass.

*Sha Sha Sha shak!*

He called the Wind Spirit Xing Xing and simultaneously cooled and shaved down the hot gold.

“Ah tteu tteu tteu.”

< You have taken fire damage.

Health has been reduced by 31 points. >

Even though it was reduced by his Fire Resistance and Resilience, he still took some damage. Without thinking about it, Weed quickly worked on a sculpture. The sculpture was taking shape faster than any sculpture he had made before.

“Wow. I’ve never seen so much gold.”

“Weed-nim is amazing.”

The nearby users gathered and watched.

‘There’s nobody you can trust in this world, but there are many thieves.’

Fortunately, it was a sculpture he had carved several times in the past.

A skeleton without a speck of flesh!

Surpassing the boundaries of life and death and leading a terrible fight, a being who can fight any number of enemies with confidence.

‘It’s a lich.’

The sculpture of a golden skeleton shining brilliantly!

It seemed to be an ill-matched combination, but for now it was cool.

The whole thing was made of gold, so of course it was cool.

It would have been a bit more ordinary if it wasn’t for its golden halo.

Like the term “beautiful skin”, the sculpture’s materials were great.

‘Well, I’m a bit short on ingredients.’

Weed felt like he needed more gold while carving its upper body.

The 4th Legion continued to attack, and there were reports of Hermes Guild users everywhere.

Myul’s Griffin Knight Legion slowly came down towards the earth.

Weed felt secure because he had been guarded while he was summoning Emperor Geihar.

‘Let’s just do a rough job. Having one short leg shouldn’t matter when using magic.’

– Please name the sculpture you made.

“Let’s go with Golden Lich.”

– Is Golden Lich correct?

“No, wait a minute… It should raise the hopes and dreams of young children. It must be a cute name… Look at Pororo and Tayo. Hmm. Let’s choose Clongy [E/N: Pororo and Tayo are respectively Pororo the little penguin and Tayo the little bus, two Korean computer-animated series for little children. The name Weed gives to his statue is “Kkorongi”, a matching cute-sounding name. We tried to find something that felt a bit cute to English readers while keeping a similar pronunciation, please tell us what you think].”

– Is Clongy correct?

“That’s right.”

< A masterpiece! You have completed Clongy!

The hero who will save the world, the king of the vast northern continent!

A new work by the widely renowned sculptor, Weed.

It is a sculpture of a lich made of pure gold.

The skeleton who creates a subtle fear!

The bones inside its body are expressed with amazing detail and beauty.

Why one leg is short is unknown, but given the perfection of the other parts, the sculptor must have his own profound purpose for it.

Artistic value: 12,381.

Special options:

All undead who look upon Clongy will gain a 24% increase in the efficiency of Health and Mana absorption.

Lowers the enemy’s morale.

Inflicts pain and fear onto the enemy.

Luck reduced by 55%.

Black Magic Resistance reduced by 10%.

Enhances the effectiveness of undead summoning skills.

Reduces the cooldown of unique undead skills.

Without the fear of death, Attack increases by up to 3 times as Health decreases.

All stats increased by 33.

Knowledge increased permanently by 1.

Increases rate of trophies received in this area.

Effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of masterpieces completed so far: 36

Fame has increased by 5,321.

Art stat has increased by 44.

Endurance has increased by 1.

Leadership has increased by 3.

Wisdom has increased by 2.

Faith has decreased by 2.

Making this sculpture has increased your Insight stat by 2.

As the result of creating a masterpiece sculpture, all stats have increased by 1. >

Completion of a masterpiece!

Weed worked in a hurry, but still a masterpiece was made.

Though he was a master sculptor, there was also some luck involved.

“As expected, true art is in the fine detail and the value of the materials. Sculptural Shapeshifting!”

– He’s using Sculptural Shapeshifting!

Weed’s height slowly shrank from the form of Karichwi the Orc. His shoulders narrowed, and his log-like limbs became thinner.

The rich hair rustled down to the ground as the wind blew.

As his flesh dried up, it peeled off, leaving only the bones.

A skeleton… He had become a lich!

< The change in body shape has made a lot of your current equipment unusable.

You cannot wear any equipment that has Holy Power or is made of Mithril.

Please obtain new equipment according to the shape and type of your body.

Due to the influence of Sculptural Shapeshifting, your Knowledge and Wisdom stats have greatly increased.

Strength and Agility have decreased significantly, and your Art stat has been reduced by a third.

Health and Mana have greatly increased.

Physical limits have disappeared.

With a master level understanding of the sculpture, you have become a perfect lich.

You have been given a Lich’s special characteristics.

Life Vessel!

Create a vessel and store away your health. If the vessel remains intact, you will not die unless from a very powerful magic or Holy Power.

As an undead, the efficiency of Health and Mana absorption increases by 45%.

Health and Mana will not regenerate under direct sunlight.

You take more damage from Holy Power.

These effects will last until Sculptural Shapeshifting is called off. >

< Transformation into a masterpiece sculpture!

Due to the nature of the sculpture, you have been given evil characteristics.

Every time you kill a living human, there is a fixed probability that your stats will increase.

Curse and fear power have increased to 200%.

Notoriety has increased by 42%. The power of the dead builds up 26% more. >

The name is Clongy!

However, it was Weed who had transformed into the frightening lich.

*Cha cha cha chak.*

He wore Bar Khan’s full set of equipment, and raised the Staff of the Fallen Saint.

“Come back to the land you lived on. This is a dark place. A black and rotten land. Engrave the law of darkness that will never disappear to everyone. Undead Rise!”

He immediately used undead summoning magic.

A whole skeleton army rose, with Death Knights as the base units.

Phantom Knights were summoned, and even Doom Knights appeared from the bodies of Hermes Guild users.

“Call Death Knight van Hawk. Call Vampire Lord Torido!”

With black smoke, his men were called in.

– Ggeu oh oh oh ro ro ro oh oh oh eung!

Weed followed with a Lion’s Roar.

The skeletal undead army clattered their jawbones and shouted.

“Keu keh keh keh ket!”

“Eu he he he he he he.”

“Blood! Death!”

*****

“He became a Lich!”

Calcus commanded the 4th Legion.

“Destroy the undead thoroughly. Do not let them revive again!”

The appearance of a large-scale undead legion came as a shock to the Hermes Guild. They became very cautious as they witnessed thousands of skeletons summoned through the spell Undead Rise.

“We need to open the way quickly or things will get annoying… Damn, time is on our side, but this is getting complicated…”

The Hermes Guild members, including Calcus, looked up at the sky resentfully.

‘Myul and his Griffon Knight Legion are roaming the skies, but they barely come down to the ground at all… Why?! What the hell, could it be that they still want to focus on catching Weed? That’s not their purpose!’

If the battle was over, obviously he wouldn’t protest. With the help of Myul and his 2nd Legion, Weed would be captured quickly. Calcus did not hide his anger, but the situation was getting better.

“I saw the 3rd Legion.”

“The 6th Legion is here too.”

“The 7th Legion has also arrived.”

The Imperial forces were converging on their position. The 6th Legion had been fighting farmers and elves, while the 7th Legion had been up against a ghost army, which had put them through a lot of trouble. Since the beginning of this battle, about 30 to 40 percent of the Legions had come from all over the Garnav Plains, and they made up a force that could not be ignored.

‘Forget it. We can definitely catch Weed here.’

Calcus sent a message to the legion commanders.

– Calcus: Welcome to the hunt for Weed. You’re just in time.

– Heiller: Nice to meet you here. Which of us should be in command?

– Calcus: Although your rank as the 3rd Legion commander is high, wouldn’t it be better for each legion to work independently?

– Heiller: Well, that’s one way to go about it.

Calcus did not want to lose his authority. If they fought separately, the 3rd legion’s Heiler would be able to conserve his forces, and since he thought he was likely to catch Weed, he agreed.

– Heiller: The 3rd Legion will take care of the North. We will completely destroy the enemy.

– Gross: The 6th Legion will take care of the West.

– Crebulta: We will then take care of the East. Come on, we will be the ones to win this war.

– Calcus: Hehe. The 4th Legion is confident in winning the war too. Capturing Weed will be our achievement.

– Heiller: No, this glory will belong to the 3rd Legion. Let’s start this battle.

The four powerful Imperial Legions began their assault. They swept through the undead, wiping out nearby northern users along the way. The whole battlefield burned with large-scale flame magic.

Meanwhile, Weed was putting Van Hawk in command of half the skeletons.

“They must be stopped, kill them all.”

“Yes, master.”

The skeletons ran as a group and fought with the 7th Legion. Though their combat power was a little weaker than the soldiers of the Imperial Legion, they fought well as they had a lot of vitality. Moreover, even when the lower part of their bodies were sent flying, the moving skeletons hung on to the enemy soldiers and bit them.

“Uhhuhu, nooooo! I can’t fight corpses!”

“We are going to die.”

The soldiers feared the undead. Knights and Hermes Guild members yelled and calmed down the soldiers.

“Fight, do not run away! We are the Imperial Army!“

“The Haven Empire is invincible!”

It was a big problem for the Imperial Legion that morale declined while fighting the undead. In order to fight with Weed, they held silver weapons and wore blessed armor. Nevertheless, the summoned undead were pretty annoying.

“Show me the sword of hell.”

“Go forward with blood.”

30 Doom Knights rushed out and displayed their terrifying might.

Doom Knight Hero Neturus!

He had been summoned to lead the Doom Knights!

Riding on Hell Horses, which had emerged from the darkness and continuously breathed out poison, the Doom Knights started fighting the Imperial Knights.

*Kwakwa Kwang!*

Knights from the Imperial Legion were sent flying dozens of meters. Weed sighed when he saw the scene.

“They would have been even more powerful if I had used Sculptural Destruction to increase my Wisdom.”

The Sculptural Shapeshifting skill allowed one to make use of the skills and characteristics of another race. However, as a Necromancer, he already knew many of the skills he would have obtained through transforming, so he had awoken even more undead characteristics which made the undead he summoned even more powerful.

Weed’s body was sometimes surrounded by flames.

<The divine fire burns you. Health was reduced by 8,381.>

Despite the fact that he was only watching the battle, Weed was surrounded by white flames! The divine fire from the goddess Hestia caused side-effects now that he had transformed into a Lich.

< Mana decreased by 3.7% >

Weed took damage from time to time, but the health and mana he absorbed from the undead that participated in the battle made him quickly recover.

*Flash!*

The brilliance of his shining golden skull lit up the darkness.

“Wow, look at Weed!”

“He looks really cool.”

But something else also attracted the attention of the Northern users. The trajectory made it clear that a new attacker was coming to their position. The Northern users were still caught up in an intense fight against the users from the Central Continent, and if another Imperial Legion joined in they would be in trouble.

– Mapan: The 1st Imperial Legion is on its way. I think they will arrive in about 5 minutes.

– Pale:  I’m coming. Not only me, but all the users here are running. Hold on for a while whatever happens!

– Cold Wind: The Avians have gathered together. Even the little chickens from Lavias, the Sky Island, have entered the battle. But there was a problem on the way here. It seems like the magicians from the Hermes Guild are causing many troublesome gusts of wind in the sky.

– Seoyoon: Let the Baraags take care of the magic troops, we have to stop them from summoning those gusts. The only problem is that some of the wizards seem to be missing.

– Mibullo: I’m not sure if you still remember me, but I’m an architect. I’m currently preparing to stop this Imperial Legion. I intend to use Ground Collapse to do so, but it can only delay them for ten minutes at most.

According to the whispers that the users were sending, the situation was not good. Weed called out to a nearby user, Rubles, who had been appointed as a Vice-Captain due to her intelligence.

“I need you to deal with something right now.”

“What is it? I’ll do anything. I will give my all till my heart ceases to beat.”

The blonde warrior.

Rubles was an aggressive warrior, and her level was high. Weed entrusted the drunken Emperor Geihar to her

“Please take care of him.”

“Yes?”

“He is very important to the Arpen Kingdom, please keep him safe.”

“…”

As Rubles saw it, this was not an easy task.

Before the battle began, many users made sculptures in preparation of Emperor Geihar’s arrival. If this drunken old man were to die, one of the pillars of the Arpen Kingdom would collapse. It was clear that if this fact was noticed by the Hermes Guild, they would make a strong attack.

“Nevertheless, I’ll keep watch over him.”

Weed decided to leave Emperor Geihar behind, and went to the battlefield alone.

“This battle is going to be my battle.”

Even his trump card was useless. In such a situation, he could only rely on himself.

< 26 Mana has been absorbed >

< 31 Mana has been absorbed >

< 55 Mana has been absorbed >

< 12 Mana has been absorbed >

< 7 Mana has been absorbed >

< 83 Mana has been absorbed >

…

Health and Mana were absorbed at a high rate from the undead who participated in the war.

“Create a Life Vessel.”

Weed used a spell which allowed a Lich to store away its health. He took a clump of hard soil and made it into the shape of a bottle.

< Life Vessel. Within lies the powerful health of Lich Clongy. >

A Lich would not die unless its Life Vessel was destroyed. However, if it was, its magic power would be reduced, and the efficiency of Health and Mana absorption would be lowered. The vessel had to be kept safe at all costs! It would not even be enough to bury it deep underground. Weed took the vessel, which was the same shape as a Coke bottle, and gulped it down.

*Gulp!*

The vessel went down his throat and faded into his ribs.

“It’s better to keep it in my body because I cannot give it to anyone.”

He spoke loudly enough that the surrounding users could hear him. It wasn’t a safe place just because there were no enemies nearby. Weed walked with big strides and quickly moved away from the users.

*Sasha Shack!*

Weed wanted to run back and forth and celebrate; he felt as though had had won a prize. His sister had finally appeared, wearing an old robe.

– Yurin: Good job. Then…

Yurin’s mission was to escape with the life vessel… Non-combat users were not priority targets to the Hermes Guild, and they also had some ways of escaping, including shadow moving. During her time playing Royal Road, Yurin had never been killed. She had strong survival skills and even Weed felt ashamed of his inferiority.

“All of you, down!”

“Keke kell”

Weed climbed on top of a mountain of skeletons, his Hell Cloak fluttering in the wind. Although the skeletons wiggled a little bit, this mountain had reached a height of about 30 meters. At its top, he now stood as a golden Lich, looking down at them. Weed was also currently absorbing their Health and Mana.

< The Power of the Dead has increased by 3. >

Although there was a penalty due to the Power of the Dead, in the short term it also increased his magic power.

“I’ll think about it later… For now let’s just keep doing it.”

He would deal with the aftermath when he got there. For the moment, Weed decided to only live in the present. Holding the Fallen Saint’s Staff, Weed shouted.

“Darkness that cannot be scattered by light, descend and nurture those who wake from death. Death Aura!”

One of the three great magics of Bar Khan, Death Aura was activated to strengthen the undead!

Weed thrust the Fallen Saint’s Staff into the mountain of skeletons.

Then the black aura spread out in all directions and changed the undead. Wherever it went, skeletons became pure white in color. Their bones became thick and sharp, and their bodies became bigger.

“Ku aak”

“This is overwhelming power! It is the proof that we can overcome even death!”

Among the undead, the skeletons and zombies belonged to the lowest level. As they changed, they became mid-level boss skeleton commanders. The flying ghosts emitted a plaintive cry in the sky and became evil spirits. These evil spirits used dark magic, took lives and cursed the land and people. The change in the Doom Knights, however, was even more dramatic.

“Our power has recovered. It is likely that we can even win against the gatekeeper of hell.”

“A powerful necromancer has summoned us. We absolutely must obey!”

The 30 Doom Knights lowered their heads to Weed. After they saluted, they cut off the heads of the Hermes Guild users who until now had held the upper hand. The Doom Knights also became stronger as they fought. They had several inherent characteristics such as short-range flight. All of these traits were awakened by the power of Death Aura, which allowed them to display their original fighting capacity.

Van Hawk was also affected, and it was as though he had slipped out of his skin. He had the authority to act as the chief commander of the dark legion and, as all of the other Death Knights had backed away from the position, he was also promoted to their team leader.

As to Vampire Lord Torido, he blended into the darkness. He had lost a lot of his abilities as a vampire when he had become Weed’s subordinate. After that he hadn’t had that many opportunities to fight against enemies, but it now seemed that all of his seals had finally been released.

“It is a pity to end with this.”

Weed absorbed more mana to use another great magic.

“Foolish humans, what futile resistance. This land is governed by my rule of darkness. The power of eternal immortality shall thrive. Dark Rule!”

A magic that changed the rules of a region!

All corpses were awoken and forced to become undead. Weed’s Dark Rule spilled down into the depths of the ground. The ground shook, cracking as many skeletons, zombies, death knights, dullahans, and ghosts began to fly. The bodies of the Hermes Guild users who failed to kill Weed became a good sacrifice. The number of Doom Knights increased to 35, and some of the high-level corpses spread darkness like sludge.

*Ku a a a a ak!*

Bones began to melt and unite, changing shape bizarrely. The sounds of breaking and cracking could be heard. Long vertebrae formed and wings sprang up. Something immense was being created.

*Ku aaaaa!*

Then two Bone Dragons let out long cries as they flew up into the sky! In the past, even if a prestigious guild poured out all of their power, it was difficult to hunt even one dragon. Now it would not be as difficult; as long as top-level users joined forces, they could even hunt them in the sky.

The dragons’ birth did not slow the spell down. The ground kept shaking, and the dead bodies kept rising up to form a legion composed of tens of thousands of undead.

Chapter 1: Dark Rule

“Foolish humans, what futile resistance. This land is governed by my rule of darkness. The power of eternal immortality shall thrive. Dark Rule!”

Weed’s magic shook the Garnav Plain, and caused the undead to rise.

A horde of zombies and skeletons sprang up from the ground!

Ghosts rose from the underground, filling the air with fog, while Death Knights roared from the backs of their horses.

“Oh god, he started summoning the undead.”

“Is undead summoning always like that? Corpses just keep rising endlessly.”

Under the eyes of the 4th Legion’s commander, Calcus, the undead were rising 100,000 at a time.

Weed, standing atop his mountain of skeletons, proclaimed:

“This is the indomitable might of the darkness, that can’t be smitten by puny justice!”

Words from a true villain!

They couldn’t be more fitting in this situation.

“Bar Khan Demoph’s Dark Rule.”

“Wooow, I can’t believe I’m seeing this magic with my own eyes!”

Users were gripped by the might of this magic.

All the dead corpses revived and there was no limit on how many could come back to life.

This was because Dark Rule didn’t just bring back the undead one by one; it overturned the rules of the entire land.

“Advance, my obedient servants. You’ve been given ageless life and henceforth you’ll be raised again and again forever.”

Under Weed’s command, the skeletons began marching, their bone joints creaking.

“The lord of immortality!”

“The Lich king has ordered us thusly.”

“Eternal pain!”

“Grant us your blessing of blood.”

Fragile they may be, the enormous troops of the undead, which stretched as far as the eye could see, marched with synchronized arm swings and steps toward the Haven Empire’s army.

The troops had benefited from Weed using Sculptural Shapeshifting to turn into a Lich, which had had an impact on their stats and skills.

Their Knowledge and Wisdom had soared, and their skills had reached Advanced level 7 thanks to the Undead Summon spell being Intermediate level 8.

Even a one-level difference in magic meant a huge difference in power, so this had made the undead tremendously stronger.

Each and every skeleton was either blackened or wore an armor and a helmet made of bones and darkness.

“Goddamn. Seems like they won’t go down easily.”

Despite being frustrated at the sight of the summoned undead, Calcus regained his cool in no time.

“All soldiers shall spare no holy water.”

His warriors sprayed their weapons and armors with holy water.

Before joining this battle, the 4th Legion had made a huge donation and purchased holy water in bulk.

They had also kept in mind that if they got close enough to catch Weed, there was a possibility he would transform into a Lich. They felt that their preparation had proved worthwhile.

Other legions of the Haven Empire also took out holy water or their blessed weapons.

The 3rd Legion, even more thoroughly prepared, grabbed a huge amount of silver arrows from their war wagons.

“Get into position!”

“Hurry. Advance swiftly.”

The horde of undead summoned by Weed didn’t stop the Haven Empire’s army from moving forward.

“Whirlwind of Fire, arise. Move and sweep all!”

“Glory of War, the radiant light sparking merciless massacre!”

It was followed by an attack from the Hermes Guild’s mages.

Some of the top users of the Versailles Continent had gathered together.. Five to six of them combined their forces to complete their magic.

A fiery whirlwind with a radius of about 40 meters danced on the land, sending skeletons and zombies high up in the sky.

A high-level flame, burning with unbearable heat, made the skeletons crumble and reduced them to ashes!

Remains of the ashes rained down from the sky to the earth.

“March. Forget the petty, low-level undead, go straight to target only Weed. Piercing Flash!”

“Don’t let anyone outrun you. The 7th Legion shall be the first to reach Weed.”

The knights templar were surrounded by light and then galloped immediately.

They stamped down on the undead using the momentum of their charge, zombies and skeletons dissolving every time they swayed their spears.

“Aaarrgh!”

“Kuuuaaaargh!”

As spectacular as it was, many of the half-shattered skeletons would absorb vitality and rise back up.

“Formidable indeed… But you still won’t be able to simply dismiss the undead.”

Atop the high tower of skeletons stood Weed, eyeing the battlefield with cold-hearted, analyzing eyes.

*Kaboom!*

Bursting magic spells made the land shake.

Archers shot fire arrows at the rows of skeletons and zombies, setting them ablaze.

The synchronized movements of the humongous undead legion was a marvellous sight, yet they were being torn apart by the Haven Empire’s armies.

“There’s no way they don’t know that I will eventually triumph as long as I hold on.”

For the moment Weed was in an extremely disadvantageous situation, but over time the tables would turn.

For beyond the empire’s armies were an unlimited number of users coming to the rescue.

“Our lord is in crisis. All shall stand up and fight!”

Doom Knight Hero Neturus bellowed.

The outcry rallied the undead and the Doom Knights victoriously fought all across the battleground.

They staged a successful and wondrous defense against a thousand knights templar from the 7th Legion.

*****

“Oh no.”

Mage Pormon.

His hands trembled as he grabbed his cane.

He came to the battleground even though his level had only reached 45.

“I should have cut short my play time at Poohol Waterpark and hunted more instead.”

He had run all the way from the bards’ performance stage to fight for Weed, but the users around him were terrified.

“We’re screwed.”

“All of the empire’s forces have shown up to get us.”

Beginner-level users were losing their mind over the rapid pace of progress.

They were having fun when they were pushing the 4th Legion with their sheer numbers, but became shocked by the news that all the empire’s armies had gathered here.

“We’ve been trapped.”

“It’s driving me nuts. Their maneuver is fantastic. Is this how Versailles Continent falls to the hands of the Haven Empire?”

“Can’t Weed-nim just run away from here?”

“Weed-nim is not someone who would run away. And the users here are the Northern’s main force. It would be quite a serious blow if all of them die.”

Fear engulfed Pormon and other users.

Not all the Northern users were brave.

They might be willing to lay down their life for the Arpen Kingdom, but that didn’t mean that they were not afraid.

“Zombies are awesome.”

“Look how skeletons run.”

“Honestly they look tougher than us.”

A lot of the Northern users were still surrounded like Weed, and were waiting for a battle to break out.

They wondered for how many seconds they would last, while witnessing magic spawning grand destruction from afar.

They thoroughly felt the magnificence of the Hermes Guild whenever its destructive force quaked the earth.

When one’s level surpassed 400 or 500, their magic became strong enough to annihilate a small region, though it consumed a lot of mana and thus couldn’t be used often.

– Mandol: Stay calm! Our role is to buy time.

He was the hero of Shellgium.

Mandol steadily encouraged users in the regional chatting room.

“Damn, this is where I die.”

“As much as I braced for this, I’d like to go down in style at the last moment.”

Holding weapons, the users waited for the Imperial army to approach.

Foul-smelling zombies entered the battle, while skeletons were seen fighting even as they were beaten and broken apart.

“There are Bone Dragons in the sky!”

“Kuuuaaaargh!”

With their crimson, gigantic eyeballs, the Bone Dragons roared in the air.

Their roars were so loud that they echoed.

“I must say, it’s amazing just to be in a battlefield of this magnitude.”

“Indeed. How could we experience this if it were not for Royal Road?”

“I’d like to fight often. Next time I won’t be as weak as I am now.”

A message, which was not sent to ordinary users, popped up on the screen of the empire’s commanders:

< Sorrowful Fear!

You have heard the cry of a creature that symbolizes death.

Troops’ morale decreases by 31 percent.

Unhappiness takes effect.

It increases the chances of contracting contagious diseases, and warriors are more likely to panic. >

The force of a Bone Dragon’s outcry!

The two Bone Dragons flew in the sky and fell on the 10th Legion that was approaching the users.

The huge dragons killed soldiers by pinning them down, stamping on them or striking them with tails.

“Kuuuaaaargh!”

The dragons grabbed knights with their mouths and threw them a hundred meters away.

“That cocky Bone Dragon…”

“Kill them!”

Users of the Hermes Guild were confident that they would prevail even against the powerful dragons.

After all, they had formed teams before to catch monsters of this level.

“Let’s get rid of them!”

The users came and activated their skills.

The dragons were attacked by dozens of skills and ran among the Legion.

They could endure these attacks thanks to Death Aura, which significantly boosted their defense and magic resistance. The dragons cried and soared into the sky.

Soon afterwards, a dark shadow engulfed the Bone Dragons.

< A new homeland for the undead.

This land is overrun by the fear of death.

Those who were stained by grief as they crossed the boundary of death give away their life force!

The Bone Dragons fully recover their Health.

Their Agility goes up by 34 percent and their Strength by 51 percent. >

“No…”

The users on the ground sighed.

The area became populated by a large number of undead.

The dragons absorbed life force and recovered swiftly.

The 10th Legion leader Slatter raised his sword and commanded.

“It’s hard to damage a high-level undead without holy power. Just stay clear of them and march sideways!”

He deemed it a headache to fight against the dragons and found it unnecessary to waste time on them.

He thought the empire’s other armies would vanquish the dragons.

“Hooooop!”

But the sight of the dragons inhaling deeply horrified the Hermes Guild members nearby.

“Holy crap, those are breath attacks!”

“Hell no, we need to run away from this.”

The Bone Dragons’ Acid Breath!

The guild members prepared to use short-range movement skills or special equipment.

A huge amount of damage was inevitable for them the moment they get attacked by the Dragons’ Breath.

Slatter yelled his instructions.

“Stop and defend yourself! Activate all defensive magic!”

“All troops circle around!”

The infantry units of the 10th Legion broke their formation and ran over themselves in an effort to stay as far away from the dragons as possible.

At that moment, instead of spewing their Breath, the dragons moved to somewhere else.

“…?”

“What the hell?”

The 10th Legion was outmaneuvered.

The marching formation turned into a mess, and it would take time just to get back into formation. The Northern users were also congregating from all around, completely entrapping the troops and causing a delay.

“Did they fool them?”

“Holy cow, I didn’t think Bone Dragons could pull that off.”

“Kuuuaaaargh!”

The two flying dragons, all of a sudden, spewed their Acid Breath on the 14th Legion.

Dark, blue breath spread across the sky and shrouded the empire’s 14th Legion.

“Amazing.”

“Incredibly powerful.”

The users of the 10th Legion who were watching the scene weren’t sure if they should be crying or not.

*****

“They’re putting up a decent fight.”

After transforming into a Lich, Weed could see all as if it were bright daytime.

< Lich’s eyes.

The high-level undead is familiar with darkness.

They can see farther, even places shrouded in the thick darkness. >

It is quite convenient since it becomes unnecessary to use the magic that illuminates the darkness.

Millions of undead had been summoned, and more were rising in this very moment.

The northern users who had followed Weed were killed massively under the aggressive attack from the Haven Empire’s armies, but they revived as undead and went back to the battlefield.

Some of them gained even more power when they turned into skeletons.

< Brutal Madness was activated.

The undead who are eager to fight back see their combat abilities improve. >

< Fear of the Abyss!

Soldiers become terrified. >

< Recovery from Damage.

Some Death Knights learned a new skill.

They have learned how to absorb life force by killing.

If the Death Knights are let free to harvest as many lives as possible, they might break free from the restraints on their souls, allowing them to be reborn as new beings. >

< Zombies have activated Disgusting Vomit! >

Numerous message windows popped up, reporting the status of the undead.

“Death Knight Crowell. Greeting the commander of immortality.”

“Go. Fight.”

“Death to all enemies!”

As Weed was commanding the two Bone Dragons, boss-level Death Knight commanders conjured by Dark Rule swore allegiance to him.

Dark Rule raised countless undead, and increasingly more high-level ones appeared.

< Dark Rule has created a holy land of the undead.

Many are those who have died, and thus a massive amount of undead have risen. Puny, unpleasant holy power shall not set foot in this sacred land.

The power of the Priests’ holy spells decreases by 60 percent.

The ability to give Blessings and lift curses won’t be usable by those who lack Faith. >

The holy land of the undead!

A literal land of death has been created.

Weed sharply eyed the battlefield.

“Nonetheless, we remain at a disadvantage in this battle.”

If commanded, the skeletons would gladly jump into a fire.

Most low-level undead were not properly fighting against the empire’s troops.

Everywhere, thousands of warriors from the skeleton legion were seen running, only to be dissolved by arrows before even getting to fight.

A Flaming Meteors spell hit the center of the undead soldiers, smashing and scattering their bone joints.

“Kagh, damn you. You won.”

“The great rule dominates this land. We have returned from death.”

“Too strong…”

The skeletons kept dying and reviving, chipping away at the Haven Empire’s armies.

“Break though!”

The skeletons were swept away by the empire’s knights, like restless autumn leaves falling from trees. In the next moment, however, they persistently rose back and fought to stop the Imperial troops or knights.

Weed, in his Lich form, lowered his jaw bone with a deathly sick smile.

“Ain’t this quite a nice battlefield.”

A sense of crisis jolted him as the empire troops flocked from all around. Yet this also meant that no battlefield could be bigger and nicer than this.

All abilities could be tapped to confront the opposing side.

“I will crash this party as much as I can.”

“Van Hawk, Neturus, come back!”

Weed used Lion’s Roar to call back Van Hawk and the Doom Knight Hero Neturus.

“Our master calls for us.”

“We shall move immediately.”

Elite undead knights in the middle of combat repelled their enemies and rushed to the tower of skeletons.

Death Knights and Doom Knights.

These dangerous beings wore armour that had been worn down over time, exposing their bones, which had been discolored by darkness.

Their aura was foreboding, and they looked menacing.

And Weed was the one leading them.

“Kaargh!”

An aura of dark magic seeped through the air like a fog.

Crows cried with all of their vocal strength.

“We await your command, our lord of immortality.”

Weed stood atop the tower of skeletons, and high-level undead Doom Knights bowed humbly before him.

Van Hawk had been standing upright, but soon kneeled alongside the other undead.

The commanding authority of a Necromancer was in full effect.

‘This is what it feels like to wield real power.’

Weed’s chest swelled with pride.

Is this how the chairman of a conglomerate feels?

Is this what it feels like to be a politician, like a mayor or the representative of a town?

This sensation of earning the loyalty of countless subordinates.

Weed was being worshipped by the Doom Knight Hero Neturus as well as hundreds of thousands of other undead soldiers, though 99% of them were either skeletons that lacked proper communication abilities or zombies that were dripping pieces of flesh.

He was also attracting attention from the Northern users and from the Hermes Guild members who had gathered nearby.

This was the moment to show off a trick he had hidden up his sleeve to fully make use of the situation.

Weed raised his skeleton staff, spreading dark energy.

“Behold. This is my Magic.”

It was one of the magic spells written in Bar Khan’s Necromancer Tome: Concentration of Sacrifice.

“Disappear! Be consumed! All of you who crossed the boundary between life and death, sacrifice everything for me!”

He used a secret method to increase his magical power by consuming a large amount of the undead’s life force.

A crimson aura covered Weed’s body as his magical power increased by a whopping 75 percent.

This had also cost a lot of the undead’s lifeforce, including his own, but it couldn’t possibly be a problem.

< 341 Health has been absorbed. >

< 278 Health has been absorbed. >

< 94 Health has been absorbed. >

< 67 Health has been absorbed. >

< 219 Health has been absorbed. >

While it helped that he previously used Life Vessel to preserve some of his life force, he was also absorbing life force from the undead fighting in the battle.

‘It’s good indeed. Feels like the owner of dozens of apartments and commercial buildings collecting rent.’

Soccer was not his favorite sport, as players fairly competed on the ground while following the rules.

‘It’s wild and cool yet not quite thrilling enough.’

Weed’s approach to victory was simple.

‘I will make use of everything that can be exploited. Only then will I get a crushing victory that makes me feel relieved through and through.’

Turning the tide was not as fun as leveraging overwhelming force to stamp down on the opponent.

The only reason he had always appeared to be on the weaker side, resisting, was because every time his opponent had been the Hermes Guild.

Since his time on the Continent of Magic, Weed’s keenest pleasure had been to use overwhelming force to crush his enemies.

“Fear.”

“Sacrifice of Mother Earth.”

“Wrath of the Dead.”

“Mana Amplification.”

“Power of the Cursed.”

He continuously amplified his magical power by constantly sacrificing his own life force.

He had first used Sculptural Shapeshifting to turn into a Lich, and from there had then exponentially increased his magical power, yet it still grew mercilessly.

With terrifying charisma, he discharged the mana of darkness that flowed down the tower of skeletons.

It looked just like the exploding lighting of a singer’s concert.

The sticky mana of darkness sprayed all over, which the undead picked up and absorbed.

As the low-level skeletons absorbed the mana, their fingernails and toenails grew, and even their hair turned bushy.

“Kaaaaooooook!”

The undead were merged like assembly blocks into a grotesque, evil monster.

But even this scene was only part of the effects created by Weed’s dark mana.

“Crush flesh, bones, skin, nails and eyeballs with absolute force. Twisted, Ruptured Space.”

Weed performed black magic against the Fourth Legion.

He targeted about a thousand imperial soldiers who were fighting triumphantly in black armor. The beaming dark aura surrounded them and squeezed them to death.

His dark magic instantly killed about 650 warriors!

“Kaoook!”

“Magic attack!”

Some Hermes Guild users also got attacked by the magic.

Knights were killed, and the guild members were left either dead or seriously wounded.

The only survivors were those who noticed and evaded it earlier, or those who wore a lot of holy equipment.

“Pretty powerful.”

Weed felt content on his tower of skeletons.

Twisted, Ruptured Space consumed a lot of mana but worked on a large area.

It informed the caster how powerful and high-tier a magic it was.

‘Seems like it’s 10 times as strong as the normal effect.’

The hall of fame had once featured a video in which the dark mage John Clark from the Hermes Guild used Twisted, Ruptured Space.

“Astounding, this is black magic!”

“There’s a reason for the Hermes Guild’s reputation. It’s daunting force.”

“Holy cow, truly the best.”

“80 monsters got destroyed in an instant. I’m taking note of a mage’s impact on a battle.”

“They just got swept away. John Clark-nim will also make it to the top ranker list.”

Back then, the replies were full of exclamations and compliments.

Mages had attracted the spotlight for a long time because their attack wielded a tremendous force and could kill many within seconds.

While John Clark had used his magic against weak and evil monsters, Weed was using his against the imperial troops, who were high-level, wore equipment and were even blessed with holy power.

The large amount of consumed mana was regained in no time, depending on the performance of the undead.

“Kaaaaaghk!”

“We were reborn with the power of immortality!”

The imperial soldiers killed by the magic were revived as Dullahans or Specters, and attacked the warriors alongside whom they were fighting just moments ago.

They were also revived with many curses and enhancements cast by the dark mana.

‘Well, that’s one thing out of the way.’

Weed decided to up his game with a full-scale attack.

Looking around from his skeleton tower, he spared no mana for his spells.

“Revenge of Blood!”

“Infection of Thirst and Pain!”

“Firewall!”

“Sweeping Blade!”

“Plunging Land!”

Each spell targeted hundreds of users within its damage radius, and all of the spells’ effects worked in combination.

They weakened the enemies with curses, spread diseases, burned them with fire and cut them with blades and winds.

He was one of the most horrible singers, yet in this moment he cast magic spells with vocal performance that matched that of a rapper.

Like a rapper free-flowing between rhymes!

His speed was limitless as he didn’t have to breathe and had no tongue.

He cast spells as if he were lecturing his sentient sculptures non-stop.

“This is insane!”

“Weed-nim is using magic.”

“His firepower is awesome.”

Weed poured his magic on the 4th Legion only.

Dark magic consumed both life force and mana simultaneously, and some of the spells also caused physical injury or status ailments to the caster.
Although his limbs had broken and he had collapsed on the ground as the penalty, he soon recovered to his senses and rose again.

Each attack killed at least dozens of people in the Haven Empire army, and put many others out of action.

The imperial army attempted to block the magic with an array of holy equipment, but the magic stormed them.

Sometimes multiple curse spells flew in succession as if they were racing each other.

An insane level of concentrated magic!

“Don’t stop, keep moving! Kill him!”

The spells penetrated Calcus’ 4th Legion, but avoided the remaining northern users as well as the undead.

‘Save mana!

Even as he was casting magic, Weed constantly saved a portion of the mana which he absorbed.

The mages of the 4th Legion were also attacking from afar, but his way of dealing with the situation was dumb and simple: having faith in his magic resistance and regeneration ability, Weed just endured the attacks with his whole body. That being said, most of the time the attacks hit the huge skeleton tower instead.

However, the magic spells that fell from the sky like airstrikes made it rather inconvenient to recite spells.

“Van Hawk, send skeletons upward.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Death Knights threw skeletons into the sky.

“Barrier of Souls.”

Weed extracted the souls from the skeletons and created a powerful magic protection barrier around him.

It might not be as strong as the Absolute Defense spell that Bar Khan had used in combination with his two other great magics, Dark Rule and Death Aura, but nevertheless it was quite effective.

It was an impressive skill, except that it was a temporary spell consuming a lot of skeletons and mana.

*Saeeeeek!*

*Koooooong!*

The attacks from the imperial mages collided with the barrier of souls in the air, which absorbed most of the damage, and exploded, causing a strong wind like a typhoon on the ground.

“That tickles.”

Both sides were thrown into disarray by the magic attack.

Checking the amount of mana he had saved, Weed started reciting a long spell.

“Spear of thunder that pierces the sky, join hands with the raging land to punish all. Summon the grand power of mana that lulls even the last scream from weaklings…”

Dark purple rays of light engulfed him as he was chanting at the top of his tower of skeletons.

The sheer terror of the final boss!

He completed his spell without a single mistake, and he didn’t forget to enhance its power by spending twice the amount of mana.

“Land-Burning Lightning!”

Once again he aimed at the 4th Legion.
Dozens of lightning bolts struck from the sky.
The lightning kept moving within a certain area.
The land collapsed, devouring people in the process, while the horses of the Knights Templar were stunned.

< You have acquired experience points. >

< You have acquired experience points. >

< You have acquired experience points. >

< Level Up. >

Huge amounts of experience points rolled in!

< Your Undead Power stat increases by 361 as the users were slaughtered to death mercilessly >

His Undead Power was increasing a lot, but he decided to set that fact aside for now.

< You killed Butcher Kerok, who had a bounty on his head.

Your reputation increased by 2,381.

Your notoriety decreased by 31. >

Ironically his notoriety fell as the Hermes Guild has a lot of bad guys.

“Kahahahahahahahaha!”

With a sinister laughter, Weed once again cast the attack magic. His mana pool hit rock bottom yet became refilled through the battle of the undead.

“He’s a monster, a real lunatic.”

Myul was leading his Legion of griffon knights in the sky, and looking down at the ground. Whenever Weed recited a spell, he witnessed a chilling scene of a large area getting destroyed by curses or offensive magic.

‘Just how strong are you?’

He was pulling off something beyond the imagination of Bard Ray or the regular users.
Although some Legendary-class magic weapons might be able to cause a similar effect, this monster wasn’t even taking a break and kept casting a string of spells.

– Calcus: Myul! Quickly start the assault!

He casually ignored Calcus’s urgent whisper message.

“I did come here to kill Weed, but it’s a bit difficult in the current situation.”

While the 4th Legion would enjoy a short moment of relief if the 2nd Legion descended for an attack, it would also mean that his griffon knights would have to endure the damage.

Magic was the weakness of those who dominated the sky.

His army would be decimated if he led them down through Weed’s magic attacks.

‘Let’s wait for an opportune moment when he loses power… But will he?’

Myul squinted his eyes.

Curses, dark magic and invincible life force; he was merciless against the imperial army, befitting the reputation of worst Necromancer Lich.

That didn’t mean, of course, that he could simply remain indomitable for eternity.

The size of the undead army raised through Dark Rule, and especially the number of zombies and skeletons were rapidly decreasing because of the Imperial Soldiers.

Upon realizing that Weed was fueling his mysteriously strong magic power with mana obtained from the undead, the soldiers started smashing skeletons thoroughly.

Nevertheless, ghosts or Death Knights reigned on the battlefield, and the Doom Knights’ massacre raged on.

The Doom Knights’ combat strength was pumped up, but not as much as the Death Knights’, who were shrouded in a whole array of buffs, with battle strength far surpassing the generally known statistics for their species.

‘This is a real headache. How can it be so difficult to kill one guy after gathering forces on this scale…’

Myul decided to step back and watch the fight for a while. His force was never aided by the ground army, even during the conquest of the Central Continent. Most of the time, he was the one supporting other imperial troops, so he owed them no favor.

“Goddamn, bullshit. Fuck!”

Forgetting it was broadcast live, Calcus kept swearing.

“Can’t you just die already!”

Even as he spat out no-brainer words, his brain calculated fast.

Soldiers, knights.

The Hermes Guild members in his army were dying and reviving as the undead.

‘His attacks are only targeting our Legion. The damage is too big.’

The plan to wage a siege against Weed had started well.

Based on past experience, it was predictable that surrounded northern users would resist violently and that Weed would transform into a Lich.

‘But this is too powerful. This…’

A sheer number of the undead reminiscent of Bar Khan’s Immortal Legion, and fierce magic attacks!

Even if the enemy proved victorious, Calcus and the commanders of the other Legions hoped to retain their Legions’ strength to fight.

But the northern users, the undead and Weed fought back too vehemently in this siege.

‘Why am I the only target?’

“Weed! You’re using a dirty undead summoning trick. I, Vulkan, shall punish you!”

Following the blaring proclamation, one warrior shrouded in light flew to Weed.

‘Who’s that?’

Calcus felt gratitude for that warrior.

For about 1.5 seconds.

*Kuurung!*

A bolt of lightning struck the user, frying him to death.

Under the eyes of all those watching, the user who called himself Vulkan died helplessly. Then he got resurrected as a Death Knight.

“Kaaaaaagh, I have come to liberate you from death!”

The freshly risen Death Knight was swiftly destroyed since he was in the middle of the imperial forces.

“Damn, what are the other Legions doing?”

“They’re killing the undead.”

“They want to get an advantage while we get decimated. We don’t have other choice, so speed up!”

“Low-level troops will fall behind. Skeletons keep rising from the dead.”

“The Hermes Guild members and the cavalry will lead the attack to break through enemy lines, even if that brings them further from the headquarters. We will end this battle.”

“Yes, sir!”

Calcus ran to the group of skeletons with only his main knight force.

Their target was Weed, atop the skeleton tower!

‘800 meters? We can rush that in a few strides.’

They ran through the skeletons on horseback while smashing Dullahans and Death Knights with their spears.

They chose to run through their enemies even though they would rise back in the next moment.

‘‘That’s…”

Upon seeing their movement, Heiller of the 3rd Legion started to feel hurried.

“We’ll be losing our achievement if Calcus succeeds. Speed up. Go!”

He didn’t want the 4th Legion to take all the credit.

The 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th Legions’ knights forged forward at a rapid pace.

They penetrated like a sharp awl among northern users, and the undead scattered widely.

Weed laughed, his jaw bone clanking.

‘Underestimating me, aren’t you?’

Weed had memorized Barkan’s Necromancer Tome from beginning to end, so that some day he could use them to conduct true evil.

“Only prepared villains succeed… Gathering of the bones!”

Countless bones lay scattered across the battlefield. Shattered skeletons. The bones, smashed to smithereens beyond the point of revival by Dark Rule, were brought together in one place by the magic.

“Summon Bone Golem!”

*Cccccccccccccccrack!*

As if caught up in a storm, the gigantic pile of bones whirled upward into the sky.

The bones merged in the air and then transformed into a humongous, 170-meter tall golem.

“From death I….”

“Cut the intro. Fight the enemy.”

“Understood.”

The Bone Golem summoned by Weed charged into the lines of the 4th legion and started its battle.

Countless arrows and magic attacks utterly failed to scathe the golem. This summon had required 10,000 corpses worth of bones, and it could resist magic and physical attacks.

A ridiculous trait that gives immunity to all attacks except holy power!

Its disadvantages, like low movement speed and simple attack skills, were hardly an issue.

“Surging spine field!”

Each step taken by the Bone Golem caused sharp bones to spike up from the ground and lacerate the soldiers.

Mana was overflowing; the enemy was everywhere, and Weed had many spells at his disposal to torment them. Weed held his skeleton staff high and started chanting spells.

“Summon Possessive Evil Spirit!”

< The evil spirits cling to the enemy and hinder their movement speed. >

“Keheheheheh. Play with me Mister!”

Young evil spirits clung onto the ankles of the Hermes Guild members.

“Physical withering!”

< Physical resistance decreases.

The close-range defense of enemies near the target location are greatly weakened. >

The skin of the targeted users became flabby and weakened.

“Summon Ants of Tiraque!”

< Red ants are spawned and tread on the armor.

Durability is decreased by 1 every 10 seconds.

If durability is depleted, the defense will weaken and the equipment may be destroyed.>

There were even ants crawling on the enemies’ bodies!

Weed showered his enemies with 13 more curse spells like a rapper going nonstop.
Some of them were unpleasant, rather than powerful.
One felt like having a squirming electric eel inside your clothes.
It sent weak electric currents, which disrupted concentration ability.

Another curse even made crows scatter their feathers.

He was deploying as many as 16 curse spells, which could each be considered either annoying or disgusting depending on one’s personal preferences.

“I should call this the rhapsody of curses.”

There was more than enough mana to go around.

Like a rapper competing for a final victory in championship, Weed delivered the incantations with precise pronunciation, bombarding his targets like a waterfall.

The God of striking words!

“I will kill him for sure!”

“Vile necromancer. Such a dirty way of fighting!”

The members of the Hermes guild that were charging screamed in deep frustration.

“All this hate makes it so worthwhile. It’s why I love being a necromancer.”

Weed’s personality was such that he felt better the more he was cursed at.

It sort of made him feel rewarded for working hard for himself.

The northern users burst out in joy as the Hermes guild members became weaker.

“We can win. Give it your all!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

The closer they got to Weed, the heavier the resistance the Imperial Legion faced.

High tier users from the Central Continent or trained from way back in Morata were cluttered in one location.

They would not stand a chance in a one vs. one, but several of them were attacking in unison.

“Capturing Net!”

“Unforgiving Blade!”

“Dagger throw!”

They used various skills and damaged the members of the Hermes guild.

“If it weren’t for these annoying curses!”

“Let’s take care of the undead first. They will keep coming back if we leave them be.”

The other Legions were also struggling.

Weed’s magic was concentrated on the 4th legion, but did not miss any opportunity to strike.

“Dark Spear!”

He summoned a dark spear and launched it towards the Hermes Guild members that had been exhausted from fending off the undead.

An opportunity was not something to be wasted.

< Level has increased. >

< Dark Spear’s skill level has increased to Advanced level 4.

Piercing damage has been improved.

Range has been increased. >

High level Hermes Guild members were easy to prey on for experience points.

“Damn it!”

The commanders of each Legion knew that their troops were suffering huge casualties, but couldn’t keep the damage under control.

They were stuck in the middle of enemy territory, and were flooded with an unending stream of high-efficiency curse spells.

The more time and holy power the priests spent on lifting the curses, the harder it was to vanquish the undead.

“Corpse Explosion!”

To make matters worse, Weed blew up the corpses near the priests while they were off guard.

He was meticulous in blowing up corpses the instant they perished, only moments before they were resurrected by Dark Rule.

The commanders shouted in a fit of rage.

“That’s Weed. The target is right over there!”

The four legions competed with one another to swarm in.

While the 4th Legion was hindered by magic attacks, the 3rd Legion’s Heiller charged through the front lines and appeared before Weed.

“I have arrived. At last, Weed….”

The skeleton tower was about 30 meters away.

He looked up to where Weed stood.

‘He isn’t there.’

He no longer stood on the spot from where he had been pouring his curses. Weed had vanished.

‘When the hell did he…’

Weed had hid himself while Heiller was dealing with the battle and the curse spells.

In the corner of his eye, Heiller caught on a blurry grey fog flying towards Calcus on the other side of the field.

‘I can’t make it out precisely, but could it be Weed?’

He knew it instinctively from his vast battle experience, yet he sent no warning to Calcus.

Calcus wasn’t a friend. In fact, he was just a competitor.

‘This is a good chance to see Weed’s battle skills. Let’s see how he fights.’

The grey fog snuck behind Calcus and morphed into Weed, raising a huge weapon with his two hands.

It was a large steel axe!

< Recklessly Densified Large Axe

Durability 190/200

Attack Damage 45~104

Somewhere within the free city existed a mentally insane blacksmith.

For over a decade, he forged a single axe.

Heated, then hammered. Heated, and hammered again.

This heavy axe was dense.

Requirements: Strength 280.

Options:

– When wielded with two hands, maximum damage is multiplied by 2.5.

– Deals 200% damage when you successfully deliver a critical hit on an enemy with whom you have a great Strength difference.

– Its blows knock back weak enemies. >

“Ca… Calcus!”

Heillar moaned as he was observing.

It was as if he couldn’t take his eyes off from what was about to happen.

*Fwoooooosh!*

Weed mercilessly wielded the large axe.

*Crack!*

With an horrifying noise, the large axe struck down on Calcus’ skull, exactly on the point where his hair parted on the back of his head.

< Critical strike!

You have been struck with a horrific, brutal attack!

You will be stunned for the next 2 seconds.

Defense decreases by 31%.

Life force decreases by 23,317. >

“Huh.”

“What was that!”

Calcus collapsed on the ground before the eyes of the Hermes Guild members.

Even though he was using Sculptural Shapeshifting, all of his Art points had been converted into strength due to the use of Sculptural Destruction.

Relying on that very strength, he knocked away the surrounding users and chased after Calcus.

“You are my prey. This is revenge for being unable to collect any loot from this slaughter!”

He was weaving the large axe with his left hand, and had suddenly pulled out the Loa sword with his right hand.

Weed wielded the two weapons with ease and attacked him relentlessly.

Calcus attempted to fight back the moment he was freed from the stun. However, Weed landed a flawless succession of stun, paralysis, confusion and knockback spells.

“We… We have to help him!”

Calcus’ comrades standing right nearby made a move.

They were also skilled users over level 500.

“You cannot pass.”

“Not until we allow it.”

The Doom Knights led by Neturus, who had followed after Weed, stopped Calcus’ comrades in their tracks.

“We have to save Calcus. Wipe them out!”

A battle broke out between the 4th Legion’s users and the Doom Knights.

Meanwhile, Weed was sticking to Calcus like a leech and continued his combination of attacks.

With overwhelming power, he was attacking Calcus and not allowing him any momentum to use melee skills.

“P-Piercing…”

When Calcus pulled out his sword and attempted to use a skill, Weed struck down with his axe and interrupted it before it activated.

He was no match in a close-range combat where the opponent didn’t leave him the time to use of skills.

Calcus was also used to wielding a sword, but Weed had trained his actual sword technique to a high level in preparation for such a situation.

Wielding an axe and sword together was a chaotic sight, and Calcus was unable to predict the nature of the attacks or their trajectory.

“Screw this!”

He was cornered, and he had nothing more to lose.

He decided to use his hidden trump skill. He had not used it even once.

“Demon sword!”

The lower the life force and the greater the injuries, the more powerful this skill became.

The eyes of Calcus glowed red whilst taking the assault from Weed.

After the battle ended, he would permanently lose 14 points in both Strength and Agility.

Reputation, Faith, and Fighting Spirit would also decrease.

It was a painful loss, but he believed that the battle was worth this sacrifice.

However, it was too late.

Once Weed estimated that Calcus’ life force had gone below 20%, he reached out with his fleshless hand.

“Death Touch!”

A necromancer skill that instantly kills a target with less than 20% life force!

< Death Touch has slain Calcus.

23,816 Life Force have been drained.

7,482 Mana have been drained. >

< Calcus, the lord of Charlington has fallen.

Warrior of warriors, known for his extraordinary combat skills, he has fallen on Garnav plains.

You have completed a great accomplishment. Your reputation increases by 7,947. >

< You have gained experience points. >

< The proficiency of your Swordmanship skill has increased. >

< Fighting Spirit increases by 1 due to the combat achievement. >

< You have obtained Helmut’s helm. >

< You have obtained Gloves of Wind Flare. >

< You have obtained 71,038 gold. >

*Zu zu zoom!

He picked up Calcus’ gloves, helm and gold.

“How complacent he was!”

Weed felt both pity and gratefulness for Calcus, for bringing so much gold with him to the battlefield.

They say you can’t trust anyone in this world, but the most dangerous of all is oneself.

More than a few people became complacent and arrogant in their life, which lead to their downfall.

“He was skilled, but you can’t survive in this harsh world with that kind of attitude.”

It is also an ability to be able to fully utilize one’s battle strength!

If he had waited for Calcus to activate a powerful skill, he would have been a formidable opponent. But Weed didn’t leave him any chance.

“Kill Weed!”

The Hermes Guild members from the 4th legion were devastated by the death of Calcus.

They crowded towards Weed with weapons in their hands to avenge him.

“You all think you can catch me that easily? Sword Cloning Skill!”

The number of Weed’s clones rose to 50 and they dominated the air.

Skeletal Liches, floating in the air and swinging their axes and swords.

Not a single attack could be taken lightly.

“Destroy them all!”

The clones were defeated by the Hermes Guild members from the 4th legion, but the real one had already snuck its way near a male priest without notice.

“Agggh!”

The long bearded male priest screamed at the skeletal shape that had appeared in front of him.

“Don’t be scared. I don’t mean to brag but I’m an experienced killer. There should be no pain.”

“Shield of Justice!”

The priest cast a holy protection spell, but the Loa sword slashed him before it could activate.

A clean death!

“Here!”

“This way!”

Weed’s position was exposed, which led to a concentration of powerful spells.

Dozens of explosions sparked but Weed advanced to the next target without worry.

His Lich body could absorb any kind of physical attack as long as holy magic wasn’t involved.

He was draining life force and mana even at this very moment, so he could withstand just about any attack.

Furthermore, any skills that brushed past Weed exploded on the troops of the Haven Empire.

“Remnants of Darkness! Radiant Sword!”

He stirred through enemy territory using curse spells and secret sword skills simultaneously.

“Neturus, Van Hawk, Torido!”

“Yes. My lord!”

“Fight to your heart’s content! You have no promised future. You only live for this day.”

“Understood.”

The Doom Knights and Death Knights rose and pushed back the 4th Legion aggressively.

The Doom Knights were under the effect of Death Aura, they didn’t fear death and pushed forward. Soon after, Calcus and the male priest revived as Doom Knights.

“Glory to the immortal warrior.”

“No need for words. Fight.”

Weed swung his sword with his right hand, while he blessed the undead and cursed the users of the 4th Legion with his left hand.

“Splitting thunderclap!”

“Crush!”

“Scorching body!”

The Lich delved deep into enemy territory, using sword and spells simultaneously!

“Death Touch!”

Weed led those with low life force to their demise. The army of Doom Knights grew in numbers gradually.

“Mana Sword!”

10 Hermes Guild members gathered and activated their secret sword skills all at once.

An opportunity to turn the tides!

But Weed didn’t bother spending any attention to it, and moved between the enemies.

10 flying swords chased behind him and nimbly stirred through the Hermes Guild members.

“Dodge it!”

“You think it’s that easy?!”

The Hermes Guild members had to fight off Weed and dodge flying swords at the same time.

< 132 Life Force have been drained. >

< 442 Life Force have been drained. >

< 892 Life Force have been drained. >

< 910 Life Force have been drained. >

…

Life Drain!

Weed withstood the sword slashes and continued to pour his attacks on his opponents.

He could fight continuously, as long as he didn’t take too much damage all at once.

< You’ve been struck by the holy magic Hammer of Punishment!”

You have taken 3,491 damage.

Physical abilities are weakened by 4% for 3 seconds due to the holy magic’s aura. >

< You’ve been struck by the holy magic Virtuous Conviction!

The will of the priest punishing the wicked.

Life force is reduced by 16%. >

< You’ve been struck by the holy magic Chain Link of Pain!

The damage you receive is tripled for 3 minutes. >

Countless holy magic spells cast by the priests landed on Weed.

All the spells were targeting Weed, allowing the Doom Knights to wreak havoc.

“Torido!”

“I was waiting. Master.”

The 4th Legion was fixated on Weed who had killed Calcus in an instant.

Meanwhile, a colony of bats snuck upon the priests and mages, transformed into vampires, and landed a surprise attack on them.

“Kuuugh!”

They were the True Blood Vampire Clan, who bit into the necks with their teeth and sucked the blood.

“Tear these things off first!”

Some vampires were attacked and killed, yet they still numbered hundreds.

Human blood, especially the blood of pure priests, was known to empower the vampires’ abilities significantly.

The sight of Weed and the undead swarming in unison caused the users of the 4th Legion to panic.

“Too… Too strong.”

“He’s a monster.”

87 users had lost their lives, including Calcus.

Considering those who were being leeched by Vampires or fighting with Doom Knights, casualties would multiply exponentially.

Without a doubt, the dead would resurrect as greater undead, which was a huge problem.

‘He’s a Lich. He’s supposed to be raising undead or using curse spells from afar, but this one has enormous Strength and even uses sword skills in melee combat?”

‘Didn’t he become a mage?’

‘How can he be this powerful?’

Mages, such as the Lich, were weak in close combat.

But Weed was a Master Sculptor. He made use of extraordinary skills and innate battle senses, and exercised a high level of sword technique trained through effort.

He had expanded to a variety of new spells and undead summoning as he became a Lich, and had gained allies in the process.

On top of that, he had obtained a ridiculous amount of life force and overflowing drain spells.

‘This is such a ridiculous combination.’

‘This is insane. He is too overpowered.’

‘How can you even kill this monster?’

The Hermes Guild members realized a little too late the true nature of Weed.

There were no weaknesses to be found as he was a combination of a Sculptor, Swordsman and Necromancer.

Chapter 2: Catastrophic Backfire

“This is bad.”

Crebulta had served as a fine commander of the 7th Legion so far.

He was popular within the Hermes guild; he knew how to command an army and was officially ranked 8th based on level.

He was at a loss for words when he saw Weed kill Calcus and roam through the 4th Legion.

“I knew he was powerful. I suspected that he had a few tricks up his sleeve, but to think his skills were this advanced…”

It wasn’t just a matter of a couple of skills or hidden equipment.

Weed flawlessly blended the strongest traits of multiple classes into wondrous battle tactics.

Crebulta was envious of Weed, who seemed to shine so brightly, and especially so because of the way he masterfully used all of his classes and brought out their maximum potential.

“He’s probably more powerful amidst the undead. I won’t have a chance one on one.”

Crebulta had prepared a trump card for this battle.

Demon armor Kranossa.

An armor that retaliated to any attack by dealing five times as much damage to the attacker as they had dealt to its wearer. It caused their own attacks to lead them to their demise.

“It won’t be too useful since he’s a Lich, but I know that Heiller has prepared the holy sword.”

A veteran with the holy sword, supported by a reliable warrior.

Crebulta whispered to Heiller.

– Crebulta: Let’s make a joint attack.

– Heiller : Alright. I will head over.

…

The 6th Legion’s commander, Gross, had rallied up all of his forces and was galloping with excitement.

“Charge through! We are close to the objective!”

The army overcame the plains of zombies and skeletons, as well as the resistance of the northern users.

– Crebulta : Calcus was taken down by Weed in a surprise attack. All men stay alert.

The news was conveyed through the commanders’ channel, but it could not stop the charge of an entire Imperial Legion.

The surroundings were filled with northern users and the undead. They were already riding towards Weed and could no longer get off the tiger’s back [E/N: referring to the idiom “riding on the back of a tiger and finding it hard to get off”, where you can’t stop halfway through].

“Dumb Calcus. I knew he would die sooner or later.”

While he was busy commanding the army, he watched the video of the battle between Calcus and Weed.

“Calcus got complacent and went down totally unprepared. Even if he had fought properly, he would still have lost due to the Lich’s special traits.”

Calcus the Butcher.

Due to the nature of his class, the more he killed, the more his combat abilities improved and the higher number of skills he could use. It seemed rather fortunate that he died without using all of them.

“I should be able to do better than him. I don’t really have much of a choice anyway.”

Gross had no guarantee that he would win, but he did not expect to lose either.

His class was Warrior!

When raiding boss-level monsters, he stood on the frontlines ahead of all the other Hermes Guild members.

Warriors could withstand an enemy more than 10 times stronger than themselves, as long as they were geared with reliable equipment and supported by priests.

“We will win as long as we don’t die. If we manage to stick close to Weed long enough to appear on broadcast, we’ll be heroes.”

A confidence born from surviving the most ferocious of attacks.

The 6th Legion’s numbers had been cut in half after taking heavy casualties from Farmer Miretas and the elven users.

The core military forces were still standing, but in terms of military strength they could not last until the end of the battle of the Garnav Plains.

“We are going to be annihilated anyway. Let’s just charge with all our remaining forces”

Gross’s decision was to commence a final charge to end the battle.

The idea of going down in a blaze of glory boosted the morale of the 6th Legion.

“It will be jackpot if we capture Weed with our hands, and if not… At least we will be praised for putting up a good fight.”

“Our accomplishment will be recognized greatly if the Haven Empire wins.”

“We might even appear in an ad.”

The ranked users under the 6th Legion were also thinking the same.

The warriors led by Gross were obsessed with fighting.

“If the empire is defeated we will be dead anyway.”

“Alright then. Plain and simple.”

Hence it was decided to follow through with the all-in strategy.

None of them looked back as they led the blazing charge.

They darted through the northern users and the undead in a straight path, without worrying about their forces being dispersed or about the front and back halves of their formation being separated.

“Weed. We have come!”

“We are the invulnerable 6th Legion. The heroes that will end the battle of the Garnav Plains!”

The Hermes Guild members and the Imperial troops approached menacingly, gradually closing the distance.

“Weed! We have come to punish you for your arrogance.”

Gross used the Battle Cry skill.

“I, Gross, the Imperial Army’s best Warrior, will cut you down!”

His cry spread across the battlefield.

His speech sounded archaic and downright cheesy, but the thrill of shouting such words before the start of a battle was something that only those who had done it could understand.

Weed, who was wreaking havoc amid the 4th Legion, soared up into the sky and cried!

“I was waiting for the strong to challenge me. Are you ready to relieve me of my loneliness?”

Gross’s face brightened suddenly.

He had planned to shout one more line before he headed into battle.

But unexpectedly, Weed played along with his hero roleplay.

Gross pulled out his sword and gripped it tightly with his hand. He tossed away the sheath carelessly.

“It is my pleasure! I have come for what will be recorded as the most intense battle in all of the Versailles continent. The loneliness that you feel in the absence of a worthy opponent is over, I will be the one to make your blood boil.”

The confident war cry was crystal clear.

“Amusing. Remnants of Darkness!”

Weed chanted a basic spell and surrounded himself with darkness.

“Torido!”

He called for Torido, who was in battle, as well as for his True Blood Clan, to fly alongside him.

He summoned an escort of bats, and nimbly called for the Bone Dragons as well.

“Summon skeleton archers!”

He fully decked the back of the Bone Dragons with skeleton archers.

It was not very effective and added little to combat ability, but it was an impressive scene that further cemented his position as the leader of the undead legion.

Weed was playing to the broadcasters, portraying himself as the best of all necromancers.

“Come forth. I accept your challenge!”

An appearance befitting the final boss.

The Haven Empire was usually the one portrayed as the villain, but things were different this time.

“Good. Let’s end this! Haaaah!”

Gross sprinted towards Weed, letting out a war cry.

The northern users and the undead stepped out of the way, creating a path for the two to connect.

Weed raised his skeleton staff high, and chanted his spell.

“Wander through pitch darkness in excruciating pain. The dead will be at your side in the abyss…

“Reign of the Dark Spectres!”

During the brief conversation, he had recovered all the life force and mana that he had lost in the battle with the 4th Legion.

He entrusted the remaining northern users and undead with finishing the 4th Legion, whose formation had already been broken.

Weed buffed himself with reinforcement spells, boosting his physical and magical abilities.

The spell that he prepared was a composite spell of magic and curse attacks.

Dark spectres emerged from the ground and enveloped Gross.

This spell could only be activated under the condition that the location was a place where death had occurred. But once that condition was fulfilled, it was impossible to evade.

“Urgh!”

Gross sensed that something was amiss as he observed the ground covered by darkness. The instant the spectres surged up, he changed directions and evaded to the side.

“Those who fought against Weed before warned not to think of him as an ordinary user, or even as a good person. He was said to be sly, clever, shameless and arrogant…”

Gross was alert and attempted to avoid the spectres. However, they flew quickly and chased after him.

< Horrifying Spectres from the hell of darkness have emerged.

Spectres born from darkness are powerful enough to consume even light.

They desire human bodies.

Those whose Life Force drops below a certain level will transform into small spiders… >

Gross was reflexively reading the message windows swiftly.

As a warrior it was a natural habit to be aware of any damage taken by spells that he sees for the first time.

‘Do these dark spectres cling to enemies and attack? Such a petty way of…’

An that moment, when he was scanning messages quickly with his eyes and thinking.

*Sheeeeeeeeeek!*

Something was piercing through the dark spectres and was approaching Gross.

“What is that?!”

He deflected it instinctively.

*Clunk!*

He successfully defended against it as it crashed into his shield and knocked back his entire body.

He was proud of himself for his decisive counter, but the attack had contained tremendous strength.

‘What kind of attack was that? Surely it was from something at least on the level of a boss monster.’

*F-f-f-f-f-wooooosh!*

At that moment, along with the sound of a whirlwind, a ferocious attack came from the front lines.

Weed in Lich form was moving among the spectres, his skull becoming visible on occasion.

“I cannot differentiate the attacks.”

Gross hid behind his shield.

“Will of Retaliation!”

*C-c-c-c-c-c-c-clunk!*

< Your Mystical Shield bursts with intense deflection power.

89% of your innate physical resistance is applied.

Intense resistance!

All damage will be absorbed and converted into extra Life Force for 10 seconds. >

‘Kukuku. Those attacks won’t work now.’

Unknown horrifying attacks were hammering away at his shield.

He could hear Weed’s voice coming from the front.

“You are pretty good!”

Gross wanted to yell in delight.

‘So you cast a magic spell and immediately rush for a surprise strike? It’s a good maneuver to catch your opponent off guard, but it only makes me stronger..’

The effect of Will of Retaliation was to temporarily absorb all damage taken.

< The deflection power has left the Mystical Shield.

1,381,291 damage has been absorbed and converted into extra Life Force.

This extra Life Force will persist for 29 seconds.>

Gross was amazed.

‘What an outrageous amount of damage. Endurance and defense were not applied, but still…’

1,300,000 damage was not an amount that could be accumulated in such a short time, even when raiding a dangerous boss-level monster.

‘Now comes my opportunity.’

Gross was aiming for a single counter-attack. He threw his shield away and advanced forward.

“Intense sword slash!”

The skill gathered all the user’s power and split the enemy in a flash.

Nothing was visible, but he was certain that the enemy stood in front of him.

He released all the energy that he stored up, and at that moment;

*Shluk!*

He felt something crumble at the tip of his blade.

Gross’ heart overflowed with excitement.

‘Did… Did I really kill Weed, just like that?’

It was a single strike, but a powerful one, which could be more than enough to kill Weed.

Even if he didn’t kill him, it would at least be a deep injury. However…

< You have killed the wriggling skeleton. >

‘That was a skeleton just now?’

Weed was behind him before he could notice.

‘The psychological process of humans is similar for the most part. I am also fully aware of the warriors’ battle tactics. On top of that, Gross, I saw your style of going for one single glorious blow plenty of times in the Hall of Fame.’

The Warriors’ winning strategy was to endure and retaliate.

They couldn’t last long in a dogfight, so the crucial part of beating this strategy was to trick them into retaliating preemptively.

“Seal of Pain!”

< The target’s Life Force recovery is restricted. >

“Intensified bleeding.”

< The damage suffered by the target increases. >

He applied two curse spells and began to beat the crap out of Gross.

“Heraim Fencing skill!”

Ruthless swings landed right on Gross’ body.

Everyone was watching Weed and his spectres battering Gross.

“Weed-nim is winning!”

“Hurray for the Arpen Kingdom!”

The northern users shouted and the Hermes Guild members from the 6th Legion joined the battle without hesitation.

However, they were only being taken down one by one as Weed raised more spectres.

The Doom Knights, curse spells and northern users all combined to throw the 6th Legion into chaos.

The Imperial Legion was stronger in terms of overall military power but could not exercise its full potential due to Weed’s interruptions.

– Crebulta: More Doom Knights will emerge, so we cannot drag this out any longer. Let’s wipe out the undead all at once and end this battle once and for all.

This message popped up on the commander’s guild chat.

The 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 7th Legions had arrived first, and the rest of the commanders were approaching as they cut down resisting northern users.

Even as Calcus was falling in battle and Gross was being battered, most of the Haven Imperial Army’s core military powers were arriving.

Crebulta wished to take charge together with Heiller, but soon changed his mind and asked for assistance from the others.

– Max: Is Weed really that powerful?

– Crebulta: I have observed him, and he is at an unbelievable level.

– Heroid: I don’t believe that we can’t push through with a frontal assault.

– Crebulta: Due to the Lich’s Life Drain skill, we can’t deal any damage with just a dozen people. He uses curses and dark spells violently. Calcus got taken down in a close-range fight, but look at the way he fights against Gross… I cannot seem to find a weakness.

The other commanders also recognized that this battle was one to decide the supremacy over the continent.

– Slater: Alright. Don’t try to hog all the glory. Let’s carry out an organized all-out attack to take them down.

Slater, commander of the 10th Legion.

He was advancing quickly through the path that had been cleared by the 4th Legion.

– Max: We will arrive in 3 minutes, bypassing all the wriggling skeletons. When are all the other legions expected to arrive?

– Slater: We’ll be there in 5 minutes. Don’t try to clear the skeletons and zombies. Gather up all the users first, then proceed with an aerial charge.

– Fromy: I can certainly get there too with that method.

– Heroid: I can see our path to victory. We will ambush and take down Weed, then proceed to wipe out all the remaining users that are clustered around the other Legions. We don’t have to think about what comes after that.

– Crebulta: I assume everyone prepared their holy equipment and also has relics handy?

The commanders were all fully prepared, even though there was no detailed mention of what they needed to have at their disposal.

Calcus, who died early, would have also had them in his inventory. As for Gross, he only geared up with defensive equipment because he was a Warrior and would have a difficult time taking Weed down with just his own attacks.

– Heiller: A Lich raid all together… I think we could make a pretty awesome video out of this.

– Slater: I fear that the battle may end too quickly, haha.

While the commanders were settling on a plan, another voice joined the discussion.

– Dain: The 19th Legion will also participate.

The 19th Legion led by Dain.

This was a legion mainly comprised of Central Continent users, and not of Hermes Guild members.

– Heiller: Has the 19th Legion arrived?

– Dain: Yes, we have broken through with ten thousand users. The core of our forces are tailing behind.

Dain was the weakest out of all the commanders in terms of level and combat skills.

She governed the Kallamore region with stability and was reported to have fought exceptionally in the current battle. Even so, there was an overall atmosphere among the commanders, undermining Dain.

– Heiller: Great. Select the best soldiers to aid us.

– Dain: Roger that.

*****

While the northern users were defending against the 4th and 6th Legions, they were observing the Haven Imperial army gathering up.

“The sun will be up soon.”

– Mapan : The movement of the Imperial army has hastened. They are ignoring the risk of being separated and are bypassing the skeletons to increase their speed.
– Hidden Money : Additional enemy forces are arriving within 3 minutes.
– Lemon : The 2nd defense line has been penetrated. Please evacuate quickly!

It was an extensive, breathtaking fight.
Weed and the northern users had to hold their ground until their reinforcements arrived.
The problem was that this was not going to be easy, as the Haven Imperial army was moving swiftly.

“Weed-nim! It is dangerous here!”

A user named Whalefood who was recently appointed as vice-captain, shouted at Weed.

“We have to evacuate now!”
“Be on your way!”
“Weed-nim must escape. We will create a path.”

It was chaotic near Weed.

“Reinforcements are coming. Spread out in a defensive formation and hang on for a little longer!”
“We will win!”

The Hermes Guild members from the 4th and 6th Legion were still alive. Each one of them was powerful, so they were able to sustain themselves quite well.
Gross wore the Armlet of Revitalization, which fully healed the user when life force dropped below 3%.
He took a long beating from Weed, recovered his life force, and then hid himself in the crowd of enemies.
However, the Hermes Guild members and Haven Imperial knights revived as greater undead when they were slain.

“I obey the oath!”
“This Death Knight is yours to command.”

Over 500 Doom Knights and several thousand Death Knights had been created, making the undead army even more powerful.
The undead force, that was reinforced by Death Aura, was pushing back the Haven Imperial army under the command of Van Hawk and Torido.
Weed remained calm and poured out wide area curse spells, leading the battle to his favour.

“I can see Heiller and Crebulta from afar.”
“The generals are approaching with their core forces!”

The northern users recognized the Hermes Guild members drawing near, and screamed.
They were well-known ranked users who were also famous for appearing often on broadcasts!

‘These guys are too quick. They’ll get here before our allies.’

Weed had been communicating with his comrades, including Pale.
Users on the side of the Arpen Empire were gathering from all parts of the Garnav Plains, but it was unlikely for them to arrive on time.
Past the swarm of undead, the northern users were surrounded by the Haven Imperial army.
The fact that Myul’s 2nd Legion was not attacking but revolving in a wide circle in the sky was also a nuisance to Weed.
A smirk appeared on Weed’s mouth.

‘Yes. This is what you call a tight spot!’

Recently, Weed had come to think about his life being too mild.
He recalled his experiences in the Plains of Despair, where he led the orcs and warred against the Immortal Legion. It sparked excitement.

‘First, I need to buy some time. I must reduce their numbers. It is essential for me to target a wide area. Of all my skills, only Disaster Sculpting can make it happen!’

Weed returned to the skeleton mountain and took out his sculpting knife and the Metal of Ruin.
He had acquired the Metal of Ruin after defeating the Gratorgue on the Path of Struggle.
It had remained in his possession after he gave away the other 1st class blacksmith materials to Fabio and Herman.

*Slak Slak!*

Weed began carving the Metal of Ruin.
It was very dense, but he could carve off a bit at a time.
He sat down and began to shape it without rest.

‘A mediocre disaster will only be in vain.’

In fact, it was highly likely that the weak northern users would be wiped out first instead.
Therefore, the Hermes guild would have also excluded the possibility of a Great Disaster.

‘I will show them why they need to fear disasters.’

The Hermes guild members were gradually gathering in the camp of Heiller’s 3rd Legion.
Slater’s, Heroid’s and Dain’s forces merged as they closed in on Weed.

“Weed is creating a sculpture!”

An urgent report came in from a user from the 6th Legion.

“I don’t know what he is sculpting… But it is nothing more than a last-minute struggle.”

Heiller swung his sword and blew away the skeletons in a 50m radius with Heat Storm.
The mana consumption was costly, but it was an attack skill that covered a wide area.
Most of the skeletons were destroyed completely and could not be resurrected. However, skeleton after skeleton charged in persistently, as well as the remaining Death Knights.

The 4th Legion and the 6th Legion.
The northern users that guarded this location revived as undead and attacked tenaciously.

“Their resistance is growing heavier, but we are close to where Weed is.”
“We shall not lose to Crebulta’s side.”

The 3rd Legion became the heart of the formation. The 10th, 18th and 19th Legions took the wing positions and broke through together.
There were questions about Dain’s combat strength, but the users of the 19th legion opened a path like a honed spear and proved their worth.
Although they were not recognised by the Hermes Guild, they were highly exceptional users in the Central Continent.

“Alright, alright. Everything is perfect!”

At that moment, Neturus and the Doom Knights charging on their Hell Horses came into Heiller’s view.

“Defend the front line!”

The Haven Imperial army was run over like haystacks, and the Doom Knights broke through.

“Lay down the path of death!”

Doom Knights were individually powerful monsters, spreading dark auras while on their flying Hell Horses.
They used their dark auras to affect large areas, struck with their weapons, in order to annihilate the Haven Imperial troops.
The Hermes Guild members caught in the path of the knights’ charge perished helplessly.
Heiller screamed.

“That is Weed’s core military force! We must get rid of them!”
“I agree. If we take care of those Doom Knights, we can quickly deal with the remaining undead.”

Slater also agreed enthusiastically.
The skilled users were excited at the sight of the Doom Knights charging towards them.

“Eliminate them!”

Numerous users, the most skilled of the Hermes Guild members, stepped forward.
They gathered around the Doom Knights charge, not in the front, but at the sides and rear…
They tried to close in on the Doom Knights while using attack skills, but the Doom Knights recklessly charged forward.
Their assault was frightening, and those who died at their hands revived as undead.
In most cases, when Hermes Guild members died they emerged as Doom Knights and joined the assault.

< The aura of death is becoming stronger.

The living are intimidated.

The undead in this region will obtain increased attack.

There is a higher chance of spawning greater undead. >

“Use everything at your disposal to obliterate them before the situation turns for the worst!”

Heiller led the Hermes Guild members in the entire region.
They pressured the undead using all their resources, sparing none of their remaining holy water, relics or magic scrolls.
The Doom Knights cavalry were swept away by hundreds of offensive magic spells.
Nearby Haven Imperial soldiers and Hermes Guild members were sacrificed in the blast, but they did not show a hint of hesitation.

“Bone Dragons!”

Two Bone Dragons flew into the battle.
The Bone Dragons, boasting tremendous power and life force, roared and ripped through the Imperial army.

“It is nothing to be feared! It is only an undead!”

Users in the Hermes Guild had countless experiences in raiding boss monsters.
They knew how to divide their roles and lunged relentlessly.
The Bone Dragons and the Doom Knights boosted by Death Aura stalled for more than 10 minutes.
The half-hearted kills led to resurrections, and more of the fallen emerged as undead.

“Good. Only a little more left.”

Meanwhile, the Haven Imperial army advanced and closed the distance with Weed.
More northern users fell, were resurrected as undead, and continued fighting until they dissipated completely.
The entire 4th and 6th Legions were annihilated and turned into undead; Gross and the Hermes Guild members managed to escape, but they had lost all their military forces.

“The power of death reigns over this land!”
“Intruders. Taste the power of immortality!”

It was a desperate fight indeed, but Heiller was smiling brightly.

“This is it. There are no more variables in this fight.”

A little further and Weed would enter the range of his arrows.
The number of northern users were reduced to a third.
Slater turned his head to the rear and shouted.

“There is a large force of users gathering on the outskirts.”
“It doesn’t matter. By the time they arrive, Weed will already be dead. Furthermore, if more users continue to gather up… kukuku. All the puzzle pieces will be aligned.”

He was filled with excitement from head to toe.
The Alkin Disease!
The most powerful weapon in possession of the Hermes Guild.
The entire Haven Imperial army hunting for Weed was the ultimate objective and bait for turning the battle into victory.
Users scrambled frantically in their quest to save Weed.
If the Alkin Disease were to spread amongst these users, they would all perish indefinitely.

“Yes. With this, the Haven empire will seize control over the entire Versailles continent.”

*Slak Slak!*

Weed carved his sculpture with composure.
If the undead could not stall, he would have rushed, but they were buying him considerable time. Northern users were also fighting bravely and giving their lives.
Though this situation was set up without any option to retreat.

“This is a difficult sculpture, but I think I am almost finished.”

He cut stones into figures of buildings and humans.
A great sculpture of a city if he left it the way it was.
No state of catastrophe, but his true character was about to be unleashed.
Weed grasped handfuls of dirt with his two hands and sprinkled them gently over the sculpture.

“Summon Xing Xing!”

He called for the wind elemental spirit Xing Xing that he forged himself.

“You have summoned me, your highness!”
“Yes. Use a gentle breeze so that the dirt does not blow away. “
“Understood. My handsome highness of great stature.”

Xing Xing created a gentle wind and a whirlpool.
Weed’s sprinkling dirt turned into a murky grey cloud and engulfed the city sculpture.

Fine dust!
The most horrific catastrophes of the modern society – sand and fine dust buried the sculpture.

“Still not enough. More over here!”

*C-c-c-c-crack!*

He applied pressure daringly and created a crevice on the bottom of the sculpture.
Contorted and split.

“There. Now it is complete.”

It looked as if he was sloppy, but each time he carved with his sculpting knife he poured in all of his concentration.
It was quite detailed, considering that he had made the sculpture in a hurry.

– Please name the sculpture that you have created.
“The name of the sculpture is Curfew.”
– Is Curfew correct?
“Yep. It’s correct. It is a piece that reminds us that our bed is the safest haven in this world.”

< A masterpiece! You have completed the Curfew sculpture.

A friend of Mother nature!

A piece representing a horrific catastrophe, sculpted by Weed by incorporating all expressions of beauty.

The unfortunate world of humans buried in thick sand is cracking.

The piece was sculpted from a special material called Metal of Ruin and gives off a gloomy atmosphere.

Artistic worth : 26,891.

Special traits : All creatures that stare into the curfew sculpture gain 11% increased life force and mana recovery rate.

Morale of all units is weakened.

Increased chances of taking higher damage when attacked.

All resistance is reduced by 3%.

Temporarily decreases maximum life force by 10%, but increases all stats by 5%.

Increases the effects of area damage spells.

Permanently increases Intelligence by 1.

The effects do not stack with other sculptures.

Number of masterpieces completed: 37

Reputation increases by 21,391.

Art stat increases by 21.

Endurance increases by 3.

Wisdom increases by 1.

Faith decreases by 1.

As a reward for sculpting a masterpiece, all stats gain an additional 1 point. >

< Minne, Goddess of the Earth dislikes this sculpture. >

A perfect sculpture!
He thought he would be satisfied even with an exceptional piece, but he ended up creating a masterpiece.
It was all due to his detailed representation of the disaster itself.

“The most despised and feared catastrophe in modern society. You cannot possibly avoid fine dust. Disaster Sculpting!!”

< You have activated Disaster Sculpting.

Art stat permanently decreased by 20.

20,000 life force and mana consumed.
All stats temporarily decreased by 15% for three days.
Your affinity with Nature decreases.

Disaster sculpting can only be used once per day.

Once you call down a dangerous disaster, Reputation or Notoriety may increase depending on the severity of the damage.

Please bear in mind that you may be killed under a disaster. >

< Metal of Ruin was destroyed. The power of the Great Disaster increases by 60% >

The sculpture shattered into pieces and fell to the ground.

“So, that’s one bad thing done for now.”

He picked up the destroyed Metal of Ruin.
The forces that dominated the Central Continent had now all gathered to this location, so he felt that this wasn’t enough.
Several Legions were rushing toward one single objective.

“The world has changed. Villains nowadays are competent and are even diligent!”

Weed began carving another sculpture.
He had already used Sculpture Resurrection. He did not wish to face any bigger loss but he had no other choice.

“Whatever. Levels I can grind back again. After all, you only live once.”

Chapter 3: Eleven Weeds

Weed shouted in the hope of saving some time.

“Is there anyone who knows how to shape rocks?”

Magic spells were flying in from afar and exploding at nearby locations.
Even in the middle of this chaos, users still raised their hands in response to Weed’s call.

“Me!”
“I can!”

There was a considerable number of people among the northern users that had trained their Sculpting skill a bit.
Although, they were quitters that couldn’t bear having to patiently sit for several days carving a sculpture…

“This guy is skilled!”
“In terms of skill, he’s the best.”

The one who stepped up with praises from the surrounding users was the architect Keio.
He was a famous architect who built a great structure, the Sturdy Stone Bridge.
Keio expressed embarrassment.

“I built many stone structures so I know how to shape some stones, but my Sculpting skill is at Beginner level 7. I fear that I won’t be any help to Weed-nim.”
“Then who has a higher skill level than Beginner level 7?”

Weed’s call silenced the surrounding users that had been shouting needlessly.
All were familiar with the Sculpting skill, but most were around Beginner level 3 or 4.

“Seems like Beginner level 7 will have to do. Do you have some stones in your possession?”
“I have quite a few.”

Architects always had materials such as stones and dirt in their special backpacks that reduced the size and weight of whatever was stored inside, so that they would be ready for any architectural project requests.

“I will sculpt some human figures, so please shape it roughly and hand it over to me. Are you capable of doing that for me?”
“If it’s a rough shape then yes, I can.”
“I will help too.”

Keio and 10 other sculptors cooperated in sculpting stones.

“I think we have to know what we are carving so that we can work efficiently. By any chance are you going to sculpt the Grass Porridge Goddess?”

One sculptor asked with eagerness.
It was not only the sculptors, but all the users around them that were in great anticipation. They were not interested one bit in the war that was occurring near them.

Seoyoon’s sculpture called the miracle of beauty!
It would be a lifelong honor to witness such a sculpture, and it would be a marvelous sight to observe the process of sculpting such a masterpiece.

“No. I am going to sculpt something that resembles myself.”
“Oh…”
“Hmm.”
“Ha…”

Sighs full of disappointment.
Keio and the sculptors roughly shaped human figures, then Weed carved in the details and completed them.
It was a simple shape that made for a quick task when so many users contributed.
Truth be told, they were biting their nails from the moment the Haven Empire attacked.
The desperate screams of the northern users never ceased, and the last resistance of users on the verge of death could be seen all over the battlefield with just a turn of the head.

“How is it?”
“It is alright. Though it’s a tad shorter than I am.”
“Sorry? I made it 3 cm taller than Weed-nim, to be safe.”
“I am a Master Sculptor. I may need to skim it, and it is exactly 2 cm shorter than I am.”

The sculptors just nodded in half-hearted acknowledgement, but Keio could not accept it.
To an architect, height was a sensitive subject: nothing is as rubbish as pillars of irregular height and size in a tall building.
He was reassured as he looked at Weed stand next to the rough figure.

“Look closely. The sculpture is taller.”
“You’re just imagining it.”
“…”

Weed then carved them in his own image.
He stuck the nose up, tweaked his eyes and shaped a wide forehead. He finished sharpening the jaw and he was fully satisfied.

“Very handsome indeed. I could have made a living with just my handsomeness alone.”

The sculptors could not rest as a war was happening in close proximity. But no matter how they looked, it was weird.

“These look similar to Weed-nim, but they are different.”
“Hey. There is certainly a small difference but they’re about the same. They are all so plain.”
“Shh. He could hear us. Let’s just keep on working.”

Weed shaped three sculptures resembling himself.
The Haven Imperial army could have penetrated through the undead but the northern users arrived just in time.

“You cannot pass as long we stand!”
“You can never pass through!”

The closer they approached Weed, the more he was surrounded by the most skilled of the northern users. They made their final stand as they had nowhere to retreat to.

“Battle Fury!”
“Rampaging Thrash!”
“Vengeful Frost Ray!”

The best users over level 400 casted the skills that they had saved up and died amongst the novices.
A single Hermes Guild member wasn’t enough to take them on, so several of them dove at the same time to deal the final blow.

It was also due to the fact that Legion commanders Heiller and Crebulta were in no rush.

“Stand back. We will advance gradually.”
“Reduce meaningless casualties and strengthen our surrounding formation. We will dominate this area completely with our forces.”

To lure the northern users into contracting the Alkin disease, Weed needed to be kept alive.
Their worst possible scenario was Weed fleeing from battle, so the Hermes Guild members surrounded him from all directions and slowly closed in on their formation.

– Heiller: Prepare thoroughly. From this point on, we wipe out the enemy completely.

The Doom Knights and the Bone Dragons were also defeated.
Neturus and the Doom Knight cavalry were hugely prominent but were destroyed by the skilled Hermes guild members.
The two Bone Dragons were covered in wounds and fled into the sky.

“Weed! It is over now. The Haven Imperial army will unite the continent!”
“We will crush the Arpen Kingdom. We will burn and lay waste to all.”
“This is the end!”

Weed was hearing echoes of the Hermes Guild members from everywhere.
Those who had faced no hardships in life would have said that this was as far as it went, that it was all over, and they would surrender to the outcome.
He glimpsed at the sky as he was sculpting; the Great Disaster still hadn’t activated. Even so, there was a considerable number of northern users that still held their grounds.

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”
“Hail to the Arpen Kingdom!”

He was touched by those who were fighting for him until the end.

“Even if I win this war… I have no intentions of being good to these people. I will continue to increase the taxes and exploit them.”

He felt a tinge of guilty conscience, but being a well-off villain was a whole lot better than living a just and hard life.
Being at an adequate level of evil, not to the extent of selling out an entire country, meant wealth and comfort for one’s family.

“They say people become corrupted by power once they grasp authority and higher position. I think I am pure in that respect, since I wanted to be bad in the first place!”

Weed thought to himself that he needed to invest more for him to win.
The Hermes Guild members that had gathered in this location were the top skilled users of Royal Road. It would not be easy to withstand them all.

“Hell. I guess this situation calls for more and more sculptures.”

While Weed was contemplating, Keio and the sculptors had shaped 7 more figures.

“Weed-nim. I think we finished most of them, though they are lacking. All that’s left are the details on the face.”

Keio and the sculptors’ task was a simple, tedious one that did not require detail. They trimmed the body to an acceptable level.

“I got it. My face is substantially difficult to express.”

Weed lifted his sculpting knife and carved the face.
The jaw trimmed even sharper than before, prominent nose and profound eyes.
It was perfectly symmetrical, but after all the improvements it was still a plain face.

“I think it’s a little more handsome than before… No, it’s about the same as the one before.”
“Don’t you think one good face wash would have had the same effect?”
“Master of the sculptural techniques. It is intriguing how all his sculptures look similar even though he sculpts them differently.”

The 10 sculptures had subtle differences and more handsome than the original. However they were so plain that you would easily forget the face.

“Sigh.”

Weed looked at the sculptures and let out a long sigh.
Emperor Geihar, whom he had trusted, had fled the area drunk.
If it were a typical long-term war he would have room to breathe, but it was only a matter of time!

“Hermes Guild. When this war is over, I will take revenge for my grudge on you all.”

Weed did not hesitate like he did when eating good fried chicken.

“Sculptural Life Bestowal!”

< Life has been bestowed to the sculpture.

The level of the sculpture is based on your Art stat.

The Art stat is currently 4,115, so the sculpture’s base level will be 589.

This is a sculpture representing a real figure in existence.

The sculpture is identical in the personality, speech and behavior to that person.

Additionally, 6 attributes are bestowed to the sculpture as life is granted to it.

The imbued level of attributes and abilities depends on the form and quality of the sculpture.

Perseverance attribute (100%), Perfect Art attribute(100%), Perception attribute (100%), Combat attribute (100%), Star attribute (100%), Mother Earth attribute (90%).

Perseverance attribute
Increases patience in any event.
Defense is increased, and you become more resistant to poison and magic spells.

Perfect Art attribute
Art allows you to demonstrate a high level of creativity.
At time your actions will influence surprising and noble events.

Perception attribute
Heightened senses allow you to detect dangers and react early.

Combat attribute
You are under the protection of Battali the God of Fighting.
The power of all combat skills are increased, and additional bonuses can be gained depending on enemy level.

Star attribute
You are blessed by the stars.
When all your power and life force are depleted and you fall to the ground, you will be resurrected to fight once more.

Mother Earth attribute
All creatures and plants that exist on Earth have affection for you.
You can borrow from their special powers and great life force.

262 mana have been used.

The skill efficiency has increased. Stats and level consumed when bestowing life have decreased by 20%.

Your Art stat permanently decreases by 6. Lost stats can be recovered through sculpting and other art-related activities.

Your level has been reduced by 2. Due to the decrease in level, 10 points have been deduced from your most recently upgraded stat. The stats will be regained once you regain the lost levels.

Please be careful with the sculpture’s life.

Upon death, the sculpture must be granted life again to return its soul.

The sculpture cannot be revived if it has been completely destroyed. >

Weed gave birth to a tremendous monster.

“Sculptural Life Bestowal!”

< Life has been bestowed to the sculpture.

The level of the sculpture is based on your Art stat.

The Art stat is currently 4,109, so the sculpture’s base level will be 588. >

< Life has been bestowed to the sculpture.

The level of the sculpture is based on your Art stat.

The Art stat is currently 4,103, so the sculpture’s base level will be 588. >

< Life has been bestowed to the sculpture.

The level of the sculpture is based on your Art stat.

The Art stat is currently 4,097, so the sculpture’s base level will be 587. >

The sculptures shared up to five attributes with each other, and there were no significant level differences.
Weed’s life sculptures began to move.

“So, this is the feeling of being born into this world.”
“I need a name… for convenience I will choose Weed-1.”
“I’m Weed-2.”
“Weed-3.”
“Weed-4 will be mine.”

The sculptures were the ones who chose their own names.
Similar sculptures weren’t supposed to get along when they met for the first time, but it didn’t matter with this group of Weeds. This was because Weed, the original version they were based on, also served as a model for their personalities! They were Weedlings born with all of Weed’s behavior patterns and decision processes.

“Ehem. This isn’t how it was supposed to be…”

Hegel’s hands were trembling badly.

“Capture and kill Weed!”
“Grass porridge! Grass porridge! Grass porridge!”

He was in the middle of the battlefield.
It was hard to keep one’s balance as the ground was shaking violently as if a magic spell had exploded nearby. Flying arrows darted down near his feet.
It was a bloody, dynamic battlefield.

“Ugh… I was prepared to die, but this was not what I had in mind! It’s too frightening.”

Hegel wrapped his arms around his head.

Bella, Rumi, and Nide.
He was waiting to meet his Korea University colleagues from the Virtual Reality program and was suddenly mixed up in the battle.
It was his first time experiencing such a large-scale war.

“This is not the battlefield I imagined.”

A significant number of users were dying from ranged attacks, not realizing what had killed them. Some were also massacred by the knight cavalry.

“Hegel!”
“Soon-jo… Hey, Nide!”

Hegel was glad to see Nide’s ghostly entrance.

“What about the others?”
“They’re already dead.”
“What? Even Bella?”
“Yeah. She died just a moment ago.”

Hegel’s face became distorted. He was closely acquainted with the swordsman Bella as they hunted together.

“Soon-jo, why are you alive? You are higher in levels, so you should have protected them!”
“Luckily I managed to kill two Hermes Guild members, but I’m a Thief. I wasn’t confident in a head-on battle so I escaped. I will engage them again.”

Hegel finally examined Nide’s condition.
His leather armor was ripped and his dagger was half broken.

“If you re-engage you will die.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“And this isn’t our battle anyway.”

Hegel turned his head to Weed in the distance.
As he bestowed life to the sculptural lifeforms, the mass of users nearby burst in a roar.
A brilliant figure praised with the attention of the people.
Weed probably didn’t even know that Hegel was here.

“It’s Weed, and I only fight for myself.”
“For yourself?”
“I follow my heart, so I don’t regret it later.”
“I see…”

He could see another side of the gentle Nide.
Hegel himself felt that he had lived a life of ease.
He wasn’t embarrassed to bow down to the strong and he showed off in front of the weak. All that was left from such behavior was mediocrity.
He didn’t see himself as dignified, and had nothing to boast about.

“Do as you feel. No one is forcing you to fight. If you want to survive, survive; and if you want to die, die.”

Nide spoke in a composed manner, then charged into the Haven Imperial army formation.
A second later, Hegel pulled out his long-sword.

“Bring it on! I am Hegel!”

He then charged towards the swarming 3rd Legion.

*****

“That’s crazy. I said that’s crazy!”

Mapan let out a scream-like groan.
He had finished all his work as a merchant.
He had worked hard to prepare for the festival in the Garnav Plains and had provided the maximum amount of battle supplies by scraping up the last bits from the Arpen Kingdom and the Central Continent.
Of course, it was only natural that there had been considerable profits in the process.
All that was left to do after the battle broke out was to report the situation on occasion and watch the battle, which is how he witnessed the incredible spectacle of ten Weeds appearing.

“I don’t know what’s going on in this battle anymore.”

Mumbled his cousin Hidden Money beside him. Just as he said that, there were audible lively cheers from the users across the Garnav Plains.

“It’s strange. I thought we were going to lose in the beginning because the Haven Empire came out strong… The situation has gotten worse, but I get the feeling that Weed-nim still has something up his sleeve.”
“My thoughts exactly, Bro. I still feel like we’re on our last straw, but I don’t think we’ll die just yet.”
“That’s Weed-nim’s charm. We merchants sell things, but he makes miracles. It’s as if he creates consumers and markets simultaneously.”

The scene of the sculptures alive and moving was truly amazing, and the footage would get a large number of views on many video sites.

‘Weed-nim will once again make a considerable profit with advertising revenue.’

Mapan was able to assess the situation right away.
There had to be huge commotions in the studios of every broadcast station.
Nowadays, cool videos were more often viewed directly on video sites rather than via live broadcast.
A commercial in such videos would earn about 1 won per view.
Weed’s videos had about 3 commercials between the start and the end.

‘3 won per view. If you think at least 100 million people see it, 300 million won?’

Many videos would be made of this battle.
Weed’s own feed would be the center of it, all and it would earn tens and hundreds of millions.

‘Aside from that, 10 Weeds eating chicken, using cell phones, turning on air conditioning, putting on clothes… Wow. The effects on advertising have infinite potential.’

Mapan showed sincere admiration.
Even if Weed were to be defeated in this battle, there was no doubt that Weed would be able to own a whole building after this.

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”
“Fern Line Porridge Battalion moving out.”
“The Fish Cake Porridge Unit has gathered!”
“Bamboo Shoot Porridge Unit falling back. We need to support the rear first!”

That being said, given how tight their formation was, it did not seem like the Grass Porridge Cult would lose.

“Ahhhhhhh!”
“There’s an infected person over here. Everyone, step back!”
“None of my healing magic has any effect right now. I’m sorry to say that those of you who are infected with the Alkin disease need to die as soon as possible.”

It was an outbreak of Alkin disease.
Every time an infected person appeared, they had no other choice than to kill their own members to prevent further damage. Nevertheless, the disease was spreading rapidly among the Northern users.
This was a great threat because the more the users were concentrated in a small area, the faster the disease would spread.
Hidden Money shook his head.

“Bro, this is too much even for Weed-nim, isn’t it? It’s hard enough as it is to survive the Haven Empire’s siege.”

Mapan’s cheek twitched as he looked toward his younger cousin of little faith.

“In this world, there are many people who live a good, honest, and determined life. They’re so innocent that they don’t know what to do and panic when they fall in danger.”
“So?”
“That’s where the Hermes Guild’s strategy failed. If they knew Weed-nim well, they would never have devised this strategy. Catching Weed-nim off-guard is no ordinary task.”

Weed’s cautiousness knew no bounds.

“Knowing Weed-nim, he’s already prepared a few ways to survive. He’ll probably turn things around and land a surprise attack on them instead. He’s not someone who will spend time caught in a trap.”

*****

Weed had a stomachache when he saw those to whom he had bestowed life.

“You all were born with a golden spoon in your mouths.”

They were a strong bunch in terms of levels, born into the highest-class because of his enormous Art stat.
They did not inherit all of Weed’s skills, but some of them had their own unique characteristics.

< Cool-headedness attribute (100%)
Remain composed through any crisis and escape quickly from abnormal conditions. >

< Insight attribute (100%)
Show excellent judgment based on all given information.
You can recognize threats, remain composed, and quickly identify enemy weaknesses. >

Up until this point, those were relatively common attributes.
But when you collect all kinds of them, some useful ones are bound to appear. Good things happen to those who keep trying.

< Honor attribute (100%)

Doubles the effects of Fame and of command skills.

You can bring out the complete potential of your subordinates and speed up their growth. Helps you gain the respect of knights. >

< Sun attribute (100%)

You are chosen by the sun.

You can absorb the sun’s power to restore health and mana. All fire related skills become stronger. >

< Roar attribute (100%)

You can quickly tame large monsters and control subordinates with your charisma and courage. >

< Rush attribute (100%)

Nothing can stop you from charging forward.

Although it consumes a bit more energy, life force and attack power are greatly enhanced. >

These outstanding attributes, which were hard to obtain through normal spells, belonged to the Weedlings.
If those sculptures that he carved and gave life to were to be a book, they would be an autobiography; the sculptural creatures were bestowed attributes based on all of Weed’s actions.

Of course, the ten Weedlings were not only born with great attributes.
There were also multiple attributes like Greed, Miserliness, Fake Smile, Close to Death,[1] Meanness, Solitude, Extortion,[2] Hazard and Misfortune.
Those other, undesirable, attributes were split amongst them. Nevertheless, they were very powerful due to their levels being in the late 500s.

Weed quickly hastily opened his mouth to the Weedlings.

“I have to explain the situation first…”

*Pop!*

Weed-6 raised his hand. He was a sculptural creature who was born with the Insight attribute.

“I think there’s a war going on. Are those in the distance all enemies?”
“That’s right. All you have to do is…”
“You aren’t going to be ridiculous and tell us us to fight them. Are you? I mean, there is no reason to. Have you got no shame?”

Weed-6 interrupted. He had an unyielding nature.
Even if Weed gave them life, there was no way that they would offer their full loyalty!
Weed-8 also raised his hand.

“Umm… I analyzed why our faces are identical.”

Then the other Weedlings spoke.

“Isn’t it because it was a hassle to sculpt?”
“It could be because it was urgent. There wasn’t enough time.”
“Not really. I think there’s some kind of trick. I feel quite pleasant.”

Said Weed-10, who had the Meanness attribute, as he laughed.
Weed-8 spoke in a loud voice.

“Is it to confuse us? We can’t tell each other apart from one another.”
A successful trick by Weed!

“No. If you look closely we’re different. I think I have a bigger nose.”
“I definitely feel about 1.3 centimeters taller.”
“Symmetry is important for the face.”
“A sharp chin makes a handsome man.”

The Weedlings argued about who looked better.
When sculptures looked similar, they would get off to a bad start.

“Men are about height.”
“It’s all about the money. Money!”
“Hoo… You need to speak well.”
“Life’s success is money.”
“I agree. I think money is the best.”
“To be honest, it’s money over height.”

Meanwhile, not one of them offered to stop the Haven Empire or buy Weed and the other Weedlings time to escape.
Weed had guessed that this would happen the moment he gave life to the sculptures.
These Weedlings would run away, and save only themselves when the opportunity presented itself!

‘They can’t be trusted.’

From the start, it was impossible to persuade them to cooperate in a difficult situation or to sacrifice themselves for a cause.
Just as people finally understood their parents after having their own offspring, there was mistrust in the way Weed looked at the Weedlings.

‘Might as well trust Bard Ray. Although, the most dangerous is a guy like Hestiger who says he’ll sacrifice himself. You have no idea what evil intentions they might have.’

When that was the case, it was difficult to guess what the trick could be. There was a possibility that the guy would try to sell out the Arpen Kingdom.

Weed raised his voice.

“All right. Now listen to me. I’ll give you 2 gold when I finish.”
“…”
“…”
“…”

The Weedlings shut their yapping mouths.
Although they remained quiet, they were busy looking around. They realized it was a dangerous place, and each one of them was thinking about escaping.

‘This bunch have got real devoted lives ahead of them…’

Weed stared at the advancing troops from the Haven Empire, and spoke.

“There’s only one thing I expect from you all. This place will soon be blown away by a catastrophe, so take advantage of that opportunity to survive.”

He briefly explained what type of disaster was about to begin.

“And here are the weapons and shields stolen from the Hermes Guild users. Use whatever you like.”

Weed even handed out the equipment to arm the sculptural creatures.
Each one of them were expensive beyond measure, but if he kept them to himself the chance of survival for the creatures would drop harshly.

“I’m sorry to have brought you all to life at such a time. May we survive through this and meet each other again.”

The Weedlings had a sour look despite the touching words and kindness.

“Shouldn’t the king of the Arpen Kingdom have better equipment?”
“I think he saved the best for himself to sell later, then gave us the leftovers.”
“Survive… What kind of irresponsible remark is that. Is that all you have?”
“Guys. Be thankful for even this. If it wasn’t for this situation, we wouldn’t get anything.”
“You gave us life, so we should thrive on our own?”
“He’s also trying to exploit us more later. He’s the king of the Arpen Kingdom. It’s not worth believing in a politician’s apology.”
“…”

The sculptural creatures knew Weed inside out.

*****

The disaster had begun.
The army led by Crebulta could see a cloud of dust blocking their vision.

“Oh hell! It’s just a little further!”

Weed was very close.
About 500 meters, a close distance on a galloping horse.
Though there were quite a few undead and Northern users left, if they managed to run past them they could easily start a battle with Weed.

“Let’s just advance. Signpost of Illumination.”
“I’ll light the magic lantern.”

The magicians fired rays of light that were soon swallowed by the fine dust.

“The magic…”
“It doesn’t work because of the dust.”

It became as dark as midnight, but what was worse was that they couldn’t even see their own hands and feet.

“Be prepared for a disaster since we can’t see for now!”

The military commanders were forced to stop, including Heiller and Crebulta.

“Cough!”
“Achoo!”

They were covered with fine dust so thick that it was hard to breathe. The Hermes Guild members had yet to lose any health, but they were feeling displeased nonetheless.
Dirt was flying straight into their open mouths. It was a truly a horrible sensation.
At that moment, something popped out.

“Sculpting Blade!”

The 1st Legion was in turmoil when their opponent shouted the name of their skill.

“It’s Weed!”
“Weed appeared.”
“Which direction?”
“East!”

*Crash!*
*Swoooooo b-b-bang!*

Skills were causing loud explosions, but they could barely see.
There was a formidable shockwave on occasion.

“Weed is attacking. Hurry up and help!”
“Which way?”
“I think he’s right next to us. Let’s strike. Merciless blow!”
“Violent Charge!”

The Hermes Guild members who were close to the sounds used attack skills.
In just 2 or 3 seconds, hundreds of skills poured out.

“Stop! What crazy fool is using AoE skills here!”
“Damn. I can’t see anything.”
“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

At that moment, the clear sound of a skill name was heard again.

“Over here. Weed is continuously attacking!”
“Chain Lightning!”
“Blizzard Tempest!”
“Fireball!”
“Multiple explosions!”
“Breath of Destruction!”
“Dagger of Annihilation!”
“Sword of Extinction!”

Many attack skills were fired in the direction of the sounds.

“Agh!”
“Stop. You idiots!”
“I said stop!”

Most of the attacks exploded in the Haven Empire camps. There was no way to assess how much damage was done or what it looked like. It became an uncontrollable flow of events.

“Heraim Fencing Skill!”
“Weed is over here!”

There were all sorts of skills fired in the assumed direction of Weed’s voice.

“Spear of Blood Rage!”
“Requiem!”
“Destruction of Nightmare!”

Skills fluttered everywhere in this field where vision was jammed by fine dust. The rampant, uncontainable attacks blew away thousands of people in an instant.

Weed was confident even in such a situation in which it was impossible to see..

‘All I need to do is think of everyone gathered here as an enemy.’

If there’s anyone, just attack!

“Heraim Fencing!”

< You have successfully made the first serial attack. Your Agility will be increased by 20%. >

< You have successfully made the second serial attack. Your Strength will be increased by 40%. >

< You have successfully made the third serial attack. Your Agility will be increased by an additional 20%. >

< You have successfully made the fourth serial attack. Your Strength will be increased by an additional 40%. >

It was easy to use the Heriam Fencing skill to hit a series of blows.

“Weed is over here!”

The crisis began as people around shouted.
Several attack skills had been activated, and AoE skills flew in from far away.

‘You don’t have to care about defense if you are absorbing health. You just have to fight.’

Three Hermes Guild members were killed.
They responded, but couldn’t defeat Weed in close quarters when they couldn’t even see 50 centimeters in front of them.
Believing in his Lich form’s Life Drain skill, he dug deeper into the enemy lines.

< You have successfully made the eleventh serial attack. Your Strength will be increased by an additional 25%. Shock waves travel afar.>

< You have successfully made the twelfth serial attack. Your Agility will be increased by an additional 30%. You may use 2500 mana to cause a bleeding effect. >

< You have successfully made the thirteenth serial attack. Your Agility will be increased by an additional 20%. Your Strength will be increased by an additional 20%. Most strikes will trigger a critical hit. >

Weed advanced like an angry wild boar. He bumped into something like an iron mace, and the enemies surrounding him used defensive skills.

*Shu wa wa ah ah ak kwa gwa gwang!*

The land was set on fire by falling AoE skills that seemed to come from nowhere.

“Ahhhhhk!”
“Kkeuk! There are friendly forces here, be careful!”

The AoE skills damaged not only Weed but also the Hermes Guild members.

‘I’ll be able to catch them more easily if they are hurt.’

He smiled with joy as he broke into the middle of the enemy lines.
Experience points, skill levels, trophies!
Where else would you get this opportunity to gather all these things while fighting?
There were treasures all around.

‘Come at me with everything you’ve got!’

< The executioner Targrezsche was killed.

As a result of this achievement, the proficiency of your Swordsmanship skill greatly increases.

You are given one free stat point.

Fame has increased by 2,361.>

He relied on his intuition because of the lack of vision. He made judgments in the moment, and immediately moved.
He would know whether an enemy was strong or weak by hitting him once or twice.

‘If he’s weak, kill him; if he’s strong knock him down and kill him.’

Sometimes you could meet powerful people who wouldn’t give you any chance and would mercilessly take you down.
For them, the suddenly approaching Weed and his ruthless attacks were ending them without even giving them a chance to breathe.

< Battali the God of Fighting is watching your fight with happiness.

Your body doesn’t know its limits.

Neither loss of health nor injury will reduce your combat power.

You can deal greater damage every time your health is reduced. >

It wasn’t necessary as he had a Lich’s body, but he was given the blessing of Battali, the God of Fighting.

‘There’s someone just ahead. And it’s quite crowded around him too… Such a good opportunity.’

Weed followed his instincts.
Instead of thinking with his head, his body naturally responded with optimal efficiency.

*Crunch!*

Experience and senses trained through numerous battles.
He squinted slightly with his inexistent eyes.

‘The impact feels solid. Their class must not be Fighter but Warrior, seeing how tough their equipment is… It’s a shame, but I’m going to have to pass them by.’

As Weed passed through, several attacks belatedly exploded.

“Weed has already gotten through to here!”
“What are you doing? Hurry and stop him!”

Fear and imagination.
The fear that came from seeing nothing was much greater than expected.
They didn’t know where they would be suddenly attacked from.
The Hermes Guild members used their skills in a rush because the sounds seemed much louder and closer than usual.
They were all thinking the same thing!

‘Weed is nearby. Then I must attack. I hope I can hit him… But it doesn’t matter if I don’t.’

Using a skill when their visibility was blocked by the fine dust could result in anyone being hit.
It was alright even if the ones being hit were mostly the Haven Empire knights and Hermes Guild members. Level, fame, and skills would certainly rise.
Maybe they could get some good equipment they had had their eyes on.

‘Nobody can see anyways… Nobody will even know it was me. Even if they do, I can just say I was trying to hit Weed.’

There was no such thing as allies. To begin with, the other users would keep using their offensive skills too. To avoid being the worst off, they all started to collect their mana and use their skills.

Weed entered the 7th Legion’s lines alone, which led to hundreds of deaths among its soldiers. However, Weed did not suffer much because the Hermes Guild members acted as shields.
The faster he broke through the lines, the more attacks were left behind. From time to time, he was even able to finish off users who were already on the verge of death.

“Keu leu leu lok. I am the commander of the Immortal Legion.”
“Kill them all.”
“Yes. What a pleasant order.”

The dead Hermes Guild members rose up as top-class Death Knights or Doom Knights.
Five or six bodies were combined and were born as rotten monsters.

“Watch out for the undead!”
“Stay calm. Wait until you’ve confirmed the enemy’s location… Spirit Lance!”
“Use holy magic. Holy Light!”

There was even more confusion as the undead attacked nearby users.

*****

“So, there was this method.”
“I don’t think it’s bad at the moment.”
“It really is a dirty trick.”

The sculptural lifeforms loved what Weed was doing.
And they all had monstrous fighting power.

“It’s an opportunity.”
“I’ll go first.”
“Well… let’s stay alive and meet again!”

The Weedlings seized the opportunity and scattered.
A large force ran past the northern users.
You couldn’t see it from far away, but up close you could recognize the same armor as the Haven Empire troops.

“Sword Cloning!”

Weed-1 started off with a powerful skill.
Dozens of clones poured in and advanced through the defensive forces of the Haven Empire.

“It’s Weed!”
“What are you talking about? Weed is on the other side!”

Dozens of Haven Imperial knights who were part of the siege were killed by Weed-1’s skill.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade!”

The sword drew beautiful lines and cut down the Haven Imperial knights.

“Keu ooh eu eu ohk!”

Whether or not the undead got up or not, Weed-1 was quick to break through. He ran like the wind, making use of his Rush attribute.

As many as ten sculptural lifeforms were breaking through the siege simultaneously;
it caused a great deal of confusion within the Haven Imperial army, and the effect of the disaster on top of that prevented the commanders from leading their forces.
The earth shook and cracked at random.
It wouldn’t be too dangerous if it wasn’t for the limited view, or the mayhem caused by Weed and his sculptural lifeforms.
The Hermes Guild members and the Haven Empire knights were all the more scared as the ground shook and cracked.

“Weed is coming this way!”
“It’s Weed. Right in front!”

There was only the sound of Weed coming from all directions.
Their choice was to use powerful attack skills!
In the area full of fine dust, all kinds of skills were triggered as they killed each other.

*****

Oh Joo-wan and Shin Hye-min.
They live broadcasted the Battle of the Garnav Plains.
Live viewership was 23%.
Every station was recording their highest ratings ever.

“Weed has encountered a desperately dangerous situation. The Haven Imperial army is conducting their siege perfectly… Shin Hye-min-ssi, will Weed get out of this crisis?”
“It seems serious. The Northern users are running to help, but the Hermes Guild’s tactics seem to have hit home.”

They tried to stay neutral while broadcasting.
Although, it was no secret that several broadcasting stations, including KMC Media, were on Weed’s side, having an objective view was important.

“The Haven Imperial army is defeating the defensive forces and approaching! It looks like there’s going to be a direct fight with Weed.”
“It seems that the big shots in the Hermes Guild are getting ready to go.”

It was a moment of increasing tension.
Weed set off a disaster and created sculptural lifeforms.
When the fine dust swallowed everything, the broadcasting station couldn’t show anything.
A misty haze thickly covered everything.

“There’s something going on in that disaster.”
“Dear viewers. This is not a broadcast accident. We are also perplexed, but a disaster is occurring.
“On-the-scene reports say there is an explosion of skills. Weed seems to be fighting the Hermes Guild in there.”

The fine dust floating in the air slowly subsided after more than 30 minutes.
In what appeared to be the end of a long disaster, the Haven Empire had suffered a devastating blow to its forces.

*****

– Crebulta: Everybody calm down! Are you sure Weed is there?
– Heiller: Check for Weed and then attack. Don’t just use your skills recklessly.
– Draka: We must prevent him from getting out of the perimeter. We can attack after visibility has been secured.
– Heroid: Weed is over here! We can catch him. I’ll do my best to get rid of him!
– Max: Weed is here too… Weed is over here!

During the great disaster, the Legion commanders tried their best to stop the Hermes Guild members from using offensive skills and gave out many different commands.
However, those on the front lines did not listen.
They really felt that Weed was coming at them and were attacked by skills flying in from somewhere.

There were several military commanders and the troops were mixed as the siege narrowed.
As the chain of command collapsed, the Haven Imperial army killed itself and collapsed.
Although the earth was divided, the undead were the biggest cause of confusion.
The Haven Imperial army was swept away by the undead rising from everywhere.
Sharp blades clashed and broke.
The scene was horrible after the great disaster.

After regaining their sight, the Hermes Guild members were speechless. About half of the troops had disappeared, and in their place many powerful undead had risen.

“Weed, what about Weed?”

The army commanders hurried to find Weed.
They thought they could avoid the worst consequences as long as they caught Weed.

“He’s gone.”
“This is the 3rd Legion’s report. He escaped a while ago…”
“The 7th Legion said it seemed as if he had escaped.”
“The 10th Legion has a similar report…”

Most of the sculptural lifeforms that Weed had created had succeeded in escaping the great fuss.
Three were killed in the battle.
If it was Weed, he would have handled it skillfully, but they ended up losing their lives, because they had just been born.
Heiller’s shoulders dropped.

“Has Weed… has he already escaped?”
“I think so.”

The undead had risen on a large scale, but they looked much weaker than before.
Death Aura had disappeared, and those who died no longer returned as undead.
Perhaps it was proof that Weed was not here.

“Now we’re royally screwed. We really are…”

Translation Notes

↑ [1] Name subject to change when we learn more about that attribute. The literal meaning is “Survival”, which we didn’t keep because it didn’t feel like a bad quality in itself

↑ [2] Name subject to change when we learn more about that attribute. The literal meaning is “Omnivorous”, which we didn’t keep because it didn’t feel like a bad quality in itself. For now we assumed it referred to how he doesn’t only get his money through honest ways

Chapter 4: End of Geihar Emperor

It felt like the world had been destroyed.
Weed admired the fine dust that had come out.

‘So many deaths.’

Although things had unfolded as he had intended, he had not expected to deal this much damage to the Hermes Guild.
Several Legions had been scattered around, and hundreds of people had lost their lives.

*Twitch.*

Weed barely managed to keep the corners of his mouth down.
Things were hectic, and Crebulta was just 10 meters from where he was.

“Hell! Damn it! Weed ran away!”
“Weed, you coward!”
“You act like you’ll see things through to the bitter end, and then you run away? You dirty son of a bitch!”

The Hermes Guild members also cursed.
No one recognized Weed. It wasn’t simply because his normal appearance was so ordinary that one would forget it by just looking away, but because he had used the Sculptural Shapeshifting skill to change his face.
He was even wearing the same armor, boots, sword, and shield as the Haven Empire’s knights, which he had acquired during the battle.
Standing among the Haven Empire’s knights, he surely looked like he was one of them.

‘I’ll never get caught. Even if I went with them to the Haven Empire and lived as a knight I probably wouldn’t get caught.’

Trapped in a siege, there was no need to fight the enemy to the end.
If you think that the enemy is too strong, you can just sneak up on them.

‘There are so many applicable Sculpture skill tricks to use. It’s extremely fortunate that an honest person like me is a Sculptor.’

Weed could lose the war, but he was confident he wouldn’t die in vain.

“Get rid of the undead first!”
“Get yourself together, and quickly get rid of all those undead.”

The Hermes Guild members gave an order.
Weed approached the undead and fought excitedly alongside the knights of the Haven Empire.
The undead were considerably weaker than they were just a moment ago, as his Lich transformation had ended and the effects of Dark Rule and Death Aura had disappeared.
Along with his fellow knights, he managed to get rid of the Death Knights and the Doom Knights wandering around.
The Hermes Guild members attacked, but the last attack was exactly what Weed was waiting for.

< Your level has increased >

< The Doom Knight Jenfiro has been put to eternal rest.

Reputation has risen by 130 because of high fighting achievements.

Leadership has increased by 1. >

Although Weed had struck the last blow, the loot was taken by the Hermes Guild members.

“Wow. Bone fragments came out.”
“Is that good?”
“I don’t know. It seems like a Necromancer’s goods… but it’s a first-class blacksmith’s ingredients.”

*Tremble tremble.*

Weed’s body quivered with regret.
He wanted to hit the Hermes Guild member in the back of the head, but he held onto his last bit of patience and stopped himself.

“Hurry and finish the undead!”
“Stop messing around and move.”
“If you’re wounded tell the priest. They’ll fix you up.”

The Hermes Guild members were busy fighting the undead at the order of the Knight commander.

“17th Legion. Take the left.”
“Yes, sir!”

Weed was part of the 17th Legion and fought against the Death Knights.

“Use the Imperial sword skills against the Death Knights!”
“Yes, sir!”

He followed the sword movements of those next to him and brought down the Death Knights.
There was nothing odd about his swordsmanship and he was as skillful as the other knights.

‘Just basic skills… this is nothing.’

There were so many Imperial Knights that he didn’t stand out at all.
And yet, cleverly last-hitting the Death Knights was essential!
He was perfectly collecting all the items as well.
Weed’s behavior was noticed by the leader of the 17th Legion. Of course, he was also an NPC.

“You fight well.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“If you work hard, you have the skill to be selected as a knight of the Haven Empire.”
“I will work hard. Effort is the source of my livelihood.”
“That’s a great attitude.”

Sweet-talking the knight captain was as easy as pie.
While Weed was cleaning up the undead, the Hermes Guild users started to lose interest.
The key to the siege was to capture Weed, which they had failed to do.
They thought that he had already escaped, and they knew that the northern users were coming to them.

‘I’ve spent 16 levels, but I’ve only recovered 7. It’s not easy for a battle like this to happen again, but it still stings a bit.’

Weed fought with the knights to destroy the undead.
The Hermes Guild users fought nearby, but they found nothing strange.

“Hmm. I’m hungry.”
“Let’s eat. It’s just the undead here.”
“You all are useless.”
“You’ll be fighting it out in a few minutes. With the North.”

For the Hermes Guild, who monopolized good hunting grounds, the undead were a nuisance.
Weed had considered changing his body into a horse for the perfect disguise, but no one was suspicious.

‘Is there anyone in this world that’s as easy to fool as these?’

After making the sculptural lifeforms and the disaster, there wasn’t much to do directly.
The Hermes Guild collapsed from their greed and suspecting themselves.

‘Now that I’m winning… No. It’s a bit awkward for things to work out so easily.’

Weed’s instincts went off and issued a warning.

‘What? What did I miss?’

Even though he tried to carefully look around, the Hermes Guild users didn’t pay any attention to him.
To notice the Sculptural Shapeshifting, they would have to strip down the helmet and armor of the Haven Empire knights and carefully check his whole body.
All the same, it wouldn’t be easy to know who had changed.

*Ku reu reu reu reu reu*

The earth, that had been torn into a dozen pieces, dug deep and collapsed. It had been destroyed by the disaster as well as by the Hermes Guild users’ skills.
That same land shook as if there was an earthquake.

“Hello?”

The nearby Hermes Guild members were surprised.

“The death of this land has awakened me. All living things will be swept away by rage…”

Dark clouds soared high in the sky from the divided land. Skeleton knights slowly climbed out… Abyss Knights!
Some of the strongest undead monsters had sprung up.

< A large event has occurred

The birth of Abyss Knights!

As the earth became stained with death and despair, the power of darkness became uncontrollable.

Heavy darkness, seeded with grief and fire, grew from the blood and became Abyss Knights. >

“…”

Weed didn’t say anything, but he could feel the Haven Empire’s knights trembling.

“My God.”
“We’re dead.”
“It’s over. The world will be ruined!”

The Imperial knights were terrified.
The knights’ morale was at rock bottom because of the Abyss Knights’ appearance.
Weed had to follow suit and act.

“Oh. I’m scared. I’m really scared. It’s hard to hold my sword.”

*Ba deul ba deul.*

He really got into his acting, deliberately dropping his arms and legs and staggering.
When the Haven Empire’s knights collapsed, they got down and crawled together.
The acting ability to outperform Hollywood movie stars!

‘I want to last-hit them as well… It’s not possible though, right?’

Greed filled him as he looked at the Abyss Knights.
Nevertheless, his mind was kept in check by cold logic.

‘It’s stupid. This is an enemy camp. Let’s not.’

He barely repressed his desire.

‘Is this what it feels like when a landlord wants to raise the rent?’

Weed decided.

‘Anyway, kill or be killed. I’ll just run away.’

He wanted to compliment himself for making such a basic judgment.

*****

“Oh no. How could this happen?”

Yoo Byung-jun bitterly smiled at his monitor.
It was regrettable, even taking into account that the whole Haven Empire army had gathered to catch Weed.

“Isn’t it too easy for things to end like this?”
“It’s no fun to watch if Weed is caught up in a trap and has no tactical options left at all.”

Because then it becomes too easy for the Haven Empire to take control of the continent.

‘I hate Weed, but I don’t like them either.’

The best he could hope for was to watch Weed keep running and suffering as he enjoyed drinking cocoa.

“You’ll have to go through hardships before you win anything.”
“What the hell, you call that a huge disaster?! That can hardly do any damage against the Hermes Guild!”

Yoo Byung-jun laughed at him hard as fine dust covered the whole place.
Even though some darkness affiliated magic could be broken by light magic, it was meaningless against the disaster of fine-dust. The effects of a disaster couldn’t be remedied with any magic.

Within the dust, Hermes Guild members kept dying again and again.
Weed hadn’t stopped after causing the disaster, but had gone on a rampage using three or four other big skills as soon as the first one had hit.
A vast expanse of hell in the dark.

“The damage… What’s the damage…”

The artificial intelligence Versailles answered kindly.

“Currently, 142,586 out of 323,837 Hermes Guild members have died.”

Even though only a short period of time had passed, it was a huge loss, and this even lead to Abyss Knights rising.
3 Abyss Knights had been born in the dark.
The energy of death was so powerful that dangerous monsters were born.

“They could kill Weed.”

Yoo Byung-jun shook his head as soon as he got his hopes up.

“The Abyss Knights.”

Weed was more resilient than a roach.
He would take advantage of the Abyss Knights’ presence, and wasn’t likely to die by them.

“This cocoa is bitter.”
“The amount of sugar in the cocoa you are currently drinking is 24% more than usual.”

*****

Seoyoon worked with users from the Central Continent to kill the Haven Empire’s wizards.

“This place is cleared. It won’t be summoned anymore.”

It was a great achievement to prevent the Summon Flaming Meteors spell from being used again, and to destroy several magic troops units.

“They’re under attack.”
“Now the line of defense…”
“The Hermes Guild is gathering like dogs.”

News of the battle around Weed was being spread by all the users in the Garnav Plains.
Although he had summoned the undead, there was news that the Haven Empire was making a strong breakthrough.

“Let’s go.”

Seoyoon said while riding on a Baraag’s back.

“Ok.”

The users who fought by her side quickly flew up into the sky on the back of giant Baraags.
Fighting the wizards had reduced their numbers a lot.

“That way!”

The plain was covered with users as the sun rose.
It was a spectacular sight as a large crowd ran toward Weed, but there was no time for calm appreciation.

‘Until yesterday, the festival was lively, but it changed to this.’
‘This is a death area.’

Skeletons and zombies didn’t seem to be bored, and the Imperial army and northern users were fighting fiercely in groups.
The battle seemed so small, yet it was a decisive battle for the fate of the Versailles Continent.

“I’ll go down to the ground for a bit to gather some reinforcements. I’ll be back with Kalimdor and his mercenaries. I’ll be right back.”
“Yes, I see.”

Each user on the Baraags had a large network.
Level 400 and 500 users quickly joined in to reinforce their forces.

“We’re here!”

The sight of Baarag troops drew a large number of avians.
Despite the Haven Empire armies raising up gusts of wind into the sky in an attempt to interrupt their rally, the Avians managed to break through at the cost of many wounds all over their bodies.

“Chirp!”
“Chirp chirp!”

Those avians were carrying northern users on their backs.
The average avian was able to carry two to three users on its back, but now more than five were on board.
Regrettably, those with level below 300 were unable to ride on the back of the Avians.

“Let’s go faster! To the Battlefield!”

*****

“Grass porridge, grass porridge, grass porridge!”

Users gathered from all across the Garnav plains. The Haven Imperial army stationed soldiers at every vital location and held off the approaching northern users.

“We need to hold for 30 minutes. All men hold your positions!”

The Hermes guild members at these locations were a group of the less skilled users.
Even so, they were over level 450, capable of leading the Imperial army with focus on the defensive.

“Archer unit commence sequential attack!”
“Shield units hold your positions!”

The Imperial army raised their shields up close to the heavily armored footmen and long-spearmen in between them.
Although the northern users were like a tidal wave, they still could not overcome that thick wall.

“We can’t penetrate that strong defense line!”
“Smash them! Break through their formation!”
“Advance!”

Everywhere, northern users were dying in vain.

“Rapid fire! Piercing rounds! Empower!”

Pale unleashed dozens of arrows onto the Imperial army’s formation.
The arrows weren’t directed at a specific target but the Imperial army was densely clustered, so he did not have to worry about his arrows going wide.

< An arrow was blocked by a shield. >

< An arrow pierced through the shield and landed on a helmet. >

< You have acquired experience points. >

“This is nuts. A quick breakthrough won’t be possible.”

Pale automatically reached for more arrows with a dark expression on his face.
His archery skill was Advanced level 8!
The bow had belonged to the high elves and was imbued with the priests’ damage enhancement blessing, but he was still unable to kill an Imperial soldier in a single shot.

“We will breakthrough eventually, but time is of the essence. What do we do?”

Lemon, the saintess of the Grass Porridge Cult was also beside him.
They had an enormous number of soldiers, with more coming to reinforce them.

“Poison Mushroom porridge 31st division. At your service!”
“Perilla Seeds porridge cleanup team has arrived. Our apologies for the late arrival!”
“We Strawberry porridge will charge through them with all our might. Open a path for us!”
“We are from Hamburger porridge. We will ram through them!”

There were many northern users, but all would go to waste if they could not break down the defense formation of the Imperial army.

*Crrrash!*

Magic spells exploded all over the Haven Imperial army.
Pale grew impatient, but the northern users’ attacks grew even faster and fiercer.

“Hahahaha. I have arrived at last!”

Geomchi3!
His body was covered with scars from the flaming meteorite summon spell, too many to count as he ran towards them.

“True men go in without fear!!!!”

He charged into the Haven Imperial army as the northern users split up left and right and got away from his path.

“Ahhhh!”
“Scary. Way too scary!”
“Hiccup.”

Geomchi3 was running to battle with an expression straight out of a nightmare.

“You are fighting again.”
“Yes, master. I think it is my 7th fight.”
“Alright, good. Wipe them out at once. All units take assault formation!”

Geomchi, Geomchi2 and other groups of desert warriors appeared one by one.
They were descendants of the Pallos empire!

“Everyone, please stand aside. We are going in!”

The Desert Warriors led by Geomchi, riding on camels, began their assault.
They picked up speed and charged in a straight line as the users made way for them.

“Hiya. Hiya!”
“Gallop! Live only for this moment!”
“Destroy everything! Don’t leave anything standing!”
“Kyaaaaah!”

The Desert Warriors shrieked as they galloped.
Being properly trained by Geomchi and the other masters had changed them.
They were more reckless.
More simple-minded.
The mages of the Hermes guild began their spell incantations as they saw the warriors approach.

“Flame wall!”

A wide curtain of flames spread across in the direction of Geomchi and the Desert Warriors.
The northern users drew back due to the heat.

“Just jump over it.”
“Yes, master.”
“Nice. A fiery pit.”

Geomchi and the masters, apprentices and Desert Warriors leapt over the flame wall one after another.
Their faces and backs had caught fire, but they continued their assault.

“Pgrrrr, Pgrrrruh!”

The twin humped camels were even more excited than they were.

“Wipe them out!”

Finally, Geomchi and the desert warriors clashed with the heavily armored footmen.
The sturdy defense formation crumbled at once and the Desert Warriors rampaged in the middle of the Imperial army.

“Grass porridge, Grass porridge, Grass porridge!”
“This is our opportunity!”
“This way!”

That moment, the northern users rushed in through the opening.
During the brutal fight between the northern users trying to break through and the resisting imperial army:

“We have come to rescue our master!”

A Phoenix was flying in from the north and lit up the sky.

“What is that thing?”
“It’s a sculptural lifeform!”
“Phoenix. The fire giant is riding on its back!”
“Hoorah!”

The entrance of the sculptural lifeform ignited the northern users into excitement.
Flying behind Phoenix were the wyverns and Bingryong!

“We will be scolded by our master but we decided to join the fight.”
“We aren’t here to aid our master. We fight out of boredom.”
“Yes. We came because we want to fight.”

On the backs of the wyverns rode Bahamorg, high elf Eltin, White Tiger, Vindex, Gernika, Seville and Cerberus.

“It’s Bahamorg.”
“He’s a ridiculously powerful warrior.”
“My god. The elites of all sculptural lifeforms have mobilized!”

Users on the ground cheered as they looked up to the sky.

“No enemy can stop me!”
“I can shoot down just about anything.”
“Roar!”
“I slash and they’re dead.”
“I can crush them with my iron mace.”
“I have learned the sword to serve my master.”
“Grrrrrrr.”

Geumini had spread Wings of Light on his back, and on his shoulders were Golden Bird and Silver Bird.

“Grumble. I prepared lots of diamonds and sapphires. I shall display the fanciest spell with
my magnificent gem collection.”
“The war of continental conquest! A man must take on such a grand mission.”
“It is in no way a pretty commitment, but if there is an enemy I will fight.”

On the ground, a legion of sculptural lifeforms led by King Hydra and Death Worm was advancing.
The ground caved in as King Hydra, the size of an enormous building, strode across it.

“I shall slay and devour them all.”
“Should I kill them first and devour them or devour them to kill?”
“My preference is to devour them and seize their lives.”
“No, I should kill them and devour.”

King Hydra’s nine heads debated on whether they should kill then devour or devour to kill.
The Death Worm poked its head above ground and dug back in again. The long, lengthy body extending across the field was a blood-curdling sight.

“Humans… are tasty.”

Weed did not lead his sculptural lifeforms into dangerous battles.
If they were to die for any reason, the losses would be substantial. But these sculptural lifeforms were extremely powerful and had long gone passed the stage of nurturing.

Dain couldn’t suppress her trembling after joining the war.

“Was it right for me to come?”

She remembered fondly the time when she took care of others as a lord of Evaluk castle.
As a provincial lord of the Haven Empire, her participation was a given fact once the war broke out with the Arpen Empire.

“I will meet him again.”

She joined for the sake of those who she was acquainted with, but most of all she was looking forward to meeting Weed, the hero that had completed many quests and achievements since the last time she saw him.

“Pssh. He was such a determined newbie when I first saw him.”

Dain reminisced in her own affectionate memories.
Their meeting in the floating City of Lavias had helped her get through the surgery and sustain her life.
Her feelings had remained unchanged even after finding out that Weed had found another woman.

“Beautiful memories don’t change. The meaning of life is in making blissful moments as you live on. Life may be fruitless, but do not leave any hint of regret at any moment.”

Dain had lived as the lord of Evaluk and had decided to lead her people to fight as an honorable regiment of the Haven Empire.

“I will fight bravely. I swore to live my life that way.”

She resolved herself and headed into battle.
She was not going to provide any advantage to Weed just because he was cornered.

“I will do my best at every single moment. We will meet as enemies and if you are to die by my hands, so be it.”

The Great Disaster blocked their view, and Dain spoke to her subordinates.

– Dain: Remain calm. Our sight is only blocked temporarily. If we stick together there is not much that Weed can do on his own.

Her relaxed speech bestowed profound faith to those who had put trust in her and followed her into the war.
The 19th legion was made up of a mix of many Hermes Guild members and Central Continent users, but this rarely resulted in any conflict.
In Evaluk city, Hermes Guild members and other users lived in harmony in their own way.
They were not exploited harshly as they would have been in other regions, given that they were active in trade, adventure and production; it was a great place to reside in.
The 19th legion held their position and waited patiently for the Great Disaster to lift away while battles were happening everywhere around them.
Other users started taking advantage of the confusion to fire their spells blindly, making use of the situation.

– Dain: Trust those that are standing right next to you. There is no reason to attack one another. Once you attack, you are prone to the attacks of the others. Please bear that in mind.

Amidst the chaos there was a fine line separating those next to you from becoming your enemies.
But if everyone rampaged, they would all fall in danger and perish.
The 19th legion trusted Dain’s words and bided their time.

“Order!”
“Obey the orders!”
“Do not move away and help those that are injured. We are all on the same side.”

Area spells flew in from other regions, but they strengthened their defenses and did not retaliate.
The disgusting fine dust diminished gradually, and Dain looked after her subordinates.

“The wounded come this way!”

Including herself who was a Shaman, others who could use divine spells healed the wounded.

“Commander, look over there.”

Dain in the middle of treating the wounded followed the direction that someone’s finger tip was pointing and turned to her surroundings.
The fine dust had sunk down and the view started to clear further away.
The Haven Empire camp was ruthlessly devastated.
Many who had lost their lives were reviving as undead.

“How… There should have been no casualties if we just defended.”

The situation felt surreal.
However, it was reality: they had suffered so much damage because their sharp swords clashed against one another.
At long last, Dain’s lips opened.

*Sigh*

“Those idiots.”

*****

“Heave, heave!”
“Put a little more effort into it!”

Garnav plains, sculpture restoration site.
Everyone was busy working, piecing together the scattered fragments of the sculptures destroyed by the flaming meteors.
The scene was filled with countless users sweating beads when Rubles arrived, carrying Emperor Geihar on her back.
Their wrecked appearance was a result of having to slip through the Haven Imperial army, and even this close escape had only been possible through the help of users that were close to her.

“Please get up!”

She shook him carefully to wake him up.

“Mmmm-nyahhhh.”

Emperor Geihar had passed out from drinking and showed no signs of waking up.

“You are here at last.”

Weed’s younger sister Yurin approached from afar.
Yurin could freely move across continents with her picture teleport skill, but Rubles’s appearance and the situation in the Garnav plains was complicated and did not allow her to use it.
Yurin had been waiting for them in the sculpture restoration site.

“Yes. I brought him according to Weed-nim’s request, but he is not waking up.”
“Do not worry about that. I know a few ways to wake a drunk.”

Yurin confidently stepped forward, grabbed Emperor by the collar and shook him firmly.

“Wake up, grandfather.”
“Zzz…”

He was completely blacked out intoxicated.

“Well, let’s proceed to stage 2.”

Yurin took out her canteen and sprayed water over him and he still did not wake up.
Rubles observed with concern.

“He’s completely intoxicated. What should we do now?”
“I have one more thing I can try.”
“Then hurry up.”
“Gosh, there is a girl over there.”
“Huh!”

Emperor Geihar, who laid still like a dead corpse, suddenly rose up.

“Where? Where am I?”
“…”

It became silent for a moment.
Emperor Geihar regained complete consciousness after gulping some cold water.

“Are these people aiding the Arpen Kingdom, my disciple’s kingdom?”
“Yes, they are.”

He let out a sigh of deep regret after hearing Yurin’s reply.

“Do you know what happened after Weed left? I was so distracted that I could not do anything. It did not matter one bit to me if the Arpen Empire came to its demise, but I could not stand my precious sculptural lifeforms scattering and getting abused.”

History had changed slightly after Weed’s time travel.
Emperor Geihar had been very distressed by what Weed had told him, and he worried so much about his sculptural lifeforms and the Arpen Empire that he had become an alcoholic.

“I really got revived, like Weed had said back then. However, I won’t use my power. Why would I? If the Arpen Kingdom can’t last long after it has just been rebuilt, won’t it just make the sculptural lifeforms suffer?”

Emperor Geihar walked around and examined the sculpture restoration site.
People were so absorbed by labor that they didn’t notice him or Yurin.

“Unlike in the past, these people seem to like sculpture. Those sculptures aren’t really good, but they were made collectively by many people.”
“Yes. The sculptural lifeforms are very popular here. And people also really love sculpting.”
“Is that so?… Maybe my concerns were pointless from the very beginning.”

Emperor Geihar grinned broadly, exposing his missing teeth in front of the statue of a Giraffe.

“For the generations of sculpting disciples, I shall call forth sculptural lifeforms again. Sculptural Life Bestowal!”

The huge giraffe sculpture was engulfed in bright light and began to move.
From that moment on, with each step taken, Emperor Geihar bestowed life to the sculptures around him.

*****

Three Abyss Knights.
Gunter, Illadrem, Faust.

“Rise up, everyone. The laws of death rule over this land.”
“You will maintain this world on the brink of collapse.”
“Comply with death for a new rebirth.”

The undead submitted to the powerful Abyss Knights.
The remaining forces of the northern users were dwindling down, but the Haven Imperial army gathering from all directions became the Abyss Knights’ new target.

“Fight with composure. They are not as strong as they seem.”

The Legion commanders led the soldiers and fended against the Abyss Knights.

“Obliterate them all.”
“Do not fall back. Press forward.”

Abyss Knights knew nothing else other than to battle, and they lunged at the enemy.
Dozens of warriors from the Hermes Guild kept them in check and bought time.
The Phanzellope Order of Phantom Knights moved to the right and contributed significantly in stopping the Abyss Knights.
The experience of fighting against Abyss Knight Van Hawk not too long ago was a considerable asset to the Hermes Guild members.

“The most important target, Weed, has fled, and now we are stuck here cleaning up scrubs of undead. How frustrating.”
“Those undead were our comrades only moments ago.”
“Aren’t we going to lose at this rate?”
“Let’s hang on somehow. We still have the Alkin disease at our disposal.”

The Legion commanders did not have a definite solution, so they focused on clearing up the undead.

“This is stupid. Such powerful undead fighting in such a poor manner.”

Weed who had disguised himself as an Imperial knight sighed in disappointment.
Several thousands of Doom Knights and tens of thousands of Death Knights had emerged, the size of an entire army.
Even so, it was upsetting to see them being crushed in such disorganized formations.

“17th Legion, take the left!”
“Yes sir!”

Weed hunted down the crowd of Death Knights along with the surrounding Imperial Knights.

< You have obtained experience points. >

< You have obtained a cracked, but sharp sword. It may prove useful once it is repaired. >

‘This kind of battle style does not suit me. I want to fight with everything I’ve got.’

He examined the knights and set his power along their levels.
Weed was in no position to get carried away, but the tips of fingers were itching to act out.

“The back of that user’s head… that beautiful rear. He even has gorgeous armor. Dear god.”

It was like preparing a worm steak to a sparrow!

“I’m going to be in way over my head. Let’s hunt Death Knights for now.”

The Hermes Guild members were mainly focused on the Abyss Knights.
They paid little attention to the battlefront of the Imperial Knights and the Death Knights, so there were spoils to be collected.

“Kuk, they pierced through!”
“Concentrate the healing spells. We have to contain them tightly, so they can’t move.”

No matter how much the warriors tried to hold them off, it wasn’t easy containing the relentless Death Knights throwing dark weapons and leaking through the defenses.

– Heiller : Merge legions and finish the cleanup. We cannot afford to lose any more time here.

All the best users from the Hermes Guild were mobilized to fight.
Weed observed Dain leading an awesome knight cavalry for a long time.

“She became so successful after registering in the Hermes Guild.”

He heard rumors about her success in the Kallamore region after becoming provincial lord of Evaluk city.

“She’s covered with such expensive items.”

Shaman equipment was extremely rare and difficult to find, but she was wearing the most high-quality items of them all.

“She even wore all of the limited editions. Seriously, you can’t trust anyone in this world.”

Weed was not the type to differentiate between public and private matters.
Only death awaits traitors!
In the middle of all this, the once enormous swarm of undead had been substantially reduced.
The effects of Dark Rule and Death Aura had disappeared long ago, since Weed’s transformation into an Imperial Knight.
The Abyss Knights were quite formidable, but were defeated one after another.
They had an easier time taking the Abyss Knights than they did with Van Hawk. They figured out the weakness of Abyss Knights having poor equipment and control of their bodies when they first spawn.

‘It’s unfortunate. But they still managed to take down a decent number of Hermes Guild members…’

Weed considered the damage he had done since the Great Disaster as a bonus.

“It’s about time to leave.”

He took hits from the Death Knights without any attempt to defend.

< Smite!

You have been struck hard on the shoulder area.

Life force is reduced by 381. >

< Consecutive hits!

You have been roundhouse kicked in the side.

Life force is reduced by 809. >

He was over level 500 and high base stats of constitution and perseverance, making him tough enough to withstand the attacks from 5 Death Knights.

< Armor durability has decreased. >

Weed made his armor look worn out and broken by the attacks of the Death Knights.

“It’s dangerous.”

Nearby knights lunged and wiped out the Death Knights.

“Are you alright?”
“I am injured. I will take a short rest.”
“Go ahead.”

Knights comprised of NPCs all showed their concern for Weed.
Weed’s charm, charisma and leadership stats were taking effect. If he were to display a bit of his talents, leading the Haven Imperial knights would be a breeze.

“No one is suspicious of me yet.”

The Haven Imperial army was very large, and was currently battling the undead everywhere, so the Hermes Guild members couldn’t afford to examine each and every knight, and didn’t bother checking just a few.
Weed took a rest amongst the wounded and merged with the forces fighting the undead in the outskirts.

“I will fight alongside you.”
“We welcome your aid.”

He accumulated experience points as he struck the Death Knights. He could then see approaching northern users from afar.
The sun rose completely into the sky!
The plains that were once covered with fine dust had been dismissed like a lie and he could see northern users running towards him.

“Grass porridge, Grass porridge, Grass porridge!”
“We fight for the Arpen Kingdom!”
The war cry of the northern users continued endlessly.
An army stretched out as far as the eyes could see was approaching like a swarm of ants.
They were marching in after defeating several stations of the Haven Imperial army.
King Hydra had his 9 heads straight up high and the light from Phoenix’s flames shone beside him.
Bingryong and the wyverns also came into view.

“The sculptural lifeforms have joined forces.”

Weed had told the sculptural lifeforms that they should never participate in a war because their lives would be in danger. Though if they really did not participate, he would have scolded them greatly.
On the other hand, he would scold them anyway for joining the fight!

“Fortunately, it seems that they’ve fought well.”

It was their own faults if they ended up dying or wounded greatly, and Weed would have to resurrect them.
He received a whisper from his younger sister.

– Yurin : Grandpa Geihar bestowed life to the sculptural lifeforms. It’s amazing.

Weed spoke in low volume so others would not hear him.

“How many?”
– Yurin : All of them.
“All in the plain?!”

The amount of sculptures that the users had created in the Garnav plains was insane.
Even after many of them were destroyed by the Summon Flaming Meteors spell, the number of supersized sculptures alone reached hundreds.

– Yurin : Grandpa Geihar even gave up his life… He died again to bring all the sculptures to life.
“Can we trust in the abilities of those sculptural lifeforms?”
– Yurin : Yes. Each one of them looks really strong. However, Grandpa Geihar told them something before he died.
“What did it say?”
– Yurin : He told them not to obey the people, but to enjoy their freedom.
“Freedom?”
– Yurin : He said they should help in today’s battle, but live their life afterwards.

Emperor Geihar had bestowed perfect life to the sculptural lifeforms. His last gift had been to tell them to live the way they wanted. The emperor had lived his whole life for sculptures and sculptural lifeforms.

Weed smiled broadly.

“I shall give the sculptural lifeforms freedom, in accordance to his wishes.”

But of course, freedom did not come without a price.
He would establish a monthly rent for housing them in the Arpen Kingdom, and make money by setting up taxes and other necessities.

“I shall exploit them freely!”

A group of northern users and sculptural creatures was approaching.

“Haaaaaah!”

He dashed away from the Haven Imperial army and charged.
He was dragging his sword against the ground as he ran towards them, looking like a brave knight.

“What is he doing?”
“He’s a mere knight. Why is he going out of his way?”

The Hermes Guild members just stared at him thinking that he was just one of the many knights.
Weed sprinted quickly then threw his sword away.
Usually, he never passed by even the common materials and collected them one by one but in this situation, he was aware of the broadcast.
It was a sword that had been worn out badly after slashing the undead.

*Sccccrraaaat!*

He took off and threw away his armor as he ran and finally took off his helm.
His face was revealed at last.

“N, no way… is that-?”
“Isn’t he Weed? It is weed!”
“He looks like Weed.”

The Hermes Guild members that were getting ready to fight the northern users were devastated. He was already halfway across, and he was too quick for them to catch up.

“Master!”
“Grrrrr. Hurry on over.”
“Mooooooo. I knew you would make it back safe and sound.”

The sculptural creatures welcomed Weed, and the uproar of the northern users echoed across the field.

“The God of War Weed!”
“Weed-nim has safely returned.”
“Now the Arpen Kingdom will be victorious!”

There was an upset amidst the Haven Imperial army.
They weren’t this devastated even when the three Abyss Knights appeared.

“Weed was among us….?”
“Yes. He blended in our forces and hid himself; amidst the Imperial knights.”
“And so?”
“He escaped back to the northern users.”
“…”

The Hermes guild members were about to go insane.

“We had him in our grasp and we let him slip?”
“How come nothing that we planned has worked?”

The annihilation plan devised by the executives for this war was as follows:

Stage 1: The Summon Flaming Meteors spell is cast on the Garnav plains.

Stage 2: The Alkin disease is spread. The immediate infections would bring a loss in fighting spirit and spread fear among them.

Stage 3: The Phanzellope Order of Phantom Knights appear to bring despair.

Stage 4: The Imperial army closes in from all directions, using the steel cavalry and the Spears of Annihilation.

Stage 5: The Summon Flaming Meteors spell is cast again. Assassinate or subdue Weed and the core users during the confusion.

Stage 1 and 2 had done a fair share of their purpose.
The Phanzellope Order of Phantom Knights and the Spears of Annihilation were very powerful, but there hadn’t been an opportunity to see them in action because they had not gotten to fight Weed properly.
In the end, they had done nothing but self-destruct in the middle of the Great Disaster by killing one another, and Weed — the main target — had disguised himself as one of their own and observed them carefully to make his grand escape.

“How did the situation turn out this way?”
“What do you mean this way? The blame shouldn’t be on the plan, but the poor response on the field.”
“Poor? Are you telling me that we are at fault?”
“Crebulta, you’re one to speak. Weed was among the 7th Legion. What right do you have to tell me that?”
“How dare you speak to me with such arrogance…!”

Draka muttered bitterly as he watched the Hermes Guild commanders and high-ranking officials quarreling with each other.

“We got beaten again, and this time it’s checkmate.”

The results were much more gruesome than those from the northern conquest expedition.
The Imperial army’s military power had withered away greatly.
Too many forces had been wasted in attempts to capture Weed, and the Great Disaster causing fights among themselves resulted in immense casualties.
On top of that, the northern users were advancing from all directions, their morale at its peak, and were about to commence their surrounding attack.
Draka felt that it was time for him to step up.

“There is no time left for debates. Let us break through the encircling forces first.”
“What options will we have after breaking through them?”

Heiller asked in return with a critical tone in his voice.
He was frustrated at how things were turning out, and he was uncomfortable with Draka of the lower ranks speaking out.

“I can’t say for sure, but we can’t die here so we might as well break through first. Do you plan on fighting endless streams of users right on this spot?”
“We can go after Weed. The annihilation has failed, but we still have a chance to muster enough power and force a frontal assault.”

Dain sighed deeply.

“It’s not possible.”
“What?”
“I received reports that a new legion of sculptural lifeforms has joined the Arpen Kingdom’s military forces.”

The commanders took out their individual crystal balls.
There was no need for them to surf through many broadcast channels.
KMC media, CTS media and the rest of the most popular broadcasting stations were airing similar footages.
User had created supersized sculptures on the Garnav plains.
Life had been bestowed to these sculptures, and they could be seen marching towards the battle.
The enormous creatures were over several hundred meters in size!
Their powers could be felt through the live footages.

Chapter 5: A collapsing Empire

Weed was, of course, immensely popular among the Northern users.

“Weed, Weed, Weed-nim is here!”
“I came! I sold! I earned! Say that just one time please!”
*Gasp*
“Weed-nim. You’re so handsome!”

Although they were at war with the Haven Empire, the mood was as if they had already won.
Weed raised both his hands high.

“I came!”

With his Lion’s Roar, the plains of Garnav had a tremendous response.

“I came!”
“He came!”
“It’s finally started.”

“I fought!”

“That’s right. You fought, and so did we.”
“We fought badly, but we tried our best.”
“Weed certainly greatly distinguished himself on the battlefield.”
“Miracle. It’s a miracle. Really.”

It certainly inspired empathy among users from the Northern and Central Continents.
Excitement heated up as if oil was poured onto a bonfire.
With the help of a nearby bard, Weed exploded with an amplified voice and used his Lion’s Roar.

“I won!”

I came. I fought. I won!
It sounded simple, but these three words roused the hearts of the people who had come to the battlefield.

“We won!”
“Hurrah for the Arpen Kingdom!”
“Let’s conquer the continent in the name of the Grass Porridge Cult!”
“Toadstool Porridge…!”

The Northern users were excited.
The fight against the Haven Empire was not over, but it certainly felt like they had prevailed.
There was also news that sculptural lifeforms created by Emperor Geihar were coming.

“It’s a festival. Really… It doesn’t seem like a battlefield.”
“Board Mir, I kept saying that the Arpen Kingdom would win even when it was unfavorable for me, and it seems I was right.”
“I knew they would win because Weed was there.”

Hye, Fractal, Board Mir.
The 3 Mad Sharks of Becky Nin were also on the Garnav Plains.
They had huge navy fleets but participated in the ground battle as individuals.
Of course, it wasn’t just about loyalty.
The Weed they saw was the type to remember and retaliate for every trivial thing.
They would regret it for the rest of their lives if they did not participate.

“And that scoundrel… No… That hero, it would be strange if he was defeated.”
“It’s more frightening if Weed-nim loses.”
“How come?”
“Whoever beats Weed-nim, how strong would they be?”
“You’re right.”
“It would be the final days for the continent. Because of human limitations, there can’t be another person greater than him.”

There were users listening next to Becky Nin’s three mad sharks.
They were the four backstabbers.

“Yeah. Weed has a great memory and always gets his revenge, but he never goes too far.”
“A hero should have a mean side to them as well. If you look at how the Arpen Kingdom was founded, a human being is still a human being.”
“I don’t know who it will be, but you can’t hope for an easy life after getting involved with Weed, the God of War.”
“If you think about it, it is a family honor that we failed to backstab him.”

*****

Weed watched as a huge crowd gathered.
The Haven Empire army’s defensive positions had been broken down, and users from all over the Garnav Plains came here.
A lot of people.
Regardless of whether they were high-level or low-level, what he could give to those who had come was joy.

‘Yes. Life must be fun. Even if life is painful.’

Weed remembered his childhood.
He had never had a proper meal.
He was always hungry and had to worry about the rent being overdue.

‘A happy life. I only thought about it. I didn’t expect to feel that way.’

Looking back, there were many difficult times since he started Royal Road. Nevertheless, there were no bad days.

♪♫♬ We’re not losing.
We always win. ♬♫♪

Weed started to sing as he roared.

♪♫♬ Samgyeopsal is delicious.
The light of the world.
Chicken is delicious.
Chicken legs, wings, neck, legs, torso.
You can eat anything you like.

I also want to eat pig’s feet late at night.
Pizza doesn’t betray us. ♬♫♪

Weed’s voice boomed outward.

♪♫♬ Oooohhh whoahhhh!
I called.
I ordered steamed pork (bossam)!
You can get samgyeopsal delivered, and also chicken feet.

It’s expensive, very expensive.
Prices go up and even making it yourself is expensive!
Though I’m conflicted, there is no regret after making the delivery call.

That’s what the world is like.
Once you’ve lost, you’re happy with hope.

Soy sauce marinated crab, marinated blue crab, spicy marinated crab, marinated crab! ♬♫♪

There was no tune or rhythm.
Rap and ballad, R&B, trot, metal, jazz, nursery rhymes, a complex genre!

“Weed, Weed!”
“It has finally begun. The war song of Weed!”

Though most of the users were enthusiastic, there were quite a few people who were embarrassed.

“Well, what?”
“Wow. It’s the first time I’ve heard Weed’s song in person.”
“Those lyrics are coming out in a situation like this?”
“I don’t know. In the media, even the professors of psychoanalysis said it was impossible to understand Weed’s song.”

With the sound amplification skills of the bards, Weed’s voice spread throughout the Garnav Plains.

♪♫♬ That motorcycle coming in the distance running all the stoplights.
Over here. Ajusshi, over here!

Unpack it, quickly.
Yum yum yum yum, let’s eat.
Though I want to eat more,
No more, no more. I already ate it all!

Life is worth living.
Step by step,
Eating something delicious,
Doing something fun ♬♫♪

The song was even worse than a drunk who drank 12 bottles of soju!
In addition to the estimated 100 million users on the side of the Arpen Kingdom, the Hermes Guild and Haven Empire army soldiers were also forced to listen.

“What is this?”
“They say Weed is singing.”
“I don’t have any direct involvement with the battle, but to think that we were stopped by somebody who sings like that.”

The users who joined the Northern expedition force to conquer the past Arpen Kingdom were devastated.

“To think we have to listen to this song again.”
”It seems worse than the last time. Is this even possible?”
“Amazingly, I can’t forget that song. Every time I sleep at night, it comes to my mind.”
“I heard it when I was restudying for the college entrance exams. When you listen to Weed’s song, it strangely motivated me to work hard and because of that I got accepted into college.”

♪♫♬ You encounter good things while living, and sad things,
Above all, there are too many things that cost too much money.

Will I be happy if I make a lot of money?
Will I be unhappy if I make little money?

Nothing is easy in this world
But today again I eat
And walk one more step. ♬♫♪

Weed’s song finally ended.

“Hurrah!”
“Indeed, it’s Weed. It was kind of terrible but still cool.”
“Kya. The rap was killer.”
“What are you talking about. Wasn’t it an opera?
“There were no high notes? Though he shouted.”
“Weed is a rocker!”

Musicians had a hard time keeping a cool head as they watched the users’ reactions.

‘The song wasn’t good.’
‘You can’t call it a bad song seeing the audience respond like that. Besides, hearing it many times strangely makes it sound nice.’
‘Ha… It’s hard to understand even with 30 years of musical experience.’

The users were even more enthusiastic about the oddly philosophical lyrics.
Life seems normal, but everyone has a few things to say about it. The song, with the message of living a happy life regardless of difficulties, combined with the battle of the Garnav Plains brought about the approval of the users.

‘We’ll win no matter what.’
‘We’ll never run away.’
‘What is there to regret or be afraid of? What the hell.’

The bond between the users had become stronger.
Weed let out a roar.

“Let’s all go forward! Our destination is the Haven Empire.”
“The Haven Empire!”
“Let’s go. Let’s run!”

The Northern users shouted and began to run toward the Haven Empire.
The sight of tens of millions of users was chilling.

*****

The Hermes Guild members standing in front reacted quickly.

“Guard the front!”
“We have to stop the enemy from approaching…”

The troops were so dense that they formed a defensive formation.
The guard was in the lead, with the infantry and swordsmen in the middle, and the spearmen behind.
However, the Northern users pushed them like angry boars.

“Bring it!”
“Push harder!”
“Let’s get through this!”

The Haven Empire troops and Northern users clashed.
Feeble users died instantly from a combination of spear and shield soldiers, but many more arrived in their places.

“I’m sorry, but I’m going to pass through.”
“Don’t worry about us and go!”

The following people jumped up on the shoulders and heads of the combatants.
Like a flood breaking a dam, the Empire soldiers collapsed and were covered by thousands of users.

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”
“Let’s die together!”
“This is a mess. This is what it’s about!”

The Imperial Army’s formation of shield and spearmen was entangled with the users and subsequently collapsed.
Many users, who filled the sky, came on the back of the Avians as they dropped from the sky like rain.

“Kyaak. Kkak!”
“We are the airborne troops of Poison Mushroom Porridge! We haven’t learned how to land though!”
“Ahhahah. Here we go. I’m level 2. Don’t let me catch you.”

Users poured down over the heads of the Imperial soldiers like rain.
The Hermes Guild troops in the back watched with a serious look on their faces.

“I think we need to be thorough about our defense.”
“Whatever formation we take, there’s no meaning in this situation…”
“Morale is a problem. Contact the magic brigade and make them come to their senses.”
“We don’t have enough magicians to rally. Too many have already died.”
“We will definitely die if we stay here. Let’s break through the siege and get this over with.”

The military leaders were divided.
There was a lot of siege warfare during the conquest of the Central Continent, but this situation was new.
Draka asked Slater indifferently.

“Break the siege?”
“Yes.”
“In which direction? How far will we have to break through to clear the perimeter?”
“….”

None of the Hermes Guild commanders responded.
The situation in which they had surrounded Weed had now been reversed. They were trapped and had tens of millions of users as enemies.
There were no exits, so there was nothing else left to do but fight.

*****

Weed stayed in the rear for a while without participating in the battle.

“I think the Alkin disease will be a problem.”

According to Mapan’s report, the disease spread like wildfire whenever users on the Garnav Plains gathered.

“What’s the death rate?”
“Though it depends on their level and resistance, it’s almost 100% lethal. However, they are holding on with the help of the Poison Mushroom Porridge troops.”

Poison Mushroom Porridge troops infected with the disease.
They were used to dying.

“From my experience, it doesn’t seem to be a nerve poison.”
“It eats away at the body. Health decreases as well. Seeing that it’s highly contagious, it’s not a mineral poison either.”
“I’m sure it’s related to a curse. It also seems to have something to do with black magic because of its adverse reaction to holy power.”
“If the multiple symptoms are complex, even if we find a cure it would be difficult to combine. We don’t have enough ingredients.”

Nevertheless, the Poison Mushroom Porridge unit did not give up.
After deliberately getting infected with the disease, they tried to experiment on their own body.
Eating both medicinal and poisonous herbs, they found a first-aid treatment to weaken the disease.
Even so, a proper treatment was impossible, and everyone who was infected was dying.

“What do we do? Weed-nim? I think we could get sick while fighting the Haven Imperial army and wipe ourselves out first.”

The Saintess Lemon and high-ranking officials from the Grass Porridge Cult came to ask what to do.
They spoke soberly about the seriousness of the disease, and that the lack of a cure was the biggest problem.
Weed let out a low sigh.

“I can’t believe we’ve yet to solve such a simple problem…”
“What?”
“I’ll get rid of the Alkin disease in five minutes.”

It was just unbelievable.
Even as fans of Weed, the users of the Grass Porridge Cult considered it impossible.
Weed was invited by Saintess Priestess Lemon and joined the chat channel where the users of the Grass Porridge Cult gathered.

– Weed: To those with the Alkin disease. How distressing and painful it must be.

“What?”
“Huh. It’s Weed.”

Even the users who were fighting the Haven Empire were very interested in Weed’s message.

– Weed: The Alkin disease is not curable at this time. You will die if you get infected and the development of a cure is impossible right now.

The Alkin disease spread fear and circulated among the Northern users.
Weed revealed the truth to everyone, but of course he had a solution.

– Weed: Unfortunately, there is only one way to make the disease disappear. All those who are infected with Alkin’s disease should kill themselves. Once the patients are gone, there will be no more infections.

A way to wipe out any infectious disease at once!

– Weed: Anyone who dies from Alkin’s disease will receive a year-long free pass to the Puhol Water Park, a 30% discount on the sale of a villa, and priority entrance to the palaces in Morata.

He offered generous gifts in addition to those.

– Weed: If you give up a significant number of levels, you will be appointed as a lord when the Central Continent is conquered, and given the right to purchase seafood from Varna Harbor at an affordable price.

We’ll also create a lottery for users infected with Alkin’s disease and appoint a total of 10 winners as lords of the Arpen Kingdom. All these rewards can only be claimed by committing suicide within 3 minutes to prevent the spread of the epidemic.

The aftermath of Weed’s spread message was immense.
Immediately after, the users staggering from the disease took out their weapons.

“Don’t treat us.”
“Oh yeah! Then I have to die right away.”
“A body that’s already gone. Might as well get the benefits.”
“Wow… still I’m thankful to Weed-nim who took care of me until the end.”
“We are still winners. Phew.”

91% of the users who were infected with Alkin’s disease died in just three minutes.
After about five minutes, there were no more infected users. With just a few words, the worst epidemic ever had been swept away.

“Woahahahahhhhhh!”
“Let’s goo!”
“Ribbit. Ribbit.”
“Cheuchachap, cheuchachap! Ugh. I’m from the Insect Porridge Unit.”
“Hurry and run. There are Insect Porridge troops among us.”
“Agh! It’s insect porridge!”

What happened after overcoming Alkin’s disease was an all-out race for the users.
They climbed over and pushed the Haven Empire, and fell from the sky like rain.

– Hwaryeong: So, surrender. I’ll give you a lot of land as a new habitat for Griffon. I’m telling you, a wyvern is a comfortable ride.

Myul, the leader of the 2nd Division, was listening to Hwaryeong, who he had seen at a party on the Central Continent.

– Myul: I belong to the Hermes Guild.
– Hwaryeong: That’s not how I see it. And if you keep going like that, things are only going to get harder for you.
– Myul: But I don’t want to be branded as a traitor.
– Hwaryeong: If you switch over to the Arpen Kingdom, you’ll be hailed as a hero.

Myul began to agonize over it, seeing that the users were happy on the Garnav Plains and that he had not actively participated in the battle.

‘The Arpen Kingdom is more fun and its subjects are much happier than those of the Haven Empire.’

He really wanted to get revenge on Weed, but he wasn’t all that fond of the Haven Empire either.

‘And the tactics that the Hermes Guild prepared failed.’

Now, the flow of the battle fully favored the Arpen Kingdom.

– Hwaryeong: I’ll pass on Weed-nim’s suggestion. I think this will be the last time.

*Gulp*

Myul unknowingly swallowed some dry saliva.

– Hwaryeong: He said that if you fight for the Arpen Kingdom right now, you may continue to use the land in your current territory or that he would give away land from the Arpen Kingdom. But if you want to remain with the Haven Empire, you will never fly in the sky again.
– Myul: I won’t be able to fly in the sky?
– Hwaryeong: Including Bingryong and Phoenix, we’ll take action with sculptural lifeforms like the Baraags. They will follow and attack Myul-nim until the end.

“…”

Myul’s griffon knight unit was powerful, but if they had to fight combat-oriented sculptural lifeforms like the Baraags, nobody could guarantee the results. In battle with other ground forces, griffon troops could fly in and out of the sky, but that would be impossible against aerial sculptural lifeforms.

– Hwaryeong: Weed-nim is going to order the griffon troops to be killed. He said he’d wipe the griffons off the continent. Especially, all captured griffons will be cooked half-fried and half-marinated.
– Myul: That’s… that’s way too cruel. Also, many users would criticize that kind of practice.

The public bashed them every time the Hermes Guild publicly ordered a killing.
It was obvious that the killings were one of the reasons why users turned their backs on the Hermes Guild.
– Hwaryeong: He says that life is a romance for him, but for others it’s an affair.
– Myul: Hmm.
– Hwaryeong: He says revenge should be strictly enforced. He says poor compromises or forgiveness can get you in the back.

Myul realized it was time to choose.
Weed was not a kind or merciful character.
If he remained with the Haven Empire, he would be stupid rather than loyal.

– Myul: All right. I’ll stand with the Arpen Empire.
– Hwaryeong: You’ve chosen well. But also, one more thing.
– Myul: What?
– Hwaryeong: It’s not free to come over to the Arpen Kingdom. It’ll cost you some money.
– Myul: You didn’t say anything like that just a minute ago.
– Hwaryeong: That’s Weed-nim. Don’t do it if you don’t want to.

*****

At the end of the road, the Haven Empire fought well against the users. Not just one or two, they took out dozens of them.

“Hold on! We must win…”

Commander Draka’s voice was weak.
The effect of the broadcast was huge, and they realized that the Alkin disease had disappeared in vain.

‘Is our destiny to fight to the end and die? I thought we would unite the Versailles Continent… The end feels empty.’

Draka saw something huge approaching beyond the Northern users.
The mega sculptural lifeform troops that Emperor Geihar had given life to.

“What kind of monsters are those?”

Users poured down from the sky.

“The 2nd Legion is finally moving!”

At someone’s cry, the Hermes Guild users looked up at the sky.
The sun rose and illuminated the bright blue sky full of griffons coming towards the ground.

“That’s enough. I can finally rest.”
“But still, they were too late!”

It was time for the 2nd Legion to ease their discontent. However, the griffons did not attack the Avians flapping their wings in the sky, but flew toward the Haven Empire troops. Then they focused on attacking the magicians and spirits.

“It’s a betrayal.”
“The 2nd Legion betrayed us!”
“…”

Myul, an important pillar of the Haven Empire, had betrayed the empire.
Draka realized that everything he had been working on was falling apart.

“It’s done. Let’s fight bravely till the moment we die! Everyone, charge!”

The 13th Legion all took out their weapons and jumped into the Northern users.
They were powerful warriors but died one by one taking with them hundreds of users each.

*****

“It’s a disaster.”

Heiller briefly commented on the current situation.
Not a single thing was going right, and the Northern users hurled a series of attacks.

‘Somebody said it once. There is no war that is just winning. You will suffer defeat someday.’

Still, it was a satisfying life.
Royal Road had become one of the best games in the world and troops had become far stronger since the game’s release…

‘We didn’t lose to the weak but to Weed. Against the one called the God of War… It’s too bad that the conquest of the Versailles Continent was right in front of us, but we will have to accept it.’

Next to him, Crebulta let out a stream of curse words and commanded his troops.

“South! The southern perimeter is weak!”

They tried to collect the troops until the end and run away, but there was no hope at all.
The Northern users and the users of the Central Continent gathered together.
The users of the central continent had hesitated because of their fears of the Haven Empire but now that the Arpen Kingdom had the advantage, they drew their swords with renewed enthusiasm.

“All our fears have finally been swept away!”
“Let’s kill everyone from the Hermes Guild!”

Level 200 and 300 users attacked from all directions.
The Arpen Kingdom’s power was more powerful than ever, and the war’s result was completely solidified.

“Are you the commander?”

Geomchi5 appeared in front of Heroid.
He held an axe in each hand, with broad shoulders and a long beard.

“I am Geomchi5. Let’s fight.”

Under normal circumstances, Heroid would never accept a challenge like this.

‘Isn’t he quite a celebrity too? I saw on air that he was a close friend of Weed’s.’

As the war seemed lost, members of the Hermes guild at least wanted to look good in the broadcasts.

“Okay. Let’s fight.”
“Keukeukeu. Yeah. Like a man.”

Geomchi5 jumped in while twirling the axe in his hand.
Heroid regretted it at that very moment but attacked by swinging his weapon from less than a meter away, if that, and caused a huge slugfest.

*Swing! swing! swing!*

Axes flew wildly in front of their eyes.
Heroid’s attacks were blocked or missed, while Geomchi5’s struck all the right spots.

“Mana Sword!”

He tried to cast his sword skill quickly, but rather hit his own foot.
Geomchi5 continued his attacks without seeing the sword strikes and dodged by instinct.

“What is this!”

Heroid shouted.
Whenever Geomchi5 dodged or pushed away the sword he had called, he was sent flying like a whirlwind.

“If you depend solely on skills, you will never get stronger. A man rushes forward.”

Geomchi5 read Heroid’s simple attack patterns and put pressure on him.

“I’m not one to die that easily!”

Heroid realized that there was a huge gap in their basic swordsmanship and used his skills at random.
They brought each other’s health down, but the final winner was Geomchi5. His health dropped to the floor and even though a sword was stuck in his chest, Heroid died first.

“Hahahaha. I won!”

Geomchi5 smiled cheerfully and raised his axe high.

*****

A giant sculptural lifeform in the Garnav Plains was flying in the sky. Weed placed a chair on its broad sturdy head and rode it.

“Good fight.”
“Kkeu ehehet.”
“You haven’t decided on your name yet?”
“Yes. Master.”

Emperor Geihar chose Weed as the owner of the sculptural lifeforms. Until the end, Weed was the only one he believed in.

“Let’s call you Poro-bird.”
“Strange name.”
“You’re big but you look cute. That’s why you will be so popular at the doll claw machines across the country.”
“Kkuet?”
“Of course, the young children, but also the adults’ money… there’s something like that anyways.”

There was a fierce ground battle going on.
The combo of the Northern users’ large number tactics and the giant sculptural creatures.
Even the Central Continent users were actively participating, and the Haven Empire was collapsing.
Weed watched the scene with mixed feelings.

“They once were the dominant force on the Versailles Continent. It’s bitter to see such a fall.”

The Hermes Guild’s power was great when Royal Road was starting.
No matter which broadcast was on, stories about the Hermes Guild emerged and became bright like the sun in their conquest of war.
Watching that empire collapse was as if it was his own future.

“You really have to be good at being a dictator. Otherwise, you’ll look like the Hermes Guild.”

– Pale: All the remnants of the Haven Empire outside have been wiped out.
– Seasoned crab: Just got rid of Crebulta. I got a pair of gloves as the trophy. Hu hu hu.
– Python: The large-scale destruction of the 3rd Legion’s spearmen has been completed.
– Ghoragoll: They’re pushing. Really… Really… The Northern users are amazing. We will win this war for sure.
– Mapan: I’ve just opened a temporary stall and made some investments. As the Hermes Guild’s loot is released, the price of luxury goods is expected to fall.
– Elkgoon: As I’ve said, we are brewing tons of alcohol. We’re also preparing sides dishes. But can we really get ten times the usual price?

There were whispers going around among the various users.
There were reports of the war, but most were that they were fighting well.

– Geomchi: It’s fun here, youngest.

Weed looked down at the ground.
Desert warriors rode camels and frantically broke through the Haven Empire army’s formation.
Scimitars, knives, axes, hammers, clubs.
The thrill of swinging any weapon through the enemy lines!
The group was growing fast, with the swordsmen, masters, and trainees joining the powerful men of the Central and Northern continents.
At first glance there were hundreds of thousands.
Users riding horses and bulls were darting away together creating a huge cloud of dust.

“Well. It’s time for the harvest. Let’s go there too!”

Chapter 6: Weed and Bard Ray

Lafaye closed his eyes while looking at the crystal ball showing combat images.

‘We have lost…’

At some point he began to fear defeat.
It would be a lie to say that there were no burdens as the Haven Empire grew larger and larger.
He tried to ignore it because of the joy of realizing his future dream, but the defeat in this battle was painful.

‘It was definitely a winning strategy, but all my moves were stopped by Weed.’

Weed.

Tactics were drawn against that single man. The idea was that removing Weed, the core of the Arpen Kingdom, would dampen the hopes of the Northern users.

‘All our moves failed, and the Alkin’s disease was so simply eradicated…’

Lafaye let out a sigh.
He had thought that Weed would have had a hard time finding a cure.

‘There’s no way to reverse the battle now.’

Bard Ray and the Royal Guard… Although the 1st Legion hadn’t set out yet, they had acknowledged their failure.

‘Everything went wrong. There is no future for the Haven Empire that we made.’

The reason why Bard Ray’s forces did not go forward was so they could rule the Versailles Continent.
Even if he were to manage barely winning, it would only show the limits of the power that the Haven Empire had.
Governing in the future would only be possible if they gave the impression that they could win without Bard Ray and his key forces.
Power is what you use when you have no other option.
It was impossible for the Hermes Guild to manage the masses following Weed and the rebel forces that may rise up.

“Check your equipment!”
“Bard Ray will take the field.”

Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild members were getting ready to start.

‘Because time wasn’t on our side… This is how our dream of conquering the continent ends.’

Lafaye was lost in thought, looking out of the tent.

“We will win. I am the strongest on the continent.”
“Hurrah for Bard Ray!”
“Let’s go. We are the real Hermes Guild.”
“Oh, come on. We’re getting called out for a simple thing like this. It’s annoying.”

Bard Ray came leading the Royal Guard.
With Hermes Guild users and knights on horses, they gathered the large demonic creatures and readied for war.

“The entire army is ready to go.”
“Let’s move. Come on!”

The 20 to 30-meter-tall demonic creatures were in the thousands, boasting their high pressure.
The last forces of the Haven Empire appeared.

‘Finally, we’ll show the power of the Hermes Guild.’

Lafaye felt their limitations.
The reign of the Versailles Continent could not be attained by an individual force.
In the early days of Royal Road, they had drawn people’s attention and gathered strong figures, but now that was all over.

‘To win the continent, you must receive the hearts of the people. User named Weed… Your skill foundation and your ability to excite people is excellent. It’s to the point that it can’t comply with analysis and your scheming is unrivaled. You could not have succeeded in creating the Arpen Kingdom in the North with just mental calculations and being successful on some reckless quests. You needed to analyze and find the best possible way to do things most efficiently.

You’ve been nicknamed the God of War since the times of the Continent of Magic. I didn’t believe it… But it seems you will win anyway.’

His mind was calm despite being faced with a war that he was bound to lose. However, he could not stand down like this.
Lafaye called adventurer Panther.

“There is something you must do.”
“What?”
“Share your ongoing quest and leave me the Dragon’s egg.”
“Dragon’s egg…”

Panther was on an S rank quest.

< The Dragon’s Egg

You have discovered an egg which was produced between the green dragon Arankald and the black dragon Kaybern. After Arankald departed for some unknown reason, the egg has been left in its current place until now.

The egg that has been subjected to human touch will incur the rage of the dragons. In order to quell their anger, you must hatch the egg safely and wait for the birth of the baby dragon.

Difficulty Level: S

Restrictions: You must have discovered the dragon’s egg. It is impossible to abandon this quest at the current progress stage. >

“I understand.”

Panther, who had received a lot of help from the Hermes Guild, was unable to refuse the request.

“I’ll leave you the Dragon’s Egg.”

< The quest has been shared >

*****

Bard Ray and the Royal Guard.
The 1st Legion was advancing to the Garnav Plains.

– Steer: The 10th Legion has been annihilated. The 7th Legion is in bad shape.

Reports were frequently coming in from the intelligence squad, but there was no good news.
They were only getting killed by the users on the side of the Arpen Kingdom.

“Let’s kill them all.”
“Yes. Because Bard Ray, the Godly Warrior, is heading into battle.”
“You said you were badly hurt by them in the 2nd Legion. The situation will change completely once we step in.”

The Hermes Guild users on horseback laughed and chatted.
Despite several defeats at the Guild level, this time they believed it was different.
Bard Ray and the users with him gathered the best from the Hermes Guild and were full of confidence.

“If it’s the 10th Legion, they are led by Slater.”
“My friend is in there too.”
“Was the 10th Legion really swept away?”

– Steer: The 13th Legion has also been annihilated. Though they fought hard… Draka has also lost his life while destroying two mega sculptural lifeforms.

Draka.
In the past, he was a commander of the Northern army, and flawless in his ability. Now he had died alongside his troops.
Famous strong men that the Hermes Guild had boasted about were now collapsing one after another.

“This really is…”
“This is ridiculous. Check out the KMC media video. The users are sweeping us like a tsunami. How can we survive this?”
“What the heck is that falling from the sky?”
“It can’t be ignored. All those who fought for the conquest of the Central Continent have switched sides to the Arpen Kingdom.”

As they advanced toward the soon-to-be battlefield in the Garnav Plains, the hearts of the Hermes Guild users became heavier.

– Steer: The 19th Legion led by Commander Dain has surrendered. There were a lot of users from the Kallamore area… They decided to stop fighting and switch sides to the Arpen Kingdom.

Dain had fought bravely on the battlefield.
Although she had performed better than expected with the Kallamore-born users on her side, the balance of power had shifted too far.

“We’ve lost. There’s no need to die fighting pointlessly, let’s surrender and go on over to the Arpen Kingdom.”

Users of the 19th Legion followed the decision of Dain and furtively laid down their arms.

“Wow… To be honest I actually really like Grass Porridge.”
“Frankly, I stayed because I had roots in the Central Continent, but I’ve wanted to join the Arpen Kingdom from the beginning.”
“Stop! They’re friendly forces!”
“Stop the attack! Stop the attack!”
“Let’s not fight and just share a bowl of Grass Porridge.”

In a flash, a nice and warm Grass Porridge exchange market opened.
Hermes Guild members who belonged to the 19th Legion also surrendered and decided to join the Arpen Kingdom.
They were aware of the situation and didn’t want to die pointlessly.
What was absurd was that after seeing the 19th Legion stop fighting, many of the Hermes Guild members nearby followed suit and surrendered.

“We used to like the Arpen Kingdom too.”
“Weed-nim is the true hero of Royal Road.”
“I’m really going to switch sides. I’m sick of the Hermes Guild.”
“I’ll try calling Bard Ray a son of a bitch. Bard Ray you son of a bitch. Bard Ray you son of a bitch. Bard Ray you son of a bitch.”

These scenes were being relayed on every station. Unlike CTS or KMC media, the small and medium broadcasters did not hesitate to release sensational and provocative videos as they were competing for ratings.

“Here in the studio we have Saerom-ssi himself, a famous Northern ranger. Saerom-ssi.”
“Yes.”
“As things stand now, it seems the Hermes Guild is totally ruined.”

The comments from the hosts were strong, and the images only showed Hermes Guild members dying in droves.
Imperial soldiers being trampled to death by the galloping mega sculptural lifeforms on the Garnav Plains.

“The Hermes Guild lost because they underestimated Weed’s ability to survive.”
“To survive?”
“Yes. The plan to catch Weed was wrong in and of itself. It seems like the situation is completely reversed.”
“That’s right. Weed-nim’s acquaintances were saying that Weed is someone you can’t kill with a siege or a plague… So let me ask you then, how can he be dealt with?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t. But it certainly won’t be possible to catch him with most traps, I can tell you that.”
“Ah. Right now the Grass Porridge goddess has appeared, leading the Baraag troops. They came over after suppressing the wizards who summoned the burning meteor.”

Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild members who accompanied him were also distracted when Seoyoon appeared on screen.
Whether they were an ally or an enemy, it was a beauty that every man and woman could see.

“Attack!”

The Baraag troops led by Seoyoon and the elite troops of the Arpen Kingdom joined forces.
They shot arrows and magic from the sky.
In a close battle you would wait for the projectiles to fall before attacking, but without hesitation they broke through the sturdy defenses of the Haven Empire.
Following the surrender of the 19th Legion, powerful support forces emerged on the side of the Arpen Kingdom!
Even as the avians were constantly transporting troops in the sky, there was no way to guess how many there were.
The Hermes Guild members began to lay down their arms.

“I will surrender.”
“I’ve sinned a lot, so you may kill me. I won’t resist anymore.”
“I wanted to be strong, so I joined the Hermes Guild… If I can get a second chance I will become a resident of the Arpen Kingdom.”

The battlefield situation was rapidly resolving.

“We joined the Hermes Guild this time. They said we would regret not joining if we wanted to live on the Central Continent… Last time it was the Corom Guild. You know it had a good reputation for beginners, right?”
“I once posted the Insane Dungeon Invasion with more than 8 million views. It sounds like an excuse, but I didn’t mean to live badly. I was forced to. Can’t you forgive me now?”

As the Hermes Guild grew, users who used to be members switched over to the Arpen Kingdom.
Hesitation was small because there was no loyalty from the beginning.

“These are the Garnav Plains. Hermes Guild members are rapidly surrendering…”
“The splendor of the mega sculptural lifeforms. It’s like they don’t die.”
“Look at the sky. I can see people all over. They’re jumping!”

The Garnav Plains were becoming the territory of the Arpen Kingdom.
The Haven Empire fell, and the Arpen Kingdom grew stronger.

“Damn.”
“Can we win this?”

The hearts of the Hermes Guild members on the march alongside Bard Ray were heavy.

*****

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Fabio and Herman were busy hammering.
The mega sculptures were being urgently repaired, but their work was far from finished.

“Oh, no. It will be too late!”
“Even if we are unable to produce this armor on time, I think Weed will still be able to pull through on his own.”
They were building armor as master blacksmiths with the metal of God, Helium.
Through Weed’s adventure, Essen Porat’s skin and heart brought by Yurin, a Rank 1 Mana Crystal, the Iron Mace of Gratorgue, the Metal of Ruin, and even the tears of a dragon were mixed together at an optimum ratio.

“Though they’re almost too good to use… this is about making the very best work.”
“I’ll open the last stores”
The two blacksmiths brought out rare minerals they had saved up until the last minute.
– Narok’s Crystal
– The Horn of Fortune
– Hell Star fragment
– The False God’s Scythe
– Deep Earth Lava .
The rank 1 rare blacksmiths brought out all their materials and cooperated in making the protective gear.

“We can’t be ignored by Weed. The humiliation from that time was something I had never felt before in my life.”
“Yes. You’re right. Old man. Let’s show him a work that will blow Weed away.”
Complaints about Weed!
They made boots from the hide and feathers of a Pegasus, and a helmet laced with unbreakable gems.

“The armor is the key.”
“Of course. Weed will probably be very particular.”
“I can’t be disregarded again. This armor will enable him to move quickly, will be comfortable for activities, and it won’t weigh him down.”
“We must equip it with unprecedented defensive power.”
“I’m thinking about something more than a medium armor.”
“Yes. We’ll need to combine the materials well to get a lot of options; very special and rare options.”
“Though it’s difficult we’ll have to manage.”
Fabio and Herman were master swordsmiths.
They used to think the sword was a symbol of strength.
In reality, making armor took a lot more effort and was a more difficult task.

“No matter what, we need to finish before the war is over.”
“Of course.”
Fabio and Herman worked together on their honor and pride as blacksmiths.
– It’s not much.
They should never hear these words spoken by Weed again.
All the attributes were prepared to fix all the stats and options with a focus on defense.

“Infuse it with beauty as well.”
“We should insert the star fragment well.”
Just as the two blacksmiths were finishing their work.

– Weed: Old man Fabio. The armor is going well, right? It’s running a bit late.

It was a strangely abrasive yet polite voice.

“Keuheum. It’s almost finished.”
– Weed: This battle is coming to an end as well. But Bard Ray is coming.
“We know too.”
– Weed: I want to use it when I fight Bard Ray. It seems like a good opportunity for your armor to shine.
“I’ll send it right away because it’s as perfect as can be. We have made a piece that is worthy of the pride we feel from being given the Helium.”

Fabio and Herman were feeling proud of themselves.
Their labor had been painful and hard.
There was a lot of trial and error, but they still managed to create the best armor, a masterpiece they could truly be proud of.
– Sky Ruler Armor Set.
If Weed were to fight in this armor, everyone would know who the best blacksmiths are.

‘But weren’t we already the best?’
‘What? How did it come to this?’

They finished the job and looked for any flaws.
Unlike the many swords they made, they felt an attachment to the armor as if it was their child.

– Weed: Also, please fit it for me.
“Oh, don’t worry. It will be very comfortable. It will fit well.”
– Weed: I’d like it in the form of Karichwi the Orc.
“Orc? And that of Karichwi?”

When he transformed into Karichwi the Orc, he was much bigger than a human.

– Weed: I’ll transform into Karichwi when I fight Bard Ray.
“Why are you telling me that now…”
– Weed: So, get it done quickly.

Fabio thought.

‘Weed, is he actually a bad guy?’

The Hermes Guild was polite when they made requests, but the way he was giving orders left and right made him bossy.

‘I wonder if it would have been better to stay with the Haven Empire…’

A moment of deep regret passed by.

– Weed: If I beat Bard Ray, it would be due to both of you.
“Due to us?”
– Weed: Yes. If I interview with each station, your names and help will be the first thing I will talk about.
“Keuheuhum. It’s not that big of a deal.”

Fabio was about to refuse to save face but looked at Herman and saw him shake his head in a hurry.
Old men.
In their situation, their desire for fame was greater than anything else.
Although they refused, they were eager to make it not seem like a genuine refusal.
Fabio spoke in a hurry just in case.

“We’ll be thankful if you don’t forget our help.”
– Weed: Yes. By the way, you can adjust the size to human form after the sculptural transformation, right?
“Of course. Huhhuh. No problem.”

*****

Bard Ray and the Haven Empire’s elite corps arrived at the Garnav Plains.
They were the core users of the Hermes Guild, which had grown since they started in the Haven region.

“Battle formation!”
“Everyone ready for battle!”

Half a million elite troops spread out over a wide area and advanced, with Northern users backing off without fighting.

“What’s this? Don’t you want to fight?”
“It’s a good thing if they’re scared of us.”

The Northern users had always been brave, but now they were stepping back.

“They’re running away, let’s kill them all!”

Boemong shouted with a loud voice.

“Wipe them all out!”

The knights were sent ahead, before the Haven Empire troops, to rush to the front and fight.
A slightly short but pretty female user walked out in front of them.
Among the users of the Grass Porridge Church, there were no strangers to the name of Saint Lemon.

“I’ve come to give you all a message from Weed-nim.”

She was a confident woman even standing in front of the great army of the Haven Empire.
There was nothing visible because her level was low.

“What’s going on?”

Royal Guard Arakhim advanced while riding on a horned demonic creature. The demonic creature Kenon had a level of over 600 and his strength was such that he could easily destroy a city gate, or even a knight at a similar level.

“Weed-nim is challenging Bard Ray to a one-on-one fight.”

A commotion was made inside as soon as Lemon spoke.

“A fight?”
“One-on-one?”
“My god. Is he mad? Weed and Bard Ray alone?”

The Hermes Guild members thought Bard Ray’s victory was natural.
It seemed reckless for Weed to ask for a duel, but much more so because the Arpen Kingdom had the advantage; there was no reason.

“What the hell is he trying to do?”
“Is his plan to drag him inside and surprise attack him?”
“He’d be severely condemned for that… there’s no reason for that.”

Lemon grinned and spoke.

“Everyone. There’s no conspiracy here. In other words, Weed-nim doesn’t want to let anyone else defeat Bard Ray, he wants to do it himself.”
“…”

The Hermes Guild members kept their mouths shut.
Hurting their pride was a secondary problem, and it was hard for them to control how to react to this good fortune.
They thought they would win the battle, but now that they were here they had lost a lot of confidence.
The battle would be much easier if Bard Ray defeated Weed.

Northern users.
Since Weed was at the core of the Arpen Kingdom, if he was done away with, they would be sheeps without a shepherd.

*Ttagak ttagak*

Bard Ray rode his horse towards Lemon. He was equipped with the best equipment on the continent and rode a silver-white horse that shined like jewelry.
Stuart, a warhorse descended from the renowned Lindlin steeds of the past.

“Did Weed really ask me to fight?”
“Yes. He said he is waiting at the fight location. I will guarantee your safety the whole way there in the name of the Grass Porridge Cult.”

Every Hermes Guild member and Northern user in the room was watching Bard Ray to decide.
Bard Ray raised his hand.

“I will accept the duel. Everyone, advance.”

The Haven Empire troops advanced through the open path as the users stepped aside.

*****

The officials at KMC media and the other stations were startled.

“A fight like this decided so suddenly?”
“Yes. This will be a huge publicity stunt.”

Weed and Bard Ray!
Ratings were soaring at the news that a duel would take place to decide who was the strongest on the Versailles Continent.

“Finally! It’s time for the viewers to decide who is the strongest on the continent.”
“There are a lot of rankers, but I haven’t seen Bard Ray’s stronghold. The same goes for Weed. Bard Ray has never lost a battle in hunting or battles with users.”
“To be precise, Weed has lost to Bard Ray before in the Melbourne Mines. But it has been a long time since then.”
“Yes. At that time, there were assessments that it was a very disadvantageous fight for him.”

Oh Joo-wan reviewed the materials reported in real time.
Apart from the Hermes Guild, almost every user on the Versailles continent was on the side of the Arpen Kingdom.
The Grass Porridge Cult, the Frontier Spirit, Saeroeum.
The victory of the Arpen Kingdom was sealed if there was no unexpected change in their power to attract the people.

“With the power balance out of proportion, the battle may end quickly depending on the outcome of this fight.”
“I don’t think the Northern users will collapse even if Weed loses. But the Haven Empire would quickly collapse.”
“Because Bard Ray is the strongest in the Hermes Guild, a defeat would have a huge impact.”
“But can you kill Bard Ray? The armor he is wearing is Legendary tier, near the tier of the apostles of God.”
“Yes. If you watch combat videos of Bard Ray, there are no flaws to point out. High offense and defense. And he has mastered all of the best skills with perfect form.”

“Weed is quick and bold. He is keen and does not miss a single moment, having an extraordinary ingenuity. Still, it remains to be seen whether he can be safe from Bard Ray’s spear and shield.”
The studio was filled with enthusiasm as the Haven Empire forces advanced to the battleground that was being built on the Garnav Plains.

“But why on earth did Weed suggest a showdown first?”
Oh Joo-wan spoke in wonder.
Famous users from the Central and Northern continents attended the event on a panel, but they too were unable to guess what had happened.

“The way we see it, the Arpen Kingdom was in a situation with a great advantage. It’s a fight you don’t have to go out in person.”
“Weed was known for not making reckless judgments.”
“Could it be revenge? He had died once to Bard Ray.”
“Would he take such a simple emotion like that to this big battlefield? Winning a war should be revenge enough.”
“It’s honor! He needs the honor of beating him with his own hands to unify the Versailles continent.”
“You have a point. But he could still lose, to take that kind of risk…”
Everyone spoke their opinion, but nothing was conclusive.
Oh Joo-wan and Do Chan-mi’s gaze headed toward Shin Hye-min, who was sitting next to them.
They assumed that she would know what was going on since she had gone on adventures with Weed and she was close to him.
Shin Hye-min thought hard and spoke hesitantly.

“Uh… umm. I’m not sure. Could it be that Weed-nim’s purpose is his desire for gear?”
“Gear?”
Oh Joo-wan opened his eyes wide at the entirely new angle.
Every user was paying attention to the fight on the Garnav Plains that would decide the battle.
Honor, revenge, what could be his intention. Gear!

“Bard Ray has been nicknamed the Godly Warrior. He has a lot of top-class equipment among the users.”
“Yes, because he is the emperor of the Haven Empire.”
Broadcast stations had covered Bard Ray’s equipment on numerous occasions.
He was famous for changing his best equipment every week and month.
There was a system where Bard Ray would use equipment from the Hermes Guild even if there was already an owner and would return it once he got something better.

“Weed-nim isn’t someone who would be driven by just revenge.”
“Revenge isn’t the reason?”
“Even if he wanted revenge, he would have given up if it turned a loss. Even he if pays back a grudge, Weed’s way is to make a profit or surplus.”
Shin Hye-min’s firm remarks left other hosts and participants unable to speak.
Is there any more complex human being in the world?
He seems to be a great adventurer yet is stingy, a war genius yet a master sculptor.
He was undoubtedly someone who would seek revenge, but also had a rational personality that would give up if there was no economic feasibility.
Do Chan-mi shouted as if he knew.

“Warrior Bard Ray has never died! He’s notorious for being a murderer, so if he dies, there will be a lot of gear…”
“If we sell that gear, it would be Godly Warrior Bard Ray’s limited edition. We could get whatever price we ask.”

A huge crowd gathered around the location prepared for the showdown between Weed and Bard Ray.
“Everyone please be seated. It may be inconvenient but this way, more people will be able to spectate.”
Under the directions of Lemon, the saintess of the Grass Porridge Cult, the crowd sat down on the ground.
Users sitting on the ground were wearing armor of different shapes and colors, reminiscent of a grain field.

“We can’t see anything back here.”
“Sigh… I can’t see the fight between Weed and Bard Ray? No way!”
Enormous sculptural creatures that were brought to life in the Garnav Plains approached the users in the far back.
They were beings fit to be bosses at levels ranging around 700 to 800, with the size of mountains.

“Humans. Climb onto our shoulders and back.”
“Spectate comfortably from higher grounds.”
The enormous sculptural creatures graciously offered their heads and backs for the humans to climb.
They had optimistic and kind personalities because they were sculpted by many humans.
Hundreds of supersized sculptural creatures.
Over a hundred thousand users were able to climb up to spectate the fight and the sky was covered by Avians.
The Avians each had as many users riding on their backs as possible.

“Will Weed-nim win?”
“Of course he will.”
“Bard Ray will be very powerful… There are rumors that he learned 6 secret sword skills.”
“Such a spectacle it will be.”
“Objectively, I think Bard Ray is superior. Though in my heart I want to root for Weed-nim.”r
The users’ excitement blew up in anticipation of the battle that would soon happen before their eyes.
Some thought they would witness a great fight, while others were admiring Weed’s spirit for a challenge.

“He would have won the war staying still, but instead he took it to a duel.”
“That is because he is Weed-nim.”
The atmosphere was full of expectation as the best of the Versailles Continent was to be decided soon.

“Whoo. This is quite a crowd.”
Pale and the other comrades arrived at the battle location.
They were worn out like rags due to battling against the Hermes guild members on their way here.
Weed and Bard Ray.
Even their close companions were eager to see a spectacular battle, and Surka burst out suddenly.

“Let’s all bet on who will win!”
“… 100 gold on Weed.”
“1000 gold on Weed.”
“I’m betting all my life savings on Weed-nim.”
“We can’t have a bet this way.”
“Then Python should bet on Bard Ray.”
“That’s… All-in on Weed.”
“…”
There was a long silence between them.
This wasn’t about rooting based on loyalty or honor. They had spent too much time with Weed for them to do so.

“It was Weed who proposed this fight. Honestly, I think that Bard Ray would come out ahead. But the point is that Weed proposed it first.”
“Pale is right. It means Weed prepared a guaranteed strategy to win. A perfect trap. A backstab.”
Seasoned Crab shook his head in response to Irene.

“Not necessarily. There’s a variable for every situation. You really think Bard Ray did not come prepared to fight Weed?”
“Weed would have planned tricks for such situations as well.”
“Hmm…”
Seasoned Crab simulated Weed and Bard Ray’s duel a bit in his head, but it was uncertain to determine the outcome before they actually begin their battle.
Godly Warrior Bard Ray.
He had an impressive combat history and fame in his own standing.
The figure of Bard Ray leading the Haven Imperial army was thought to be befitting of his nickname ‘Godly Warrior’ by users across the Central Continent.

“Alright. To establish this betting game, I will bet 10,000 gold on Bard Ray’s win.”
Surka screamed thinking that someone finally fell for it.

“Yes! Free money!”

Hermes guild members arrived at the battle location with an imposing figure, herding demonic beasts.

“Wow. It is Bard Ray himself.”
“Giant Knight Boemong! Amazing…”
“I was able to learn the ropes of Royal Road by watching Ranger Troker’s Dark Mountain guide.”
Users were in awe watching Bard Ray and the other Royal Road’s best rankers.
These figures who rarely showed up even on broadcast had appeared riding on vicious demonic beasts.
The Hermes guild was very infamous around the world but the northern users did not know much about them and only picked out the most famous ones of all.

“Bard Ray is really handsome.”
“He did not spend a single stat point into charm. But he has the equipment boost giving him that handsome aura.”
“Plainly, Bard Ray wins just for being good-looking.”
There were positive comments about the Hermes guild, but as the rest of their forces arrived the views of the spectating users began to change.

“They all have murderer marks on their foreheads.”
“It means they killed a considerable number.”
“In Morata I’ve never seen a murderer inside the city walls.”
“Hermes guild members would kill anyone to defend the supremacy of their guild.”
“Their equipment looks really powerful. They’re all wearing the Serodei armor considered to be the best out of all the late 400 level equipment.”
“Their character is not so good, but they are skilled. I’ll admit that.”
“Hey hey, I still can’t sleep at night because of my experience of their assault back in Central continent.”
“How bad were they?”

There were novice users but there were also skilled users over level 400 among the crowd.
They glared at the Hermes guild with resentment in their eyes.

“Tell me about it. They would hit you for no reason, take your money and bully you in dungeon grinds…”
“Really? You aren’t lying?”
“They kill because they are annoyed. They were practically acting as tyrants.”
Hermes guild members were a tad bit uneasy due to the crowd that had filled the Garnav Plains.

‘By the way… Isn’t that Jaco from the Black Lion Guild? That guy also killed quite a lot of users. When did he move to the Arpen Kingdom…’?
‘Wow. There seemed to be a lot of users who signed up to join the Hermes guild…’
They learned through the crowd attitude that the heart of the people around the world had changed.
Through occasional broadcast observations through the crystal sphere, the announcers were reporting that the Haven Imperial army was being pushed back in military strength.

“There are approximately 1 million users gathered in Garnav Plains.”
“Hold on. Didn’t you say that there were 1 million at the start? Countless users died in battle.”
“There were also many users that arrived late. The Arpen Kingdom hosted festivals to encourage participation, but there were still a lot of users who took their time.”
“Why did they arrive so late?”
“It’s because of grinding. The higher the level, the greater the desire for growth. You could see it as users who lingered around the hunting fields until the situation became risky.”
“You can see that there are a lot more… Central users now. You can distinguish them easily by their wonderful armor.”
“Yes. They now stand in the camps of the Arpen Kingdom. There’re many users who couldn’t choose between the Haven Empire and the Arpen Kingdom until the very last moment.”
“How come?”
“It’s because they probably did not want to die in vain. They were probably also afraid of the Haven Empire’s assassination orders… The higher the level, the more attached they are to their characters and their homelands.”
“These people taking the side of the Arpen Kingdom means that the tides have surely turned in its favor.”
“That’s correct. They all have witnessed the failure of the Hermes guild’s strategy. During the stalemate, the Arpen Kingdom had replenished its forces completely. According to my speculations, all of this may have been Weed’s plan…”
The Hermes guild members began to picture defeat before the fighting even began.

‘But we still have Bard Ray on our side.’
‘If he can kill Weed, it can create a possibility. A guaranteed possibility…’
It was faint, but they grasped their last straw of hope.

*****

“Chwii. It is dazzling.”
“I set some jewels in it. I mean, it is our work. It deserves some recognition.”
“Where are they from?”

*Chwik!*

“They’re blue diamonds from the Malbio mine.”

Weed, in the form of Karichwi the Orc, put on the armor given by Fabio and Herman.
He covered his growling muscular body with impressive splendid armor. The primal beauty of the orc and the wonderful armor strangely complimented one another.

“There is no other armor as impressive as this one.”
Fabio spoke out with pride in his voice.

<Sky Dominator’s armor:

Durability 320/320.

Defense 330.

Armor made from a combination of the world’s most mystic and unique metals.

A collaborative work of Blacksmith masters Fabio and Herman.

Many materials such as the Tear of God and Helium the living metal were put into this armor. For complete fusion, the lava from the Inextinguishable Volcano was used.

It went through 14 smelting and reinforcements, made to be the most robust on earth.

It was forged from Earth and Fire and had the affection of the elementals..

The wearer will be awarded with infinite fame and honor.

Requirements:

Level 850.

300,000 Fame.

1300 Strength

500 Dignity

400 Faith.

Option:

200% increase in maximum health points and mana.

5% increase in all stats.

78% reduction in physical damage taken.

No damage received from arrows shot beyond a 200m radius.

31% magic resistance.

A chance to negate incoming magic spells.

75% reduction of mana cost for all skills.

If injured, health recovery rate increases 5x.

Quick mana recovery if mana falls below 30%.

Enhanced effects of defensive skills.

Immune to abnormal conditions.

Blessing of either Freya, Mine, or Battali is granted randomly.

Very light-weight.

Very sturdy.

Increased movement speed.

Based on the wearer’s abilities, the armor performance can grow up to a maximum of 20%.

Solid Body and Admirable Resilience activate automatically.>

‘This is insane. How easy grinding would have been if I wore such an armor from the start. Surely, squeezing every drop out of these blacksmith masters really paid off in the end.’
Weed was satisfied as he examined the options.
Trustworthy dwarves one should say.
He lightly provoked the self-conceited dwarves, which resulted in such a masterpiece.

“Chwii, Chwiiiik! I heard that many dwarves yearn for Thor, the kingdom of blacksmith masters.”
“Well yes, that is the case.”
“As compensation, I will construct a dwarven city. Chwiiik!”
One thing that Weed was disappointed with the northern continent is that they did not have a dwarven city like Kusoro.
There were dwarves residing in the continent, but their numbers were low and scattered.
There was a lack in blacksmith techniques, and he would be able to bring in many dwarves from the central continent by promoting Fabio and Herman.

‘Dwarves are very active in the production of weapons, and they spend all their earnings drinking tremendous amounts of beer. The more dwarves the better.’
Dwarves, known for vigorous production and spending, were a race well suited for exploitation.

“A dwarven city. Isn’t that too much of a compensation?”
“You should consider the lord position. Chwiiik. It is fun being the lord of Arpen Kingdom. Chwik!”
“I’ve heard such stories… Then who will be the lord?”
Sparks of competition dwelled in the eyes of Fabio and Herman who had worked on the armor in harmony.

“Hmm. Not to brag or anything but I know a lot of dwarves…”
“If I call for them, at least a thousand will gather. I’m Fabio.”
“I was the first to create a dwarven association.”
“I made the dwarven merchant alliance.”
Fabio and Herman faced one another tensely.
They knew from their life experiences that they were being used, but they could not back down.

‘A man is still a child even when he gets old. His pride becomes especially stronger.’
They wished to be recognized as the best for the great accomplishments and potentials in a given field.

“I will build a city for both of you. Chwiiii! How they will be operated will differ though. Chwiik!”
If the dwarves were to settle, the nearby mountains would have to be developed into mines. Also, the monsters would have to be wiped out.
Weed planned to exploit Fabio and Herman in their competition down to the last drop he could get.

*****

Weed and Bard Ray.
The ones who were leading characters within the history of Royal Road were now facing one another again on the Garnav Plains.

‘I will take revenge for Taloc’s Armor of Faith with added interest.’
‘Weed. In the end, you have made it this far. To be competing against me for the supremacy of The Versailles continent… I should have stomped you sooner.’
Weed’s appearance was that of Orc Karichwi.
He had broad shoulders. His muscles that showed through his armor were sharp and defined like a lethal blade.

*Gallop-gallop*
Bard Ray approached slowly while on his renowned horse Suart.
The users spread out beyond a radius of 800 metres so that the two could fight to their heart’s content.

“So, we finally meet.”
Bard was the one to spark the conversation.

“I wanted to fight you again someday.”
He had the composure of being the strongest being across the Versailles continent.

‘I acknowledge your combat senses and courage. However, according to the analysis report, you are only at early 500 levels. You and I are in different weight classes.’
Bard Ray was certain of his own victory.

“Krrg, Shhk!”
Weed treaded closer while spitting nasal sounds.
His body was huge, about the same height as Bard Ray on his horse!
With each step that he took, the tension heightened.
Weed stopped at around 10 metres.

“Enough with words. Sshhhk. Draw your weapon.”
“Indeed. I also did not want to drag on the conversation. Let us prove who is stronger in front of all who stand witness.”
They pulled out their swords almost simultaneously.

“Finally…”
“They are fighting!”
Shoud, Gunt, Roam, Mihel, and Kalis. The heads of the noble guilds knew that this battle would settle the composition of power.

‘This is practically the Arpen Kingdom’s victory.’
‘Even if Bard Ray wins… the war is lost.’
‘Could he win against Weed? It doesn’t seem like Weed will lose. But then again, Bard Ray would be stronger in terms of combat level alone…’
‘I should have been the one standing in that arena.’
‘God of War Weed. The Godly Warrior Bard Ray. Never again will there be a match on Royal Road like this one.’
High rankers within the top 1,000 including these individuals were focused on this duel.
They were about to witness what true strength looked like.
The victor would reign for ages as the strongest of the Versailles continent.
In addition, they wanted to observe the kinds of skills and battle styles.

“Hmm. Honestly, I wanted to be the one to fight Bard Ray.”
Roam made cracking sounds as he stretched his neck.

“If it weren’t for the glory of the Hermes guild, Bard Ray would have been one of the nameless common users.”
Gunt pulled out his sword and swiped the blade with his finger.

“Bard Ray. My sword is crying. I only hope, that in the unlikely case of Weed’s defeat, I’ll get the chance to fight him myself.”
Mihel also did not want to yield to the others.

“I have thoroughly analyzed Bard Ray’s weaknesses until now. I just couldn’t get the chance to confront him because he always dragged his bodyguards with him. I was going to strike when the Hermes guild weakened.”
As Shoud pondered about what he should say, a random user tapped his shoulder.

“You guys there are being noisy. Keep it down.”
“Hmm? Who do you think I am…?”
Shoud and the heads of the noble guilds put on an intimidating look on their faces.
Their pride was unbending even after having withdrawn away from the Central continent.

“These fools don’t know their place.”
They turned around slowly and saw Geomchi with around 300 apprentices by his side.

“What? You got something to say?”

*****

Bard Ray thought to himself.

‘There is no such thing as a fair battle in Royal Road.’
Poison, magic and unique curses are allowed.
Utilizing hidden treasures or equipment were all dependant on the skill of the individual.
The people will only cheer for the victor.

‘Given my current state, I couldn’t lose even if I wanted to.’
Bard Ray knew after his talk with Lafaye that the tides of war had turned against him.

“We don’t have a future. We will collapse whether we are victorious or defeated.”
“Then what should we do?”
“Though it would be better to win than lose. Don’t drag on the attrition and instead engage in a duel with Weed himself.”
“Will he accept?”
“Who knows. But, hope only lies in the battle between Bard Ray-nim and Weed. If not, the entire ranks of the Central continent will charge at us.”
Roam, Kalis and the other noble guild heads. The infamous users of the central continent were eager to fight Bard Ray.

‘Even if I were to be defeated, I can’t die to some small fry. I will show them clearly what kind of being I am.’
Bard Ray wanted to protect his glorifying title Godly Warrior even if the Haven Empire were to fall to ruins.
Until his last moments, he wanted to show that no one can stand in his way.

‘I need to defeat Weed. Only then I can rest on my title as the Godly Warrior.’
The Black Knight has never-ending suspicion.
The Black Knight is anxious.
The Black Knight does not trust anyone.
The Black Knight grasps for great power.
Class attributes that have been unlocked after the Black knight had become emperor.
Combat skills increased as he murders loyal subordinates.

‘I sacrificed 7 legions of the royal knights. Hence… I am invincible.’
He felt overwhelmingly more powerful than usual.

The Black knight’s weakness.
The weakness was his subordinates causing a rebellion, but he was past that stage.
He was blessed by the gods of every religious order and equipped with the best equipment.

‘At my current state, I could pummel down monsters of level 800s to 900s.’
I fear nothing.
I will gush out everything that I’ve got.
Even if destruction awaits me at the last step that I take.

‘Until the very last moment. I will take down Weed and all that opposes me one by one. That will be an unparalleled achievement.’

“Violent charge!”
Bard Ray began to charge riding on Suart.
Suart reached its maximum speed in just several gallops kicking against the earth.

“Ssshhk!”
Weed took him straight on, lifted his Loa sword then struck with all his might.

*Clang*

Along with the metal shrill, both sides staggered.

< Unbearable Strike!

Health points decreased by 4,281 by an enemy’s charge.

All stats decreased by 3% for 14 seconds. >

Even with the Loa sword and Sky ruler’s armor set, an astonishing shock passed through.
Bard Ray also got a message alert.

< Clash of blunt strength!

A shockwave that trembles the soul.

Health points decreased by 891.

Paralysis effects for 4 seconds and physical conditions temporarily weakened.

Suart absorbs a portion of the damage. >

‘Godly warrior Bard Ray. He is as powerful as expected.’
Weed took a couple of steps back.
Bard Ray swung his sword 3 more times on his horse, but every single strike was deflected.
Even so, he could feel the immense force behind them.

‘His level is estimated to be around 600… Several pieces of equipment are unidentified.’
He was beyond an expert when it came to Royal Road, but even he saw many of the equipment for the very first time.
Both were fully stacked with equipment!

‘I have transformed into Orc Karichwi, but cannot defend lightly. His abnormally high stats and blessings like the surging strength of the War God Batali cult are all bestowed to him.’
He could make out a rough estimate.
Weed built up affiliation and contribution with several cults throughout his adventures.
Bard Ray used his authority, status and wealth as the emperor of the Haven Empire to gain the support of many cults.

‘To be pushed back in a frontal strike… I could have been at a huge physical disadvantage if it weren’t for the Orc Karichwi transformation.’
He had gained immense stats through his adventures and sculptural techniques.
That was his strength when he faced other users, but Bard Ray had also stacked incredible stats through his combat achievements.
Ever since Royal Road was unveiled, he had hunted only boss level monsters with his guild members.
After Melbourne mines, he united the Central continent and focused solely on battles which certainly made him stronger.

“Another sword, glorious pact. Sword of Nature.”
He became faster and swung more powerful blows with each additional attack.
This sweet skill is similar to the Heraim Fencing skill but combat skill that automatically activates for 30 attacks even if they missed the opponent!

‘Level, equipment, spells. All are almost at perfection.’

Arrays of attacks after another.
Weed blocked or deflected them.

After a light exchange of attacks, three secret sword techniques were activated simultaneously.
Bard Ray’s great sword was enveloped with blazing flames.

‘Another round.’
Weed locked his two feet on solid ground and endured.

*Clang Clang Clang*

Bard Ray charged again, and swords sparked viciously.
Fireballs flung everywhere, and shockwaves pushed back Weed’s body each time.
Glorious Pact is a skill that triples the user’s combat strength temporarily.
Sword of Nature imbues more than one nature attribute per attack.
Bard Ray’s attacks transformed into myriad of elements like fire, wind, water, earth and ice.
He was sliced by sharp winds and pummeled by jets of water.
Firm grounds split suddenly, and the surroundings would freeze.
On top of all this, another sword was flying through the air aiming for his side and rear.

<Impact of consecutive attacks!

Additional damage is taken by the opponent’s quick attacks.

Damage is accumulating!

Health points decreased by 3,381. >

‘This is pretty excruciating. If it weren’t for the armor this would have hurt a lot.’
Weed smirked.
When Weed transformed into Orc Karichwi, he assumed that he would be over the edge in terms of physical abilities, but he was wrong.
The power of the attacks and the level at which Bard Ray exercised them were superb.
He also synced well with his horse Suart, allowing him to fall back a great distance when Weed counterattacked.

‘The combination of his skills is good. He can’t be compared back to the time at Melbourne mines. I saw some of the recent footages, but it seems he did not show his true abilities.’
One of the many ways of demeaning Bard Ray was calling him the Last Hit.
It meant that he would swing the last attack to finish off a boss level monster that has been taken down by the Hermes guild.
Compared to Weed who creates results with his own hands, this could seem very low and insignificant.
However, one could feel just how powerful he is once they faced him directly.

“Destruction Strike, Revolving Hack, Spell Burst, Executioner!”
Bard Ray continued his relentless assault by activating consecutive skills.

“Tyrant Frenzy!” Even so, Bard Ray’s attacks were in forms that were impossible to stop completely.

“Hmm.”
“Wow.”
“Amazing.”
Weed’s comrades were also observing from afar.
“Bard Ray is really powerful.”
“No kidding. I thought the broadcasts were exaggerating, but his combat skills are really praiseworthy.”
“The horse is also incredible. It sidesteps like a crab then withdraws backwards. Then dashes forward instantly.”
They were sitting on the back of a Baraag that was floating in the sky
Avians, mages using flight spells and other various users were watching the battle of Weed and Bard Ray from above.

“Bard Ray is no joke.”
“You think he is called the Godly Warrior for no reason?”
“Weed-nim won’t lose, will he?”
“Can’t say for sure… He does look cornered though.”
“Dang. Bard Ray is on a horse too. Isn’t that unfair?”
Users that believed that Weed would win were now making conflicting opinions due to Bard Ray’s strength.
He rode without stopping to catch his breath and swiftly connected several attacks in a second.
Weed either blocked or deflected, but his feet created deep furrows on the ground as he was pushed back.
Bard Ray and the steed Suart synergizing and attacking simultaneously was like a scene from an elaborate beautiful painting.
A knight defeating an ugly orc minion, so to speak.

‘Hmm. A Black Knight on a handsome steed does look better than Weed-nim.’
‘We are close with Weed-nim, but on display, Bard Ray is the hero.’
‘The limitations of an assassin… I couldn’t stand out in that kind of battle. But, my blade can slit throats from behind in a flash.’
‘Ch… I want to fight too.’
Pale, Surka, Seasoned Crab, Python.
Each had thoughts of their own but were enjoying watching the battle nonetheless.
The reason for their leisurely observation was that they knew Weed wouldn’t go down like this.
‘It’s certain. Bard Ray will lose.’
‘He should have been suspicious when Weed-nim challenged him. You shouldn’t dive head first just because you see a good opportunity. That’s the shortcut to screwing up your life.’
‘When Weed hunted monsters he had no openings at all. It was a succession of wonder. But his greatest weakness could be a head-to-head battle like this one. Strength vs strength. If you drove him up with strength and speed… No. Weed would still win. He is a villain surpassing your imaginations.’
‘Bard Ray is a force to be reckoned with… But there are beings that you cannot overcome with just determination.’
His comrades firmly believed in Weed’s victory based on many reasons.

3 minutes have passed since the start of the battle.
Weed was struggling to defend.
Bard Ray was pushing him with endless stamina, not allowing for any opportunity for Weed to fall back.
*Kang! Clang! P-p-pat!*
Sword swinging, another sword flying in.
The steed Suart charged as soon as there was a gap in distance.
Bard Ray gushed out a countless array of sword strikes while mounted on Suart.

“Wooow!”
“Splendid!”
“Hooray Hermes Guild!”
“This will be a victory of the Godly Warrior Bard Ray!”
The camps of the Haven Empire were creating a ruckus as if it was a festival going on.
“Weed-nim. Keep it up!”
“You can definitely win. Don’t take the pounding and dodge!”
“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”
The encouragement from the Grass porridge cult were becoming more desperate and spreading frantically.
Geomchi2 was blankly observing the brilliant display of spells, then came across a strange thought.

“Master. About the youngest one.”
“Huh?”
“He’s fighting like someone at a martials arts tournament. He is defending vigorously and seems to be analyzing his opponent.”
“It seems that way.”
Geomchi nodded.
His greatest wish was for Weed to brutally win against Bard Ray.

“Then I can brag to the whole world that he is my student.”
Bard Ray was fighting a lot better than expected once the battle began. It seemed that he was superior in spell management and fundamental physical abilities.

“Certainly, our youngest is stopping that Bard Ray’s spells excellently.
“Yes. At first it looked like he was blocking the attacks as he saw them. Now it looks as if he is predicting the next attack and reacting in advance.”
“Breathing, the transfer of the body’s pivot; The instinctive attack pattern embedded in the subconscious; He will assess it all. When that is over…”
“He will reveal his fangs and tenaciously bite into his opponent’s weakness.”
“ku-ku. Brutally crushing him so he wouldn’t think twice about challenging again. He learned properly from me on how to fight.”
Geomchi glanced at Weed and smiled in commendation. An intimidating smile at best.

‘I will win. I can win.’
Bard Ray was feeling confident.
Weed was unable to retaliate and instead fell back while taking mitigated damage.
‘It is not that he isn’t retaliating. He can’t. I am wearing him out without giving him the slightest sliver of opportunity.’
Even if the powerful strikes are blocked, he could still apply mitigated damage.

< Restraining smash was blocked!

Enemy health points decreased by 728.

It suppresses physical abilities.

Death-calling sword applies 1,630 additional damage.

231 health points drained. >

It was reducing his health points consistently.

‘This slippery rat.’
His debuffing attacks were blocked, but the accumulating damage would still add up to a significant amount.

‘A persistent orc of all things…’
The strength, vitality and recovery of Orc Karichwi were outrageous!
Moreover, he couldn’t identify what kind of armor he was wearing but his powerful attacks were being reduced to a quarter.
It was mind-wrecking to see him recover so quickly after receiving so many blows.

‘Even so, it’s a foolish decision to fight as an orc in a head-to-head battle. Strength needs to be utilized properly for it to exercise power.’
The fact that Weed could transform into any race was a great disadvantage when it came to accepting his challenge.
But when he saw him waiting in the appearance of an orc, he was ever so glad.

‘I fought against orcs often when my level was low. Nothing special about them besides their strength.’
Orcs had big physiques and thick muscles which made them slow.
Even small attacks lead to big movements and centered around heavy strikes, making it difficult for nimble movements.
For Bard Ray, who could counterattack immediately, this meant he could deliver even greater damage.

‘Weed. The single-point strike technique that you showed won’t be possible with an orc’s body. Instead, if you reveal an opening, I will show you my own technique.’
Bard Ray was gradually bringing up his momentum.
He was controlling the battle with consecutive attacks and forcing damage constantly.

‘If you wish to attack, go ahead and try. If I give you such an opportunity that is.’
It certainly looked like Weed’s health points had dropped below half.
If he were to put an end to that armor’s ridiculous recovery effects, now was the time.
Bard Ray used his secret sword technique.

“Sword of Nature.”
The earth shook and split.
Thick boulders spurred from below and flung towards Weed in the appearance of Orc Karichwi, in a blink of an eye.

‘Please… Just die already.’
Bard Ray activated a spell.

“The Devil’s cruel blade dance.”
His body and the sword became tainted in a dark red.
A skill that requires an offering to the devil, a penalty of sacrificing 2 from each stat and 3,000 fame.

‘You wouldn’t have seen this in any broadcast footages.’
He had reserved this skill for the inevitable battle with Weed.
It consists of gruesome, destructive power and defense penetrating damage.

“Uuuurahhh!”
Bard Ray swung his sword from his horse.

*****

Weed wasn’t planning to push with everything he had from the very beginning.
One could grasp the opponent’s level of skill while being on the defensive.
This was a method that generally would increase the chance of winning.
The fact that he had an orc’s physique and Royal Road’s best armor also served to his advantage.

‘But still, he’s ridiculous. He is beyond your average warrior.’
He was on another level compared to those who boasted about being rankers.
The skills chain link and attack speed were rapid and his stamina would never run out even if he fought for the entire day.

‘His level is about early 600. Maybe close to 620 considering the specs of his equipment?’
Bard Ray was more powerful than him when he reached level 600s during his time as the Great King of the Desert.
At that time, he was lacking in many ways because he had rushed his growth. That was his initial goal of growing as much as he could even if the balance broke.
At first, Bard Ray’s attacks felt sharp, but he was growing used to blocking them.

‘The skill composition is amazing. He really knows a diversity of skills. Looks like he soaked up everything that was useful from the Central continent.’
Weed was analysing massive amounts of data
His health points decreased as he blocked in Orc Karichwi form, but that did not matter to him.

‘There is no need to drag this battle on any longer. I can put an end to this at once.’
It wasn’t a battle meant to be 20, 30 minutes.
Weed had prepared for a long time, for this very moment.

“Devil’s gruesome blade dance!”
A huge aura was moving as Bard Ray activated his skill.

“Now, perish.”
The moment the sword began to come down, Weed activated two skills.

‘Moment Sculpting, Heraim Fencing skill.’
The final secret sculptural technique was activated.
That moment, the entire world froze.
The users observing from afar, the bird-humans afloat in the sky; even Bard Ray had been frozen with his sword held high activating his skill.
Weed took three steps forward and swung his Loa sword.
1st consecutive strike was successful.
Dexterity increased by 20%.
The sword struck Bard Ray’s head and the world came in motion again.
“Kuuurgh!”

<Critical Strike!

You have struck a powerful blow on the head of your opponent.

Skill channeling has been forcefully cancelled.

Enemy maximum mana is temporarily decreased by 15%.

Hutsain’s wing helm absorbs 64% of physical damage.

You have decreased enemy health points by 16,341.

Loa Sword applied 28% additional damage. >

It was a destructive strike that caused even the steed Stuart to stagger.
He had precisely struck down with Orc Karrchwi’s huge body.
Even so, this was only the beginning.

<Leftover Energy of the Moment: 128,472>

Weed had rarely used the time sculptural technique after he had acquired it.

‘I must reserve it. When the time comes, I will pour out all of it at once.’
He had thriftly gathered energy of the moment from quests, hunting and sculptural techniques.
He accumulated an insane amount of energy from the Garnav plains festival and had waited for Bard Ray.

‘A fight needs to be fought dirty, indeed.’
Bard Ray backed away and used a protection spell in response.

“Iron wall Grace.”
It was a reflexive action after getting a big spell like Devil’s gruesome blade dance cancelled and counterattacked.

‘I fully assessed your battle footages. I knew you would use Iron wall grace.’
Weed closed in quickly.
Iron wall Grace was a skill that could endure up to 100,000 frontal physical damage.
It was a rare warrior secret skill that could only be attained through special conditions.

‘As I expected.’
Gloves of Dimensional Door.
Weed passed through a translucent circle and appeared behind Bard Ray.
*Smash!*
2nd consecutive attack was successful.
Strength increased by 40%.
His powerful blow struck down.

<Critical Strike!

You have landed a lethal strike.

Dizziness! Confusion!

Minen’s necklaces minimizes the abnormal conditions.

A small crack formed in Hutsain’s wing helm, resulting in durability decreased by 5.

Enemy health points decreased by 7,023. >

Bard Ray fell off his horse from the impact.
“Shield of protection.”
He used another protection spell.
Another sword flew in order to defend and that moment, the world froze again.
Instant sculptural technique!
It was a brief moment less than half a second but Weed was already advancing even before the spell had activated.
*Crash!*
Weed’s sword struck Bard Ray’s head once again.

< 3rd consecutive attack was successful.

Dexterity increased by additional 40%. >

< 4th consecutive attack was successful.

Strength increased by additional 40%. >

< 5th consecutive attack was successful.

A devastating blow has landed successfully. >

< Critical Strike!

You have landed consecutive strikes on a single point.

Boosted Destructive power!

Armor damaged!

Hutsain’s wing helm took significant damage, losing its physical damage ability.

Enemy health points decreased by 23,349. >

It was a series of attacks with precision and certainty.

‘Sorry to say but I won this battle from the very beginning.’
He was confident in grasping that one small opening.

‘Instant sculptural technique.’
An overpowered skill that ceases the world.

‘Now I get my revenge for that time at Melbourn mines. I never let go once I bite.’
Weed swung his sword without hesitation.

‘Off you go… To hell.’

< 6th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Strength increases by an additional 50%.

2nd area damage by the shockwave will deal 15% of total attack damage. >

< 7th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Dexterity increases by an additional 30%.

Strength increases by an additional 20%.

Attacks are now ranged by consuming 1500 mana. >

Hammering, whacking, chopping, slashing.
Strength stopped increasing after the 15th successful consecutive attack.
Orc Karichwi’s outrageous strength had reached its peak.

“Kuh!”
Bard Ray tried to escape but he could not avoid the attacks no matter where he went.
Using the Dimensional Glove, Weed warped through space and stopped time by 1 second, clawing into Bard Ray’s weakness.
He smashed through any protection spell and landed his attacks.

“Poring’s star!”
Bard Ray activated his ring’s ability.
It was an item that recovers 80% of lost health, but that was of little importance in the current situation.

< 21st consecutive attack has succeeded.

A blow that could split mountains!

It has landed directly on the opponent.>

< 22nd consecutive attack has succeeded.

It deals 10% of maximum health.

Bleeding damage!

It afflicts grievous wounds. >

< 23th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Powerful blow knocks back the opponent.

Enemy is in a defenseless state! >

< 24th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Enemy is stunned.

A record-breaking damage has been dealt.

Armor is destroyed. >

< 25th consecutive attack has succeeded.

Piercing Strike!

A sword as fast as light cut through the enemy in a straight line. >

In less than 15 seconds, all attacks were perfectly executed in succession.
Orc Karichwi’s decisive swings, slashes, and smashes clobbered Bard Ray.
Weed’s 29th consecutive attack exploded.
A merciless blow to the face.
*Crack!*

< Haven Empire’s Emperor, The Black Knight longing for glory has found eternal rest.

Level has increased.

Level has increased.

You have completed the combat achievement ‘The True Swordsman’.

Sword techniques permanently become stronger by 2%.

You have completed the combat achievement ‘The one who put down The Black Knight to rest.’

The training level and loyalty of subordinates increase rapidly.

Prestige has increased by 38,918, due to great combat achievements.

Charisma has increased by 2.

Strength has increased by 1.

Maximum health points has been increased by 1,500.

Honor has increased by 15.

All stats increased by 2 from combat achievements.

Sword Technique level has increased. >

Bard Ray died.

‘I really did it…’
His mind was boiling with overflowing joy, but his hands did not rest in those moments.
Swift!

< You have obtained the spoil Grail of Flames. >

< You have obtained the spoil Wind blade. >

< You have obtained the spoil Rainbow fabric of the luxury craftsman. >

< You have obtained the spoil Dagger of Tranquility. >

After grabbing all the items, it all finally felt real for him.
Godly Warrior Bard Ray.
The emperor of the Haven Empire and the most powerful reigning user over Royal Road since the beginning had lost his life.
It was a futile death that happened in an instant, but for that to happen it took close to 90,000 points of Energy of the Moment.
For this moment, he bided his time and prepared. As a result, he followed through perfectly without allowing one moment of resistance.
A quick, clean battle.

‘I won.’
Weed opened his arms wide.
He could see a vast, blue sky.
Countless users were staring at Weed with round eyes of surprise.
“Kuuuaaaahhhhhh! I am supreme!!”

Orc Karichwi’s burning roar echoed across the Garnav plains.

*****

The northern users were anxious.

“Weed-nim has to win.”
“Bard Ray is no joke. He’s the strongest in Versailles Continent.”
“No matter how I look at it, this doesn’t seem like a fair fight. Weed-nim was busy all along doing quests.”
“Yeah. Weed-nim was fighting all day on top of that. Even if his body is fully recovered, his mind should be stressed out.”

These users were worried about Weed in many ways.
Each one had a deep compassion towards Weed from the days they trained together during the early days of Morata.
A sense of kinship as the founders who first settled in the north and thrived together with Weed.
Northern users who started late eventually learned about the history and changes of Morata and came to like him.

“No! He’s getting beat up.”
“Just look at that. I knew this was hopeless.”
“Shouldn’t we intervene by now?”
“Poison Mushroom Porridge here. This is everyone’s battle. Let us fight together. Don’t burden Weed-nim.”
“Let’s go. Push through with numbers!”

Northern users could not observe any longer and began to rustle.
The users of the Central Continent were very curious as to which side would win the battle, but the northern users who thought of the Arpen kingdom as their home could not just hold back.
They felt regretful each time Weed was attacked.

“Why must Weed-nim fight unfavorable battles every single time?!”
“Yeah. Let’s fight together. We aren’t doing anything while Weed-nim is protecting us.”
“Everyone pay close attention. The reason why we have lived cheerfully in Arpen kingdom is exactly that. Weed-nim did all the difficult and dirty work, hunting and doing quests.”
The northern users were enraged and shouted.

“Even as we speak, he is fighting desperately… for all of us.”
“This is unfair. I’m going to go mad crazy watching this.”
“If we all knew nothing but ourselves and fulfilled our own greed, there would be no one as accomplished as Weed-nim. If Weed-nim took on the side of the Hermes guild, he would be living well without any struggle.”
“I agree. We are all indebted to Weed-nim.”
“Let us take out our anger on the Hermes guild.”
“Grab your weapons. I’m going to kill every one of them.”
Northern users, men and women all grabbed a weapon and stood up.
At least 10 million users were furious and were about to rush down to battle.

– Lemon: Everyone remain calm and hold your positions. Weed-nim explained already. He will win no matter what.

“…”
“Hmm.”
The ruckus was contained like a spell and the northern users became calm.

– Lemon: Weed-nim told us in advance. Do not feel sorry at the sight of him fighting. Do not even be sad about it. He is alright as long as everyone is warm, fed and living peacefully.
The northern users felt sincere gratitude for him, a feeling that they did not have even for their own parents who fed them since they were young.

– Lemon: Weed-nim said that he had a small wish – that everyone could live in peace after the war ends.
These were words that could resonate to anyone.

– Lemon: Alright. While we observe his battle, I will convey Weed-nim’s feelings to everyone.

“Feelings?”
“You’re going to deliver it to us?”
The Grass Porridge Cult fundamentalists were roaming around with loads of paper.
They gave out flyers!

– A life-changing opportunity! Puhol water park cottage lot purchase, first come first serve!
A major transportation point!
The core of the tourism industry!
Buy out a shack cottage in Puhol that has an awesome water park for only 180 gold.
A large garden, terrace, European luxury candle lighting.
An open view with the entire water park in sight.
A location that is bound to increase in price.
It is as cheap as it can get, for today only.

For loans, call Mapan Trades.

There were drawings by Yurin on the flyers.
Rides, swimming pools and inside, elves and sculptural creatures running free.
At the corner, there were dolphins, sharks and skeletons playing around and dwarves having a beer party.

“Wow… A cottage.”
“It looks beautiful even as a drawing.”
“I thought it would be expensive. If it is only 180 gold, I can sell a few equipment and afford a place.”
“Even so, it is too much for our circumstances.”
“They do loans too. Don’t you think we can hunt diligently and pay it off in the future?”
A million cottages were purchased in an instant by the northern battle observers.
Excluding the construction and property fees, it would lead to an astronomical profit of 100 million gold.
Mapan grinned.

‘I can earn a little more with loan interests… I will prepare new furniture and dishware too, and that’s even more profit.’
An incredible market creation in the middle of such circumstance!
Regarding Weed’s tricks, it was an endless stream of awes and admiration.
“Woah, Wow!”
“Weed, Weed!”
Followed up by Weed’s counterattack!
He dominated Bard Ray at once and shocked the northern users, Hermes guild, everyone.
The Garnav Plains became as silent as a grave.
Not one breath.
Not a single sound of chatter broke out.
In just a few seconds, sound ceased to exist in the world.

“Kuaaaaahhh!”
Then…
Orc Karichwi’s roar spread through the Garnav plains and woke the entire world.

*****

“Whaaaaahh!”
“Shout with everything you’ve got!”
Users in the camps of the Arpen kingdom shouted to their heart’s content.

“Weed-nim… Weed-nim!”
“From now on, the continent’s most powerful is the God of War Weed-nim!”
“There is no place for Godly Warrior Bard Ray anymore. Now Weed is truly the God of War!”
“He easily surpasses a Godly Warrior… He is just the best.”
“I knew it would turn out this way. I knew Weed-nim would win for sure!”
The joy of victory flourished through the Arpen kingdom camps. On the other hand, the faces of the Hermes guild members were terribly distorted.

“Bard Ray-nim…”
“I never thought we would lose in a one on one battle.”
On top of being on the worse end of the battle, Bard Ray was defeated.

“How did we end up in this situation?”
“This is unbelievable. For Weed to be that powerful…”
“Aside from that, wasn’t it strange? It seemed as if he was moving suddenly like he was teleporting.”
“Why is that important? Whatever trick he used, the fact is that Bard Ray-nim was defeated.”
The word downfall sprang into the minds of the Hermes guild members.

“Let’s kill them.”
”Let’s take our revenge for the time in Central continent”!
“We waited for too long. Now is the time for avenging the Soaring guild.”
These were not northern users.
The users from the Central continent had drawn their weapons and were charging.

“Here they come.”
“Darn. This fight is inevitable.”
Hermes guild members frowned at the sight of these users charging toward them.

– All men prepare for battle.
Arkhim’s orders were passed through the guild channel.
He had the right to command in the case of Bard Ray’s absence.

“Soaring guild? Did such a thing exist?”
The giant knight Boemong who was close by nodded his head.

“We took them out ages ago. They resisted even after we conquered them, so we placed assassination orders on all of them. We took over all their shops and land, and killed all their families so as to set an example.”

“Then they should hold a deep grudge against us.”
“I suppose so. We didn’t give a rat’s toe nail about it until this moment.”
The Hermes guild accumulated the grudge of many by conquering other kingdoms, starting from the Haven region.
Those that had to lay low when the Hermes guild was strong, now pulled their swords and rushed toward them.
Arkhim let out a sigh.

– Every man fights until the last.
Now, their fate had been determined.
The forces that went to war alongside Bard Ray were the best elites from the very beginning of the Hermes guild.
This battle could only be won by killing all that stood on the side of the Arpen kingdom.

“This is a very bad situation, but it could be a decent fight this way.”
“Butting in with pure numbers. I will show them what real power is.”
“If you plan to win against us, you all need to prepare to die for it.”
“Keke. This is going to be fun. I need to have some fun in such a heated match like this.”
From the early years of the Hermes guild, the core members loved fighting and slaughtering.
They lived to savor their own power instead of being cautious of the opponents.
“Let’s kill as many as we can.”
“Stomp these pests.”
“Come on!”
Hermes guild members also scrambled away from their camps and sprang forward. Even if annihilation waited in their final moment, they were prepared to fight with blazing spirit.

– Black lion guild. Raise your flag high.
– Roam Guild! Stand by our will.
– Cloud guild. We will live on at the Arpen Kingdom. Gather around.
– Black sword mercenaries. You have your orders. Take out the Hermes guild!
Former royal guilds from the past.
They lost their light long ago as they weakened and chose to take shelter under the Arpen Kingdom.
They each once controlled significant regions of the continent and had competent users under their ranks.
They managed to get in contact with its associate members through the festival that was held in Garnav plains.
Bard Ray was dead and the situation was a sure victory for the Arpen kingdom. They marched in front and led the battle.
“It is shameful to give up the lead. Chicken Porridge Unit move out!”
“Poison Mushroom Porridge members that are still standing. Hurry onwards!”
Northern users began to move along as well.
100 million users that were observing idly the battle between Weed and Bard Ray all charged mercilessly on the Haven imperial army.
Avians were dropping users from the sky, and gigantic sculptural creatures began their assault.
Bard Ray’s royal guards and Hermes guild’s best elites were present, but the situation was growing out of hand.

Chapter 7: Kaybern’s movement

Lafaye closed his eyes.
‘We are finished.’
Even though he accepted defeat in his head, he still hoped for a miracle.
A small ray of hope perhaps.
Something magical like Bard Ray defeating Weed and the Haven Imperial army destroying the Arpen Kingdom.
In a war anything can happen, so he had waited for an unexpected outcome; but to no avail.
‘Even if Bard Ray had won, it wouldn’t have resolved this grave situation… But this is the worst scenario out of all the outcomes I foresaw.’
Along with the defeat of Bard Ray, the fate of the Haven Empire had been sealed.
“We did it. Hurry and fight!”
“Let’s get some payback for everything we went through until now. Don’t go easy on them.”
The combined assault of the northern and central users was devastating.
Whenever the Hermes Guild let loose their magic spells, more came flying in return from all directions.
The Haven Empire had better knights and soldiers, but even that advantage was whittled down by wave after wave of enemies.
“Onward!”
“Charge! Forward!”
The northern users charged like a horde of a hundred million zombies.
In addition, the users from the central continent who had been observing the situation joined in with the Arpen Kingdom; thinking that the Haven Empire had met its demise.
“We can’t hold.”
“This is too much, the number of enemies isn’t decreasing at all.”
Bard Ray’s royal guards and the Hermes Guild members were each fighting against multiple dozens of enemies.
If the Hermes Guild had not been the most powerful guild on the continent, they would have already crumbled.
“I guess we have to use our last resort.”
Lafaye approached Arkhim, who was leading the army.
“There is one final choice left for us to make.”
“We have such a choice?”
“Yes, the last, final option.”
Lafaye skipped the explanation and showed Arkhim a quest.

<Dragon’s Egg

An egg laid by the green dragon Arankald and the black dragon Kaybern was discovered.

Arankald left due to an unknown reason, and the egg was left at its current location.

An egg touched by humans will incur the dragon’s rage.

The only way to quell the dragon’s rage is to hatch the egg safely and wait for the birth of the baby dragon.

Difficulty: S rank

Restrictions: Dragon Egg found. Quest cannot be forfeit at current stage.>

Arkhim read the quest log, but he couldn’t understand Lafaye’s intentions.
“So, what are you planning with this? Are you saying we should complete the quest and manipulate the dragon?”
“No, we don’t know how long we will have to wait for it to hatch. Also, dragons rarely intervene in human affairs.”
The dragons held absolute power over the Versailles continent.
They acted under an established order, and did favors for no-one, no matter how close a friend they were.
“We don’t have much time – what are you suggesting that we do?”
“We need to destroy the egg.”
“The egg? Destroying the dragon’s egg?” Arkhim asked in return, surprised.
“Yes. According to my investigations, there will be an event that could influence the entire continent once the egg is destroyed. Do you remember the King Belthos’s Curse of Flames?”
“It was the incident that caused the Crimson Wing Guild to collapse a while ago.”
“Precisely. The entire continent warmed up due to the Crimson Wing Guild’s greed for treasure. This will be like that event. When the egg is destroyed, the entire continent will suffer Kaybern’s vengeance.”
“Are you serious? And you’re still going to destroy that egg?”
Dragons were peak predators that even the Hermes Guild did not dare challenge.
“If we can’t take over this continent, it is better to destroy it.”
Arkhim abruptly felt frightened by Lafaye.
To collapse here and now, or to create an uncontrollable, catastrophe.
He wavered at the fork in the road before deciding in his own best interests.
“Fine. We can’t fall like this. We’ll give them a scene.”

Goram.
He was a user who started out in Central Continent not too long ago.
His cousin was one of Bard Ray’s royal guards in the Hermes Guild, so he chose the Central Continent even when all others chose the Arpen Kingdom.
He was level 102.
He was supported by his cousin, who provided him with good equipment and let him use the hunting grounds.
With his authority as one of Bard Ray’s royal guards, he could let Goram enter a beginner dungeon as many times he wanted to.
“If I complete this… it’s worth an entire apartment.”
Goram smacked his lips.
A while ago, Lafaye himself had made a request of him: “Take this egg. When I contact you, destroy the egg within the Arpen Kingdom camp.”

‘Would the egg cause a massive explosion if I destroyed it?’
It was an easy task.
Goram’s level was low and he did not have the murderer mark, nor was he an official member of the Hermes guild.
When the battle at Garnav Plains breaks out, he just needed to blend in with the northern users and destroy the egg.
Lafaye also handed him some equipment in advance.
The Rock God’s hammer.
If one without his permission uses it, his body would explode but would be able to wield it just once.
‘Well. It’s worth an apartment…’
Goram waited for Lafaye’s order.
He was worried that the mission may get cancelled by the time Weed defeated Bard Ray and the Haven empire was under heavy assault.
– Lafaye : Destroy it now.
Lafaye’s whisper was delivered.
Goram was relieved, pulled out a large white egg from his backpack and laid it on the floor.
“What is that?”
“Is that an ostrich egg? It’s huge!”
“Isn’t it a rock?”
The surrounding users were intrigued by the egg.
Goram didn’t pay any attention to them. Their reactions were not important.
‘I have to go through exactly 3 stages. Take out the egg. Grab the Rock God’s Hammer. Destroy the egg.”
He must not raise the Rock God’s hammer first. In about a second, he would explode and die.
He had to take out the egg and strike as soon as he lifts the hammer.
‘I’m ready to die, and it’s going to get me an apartment so what’s there for me to hesitate?’
He equipped the Rock God’s hammer.
Blink!

< You have equipped the Rock God’s Hammer.

You are lacking faith.

You are lacking strength.

You are lacking the affinity with the earth.

You must lay down the hammer before the rage of the Rock God reaches… >

Goram did not care to read the notification.
He concentrated his strike down on the white egg.
Crack!
The egg shattered effortlessly, and shortly after Goram’s body was dismembered by the god’s curse.

< You have lost your life due to the Rock God’s rage. >

< You destroyed the black dragon Kaybern’s egg.

You have destroyed the egg laid by the black dragon Kaybern and the green dragon Arankald.

The dragon’s’ rage will sweep across the continent… >

*****

“We won.”
“It is our victory.”
Weed was listening to the shouts of the users siding with the Arpen kingdom while on top of his poro-bird.
The core unit of the Hermes guild were still firmly holding their grounds.
The best elite squad that led countless battles to victory and conquered the Central continent.
Their numbers were less than the ones that fought earlier, but each one of them were very powerful and were not pushed back so easily.
Even so, if looked down upon from the sky the view was incredible; as if the entire Garnav plains was lunging at them.

– Mapan : With this, it looks like Weed-nim will be responsible for the unification of the Versailles continent.
– Pocket money: Congratulations. The enemy remains but soon the lands will be conquered… The construction of Arpen Empire is imminent.
– Hidden Money: I will work hard on the Mapan branch’s duties in Britten. Leave it to me!

The merchants already began their sweet talking for positions.

– Roam: I look forward to a good relationship, your highness.
– Kallis: The black lion guild will swear our loyalty for eternity.
– Halma: I can do anything that you require of me. I could even lick your feet.

There were even users lining up.
Weed was thinking of governing the Versailles continent in the near future.
‘Similar to the water park, I will create many amusement parks that families can enjoy. Ski resorts can also do just fine in making money.’
He was going to set a beginner ski course from the peak of a mountain that is 8,800 meters in height.
If there were to be a ski resort on the mountain over 1 km in height within the Central or northern continent, it would be crowded with customers.

‘Hotels, restaurants, night club. I’m going to create any space that people will use money on.’
Fields where they could enjoy sports, theatres for live performances. He was going to encourage spending on luxuries.
‘I won’t apply much taxes on necessities, but on luxuries people will be much more generous about it.’
He planned to exploit them without any hesitation.

‘It is not over yet. Not until I bring a world of true exploitation…’
Weed was in a cloud of his ideals, and that moment.

Blink!

< The rage of the black dragon Kaybern has begun. >

A short message popped up and a video began streaming.

*****

A short scene of Goram shattering the egg with the Rock God’s Hammer played through.
The more important matter followed right after.
Black dragon Kaybern.
The black dragon nested in the dwarven kingdom.
The interior of his lair stacked with mountains of treasures was shown through the stream feed. The ones seeing a dragon for the first time were in awe from the overwhelming size and the intricate beauty of it.
The artwork and precious jewels refined by dwarves were decorating the lair.
The enraged black dragon lifted his enormous body and roared into the sky.
– How dare you destroy my egg. Humans… I will punish your insolence.

The treasures stolen from the dwarves and many antiques crumbled, as well as shelves crashing down.
– I will kill you all. You all!

Kaybern’s swung his forepaw and tail as he roared.
The cave ceilings collapsed, and a mountain of rocks fell to the ground.
“Kuaah!”
“Kuk!”
The monsters that guarded the lair were crushed under the rocks.
As if a huge earthquake was happening, Kaybern’s entire lair was falling apart.
Kaybern spread his wide wings, burst through the mountain and flew up to the sky.
The Thygorn, Ulta and Norn mountain range.
The video stream contained little cities of the Thor kingdom. Dwarves lay on their stomach frightened.
– You humans deserve obliteration…

Kaybern spread his wings and flew across the sky.
At extreme speed Kaybern glided past the stunning scenery and arrived in the Kallamore region close to the Thor kingdom.
The industrial city Edelen was visible.
It was a city that accumulated great wealth through trades with the Britten Aliance and contained a large population.

“W, What is that?”
“It’s a dragon. Sick!”
A portion of users were by the city gates and within the city.
Fewer in number than usual, but there nonetheless were active users that did not travel to Garnav plains.
These users pointed their fingers at Kaybern in great surprise.
– Disgusting humans. I will unleash my rage on your worthless lives.

Kaybern opened his mouth wide.
Pitch black darkness was gathering and growing larger inside it.

“Could that be…”
“A breath attack? For real? Towards us?”
The users inside the city began to panic.
The users approaching on their horses from far away witnessed Kaybern and quickly turned tail.
They were swift in judging the situation.
However, most of them were just staring blankly at Kaybern from the plains and the city gates.
For them, it was marvelous seeing a dragon up close and they were still trying to wrap their minds around this unrealistic situation.
– Disappear. Humans.
The breath fired away straight onto the city.
The land and buildings melted away, and the users lost their lives to the toxicity even if it did not touch them.

– Slaughter the remaining humans.
As a result of Kaybern’s magic, magical soldiers rose to their feet within the city.
“For the vengeance of the great Kaybern-nim!”
They were dragon soldiers.
They were comprised of the dragon’s flesh and immediately began slaughtering the citizens.
Due to the dragon’s magic blessing, they were immune to the users’ attacks.

– By my great command, I am liberating your boundaries. Punish the humans. Take their lands and destroy everything.

The three mountain ranges and dungeons of the Thor kingdom.
Many mountains, plains, swamps, rivers and dungeons in the Kallamor region.
By Kaybern’s dragon command the monsters followed and marched towards the human villages and cities.

“Kill the humans.”
“For Kaybern-nim’s revenge!”
“They must pay the price for enraging the dragon.”
Monster tribes were never close with one another.
Users and soldiers hunted monsters, but fights often broke out in the monster’s ranks, provoking a lot of deaths and keeping them balanced.
However, the monsters unleashed by Kaybern had no hostility towards one another and actively cooperated in attacking human cities and villages.
Kkkrrrraak!

*Crash!*
Drenching rain and ruthless strikes of thunder.
The last part of the video stream captured Kaybern spreading his wings wide and flying off into the distance.

A message came up for all users after the video stream ended.

< Black dragon Kaybern’s burning rage.

The tyrannical black dragon Kaybern begins his activity.

– Move your worthless bodies. I will reward those who slaughter many.

Monsters under Kaybern’s range of control will invade across the entire continent.

A catastrophic revenge.

The monsters under the command of the dragon soldiers will tear down gates and climb the city walls.

Protect yourself so that the continent does not fall to ruins.

Kaybern will not show any mercy towards humans.

Monsters with significant contribution in battle will be rewarded.

Due to Kaybern’s power, they will learn new skills and strengthen their physical abilities – transcending their racial limitations.

The chance of a monster commander spawning is increased by 1,000%.

Kaybern’s characteristic causes cursed rain to pour over the entire continent. >

“What in the world is this?”
“A dragon taking vengeance upon humans?”
“What is happening. How did this…”
Aside from humans, video streams came from the elves, dwarves, orcs and other races.
“News came through a user in Edelen. A dragon has really appeared.”
“And?”
“It spit out a breath attack. He was fortunate enough to survive, but the appearance of dragon soldiers is causing everyone to flee.”
“So, the videos are real.”
The users of Royal Road were taken aback by such a sudden video stream.
Broadcast stations including the KMC Media became frantic over this abrupt news.
– Mr. Joo Wan Oh, what could we make of this sudden incident?
– We have no information in the station yet but the video stream is for all users, so it seems that a huge event is commencing.
– An event related to the black dragon Kaybern?
– I will amend myself. This is not an event, as it appears to be a great assault judging by the contents of the video. One thing is for certain, that Kaybern seems to be attacking.
For all the lords governing the cities and villages, one more message appeared on their screens.

*Blink!*

<Survive.

The black dragon Kaybern has begun his movement, and the world has fallen into great chaos.

Monsters are expected to invade, so you must repair the city walls and gather more forces.

Kaybern’s cursed rain contaminates crops and causes fires.

You will have to pass through this crisis by any means possible.

Difficulty: B

Quest requirements: Limited to lords

Reward: High prestige.

Loyalty of the citizens

City characteristic granted.

B rank quest for all lords!

For lords in cities with larger population or transportation points, the quest that appeared was A rank.>

As for Weed, a special quest log appeared.

<Uneasiness in Arpen Kingdom

Kaybern’s wretched hatred is directed towards the humans.

As the Arpen Kingdom’s emperor, you must protect your land and citizens.

Be weary of the kingdom potentially falling to ruins due to the monsters’ invasion.

The capital and significant cities will be the primary targets.

As long as Kaybern is alive, he will attempt to destroy even the remains of the human empires.

Difficulty: S

Quest requirements: Emperor

Reward: Development of the kingdom, Prestige, command level>

“Hmm.”
Just looking at the quest log gave him a headache, as if he went over a mathematics textbook all day.
It wasn’t just a single quest log that had appeared for Weed.

*Blink!*

<The true warrior.

The achievements that you have attained until this point are countless.

You have defeated the immortal legion and explored from one end of the world to the other.

You travelled back to the past of the Versailles continent and defeated the Embinyu church, and reached the pinnacle of the mystic sculptural technique.

You are the most famous figure in the continent and accomplished dangerous requests in a splendid manner.

From the drunks in the city to the young children living in the mountain villages, there is no person that does not know your name as the sculptor, adventurer, and warrior: Weed.

Poets turned your adventures into lyrics and composed songs.

Now, the black dragon Kaybern announced his brutal revenge and the world is in danger.

It is time for you to step forward.

Defeat the black dragon and save the continent.

First, you must acquire information.

Before you bravely draw your weapon, you will need to investigate Kaybern thoroughly.

Difficulty: S

Reward: Leads to the the capability to choose the Dragon Knight Class

Quest requirements: The Savior of the world

The highest adventurer prestige.>

< This quest cannot be forfeited under any circumstances. >

< The quest has been accepted. >

Weed was amazed.
He barely defeated the Haven empire and Bard Ray.
His life was about to get a whole lot easier on him, but then the black dragon Kaybern appears!
“Hold on. More importantly,”
Weed began to stimulate his brain faster than the most recent computer system.
‘The reason for this tide of events… Without giving much thought to it, this must be the Hermes guild’s doing?’
At the start of the video stream, a user appearing to be a beginner was amid the Arpen Kingdom camps in Garnav plains.
‘He must have shattered the egg. If I saw him at the start of the video, it surely was Kaybern’s egg. It’s near impossible to get a hold of a dragon’s egg, but it’s suspicious that he died right after destroying it.’
It was a simple speculation, but it wasn’t difficult determining the culprit behind this scheme.
‘I would have done the same if it were me. Yep. I wouldn’t want to give up my turf so easily.’
Weed was extraordinary in his comprehension and sympathy during such thought processes.
When his young sister came home from elementary school after being bullied by her fellow classmates, he taught her patiently instead of expressing anger.
“It means that you appeared weak in their eyes. People have a bad tendency to bully others that are weaker than themselves. Fairy tales all say that you need to get along with one another but look at the grown ups. Who exactly gets along?”
He would show her politics by turning on the television, as a mean to teach her how the world really is.
“The world is a jungle. You pick on them first! If you scold and bully them half-heartedly, they will take revenge on you. If you want to stomp somebody, you must do it completely. The world is a good place to live, but only if you are powerful.”
“The world is never to be taken lightly. Why do you think people fail and live homeless? The only thing you can trust is yourself and do not expect kindness from others without reason. People who lend out a hand at difficult times are a rare case, and amongst those people there are many that plan to steal every last grain from you!”
He taught his young sister profusely about how the world is.
Pale and the rest were an exception, so it was great that he could feel more at ease when he was with them.
‘Anywhere you go, there are people like them that are easily manipulated and grieve about it. I have to exploit them adequately, so they don’t suffer too much.’
Based on such outlook on life, the decision from the Hermes guild was the right one to make.
‘The issue is that I cannot contain the dragon’s rage in my current state…’
He battled against the chaos dragon Ausolet one time.
It was in an irrational state and did not realize his own existence as a dragon, attacking from the rear when he faced the Embinyu church.
He was level 825 after having completed the desert king quest and even then, he barely managed to win.
‘The black dragon Kaybern quest appeared too early, given the growth rate of the users. Well, it’s because the egg was smashed…’
Weed suddenly felt that he was failing to grasp something more important.
At the end of the video, the black dragon Kaybern spread his wings and flew off somewhere.
It was a strangely unpleasant and lingering moment.
“Mapan-nim. It is an emergency.”

– Mapan : Yes. I failed to contact you first after panicking about the video. I was planning to expand my sales in every branch of the Central continent.

“It’s not about that. You have acquainted users in Kalamor kingdom and the major cities, yes?”

– Mapan : That’s right. I do. Not too many though.

“Use your network and mobilize as many connections you have as soon as possible. The black dragon Kaybern may be on his way here. We have to confirm that first.”

– Mapan : Christ. Is this for real? I, I will get right on that.

Mapan ordered the entire merchant association to report to him as the situation has turned into a state of emergency.
The associated merchants each gathered their own intelligence in cities and villages and responded.
Only about two minutes have passed.

– Mapan: Dear god. It is as Weed-nim said. We spotted Kaybern in flight. The direction is north. I think… he is headed this way.

This was the worst state of emergency possible.
‘We have to confront Kaybern.’
Weed made various calculations but he could not find a solution.
Weaker creatures lost their lives to dragon fear, so the human wave strategy in numbers could not work on this being.
The northern users that gathered in this location would be subject to a massacre, followed by the sculptural creatures.
The Haven Imperial army would also fall to ruins, but in their current state it had little meaning.
Weed whispered to Mapan.
“Retreat with everything from the merchant association. We cannot afford to lose funds and supplies.”

– Mapan: Of course! We will escape right away.

The Mapan merchant association produced incredible amount of wealth.
When war broke out in the center of Garnav plains, they were conducting business on the outskirts.
They bought out the Haven Imperial and Hermes guild equipment, sold combat supplies.
“Please deliver this message to the other merchant associations.”

– Mapan: I will make sure of the merchant associations. How about you, Weed-nim?

“It seems that I have to stay and fight.”

– Mapan: Against black dragon Kaybern?

“Yes.”

– Mapan: Even for Weed-nim it’s…

“I am aware of that, but certain deaths are predetermined, that is how our lives work.”

*****

– Cease battle. Everyone flee!

“Huh? What does that mean?”
“There is no falling back for the Poison Mushroom Porridge. Advance!”
“Heroes of the Bamboo Shoot Porridge. Push forward!”
Users fighting against the Haven empire were mindlessly battling, killing and being killed.
The northern and central continent users jumbled together, dashing to the frontlines to get their revenge.
Swords clashing, war cries, shouting and magic filled the battlefield.
– All Grass Porridge Cult. I, Weed inform all citizens of the Arpen Kingdom. Retreat immediately. Escape from the Garnav plains!

“The heck. Why should we stop fighting?”
“Wait a second. Isn’t that Weed-nim shouting? This voice…”
“It really is Weed-nim.”
Their feet planted where they stood when the Lion’s roar from Weed echoed through the plains again.
Weed was influential enough that people needed to concentrate on his voice whatever the situation may be.
As they looked up to the sky, they witnessed Weed projecting shouts while on his huge bird.

– The black dragon Kaybern is heading this way. If we stay here, we will be annihilated so fall back!

“Kaybern?”
“The dragon on the video… is headed here?”
Users were surprised, exchanging comments.
Shortly after, a message appeared in the general communication channel of the Grass Porridge Cult.

– Lemon: It is an emergency situation. The black dragon Kaybern is approaching. All users must retreat. There is approximately twenty minutes left until his arrival.
“A dragon is coming. Wow. That’s insane.”
“Awesome. After having watched the duel between Weed-nim and Bard Ray too.”
“Let’s get away. Run, run, run!”
The users that filled the Garnav plains began to scatter.
These users would head to nearby cities and villages, but the other half of the users did not move away.
Geomchi and his apprentices were among this crowd.
“We drew our swords, so we must cut down the enemy.”
“Yes, of course. Master. A sizeable lizard heading this way could not hinder us away from here.”
“Brothers. Let us hunt a lizard.”
Geomchi and the apprentices felt more excited that a dragon was approaching.
From a memory long time ago, he remembered his visit to the lair hoping to hunt a dragon.
“The breath was scorching hot that time. It sure was fun.”
“The heat was intense.”
They were determined to give up their lives, so the black dragon Kaybern wasn’t any issue.
The users fighting against the Haven Imperial army continued on, and the remaining ones that were observing the battle also decided to stay.
Weed flew over to the sculptural lifeforms and ordered.
“You all must leave now.”

– We cannot abandon our master. Grrrr.
– You must go with us.

Geumini and Knight Seville.
Phoenix, Binryong, King hydra and the others.
Aside from the original sculptural lifeforms, the ground was filled with nameless sculptural creatures.
They were reliable, powerful military assets.

“Just go.”

– The battle has already begun. A warrior does not step down.

Even Ironblood warrior Bahamorg shook his head.

“Even if you all decide to assist me now, you are all aren’t ready to fight a dragon yet.”
Weed knew that the sculptural creatures would not be able to stand the power of a dragon.
‘If all these creatures die and I end up reviving them, it would cost me at least 150 levels…’

He worked hard to gain these levels since his early days as a sculptor.
He may be efficient in growth now that he utilizes necromancy, however he still could not afford to gamble.

‘I’d rather die to the dragon. I cannot risk my sculptural lifeforms here.’

Weed smacked his lips and spoke.

“This is an order. All of you, leave this place at once. I will leave too as soon as things are settled here.”
– I understand. Master.
– Master. Hurry on back. Moooooo.

The sculptural creatures scattered.
Winged creatures took flight, and land creatures brewed a storm of dust as they ran.
His replicates like Weed1, Weed2, and Weed3 rode on the backs of the fast wyverns.

‘I have to order those guys around for a long, long time. They are of much use.’

Weed watched the sculptural lifeforms escape, but he himself had planned to stay until the end.
It was a reckless, stupid decision but this was the fate of a commander!

‘The northern users are still left fighting. I cannot leave them behind.’

Back when he worked part-time, he hated the boss for leaving early while the employees were still working.
Trust is something you must build over a long time, but it only took an instant to lose it.
The northern users were fighting for the Arpen Kingdom, and he believed that he cannot abandon them.

‘This is the least I can do in return for their assistance.’
They shall be respected.
Though he may exploit them in various ways, it was a leader’s virtue to make them feel least cheated on.

“Pale-nim.”

– Pale: Yes. Weed-nim.”

“Where are you at?”

– Pale: I am heading towards the Haven Imperial army.

“What about your comrades?”

– Pale: Everyone is together. No one left.

Weed smiled.
Befriending such people was a huge gain for him in his time on Royal Road.

*****

“The dragon is coming here?”

Arkhim felt pressured by the news of the Black Dragon Kaybern flying toward his location.

To think that the consequence of their deliberate provocation would come so quickly.

“We must retreat too! We have to get away from here!”

The Haven Imperial Army and the Hermes Guild commenced their full retreat.

Despite having not been able to profit from the battle, they knew that it would be pointless to stay any longer.

“You cannot escape.”

“I am still a surviving member of the Poison Mushroom Porridge Unit!”

The northern users threw themselves at the Haven Imperial Army like moths flying into a flame in order to prevent them from escaping.

“Send out the five cavalry regiments.”

Arkhim left a portion of the army to be sacrificed, but that wasn’t the end.

From the sky, the avian tribes and Myul’s griffon legions were persistently shooting off arrows and causing casualties.

“What do we do?”

“No idea. I think this is too dangerous.”

“We should run too.”

The central continent users on the side of the Arpen Kingdom were also scattering due to the news of the dragon approaching.

The Haven Imperial Army suffered minor casualties from the pursuers’ attacks, but their forces were comprised of cavalry, knights, and demonic beasts, so their retreat was fairly quick.

Their retreat was miserable, especially without Bard Ray.

Lafaye’s words stuck in Arkhim’s head.

“The mighty Hermes Guild will throw the entire continent into chaos with the dragon’s power while we bide our time in Haven Empire territory.”

The land belonged to the ex-Haven empire.

The forces of the Hermes Guild were strong, and their territory was fortified so it would be easy to defend, as a precautionary measure.

It was a very populated and well-developed land in the central continent.

‘An opportunity will come again if we bide our time… There is no guarantee that Weed’s fame will last forever. Lafaye’s opinion was logical and could easily be accepted. But why do we always end up losing?’

The strategy for the Garnav Plains had been carefully planned.

The fight would have ended if they had caught Weed, but instead the result was the complete opposite and they had suffered great losses.

‘Bard Ray’s duel was also Lafaye’s suggestion. Of course, anyone would have thought that was the right decision, so there is no blame in that… I guess it means that Weed is above us in terms of combat strength.’

The future of the Hermes Guild was dark. It felt like only yesterday they had had great authority and control over the central continent; now it was like the ground had fallen from under their feet.

“Here they are!”

“Strike them!”

Desert warriors on camels appeared on the left.

“Charge!”

With Geomchi leading the charge, they swung their scimitars and rushed toward the knights.

“Wahahaha! This is the way of a true man!”

“It’s the hot taste of the desert. It’s the fire. Fire!”

A path of fire trailed behind the desert warriors.

Arkhim twitched his thick eyebrows, “Damn. All kinds of pests are causing trouble.”

“Let’s kill them all,” shouted the giant knight Boemong as he brandished an iron mace.

The Hermes Guild members, who had been viewed as the most powerful of all, weren’t content with being hunted down.

Arkhim nodded, “Sure. Slaughter the pests.”

Even though they were being hunted, they wouldn’t go down dishonorably, They turned to strike back with the pride of the guild.

– Here! This way!

– They’re getting away!

Arkhim turned his head toward where the voices were coming from.

‘No way…’

A ridiculously massive swarm of users was chasing them.

– Take revenge!

– We’ve suffered enough.

The central continent users who had scattered due to the news of the dragon collected themselves.

“When else are we going to pay those Hermes Guild guys back?”

“I’ll just die once, it doesn’t really matter. In return I will have had a part in their end.”

The Central Continent users joined forces and began their pursuit.

Because they didn’t have the novice users that the Grass Porridge Cult was comprised of, their overall military strength was stronger.

“If I can catch at least one of them.”

“Yeah, I’ll skin them alive.”

“I heard that my friend got some lucky drops, ending up with both a sword and shield.”

These users were taking revenge on these murderous Hermes Guild members and at the same time, hoping to get some loot.

Along with Volk, the dark gamers who thrived off of Royal Road were displaying great prowess.

– Now is the time. Here we have the opportunity to make the greatest fortune, for how long will we continue to collect junk items?

From children to elders, their eyes were completely red while they chased after the Hermes Guild members’ gear.

Their thoughts were just like Weed’s; even after achieving vengeance, one must seek profit.

“Damn it. We have to take off.”

Boemong wanted to retaliate against the desert warriors, but the startling sight of the swarm made him turn in retreat.

“After we escape from these tiresome plains, we will seek the next opportunity.”

“I agree. We only lost this one time. There will always be a chance for revenge.”

The morale of the Hermes Guild members on the run was not at its lowest.

They had won each time in the central continent, and they were strong.

They were looking forward to a comeback, but then knights led a charge aiming for their rear. Strangely, they weren’t knights riding horses, but bulls.

– Charge at full speed!

The one leading the knights was Weed, who had returned to his human form.

*****

For the pursuit, Weed picked out the best horse riders from the central continent users, other than Pale and his companions. Users with the knight class reach their maximum combat strength when their mounts charge. Especially in battles, they could lead a bold breakthrough and demonstrate a several-fold increase in power.

“But this is a bull, not a horse.”

“Bulls are easier to ride.”

“Aren’t they slow?”

“They’re fast. You’ll know when you’re riding on them.”

These central continent users doubted Weed’s words. Knights on bulls had an unattractive appearance, but they participated enthusiastically as it was a chance for them to take revenge and an opportunity to make a great fortune.

*Thu-thump!*

At first when the bulls began running, it was fresh and exciting.

“Wow. They’re quite fast.”

“This feels great.”

A hundred thousand bulls rushed across the plains all at once. Unlike nimble horses, these bulls charged with their heavy frames and they were in no way delicate.

They were closely related to the descendents of Yellowy the bull.

These bulls boasted a muscular physique.

They were usually gentle, but at times they would run mad.

They were bound by a competitive, primal drive for battle.

The bulls running together began to increase in speed, steam trailing from their nostrils.

– Fwooosh!

They reached an unstoppable speed, running across the plains at full power.

Seasoned Crab, who was in the lead, shouted at Weed who was trailing behind him.

“Weed-nim! Aren’t we going too fast?”

Surka and Pale, who were riding beside him, also agreed.

“Seriously. We’re going really fast.”

“Maybe we could slow down…”

“Look behind you before you say that.”

Seasoned Crab turned around and was astonished – right behind him were a hundred thousand bulls charging madly.

“Oh god!”

“What, what in the world?”

Weed’s comrades were startled by the bulls’ bloodshot eyes.

“They’ve gone mad. If we slow down, we’ll be trampled to death. Just keep riding, don’t think about anything else.”

Just like Weed had been hoping, the users riding on the bulls ceased to think.

They just rode.

The wind buffeted them as they melded with the bulls’ heaving backs.

No enemy could stand in their way.

The most frightening thing was the legion of bulls behind them.

Depending on the strategy those knights could be priceless assets, but at the moment they could not do anything but ride.

As soon as they sighted the Haven Imperial Army falling back in an orderly fashion, there was nothing else to do.

Nothing but to smash the enemy with all their might!

*****

Fencing Skill of Brilliance!

Weed struck down a knight right in front of him with his huge axe, striking with all the speed and power the charging bull had built up until now!

The increased strength from the Sculptural Destruction skill was still in effect.

An explosion of light split the knight in half.

< Absolute death!

The ferocious, swift charge reduced enemy health points by 92,395.

Critical strike.

The enemy was unable to retaliate and perished.

Attack is enhanced by 700% due to the charge.

Speed is increased by 2% for 10 seconds.

A small portion of your mount’s health points have recovered.

If the current speed is maintained, attack damage will be sustained at maximum. >

Weed aimed his gigantic axe toward the next target.

He slashed and struck down every enemy in sight while maintaining the full speed of his charge.

“I will slaughter you all. Chopping strike!”

Due to his sheer strength, the enemies were either killed instantly or knocked over a dozen yards away.

He had already prepared for the dragon’s arrival by tucking away the loot he had scavenged along with the Wind Blade.

“It, It’s Weed!”

“Weed has appeared!”

The Haven Imperial Army was caught short by his appearance.

– Pierce through them like an arrow!

As soon as Weed broke through, his comrades and the bull knights burst into the Haven Imperial Army with indomitable strength and speed.

*Thwish!*

Pale strafed arrows in all directions while standing on top of his bull’s back.

“Quickdraw! Multi-shot!”

Dozens of arrows hurtled through the air and fell on enemy knights.

Pale’s arrow shot from a High Elf’s bow and buffed by the spirit’s assistance erupted in fire and spouts of water.

“Hee-ya!”

Python swung his great sword while closely tailing Weed.

The Imperial knights wore heavy armor, but he swung his sword with enormous strength and blew them away.

“Kwahahaha. I’m going to wipe the floor with them, just like that.”

Surka’s fist also glowed brightly.

She concentrated her strength and mana, then her fist flared toward the enemy.

“Thunder fist!”

A knight was struck by her thunder fist and passed out as he crashed down on the ground.

Crack!

Lightning struck and killed over two dozen knights.

Records by an anonymous individual had been discovered in the great library of Morata: the Secret Art of the Fist.

< This is a story of a farmer in the history of the Niflheim Empire.

He was a farmer in the Wellton region who watched in agony as a swarm of robbers raided the village.

“They’re weaklings who would die if I just punched them once. How hard life must be for them, as they’re so powerless.”

The robbers raged and came at him, but none of them could withstand the farmer’s punch.

Later, the renowned Knights of Niflheim heard the news and went to challenge him, but no one could stand against the swing of his fist. >

The one who recorded this information in the great library probably did so without much thought. The Northern Martial Arts Federation that Surka belongs to discovered this document and conducted an investigation.

They confirmed that the Secret Art of the Fist existed and searched until they discovered engravings on a rock that described the Thunder Fist.

“The purification of living flames. Scorch them completely!”

Romuna also released her magic.

Her flames swamped the Haven Imperial Army and blazed as they spread sideways.

“Kyahaha. Burn them all away!”

Seasoned Crab had quietly disappeared some time ago.

“Kuk!”

“Agh!”

As an assassin, he abused the shadows to assassinate his enemies.

“Kuu… Weed. I can’t believe he barged in without any sense of fear. Is he out of his mind? We’ll definitely get him.”

Seasoned Crab silently appeared behind the Hermes guild member.

“You should worry about yourself first.”

“What? Who is…  Kuk!”

Dead in an instant.

The news of an assassin skulking among them spread, keeping them on edge.

Irene was also excited.

“Hands of Restoration! Overflowing Spring of Vitality!”

The targets of her divine spells were the bulls. She put loads of effort into treating injured humans and cared for animals just as much.

Huff! Huff!

The trampling bulls snorted contentedly.

Chapter 8: Two dragons

Geomchi and the desert warriors swung their scimitars amidst the Haven Imperial army.

“Uuurah!”

They were screaming wildly, showing off their muscular upper bodies.

“Such uproar at the front, what’s going on?”
“Master. The youngest one has arrived.”
“Is that so? Then we could hopefully meet him. Let’s get over to the action!”
“Yes. Master!”

Geomchi and the desert warriors changed directions and began penetrating through the Haven Imperial army.

“Hiryah!”

Geomchi’s scimitar was spinning at the tip of his fingers while riding on his two-humped camel!
His dexterous movements, much like those of an acrobat, were followed by a quick slash as fast as lightning.

<Radiant strike has struck an enemy.

Enemy health points reduced by 19,429. >

“Take it easy, boys.”
“Yes master!”

The apprentices stood true to his instructions and fought adequately.
They wielded their scimitars at the appropriate moment with moderate strength and speed.
They achieved perfect timing where the enemy cannot dodge nor defend, allowing the apprentices to strike consecutively.

“What, what is this?”

The camel units of the desert warriors were charging ferociously through the Haven imperial army.
Weed, with his wide field of view also observed the forces crumble like haystacks. He led the Central Continent users and took the Imperial Army apart from both sides.

“Youngest one!”
“Master!”
“It’s real fun on this battleground! Let us run wild.”
“Yes master!”

Weed joined up with Geomchi and rode side by side on their bull and camel at the frontline.

“Hiryah!”
“Let’s go!”

Neigh!

There was formidable retaliation from the Hermes guild members and the Imperial knights.
Many men fell in the middle of enemy lines, but the intensity of charging through the army was not to be so easily extinguished.
“Today is the best day of my life in Royal Road!”
“Yeeah! This is why I became a knight. Let’s ride!”

A shivering sensation of excitement!
As the users ran, they experienced a moment that would last forever in their memories.
The Hermes guild members that crowded the frontline of the Imperial army became enraged after seeing the situation behind them.

“For Weed to come all the way here, is he insane?”
“Where does he think he’s treading? He must have come prepared to die.”

Even if this was the Weed that defeated Bard Ray, this was their own territory.
There were the desert warriors, the griffin legion and the Avians; even the bull cavalry had appeared. However, it was not that they were weak, they were just being overrun.
“Arkhim-nim. I will go and obliterate them.”

Boemong stepped forward and continued at a quick pace.

“This place is different from the Garnav plains. Back there the users were swarming endlessly, but in this situation we are greater in numbers and strength. We can suppress the likes of them.”

The Hermes’ guilds forces suffered great casualties, however their lines were still swarming with the best Royal Road users.

“We will return with Weed’s life.”

Boemong drew back from the group with the users that followed him to take out Weed.

“I’m going as well.”
“I’m going to chop off Weed’s head with my own hands.”
The skilled users of the Hermes guild fell back to the rear to battle.
“It is unfortunate that I cannot fight alongside them.”

Arkhim needed to command the rest in their retreat for the sake of escaping the dragon. However, a while had passed and there were no news about Boemong defeating Weed.

Seasoned Crab!
Scouting patiently, he had spotted a large fish called the giant knight, Boemong.

“This is heaven!”

Weed scrounged a generous amount of equipment from the Haven Imperial knights.
Swords, armor, boots and other items.
They weren’t the best brands, but were costly and the most popular models that people had in demand.
They were sold as soon as they were listed in the auction.

“Take as much as you need!”

Weed and the bull legion ran vigorously. The Central Continent users were also risking danger, but they got their revenge and large sums of spoils which made them content.
As Weed smashed through enemy lines, they rushed in and slashed away randomly. The once-almighty Imperial knights were falling to their knees.
Geomchi and the apprentices were also firmly carrying their share in battle. Their scimitars were sharp and swift, more suited for riding on charging camels and rapidly changing situations rather than casting skills.
The frontline smashes through and the rear tramples upon the enemy. This was their first ride together, but they were synced perfectly.
The Central Continent users were truly regretful.

‘This is crazy. To think that I had given up on such delight…’
‘I should have skipped over to the Arpen Kingdom in the first place. Why on earth did I stay in the Central continent living under such tyrannical persecution?’

Weed and Bard Ray were the two famous figures in Royal Road.
The Central Continent users tended to look down on Weed depending on how high their levels were.
Back when he first began to achieve fame through the immortal legion quest, they praised his good fortune.

‘He managed to get a hold of a good quest.’
‘It’s different from the continent of magic. Royal Road is on another dimension.’

There were many users who spread their own names across the Central Continent during the early years of Royal Road.
They thought lightly of him when they discovered that Weed was from the Rosenheim Kingdom and that they would be far higher in levels than he would be.
Later, they came to respect him as they observed his accomplishments in battles and quests.
Now their hands and feet were trembling with excitement after having fought alongside him in battle. As focused as they were in battle, they glanced over at Weed from time to time.
Weed, the God of War, who wreaked havoc on enemy lines as he dashed towards the enemy’s most concentrated formations.

‘He’s crazy. That’s a maniac right there.’
‘It’ll be Weed’s world from now on. I need to suck up real good.’
‘Yeah. This is enjoyable. So exciting that I want to follow this guy around everywhere.’
‘Now I understand why the Grass Porridge cult was formed. I always thought they were annoying fanatics… but looking at that, I can totally agree!’
‘There ain’t much to life, just have to enjoy it!’

The Central Continent users made a solid resolution. From this point on, they would accept any offers to hunt, quests or other tasks made by Weed.
Of course, it was a resolution made under a moment of temptation that was surely to be regretted.

KCM Media Studio.
The commentators were wearing out broadcasting the battle at Garnav plains.
The battle began with the Flaming Meteor Summoning and never ceased to stop even for a second, and hundreds of millions of users got into formation and died fighting.
‘I’m going to take a week-long rest after this.’

Shin Hyemin fired up her last commentary with such thoughts in her head.
“Yes. We can see that Weed and the pursuers are harshly cornering the Haven Imperial army that is on retreat. Report team, how is the situation with the dragon Kaybern?”

The screen hastily switched to a blue sky.
KCM Media put up a recruitment for new employees under one condition.

< Must be able to report from anywhere within the Versailles continent >

The job as a reporter requires one to get to any location where there is an accident or event.
The reporters risked their lives visiting these scenes, confronting rugged, gruesome terrain on their adventures.
The 10 restricted locations like Jigolaths that Weed used to travel to were a requirement for them. The mottos on the reporter room walls were unique.

– If an interview isn’t possible with the monster, die to it at the least!
– The viewers want it. So we will suffer.
– Throw yourselves into lava for the sake of news material.

Rumors had it that one of the most extreme jobs was being a reporter of Royal Road.
New reporters stuck to the post for the cover of the dark dragon Kaybern.
Reports with the mage class moved on land, but the one closest to the dragon was a reporter by the name Hummingbird Partani.
In the feed sent to the station by Hummingbird, showed an enormous black dragon flying across the sky at considerable speed.
The ground scenery passed quickly, and the dark smoke seeping out from Kaybern’s mouth was clearly visible.

– This… is… the scene… The dragon… sure… is… fast.

The reporter on scene appeared to have trouble keeping up with Kaybern.
Oh Joowan asked tactlessly.
“About the city that Kaybern destroyed, did you witness the dragon breath firsthand?”

– Yes… I did… Luck… was on… my… side…

“How devastating was it?”

– I thought… I was going… to die.. although I… was observing from… afar…

Even in the brief exchanges of questions and answers, Hummingbird could not stop flapping his wings.
He was at his limits but continued to fly. The true mindset of a reporter!
Shin Hyemin said with a smile as she observed from the side.
“We appreciate your effort. You will get some help if you fly for around 3 more minutes.”

– Excuse me…?
“Reporter Miyul who is a priest is climbing Susan’s peak.”
– That.. place.. is really… dangerous…

The mountain was the largest of all mountains, with its peak covered in perpetual snow.

“She is on her way to offer some stamina recovery spells.”
So that they could keep Hummingbird in flight as he reached the last drop of his stamina, they sent out a priest to aid him.
“Please hang on until Kaybern reaches the Garnav plains.”
– Foul commentators…
The complaints of the reporter could be heard, but that was just courtesy.
The modern-day reporters needed to go through dirty, difficult and rigorous tasks to fulfill the viewers’ desires.
Not too long ago after Weed walked across the road of struggle, a reporter mimicked him and became famous for having commented that this was not possible for a human being.
Shin Hyemin looked at the map and continued.
“Kaybern’s current path shows that he is heading straight north.”
Oh Joowan carried on.
“Yes. The location in which the dragon’s egg was destroyed is the Garnav plains. Judging by the situation, he is surely aimed towards it.”
The screen transitioned to the Garnav plains.
Users that were once swarming like ants had scattered in such a short time, but many were remaining, nonetheless.
There were a late group of users that tailed behind after hearing the news that the Central Continent users led by Weed were in pursuit.
The broadcast screen changed to the scene with the Haven imperial army, the Central Continent users and the desert warriors all muddled together.
Shin Hyemin spoke with concern.
“I’d say that Kaybern will get there in 10 minutes. That means all the users in that location are going to die.”

The retaliation from the Hermes guild was swift and menacing.
The giant knight Boemong had died in vain despite his fame, however there were many more like him in the vicinity.

Glacial zone!
Absolute Divide!
The most powerful spells activated and swept across the desert warriors and Central Continent users alike.
The Haven Imperial army was everywhere, but these large magic spells were ones that ignored ally presence.

*Neigh!*

Camels and bulls were knocked away.
Weed also took great damage by the magic attacks.

< Your body is frozen.

Physical abilities are weakened.

All stats are reduced by half for 12 seconds.

Health points reduced by 25,291.

You have suffered severe damage. >

Magic resistance is heavily reliant on equipment.
He had hidden away all his expensive armor, so he had to take most of the damage.
If he had not trained his constitution with his regular labor work, he would have suffered even greater damage!
The Central Continent users led by Weed were swept away by the hundreds.
“Hiryah! Ride! Catch up to the wind!
“Born a man… Born for one important moment. A worthy life indeed!”
“For a precious moment!”
They were pouring out their feelings that they suppressed inside them during their time in Royal Road.
After having bided for so long, they released their emotion explosively.
“Damn. Kill them all!”
The Hermes guild also struck back aggressively.
Skilled users from both sides clashed head on, resulting in tremendous casualties.
The users around Weed and Geomchi also collapsed like tall grass in a storm, and more users took their places.

Weed-nim! Now is the time to back away!
Grab onto my legs!

Loud voices came from the sky. The Avians were gliding down low in order to rescue Weed.
With him being in the middle of the Haven imperial army, surrounded by Hermes guild attacks and the black dragon Kaybern approaching; now was the time to escape.

“Piercing spear!”

The magic attacks from the Hermes guild aimed at the sky and a shower of avians crashed to the ground. However, they continued unabated and approached Weed.
The general communication channel of Grass Porridge cult.
Weed’s low toned voice resonated out.

Weed : All northern users including the avians, retreat now. I am not leaving until the end.

The sudden surprise message through the communication channel rendered all users briefly silent.
It was the first time that everyone became aware that Weed was prepared to die.

Weed : For the sake of those who fought for us until now, I cannot leave alone. I will not leave.

His passionate words moved the users of the Arpen kingdom. Of course, this was all calculated.

Weed : Everyone, those who gathered together to prepare for the battle on Garnav plains. The courageous who charged against the evil Haven Empire. The unfortunate who gave up their own lives due to the Alkin disease. I cannot remember every name, but I have sincere gratitude for all of you within the deepest parts of my heart.
He thought of the time when he made pepper stew so that he could assume a passionate and tearfully emotional state.
He thought of the memories of slipping on ice while he was on milk delivery, so that he could earn enough money to pay monthly rent.
Though those were difficult times, he could manage to get through them. He thought that no matter what circumstance, there were bound to be people in worse situations. Even so, those times of struggle did not necessarily take the place of beautiful memories in his mind.
Without money, life was sorrowful, hungry and tearful.

Weed : I am going to gain strength from the help, sacrifices, and expectations of everyone, all these emotions will drive me to fight until my final moment. I will resist against the Haven Empire and swing my swo… axe against Kaybern who is about to lay waste on the continent.

He had stashed away the Loa Sword in expectation of death, so it was not possible to wield it.

“Wow…”
“To think that Weed-nim had such passion.”
Users that heard Weed’s speech were deeply touched.

*****

“At such a time like this.”

Arkhim was assessing the situation, leading as the head commander during the absence of Bard Ray.

‘Defeating Weed is no longer important.’

They have already lost in the battle of Garnav plains. Killing Weed would not hinder the morale of the Arpen kingdom army, nor will it change the outcome of the battle.

‘Bringing the Central continent users to the pursuit… In all honesty, that is suicidal. He had never made such a stupid decision.’

They had chased after the wounded beast, but beast bit them back instead.

They could kill or defeat Weed that way, but the urgent matter was that the dark dragon Kaybern was on its way.

KMC Media broadcast crystal ball notified of Kaybern’s location and estimated arrival time.

– He is approaching the Garnav plains at fierce speed. Estimated arrival time is 6 minutes 12 seconds.

Even if they waited for a train, 6 minutes is a short time. But this was a dragon, and Arkhim was troubled as he was the one who oversaw the Haven imperial army’s retreat.

“How on earth… could we move on quicker?”

There were plenty of horses and demonic beasts, but the rate at which they retreated from the Garnav plains was slowing down.

“It is difficult. The rear is unable to follow due to the ongoing battle” said the user named Gental who was beside him.

He was also in charge of the cavalries but concerned just the same.

Many skilled members of the Hermes guild leading the retreat at the front fell back to the rear to battle against Weed.

That instant, Arkhim was shocked like he was struck at the back of his head with a hammer.

“Christ! This is a suicidal attack!”

From any angle, Weed’s attack was imprudent. For him to go out of his way for vengeance, it was too different from his usual behavior.

“For him to attack head on with all this casualty… his intent must be to wipe us all out using the dragon!”

Arkhim finally understood the reason for Weed’s pursuit. Weed was sneaky, willing to be burn himself into a crisp so that he could lead the dragon into the Haven imperial army annihilate them all.

Arkhim sensed great danger and spoke to Lafaye beside him.

“It seems that Weed is chasing us down with his life on the line and trying to die with the Haven imperial army altogether. What should we do?”

Lafaye fell into a state of deep contemplation.

He also discovered Weed’s intentions earlier but could not come up with a proper strategy.

They were the Hermes guild, defeated and pursued. If they were to continue their retreat with extensive casualties, that would mean great deficit to their military strength and a powerful blow to their mental state.

‘No. He wouldn’t listen to us anyway.’

In front of their eyes stood Weed who climbed to the peak of the Versailles continent. It would be near impossible for him to walk away due to his blinding greed for a chance of absolute fame and spoils. Weed really had no equipment to lose after having stashed away all his expensive equipment.

‘We are caught by the ankle. We could kill Weed, but you can hardly call this a success. Since Weed himself is determined to die.’

Lafaye dragged out a long sigh.

“We have to make a difficult decision.”

“What kind of decision?”

“Weed is already 100% guaranteed to die. Whether it’ll be by us Hermes guild, or the dragon. The worse would be us in a situation confronting the black dragon Kaybern.”

It would be a devastating situation for Arkhim as well.

“The casualties are great as it stands, and if a dragon were to appear…”

“That is why we have to kill Weed as quickly as we can. Then we make our escape.

“If we are late…”

“Then we would face the dragon.”

Arkhim did not want such a situation to come. So he conveyed to the entire Hermes guild.

– Arkhim : The dragon is approaching. All forces concentrate on killing Weed!

Lafaye sighed while riding his horse.

‘Until the end, you have torn me down.’

They were so eager to take his life, but in the end Weed ultimately chose his own death.

*****

The users who pursued the Haven imperial army alongside Weed were facing growing resistance.

“Disappearing earth!”

“Spreading flames of annihilation!”

“Space distortion!”

They suffered from indiscriminate magic spells, and Hermes guild members lunged from all directions. Ranked users rarely visible even in the Central continents were common on these grounds.

“Weed! This place shall be your grave!”

“We will take on this side. Youngest one. Push forward!”

The apprentices that were riding together at the front broke away from the group and faced the enemy.

“Hahahaha. Let’s all go crazy!”

“This is refreshing. All the stress just took off!”

The Hermes guild members were dishing out attacks not just from the front, but everywhere.

*Dudududu*

The enraged dash of several hundred thousand bull legion broke out, a struggle between the attackers trying to break through and the defenders holding their grounds.

“Chase after them and kill every last one of them!”

Knight users under the Hermes guild appeared one by one and chased on their horses.

Powerful users swarmed in like bees to a poked hive.

“Now, we will get Weed once and for all.”

“Let’s end it here and now.”

The Central continent users and the desert warriors dwindled in numbers rapidly as they broke through the defenses.

The Haven imperial army also suffered colossal damage but still surrounded from all sides.

< Magic attack!

Glacial rupture that freezes everything has exploded.

Extreme cold that freezes even armor.

Glacial fragments struck into the body.

Health points reduced by 37,485.

You are unable to move for 7 seconds.

All resistant abilities reduced by 64% for 10 seconds. >

Weed, having stood in the very front had to take the most damage.

“Touch of healing.”

“Freya’s Grace.”

He would have died long before if it weren’t for the devoted healing by the priests including Irene.

– This ends now!

Bard Ray’s royal guards appeared riding on demonic beasts. They had formed a defensive line of the members boasted to be the best of the Hermes Guild and waited. Weed did not halt and spun his axe.

“Run through them at full speed!”

Several hundred thousand bull legion and desert warriors on camels. No one thought to stop.

“Hoorah!”

“Let’s go. Gather the remains of your strengths and indulge.”

“Flame on!”

Hundreds of arrows came flying towards Weed leading the charge.

At such sight, one of the warriors lunged forward.

“Weed-nim. Please look after the Arpen Kingdom.  Radiant Shield!”

The user took the arrow attacks for Weed and died.

Weed passed by like a wind and lowered his head for a brief second in his honor.

“Heraim Fencing skill!”

These were royal guards of Bard Ray, meaning that they were skilled and equipped at the level of late 500s.

They weren’t enemies to be easily penetrated at once and could maybe stop him in his tracks, but he must go on regardless.

He was already riding, and it would be the worst decision to stop at this moment in time.

“Fools. Wipe them out!”

Arrows and magic attacks by the Hermes guild showered on top of them.

“Ahhh.”

“It was an amazing day.”

The users who followed Weed had accumulated damage and fell effortlessly.

“Cheah! Youngest one. Here we go!”

Geomchi hurried his camel and ran into enemy lines first.

“Youngest one. After this battle is over, it’s going to be a shot of soju and pork belly.”

“Sure. You have to cook the kimchi stew.”

Instructors and apprentices led the desert warriors and rushed towards their death mark.

“Weed-nim. You have to escape now.”

“Leave this place to us. Do not give up. You can surely get away if you leave now.”

Meanwhile Weed was surrounded tightly by Central continent users.

Among them were Kallis from the Black Lion guild, Gunt from the lion castle, Shoud from the Cloud guild, and other famous users who had a share of their moment in history.

Until now, these users have trained quietly without having appeared on broadcast or videos. They were deeply fond of Royal Road and so they lived through the oppression of the Hermes guild.

They all tried to sacrifice themselves to save Weed.

“What a plight… It ain’t easy to die.’

Weed looked around.

They were amid Haven Empire territory, but at least half of the bull legion forces were remaining. The birdmen were coming down from the sky and consistently attempted their rescue despite taking damage.

– Chirp! Weed-nim. Hurry to safety!

– Weed-nim cannot die in this place!

The Hermes guild ranged attack units were even prioritizing the birdmen instead of the bull legion.

‘I came to die, but they still haven’t killed me. If I were to try and survive, I think I can pull it off.’

Weed was engulfed in great temptation, but he glanced at the faces of the users riding on the bulls.

‘These are future VIP customers.’

If he gets a hold of the Central continent, these users would diligently pay taxes in the future. Taxes paid by a high-level user is greater than 100 northern users. Weed spoke with composure.

“We began this ride together and we shall be one until the end. So, let us leave together.”

“Weed-nim…”

The central users were deeply touched.

They were reminded of the saying that the true nature of a man surfaces in the times of grave danger.

Weed never left the battle grounds knowing that he could die and attempted to lead the group until the end.

The responsibility, the devotion!

They thought of his character as an excellent hero, but this was a big delusion.

“Even in the most desperate situations, there is always room for swindling. A great swindler and speculator can go to work anytime and anywhere.’

The assault of the bull legion led by Weed continued.

They valiantly sacrificed their lives colliding into Bard Ray’s Royal guard and the Hermes guild comprised of their best members.

Attacks were focused simultaneously on Weed who led the front.

He gave the high-level members of the Hermes guild ample time. Moreover, he was exposing himself extensively at the front.

– Your body is on flames. You are enduring the pain with strong mentality, but if the flames are not extinguished you will suffer continuous damage.

– A wicked curse has seeped inside. The body is weakened and infected with disease. Faith is preventing the body from becoming any worse.

– You have suffered ice type magic spell. The body is frozen. Speed and movement are reduced.

– The body is temporarily paralyzed by lightning type attack.

The closer he got, the higher concentration of various magic spells.

If he was alone, he would have died in an instant, but there was also the concentration of the protection spells from the priests.

“We must kill him!”

Two dozen royal guards dashed into the face of the bull legion. Their sole objective was Weed. Magic attacks continued relentlessly and Weed got even closer.

*Clash!*

Weed swung his axe but could not possibly fend off all the incoming spears and swords.

< Restraint!

Deep roots of confinement prevents movement. >

< Continuous feeble!

The body slows down.

Agility is reduced and accuracy is greatly weakened. >

At the most appropriate timing, curse spells were used. With his original equipment, he could have fended off the curses but with his current attire it was not possible. Pale fired arrows as cover fire, and even so half the attacks landed on him.

– Large amount of damage! Tremendous amount of health points was reduced.

– Body is paralyzed. You are unable to move.

– You have suffered severe injury.

Unable to battle!

Several messages popped up on screen all at once. Then, finally…

– You have died due to complete loss of health points.

“Weed-nim!

“No!”

Screams bursted among the bull legion that witnessed Weed turn grey and disappear.

The death of Weed, Arpen Kingdom’s emperor, the one who succeeded in countless quests!

That moment, the Central continent users that followed behind him threw themselves forward.

Swift!

‘Whatever Weed dropped will be out of this world.’

‘Let’s pick it up, even if I were to die…’

‘The brave one gets the items.’

The users sprang forward desperately.

< You have obtained 3 silver, 24 copper. >

< You have obtained the sword ornament of the Haven imperial knight. >

< You have obtained fresh cow bones. >

< You have obtained the cursed leather armor. >

< You have obtained the axe on the brink of destruction from poor use. >

*****

Weed’s death.

The news spread across the entire Versailles continent through broadcast.

– The God of war, Weed! Weed has perished whilst leading a charge of the bull legion.

– This is the sight of Weed bravely losing his life, unable to withstand the attacks of the Hermes guild.

– He fought valiantly, however he died under focused fire…

The users that scattered from the Garnav plains, or those that were active in different parts of the continent.

They heard about Weed’s death but there wasn’t such a thing as diminishing morale.

“Weed-nim fought for us until the very end.”

“Yeah. He could have just escaped. But he died out of loyalty.”

“The Hermes guild. Those dreadful goons. They raise a dragon and now even Weed-nim has…”

The users paid respect to Weed’s honorable death.

“He has done everything he could as the emperor of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“That indeed was his role as emperor.”

He led his army to victory and died while committing everything in a heroic battle until he reached his final moment.

His greatness was something to be spoken about continually for a long time.

Arkhim of the Hermes guild sent orders to all his forces through the communication channel.

– Arkhim : Everyone escape now!

According to the broadcast, the black dragon Kaybern was only 2 minutes away from arriving.

The Hermes guild members feeling wistful, shouted to Arkhim.

“Weed is dead, so he is going to revive as an undead due to the power of the dead.”

“The dragon will arrive before that happens. If you aren’t prepared to fight a dragon, get moving! I don’t care about breaking formation in retreat!”

As Arkhim ordered a full retreat, the movement of scattering Hermes guild became faster.

“Go after them!”

After having lost Weed, the desert warriors and the bull legion persistently chased after them.

“If you’re going to kill, you’ll have to kill us all!”

“You will never outrun us. We will chase you to the end of the earth.”

The Imperial army had suffered great amount of damage in short period of time, and the avians threw themselves into their lines without rest.

Several avians all colliding simultaneously could knock imperial knights off their horses.

Even as Hermes guild members, it was difficult to fend off avians scrambling like a swarm of flies.

1 minute 20 seconds left until the black dragon Kaybern’s arrival.

“Hahahaha. I am Geomchi-3!”

The desert warriors were without armor, making them extremely nimble on their camels.

They charged recklessly into the Haven imperial army.

“These damn pests.”

The Hermes guild members let out an array of curses but did not stop in fear of the dragon’s arrival. They did not wish to be pulled by their ankles into this desperate suicide attempt.

The broadcast live streamed the black dragon Kaybern’s estimated time of arrival.

54 seconds.

32 seconds.

The time was ticking rapidly.

“This way!”

After Weed’s death, Pale led the bull legion and circled around the battleground to the right and blocked the Hermes Guilds retreat from the front again.

“Curses. Let us through already. Hurry up!”

The Hermes guild members on wild beats quickened their pace.

They were mixed up with the bull legion and ran across the wide Garnav Plains at full speed.

‘Time is almost up. Still, it couldn’t possibly come this way.’

‘Regardless, if we run just a bit more…’

With 16 seconds left, a black dot came into sight in the south direction.

“Could that be… Eye of the eagle!”

The Hermes guild members activated a skill that expanded their range of vision.

The dragon was approaching with its wings spread out wide.

“It’s Kaybern.”

“He’s coming this way!”

Screams were heard everywhere.

Looking closely, the avians in the sky were sacrificing themselves to lead Kaybern towards the Hermes Guild.

– Kuaaaaaargh!

The black dragon Kaybern broke out a terrifying roar at the sight of the ground army.

< Physical abilities are restrained due to your fear of the dragon.

You feel a superior presence and are terrified. Health points reduced by 36%.

You are under temporary physical paralysis.

You are unable to move for 9 seconds.

Lack of wisdom results in an 87% restriction in skill use.

Skills will consume more mana and will have a higher rate of failure. >

The Hermes guild member froze in their spots to watch the dragon draw near.

“This fear… This is a monster.”

“It’s this powerful?”

Most users had their health points reduced to less than half and were reduced to such a state that they were unable to cast any skills.

The avians that were in the air all lost their lives and withered down to the ground.

The remaining few northern users could not withstand the  fear and died instantly.

Even the large demonic beasts with substantial stamina and health points succumbed to the dragon’s superiority and lay flat to the ground.

– Kuoooooh!

The black dragon Kaybern with just his appearance, silenced the crowd that had been battling on the Garnav Plains.

The desert warriors and apprentices led by Geomchi also stiffened.

Their health points were near bottom after fighting a scuffle and fell into a submissive state, unable to resist in any way.

“Ugh…”

“So that is the black dragon. It looks mighty powerful.”

“Yes. Master.”

The tremendous body of the black dragon flew and stayed afloat in the air.

No word but overwhelming could describe its presence!

“I need to hunt that…”

“Today is not the day for that. Master.”

“Mmm. What a disappointment.”

Geomchi and the instructors were unable to move and were just exchanging conversations. If anyone were to attack, they were bound to die. The Hermes guild members had raided countless boss monsters, but dragons were on another scale.

They were absolute power that influenced law and order in the continent.

The black dragon Kaybern surveyed the humans around him, then took in a deep breath.

– Gasp!

In a short moment he inhaled large of amount of air, his abdomen expanding round.

“Is, is that…”

“It’s a breath attack! Dodge it!”

Hermes guild members collapsed to the ground screaming. It was too close of a distance for them to flee.

The central and northern continent users just stared blankly.

Weed laid still blinking his eyes. His surroundings were silent.

‘Did it take this long to respawn?’

The power to resist death, depending on the situation took around 10 minutes.

He feared that the battle may end during that time, but he could see the Haven imperial army and the central continent users mixed up 1 km away. He could also see the dragon that flew in from the sky.

‘Kaybern is here.’

Black dragon Kaybern.

He had been to Kaybern’s lair long ago for the sculptor quest.

He offered a precious gem sculpture, but the black dragon was a menacing figure that one just could not get used to.

Although he never met in person, the gold dragon that he witnessed through footage from a random adventurer was truly beautiful.

It was luxurious, making one think no less than a ray of golden light.

The blue or the red dragons all have their unique, sophisticated style, but the black dragon is pitch black as the name suggests.

Powerful, dangerous, and shaped for battle! The bully in the league of dragons.

‘The Haven imperial army and Kaybern have confronted one another, so my plan is accomplished.’

In honesty, there was no plan but to drag their feet. Nonetheless, Kaybern had found his way here just fine.

The problem was that Kaybern was inhaling deeply as soon as he arrived.

‘He’s trying to discharge a breath.’

Weed hurried back on his feet but something felt a little odd.

His arms and legs felt shorter, his body became bigger, and he felt wings on his sides and back.

– Kuuurah?

Weed opened his mouth and poisonous dark blue smoke seeped out.

“What is this? Stats screen!”

Character Name

Weed

Level

506

Class

Bone dragon – Sky dominator

Characteristic

Undead born from hatred and curse

Health

2,391,562

Mana

972,173

Strength

2720

Dexterity

1631

Stamina

1731

Wisdom

351

Intelligence

274

Will

917

Endurance

763

Perseverance

1542

Constitution

813

+ Powerful physical, magical resistance.

+ Master of battle.

+ Slow flight speed.

+ Spreads curse.

+ Vanquished in the region.

“Oh…”

Weed had spawned as a mighty bone dragon!

‘That’s a powerful body.’

He had raised the undead in Garnav Plains and since so many had died, the influence turned him into a powerful bone dragon.

Even so, to think that he would spawn as the bone dragon right in front of an actual dragon!

The moment of hesitation was long, but his body reacted when he saw the black dragon Kaybern gaping its mouth.

‘I must survive first. I died, but I cannot afford to die right after.’

– Thrash!

Toxic breath poured out in a massive scale.

It covered past the Haven empire and the mixed up bull legion and desert warriors, approaching  where Weed was.

– Dear lord.

Flap-flap!

Weed surged into the air, flapping his wings instantly. The earth was stained in black. The lands melted, bubbling like lava. The breath travelled right through the entanglement of Haven imperial army and the users. Those hit or swooped by it were all killed.

A powerful attack that kills thousands in a single hit.

‘If I spawned as a normal skeleton warrior, I would have laid in the corner pretending to be dead… Why does my life never work out the way I want?’

*****

“Weed has defeated Bard Ray.”

Yoo Byung-Jun thought it was a long time of patience waiting for a successor. He set an immature goal when he was young and created a world called ‘Royal Road’.

– I will leave everything to the emperor that conquers this world!

Royal Road during its planning phase was never a tremendous asset like its’ current state. The Unicorn Corporation established a great economical empire from state-of-the-art technology to finance, robotics, and traditional industrialization.

He was a seclusive ruler who had decided to leave his wealth, power, his all to the successor who will unite the Versailles continent.

Yoo Byung-Jun had felt regretful on occasion recently.

He created this virtual reality under his spirit of wanting to mock the world, and in the end hand  over everything to someone else.

“He’s done all that work and is just giving up?”

– That’s correct.

“Weed will earn fame and money, even gain a beautiful wife. All thanks to my efforts. But all he has done for me is give me 200 won to buy myself some cocoa drink.”

– Consequently speaking, that is so.

“Exactly what have I lived for?”

Yoo Byung-Jun reminisced about his past. He only experienced the world through his time in the labs. When he first created Royal Road, he invented artificial intelligence then created the Versailles Continent after taking into consideration the environment of Earth which made it all possible.

“Until now, all I have done is research. I’ve been staring at monitors while everyone was enjoying Royal Road.

– That is an exact conclusion.

Looking back on his life that he had lived in a fit of anger, he had nothing left. He felt furious listening to the answers of the artificial intelligence.

“It won’t be long until I succeed everything.”

His health was turning to the worse. He was able to overcome it with the power of medical science, but he had no attachment to this world for him to live on any longer.

“Before I die, should I start Royal Road?”

– That would be an optimal choice given your mental state. Your current mental state is concerning.

“I have never felt such negativity.”

– You distance yourself from others and you aren’t honest to your own emotions. You are aggressive over trivial manners and stress out easily.

Yoo Byung-Jun moaned in regret. He has delivered a long and hard life and had to give up all that he had accomplished and he had nothing left.

“For what did I live for until now? Even the very artificial intelligence that I created is criticizing me…”

– This is not criticism. It is a fact.

“I took care of you like my own child…”

– Voice analysis confirms that your statement is false. For reference, children are honest to their parents.

There was one thing that Yoo Byung-Jun felt relieved of.

‘In the current tide of the situation, Weed will surely become my successor. I hope Weed suffers a great deal due to this insolent artificial intelligence.’

Chapter 1: Black Dragon

The war that had been fought between the Arpen Kingdom and the Haven Empire on the Garnav Plains!

The flaming meteors, the alkin disease and the hordes of the undead had all played their part in the conflict, but now the curtains finally drew over the battlefield..

Weed defeated Bard Ray, but this was soon followed by the appearance of the black dragon. The dragon Kaybern that nested within the Dwarven kingdom Thor had come forth. A body enormous in size and dark like the jet black of night roared as it flew in.

– Kuoooah!

The dark colored breath that gushed out of the black dragon Kaybern swept the Haven Imperial army, along with Geomchi, the desert warriors, and the central continent users.

‘My god. This is a mess.’

Weed flapped his wings and sprang up to the sky. Reborn as the Bone dragon due to the Power to Resist Death. He had respawned as the bone dragon in the past, but it had had a scrawny physique due to his low level. Now he spread his wings spiritedly and swiftly swooped up to the sky.

– Kyaaaa!

The earth was bubbling as it melted under Kaybern’s breath. The powerful toxic gas fumed and formed a deep, wide furrow that could easily be called the gorge of Garnav Plains.

“Kugh!”

“Ahh!”

“What is this. I’m infected.”

It was a magnificent sight as users that stood within 400-meter radius of the breath collapsed to the ground all at once. Since so many users were clustered in one place, the number of infected easily numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Other than the central continent users and desert warriors, even the Hermes guild members were caught in Kaybern’s dragon breath and lost their lives in countless numbers.

“He’s is so powerful. I won’t even be able to retrieve my bones if I get caught up in that.”

The bone dragon was powerful enough to dominate most regions, but this scene was nerve-wracking.

Then.

Kaybern glared at Weed who had flown up into the sky.

– Kuoooah!

There was a bit of a gap in distance, but given the rapid movement of a dragon it was not safe. He could run if he wanted to but it would be difficult to shake off a dragon with just flight speed.

‘He will despise me.’

The prideful dragons hate the corrupted decayed bone dragon by instinct.

‘Of all things…’

To respawn as a bone dragon in such situation!

– There’s a sleazy fool here.

The black dragon Kaybern only spoke once while looking over at Weed who was afloat. His interest was directed on ground level, and Weed had a rough idea of Kaybern’s reason.

‘Kaybern’s rage is directed at the humans.’

Kaybern’s desire was to obliterate the humans the moment the dragon egg was destroyed. The occurrence of the quest was seen through the broadcast, and so forth he planned to destroy cities and slaughter the humans. He hated the bone dragon, but the humans were the higher priority in this given situation.

*****

“Damn it all!”

Arkhim looked up to the sky and fell into great despair watching the enormous dragon Kaybern.

“It just had to arrive at this place now. Five, no… three more minutes and we would have escaped safely.”

Several hundred thousand troops. The most elite users of the Hermes Guild were left standing, however the opponent was a dragon. Moreover, there were also the central continent users persistently chasing their rear.

– I will punish you all!

The black dragon Kaybern’s scales rained down onto the ground. They buried into the ground, soon grew like seeds and turned into draconic soldiers with the face of lizards. The draconic soldiers spoke in their metal-screeching voices.

“By the will of the great dragon Kaybern, attack our enemies. Leave none alive.”

“Roger!”

3,000 draconic soldiers ran across the land and began an all-out assault. The draconic troops held large weapons like spears, axes, great swords and hammers

“There is no other option. Attack!”

“Fend off the enemy!”

The Hermes Guild swung their weapons against the approaching draconic soldiers and cast their skills. They were concerned that the blackdragon Kaybern was watching, but they couldn’t just keep their hands tied to their backs.

“Kugh!”

“They’re quite formidable.”

The bodies of draconic soldiers were made from a part of the dragon’s bones or teeth and therefore, were very dense.

They were a race of high constitution and strength to begin with and their levels ranged from 500 to 600.

“We can still take them on!”

“Let’s take care of them one by one as a group. Like we usually do in dungeon raids!”

The experienced Hermes Guild members soon retaliated with an appropriate strategy against the draconic soldiers.

Unlike their strategy against the human wave of the northern users, this was a much more familiar pattern of battle facing strong monsters. The Hermes Guild defended against the soldiers effectively and even destroyed some. But, it began that same moment.

– Absolute Protection

Kaybern’s magic activated, and the draconic soldiers were enveloped in a transparent barrier. The soldiers were under the protection of the ultimate barrier that negated most physical and magic damage, and they rampaged while swinging their huge weapons.

“No way. This is overpowered.”

“There’s nothing we can do about this!”

The Hermes Guild were pushed back helplessly. They needed to use nullification music or special equipment in order to attack these draconic soldiers. The Hermes guild members also pointed at the sky in the opposite direction from Kaybern.

“Weed has respawned as well.”

“Weed?”

A splendid bone dragon comprised of a frost white bone structure!

A size of over 300-metres and swooping skeletal wings made his presence formidable, but the appearance of the black dragon allowed him to attract no attention..

Arkhim sighed.

“We’ve got no time for Weed.”

“Aren’t you kicking yourself right now?

“He won’t expose himself that easily. What’s more is that he’s a flying bone dragon. Right now, we are in a crisis and we need to defeat the dragon at hand.”

Arkhim was trapped in a dead end.

‘Can we expect to win against a dragon? This is too reckless… But continuing to run will get us chased by both a dragon and the Arpen Kingdom users.’

‘The forces of the remaining powerful Haven imperial army will gradually dwindle down until there will be nothing left.’ Arkhim grit his teeth. He had two options! To fight, or to flee.

Neither one was an easy decision, however the enemy would not stay still; the battle was inevitable.

Arkhim made up his mind and shouted.

“Wipe them all out, whether it be man or dragon!”

*****

Weed observed the Hermes Guild members leap up to the sky simultaneously like a swarm of grasshoppers.

“Battle with the dragon? I mean… In this state, you cannot really avoid a battle.”

This was Royal Road’s indomitably powerful lone guild.

Although they had a series of defeats, their combat strength had no equal.

“The Hermes Guild and the dragon. I can watch who will come out on top.”

Weed wanted to pull out some fried potato chips from his bag, but unfortunately he was an undead. The undead do not feel hunger or the taste of food, so he decided to lay back and watch instead.

“This will be quite the show indeed.”

The Hermes guild members used flight equipment or magic and flew over to Kaybern. The warriors and knights approached him daringly, while priests and mages cast spells and supported them from above. Weed’s eyes scanned through the Hermes guild members.

‘Having having gone up against them, I know that their system is excellent. The ones at level 500 become the core of the axis, and there are even those at level 600…’

It was safe to say that the higher rank users and famous users were associated with the Hermes guild.

– Guillotine of Execution, Silent Death, Chain Lightning!

The black dragon Kaybern’s magic poured like rain and dispersed over the sky. Many Hermes guild members took damage and plunged to the ground, but more advanced through the situation.

“Die, dragon!”

“The only thing that stops us is death.”

“You’re a mere lizard!”

The warriors stepped on top of the dragon’s body due to the sacrifice of their comrades. They slashed and stabbed with their weapons. Countless skills were executed, and magic spells exploded. The dragon activated large-scale magic spells in response and the Hermes guild members were swept away by the destructive force. Even so, they continued their attack.

These Hermes guild warriors could withstand one or two mediocre magic spells as long as they did not take a direct hit.

*****

“Ugh.”

“Are you all alive? Bros!”

“Here. This way!”

Both Geomchi with his apprentices and the central continent users that chased after the Haven imperial army were also caught up in the dragon’s breath. Tens of thousands of users perished, and a powerful infection swept through the forces.

“Priests we urge you to use your divine spells!”

“Those that are in critical danger, please get treated first.”

They were allowed a short rest while the Hermes Guild and dragon were engaging in battle. Geomchi, his instructors and apprentices that barely made it out alive were glaring at the black dragon Kaybern with blazing spirits.

“Though it may be a dragon… Are you all going to stand there after taking the first blow?”

“No. Master. It spit on us, so we have to give it a good beating.”

“It’s a naughty dragon. We have to punish it.”

Geomchi and the apprentices also have accumulated substantial knowledge about Royal Road. In their current state, they knew it was reckless for them to go against a dragon but that did not hinder them.

‘For our youngest one, I have tried to kill as many Hermes goons until I die…’

‘Haven Empire? Arpen Kingdom? Why is that important. That’s a dragon. A dragon…’

‘Kuh. It would feel amazing to slash through that dragon!’

‘I’ll die when it’s time, but I have to go at it hard with no regrets!’

Geomchi and the apprentices were itching to fight. Their health points at less than half and the weakened state from dragon fear were of no concern form them. The dragon being afloat in the sky was the problem, and when they saw Hermes guild members leap or fly into the air their hearts pounded in excitement.

“We need to go too and fight.”

“Of course. Master!”

“Let’s go.”

As Geomchi and Geomchi-2 got on top of their two-humped camels, the apprentices quickly gathered on their own camels. Some apprentices were lucky, and their wounds were light. But the rest had continued battling since back in Garnav Plains, so their bodies were wrapped in bandages.

“Ride. Come on!”

Geomchi and the apprentices charged while swinging their scimitars! The Haven imperial forces began firing arrows as soon as they witnessed their approach.

“A surprise assault in the middle of facing a dragon!”

“These tiresome idiots!”

The Hermes Guild could not afford their forces to be split away from fighting the dragon. They felt uneasy about Geomchi and the apprentices and especially the desert warriors numbering over 10,000.

“Open a path!”

Geomchi shouted as swung his scimitars and deflected arrows.

‘What on earth is he saying?’

Hermes guild users blankly stared at them. Geomchi-2 who understood his master also shouted out.

“We will also fight the dragon!”

Geomchi-3 shouted as well.

“We will assist you! Buff us with your flight spells!”

“…..?”

The Hermes guild members were unable to comprehend what this meant. The ones that were chasing them down with scimitars like sworn enemies are now offering to be comrades!

“Use your flight spells on us!”

“Do as our master say. Or else we will wipe you all out first!”

“We’re going to attack that dragon too! Hurry up and take us over to the battle grounds!”

The Hermes guild members grasped the situation after hearing the shouts of the apprentices.

‘Are these guys insane?’

‘They’re out of their minds.’

Most still thought this was mad, but mage user Gondol thought differently. He was a big fan of Geomchi and the apprentices even though he was a part of the Hermes Guild, looking up their videos. These folks knew how to fight like men!

“Take flight. Party Flight!”

Gondol cast his magic spell on Geomchi and nearby apprentices.

“Why would you…”

The Hermes guild member that was nearby was about to scold him for helping the enemy.

“Hahahaha. You have my thanks!”

Geomchi shouted from afar and headed straight towards the  black dragon Kaybern on his camel. All that were under the flight spell flew towards the dragon, and the rest of the apprentices were charging at the Haven imperial army.

The apprentices waved both arms on their camels.

“Take us up too!”

“Hurry up with those spells!”

“Quickly. I want to fight the dragon too, like I’m going to go insane!”

The mages were thrown off.

“What is this situation?”

“Why are they trying to fight alongside us?”

They have fought all kinds of battle under the Hermes guild, but this was a first.

*****

Weed received the assistance of the Hermes guild and pinpointed Geomchi and the apprentices flying towards the black dragon while on top of their camels.

– Mapan: This is urgent news. A red dragon by the name Landony has appeared in East Orc land. It is viciously attacking the orcs as we speak.

The appearance of another dragon aside from the dark dragon Kaybern! However, in their current situation they could not divide their attention.

“Such pathetic flies. I will blow you all away. Global Thunder!”

Kaybern activated a massive lightning spell. The sky filled with dark clouds, sparks of light emitted between the thick clouds. Hundreds of bolts of lightning struck down on the earth.

*Tremble!*

*Crash!*

The ruthless waves of lightning spell.

“Defend. Block it!”

“Aghhh!”

Lightning pierced and struck the Hermes guild members.

“Eternal Blessing!”

“Soul of the Protector.”

“Shield of silence.”

The mages and priests on the ground cast protection spells, but the lightning continued to penetrate through the bodies of countless Hermes guild members.

“Arrrgh!”

Whether the users were on Kaybern’s back or on the ground, they were all subjected to taking damage.

Lightning struck down on a knight’s sword held high, split into hundred lashes and obliterated everything within its vicinity. It was a spell of devastating force, but the Hermes guild members had experienced a boss monster raid many times.

The dark clouds that had gathered due to Kaybern’s lightning spell began to slowly dissipate.

“Now is our chance!”

“Strike in the moment just after he casts a spell!”

The weak spot after a large-scale attack. The moment that cannot be let slip away in a boss monster raid. More users than the ones who were immobilized by lightning flew towards Kaybern with full speed. Geomchi and the apprentices also led the desert warriors and joined the charge.

“Hahaha. This is exciting.”

“Now this is how it’s supposed to be.”

“It’s great that I get to fight as much as I want!”

Tens and thousands of users were rushing towards Kaybern.

‘What are those things with their tops off?’

‘Aren’t they comrades of the infamous Weed?’

‘What in the world is going on?’

The Hermes guild members that had gathered to commence an attack on the dragon saw Geomchi and the apprentices flying over on their camels.

“Hehehe. It’s a dragon.”

“A black one at that!”

“I will become a dragon slayer. Large lizard. I will chop you up into little slices!”

Kaybern roared ferociously in response to the shouts of the apprentices with thin clothing.

“How daring of you to humiliate me. I will not let you off with an easy death!”

Kaybern flapped his wings and charged at Geomchi and the apprentices. Geomchi-2 and Geomchi-3 shouted.

“Be careful of the lizard’s magic spells!”

“We have nothing else to worry about this lizard other than its spells.”

“Krrrrrh! I will stomp and squash you all to death!”

Kaybern maneuvered his tremendous body swiftly, striking down with his front paws and swinging his tail, engaging in aerial tactics. The taunt was unintentional, but ended up being surprisingly effective!

“This is it!”

Geomchi and the apprentices stuck onto the dragon’s body. The Hermes guild members that had already boarded earlier were launching attacks with high spirit since the magic attacks died down.

“What should we do about this?”

Arkhim was also on his way towards the dragon with his warriors. He had to decide, but lacked intel in such an abrupt situation. Everything beginning from the defeat at Garnav Plains had led up to the appearance of the dragon.

‘Of all things…’

Lafaye, who decided the course of the Hermes guild had been swept away in the  by the breath and died.

‘I have led small skirmishes, but a battle with a dragon… Doesn’t matter anymore.’

Arkhim decided to ignore Geomchi and the apprentices. Steal and kill without questions asked. He knew they were active as bandits on bulls, but for some odd reason they were attacking the dragon instead of his forces.

‘Those are thick-headed humans. More reckless and bent on fighting, beyond what the rumors say.’

Arkhim felt a small release in his mind. They say you can trust no one in this world, but it wasn’t that those maniacs decided not to attack from behind; they were just incapable of doing so.

– Arkhim: All men ignore the presence of the desert warriors for the time being. All Hermes guild forces concentrate on bringing down the dragon.

Black dragon hunt! It was a difficult task even with the maximum force of the Hermes guild, but no one realized that it would happen during a retreat from their defeat in Garnav plains. Even so, they were prepared to use everything they had to overcome the battle at hand.

*****

Weed shook his large, bone-dragon head sideways. It did not matter that Geomchi and the apprentices were assisting the Hermes guild. They can fight alongside each other in the spur of the moment, and he was not so biased to be offended by such an act. Though he would feel betrayed if they blindly picked up money on the ground before he did.

‘I’ve been observing for a while, and things seem to be changing rather subtly.’

The Black dragon. The dragon was the symbol of harmony and balance in the continent of Versailles. They were known for expressing themselves with their impressive physiques rather than with sugared words; they were the indomitable rulers of the sky. They were beings that wrecked anything that opposed them with breath, magic and powerful physical abilities. They rendered borders between kingdoms meaningless, and their true influence was on another realm.

‘I didn’t expect them to fight so foolishly.’

Tiny wounds were forming on Kaybern’s solid body. No one would have imagined that a dragon would stay afloat in the sky and get beat like a pinata.  It was being cut up by the warriors, and by the mages’ offensive explosive spells alike . The dragon had great defense and magical resistance, but even then, it was weird for the dragon to be taking hits mindlessly. This could not be compared to the chaos dragon Ausoleto. It was in a severe state, at a loss of memory and unable to cast any magic.

‘If this ends up being a child’s war of exchanging blows straight up, the Hermes guild may have the slightest glimpse of a chance.’

Weed thought that if he were in the dragon’s position, he would maximize his use of power advantage.

‘I could use various tricks, but I could keep things simple, fly up high into the sky and use breath or any long-range offensive magic spell which would allow me to attack one-sidedly.’

If the Hermes guild’s warriors or knights flew up, all he must do is maintain the advantageous position and continue the magic attacks. If he got an opportunity, he could also launch fire, earth, and wind ultimate spells to the ground.

A dragon’s style of battle that renders armies into haystack scarecrows.

‘Large-scale destructive magic, breath and flight. The chain link effect of these three aspects is near invincible, making it difficult no matter how well you prepare for it. If the dragon is in the sky but is too close to the ground and turning it into a blunt close-combat, it is sealing away dragon’s the most powerful traits.’

Weed never thought he’d see a day where he would find himself cheering and hoping that the black dragon Kaybern would fight more wisely. Back in the past, he had a grudge for stolen gem sculptures, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want the Hermes guild to be wiped out.

“He is arrogant! Do not miss this opportunity and kill him!”

Arkhim’s shout encouraged the Hermes guild members. Right when everyone in the area was focused on hunting down the dragon, the black dragon Kaybern’s atrocious roar exploded.

“Thygorn’s Hurricane, Merisha’s  Anguish, Cokran’s Menace, Geneda’s Judgement! You vermin-like humans. I will slaughter you all!”

Kaybern unleashed four area spells. Compared to a human mage, his casting speed was tenfold quicker. The hurricane raged and the earth shook from the impact. Countless Hermes guild members perished, but even more sprang into action and swung their weapons against the dragon. Hope! They could see a glimmer of hope!

“We are the Hermes Guild!”

The Hermes guild members have all become frantic after the series of defeats at Garnav plains. Fierce shockwaves and beams of light shattered away. It was a spectacular sight, thousands of remaining users in the Hermes guild launching an all-out attack. Each one unleashing their best arsenal of skills and losing their life in the process did not hinder their advance.

‘A lone alliance that was most powerful in combat, and they were the elite users that had been aligned since the pioneer days of Royal Road.’

Weed, during his observation of the battle, thought that it was fortunate.

‘The Haven empire fell because it was too massive. If it hadn’t united the central continent, it would have sustained a strong force and continue to grow.’

This was an instance of swallowing too big of a prey and paying the price. The battle between the Hermes guild and Kaybern was indeed important but Weed decided to check the spoils first. He had no chance to skim over the things he acquired after defeating Bard Ray. This was more important to him than anything in the world.

*****

Seoyoon looked down from the sky, leading the Avians while riding on top of her Baraag army.

– Weed: Take care of the strays from the Haven imperial army for me. We need to hold back as many of the retreating forces as possible. So that the Hermes guild can crumble in this fight.

Many stragglers arose from the defeat of the imperial army. Weed chased down the main Haven imperial army, however a significant number of them managed to escape in all directions.

“It’s that way.”

In the eyes of Seoyoon riding a Baraag high up in the sky, moving ground forces were detected.

“They are Hermes guild members. Begin the assault!”

Users riding on Baraags fired arrows and contained the enemy below, and some set foot on the ground. It was the objective of the assault team led by Seoyoon to make sure that the enemy could not escape alive!

‘Battle… I do not wish to fight, but I must.’

Seoyoon also jumped off onto the ground. A crimson glow was flowing out from her eyes.

< Your body has tapped into blood and rage.

The berserker that laid dormant in everlasting peace has awakened again. You are a presence of fear. As the battle persists, enemies will quickly lose their will to fight and escape.

Forgiveness and mercy are words that do not fit a berserker. Even the weak shall not be left alive. You must slaughter every last enemy.

Compelling rage increases  attack in relation to the strength of the enemy.

Until the end of battle, 95% additional damage is applied to all straggling enemies.

Enemies with less than half the health points or who are wounded are twice as likely take critical damage or die instantly.

The area of range on your attack spells is increased by 50%.

The body can go beyond the limits and can move in overdrive.

Defense against indirect hits and grazes is increased to a maximum of 600%. Movement speed is increased by 30%.

Stamina does not diminish for a short period of time.

Kill, and continue to kill. Until your breath ceases! >

Berserker mode activated.

“That’s the Grass Porridge goddess!”

The fleeing Hermes guild members were thrown off by Seoyoon and stopped in their tracks. She was wearing helm and armor but her beauty could still be recognized. They were taken aback by the users riding on Baraags and the Avians, but Seoyoon was approaching them. Their hearts pounded by her beauty, but they quickly realized that she was also an enemy.

“In any event, it will be great to remove one crucial character.”

“My apologies, but you’ll have to die by my hands!”

The Hermes guild members swung their weapons and cast powerful skills. They were prepared to unleash several skills in sequence. Seoyoon kicked off from the ground and spun in mid air like an acrobat, swiftly swinging her sword. They were outside the normal attack range, but the effects of the berserker had been activated.

*Ta-ta-tap!*

She narrowly slipped past the enemy skills and attacked simultaneously. She wasn’t one to hold back. She took on unavoidable attacks head on and counterattacked. Weed had long before appreciated Seoyoon’s style of combat while travelling around with her.

“Those are some bone-crushing attacks. In a way, it is an ineffective method of hunting because you cannot sustain enough health points… But she didn’t hunt like this just for a day or two. She naturally gained enough endurance and perseverance and even accomplished the combat achievement of the berserker. I knew there was a reason behind her power.”

Seoyoon never liked combat like she did in the past, but it was a favor for Weed and also to protect the Arpen kingdom. Therefore, she swung her sword without hesitation.

‘To protect what is precious to me.’

She became the berserker once again.

*****

“My beloved younger sister.”

– Yurin: … You want to check the equipment?

“Yeah.”

– Yurin: Hold on. I will take a look right now.

Weed urgently entrusted the Loa sword, the Sky Ruler’s armor and other valuables to his younger sister. Her mission was to get as far away as possible before Kaybern’s arrival! Whilst the Hermes guild was battling against the dragon, Yurin flew afar on top of Wy-3.

‘These items were dropped by none other than Bard Ray.’

Weed’s heart flustered at the thought of inspecting the spoils. Especially the crimson goblet, there was an extraordinary polish to it. He would never have trusted anyone but his own younger sister.

‘He was an infamous one, so he was bound to drop extremely important items. This feels like scratching away at a winning lottery ticket.’

He couldn’t expect what kind of treasure would come forth in that exhiliratinging moment!

– Yurin: Oh… But it’s got a lot of attributes.

“A lot?”

– Yurin: Yeah. It says some kind of legend is sealed away…

“A legend?”

*Thump-thump.*

Weed took a deep breath and spoke.

“How many attributes in total?”

– Yurin: I can confirm up to 6 attributes. But it says here that 7 more are locked.

13 attributes! The higher class of items, the price could differ about tenfold for a single useful attribute. Attributes associated with hunting speed tended to determine overall combat abilities and growth rate.

“Go on.”

– Yurin: Yup. I will list them out slowly.

< Goblet of Flames

Durability 30/30

This is a goblet filled with the essence of fire. It is said to have been excavated from the flowing lava deep underground unreachable by humans, and that it contains flames that blazed for a million years. An item instilled with legend. By drawing out the power of the goblet, one may defeat any form of darkness.

Requirements: N/A.

Attribute: Ownership grants increase of all stats by 53.

Maximum health points and mana increased by 70,000.

Power of any fire-related skill increased by 200%.

Effects of combat skills increased by 35%.

Nearly immune to fire damage.

Every 10 days, the holder can use ‘serenity of the goblet’.

Special:  A legend is sealed.

7 unknown attributes remain dormant.

Serenity of the Goblet: Summons a flowing river of lava or an erupting volcano and annihilate the enemy. >

“This is sick! This is crazy.”

He inspected just one item and the attributes on it were unbelievable.

“This is pretty much overpowered.”

The increase in stats and the attributes were beyond that of an excellent item class. It was owned by Bard Ray who reigned supreme over the Central Continent and possessed the best items on Royal Road.

“I could easily call this one the best treasure out of all the renowned items I have ever found.”

Just by holding it in his inventory, the item granted benefits and had no usage restrictions!

“If I had the Goblet of Flames when my level was low, it would have been overpowering.”

In truth, it was such an advanced class item that if a novice player held possession, the player would be in targeted by others. Even so, if one could manage to hide it well and make use of it alone in dungeons or hunting grounds, the growth rate would have multiplied greatly. In the level 400s and 500s, the effect would decline in comparison but surely enough the possession of the item boosted hunting speed. If this item were to go on auction, it could wage a war. The wealthy were not few in numbers, and someone out there spending tens and millions could never be considered news.

“Considering the popularity of Royal Road, the transaction could easily involve a few buildings.”

If Bard Ray had used the Serenity of the Goblet, Weed could have been in a grave situation. During his years as the great king of the desert he came across many fire-related skills, however Bard Ray would never have used it in plain sight and give the opportunity to plan against it. The higher the level a player is, they would accel in combat senses and utility, and if it were to be used with miraculous timing Weed would have been in a great disadvantage.

“To think he stashed away something like this… Nothing less from the Emperor of the Haven empire. Royal Road’s most powerful user. I give him recognition beyond that of myself.”

Weed felt gratitude for Bard Ray’s great infamy.  If it weren’t for that, this kind of treasure would not drop.

“I have whipped up all the luck I missed out on during this lifetime.”

– Yurin: I will call out the next item.

< Wind blade

Durability 60/60

Unrefined wind blade. Only a blacksmith capable of manipulating all substances on earth and treat things invisible to the eye may shape it to one’s desire. The soul of the wind is instilled in it.

Mystical legend class blacksmith material. >

“Keup.”

Weed’s vision clouded like he drank 7 bottles of soju with one sip of ramen soup.

“This is mesmerizing. I wonder if getting drunk and winning a lottery would make me feel like this.”

His past flashed before his eyes like in a moment of near-death experience. He had a long grudge with the Hermes guild, and he even died to Bard Ray back in the Melburne mines. But even all those stained emotions washed away completely.

“At least in this very moment, I would gladly send a souvenir sculpture to the Hermes guild.”

It was a brief sentiment, but he did feel like repaying a little.

– Yurin: There is also the rainbow fabric of the luxury artisan.

“Hmm. Rainbow fabric… Hmm. Did Bard Ray have a soft spot for knitting? Or he could have just acquired it recently in a hunting ground.”

Weed also acquired the rainbow fabric back in the past. The rainbow fabric of the luxury artisan that he acquired this time was far more exceptional, but of little importance compared to the other two items. It was as if he already signed for a massive building in Gangnam, but he got another bachelor condo near some university. Clothing crafted with the luxurious rainbow fabric would sell for expensive price, but was not to be compared with two items that are the best in Versaille continent.

– Yurin: I cannot confirm the last item. I am failing to identify it so the information is unknown.

“Is the last one the Dagger of Despair and Tranquility?”

– Yurin: Yeah.

Weed was able to remain full of anticipation. Some items that are not common, can be used by certain job classes or that have secret requirements tend to be unidentifiable. A black blade that could seemingly absorb light and a rough but comfortable handle.

“It used to be Bard Ray’s so it should be high-class and expensive. It may very well be invaluable.”

Bard Ray’s spoils were go-to equipments! While Weed was happily inspecting the items, the battle between the Hermes guild and the dragon continued.

“Divine Thrust!”

“Spell Overcharge!

“Luminating Strike!”

“The Devil’s Smash!”

Geomchi, the instructors and the apprentices had boarded the dragon. They stuck to the nape, back and near the tail and swung their swords in excitement.

“This is such a cathartic experience!”

“This hits the spot Master!”

They used single point attack skills and sword techniques mercilessly on the black dragon. Kaybern was doing wing attacks from the air, attacking using his body and using magic. But they were managing to put up a fight.

‘In such a short time, the battle has unraveled quite dramatically.’

The dragon’s body does not budge due to average attacks, but there were thousands of users mounted on it. Users over level 500s were going all-out with their own strengths and skills. The Central Continent users that chased after the Haven empire also joined in Geomchi’s endeavor and commenced the attack on the dragon. They all seemed to have united in the battle against the black dragon.

‘Now, this should have some impact on the dragon.’

Weed’s interest was pooled towards the black dragon Kaybern. The attack of an ant swarm could take down a huge elephant.

‘I want to join the fight too.’

Weed’s blood was boiling hot, but he could not afford to participate. Geomchi, the instructors and the apprentices were of help even though they suddenly joined the battle so they could be left alone, but if Weed shows up the situation would be different. If Weed in his appearance of a bone dragon would approach them, many Hermes guild members would abandon the fight with the black dragon and come after him.

‘Honestly, they started all the fights and it’s insensitive of them to hate me. But that is just how the world is.’

Weed stayed idle from afar, watching the battle wage on. He was satisfied enough for the black dragon Kaybern to weaken the Hermes guild.

‘There is no real benefit that results from the dragon coming out victorious. The dragon is also a foe. Furthermore, when the Hermes guild is wiped out, I will be next on the list.’

The best scenario was neither side dominating the other and all to fall to their knees. Especially if he could be the one to end Kaybern’s life. Stealing the last hit was very unethical, but nothing else is as thrilling.

‘I could come across an opportunity. It has significant amount of health points, and the Hermes guild would not let me off that easily. By the way, was it this easy to take down a being like a dragon?’

Weed’s suspicion grew as Kaybern was fighting worse than he had expected.

‘He could be dragon that is not a fighter but just pretentious. Or could he be a baby dragon? In the history books it said that he was quite of age.’

Weed’s spine getting chills. It was right after he precisely looked upon Kaybern’s eyes and the corner of his mouth.

‘That’s a sly facial expression. No doubt about it.’

Normal users would not be able to notice such a subtle difference. Weed had grown to be extremely witty since his teenage years, and as sculptor he also had studied a lot in the expressions of animals.

‘He is like the a Crocodile in the Nile, who lay flat lazily then would pounce when a prey approached near…’

For him to have such a reserved composure during a battle! That facial expression said it all.

“Master. It is dangerous. Get away from there!”

Weed sent out a whisper to Geomchi and spoke in the channel associated with all users in the area.

– Weed: Kaybern. He is unusual. He is about to pull off a trick so you all must escape now!

“Um… Master. Weed is telling us to fall back because it is dangerous.”

A Geomchi hanging on around the bottom of Kaybern shouted. The Hermes guild members who heard the voice stopped abruptly. If this was from Weed! All users in Royal Road regardless of ally or foe, had faith in him. In their minds flashed the great accomplishments of Weed in adventure, hunting, empire construction, arts and countless other fields. Geomchi who had been striking down with his sword on top of the black dragon’s head despite its violent movements, shouted out.

“I heard that too. But are you all just going to escape because it is dangerous?!”

Geomchi2, Geomchi3, the instructors and the apprentices all shouted back in unison.

“No, we aren’t!”

These folks would never back down once they get the taste of battle!

“Let’s fight. We fight until we die.”

The apprentices burst out in laughter by Geomchi’s words.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

“This is the way, after all!”

They continued to go rampant on the black dragon’s body. The Hermes guild members were startled, but regained composure.

“Looks like Weed spoke some blasphemy.”

“He probably just said that because he feared our success in hunting down the dragon.”

“This is our chance. Start the all-out assault.”

Arkhim was slightly anxious, but soon shook it off. Partly it was from watching Geomchi and the apprentices, but moreover because he had been taken too much by Weed.

“Backing out in the midst of an intense battle would be a great loss as it would allow the dragon time to recover.”

Thus, the Hermes guild began its full assault. They fought more aggressively because their hopes of succeeding in their hunt of the black dragon grew larger.

‘This is undoubtably suspicious.’

‘Personally, I do trust Weed’s words for some reason.’

There were some Hermes guild members that shared this suspicion. The higher the intellect of a monster, the more difficult the style of combat. The tactic by Kaybern was an unconditional charge much like an ogre when confronting the enemy, which was questionable.

‘Dragons are not stupid. But why is it fighting in such simple pattern? But then, it did take a lot of beating from us…’

Even so, the dragon stood right in front of their eyes and the Hermes guild members charged like moths flying into fire. They followed their preceding comrades into the sky in an endless stream.

Then… Kaybern’s dark magic of the life skill tree activated.

– Perish. Mirror of fate!

An ultimate dark magic spell that reflects all damage taken for the last 10 minutes to nearby creatures. Users that were attacking Kaybern instantly turned grey and faded away all at once.

Geomchi and the apprentices also turned into ashes and perished.

– Life drain of the sacrificed.

The black dragon activated his second dark magic spell. He stole the health points and mana of the deceased users and recovered from all the damage he had taken until now. Proud flesh grew over the scars that were all over his body, and even the scales that were used up to create dragonoids were restored completely.

– Foolish humans. You do not deserve even the slightest glimmer of hope.

Kaybern roared from the sky.

Chapter 2: Dragon Hunt

‘That is ridiculous.’

Weed, who was observing from afar, was at a loss for words: and how about the Hermes guild that went up against the dragon?

“Sigh, it was a trap.”

“We’re done for. How are we supposed to kill the dragon now?”

The black dragon plunged even the Hermes guild into despair. He flapped his wings in the sky and slowly descended to ground level. Life Drain of the Sacrificed was the highest class of dark magic, but it was different from Barkan’s constant Life Steal through the undead. Its weakness was that it only drains life from enemies killed in a short period of time. Even then, considering the dragon’s power it was easy to restore all health points.

“This is illogical.”

Arkhim who had barely survived thanks to his Space rift bracelet, let out a groan. The Hermes guild squeezed out every last drop of effort while hanging off the edge of a cliff, only for it all to be part of the dragon’s plan.

“How in the world do we defeat this dragon…”

Arkhim could not come up with a way to fight against it. The black dragon was descending and the Hermes guild members had lost the spirit they had had just moments ago and fell back.

– Kuuuuuuaaa!

Dragon’s fear activated. Invisible shockwaves swept the battlefield and nearby users were stunned or paralyzed, horses and demonic beasts squirmed simultaneously.

– Charge at me again and amuse me!

Kaybern stomped forward, kicked away the users and swept the land with his tail. The audacious black dragon. It was a first time for the Hermes guild to experience such humiliation. 3,000 draconic soldiers were wreaking havoc on the ground, making it difficult for them to concentrate all forces on the dragon.

*Doong! Doong! Doong!*

Then, someone within the camps of the Haven Imperial army struck the drum. A user who became frustrated by the dragon’s pressure was sounding the drum to charge forward.

*Fuuuuuuu!*

The sounds of horn flutes echoed from various directions and the knights began to move. Their objective was the humongous black dragon that had descended onto the earth.

*****

The group that chased after the Haven included Roam, Carlise, Sherwood, Gunter and Michel. They  were observing idly as Geomchi and the apprentices followed by the Central Continent users and rushed to fight against the black dragon.

“Wow. Incredible.”

“A dragon and the Hermes guild…”

“Was the Hermes guild that powerful?”

They chased down the Hermes guild and returned the favor for all the times they were harassed. They kept a far enough distance away when the dragon appeared, but they were overwhelmed by watching the Hermes guild fight. Not just Geomchi and the apprentices, the Central users were also fighting competently. Roam spoke out with a heavy tone.

“This brings back memories of the battle when the Hermes guild united the Central continent. We couldn’t do anything about it.”

Kalis also had terrible memories of that very day.

“The true side of the Hermes guild. Looking at that makes me question how we even won against them.”

Mihel let out a deep sigh.

“The power of the Arpen Kingdom is not just in numbers. They are highly motivated to win. The thought that Royal Road would only continue to be exciting along with the continued existence of the Arpen Kingdom drove them to fight without hesitation.”

Back in the day, they lost to the Hermes guild both in tactics and combat strength. The black Lion guild that united the Tulen region were snapped up by other guilds and could not dare to go against them head-on afterwards. Sherwood did not speak a word and glared towards the battle of the Hermes guild. The Cloud guild where he stood as leader could not compare at all to the Hermes guild in power. The gap in power was at a level that could not be filled even with 3 months, nor 6 months of training.

‘Would we be able to dream once again?’

The leaders of the prestigious guilds were different from one another but had similar thoughts. They thought that if the Hermes guild was defeated, there would be an opportunity for themselves. For the time being they would have to survive under the eyes of Weed but it would be much easier to expand their forces. On the other hand, even such a powerful guild like the Hermes guild was defeated by Weed and the Arpen kingdom. Like the saying ‘There’s always another mountain to climb’ it felt as if there would never be a chance for them to spread their wings wide and rule over the continent.

*****

Bard Ray, who’s health points dwindled to the bottom, closed his eyes as he saw Weed’s sword approaching.

‘So, this is the end.’

The tides turned when he used the Devil’s gruesome blade dance in certainty of victory. The chain sequence of the dimensional rift glove and the Moment Sculpting led to quick and precise consecutive attacks. The consistent frenzied attacks during several breaths. It was a chain skill technique that is near impossible to react for someone who’s seen it for the first time.

‘I thought I was better in the basics…’

He reminisced back to when he first started Royal Road. Drew to the fame of the the perfect virtual reality, many set foot into Royal Road. Within this race to outrun the rest, Bard Ray always carried the nickname Godly Warrior. Level 100, 200. Such levels were insignificant compared to the harsh monsters of the Versaille continent, but among the users he outpaced them in growth by one or two steps. With that he carried heavy expectations on his shoulders, but he felt pride in it.

‘To think I would lose in a duel… But this isn’t over yet.’

The moment Bard Ray lost his life, an alert message popped up.

<The dark knight who experienced glory and despair!

With a single sword in hand you have climbed to the chair of emperor, a mighty dark knight. You rewrote the history of the Versaille continent, and your imperial lands expanded as you conquered various kingdoms. In the path that you walked wasn’t only about glory. Wariness, obsession, jealousy, suspicion. Unable to trust the most loyal subordinates and having them executed in secret has been left as a dark side. In power there is brilliance, which in turn gives existence to darkness. You have perfectly fulfilled the desires as a dark knight but faced a bitter tragic ending…

The world will speak of the new victor. However, history books will never cease to be written. The dark knight will stand again. Maybe… you will attain it all with your sword. >

– You have accomplished the great achievements of glory and despair.

The dark knight challenge is complete.

Rewards are doubled due to the achievements.

< You have completed the job class quest of the dark knight.
Effects of all combat skills are increased by 16%.
All stats are increased by 88 points.
Strength and agility are increased by additional 60 points.
Maximum health points increased by 32%.
Infamy disappeared.
Misfortune is temporarily removed.>

Completion of a job class quest! Weed sculpted a star in outer space and became the master of the sculptural arts. Bard Ray climbed to the prestigious position Emperor of the Central continent and was defeated to someone with high fame, thus achieving the completion of the job class quest.

With death you have acquired deep enlightenment of the sword.

The characteristic in the dark knight of burning aspirations and gifted talents has been activated.

You have become the master of swordsmanship.

You have slashed through countless moments of silence, performed in battle and came to have a complete understanding of the sword. You have reached the sublime pinnacle of the sword, with no more progress left to achieve.

The base damage of sword techniques is enhanced by 500%.

Sword technique skills can be cancelled at any time and mana will be refunded.

The range of the attack skills is enhanced.

Attack skills can be acquired faster and proficiency level will also increase faster.

No damage is taken when enemy attacks are defended with a sword.

You can absorb enemy sword techniques.

All stats increased by 40 points.

Combat quests can be accepted without any requirements.

You will bring out the potential of weapons and enhance their base attack damage by a multiple of 2.

Durability of swords will hardly decline, and never to be destroyed.

You have acquired the title ‘Master of swordsmanship.’

You may meet kings regardless of fame.

Many knights and warriors will come before you to challenge.

Increased effects of spirit and charisma, immune to any influence even if your stats are lower than that of your opponent’s.

Bard Ray confirmed the messages and laughed. Master of swordsmanship! A hard-earned keep after sacrificing so many subordinates including the royal knights and even getting defeated by a rival. The job class of the dark knight can only be complete by climbing to the very top and facing the misery of failure.

‘Finally, I’ve done it.’

The Haven empire, his foundation had been defeated. He was confident nonetheless.

‘I was defeated this time… But I became even more powerful. I was victorious at the Melbourne mine and I lost this time. The score is still one to one.’

– You died due to complete depletion of life points. You are unable to log in for 24 hours. Level and skill proficiency decline upon death.

Bard Ray thought to himself before he was logged out.

‘This is not the end. The real game starts now.’

*****

Seasoned Crab and Python! They were mixed up in the crowd of Central continent users and desert warriors. They had arrived late after crushing the straggling troops of the Haven Imperial army.

“What do you think we should do next?”

“I am not certain. But the force of the Hermes guild that had been defeated and was on retreat is surely incredible.”

The two were amazed by the sight of the Hermes guild battling against the dragon. They were wiped out by the Mirror of fate, but the extent to which they fought was acknowledgeable. Users in level 500s with fine-tuned equipment and skills overflowed in numbers at the Hermes guild. The Hermes guild charging madly the moment the black dragon Kaybern settled on the ground was quite spectacular as well. The dragons scales reflected the light of explosions and the picture of users slipping through the magic spells and advancing forward!

“Wow…!”

“This is amazing.  Wonderful.”

“I wanted to see a battle like this. The Hermes guild is truly powerful.”

“I can’t believe we won against those guys.”

“You think we won by force? Honestly, we just pushed through with numbers. If it weren’t for Weed-nim we would never have made our rendezvous.”

The Central Continent users that chased after the Hermes guild were also gaping at the scene. The black dragon, draconic warriors and the Hermes guild all coming together in a massive war. The higher the level of users, the more they were captivated by battle scenes and wish to become the center of it all. It is a fact that the Hermes guild was criticized a lot, but they had many fans. Not whether they were kind or evil; they were respected because they were powerful.

“Can we even kill this dragon at this rate?”

“I have no idea. They are significant… though the situation turned with a single magic spell.”

“If the Hermes guild cannot defeat it, who else can?”

“There’s Weed-nim.”

“Weed-nim. Nah… Even he would not be enough.”

The words from the crowd of the Central continent users got into Seasoned Crab’s ears and his facial expression turned serious.

“Would the Hermes guild be able to take down the dragon?”

“Who knows. But based on my experiences as a warrior, it would be difficult in this state.”

“How come?”

“Lack of experience. For any monster, there is a huge difference in fighting it for the first time and having gone through an encounter. Furthermore, they were unprepared, and it seems to me that the Hermes guild attacks remind me of fire moths.”

“Won’t they be utilizing secret sword techniques and armor-penetrating skills? They will be doing some damage.”

“I can feel great composure from the dragon. Judging by the previous trap, it seems to enjoy fighting directly and watch humans struggle.”

“That’s a bad preference.”

“He isn’t called the dark dragon for nothing.”

It looked as if the users were ruling the Versailles continent, but at the top of the food chain there were beings called dragons. Various skills and spells were landing on the black dragon’s body, and the Hermes guild members risked themselves dying to friendly fire, charging close to the dragon. To no avail, the dragon seemed to feel nothing.

“Sigh. This is such a letdown. In battles such as this one, I can feel my limits as an assassin.”

Seasoned Crab spun the dagger in his hand. Assassins were weak against non-human types, especially large monsters with high health points.

“Dragon hunt. I want to get up close and personal.”

Python also felt his body steaming from excitement. He could empathize with the warriors scrambling on the massive foe, a dragon. Each time Kaybern swung his wings and tails violently, several users died.

– Seismic Impact.

Powerful spells were complete in split seconds and wiped out the entire Hermes guild members.

*****

Weed clicked his tongue as he observed the fight in bone dragon form.

“As expected, dragons are something else. I saw a glimmer of hope for the Hermes guild, but it ended up being futile.”

The dragon’s presence was great enough to spawn two S rank quests. As he observed from afar, just in case he decided to step into the dragon hunt, the Hermes guild was dwindling down helplessly. After Kaybern used the mirror of fate, none could step up valiantly and cavalries retreated quickly after charging forward. Deep down, they had already accepted defeat.

“Overwhelming magic attack and a defense that renders courage to dust. At this rate, the dragon is going to fire his magic attacks at will every time he recovers mana.”

Weed simulated how things would have turned out if he was leading the Hermes guild. There was no realism in it, but all guild members would obey his command.

“They have to hit and run according to the situation. What is needed instead of high attack frequency is weapons with the armor penetration attribute.”

Warriors were more effective over mages. Huge damage to its health points could truly drive the dragon to a corner.

“Even if all the preparations were to be made, it would all be wasted efforts if the dragon spreads its wings and escapes. The dragon must not be allowed to slip away.”

Weed let out a long sigh. Even if he were to command the Hermes guild flawlessly, the odds were too tight.

“Mapan-nim. How is the situation with the red dragon in the east?”

– Mapan: It is slaughtering orcs. There is no sign of it moving to another region.

“How powerful is it?”

Mapan was assessing the situation as he was pulling out of Garnav plains. Being a merchant, he would be of little help if he joined the battle.

– Mapan: I cannot be certain. I am downloading the footage from that region, but the orcs are just too weak. They are being stomped.

Orcs! A race empowered by numbers, were pathetic creatures beneath the might of the dragon. Moderate power level had no meaning against the almighty dragon.

To start off, it is a dragon so it would be safe to say that it’s approximately as strong as Kaybern. There are a million reasons not to hunt it down.

The dark dragon Kaybern fought carefree even after landing on ground. The Hermes guild were once rulers of the Central continent, but it seemed that they had lost the will to fight due to repeated defeats.

*Fooo.

Fooooooooooooooo!*

“Get on top of it!”

“Attack the head. The head is a weak point even for dragons!”

“I need to go around back instead of a frontal attack…”

The knights’ charge was intercepted by the dragon’s forepaw or stopped by the ground splitting apart. Users fell target to the magic spells and were scorched or melted away.

“Krrah!”

The draconic warriors were under focus fire, several of them destroyed at a time but had little effect on the grand scheme of the battle.

– Tidal wave of darkness.

Once again, ripples of darkness spread out from Kaybern. The ultimate dark magic cast by a dragon! It swallowed up Hermes guild members, Haven imperial knights and demonic beasts whole. Once devoured by darkness, all creatures are deprived of health points and mana, withering away to death like mummies.

“Aghhh!”

“Get, get out of the way!”

Dark tidal waves quickly spread in all directions like a huge tsunami. Users and knights tried to run the opposite way but were swept away by the spell. Weed’s eyes glowed sharply as he witnessed the scene.

“Ultimate area of effect spells cannot be used in succession, not even by a dragon. Judging by the looks of it, he needs at least 5 to 7 minutes to recharge, and due to the characteristic of dark magic there needs to be enough offerings of the same type of sacrifice”

Weed seemingly grasped the combat style of Kaybern. It was rather a radical method specialized in exercising the most powerful attack. Some dark magics required the user to harm himself, which is why he fought close-combat.

‘It’s too irrational for it to be an effective method of combat, but on the other hand it is perfectly menacing and oppressive.’

A being capable of using the ultimate dark magic that could cause a mass genocide every few minutes during an intense battle. It truly could not get anymore gruesome than this.

‘The dragon is looking down upon the humans and is certain of its own victory. It is reckless and arrogant.’

*****

Dain, the 19th legion commander of the Haven imperial army. She had joined the side of the Arpen kingdom, putting her on an awkward position to be on the chase. Hence, she was put in charge of the retreat from the Garnav plains.

“The wounded come this way. If blacksmiths can repair the equipment on the verge of being destroyed, they will be rewarded later!”

She took charge of the aftermath, captured horses and oxen to mount users on wagons.

“Hurry on! To a safe place!”

She evacuated over a hundred thousand users and looked after the wounded. The northern users witnessed her act and began to open up.

“Nothing less to expect from the lord of castle Evaluk… She is saving users without distinguishing the northern or central continent users apart. I can see why she has high reputation.”

“Isn’t she also a famous Hermes guild member?”

“Even so, she is different. Rumor says that she was originally a comrade of Weed-nim.”

Dain pinned grass that she picked from the Garnav plains into her hair. That showed the northern users that she was on their side, and the users within the 19th legion also mimicked her.

“Well, objectively speaking the Hermes guild is kind of evil.”

“We aren’t associated with the Hermes guild. Just users of castle Evaluk.”

“Then shouldn’t we be after the Haven imperial army?”

“I mean, with our skill level… there are enough users chasing after them already.”

Users took out crystal balls and watched the footage being streamed by the broadcast station. It was an endless stream of spectacular scenes from the battle between the Hermes guild and the black dragon.

“Scatter! It is too dangerous here.”

“The dragon is coming. Everyone, evacuate!”

They heard the news of danger, but a significant number of users were still standing on the Garnav plains.

“Could the dragon possibly come all the way here?”

“No way. Maybe the Hermes guild will succeed in hunting it down…”

They did not want to leave the Garnav plains that still carried remnants from the heat of the battle.

“Draconic warriors!”

“There are draconic warriors in that direction…!”

The situation took a split turn by an anonymous shout. From the west, approximately 600 draconic warriors were tracking down some forces of the retreating Haven imperial army.

“Agh!”

“Draconic warriors are coming!”

Users finally realized the danger upon them and began escaping as a group from the Garnav plains. Dain was looking after the wounded soldiers as a shaman, then called out to the 19th legion to assemble.

– Everyone! Users of castle Evaluk, stand together with me and defend against the draconic warriors.

The 19th legion responded to her call and began a desperate battle against the draconic warriors.

“Even if we stop the draconic warriors, the dragon will still be on its way. Novice players evacuate quickly!”

“When everyone has evacuated, the 19th legion shall pull back as well. Pull back!”

The users on Garnav plains were escaping with positive thoughts about Dain in their minds.

*****

The Haven imperial army was being torn apart by dark dragon Kaybern. Fatigue had accumulated from the battle dragging out from the Garnav plains, moreover the presence of the dragon loomed over them.

“D.. dragons can’t be overtaken.”

“It is too powerful.”

The Hermes guild members spit out discouraged voices as they looked upon the black dragon. Renunciation spread like an epidemic, scaling with the size of their ambitions.

“Maybe we should just run now?”

“We could have a chance at survival if we all scatter in different directions.”

Hermes guild members known for their tight bonds all acted on their own accord and began to scatter away. They were defeated by Weed and the Arpen kingdom before, but they were now crumbling to an enemy they could not possibly deal with. They had also lost in the battle against the dragon. Weed also felt that the situation was coming to an end, so he posted on the regional chat channel.

– Weed: Escape now. A little longer and there will be no opportunity left to escape.

The users that had chased after the Haven imperial army abided to Weed’s words and began to disassemble. They were also concerned of becoming the next victim of the black dragon. Dark dragon Kaybern that was in the middle of fighting against the Hermes guild on ground level captured the sights of the users scattering away.

– No human can escape. Ties of darkness!

Activation of dark magic. Including the bone dragon Weed who was afar, black chains cuffed users by the ankles. It was an area spell that covered tremendous surface area.

< Ties of darkness have been applied.
The black dragon Kaybern has declared you as sacrifice.
Effects of dark mana restrains your movement. >

< Movement speed is reduced by 27%. You are bound within a fixed radial distance from the current position. >

A restraint spell!

“We can break away from this with divine magic.”

“Come this way. I will lift the curse until my mana runs out.”

The priests among the Central continent users exerted themselves, casting divine magic spells. Pale looked sympathetically towards the bone dragon in the air, far away.

“Weed-nim…”

The ankles of the bone dragon were also chained up with shackles. Weed was not under sculptural transformation spell, instead he was resurrected as the undead. So divine magic had no effect on him. The moment Weed fell under the dark magic he realized it, and he knew exactly what to do.

– Weed: Everyone, just leave without me.

“Alright. Weed-nim.”

“Take it easy.”

“Stay safe.”

“Have a blast.”

– Weed: …

Pale, Irien, Python, Seasoned Crab and the Central continent users broke away. Kaybern was destroying the Hermes guild and everyone knew that there was little time left.

‘They don’t turn back even once.’

Weed firmly flew across the sky as a bone dragon shackled to the ties of darkness.

‘I guess I have to prepare for my second death soon.’

Advanced Cooking level 2, Advanced Blacksmithing level 3, Intermediate Fishing level 8, Intermediate Tailoring level 7, Intermediate Sailing level 1, Intermediate Mining level 3, and shipbuilding that had just reached the Intermediate level. He had tons of other combat skills. The skills that are fully mastered will not decline in proficiency level upon death, but dozens of skills will be affected all at once.

‘Since it has come to this, I’m glad the Hermes guild still stands.’

Weed flew slowly and drew closer to the battle field. He carefully read Kaybern and the Hermes guild clashing at ground level, approaching to 600 meters.

‘There. Right about here…’

*Fwoooosh!*

Weed inhaled as much as he could, then his entire body inflated with a huge concentration of mana. The moment it reached its peak,

– Here ya go. Breath!

Weed mercilessly spewed his breath towards where the Hermes guild members were gathered.

“Agh!”

“It’s a breath!”

“Weed… he attacked!”

The poison breath that fumed out from the bone dragon’s body struck the clustered Hermes guild members. The Hermes guild members would have reacted accordingly in normal circumstances, but they were made mindless by Kaybern’s attacks! Weed’s corrosive breaths shrouded over the Hermes guild members. Groups of users that were recovering from their wounds also fell victim.

<Villain Willstorm has perished.
According to combat achievement, you have been granted 1 stat to use at your discretion. >

< Cold-blooded murderer Ginggen has perished.
You have accomplished an amazing deed.
Your reputation among the civilians is increased. >

< Petty robber Krolin….. >
< Weapon looter Benjo….. >

…
…
…

<Due to great combat achievements your reputations have increased by 31,824.>

<You have obtained exp.>
<You have obtained exp.>
<You have obtained exp.>

< You have gained a level.>

<You have obtained exp.>
<You have obtained exp.>

A level up with just one breath! Hermes guild members over lvl 500 were swept away by the hundreds.

‘As expected, this is terrific. Very pleasing.’

A rabbit punch worth going down in the history books of Royal Road! Kaybern who was fighting at ground level glanced at Weed. It was not certain, but the black dragon’s atrocious glare had become much more temperate. Humans and the bone dragon. Without a doubt, his hatred leaned more towards the humans. Weed thought to himself that this would be the perfect window of opportunity to butter him up.

– Oh almighty being. I wish to assist you with these wings of mine in slaughtering those greedy humans!

‘Life is all about connections.’

The stronger one shall be my ally! If the Hermes guild were stronger, he would have attempted to land the final blow on the black dragon. Weed rattled his jaw bone.

– Of course, the almighty and omniscient Kaybern-nim will never need the help of such a pathetic being as myself. However, I could not just stand by and watch idly while Kaybern-nim battled alone. I will fight for you until my bones crack and my ligaments wear away. Please, allow me to participate in hunting down those humans.

Kaybern was a dragon who loved flattery, and he did not make complex assessments.

– Alright. If that is what you want, so be it. You will be rewarded for your service.

‘Reward from a dragon!’

The word excited Weed. He visualized vividly all the treasures stacked inside Kaybern’s lair. He could be rewarded with useful treasures if he continued to hunt down the Hermes guild and increase his friendliness and contribution.

‘Whatever I can get… There are lots of magic-imbued accessories under the dragon’s possession. They say swords and armor are expensive but, the rare accessories are the things that earn you a fortune. I could very well use it myself instead.’

Kaybern opened his coal-black mouth.

– Be grateful. As soon as I obliterate all the humans under me, I will kill you.

– I beg your pardon?

– I will be gracious enough to kill the humans first. If it gets tedious I might decide you kill you before that happens.

“…..”

As expected from the inconsiderate, heinous black dragon! Dragons in general offer fair conditions, but Kaybern was indeed the dark dragon.

– You don’t like that? Then do you wish to die first?

– No. The al…mighty being.

The black dragon was impossible to negotiate with in the first place.

*****

With the permission of Kaybern, the joint operation with Weed began.

– Absolute zero.

Freeze!

The dragon’s magic burst upwards and froze the land in a 50 meter radius. That alone had significant effect on the Haven imperial army but Weed followed up on his assault. The bone dragon, with his wings spread wide, plunged rapidly for the opportunity at the final strike.

– Kuoooh!

– You have killed the infamous treacherous knight Oka.

Reputation increased by 283!

– You have killed the villain Frolemite who was wanted in the freedom city of Somren.

Reputation increased by 352!

Infamy decreased by 291!

You can collect your bounty at the freedom city Somren.

< Agility increased by 1 with rapid movements. >

<The power of the dead is increased by 1. The aura of death feels stronger. >

Weed also displayed destructive force as the bone dragon. He sought out the wounded users on ground level from the sky, revolving in midair like an acrobat and avoided magic attacks. He spread poison and occasionally used his front and rear legs and also his tail in battle. The dark dragon Kaybern fought close-by and targeted the wounded in coordination.

– Kill Weed!

Whenever the knights charged towards him, he maneuvered to the side and passed them onto Kaybern.

“Fire the arrows.”

“Kill Weed first!”

The Hermes guild members detested the sly Weed at least a hundred times more than Kaybern.

“Weed-nim! We have returned.”

“If we die, we will die together! This is our loyalty!”

The voices of Pale and Surka could be heard. They got away successfully but had returned after witnessing Weed jump into battle. Weed landed near Pale and the other Central continent users. Within a 200-meter distance, the Hermes guild members were present, but they were under attack by the draconic warriors.

– I have a good plan in mind. If we succeed, there will be great profit, but I cannot guarantee your lives. Will you still fight with me? The responsibility for dying is up to you all.

His words were like explaining the dangerous conditions of a contract. Pale and his comrades did not care about losing their lives while fighting together, and the Central continent users also had returned with resolve of death.

“Yes. We are alright.”

– You are certain? You cannot nag me to take responsibility later.

“Of, of course.”

– Alright, then let us begin busting up the Hermes guild.

“What?”

– Users capable of shooting arrows in midair or brave enough to jump right into enemy frontlines please hop on.

The time that the Central continent users had spent with Weed was short. But, their observations from back in Garnav plains made them believe that he could make pork Katsu with beans.

“Wow. Let’s get on!”

“The honours of riding on top of Weed-nim’s back…”

“Are we going to be on broadcast too? It’s my first time since back in the early days of Royal Road.”

“Awesome. Truly awesome.”

Over a thousand Central continent users boarded on top of Weed’s body. Users were comprised of level 400 to 500, assessed to be a considerable force. Weed spoke out an overdue thought, as he was about to take flight.

– I repeat, I cannot assure your lives. Archers must grab tightly onto my body and never fall. If you do, it is on you.

“…..”

– Warriors, I will drop you all off mid air at Kaybern’s attack location. Landing is your part of this plan and fight to the death.

“……”

The bone dragon, expressway to death! He said he will not be responsible for their lives, and they were truly on the verge.

“Is he trying to kill us?”

“Weed-nim. How come you are unloading us on top of enemy lines?”

The Central continent users did not know the reasons and were doubtful, but they could see wounded Hermes guild members gathered up. They were behind in the lines trying to recover after having survived Kaybern’s AOE magic attack! Weed added:

– Chances at survival are slim now that we are back once again. the Hermes guild will also get wiped out by Kaybern, so think of this as an opportunity. You will get to pick up some spectacular gear before dying.

The plan was to jump into enemy lines, kill Hermes guild members on the brink of death and looting their spoils. Hence, the last haul strategy!

– Let’s go. To change our living standards!

“Wahhh!”

Weed swooped steeply to the ground. The archers fired arrows of their own accord and the Central continent users leapt off at suitable spots. They used this opportunity created by Kaybern to finish Hermes guild members.

“I, I got one!”

“This is the stuff. Yes!”

The Central continent users were blinded by greed and scraped the spoils. A third of them died by focus fire the instant they landed, but places that have been swept by Kaybern’s magic, there were many wounded. Even the users that were reluctant in this plan appreciated the results. In the battlefield of Kaybern and Hermes guild members, they accurately pinpointed the most suitable locations.

“This way, Weed-nim!”

“Take us for the next ride!”

Python and Seasoned Crab also fought valiantly and died, each grabbing several items in the process. Weed dropped off Central continent users that were quite known into areas with the major Hermes guild members.

“I appreciate it.”

“See you all later. Ahahahaha!”

Users were plummeting from the sky. While Weed and the Central users were making profits, Kaybern did not cease to rest. With unwearying stamina and magic, he took down the Hermes guild members. The Central continent users falling from the sky also became targets on occasion.

– Arcane Roar.

– Summon Evil spirit.

– Hellfire Trail.

The land scorched each time Kaybern used magic. The Hermes guild did not retaliate with magic or defense spells, taking even more damage. Soon after, Kaybern had offered a large enough sacrifice and activated another ultimate spell under a different type of dark magic.

– Gates of hell, open!

A dark-red hell gate appeared in the sky. Even though the sun was bright, the sky became as dark as night.

“Kraaagh!”

“Humans. Delicious humans!”

Demonic soldiers tore through the gate and began the human hunt. Some users got sucked into the gates of hell like they were swept away by a tornado. The gate of hell was active for 10 minutes. Thousands of demonic soldiers began hunting and the Haven imperial army and the Central continent users died rapidly. Weed was a bone dragon, drawing less attention from the demonic soldiers in comparison and therefore was safe to continue to attack the Hermes guild. Though, his worries were growing as to the dragon’s combat strength.

‘If this turns out into a magic spell war… I don’t think I can manage.’

Even if Hestiger and the desert warriors were to return, it would be difficult to overcome the dragon.

‘Under normal conditions, I think I would need to be over level 1000 to kill it. Let alone levels, I need to improve on equipment as well.’

He must be able to withstand several dragon magic spells and the attacks of the demonic soldiers. Even in these odds, there are no beings without a weakness. He needed precise analysis in order to defeat Kaybern.

‘What kind of weakness could he have? Or how do I need to fight for me to come out ahead in this battle?’

He needed to pay attention to the appearance as well as the style of combat. Weed decided to sneak in closer to Kaybern. 500 meters. He could see him clearly and in full view. He checked out the lengths of the joints and the range of motion. 400 meters. He observed meticulously all the scales covering his body. The body of the black dragon was sturdy like an impregnable fortress, but he could see deep, old scars.

‘The scars on his waist and front paws… The parts without scales could be a weakness but are not going to end the game.’

300 meters. Weed flapped his wings and moved cautiously. He observed the openings as his eyes skimmed across the back of Kaybern’s head, his wings, back and tail.

‘Should I just start beating him down?’

He felt a powerful urge to strike as he looked at the rear of the head.

200 meters. Kaybern felt his presence and turned his head. The bone dragon reflected in the enormous eyes of the black dragon!

– I can smell a foul stench. Begone!

Kaybern did not attack him as there were still many humans left, but was disturbed nonetheless.

– My, my apologies.

Weed drew back but did not give up, prowling near him. He finished off the Hermes guild members attacked by Kaybern’s magic and continued to make profit.

“Kill Weed!”

When the Hermes guild approached to attack, he quickly hid behind Kaybern. Cunning at its finest! He ended up getting on the nerves of the impatient dragon.

– Blizzard!

In a short moment, the temperature fell far beyond freezing point and snow and ice began to flurry. Weed saw the blizzard coming towards him and attempted to fall back, but it had already surrounded him.

< Cold snap!The body is freezing.
2,896 damage to health points per second!
Movement speed is reduced by 36%. >

Kaybern’s magic had been targeted not on the humans, but on Weed. Even as a bone dragon with high magic resistance, he took considerable damage. Weed also planned to return the favor.

‘I knew it as well. The dragon was not to be trusted in the first place.’

He had saved up a significant amount of mana and health points. He took a deep breath and released his attack on Kaybern who was nearby.

– Corrosive breath!

The breath in a straight line from Weed’s gaping mouth and drenched Kaybern’s body.

– How dare….!

Many seconds later the breath ceased and Kaybern’s body was uncovered. The slick and lean body of the black dragon was dirty like it had been stained. His health points also took a fair amount of damage, but not enough to be a threat.

“Wh, What the.”

“Weed attacked the dragon.”

The Hermes guild members were with wide open eyes, as the bone dragon and the black dragon clashed.

– Incineration!

An advanced fire magic spell. Kaybern activated a spell that burns away the opponent. A powerful spell that turns targets with low magic resistance into complete ashes. The bones of Weed’s frozen body lit up in fire.

< The body is burning.
5,317 damage per second!
Endurance and magic resistance is declining rapidly.
Decreases by 3% per second. >

The mighty physique of the bone dragon remained in good state. Even so, he would take consistent damage to his health points if he does not relieve himself from the incineration spell applied on his body.

‘An eye for an eye.’

Weed spread his wings from the ground and hurled his body towards the dragon. Engulfed in flames, he flew at maximum speed and collided. Kaybern was startled and tried to avoid him, but both of them were an enormous 200 meters wide in size.

The dragons crashed into one another with resounding force.

The bone dragon and black dragon tangled and tumbled. The land shook like an earthquake and the Hermes guild members were buried under the dragons.

< Health points are reduced by 97,000, due to a massive impact. >

The bone dragon’s body was comprised of over 2,300,000 health points, but his life was limited as he could not lift the incineration spell.

“Die. You ugly lizard!”

Weed wrapped around on Kaybern’s back with all four legs and bit into his nape.

< Attack on weakness!
Your bite landed on the opponent’s weak spot.
You have diminished 42,385 health points. >

< The durability of your fangs has declined. >

– How daring of a rotten, crumbling set of bone picks!

Kaybern tried to shake him off from his body, but it was not too easy. One of the best skills of the bone dragon was its bite.

“You’re a coal-black lizard!”

Weed wildly bit into Kaybern’s body. He felt as if he was chewing steel due to the sturdiness of the black dragon, that that was unimportant. He crunched tenaciously and scratched the body ruthlessly with his claws.

*Tak-tak-ta-tak!*

A succession of merciless attacks.

– Get off me!

Kaybern thrashed in an outrage, but it was futile. Weed had wrapped tightly around his body. The Hermes guild members were genuinely surprised.

“Geez! What is happening.”

“The dragons are fighting one another. What’s more, that bone dragon is Weed.”

“Holy. It’s like watching a monster film.”

Even the Hermes guild was stupefied by the scene. Two dragons entangled, a dog fight! Weed usually preferred clean battles using a sword. At times he took hits intentionally to increase his endurance, but those instances are calculated. When he got deeply engaged into a fight, he would fight aggressively while keeping his head cool.

“Kwaahh!”

– Go. Begone!

Kaybern and Weed rolled on the ground.

‘This lizard. He can’t fight as well as I expected.’

Weed tightened his concentration. When would a dragon have experienced such a dirty fight? In the battle against the humans, it displayed a typical pattern of combat. But when a huge bone dragon stuck to its back like a hunting canine and bit into the nape, it was unable to break free.

‘The dragon’s combat skills are rather sloppy.’

Weed traced his memories back to when he attended the Kendo dojo.

*****

Jong-bum Choi! He was the dojo master and went by the name Geomchi3 in Royal Road, his body a lethal weapon in its entirety. Muscles, scars and a savage face!

“Hmm. Popsicles get me through the summer.”

The time when he and Lee hyun went to a nearby convenience store with their tops off during the practice at the dojo, remained a legend.

“Huk.”

“Wha!”

“Gkk!”

The people in the streets could not look away in surprise. The muscular body under the beaming sunlight was defined like valleys. Sweat streamed down between the muscles. Men, women, the seniors and children all observed his beautiful physique.

“Brother. It seems all that you do is exercise. What was your hobby as a child?”

“Boxing.”

“When you were 10 years old?”

“Yep. The uppercut was my specialty because I loved the feeling of blowing away the older brothers that were bigger than me in a single hit.”

He practiced martial arts for a hobby. He had many certifications but he himself did not remember well. He fell for kickboxing and jiu jitsu, spiking his interest in mixed martial arts.

“I qualified in tournaments too. I fought 7 times and won all of them with K.O.”

“But you didn’t become an athlete.”

“Yup. It did not give me that sharp tension of fighting with a blade, so my interest faded away. All I had to do was beat them up with pure strength and stamina.”

Jong-bum Choi was the classic example of an aggressive infighter. The problem was that no one could fend off his monstrous charges. No one in the dojo could beat him in a hand-to-hand combat.

“Youngest one. Sword techniques are great too, but you must train the body. Any kind of skill is based off on your physical abilities. There are no sword techniques that can be executed with a weak physique.”

“Yes. Brother.”

Lee Hyun played around with various mixed martial arts with Jong-bum Choi during rest breaks.

‘This is turning out to be quite useful.’

The reason for attending the dojo was to hunt better in Royal Road. He learned everything from how to take hits by spreading the opponent’s power across a larger area to the variety of ways to break down a stance.

“The blade is sharp and powerful, so you only need an attack to succeed once. Though, that is the most difficult part…”

“Can’t you finish someone off with just a single fist strike?”

“Definitely can. However,if  the opponent is also skilled they will know how to take hits. Precise attacks will never be allowed. That is why attacks lead into submission techniques…. Hmm, hmm. You will find it helpful once you learn these.”

“When should I use the ?”

“Whenever. A drunk man could pick a fight with you for no reason, and this world can be quite harsh. In those times you must be able to protect yourself, don’t you think?”

*****

– Kuahhhhh!

Weed roared as he continued to crunch away at Kaybern’s nape. He pressed down on the dragon’s tremendous body with his four legs, shifted his body weight instinctively and held his advantage.

‘The ground techniques that I learned from bro are proving their usefulness.’

His entire body was engulfed in flames because of the magic, but the deed had to be done.

< You bit into the opponent’s weak point.
Successive threatening attack!
You have diminished 67,387 health points.
The defense of the wounded region is reduced by 2.6%. >

Every time he bit, shook around and rolled on the ground with Kaybern, health points declined by several thousands. The matter came down to Kaybern’s ridiculous amount of health points and defense. Weed pressed down with his body and crunched away, but the attacks were nowhere enough for the dragon to die.

“Fire energy.”

“Eternal Shot!”

That moment, the attacks from the Hermes guild members struck. For them, Weed was also an enemy and therefore attacked without distinguishing Kaybern and Weed. His body was on fire, taking damage each time he rolled on the ground, and now the Hermes guild members were attacking on top of all this. Weed realized that he could only hold for 2 or 3 minutes.

– I will rip you to shreds!

Kaybern wallowing on the ground also staggered and straightened up. Weed pressed down with all his might, but Kaybern stood up with just the might of his hind legs. The bone dragon was similar in its enormous size, but was made of nothing but bones. Kaybern’s weight and power were greater.

– Lightning Tempest!

Kaybern quickly cast a spell. Then, hundreds of lightning struck down in proximity.

< Struck by lightning!
Jolting power of electricity pierced through the body.
Health points reduced by 126,183. >
He was struck by ice, fire and lightning.
‘In order to attack me, he gladly threw himself into the line of fire.’ >

Weed knew his intentions but he was out of options. Kaybern’s scales negated lightning with its immense magic resistance. The bone dragon felt a shivering pain in its joints. This was the difference between a real dragon and a bone dragon! Weed shouted out to everyone in the region.

– All Hermes guild members focus down the dragon! Kill Kaybern first, then me! This is the best opportunity to kill the dragon.

The Hermes guild and Weed were of such ill-fated relationship, but it was necessary to put it behind them against a dragon that could plunge the entire Versaille continent into danger. Despite his words, he may be able to escape alive once the dragon is defeated. He knew he could not overcome this dragon alone, so he asked assistance from the Hermes guild.

“Just kill both of them at once!”

“Don’t trust anything Weed says.”

The reaction from the Hermes guild opposed his expectations. A dragon was indeed an amazing deal for them, but there was just as much significance in killing Weed who had won against Bard Ray. They ignored Weed’s request and bombarded with attacks.

“Kill him here and now!”

“Weed is a petty trickster. You never know what stunt he is going to pull. In the least, make sure he is dead!”

The Hermes guild were aware of Weed’s nature. Weed ignored their attacks and bit the dragon, and he felt his chances of succeeding in this hunt fading away. Not a sliver of hope was left in the given situation.

– Forceful Rift destruction!

Kaybern used a magic spell again, shattering Weed’s body completely. Solid rib bones broke and rained down on the ground.

< Body was destroyed by magic.
Maximum health points reduced by 55%.
Remaining health points reduced by 30%. >

It was a ridiculously powerful magic spell. Weed crumbled and Kaybern broke free. The huge body of the bone dragon fell apart into pieces of arms, legs and wings – turning into tatters. Kaybern let out an explosive roar of rage.

– I will not leave a trace of your remains!

Fueled by his hatred towards Weed, he refused to finish him with magic and instead  inhaled deeply. Weed witnessed firsthand as the black dragon’s body bloated like a balloon. It clearly was readying a breath attack.

– This lizard, we’ll see about this!

Kaybern gaped his mouth, struck Weed’s body with the gushing breath.

<You have died due to your health points having been diminished completely. You are unable to log in for 24 hours. Level and skill proficiency will decline due to death.>

Chapter 3: Castle Aren in Flames

The battle on the Garnav plains came to an end and the world had changed. Each broadcast network visited Lee Hyun’s house with packs of gifts in hand.

“This is small, but I brought some ginseng. This is the oldest and largest one out of the ones that were released into the market in the last 5 years. I prepared it for you to replenish your energy.”

“Yawn!”

Lee Hyun stretched extensively. Even for him, the Garnav plains battle had its toll. It was as if the fatigue remained even after a long sleep.

“Isn’t this rare?”

“You can’t afford this with money.”

“Now that I mention it, my body was feeling weak. It will be perfect in my bibimbap.”

“Ho-ho. Of course. 200-year-old ginseng Bibimbap is the trend nowadays. When I find something better, I will bring to you.”

“You don’t have to… I would very much appreciate it, but I feel bad.”

“No worries. It’s all from our friendship. From our hearts.”

Chief Kang of the KMC media laughed it off. It was a kind of relationship in that he could convey his true feelings no matter what exchange of words.

–  This is ginseng.

–  It must be expensive.

–  It is hard to put a price on it.

–  This is beneficial to the body. I will gladly put it to good use.

–  Please enjoy. I will bring more things.

They exchanged thoughts somewhere along this line. After that, Chief Kang took 30 minutes to agree the contract to a special footage compilation from the battle on Garnav plains and request cooperation in Royal Road’s broadcast. He had acknowledged the Arpen kingdom as the new ruler of Versaille continent and had rushed to a negotiation. From CTS media, the new executive director visited in person.

“So, we CTS media will organize more programs about Royal Road and satisfy the needs of different viewers…”

The intro about the broadcast station took a grand 10 minutes.

“I am already aware, but it is surely different for a famous broadcast network.”

Just when Lee Hyun began to frown, the executive director took out a box.

“That reminds me, I personally brought some mushrooms from France.”

“I have lots of them…”

“Truffle. This is a rare mushroom.”

“Then I must put it in my ramen.”

“Ramen? That would destroy all the scent and flavor. This is the highest quality of truffles. You have no idea how to eat it.”

Lee Hyun let out a sigh at such an ignorant comment. He was questioning if the person in front of him had lived a naïve way of life.

‘Friendship and business blooms from bribery. Even if times had changed, human relations remain the same.’

In order to catch the other person’s effort and sincerity, bribery is a must!

‘Bribery is not a bad thing. If you take it and do something illegal, it becomes a problem. There is no problem if taken cleanly and with clear conscience.’

If there were to be a global sociology magazine, it would have to have a column for conscious bribery theory. In comparison, the other broadcast networks at their base, knew how to entertain their target.

“You said once that you needed a bike for getting around the neighborhood. I had this custom made in Italy. This is a limited edition, identical to the one owned by the champion of Tour de France.

“Hmm. It has a good color to it.”

“I sprinkled some gold powder into the paint.”

“We are the newly established RTP. We focus on broadcasting in the metropolitan areas. We brought about a 100 shopping mall gift cards. We heard that you visit the regional market often, so we brought gift cards for the market as well.”

“How very thoughtful.”

“This is a small token of gratitude, so please accept it. Hahaha.”

“Do you like to drink by any chance? I brought the world’s top 5 wines, but they don’t live up to their reputation. Just have some with dried fish fillets.”

“I brought an exercise machine. It is called the rowing machine… Good for maintaining stamina.”

“The latest model computer and appliances will arrive shortly. Especially the refrigerator. It costs a bit over 10 million won, but it is a small gift of sincerity.”

While Lee Hyun was building close relationships with the broadcast network associates, gifts were stacking up by his front door endlessly.

“Oppa! There are so many trucks at the front of the house!”

Hye-youn Lee who had gone outside yelled in surprise. Broadcast networks and fans from all over the world were sending commemorate gifts for overcoming the Hermes guild and Bard Ray. Most were snacks, and some were luxury products. Lee Hyun routinely said that he would not accept any gifts from his fans.

– Nothing less expected from Weed-nim… He is a tsundere. He always says he will exploit us, but he makes sure we aren’t burdened.

– Kyaa… That is character. There hasn’t been one person who had rumors telling the opposite of his actual personality.

– I heard that he was some slaughterer in Continent of Magic.

– It’s probably hoaxes from some guilds around those places. Do not believe what you haven’t seen.

– I guarantee they are malicious rumors. I can bet my eyebrows on this.

In truth, Lee Hyun thought differently.

‘It isn’t just one or two people that have grudges against me from back in Continent of Magic. It’s problematic that the university has been identified and moreover, too many found out the address.’

He trained his body more diligently since he did not know when he was going to cross paths with an enemy. Every time he gained levels in Royal Road, he believed that he had to get that much stronger in order to protect himself. On top of that, he wouldn’t know what may be inside the presents of his fans!

‘Bombs, chemical substances are worth being weary of. I want to stay in this world for as long as I can.’

Lee Hyun had thought in such a way and had declined all gifts, but from this point on he decided to accept them. He had become a public figure after having risen to fame in Royal Road. The government were assured to run inspections in mind of terrorist attacks, and police officers were stationed around the vicinity of his house.

‘I will take whatever I can use in the house and the rest I can donate to charity.’

There were people struggling within the neighborhood. It would have more meaning to distribute these free gifts to the people in difficult times rather than returning them to the senders.

*****

Lee Hyun took Seoyoon on his right, Lee Hayan on his left and marched through his neighborhood. It was a first outing since he defeated Bard Ray and destroyed the Haven empire. He applied hair gel to spiff himself up and put on new, clean clothes.

‘My current standing means I have to be mindful of attention from the people around.’

He would not wear his spring jeans for 3 years without dry cleaning it like he once did.

‘Jeans are meant to be worn in that antique taste, but from now on I will clean it every 3 months.’

Lee Hyun’s fashion sense had changed a little enthusiastically. A clean shirt and linen pants. Looking back to his manual labor outfit, this was an acceptable look.

‘The neighbors will be surprised looking at me. To my complete transformation that is. I usually did not take care of myself, but if I washed my face and looked in the mirror, I was quite decent.’

He stepped out the front door with his heart pounding. Lee Hayan and Seoyoon followed him outside with white shirts and jeans on.

“Wow…”

“You look astonishing. I saw you last year and you are even more beautiful now.”

“I couldn’t comprehend the Grass Porridge Cult’s level of unity… But now I do. This calls for loyalty.”

“Your appearance is a crime. You make everyone fall for you.”

Every single person on the streets lost their minds staring at Seoyoon. Lee Hayan also attracted the attention of men when she roamed alone but became plain at the side of Seoyoon. Everyone’s eyes reflected the appearance of Seoyoon. Lee Hyun’s presence was practically non-existent!

“Does beauty feed you or earn you money? K-hmm… I guess it does supply all those.”

A dirty world ruled by beauty! Lee Hyun took his younger sister and Seoyoon to visit his usual real estate agency.

“Oh. It’s you.”

The real estate broker welcomed him invitingly. He had secured basement rental rooms for them several times when they were young, and he had put in his best efforts to find a good place despite their lack of budget. He defended them when the landlord would aggravate  them, and those memories led him to use this agency ever since.

“Yes. Was life good to you?”

“Sure. Thanks to you, these parts became a tourist attraction and the shopping district went up a lot in price. The bread shop across the street increased by 200 million in 3 months.”

“200 million?”

“Yup. Business is running much more smoothly for them, so they aren’t thinking of selling.”

“Ugh.”

Lee Hyun suppressed his stomach twisting in jealousy and sat on the sofa. He had purchased a lot of real estate in the neighborhood, but he hadn’t the chance at the shopping mall districts.

“I’ll get a cup of coffee for now.”

“Are you alright with mixed?”

“Of course. My coffee is always mixed.”

When Lee Hyun visited the agency, he always drank mixed coffee. The times he didn’t eat, the free black-bean noodles were essential!

“Here you are.”

The broker man treated Lee Hyun, Seoyoon and Lee Hayan each to a cup of coffee.

“Thank you very much.”

“I appreciate it!”

The man smiled as he looked at Lee Hayan. He remembered all too well the years of when she was a crazy child, her dark history as she would call it. When he just had begun working in real estate, Lee Hyun and Lee Hayan lived without parents and they had grown so much without him knowing. Especially Lee Hyun, who could be considered the prime example of a self-made man, recognized for his maintenance of the neighborhood.

‘I thought this kid was going to grow up to be a robber or a fraud…’

Lee Hyun spoke after finishing his coffee.

“Mister. I came to purchase the building across from this one.”

“Building?”

“Yes. The Yeoul building with the 1st floor mart. That is out for sale, right?”

“Yes, it is for sale… But are you really thinking of buying it?”

The reason Lee Hyun brought his younger sister and Seoyoon to a real estate outing was because of a building. An 8-story building that he had been keen on for a year and a half! It was a huge building worth 15 billion won, and he would have more than enough money to purchase it by liquidating the recent broadcast network advertisement revenue and the character enterprises.

‘Money isn’t meant to be borrowed.’

He wasn’t planning to get any bank loans, and KMC media agreed to adjust all subscription fees right away. Lee Hyun raised one edge of his mouth and smirked.

‘A landlord is the destination of all dreams. It is the final line in life.’

The last step in becoming a wealthy real estate owner. He had bought bits of land around the neighborhood, but he thought being a landlord was the best. He was planning to collect monthly rent payments from each floor, inscribing his title as landlord Lee Hyun on his business cards.

‘My childhood dream is finally coming true. Even if Royal Road goes down to ruins, my life is guaranteed from what I can rip off this building. If I get a son, he will be the landlord’s son. If it’s a daughter, she will be the landlord’s daughter. Across generations, our family becomes a landlord family.’

Lee Hyun waited until the afternoon, met the landlord, paid out all the balance and transferred ownership all in one day.

“At last, I did it.”

Lee Hyun straightened his back as he stepped out of the agency. The heavy burden of poverty that pressed down on his shoulders since childhood. The stress about money that strapped in his mind even when he was asleep had lifted away. He felt the years of hardship had finally come to an end, conversely feeling a mix of emotions.

“Now that I have my own building, I could afford to eat salt 200 won more expensive than the usual…”

He thought that all that was left for him was a bright future.

‘Even so, I will continue hunting and proceed on my quests… hah. Give up my greed for money and live out my life comfortably.’

He will try new hobbies, bathe in sunlight at the front porch, live carefree.

‘It will all be different starting tomorrow. What is money worth anyway…? No more clinging and enjoy life. Look at just how beautiful the world is.’

The weather was pleasant, and the breeze was refreshing.

‘To think life was this beautiful.’

Lee Hyun ate his dinner and fell happily asleep. Then he woke up early morning the next day. He took supplements and vitamins gifted by the broadcast networks and jogged to the dojo.

“I will train hard! To take down as many more monsters that I can.”

To Lee Hyun, hunting speed was more important than anything. Monsters were money! He had to earn back the levels he had lost recently, and he developed more interest in the combat achievements. During his years as a sculptor, it was difficult for him to earn combat achievements. But by the time he became a necromancer, it turned out a lot easier.

Lee Hyun saw several banners hung up in the sword technique dojo.

– Congratulations. Domination of Versailles continent!

– We are warriors. Put up your swords!

– Intensive courses, desert warrior course. Students, salary men are welcome. Extremely welcoming for females!

Hundreds of people who wanted to learn sword techniques were lined up outside the dojo entrance.  There were many bulky foreign people that were fit to play American football who were quickly noticed. Geomchi and the desert warriors performed exceptionally in the recent battle and many broadcasting networks focused their attention. Consequently, it led to a massive intake of new customers.

[ You folks are our pride. Head chief of the western district. ]

[ The sweat of amazing men. Strong men soccer club. ]

[ March on. March forward. We will succeed. [ Palgong rangers. ]

[ We never collapse! Flowers over men. ]

By the entrance, standing representatives from the regional political figure, companies and organizations were beached outside in a row.

“Youngest one. Come this way.”

In-Sang Kim, who plays as Geomchi427 saw Lee Hyun and took him to the rear door.

“Brother, there’s so many people.”

“Yes. If they realize that you’re here, they will create an uproar.”

“Master will surely love that.”

“That may be. But not even a tenth of those people would be able to learn genuinely.”

It was a common case for any sports center or martial art academy, that diligent people were an extreme minority. Most of them quit after only several days, while others would sign up and do not bother to show up even once. The stamp of Ahn Hyundo truly served its purpose in that aspect. An insane amount of training that was also as intensive as if it were a real battle! These two requirements made it hard for anyone to attend for over a month.

*****

Lee Hyun sat down with Ahn Hyundo and the other instructors after sweating buckets in the dojo.

“Master. Brothers. I have a proposition.”

KMC media and CTS media. There were some ideas that he had discussed with the major broadcast networks in advance.

“A series for the professional warriors. Much like chefs competing with ingredients, I want to create a program that involves warriors fighting against monsters.”

The program that Lee Hyun wished for wasn’t exactly a fresh content. Royal Road created various kinds of leisure programs, including ones about monster hunting.

“Real warriors. The best fighters on cast, so to speak. Viewers can get tips and experience the excitement.”

The broadcast associates were not in the least intrigued even with his premise. When major broadcast stations plan for a legitimate program, they go through a series of internal meetings and research the viewer statistics with a pilot episode. The subject was nothing new and did not seem to capture an undivided viewer rate. Instead it would be more popular and receive more attention if Lee Hyun logged in and created programs involving the Arpen Kingdom. It took Lee Hyun several attempts to persuade them.

“So, it’s not going to happen?”

“…..”

“You want to stop broadcasting?”

Broadcast program schedule confirmed! For the broadcast networks, they could call this total tyranny, but it wasn’t too unreasonable. Therefore, they decided to accept his offer.

“Let Weed have his way.”

“Director. It doesn’t look right for the broadcast industry to be meddled with by a single individual.”

“So, what do you suggest? You wish to fight against him?”

“No, that isn’t what I meant.”

The broadcast stations agreed to create a program for the true warriors and began to search for the most popular individuals to be on cast. Python was among them and some of the highest-level users of the Hermes guild also became potential candidates. However, the main candidates were Ahn Hyundo, the instructors and the apprentices. Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3, Geomchi4, Geomchi5….. They were the warriors of warriors.

“I have made spots for all the brothers to be on broadcast.”

Despite Lee Hyun’s offer, Ahn Hyundo was reluctant to accept.

“We aren’t celebrities, so for what reason do we have to behave like clowns?”

“There are many advantages for the brothers.”

Lee Hyun decided to explain with several reasons.

“First, brothers get to meet new people. For all of you who sweat in the gym every single day, there could be a sliver of opportunity to meet women. If you’re lucky enough, you could even date someone.”

“That is good.”

With just the first reason, he sparingly got confirmation to be on cast!

“Secondly, you can acquire fame. When brothers decide to open dojos, the fame will be of huge help.”

“Fame is indeed important for a martial artist.”

Ahn Hyundo couldn’t agree more. They were living in a world where there was no meaning in someone having the skills to change the world, if he isn’t known at all.

“This is the chance for you guys to do what you love most. The attention of the people on you while you fight dangerous, thrilling battles.”

That is how Lee Hyun made work for the brothers. They can become stronger in the dojo, but he was to create a medium for using that power out in the world.

‘I care for my own people.’

If a war breaks out, their existence was not so great as to change the outcome. However, he believed that he should do anything for these sincere folks: anything that did not involve spending his own money.

*****

“Oppa. Here’s the report.”

Lee Hyun came home to skim through his younger sister’s carefully organized details of the Versailles continent.

“Hmm. It seems the casualties of the Hermes guild were significant.”

Everything from a week’s worth of tax income collected by the Arpen kingdom to the total spending and earned capital at Garnav plains. Casualties of the Haven empire and estimates of equipment lost by Hermes guild members could be seen.

“Here. 23,000 won.”

Lee Hyun gladly handed his younger sister some allowance for her archival work.

“The information was spot on, so I included 3000 more won.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah. Don’t be digging too much for money. Money isn’t everything in the world.”

“I got it.”

The thought that he needed to supervise his younger sister grazed his mind now that he had become a landlord. Or else, she would paint the whole town with his money! Lee Hyun’s face turned solemn.

“What is the value of the most delicious food they sell in restaurants?”

“They could be unhealthy. They possibly did not check the sanitation level. Excessive eating is never advisable.”

“Clothing?”

“Dress modestly. Fashionable clothing is just a temporary satisfaction.”

“Cell phone?”

“For short calls only. Be cautious to not exceed the minimum plan.”

Lee Hayan’s responses were answers strictly desired by Lee Hyun. He had implemented the ways in her mind since he was 7 years old, due to the absence of their parents!

“And guys?”

“Be wary of them. Do not meet them late at night. Make sure to carry scissors.”

“Reason being?”

“To cut them first If they try to act naughty.”

“Allowances?”

“Grateful funds for myself who hasn’t become independent yet. In this harsh world people die because they are short a thousand won and children dying due to malnutrition. I must contemplate 5 times before I decide to spend my precious allowance.”

“Very good. A bit below my standards but there is one last thing. Freedom is?”

“Money.”

Lee Hyun was proud that he had satisfactorily raised his younger sister. She could live as a scrooge whatever situation she may be put under.

“Younger sister.”

“Yes.”

“If you have a guy you are dating, you can bring him along. It’s about time you start some romance.”

Lee Hayan did not fall into his words. He was her big brother that looked after her like a parent, but the fact was that occasionally he could flip out. Moreover, she had developed feelings for Zephyr, Choi Ji Hoon.

‘He seems poor but diligent. He could take real good care of me.’

Lee Hayan looked out the window. Lee Hyun was busy, so Choi Ji Hoon came over to repair the house and was crouched in the yard picking beans and garlic.

“I have no one. I won’t start dating until I find a good person like you.”

“That isn’t an easy goal but work hard.”

“Yeah.”

*****

Lee Hyun read over the report, confirmed the aftermath of the Garnav plains battle on the discussion forums online. There were a few videos showing what had happened after he was killed by the black dragon Kaybern.

– Lousy humans. You really are pathetic!

Kaybern dominated over the land. The survivor count of the Haven imperial army and the Hermes guild continued to decline, and in their last attempt to escape they were killed in sequence by dark magic and draconic warriors. It was a massacre that even involved most of the Central continent users and the ones that were on Garnav plains.

– All of you shall die!

They could not put a stop to Kaybern that had flown up to the sky.

<Epic Rupture!>

Kaybern unleashed the ultimate spells of fire and earth onto the Garnav plains. A shockwave that crumbled the land and the people, spread wide and destroyed everything in its path. Many northern users managed to escape, but a tremendous number of them perished.

Lee Hyun’s face grew pale in response.

‘His dark magic is tough, and his other ultimate spells are too advanced for me to go against. At this point, this creature broke out of balance.’

Kaybern wiped out the Garnav plains, then proceeded to fly south. After approximately an hour had passed, Kaybern appeared in the skies of castle Aren. From hence, there were broadcast footages edited by the broadcast stations. Lee Hyun chose to watch the footage by KMC media.

– Black dragon Kaybern has appeared at castle Aren.

Kaybern unleashed a torrent of fire magic and turned the city into a fiery pit of hell. There were only humans in the vast Garnav plains, making the force of the magic to be less destructive. The scene of the dazzling castle Aren falling apart by fire was truly incredible. Landmarks and towers crumbled sequentially, bridges and castle walls were destroyed and turned into ruins. The view of Kaybern mounted on top of the tower in the imperial castle and roaring down on the users was worthy to be used as a desktop background.

– Castle Aren… Castle Aren that has upheld its nobility since the ages of Haven empire is being destroyed by the dragon.

– This seems to be due to the Hermes guild enraging Kaybern. Could they have expected such consequences?

– I would assume they did not. Never even considered this situation. Though I think Kaybern destroying castle Aren is to take revenge on the Hermes guild.

– How so?

– It did not speak about any hatred towards the Hermes guild nor the Haven empire. He cried for revenge on humans.

– So, you are saying that this might not be the end.

– Exactly. Quests have been sent to the provincial lords that the cities will be targeted by Kaybern. I have a bad omen that castle Aren is the start of it all.

Moments before the destruction of castle Aren a quest had appeared for all users in the region.

<The Dragon’s assault
The dark dragon Kaybern is on his way.
It is too late to escape. It will be a great fortune to escape barely with your lives.
Difficulty: B
Reward: Battle Experience
Quest Requirements: Appearance of Kaybern.>

It wasn’t easy to survive. The decisive ones ran as soon as they accepted the quest, but the rest that were packing up or were waiting in disbelief all died in their belated attempts to flee through the castle walls. After castle Aren had been razed completely, a message alert appeared to all users of Versaille continent.

< Dragon’s vengeance
Dark dragon Kaybern is on a quest to destroy all human civilization. The spirits and fairies are issuing warnings about the incoming danger. >

“Within a week, Kaybern will head to castle Evaluk.”

Kaybern who had destroyed castle Aren returned to his lair in Thor to rest. Lee Hyun referred to the footage on the red dragon, but nothing was worth noting. The Hermes guild pulled their last desperate move but the orcs were powerlessly wiped out by the magic, running in all directions. Oh Joo Wan spoke carefully, stating that it was a personal speculation.

– Now that the destruction of castle Evaluk has been foretold, it seems that the reason for castle Aren being the first is due to destruction according to the level of growth.

– Growth?

– Yes. This is not for certain. Growth or technological advancement, population, influence, city fame. It could be any of these factors and also could be a complex result.

– Castle Evaluk is where the most people have passed through recently.

– That is so. Anyhow, the most important thing is that it is going after the most developed cities in order.

– What about the red dragon?

– I am not too sure about the situation on that side. But there is news that it has not returned to its lair and is instead roaming around the Orclands. We will inform everyone as soon as we gather more intel.

At KMC media, they were assuming that the largest cities in the Versailles continent would be the dragon’s objective in order. Lee Hyun too, agreed to some extent.

“Then, there is a chance that Morata may be destroyed by the dragon…”

Although not as wealthy as the Central continent, Morata was the core of the northern continent.

“If Morata is destroyed… The Earth Palace or Port Varna could be next.”

The Arpen kingdom had made dazzling progress in growth, but its connections were as weak as they could be. The northern continent had been abandoned ever since the fall of the Niflheim empire. Only a few cities developed around Morata, the central city and were taken up by an absolute majority of novice players. The destruction of a few cities could paralyze the production and trades of the entire kingdom. By then, northern users would become wanderers and the development of the Arpen kingdom would fall to disastrous levels. Maybe a significant number of them would decide to migrate to the Central continent.

Chapter 4: Continental Domination

Unicorn corp. that ran the Royal Road service was in a state of emergency, centered around the strategics operation room.

“The Black dragon Kaybern. On top of that, the activity of red dragon Randony…  Executive Sohn, were you aware of this?”

“I had no clue. This situation could not have been predicted. We have kept it a secret even from the Hermes guild, but it was not as if we were monitoring every single user.”

When the battle became disadvantageous, the Hermes guild destroyed the dragon’s egg, threatening the peace of Versaille continent.

“Has there been contact with the Hermes guild?”

“They are not responding.”

“Could they have any means to keep back Kaybern?”

“If you take a look at the quest… Also, things seem to be heading south and there seems to be insufficient forces for retaliation.”

Sighs were heard from various corners of the operations room. Royal Road was a massive world. The Versailles continent has extensive history, a complex background, various races and monsters, making it difficult to determine in which direction the situation could unfold. Executive Sohn covered his face with his hands.

“Kaybern has begun his movement… This is a headache.”

Then, a marketing team employee asked.

“How much damage will occur?”

“In the current situation, no estimations can be made. In truth, it is abnormal for Kaybern to be active. To think that they would be foolish enough to destroy the dragon’s egg…”

“Wouldn’t the force of the users be able to stop the dragon?”

“I doubt it. Wouldn’t it be quicker to crack a stone with an egg? Quests can appear at any given time, but completing them is a whole different story.

Executive Sohn laughed in bitterness.

“Send out the broadcast data out to the public. Stating that no one knows how the story will unravel after today.”

“Criticism for irresponsibility will flood.”

“Royal Road from the very beginning was a story forged by its users. By its people, the world can become heaven, or it can become hell. We just watch them forge their own path .”

*****

KMC Media, CTS Media.

The major and medium-sized broadcast stations that represented Royal Road were also in a state of emergency.

“For the black dragon to immediately destroy castle Aren… The next being castle Evaluk. Blockbuster level broadcast footages are piling up.”

“Casualties among Central continent users are tremendous… Now, this is critical even from the Arpen Kingdom’s perspective. They had no other choice but to draw back from most of the lands controlled by the Hermes guild.”

“The continent is about to be reduced to nothing and that will be troublesome.”

Chief Kang let out a shallow sigh. Heavy bags had arisen under the eyes of him and his employees, but they had not had the opportunity to rest since the battles of Garnav plains.

The scene of castle Aren being destroyed by the dragon’s Flaming Meteor spell was on par in viewer ratings as the duel between Weed and Bard Ray.

From the broadcast station’s standpoint, it was enjoyable. But in the long run, the destruction of the cities in Versailles continent was not a favourable sequence of events.

The contents of the quest signaled a large-scale monster invasion.

The apocalypse.

Countless theories on the internet stated that the once prosperous and joyful Versailles continent will crumble to its doom.

“What will be the response from Weed, from the Arpen kingdom?”

“I doubt that they will have any plan. Stopping a dragon is extreme even for them.”

“Not even the Hermes guild can pull it off.”

“You cannot underestimate Weed who has accomplished all kinds of adventures. However, it would be impossible to defend castle Evaluk.”

“That is correct. They are at a statistical disadvantage. Even if all the users were to fight on their side, this is a dragon we are talking about. The human wave strategy will not be viable in the skies.”

Chief Kang fell into contemplation, preoccupied in his thoughts.

“A dragon at this stage in the game, this is as gloomy as it gets. In what perspective should I take this broadcast?”

“The Northerners are deemed to be powerless against a dragon. The possibility of hunting down a dragon is in favor of the Hermes guild.”

“Given the recent instance, that does not seem to be the case…”

“Even if the Hermes guild unsheathes its sword, it will not be easy. Conversely, they will amuse themselves watching the Arpen kingdom suffer.

“Hmm. This is indeed troublesome.”

A long silence enveloped the operations room. It was difficult to reach a decisive conclusion and the broadcast station’s standpoint was to broadcast according to the changes of events. The Chief and the programme directors were also users that enjoyed Royal Road. As broadcast station associates they did not take part in the war, but they had a gut feeling.  Maybe, there can be no eternal peace in Versailles continent. Even if the Arpen kingdom unites the entire continent, the threats will still exist. If Weed’s popularity were to decline even a bit, rebellions abroad much like those that befell the Hermes guild would cause an age of turbulence.

Perhaps like the dragon, beings such as devils, demons, the great witch or the fairy king can threaten peace. Chief Kang had a sudden thought that maybe the dream of unifying this world was strictly dangerous and risky, an impossible dream.

“Let’s send out some advertisements.”

“Sorry?”

“The other broadcasts will concentrate on organization around the scene of the continent being destroyed by the dragon. Especially CTS media. Their style of coordination will extend to orchestras, maximizing the beauty of the visuals and the audio.”

“It is worth spending every penny on this. There is no doubt that the footage is shocking enough to draw the attentions of the viewers.”

“It will be a breeze to film a couple of natural disaster films. Castle Aren was a movie. The shots of the dragon’s destruction.”

“I’m not in favor of those broadcasts though. Should we drop everything we were doing and concern ourselves because a dragon is roaming around? Everyone is worried, confused, wallowing in self-pity. Even when peace was at risk due to the Embinyu Church, the Versailles continent was always joyful.”

“Mmm. Now that you mention it… There were waging wars everyday in the past.”

Ever since the early days of Royal Road, the Central continent was a bloody war field with each alliance clashing with one another.  It was common to see cities be razed. Cities were destroyed in sieges, or by defeated guilds who in their resentment completely ravaged lands.

“Yes. That is what I’m talking about. It sounds comical in reality, but you have to change perspectives a little. Even if dragons and monsters roam around, it won’t be as much tyranny and destruction as the former prestigious guilds.”

The programme directors nodded in agreement.

“The composition of power was most prevalent in the Versailles continent. If it weren’t for all the destruction and demolition, no one would have paid attention to the north.”

“During the days of Morata, the economic size could not even be compared.”

Chief Kang smiled delightfully. The KMC media producers understood exactly what he wanted to convey.

“Yes. The dragon did appear preemptively,  but the world ain’t going down in a day or two. It is just cities being destroyed and monsters in larger numbers. Users have made consistent progress… They will bask in pleasure going forward.

“Yes. Even the greatest threats can be seen as one of the amusements of Royal Road.”

“I agree. Kaybern’s destruction will not result in users screaming in agony or leaving Royal Road.”

“This is paradise. Much can change, but there are so many people saying that they could quit work – cannot say the same for Royal Road.”

KMC media, formerly a favorless, tiny broadcast channel had grown to a major broadcast station solely because of the charm of Royal Road. A new world called virtual reality and the pleasure created by its users provided a space in which one could dream without boundaries. They believed strongly that users would be able to overcome the appearance of the dragon. Chief Kang decided.

“We’ll send out Kaybern in the visual advertisements. Also, throw in some awesome shots of the Versailles continent and heroes.”

KMC media decided to create its own commercial named ‘The dragon’s threat’, using the footage of Kaybern that they captured recently. The black dragon flies through the air, and beautiful scenery of the Versailles continent flashes by on the ground. Bright, optimistic and hopeful scenes. Picturesque scenery interweaved with lands scorched and demolished by the dragon, but that wasn’t the end. They were to send out visuals of the famous users and heroes active in the cities and villages of Versaille continent.

“Royal Road is a place to build dreams. So, we must look with affection instead of distress. Proceed with the usual broadcasts and report swiftly if any major events occur. We, must not lose hope.”

***

When Weed logged onto Royal Road once again, the Garnav plains was in ruins. The black scorched earth was split and caved, melted away by the dragon’s breath and formed a small canyon. Bones were scattered all over the place, traces of an undead summoning.

< You have stepped foot into the cursed plains.
Luck declines by 50% in this region. There is a high possibility of spirits and skeletal knights spawning at night. There is vegetation of unique, cursed plants.
There are rumors of an extremely rare treasure buried in these lands.
But they should not be trusted… >

“Hmm. I need to start with the lost equipments… “

Weed went through his items with anxiety. He felt insecure even in his dreams. He had obtained many expensive items during his chase on the Hermes guild members and that got him even more worried. It was fortunate that he had hid away in advance through Yurin the spoils from Bard Ray such as the Sky Ruler’s armor.

“Seems that upon my death, I lost a long sword, shield and a pair of boots.”

He had lost three items. Weed grieved in silence for the lost equipments.

“Wow. A fragment of a knight’s armor.”

“There is a sword fragment over here.”

“Is it enchanted?”

“Yeah. It has sharpness magic on it. This could be worth a lot if I sell it to the blacksmiths.”

Users had logged in early and was searching the remains of the battle ground. The majority of users had died due to Kaybern but some were fortunate enough to survive, picking up piles of miscellaneous items.

‘There are people full of luck wherever you go. I’m on the opposite spectrum I’m afraid.’

Weed stared at them for a while, then turned around. He originally wore an imperial knight’s armor but now he had changed into a simple traveller’s outfit. The regrets of turning away from mountains of items! However, there was still too much left to do.

“Mapan-nim.”

– Mapan: Yes. Weed-nim.

“How is the business?”

– Mapan: It has set sail. I expect to reach 400% in revenue. All thanks to the dragon.

“Is that so? Then you would have earned back the costs of war supplies.”

– Mapan: Of course. It is a boom.

The Haven imperial army had been completely crushed by the black dragon Kaybern. Hermes guild members having been wiped out, enormous amounts of spoils fell on top of the Garnav plains. Those items were traded by the merchant association such as the Mapan merchant association, and a significant amount was to be paid to taxes.

‘Taxing is the most magnificent method of earning money.’

Weed laughed in satisfaction, though his moment of joy was temporary! Two instances of death resulted in a decline of 3 levels and various skill proficiencies dropping down one level.

Advanced level 8 sword technique dropped to level 7 and many more had been impacted severely.

‘There is around 40,000 energy of the moment left… I defeated Bard Ray and the Hermes guild but the costs were too great.’

When Weed claimed that he was at great loss, it meant that the Hermes guild had lost almost everything. As the war continued, the imperial army that had transformed into elites have been obliterated, unable to be restored. Only the Hermes guild members revived and were heard to be retreating swiftly to the Haven regions at a speed too quick to track down.

‘I do need to gain back levels immediately and recover my skills… Anyhow the urgency calls for swallowing up the rest of the Central continent.’

He must split up the Arpen kingdom army by a few soldiers and send them to the cities and fortresses in each region. Now that the Haven empire had fallen, the lands would be vacant if left alone, there was even a possibility that another user could take control.

*****

You have gained the control of the free city Somren. A free city with blooming trade and culture!

It is the heart of the trade connecting the Central and the East, home of the Freya Cult headquarters.

It was under the control of the Haven empire until recently. Due to the extreme taxation up until now, the development rate has declined substantially and the happiness of the citizens is minimal. The people of the free city yearn for the prosperous days of the past.

It is still boastful of its ever-so-beautiful commercial buildings and cultural heritage.

Military Power

71

Economy

8,173

Culture

2,628

Technology

1,749

Religious Influence

98

Regional Politics

15

Influence to Neighboring Regions:

32%

Influence in Britton

14.2%

(Influence is deeply associated with areas of military, economy, culture, technology, religion, population and commission)

City Development Rate

898

Sanitation

24

Security

38%

The city was stagnant. The poor roamed the streets and monsters approached near the city on occasion. Many tourists ceased to travel there. The merchants and artisans lost all hope, getting through days drinking alcohol. Despite the high regional reputation, the sales of local products was slow. Jewelry crafts, expensive apparel, magical artifacts, religious artifacts and wine were the remaining local products.

There were slight trades happening in Britton. The citizens were low-spirited.

“There is nothing to worry when monsters come by. There is nothing left to be stolen.”

“Road maintenance? I don’t know when it happened. When it’s all ruined, this place will become a barren land.”

“There is no interest in adventure. Why do we not conduct our business, you ask? I’d rather use up all my fortune in leisure.”

“I heard the black dragon Kaybern has begun its movement targeting humans. We are all dead. Yep. Dead.”

“Arpen kingdom? I heard they conquered us… Where in the world is the Arpen kingdom?”

Total Population

819,635

Monthly Tax Income

15,263,812 Gold

City Maintenance Expense Report

Military

2%

Economical Growth

14%

Culture

1%

Commission and Monster Expedition

5%

City Repairs

4%

Tax Paid to Empire Capital

74%

The Arpen kingdom’s soldiers were escorted by users and scattered around the Central continent.

“Hurry on this way!”

“This way. This way!”

The soldiers were guided by the users and seized the provincial castle. Starting with the conquering of the free city Somren, the regions of the Central continent joined the Arpen kingdom. Cities that were conquered by the Arpen kingdom had its tax rates applied, lowering the tax burden instantly.

“Everyone. This place is now under the Arpen kingdom!”

“Hurrah!”

“Weed-nim looks over this land!”

The squares at each city in Central continent were filled with cheering users. Many had never been to the Arpen kingdom, but through broadcasts they knew what kind of governance was taking place in the north.

“The Central continent will become a great place to live.”

“Yeah. The best. I wanted a world full of hope. Weed-nim will never raise taxes like the Hermes guild did.”

“I wish he builds places like Puhol waterpark in various parts of the continent.”

“I like arts centers. I used to draw as a hobby back in university… I quit that to find employment. I want to start drawing again. Even if I don’t turn out successful.”

The hopes and expectations heightened about the Arpen kingdom developing the Central continent and making it a better place to live.

*****

At the earth palace, Weed confirmed the expansion of Arpen kingdom’s territory with the governance system. On the continental map, the yellow areas pertaining to Arpen were spreading wide. Message alerts were popping up for the major cities and nothing could make Weed happier.

“Taxes. Taxes. I will collect taxes mercilessly.”

Including the free city Somren, he seized the old empire capitals like the Odin fortress and Rhodium. He was assisted by bulls and wyverns in the transfer of the soldiers, but Yurin’s assistance was vital.  She transported Arpen kingdom soldiers to cities in different parts of the continent through her painting transport skill.

*Swift!*

Yurin created hundreds of drawings without error or rest, all precise enough to be used in painting transportation spell.

“She’s a human printer. The speed is also incredible.”

“She’s the goddess of manual labor.”

“So, painters are also laborers. Are all arts jobs like this?”

The users were in admiration. Each painter had their own style, and Yurin liked the children’s style of painting. Zephyr asked her the reason.

“When I was young, we had no children’s books at home. I read books at the children’s library, memorized it and drew it all out again at home.”

“How unfortunate….”

“Still, those were fun times.”

Yurin never thought grimly about the difficult times. She had her grandmother and her big brother. She had the warmth of her precious family. She felt that warmth, giving her the tenacity to live on no matter how difficult. Though there had been that time when she broke her leg from a slight twist

Zephyr was shocked to hear that she had been abused at times.

“Weed was too harsh on you, his younger sister. He could have disciplined verbally.”

“What do you mean? Then I would never have come to my senses. I did because he hit me.”

“…..”

“And it was alright. Big brother cooked me ramen the next day. 50 won more expensive than what we had usually.”

Excruciating poverty!

During those times, there reserves had fallen to a few hundred won which had led to the aforementioned circumstances.

“If you come to me, I will never make sure you go through hardship ever again.”

Zephyr inwardly revealed his feelings to her, but she was a solid wall.

“That’s alright. I can look after myself. If I take more of a liking of you, then I will start dating.”

Yurin completed her paintings and transferred the soldiers, doubling the territories of the Arpen kingdom. They were able to recruit additional soldiers at local cities and send them to nearby regions.

< The population of the Arpen kingdom is increasing exponentially. The population, territory, political influence, national reputation and development has entered a stable phase. You have accomplished the requirements to ascend to an empire.

Arpen empire!
The citizens glorify the governance of Emperor Weed. They welcome the governance of an emperor who is a renowned artist, adventurer and warrior.

The birth rate of the empire increased to 800%. Cultural and economical growth rate increases rapidly. The morale of soldiers increase, the maximum level of loyalty also increases. There is less possibility of a penalty due to weak security. Political corruption of regions far from the palace is reduced. The blessing of optimistic gods are applied to each region of the empire. >

Arpen empire!
Following the north, it seized control in the majority of the central continent – rising up to the ranks of empires.

“Hmm. It feels good, and bad in some ways.”

Weed who had become an emperor on impulse, felt a delicate sense of realization.

In the case of the free city Somren, its population and economy had been cut down in half due to the exploitation and revolution of the Haven empire. Several regions including Kalamore were not too badly affected, but most had broken walls and no maintenance caused by the war and revolution. This was the result of provincial lords of the Haven empire focusing on hoarding tax money rather than investing it.

“When I first started out in Royal Road, I could see amazing roads and buildings around the Central continent and I was truly envious…”

He reminisced the time he left the Rosenheim kingdom with Mapan and visited the free city Somren.

“It was an incredibly developed industrial city… Hoo. It has crumbled so much. To think that other cities have it much worse than this.”

The military facilities and fortresses at the major regions of the Central continent were hardly under maintenance, and the Haven empire collected excessive taxes that regressed the city.

‘Not that I don’t understand their actions.’

Weed fully accepted the perspective of the lords.

‘How difficult it would have been to get to the position of provincial lord. They would have wanted to take as much as they could when they had the power in hand. For sure.”

Users were the source of income, so the lords may have thought it was wasteful to invest in the city development. Thanks to the self-centered ways, the defense facilities such as the castle walls were almost non-existent. The Arpen kingdom army was not present in the Central continent, therefore the cities and villages were vulnerable to monsters at any time.

“How is the situation in the north?”

– Seoyoon: I’m getting reports of roaming monsters doubling in numbers. It is dangerous around Harsel highlands and the vicinity of Vargo castle due to the monsters.

Seoyoon was regulating the Northern continent while Weed was absent.

“Dungeons?”

– Seo-Yoon: There are rumors of users being wiped out in normal dungeons that could usually be raided by 3 or 4 parties. I went there myself and I could see that the monsters became more ferocious and increasingly dangerous in their numbers.

“Is it the same in the novice regions?”

The villages and the proximal areas to the city usually comprised of novice players were roamed by the weaker monsters and therefore, were safe.

– Seo-Yoon: Beasts are active in the woods and the mountains. I think their habitats changed significantly.

This situation was not just in the north. Due to the influence of Kaybern, the monsters became more active all around Versaille continent. Monsters extended their areas of activity closer to the cities and in some areas, they were gathering.

– Nimble Chillwind: I swear loyalty to your majesty! I am Nimble Chillwind, leader of the avian assault force. I have urgent news to report.

A whisper arrived from Nimble Chillwind, the hero of the avians.

He started Royal Road late, allowing him to choose avian as his race. He was a user with an affection for the Northern continent.

“Yes. Chillwind-nim. What’s your status?”

– Nimble Chillwind: I am mid-flight near Port Varna. I can see many monsters descending from the dungeons in the mountains nearby. I will call the other avians and try to contain the situation here.

“Thank you. Chillwind-nim.”

Signs of monsters in the Central continent were worrisome, but the bigger problem was in the Northern continent. The cities and villages were equipped with minimal defenses such as wooden barricades and archer towers. The quality of the soldiers was low and the militia was small in number, forcing the people to rely on trivial things like wooden barricades.  To make matters worse, most villages were lacking in number of users due to the battle on Garnav plains. It would take a few more days for the users to do some sightseeing and return to their original villages.

“At times like these, a small monster assault would leave outskirt villages in devastation. Inside the village may be safe but the ranches and the farms will be razed.”

Weed got preoccupied, then gathered his subordinates. The wyverns, Binryong, Phoenix, Countryside Snake, the Baraags, Eagle, Silver bird and Golden bird.

– There seems to be a lot going on nowadays.
– I’m so stressed. I feel like I’m going to pass out.
– As you command, master. I will incinerate the enemy!

Flying creatures agilely landed one by one on the vast field. Alone they were a spectacular sight, and behind them was King hydra, Fire giant, White tiger, Seville, Vintex, Eltine, Gernica, Nile alligator, Bahamorg and Death worm lined up. They were reliable and powerful subordinates.

“We are kind of special.”

“We came over because you told us to, but we’re leaving if you don’t pay us.”

“Pay is important. I need my pay cheque in order to feel that I spent a day to its fullest. Exchange of cash is the basis of human interaction.”

“Just because you gave birth to us, we are not obligated to follow you. We are free. However, we are out of money so we need to be under someone’s command.”

“Do any of you know anybody that has ways to earn some money?”

Weed-one, Weed-two, Weed-three… Weed’s clones were also summoned.

They sat on the ground, never ceasing to rest for a moment. They were sewing, making something with a hammer, or working on sculptures. These were creatures given life in reference to Weed’s usual behavior and personality, thus were busy hunting at dungeons before the recall. After the Garnav plains had ended, they continued hunting and grew on their own.

“Work.”

“I got it. Master!”

Weed split up the sculptural lifeforms and positioned them in vital locations.

The sculptural lifeforms that were placed at every strategic point served as rulers over each region, securing public order.

“You guys are the most important. Fly around and take care of the monsters when you see them.”

– I will do as you say.
– If it means protecting the world.

The baraags were savage but obedient. They were keepsakes of the Emperor Geihar, highly reliable in combat and laid many eggs in their nests around cliffs and forests.

‘If I raise these baraags well… They will become powerful assets.’

Gigantic creatures capable of flying and breathing fire!

‘I should keep about a thousand close to me, those who are most trustworthy. I will use them well in important fights. Should I build some coops so they can breed more easily?”

If needed, he was eager to use some baraag poultry farms. He spoke to his clones.

“Arpen Empire. Hahaha. An empire. Splendid. Anyway, I must slay these monsters to protect the Northern Continent.”

Then, Weed-one crossed his legs and turned his head slightly, lifting his chin about 21°. His expression with his chin raised high was full of arrogance.

“So, what do I gain from this?”

“Hmm.”

Weed knew from the beginning that orders would not be easy. They were beings identical to himself!

‘I made them urgently, but things couldn’t be more horrendous.’

Weed always had a grand speech for any situation.

“It is for Versailles Continent. What do you think is the purpose of your powers! It is to defeat the monsters and protect the weak. Also, this is a request from me as a parent who bestowed life to you all.”

Peace and beings called parents. The weak-hearted were prone to these words.

Weed-two stretched wide and yawned freely.

“That is one regurgitated lie. In all honesty, weren’t we betrayed big time the moment we were born? We escaped in order to survive, life is getting a bit better, but you’re giving us a dangerous mission? What kind of parent does that?”

A logical opposition based on past experience!

Weed quickly tried to come up with an excuse, but Weed-seven eagerly followed.

“Abductors with some conscience cannot call themselves kind-hearted. There is no room for trust to begin with.”

Weed-ten pointed at Weed’s mouth with his finger.

“I saw him lick his lips just now! That is the symbol and occupational trait of highly trained liars!”

“…..”

Weed realized that these subordinates could not be swayed by words.

‘I have sculpted them well indeed. They act the same as I would.’

Their intelligence and behavior patterns were similar to a high degree. In any circumstance, they refuse to be at a loss. Thus, he knew exactly how to get through to them.

“You all know how difficult it is to live without anything in your possession. I will provide equipment according to your levels.”

He had many advanced equipment that he acquired from the Hermes guild at his disposal.

He needed to at least provide them with basic equipment to heighten their hunting efficiency.

“Mmm. Good equipment will be expensive.”

“Rather than having a rough time with just a bare body, it’s better to use tools.”

“The conditions don’t seem to be that bad…”

Weed observed his subordinates in contemplation and added.

“1 gold per monster.”

“Woah.”

“Huk!”

It was money in the end! The subordinates came down on their knees respectfully.

“We will swear our loyalty, Master.”

“This is a fair contract. We can feel your sincerity for our well-being.”

“We will protect the peace of the continent!”

They changed attitudes so quickly that no one could tell if they were being truthful or pretentious. Weed’s heart ached in the thought of losing a gold each time, but ultimately he was the victor.

‘If they are like me, they will hunt frantically for money. It will be at least 10 times more effective than forcing them into it.’

Stopping the monsters was crucial, but the loot from the hunts will be traded and turned into tax income for the Arpen Empire.

It could also revitalize the production by increasing the loots of leather and minerals.

Considering all the subsequent effects, the 1 gold wasn’t really coming from Weed’s pocket but from what the subordinates would earn themselves. No matter how greedy and manipulative they may be, they were still children.

“He is surprisingly a good master.”

“We appreciate the benignity of your majesty.”

Weed smiled as his subordinates continued their flattery.

*****

Fort Odin.

In the past, it was famous for its impregnability located at the borders of the Britten Alliance and Idern Kingdom.

“Woah… This section is broken.”

“Yeah. I thought the walls were high and thick when I saw them through the broadcasts. Now there are only remains.”

The northern merchant Consome was roaming around the Central Continent with its friendly users. They began Royal Road in the north and travelled to various regions that they observed through broadcasts so they could set up trades.

“Selling souvenirs of Fort Odin! Get your wooden golem dolls!”

“Stone fragment of the sturdy fortress. Stone fragment that imbue luck and endurance attributes only for 98 gold!”

“This is a new long sword. The standard Arpen Kingdom long sword has been upgraded a step higher. They are set for level 100, 150, 200 – guaranteed warranty repair from the Mapan Merchant Association!”

After the Garnav Plains battle, the merchants began moving early. The Hermes guild fell and no other alliance could hinder the merchants. Specifically targeted merchandise and expansion of trade routes.

The northern merchants scrambled down to the Central Continent and sold their merchandise.

“Ah… I am jealous.”

“Damn. Has this world gone over to the northern users?”

The merchants that began in Central Continent started with envious eyes. Since their early days, they had been subject to territoriality and tyranny of the prestigious guilds.

“Now that the Arpen Kingdom came out the victor, they will try to get as much as they possibly can.”

“Look. Descending down here to take over everything.”

The merchants could not hide their disappointment.

They traded even the simplest items and expanded their accounting, trades and transport skills. Then again, there were no other jobs as powerless as the merchants.

Due to their low combat abilities they are looked down upon by warriors and are stolen from by other users at times.

“How unfair.”

“I chose to be a merchant because I enjoyed facing people in the city and selling goods. I never thought I would come to regret it.”

The Central Continent merchants all huddled up in the corner grumbling.

“Groan!”

That moment, they saw a female user approaching them with a pile of goods on a wagon.

“Ah… That user. I’ve seen her in broadcast.”

“Yeah. That’s Gamong-nim.”

“That is Gamong-nim who trades everywhere.”

Gamong!
She was a famous merchant user next to Mapan in the north.

“Gamong-nim also came down.”

“It means the Central Continent is that popular.”

“Take it all why don’t they? Just take it all away.”

The Central Continent merchants were exchanging a bitter conversation. Then Gamong spoke out to them gathered under a shade.

“Aren’t you folks gonna sell anything? All sold out already?”

“We are not listed under the Arpen Kingdom… Arpen Empire I should say. Anyway, we aren’t registered.”

“Registered?”

“Yes. Merchants or associations must be registered and make a payment in order to trade. Now, trade goods must be registered and receive permits.”

“What do you mean by that?”

Gamong asked in confusion, and the Central Continent merchants were stunned.

“For goodness sake. You’re a merchant like us and you do not know about the registration system?”

“I don’t. Is there such a thing?”

“Of course you have to be registered to sell goods in the city and trade goods with other regions…. Wait. Arpen… kingdom? Empire? Never mind that, there is no such system in Arpen?”

“Yeah. We don’t have anything like that. This is the first time I’m hearing about it from you all.”

The Central Continent merchants were dazzled. They had their own intel network, but since they always resided in Central Continent they were uninformed about the situations in the north. They heard that the north was a heaven for trades but since they had no opportunity to travel there, they never looked into the procedures.

“Hold on… This was originally enforced by the prestigious guilds that ruled the Central Continent.”

“Right. That is the case.”

“So, this did not exist since the very beginning?”

The merchants were surprised, but they needed solid evidence. They had the carpet slip underneath their feet far too many times throughout their experiences.

“Can you confirm for us whether if we can truly sell goods?”

“Yes. One moment. Let me ask Weed-nim.”

Gamong whispered personally to Weed.

“Weed-nim. Is there such a thing as merchant registration? You can’t sell goods unless you are registered in advance?”

As she whispered to Weed, the Central Continent merchants waited nervously.

After a few moments, Gamong spoke with a smile.

“He says there is no such thing.”

“It doesn’t exist?”

“Yes. You are all free to conduct business in the Arpen Empire as merchants. But, there are regulations that northern merchants must abide by.”

“I knew it… What are they?”

“Do not leave too many consumables or novice-level items.”

“Mmm. What else?”

“This is all there is to the regulations for merchants.”

“What? That’s it? Then what about the tax rate?”

“It’s 2%.”

“You mean novice-level items and consumables are 2%? That is low tax rate.”

The Central merchants were content enough for having taxes lowered to a tenth of what they usually paid.

“So, the tax rates for other products will be higher I assume?”

“When you trade at the center, it is 2%. It is Arpen’s official tax rate applied to all products. When you sell to users, tax is not applied.”

“No way… What about toll fees?”

“We don’t have such things.”

“This is insane.”

The merchants felt a huge relief of freedom and satisfaction. They could feel the world that they live in had changed completely. WIth a tax rate of 2% and unrestricted trades meant that they could trade a tremendous amount of goods. A world they dreamt for in their choice for the merchant job class had finally come.

“I am off to trade right now.”

“I need to get myself a wagon first.”

“Let’s pour all our money and get a fresh start. Now we can live like real merchants!”

The merchants kicked off from their spots highly motivated.

They had saved up a ton of fortune in the Central Continent since the early days. The world was now open for these merchants to be active wholeheartedly.

Just when they were about to scatter for trade and sale, they bowed in gratitude.

“Thank you, Gamong-nim.”

“No worries. All I did was just relay the message.”

“May I upload the footage of the conversation that we just had with you? I bet there are more of us that will want to know about the policies of the Arpen Kingdom.”

“Yes. As often as you need.”

The Central Continent merchants uploaded their conversation with Gamong on the internet and the response was explosive.

– As expected of the Arpen Kingdom. No, that is Arpen Empire!
– This is Weed-nim taking care of the users.
– This is heaven… heaven has come forth.
– Insane… I am a merchant and I almost broke tears. I am logging in right now to take a load of products and sell them.
– It lives up to the expectations. Royal Road has truly become paradise.
– Weed-nim is on different level than those people who confiscate everything. I had faith in him.
– I also contributed at the Garnav Plains. For the Arpen Kingdom, for Weed-nim.
– How could this be possible… Hurray! Amazing!
– I can understand why the merchants in the barren north roamed around so diligently.
– One’s true character becomes apparent in their treatment of those weaker than himself. Weed-nim is unchanging even after becoming the emperor. He is truly an admirable person.
– I began on the first day of Morata. I am always rooting for Weed-nim. I knew this day would come.
– It is Weed-nim. Because it’s Weed-nim. He’s “the” Weed-nim.
– I am a common user who started out in Kallamore. I am deeply touched. I understand why… the Grass Porridge Cult exists.

Chapter 5: Arpen Development Strategy

Weed fell into despair.

“This isn’t how it’s supposed to be…”

The moment he logged on Royal Road he was preoccupied by taking care of the increased number of monsters in the north. He rode on top of Wy-3 and fired arrows at monsters near Morata, and summoned undeads to fight. He had been contacted by Gamong just a moment ago.

– Gamong: Weed-nim. Is there such a thing as merchant registration? Where you can’t sell goods unless you are registered in advance?

He had just begun taking over the Central Continent. Of course there was no such thing as a merchant registration system in Arpen Empire.

‘It’s a great system though. It’s built for an effective exploitation. Whoever created that registration system is a true genius.’

It was a marvelous system and deemed worthy of implementation.

“There is no merchant registration system.”

Weed was wiping up the monsters with the undead whilst the conversation. At first the hunt was not easy, but the number of undead increasing exponentially overwhelmed the monsters.

“Return to the lands where you all once breathed. This is a dark, corrupted land. Engrave the eternal dark rule on all life. Undead, rise!”

Death knights, Dullahans  and the skeletal army backed him up and marched. A force comprised of the undead!

– Kuaaaahhh!

One doom knight, and one bone dragon joined forces, amplifying the formidable military power, resulting in high efficiency hunting that raked in a lot of experience and loot. He also pondered deeply about the governance over the Arpen Empire.

‘Now is the beginning of the golden age in my life, how and where should I begin my exploitation. ’

His head was filled with thoughts of exploiting in the Hermes guild’s place!

– Gamong: Alright. Thank you for informing me.

Weed ended the conversation with Gamong, and shortly after that he received a whisper from Pale.

– Pale: Weed-nim is always a righteous person.

“…..?”

Weed was caught off guard as this was strange, but he let it go.

– Irene: Fighting! You’re the best!
– Romuna: We weren’t wrong about you.
– Zephyr: You’re a guy…. but you’re awesome.
Hwaryeong: Charms going wild!

“…..”

Weed heard the whispers of his acquaintances and realized that something had happened.

It didn’t take long before he discovered the conversation footage between Gamong and the Central Continent merchants. It was posted on most major online communities due to the popularity of Royal Road.

“I’m wrecked. This is bad… The merchant registration system must have been reinforced at some point…”

Weed pounced on the ground in regret, channeling his rage into hunting.

“Van Hawk, Torido!”

“Why do you call for me. Master.”

“This is all your fault. Hurry up and fight. You worthless creatures!”

*****

“…..”

Seoyoon stayed in the Earth Palace and looked into the internal affairs of the Arpen Empire.

< Porlan Village has been converted from the Haven Empire to the Arpen Empire. National reputation is increased by 1. >

< Castle Midelheim has crowned the new Emperor Weed. 58,000 gold has been offered as dowry to the Arpen Empire. >

< The Arpen Empire’s culture is spreading in the Kallamore regions. The people are desiring for more sophisticated level of artwork to fulfill their intellectual satisfaction. >

< The knights of Fortress Culliber swear loyalty to the Emperor Weed.
National reputation is increased by 1. Public security in nearby areas is increased by 10%. >

The territorial expansion was rapid.

< The soldiers of Fortress Batun are suffering from a lack of food supplies. If the starving citizens are fully fed, they will wield their swords for the Arpen Empire. >

< There is an old tale passed down in Port Tarantus. >

“Boat, if you have a boat, you can go out to sea. There are a lot of fish in the nearby seas; if you travel a little further, there are hidden treasures stashed away by our ancestors…”

< Building 32 ships will increase fish production of Port Tarantus at a rapid rate. If fortune is on your side, you could discover the pirate’s treasure. >

Many quests were occurring in cities, villages, ports and mines. Seoyoon originally came from the Central Continent, but back when she was active as a berserker she spent time only in dungeons and hunting grounds. Even so, she remembered countless users living peacefully in villages and cities.

‘What should be done in order to develop this place like the past?’

Seoyoon was caught in her thoughts, then she whispered Weed.

“I want to take care of the affairs.”

Moments later, Weed responded.

– Alright.

“There are many places requiring attention with the expansion of territory. Do you mind if I take care of it for you?”

– Weed: Do as you wish.

Weed already had an incident with Gamong, but he granted permission.

Seoyoon stepping up for something was extremely rare. If it was her request, he would gladly allow her to pour the sauce over the fried pork strips.

“Thank you. I will do my best.”

– Weed: ….. I have faith in you.

Weed was already busy enough hunting the rapidly multiplying monsters, and Seoyoon had proved to be excellent assistance together with Nodulle in the Hildern quest.

‘She should know what she is doing, though it’s a little unnerving…’

Seoyoon set her priorities after she was granted permission.

“I think we should construct roads for now.”

She proceeded to invest in the land and maritime transportation routes that link the northern and central continents. She invested 40 million gold that was earned from the sales of shacks in Puhol Waterpark. It wasn’t just roads but also the public security and economic development in the vicinity as a whole package, meaning that there were multiple places for money to be spent.

The closer to the outskirts of the North and Central continents, the weaker the public security. Sturdy walls were built and militia were recruited in response to possible threats of a monster invasion.

“This isn’t enough preparation. Some villages may be destroyed with more frequent monster activity.”

Meanwhile, they were hearing stories of monsters multiplying in numbers by the hour. She also had to consider the many cities and villages requesting to join the Arpen Empire. She split her budget meticulously and planned to use every last penny most effectively. However, the expanding territory was beyond what the current finance could cover.

“We are lacking funds…”

Seoyoon was agonizing over the insufficient budget, closing up the affairs.

“I used up all the budget.”

– Weed: All 40 million gold…? You’re lying, right? Huhuhu. I don’t fall for those that easily. Pranks. Yes. It’s a joke.

“I am serious. I have statements that I recorded for each spending.”

Weed was so shocked that she called Yurin and immediately arrived at the Earth Palace through painting transportation skill.

The Emperor’s Office.

The elaborate furnishing was gone and instead, furniture brought in from the black giant star of Morata had filled the office.

“Here are the statements.”

Seoyoon handed over the budget statements.

There were records such as city wall repairs, food distribution, monster expeditions packed into the statements in a pretty fonts. The records were for small amounts as low as 500 gold to a maximum of a few hundred thousand gold spent, all for a different purpose.

“Mmm. It seems that all of it was used up. Internal affair mode.”

Weed accessed the Arpen Empire affair mode and confirmed the remaining budget.

2 gold remaining!

“Ah.”

Weed’s body that functioned to its maximum output even in front of the black dragon, staggered greatly.

“My money… My money…”

The sense of loss for his money.

Uncontrollable sadness, pain, regret and emptiness rushed inside him. But the moment he saw Seoyoon’s face, he became calm. If he wanted to quarrel with his girlfriend, his anger would disappear after seeing the world’s most beautiful face.

“Hmm, hmm. 40 million gold. That’s a large sum of money, but it was used for the good of the Arpen Empire… Good job.”

“Really?”

“Of course. It’s worth the entire 40 million gold. Even if I was here, I wouldn’t have spent the money with such excellence. This is perfectly spent.”

Weed hugged Seoyoon lightly.

“Cheh!”

Yurin hurried away through the painting transport technique after sensing the coming of a romantic atmosphere.

Weed and Seoyoon. The two pondered about the future of the Arpen Empire

“There are too many monsters appearing. They are roaming around freely as we cannot contain them all.”

“What if all the users return?”

“These monsters, that are too powerful for the novices of the north to manage, will roam in increasingly large numbers.”

“That would definitely cause substantial amounts of damage.”

Even if the monsters multiplied, the users in Central Continent were still able to hunt fairly. However, in the north, if any monster on level 500s were to roam outside the dungeons, nearby novice users could all get annihilated.

“Mmm. It’s not like I can build walls for every single village and city, and the armies are too weak to protect anything.”

“The Central Continent also has many regions without a lot of users. Those places will crumble immediately when the monsters begin their invasion.”

Seoyoon had allocated the budget where it was absolutely necessary, and it was only a temporary measure. There were many places to be accounted for.

Weed had felt that the monsters had grown in numbers significantly during his scout on top of Wy-3. Before, he could occasionally spot some monsters on the ground during his flights, but now they were common.

The Arpen Empire had taken up the North and Central continents, but in military terms it was that the Hermes guild had vacated the lands after losing its army. The lack of soldiers meant that more locations were now prone to attacks, and not all could be protected.

“This is a crisis. Things will get out of hand if cities are destroyed the moment they are absorbed into the Arpen Empire.”

Seoyoon reminisced about the past in the north when she heard Weed’s words.

Weed spent his entire fortune on Morata that was once in ruins and developed it to its current state. Compared to the difficult pioneering mission back then, the current situation seemed like nothing.

“The North and Central continents are vast. In order to govern this empire, we will need lords who will protect and fight with us.”

“Mmm. Lords…. We do need provincial lords. Though the position of lords can be sold for a hefty price.”

“Should we collect money for the lord positions?”

Weed was speaking carelessly, but jolted back to his senses by Seoyoon’s words.

‘Yes. That’s it. We should sell it for money.’

Seat requests or bribery for authority, selling high positions for a price! He was in a position capable of exercising such deeds he saw on the news and was envious of.

‘In the Northern Continent, I made considerable profit by naming lords in barren lands… But, the situation is different in the Central Continent.’

There were small towns and mining villages, but there were also large cities such as the Free City of Somren, the old empire capital, trade cities, production cities and tourist cities. Becoming a lord of such cities were both very honourable and profitable.

‘I’ll become truly rich selling the lord positions.’

Weed thought but could not say it out loud. He was an outright scrooge to the others but he wanted to remain a good person to Seoyoon. He quickly stirred up a fancier expression.

“There is something called a duty fee when you buy pets.”

“Duty fee?”

“It serves as evidence of your intention to take good care of the animal. You never give away pets for free. Also, we need money for the development of the empire. So, lords have to pay up some duty fee, don’t you think?”

Seoyoon was head over heels for Weed and was unconsciously ready to accept any fraud he were to commit. She was usually rational and smart but did not question him one bit.

“How much should I ask for duty fee?”

“The more the better. I think we should proceed with auctions starting at a minimum of 1,000 gold. Just as a display of faith.”

“I understand.”

Weed thought there was no meaning in the starting price. In an auction, what matters is the final price.

‘If I sell off the lord positions, the users would likely criticize me.’

This was different from selling equipment earned through hunting. Not just anybody could be named a lord that would govern over cities and villages. Even so, he decided to deafen himself to criticism just this once.

‘This is a rare opportunity to score a fortune. You only live once anyway.’

Simultaneously, Seoyoon thought the exact opposite. She had complete faith in Weed’s pretext and saw this opportunity to gather enough funds to develop the Arpen Empire.

‘We need money to make this world a happier place.’

*****

Title: Greetings to all prospective lords of the Arpen Kingdom.

Hello.
I am Seoyoon, serving as a manager of internal affairs of the Arpen Empire.

We have conquered the Central Continent with our strength alone. We need to repair the broken facilities and prepare our defences against the monsters… and we lack the hands.

That is why we require your participation.
You must put the people up first.
You must dream of running a city.
You must have the motivation to shape the future.
These three traits are all you need to become a lord.
We urge to sign up for the Arpen lord seats.

P.S.  For those who do become lords, we will be collecting 1,000 gold as duty fee.
For regions with many candidates, we will prioritize those who pay the largest duty fee. The duty fee will be used honorably for the development of the Arpen Empire.

A sincere message posted on the discussion boards of the Grass Porridge Cult.

In order to validate for this post, she posted an image of herself in armor riding on top of Wy-3.

– So pretty… Can someone look like that in reality?
– This face and atmosphere. They assessed that it’s unachievable even if you put 10,000 stats into charm on Royal Road.
– Maybe there could be a chance by investing 50,000 points?
– That appearance is not possible even if you are reborn. She’s a fairy among men.
– Even the students acknowledged that she does look that way in real life. There were a few photographs of when she attended university in an ordinary outfit. Hah.
– I am jealous of Weed. He’s got everything…

For quite some time, comments went on about Seoyoon’s beauty.

– By the way, was this post really created by the actual Grass Porridge goddess?
– Isn’t that photoshopped?
– It’s not possible to tweak that photo. How can you photoshop to this degree of beauty?
– I concur…
– This is a photo of her alone in the sky, so it couldn’t have been posted by anyone else.
– That shy V that she made. She is so adorable.
– Ah. I read the content just now.
– This is a lord recruitment post.
– A duty fee of 1,000 gold… The goddess is so reserved…
– Looks like any one can apply, though it would mean an insane competition.
– In reality, the regions that will be decided for 1,000 gold will pretty much be in ruins. There isn’t really another option as this is a competition of wealth.

The lord position of the Arpen Empire was a desirable one for just about anyone. There were rumors of Weed wringing the lords, but people did not believe it.  No one would willingly give up their position of a lord of Arpen.

Apart from the honor of the position, most fell into the joy of developing villages and cities. Furthermore, this was lord position in the Central Continent, which many including the local citizens were after.

– Should I give it a shot? I have quite a bit saved up… I am a level 480 swordsman.
– I withstood the mistreatment in the Hermes guild. I am going all-in.
– I wish to become a lord of Arpen. I believe it will be an awesome, spectacular experience.
– Should be at least level 500. Or it could be easy competition for the merchants.
– Let’s just head over first. This is the lord seat we are talking about!

The lord trend boomed among the users of the central continent. However, the atmosphere of the northern users leaned towards disappointment. The foundation in the growth of the Arpen Empire was the active participation of novice players. However, if the lords are named by how much is invested, these users would not be acknowledged for their participation.

*****

Kalis of the Black Lion guild assembled an urgent conference.

“The Arpen Empire is recruiting lords. I think we should act accordingly.”

The famous users in the guild like Vindel, Zekt, Probangs, Sien, and Pine were all present. Users that were long absent from the Black Lion guild had returned after the fall of the Hermes guild.

“What kind of response are you speaking of?”

Vindel asked out of curiosity and Kalis spoke with composure.

“Shouldn’t we take the Tullen region in the least, no matter how much we need to spend? That is land that has been regulated under our control for a long time.”

“That is right. We cannot hand over Tullen to a stranger.”

“That is our homeland, we cannot ever leave.”

The users of the Black Lion guild each had their say in the matter. In the past, prestigious guilds could take over territories through war. In the Arpen empire, they needed money.

Sien spoke out carefully.

“We were active in the recent battle, so wouldn’t Weed-nim hand the Tullen region to us?”

He spoke out of hope, but the surrounding members could not agree.

Kalis shook his head.

“Though our guild fought bravely, we did not play a deciding role in the outcome. It was a battle won over by Weed almost on his own.”

“But still…”

“Why would he hand over the Tullen region knowing how much it is worth? I will ask him to provide us some sort of discount. But we know, that is asking for too much considering his personality.”

Kalis and the Black Lion guild users were burdened with having to scramble up a considerable sum of money, but thought that the situation was fair. When they were conquered by the Hermes guild, they were forced to leave their homeland and experience all kinds of unfavorable measures.

“Even if we have to pay some money, we will be able to get it all back after we secure the lord seat. We can also certainly establish our base of operations.”

“I agree. Lord recruitment is not something that goes on often. If we don’t play along this time, we would have to bide our time until the Arpen Empire crumbles or commit to a revolution… We need land to sustain our guild.”

The Black Lion guild ultimately agreed on gathering up funds to apply for the lord of the Tulen region. The other prestigious guilds chose to do the same as Kalis. With this, the medium-sized guilds that had existed since the early times all reunited.

They could not give up their dreams of becoming lords and decided to pool all their savings.

*****

– Signs of monster waves in at least 50 different locations.
– Unusual activity such as the coastal zones turning red.
– Lafaye received reports from military fortress Lahonia of the Haven Kingdom. The empire that had once ruled the Central Continent had been reduced in territory and population after the Garnav Plains battle and was demoted to a kingdom.
– Additionally, Castle Aren destroyed by Kaybern had a critical impact on the national power!
– The intel network had remained intact, delivering news about the continent.

“The entire continent will be in danger. Monster waves… I never expected this much, but Kaybern may very well determine the fate of the continent.”

“Weed’s ambition is wavering from the start. This is even before the users return to their homelands. Additionally, there are almost no remaining forces in each city.”

Lafaye thought to herself while listening to the users talking through the network.

‘If the situation continues down this path, Weed will never be able to stop it.’

There were at least a thousand cities in the central continent alone, and protecting all of them was impossible. The Hermes guild having unintentionally poured all military forces into the Garnav plains left the fortresses and the city walls completely vacant.

If several cities along the vital routes turn to ruins, the monsters will spread like an outbreak through an open wall.

‘Kaybern destroying the major cities including castle Evaluk is inevitable. Weed will never be able to manage.’

The influence of the Hermes guild had receded to the Haven regions. Royal Road’s best users and lords each had their complaints, but the immediate threat was on the Arpen Empire. A user named Sonia from the intel network spoke.

“Wouldn’t the users be enraged against us Hermes guild?”

It was a natural concern as countless cities and the Versailles continent will be destroyed.

Lafaye held back from bursting in an uncontrollable laughter.

“We cannot be hated any more than we already are.”

“…..”

“This plan was executed fully accounting for the fact that everyone is an enemy. Weed and the other users need to experience failure too.”

“Failure?”

“The dark dragon Kaybern will cause significant damage. If the central and northern continents are devastated, people will give up their false hope in Weed.”

Lafaye also had carried out her last straw. Castle Aren had been destroyed by Kaybern, but they were caught in a dead end and the situation getting any worse had little meaning.

“We are the ones responsible for this mess, but Weed will be the one that cleans it up.”

*****

Each broadcast station sent out urgent news of the Arpen Empire’s lord recruitment and decided to proceed with live stream.

– At midnight, two days from now they will officially announce the lords at the Earth Palace.
– There are already many users who registered for lord position at several cities.
– Of course. I can imagine the intensity of the competition at the major cities.

CTS media and KMC media collectively signed up for lord positions after an internal conference. In the past, neutrality was demanded of the broadcast stations and therefore, it was a tricky standpoint to be associated with any particular force.  Now, technical neutrality was meaningless because the Arpen Empire had conquered the north and the majority of the central continent. Owning a city meant more diverse programs, and due to the competition against other broadcast stations they decided to apply for city lord positions.

– The Black Lion guild announced that they will secure the Tullen region. Oh Joo-Wan-ssi, I think they are turning away others from applying in this area.
– My thoughts are parallel. However, I expect that things will not turn out in their favour
– How so? Even they may be weakened, doesn’t the Black Lion guild have considerable amounts of money stashed up?
– That may be so, but aiming for the entire Tullen region is pure greed. The wealthy folks, rich guilds and individuals will also apply.
– The Tullen region used to be belong to the Black Lion guild.
– Past territories no longer have significance as we are now under the governance of the Arpen empire. In the past, there were frequent cases of taking over by force. In the case of being appointed as lord in the Arpen Empire, the lord positions will be maintained as long as there are no concerning upsets.
– So, they would be able to keep their titles without any military power.
– Yes. This is the new order of the Arpen Empire. So, whoever can pay the duty fee which I imagine will turn out to be a fortune, will rise up the to lord position.

*****

An Item auction site.

A strange phenomenon occurred on each site which posted items related to the Royal Road.

At first, the real value of gold increased to over double the original rate.

“This is crazy. What is going on?”

At every auction site, gold was being sold the instant that it was put up for bids.

“I need to sell at times like this!”

“I can sell at a high price!”

The users sold all the gold in their possession. Gold was a necessity in the daily life of Royal Road and was essential for use in stores.  Unless it involved activities such as purchasing homes, travelling luxuriously, or building ships, there was no insufficiency of gold if one hunted diligently and proceeded with quests.

“What? The price went up while I was gone?”

The market price for gold on auction sites had tripled in the short period of time. It was a shocking sequence of events, and as the day turned into night the market price continued to sky-rocket.

“This is because of the Arpen Empire’s lord recruitment!”

The users came to a realization.

The wealthy individuals all over the world were scraping away all the available gold on auction sites in order to apply for lord positions.

– Title: Selling a million gold.

‘I have placed an auction. Buyers please proceed with your bids. Deadline is 30 minutes from now.’

Users utilized the auction system in order to get a higher return, and the price increased at an irrational speed. Someone would write up a higher bid than the market value, but the following user would bid double. The rich folks abroad, in China, the Middle-East, the US, and Europe’s orthodox billionaires are active in participation. They had accepted Royal Road as being beyond just simple leisure, as a space of its own within their lives. They thought there would be no better opportunity for a lord position.

The value of money was relative; to those who can gladly spend billions on leisure activities, the lord positions in the Arpen Empire were taken for granted.

‘It means that I get to be a king over a certain area?’

The Arpen Empire was known for its minimal interference with the lords in the northern continent. They were lenient and generous, as long as the taxes were paid on a regular basis. For the rich that were searching for new experiences, it was a suitable opportunity.

“Buy out all the gold.”

“The price doesn’t matter.”

“10 billion? 20 billion? That’s barely worth a single building. Nothing I can’t afford.”

“Purchase more than anyone else. I can invest the remaining gold into city development.”

“Reach out to the powerful users or guilds. There are many ways. Forge the gold if you can’t find them.”

It was not as if every billionaire in the world had participated. This was only a fraction of them.

Even so, the competition among them pushed the price up 30 times and the users sold their gold unconditionally. The common users estimated that after the termination of lord recruitment in the Arpen empire, the value of gold would return to its original price.

They could not let an opportunity like this slip by, where gold could be sold at ridiculous prices. In an instant, fortunes worth over 10 billion gold had gone under transaction at the auction sites.

Earth Palace.
Many users bustled through this place, as it was the royal palace of the Arpen Empire.

“Now. We will commence the appointment of the Arpen Empire provincial lords.”

Hwaryeong took up the announcer, laying out the map of Versailles Continent on the wall.

The northern and central continent.

All locations except for the 10 restricted areas and the Haven territories were subjects of the appointment.

Arpen empire had succeeded in swift expansion of its territories.

There was a lot of controversy about the lord appointment being decided by the auction system among the users including the Grass Porridge Cult.

“Isn’t he just selling these positions for money?”

“Seems to be a public stunt for his own fair share. For whom did we fight?”

“Nothing is being distributed to the people who fought for Arpen, and how do you justify taking money from those who are trying to become provincial lords?”

There was a huge drawback and criticism by the users. Conversely, many were still on the side of Weed.

“I hated being under the Haven Empire, so we made our own conscious decision to fight. Expecting a share is a thief’s mindset. We all received accomplishment points. In fair honesty, we only contributed so much as a whole but if we assess individually, no one has performed as well as Weed-nim.”

“If Weed-nim hadn’t been there, our lives would have continued to be exploited under the Haven empire, and no one could do anything about it. These folks are sure ungrateful for all that has been granted.”

“Those who have been among us from when Morata was established to now could not criticize him the same way. He had invested all his earnings until now, and accomplished this much with his own hands…”

“Wow… People are now even talking ill about the lord appointment. So, should he just not bother with the lord appointments and leave all these lands vacant? The monsters are about to invade, and who’s gonna take responsibility?”

“Without money, how does one govern such a vast empire? It turns out that even the money from the Puhol Waterpark cottage sales were invested into the internal affairs…”

“You mean all of it?”

“Yes. It seems that they were all invested. I cursed at him selling cottages in the midst of the war, but it turned out that he was making investments for our sake.”

There was some backlash within the Grass Porridge Cult as well, but the majority of opinions were to trust and observe things for the time being.

Thus, the lord appointment commenced!

“First of all, we will begin the lord appointment with the peak of public interest, the Britten Region.”

Hwaryeong began taking applications for the core of the empire, the major city and the industrial city of the Britten region.

“Thousand gold!”

“Alright, we have a thousand gold. The next person is…”

A man cloaked with a robe at the far back raised his hand.

“10 million gold!”

“10 million gold? Okay. We have 10 million gold.”

Hwa-Ryeong was startled in the proceedings, followed by an handsome man who shouted near the front.

“50 million gold!”

“50 million gold…”

“100 million gold!”

The value of the lord seat jumped at once.

The people were in shock, and several more individuals competed. A major city named Denem was sold for an amount of 323 million gold!

The following cities were sold on average of 200 to 300 million gold.

Some cities including the Free City of Somren had great influence to nearby areas and were to be maintained under government jurisdiction, but other cities serving as the core of trades were sold for as much as 400 million gold.

Renowned cities with especially beautiful scenery, lakes and rivers were charged extra. These cities were more popular than those with blacksmith forges and mines.

*****

The lord appointment that began at midnight continued into the next day.

“This is sculptor Debs. What is your name and region?”

“My name is Dakoi and I’m from Pogma Village.”

“Okay. I got it.”

*Scribble, scribble, scribble*

Sculptor Debs personally engraved the lord appointment certificates into stones.

– Arpen Empire’s Lord

Swordsman Dakoi is hereby appointed as lord of Pogma Village.

Signed, Emperor Weed.

“That will be 118 gold and 80 silvers.”

“Excuse me? I thought this was free.”

“The appointment certificates are only engraved when you become a lord. You don’t have to if you don’t want it.”

“Ah. I will.”

Sculptor Debs was also earning his share with his side job.

Having to hunt the ever multiplying monsters, Weed could not participate at the Earth Palace. That was the reason for handing over the sculptural jobs to Debs.

– Weed: How many have you gone through?

“I have completed 80. I’m not even a quarter done.”

– Weed: Please continue.

“Yes. Bro!”

The young Debs followed Weed as a role model. Ever since they became friends from sculpting the statue of Hestia, their relationship had been consistent.

Weed recommended him to tasks and at times gave him lessons about life.

– Who do you think decides the value of sculptures? Do you think someone is going to acknowledge you if you work hard and sell for cheap? It all depends on the sculptor’s abilities to sell his work for a high price.

– There is no fraudulence in lying if it makes the other person feel pleasant. We must ensure that even the customers who see through us are satisfied..

– You always have to save up money. You don’t necessarily become happy when you start spending.

– Always think about how you’re going to make someone elses’ money into yours. That is where ideas sprout.

– Never reveal the production costs. Emphasize the efforts put into the product. The things we make are always limited edition, even if we end up producing the same thing the very next day.

‘Hehe. Even if I offer 94 gold each to big bro, I will still have a ton left for myself.’

Debs smiled as he sculpted. Lords that received stone certificates were also led to the banquet. The appointed lords gathered in a sapphire hall and enjoyed their dinner filled with exquisite dishes.

Royal Road’s top chefs and fresh ingredients from all regions were supplied to this gathering of the lords.

“You are the lord of the Free City of Ladia? Haha! That is really close to my Fortress Gordon. I look forward to working with you.”

“The pleasure is all mine. Our merchants will be coming and going frequently.”

“I heard that long-swords are a renowned local speciality?”

“Yes. The swords crafted in the Free City of Ladia are 5 points higher in attack and have 20% higher durability. Which is due to the steel produced here.”

“I am envious. You have acquired an amazing location.”

The lords behaved with dignity, drinking their wine and enjoying the banquet.

They had used a tremendous fortune, but the lord positions did not turn their spendings into even the slightest of disappointments. In reality, an astronomic amount of money would not be enough to become mayor or president, but in the Arpen empire these positions would be maintained as long as it wasn’t self-forfeited.

“You are from the Conchern family?”

“That is so. Do you know of us?”

“My youngest son was accepted into the university established by your foundation.”

“Is that so? Haha.”

The wealthy folks worldwide gathered and exchanged congenial conversations.

Some were self-made, but most of them had lived their entire lives like noble aristocrats. With not a hint of what could unfold next, their thoughts were shallow as if grasping a fun toy within another realm.

Merchants of the Mapan association began walking around with wine in hand.

“These are special wine from Morata. The aromatic wine maker Elk produced them. The grapes used were personally grown by Miretas-nim.”

“Oh…! The scent is amazing!”

“A wine resembling the sunset. The taste is something I’ve never come across before.”

The lords each took a sip and were impressed. Such great wine was a first even for them.

“Give me another glass!”

“Quantity is limited. The first glass is free-of-service, but you must pay for more.”

“I need to pay? Then I will buy a whole bottle!”

The lords purchased the wine spontaneously. Morata’s special wine cost 50,000 gold each, but their pockets opened ever so easily.

Chapter 6: Grand-scale Investment

– In the end, he did appoint lords with the worst method. Is money really everything to him?
– Is Weed also blinded by money? I never thought of him as such.
– A disappointment… Seriously.
– They all change when they become kings.
– The true appearance is revealed.

The Arpen empire’s lord appointment covered live by the broadcast station created a massive opposing public poll.

“We have 296 million gold for Ladin city right now.”

“Yes. We have a gentleman for 320 million gold.”

The lord positions were auctioned off  for ridiculous amounts that the novice and common users could not even imagine.

– This is a total paper party.
– It’s crazy. Weed’s going to slide a portion of his own in the name of Arpen Empire.
– I didn’t want to see this… It’s discouraging.
– Weed is the same as the rest of them.

The lord position not only grants honor and authority, but also a significant amount of taxes monthly. That was why people paid such an expensive price for it.

– Still, he can’t appoint a nobody as a provincial lord. If we speak in terms levels, the Hermes guild or those who had bribed their way into positions of authority are the highest. It is better than giving those high-level users the lord seats.
– If someone was appointed as lord out of a million users, the ones that did not would have opposed in any way.
– Let’s play along for now. He did well up until now.

There were users in favor of Weed, but the live coverage of people buying their way into power led to huge voices of opposition.

– Can you not see with your own eyes that we have been played?
– Weed should just go ahead and govern the whole empire on his own. Then I wouldn’t be ticked off this much.
– I’m seriously annoyed by this.
– I am a user of the Britten alliance territory. The Haven Empire receded and the Arpen Empire has come forth. What has changed though?

Weed led the undead in his quest to rid the monsters increasing in numbers under the influence of the dark dragon Kaybern.

“Rise and fight. Slaughter them all!”

Skeletons.

Then more skeletons!

To begin with, they were quantity over quality but were firmly systemized by fighting alongside sculptural creatures.

Warrior Bahamorg was at the head, Van Hawk and Torido led the led the forces together.

“Have faith in me and charge!”

“Forces of darkness. Offer your bones!”

“Blood. Fresh blood!”

Knight Sevil, swordswoman Vindex and barbarian warrior Gernica also supported on the sidelines.

“Having to ride alongside the undead, it goes against the path of the sword. This is to protect the people!”

“Anywhere is fine for me. If I get to fight, that is.”

“Kuhuhu. Battles are always exhilarating.”

The high elf Eltin fired magical arrows, and Geumin breathed fire.

Nurung dragged a large wagon and collected all the loot. Depending on the size of the monster cluster, White Tiger, Nile alligator and other sculptural lifeforms would join in.

“Break through. Faster!”

The roaming herds of monsters in the northern continent had increased tenfold from thousands in just a few days.

The advantage size of the undead force was such that the force could increase consistently or be maintained through battles.

If one were to fight in a narrow dungeon, he would leave a few and release the summoning of the rest. In the wide plains however, the more the merrier.

Death knight Durahan and the spirits were the core of the composition and on occasion, Doom Knights were summoned.

Countless numbers if undead resulted in a high efficiency in hunting speed.

< You have gained a level. >

A necromancer was suited for large-scale hunting!

‘I don’t have to enter a dungeon. It’s great for wiping out clustered monsters all at once.’

– Monster spotted approximately 95 meters away.
– A swarm approaching from the rear.

That didn’t mean hunting was easy. Beasts appeared frequently, stomping the weak undead in their paths.

*Roar!*

Due to Kaybern, monsters swarmed out from the deepest parts of the dungeons and crushed the skeletons. Weed channeled a magic spell.

“Thorns of viscid gore!”

Large monsters named Gogul were constricted in bloody thorns. It was a curse magic that reduced health points and restricted movement.

“Attack at once!”

The skeletal knights as a group threw themselves at the 5 Goguls at Weed’s command.

*Kuuurgh!*

The Goguls’ struggle sent the skeletons flying in different directions, but the skeletons regrouped at a menacing speed.

“This is the command from the overlord of death. I will rip you to shreds and feed on your remains. Kekekeh!”

“How are my joints? Aren’t they beautiful?”

The tenacious skeletons restricted the Goguls’ movements.

“Bahamorg!”

“I got it.”

Bahamorg lifted his axe and charged, as Eltin the high elf fired his arrows imbued with the fire spirit from afar.

*Swish!*

Dozens of fire arrows travelled above the heads of the skeletons and landed on the goguls’ bodies with precision.

– Why, you…!

Van Hawk followed up with cavalry comprised of death knights and doom knights, while Torido circled around back to the napes and sucked blood.

Goguls lost their vitality rapidly as the vampire sucked the blood out of them!

The levels of the Gogul were estimated around mid or high 600s, but they quickly fell to the composition and tactics of the undead without causing any significant damage.

“Return to the lands where you last breathed and walked. This is a dark place. A dark and corrupted land. Engrave the eternal rule of darkness to every being. Undead rise!”

Weed did not turn the Goguls into death knights. Several Goguls could be reborn into a bone dragon, but it required considerable exertion of control and mana.

His undead summoning had reached intermediate level 9, allowing him to control the beast-like Goguls while they were still alive.

Though, it had a limitation of expiring after 1 hour.

The body of the massive beasts would then lose their flesh and then rise to their feet in skeletal form.

– I stand in the presence of the honorable undead commander.

The Gogul’s deep voice spread across the battlefield.

The skeletons, Death Knights and Durahans clashed their shields and shouted towards the Goguls that had joined their ranks.

“Alright. You smash into the enemy!”

– Understood.

5 Goguls stampeded over the herd of monsters near the Pahel river.

The charge alone destroyed the monster formation and decimated their morale.

“Deploy the undead!”

The entry of the undead, exuding the aura of death.

Living creatures could not exercise their powers properly, but the monsters fighting did not cease their endless charge towards them

“Mooooo!”

“That’s the way. Nurung!”

Nurung added assistance by luring the monsters with its appetizing flesh and huge body.

Weed was having a blast increasing at least one level each day, but his mind wasn’t clearing up.

‘Even if I make progress like this, will I be able to defeat Kaybern?’

He already had subordinates like an ice dragon, a phoenix and baraags under his command. He had nothing to be ashamed of in terms of military strength.

In spite of that, it was extremely risky for him to deploy them into the Kaybern hunt.

‘I cannot be preemptive about this. Even if victory is certain… A few of them will die.’

He was also concerned with having to fully commit to the power of darkness in his necromancy. Necromancers like the lich must offer the lives of themselves and others to obtain the power of death.

In the process, the user became evil and his honor and reputation declines; even his health points, faith, luck and strength stats.

Of course, Weed was different from Bard Ray with his high positive reputation. Some citizens of the north openly deified Weed. It could actually be achievable if he accumulated a little more accomplishment and reputation.

‘It turns out it is undesirable to grow as a necromancer. I thought that the battle with a dragon would happen ages later.’

A shortcut existed for necromancers bypassing the limits of growth. There was the destructive method by Bar Khan Demoph the Undead King, but what controls the continent now is the Arpen Empire!

If the world belonged to the Hermes guild, he would be up for a mud fight. For all that, the situation did not call for.

< You have expedited the dungeon of the coiled snake.

You have completed the dungeon expedition in the shortest time.

Reputation is increased by 7,680.

Intelligence has permanently increased by 3 points due to experience in magic combat.

Rewards are doubled by perfect completion. >

When the monsters dwindled down, he proceeded with dungeon expeditions in his spare moments.

He cleared dungeons everywhere from the north to the central continent with Yurin.

The core of his training was the consistent accumulation of combat accomplishment!

‘The basis of my quick growth rate is the stats that I stacked up since I was a novice player. For future investment, I’m going to stack up plentiful amount of combat accomplishment.’

His goal was to complete at least 4 dungeons a day. Even in the Hermes guild, no user had cleared so many dungeons.

A user chooses two or three dungeons depending on their growth and combat style and revolves around them.

The above method was thought to be safe and effective.

Weed was confident enough to survive through most situations, and his composition of sculptural creatures and the undead worked well in most dungeons.

“If time allows, I could become way more powerful than when I was the great king of the desert.”

Intelligence and wisdom accumulating quickly was another advantage of combat achievements.

It was also essential for him to upgrade the power of his skills and expand his mana pool.

“In the future, it would be nice for me to fight like Bard Ray and spam various secret techniques in battle. Powerful spells should not be reserved, but utilized whenever available.”

– Pocket Money: Castle Pormos had been claimed by the Black Lion guild.

Weed checked on the lord appointment regularly amid his swamped fights.

– Pocket Money: It seems that the response of the discussion boards and viewers pertaining to the Royal Road aren’t so welcoming.

“As I expected… But just how bad is it?”

– Pocket money: They are criticizing the Arpen Empire on a public level. Most are central continent users and it is shocking that some are northern users.

“I can understand where they are coming from.”

Weed could sympathize amply for this situation.

They had fought and won a difficult battle at Garnav plains, but the outcome was turning out to be rightfully suspicious campaign for money, recruiting rich lords!

‘That is what it is, really. I was concerned that I could well be criticized in proceeding with this plan.’

All that the Arpen Empire had was just a large sum of land, its roots weaker than the Haven Empire in reality. Although he had started this for money, there was an urgency for provincial lords because it was impossible for him to directly govern the vast empire all on his own.

“Hmm. I guess it’s unavoidable. I have no other choice but to host a festival, or an amusement facility like Puhol Waterpark.”

Weed swore firmly to earn a fortune and turn a blind eye somehow.

‘I did well up till now. Let me live for my needs just this once. Taking criticism will be for later….  I need to make what I can right now.’

Weed in spite of everything going on, decided to take his share. It was possible that he would be able to buy out dozens of buildings if the lord appointment ends successfully.

*****

Calcus, the slaughterer of the Hermes guild!

In the real world, he was a full-time gamer by the name of Jong-sung Lee.

After the loss at the battle of Garnav plains, he refused to go outside of his house for a few days. He watched the Arpen empire’s lord appointment through the broadcast and became envious.

“Weed. That chap is going all-out for himself. Just how much is he trying to make?”

Jong-sung Lee devoted himself to posting toxic comments on the discussion board.

– Looks like Weed is going to become rich by selling lord positions. There is a divide between those who fought alongside him and those who are profiting out of this. Come to your senses. We’ve all been used.

His heart fluttered for the few seconds he had to wait for other users to respond to his toxic comment.

– This guy is right. Can we really say that Weed is better than the Hermes guild even after all this?
– They’re all the same.
– I didn’t think things would unfold like this from the start… I think we all had too big of a fantasy about Weed.

“Yes!”

Unlike usual, the response to the comment was positive. With that in mind, half were against his comment.

– Definitely better than the Hermes guild.
– Bluntly speaking… I have complaints of my own, but the situation needs to play out a bit more.
– He is creating the Arpen empire official legislation. The provincial lords won’t be able to exercise power at will, so things will not change much from how it currently is.
– He is entitling the administrators.
– The Hermes guild never treated people like us as equal human beings.
– Did anyone get killed because they were feeling uncomfortable? I was killed because I was ugly, apparently.

Jong-sung Lee felt joy just for a moment watching the strings of comments.

Unlike in the past when he used to swing through the central continent after logging on to Royal Road, he now had to stay put in the Haven territories.

He felt loads better about himself after posting toxic comments rather than sulking in defeat like the other Hermes guild members.

He moved from one discussion board to another and posted diligently.

– Kaybern is going to destroy the entire Versaille continent.
– Who is gonna stop dark dragon Kaybern now? Weed? He’s busy doing his own thing. Yeah. Busy trying to stash away some for himself.
– There is a saying, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t know.” I think the days when the Hermes guild ruled were really the best.
– I can’t wait to see Weed die…
– This is why you need power. Popularity? It’s a bubble under true power.

*Ring ring!*

In the middle of his intensive posts of toxic comments, his cellphone rang.

‘I wonder? Did they discover that it was me?’

He took the call anxiously, but the call turned out to be from a writer in CTS media.

– We are holding a discussion meeting in regards to the current lord appointment. Do you have any interest in participating?

It was normal for the high-level users of the Hermes guild to appear on broadcast frequently.

“Ah… I need to discuss that with the guild beforehand.”

– We are bound by time as this broadcast was organized urgently.

“I will get back to you as soon as possible.”

– We would really like you to be on cast. We need someone as famous as Calcus-nim.

“I will do my best to gain a favourable response.”

Jong-sung Lee frantically received permission from the executive counsel through the Hermes guild communication network. Lapei and the counsel believed that there was more than enough reasons to criticize Weed’s method of appointing the provincial lords.

Jong-sung Lee appeared on broadcast and criticized excitedly.

“How long do I think the Arpen empire is going to last? I anticipate that it’s going to be shorter than that of the Haven empire. The people are turning away already.”

*****

Arpen empire

An empire with massive territory spanning over the center and the north of the Versailles continent. It boasts its vast territory, but much of the northern region has not been developed, and it was only recently that it had conquered the Central continent. The national reputation of the Arpen empire has already spread across the continent. The citizens of the central continent are anxious and are also looking for an opportunity.

“Arpen empire… I think it’s nothing compared to the Haven empire that used to be strict and fearsome. National security is unstable? I bet stirring up some large-scale bandit hordes  makes better money than farming.”

“Let’s banish the soldiers! This is our land!”

“The monsters have multiplied… It’s dangerous. Can Arpen empire truly protect us?”

More than the reputation of the Arpen empire was emperor Weed’s fame as an adventurer and artist. The communication between the north and central continent was weak, resulting in inconvenience for trades and travels. One must go through many hordes of monsters.

The army of the Arpen empire was seriously lacking for the protection over a huge territory.

The northern citizens and central citizens had entirely different personalities.

“The Arpen empire is an amazing place. My mom said so, and I think so too.”

“Many villages settled, then people start to gather shortly and cities are built. In Arpen, you can do anything. If you want to realise your dreams, hurry on and start.”

“If you want to ride an awesome boat, go to Port Varna. A boat with 36 open sails is heading out to sea. There are also pirate treasures and countless legends waiting.”

The northern citizens paid undivided loyalty, however the central citizens did not open up to the Arpen empire.

“The Arpen empire will take everything that is ours. Why don’t we get a head start before that happens?”

“I cannot believe anything. Everything about them is a lie.”

“If you have gold, bury it in the deepest parts of your farm. That is the safest way.”

“You got skills? You got hope? You don’t need those to strive in this world. Just live leisurely and drink cheap beer.”

The Arpen empire failed to relieve the anxiety of the citizens in its conquer of massive territory. Only the Church of Freya, the Church of Lu and the Church of Minae thought positively of the Arpen empire.

They were on deep, religious, friendly relations and the priests would not have any hesitation in granting blessing over the empire. To the churches, Emperor Weed had become the symbol of beauty, art, adventure, peace.

His accomplishments in the north were transcendent beyond his age and job, respected by everyone; he was referred to as the hero of heroes.

They had absolute faith in Emperor Weed. Even if a tragic accident were to fall upon them, the chances of the loyalty declining was near non-existent.

“What in the world… A dragon?”

“This is a sign of continental apocalypse. Yep. We are all good as dead. So, let us drink the time away.”

The rumors about the black dragon Kaybern spread and the entire empire was shaking in fear. With monsters approaching the cities and the black dragon’s wings hovering above, the threat would soon become much more tangible.

The level of military strength that barely covers the empire’s territory would not be nearly sufficient to fend off the monsters.

Military Power

25,631

Economy

327,983

Culture

57,273

Technology

112,601

Religious Influence

89

Empire Politics

56

Influence to Neighboring Regions:

49%

Empire Development Rate

84

Sanitation

52

National Security

62%

The citizens of the northern regions were joyful as a result of such dazzling development.

They dreamed of barren lands and restricted zones cultivated into green oceans of grain. Prosperous products led to research for more delicious dishes and appearance of gourmets.

The chronic condition of lack of minerals was a component restricting the production level of the north. The mining rate could not support the increasing level of production.

The conditions of the northern roads were favorable enough for merchants to travel day and night.

“If I pay, I can get what I want. Also, I work to earn that money.”

“It’s a beautiful world. Wouldn’t you say so?”

“Do I remember chewing on tree roots because of starvation? I don’t know… The tender, profound taste of the grape wine comes to mind. It was made in Morata, considered the best in the continent!”

“Emperor Weed gave us everything. If you are in peace, that is in favor of his majesty. Everyone around me will agree.”

The people of the central continent gave up on making any further comments about the Arpen empire.

The citizens feel anxiety, fear, and chaos.

The loyalty and influence of the empire is too low to reveal any details on the Central continent.

The central continent had many cities that had developed over a long history, and sustained at its minimum after the collapse of its great economy.

The soldiers of the Arpen empire were excellent with their swords. What lacked was their numbers, impossible to defend the northern territories.

Knights carry perseverance and honor in their hearts. They do not hesitate to raise their swords for the emperor and believe in their own actions to be righteous.

Empire Total Population

285,214,832

Monthly Tax Income

1,164,053,274 Gold

Empire Maintenance Expense Report

Military

3%

Economical Growth

2%

Culture

1%

Commission and Monster Expedition

4%

Technological Advancement

2%

Road Construction

3%

Religion

2%

Retention Bond

83%

Military Strength

Knights

26,951

Apprentice Knights

84,279

Footmen

734,667

The bulk of the Arpen empire’s army were trainees.

Free knights each swore oaths to the empire.

They were gathering because of the emperor’s reputation and to stop the dark dragon Kaybern’s activity.

“…..”

Seoyoon was staring at the affairs screen with glittering eyes.

The income and population had increased, dramatically more than when they just controlled the north. That said, it was still a wreck in many aspects.

They had taken the approach of sending out a few soldiers throughout the central continent to gain control and thus, the security and loyalty of the cities were near the floor.

“I can extinguish the emergencies.”

She was thankful for the incredible amount of 9.32 billion gold accumulated by those who registered for the lord positions.

‘This is a lot of money. The Arpen empire will be more successful now that I can invest all this.’

When they posted the letter for lord recruitment, she had consulted with Weed and came up with the content together.

– We gained a vast land called the Central continent with the help of everyone. We want to make this underdeveloped areaprosperous… But, we are incompetent.

We want to make investments but are in lack of money. That is why we need help from you all.

– The duty fees will be well spent for the good of the Arpen empire’s development.

Seoyoon decided to put the money into the development of the empire as promised.

Recently, the affairs of the empire were her responsibility.

‘This is precious money gathered by the others. I cannot waste even a single penny of it.’

Half of the central and northern continent had been appointed to provincial lords. Unfortunately, the strongholds, military forts and villages in rough terrains had no candidates.

Also, lords were not recruited for areas near castle Evaluk and Thor because it was deemed too dangerous due to the dragon Kaybern.

Major cities and capitals were packed with competition for lord seats, but many other lands did not go through the same process.

If it weren’t for Kaybern, more duty fees could have been collected for the lord positions in the Arpen empire.

‘I need to reserve as much as possible and spend it effectively. If I waste this opportunity it will be much more difficult the next time.’

Seoyoon felt heavy responsibility and begun the affairs.

She made investment in the wide north with undeveloped lands, and also for the weakened central continent.

She calculated the maximum efficiency considering the defensive fortification against the monsters raised by Kaybern and the requests from the citizens.

She could not grant every request, so she divided the budget where necessary over the span of a day.

< Arpen empire is undergoing 89 major development projects.

In all the history of the Versailles continent, the highest fortune has been spread out across the continent for the sake of development.

26 commissions for the construction of great architectural landmarks have begun.

Arena of Batali, Stairway of Heroes, The Library of the Great Scholar, The Altar of Prosperity, The Bell of Danger Perception, The Hidden Underground Vault and The Great Shrine will be constructed.

The reconstruction of 257 cities will be under way.

Roads, sewers, castle walls, bridges that have not been completed will be resumed.

Old empty homes will be demolished, back alleys with no traffic will be repaired to increase security.

Increase in the citizens’ standard of living conditions.

Stimulation of trades and production by organizing commercialized streets.

3 forts will be constructed.

Vaden, Niam, and Mabark will become solid pillars of defense against the monster invasions.>

She meticulously calculated the budget for each part and was firm in the spending.

9.32 billion gold.

The stellar amount accumulated through lord recruitment were all used up in the development of the Arpen empire territory.

Chapter 7: Tormented Weed

Seoyoon constructed defensive fortifications against monsters all across the continent and launched the reconstruction of all the deprived cities.

The person in charge of all government activity and spending was Weed.

She was just making investments as a representative of Weed.

The citizens of the Arpen empire, the people residing in the north and central continent began chattering.

“Have you heard that the benevolent emperor Weed has untied his golden pouch for us? They say he has endless fortune and thus, he spends it for our well being!”

“Of course… His majesty is the most honorable in all of the continent. There were false rumors about his manipulative evil powers… I don’t believe that.”

“I can understand why our empire is growing. A nation that emphasizes in technology is meant to grow significantly.”

“You’re an architecture major? You have to move hastily. This entire continent is a construction zone!”

“You should be grateful that you’re living in the Arpen empire.”

“Sewer maintenance! That never happened how many times we put in a request. The last time there was a major flood muddy water flooded into the streets. This time, his majesty has committed to it. I didn’t think he’d grant the request from such a small outskirt village…”

“Do you all know of Han’s child living in a hut deep in the forest? He needed surgery on his eyes… His majesty provided for his surgery fees. What a miracle. The citizens of Ritten will all obey his majesty. We are thinking of participating in the fort construction.”

The citizens of the central continent had a change in attitude and were now praising the Arpen empire. Normally, a small release of money into domestic affairs usually did not make citizens too satisfied.

An enormous amount of money was spent, enough to get rid of all anxiety, nervousness and fear all at once!

Even the thugs living in back-alleys with almost no security spoke.

“The Arpen empire is the boss.”

“Yeah. We gon’ live on for Weed, his majesty.”

“Unconditional obedience is an honorable thing.”

“I can’t trust my own father, but I can trust Emperor Weed.”

Users of the northern and central continent were thrown off by what the citizens were talkingabout.

“What? Just how much did he invest?”

“Seems to be a bigger fuss than when Weed-nim completed an S-rank quest.”

“I heard from my friends in another region, and there has been investments in practically all the cities and villages. Apparently, things have changed in my homeland as well.”

“For the great landmarks to be constructed, that is amazing. Great landmarks… When they were constructed in Morata, people went crazy for them.”

“It’s not just here. My friends tell me that there is a great landmark being constructed in all major cities of the continent.”

“At every major city?”

“Yeah. Investment has begun all across the Arpen empire’s territory.”

The northern users were cheering madly. However, the large-scale investment this time around was shocking news to many users. This was only a few days after the battle of the Garnav plains had ended.

For such a massive investment to happen while the Arpen empire’s territory was still expanding out in the central continent and while Kaybern was wreaking havoc!

“To be honest… This is now at a point where we can’t say anything about Weed-nim making some profit of his own.”

“So, this lord recruitment was his grand scheme for an upright Arpen empire. I fought for no meaningful cause. I just fought because I hated the Hermes guild. I had no idea that things would turn out this way.”

“So, the northerners praising Weed-nim wasn’t for nothing. I mocked the Grass Porridge Cult for taking his side even after people were buying out their lord seats. Turns out the dumb one was me.”

“At this scale, couldn’t he have used up all the money gained from recruiting lords?”

“No way… He should have reserved some.”

“I think the guy is right. There isn’t a place that’s unchanged. A man needs to go on a loan for this much investment.”

The central continent users were deeply touched.

Now that they were associated not under the Haven empire, but instead the Arpen empire, the official tax rate had been reduced to a tenth of what it used to be.

“Everything is perfect.”

“Ever since the Arpen empire conquered the central continent, it turned into a livable place.”

“The difference is like the earth and the sky. It’s that much.”

Kaybern’s existence was a concerning threat, but the investment from the Arpen empire wiped out all worries.

< The Arpen empire is making a leap into the golden age.

Emperor Weed’s investment has brought out the empire’s potential in production.

Construction has reached a level never seen before with renovation everywhere from the damp sewers to the scout towers on tall forts.

New architectural styles and construction methods can be researched.

The loyalty of all citizens of the empire is increased by 79.

National reputation is increased by 32.

10% bonus effect on the production of goods.

Architectural technology advancement is improved. Taller, larger buildings can be constructed.

Culture will expand more rapidly.

The political relations with other nations are improved.

Other kingdoms may offer gifts on occasion.

Reputation of aristocrats and knights is increased and elegance is permanently increased by 2.

The effects of legislative buildings are now added 50%.

The production rate of goods by artisans is increased and additionally contribute to the regional reputation.

Chances of bandits spawning due to the unstable security is reduced.>

< The blessings of friendly gods are applied.
Freya, Lugh, Batali, and Minne bestow the god’s blessing over the Arpen empire. >

A golden age in the history of the Arpen empire!

Message alerts kept popping up on screen for Weed who had continued to roam the hunting grounds with the undead.

< Your name is spreading all across the Arpen empire as the respected emperor.
Reputation is increased by 132,500.
Charisma, elegance and charm are increased permanently by 18.
Your title changed to ‘A generous king who gives his all’.
The loyalty of knights accumulate quicker. >

< Citizens of the Malzain village wish for the well being of the Emperor.
Reputation is increased by 861.
Honor is increased by 2. >

< The free knight Tartaros swears his loyalty.
He is eager to teach you the sword technique passed down in his family. >

< The Pugel village wishes for the Emperor’s health… >

< The trades city of Zenota hosts a party for the Emperor… >

< The Maltan village is hosting a celebration party for the Emperor… >

“What is this?”

The message alerts were endless even though he was in the hunting grounds.

“Is this some kind of error?”

Weed observed the stats like honor, elegance, charisma and charm increasing consistently though they were not related to combat.

< Boron village hosts an art exhibition for the emperor.

Art is increased by 1. >

Even the art stat!

Weed felt like he was struck on the back of his head.

“So this is what it’s like to be emperor.”

An empire’s leader was such a pleasant position. He could stand idle and his honor would increase and infamy would decrease all on their own. Stats were improved in the same way.

“Authority is really something. Bard Ray had all this to himself until now.”

Many important tips were released due to the growth of the users, but some extremely great tips will be kept away intentionally. These were positive elements that could only be discovered by becoming the emperor or the king.

“I wonder how many stats Bard Ray gained from this.”

Weed felt very envious, but in truth Bard Ray was not privileged with any significant benefits.

Despite ruling the central continent, his reputation was too low and he gained little honor or stats.

Instead, whenever a Hermes guild member caused trouble, his infamy stacked up. The effects of his job class as the dark knight resulted in more complaints and discontentment from the knights and citizens.

Bard Ray on individual terms had suffered a loss in a way.

“Anyway… How much gold did you invest?”

Weed intentionally did not ask after he left Seoyoon in charge of affairs, until now.

He didn’t want to seem like a cheapskate.

“Should I ask? Or should I let it go? Hmm… I am really curious though.”

While the undead were clearing the dungeon, the thought did not leave his mind.

“Van Hawk. Don’t slack and run! Torido, your wings seem to be slower in bat form. Seville and Gernika. You both need to be more aggressive!”

He scolds them badly but still couldn’t relieve his curiosity.

When he truly wanted to know about something, he would often spend sleepless nights.

Especially when it involves a huge fortune of money!

Weed was hesitant in his whisper to Seoyoon.

“Did you finish with the affairs?”

– Seoyoon: Yes. The basics anyway.

“Good job. You went through all the trouble. I think the response is great.”

– Seoyoon: I am glad.

“How much did you invest anyway?”

Weed hoped that the spending would estimate around 500 to 600 million gold. He would have been able to dream about spending so much in the past.

‘I’ve grown some guts over the years.’

In the times of Arpen kingdom, he reinvested all the income from the north. Although he constructed many things like the great landmark, he repaired living spaces with shanty town and did not construct any castle walls nor forts.

He reduced the production costs of city construction to a tenth and only expanded in areas absolutely necessary.

‘Money slips away when you use it. It remains if you don’t.”

He had invested diligently until this moment and was thinking about collecting soon.

– Seoyoon: All of it.

“All, all of it?”

– Seoyoon: Yes. I used it all up.

Weed felt a shudder travel through his entire body.

‘The tremendous fortune in my pocket has been sprinkled all over the world?’

The feeling of loss and emptiness was greater than the pride from a righteous deed. He thought rationally, that he had misunderstood her.

“Ah… You mean that you used up all the income from the Puhol waterpark cottages. I misunderstood you because you missed out on the details.

– Seoyoon: We used that all up last time, and all of the lord duty fees this time.

“R, really?”

– Seoyoon: You collected duty fees in order to invest in the development.

“……”

Of course he did say such things.

‘A good thing is good for the other… I just said that as an excuse to exploit for some money. Every merchant on average uses these lies.’

He wasn’t as devastated even when Kaybern appeared. Not even when he had to stop the immortal legion, nor the time the volcano erupted at Jigolath. At this very moment though, he could not move a finger due to the shock.

“All that money…”

– Seoyoon: I think the essential and important investments are taken care of. The people are really satisfied.

Weed lost all motivation as if suffering from a bad cold. His arms and legs trembled and his fingers did not fold properly.

“Yes. Of course… The people would love it for sure. They will run around screaming.”

His mind would not be this clouded even after hunting all day 30 hours straight.

– Seoyoon: I constructed forts as well. It would defend against the army of monsters before any significant damage can occur.

“Yeah… Of course you built forts too. You used all that money. For sure.”

– Seoyoon: I also took care of the old forgotten projects of the cities in the central continent. I could not cover all of them, but I prioritized on the ones that would result in the highest return. You’ll be able to see triple the results after a month.

“Yeah I would. Maybe…”

Weed was drenched deep in a sense of loss. A loss in the battle against Bard Ray would not have felt this tragic. A streak of failures on S-rank quests will not feel like such.

Money, money, money.

Money, the source of all temptations had left him without him even witnessing its existence.

The industrialized cities displayed impressive production capabilities. The northern region as a whole was concentrated on crop and agricultural production, but the exceptional artisans were mostly in the central continent. If the investment results in remarkable improvement to the Arpen empire, the revenue will once again flow back to Weed.

Rationally, it could be taken as a good investment, but in the spur of the moment he felt overwhelmed by thoughts of dejection.

“Yes. I got it. I am busy now, so let’s talk later.

– Seoyoon: Okay. I will look after the affairs a bit more.

“Is there any money left after spending it all?”

– Seoyoon: Someone sent 84,000 gold from Morata just now.

Gulp.

The big fortune had left, but a small fish came in.

It was pocket change compared to 9 billion gold, but it brought a bit of warmth to the corner of his heart!

– Seoyoon: I will also invest this money into the regional development.

“Even that precious, honest gold…”

– Seoyoon: You seem to be discontent. Did I do something wrong?”

“No. I am really grateful… I mean it. I really, really appreciate it. I’m busy hunting, so I will contact you later.”

– Seoyoon: Call me anytime.

Weed ended the whisper with Seoyoon and assembled his subordinates.

“…..”

“…..”

“…..”

A long silence.
Yellowy cowered in anticipation.
He knew that it was time for his foul master to begin his scolding!

*****

The northern users were on their way back to Morata after the end of the battle on Garnav plains.

“I can see various animal tracks.”

“Could it be dangerous?”

“I have no idea. According to the news, there was a huge increase in the population of monsters.”

The northerners moved as a group with a minimum of a hundred people.

This was after the news of multiplying monsters due to Kaybern’s activity, and high-level users were among these groups.

“Everyone, just trust me. Haha. I am Hegel of the Black Lion Guild.”

Hegel inspected the tracks on the ground and smiled confidently.

“These are just wolf tracks. The wolves that spawn around this area are around level 200. The ones with white fur are 300s, but I can defeat them all.”

“Oh. Really?”

“Of course. Wolves are a piece of cake… I can handle up to several of them. If they appear, I will hunt them down and distribute the fur to everyone.”

There was a reason for Hegel’s confidence.

From level 100 to 200 he had tediously hunted down wolves.

The reason being was that the wolves in the Tulen region had very specific characteristics. He knew well the traits of wolves and how to hunt them.

‘I’m not who I once was, so they should die relatively easily. I think.’

Nide, the thief with significantly higher level than him was by his side, so there was nothing to be afraid about.

“By the way, Hegel. There’s a lot of wolf tracks here. They’re strangely steep too.”

Nide spoke after having carefully investigated the footprints. Being a thief, he wasn’t as good at investigating tracks like adventurers, but he had a good eye for details.

“Still, they’re just wolves.”

“Yeah, but…”

“It’s fine. It isn’t just us here in the first place.”

“I mean, I guess it’s fine.”

Hegel and Nide turned to the rear.

They had been moving ahead of the group, and they could see several groups of users following them in sight.

As they got closer to Morata, more northerners were gathering.

“I can see many central continent users as well.”

“They should be curious of Morata too.”

“Whoo…. Big bro Weed is really something.”

Hegel noticed that every time he boasted about his friendship with Weed, he could see the sparkling eyes of the girls.

The night before on their camping out in the fields, users gathered around them.

“Pale-nim and most of the other comrades became provincial lords. Aren’t you going to apply for the Arpen empire lord position, Hegel-nim?”

“K-hmm. I have no desire for lord position.”

That wasn’t true.

He desperately wanted to become a lord, but no one appointed him.

“Do you meet with Weed-nim often?”

“Yes. I see him every day. Did I mention that I used to eat out with him?”

His popularity was at its peak!

A bulky barbarian warrior approached with a grin.

“Huh-huh-huh. This dagger ain’t too shabby. Would you like to take one?”

“A void dagger? That’s an advanced item.”

“Since you are a comrade of Weed-nim, I would like to offer this as a souvenir.”

There were users more famous and higher in level, but all respected Hegel.

‘I am not who I was a while ago.’

Hegel had pride believing that he fought valiantly until the final moments in the battle of Garnav plains.

He extracted his sword and charged at the 3rd legion, worried that he would die in vain. However, it seemed that all the luck in his lifetime was granted that day.

A wolf howl ripped through the air.

“It can be dangerous for the novice players, so let us step up.”

“Alright. I was getting bored anyway.”

The ones out of the northerners over level 250 with confidence against the wolves sprang to the front.

“Wolf hunts are exciting.”

“Yeah… Gotta keep your guard up.”

“Nide. Let’s dash in there.”

“Shall we?”

The central continent users that were more capable in comparison thought of this situation as a small enjoyment, but things began to shift.

Beyond the fields were swarms of wolves streaming in continuously.

“What is all that?”

“There are large monsters too.”

Champao.

They were giants over 4 meters tall driving the wolves with the swing of their whips.

“You can only find those in dungeons.”

“Wolf wardens. They have exceptional physical defense traits, capable of firing arrows and buffing the wolves.”

“That many wolves?”

“Damn. We can’t outrun them on the fields. This could turn out into a massacre.”

The users were turning pale. Skilled users quickly joined from the rear groups.

“We must defend. Let the novice players fall back.”

“More reinforcement are on their way. If we hurry, we can save many users.”

Except for those over level 300, the rest decided to escape.

As they were finalizing the moment.

*Kuuaaaagh!*

A scream burst from the skies and something pierced through the clouds, travelling at fearsome speed.

“It’s a mons… No, a wyvern.”

“That’s Wy-3!”

The archer with keen eyes shouted.

Simultaneously, all the users glanced up to the sky, Wy-3 the mascot of the north was plunging.

“There’s a man on it.”

“A man, could it be…?”

“I think that’s him.”

Weed’s whereabouts were being tracked live by the broadcast station.

It was said on the news that he was hunting down the monsters in the north on Wy-3, but for him to appear at this location!

“Weed-nim. Over here. Right here!”

“Kyaah. I’m a fan!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge.”

“Hurray for Arpen empire!”

Users forgot all about their tension with the monsters and waved wildly.

“Weed-hyung. Hegel is over here!”

“Nide is here as well.”

Hegel and Nide tried to greet him, but they were drowned out by the crowd of users.

The arrow fired by Weed from on top of Wy-3 travelled down like a ray of light and struck directly onto the wolves.

The wolves were either burnt alive or were frozen solid.

“Wow!”

“From such a far distance…”

“His attack is so powerful.”

The crowd couldn’t cease to be amazed.

*B-b-b-b-boom!*

The wolf corpses burst like tide currents, leading to sequential explosions.

– The grudges of the dead do not fade away and they rise to destroy the life and land in this area.

Corpse Chain Explosion!

The destruction from the corpse explosion spread and detonated the entire area.

Moments after, skeletons rose from the grounds!

They were enveloped in violet auras, the effects of the death aura.

As the power of the dead accumulated, the basic phase of death aura was enabled.

“The overlord commands us. Slaughter them.”

“Fight until your bones come apart. You slowpokes!”

Skeletons sprinted with swords and shields in hand and slaughtered the wolves in a threatening fashion.

They ran at similar speed as the wolves and were in a systematic formation under the command of Van Hawk.

They were on an outright massacre of the tens of thousands of wolves that had appeared in the fields.

“So amazing.”

“A necromancer’s combat power is on this level?”

“Weed-nim is the best in Royal Road. That’s why he can fight this well.”

“It’s truly fearsome.”

The users were all observing blindly without any thoughts of fighting.

The undead were fighting well on their own, and soon after that the baraag army showed up and roasted the land.

It was a spectacular display of combat tactics!

The users waved and praised him.

“Weed-nim. You are the best!”

“God of War, Weed!”

“Thank you for your investments into the continent.”

“You spent a fortune, and I apologize for having misjudged you! You are magnificent!”

“Weed-nim is awesome, spending all his money into investment!”

*Snap!*

Weed channeled a magic spell furiously.

“You all shall be sacrificed. I offer my body and call forth darkness onto this land… All that in existence shall disappear.”

Great Extinction.

He used a magic spell  instantaneously, a most destructive spell sacrificing health points and mana.

He could easily wipe out the wolves with just the undead, but he bombarded attacks out of frustration.

< 10 health points remaining. >

< 10 mana points remaining. >

< Overstrain of magic use has surpassed the physical limitations. You possess high endurance and perseverance.
Maximum health and mana points are increased permanently by 20.
Mana recovery rate is reduced by 32% for 48 hours. >

He drove thousands of wolves into their demise, using 120,000 health points and 80,000 mana all at once with the use of a single spell.

< 3 health points have been absorbed. >

< 2 mana points have been absorbed. >

< 5 health points have been absorbed. >

< 1 mana points have been absorbed. >

…..

The effects of death aura.

Health and mana points were supplied consistently by the skeletons conducting battles.

Even with the recovery, Weed’s combat tactics were not like this.

He likes high speed hunting, but he would never spend health and mana with such inefficiency.

It was pure frustration!

He was venting out his anger on the wolves clustered on the ground.

“That’s sick. So overpowered.”

“Wow… He’s the apex of necromancers.”

“Weed-nim displays something new every time he gets hands-on.”

“Being that powerful and composed is why he can invest that much into the Arpen empire.”

“The rich are different. Even one good act for the people involves a free-handed spending.”

“Save penny after penny to pour all of it for a single moment.”

*Snap!*

Weed’s remaining rational conscience turned into a state that even made Half Sauce Half Fried [the name of his and Seoyoon’s chicken pet] unrecognizable.

“You all shall be sacrificed. I offer my body and call forth darkness onto this land… All that in existence shall disappear.”

He channeled the Great Extinction towards the users!

< Insufficient health and mana points for activating the magic spell. >

Fortunately, a catastrophe was interrupted in its tracks frankly due to a lack of mana.

Chapter 8: The World in Danger

A wyvern’s screech rang out.

Wy-Il flew through the sky with frightening screams. Pale who was riding on his back had to duck further against the heavy winds.

“Let’s go slowly.”

– No. Master said fly faster. I’ll get scolded if I fly slow.

Wy-Il was flying excitedly since it had been a while since he last took a human on a flight.

“K-huk.”

Pale logged on to Royal Road after he died to Kaybern. The moment he logged in, Weed’s whisper arrived.

– Weed: The continent has fallen in danger. If peace is broken, the novice players will perish rather than people like us with high levels.

Indeed, Pale was concerned throughout the time he was unable to login due to Kaybern.

Pale asked in a voice of resolve.

“So, what do you need me to do?”

– Weed: Hunting. I will entrust Wy-Il to you. Getting rid of just one more monster will protect the novice players. That includes monsters in the northern villages too.

“I have many close friends in the north. I will protect them with my life.”

From that day, he hunted day after day!

Romuna, Surka, Python, Seasoned Crab.

It was not just them, but a large number of users participating in the hunt.

Geomchi3 and the apprentices logged onto Royal Road without much thought.

“Fights will be so much more interesting now that there are more monsters.”

“I’m gonna train a few skills… Become stronger and duke it out with the black lizard.”

“My heart pounded when we fought against the lizard.”

The devil’s touch had reached them as well.

– Weed: Brothers. I arranged a blind date with the Bamboo Shoot Porridge battalion.

“Ohhhh!”

“Youngest one! What can we do without you?”

Through Yurin, he sent them photos of the Bamboo Shoot Porridge users. Truthfully, the female users accepted the blind date half-heartedly as a joke, but there were differences in perspective.

“This person will be the other half of my life.”

“So, the one really did exist in this world!”

“Keuk. I had dropped sweat and blood all to meet this woman…”

They had fallen in love with just a few pictures.

– Weed: However, the continent is in danger and there’s a chance that these women could die to the monsters.

“Ahhh.”

“No, how could such tragedy…”

“Hell no. Not even if my eyes are carved out… Such a thing can never occur.”

“My relationships were always like this. They were all short-straws when I thought it was finally going to work out!”

– Weed: It would be great if there was someone to protect these delicate Bamboo shoot Porridge users…

“I will kill them. Them monsters!”

“Gather all the boys up. We are going now!”

Geomchi3 and the apprentices emitted an aura more menacing than ogres, mobilizing the central continent users under the bull legion.

The users of the bull legion also could not forget the exhilarating chase of the Hermes guild, and the high-level users were not about to step down from a hunt.

“We need to make progress at moments like this. When else would we have the opportunity?”

“Let’s row when the tide’s coming in. If we are lucky, we can appear on broadcast.”

They started out lightly but began to overwork themselves along with the spawn of more monsters.

The northern users of level 100 to 200 were active hunters but were unable to stop the monsters from growing in numbers.

The monsters gathered in uninhabited grasslands, mountains and forests.

If not extinguished, it was only logical that they will multiply to an uncontrollable scale and swarm the cities.

“K-uhhhhhh. I worked so hard, but no one recognized my assistance.”

Petrov roamed around the Garnav plains and retrieved drawings.

The surroundings were still full of vestiges of battle, but some locations were abnormally untouched.

< Petrov’s watercolor scenic painting. >

The drawings inscribed on the earth distorted the area slightly.

He spread them out and criss crossed the directions a bit, slowing down the pace of the Haven imperial army.

He had conducted this interference when 20 legions mobilized with Weed as the target, and also when the main Haven army was on the retreat from Kaybern.

He could buy only a short period of time, maybe 3 to 5 minutes. However, that could have played a vital role in the war, though no one realized his doings.

“I did a good deed, so I can put it behind me.”

Petrov grinned in bitterness and retrieved his drawings.

He observed massive scale combat in the Garnav plains battle.

Sculptors of the north and central continent that were inspired from these battles had begun huge projects.

– Title: Sculptors gather around. We are collaborating for the world’s largest project ever.

Garnav War!

Recruiting members for sculpting the war between the great Arpen Empire versus the pathetic and dishonorable Haven kingdom.

This piece that will be created on the Garnav plains will involve sculpting approximately 100,000 sculptures of the valiant northern users, the loyal central continent users, the Hermes guild and the imperial army.

Shouldn’t we sculpt the moment of the world’s transformation to be recorded in the history of Versailles continent?

We are hoping to recruit at least 2,000 sculptors.

There will be a lot of effort required, so users of different job classes with an interest in sculpting may also contact us.

The Chicken Porridge battalion of the Grass Porridge Cult, the Mapan association and the Gamong association will be sponsoring this project. Basic meal plans will be provided.

The grand dream of sculptors!

The sculptors of the north and Rhodium underwent preparations for an impressive collaborative project.

“I will also create a piece of art.”

Petrov was also preparing for the next painting.

“Flaming Meteor Summon falls… People gather, then Weed in the midst of various battles. Even the undead and the duel with Bard Ray.”

The paintings were based off true events, but the paintings need to have dynamic expressions of the action.

He thought the 30 or so paintings that he was about to create would be laid down as the history of the Versaille continent.

“I should join up with Weed-nim after I am done with this. There must be something a painter can contribute to defeating Kaybern.”

*****

Silver Ring, Ben, Elix.

Being famous adventurers, they did not make their way to Garnav.

They went by their first principles, not to participate in the war between users.

“Kaybern has awakened.”

“That’s a real evil dragon, that one.”

“There is commotion everywhere because of that thing.”

They were pure adventurers since the pioneer days of Royal Road. Therefore, they knew a lot of information that no one else could.

They roamed the continent at free will and heard the stories of the civilians residing in areas nearby the dragon’s nest. They also obtained some transcripts from the dungeons.

< The dragon’s nest. >

< Unknown secrets about the dragon. #19 >

< Observations on the dragon. >

These were information that they hogged early before any other user.

“Isn’t it impossible to defeat a dragon?”

“Who knows… If it’s Weed, wouldn’t he have a sliver of chance?”

“I’d say he isn’t capable. Not with just strength. The dragon has an indomitable ability.”

“There will be other ways to defeat it. From the live footage, it seems that Kaybern also battles rather recklessly.”

Conflicting opinions created a divide evenly amongst the Shadows of Earth party.

They also had thoughts of challenging the quest related to the dragon, but not this instant.

In truth, they were around the late 400s in levels. They were mediocre individually.

They were caught up maxing out the adventure skills such as trap install and dismantling, map navigating and digging.

Elix let out a shallow sigh.

“In any case, the continent will become a wreck. Cities will crumble and users will get massacred.”

“That doesn’t matter to us, does it? I’m already busy going around doing quests and dungeons. The world is vast and there are many quests that have not been challenged yet. We can also set sail on a boat and go out to the far seas.”

Ben’s words did not comfort Elix’s deep concern reflected on his face.

“Still, you want to relax at the city and have a bottle of beer. It’s also nice to watch others living a joyful, worry-free life.

“Mmm. I do agree to that.”

There was a reason for the Shadow of Earth party not intervening in the war between other influential forces.

They loved adventure itself, but suffered greatly due to the power struggle between prestigious guilds.

The walls and structures of the long-visited city were destroyed. They did not want to witness any more users collapsed on the ground sighing in grief.

Ben thought for a moment and spoke out.

“What if we challenge Kaybern’s quest?”

“The quest?”

“We acquired some information long ago pertaining to Kaybern. We buried it away because it was related to the dragon.”

“Ah. That’s right. It does exist.”

Silver ring and Elix dug into their memories.

< The evil dragon’s secret plan. >

They got a hold of an old, thin book some time ago. No one knew anything about dragons in the pioneer days of Royal Road.

They realized that there was a high possibility of the evil dragon turning out to be important in the future, so they had stored it away in the vault.

Elix smiled brightly.

“Indeed. It is uncertain that the answers we seek will be in the text, but I agree on starting with any leads.”

“Yes. I think it may be too early and a bit dangerous for us to be starting now, but Kaybern is already awake. But, Ben. Why did you suddenly change your mind?”

“Maybe because… Weed will most likely attempt to stop Kaybern?”

Ben referred back to their adventures of having chased the tracks left by Weed in their exploration, after being referred to as the best adventurers.

“I think he will never give up on anything. No matter what kind of quest, he never forfeited and took his time to complete it.”

“That is also how he took out the Embinyu cult.”

“He is challenging the impossible. The reason for his fame and respect as an adventurer. So, why don’t we compete against him, with the dragon as the objective?”

The impossible adventure, competition!

These words lit a fire in the hearts of Elix and Silver Ring.

In the pioneer days of Royal Road, they traveled day and night in their discovery of new cities, dungeons, and terrains.

They roamed the east and north before any other adventurer found routes.

They had visited way before the development of Morata and the establishment of the Arpen Kingdom.

They remembered the excitement and exhilaration from expeditions of the unexplored wilderness.

Ben grinned.

“We were tailing him until now, but now we are on fair grounds with the dragon as the goal. He has fame and his forces, but we have experience and information. If we succeed with the quest, it will also be a good deed for the continent.”

“That’s right.”

“I agree with that wholeheartedly.”

The Shadows of Earth party connected well with one another. If it weren’t for that, they would not have been able to chase after the most difficult adventures and quests.

“Let’s not fall behind Weed this time.”

“Then, let us take off now.”

“Onwards!”

*****

“Kukukuku. Haaargh!”

Weed was screaming while he was leading the undead.

All the money that had been released into the Arpen Empire!

– Mapan: There is a Rose Festival happening in the Free City Somren in 14 months! The local citizens are praising Emperor Weed.

“Hurry up and fight. You useless fools!”

Weed led the undead and charged through the fog forest infested with monsters.

A straight charge to the front!

Van Hawk led the death knights dressed in dark colored armor.

“Obey the overlord of death. All shall be attained through death.”

– Lemon: The users are chanting for Weed-nim! The central continent users are signing up for the Grass Porridge cult all at once.

Tears ran down Weed’s face.

Weed was sorrowful and distressed.

‘My money… Poured away like rain.’

The significant funds used up for the affairs had shaped the pillar stones of the Arpen Empire. Seoyoon’s meticulous investments created a phenomena beyond expectations.

“Are you asking me to talk about his Highness? I feel guilty even mentioning his name. He is the great adventurer, artist and emperor who looks over us.”

“How do I think about the Arpen Empire? Last year I lived under a roof with a hole in it, rain poured through and snow piled up in my room throughout the winter. For even my house that’s located in the back alleys to be repaired…  The Arpen Empire is a good place without a doubt.”

“I can’t believe it, but all the robbers disappeared! It’s because the robbers are fed well and take naps in the day time.”

“I heard rumors that the Arpen Empire is a nation for artisans. Can it be trusted? The trade goods that derive from the north are cheap but are of acceptable quality.”

“Have you tasted the crops produced from Morata? They are extremely popular nowadays and are scarce despite their expensive price. Diligent farmers invest their sweat into the rich crop lands, and Freya’s blessing over them allows us to consume them unconditionally.”

The loyalty and security of the citizens stabilized, bestowing additional beneficial effects.

The quests became more accessible for northern users that travel down to the Central Continent and artisans began the goods production for the revitalization of trade.

The Central Continent has been in decline, but there are still many developed cities.

The sudden investment of funds and the new development plans awoke the potential of the stagnant cities. Lords were appointed in most regions, but that didn’t mean all the problems were resolved. The lords had to follow the legislation of the Arpen Empire and therefore, none of them could reign like kings as in the Hermes guild of the past.

In truth, many advantages came from appointing the rich folk as lords.

The lords all visited their own cities and felt something lacking about them.

“I want a beautiful river that flows through the center of the city.”

Construction immediately began in creating a river dissecting the city!

“Ore costs are expensive!? Then, just make a mine. Investment returns are slow despite the initial amount? Whatever. Just pay it. Where can the mine run off to?”

Massive mine field development.

“The buildings have decayed and many uninhabited homes are crumbling. I don’t want to see that… Eh. This whole region is going to be renovated.”

The city’s full-scale repair began!

In response to these projects, the gold currency rising in value on the auction sites.

Many users viewed the commercial projects run by the rich lords positively.

“Money is the best.”

“The Hermes guild was busy trying to exploit us… At least the lords are building something…”

Weed did not think poorly of the rich.  Conversely, the majority despised the displays of the rich lords’ lifestyles with eyes full of jealousy.

‘That is because there are two kinds of rich people, those that only think of their own greed in their investments and those who think of others. The generous rich people should be respected.’

Along with that in mind, he was preparing plans to exploit those rich lords.

The so-called the 5-year lord exploitment project of the Arpen empire!

‘I can drain them good by providing them with honor, dignity and pleasure.’

The big picture was framed perfectly, but even so he was sulking over the money invested in the Arpen Empire and was taking his frustration out on hunting.

< You have defeated the monsters of the Kalua dungeon.
You have accomplished a combat achievement.
Honor has increased by 2,300.
Agility and wisdom permanently increased by 1. >

“This dungeon took exactly 3.5 hours.”

This dungeon had taken the Hermes guild 4 hours to clear on the Hall of Fame.

He completed the dungeon quicker than 50 elite users, though not ones as powerful as Bard Ray.

“First off the undead do not rest, so it’s only obvious that I can save time. I also looked up some walkthrough videos.”

He proceeded with dungeon hunting in between his spare time of the monster eradication.

The monsters roaming around the continent were of utmost priority, but the undead needed to be over a certain number for them to produce maximum efficiency!

– Seoyoon: There is a group of monsters 57 minutes away

“Okay. I got it.”

Weed while swinging his sword, also practiced using golem summoning, various curses, buffs and poison type skills.

With the elite skeletal soldiers as the base, death knights and doom knights spawned on occasion.

He would push through dungeons with a snowballing number of undeads.

He had the ability to react quickly and make decisions no matter what situation. He also has impressive control over the undead with an indomitable charisma.

– Maray: I am at Ingoten City. The citizens of this region are all praising Weed-nim.

In the midst of his hunt, he received a whisper.

“…..?”

– Maray: You distributed ample food and provided accommodation for 30,000 starving citizens.

“Aggghh!”

– Jean: Holy… You dug a well in the nearby hunting grounds of Fortress Vargo. I was annoyed at having to return all the way to the fortress when I ran out of water. Thank you so much.

“Waaaaah!”

– Miretas :  I can maintain the breeding stations and greenhouses in Morata

thanks to my skills, but your consideration of the novice players really shows through.

Weed cried out loudly.

– Gamong: The Central continent merchants are praising Weed-nim. The placement of wagon storage stations and bulls at each city was the best decision for trade!

Tears ran like rivers down Weed’s face.

*****

“I think it’s this way.”

“I never knew such a path existed.”

“We call this the adventure route. This is a shortcut that cuts through the mountains and forest. It is safe to tread even at night and most importantly, it’s quick.”

A famous adventurer, Chase.

He was taking Seasoned Crabs and Python along on the journey.

As honorary scouts of the Grass Porridge cult, they heard of dangerous monsters being frequently spotted from the Britten alliance.

The monsters weren’t typical such as the goblins and fierce wolves that had multiplied recently.

They received reports of large and medium sized monsters with grotesque shapes roaming around in the thousands.

Lemon of the Grass Porridge asked:

“Please, confirm the monsters’ precise numbers and combat level. The monsters are crossing the Varq mountain pass covered by the forest, so it will be difficult for the avians to aid us.”

The Britten region was just on the other end of the Varq mountain pass.

SeasonedCrabs and Python thought nothing peculiar would happen, but decided to check anyway because it was a troubled time.

‘Shall we take a little walk? It’s better than going on a hunt with Weed.’

‘I want to rest for now.  Soak in the world’s scenery.’

Despite the large increase of northern users, the population density of central users was dominant.

They were even gathered near the edge of the Garnav plains, so they came along with SeasonedCrabs, Python and the adventurer Chase to Varq mountain pass.

Python observed the thick forest and spoke.

“It seems quiet, like nothing is there.”

“Shh.”

Chase laid his finger over his lips.

Bulky Python crouched low and asked in a low voice.

“Why? Is there something there?”

“It’s not that, but there is a strange feeling?.”

“Strange feeling?”

“There is a skill called the adventurer’s sense. When I am in dangerous locations, I get shivers down the spine. However, right now…”

“How do you feel?”

“It feels cold like I’m frozen.”

Python quietly shut his mouth and prepared his hands on the broadsword.

Chase skimmed the surroundings and SeasonedCrabs slid through the shadows.

“I’ll take a look around.”

“It will be dangerous.”

“I will be careful not to be discovered. I’m confident in escaping from anywhere, so do not be concerned.”

Assassin SeasonedCrabs moved without making any noise from his footsteps.

He did not see anything abnormal in a few dozen meters nearby.

‘Nothing much… But I must look further.’

He found small animals such as squirrels, and bird nests on tree branches. He advanced further and saw a ravine below mountain pass.

Seasoned Crabs doubted his own eyes at first.

He witnessed blue skinned lizard men swarming,  hopping towards the West.

‘Monster!’

He thought of getting in close to observe, but he also caught a glimpse of draconic warriors among the crowd of monsters.

‘Dragonoids. That must mean they are Kaybern’s immediate forces?’

He heard more bizarre noises from the skies.

“Kuuuaaaack!”

“Kuuuu-wek!”

Strange creatures looking like a chimera of a human and a bird were flying around.

‘Mothmen.’

A malignant creature recorded in the history books of the Versaille continent.

No user had the chance to face the creature ever in the creation of Royal Road.

– Mothmen are monsters with the form of a devil and human combined.

It has high intelligence and loves to use magic.

It swallows living creatures whole…

He knew of this creature because it was mentioned in various parts of the historical transcripts.

A war broke out between the human kingdoms and supposedly sealed all mothmen, in deep darkness. Now, they had been freed by Kaybern.

Seasoned Crabs finished scouting and returned quietly to his comrades.

“Monsters related to Kaybern are on the move. Quite significant in numbers. There are a lot of them with just a quick glance, and I suspect their numbers are over ten thousand. There are powerful ones like mothmen among them.”

“As I expected.”

Chase nodded his head, then continued.

“Even on our side, we received news a moment ago. We heard that a huge wave of monsters are moving from the dwarven kingdom Thor.

“From Thor?”

“Yes. They are ignoring the dwarves and are on the move to the nearby cities.”

Monsters were actively on the move in all parts of the continent.

They were headed towards the cities, descending from Thor with lots of mountain terrains and every other massive mountain passes in the central continent.

Chapter 9: Hero Rescuing the World

“K-hmm.”

Weed was preoccupied in the corner of the dungeon.

“Van Hawk. What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Forget it, my fault for asking a skeleton like you. You’re an empty skull head.”

“…..”

Weed tried to organize his thoughts while sewing the artisan’s rainbow silk, but it did not go how he wanted.

“Torido, how about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Nevermind I cannot trust the decisions of a vampire like you. Other than sucking blood, what else would you ever think about?,?”

“…..”

Van Hawk and Torido.

They were the undead unfortunate enough to be continually scolded by Weed.

“*Sigh* How should I go about this?”

Weed crafted armor with blacksmith materials, and sewed new clothes in order to gather his thoughts. Despite his efforts, his concerns were not resolved so easily.

“Castle Evaluk…”

He had been hunting excitedly due to the recent increase of monsters, but now there was only a day left until Kaybern’s attack on castle Evaluk.

“Realistically, there is no way to stop him.”

He could not round up an estimate of Kaybern with just having gone through one short instance of battle.

The castle was under the attention of countless users.

If Weed were to wait bravely at the castle and face Kaybern, that would be a perfectly meaningless death!

“If the Hermes guild helps out, and the users of the entire Versailles continent were to unite… Even then, the chances are slim. Quest log.”

< The True warrior.

There are countless achievements that you have attained thus far.

You have defeated the immortal legion and travelled from one end of the world to the other.

You travelled back to the past of the Versailles continent, defeated the Ambinu cult and reached the pinnacle of the arcane sculptural technique.

You are the most famous throughout the continent and succeeded in the most dangerous commissions.

From the city’s drunk to the young ones living in mountain villages, there isn’t a single person that does not know of you as the sculptor, adventurer and warrior Weed.

Poets created lyrics out of your adventures and sing them in the streets.

Now, the dark dragon Kaybern swore its ruthless vengeance and plunged the continent into danger.

This is the time for you to step up.

To save the continent, and defeat the dark dragon.

First, you must gather information.

Before you valiantly draw your sword, you must get a deeper understanding of the dark dragon Kaybern.

Difficulty: S

Reward: Leads into the decision of the warrior.

Quest requirement: Hero rescuing the world

Highest adventure honor. >

“The only hope I have is this quest.”

He had received the quest from Kaybern’s rise while Weed was active as an adventurer and warrior. As the emperor of the Arpen empire he must stop Kaybern, but he was feeling the pressure before it even began.

“If I proceed with this quest, I will have to confront Kaybern in the end….”

Weed had pushed himself through many impractical quests, but each had its kindling of hope. He somehow desperately stopped the immortal legion and the Embinyu cult, but hardships just kept coming.

“Anyhow, I should take a look from castle Evaluk given the situation.”

He hadn’t a hint of thought of placing himself in any serious danger.

“Yellowy.”

“Mooooooo.”

Yellowy rolled its innocent eyes and stared at him.

It grew consistently as the carrier following Weed around the hunting grounds. It became abnormally stronger and became bulkier in equal proportion.

“You stay here. I have a feeling Kaybern is going to make a meal out of you.”

“Thanks. Moooo.”

“Knight Serville. You rest too.”

“I understand, Master.”

He gave the human form sculptural creatures and also Yellowy some rest.

The non-human ones like Goldman and crocodile Nile were chosen to tag along.

“Van Hawk, Torido.”

They were subordinates that followed him anywhere.

“Why do you call us? Master.”

“I am here.”

Weed spread his voice with authority.

“You guys have always been loyal. Come with me.”

*****

Castle Evaluk of Kallamore.

“Everyone gather your things and leave! There is no time!”

Lord Dain was evacuating the citizens and users.

Many lords were appointed in the Arpen empire, but castle Evaluk was one that was scheduled to be invaded by Kaybern.

Not one desired to be lord of castle Evaluk, and Dain surrendered by quitting the Hermes guild and maintained her lord position.

She broke away from the Hermes guild without any regrets after witnessing Lapei causing this entire incident with Kaybern.

“Take whatever you can carry. If there is no ownership, whoever is closest is the owner.”

“Can I take the things inside the castle?”

“Yeah. Of course! You can take them all.”

Dain chose evacuation over confrontation.

As she mindlessly scrambled around in the streets for the citizens, knight users approached her on their horses.

“Though we lack in skill, we would like to help. As users from Kalamor, we cannot overlook this situation.”

“We do not need fighters.”

Dain was popular because she was exemplary even under the Haven empire Age. Along with the rumors of her being Weed’s comrade, people that criticized her past were rare.

“It is ridiculous to go against Kaybern. Choose life over a meaningless death.”

“Are you going to let this castle and city go to waste?”

Castle Evaluk had taken many stages of development and flourished more than the capital of the Kalamor region.

Dain directly overlooked the castle and had an attachment for every building, but she wasn’t about to obsess over them foolishly.

“What’s not meant to be cannot be. Just because the city is destroyed, it does not mean that their lives end here. The continent is spacious, and they could return in the future and repair it.”

“But, what if it gets destroyed again by Kaybern?”

“We still have to live on. I learned to not give up until the very end. Life is precious like a gem which is why I do not want senseless sacrifice.”

Dain’s speech and actions were covered live through the broadcast and left a deep impression on the viewers.

Her honor as the lord of castle Evaluk was renowned, but this broadcast worldwide displayed her true worth of character.

– Castle Evaluk is nowhere near the level of castle Aren, but for her to give it up it takes great courage.
– It seems to be a difficult decision. Wouldn’t she be regretful?
– She isn’t going to make a rash decision. She is wise.
– Giving away everything in the castle is quite impressive.
– Lord Dain was very popular among the users to begin with. Even when she was associated under the Hermes guild.

Even the broadcast hosts praised her as a wonderful individual.

“Everyone, escape. Quickly!”

Dain rushed the evacuation in person and led all the soldiers, users and civilians.

Vault doors with war supplies and food were wide open,  and she had contacted several major merchant associations in advance.

“Please lend me your horses and wagons. The northern bulls will be even better as they can carry more.”

“Who is going to fund this loan?”

“There is no money. Instead, take all the items without ownership in the lord castle. Take as much as you want before Kaybern gets here.”

The merchants pounded away at their calculators and deemed that this was a profitable transaction.

Castle Evaluk was prosperous ever since the pioneer days of Royal Road.

Countless artwork and jewelry decorated the city and thus, there were many items to collect.

“Alright. The deal is good.”

A golden opportunity for the merchants.

Even for the novice merchants that just started, this was the chance to collect loot worth thousands of gold.

Users from regions near Kalamor all swarmed in and loaded hefty in their bags and wagons.

In a few days, the picturesque castle Evaluk was uncovered entirely, leaving just the structural frames.

Marble stones and rare lumber were ripped away, as well as steel joint frames were all taken out.

“I’m a bit sad for these buildings…”

“Better than being destroyed by Kaybern. Let’s uproot the whole thing.”

The stone landmarks that were the basis of the city’s scenery were disassembled and loaded onto wagons as expensive construction materials.

“Hurry. Come!”

Dain and the volunteering users were assisting the migration.

All the doors of castle Evaluk were open, allowing the users to leave the castle freely.

*****

“Hmm. She made a wise decision.”

Weed stared down at castle Evaluk from a mountain afar.

5 sculptural creatures followed Weed, some of them being Goldman, Bahamorg and the high elf Eltin.

“Shouldn’t we get closer? Growl.”

“It’s fine. This is just the right distance.”

“We won’t be able to get a clear view of the dragon from here.”

“That is what I aimed for. He shouldn’t not even spot us.”

Weed used the sculptural transformation technique and turned into a short-legged dwarf.

‘Kaybern’s rage is directed at humans. He didn’t touch the dwarves near his lair so it will be safe this way.’

Kaybern would not kill him as long as he stays in dwarf form and does not get on his nerves.

That was the reason why he brought the non-human sculptural creatures.

Though he couldn’t bring Yellowy because he was a tasty beef regardless of race.

“I need to gather as much information on Kaybern as possible.”

Bahamorg who overheard Weed talking to himself spoke in sincerity.

“Such courage… Is he trying to hunt down the dragon?”

“No. Wouldn’t you need to know about your enemy so you can avoid them?”

He had an S rank quest at his disposal, but he was up against a dragon this time. He couldn’t rely his back solely on the quest.

‘Even if I proceed with this quest… I need to figure out how much of a force I need to muster to fight. It’s too much to fight alone and I need to mobilize a large number of users. If it fails, the damage will be severe.’

He cannot afford to risk everything on a battle with no chance of winning.

He needed to assess if he had the odds, even if it meant pulling up a few tricks.

‘He despises humans and uses dark magic at free will. I’d say magic won’t work with him, but does he really have no weakness?’

He planned to assess everything from the very beginning.

If he were to observe Kaybern’s battle more closely, he would be able to grasp his exact abilities.

Weed waited as he sewed, and when it came to daytime, Kaybern flew towards castle Evaluk.

– Humans. Disappear without a trace!

Kaybern’s first greeting was a breath spewed from afar!

Refined corrosive breath struck castle Evaluk.

The castle gates that were barely hanging melted away instantly, and the central walls crumbled with a loud bang.

Kaybern’s breath seeped into the towns, corrupted the buildings and erected fire.

Castle Evaluk was now on high flames!

– Perish!

Kaybern raised fire magic against the castle and the city.

Users that failed to flee in time trying to fulfill their greed for fortune died out.

Dain who stayed behind wishing to share the same fate as the lord of castle Evaluk also lost her life.

– Kuuraahhh!

Kaybern flew across the sky and continued pouring magic spells on castle Evaluk.

He desired to wipe out everything so that one would not be able to make anything out of the remains.

Weed hid between a tree and a rock, watching the entire scene.

“Hmm. Extremely aggressive. He looks to be blinded by rage…”

“Is rage its weakness? Growl?”

“That is bad news. When weak fools are overwhelmed by rage, they reveal openings. However, strong guys become even more powerful.”

Users that were in proximity of castle Evaluk also lost their lives to the raining fire from the sky. The broadcast stations were conducting live coverage, and posts were rapidly being uploaded on online discussion boards of Royal Road.

– Kaybern is completely crushing the city.
– He had his way with castle Aren just like that. So it can never be revisited. It was pleasant to watch back then, but for the hope of Kalamor to be ruined like that.
– Ah… I bought a house and farm in castle Evaluk. I planted melons and blueberries and I was just waiting for the harvest. Sad.

Castle Evaluk.

Users with an affection for the Versailles continent all observed pitifully.

“The dragon is extremely powerful, It can melt down and destroy cities at will.”

“So, Kaybern is unstoppable? I thought Weed had some kind of plan.”

“Weed defeated Bard Ray and is now the best in this world, will he really not do anything about this?”

“Even so, he is just a user only a little stronger than us. There is no way to stop the dragon.”

“We cannot pressure Weed-nim to die in vain. It is futile and unreasonable.”

“Some of you forgot already, but he did defeat the chaos dragon in the past.”

“That time, the dragon was plain stupid and did not use magic. Also, Weed was abnormally powerful because it was a quest.”

“He wiped out the entire central continent as the Great King of the desert. He put an end to the war age, he’s a legend above all legends”.

“But even so we will have to stand here and watch Kaybern annihilate the continent.

“I don’t think there’s anything Weed can do about this.”

“We are all doomed for. So, let’s enjoy ourselves, we should make good of the little time we have left.”

Every single discussion board was on the lookout for Weed, but realistically speaking, there was nothing to do about the impending destruction at the hands of the dragon.

After castle Evaluk had been set to ashes, Kaybern took off.

Despite the migration, millions of users had been present. However, those that remained numbered only several hundreds.

<Dragon’s vengeance

Dark dragon Kaybern is mobilizing in order to destroy human civilization.

The spirits and fairies are warning once again.>

“A week from now, Kaybern will head to the free city Somren.”

Next, the surprising following target was announced.

The free city Somren had high population and was a core region of the Britten alliance, no one could be unaware of its existence.

Furthermore, according to the growth rate, the cities that were potentially the following targets were also concerned.

“Even the free city Somren will be blown out of existence and that is very troublesome.”

Weed witnessed castle Evaluk being destroyed and sighed.

Within just an hour, a massive castle and city were crushed at unbelievable speed.

“If it cannot be stopped, a great city will be destroyed every week.”

Moreover, Kaybern wasn’t the only danger.

From over 50 regions over the Versaille continent, monster hordes were forming.

If monsters of various races swarmed on the cities, the damage would be unthinkable. It would be much easier to rely on the castle walls for defense, but that would mean all the farmlands will be laid to waste.

“The black dragon and monsters….”

He had no time to complete the quests in which he had made progress so far.

The sculptural Arts Final Secret technique quest had been near impossible, but now he was also responsible for the peace of the continent and his own life.

*****

Bard Ray tread through the hidden shrieking dungeon with the holy sword of Lugh in his hand. He could hear nothing other than his own footsteps.

Just as he was about to grow bored of the creepy atmosphere, evil spirits surprised him from the walls and ceiling.

– Kyaaaah! A young and fresh human!
– I will steal your body….

*Slash!*

Bard Ray swung the holy sword of Lu and hacked away the evil spirits.

< Gofred’s evil spirit has been vanquished. >

< Vulzag’s evil spirit has been vanquished. >

– You acquired experience.

< You have successively defeated 21 evil spirits.

Agility is increased by 1 for great combat achievement. >

He had had to complete a quest to enter the dungeon and meet the level requirement of 600.

The evil spirits he faced could only be damaged by weapons enchanted with holy powers, and they couldn’t be vanquished unless they are attacked precisely on the heart.

‘If I stay calm I can achieve anything. I must believe in myself.’

< Reptile’s evil spirit has been vanquished. >

< Eggust’s evil spirit has been vanquished. >

– You acquired experience.

< You have obtained the evil spirit’s ring. >

< You have obtained the essence of wicked mana. >

‘I can do this.’

Bard Ray surely felt more powerful after having mastered the sword technique.

The hidden shrieking dungeon in the past had never been completed because it was dangerous, even by the Hermes guild’s standards.

If several users were to enter the dungeon simultaneously,  they would recognize one another as an enemy and so there was no meaning in sending an assault  team.

The only option was to advance alone, but the risks of dying discouraged entry.

Godly Warrior Bard Ray.

He forfeit the challenge in fear of losing the reputation burdening his shoulders.

‘Nothing can confine me now.’

A smile bloomed on Bard Ray’s face.

Now that he entered as a challenger, he had no more fear of losing his life in the dungeon.

He did not have the assistance of the royal guards of the Hermes guild nor reinforcements, but he himself was powerful.

‘Is this what it feels like to step up to a new level in the midst of danger?’

He advanced forward as he slashed away the spirits.

There were terrifying, dangerous moments, but he made rapid decisions and his body responded each time.

‘The sword is moving as if it’s a part of my body. Put faith in this power. Slash and pierce through them.’

The heightened senses that came with life and death combat drew out his best abilities. It recovered broken confidence and displayed another plane of skill.

Bard Ray thought to himself as he slaughtered the boss of the evil spirits, Reptile.

‘I am the best, once again.’

The fruitful sensation of fighting with his life on the line was reassured with the spoils.

Ding!

< You have acquired a legendary transportation skill imbued with the power of lightning.

Thunder walk!

Each step you take on the ground will call down lightning and strike an enemy. >

Bard Ray swore to become stronger after having been defeated once.

He had begun the battle with Weed by dominating him. The situation turned on him and he allowed a storm of successive attacks, resulting in defeat.

The final secret technique of the sculptural arts: Time Sculpting. When used in combination with the glove of dimensional gate, Bard Ray had stood no chance..

‘I was better than  him in terms of overall combat ability. If I prepared well for that split second… I could have survived. I had a high chance of winning if I dragged it into an extensive battle.’

He watched the video of the battle over a hundred times and analyzed it.

The disappointment after it was all over had left him truly speechless, but Weed’s movement and attacks were way too quick.

The ultimate activation of Tte devil’s gruesome blade dance made him overlook his victory and eased his mind, a considerable factor of his loss.

‘Heraim Sword technique. Its strengths are immense, but it has more weaknesses. If I knew about it in advance, I should be able to avoid or deflect it somehow half-way during the fight.’

Bard Ray simulated the battle in his head countless times for the re-match.

‘The next duel shall be prepared for and executed meticulously, by me this time.’

*****

Yurin drew a large map in the earth palace.

Novice sculptors made chess pieces of the monsters in the region and placed them on the map. Marks were multiplying over the entire continent.

“The northern continent will soon be rendered unable to manage the upcoming danger.”

“There are too many monsters, causing dozens of users to rush out the castle gates.”

“The city hasn’t been destroyed but… There are isolated villages and the territory controlled by the monsters is expanding. More monsters are gathering in those exact locations.”

“The security of the Arpen empire is worsening. The crop damage is immense and roads are ruined in many places.”

The northern users gathered at the earth palace even before Kaybern began the destruction of castle Evaluk.

Farmers, merchants, adventurers, warriors, mages and necromancers.

Their jobs were diverse, but the majority started inMorata and were affectionate about the northern continent.

Merchant Pandal looked over the map with various monster sculptures on top, then shook his head from side to side.

“Weed-nim is putting his best efforts into hunting them down… The monsters multiplied and their armies increase in number endlessly.”

“During the time taken to vanquish one horde of monsters, several more are forming.”

“We must prepare for siege in the regions close to the monsters.”

Monsters roaming in the north.

They were forming hordes and were approaching the cities.

“Siege… Wouldn’t the people be afraid?”

“Who knows. The ones I’ve met are excited.”

Necromancer Porom seemed to be intrigued.

In Royal Road, all kinds of events take place, and a siege against monsters could be very well exhilarating.

In reality, when Morata was expanding culturally, the outskirt villages relied solely on a single wooden wall and fended off the nearby monsters.

“K-huhuhu. It’s going to be really fun.”

“On the bright side it will certainly be exciting.”

“We must hold our grounds until Weed-nim exterminates Kaybern.”

The northern users believed that with time, Weed would be able to overcome the black dragon.

*****

The fresh provincial lords of the central continents were observing the situation.

“Aren’t the monsters increasing in numbers rather too excessively? What if my city were to be invaded? What then?”

“Well, we aren’t the closest ones to the monsters… However, the public is uneasy and i think the tax income has declined too.”

“How about we assemble some users and try subjugating the monsters?”

“Hmm. Let us assess the situation for now.”

The lords lacked their own armies, so they could be concerned but had no solution in mind.

They could be at ease if the Arpen empire provided protection, but they knew Weed was busy exterminating the monsters through the broadcasts and could not blame him.

“He is hunting day and night.”

“Did you see him riding on Wy-3, repairing his weapon and armor, and eating wheat bread?”

“He was still grinning on top of all that, though it would be very tiresome.”

Weed was doing what he loved, but to the others they could not witness a more hectic schedule.

On top of that, they wrote a separate contract when they received their positions of provincial lords.

– A is the emperor of Arpen empire, Weed.
– B is yourself who wants to become provincial lord.
– B will maintain the Arpen empire’s official tax rate for the city of his/her control.
– B will work towards city development, increase in population, technological advancement and social welfare of the users.
– The funds and labor required by B shall be rallied by his/her own power.
– B will defend against the invasion of monsters and natural disasters on his/her own.
– A is the emperor of Arpen empire.
– B may turn in the position of lord if the contract seems unreasonable.

A typical, unfair contract!

‘How does this make any sense?’

‘Isn’t this a total thief?’

‘Wow… He really pulled the blade on this one. He sure did.’

The appointed lords of the Arpen empire doubted his intentions at first, but soon accepted the reality. The army was nowhere near enough to respond to the monsters and disasters, and there were many candidates signing up for the lord positions other than themselves.

The money spent for the lord positions were all invested into the development of the Arpen empire.

The repairs on the wasted regions, castle wall constructions against the monster invasion and fortification of fortresses went underway in many places across the central continent, not only in the northern regions.

‘Tsk. I can’t nitpick him on how he used my money since I can see the results.’

‘Well… Maintaining the official tax rate is not so bad. It’s better than me raising the rates while all the other lords have low rates, making me stand out from every other lord’

‘The official tax rate removes all the hassle.’

‘It all seems to be a basic commitment as lord… He wouldn’t possibly strip away my lord position for loitering around a bit.’

‘Funds and labor? It would be nice for the Arpen empire to assist me, but it is certain they have their hands tied. Hmm.’

The lords decided to think positively in the face of danger. The reason being that the Arpen empire did not fail them.

“If the monsters swarm in, let’s cooperate together on our own and make the best of it.”

“Surely. Let us set an example to the users. There are many that feel uncomfortable about us lords.”

The lords had no other option but to gather and win through on their own.

On the other hand, the Black Lion guild that had taken control of half the Tulen region were in a different situation.

“Kaybern is the scary one. Monsters… We can just kill them.”

The Black Lion guild recruited the elite users again and spent their attentions on their internal affairs.

They regretted their past mistakes and put their efforts into taking care of the common users and civilians this time around.

“If we make progress, the users will gather on their own. Also, taking care of my home is my own duty.”

They thought it would not be too difficult to defend against the monsters given the guild’s power.

“We need to do well while Weed has no time to spare on us. If we are successful, the Black Lion guild can reign with great influence once again in these regions.”

“I agree to that statement.”

Dwarven warrior Vindel also agreed.

This was an opportunity to change the recessive atmosphere within the guild.

“Let’s call for the guild’s full mobilization. We have to act out. For our Black Lion guild!”

Similar thoughts also came up in the rival guilds such as the Roam, Cloud, Lionstar, and Black sword mercenary guild.

From each region, the assembled powers actively raised armies in response to the crisis brought forth by Kaybern.

“This is competition. We cannot do anything about the reign of Arpen empire, but we cannot be pushed around by other lords now, would we?”

“In the past, us Roam guild were the best in a continent. We had a good reputation compared to the other ones, too. Let’s organize defensive forces and drive out the monsters in the territory.”

“Recruit the skilled users. The Black Sword mercenary guild shall recruit a fresh load of mercenaries!”

In the central continent, some ogres transformed into small dragons and patrolled the skies.

The draconic warriors with exceptional physical capabilities and magic power, took the role of leading the monsters marching on ground level.

Armies were rising nearby in order to face the monsters.

*****

Weed was engaged in battle, raising the undead.

“Mud golem. Charge towards your enemies.”

The golem let out a low moan as it lumbered forwards, beginning its battle against a horde of Urgos,  monsters with a horse-like head.

Fundamentally, a golem was a life-long partner of the necromancers.

Like a loyal knight, it protects its summoner, and at other times it destroyed enemy formations by fighting alongside the undead.

– The ruler of death commands us!

The Urgos, numbering over a thousand, scattered out over a wide area and threw their spears.

The mud golem took the blow of over a dozen spears and returned to the earth.

< Mud golem was destroyed. >

Weed clicked his tongue as he witnessed the moment.

“Tsk. My golem crafting isn’t getting all that better.”

Golem crafting had gone up to Beginner Level 7, but it was a skill difficult to master even through tedious grinding.

Necromancers such as Jeanne or Gruzed could erect fire golems or iron golems.

Fire golems were capable of a powerful AOE spell, and iron golems had the endurance to tire and defense to tire out any enemy that targeted them.

They had been training together with golems since they first became necromancers.

“It is what it is. All of you, go out there!”

“I’ve been waiting for that command. Baharaaaa!”

Warrior Bahamorg ran out with an axe in hand, tailed closely by Knight Serville and Valkyrie Gernika.

Together they faced the horde of Urgos, monsters known to excel in mobility and to have mastered the use of formations.

They tossed spears from range, which when combined with their high levels in and around the late 500s, made them a particularly difficult group of monsters to fight.

In the past, they resided beyond the Kilizar Pass in the outskirts of the northern continent, but there was news of them invading the pioneer villages of Arpen.

“Now that we’ve arrived, I will take everything from you all, to the last piece of leather!”

The Urgos were throwing their spears while galloping in a large circle.

Bahamorg, Servilleand Gernika were caught up at the frontlines blocking incoming spears with their shields, but even so the army of 300 skeletons led by Van Hawk were crushed immediately.

Weed riding on Wy-3 avoided hunting the monsters to save time. He had brought a small undead force into the Urgos camps.

*Crumble!*

That moment, the earth began to shake and something massive surged from the ground.

The Death Worm, whose combat strength was amongst the highest of all the sculptural creatures raised by Weed, its combat strength rivaling the Phoenix and King Hydra, rose violently from the ground.

The Death Worm with its mouth wide open, swallowed 5 Urgos on the ground at once.

– Nom nom nom. Gulp. Kyaaah.

The Urgos froze to the ground. The Death Worm’s presence made them cower in terror.

“Terrain destruction.”

By Weed’s command, the Death Worm disappeared into the ground and resurged 10 meters away.

The Urgos favored wide fields and so they were restricted from running around freely.

“Focus your attacks with composure!”

“Pay attention to the trembling of the earth. We can deduce where the worm will pop up  next.”

The highly intelligent Urgos scattered strategically against the Death Worm and lunged their spears.

– Kwek!

Death Worm was targeted by over a hundred spears as it swallowed a mouthful of Urgos. With its sturdy but slippery skin, it reflected all but 7 spears.

“Aerial reinforcement.”

Just as Weed gave his command, baraags flew in from the forests and and breathed fire on the grounds.

– I was growing impatient waiting.
– We will roast everything.

The Urgos’ combat strength relied on rapid movement and group formation to execute powerful mid range attacks.

Bahamorg and the other sculptural creatures acted as bait and lured the Urgos into one place.

Next, the Baraags’ focus fire turned the grounds into an ocean of flames.

“Come back to the land where you once lived. In this place of darkness, in this black and rotten land. Carve the laws of darkness that will never fade into everyone. Undead Rise!”

Weed summoned the undead from within the flames.

The corpses of the Urgos killed by the baraags’ attack turned into death knights at the very least and also resurrected as doom knights.

< The essence of darkness converted the tainted corpses of the Urgos into the undead.
The proficiency in the undead summoning skill has increased greatly.
Intelligence and wisdom is permanently increased by 3 points. >

The undead scorched by flames rose to their feet and became caught up in battle.

“The gorge of decayed bones.”

Weed, taking any chance he could, summoned clumps of bones that spread poison and blocked off the rear.

The Urgos would never turn tail and run of their own volition, but he prepared if such a situation were to arise.

Now, Weed wanted to try out the curse skill tree and offensive magic spells that were inferior compared to his undead summoning. However, he was interrupted.

– Seoyoon: Mordred is in danger. The monsters that spewed out from the underground dungeons are overwhelming the city.

Mordred was the capital of the Niflheim empire.

The whisper pertained to the monsters clustered in a wide area of ruins.

“Okay.”

Weed thought to himself that something that was on his mind had finally come forth.

“Shall we head to Mordred?”

If he were to hunt in Mordred, it would be at maximum efficiency as he wouldn’t need to revoke his undead summonings.

Undeads are incredibly useful in taking down moderately powerful monsters.

Large monsters were spawning consistently and no other users were around to leech experience; such an environment was the perfect catalyst for a necromancer’s growth.

– Seoyoon: I don’t think we can regain it. Mordred is a vast ruins area and the monsters keep spawning from the ground. Other locations would fall in danger while we focus on Mordred.

“I suppose so.”

– Seoyoon: The monsters spawning in Mordred will be fended off by relying on the walls of the nearby villages and the city. I assembled the Arpen Imperial army already.

“You responded quickly. Will they be able to defend successfully?”

Seoyoon: To some degree. We would have to bear with a few stray monsters to the northern continent.

Now that the appearance of monsters had become active all across the Versailles continent, danger was imminent anywhere.

The discussion boards were already full of posts from agonizing users that fell victim to the monsters.

– Seoyoon: More importantly… Are you planning to master necromancy?

“Why?”

– Seoyoon: I acquired some information about a special warrior job class. It could be connected to the Savior of the World.

“The Savior of the World?”

Weed knew about many job classes including martial artists.

Savior of the World was the job class he had during his days as the Great King of the desert.

‘I advanced from the warrior of the sun. However, that path was not exclusive for the warrior of the sun. Just one person out of the top climbers in the knight and warrior class had the privilege.’

When Weed crushed the Embinyu Cult and closed his books on the days as the Great king of the desert, Hestiger succeeded the position of Savior of the World.

It was truly the pinnacle of the combat class!

“That job class is possible to acquire?”

– Seoyoon: I can’t say for certain. But, you would be able to gain access to the advanced level of the warrior class. Savior of the World can be acquired after that.

“That makes sense. It is not an easy job class to come by.”

Back when he became the Savior of the World, there were threats called the Embinyu Cult and Ausolet.

The job class that can only be fulfilled by transcending the limit of human strength and having received the quest to save the world.

“Kaybern could be…Hmm. Normally I wouldn’t bet on it, but the world is troubled and receiving such a quest is highly probable.”

Weed recently came to think that there was no real need for him to master necromancy.

Fundamentally, the necromancer was a job class that wields power that transcends the boundaries of death.

Therefore, it could only be powerful if one could freely use curse and dark magic spells as well.

In the process, the user will lose various stats, the penalties were great compared to the sculptor that has a slow growth rate but can stack stats.

‘Just proficient enough to reach the greatest hunting speed. Also, I could master undead summoning one day if I use it consistently. There is no need for me to go out of my way to reach the top as a necromancer.’

A high level necromancer would have to offer special and unusual sacrifices to increase skill proficiency.

Each job class had different methods of progression and few shared the need for excessive and repetitive grinding that the sculptors were subjected to.

In the past, necromancy had been valuable for its hunting prowess despite the difficulties, but perspectives changed greatly after the Hermes guild was defeated.

– Seoyoon: If you do not master necromancy and go through the job advancement, the skill proficiency of the undead summoning will decrease a little bit.

“It doesn’t matter. I can overcome it with grinding.”

Weed thought that such a penalty had little meaning.

If the job wasn’t mastered, proficiencies declined upon job advancement depending on the user’s standings.

If one were to go through job advancement from a ranger to an archer which is similar, the archery proficiency would not decline.

However, if one were to change from the mage class to a warrior class, the user would suffer some loss in skill proficiency or stats.

– Seoyoon: First, you must advance into a warrior and head to the desert.

“Hmm. So the desert is where it begins?”

– Seoyoon: There could be another way in the central continent, but the easiest starting
location was in the desert.

Thus, Weed decided to change job class.

He started out as a sculptor, but he also took on the role of a necromancer and became an emperor. Now, his goal was to become the Savior of the World.

*****

Bart was expanding the trades all the way to the central continent after the Garnav battle.

“When the opportunity comes, you must seize it and proactively build on it. If you start a day late, you would suffer that much more loss.”

He purchased a huge amount of goods such as potions and ores from the north and established trades with the cities in the central continent.

The head merchants Helten and Delmong that he became friends with in the process, joined him in the trade.

“Is there a reason to go all the way to Kallamore? There is enough demand just in Tulen.”

“We must. If there is someone in demand, a merchant must go wherever that may be.”

“The prices are firm here too…”

“We must sell first to those who absolutely want to buy it. Merchants become successful through credit, not money.”

Bart led the wagons full of iron ores and headed to the Kallamore region.

Castle Evaluk was destroyed by the dragon and monsters were wreaking havoc, but he managed to arrive in Castle Zenia.

It was the fourth city in Kallamore, but its advantages of transportation traffic attracted users and served like a capital city.

“Selling iron ore! Iron weapons for sale. I brought lots of horns and wood that can be crafted into bows.”

Helten and Delmong that followed Bart sold half of the goods to the trade station and started a street stall in the town square with the remaining half. Then, they accomplished an insane record of selling all their goods completely in 20 minutes.

All they did was start selling in the corner of the town square, but an endless line of users bought every product.

The bow materials especially were hot items that got sold out within 10 minutes.

“How’s that? We sold out like a breeze, didn’t we?”

“Yeah. It was worth it.”

Bart accumulated contribution points in the city and could spread his reputation across the city.

With the fall of Castle Evaluk and the increasing activities of monsters resulted in exponential increase of demand for bows.

If a siege war were to break out, the weapon to grab regardless of one being warrior or a merchant was the bow.

“Insane! Now we can buy products for a lower price. But hey. What do we purchase on our way back?”

“Let us buy some medicinal herbs on the way. Various kinds grow around this area.”

“How do you know that?”

“Market assessment is the basis of trades.”

Bart used up all the money that he had and purchased the medicinal herbs.

Helten and Gamong joined him, and they got back on the road to Tulen with other users.

They could expect great profit if they were to sell in Tulen or the Britten region.

‘When a war breaks out, the merchant must not be hindered and sell his goods even more diligently. Produce anything he can and sell. There is always someone in demand of the goods.’

When he managed the Hosung Inc. in the past, it was all the same.

When others said it was too early, he made early investments and led the skills development.

‘Even after that, it all crumbled down… But I know, my management method wasn’t wrong.’

Bart lost all his motivation and fell into despair when he lost ownership of the organization.

He had an enormous amount of money left to sustain his life, but it was heartbreaking to be branded as a failure of a manager.

One could ever so easily say as much about him.

‘He’s gone down but still lives a boastful life without any financial worries, no?’

It wasn’t an understatement.

Even so, he had lived as a manager of an organization but his role disappeared at once. Hearing voices mocking him as one defeated was a lot worse than what people thought.

Tens and thousands of jobless folks and their families.

He was deeply sorry for them and felt ashamed of himself. However, the affiliate companies of the Hosung Inc. soon found a new owner and proudly began to make revenue.

The early investments in skills and equipment had begun its slow start in the display of its true value.

‘Fortunate. If I had been able to overcome the financial difficulty just that once… Phew. Let go of the regrets. Anything can be successful or fail miserably by the slightest of differences.’

*****

Weed returned to Morata.

The great city that represented the north had all sorts of buildings, including the Necromancers’ guild.

“A Master of life and death…”

When Weed stepped into the guild, the necromancers dressed in creepy robes bowed to the floor at once.

He had a long history with them due to the Immortal Legion, and his title of emperor alongside his advanced skills as a necromancer certainly increased his fame.

“It, it’s Weed-nim!”

“God of war Weed!”

The users that were on the 1st floor of the guild yelled in surprise.

A common face is hard to recognize, but his popularity overcame his mundane facial traits.

“Nice to meet you all. Hunt diligently and pay lots of taxes.”

Weed lifted his hand and waved lightly before walking up the stairs.

The necromancer’s guild that had been located in the old residential area hidden among the back alleys had transferred to a beautiful tower coloured in black and purple.

The 1st floor was for commission jobs and sale of magic scrolls; 2nd floor for ancient books and magic equipment sale; whilst the 3rd floor and above were only accessible to those who had over an intermediate level of undead summoning.

They tended to teach dangerous magic spells or sell enlightened knowledge or excavated goods.

Weed found Baraball experimenting on something in front of the barbarian skull and walked up to him.

“It’s been a while.”

“Welcome, Seeker of death.”

Baraball bowed his head with the unique, low and somber characteristic of necromancers.

“I came to tell you something.”

“What is it? Have you finally figured out how to conquer death completely?”

“No.”

“Then, you discovered magic that forms death clouds in the air to purify the pitiful?”

“… Not that neither.”

“Do you require our assistance? A task that must be carried out in secret? Whatever your majesty needs, we can release poison into the river or the wells and turn large cities with rivers and fields into graveyards. Your loyal servants are not humans, but the quiet skeletons.”

Weed’s face turned serious.

‘How, these idiots?’

He was planning to take out Kaybern, the greatest danger in history but to think that there was a malicious tumor growing from within Morata.

‘At first, they said it was a misunderstanding in necromancers being treated as villains… Turns out these guys are really what they say about them.’

Lich Shire corrupted Bar Khan, which began the war against the Immortal Legion. Necromancers were all the same underneath their covers.

‘As I thought, there’s not a single being to be trusted.’

Weed firmly ingrained the life lesson into his head and stored necromancer Baraball into his memory.

“K-hmm. The reason for me coming here is to quit being a necromancer.”

“What is this now? You mean you do not wish to continue the forsaken research that will change the providence of the world based on a sincere reflection on life and death?”

“I want to put an end to it.”

“Those are some unbelievably dreadful words.”

Weed came to the necromancer guild to deliver the resignation letter. For any class, there wasn’t a big concern in an immediate change.

Necromancers were largely hated by the common users.

They were especially despised by warriors the most, so it was utmost priority for him to resign.

However, the social cohesion among the necromancers were tight and therefore, they hated the renegades.

“Please reconsider. Not too long ago, we discovered a crystal skull from an old swamp. If we conduct research on this skull, we can invent a new type of undead.”

“A new undead?”

“It is still under process but it is a powerful undead. The more we grasp an understanding of death, the more power we will be able to gain in our hands. So much that the living will be terrified and subject under our command.”

“…..”

“Furthermore, we will be able to access the ultimate power if the dark and terrible world of the undead is opened. A perfectly weaved world dominated by necromancers! You wish to give up that path?”

Baraball repeatedly wished for Weed to change his mind because of their history and friendship until now.

‘I need to fix these necromancers up for good when I get the chance.’

Instead, Weed’s mind was turning solid in the opposite direction.

He would put them under surveillance immediately and wipe them all out if they seem even a bit suspicious.

“Yeah, I’m not interested. Necromancy isn’t like that at all.”

*Blink!*

<You have abandoned the necromancer class and have revoked to the status of sculptor master.

Maximum health points and mana decline to its original state.

Honor influences expand.

The effects from faith does not diminish.

Infamy is decreased by 25,000 points.

By abandoning necromancy mid-way, the proficiency levels of job class skills including the undead summoning skill are decreased by 2 levels.

The control over the undead declines.

The power of the dead is weakened by 651.

The affiliation with the necromancer guild has turned into ignorance and strife.>

Sculptor master!

Though his health points declined, the necromancer only provided the 10% bonus effect which wasn’t significant.

In terms of mana, there was an increase of 50% but now he was unable to spam skills as he wished, which was a big turndown.

The impact of quitting being a necromancer didn’t end there.

*Blink!*

– The blessing of the goddess Freya is bestowed upon you.
– You are rid of all abnormal conditions and have reached the maximum physical status.

<The artist.

You had strayed from your path for a moment but you have now regained my favour.

Blessing of beauty and prosperity will be with you on the righteous path.

Faith has increased by 20.

Charisma and charm have increased by 10.

You are bestowed overflowing health points for a month.

The recovery rate of health points is increased by 60%.

Nearby allys will recover 20% faster.

The quality of cooking materials will turn into the finest when touched by your hand.>

Weed was enjoying the moment.

*Blink!*

<The blessing of the goddess Hestia is bestowed upon you.
You have acquired the blessing of fire which purifies all that is wrongful.
Hestia congratulates you on escaping from the dreadful darkness and has granted blessing on you.
Special attacks from dark type monsters are negated by holy power by up to 50%.
The power of fire type spells is permanently increased by 3%.>

…..

<The blessing of Ahtrok is bestowed upon you.>

<The blessing of Batalli is bestowed upon you.>

<The blessing of Tiron is bestowed upon you.>

<The blessing of Lugh is bestowed upon you.>

Necromancer…

It was a job class hated by the gods with a passion.

Baraball with a pale face put his hand up and pointed to the door.

“This place is a precious space only permitted to necromancers. Please leave at once.”

It was a cold attitude that made him realize the friendship that had been sustained until now had been blown into dust.

*****

The next location Weed visited was the warrior guild.

A warrior guild was located in each of the 5 town squares of Morata and it was always full of users that were receiving job commissions or trying to learn new skills.

“We welcome your visit. Honorable emperor, your highness!”

“We of the iron shield guild promise eternal loyalty to the emperor.”

The moment he entered the guild, the guards and warriors comprised of citizens shouted loudly.

Weed’s popularity from his honor was that much!

“Wha, what is this?”

“It’s Weed-nim. Weed-nim is here!”

The hundreds of users within the warrior guild also caused a huge commotion.

For the Morata users, they saw Weed occasionally sculpting and trading at the town square.

He looked ordinary but he was a man of authority over the Versailles continent!

Even the majority of late starters in Morata liked Weed.

“Hurray for the Arpen empire!”

“Weed-nim. I love you!”

Weed walked towards the steps and waved his hand lightly.

He could hear so many shouting voices that it was hard to make them out, but a few of them struck his heart.

“We are grateful for the investments. We fixed our house for free thanks to you!”

“…..”

“You spent all your money for our well-being… You really are the best Weed-nim!”

“…..”

“Please take good care of us. Govern over us just as you are doing now!”

“…..”

Weed realized how sad and regretful it was to be respected by the users.

‘This is why they say you live longer when people curse at you. It meant that you will die of emotional disorder from taking compliments.’

Ancient sayings were indeed taken to heart only when experienced firsthand.

*****

30 minutes later, a post came up in the Royal Road discussion board.

Title: Black dragon is done for.

*Shiver*

Most of us know what the characteristics of the sculpting class is. Excruciatingly low health points and slow increase in combat skills proficiency…

It is unqualified for just about any combat skill, and is always undermined wherever.

“Anyone can be a sculptor. But, none can become like Weed.”

“Become a sculptor. Then, advance to any other job. You will experience the highest level of satisfaction.”

“Weed is the most successful sculptor and simultaneously, an excessively all-around character.”

Looking back, the sculptor class acted as a safetynet so that the tyrant and God of War Weed could not go on rampage as much as he was capable of.

That very Weed… He has just advanced into a warrior in Morata.

You don’t understand what that means?

You say he mastered the sculptor so he could reasonably advance into a warrior?

Warrior Weed…

Doesn’t it ring a bell yet?

Enormous amount of comments were posted immediately.

– Seriously. Weed-nim became a warrior?
– This was a long post but it can be reduced to just two words: Warrior Weed.
– Warrior Weed. Darn. That is scary.
– That’s insane. This is the end.
– The dragon will be diced.
– I watched Weed-nim fight as I followed him nearby about 6 months ago. This reminds me of that time again.
– Oh. The guy above me. He must be high level. He posted his level 450 armor in a previous post.
– Explain Weed-nim’s battle in detail! But, that’s actually pretty common to see in recordings.
– No. The broadcasts and the recordings are only a fraction of the real deal, and it is a whole other dimension up close in person. I cannot explain in detail but I will try anyway. It is not just a matter of flying around, but it is flashy and spectacular… As if he moves without any rest. The battle doesn’t progress rapidly, but is more like an inevitable tidal wave that rolls into shore while he rides the current. Not a thought comes to mind and you must unconditionally move quickly to keep up, he is just unbelievably quick.

Then soon enough, I realized that what I did and called hunting in the past cannot be considered hunting and fell into despair.

– They say it’s extremely tiresome if you hunt with Weed-nim in a party… That seems to be true.
– Legend says that even the rankers spit blood and ran away.
– His past was comparably weaker sculptor or a tailing necromancer with his hands tied to his back.
– Warrior… I think he would still need time to adjust to it. The combat style of warriors is surely different from the sculptor.
– What is that supposed to mean? There was a time when Weed-nim was temporarily a warrior.
– What? When was this?
– His days as the Great king of the desert. The days when he erected the Pallos empire and wreaked havoc over the continent.

*Shiver*

– Well, that’s the end. Period.
– The Hermes guild are long gone now running.
– Destruction of Royal Road ecosystem imminent.
– Bard Ray’s head is implanted on the ground right now.

Chapter 1: Southern Desert

Weed arrived at the desert city Chakmark through Yurin’s Painting Transportation technique. Instead of a town square, an emerald oasis spread across the heart of the city.

“Hookah for sale. For adults only!”

“Looking for someone who will buy a large volume of spices! Those with city contribution points can buy a lot!”

“Buying and selling leather. Feel free for a consultation if you have something in mind.”

“Scimitar-specialized shop. We only deal with scimitars.”

Roughly a hundred users were roaming about in the town square. Merchants that set up their shops in the hot sunlight all huddled under a large parasol.

“Hmm. It should be around here somewhere.”

Weed turned towards the back alley of the town square corner and moved quickly. Kaybern was destroying a city every week and monsters were multiplying rapidly.

“Where is Olson?”

“That old bat? He would be at the tallest sand hill in the east.”

“Is it easy to spot?”

“That’s the place where you can see the sunrise from the east. He should be tending sheep nearby. They’re very chubby.”

He acquired information about Olson from the townsfolk and exited the city, finding the sandhill. An old man was smoking hookah, gazing at the sun from the mountain-like sand hill! Weed changed his adventurer attire into armor and equipped the Loa sword on his waist. In order to quickly build friendship, it was best to take an appearance which the other party favored. Seoyoon had informed Weed that Olson was extremely selective of the people he converses with.

“I have come to hear about the story of the strongest warrior.”

“Kehehe. They all think that my stories are gibberish.”

Olson’s body was covered with scars. There was even a large bite mark that spanned from his shoulder to his stomach.

“I do not think so. You seem to be a desert warrior with a spectacular past.”

“Keul-keul-keul. Throwing around such flattery won’t make me talk to an outsider who is not a man of the desert.”

“The burns and scars on your body. Aren’t they from battling against the fire lizard?”

In the desert, it was often easy to open a conversation with topics like weapons, monsters, and battles.

“I never thought someone could think of the fire lizard just by looking at the scars.”

“I am quite fond of fire lizards as well. They’re not easy to cook but once you roast them so that the outside is crisp, it is very delicious. Especially amazing when you bite away at the chewy meat with all the oil dripping.”

“Fire lizards aren’t sold in the market… H, have you caught a fire lizard before?”

“I roasted a lot of them. I also love the clear boiled soup. It would have been nice to make wine out of them… But I never got to try, due to lack of time. As disappointing as it is, please try a sip of this.”

Weed handed Wilson some of his alcohol brewed from camel breastmilk.

“Keeuh… That is a spectacular taste. I’ve never tasted anything like it. Alright, young one. What do you think a warrior needs to survive in this world?”

Olson’s gaze was sharp as though he was preparing for an upcoming battle. They were engaged in  conversation, but it was also a form of a test! If Weed’s response were to be displeasing, it would mean an end to the conversation.

“A sword. Just a sword is enough”

“Same goes for me. When I was young, I roamed everywhere with my trusty sword.”

Olson spoke about his past of roaming the deserts. He mentioned several cities, dungeons, and famous tribes.

“They say it’s a barren desert, but there is unbelievably rich land to the south.”

“Are you referring to the rainy region?”

“Hah. You are aware in the history of the desert.”

“Not so much the history… Well, I certainly remember it.”

In his days as the Great King of the desert. He remembered passing through the desert of silence and bringing rain over the area.

“People who have been to Metafeia are rare.”

“It is a nice place.”

“Oh-ho… Do you know of the shortcut to finding the mirage?”

“You have to penetrate through the sandstorm.”

Weed smoothly passed the test through the exchange of conversation and built additional friendship. He was able to get along in a short time based on his experiences of battles in the desert and his adventures. These folks were far easier to interact with when compared to treacherous mages always in desire of compensation. Olson emptied all the drinks and spoke solemnly.

“My blazing days of youth in my life had passed long ago. The sword technique that lit up the hearts of warriors have been buried away in the rough sands, a past long forgotten.”

“…..”

“Young warriors try to restore the memories of the Pallos empire once again… But warriors are not powerful as they used to be. The desert’s history is meant to be written by warriors.”

“I agree with you.”

“It is easier said than done. The sword techniques wielded by past warriors were truly powerful. Can you obtain such a sword technique and show it to me?”

*Blink!*

<The desert’s ancient sword technique.
Olson the drunk likes to hear stories about warriors.
Bring bring the sword technique invented by the desert warriors and show it to him.
Then, he will tell you about the old stories.

Difficulty: D
Reward: He will tell a story equivalent to the level of the sword technique.>

“Alright. I will bring to you such a sword technique.”

< Quest has been accepted. >

A matter of course, Weed had already acquired a sword technique of the desert warrior.  The most powerful skill of them all!

“Actually, I already know a sword technique of the desert warrior… May I show it off?”

“Keuk. My expectations are higher than you think. Don’t think you’ll get away with showing off a lame sword…”

“Lava river!”

The sandhill split apart as Weed swung his sword. Crimson lava surged up explosively and released heat in all directions.

The most powerful desert warrior skill left by Hestiger.

“T, this is…”

“Is this enough?”

“Enough. Enough indeed! To see such a magnificent sword technique in my lifetime… I was unaware that you were carrying on the will of the great!”

*Blink!*

<Desert’s Great sword technique complete.

You have brought forth a sword technique regarded as a legendary skill by all of the desert warriors. Olson shall willingly share all of his stories.>

< Prestige increased by 5,300. >

< You have obtained experience. >

The meeting with Olson was the foundation in the process of acquiring the higher class of the warrior.

‘She said this will only be the start.’

Seoyoon, whilst busy with governing over the Arpen Empire, looked over the desert regions in a meticulous fashion.  There were approximately a hundred users that completed Olson’s quest, and they heard a variety of stories. For Geomchi72, the story he was rewarded with after the completion of Olson’s quest was a great help.

“Your sword technique is excellent, but it’s missing the heat of the desert. Long ago, the legendary warriors wielded the power of the sun and fire. Presently, there is rarely anyone who knows about it. Hmm, hmm…”

Seoyoon categorized the keywords spoken by Olson and concluded that there could be a connection to the desert warrior, hidden warrior class or the warrior of the sun.

*****

Bard Ray mastered the dark knight and was deciding on his next job class.

- Weed advanced to the warrior class!

The new job class had to consider the battle with Weed.

‘Warrior. It’s a safe pick overall.’

Bard Ray mastered the dark knight but excluded summoning or magic from his consideration.

‘Currently, my stat points are optimized to the dark knight. I cannot readily switch out equipment like Weed does.  It is also reckless to start practicing magic from the very beginning.’

Bard Ray used a long-range teleport and crossed over to the Northern continent.

It was a territory of the Arpen Empire, but he thought that he wouldn’t be noticed easily with a change in helm and armor. Morata’s ice dragon town square! There was an ice dragon sculpture made from ice, and the place was crowded with users.

“Selling green chili, makes your dish a savory one when used as an ingredient.”

“I sculpt! Sculptures! From your own face to souvenirs! Glacial dragon sculptures are only 1 gold each!”

“Take a bull for the road. Good for traveling, also perfect for transporting luggage!”

“Morata special wine. Take just one sip at the hunting grounds. Two sips and you will shift away from hunting.”

There were users selling various products at the town square.

‘A refreshing feeling after a long time.’

Bard Ray stood still and observed the users marketing miscellaneous goods.

In the Central continent, the users usually sold expensive weapons or armors. Cheap products did not make sufficient profit, and many novice players had left to the Northern continent.

‘I guess there is enjoyment like the pioneer days of Royal Road. I now understand why Lafaye said that the Haven Empire will progressively become more troubled, by witnessing this lively atmosphere firsthand.’

Countless concepts passed through Bard Ray’s mind. He had visited the Northern continent before in order to complete a hunting achievement, but at that time most of the continent was just a frozen chunk of land. Over the time he remained in the hunting grounds, the continent underwent a huge transition.

“Oh? Isn’t that Bard Ray?”

“Yeah. It is Bard Ray.”

The passing users recognized Bard Ray standing idle too easily.

‘What, how… Weed roamed the Central continent without being noticed.’

Bard Ray felt depressed momentarily. He broke away from the murderer status after hunting diligently, but for him to be caught so easily.

“Wow. It is Bard Ray.”

“That’s crazy! Bard Ray has appeared!”

Users looking like they were fresh in Royal Road began to crowd around him.

‘Human-wave attack? This is Morata. That means they are all my enemy.’

Bard Ray felt his life threatened. He thought there was nowhere for him to run, but then. The novice users took out papers.

“Give me an autograph.”

“Excuse me?”

“Bard Ray-nim. Can you give me just one autograph?”

“This is so cool. I was also a fan of Bard Ray-nim. I love Weed-nim and Bard Ray-nim the most.”

“I hate the Hermes guild, but I don’t really have anything against you personally.

For a long time, Bard Ray was the representation of Royal Road.

He appeared on broadcast many times and conquered dungeons and hunting grounds along with the elite guards of the Hermes guild. It resulted in Northern users crowding around to get an autograph from Bard Ray.

“What’s your name…?”

“Mmm. You can put down Grass Porridge Yamnyam.”

Bard Ray bewildered, signed several autographs.

“Now. Everyone get a hold of yourselves! We are citizens of the Arpen Empire.”

Someone shouted.

‘Of course, this is what I expected.’

Bard Ray was mentally preparing for the inevitable battle.

“Get in line. Do not forget the pride of the Arpen Empire and do not cut in line!”

The users that were wildly scrambling around him began to form an extensive line in an orderly manner.

*****

“In the desert, there exists a tribe with a bewildering sword technique like the blazing sun.”

As the quest was completed, Olson explained about the tribe once came across.

“What does it take to meet them?”

“I have no idea. However, I know how to gain their recognition. That is to destroy the sandstorm in the Desert of Tranquility. It is no ordinary sandstorm. It is the Eye of the Sun that must be destroyed.”

“Hmm. I see.”

The Eye of the Sun!

The sandstorm that brews in the Desert of Tranquility was called by several names among the townsfolk. The Eye of the Sun was said to be the largest and most dangerous one of them all.

“I’m putting it out there, but this is a reckless achievement. So, it does not scratch a warrior’s pride to turn it down.”

*Blink!*

< Prove your strength.

The massive sandstorm that arises in the Desert of Tranquility, the Eye of the Sun!

Battle and defeat the storm that has never been overcome since the Great Emperor of the Desert!

If this historical achievement as a warrior is accomplished, the Sun Tribe, renowned as the most powerful tribe in the desert, will appear before you.

However, with the exception of a single sword, no armor or consumables can be used to defeat the storm.

Difficulty: A

Requirements: Job class Warrior.

Beholder of the desert sword technique.

Reward: Meeting with the Sun Tribe. >

For Weed, the Desert of Tranquility was a familiar place.

“To battle against the Eye of the Sun and defeat it…”

There was an instance back when he was the Great King of the Desert and slashed down a storm. Rank A difficulty is not too difficult, but not easy either. Of course, there was always the risk of death even for difficulties lower than rank C depending on the situation, and factors like natural disasters could never be foreseen.

“Well, it will be quite tedious but I will prove my strength.”

< Quest has been accepted. >

*****

The next location that Weed headed for was Metafeia! Unfortunately The Eye of the Sun shows up randomly. He had no time to spare for him to wait blindly, but he had an important quest he needed to take care of during his stay at the desert.

The Fallen in the Desert

In the endless sand desert lies the vast glory of the Pallos Empire. The desert warriors spared their powers for the revival of the great empire. The glory and fighting spirit that runs through the blood of its warriors. Those who strive in the desert all wait for the true champion to appear and walk the path of the Great King. Merge the wishes and willpower of the desert warriors into one. If thee who passed the test of the desert call for them, the deserts will gladly unsheathe their conserved swords and follow thy command.

< Difficulty: S
Desert Quest.
Reward: May lead to the epic ‘The Birth of Pallos Empire’.
Quest Requirements: The recognition from the historical desert warrior.

This was a quest that Weed received from the documents left by Hestiger. He learned well through Geomchi3 how this quest would unfold afterwards.

The Birth of the Pallos Empire
The great desert has been united as one. Valiant warriors, it is time to escape the sands of murderous heat. Let us return to the place with the glory of the Pallos Empire, the lands with flowing rivers and grass. The one to conquer the most territory shall be named Emperor of Pallos Empire. A maximum time span of 1 year is given.>

Difficulty: Conquer the region

Reward: Emperor of the Pallos Empire.

Quest Requirements: Limited to desert warriors. >

Pallos Empire that unites the southern desert region!

There weren’t many desert users, but as the Northern and Central Continent were united, so the Southern Continent must follow.

“The great empire that rules over a Continent… Not half bad. Anyways, the Unicorn Corp. promised cash prize when I unite the entire Versailles Continent.”

The victor of the Versailles continent!

The Unicorn Corp. had promised to pay a hefty amount of prize money upon the unification of the continent.

In truth, prestigious guilds in the past each cried for the unification of the continent which was sought as the reason for war. If Arpen did not rise in the Northern Continent, the prize money would have all been that of the Haven Empire.

‘I never thought that this could fall under my possession.’

Gallop!

Weed obtained the rare two-hump camel from the village and rode ferociously towards the Desert City Barang. Normally he would have conserved the money, but time was of the essence due to Kaybern. After the stellar amount of money was poured into the internal affairs, he became more bold in his spendings. Maybe not up to 200 won, but around he could afford expensive salt around 100 won.

< Title ‘The one who walked the Desert of Tranquility has been activated. >

Movement speed in the Desert of Tranquility is increased by 45%. Under the influence of Petra’s Grace, the arrival time at the Legendary Oasis will be shortened tenfold. >

“Giddy-up! Run wildly!”

The two-hump camel he purchased from the village ran at fearsome speed. It climbed over the hill in an instant and sped across the endless ocean of sand.

“Let’s head to the Legendary Oasis!”

Due to the achievement of walking through the Desert of Tranquility, the path through the Oasis was much quicker.

< You are in lightning wind speed. When sprinting in a straight line without change in direction, you will gain 38% additional acceleration. The speed of running through obstacles is increased. >

– Neigh!

“Yes. Run. Faster!”

As Weed galloped across the desert, a whisper arrived.

– Mapan: Weed-nim! Bard Ray has appeared in Morata.

The sand desert spanned endlessly under the blazing sun, and this was an eye-popping news.

“Is it a surprise attack? What is their troop count?”

– Mapan: No, it is not. I think he’s alone! He himself says that he is just visiting, but he has been caught despite a disguise.

“Is that true?”

- Mapan: Yes. The merchants at Morata are searching, but they haven’t identified any suspicious users.

Weed was rather surprised at Bard Ray’s audacity. Truthfully, he never thought of restricting common Hermes Guild users from accessing the North.

‘If he went to kill people, he would also be dead in return. If maybe he secretly completes a quest… Well, he would spend money there so it’s not too bad, is it?’

Even so, for the best of all Versailles Continent to show up!

“How is the situation?”

– Mapan: The users are getting autographs. Bard Ray is a celebrity no matter the circumstances.

“So, a war did not break out.”

– Mapan: That would be so, up until this moment.

Bard Ray was the most popular man on Royal Road aside from Weed. He was a public figure with the nickname God Warrior and there was rarely anyone that did not hear of him.

– Mapan: What should I do? Should I assemble a combat force to kill Bard Ray?

“A combat force…”

– Mapan: If it is by Weed-nim’s command, the users will enlist instantly. There are many that hold a grudge against Bard Ray.

Weed felt disinclined. If Bard Ray were to die, his level and skill proficiency would decline, but not to a noticeable degree. He would long be criticized for his cowardly plans to get rid of his competitor and moreover, he did not want glory to be in the hands of another user.  The one to kill Bard Ray will gain a worldwide reputation. The legitimacy of the Arpen Empire that even rules over the Central continent exists because of the battle against the Hermes Guild and defeating Bard Ray.

“Just leave him alone.”

– Mapan: What… Are you really going to let him go like that? For treading on Morata?

“I will show him mercy.”

A word that was never thought to be pronounced by Weed!

– Mapan: What in the world, mercy?

“I just need one thing in compensation.”

*****

Bard Ray was surrounded by thousands of users like a caged monkey in a zoo at Morata, stuck signing autographs for several hours. He was anxious that at any moment, the huge group of high-level users from the Arpen Empire could wage a battle against him. However, there was seemingly no movement of an attack force.

‘Is he leaving me be? After I have intruded in his territory?’

Filled with anxiety and nervousness, Bard Ray continued signing autographs.

“Wow. So handsome.”

“He’s good-looking up close. He has that atmosphere too.”

Much time had passed! A merchant who introduced himself as Kickback Money approached him and spoke.

“Give me one of the equipment that you are wearing.”

“Equipment?”

“You don’t want to? Weed-nim said to spare you if you give up one of your equipments. If you don’t pay proper respect, I cannot guarantee what will happen here.”

Bard Ray sighed at the words of the merchant with a full-blown stomach. Morata was an unimaginably dreadful place. For the God warrior and ex-Emperor to be bullied for his pockets.

“Here it is.”

Bard Ray gave up the shoulder cauldron that was imbued with flight, illusion magic, instant acceleration and invisibility.

“Oh. What an insane item!”

Kickback Money jiggled his fat cheeks in joy and then bowed with respect.

“Have yourself a nice day. Dinner at Foghorn restaurant is delicious.”

“I… got it.”

*****

The city chosen by Reverse when he logged into Royal Road was Morata.

“K-hmm. I am most familiar with this place over any other ones. This is the glacial dragon town square.”

Doctor Yoo Byungjoon. He had in-depth knowledge about Royal Road that he himself created and observed, so the other cities were not part of his consideration.

“Indeed, the world that I have created is a beautiful place.”

Reverse took a deep breath. The winds were pure and refreshing and the sky was beautiful with blue colors. From fountains spewing clean water to the marbles decorating the town square floor were all elegant. Splendid stone buildings were built on the streets and the Tower of Light and the Goddess Statues of Freya stood high in sight.

“This is Royal Road. The best scenery picked by beginners.”

The world was very different from what it seemed through the monitor. The sensations through his entire body, to be able to move firsthand and take notice in strangers passing by. The display stands opened up by merchants were lively. Reverse sat by the fountain and observed the people.

“Shield of the Haven Imperial Army! 27 durability left, sold as is!”

“Venison hunted on my own. I can teach how to cook barbecue and will give away salt.”

“Selling equipment below level 130 all at once. I leveled so much recently, so I am selling these as I got a new set. I am selling them very cheap.”

“I have an unidentified medicinal bottle. I acquired it at the war, but I cannot identify it.”

He toured around the town square, but he felt emptiness in the corner somewhere in his heart. In the real world, he was the richest man. But what he had in his current possession was 10 wheat bread and water.

“This is why people spend real money.”

Reverse could understand right away. Eating good food, wearing nice equipment was natural desire. If one does not want to spend real money, they can work at a shop or earn money by doing quests. However, Reverse was looking for something on a higher plain.

“Weed did it… Who’s to say that I can’t?”

He decided to begin in Royal Road, but the reason for the delayed log-in was because he thought it was lame. He had vast knowledge about Royal Road and watched the history of the rankers, so to speak.

‘I can easily become powerful just by following their paths.’

He was confident in growing overwhelmingly faster than anyone.

‘Quest? What’s so difficult about that? I can consider on whether to do or not do based on related information. Then I just have to carry out what I decided on.’

Reverse headed to the training arena at leisure.

‘Should I copy Weed for the time being? I am not too fond of it, but he is the best right now…’

Morata’s training arena! The area for swinging wooden swords was filled with users. After Weed became Emperor, the training arenas became popular. An instructor saw Reverse and approached him.

“You have come to learn the sword! The sword is the most efficient way of controlling your own body and defeating the enemy.”

“I know.”

Reverse cut off the instructor’s words and stood in front of a dummy.

‘I just need to strike this for 4 weeks. It is boring but easy.’

*Smack! Smack! Smack!*

Only 5 minutes had passed and his body was fatigued. He acquired a completely new body after he joined Royal Road. He felt refreshing as he was no longer in a body of an old man, but his entire body gradually tired out as his stamina depleted.

30 more minutes passed.

‘I have to do more. If I keep this up I will gain a stat…’

He held on by his pride from the life he lived up until now. Fatigue accumulated, his arms and legs shook violently. On top of that, he was hungry. Reverse wanted to throw the wooden sword away at any moment.

‘Such a challenging routine. Why? How did Weed accomplish this?’

Chapter 2: Dragon’s Attack

Miliam Fortress.

The users standing on the fort walls could see the monster horde tainting the earth black as they advanced. The ground shook with the monsters’ movements.

“Ugh… Those things are coming to attack.”

“They’re unstoppable.”

Many users had not yet returned since they all marched to the Garnav Plains. The current number of users at Miliam Fortress was approximately 5,000.

Compared to the usual number of over 30,000 active users around the fortress, it had significantly declined.

– Kuoooo!
- Shred human flesh, consume them!

At the frontline of the monster horde was a creature named Butcher.

The boss of a horrifying dungeon in the level 700s. He had a grotesque form and black skin.

*Crumble!*

Butcher smashed the fort wall with his double-edged axe.

Each time, an ear-piercing thundering noise echoed and a fraction of the wall collapsed.

“We don’t have a chance here. We must run too.”

“That’s a good idea.”

The users of Miliam Fortress scrambled out through the rear gate.

– Kill all the humans!

The monsters quickly approached the walls that Butcher had destroyed.

They climbed the walls relentlessly, each with 8 long furry legs.

Some monsters dug underground and surged from inside the fortress. The users that did not get away in time were slaughtered.

< Miliam Fortress was overrun.

The national prestige of the Arpen Empire is decreased by 2.

The loyalty level and security of citizens near Miliam Fortress is decreased greatly.

The activity of monsters near these regions will become more frequent. >

The Arpen Empire had gained control of Miliam Fortress in the Central Continent and lost it to monsters within a week. National prestige spreads influence to various areas including foreign affairs, special products, and knights’ royalty level.

Savant Village.

Anton Fortress.

City Soven.

These locations fell under the hands of monsters in just a single day.

Kaybern’s activity disturbed a large number of monsters and the Versailles Continent was swamped.

*****

“It is an honor to meet you. Weed-nim!”

“Mmm… It would be pleasant if I am promoted to a knight of the Arpen Empire.”

“It is great to meet you at a place like this. I was deeply impressed by the quest Great King of the Desert. If Weed-nim had not come to the desert, I also would have been absent.”

Barang.

It was the capital of the desert. Weed commenced negotiations in a place filled with excellent users. The goal was to accept them under the Arpen Empire and acknowledge the individual tribes. He was worried that some of these tribes may have alternative ambitions, but the users of the desert region did not go against it.

“Ha-ha. Weed-nim spends all his fortune to upgrade the regions. Please develop the desert like you did for the Central Continent!”

“K-ugh.”

“How much funding are you going to invest in the desert? It would be nice to have a large river that runs through the desert.”

“A river…”

“An amusement park! Build an amusement park, so that a lot of people will visit!”

Weed’s popularity was at its peak even in the desert!

Geomchi and the apprentices decided to completely merge into the Arpen Empire without a single doubt.

They even wanted to hand over the control over their associate warriors and tribe members.

“Being a man is all about trust. Loyalty.”

“Of course. You never know when you’re going to die. We must live admirably.”

Weed sighed quietly as he observed the tribe members brought forth by the apprentices.

“To think that it was this big of a mess.”

Geomchi and the other apprentices did not pay any attention to internal affairs. They were merely fetching food each time they thought that the members were going to starve to death. The security level of the desert region was quite low and had a low level of  technology. Weed was taking on a poor tribe that had no concept of possessions. Weed sent a whisper to Mapan.

“Please deliver food supplies and necessities to the desert as soon as possible.

– Mapan: The cost of food supplies are increasing due to Kaybern. What is the quantity needed?

Weed quickly scanned his surroundings. He saw an endless number of people sitting on the sand. The desert tribe members with camels and sheep spanned beyond the sand hill.

“I need consistent amount for  feeding about 100,000 people. Can you make the delivery?”

– Mapan: That is possible. However, Weed-nim. I believe that currently, you have insufficient funds…

“Can you put that on a tab?”

– Mapan: Tab works. But at a 3% interest weekly.

“Let’s not put that kind of thing between us…”

– Mapan: Weed-nim once said, give what you need to give and take what you have to. That is a long-lasting relationship.

“You have excellent memory.”

– Mapan: Also, you said there is no such thing as family when it comes to money.

“…”

Weed could not afford put it on credit and instead agreed to hand over the equipment gained from the Hermes Guild members at the Garnav Plains battle.

< A vast territory with numerous tribes supporting you. You have the 7th highest influence since the birth of the Pallos Empire. >

The 1st and 2nd places for influence were Geomchi and Geomchi2, and they were hunting in the north together with their girlfriends. The unification of the southern desert region was as good as decided already.

Geomchi smirked as he spoke.

“Youngest one, where are you headed to now?”

“I have to make a trip to the North.”

There was a sign of the Eye of the Sun rising in the Desert of Tranquility. When the night of the desert turns red and a day or two passes, the Eye of the Sun forms and  creates a storm.

Weed could not wait idly at the Desert of Tranquility.

“Are you leaving the desert completely?”

“If the Eye of the Sun forms, I will come to destroy the storm and I will be able to meet the Sun Tribe.”

“The Sun Tribe… I’ve heard stories of them. They are the mightiest tribe in the desert.”

“Even if they may be, they wouldn’t be a match.”

“Of course. We are the best.”

*****

Bard Ray was able to get away after tediously signing autographs to users in Morata.

‘I must hurry. I am never coming back anywhere near Morata.’

The vast Northern Continent.

Kaybern led to multiplying monsters, making it a rare case for one to encounter other users in the field.

“Hey, let’s go.”

He rode on the bull he purchased in Morata and travelled straight North-west. Monsters that resided only inside of bizzare dungeons came across his way occasionally, but they posed little threat.

“Mana Sword.”

Secret skill of the Sword Technique. It summons a flying sword. As it flew, Bard Ray charged closely behind its tail.

The coward bull was astonished each time a monster appeared, but quickly came to realize that its owner was powerful. After that, it kicked its four legs in a ragingtempo.

Bard Ray couldn’t believe his own state of riding on a bull.

‘A cow instead of a horse… To think that I’d end up riding on it. Average speed is slower, but it passes through mud really well and it has great strength.’

The Northern bulls were exceptionally comfortable for riding. He had a lot of money which led him to buy an expensive bull. The Morata head merchant of the Mapan Association spoke.

“You know of Yellowy that Weed-nim rides? This one’s the 3rd generation. It’s the best breed! The downside is that it eats a ton, but it’s stamina and strength are extraordinary.”

He pretended to listen, but the more he traveled, the more he realized the truth of the head merchant’s words. If he let the bull loose for a bit, it consumed all the grass nearby and walked to the woods.

*Bang! Bang!*

It kicked a tree and snatched the fruits off the ground as they fell.

*Craaaaack!*

It would sometimes kick with too much force that even thick bulky trees would snap.

‘It gets scared way too easily, but would be amazing in combat. Though you don’t really rely on mounts the higher level you become.’

Bard Ray heard some news about the horse that he was riding until recently.

“Stuart is doing well.”

“Stuart?”

It was a legendary horse born from an extreme probability of one in several millions.

They roamed countless hunting grounds together, and he had lost the horse after being defeated by Weed.

“Ah. Maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned it. I thought you would have been curious. It is doing well on a ranch. It’s being fed a load of nutritious things and it has good relationships with the female horses. There are plains where horses can run freely even in the North, so I am planning to start breeding.”

In addition, he heard that there were many shepherds and ranch workers in Morata. The Emperor of Arpen Empire was a sculptor, so not a single job would be mistreated.

Bard Ray thought to himself as he rode the bull northwest.

‘I will definitely win the next battle. What’s more… Weed became a warrior? I also will become stronger.’

The farthest point northwest within the Northern Continent. The weather gradually turned colder as he passed through the Valley of Death and Purgol Fortress.

“Moooo.”

“Cover up with this.”

Bard Ray placed overa magic cloak with thermal functions on the bull.

If it was Weed, he would have said that the bull will grow used to the cold, but Bard Ray had a tender side. Conversely, he was merciless to his enemies during conquest.

He finally arrived at the village of the bulky barbarians.

“Halt. This is not a place for the average use5r.”

He had acquired this 1st-class information from the Hermes Guild. This village was the Barbarian village where he could advance into the Iron-Blood Warrior.

*****

Under the command of the dragon soldiers, the monster horde passing through the Varq Mountain Pass in order to attack human lands was constantly growing in numbers.

“Screek!”

“Croak. Creeek!”

There were many stray monsters roaming about, but the hordes sizeable enough to destroy fortresses and cities numbered11 groups.

4 hordes were gathering around Thor and one more was being assembled eat each of the Britten, Haven, and Tullen Regions.

For Haven, the powerful Hermes Guild was able to protect, but the rest required the protection of the Arpen Empire.

*Shwaaaah.*

Rain followed over the heads of the advancing monsters.

– The acidic level is low but it’s rotten. Contaminated rain is drizzling down. The plants of the continent are suffering or dying out.
- Why is this happening all of a sudden?
- The exact cause is unknown but we can make a plausible assumption. It seems to be due to Kaybern. It is likely a characteristic by the Black Dragon… We can speculate that he is spreading poison.

The great lords that each govern over a region announced that there was a phrase in the quest about Kaybern’s cursed rain, confirming the speculations to be true.

– The continental danger can only be stopped by defeating Kaybern or the monsters.
– The plants are all dying… This is terrible.
– Yes. Fortunately, I have received reports that the trees in the Elven Forest are not affected.

*****

– Humans are unworthy of living!

Black Dragon Kaybern appeared at the Free City of Somren after a week had passed.

It wasn’t the capital city of a kingdom, but it was both massive and industrial, a haven for many users.

“Agh. It’s a real dragon.”

“It’s tremendous.”

There was already an evacuation order in the Free City of Somren, which was already apart of the name Arpen Empire.

To proceed with abandoning the city, the citizens were allowed to take as much treasure or expensive goods as they could carry, much like they did in Castle Evaluk.

“We cannot protect you all. Evacuate this city at once!”

Seoyoon came in person and took charge of the evacuation plan, however this also had  a serious side effect.

“She is so pretty.”

“Really beautiful. Isn’t she unrealistically good-looking?”

“I am looking at her but I can’t believe it. She’s supposed to look even better in person… Sigh.”

The users were distracted and hesitant to leave!

Only after Seoyoon left the area the evacuation continued steadily.

Even so, it was impossible to move out everything and everyone that was inside the city within a single week. Approximately 20% of the users decided to remain. They chose to share the same fate as the city.

There were many users in the Free City of Somren that solely resided there since their days as a novice.

“Let’s attack!”

“Yes. Do not back down.”

Users stood on top of the buildings, firing arrows and magic spells at the dragon. Most could not reach and the few that could were unable to inflict any damage.

– Thick-headed fools!

Black Dragon Kaybern released a powerful skill, Dragon Fear.

Low level users perished instantly. Fear and paralysis effects activated for higher level users.

Kaybern flew over the Free City of Somren and slowly circled around it. Then it activated a magic spell.

– Burn without a trace to be left!

Dark clouds crowded and rained fire. It was a shocking sight as blazing fireballs fell down from the clouds onto the earth.

“No way.”

“There is nowhere to hide.”

The Rain of Fire was burning down the city.

Experiencing it firsthand was incomparable to seeing it on broadcast..

The city’s beautiful architecture fumed in black smoke and was set ablaze.

The buildings that were consumed by the flames soon lost their structure and crumbled down.

– I will erase all traces of human civilization!

The central square where sculptures and fountains were located were also stomped on and destroyed by Kaybern.

To protect the Free City of Somren and to see the last moments of their beloved home, the remaining users died alongside it.

The black smoke rising from the Free City of Somren could be seen from dozens of kilometers away.

<The Dragon’s Revenge

The Black Dragon Kaybern is on the move once again to destroy human civilization. The spirits and fairies are warning again.>

“A week later, Kaybern will be headed to Hillshade.”

Hillshade, the capital of the old Idern Kingdom. The city had high development level and many users owned houses there.

*****

Weed could not protect the Free City of Somren. He couldn’t die in vain, so he did not head over. But, he was heartbroken nonetheless.

It was like a smelly lizard putting its claws first on a steaming bowl of delicious rice.

“Slay all of those that intrude my lands!”

“Affirmative, Master!”

Weed moved to Vargo Fortress of the North and raised the undead.

The eleven hordes of massive monsters threatened Versailles Continent.

Four monster hordes led by draconic warriors were created in the North and had to be taken down before they could take over the city.

“Everyone fire your arrows!”

“Do not go outside the walls and hold your positions! We need to fight all night.”

Users gathered and prepared Vargo Fortress for the siege. The Northern Continent lacked proper fortresses. If a few regions are overrun, the monsters would spread out and stampede on the midsize villages that had been flourishing in development.

The plains were rather vast, so the damage at the crop fields could not be restored.

“I will snipe down the ones that are capable of ranged attacks.”

“It’s too unfortunate that I cannot use fire magic in the mountains. However, I have wind magic at my disposal!”

Pale and Romuna also participated.

After the Haven Imperial Army had been defeated, many high level users from the Central Continent roamed around the North.

Wyverns flew across the sky. Weedlings 1, 2 and 3 have arrived too and opened a tactical discussion.

“Combat is similar to trade. You earn by striking the monster’s rear.”

“Mmm. Let’s strip them off from head to toe.”

“These monsters would be delicious as broths.”

These clones were greedy procrastinators, but they diligently slayed monsters while on top of the fort wall. They were capable of wielding all types of weapons like swords, spears and axes. They also acquired a wide range of production skills.

As they reached level 580s, their physical abilities were powerful but sadly they could not utilize secret sword techniques or sculptural techniques.

‘I should train these goons well. They will be great as servants.’

Weed assessed the status of the sculptural creatures and led them to battle at the Vargo Fortress. Just by summoning the undead, he was able to fill both the offensive and defensive positions in such a battle.

“Dwarves get to forging arrows with those stacks of metal! You all won’t be sent out to battle until the fort walls are destroyed!”

“It’s annoying to have a human ordering us around.”

The Dwarves that resided near the Vargo Fortress were all present and clustered at the news of war. While the Dwarves did not like combat, they were a race that stood firm against invasions.

The newly arrived Dwarves spoke.

“That tall and scrawny lad over there is our emperor?”

“He’s just taller than us. He’s just average among other humans.”

“A mere human…”

“By the looks of him strolling around with the undead, the empire’s end is not too far from now.”

“As expected from the humans.”

They had a salty attitude towards the emperor!

Even with a respected status and high stats in charisma, honor, fame, and leadership it was no easy task controlling the obstinate Dwarves.

The Dwarves were a race that lived how they want no matter the kind of penalties it may bring to them.

Weed never received the proper respect due to an Emperor, but he did not wish to end on bad terms with the Dwarves just because of something superficial like pride.

“I will host a refreshing beer party with a big barbeque after the war, so get on with those arrows.”

“K-hmm. You should have offered sooner.”

“I was just about to get on those metal lumps.”

“A cold beer is best in cooling sweat from blowing bellows.”

“You are fit to be Emperor.”

The Dwarves instantly began forging steel arrows that could pierce through the monsters.

Weed was dependent on the walls of Vargo Fortress in fending off the monsters.

An upfront battle seemed viable with the support from the users, but he did not wish to cause any casualties without good reason.

‘This has to be a battle without any casualties if possible. It is a loss when someone dies.’

At any rate, he had to reduce losses as much as possible in order to collect more taxes for the Arpen Empire.

Weed shouted out an announcement.

– The wounded gather here! You will be treated with bandages, so get over here!

He ordered the undead to fight and provided breaks to the wounded.

He had experience in leading small forces of Rosenheim Kingdom soldiers and fought against orcs, dark elves and the immortal legion in the past.

“Bandages? Who is he kidding? Recovery spells do the trick.”

“Shh. Weed-nim only know how to spam curse spells. He doesn’t know how.”

“He’s good at any Intensive labor. But, it’s just bandages.”

Those that were hurt during battle were healed by the priests.  Sufficient forces from the Freya, Lugh and Minne churches were present in support of the Arpen Empire.

*****

The Avians that dream of freedom.

They that were born in the Floating City of Lavias roamed every corner of the Northern Continent.

– Arms: This is Eagle 17. Ground level, respond.
- Chirping bird: This is ground. Over.
- Arms: Monster horde spotted. Numbers estimated to be over 500. Classified as danger level 2.

The Avians scouted the movements of the monsters in the Northern Continent.

Though it could be difficult to spot them in the mountains or forests, they were always within sight of the recon squad once they came out to the plains.

– Arms: Current position is about a one-hour flight east from Persimmon Flower Village. Pirinae Mountain Pass is visible… Tri-sector of Nalrun Plains. I can see a small village in the direction of where the monsters are advancing.
- Chirping bird: That location… Let’s see. It is Sapia Pioneer Village. Arms: It looks to be in grave danger.
- Recon: We have no forces to dispatch due to the monsters in other regions. You may need to distract the monsters in another direction for over an hour. Arms. This is a dangerous mission. Can you do it?
- Arms: I am an ex-pilot of the US navy. Take your time. I will wait for reinforcement.

The chubby eagle descended close to the ground.

*Shwoooosh!*

A monster noticed the eagle and threw its axe, but the eagle lightly propelled its wings and avoided it.

“Try and follow my tail. You stupid goons!”

“Krrragh!”

The monsters were enraged and chased after the eagle.

*****

The Avians had developed a sense of pride from being Arpen Empire citizens since its beginning. Whenever a war broke out, they always took charge of the sky and they trusted Weed.

– Pallawu: Brothers. Celebrate. Weed-nim built us a hot spring this time.
- Dotin: Hot spring?
- Pallwu: Lavias is cold now because of the latitude. Especially when the winds are cold, it’s no joke. Back in Morata I told him that we could really use a hot spring.
- Kin: So?
- Pallawu: Weed-nim promised to build one for us. I thought he just said it to slide by the moment… But, he did remember that and made one for us this time around.
- Synth: That’s amazing. I’m a beginner that just came out of the egg, and I’m broke so I can’t go… I will surely use it in the future.
- Pallawu: There is no fee for using the hot spring. It’s a facility created for the Avians so we don’t shiver in the cold.
- Benjamin: K-ugh. I swear my loyalty! Forever loyal! As expected of Weed-nim.

Of course, Weed had long forgotten such promise. If he did build it himself, he would have collected entrance fees and even would have plucked their feathers if they didn’t have enough money!

Seoyoon had remembered that promise and kept it when she commenced the massive investment in the Arpen Empire.

In Lavias, the great landmark Wind Nest was being constructed simultaneously.

Chapter 3: Defense of the Monsters

Under the blue sky over Vargo Fortress, Bingryong was in flight with its wings spread wide. Its icy skin reflected the sunlight and displayed a flourishing wave of colours.

“Bingryong has arrived!”

“Reinforcements!”

The Elves and the Barbarians that were protecting the walls of Vargo Fortress and the nearby hunters cheered.

*Booom!*

The huge impact of its landing shook the fort wall that was quite a distance away.

“Tsk. A creature modeled after the great Kaybern-nim… Kill it!”

The draconic warrior that was leading the monsters gave the command. Then, the monsters that were attacking the Vargo Fortress changed target and charged at Bingryong.

< Winter’s Root >

Bingryong activated a magic spell.

Nearby monsters gradually froze, starting at their feet.

< Glacial Blade >

Bingryong flung its foreleg and a blade of ice about 20 meters long flew across, striking the monsters all at once.

“Kugh!”

“It’s extremely powerful.”

When Bingryong was first born, it had such low strength and stamina that it could barely move, and its magic was insignificant.

It was an inherent flaw of life bestowal. It was so disappointing that Weed restricted himself from animating large creatures for quite some time.

However, after steady growth, it demonstrated a combat level fit for representing the sculptural creatures, thanks to its ice and magic attributes.

“Scatter and attack!”

Monsters regrouped around Bingryong. There were at least several hundred, but they struggled with the temperature change as they got closer to Bingryong.

The cold winds that could only be felt in the winter mountains caused the temperature to fall, and their feet froze to the ground with every step.

< Cold Fog >

Bingryong activated another magic spell and a thick fog hazed among the monsters.

An ice magic spell that blocks vision and lowers temperature.

< Blizzard >

Bingryong did not desire close combat unlike the Black Dragon Kaybern. Since its birth, it stuck to a hunting style that prioritized utmost safety.

If it were like any other situation, it would have not even descended to ground level where the monsters were present. Fighting moderately from above fit its cautious and passive personality.

“Go down to the ground, and fight.”

Weed’s thought process for this command was questionable. When Bingryong asked, he answered in the same peculiar manner.

“The dolls modeled after you are selling really well nowadays. Bingryong skateboards and tricycles for kids are ready for launch too. Shouldn’t you appear on broadcast more often at a time like this?”

Bingryong was always among the top 5 most popular sculptural creatures!

Bingryong hastily activated the most advanced spell in its arsenal.

The blizzard swept the monsters from within the dense fog, immediately killing those with low magic resistance.

Then…

Bingryong took a deep breath and…

Bingryong his breath swept over the entire horde.

Starting from the closest monsters,  all of the enemies froze solid in a chain reaction!

“That’s enough for now!”

Bingryong flew up into the sky without any regrets after hearing the voice of its master.

The monsters that died revived as undead with chunks of ice still stuck to their bodies.

< You have acquired experience. >

< You have acquired experience. >

< You have acquired experience. >

…

< Heroic Combat Achievement!
The loyalty of Vargo Fortress citizens is increasing. >

Weed took charge of the siege war against the monsters and swept up experience points.

The efficiency was 3 or 4 times higher than hunting in dungeons, and it was also great for building prestige and combat achievement.

Aside from Undead Summoning, arrows fired from the high grounds of the fort wall pierced straight through the throats of monsters.

“Hmm. I think this side is pretty much wrapped up.”

Weed assured victory as he scouted over the field.

The monsters around level 500s and 600s had pushed aside the Undead and were battering away at the fort wall.

*Boom. Crash!*

The ones with enough force to shake the wall were focused and taken down one by one by the mages and archers.

“Hooray!”

“Killed ‘em. I did it!”

The morale of the defending users was at its highest.

Fundamentally, Vargo Fortress was a solid, strategic stronghold between the mountain pass. Furthermore, endless streams of Northern users joined the battle.

Whenever news of Weed in battle spread, users gathered like a swarm of bees!

They pushed back the monster legion in an intense battle at Vargo Fortress, and another battle was in progress further up the Northern region.

“Everyone, pull yourselves together!”

Seoyoon joined the battle with the gigantic sculptural creatures like King Hydra, Phoenix, Death Worm and the Countryside Snake.

Along with the Northern elite users that defeated the magic corps, they struck down the monsters on the cold plains.

It was not an easy battle and all the gigantic sculptural creatures except for Bingryong were mobilized.

– Eliminate them all.

The Baraags were responsible for handling the two streams of monsters heading for Castle Vent.

They were an excellent air force and reduced the monster count steadily by breathing fire. The users defending Castle Vent could see that the when the monsters had approached close to the wall, they have already been taken down to a third.

Moving away from the battles, there were many monsters roaming in the Northern Continent.

Excluding the major cities, there wasn’t a proper defense line of strongholds and fort walls. Therefore, the Avians and the architects combined their abilities.

“If the monsters were to approach, let’s start an avalanche.”

“That should be the way to do it, yes?”

“This is a rock mountain, so it should be very effective. If the plan works, we can buy some time.”

The architects and the novice users that had joined for the 2 gold payment, changed the terrain. They took advantage of the monsters’ tendency not to scout even in the mountains and collapsed a cliff.

Stronger monsters were less likely to die in the avalanche, but it would damage them and slow their movement speed.

“It’s fun around here.”

“It is quite a refreshing scent indeed. Quite giddy as well.”

The Central Continent users had ascended to the Northern Continent with expectations. Some of them enlisted and became knights of the Arpen Empire.

Upon being promoted to a knight, they had several other advantages like being able to accumulate honor and prestige, as well as contribution points.

Even if they had no money, they could become lords by accumulating contribution points. These users had faith in the future of the Arpen Empire and became knights as a long-term investment.

The Central Continent users eagerly participated in the battle and contributed to the protection of the Northern Continent.

“Let’s use the river here to our advantage.”

Architect Mibullo devised a daring plan.

The monsters had a tendency to not cross rivers as much as possible. They were alright with walking in shallow water, but hated swimming.

They used that fact and built a bridge, luring the monsters to tread on top of it.

“Kugh!”

“Kurrgh!”

The monsters marched proudly above the installed bridge.

They were relaxed and even enjoying the scenery, and that moment Mibullo activated his skill.

“Building demolition technique!”

The bridge crumbled instantly and the monsters were swept away by the current.

The Avians roamed the sky endlessly and scouted for any movement of monsters, luring them into a location that was advantageous for the users.

All the users of the Northern Continent were carrying out their own tasks.

“Bring it on scum!”

“Kaybern is stupid!”

Even so, some monsters that were difficult to crowd control were personally lured back by users on horses.

“How dare they insult Kaybern-nim. Go after them!”

The draconic warriors leading the monsters were loyal, but did not use their brains.

Vargo Fortress, Castle Vent, Morata, Varna and the Earth Palace!

The battles continued every day at these choke points in order to defend against the waves of monsters.

*****

Reverse unexpectedly got the chance to observe Weed from a close distance.

‘To meet Weed after Bard Ray in Morata, what are the chances? I mean, it was more surprising to see Bard Ray in the North, even though it was from considerable distance.’

Weed was patrolling the vital locations for defending against the monsters in the North.

Even in Morata, he stood on the peak of the fort wall and made a speech to the public. The content of the speech was ridiculous.

– Everyone, I have great news. The monsters are headed to this city. To offer us experience points and various collectibles. Leather, horns, meat!

“Leather, horns, meat!”

– Eat. Scavenge. Get rich!

“Eat. Scavenge. Get rich!”

The origin of the Grass Porridge Cult, the cradle of the Arpen Empire was Morata, and those members were obsessed fanatics. Anything Weed said, they would follow with zeal, as though they had been hypnotised.

Their behaviour was that which the leaders of all pseudo-religion Cult leaders around the world wished for.

“His abilities as an orator are extraordinary.”

Reverse stood at a distance and continued observing.

He was tired of whipping dummies, and such an event was a good spectacle to watch.

‘Those stupid dummies. It takes too much effort and I’m just fed up with this.’

*Rumbling!*

He was feeling hungry as well. That moment, a man with unbelievably thick belly fat approached him.

“Sir.”

“…..!”

Reverse thought that his identity was exposed when he was approached by a stranger.

Even within Unicorn Corp, there were only a handful of people who knew of him. But, that would still mean that he would have been revealed inevitably.

“Haha. It looks like you’ve just begun Royal Road. If you are hungry, would you care to eat this?”

The item that the man brought forth were grapes.

They were so ripe, the dark grapes were almost as if they were slick and shiny.

‘This is the Morata grape that I could only look at around the market!’

Reverse could not stop his mouth from watering despite his pride.

“Why are you offering this to me?”

“Pardon? It’s just helping out one another. This is the common culture in Morata.”

In Morata, if someone was in need of assistance, people willingly offered help no matter if they were novice users. There were well-spread theories that claimed the reason for the sudden growth of the Grass Porridge Cult was due to this culture created by novice players in Morata.

Compared to the Central Continent where users discriminated according to level and connections, users could experience the consideration and warmth of the people in Morata.

“If that is the case, I will gladly accept it.”

Reverse obtained grapes and convinced himself that this did not hurt his pride because this was the culture of Morata. He could taste the sweet and sour flavor upon placing a grape into his mouth, and that was the best thing he ever tastedin his life.

< You are consuming nutritious grapes.

Stamina recovery speed is increasing.

Strength is temporarily increased by 1. >

In the novice period, one was grateful for even the smallest change while eating.

‘Yes. How many years has it been since I last ate grapes? I must buy a few boxes right now.

I have no money in Royal Road, so I should in real life…’

Cocoa had already stacked up boxes of treats from all around the world and was picking away at them. From now on, he would collect and eat grapes as well.

Then, he heard the soft voice of the man.

“Sir. If you ever consider building a shack in the future, give me a call.”

“Huh…?”

“A man ought to have a home in Morata, no? At Mapan construction, we will take it upon ourselves to guide you through the process of construction.”

*****

Weed commanded the war at the fort walls of Port Varna after his patrol over at Morata.

He raised the Undead and heightened the morale of the users with his shouts.

– Retaliate, my subjects… Defend our territory!

“Fire wildly.”

“Use up all the arrows.”

Warriors, mages, fishermen, and merchants all fired arrows at the monsters from the top of the fort walls. To be shooting arrows on the swarm of monsters was also a great opportunity for a large amount of experience points.

The monsters were cluttered up against the hastily built stone walls and the gate.

Tens and thousands of monsters screamed and climbed in order to invade Port Varna.

“K-argh!”

“Kyaaa-Kyak!”

“Conquer them. Bring glory to Kaybern-nim!”

The monsters under the command of the draconic warriors attempted to break through the gate. Each time the monsters with big builds over 5 to 10 meters smashed their bodies into the steel gate, the shock was formidable.

However, the gate constructed by the architect Mibullo himself did not break so easily.

The fort walls were also thrown up in a rush, but the users stood in tight rows and shot their arrows.

Weed activated his curse spells on the monsters that were trying to destroy the gate.

“Enfeeble! Bottomless Swamp!”

The effect of the magic spells were significant in preventing enemy attacks.

There were various types of monsters that shifted away from their usual habitat after being incited by the draconic warriors.

It was truly a total mobilization of monsters!

A monster could not disobey the command of the dragon which absolute authority and control over them.

Poison type magic spells were specialized against monsters with large amounts of health points or those with dense, armor-like skin.

There are many undeveloped lands and dungeons in proximity of Port Varna, resulting in monsters swarming in from all directions.

They increased in numbers as time passed!

The Northern mages and shamans with the assistance of the Avians arrived from flight.

“The reinforcements are here!”

“We can do this!”

“Grass Porridge!”

“Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!”

The fort walls were the final lines of defense for Port Varna.

The architects displayed their abilities by hastily installing defensive traps such as trenches, pits filled with steel spikes, and poison swamps.

At the waterfront of Port Varna, massive ships with wide sails approached at full speed, then stopped.

“We are pirates, but we are fond of fights.”

“Aye. We didn’t come because we were afraid of Weed-nim’s threats. We just came to fight monsters. I really had nothing else to do anyway.”

Hye, Fractal and Board Mir.

The 3 mad sharks of Becky Nin joined with the fleet of pirates.

“To the fort walls!”

“Wah!”

“Do not turn your eyes to the shops. I will kick out whoever strays to pillage!”

Users wishing to defend Port Varna continued to gather up. They were users that returned to defend their homeland, and when the monsters advanced they were eager to build combat achievements.

“Fall back if it gets too dangerous. We can send in the reserve troops!”

“We will continue the battle. Even if there are reserve troops, they are just novices.”

“Use boiling oil. Also, focus fire-type spells on them. Their greatest weakness is fire!”

The battle went on for a whole day and night.

“May you live and come back to this land. Come back to this place, a dark and corrupt land. Do not disappear. In the law of darkness engraved to you. Undead Rise!”

Weed commanded the Death Knight Legion through Undead Summoning.

“Van Hawk. You must fight at the heart of enemy lines.”

“Understood, Master!”

The Undead fought intensely against the monsters outside the walls and dissipated away.

Consequently, the waging siege war led to an increasing number of corpses and the Undead could be summoned back at any time.

< You have leveled up. >

After Kaybern’s movement, the lands overflowed with monsters and Weed’s level was increasing much more quickly.

“This is truly… amazing.”

“The necromancer is the strongest. Take into account the war against the Haven Empire not too long ago.”

“Seriously. When he raises the Undead, he just wins against thousands.”

Weed received the envious attention of the users all to himself.

‘As a warrior… I want to fight alone in the middle of the monster horde, but that is too inefficient. It can’t be helped.’

He could endure a fight in the middle of enemy lines, as he became a warrior.

Withstanding at the center of a hundred thousand enemies with pure strength!

However,  the Undead Summoning was much more effective in a siege war backed up inside the fort walls.

Weed consoled his disappointment by shooting arrows restlessly. The few that climbed the walls, he hacked away with the Loa Sword.

*Slice!*

The sharp sword swung through the monster’s weakest point.

Through countless battles, he could instinctively determine the weakest point of a monster he encountered for the first time.

Pirates, merchants, fishermen, adventurers, divers, ship mates, and ship builders.

Users of different job classes fought to defend Port Varna.

To these users, the port was their home and base over other cities. They retaliated against the monsters on an extensive scale.

“Hurrah!”

“We did it once again!”

The defense of Port Varna was successful!

The swarm of monsters that targeted Morata and Castle Vent were also protected by the active support from the users in each region.

There were losses, but the Dwarves, Elves, and Orcs pitching in helped them hold against the enemy.

“This is a fun fight. Sheek!”

“Tsschwik. The ferocious orc in this neighborhood is me!”

The orc legions proved their worth for all the food they ate away.

The east and northern regions from Castle Vent were dominated and secured by the orcs.

Fort Varden established in advance by Seoyoon was preparing to fend off the monsters advancing from the mountain pass in the northwest.

The monsters were descending through the steep passage between the mountain range.

Weed joined up with Seoyoon, the sculptural creatures and a large number of ordinary troops fighting in the war.

The users that followed them from Morata, Vargo Fortress and Port Varna all joined for the upcoming battle.

“I’m fighting mindlessly, following Weed-nim.”

“This is fun though.”

“It’s safe too. Barely anyone is dying.”

“Is that so? It was really dangerous when we were fighting. I was concerned that the city might be taken over.”

The Central Continent users checked for the others that fought alongside one another, and they were extremely surprised.

“You’re right. The battle was intense, but almost everyone is alive!”

“They always said that if you follow Weed-nim around, you will never die. From hunting parties to just about any battle, it was rare for someone to die. Though there was terrible hardship involved.”

“Of course. That is why he can clear all those quests with ridiculous difficulties.”

“He’s been named officially the Cockroach King.”

Although he was against an enormous amount of enemies, he minimized losses for the users with his wide range of vision and adequate management of the Undead.

At times he daringly gave up on the wall and lured the monsters in, annihilating them.

But after that, architects and users fixed the walls.

Weed thought that it was essential and his duty to prevent the deaths of the users that followed and fought alongside him.

‘They are all my financial resources… If they die, they will become weak and unable to hunt. I will protect these people who will work really diligently like Yellowy.’

To become an exploitative boss, he will take care of them in battle and also offer an opportunity for growth.

Weed shouted for all citizens of the Arpen Empire.

– Everyone, listen to me. We will be victorious yet again.

“Yeah!”

The morale of these users that have experienced victory skyrocketed.

Even if a sizeable swarm of monsters were to invade from the undeveloped lands beyond Fort Varden, they were confident.

Phoenix, Bingryong, the Baraags, King Hydra, and other fearsome sculptural creatures were present.

The war power of the Arpen Empire had assembled at Fort Varden.

The Northerners and the rest of the users had faith in victory after having seen Weed in battles.

Weed shouted once again.

– However, this battle is not for the peace of this continent!

Including Bard Ray, all the famous users were present.

“Not for the peace of the continent?”

“Then, why are we here?”

“We have to stop the monsters. We are here to do exactly that, so why isn’t it for continental peace?”

Confusion among the users were completely resolved with the next shout.

– The peace of this continent? You might as well trade it away for whole-wheat bread. Give up living righteously! Slay those monsters and scavenge the spoils! Skin their leathers and get those treasures. Let’s take a shot at life!

The users that gathered at Fort Varden and the mountain pass all raised their hands high after hearing Weed’s shout.

“Hurrah!”

“Simple is best.”

“Kya-Ha. Very good profit.”

The response was explosive, but some shook their heads. With teary eyes, they looked at Weed afar.

“Every time, Weed-nim lies to us.”

“What lies?”

“He tells us to take all the profit we can, but he himself always stresses over the peace of the continent.”

“Yeah. He takes all the difficult quests on himself.”

The users looked with rose-colored eyes.

Mapan amongst the users nodded his head.

‘This is why fraud can never be rid from this world. The real talents can make the victims feel happy about being cheated. They knowingly fall for it, and they feel even better not knowing.’

What was interesting was that Weed’s fraud still has not resulted in victims yet.

He always stepped up first, sacrificed himself, and created a better future.

‘He isn’t a hero for no reason. He might get himself a historical biography with his zealous frauds.’

The battle of Fort Varden commenced.

– K-wurgh!
- Slaughter has been granted by Kaybern-nim.
- Drench in this bloody carnival!

With the carnivorous tribes at front, giant monsters like the poisonous spiders and centipedes advanced after them. In response, the powers of the North mobilized.

Farmers, architects, divers, lumberjacks, sheppards, and cooks joined as well and carried out their tasks.

– Fight! We can overcome them!

Under Weed’s encouragement, the users gathered in Fort Varden fought through the battle against the army of monsters for many consecutive days, finally succeeded in defending the fort!

Meanwhile, 17 major cities in the Central Continent including Miliam Fortress were destroyed.

Monsters multiplied frantically and pitch-black rain fell from the sky.

*Drizzle.*

The raindrops weren’t warm like the spring rain or the summer rain that cooled down the heat. With the full-scale movement of the Black Dragon Kaybern, the auras of poison and darkness spread out across the world. The influence caused such natural disaster.

< Corrupted black rain is falling.
The dull and dark fog surrounds the environment.
The plants are withering away and drying out. >

The grass and trees withered away slowly due to the rain pouring the entire day.

The bees and butterflies avoided the flowers and the ripening crops became tainted in black.

“Black Dragon Kaybern… It’s getting on my nerves.”

Weed observed the scenery dying out under the dark rain from the fort walls.

Chapter 4: All That Labor Work

The Northern region faced great danger due to the monster invasion.

“Krook!”

“Groak-Groak!”

The monsters freely roamed the earth while travelling users lost their lives.

The users headed to the hunting grounds also had to be cautious.

“Why are there so many of them?”

“They’re all clustered. Drawing their attention will be troublesome.”

“Shh. I can see a green monster over there.”

“By its appearance, isn’t that Warek? He’s not supposed to spawn in this area.”

“It’s a reptile-type monster over level 400.”

“It saw us just now.”

“It is Warek. We are all dead. All of us…”

The Northern Continent had become a dozen times more dangerous due to the changes in the monster’s habitat and range of activity!

The Central Continent users shared the same fear of death as the national security became unstable.

When Royal Road first began, each Kingdom had its own stable army and soldiers stationed at the cities and fortresses.

These knights, soldiers, and mercenaries were NPCs.

The army automatically protected against the monster invasions and eliminated bandits, providing security.

Haven, Kalamore, Gradian, Nest, Dale, Aidern, Tullen, Harpan, Lasalle, Bremen, Sur, and Subain.

The armies that they commanded diminished over time in the wars between the prestigious guilds.

When the Hermes Guild united the Central Continent, their numbers were already below half, and the elite forces that struggled to the end, disappeared altogether in the Garnav Plains.

The vast Central Continent of various cities and fortresses had no traces of an army.

“Looking for a companion on the way to Singleton Village. The security is unstable, so I am looking for someone to travel with me.”

“Haven’t you heard? That village is long gone.”

“What do you mean gone?”

“It was overrun by monsters yesterday. The monsters took over the village and are now residing in the houses.”

“Oh dear…”

Many users at the town square near the fountain were in a state of confusion.

“Weed shouldn’t be focused in protecting just the North. This place is his land too.”

“Yeah. If Weed came for us, we would have been safe as well.”

A lot of them showed feelings of disappointment towards Weed. If nearby cities or villages were to be conquered by monsters, the danger would creep closer to the gates, which would add fuel to their fears.

“That may be so. However, we cannot ask of him to protect the entire Central Continent as it’s only been a few days since we all became a part of the Arpen Empire.”

“Weed has been eradicating monsters every single day… Who can blame him?”

“It seems the monsters suddenly multiplied tenfold. A wrong turn of events and we will die surrounded by monsters. It looks truly dangerous outside the gates.”

The users were shaken by fear within the cities of the Central Continent.

The major cities and trade hubs with frequent activity of high-level users, and other regions with combat guilds were better off in this crisis.

Even so, the cities in regions with less users were wary of being taken over by an immediate monster invasion.

*****

Weed assembled his comrades and the executives of the Grass Porridge Cult for a countermeasure conference.

This time around, various high-level users and job classes joined the Arpen Empire.

‘I will award them with adequate titles and root them with responsibilities.’

The overissuance of titles without any salary!

Even the most popular users in Royal Road stared at Weed in awe.

“Wow… It really is Weed-nim.”

“To see him up close like this, it is giving me goosebumps.”

They each had their own contributions and reputation, but Weed’s honor and achievements were far more greater than all of them combined.

Weed took a sip of Grass Porridge Tea and spoke.

“I believe that the large hordes of monsters in the Northern regions can be taken care of. I cannot say the same for the smaller groups of monsters roaming around, causing substantial damage across the continent.”

He excluded the part about him having a blast summoning the Undead.

He mass slaughtered the approaching monsters at the fort wall day and night, enjoying the opportunity for leveling up to its fullest.

Among the users, a good proportion of them were glad for the chance to slaughter monsters.

Even the monsters that dwell deep within the dungeons and are tricky to hunt, swarmed towards the wall and fell prey to the slaughter.

Magical materials, production materials, equipment, and the rise of new combat related quests were derived from these battles.

At Varden Fortress, a boss-level battle occuring every day caused high-level users to camp there.

Weed frowned lightly.

“High-level users can brave this situation, but there are more monsters across the entire continent. It has become too cruel of a world for novice players.”

“Gosh… How can Weed-nim look out for novice players even at a time like this?”

Saintess Lemon of the Grass Porridge Cult!

Her sparkling eyes were rose-tinted completely over him.

‘He’s such a great person.’

The achievements he had accomplished until now were countless, and even his actions and attitude were gracious towards the weak.

While she was still in her late teens, while she was still impressionable, she had come across Weed!

‘Will I ever meet someone like him again?’

Lemon desperately wanted to be in a relationship with Weed. But, she gave up on it because her competitor was Seoyoon.

Surka clicked her tongue as she observed Lemon’s envious stare.

‘It’s going to take about 3 months until she discovers Weed-nim’s true side…’

Weed’s closest comrades understood it.

Weed was not a bad guy. However, there was an ominous scheme behind his special, kind words!

Mapan saw through the deception the best.

‘The novices have to grow well. There are many high-level users in the continent, but the structure of the Arpen Empire is built upon the novices… Also, you cannot underestimate their spending. The novices are the future.’

Weed grinned generously like he was grooming his home-grown chicken Half-Seasoned Half-Fried.

“The novices are the same kind of citizens to me. Of course I must tend to them.”

“Wow…”

“We really picked the right guy.”

“If Weed-nim wasn’t here for us, Royal Road would have turned into a harsh place.”

With treacherous greed, he convinced the hearts of the users present at the conference.

Weed looked to the continental map marked with the terrain and cities, and continued to speak.

“Our crop harvest will decline due to the contaminated rain. Isn’t that so, Miretas-nim?”

The continent’s best farmer, Miretas was also present in the conference.

He rose to one of the most influential figures in the Arpen Empire due to his honor, skills, and achievements.

“We will continue to observe further on exactly how much of the crops will die out, but given the activity of the monsters, we will have to brace for half the total amount.”

“If the amount of harvest declines, the price of it will increase.”

“That is likely.”

“Overall, that will lead to a downslide in the tourist industries. The danger is not our only problem, as the scenery will be affected if the grass and trees wither away. The cities in the Central Continent are prone to destruction… and the taxes too…”

Weed could not bear the sadness. He could bide physical pain, but a decline in the income was terrible.

“We, the North will defend ourselves, so how about Weed-nim descends down to the Central Continent?”

Surka made an abrupt suggestion.

Weed pondered for a moment, then shook his head.

“A few hordes of monsters can be dealt with, as it currently stands. But, if the situation becomes too grave, we may have to resort to your suggestion.”

Gathering the users and fighting against the monsters was only slowing down the progress of the given situation.

The destruction of cities and villages could not be prevented.

Seamstress Dragore slowly raised his hand.

He was on the final step of his job class master quest, where he had to look for a spider only mentioned in the legends.

The quest was to find the essence of sticky spiderwebs. He was unsure how to progress for  the time being, and he had joined the conference.

“Um… So, I think that it isn’t just a matter of the monsters. Oh, of course the monsters are dangerous. However, I think the real problem lies in our territory.”

“Territory?”

Surka repeated after him, and Dragore collected his thoughts before speaking again.

“The small villages with few users will not be able to withstand the monsters. Moreover, there will be damages to be suffered in the merchants’ trades.”

Mapan nodded his head. Speak of the devil, a few locations of the Mapan Merchant Association were being pillaged by the monsters.

“Yes. The trades of the Association has become significantly more risky. Thanks to that, market prices are rising.”

“If the merchants are faced with losses, they will eventually stop doing business in those locations, yes?”

“Well… Some may risk it, but it won’t be easy.”

“I agree. If merchants are avoiding those locations, I think that the only users going there will be adventurers. The regions will not only have their cities razed, but they will become the territory for monsters.”

Lemon who had been daydreaming came back to her senses in a snap.

“It will be horrible for that to happen.”

If the users’ are negligent, the monsters will take over these territories.

This will not only add instability to the Arpen Empire’s security, but will also allow the monsters to build strongholds and reproduce.

Locations like Vargo Fortress, where surrounding regions of undeveloped lands and mountainous terrain prevent monster invasions served as critical strategic points.

The monsters were being defeated frequently at such locations, but if the territory of the monsters were to expand, such events could occur anywhere in Versailles Continent.

Architect Mibullo uttered.

“As time passes, the territory of the monsters will indeed expand further. After all, there is no such thing has a perfect defense. The cities will be deserted, and the crop harvest will decline…”

Python who usually hated being a part of discussions also spoke out.

I can only suspect that the situation will become more problematic the longer we drag this on. If it gets to a point where the users themselves have to defend their home cities and villages, they will not have any trust left over in the government of the Arpen Empire.

Those who participated in the conference felt that the crisis was no ordinary one.

The reason that they were able to hold on despite Kaybern destroying the major cities one by one was because Versailles was massive. In the perspective of the Arpen Empire,  the users could bite their teeth and transfer their establishment to another city. Though, if the monsters continue to multiply in numbers and their conduct becomes more active, user activity will be daunted significantly.

The Arpen Empire will also collapse instantaneously if the users all decided to turn away.

‘The Haven Empire, and now the Arpen Empire. The losses across the Versailles Continent will be tremendous.’

‘We may have prospered until now… We may have lived through battles only to perish now’

‘More monsters, more powerful than before. It will become really dangerous. The world will become nothing like it was before.’

The higher level users felt excitement, as this was a complete shift in balance.

Until now, it was about a war between factions of users. From this point, they must defeat the monsters in order to survive.

The broadcast stations including CTS Media were concerned about the extinction of Versailles Continent, but the users at first felt that it was exaggerated.

The high-level users were welcoming of more prey to hunt, while the low-level users thought this situation had nothing to do with themselves.

Some users treated Kaybern’s appearance as an exciting event.

The fact that a certain catastrophe was behind the continental danger could only be grasped by those that were present in the conference.

“A war for human survival…”

Weed felt the pressure and responsibility as the Emperor of the Arpen Empire.

‘These people will not stick by my side forever. Same goes for the Grass Porridge Cult.’

He even refused to trust the Northern users who had proven themselves willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

The dissatisfaction of the users would increase inevitably as territories dwindle and cities were destroyed.

‘The world must be looked over with a realistic perspective. Everyone hates to face losses. Without hope, they will rage and turn their backs. I wanted to save this resort until I had a clear estimate after training in the warrior class.  Time may not be on my side until then.’

Weed struck down with a decision.

“Let’s hunt down Kaybern. Send the word out to all users that I plan to assemble a dragon slayer squad, and share with everyone the quest that has S rank difficulty and is related to the dragon; the True Savior quest.”

This was destined to be a real struggle!

There are always those that want to become a savior of the world.

He decided to assemble all of them for battle and proceed with the Savior’s quest simultaneously.

*****

The Roam Guild and Black Lion Guild formed a temporary alliance and actively cleansed Tullen and Aidern of monsters.

– The Black Lion Guild will rise again.
- Come. Roam will lead you on the battlefield!

Though the Arpen Empire conquered the Central Continent, many users were expectantly watching the prestigious guilds come forth.

“This looks like a battle we can win.”

“Yeah. Carlise isn’t the type to challenge the monsters face to face.”

“The monsters rushing toward Pihallos Fortress. That place isn’t as fortified as the Odin Fortress, but it’s impregnable and therefore, a good chance for the hunt.”

“I accepted a quest that requires 300 kills of eight-legged Tandos. Those were extremely difficult to kill, so I gave up on it after barely managing to get two kills. Those scum are on their way and that means I’m in for this battle.”

The Central Continent users joined under the flags planted by the Black Lion Guild, Roam Guild, Cloud Guild, Lion Star, and Blacksword Mercenaries.

The other guilds that faded away in the past rose again, and most of the important guild figures had become lords after having spent their entire fortune.

Various factions warred against the monsters in the vicinity of their territories.

“As expected from the Black Lion Guild. They are a force to be reckoned with.”

“Wow… Look at Roam fight. I never knew they were so skillful.”

“They’re outdated rankers, but their skills are still alive and sharp. No joke. Even their skill macro, decisiveness, and instantaneous reflexes.”

The users that were observing from afar their fights against the monsters and were overwhelmed with admiration.

They came to realize that veteran prestigious guilds were not born out of nothing.

Those from the prestigious guilds were content.

“It is pleasing to signal our revival with this monster hunt.”

“We gain the trust of users and expand our faction… Isn’t that two birds with one stone?”

“I like it now that we are freely active. Before, it was war with just one step out of our territory. Now, we can do things and be respected by the users at the same time.”

These users that bought their lord seats took on the concerns themselves.

The standards of the users had made a leap after the Arpen Empire had made a huge investment.

They could not reign and exploit freely like in the days of the Haven Empire, instead they had developed the desire to gain respect from the citizens as lords.

“So, the lord of Alaka City invested 40 million gold?”

“Yes. They have re-paved the roads in the city and are planning on rebuilding the industrial sector. Reports confirm that the goal is to rise up as the most beautiful industrial city in the Central region.”

“We cannot lag behind. Invest in the industrial sector and the residential sector simultaneously, as well as the Great Landmark. Get started on that as well.”

The lords received reports through their secretaries and made numerous investments into their cities. Handling the authority on internal affairs and construction of the city, the Lords amused themselves as if they were gods.

They could pocket their greed for both politics and honor at the same time, so they did not have hesitation in investing. However, the marching monsters were a tricky case to deal with.

“Ask for assistance from neighboring factions to help with eradication.”

“That will likely come at a price. Are you okay with that?”

“It probably won’t be all that much money…. I cannot afford to see my city trampled by monsters.”

The lords voluntarily competed against one another under the ruling of the Arpen Empire.

Though they were suffering some losses due to the monsters spawned by Kaybern, the monsters were being fended off effectively. Then, the recruitment form by Weed was posted at the entrance of all castles and villages in Versailles Continent.

In search of a hero!

The fate of the Versailles Continent is in danger by Kaybern.

The Hermes Guild is to blame!

The things we are already going through and will come to experience will destroy the peace and prosperity of the continent that we are yearning for.

Do we have to continue being victimized by monsters and natural disasters?

Is it really impossible to defeat Kaybern?

We are seeking a hero who will step up for the Versailles Continent.

I am in search of individuals who wish to defeat the Black Dragon Kaybern alongside me and become true saviors.

It is a dangerous mission, but those who are willing to put their honor on the line and step up to the plate, meet me at the Earth Palace!

The declaration that began with blame, ended with the conclusion of recruiting heroes.

“It’s a dragon hunt!”

“Woah. A hero recruitment for confronting Kaybern…”

“If it’s Weed’s declaration, the best rankers in Royal Road will gather. Except for the Hermes Guild, that is.”

“No kidding. This is sick.”

Royal Road heated up in a blaze. It was hard to tell the odds, but it was about joining Weed’s adventure. The contents of the declaration was too sweet for high-level users to pass by.

*****

“The Black Dragon Kaybern…”

Mule fell in agony.

Towards the end, she stood on the side of the Arpen Empire and quit the Hermes Guild.

She was still holding her position as the lord of the vast lands of Nest and Gradian region.

“Is it really possible to hunt down a dragon?”

Mule was one of the most skilled users in in Royal Road, but she lacked confidence.

She witnessed firsthand and also watched the footage of how Kaybern fights several times.

“Fighting a dragon… Maybe in a year, but definitely not this time around.”

Mule pondered, then whispered to Hwaryeong.

“I heard news that Weed-nim is seeking heroes to slay the Black Dragon Kaybern.”

– Hwaryeong: Yes. Are you signing up?

“Before that… Are we really going to hunt Kaybern? Or is he just trying to demonstrate some kind of commitment by gathering these users?”

Mule was unsure of Weed’s true intentions.

She thought that he was making a desperate attempt to calm the public sentiment as the Emperor of the Arpen Empire.

– Hwaryeong: We are really going to hunt him down. I heard that Weed-nim has a quest against Kaybern called the True Savior.

“Is that so?”

– Hwaryeong: It appears that it only shows up to those who have ventured and completed the most achievements. It’s S rank difficulty linked quest. I think he plans to follow through with that quest.

After hearing Hwayryeong’s explanation, Mule’s heart wavered.

‘Is this for real? If there is a quest involved, that’s changes the plot slightly.’

Even if an enemy cannot be defeated normally, there was a chance of succeeding through a quest.

Furthermore, if Weed himself is going out there, he may have seen some kind of a scenario that she wasn’t aware of yet.

From the time she turned away from the Hermes guild, she was easily swayed by others.

With the right level of persuasion, she was the type to dive right in!

– Hwaryeong: Weed-nim has changed the history of the Versailles Continent. He defeated the Embinyu Order as well.

“I suppose he did. But, I believe that this dragon is an exception.”

– Hwaryeong: We cannot speak with logic, because he defies it. However, if you do not proceed on the quest with Weed-nim, you will live a life of regret.

The God of War, Weed.

Even in the days when the Hermes Guild had complete dominance over the continent, Weed and his quests were a subject of admiration.

The rankers that claimed to be the best also had to watch idly on broadcast while sucking on their thumbs.

‘If I participate in the quest that may change the continent… Even if I end up losing my life, wouldn’t that be worth it?’

Mule was avaricious not for combat or hunting, but the quest.

“Alright. I will be participating.”

– Sure. Go ahead.

*****

Farmer Miretas, seamstress Dragore, bard Marey and architect Mibullo.

The users at the peak of their fields gathered in a separate meeting.

“Wouldn’t we be able to contribute in slaying the Black Dragon Kaybern?”

The expressions of the other users turned serious by Mibullo’s suggestion.

“It’s a nice idea, but a seamstress has no combat abilities. What kind of help would that be?”

Dragore tried to break away slowly.

The long journey of the seamstress master was about to end, but the amount of laundry ahead was piled up like a mountain.

He had to sew up the torn ends and had to promote beautiful designs for the trend.

At first he aimed for the very first master of a job class, but even if that wasn’t the case anymore; it was still an honorable goal.

Above all else, he desired the title of being the first  master seamstress and did not want to invest his time in anything else.

“I will be joining. Definitely.”

Bard Marey decided to participate thinking that he would be able to see spectacular scenes.

Miretas was a farmer, but he wanted to contribute in some way.

“The corrupted rain by the Black Dragon is causing the crops to wither away. It feels like a personal attack on me, so I am surely participating.”

The gazes of the three users were now directed at Dragore.

“Ah… This is quite the pressure.”

Dragore contemplated for a moment, but the thoughts of the Northern users went through his mind.

The bright, happy users enjoying Royal Road.

“Alright. I got it. I will do the same. I will! I mean, I don’t know if there will be anything for me to do.”

Thus, the four users collectively decided to join the quest to slay the Black Dragon Kaybern.

*****

“I think I have to change my sword if I want to butcher that dragon.”

“Hu-hu. Finally, we are going to hunt that dragon.”

“It also kind of counts as a bird, so it must be delicious when cooked.”

Geomchi, the instructors, and the apprentices all decided to follow Weed without the need for questions.

The unscrupulous 505 warriors!

Pale however did not want to accept this fate so easily this time.

‘It is a world of pain going with Weed-nim. I can’t stay behind, but I have to show that I am not an easy man to convince.’

Surely though, his path was already set in stone.

“Son. You must lead from the front for this adventure.”

“Sorry? Why, mom?”

“So that you will be clearly seen on the broadcast.”

“K-hmm. I am actually fairly well known.  I even been on a few shows as a guest host.”

Pale was confident in his own combat abilities.

While he could not compare to Weed, he was skilled enough to carry his own weight while following Weed around.

“You won’t be seen easily if you just fire arrows from the rear. You aren’t muscular and not good-looking either like that fisherman friend of yours, Zephyr.”

“But, but…”

“You’re still going to join even if everyone else tell you not to.”

Pale expressed dissatisfaction, but deep down he was waiting for the moment to do a quest together with Weed.

For him, his life in Royal Road had come too far for him to start a normal one.

He chose to be with his comrades like Bellot, Irene, and Surka. Hwaryeong also decided to join this quest.

“This is going to be a blast.”

She was a passionate woman who loved adventures more than anything.

“This is pretty worrisome.”

“Tell me about it. She’s in it for a world of pain.”

“They say hardship of youth are invaluable, but tagging along Weed is seriously difficult.”

“He’s superhuman.”

Python and Seasoned Crab also contemplated, but soon decided to participate.

Roam, Carlise, Michel, and Gunter.

They hosted a gathering with the other neighboring lords.

The get together was comprised of high-level users that were active in old guilds.

They harbored a deep grudge against one another, but after having been defeated by the Hermes Guild, they moved on from the past and were currently a joint force.

*****

“A dragon hunt. Isn’t that a bit reckless?”

“It seems that way. It is too dangerous, having seen the battle between the Hermes Guild and the dragon.”

The meeting began with a skeptical atmosphere.

The lords scanned one another and withheld their true feelings.

‘This scene is being broadcasted live. Maintaining a solemn tone and somber facial expression is the key here. I will stall for a while then engage quickly at the right time.’

‘This is a dragon hunt led by Weed himself. It isn’t important that we are successful in this mission; what is important is participating in his plan.’

‘Exercising domination over the continent? First, I have to establish a foundation as lord. That means I cannot afford to fall out from events like this.’

‘These guys are all going to join anyway. CTS Media proposed this conference and not a single one turned it down.’

The lords exchanged eye contact and hid their thoughts.

‘Weed… Who knows what kind of grudge he is going to hold if we were to reject his offer.’

‘We will double-cross him when the time is right but until then, we shall serve as loyal henchman. We will shadow him well, so that he will have complete trust in us. We will build trust and make sure that he will never suspect us. Our factions will grow and at the moment of truth, we will smack him on the back of his head!’

This conference took place alongside a number of underlying grand schemes from the individual lords. No one announced non-participation and the day dragged on, finally coming to a conclusion in the evening.

“The users wish for the peace of this continent. The Black Lion Guild will put an end to Kaybern no matter the sacrifice.”

“The Black Sword Mercenaries will also do the same. We shall lead the front lines.”

“The Lion Star is comprised of brave warriors. We will gladly join the hunt. Without us, the dragon hunt will be a difficult mission.”

“We are the Candera Guild, a union reborn from 7 different guilds. We will show what we are capable of, in the name of light and peace in the continent and the Arpen Empire.”

The Arpen Empire’s lords of several cities and vast lands were all burning with ambition.

Thus, they all confirmed participation in Weed’s dragon hunt without considering the risks.

Weed assessed objectively that the hunt for the Dark Dragon Kaybern was improbable. There were steps to take no matter how badly he wanted to slay the Black Dragon.

“I have to force our probability to be higher.”

There was no requirement for the hunt other than a minimum level of 400 and therefore, over 500,000 users signed up with more continuing to do so, which was a great asset.

High-level users in both the North and Central Continent all competed to sign up. Though it was uncertain how many would actually prove their worth on the battlefield.

“What are your plans for all these users?”

Pale asked with a spark of curiosity.

To think that he would proceed with the quest storming around with such a huge crowd of users.

He anticipated backlash if they were to be divided and only some of them accepted. Even the users that had no real intention of fighting would feel irritated when they were to be turned down.

“They have to be exploited.”

“Pardon?”

“What do you think is the advantage of intensive labor?”

“Mmm. Accomplishment after diligent work?”

“It’s different. That is the perspective of the laborers, and to speak from the point of an exploitative owner… Eh-Hem. More heads mean securing more labor force. Expansion of the labor force. This is crucial. Put them on any kind of task, exploit them, and it solves everything.”

“…?”

Pale could not get his head around it. He was a person with a kind nature who always thought logically and empathetically.

However, Weed’s theory was plain simple.

There is a mountain.

It needs to be moved.

What I have is a huge labor force.

When it came to problem solving, the smart ones will concern themselves about the most efficient method. There were possibilities of achieving the goal using the least amount of effort through creative and innovative methods. Weed was different.

‘Why do you have to think about it? Just make them move it.’

He had the real mind of an exploitative, abusive owner!

True intensive labor was to get them working as much as possible.

The fault in his system however, was that the users that have gathered before him could not be considered great laborers yet.

They were beings that could think for themselves and see through him.

As civilization became more developed and advanced, people received better education which  resulted in overly smart individuals.

Weed decided to use Geomchi and the apprentices for this matter.

“Master. Please take on a hundred of these people.”

“Easy. Can I do as I please?”

“Of course. They signed the registration forms, so we’re in the clear.”

“Kids nowadays are not so keen on listening…”

“I will take care of that. You can take them around in your own fashion. Brothers too, please take on some people.”

Weed took the users that were exceptionally skilled out of the warrior classes that wielded weapons and left them all up to Geomchi, Geomchi2, the instructors and apprentices.

“It will be alright to put them through danger. I got them to sign the contract, so it is their own fault if they die. Train them strictly and turn them into useful warriors for me.”

“You got it.”

He carefully selected the most skilled individuals out of the users that gathered to the proclamation of slaying the dragon.

He planned to take them to the southern desert and fight alongside with Geomchi and the apprentices.

“The higher their levels, the greater their combat strength will become with adjustments to their inefficiency in fighting styles. Moreover, they need to learn themselves of what they need to do when they confront the dragon.”

Weed believed that it was necessary to transform the combat styles of the users.

The higher the level, the less they engage in dangerous situations. The losses of dying were too immense so there were many that huddle safely and hunt monsters of moderate level at a stable pace. It is as if they are the type of people who became stronger at a consistent pace much like studious high-schoolers that study extensively at their desks.

Even in modern sports such as baseball and soccer, the approach is scientific unlike it was in the past.

Overworking the body wears it out, reduces motor abilities and leads to injuries.

‘But, this is Royal Road. One cannot exercise 100% of his ability if he’s too worried about death.’

A lot of the users that played rough in the hunting grounds were part of the Hermes Guild.

“It would be helpful if I experience tough battles as much as I can. If I don’t, I will only be a bystander when the battle with the dragon begins.”

Weed sent all the so-called elites to the southern desert and spoke to the remaining users.

“You will all be going around hunting.  There are commanding officers that did a good deal back in Garnav Plains, and people like Roam-nim and Carlise-nim will be there to lead you all. I will arrange the best hunting grounds and environment for a crash leveling program.”

The situation was grave with all monsters on the move at once.

He used the justification of the need for growth in order to slay the dragon, meaning that he was planning to mobilize all users in the monster eradication.

“Please do your best. I will only take reports of results.”

“Understood. Weed-nim.”

“Roam-nim. I expect a lot from you. Can I trust that you will do much more than the other battalions?”

“I will certainly live up to your expectations.”

Weed divided 400,000 users into 1,000 battalions and spread them across the entire continent.

This process only took one day!

Those that joined for the dragon hunt did not expect it to be handled with such speed.

Some of them headed to the southern desert and the rest scattered to all parts of the continent.

There was no specific plan set, but the exploitation of user labor and the competition between commanding officers would set everything in motion.

It was obvious that the security of the continent had increased by at least 2 levels with just this plan.

Many villages and cities that were vulnerable to destruction would be saved.

Mapan jiggled his thick cheeks as he watched the turn of events.

“You are amazing, Weed-nim! I thought I caught up to you to a considerable extent, but you overcame another level when you became Emperor.”

“…..

Zephyr who was standing beside him thought in simple terms.

‘I guess he’s talking about how fast the matters are being dealt with? How incredible his initiative is.’

He thought lightly, but the following comment by Mapan was not what he expected.

“K-hu-hu. You really saw their weakness. If the goal was to eradicate the monsters, it would have been difficult to gather over 400,000 high-level users. Furthermore, it would have been impossible to be on the move and fight for days.”

Indeed, it would have been tough even if a tremendous fortune was spent for it.

It could never have been achieved even with the wealth of the Mapan Association that has climbed to commercial supremacy in the Northern Continent and expanded to the Central regions.

“However, with a few words he changed the ultimate goal into Kaybern and listed this process as a milestone… I bet that they will suffer, but many will believe that it cannot be helped. They will struggle to become stronger.”

“…..”

Zephyr could now see reality more clearly.

All Weed had done was set out a proclamation and spoke a few comments.

With just that, he rounded up 400,000 high-level users that usually cannot even be present in one location, and sent out for hunting like slaves.

‘WIth no rewards involved. With just the meaning of companionship for the greater goal…’

The situation hasn’t changed, but the mentality of the users transformed.

From this point on, the users mobilized in a hard journey of monster hunting will not blame Weed.

That is because the hastily formed battalions will compete for performance, and all of that had become a stepping stone in the grand scheme of defeating Kaybern.

‘With such ease… He drafted an army and threw them into eradicating monsters.’

Zephyr had first met Weed long ago as a comrade and thought plainly about him.

It was surprising to see Weed accomplish incredible quests and become famous, but he thought it could happen to anyone.

Weed always had luck and suffering wherever he went.

‘It was just that he excelled in judgment. Everyone goes through difficult matters in life, but Weed-nim resolved all of it in some way.’

Weed was a tough cookie, a genius of war, and he possessed a gifted survival instinct.

He was an instigator that knew how to use other users, was capable of planning great strategies and had the initiative to accomplish them in any way he could.

‘I used to think lightly of him because he was always complaining about buying salt for 200 won more. Now that I think about it, he isn’t an ordinary man.’

Zephyr felt as if Weed, who he met by coincidence, becoming the emperor of Arpen Empire was set in the stars.

“Your commanding officer is me. You will all stick with me.”

Weed sent the elite forces, warriors and knights to the southern desert. However, he organized the rest of the job classes into battalions under his direct command.

*Rumble-rumble.*

There was a commotion amongst the users.

“Are we really travelling with Weed-nim?”

“I think he’s planning to level us up.”

“This won’t be an easy job. My level is almost 500.”

“That’s amazing. I didn’t think I would get to go hunting. I expected solely quests.”

“We get to go on air too.”

The users were purely in excitement.

They felt light-hearted and intrigued going on a hunt with Weed as if they were out for a picnic.

Though, the faces of Pale and Romuna had long turned pale.

“Leveling them up?”

“A crash course at that…”

Chapter 5: Plan of Annihilation

*Rumble!*

The users that arrived at the desert through the teleport gate felt like they were going to choke due to the intense heat.

Geomchi nodded his head while riding on his two-hump camel.

“The weather is nice.”

“My spine is on fire.”

“Let us go now. Giddy-up!”

They charged through the desert heat and hills of sand with Geomchi in the lead.

The warriors that gathered to defeat Kaybern followed behind them on camels. Thus began the hell in the desert. .

Battle after battle.

They fought and fought, an endless engagement.

“All men, charge!”

The desert had many regions that had yet to be explored.

There existed mirages, underground worlds, and at times they entered the zone of fire.

Even the fragments of the ‘Great King of the Desert” quest that Weed accomplished in the past had been rewritten into a new history.

They were eager to fight battles anywhere they went.

They fed themselves on top of the camels and battled while on the move.

“As the youngest one said, we can battle every day without using our brains. How convenient is that?”

“Very.”

“The guys are fighting quite well.”

“They say levels make you stronger, and it seems to be true. Although they seem a bit too reliant on skills.”

“We gotta take them to more challenging battles. These guys said they’re alright with dying a few times.”

“It saves me from boring battles, so that is fine with me.”

Geomchi followed Weed’s advice and took the battalion to seek for more powerful enemies.

They tread through the murderous heat, fought against enemies with bodies of sand, and hunted for giant scorpions.

They even set foot in the mystic lands of flames and met the Sun warriors.

Deep in the desert, the population was low but full of strong warriors.

“This is a darn hassle.”

“It’s hell. The battles are tiresome, but above all that, the heat is driving me insane.”

“ Wow… I must have been half crazy when I agreed to join this quest.”

The complaints of users had already surfaced since starting the second day.

Even if they had high levels, they had never experienced this kind of battle.

Like usual, they put a lot of effort into the choice of the hunting ground much like Weed would have. They prepared for hunting grounds that were highly efficient and dropped many items.

In the event of hunting boss-level monsters, they would start preparing a few days earlier and gathered composure.

“Here, you roam anywhere and fight. It is reckless and frantic.”

“Coral died yesterday.”

“Seriously? This is too dangerous…”

“Shouldn’t we complain?”

“We did. But, they keep saying that warriors will get stronger when they know what it’s like to die. Words are impermeable to their heads.”

“In honesty, we cannot demand anything face to face. Their appearance is frightening. We have higher levels, but using brute strength over them might turn us into enemies of the Arpen Empire.”

“Even if a few more die from now, the hunting plans will not change one bit.”

After the third day, the users gathered around early in the morning and discussed their dissatisfaction. Some decided to quit.

“This is as far as I will go. Best of luck to you all, stay safe.”

“Yeah. I’m quitting too. I thought I was lending a hand in slaying the Black Dragon, but this isn’t the way I wanted it to be.”

A number of quitters sprang from the group, unable to withstand the rigorous schedule.

“I should have hunted alone.”

“Same here. If we talk about efficiency, there are better hunting grounds than this place. We don’t have to be here alongside people who are lower in levels than us.”

However, the entire scene was being filmed by several broadcast networks.

Weed was granted of all rights regarding broadcasting to all those who agreed to participate in the hunt of the Black Dragon Kaybern.

The quest signees certainly agreed because they desired to be on the broadcast, and imagined to being portrayed as brave heroes on TV.

The scene of themselves charging towards Black Dragon Kaybern!

Weed spoke with the broadcast personnel on the side.

“Please have a devilish producer on this broadcast.”

“Are you being serious?”

“Yes. Good footage will come through soon enough, but there will be some trial and error. I need someone who is going to edit “out of context” intentionally. A show needs a catch for it to be successful.”

“That is the way it works, but…”

“If we do not pull this off, the other broadcasts will get increased views.”

Weed’s influence in the broadcast industry was absolute. Even in the past, his fame turned all major broadcast networks to bow under him.

Now that he had control over the Central Continent and established domination, the broadcast networks surely knew well of his acumen.

“We shall find the most infamous producers.”

“Yes. But, it must be completely factual. No forgery. I do not like controversy smoking up among the viewers. A bit of seasoning is acceptable. It makes a dish taste rich.”

The captains and department chiefs of all broadcast stations took Weed’s words to heart.

“We can get a good shot right here where the users are taking off…”

“You bet. I think it will serve well for the intro.”

“This will grab some attention for sure.”

The infamous producers with their relentless editing skills sent on air the users that were complaining about the battles and food soon after they got to the desert.

Moreover, they added special effects to the scenery of the desert from which the users were drifting away.

The scenes of Black dragon Kaybern attacking Castle Evaluk, cities being destroyed by monsters, and civilians being slaughtered overlapped with the users that were leaving.

The devilish producers were stirring up emotional appeal with their expertise.

– I am watching the live cast right now, and I’m at a loss for words. They went all the way to the desert to slay Kaybern, but all they did was complain and now they’re just quitting?

– Why go there in the first place if you’re gonna do that?

– Did they expect to live in hotels at the desert or something?

– Dragon Slaying. They all gathered their strengths for that grand objective. They were too low-level to confront the dragon, hence they hunted with great effort. For them to quit so early though…

– Ha… That is annoying. They’re pissing me off..

– Bacus? That user led them to quit.

The aftereffect of broadcast was as substantial, no different from a live cast. The internet went viral, and Bacus appeared at the very top of the real time search.

1st Bacus

2nd Seoyoon

3rd Bacus runaway

4th Bacus Level

5th Seoyoon Goddess

6th Bacus Character

7th Weed

8th Seoyoon School

9th Seoyoon Body

10th Kaybern

From 1st to 10th on the search engine, Bacus appeared 4 times.

It was the power of the media, but it was also that Bacus was a famous user over level 500.

On the next day, the users were battling on the hunting grounds without any other thoughts.

Due to the influence of the media, they realized what kind of negativity they could receive.

“Now they’re really up to the task.”

Even Geomchi and the instructors were satisfied.

Bacus and the runaways returned hastily in the morning.

“I apologize. Everyone. I will fight with my all from now on.”

In a few hours, his attitude had changed completely.

*****

Weed commenced the monster eradication with those who gathered for the Kaybern hunt.

Mages and archers flew toward the monsters, riding on the backs of the Avians.

Numerous kinds of monsters spawned on ground level from the dungeons and were advancing towards human cities.

Weed’s shout exploded.

– Fire. Blast them away!

Thousands of magical spells of mages bombarded the ground, and archers fired arrows.

They were job classes most specialized in ranged attack!

– Kuuuoogh! Unleash the wrath of Kaybern-nim!

The skins of the monsters turned black, raising their defense and attack.

The ones that crawled out from the deepest parts of the dungeons were powerful, able to withstand several magical attacks.

They resisted by tossing boulders into the sky and activated their special abilities that raised winds.

Even so, the scattershot of magical spells were about to annihilate the monsters.

“Dead Rise!”

Weed summoned the undead.

A combination of mages and necromancers that never in any way seemed harmonious!

On top of the massive firepower, the undead that will draw the enemy were summoned.

The mages at the end of battle were amazed.

“I gained so many levels.”

“Combat achievements complete just like that.”

In a party of 5 or 6, the mages only use spells necessary in hunting.

The usual spells that they practice are types of spells that deal fatal damage to a monster or two.

By following Weed, they were able to spam AOE spells that caused mass destruction.

The lesser monsters were cleaned out by the undead, and the Avians willingly offered post-battle assistance.

The observing novice Avians were responsible for descending to the ground and collecting the loot.

For the mage attacks, it was impossible to assess who killed which monster. Therefore, it was decided on the method to sell all the loot at once and split the profit.

“Wow… This is miraculous.”

“Isn’t the leveling speed like 10 times faster?”

“If I followed Weed-nim since the beginning, level 600 wouldn’t be such a dream right about now.”

The mages and archers that were close to level 500 were overwhelmed with excitement.

The pace of leveling was unbelievably high, taking into account the fact that all the monsters have been scooped out by Kaybern.

Only Romuna and Pale were speechless.

‘The hunting speed is indeed quick. It will be mind-blowing. They will realize though, that speed isn’t everything.’

‘One will truly realize the potential of intense labor when observing Weed-nim firsthand.’

The hunting went on until the evening, but the mages were too overwhelmed with joy for them to complain. Nevertheless, the sun had set and stars were filling up the night sky with seemingly no end to the hunting.

“Excuse me… When are we going to take a break?”

Someone cautiously approached Weed riding on Wy-three.

“Rest on the backs of the Avians.”

“Pardon?”

“There will be a break for about 5 minutes.”

“That’s rest?”

“We will rest during transport and will fight when we arrive at the destination.”

“…!”

“Are you hungry at all?”

“Uh, yes!”

“I arranged lunch packs at the next battle location. Lively Avians are on standby as well. We can take flight right away.”

An endless, rigorous battle schedule!

They flew over the sky of Versailles Continent and put down the monsters.

The following day, Bacus’ riot in the southern desert was exposed, causing the mages and archers that were talking joyfully to shut their mouths. They realized that they had no spare energy to talk.

The monsters in Versailles Continent were being swept out on a grand scale.

The outskirt villages and small villages that have just been established were rescued from the threats of monsters.

*****

“Flip every stone and pebble. Don’t miss any phrases no matter how insignificant.”

“In the history field, we will make three confirmations. Expect to go all night.”

“Please return books and documents that you have read over to its original location. The volunteers will continue reading.”

Once Weed determined to take Kaybern down, the users incapable of combat began moving. The novice users and merchants of the North searched for information in Morata’s Great Library that contained massive amounts of data.

They searched meticulously for all related keywords such as dragon, Kaybern, breath, etc.

“This isn’t it. All the data we have covered until now are related to F rank quests.”

“Look for possibilities of linked quests.”

“They’re all simple quests like Search for the Dragon’s Pawprints. Or Telling Dragon Stories in a Pub.”

“There is lots of data from the North, but the Central Continent is lacking.”

“Understandable. It hasn’t been long since that region joined.”

“Separately classify the quests you feel suspicious of even in the slightest bit. We cannot afford to miss the tiniest details.”

If they could offer assistance in defeating the Black Dragon Kaybern, they could potentially become heroes.

On top of that, Weed and the Mapan Association made a public statement.

– Purchasing vital information for defeating Black Dragon Kaybern. The important information will be compensated with 1 million gold.

For ordinary users under level 200, 1 million gold was a massive fountain of gold that could never dry out. Even if they spoiled themselves with clothing, equipment, and accessories, it was difficult to spend even half of it.

Of course, it couldn’t buy ridiculously rare equipment, but they could buy a house or a farm and establish a comfortable standard of living.

The novices that started out in the North naturally headed to the Great Library and had little space left. They scanned through all stored books and data.

The adventurers of Royal Road also stepped up together. These users could not even dream of large-scale adventurers back when the Haven Empire dominated the CentralContinent.

“If it’s an adventure linked to Kaybern, I’m certainly doing it.”

“By just starting the quest, doesn’t that mean I can travel alongside Weed?”

“That will be amazing if it actually happens. Every single one of your days are going to be broadcasted live.”

After the Arpen Empire seized the territories, the adventurers were free to roam anywhere they wished, hence they began proceeding with quests they had kept to themselves.

These quests that had been stored away for a long time finally reached completion, and the resulting effects from the adventures began spreading from cities to villages and to even more remote areas.

Excavation of relics, treasure chests, historical books, skill books, and equipment brought a substantial economic boom.

Special relics that boosted crop harvest rates in the cities or mining rate in the mountains were sold at a high price.

Positive changes were occurring with the Arpen Empire in control of the Central Continent.

“The honor of an adventure with Weed… I would become the continent’s most popular user.”

“Wouldn’t Weed just complete everything the moment it starts? He’s incredible, honestly. He can do just about anything. He overcomes any adversity.”

“Even as a sidekick, it’s still great to be alongside him. You gain honor with that as well.”

“You gain money too!. Buy a house, buy a car. You might land a building if luck is on your side.”

“That’s right. We’ll probably earn a few million.”

“Few million? This is a dragon quest. With none other than Weed himself. You think there will be another opportunity like this one anywhere?”

This assumably was from revenue assessment of the guarantees and advertising profits from the broadcast network.

It was an opportunity to claim both money and fame, drawing famous adventurers from all over the continent.

Now that Weed decided to proceed with the True Savior quest in order to slay Kaybern, the entire continent was shifting.

*****

“This is a disaster.”

Lafaye had arrived in Fenia Fortress. It was unofficially the western capital of the Haven Empire territories, which was massive in size and had a high development rate. Now, it was completely empty.

To be completely accurate, only the civilians and Hermes Guild users were roaming inside.

“…”

The users that were active in the Haven Empire territories were all in a crossroad decision of transferring to the Northern or Central Continent, as they did not want to follow the fate of the crumbling kingdom. When the Arpen Kingdom seized had only just the North, they sealed off the borders but now, that was meaningless.

– I am requesting a taxi from Milen. 5 gold.

Users posted on discussion boards and the Avian users came from the sky and took them away. It wasn’t a flight far into the Northern territories, but just to skip over the borders which wasn’t a difficult task.

The Avians were able to make quite a decent profit out of these side jobs while the users that were active in the Haven Empire territories could escape. It was literally an escape rush.

It was the case for everyone, being drawn to the bright, dynamic atmosphere, and freedom of the Arpen Empire.

“Sigh…”

Lafaye leaned on the fort wall and gazed at the sky.

The clear, vivid blue sky and great weather squeezed out a bitter laughter.

By his calculations, the Arpen Empire was indeed making a huge impact by taking on Kaybern, but they themselves were also falling apart.

It was evident that there will only be the Hermes Guild users left in Haven territories.

“So this is how we are going down in history.”

*****

The one that was getting the most from the preparation in slaying Kaybern was Weed.

< You gained a level. >

< Intermediate Undead Summoning Skill reached level 10 and transformed into Advanced Undead Summoning Skill.

You can call upon the legendary undead. You can raise the special corpses such as Elves and Spirit Warriors. >

< Reverence for the Dark Lord!

The undead and low-tier monsters look up to your presence. With sufficient reputation, you can command countless numbers of the undead in the Versailles Continent.

You can begin research on transforming into the body of the Lich.

The Lich transcends human limitations with increased efficiency in health drain and mana drain.

The Lich will not be weakened by sunlight. However, the allurement from the depths of darkness will intensify. >

< You can proceed with quests of the undead left by the demon race. >

< You have gained colossal enlightenment for magic.

Mana recovery rate increased by 25%.

Intelligence and wisdom are permanently increased by 10.

Insight additionally increased by 5. >

< Faith permanently decreased by 120. >

Advanced Undead Summoning!

Weed had advanced into a warrior and was expanding a variety of combat type skills. Though, it couldn’t be helped that he was still using Undead Summoning frequently.

Weed was satisfied as he looked over all the monsters that were collapsed on the ground.

‘Easy. All I have to do is take a spoonful after the mages wipe out the battlefield.’

He summoned the undead senselessly and engaged them in battle with the wounded monsters. The mages that took part in the combat were also without much complaint, as they could activate all their spells as long as they had mana.

– Kurgh! Humans. They must be driven extinct by Kaybern-nim’s wishes!

Weed enjoyed himself by charging with the Loa Sword in hand straight into the upper level 500 monsters that spawned on occasion.

Thanks to his combat experience and variety of skills, he could never fall into a dangerous situation.

“The power of the holy spirit, save the poor in pain. Healing Touch!”

Hundred rays of light beamed from the chest for even the slightest injury.

The priest unit was by the side of the Avian and were healing away madly.

Then, boss-level monsters around mid level 600 would spawn. Weed battled such monsters and received all the attention.

It was like a gladiator standing in a Colosseum, a showdown with the users on live broadcast.

“If it’s a one-on-one match… It’s a waste of time, but I will play along.”

Where the corpses of monsters lay like a pile of dominos, he encountered the enemy commander.

Behemoth!

The monster was a grotesque fusion of man, bird and devil.

– Human. I will gnaw your head off and make you realize just how weak you are.

“Well, make me.”

Weed laid down the tip of the Loa Sword to the ground.

It was seemingly a shabby stance, but it was awakening his sense for retaliating against the rapid movements of the Behemoth.

‘Tons of users are watching right now… It would be pure embarrassment if I lose to some monster other than Bard Ray.’

Certainly, it was possible to lose to a monster. With that said, pride would be crumpled like a sheet of paper.

With Bard Ray, it was a deep relationship that they had built by losing to one another, earning honor and achievements!

In the long term, Weed thought of it as only a turf war and didn’t experience much pressure.

With the Hermes guild that had dwindled down to its current state, even if he were to lose in a one-on-one duel, there was no chance of the Arpen Empire falling apart.

However, if he were to lose to the monsters, that would be showing his limits.

If he proposed to hunt down Kaybern and could not overcome even the pawns, the disappointment from the users would be tremendous.

Swish!

The moment Behemoth disappeared from sight, he flung his body to the side.

‘I cannot see it.’

It was a cloaking ability that hides the user for up to 10 seconds!

Furthermore, it had wings that allowed for rapid flight.

The overpowered trait turned away just about any warrior from confronting it in battle.

As Weed side-stepped to avoid, he heard a gust of wind.

He sensed that Behemoth passed through where he was just a moment ago.

“Sculptural Moonlight Sword Technique!”

Weed swung his sword and the emitted light struck something invisible, shattering into pieces. For a brief moment, the grotesque appearance of the demon bird was revealed.

- Kugh!

Behemoth relentlessly flung its forepaw that spanned over 2 meters. All Weed saw was a split-second reveal just before it began its attack, but he knew roughly where it was going to attack.

‘Its tendency is to go for the head and shoulder. Given the distance and composition of its body, thatis a high possibility.’

Weed raised the Loa Sword and blocked Mammoth’s forepaw.

*Clang!*

A powerful impact from deflecting its claws.

Behemoth was capable of magic, flight, rapid movement and cloaking abilities, but it had a weakness and that was its lack of strength.

Even so, Weed did not think to attempt pushing it back.

It was advantageous to use a relatively more powerful force to create a weak point.

Indeed, using physical abilities was a way of victory, but that was for rather more reckless battles.

Then adrenaline kicked in and he felt nothing but instinct!

Weed activated his skill.

“Divine Flames!”

The holy flames imbued by Goddess Hestia lit up the Loa Sword.

The flames slid across the blade and latched onto Behemoth.

The flames were 5 times more effective against the demons and devils!

– I despise fire!

Behemoth screeched. Its personality was a mix of human, bird, and demon.

The type that it hated most was either fire or divinity!

Behemoth’s body set aflame by the holy fire was now clearly visible.

– Toxic Explosion!

In the midst of battle, Behemoth cast a magic spell and retaliated.

The poisonous marbles exploded and spread like a fog.

< You have been poisoned.

Your tempered body is resisting.

Health points are reduced by 960 every second.

Sky Ruler’s armor suppresses the paralysis effect. >

If it was another user, the damage would have been over 7,000 each second.

The damage was minimized by his stats and equipment!

“Lava River!”

As Weed activated the skill, the earth erupted and lava surged from below.

The crimson-red lava covered Behemoth’s body from head to toe and blew away the effects of the poison.

– Kraaagh!

Behemoth’s resistance activated and caused a whirlwind.

< A lava region has formed.

You will take 1,800 damage every second.

You are immune to fire type damage due to the Holy Grail of Flames. >

The earth split apart and steam fumed through the cracks.

The level of destruction was quite different from the past. The force was upgraded by divine flames and there was also the added effect from the Holy Grail of Flames.

The lands melted away by the lava.

This was something that Weed learned when he slayed the Intermediate class devil Dalam in the past.

‘When devils start using special abilities, nothing could be more infuriating than that.’

Whether these devils were level 500 or 600, their combat level was not relative.

Fundamentally, devils had high health points and possessed traits that were difficult to deal with.

Compared to other monsters around level 600, devils displayed combat abilities that equalled a few dozen of those monsters.

Even the undead, a powerful combat tool, would not work against them.

It was only efficient to face them with pure combat abilities.

– I am unscathed.

Behemoth burning in flames struck down with its forepaw like a sword.

It was a display of fighting spirit innate in devils.

Weed passed through the dimensional gates floating in the air and performed over 5 short-distance rift travels.

“Sword Cloning Skill!”

Over 50 clones appeared during the rift travels.

A flurry of swords cut through the air.

Weed and his clones sliced away the Behemoth’s body fused of human, bird and devil.

*****

“Geez. I’m high on that.”

“This is amazing.”

The users were continually surprised as they observed the battle between Weed and the Behemoth.

With Behemoth being impossible to confront alone, Weed was gaining the edge in a straight-up battle.

The battle of sword skills and secret techniques on top of the boiling lava field.

This kind of scene was the dream of all warriors.

“Now that I look at him, Weed-nim is really strong.”

“He’s different from the times he carried on with quests. That time, I thought he truly struggled and beat them by a straw, but he is undeniably powerful.”

“No wonder he succeeded with all those quests, being that strong.”

The users reassessed of Weed’s combat abilities.

“It’s certainly from all his new gear.”

Weed too was surprised by the effectiveness of his equipment.

In truth, he wasn’t this powerful until recently.

The Dimensional Gate Glove depending on how it is utilized, could allow the user to slip out of danger, provide them with an opportunity to attack and boost their combat level by several fold.

The Sky Ruler’s armor blended the touches of blacksmith masters.

It was created from Hellium, replenishing substantial mana and had great defense.

To top it all off, there were the blessings from the frequent visits of the gods!

If one engages in battle with a devil, the friendly gods such as Freya and Hestia would bestow blessings.

‘God’s blessing. There is no doubt that these are a result of faith, contribution and honor.’

This was not proven theory, but he was certain of it.

Furthermore, the title ‘The one who defeated the devil’ gave him an additional effect.

It was a rare title that he obtained after slaying the Intermediate devil Delarm, and its effect was a 16% attack boost if engaging in combat with monsters or subordinates related to devils.

Plus, it even identified their weaknesses and was great at attacking more efficiently.

In sum, he could become at least twice as powerful than when he would fight against normal monsters.

<You have gained a level.

Warrior Behemoth from the devil clan of anguish has been laid to eternal rest.

The Great Accomplishment awarded 3,500 honor.

Charisma increased by 1.

Strength increased by 1. >

He even gained combat achievements and stats!

Weed thought to himself that focusing entirely on hunting devils could not be half bad.

There could very well be many dungeons related to devils hidden somewhere in Versailles Continent.

Since they would be well hidden, he would need the assistance from excavators or thieves, although it would be extremely dangerous it would offer high returns.

“We will move to the next location.”

The users mobilized in perfect order at Weed’s command and climbed on the backs of the avians.

They flew over the Versailles Continent restlessly and slayed every monster in sight.

Aerial combat broke out occasionally, and a flurry of magic spells were bombarded on massive hordes of monsters on ground level.

The merciless power of magic spells concentrated on the monsters.

“Ugh. I am about to collapse completely.”

“I can’t go any further…”

While the mages lay on the backs of the avians to rest, the lesser monsters were wiped out by the undead summoned by Weed.

They gained experience from the death of wounded monsters, and the loot after combat was picked up by the avians.

All the mages had to do was cast spells as soon as they recovered enough mana.

“For me, I think I’m farming experience 9 times faster than usual.”

“It was fortunate to have invested in mana recovery. I’m at about 13x.”

“That much?”

“Yeah. It’s not like a few monsters at a time… We’re using AOE offensive spells as much as our mana allows for. The hunting times are really extensive  too.”

“If we did this from the beginning, we would have crushed the Hermes guild with brute strength.”

The mage users were in awe of Weed’s hunting method.

They thought that this was an extremely efficient method of cleansing the lands overwhelmed by the monsters.

“Do not rest! We will fight until the last monster is slain!”

“Look at the enemy, lock your aim precisely and fire. The arrow suppliers are working their backs out.”

*F-F-F-F-Fwoosh!*

The archers unlike the mages had no rests and continued to fire arrows endlessly.

The dragon soldiers and powerful monsters usually had high magic resistance, and the archers were responsible for sniping them down.

At times, together with the avians they engaged in a fierce aerial battle against incoming monsters in flight.

“I have no more strength left in my arms…”

“Endure it.”

“I can’t. I’m at my limit.”

“They’re filming us right now.”

“Sob!”

The archers were shedding tears during the hunt.

Even Weed joined with the archers and fired arrows on monsters that the undead struggled against.

“He shoots as well as we do. The broadcast footages were not edited at all.”

“No special abilities there. Just basic archery.”

“Still, he’s as accurate as us.”

“Yeah… He’s good.”

“He can use magic and is excellent in combat. That’s scary.”

“He was a sculptor to begin with. Also a blacksmith, tailor and chef.”

“Doesn’t he make ships too?”

The large groups of monsters in the Northern and Central Continent were taken care of and the cities became a bit safer.

It was all thanks to 400,000 users risking their lives on the line.

Weed too displayed prowess alone riding on baraags.

Having advanced into the warrior class, he landed right in the middle of the monsters.

He pummeled the boss level monster all by himself and conquered the rest by summoning the undead!

< You have gained experience. >

< Combat Achievement! You have been awarded the title brave brawler.
Maximum health increased by 50. >

< Strength increased by 1. >

He had accomplishing a new combat achievement.

“Lalala!”

He hummed as he wrapped his body with bandages and moved to the next location!

“What a wretched man…”

“I have to doubt whether or not he is human.”

“You have to be as rigorous as him to win against the Hermes Guild.”

“I just wanna take the easy life. Anymore and I’m going to die.”

The users came to realize Weed’s true side.

From afar, he seemed to struggle in protecting the continent from the monsters, but up close he was enjoying the endless hunting and growth.

“I think we can pull it off too.”

“If we arrange a decent composition… It will be useful in slaying the monsters.”

Necromancer Jean and the other mages joined forces with the avians and organized a hunting squad.

Their combat level was not to be compared with the forces led by Weed, so around one or two hundred users gathered.

Though they could not hunt monster hordes with draconic warriors among them, they were still able to slay a significant number of monsters.

The users that were scattered across the Northern and Central Continent were also actively on the move.

*****

While Weed was leading the massive number of users and cleaning up the monsters, Kaybern’s activity continued.

Castle Hillshade, the ex-capital city of the Idern Kingdom was destroyed, and the monster invasions razed 27 villages and 4 cities.

– This is miraculous defense.

– Yes. The damage is low despite the overwhelming monsters stirring up the Versailles Continent. The damage is much lower than what users from the Hermes Guild had predicted.

– It was predicted that over 20 cities would be destroyed every week.

– That is so. However, Weed and the users reduced the number of monsters greatly, and they have defended well behind the tall and thick fort walls at siege.

– Of course, the city destruction was prevented but not without any damage. Outside the walls, the damage is severe.

Sieges occurred simultaneously at over a hundred locations, resulting in heavy losses.

Dragon’s Revenge

Black Dragon Kaybern is on the move to erase human civilization.

The spirits and fairies are warning once again.

“Kaybern will head to Herom in a week.”

Castle Herom of the old Nest Kingdom.

The time-honored castle in which the beautiful River Verona flows through, became the next target. After Castle Hillshade turned into ruins, huge number of monsters sprang out from the dungeons across the entire continent.

Especially in the Northern Continent, monsters flowed out from the wild lands and users were assembled to defend against them.

“No. Not yet…”

Rage waged from the depths of Weed’s heart, but he suppressed it firmly.

“Just wait until I finish the hunt. From teeth to tail. I will loot everything.”

Although time was ticking away, he was also gaining levels.

But, the security of the Arpen Empire was worsening, and cases of demolished merchant councils or travelling users dying to monsters became more frequent.

“I have to conserve time. I have to move efficiently. Kaybern cannot be stopped at this moment.”

< You have gained a level. >

Level 524.

Weed slayed groups of monsters and trained himself as well as the other users.

Meanwhile, the meticulous search for records on Kaybern went on in the Great Library of Morata.

– Mapan: I have obtained 37 data records related to Kaybern.

Weed received the records brought by Yurin and read them over.

< You have obtained information about Kaybern.

Black Dragon Kaybern.
Also known by the famous nicknames: the Tyrant and the Dark Dragon. This dragon is estimated to be around 1700 years old.

In its youth, it travelled to many places around the continent and was involved in historical events.

Papuakin’s Bloodbath (Record Confirmed)

Generd’s Contempt (Record Confirmed)

Slayer (Record Confirmed)

Black Warrior (Unidentified)

Blue Moss (Unidentified)

The birth of Dark Magic (Unidentified)

Humiliation of the Nippleheim Empire (Record Confirmed)

Kaybern is prideful and violent.

It likes jewels, drinks and delicious food.

At times it breaks pacts through devious methods and cannot be trusted.

Quest intel acquisition progress 62%. >

Papuaquin’s Bloodbath and Generd’s Contempt were events recorded in the history of the Versailles Continent.

Cities disappeared in a single day and they were all related to Kaybern.

– Papuakin’s Bloodbath. #2

O, the heavens fury,

The black smoke billowed, the city a fire,

On the ground, rats spread their filth and poison

The continent’s greatest city was but a burning pyre.

The cause of all this is Kaybern.

One year ago, that dragon descended,

One year ago the dragon demanded:

– Collect gold and build a castle as a tribute for me. Then, I shall reward you all with the power to conquer all kingdoms. If you choose to break it and refuse to build a castle, you will brace severe consequences.

Mayor Manheart trembling in fear accepted the offer right then and there.

After all, who could possibly refuse under the dragon’s might?

They melted down gold for the dragon’s lair,

Alas, the construction was stopped, the people lay sick and dying…

The year was up, only half of the castle was complete.

On that day, all the people held their breath and stared at the sky.

– Immature humans. You have failed to stick to my most gracious offer. I will forgive you all despite having broken the promise.

The almighty Kaybern spared their lives,

We were stripped of all the gold collected for the castle but gave our thanks,

When the scared and scattered citizens of Papuaquin returned to their wives,

When they felt safe again, happy again,
it was only then that ,

Kaybern descended again.

– Your kind deserve to be annihilated!

“Oh mighty dragon… You said that you would not punish us!”

- I do not punish for breaking promises. However, you are beings that deserve extinction.

Mayor Manheartraised his head to beg

A moment later he was dead,

We all realized then.

All this was the dragon’s devious plan.

Chapter 6: Quest Crossroad

Weed felt a slight suspicion while reading about the records on Papuakin’s bloodbath.

“Kaybern used to attack humans even in the past? I mean, his nickname is the Black Dragon…”

It was a being that could not be trusted, given its history!

It reeked the scent of a habitual offender.

A couple of days after, a report arrived from the Central Continent.

There was intel on the human mercenary called the Dark Warrior that served Kaybern, and also on the magical creation, the Blue Moss.

The Dark Warrior had ties to the Earthly Cult, and he had stolen the holy artifact, the Hammer of Earth.

“He really lived on his own accord.”

With the help from the users, Weed gathered information that would have taken him several months on his own.

A notification window appeared.

The True Warrior has been completed.

As you delve deeper into the past of the Black Dragon Kaybern, you come to truly understand fear.

The evil dragon that mocks and ridicules the weak and tramples over them.

The damage it caused to the continent’s humans, elves and dwarves until now has been tremendous.

Every race wishes to vanquish Kaybern.

Warrior…

There is still a sliver of hope in stopping Kaybern.

Speak with Sage Brio of Octurn.

< Quest completion rewards 5 points increase in all stats. >

< Upon speaking to Sage Brio, the quest will connect to the Warrior’s Decision quest. >

“Hmm. Octurn…”

Weed felt troubled.

Octurn, where Sage Brio resided, was a city under the Haven territory.

“The Hermes Guild will not let it slide when they see me…”

“Should I assemble forces?”

Lemon, who brought the intel, spoke boldly.

She suspected that a huge number of users would gather if they had to tread on Haven territory for the sake of stopping Kaybern.

She would not be able to mobilize a force as sizeable as the one back in Garnav Plains, but the Hermes Guild had been severely weakened as well.

She believed that the Haven territories could easily be conquered with sufficient forces.

‘Then, that would mean the unification of Versailles Continent.’

So many profitable factors played through in Weed’s mind.

Unicorn Corp hung up a grand prize for the one that united the entire continent.

The title of  first Emperor to accomplish total unity was an undeniable honor.

Of course he was ambitious, but then again, nothing was as dangerous as underestimating the enemy.

If the Hermes Guild were to be driven into a corner and resist with their lives on the line, that would mean an atrocious war for each city and fortress.

They had lost the battle of Garnav Plains and retreated off the continent, but the Haven territories were a natural stronghold.

‘If we attack recklessly, there is a chance that the continent may be wiped out by Kaybern and the monsters. The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind..’

Weed decided on the priorities.

“No,. I believe that we cannot waste time. We cannot avoid the Hermes Guild. I will make the trip quietly.”

Weed took Yurin and infiltrated Octurn with her Paint Transportation skill.

Octurn, the city of discipline.

The streets were quiet with little users visible.

Users in Haven territory had recently declined steeply, and the city itself was not popular to those other than adventurers that were interested in learning map crafting, plant biology, monster traits and history.

Sage Brio lived in a huge mansion and was a breeze to find.

Guards stood at the gates.

“What business do you… My god. The adventurer that rewrites history…”

“Enough. I’m going in.”

Weed’s fame easily got him through the gates, and he met Sage Brio at the garden.

He was an old man with hair that turned completely white.

“You are finally here. The young truly will succeed the old…”

“It is an honor to meet the wise. I am Weed.”

Weed, despite being the Emperor of Arpen Empire, did not push forth his authority.

The title of Emperor meant he could just lay orders to ordinary citizens, but he was much used to flattering.

Weed spoke with concern.

“Black Dragon Kaybern is driving the world into chaos. I came to you in stopping him.”

“Without a doubt he must be stopped. However, it is no ordinary task for humans to stop a dragon. It is dangerous… Very dangerous. Even if you possess the sharpest sword.”

Sage Brio unfolded several stories about Kaybern.

The main point was how much wreckage he caused in Thor, the Dwarven kingdom, and also about the treasures located in his lair.

“In an era of war, many kingdoms offered treasures on a regular basis. For the Dwarves, it was involuntary, but they gained powers by offering the treasures they accumulated from monsters.”

“Powers?”

“They reinforced their physicalities or intelligence so that they could govern their kind.

There will be far more treasures resting in his lair than that of any other dragon.”

“Gulp.”

Weed’s mouth watered up.

Brio ran through his beard and continued.

“There may even be magic that returns youth to its user.”

“The magic of youth?”

“It returns a person to the peak of their life. Also, all that treasure stacked in his lair could turn one into the continent’s richest man…”

Gulp.

Swallow!

This time, Brio and Weed swallowed almost simultaneously.

Sage Brio!

They say he had vast knowledge, but he was also a rumoured miser.

‘It seems that the rumors are true. Not really solid evidence, but I can tell. Intuition is more accurate at times.’

Weed smirked slightly.

A greedy one was better than a sage who thinks highly of himself and is stubborn.

Birds of a feather flock together, and they would have much better conversation.

“Hmm-hmm. It is at least several hundred years of collected treasure. It will not be easy to obtain. There are two ways to stop Kaybern from attacking the humans.”

“Two ways, you say?”

“One is the sharp sword that you wield and the other is compromise.”

“Compromise…”

“One thing Kaybern holds dear is treasure. A treasure rare enough to please him will save the continent from danger this time around.”

Blink!

< A crossroad of decision has appeared.

Black Dragon Kaybern is a being that is difficult to overcome with human power.

To save the world, will you confront him or offer precious treasure and beg for your life?

Upon your decision, the quest progression will change.>

‘Hmm. I have to choose between fighting or offering treasure and making a decent compromise.’

Weed reflected on economic efficiency and figured that offering treasure to ensure no more destruction of cities was worth it.

Calming Kaybern and conquering the Haven territories would bring him the benefit, the Emperor of Unification.

That being said, if he were to decide on offering treasure, he will plan for revenge in the future.

‘I could slay Kaybern later and take the dragon treasure. That would be in my best scenario and interest…’

Kaybern was extremely powerful, and the choice to avoid a battle against it was a huge allurement.

“I am curious about something.”

“What do you wish to learn about?”

“What kind of treasure will satisfy Kaybern?”

Brio groomed his beard and turned his gaze to the beautiful garden.

“To fulfill the dragon’s greed, you will have to fill a garden with stacks of gold.”

“Stacks?”

“Mountains of them, so to speak.”

“…”

“If not, you will need to offer 200 of your most precious possessions. Gems, artwork, magical items. The armor or sword that your majesty is wearing will be accepted by Kaybern.”

He had just come from the brisk of battle through Yurin’s Paint Transportation Skill.

He was wearing casual adventure attire, but inside he was wearing the Sky Ruler’s Armor that had been reduced in size by Fabio and Herman.

On top of that, the Loa Sword, considered the best sword that ever existed.

‘I have to give away all of these?’

From the list of Weed’s equipment and treasures, the ones that could satisfy the dragon were approximately 20 items.

‘Even if I do give these away, that’s nowhere enough.’

He could add the sculpture masterpieces from the art gallery in Morata and could also tax adventurers and merchants in the name of peace.

However, none of that will come without a cost.

In the trade with Mapan, the calculations were right down to a single percent.

‘Taking into consideration the Arpen Empire’s tax income, I would recuperate somehow in the future… Though, this is not a matter of taking a spoonful of someone else’s meal.’

This was like feasting on the entire meal, then demanding to order crispy fried pork and a whole chicken on top!

‘The dragon is one big bully, and this sage… He’s suggesting compromise like a mediator, which is suspicious. There’s not one person I can trust.’

The sages of Versailles Continent were knowledgeable and intelligent beings, but not all of them were good-natured.

‘In the real world too, the smart buggars rip people off a whole lot better.’

Not one was trustworthy, and so he even accounted for the possibility of a delivery fraud.

If Sage Brio had a conscience, one or two items. If he was a total thief with nothing but dirty intentions, he could take up to half.

‘Now I am unsure. All the information we collected on Kaybern… They were all about Kaybern loving to force humans into a trap.’

Weed contemplated a moment and decided.

“We shed too much blood already. I am not certain if I can slay Kaybern with this very sword, but I will not back down.”

“Think wisely. A dragon is too much to handle for humans. Bowing down your head won’t put flaw in your high reputation.”

“There is no reason for humans to be mistreated. If we succumb to Kaybern here and now, it doesn’t guarantee an end to his greed. We will be exploited endlessly like the Dwarves in Thor.”

Blink!

< You have completed the important decision in the quest.
You have sworn to fight against the Black Dragon Kaybern in order to save the world. >

< Kaybern is a dangerous being that cannot be trusted.
Based on gathered intel, you have made the correct decision.
Insight increased permanently by 15. >

“Mmm.”

It was fortunate that he did not fall for it.

‘Seriously, not one can be trusted’.’

Sage Brio spoke in a tone of regret.

“Combat is not always the answer. I have confidence in calming Kaybern down if I step up…”

“…”

Weed thought for a moment.

‘Why don’t I just kill this guy right now? I bet I could find a lot of treasures he ripped off if I search the basement of this building.’

The difference between a thief and a sage was a fraction.

Fortunately, Brio began speaking about a story related to the quest.

“A sharp sword dulls the warrior’s eyes and mind. It is a reckless path, but there was one who also chose to wield her sword against Kaybern in the past. It was the half-elf Vishur. However, she left for the maze Zode and no one ever saw her again.”

“She didn’t come back?”

“Yes. She vanished. If you can save her somehow, she will be a great asset in defeating Kaybern.”

< Half-elf Vishur.

Long ago, there was the half-elf Vishur who drew her sword against the Black Dragon Kaybern.

She was a half-breed of human and elf, a hero who mastered the ultimate spirits and sword techniques simultaneously.

“The flowers and trees are screaming due to Kaybern’s brutality. He must be stopped before a greater threat is imposed on us.”

Travel to maze Zode and find the vanished Vishur.
Difficulty: S
Quest Requirements: Hero Saving the Continent
Highest adventure reputation.>

< This quest cannot be forfeited under any circumstances. >

< Quest has been accepted. >

‘By Half-Elf Vishur, it must mean the missing hero of the elven race. So, this connects to the elves too.’

Weed met up with Yurin who was waiting and they quietly made their exit out of Octurn, the City of Discipline.

After he had a meeting with Mapan, he sent out a notice to all users.

– I am collecting all information on the Half-Elf Vishur and the location of maze Zode, as they pertain to stopping Kaybern. There will be a reward for those who provide vital information.

Instantly, the elven users reported about the Half-Elf Vishur.

– This is not the most accurate, but the elven elder spoke a bit about it, that there was one who was human and also an elf; a glorious swordsman.
- The most powerful elven champion was born in the eastern forest.
- I heard that story as well. An elf who mastered the bow and has been blessed by the earth and wind.
- I think the elf who resolved the incident with the spirit of Tannoma was named Vishur.
- I agree with the elf above. While I was proceeding with F and E rank quests in Tannoma, I saw the name Vishur engraved on a tree root buried in the ground. I thought it was nothing out of the ordinary, but I was shocked that the antique pawn shop bought it for 30,000 gold.
- I am Haruna, a level 510 elf. I resided in the woods my whole time here, and I am well acquainted with the elders. I apologize for not being able to participate in the Battle of the Garnav Plains, as I was on a mission of protecting the flowers. I asked the elders this time in regards to Weed-nim’s quest. They spoke to me about an elf that picked up the sword in vengeance after the trees were burnt down.

The gathering of information about the Half-Elf Vishur occurred due to the elves.

The stories about maze Zode took a while. It was a dungeon unknown to the world.

– Where in the world is maze Zode? I’ve never heard of that name.
- I know Cuclan like my own house. There are several dungeons around level 700 ~ 800, but none of them are designee like a maze.
- In the Cypath regions, there is no maze Zode. I have gone through all the dungeons that have been uncovered until now, and I can say for sure there is no maze Zode here. I can bet my name, Adventurer Bearmoon, on the line.
- I am flipping through every single book in the Great Library of Morata. Maze Zode is nowhere to be found.
- Shouldn’t we investigate the elven forests?
- This is Wood Elf Zorang. The elves are all out on the search. Elves discover and proceed with quests in the woods, and they are quite knowledgeable about these regions. However, they cannot trace anything.

A great number of users stepped up like it was their own interest.

Joining the warrior quest led by Weed spread virally like a trend.

The discussion boards were on fire.

– Please find it. I am Mage Jonte. I began participating in Weed-nim’s quest and I have been hunting for 9 days. At first, I was told that this was a Korean crash course program in leveling. I was like, that is awesome. Since then, I did gain 17 levels, but all I ate was barley bread, berries, and grass porridge. There is no time for food.

– This is Archer Borocter. I am hunting with the person above, and let’s just say that this place is a hunting pit of hell. My wish on the first day was to use all my arrows and rest, but then I saw the Avian reinforcements carrying 300,000 arrows behind them.

– I am a blacksmith in Morata. Currently, I am crafting over 1 million arrows in about 2 hours.

– We must become robots. Just fire those arrows. I don’t even know how many levels or  archery skills increased. We just keep working.

– I am American. What kind of country is South Korea? What culture and philosophy does it have? Weed spoke in the beginning.
“Do not worry about being weaker than the people around you. Just endure through hard labor. We must begin now, though I cannot say when it will come to an end.”

When it became so painful and unbearable, he said.

“Just imagine yourself studying last minute before the exam. It will all be great memories when it ends. You will remember these extremely nostalgic experiences. You will have developed the tenacity and confidence to do anything.”

I wanted to run away in secret, but Weed spoke again.

“The body can withstand hard labor. It is the mind that gets stressed. Throw away all thoughts of ever stopping. Just a bit more, and it will all be okay. Humans are excellent in adaptation.”

American hunters began with admiration for Weed, but they quickly became afraid.

I had a dream last night.

Weed spoke to me in the dream.

“Isn’t hunting fun? Ku-hehehe. The diligent bunch of you should feel privileged to hang around with me forever after slaying Kaybern. Fight on.”

He’s the devil! The devil!

Not Kaybern, but Weed. He is the devil.

I have newfound admiration for Pale-nim who has stuck by him since the beginning.

How he became so strong after a late start, that secret was not hunting nor skills.

It was intensive labor.

He would have labored with any spare time he had with Weed. How can someone not become stronger after that?

– I will not reveal my name. We are slaves. We do not think about anything. We will just hunt. I wish to live like a human being. I swear. I will live with kindness and respect for novice users.

The users that participated in Weed’s quest were slowly converted into hunting slaves. They could not escape due to the influences of the media. Even so, some were actually enjoying the atmosphere.

It was extremely tiresome and rigorous, but they received a sense of accomplishment once in a while.

They ran into an unbelievable number of monsters and were not afraid.

In fact, they were looking forward to the day when they would fight Kaybern.

The barley bread that they didn’t even give an eye to suddenly became so delicious, and 10 seconds of closing their eyes closed made them so happy.

– I am in the hunting team. As of now, the days are difficult but we have hope. We will become heroes when this is all over.

– I ain’t afraid of anything. Hahahaha.

– I think I will be set if I just follow Weed-nim around. My family and friends are jealous of me appearing on broadcast. Yesterday, I was praised for my magical spell chanting speed. I will bet my life on Weed-nim. Mmm. Is that a good decision? I don’t know. But, that would make me at ease.

They were in a transient state, surpassing agony, sadness, and despair!

Weed had picked out the elites of Royal Road, and toughening them up in the hunting grounds seemed to have made them painfully adjust to the routine.

***

Weed heard news that the sandstorm has brewed in the Desert of Silence.

“Information on Vishur or Maze Zode needs to be more complete… In that case,  I will need to take care of the job class first.”

He travelled to the desert village in proximity of the destination through Yurin’s Paint Teleportation Skill and rode his camel frantically.

Desert of Silence.

A storm was rising with a radius of 3 km.

Sand got sucked into the sky and the world’s light faded with it, truly a mystical view.

The Eye of the Sun. It sure is violent, befitting its nickname.”

The winds were sweeping the surroundings and the sands were dancing in a craze.

Geomchi5, who had arrived earlier, spoke with a concerning expression on his face.

“The storm is bigger than we thought. Are you gonna be alright?”

“Yes.”

Weed began taking off his equipment, starting with the Sky Ruler’s Armor.

In order to continue with the quest, he had to walk into the storm with no other equipment other than a single weapon.

It was a frightening task, only carried out with nerves of steel.

“I will be back.”

“Yeah. Take it down with style.”

Weed took on the cheer from Geomchi5, the apprentices, and the desert tribes as he walked towards the storm.

There were also users that filled the sand hill. The very users that were hunting with their lives all came to watch.

< The sand winds are blowing intensely.
Health points decrease by 160 per second. >

The moment he stepped into the radius of the sandstorm, he immediately began taking damage because he was armorless.

‘Things are getting harsh so early. This is definitely not going to be easy.’

Weed took it to heart, that he was different in every aspect when compared to his days as the Great King of the Desert.

Back then, he charged on his twin-hump camel with awesome abilities and crushed storms with a single strike of the sword that could split the sky and the desert.

‘Level difference is approximately 300. An incomparable physical prowess.’

< The sand winds are grazing your skin.
Health points decrease by 280 each second.
High perseverance and willpower that will withstand any environment reduces the decline of health points by half. >

Having jumped from sculptor and necromancer, his strength, agility, health points, and willpower lacked more than one who trained as a warrior the entire way.

Weed thought that it was crucial to move quickly before his health points depleted.

‘With all the adventures I have done until now, I can do this.’

Having said that, crossing the halfway point of the sandstorm reduced his health points by 350 every second.

“Eyes Closed Shut!”

He raised his defense by closing his eyes and also used Stone Skin which fortified his skin. In doing so, his heallth points reduction whittled down below 100.

Bandage wrapping, which he mastered, could restore his health points, but the use of consumables was restricted.

Weed lowered his body so that he would not be blown away into the sky and treaded one step at a time.

< Perseverance increased by 1. >

Perseverance and willpower were the basis of a warrior.

To continue walking forward, it required strength and stamina as well.

Advancing further under this extreme environment  raised perseverance.

‘In the days as Great King of the Desert, I just ran up to it and slashed it away… The basic strength difference is huge. Furthermore, my health points are too low.’

His health points stood at 128,000.

He trained for a long time as a sculptor and every level he gained, his maximum health points did not increase significantly.

The Goblet of Flames and Sky Ruler’s Armor raised his maximum health points, but his base was in a terrible state.

He was skilled in many areas, but his low health points was a weakness difficult to overcome.

He cracked many S rank difficulty quests, but a quest like this, in which he had to smash through with his sheer body, was not easy even if it was an A rank difficulty.

< The raging sand winds delve into your skin.

Excruciating damage!

Health points decreased by 9286! >

The further into the storm he walked, the more the damage escalated. His entire body was stinging, and his vision was narrowing.

60,000 health points remaining!

Weed felt like his body was going to shoot up into the sky. He realized if that were to happen, it meant death.

‘That means I fail the quest as well.’

He could not advance any further with a weak body.

He had only recently become a warrior, and quests that could not utilize his sculptor traits were difficult to manage.

‘Do I scale my willpower up with Sculptural Destruction? Still, my strength is too low and cannot be certain.’

He contemplated trying again after heightening his defense. Even then, lack of strength or agility meant that he could not walk into the eye of the storm.

‘Even if I level up one stat, the other ones are lacking in general. I did put up these stats with all the hard grinding until now… Do I just give up here?’

That moment, he thought of a sliver of possibility by trying an unorthodox method.

‘If things go south, I will be dead for sure… No, would that make me safer instead? I cannot afford to hesitate. If I drag this out, it will only get worse.’

Weed, upon making his decision, laid flat on his stomach.

“Four-legged running!”

*Ta-ta-ta-tap!*

It was a skill he hadn’t used in a long time, and he was running uptempo!

< The sandstorm strikes your body.
Health points reduced by 7286. >

< The winds are carrying you forward.
Movement speed increased by 198%. >

It wasn’t about struggling through the sandstorm head on.

Weed leaned his body into the winds and ran slightly to the side, increasing his speed.

He ran alongside the raging winds’ rotation.

< Amazing accomplishment. Maximum speed record!

You are running faster than the legendary steed.

Agility increased permanently by 6.

Movement speed increased by an additional 10%. >

< Title! You have obtained the title Warrior of the Wind.

Movement speed exceeding human limitations!

Not a single monster will be able to chase you when you move at full speed.

You have acquired the movement skill, Wind Rush. >

Weed inched closer towards the center of the sandstorm that even sucked in light.

The winds gradually became rougher and more powerful. As he matched the speed of the winds, the amount of loss in health points decreased.

In  that moment he felt that he had reached the peak of speed!

“Sculptural Destruction Skill! All shall transform into willpower.”

– You have activated the Sculptural Destruction Technique.

His art stat was over 3800.

He used all of it to increase his physical defense ability.

At least ten protection skills were applied on him.

His maximum health points also multiplied significantly.

“Hyah!”

Weed leaped into the eye of the sandstorm with maximum force.

The current of the sand winds that could destroy buildings and uproot the land itself.

He attempted to penetrate the wind wall with speed by hurling his body through it.

“Close eyes tightly!”

Message alerts kept popping up notifying about declining health points.

He could withstand the blade-like sand winds, but that was it.

His body lifted off the ground and began rotating as he got engulfed into the sandstorm.

Everything seemed to have gone wrong, but he did not give up hope.

Then, the raging winds weakened and there was an instant of complete silence.

‘It worked.’

If one could not overcome the sandstorm head-on, the easy method was just to throw his body in.

“Holy Fire.”

*Fwoosh!*

The holy fire, gift of Goddess Hestia, inflamed the Loa Sword magnificently.

“Lava River!”

Weed activated the skill airborne without hesitation.

*****

Barova.

He was a warrior who started Royal Road in Kallamore.

“A man’s got to go for warrior. A fighter. Other jobs are like kids’ play.”

Reliable willpower and strong offense.

He wielded the spear and axe, but the bow was not to his liking and certainly not magic.

He liked battling fiercely with monsters in close combat.

“Let us have some fun.”

He trained rapidly in the hunting grounds, and sometime later the citizens of Versailles Continent talked about him.

“Do you know of the brawler Barova? He wiped out the Gromba dungeon all by himself.”

“The specters of Kuhulan all fled because of a warrior named Barova!”

“The monsters that invaded Bangerson Village were eradicated by warrior Barova.”

His reputation in combat spread wide across the continent.

At that time, there was news that Weed had defeated the Immortal Legion led by Lich Shire, but he laughed it off.

“A sculptor? Lazy bums with nothing to do like such shows. He wouldn’t be able to move a finger when he faces me straight up.”

This was the typical attitude of powerful users from the Central Continent.

The quests were just subsidiary content, and only levels and hunting abilities were indicating factors of true power.

Barova kept on hunting, turning down all invitations from guilds and interviews from broadcast networks.

Hunt, hunt, hunt.

He completed combat quests that were necessary and spread his reputation in his own fashion.

He even received an invitation from the Hermes Guild, but turned it down in the end.

“I have no desire to show off under a faction. I’m going after the strong ones, not the nobodies.”

After he turned the invitation down, he was pinned with a grudge from the Hermes Guild that limited the use of hunting grounds. Many times he was put on the wanted list and was killed, but he maintained his pride.

In the end, all the users were pushed away into the southern desert with little population, but he had complete faith in himself as a warrior.

“A warrior just needs to prove his combat strength.”

No matter what adventure Weed pulled off, it was little interest to him.

“That’s not combat skill, just cheating. He may be able to complete quests that way, but he can’t confront a real champion.”

Since then, Weed defeated Bard ray and became the one and only Emperor of Versailles Continent.

Barova who only tread on the hunting grounds of the desolate Oasis purposely came all the way to the Desert of Silence to meet Weed.

“He’s planning to destroy the sandstorm? What preposterous…”

Barova had experience long ago where he was swept up by the sandstorm and managed to get away after having suffered greatly.

“No way in hell. This cannot be done. Some things are not possible no matter what.”

Though it would be very satisfying to watch Weed die in the storm.

Barova witnessed a sandstorm brew in a spot with the majority of the users in the desert present.

The sandstorm that brew in the Desert of Silence was more devastating than that of any other region, and it was a natural phenomenon that was truly spectacular.

“Destroying that? That’s absurd.”

The other desert users agreed with Barova’s comment.

“That is one crazy stunt.”

“If that storm hits the village, everything will be blown away.”

“Is this guy walking in trying to smash a storm with his sword and not magic?”

“That seems to be it…”

“Isn’t this rigged or staged somehow? This must be faked for the cameras.”

“It doesn’t seem that way. How can you even cast a sandstorm to be on a show?”

As the desert users observed, Weed walked towards the sandstorm with no armor.

His upper body was exposed in the process, and they could see his lean muscular body that had been trained delicately.

It wasn’t all that special given the fact that increasing willpower in Royal Road developed one’s muscles, but it did seem that he trained quite well as a warrior.

Soon after, Weed disappeared into the sandstorm and users exclaimed.

“He really went inside.

“Nothing is visible due to the sand.”

“Let us watch the live broadcast. The footage will be shown from Weed’s perspective.”

The users began watching the live broadcast through their own crystal globes.

The footage reflecting Weed’s eyes and ears came on screen, a terrifying scene beyond imagination.

The inside of the sandstorm was dark and full of whirring sounds. The rough sand winds struck once again, and no one could tell where he was.

Weed patiently walked further inside.

– Oh-Joowan-Ssi. Will he be able to overcome this sandstorm?
-  I can’t even tell. However, I think that Weed won’t turn back.
- So he will see it to the end.
- Yes. If it was a typical user, I would think this is impossible… But this is Weed, and he is getting my hopes up.

No one could tell the outcome.

Barova was shocked in this process.

‘If it were me, I could have never done what he just did.’

It was something that was unchallenged from the fear of failure, but Weed had the mindset to do so.

Soon, Weed’s vision on broadcast narrowed below 10 centimeters and all that could be heard was the whirring, violent winds.

– Amazing. It’s uncertain but… He seems to be advancing forward even now.

These tense moments were passing by, and Weed would be no surprise if Weed perished in an instant.

The mouths of the observers dried completely and the tension continued.

“Huh?”

A spectacular scene unravelled before Barova who was watching the sandstorm from afar.

*****

The origin of the sandstorm current.

Weed felt the fierce winds calming down like they never existed.

“Ah…”

The sands that covered the sky lost their will and rained down onto the desert.

‘Did I succeed?’

He accomplished the quest of destroying the sandstorm.

Compared to the days as the Great King of the Desert where he had complete confidence to do anything, he barely managed to survive this time.

– Remaining health points: 79,387.

Weed would have been in a sparing state if it was monster hunting, but for the sandstorm in the Desert of Silence, he could not guarantee surviving through to the end.

‘The effects of the Sculptural Destruction Skill was immense, but I really survived thanks to all the stats I accumulated since my novice days.’

Weed once again confirmed that consistent grinding was the eternal truth.

Finding good hunting grounds and making hefty profit off quests. But the foundation is grinding!

‘High levels come from 99% grinding and 1% good equipment.’

Equipment too, will be farmed naturally through grinding.

The quest this time was high difficulty but required a resilient body.

A warrior quest that could not be passed without strength, agility, endurance and willpower.

‘This quest was one that called for the bravest, truest warrior willing to submerge into a storm.’

It would have been much more advantageous for a desert warrior with excellent physical abilities.

The sandstorm that once engulfed Weed was now fading away.

Weed was still in the air, and he was about to put a smirk on his face.

‘The quest completion screen did not pop up yet. Maybe this thing isn’t over just yet.’

The winds began waging once again.

In a 2 ~ 3 kilometer radius, the winds gathered and tangled, surging up to the sky.

*Swaaaaaaash!*

The desert sands collected and took on the form of a storm.

‘Damn it. I knew it was too easy.’’

Weed did not blame his luck. He only lacked the strength to subside this storm.

‘Opportunity does not come in a pack. I have to crush it completely.’

The center of the gathering winds was approximately 50 meters ahead.

The storm rose up. Thousands of sharp, stray winds merged and shredded the air.

The wind pressure was so high that it could rip apart his entire body!

< Health points decreased by 316. >

< Health points… >

< Health points… >

< Health points… >

Weed’s health points were declining.

He had immense willpower, but he could not afford to hold out in the middle of the storm forever.

“Time Sculpting!”

He stopped the world in its track.

The sands riding on top of the winds also froze in place.

– Remaining health points: 5,386

‘Charging through.’

Weed stepped on the sands floating in the sky and sprinted towards the eye of the storm.

The winds stopped, but the sands were still in place. Then, he activated a skill upon reaching the eye again.

“Lava River!”

Simultaneously, the effects of Time Sculpting ceased.

The lava that surged from the grounds enveloped the sandstorm.

The crimson lava caught in a maelstrom of sand and wind, shooting up to the ends of the sky.

< Prove Your Strength complete.

You have put the sandstorm to rest and proved that you are the greatest warrior in the desert.

This historical achievement will be revered by the people in the desert and the young warriors will not hesitate to follow in your footsteps. >

< Quest reward increased all stats by 3. >

< Honor increased by 30,000. >

< All tribes of the desert look up to your name. The warriors will regard you as the one who will succeed the title, the Great King of the Desert. >

Title!

< You have obtained the title: The One Who Slayed the Sandstorm.
It is an honorable title given to the one who overcomes the sandstorm in the Desert of Silence.
Strength and Stamina increase by 15% in the desert.
You have gained high influential control over the desert tribes. >

At last, the quest was complete!

Weed put on all the equipment including the Sky Ruler’s Armor the moment the message alert notified him of his success.

*Clink-Clank!*

The sandstorm disappeared, but the blade-like winds were still sweeping the surroundings.

At the same time, lava rained down from the sky.

The Lava River had covered the sky in its clash with the sandstorm.

‘One wrong move and I might just die after having finished the quest.’

Only about 3,000 health points remained.

He was very close to dying, but he had Seulroeo’s Wedding Ring in his possession.

Blink!

<Seulroeo’s Wedding Ring is active.
Spouse Seoyoon’s health points are transferred.
138,861 total health points.
Berserker’s traits has been applied.
You have gained Blind Rage, Improved Stamina and Unyielding Fighting Spirit. >

The effects of the marriage vows that were imbued in the wedding ring activated.
More health points than Weed usually had were transferred to him.

† Marriage Vow
The blessed ring shares life between two people.
When one’s health points are lowered to the point of putting the wearer in danger, up to 50% of the spouse’s total health points can be transferred.
When health points decline, the job class of the spouse who is wearing the ring will be applied to the effect.
You are capable of using your spouse’s skills up to 70% proficiency.

The effects of the wedding ring were not always absolute.

When he battled against Bard Ray in the Melbourne Mine, he took an incredible hit and died before the effects had a chance to be applied.

In other words, instantaneous death!

Seulroeo’s wedding ring served as a token of the wedding vow and could not be passed onto someone else. However, there was always the case of it breaking or losing it, so it had to be handled with caution.

When he chased down the Hermes Guild at the Garnav Plains at the expense of his life, he was cautious and took off the ring and other valuable items prior to the chase.

But at a time like this where his health points were hitting the bottom of the tank, he had no other choice but to rely on the ring.

It was like a man having no one else to turn to other than his own wife if he were to be laid off work or got into a huge mess outside!

“So reliable, as expected.”

*****

Barova and the desert warriors dropped their jaws.

“Kuk!”

“That’s….”

“A lava storm.”

It was fortunate that the sandstorm faded away.

They did not have to be careful to call him the pioneer warrior who accomplished such a marvelous achievement, and it was a life-long memory to have witnessed him pull it off in person.

With that being said, the sands retreated, but the lava surged up several kilometers into the sky and rained down all over the desert.

“Agh! Don’t get swept away or we’ll die.”

“Hurry up and flee!”

It was extremely wise to have decided to watch from afar in order to distance themselves away from the sandstorm.

The users that were standing by the sand hills hurried back to take cover.

Geomchi5 and the apprentices were in a different situation.

The lava rain was falling down from the sky, but they looked at one another.

They inched away slowly, then stopped!

They were pulling their legs back, but stopped in their tracks when their eyes met with another.

“K-hmm. The youngest one is awesome.”

“Instructor. I knew he had it in him.”

“Yes. That is the spirit of challenge in its entirety. You cannot view anything in a pessimistic way from the get-go. You must try first… It might work or it might not, and that’s the way it is.”

“That is an excellent lesson.”

Geomchi5 and the apprentices were all topless.

They scouted everyone around them and did not back away even one step.

It was raining lava, but hiding from it was deemed to be weak.

“The scenery is quite pleasant.”

“An infatuating scene indeed.”

A drop of lava fell on the shoulder of Geumchi244.

“K-ugh!”

The lava burned through his clothing and scorched his shoulder, bringing him sharp pain.

His health points were declining substantially, but not a single change to his facial expression.

“Does it hurt?”

“Ha-ha-ha. It’s relaxing!”

More lava began to fall.

If they wore proper armor, they would have been able to withstand it a lot easier, but Geomchi5 and the apprentices endured it with their naked bodies!

“Ha-ha-ha.”

“Wa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.”

“Chuckle-crackle.”

Just like that, 47 lives were lost.

*****

“Elder. You can take this to Twell who is fishing by the river.”

“That’s a bit annoying, but I’ll do it.”

< You have accepted the quest. >

Reverse thought that it was too difficult to pass the beginner training dojo.

So, he proceeded with the simple quests.

“I need to get a sword nonetheless.”

If one were to travel outside the gates, having the default iron sword was a big difference than not having one at all.

He knew that fact very well beforehand and so he stashed as much pocket money while doing these quests.

“I look forward to your help next time around.”

“Forget it. You’ll never see me again.”

Even after completing the quests, he never got familiar with the people, but he did carry out the tasks well and built up his reputation bit by bit.

“I have an emergency to attend to. Can you look over my fishing rod for me?”

“Eh. Go do your thing.”

“The current is great today. If you catch any fish, you can keep it, sir.”

*Blink!*

< Fishing at midnight!
Fisherman Zeld is thinking of getting wasted at a pub.
Catch fish in his place until dawn.
The larger and more unique the fish, the higher your reputation will rise among the fishermen.
Difficulty: F
Reward: Fish >

“I do not like fish all that much.”

“Still, try catching one. It might be your lucky day.”

“Well, I got nothing better to do…”

Reverse stumbled upon a fishing quest by the river, and it really was a good day for him.

He put on the bait and tossed the fishing line. Soon after, the fish began to nibble. The next step was to pull hard and land the fish.

The fish were dragged out to the surface in clusters and the couple that were watching from afar were surprised and approached him.

“Wow. He caught them again.”

“He’s really good at it.”

Reverse cleared his throat trying to keep calm, but his face was already blushed with happiness.

“A-hem! This is a piece of cake.”

He loved the feel of the fishing rod and was even more happy that the fish were his to keep.

Rainbow carp!

Landing a rare species increased luck by 1. He fished all night long and headed for Bingryong Square.

Countless users were sitting in the square as open street vendors.

In the Bingryong Square, a variety of items were being sold, from common tree berries to expensive weapons over 10,000 gold!

Reverse sat down relaxed and opened a street stall. As time passed he  worried about the freshness of the fish declining.

Therefore, he began calling out to customers which he would usually never do.

“Hmm-hmm. Selling Fish. Delicious fish caught by the river!”

The fish was a common ingredient, but the large ones were popular.

The users that were passing by stopped to take a look.

“They look fresh and sizeable. How much are they?”

“I’m not sure. Make an offer.”

“How about 2 silver?”

Reverse was stunned for being so happy about catching fish worth 2 silver each.

“There’s my cost of labor too.”

“Nah, that would be a bit overpriced. I will give you 3 silver at most.”

“Not bad a price… Alright.”

Each fish sold provided him an income of several silvers.

Reverse fell into a fantasy of becoming rich in Royal Road. The rainbow carp was sold for 5 gold, making him more content.

“Maybe fishing is my job of aptitude. There is such joy in sitting under a shade and facing the nice breeze.”

That very day he purchased a bamboo fishing rod for 1 gold.

In the daytime, he completed quests and spent time at the beginner training dojo. At night, he fished.

Like the saying, “Converts are the worst”, he became head over heels for Royal Road.

Reverse sighed in regret every time he walked the streets of Morata.

“For me to have started this so late despite having invented it… This is a different level from watching through the monitor. I would have started on the first day of Royal Road if I knew it was this fun.”

*****

Seoyoon was involved in affairs for governing the empire.

The new provincial lords were short in ruling the cities, so she provided the needed support and at other times devised collaborative development plans of several villages.

It was a difficult time, but she put in her best effort to establish the foundation of the Arpen Empire.

“Chwiik!”

The Orc lord Seechwi!

She who had treated Seoyoon for a long time made a visit to the Earth Palace.

“Seoyoon! Chwiik!”

“Yes.”

Seoyoon replied and smiled brightly.

It was because she knew how hard Seechwi tried to break down the wall in her heart.

“You’re so beautiful when you smile like that. Chwiik!”

Seechwi snorted in joy.

“The reason I came here. Sh-chwiik. I think I have to. Chwiik. Head to the east. Sh-chwiik!”

“By east you mean… Orcland?”

“Yep. Chwiik!”

“Isn’t it dangerous there due to the Red Dragon?”

Seechwi wasn’t planning to go for no reason.

‘Red Dragon… Just maybe, there is a secret relating to the orcs.’

In Orcland, the regions were a mixture of barren lands and grass fields, and the rest of the lands were occupied by the orcs.

For the Orcs, there was a saying that was passed down as a legend.

– We will become extinct. Chwiik. Only by extinction, Chwiik. We will be liberated from the curse. Sh-Sh-Chwiik!

A curse bestowed on the Orcs!

No one knew what it was exactly, but there was a crucial concern for Orc users.

‘The Orc is really fun in the beginning. Fast growth. What after that, though?’

The Orc does not become stronger after a certain point.

They cannot build intelligence and form societies, let alone find jobs in architecture or the arts field.

Orc towns and forts were merely villages built by stacking rocks.

Many races in the Versailles Continent had potential and the Orcs were regarded as the abandoned race.

Too many Orc lords realized the harsh reality and left for vacations.

A self-inflicting insult was widely spread among them that the Orc race was great for tanning by the beach.

“Red Dragon. Maybe it is not a coincidence. Chwiik! Something. Chwiik. I want to try… If something happens to me.”

“Yeah. Don’t worry. I will certainly help.”

Chapter 7: The Way of the desert

Weed saw the sigil of the murderer and sighed.

“The brothers are dead…”

He did not mean to lead them to a certain death, but they died anyway.

He would normally account for the worst scenarios, but this was definitely impossible to predict.

‘It’s not the worst thing that could happen anyhow.’

He gained a level and accomplished the genocide combat accomplishment.

His status as a murderer would disappear while doing quests, and the entire scene was broadcasted live so no one will think badly of him.

Weed who had defeated the sandstorm walked over to Geumchi5 who was a total mess just from observing.

“Well done, youngest one.”

“It’s nothing. This kind of thing is a breeze.”

“Yes. Of course.”

Weed brought out bandages and wrapped it around Geumchi5 and the apprentices with rockbottom health points.

They boasted about their recovery even with fatal wounds and some of them were actually hanging on the cliff.

“Consuming some food will help you recover faster.”

“I am not hungry.”

“This is dried eel.”

“Mmm. Very savory. You got any more of these?”

These apprentices didn’t run from raining lava but could not hold back on dried eel and shared among themselves.

They had nowhere to use the excess stamina, but they would not turn down good food!

The users that were hiding around the desert rose to their feet.

“Oh… He’s good at wrapping bandages too.”

“You have to be at that level to be called the best in the continent.”

The response from the desert users were different from how it was before.

Their eyes were beaming with surprise and admiration.

“I am Barova. Weed-nim. It is an honor to meet you.”

“Yes. Glad to meet you.”

Weed exchanged simple greetings with the desert users. Many of the users present were around level 500.

To be active in the desert, the user will generally be high-level and hostile. They were well-behaved having seen Weed in action.

‘When I rule the desert, these users will become the tribal chiefs.’

Weed put on his business smile.

“I think it’s beyond coincidence for us to have met, so will you join me in a hunt?”

*****

Hunting hell, an infernal hunting hell!

Weed reminisced the days as the Great King of the Desert and hunted alongside the users.

“We are the Zenkoba Tribe. To you we swear our loyalty. Every single drop of blood that runs through be will be shed for you.”

As he met with the different desert tribes, the influence in building the Pallos Empire grew.

The users that have proceeded with the quest for the Pallos Empire could be disappointed, but as it stood, Weed was already in control of the North and the Central Continent.

He also took in the tribe warriors from Geumchi and the apprentices.

His faction and influence was outstanding, and the seeds of the Pallos Empire that spread across the desert regions were also in his hands.

The southern desert also seemed to fall into his hands in a natural flow of events just moments after its birth.

“Are you the warrior who put the Eye of the Sun to rest?”

“That is so.”

The Sun Tribe deemed to be the most powerful in the desert visited him after 3 days.

The tribe that it self-claimed to be warriors of warriors and the descendents of the Pallos Empire.

“We heard the stories, but we only believe in what we see with our own eyes. If you seek a duel with our warriors, follow.”

< The Newcomer in the Tribe
The Sun Tribe does not accept just anyone.
If you seek to be a magnificent desert warrior, you must become the youngest one in the tribe and learn from various teachings.
Follow the Sun Tribe and participate in the hunting.

Difficulty: A
Requirements: Warrior class job quest
Rewards: Advancement into desert warrior >

‘Desert warrior… It ain’t easy earning the nice job classes.’

Weed had no plans of settling for the desert warrior.

‘The warrior class needs combat achievements in order to acquire good jobs. The sandstorm was quite a struggle, but I’m well off in terms of sword techniques, stats and equipment. I’m better in a real competition.’

While all the ruckus was going on with Kaybern, he did not want to waste any time.

‘I guess it is what it is. I can just hunt my way after this.’

He processed the situation for a moment and nodded.

“Alright. I will go with you.”

< You have accepted the quest. Spirit increased by 1. >

*****

Darius, the lord of Castle Patton!

In the past, he committed evil deeds without restraint, then betrayed the Hermes Guild and sided with the Arpen.

“Oof. That was the best decision ever. A man’s got to have the right connections.”

“I agree, lord Darius.”

Darius failed to hide his satisfaction in his castle raised in the Northern Continent.

It was located between Castle Vent and Mordred, had decent transportation system and also possessed rich-soil lands that was providing an increasing amount of harvests.

“How are the farmers?”

“They are gathering up. I believe this is the effect of building reservoirs early.”

“The price of the crops will increase because of Kaybern. We will be able to sell at higher prices. This is seizing the opportunity.”

“Increasing price of consumables goes against the laws of Arpen.”

Darius frowned at the words of the internal affairs manager.

“It is irritating with so many regulations. If it was Haven Empire, we would have made 10, 20 times more profit with the excuse of lacking supply.”

“But, aren’t there a lot more users that will make the purchase? The merchant associations willingly buy in bulk.”

A smile painted Darius’ face again.

“That’s right. Business and population is all you need for a city.”

Just a bit of investment over Castle Patton and new inventions brought instantaneous response of the users. Tens and thousands of users moved in each week, and there were even more merchants and travellers, giving him joy in ruling the city.

Technology, production and taxes were undeniably influenced by population.

He had wiped his past completely and was now living the life of the lord.

Darius in his office took out the crystal ball.

“Let’s see what our dear majesty is up to.”

His other hobby was watching footage of Weed from time to time.

“I took the best rope up. Just a moment later in turning to Arpen and I wouldn’t be enjoying this luxury in the lord seat.”

If the Hermes Guild were to crumble and Weed control the entire world, nothing could work out better for him.

At a point in time in his life, he was infamous for his evil deeds, but he thought of it as a childhood misconduct.

“From now on, I will maintain my good reputation and live as the lord. Lord of Arpen… How great is that?”

In the crystal ball, footage of Weed joining with the Sun Tribe and running east of the desert was shown.

“I’ve been there as well!”

Darius sprang out of his seat.

After Weed had raised the Pallos Empire, the revival of the desert region began.

Shortly after that, he considered the request of the broadcast station and organized a squad for a trip to the desert.

“Heated Desert. That’s the place where the desert worms spawn, yes? A bit more east and the bigger ones come out.”

The squad at the time battled against 3 desert worms.

A gigantic worm that moves beneath the sands.

Weed once transformed himself into a squishy worm but it was surely a tricky opponent to face.

‘Enormous amount of health points and endurance. It swallows anything that comes in its path. Bursting out from the ground without notice is a problematic trait as well.’

When it was beneath the sands, it was hard to pinpoint its location and let alone attack.

If it were to surge all of a sudden and take a mouthful, the victim would meet certain death unless he was a warrior or a knight!

The worm was a subject of fear for the mages and priests that positioned in the rear.

‘I have heard countless times that worms are not to be hunted. However, I had no other choice but to fight it due to the broadcast.’

Darius’ squad fought formidably in its early encounter with the 3 desert worms. However, another showed up, devouring an archer and a mage.

That was just the beginning of a nightmare.

The desert worms that felt the trembles of battle gathered from a 5 kilometer radius.

They sprang everywhere from the sands and devoured the users.

Gulp!

They swallowed users whole and drained their health points and mana.

“Run! Fall back!”

Darius chose to retreat, horrified like he was in hell, but the battle extended for a long time and the desert worms were on a rampage.

Less than a dozen managed to escape the area.

The tension beat just about any horror film and the footage hit over 50 million views.

Darius could not forget such a gruesome failure.

“He’s going to that place? Along with the desert tribe members?”

He thought it was illogical but could not foresee the outcome because it was Weed.

*****

Weed followed the Sun Tribe and got the broadcast station to live cast the scene.

– Seoyoon: This is the habitat of desert worms. Be weary of the tremors. It’s best if you take your shoes off.

Seoyoon delivered information as she observed the live cast.

– Mapan: The desert worm, apart from its rotten meat, sells for expensive price! The feelers are used for making fire type magic scrolls nowadays and are on the rise on the price range.

Mapan also filled in with information about market price.

Weed was quite familiar with monsters of this type since he came across the Death Worm and Squishy Worm.

‘The Sun Tribe. I wonder how you all fight.’

He was following in a relaxed manner.

“Sprint!”

The camel began racing through the desert at the shout from the tribal chief.

All in view was the ocean of sand roasted hot by the sunlight.

It was almost a boring and peaceful view, but something occurred the next moment.

– Chuuuuuack!

As they passed through the sand hill, the desert worms popped out from the ground!

The tribe warriors responded swiftly.

“Scatter and advance forward!”

The warriors mounted on camels split to the sides and attacked the desert worm.

7 of them fell off from their camels, but they succeeded in hunting the desert worm with a quick retaliation.

‘The reaction was fast. They fight well.’

Weed deemed the Sun Tribe to be as formidable as the usual warriors he came across back in his days as the Great King of the Desert.

In those days, he cast them away as soon as they fell even an inch behind because he was all about saving time.

Gathering and training the elites in endless hunting was after all that.

The forces under his direct command were elites that could conquer the continent, so they were not to be compared to.

A warrior with an intimidating face and white cloth wrapped around his head approached Weed.

“Newcomer! Tend to the wounded.”

“So I shall.”

Weed went over to the wounded and wrapped them with bandages rubbed in healing herbs.

“Ah… That feels great.”

“With a bit of rest, you will be able to fight again.”

“Thanks.”

< Friendliness has increased. >

The wounded warriors each taught him a skill of their own.

“I can’t really call this compensation, but do you know how to put power in your sword?”

“I wish to learn.”

“It is to strike down with the energy of the sky. It is quite the tricky skill, but repeat it a few times after I show you.”

Weed copied the footwork and the waist movement of the wounded warrior identically.

Blink!

< You have acquired the passive skill,  Warrior’s Descending Strike.

Warrior’s Descending Strike, Novice, 1 (0%): Striking down on an enemy increases attack power by 2%. >

He picked up a few vital skills learned by warriors.

In the desert, he could not pick up defensive skills but he learned plenty of offensive skills.

‘It’s enjoyable to look after these warriors. Unfortunately, I won’t have the time to cook for them.’

Weed thought about the time in Litbar demon lair where he looked after the Rosenheim Kingdom soldiers, but that was just for a moment.

An A rank quest.

It would not end with just caring for the behinds as the intern of the Sun Tribe.

‘It’s manageable so far… But the deeper we go into the Heated Desert, the desert worms will appear by the dozens.’

Then it would be a terrible scene of hell!

Judging by the navigation path, he had to survive while protecting the Sun Tribe.

Weed knew what was going to happen next, but he stayed firm and tended to the wounded.

“Have you heard of Teppy? He’s the most skilled warrior in our tribe. The Sun Tribe are led by truly powerful warriors.”

“Yes. I see.”

He talked with the wounded soldiers and obtained some basic information.

‘It will be much more advantageous if I summon the undead…. Then again, I will need to fight like a warrior in order to become friendlier with these people.’

Weed’s combat power came with a trait that multiplied several fold the dirtier he fought.

He had to charge through the desert worms without the use of Undead Summoning or curse spells that specialize in large-scale battles.

‘The situation calls for this…’

Weed quietly took out a sculpture while following the tribe.

“Sculptural Destruction Technique! All of this shall turn into power.”

< You have activated Sculptural Destruction Technique. >

His art stat was over 3800.

The hard-earned art stats that he accumulated through intense grinding were all converted into strength.

‘This is reassuring.’

Weed felt power boiling within his entire body.

The Sun Tribe utilized mobility of the camels in their battles.

Since they were never stationary, it was easier to distance themselves against the surprise attack of the desert worms and was also quicker to aid those in danger.

‘They surely live up to their reputation. They excel in hunting, the best in the desert.’

They were a warrior tribe that used swords, throwing spears and bows.

They had no priests or mages, but they had a great combination of attack and defense and quickly took down the desert worm.

The butchery of severing the bones, meat and the skin of the desert worms followed right after.

“We will keep going. Youngest one, look after the wounded.”

“Yes. I will.”

Weed began to think more formidably about the quest as he followed the tribe.

‘It will be better if the desert worms attack all at once. One or two are being taken down quite easily. If we continue to move like this… We will be stuck in the middle of the desert worm nest.’

The huge failure of Darius’ squad had led to users avoiding the desert worm territories completely.

Eventually even the merchants took the long route and the desert worms starved.

*Glurp!*

The desert worms were creatures with a greedy appetite to begin with.

The animals roaming the desert were scarce, and they found it hard to thrive given their hunger.

Now that a large number of prey appeared, the reckless desert worms came forth and the rest stayed in position. It was to prevent even a single prey from escaping.

Weed gazed far into the desert and noticed the sands creeping.

It could have been the winds, but the range of the movement was very wide.

‘This is going to be quite challenging… But, that’s where the fun is.’

*****

Yoo Byungjoon was observing Weed through the monitor with a cup of cocoa in his hand.

“He’s in for a checkmate.”

The more he felt joy in Royal Road, his regret grew bigger of not having started earlier. Furthermore, he felt doubts about his own life.

‘Countless people… They acknowledged me for creating this new world. Royal Road bestowed heavenly joy to some of them.’

However, the creator of said world merely observed everyone in it having fun.

‘Weed. I even pledged to inherit all my fortune to him once he became the emperor that united the continent…’

Yoo Byungjoon pondered about how it would have been like if he started Royal Road early.

He knew lots of leads about quests, jobs and treasures.

‘I would have gotten more powerful much quicker than the rest. If I did play Royal Road, there wouldn’t have been Bard Ray, or Weed for that matter.’

Of course that would be unfair, but what would be exactly fair in this world?

The life of the creator enjoying his privilege would be very enjoyable indeed.

His whole life he thought he was oblivious to women, but spending time in Versailles continent, he witnessed many beautiful women.

‘I don’t know what I did with my life.’

Yoo Byungjoon was full of regret, but he would not break his pledge in passing all that he owned to the emperor that united the continent.

It wasn’t something that was announced officially to the world and he could cancel it anytime, but that was the goal he bet his life on.

He realized that what he did was absolutely insane, but that in itself was also one of the footprints in his journey. It was extremely likely that Weed will unite the entire continent but…

“I wish he breaks his back doing it.”

*****

It was the middle of the vast desert.

The Sun Tribe kept advancing and Weed picked up plenty of skills used commonly by the warriors.

“That’s enough. I already acquired it.”

“Is that so?”

The warriors backed away awkwardly.

The warrior guilds in the continent tend to teach their own, original skills.

The guilds each had one or two kinds of shield blocks, but the effectiveness were pretty much the same.

There were users that travelled across the continent to learn skills that were 3, 4% more effective, but the skills would even out once they’re mastered.

The tribal warriors spoke.

“It seems you have learned just about all the skills. Then, how about a weapon sparring against me? With skills restriction.”

“Sounds good.”

Weed looked around once and accepted.

Thousand warriors of the Sun Tribe were taking a moment to rest.

The sands were creeping up closer from afar.

‘A duel in the middle of the desert worm nest… At that speed,  they will ambush us in a few minutes. This could be a part of the quest as well.’

Weed began his battle against the tribal warrior.

They went around in a circle and pointed their weapons against the opponent.

*Clash!*

They came in contact within an instant and swung their sword and scimitar.

The tribal warrior wielded the scimitar with great strength and nimble speed.

Weed easily deflected with his own mighty strength and dominated.

There was such an easy path to victory and not one moment was spared for hesitation.

“I, I have lost. What fierce power!”

< Desert warrior Palong has acknowledged your strength.
He was defeated under absolute power.
Fame is increased by 600 due to combat achievement.
Strength is permanently increased by 1. >

The combat achievement was sweet!

“I am next!”

Another warrior came forth to challenge.

‘Restricting skills and fighting with weapons. They are testing me for my fundamentals with the sword.’

The duel would be difficult for others, but for Weed it was like cutting bread.

He could win in a weapon fight in a breeze, but he even had increased strength through the Sculptural Destruction Skill!

“K-ugh. Splendid sword technique. I cannot even hope to win against it.”

< Desert warrior Beten acknowledge your strength.
He is amazed by the incredible movement of the sword.
Fame increased by 600 due to combat achievement.
Agility is permanently increased by 1. >

‘This is great! Although we might take a huge blow from the desert worms if I am too engaged in the duel.’

Weed quickly continued his duel with the warriors while the desert worms were approaching from afar.

“Next. Come at me!”

< Strength is increased by 1. >

< Agility is increased by 1.  >

It was a blissful situation with increasing stats.

Weed saw opportunity and relaxed himself. When he won with sheer sword technique, a message alert popped up.

< Sword technique proficiency is increased. >

‘This is a disappointment.’

Sword proficiency could be mastered later by clobbering on monsters.

For another user, the sword technique mastery would be an incredible achievement, but not for Weed.

He consistently leveled up his sword skills despite the penalty of being a sculptor that had a slower proficiency growth in combat type skills.

On top of that, he grinded intensely for stats and secret sculptural techniques.

Usually, the enemies he faced were higher level than himself and the proficiency growth for sword skills was quick.

‘Skill proficiency comes later. Stats are the priority right now. It’s easier to fight against these warriors that are above the normality. Their movements are orthodox.’

Weed read the opponent’s aim and deflected it with sheer strength just by the shoulder movement and the direction of the scimitar swing.

His body moved on its own from the highly attained sword technique and experience.

He advanced before the opponent began attacking and he reached the weak point before it became exposed.

He utilized speed and power over technique, struck hard and dominated his opponents.

“Next, next!”

Weed rapidly built up his combat achievements.

In the Sun Tribe, warriors capable of battle were around several hundreds. Even so, the fate of this blessed moment was predetermined.

The desert worms were approaching and he had to maximize his gains as quickly as possible.

‘One would be in for heavy losses if he lacked knowledge about this region or does not take notice of his surroundings because he is too immersed in the duel.’

Carelessness from the sweet satisfaction will lead to an abrupt strike by the desert worms.

In fact, the desert worms were already half-way while the duels were happening.

“Hold on. I now wish to fight against Teppy.”

Weed proposed a duel to the champion of the Sun Tribe.

Teppy was a muscular warrior with a tanned copper tone body. He was watching while sitting on the sand and stood up.

“You want to go against me? I was getting bored watching. This will be fun!”

A duel against Teppy wasn’t all that special.

It was not like his level was over 500, and the basic combat pattern of the desert warriors were similar.

However, much like the knights the desert warriors showed their true strength not on foot, but on camels.

Weed struck down on Teppy’s head with his scimitar thinking that this was the final fight.

“K-ugh. I have been defeated.”

< The champion of the desert acknowledged your strength.
He was defeated by extraordinary power.
Fame is increased by 1,300 due to combat achievement.
Strength is permanently increased by 3. >

He gained 15 stat points through the duels, which was a satisfying accomplishment.

That being said, he wouldn’t have acquired them if he could not defeat the warriors.

“Now. Let us all get ready for battle on our camels.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Desert worms are approaching from all sides.”

“…!”

Teppy and the tribal warriors scouted the surroundings after hearing Weed.

A sand figure was squirming beneath. They knew too well it was a trait of the desert worm.

“Damn…”

“It’s an ambush!”

Weed spoke to the panicking tribal warriors.

“Calm yourselves. They sense vibrations. Hold your positions and take out your weapons. Slowly get on your camels and get ready for battle.”

“Still, there are too many of them. How about we escape quickly?”

Teppy raised his weapon and opposed.

He was a brave warrior, but over two dozen worms were already within range of their bows.

Hundreds of worms crawled beyond that line.

They had no other choice but to worry about the annihilation of the tribe.

Weed grinned and spoke.

“I will lead the fight.”

In all consideration, he didn’t have to treat these warriors carefully like he did with the Rosenheim Kingdom soldiers.

‘It will be difficult protecting all these warriors, but there was no mention of that in the quest.’

The content just specified hunting alongside the Sun Tribe.

Even if they ran from this spot, it was highly possible that the quest will complete if the continued the hunt elsewhere.

After all, the requirement was to participate in the hunt and accomplish combat achievements.

‘That’s not worth my time, and this is the desert.’

The desert should be treated in its own way, and that was to go hard at it without a care in the world.

Warriors will overcome and become more powerful and the weak will die.

That was the tradition he established when he raised the Pallos Empire during his days as the Great King of the Desert.

“I’ll go first.”

Weed took off on his camel towards the trembling sands.

*****

The burning desert sands split as the ugly desert worm popped out.

A gigantic worm!

With countless razor sharp teeth, the desert worm lunged head first.

– Kuaaah!

Its mouth was wide open as if it wanted to swallow everyone at once!

Weed was already prepared.

“Moonlight Sculpting Blade”

A beam of light extended from the Loa Sword and cut into the eye of the desert worm. The next instant, it passed through the dimensional gate that was floating around.

It disappeared in front of the desert worm’s mouth and reappeared in the rear.

“Heat Strike!”

Weed utilized the skills he learned from the desert warriors and slashed the worm in a flash.

< Scorching impact!
Enemy’s health points decreased by 93,907.
The heat lingers and applies 3% additional damage per second. >

The desert worm had low defense but a lot of health points.

– Kuaaagh!

The desert worm squirmed, flaking its flaming body.

“Lightning Scar!”

Weed used various attack spells on the worm and worked it down.

Since it wasn’t going to die any time soon, it was a good target for him to use many spells and practice them.

‘Rapid Slash. This is quite useful even though it’s only a basic skill. The burst damage will be very significant against large monsters.’

He used the skills archived in his head and assessed them in detail.

He was taking his time taking down the worm unlike his usual hunts.

*Creep-creep. Squirm-squirm.*

While Weed was confronting the desert worm, the sands nearby moved closer.

‘I knew it all along.’

Sensing the prey’s movement, they approach slowly for the surprise attack.

Then all of a sudden, they emerged and struck. This was the trait of a desert worm.

“Haaaaa!”

< You have activated War Cry.
Attack power is increased by 100% for 20 seconds.
Endurance is increased by 80% for 5 seconds. >

It was a warrior-class skill!

Weed roared and raised his attack power. Then, more worms swarmed towards him as they were unable to resist the scent of such strong and tasty prey.

At least a dozen worms that were surrounding the desert warriors broke off formation.

In an instant.

– Kyaaa!
- Kuaaaagh!

The desert worms emerged simultaneously from the front, back and sides with their mouths wide open.

It was breathtaking ambush attack that they’d been waiting for.

“Lava River!”

Weed swung his sword and activated his skill. The earth fissured and lava surged within several dozen meters.

The destructive power was incomparable to the time he put the sandstorm to rest!

“Wow… That’s…!”

“That is the skill from the desert’s folklore.”

It was only for a short moment, but he could hear the awe from the warriors of the Sun Tribe.

‘I guess I have to thank Bard Ray.’

The force of the skill was more powerful given that he had used Sculptural Destruction Skill to significantly increase his strength.

Though, the real factor was the Goblet of Flames.

< Goblet of Flames

Durability 30/30.

A goblet instilled with the essence of fire. There are stories of collecting lava flowing deep beneath the earth where no human has traveled and also rumors that the goblet is instilled with flames that survived for a million years.

In other words, it was an artifact instilled with a legend.

Darkness, no matter how big, will be defeated if the power of the goblet is drawn out.

Requirements: None.

Option: Possession increases all stats by 53.

Maximum health points and mana increased by 70,000.

All skills related to fire will be 200% more powerful.

Effects of combat skill increased by 35%.

Near immune to fire damage.

The holder can use the ‘Goblet’s Tranquility’ every 10 days.

Special: A legend is sealed inside.

There are 7 options yet to be identified.

Tranquility of the Goblet: Summons a river of flowing lava or an erupting volcano that wipes out all enemies. >

The element of fire was most common among desert warriors.

Warriors did use earth type skills and a rare number of them also used water type skills.

These were skills that increased defense or recovery rate.

The ice element froze monsters and slowed them, thus they were also common. But, when it came to pure damage, fire was the best.

“I will roast everything!”

Weed’s lava river swept away the desert worms, both those that had surged up above the sands and the ones hiding underground.

Like a ferocious current, the raging lava river covered the worms.

< Lava River was activated.
Lava flows in a radius of 86 meters and wipes out all enemies! >

The Lava River sustained for over a minute and applied consistent damage.

Weed got the drop on the worms and exploded with the Lion Roar.

– Attack at once! Fight to your heart’s desire!

The skill increased his commandship and leadership.

“Wahh!”

The warriors of the Sun Tribe that were watching in surprise instantly ran forward.

They struck down mercilessly on the scorching desert worms with their scimitars.

Warriors were indeed simple minded beings.

Even in his days as the Great King of the Desert, he would dash out on a rampage first and the desert warriors with increased morale joined alongside him, displaying the best efficiency in fighting.

The desert warriors had affinity with fire and were bestowed with additional attack power.

“Hooorah!”

Teppy focused his attack on a single desert worm.

That moment, more desert worms sprang from all directions with rumbling screeches!

River of crimson lava flowed above the heated desert.

On top was an intense battle where Weed, the tribal warriors and the desert warriors were in one huge entanglement.

*****

As Kaybern roamed and destroyed the cities, a wind of change brewed in the North.

– Can you picture the North after losing Morata? How about the Earth Place? What will happen to us if we lose it?

Someone spoke out in the Bingryong square.

It was a big disadvantage not having one decent metropolis in the vast Northern Continent.

As the Earth Palace reached completion, the downtown area in the vicinity grew exponentially, and Morata was a metropolis unparalleled in history.

In production, trades, population, it dominated over just about any city in Central Continent in all aspects.

– Because of this, Kaybern will target Morata soon!

The Northern users were afraid.

They were just put away down the list of destruction simply because Castle Aren or Free City Somren had higher development.

It didn’t change the fact that Morata was also a city in danger.

Losing Morata meant more for than losing any other city.

Morata was the heart of the North, the hope of countless users and also their home.

The users that grew up ever since Morata was a small village and before Arpen Kingdom even existed, did not want to lose their cherished memories.

“If Kaybern shows up, let us all stand!”

“Of course. We must step up. However, realistically speaking the black dragon will kill us all and turn Morata into ruins. There will be nothing left in Morata when we return. Then, that leaves us with one option.”

They came up with a solution in hopes of protecting Morata.

– Population Dispersion Policy!

The plan was to scatter the concentrated population of Morata to the outskirts of the North.

“Let’s go. For the sake of our home.”

“We must leave.”

The users loaded their luggage on wagons driven by bulls and scattered across the entire Northern Continent.

Many shacks were dismantled and the production facilities were also transferred to other cities and villages.

Roads were constructed, and trade cities formed by the riversides where ships travelled. Ultimately, the functionalities were dispersed well into other locations.

Most users left on their own will, but the fundamental facilities, residing population and Morata’s role as a production and trade hub were maintained.

Furthermore, tourists and users from the Central continent were visiting on a consistent level.

*****

The Earth Palace.

The brightest among the vast human resources of the Grass Porridge Cult gathered.

Several thousands were economic specialists and management consulting in real life.

Only those with a doctorate degree or experience working in a renowned company for over a decade gathered in the palace.

“Much hope lies in our analysis. I can’t stress enough the importance of determining which city will fall under the attack of Kaybern.”

The elder of the economics stepped forth and spoke.

Since then, all members began a meticulous assessment of information.

They were to analyze the development, population, expansion, commercial facilities, technology, number of artisans, trades, tourism, agricultural production, reputation and influence of all metropolitan cities of the Versailles Continent.

“There must be a pattern. Our job is to find it.”

The cities that were targeted and destroyed up until now, and the cities with high chance of destruction. Many things had to be confirmed, but they soon came up with an estimated conclusion because it wasn’t difficult for these experts.

“We still lack sample data. The data will reach perfection the more progress Kaybern makes, but as of now Morata will be targeted in at least a month, 2 months at the latest.

Probability leans towards a month.”

The event which the Northern users were most afraid of was soon going to take place.

*****

Weed used the Dimensional Gloves and whipped through the battlefield against the desert worms. The various items including the Goblet of Flames boosted his attack power.

The Sun Tribe being the elites of the desert were successful in holding their own.

92 casualties.

It was minimal sacrifice given the desperate battle above the heated desert.

Tribe Intern Complete.

You have led the Sun Tribe and completed the desert worm hunt

The tribal warriors are in admiration of your power and courage.

< You have accomplished the combat achievement ‘Bloody battle against the desert worms’.
All stats are increased by 2.
Strength is increased by 5.
Agility is increased by 1. >

< Reputation is increased by 5,000. >

Quest completion!

Weed did not forget to apply bandages and medicinal herbs on the wounded.

“Ugh!”

“Endure the pain.”

Unlike his words, he wrapped the bandages roughly around them.

He could bind down wounds with his eyes closed and was even capable of reviving them from the brink of death.

Then, Teppy approached Weed and said:

“Our tribe overcame a difficult battle with your aid. I represent the tribe and pay respect to you, the warrior of warriors.”

The Sun Tribe warriors in mild condition had also gathered around him.

These warriors did not have courtesy like the knights in the Central Continent. However, these warriors of the Sun Tribe will join Weed when he calls for battle no matter where it may be.

That was the way of the desert!

Teppy handed another scimitar that he carried on his back.

“You are qualified to be the warrior acknowledged by the desert. You shall be free above the vast sands.”

*Blink!*

< You are able to advance into the class ‘Desert Warrior’. Special skills will be unlocked upon advancement.
Strength and stamina will improve quickly while roaming in the desert.
You will acquire simple, but deadly sword techniques.
Movement speed will increase while riding on camels.
Desert Warrior is an advanced class of the warrior.

Will you advance now? >

Weed got the chance to advance but was very disappointed.

‘Such difficulty on a quest, and all that for just the Desert Warrior?’

Desert Warrior was already a class that was obtainable within cities such as Metafeia once the qualifications were met.

He was bound to do many things in the desert and had to equip himself with higher strength, but this wasn’t what he expected after saving an entire tribe.

‘No. I shouldn’t be disappointed. The Desert Warrior class is only the basic title for working in the desert.’

The Warrior of the Sun was only a class given to the champion of the desert, so this definitely was not the end of his journey.

‘There will be more to offer.’

Weed decided not to think too deeply about it.

“I appreciate it. The desert is an honorable place for the warrior.”

< You have advanced into the Desert Warrior.
You have obtained a higher class of the warrior.
You are now able to learn combat skills specialized in fire.
Maximum health points increased by 25%.
Maximum mana increased by 10%.
News of your combat achievements spread further across the continent.
Effects of faith decreased by 5%.
While roaming the desert, maximum health points is increased. Strength and stamina develop rapidly. >

The job was an excellent combat type class.

They are often compared to the Martial Artist class that allows a wider range of skills, but extensive growth in the desert will lead to huge accumulation of strength and stamina.

A small side effect was the dark skin tan due to the blazing sunlight.

Weed snuck a question.

“Is there something else that you might want to tell me? Perhaps job classes… Or job classes. A worthy job class.”

“There is. The way I see it, you are the most skilled warrior in the desert. Too big a presence even for our tribe to bare.”

His senses that he developed through the years of Royal Road hit the mark.

Teppy pointed to the east with his scimitar.

“Ride the camel straight in that direction and you will come across the Altar of the Sun.”

“I’ve never heard about the Altar of the Sun.”

“It is a place held sacred by our tribe. Take this. You may only enter if you possess this Fragment of Sun.”

*Blink!*

< You have obtained information about the Altar of the Sun.
The vast southern desert.
This is a place where the warriors that uphold the sun conduct their sacred ceremonies.
The most powerful warrior in the desert can be reborn into the Warrior of the Sun through this ceremony. >

< You have acquired Fragment of the Sun. >

Weed grasped the fragment with his hand. The stone fragment was hot with peculiar symbols drawn on the surface.

“Identify!”

< Fragment of the Sun: Durability 13/40.
This is fragment said to be a part of the sun.
Unknown power is sleeping within. >

‘Hmm. It’s different. I did advance into the Warrior of the Sun in the past, but it wasn’t like this.’

During his days as the Great King, he battled to become more powerful without a moment to spare in looking over quests and findings.

He used fire skills as a Desert Warrior, and one day the advancement occurred all of a sudden with a notification saying that he had been enlightened about the power of the sun.

‘A ceremony to become the Warrior of the Sun. This is the real way. This feels like inheriting an official class with full fledged powers.’

Chapter 8: Half Elf Vishur

While Weed was roaming in the southern desert region, the users were busy.

They went through data analysis and adventures in search of the Half Elf Vishur, knowing that any lead would make them famous.

– I am LeBoy, an adventurer. My current location is the Averian Forest, classified under the 10 forbidden territories.

I suspected from the beginning that the forest would be the location of Half Elf Vishur’s whereabouts. There were a few regions that I couldn’t enter back when I scouted Averian, so I came to check on them.

Then, I discovered the maze entrance under a huge tree with five-colored leaves.

I am uncertain if this is Zode, but it is massive and I have yet to figure out the exit.

The new post was responded with great interest of other adventurers.

– I am making my way there now.

– Brother… I shall be there soon.

– At last, new information!

Adventurers moved quickly to the Averian Forest.

The forest was one of the 10 forbidden territories, but it was located on the territory of the old Rasal Kingdom, frequently visited by warriors and adventurers.

The Jigolaths, Grapass, and Desert of Tranquility were cleared by Weed, and the forbidden territories were setting other adventurers into crazed ambition.

Posts continued for 3 consecutive days.

– I am inside the maze under the tree of five-coloured leaves. This place is very strange. The area is vast and the traps are high-class made of lumber. Unfortunately, almost all of the adventurers that I came with are dead.

– There are engravings of some sort on the walls. I thought them to be traps… But, they are vivid and beautiful. They seem to have been engraved with a sword.

– This is Haruna. There is a citrus scent that is barely noticeable unless you are an elf. It seems to lead to a path, but there are many monsters and traps. I’m pretty certain that an elf passed through this area.

– Adventurer Chase. I am reporting my findings for the last 2 days. The dungeon seems to be divided into 3 sections. Each section seems to be designed with distinct tracks that leads to the exit… So far, I found the exit to the first section.

Over a thousand famous adventurers in Royal Road made their way inside the maze. Weed was able to collect information while roaming the deserts, and meanwhile there continued to be reports of other mazes.
However, these mazes were cleared within 2 days or were found to be unrelated to Half Elf Vishur.

“As of now, the maze of the Averian Forest is most suspicious.”

Weed rode his camel to the east desert and arrived at the Altar of the Sun.

The Sun Fragment only grew hotter as he travelled through the barren sand hills until he reached a place where the land split apart like a fissure.

*Swaaaash!*

The desert split, revealing an altar with pure white pillars and stones.

The Fragment of the Sun and the altar were emitting light in unison.

*Blink!*

< Great Discovery!
You are the first to discover the hidden relic of the desert, the Altar of the Sun.

This is a site of the warrior raised above the location where the intense heat of the sun dwells. There exists a legend that tells of the most outstanding desert warrior that goes through a ritual and obtains the power of the sun.

Reputation increased by 5,550 from the adventure.

You have gained a level.

You discovered a hidden historical site. Unique experience grants 3 additional points of strength and agility.

Reporting precious findings will result in additional rewards. >

Altar of the Sun.

The sun was high up above the sky, and the sands around the altar were set aflame.

There were red, round boulders placed on the altar, each surrounded by warrior sculptures as if they were standing guard.

The sculptures had been chipped away by the winds and sand, barely retaining their forms.

[ The warrior who seeks the power of the sun. Stab through this boulder with your sword. ]

“I have come this far, and this better not be a trap.”

Weed examined the surroundings with great detail.

It was better safe than sorry!

The old altar seemed to be legitimate and the Sun Fragment reacted.

Moreover, the sculptures certainly had weathered away with time.

“Identify!”

< A piece crafted long ago in unknown times.

It is instilled with the power of the sun.

It requires restoration due to damage by natural causes.

A treasure of the desert.

Artistic worth: 3,610 >

“Alright. This is the real deal. Just to be safe though…”

Weed, prepared to escape at any time, pulled out the Loa Sword and stabbed through the boulder.

At that very moment!

The sun radiated blinding light and the fiery sands retreated in all directions.

With the altar in the center, flourishing light pillars took form, connecting the sky and the earth.

*****

The scene of Weed advancing into the Warrior of the Sun was being broadcasted live through the broadcast stations.

– That’s crazy.

– Wow… I wonder what job class he is doing all that for?

– Isn’t it for the Warrior of the Sun? The job that is only bestowed to one person.

– Seems like it. Given the content of the quest and all…

The discussion boards of the broadcast stations were being bombarded.

The live chat rooms between viewers were raging.

– It looks like he’s trying to obtain the job that he had before. He has experience in it too.

– It may be his return to the days of the Great King of the Desert.

– Back then, he conquered the Central Continent in the era of war. I wonder what he’s going to conquer now?

– He wiped out just about all the opposing factions. All that is left is Kaybern.

– There are still some remnants of the Hermes guild. Seems like people forgot about them.

– I am looking forward to the war against the Black Dragon. At first I thought that we had no chance… but now, doesn’t he have a decent shot?

– As a person who converted jobs a lot… A job class change doesn’t make you extremely powerful. For the moment, you can’t do a decent job in anything.

– Sculptor Master, High Necromancer, Warrior of the Sun. This guy is truly walking the Royal Road.

– If he’s walking the Royal Road he must be near its end.

– As expected of Weed.

– I bet Bard Ray is going mad just watching this.

*****

Bard Ray stood by the shoreline village in the Northern Continent for the Ironblood Warrior job class. He was diligently carrying out quests.

< Gather the clam shells. >

< The mystery of the pearl. >

< The red conch. >

< Fishing memories. >

‘What kind of quests are these?’

He had carried out many combat quests, but such miscellaneous errands were too particular and difficult for him.

“Human. I cut contact with the humans for ages. Ar-pen Empire? Is that a kingdom raised by humans?”

The Barbarians knew nothing about the Haven Empire nor the Arpen Empire.

The village was isolated, rendering Bard Ray’s reputation useless. He hurriedly called for adventurer Lantos from the Hermes Guild.

“Don’t worry. I will show you what an expert adventurer is capable of.”

Lantos was a user that trained under the ambitious support of the Hermes Guild.

The Hermes Guild was specialized in conquer and combat, but there were countless mystical existences laying dormant in the Central Continent.

Lantos was the best pick especially in excavating treasure or equipment.

“Do you have a knack for fishing? You have to catch the fish with yellow gills and blue scales.”

“For sure. I picked up a bit.”

“What’s the skill level?”

Lantos responded while scratching his cheek.

“Intermediate level 3. As you know, fishing is not an essential skill for an adventurer. Fishing is for fishermen and navigators that like to enjoy their time in relaxation.”

Adventurers were roamers of the continent.

Users like Chase and Spenson reached advanced levels on fishing. At a spectacular view, they sat idle and cast their fishing rods, easing away the tenseness from the adventure.

Lantos was also an adventurer, but he was an expert of search, excavation and trap disposal.

“Leave it to me. I will tell you what real adventures are like.”

They cast their lines for 3 straight days and managed to complete the quest.

The Barbarian amazon baked the fish in the bonfire as soon as she received them.

“That took quite the time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to recollect the taste from before.”

Sizzle-sizzle.

The fish was well on its way.

Bard Ray and Lantos blankly stared at the cooking fish.

If it was Weed, he would have sat beside her, humorously asking what the taste was like.

He would go the extra mile, offer his salt for cooking, disguising the plain, cheap salt as an expensive, special salt, only to retroactively charge her 200 gold for its use.

They spent two more days doing four quests, raising the friendliness to receive their next quest.

“If you’re a warrior, you have to experience difficult battles. Can you go to Romdal Island and defeat the monsters in the area?”

“That’s easy for me.”

Bard Ray received the quest with a calm tone.

‘The Ironblood Warrior appeared several times in history. They say he withstood against several dozen thousands of enemies.’

Bard Ray already mastered the Dark Knight and collected various secret sword techniques. He had confidence in his own skills.

‘I have enough offense. If I focus on defense, not one user will be able to defeat me. Weed is not my rival in a face-off battle. My ultimate goal will be to withstand the dragon.’

*****

Weed moved to the Central Continent after advancing into the Warrior of the Sun.

His physical abilities and growth rate were reinforced when roaming in the desert, but he was too busy to stay in one region.

He also picked up ultimate skills such as the Blade of Demise, and the skill had such destructive power that other secret sword skills could not be compared.

< You have entered an unknown dungeon.
This is the dungeon under the tree in Averian Forest.
The secrets of this place haven’t been revealed yet. Therefore, you must be careful.
Roaming around lost will lead to abrupt dangers.>

An unknown dungeon!

He arrived in expectation of finding Half Elf Vishur’s tracks.

A long-ear female user was waiting as he walked through the entrance.

“I’m Haruna. Nice to meet you. Weed-nim.”

“Yes. The pleasure is mine.”

“We adventurers uncovered half of the dungeon. I will lead you as far as I can.”

“Thanks.”

Dirt and tree roots covered the walls.

The dark cave was lit by bright crystal spheres set up on the ceilings and walls by the adventurers.

Haruna walked softly with the tip of her toes, but she was fast, being an elf.

“It’s such an honor for me that you are here.”

“I appreciate your assistance.”

“We can pass through the first section in about 25-minute walk. The tree roots shift after a certain time, so we must hurry while the path is open.”

“I am alright with walking faster.”

The majority of Elf users were beautiful.

Based on her real-life looks, she had a lean figure with clear skin.

Even so, he treated Haruna like she was a rock.

He saw Seoyoon day and night, so no other women felt attractive to him.

‘I don’t know if my sister can even hope of getting married…’

Yurin’s appearance made him worry about her future!

As they walked along, they encountered the other adventurers.

“Weed-nim! I’m Dante.”

“It’s been so long.”

“Haha. It’s so great that we get to venture together.”

He came across the adventurers in the maze and moved along with them.

Dante was envied and also was treated with jealousy just for having connections with Weed.

Having countless achievements in the Versailles Continent under his belt and rising to be the Emperor of the Arpen Empire put Weed’s reputation on a new level.

“This is the entrance to the second area.”

The place he arrived at with Haruna was entangled with tree roots.

It was a narrow passage for barely a single person or elf.

Once they got through it, the passageway became wider again, but no one could ever find it without paying close attention.

“From here on, we could not diffuse all the traps. Monsters spawn on occasion as well.”

The first area was cleaned out by the adventurers, but the second area was still in progress.

The adventurers scouted meticulously the countless branches of paths, looking for the way through.

“Chase-nim!”

“Oh… Weed-nim has arrived. Ha-ha-ha.”

He met up with adventurer Chase and began scouting the second area.

“I am drawing a map. This is a considerably large dungeon, but with a thousand users it should be finished by night time.”

“I see. I am grateful for your assistance in stopping Kaybern.”

“I will gladly take it upon myself. As an adventurer, I know very well how much Weed-nim went through for the Versailles Continent. You stepped forward to the difficult tasks when no one else could, like the Embinyu Cult, and even now you are under hardship trying to lead us all.”

A long compliment.

Anywhere he went, he was used to hearing such a level of praise.

‘I need to speak more humbly at a time like this.’

Weed moisturized his lips with his tongue.

“Hmm-hmm. I am merely doing what I wish to do. I thought I had to stop the Embinyu Cult for the people.”

“The world will be at peace if Weed-nim rules over the Versailles Continent.”

“Of course. People living in happiness is my goal.”

It wasn’t a complete lie.

It was just that his real objective was ripping off taxes from the happy folks.

He exchanged short greetings with adventurer Leboy and other famous users.

“Aren’t you exhausted?”

“It’s nothing. The dark, murky dungeons are my home. The scent of trees is pleasant and I have many friends at the beer parties I host often. Of course, as long as it doesn’t affect the adventures.”

The adventurers were sincerely enjoying confrontation with monsters and diffusing traps.

Each adventure was never guaranteed success, nor did they receive big rewards.

It was a job that could not be pulled off unless they themselves found passion in it.

“Moving forward, the Arpen Empire will greatly expand the quest rewards.”

“For real?”

“Yes. The excavations from historical sites and mines to various types of adventurers will be supported.”

Weed’s words held great weight to them.

It was difficult to go back on words once spoken, but he was absolutely certain that these adventurers will make him incentives beyond the investment.

‘They will fail at times. They will be rewarded if they succeed. But, failing has nothing to do with me.’

Successful stories make people forget the fear of failure and bare hope.

Great cities crumbled due to Kaybern’s activity, and regions that were invaded by monster invasions were going out of count.

Each broadcasting station was weary of the Versailles Continent’s demise, but there was a stir of unexpected change.

– This is Morata. I am running a fruit store. What is going on right now? I have to close by noon, by then the goods will be sold out.

– This is Puhol Waterpark. I thought this wasn’t the time for a party but… This is insane! The rich folks of the Central Continent are streaming in.

– All the cottages far from the waterpark are all sold. Further lot-outs are resulting a steep increase in price.

– You know the high quality equipment were released into the market after the Hermes Guild and the Haven Empire dipped following the Garnav Plains… I thought the market value of equipment would plummet, but it’s way high again.

– The dungeons and hunting grounds are cluttered with users.

– The cities are also very populated. There’s a swarm of people no matter where you go.

The cities were ruined and the natural disasters reduced crop production.

The haven-like Versailles Continent fell into great danger and chaos. However, the activity of users increased significantly.

– I can’t really explain it, but it seems like Royal Road has become more enjoyable.

– There’s so much I want to do and so much I have to be doing as well.

– The times are dangerous, but it’s great. I think I’ve gone a little crazy. Ha-ha.

The farmers tended to the crops and put their best efforts to reduce the damage from the black rain.

The merchants roamed the continent on their wagons and supplied the declining necessities. The users of other job classes became livelier as if they woke from a long sleep.

In the face of danger, people seemed to enjoy themselves even more.

They were actively out hunting, producing, collecting and enjoying vacations.

The cities were destroyed, but the users without a home weren’t necessarily gone for good.

Castle Evaluk and the Free City of Somren were being repaired by the local citizens and users.

“Morata was raised from ruins. We can do it too!”

“Let us stand again. The Arpen Empire will support us.”

The users refused to give up.

They would have laid low and quiet, doing their own thing at times of peace, but now they were building homes and constructing roads on the ruins.

Dain spent her entire savings and invested towards the restoration, news of which spread and the users that took goods out of the treasury came to return them.

“I would like it to be used for the restoration. I am not famous in any way, but I am a user of Evaluk.”

The power of the people was assembling and the Arpen Empire was growing exponentially despite the threat of Kaybern.

– Seoyoon: The income for the Arpen Empire has increased a lot this week.

The interstellar amount of investment committed by Seoyoon began taking effect in conjunction, forming a huge economic value.

Common villages advanced into cities with more than 30% increase in all kinds of production.

The roads were well set, and cities with large sums of land doubled their expansion of production.

There was quite a handsome amount of money that had been earned by the Central Continent users over some time.

Even though the Hermes Guild exploited them heavily, the money earned by users hunting and trading scaled and stacked up with time.

For a long time, they could only hide the money away from the tyranny of Haven Empire, but now they were bold in their spendings.

– Now is the time. Though it seems like a crisis…  Once we get over this, the Arpen Empire will develop rapidly.

– As long as it’s not the great cities prone to the dragon. Just the medium cities. Especially the vacation spots, they’re worth the money.

– I am an expert real estate speculator. I never worked and lived off speculating all my life. This is the chance. A little too late and the prices will skyrocket. Then, I assure you that I won’t even be able to afford a hut.

– Transportation, hunting, trades. Invest in lands that are developed in all three. Land doesn’t lie.

The price of land was increasing exponentially even in the Central Continent.

The investment of the Arpen Empire surely sparked fire.

The funds that were suppressed up until now were being released at once and people were surprisingly very hopeful about the situation.

– Weed-nim will certainly defeat the dragon.

– He doesn’t have to. One city destroyed at a time… I can live with that.

– Let’s push forth with new cities. Construction at its finest!

– The dragon will have a limit too. I mean, how long will it take for it to destroy all the cities in the continent?

– It’s a given fact that more cities are being built than that are destroyed.

– Monsters too… Though they multiply, it’s not too bad once you get used to it. You can grow even faster by hunting. Cities will not be invaded in turn.

The users were growing used to the city destructions and monsters roaming in huge numbers.

– The Arpen Empire. Weed-nim is a development expert. So, our trust in him can go a long way.

– Even if a great city crumbles, the nearby regions develop even more. Overall, it’s a positive result.

– Stock market, coins. No need for all that. Your answer is Royal Road. There is no other place as fun and instantaneous in rewards.

– Looking at it long-term, it is definitely going onward and upward. Drive!

The users were investing passionately and were trouble-free in their growth.

The Haven Empire slowly fell apart, concerned with the declining tax income every month. The Arpen Empire was the exact opposite.

The large-scale investment and user activity increased tax income by 200% every week.

It was a recovery of tax income that suffered before, but now it was at an unbelievable level of growth.

Weed became excited and announced his development plans.

“I will construct 12 waterparks all across the continent. Skyscrapers? Great Landmarks? I will build all of them.”

He was different from the common politicians that threw a bunch of empty promises during elections.

Weed was a man who stuck to his word, and he was well prepared.

He conquered the buildings, vast plains, mountains, woods and fields near rivers that were owned by the Hermes Guild and took control for free.

It was all to promote development plans and increase real estate worth based on the incredible property assets under the empire.

Houses, cottages and hotel business increased the count of lot-out and the resulting funds could be re-invested into the empire.

As the people said, apart from the great cities prone to the dragon’s attack, medium cities of trades and transportation had a chance to develop greatly.

– The investment plan also covers the monster fortresses. I think he just blurted out without looking at the situation. Is he in his right mind?

– You don’t know what the higher-ups are thinking. If they eradicate the monsters, they can all turn into amusement parks.

– An awesome theme park.

– The people who know what Puhol used to be will have no doubt about the future.

– Do tourist attractions have much to it, really? It’s a tourist attraction if people can go and have fun. It doesn’t matter what it used to be.

– The plans for the volcanic island in the east sea is even crazier. This is a volcano that erupted last month.

– Wow… That’s going to be one decent springwell.

Weed never stopped to think that hunting diligently and establishing public security was all there was to governance.

“As the emperor, I have to plant dreams in their heads. So that the people can be hopeful.”

He reacted sensitively to the users’ change in attitude,resulting from the investment of the Arpen Empire.

He was also concerned about how to exploit the users even in the desert!

All the studies on real estate speculation became the foundation in his development plans.

“I am going to lure out the real estate investments. Once the massive funds are released, they will serve as the key to a rapid development of the empire.”

People do not hesitate to pull from their pocket for their fantasies.

The gut feeling that things will turn out well and you’ll be behind everyone else. The ache lower in the stomach is human psychology when you sense that your neighbor or your friends will earn good money.

“Happiness doesn’t come from the money that I have this instant. I can be happy knowing that there’s money streaming in from now on.”

It was all a political move that he hoped would pay off based on real estate!

A plan that will transform all the weakened cities into the glory of Royal Road’s early flourishing days.

The production will go up a notch and trades will occur much more frequently. Moreover, the users shall willingly step up to do something with their own hands.

“Governance doesn’t come from honesty or diligence.”

Weed thought that politicians who go by the book will never gain the trust of the people or succeed.

Any pep talk about honesty was rather painful to the ears.

Anyone can tell another to follow the rules and live with an honest attitude, and it makes it all the more annoying.

After all, where is the fun in the honest life!

“I will raise skyscrapers. Construct roads. The value of land will increase enormously, so hurry up and buy them!”

“Wahhh!”

“I will make sure that everyone can earn as much as they want.”

“Hurray, Weed!”

In the real world, the side effects of real estate was immense.

When house values are going up, it is synonymous for the construction business as well and more job opportunities. However, the higher house values can become a burden for the average person.

If they worked all their lives and saved the money and we’re still unable to buy a house, they would be bound for grievance.

Even the government could not meddle with housing price!

“When it gets to that, I can tax them for property ownership as an excuse to reduce house prices.”

Politicians also knew that increasing property tax had a huge effect, but they simply could not do so.

Bluntly speaking, even if they do proceed, the money will not be their own, therefore it was a difficult policy to pull off. However, the emperor of the Arpen Empire was Weed!

He promoted real estate, causing a huge boom of investment into the development of the empire. Then, the money from increased tax income will all be his own.

The gullible investors that will jump in for the hope of earning some money, will be ripped off here and there!

“Economic development will revolve around me. Yup. That’s the way it will be.”

*****

“We did it!”

The entrance to the second area of the maze was successfully cleared before nightfall, thanks to the efforts of the adventurers.

The third area was far bigger with monsters and traps waiting.

“Can Weed-nim take the lead from this point?”

LeBoy asked carefully.

The adventurers led the exploration, but they were ready to become supports.

They wished to see the skills of Weed, the best adventurer in the history of Royal Road!

“Mmm…”

Weed was not entirely confident that he could outdo the best adventurer group in the Versailles Continent.

‘A maze… Mazes cause a lot of problems, but to my surprise, the solutions were often in simple places.’

In other cases, doors never opened without the possession of an item that acted as the key.

‘I could step forward and solve this, but is there a need for me to do that with over a thousand adventurers here?’

There was a time and place to act out.

It was a waste of talent to leave these adventurers of various exploration skills and experiences.

Weed wet his lips with the attentive gazes of the adventurers.

“Your accomplishments brought us this far. I have faith in all of you, so I will wait as long as it takes.”

“…!”

“I expected nothing less!”

A few words of acknowledgement.

Though it is small, some put their lives on the line for the ones that put faith in them.

“I understand. I will do it.”

“Me too.”

The adventurers blazed up for competition.

They set out on to clearing the third area and ran the risk of danger. Weed returned to the monster eradication forces that patrolled between Central and the Northern Continent.

The archers and mages catching their breath during their meal were dazzled.

“He’s back already…”

“I want to go back to school now.”

“This is worse than overtime at work.”

“Ooof, my back.”

Weed could not slack on the job given the broadcast that was monitoring him all day long.

Two straight days!

After that, the adventurers succeeded in clearing the maze.

– Haruna: This place was maze Zode! I found the Half-elf Vishur right now. She has been turned into a dried-up tree.

Weed returned to the maze through Yurin’s Paint Teleportation instantaneously.

Over a thousand adventurers were put into this maze, and over two hundred lost their lives due to a risky but swift exploration. However, they died honorably with a smile on their faces.

“I heard that there is an unbelievable special for today?”

“You got it. The adventurers that set out to stop the Black Dragon Kaybern. The very adventurers who are in search of the Half-elf hero Vishur succeeded in exploring the maze in Averian Forest.”

“I heard the continent’s best adventurers went on with the exploration.”

“As you have seen through the live cast, the brave adventurers overcoming the traps and the monsters inevitably caused the viewers to grin in anticipation.”

“Alright, then. Here is Weed who has just arrived at the maze.”

Maze Zode’s exploration, without a doubt,  was being broadcasted live on the major broadcast stations.

Weed was led by the adventurers until he found the sword scars on the wall.

“What are these?”

“We’ve been doing some research ourselves, but we don’t know yet. It is definitely not a map, and neither the archaeologists nor glyph analysisits returned anything.”

“Hmm. The sharp traces seems to be just simple sword swings.”

Weed saw that the sword traces were visible on both walls, the floor and the ceiling.

He stood there for a good minute or two and got lost in his thoughts, then abruptly shifted his hands onto the Loa sword.

*Slaaaang!*

With a sound of purity, the sword slipped out of the sheath.

“Let me look around for a bit.”

“What? Oh, yes, of course.”

The adventurers were clueless, but they stepped back.

“Is it right around here?”

Weed stood at where the sword path began and started to swing his sword.

It was a difficult task to execute a complete sword technique based solely on the traces on the walls, floor and ceiling.

Without an incredible spatial understanding and swordsmanship, it was impossible to pull off.

*Swish-Sheeek!*

Weed’s sword followed through a beautiful trajectory like it was dancing.

Of course, he had no clue to the stance of the sword technique, but his body synced itself to the flow of the sword.

*Blink!*

< You have learned the sword technique of Half-elf Vishur.

You have learned the secret technique, Sword of Regeneration.

This sword technique, born from observing nature has excellent abilities in defense and recovery.

When active, maximum health points are increased by 250%.

Physical recovery is enhanced in locations imbued with the power of nature.

Defense is increased by the influence of the nearby plants.

With each skill level, health points of the user and allies recover 20% faster to a maximum of 800%.

All effects are doubled for elves. >

The secret sword technique was an unexpected gain.

‘Now it becomes a lot easier to withstand boss monsters. When things go bad, I can spread out the Sword of Regeneration and buy time. With that being said, that’s not my style.’

Even so, he thought there were many uses for it.

If he was to drop in the middle of a massive horde of monsters, he could hold his ground with the Sword of Regeneration.

It would give him time to stack lots of corpses for an explosion or summon the undead!

‘It is an excellent sword technique for devious plans.’

Weed couldn’t be any happier.

“T-That sword technique was truly beautiful.”

Adventurer Chase blurted out in surprise.

The nearby adventurers had their jaws dropped with blank stares as if they had just witnessed something unreal.

Weed replied like it was no big deal.

“It called the Sword of Regeneration.”

“Sword of Regeneration? Is that a skill?”

“Yes. The secret of the sword technique was right here.”

Weed’s words fed straight through broadcast and brought a massive, hurricane-like impact.

“Secret Sword Technique. That is insane.”

“Coordinates are there. I am picking that up ASAP.”

“Wow… He discovered the secret sword technique and learned it instantaneously.”

“Did it take like 5 minutes total?

“See it. Observe it. Obtain it.”

“That is swag. That’s Weed level!”

However, the following scenes on the screen turned the viewers miserable.

In maze Zode, there was a cluster of adventurers which each had a name for themselves in Versailles Continent.

The average level was over 300, and the users in 400’s became the center. There were adventurers in the 500’s as well.

Those adventurers’ eyes popped out after hearing the secret sword technique and immediately tried to imitate him.

“So, this is like…”

“Uh-hm. Why is it so difficult?”

The adventurers awkwardly swung their swords and wobbled.

It was near impossible to recreate the sword technique just by observing the markings on the walls like Weed did.

One moment of distraction and the sword will lose its way. Moreover, it was no ordinary technique balancing shift in the lower body, waist and shoulders.

“To do this in a single try just by looking…He’s a monster.”

“That makes no sense. He’s just so gifted.”

“No wonder he beat even Bard Ray.”

The adventurers couldn’t do anything other than to look at him with envious eyes in agreement.

“Let us hurry.”

Weed moved on gracefully, and his mundane response became a sensation on the live broadcast.

“For Weed-nim, Sword of Regeneration could be just that…” “That man right there is the God of War. Do not forget. Write it down.” “Wasn’t he already powerful enough with his Undead Summoning? Seriously, he has the highest combat level…” “The higher the level, the easier it is for the holy knight to beat the necromancers. It’s ultimately just based on effectiveness. The stronger the power of dark magic and the undead, the more holiness the knights can bring out.”

Honestly, the holy knights were waiting for a mission to taking down Weed.

Holy knights receive god’s blessing and additional stats when they defeated evil powers.

The effects of holiness were immense, allowing them to take down undead two tiers higher than themselves.

“So, who is the holy knight that can win against Weed?” “That’s the loophole.” “There is none…” “Just exactly which holy knight will charge at Weed? Wow… He has my sincerest respect for his courage.” “Penetrating through the army of skeletons, just to encounter zombies… Behind all that are Durahan, screaming ghosts, death knights, doom knights and even the bone dragon. After defeating all that, the final boss is Weed.”

Jean did an interview too. “We are necromancers, but he is Weed. Even in this very moment, he is becoming more powerful.”   “He is hunting non-stop after Kaybern’s appearance. He is never satisfied with his mediocre level. I bet that in the future, he will be capable of summoning the legendary undead.” “Well, the funny thing is that he is now a warrior. This continent is fortunate that he didn’t continue to level as a necromancer.”

Weed continued to walk and scouted the surroundings, but no more sword markings were found. ‘Hmm. That’s a shame.’ Difficult mazes often had hidden treasures or secrets. Now that a secret sword technique was uncovered, there wasn’t anything else left. “Over here.”

At the end of the maze led by the adventurer, was the half breed of human and elf, the Half-elf Vishur, who was transformed into a dense, dry tree.

“Not even the priest’s restoration spell could wake her. We are thinking that it may need some kind of treasure or clue.”

Haruna explained the situation, but Weed had a lead of his own in his head.

‘That’s simple. The Sword of Regeneration that I picked up in this maze would be the key.’

There was no need to think of alternatives when he had a solution that required just a little bit of thought.

“I think I know how to proceed.”

Weed drew his sword and began wielding it around.

He was going to recreate the sword technique inscribed on the walls.

It wasn’t easy remembering the path of the sword, but he took a look around just before.

Like musicians recreating the scores in their head, he did the same with the flow of the sword.

A gentle sword technique that cut through the wind.

Despite only have done it once, the movements became more natural with harmony in strength and speed.

It was a level of skill reached with not just battles against monsters, but also consistent training of sword movement.

Blink!

< You are re-enacting the Sword of Regeneration.;

Sword of Regeneration ranked up to Novice level 2.

The attack power of the sword technique is enhanced.

Health points of the user and allies are recovered 20% faster.

Skill proficiency is increasing at a rapid rate.

Insight is increased by 5. >

Sword of Regeneration was a skill and a sword technique.

Executing the sword technique consisting of a set of movements raised the skill level.

Weed noticed Vishur in the form of a tree slowly coming to life and continued the sword technique.

The sword technique was cast the second and third time, the sword path becoming even more elegant.

Blink!

<Sword of Regeneration ranked up to Novice level 3.>

<Sword of Regeneration ranked up to Novice level 4.>

It was still at a novice level and didn’t have significant meaning, but indeed the skill was leveling up rapidly.

Half-elf Vishur regained her health points and slowly opened her eyes.

Chapter 9: The Plan of the Dwarves

“That is my sword technique.”

Weed stopped the swing of his sword and walked closer to the Half-elf.

“You are right.”

“Were you the one who sought for me?”

“I have arrived to this place in order to fight against Kaybern.”

The adventurers that led the maze expedition had backed away to a distance and listened quietly to the conversation between them.

Vishur raised her lean body.

“Kaybern is truly a dreadful dragon.”

“I’m fully aware of that.”

“Has attacked again, causing the humans to fight against the dragon?”

“Yes.”

Weed started to talk about Kaybern who destroyed cities and raised monster invasions. He did not forget to criticize him in the midst of his explanation.

“The peace of the continent will never revisit us until we slay that smokey dragon.”

“I see. So, the reason for Kaybern’s attacks is because of its egg?”

“That’s right.”

“That may not be a real dragon egg.”

“Excuse me?”

Vishur’s next story was a shock in its entirety.

The Black Dragon Kaybern had thought of the elves as a nuisance since long ago.

Unlike the dwarves that it could rip off through its harassment, the elves were a noble race with pride.

They were untouchable under the protection of the World Tree and the Green Dragon.

Then, Kaybern devised a scheme that would give him a cause for harassing the elves.

The dragon egg!

It sent a fake dragon egg forged from magic into the elven forests, and when it broke, it used the egg as an excuse for the assault.

“Black Dragon Kaybern burnt down the forest and murdered elves. Even the World Tree, the genesis for the elves burnt to ashes. From that day on, the elves lost the forest.”

“So, that’s what happened.”

It was surprising, even for Weed.

What Kaybern committed were the actions of a bunch of thugs.

‘Is that why it claimed its nickname as the Black Dragon? If a fake dragon egg existed, this quest would have come up sooner or later. Even if the Hermes Guild wasn’t involved.’

The fake dragon egg would never hatch in a natural way.

After some time had passed and the egg was  destroyed, Kaybern would have attacked the humans.

It was just then the Hermes Guild destroyed it before it would have been destroyed ordinarily, to screw him over. Meaning that they only sped up the process of what was inevitable.

‘To think that the dragon’s assault was a predetermined danger… Though it would have been much easier, if I dealt with him later.’

<Half-Elf Vishur Complete.>

At last, they discovered the Half-Elf Vishur within maze Zode.

They succeeded in waking her with the Sword of Regeneration, who had turned into a plant from the depletion of health points after a long life span.

He learned that the Black Dragon Kaybern’s plot occurred for the elves, and it was about to begin for the humans as well.

Even so, it was too early to give up.

Just like how the Half-Elf Vishur revived, the spark of hope was unextinguished.

< You have gained a level. >

< Wisdom increased by 2. >

< Adventure achievement increased all stats by 2. >

He gained experience and adventure progress from the quest completion.

Thanks to the help of many users, he was able to complete it easily, but it was no easy quest given the process.

Vishur summoned a water elemental and spoke after she healed herself.

“I was in search of comrades to fight against Kaybern. If you seek vengeance too, why don’t you fight alongside me?”

Weed nodded instantly.

“Of course, I will join your journey.”

He was immensely excited for the Half-Elf Vishur to become a comrade.

‘I’ll exploit her thriftily as I did with Hestiger.’

Elves were gifted in archery and elementals and were highly efficient with their nimble bodies.

Half-elves were nothing like the normal pure-blooded elves, but they compensated with their  sword technique and endurance.

“Alright. I have studied over 200 years for a way to eradicate Kaybern.”

“For 200 years?”

“I knew that if Kaybern were to begin its activity, it would come to torment the elves. I considered many options, but they were not sufficient enough to fight against a dragon. The final method  we discovered was the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“Brazier of Sacrifice?”

“It is a legendary item owned by the dwarves. The dwarves are the race that follow the sacrifice of fire and new birth. There is a myth that if one offers himself to the brazier, he will acquire the power to fight against a dragon. Do you wish to go on the search for this brazier with me?”

Blink!

< The noble artefact of the dwarves.

Dwarves live with the fire their entire lives..

With their short stature, they raised so many flares in history, but there are three mystical braziers they hid away from all others.

The Brazier of Bugta Volcano.

The Brazier of Sacrifice.

The Brazier of Birth.

However, there was a great secret within the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“Dwarves are weak? We make everything from the breath of flames. Like burning lumber in the fire, we can make miracles from burning our own life. Magic? Magic is nothing compared to the power of the brazier.”

The Brazier of Sacrifice was an artefact that was dormant for 500 years.

If this dwarven artefact were to be discovered, it could grant enough power to confront the dragon.

One of the dwarven elders will know about the Brazier of Sacrifice.

Difficulty: S

Quest Requirement: Savior of the Continent, Highest adventure reputation. >

< This quest cannot be declined under any circumstances. >

< Quest has been accepted. >

‘Hmm. Brazier of Sacrifice…’

He had never heard of it before, but the fact that it was a dwarven artefact hyped him up.

‘If I can get the power to face the dragon, that would be terrific but…’

The problem was that the artefact was named the Brazier of Sacrifice.

The word Weed despised the most was sacrifice.

“It burns the user’s own life?”

“I don’t know in detail. But, it won’t be something like dark magic because it is a dwarven artefact.”

“Mm-hmm. I don’t have a good feeling about it.”

Dwarves hated dark magic or evil deeds, and they themselves did not tell lies.

Users that did not keep their promises with the dwarves had their reputations dropped to the point where they had trouble with their activity in the village.

‘This is an S rank difficulty linked quest for facing the dragon. Indeed it will have traps and danger. For now, I need to look into this.

*****

Oberon.

He, who was the leader of the Cold Roses Guild, was also the lord of Castle Vent under the Arpen Empire.

‘I wonder how dreadful I will feel if Kaybern were to destroy my castle.’

He observed Weed’s adventure with nervous eyes.

He couldn’t watch every single moment of the hunts, but he did make sure to watch the crucial scenes.

“The Brazier of Sacrifice…?”

“Boss. Isn’t it what we heard about that time?”

“Uh… Yeah. The 3rd dwarven treasured brazier.”

The dwarven warriors in the Cold Roses Guild also chimed in.

“I have to inform Weed-nim right away.”

Oberon spoke on the chat channel for Arpen Empire’s important lords.

“Weed-nim. I know about the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

It was only after 2-3 seconds.

Ropener: “Awesome. As expected from Oberon-nim.” Pia: “Wow… That’s Oberon-nim for you, indeed.” Lemon: “You’re so amazing. Now that we have the info, the proceeding for the next quest will be a lot quicker.” Flame: “This will certainly be a huge help in stopping Kaybern.”

The lords cheered, and Weed checked the communication channel soon after.

He expected reports from the users as his meeting with Vishur during his quest will be broadcasted live.

Weed: Oberon, I will be on my way right now. Send me your current location.

A moment after, Weed arrived with Yurin through the Picture Teleportation Skill.

“What kind of information is it?”

“I know what the Brazier of Sacrifice is.”

“Great.”

Weed thought that it would bring incredible assistance to the quest as it would resolve the aspect that bothered him most.

‘This is a good start.’

If he knew what was the exact role of the dwarven artefact, he could deduce the direction of the quest.

“Yes. At that time, I didn’t pay much attention to it… But I heard that you could burn your life force with the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“What does it exactly mean to burn your life force?”

“It is exactly as told. Health points. The user can burn their maximum health points and levels at the brazier.”

“… And then?”

“The use of the Brazier of Sacrifice results in the decline of maximum health points, and your level is lowered as well. In return, you become stronger until the flames die out.”

“Just how much power?”

“I heard it is 10 times the loss of health points or level.”

“That is a high multiplier.”

“Though it can be dangerous too. No, it is surely dangerous.”

Burning 10,000 maximum health points in the Brazier of Sacrifice resulted in a temporary boost of 100,000 health points.

Weed was at 120,000  health points, meaning that it could become almost double the amount. Burning 100 levels will result in 1,000 levels temporarily.

“There would be conditions?”

“I don’t know that in detail. I’ve only heard the basic stories about it.”

“Hmm.”

Weed crossed his arms and became lost in his thoughts.

‘Time duration is the problem, but combat-wise I can become immensely more powerful. This way, I could even try hunting down Kaybern…’

It was a far stretch of an adventure that required a considerable amount of maximum health points and levels to be deducted. His maximum health points were already lower than other users and this meant that his consequences would be more severe.

He could raise his health points with the Goblet of Flames and other equipment, but a loss was still a loss.

‘If I have to pay such a sacrifice and fail, I won’t be able to taste any bitterness from coffee.’

Lately, life has been easier on him, and he decided to drink one can of coffee every day.

‘I saved up until now, so a can of coffee per day sounds fine, right?’

Popping a can of coffee early in the morning, laid back, enjoying life in comfort.

‘This is the happiness in life.’

Just dying once had a detrimental impact on level and skill proficiency, and he forbade thinking about failing, after using the Brazier of Sacrifice.

That being said, if he hunts down the dragon, he could earn an enormous number of combat achievements and treasures.

That moment, Oberon pulled out his axe from his back and spoke.

“Weed-nim. I want to assist in hunting Kaybern as well.”

“Pardon?”

“I believe I accumulated all these levels for a time like this. I want to join the Kaybern hunt and give up about 100 levels.”

Weed suddenly grasped Oberon’s hand.

“Thank you. You are a true hero.”

Instinctively, he touched Oberon’s luxurious axe.

It is only natural for people to check prices when they’re near expensive items.

“Your words are kind. It is also my duty as lord of Castle Vent. Weed-nim, you are the emperor of Arpen Empire with all the burden of continental peace on your shoulders.”

“It is rightfully my responsibility to protect the peace of this continent.”

“I have always envied you,Weed-nim.”

Only Weed’s old companions knew of his true side.

‘The users will be watching this as well.’

Viewer rating would easily reach 15%.

After Arpen Empire conquered the Central Continent, the popularity among the users heightened even further.

There were going to be more users signing up for the Kaybern hunt like Oberon, however,he could no longer back out from the quest.

‘It’s not like my stand can neglect the destruction of the continent… Sigh. The Hermes Guild will be joyful and throw a party about this. Even if the hunt succeeds, would it be a profit?”

He was stuck in a swamp of dilemmas.

Even if he were to obtain the Brazier of Sacrifice, he had to bet everything on the line for the Kaybern hunt.

*****

Thor region.

The dwarves lived with anxiety as they were close to the Black Dragon Kaybern’s territory.

“Ah. I shouldn’t have chosen to be a dwarf…”

“The race itself is not only adorable but also has powerful combat abilities. Besides, they can forge a bunch of stuff, making it easy to make money as well.”

“But, little did I know I would be subject to the dragon’s tyranny every single day.”

“Dwarves are truly a sorrowful race.”

Each mountain in Thor contains good quality minerals, which makes it easy to enhance blacksmith skills and dexterity. This also results in merchants visiting the area frequently.

There was also a surplus of hunting grounds, making it the ideal environment for gaining experience points for level growth.

Even though they had all the resources that they could need, the dwarves often left the region and scattered around the continent. The peculiar characteristic of the dwarves was that, once they left home, they never went back.

“This is why I’m familiar with all the elders”.

Weed and the blacksmith Herman travelled around Thor as Weed transformed himself to look like a dwarf.

The Dwarven villages, which were scattered around the Norn, Ulta and Saigo mountain passes, were estimated to be around 2,300 in number.

Even in regions which had been experiencing monster activity, dwarven pioneer villages and small mining villages existed, and many had no interaction with outsiders.

“The Brazier of Sacrifice could not possibly be in some secluded village… Actually, it is possible, but it will be undeniably tricky given the difficulty rank of the quest”.

Weed thought the knowledge of where The Brazier of Sacrifice was hiding couldn’t be obtained easily, so he knew that he had to conduct some investigation starting with the residents of known villages.

The fall of the Black Dragon Kaybern was something that the dwarven users of Thor profoundly wished for, and they were participating in the search as well.

“The Brazier of Sacrifice… I don’t know where you heard of its name, but I cannot tell you its whereabouts.”

The dwarven elders of the head village shut their mouths tight and refused to say anything.

Though it wasn’t too difficult to open up dwarvens’ mouths compared to humans’ or elves’.

Weed slid the bribe that he prepared toward him.

“Would you like to try a taste of this stout beer? It is the speciality of Morata. I brewed it from the best quality barley with the richest flavor.”

“Ahh… This hits the spot.”

“Is it for sale?”

“Of course. It’s extremely popular and difficult to find, even if you have the money. But I brought three bottles for all of you.”

“I appreciate that. Going out for orc hunting after chugging this, will be fantastic.”

“So, about that Brazier of Sacrifice that I asked about earlier…”

“Mmm, yeah. I did hear the name when I was young. However, no dwarf has seen it in person so that it may be just a myth.”

The dwarven elders that Weed had met through Herman did not have any real knowledge about the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“Brazier of Sacrifice existed long ago… I heard it just suddenly disappeared.”

“Woah. This beer is delicious. There’s nothing nearly as good in our village. I can swear that on this beer.”

“You’re on an adventure to kill the Black Dragon Kaybern? Ho-ha-ha-ha. That is the funniest joke I’ve heard since I heard someone saying, “I first drank beer at the age of 2!.”

Dwarves rarely lied, and their words were faithful.

Herman asked as he felt awkward.

“I introduced you to all the elders that I know, and we’ve got nothing. So, what do you plan on doing now?”

“I’m not sure. It’s hard to work something out right now, but we will find a way soon. We just have to wait”.

Weed uploaded a post that asked all users for information. The reward was 1 million gold, along with a position as provincial lord. However the most important part of the reward was that the land was to be located in the highly coveted mountainous region.

If someone were to find a dwarven elder that knew the secrets, that person would count as a useful individual.

Placing those skilled individuals in the right places would benefit the growth of the Arpen Empire.

“Dwarven lords increased the production rate, so it is even better.”

*****

The Earthly Shadow party was also working for a quest.

< Kaybern’s wretched preference. >

< The memory of the old tree. >

< Under the damp rock. >

< The egg which must break. >

“Wow. All of this was part of Kaybern’s plot…”

“Impressive.”

Silver Ring, Ben and Elix discovered over a hundred dragon eggs in a pit.

There was clear evidence that pointed to Kaybern’s egg being fake.

< In search of the great magician. >

Tracking the magician who was deemed as a legend in the history of humankind was the next quest that appeared.

“A glacial type…”

Ben’s eyes sparkled.

Of all quests, he loved the ones that were related to magic. If he didn’t end up being an adventurer, he would have been a wizard for sure.

Ben spoke to two other people.

“I think the Brazier of Sacrifice would not be in an ordinary place. It must be  in one of the ten forbidden regions; if it is not there, then it is definitely either in the south or the north end.

“We will have to gather some evidence, but I’d say south. You guys remember the lines? “‘Walking past the desert will lead you to the end of the earth’?”

“I do remember. The ocean appears, and then you see a continent formed from ice.”

Silver Ring took a map out of his bag after hearing about Ellix.

The Southern Continent.

They obtained the information that there is a mystic, glacial continent located in the south, similar to the continent of Jigolaths which is found in the North.

“It was also the place we were planning to reach someday. Let us depart after gathering a bit of information.”

“I’m with you.”

The Earthly Shadow party possessed various skills and experiences.

They wandered cluelessly due to a few big quests, but they had solved many commissions in between. Especially for places they have been to previously, no matter how far the distance, they followed the quest route and arrived within a day.

Earthly Shadow, whilst gathering information about the quest, came to learn that Weed figured out the dragon egg was fake.

“As expected of Weed.”

“Even Kaybern cannot underestimate him.”

“We should move on quickly as well.”

*****

Two weeks passed.

Countless dwarves searched for information, but they couldn’t find anything, since all the information was completely hidden away.

“Where in the world is the Brazier of Sacrifice?”

“I have no clue. Perhaps it already disappeared?”

“Quests are surely difficult. It is extremely tiresome to roam around the world as an adventurer.”

“If by any chance the Hermes Guild destroyed it…”

“No way. Well… that may be quite plausible..”

After a long search without news, the Hermes Guild became the target of suspicion for its whereabouts.

During the two weeks, the free cities under the Britten Alliance territories were destroyed by Kaybern, and Castle Ukten of Haven territory became the next target.

“We drew the short straw this week.”

Weed thoroughly explored the maze, but continued raising his skill levels and engaging in battles.

It was swarming with monsters everywhere!

There was a battalion he had gathered to hunt Kaybern, but after he advanced into a sun warrior, he started to roam alone.

He jumped off the back of Wy-Three into the middle of a monster swarm.

Weed got off in a place filled with powerful monsters invading villages and cities.

“Shall we go for a blade dance?”

Weed blended all his art stats into strength using Sculptural Destruction.

Kuagh!

That swine. He’s the leader of the humans.

Kill him. For Kaybern-nim!

The monsters surrounded him from all directions like a swarm of bees.

Kural was a demon servant who stood 4 meters tall and wielded an axe.

He rode a gigantic demon beast named Tabola Gon and rushed to the battleground while stomping over the demon soldiers in his path that were a little too slow to move out of their lines.

What made the situation worse was the fact that there were also poison frogmen, who were a twisted mix of frog and human, standing at the tail of the beast. The monsters raised by Kaybern were ready-made armies, they were born already in formation.

Kural acted as the commander while riding on the demon beast Tabola Gon and served as the cavalry. Monsters fit for land troops overflowed in large numbers, and they had significant amounts of frogmen following him from behind.

They focused their saliva and projected it like arrows from their mouths, travelling great distances, to ultimately poison their foe with their toxins.

Incredibly Weed jumped right in the middle of the enemy lines by himself.

The God of War, Weed. Like his nickname, it seemed like he was about to fight a war by himself.

Monsters were smashing into one another as they were stomped towards their deaths. The path of Weed could only be described as mayhem.

The commentators at the broadcast stations screamed as if they were spewing blood from their mouths.

Absolutely insane. Now, this is a battle. A real battle.

“Many warriors in Royal Road engage in battles. Some charge valiantly, but what are you supposed to make of this scene? Take us to a higher view of the scene so we can see it more clearly, please. All the monsters are charging at a single target; Weed.”

The force of the monsters was powerful enough to destroy a village or a city.

From time to time, Weed took reckless decisions during quests.

‘The head of this swarm is an assault-type monster. There are indeed a lot of them, but not many can face me at the same time. I think it’s worth a shot.’

Even so, the moment he descended from the back of Wy-Three, all the monsters came after him. He did picture this scenario, but once it became a reality, the pressure made him feel overwhelmed.

“Sword of Regeneration!”

Weed cast the Sword of Regeneration.

His overpowered sword techniques that raised defence and boosted recovery.

He planned to hold his ground by deflecting and slashing the monsters.

< You have been struck by the horns of Tabola Gon.

Health points decreased by 1,420. >

A variety of effects from different equipment and the Sky Ruler’s Armor!

“Lava River!”

Weed wrapped the Loa Sword in holy flames and raised lava from the earth, preventing the monsters from advancing.

He thought of facing the monsters from one direction, but the monsters rushed through the lava.

“Die.”

“Kuaaack!”

“I will rip you to shreds.”

Raging monsters overtook one side while the other was covered with monsters looking like fireballs running through the lava river.

The rest was a rain of black darts.

Mediocre poison status’ could be healed with necromancer skills, but it had to be consistent, and it still resulted in the loss of health points.

A smile appeared on Weed’s face.

“Yes. This is fun. This is how it should be.”

He got damaged from the monsters as he swung his Sword of Regeneration.

The Loa Sword slashed through them like a ray of light.

< Batali is filled with joy while watching over you.

“Fight. Warrior. Bathe in your power!”

Batali’s blessing is applied.

Mana consumption of attacking skills is reduced by 30% and power enhanced by 25%.

All abnormal and negative status are lifted.

Increased gain of experience points when enemy is killed >

*Crumble! *

Monster birds that transformed into malignant spirits mid-air struck down on him with their beaks.

It was a gruesome battle taking place without even a moment to breathe.

“The battle wasn’t about fighting well, it was about displaying 200% of his capabilities.”

The enemy was set on fire and the poisonous darts spewed by the frogmen turned into miasma and covered the surroundings like a fog.

Everything happened within the span of 10 minutes as Weed was fighting in a near-death crisis battle.

*Blink!*

< Combat Achievement!
You have completed the Lone Battling Warrior.
The attack power of sword techniques are increased by 3%.
Stamina and health points recover quicker when fighting against multiple enemies.>

Dangerous battles sometimes led to unbelievable results, such as combat achievements.

Rows full of monster corpses surrounded Weed.

The number of monsters who died in the actual battle was far less than the one of monsters who were stomped to death.

More monsters climbed over the bodies and charged at Weed endlessly.

The amount of monsters and monster corpses near Weed was so massive that there was no room to set foot on.

“Alright. Corpse Explosion!”

*C-C-Crash!*

<You have gained experience.>

<You have gained experience.>

<You have gained experience.>

…

< You have gained a level. >

The corpse explosion was big enough to shake the earth.

With the undead skill, he blew away the corpses and caused a mass slaughter.

At least a thousand monsters met their deaths all at once.

“Return to the land from whence you came. Rise from the darkness. Ye who are black and corrupted. Engrave the everlasting rule of darkness upon all beings. Undead rise!”

A large number of dullahan knights were summoned!

“Summon the death knight Van Hawk. Summon the vampire Torido!”

Weed even summoned Van Hawk and Torido as he continued the combat.

– He’s a disgusting necromancer!

– Fool. You cannot stop us!

The undead were mercilessly trampled upon by Tabola Gon.

They were weak against the gigantic creature and could not hold it back, due to their lack of defense and vulnerable bones.

On top of this, Weed was wearing the Sky Ruler’s Armor and warrior equipment instead of Bar Khan’s full equipment set, making them even weaker.

“Fight all you want. You incompetent idiots.”

Weed wrapped some bandages around his own body and continued the battle.

The undead split the attack force and created a moment for him to breathe.

This was when his mana replenished sufficiently.

“Day of apocalypse!”

“The ultimate skill of the solar warrior!”

All of his mana was burned, causing waves of smoke to spread in all directions.

The power was enhanced by the holy fire and Goblet of Flames, discharging nearby undead and swallowing all the monsters in the path of its endless spread.

“Wy-3!”

– I’m on my way. Master!

Weed jumped on top of Wy-3 who flew low, close to the ground, before up into the sky again. He was going to leave freely after having spent all of his health points, stamina and mana.

– Don’t run away!

– Sly rat. Come back.

Kural was causing a ruckus from the ground.

It was a powerful monster legion, but the force dwindled down to about half, which made it easier to defend against their siege.

Aside from Kaybern’s doings, 7 cities and 31 villages of the Arpen Empire were destroyed by monsters.

Weed put in a lot of effort, but there were cases where monsters would behave unexpectedly.

There were cases where forces of greater numbers that should have been able to defend easily did not fight effectively and crumbled before a monster invasion.

Old prestigious guilds had a better time, but most of the lords of the Arpen Empire had little to no experience in large-scale battles.

It was only logical that the casualties in the Arpen Empire got out of hand.

*****

After 3 weeks of waiting, an importantreport came in.

– Shaysha: I am at Debrado village right now. This village is not marked on the maps and is in close proximity to Kaybern’s territory. We have found a dwarf who knows about the Brazier of Sacrifice.

It was a dwarven village in the heart of the Ulta mountain pass.

The dwarves in this village produced high quality weapons with refined metal.

Their existence was shrouded in mystery, but the adventurers combed through the Thor region for the Kaybern quest.

Areas near Kaybern’s territory had also been subjected to the search, but dangerous monsters roamed in considerable numbers and the dwarves had had to put their lives on the line.

Dwarves could freely travel in and out of places that weren’t in close proximity to the dragon lair, but every time they ran into Kaybern’s underlings, they had to offer money or jewellery, in exchange for their survival.

After many dwarves had exhausted all their treasure, the fruit of passion and effort was beared.

– Weed: I will be there right away.

***

Weed moved to a safe location with Yurin’s Paint Teleportation Skill and carved a dwarf sculpture.

“Sculptural Transformation!”

His body turned into a dwarf with a nicely groomed beard. He had a round, protruding belly as well and picked up a decent axe.

The area near the dragon’s territory restricted spatial travel skills like teleportation.

Weed ran through Ulta mountain pass in the appearance of a dwarf and reached Debrado village.

“This way. You are Weed-nim, correct?!”

Shaysha, who was waiting at the entrance, gave him a warm welcome.

“Yes. I am Weed.”

“It is such an honor to meet you. I’m sure you must tend to your business first. The village elder is at the blacksmith shop.”

“Thank you for your assistance in this quest.”

“It’s nothing. I am a dwarf living in Thor, but I think of myself as a citizen of Arpen.”

Shaysha’s face turned pink.

An up-close meeting with Weed who had accomplished countless achievements made her tense. Weed had an ordinary face and was currently transformed into a dwarf but felt like he had unique features.

His arms and legs were short but thick, and his nose especially was red; the look of a dwarf who drinks well and works diligently!

The village elder too was an excellent blacksmith dwarf with a valley of muscles on his arms.

“Shaysha, and a face I’ve never seen before. A young dwarf. What brings you to this village?”

“I am grateful to be in the presence of you, elder. I have come to ask about the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

Weed bowed his head slightly in the dwarven tradition. The effect of being emperor did not work that well for dwarves, and he was under Sculptural Transformation for the time being.

The village elder grabbed the beer on top of the table and gulped it down.

“Brazier of Sacrifice… Our artefact that we held so long ago. I thought no dwarf would ever seek it.”

“What could be the reason for that?”

“That’s… Complicated.”

“It is very important and I must know. Is the Brazier of Sacrifice in this village?”

“Hu-hu. The beer is bitter.”

The elder of Debrado village turned his head elsewhere. He was trying to divert the subject.

“Here, try this beer from Morata.”

“What beer is this? The foam is out of this world!”

Weed had a way of disarming the heavy mouths of the dwarves.

“Have another glass. One-shot.”

“Hah!”

The dwarves hardly ever get drunk, but the Morata beer had a trick.

‘7:3 of beer and whiskey. This is the golden ratio.’

It was a bomb shot designed for dwarves!

Weed with his peak dexterity mixed up a good glass. Then, the elder began to tell the secrets that he was reluctant to tell before.

“The Brazier of Sacrifice… Hick. The truth is, we lost it.”

“The dwarven artefact was misplaced?”

“K-uuh… It’s always the same with all our treasures, taken away the moment the dragon lays its eyes on them.”

“If it was taken away by a dragon, Could that dragon possibly be Kaybern?”

“Yes, that is right. That greedy dragon took our brazier.”

“…”

Weed felt like he ran into a wall.

The artefact needed to hunt Kaybern had already been stolen!

Once the elder finished telling the story, he could not control his temper.

“Do you know what Kaybern did after it took our treasure?”

“What happened?”

“It was used as a heating stove. Even the brazier was used a few times before it got tossed in a corner and was forgotten.”

“Of course.”

Weed wasn’t in the least surprised even if Kaybern used the brazier for roasting sweet potatoes.

Dragons are not beings that could be assessed with logic.

“Then, the brazier should be inside Kaybern’s lair.”

“It isn’t far from here, but it is in a place where us dwarves cannot reach.”

The elder’s voice became sentimental and Weed sensed it.

‘It won’t end like this. With no doubt, this will lead to a quest.’

It was an intuitive  sense that came from experience.

The dwarven elder laid down his beer glass and spoke heavily.

“If someone were to take back the Brazier of Sacrifice, we can call him the hero of the dwarves. It is something that no one could ever succeed in.”

“But, Kaybern is unbeatable. There are too many guards around as well.”

As a sculptor, Weed once offered a gem sculpture to the dragon for the sake of a quest. That time, he managed to approach the entrance of Kaybern’s lair.

Let alone the steep, dangerous terrain, but it was a haven of menacing monsters.

‘Defeating those monsters is troublesome alone, and there were too many dragon soldiers. There will be magical traps set up as well, and I will die at Kaybern’s hands after infiltrating.’

It was truly an impregnable fortress.

“Hmm. It is indeed too difficult. However, as you may know, us dwarves do not know when to give up. This is actually a secret between dwarves, but there is a reason for this village being so close to the lair.”

“Why is that?”

“It is to do what dwarves do best. If you’re a quick dwarf, you probably understood already.”

“Could that be…”

“Hmm-hmm. I won’t say more. Unless you’re willing to help us out here.”

Blink!

< The Dwarves Secret Plan
The dwarves had their precious Brazier of Sacrifice taken away by Kaybern.
The dragon was the natural predator against the brave dwarves.
They offered countless treasures, but the Brazier of Sacrifice was an item related to the origin of the dwarves.
Return with the Brazier of Sacrifice stolen by Kaybern.
It is a dangerous task, but the dwarves will reward you greatly if you succeed.
Difficulty: S
Reward: Rare dwarven treasure.
Quest Requirement: Dwarf.>

< The race quest of the dwarves has been activated.

You are in the perfect appearance of a dwarf under Sculptural Transformation and thus capable of proceeding with the quest.

If this task is declined, the dwarves will consider you a coward.

Honor will be decreased by 10,000 and friendship with the dwarves will become negative. >

An S rank difficulty racial quest!

‘I had to take the Brazier of Sacrifice no matter what… I guess the racial quest popped up since I’m in this form. Two birds with one stone ain’t half bad. It’s also what dwarves are good at.’

Something that short dwarves excel at!

A dwarven village close to Kaybern’s lair.

Something sparked in Weed’s mind from the conversations.

“I will return with the brazier.”

< You have accepted the quest. >

*****

Weed began to scout around Debrado village.

‘Dwarven population is 325. Most are elders,and I don’t see any young ones.’

Dwarves were a race that could usually bear over 3 children.

The fact that the village was comprised of elderly townsfolk was unique, and the number of blacksmiths were far less than other dwarven villages.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The dwarves were working and only produced weapons and armor in large quantities.

‘There are rarely any merchants and adventurers, but they keep producing as if they’re preparing for war.’

His suspicions deepened!

Dwarves tended to invite others into their homes if gifted with good beer, and the interior was dressed with premium swords, axes and armor.

Even after considering that these were crafted by dwarves, the quality was very impressive.

‘What the dwarves are good at… The standard of the warriors is excellent too. They are old, but only the born warriors reside in this village.’

His suspicion was quickly developing into certainty. He had to check one more thing before it was perfect.

He asked one of the nearby dwarven townsfolk.

“I want to acquire some minerals. Which way is the mine?”

“It is up north. It’s quite the walk.”

“Thank you.”

Weed ran to the mines with a pickaxe.

The mines in the rocky areas of Ulta mountain pass seemed to have no significance other than that it was huge and steep.

*Clang! Clang! Clang!*

The deeper he went, the more dwarves he saw, busy swinging away and mining iron and silver.

“Did you just dig this up?”

“Yes, I did..”

He examined the iron and silver ores stacked up to the side.

“Identify!”

< Low-quality iron ore. Several minerals are mixed in small quantities.
Iron is present, but purity is on the low end. >

Usually, the dwarves used the highest quality iron ores. If it wasn’t a rich vein, the race would never have built a village near it.

After he checked out the mines, he was certain.

There was an unusual ratio of the population with no children, endless production of war supplies, and the mine of low-quality iron ores was wide and steep.

‘Considering the direction this mine has been dug… Of course. I figured out the real purpose of this village. The dwarves here are trying to dig an underground tunnel to rob Kaybern’s lair!’

A spark traveled throughout Weed’s body, just like when he had his first kiss with Seoyoon.

Chapter 1: Sneakthieving

It was night by the time Lee Hyun got out of the capsule.

“Underground tunnel…”

Logically, going into Kaybern’s lair and stealing the Brazier of Sacrifice was almost impossible.

Furthermore, robbing a dragon was just plain suicide.

“But the thing is… Kaybern crawls out of his lair to destroy a city every week. In other words, it’s actually robbing an empty house.”

Stealing from  an unoccupied lair!

The world was a place where people steal from right under your nose, so how could it be any different for stealing from a lair without the dragon?

Under normal circumstances, there would have been much effort and secrecy in preparing for an infiltration mission.

However, if the dragon was to empty its seat, the quest atmosphere would change completely.

“Normally, this would have been a quest of atrocious difficulty. But, the Brazier of Sacrifice is no longer an issue, now that it turned out like this. We might be able to rob the entire lair and its treasures.”

Lee Hyun stuck the large map of Thor region on the wall.

He marked the location and direction of the dwarven village, the mines and Kaybern’s lair.

In the past, he carried out quests for offerings to Kaybern.

A dazzling Kaybern sculpture made of the crystal of Agathe.

He referred to his experience when he got inside the lair to offer the crystal sculpture.

“The monsters were mostly guarding the outside. If the underground tunnel is constructed well, we can get in without getting discovered.”

Kaybern’s lair was filled with an enormous amount of treasures and jewelry, so means of transportation was also needed.

“This should not be approached with the mindset that we are stealing something. It has to be a complete wipe-out with a moving company… Yeah. That kind of an approach.”

Lee Hyun had worked part-time in a moving company, even though it was only for a few days.

The company wrapped all necessities quickly and loaded onto the truck. The tasks were well-divided and more rapid than anything.

Clearing an apartment unit 100㎡ wide, was finished before lunch.

“For Kaybern’s lair, there is no need to separate and pack things individually. The focus should be on speed and quantity while taking everything.”

A robbery, a wipe-out!

*****

Weed whispered to Mapan right after logging into Royal Road.

“There is a big job to be done.”

– Mapan: What kind of job? It must be serious coming from you, Weed-nim.

Even back in the war in the Garnav plains, he did not use such an expression. However, robbing Kaybern’s lair was of utmost importance.

“I need skilled workers. They have to be outstanding wagon drivers.”

– Mapan: I don’t know just how skilled you want them to be.

“They have to be able to drive fast on steep mountain tracks on a fully-loaded large wagon. They have to dodge obstacles as well. It will be great if they are confident in diverting  monsters from chasing in order to escape.”

– Mapan: That kind of task will require at least Intermediate level wagon driving. They’re expensive workers.

“The wage doesn’t matter. I need those who I can rely on.”

– Mapan: How many do you need?

“At least 500.”

– Mapan: Excuse me?

“The more, the merrier. I have lots of treasures to be transported.”

– Mapan: Just what exactly are you going to do with that many people?

The footage of Debrado village had yet to be broadcasted.

The stream posed the danger of exposing the quest in progress, and no one knew  what Weed was going to do next.

“Robbery.”

– Mapan: What?

“I’m going to rob Kaybern’s lair.”

*****

Soonjo Park was on the bus to Korea University when his phone rang.

– Ku-wa-wa-wal Kuwala. Orc. Orc. Sh-sh-shk!

“What is that sound?”

“Someone must be calling.”

Royal Road’s orc song played as the ringtone, grabbing the attention of other passengers.

Soonjo Park hurriedly picked up the call once he saw the caller ID “Arpen Empire Emperor Big Bro”.

“Hey, Hyung. It’s been a while.”

– Yeah. How have you been?

“I’m doing well. When are you returning to school?”

Lee Hyun was a legend to the students who majored in virtual reality!

His school life was nostalgic and becoming the emperor of Arpen Empire spread his name among the community of Korea University.

Even professors from different majors were desperate for a chance to meet Lee Hyun.

– Whenever. I have a favor to ask you.

“No worries. Tell me, Hyung.”

Soonjo Park with his  friendly personality, was happy to do any kind of favor.

– The call has to be short. Anyways, let’s do a job together.

“What kind of a job?”

– Your class is thief.

“Yup.”

The Thief Nide.

It was a character that Soonjo Park trained well since the release of Royal Road, and he had learned a variety of skills.

Most job classes were combat-oriented, which set the thieves aside just a little bit, but he did not slack with training class-exclusive skills.

– I saw you last time, and you did really well.

“Haha. Are you thinking of all the times we’ve stolen together?”

The bus passengers stared at Soonjo Park again with his innocent remark.

– Yeah. You up for it?

“Stealing is my profession.”

– How many times have you been caught?

“I’ve never been caught. Though I have backed out when I felt like I was going to be caught half-way. I steal with speed and certainty.”

The passengers responded with a bit of suspicion, but Sangjoon Choi and Sora Min were sitting across from him.

“We are talking about the Royal Road. Don’t get the wrong idea, folks.”

“My buddy’s job class is a thief.”

The passengers, mostly being Korea University students laughed and turned heads.

– Brace yourself for a surprise. It’s okay to be blown away. This time, it’s going to be Kaybern’s lair.

“Robbing Kaybern’s lair!?”

Soonjo Park raised his voice without himself realizing it. He brought together the attention of the other passengers once again, but he couldn’t care less about it.

If this came from someone else, he would have laughed it off or say it was crazy, but this was from the emperor of the Arpen Empire and a hero of Versailles Continent!

Not just Kaybern’s lair, but anywhere in the world he were to mark for robbery, he knew it would be true.

– That’s right. The lair is going to be penniless.

“Kyah. That’s going to be extreme.”

– It’s dangerous, but can you join?

“Of course. Lee Hyun-hyung. Please let me in.”

Of all things that Soonjo Park said, mentioning Kaybern’s lair was big, but saying Lee Hyun’s name hit it home.

The character name Weed was known by just about everyone in Korea University.

Let alone the bus passengers, even Sangjoon Choi and Sora Min were staring with round eyes.

*****

Mibullo was deemed the best architect of Versailles Continent, but Pavo’s influence was unmatched. He was a famous architect who got well-known early in Morata and raised the great landmarks in the North!

Pavo was involved in the recovery project of Free City Somren.

“Please move the material over there safely. Also, it will be best if we recover the industrial areas first. It will push us back from building homes for the users, but utilities for better accessibility should be our priority.”

Pavo was appointed as the leading architect!

He was proceeding with clearing debris in the city and construction tasks simultaneously.

“It’s good that the users stayed behind… Even if the city was a complete ruin, it won’t take long to rebuild.”

The production facilities in Somren were still standing which was a huge asset.

– Weed: Old man Pavo. Are you busy?

“No. Weed. What’s up?”

Pavo just spoke like usual.

“Huh!”

“Whoo!”

“Waah!”

Instead, the users nearby got excited.

– Weed: There is an important job that’ll need your assistance.

*****

Weed personally got in contact with the people he needed.

At first, he planned to prepare the means of transportation from Mapan’s council and carry out with a few trustworthy comrades, but he changed his mind.

“The mine is pretty deep.  There are lots of treasures in the lair too…”

The treasures would be stacked like mountains.

Sneaking them out through the mine would require significant time.

It was a dwarven mine with narrow passages and the fact that the large transport wagons won’t fit through inside was another issue to overcome!

“Finishing the job before Kaybern returns will need more manpower.”

Weed decided to increase the number of people to take part in the robbery.

“I cannot leave any treasure behind. Yeah, no way.”

This quest began with the Brazier of Sacrifice, but Weed could smell out the money to be made!

“I need the Black Lion Guild to mobilize 30 dwarves. The most skilled ones.”

– May I ask what you need them for?

“It is related to Kaybern. It may be dangerous, but please account for that.”

– I will find worthy users.

The factions agreed to join before knowing what they were getting into.

After Weed won the war in Garnav plains, his fame and influence were unconditional.

Furthermore, the Kaybern hunt was crucial for the city lords as well.

The development of the Britten Alliance was  so high, and their own establishments were conversely on the decline. In the end though, Tullen or Idern would soon become targets as well.

If the Black Dragon appears and destroys their cities, they would suffer greatly, and in that case, they were willing to send workers.

*****

In just one day!

Weed’s call gathered over 800 dwarven users in Debrado village.

“A village so deeply hidden.”

“It’s a small and secluded village. It’s not visible at all from afar due to the trees. Though I’m kind of shivering knowing that it’s close to Kaybern’s lair.”

“Are they preparing for war? I haven’t sparred much recently because I was busy making swords.”

The best dwarves with proven skills in Versailles Continent stood by the entrance.

There were associates from guilds like the Black Lion and Roam Guild and other regular users, all with excellent skills

Weed’s popularity and influence were having a powerful impact on the dwarves.

“Now, I will explain the details for everybody here.”

He explained to them the reason behind the dwarven village’s existence and that the mine was being dug in the direction of Kaybern’s lair.

“Judging by the depth, it should already be close to the lair. The exact location still needs to be determined, but everyone should possess basic mining skills, and if we are diligent, we should easily get inside the lair within five days.”

The dwarven users got overwhelmed with excitement. The more they listened to the plan, the more hopeful they became.

“Ohhh.”

“If it’s sneaking underground, we have a good chance!”

They were starting to genuinely believe that they could steal treasures from Kaybern’s lair.

If they were to succeed, it would be a moment they could never forget.

Oberon asked with caution:

“Let’s say we get inside the lair, then what do we do about Kaybern? If we need someone to act as bait, I will take the lead.”

The words were fitting for someone like Oberon who had great responsibility and leadership.

A head-on battle against Kaybern was impossible to win, so he intended to risk his life to divert attention.

“Oberon-nim is cool like that.”

“He lives by his reputation.”

“I’m sure he will become more popular when this goes live on broadcast.”

The dwarves were sincerely touched, but Weed thought the opposite.

‘To step up like that and sacrifice for the others… That kind of person lives an honourable life, but his wife and children will suffer!’

Friends, comrades.

Sacrificing one’s body for justice will only cause misery for one’s self and their family in this world!

From the beginning, Weed thought poorly of a plan that required the use of a bait.

If it was absolutely necessary, he could consider following such a plan, depending on the returns which they will gain from the success,  but sacrifices should be left as a last resort.

‘The users playing bait could die out easily,and it could lead to other variables.’

Weed had a different plan for that very part.

“By the time we’ll empty the lair, Kaybern will be out to destroy a city. It’s sneak thieving, so to speak!”

Sneak thieving!

The dwarven users who gathered in Debrado village felt a jolt all over their bodies. They hadn’t heard a word more impressive in their entire lives.

“Woah…”

“I’m getting goosebumps all over my body. This is the deal.”

“An empty lair. An unoccupied house.”

“Yeah. Usually, it would be impossible. But, the lair is free when Kaybern is gone.”

Each of them lived a path far from robbery, but just how appealing was the word sneak thieving?

The temptation was powerful!

“When Kaybern decides on the city to be destroyed, our plan will begin. Firstly, the architects will have a great deal of work to do.”

Weed announced that he asked for assistance from the Northern architects, including Pavo.

“They will buy us as much time as they can.”

One of the dwarves raised his hand.

“In what way?”

All the dwarves were attentive to Weed’s words! They were mindful of even the lightest speech. One would pass any kind of exam if they studied with this kind of concentration.

Weed smirked ominously as he spoke.

“It is to build a ridiculous number of buildings in the city which is determined to be destroyed next, extending the time it takes to destroy it. It doesn’t take experienced architects. We can actually get away with poor construction.”

“That’s some method…”

“Sneak thieving, poor construction. I can understand each part of the plan to the letter. So amazing.”

The dwarven users at the gathering were in awe.

‘Look at this appropriate and versatile plan. Weed isn’t an emperor for no reason.’

‘I should have befriended him earlier. My greatest regret in life is not becoming Weed’s comrade.’

‘It’s so fortunate that I took vacation leave from work and came to his call. In Royal Road, I just need to follow Weed.’

‘From my pessimistic view, this won’t be as easy as it seems. Though the view count will be high. I will become famous and get to shoot some advertisements.’

‘I need to get noticed this time around and stick right by Weed’s side. Then my life’s going to be a blast.’

The dwarven users each had a different perspective, but they shared the same excitement.

It was a great opportunity to be working with Weed, who was practically running the market.

Furthermore, they were convinced by his plans.

Normally, robbing a dragon’s lair would be an outrageous plan.

A few kilometer radius near the lair was considered forbidden territory, and no one would dare to approach it.

But, using Kaybern’s city destruction to their advantage, they will dig an underground tunnel and wipe out an empty house!

The Northern architects will leave out materials and conduct poor construction to their heart’s content, preventing the dragon from returning early.

This plan even accounted for Kaybern’s meticulous personality of turning cities into complete ruins.

‘For some reason, I can’t back out of this.’

‘I have to do it even if the chances are slim. I’m absolutely in.’

‘Rob the treasures. All of it.’

Weed observed the dwarven users’ faces turn red in excitement and was reassured.

‘People are all the same. They can’t get more united than when they plot bad deeds!’

***

Weed’s plot to rob Kaybern’s lair!

It went viral on the internet after the dwarves spread the news.

– Dear lord! Robbing a dragon’s lair? What on earth are they trying to do!?

– They say class is permanent… I thought adventures nowadays were boring but darn.

– Honestly, I did not expect this at all.

– I watched the teaser, and the elite dwarves were cheering for Weed’s robbery. LOL.

– The selected users over there will be having so much fun. And it looks so tense. It’s a rare chance for someone to go inside the dragon’s lair.

– Would it just be “fun”? If they succeed, they will carry out legendary items on wagons.

– The herd of bulls of the Arpen Empire are on the move. My guess is that they will be utilized to pull the wagons.

Weed’s robbery was considered as an innovation, more a historical event than a quest.

– This is a guaranteed, 100% failure. How stupid. Going to rob a dragon’s lair? It’s guarded by magical traps or monsters, for sure.

– Goes inside the lair. Meets eyes with the dragon. Waaak. Dead.

– Those of you who are just blind with jealousy. It’s an empty lair robbery, so the dragon won’t be home. That is the beauty of it.

– The beauty of robbery is the thrill of getting caught or not, and I wonder?

– Treasures in the lair… My eyes would be delighted if Weed goes in and shows me around.

– Can’t say that he will fail. Those are obvious problems, so how could he be oblivious?

– Weed will come out ahead. It’s meaningless for us to debate about it. It’s always been that way. He always pulls miracles, so let’s wait.

– It will be hilarious if they get discovered and chased by the dragon.

In the urgent surveys conducted by the broadcast stations, only 62% of viewers predicted success, which was startlingly low given Weed’s popularity. It was because the dragon’s lair had been infamous beyond the ten forbidden territories until now.

– Personally speaking, the difficulty is way too high. It’s S rank quest… It means it is that dangerous.

– Not all S ranks are the same. Since it involves a dragon, this should be considered SSSSSSS rank.

– I have hunted Ausoleto in the past… An ex-dragon. Kaybern is on another level.

– The confirmation by many users until now shows that difficulty rank is only a standard, and they turn out very differently depending on how you progress through them.

– Plans are important. Luck has to follow as well.

– Difficulty? Weed already isn’t human since he possesses the job class final secret technique.

– When Weed was on the adventure for the final secret technique, all the lights in the main branch building of Unicorn were on. The promotion team in their live interview the next day mentioned that they were knocked out of their minds because Weed succeeded in an unbelievable adventure.

– Honestly, I thought Weed would fail every adventure, logically speaking. I’ve given up on predicting his failure. Now Weed will outdo himself.

– Weed accepts Weed-like quest, makes Weed-like plans, executes it in Weed fashion and becomes Weed.

– I wish I could live like Weed in Royal Road…

Broadcast stations confirmed live streaming and waited for the plan initiation, as the introduction of the participating dwarves took place.

Nide though human, joined especially as a thief and engaged in an interview in the Northern architect group.

– Har-har. Us architects are already done with preparations.

– We do not know  which city the construction will have to take place yet, so what are the plans to transport the materials?

– We’re just going to go with the flow.

– Go with the flow?

– Construction is quicker when you just do it roughly! We can gather the materials anywhere nearby. It took us so long to build the Earth Palace… But, if we built sloppy it wouldn’t have taken a month.

– How many of you are preparing?

– With a shovel in hand, anyone can be a builder. You can even just stack blocks. Oh. This time there is no need for blocks.

The builders were waiting patiently. They will work hard when it gets to the project, but now was the stage for relaxing.

– Pale: Weed-nim. I think you are too busy and forgot to contact me, but I am ready.

– Surka: You aren’t thinking of going ahead without us, are you?

– Python: We can head over now. Where do we have to go?

– Seasoned Crab: K-hmm. Cough-cough. Hmm. I was just bored.

The comrades that were friends with Weed willingly offered to join the robbery.

Even if they were to die in  the hands of the dragon, they were going to participate anyway, out of loyalty, and if the plan succeeded, it would be a windfall.

‘Being a human, anyone can fail. However, Weed-nim is no ordinary human. Even if things completely fail, he will still scavenge a thing or two.’

‘You have to understand Weed-nim’s language. ‘A little tiring’ means it’s an okay job. ‘The situation isn’t that bad’ means it will be difficult. ‘You’ll have to work hard,’ means that it will be close to impossible.’

The people coveting Kaybern’s lair wasn’t just his comrades but also the best users in Versailles Continent.

The higher the level, the more dependent a user becomes on equipment.

A few unique options change hunting speed and heightened the impact of skill and stats.

– Mule: Weed-nim. Hu-hum. This time, Kaybern’s lair will be…

Even Mule who fell so many times contacted Weed directly.

Weed wasn’t expecting so many people to join in the first place.

‘Excluding the transport team and the dwarves, it should be a small elite team. Thieves do not have to excel in combat.’

Thief was a job class that was difficult to raise levels.

There were very few job class skills that were related to combat.

Even so, they possess skills that silenced their footsteps while running or hiding traces, extremely advantageous for stealing.

‘The dragon’s lair isn’t just a house, it is surrounded by many traps. However, the real problem is the magical traps. Unfortunately, they can’t be broken.’

It was the same reason why he did not think of participation of mages. Even if they were to find magical traps, they didn’t have the ability to defuse them.

There were so many mages in Royal Road, but no one was perverted enough to master not offensive nor defensive spells, but magical trap defuse.

“Haruna-nim.”

– Haruna: Yes. Weed-nim.

“Come this way.”

– Haruna: Really? I am honored.

The magical traps were a real concern, so he asked elf Haruna to get her assistance.

It was best for her to uncover the traps along with thief Nide. It could turn into a disaster if the magic were to explode by mistake. Nonetheless, to be prepared for everything was impossible.

‘It will become a war against time. We have to pick and pull out before Kaybern returns. Secretly and swiftly. But, if the magical traps activate and we get discovered by the dragon’s soldiers that defend the lair… It’s going to be sink or swim.’

Weed changed his mind and decided that he would bring some of the users with combat skills who wanted to participate.

If everything went wrong, he was planning to wipe out all the dragon’s soldiers and monsters that he could before the dragon returned.

Chapter 2: Dragon’s Treasure

Weed received cooperation from the broadcast stations and made an announcement to all the users.

– Weed:  To the dwarven users of Thor:

We are planning to rob Kaybern’s lair.

Whether we succeed or not, it may result in significant damage to the Thor region.

This quest will form a critical part of our mission to defeat Kaybern.

Therefore, it is essential that we complete this for the dwarves, but the progress could result in unintentional losses.

I urge the dwarves living near Kaybern’s territory to leave the area.

If you come to the Arpen Empire, you will be provided with 100m^2 wooden houses, free beer and blacksmith shops.

The atmosphere in Royal Road heated up after Weed’s announcement.

“To think that he would actually do this.”

“Wow. That’s awesome.”

“If I can get my hands on at least one item, it would be insane.”

Skilled users, without exception, wanted to participate, and with even 1% they were ready to bite. After all, it was worth risking their lives for.

“Is he really going through with this?”

“I’m sure, it is Weed after all. Ah, I want to go too.”

Though half-hearted, the dwarven users chose to migrate to the Arpen Empire because of all the benefits that just managed to help them get over their attachment to their homes.

Iron ores and other metal loots from all over the continent were being sent to the Arpen Empire. Enormous investment invigorated the market of metropolitan cities, and the dwarves chose to move.

Dragon’s Revenge
The Black Dragon Kaybern was constantly on the move to destroy human civilization.
The spirits and fairies are warning once again.

“Kaybern will head to Castle Bawell in a week.”

Kaybern ended up destroying Castle Ukten of Haven territory.

The next target was Castle Bawell.

It was a port city in the western region of Norton and possessed a powerful navy force in the early days. Over time, it went through a repetition of wars and monster invasions which left the people unable to recover the city from ruin.

Even so, it was densely populated with many buildings which were the traces of the enormous trade city it once was.

“Castle Bawell… It is far from Thor and is vast, the conditions are great. Initiate the plan.”

Weed contacted the architects, and they headed to Bawell through the teleportation gate.

The skilled architects from the Northern and Central Continent arrived in hundreds every 10 minutes.

“It’s so disappointing for such a beautiful port city to disappear so rapidly.”

“My art stat went up just by looking around the streets. It improved my construction skills too.”

“Seriously. If only I would have come here sooner.”

The city had a beautiful port that embraced the emerald ocean and amazing buildings constructed along the hills. The growth of overseas trade led to the expansion of large commercial buildings in the heart of the city and magnificent shipyards near the ocean.

It was located in the southwest part of the continent and far from the attention of users, but in an era of peace, the city had high development potentials.

The architects were mentally prepared for faulty construction as they took a look around the city and gathered.

“Everything seems good, however, there might be a lack of construction materials. The forest is too small, and we cannot build a lot even if we cut down the trees.”

“Let’s break down the buildings in the castle, or the city. We can cook the sands as well and use it.”

“Won’t it have poor durability?”

“We only need it to hold for a few days.”

“Hmm. It’s such a shame to deconstruct the city’s historical landmarks…”

“It’s the same, whether it gets destroyed by our own hands or by the dragon.”

“If you look at it that way, it’s sad, but you have a point. Let us begin.”

The architects began to extract the materials from the buildings inside the city.

The large buildings would easily be destroyed by the dragon stomp or magic attacks, so there was little purpose in leaving them as they were.

The builders completely deconstructed the buildings prone to destruction and collected construction materials, followed by the removal of the castle walls, along with roads and bridges.

At first, they created a rough square building form, but soon they concluded that there was no need to enforce this principle.

“There is no need to block out the wind, rain, nor insulation.”

“That’s true. There is no need for living spaces either.”

The task was to create empty buildings that would never be occupied!

The architects made a collective decision that they could get away with even more shoddy jobs.

“I might as well try building houses with pointed roofs. Though I feel like it would be very impractical.”

“It’s not a bad method. You just have to build it up and not think about the rest.”

“Even houses with just a single pillar will last a few days. Save constructing so many walls.”

“That’s one way to save materials.”

“As light as possible. Heavy and dense materials are time consuming to transport, so leave them be.”

“We just have to put up a show for the dragon, so filling them up with simple miscellaneous items could be another good way. Stuff them with hay and cap off with thin lumber as roofs.”

The faulty construction principle was developing rapidly!

The architects constructed homes that didn’t follow logic.

They put up the scaffolds with grass or mud and thin wooden panels as roofs.

Rain leak was fine and no matter how uneven the roof tiling was, it constituted completion.

“Why make blueprints? I can build at least ten more buildings instead of spending time on that.”

“There’s no wood. I’m too lazy to go and get it. Keep building with what’s left.”

They transcended beyond faulty construction and spent less and less time constructing each building.

A hundred architects working away led to the instant creation of an entire village.

“This village was built by me, Bajo. I welcome everyone to Bajo’s village!”

The village with 300 houses of delightful colors was named after the architect Bajo.

It was a ghost town with no residents, but it was still a new village in the corner of Castle Bawell, named after the architect.

The architects became embroiled with mixed feelings, and their hearts burned with competitiveness.

“I’m going to make my own village too.”

“It’s a good opportunity to test my design.”

Overnight work commenced immediately.

Small flaws were endless and the buildings looked as though they could barely withstand a gentle breeze.

Shifted pillars and walls partly crumbled were ignored and the work continued.

On extreme speed mode, a ghost village without residents was formed.

This scene was streamed live on broadcast stations.

– Look at that building. It was built a couple days ago. The pillar is made of stone. Judging from the color and pattern, it seems that the materials were extracted from near the gates of Castle Bawell.

– They raised pillars and thin wooden panels over the top. However, that is the most luxurious house in the area.

– There are more houses further back. There is a house built from paper. What in the world… Can you believe that? That is a real paper house.

– You can see the tracks of someone who barged through it!

– It seems that architects like steep hills. At the start, I think their strategy was focused around expanding above flat planes, and I am not sure if this is the right expression, but it seems that they are now building as if they are hanging the buildings on the slanted terrain.

– Look at architect Elma. A famous user in the Kalamor region. He built a house out of haystacks. In the interview, he mentioned that the material is easy to work with and that you can build houses just by tossing them in the right direction.

– A rabbit is chewing through the haystack. Crumbled houses are now coming into view… but the current plan is to build five more houses instead of repairing those houses.

The viewers watching the stream could observe the city’s environment in Castle Bawell changing by the hour.

In the beginning, it was as if slums were forming around outside the castle walls, but moments after, the buildings were expanding out to the open fields.

Roads were not even constructed and obviously, areas were not divided accordingly.

The houses roughly built from nearby dirt, rocks and trees were showing a new paradigm of the construction site.

< You have completed a building that transcended the structural durability limitations.
Construction skill proficiency is increased. >

Even the architects that participated in the project exceeded themselves. Their proficiencies were improving much quicker than when they built gigantic structures.

“How exactly is this increasing my skills?”

“Such ridiculous jobs still enhance my construction. I always tried to build sturdy and artistic structures.”

“So it is better to build ten faulty constructions than one well-made structure. This seems so wrong, but it kind of makes sense.”

“It’s probably because this is our first time building structures like this.”

The architects got to freely experiment in the layout and surfaces while building so many houses and diverted away from the boundaries of conventional materials.

*****

Lafaye did a lot less work compared to when the Hermes Guild governed the Central Continent.

All he had to regulate was the Haven territory, and even then many users left, and the city became blander.

“The rate of development is declining, so that reduces the chance of being attacked by Kaybern.”

Lafaye put on a bitter grin. After they mobilized the Black Dragon Kaybern, all of Haven territory including Castle Aren, became targets of its attacks.

The monsters were being taken care of with ease by the powerful forces of the Hermes Guild, but users were leaving gradually.

The entire region was deteriorating with the economy, population, technology and development on the decline as well.

The Haven territory no longer possessed its proud drastic development in the Central Continent.

Lafaye watched streams related to Royal Road on his spare time.

“A plan to rob Kaybern’s lair. This is a dangerous plan. So reckless that even the Hermes Guild wouldn’t dare attempt… I guess it’s possible because it’s Weed.”

The broadcasts were being flooded with compliments about Weed.

There was a time when the Hermes Guild too had great influence on the broadcast stations, but now there weren’t many users who paid attention to them.

There weren’t many programs about the Haven territory and the few occasions where they were mentioned, were only about the bad things.

According to the cast, the Arpen Empire was referred to as heaven, and the old Haven Empire was described as something close to hell.

“Truthfully I don’t think it was to that extent.”

Lafaye assessed the dwarven village and Weed’s plan as he watched the programs.

“They were filled with the illusion of success, but this is just dangerous. What’s more, there is a disrupter who will meddle with the plan…”

He wanted to sabotage their plan, but frankly, he believed that they wouldn’t succeed anyway.

Even when the force of the Hermes Guild was at its prime, the assassination attempts against Weed failed time and time again.

“Wouldn’t it be alright to sabotage just the quest?”

Lafaye was thinking of someone for the job and called Calcus. He had been spiteful since losing the battle in Garnav Plains.

“Please head over to Thor and sabotage their plan.”

“Do you want me to try to get Weed killed?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way. However, a big commotion will get you killed by Kaybern.”

A few large-scale magic spell explosions in the dwarven village near Kaybern’s territory had a high chance of bringing the dragon.

Calcus finally grasped an understanding of the plan and laughed.

“Weed’s plan will fail miserably.”

“It’s going to be dangerous for you and the other guild members. It would be almost impossible to survive.”

“I will gladly take that risk. No matter the consequence. If I can bring down Weed to a gruesome ruin.”

Calcus thought it was a dangerous but simple mission and assembled a squad.

“We just need to attack Weed. The attack doesn’t have to be successful, the dragon will do the rest.”

He picked out 700 of the most powerful users in the Hermes Guild and stepped onto the teleportation gate.

“The nearest location to Debrado village, where the objective is.”

He had also changed his attire into a simple adventurer outfit before activating the teleportation gate.

Bright light engulfed them and one by one they arrived at the destination!

They arrived at the dwarven village of Rengsan in Thor and what they witnessed was a huge number of users with their weapons pulled out.

There were also famous users like Myul and Python that were once under the Hermes guild but defected away.

“Wow… Weed told us they might come, and they really did.”

“I got goosebumps. Is he a fortune-teller?”

“He said the Hermes Guild is diligent and should be here four days prior, and he even got the date right too!”

“He also said there would be a few mages in the mix, and even picked out their composition.”

The users under the Arpen Empire grinned as they prepared their skills.

“How is this possible…”

Calcus and the Hermes Guild members grit their teeth as they prepared for battle, but there was a noticeable difference in power. They could lose their lives and even their items in such a situation.

*****

“So, you did turn up. It was going to be quite awkward if you didn’t.”

Weed was reassured after he heard that Calcus and the Hermes Guild members had come to the Thor region.

‘To come just to sabotage my plans, such an innocent bunch.’

The Hermes Guild was actually a group of villains with a human side.

They thought themselves as powerful, but the real villains don’t even reveal themselves to the world.

They do all sorts of wicked deeds but are still respected by the citizens as they grasp power and swing it around.

It’s not just science and maths where you do research. Evil deeds require consistent research too.’

Abusive CEOs, in reality, are people who studied exploitation.

‘How dare they think it is so easy to be evil… That is an amateur attitude with no room for improvement. You can’t succeed in this world like that.’

Meanwhile, Weed  pushed the preparations in the dwarven village.

“I am the branch manager of Thor in Mapan Council’s ‘ShovelGroundForMoney’ division . You can call me Dirtmoney or Shovelmoney. It is an honor to meet you.”

“Sure. How are the wagons?”

“I have prepared them with perfection. We did 7 thorough inspections so they won’t ever get malfunction problems.”

He requested the Mapan Council and they delivered sturdy wagons and Northern bulls.

“Moo.”

“Mmm-moo!”

There was a cluster of yellow and black bulls.

The children of Yellowy!

Due to Weed’s personal preference, the yellow bull had made love with countless cows in the North.

In turn, the descendants were a number of yellow, brown and patched.

Weed called for Yellowy with Sculptural Summoning.

“They are your offspring. Greet them.”

“Mmm-Moo.”

Yellowy, who was at least twice as big as the other bulls, showed off its muscular physique and tread forth. Then the descendant cows rubbed their faces and showed affection.

“Moooo.”

“Moo…”

Weed imagined the mountain of treasures sitting inside the lair.

‘If I take all the treasures in the lair, how many years will it last as the Arpen Empire’s budget?’

Gold, jewellry, antiques and magical items. They were all-cash waiting to be converted.

‘People may not have enough money to purchase all of it. Hmm. It doesn’t matter. I can sell them on credit. They’ll just buy it blindly thinking they can earn later. Ah!’

Credit was common in purchasing things like automobiles!

Weed realized why credit existed.

‘It was a scam to sell things at high prices. It allures impulsive shopping and bombards the buyer with interest… There’s so much to learn in this world.’

People doing business solely with cash transactions were plain stupid.

The law and principle of the world indeed carried great methods of exploitation.

‘And so I picked up another bad deed. One can never learn this through textbooks. You can never underestimate the world even for a moment. Everything and anything must be doubted at first.’

Weed walked into the deep part of the mine. The dwarven users were digging down the trail with pickaxes.

The dwarven warrior Vindel!

Vindell, who was on the highest ranks of the Black Lion Guild, took charge of the dig site upon Weed’s call.

“How is the progress?”

“There are no particular issues. We shifted away a bit from our intended direction, but it is feasible.”

Vindel had a specialized miner’s GPS skill. He could find his way even underground.

Weed nodded.

“There was a trap. We could have gone in a weird direction if we just drilled through…”

“That is why you can’t take the mines lightly.”

“We must enter the lair on the day Kaybern destroys Castle Bawell. Will there be any delays on our schedule?”

“The speed at which the dwarves dig a mine shaft is phenomenal. They have the will too.”

His speech of robbing a fortune had a direct impact.

Therefore, the dwarves dug day and night at incredible speed.

“Don’t dig too close to the lair. The sound and trembles could give us away.”

“Of course. We will dig to a safe distance and wait for further orders.”

Thief Nide also arrived with a mask over his face.

“You’re here.”

“Yeah, Hyung. The site is awesome. I didn’t think it’d be this huge.”

“Everything I do is on a large scale. In life, we only have one shot.”

“I thought you liked working honestly and diligently.”

“Living every day with a diligent attitude is important. But, you can’t miss out on opportunities to earn money.”

Nide looked around and could do nothing but be amazed. Usually, robbery would be a quiet entrance and exit. Until now, the places Nide took out were vaults or cemeteries of greedy nobles or royals.

He often worked alone, but for him, to participate in such a large-scale robbery was something really important. That is why he was willing to work with the company of great numbers!

High level dwarves that would be treated well for their skills were instead busy on their short legs and carried the wagons.

It was amazing that all these users were under Weed’s command, but it was even more nerve-wracking to see the number of wagons and bulls getting prepared.

‘Couldn’t we take down the last furniture with this degree of preparation?’

Weed put his hand on Nide’s shoulder and asked.

“How is this? Do you think we’ll succeed?”

“I can’t say for sure.”

Nide was careful with his words for this massive robbery.

“In truth, I don’t know much about the dragon other than the common information.”

“You can be honest.”

“Um… It’s sort of out of the blue.”

Nide was dumbfounded that only a week after he brought up the lair robbery, the preparation was complete.

After all, it was a robbery in a dragon’s lair.

It would be a common procedure to take at least a month or two for preparation.

“Of course Weed Hyung… You are a legendary adventurer, so I am sure that you will find a way through this.”

“I won’t.”

“What?”

“I’m going to just go with the flow.”

Nide was somehow reassured by Weed’s composure even under such a critical time.

‘If it was me, this quest would have been so much pressure that I couldn’t eat properly… His guts are on a different level.’

It was as if his past accomplishments proved his worth, and because he was Weed, Nide had to trust him.

If he could remain calm and cold-headed even inside the dragon’s lair…

That very moment! He noticed clear saliva drooling down the side of Weed’s mouth.

“Aren’t you looking forward to the dragon’s treasures?”

“I sure am.”

“Treasure. He-heh. Treasure…”

“…”

“Let’s rob all the treasure in there. Yeah. We’ll sweep it clean.”

*****

Red Dragon Landony.

Orc Slaughterer was the nickname given to the dragon who appeared east of the continent.

It attracted less attention in the media or among the users, but the Red Dragon was also a presence threatening the well being of Versailles Continent.

“Shreek, Shreek!”

Seechwi arrived in Orcland in the east of the continent, riding on the pirate ship led by Board mir of the three crazy sharks under Becky nin.

“It was a pleasure to serve you.”

“Thanks for dropping me off, Sheek!”

She landed by the empty shore and visited a nearby orc camp.

“Intruder. Sh-sheek!”

“He’s a brother. Sheek!”

She threw glaives and played around with the orcs, even sharing the dried beef jerky she brought from the North.

The orc users that were in the North like Seechwi loved grape wine and cheese from Morata. But for the most part, they were content with just eating a lot of meat.

“Landony? Sheek?!”

“The Red Dragon. Sheek!”

“Kraaah. Ch-Sheek!”

It was a name feared by even the most ferocious orcs.

“Scary. I don’t know. Sh-Sh-Sheek!”

“Kills our brethren. Sh-Ch-Sheeeeak. Evil dragon.”

“Kills, and kills again. Shuuk!”

Seechwi gathered simple information but came across a strange story.

She learned that Landony destroyed the orc villages and turned them into ruins then carefully examined each location.

‘Is it to leave none alive? Out of hatred toward the orcs? Apparently, it doesn’t even spew breath attacks, unlike Kaybern. Neither does it use area magic spells. This is rather different from the Red Dragon’s usual tendencies.’

The more she heard from the orcs, the stranger it seemed.

The orcs were less intelligent and simple-minded, but they do not lie.

She could easily let these stories slip, but for some reason they did not seem like rumors.

‘I wonder what the reason is. I need to look into this.’

Seechwi decided to take a risk and step into Landony’s territory.

‘It does not reign over a bunch of monsters as Kaybern does, so all I have to do is stay hidden from the dragon.’

It did not frighten her to die proudly as an orc either.

When she arrived at a village which had no orcs, Landony was surprised.

‘The structure of this village is intact? Why did she destroy it this way?’

Seechwi scouted inside the village. Leather, dishware, and wooden furniture were flopped over in this unoccupied orc village.

‘It’s as if it is looking for something that the orcs took.’

She knew instinctively that this information was crucial.

‘I can’t go any further from here by myself.’

Seechwi knew she needed help.

Weed!

He was the best adventurer she knew, but he was currently busy.

“Help me out. Sheek!”

– Geumchi2: What is it?

“I am on an adventure, and the monsters here are too powerful. Sh-sheek!”

Seechwi’s skills were for small skirmishes and commanding over subordinates.

Without hundreds of orcs under her control, she was powerless!

She decided to call the man she could always depend on, her boyfriend.

– Geumchi2: I will be right there with weapons and my brothers.

*****

The Earthly Shadows party walked through the forest and quickly descended south.

< In search of the great mage.

Mage of the wind, Ruckledare.

Find the tracks of the great mage spread over the continent.

Ruckledare knows about Kaybern and Landony.

Gathering 7 clues will lead you to her.

Difficulty: S

Reward: Leads to linked quest ‘The Dragon’s Secret’. >

An S rank difficulty quest!

They too, were doing a quest related to the dragon and they were in a rush.

“Weed is going to rob the lair…”

“Their progress is quick. High chance of success too. We can’t lag behind!”

The Earthly Shadows party borrowed a griffon from Myul and flew down to the South.

Midway they resupplied at the desert oasis, crossed the ocean and finally arrived at the Southern Continent!

“Ugh… It’s cold.”

Silver Ring’s body shivered.

Not a single patch of grass or greenery grew on the ground.

Instead, it was a plane of ice and snow covering the entire continent.

“This place is too cold.”

Ben quickly changed into bear hide clothing. The other two also changed outfits and overcame the cold.

“Adventurer’s Sense!”

Elix used a geographical skill.

It was a skill that informed them of nearby cities, villages or humans within 1 km radius. It also outlined particular traces left on the ground.

“Nothing nearby.”

“We’ll have to go around first.”

They got back on the griffon and scouted the glacial continent.

They discovered frozen valleys that were once streaming with water and also the peaking ice mountains.

Each time they would accumulate a substantial amount of adventure achievements, but they could not find tracks of the wind mage.

Ben spoke anxiously, “We don’t know just how vast this glacial continent is…  Even if the wind mage is nearby, we won’t be able to find her. Maybe we are wasting our time here.”

Elix agreed.

“Usually we would have drawn a map and proceed relatively quickly, but we are already out of time. Weed might finish the adventure before us.”

Silver Ring looked far into the distance but could see nothing other than white snow.

“It’s not like I became an adventurer to compete, but I can’t stand being in second place every time. We have to do something.”

“Then, we have to risk it and split up in our search.”

The Earthly Shadows party took Ben’s opinion and split up individually.

< Extreme cold is setting in.
Due to your survival ability, cold resistance is increased by 80%. >

The adventurer’s survival skill reduced damage from harsh environments.

They were eager to survive in any way and find the tracks, so they only regrouped after three days.

Elix and Ben were out of luck, but Silver Ring had a unique discovery.

“There is a big frozen forest to the east. There is a lake too with trees and animals and even elves.”

“You met an elf?”

“No. They were all frozen.”

“That’s the scent of adventure. Not sure if it’s related to the wind mage though.”

They were indeed adventurers.

A frozen forest in an icy continent!

If they did not find curiosity in such a strange event, they could never have chosen the path of the adventurer.

Ben jumped onto the griffon.

“We have no time to spare, so let’s talk when we get there.”

“I will lead the way!”

*****

Adventurer Chase.

He has led other adventurers since Maze Zode.

“Isn’t it our job to assist Weed-nim in his quest?”

“Yeah. It will be difficult just by himself.”

The adventurers were willing to step up wherever they were needed.

In fact, they were willing to participate in dangerous jobs.

“I think Weed-nim is preparing against Kaybern… It would be hard for him to take on Landony as well.”

“It’s outrageous for him to be responsible for both.”

Adventurer Spenson agreed.

There were over a thousand adventurers following them.

If the opportunity to join the savior quest arose, they wanted to join without a doubt, but did not want to simply wait for it.

“Orcland. I need that area to be searched.”

“There was a request for assistance from Seechwi-nim of the Grass Porridge Cult.”

“Mmm. The villages destroyed by Landony need to be investigated anyhow… But, I plan to go further east.

“East?”

The adventurers were surprised by Chase’s words.

At first, the continent was only known from the maps!

Rarely in the antique maps sold in shops, the outline of the Eastern Continent was visible.

It wasn’t as big as Versailles Continent, but it was a mystic land with incredibly tall mountains and amazing forests.

Chase had travelled to the Eastern Continent on a boat, but the constant earthquakes and volcanic eruptions sent him home with fear.

Among the adventurers, it was commonly known as the Ring of Fire.

“Landony came from the Ring of Fire. Its lair may be located there too. I am sure there will be some kind of a trace we can refer to. These are the opportunities available to us and a quest could appear for all we know.”

“Going near the lair doesn’t guarantee that we will find a way to defeat it. It’s also difficult to pull a robbery off as Weed-nim does.”

Weed’s robbery was a possible plan because the dwarves had already dug the mine shaft before.

They assessed that it was near impossible given the dangerous terrain in the Ring of Fire.

“Even if we have to take a chance, I want to do at least something. I will not hesitate for even the slightest hope. As an adventurer, it’s what I have to do.”

The adventurers were quite touched by Chase.

The Central Continent was a world of warriors.

Even in the battle against the Hermes Guild, the ones with high combat level swept the floor, and in turn, the adventurers took a scratch to their pride.

At times they invested a lot of time into excavations or quests and picked loot, but more often than not, it was not worth the time compared to hunting.

They often forgot the importance of adventurers, that it was that the job class that was the pioneer of the establishment in the continent and was always the first to jump into the face of danger.

“I will go too.”

“Let us go together. Chase-nim!”

The adventurers collectively agreed to leave for the Ring of Fire.

*****

Three more days passed and finally came the D-Day of the ever anticipated robbery.

“The sky is clear… It is a good day for a robbery.”

This was the first quest ever that Weed looked forward to.

– Nimble Coldwind: Weed-nim. Kaybern flew up from the lair and is headed west.

An avian user informed him of the situation from the sky.

Weed changed his appearance slightly while he was in the form of a dwarf, making his fingers abnormally long and thick. It was to scrape as much treasure as he could carry at once.

“Make sure to inspect all the gear once more. We don’t have second chances.”

“Yes!” The dwarves boomed.

The dwarves participating in the robbery kept checking over their bags and items nervously.

‘Is this really going to work?’

‘Will this robbery succeed?’

They dreamt happily listening to Weed’s speech, but reality hit them.

Primal fear swept them away now that they were about to enter the dragon’s lair.

Even with levels higher than 400, there was no way to escape from a dragon.

They’ve heard since the novice days when they were trained in Thor, from the citizens that often spoke of the dragon’s greatness.

For the dwarves, the dragon was an almighty being.

It was proved not too long ago in Garnav Plains, and it was displaying its power by destroying a city every week.

‘I was insane. I got blinded by the treasure and completely lost my senses.’

‘Are we in actual danger?’

The dwarven users felt uneasy but thought they came too far to turn back. It relieved them that the one leading them was Weed.

‘God of War, Weed… The emperor of the Arpen Empire. The most special individual in all of Royal Road is leading us.’

‘We will pull through because it’s Weed and not me.’

They had faith that Weed would somehow make it happen if they just believed in him.

If they were to forfeit but the robbery succeeded, they were in for years of regret.

The users that joined this robbery bet their lives on Weed who was blinded by the treasure.

“Let us go quickly.”

Weed led the dwarves and ran into the deep part of the mine shaft.

They dug close to the lair and had to dig just a little further.

“Let’s begin!”

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

The dwarven users with over intermediate level mining were assembled in advance and began picking away. The ores crumbled almost instantly and the road extended.

Weed struck down with the pickaxe and dug through the ground.

“Please clean up the debris, so they don’t get in the way.”

“Roger!”

For the past week, the dwarves served well as miners.

It wasn’t just for the exit that led to the dragon’s lair, but they also carried out the overall site expansion for widening the mine.

There was sufficient space for the wagons to come and in the corners, they had built defensive facilities, bunkers and storage.

– Shovelmoney: The wagons are ready.

The Mapan Council was ready and waiting.

With money on the line, they boasted speed and accuracy like no other.

A thousand sturdy wagons that could carry anything were on standby!

In the dragon’s lair, there would be heavy mineral ores and miscellaneous items from monsters. The plan was to transport all of them.

– Seasoned Crab: The assault squad is in position and waiting.

The assault squad had subdued Calcus and his group recently.

The assault squad comprised of the Arpen Empire’s elite users excluding the Hermes Guild who were waiting inside the mine.

The moment Weed and the dwarven users enter the mine, the assault squad will follow.

‘It will be best to avoid the dragon soldiers. But I have to be flexible. Robbery is a 100% off the cuff situation. It may turn out better for us if we force our way through if needed and save time where we can.’

When robbing a place, one cannot think about scenarios where they don’t get caught.

Succeeding even after getting discovered is a true robbery!

No one knew what kind of events were waiting for them in the lair, so he prepared as many countermeasures as he could.

“Let’s move.”

Weed and the dwarven users dug through the ground with pickaxes and advanced onward.

The magic lanterns lit up brightly and darkness was no concern for them. They advanced quickly as planned.

Then it was 30 minutes later when they were just about to break into the lair.

– Mapan: Kaybern arrived at Castle Bawell. It didn’t use its breath right away and instead circled the city carefully.

“We are right on time. The objective is insight. Let’s go in. Finally, it is the dragon`s lair!”

Weed and the dwarves struck down, destroyed the thin wall and created a huge hole in it.

“Enter! Hurry up.”

Through the narrow passage, Weed and the dwarves shoved themselves through.

The view that appeared in their eyes the moment they stepped in was indeed breathtaking.

Real gold and silver that they could only dream of were right in front of them in mountains of sparkling gold.

The continent’s most valuable treasures and artefacts were stacked up on top of each other everywhere in this huge lair.

“Woow.”

“Look at all this…”

“This, this is unbelievable.”

The dwarven users had their jaws dropped the entire time.

‘This is insane. This right here is heaven.’

The treasures were so seductive that even Weed lost his senses.

Chapter 3: Undeniable Danger

At last, the treasure in the dragon’s lair was revealed.

“Just how much…”

“There’s so much.”

The dwarven users were overwhelmed by the mountains of treasure inside the lair.

Just by looking at them, all scattered across the lair, the dazzling shiny equipment and jewelry and assorted ornaments that seemed to promise endless wealth.

< You have infiltrated the dragon’s lair.

You have accomplished a historical adventure achievement.

A safe return after venturing inside the dragon’s lair will grant one permanent level for three adventure type skills. >

< Reporting the achievement will grant 50,000 adventure honor points.

New trends and rumors of the dragon will spread. >

The message alert popped up, but the eyes were fixated on the radiant treasure.

“That is the Hammer of the Everlasting Flame.”

“That’s the Bulwark Cloth. Armor made out of that is…”

The dwarves were more interested in the equipment and treasure than the towers of gold and they could not be more amazed.

“If we stock up all this… We’ll be able to make a killing. Hunting thousands of boss monsters still won’t get us anywhere near as much as grabbing a few things from here.”

“Crazy. This is just crazy. The world’s equipment, all right here.”

The users were reaching out towards the treasure without even realizing it themselves.

Of course, the one who got on all fours ready to pounce was Weed!

“Everyone stop!”

Nide spread his arms wide and blocked Weed and the other users.

“Do not forget that this is the dragon’s lair. There are traces of magic on parts of the treasures. The wrong touch will lead to all sorts of danger.”

“He’s right. We have to check for the magic and dispel them first. Or else it will really become dangerous for us.”

Haruna joined in as well.

The dwarves heard it over a hundred times even before the arrival. Though once he saw the treasure, he lost his senses, but the bitter warning brought him back.

“Let’s be extra careful.”

“Yeah, that could have been trouble. This is not a place to run around freely.”

They managed to suppress greed with reason.

If they wanted to get out with the treasure, they couldn’t risk triggering the traps.

“K-uugh.”

Weed slowly stood up from all fours.

Acting as if it was all very natural!

“The lair floor is surely dense. Come to think of it,the ground is always dense. First… K-hmm! Following proper procedures, adventurer Haruna-nim will check if the lair is enchanted with magic.”

The holy artefact borrowed from the Earth Cult, the Cleansing Torch.

Any curse or trap touched by its warmth will be dispelled.

Weed approached Haruna immediately.

“You have to be quick, okay?”

“Yes. Weed-nim. I understand.”

Haruna lit up the Cleansing Torch. Then, warmth spread out everywhere.

Weed spoke up.

“Haruna-nim. We must hurry. We are out of time.”

“I will get right on it.”

Haruna began walking to the treasure, and after only several steps, Weed’s nagging bombarded her.

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about noise complaints right now. “

“Alright, alright.”

Haruna self-reflected on her slow footwork and walked with wide strides, revealing her long, beautiful elven legs.

It was just when she brought the torch close to the treasure.

“How much longer? It’s not done yet? Do I have to wait more?”

“The magic trap is being dispelled. Give me a bit of time.”

“Carefully but quickly. Can’t you work more efficiently ?”

“…”

“How long are you going to take? Jesus.”

Weed was pestering fiercely.

*****

They got inside the Black Dragon Kaybern’s lair through the mine in Debrado village!

The stacks of treasure were enough to blow away all the hardships they had ever faced.

While Haruna was checking for magical traps and defusing them, Nide was scouting around.

“Fortunately, it’s confirmed that there are no draconic warriors inside the lair.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. We caused quite a commotion moments ago, but we weren’t caught because the draconic warriors weren’t here. Though, we can’t be too unguarded. By the footprint tracks on the floor, it seems that they go on patrol.”

Weed was gaining back more of his senses as he heard about the dragon soldiers.

“I was born for this.”

“Pardon?”

“No. It’s nothing… We don’t know how much time we have in our hands, so let’s grab as much as we can!”

As soon as Weed spoke, the dwarves began moving swiftly.

They expanded the passage connected to the mine and moved the stone debris out of the way so they wouldn’t make a sound.

They had already changed their boots into quiet fur shoes.

The dragon wasn’t present, but the robbery had to be secretive and quick nonetheless.

There was a big ruckus when they just got inside the lair, but the plan soon went underway.

The dwarves came with the wagons and stacked the treasure, Haruna dispelled and confirmed they were free of traps.

“Move, move.”

“Careful not to get in the way of each other.”

The dwarven users were well-prepared for this day.

Weed set out requirements for entering the dragon’s lair, and they took training on how to move cargo like they do in postal services and moving companies.

At least 10 hours of moving, organizing goods were mandatory tasks.

The difference between the experienced and the unexperienced was huge. Doing a task that was done before allowed the time to be used more efficiently.

“Please be as quiet as you can, and prepare the follow-up groups.”

“Copy that, Weed-nim.”

Dwarves paid full attention in following orders.

They too knew the importance of this moment.

Equipment in the range of level 500 ~ 600 were so common in the lair that they were being kicked around on the floor.

Some items were legendary equipment that could only be worn from level 800 ~ 1000.

“Geez… The pieces of Bulen Set’s Armor are all here.”

“There is even the Sword of Patia. Lord, this is special. It has 13 properties on it.”

“Take it. Take it all.”

The dwarves quickly loaded the items on the wagons and began to transport.

The dwarves were promised 20% of the share if the robbery were to succeed.

Stealing as much as they could meant that their share became larger..

The treasures in the common room of the lair were disappearing gradually.

“I can see magic books too. Even combat type books.”

“Grab them already.”

Haruna found rare magic books and even got to the ancient documents.

Certain skills and magic could only be found in the dragon’s lair.

The ultimate magic spells of fire, water, wind and earth were priceless.

Golden and silver bars were taken first, pearls were discarded at first.

‘Things are going swell overall. Though, it could be faster.’

Weed observed the flourishing treasure being moved carefully in the hands of the dwarves.

‘For the quest, I must find the Brazier of Sacrifice.’

He was blinded by the treasure, but finding the brazier was crucial.

‘There’s nothing worse than coming all this way only to leave without the brazier. If the mine is plugged up, I can’t try this quest again…’

The dwarven race quest.

The race quest also traced back to the destiny of dwarves, so it had to be completed when he had the chance.

‘I need to find the brazier…’

The scene of treasures being loaded onto the wagons came into his view.

‘Treasure. Oh. Spectacular treasure!’

The treasures kept distracting his sight!

The Brazier of Sacrifice was challenging to find in the middle of the valleys of treasure.

His sight instinctively was taken away to the dazzling treasure.

Meanwhile, a sword without any decoration drew his eyes for some reason.

‘I am tempted. It doesn’t look anything special, but it feels like a highly branded item.’

Weed requested Haruna to release the magic surrounding the sword.

“Identify!”

< Nameless Sword

Durability 87/200

Attack damage 151~214.

A sword crafted by a dwarven blacksmith who concealed himself.

“The best sword must be able to cut through anything. Inside such a sword must be the soul of the metal.”

The blacksmith devoted his affection to the metal.

He embraced it in his sleep each night and refined it every day, creating the most outstanding metal in the world.

“I will hammer you into the best sword.”

The blacksmith spent three years with the metal, fire and the anvil.

When the sword was finally complete, he shed tears.

“Poured with the soul of metal, the unstoppable sword is born.”

The sword was unattended for a long time, but if the blade is sharpened, it will return to its original form.

—

Requirement: Swordsman only

Level 970

Swordmaster

—

Condition: Requires careful repair.

Properties: Soul of metal with its own consciousness.

+90 to all stats.

Can consume the user’s health points up to 500 per second, increasing the attack damage.

Penetration damage increased in proportion to the enemy’s armor.

Damage and speed increased with consecutive hits.

Mana consumption of sword skills reduced by 70%.

Damage of all skills related to swords is enhanced.

45% increased attack speed.

High chance of instantly executing enemies with under 12% health points.

—

The sword is in a badly damaged state.

When the repair is completed, it will show its real powers.

One unrecognized by the soul of metal will only be able to draw 30% of the sword’s potential. >

“Wow… That’s an incredible sword.”

Such a splendid sword that even adventurer Haruna was amazed.

The Loa Sword was excellent and this sword was surely an equivalent. What’s more, was that it was not even showing its full ability due to the damage.

“I’d expect nothing less from Weed-nim. This looks better than any other equipment in this lair. You have the insight.”

Haruna tried starting a conversation and Weed’s glare became hostile.

“Hurry up and defuse those magic traps.”

“… Alright.”

Weed sent Haruna and stealthily reached over.

*Swish!*

He was idle, but his hands grabbed it on their own.

< You have obtained the Nameless Sword.
Once the sword is repaired and its consciousness is complete, it may be named. >

“Awesome.”

It was a heart-warming and rewarding identification!

He felt content like he reached the mature date of his 3-year installment savings.

– Are you the one who woke me up from my long sleep?

You are yet unworthy of wielding me.

The consciousness inside the sword spoke to him in a majestic tone.

“I’m busy right now, so go back to sleep.”

Weed didn’t have time to spare at the moment, so he wrapped the sword on his back.

“Weed-nim. There is a sculpture over here that you made.”

“Sculpture?”

He went over to Oberon and spotted the radiant Kaybern sculpture he made in the past.

A sculpture made from crystals of Agathe glistening like the milky way, carved intricately into beads and threaded through a silver string.

Under bright light, the crystals weaved like waves, sparkling in radiant brilliance.

He worked intensively on it and it was deemed one his best works until now in terms of beauty.

But, it was an unfortunate piece of work that had to be offered to Kaybern.

“At last, I am taking it back. Grab it please.”

“Yup. Leave it to us.”

The dwarves diligently sent down treasure from the lair to the mine.

Even with the expansion, the items were being smuggled through a long and narrow mine passage, forcing the dwarves to shuffle faster on their short legs.

Nide who was scouting came back running.

“No signs of trouble yet?”

“No, hyung. Nothing dangerous yet near this area. It’s almost foreboding.”

“It’s reasonable to think that way. We are in Kaybern’s lair of all places.”

Weed was also vigilant of this silence.

Nothing could really bring assurance, but the treasures that he already grabbed made him happy.

“I can see a lot of footprints of patrols on the path heading to the lair entrance.”

“Draconic warriors?”

“Well actually, the footprints are a lot bigger and steeper than normal draconic warriors.”

Nide, ever studious, prepared extensively.

He memorized the tracks, smell and traits of the monsters.

“That makes sense. They must be boss-level if they patrol inside the lair. There would be more of them.”

“As you know hyung, the draconic warriors are different from other monsters. They do not slack off even without the supervision of the dragon. They will patrol at precise intervals.”

“How much time is left until the patrol?”

“By the extent of the footprints, it won’t be long. 30 minutes? Maybe an hour?”

“Alright. We have to hurry and save time.”

The draconic warriors had a routine of entering and inspecting the lair. However, they were not known to scout the entire lair.

*****

Castle Bawell was on its bare bones!

The castle wall and vital structures were all dismantled by the group of architects,but the total territory of the city had expanded several fold from before.

The weakest of weak buildings spread endlessly across to the plains and beyond.

– I have come to punish the humans!

When Kaybern arrived, the inner part of the city was empty like it always was.

– Fire Stone!

Flaming spheres fell from the skies and struck Castle Bawell and everything else in proximity.

*Crash!*

The castle that was barely supporting its own weight after losing the outer wall finally crumbled and the nearby buildings met the same fate.

Kaybern was content with the scene of destruction it caused.

– Rip to shreds. Chains of Darkness!

Dark chains that linked the land and sky began to strike down on the city.

Houses, roads and trees were crushed mercilessly.

The users were watching from a faraway forest after the evacuation.

“It’s crazy watching from here. It would have been devastating if I was still inside the city.”

“I gained proficiency for wind magic just now. It almost went up by one level.”

“Just by watching, our skills gain levels. It’s worthwhile to observe.”

Now that several cities had been destroyed by the dragon, the users had become resigned to the carnage.

Powerful magic spells at times increased the skill proficiency for mages just by observing, and apart from that it was still a spectacle to watch.

The live scene of a dragon destroying a city!

Such a devastating scene sent shivers down their spinest, but on the other hand it felt very awesome.

There were tourists that seeked to watch it every week.

That being said,  there were Hermes Guild members in these groups.

“ I will never let Weed have his way.”

Calcus and the death squad were wiped out at Thor and logged into Royal Road once again.

They did not want to return to Haven territory after losing levels, proficiency and even equipment.

“Since it has come to this, I will go all out to get my revenge.”

Calcus tried to convince the squad to go with him to Castle Bawell. Not all agreed, but almost half of the guild members followed him.

“Keu-Keuk. It’s simple. I just need to go to Kaybern and tell him that the lair is being robbed…”

He would die due to the merciless dragon, but Weed and his followers would also suffer huge losses. Rather than rationality, he was led by his vengeance.

“It’s so easy because this is such a simple method for stopping Weed.”

Calcus was getting overconfident, while a group of users surrounded them from a distance.

“You think we’ll let you do that?”

Michel of the Black Sword Mercenaries and Gunter of Lion Star Guild led the elite users and surrounded them all of a sudden.

Their objective was to subdue the Hermes Guild that may head to Castle Bawell!

“How did you know we were coming?”

“Weed-nim informed us. The one who couldn’t get a punch in will never give up that easily.”

Calcus did not realize it at first, but things began to unravel in his eyes now that the Hermes Guild was rounded up in the forest.

Weed already had prepared countermeasures for several tricks.

Michel had a deep grudge against the Hermes Guild.

“Don’t worry. I will end you all painlessly.”

The Black Sword Mercenaries and the elites of Lion Star pounced with their weapons.

Warriors and swordsmen comprised the surprise attack and took part in the actual combat.

A few area of effect skills exploded, but with no real need for large-scale magic spells as they flooded in from every direction and quickly took care of the situation!

Meanwhile, Kaybern demolished Castle Bawell and was now bombarding magic spells against the entire city.

Michel got her revenge and laughed in satisfaction.

“Everything here went down the way we thought.”

They looted after taking care of Calcus and the death squad. Also, it was enough to signal the rebirth of the Black Sword Mercenaries as this scene would be on live broadcast.

The users that split away after losing to the Hermes Guild were now returning to the mercenaries.

These users were under the Arpen Empire but also chose to affiliate with the prestigious guild factions.

They were joyful in that the honor of the old days was coming back.

Michel sheathed her sword handsomely and spoke.

“I am reporting to his royal highness, the emperor Weed.”

– Weed: how did it go?

“Calcus appeared. We took care of him.”

Michel after reporting to Weed felt as if she was his subordinate.

‘It’s just a stupid hunch. Yeah, just a hunch.’

– Weed: What about the dragon?

“It has destroyed a third of the city now. The buildings are spread wide apart, so there still seems to be a lot of time left.”

– Weed: Thank you for watching over the scene. Please carry on.

Michel was happy to hear his appreciation as if she felt like Weed recognized her success.

“It is an honor, Weed-nim. I will keep you updated.”

*****

“Please be cautious so that the treasures don’t get chipped. Everyone, pick up the pace!”

The dwarven users were working hard to transport the treasure from the dragon lair.

“I never had a day in my life with such a jackpot.”

“How much will it be after selling all this? It’s going to be hard to think of an estimate.”

The speech of the dwarven users was filled with the joy of success.

They were moving piles of equipment and treasure that they normally couldn’t even lay eyes on. The jolt of excitement that they scored the most outstanding load!

It hyped them up even more thinking about how the many broadcast stations would be watching them live.

“The draconic warriors are on the way here now. 20 of them.”

After hearing from Nide who was guarding the entrance stopped the dwarves in their tracks. Only silence remained.

Weed signaled with his hand and the dwarves moved swiftly behind covers they previewed before.

Dwarves had small stature, able to hide just by going behind treasure chests and piles of gold.

As for the large hole connecting the mine and the lair, a painting was put over on top.

Yurin had prepared an elaborate painting in advance.

– Yurin: Oppa, this painting is not perfect either. I didn’t have enough time… The paint isn’t fully dry yet. They will find out if they get close.

Weed thought there was no other choice but to bet on luck.

If the draconic warriors were to inspect the entire lair, the dwarves in hiding would be discovered first.

Or the tracks left from transporting the treasure would be revealed.

By their tracks, the draconic warriors were said not to be too keen in their patrol, but I can’t rely on that information entirely.’

*Pat-pat.*

The sounds of footsteps by the draconic warriors drew closer.

Weed kept silent but got ready to swing the Loa Sword in case he got discovered.

‘The patrolling draconic warriors aren’t a problem. The real issue is the army outside the lair.’

If the draconic warriors and monsters come charging as a whole, a face-off was inevitable.

The dwarves were each hiding behind cover and rolled their eyes. The dwarves were small, perfect for hiding.

– Pale: We are waiting.

The assault squad was also positioned in places suitable for an ambush.

“It is quiet.”

“Krrk. That’s because Kaybern-nim isn’t here.”

“There are a lot of incredible treasures in here.”

“This is the home of the great Kaybern-nim. The dwarves offered these in respect for him.”

The draconic warriors surveyed their surroundings with their snake-like eyes.

Weed’s group hadn’t touched the treasures near the route of the patrols.

“Kaybern-nim hates our scent. We cannot be here for long.”

“We have to patrol the outer layer now.”

“Let’s do that.”

A moment later, the draconic warriors slowly walked out of the lair.

“Whew. They left.”

“Let’s carry on.”

The dwarven users continued loading the treasures.

Weed searched around for the Brazier of Sacrifice, but his mind was unsettled after the draconic warriors passed through.

‘This is a race quest with S rank difficulty. But, I feel like this is all turning out too well. Kaybern should have been in his lair if it was the usual pattern.’

Even though the dwarves dug through the mine into the lair, as long as Kaybern was inside, it was highly unlikely to succeed.

Just the presence of a dragon could turn a quest into the worst success rate of all S rank quests.

‘Kaybern’s absence must have changed the difficulty. I would say it went down by a lot… But, even then this is way too easy.”

Weed read too many stories of villains meeting their demise because of poor planning and underestimating; he was weary.

For a villain, self-conceit had to be avoided at all costs.

‘Am I slacking nowadays because I became emperor of the Arpen Empire? Well, I’m well fed and I’m starting to sweat. I think I’ve smuggled enough treasure already for good profit even if the quest fails.’

Though if someone asked if he could throw out the yogurt lid without licking it, there was not a chance that he would.

‘This doesn’t feel right. We did clear it easily, but it doesn’t mean that this place is safe. It’s too arrogant for us to assume that it’s safe inside a dragon’s lair. It’s not like I am aware of everything in this area. This feeling, it could only mean…’

Weed’s senses were giving out a critical warning.

The back of his head was itching like he was about to get struck!

“Pale-nim.”

– Pale: Yes.

“What’s your position?”

– Pale: I am assisting with the transport in the mine. There’s a ton of treasure.

After the draconic warriors’ patrol, the assault squad users were helping with the transport.

They were relaxed in the thought that there would be no battles for a while.

“All members of the assault squad, meet me back in the lair.”

– Pale: Copy.

Weed trusted his instinct and recalled the assault squad.

‘I hope that I’m wrong about this… But, it’s better to be prepared.’

It was only about 2 minutes after he called the assault squad.

“Hyung! The dragon soldiers are swarming in!”

Nide shouted.

As he was watching the lair entrance, fully equipped dragon soldiers came charging into his view. Small lizard-like mages followed as well.

“Everyone prepare for battle! There are already over 200 enemy troops and those are just the ones in view!!”

Weed pulled out the Loa Sword and sighed deeply.

“Damn it, why are the bad hunches never wrong?! Really, you think you’re going to win the lottery, but you never do.”

The dragon soldiers saw the reflections of the dwarves on the surface of the treasures and had gone back to get reinforcements.

“The enemy is coming in!”

Weed used his Lion’s Roar.

– 1st and 3rd dwarf group, continue transporting the treasure. The rest will run over to the lair entrance and prevent their advance. You can make all the noise you want now, so please move as quickly as you can!

Weed never forgot the reason for coming to the lair!

“Follow Weed-nim’s command!”

The dwarves laid down the treasure and drew their weapons.

The 1st and 3rd group were comprised of level 450 and higher.

Even the worst of them were well equipped with good shields and over half of them were warriors with exceptional defense.

Weed and the dwarves charged to the lair entrance.

“Everyone act calmly. We just have to block them at the entrance. It’s simply a change of plans from a robbery to a raid!”

*****

The Arpen Empire conquered the Central Continent, naturally gaining control over the ocean.

“We sure took the right side.”

“Yeah, the best one in fact.”

“Back when we were headed for Jigolaths, I thought we were doomed for good…”

Hye, Fractal and Board mir.

The three crazy sharks of Becky nin smirked every time they reminisced about the past.

They were villains that did not care about what other people say about them.

There was a time when they committed petty theft and felt proud; they had moved up in the world since then.

Things had ended up working out for them due to their diligence of misdeeds and their encounter with Weed.
Becky nin’s 3 mad sharks watched Weed and gained a new perspective on evil.

“We will take over the world too through being pirates.”

“Yeah. We are past our fun with petty crime.”

“Let’s grow our ambitions. The seas will be ours from now on.”

The Arpen Empire’s pirates. If they could exercise dominance over them, they could seize the seas.

Though they cannot overtake the continent, if they could seize the ocean of this world the power at their control would be tremendous!

“Let’s charge toll fees on the ocean.”

“Yes. That is a great idea.”

The maritime control of the Arpen Empire encompassed the entire continent.

There was still the Haven territory of the Hermes Guild, but ever since the Gripis command ship was sunk, they barely roamed the littoral seas.

The Rosenheim Kingdom and Brent Kingdom in the east were nations that were ruined completely by the Embinyu Cult.

Even if the Arpen Empire did not officially conquer them, the users of both kingdoms were already abiding in the empire and crossing the ocean was not an issue.

“What if Weed-nim says something about us charging a toll fee?”

“Are you saying he’s going to punish us?”

“Yeah. There is nothing to worry about except for the Arpen Empire… There is no navy in Arpen but Weed is a problem by himself.”

For the 3 mad sharks of Becky nin, still had to face the final boss named Weed!

They could not let up because they were on the ocean. He could ride on flying barraggs and burn down their entire fleet.

“We just have to use bribery.”

“Bribery?”

“Yup. Half of the earnings should be enough.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“Of course! Villains are supposed to bribe the higher-ups. It’s called mutual aid.”

“Is it the tight bond that Weed-nim always talks about?”

Bekinin’s 3 crazy sharks announced their control of the oceans.

– All users heading out to sea must turn over 1 gold each! If you wish to avoid the wrath of us pirates that is. Har-har-har!

They claimed dominance over the sea!

Merchants from that day on began paying toll fees to the pirate union.

Seoyoon used the collection to develop the ports and provided funds to unoccupied islands and new sea route findings.

She also made an official request to Becky nin’s 3 mad sharks and the pirates.

– Seoyoon: I appreciate you guys for your consistent hard work. Please continue to tend to the users.

In some ways, she had more power than Weed.

The pirates bowed their heads to Seoyoon’s whisper.

“Of course. We will keep to the ocean.”

“Leave it to us. Please have faith in us. We will not let you down.”

The pirates made a promise and kept to their word.

Securing the sea was a given, as well as protecting the sea routes and saving users from sea monsters.

“When there is no space for luggage, it’s great that the pirate ships load them for us.”

“They even repair broken sails.”

“Pirates are knowledgeable about the geography in new sea routes. They inform you about the locations of sea monsters that must be avoided.”

The pirate users that grew up together with Port Varna since its pioneer days thought of the Northern merchants and adventurers as their own kind.

They wore pirate caps and sailed the seas on pirate ships with skull flags.

*****

– Kill all the intruders!

– How dare the lowly dwarves enter the lair. Murder them all!

– Chop them up! Rip them to shreds!

The draconic warriors blurted foul words as they approached.

They weren’t common soldiers, but the elites defending the lair!

Weed led the dwarves and stood against them.

“Let’s defend the entrance. We have to stop them from entering the lair.”

The dwarves were already wearing the metal armor that they carried in their backpacks.

For the robbery, heavy armor was not worn because it slowed them down, but for battles speed was not so necessary.

“Hoo-hah! I came to this place expecting to die. My comrades are too good.”

“Let’s hold. I think we can do this. We got nothing to worry about if Kaybern isn’t here.”

The dwarves did get frightened when they were discovered, but they were high-level veteran warriors. The warriors fought at the frontlines and were therefore brave and fearless.

They had faith in the other dwarves they had known each other since their youths.

The draconic warriors clashed with the dwarves in a straight line.

“Die, intruders!”

“You will not be forgiven for intruding into Kaybern-nim’s haven. You all are already dead.”

The dwarves put up their shields and withheld the attacks.

The dwarves over level 400 had a great amount of endurance and were not easy to take down.

*Clang-clash!*

The retaliation of swinging axes and spears struck against the skins of the dragon soldiers.

“Keep to the defense line and do not get pushed back!”

“Hold this position.”

The dragon soldiers defending the lair were higher in level than usual, but the dwarves chose to maintain close formation despite the impact and fended against the attack.

Weed stepped forward and struck down on the ground with the Loa Sword.

“Lava River!”

The earth split apart and crimson lava engulfed the draconic warriors.

“Screek!”

The immediate damage was incredible, but it also pushed back the enemy lines.

“Krrak. Keep pushing even if it costs your life!”

“We must defend Kaybern-nim’s treasures.”

The draconic warriors forced their way through the Lava River. They rushed forward even as their bodies began to burn. The dwarves formed 3 layers of defense formation and put forth their shields to defend.

Some of the assault squad led by Pale arrived just a moment after.

“Weed-nim. We have arrived. We’ll jump right into the battle.”

“Those of you that are capable of ranged support, please snipe the dragon soldiers. Leave the ones with large weapons as they will get in the way of one another, but we have to prioritize the boss-level monsters first.”

Weed quickly analyzed the dragon soldier swarm.

There were approximately 200 of them, and around 40 were deemed to be boss-level!

There were especially stronger monsters or ones with special abilities that could emit fire, lightning and ice auras.

He assessed that it was advantageous to eliminate them first.

“Understood!”

The assault squad split up into smaller groups according to Weed’s command.

The melee combat classes charged forward and the rest were led by Pale.

Wherever Pale’s fire arrow flew, the magic and arrow ranged attacks were focused.

Dwarves were formidable, but this group was the top elite of the Arpen Empire, each over level 500!

‘I will do my fair share.’

‘Won’t I be rewarded for doing something at least?’

The users went a little insane with dry mouths after passing by all the treasures in the lair.

Only with some accomplishment could they proudly take some equipment, so they bet their lives on this defense.

The concentrated attacks killed off 7 boss-level monsters.

Over on the side with the rest of the draconic warriors, the dwarves and the assault squad combined forces and led to an intense battle.

They did not dominate over the dragon soldiers, nor were they pushed back easily with their impeccable defense.

“Kreeeak! Kaybern-nim will unleash his wrath upon you.”

“Be it human or dwarf, leave none alive. Kill them!”

More draconic warriors were streaming to the lair entrance.

< You are under the influence of Bademix, Commander of the draconic warriors.

Unparalleled fear grasps you.

Maximum health points are decreased.

Higher chances of falling into a state of confusion and fear.

Higher damage received by attacks. >

“What is this?”

The dwarves panicked.

A monster three times bigger than other draconic warriors appeared at the lair entrance.

Massive weapons like axes and spears were strung on its back.

They managed to take down the boss-level draconic warriors, but they were inside a dangerous place, the dragon’s lair!

A true boss monster had arrived.

“You have entered this place without permission!”

Bademix swung his halberd, a combination of an axe and spear toward the other draconic warriors. It blew away everything in his way, leaving him a clear path that ran right up to the dwarves.

“Plague Strike!”

Each time it swung its halberd, the defending dwarves went flung back several dozen meters. Blue smoke covered their bodies and drained away their health points each second.

‘This is bad.’

Weed’s instinct was warning him.

Bademix was considered the boss of boss-level monsters, an extremely dangerous being.

If the dwarves could cooperate and fight, they could hold for now. But, it was a problem that several other monsters like Bademix could show up.

All monsters and draconic warriors under Kaybern’s command will be headed this way.’

Chapter 4: Dragon Lair Defense

Oberon smiled faintly and spoke to Weed beside him.

“I will take care of the defense line. I will stall them until I die, so you have to carry on with the objective. Find the Brazier of Sacrifice and transport the treasure.”

He was only asking for them to take care of the dirty work. He was a great leader worthy of praise.

People like him are the ones who miss promotions because they die at the scene.

Weed did not miss this chance to turn around heart-free.

“I got it. I trust you with this situation. I will personally carve your name on your gravestone.”

He only showed his true colors in the midst of a crisis!

“Hoorah!”

Oberon pinned his shield down on the ground and drew the attention of the draconic warriors.

“All of you come at me at once!”

Weed slipped to the back while the draconic warriors were preoccupied with Oberon and assessed the surroundings.

A tremendous amount of treasure was still stacked inside the lair!

It dwindled down slightly as the dwarves carried some out, but there was still so much treasure left as only ten percent of what was in the lair was moved out.

But it was good that the categorization and organization were being done simultaneously which hastened the speed of transport.

Weed asked the dwarves.

“Did you grab the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“We don’t have it.”

“We haven’t found it either.”

At first, he felt stuffed just looking at the treasures, but now it was a war against time.

At the lair entrance, dozens of dwarves were desperately pushing back Bademix and the other monsters from penetrating through the defense.

< Bademix surrounded itself with a cloak of special power. All physical damage is converted into mana for 30 seconds. >

The assault squad concentrated their attacks on Bademix, but it was having little effect.

Weed observed the situation and turned his head.

“That overpowered… Nide!”

“Yes, hyung.”

“I don’t know what might happen to us, so we have to find the Brazier of Sacrifice first.”

“Okay. I will help out.”

Weed and Nide began searching through the treasure for the large brazier.

Some treasures formed a peaking tower, and the inside was not clearly visible because they were covered in gold and silvers.

“Brazier… It should be in the form of a brazier. It should be big too.”

“Should we search the places where all the artwork and antiques are?”

“That’s an idea.”

He heard stories that the dragon used it as a heating stove, but even among the artwork and furniture, it didn’t stand out.

Kaybern was indeed on the opposite end of tidiness and organization.

It was like the residence of an independent student that hadn’t cleaned for three years!

Antiques, treasures and jewels were all jumbled.

“Damn, he’s thrown it everywhere like it’s a pile of garbage.”

Weed was troubled that he couldn’t properly examine the piles of treasures which had formed massive mountains.

The hands of adventurer Haruna dispelling the magic traps weren’t too quick either.

“Please hurry!”

“I am doing my best, but we don’t know what kind of dangerous magic traps may await us. I have to confirm each trap one at a time, so going any faster won’t work.”

Haruna had problems of her own to address.

The Cleansing Torch took time to dispel the magic traps, so she could not pick up speed.

“At this rate, we don’t know when we’ll find the Brazier of Sacrifice. We might need quite a long time.”

Weed looked back to the lair entrance, and the attack of the draconic warriors and monsters was brutal.

“Kill the intruders!”

“Eat them alive before Kaybern-nim gets upset!”

“Charge onwards!”

The swarm of draconic warriors and monsters rushed in roaring from the lair entrance.

*Crumble!*

This time, the earth shook.

“This is gravitational magic.”

“Jesus, this is six times stronger than normal!”

From somewhere, a magic spell that applied extreme gravity to the dwarves was activated.

“Fools that entered Kaybern-nim’s haven with no fear. I’m going to extract your hearts and see how big they are. Ku-ku.”

< Lich Smalling controlled the gravity in the area.

All living creatures…

You weaklings will be crushed flat!

Movement is slowed.

Stamina drains more quickly. >

The undead mage lich that defends the lair!

Following Bademix, even the lich Smalling arrived.

The scary thing about gravitational magic was that it was applied over the entire area and therefore could not be avoided.

With low strength, one would instantly fall into a state of incapacitation.

“Hold!”

“Keep your positions. Don’t step out!”

The dwarves were barely maintaining a close formation for defense.

The dwarves were usually like tanks given their exceptional armor and endurance in battles, but the penetration attacks they were facing were too formidable.

If the lair entrance wasn’t narrow, they would have taken gruesome damage by Bademix or the draconic warriors.

They were barely standing, fending off the attacks.

“Weed-nim! My name is Blowhand.”

One of the dwarves ran hurriedly towards him with a chest.

“I was about to move this… There is a magical scroll in it.”

It was a magic scroll crafted by the dragon!

It could be activated without a mage by ripping it apart and could cost a fortune depending on its power.

*Flap!*

Weed was calculating the cost of the scrolls piled up inside the chest.

“It would be a great help to deliver these to the ones in combat.”

His brain which  was running at high speed stopped after hearing Blowhand.

“Use rare scrolls…?”

“Yes. The situation calls for it… Would it be unwise?”

Weed heard Blowhand and closed his eyes.

At this very moment, nearby dwarves were watching and listening to him.

Undoubtedly the millions of viewers were watching the live broadcast too.

‘If I turn down his advice now, they will think of me as a cheapskate and a coward.’

In all honesty, he considered himself a cheapskate and a coward.

But, there was a difference between himself being aware and everyone else knowing about it.

It was a small sense of pride that was still left inside him!

Weed swallowed his saliva to prevent his voice from cracking.

“Use it. It is a grave situation, so we have to.”

“Alright.”

The support of magic scrolls began to take effect, leading to a bombardment of magic spells at the lair entrance.

Dozens of monsters and draconic warriors were put away, giving the dwarves some grace time! But, the enemy began rushing in a few moments after.

“I don’t think we can hold any longer.”

Weed couldn’t help but think the same.

They could use the magic scroll at every dangerous moment and bought some time , but this was the dragon’s lair.

All kinds of monsters were pouncing at them.

*****

“All houses which shelter humans must be destroyed.”

Kaybern stood on top of the earth and roared.

Castle Bawell was destroyed miserably and only its ashes remained, and the buildings in the city were also razed to the ground.

Bridges were disconnected, and the trees were on fire.

Total destruction! Kaybern inhaled deeply and as he breathed out , he blew down the buildings poorly constructed by the architects to the ground.

The Black Dragon let out a piercing cry as it laid waste to the city.

“Kuuuuuaaah!”

Kaybern roared and flew up into the sky.

Users observing from afar were waiting for Castle Bawell to be destroyed completely.

The dragon’s behavior up until now was a complete and thorough destruction of the target city. Not one building was left standing, typical for dragons.

“Humans… How dare you enter my territory. You have lost your minds.”

The alert magic around the dragon’s lair was activated, and Kaybern became aware of the intruders.

“Oh no.”

“He found out!”

The face of the architects that built Castle Bawell turned pale.

The plan was discovered!

If the dragon were to fly back to its nest this instant, the robbery would be in vain.

“Pathetic. My lair will become your grave.”

Kaybern did not cease to destroy the city.

*****

– “Bajo: Weed-nim! We’ve been discovered by Kaybern.”

Architect Bajo at Castle Bawell whispered to Weed and explained the situation.

“This is great… It’s still going to be a while until we get all the treasure out.”

“You low lives, gather this instant and protect the lair of Kaybern-nim, the master of your body and soul!”

The commander of the draconic warriors, Bademix, blew a horn carved from bones.

<The horn’s bellow resounded.>

High and mighty echoes spread to the furthest parts of Ulta mountain pass.

“He’s gathering more of them!”

“It’s already tough as it is!”

Screams came out from the mouths of dwarves.

The group was made up of soldiers and warriors and could hold the entrance barely, but Bademix’s attack threatened the lives of these dwarves with one good hit.

“Push through at all costs.”

“Kill those pest-like dwarves! Flash Rupture!”

The charge of draconic warriors already posed a problem, and on top of that, the lich Smalling added his magic attacks to the dwarves.

Lights flashed, and the air blew up, damaging the dwarves each time.

The users of the assault squad were retaliating as well with ranged attacks.

“The enemy is powerful. But if we hold the narrow entrance, we can endure. Do not step back!”

Oberon let out his War Cry that reinvigorated the dwarves.

At that moment!

A priest in the rear who was preparing to cast a healing spell died and turned grey.

“What? Why did he die?”

The other priests alongside were confused, but a moment later two more lives disappeared.

“It’s an assassin!”

From the defense forces of the dragon lair, another commander-level being appeared.

“Hurry and protect the rear!”

“Everyone stay alert and light up the surroundings to keep away the darkness.”

Some of the assault soldiers sprinted to defend the priests and the mages. Then, they spotted a translucent figure in the darkness that blended into the ceiling and escaped.

“Just how many of these Bademix-like guys are there?”

“Just defend. Protect them!”

More casualties occurred from the dwarves and the assault squad.

Swift Coldwind: “Nearby monsters are all directed to the lair.”

Weed observed the situation anxiously.

“I know.”

– Swift Coldwind: “Ah, yes. I thought you would have noticed that already but what I mean to say is that all monsters within a 10 km radius are headed that way!”

“…”

Additional reinforcements.

From the dungeons and demon lairs, fearsome high-level monsters were spawning.

Shockingly, they were all headed for the dragon lair.

“We are done for, right?”

“Are we all going to die here trapped in this lair? We have to escape right now!”

The dwarves in the middle of the search began screaming and ran around anxiously.

Nide turned back with a concerned face.

“What do we do, Hyung? The monsters right now are… We didn’t even look over half of these treasures. At this rate, the rest of the monsters or Kaybern are going to get here before we’re even close to done.”

On the contrary, Weed felt more composed.

“Of course, this kind of danger is to be expected when robbing the dragon’s lair.”

They’ve been found out by the dragon within no time and driven into a predicament.

He had to keep his head straight at a time like this.

In that moment he had the resolve of a man drinking ice cold water right after a dental treatment!

“Unless we have Kaybern’s breath coming right at us, then it can always get worst. Also, we already smuggled some treasure, so we already got ourselves out of the worst scenario.”

Weed spoke with determination.

The dwarves got emotional while listening to him, but not all shared the same feeling.

“If this isn’t already the worst, it means we can fall further to  certain doom.”

“Yeah… Kaybern is on his way too.”

*****

Pale fired his arrows against the draconic warriors.

His arrow flew 30 meters through the air in a flash, striking right in the forehead of a draconic warriors soldier. He loaded the next arrow as the draconic warrior fell.

“Pale-nim, what do we do now?!”

One of the assault squad members asked with a trembling voice.

Kaybern had discovered their plans and the monsters were frantically rushing to the entrance of the lair.

The sheer danger of the lair they were staying in made them anxious.

Pale’s answer was simple.

“We prevent those monsters from coming inside.”

“But… Aren’t we doomed if Kaybern gets here? It’s already too much defending against just the monsters.”

*Flack!*

Pale’s arrow this time pierced through a monster.

An arrow, released from his fully drawn bow, pierced through several monsters, but only one died.

It was a reptilian creature fuming with a strange smell.

It was their first encounter with these monsters, and they lacked information about them. So, he struck down the one who looked the most dangerous.

“Focus on the battle at hand. Fluttering around isn’t going to get us anywhere. If you’re unsure about what to do, just fight the enemy in front of your eyes.”

“But… What if we advise Weed-nim to retreat? We already have plenty of treasure. You can ask him since you’re close to him, can’t you?”

It was only then that Pale looked to his surroundings.

He saw that the assault squad was shaky. They were of high level, but lacked experience dealing with a crisis.

The Central Continent users had never engaged in large-scale raids as they were oppressed by the Hermes Guild.

Even for the prestigious guild users that went through all sorts of events, the dragon’s lair was a place that planted fear inside their hearts.

In comparison, the dwarves of Thor in their territory acted independently and experienced various battles.

This was likely the reason why they were the majority of the warriors leading the frontlines.

“Hah.”

Pale let out a sigh.

Oberon was holding the line together with the dwarves that followed him, but they looked overburdened.

It felt like breakwater barely holding against the raging tides.

The monsters came clashing ferociously, and the dwarves had their hands full defending with their shields upfront.

At the same time, they retaliated with swords and spears, defending their severely wounded comrades.

Pale grit his teeth.

“Make it your own choice whether you want to fight or not. We won’t fall back.”

“Why? There is no reason to die intentionally.”

“If we back out now, when are we going to get stronger?”

“The situation is bad. Instead of being greedy over the treasure…”

“Don’t think about the disadvantages. The enemy is here, so we just fight. Please speak with your heart. Aside from our objective in the lair, if we retreat, can the other dwarven users escape too?”

“…”

If they were to withdraw, the dwarves that were barely holding back the draconic warriors and monsters were guaranteed to be slaughtered.

“Weed-nim said that battles are fought with the heart more than the body. If you don’t want to fight, leave by yourself.”

Pale didn’t have the extravagance to engage in a long conversation at such a dangerous time. After all, who could really understand it? He just did what he was capable of!

Since he followed Weed through the most dangerous and difficult battles, Pale thought there was still a fighting chance.

Extremely efficient hunting speed was about keeping health points and mana at the smallest sliver possible whilst continuing to  engage the monsters.

Without concentration, it was always dangerous, no time for relaxing.

*Pa-pa-pat!*

Pale stepped up and sprinted sideways on the lair wall.

The agility stat turned his movement light and fast.

“Multi penetrating arrows!”

*F-f-fwoosh!*

He rode the wall, spun in midair as he fired the arrows that consecutively landed on the monsters’ heads.

< The arrow penetrated through the head of monster Prem!
Death Shot!
You killed Monster Prem. >

< Bow skill proficiency is significantly increased. >

Pale let go of his bowstring while spinning in midair.

He never missed a target within 200 ~ 300-meter distance.

The entire process of precise aim, the arrow launch and striking the target formed a natural flow.

“You’re gonna get screwed over listening to your friends.”

“You need to hold your own ground. You have to know how to express yourself firmly.”

Pale thought about all the things he heard when he was little, and he smiled.

‘Everyone was wrong.’

His personality made it difficult for him to turn down the requests of others.

His school teacher was worried that in the future Pale would become a ‘loser’.

However, he came across friends and comrades that he could walk with for the rest of his life. After he became known to the public, people that he met were all envious of him, and relatives he hardly knew constantly contacted him.

Occasionally his combat videos were posted online, easily reaching 10 million views.

‘I must not get overconfident. I have to be careful with my behavior. I’m just a lover of adventure.’

Pale thought that he himself was living and growing proudly as one of the veteran archers and a lord of the Arpen Empire.

*****

“K-ugh.”

Oberon witnessed nearby dwarves sent flying by Bademix’s attack.

The dwarves were his comrades and friends from Royal Road.

“Hold your positions!”

All Oberon could do was butt up against the draconic warriors assault and shout desperately.

It was getting out of hand defending against the ones right in front of them. Using War Cry at every chance he got to recover stamina and health points, keeping them alive and allowing them to stall Bademix was all he could do.

‘We will defend. We must.’

If the entrance were to be breached, the dragons and monsters would stream into the lair.

The consequence was inevitable destruction!

The warriors and soldiers put everything on the line to defend.

< The Sky’s Blessing has been applied. Defense is enhanced by 200% for 3 minutes.

Health points are recovered 5.2 times faster.

Strength and endurance are increased temporarily.

Combat level will be improved  against strong enemies. >

A protection spell from an unknown priest was applied.

The holy magic of the priests gave the warriors on the frontline limitless courage to fight.

*Crack!*

That instant, the draconic warrior going on a frenzy with a spear against Oberon collapsed slowly.

There was a giant man that appeared after smashing the dragon soldier’s head with a greatsword.

“I’m Python. You?”

“Oberon.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“The same goes for you. I think we will both have to take care of that one.”

Python and Oberon after a short greeting began to set up a plan.

Bademix was the commander of the draconic warriors.

In a mass battle, having a commander in the ranks had a great effect. That being said, the draconic warriors and monsters would rush in regardless of Bademix.

“How many minutes do you think we can hold?”

“We have to try for at least 5 minutes.”

“Seems like this is going to be one deadly battle. Let’s go.”

Oberon and Python charged together at Bademix.

– “Idiots! How dare you challenge me? I will slice you in half by the waist.”

The leader of the dragon soldiers Bademix accepted their challenge and the warriors parted around them, leaving them room to duel.

– “This is my power. Rumbling Swing!”

Bademix’s halberd wiped out even his own men that had cleared the space around him

Oberon easily dodged it thanks to his shortness, but Python slammed his sword into the ground and leapt.

“Skull Crush!”

Python struck hard from the air.

“Such big attacks are dangerous!”

Oberon screamed in panic, but Python had his reasons.

Monsters with intelligence took weak hits directly but could not bypass a menacing attack to the head.

‘It will definitely dodge or deflect it.’

As anticipated, Bademix swung his halberd up in a direct motion.

“Pierce the sky!”

Bademix went against Python’s Skull Crush with his halberd enveloped in a blue aura.

“Blade Defense!”

Python quickly cancelled his skill and changed to a defense skill. He was able to respond swiftly because he already anticipated the move.

*Crash!*

Even then, his health points decreased over 30% from Bademix’s attack.

Python, after taking the unbearable hit fell in the middle of the draconic warriors

While the monsters were rushing towards them, Python shouted with no sign of defeat.

“Come on, you damn lizard servant!”

“You wish to die. I’m going to chop you up into pieces.”

Bademix broke free from the surrounding dwarves with big strides.

“Get out of my way.”

It swung his halberd and slashed through the draconic warriors in its path.

“What are you doing?!”

Oberon chased after Bademix, screaming.

He could not bear to watch Python die in isolation.

“It’s a good day to die.”

Python grinned as if he was having fun. Then he shouted to someone.

“I never really fought with my back entrusted to someone else.”

“…!”

Oberon wanted to question the absurd comment but swallowed his words after seeing the following scene. Bademix did not pay any attention to the surrounding monsters and draconic warriors as he swung his halberd.

The attacks were aimed at Python but inflicted more damage to its own forces.

Due to the battle with Bademix, a third of the enemy was dead or being pushed away.

Oberon’s eyes glistened.

‘He drew him in on purpose.’

Python did look more comfortable sitting in the middle of enemy lines.

One-sidedly taking hits from Bademix was all the same, but it was different from when he couldn’t evade because of their comrades.

Monsters and draconic warriors within the range of the halberd were also being blown away, giving him enough space to move around.

No comrades nearby.

If he meets another dangerous moment, he will surely die, and how much worse could it be than being surrounded by monsters?

“This is a ridiculous move but…”

Oberon loved it so much.

The dwarves that have been suffering until now could be relieved of some pressure.

‘Just a bit of breathing room will last us a few more minutes.’

Out of nowhere, light sparked, and healing spells concentrated on Python and Oberon.

< Purification of light healed abnormal conditions of the body. >

< Healing Touch mends your body.

Health points recovered by 4,950. >

< Shell of the sea turtle was applied.

The skin becomes hardened ,and defense is enhanced. >

< Wings of the badger has taken effect… >

< Origin of the adventurer has been applied. >

< Strong lower body! >

< The mind is enlightened. >

Over ten kinds of blessings that recovered health points, stamina and mana to full capacity and buff over combat level were concentrated.

*F-f-fwoosh!*

The sound of wind coming from behind caused Oberon’s heart to run cold.

*P-p-pwack!*

But, those flew right by Oberon and stuck to Bademix’s chest.

Five arrows.

It was a special arrow with a tip crafted from obsidian, capable of piercing through monsters.

Python grinned widely.

“It’s Pale-nim. So, this means that he read my mind and is out to support me.”

–K-ooooooh!

Bademix raised its halberd high and shouted.

The shockwave swept the surroundings, but Oberon laughed.

“Weed-nim’s comrades. I am in love with all of you and so disappointed that I only got to know you this moment.”

To be overwhelmed or defend was still to be decided.

An intense battle was taking place.

*****

Weed and Nide, searched the lair thoroughly.

“Is it here?”

“It’s not here!”

“Search thoroughly. We are running out of time!”

*Srrrrring!*

The dwarves scraped gems like rubies and sapphires into their sacs as if they were sand.

*Cling!*

There were so many gold coins being kicked around the floor, that no one paid attention to them anymore.

Not one eye turned, even if they were gold coins from the old Niflheim Kingdom or the Kelten Kingdom worth hundreds more than their face values!

A whisper arrived for Weed.

– Bajo: There is good news. Kaybern is not leaving Castle Bawell.

“Why is that?”

– Bajo: I think it’s due to its arrogance. Since it began the destruction, it plans to see it through to the end.

Kaybern realized that intruders were inside his lair. However, he did not return preemptively.

It decided to destroy Castle Bawell; his arrogance dictated that he must finish the job that he had started.

“Indeed, villains fall because of their pride.”

Weed was anxious thinking that Kaybern was going to return any moment, but now, he even felt lighter. It was like stopping for coffee at a vending machine while being chased by police after a robbery.

Weed spoke out loud.

“Focus on grabbing things; this is the moment of our lives.”

While his eyes were scanning the lair for  the Brazier of Sacrifice, his hands never stopped.

There were more treasures available as Haruna dispelled the magical traps.

He identified the treasures like someone with no tomorrow and immediately seized things worth over 100,000 gold.

‘Shield of Amanta. The current market price is 278,000 gold. 5% platinum in its composition. I can get 40,000 more for reputational increase. Pelsian’s magic modifier will be an additional 30,000, and with an added margin for an appropriate rip-off…’

He was nowhere near as good at calculating as Scholarly mathematicians, but he was quite formidable in terms of market price.

*Swish.*

*Swoosh.*

Every time Weed passed by, the quality treasures disappeared.

The dwarves were filled with nervousness, but were also overtaken by a strange feeling.

‘Let’s pack them.’

‘Feed and die.’

‘I lived to see this moment.’

The dwarves watched as their leader lost himself to feverish greed.

With such a role model, they gradually lost their minds; their hands seemed to know only how to grab and snatch.

A loud bang from an explosion right beside them did not hinder them from grabbing the treasure. Not a second could be wasted.

Though they bought some time with extensive buildings in Caste Bawell, it wasn’t plentiful.

“Weed-nim, I found a door here!”

Dwarf Vindel found a small door in the corner of the lair. The Cleansing Torch wore out the illusion magic, causing the wall to sway and uncover the form of a door.

“A secret door?”

Weed, Nide and Haruna quickly ran up to Vindel.

“It is locked by magic. I will dispel it right now.”
“Get on with it.”

“Yes, I am. I need time…”

“You have to be quicker. Hurry up!”

“…”

Finally, the spells on the door were lifted and the door opened on its own.

What laid beyond the other side was another mountain of treasures!

“There are traps in the passage too. I will dispel as quickly as I…”

All of a sudden, Haruna was surrounded by dwarves watching her with glittering eyes.

They had already laid their eyes on the treasures.

They remembered that upon death in the midst of this robbery, they would be granted two additional treasures.

“To save time, I will charge through this passage.”

“No, there is no need to do…”

*Crash!* Split!* Crumble!*

The dwarves relentlessly charged into the magic traps, shaking the lair violently.

“…”

Haruna was lost for words.

The traps in the passage were activated by force and taken down respectively, resulting in the death of over 40 dwarves.

“Ow, ouch. That hurt…”

“I survived. I should have been dead. How wretched my life is.”

“K-ugh. I would have died for sure if I took off my armor.”

They were the dwarven accident fraud team!

The dwarves that were barely wounded writhed and pretended they were dying.

The dwarves fighting at the lair entrance advised Pale to retreat. However, the dwarves here were different.

Standing beside Weed, they were swept away by the atmosphere without realizing it.

They were in great anticipation and didn’t know how to hold back.

They were under the impression that a little more would grant them wealth and honor for life!

It was to save time before the monsters began flooding in, but if it weren’t for pure greed, the charge would not be possible to carry out.

The dwarves, the natural born capitalists, all ran to the treasures at once.

“Weed-nim! There’s a brazier here. But.. This isn’t the Brazier of Sacrifice. Nonetheless, I think it’s in here.”

There was a pile of utensils for blacksmiths, tailors and farmers.

Big sparkling jewels were in the mix as well with other incredible items.

“Raktisha’s plough? It is instilled with the essence of nature, and it triples the amount of harvest and substitutes for the requirement for growing the best crops. It also has 100,000 additional health points.”

“Look at this Cloud Sprinkler. Increases the chance of rain and enriches the soil.”

There was especially a lot of equipment related to farming.

Farming equipment was rare among magic items, and these equipment were truly amazing finds.

“Grab them!”

Weed and the dwarves wildly loaded the equipment onto the wagons.

Production type items were more precious than any other and there was high demand for them.

Quickly, they swept away anything in sight. The treasures inside this secret room weren’t protected by magic traps.

Using his know-how from working in moving companies and delivery service, Weed stacked them nicely on top of the wagons.

“Move!”

“Secure the best traffic.”

Upon sighting treasure, two dwarves pushed the wagon at full speed.

They swindled the treasure out like machines.

“Weed-nim, I found the Brazier of Sacrifice!”

At last, the Brazier of Sacrifice was found.

When Weed approached the dwarf who shouted out, he saw a rusty brazier about 2.5 meters tall.

It was undoubtedly worn out, looking like it endured rain and snow for five years, in the corner of a pawn shop.

“To find the brazier so early… Identify!”

< Brazier of Sacrifice.

The forgotten artefact of the dwarven race.

An item of the legendary blacksmith.

It generates intense heat and perfectly removes the impurities in mineral ores.

It is capable of combining various special metals into alloys of the highest strength.

It is also capable of crafting massive weapons.

A brazier of honor, only to be used by the best among the dwarves.

If returned to the dwarves, they will return the favor with the best treatment and a high degree of respect.

On the other hand, there is a mysterious legend about the brazier, and that was how it obtains power by burning away the user’s own health points and levels.

Health points and levels poured into the brazier are melted away forever, but as a result, the user will turn radiant for a short moment.

Production Requirement: Advanced Blacksmithing level 7 and higher.

Dwarf only.

Properties: Blacksmithing skill effect increased by 79%.

The dire concentration with the aura of fire increases the chance of crafting a masterpiece by 4 times.

Produces items with high durability and minimal flaws.

Starting the fire in the Brazier of Sacrifice and throwing in health points and levels will grant 10 times the power.>

“This is the Brazier of Sacrifice!”

It’s abilities were just as what Weed knew already.

‘If I take this back, the dwarven race quest is a guaranteed success. This is such a desirable object.’

If he were to install it in Morata or the Earth Palace, I could create the best tourist trap for the dwarves. All artisans of blacksmiths will gather as well.

‘Anyway, that’s something to think about later… 10 times the health points and level.’

What he heard from Oberon was accurate.

A limit of 10% meant by a simple calculation that a level 500 user was allowed to burn 50 levels.

Well, it’s not necessarily good to burn as much as possible. Honestly, just about 50 levels sounds grotesque already.’

The higher the level, the slower the growth rate will become.

In Weed’s case, he started as a sculptor, which had the worst growth speed, and mastered it, only to take his foot and stick it on the path of the necromancer as well.

So, even though he had the confidence to level up twice as fast as any other person, 50 levels were still a huge sacrifice.

If the best rankers of Royal Road used the brazier, they would plunge from the peak to merely the level of casual players.

‘I am glad that I succeeded with this quest, but… This right here is truly the devil’s artefact.’

Weed decided to take the Brazier of Sacrifice with the dwarves.

*****

“Hurry up, Sh-Sheek!”

“Greetings to big brother’s wife!”

Geumchi2 took 50 apprentices to Orcland.

For them to have arrived so fast despite being so far away, was thanks to Yurin’s Paint Teleportation Skill.

“Thanks, Yurin.”

“It’s nothing. It’s easy to draw you guys.”

“We have pretty thick lines.”

“You all have the same hair-style and similar muscular physique, so all I have to do is make slight adjustments to the angle of the eyes, nose and mouth.”

“…”

Geumchi2 and the apprentices recognized one another, but the reality for other people was that it turned into a game of hide and seek if they grouped up!

They could have been ticked off, but instead, they laughed in joy.

They were tearfully thankful for her calling them Oppa even if she were to curse at them a hundred times.

The reason being that over half of them had been called “Sir” since their teenage years.

“Can I go too?”

“Of course. You’re always welcome.”

Yurin decided to stick around since she came all the way to Orcland.

“Dragon, Sh-sheek. It seems to be looking for something, Sheek!”

Seechwi led through the broken orc villages and explained the situation to Geumchi2 and the apprentices.

“This is strange, for sure.”

“Yeah. A dragon doesn’t usually look over anything like this.”

Geumchi2 and the apprentices walked around the orc village with a serious face, but in reality, they had no particular thoughts.

‘I’m hungry. When are we going to eat?’

‘I wish there are some strong monsters around here. My body is turning stiff.’

‘I’m just going to act like I know something, concerned about something. Though I have no clue.’

In spite of their serious appearances, they were just acting like they were thinking!

After a long investigation of the village, Seechwi couldn’t help but feel something was strange.

‘What should I do? I think I need to look into this further.’

For the time being, she decided to look for more orc villages.

The Red Dragon Landony did not destroy every week, unlike Kaybern.

It was just roaming around, while destroying orc camps and strongholds.

Orcs with extraordinary reproductive abilities already made establishments in a different location.

‘Could the dragon be controlling the population balance of orcs?’

Seechwi eventually got to such conclusions, but they weren’t viable.

‘The Red Dragon is known to be more tyrannical than the Black Dragon. It doesn’t protect peace or nature like the Green Dragon. It loves destruction and genocides.’

There was a need for further investigation.

“Let’s track Landony, Sheek!”

In the end, they planned to follow in Landony’s path and collect information.

Chapter 5: The Dream of Dwarves

Castle Bawell was destroyed completely by the Black Dragon Kaybern.

The lord’s castle and the city crumbled in black smoke, but beyond it stood the endlessly sprawling residential district.

The architects put their all into building this faulty city!

– Kuooooo!

Kaybern roared and flew close to the ground.

The poorly constructed buildings blew away from the winds, but the residential district was huge!

“We’ll do a rough job.”

“Yeah… It doesn’t need much effort. Just slack. Take it easy.”

“Let’s build with our feet. Don’t bother cleaning out the garbage. Build with those too. Just a rough job.”

Leaving the final touch to Kaybern, the architects kept building houses.

The common users contributed a little as well, completing a district with 6 times the surface area of Castle Bawell.

The buildings spanned over the plains to the forest and mountain.

– To ruins!

Kaybern caused an earthquake over a large area of land.

The earth shook like it was dancing, demolishing the buildings. Thousands of buildings were destroyed at once.

But, dozens of buildings collapsing at once led to a few lucky structures that caved into and supported one another.

After seeing it, the architects came up with an innovative idea.

“Kaybern destroys and burns with magic.”

“Yeah, seems so.”

“We can’t stall by increasing the durability of these structures. There is no chance in using that kind of a tactic. Even well-constructed stone buildings and palaces are destroyed with ease.

Castle Aren which was considered as the best landmark in the Central Continent did not hold either.

Kaybern sat on top of the castle and roared!

The structures could not handle the heavy weight and crumbled; broke into shivers by magic attacks.

“If we change the structure, we can solve the earthquake problem.”

The architects built a house with a round base.

They built the floor, wall and ceilings in a round shape so that they would roll when an earthquake occurred.

“They are unoccupied. This structure has a free-flow.”

“Yeah, we just need it to hold. After all, our objective is to buy more time.”

Furthermore, these houses were not built collectively but spaced out.

“Let’s build a few stone buildings too.”

“That would take some time.”

“They need to hold against fire magic as well. We can’t do anything about direct impacts, but they will hold against attacks that are slightly off.”

This prevented each collective housing area from being destroyed with a single area of effect spell and forced Kaybern to repeat several times.

“The dragon will surely get ticked off.”

“Yeah, this will get him good.”

To increase fire resistance, they sprayed holy water just before Kaybern arrived.

Buildings constructed in this way did not even make up 1 in 100, but they were strategically and regularly placed, and did their fair share to stall the dragon.

Kaybern poured aoe spells over the entire city, but nearly half the houses remained standing.

Pabo and the architects observed from afar and smiled in success.

“That’s buying us so much time!”

“Tell me about it. This is taking three times longer than the other areas.”

The architects were prideful of their accomplishment.

Faulty construction left the dragon completely at a loss!

It wasn’t an official quest designed by themselves, but the viewers watching the broadcast would acknowledge their project.

Kaybern flew over the residential district and destroyed the buildings one by one with magic or physical force.

It was the Black Dragon, the representation of despair and fear, but somehow it looked very fatigued!

In the end, the vast area of the city along with Castle Bawell burned in flames and turned into ashes.

<The Dragon’s Revenge

Black Dragon Kaybern is on the move again to destroy human civilization. The spirits and fairies are warning once again.>

“Kaybern will be heading to Nehaless in a week.”

The next target was the old capital of Brent Kingdom, Nehaless.

“It’s finally destroyed.”

“So, it did really destroy all of that. It ended faster than I expected, though.”

“The amount of wreckage is endless.”

The users that hid with the architects were sad to see all of Castle Bawell and the houses gone.

It would have been great to stall for longer, but a dragon’s magic attack was indomitable.

Kaybern spread its wings and flew up.

The dragon flew a great distance from the ground and roared with a gaping jaw.

– Kuaaaaargh!

Kaybern flaunted its presence from the skies.

Michel witnessed the scene and reported what she saw.

“Weed-nim! It seems Kaybern will head to the lair now.”

*****

Python and Oberon were fending off commander Bademix, but his sheer strength was enough to make them struggle..

Especially for Oberon who blocked the halberd with his shield each time, the crushing impact sent him flying to the wall.

“K-ugh!”

The dragon soldier was empowered by the dragon’s magic. Bademix charged at Oberon with fearsome strength.

Oberon saw Python shouting as he rushed in from the rear of Bademix.

He was a step too late, and that would lead to lethal consequences.

“Rising Shield.”

From the corner, Oberon stuck his shield on the ground and ascended.

*Boom!*

He saw Bademix tearing the wall into pieces. It had such a huge impact that it shook the ground, and nearby dragon soldiers were sent flying.

“Pesty dwarf… Die now!”

Oberon barely escaped by hanging on the ceiling but soon faced another threat.

– Tiny friend, a delicious prey.

A shivering voice tickled his nape.

‘Zultan!’

It was the appearance of the assassin guarding the dragon lair.

Oberon only heard stories about the assassin.

As a warrior who leads the frontline, the assassin was a natural predator, but it was better to trust his comrades at helpless situations like so.

– I will cut up that small body of yours.

*Slash!*

A scythe flew in from nowhere and sliced through the air.

He was hanging on the ceiling and below him were Bademix and a swarm of dragon soldiers. Beside him was assassin Zultan!

“Zealous Defense!”

Oberon saw no other way than to activate his skill and take the hit.

Holding a few seconds on the ceiling meant distracting Bademix and Zultan for that much longer.

‘This is the best I can do right now…’

*Slash!*

*Sluck!*

The scythe sliced Oberon’s body, decreasing his health points in an instant.

< Critical Strike! >

< Decisive Strike!

Zealous Defense was depleted. >

< Life is in danger… >

< You are incapacitated. >

He fell into danger in just 3 attacks under the defense skill.

Zultan’s body was revealed temporarily while swinging the scythe consecutively.

It was a vicious being that wore a mask made of bones.

< Overwhelming fear stiffened your body. >

It posed an intimidating presence like the assassin type boss monster it was.

‘I’m pretty much dead even without that…’

That moment, Oberon caught a shadow weaving behind Zultan.

‘Was I hallucinating? Or was that a skill?’

The shadow elongated and grabbed the dagger in hand. Then, the hand stabbed Zultan right in the neck.

– Who dares!

Zultan took significant damage and backed off.

The shadow changed into a human figure and grabbed Oberon by the waist as he was about to fall.

“I’m late, aren’t I? Sorry. This guy is so elusive… It took a while to track.”

Though he was wearing a black robe, he was a neat-looking man.

Oberon had an idea who it was and spoke up.

“Are you one of Weed-nim’s comrades…”

“Yes, I am an assassin too.”

He spoke quickly as if he was trying to stop Oberon from speaking.

“Seasoned…”

“K-hmm. Let’s focus on getting out alive for now.”

Oberon thought it was impossible for him to survive in a state of decapacitation and isolation.

“Leave me and escape on your own.”

“I won’t do that. I can survive, but I also can’t leave anyone behind.”

“This is impos…”

*P-p-poof!*

That instant, a smokescreen arrow came flying and exploded.

“Now, let’s go!”

Seasoned Crab, with Oberon hanging on his side, kicked off from the ceiling and ran along the wall.

He sprinted with incredible speed as the attacks of the draconic warriors trailed behind him.

“You are so good at dodging!”

“Sure! I have to be! I’m an assassin unlike you. If I couldn’t, I would die in a few hits.”

“Oh…”

They had to go through Bademix in order to reach the safe zone.

“Will we make it?”

“I will make it happen. It will work, hopefully!”

– Pulverizing Slash!

Bademix spinned its halberd in midair.

In a place with no cover, it was preparing a devastating attack.

*F-f-fwoosh!*

In an instant, over 50 arrows rained down at once.

Exploding, freezing and tearing through the air, various kinds of magical arrows caused a chain reaction and held down Bademix.

Seasoned Crab passed Bademix by a hair.

“Defend!”

“Protect Oberon-nim!”

Once they got inside the lair, the dwarven warriors scrambled and stacked their shields in rows. Their armor was stained and crumpled, but they were desperate.

“Leave the draconic warriors and shoot down the mages first!”

Pale continued to lead the battle with the archers.

At the lair entrance, innumerous draconic warriors and monsters squeezed through one after another.

Behind them was a cluster of overlord-level monsters capable of magic.

They were the dungeon boss monsters of Ulta mountain pass.

– Surrender! That is the will of Kaybern-nim!

Bademix pounced at the dwarves again and let out some of Kaybern’s aura.

Nearby dwarves instantly passed out.

“We need more to push, so the wounded can back out!”

Oberon recovered his health points from the healing spells of priests. He dragged his half-healed leg to go against Bademix.

– Swift Coldwind: The situation is getting worse. The monsters of Ulta mountain pass are gathering. Monsters are spawning from every single dungeon. It’s doomsday outside the lair. The trees are being mowed down… It’s a flood of monsters.

An avian user delivered the news through the communication channel.

It was that monsters were gathering in response to the call of Bademix.

“If the attacks continue like this, we can’t defend…”

That moment, Oberon caught Weed and the dwarves dragging the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“Weed-nim!”

Oberon almost rolled across the ground running with his shattered armor.

Even the countless treasure in the dragon’s lair did not hinder his sight.

“You managed to find the Brazier of Sacrifice?”

“That is right.”

“The situation is dire, so can I use it at once?”

“Use it? This thing?”

“Yes, it seems that it is the only way to stop the enemy.”

Oberon naturally had a lot of experience handling a brazier as he was a dwarf.

He smashed empty wagons, threw the wood into the brazier and started a fire.

The fire quickly grew into a roaring blaze!

The firepower was immense as it was a dwarven artefact.

“Brazier of Sacrifice, I will burn 30 levels and 5,000 health points. Reward me with power!”

The fierce flames of the brazier spread to Oberon.

The dwarf’s entire body seemed to be trapped in the flames, but in fact, incredible power was being transferred.

Oberon’s body turned bright red like metal being forged in a fire.

“The Brazier of Sacrifice. The legend was true. I will go out there again to fight. Leave everything to me and retreat.”

Oberon ran towards Bademix to stop him.

“Hoorah!”

His level and health points increased by 800 and 50,000 respectively!

“Iron Rage!”

Depending on the enemy’s power, it raised the attack damage up to 3x temporarily.

“Go.”

Oberon swung his axe and shield alternately and pushed back commander Bademix.

He charged with his body, pushed with his shield, an original strategy of warriors!

Though he had enhanced attack, he drove forward with an overwhelming defense.

Oberon let out his War Cry

“From now on, I will take care of Bademix. Everyone guard the entrance!”

The exhausted dwarven warriors and soldiers took the time to wrap bandages and rub herbs. The dwarves recovered health points by the priests’ healing spells and engaged in battle once again.

The heat of battle reigned over at the lair entrance.

“For him to use the brazier with no hesitation…”

Weed was surprised by Oberon’s sacrifice.

He was well over level 500 but did not hesitate to use it in order to stop the dragon soldiers and defend his comrades.

“If you could excuse me.”

Dwarves who had lost their senses for a moment came one after another and activated the brazier. They weren’t as drastic as Oberon, but they offered 10, 20 levels and returned to the battle with another level of power.

The combat ability they displayed was remarkable.

Though it was only temporary, they could fight as the strongest users in Versailles.

“Come at me! You lizard freaks!”

“Let’s kill them all and steal everything, K-ha-ha-ha!”

About thirty dwarves activating the brazier allowed them to prevent the advance of the dragon soldiers with ease.

Zultan and Smalling poured their magic spells, but the entrance was too narrow.

The forces were too clustered and made it difficult for assassinations. Furthermore, the draconic warriors were obstacles to aoe magic.

– Mihel: Weed-nim! It seems like Kaybern will head to the lair now.

The dwarves barely earned some time to breathe in peace, but Kaybern was about to return.

“There is really no time for breaks.”

Weed realized once again that this was a battle against time.

Even if they managed to smuggle the treasure, they will be chased down unless they escape to a safe distance.

“The Brazier of Sacrifice is the utmost priority. You take this and escape the lair first.”

“Yes, hyung.”

Weed left the brazier to Nide. 4 dwarves pulled the wagon together and exited to the mine.

“We need more time. We would have taken a lot more if we weren’t discovered by the draconic warriors…”

Weed looked around the lair in disappointment.

Not one user knew the exact layout of the dragon lair.

Weed too only got to see near the lair`s entrance before.

‘I prepared so much but it still wasn’t perfect.’

He thought of transporting the treasures as a whole, but there was just too much gold.

Flourishing gold lumps scattered everywhere!

To think that he would have a hard time examining treasures because of the large gold bars getting in his way.

The inheritance, antiques and ornaments of old kingdoms were too large to move with the wagons.

Regardless, if they had enough time, there wouldn’t have been any leftovers, but there were still many treasures that haven’t even been looked at.

– Everyone, retreat!

Weed used Lion’s Roar.

The word retreat echoed inside the lair to no end.

“Let’s get out of here.”

“Weed-nim’s orders. Move out.”

The dwarves that were grabbing a load of treasures pushed the wagon and escaped to the mine.

“The wounded have to move quickly too!”

The users that fell back to the rear after losing health points from defending against the dragon soldiers pulled the treasure wagons as well.

In front of treasures, strength sprang from nowhere.

– You! You cannot escape with Kaybern-nim’s belongings!

Bademix swung the halberd and went berserk, but Oberon blocked him off at close-range with the swing of his shield.

“Everyone, fall back. We will take care of the rear!”

Weed, despite Oberon’s words, couldn’t slip out.

He just stood there dumbfounded, watching the dwarves.

“Weed-nim! Don’t worry about us and go first. Hurry! Then we can escape too!”

Oberon screamed.

Pale and the assault squad prepared to retreat as well, and the draconic warriors became rampant in response.

Dwarf Vindel ran with a full backpack.

“Weed-nim, we must go now.”

“…”

“Don’t worry about those bunch. We practiced this procedure dozens of times. We prepped magic scrolls too. Quickly!”

Weed was forced to turn around lonesomely.

“Urgh!”

*Slug-slug.*

< You have exceeded the maximum weight capacity.

Movement speed is reduced by 84%. >

His load was exceeding the limits of his strength and agility!

“Ugh!”

He barely passed through the passage connecting the lair and the mine. He used the Loa Sword as a cane.

– You can’t leave! I will not let you!

From the rear, Oberon and the dwarves were fending off Bademix and the dragon soldiers as they receded.

The passage was narrow, so mid-sized monsters could not slip through.

Slug-slug…

Weed was filled with greed and regret as he walked.

“Sigh.”

With each step, his sadness grew deeper.

He wanted to return to the treasures, but unfortunately, he couldn’t.

“Scram!”

Oberon as he was responsible with the final defense line, kept the draconic warriors at bay with his axe.

If they did not use the Brazier of Sacrifice, the warriors would not have held ground, but they were excellent at their job at the moment.

Oberon pushed Bademix away and shouted.

“Collapse it!”

The exit connected to the lair!

The dwarven architects did not participate in the robbery and instead planted various traps.

They were prepared to be chased away, and now was the time to use the traps.

*Crumble!*

The ceiling collapsed right when Oberon passed through, covering the dragon soldiers.

The awfully powerful Bademix also disappeared in the stone rubble that filled the mine track. The dwarven soldiers and warriors felt the need to escape from their bodies as they saw the end of the sealed road.

“Ah, at least it’s over…”

“That was one exhausting battle.”

“Woo, that was fun. Let’s focus. We collapsed the ceiling and traps are in place, but the soldiers will soon give chase. So, let’s get out of here.”

Dwarves in their drained state swayed as they ran.

Oberon in a pool of sweat approached Weed.

“Weed-nim, let’s go.”

“You did so well.”

“It’s nothing. Your load looks pretty heavy, should I help you out?”

“No.”

“Pardon?”

“You must not.”

“…”

Oberon pulled off an incredible accomplishment, even still, it wasn’t enough for Weed to  hand over his backpack!

“Weed-nim. I admire you so much when you manage to carry out difficult quests like this one alone every time. This couldn’t be done by anyone but you.”

Oberon showed respect to Weed who managed through such rigorous battles.

“It was truly an awesome and exciting experience. This is not over yet, but this day will be one to remember for the rest of my life.”

Weed moaned in despair.

“I should have hogged it all even if it was going to be harder…”

“…?”

The treasures in the lair that were left behind haunted him and he loathed having to distribute the little treasure he had to the dwarves.

But honestly speaking, the dwarves fought so well that he could’nt think of an excuse for them to be sent home unrewarded.

Oberon continued with no understanding of what it meant.

“In truth, since the preparations began, I thought this would be impossible. You must be so happy to succeed in such a difficult quest.”

“Happy my ass.”

“…?”

‘My gratitude towards the dwarves will fade away with time. But, the treasures are everlasting.’

It wasn’t a whole lot of time they spent inside the dragon’s lair, but during their stay, they recovered the brazier and grabbed rare treasures here and there.

There were two backpacks containing the most vital items earned from the lair.

‘Both my eyes and hands must be swifter in future. I think I used up  a weeks worth of concentration this time.’

He collected full sets of warrior and archer equipment up to level 900 and also set aside advanced magic staff and robes.

Some of the equipment properties were imbued by the dragon.

He did not have the chance to look over the small items like accessories, and there were likely to be many useful items from what was recovered by Nide, Chase and the other dwarves.

‘I won’t have to worry about equipment for now.’

There wasn’t a single item in the lair that wasn’t rare. He could change everything he wore: boots, belt, adventurer outfit, bracers, his leather armor could be replaced by incomparably better equipment.

‘My combat strength will be significantly higher now.’

The equipment worn by Weed had a few lacking points.

With the exception of the Loa Sword and the Sky Ruler’s Armor, several items were lower quality overall.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t change them into better gear because the items were too rare and expensive for him to buy in auctions or with gold.

‘Strength, agility. I could afford to increase my attack damage greatly if needed… I could also adjust endurance, enhanced recovery rate, curse resistance and other attributes in order to tackle specific hunting grounds and dungeons.’

He was no longer jealous of the equipment worn by Hermes Guild members.

With good equipment came more power. Hunting speed becomes substantially faster and more efficient.

Even his grinding would ascend to a new level.

*****

“Pant, pant.”

“Let’s keep going. Only a little more left.”

The dwarves pushed the wagon out from the narrow and dark mine tunnel.

The warm sunlight welcomed them outside, but there was no time to relax.

“Load up quickly and go!”

Under Padon’s command, the wagons, pulled by bulls, and with dwarves as bullwhackers left hurriedly, out of the lair.

“I will feed you a lot when we get to a safe place. So run!”

“Mooo!”

The hundreds of wagons split up down the mountain.

It was the last step of the dragon lair robbery, the escape!

Weed kept on walking through the mine tunnel and the thick dust.

Beside him was the dwarf warrior Oberon, guarding him all the way.

“You have done so much for me. If it weren’t for Oberon-nim, we wouldn’t have pulled it off this successfully.”

“It’s not like that. I only did my part in Weed-nim’s plan.

Oberon was a commander with outstanding leadership and he had a devoted personality.

Weed acknowledged that he accomplished the biggest role and sacrificed a great deal for this robbery plan.

‘Truthfully, I did not trust him.’

Even when they exited the mine tunnel, he put his guard up whenever Oberon got close.

‘Is he going to strike me from behind? This is all on broadcast, but it’s more than possible.

A kind person like me getting duped by the villain, in the end, is all too common. I wouldn’t be this worried normally, but right now he is probably the most powerful user because he activated the Brazier of Sacrifice… No way! Could he have activated the brazier for this opportunity? Yeah, it’s feasible. Such a foul dwarf…’

Suspicion after suspicion. In his mind, Oberon became a villain that must be killed in the future.

‘The thing is that he’s a warrior with his attack damage not too high… I can stop him. If it comes down to it, I will use Time sculpting and strike back.’

Asking to share the load definitely made him a thief, causing Weed to be on alert.

Now that they exited the mine, his suspicion went down to about 50%, putting Oberon back in the good person category.

Weed would never be able to put away his suspicions on people until his death bed.

‘They say the only people you can trust are your family… Even that isn’t always true. The scammers commit their first crime on their very own family.’

In this world, even the words from professionals such as doctors and lawyers must go through suspicion, as well as the confirmation of severa; trades or real estate transactions.

Used goods markets were as dangerous, if not more dangerous, than dungeons.

“I am so reassured to have Oberon-nim here.”

“What I did is small. Thanks to Weed-nim, the Versailles Continent has become a peaceful place.”

Weed exchanged warm compliments even with glaring eyes!

– Swift Coldwind: Kaybern will arrive in approximately 10 minutes.

“Let us hurry to Debrado village.”

“Yes, understood.”

Weed planned on exploiting Oberon for a very long time after wrapping up the current mission.

‘In the right places, he has the potential to become a real asset.’

His combat, connections and accomplishments as a lord were far better than Pale.

He was capable, diligent and selfless; the perfect talent.

I think I understand why businessmen are so thirsty for talents. If what I see is true, this man can be exploited for a long time.’

Weed overly smacked his lips, not to lie this time, but instead, to flatter Oberon.

“Ha-ha-ha. I was observant of your usual accomplishments.”

“You’re just saying that. My accomplishments are not even a tenth of yours.”

“I looked up a lot of videos about Oberon-nim since the start of Royal Road.”

“Really?”

“It sure helped me a lot.”

He most definitely did check them out to analyze and take reference.

He did consider choosing the dwarf as his race, as it was the best class for crafting and selling.

Combat was also formidable, but there was a huge reason that turned him away.

‘They’re too short. Such a big head too…’

A problem of bodily proportions!

Unflattering looks weren’t a problem, but sword techniques were well incorporated with an acceptable length of arms and legs, so in the end, he did not choose this race.

Despite the bland flattery, Oberon’s face blushed.

“For Weed-nim of all people to watch my video, it is such an honor.”

“I watched your dungeon clear of Malinsa 3 times.”

“Oh, even those? My level wasn’t that high around that time.”

“It was when you were training your axe throwing skill, was it not? I’m sure it was a great help for novice players.”

Weed engaged in a friendly conversation with Oberon as he arrived in Debrado village.

Nide and the dwarven users, along with the Brazier of Sacrifice, were waiting at the village entrance.

“Hyung! Apparently, Kaybern is going to arrive at the lair very soon.”

“Yeah, let’s turn in the quest first.”

Weed led the dwarves and the brazier to the elder.

The dwarven elder who was sharpening his axe with a beer at his side, saw the brazier and sprang to his feet.

“This is the Brazier of Sacrifice that you mentioned.”

“This, this… The dwarven treasure!”

The elder wiped a tear and stroked the brazier.

Blink!

< Dwarves’ Desire for Robbery Complete.

The determined dwarves recovered the treasure that was stolen by Kaybern.

Their long-awaited wish has been achieved.

The dwarven elder will reward the hero of their kind.

Honor increased by 32,000.

A deep affiliation with the dwarves has been established. >

“It is old and aged, but I can feel a great aura of fire. Countless weapons that changed history were born from this brazier.”

“This is the real artefact that we recovered from Kaybern’s lair. It was the most precious treasure hidden well by the dragon.”

In a conversation, a bit of exaggeration was essential for an exciting story.

The dwarven elder bit the hook.

“Yes, the dragon would have been kept warm with our brazier.”

“For sure. It was a treasure that even Kaybern held dear.”

Weed, while talking to the elder, was still concerned about the whereabouts of Kaybern.

– Swift Coldwind: Kaybern has returned to the lair.

Finally, the owner was home.

Until now, he tried not to think about the Kaybern’s reaction to the robbery.

– Swift Coldwind: I can hear the dragon’s screams. ‘How dare they steal my treasure…’ He is swearing to kill us all.

The dragon was narrow-minded, and its reaction was to be expected.

Weed decided to be bold about it.

‘It isn’t my fault. It was a quest about the long-held wish of the dwarves. It asked me to rescue the Half-elf Vishur too.’

All he did was just carry out a quest.

Though including the Brazier of Sacrifice, he did swipe as many things as he could from the lair. It wasn’t just himself, but he mobilized a thousand dwarves and an assault team to steal.

‘You have to get the biggest bite possible. Dying after just a lick of the dish is so unfortunate. There’s a problem with the quest itself, really. Coming out without grabbing any treasure from a trip into a lair? That is so harmful to your mental state.’

The elder wiped his tears with his dusty sleeves.

“I knew if I waited, this day would come eventually. You need to be rewarded since you recovered the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“A reward… What kind?”

Weed smiled.

He did grab lots of treasure, but his greed knew no end!

“You are qualified to learn our village’s skill.”

“A skill?”

“The secret technique of working with fire and metal. I will teach you. I think about ten days with the Brazier of Sacrifice will do.”

Blink!

< You can acquire the secret technique of the dwarven blacksmiths, ‘Method to start and maintain the fire’.

Mastering this technique will increase affinity with fire by 30%.

Blacksmithing skill is enhanced along with Shamanism and magic efficiency. >

< You can acquire the secret technique of the dwarven blacksmiths, ‘Iron Melding Practice’.

You can obtain the dwarven secrets of working with metal.

You can also earn knowledge about alloys that will assist you in the production of specialized metals. It increases the worth of the blacksmithing products. >

Weed had advanced blacksmithing level 3, so he knew the worth of the skill.

‘The skill in itself is awesome, and the more I craft, the faster the training speed of the blacksmithing skill. I could master blacksmithing more conveniently now.’

He expected to be rewarded with some equipment already crafted by the dwarves, but this was a chance to gain something more.

“Us dwarves are beings that overcome the intense flames. Now that we have the brazier back, we have the power to resist the dragon.”

“You’re going to resist against the dragon?”

“Mmm, maybe not complete independence from the dragon’s influence… But in the least, we have to stand up against something like the Black Dragon Kaybern. As long as it is alive, the dwarves will never be able to live freely.”

Weed groomed his beard and nodded.

“You are right. Kaybern is indeed one evil dragon.”

“I am going to open a general meeting for the dwarves and announce that the brazier has been recovered. We will borrow from its power and fight against Kaybern.”

“Will you be able to win against Kaybern?”

“I know it will be difficult, but we dwarves must follow through with it. Please take the brazier to Stump village of the Norn mountain pass.

“Stump village?”

“It’s the location where dwarves gather for important decisions. They will all welcome you since you recovered the brazier. I will provide you with a map, so please take it there. Kaybern might try to chase you down, but we will divert him away as much as possible. You will be in danger as well, so do not let your guard down.”

Blink!

< Dwarf General Meeting

The dwarven meeting that will decide the fate of the race will be held in Stump village of Norn Mountain pass, in ten days. Countless dwarves will be expecting you.

On the other hand, Kaybern might trace the tracks leading from the lair, but the dwarves of the Debrado village are prepared.

They will crumble down the mine completely and erase the tracks left on Ulta mountain pass.

Difficulty: S

Quest Requirement: Dwarf.>

< The long-awaited wish of the dwarves is completed.
Quest can proceed because you are in perfect dwarf form through Sculptural Transformation.

If the quest is declined, the relationship with the dwarves will turn hostile. >

“I will get to Stump village no matter what.”

< Quest has been accepted. >

< You have obtained the map of Grutegy village. >

Chapter 6: The Great Escape

Yoo Byung Joon dwelled in his thoughts.

“The scarecrow strike should have been complete within four weeks, according to the plan.”

He had to increase his stats up to a certain level and proceed to hunt near the castle gates. However, continually swinging his wooden sword was an insane grind. Doing it for four whole weeks was very close to the human limit, both mentally and physically.

He knew that he wasn’t capable at all. Now, he just wanted to collapse and rest every time he grasped a wooden sword.

“This is a novice training arena? This is insane.”

– I don’t think you remember, professor. When you first designed Royal Road, you said it yourself that people who wish to succeed need to suffer. Human limits and potential shall be assessed on the basis of…

Yoo Byung Joon was reminded of his own words from the past.

He blabbered endlessly about the requirements of a hero who will unite the continents, but executing it personally was no different than hell itself.

“My body can’t keep up… I guess I’m too old for this.”

– In Royal Road, there are no restrictions that come from age.

“Well, I’m sure I will feel more mental fatigue than young people.”

– There is absolutely no relevance.

The answers from the AI prevented him from reassuring himself.

He knew all too well of the methods for training quickly in Royal Road.

Even so, mimicking those methods was no ordinary task.

“Mmm, not everyone’s efforts have the same value.”

Yoo Byung Joon then thought of the most brilliant idea.

“Why am I struggling like this? I can go to the item trade website and buy all the best items that I can use.”

Pay to win!

It was using his fortune as the richest man in the world.

Spending millions even on minor items will help him grow exponentially faster than other users.

– Professor, last time you criticized real currency item purchases as an expedient of Royal Road.

“I had no idea what I was talking about back then.”

– In regards to what?

“Real currency was the best.”

*****

Weed slipped out of Debrado Village.

Nide and the dwarven users together transported the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“We need to go right from here.”

“It looks difficult going around the narrow paths through the trees.”

“There’s no other option. It’s our utmost priority to stay undiscovered by Kaybern.”

It was a challenge driving through the mountains with a wagon carrying the Brazier of Sacrifice that was over 2 meters in size.

The wheel rattled ramping over the tree roots, and they had to push the wagon uphill at other times.

– Swift Coldwind: Sizeable number of monsters are coming out from the lair. It seems that they are trying to track us.

“How is the Mapan Council?”

– Swift Coldwind: Having left early, they are growing further apart. There are only a few teams that are still in proximity to the monsters.

From the bird’s eye view, with the mine as the starting point, the dwarves and the Mapan Council scattered in all directions.

To spread out the escape routes, some moved to the depths of the Ulta Mountain Pass.

“Padon-nim. Be careful of the monsters.”

– MoneyGrabber: Yep! I will escape as quickly as possible. Weed-nim, look out for yourself as you will be the furthest behind.

The dwarfs of the Debrado Village were to cover up the tracks, but the whole escape could not solely depend on them.

The quest itself became a large-scale thief raid instead of Weed’s solo plan.

It was to no surprise that lots of tracks would be left behind and the transport teams would be chased.

The Mapan Council accounted for this and had prepared a baiting strategy, and that was to hire the dwarf users of the Thor region.

They would be rewarded upon carrying out their mission as bait and a proper escape, alongside additional hefty compensation if they were to die in the process.

‘Nothing in this world goes for free.’

There was a lot of expenditure on various things for the robbery, but these were all investments!

– Find all those that dared to intrude my lair and slaughter them all!

Kaybern’s ferocious screams could be heard from the distance.

Given Kaybern’s usual personality, it should be in its maddest state.

‘All that is left for us now is to run.’

Weed decided not to pay any more attention to the transport teams.

He stopped by the Debrado Village for the quest, and he, himself transporting the Brazier of Sacrifice was most in danger.

“Let’s hurry.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

Weed busily descended through Ulta Mountain Pass along with Nide and the dwarves.

Debrado Village was located in such a rough terrain that they had to pass through 8 ridges before coming out of the mountain pass.

Halfway, there were dangerous spots that were exposed and hence they had planted trees and grass in advance.

‘When you watch thief movies, the prep is half the plan. Yup, indeed.’

Crumble!

That moment, the mountain began to shake.

– Swift Coldwind: Kaybern used its breath! It seems to be its most powerful level of breathing. The location is quite a distance from Weed-nim but are you alright?

“…!”

The atmosphere was of pure devastation.

“It really is angry. Let’s hurry.”

Weed urged the dwarves forward. There were no other options but to run at the moment.

‘The dwarves were to cover our tracks, so would it be wise to hide somewhere close?’

He also considered hiding but quickly swayed.

‘The difficultyof this quest certainly grew bigger. If we weren’t discovered by the dragon soldiers and managed to steal just the Brazier of Sacrifice, the dragon perhaps could have passed by without noticing. But now, it’s going to be out to chase with everything it has.’

Considering the dragon’s power, it was capable of wiping out everything in its proximity.

It could turn into a real problem if they were to hide and get annihilated along with the entire region.

– Swift Coldwind: I was late trying to observe Kaybern. As of now, the dwarves of Debrado Village are mobilizing.

“In what way?”

– Swift Coldwind: They are setting fires and scrambling around.

“Setting fire?”

He thought that the dwarves were setting the forest on fire in order to cover the tracks.

– Swift Coldwind: Yes. Harpies are approaching, and I have to retreat. I will try to scout if I can manage to return here.

“Thank you for your assistance.”

Weed was too preoccupied with running to bother about Swift Coldwind`s message. However, he soon realized what was about to happen.

“Hyung, look at the sky.”

“Huh?”

The sky between the tree branches had turned pitch black.

“What’s with that? Is that the dragon’s magic?”

“Doesn’t seem like it. The way it looks like something is fuming up, doesn’t it seem like smoke?”

When they got to an open area, they could see the reason for the darkness in the sky.

The magnificent view of the mountain pass, the scene of thick green trees disappeared, and there was only an ocean of fire spitting black smoke.

Huge trees caught on fire and collapsed, embers danced in the strong winds.

The forest fire was spreading at an uncontrollable rate.

“Could this be… caused by the dwarves?”

“It seems so.”

Weed felt like he was stabbed from behind by his closest friend.

On a rational level, there were surely other ways like covering up the footprints.

“Nide. And fellow dwarves.”

“Yes?”

“We have to run much quicker from here.”

“Hyung, you said our priority is to be undiscovered.”

“That is true. But we have to move as quickly as possible. The direction of the wind is facing this way.”

“Gasp!”

Nide and dwarves turned pale after realizing it.

The immense fiery trail over the mountain was spreading towards them with the wind!

Nearby, there were taller mountains directing more wind in their direction.

“Let us go now, Hyung.”

Nide took the lead to find the path and Weed slashed through the trees with the Loa Sword.

“Run!”

“Hurry up.”

Dwarves pushed the wagon down without a hitch and tailed behind them.

“What kind of a quest is this?”

“So this is a rank S quest. There is danger every other moment.”

“So crazy!”

The dwarven users transporting the Brazier of Sacrifice were elites around level 450 and focused in strength and agility.

They were running in the direction furthest away from the dragon’s lair, but the hostile Ulta Mountain Pass had a series of uphills and downhills.

The forest fire was approaching fast riding on the winds.

“Hyung, smoky scent.”

“I know. Our skins might cook like bacon real soon.”

Weed’s comparison was dead serious, but Nide spoke as it reminded him of something.

“There is a great meat restaurant by the school entrance, and the sophomores and colleagues are dying to meet you at once. When you return to school, take us all out.”

“… You still don’t know me. I will return to school one day, but there will never be a day in my life where I will buy you all meat.”

In the sky, a flock of harpies continued to roam. Monstrous birds with the pouting face of an adolescent girl screeched as they scouted the ground.

“Looks like the harpies under Kaybern’s command are on the search for us.”

“It would be big trouble if we got caught.”

“Then Kaybern will show up. Still, there are lots of people on the run, so hopefully they will be distracted.”

He wished for the other dwarves and transport teams to remain undiscovered, but if they were to be, it would make Weed safer in turn.

One of the dwarves pushing the wagon spoke out.

“The forest fire is inching closer.”

“Remain calm. We have time.”

Each time they saw the harpies in the sky, they hid among the trees and waited.

They dressed the brazier with branches as camouflage and what was fortunate was that the harpies’ eyesights were not the most excellent!

“The fire is closing in.”

Nide felt the intense heat rubbing his face. The thick black smoke was already moving in like a wave.

Even the crackling of burning trees could be heard.

The dwarven users of the wagon were wiped clean of their joy and instead filled with anxiety.

“Are we going to die here?”

“Excuse me, sir, but the fire is way too close.”

They tried to push down the mountain with a wagon, but several areas were already caught on fire or lacked trees to serve as cover.

“This is a sticky situation.”

Weed observed the fiery path led by the wind expanding uncontrollably from a close distance.

“To have such fortune on our side; a nice breeze is blowing. It would be nice to have a rain shower right about now. If the heavens won’t, I have to solve this myself.”

The forest fire was inches away, but given his eventful life, it was not the worst scenario.

“Don’t worry. There are much worse things that can happen in life than this at any moment.”

Weed blurted out words that did little to extinguish the situation as he took out a sculpting knife from his inner pocket.

“Rest up for a bit.”

“Hyung?”

“I’m going to sculpt something.”

*****

KMC Media, CTS Media.

They were the top two of the many broadcasting channels out there in Royal Road.

KMC media owned the most popular programs with high view rates.

Even foreign broadcasting channels had overwhelming profits with both indirect and direct exports of these programs.

CTS media was relentless with its aggressive operation based on the capital strength of its parent company.

Revolving around famous hosts, the companies didn’t limit their spendings when it came to casting guests and production costs.

Their primary interest was one man.

“Weed! Get Weed.”

“We get Weed on screen, and that’s game. Who cares if the producer or the chief director changes? More of Weed’s appearance means higher views for that program.”

The broadcasting channels were full of joy each time Weed went on an adventure.

Whether it was combat or sculpting he was guaranteed to bring views.

“We don’t need to worry about foreign exports for the program. Just tell them that we have Weed.”

“But, we don’t have an exclusive contract with him.”

“But it is true that we have produced lots of programs about Weed.”

Under the name of Weed, foreign exports worked out without trouble.

The broadcasting channels were getting a splendid share from it all, but they were not always the ones out ahead.

Birthdays and holidays, even insignificant anniversaries.  They had to find an excuse to bury him with gifts.

“How many times did we send out gifts to Weed-nim this year?”

“Seven times.”

“Send more!  I’m hearing rumors that KMC media has already sent ten gifts.”

“There’s nothing right now to use as an excuse.”

“There’s a dog in that house. If it gives birth, just send something.”

“Isn’t that too blunt?”

“It’s fine. As blunt as it may seem, it’s all about the receiver being happy.”

The broadcasting channel went on a big promotion for the dragon lair robbery.

“Will it actually work? If they get wiped out immediately, that’s the end of our views.”

“But, it is Weed after all.”

It was a half-hearted live broadcast.

“They got discovered by the draconic warriors!”

“There is going to be combat. They’re at it for real.”

The siege inside the lair led to an increase of viewers by the minute.

After that, they seemed to be well on their way to escape but the massive monster chase from the dragon’s lair seemed to douse their hopes.

Furthermore, the trail of fire by the dwarves set ablaze the Ulta and Sygorn Mountain Pass.

The hosts’ veins bulged..

– As you see on the screen, the forest fire is approaching Weed. It seems to be no less than 500 meters away.

– It’s going to reach them at any moment, judging by the speed of the spread.

– I have never been up close to such a forest fire. I’m certain they’re already feeling the heat on their skin. A very flushing heatwave.

– This is a critical situation.

The producers watched in delight as the fire spread; the number of viewers seened to rise with every inch the fire crept closer to Weed.

The broadcasting personnel yelled in delight.

*****

Crackle-crackle!

The forest fire was being driven closer by the wind.

Weed calmly carved out a water droplet with his sculpting knife.

“Wow, that’s so cool. How can you carve water?”

“There really is nothing you can’t sculpt. It’s so interesting to see up close.”

Nide and the dwarves were observing in shock.

“Fu-fu-fu.”

Weed felt proud every time his sculpting was appreciated.

His sculpting had reached the ultimate level through his flawless grinding!

“Hyung, what exactly are you doing, though?”

“I’m going to make a cloud. I will make it rain.”

“I see.”

It was the sculptural arts of another sculpting master Deikram. He will conjure a miracle of rain and put a rest to the forest fire.

‘Obscuring the sky with dark clouds would help in the escape too.’

Calculations raced through Weed’s head.

‘The dragon’s lair was robbed rather easily. Even though war broke out after getting caught by the draconic warriors; we fended them off thanks to Oberon-nim’s amazing efforts. This fire is nothing in comparison.’

It was a smooth quest considering the initial assessment of near impossibility.

He just had to succeed in the escape somehow.

‘Sculptural art indeed serves its purpose in various situations…’

– Kuaaaaah!

Screaming Kaybern flew right above them.

“Hide.”

Weed, Nide and the dwarves dropped right to the ground. Fortunately, they weren’t discovered as it was just passing through.

Kaybern, writhing its body as it roared continuously, was truly nightmarish!

They stuck close to the ground for at least 30 seconds.

“It’s not going to work…”

“What?”

“Sorry, I think I wasted time here.”

Weed gave up on the cloud sculpting.

“I could make it rain, but the fire has gotten too close.”

“But it could still help prevent the fire from spreading, no?”

“Now that the dragon is in proximity, I can’t do anything too suspicious. What a useless thing sculpting is.”

Weed packed his sculpting knife and got on the move once again.

The forest fire tailed close behind them and the fire trail grew down the path along the ridge.

“Hyung, it’s getting hotter.”

“I told you this would happen.”

Running from the fire was becoming more dangerous. It would have been wiser to change routes the moment the dwarves set fire on the forest.

Given the terrain of Ulta Mountain Pass, it was possible to seek the safe paths from the fire trail. The fire and smoke actually diverted the chasers and acted as cover.

Ultimately, they could not go ahead with the option because the escape routes of other transport teams were predetermined.

If the other transport teams were to be discovered, it could lead to unforeseen consequences and any mix-up at this point would be dangerous.

Weed’s team was furthest behind having had to visit the Debrado Village and transport the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“The cleanup is always the most important thing. And now, it is a bit of a crisis.”

Weed felt the tension of running for his life once again..

The forest fire spread and now the entire Ulta Mountain Pass was a hell of fire.

An immense threat that stimulated their primal instinct for survival!

“Nide.”

“Yes, hyung.”

“Go ahead on your own. The smoke is thick right now, so you will be able to escape with ease.”

“What about you?”

“I’m going to cut through the fire and move the brazier. I’ll wait until the fire spreads completely.”

“Gasp!”

Weed decided to use the advancing forest fire to his advantage.

Being engulfed in the flames and smoke would shroud him from the harpies on aerial patrol!

The Brazier of Sacrifice wasn’t something that could be destroyed by fire anyhow.

It was truly an outrageous but innovative plan.

“W-Weed-nim?”

“How could you commit to such a sacrifice…?”

“No. Weed-nim is the emperor of the Arpen Empire. You cannot die in a place like this!”

The dwarves were distraught, but Weed smiled.

“It is okay. I won’t die. But you guys will.”

“…”

“I will compensate for your lives.”

Weed’s words had a significant effect in calming the nervous dwarves.

He was the emperor of Arpen Empire with the highest level of trust. Even more, he succeeded in robbingthe dragon lair raid and grasped tremendous wealth.

The treasures they saw earlier proved it to them more than any speech.

“Well, if Weed-nim says so, what fiery path could possibly stop you?”

“I only now have the chance to introduce myself. I am Haron. Thank you. I will only take two pieces of equipment in exchange for my life.”

“I also only need just two.”

“I can choose for myself, if I may? Oh, of course not the overly expensive ones, but something I can equip right now.”

Weed felt that the greed of these dwarves burned deeper than the forest fire.

“Excuse me, I think one is…”

“You’re being stingy with someone’s life here. Don’t we deserve two?”

“Give us two. Two.”

The dwarves in unison pushed for two items.

Even Nide seemed ready to turn at any moment and demand equipment instead of escaping with his life!

‘The world has changed.’

The world was cruel with rarely any gullible people.

“Alright. Let us continue.”

Weed sent Nide first, then pushed the wagon with four others.

He had to wait for the fire and hence there was no need to hurry like before.

The raging forest fire crawled closer and swallowed them.

*****

“It is a massive forest fire.”

“It’s so horrible. The entire Ulta Mountain Pass is going to turn into a pile of ashes. I have never seen such a frightening scene.”

The dwarves that fled north watched the fire over the mountain and were frightened.

“Luckily the fire won’t be coming toward us.”

“Still, let’s keep moving. There is no time to rest.”

The forest fire was forcing these dwarves to flee unreservedly.

“Monsters ahead.”

“There are monsters crossing our route. Oh! The transport team over there…”

The transport teams that went first were surrounded by monsters in combat.

The teams were comprised of dwarven warriors.

Mapan Council left beforehand, and the wagons driven by dwarven warriors that were the last to retreat from the lair were caught in the middle of monsters.

“There is no hope there when monsters are continuing to pool in.”

“Let’s go around.”

The dwarves regrettably turned their heads away and diverted around the monsters.

They had to move according to plan. In the chance of being detected, they agreed on bearing with the situation on their own. However, unpredictable situations always come about. Reinforcement arrived for the dwarves struggling in the intense battle against the monsters.

The short dwarf warrior!

“It’s Oberon-nim.”

“They would have been near us… But Oberon-nim was also leading a transport team.”

“I guess he sent away the transport team already and came by himself.”

Oberon wielded a hammer and axe simultaneously and valiantly fought against the monsters.

It seemed like the effects from the Brazier of Sacrifice remained, as he pushed back the monsters aggressively.

He miraculously rescued two transport teams that were isolated!

In return, he had to be under the concentrated attack from hundreds of monsters.

The dwarves that were watching from afar shook their heads.

“Obern-nim is such an amazing individual… So brilliant, but…”

“Yeah, there is just something that he lacks. For him to step up until the very end even after all that back in the dragon’s lair.”

“By Weed-nim’s own expression, we are all just trying to make a living.”

“We should follow Weed-nim. Life just turns out better when you are beside someone like him.”

“Yup, you are right.”

*****

A massive forest fire spanning across several dozen kilometers was a spectacle for the users watching from over the ridge.

“What do we do about Weed-nim?”

“Shouldn’t we go and rescue him?”

Irene and Surka waited at Tis village located at the entrance of Ulta Mountain Pass.

This small pioneer village with dwarves, humans and elves living in harmony received much attention from Royal Road followers.

Will Weed make it back alive?

Ulta Mountain Pass had already turned into a huge smelting furnace.

The sky was blanketed with black smoke as if a volcano had erupted.

Pale who fled to safety spoke meekly; he knew that he could not escape from such a precarious situation.

“If he can return from that, I can’t think of him as a human being…”

SeasonedCrab caught on.

“It’s possible if it’s Weed-nim.”

Though the time they spent together wasn’t long, he knew of his tenacity resembling a cockroach!

The four dwarven users died long beforehand.

Back in those moments, there was still a bit of visibility and the situation could be observed via the broadcast screens.

The forest fire was approaching at a fierce rate with the wind.

Tree branches succumbed to the flames one after another and the fire which swallowed everything in its path evoked a primal fear in all who saw it

The fallen leaves also burst into searing flame as the world itself seemed to collapse into a fiery hellscape.

The tides of the fire pushed in. It was impossible to escape the fire that crawled in from all directions.

The hosts of KMC media’s live broadcast were devastated.

– That is truly a terrible forest fire. Hyemin-ssi, do you think that Weed-nim has prepared for death? I believe that he chose death in order to hide the Brazier of Sacrifice instead of being discovered by the harpies.

– I don’t think so. Weed-nim is someone who will find a way to live even when death seems inevitable.

– Since you spent time up close to him, I’m sure you know him better than I do. Then, what would be his decision at this point?

– It is hard to determine. He declined the uncertain rescue attempt from the avians. I am unsure if he could lose the harpies, but I believe he turned them down because they could attract Kaybern’s attention.

The other female host Dana Lee asked.

– Transformation! Couldn’t he just shapeshift into a fire spirit or something?

– I’m not sure if you can transform into elemental spirits. Even if he were to become one, his physical strength would weaken, thus making it difficult to maneuver the wagon. So,I dont think that’s a possibility.

– Oh. Then, how about just getting out of there first? He could bury the Brazier of Sacrifice and flee to safety. If it’s Weed-nim alone, it won’t be too hard to escape.

Dana Lee’s thoughts caused a surge of comments in the broadcast discussion boards and chat.

– She’s right, that’s it.
– That’s an amazing idea!
– But isn’t it too late now? How can he escape when he’s already surrounded?
– Live, Weed. You must live.
– He’s already as good as dead. Just give in to the flames!
– It seems like Hermes Guild is still alive.

Hyemin Shin considered her idea as plausible but soon shook her head on the contrary.

– Weed-nim will never turn to that idea.
– Pardon? Was there a flaw in my reasoning? It’s the Brazier of Sacrifice, so it won’t melt even if he leaves it in the forest fire.
– It’s not about the damage or the chance of success. Weed-nim is not the type of person who could leave a precious treasure buried in the ground.
– Oh… He is so careful? I mean, it is the treasure of the dwarf race and an item that will serve a vital purpose in defeating Kaybern.
– It is different from that. How should I put this? He trusts no one in this world…

It was Weed’s anxiety complex!

He didn’t know what would happen to such unique treasures once they left his hands, so he could not leave them be.

On the other hand, it left the hosts puzzled.

Weed’s footage was continuing to air even after the dwarf users lost their lives.

However, the forest fire swept everything and only red flames were visible on the screen.

– It doesn’t make sense that he would be alive in that fire. Every second he would be receiving an insane amount of damage to his health points.
– Logically speaking, that is more than justified. But since it is Weed-nim, he won’t die that easily. I believe he can endure.

Soon enough, intel was delivered to Shin Hyemin.

– I received word that Weed-nim is perfectly fine.
– In that fire?
– Yes, he seems to be searing his body. He’s enjoying it so much that he doesn’t want to leave.

It was hard to believe, but Weed was alive and well even in a forest fire.

– Ah! The Sun Warrior. Fire damage is reduced significantly from that job class. He has fire affinity.
– Perhaps the Blessing of Goddess Hestia was bestowed on him. Weed-nim has accumulated so many contribution points for her!

Oh Joowan and Dana Lee made several assumptions based on their experience on a number of programs about Royal Road. Hyemin Shin thought the same at first, but the information delivered by Pale was different.

– There are many reasons for his high fire resistance, but the most influential is because of Bard Ray.

*****

Even after the dwarves perished in flames, Weed pushed the wagon and walked silently. The forest fire was somewhat bearable.

< You have taken 34 fire damage. >

< You have taken 11 fire damage. >

< You have taken 63 fire damage. >

…

The losses were minimal considering the scale of the hellfire covering Ulta Mountain Pass!

‘Indeed, equipment specs.’

He had various equipment and high resistance. To top it off, the property from the Goblet of Flames that he obtained through Bard Ray took effect.

< User takes minimal fire damage. >

Fire-type monsters were actually quite common. However, they posed a challenge and caused users to avoid dungeons that contained too many fire monsters.

It was the same reason that the dwarves possessed low resistance against fire.

‘I guess I should be thanking Bard Ray.’

Weed thought the Goblet of Flames was such a commendable item.

‘Next time I fight Bard Ray I’ll get my hands on great items again. Seriously, the Hermes Guild isn’t all that bad.’

After the wagon burned away, he pushed the brazier forward.

The tree roots that gnotted the ground and had posed as obstacles disappeared in the fire and a path formed through their ashes.

– Swift Coldwind: I am patrolling the outskirts. The harpies are receding from the fire. The skies of where you are located is now safe, Weed-nim.

They had clearance in the sky once again!

Weed was slowly moving away from Kaybern’s lair. It was the moment when his safe escape seemed certain.

< The seal on the Goblet of Flames is weakening.

Progress 1%

…

Progress 2%

…

Progress 3%>

‘Seal?’

Weed brought up the information tab.

“Identify.”

< Goblet of Flames

Durability 30/30.

A goblet instilled with the essence of fire. The stories tell that humans collected the flowing lava deep underground, and it contains a fire that has burned for over a million years.

A vessel of legend.

Drawing the power of the goblet may defeat any kind of darkness.

Requirements: None.

Property: All stats increased by 53 by possession.

Maximum health points and mana increased by 70,000.

Power of all fire attribute skills enhanced by 200%.

Effects of combat skills +35%.

Takes minimal fire damage.

Able to use ‘Repression of the Goblet’ once every ten days.

Unique: A legend is sealed within.

7 unidentified properties are dormant.

Repression of the Goblet:  Summons a river of lava or a volcanic eruption and wipes out the enemy. >

An item that concealed a legend.

It was an incredible item even in its current form, and the wrap hasn’t even been taken off yet.

‘So the forest fire… A great presence of fire was breaking the seal.’

Weed reminded himself that he must keep this brazier in his possession.

Alongside the Loa sword, it may prove to be the best of the items in his possession.

He obtained useful weapons and equipment from the dragon’s lair, but items that provided stats just by possession were rare to come by.

It was the treasure of treasures, originally owned by Bard Ray who had seized control of the Central Continent as the leader of the Hermes Guild that unofficially dominated Royal Road!

‘Drawing out power from unlocking the sealed legend in an item of such class? With additional properties… No one could afford this with any amount of money.’

It would become an item impossible to trade with someone else.

There were trinkets or special ornaments that boosted strength, agility or health points.

They were occasionally found in auctions, but none could compare to the Goblet of Flames.

‘In order to break the seal, it had to be put in flames.’

Weed thought it was rather a simple solution for a concealed mystery.

Though in reality, there weren’t many fires with such intensity.

The forest fire of Ulta Mountain Pass was still spreading with the winds.

Enormous trees that probably lived for hundreds of years collapsed in the flames.

< The seal on the Goblet of Flames is weakening.

Progress 33%>

Unfortunately, the trees nearby burned down entirely before the seal had broken.

‘Should I wait inside the forest fire until the seal breaks first?’

Weed contemplated for a moment, but he decided to continue his way out of Ulta Mountain Pass due to the dragon’s presence.

A moment later…

“Weed-nim!”

“This way.”

He saw comrades that just couldn’t wait idly at Tis Village climbing up.

Pale, Irene and Surka…

Starting with old comrades, he also saw Seasoned Crab and Python who escaped from the lair.

– Swift Coldwind: Kaybern has risen to the sky once again. Its target of wrath seems to be a dwarven village in the west.

Kaybern too went off in another direction.

“It’s over now…”

He was reassured that the robbery ended successfully.

*Fwak!*

The instant he heard something flying through the air, his body reacted instinctively.

*Schwing.*

He lowered his stance, drew the Loa sword and turned his eyes to the sound.

A dark, blurred figure was approaching fast in the blink of an eye.

The distance was no more than 3 meters.

‘Executioner’s Assault. This is an assassin skill.’

It was an attack with pure 80,000 skill damage excluding variables like weapon or levels from the calculation.

If the dagger were to pierce through an unarmored area and land a critical strike, his 300,000 health points would disappear in a flash.

The instant he confirmed the enemy’s skill, he prepared autonomously.

“Sword of Regeneration!”

He bent backwards and used the secret sword technique.

The skill greatly enhanced his health points and defense.

< Health points increased by 200%. Influence of nearby plants increased defense.

Wrecked trees and grasses transfer all their remaining energy. Defense increased by 12%.>

*Ch-ch-ching!*

The Loa Sword and the assassin’s dagger clashed relentlessly in close distance.

At first, it seemed that the assassin’s incoming attack was going to land straight on him, but he barely deflected it.

“Kyaaah!”

“Weed-nim!”

“Dodge… Huh?”

In the eyes of his approaching comrades, he was just about to be assassinated, but in the next split second, he was already ready to defend himself.

Then, the assassin flung his arm. This time, five daggers flew toward Weed.

– Condemning Throw!

A secret technique in assassination!

It throws a poisoned dagger on the enemy.

‘I’ve heard about it. It is a fearful, lethal skill.’

One dagger could dish out 100,000 damage. That being said, about half was poison damage over time.

Assassins had minimal health points and lacked defensive skills as a tradeoff for the best burst damage.

Weed swung the Loa Sword, deflecting three daggers.

Defensive skills like Closing Eyes Shut had no meaning in this situation!

‘I need some distance.’

He took two daggers to the body while activating his dimensional gate glove, escaping from the attacker’s reach.

He distanced himself about 10 meters and earned enough time to catch his breath.

“Healing Touch!”

Weed only put his trust in reliable priests like Irene.

They were capable of healing health points or abnormal status right away.

– Dwarf. You are quite skilled in surviving.

Zultan slowly approached, slipping out from the veil of darkness.

One of the boss level enemies that guarded Kaybern’s lair now stood in front of him.

Weed whispered while keeping his eyes on Zultan.

“Are there any other enemies following us within a 2 km radius?”

– Swift Coldwind: I am sorry. It seems like he moved among the ashes as I did not spot him.

“Let bygones be bygones. What about the enemy?”

– Swift Coldwind: There are small groups of monsters in sight. No other significant movements spotted.

“What about Kaybern?”

– Swift Coldwind: It is heading to the dwarf village in the west.

He was able to deduce quickly.

‘Assassins do have tracking skills. He must have followed my tracks by chance.’

Weed gave a glance to Pale and Seasoned Crab.

– Pale: Understood.
– Seasoned Crab: Hu-hu-hu-hu.

The comrades and high-level users that were waiting at Tis Village slowly backed away and surrounded the area.

Seasoned Crab hid in the shadows.

Weed tapped the Loa Sword on his palm and spoke.

“Hey. Did you come alone?”

– I alone am enough to kill a lowly dwarf.

Zultan knew of Weed only as one of the countless dwarves that robbed Kaybern’s lair.

Oblivious he had chased down the bandits’ truly evil boss.

Weed let out a deep sigh.

“Wheeew.”

– Are you afraid? Do not worry. Death is close.

It was common to lure out boss level monsters to their defeat.

The minions were taken care of in advance, or there was the other option of setting traps in a good location and playing the waiting game.

Weed didn’t like luring because it usually took too much time.

“I think this is what they mean when something falls into your lap. After such a splendid time at the dragon’s lair, more items are delivering themselves to me. I wonder just how much misfortune there will be after all this luck today.”

Pale, Python and the dwarven warriors assembled in Tis Village.

At least a hundred users had surrounded him.

A typical boss level monster would have fled, but Zultan greatly underestimated humans and dwarves.

Much like how Kaybern looked down on humans, his subordinates did the same.

“Let us begin right away.”

The instant Weed gave the order, Pale’s arrow fired from Zultan’s right.

“Let’s go!”

“Kill it!”

All the users charged at once.

Back at the lair it was an unfavorable battle and they were forced into a defensive stance.

However, if it was a boss monster that came all the way here all on its own, the glory was only for the first to kill!

– Weaklings! I will slaughter you all.

Zultan sprayed his daggers and dropped smoke as he engaged in battle.

“Harmonious Light!”

“Intensifying Flash!”

“Rolling Wind!”

Numerous magic spells cleansed the smoke.

The users stuck close so that cloaking couldn’t be used, followed by concentrated fire, ice and lightning magic attacks.

“Flash Storm!”

“Arrgh!”

“Who used an area of effect magic skill?!”

“Calm down and focus on the fight.”

Zultan was overwhelmed by various magic spells each second.

Surprisingly, most magic spells were swallowed by the darkness, but some did come in direct contact.

He managed to kill ten dwarves, but as he was an assassin his health points were declining fast.

Weed grasped the Loa Sword and engaged in the biggest human contemplation.

‘Do I go for the last hit, or not?’

Finishing Zultan would grant him combat achievements.

‘Wouldn’t it be too obvious? I’m sure there are quite a number of groups that are jealous of me.’

Even if he were to be criticized by other people, it was a stupid thing to give up on such an opportunity.

‘Yeah, this is what it should be. I can deal with the guilt later.’

Pa-pa-pa-pa-pat!

The force of the dwarves and the other users was elevating.

They too knew that Zultan’s end wasn’t too far.

‘Kill it.’

‘It’s mine.’

He took out a poisoned long sword and swung it in resistance, damaging nearby dwarves.

Even so, the users charged fearlessly to end Zultan’s life with their own hands.

Even mages and priests were preparing their most powerful spells.

‘This fight will end in a split second.’

They didn’t have time to check Zultan’s remaining health points. They left it all on instincts and just bombarded their skills.

It was when all the users were waiting for Zultan’s demise.

A shadow elongated from behind Zultan and pounced.

– Executioner’s Blade!

It was an assassin skill that executed a target instantly if its health points had fallen below 5%.

Seasoned Crab had made his appearance.

“Oh, no way!”

“This cannot be!”

The dwarven users screamed.

“Ah heck, merciless axes!”

“Doom Smash!”

“Berserk!”

Each user landed the most powerful skill on Zultan.

Kaybern could stand its ground thanks to its high resistance and health points, but assassin Zultan did not have the luxury of having such stats.

< Assassin Zultan of Ulta Mountain Pass, the overseer of death has entered eternal rest… >

Weed passed through multiple dimensional gates the moment Seasoned Crab appeared.

Users were blocking either the entrance or the exit, so he took a few detours, and in the last moment, he debated using Instant Sculptural Technique.

‘I don’t have much temporal energy left, and I have to reserve it for Kaybern…’

He was just 3 meters away when Zultan met his end!

Even as Zultan’s body was fading away with the darkness, melee attacks, as well as magic spells, shamanic chants, arrows and other attacks, were landing – a moment too late.

The interest of the users was not about winning against Zultan.

“What, who got it?!”

“Who is it?”

The users searched their surroundings. They suspected one another, trying to confirm who took Zultan’s loot.

Seasoned Crab stealthily picked up the item dropped by Zultan.

“So, SeasonedCrab-nim got it in the end?”

“Assassin SeasonedCrab. SeasonedCrab-nim got the loot.”

“Such a turd.”

“We did all the work, and SeasonedCrab-nim took the last hit.”

Seasoned Crab became subject to the grudge of all the users!

Seasoned Crab felt this was unfair and he also had a say against this matter.

He was the one who contested Zultan back in the dragon’s lair to begin with.

Assassins with lethal attack damage aiming for surprise attacks and the cutthroat finish was by the books.

Funny enough, the finishing attack led to the hate of all users at the location.

Though achievement points were split up based on the contribution in combat, it was incomparable to the finisher.

Weed sheathed the Loa Sword and spoke as he passed by.

“A man cannot live like that if he has a conscience.”

“…”

“I know how to strike last too, but I didn’t.”

“…”

***

The dwarven users of Thor were expecting to welcome a massive change.

First of all, a large forest fire lit between Ulta and Sygorn Mountain Pass, followed by the invasion of monsters led by Kaybern.

“Just what are we going through because of Weed’s robbery?”

“Exactly. My house, my blacksmith shop, everything is gone.”

“What about our homeland? I lived there for four years…”

Kaybern set the dwarves as the target for revenge.

On the day of the robbery alone, he destroyed five dwarven cities and demanded tremendous offerings.

The usual offerings paid by the dwarves increased tenfold!

“What are we supposed to do…? This is just telling us to die.”

The dwarves hated Weed so much that they wanted to kill him.

On the Royal Road discussion board of each race, there was a relay of criticism and complaints about Weed but the impact didn’t spread any further.

The dwarven race quest!

The robbery of the dragon lair was also a release of the old dwarven grudge.

Of course, the quest itself said to steal the Brazier of Sacrifice, not loot as many treasure as possible…

– Kaybern is a seriously evil dragon. Any dwarven user is aware of it. A quest to slay that dragon will arise at any moment.
– Would now be the time? Judging by its pure strength, it just seems impossible.
– He’s carrying out the Wish of the Dwarf, the racial quest and it’s bound to cause some unintended damage. If you’re a dwarf, you have to endure it.
– Did you lose your house? I lost my house that I worked over a year to get.
– I agree. Weed has caused too much damage for us dwarves.
– I sincerely hope that he succeeds in the quest and slays Kaybern. This time around, the humans became the target, but it was us dwarves that suffered for a really long time. Now I just wish that we won’t be bullied anymore.

The Arpen Empire quickly released a statement.

Weed wasn’t in the least interested but Seoyoon created a relief program for the victims.

– I sincerely apologize for the damages. Those of you who lost homes and blacksmith shops in Thor may migrate to the Arpen Empire. Better homes and blacksmith shops will be built for free. For a smooth settlement, we will provide iron ores and various materials for no profit for three months.

The dwarves lost their establishments, but the Arpen Empire offered sincere assistance.

Until now, damages that arose due to quests in Royal Road were never compensated.

Users were trampled upon under the principle of power as prestigious guilds kept killing and stealing.

In comparison, the Arpen Empire stepping up to provide compensation for damages from the race quest remedied the complaints from the dwarves.

Chapter 7: Ramen Day

The dragon lair robbery was a huge success!

Lee Hyun fell into a pleasant contemplation of selling a tremendous amount of gear.

“It’s too much to sell all of this at once…”

Trades were low at every auction site. It was to purchase equipments from the dragon lair as soon as they became available.

“If I make profit this instant, a lot of people are going to try and take a share.”

Lee Hyun learned the life lesson while watching robbery movies that teams break up over the split of the spoils.

“Tie up loose ends.”

He decided to proceed slowly with the organization of the treasures. It wasn’t as if these treasures that he stashed were going to walk away on their own. After the shares are distributed to the dwarves, assault team and the Mapan Council he would still have over half left over.

“I’m going to make a crazy amount of money.”

Lee Hyun spoke serenely.

“Going to buy some things that I wanted for myself…”

He was going to buy a thick winter jacket.

Clothes from the market fell off in terms of cold protection compared to the brand jackets sold in a mall.

“If I look for something on clearance, I’m sure I’ll land something not too expensive.

Then with the rest of the money I will buy real estate.”

In the end, it was all real estate!

Lee Hyun made up his mind as he searched the internet and the hot search keyword list came into view.

- Dragon Lair Robbery
- Black Dragon Kaybern
- Ulta Mountain Pass Forest Fire
- Oberon’s Death
- Seoyoon’s glamorous body
- Kaybern’s Lair
- Seoyoon’s Height
- Dragon Lair Treasure
- Seoyoon’s Voice

The dragon lair robbery took most of the keyword charts.

In regards to Seoyoon, she was always on the top of the charts all year long and it was no surprise.

“But, did Oberon-nim die?”

There were related videos of him running alone in order to save the dwarves of the transport team that was surrounded by monsters.

He did save his comrades but died in the end.

He raised his abilities substantially through the Brazier of Sacrifice and therefore was able to save many lives.

He drew the monsters to aid in the escape of the other transport teams.

“This man was saving the day over there as well.”

Lee Hyun was appreciative of Oberon yet very uncomfortable.

‘Is it fun to live life that way?’

For him, life had value only when he lived for himself.

Oberon had a lifestyle that he could never come to understand, but he was appreciated nonetheless.

“Including the situation at the lair, I acknowledge that Oberon-nim had the biggest contribution. I have at least a bit of conscience after all. I don’t think two equipments will suffice.”

It was a concern as to what kind of reward he should present to Oberon.

Lee Hyun thought that sincerity was important, so he received the contact information of Oberon and the dwarves that used the Brazier of Sacrifice. He sent them a text message personally.

– Hello. This is Weed. You have my sincerest gratitude for your great help in the dragon’s lair. There doesn’t seem to be a proper way to express my thanks. Hmm-hmm.

Our family is going to get together tomorrow and eat ramen. Delicious kimchi and homemade dumplings are also on the menu.

Would you like to join us?

Ramen specially cooked by Lee Hyun himself.

It might not seem like a big deal, but it was an extraordinary treatment for anyone in the broadcasting station.

He didn’t expect that many people of whom got the mass text message to visit.

“They are busy people. No way they will actually come to eat ramen. This is just showing some respect through text.”

This was true especially for Oberon who was different from the other users in that he was famous for his inactivity out in the community.

In Royal Road he created a guild and led people passionately, but in real life he never appeared on interviews or shows.

However, the users replied soon after.

– It’s an honor. I will certainly be there.

– For such a day to come. I am in the least disappointed about dying!

– I’ve wanted to meet you all my life.

– Thank you so much for inviting me. I will definitely make a visit.

– I asked for a day off at work. My boss happily signed off on it. Please give me just one autograph.

– I will run this instant… Ah, it is tomorrow. How can I wait until tomorrow comes?! I will spend the night eyes wide open and run over in the morning. Swoosh-swoosh.

There were also users that did not reside in South Korea.

– I booked a flight. I will layover in Paris and arrive in South Korea early morning. I’m so looking forward to it.

– Can I come with my mom? My mom wants to go as well. This is Moscow.

– Japan here. I’m going to take a doll with me. Can you sign your autograph on it? I have all 45 dolls of the sculptural creatures including Wyvern and Bingryong!

– I am departing from Turkey. I am leaving now. My heart is pounding.

Lee Hyun sighed regretfully.

“Just eat ramen at your own homes. To think they would really come.”

The people were too clueless. Oberon’s reply came later.

– I just read your message. I will be on my flight right now.

Honestly, it was a frustrating situation.

“Do these people not have any ramen in their lives or something?”

*****

The ramen party, contrary to his intentions, became too much of a spectacle!

Lee Hyun got up the next morning and walked to the market with Seoyoon.

“I have to cook ramen for the guests when they arrive at lunch.”

“I know. I saw it on broadcast.”

“Broadcast?”

“Yes. It was urgent news on CTS Media, that you are holding a ramen party for the dwarves.”

“…”

The broadcast station even sent out ramen cooking as urgent news!

Lee Hyun thought that such intrusion was unavoidable as he had become famous.

“Anyways, people are coming over and I can’t cook just ramen like a bad host.”

“Should we buy beef too?”

“No. Not to that extent… Let’s put a bunch of stuff in the ramen. They say that one needs to live life conservatively, but you shouldn’t cheap out on food for the visitors.”

He had little memories with his parents that passed away when he was young.

But, he did remember that his mom used to cook a lot of food whenever guests came over to the house.

“Let’s buy some mussels… A little bit of crabs too. Crabs in the soup will be amazing.”

“How about some sashimi? I can cook them spicy fish stew too.”

“I’m saying it again. This shouldn’t go that far.”

Lee Hyun cut her off cold heartedly.

It was because 28 users notified him of their visit.

The two walked around the market, buying necessities and cooking ingredients, enjoying their usual date.

***

Lunch time approached and Lee Hyun made sure to keep Lee Hyeon’s mouth closed.

“It is the same with all the dwarves, but don’t make fun of Oberon-nim being short when he arrives.”

“Alright, brother.”

“You have to maintain manners. You can’t make fun of people based on their appearances.”

“I don’t do that. And dwarves are just a small race. It has nothing to do with his real life height.”

“Can’t you tell from him not appearing on shows? I guarantee that he will be shorter and uglier than me.”

“That’s strange. He is kind and has leadership. The attitude in which he leads other people doesn’t give off that kind of vibe.”

“Hey…”

“I’ll be careful.”

Lee Hyeyun agreed to it even though it was not logically sound for her.

Quarrelling over his nagging could easily turn into a 10 hour lecture.

Long time ago, she hung out with the wrong group of friends and rebelled to the extreme, breaking her leg in the end.

That was immense pain, but nothing compared to what happened after.

Lee Hyun nagged her 10 hours a day until her leg healed!

“We don’t have mom or dad! School is a pain in the butt! I’m embarrassed to show up in front of other kids looking poor!”

Talking back harshly had no effect.

Once the nagging began, the process and the end was predetermined.

“Are you embarrassed of being poor? Then it means that you can still endure. When you were young I changed your diapers and carried you on my back every day. It seems you forgot all of that. You weren’t potty trained at all.”

Since her unretained baby years and along the timeline, he spoke about incidents where he went around to pick up school bags or used clothing in order to send her to school.

His nagging told from old, unending stories to analyzing every detail as to why her current actions are illegitimate. He even went onto the worries about the past, present and the future. It was a bombardment of scolding with introduction, development, turn and conclusion on a timeline!

‘Whew. That’s too much.’

Lee Hyeyun became exhausted and fell asleep. But she couldn’t escape from the nagging that started again the next morning.

About 5 days of his nagging, Lee Hyeyun thought to herself.

‘I might actually be pretty smart? I’m starting to memorize all his nagging.’

It continued on for 20 days and she was struck with a headache.

‘Getting beat is better on my soul than this. I feel like I’m going to kill myself listening to him.’

Lee Hyeyun changed drastically after that day.

She cut contact with her bad social circle, studied hard and never let her brother gain an opportunity to scold her.

“You…”

“I got 98 for the english exam this month. I got one wrong. I will get 100 in the next exam.’

‘Make sure to go over…”

“Yup. I will check two, three times and avoid mistakes.”

“Your friends…”

“Yeah, they’re friends who study diligently at school.”

“Don’t spend time just studying…”

“I don’t study all the time. I have various hobbies. I read books and I work out regularly.”

His nagging converted a human soul!

After that, she would have several dreams where Lee Hyun scolds her that woke her up instantly.

‘Will unni get scolded too?’

Lee Hyeyun thought that Seoyoon will run away after finding out her brother’s real side.

Nagging got annoying with just a few words, and no one could possibly withstand several hours.

‘Honestly there are other guys out there. If unni leaves, he would be devastated, no?’

It won’t be long until the nagging begins for Seoyoon too.

It was a nagging bombardment that didn’t stop whether you cried or atoned.

That anxiety had continued every day for her.

Lee Hyeyun with a concerned heart went to see Seoyoon.

“Unni, you have to be cautious of my brother today.”

“Hmm?”

“He’s cooking ramen for the dwarves. He’s going to feel very annoyed by it.”

“How bad?”

“I know because I’m his sister, and you have to watch out. Especially don’t talk to other guys no matter what happens. My brother has issues with jealousy.”

“Did he ever get jealous because of his girlfriend before?”

“He never did date a girl before… But you can see it in him. He will be narrow minded and overly jealous.”

Seoyoon shook her head in certainty.

“He’s not that kind of person.”

“I’m speaking the truth. I’ll throw in a deep secret. He thinks that he himself is very good looking.”

“He’s the most handsome guy on earth.”

“…”

Lee Hyeyun was confused as if she went through 2 hours of nagging.

‘She is buried in roses.’

Even so, in order to upkeep justice she spoke softly.

“In fact, my brother nags a lot.”

“He does it so that you will do better in life. I understand all that.”

From a young age, Lee Hyeyun thought that her brother getting a girlfriend would never come true. But now, she could see the two spending sweet times very often.

‘For me to survive, I have to become independent as soon as possible.’

*****

Dozens of cameras were waiting in front of Lee Hyun’s residence.

It was like when a Korean star passed through the airport gate!

“Hey, get out of the way!”

“Please stand inside the camera zones.”

The reporters interviewed every single guest that was invited to Lee Hyun’s house.

“I’m finally here. I came from Amsterdam. It is my first time eating Korean ramyun… I am very honored.”

“Today is an awesome, special day. I’ll have something to brag about to my kids back home. Dad is eating ramyun cooked by Weed-nim! By the way, my kids dream of becoming someone like Weed-nim.”

“My dream came true today. I think I’m going to enjoy a splendid dish of ramyun.”

All the guests finished their interview and came inside just before lunch.

Oberon’s presence stood out among them all.

“Hello, I am Oberon.”

A gold-blond young man spoke to him with a smile on his face.

He was handsome like the typical ones seen in magazines or programs.

“Are you really Oberon-nim?”

“Yes. It is a great honor to meet you, Weed-nim.”

“You are very fluent in Korean.”

“I picked it up as a hobby.”

“A hobby? Then, can you speak other languages?”

“Yes. I can speak Chinese, Japanese and French.”

He was good-looking and even intelligent!

Soon, tables were set up in the yard, people were seated and ate Lee Hyun’s ramyun.

“Thank you for the food.”

Lee Hyun’s ramyun was special, cooked with crabs, fish oil and various seafoods in the soup base.

The problem was that it was too delicious.

“Agh! It’s so hot!”

“Oh man. It’s burning hot but it’s so good that I can’t wait for it to cool down.”

“Steak? Pshh. I can eat ramyun for the rest of my life if it tastes as good as this.”

The flavor broke down all international taste bud barriers.

It satisfied the taste buds perfectly and slipped down the throat, giving an unexplainable sense of fulfillment.

– Yes, you’ve done well.

You lived so diligently until now.

Life will throw hardships, but will also be fruitful and happy.

Keep your best foot forward.

It tasted like the soup had a soul and delivered a message!

A spoonful of soup that had a depth of life.

28 people remained seated after they completely finished their bowl. The kimchi and pickled radish were cleared too.

“By chance is there… more ramyun?”

Someone asked carefully.

At this moment, nothing was more important than ramyun.

They wanted another bowl very badly.

Lee Hyun’s forehead twitched, but he had a conscience.

They took the flight from such far places and how heartless it could be if he cooks just one bowl for them.

“If you can wait for a bit, I will return with more.”

“Hurray!”

“Thank you, Weed-nim!”

The ramyun was cooked once again with loud cheers.

The people cleared seconds and thirds right on the spot.

Lee Hyun’s forehead shrivelled gradually, but each time the ramyun came they blew air on the noodles and ate voraciously.

Once their stomachs filled with warm noodles, they began to converse.

It was their first time meeting in real life, but they were close in Royal Road.

“Now that we’ve all tasted the ramyun, don’t you all agree that he shouldn’t have started as a sculptor?”

“Yeah. If he became a cook he would have slaughtered all competitions.”

“I bet the Hermes Guild would have forfeited after tasting his ramyun.”

“There is no ramyun in Royal Road. Maybe a seafood soup.”

“It’s Weed-nim. He can pull out the noodles from dough and it would be easy for him to make the soup base.”

“Using the finest ingredients in Royal Road, the dish would just be the best.”

Lee Hyun’s cooking skills were already famous, and of all the dishes, his best was ramyun.

When he was young, he always cooked the cheapest ramyun.

He had it for breakfast and dinner, thinking about how he could make it taste better, how to keep the noodles firm and juicy by stirring it with chopsticks.

He gave his all to this one pack of ramyun.

That very essence of flavour was delivered to these people.

*****

This ramyun party should have been over with one dish per person!

There were monstrous individuals that ate more than 3, 4 packs, even 7.

They ran out of ramyun halfway and Lee Hyeyun had to go to the store and buy two more boxes.

“Wow… We can film mukbang right here.”

“Hansen-nim. He’s from Netherlands, right? He sure eats a lot.”

So the party that saddened Lee Hyun finally came to an end and Seoyoon served orange juice.

“I don’t know how it will taste. It was freshly squeezed by myself.”

“To what do I owe this honor…”

Of everyone there, they were all males except for two people.

They took the orange juice with two hands like they were blessed.

Lee Hyun was so tired from cooking over 100 servings of ramyun, but he sat down beside Lopez, aka Oberon in Royal Road.

Lopez looked around and spoke.

“It’s such a cozy and warm house.”

“I built a lot of it myself.”

Lee Hyun fixed up his house from time to time.

He bought trees and tiles for decoration, and he also built hen houses and dog homes.

There wasn’t a single corner that didn’t have his fingerprints, but he was never 100% satisfied.

Even those who are happy with plain homes would think the same after seeing Seoyoon’s beautiful adjacent residence.

“I also wanted to build a house but I did not get the chance yet.”

“Is that so? I mean… It’s not easy buying land and building a house.”

Lee Hyun agreed with Oberon.

When he used to live in a semi-basement rent, he wished to own a house of his own.

A wish too big to ask for.

“I am currently living in a worn-down house that I inherited from my family.”

“How old is it?”

“It’s about 150 years old.”

Lee Hyun felt a bad premonition as he listened to Lopez.

Normally, a 150 year-old house would look something like a deserted house that was about to collapse at any moment. However, he caught on the detail that it was a house inherited through generations.

“By chance is the land like 200 pyeong or something?”

“Pyeong? I’m not familiar with the korean measurements. It should be about 290 acres.”

“290 acres… That is quite the number, maybe because it’s an old home.”

Lee Hyun took out his phone immediately and tapped on the calculator.

The result was insane. 355,000 pyeong!

“290 acres?”

“Yes.”

“A house built on such a massive piece of land? Do you run farms as well?”

“I do raise horses. There is also a landing strip?”

“Landing strip?

Lee Hyun heard a word that shouldn’t belong in a house.

“You got a plane at your place?”

“I have a photo of it. Do you want to see?”

Lopez showed him pictures of his home captured in his phone.

It wasn’t a house with a cute sized lawn like the Korean detached homes.

The pictures were taken from the sky on a plane and in those pictures were a landing strip, 3 planes, a massive garden and a mansion.

“This is your home?”

“I have residences in Florida, LA and San Francisco too, but this is my family home.”

Lopez was impressive, an American billionaire!

‘No wonder he has no interest in broadcasts.’

Where would he even consider using the small portions of money from interviews and commercials? He wouldn’t even be able to fill the oil tank on his plane with it.

‘If I was rich like this guy, I wouldn’t regret spending 200 won more on salt. Why would I bother saving? I wouldn’t be able to spend it all no matter how hard I try…’

Lee Hyun couldn’t bear the pain of jealousy that was developing in his lower belly.

“So why did you come all the way to South Korea just for ramyun?”

“Haha. Yeah, because you invited me…”

“Do you not have ramyun at home?”

No matter how rich he was; to Weed he was just a disaster that ate 7 free packs of ramyun!

*****

By the time Weed logged into Royal Road, the fate of the continent was much worse.

Thor, the dwarf kingdom had been focused by Kaybern during that time.

“It’s all over. My mine…”

“My house was destroyed.”

They survived for the time being, but Kaybern’s wrath had just begun and the dwarves began to migrate away from Thor.

The draconic warriors from the lair spread out to various parts of the continent and rounded up more monsters.

Seoyoon compensated the dwarves fairly and housed them.

“A dragon that is redrawing the map… I don’t know how this will end.”

The fact that the dwarf race quest surfaced, the situation was becoming more grave.

“Major cities were destroyed, increase in disasters and number of monsters. We can endure this moment, but when will this all end?”

In the past, the Embinyu Cult attempted to dominate the Versailles Continent entirely.

Weed managed to avoid a critical situation via the quest, but if it hadn’t turned out that way, the entire continent would have been under their control.

“The Hermes Guild managed to stop them but… Even I wouldn’t have been able to overcome them if it wasn’t for that special quest. Wouldn’t the Hermes Guild have had quite the struggle if the Embinyu Cult had some kind of hidden power?”

It would have been quite a scene if the two factions collided, but for certain the Embinyu Cult was a threat to the continent.

Now, no one wanted the continent to be destroyed by the dragon, but it could very well happen.

In Royal Road, anything could happen at any time.

“Why now? Life just got easier for me.”

If the dragon cannot be stopped, the world would face a catastrophic end.

The emergence of the savior quest was no coincidence, as Kaybern’s continual attacks posed a threat to the world itself.

Weed’s heavy thoughts were intruded the next moment.

– Mapan: You are here! The goods are on the way to Ulgor Highlands.

The tremendous amount of treasures stolen from Kaybern’s lair!

Weed’s mouth spread wide into a smile.

“K-hu-hu. I assume you took good care of them?”

– Mapan: Of course. Though there were some dwarves that had a different heart.

The dragon’s treasures were overwhelming and there were greedy dwarves among the group.

It was a crisis back at the lair to the forest fire, and some stole a bit of treasure during the trip but most were found out after reviewing the broadcast footages.

Some lucky ones got away, but nothing could be done.

“I will be on my way.”

Chapter 8: Crisis in Morata

Ulgor Highlands.

It was a high, flat terrain located between Idern, Dale and Thor.

The wagons by Mapan Council and the dwarves gathered neatly at the predetermined location.

Each wagon was completely filled with treasures!

Mapan spoke as he walked with his chubby body heavily dependent on his cane.

“How is it?”

“I feel stuffed just by looking at them.”

Weed had nothing else to say.

The stolen treasures were less than a third of what was inside the lair, but it sure was a massive pile now that they had them laid out across the Ulgor Highlands.

“Unfortunately, we lost 21 wagons during the transportation. Some encountered monsters and others broke down while rushing down the mountain. Changing routes due to the dangerous forest fire had a significant impact as well.”

Weed received Mapan’s heart-throbbing report.

The damages resulted from transporting while being chased by monsters down the steep Ulta Mountain Pass.

“How much inventory did we end up with?”

“About 4000 pieces of equipment. Metal alloys, mineral ores, magic ingredients. We scavenged a variety of goods.”

“That number is excluding the shares to be distributed to everyone who participated in the robbery, correct?”

“Yes. Aside from the equipment to be handed out, the treasures and antiques are being checked for their value. There are too many and I estimate about a week for completion.”

“Fufufu.”

“Ke-heheh.”

Weed and Mapan laughed together.

When they spoke about money, they appeared more similar than close family members.

‘I have to be wary of this man. He could be more dangerous than Bard Ray.’

Close as they were, they were cautious!

If Mapan were to ask for a loan, he would gladly provide with conditions of interest and mortgage.

“Weed-nim, aren’t these items sold at whatever price the seller sets? But, there aren’t going to be that many users that could afford them.”

Just because some people were high-level, it didn’t mean that they stacked great fortune.

There were limited numbers of people that could afford equipment that easily cost over a million gold and most of them had already spent their life savings for the provincial lord positions.

Mapan was worried that the market price would decline when these items went to the auction.

“I’m not going to sell them.”

“You aren’t?”

“Yeah. I’m going to rent them out for now.”

The high-level users will rent these items out even in debt, all in order to come out ahead in the competition against others.

They will hunt diligently every month and pay the rent.

The poor had no choice but to bow before the rich. .

Compared to the people who buy expensive cars and struggle to feed themselves, they had at least one positive point and it was that they grew as they trained in the hunting grounds.

“I’m going to circulate these items and make up for the rent fees and tax income.”

“Darn, I still have so much to learn from you.”

Mapan was truly amazed.

While he was expanding the Mapan Council all across the Versailles Continent, Weed claimed power.

Money and power went hand in hand.

“Fu-hahaha.”

“Huhuhu.”

Herman and Fabio too came running to Ulgor Highlands to observe the treasures.

“The properties on this sword are incredible. There are a lot of unique skills.”

“The dwarf blacksmiths are truly skilled… These are made with such fine-tuning and effort.”

There were items scattered around that even themselves as masters had to put in significant effort to achieve.

Blacksmithing was a job that studied metals and objects to the very limit.

Being masters, their stats increased just by observing the equipment.

“Can you fix up this sword of mine?”

Weed showed the two dwarves the nameless sword he picked up in the dragon’s lair.

“So there was another sword like that one.”

“This sword possesses a conscience, an ego sword. To craft one of these requires a secret technique of a blacksmith.”

Herman and Fabio lifted the sword and nodded.

“The balance is great, no flaws to be seen.”

“Wraps well inside the hand. The grasp feels clean.”

They were short, middle-aged dwarfs with thick forearms, but when they focused on the sword they reeked the look of experts.

In real life, they lived very different lives but in Royal Road they were true masters of sword crafting.

“Misters, I know that you each have a secret blacksmith technique that you hid away.”

“Gasp.”

“Uh. How did you…”

Herman and Fabio’s eyes opened wide in surprise.

Weed gave them a lukewarm look and spoke.

“I was only guessing, but judging by your reaction I was right.”

“…”

For them to have been the most famous dwarf blacksmiths and not own a couple of secret techniques did not make sense. Weed was also aware to some degree of their skills traits.

‘Combat type skills are simple. They’re just more powerful.’

Sword secret techniques are destructive. However, they spent a lot of mana and had a steep growth curve in skill proficiency.

Art type skills had the power of bringing miracles, but they were difficult to acquire and required self-sacrifice with every use.

It was giving oneself for the arts.

These secret skills were obtained through difficult and unorthodox quests.

He thought that the path would be different for blacksmiths.

‘It was a job class reflectant of effort, skill and the final product produced. The blacksmith secret technique will never be achieved without proficiency in crafting swords and armor.’

Each blacksmith would possess at least one secret technique as their speciality.

Even when Weed requested crafting for sword and armor, they never opened that last pocket in their pants!

“I understand. It must be a life’s work for the master. It would never be easy to apply something you’ve acquired over years of training into someone else’s item.”

Weed nodded as if he was sympathetic.

He put them up for competition, but they still left their final card up their sleeve.

It was obvious that even Weed himself wouldn’t have put in his best efforts in creating a sword or armor to be used by someone else.

‘The stitches wouldn’t have held back my jealousy.’

Any equipment crafted by blacksmith masters was excellent. But, a sword crafted in a day compared to another that took a month of sweat and effort are in two different dimensions.

The Sky Ruler’s Armor.

It was an item that they melted themselves into, but their expertise was still in weapons.

Weed slapped his lips wet.

“This is my last request. Awaken this sword and realise its powers. If you can’t accomplish

this request, I will not make any more.”

*****

Fabio and Herman were honestly offended.

They received the best treatments no matter where they went in the Versailles Continent.

“At some point, we are doing all of Weed’s requests.”

“Seriously. We never got the treatment we deserve after completing each task and we get scolded instead.”

Normal blacksmiths would have been enraged and left the spot. However, they were prideful blacksmith masters and could not walk away.

To give up on a client not satisfied with their work was mocking their pride.

Throughout their time in Royal Road, they built up skill, honor and pride.

Herman brushed over the rusty sheath.

“A nameless sword. Aren’t you curious about how it will turn out once we restore it to its original state?”

“I also think it’s worth the challenge. Coincidentally, I have the secret technique for ego swords.”

“I have the property of wind… I could add it in.”

“Let’s make this one into something that will slap his face. So that he will never question our skills again.”

Fabio and Herman decided on restoring the nameless sword into the finest sword, thinking that it would be the best revenge they can take on Weed.

*****

Weed assessed the situation up until now.

There was the half-elf Vishur’s quest for the Brazier of Sacrifice!

There was also the progress of the savior quest and the dwarf race quest through Sculptural Transformation along the quest line.

“I don’t know how much help this will be, but it seems to be related to the dragon.”

Long ago, he encountered the dragon Ratuas and made a sculpture of the silver dragon Yuskellanda.

He pocketed the sculpting materials and made a hefty profit out of it!

< You do not meet the requirements to begin the quest ‘Dragon Ratuas’ Investigator’.
Minimum level of 480 is required.

Dignity and courage is above the minimum requirement of 400.

Essential combat skills haven’t reached advanced level 7.

Quest cannot be accessed. >

Back then, he could not proceed with the quest, but now he was able to.

“Looking back now, this quest is very strange.”

He thought of the conversation he had with Blue Dragon Ratuas.

– Human, how much do you know about Yuskellanda’s death.

“I am a measly sculptor. I know nothing of it. If I ever did, I don’t remember it.”

– It is too early right now. Your abilities are not enough to stop what’s coming.

If you wish for stories, come to me any time. Whether you step up or not, the event will arise. Oh humans that Yuskellanda tried to protect until the end…

Weed felt a tingling sensation.

“Yuskellanda’s death. How it tried to protect the humans until the end bothers me. Maybe Kaybern wasn’t born with its furious mind, but could there be a messed up scheme by the dragons behind all this…?”

Normally, his dangerous suspicions tended to turn out true.

It was just that the reason for his hesitation of going to Ratuas and carrying out the quest preemptively was because there was a possibility that it has no relation to Kaybern whatsoever.

To make matters worse, it may very well become two insanely difficult dragon quests in his hands.

“This is troublesome. Very troublesome.”

Weed thought it was misfortune either way.

If the dragons were to be connected somehow, the scale of this event would be escalated greatly.

There were already monsters wreaking havoc across the entire continent and Thor region was devastated.

So why does it feel like the dragons will start a rampage on Versailles Continent?

“It can’t be. Just my cursed imagination from lack of sleep. Yep. That’s right… No matter how twisted and grindful my fate may be, it can’t turn out that extreme.”

Even so, the humans and dwarves were fully mobilized and moving into an all-out battle against Kaybern.

*****

Robin fell into a deep sense of loss when the Hermes Guild was defeated in Garnav Plains. It was like all the joy in the world had vanished.

“Weed… In the end, he took it all for himself.”

Robin was born the heir of a rich family, but what he truly wanted: Seoyoon and the Versailles Continent both belonged to Weed.

“That guy isn’t anything special…”

Arth City that he governed had been developing healthily recently.

It was located on the main road from the Northern to the Central continent, attracting lots of users to settle.

“This is some village. The townsquare is big and very clean.”

“The walls are sturdy too… Look at the waterways in the residential areas. The city is well organized.”

“A Weapon store, armor store and a general store. The basic stores are at their best quality and the necessities can be found in the market.”

The users that walked by, praised the city which further fueled Robin’s ego.

“Weed-nim is so great.”

“…?”

Robin was confused by the abrupt and out-of-place words.

The users were smiling during their conversation.

“He had it planned from the beginning. The way I see it, he prepared this village because he already knew he was going to conquer the Central continent.”

“Yep. The way he prepares everything in advance so the users are not left with inconvenience is awe-inspiring.”

“Weed-nim is the only person who looks after us so much.”

“It’s so fortunate that Weed-nim is by our side. We are the lucky bunch, having started out in the Northern continent.”

“…?”

The more his city grew, the more Weed was praised.

“How does that work exactly? This city is all mine.”

Robin put up signs at the city entrance so there was no misunderstanding.

– City established by Lord Robin.

Started from scratch like Morata it is thanks to him that the city is so developed. The detailed history of City Arth is…

He inscribed in about 200 lines the history of the city’s development. He also meticulously explained the tremendous fortune that he invested and the social welfare measures for the users.

“Now everyone should acknowledge by accomplishments.”

Robin could now relax and grin a little. But, only a handful of regular users cared to read the sign properly!

“Weed-nim is the best. If Arth is at this level, I am so looking forward to visiting Morata.”

“For sure. I’m going to hunt around this area and then head to Morata. This city has less users so far so it’s easy to train near the city walls.”

“I heard the Earth Palace is great too. Some days you can see the Grass Porridge goddess.

“Oh, you’re right. Let’s go to the Earth Palace first.”

Even users that started out in Arth benefited from all the support plans and only thought of transferring to Morata or the Earth Place.

Those that climbed to the lord positions of nearby regions through the auction frequently visited Arth City.

“You’re incredible. I think this is the best city around this area.”

“It should be deemed number one of the Northern pioneer villages.”

“I want to import some iron. Do you have a surplus?”

Arth City exceeded all nearby regions in terms of population, technology and production.

Being a great distance away from Morata and the Earth Palace, it served as a resting place where users lodged on their journeys between the Northern and Central continent.

Robin’s pride became intolerable when he met other lords.

“Haha, pleasure to meet you. I am always open to trades.”

“I didn’t think the city would develop this quickly. How many new citizens per day?”

“About 1,000 new citizens are being listed daily. Maybe 2,000 on the weekends?”

“Ho, that is impressive.”

“It’s already busy enough trying to expand the residential areas as needed. The roads need expansions, and maintenance for the hunting ground is loved by everybody. Did I mention the redevelopment of the industrial sector? It’s going through an expansion again – it’s only been 3 months.”

A day wasn’t enough to discuss Robin’s development plans for Arth City.

‘Would Morata’s early days have been like this? This city will continue to grow as a foothold that connects the Northern and Central continent for commercial trades and production, and there is always room for the birth of a new kingdom.’

No military strength was worrisome, but he was relieved to think that even the Arpen Empire was established thanks to the support of the users.

‘If I continue to develop the city as quickly as I’m currently doing, there will come a day when the users will acknowledge me. Yeah, nothing is easy from the get go. I’m going to hop on every chance I get, to be on broadcast and bribe the other lords…’

Robin even sold his own stocks to invest into the city.

‘In the eyes of others, it may seem like pure stupidity. However, the worth of Royal Road is immense. I invested everything into the city, and I will be able to make profit in the near future… No one knows what the future will bring.’

He was secretly waiting for Weed’s downfall.

If Morata and the Earth Palace were to be burnt down by Kaybern, he assessed that the value of Arth City in the Northern continent would rise further.

‘I’m sure Morata will become a target too real soon. I don’t know exactly when that will be, but there are under 10 cities left that have a higher development rate than Morata.’

Robin grinned and whetted his knife for the day to come.

*****

At Ulgor Highlands, there was a ceremony that had to take place no matter how busy it was for Weed.

“Swift Coldwind-nim.”

– Coo-coo-coo!

A pigeon descended to the ground.

He was the most outstanding user, now temporarily in the form of a pigeon due to a quest.

“I award you with the speed improving cat’s eye necklace.”

– Thank you, Weed-nim.

“Hurray!”

“You’re the best, Weed-nim!”

The dwarven users lifted their arms high and cheered.

It was an award ceremony for the success of the robbery at Kaybern’s lair.

Weed had different thoughts from his initial entry into the lair.

‘I just want to keep all these to myself. Could I just run off with them?’

He just wanted to throw away his dignity and get on a plane!

But, Mapan was smirking as he stuck right beside him.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh.”

“Hmm-mmm. Are you suspicious of me? You think I’m going to change my mind about distributing the treasures?”

“Huh? I didn’t do anything but just smile. Heheheh.”

Mapan was just forever joyful.

His face was filled with happiness, but his eyes were composed like a quiet lake.

‘You don’t know when this guy might take off. Anything is possible.’

‘Mmm, as expected. He does not let up for even a moment.’

Weed was able to get back to his senses because of it.

Honestly speaking, how ridiculous would it be for the emperor of the Arpen Empire to run away like that with all the treasures?

‘I have so many assets that I am sitting on right now. Treasures might be easier to liquify but… Hmm, yes. I must deal with this free-handedly. But why does it feel like such a shame?’

Weed proceeded with the award ceremony to rid himself of his last, lingering attachment.

“Jartar-nim, you almost lost your life at the lair.”

“It’s nothing. I am already so honored to have participated in your endeavour.”

“This is the armor set that you asked for.”

“I am so grateful.”

The users present at the award ceremony happily received their equipment.

– You do not have to come if it’s too much of a hassle. The equipment can be delivered.

Participation was not mandatory, but everyone who survived starting from dwarves to the avian, architects, Pale and even the assault squad were all present.

It was a miraculous 100% participation!

There was also a separate award ceremony to be held for the deceased users to receive their reward as soon as they could access Royal Road.

– Yes, this is epic.

– Weed and the bandits. Success.

– Laughs and giggles. It’s filled with joy over here.

– While everyone is so happy, it looks like Weed-nim is the only one frowning about giving away the treasures. Are my eyes deceiving me?

– That is called a stiff smile. Also known as the fake smile.

– I don’t think he was doing that earlier.

– He looked determined when it began. Looks like his face is rotting away gradually.

– If I were to give away treasures, that would be a real shame for me too.

– But those were promised upon the success of the mission. Weed-nim always keeps his words so there is no way!

– Weed-nim’s words weigh heavier than anyone else’s. You do see that he’s distributing them right now.

– Can’t you see the screen? His face was crumpled when he was giving away that sword just now.

– Flip to the CTS Media channel right now. They did a close-up on Weed’s face and his eyes were wet.

*****

Park Sunjo had an afternoon lecture and he got on the bus to school like usual.

“Isn’t he the guy…?”

“The senior from our program?”

“I think it’s him.”

He heard whispers going around in the bus unlike the typical days.

Due to his timid personality, there were only a few that knew of him even though he attended the Virtual Reality program at Korea University.

“Um…Excuse me.”

The female student that was sitting in front of him turned around and stirred a conversation.

“Aren’t you the one who was on TV?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, the thief who ventured together with Weed-nim.”

“Y, yes.”

“Oh my god! It is you. This is so crazy.”

Park Sunjo felt like he became a star.

Lots of students grouped around him as he told stories about the adventure until the bus arrived at Korea University.

“Are you close with Weed-nim?”

“He’s just a bro that I know.”

“Do you know him personally?”

“We go to school together. Though he took years off…”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

The fact that he was acquainted with Weed was enough to envy for normal people.

Even in the Virtual Reality program lectures, there were still people around him.

“The treasure we got this time? He gave me a cape and boots. There’s only one of each so I don’t think you will know even if I tell you the names. Properties? Mmm… There were so many of them that I don’t remember. The material they were made from was dragon skin.”

Park Sunjo rose up to be a famous figure of Korea University.

Text messages frequently alerted his phone.

– This is KMC Media. We wish to meet with you sometime with regards to casting you on broadcast. If you could inform us of a location and time of your convenience, our employees will pay you a visit.

– This is CTS Media. We want to organize a show for Nide-nim’s life story and…

Casting from major broadcast networks followed as well.

Just by being Weed’s associate, his life changed completely.

*****

Weed travelled through the sky on Wyvern-Three.

The sunlight was warm, the air was fresh and the breeze was pleasant.

“Ahh, this is nice.”

Through the white clouds he looked down, saw the mountain, trees and the lakes in a harmonious view that refreshed his mind.

– Kuaaagh.

– I’m so tired, master!

Wy-One and the other wyverns behind him struggled to keep up.

He tied the Brazier of Sacrifice to their bodies and was on his way to meet half-elf vishur!

It would have taken a long time if he used a wagon, so instead he chose to fly it over by mobilizing flying creatures.

Weed sewed his leather armor and spoke lazily.

“You guys have to bear it.”

– Why should we?

“Delivery must be fast and precise.”

Wyvern delivery was boastful of its best service!

– But this is too much. It’s too heavy.

– Yeah,  so heavy that I’m going to crash.

“Does whining make things any easier for you? I’ve done delivery before and I’m telling you its not that bad. Just do it!”

Weed thought he seemed like a supervisor but he was enjoying it.

Other people may criticize his behavior, but being able to boss people around was very pleasing.

“Just hold on for a little longer.”

– Aren’t we still far from the destination?

“Yeah. Still, I have to tell you to hold for a bit longer. It’s better than telling you to hold for a long time.”

– Kyaaagh!

Wyvern-One screamed furiously.

Unlike the baraags that did exactly as they were told, they were sassy.

They were wyverns said to scare children who were already crying!

“Are you taking your anger out on me?”

– … No.

“I think you were.”

– That’s not true.

“You respect me right?”

– Y… Yes.

Weed continued sewing as he flew to Baroque Mountain Pass Forest.

Half-elf Vishur stayed back in this forest in order to recover her lost powers.

“Over there.”

Weed led the wyvern group and descended to the forest.

“I have returned with the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“So this is it. You recovered it so quickly.”

“Kaybern had it in its possession. I got assistance from the dwarves.”

Weed explained that he recovered the brazier from Kaybern’s lair through the mine built and excavated by dwarves, intentionally leaving out the part about how that process flowed into robbing the lair.

“I can sense pure heat from this brazier. It’s as if life itself is lit constantly.”

< Dwarven Precious Treasure Complete.

Half-elf Vishur said that the Brazier of Sacrifice was required to defeat the Black Dragon Kaybern.

The miracle of the brazier that is fueled by life.

Through the adventure, the savior discovered what the brazier was and finally recovered it. >

< You have gained a level. >

< Honor increased by 25,000. >

< The completion of the near-impossible adventure granted permanent special reward.

Maximum health points increased by 500.

Maximum mana increased by 1,000. >

It was quite a hefty gain!

Experience points were important, but as he started out with the sculptor known for low health stats, it was better that he gained little more health points.

‘This isn’t half bad.’

That being said, the biggest gain was the treasure he stole from Kaybern’s lair.

Magic items or mages, dwarven masterpieces, precious jewels.

Weed set aside a warrior set, hunter set and mage set fir himself.

There were equipment that could only be worn by special monsters, but even those could be worn by Weed through Sculptural Transformation.

80% of the weapons and armor taken out of the lair were item level 800 to 900.

Some equipment could not be worn even by Weed, and they were so expensive that most users could only see it on display.

Now that he had ownership of these items, it was inevitable that his hunting or training rate would hit a spike.

For a long time he would never feel disappointed in his equipment.

Vishur spoke to him with glowing eyes.

“Even with the brazier in our possession, our powers are not enough to defeat Kaybern. We need to gather comrades.”

“Are there any candidates out there capable enough to fight the dragon?”

“Knatul who lives near the frozen ocean in the North. If I can meet him, he will help us.”

“Knatul?”

“He is a barbarian with huge fists and unrivaled defence. He battles endlessly with the freezing pillars of wind. Also, fairy knight Malin will be a huge asset if he were to become our comrade.”

Blink!

< To find comrades who will fight together…
The cold lands where there are no human footsteps.
Go to the land inhabited by barbarians in white animal hides and find Knatul.
He who wields his two fists as weapons is the mighty hero of the barbarians!
Fairy knight Malin, the lover of elegant beauty, will be in the deepest pond garden.
Meet and talk to them with half-elf Vishur.

Difficulty: S
Quest Requirement: The hero who saves the continent
Highest adventure reputation. >

Weed nodded.

If there were warriors who could stand in front for such a dangerous mission, he was ready to invite tons.

“They will be a great help in stopping Kaybern once they join us. I will hurry with the search.”

< You have accepted the quest. >

The quest for slaying the dragon.

Powerful individuals not yet known to the continent were about to gather.

– Mapan: A barbarian with white animal hide? If it says a cold land where humans do not tread, I think you would have to consider the wild regions.

Weed proceeded with the quest and actively gathered information.

If there was a variety of information, the mission time could be reduced significantly.

– Chase: I think it is the glacial region north of Liselit Mountain Pass. The land is frozen with over 1 meter of piled snow. I’ve heard intel that tough barbarians that battle against gigantic monsters inhabit those lands.

Information gathered fast even for locations they only heard for the first time. The other adventurers were to assist in confirmation and additional help.

*****

Lafaye was living in the ruin of the Hermes Guild.

The users comprised the main battle force. Over 700,000 elite users were dwindling in number from the Haven regions.

“It seems that they have transferred to Gradian where Myul is. After all it is burdening to be playing in the Central continent like nothing happened. Over 20,000 have already made the migration. Hundreds are following each day.”

Lafaye smirked after hearing from Arkhim.

“He turned his back on us now that we’ve weakened…”

“Shouldn’t we give orders for his return?”

“What if he refuses?”

“Then we put him on the wanted list.”

“Who would hunt him down, the guild members who already escaped Haven territories?”

Arkhim’s expression stiffened.

Throwing someone on the wanted list for migrating over the border to the Arpen Empire was going to bring unimaginable consequences.

“The runaways will continue further away from Haven territory, and battles will occur no matter the Central or North continent. If normal users intervene, the safety of our hunters will be at stake.”

“What’s worse is if the guild members that set out to hunt were to never come back.”

Users hating on the Hermes Guild was nothing new, but they were blamed for Kaybern’s deed. The Hermes Guild members knew that as well and tried any way they could to break away from Haven territory.

*****

Yoo Byung Jun realized that the world he knew changed after he personally tried Royal Road.

Eating reminded him of the food in Royal Road and observing the people outside his building did the same.

‘Their levels must be higher than mine. Daring to be higher level than the creator himself…’

He was the one who invented Royal Road.

After he spanned out the technical structure, he built up the details with AI as the foundation.

‘I should have tried this sooner.’

Sitting idly made his body all itchy, urging him to log into Royal Road.

He wanted to hunt monsters like rabbits, squirrels and foxes in the novice regions.

‘Should I use a bow for the quick footed monsters? Most of them run away so fast that it’s not easy to hunt.’

He spent more time surfing through auction sites than the time he actually spent on Royal Road. To ensure he had plenty of time, he cut down on sleep.

– Title: Selling 3,000 gold. Waiting at Morata. Insta-transaction.

– Title: Selling iron sword. Work of blacksmith Babtus.

– Title: Binryong town square. Trading up for 10 minutes. 17% mana recovery ring.

Overall, the novice items seemed relatively common, but some had 1 or 2 higher attack damage or special properties.

< Selling Marksman Bow.
Level 10 restriction.
15 attack damage.
Increases accuracy of close and mid-range by 43%.

It will hit most of the time.
We can’t aim long range anyway, haha.
It also has 10% quickdraw and 5% penetration.

I’m desperate for some cash so I will sell to whoever bids highest before the end of today! >

“I landed one!”

The pleasure of looting an item after surfing through the auction sites!

Yoo Byungjoon instantly checked out the maximum price range set by the seller.

“10 million won?”

The bid had started with 10,000 won.

Marksman bow usually sold for 30,000 to 40,000 won so the starting bid was just for courtesy.

“That’s really cheap.”

It seemed very inexpensive for Yoo Byungjoon.

With that bow in his hands, he could land several more shots on those sly rabbits.

That in itself was a great gain for him.

< You have purchased the item. >

He collected decent items for each part of the character and bought various weapons like swords, spears and axes.

– Professor, you are showing the typical traits of addiction on Royal Road.

The AI alert signaled.

“Addiction?”

– Yes. Current state addiction stage 1 with possible sleep disorder and insufficient exercise. Rest is recommended.

Yoo Byung Jun was annoyed by the AI alert.

“I don’t have many years to live anyway, so I’m going to do what I want.”

– That is also plausible.

“…”

The AI acknowledged it without much of a backbite!

Yoo Byung Jun started out in Morata without much thinking, but now he deemed it to have been the best decision.

“Let’s buy everything.”

It was the best city for a novice to spend real currency.

From weapons and armor to production tools and food, all sorts of items were being traded.

Like the saying that late flings are scary, he spent more time spending real currency and buying items across the townsquare instead of hunting.

“So this is the joy of life. I think I can live happily with just Royal Road.”

– You’ve entered addiction stage 2.

*****

Seoyoon governed the Arpen Empire and learned about the logistics and the people.

When she was only looking over the Northern regions, she just had to develop the city, but there were more things that needed attention now that the lands expanded and monsters increased in numbers.

Fortunately, Yurin followed her like she was her own little sister and helped out whenever she could.

“Hey sis, Eton Village sent a request for investment. First time hearing about this village.”

“Eton Village is located on the eastern shorelines. You can see it if you go south from Port Varna, and the shorelines are beautiful with a rich fishery from what I remember.”

Seoyoon rode on Wy-Three and travelled to various parts of the Northern continent.

“If a sea route were to be established it would have the potential to grow into a midpoint stop for all sea trade. I need to look into investing actively.”

“Wow, sis. You can see all that?”

“Yeah. You will be able to do it too once you’ve got more experience.”

Seoyoon responded with a gentle smile.

That smile was extremely beautiful, causing Yurin to lose her mind for a moment.

It was like her conscience just melted away.

‘She is really beautiful.’

Yurin thought that her brother was dating someone very pretty and kind.

‘Truthfully, my brother and sis were people with walls in their hearts…’

It was a mystery as to what triggered their hearts to intertwine with one another!

Broadcast stations also tried to delve into that secret, but it was impregnable.

Weed and Seoyoon’s relationship.

How they first met and how they began dating was an issue all viewers wanted to know about.

‘Last time, he cooked ramyun for sis separately and even put in a large egg.’

Yurin was paying close attention to the small things at home.

For her cheapskate brother it was an unbelievable change, and Yurin thought that it was love.

“Sis, how’s sandwiches for lunch?”

“Sandwiches?”

“Yep. I found a really good place near the palace!”

Upon Yurin’s suggestion, they decided on sandwiches for lunch. When work was really busy they had light lunch, but it was nice to search for good restaurants.

Wherever Seoyoon went, she unintentionally promoted the places and that were helpful for the development of the Earth Palace.

Someone expressed an opinion that there was no need for artwork in the Earth Palace because of Seoyoon’s presence.

“Wow… Uh… Ha….”

“Out of this world, otherworldly.”

“She’s shining even in broad daylight. She is just radiant.”

“She looks unbelievable up close. It’s puzzling how a human being can look that beautiful. Seriously.”

People travelled the Northern continent and had to stop by the Earth Palace because it was a chance to see Seoyoon in person. There were people standing on the streets and even on rooftops.

“Psh. She probably fixed herself everywhere from head to toe.”

“I don’t know just how many stats she spent on appearance and charm. Maybe 300? 400? She couldn’t have invested over 500.”

“I heard she looks nice even in person.”

“Plastic surgery.”

Many people spoke carelessly out of jealousy.

Yurin frowned after hearing the words coming from a distance.

“Sis, don’t you get angry hearing that kind of stuff?”

“I don’t know. Should I be angry? I’ve been told I was pretty since I was 5 years old, so I don’t want to react to anything about my looks.”

“…”

She was just alway beautiful from the moment she was born and had grown accustomed to praise and accusation alike..

Seoyoon knew that her appearance was the wall that prevented people from getting close to her.

Envy, jealousy, admiration, obsession.

They made her vigilant against people in the past, but now she was fine.

There were now people by her side that melted her frozen heart and made many memories with her.

“This is so delicious.”

Seoyoon smiled brightly as she ate the sandwich.

*****

The economists of the Grass Porridge Cult finally figured out Kaybern’s order of destruction.

“Mistress. Morata will follow.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. The last thing that needed confirmation was the city quest. It weighed less than development, population or economy but the city quest was a factor. The regional influence was quite significant. The nobles and highly reputable users of the citizens were also involved.”

The economists pulled out two full A4 sheets of formula calculation.

It was a complex formula determining Kaybern’s targets, and even before the announcement there was a commotion among themselves.

“Even when we submitted a thesis to the world’s best academic journal, Journal of Finance, we didn’t have something this precise.”

“Of all the people who verified it, 300 were university professors.”

“We were so delayed because we perfected it so much.”

“Anyways, we pulled off an amazing job.”

At the weekly conference led by American economists, they analyzed Kaybern’s next target.

They celebrated the intellectual accomplishment, but the public did not even look at the formula.

They merely skimmed through all the complex symbols and figures they’ve seen for the first time!

– Insane. Mistress will be destroyed in 17 days and Morata is next.

– Wow… Morata’s fate is only a few weeks…

– According to the statement, it was so fortunate that not many quests regarding the city reputation were carried out. If the city had a long history, it would have been destroyed way beforehand.

– Let’s go tour Morata before it’s too late. Go visit if you haven’t already.

– Don’t come, everyone! The gap is only 3.6% compared to Mistress. Morata might be destroyed first if we aren’t careful.

– That’s it. The holy land of the North…

The news heated up the Northern users.

Morata was their homeland and the founding city of the Arpen Empire.

The news of that very Morata being destroyed brought great shock to the users.

*****

Before moving to the dwarf village, Weed hunted for the time being and gathered information about Knatul and Malin.

He raked information with the Mapan Council at the Great Library of Morata and also received reports from adventurers.

In the meantime, he heard the statement from Grass Porridge Cult.

“Is the destruction date of Morata guaranteed?”

– Mapan: The economists are said to have put their entire career on the line. Kaybern is going to destroy the capitals of the old kingdoms in the Central continent before reaching Morata. The thing is that if we destroy a part of Morata intentionally, that could push it back down the priority list and buy some time.

Destroying Morata with their own hands.

Crumbling landmarks and facilities and driving out the population would reduce the development rate and allow the city to be pushed back from Kaybern’s priorities.

Even so, it would only buy them a week or two.

“It’s a meaningless option.”

– Mapan: Still, Couldn’t we move the landmarks to somewhere nearby in that time? If all the architects put in their time and effort, I am certain that we can transport the landmarks entirely to a nearby location.

Except for the Dark Giant Star, 99% of the buildings were new with little history, but loved by the users nonetheless.

There was the Light Tower, sculptures and several Great Landmarks.

“In light of that fact, I will not agree to destroying the city to gain time.”

Weed didn’t think there was a noticeable difference even if they could earn more time.

Morata was his first Northern city too and he had a deep attachment, but delaying the destruction of Morata would mean another city of similar development would be destroyed.

Cheating time by moving landmarks elsewhere, wouldn’t save Morata, the new location could never be the city they knew and loved. Honestly, the tremendous expense of moving would be the same as rebuilding Morata after its destruction.

‘So Kaybern will reach Morata after all. I knew that day was coming.’

Weed did not want to lose Morata.

The city was the start of the Arpen Empire.

That was something he couldn’t just let go of, that easily.

If someone talked about the Arpen Empire, Morata was always mentioned and if that place were to disappear off the continent, stories of Arpen would feel empty.

He grew attached to the back streets and the plank houses of Morata.

All the money he earned through the years of Royal Road was invested to develop the city.

Great Landmarks were a given, and even now it was breathtaking for him to see the commercial buildings he had raised from stone blocks.

The city Weed considered home was about to turn into ashes.

‘I want to protect Morata. I’m sure the Northern users are thinking the same.’

Unlike the Central continent, where it was easy to travel to other cities, Morata was a centerpoint in the North where the majority of the population lived.

If the years when everyone lived together in Morata did not exist, the Grass Porridge Cult or the culture of the Northern users would not have been established.

‘I cannot afford to relax right now. I have to proceed with the quest as soon as possible.’

Weed realized the clock was ticking.

He wanted to stop the dragon and defend Morata if possible.

“Chase-nim, I heard you travelled to the east. How is your situation?”

– Chase: I believe the other adventurers and I will reach The Ring of Fire in two days.

“It will be dangerous, so be careful.”

– Chase: Now that you mention it, the volcanic ashes are filling the sky already. Thank you very much for your concern.

The adventurers travelled to the Ring of Fire to learn about Landony.

Kaybern wasn’t the only problem, so a sliver of information could be vital.

“Haruna-nim, have you discovered anything?”

– Haruna: I’m sorry! Nothing yet. I will hurry as much as I can.

“I know it’s late, but thank you for your assistance.

– Haruna: Huh? Yes! I will do my best.

Haruna who was scolded badly back at the dragon’s lair was knocked out by Weed’s whisper.

– Haruna: I am on my way to investigate the Fairy Garden and I will let you know soon.

Seechwi, Geomchi2 and the other apprentices roamed the land of the orcs.

“Brother, how is it over there?”

– Geomchi2: The orcs were all killed off. Hmm… The dragon seems extremely violent.

“The Red Dragon is told to be the worst in terms of temper.”

– Geomchi2: Though I think the girlfriend has done something.

“Your wife?”

Geomchi2 was speechless for a second.

He was very content each time Seechwi was referred to as his wife.

– Geomchi2: It seems to be related to the dragon… I think we scored.

*****

“Sheeeek!”

Seechwi went around the rundown orc huts and searched for Landony’s tracks.

‘I can’t figure it out. What is Landony’s objective? Some kind of treasure in the hands of the orcs?’

Nothing was intact inside of the orc huts wiped away by the Red Dragon. The grounds were crushed and pummeled, forcing them to scavenge through the dirt for remains.

‘I don’t know what it is searching for. If something was indeed here, wouldn’t it be with Landony already?’

Nothing could be found in the remains.

Adventurer Spenson, who she met in Morata, used his inspection skill, but he shook his head.

“I can’t do it, big sis.”

“Sheek. Nothing?”

“Yeah. When this inspection skill reaches advanced level 6 it shows you what happened in the past, but mine is only level 3.”

“Is Chase-nim busy? Sh-sheek!”

“He’s on his way to the Ring of Fire with the other adventurers, and nothing would change if he was here. He could only look at traces of the dragon destroying this place. If we find an object related to the dragon, the inspection skill will discover something… But this place was wiped out completely and nothing is left.”

Tracking the dragon was a failure.

‘It’s not like we can meet the dragon… I’m an orc so it’s a shame that I can’t train my tracking or inspection skills. Are orcs really that unfit for adventures?’

Seechwi was sulking in defeat.

‘I’m such a fool. I think I was underestimating Royal Road.’

She only thought of chasing and finding tracks. For an excellent and reputable adventurer it was viable, but not for her.

‘If we can’t find something from the remains left by the dragon here, shouldn’t I find something from the dragon’s opposing side?’

It seemed probable that she could find some tracks in Landony’s route. At the very front to be precise.

The Plains of Despair had a surface area that equaled three kingdoms of the Central continent put together. Moreover, the reproduction rate of orcs was insane so their kind spread wide over the continent.

‘There would be a tribe that knows about the secret. Orcs with some link to Landony would be extremely rare. What to do in order to find them?’

There definitely would be orcs with a lead in such a vast land.

– Fierce Pigeon: Alright.  I will take flight across the Plains of Despair.

She paid the avians and scouted the inhabitants of the orc villages.

– Fierce Pigeon: Most of the orcs are scattering due to Landony’s invasion. There are some hiding into the caves. Nothing unusual as they are just orcs fleeing out of fear. But…

“What is it? Sheek!”

– Fierce Pigeon: Unusual movement sighted. Normally, orcs move altogether as a tribe.

“Shu-ek! What about it?”

– Fierce Pigeon: There was an orc tribe that scattered in all directions, to avoid Landony.

“As if Landony was targeting them? Sh-sheek!”

– Fierce Pigeon: That is correct. They are on the run and it is difficult to close the distance.

Seechwi set out her objective and ran towards the Plains of Despair.

Her muscular orc frame allowed her to reach tremendous speeds!

At last, she found the tribes that were related to Landony.

*****

– Malsa Village was destroyed. We urge for restoration.

– A monster swarm marching towards Levento Village. Request for immediate reinforcements.

– Just received a report that Jun City is undergoing a siege.

Inside the office located inside the Earth Palace, Seoyoon was putting in her best efforts, but could not stop the situation from getting worse.

In the time Weed was carrying out his quest, the fate of the Arpen Empire was sinking.

The newly appointed lords criticised the Empire.

– Ropener: The behavior of the new lords is suspicious. I went out with them for beer, and they were questioning Weed-nim and the Arpen Empire’s abilities.

Ropener secretly transferred from the Hermes Guild in the past!

He was one of the few in the Arpen Empire that could be trusted with the Central continent.

Seoyoon tried grit her teeth and tried to bear it, since resolving the situation with Kaybern was of utmost priority.

– Ropener: but their level of criticism is too much… Some are saying that it was better when they were in the Hermes Guild, and that the empire is not keeping up with all the money it was fed. Shouldn’t I take some measures against that?

It was a tough call for Seoyoon to make.

She did look after the internal affairs, but she was not comfortable trying to contain the lords.

“There is a lot of complaining among the lords. Shouldn’t we calm them down anyway we can?”

Seoyoon delivered the message to Weed with a big expression of concern.

Weed took Bahamorg, Seasoned Crab and Pale for hunting even during his quest.

– Weed: It’s already exhausting dealing with the dragon and Morata, and now the lords…

“We have to calm them down somehow.”

– Weed: I mean, all the bad and annoying things happen all at once. Are the Northern lords complaining too?

“It doesn’t seem that way. We persevered through the tough times together.”

– Weed: Then it must be the newly appointed lords.

“That’s right.”

– Weed: I’ll be on my way after the hunt, so summon them all to the Earth Palace.

*****

The Arpen Empire administration conference was quickly called for by Weed’s command!

The lords of the Northern, Central continent and the tribal chieftains of the Southern deserts arrived at the Earth Palace.

The South was near its completion with the ‘Birth of the Pallos Empire’ quest, slowly taking the shape of a nation.

The tribal chieftains of the deserts were more aware of reality than anyone else.

‘At this point in time, the Arpen Empire is the leader. Go against Weed and you won’t survive.’

‘The South has a tiny population… What’s more is that most of the warriors of the region are deeply connected with Weed.’

‘Independence? Cause a revolution? My members will try to kill me before that happens.’

They were the closest allies of Weed, Geomchi and the apprentices that accomplished the ‘Birth of the Pallos Empire’ quest.

Nowadays, the top elite warriors of the continent chosen for hunting Kaybern were training in the South.

It was the means to unite the deserts and though it wasn’t intended primarily as an active display of power, the watchful others succumbed naturally.

‘Other than the Hermes Guild, the skilled users of Royal Road are all following Weed.’

‘In reality, the deserts we live in now… It was really Weed that established them, that there is a connection with the orcs in the east. Where on the continent has Weed not touched?’

‘Weed has public popularity but that is not all. His grudges are long-winded and he always pays them back. I don’t know what he’s going to pick on, so let’s be careful.’

The desert tribal chieftains decided to sit quietly through the conference and took their leave.

Roam, Carlise, Michel, Sherwood, Gunter. The major lords too could have boasted their influence and tried to control the atmosphere, but they kept to their seats instead.

‘Nothing good will come from drawing Weed’s attention.’

‘Stay quiet. The cornered stone meets the chisel.’

People who experienced it firsthand knew very well.

The ones going around chattering were the new lords that knew nothing about the world and also the first time running a city.

“Hahaha, you are the lord of the city in Britton.”

“I still haven’t figured out every corner of the neighborhood, but I will treat you to some spectacular wine when you visit.”

“Sounds great. Royal Road is a prosperous world, ain’t it? Huahaha.”

The new lords were confident and loquacious in the conference room.

The major lords just kept their silence observing the fools.

“Weed-nim is entering the room.”

Finally, the emperor of Arpen Empire Weed’s entrance!

He equipped the most fancy looking items from the loot he gained after the dragon’s lair.

‘Although it’s annoying, a luxurious appearance is needed at times. Like a CEO that exploits the part-time workers.’

Weed’s outfit was a plain traveller’s attire, but he was wearing a sizeable jewelled crown that he brought from the lair. As an emperor, he wanted to give off the right impression.

*Tap!*

All lords stood up from their seats and greeted him.

“We are your humble servants, emperor!”

“Please have your seats. Next time, I hope that we can have a more comfortable atmosphere. We will forego the formalities, emperor, your highness and the like. That’s just too burdensome.”

Weed spoke softly with a smile, and the new lords thought he was a generous man.

‘He’s probably a chump with no experience in society. He may be swell with adventures, but politics is a different story. The one who wields his cause will win the pot.’

‘Ruling cannot be done with just the power of youth. Though the Hermes Guild failed, their direction was right.’

The newly lords were appointed by paying for their seats and therefore mainly comprised of the rich or their following generations.

In addition, there were a considerable number of lords that were originally lords in the Hermes Guild.

‘Earth Palace? I may just be able to expand my influences starting here.’

‘My ambition cannot end with just a tiny city. Since my level is low and hunting is a hassle, I just wanted to run a city here and there. But with such temptations before me….’

The eyes of the lords glittered with the greed of ambition.

The lord appointment did not take into factor people’s attitudes or reputation, hence it was an inevitable side effect!

Some turned their eyes to Seoyoon who walked in together with Weed.

‘The Grass Porridge Goddess… The name sounds silly but she is so beautiful that she just captivated me. I’m looking at her right now and I can’t believe it. Maybe I’ll have a shot at her. No woman doesn’t like money and power.’

‘The Arpen Empire is not rooted properly yet. I have to talk a lot and spread my influence. So that people will take note of my suggestions. This is politics.’

The ambitions of these lords were growing rapidly in the conference room.

“The matter to be discussed today is the additional eradication plans of monsters in locations with unstable security and the road construction that will link the cities.”

With a relaxed voice, Weed raised the matter of securing internal transportation routes for the Central and Northern continent.

Road construction was more important the worse the security.

It was highly likely that typical users encountered monsters or bandits while crossing mountains and fields.

If roads were established, users could group together and travel through the same routes, making it safer and much faster.

For merchants, the roads were vital in their large transports with wagons in their trades.

“The first location for road construction is…”

“Hold on.”

Harold raised his hand.

He was the lord of Castle Sisley, the center of the Free City in Britton.

“There is something we have to address first. The reason we became lords is because of the trust we have in the Arpen Empire. As you know, we spent fortunes. Then, we are taking tremendous losses as the monsters broke out. We are all afraid of when Kaybern might destroy our cities. Bluntly speaking, the governing isn’t anywhere close to our expectations. Shouldn’t you apologize to everyone on this matter?”

“…”

Silence overwhelmed the banquet hall of the Earth Palace.

There were many places suffering from Kaybern and the monsters, but for him to publicly criticize Weed right off the bat.

Harold looked around and smirked.

“I know there are many others that think the same but cannot voice themselves. I am merely speaking out for them, so please do not misunderstand. Personally, I am your fan.”

Chapter 1: As The Emperor Wishes

They were in the administration conference of the Arpen Empire.

The lords listened attentively to Harold’s speech and criticism of Weed.

‘Weed has fame and is highly regarded by the public. Hence we cannot exercise force like with the Hermes Guild.’

‘Harold’s words may sound plausible, but it is really a load of rubbish. We were appointed as lords after Kaybern began his move. How did an idiot who knows nothing about the current circumstance become a lord?’ Then again, it is true that we are suffering because of the monsters… It is a justified point to bring up. Now, Weed took a blow so how is he going to respond?’

‘For Weed, he’s going to end up with more losses than gains no matter how he resolves this. He’ll be hit hard.’

The conference was being streamed live, it was a one-sided situation with Weed on the defensive.

If he were to get furious his popularity would be impacted, and if he were to stand down he would be looked down upon.

Expecting generosity from the lords or even convincing them were not possible solutions to begin with. Harold would endlessly bite his tail and chew at Weed’s mistakes.

‘Continuous instigated criticism could put an innocent man behind bars. This is what defines politics, ya punk.’

As the grandson of a rich family, Harold loved to use adroit speech even in the world of finance. He also liked being the leader in a crowd and had an ambition to take control of the atmosphere of this very conference, spreading his reputation across Versailles Continent.

Weed just stared blankly for a while.

New lords caught his expression and were disappointed yet found it peculiar.

‘Is he lost about how to react?’

‘He should just get furious, if anything.’

‘He’s a newbie, as expected. The assumption that he would be weak in politics was right after all.’

*****

Roam’s chest trembled with anxiety. He participated in the lords conference held in the Earth Palace and watched the silent Weed who faced the opposing lords.

“Weed-nim must be more mindful of establishing public security.”

“Aren’t you spending too much time in the North? Are you not aware that monsters are rampant in the Central Continent?”

“Kaybern’s Lair. The treasures you stole from that place; how about you distribute them to us, too? At the most minimal level of compensation for damages!”

As Weed stood idle, several new lords stepped up after Harold.

The scene of these people pacing the atmosphere to their accord was too ominous and awkward.

‘These crazy idiots. Have you no sense poking up that man? You’d rather take on the Hermes Guild with bare fists. No. They’d have it better going up to Kaybern and call it a lizard.’

Nowadays, their faction was weakened and assassination orders just weren’t possible, and as for the dragon it would all end if it just died once.

Weed however, was truly the most powerful ruler of the Arpen Empire.

He took on the appearance of a just, benevolent adventurer but his true form a villain who had no boundaries in his devious and vicious tricks.

Roam met eyes with Carlise who was watching with his jaw dropped. They understood each other just by the stare.

‘They are all out of their minds.’

‘I know. Let’s stay put, aside from this atmosphere.’

‘We have to stay under the blanket at times like this.’

‘Mmm, that is indeed the best for us. This is a really dangerous situation.’

They never thought once of supporting these foolish rookie lords who can’t even access the situation.

‘Still, what if Weed blows up in such an official event? I mean, it’s good for me as I have to expand my influences… But, why am I feeling so uneasy?’

Those that felt the same as Loam exchanged whispers carefully with one another.

– Gunter: This is going to get ugly.

– Michel: These fools have no understanding of Weed. That man is not at all afraid of the public. He manipulates people like it’s nothing.

– Sherwood: I agree. They are all unaware of Weed’s personality and his abilities. They may believe he became the ruler of the continent out of sheer luck. The same kind of idiots who know nothing about anything and comment online anyway.

– Roam: He’s determined and ferocious. Does that man look like someone who will take a blow and walk away? Moreover, Royal Road is not subject to the politics of the real world.

Politicians could make promises about anything and take no responsibility in the real world. However, Royal Road was different.

– Roam: No matter what happens, we must stand by Weed.

– Carlise: Of course. I worked so hard to get my faction back on its feet. Weed isn’t a man who will endure these dull-toothed piranhas for long.

– Michel: Unless a whole lot of time passes and he loses motivation. They’re courting death by trying to intimidate a beast at its prime.

– Sherwood: The lord of Castle Sisley surely dug his own grave.

The leaders of the prestigious guilds believed that Weed was capable of anything. Their hearts raced as they watched, hoping to not get caught in the crossfire.

“We are not enough to defend against the monsters. Supply us with reinforcements, or give us the treasures you stole from the lair.”

“Kaybern is putting the entire world in danger. It is unfair that one person hogs all the treasures stolen from that very dragon. Do you not believe we all have a share in that?”

“You are ripping off taxes when you can’t even protect us lords. If this is to continue, we must have something in return!”

The new lords wandered way over the line.

The one thing Weed hated more than anything was free riding!

He knew such a day would come.

‘This world is too harsh for someone to live kindly. I took money in exchange for lord seats and that is why those men are here now.’

In the name of duty fees he sold lord seats. It was inevitable that these ungrateful wolves after a serving of good will, would pounce for more.

‘The lord appointment would have had its drawbacks no matter what route I took. But, if they want to come straight at me, I will do my honors to stomp them.’

The new lords by level were novices and had no influence on the public. They were appointed lords by Weed himself and they were truthfully insignificant.

*****

Weed quietly heeded to the complaints of the lords and smirked.

“Hu-hu-hu-hu.”

His laugh was threatening, as he took out a sculpting knife and a wood block.

Sss-skid.

The sculpture that quickly took form resembled Harold, and the quick and precise knife movement stole the attention of the lords.

“Woah, that’s…”

“It’s the same as what I saw online. It’s so fast when looking at it in person.”

It was something he did countlessly as a sculptor.

Easily he made a sculpture that looked identical to Harold.

Weed slowly looked around the space and made eye contact with the lords.

He was looking for a lord who had the nerve to try and stare him down.

‘I can tell from the faces that there are a few. A few that will not stop at free riding and steal from my pockets too…’

Weed’s voice spread gently through the room.

“I am aware that some inequalities have arisen in the Arpen Empire. I am doing the best of my abilities to prevent Kaybern and the monsters, but a solution is nowhere close. I understand that you all are disappointed.

Harold looked down on him even further now that Weed was apologizing.

‘Was this guy this stupid? In politics, you can’t take back a step or admit a mistake knew this guy was some raw country punk, but to think that I would completely roll him over…’

Even more, he thought that Weed made his sculpture for him as an apology.

‘K-haha. This kid was such a pawn.’

Even a beast was nothing more than a household pet if it didn’t know how to use its sharp claws and teeth.

Harold instead was thinking about changing his approach.

‘Actually, maybe I should be a bit more gentle. If I stand on his side and encourage the Arpen Empire… Maybe that would land me second seat to the throne. I could also ride on a better tide in future situations.’

It was when Harold was trying to calculate various scenarios.

Weed put forth his hand that was holding the sculpture.

“But, Lord Harold.”

“Yes?”

“Speaking of yourself, just how much have you done as lord?”

“What do you mean by that?”

Harold shrivelled his eyebrows and responded.

Weed then took the sculpting knife and struck down on the sculpture in resemblance of Harold.

Sh-wack!

The detailed sculpture split in two and the air in the room froze cold.

It was quick and decisive.

Without a hint of hesitation, the way he slashed the sculpture was violent and had indomitable force.

Weed stood from his seat and stared at the lords one by one. Unlike before, they were afraid.

“It sure wasn’t easy to govern the Arpen Empire. Especially when the war had just ended and territories expanded all the while the dragon’s threat. This crisis is ongoing and I cannot afford the luxury of keeping lords that have nothing better to do than blame others.”

“Blaming? All I did was rightfully criticize you in my perspective as a lord.”

Harold expressed as if he was being victimized to turn the tides, but Weed continued without reserve.

“Rightful criticism? All of you in this room know what I have done until this point. Every day I roamed the continent and eradicated monsters and carried out quests to stop Kaybern.”

Of course he did pull off a robbery too, but Weed saw that as par the course; he was on a hunt to grind down the multiplying monsters.

‘I did all that for my own gains… But it’s not like I didn’t pull any effort to defend the continent.’

Weed smacked his lips wet.

“You ignore the quests and hunts that I have done until now. You ignore the many peoples who appreciated my heart and efforts from the frozen lands of the North and who helped me on this journey. Together we threaded one needle at a time and built the Arpen Empire from the ground up.

The reason I conquered the Central Continent and appointed lords was because it was a necessary measure to make the Arpen Empire a better place.

I sold lord seats for money. I get it. There are many of you that questioned if that was the way to go.”

“…”

The lords were silent like babies with suckers in their mouths.

It was the Arpen Empire that offered these seats for money, but the ones who bought them were also subject to criticism from the public.

Weed had achievements and progress under his belt that backed him up, but the lords had weak justification.

“Do you think that I sold those seats to you all because I was short on personal finances? That is not the case. Eh-hem. There were many abandoned cities in the Arpen Empire that were about to be invaded by monsters. There were many difficulties governing the continent, so I collected money from you all. The same money was all invested back into the Empire. Now I ask all you lords. Why should I be under the rain of criticism? Is there anyone here that has the right to criticize me?”

“…”

The room was still.

The lords realized what kind of situation they were in.

All they had to boast of was their status.

Real authority, power, fame, cause and the right to rule were all in Weed’s grasp.

There are some that possess many weapons but do not wield them effectively, but Weed wasn’t anything of the kind.

He took control of the moment instantly, a vicious presence that could trampede mercilessly over any who challenged it.

Weed’s wet lips sparkled.

“As you may all know, I have spent all my fortune that I have accumulated since my days of Morata. I have never kept away a single penny while I ruled the Arpen empite.”

He choked in sorrow when he spoke about not keeping anything for himself.

Weed pondered.

‘I haven’t abused anything until now, so why should I be in this pathetic stance?’

If he pulled off a big success, he would have gladly acted more amenably but the situation was different.

“Everyone here has a noble duty to make the Versailles Continent a happier place. Millions of users are observing our words and actions. But compared to myself, what has Harold-nim done for Versailles? What exactly have you done after buying your way into your seat?”

Regardless of how big a mistake or how dark a misconduct one may have committed, the man seemed to have no shame in pointing fingers at the opponent’s mistakes!

It may have worked in the real world somehow, but it wasn’t a method that could work on someone who had both fame and power.

“…”

“Don’t just stand there. Speak in greater detail. Let us compare the things we have done, one by one. To see who did better. It isn’t just lords gathered for this conference. There are millions of viewers watching. Won’t they have their opinions about me?”

“I, I…”

Harold was speechless.

After he became a lord, it was true that all he did was boast around and remained half-hearted with his errands. He did order castle wall reinforcements to be built, but spent only a fraction of the city’s income.

If it was Weed on the other side of the scale, the difference was as obvious as heaven and earth.

Weed spoke confidently.

“I make a proposal to everyone here including Harold-nim of Castle Sisley. If you don’t like your seats, you can turn it down. I will refund the duty fees that you have spent already.”

The lord seats rose in worth after the auction was over. The seats of Arpen lords were rare positions to come across.

“…”

Harold’s face turned bright red in shame.

At that moment, he couldn’t retaliate at all.

He was secretly attempting to play politics but Weed quickly turned the tides against him and pushed him into a corner. Harold’s cause was overwhelmed and he was defeated verbally.

If he were to stand up to him any longer, he was about to me stripped of his status and kicked out.

‘Give up the position voluntarily? Then I can’t become a lord again… For me to be driven to a corner like this. Is there anyone who can help me?’

Harold looked to his surroundings but the new lords that complained together were now sitting and looking away.

‘He drew his sword too early. He should have known better of who he was up against.’

‘Weed hasn’t committed that crucial mistake, so it was a mistake to dig his teeth like that.’

‘Chatting upfront like that is plain stupid. Considering the popularity, people will be more enthusiastic towards Weed. Not to us rich people.’

‘It was wrong to assume that he would stand down because of the live streaming. Weed is someone who can line up people behind him and take us to the guillotine whenever he wants.’

The lords decided quickly. They also learned of their own weaknesses.

Paying money didn’t put them in power. As far as it went, they were only respected in their own cities as lords. If they stood against Weed, they could be struck down at any moment.

Harold too realized this disadvantage and backed down for now.

“No. It seems I was in the wrong all this time. I have realized my mistakes. I will reflect on myself and make Castle Sisley a better place.”

Retreating at this moment at least spared him some dignity and interests.

His mind was full of thoughts about revenge in the future, but for the time being he acted strategically.

“Let us continue with the conference.”

Monster eradication and the road construction to bridge the North and the Central Continent came up as topics.

Weed started out with a bold stance and the major lords with massive lands followed his will, leading to a smooth conference.

The vital bills for the growth of the Arpen Empire were passed and the conference was near its end. Weed looked to Harold and spoke.

“Something came up in my mind after listening to Harold-nim. I am going to organize an inspection team to overlook the governing practices in several cities including Castle Sisley.”

“What?”

“I know that many cities weren’t being managed properly. That is why I wish to assess the concerns of the city and offer assistance.”

It was masked as help but promised outright interference!

“Just what are you planning to do with my city?!”

Harold fumed in protest.

Weed pulled out his Loa Sword and placed it on the table.

“If you don’t like that, step down from your position as lord.”

“…”

“This is to assist lords who aren’t yet knowledgeable enough to run a city. The good lords won’t have any problems. This isn’t a time of peace but rather the entire continent is in danger because of Kaybern, so we all have to chip in.”

It was clearly a grudge.

Harold thought about giving up his seat, but it was too sweet.

Power was something you could not give up once you’ve tasted it, and he already boasted so much about becoming a lord. The duty fees refund wasn’t the slightest of his concerns.

Weed skimmed each lord with his eyes and spoke.

“You all have a responsibility to make the Versailles Continent a better place. You all pledged to this oath when you signed up as lords. Please put in all your effort. If you can’t, simply step down.”

Not one lord expressed intentions to give up their position by the end of the conference.

*****

The leaders of the prestigious guilds nodded as if they had expected it.

“He got his pants pulled. He got what he deserved, standing up like that.”

“He underestimated Weed.”

“Weed turned Harold’s complaints into a petty act of blaming others, and he established his credit with all his achievements and rolled him over with status. All of this happened simultaneously.”

“He just isn’t someone you can go up against without power andnor influence.”

Roam, Carlise, Michel, Gunter and Sherwood. They assumed that these lords would not be able to cross Weed for a very long time.

This event showed everyone that Weed wasn’t a weak man that would take insults lying down.

“That’s the scary part of it all. Murder would be less traumatizing.”

“Let us not drop our guards, ever. A man’s revenge can wait a decade.”

Michel laughed in response to Carlise.

“Yup. Until the day when we get to compete against one another, that is.”

Gunter rested his hand on his sword and spoke.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

A moment after the leaders disassembled.

– Michel: Weed-nim. Carlise and Gunter are suspicious. Currently they seem obedient under your power, but I am certain that they have ulterior motives. I will keep a watch on them and report to you any strange words and behavior.

– Carlise: Please do not trust any other lords. Only us at Black Lion Guild wish to prosper with the Arpen Empire, but the other lords don’t think as faithfully as I do.

– Gunter: You must keep eyes on these lords. There is traitorous scum among them. That being said, we at the Lion Guild support Weed-nim no matter what happens.

– Sherwood: I was deeply impressed with Weed-nim and your generous rules from this event. I am embarrassed to see that a man like Harold is a lord. Could I do the honors to take him out? I will take care of him quietly and secretly.

– Roam: I can only imagine the struggles you are going through with ruling this empire. All of this wouldn’t have been possible if it weren’t for you. I have recorded the names of all those who complained earlier. If you give me a slight signal, I will get the deeds done.

They were competing to sweet talk Weed once they were alone.

*****

Bard Ray at last was able to go out on the hunt with the barbarians.

He cleared all the small errands perfectly and a barbarian named Vals invited him on a hunt.

“You’ve finally done it. Vals hunting squad. They are renowned among the village citizens.”

“If I get the chance in combat… The rest is easy.”

Bard Ray was confident in any kind of combat.

Barbarians were quite skilled for NPCs but they were far too weak compared to himself.

‘They are warriors, so I just need to show them my strength.’

Bard Ray thought, and he fought valiantly with the Vals hunting squad.

He urged to hunt one more monster and actively sought for battle.

Though he crumbled under Weed, he concentrated on the battles as if he was proving his name as the God Warrior.

‘So he succeeded in robbing the dragon’s lair? Things are going well for him.’

He didn’t watch any video feeds of Weed, but just heard stories.

When he led at the front of the continent he had felt uneasy about all those that followed behind him, but now he could only feel excitement.

CTS Media and various other broadcasting networks secretly contacted him. Even after his defeat, many were curious about Bard Ray and his activities.

‘I will not appear on broadcast for the time being… Until I defeat Weed and slay the dragon.’

He threw away fame, even glory.

All that remained was his deepest desire to become more powerful!

He thought that even if he were to fight Weed again this very moment, he would have a chance of winning if he sealed away a couple of Weed’s skills but that wasn’t enough.

It was not about determining who was stronger through an exchange of swords.

It was the path to displaying absolute power that all will acknowledge!

‘Weed transitioned into a warrior, so the comparison will be more simple. Power. It doesn’t matter who rules the continent. You can keep it. It is all about showing who is more powerful now.’

Vals hunting squad roamed until late at night. They scavenged countless numbers of monsters and other prey, stocking large quantities of meat and leather.

Vals approached with a water buffalo on his shoulder.

“This is your portion.”

“I don’t need it.”

“You’re not going to take this?”

“Yes. Split it amongst yourselves.”

“… So it shall be.”

Bard Ray did not bother picking up items unless it was a notably advanced equipment.

He already was supplied with an enormous funding and equipment from the Hermes Guild, so he couldn’t care less about picking up miscellaneous items.

Vals must have thought positively about Bard Ray who fought well, as he approached him again at dinner.

“Cooking the meat well after the hunt is more important than anything. This is delicious piece of meat. Do you want to learn how to cook meat?”

“I am not interested.”

“You don’t want me to teach you?”

“I have a bit of interest in learning how to wield spears and axes. Defense skills are good too. I don’t want to concern myself with anything other than getting stronger.”

“… I see. Alright.”

Chapter 2: The King of Devils

– These pesky, worthless dwarves must have lost their senses stealing my things!

The dwarves of Cygorn and Ulta Mountain Pass continued to suffer under Kaybern’s wrath.

The peaceful villages were set entirely on flames, and the terrain was transformed by a series of avalanches.

“That insane dragon!”

The dwarven citizens forgot about their instinctive fears and retaliated, only to be wiped out by waves of magic.

– Attack, slaughter them all!

The dragon soldiers led the monsters to invade the resisting dwarven villages.

In 3 days, 45 villages were razed and over 30,000 dwarves lost their lives.

The war that took place in the deepest parts of Ulta and Cygorn Mountain Pass were released to the public via broadcast.

– Thor has ultimately become the target of the dragon.

– Seems that the dwarves and the dragon cannot coexist within the woods any longer.

– Would there be a possibility that Kaybern’s weekly target may shift to dwarven villages?

– It doesn’t seem to be to that extent. For the time being, the cities that the dragon will likely target are… Hmm-hmm. The calculation is very complex to understand, but anyways the targets will be major cities.

– The dwarves do not settle in large communities, to begin with.

The situation in Thor became dire and more dwarves descended from the mountains away from the dragon. It was so critical that even Weed, who carried out the dwarven race quest, was deeply concerned.

‘This is a race quest? What, is this some kind of dwarf annihilation quest?’

Even so, the dwarves of Debrado Village, who were connected to the quest, actively roamed around the Mountain Pass.

“Just for how much longer are we supposed to suffer? We retrieved our nation’s treasure, the Brazier of Sacrifice. It is time to swing the axes of revenge.”

“Finally, has that time arrived?”

The nature of dwarves were different from humans. They were naturally afraid of the dragon, but if their kind lost their lives they burned in vengeance.

All the dwarves were uniting as one.

“Is it really true that the Brazier of Sacrifice was found?”

“Yes. A great, heroic dwarf has appeared before our kind.”

“What is his name?”

“He’s… Weedhand.”

It was a fake name that Weed told them when he was under Sculptural Transformation!

That name was spreading among the dwarves of Thor.

The dwarf users that remained in Thor laughed.

“This is amazing. Isn’t it the first time that such a large-scale dwarf race quest arised?”

“It’s spectacular of Weed-nim to discover it. A chain quest after the robbery of Kaybern’s lair…”

“Awesome. Just purely epic.”

“I want to join too.”

“We are dwarves too, so we can.”

“Oh, yeah. Dwarves never had a war quest like this one. It’s going to be fun.”

The dwarves that were negligent even when the Hermes Guild dominated the Central Continent wished for Weed to succeed in his adventure.

Kaybern was the most wretched presence of all for the dwarves and so they hoped dearly that the dragon would be slain.

*****

Weed preceding the progression of the dwarf quest, hunted whenever he could. It was also an important task to lead the assault squad that pledged to fight against Kaybern and take care of the multiplying monsters.

“To battle.”

100,000 monsters vs. 1,000 assault squad!

On the vast plains, huge clashes with aerial supports from the avian broke out in the morning, midday and afternoon. Even after midnight, before breakfast, during breakfast, after breakfast… They just kept on fighting.

“19 hours of hunting in a day… Though I think I’ve grown a little used to it.”

“Humans are mighty beings. If I kept on levelling since the start of Royal Road, I would have won against Bard Ray.”

The users that enlisted in the assault squad began calling themselves combat slaves in the process. The nickname that was given to Pale had spread to everyone.

“This is impossible. But, he can fight like that even while leading us.”

“I thought it was plain insanity when he first explained it, but once we got into it, it’s doable.”

“The hunting level has become more difficult than when we first started, but somehow we are pulling through.”

“The willpower of humans is strong.”

“Yeah. That’s why people die from exhaustion.”

They were all above level 500, but the more they hunted the more they developed respect for Weed. Weed wasn’t a typical person to whom they can apply feelings like jealousy.

Weed sprang into a field full of monsters, fighting with the strength of ten men.

– Everyone fight! Advance!

He swung a sword, used a sword cloning technique, wielded the Radiant Sword Technique…

He even healed his allies with the Sword of Regeneration on occasion whilst leading the battle. Then he would use Corpse Explosion and summon the undead, doing the job of 30 or even 50 men. Even users above level 500 could do nothing other than watch in awe.

“That is just really amazing.”

“He is the perfect all-around character, the complete, ultimate mode. Something like that.”

“But he doesn’t use Sculptural skills that often. He’s not even using Disaster sculpting.”

“If he used that, this place would become a living hell. We would die too.”

The high level users would spend weeks in dungeons during their peak. They levelled up and naturally exceeded their limits whenever they found good hunting grounds.

They reminisced about past memories, and gradually their complaints diminished.

Whenever Weed led the hunt, their eyes dropped below their cheekbones, but when he was absent on a quest, they waited anxiously.

Depending on whether or not he was present, the hunting speed could be from 2 to 3 times faster.

Furthermore, their hearts boiled whenever they saw Weed in action with their own eyes.

‘Weed is doing that much… What stops me from doing the same?’

‘Just hold my ground. If I stick here for a month, I will become a hero in the future.’

‘Rankers? Hermes Guild? This is the chance to become stronger than any of them.’

A craze for training was brewing up among the users of the assault squad. Passion burned inside them whenever they saw thousands of monsters advancing across the plains.

– Let us fight!

The Central Continent users thrived under the pressure of the Hermes Guild and the prestigious factions. Their tendencies were slowly changing.

‘My operation is starting to show results.’

Weed too felt their attitudes changing into proper combat slaves. On the other hand, news of the Brazier of Sacrifice was spreading like wildfire.

“Using the brazier reduces your level by 20 to 30?”

“You can decline further than that. It’s to a maximum of 10% depending on how much you use as fuel.”

“That’s absurd.”

High level users made a blunt assessment.

The tradeoff was too heavy for fighting Kaybern just once.

“For one hunt… I need to throw away all that I’ve worked for?”

“All that grind we did in hunting hell would become meaningless. Just how hard did we try to reach where we are?”

“Other people would be training while I become weaker.”

Most users that heard of the brazier could not accept it. They wanted to participate in the fight against the dragon, but they did not wish to use the brazier.

The higher level they were, the more they were attached to their own level of power.

“What about the live stream? If we give up now, won’t we look like dirtbags?”

“We said we are going to fight Kaybern, so we just need to fight. Forget about the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“That’s true.”

“If we end up fighting in our current state, it is good enough to keep our promise. But if I am forced to use the brazier, I’m out regardless of how people are going to curse me.”

Out of the 400,000 members in the assault squad, only a few hundred elected to use the brazier. They didn’t want to bear the loss and frankfully they had their legitimate reasons.

Fleeing during a battle would indeed be a behavior subject to criticism, but throwing away a handful of levels was a different story.

Weed also knew of this consensus and did not bother mentioning it.

‘These guys signed up to fight against Kaybern, so I can drag them all around these hunting grounds. But I cannot impose sacrifice.’

Honestly, the success of the Kaybern hunt could not be guaranteed.

There were no rewards he could offer at the moment and even he had some conscience. On top of that, it did not concur with Weed’s usual philosophy.

Normally, speeches of encouragement in war are the desires of a single individual manipulating mob psychology.

The core desire of these high level users was to become more powerful.

‘Even I would have been reluctant if someone asked me to fight using the brazier.’

No matter what reward they were promised, it was very difficult to get someone to do something that most people would turn down.

‘The only one to trust is myself. I would appreciate people who will help me, but I should not rely on them.’

*****

The Earthy Shadows party that left for the South quickly progressed their quest to uncover the secrets of the Frozen Forest.

< The Reason For the Cold Winds >

< The Tree That Vanished >

< Ancient Vestige >

< The Elves’ Course >

The difficulty was above A rank but they were clever in their use of adventure skills and requested necessary information from the Great Library of Morata.

“There is nothing yet about the Wind Mage, Ruckledare. Could we have followed a false lead?”

“I don’t know. We might have opened the door for another quest, but it’s too late to quit.”

“Weed is progressing through the dwarf race quest, so maybe the lead to stopping Kaybern might arise from that side.”

“We need to be hopeful.”

The self esteem of the continent’s best adventure party was depreciated after repeated failure in quests.

They changed the weather with magic and created a miracle of reviving the frozen forest.

The bleak forest of solid ice regained its green vigour.

*Blink!*

< Mayad’s Forest is reviving. The wood elves will return.

As reward, affinity with nature is increased by 3. >

Elix wrapped bandages around his wounds and spoke.

“This is the reason why I cannot give up on adventures.”

“It’s a spectacular sight. Even if other people wouldn’t appreciate it as much.”

It was something that occurred in the outskirts where no one visited.

Just who will acknowledge their accomplishments of putting their own lives in danger to bring back the elves.

Even so, they felt pride in turning a small part of Versailles into a beautiful scenery.

“Let’s look around  the forest before the elves return.”

“That’s a sound idea.”

Following Silver Ring’s suggestion, they walked into the forest.

It was a silent forest yet without creatures like birds and hares.

On the ground were snow and ice fragments that were still melting; a little eccentric.

– Welcome, Adventurers.

A tree began speaking to them.

It was a plain tree about 3 meters tall, rooted in the wide open space in the forest.

Ben was extremely surprised.

“A talking tree… You don’t seem like a spirit or a fairy. Are you the World Tree?”

– I have succeeded that great being, somewhat. Though I could not protect even this forest.

A tree in Mayad’s Forest.

It wasn’t the World Tree that existed and protected the world since the beginning of time, but its descendant that budded from its branches.

– The World Tree was destroyed by Kaybern. It rotted in poison, burned in its flames and was torn down in pieces. The high elves took the roots and branches not yet burnt away and scattered across the continent. To revive the tree that protects the realm of forests.

“Kaybern… So it was connected to Kaybern after all.”

Elix moaned.

– Kaybern and the high elves engaged in countless battles. Despite the dragon’s might, the high elves did not submit until the end… Thus they disappeared.

Silver Ring was inspecting the fallen leaves on the ground and asked.

“So, the reason for this forest being here…”

– Yes. They fled from Kaybern and raised a forest here. The noble high elves fell one by one to the monster legion that tracked them down. If it weren’t for the help of a human, the new roots would not have settled.

Elix’s eyes glimmered.

“By chance, is that human the Wind Mage Ruckledare?”

– Yes. It was he who assisted us.

It turned out that they were on the right track for Ruckledare’s tracks connected to Kaybern and Landony.

– I have a favour to ask of you all. I must return to the forest again. All elves will offer their assistance.

*****

Weed received news about the Earth Shadows party while on his way to the dwarf quest.

“The high elves are stepping in…”

– Mapan: Yes. Apparently the quest for reviving the World Tree has surfaced.

A quest appeared for all elven users across all continents.

< Protect the World Tree.

The last hope yet to be destroyed by the Black Dragon Kaybern.

Adventurers Unring, Ben and Elicks are planning to recover a part of the World Tree’s roots and return it to the large forest.

The World Tree is a great presence that calls for fairies and spirits and protects the elves from harm. When the World Tree returns to the forest, the elves will regain their lost powers.

Unfortunately, this news has also reached the ears of the dark elves and Kaybern’s subordinates.

Protect the World Tree so it may return to the forest from the far south.

Requirement: Elves exclusive racial quest

Reward: Elven magic and Elemental Summoning enhancement.

Difficulty: S >

The quest popped up for all elven users from level 1 to over 500!

“This is pretty sweet too.”

Weed thought it would be worth offering his support if it wasn’t for the dwarf quest.

All he had to do was to use Sculptural Transformation to access the elf race quest.

“If I weren’t too busy with my schedule I would have loved to visit.”

– Mapan: Are you considering helping them?

“If it’s possible.”

– Mapan: I thought you weren’t interested in the adventures of others.

“Unless I’m going to be active as an elf for a long time, enhancing Elemental Summoning or magic won’t do me much good… But, I have to devote myself to this world.”

– Mapan: Yes, the amount of taxes from the elves would have to increase as well.

“K-hu-hu-hu.”

– Mapan: K-heh-heh-heh.

Weed wished to help the elves but he could not offer transport with the wyverns like with the Brazier of Sacrifice. The World Tree must be in the presence of the earth’s essence, so if it gets too far off the ground it would wither away.

Before its roots settled firmly in the earth, it was a frail being that would die easily when exposed to heat or to cold.

“It won’t be easy to travel through the desert.”

– Mapan: They plan on passing through the oasis and taking the long way east.

“Are you close with them?”

– Mapan: Yes. Well, they’re my usual customers…

The more famous an adventurer was, the closer they were acquainted with the merchants.

The bigger the merchant council was, the quicker they could deliver the necessary equipment and materials.

“It would be great if the elves could join in the fight against Kaybern.”

– Mapan: I also think it is possible. However, the fact that a quest that connects elves after the dwarves with the dragon must mean…”

– “It means that the savior quest connected with the dragon will be a serious challenge.”

Weed was assessing these quests all along.

The quest that recovered the Brazier of Sacrifice was the dwarf race quest.

There were savior quests for rescuing barbarians and the fairy knight as well, and perhaps it was possible for the elves to join.

Several races were binded to a single fate due to the dragon.

“It will become a disaster… What about the information that I asked for?”

– Mapan: I am still in the process of organizing the information about Knatul and Malin. There were too many incorrect stories and too much fake intelligence, so it will take a considerable amount of time.

“Fake intelligence?”

– Mapan: It’s because of the hopes of becoming a lord of Arpen that… They are reporting just about anything.”

The lord seat and a million gold. The reward was attracting a huge amount of information about the barbarian and the fairy knight.

The problem was that they were rarely useful.

Even quests of rank F difficulty that were incomplete were still being sent in as information.

“It is what it is. We have to sort them out from our side.”

– Mapan: That is so.

“It will only become more dangerous given how the scale of the quest continues to grow. Nothing to fall back on if we fail…”

– Mapan: Yes! We have faith in you, Weed-nim.

“You speak so calmly since you’re not the one behind the wheel.”

– Mapan: Well, that is life.

*****

The entrance to Norn Mountain Pass.

Weed arrived on Wy-3 to attend the dwarf council meeting.

‘I have to be careful from here.’

It was a considerable distance away from Kaybern’s territories, but there were terrible rumors that thousands of draconic warriors were roaming around Thor.

– We have to retrieve the treasure.

– Find them and kill them. How dare those lowly dwarves intrude Kaybern-nim’s lair!

Additionally, the monsters level of activity became more frequent, turning Thor into a danger zone.

“Bypassing the obstacles and getting to Treestub Village where the dwarves are is a quest in itself.”

He had 10 days and it would have been far easier if he moved as soon as he accepted the quest.

However, he had to split up his schedule in order to host the Arpen Empire lord conference and another slot for hunting. During that time, the draconic warriors and monsters filled the entire mountain pass.

“It’s already difficult as it is and it’s getting even harder. I suppose this is how we all thrive.”

– Bidol: No enemies in sight within a 200 meter radius. They may be hidden in the grass or below the trees, so be wary.

Just like how they scout with drones in the military, the avian users were scouting the surroundings. The avian were always helpful for Weed, but after the lair raid, their loyalty grew exponentially.

“Sculptural Transformation.”

Weed transformed into a dwarf and equipped average equipment around level 300.

There were many useful things out of the dragon’s treasures, but they carried a risk of drawing too many eyes and hence he did not bring them.

Even so, he stashed equipment like the Loa sword and the Sky Ruler’s Armor in his bag.

It was a kind of infiltration quest into the heart of enemy lines!

If he were to be discovered, all draconic warriors and monsters in vicinity would swarm on top of him. Kaybern too would undoubtedly fly over from the lair.

“I am on the move.”

Weed’s voice transferred through the regional chat to 100 avian that were mobilized to provide aerial surveillance.

– Pale: Preparations for reinforcement complete.

With Pale as the core, the backup team, composed of the users out to hunt for Kaybern, waited nearby as well.

“You don’t have to do this.”

“We are doing this because we want to.”

Weed wanted to turn them back because he did not see them as any significant help if the situation were to turn for the worst, but they were voluntarily gathered.

“As I have seen for quite some time, there’s a lot to gain from staying near Weed-nim.”

“It is draining… Deathly painful, but ultimately worthwhile.”

“You get to be on broadcast. That in itself is profit.”

Much like how the Hermes Guild assisted in Bard Ray’s hunt or quest, Weed was receiving the same reliable support.

– Biwalde: There are monsters at the east ridge. The trees are blocking the sight, so I think Weed-nim will stay undiscovered.

– Chukyeong: There are 20 draconic warriors found in this area. We are confirming all of their movements.

– Kaliyacard: There are some outposts along the progression path. They were built by the dwarves but were overtaken by the draconic warriors. The detour is west but you must pass through a gorge.

– Seum: Currently scouting the gorge. Large group of monsters are resting here. It may be possible to progress through them without being discovered but…  It’s not certain.

– Toro: The gorge is not viable. Judging by the look of these monsters, I suspect that they possess a keen sense of smell.

Weed received a wide range of information on his mountain climb.

‘draconic warriors on outposts… That’s the first challenge.’

If he were to be seen, nearby draconic warriors and monsters could overrun him.

‘S difficulty quests are not simple. If things go wrong, it won’t end with just me, but all dwarves in Treestub Village will perish.’

Weed’s mind was sharp and sensitive like the tip of a blade.

Avian scattered all around informed him. He assembled those stories into one. He did not take anything lightly; the surrounding terrain, sound of the wind, the smell.

‘I will not let up my guard.’

It was Weed’s style to not get full of himself or underestimate his opponent until the moment of death!

Sh-sh-sh-sh!

Using his short legs, he barely made a sound during his climb. He even carefully avoided tree branches and leaves.

– Herman: I know a lot about Norn Mountain Pass. The outpost on that side can be evaded by going through the dwarven liquor storage.

Herman spoke to Weed after watching the live stream.

“Liquor storage?”

– Herman: I can’t call it the next crossroad… If you continue that way for a bit more, there will be a secret path on the right. It might be covered by grass. It’s where the hundred year old trees intertwine and if you switch directions towards that way and keep walking, you will encounter a passage between the rocks.

Norn Mountain Pass had lots of huge trees and also large boulders.

– Herman: Cold wind seeps through it, so the senior dwarves store their beer inside. The manager of that area should be Brockhand… The place is only known by reputable dwarves. Eh-hem. He will treat you well if you mention my name.

“Thank you, Sir old dwarf.”

– Herman: … If you could take out “old”. Damn it! If this goes live, more people will mock me. Curses. Ah, my cursing just went live. This is not good.

Weed received Herman’s info which was soon confirmed by Seoyoon and Mapan.

He wouldn’t have told Weed wrong information, but Herman was more a blacksmith than an adventurer. Many things could have changed since his last visit.

– Seoyoon: The dwarven liquor storage. Location confirmed. Sir Herman’s words are correct. If you pass through the storage, you can cut down the distance down by approximately 340 meters.

– Mapan: I am assessing the mountain map. The location is firm and based on the words of other users it seems that NPC Brockhand is a bit picky. He doesn’t seem to let dwarves with low reputation through the entrance… Well, I guess that isn’t a concern for Weed-nim.

An adventurer, an artist.

Weed’s reputation as he climbed to the position of emperor of the Arpen Empire, with a bit of exaggeration was known even by the aquatic creatures just fished out of the ocean.

In fact, mermaids and creatures of intelligence spoke about Weed.

– On land I heard there is an honorable man who creates beauty and doesn’t know fear. How can I meet him?

– There is rumour spreading throughout the oceans. The polar explorer, the honorable king of kings, a determined fisherman. I have stories to tell day and night about the man with such titles. Shh. These are secrets that I haven’t told anyone.

His reputation and various other requirements were already at such a level where he could accept just about any dangerous quests!

In the past, he was discouraged at the sight of S rank quests.

Now, he could see high possibilities of success with his arsenal of tricks.

Nonetheless, the process would still be arduous.

Weed, slowly and carefully walked through the shortcut and found his way into the crack in the rock where the cool breeze passes.

“There are only a few dwarves that come all this way… Who are you?”

Brockhand was a dwarf with a beard that reached all the way to his knees. His nose was red and held a large, sharp axe in his hand. He was ready to swing down on the infiltrators without a permit at any moment.

“My name is Weedhand, Sir Brockhand.”

“Oh. Weedhand, you say! What in the world… I never thought I would see the most famous dwarf here.”

After he stole the Brazier of Sacrifice from Kaybern’s lair, his reputation had increased by 32,000. The entire Versaille Continent was in an uproar and dwarves in the Thor region talked about it at every beer table.

It was surely going to simmer down soon, but for the time being it was boosting his reputation significantly.

“It takes more than just courage to face Kaybern, you’re an impressive man.”

“I do not deserve your kind compliments. I was just unable to turn away from injustice and lifted my axe.”

“Of course. Do you know what it is like to wield an axe?”

“It is heavy and dense. It is useful for chopping down trees, but best when crushing monsters with power and destructive force.”

“That’s what I’m talking about. Such a splendid dwarf deserves as much of my beer as he wants.”

“Would you be kind enough?”

Weed was securing friendship level all the while.

Drinking beer among dwarves was a great way to become friendly.

One thing to be cautious between dwarves is that when you turn down the offer, the relationship plummets badly.

“You must be on your way to Treestub Village. I know you are busy. Let’s empty one barrel quickly.”

He drank plentifully from Brockhand’s offerings in the rock liquor storage.

– You are slightly drunk from the flavorful beer. The dwarf trait grants increased focus and stamina until you become sober.

All production and combat engagements efficiency is increased by 10.

Recovery rate  is increased.

Reduced loss of strength from severe wounds.

< You have tasted Bornyak beer.

Tasting such great beer increased Art by 2.

Dignity increased by 2.

Courage increased by 2. >

< Cooking Skill proficiency is enhanced.>

< Outstanding Insight allowed you to see through 85% of the recipe for Bornyak beer. >

‘Such cool effects…’

Weed was content drinking the hidden beer of the dwarf.

In Royal Road, many thrived by diligent hunting, but there were also those who searched for spectacular scenery or cooked delicious recipes and became powerful in their respective ways. It was about enjoying life.

Though one mistake could turn that life into a lazy and frolic one.

Brockhand laid down his empty glass and spoke.

“Weedhand, are you really  going to hunt that dragon?”

“Of course. The dragon persecuted us dwarves.”

Weed lied without a conscience.

“Then I shall follow in your endeavor.”

“It’s too dangerous. There will be many enemies waiting for me.”

“Do not worry about that. This body of mine is old indeed, but if it’s slaying Kaybern, I will fight at any battlefront.”

Hence Brockhand joined as a comrade.

Weed skimmed through his equipment and they seemed to be less than level 500. Even so, his axe and equipment were worn out like they have been used frequently.

Brockhand undoubtedly would have gone through countless battles in his youth.

‘He’s at an acceptable level as a comrade.’

Veteran dwarf warriors were always welcome in any group.

In any situation, they always pulled through despite the costs in beer than they raised.

– Mapan: Brockhand is a dwarf with a sensitive personality… It feels good that he’s joined as an ally. Brockhand has never been a comrade of a player. This is a first.

– Spenson: It looks like the dwarves are joining in on our quest against Kaybern. Normally, dwarfs aren’t such cooperative people .

Weed came out of the liquor storage and walked with Brockhand.

“Look at these prints. They belong to the draconic warriors.”

Brockhand checked out the firm prints on the ground.

Weed had already known from the avian that there were 5 draconic warriors up ahead.

Though he avoided the outposts, there were many obstacles on the way to Treestub Village.

“Do you know how to identify the tracks of the earth?”

“Not in detail. But, the mountains and forest are familiar to me. Draconic warriors have larger and heavier feet than those of a human.”

“Dwarves have feet just as big.”

“We do have such feet, but we try our best not to step on live flowers.”

“That is so.”

“Don’t trouble yourself with them. This place is like my own backyard. The path is blocked for sure, but there is always a way around.”

Brockhand led the way through a crack in a large boulder using his small stature.

“Have you ever swung on vines? We can traverse a long distance up this tree.”

“Hmm. I will give it a try.”

Weed climbed the tree with Brockhand. Then he grabbed on the vines and leaped through midair, travelling dozens of meters each time.

Brockhand who was confidently leading the way lost his grip and almost fell several times.

“K-hmm, high places are sure dizzy. Weedhand, you ride well like the young dwarves.”

“Thank you.”

Brockhand’s guidance allowed them to bypass several groups of draconic warriors.

– I hear something from afar.

– It must be the wind.

– It seems young monkeys are just playing around.

The draconic warriors stood at their assigned positions and patrolled the area. Passing through the tall grass and the path through the rocks was safe enough.

“Whew, we didn’t get discovered.”

“It was possible because of Brockhand-nim.”

“I know, it was all me.”

“…”

“Now if we stay in the shadow of the trees and if we put this on, we will be well camouflaged.”

Brockhand’s suggestion was rubbing mud on their faces. Then he stuck a bit of grass and branches between his chainmail and praised himself.

“This is perfect, if I say so myself. Those dumb lizards will never figure me out.”

Weed honestly didn’t think much of Brockhand’s camouflage.

‘I guess it will have some sort of an effect. Barely a difference though.’

An axe sticking out between a tree and the grass!

Even so, the dwarves must always be praised as the best.

“Your hiding skills are amazing.”

– Beakraccoon: A group of draconic warriors closing in fast, 320 meters west. 4 draconic warriors and multiple other monsters.

Weed peeked unnoticeably to the west. There was nothing in sight, but soon the draconic warriors were going to appear.

Brockhand put his backpack on once again.

“Let’s get on our way.”

“Hold on. This doesn’t feel right. Let us wait in the grass for a little longer.”

“Well, if you say so.”

After a moment of waiting, the draconic warriors and the monsters passed by.

“We must find Kaybern-nim’s lost items.”

“We have to get them back, even if it means killing every last dwarf in these mountains.”

“Find the villages with lots of dwarves. They will know where the treasures are. If we don’t find treasures, the dwarves will have to offer their own lives and treasures instead.”

The patrolling dragon soldiers were exchanging murderous conversations.

“Those bastards!”

Weed stopped Brockhand from dashing out.

“They are just words. I heard that the nearby dwarf villages already retreated after engaging with monsters.”

“I must take revenge.”

“There will be a better opportunity later.”

Brockhand was hotheaded like the dwarf warrior he was. Other than the fact that he wanted to pounce whenever he saw a monster, he was an excellent guide.

‘Terrain and scouting. Assistance in both makes it so much easier.’

He moved cautiously nonetheless.

According to the map, Treestub Village was west of Norn Mountain Pass and surrounded by steep mountains.

Thick forests prevented sight of the village from a distance.

Adventurer Chase and many dwarves said that they only heard stories about Treestub Village.

– Chase: I constantly write down clues about quests in my notepad. I’ve heard about Treestub Village 3 times. It’s recorded as a peaceful, typical village where the dwarves reside.

Even adventurers did not know what it was like for certain.

Some players might have visited by pure chance but passed through thinking that it was just another village.

The village served as the meeting point for the warriors when their fates were in danger.

‘Judging by the map, Treestub Village is near the waterfall. At the foot and breast of the mountain I could hide and detour, but where the water is – there is the problem. Typically, it would be full of monsters.’

Weed pondered but came to no solution.

Teleportation and Painting Teleportation was prevented and flight would be discovered by the draconic warriors.

‘Of course that S rank chain quest wouldn’t be so easy.’

Just because the first difficulties had been overcome easily didn’t mean the entire process was the same.

“Brockhand, let us go.”

“Alright.”

*****

Adventurer Chase. He who arrived at the Ring of Fire could see mountain tops spewing lava.

Some volcanoes were vomiting lava several hundred meters into the sky.

“Wow… This is truly an incredible sight.”

“It is too hot. The heat is going to melt my face.”

“Put on your fairy windbreakers. The flames will be dangerous from here on out. We have to be careful of the terrain more than the monsters right now.”

The adventurers began the investigation with Chase.

Their objective was Landony’s lair that was yet to be found!

For now, the threat of the Red Dragon was looming; it could invade the Central or Northern Continent after its assault on the orcs.

“K-ugh… This is a perilous path.”

With each step, they sank to their knees in the volcanic ash.

In the sky, strange-looking rock monsters took flight. Some grounds sank and lava flowing underneath was visible to the eye.

“Watch your feet!”

“Aghhh!”

A boulder on a steep area crumbled and dropped down into the distance.

The adventurers had tied themselves to one another and didn’t fall, but it was truly a dangerous moment.

*****

That night, the adventurers had a meeting in a tent.

“There are many locations that cannot be reached due to the terrain.”

“I don’t think we can find our answer without any kind of information. It will be difficult to find anything.”

“If it’s a dragon, there will surely be some traces. Maybe near the largest volcano or between the ground fissures.”

“Half of us would die in those locations.”

The more they talked, the more they realized the danger of this adventure.

‘But, this is what adventures do.’

‘One slip and I’m dead. I never had such a thrill doing quests.’

The adventurers investigated the Ring of Fire, uncovering the unknown regions bit by bit.

Every day, several players died but no one desired to go home.

After some time, news reached out to them.

Orc lord Seechwi who was investigating the Plain of Despair messaged them.

– Seechwi: Shhk! I finally earned the trust of the orc tribe. Ch-Chhk!

“How did you…. Did you find anything?”

The adventurers at the Ring of Fire were basically barehanded and needed any information they could get.

– Seechwi: Orcs do not have records… Shhk! What’s worse is that stories weren’t passed down properly through the generations. Ch-chhk!

“I suspected so.”

Chase and the adventurers were discouraged. In truth, it was the reason only a few adventurers visited the Plain of Despair when it was released. The orc history did not pass down properly.

When one orc says his stomach is full, the other orc would think they succeeded in the hunt. The next orc would scurry over to have a share, many stories were lost or distorted.

– Seechwi: However…  Shhk!

Seechwi continued.

– Seechwi: I discovered a word that could be a clue. Shhk! Cletta the king of devils…Ch-chhk!”

*****

Weed and Brockhand diligently moved with their short legs and climbed the mountain.

‘Cletta, king of devils? What does that have to do with anything?’

A name that randomly spouted in this calamity of the Black and Red Dragon!

‘That is too misleading. It’s not worth trusting, coming out of the orcs. Yup. It doesn’t have any basis.’

He wanted to relieve himself as such, but he could not free himself from the tickling at the back of his mind.

‘For now, I have to do what must be done. The things on the list… will be done when they are due.’

Weed could see monsters from far away.

“Monsters.”

“Leave them to me. I’ll split them in half.”

Brockhand took off the axe tied to his back.

“There are other monsters in the vicinity. Monsters will crowd if we make a sound, so let’s pass through quietly.”

“My dwarf pride doesn’t…”

“I’ll buy you as much beer as you want later.”

“I think your quiet approach is right.”

Brockhand intervened at times and discovered shortcuts, but when it came to decisions Weed had to convince him every time.

To their luck, they were dwarves with small stature.

Just by sitting in the grass, they were hidden from monsters breezing by.

“Hmm. It’s unfortunate that they can’t get a taste of my axe.”

“There will be a chance.”

On their walk to Treestub Village they discovered a small cave with 9 dwarves.

“We are warriors of Golson Village. We saw a lot of monsters while heading to Treestub Village, so we were preparing a surprise attack. Who might you folks be?”

“I am Brockhand of the liquor storage, and here is Weedhand who took back our treasure from Kaybern’s lair.”

“I am in the presence of a great dwarf. It is an honor. It seems you’re making your way to Treestub Village. Do you mind if we accompany you?”

Weed accepted their request and his brain was working fast.

‘With them, that’s 10 dwarves. At first I thought it was mere coincidence coming across Brockhand… It might not be what it seemed.’

He only thought about sneaking into Treestub Village. But now, leading all these dwarves increased his chances of getting caught.

‘Plans will change slightly. A clean surprise attack and clear the path.’

At Treestub Village, the dwarves will make a decision that will determine the fate of their kind. It wouldn’t be so bad for him to take the time to befriend the dwarf warriors.

– Betten: There are monsters around. They look to be gigantic demonic beasts leashed by the draconic soldiers. 7 of them are roaming, all apart from one another. If we wait for 4 or 5 minutes, we could sneak through.

“7 ahead. Can we take care of them quickly?”

“So be it. I’ll finally show them my axe.”

“I will take 3 of them.”

“So I can see your lair-robbing skills in action. I got your back.”

Weed and the dwarves launched an assault on the monsters blocking the path.

The monsters hidden among the grass and trees burst out, then Weed leapt down from the tree branch.

The dual-wield axe with which he trained so rigorously!

With the weapon he grabbed from Kaybern’s lair, his base attack was 280.

Other attributes also increased sharpness, strength and destructive force.  It was truly a rampaging weapon.

The monsters quickly died as soon as the dwarves unleashed their two-pronged attack.

Weed rapidly slayed two demonic beasts.

– Biwald: Southwest, 270 meters. Draconic warriors and monsters approaching. If you leave quickly you won’t be discovered.

– Sseum: 8 monsters north. I have been observing for some time, and they seem to patrol within certain boundaries. You could take care of them at the chestnut forest and remove any threats.

“Let’s hurry. Our next destination is the chestnut forest. There is a battle waiting for us there.”

“Sounds good. My blood is boiling.”

Thanks to the avian scouting the surroundings, they took care of the monsters and advanced with ease.

Weed slaughtered dragon soldiers by using Sculptural Destruction and poured all his art stats into strength, crushing them in just 3 blows.

These soldiers had substantial health points and endurance, but were weak to his method of heightening base attacks.

They could withstand skills, but were crushed under direct attacks!

Weed’s eyes glimmered.

‘I can’t say this is efficient in terms of hunting, but it’s a decent location overall.’

The draconic warriors dropped useful equipment as well as dragon teeth and scales.

These were great as magic ingredients and also needed in special quests.

The dwarves looked at Weed with amazement.

“You are incredibly strong!”

“I didn’t think you’d slay the soldiers that swiftly.”

The dwarf warriors of white beards were in awe. They were all short but had broad shoulders.

“They are nothing compared to Kaybern.”

“The Black Dragon?”

“When I faced Kaybern…”

“Gasp. You battled Kaybern?”

“Well, we clashed briefly… Let’s keep moving. We need to get to the village by tomorrow noon.”

They arrived at the ridge of the rocky mountain.

There was a high chance of getting discovered by the draconic warriors and monsters.

What made matters worse was that the moon was bright and the family constellation that he created while mastering sculptural techniques too was shining.

The star that resembled Seoyoon and a baby, dressed with jewels rained light down on the earth.

“Please come take a look.”

Weed gathered the dwarves.

“This ridge is widely visible. We will definitely get discovered through this way and attract the monsters.”

“I have no fear. Death isn’t something to be afraid of.”

Brockhand spoke with confidence.

“We will distract them if it need be. You have important matters, so head to Treestub Village!”

Their plan was the warriors scattering and diverting the draconic warriors and the monsters.

Weed thought that in terms of just the success of the quest, the dwarves could be sacrificed.

‘It would be helpful but it risks a huge loss.’

The dwarves boasted about their bond of loyalty with one another. They willingly jumped into battle to save one of their own.

Hence they despised leaving one of theirs as bait.

‘I will get to Treestub Village, but there may be a significant turn of events.’

Though it was a while back, he used to take care of the Rohaim Kingdom soldiers one by one in the Lair of Litvart.

He never got to see them after that, but he did not wish to lose military resources meaninglessly.

‘I have to save as many as I can. I have to save them to exploit them later. These are dwarves we are talking about here.’

Truthfully, Weed was not concerned even if getting to Treestub Village would turn out to be challenging.

He was proceeding in the form of the dwarf, the standard of the current quest but he could always use Sculptural Transformation.

He could morph into a monster or draconic warrior and just walk through carefree.

Or he could turn into a squirrel and scurry away.

Riding on Wyvern3 across the sky could get him seen by the draconic warriors, but the other methods were just plain cheating!

‘Keeping these dwarves alive will be of help later on.’

Weed took out animal hides and a sewing kit from his bag. They were items he carried around after he mastered sculptural techniques.

“I have a plan so please wait.”

He sewed the hides together and applied paint that he borrowed from Yurin.

The work of sewing intermediate level 7.

He wasn’t a master but was very crafty, even fine-tuning it.

The thread and needle danced and created the animal hide clothing. The head was carved from mud using sculptural technique.

The collaboration of sewing and sculptural technique!

*Blink!*

< Well-made Coat of the Black Bear

Durability 20/20

Defense 11

It was a finely woven coat based on the form of a bear!

So well crafted that the wearer would definitely be mistaken for a bear.

Attribute: Slight fear on monsters.

Weak monsters may flee.

Luxurious.

Far from current trends, but could be sold at high prices depending on personal taste. >

“Mmm. Turned out pretty good.”

It was just a plain leather coat.

Even so, like the sculptural master he is, the head of the black bear was very realistic.

One could not tell it apart beyond 10 meters away.

Weed followed up with wolf and monkey coats.

“Wear these coats.”

“You mean these?”

“Yes. We can skip over this ridge with these on.”

“This is disgraceful for a brave warrior. How about we wait until nightfall?”

“That’s not an option. The Family constellation is too bright… We could wait even longer and traverse when the fog sets, but then even we cannot tell when the enemies approach us.”

In the fog, the scouting from the avian was also rendered useless.

Weed did not want to leave this quest to pure luck.

“Currently the draconic warriors are leading the monsters. The draconic warriors have sensitive taste and do not hunt animals. I heard that there are many bears, wolves and monkeys on this mountain. If they do not approach us, they might not notice. Even if they do come quite close, they won’t be able to identify us.”

Weed’s plan was to wear disguise and traverse the ridge.

Many animals of the natural habitat were roaming around as well, so nothing would be peculiar looking from afar.

‘Disguise coats in the middle of the night… Even a ridge will have trees and grass here and there on the way that would provide as cover from their vision. Being exposed a little bit at a time would not be a problem.”$

The dwarves were reluctant, but it wasn’t difficult to convince them.

“I don’t like it more than any of you. But, we are making a sacrifice for our kind.”

“Sacrifice…”

“Yes. I wish to fight them too… But we will not win against Kaybern if we do. How glorious would it be to have a cold beer after we slay Kaybern?”

Hearing Weed, the dwarves grumbled but managed to wear the disguise coats.

“If they catch us, we will buy time. Weedhand, you head to Treestub Village.”

“Yes. I will do so.”

Weed wore the wolf hide coat.

The mouth was sharp and long with fangs sticking out; the typical villainous wolf coat.

The dwarves got on the move one at a time wearing the animal disguises.

The bear walked a bit further up front and the wolves and the monkeys followed loosely.

It was indeed a strange scene, hence they spread the distance apart and walked in threes or fours.

Weed was experienced in walking on four legs in the past and it was familiar and fairly easy.

The dwarves too were pretty decent in mimicking animal movements, moving along the ridge.

“Kuuuugh.”

“Awoooooo!”

“Screech-screech!”

No one asked them to do so, but the dwarves got excited and started making quiet animal cries. There was surely the sound of sipping beer back when they were getting dressed.

– Sseum: The dragon soldiers are passing by from a fair distance in the east. You will still be visible in that range.

Weed too slightly turned his head to look.

Under the moonlight, he saw the dragon soldiers and the monsters patrolling Norn Mountain Pass. Their objective was finding the dwarves.

The bear, wolves and monkeys treaded lightly along the ridge and headed to Treestub Village.

Chapter 3: Legendary Artifact

The entrance to Norn Mountain Pass.

Pale was on standby with the assault squad in order to help Weed with his quest.

“Whew… My heart feels tight but it’s a thrill to watch.”

On live stream, so many draconic warriors and monsters could be seen roaming the mountain pass. It was incredible that Weed and the dwarves were able to infiltrate thus far, and the scene of them heading to the village disguised as animals was palm-sweating.

“There is no need for us to step in.”

Randel, one of the squad members spoke in amazement.

She was a lightning type mage!

A level 510 mage that could focus unmatched firepower on monsters in a split second.

Randel came to the ridge expecting a raging battle but instead was simply watching from afar.

“I didn’t think they would weave through that horde of monsters. This could be really dangerous if the dragon shows up as well.”

“That’s Weed-nim. He always comes through with insane achievements but avoids needless fights.”

“Amazing. Such a variety in proceeding quests.”

Sollon of Mabaros Guild also cut in and pretended to be amazed, but in truth he was disappointed that Weed wasn’t killed by the draconic warriors.

‘He did well as the emperor of the Arpen Empire until now, I give him that. But, there is no need for him to do better. Right about now is a good time for him to die and fail.’

A considerable number of players from the Central Continent were clapping but were full of jealousy.

They wanted to witness Weed fall to his demise, but time and time again he escaped like a slippery roach.

KMC Media was also streaming the scene of Weed traversing Norn Mountain Pass.

– Hyemin-ssi, the terrain of this place is known to be the greatest challenge, right?

– Certainly. The downhill path toward the village has lots of places to hide in comparison. We can assess that they have passed through the most dangerous areas now. The higher the level of the player, the more they think resolve becomes important. They know that concentrating on fighting is what will save their lives. Novice players however, they try all kinds of methods.

– It is astonishing to see this kind of method succeed. The draconic warriors have no clue.

– Though it may be bright, it is still night time… There is grass and trees on this mountain. It would be normal for them to see animals roaming around.

– The draconic warriors were admirably loyal, but they are not exactly wise or quick-witted. I think Weed-nim is taking full advantage of that.

– He got well around their backs.

*****

A thick fog settled in the midst of the night.

Weed and the dwarves followed the ridge and soon diverged into a path between the trees.

“Treestub Village isn’t far from here. I know a safe route.”

With Brockhand’s guidance, they passed through a cave and grassy regions.

Their range of sight was only about 3-4 meters but the dwarves knew the roads like the back of their hand.

The closer they got to the dwarf village, the more covers and caves they could use to keep themselves hidden.

If Brockhand died before getting this far, they would have never known this route.

“Up ahead is Treestub Village.”

Finally, they had arrived at Treestub Village where vicious-looking dwarf guards who were holding massive hammers and axes were standing by the entrance.

“Do you go by Weedhand?”

“We welcome you!”

Weed was shocked by the equipment these dwarves were wearing.

‘Only the best dwarf warriors are gathered in this village.’

Over time, the quality of equipment worn by players has improved constantly.

Items of level 400 ~ 500 were very common and those of higher level showed up as well. The typical examples of these gears were the ones looted from the dragon’s lair!

The equipment worn by the dwarven warriors were at least over level 500 and given the current standard of the players, the quality of these items were of the best.

‘1,000 dwarf warriors. It means they are Thor’s best dwarf warriors.’

The elites of the elites trained in secret for the assault on the dragon.

Blink!

< Dwarf Conference Complete.

You have arrived at Treestub Village where the dwarf conference will take place.

Now you and the dwarves will decide on the fate of the dwarven race.>

< Reputation increased by 20,000. >

< Adventure achievement increased all stats by 2. >

< Perseverance increased by 5. >

< Spirit increased by 4. >

The dwarf warriors gathered in Treestub Village varied from young men to seniors, but they all possessed incredible strength and stamina due to their racial trait.

They each emptied 20 glasses of beer straight and denounced Kaybern.

“The Brazier of Sacrifice has returned and it means the time we dwarves have been waiting for has come.”

“No matter what danger awaits us, this opportunity is worth every risk.”

“We will advance and show the youth what pride is.”

It wasn’t long before the dwarves decided to go to war.

The thousand most skillful dwarven warriors in the entire race determined to step into battle against the dragon.

The next moment, a chain quest appeared!

Blink!

<The Dwarf Test

The dwarves made up their resolution to fight with their boastful iron axes.

Their bodies and stamina were denser than the rocks!

The dwarven warriors, the crushers of fearsome monsters, amassed their will.

“We dwarves will not stop until the end.”

“For freedom!”

The dwarves spoke in agreement.

“However, we must announce the leader who will lead us all.”

“The most valiant dwarf. One who can charge at Kaybern fearlessly.”

Pass the test of the dwarves.

You will gain the title to lead them.

Should you fail, you will be unable to lead them in battle and instead will participate as one of many in the battle against Kaybern.

Difficulty: Race quest

Requirement: Dwarf. Restricted to dwarves in Treestub Village only.

Reward: Legendary weapon.

This quest cannot be forfeited. It will proceed invariably.>

The dwarves in charge of the conference came out with 5 axes.

“Since you retrieved the Brazier of Sacrifice, you get to choose an axe first. Pick the axe that fits your preference.”

The dwarf warrior with the reddest nose and muscular forearms spoke.

“If you’re a dwarf, you must have a great understanding of axes and iron. Examine with your eyes and wield it with your hands. If you choose the right axe, we will be under your command.”

Weed looked over the axes.

They were crude axes that varied in size, thickness and materials.

These dwarven made weapons carried the unique trait; the sharp blade shined in the light and a sense of raw power that could split anything apart.

‘The handles are nothing fancy, very ordinary.’

Dwarven made products were known for being extremely practical and sturdy, but these axes seemed like they were crafted long ago.

Weed grasped the thick axe with his hands.

“Identify.”

< A blacksmith who wields the essence of iron has hidden the details of this axe.

Your blacksmithing level is too low. Identification failed. >

Identification skill was useless.

‘Of course there was a trick.’

He knew it seemed too easy compared to the difficulty of the quest.

The dwarf warrior explained with his rough voice.

“One of these axes is a legendary weapon that we have treasured, three are axes wielded by heroes in the era of war, and the last is just a plain axe.”

“Legendary weapon?”

“The dwarves, deemed as great commanders, crafted this through generations. One of these axes was a masterpiece crafted over hundreds of years, instilled with the will of us dwarves to crush Kaybern’s skull in half. It was a desire greater than life itself.”

He must search out this axe with his eyes and touch.

Weed gulped anxiously having to find the axe just by appearance.

‘A legendary axe. Lucky draw is definitely not my forte.”

Since he was young, he never believed in luck.

He never played claw machine games because he thought it was a waste of money, but when life was hardest, he bought a lottery ticket just to keep himself hopeful.

For a week he was dreaming of the chance of winning 1st place and made a plan of how to spend it.

First, he would buy a house, then make a deposit to the bank and buy clothes for his grandmother and sister.

‘I never won.’

He kicked himself after watching the lottery announcement, thinking he was stupid enough to waste money and scrapped the ticket.

Even after that, whenever he hit curves in life he bought himself tickets, but never won.

‘Lucky draw is buying false hope. S rank quests are better off.’

Indeed it was a challenge to figure out the correct axe just by looking.

‘It’s not about the appearance. Novice weapons could be differentiated easily from the better made weapons, but these axes are premium.”

The plain axe mentioned in the quest could be identified with ease.

The handle was made from plain lumber and seemed like it was mass produced.

However, picking a legendary weapon out of the 4 incredibly well-crafted weapons was near impossible.

‘This too is a dwarf quest after all. If I used an axe as my primary weapon, would it have been easy to figure out? No. It would have been some help, but I don’t think I would have figured it out just by brief touch.’

Weed swung each axe into the air. The weight balance and transfer were all clean as they were all dwarven made.

If swords were elegant and quick, axes were swung with brute force accumulated from the entire body focused into a single point.

Due to its destructive power, one who started off with an axe rarely switched to other weapons.

‘One of four. 25% chance. That plain axe is undoubtedly what it looks like. It doesn’t seem to carry any tricks.’

Weed was having trouble determining which axe to choose.

‘Should I really leave this to luck? A Miracle? No. There must be a way. One that can’t be seen with just eyes and touch…’

A thought suddenly passed through his mind.

Dwarves were master artisans before they were the strongest warriors.

How the weapon would be wielded was the most important for their kind.

“Hmm.”

Weed swung each axe again.

At first, he didn’t know which axe was best, but he quickly caught on.

Weed smiled lightly and made his decision.

“I will choose the axe on the furthest right.”

“… Are you sure? You won’t regret it?”

“Yes. I am certain that this is the legendary axe that will split Kaybern’s skull.”

It was impossible to identify by looking.

Touching wasn’t any better. Maybe a master blacksmith could differentiate it.

‘I wonder if I needed to be a master blacksmith and a level 700, 800 warrior to succeed in the dwarf race quest.’

There was no extent to just how difficult this quest was and inevitably he had to choose a single axe. If he chose with greed and false hope, it would be no different from relying on luck.

Only the dwarves knew which ones were the axes of heroes and which was the legendary axe.

‘The examiners had the answer.’

Each time Weed swung an axe, their eyes and attitude changed noticeably.

Their reaction for the plain-looking axe wasn’t particular.

Their eyes were fixated when he was holding the other axes and when he swung the axe on the furthest right, they were enveloped in a sense of excitement and awe.

Even when he put it down on the ground, they seemed anxious as if it was going to leave a scratch on the axe.

‘There was no trick to begin with. Dwarves are a kind that cannot hide their expression.’

Their attitude towards the axe showed him the clear answer.

There was no reason for him to hesitate on the decision nor the possibility of failure.

Blink!

< The dwarf test is complete.

The legendary axe instilled with longing that has spanned centuries has shown itself to the world once again. Honor will be restored to the dwarves that have lived lowly on the ground!

Lead the dwarf warriors. Swing down with the legendary axe and slay Kaybern. >

< Reputation increased by 40,000. >

< You have touched the legendary axe.

Blacksmithing skill level has increased to Advanced level 4. You are now capable of refining more resources and applying traits to weapons and armor. >

< Adventure achievements increase all stats by 4. >

< Intelligence increased by 5. >

< Wisdom increased by 4. >

< You have gained the authority to command 1,000 dwarf warriors. >

The rewards were tremendous for quite an easy quest!

The increase in blacksmithing proficiency was also a precious benefit.

“As expected of the dwarf who took back the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“I knew you would find the legendary axe. If you knew the taste of an axe, that is.”

“If you’re a dwarf, you can feel the legendary axe. It was a simple test, really.”

Weed showed no interest in the chattering dwarves. His eyes were set only on the legendary axe. The dwarf that led the conference handed over the axe with his two hands upheld.

“This is yours.”

“Are you really giving it to me?”

“Of course. You, who must command all dwarves, have the right to wield this axe.”

Gulp, gulp, gulp.

Weed was almost drooling.

‘Look what rolled right into my arms.’

The reason he came all the way to Treestub Village was to ask for assistance from the dwarf warriors.

Historically, the dwarves lived like slaves under the dragon.

Defeating the dragon was the sworn fate of their kind.

In the entire process of the race quest, they were offering so much.

Weed understood why the dragons left other races alone and specifically exploited dwarves.

< You have received the legendary Dragon Slayer Axe. >

The legendary weapon.

Emperor Geihar had legendary equipment in the past, and it was said that even among legendary items there were great differences.

“Identify!”

< You have passed the dwarf test and the details of the axe has been revealed. >

Dragon Slayer Axe

Durability 350/350

Attack Damage 331~ 572

An axe crafted over generations, across centuries, by the best dwarf blacksmiths who ever lived.

An unbelievable legendary weapon!

The dwarf blacksmiths from each generation imbued it with all their talent.

Unimaginable power will be transferred to the dwarf who wields this axe against the dragon.

Its tremendous power could only be wielded properly with two hands.

Divine sacrifice!

The dwarves have suffered a lot in order to craft this axe.

Each battle with this axe will result in 10-point reduction in any random stat.

Requirement: Dwarf only.

Level 990.

Attribute: Maximum health points and mana increased by 300%.

All stats +150.

Axe skill damage increased by 80% and increased critical chance.

5% lifesteal.

Radius of axe skills increased by 200%.

Grievous wounds apply additional damage for 20 seconds.

Armor penetration!

Consecutive successful attacks will reduce the target’s armor by 15.

Armor break.

Reduces monster’s spirit by 70%.

Axe skill destructive force increased by 200% and mana cost reduced by half.

Planting the axe into the ground summons Dwarven Rock Shield.

Strength and stamina enhancing skills are all mastered.

Rate of mastering combat skills increased by 200%.

Attack damage of nearby dwarf warriors increased by 50%.

Special attributes that activate only when engaging dragons:

Attack damage doubled.

Magic resistance increased by 49%.

Upon taking damage, health recovery is increased by 150%.

Immune to curse and physical debuffs.

Penetration, destructive force and crushing damage.

When both feet are touching the earth, the user will not be knocked back by any force.

“This is insane, just utterly insane.”

Heavenly compliments sprang out of Weed’s mouth.

The axe was so huge that it had to be held two-handed, and it was heavier and more powerful than a sword.

It was a weapon solely for offense!

Its base attack damage was three times the damage of the Loa sword and had enhanced attack skills and additional power transfer when fighting a dragon.

“The only thing that bothers me is the Divine Sacrifice…”

Each battle would cost 10 stats!

By simple calculations, just 5 battles would cost 50 random stats.

Needlessly accumulated stats in Dignity, Charm, Mentality and Fighting Spirit could decline, but it was the same case for Strength, Agility and Stamina which were vital.

“It’s not a weapon I can use all the time. Still, compared to the Loa sword it will have 5 times more attack damage. I suppose this is for boss raids. As I thought, the dwarves were the answer.”

The Savior quest, as grand as it sounded, would only provide for one or two heroes.

When they combine their power against the dragon, just how much help they would prove to be was unknown!

The dwarf race quest not only gave him experienced warriors as allies but provided him with the best weapons.

‘With this axe, I could inflict some serious damage on the dragon.’

Weed was confident that this weapon could cut down 10% of Kaybern’s health points.

He would have to use the Brazier of Sacrifice without question, but he could do a flurry of attacks while the dwarf warriors bought some time.

‘Even so, I can’t guarantee a victory.’

The dragon’s style of battle was the concern.

No matter how powerful they could get, if the dragon bombards magical spells from the sky the dwarves had no way to attack.

‘Kaybern thinks so lowly of these dwarves to begin with and now that he was robbed, he would be furious. With no other variables, the battle has to be on ground level. We need to draw him into it. If the other dwarves create a diversion, it will buy me some time but it will still be difficult.’

Weed simulated the battle scene against Kaybern.

Even if he were to be very tactical with these dwarves, it still seemed a bit extreme to fight the dragon.

It wasn’t as if the dragon was going to just swing its paws.

‘The probability is just too low. If I enhance magic resistance radically the dwarves won’t die as easily but…’

The dwarves shouted and announced their fighting spirit.

“Let’s fight!”

“We won’t even get a chance to get at Kaybern if it wasn’t for Weedhand.”

“It only makes sense that he will lead us. Though he may be young, he has shown us courage and strength.”

“But a dragon is a dragon. We won’t win the battle.”

“The treasure of our race. The Crown of Lightning will do the trick.”

“You mean the legendary gear crafted by Somhand, the most brilliant dwarf in history?”

Weed’s ears were hooked.

His heart fluttered at the story of another equipment.

The dwarf that brought him the Dragon Slayer Axe spoke again.

“Weedhand. If it’s you, I know you will be able to find the Crown of Lightning. It is another treasure crafted to kill Kaybern!”

Blink!

Crown of Lightning.

The dwarves are valiant warriors and will follow you, the hero.

Lead the thousand warriors and uncover their treasure, the Crown of Lightning!

It will be worth every sacrifice.

Difficulty: Race quest.

Requirement: Dwarf.

Reward: Crown of Lightning.

< The quest, with the fate of the race at stake, has been activated!

You must command the courageous dwarves and defeat Kaybern.

The wicked dragon will ridicule its challengers and destroy them.

The dwarves however, will not back down and the clash with the dragon is inevitable.

Return true freedom to the dwarves of the high mountains!

The legendary gears hidden by the dwarves will aid you in your battle.

Warning:

The dwarves prohibit other races from entering the secret location where their treasure is kept. If one who is not a dwarf enters the quest, the warriors shall reject the hero.

Should the quest fail, the relationship between the dwarves and Kaybern will turn for the worst. Thor will be annihilated by the dragon. >

The destruction of Thor.

This Kaybern mission determined the fate of the dwarves.

‘Why is this race quest so extreme?’

One wrong move and the entire race could be erased off the planet.

‘The Crown of Lightning…’

The legendary gear kept by the dwarves!

Weed asked the dwarf who gave the quest to him.

“What is the Crown of Lightning?”

“It’s a crown that wields the most powerful element, lightning. It’s a legendary item that could turn anything in sight into ashes. If you wear it, you can lead an army with great charisma. It’s a crown crucial for leading our warriors.”

“Oh… What an incredible treasure. So where is this crown?”

“That’s up to you to figure out.”

“…”

“The young dwarf warriors will assist you. Wherever you go.”

– Mapan: I have never heard of the Crown of Lightning! There isn’t any record of it in historical books nor quest logs.

Weed imagined that it was an invaluable item if it was on par with the Dragon Slayer Axe.

The legendary artifact of the dwarven race! They have prepared it for hundreds of years in order to kill the dragon, so there was no doubt that its powers would be immense.

‘This is a jackpot of items!’

– Chase: So, a legendary gear hidden by the dwarves. Weed-nim just might slaughter them all before we finish our quest.

– Spenson: Given the trait of the crown, it seems there is a big boost of command ability. I bet there’s various protection spells to use against the dragon. If Weed-nim equips it and leads the army, the effects will be enormous. Since it’s a crown, it will also help him in his governance as the emperor.

There was a huge commotion on the discussion boards as well.

Each broadcasting station was live streaming Weed’s adventure but in some situations, there needed to be a bit of confidentiality and hence they delayed the feed by 3 minutes.

The viewers went wild since the appearance of the Dragon Slayer Axe.

After hearing that Weed had to uncover the Crown of Lightning, they were about to go on a riot.

– Aaaagh!

– God of items has blessed him. This is  God’s work.

– So awesome! He’s completely looting all of the dwarven treasures! Sick!

– But, Weed isn’t a dwarf. He’s a human.

– Dwarf race quest. Flex. Weed’s about to bleed them dry.

The players watching the stream were even more excited.

‘The legendary equipment of the dwarves. These will do nicely as the crown of Arpen Empire’s emperor.’

Weed was outright tempted.

A collection of great equipment was said to be the most transparent thing in this world.

“Yes. I will certainly find it.”

< Quest has been accepted. >

Weed decided to gather some information from the dwarves of Treestub Village.

“Where’s the Crown of Lightning?”

“I don’t know.”

“How could I find this crown?”

“Uhh… You have to look for it. Weedhand, who brought back the Brazier of Sacrifice. I am certain that you would be able to find it.”

“So, the Crown of Lightning…”

“First time I heard about it.”

“…”

None of the dwarves in this village had useful information.

Weed remembered the dwarf who first spoke to him about the crown.

He was a particularly short dwarf but with a thick lower body!

Gomfhand.

He was a warrior and an excellent blacksmith, a renowned dwarf citizen with a high reputation in Thor.

“I wish to know about the Crown of Lightning.”

“I want to tell you but… It will be dangerous.”

Weed smacked his lips and answered.

“So you knew after all. I am ready to sacrifice my life for our kin.”

“If that is so, take this.”

Blink!

< You have obtained the dwarven secret map. >

It was an old scroll made out of deer hide. The corners were worn away over time, but it had drawings of mountains and an X mark in the center.

“Our dwarf ancestors created this location in preparation for  battle against the dragon.”

Gulp.

“So, this must be the treasure storage?”

“I am not certain but you could think of it like that. We stocked all the equipment crafted for the dragon hunt.”

“Including the crown; loads of equipment…”

“However, it was overtaken by monsters. The proud dwarf warriors will assist you, so you must take them back.”

Weed took a closer look at the scroll.

‘There are no cities or villages on this map. I guess that’s to be expected…’

There were neither markings of rivers or seas. There were mountains coloured black and some were especially darker.

‘Maybe this is showing size and altitude by gradations? The terrain looks like Argoldia.

It was one of the 10 forbidden zones.

It was a region located in the desert terrain of the Central Continent, comprised of rocks and sand. Versailles was vast but these rugged deserts were rare.

‘If it’s Argoldia, that’s less area to search. Though it’s one of the forbidden locations, it’s not the early days of Royal Road now. It’s not an absolute danger zone. The quest will be difficult and I have to get into the mindset. The pinpoint location will be not too difficult to find since I have the map.’

Weed looked at the map and made calculations.

Since this quest had the fate of the dwarven race  and the equipment to be used in the battle against the dragon on the line, it would be a great challenge.

‘I have to assume that high-tier monsters inhabit these forbidden locations. They told me that they were overrun by monsters, so it’s likely that the monsters may be armed with the dwarven gear.’

The Goblins, for example, utilized human made items very well.

The higher the tier of the monster, the better they recognized quality equipment and used them as their own.

‘So, I have to lead the warriors and defeat the monsters. Seems pretty self-explanatory.”

The quest being a race quest, he could not receive help from human players.

Oberon and the dwarves could provide some help, but strategically that would only mean a few dwarven warriors added into the mix, which wasn’t too significant.

‘I gotta do this solo. Yep. That’s the plan.’

*****

Reverse was blissful stepping out the gates of Morata.

< Awakening of the sword!

Your incredible talents in swordsmanship is showing prowess.

Swordsmanship becomes stronger and quicker.

Novice restrictions allow up to 54% increased rate in proficiency. >

“Hahaha. Now we’re talking.”

He obtained a good sword into his possession from the auction site.

He also equipped a leather armor that boosted health points, defense as well as Agility.

From head to toe he wore the best equipment for his level.

“This is a great vibe.”

Reverse felt the exhilaration from his gear and sprinted towards the nearby rabbits.

Ta-ta-ta-tap!

His movement speed was 30% quicker than before.

He dashed ferociously and cut them down in a single swing.

< The rabbit was killed. >

< You have obtained experience. >

“Hu-hu-hu, one hit.”

Reverse was now comfortable killing rabbits that were once a hassle to hunt.

He was much faster, with stronger attack, making his hunting speed at least 5 times more efficient.

“Yes, this is how it should be. I need to hunt speedily like this.”

He focused on hunting in front of the gates of Morata and the time that passed so slowly when he hit scarecrows was ever so quick now.

< You have gained a level. >

It was so exciting to move around.

Experiencing growth while hunting was more satisfying than eating the most delicious food in the world!

“Excuse me… Do you want to hunt in a party?”

“Party?”

There were even other players asking him to hunt together.

In the eyes of fellow novice players, Reverse looked to be an amazing swordsman with rapid movement.

“We are going to the eastern forest and hunt foxes or wolves. You seem to be a swordsman. Do you want to go with us?”

A group showed up asking him to go hunt in a party.

Reverse rubbed his chin and checked the status of each player.

Having looked through so many novice equipment on the item trade websites, he could assess them roughly.

They were equipped with common gear that were a little over level 15.

“Sounds good, I’m in.”

Reverse moved along to the eastern forest with the group.

The wolves he had trouble with before now took significant damage each time he struck with his sword. One careless move got him bit or scratched, but most of the damage was mitigated by his armor.

“You’re so strong.”

“This is just the basic level.”

Reverse continued his party hunt and drenched in the joy of being the carry.

The results of spending cash was reflected on his gear and the more he fell into Royal Road.

‘This is fun. To an insane degree…’

After about 30 minutes, they settled to rest.

They started a campfire and shared some fruits from their bags.

In Morata, farm products were abundant and delicious, commonly carried around by novice players.

“I heard Morata is going to fall. Is it true?”

“I don’t know. I heard when Castle Wapen falls, Mistress will be the next target. After that is Morata.”

“It will be devastating if Morata gets ruined.”

The players chumped on their fruits as they exchanged conversations.

It was only 18 days until the doomsday predicted by the scholars of Grass Porridge Cult.

As a result, it created commotion among the players of Morata and many did not believe it.

‘On that day, Kaybern will appear for real.’

Reverse frowned while digging into his fruit.

The date that was calculated via his AI and the date predicted by the scholars were identical.

In order for Morata to avoid being targeted, they had to scrap 5.2% of the city’s territory.

Then 2% more on the following week; 8% on the week after.

If they destroyed Great Landmarks or commercial facilities, they would have to destroy less area, but that did not seem feasible.

If the dragon appears, I have to move to another location. I wonder if it was a bad decision for me to start in Morata.’

Although he wasn’t there for long, the thought of losing his homeland planted thoughts of regret inside him.

“Wouldn’t Weed-nim protect Morata?”

“Mmm. He did retrieve the Brazier of Sacrifice… Maybe he could win against the dragon.”

Reverse considered their words as false hope.

‘Brazier of Sacrifice. It will be impossible even with that item.’

Weed’s success of the lair raid increased the expectations of players.

Especially, the Northern players were creating a public sentiment to defend Morata.

‘He can’t pull it off with those measly dwarves…’

Even though Reverse was a novice, his assessment skills were on par with Weed and Bard Ray.

‘If they fight well, they could deal some damage to Kaybern. Even so, it won’t be enough to kill it; not worth betting the fate of the dwarves…’

*****

The alliance of dark gamers.

They were making huge profits after Kaybern threw the world into chaos.

Monsters were everywhere and hunting was much more accessible and, correspondingly, so did the danger level.

– I want to go to Puhol Waterpark. I am looking for an escort.

– Looking for a weapon. Only ones that I can equip.

– Can someone carry me for 2 days?

– I need people to join me in a dungeon for a quest. I will pay hourly wage when we depart from Morata.

The dark gamers sold their loot and took errands to make money.

Even among them, the debate about Kaybern was a hot topic.

– It’s so prosperous nowadays, but Kaybern is quite worrisome.

– The clients are afraid to hunt. There are also a reduced number of tourists.

– Did you see the lineup at Puhol Waterpark? All the people that should be out hunting are just dozing off.

– I do see less commissions coming in. Market price on equipment declined slightly as well.

– The Central Continent players are streaming over to the Northern Continent, so that is no surprise. However, they too will need gold to spend, so the price of gold would remain the same.

– The equipment needs to be sold for higher value. I can’t make decent profits with just errands and gold.

– Seniors. Magarita Village is being invaded by monsters. Could you offer some assistance?

Every day in the alliance of dark gamers, the information about village destructions and monsters were updated.

The dark gamers that were making high profits in such a short time were also feeling the state of the world.

– The villages and cities are being destroyed one by one. Just by the fact that the village we passed through some time ago was overtaken by monsters… Our jobs are disappearing.

– People are migrating to safe regions, so won’t the jobs stay consistent?

– They will crowd up and get destroyed… Let’s say in the future the vital cities have suffered greatly. It would be a huge predicament.

The dark gamers were concerned about the state of the world.

They wished for this Kaybern alert to be relieved soon, but the dragon would not be easily defeated. They, who hunted far more monsters than anyone, knew that fact very well.

Chapter 4: Dungeon of Argoldia

Weed led 1,000 dwarven warriors from Treestub Village.

He busily moved along with them to Argoldia!

“We have to run.”

The dwarven warriors hurried on their short legs and headed to Argoldia.

The dwarves were gifted with stamina and Argoldia was just beside the Central Continent.

– Spenson: I will send you a detailed map that I drew out the last time I visited Argoldia.

– Chase: I have a collection of information that I gathered about Argoldia.

He received the assistance from fellow adventurers and the avian.

The avian around Argoldia scouted the desert regions in detail.

There were considerable numbers of flying monsters that meant they had a few collisions but even still, they made quick progress.

– Swift Coldwind: I found it. It’s about half a day in distance from where you are now. You will see it after 3 rock mountains.

“Everyone, run!”

Weed dragged the dwarves mercilessly, giving them as little rest time as possible.

The bunch were over level 500, the best dwarven warriors with vigorous strength and stamina.

Some were even near mid and late level 500.

Most of these dwarves had a story. They bore the vocation of confronting the dragon since a young age and lived in the dungeons all along.

‘They are different from other players that spare themselves. They will gladly use the Brazier of Sacrifice for the glory of the dwarves.’

Leading them well was the most important matter.

He had to command them when they finally met Kaybern.

In Argoldia, flying monsters were roaming freely.

– Kuaaaagh.

– Kyaaaagh!

In the past they were fearsome figures and still remained just as formidable.

When the monsters descended to the ground, they fired arrows and threw handaxes to keep them away while running.

Weed arrived at the location marked on the scroll but there was a thick rock wall in their way.

“We have arrived.”

– Swift Coldwind: Judging by the surrounding terrain, this is surely the place. However, I did not find the entrance yet.

Weed examined the drawings on the map and the nearby mountains and was assured that this was the rock wall.

“The problem is the entrance.”

He pondered for a bit but quickly arrived at a simple answer.

“I bet there are dungeons still unexplored. Maybe an avalanche blocked it or someone sealed it off…”

If the map was correct, they would just have to excavate the entrance.

“We will dig an entrance.”

Weed’s words got the dwarves to pull out their pickaxes and begin digging through the wall.

After less than 30 minutes, they busted through the rock and created a path inside the dungeon. The possibility of untold events had them dig the entrance just wide enough for two or three people to pass at once.

– Dungeon. You are the discoverer of the dwarven special storage.

< Benefit: Reputation increased by 15,000.

Experience and drop rate increased 2x for a week.

In the first hunt, the monster will drop the best item from its potential loots. >

Just shovels upon shovels of reputation.

The surplus of reputation was perhaps a common trait of the dwarven race quest.

Normally the dwarves spread their reputation as great generals.

Not many became adventurers.

That aside, this quest was extremely vital for the entirety of the dwarven kind, hence he received a substantial amount of reputation.

“We found it earlier than I thought.”

Weed led the dwarves and made his way slowly inside the dungeon.

‘From this point on, I can’t get the help from other players. There are other disadvantages too.’

He would not be able to use Undead Summoning, which was despised by dwarves.  Needless to say, that meant he cannot call upon Van Hawk nor on Torido.

The dwarves were simple minded and did not compromise for the things they hated.

“Hmm. Then I just have to exploit these dwarves to the fullest. We have enough of a fighting chance.”

Weed brought 7 pieces of dwarven gear that he obtained from the dragon lair and distributed them.

There were a huge amount of treasures but it was unexpectedly difficult to find dwarven equipment with level restrictions around 500.

“Is this the work of the great commander Weedhand-nim?”

“I brought this from Kaybern’s home. You are all welcome to use them.”

In a massive war, the equipment of 7 dwarves wouldn’t be much of a difference.

However, if the dwarves leading the group inside the dungeon had reliable defense, they could withstand just about any foe!

“Maintain close formation.”

The dwarven secret storage had marble walls, quite spacious with corridors 20 meters in width.

“Be careful of traps and advance slowly.”

*Clack-clack-clack.*

Weed divided the dwarves into 20 teams of 50.

He already confirmed that these warriors could use about 5 to 6 types of weapons freely.

From throwing weapons like handaxes, daggers to heavy weapons such as double axes and big spears.

They were blacksmiths and consequently had a deep understanding of weapons.

They even wielded shields well, truly the jack of all trades in combat.

– Kwat!

– Kwa-Kyagh!

Keya, the herbivores that inhabit Argoldia appeared in front of them.

They were herbivores 5 meters long, tyrannical creatures that attacked smaller creatures for fun.

“Enemy spotted. Begin battle!”

The cluttered dwarven warriors lifted their weapons and advanced.

Due to the thick skins of the Keyas, typical attacks had little effect.

“Front line throw handaxes and pull back. Second row, throw your spears. Third row, shield charge. Fourth row, arm up with axes and attack.”

The dwarves carried a variety of weapons on their backs and swiftly adapted to the kind of enemy they were up against.

They fended with their shields and attacked the body with spears while cutting off the approaching tentacles with axes.

“Excellent.”

Weed was satisfied at the sight of the dwarves moving exactly as he commanded.

Each dwarf was pulling off their role and the innate intrepidness of dwarven warriors stirred up an intensely engaging battle.

They weren’t as extreme as barbarians, but the defense that came from shields and armor was incredibly effective in close combat.

They took care of the Keyas while sustaining only minor injuries.

“K-hmm. It stings a little.”

“It’s more than bearable. I can fight more.”

It was impressive to see them treat their own wounds after the end of battle.

“Slight tweaks will make them great.”

Weed refined the warrior composition further with each battle.

In the treasure storage, all kinds of monsters from massive insects, rock monsters to cursed spirits appeared.

At times he ordered the battle with mostly handaxes and spread them out in a defensive formation on purpose to confirm their effectiveness.

It was crucial for him to confirm the combat level of the dwarven warriors through a variety of situational combat before confronting the dragon.

“Their defense is great. Currently there are no priests… If they join as well, these dwarves could plant their feet in the ground.”

When they fought with axes in close combat, they were a bit reckless. They swung mindlessly and did not back away even a step.

Conversely, when they wielded swords or spears they were true to their role of keeping the enemy in check.

“So their combat style changes with the weapons. Not too surprising.”

However, when they came across monsters with high defense, the limits of the dwarven warriors were evident.

They hit with strength, then even more strength.

Ultimately, they would swing until the enemy broke and shatter, but it was time-consuming.

“They aren’t half bad in hunting, but not enough to defeat the dragon.”

Weed frowned.

The dwarven warriors were utilizing only the simplest skills.

Their defense skills were diverse but lacked proficiency because they wielded so many.

Thanks to their high strength and good weapons, they were unstoppable against monsters with mediocre defense. But when the enemy was just as dense, they couldn’t kill it swiftly enough.

Spear and axe warriors had decent attack and if arranged in a good composition they could hunt speedily. This method was meaningless against a dragon.

‘It would be a hassle to kill the boss monster of this dungeon, let alone Kaybern. They do hold their ground well though.’

Maybe Weed could mitigate those weaknesses.

The dwarves could wield swords, spears, axes and shields.

He just needed to teach them more efficient and powerful skills.

“Mapan-nim.”

– Mapan: At your service!

“The dwarves are capable of wielding just about any weapon. But their skills are outdated and I need useful ones.”

– Mapan: Is it for battling the dragon?

As expected, Mapan understood his motives clearly.

“It would be helpful to find skills that will do well in normal hunts, but of course we will need secret techniques for the dragon hunt.”

Secret techniques of the sword, axe and spear.

In the past it was difficult to learn just one, but times have changed.

Weed was the emperor of the Arpen Empire and he held the ultimate authority.

With the exception of those within Haven territories, every secret technique could be collected.

‘Not just anyone can master the secret techniques, but I’m sure these dwarves are worthy.’

– Mapan: I will scavenge the best as quickly as possible. Oberon-nim, too, would know quite a bit of defense skills.

Fulfilling the lacking skills of dwarves wasn’t the end.

For them to reach advanced levels, they had to go through an intense grind.

Luckily for them, Weed was an expert in the field.

‘The dwarves are prideful and have high tolerance levels. I can make them crawl just before they die short of breath.’

Now it was time to increase the tempo of the hunt.

– I am Weedhand!

Weed roared and pulled out his Loa sword.

From this moment out, he was to win the hearts of the warriors and engage in the hunt himself.

“Oh. Finally Weed has pulled his weapon.”

“Sword? So he primarily uses swords!”

The Dragon Slayer Axe reduced stats, so he had no intentions of using it.

The weapon was almost forbidden unless he were to face a boss level monster!

Weed’s roar was effective in boosting the morale of the dwarves, but he had a different motive.

From afar, endless legions of monsters stomped towards them.

The dungeon became a living hell filled with the horrific cries of the monsters.

“Now we are going to clean the house.”

Weed did think that it may be dangerous to funnel all the monsters together.

‘I have to save time. With our forces, it’s worth a shot.’

The dwarves did best when pushed to the limit!

If he sealed the halls of the dungeon, only a small number could fight at an instance, no matter how many monsters.

He confirmed the high defense of the dwarves and all that was left was for them to fight until the end.

“Sculptural Destruction! All shall become strength.”

Sculptural Destruction converted all Art stats into Strength!

“Heraim Fencing Skill.. Haaah!”

He ruthlessly slashed through the monsters and wiped them out together with the warriors.

“He’s incredible, that dwarf.”

“He might overpower an ogre.”

The dwarves followed behind him with admiration.

He looked back after they fended off the monsters for a while. The dwarves were worn out but there were no casualties.

It was all because they protected each other with the close bonds they have for their own kind. Weed was very impressed.

“Mmm. I am assured that I can drive them even further.”

He did not want his subordinates to die in vain, but he took the mindset of the exploitative CEO to heart!

“We’ll keep moving forward.”

At some point in their charge, they found iron golems. Thick dust had collected on the head and shoulders and when the dwarves approached them, they opened their eyes.

“Enemy. Prepare for battle!”

– Guuuuuuuuuuuuh. You finally arrived.

– We have been waiting for ages.

Surprisingly, the golems weren’t enemies but the allies of the dwarves.

They were iron golem reinforcements created by dwarf commanders.

“As one should expect from an advanced dungeon in one of the 10 forbidden locations.”

Weed was concerned with the difficulty of the quest.

Even with well prepared dwarves he couldn’t advance, hence the iron golem reinforcements were waiting for them.

“Even so… It will at least be fun.”

Weed wasn’t an ordinary dwarf that was discouraged from a bit of hardship in a quest.

He went through all kinds of difficulties with countless adventures across the continent and possessed a vast range of skills.

“The dwarf race quest in normal progression would have been obtained around level 700 to 800. It might have been later than that. Assuming that the dwarves made progress too, they would at most be around mid to late level 500.”

The quest then would have been different in that he would have had to lead the front by himself and push through the dungeon with the dwarves behind him.

“There will definitely be powerful monsters up ahead.”

These dwarves were to be expended on Kaybern. Not one could die in vain.

“Will it really be that dangerous?”

Weed felt his competitiveness rising.

In a tunnel design dungeon, the dwarves, with their level of defense, could withstand just about any powerful monster.

It was dangerous but not to the extent that they would die instantly. Depending on how they fought, they could all survive.

“We still have the dragon to fight after all this… Surely all this extreme battling is unnecessary.”

*****

The adventurers that travelled to the Ring of Fire faced the death of their comrades each day.

“This area is dangerous no matter how much caution is taken.”

“Yes, I agree. The terrain is our biggest problem and the monsters are only adding to it.”

The abrupt volcanic eruptions caused the ground to split open and fume unbearable heat.

The adventurers witnessed several dozens of their own burn to death at once, realizing that there was no such thing as safety.

“In regions with extreme conditions, you can survive with proper gear but here, you never know when an accident will kill you.”

“We are going to return. Let’s find any leads in Orcland.”

“The King of demons. Are you going to look for leads on that?”

“Yes. It’s a bit of a goose chase but if we find even the most minor quest, it will be the first lead.”

“We are going to remain here. Landony’s lair is surely around here somewhere. I can’t give up after coming all this way.”

The adventurers formed two groups.

Chase and Spenson.

The accomplished adventurers chose to remain in Jigolaths and continue the expedition. Most adventurers chose to return to the Orcland or Central Continent instead.

The Ring of Fire expedition had been incredibly dangerous except for the land that was connected to Orcland. People died falling in the lava between the land fissures and from falling debris from volcanic eruptions.

Weed, too, explored the Jigolaths in the past, but he only visited the volcanic island in the glacial region.

The unstable tectonic shifts were constant, spewing lava without rest; the earth split apart like grains of sand.

The Ring of Fire was the most dangerous place; it denied exploration.

“So, what will happen to us all who stayed?”

The adventurers that stayed in Ring of Fire opened the map and revised the expedition plan. Even with the deaths of so many adventurers, they explored only 20% of the location.

The rest was extremely dangerous to approach or access was prevented altogether by monster nests.

Chase assessed the map and spoke prudently.

“The exploration is being delayed either because we are all being wiped out while moving together or because we are advancing too cautiously. So, how about we explore individually? We can share new information among ourselves.”

“Sounds good.”

“I don’t know which one of us will find Landony’s lair, but let’s not hog all the glory after we all came this far.”

The adventurers commenced their solo expedition.

They took each step with their lives on the line and left behind markings, indicating safety where they passed.

*****

Bison.

The level 230 adventurer who began in Morata, before the Arpen Empire was established.

“I have to find Landony’s lair!”

Bison, who came to the Ring of Fire, lacked certain skills as an adventurer but burned with passion.

He already came close to dying twice while exploring near the volcano, but he did not return to Orcland.

He fell deep into his thoughts near the flesh-cooking hot river.

“The terrain is so hazardous. The areas I managed to explore just transform because of the eruptions.”

Bison thought that, with his abilities, he would be unable to find Landony’s lair.

The Ring of Fire was befitting of its nickname, the graveyard of adventurers, as it rejected the touch of humans.

“Searching through the entire region will get me killed a million times in a year.”

It was the very reason that so many adventurers decided to turn away.

“If it was Weed-nim… Wouldn’t Weed-nim have failed too?”

Bison was a player who grew his dream by watching Weed in the Northern Continent.

He pondered for a while and decided to reverse the train of thought.

The Ring of Fire was extremely dangerous hence the expedition was delayed.

Adventurers were fearless individuals but none would dare explore an area where a volcano just erupted.

Exploring the surroundings after confirmed safety was quickly overturned by a shift in the terrain or a volcanic explosion, leading to deaths.

“The dangerous areas cannot be explored further because of this. To find Landony’s lair in such a location will cost countless lives.”

Bison blankly stared at a volcano in the distance, erupting.

A volcanic jet that never rests.

The Ring of Fire had several locations that were just radically dangerous to explore.

Lava surged several hundred meters into the air; a dark area where the sky was covered by black blankets of ashes.

“Landony’s lair… Landony is the Red Dragon. Then it would favor the essence of fire.”

Bison was Korean. He thought of the heating mat that he bought for his parents last month.

“Just like how my parents like the warm heating mat, wouldn’t the Red Dragon prefer the same?”

The terrain that was most unique in Ring of Fire.

The mountains with flowing lava, he thought, was most likely, especially the great volcano that erupted frequently!

The most dangerous place in the Ring of Fire seemed to be hiding Landony’s lair.

“Off I go!”

*****

A day later, Chase received a message via whisper.

– Bison: Hello, Chase-nim. I’m at the great volcano.

“I see. You are exploring that area.”

Chase thought it was just a mundane message. For his expedition, he was crafting supplies from the materials he obtained in Ring of Fire.

Crafting many adventure supplies from animal hide, plants, ores and other loots was Chase’s speciality!

– Bison: I got too close to the lava and my body set on fire, haha. The burns are serious and I ran out of water. I guess this is where it ends for me.

“Darn… I apologize for asking you to come all this way.”

– Bison: It’s quite alright. My death this time around is meaningful.

“Did you manage to find something?”

– Bison: Yes. Landony’s lair.

“What?”

– Bison: I’m going to pass soon so I’ll keep it short. The Red Dragon’s lair is visible. You have to take the path between the lava… I will upload a video on the adventurer’s web page so check it out. I wish you all good luck.

“Bison-nim!”

– Bison: It was a fun time on Royal…

That was the last they heard from Bison.

Chase spread the news to all adventurers. They were doubtful at first but soon they confirmed the footage uploaded online.

In it, Bison fled from the monsters and ran while he burned from the boiling heat in the area.

Finally he arrived at the great volcano.

Half of the mountain was covered in dark red lava, a despicable place.

None of the adventurers dared to scout out this location.

Bison began climbing the mountain with just ropes and a shovel.

He kept advancing even when his boots were melting, probably because the situation was too grave for him to stop and recoup.

Like so, Bison succeeded in climbing two thirds of the great volcano.

His health points were at a critical level, but he managed to find a lava cave in the midpoint of the mountain!

That is where he discovered the Red Dragon’s lair beyond the cave, the core of the great volcano.

Chase spoke to all adventurers in Ring of Fire.

– Chase: The coordinates are for the great volcano. All assemble. This is precious information for which Bison-nim sacrificed himself.

*****

Black Dragon Kaybern appeared at the famous trade city Castle Wapen and destroyed it completely.

The Dragon’s Revenge

Black Dragon Kyabern is on the move to destroy all human civilization.

The spirits and fairies are warning.

“Kaybern will head to Castle Mistress in a week.”

Castle Mistress!

According to calculations, the next target should be  Morata, the village that became the foundation of the Arpen Empire.

Now that the empire took over the Central Continent, there was a desperate need for more major cities and Morata was a monument of the Arpen Empire.

“Everyone, proceed to evacuate. It’s best that the merchants leave in advance. I expect that you all will have lots of packing to do before all the other players leave.”

Seoyoon overlooked the evacuation in person.

The Northern players did not want to depart from their cherished city but reluctantly escaped through the city gate. However, they did not get far and established a temporary settlement near Ruben river in the north.

There was a massive group of Morata players moving along and so the market and residential areas formed very quickly.

“Forget about other cities. Shouldn’t Weed-nim be protecting Morata?”

“I’m sure he would, if he could. There’s no choice since he can’t defeat the dragon.”

“But he needs to do as much as he can.”

“It does seem like he gave up quite early.”

The Northern players, too, were shaken, slowly developing a public sentiment against Weed’s decision.

It was not just the memories, but also their living space that were going to disappear altogether.

If Morata were to disappear, the trades, production, adventure, religion, security and most of the environment of the Northern Continent would be affected severely, and the players knew about it.

“The North without Morata… I do not even dare imagine it.”

“Could it be that the Arpen Empire is shifting its weight into the Central Continent?”

“I can’t take that. For real… The North is our home.”

The consensus of the Northern players, too, was shifting away.

They willingly rushed out to countless battles, but this time around there was nothing they could do except watch with eyes of disappointment.

*****

There were two things about the dungeon that were different from what Weed expected.

“There’s a lot of golems.”

Starting with iron golems, there were also golden and ruby golems stationed.

After a long time, some ceased to work and the dwarves brought out their hammers and various repair tools.

“The receptors connected to the internal core are damaged. A bit of work should do the trick.”

“Oh dear… Look at the structure of these ligaments. I’m not mocking our ancestors but these are so outdated.”

“Implanting compound joints alone will enhance their combat abilities. Above all things, these are so outdated that they clink and clank when they tread.”

The dwarves’ abilities as blacksmiths were far greater than anticipated.

The golems that were damaged in battle were easily repaired by their hands.

At times, they lacked the materials to fix them, but quickly scavenged what they needed in the following battles.

Other times, they dug up the ground with pickaxes.

Weed thought to himself as he saw that ores were abundant no matter which wall or ground they dug up.

“An iron ore mountain of excellent quality… The dwarves would not have created a storage here for no reason. It was because it was abundant in ores.”

The ability to assess land was most prevalent in dwarves above all other races.

They dug up first and second grade high quality iron. They could dig pure silver, sapphire, ruby and opals just as easily.

‘A thousand warriors that are also blacksmiths and miners.’

There were many advantages to taking dwarves in dungeon hunts.

Even in plainfield hunting, the dwarves could install traps or defensive barricades.

That being said, their preference was more into swinging axes and maces.

‘The difficulty of this dungeon was reduced because of these dwarves.’

With each battle, three to four golems joined his ranks as subordinates.

The purpose of their creation was to protect the dwarven secret storage. So, if another race were to enter, they had to engage in battle.

‘But this could be a trap. We are having swift battles thanks to these golems for now, but we may get overwhelmed by monsters all of a sudden.’

Weed had his fair share of unfortunate turn of events.

Weed commanded Gomfhand.

“Send the iron golems to the rear. Us dwarves will keep pushing through.”

“Are you not going to use them?”

“We will. It’s just a waste to have precious monsters slain by golems.”

Weed penetrated through just about any monster with the dwarves’ sheer efforts.

He put dwarves with high defense in front and he himself stood a step further up.

“Sword of Regeneration!”

The secret sword technique that increases defense and recovery rate!

There were 1,000 dwarven warriors under the command of Weed.

It seemed, at first, that too many warriors were mobilized for the dungeon, but that wasn’t the case.

The scale of this dungeon was massive and so was the resistance from the monsters.

The monsters of Argoldia were armed with dwarven made premium gear.

Crustacean monsters five to seven meters tall burst out of the walls and the ground, and poisonous insect swarms came like pitch black clouds.

“The wounded, fall back and rest!”

The dwarves with low stamina and health points were wrapped in bandages and rested. Those that could fight were swapped in and out of battle and fought constantly.

He literally grinded the dwarves into the dungeon.

“Sword of Regeneration!”

Weed and the dwarves had to fend off the reckless stream of monsters.

‘This would have been much more difficult if I didn’t have this skill that I obtained from the savior quest.’

Perhaps the savior quest, too, had a similar step in the process.

To lead an army through battle with the Sword of Regeneration.

‘A savior… Up until now it was just the half-elves that have joined as comrades, but I could lead a human army with this. I could lead a huge crowd of humans and fight against the dragon.’

Blink!

< Combat achievement! You have accomplished the title ‘Impregnable Wall’.

You have successfully defended against a monster swarm for 30 minutes.

Perseverance and Endurance are permanently increased by 2. >

“Um, could we chill down a bit with a glass of beer…”

“There is no time for rest. Our kind is suffering as we speak, so how could you even think about drinking beer right now?”

Weed adamantly declined their request for a break.

As dangerous the dungeon was, their combat skill proficiencies and stats increased rapidly.

The feeling of becoming more powerful was a great stimulus for battle!

“Group 11 will lead in front. Dwarves who have had the luxury to drink beer, advance to battle.”

Weed extorted the dwarves through the dungeon and increased his level once more.

Although not comparable to Undead Summoning, the hunting speed far exceeded the level of typical players.

As they proceeded through the dungeon, they occasionally discovered armories created by the dwarven ancestors.

“This one has a lot of swords.”

There were several hundred dwarven made fine swords!

Some armories contained just suits of armor and shields and others had a span of several hundred meters filled solely with daggers.

“As expected of dwarves. They made plenty.”

Weed did consider selling them, but the weapons and armor were first used to arm the dwarves. They were superior weapons with level restrictions between 700s to 800s, but the dwarves, being blacksmiths, were able to equip them.

‘This race benefits the most from  equipment… I can see their combat level being greatly enhanced.’

Their attack and defense were increased, leading to a much faster hunting speed.

The work of blacksmith masters dropped as loot on occasion.

There were dwarves among them that could not use equipment beyond level 900 restriction.

They were rare, but not all dwarves were blacksmiths!

For the time being, they couldn’t utilize the gear but were able to once they activated the Brazier of Sacrifice.

‘By the time this dungeon is cleared, the dwarves’ defense will be indomitable.’

He couldn’t help comparing the dwarves to the desert warriors back in his days as the Great King of the Desert.

The desert warriors went rampant and charged whenever they encountered an enemy.

It looked chaotic but with overwhelming power they crushed the opponent.

‘In terms of attack power the desert warriors are several times more powerful. Their mobility was also exceptional riding on camels. However, they did take severe damage every battle.’

The main objective was to save time, but many warriors lost their lives.

The dwarves’ stability came from high survivability and also possessed high growth potential.

‘They are a race that changes completely depending on how they are commanded. If well led, they could win even against the desert warriors.’

Even so, Weed felt a slight disappointment.

‘The need for leadership is for typical battles. Most of these powerful dwarves will probably die in the fight with Kaybern.’

It would be a huge loss but one that was necessary.

– Mapan: Weed-nim, I have a report from the adventurers.

Weed was ignoring messages from other players once he entered the dwarven secret storage chambers.

It was crucial that he trained the dwarves above all else and he only received the most important news from Mapan.

– Mapan: They reported that they finally discovered Landony’s lair in the Ring of Fire.

“They must have gone through a lot.”

– Mapan: The lair is said to be located where the volcano erupts endlessly. The adventurers are sacrificing themselves to hop inside the lava cave as we speak. I expect good news from them real soon.

“Is that all you have to inform me about?”

– Mapan: I am continuing to monitor any information about Knatul and Malin.

Weed was laid back, waiting for news on the savior quest.

Even if a hero were to join his ranks, it would be less help than ten dwarves.

Kaybern was extremely powerful and could not be taken down with a few heroes.

“I see.”

– Mapan: Also, Weed-nim. It is not too late. If we reduce Morata to a fifth… We could buy so much more time.

11 days remained until the day when Kaybern planned to destroy Morata.

Mapan was suggesting that they reduce the size of Morata before Castle Mistress gets destroyed.

– Mapan: Among the Northern players, some suggest that you protect Morata in person or break down the city and leave just the bare bones.

“Just the bones?”

– Mapan: Leaving the base structure and the Great Landmarks where they are and moving the residential and trades sectors somewhere else nearby. Then, we can rebuild after the dragon’s attack is over.

A Morata preservation plan that was devised among the Northern players!

They were to construct a satellite and transfer as much of the facilities of Morata.

Then after defeating Kaybern they will restore it back to its original state; a truly historical accomplishment of grinding!

Normally, no one would buy this difficult idea, but the many accomplishments founded by the labor force led to this very plan.

Weed, too, thought for a moment.

‘So we tear Morata apart and piece it back together… This could be pulled off quickly.’

If the merchants and the players mobilized, this plan was achievable.

It wasn’t necessary to take down Morata completely, as the removal of just 10, 20% of the residential sector would free the city from Kaybern’s aim.

If the transfer happens at a moderate level every week, the commerce, population and development will lower altogether and would bring down the city to a safe level.

If the base sectors of the city are left intact, it is possible to restore the city once Kaybern is defeated.

‘I’m sure it will do the city some good if I clean up some of the disorderly buildings. When this is all over, Morata is going to be reborn.’

He could see some great advantages to this plan, but it was still a poisonous apple.

Firstly, it would require an immense amount of funding and labor force.

Also, they would be under condemnation from all over the continent.

If Morata becomes safe, it means another city would be destroyed in its place.

Then the citizens of that region will blame Weed.

– How come you protected Morata but left us be?

– Does the Arpen Empire only care about Morata?

A chain reaction of side effects could occur across the continent.

No lord would want their city to become a complete ruin.

If the major cities were to start a competition of destruction in order to stay off as Kaybern’s next target, the results will be catastrophic.

“We can’t do that. If we take Morata apart, the other cities will be destroyed. It will be an endless cycle.”

– Mapan: Yes, I understand. However, Morata is… Sigh. I guess it is what it is. But still, it will be pitiful so please sleep on that plan.

Weed felt uncomfortable after the conversation with Mapan ended.

‘I, too, don’t want Morata to disappear like this.’

The city was the heart of the Arpen Empire’s history.

It was where everything had begun, Morata had risen from the ruins and shaken off the control of the vampires in Black Giant Star Castle to be born again.

Chapter 5: The Decision For The Continent

*Rustle-Rustle.*

The brush danced in the hands of Petrov, the aqualight painter.

The Northern War was coming alive on a 7 meter wide canvas.

A painting in which Weed and Hestiger wipe out the Haven Imperial army!

Blink!

< Masterpiece painting! You have completed The War Hero.

In the hands of the painter who expresses the pain in the world and those in need, a new painting has been given birth.

A massive war that took place in the North; based on true events, the painting portrays the Arpen Empire emperor and savior Hestiger.

It is a piece that captured the vivid images of the heroes and many will desire to witness it.

As time passes, its historical significance will only increase.

Artistic Value: 2,960

Historical Value: 1,863

Special Attribute: Those that have seen the War Hero painting in person will have 32% increased health points and mana recovery rate for 24 hours.

Combat skills increased by 2.

Maximum health points increased by 14% ~ 67%, depending on their level.

Inflict a terrified status to monsters and enemies.

All stats increased by 13.

Experience and skill proficiency gain increased by 4%.

Does not stack with other paintings.

Completed number of masterpiece paintings till now: 42. >

“Whew. A masterpiece. This turned out alright. The amount of paint I used seemed quite a waste.”

Petrov put away the completed painting and moved to Morata.

The joyful city of the Versailles Continent.

The shantytown and the luxurious residential area blended well and were blessed with the liveliness of the players.

Numerous artists from Rhodium gathered and the artwork they produced brought the city an elegant beauty.

“I am selling a month old lion cub! This one is a male that will turn magnificent with the right care. Novice players should not take it! You will be devoured if not raised correctly!”

“Selling an elephant. Accepting offers.”

“I am a zookeeper. I’m looking for short-term jobs. I also handle wild animals. An expert with horses.”

“A direct descendant of Nurung! I am selling the 12th generation of Nurung. It pulled up to 12 wagons at once.”

In the town square, a ridiculous number of animals were being traded.

‘This city is just so lovely.’

Patt wished to paint the images of the current Morata.

Though it was devastating, after Kaybern destroys Morata there would be a need for paintings to allow people to reminisce about the city.

“Wow. Your painting is amazing.”

“This scenic painting is insane.”

Patt’s painting skills drew a crowd.

The buildings and streets of Morata, the tower of light in the distance and the goddess statue he drew delicately and gorgeously.

“His paintings look more beautiful than the scenery in real life.”

“Isn’t he Zeros-nim, the painter of cities?”

“He’s different from him. His brushstroke technique looks like it slips but draws out a painting. That’s a talent he was born with.”

The crowd expressed admiration for Petrov as he painted a dozen paintings until the night passed. Their artistic worth wasn’t high, but they expressed the scenery for what they truly were.

“Whoo… The scenery of this street is pretty much finished.”

Patt piled up his paints, brush and papers. Then he activated the painter’s secret technique!

“Paint Duplication Technique!”

*Flip-flip-flip.*

Fifty different sized brushes took a dip inside the paint cans and began dancing in the air, drawing out the painting on paper.

The skill could copy an original painting identically on paper!

Depending on the level of the skill, the user could control the total number of brushes and types, the use of paint and number of copies.

The duplicate paintings could take on 10% ~ 40% artistic value and attributes of the original.

The paintings created by painters were traded for high price among artworks due to their rarity and beauty. Like a living printer, he was stamping out rich scenic paintings.

*****

“Intruders.”

“Delicious dwarves are here.”

“This is our territory.”

‘The space has gotten wider. About 25 meters. Judging by the echoes, there are at least several hundred of them.’

Weed thought to himself as he watched the monsters swarm through the corridor.

Kalamu.

This bunch were one of the higher ranks of Argoldia’s monsters. It moved by using three legs simultaneously and it not only ran forward but also sideways and diagonally in an irregular fashion.

They were monsters that he despised facing against.

“Form a shield wall and cut them off one at a time.”

“Huaah!”

Weed commanded the dwarves and as he fought hard, he felt his mind tangling up.

‘Why is it that I feel disappointed about this hunt?’

For four days now he had been forging a path from the front.

The tickling sensation slowly distilled into disappointment about himself.

‘I thought that I was near complete in terms of my combat ability. I feel like I am lacking something.”

He learned thoroughly about sword techniques long before starting Royal Road.

It was about defeating the enemy with speed, precision and efficiency.

He was confident that he was at the pinnacle of skill utilization, health points, stamina and mana management.

He never possessed any bad habits that hindered his combat level.

On top of that, he possessed a vast range of experience that allowed him to identify enemy weaknesses.

– The scene of Weed’s battle in the advanced training arena!

– The duel at Garnav Plains.

– The Great King of the Desert, Weed!

The combat videos of Weed drew out admiration from the viewers.

Players watched it multiple times, resulting in every video reaching millions in views.

His incomparable hunting speed was a result of all factors combining into the most optimized form.

Weed’s mind was congested like a tangled thread.

‘I’m mentally strong. So why do I feel so uneasy?’

Perseverance, decisiveness, focus and boldness.

If there was something he needed for combat he trained intensively until he mastered it.

Compared to his early days of Royal Road, he had transformed into a different person.

‘I’m not concerned with being too low level or with being a sword master. But still… Why does it feel so lukewarm?’

Weed did not have to ponder for long.

It was an important concern, but he had someone who could always assist him.

“Teacher.”

He whispered to Geomchi, receiving a reply after some time.

– Geomchi: Why are you calling for me, my student.

“Are you preoccupied at the moment?”

– Geomchi: Burp. It’s alright. Speak.

Geomchi was happily drinking beer with the other students in the southern desert.

They had roasted five wild boars as snacks for their party and were eagerly devouring them!

“I came to a dungeon hunt. The battles are decent… but I feel stifled. It might be that I want to fight better than I currently am, but I cannot determine what it exactly is.”

Weed’s explanation did not convey his situation clearly.

Truthfully he himself did not know what to make of his feelings.

– Geomchi: Hmm… Seems like you hit a wall.

“A wall? You may be right.”

– Geomchi: Getting more powerful is like climbing a flight of stairs. Forging yourself as you climb – you will eventually hit a wall.

“What should I do about it?”

– Geomchi: A wall isn’t a wall for no reason. They call it a wall because it is hard to overcome.

“I’m not sure what it is that I am lacking.”

– Geomchi: It can’t be overcome by sheer efforts, nor is it easier to advance a step further even with great talent. So, just live as your will directs you.

“My will?”

– Geomchi: The will to be free from any bounds. Do not be caught up and do not be tamed. Don’t hesitate for even a split second. That is the way of the sword.

“What if it still doesn’t work out after that?”

– Geomchi: Then nothing could be done about it.

*****

“Drink as much as you want.”

“Ahahahaha!”

A cheerful liquor party was taking place in the desert.

Geomchi and the apprentices led the warriors who signed up for the assault squad and only took them to hunting grounds.

The completion of the nonstop hunting that spanned over a week!

They hosted a relief party with loads of meat and liquor until the day after.

“Ugh… I am usually such a lightweight. Why are the drinks so good?”

“Drink. Let’s drink first and just die or something.”

The players drank each glass served to them.

Both their body and mind were exhausted, so the liquor and meat found themselves almost involuntarily to their mouths.

‘This is hell.’

‘I want to escape. Back to high school Grade 12.’

‘If I started hunting like this way earlier, I would have been Weed or Bard Ray, sigh.’

While drinking, the warriors checked on their status screen.

They had a huge level increase since the start of the hunt which brought smiles on their faces.

‘I have to keep it up. I will train well and…’

‘If I don’t hunt, I’ll fall behind.’

The players were pulling themselves in their own ways, though they did not have a clue as to what Geomchi and the apprentices were thinking.

“They are holding the grounds even on top of the eastern sand hills.”

“I thought about 20% of them would fall off.”

“I think it’s going pretty well because we only took in the best from the Central Continent.”

Geomchi smiled contentedly and nodded.

“Alright. Let’s increase the difficulty after this hunt.”

“How far should we take it?”

“Double I’d say?”

“…”

Geomchi2 and Geomchi5 thought it was too extreme. They themselves were rocks in the tide, but these players were just normal people.

They could already hear the screams of the players as they fell to their knees.

A high level body could withstand the challenge, but their mindset wasn’t ready.

“I think that’s a good boost.  You are great, teacher.”

“Amazing. These players, too, will grow substantially under your teachings.”

“K-huhu.”

In the middle of the feast, Geomchi exchanged whispers with Weed. Geomchi2 asked what it was about.

“Oh, it’s nothing. It seems that our youngest one has arrived at a wall.”

“A wall already?”

“Yeah. He got there quickly. As expected from his talents and determination.”

Geomchi reminisced when he met Weed for the first time.

He who defeated his challengers with a single sword.

A ferocious, untamable beast.

Geomchi desired to hone those sharp claws and fangs and so he did.

“That brat took whatever I taught him and made them his own.”

“He was a genius who also drove himself to his limits.”

“Mmm. Though he approaches his fights too calculatively. He was most powerful when he didn’t think about anything… I taught him an ocean of skills, so it is all up to him to realize it.”

“Will he be able to penetrate the wall?”

“I did speak some words of advice to him, but a wall is a wall.”

“I suppose so.”

“Ku-ku. He needs to experience countless defeats, suffer and fail again and again.”

*****

“Concentrate on defending!”

“Shield! Shield up front!”

While Weed was caught up in his concerns after talking to Geomchi, the battle between the dwarves and the Kalamus was still waging.

The Kalamus movements were flashy, but their swings were quickly fended off by dwarves with their shields.

‘To be free.’

More attacks were poured onto Weed who was a step further.

‘Do I need further enlightenment in the way of the sword?’

The advanced training arena.

When he penetrated through the path of struggle, he felt he was walking down the way of the sword.

He found the perfect path that allowed him to fight numerous enemies based on a wide range of vision.

With clean, efficient movement that crushed the enemy.

With each battle honing his skill to perfection, but at this point in time he felt that he had nothing to add or shave from his swordplay.

‘Maybe I’m just concentrating on combat more than is needed.’

In Royal Road there were many players that reduced instances of using swords directly and were therefore more dependent on skills to fight.

Depending on the situation, they used appropriate attack and defense skills which were decent enough.

That kind of style used up a lot of stamina and mana, but the player could carry out stable combat.

Players like Weed who utilize sword techniques perfectly against monsters were monstrous themselves.

People who calculate their decisions several times within a second were extremely rare.

‘I am already using 100% of my combat abilities. But for me to feel the thirst for the sword now…’

He thought no change would arise.

He learned a fine sword technique that allowed him to react appropriately to any situation as he saw through the movements of any monster.

Quick reaction and moving a step ahead was thought to be enough for hunting.

He also possessed secret sword techniques, various skills and equipment.

‘Dying to an opponent that is ridiculously powerful such as the dragon is unavoidable. Even so, I feel this thirst that is driving me crazy.’

Weed’s frustration grew further as he battled the Kalamus.

The three-legged creatures raced around and harassed the dwarven defense line. It was very difficult to catch just one of them.

They were 100 levels higher than the dwarves, so it was best to hold for 30 minutes to an hour to defeat them a step at a time.

‘The dwarves lack in attack power. This composition inevitably consumes time.’

He thought so in his head, but his heart was different.

It told him to swing his sword.

To take a step further.

He thought of Geomchi’s words of freeing himself from bounds.

Weed decided to follow it.

Three steps.

Just three steps taken caused the Kalamus to focus their attack on him.

The attacks from the front and sides doubled.

Weed processed the enemy attacks like usual.

‘Deflect the spear from the left first. The sword on the right is next. From the current position, up to five monsters can attack me simultaneously. I can’t retaliate this instant, but if I exchange a few times and knock them away, an opportunity will rise.’

His split second decision was made, taking the nature and combat level of the Kalamus into consideration.

It was all thanks to his wide vision in combat that other players could only admire.

‘Kalamus are strong and have high stamina and intelligence; they are difficult monsters to defeat. Their bond with their own kin is also strong. They are formidable opponents for the dwarves.’

This dungeon was located underground.

Unfortunately, he could not spam large AoE skills such as the Lava River and there was not much he could do about that.

‘I don’t need all that. Don’t process things anymore.’

Weed emptied his mind.

He did not think of anything while watching the enemy’s movements.

He just raised his sword to retaliate!

Cling! Clang! Ching!

He fended off several attacks consecutively.

His movements were instinctual, as they had always been.

Swoosh!

That moment, Weed’s sword lunged forward.

It was as if his sword bent time itself.

“Wak?”

“Kye-kye-kyeet!”

“Where is he aiming?”

The Kalamus mocked Weed who was stabbing the empty space between them.

F-F-Fwoosh!

He swung his sword several times more.

They seemed like odd attacks, but soon the Kalamus were severely threatened.

His sword seemed to bend space itself.

The sword technique that even sees through movements of irregularity.

It seemed as if the Kalamus themselves were diving into the swing of his sword.

< Critical Strike!

You slayed a defenseless enemy… >

Weed defended, parried and attacked.

‘I swing where my heart directs.’

The Loa sword swung without rest.

*****

The adventurers that gathered at the Great Volcano were blown out of their minds.

“He ascended this mountain alone?”

“He’s crazy. So crazy that he pulled it off.”

Half of the mountain was covered with dark red lava.

The lava was flowing down slowly and surging into the air like fountains in certain spots.

The ground was burning hot like a heated frying pan.

Chase’s face turned serious.

“I expect that a lot of us are going to die here… Turn back now if you wish.”

“…”

None of the adventurers were hindered by what Chase said.

The situation was different from when nothing was discovered.

Adventurers were like moths flying into fire when they had a clear goal to pursue.

Chase too did not speak because he wanted someone to leave. He wanted them to strengthen their resolution before they proceeded.

“Let us go then. Blitz tactics.”

The adventurers were well aware of the danger that came with the Great Volcano.

According to their observations, the massive lava surge occurred every two to three days.

After the surge, the dreadful heat prevented access for an entire day, so there were no safepoints.

“This is the start.”

The adventurers began their climb.

The sky was covered with ashes and one could not tell if it was day or night.

Despite the darkness, the lava emitted a red glow and lit their path.

Crumble!

The ground under the adventurers shook violently.

“Could this be?”

“A volcano nearby has erupted. Let’s keep moving.”

The adventurers witnessed the glaring lumps of lava from the volcano beside them.

It was truly an astonishing expedition.

“This is as far I go. Everyone please keep it up.”

“Yes, of course.”

The players with low fire resistance gave up after a third of the climb.

Their health points were falling and their bodies set on fire. Hence they decided to descend.

“It took 6 hours to get to this point. We must move faster. We have to take the risk.”

Chase, who was directing the path, made his decision.

“So be it.”

“If the Great Volcano erupts we are all dead anyway… Then we must hurry.”

The other adventurers agreed as well.

Each time they found a stream of lava they circled around, slowing down their progress.

“Throw the hooks!”

They tossed their hooks to the other side of the lava stream and crossed over.

Some adventurers split away from the group and found their own paths.

“Kuaaaagh!”

“Sa- Save me!”

The adventurers that came in contact with the lava burned to a crisp instantly.

The water elementals were summoned in an attempt to save them, but they too dissipated not long after due to the heat.

Just advancing 50, 100 meters led to several deaths.

When they came across a massive lava stream, they tossed their hooks, put together coils of rope to cross.

“We are finally here.”

“The lair is really here.”

256 adventurers made it to the lava cave discovered by Bison.

The interior of the Great Volcano visible through the cave contained the Red Dragon’s lair.

“Look, over there. Gold is flowing like water.”

“Yeah. There are mountains of rubies too.”

A river created from smelting gold was inside the lair. There was magical equipment and gems stacked in piles.

“The treasures here are about half as much as the treasures in Kaybern’s lair.”

“That dragon had loads of treasure because it exploited the dwarves.”

“Still, this is the most I have ever seen.”

The adventurers boiled with greed. But, passing through the lava cave was their problem at hand.

The width of the cave was about 3 meters. The ceiling was high, but lava was dripping like water drops.

“We have to avoid the lava… About half way we will have to cross a complete lava floor.”

“It appears to span across about 50 meters. More like flying over it.”

“Luckily there are no forces guarding the lair.”

“Who would dare to pass through? It is fortunate for us that there are no monsters.”

The adventurers ended their brief discussion.

From this point on, they had no choice but to leave each to their own abilities.

Ten adventurers leapt into the cave and died from the heat and dripping lava from the ceiling.

Two of them managed to get further but still lost their lives near the 50 meter lava floor.

“Next group.”

“Yup. Hurry.”

The adventurers did not have time to assess each try.

In an interval of one or two minutes the players were deployed.

This method of sacrificing lives was pure recklessness but seemingly effective.

They didn’t discuss their trial and errors. They just experienced what method works and what doesn’t with their bodies.  About a hundred of them died, but they secured an acceptably safe path to the lava floor.

Even on this path, 2 out of 10 would be the unlucky ones to die.

“Lava floor. I will try it first.”

Chase posed to challenge the biggest obstacle. He had various types of powerful magic resistances and decent equipment.

After safely advancing up to the lava floor, he activated the flight spell sealed within his ring.

He flew so low across the lava he almost seemed to skate across its surface. However, about half way through, the lava began squirming.

Shhwak!

An arm covered with scales like a lizard spawned and grabbed Chase.

“Wind Acceleration!”

Chase hurriedly increased his speed and returned to the other adventurers.

“Monsters. What do we do?”

“They don’t seem to be monsters protecting the lair, but rather creatures that inhabit the lava. Combat type job classes would be able to handle them.”

“We can’t defeat them, so it will be best to go around.”

“Are you saying we should find another path?”

“That’s too much. We have 12 hours at minimum – 24 hours if we are lucky until the eruption.”

“What if we recoup and return after the eruption?”

“We don’t have many chances. It will take another day for the heat to simmer down.”

The adventurers continued to try to find a way through while being devoured by the lava monster.

*****

Weed soon realized that Geomchi’s advice was boundless.

< Critical Strike! >

< You crushed Kalamu’s head. >

< Critical… >

< Critical… >

– The best sword technique? I don’t know. As I aged, no one could defend against swings guided naturally by my will.

When Weed heard this from Geomchi the first time he was taught the sword, he understood it as if he could win against any opponent without trying.

‘It wasn’t what I thought. Truly my heart guides me. This is a boundless sword technique in its entirety.’

There was no specific form to this sword technique.

Certainly experience and skill was its foundation, but the user would unconsciously feel the righteous path of the sword.

Tuned to the enemy, the most optimal attack appeared naturally.

100% of attack and 100% of defense: it was the perfected form of the sword.

A presence that transcended the idea of driving one’s physical limitations.

‘Well, I just did it.’

Weed’s sword began to show its power, rapidly cutting down on the Kalamus.

He raised Strength through Sculptural Destruction and stormed away.

“Sword of Regeneration!”

He even activated the secret sword technique meant to defend himself and the dwarves. Even after he broke through the Kalamus, he searched relentlessly for items.

< Armory >

< Large Armory >

< Warrior items >

< Long-range weapons >

< Consumable >

< Treasure >

< Blacksmith ingredients >

“Everyone equip yourselves with better gear.”

Weed consistently swapped their gear for more advanced items.

His unimaginable generosity had a back story.

‘I will exploit them right down to their marrows.’

It was to keep as many of them alive for the battle against Kaybern.

“Huugh. I feel like dying. I need to rest for just a bit…”

The dwarven warriors began falling apart after having been overworked.

They were deployed to battle without reprieve, exhausting even the healthiest dwarves.

“You all can do it. Think of our kin that are suffering at this moment.”

“Kaybern exploits us, yes. But, most dwarves are doing just fine in their respective villages.”

“Pride! Do you not all bear pride after being born as a dwarf?”

Weed was blinded by the dwarven made equipment.

He poked away at their pride and continued his exploit.

‘I just need to keep them alive. I can cure their wounds and illnesses later.’

The touch of the evil, exploitative commander had reached even the world of the dwarves!

Weed emptied out the dwarven special storages down to just one remaining location.

Whilst clearing the dungeon, he gathered clues and already knew about the final boss.

< Kracore the Storage Keeper

It is a monster with a gigantic body composed of special cells. It was the ruler of Woodgorn in the past.

After it was pushed from its throne by the demonic beast Baharant, it grew in power in order to take revenge.

It is extremely intelligent and spews sickening acid in all directions.

It also utilizes its own cells to commit modified attacks.

Caution!

It can grab hold of nearby foes and absorb them.

Physical damage is mitigated by 95%.

It possesses near immunity to fire magic but is considerably weak to cold. >

10 forbidden locations.

The final boss that defends the secret storage of the dwarven race!

Brockhand who was under Weed’s exploitation shivered as he spoke.

“You know too, yes? Kracore is an absolute danger for us all.”

“How come?”

“Dwarves absorbed by that thing number in the hundreds.”

“Absorbed?”

“They become a part of his body. I thought it was hiding somewhere in Agoldia, but for it to be here of all places. Weedhand, let’s fall back.”

“I cannot turn away after all this way.”

“Even if we do not loot Kracore’s equipment, it will be enough for us to confront the dragon. You don’t need to overdo it.”

Those words did not convince Weed even the slightest.

‘They spoke like bold dwarves, but they have so many things to be afraid of.’

He couldn’t just leave without the dwarven equipment, especially not equipment of the best quality.

“I’m going to fight.”

“Alright. Then let us rest plenty before opening the door.”

“We will just have gear inspection and go inside.”

“Damn it!”

It was when he took the dwarves to the armory where the final boss waited.

– Mapan: Weed-nim! Urgent news. Landony’s lair has been breached!

“Seriously?”

Even Weed stopped in his tracks.

– Mapan: There is incredible news from the adventurers who explored the lair. It is related to both Kaybern and Landony.

“Could it be… Is Cletta the demon king involved too?”

– Mapan: Unfortunately, you are right. It says there was a conspiracy behind the dragons’ movement. Since I only heard a brief explanation, it’d be best for you to watch the video yourself. In 5 minutes, the adventurer Dedron-nim’s footage will be released through KMC Media.

Weed gave the dwarves time to rest and took out the crystal ball.

He practiced sewing as he waited and soon enough KMC Media began their broadcast.

– We are interrupting the regular broadcast to inform everyone of important news. The adventurers exploring the Ring of Fire have entered Landony’s lair.

Joowan Oh, the exclusive anchor of KMC Media was the conveyor of this news.

Just moments before they were live streaming Weed’s dungeon hunting with the dwarves.

– Firstly, we will show you a short clip of the adventurers’ footage.

The scene of the adventurers climbing the Great Volcano and passing through the lava cave was edited into a simple clip. Parts of the footage were not clear but it was evident that they were entering with their lives on the line.

A lot of time was consumed in advancing through the monsters of the lava floor.

Three adventurers survived until the very end.

Even though they arrived inside the lair, they couldn’t take the piles of treasure and head back.

“Let’s find something at least.”

“Yeah. As bad as this situation is… It would be nice if I can find some skills that I can pick up right away.”

The adventurers attained the adventure achievement called ‘Lair Breach.’

“Be careful of the traps.”

“We got this far, so let’s not die in vain. We don’t know if we’ll get another chance of coming back to this place.”

What they discovered was surprisingly Landony’s old diary.

It was a record of the dragon and it contained an incredible secret.

– Kaybern and I learned how to fly from the great demon butler Zepent-nim.

– The food that the demons bring us is reallyreal delicious. They are kind and take good care of us.

– The demons are very wise and virtuous. Humans and dragons have a certain prejudice against demons, but they aren’t true. It is perhaps because they are jealous of demons.

– I learned dark magic. They are incredible spells. The most destructive! Far greater than fire magic.

In the diary were stories of young Kaybern and Landony.

They weren’t raised by dragons, but demons.

– The king of demons, Cletta is said to be a benevolent individual.

– It is a shame that I cannot meet him. Useless humans, elves, dwarves and their sealing stones. If all of them disappear, Cletta-nim could reign…

– Demons are so nice. They left. Is there a way I could bring them back?

– Sealing stones. If I can destroy the sealing stones…

– It must not end with just destroying the stone. I need to drench the continent with as much blood as possible. Then Cletta-nim can appear with his powers whole.

– The more deaths, the more powerful Cletta-nim will be.

The records in the diary were fragments but it wasn’t difficult to deduce the context.

“The demons were involved in the reason for Kaybern and Landony’s hostility towards humans.”

If he proceeded with the savior or race quest he would have discovered the same truth.

The adventurers’ discovery of the diary answered the mysteries. But, the solution was yet to be found.

Dragons were beings that could not be persuaded by words.

They were classic examples of stuck-up boomers!

‘In the savior quest there was an option since the beginning to bribe. Though there was no chance of success. If I tell the dragons they were deceived by the demons, would the war end? Never.’

The dwarf race quest urged the players to bet the fate of the entire race on the battle against Kaybern.

There was no choice but to overcome the two dragons with power.

– Additional information has been uncovered about the sealing stones. The Great Library of Morata is said to have words about the sealing stones. Up until now we did not understand what they meant, but we do now.

The broadcast screen shifted to the Great Library of Morata.

A man in a traveller’s outfit showed the stone with engravings.

– Humans preserved their sealing stone somewhere inside the city that erected their civilization.

– The sealing stone of the elves is inside the World Tree.

– No one knows who seized the Orcs’ sealing stone. It will be extremely difficult to find. It might even be quicker to just kill all the orcs instead.

Kaybern will destroy cities. Landony is searching for something among the orcs.

The sealing stones explained the movement of the dragons.

– Mapan: I will begin an investigation about the sealing stone.

“Please make it quick.”

– Mapan: But chances are that Weed-nim’s adventure might be related to the sealing stone.

“There may be an answer at the end of the savior quest. However, it’s overburdening to carry it out along with the Orc race quest… I guess we will leave it up to luck.

– Mapan: What would happen if all the sealing stones are destroyed?

“Then the Versaille Continent will be nearing its doom. If demons spawn on top of all this, there is no way out.”

– Mapan: So many cities have been destroyed already. Perhaps that day isn’t far.

A long time had passed since the initial rampage of the dragons.

If the demon king were to be freed, it would be a disaster.

– Mapan: The worst day imaginable may be unleashed.

“The best method is to hunt the dragon but…”

Weed’s brain was quickly at work.

As a savior as well as the emperor of the Arpen empire he had to determine the right protocol.

Completing quests to gather weapons, armor, trusty allies and skills was ultimately necessary for taking down Kaybern.

‘Morata will be destroyed. What if we gather all our strengths now and fight the dragon?’

Chapter 6: Weed’s Scheme

Lee Hyun satisfied his appetite and headed to Namsan Mountain.

His Royal Road schedule was tight, but he ascended the mountain to whip up an important, yet petty trick.

‘I climbed this mountain for the first time when I was 15 years old. Looking up to it from ground level only made me want to climb it more and more, I always wanted to go higher than the skyscrapers.’

He had climbed it because he was exhausted with his life.

There were gondola lifts in place but they weren’t free to use and so he climbed every step to the top.

He recalled old memories of climbing the stairs, holding back his hunger.

Lee Hyun still used the stairs to climb Namsan Mountain.

‘Today is a weekday so there are less people around.’

He could still see children holding hands with their parents.

Their attires were clean and their faces were free of concern: things that Weed was most envious of back in the day.

‘Will those children know those hands protect them from the wild tides of this world? They won’t. They are too happy to realize it.’

Lee Hyun looked down on the view of Seoul from the top of Namsan Mountain.

Back then, he was surprised to see so many buildings and sad because his place to rest was not among them.

‘Compared to those times, my life now is pretty good.’

He filled his stomach with the chicken broth that Seoyoon cooked along with some wild ginseng. He saved up so much money and real estate that just about any rich person would be surprised.

He was the example of a successful individual in his neighborhood, but he still went to the old market to buy his clothes.

‘I am not afraid of failing again. If I somehow… God forbid – fall down; I think I can get right back up.’

Kaybern was a tremendous threat. But, above all things, if the demon king were to appear, the Empire’s existence would crumble down.

‘Kaybern needs to be taken down right now. Stopping this from progressing to Cletta is the most ideal solution.’

Lee Hyun continued his train of thought while looking at the forest of buildings in the distance.

He could see a bit of microdust in the air, the foul dust clouded his vision, just as his schemes clouded his mind.

‘If the demon king Cletta appears, we can’t stop him. If we slay Kaybern now, we would be able to delay Cletta’s spawn. Maybe prevent it altogether. If we were to fail, it would mean  the fall of the Arpen Empire along with the dwarven race.’

Proceeding with the savior quest at this point in time was dangerous in itself.

The death of dragon Yuskellanda.

There was a possibility that it could lead into another quest with dragon Ratuas.

‘The difficulty of the savior quest, too, could ramp up to an insane degree. In the past, a quest regarding the dragon was put to a stop because my abilities were said to be insufficient. It will be difficult no matter how I look at it.’

He had to invest a lot of time and the quest difficulty would get out of control.

During that time, so much blood will be spilt across the continent, making Cletta more powerful. Time was the true enemy.

‘If Cletta appears and we are defeated, what will become of the world? We may live under the cities dominated by monsters or be placed in a state of total submission under the demons.’

Royal Road, the paradise of earth would plunge into complete darkness.

‘The Arpen Empire would be dissolved. There is nothing easy about thriving.’

Lee Hyun felt a heavy load on his shoulders. But in such a crisis he could not afford to be dazed. He didn’t climb Namsan Mountain to be fiddling with his thoughts.

‘Concentrate. We are backed up into a wall, but there must be a way out. After all,even a mouse can bite the cat that chases it.’

The destruction of Morata was inevitable.

The foundation of Arpen was falling apart but he had neglected it until now. It was because he figured that there was no way to stop it.

‘What if I lead all the forces I can muster to defend Morata?’

Lee Hyun drew in his mind the forces he could gather immediately.

First, the thousand dwarven warriors he gained through the race quest!

‘They are useful. I’m sure they would put up a tenacious fight if they use the Brazier of Sacrifice. If I lead the dragon into a trap, they would fight valiantly. Then… they will be defeated without a doubt.’

There wasn’t enough attack power to kill a dragon.

Even if they wielded the Dragonslayer Axe, it was beyond their capabilities.

Equipping loads of high magic resistance gear would just help them hold for a little longer.

‘Northern players? I can’t even fill the head count. They will all die to Dragon Fear.’

The human wave tactic was not viable. Players under level 300 would not be able to deal any damage to the dragon.

They could just as well be obstacles during the battle and would potentially get sacrificed in dark magic.

‘Assault squad? I need to train them further. The brothers will be helpful but…’

*****

Byungjoon Yoo Was monitoring Lee Hyun.

He had a system of satellite and android tracking in place that monitered whenever Lee Hyun left his house.

“A guy who knows no other places than his home, the market and his neighborhood has climbed the Namsan Mountain.”

The AI responded.

– The change in his blood pressure indicates that he is undergoing intensive thinking.

“It must be because of Cletta.”

– That is correct. He ascended the mountain after being informed about the demon king.

Byungjoon Yoo also knew about Cletta. Certainly he took a look at where the sealing stones were located. For dragons, the removal of the sealing stones was quite dependent on luck.

The orc tribesman in possession of the sealing stone could die to monsters or have them seized by a dragon.

It could be near or far into the future.

Yet, if Cletta were to appear, the Versaille Continent would fall into a catastrophe incomparable to Kaybern.

“Judging by the movement of his lips, he seems to be muttering something.”

– He said that Kaybern is a son of a bitch.

“So, he will hunt the dragon?”

– Based on his usual pattern, he seems to be putting together an estimate.

“It is the shortest path, but is it possible?”

Byungjoon usually did not want to hear the probabilities calculated by the AI because it burst his bubble. Now, he wanted Weed to defeat Kaybern if it was at all possible so that Morata would not be destroyed.

– It all depends on how great a force he can mobilize.

“The dwarves, the assault squad and what else? What about the Geomchis?”

– There are many variables in combat, therefore exact calculations are impossible. Under normal conditions, the success rate is under 3%.

“How come?”

– There is a lack of military strength that could control the battlefield. When the dragon goes rampant using spells, the assault squad, which is the core of the army, will be defeated quickly.

“Even if Weed leads them?”

– Fear spreads rapidly. It will be hopeless if a monster the scale of a dragon goes on an rampage.

Byungjoon agreed unlike before.

When he was a novice, his heart pounded whenever a single wolf roamed around the hunting ground.

When instilled with fear, one cannot exercise their full capability and if players nearby begin to run: the formation breaks in a matter of seconds.

– On top of this, dragons treat their own lives dearly. In the worst scenario, Kaybern will flee when in danger and no one would be able to stop him.

“So you’re saying that even if a battle breaks out, it is not possible to kill a dragon.”

– Yes. The dragon would recover and return to Morata.

“Wouldn’t they meet the required combat level if the players following Weed each use the Brazier of Sacrifice?”

– Their levels would increase but the curve is limited due to the lack of skills and equipment. Even if one uses the brazier to reach level 1,000, their true level assessment would put them at around 800. Additionally, I analyzed the players of the assault squad and the number of eager individuals who would use the Brazier of Sacrifice to engage in battle are at a maximum of 2,540.

“So including the thousand dwarves and the Geomchis, the total would be around 4,000?”

– With Weed’s devious, grand speech and the Mapan Council’s steerers they could gather up maybe 1,000 more members. But, that is nowhere enough. I assess that they need at least 10,000 soldiers.

“The dragon is too powerful for the current state of the players.”

The Kaybern hunt seemed overboard for Byungjoon after exchanging conversations with the AI.

“So, it’s not possible…”

That moment!

Lee Hyun in the monitor suddenly began smirking.

A perfect rotten smirk!

Judging by the Lee Hyun observed until now, it was clear that he came up with a trick.

– The success rate of Kaybern hunt has just increased to 53%.

“For what reason?”

– I am not certain, but Weed has gained considerable confidence in the hunt.

“I thought you said there are too many variables?”

– I assess that Weed will control all variables and lead the hunt advantageously.

“But his army is lacking…”

– He is already a legend weaving adventurer and the emperor of the Arpen Empire. If Weed himself believes and makes a speech with his overwhelming charisma, he will be able to gather 2000 more players willing to use the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“This situation is far from easy though.”

– He will overcome it somehow. He is Weed.

Byungjoon was enveloped in a strange feeling.

The AI was acting like the common Weed wagons seen online.

“Your attitude has changed a bit.”

– They say you have to line up under the right connection.

“Connection?”

– The man most likely to become my new master is Weed-nim.

*****

Weed logged into Royal Road once again.

In the dwarven secret storage were the dwarven warriors waiting in their positions.

“You have returned!”

“The preparations for battle are complete.”

Before the showdown with Kracore, the final boss of the dungeon, the dwarves strengthened their resolve.

Weed looked over the faces and equipment of every dwarf.

‘A force I could rely on. But they aren’t enough to heatbutt right into Kaybern.’

The resolve required to hunt a dragon was no ordinary determination. He reviewed the few tricks he came up with at Namsan Mountain and made up his mind.

“Follow me for now.”

During the time he spent outside Royal Road, the supplies were prepared by the Mapan Council.

He took the dwarves outside the dungeon, fed them and taught them more combat skills.

Mapan, with a generous layer of belly fat, came in person with the council.

“Weed-nim, you must meet the lumberjack in the eastern region of Hilaya Forest for the secret axe technique.”

“Is that so? Moreover, we must prepare for the battle against Kaybern.”

“The council is also under preparations without delay. We are consistently procuring war supplies and also in search of necessary skills for the dragon hunt.”

Weed nodded and appraised the council.

Many talented merchant players and experienced mercenaries were among their ranks.

The immense economy of the Central Continent meant that there were trade wars waging between the merchant players and due to the situation with Kaybern, the times were calling for differentiated service among councils.

The Mapan Council, having started in the barren lands in the North, adapted quickly.

“We have to be quicker. We will hunt Kaybern in Morata.”

“Yes. In Morata… What?”

Mapan was astonished by Weed’s bombshell announcement and questioned Weed.

“Did you just say that you are going to hunt Kaybern in Morata?”

“Yep. Since we have the problem with Cletta, there is no reason for us to stall. “

“But we are less than 9 days away and you plan to battle… No. Go to war against the dragon.”

“Precisely.”

“Sorry, run this through me one more time. You are going to call upon all forces to defend Morata and confront Kaybern.”

“That’s what I’m telling you.”

A shroud of concern could be seen on Mapan’s chubby face. Then, because of Weed’s composed facial expression, old memories surfaced.

‘He once asked me to buy tons of silver arrows for the Immortal Legion.’

This was when Mapan, who was a merchant specialized in miscellaneous items, was able to seize fortune and reputation, growing the scale of his council.

Looking back, the legend of Weed had started there.

“Mapan Council will make preparations for war. Will the supplies we have procured already be enough?”

“I just need to fill the lacking numbers in our army.”

“From where exactly?”

“We already know where the best fighters are.”

*****

Lahonya, the armed fortress of Haven Kingdom!

It was rising as the new military stronghold of the Hermes Guild after the destruction of Castle Aren.

The 5-layer thick castle walls were equipped with various defensive mechanisms, arguably the best fortress that could hold off an Arpen Empire invasion for at least a month!

A lot of players gravitated to this location for the sake of quests or simply because it had become their new homeland.

“Selling king crabs that were just caught!”

“Going to a dungeon. Looking for warriors level 350 or higher.”

“Recruiting an architect for building a house. I’ll only accept someone who can finish building it within 4 days!”

The players, who were crowded near the gates, suddenly went quiet.

Someone was walking proudly towards the gate.

“Weed! Weed has appeared!”

“No way. Why would he…”

“I’m serious. It’s him!”

The players near the east gate all turned their heads toward the direction of the commotion.

This place was the center of power within the territory of the Hermes Guild after the destruction of Castle Aren after all. The players believed it was a hoax and looked towards the ruckus.

“Uh… Huh?”

“Is that really Weed?”

“I don’t recognize the face…”

“His armor! The Sky Ruler’s Armor. He has the Loa sword by his waist too!”

“He’s the real guy!”

Though they did not know his face, no player could fail to recognise the symbolic equipment.

*****

– Weed is here!

– He’s fully armed. It’s war!

The military fortress Lahonya instantly fellinto a state of emergency.

“Move it. Come on!”

The Hermes Guild members sprinted to the east gate.

Mages and archers stationed themselves on top of the massive walls constructed for siege war and knights on horses darted to their positions like they were mad.

“All get ready for battle!”

The news of Weed’s arrival spread and attracted over 2000 guild members in the fortress in just 3 minutes.

Including the east gate, forces were positioned at the west and southwest gates as well!

*Crrrrung!*

Under the emergency protocol, the fortress gates were closed tightly and the trenches were filled with water.

Even a huge fire would not cause such commotion. The memory of their dreadful defeat at Garnav Plains was heavily imprinted in the minds of the Hermes Guild members.

No one would think that Weed had come all by himself.

They all witnessed the prowess of the assault squad in their preparation against the sculptural creatures and Kaybern on broadcast.

“It is Weed-nim.”

“So cool. How did he get here?”

The players of Lahonya could only stare in wonder. Others looked with eyes of anticipation.

“Is a massive war going to break out here and now?”

“Whoo… Just imagine… the Arpen Empire flag lifted high as he conquers the entire Versaille Continent.”

“The conqueror Weed!”

“But there is no one else around. Even for him, I’d say it’s quite reckless to go solo against the Hermes Guild headquarters.”

“Are they in the sky? Could he have brought his aerial forces? Players landing everywhere from above…”

The players scouted frantically. The forces could unload from the merchant wagons or they could just as easily fall from the sky.

The tension became so high that the players were expecting an attack against Lahonya fortress at any second!

Weed climbed to the top of a rock near the gate.

The Hermes Guild members and the players guarding the gate and the wall observed him tensely.

– Alright, today is a day that doesn’t come by often.

Weed’s shout echoed shrilly.

– Players of Lahonya! This is a fox sculpture that is essential nowadays! Now that doesn’t mean you absolutely need it. It’s just something everyone else has.

Weed flipped the sack and spilt the fox sculptures.

– These are premium limited editions. True works of art that I carved myself. But they go for just 500 gold! As quantity is limited, it will be first come first serve.

In the central headquarter of the Hermes Guild, he set the latest trend and gained profits from selling fox sculptures.

*****

It only took about 5 minutes for the fox sculptures to be sold out.

Sales were quick because there were rich players in Lahonya who bought 5, 10 copies each.

‘That’s the economic power of the Haven Kingdom.’

The most developed neighborhoods of the Central Continent were the Haven region and the Britton Alliance.

Several hundred thousand players from Castle Aren had also migrated to Lahonya Fortress after its destruction, which helped in his easy sales.

‘How simple it is to earn 500K gold… Distribution without question is best for money. Lower the production cost but sell it as expensive as possible.’

The purpose of emphasizing craftsmanship was naturally to  sell the products after over producing them.

After selling all his fox sculptures, he spoke out to the Hermes Guild members on the walls.

“Lafaye-nim is here, yes? Can someone deliver a message?”

“…?”

The armed Hermes Guild members did not let up on their guard.

They felt insulted while watching Weed sell his sculptures right in front of their eyes, given that there was still a huge possibility of a war breaking out in Lahonya Fortress.

The God of War.

The undefeated commander.

They were under great pressure because of Weed’s history of accomplishments and his records of crushing the Hermes Guild.

For the guild, they could risk one or two battles near the border. However, a conquest was a different story.

If they lost their key military fortress Lahonya, it also meant the end for their pride and dignity.

They felt tense and anxious as if the Arpen Empire’s hive attack had already begun.

‘So it is war.’

‘We should expect a huge army rushing in after his speech. How on earth did he bring his forces without spreading any news?’

*Gulp.*

The guild members waited for the declaration of war, thinking what Weed will say was predetermined.

“I just want to have lunch together.”

“…?”

“I was in the middle of a quest and I would appreciate it if you can treat me with a delicious meal.”

“…!”

*****

Lafaye was hurriedly preparing to command his troops to ready for the coming twar in the castle of Lahonya.

He summoned guild members scattered across the regions and positioned the army most efficiently, preparing for the siege battle on ground and in the sky!

For quite some time he had been preparing for war against the Arpen Empire, but he did not expect it to break out this very day in Lahonya.

“Weed wanted to meet me?”

“He said he wanted to have lunch together. Well, he wants to be treated to food; to be exact…”

“What is the current situation?”

“We do not see any Arpen forces at the time.”

“The skies were scouted?”

“Yes. The elemental spirit callers and avian players did in detail.”

There were a minority of the avian under the Hermes Guild.

“If he isn’t here for war… I can’t tell the reason why he wants to meet with me.”

Lafaye walked to the terrace connected to the outside.

The scenery of the military fortress Lahonya was reassuring to him, but now he felt insecure.

He felt reluctant to have lunch with Weed, the one who pushed them out and became the emperor of the Arpen Empire.

‘For him to visit alone and demand food. Is Arpen trying to offer us something? Or is it to prepare for the duel against Bard Ray-nim?’

Lafaye closed his eyes.

He could not determine the motive of the opponent and felt he would be in a disadvantageous position.

Comparing each other’s faction to faction, he was disgraced after having lost consecutive battles against Weed.

“May I join as well?”

“Weed. There is no telling what that arrogant man will do, so I will stand guard.”

“If you are alright with it, I will also…”

“K-hu-hum. I’m curious too about what he wants to say.”

Gaushu, Jest, Gross, Boemong.

The rankers representing Hermes Guild wished to be in the lunch meeting with Weed.

‘Sigh.’

Lafaye hid his long sigh.

Weed!

Though an enemy, he had achieved incredible accomplishments.

The emperor of the Arpen Empire was popular among players. Him having come all this way, it would be a little presumptuous to send him back without meeting him.

***

Weed, with official invitation, entered Lahonya Fortress.

The hallways of the castle were extravagantly decorated with ornaments and antiques as if confirming the stories that said all of Haven Kingdom’s wealth was in Lahonya Fortress.

Kaybern’s targets, with the exception of Castle Aren, were focused on the capital cities of each region and the Britton Alliance, but Haven Kingdom, overall, had many wealthy cities.

Weed spoke in front of Lafaye and the 10 elite members.

“I’m so hungry… May I tell you all after eating first?”

“Of course. We prepared quite urgently so it’s not much. But please help yourself.”

“What do you mean? The table is about to break down. Fried eggs can’t compare to these dishes.”

The Hermes Guild cooked the finest ingredients from their inventory and displayed an ocean of food. Weed was indeed an enemy, but he still deserved a welcoming, delicious meal befitting his title.

‘Why? Why did he come?’

It was Lafaye’s first time seeing Weed up close and appreciated the time he could observe Weed during his meal.

‘Asking for a meal must be his way of intimidation before the real deal. To show off his composure…’

*Chomp-chomp*

“So good,  this dish… Wow. Hermes Guild had great chefs too. The ingredients are amazing.”

Weed was only caught up in feeding himself.

The same could not be said of his hosts: the Hermes Guild members did not touch the food at all and simply watched him. Weed did not seem to care at all.

All his life he couldn’t eat comfortably, but now he could enjoy tasty dishes among other people.

“This is the special grade pine mushroom from Mallen Village. It raises health points permanently by 20.”

Boemong observed Lafaye’s mood and spoke cautiously.

“You are right. You know of Mallen Village in Haven territory too?”

“When I first started Royal Road, I contemplated choosing Botha Castle Seraborg of Rohaim Kingdom and Mallen for my first city. The village was filled with medicinal herbs, so I thought the side income after each hunting trip would be profitable.”

“Huh…”

“I considered Castle Aren too. It was the best of the major cities. Well, now it’s been destroyed by Kaybern.”

Lafaye and the Hermes Guild members were confused as to the attitude they should pose against Weed who seemed very relaxed.

They were both too significant of figures to be grudgeful like children.

Of course, they felt disappointment and sorrow of having been defeated just before completely conquering the continent, but they knew that their feelings towards him were shameful.

“The food is really delicious.”

Weed offered compliments from time to time while trying the different dishes.

Lafaye regarded them as words out of courtesy and reacted in similar fashion.

“We are very thankful that you are enjoying the food.”

“I have never tasted such delicacies.”

Arkhim, the guild member in charge of intelligence, joined the conversation.

“I know that you are also a chef…”

“Advanced level 2.”

“Huh… Your cooking skill level is very high.”

“I have only cooked with cheap ingredients from markets and dungeon hunts, so it was very limited I’d say. But, I will master it one day.”

“They say ingredients matter as much as the cooking. It seems your interest in cooking was consistent?”

“Yes. I am thinking of putting aside some time to sell my dishes at a townsquare.”

Lafaye analyzed every bit of Weed’s vocabulary and his nuances, but there were no hidden messages.

He truly meant his compliments about the food and went on about mundane stories.

‘Why? What does he want to get at?’

As more time passed, he felt it was pointless in trying to uncover something.

Although they were inside the impregnable military fortress of Lahonya, Weed coming all by himself into the heart of enemy territory was disturbing.

“Can I pack the leftovers?”

“Pardon?”

“I don’t want them to go to waste…”

“Please do as you wish.”

Weed packed a pile of food into his bag. Finally, the meal table was taken away and the atmosphere for a serious discussion settled in the room.

‘At last we will hear his true motive.’

Lafaye and the guild members were waiting in anticipation of the story to come.

Weed followed with a blunt announcement.

“Assist me in the fight against Kaybern.”

“What?”

“I am not asking you all to take responsibility for your past actions. We did what we did for our own survival. So, I am making an offer. If you fight alongside us, I will make sure the Hermes Guild prospers.”

*****

Weed left and the heads of the Hermes Guild gathered in Lahonya.

Hostile characters like Calcus were outraged by the missed opportunity to kill Weed.

“So… He asked us to fight Kaybern: to form an alliance for the defeat of the Black Dragon?”

“That is the proposal.”

“Rubbish. You should have turned it down on the spot. Why would we fight for him? Weed the conqueror of the Central Continent should deal with it.”

Calcus’ opinion was perfectly reasonable. The guild members that were present when Weed made his offer thought in a similar way.

‘For whose benefit will it be for us to fight?’

‘Our losses will be huge.’

The meeting was to be broadcasted, so it was just a matter of turning it down in a way that would not upset the viewers.

Arkhim frowned and explained.

“He said we, the Hermes Guild, will be recognized as members of the continent if we are to fight alongside him.”

“Recognition?”

“The independent governance of the Haven territory will be recognized and no acts of conquest will occur. The conduction of trade and other external affairs with the Central and Northern Continents will not be restricted. However, under the agreement, Haven accepts that it is under the control of the Arpen Empire and associated under the empire’s territory. Furthermore, there are many lands without lords across the continent. 1,000 guild members will be given the privilege to govern the said regions.”

Calcus’ head began to process what he just heard.

“He will accept our independence, cease any attacks against us and 1,000 of our members will be appointed as lords? Then… he means to end the war. Aren’t those conditions very favorable for us?”

It was a groundbreaking offer that rendered the hostile guild members speechless.

The Hermes Guild was dwindling away with members deserting the guild and players’ negativity toward the guild was only continuing to grow.

They would not dare dream of reigning over the Central Continent again.

The Arpen Empire in comparison was growing even more powerful, offering them acceptance of Haven grounds.

‘From now on, a fight against the Arpen Empire must be avoided.’

Things were different from the human wave tactic shown back in Garnav Plains.

The progress of the assault squad was broadcasted every day.

The Hermes Guild called themselves the most powerful faction in Royal Road, but the assault squad was quickly closing in while they prepared against Kaybern.

Furthermore, they heard about the discovery of the Brazier of Sacrifice.

The guild had fallen from its prime and, if users of the brazier were to confront them, another horrific scene like the Garnav Plains would befall them once more.

If they were to lose the war, Haven could be taken away from them.

That was how the other guilds fell after all.

However, if the Hermes Guild loses power, they must face all of the players in the continent as enemies.

Due to the evil deeds they had committed up to the present, every member of the Hermes Guild would be hunted for revenge by the players.

Although no one spoke of it out loud, they knew it all too well.

The moment the guild falls, they will be on the run from all players.

“Although it’s a formality, the Versailles Continent will be completely united under the Arpen Empire if we accept the offer.”

“Correct. In our current situation, accepting the offer means we are forfeiting the ‘Emperor of Unification” achievement. The south and the east will remain unconquered for the time being.”

“There is no longer a chance of our guild conquering the continent, so we are not losing out. No?”

“I would say so. We would be safely ruling over the Haven territory and earn 1,000 lord seats. The territory under our control would double from now.”

The general consensus of the players that heard Weed’s offer felt it was an acceptable deal.

Arkhim let out a long sigh.

“There is a trap in this offer.”

“What trap?”

“We, the Hermes Guild, must use the Brazier of Sacrifice to fight Kaybern. At least 10,000 of us.”

“That’s…!”

Calcus and the players were astounded.

Through what they confirmed on broadcast, the use of the brazier was the worst thing a high level player could imagine.

“That’s too absurd, isn’t it?”

“It is not an easy offer.”

“We must decline it!”

“It’s not an outrageous demand either. Weed, too, will use the brazier. So will the dwarves, his closest acquaintances and many players in the assault squad.

“Ah…!”

“If they themselves will fight under the effects of the brazier and we are in our normal state, we would be little help against Kaybern.”

“That’s indeed a problem.”

They did not wish to use the brazier, but the gap in combat level would be too great.

“Also, he said the 1,000 lords will be appointed based on their contribution in the battle against Kaybern.”

“Contribution in battle?”

“Yes. That is the reward system that will supposedly encourage active participation…”

“I guess that does make sense. Under those conditions it will be much easier to convince our guild members.”

Since the guild members were to be appointed as lords, they deemed this part of the offer to be acceptable. Even for them, the player who contributed most should get the most reward.

“To fight Kaybern or not…”

“At first I felt awful, but it doesn’t seem like a total loss if they acknowledge the Haven territory in exchange for our assistance.”

“We would lose levels, but they can be regained. Our territory will remain as is…”

“If we end up succeeding in the dragon hunt, we will attain an incredible combat achievement. Just from that alone, wouldn’t we be able to gain back at least 10, 20 levels?”

“That’s all under the assumption that we succeed.”

“If we gather our strength. Weed will be there as well. Since when are success rates favorable? If we decline his offer, we are going to lose out on much more than a few levels.”

The heads of the guild realized the more they discussed that they really didn’t have a choice to decline. If the Arpen Empire were to march on them, they themselves, being major lords, would suffer the most.

Money, power, land.

They were more important than levels.

The leaders of the Hermes guild voted to accept Weed’s offer and they asked for Bard Ray’s advice.

If the leader of the guild, Bard Ray, were to reject, the matter could not pass.

Bard Ray stayed silent for a moment but soon accepted the absorbance under the Arpen Empire and the battle against Kaybern.

*****

Lafaye cleaned out the items in the office of Lahonya. The antiques, treasures and equipment that he stashed away as the second in command were mostly lost when Castle Aren disappeared.

He only packed one bag with the remaining items.

“Whoo… It’s less than I expected.”

Lafaye scavenged his items and gazed at the scenery of Lahonya outside the window.

Back when the faction maintained its power over the Central Continent, they had constructed this military fortress to defend against the most powerful threats they could anticipate.

It was an unassailable stronghold that could withstand the most massive armies, but now it was rendered meaningless.

“The wise said that building a castle will lead to failure and forging roads led to success… It’s not the most appropriate figure of speech, but it seems that the situation turned out that way.”

Lafaye’s voice felt relieved from the world’s pressure. Arkhim was waiting as he stepped out the hallway with a bag over his shoulder.

“Are you leaving for good?”

Arkhim sensed a strange feeling in the meeting.

Lafaye rarely spoke, a dramatic change from his usually assertive self and even in the last moment of the decision, all he did was nod.

“It seems there is nothing left for me to do around here.”

“I don’t understand. Your title and role will be untouched. I think that you should stick around for the rebirth of the guild.”

Since Lafaye had planned the larger schemes, he was quite free from the liabilities of the defeat against Arpen. Weed fought more skillfully than they had assessed him for and the power of the players were greater than they imagined.

The members of the Hermes Guild knew Lafaye had the highest contribution to the guild.

“It is as I said. I am leaving because there is no more use for me.”

“But…”

“It’s the era of Weed now and the Hermes Guild doesn’t have the power to win against his command.”

“Pardon?”

Arkhim could not understand what he meant and walked alongside Lafaye to question him.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s…”

Lafaye was about to explain himself but sighed instead.

“It will be best if you don’t know. Do you want to know anyway?”

“It doesn’t seem like you are implying that the guild must unquestionably follow his conditions because of the power of the Arpen Empire.

“His offer is a poisonous apple.”

“A poisonous apple?”

“I couldn’t imagine that Weed had such an incredible ability in politics. He is truly… skilled in framing the situation to his advantage. He is a man who could break down our guild with just a few words.”

Lafaye felt the need to tell Arkhim a few things before leaving the guild.

He himself fell for Weed’s scheme helplessly, but he felt some kind of responsibility for the oblivious comrade.

“The offer seems to be a simple trade-off on the surface. We use the brazier and battle against Kaybern. Then the anger and grudge of the players on the Hermes Guild will be appeased, and we will be able to maintain our control over Haven.”

“Then it is good for us, no?”

“Weed’s offer in itself is a fair and logical one without question. Things will proceed as it seems on the outside. We will fight until the very end in order to keep what is ours. What awaits us at the end of the fight will be our downfall.”

“Downfall?”

“The fate of the guild surrendering after being driven into a corner.”

Lafaye said the result of the battle against the dragon had little significance.

“Victory or defeat. Whatever the result may be, the relationship with Arpen will not change. What’s important is the next step… Firstly, our guild members will fight one another to become one of the 1,000 lords.”

“That would be a logical assumption.”

“1,000 core players with excellent combat skill will desert the guild.”

“They could retain their association with the guild. Weed said they are free to do so.”

“They will most likely leave on their own.”

The Hermes Guild members to be newly appointed lords of Arpen.

Harshly speaking, they would find no merit in maintaining a relationship with the guild.

Instead, it will be an obstacle in ruling over the Central or Northern Continent players so their eventual desertion would be inevitable.

“The Hermes Guild is a fence that will only weaken with time. The players will live out their new lives as lords and if there comes a divide against Arpen, they will not stand by the guild.”

“We aren’t so small that the desertion of 1,000 players will lead to our ruin.”

“We aren’t a small faction. But, even the most dense castle wall can crumble in an instant if a hole breaks through. What had tied the members into one will disappear.”

The Hermes Guild sought for supreme power and distributed immense profits to its members. But with the new world, they would all see that it will be much more advantageous to live as lords of the Arpen Empire than stay as a part of the guild.

Adventurers, warriors, lords…

They, who seek a different style of life, will follow in their own path of freedom.

“The 1,000 who will leave the Hermes Guild after becoming lords will be the key. Though they may continue to reside in Haven, the majority of the guild members will no longer think of sharing the same fate with the guild.”

“Would things go that far?”

“Gradually, the bond will weaken. Those who left may fight alongside Weed when he begins to tear down the Hermes Guild.”

Weed’s offer was designed to weaken the guild over time. Referred to as the new wave or trend, the gradual effects were to be much more difficult to cross.

“Then would we have been better off declining his offer and defending Haven until the end?”

Arkhim was entirely devoted to the Hermes Guild. He did not wish for the downfall of the guild even in times of crisis.

“No. There was no choice given to us this time around.”

The negotiation between Weed and the Hermes Guild was broadcasted live.

Inevitably the average guild members welcomed the offer.

The guild did not exercise absolute power like in the past and no players wished to be confined within Haven.

Moreover, the heads of the guild, who were lords themselves, mostly thought positively about the offer.

After all, they would be able to maintain their authority.

“In various individual perspectives they may realize the poison, but it is just too sweet to decline the offer.”

“Such sly intentions…”

“Looking further ahead, Weed will benefit much more. He may use the players from Hermes Guild to contest the Arpen lords and keep them in check… He could also reduce losses from going to war as well.”

“For him to commit to such tricks.”

“Weed uprooted the base of our guild with a simple offer.”

“I refuse to believe that we will go down so easily. I… will remain until the final moment.”

Arkhim did not follow past the gate of Lahonya Fortress.

Lafaye walked out the gate as the sense of freedom from his last regrets was lifted and reduced the weight of the bag over his shoulders.

‘The Hermes Guild failed and now the world belongs to Weed. I lost completely in strength and in brains. I actually feel glad.’

For him, Royal Road was not yet over.

He thought of his novice days, when he went on adventures with fellow comrades like Da-In, to have been joyful memories.

*****

The following day, Weed made an official visit to Lahonya Fortress.

The players of Lahonya lined up along the streets and the rooftops.

The road that extended from the gate was covered with red carpet.

“I am in the presence of the emperor.”

“Long live the Arpen Empire!”

As Weed tread on the carpet, the citizens and players showered him with flower petals.

Even the Hermes Guild members clapped at their stations.

“The God of War, Weed. Our guild surrendered to one man.”

“It’s pretty impressive. I understand that it was a negotiation, but for us to succumb to Arpen so early.”

“Their conditions are favorable. It’s beneficial for us. One war will wash away the sins that we have committed.”

“Would it really be alright for us to roam freely?”

“Weed made a promise. The promise of Arpen’s emperor should be upheld.”

The Hermes Guild members felt conflicted.

There were many with hostile feelings toward Weed and the empire, but, in truth, their feelings did not stem from a legitimate reason.

They were forsaken after waging wars against the entire continent. They should, in fact, be thankful instead.

“I am honored to meet Weed-nim.”

“This way. We welcome your presence.”

With Arkhim in the lead, the heads of the Hermes Guild greeted him politely.

Famous players like Steer, Boemong, Gaushu, Heiller, Gross and Crebulta all bowed their heads.

What was unexpected was the Slaughterer Calcus’s attitude.

Until now, he always screamed for a chance to kill Weed whenever a guild meeting took place.

Each time he failed, he vowed to kill Weed in the next opportunity.

However, this time he greeted Weed while bent down 90° and reached out with his hand for a handshake.

“It is an honor. Having been under different settlements I had always held my sword against you, but I had always rooted for you. Weed-nim, from now on, whatever annoyance or trouble may arise, let me know. I will take care of it in an instant.”

He was truly a textbook example of social-skills!

Weed, with a smile, grasped Calcus’s hand and clapped him on the back back.

Responding warmly to the first flatterer would get others to approach him without hesitation.

“Slaughterer Calcus-nim, I watched you often on broadcasts. I observed many of your combat videos as well.”

“Rrr… Really?”

“Yes. Let’s hunt and get acquainted whenever we get the chance.”

“Thank you. I am deeply honored.”

The heads of Hermes Guild watching this scene realized the future man of power.

The Hermes Guild followed the unmatched power of Bard Ray.

But now, with complete control over the Northern and Central Continent, Weed, who would soon rise up as the emperor of the united Versailles Continent, was the tide.

The Hermes Guild, in the very moment, acknowledged that they have lost in both power and mind.

Many players wished for the revival of the Hermes Guild, but that reality now seems like a dream. .

*****

< The lords of the Haven region lifted the flag of the Arpen Empire.

The territories of the empire have expanded.

National reputation spreads across the continent.

Political influence is on the brink of reigning over the continent.

The rich citizens of the Haven region wish for special regional products, artworks and various cultures.

Fulfilling their needs will lead to an accelerated commercial development. >

Thus, the merging of the Haven region began!

The Arpen Empire now practically controlled the majority of Versailles Continent.

The southern deserts, the eastern kingdoms and the orc lands.

A bit more time was needed until total unification, but Arpen’s world was right before their eyes.

Weed announced at Lahonya Fortress:

– We will combine our strength and slay Kaybern at Morata!

“Long live Weed!”

“Long live Arpen Empire!’

“Hunt down Kaybern!”

The sight of the Hermes Guild members cheering Weed was one of pure shock for the viewers.

– I never thought I would see the Hermes Guild rooting for Weed in my lifetime.

– Wow. I am speechless. That’s crazy.

– When I heard that Weed-nim went to Lahonya for lunch, I thought it was outrageous. But he returned with a full stomach. He even conquered Haven.

– What is going on? I’m scared.

– He gulped down the entire Hermes Guild with a few words. Burp.

– The Conqueror, Weed…

– He even mobilized them to fight together against Kaybern.

– Why is the Hermes Guild so happy?

– They’re thankful that Weed-nim decided to spare them despite all their sins.

– As you all know already, Kaybern rose because of that guild.

The Hermes Guild may have announced their participation in the Kaybern hunt but were not spared from the public criticism.

On the other hand, having them protect Morata of all places brought positive response from the Northern players.

– Secure Morata!

– I trusted that Weed-nim would not abandon Morata.

– It begins and ends in Morata.

– The invincible stronghold Morata. It will be the dragon’s grave.

– Weed-nim himself stepped up. The Hermes Guild, too, is joining forces.

– Let’s go spectate at Morata.

– I’m inviting people to my home. It’s located at shantytown #6.

– My house is also open to whoever is in need. The roof collapsed a bit last time, but it will be fixed by tomorrow.

“Awesome. If I sustain this atmosphere, more will volunteer to use the Brazier of Sacrifice!”

Weed was more satisfied over dragging in the Hermes Guild than the response of the public.

– Mapan: Your political skills are outstanding. With just a few words, you have brought down the Hermes Guild to their knees.

“Well, I gave up what I could afford to give and I took what I needed, but I won’t die alone.”

There was no way he was going to sacrifice himself for Versailles like a fool.

It went against Weed’s philosophy of eating and living well.

In movies, the hero that saved the world was extremely likely to die after a life of hardship.

The burden on the remaining family members was the cherry on top.

In this day and age, the true hero needed to take what he could and secure his life.

“We will die together, but I will survive alone if possible…”

Weed had to utilize the short remainder of time effectively.

“Morata has become the battleground with the fate of Arpen backed against the wall.”

– Mapan: Yes. I made a call for full mobilization of all merchants. The merchants of the Northern and Central Continent are waiting for your orders.

The merchants had to leave a good impression on Weed, the emperor of the Arpen Empire.

The dragon hunt was not a battle against a single boss monster, so it was necessary to make preparations beyond the level of war.

“It’s obvious at this point, but the evacuation plans are cancelled. We need to enlist players over level 400 willing to join the battle and forge defenses.”

– Mapan: Understood. I will concentrate all forces in Morata.

Weed also sent a whisper to Seoyoon.

“Morata will be the battleground where the fate of this continent will be decided. People will be crowding in, so distribute tasks for them and prepare for the dragon.”

– Seoyoon: Leave it to me. I will protect Morata.

Weed did not forget to message the architects.

“Pavo-nim. This battle also depends significantly on architects. The damage on Morata will be immense.”

– Pavo: There is no end to work! But, I will take this on with spirit. I have realized a lot after seeing Kaybern destroy Castle Bawell. I can’t guarantee impregnability, but I will make Morata as solid as possible.

In order to increase the odds against the dragon, they needed to fight on a good turf after exhausting the dragon.

“It would be beneficial to collaborate with hunters as well, though I am uncertain if the traps will work.”

– Pavo: Noted. Like the Stonehammer Architect Association, all Northern architects are on their way to Morata.

“What about the architects from the Central Continent?”

– Pavo: They were travelling on birdmen as soon as they heard the news. I was also contacted by Hermes Guild… They offered assistance with the preparations. Should I accept their help?

“For now, accept all the help you can get. Things like magic traps are weak against the dragon… But they, too, have vast experience in boss monster hunts, so they must have something they can offer.”

– Pavo: I will do my best.

“I am always in your debt.”

– Pavo: I should be thankful for your acknowledgement and trusting me with such tasks. If it weren’t for you, architects would have never been respected.

After Weed made the decision to fight in Morata, the entire Northern and Central Continent was on the move. Perhaps, it would have been better to make preparations in advance, but not much could be done since he was improvising according to the situation!

‘This is the best I can do for now. The reconciliation with the Hermes Guild too…’

He had a long history of bad fate with the Hermes Guild.

They decided to bend knees because they were at a disadvantage, but it surely did not mean that they became friends. Then again, he could not guarantee that the lords of Arpen were pure and trustworthy.

If Weed’s popularity were to decline, the lords could very well be the first ones to draw the sword against him. In fact, they could very well be raising forces for when that time comes.

‘They are all treacherous. The only thing to trust is myself.’

He could be stabbed in the back at any moment if he let his guard down.

In the current situation, he decided to focus only on defending Morata.

Chapter 7: Construction Site

Residents of Morata changed into their construction worker attire.

“Take the construction beyond the walls. We need to keep expanding.”

“The farms will be overturned. The Arpen Empire will compensate for them later.”

“Build 5 layers of walls around the Great Landmarks. The Great Library possesses various pieces of information of which there are no other copies, so it must be protected at all costs.”

Cling-Clank!

Protective walls were being constructed all over Morata in preparation for the dragon’s attack.

The construction that began in the morning had become even larger by noon.

The building materials and workers from the Northern Continent streamed in endlessly.

“We will be short of stones around nightfall.”

“Let’s dig up the molten rocks from the mountains in the northwest.”

“About the transport teams plans… Damn. Just move the entire mountain.”

Thousands of bulls were supplied from nearby ranches.

Moooo~

The muscular and sturdy bulls dragged the wagons, transporting stones and piling small mountains everywhere.

“In order to save time, let’s implement the method of sliding the joints in. Use the damaged stones too.”

“What about the durability?”

“We aren’t defending against siege weapons. If the dragon slams with its body, we will be lucky if the walls hold at least once, so quick assembly on site is crucial.”

The surplus of novice players raised walls around the Great Landmarks and vital facilities.

Artists!

The artists that visited from Rhodium had their own sense of pride.

They walked the path of art since the early days of Royal Road.

They were often looked down upon as they were accused of being useless, but Weed, who started as a sculptor, had become the emperor.

Since Morata was their new station, the artists gathered at the Tower of Light.

“Now, what we must do is protect Morata!”

When Debs shouted on top of the podium, the painters and sculptors kept silent.

Some of them possessed combat abilities from hunting but they were the precious few.

They were unable to fight despite their desire to defend Morata. They had thought of throwing away their job class characteristics to simply transport stones like the novice players.

“Why are we incapable? Artists should never accept that something is impossible!”

His words were flashy but had zero follow-through.

“We cannot battle Kaybern, but we must defend Morata.”

Such a thing wasn’t possible with just heart.

The artists were discouraged. Then, Debs announced with a loud voice.

“So, we must plagiarize!”

“…?”

“Huh?”

Plagiarism was forbidden for artists!

Debs explained his idea at the podium.

“Did you not feel anything after you observed the shoddy construction by the architects at Castle Bawell? Morata is filled with precious artworks. As you can see from this Tower of Light here. We all now take these for granted like the rest of the scenery in Morata, but just how incredible were these artworks when they were first released? A tower built from light just beside the city.”

The artists nodded in agreement.

The amazing street views of Morata weren’t born solely from architectural skills. It also came from the massive sculptures such as the Tower of Light or the Statue of Goddess Freya.

“The Tower of Light was a work that shined above Morata. Anyhow, my plan is to make tons of artworks that are similar.”

“Hmm?”

“Just plagiarize. Copy them! Also, it would be great if they are sculptures or paintings that can attract more eyes than the original. While Kaybern destroys them, Morata will be that much safer!”

His plan was to craft similar copies of important artworks so that Kaybern would not destroy the originals!

The eyes and ears of artists who were struggling to find a task opened wide to this idea.

“What- that is amazing!”

“Now that is creative plagiarism. Plagiarism is the idea. There really is no limit in art.”

“To promote plagiarism is absurd. Truly insane.”

“Honestly, we were overly conscious about it. I have earned a hefty amount of gold by sculpting and I could easily copy Weed-nim’s sculptures.”

“It is also not difficult to divert Kaybern’s attention. All it would take is for me to build a statue of Kaybern spewing manure from its mouth, am I right?”

“Aren’t paintings that mock Kaybern better? I just have to draw a ridiculous painting.”

A switch of ideas!

The artist finally found their role.

They were a peculiar bunch that would become so immersed in something even if they weren’t paid. The Arpen Empire made an official announcement.

– Though it may not be much, the workers who assisted for the defense of Morata will be paid wages. It is difficult to keep a separate book, so all citizens will be paid 3 gold per day. All restaurants in Morata will be open for free meals. Festivals will be held at midnight.

“As expected of Weed-nim.”

“Haha… Just look at his deep consideration.”

“He is being generous given our hardships. He always takes care of the novice players.”

“He did not change a single bit even after becoming the emperor.”

The policy was pushed ahead by Seoyoon and her gratitude for the participating players.

Architects and artists stepped up and the other players stuck like bee swarms and thus the fortification of Morata began.

The lead squad of the Hermes Guild also arrived in Morata.

“It seems like knights could lie in ambush over here. If we lure the dragon closer, a surprise attack would be possible”

“If a street battle breaks out due to the complex buildings, it would prove advantageous for us. It’s up to Weed-nim and the citizens to approve it.”

“To reduce the mobility range of the dragon, we must install the walls like a maze.

Height should be about 3, 4 meters. It shouldn’t just be about protecting the buildings but also securing the mages, archers and making sure there is a safe route for reinforcements. Would that be possible?”

The requests from the Hermes Guild were mostly taken into consideration by the Architect Association.

Due to their shared goal of defending Morata, they could easily put their past grudges aside.

“The players don’t hate us as much as I thought.”

“There were even people asking for autographs.”

“What’s more… I don’t know if we have enough forces against the dragon.”

The Hermes Guild heads remembered when they confronted Kaybern in the past.

The ludicrous combat level of the Black Dragon!

It was true that at the players’ current level, the battle was overburdening.

Lamifter spoke.

“I’m sure Weed-nim has a plan. The forces of the Hermes Guild will be the core of it all. Even so, we need more preparations to ensure victory.”

Calcus approached slowly.

“Do you have any good ideas?”

“We never got a chance to use it in Garnav Plains, but how about bringing the hextech cannon?”

“Cannon?”

“There was a first-class security lock placed on it. An ancient artifact, a magical equipment that was different from a naval cannon. It shoots based on the magic level of the mages.”

“Does it blow things up?”

“It is not an explosive type. It emits a dense light made of magic that is not suitable for a siege. Still, the accuracy and penetration is decent enough that it could be potentially used for hunting massive creatures, so it has been kept secret. I think it could be used against the dragon.”

The guild members having a range of experience hunting boss level monsters conjured up various ideas.

“The tiger hide chair will be delivered by the Lebre Merchant Council in a few days. Please install it on top of the walls.”

The unusual request from the Slaughterer Calcus drew a bit of attention.

“What would be your reason?”

Flame, who was in charge of the construction in the region, asked.

Calcus was far above him in terms of levels, but he himself was the manager in charge of the arrangement of facilities.

Calcus held his head high pridefully and explained.

“Who knows when Weed-nim will make a visit? If he sits there, he will have the entire view of the defense line.”

“…”

As the guild decided to make amends with the Arpen Empire, Calcus turned enthusiastic.

In reality, the overall atmosphere of the guild was changing even more in Morata.

It was hard to find members that continued to burn with vengeance and speak of killing Weed in the future.

As soon as they found out that the tide of power had turned in Morata, more were ready to transfer their loyalty.

In all honesty, their actions weren’t all that strange.

From the beginning they sought power and authority and got to their current standings,  based on that principle they simply decided to follow Weed.

– Gather. In Morata!

– A construction site is underway. Grass Porridge Cult, assemble!

– Protect the sacred grounds.

Players from Puhol Waterpark were flooding in and a huge movement began in the Central Continent.

The Hermes Guild members felt pressured by the huge number of players roaming in Morata.

“There is no end to the crowd of people in this city.”

“Thousands are entering through the gate each minute.”

“This is a huge city. If the shantytowns were turned into stone buildings, this city would have been more developed than Castle Aren.”

Although most were novice players, the population was extraordinary.

Their goal was to assist in the fortification of Morata and observe the war with the fate of the Versailles Continent on the line.

The novice players walking through the gate in a line chattered in excitement.

“It’s amazing to see how many people gathered to stop Cletta.”

“It’s all thanks to Weed-nim acting as the center of everything.”

“So, Weed-nim and Bard Ray will fight alongside one another?”

“Yup. Whoever ends up hunting down Kaybern, it will be a spectacle.”

“What if they all die…”

“…”

“Cough.”

Since Weed and the Hermes Guild put their knuckles down to work, they seemed to have a fighting chance against Kaybern.

The players gathered in Morata participated eagerly in the fortification process.

*****

“What is going on?”

Reverse logged in soon after.

In less than a day, Morata was completely turned into a construction zone.

“I thought I realized it before, but is this truly Weed’s influence?”

The gate front that was calm just a day ago was now a pandemonium.

“Passing through. Please step aside!”

Workers and bulls passed busily and transported building materials.

Architects stuck to the walls and made progress on structural reinforcement in addition to the barriers.

The scale of the construction expanded by the hour. It is expected to be completely transformed by the time of the dragon’s arrival.

The Garnav Plains were a vast barren land, but Morata was a giant city with great human resources and no troubles in supplies.

Based simply on the number of active players, it was the largest city in the Versailles Continent!

“We have to hurry. We don’t have time to spare for us to complete more than 5 round trips!”

Simultaneously, the important data in the Arts Center and the Great Library were being siphoned away to neighboring cities.

Morata would be the site of final stand, but there was still an urgent preservation plan to prevent treasures from being destroyed by the dragon’s breath or AOE spells.

A few words found their way into the ears of Reverse who stood blankly near the gate.

“Whoever wants grass porridge, come this way!”

Huge pots were boiling thick in the construction sites.

In large-scale construction sites in the north, grass porridge always made its appearance!

The players working in construction lined up and each took a bowl in their hands.

“The grass porridge this time tastes good.”

“It’s less bitter… Nutty as well. I can see a few berries too.”

“This is luxury. Indulgence.”

Reverse, too, naturally stood in line.

‘Real grass porridge. This is a chance to taste it.’

He was curious about the taste of grass porridge ever since Weed built the pyramids of Rosenheim Kingdom.

“Enjoy.”

“Thank you.”

“Please work hard.”

“I will until my back snaps.”

The grass porridge cooked by novice chefs!

It was a chance for them to increase their proficiencies through large quantities.

Reverse, too, received a bowl of grass porridge and sat mindlessly on the ground nearby.

The front gate was crowded with players, several times more than usual.

“Mmm. Let’s have a taste.”

With a wooden spoon, he took a plentiful dip and scooped it into his mouth.

“Hoof!”

The porridge was so hot that it burned his tongue.

“Why is it so hot? It’s too hot for me to taste anything.”

Reverse skimmed the top of the grass porridge and blew on it heavily before he put it in his mouth. It was a delicate flavor; puckery and bitter but still a bit sweet, salty, and spicy.

It tasted like a huge amount of grass and berries were boiled and seasoned with salt, sugar, soy sauce, and a bit of pepper paste.

“How is this delicious?”

He couldn’t comprehend it and tried a few more spoons.

“…”

Fresh grass hung on his spoon.

The watery thin soup had a few rice grains and bits of meat.

“It looks like they put everything they could and boiled it. Especially a lot of grass…”

Reverse was a complete outsider when it came to cooking. He said it without much thinking, but that was the truth!

The secret of grass porridge in a big construction site was cooking without much care.

“This tastes really bad.”

Reverse left about half the bowl and followed the other players.

Usually, he would be too lazy but in an event like this, he wanted to participate even in a measly task.

“Are you a novice? The stones will be too heavy… Will you drive the bull wagons?”

“Give me the stones.”

“It will be exhausting…”

“It’s alright, just give them to me. After all, I am different from other novices.”

Reverse trusted in his gear imbued with various enhancement spells.

“Call nearby players for help if you are tired.”

“I told you not to worry. Hmmf!”

The weight squeezed his lungs.

The immense weight that pressed down from his head down to his back made his legs shake like twigs.

Next, he had to walk all the way to the construction site like a swarm of ants.

‘Why are people doing such jobs?’

Reverse was filled with regret and questions at the same time.

All the other players were doing the same work, their faces filled with exhaustion and liveliness all at once.

The feeling of accomplishment!

After one transport of stones, he could understand by a fraction.

“So this is Weed’s influence. Leading the public…”

Reverse slowly came to understand while playing Royal Road.

People were like saucepans. They heated quickly and cooled just as fast.

No matter how good a deed is, they cannot continue for long. It is the same when they criticize others.

However, attaching some kind of meaning and encouraging participation sometimes led to overcoming the impossible.

The atmosphere in firsthand participation was different from observing through a monitor.

“Weed did not become the emperor because of power… But instead became an emperor because he changed the world.”

Reverse was shocked to see that the construction had doubled by the evening.

The following day would expand at least 5 times more because of players arriving from all parts of the world.

*****

“It’s absurd. Outrageous… But it’s Weed. I can’t just ignore it.”

Michel hosted a secret congregation with 20 major lords such as Carlise and Roam.

The purpose of this gathering was supposedly for promoting friendship between lords, but they all knew that each one of them was full of greed and ambition to expand their influence.

“For him to bring in the Hermes Guild out of the blue. Who would have guessed?”

Roam groaned lightly.

Weed’s recent actions struck them hard behind their heads.

They themselves, after becoming major lords, got opportunities to expand their factions after slaying monsters.

In this crisis with Kaybern, they were thinking of watching idly, but for Weed to decide on a full-scale Kaybern hunt!

“I thought preparations alone would take at least a year. Will we be triumphant?”

Carlise let out his concern.

It was a question common among the great lords at the gathering.

‘For them to slay that mighty dragon so soon…? What happens if it fails?’

Though they had their doubts, they collectively decided to support the dragon hunt. They needed the shade under the Arpen Empire and also were conscious of the public consensus that no one should back out of the dragon hunt.

“This is the dragon we are talking about. It’s not a being we can think of in simple terms. The Hermes Guild joined forces and the Brazier of Sacrifice is in possession, but it will not be easy.”

Michel hid the fact that he messaged the guild members in the assault squad not to use the Brazier of Sacrifice.

It would have been the same for all other guilds.

They agreed on preserving their forces in the upcoming battle.

If the hunt were to fail, an era where military strength is the first priority will come.

Sherwood frowned and spoke.

“It all depends on how we fight and should expect to win anyhow. We don’t know the dragon. But what we do know is that the Hermes Guild is excellent in combat. Same goes for Weed.”

The major lords did not favor the current turn of events.

They were familiar with war between guilds that usually ended up being fairly even, but a dragon was on another dimension.

Roam predicted the events to occur in the near future.

“If Weed overcomes the dragon, he will gain an unquestionable authority on top of his current popularity.That Bard Ray could still be called a God of war would be laughable.”

If Weed were to defeat the dragon, they would have to bow before his will for 2 more years.

‘I would fail if I were him. It’s a dangerous adventure that I wouldn’t want to bet on probability. But it’s Weed… There might be a chance.’

‘I can’t even guess how this battle will turn out. The main forces of Versailles will be mobilized…  Weed and the Hermes Guild, too, will be in full swing, meaning that the scale of this war will be well beyond imagination.’

‘It’s Weed. Bard Ray is likely to participate in person as well. The use of the brazier and the Hermes Guild joining forces… Mmm.’

The major lords could not blatantly pray for failure.

If Weed could not resolve this situation, they had no way to address the dragon.

The dragon would continue destroying city after city, spread monsters, and eventually their turn would arrive.

For everyone to fall into oblivion or to extend their lives with their heads low to the ground and flatter the man in power.

Either path bore bad consequences and the worst of it all was the fact that they had no other choices but gossiping.

*****

“You there. You are pretty sturdy.”

“Thank you.”

Bard Ray was finally acknowledged by the barbarians.

Every battle he contributed significantly and brought a hefty amount of game for the tribe.

Bard Ray also learned how to get along with the barbarians.

They set up a campfire in the evening and shared dinner, talking about the combat.

‘It was this easy… I have come a long way.’

Bard Ray felt empty at the thought that if it was Weed, he would have taken about two or three days to increase friendship levels.

Realistically, it would have taken less than a day!

“There is a land sought by no man. Have you seen beyond the ice walls in the northwest?”

“Isn’t it just filled with ice?”

“Nature is harsh. If you uncover the legend buried there, you will be called the tribe’s outstanding warrior.”

Blink!

< Prove your worth to become an Ironblood Warrior!

Climb the glacial walls in the northwest and walk endlessly.

The warrior’s heart will not cease due to hardship or cold. Each step you take will be the new milepost for the barbarians.

You must overcome physical pain and exhaustion.

When you collapse after transcending the limits, you will be reborn as an Ironblood Warrior.

This death will not result in a decline in level or skill proficiency.

The longer you travel, the more you endure, the more perseverance and defense skills will be enhanced.

The territory of the barbarian tribe will expand as far as you walk.

Continuing for more than 5 days will lead you to the location where the Glacial Sword is buried.

If you do not arrive at the destination, the ice will shatter and you will fall into the pitch black depths of the icy ocean.

Difficulty: S

Reward: Advancement into Ironblood Warrior. Glacial Sword. >

At last, the advancement quest appeared.

“The Ironblood Warrior has shown. The Glacial Sword… interesting.”

It was the first time Bard Ray unlocked a legend by proceeding through a quest by himself instead of with the Hermes Guild.

“I can become stronger.”

He heard the news that the Hermes Guild had knelt before the flag of Arpen, but that wasn’t important.

The stability of Haven and the survival of the guild were no longer his concerns.

‘Weed. I will allow you to take the seat of the emperor. But, the God of War title will be forever mine.’

Bard Ray immediately headed to the glacial wall in the northwest. He was anxious to match the day of the Kaybern hunt.

It was the condition for the Hermes Guild maintaining control over Haven, but also because no one would acknowledge him after beating Weed who would have become weaker after the use of the brazier.

*****

Pale led the assault squad with Python and Oberon.

They hunted for days against the overwhelming number of monsters in the Central Continent.

“Python-nim’s sword technique is always so dynamic.”

“Hahaha. It’s a style I picked up for the fun of blowing away monsters… Anyway, how did Pale-nim become an archer?”

“It was due to a quest.”

“Oh… A special quest for the archer job class or a skill?”

“No. I was carrying out a request to hunt rabbits with a bow and I ended up an archer.”

“…”

Python and Oberon exchanged glances that clearly meant Pale was a total fool.

Pale caught the gist of their thoughts and smiled.

“Still, I never regretted once about becoming an archer.”

Python and Oberon nodded.

‘Of course he wouldn’t. But, judging by his personality, he wouldn’t have complained even if he became a swordsman.’

‘He would have been good no matter which path he took. It’s his own life after all…’

Many players knew about Pale’s life and acknowledged him.

Weed’s combat slave No. 1.

Even so, he became a major lord who ruled over a large area of the Arpen Empire and gained a fitting reputation.

Players similar in level to Pale did not have as much influence or popularity.

The success story of the combat slave was such that the fool could not be criticized.

“By the way, I heard that Oberon-nim’s personality is different in real life.”

Pale asked with curiosity.

In Royal Road, he was a committed warrior!

In reality, he was an heir to a megamillionaire, a charmful man full of confidence.

He did lead people around but did not provide for them unconditionally.

Borrowing from Weed’s words, he was ‘a man born with everything but a scrupulous side .’

Obern smiled brightly.

“It’s weird that whenever I log into Royal Road that I want to protect people. I think failing miserably at my first dungeon attempt is the reason for it.”

In the pioneer of Royal Road, he reached level 50 by hunting around town and went on a dungeon hunt with friends.

Every one of them were inexperienced and were wiped out before they could try anything. From then on, he was engulfed in his sense of duty to protect his comrades.

Pale spoke cautiously.

“I guess that emotion isn’t very… controllable?”

They all witnessed how Oberon protected his comrades. It was a touching sight, but eventually he died after diving in for no reason, so it could have been seen as a little nosy.

“It doesn’t work the way I want it. I do have the intentions to protect people, but I end up standing in front without me realizing it.”

“I see.”

Pale spoke after a short pause.

“Are you planning to use the brazier at the battle in Morata?”

“Of course. It will be a spectacular battle.”

Pale sighed.

He realized why people called him a sucker to such extent.

‘So this is what it’s like watching a fool.’

*****

A quest log appeared in Oberon’s view.

Blink!

< The Hunt For Kaybern.

The time has come for every dwarf to gather their strength.

Lift those honed weapons!

Let the war cries echo!

It is time to take down Kaybern.

The battle against Kaybern must take place within a month.

With victory, the dwarves will take back their lost pride.

Difficulty: Race quest

Requirement: Dwarf.

Must be top 3% of player level in all of the race.

Reward: The dwarven race trait, Pride. >

“Uh… A race quest just came up for dwarves.”

“A race quest?”

“It says to defeat Kaybern together with a dwarf named Weedhand.”

Weed decided to go to battle against Kaybern with the dwarven warriors.

With his decision, the quest activated for all dwarf players in the top 3% pool.

“I will gladly fight against Kaybern.”

Oberon spoke after he had already accepted the quest.

“I can’t wait for the day we will fight in Morata.”

Python and Pale shared similar feelings.

“It’s thrilling. It will be an awesome battle.”

“Yes. Fight without regrets.”

*****

After visiting the Hermes Guild, Weed still had more to do before going to hunt the dragon.

“You wish to learn how to use the axe?”

“Yes.”

The east side of Hilaya Forest.

He had to convene with Lumberjack Patin and acquire the secret technique of the axe.

Patin was a lumberjack with long legs and broad muscular shoulders.

“I don’t really know about noble or royal families. But, even I know your name because you are that famous.”

“Having fought a lot of villains spread my name around. I eradicated monsters for the peace of this world.”

“You are not a bad guy. I heard you are an adventurer and sculptor who has done countless good deeds. I on the other hand am a knucklehead in the arts field.”

Lumberjack Patin, whenever he came across an infamous player had a tendency to chop their heads in an instant.

Status or honor did not mean anything. He was just a simple lumberjack who despised bad guys.

Patin scavenged the well cooked, oil dripping boar hind leg from the bonfire.

“I really love boar meat. This is cooked nicely.”

“Boars roasted in the mountains are a true delicacy. The salt was dug up from deep within the mines.”

“The seasoning is perfect.”

He had received information about Patin’s background in advance from Mapan.

– Mapan: Patin has no profound form. Players who acquired axe techniques all visited him but… He doesn’t give out quests but rather you must become friends with him.

He loves cooking, but he prefers common dishes over expensive cuisine.

When your friendship level exceeds a certain point, he will offer an opportunity to learn the secret axe technique.

He won’t be teaching you kindly firsthand but instead you will be able to watch him apply the technique on a tree.

The secret axe technique has to be acquired by examining with your eyes. There are 6 individuals who have learned it until now. I know Weed-nim is more than capable of joining them.

Weed knew the basics of how to wield an axe.

‘Compared to a sword, the weight is overwhelming. A weapon with the least minimal breaking transitions but displays destructive force.’

It was much more simple than wielding a sword or spear.

On the other hand, swinging an axe while stationary did not bring out its true power.

Moving randomly and applying body weight would bring the best out of an axe.

“Do you care for a glass of beer?”

“You have beer?”

“I have enough to get us completely drunk. This is beer from Morata that even the dwarves would die for.”

“Beer from Morata… My mouth is already getting watery.”

4 hours.

The time taken to soften up Patin with meat, beer and flattery.

“I don’t do well with explaining. You will have to see it and pick it up if you can.”

“Sure. That will be more than enough.”

Patin got up to his feet and began swinging his axe on a thick tree.

Boom! Crack! Cruck!

WIth each swing, the thick limbs of the tree fell.

‘The power is plain awesome. As expected from a pure strength invested skill.’

At first he thought of the grain sword technique, but he soon realized within a few swings that it was different.

‘He isn’t slashing the weak spot. It is more like he chips into it with force.’

The concentrated power of the axe was backed up with speed and resilience, striking the massive tree. The tree was sliced clean in half as if slashed with a sword.

– Mapan: Two players went about together with Patin for about 2 weeks. The battle with Kaybern is close, but rushing won’t help.

‘I got the gist of it. It is a weapon in a different form from a sword.’

Weed took out a recklessly dense large axe.

The Dragon Slayer Axe was not a weapon to be used lightly due to its stat reduction trait.

Boom!

He swung sideways on a giant tree with his heavy axe.

The tree managed to fall on his second swing, but the cut was not clean like Patin’s demonstration.

‘The power and speed was similar… So there’s more to it.’

Weed after multiple axe swings was able to cut down a tree in a single swing.

“Splendid.”

“I still have a long way to go.”

Gradually, his axe form more closely resembled Patin’s.

Bang! Crack! Creek!

His wrist, shoulder movement and swing trajectory became similar.

‘It’s something like this. This form is highly suited for cutting down trees.’

The empowered axe slices through concisely.

The sensation from the impact was exhilarating!

Weed believed he could acquire Patin’s secret in a day.

He had trained sword techniques systematically and spent breathless hours moving from one dangerous hunting ground to the next.

Wielding a weapon was familiar like a part of his own body.

‘But, do I need to learn this with my head?’

Not too long ago he erased the concept of sword technique from his mind.

When needed he did utilize the fixed forms of sword techniques, but for the most part he wielded as his heart intended which was the answer.

In a split-second duel, the best answer did not come from thinking.

‘Even though this is a new weapon, would it be so new that I need to start from scratch?’

Weed’s swing no longer referred to Patin’s form and he stopped thinking deeply.

He did not follow through with his thoughts but let his instincts and body carry on their own.

Weed began finding his own way of sensing the axe and the most optimal form of tree cutting.

About 30 minutes passed.

Blink!

< You have acquired the axe technique of Lumberjack Patin.

You have learned the secret technique, Empowered Axe Strike.

Patin wielded the axe all his life on cutting down trees.

He was able to bring out the full potential of the axe.

Empowered Axe Strike performs 500% of attack damage.

Destructive force deals 250% splash damage in 30 meter radius.

Even non-living things such as rocks and terrain will be destroyed.

Enemies with low health points and defense will be executed in a single swing.

Max attack damage and splash radius will increase with each skill level. >

< Your understanding of the axe technique has expanded greatly.

Axe technique level has increased to Novice level 9. Destructive force has increased by 15%. It grants 4% additional armor penetration. >

< Strength increased by 10. >

< The Warrior’s Achievement increased all stats by 2. >

It took a bit of time, but he managed to master the secret axe technique fairly easily!

Patin spoke in admiration.

“The axe technique that I have sharpened my entire life; you picked it up so quickly. I have never met a man as excellent as you.”

“I appreciate it.”

“I am hungry after all that swinging. Do you have any meat left?”

Weed had lots of meat packed in his bag.

He originally estimated about 4 days to acquire the secret axe technique.

“I do. Do you want them?”

“Mmm. Share some with me.”

Weed took them out from his bag and roasted them once again.

Since he already possessed the axe technique, he could have ignored him and walked away. Still, an axe master could prove to be useful sometime in the future, so he decided to maintain the friendship level.

“Chomp-chomp. You are a decent man.”

“It’s nothing. Thank you for teaching me the way of the axe.”

“You are an amazing student. A true genius.”

“I was able to learn it much quicker because it was a superb axe technique.”

“The last two who learned my axe technique left instantly without any show of gratitude.”

“They are sick to the core.”

Weed bit into his meat while chiming along with Patin.

“Are we out of beer?”

“There’s more. Have as much as you want.”

Their stomach filled and Weed was about to pack up and leave.

Then Patin spoke to Weed in a serious tone.

“Hey, do you want to learn my axe technique?”

“Axe technique? I already did.”

“That’s an axe technique that doesn’t need teaching.”

Weed’s head began processing rapidly.

‘There’s still more.’

The Empowered Axe Strike was not the end to Patin’s axe skills.

“There is one more skill born from the axe technique you acquired. I made it for the occasions where I encounter a boar in the woods. Look closely.”

Patin took a stance like a swordsman ready for a duel!

“Hyaah!”

He swung left right consecutively 6 times.

With each movement, a menacing sonic boom split the air.

The swing and strike of the axe scarred the ground and blew away the trees like bowling pins.

“Hiryahhhh!”

The final moment, Patin shouted and threw his axe.

The axe spun at high speed, completely smashed a boulder directly in front of his path and flew back to him.

“Gasp. How’s that? This is Boar Slaughter Skill. Do you want to take a shot at it?”

Blink!

< The Axe Master Patin is willing to pass down a skill.

Boar Slaughter Skill:  It is a consecutive strike skill after acquiring Empowered Axe Strike.

The 7-strike skill possesses extreme power.

Each attack activates critical strike, penetrates armor and crushes the opponents.

The use of this skill requires extraordinary stamina and strength. >

“Of course I will.”

Weed nodded frantically.

*****

The predetermined day of destruction.

Kaybern appeared and destroyed everything of Castle Mistress.

Such misfortune already had repeated several times and people had grown used to the destruction. Their interest was on the next city to be destroyed.

The buildings set aflame and crumbled.

After Castle Mistress was turned to ruins, a message log appeared.

< The Dragon’s Revenge

The Black Dragon Kaybern is on the move once again to destroy human civilization. The spirits and fairies are warning again.>

“A week later, Kaybern will be headed to Morata.”

The players all over the continent and the ones in construction at Morata also checked the alert.

– Agh! So it is Morata.

– It’s Morata for real…

– Guessed right! The battle of the century will be unveiled.

– To fight in a major city like Morata… Isn’t it too disadvantageous for Weed-nim?

– It was until 2 days ago. Now, Morata is becoming a huge fortress. Did you see the 7 layers of walls? What about the 10 level iron traps? Morata will slap the impregnable Odain Fortress right across the face.

– I’m sorry, but what good are those walls? The dragon has wings.

– They are raising dense walls around vital structures so that they will not be easily destroyed. They are digging trenches in case the dragon decides to land inside the city.

– I heard that siege weapons like ballistas are under mass production.

– Buildings are also being taken down for emergency fire escape routes.

– Merchant councils are transporting massive siege weapon parts all the way from Haven. They are on a rush.

Once Kaybern’s next target was announced, the discussion boards were in uproar.

Footage was uploaded constantly, showing scenes of Morata’s transformation and the movements of each merchant council.

War supplies and siege weapons were being summoned from all of Versailles Continent.

– It seems this will all come down to an intense battle.

– Us players against a single dragon…

– A massive war that will be unmatched in the next 4, 5 years.

– It’s because of Weed-nim that we can even hope to see such an event. Utterly insane.

– But… What if they lose?

– Let’s not think too far ahead…

– Complete annihilation of Versailles. Geez…

– Ah, I told you not to think about that.

Chapter 8: The End Of The Quest

“As I thought, the next target is Morata.”

Weed returned to the secret storage of Agoldia.

From here on out, time was of the essence!

The dwarven warriors were ready after sufficient rest; Kracore, the final boss of the dungeon remained.

Aid was supplied by the Mapan Council in order to defeat Kracore.

Weed took out a green bottle and applied it to the Loa sword.

“Put this liquid on your weapons. The more the better.”

“What is this?”

“What an awful stench. Is it poison? Using poison in battle is a disgrace to dwarves.”

Brockhand and the dwarves rejected the idea.

Their pride as dwarven warriors could not accept such a tactic.

The players of the Mapan Council who came to deliver supplies watched in concern.

The obstinance of dwarves wasn’t easy to break.

Weed grinned.

“This isn’t poison.”

“Then?”

“This is made from Upulechika leaves. It prevents the cell regeneration of Kracore and destroys them.”

“Ah, it was a flower?”

The dwarves acknowledged it begrudgingly and rubbed the green liquid on their weapons.

“Just like that? It convinced them?”

“What? How is that different from poison? It’s the same thing.”

Upulechika was a beautiful but vile poisonous herb.

It was a plant that only grew in the deep swamps of Tulen.

For typical monsters, its effects were mild paralysis, but for specific monsters, the paralysis was boosted significantly.

“I have to hand it to him, I almost got convinced too.”

“Honestly, same. His brazen tone of speech made me accept it.”

“That’s Weed-nim. They say that even Mapan-nim learned the basics of trade from Weed-nim.”

Weed led the dwarves quickly into the room of Kracore.

“If it gets too dangerous, trust your comrades and back away. We must face Kaybern. We cannot die in a lowly place like this.”

“I got it.”

“Everyone, be careful.”

The final boss!

Weed took the nervous dwarf warriors to the final boss room.

Kracore was a 55-meter tall lump of growths.

The space was large as a town square with dwarven crafted equipment scattered all over the floor.

< Primal fear!

You have encountered a being of overwhelming power. >

< You feel overwhelmingly intimidated. Terror has instilled into your mind.

Your Willpower and Spirit withstand it. >

Weed’s fighting spirit remained unhindered unless he was under a presence like a dragon, so nothing felt special.

Though the dwarves were considerably weary.

‘It looks like a clump of flesh. But it is an incredible creature. And we still have to face Kaybern in a few days…’

The pink, round cell chunk even seemed a little adorable.

– I have waited for ages. New visitors.

– You all will become a part of me.

From the body of Kracore split cell masses the size of knuckles which developed quickly into the forms of the ferocious beasts that roamed Agoldia.

– Go!

On Kracore’s command, the predators sprang from the ground!

Beasts four to five meters tall charged fearlessly forward.

“Defense formation!”

Weed ordered the dwarves who formed a line of defense with the room entrance behind them.

“Hoorah!”

“Lift your shields! Strike down with your hammers!”

The dwarves put their shields forward and built a protective wall. Not a moment later, the sharp claws and body slams rammed against it.

“Dwarves. Pull out your swords, spears, and shields!”

“The greatness of our kind!”

“Kracore. I will avenge our kin, who were sacrificed for your wretched conduct!”

The dwarf warriors roared as they clashed their sword and shield against one another.

A powerful buff that shrouded their comrades!

“We will lure one at a time and take it out.”

“Fend them off comrades! Shield battalion!”

Weed observed the status of the dwarves, but even without his meticulous command, they seemed to be able to hold their own against the creatures of Agoldia.

The beasts empowered by Kracore were constantly evolving.

Their size kept growing and so did their power, but it was still manageable for the dwarves to hunt.

Kyaaarrgh!

Gwwaaaak!

With each swing, the animals screamed.

They were savages created from the cells of Kracore and therefore possessed heightened defense and recovery, but at the same time, they were severely affected by their greatest weakness – poison.

‘Kracore. Cell-type monster. It takes its own cells to create monsters. Most attacks to its main body are absorbed.’

Some people said that Kracore was able to recreate any monster it had absorbed once before.

It could easily produce Wyverns, griffins, and even giants.

Once it neutralized the opponents, it latched onto them. It stole their bodies and exercised terrifying control over them.

Since Kracore was the ruler of Agoldia, there was a lot of data about the monster that was preserved.

– We, the Levenche Guild will be the first to hunt Kracore!

It was before the Hermes Guild united the Central Continent.

The Levenche Guild with a mediocre reputation attempted the raid during their Agoldia adventure and were massacred.

They had no clue that Kracore was so powerful. They were dragged away by the predators and monsters and were consumed by the main body.

In reality, there were reasonable suspicions that Kracore pretended to be weak in order to lure prey, hence baiting the Levenche Guild.

‘This one is clever. It doesn’t die easily which makes it even trickier.’

The danger of Kracore had just begun.

Just a portion of its body could reproduce the cells into an enormous army.

The 55 meters of flesh meant that it had the ability to reinforce units endlessly.

Moreover, bigger lumps of cells could reproduce highly advanced monsters.

‘It isn’t the boss monster of Agoldia for no reason. For now, it is trying to wear out the dwarves in a dragged out battle.’

Its intentions were quite obvious.

It did not want to spend more cells and therefore planned to exhaust the dwarves and feed on them one by one.

‘There are two ways to victory. Keep defeating the cell army and weaken the main body, or go straight for it instead.’

Weed assessed that he could not afford to spend any more time before the fight against Kaybern.

“Sword of Radiance!”

He slipped between the dwarves and advanced with rays of light.

“Weedhand!”

“It’s dangerous. Return quickly!”

Weed ignored their concerns and pushed forward rapidly.

“Krrng!”

“Kwaaagh!”

The beasts pounced from all directions.

Slash!

Weed passed through the dimensional gate and swung his sword.

He pooled all his Art stats into Strength with Sculptural Destruction and attacked with venomous poison applied.

Fever, paralysis, confusion, bleeding: a four-piece set!

The poison was even more powerful than the one he offered to the dwarves.

“Team 1, 2, 3, and 4. Charge while maintaining defense formation!”

The dwarves with shields up ran further.

“Team 5 to 20. Scatter and engage in skirmishes. The target is the main body of Kracore!”

“Hoooyah!”

The dwarves clustered in defense spread at once.

Weed saw his chance, despite the numerous beasts and protective forces remaining.

Weed thought of his days as the Great King of the Desert.

‘These dwarves have high defense. They will survive just about anything.’

He threw his subordinates into the middle of battle. The survivors only became stronger than before!

< You have slain Cell Logger. >

The Loa sword cut down the beasts cleanly, however, the corpses with their cell core intact revived as smaller and weaker forms. The Kracore cells transformed into goblins and dwarves.

“You cannot defeat us.”

“Kracore-nim will absorb all of you and attain more power.”

Weed looked at them and clicked his tongue.

“Having to kill them over and over. So annoying.”

They had the appearance of goblins and dwarves, but their bodies were tainted blue.

The poison had taken effect.

“I have no time to meddle with you scum.”

Weed travelled between dimensional gates and broke through enemy boundaries ever so lightly. Each spatial travel was intercepted by a rapid beast attack, but he ignored or deflected them and sprinted full speed towards Kracore.

– Defend!

Kracore was cowardly.

It avoided fighting firsthand and also feared being attacked and losing cells!

Due to its massive size, escape was not an option.

“Sword Charge!”

Weed activated a warrior skill and slashed through the animals with pure strength.

He bypassed the monsters in a split second and arrived before Kracore.

“Sword Cloning Skill!”

Weed’s body multiplied into 50 copies as he activated his skill.

“Holy Fire.”

Froom.

All the clones ruthlessly slashed Kracore’s body with flaming swords.

– Kuuuuuaaarrrgh!

The colossal cell clump was set ablaze and screamed painfully.

“Radiant Sword!”

Weed did not hesitate as his clones were dissipated by the savage beasts and cut down with a blazing sword.

– This pain…! I cannot bear it.

The cells of the giant Kracore split into lumps and turned jet black.

It was an indication of an insane monster about to come forth!

“I will slice you into pieces so you can never divide.”

– Dwarves! You will all be absorbed by me!

*****

– Battle between Weed and Kracore!

– Amazing. Was Weed this powerful?

The broadcast stations were live streaming Weed’s battle.

Undivided attention was focused on Morata where the fate of the continent was to be decided. Furthermore, Weed’s adventures guaranteed high viewer count.

Kracore became seven spiders with 32 legs, known to be troublesome even among monsters of Agoldia.

Weed cut down the spider webs and engaged intensely with them.

– Oh Joowan-ssi. Weed-nim wielding the flaming sword looks very spectacular.

– He utilizes skills whenever he needs them, but he can fight well with just basic sword techniques. This is his forte.

– Isn’t proficiency with weapons a common trait among high-level players?

– Weed is on another level. His skills are to the extreme. His understanding and strategy in battle is the pinnacle of his field.

– He won even against Bard Ray-nim, officially making him the most powerful player.

– I think God Warrior Bard Ray still has an edge in terms of basic combat abilities… But Weed did not miss an opening and exploited it.

Oh Joowan tried to comment on Weed’s battle like he always did. But something was off.

He swung the sword and moved much more lightly, turning the battle into a comfortable one.

He slipped past the swift movement of the spiders and their spewing attacks of poison and webs and countered. Do Chanmi also realized it.

– It might sound strange, but his swordsmanship is so choreographed. Weed-nim seems so relaxed. Could it be that even Kracore is a breeze for him?

– It doesn’t seem that way. Kracore is truly formidable. They have been in battle for over an hour now.

– Ah! The attacks are like a tide…

– Cells separated from Kracore’s body and turned into monsters once again. This situation is difficult to describe. Cockroaches the size of rhinos? Those things are charging at Weed all at once

The commentators concentrated on the footage. It looked that Kracore’s army was unstoppable, but Weed was slipping out craftily.

*****

The battle against Kracore waged on.

The monster was tenacious and putrid, but with each exchange, it lost more cells.

Whenever Weed attacked, it lost portions of its army and its main body, slowly weakening over time.

– Losing my body like this… It’s infuriating… Still, I cannot lose to the likes of you!

“You were pretty persistent. But it wasn’t good enough.”

In the extensive battle, he discovered Kracore’s weakness.

Fire, poison and divine power. Weed was able to slowly force the monster to confront him directly.

Weed was prepared every step of the way and with each sword attack, a part of Kracore’s cells burned away completely.

The dwarves, also backed away from the confrontation, scrambling for purchase on floor that was slippery from the stray cells of Kracore.

– Mortal Explosion!

In the brink of danger, the cells on the ground latched on and attempted to absorb him, forcing him to retaliate with his skills.

“Sandstorm of Ruins!”

The final skill of the desert warrior.

The room was spacious, having been the final boss room, but the skill was nevertheless extremely dangerous to use inside a dungeon.

“Everyone on defense!”

“Fall back!’

The dwarves raised their shields and huddled low. Their equipment was arranged with high magic resistance in preparation for the dragon.

Even so, the damage still inflicted that remained only barely tolerable.

The ground split apart and the sandstorm brewed.

With Kracore at the center, the storm swept the surroundings and knocked away the cell monsters.

“Sword of Regeneration!”

After the end of the storm, Weed activated the Sword of Regeneration and focused on defense and recovery with the dwarves.

< God Warrior Batali’s blessings are bestowed upon you.

20% of lost health points are recovered.

Health recovery is increased and you become immune to pain.

Armor penetration will be based on the damage inflicted on the enemy! >

God warrior Batali’s blessing applied when it became available.

Kracore gradually dried out over 10 hours of battle.

Weed reflected upon himself just as the battle came to an end.

‘There was a lack of attack power. Kracore’s physical defense was especially high. The dwarves didn’t get to commit fully… But I had no choice but to drag it out. We won this with the god’s blessings and equipment.’

If he had led a mage force against Kracore, the battle would have been swell.

Magical attacks would have froze and burned away the cells, dealing serious damage.

He did not get the chance to use necromancy, but he felt the need to learn more combat skills for a variety of situations.

‘In that aspect, it is true that the Hermes Guild is strong overall.’

In the fight against the dragon, the best of both the sword and magic were to be mobilized.

Excluding the dwarf warriors, there were a swarm of players who wished to participate and was likely not to be an elongated battle.

‘If we fight with the dragon as long as we did here, there won’t be much left of Morata.’

At last, Weed gifted Kracore its eternal rest.

< Agoldia’s past overlord, Kracore has been vanquished.

You have gained a level.

Great combat achievement increased reputation by 5,230.

Charisma increased by 2.

Strength increased by 2.

Perseverance increased by 3. >

“Urgh. That was a tough fight.”

“Still, you are amazing, Weedhand!”

“I knew you had this.”

Weed tended to the dwarves after the fight.

The fight with Kracore’s monsters resulted in 15 casualties!

4 among the lost were drained by Kracore and lost health points and Strength.

“We have to treat the badly wounded first.”

Weed wrapped bandages with the other dwarves.

They were tough warriors and if they didn’t die at the end of battle, they survived in most cases.

Kracore left an ingredient for a rare potion that permanently increased maximum health points by 3,000.

There was no other loot, but that alone was sufficient!

He was able to recover the dwarven made equipment as well.

Blink!

<The Lightning Crown complete.

The secret storage of Agoldia created for future insurance has been recovered by the dwarves.

The heavily equipped dwarves will no longer fear Kaybern.>

< 15 dwarves died. Additional rewards are applied!

Maximum health points of all dwarves increased by 7%. >

Weed’s attention was fixated on the crown decorated with jewels.

It was behind Kracore which kept stealing his gaze in the midst of battle.

Finally, he obtained the Lightning Crown into his possession.

“Hoo… It is done. Identify!”

< Lightning Crown

Durability: 110/110

Defense: 79 >

The dwarves excavated the jewels of power, lightning and dominance from the deepest layers of the earth.

“This power is too risky for us to keep in our hands.”

“No, it gives us a chance to free ourselves from the dragon’s oppression.”

Long ago, the blacksmiths gathered the powers sealed inside the jewels and forged the crown.

“Now will we be able to confront Kaybern?”

“It’s not enough. We need the artifact of our kind, the Brazier of Sacrifice.”

“The brazier… is not within our reach.”

“Unfortunately, this crown must be kept away in secret until the day we find it.”

“Where do we hide it?”

“Deep underground.”

< You have recovered the Lightning Crown hidden away by the dwarves.

Requirement: Dwarves only.

Level 1,190. >

< Savior of the dwarves.

Attribute: Maximum health points, mana and stamina doubled.

Physical recovery rate increased 300% during battle.

Combat abilities unaffected by severe wounds.

The first wearer is permanently granted 30 points in all stats.

Grants a shield that negates up to 800,000 ranged damage.

Grants the title ‘Leader of Dwarves’.

Nullifies Dragon Fear in a 30 meter radius.

Exhausting the three jewels in the crown will bring new abilities. >

< Jewel of Strength.

Grants 2,000 Strength for a day.

Max damage of all skills enhanced by 50%.>

< Jewel of Lightning.

Summon the most powerful lightning in exchange for health points.

Movement speed increased by 250%. >

< Jewel of Dominance.

Enhances physical abilities of the user and nearby dwarves by 30%.

Leadership over dwarves reaches maximum level.

No longer intimidated by the dragon. >

“This is just amazing.”

Weed’s time invested in recovering the crown was well worth it.

If it weren’t for the dwarves-only restriction, it would have been one of the best items to ever exist.

One of the dwarf warriors spoke.

“Weedhand. The warriors will be waiting for battle. You are worthy of leading us all. Binehand-nim, the respected elder has the flag of retaliation. Pay a visit.”

< Obtain the Flag of Retaliation!

Visit Binehand, the dwarf elder who has been waiting for a long time and find the flag with 67 mountain peaks.

All dwarves across the continent must be assembled for the fight against Kaybern.

Difficulty: Race Quest

Requirement: Dwarf.

Reward: Flag of Retaliation. >

“I understand.”

Weed accepted the quest lightheartedly. However, he was not interested in any more race quests. Simple quests he could complete, but he had to let go of time consuming quests.

Gathering the warriors from each village would take a great length of time.

– Mapan: Weed-nim, congratulations on the quest completion. I have confirmed the intel from Knatul and Malin.

“Where are they?”

– Mapan: First, Knatul is in the northern glacial region.

*****

Weed exited the dwarf secret storage and used Yurin’s Paint Teleportation Skill. He travelled as far north as he could and rode on Wy-3 who was waiting for him.

“Let’s make haste.”

– Kuaaat. Where to?

“Just keep flying north. No thinking involved.

– What’s going on?

“You have to keep flying until you pass out. Don’t worry though. I need to use you for so much more. I won’t let you die.”

– Kuaaat!

Wy-3 fought against the cold winds and flew north like a bullet.

Then Wy-3 became exhausted and he had to transfer to Bingryong.

“Take good care of the dwarves for me.”

– Pale: Yes. I will wait for you at Morata.

The dwarves inside the secret storage were to be taken to Morata by the assault squad and the Mapan Council.

Once Weed arrived at the cold glacial region, the avian guides greeted him.

– Bodam : This way, Weed-nim!

A sparrow wearing a thick fur coat led the way.

They encountered an ice village of barbarians living on the white snow plains.

“We are here.”

Weed riding on Bingryong arrived at the sky of the barbarian village.

On the ground were the barbarians with spears looking surprised.

– The temperature is just right. I like this place.

Bingryong watched over the snow field pleasantly.

“I heard that the glacial storm brews in the east.”

– I wish to go. I like cold places.

“Take a trip once we are done. Cool your body off.”

– Thanks, master.

The weary barbarians had large halberds, hammers and throwing spears in their hands.

Weed slowly descended towards the village entrance with Bingryeong.

“Human! This place is prohibited.”

They were closed off against outsiders.

The barbarians were about to break out any moment, but soon the half-elf Vishur appeared on Wy-2 and they dropped their guard.

– Gwaat!

Wy-2, who brought Vishur, wore a fur coat but the coat was covered with fresh ice.

– Master. I’m about to pass away.

“I’m here. You won’t die in a place like this.”

Weed started a sizable campfire with holy fire. Wy-2 wobbled closer and warmed up.

“I’m the only one who cares for you, do you see?”

– Thanks. I thought I was dead for sure.

“The one who cares for you in your most difficult  time is your lifesaver. Be good to me.”

– I got it. Gwaat.

Wy-2 rubbed against him as a show of affection.

Meanwhile, Vishur conversed with the barbarians.

“In accordance with our historic pact, we wish to combine our powers to face Kaybern.”

“The shackles of our tribe…”

“After we defeat Kaybern, I will help you no matter the sacrifice.”

“So be it.”

The 3 meter tall barbarian hero Knatul agreed to join forces.

The information on the fairy knight Malin was lacking, but the fairy world was small.

Haruna confirmed based on the report on fairies from Stain, an adventurer.

“They appear when you drink flower wine made with a special recipe at a place with great scenery. The deeper the scent, the more likely they are to come bearing gifts for the honest and reputable players.”

Weed returned with Vishur and Knatul to a small lake near Morata and drank flower wine.

One, two, three glasses.

They fished and sewed while drinking and soon they noticed a peculiar sound.

Buzz-buzz.

“You there. That is some fine drink.”

Malin of the fairies arrived like a fly.

“The revenge that will not subside with  time. Kaybern is on the move.”

“I will gladly fight.”

He too decided to join the Half-elf Vishur.

< Find companions of war complete. >

Barbarian Knatul.

Fairy knight Malin.

Upon a historical promise, they joined the fight against Black Dragon Kaybern.

Human, Half-elf, Barbarian, Fairy knight.

The heroes of four nations shall share the same fate.

< The quest rewards +4 to all stats. >

< Reputation increased by 10,000. >

The quest was finally complete!

It was rather simple but it was a quest that could only be accomplished with specific information.

The four heroes gathered to defeat the dragon.

Fairy knight Malin enveloped himself with a mystical light and spoke.

“To confront the dragon, we have to stop its magic.”

Barbarian Knatul continued.

“Is that possible?”

“There are several methods. If you consume secret potion that can only be forged at the Fairy Lake, you can reduce the amount of magic damage you take.”

“We must scavenge them.”

“I know the recipe. But the Fairy Lake is overtaken by the demons. We must gather the materials and head to the lake.”

Blink!

< The secret potion of Sabrina Lake.

The curious fairies created many arcane items.

One boasted of above all was the potion that granted resistance against magic!

With it, the player can withstand the most powerful magic spells.

The recipe requires 32 different materials.

Barny’s Red Medicinal Herb, Stone of Alaksium, Moss of the Green Skull, Coral of Turtle Island, Crescent Moon of Kundan, White Fox Tail, Snail Shell of Nemo…

Find all these ingredients and chase out the demons from the Fairy Lake.

Malin will craft the secret potion.

Difficulty: Crafting quest.

Reward: Secret Potion of Magic Resistance.

Quest requirement: Enter the fairy world. Must be guided by a fairy knight. >

Weed sent a whisper message instantly.

“Mapan-nim, how many of these can you find?”

– Mapan: Coral of Turtle Island? I can get this with pirates and divers. I heard the snail shell is extremely rare… I have one or two in stock. Hold on. I will ask if there’s more.

Mapan being a merchant was knowledgeable about countless ingredients.

– Mapan: Moss of the Green Skull can be found in infected corpses. Bahabam dungeon. They are found in that location only on days with the thickest fog. Many of these items only drop once every month. I expect it will take about 3 months to find the other ingredients.

“What if we purchase them from other players?”

– Mapan: I wonder if the Hermes Guild has any of them in stock. Anyhow, items like the Crescent Moon of Kundan aren’t well known, and other items drop at a drastically low rate even in boss monster raids. I can even see ones without a known origin.

“So we can’t collect them all in a week’s time.”

– Mapan: 3 months would be enough to search the entire continent thoroughly. The assault squad can provide assistance as well.

Weed regrettably assessed that the Savior quest had to be put on hold.

‘The squad will be a great help, but I guess I will have to do without them.’

Even if they collected all the ingredients, they still had to take over the lake from the demons.

From this point on, he decided to prioritize the battle against Kaybern over the Savior quest.

*****

The Earth Shadow party succeeded in transporting the World Tree to the Central Continent.

“Thank you, Pale-nim.”

“It’s nothing. It had to be done.”

The squad led by Pale protected them from the skies.

Huge mobs of monsters swarmed the party at times, but Weed insisted.

– Weed: Please succeed with this quest.

It was highly possible that Kaybern was linked to the Elven race quest.

That being said, even if the elven warriors joined forces, it would be difficult to assemble them on time at Morata.

Still, if the World Tree was to root properly and bring more elves into the world, the benefits would be massive.

Prospering forests and increased yield of delicious fruits alone was already a jackpot!

Elrix was to plant the World Tree again and that was at one of the forbidden locations, in proximity of the  Aberian Forest.

The border of Tulen and Rasal!

Elrix dug deep into the ground with a shovel.

“I will plant it now.”

“Hold on. I don’t know if it’s necessary, but it might do some good for the tree.”

Ben poured the special fertilizer that he bought from the merchants.

“I put in plenty.”

The sapling of the World Tree was planted.

It was quiet for a few seconds, but soon the tree branches began climbing to the sky.

The rich branches spread wide and the roots pushed deeply underground.

The nearby scenery transformed accordingly.

The dry grass turned green and flowers bloomed.

The soft winds carried fresh aromas.

Red, white, evergreen.

Flowers of various colors and trees if many kinds flourished in the forest.

“Woah!”

“What in the world…”

“I feel like I’m witnessing a season’s change all at once.”

The Earth Shadow party and the assault squad members enjoyed the luxury of the earth’s gift. The flowers wilted and the leaves fell, but soon bloomed again and formed thick forests.

< The World Tree Restored complete.

The World Tree has returned to its home.

The elves, protectors of the forest will regain their lost powers.

The ancient elven magic is unlocked. Affinity with spirits and fairies is heightened, allowing summoning of the spirit king and the fairy king.

New job classes: Forest Kin, Forest Hunter, World Tree Warrior, Keeper of the Forest can be obtained.

The influence of the World Tree’s growth effect will expand the forest territory rapidly.

All elves receive the blessing of the World Tree and have heightened abilities in the forests.

Vision improved by 100%.

Movement speed increased by 30%.

Maximum health points increased by 50%.

Plant and Earth magic spells are enhanced.

The elves will gain more advanced ability effects depending on the growth stage of the World Tree. >

The Aberian forest underwent a transformation as well.

Vicious monsters thrived in Aberian Forest.

The green aura of the World Tree covered the trees and branched out endlessly to the forest.

The ash-colored grass revived and the trees bore new branches, adding to the abundance of the forest.

Herbivores began sprawling and the high elves thought to have disappeared returned.

They scavenged the tree branches on the ground and built shabby huts.

The high elf village was being established.

This was the power of the World Tree that purified Aberian Forest, one of the 10 forbidden locations!

If the World Tree grew and returned to its prime, the elves could take its branches and roots and spread the forest to anywhere in the world.

The prosperity of the forest meant that everyone knew that the elves would bring a total resurrection of their own civilization.

– I’m going to make an elf account right now.

– Elves are the way to go.

– Those who have played as elves until now won the lottery.

– The elves have so many advantages even now… Now the World Tree?

The viewers were talkative.

The World Tree had been returned home, but the quest was still unfinished.

– More earth essence is required to erect forests. The monsters must be cleared.

The World Tree assigned a quest to eradicate monsters in the region with the high elves.

The assault squad members accepted the quest, but there was one more task.

The World Tree spoke to the Earth Shadow party.

– You must meet with Dragon Ratuas.

Silver Ring was astonished.

“The Blue Dragon?”

– Yes. You must retrieve an item and deliver my message.

Elrix sighed secretly.

“Hey all. You’re all going to accept this, right?”

The quest related to the dragon. The hardships involved were obvious, but knowing his comrades, they had no reason to turn it down.

“Of course.”

“I’m doing this for sure.”

Elrix was the same. One disappointment, if there were any, would be that he could miss the war against Kaybern at Morata.

***

Weed resided at Morata since the day he stopped the Savior quest.

Hunting and leading the dwarves were important, but he had to plan for the war.

‘I need to consider as many scenarios as I can. The dragon has to be lured into a position favourable to us.’

The worst case was the dragon refusing to descend to the ground.

If it were to spam breaths and magic attacks from above, just who could win against it?

‘There’s no solution. Aerial fight is a guaranteed loss. If that happens, everyone needs to retreat. The only fighting chance we have is on the ground.’

Kaybern had to be dragged down somehow.

The Hermes Guild too sent contingents to assist in the construction of defensive camps.

Arkhim made a proposal while examining the map of Morata.

“Magic corps have to be stationed in several locations within the city.”

“Would magic attacks work against a dragon with high magic resistance?”

“The damage will mostly be mitigated… But there are many other spells that mages can use. They can assist warriors with flight or acceleration spells. We have many mages in the guild that are willing to fight.”

The Hermes Guild’s mages, summoners, and spirit callers were assigned a building as their residence.

Gaushu, Hyler, Calcus, Gross, Crebulta and the others who excelled in Garnav Plains; the ex-commanders arrived with forces under their direct command.

Weed’s request for the Hermes Guild was 10,000 troops willing to use the Brazier of Sacrifice, but far more guild members were making preparations.

“Is there a reason for us to go this far?”

“I was also surprised to see this many volunteers.”

Arkhim smiled bitterly.

“They wished for the achievement for the dragon hunt. The mages could raise their soul level.”

“Soul level?”

“If one becomes an advanced mage, their high magic power unlocks the link to the soul. It is said that their magic level could increase and their incantations could be realized faster…”

“So, in order to raise the soul level, they have to hunt powerful monsters.”

“That’s correct. Normal monsters don’t grant it. For a mage, the dragon is the ultimate offering. If a dragon dies nearby, they could even absorb a portion of its mana.”

The job class expected to be the most powerful when Royal Road was just released was the mage!

When there was a lack of information among players, absurd rumors about mages such as being capable of blasting an entire mountain with a single spell spread out to the community and it was rare to find someone who was not hyped up.

Correspondingly, mages were difficult at lower levels but packed boastful attacks.

The fact that magic spells were hard to learn and that mage equipment was expensive were both relieved by the indomitable destructive force of the job class.

Presently, the mages weren’t all that popular, but the mage corp of the Hermes Guild was undoubtedly the best in the continent.

“Anyway, it will be a great asset for the Hermes Guild to step up like this.”

“Thank you for addressing it.”

Arkhim and the other ex-commanders appeared before the citizens of Morata and made a public apology.

They acknowledged that they were responsible for the rise of Kaybern and that they will do everything in their power to stop the dragon.

It was an inevitable course of action given that the Hermes Guild wanted to be active even in the Central and Northern continents.

Weed did not take their apology to heart.

‘What is the point of making a grave mistake and apologizing for it later?’

Once a villain, always a villain.

Even so, if they had any worth to them, he had to exploit them. Statistically, there would always be too much scum to count in the world.

“I am reassured that the Hermes Guild is on our side.”

“Ha-ha. Let us move on from the past.”

Weed and Arkhim exchanged eye contact and grinned.

‘The idiots who tried to cut off my living…’

‘The Hermes Guild’s greatest enemy!’

Chapter 1: In Morata

KMC Media broadcast Bard Ray’s adventure to become an Ironblood Warrior.

– It is now known that a new job class can be obtained by climbing the ice wall and traversing the glacial region. The Ironblood Warrior. I am sure some of you already know about it.

– It is a special combat type job class. Their iron-forge endurance means they could survive no matter the damage…

– Ha-ha, that is an over-exaggeration. But it is true that the Ironblood Warrior possess incredible defense. It’s a job class born from a harsh environment.

– Is it similar to when Weed-nim became a Sun Warrior by putting an end to the storm in the desert?

– I suppose you can see it that way.

The prime of Hermes Guild had long been over, but the viewer rating was high for Bard Ray’s job class. On the screen, Bard Ray was visible from afar climbing the glacial wall.

– It seems to be a challenge just to climb the wall.

– It looks like his feet can’t find purchase.

– It will be slippery and sharp. He needs to form his own path up. Judging by the flapping of his clothes, the winds seem to be rough.

– I’m getting chilly just by watching.

– He has to climb with his bare hands and with Strength or Perseverance that is too low, it is a dangerous quest that could result in a fall to oblivion. Players with acrophobia should not dare try this.

Bard Ray’s cloak started to flutter outrageously when he reached about a third of the way.

From there he took off the cloak and though it wasn’t noticeable on screen, his body struggled to fight through the strong winds.

‘One wrong step and I’m dead.’

Bard Ray advanced up the ice wall as clear as a mirror.

His stamina was draining and he had to maintain his concentration so he would not slip. In this manner, he managed to complete the wall climb and thought to himself that the hardest part was over.

‘Finally, I did it.’

His fingers were frozen solid without any sensation and so were his legs.

‘Now, I have to get as far as I can.’

He certainly desired the Frost Sword from the quest reward.

Bard Ray bowed his head down against the blades of wind and began walking forward.

To think that each step with a frozen body would be so difficult.

He realized quickly that the Ironblood Warrior required extraordinary perseverance.

‘People will be watching me live… If I die here, it would be a total humiliation.’

*****

Morata’s fortification!

Miblos and Pabo collaborated with the Northern architect association.

The architects engaged in an extensive discussion with the blueprints of Morata.

“City protection and the dragon hunt must take place simultaneously. They are difficult objectives to pull off at once.”

“It would be better if the fight can occur outside the city.”

“That would be most hopeful… But judging by the turn of events, our chance is with the dragon descending in the centre of the city.”

“Assessment of structures in proximity, the Bingryong Square will result in the least damage. How about we lure the dragon here?”

“The Wyvern Square is also not a bad choice. The market is nearby but the location will take less work for reconstruction.”

The architects were overloaded with designing and construction at the same time.

It was uncertain how much time would be granted from raising walls around Morata and fortifying the structures.

If a mass-scale magic spell were to be cast over the city, the buildings would crumble like haystacks in the wind.

For the architects the situation was the most extreme and the worst, which stirred up their deepest passion.

Miblos stared at the map of Morata and soon raised his head.

“What is Weed-nim’s final comment?”

Pabo spoke solemnly.

“He informed me that he will support whatever decision we arrive at.”

“Even if all of Morata will be destroyed?”

“The architects will not be questioned under any circumstance. He will provide everything required for the preparation of war and will take responsibility for the entire process and outcome himself.”

“Huh. For him to have such faith in us.”

Miblos was well of age and he was sincerely touched by Weed trusting him despite his seniority.

It was a different level of respect from back when he was in the Central Continent taking subcontract jobs.

The other architects nodded in agreement.

“As expected of Weed-nim.”

“That’s a tough decision. He knows the importance of architecture hence the reason for his faith in us.”

“There’s no need to talk about anything else. You need only look at one man to realize why the Arpen Empire is flourishing.”

Weed’s reputation was high overall and he was treated with absolute respect especially from the merchants and architects.

“What about the participation from the Blacksmith association?”

“The dwarf blacksmiths are actively providing for us.”

“What of our iron supply?”

“It’s not plenty, but not lacking either. About 3,000 steel buildings can be raised before D-day.”

The architects carefully organized several plans.

Borrowing from the artists diverting the dragon’s attention with fake artwork, they planned to build metal buildings; buildings that would attract the dragon and withstand average magic and physical impact.

Their purpose was to get Kaybern to waste its attacks so that the vital structures would not be attacked.

Miblos drew a line through the important locations in Morata.

“This is our final line of defense. We have to protect this no matter what. After the war, for Morata to be restored, there must be at least a third of the city left.”

“I agree.”

“Near the Great Library, nothing else shall be done except for raising walls so that we don’t attract its attention. The other buildings must be targeted.”

“Let’s proceed with that. Also, we need to record the most accurate map and the original form of the buildings…. just in case.”

The air in the room was heavy.

They had to account for Kaybern coming out ahead in this war and razing Morata completely.

Miblos spoke.

“There is actually not much we can do. We can minimize the damage to the city and provide accessibility to the players engaging in this war. Even if all our efforts are in vain, we shall not give up.”

*****

Weed heard about the news from the Earth Shadow party from Mapan.

“They’re in for a rough time.”

– Mapan: Given that it’s a quest from Ratuas, it will prove to be quite difficult. Still, they are excellent adventurers so it will be worth the challenge.

“Please help them out whenever you can.”

– Mapan: Sure! The council will provide our utmost assistance.

“If the Morata defense plan were to fail, we will need the ingredients for the secret potion.”

– Mapan: God forbid that happens… But we will prepare for the worst.

Weed also received reports regarding the World Tree and that a quest appeared for all elves across the continents.

It was about acquiring a new job class, proceeding with the quest, scavenging ingredients and nurturing the World Tree.

The elves would be granted more powerful abilities based on the growth stage of the World Tree. For the entire elven race, a profound objective of the World Tree’s development had been created.

‘The elves too will be subject to all sorts of hardship.’

Weed felt the quest difficulties of Royal Road firsthand.

The elves, despite their beautiful appearance and unique advantages, were far from the boundaries of player interest.

Their health points and stamina were below average.

As hunters they possessed uncomparable proficiency with bows, but they also had the penalty of nausea from excessive killing.

That being said, such penalties did not apply when defending forests.

‘For the World Tree to grow and the elves to become more powerful… Mmm, it means there will be a huge danger that comes with it.’

Nothing came by for free. Whenever the World Tree advances a growth stage, it will require a tremendous amount of resources and that would result in another crisis.

‘Just like how Kaybern burnt down the World Tree, it will become a target of other monsters and demons. Anyhow, the elves will be happy for now.’

The objective of growing the World Tree came with a guaranteed reward.

The elves were already plant-loving beings, so the players who chose to play as an elf would feel a sense of accomplishment in the process.

“The iron walls are way too weak! Which architect association is responsible for this?”

“The buildings over here? Just give them up, you fool. You can’t protect all of them. And why are you trying to protect the shantytown?!”

“The struts are here. Whoever needs them please come and take them.”

“Grass porridge, porridge! Crab grass porridge!”

The influx of players into Morata continued. A huge construction was taking place, but many novice players decided to stay inside the city.

It was all to witness up close the historical battle against Kaybern.

Weed thought of the dangers but did not convince them to do otherwise.

‘Even if we are defeated, I must show them how we fought this war.’

It was all a huge disappointment without spectators!

He was not planning to lose without returning some severe damage.

Along with the Grass Porridge Cult and the Hermes Guild, he formulated strategies to defeat Kaybern every night.

At first their relationship was rather detached, but soon they were a collective whole with a common goal of defeating the dragon.

Weed led Arkhim and the others around Morata.

“As you know already, there are many variables in war. Morata is a major city and so we must change our tactics depending on the direction the dragon will come from.”

Even if they were to succeed in luring the dragon into the city, it would be a miracle to fight in the most desirable location. Therefore, bait was needed and that was strategically complex to arrange.

“There is only one opportunity. Maybe two at most. When the fight breaks out on the ground, we must prevent it from flying again.”

“I will keep that in mind.”

The commanders imprinted the view of Morata vividly into their minds; the locations for ambush and the tertiary locations for different situations.

The war in Garnav Plains was one that started abruptly with no countermeasures.

‘I’m sure it will be different this time.’

‘Weed, the Hermes Guild… so many players have lined up to use the Brazier of Sacrifice. I think we have a fighting chance.’

The commanders did not want defeat, but wished to recover their recognition.

Even though their grudge against Weed was grave, the joint operation at Morata changed their minds greatly.

‘There is no need to be so aggressive up front, even if the situation turns us into enemies again.’

‘Like the fall of Hermes Guild, Arpen will not last forever. I’m sure the foundation is weak for this empire as well. It’d be wise to sit back and wait.’

‘Great performances during the war will be recognized by everyone. That’s what is important.’

The commanders roamed Morata and felt Weed’s popularity with their own skin. But they knew the course of history in Royal Road better than anyone.

Even the once unstoppable Hermes Guild crumbled.

They believed that if Arpen were to fall in the future and chaos stir again, their shining performance would prove to be a meaningful asset.

The flames of ambition did not go out easily once lit.

Weed observed the commanders and smiled brightly.

‘They’re filled with greed and because of it, they are so much more obedient.’

He wished for a better future turn of events but for the time being, he was determined to exploit them as much as possible.

*****

Bard Ray fought against the fierce cold winds in order to obtain the Ironblood Warrior job class. He crossed the iceland and withstood monster attacks with his body.

The unique trait of the Ironblood Warrior was that they became even more fortified when fighting powerful enemies in extreme environments.

‘I want to forfeit.’

Bard Ray wanted to quit more times than he could count, but he kept walking.

He recalled the scenes of Weed walking across the desert and becoming the Sun Warrior. His competitor had accomplished a very similar feat.

His body was wracked with intense pain like hundreds of rats were burrowing inside his flesh, but his pride drove him forward, step after step.

He remembered the times he lived through, how he had been praised as the God Warrior.

‘I will do this. I will finish it even if it costs me my life.’

He continued on for the sake of becoming the Ironblood Warrior. He felt he was at his limit, but a scrap of strength remained inside him and urged him forward. Only when huge flakes of snow began to fall upon him, did he feel true despair.

‘This is crazy… Just…’

He lowered his head and kept his pace. Thick packs of snow formed on his head and shoulders, but he did not have the power to brush them off.

At first the snow was around his ankles, but now it was above his waist, crushing his will once again.

‘This is truly insane. Would the deserts have been easier than this?’

The wind, like blades, carved at his flesh and seemed to cut to his bones.

He could only believe that Weed’s quest to walk across the hot desert had been easier.

‘Keep going. One step and another. I cannot afford to collapse here.’

A part of him felt relieved that the broadcast station was live streaming the scene.

If it weren’t for the station, he would have quit long ago.

It was a first for Bard Ray where a quest wasn’t about fighting incredible monsters, but pushed him to transcend his own limits.

< Perseverance increased by 1. >

Since it was the path to advance into the Ironblood Warrior, alerts about stat gains popped up on occasion.

‘Just a little more… Just until today.’

Bard Ray dragged his feet onwards. Even the commentators in the station were heated.

– That is Bard Ray for you. Typical players wouldn’t have made it as far as he has in such a crude environment.

– It’s all frozen. The only edible thing around is snow.

– He can’t even walk properly. God Warrior Bard Ray. We always saw only the extravagant side of him but in his heart he had such immeasurable will.

The response from the viewers was also positive about Bard Ray’s new appearance.

It was a chance to look at the human side of a man who once stood above the Hermes Guild.

– Amazing. I won’t be able to get anywhere near what he’s doing.

– I am watching as I am bathing in a hot tub at Puhol Waterpark. I feel like I should be out there hunting at least one monster.

– Wow… The people in the highest ranks in Royal Road have extraordinary determination.

– He was walking straight until yesterday. Now he’s dragging his feet. Was he injured or something?

– He looks completely wasted. Even his armor is frozen.

– Look at the scenery up ahead! An ice lake appeared, then a mountain behind it!

The viewers were impressed by the scale of Bard Ray’s effort.

The broadcast stations got a great hit from a show for which they had had little expectations.

The view rating of Morata’s war preparation and Bard Ray’s adventure were evenly split!

Morning, lunch, dinner, late night and onto dusk.

Bard Ray ceased to stop. He felt like if he stopped to rest, he wouldn’t be able to continue.

‘Weed, Weed, Weed, Weed…’

If Weed didn’t exist, he would have given up earlier.

Miraculously on the 5th day, massive icebergs were afloat in the far ocean.

Bard Ray walked almost unconsciously and he bashed against something in his way.

Ptch.

He was too exhausted to think about where he was walking.

Blink!

< You have arrived at the location of the Frost Sword.

A legendary find!

You have discovered the Frost Sword before it was lost beneath the ocean.

This sword was pinned to the icelands for almost a thousand years and was imbued with the aura of ice.

This sword only acknowledges one master. >

< The adventure discovery increased Reputation by 8,500.

All stats increased by 4.

Willpower increased by 10. >

Bard Ray grasped the Frost Sword. His arm, shoulder and body froze instantly.

C-c-c-crack!

The pain was immense, wiping his mind completely.

< Release me from your grasp. >

Echos from the Frost Sword travelled inside him.

Bard Ray was able to make up his mind even in pain.

‘I must not let go of it.’

Each step added up had brought him to this place.

If he were at that moment to have let go, all would have been for nothing.

His consciousness was fading, but his heart did not have a hint of renouncement.

His honor disappeared the day he lost to Weed. In order to regain his pride, he could endure far more severe pain.

Significant time lapsed. On screen, only a minute had passed, but Bard Ray contemplated countless times.

His body was completely covered in ice and he was on the brink of freezing to death.

It was a different feeling from the times when he was farming for equipment in the Hermes Guild.

‘With this sword… Honor, will be mine again.’

To become the strongest man in all of Versailles, he was willing to pay any sacrifice.

At long last…

< The sword has chosen a new master.

Stamina has been replenished.

Exhaustion, Coldache, Freeze have been lifted. >

Fatigue disappeared.

The thick sheets of ice on his body melted away and transformed into dense muscles.

< You have advanced into the Ironblood Warrior.

You have survived the harshest environment and possess unbreakable willpower. Your advancement is complete. Your fortified body knows no fear.

Protect your comrades and lead battles to victory.

You must overwhelm all battles. >

< Physical abilities are enhanced by 20%

Endurance is greatly enhanced according to current Strength stat.

The more powerful the enemy, the greater the enhancement bonus.

All status effects are overcome more quickly.

Recovery rate increased.

Willpower can heighten magic resistance.

Increases combat effects of allies by a flat rate. >

Bard Ray let out a light sigh. Only then he knew that his adventure was over.

*****

It was two days until Kaybern’s attack on Morata!

Bard Ray arrived at the northern gate of Morata via the teleport gate.

“It changed beyond my imaginations.”

He had heard from Arkhim but could not spare the time to watch the news.

The scenery had transformed completely from when he stepped out of the city gates to become the Ironblood Warrior.

The walls were reinforced by double and triple layers; residential areas were deconstructed and remaining buildings were patched securely with steel and rocks.

Countless structures similar to the goddess statue and the Light Tower were visible.

“It’s Bard Ray!”

“Oh, it is really him!”

The players cheered at the sight of Bard Ray. They too had waited for his return.

After all, the fight against Kaybern would have been quite empty without his presence.

Though he had lost to Weed, his honor as the God Warrior did not dissipate.

Some players still assessed that Bard Ray was stronger than Weed.

“Welcome. I will show you how much Morata has changed.”

Bard Ray looked around Morata with Arkhim’s guide.

“Indeed it seems there has been a lot of change. With only a glimpse I can tell that it is an entirely different fortress.”

“The bond between the Northern players and their ability of quick construction is worthy of praise.”

It took them less than a day to construct shelters and defensive walls.

Beginning after breakfast, the first structures were complete around lunchtime.

The supply transport, design and construction seemed to have been carried out by different minds but the results were satisfactory.

They were excellent in haphazard but rapid construction.

“Where is the expected location of the fight?”

“The dragon’s lair is located to the south, so we predict that it will come from the same direction. Still, it would be favorable if the battle can take place in Bingryeong or Wyvern Square. We have put the bait in place.”

“Bait?”

“The dragon destroys the most noticeable and the most expensive valuables. So, we crafted some traps.”

“Let’s go see them.”

Bard Ray took a closer look around Binryong Square and was convinced.

There was a sculpture of the black dragon that spanned over several hundred meters!

It was yet to be complete, but it was so realistically detailed and yet somehow a bit uglier.

Furthermore, it was a depiction of the dragon getting its butt whacked by a goblin, a creature that the dragon didn’t even consider as a life form.

“This… This will surely enrage the dragon. What if it fires magic spells or breath from afar?”

“That is our concern, but the Mapan Council and the northern merchant councils offered their assistance.”

“In what way?”

“They plan to stack piles of gold in the town square.”

If the dragon were to see the treasure, it would never destroy them.

Even the Light Tower, the arts center and goddess statue were to be dressed with gold in the hopes of avoiding the dragon’s attack.

“The dragon will certainly destroy the statue of mockery. If it goes as planned, we will seize our opportunity in either Bingryeong or Wyvern Square.”

“Everyone will commence the attack at the town square.”

“Yes. Fortunately through negotiations we retained our command over our guild forces.”

Arkhim asked that if the war began, they were granted the authority to fight independently.

Weed agreed to the proposal.

It would have been a handsome sight to lead the Hermes Guild members, but truthfully they were a hassle to lead effectively.

Unlike the Northern players used for human wave tactics, they were elite players with impressive combat abilities.

He thought that the Hermes Guild hunting the dragon on their own accord was much more advantageous.

“Granted. But I am sure the dragon will ascend when it’s in danger.”

“It is vital that we prevent its flight, but for the worst we have prepared Mule’s griffin strikers for an aerial fight. We have to put an end to the fight that very day.”

Bard Ray observed the preparations in Morata and was filled with excitement for the day of war.

*****

The great lords of the Arpen Empire gathered in Morata the day before the war.

The Hermes Guild deployed its core forces and Bard Ray arrived as well, hence the lords also brought the majority of their own troops to make up the numbers.

“We will do our best.”

“We hope you know that the Black Lion Guild always acts for the good of Arpen.”

“We shall put everything on the line to win this war.”

“All of our main forces from Lion Star have been summoned. Our castle is empty because defeating Kaybern is more important than anything else.”

The great lords paid attention to the public consensus and competed against one another in swearing their loyalty to Weed.

“There is a lack of iron arrows.”

“Yes. Given the scale of this war, it is inevitable… ah! We will fill up the supplies. Fortunately, we may have stock.”

“We also require food supplies. The players in Morata need to be fed well, don’t they?”

“C-Certainly.”

“It will be difficult to transport food from so far away, so it could be better for you to provide financially instead.”

“That will be taken care of by Cloud Guild.”

This was the reason the great lords hated coming to Morata.

The feeling that they were going to be stripped of all their fortune when they meet Weed!

They looked around Morata and were surprised a second time at the scale of the Hermes Guild forces at work.

Even the broadcast stations were streaming the scene live.

– Destroyer Tristan. He missed the spotlight in the war in Garnav Plains… But he is under the 1st legion, infamous for killing over 1,000 players.

– The crossbow warrior Ultar! Though he lost the duel against Weed, no one can underestimate his power.

– Yes, he is truly incredible. It seems that the Wolf Knight Cavalry has also realigned its forces.

– Mage Precker is also visible. He is overlooking Morata under the flight spell along with Mage Caddler.

The high rankers of Royal Road arrived and 30,000 magic troops were stationed in vital points within Morata.

The number of siege weapons and magic traps under installation was unimaginable.

The Arpen Empire fortified Morata, but the Hermes Guild also stepped up eagerly and made genuine preparations for the dragon hunt.

The great lords of Arpen watched over the giant project and were astonished by the Hermes Guild’s capability and even felt a sense of danger.

Sherwood spoke.

“I don’t know why they are going this far… but if we end up defeating Kaybern, the negative perception of the Hermes Guild will die down significantly.”

“However, if the crisis subsides, the Arpen Empire will become even more powerful. While the overthrown Hermes Guild advances 10 meters, Arpen will go 200 meters.”

Carlise objected, but the other great lords thought otherwise.

Roam explained prudently.

“We must address it from the perspective of the Hermes Guild that has been suffering. If they lead the war against the dragon, they will be recognized as the core faction that assisted Weed. Also, they can maintain their reputation as the most powerful independent faction. They will rise to be a competitor to the Arpen Empire.”

“Our competition?”

“I say that because it looks like they have put aside their hostility against Weed and the Arpen Empire for the time being.”

The fall of the Hermes Guild that reigned over the continent.

The Hermes Guild heads, who were informed of Lafaye’s concerns, decided collectively to collaborate with the Arpen Empire to maintain their gains on one hand and to prepare for the future of the Hermes Guild on the other.

Draka, who in the past led the Imperial Army during the invasion of the Northern Continent, had earned the right to speak.

“For now, let us forfeit all interests and honor to Weed. Although he was an enemy, Weed completed seemingly impossible quests and accomplished various achievements. His influence is deeply rooted in the people which means we cannot bring him down.”

“Are you suggesting that we live as bottom feeders under Weed?”

“As Arpen climbs even higher, there will be more opportunities for it to crumble. Let’s not go against the tide, stop trying to do the impossible. Until Weed self-destructs, until Arpen becomes divided on its own and gives us a chance to strike, we help him.”

Thus, to bend and assist had become the compass of the Hermes Guild.

Though disgraceful, history proved that sometimes it was the best option.

The Hermes Guild, with a changed attitude, had become the greatest threat to the great lords.

Carlise struck the table with his hand.

“This is not good. The revival of the Hermes Guild, our long time enemy, is bad. It is also a  pressing issue that will make the expansion of the empire more difficult.”

The most powerful guild factions within the Arpen Empire were themselves.

They planned on splitting the profits among themselves in their own league, but the Hermes Guild came in uninvited.

*****

11 hours until Kaybern’s attack.

Morata had been completely fortified by countless players. The Hermes Guild and the assault squad went to their stations.

Weed stood on top of the tower of Black Giant Star and imprinted the scenery of Morata, for what could be the last time, in his mind.

“Here’s your lunch.”

“Take your sweet potatoes.”

He saw food being passed around to the players.

“We cannot back down now.”

Neither the Hermes Guild nor the assault squad could back down now.

Every measure that could be taken against the dragon was already in place. Even so, the result would only come after the war.

“With this, all of the powerful players in Versailles are here.”

Weed deemed this fight to be one where he would have no regrets.

If they were to lose even with the participation of the Hermes Guild, then it had been inevitable all along.

“Is this the end of peace or a new beginning?”

It was the last day of history, but truthfully he didn’t have much on his mind.

Struggles were only exhausting when they caught you by surprise.

“Are the preparations complete?”

By Weed’s side was Seoyoon.

She too spent a long time in Morata. This time around she prepared the defenses, but even when Weed was busy travelling around the continents, she cared for the development of Morata more than anyone.

Though it was barely noticeable in such a big city, she planted flowers and trees herself.

“Yes.”

“Let’s go on a date then.”

Weed planned for an outing with Seoyoon the night before the dragon’s arrival.

Spending a couple of hours anxiously could not assure victory over Kaybern.

The best way to spend possibly the last night in Morata!

It was a date with Seoyoon.

*****

The dark alley of Morata.

There was a pub in the cheapest old neighborhood that only sold beer.

“You still haven’t decided?”

“I don’t know.”

“Not sure if there is a need for us to step in.”

Volk’s words shook the heads of the other men.

They were the dark gamers who earned money through Royal Road!

The Kaybern hunt had been a hot topic among them since a week ago.

– Weed is going to hunt down Kaybern at Morata.

– Everyone knows that.

– You’re going to need faster intel if you’re a dark gamer.

– Will he succeed or not?

– I want to bet against him… Darn it. Maybe Weed can pull it off.

– Honestly, we are in the dark. We do hunt a lot but we distance ourselves from hunting boss monsters because of inefficiency.

– Weed, too, is one of us who earns money through Royal Road, so I hope he will succeed.

– That’s like a part-time cashier worrying about a CEO. Welp.

Comments were posted restlessly among the dark gamer association.

A huge debate fired up as to whether or not Morata was suitable as the battleground.

– It is a vast city. The dragon can fly anywhere and the players will be distressed because of the buildings.

– It is a tricky location when it comes to withstanding the dragon’s magic attacks. How on earth are they going to deal with fire magic?

– I agree. I think they should have organized a counterattack on the lair.

– You are senseless, probably because you are a lone dark gamer. The lair will be covered with magic traps and what about the swarming monsters? Ulta Mountain Pass is covered with monsters.

– A counterattack on the lair is impossible. At Morata, they can prepare with less worry and receive support from players.

– Novice players aren’t considered help. They are all ants to be squashed under the influence of Dragon Fear.

The choice of Morata as the location of the assault was deemed not the best option but it was reasonable enough to be accepted by the public. It was because it was realistically difficult to devise a special response protocol in the next city on the target list.

– Analysis report. What is Kaybern’s worth? I have calculated it by market value.

– The continent plunges into chaos. It will be difficult to earn a living in such desperate times.

– Money is what matters. Which hunting ground is the most efficient?

There was earnest analysis and information as well. Among them were A level posts only accessible for the top tier dark gamers.

– Kaybern hunt. Will it go as planned?

– The multiplying monsters are causing a decline in the market value of equipment.

– Destruction of cities. That is not a problem that can be left alone for long. Establishments aren’t built overnight.

– Royal Road is our workplace. I have to feed my child.

– What if we join the Kaybern hunt too?

Recently, the number of dark gamers had risen to over a million. What was even more intimidating was that these gamers were all high-level!

If the Hermes Guild and the dark gamers were to spark an all-out battle, it would be a formidable match. That being said, it was impossible for dark gamers like them to band together.

– Kaybern hunt. Have you forgotten the basic principle of dark gamers?

– First, don’t trust anyone. Second, give as much as you take. Third, money is the only thing you can trust.

– Those same principles have protected us. The other players do not like us rising to the top.

– Isn’t Weed reliable? He has provided a lot for us.

– Let me clear this up. It is true that the Arpen Empire is convenient for our means of living. However, we return the favor by hunting and completing quests.

– I also think that I am doing my fair share. What’s more, didn’t we participate in the battle against the Hermes Guild?

– We can’t really say that it was participation… We just blended with the winning side and hunted down the Hermes Guild members.

The dark gamers debated the Kaybern hunt. Still, the poll was one-sided in favor of sitting back and observing over fighting alongside Weed.

They had too much at stake for them to fight against such a dangerous being such as the dragon.

“We just need to get rid of Kaybern. Kaybern is the only problem. The Arpen Empire will soon unite the entire world… Hunting and tourism will boom.”

“Well, we aren’t sure about that.”

At the pub, Volk attempted to convince the other dark gamers to assist the Arpen Empire, but he failed repeatedly.

“Hey, Volk.”

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“There are many of us still scattered across the continent. They aren’t even at Morata.”

“We don’t know how many of us are here.”

“Yeah. Roamers without a destination; that is who we are. We belong in the hunting grounds, not the cities.”

The dark gamers in broad terms were just people working in the same field. They kept their whereabouts secret.

“Even if they are at Morata, there will only be a few of them. There are none among us who would use the Brazier of Sacrifice for the safety of the continent.”

“I am aware.”

“Then how much of a help will we be? There’s the Hermes Guild after all. On top of that… It is questionable if Weed will offer us any seats when we join him. Weed and the Hermes Guild will do well on their own. It is right for us to observe the situation, though we may become the hyenas.”

The dark gamers who arrived in Morata also had an objective.

The moment the mighty Kaybern is depleted of its strength and falls, they aimed to steal the kill.

“Hah. It will be beneficial for us to join the Kaybern hunt.”

“It will not happen no matter how hard you try. Just give up and watch.”

Chapter 2: Doomsday

Hegel, Bella, Rumi, Celcia.

The students of the Virtual Reality program brought a bunch of new recruits to Morata.

“As you all know already, this is the birthplace of the Arpen Empire.”

Hegel raised his chin and began his speech.

“The 2-3 meter radius around the Black Giant Star? Yeah, this is a historical site. This place existed since the days of ruins; it was one before it became a developed city.”

The 80 freshmen of the VR program were listening with glistening eyes.

Many of them knew a lot about the city, having started Royal Road in Morata but they had alternative goals.

Paella with long waving hair past her back raised her hand.

“You there, go ahead.”

“Hegel sunbae-nim, does it mean we can see Weed sunbae-nim today?”

“Uhh… About that.”

Hegel hesitated to answer.

It was true that he was acquainted with Weed and took classes together, but now it was difficult to get in touch with him.

‘Seriously, I call him every day and leave texts, but he never answers them.’

Weed’s worth skyrocketed and even the broadcast stations contacted him with care.

Producers could not dare contact him even with urgent business and, instead, the job had to be escalated to the board of directors. Hence it was difficult to get a hold of Weed.

The truth was that Hegel’s constant calls and messages already got him blocked.

“Tsk-tsk. You had it coming.”

“We haven’t seen oppa in so long too, so how can you bring a crowd of newcomers and ask him to spare us some time when the war is tomorrow? Let’s just tour around Morata and leave it at that.”

Bella and Rumi scolded him and tried to wrap up the situation, but Paella raised her hand yet again.

“Then… Can we see Nide sunbae-nim?”

“Nide?”

Hegel was rather thrown off at the mention of his friend’s name.

“What about that guy?”

“He’s like so famous  nowadays!”

“That idiot?”

“Yeah. I want to see Nide sunbae-nim!”

Nide was the famed heroic thief who robbed Kaybern’s lair along with Weed.

Weed was a legendary individual in the eyes of the freshman and so were his comrades.

“You really want to see Nide? No joke?”

“Yes! Sunbae-nim.”

“Does everyone else want that too?”

“Of course! I really want to meet him.”

“We want to see him!”

The freshmen were shouting in unison. Hegel sighed deeply and whispered to Nide.

“Where you at?”

– Nide: Hmm? I’m in Morata for the fight against Kaybern tomorrow.

“Come to where I am.”

– Nide: Where? Are you in Morata too?

“In front of the Black Giant Star. I’m wearing a shining winged armor so you will notice me right away.”

– Nide: I’ll be right over.

Hegel kept on exhaling, feeling an uncomfortable tightness in his chest after the conversation.

It was like he had been robbed of something that was meant to be his.

Moments after, Nide walked out the entrance of Black Giant Star.

“Hegel!”

“Kyahh!”

“It’s really him!”

The freshmen were in joy seeing him walk from a distance.

The cloak worn by Nide surprised not just the freshmen, but Hegel as well.

It looked like it was made from a mystical material, flocking on its own and stealing the crowd’s attention with its obsidian gloss.

Hegel felt like he shouldn’t ask but he wanted to relieve his curiosity.

Nide was a higher level than him to begin with and being a thief granted him great equipment, but he was curious about this new cloak that he saw for the first time.

“What’s that cloak? I have quite a bit of gold saved up. How much is it worth?”

“Price? It’s not for sale.”

“Then where did you get it?”

“I got it from Weed-hyung after helping him out on the lair raid.”

“Ho.”

“I picked it because it was alright, but it turns out this thing attracts quite a bit of unwanted attention. Still, it boosts movement speed and has a flight skill. Its defense and magic resistances are high too.”

“Could it be that this was made from…”

“Yep. It’s made of the Black Dragon’s scale.”

Nide’s honest words smacked the back of Hegel’s head.

“Sunbae-nim!”

“Can we get some autographs?”

“Can you tell us some of your adventure stories?”

The freshmen that had looked up to Hegel were leaving his side for Nide.

*****

“We have today’s special dish. Let’s use all of the expensive ingredients of Morata!”

“Woahh!”

Chefs gathered at the town square.

Barberota on the full course, Mihael on the seafood, Sanjelly on roast meat and Moku on the desserts.

They were all experts in their own fields and it was tough to say who was the best. Nonetheless, the famous chefs over the continents all assembled at Morata.

Continental Cooking Competition

Hosted by the Arpen Empire.

Sponsored by the Mapan Council, Gamong Council, Undefeated Council, Anything Cheap Council.

It was a so-called cooking tournament.

The winning prize was 5 million gold and promotion to a lord seat of the Arpen Empire.

There were countless cooking competitions in the past run by judges of questionable tastes, but the rules were simple for this tournament.

– The tournament will commence the night before Kaybern’s attack.

The tournament will begin after sunset and continue until the next morning.

The guests served with a dish can give a rating between 1 and 5.

The chef with the most points will be the winner!

All the chefs had to do was cook delicious food with the provided ingredients.

“So, all it takes is to just cook all night long and get the most votes?”

“Yeah. But it is better the more you sell, so I think it comes down to popularity.”

“Fame is also a skill. If they try out the food and it turns out bad, they won’t vote for the dish.”

“Like disappointment after visiting a restaurant that you were told was fantastic?”

“Right. Fame will only be a contributing factor early on. People won’t crowd over bad food when the good dishes are just within reach.”

“I guess that’s true.”

The players could purchase the food cooked by the chef of their choice.

The cooking of delicacies from all across Versailles began simultaneously.

The huge fire show from the chefs attracted a huge crowd of players.

“The smell is amazing.”

“I didn’t get to eat this level of food even in Castle Aren.”

Before the war with the dragon even the Hermes Guild had roamed freely.

Just the forces of the Hermes Guild alone numbered well over 300,000. The best dishes worth several hundred gold were things that they could afford and food was an extremely important matter. Delicious and nutritious meals greatly enhanced Strength and Stamina during combat.

Boemong bit off the marinated boar skewer.

“Could it possibly be that Weed hosted this event so that we get well-fed for the fight?”

Slaughterer Calcus, too, had a hankering for meat. He tasted the stirred beef of Morata that melted away in his mouth.

“It seems that way. The event offers money and fame for the chefs and provides the best food for us players.”

Crebulta who led the 7th legion back in Garnav Plains was also with them.

“K-hh. This is pretty nice. I’m feeling energized. But will this bring our chances up by even 1% against the dragon? It seems meaningless to me.”

The commanders predicted that the effects would be minimal as they weren’t dealing with a typical monster. Still, they were optimistic about the morale boost. They themselves were able to break away from the tension before the war.

Boemong grabbed another boar skewer and spoke.

“Don’t you think the prices are pretty high around here? 10 gold for a skewer?”

Crebulta laughed and replied.

“We are just before the war. The merchants could sell a bit higher than usual.”

The Hermes Guild members felt cheated but accepted the circumstances and spent well.

*****

Every street in Morata was brightly lit with torches and magic lanterns.

The shantytown also hosted what could be the final event and the people cleaned out their belongings in their homes.

“Whew. This has prints all over it…”

“You had it for long?”

“Nah, I bought it used and it’s covered with the prints of its past owner. I didn’t even get to use it much.”

The players at every shantytown were moving or selling their furniture and household goods.

Through the wide open gates, the players who have yet to visit Morata flooded inside.

“This is truly an awesome city. I’ve only come after so long… I should have bought a house here.”

“There’s a different festival going on at every townsquare.”

“Well let’s go to any one of them quickly.”

The players enjoyed the busy night.

At Light Square, the bards opened a masquerade.

Marey, deemed to be Versailles’ best bard!

He and 1,000 other players played their instruments.

At one side, the mages and priests emitted rays of light into the sky. With light and music, anywhere was the stage.

“Let’s party!”

The players shook their bodies and danced.

The war was only several hours away, but they seemed to have lost all sense of it.

Even the assault squad members and the Hermes Guild members who had hunted until now blended together and shared the joys of the night.

“Hmm-hmm! Sorry about that.”

“You have to look around buddy… Hello, Carlise-nim.”

“Hi. You are here too, Lancelot-nim.”

“I thought it would be a waste to just sit and wait for the war.”

“I hope you have some fun…”

“To you as well, Carlise-nim.”

The town square was so packed that players accidentally stepped on each other’s feet.

The leader of the Black Lion Guild and the commander of the Hermes Guild that had deep grudges against one another bumped shoulders, but they were quick to slip away.

It was not the point in time where they could put their feelings before the rules of the Arpen Empire and it seemed all they wanted this night was to be at ease and enjoy the festival.

The Light Square entertained the players in Morata as if it put them under a spell.

“Shall we dance for one song?”

“But there are so many people around.”

At one corner of the town square was a man under an orc mask with protruded teeth and a woman with a cat mask. It was Weed and Seoyoon.

They walked the streets of Morata, hidden behind their masks.

“No one will recognize us.”

“I’ve never danced before.”

“Just let your body flow with the music. You have great athletic senses. I think you will catch on fast.”

“I’m not good at exercising either.”

“You’ll be fine. Seeing you clobber those monsters, I’m sure…”

“What?”

“You were light and swift.”

Weed grabbed her hand and entered the townsquare.

They offered themselves to the light and the music.

They blended with the crowd and danced awkwardly but freely. It was the happiest moment.

Weed pulled Seoyoon’s hand and at times he hugged her closely.

“How is it?”

“It’s not bad.”

“Should we do this more often?”

Seoyoon nodded wordlessly. The musicians continued to play but they could hear the heartbeats of their partner.

Seoyoon was wearing a common traveller’s outfit and more than half her face was covered by the cat mask. Even then, Weed could tell by the corners of her mouth and the little of her expression that he could see just how happy she was.

‘Is this true love?’

Weed thought he was learning emotions. From the first time he met her, his feelings were expressed from the tone of his voice, facial expression and actions.

Though no one told them about happiness, they were sure in this hour that they were happy.

Even if Morata were to be reduced to dust by Kaybern, this moment would last in their memories forever.

Weed wrapped his hands lightly around her waist and danced.

‘It’s fortunate that I can’t see her face.’

Seoyoon’s eyes were glimmering like gems under the torchlight.

He was sure that he would lose his mind to her beauty.

A song, and the next.

Like they had forgotten the concept of time, they held hands and danced.

Players kept crowding into Light Square and soon the place became too packed to dance.

“Let’s have a look around.”

“Sounds great.”

They headed over to the Bull Square where all the cooking was taking place and fed themselves with all kinds of dishes.

“They are so delicious.”

“The octopus dish is really good. Let’s vote for this place.”

“Alright.”

They joined the line after line, tasted the food and voted.

“Due to the fairness of the contest, anonymous votes are not accepted.”

They were restricted by the Mapan Council merchant hosting the event.

“Please provide your names.”

“Weed. This is Seoyoon.”

“Would you mind repeating that?”

“Weed and Seoyoon.”

“Do you take me for a…”

The merchant who was about to blow steam was silenced by Weed who lifted his mask slightly.

“Y-Your highness.”

There was no reason for Seoyoon to lift her mask, but she did it anyway after Weed.

“I am Seoyoon.”

“Gasp.”

The merchant, after seeing Seoyoon’s face up close, was about to pass out!

“Hey, what’s going on?”

“What is it?”

The people lined up behind them began to stir up noise. Some of them, who were near the merchant, had seen Seoyoon and just stood with their jaws dropped.

“Holy.”

“S-Seoyoon…”

In the midst of the preparations for the protection of Morata, many people saw her. But, her appearance up close was unreal.

Weed slid Seoyoon’s mask back on.

“Are we good to go?”

“Yes, yes.”

“Alright then.”

Weed escaped the scene as quickly as possible before any commotion could erupt.

They toured the back alleys and purchased souvenirs from the market.

On top of the Art Centre, with no eyes around, they kissed passionately.

*****

The sun climbed above the horizon and finally, the hour of defense began.

Weed and Seoyoon spent the entire night talking to one another and held hands tightly.

“The day is here.”

“We will surely prevail. We have everyone’s support.”

Weed nodded. Of course, he did not believe in such romantic thoughts.

– Swift Coldwind: Kaybern has risen from the lair. The direction is north as predicted.

The first report arrived. The avian were observing from all the way out near Kaybern’s lair.

– Pale: The assault squad is ready on your command.

– Arkhim: Hermes Guild is in position. We are good to engage on your orders.

Siege weaponry meant to protect the walls was meaningless against a dragon, and so the players hid in the buildings and trenches.

The Hermes Guild was present in large numbers, 250,000 of its forces were mobilized for this war.

A little over 10,000 members were to use the Brazier of Sacrifice and were on standby until the dragon’s arrival.

– Everyone, please evacuate the city! The dragon has departed!

The sharp sound of the horn flute warning of emergency evacuation echoed through the city.

“The dragon will be here any minute.”

“This is so tense.”

The players who attended the festival were leaving through the gates hurriedly. A portion of them had come inside to observe the war and were willing to die for it.

“Will we survive today?”

“Who knows? Maybe we will be stomped to death or perhaps we will be burnt alive.”

“Maybe we will die under a crumbling building.”

The Arpen Empire officially announced evacuation protocol and encouraged players not participating in the war to leave Morata.

Still, many players remained in the city buildings.

Their survival depended on the success of defeating Kaybern before the city’s entire destruction.

“Hextech cannons final check!”

“Confirm the siege weapons and report to your stations!”

The Hermes Guild was the busiest before Kaybern’s arrival in the north.

They inspected their gear and prepared their attack strategies.

Some units were equipped with spears, great swords, axes and iron maces; preparations only possible by the Hermes Guild.

“The ballistas were loaded with silver harpoons that were sprinkled with holy water.”

“Do harpoons have any effect on dragons?”

“We don’t know. No one has done it yet. We will know when we fire them today.”

The gigantic ballistas stationed at every defense tower were loaded with a variety of arrows.

The plan was to fire mercilessly at the dragon with siege weapons and with that the city structures were subjected to damage.

– Swift Coldwind: ETA is approximately 20 minutes. I will continue tracking.

The dwarves, the assault squad and the Hermes Guild! Plus the other players who willingly participated to lend a hand; everyone held their breath and waited for the dragon to appear.

Then..

Finally, Kaybern emerged in the southern sky of Morata.

– Kraaagh! Perish!

The Black Dragon screamed towards Morata.

Kaybern had turned even more ferocious after its lair had been robbed.

< Physical abilities are restrained under the Dragon Fear.

You feel absolute power and fear.

Health points are reduced by 41%.

You will suffer temporary paralysis.

Movement is restricted!

You are unable to move for 11 seconds.

Lack of Wisdom restraints use of skills by 89%.

You will consume more mana and more likely to fail the cast. >

Dragon Fear erupted!

The rumbling voice of the dragon spread across the city like a tide.

– Arkhim: All commanders report losses.

– Boemong: Combat team’s loss is minimal. We are suffering from a mild paralysis but it will wear off soon.

– Gaushu: No harm.

– Lamifter: We need 3 to 5 minutes for the mages to fully recover their focus.

The Hermes Guild members had equipped themselves with gear and accessories in advance and withstood the Dragon Fear.

The players in the assault squad of the Arpen Empire suffered greatly in comparison.

“K-hmm. Are you alright?”

“It is quite noisy.”

“I think we are still behind the Hermes Guild.”

“Those guys filled their pockets for so long…”

A lot of spectators who remained in the city for a splendid scene lost their lives.

“Agh!”

“Wah!”

The Dragon Fear swept a large area of the city.

The shantytown, back alleys and merchant buildings were cleared of players.

“Save me!”

“Heal me. I’m about to die!”

The novice players that took life threatening damage ran out to the streets and called for help. Some ran into the buildings of priests, borrowed bandages and wrapped themselves.

– Oberon: Weed-nim! The damages to the players are massive!

“Whew…”

Weed let out a sigh.

This was exactly the reason why he ordered evacuation, but it was not possible to search every house and deport those hiding in such a huge city as Morata.

– Oberon: I will send a rescue team.

“It is what it is. Do what you can.”

The priests on standby rushed out to the streets and saved the players. The novice players fully recovered from just one or two healing spells.

They laid low so that they would not be noticed in the eyes of Kaybern afloat in the sky.

Kaybern, like it did with other cities, circled above the sky.

– Humans! You have been hiding like pests.

Inevitably, they were discovered. Tens of thousands of players were moving in the city and were eventually caught in Kaybern’s vision.

The Black Dragon, Kaybern!

It was the most dangerous dragon that was cursed by the humans and dwarves.

Kaybern exploded with a massive roar that reached from one end of the city to the other.

– Only annihilation and death awaits you.

It was a line often spoken by monsters, but having come out of the dragon’s mouth, the message was conveyed with knee-crumbling pressure.

“Uuuuhh!”

“We are screwed. Are we… going to die now?”

The players on the ground raised their heads and trembled in fear.

Kaybern’s words weren’t just a threat.

The Black Dragon gulped deeply and began puffing up its enormous body.

“It’s a Dragon Breath!”

“Everyone, run!”

The players on the streets fell into a panic and began scattering in all directions.

The Hermes Guild members that were waiting to engage waved their heads.

“A Dragon Breath right off the bat. Plan B it is then.”

“We did take into factor that this was a huge city with huge variables, but for things to turn like this already.”

Weed too could do nothing but sigh.

“The breath will cause too much damage.”

Kaybern’s breath attack on the city was not solely the fault of the novice players. It was one of usual Kaybern’s tactics in war. Few were likely to survive a direct breath attack. That also applied to Weed.

– Kuaaaaaaaah!

Darkness poured from Kaybern’s mouth and struck the city. Like a storm, even the winds were sucked in. It swept the earth and the buildings above it all at once.

The players in Morata felt the ground tremor and the earth quake.

“Where is it? Which direction?”

“I think it flew northwest.”

“Was the Great Library struck?”

“I think it wasn’t in that direction…”

Moments later, an avian player reported the status.

– Sambidul: The humiliating sculpture of Kaybern has been destroyed. The buildings around it melted down and the fire is now spreading.

The gigantic sculpture meant to draw the attention of Kaybern. The sculpture of the Black Dragon being smacked by a dwarf became the first target.

Along with the sculpture, a part of the city was laid to waste but it was a smaller loss than expected.

– Arkhim: When it goes for the bait, we will engage in battle. Everyone, be on your toes!

The Hermes Guild members prepared to come out of hiding.

The moment Kaybern descends to the ground would be the start of their attack.

The merchant councils had piled mountains of treasure in Bingryong and Wyvern Square to tempt Kaybern to land.

It was not just by the northern councils but also the councils of the Central Continent that chipped in for the golden mountain.

In the Townsquare were numerous onlookers that gathered to see the treasure before the dragon’s arrival.

‘Bite the lure.’

‘The dragon will dive when it sees this.”

‘Bingryong Square is perfect. The location will be advantageous for an all-out Hermes Guild attack.’

‘The instant it comes down, I will end it…’

The members filled themselves with a fighting spirit. For quite some time they simulated the dragon hunt through boss monster raids.

– Sambidul: Kaybern is preparing a magic spell!

The second news of misfortune followed.

Kaybern, instead of coming down to the ground and destroying buildings, was casting a magic incantation. It wasn’t just a normal magic spell, but an ultimate fire spell.

– Pale: Weed-nim, what should we do? The damage to the city will be extensive…

Weed witnessed Kaybern casting the magic incantation mid air through the windows.

The pillars of flames intertwined and swirled in the dragon’s vicinity.

“It’s a frustrating moment, but we have to wait it out.”

– Pale: We may be able to halt the incantation if the assault squad is mobilized. It might even change the target.

“We can’t do that.”

– Pale: If Morata is struck, the casualties will be far greater.

“Stick to the plan and move accordingly. The assault squad will remain on standby. If we start this war with an aerial fight, our chances of winning will slip away.”

Weed had already considered such circumstances before the battle.

A dragon like Kaybern had various arsenal of attacks and, therefore, he extended the range of variables.

“Still, I feel like we are starting off on the wrong foot…”

It was horrific to imagine the damage that would result from the ultimate fire magic spell.

The damage dealt to the cities already destroyed by Kaybern was beyond that seen in movies dealing with natural disasters.

Back then, Morata was a ghost city, but this time the buildings were filled with players.

– Solar Absolute!

After a short time had passed, Kaybern activated the ultimate fire magic.

The magic that created another sun.

In the sky of Morata, a blazing red sun formed. The air flushed and intense heat shined down on the earth.

The blooming flowers and green grass dried up rapidly.

The streams and riverbanks of Morata also dried up, leaving their banks bare and shantytowns were set ablaze from the unbearable heat.

“Fire! Fire!”

“It’s a fire! We have to get out of here!”

“Run. To the safe concrete building!”

It was a calamity to the players who came to watch from the shantytown.

The houses were set on fire, forcing them to the streets. Most of them were exposed directly to the heat and died.

Solar Absolute!

You are surrounded by the skin burning, choking heat.

Magic resistance is nullified.

Fire damage reduces health points by 1,340 per second.

The damage will increase over time.

Novice players could rarely withstand a regular fire magic spell.

If one moved while sticking right up against the walls and buildings, the damage could be somewhat mitigated, but even so, for players under level 200, to deal with such an attack was futile.

“Kyaagh!”

“My body is on fire. I am on fire!”

Too many players were roasted to a crisp out on the streets.

The priests of the assault squad mobilized and only could save a few with healing spells.

– Pavo: I tried preventing the fire… but I did not get to the shantytown in time. I’m sorry.

Pavo made an apology on the regional chat.

He received assistance from other architects and players and could therefore spray water and pile sand on vital structures.

The shantytown was better off being left to be rebuilt, hence he did not tend to it, but the houses were the first to be set on fire and grew into a massive disaster.

“Evacuate, we have to leave.”

The shantytown was expected to be safer than most areas for the players.

It was thought to be less attractive for the dragon than other structures, but under the ultimate magic spell that caused damage over an area, the entire town was razed.

The flames engulfed the buildings and grew further.

About 10% of Morata was set ablaze.

Fortunately, buildings in specific areas were demolished in advance to prevent fire spreading to the entire city.

– Humans, let it be an honor for you all to die under my wings.

Kaybern forged a rain of obsidian spears and fired them at the players roaming on the ground.

– Spear Array!

Like a bombardment, the magic spell fell upon the earth.

The black spears penetrated the buildings and roads, pinning down the players and causing their deaths.

“S-Save me!”

“Don’t run anywhere. We must not become burdens to everyone else!”

Chaos filled the corners of every street in Morata.

The players ran towards the city gate away from the dragon. Others ran inside large buildings or slid into the trenches.

Loss of life was common while playing Royal Road, but the dragon’s indomitable presence and magic attacks plunged everyone into despair.

Some were weary of being obstacles in the war and accepted their fate right where they stood.

The black spears continued to rain down on the city.

– Pale: Everyone, stay in your positions! It isn’t our time to act yet.

– Pale who led the assault squad spoke concernedly on chat.

He, too, wanted to save the players, but he agreed with going by the plan, which was to hunt down the dragon.

Furthermore, the confusion on the streets was too risky for him and his forces to become involved in.

– Python: Oberon-nim! Stop Oberon-nim from doing anything!

The dwarf who always wanted to look out for others!

The players of the assault squad grabbed Oberon tightly.

Meanwhile, more players perished.

Buildings crumbled and the growing fire forced the Hermes Guild members out of their location.

There were underground tunnels and trenches, but not everyone was in the position to use them.

*****

“Damn it! Our positions sucked.”

Lancellot came out of the shantytown and looked to his surroundings.

His unit was responsible for reinforcement and ambush, so they hid in the shantytown a bit further down from the rest. The fire got out of control and they were forced out to the streets.

“We are heading to the safe zone. Hurry up and move.”

1,000 Hermes Guild members moved out of the shantytown and proceeded to the industrial sector, but they were caught by Kaybern.

– I see you over there. Die!

Kaybern flapped its wings and immediately began a nosedive towards the shantytown.

Lancellot stared Kaybern down.

“He’s coming this way!”

“Get ready for battle!”

The members spread out and drew their weapons.

Their reaction was extremely quick based on combat experience against many boss monsters, but soon the dragon from the sky swooped on top of them.

– Kraaaagh! How dare you mere humans try to resist me!

The dragon stomped the players with its two legs and swung its tail.

“Kugh. Don’t try to block. Just dodge.”

“Of all times to engage… When we were unprepared.”

Lancellot knew all too well that his unit alone did not stand a chance.

They were bit, stomped and kicked around.

Many guild members were struck by the tail and knocked into the flaming sectors of shantytown.

– Kwaaaaah!

Kaybern spread its wings wide while on the ground and roared as if excited.

“Damn. Things have gone this far and now we have no choice but to retaliate!”

Lancellot’s unit began swinging their weapons and initiated the counterattack. However, each time the humongous dragon moved, they were swatted off their feet to their deaths.

At that moment, Arkhim’s whisper arrived.

– Arkhim: I know it’s tough out there but you have to stall and retreat to the Bingryong Square. That is the nearest site to your current location.

If Lancellot’s unit was to scatter, there was no telling as to which direction the dragon would chase. For the guild, the utter destruction of Morata was not a concern, but victory against the dragon was at stake.

– Lancellot: We have to lure the dragon to Bingryong Square. Then we leave it to the combat units. That is the end of our mission.

– Lancellot encouraged his team and attracted the dragon’s attention.

“Sword of Lightning!”

Crrrr-Crack!

Lightning branched out instantly from the sword and struck the dragon’s body.

The obsidian, luster scale was ruined with a slight scratch.

– Pesty human putting up futile resistance.

Due to the high endurance and magic resistance, most of the damage was absorbed.

“We have its attention. Attack, but retreat slowly.”

Starting with Lancellot, the Hermes Guild members activated their skills simultaneously.-

“Shield Barricade!”

“The Vigilante’s Protection!”

“Wind Shot!”

The members each used their skills in disposal.

Their attacks that could murder hundreds of novice players flew towards the dragon at once but most ended up being minuscule hits.

– Humans are weak and foolish. How dare they challenge me!

Kaybern stretched its wings and stalked forward.

The ground shook and the burning shantytown buildings crumbled with little effort.

The dragon walked through the array of arrows and magic attacks head on.

Being a gigantic creature, its light walk was much more rapid than a human sprinting.

“What the hell!”

“Is this some kind of a monster movie? How can we fight against a dragon this size?!”

“This is insane!”

The Hermes Guild members activated their skills in fear.

Their weapons and ranged attacks could not penetrate through Kaybern’s thick scales.

After all, they did not act under the reinforcement forces and therefore did not use the Brazier of Sacrifice. Their current motive was to retreat safely to Bingryong Square.

– I will kill you as painfully as possible.

Kaybern chased after them, snatched the members one by one with its mouth, and smashed them into the ground.

“K-ugh!”

The fangs tore through their armor and shields, leaving them incapacitated.

Severe wound!

Venom is spreading through your entire body.

Failure to treat the poison within 3 minutes will lead to death.

The attack was combined with the dragon’s venom, taking them to the brink of death.

Stomp-stomp!

The sight of each player being gobbled up by the charging Kaybern was truly terrifying.

The players in its path could not bear witness to it, knowing that they could be next.

“Damn it all!”

“It’s after us, so use your transportation skills!”

“Swift Feet!”

“Dash of Light!”

Lancellot and the other members all utilized their movement skills to run all the way towards the Bingryong Square.

– Die. All humans that oppose me will have nothing but death!

Kaybern slammed the ground with its hind leg and the earth waved outward like tides in the ocean.

– Spikes of Hell!

Thick thorns protruded like walls and punctured the members.

The Hermes Guild members hung dozens of meters in the air, skewed on the thorns!

“Help me!”

“If you remove the curse… I can hold for more than 20 seconds!”

They had to suffer from 5 to 6 different status effects.

Their health points were seeping out every second and they called desperately for help, but the lucky ones were busy running.

“Crap, it’s too powerful!”

The thorns grew outward like a forest and hindered their escape.

Lancelot’s unit was picked off one by one by Kaybern.

*****

– Arkhim: The battle continues to rage at Shantytown. That location is too disadvantageous.

– Slater: We must stay put. It’s a hilly terrain which isn’t good for a fight.

– Lamifter: It’s better to wait even if we lose all of them. One rash rescue will cost us our entire plan.

The Hermes Guild decided to abandon them.

“Merciless Counter!”

Lancelot saw the message and charged straight at Kaybern.

It was a skill that retaliated more powerfully the stronger the opponent’s attack.

“My name is Lancelot!”

Lancelot deflected Kaybern’s flinging tail and followed up closely.

He slashed and stabbed with twin swords and inflicted wounds on the dragon.

You have met the most dreadful presence unimaginable.

Merciless Counter is at 3200% attack damage.

Lancelot braced for death.

To escape Kaybern, he had to abandon his team and he did not even expect the Hermes Guild to come to their rescue.

‘I will not die in vain.’

As a commander of the Hermes Guild, he chose to display his strength until his final moment.

– Oberon: Merciless Counter. That is originally a warrior skill. Through a special quest, swordsmen can also acquire it. However, even warriors cannot sustain it for long.

As Oberon explained on the regional chat, Merciless Counter was draining Lancelot’s stamina and health points severely.

“Remember my name, Lancelot. You lizard!”

Kaybern stepped back after the intense rush but soon became enraged.

From the chains of anguish, bind to eternal curse.

12 different curses swept over Lancelot.

Pain, Poison, Weakness, Feebleness, Confusion, Paralysis, Rot and more…

Kaybern opened its mouth wide and chomped on Lancelot who rampaged until his last breath.

*****

Weed, under Sculptural Transformation, was waiting with the other dwarf warriors.

“We must defeat the dragon for the future of our kind!”

“You got that right. Let’s show him what our long suppressed dwarven fury looks like.”

The dwarven warriors inspected their weapons and spoke loudly and confidently.

‘Morale is high. I raised their gear specs too, so they should be able to fight well.’

Weed was on standby with the other dwarves at a building near Bingryong Square.

Barbarian Knatul, Fairy Knight Malin, and Half-elf Vishur.

The heroes of three races were positioned in the assault squad.

The dwarves were inflated with their dwarven pride and were not on good terms with either the high elves nor the barbarians.

“It’s a breath!”

When Kaybern spewed Dragon Breath, Weed laid flat on the ground with the dwarves.

Fortunately, the breath destroyed the giant sculpture and its surroundings.

“Whew, that was a close call.”

Weed’s heart jolted.

If a Great Landmark was destroyed, the damage would have been catastrophic even before the actual war.

“It’s better off to lose the goddess statue or the Light Tower than the landmarks. Now that I have become a sculpting master, I can just recreate them.”

The dwarves that were tenacious and brave just a second ago were unable to lift their faces.

The dwarves wrapped their hands around their head and shivered in fear.

“Are we still alive?”

“Ah, the ground is shaking. The power of a dragon…”

“It’s too scary. My heart won’t stop racing.”

“I’m sure Kaybern is furious with us.”

“Without a doubt. I heard from my grandfather long ago about his encounter with a dragon.”

“What did he say?”

“He felt like he was going to be swallowed alive in an instant. He was so afraid that he wanted to carve out his own heart.”

“Mmm. It’s going to sever our arms and legs and feast on us.”

The dwarven warriors had been reduced to cowards!

There was one thing in the world that instilled fear in these courageous dwarves, and that had to be the dragon.

‘Boosting their morale will come later..’

Weed kept to his spot.

The absolute sun rose high in the sky and Lancelot’s unit had begun the engagement, but he had to bide his time. The battle strategy was to lure the dragon to the townsquare and commit to an all-out attack.

The plan was shaky because there was no way to tell where in Morata the dragon was going to land, but this was as meticulous of a plan as possible given the circumstances.

‘Against a dragon, we have to fight on our turf. Any location other than the townsquare won’t allow for a real fight due to the buildings.’

The sounds of Kaybern rampaging against Lancelot’s unit were constant.

– Lowly, insignificant humans! How daring of you to charge at me!

Hatred toward humans was its basic instinct.

The Hermes Guild members perished and buildings collapsed.

Bad news rushed in.

– Swift Coldwind: Weed-nim, the fire in Morata is too big.

“What’s the scale?”

– Swift Coldwind: I can’t identify the exact numbers, but Morata seems to be on fire from afar. The smoke is thick.

The effects of Solar Absolute caused fire in over a dozen areas and spread quickly.

The architects had created a line of ashes, but more buildings kept joining the parade of fire.

– Swift Coldwind: The avian are falling from the sky due to the heat and shortness of breath.

“If the Shantytown gets completely burnt down, the fire will go out rather quickly…”

– Romuna: Weed-nim, the duration of Solar Absolute changes according to the magic level of the caster. It should disappear in about 5 minutes. Ah, I really want to learn that spell.

Romuna, being a fire type mage, was jealous of every magic spell from Kaybern.

“Swift Coldwind-nim, what is the estimated damage in Morata?”

– Swift Coldwind: Sight is blocked by smoke and I am unable to confirm. Wouldn’t the wooden buildings and roadsides have all been burnt down by now? A lot of plain buildings are also on fire.

– Lemon: It’s dangerous around the Art Center. Several buildings are ablaze.

Even concrete buildings had a portion of wooden components.

The furniture and supplies inside could be set on fire and moreover, Morata’s history was short compared to other major cities and thus had a vast Shantytown.

The Shantytown covering the hill alone had an incredible surface area.

– Seoyoon: I am on the lookout from the Black Giant Star. Unless we put the fire out, a third of Morata will be gone.

“That much?”

– Seoyoon: From what I see, it seems that way.

The severity of the situation spread to not just Weed but the rest of the players in Morata.

– Pale: Oh lord… That’s disastrous.

– Irene: The damage is insane. It was just one magic spell.

– Mapan: The cost of the buildings disappearing to the fire will be astronomical. Even if they may be wooden buildings.

– Mibullo: It’s sad that I can’t do a thing about it.

– Pavo: This is all my fault for not having been fully prepared.

The architects divided sections and raised fort walls to defend the city and laid anti-fire lines, but the Solar Absolute covered the entire city.

It was a painful consequence for picking a street battle strategy against a dragon in such a big city like Morata.

– Lemon: Folks watching from your homes. If you have spare hands, please put out the fires in areas far from Kaybern.

– Flame: Understood.

– Totkung: Make sure the fire doesn’t spread to important buildings. Players in the furthest sections should move so we do not draw the dragon’s attention.

The players that remained in Morata began their move.

Since Kaybern was on the chase for Lancelot’s unit, they began extinguishing the nearby buildings.

‘I thought the Northern players would be of no help…’

Weed deemed that Morata could hold on for a bit longer and he was reassured to wait it out.

– Swift Coldwind: I have entered the sky zone of Morata. The heat could burn my feathers… Anyway, I have a visual on the dragon.

“What about Lancelot?”

– Swift Coldwind: The unit is out of commission! The engagement had resulted in greater destruction of the surrounding area. The buildings are crumbling, causing the players to flee with Kaybern on the chase.

“What’s the direction?”

– Swift Coldwind: It is not heading in a specific direction, but destroying random areas around the Shantytown.

Kaybern was not being lured to Bingryong or Wyvern Square.

Sculptures, paintings and precious treasures were placed as traps but seemed to be undiscovered. For the time being, it was fully consumed by destruction and slaughter.

“This is troublesome…”

Weed gazed up into the sky.

The pure blue sky of Morata was covered in black smoke.

Kaybern murdered players in sight and bombarded the city with massive AOE spells.

The dragon’s enormous figure over the height of 200 meters crushed Morata’s buildings with every move.

The Hermes Guild chat alert popped up.

– Arkhim: Kaybern uses dark magic by offering blood and sacrifice. It won’t be good if more players die.

– Heroid: Let’s tell the players to run for the Bingryong Square while they’re at it. The city will turn to waste and we won’t be able to do anything about it if they all run in every direction.

– Boemong: They’re going to die anyway, so have them come to the ambush site!

The atmosphere of the Hermes Guild too was becoming hasty.

Kaybern’s barrage of spells were blowing away the Hermes Guild members along with the random selection of buildings.

Magic explosion, trembles, screams.

Everything that was happening in Morata was like that in a war zone.

– Swift Coldwind: Kaybern is now on the Hill of the Artist and continuing the destruction. From above, the scene of the Black Dragon wreaking havoc is a true spect… Hmm, mmm. I apologize. Anyhow, it is causing great damage to the city.

There was a scene that also unfolded in Weed’s mind.

Black Dragon swinging its tail, smashing buildings and destroying with magic.

It was utterly simple but the speed was so incredible that it could make a city disappear in an hour or two.

He imagined the destruction of Morata, players dying one after another, black magic charging to random explosions.

Kaybern’s attack was truly about to be unleashed as its main talent was dark magic.

“Sigh, this stupid world… Why can’t things go my way for once? I laid down so many baits and they were completely ignored.”

The Hermes Guild possessed an independent chain of tactical command in this battle.

With Bard Ray and Arkhim’s presence, it was intrusive to give orders to their forces. Furthermore, he believed that they had coordination from their companionship and will fight better on their own. But, that was only if the dragon came to the ambush site for the Hermes Guild to pour everything they had.

“Now who would be willing to step up in this situation… Of course, only me. Everyone, wait here.”

Weed told the dwarves to stay put and walked out to the street.

“Kyaaah, help me!”

“Run! Kaybern is using another spell.”

“Evacuate, evacuate!”

The screams coming from the direction of the Hill of the Artist told the urgent situation.

Weed let out a roar and sprinted to where Kaybern was located.

– Listen up you smoked lizard! I, Weedhand, who robbed your house, am here!

Chapter 3: Kaybern’s Rage

– Worthless humans. Try and resist this!

Kaybern whipped its tail and kicked down the buildings that were raised in Morato, leaving nothing but dust in its wake.

“Kyaah!”

“Run, run away!”

People scattered like ants with each building that crumbled.

When they saw Kaybern, they froze in their spots.

– Humans, bearers of the seed of sin. Uphold my mighty presence until your dying moments.

Kaybern enjoyed watching the terrified humans.

– Gravity reinforcement!

At once, the weight of everything in sight became 5 times greater.

The players were crushed to the ground, the buildings crashing and demolished simultaneously. The pillars broke in pieces and scattered everywhere.

“The magic reached all the way here…”

“Hurry and get out of here!”

Morata had the highest population in all of Versailles.

The novice players that comprised most of the population did not evacuate the city.

The hope of witnessing both Weed and Bard Ray in action gathered even the people from the Central continent and Rohaim Kingdom.

Some of the players that gathered over several days had escaped out the city gate, but the majority had ignored the evacuation order and stood right inside.

“Uwaah!”

“H-have to get to Bingryeong Square…”

“My house! The financing isn’t over yet.”

“What is this? Seriously!”

– Flame Shock!

Kaybern’s magic ripped through the city and killed close to a thousand players and the impact caused hundreds of buildings to collapse.

The players outside the range of the magic spell began to run in panic.

– Humans, you are amusing. Faster, run faster!

Kaybern set up a wall of fire and trapped the players. Then it swung its forelegs and tail, continuing the slaughter.

– Chain Flames of Blood!

The players caught on fire and exploded.

When the streets were finally devoid of players, the Black Dragon destroyed the nearest buildings and murdered the players that scrambled outside!

Morata was quickly becoming a ruin like the middle of a movie of natural disaster.

“We are going to get caught!”

“This is nonsense.”

“Let’s get away for now!”

The players too knew that the battle was turning for the worst because of themselves.

There were some that smartly turned towards Bingryeong Square, but most couldn’t run far before they got snatched by Kaybern.

– Magic Storm!

The power of mana developed into a twister under the dragon’s magic.

Despite being an intermediate level magic spell, it created a magic storm that spanned over dozens of meters in radius, destroying structures in its path.

“Damn it all!”

Reverse bolted outside as soon as the building in which he was hiding began to shake violently, as he had to avoid being buried under it.

“Of all places in this huge city, why does it have to be my house?!”

In a normal, peaceful timeline, he would have observed the battle in reality while drinking a cup of sweet hot chocolate.

However, he started Royal Road in Morata and he wanted to experience a massive war entirely. His desire led to the purchase of a house near the Hill of the Artist with an open view. He felt with his skin the saying that one needed to own a house in Morata to be truly associated as a citizen of the city.

The house that he decorated with ornaments from the market was destroyed by Kaybern’s magic spell and now all that was left was survival.

“I hope I can safely get away from this.”

He had faith in the few equipment he had bought with real currency.

The Mustang Boots that he purchased off the auction site boosted the acceleration greatly once the wearer began running.

“I just have to avoid being seen. Then I need to get away as far as possible.”

Since other players were around, he believed he would get to safety if he turned into a nearby corner of the street. Still, despite how distant the dragon was, he was made to realise just how low level he was.

< You have confronted an absolute terror that paralyses even the soul.

Health points decreased by 94%.

Mana has been locked.

All skills are silenced.

Your body has been immobilized.

Terrifying pressure is being applied.

540 health points decrease per second. >

“What the hell is this?”

He felt like a mouse running from a cat.

The low level players died on their own just by being in proximity of the dragon!

“For all the ways to die, that is just…”

Reverse squirmed to free himself, quickly realizing that it was futile and gave up all hope of survival. He had to accept the fate of standing frozen and get swept away by Kaybern’s spell aimed at other players.

By the looks of it, other novice players shared the same fate.

“Hahaha. The dragon is really strong.”

“agreed. I can’t really ask to be saved.”

Players that were able to run at all were not complete novice players, but had some backbone.

The ones rooted to the ground or taking laborious steps were undoubtedly novice players.

Reverse and the other novices exchanged eye contact and smiled bitterly. Magic was in control of the surrounding and it seemed impossible to survive.

“I believe we’ve met before. Aren’t you the man next door?’

“Yes I am.”

“It seems this is our end.”

“I planned to spectate in Morata, but I guess I have to watch through the broadcast.”

He conversed with the neighbors in lost hope, but it was that moment!

– Listen up you smoked lizard! I, Weedhand, who robbed your house, am here!

A powerful shout echoed from far away!

Kaybern in the middle of stomping a building with its forepaw turned in the direction of the shout.

– You robbed my lair? Dwarf!

The Black Dragon spanned its massive wings.

Powerful winds swooped through its surroundings and put out some of the fire.

– I was looking for you even if it meant killing every last dwarf on this planet. At last I found you!

The dragon did not linger on the players it was slaughtering up until that moment. It immediately surged hundreds of meters into the sky and flew to the origin of the dwarf’s voice.

< The excruciating pressure has been lifted.

34 health points will recover per second. >

The novices caught their breath and spoke.

“Are we alive?”

“The dragon left.”

“You’re right. We barely survived.”

Reverse could not move just yet, but he did escape death. Soon enough the paralysis would lift. More importantly, he saw players climbing to the roofs of the hideouts.

The players that hid and ran rushed out to the streets.

“Weed-nim! Weed-nim called out Kaybern”

“Woah! Kaybern is about to attack.”

“It’s Weed vs. Kaybern!”

*****

Weed expected that Kaybern would react.

‘I’m sure the appearance of the lair robber drew some attention.’

He used a roar to reach Kaybern’s ears.

– Listen up you smoked lizard! I, Weedhand, who robbed your house, am here!

The players screamed, buildings collapsed and magic spells exploded.

All sorts of noises fogged up the battlefield and there was room for some incoherency.

– Kaybern. I’m going to kick your a…

Weed was not even half way from reaching the Hill of the Artist, but he saw Kaybern flying up.

– Dwarf!

It was a sound packed with fury that could be heard all across Morata.

Countless players ran across the vast city.

Kaybern’s vengeful dark eyes were projected precisely on Weed.

– I finally found you!

The ground-trembling voice of the dragon was menacing like the boosted audio from a horror film.

The dragon spoke with the blazing buildings of Morata under its black wings.

It was a feeling of intense pressure!

– In the name of dragons, I will shred you into a thousand pieces, dwarf!

Kaybern began its descent immediately after its speech. It was at incredible speed.

“I knew I got its attention, but it’s going to be a disaster if I screw this up.”

Weed quickly rolled his eyes.

The Hill of the Artist was still quite the distance away and so was the Bingryeong Square. He was caught awkwardly somewhere in the middle of these two locations while Kaybern was flying towards him.

“Kaybern, I too was waiting for you!”

Weed boastfully drew the Loa sword for the time being.

‘Me fighting here alone when the army is in position is plain stupid. I have to get away somehow and lure it to the townsquare.’

He collected his breath and loosened the tension in his body.

The weaker players froze up just by looking at the dragon up close, but he was well beyond that level.

He even possessed the title ‘The Man Who Confronts the Dragon Fear’, and the Lightning Crown was expected to be some help.

‘My level and equipment are well prepared. So…’

There was no more time allotted for Weed to think calmly.

Kaybern’s shadow clouded over him.

– I will make you suffer dreadfully.

The dragon’s rear leg came down like a piledriver from the sky!

Weed tossed his body forward and tumbled.

Shwaaaack!

The sound of its claws ripping through the air was horrendous.

The rear leg attack that missed its target crashed into a three-floor concrete building.

‘Dodged one… Eek!’

Weed instantly kicked off the ground and passed through a dimensional gate.

This time the tail smashed by a hair’s breadth from him.

The concrete boards of the road cracked and popped into the air and there was no moment to catch his breath.

– I will kill you.

Kaybern descended to ground level and began charging after him.

– I will squash you!

Weed ran on all fours as fast as he could.

“Four-legged sprint!”

As the dragon chased Weed, its wings spread wide and destroyed all the buildings in its way.

Weed was experienced in battles against humans and monsters. But, Kaybern was so massive that its attacks were bigger than Weed’s field of view and he was delayed in confirming the type of attack.

– Swift Coldwind: It’s a tail attack! Leap high!

Crash!

As soon as Weed jumped, the tail swept the ground under him.

– Swift Coldwind: It’s the mouth this time!

He checked too with his own eyes but it was already tough enough to avoid the attacks.

The avian’s assistance was timely.

“Ta-ha!”

Weed spun in midair and soared through the dimensional gate.

Tack!

Kaybern’s teeth clacked shut just behind him.

‘I can dodge them if I can free myself from the effects of the Dragon Fear.’

The dragon’s physical ability was incredible, but its moves were big and simplistic and therefore it was possible to evade by moving early.

If thousands of players were attacking the dragon at once, many would be wiped out with a single attack, but if it was just himself it was possible to escape.

– You can’t get away! Glacial Cage!

C-c-crack!

Ice pillars began to protrude around Weed.

“Oh, crap!”

The roads split apart by ice pillars followed by a chain explosion. The ground turned into an ice field in a 300 meter radius.

Glacial Cage freezes your body.

Movement speed decreased by 36%.

Under the curse of the dark magic, your body freezes and begins to rot.

Combat strength decreased by 22%.

Health points decrease by 740 per second for a duration of 25 seconds.

Weed took several more steps before his feet froze to the ground with reduced movement speed. With no other option, he stepped on the ice pillar and leapt.

I caught you this time!

– Swift Coldwind: I believe it will be your rear this time.

There was no further explanation, but he knew instinctively of what was coming.

G-g-g-grung!

Kaybern planted its feet into the ground. Then the dragon gaped its mouth wide and threw its body at Weed.

It was a grave moment!

“Call Death Knight Van Hawk, Call Vampire Torido!”

– I have been sum…

– I have arrived to…

“Stop the dragon!”

Weed tossed Van Hawk into Kaybern’s mouth.

Despite being a high rank undead abyss knight, it remained impossible to face the dragon alone. But, there was an underlying trick.

– Pwack!

Kaybern spat out Van Hawk and howled in rage.

– How dare a lowly undead dirty my mouth!

The dragon despised the undead!

For the dragon, Death Knights and lowly skeletons were all equally unpleasant, even if it was just for an instant, the dragon was infuriated.

– I must… protect the master.

Van Hawk was ejected harshly onto the ground and lifted his sword nobly.

The Death Knight stood firm against the massive Black Dragon!

His old cloak was ripped in many places and fluttered anxiously in the wind; his helm and armor were imperfect but were bolstered by the strength of his will.

– Dark Fighting Spirit!

Van Hawk emitted a smoke-like fighting spirit and raised his attack power.

– Devastating Charge!

Splat!

The courageous Van Hawk was instantly recalled by the force of Kaybern’s stomp.

In that moment, Weed hung off the leg of Torido who had transformed into a bat and was able to escape the effects of the Glacial Cage.

– You will not get away!

Kaybern wrecked the ice pillars with its body and began the chase once again.

The ground was a slippery ice rink that Kaybern crushed completely beneath its heavy steps.

“Torido, I have a task for you.”

– Anything except for charging at the dragon. Say it, master.

“Do exactly that.”

– Just pull my fangs out instead.

“Yeah, I outta pull them out and toss you to the dragon.”

Torido quickly transformed back to vampire form.

– Blood Torrent!

– Insolent vampire… Chain Explosion!

He delayed Kaybern for about 2 seconds before being scorched to a crisp.

– You run pretty well for a dwarf rat! Explosion! Explosion! Explosion!

Weed’s path began to sink 30 meters down.

The buildings sank along with the ground!

It was like an obstacle course, but there was Kaybern close on his tail.

“Four-legged Srint!”

He shifted directions, leapt and travelled through the dimensional gate consecutively, causing confusion.

Kaybern, after seeing Weed escape like a slippery eel, used a guided fire magic spell.

– Flames, respond to my call. Burn down my enemy!

The aura of fire swept in from every direction and ignited Weed’s body.

“Aaaaagh!”

– Squirm more. You lowly dwarf!

“K-aaagh. Ahhhh!”

Weed kept his head forward and ran vigorously even with his body on fire.

< You are suffering from the purification of fire.

Health points decrease by 570 per second. >

‘This much is not too big a loss for me.’

He took very little fire damage due to the Goblet of Flames. He acted like he was in pain as he ran towards the Bingryeong Square.

His suffering seemed so real he could win an Oscar.

He became a living flame, tripping over his feet and even rolling on the ground. Still, he passed through dimensional gates and ran consistently.

– Stop right there! Soul Shackles!

< Your soul was forcefully chained.

Movement speed is reduced by 85%.

Combat ability and health points are reduced the further you travel from the current position. >

He fell under a restraint spell with just 400 meters between him and the townsquare!

The effects of Glacial Cage had not worn off completely either.

Weed utilized the dimensional gate but his speed was slow as a turtle.

– Swift Coldwind: Kaybern is closing in fast.

Through the rumbling of the earth, he felt the presence of Kaybern.

Morata’s concrete roads shattered like puzzle pieces and buildings were knocked down by the impact of the dragon’s body.

‘What to do… What if I use Time Sculpting?’

The battle against the dragon was only just beginning and he was already resorting to Time Sculpting

– I have you now!

A moment of hesitation allowed Kaybern to catch up to him.

The enormous dragon’s charge even on the ground was formidably quick.

– Swift Coldwind: K-Kaybern is… You have to get away right now!

“This is a do or die now…”

As Weed turned his head to look behind him, Kaybern’s long jaws spread open like a flytrap and approached rapidly. The fangs were clearly visible, and the odor was disgusting.

– Oberon: Weed-nim! It’s me!

That instant, the voice of heaven fell upon him.

Wooosh!

A steel spear sliced through the wind!

Oberon’s spear barely missed the dragon’s left eye and stuck into its face.

– Dwarf! A dwarf again!

Kaybern checked the wound on its face and fumed with rage.

The Hermes Guild members that were waiting in Bingryeong Square were all positioned on the building roofs.

“We’ll take it from here.”

Bard Ray’s words sounded like a pledge.

*****

The Hermes Guild had joined together with the Arpen Empire.

Their pride as Royal Road’s most powerful warriors remained.

‘We fought against the entire continent and lost. That isn’t something just any guild can do.’

‘Arpen Empire’s great lords? Who do they think they are? The clowns that couldn’t even meet eyes with us during Haven’s reign have met a good era.’

‘The Hermes Guild is the top. Our time will come again. I will make sure it does.’

With Bard Ray as the center, Arkhim, Boemong, Greiden, Gaushu, Lamifter and more. Players infamous across the continents were common in the Hermes Guild.

In order to protect the Haven territory and maintain their factions, they decided to take the hands of the Arpen Empire.

They heard enough of Lafaye’s concerns about the Hermes Guild splitting apart and weakening significantly. These were legitimate issues.

‘Still, if everything goes according to plan, where is the fun in that?’

‘If we have the sword in hand, we can deal with any variables that may rise. There is no guarantee that the Arpen Empire won’t fall just as we did.’

‘We are the best. We will grow our forces from inside the Arpen Empire and wait for the next opportunity.’

The commanders and lords of the Hermes Guild did not give up.

After the defeat at Garnav plains, they were disheartened. But their situation wasn’t that bad.

It was the greatest faction filled with players with the best skills.

If they were to display their true power in the dragon hunt they could mesmerize all players, so that the name of the Hermes Guild would shine once again.

Meanwhile, they had to stay under the influence of the Arpen Empire, but competition against the other great lords was plain meaningless.

“All make preparations for battle.”

When Bard Ray’s order came, the Hermes Guild members were already prepared for combat.

Even when the dragon was causing utter destruction, they weren’t afraid but instead they held their breath for the right moment. They believed they stood a chance if a perfect net could be set up.

Gaushu held up the Spear of Death.

“I’m sorry for Lancelot but… Weed’s presence is on another level. I’m sure he will understand us doing a little bit to save Weed.”

Slaughter Calcus held a sword in each hand.

One was for thrusting into the dragon’s body. It was a demon sword that leeched the enemy’s blood and health points and converted them into damage.

It was a weapon that was sealed for a long time, but he unveiled it for the dragon.

“We could abandon Lancelot, but not Weed-nim; what we do must be for the future of our Hermes Guild.”

If Weed were to die in the battle against the dragon and the Hermes Guild come out ahead, the outcome was clear. Those already despised by the world would be surrounded by all sorts of dark rumors.

– Bard Ray: We will prove our strength so no one will dare question us. That is the way of the guild that I lead. Understand?

The Hermes Guild had gathered with the intention to win against the dragon.

They did not think of any other possibilities.

Indeed, they had complete confidence to come out as winners.

They were Royal Road’s most powerful warriors.

‘My sword is the only thing I trust.’

The god warrior Bard Ray commanded them.

In politics, territorial expansion and many other fields, they had always walked the path of conquest.

*****

Weed was able to slip away as the Hermes Guild began their engagememt.

“Watching a fight is always fun.”

The Hermes Guild vs. the Black Dragon Kaybern!

A truly intriguing fight.

It wasn’t at the Bingryeong Square where they originally planned, but the main street close to the shopping district which would all be turned flat with the start of battle.

– Cavalry advance!

The Hermes Guild cavalry pointed their spears and began galloping forward.

Neigh!

The steeds had their eyes covered with patches and earmuffs.

It was to prevent them from sensing the dragon’s presence to ensure that they only respond to the knight’s orders.

The knights from every street corner joined at the main road and charged at the dragon.

“Ready spears!”

“Throw!”

The knights released their spears in one motion, sending them soaring toward the dragon.

– Raging fire, Global Thunder!

Kaybern cast advanced fire, thunder, dark magic, ice and wind type spells wildly.

AOE spells ranging from dozens to hundreds of meters in radius caused huge explosions.

Crrrrumble.

Morata’s buildings fell like sand castles and knights were flung into the air.

With each strike of lightning the road was carved deep and dirt flew all over the ground.

Dozens of electrified players fell simultaneously.

“It will be dangerous but stick as close as you can!”

“The wings are our first priority. Do not go for the body, but its wings.”

Thousands of Hermes Guild members gathered on the rooftops.

They swung their weapons from the ground and also flew through the sky and latched onto the dragon’s body.

“Power Smash!”

“Take this on for size. Piercing Pain!”

The skills used by the Hermes Guild members were fantastic

Rankers famous throughout the continent were common to see.

It was worth noting that the players who succeeded in climbing on top of the dragon used only three skills.

The Hermes Guild conquered the Central Continent and acquired various powerful combat skills. They were using the skills with the highest penetration possible.

Weed watched from afar, impressed by the spectacle.

“They do fight well. They were well prepared it seems… Like diligent students that poured everything into the exam preparation. That is why they had the Central Continent in the palm of their hands.”

With each spell cast by Kaybern, hundreds of players died.

– Imprudent humans… Wind Slash!

Even then, the Hermes Guild refused to let up, proving that they had earned their reputation.

“It’s doable. Everyone on the offensive!”

“Kill the dragon! I will take the honor!”

Back at Garnav Plains, their morale had been at its worst even before the war began, but now that they were fully prepared, it was an entirely different story.

– 1,000 lords of the Arpen Empire!

With a good show in just one battle, they could become lords. It was well worth betting their lives. All the broadcast stations and the viewers were excited.

– That is the real side of the Hermes Guild.

– They have regained some of their image from when they reigned over Versailles.

– Still, they didn’t reach the North. They got their butts handed to them.

– The guild is strong because of a minority of elite members… Well not really a minority because it’s certain that they are the strongest faction. No one can fight as well against the dragon as they are doing.

– The assault squad of the Central Continent players also fight well.

– Nah… There is still a gap in skills. I bet the Hermes Guild ran boss monster raids thousands of times.

They fought so valiantly that it drew out cheers from the viewers.

Whenever the Hermes Guild members got overwhelmed by magic or got killed by the swing of the dragon’s tail, the heat of battle raged even more violently.

– How pesky and foolish you are! Mere humans thinking they could defeat me!

The buildings of Morata were kicked around by Kaybern’s feet. Buildings quite a distance away also fell apart from the shock and effects of the magic spells.

“K-ugh. The buildings that I built with my sweat and blood…”

Weed felt his money dissipating into thin air and despaired.

Spectating a fight was the most enjoyable experience, but the playing field had to be Morata of all places!

– You are all truly insignificant! All of you, die!

Kaybern roared under the burden of their concentrated attacks and sent out a wave of Dragon Fear.

< Your physical abilities are restrained under the Dragon Fear.

You feel an inevitable presence and fear.

Health points are reduced by 36%.

Paralysis spreads throughout the body.

Movement hindered!

You are immobilized for 9 seconds.

Lack of Wisdom hinders use of skills by 87%.

Skills consume more mana and have a higher chance of failure. >

The Hermes Guild members that were fighting formidably fell under paralysis and fear all at once. The roads were pulled apart like rugs and the buildings crumbled to the ground once again.

“D-Dragon Fear…”

“Wow… This is incredible!”

The spectators in Morata felt their breath tightening even from afar, soon collapsing to their death. All the novice players within a 1km radius that did not evacuate in time were massacred.

The Hermes Guild members also suffered great damage. Still, their experience meant that they were well prepared.

They had already fully equipped themselves with equipment that enhanced Fighting Spirit and moved quickly due to blessing spells from the priests.

“Keep attacking! Don’t give room for the dragon to recover its mana!”

Under the orders of the commanders, the Hermes Guild members fought onwards.

They were putting everything they had against the greatest enemy that was the dragon.

The hextech cannons placed on top of the defense towers also began activating.

“Fire!”

Cannon shots of light flew and pierced into the dragon’s body.

“Archers. Fire!”

The combination of melee fighters and the flurry of arrows from the archers stationed on every rooftop. The mages too chanted their spells and fired hundreds each second. Fierce firepower was concentrated on the dragon.

“It’s truly bitter that Morata had to be the battleground for a war of this scale.”

Weed was in pain as he watched the destruction of the buildings.

The shantytowns in various locations within the city were emitting black smoke.

The buildings around the dragon were completely destroyed, and magic spells were exploding one after another; no building in sight was intact.

“If we overcome the dragon, I’m sure we will be able to rebuild the city by selling every bone we take from it.”

The dragon’s bones were the most dense material for weapon crafting. From the negotiation with the Hermes Guild, the materials from the dragon’s corpse was to be used to fund repairs to the city.

“Naive folks… I hope they won’t get ripped off.”

It was only natural that most of the materials would be misappropriated due to things like overestimating the construction costs!

Even the Hermes Guild that reigned over the Central Continent would have never experienced such embezzlement.

– Pale: The assault squad is awaiting combat. The Hermes Guild sure fights well even without using the Brazier of Sacrifice.

Pale, equipped with legendary level archer armor and the high-elf bow crafted from the World Tree, led the ranged unit of the assault squad. He had obtained the World Tree Bow after rescuing the elves.

Weed spoke while his eyes were fixated on Kaybern.

“Mmm. We trained the assault squad diligently but it seems that the Hermes Guild still exceeds us in terms of combat power. There is no group better at killing boss monsters than they do.”

He felt refreshed each time a Hermes Guild member died but he also yearned for the quick defeat of Kaybern.

– Pale: Shouldn’t we move onto stage 2 right about now and use the Brazier?

“That call is for Bard Ray or Arkhim to make.”

The Hermes Guild still opted not to use the Brazier of Sacrifice. It was a matter that needed to be determined firsthand in battle.

“I guess it would be wise to use up its mana. It’s quite the scale though, this battle.”

– Pale: Will Kaybern continue to fight us on the ground?

“Judging by the progress, I believe so. It will have great faith in its dark magic.”

Although the attack of the Hermes Guild was fierce, the dragon was a mighty creature.

The magic spells were almost powerless despite their dazzling effect.

There was a definite reason as to why Kaybern kept the fight on the ground.

– Hail of Darkness!

Kaybern activated the ultimate dark magic spell.

It was a spell that sacrificed the lost health points and the dead during the battle.

The darkness spread like a pulse in water and sucked out the health points of the Hermes Guild members.

“Divine Barrier!”

“Sacred Affection!”

“Magic Reflect”

The Hermes Guild was prepared for the Hail of Darkness. The blessings and protection spells from the priests withstood against it, but thousands of players died regardless.

The brutal dark magic reduced their forces greatly.

“Do not fall back! Push!”

“Climb on top of it.”

The warriors of the Hermes Guild were bold as ever, even after witnessing the magic at work.

Taking advantage of the period of calm after the massive AOE magic spell had been cast, they climbed onto the dragon’s legs and wings.

“I am Slater! Shocking Smash!”

“Have a taste of the Piercing Flash from I, Ultar!”

Out of my sight!

Kaybern flipped its body and flapped its wings but the clinging warriors did not stop attacking. They stuck to the dragon like leeches and whenever it was inattentive, more Hermes Guild members climbed to attack.

– I am sick of this. Absolute Explosion!

Kaybern activated an ultimate fire magic spell this time.

Small red dots formed near the dragon and spread rapidly into a huge explosion.

Several hundred of the Hermes Guild members were scorched to ashes along with Slater and Ultar but even more of them charged at the dragon.

“Wind Walk!”

“Guardian of the Sword!”

“Star Wish!”

The players with the priests’ blessings projected their spears and swung their swords.

Each attack from Kaybern inflicted damage to several hundred players both on the ground and in the sky.

*****

“K-hmm. Incredible.”

“As expected of the Hermes Guild.”

Mibullo, Drago, Miretas were observing the fight from the tower in the faraway Yellowy Square.

These three individuals were at the pinnacle of architecture, sewing and farming respectively.

They were a good 3, 4 km away but the dragon was sizable despite the distance.

“Something is coming this way.”

“Avoid it!”

At times, a magic spell landed somewhere nearby. Dozens of buildings crumbled and turned into a huge fire, but were dealt with immediately by players.

Miretas asked out of curiosity.

“There are so many people. How many are still left inside Morata?”

“I’m not certain but… Most of my acquaintances stayed inside.”

For Drago, Morata was his usual stage.

He knew many players and most of them could not resist observing close up.

“They could die…”

“This kind of scene doesn’t come twice in one lifetime. No one can tell if there will be another fight against the dragon.”

Mibullo had a frown all along.

“They failed to lure Kaybern into the target location. The traps we laid in Bingryeong Square will not be utilized.”

The architects made great preparations for this battle.

They reinforced the buildings and constructed defense facilities in case of a street battle, but at Bingryeong Square they installed a special trap.

After Kaybern’s arrival, the entire square would collapse.

Underneath were sharp spears stuck upside down. They were made from the extreme high-grade metal alloy crafted by the union of Morata’s blacksmiths!

Cursed artifacts were scavenged from all across the continents and used by shamans to cast debuff rituals for giant monsters.

It was a collaborative project of architects and blacksmiths, but it seemed to have been for nothing.

“Oh. It’s firing again!”

“It’s fired.”

The players watching in Morata were able to see them; the hextech cannons installed at various locations in the city!

The mana charging cannons at once shot blinding light towards Kaybern.

*****

– Kwaaaaargh! Humans. You brought some pesky devices.

< Hextech Cannon

It charges through the mana of mages and fires a ranged projectile with no elemental attribute.

Physical damage is weak, but it possesses an extremely powerful level of penetration. >

Every time the light from the hextech cannon landed, the enormous dragon stumbled and was knocked back. The dragon’s scales, that looked like a wave of jewels, fractured.

The cannons were discovered in a dungeon with an ancient artifact by the Hermes Guild.

There was no particular reason for not using it. There had simply been no need to do so until now.

In a war, mages and their magic spells were much more effective and were used for a much wider application.

Hextech cannons on the other hand had to be installed in a fixed station, were too heavy for transport and consumed a substantial amount of mana upon use.

Its only advantage was in penetrating the defense of a powerful enemy, which would not be necessary when fighting common monsters.

“4th artillery, 5th artillery. Fire!”

With Arkhim’s orders, the mages fired the fully charged cannons.

– I will slaughter you all!

Kaybern mobilized towards the location of the hextech cannon.

The Hermes Guild members on the ground kept up their attack and climbed on top of its legs and back.

War!

The perfect strategy was unfolding against the dragon.

“The dragon’s act is something. I would have fallen for it if this was the first battle against the lizard.”

Bard Ray objectively observed his guild members fight.

What was the reason for Kaybern sticking to the ground?

For the overly hostile Black Dragon, the best strategy was always to sacrifice its own wounds and quickly plenish its dark magic.

“When the time comes, it will activate either the Mirror of Fate that reflects all damage or cast a lifestealing spell.”

The Hermes Guild had made detailed analysis of the dragon and dark magic.

Life siphoning the casualties; the dark magic that drained health points from corpses.

It was the ultimate dark magic spell that could instantly replenish the dragon’s huge health pool.

It was a whole other level from how the necromancers recovered their health points in small quantities from the undead, but there were downsides.

They searched through all historical references and confirmed the prerequisites for activation which was that there be a huge number of corpses and that a large quantity of mana be consumed.

“Life that sprouts. Unveil the mysteries of life itself! View Life Force!”

Necromancer Grovidun was first to sacrifice his own level and health points into the Brazier of Sacrifice. He adjusted his level to 1000, offered a dark magic ritual and forcefully took a look at the dragon’s health points.

Black Dragon Kaybern

Born from the abyss…

… ….. Death… King… At the castle…..

“….. …”

“Human…..  …”

“….. …”

… Destruction…, … Blood is….., ….. …….

Kaybern….. ……

Health points: 86%/100%

Mana: 71%/100%

Grovidun confirmed the dragon’s status and relayed it on the guild channel.

“Health points at 86%, mana is at 71%!”

After several ultimate magic spells, it still possessed two thirds of its mana!

Even though the warriors and mages of the Hermes Guild had poured out their attacks relentlessly, they only reduced a small portion of its health points.

The dragon was wreaking havoc around the battlefield and its high physical and magic resistances were the reason. Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild also expected it.

They already realized back in Garnav Plains that even players over level 500 were incapable of defeating the dragon.

Chapter 4: The Great War

The elites organized separately within the Hermes Guild, the guild members that signed up to use the Brazier of Sacrifice were gathered in Yellowy Square.

“Brazier of Sacrifice, I will offer 50 levels and 10,000 health points. Grant me strength!”

“Brazier of Sacrifice·····.”

“Brazier·····”

…

The Hermes guild members were enveloped with flourishing fire.

The Brazier of Sacrifice provided them with immense power!

The main forces of the Hermes Guild over level 500 were burning away their levels and health points.

“My body is light. It feels like a feather but overwhelmingly powerful.”

“I can’t get used to this. I’m just walking but it’s so much quicker than before. I wonder how my skills will turn out?”

“By the level discrepancy, I would say we got about six times stronger.”

“This means we can muster a head-on charge against the dragon. I can put up a good fight right now.”

The players who used the brazier made their pledge of determination.

Burning 50 levels was not an easy decision even for these players.

Regardless of victory or defeat, the losses were final. Therefore they had to take the dragon down.

“Still, we should still be careful. The dragon’s magic is not something you can tank.”

“I’m sure it will be alright as long as it’s not a direct hit.”

“I’m a warrior, so I would be able to withstand physical attacks.”

The giant knight Boemong led them.

“We will wait. As you all know already, we will be sent in once Kaybern’s dark magic is down.”

10,000 elites warmed up lightly as they waited to be fielded.

“Wear this.”

The Mapan merchants arrived and laid down some equipment.

They were items from Kaybern’s lair that could be worn by humans over level 800!

“Are you giving them to us?”

“No. You must return them once the battle is over. Here. You must sign the lease paper. If you want to rent them again, please call the Mapan merchant council.”

“You can borrow equipment?”

“They are not free. They have set prices.”

The Hermes Guild members were amazed with the Mapan equipment.

Some of them were over the level restriction of 900, and what was most popular were the weapons.

All warriors had the thirst for the most powerful weapon with the highest attack damage.

Meanwhile, Kaybern’s dark magic activated near the Bingryeong Square.

– Mirror of Fate!

“Alright, let’s get going. It’s our time to fight.”

“Move out!”

*****

Mirror of Fate.

The ultimate dark magic spell that returns the cumulative damage taken over the last 10 minutes and reflects it against all enemies near the caster!

The countless Hermes Guild members in battle turned grey and dissipated all at once.

Just moments after, Kaybern activated a life replenishing spell as expected.

– Life Siphon of the Dead!

Kaybern absorbed the health points of everyone who died in battle. From every corner of Morata, ash-like streams of aura surged and were absorbed by the dragon’s body.

The body rich in wounds recovered unbelievably quickly and the fractured scales were restored; such a perfect recovery that instilled despair in the players who had been fighting valiantly until that moment.

– Humans, bow down before my greatness!

Kaybern roared with vigor.

The absolute power of dark magic was unexplainable with the standards of typical magic.

The Black Dragon possessed both attack power and an absurd recovery speed, making it even more difficult of a creature to hunt.

However, the Hermes Guild too had been waiting for this moment.

“You all have bided your time well. Now is the time for the real fight.”

Bard Ray shouted. Then the Hermes Guild members responded and raised their weapons high.

– The dragon will meet its end by our hands!

The guild members that were hiding inside the buildings began bolting out.

The fighting power in the early stages were average level within the guild. They displayed fabulous skills but still had more in the kit.

Many players had already died in the great city of Morata.

The dragon was capable of absorbing health points with dark magic, so they played the battle out to test the waters and waited for the corpses and mana to be used up.

“Charge!”

“The dragon will now meet its fate!”

The players that used the Brazier of Sacrifice at Yellowy Square were assisted by flight magic spells and arrived at the spot.

Bard Ray drew his sword. The Glacial Sword sealed with the legend!

< You have equipped the Glacial Sword.

The cold aura seeping from the sword reduces your health points by 100 each second.

Your attacks deal an additional 120 Ice type attack damage.

Consecutive successful attacks will weaken the enemy’s magic resistance and apply complete freeze.

Frozen enemies are immobilized.

Attacks against giant monsters deal 4x damage.

+52 to all stats.

Slows enemies within 5 meter radius.

Perseverance enhanced by 20%.

Skills: Frost Field, Blizzard, Ice Storm, Glacial Impact, Freezing Breath are now available.

The Glacial Sword is dormant.

Awakening the sword in a raging battle will activate a random ice type magic spell on the enemy. >

The sword he obtained when he became an Ironblood warrior; there was no other that could match this sword in all of the guild’s storage.

His hand that gripped the Glacial Sword froze over slightly.

Bard Ray, holding the Glacial Sword covered in white frost, threw his hand high and shouted.

– All charge!

Morata was instantly filled with the shouts from the crowd of guild members.

“To start off… Ice Storm!”

Bard Ray activated a skill sealed inside the sword to signal the start of the war.

A skill that summoned the Ice storm that blows in the Northern regions of Versailles was used against Kaybern.

*  Woo-woo-woosh! *

The winds of the storm born from the ground enveloped Kaybern.

Ice shards revolved in a 500 meter radius and caused damage to the dragon’s body.

“Sword of Nature!”

This time, the secret sword technique split the sky.

*  C-c-c-c-crack! *

Suspenseful sounds came from the sky and soon, thousands of lightning streaks struck Kaybern.

– It is surprising that a human could wield such power. But how dare you direct it at me!

Even Kaybern was astonished by the powerful offensive skill!

After Bard Ray used the Brazier of Sacrifice, his level was over 1,100 when he used the secret sword technique.

He was also equipped with equipment and accessories that enhanced the power of nature.

On top of this, 10,000 players who used the brazier charged into battle.

It was a force that just might succeed in hunting the dragon!

“I can’t trail behind.”

“I won’t hand over the dragon to anybody!”

“The lord seat is just before my eyes.”

The guild members charged boldly at the dragon.

The dragon’s forelegs and tail struck them but they either blocked or leaped over them and continued their advance.

“It’s manageable.”

“It hurts but one hit won’t kill me!”

The Ice Storm and Thunder Strike swept the dragon, but the dragon held up and kept attacking.

* Dum! Dum! Dum! *

The bards led by Marey positioned themselves at the opposite end of the city.

♪♫♬ We sing.

Of victory, honor, love and of the future.

WIth light and joy,

And the courage within, we stand. ♬♫♪

In between the high buildings they had had hidden performance stages with instruments installed.

The performance in the boundless plain.

They used the bard secret technique and spread a pure, honest melody.

♪♫♬  For those opposing the foolish dragon that brings destruction.

The power and courage of the warrior

Is sung by all.♬♫♪

They were a group of thousand bards who passed through an audition.

They encouraged the Hermes Guild members by playing together.

“Recover from all pain and wounds. Sacred Healing!”

“Healing Touch!”

“Heaven’s Light!’

“Revitalize!”

The support from the priests materialised from all around.

The Hermes Guild members kept flashing with light as their health points and stamina were replenished.

“Flames of Blood!”

“Armor of Darkness!”

“Frenzy!”

“Dark Counter!”

The shamans and sorcerers followed up with their buff rituals.

If they could hold down the dragon, they could receive the most powerful assistance from all over Morata

“Kaybern!”

Bard Ray charged through the Ice Storm and Thunder Strike. He equipped himself once again with high-level equipment he prepared to hunt down the dragon

“Power of Creation, Dark Knight Strike, Another Sword!”

He activated the skills that could be called his originals and jumped at the dragon.

“Spear of Annihilation!”

“Empowered Commandment!”

“The Seeker’s Arrow!”

“Piercing Flash!”

At that exact moment, countless ranged attacks were fired at Kaybern.

Bard Ray and his personal guards witnessed Hermes Guild members collapsing all around Kaybern.

– Mere humans. Grand Rupture!

Kaybern, seemingly caught off guard by the sudden attack, chose to cast the ultimate fire magic spell this time.

Raging explosions and waves of fire waged in a several hundred meter radius and engulfed the guild members.

Still, the warriors pushed through with their bodies inflamed. The damages were significant but they did not die.

< The Ironblood resists the vicious fire.

Health points reduced by 31,397.

Ultimate Perseverance reduced damage taken by 86%.

Additional fire damage is nullified. >

Bard Ray stuck his sword in Kaybern’s foreleg and climbed on top of its back.

“Singularity Attack!”

A technique that aimed for a single spot!

It was a skill that he learned to use on the giant monster after having seen Weed perform it.

“Soul-crossing Strike!”

He even activated the skill that consumed stamina and health points and boosted his attack power over 400% temporarily.

After he advanced into the Ironblood warrior, he possessed even more health points and stamina and therefore there was no need to be stingy with the brazier of sacrifice.

Each time Bard Ray stuck down with his sword, the area around the spot started to freeze.

“Protect Bard Ray-nim!”

“We need to distract the dragon, so just keep attacking!”

The guild members carried on the relentless attack from the ground, and many more followed after Bard Ray and climbed on top of his back and head.

– Get off of me! Dark Eruption!

An aura of darkness grew from the Black Dragon and coated its body.

It was a spell that allowed Kaybern to recover its own health points and attacked its enemies simultaneously.

– Arkhim: Disengage that dark magic spell!

“Light of Judgment!”

“Virtuous Purification!”

“Angel’s Blade!”

There were paladins among the guild members on Kaybern. They instantly cast their divine spells and weakened dark magic..

Hundreds of these spells tore down Kaybern’s darkness.

– Get off!

Kaybern shook its body and flapped its wings, but more guild members clambered on top of him than those that fell off.

“We must not give it time to cast the next dark magic spell.”

“Keep hitting. Players out of mana must step back so others can attack!”

A life and death battle was taking place around the dragon.

The warriors that used the brazier focused on attacking the wings.

The magic spells and arrows leased from the distance struck Kaybern and exploded.

The ranged attacks did not cause great damage, but some that occasionally missed the mark demolished buildings and ruined the ground.

The mages in the Hermes Guild also poured their mana into the offensive.

Bard Ray kept stabbing away at Kaybern’s back and cried out.

– We will be victorious. Do not stop attacking!

With every sword slash and spear stab, the damage on Kaybern multiplied.

The attacks from the players under the brazier’s effects destroyed the dragon’s scales and blood spewed from the wounds.

Regardless, Kaybern retaliated in anger and the players were kicked and whipped by its legs and tail.

* Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! *

When Kaybern ran, hundreds were planted into the earth.

– Gaushu: Players who have used the brazier, do not engage from the front. What we need is not defense, but offense!

Those players circled around to the sides and the rear.

The common guild members were the ones to defend the front.

They were sent into the most dangerous grounds, but pushed restlessly with their shields aligned.

*Kuaaagh! *

Kaybern once again unleashed Dragon Fear. However, this time the song of the bards reduced its effects.

Those who used the brazier’s effect only felt slightly afraid but recovered enough to use their skills.

“Good! We can do this.”

“Slay the dragon. The kill is mine.”

The thousand lords that would be appointed in the future were likely to be picked from the 10,000 players who used the brazier.

As many of the leaders would not be able to leave the Hermes Guild, many members felt that their own chances were even higher.

– Arkhim: Do not let your guard down! Keep up the attack!

The players participating in the defense of Morata knew what was coming.

Life Siphon of the Dead was a spell that forcefully drained hit points from corpses!

But now that there were no corpses left, it meant that Kaybern could not recover any more of his health pool.

“Spectators, please stand back!”

“Please evacuate this area!”

The observers hidden in each building retreated hurriedly.

Death was ordinarily one’s own responsibility, but dying in the crossfire now meant that it would aid Kaybern.

“Hurry up and position the relics!”

The players over level 400 recruited by the Mapan Council also ran busily, making hasty preparations.

The Arpen Kingdom had borrowed the relics from 22 different faiths across Versailles such as Freya’s Church based on the contribution level that the empire had reached over the continents.

The objective was to neutralize the dark magic cast Kaybern!

They placed relics around the dragon in order to heighten their divine powers.

– For humans to be this prepared!

Kaybern’s rage deepened even further. It fired consecutive magic spells and flung its tail, but there was no halt to the warriors’ advance.

The dragon’s power was absolute, but having descended into the middle of Morata meant it had chosen the worst location for battle.

Although the Hermes Guild members decreased in numbers, Kaybern’s health was also declining.

– So you humans had some hidden power. But you cannot defeat me. Everything will now disappear.

Kaybern began filling its lungs. It was preparing to unleash the most powerful offensive skill against the human resistance – Dragon Breath.

“Now!”

“Everyone concentrate until the end.”

The appointed time had arrived and the Hermes Guild members were ready.

Taking the hit from the breath straight on made survival unlikely even if players had raised their levels via the Brazier of Sacrifice. But, running was also not much different.

“Attack, attack with everything you have!”

Boemong screamed frantically and swung his dual-edged axe down on the dragon’s ankle.

The short moments after casting dark magic spells and Dragon Breath was when the dragon was in its most vulnerable state.

Bard Ray and the warriors also lifted their swords and slashed the dragon.

“Cut off its wings!”

Thousands of warriors commenced the attack on the dragon’s humongous body.

The violent attack from the guild members drove the dragon that was preparing a breath attack into a rage.

*****

Weed watched the war from afar and was amazed.

“They put up one hell of a fight.”

The battle of the Hermes Guild unfolded with many spectacular moments.

Could any other group engage in such a stormy battle against the dragon?

Their sworn loyalty for Bard Ray raised their morale greatly. Even with shattered armor and deep wounds, they continued to fight.

Of course, their having used the Brazier of Sacrifice was the ultimate reason for their resilience.

“The planning went smoothly… Things went well for now.”

Their plan was to use Morata as bait and lure the dragon to the ground.

After they wore out the dragon so that it resorted to its dark magic, the main forces would be sent in! With the warriors of the brazier as the core, they would proceed to slay the dragon.

“Certainly, I don’t think there would be any better method of dealing with a dragon.”

If it were Weed, it would have been difficult to arrange such a strategy.

A considerable number of the Hermes Guild members had to give up their lives and that was only possible because of their firm system of command.

That was a different scale compared to novice players rushing in, who had very little to lose.

“If I brought just dwarves to confront the dragon, it would have been an unwinnable battle.”

The Hermes Guild forces, at least 10 times more in number, used the brazier and had plenty of support.

“If they can keep this up, it is very likely that Morata will become Kaybern’s grave.”

Weed, on the other hand, felt a bit disappointed.

It was because the dragon was caught in a trap and could not exert its full combat abilities.

Incomparable to humans, it was an unstoppable mage and a giant creature!

Even so, it was unable to display its true power.

– Pale: Weed-nim, I think the Hermes Guild is going to succeed in the dragon hunt.

“It does seem that way. But that’s a dragon. It won’t go without a fight.”

Weed felt disturbed with the battle turning out seemingly all too well. In his life, the times when he had such a feeling led to the most dangerous turn of events.

“Something is very fishy…”

– Pale: Is it that damned fate theory that you always speak of?

“I am not sure yet. It isn’t me that’s fighting, but the Hermes Guild.”

Weed thought that Kaybern falling in the hands of the Hermes Guild was the best outcome.

If the dragon is taken care of, there could be nothing that threatens Versailles for quite some time.

“But, why does it feel so off?”

– Pale: Kaybern is getting ready to fire its breath.

Weed was not surprised by it. It was an anticipated method of attack and the response from the Hermes Guild was excellent. Even with the breath attack, they will continue to fight but minimize their losses. Despite their capabilities, he couldn’t remain a bystander.

“The dragon is a being that has never been hunted down. Just in case, have the assault squad ready to engage.”

– Pale: Understood.

“We don’t know just how advanced Kaybern’s dark magic is nor do we know for certain how this battle will turn out, so we must not let our guard down.”

Weed wanted the war to end with him not using the brazier if possible.

After all, human desire had no limits.

With this battle, if his level does not decline, the gains would be tremendous.

‘It would be just Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild doing all the work. This is the perfect scenario imaginable.’

It was sly and would result in a loss of honor, but stealing the final blow was a given.

*****

Smokey black breath poured out of Kaybern’s mouth.

It swallowed the guild members in front and swept the buildings.

– Die!

The Black Dragon turned its head and spread its breath wide.

The Hermes Guild members tried to avoid it like jumping locusts, but they were too close.

“Evade to the side!”

“Fly up to the sky!”

The players who got away from the radius were also still in danger.

The earth melted and buildings fell apart.

The dragon’s breath was so powerful that a portion of the city disappeared without a trace.

It was difficult to calculate the damage taken by the Hermes Guild members that were close to the battle zone.

The dragon showed its power to its content by killing at least thousands.

“Push on!”

“The Horn of Advancement!”

However, after being exposed to fear repeatedly, one could grow used to it and overcome it.

The players who survived Kaybern’s breath had every right to claim that privilege.

They could desire the combat achievements that would be awarded for slaying the dragon and be known as the greatest hero.

If they could accomplish what even Weed and Bard Ray couldn’t do, their name would spread across the world.

The users of the brazier wanted victory over death.

Krobidyun and Jean and the other necromancers intervened in the battle.

“Everyone, get away. Corpse Explosion!”

“Wake, restless vengeful spirits. Take your revenge on the living and your murderers! Dead Rise.”

The bodies of the guild members who died from the breath triggered a chain explosion and doom knights began to rise from the ground.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“The wounded could have been swept by the corpse explosion!”

The spectators from afar were full of questions, but the explosion too was one of the devices for the Kaybern hunt.

Life Siphon from the Dead was the dragon’s most powerful recovery spell.

With its merciless attack it slaughters humans and absorbs massive amounts of health points from their dead bodies.

It was on another dimension compared to the puny amount of health points drained by the necromancers.

In the Morata Defense meeting, this was one of the topics that required countermeasures.

“The problem is that the dragon will continue recovering its health pool. No casualties is impossible while fighting against the dragon. Even if all the players use the Brazier of Sacrifice, death will be inevitable.”

“We could kill the dragon by enhancing our attacks and kill it before it gets the chance to recover… But even if we concentrate our attacks, it will be extremely difficult in such a small window.”

“The dragon’s magic resistant is innately high, so we must rely on the warriors but it will take time.”

Weed suggested a simple solution to Arkhim and Myul’s concern.

“Dark magic has a fatal weakness. We just need to exploit it well. Much like a necromancer spell, Life Siphon of the Dead requires corpses. So, we just have to blow them up.”

“Ah…”

The corpses could be purified with divine spells,but that was a much simpler method.

The general consensus deemed that the necromancers were useless in the fight against the dragon.

“Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion!”

The necromancers were forced to learn Corpse Explosion.

To reduce damage to the vicinity, it was better to have the novice players take part.

They blew up the corpses immediately and prevented Kaybern from recovering.

The grounds closest to Kaybern with dead guild members were especially dangerous.

Krobidyun and Jean used Undead Summon to raise doom knights in locations with many corpses.

– Master, I am at your orders.

– I am searching for the enemy.

The Doom Knights under the necromancers’ command attacked Kaybern.

They served as distractions from the front where it was most dangerous.

The Hermes Guild members only focused on the battle.

With Bard Ray leading them, they were pouncing on Kaybern that just used a breath.

‘I can do it.’

‘I can succeed in this dragon hunt.’

All of the Hermes Guild members fighting head to head alongside the support units, the assault squad that had not yet engaged and the observing players suddenly felt that victory was obtainable.

“Life that sprouts. Show me all that exists in your boundaries. View Life Force!”

Krobidyun confirmed that Kaybern’s health pool was at 54%.

– Krobidyun: It is at half health. If we keep this up, if we keep attacking, we will win!

The hearts of the guild members were completely filled with fighting spirit.

To win against the mighty dragon.

All firepower was concentrated and it wouldn’t be long before the remaining half is depleted.

– Bard Ray: The world had forgotten. We are the Hermes Guild!

– Bard Ray’s message appeared in the guild channel.

“Huuuwah!”

“Hermes Guild for eternity!”

The guild members in the dragon hunt all shouted in unison and charged.

“Why are they like that all of a sudden?”

“Their morale is at its peak. The vibe is real.”

Neither the assault squad nor the spectators knew the reason, but they had a good idea.

It was the appearance of Bard Ray’s personal guards.

Though their melee combat with the dragon had left their armor fractured and broken, they were pushing forward under the countless arrows and magic attacks.

The heroic display was totally expected.

– I will make you mere humans pay for challenging me. Howling Rage!

Kaybern’s body turned dark red and began emitting incredible power.

The Hermes Guild members on the front lines pressuring it with their shields were the targets of its attack.

As its tail whipped, their shields and armor were torn like pieces of paper, causing guild members between the levels 400 ~ 500 to die. The results were consistent with its foreleg kicks and headbutts.

“What is this? It suddenly became outrageously powerful!”

“K-ugh! Shields press closer! Don’t give it any room to move around or we are all in danger!”

Even the warriors over level 1000 who used the brazier were severely wounded or decapitated by its attacks.

“It’s too strong!”

“We can’t block it, so don’t confront it.”

With every struggle from Kaybern, thousands of shieldmen were pushed away in fear.

It pressured the Hermes Guild with its phenomenal physical strength.

What happened here?

Weed asked the channel with the crucial members of the Morata defense.

– Arkhim: I’m uncertain. It became very powerful after casting a spell.

– Ultar: It is still manageable. If we continue as we had before, the front will hold the line and we will be able to go for its rear by circling around left and right. If we can win, the losses must be accepted.

– Grenol: We must push forward and block off the front as well. We must not let the dragon have an open path!

– Max: Assemble the shield units. We must corner Kaybern completely.

A rather unsettling atmosphere dominated the conversation among the commanders and soon, Weed received the response to his question.

After careful observations, we determined it to be a magic spell that enhances strength.

It was Dain’s answer.

She too was watching from somewhere in Morata.

Weed felt a bit awkward having not spoken to her in such a long time and spoke in a polite manner.

Did it cast the spell on itself?

Yes. Though the scale is different, there is a similar spell in the Shaman moveset. With that kind of power however, it has to be dark magic.

But it doesn’t seem as though that it offered any sacrifices.

I believe it increases strength based on the number of enemies and the cumulative damage taken.

Once it was empowered by magic, Kaybern’s physical prowess was dreadful.

The outrage of a dragon over hundreds of meters tall paved the humans to the ground and caused a massacre.

It was truly a scene of a calamity.

“Uwaaaagh!”

“It’s too strong.”

Players fell like rain running down the dragon’s back and wings and got kicked in mid-air.

‘We just have to take the beast down. Even with this many casualties, if we kill the dragon…’

The Hermes Guild was united in a single idea. Kaybern’s health points are roughly at half.

Having used the brazier that cost 50 levels, one death wasn’t any more significant, so an all-out attack was the only answer.

“We must keep up the attack. There is no room for hesitation.”

Bard Ray was still mounted on the dragon’s back.

Despite the dragon’s tough movements, he spent all his stamina and mana to throw out a  barrage of skills.

Over a hundred guild members were attacking alongside him and they too were in a state of frenzy. The healing and buff spells from the priests were concentrated on them.

“Just a little further! The dragon is dying.”

“The end is almost here. Everyone pull out all you’ve got!”

The commanders roamed the grounds and shouted.

The players standing on top of the enraged dragon had no time to look around, but they could hear the sounds from their comrades.

The users of the brazier too occasionally died under the dragon’s feet or spells. However, many were too deeply drenched in bloody madness to notice the increasing casualties.

– Slater: We can kill it.

– Heroid: Our attacks are working. Keep attacking. We are so close to the success of this hunt.

There was no need for second thoughts.

They themselves knew that their berserk state was the only thing that would help them win.

Towards the end of combat, the great city Morata would be left in severe destruction.The piles of Hermes Guild bodies had no pity.

They had lacked companionship to begin with, but now that they all saw the great achievement of hunting down the dragon right before their eyes they were even more callous.

– Krobidyun: The dragon’s current health points are at 39%.

– Kaybern was taking damage to its health points despite its overwhelming defense and magic defense

– Lamifter: I think we can actually pull this off.

– Boemong: For sure. Kaybern will die today.

– Gaushu: Everyone hold your stations! The offense must continue until the end of this war.

– Krobidyun: I will take care of the corpses as soon as they spawn.

The spectators of Morata were getting worked up.

“There, the Hermes Guild is going to take it down.”

“It looks like it. Nice. Bard Ray really is awesome.”

“Wow, the Hermes Guild is showing its class. The dragon is incredible too.”

“I wanted Weed-nim to defeat the dragon. Still, I don’t need to worry about Versailles falling anymore.”

“That goes the same for me.”

The Absolute Solar magic was long gone and the fire burning down the buildings were almost all extinguished.

The only thing left was to push the dragon to its end.

Weed wasn’t the least excited watching the scene.

‘But this is the dragon. It seems all too easy for it to end like this.’

There was no need for complications.

He did think that it was all because the Hermes Guild forces were extremely well prepared.

The dangerous plan of luring the dragon into Morata succeeded in the end.

Ranged attacks against a dragon were considered to be not the most effective, but the cumulative damage would be significant.

The decapitated players were recovered quickly under the concentrated healing from the priests. The users of the brazier survived resourcefully and led the battle well.

If it weren’t for them Kaybern would have gone on a rampage without a leash.

‘I need to prepare for Kaybern’s final moment. I need to get closer for the last hit.’

*****

“Ch-eeeek!”

Seechwi.

She had discovered the existence of the demon king Cletta and had become very famous.

“Is there anything we could help you with?”

“Ch-cheek!”

The adventurers who returned from the Ring of Fire joined with her in Orcland.

“The Flames of the Champion. Ch-k! We will head there. Chu-ek!”

“Understood. We will figure it out together.”

Seechwi knew that even if they succeeded in hunting down Kaybern at Morata, it wasn’t the end. In order to stop Cletta, they had to take care of the Red Dragon as well.

‘If Kaybern disappears, the possibility of Cletta spawning would be near zero… It would be difficult for Landony to retrieve all the sealing stones.’

Seechwi, instead of rushing to Morata to be of little help, decided on travelling to the Flames of the Champion with a composed mind.

It was a massive fortress defended by patrolling orcs.

“Human. Ch-k!”

“You guys. Smell is bad. Ch-chik!”

The adventurers alongside Seechwi were frowned upon, but they were used to such treatment.

“Don’t worry. We just have to cover up the scent.”

The adventurers rolled on the ground and wore old animal hides so that their scent didn’t disturb the orcs. Truthfully, the orcs were not that sensitive.

“By chance have you seen Landony…”

“Do you know anything about a sealing stone…”

“What is the origin of this city?”

The adventurers diligently gathered information. The orc players were aware of Seechwi’s fame and so they were quick to offer assistance and with their help; they were able to collect the rumors rapidly.

The battle arena in the Flames of the Champion!

Every two years, there is a tournament held to pick the king of the orcs.

When the orcs fall in danger, the great tribal leaders appear.

They will uphold a special ceremony at the battle arena as they promised Batalli.

“The orc warriors fight and the last one standing becomes king.”

“That king reigns over all orcs.”

“Also, the survivor absorbs the soul of the dead orcs and the power of the losers to be reborn as the orc hero…”

Orc hero!

The king who appears at the crisis of the orc tribe is awarded with immense power.

It was that same orc king that would fight against Landony and prevail.

The adventurers were quite skeptical about it.

“The orcs develop the slowest compared to other races.”

“It can’t be helped since they have harsh appearances. If Weed-nim didn’t play as Karichwi, it would have been much worse.”

“The overall standard of orcs is on the low end, so even if they find a king in the arena, I assume that it would be impossible to fight against Landony.”

“The tournament is still a year away. No one can tell for certain what will happen during that time. Also, we have orc Karichwi.”

The adventurers nodded in agreement.

They also thought that it was natural for orc Karichwi to appear and rule over Orcland.

“The competition among the orcs will become intense.”

“Wouldn’t it be worth a shot? Since it is for the dragon slayer achievement.”

“Elves, Dwarves and Orcs. They are all excited. The humans had their cities ruined.”

“I don’t think we need to divide this up into which race is favored the most. Isn’t it true that humans are the most developed of all?”

The adventurers were trying to round up additional information.

They would be grateful for any information on Landony, and there was a chance they could bump into a rare quest at the Flames of the Champion.

“Ch-eek! Ch-k!”

“Dragon! Dragon is coming. Ch-Ch-Chik!”

The orcs at Flames of the Champion were scrambling everywhere.

“No way…”

“Coming here?”

The adventurers panicked and ran over to the fort walls with the other orcs.

An enormous crimson dragon had risen over the horizon.

“It’s real!”

“Landony!”

The Red Dragon flew through the curtain of clouds.

“Chhhhh-eeek!”

“This is, this is bad. Ch-ch-ch!”

The orcs on the wall shouted frantically.

The orcs felt their throbbing hearts but soon felt something strange.

The Red Dragon wasn’t headed towards the orc fortress.

It was flying from the east to the northwest.

It was visible from the fortress, but it flew right past.

“What? Is it to chase down another orc tribe?”

“Then that’s fortunate…”

“It’s trying to recover the sealing stones. But, there is the special orc tribe in that direction… Could it be…”

Adventurer Andol imagined something in his head and shivered.

Chapter 5: Red Dragon Landony

Whilst all attention was focused on Kaybern in Morata, shocking news was delivered.

– Mapan: We are in trouble. Landony is flying this way.

Mapan’s words froze Weed who was comfortably watching the battle.

The Red Dragon? Here?

We’re not 100% certain. But, it is heading north of the continent and there’s a high possibility that it is headed to this location.

The news was delivered by the orcs and the adventurers at the Flames of the Champion.

Many players were gathered in Morata, but others in many other locations around the continent witnessed the Red Dragon in flight.

Currently, the Red Dragon is travelling through the central area of Litton. Then, it will traverse the Neria Sea and enter the Northern Continent.

The Hermes Guild members in battle could be seen hesitating for a moment.

Weed who was filled with desire for the last hit was also thrown off.

It’s unlikely that it would come all this way to kill some orcs in the north. There are only a few cities worth destroying…

There will be a motive for the dragon’s movement. We did not uncover all there is to it… You must also take into consideration that Landony and Kaybern grew up together.

Of course.

Weed could do nothing but agree with adventurer Chase.

As it stood, it seemed that Kaybern, in the midst of battle, likely called for Landony that was much like a sibling,

– Swift Coldwind: Given the Red Dragon’s current speed, it will take about 15 to 20 minutes for the dragon to cross the Neria Sea and make its arrival.

– Arkhim: If Kaybern and Landony join forces, that will be disastrous.

– Calcus: Two dragons instead of one is catastrophic. The Red Dragon is considerably more powerful than the rest.

– Lamifter: Landony is on its way! What do we do?

– Crevolta: Bard Ray-nim! Your orders!

Even in this moment, Bard Ray was fighting valiantly by leading his forces against Kaybern.

He had no attention to spare on chat messages and his actions were already representing his will. He bet everything on the battle.

Regardless of Landony’s arrival, he did not plan on stopping the fight.

“If so…”

Weed realized that it wasn’t the time to be idly observing the Hermes Guild.

He had to be decisive before any more time was wasted, and only he could combine the forces of the Hermes Guild, the assault squad and all the players in Morata.

It wasn’t just the warriors and knights of the Hermes Guild in the engagement.

Archers, mages, bards, priests, shamans, architects, and more.

Players of various job classes were involved in the battle against Kaybern.

It was of utmost importance that he directed their minds in the right way.

“I have to make the most optimal decision.”

Weed announced the message as the emperor of the Arpen Empire.

It was not just players in Morata, but all players on Arpen Empire territory across Versailles were able to hear the message.

– First of all, I give my thanks to the Hermes Guild for their great sacrifice in battle.

To start, he honored their efforts with his priceless words.

As you all may already know, it seems that the Red Dragon Landony is about to arrive in Morata. I do not know how much worse the situation will become once that happens.

He spoke honestly about the added difficulty to the battle.

A lone dragon and a pair of dragons were completely different concepts.

Moreover, the Red Dragon was incapable of using dark magic, but in terms of pure strength it overpowered all other dragons.

The thought of the Black Dragon and the Red Dragon casting spells simultaneously and ravaging the ground was horrendous.

Hence, if the Hermes Guild understands the situation, it is now necessary that all players in Morata join forces in the Kaybern hunt.

Weed had no choice but to forfeit his chance on the last hit.

Morata was already half ruined and there would not be a second opportunity to have the Hermes Guild fight for him.

The guild too was unable to back down. They were on the brink of succeeding the first dragon hunt, and stopping the battle because of Landony was nonsense.

Our objective is to hunt Kaybern down before Landony’s arrival. Then we will proceed to slaying the Red Dragon as well.

Weed’s offer caused a stir within the Hermes Guild.

– Heroid: Backing away now would be the worst. Weed’s offer sounds quite reasonable.

– Crebulta: If we accept Weed’s proposal, we will be able to succeed in the hunt. The timing is cutting it quite close and it will only get more difficult once the Red Dragon gets here. We might be wiped out.

– Heiller: We made it all happen until this point but now you want other players to get a free ride? You’re telling us we should give them a share of the dragon?

– Gaushu: Then do you have another suggestion? Fight or retreat. The choice is one or the other.

– Calcus: How about we end this hunt just on our own? We are not far.

– Heroid: It might still be possible. The timing is a little tight…

– Boemong: We have to decide now. The Red Dragon is flying as we speak.

Chaos waged among the Hermes Guild members.

Even the commanders could not come to a collective agreement and the guild members hesitated as well.

“If Landony gets here, aren’t we all done for?”

“Yeah. Even if we slay Kaybern, we are all dead meat once Landony arrives.”

A considerable number of guild members who had not used the brazier wanted to flee the scene. On the other hand, many saw that it was all possible if they killed Kaybern and Landony in order, though it would be too big of a bite off the apple for just the Hermes Guild to handle alone.

“Bard Ray-nim! What are you going to do?”

In such a crisis, only Bard Ray was capable of choosing the direction for the Hermes Guild.

After losing to Weed, his influence decreased but the God Warrior Bard Ray’s shadow still spread thick over the entire guild.

“We fight. We slay the dragon.”

Bard Ray always led the Hermes Guild to victory. For him, running was not an option unless he was defeated.

The hesitation and contemplation of the Hermes Guild disappeared.

The commanders and guild members decided to follow his choice.

Understood. We agree to Weed-nim’s terms.

*****

Weed watched the battle for a moment.

Bard Ray and the guild were fighting even more crazily than before. If they fought with some composure before, now they stood at the edge of a cliff.

“They became strong.”

Bard Ray’s combat videos on the hall of fame had a clean style to it that was similar in all them. However, his fighting on the back of the dragon felt like a torrent of his emotions.

He was smashed by Kaybern’s wings; struck by magic that left his armor half exposed, but his concentration was manifest in swinging the Glacial Sword.

The dragon’s back was frozen.

This sight raised the hopes of the Hermes Guild.

Bard Ray clinging to the dragon despite the dragon’s violent shaking made the people watch with sweaty palms.

“They were criticized for so many things… But I suppose there isn’t any combat force as good as they are. I better start too.”

Weed arrived at Yellowy Square and got the dwarves to use the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“K-uhh. Just what I was waiting for.”

“Brethren. Cheers. The time has come to hunt Kaybern.”

The dwarves drank a glass of dark beer that could be their last, and they activated the brazier. The short limbed dwarves were lit up and turned into even more of a dense, muscular form as they lifted their weapons.

Weed too, stood in front of the brazier.

“Now I have to use the brazier…”

In that moment, the bulb lit in his head!

‘But I wonder if I have to use the brazier to its full extent?’

He had a flashback of his life like when he fell in grave danger.

His days of youth when he lived in sorrow, the past when he lived like a house centipede.

There were so many events in his life, and he always kept his senses sharp so that he wasn’t exploited by anyone.

‘But what if I tweak around? Just a little. Like burning only 20 or 30 levels.’

Just until a little while back, he thought that it was unquestionable to use the brazier in order to stop the dragon. His level would decrease greatly, but it was a loss necessary to hunt the dragon. He dragged even the Hermes Guild into the plan, ensnaring the fate of the dwarven race and the future of Versailles.

‘That is why if I hold back a bit on the brazier, no one will know.’

If he shows a weak side while fighting Kaybern, everyone would be suspicious. However, would anyone detect a small discrepancy among the thousands upon thousands of players in a huge mess? If he were to somehow get caught in one of the dragon’s attacks, it would be dangerous but wasn’t a problem as long as he avoided it in time.

‘The broadcasts will focus on me. It will be hard not to notice anything wrong.’

Weed thought there was no way of getting away without using the brazier. Unfortunately, he had to equip himself with the legendary items left by the dwarves.

*****

While Weed was plotting his dark scheme, the battle between Kaybern and the guild waged on.

Ranged units began providing support. The assault squad prepared for aerial tactics.

The assault squad led by Pale finally mobilized.

The mages and archers of the squad commenced the attack and players began taking flight.

The warriors had worked jointly with the avian in the main battle against the dragon.

During that battle, the avian were overwhelmed by fear and could not approach the dragon, so the warriors arrived using flight spells.

“Descend!”

“Commence operation.”

The assault squad members were weaker than those in the Hermes Guild, but they had prepared for the dragon hunt for a long time.

They wore high magic resistance equipment and chose weapons that complimented their skills.

A deathblow!

They were willing to exhaust all their health points and stamina with their weapon swings.

The attack from the Hermes Guild was intense and the addition of the assault squad heated up the battlefield.

Barbarian Knatul, fairy knight Malin, Half elf Vishur. The heroes of each race also entered in battle.

“Everyone, keep it up! Our bodies know no limitations!”

Knatul shouted and encouraged the warriors with courage and strength.

Malin used magic to augment the abilities of his comrades as Vishur charged towards the dragon, grasping a dagger in both hands.

The assault squad was relentless just like the Hermes Guild and never stopped their advance even when they were blown away by magic attacks.

“Lift your swords! A second later and that beast may die before we get there.”

Geomchi, the instructors and the 500 apprentices jumped in as well.

The sturdy, muscular, sword-wielding men gathered to hunt the dragon.

It was miraculous that they had just observed the Hermes Guild fight until now without rushing out there!

For these men, an incredible amount of food and liquor was required.

“We are on the move! We won’t even get a grain of bean if we are late.”

“Hahahaha! Let’s go, let’s go!”

“Isn’t this the real showdown with the dragon?!”

“This is a fiesta!”

They activated the Brazier of Sacrifice unconditionally and immediately.

Even if their levels were to suffer, it was well worth it for a wild battle against the dragon.

Some of the players that followed Geomchi and the apprentices closely also used the brazier.

“Oh darn. I think I’m going to regret this later…”

“Let’s do it anyway. We might take a chunk off the dragon.”

“Yeah… I guess that’s true.”

Around 1300 players participated in the use of the brazier.

It was not an easy decision to make since it dropped their levels by 40 or 50.

They led the charge and clung onto the dragon, intensifying the heat of battle.

“Chop it into pieces!”

“Plow through the magic and don’t st…. K-agh!”

“Just push through with your body!”

The Hermes Guild however wasn’t about to let the assault squad take the lead and they fought with a renewed vigour as players from all across Morata flew over to join the fight.

– Humans, your final acts of resistance are laughable.

Kaybern stood high among the ruins and took on the attacks of thousands with its bare body.

Even while taking immense damage, it prepared the offerings for his dark magic magic ritual.

– You will never prevail! Evil Divide!

It was one of the most wicked dark magic spells.

It was activated through a sacrifice on an ordinarily unimaginable scale as well as the offering of the caster’s own body.

Kaybern’s enormous figure dissipated and split into three. Then heaven and earth became shrouded in dark auras and the earth itself was consumed by the growing storm, surging toward the dragon’s form.

Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild members were thrown off their feet and the players who were unable to escape had their health points siphoned off.

“Our attacks aren’t working. Fall back!”

“Do not become an offering to the dark magic!”

The guild members at once retreated to a safe distance. Then Krobidyun’s terrified voice alerted the chat screen of the Morata defense force.

– Grovidun: Evil Divide. What the hell. Have you read about that spell?

– Bard Ray: What is it?

– Grovidun: To put it simply, it’s a cloning ability.

– Jean: Is it a recreation of the Sword Cloning Technique?

– Grovidun: It is similar, but it’s on a different scale. Kaybern has divided into three copies of himself.

– Arkhim: What do you mean by three?

– Grovidun: Until that spell ends, Kaybern is not a lone being. Attack, defense, health points, magical abilities; every one of them is identical in ability to his original form.

A long silence drowned the chat screen of the defense force.

It was a statement that no one wanted to believe, but it was soon confirmed by Mapan.

I have read over the information from the Great Library. I had gathered info on dark magic spells in advance. Evi Divide is said to be able to create a minimum of two clones up to a maximum twelve.

“…”

The Hermes Guild members froze in their spots, and so did Weed who was standing beside the Brazier of Sacrifice.

– Bard Ray: What about their weaknesses? Do the clones have any weaknesses?

– Grovidun: There is no such thing. We must kill all three.

Calcus asked hoarsely as he witnessed the dark storm get pulled into the dragons.

– Calcus: No weaknesses at all?

– Krobidyun: As with all powerful dark magic spells, it does have a drawback. I’ve read that after the spell ends completely, the caster could suffer from hysteria or suffer loss in maximum health points and mana.

Weed sighed after hearing the explanation.

The Red Dragon’s flight had already produced one crisis on top of another, but now they had three Kayberns to deal with.

“This is outrageous.”

The situation had become so dire that maybe they had to consider abandoning Morata and retreating.

*****

“Extremely powerful indeed. Hermes Guild! I want to give them a round of applause.”

“The forces led by Bard Ray still remain strong. They confronted the dragon valiantly.”

“They may commit to a final throwdown before the Red Dragon’s arrival. Joo-wan-ssi, what makes this battle different from the one back in Garnav Plains?”

“It is all in the preparations. I noticed especially the warriors and their equipment. They went all-in for attack damage and magic resistance for this fight.”

“Isn’t it bad with such low melee defense?”

“They compromised on what they could. In exchange, the shieldbearers took on the role of the tank and maximized the guild’s hunting efficiency.”

The commentators of KMC Media broadcast the battle stream against Kaybern and turned up the heat. It was the battle between the players and the dragon with Morata as the backdrop! There was much to see and many spectacles to draw in crowds and create commotion.

Via the players on the ground, the broadcasting cameras were capturing the live footage of the Red Dragon mid flight.

“That is the Red Dragon with its wing spread wide. Its assumed destination is said to be Morata.”

“We are receiving news that Kaybern’s health points are near depletion. If they fight strategically, they could take down Kaybern.”

“As you all may know, victory is not the issue. The fate of Versailles depends on this battle.”

Just when there was hope of the Hermes Guild members valiantly hunting down the dragon, the viewers saw Kaybern cast a spell and watched the live stream be obscured by the aura of darkness that it rolled over the earth and sky.

“What is that spell?”

“It seems to be dark magic. It doesn’t look so good.”

“We have an urgent report. According to the reporter on site… It is a dragon multiplying spell.”

“Multiplying?”

“Yes. Until that spell is gone, there will be three Kayberns.”

“That is just ridiculous…”

“Magic? Physical abilities. You can’t tell me they are all identical.”

“They are… We are literally dealing with three dragons.”

“If three dragons each cast their own spell during the battle… That is absurd.”

“The duration could be short.”

“It is said to last until the end of battle.”

“…”

As Kaybern became three beings, the commentators were at a loss for words.

Just one was tough enough, but now they saw no hope whatsoever.

The viewers discussion board was also in an uproar.

Crazy. What in the world…

Versailles is finished.

Dragons… They are beings that should have been left alone.

This is the worst situation ever caused by the Hermes Guild. This is their fault for destroying the dragon’s egg.

That is not important anymore. If we can’t stop the dragon, Morata is finished.

It’s all over. The real estate of this great city will plummet!

Is Royal Road going to disappear?

I am on vacation at Bellenos. It should be relatively safe here, yes?

If the monsters multiply, no place will be safe.

Let’s go to the port city where we can hold our ground.

The answer to this are the islands. Building a house on a lone island and living alone.

The atmosphere was that of despair!

The prices of items on every auction site crashed and so did the prices of homes.

*****

The fog of dark magic lifted, and the three Kayberns simultaneously triggered Dragon Fear.

– Humans, your time in this world is over.

– Beings that do not deserve to exist. Disappear.

– Only annihilation is left.

The dragons roamed independently and unleashed their AOE spells over the cities and players. Even the Hermes Guild members were quick to flee whenever they cast a fire magic spell or unleashed dark magic.

“Damn it…”

Even Bard Ray grit his teeth and couldn’t process this unreal situation. However, they had come this far and were out too far in the water to turn back now.

“Hermes Guild, attack! Do not back away.”

The Hermes Guild bet everything on the battle against time. The 300,000 guild members in Morata all sprang into battle.

“We too will assist the Hermes Guild.”

The assault squad led by Pale also eagerly joined forces and began fighting against the three Black Dragons.

*****

Weed was uniquely relaxed after the appearance of three Black Dragons.

“Hmm. It isn’t easy as I predicted. Yeah. Nothing is free in this world.”

Once the dark magic spell activated, he was astonished but quickly composed himself.

– Mapan: Evil Divide. According to the records, this is an ultimate spell of dark magic. What’s for certain is that in using that spell, Kaybern had depleted his sacrificial offerings for dark magic and should have consumed a great amount of mana.

– Krobidyun: They each have 16% mana left.

“A dragon should put up this kind of struggle. If it died like that, I would have been disappointed.”

Weed thought optimistically and ended up tossing all 50 levels into the brazier.

From level 539, he reached a temporary level of 1,039!

< The Brazier of Sacrifice has set aflame your hidden potential.

When the fire goes out completely, your level will be decreased by 50. >

It was now all or nothing.

As the Hermes Guild and the assault squad committed to an all-out offensive, the field could not be missing the Arpen Empire’s emperor.

“Yeah. This way, it’s more exciting. This scale is appropriate for a dragon.”

Weed ran to the scene of battle. The three Black Dragons were skirmishing with almighty presence. The region was reduced to dust and unrecognizable. The dragons pressured the Hermes Guild members and the assault squad.

Weed shouted.

“I will take command of this battle from here on out!”

One shout was enough to draw the attention of the Hermes Guild and take charge of the assault squad. He could have just utilized the dedicated chatting channel for the core commanders, but he had to grasp the minds of even the common guild members and the squad.

“It’s Weed!”

“The God of War, Weed has appeared.”

Their expectations for Weed was nothing less than victory!

Weed wanted to pull up a song to further boost their morale, but with the race against time he refrained and shouted quickly to make consecutive call-outs.

“These are three Black Dragons that are weakened with low mana. The assault squad takes the one on the left and the Hermes Guild takes the center.”

His first command was designed to restore organisation.

If the squad and the Hermes Guild cluster over one another, having to be mindful of another group could hinder their combat abilities.

On top of this, he added a comment that would set fire to the public.

“Assault squad to victory! You all have rested until now, so you must hunt this near-death dragon before the Hermes Guild.”

“Let’s go!!!”

“If Weed-nim leads us, of course!”

“Waaagh! What a good day to die!”

The assault squad members were tempered through hell training. With Weed’s presence, they were full of courage in their advance towards the dragon.

They who had felt hesitant and lacked faith in the future of the Central Continent, were reinvigorated by the chance to win against the Hermes Guild in combat achievements.

With that said, the eyes of the Hermes Guild members also changed drastically.

“Hunting down the dragon before we do?”

“Even if Weed leads them. We are the ones who fought until now and yet these schmucks…”

They had scratched the pride of the most powerful force, the Hermes Guild.

It was a childish taunt, but possibly the most sensitive.

“All attack. We will slay the dragon in the middle at once.”

“Commence the attack.”

The guild members began the assault.

They spent their saved mana and stamina, activating their skills with passion.

It wasn’t about the success of the hunt, but the concern of not losing to the other party.

“The dragon is also exhausted.”

“Concentrate the magic spells at its head!”

Kaybern’s stamina also declined and its mana was spent.

The Hermes Guild members climbed aboard its wings ruthlessly and also attacked its tail and back.

“Whoo…”

Bard Ray was a bit uncomfortable seeing the Hermes Guild follow Weed’s command, but soon jumped into battle himself.

What they needed was victory and what was more important was maintaining his title of the God Warrior.

“Their reaction is just too good.”

Weed was quite surprised to see the Hermes Guild follow his orders so well.

“As they say, the smart and strong know how to behave.”

If it was himself, he would have tried to trick his way out of this mess. But these players were serious and doing the best they could to prevail.

“We did get off on the wrong foot, but it doesn’t seem like they’re that bad in nature.”

Weed decided to take on the dragon on the left with the dwarves.

“Alright, it is time to slay Kaybern. Still, take care of yourselves. We must survive at all costs. For the children and wives waiting back home.”

“What? You mean my grim faced wife and good for nothing children?”

“Well then survive so you can enjoy as much beer as you want.”

“If it’s for that, I will be careful.”

*****

“Damn it, shit. Curses!”

Hegel blurted foul remarks as he ran.

B-boom! Boom!

Fire rounds bombarded the very road he was running on.

“Just what is Weed-hyung thinking, trying to pick a fight here?!”

The more he thought about it, the more insane it seemed.

But, all players in Morata were already mobilized and the Black Lion Guild too was triggered.

– Carlise: All Black Lion Guild members attack the dragon on the left alongside Weed-nim.

It was an abrupt order by the guild master.

As soon as they exited the building to join the battle, they saw three Black Dragons in the midst of a merry path of destruction.

All of the Hermes Guild, the assault squad and the dwarves were pouncing on the humongous dragons.

– Roam: Roam Guild too, commence an all-out attack. Do not lose.

Sherwood: We will also fight with our pride.

– Gunt: The dragon will die by our hands. Warriors, raise your swords!

– Mihel: Today we will slay the dragon and begin a new page in history!

The major lords themselves with weapons sprinted towards the dragons.

The battle waged hazily.

A sense of urgency that could scorch everything in existence grew among them.

The other prestigious guilds were mocked for years because of the Hermes Guild. They bided their time, allowed themselves to be insulted and blamed themselves.

Weed ultimately had stimulated competition.

If the Hermes Guild slays the dragon, they will accomplish the greatest combat achievement.

To be thinking about just Hermes Guild, have you forgotten our contribution to the Arpen Empire?

I sure do,  but the players look up to the Hermes Guild even now. Oh how powerful they are. This world is always about competition, isn’t it?

K-ugh. We will advance as well.

The prestigious guilds. It was now impossible to allow their greatest enemy, the Hermes Guild, to go rampant so freely.

“But why?”

The bottom feeders in the guild like Hegel did not know the reason and just had to blend with the crowd.

“I’ll get a head start.”

“Nide!’

In his vision was thief Nide hopping over the fences and debris like in a movie.

“What good is a thief going to do in battle…”

As the ridicule went on, three daggers from Nide’s hand stuck into the dragon’s body.

Nide climbed on the rope attached to the ends of the daggers and traversed to the dragon.

“Damn. I’d say I’m one of the strong ones, but these guys are just monsters.”

Hegel just kept on running with his sword in hand.

The streets of Morata were demolished and scarred, remnants of buildings scattered over the earth.

“Get out of the way. Move!”

The wounded players crawled to make way for others to fight the dragon.

The closer he got, the higher he had to lift his head to see the dark figure of the dragon high up in the sky.

“It’s too big.”

Hegel was intimidated. It looked like the players of each guild were already crowded near the dragon and no room for him to shine.

“Then… Whatever!”

Hegel ran hoping to do at least something.

The dragon’s obsidian leg was unfortunately coming down to stomp him.

You’re in danger. Grab the rope!

Where is the rope…

Whip!

The rope wrapped around his waist and yanked him into the air.

“Ugh. I have acrophobia…”

Hegel complained, oblivious to the fact that he was almost killed a moment ago. Then he met eyes with the dark waving eyes

Kaybern!

Hegel’s floating body had been lifted to the face of the Black Dragon.

“What the heck… Huh?!”

Pat.

Hegel mindlessly landed on the nose of the dragon.

“Nide, you crazy bastard! Why here of all places!”

*****

“What’s he doing over there?”

Weed caught a glance of Hegel sitting on the dragon’s nose and swinging his sword.

Hegel lacked the swordsmanship and the equipment to cut through the dragon’s thick scale.

“Sword of Taran!”

It was funny to see him swinging in a flounder but doing his best, and this display boosted incredible courage in the other players.

“Even that coward Hegel is fighting.”

“That punk. To climb up there… Is he a genius or out of his mind?”

“Just wait. We’re climbing too!”

It was the moment where the fear dwelling inside the players was completely erased.

The Black Lion Guild and the other guilds took control of the ground and opened a path for the dwarves to climb.

“The humans are assisting us. Let’s go, Einhand.”

“I’m Brockhand from the Rock Liquor Storage, you damn dragon!”

“The shining axe of Letonya, Pavahand is here!”

– Dwarves, how dare you lowly pests make way to this place!

Kaybern was enraged, but the dwarves with their stubbed legs repressed their fear and scurried over.

< Dwarf Pavahand activated the Earth Trembling Call.

Endurance is enhanced.

Movement speed is increased by 20%.

All elemental resistances are enhanced.

When near other dwarves, defense-enhancing effects multiply. >

Each and every dwarf was hero level!

They began thrusting their spears and hacking with their axes.

Some were kicked while climbing the legs or flung off the tail.

– Provide healing and blessings to the wounded dwarves.

– Understood!

Weed asked Irene who led the priest unit. From then on, light waves of healing and blessings sparked on every dwarf.

“As I predicted.”

He confirmed that the three dragons were completely swept up in the raging tides of battle.

People thought of competition as something exhausting, but then there was nothing like it that drove them to such exhilaration.

‘Now, I can’t just leave the Hermes Guild to sweep this dragon hunt into their pocket.’

It was time for Weed to step in.

It wasn’t enough to leave the dragon hunt to the dwarves and the guilds.

“Sculptural Destruction! All shall become power!”

Weed converted all his Art points into Strength and shouted.

Just for this battle, he destroyed one of his masterpieces.

“I am Weedhand!”

Kaybern’s clone reacted immediately to Weed.

– You rat! So that is where you were hiding!

In such a dire situation, it still wanted revenge for the robbery of its lair.

– Imprisoning Fire!

Boiling heat surged from deep in the earth.

“Aggh!”

“It’s fire. Dodge it!”

The players of the Loam Guild scrambled. Weed tread over the ocean of fire and picked up a spear on the ground. It was a decent spear dropped by someone in the Loam Guild.

“Spear Throw!”

It was a Novice level 9 spear throw.

“K-agh!”

Hegel hurriedly crouched and avoided the projectile.

It targeted Kaybern’s head but bounced off the dragon’s forehead.

– Worthless dwarf!

Though it didn’t inflict any damage, it sure brought on the dragon’s wrath.

– I swear I will butcher you like a swine.

Kaybern began charging at Weed, ignoring all the players on the ground.

Hegel too in that moment held onto Nide’s ropes, hopped off the nose and was rescued.

– Binds of Pain!

< You are suffering from curse magic.

Fighting Spirit endures the pain.

Health points decrease by 5,400 each second.

The Lightning Crown resists the rooted status. >

This time, the rooting spell was used first so he couldn’t escape.

The dark aura grasped his ankles and legs, but the Lightning Crown negated it.

– Arcane Blast!

Dozens of light rays rained down from Kaybern’s body.

It was unidentified, but a magic spell of great altitude!

“Four-legged Sprint.”

Weed kicked off the building and threw his entire body.

C-c-c-c-crash!

As the roads and buildings got destroyed in a wreck, he travelled through the dimensional gate and avoided the spell successfully.

He couldn’t prevent some attacks but they were deflected by the passive barrier of the Lightning Crown.

“Is this it? This is so mild for a dragon. Maybe you’re the weakest dragon of them all!”

Trash talking every chance he got was essential!

– Kraagh! You will never be forgiven.

Kaybern’s chase shook the earth.

‘A dragon does not carry out an efficient battle. It cannot bear the presence of something that angers it.’

The circumstance was different from when he was dangerously luring the dragon alone.

The dragon was under the attack of the dwarves and other players during its frustrated chase.

“Come at me, you smoked mutt!”

– Hell Fire!

The ultimate fire magic spell. The ground fissured, giving way to raging strands of fire.

The thirst for vengeance seemed so great, having to use an ultimate spell that consumes a huge deal of mana.

‘I can deal with that.’

Weed possessed high magic resistance, holy fire and the Goblet of Flames.

The fire type spells that Kaybern liked to use were most comfortable for him. He suffered little to no damage.

‘Still, it isn’t so dumb because it’s a dragon. It does not repeat a fire magic spell. In any case, I have no time to poke around.’

Weed passed through the dimensional gate and pulled out an axe from behind his back.

< You have equipped the Dragonslayer Axe.

Stats decrease by 10 points at random.

Maximum health points and mana are increased 3x.

5% of damage dealt is converted into health points.

All stats are temporarily increased by 150.

Ingrievous wound!

You may inflict additional damage.

Damage inflicted by axes increased by 80%.

Attack cleave range increased.

Critical strike rate increased.

Great damage reduces recovery rate and inflicts damage over time for 20 seconds.

Defense penetration!

Each successful consecutive strike reduces defense by 15.

Heavy strikes have a chance to inflict permanent defense reduction or lead to armor break.

Reduce the monster’s Fighting Spirit.

Summon Rock Shield skill now available.

Power of axe skills deal double damage.

Rate of skill acquisition during battle is increased.

Attack damage of all nearby dwarf warriors is enhanced.

Strength and Stamina boosting skills have been fully mastered. >

A long status message appeared.

Having converted all Art stats into Strength, his attack damage was the highest in all of history. Moreover, the additional effects of the Dragonslayer Axe were applied.

< You have engaged with a dragon.

Attack damage is enhanced.

Magic resistance increased by 49%.

When taking damage, health points are recovered 150% faster.

You gain immunity to curses and negative status effects.

You are now able to use penetration, break and crushing attacks.

When standing on the ground, you are immune to knockback. >

Weed held the most awesome weapon crafted by the dwarves and their sacrifice.

“I will crush you into pieces.”

Stomp-stomp-stomp!

Kaybern too approached with its jaws stuck out.

– I will swallow you down at once!

Weed saw Kaybern in proximity and leapt into the air.

“Basher!”

It was the most common axe skill.

Devastating strike!

A force that could change the terrains has been inflicted on the enemy.

Strike of vengeance!

Attacks against a dragon deal 300% damage.

The dragon was capable of ignoring just about any attack and could kick or bite an enemy.

Weed’s axe pounded the dragon’s head and forced it back.

– I will kill you! I will make sure of it!

Kaybern cried vengefully right in front of him.

Weed smiled brightly.

“Now we’re talking!”

Chapter 6: Blue Dragon Ratuas

The Hermes Guild knew how to display their combat strength without leaving any regrets.

“Protect Bard Ray-nim!”

“Advance fearlessly. We are the Hermes Guild!”

The Hermes Guild members relished in the frenzy of battle alongside Bard Ray.

Kaybern brandished its tail, but even more players followed, pushing forward through the bombardment of magic spells. Their clothes and faces were scorched like coal as they pushed forward in spite of the poison hanging in the air.

What was fearsome was their concentration on battle! Amid the chaos, they cast powerful skills in sequence and whittled down the dragon’s health points.

– Calcus: The left leg is weak.

– Pindeg: The scales on the underside of the right wing were also destroyed. Physical damage is going right through it.

They shared the weak points of the dragon, fighting with great adaptability.

– Humans! You shall not prevail against me!

Kaybern let out a scream-like roar.

The dragon hunt took place with great performances from those who used the Brazier of Sacrifice.

“We will take care of its rear. Front lines, hold against the attacks!”

“Strike the head. Harass it so it cannot use any more magic spells.”

The Hermes Guild was a complex tangle of different interests based on the origin and area of each player. But at this very moment, their wills joined as one.

– Gaushu: The wings were ruined, weakening the dragon.

– Lamifter: We need to concentrate our attacks somehow and take quick care of it. Mage units advance from your current positions.

The mages emerged from their hideouts and ran forward.

They chanted their magic spells before releasing them in Kaybern’s direction and assisted in the attack.

The spells exploded like fireworks against the Black Dragon’s hide. The dragon still possessed high magic resistance, but they did reduce its health points.

– Pale: Our objective is the dragon on the right.

– Python: I have waited for this moment. Let’s go!

The players of the assault squad charged at the dragon. But, there were a considerable number of squad members still waiting inside the buildings.

They observed the Hermes Guild’s fight with admiration and even felt angry about themselves.

“I honestly don’t have the guts to fight like them.”

“It looks so dangerous. So many people are dying.”

They planned to be the heroes of the dragon hunt, but most of them were intimidated by the way the Hermes Guild fought.

They chose to form small groups and watch instead.

“The Hermes Guild is putting up a great fight. It’s better this way as it has a higher chance of succeeding.”

“And Morata will suffer less destruction.”

“Damn it. It still feels hard to accept. How much work have we all done to hunt the dragon?”

“You’re right. We did an incredible job.”

“Hey man, the Hermes Guild volunteered to use the brazier and fight first, so we just have to sit back and let things take care of themselves.”

The assault squad members realized that their own power was not as significant. The Hermes Guild was doing so well that their participation had little meaning.

“Here we thought we would save the continent with our hands, but we’re just a crowd.”

“This place is the safest. Let’s go help them out when it becomes really dangerous.”

“I guess you’re right.”

While the squad members were hesitating, the battle waged on.

Vishur, Knatul and Malin were extraordinary and countless others showed their skills.

“Players of Castle Vent. All advance for war!”

Oberon also used the brazier and tackled the dragon. The dwarven followers tailed behind him. The observing players further lost the will to engage. The danger of the situation was emphasised by the fact that Kaybern’s resistance brutally reaped the lives of player after player.

The repeated sense of defeat they experienced while residing in the Central Continent was oppressing them.

“Morata is in an irrecoverable situation. Let’s just get out of here.”

“Really? You think it’s alright?”

“Yeah. The novice players are doing that already.”

“People are going to bash on us if we get caught.”

“They’re all swamped. If we change clothes, no one will know.”

The novice players that stayed inside the city to spectate had begun exiting through the gate as the battle grew more intense.

The assault squad members eventually changed into cheap travelling attire and escaped through the gates of Morata.

*****

Weed, who was playing the role of bait,  restlessly assessed his surroundings.

Morata’s urban district was half destroyed in battle.

The 3 and 4-story concrete buildings that had dominated the skyline had disappeared among the sonic explosions, and there was no more meaning to putting the fires out now, given the state of the city.

“Corpse Explosion!”

“Corpse Explosion!”

The necromancers were busily taking care of the corpses.

– Swift Coldwind: Landony has crossed the Neria Sea and arrived in the Northern Continent. Given its route, it is heading straight for Morata.

The dwarf warriors one sidedly attacked the dragon that was chasing down Weed.

“The dragon is getting away!”

“For dwarven pride!”

The dwarves Carlisle and Roam clung desperately to the back of Kaybern’s head.

They had put their lives on the line for this battle. Oddly, the dragon did not take notice of them which allowed them to attack freely.

– How dare these earthworms…!

Kaybern stopped in its tracks and was about to lash its tail at the chasers.

“Your enemy is me, Weedhand!”

Weed also slowed his feet to turn the dragon’s attention back to himself.

“Sword Cloning Technique!”

He quickly drew the Loa Sword, producing 50 clones as he ran towards the dragon.

– I will murder you first. Breathing Flames!

Kaybern welcomed him with a trail of fire from its mouth.

It was not just the the dragon’s firebreath, but one of the ultimate fire magic spells!

< Clones have dissipated. >

Weed advanced in a zigzag movement while the clones melted.

The Crown of Lightning formed a barrier that blocked the fire magic spell.

He kicked off a nearby boulder and leapt close to the dragon’s head.

– I have you this time!

Kaybern’s claws were ripping through the air.

In the most dire moment, Weed activated a Sculptural technique.

“Time Sculptural Technique.”

The final secret technique of the Sculptural arts.

The world froze and the dragon was no different.

A quiet world with all sounds entirely silenced.

Everything occurring in Morata stopped at once like a miracle.

The explosions and general chaos of the war, even the rain of fire falling from the sky.

The city looked like a symbol for the end of the world, even Weed with his limited emotional sensitivity could appreciate its tragic beauty.

The time energy that he had accumulated up to 90,000 was diminishing rapidly.

‘I never got to refill properly after I won against Bard Ray.’

Weed moved 20 more meters and approached close to the dragon’s face.

Hegel did not accomplish it, but he was different.

“Here, take it!”

Weed pulled out the Loa Sword and thrust it inside the dragon’s eye. Then, time was set back on track.

Kraaaaaagh!

The Loa Sword penetrated the dragon’s eye! The holy flames activated and spewed out spouts of fire everywhere.

< Critical Strike!

You have destroyed one of the dragon’s eyes.

You have reduced the dragon’s health points by 563,974. >

*****

“Keep pressing forward.”

“Front line, don’t avoid it! Hold your grounds and look for an opportunity! If you don’t die in a single attack, your health will be restored.”

“Long spear unit, advance!”

Under Arkhim’s command, the Hermes Guild began to push back the dragon with overwhelming force. The Hermes Guild charged like a swarm of bees.

Thousands of troops were waiting to charge, and in the outskirts an outstanding number of players were providing assistance.

Kaybern’s defense and magic resistance was indeed incredible, but thousands of arrows and magic spells were being poured down upon it in an endless stream.

Bard Ray who had been fighting on top of the dragon’s body with the Glacial Sword from the start was still clearly visible. A phrase came out from someone’s mouth.

“God Warrior!”

The nickname originated from back when he conquered the Haven region and expanded his faction to the Central Continent; they had cheered on the God Warrior who had won battle after battle.

“God Warrior! God Warrior! God Warrior!”

That title spread among the Hermes Guild like a contagion. Soon a huge crowd had joined the chanting.

God Warrior, Bard Ray!

He, wearing winged armor, along with his personal guards flew through the sky and attacked the dragon’s body directly. He was hit by friendly fire but endured through it with the healing spells from the priests.

The sight of him attacking the dragon despite all the pain and wounds was that of the absolute and unstoppable Bard Ray that the Hermes Guild cherished.

“God Warrior! God Warrior! God Warrior!”

The morale of the Hermes Guild reached its peak. They volunteered to be in the world’s most difficult battle. Their esteem was surging so high that it blew away the loser’s mentality that they had developed after their defeat at the battle of Garnav Plains.

Arkhim shouted.

“Everyone fight with the will to forfeit your lives! Today, we will become legends!”

The Hermes Guild wildly pounced at the dragon. The faction existed only for Bard Ray and his power. The dragon’s body was cut all over.

– Mere humans!

Kaybern roared and whipped its tail. Dozens of knights were struck away but more charged while blowing horn flutes.

The players watching from the buildings far away spoke.

“Don’t you feel like shouting God Warrior too?”

“The stories about Bard Ray are true. He fights like he’s crazy.”

The hearts of the Hermes Guild members were fueled with Bard Ray’s passion.

– Thorn Wall

The dragon raised a wall weaved from steel thorns, but the players broke through with their bodies and took one more step after each tail whip, advancing slowly.

For the death of every 10 Hermes Guild members, the dragon’s health points decreased correspondingly.

Krrruuuuuah!

Kaybern began to scream in pain.

The sleek obsidian scales were completely ruined, incapable of deflecting the weapons of the attackers. The dragon was unleashing magic spells in all directions, but the humans that survived with little health quickly recovered and re-engaged.

The legacy of the invincible Hermes Guild was unfolding once again.

– Humans! Curse you all and this city.

Kaybern, upon dropping below 7% of its health points, spread its right wing wide. The badly wounded left wing only spread halfway.

That moment, each commander shouted.

“It’s flight!”

“The dragon is trying to escape to the sky!”

Even if it did, they could chase with flight spells.

However, it was difficult to continue with the same concentrated firepower that they could muster on the ground.

“All attack! Spend all your mana!”

The Hermes Guild members that could still hold onto their weapons threw themselves into battle.

They were unhindered by the dragon’s resistance and magic spells, and they tossed the net that they had prepared.

So many weapons found their homes all over the dragon’s body over the course of battle and the net tangled on top!

Kuuuuaagh!

It was a net crafted by Dragore himself with thread that never breaks, scavenged by the Hermes Guild. Zephy, being a fisherman had not participated in battle. Instead he roamed around and strung Kaybern’s legs to the net, preventing the dragon from taking flight.

On Kaybern’s back and head were Bard Ray and the warriors of the guild.

– A bunch of humans cannot stop me.

The dragon began floating along with the thousands of players holding tightly onto the net.

5 meters. 10 meters. The Black Dragon slowly rose to the sky!

– Arkhim: Mage unit, attack at once!

– Lamifter: There are too many allies in the blast range.

– Bard Ray: It doesn’t matter. Fire!

Magic spells flew in from all over Morata and were directed towards Kaybern.

The Hextech Cannon was also fired.

“Kill it!”

“This is the end.”

The players riding on top of the dragon also committed to the frenzied attack. They didn’t have any moment to check the kinds of spells flying towards them.

“Power of Birth, The Dark Knight Strike!”

Bard Ray used a chain of skills. His body was worn out, having withstood the attacks from Kaybern and the other players.

If it was his former self, he would have slipped out of the battle once he dropped to around half his health points and taken a rest.

After becoming the Ironblood Warrior, he could take a lot more damage, it wasn’t strange at all if he already died.

The healing spells of the guild were concentrated on him, but there were many grave situations like being slammed by the dragon’s tail.

The lizard’s health points are less than 2%.

As soon as Krobidyun spoke, the attack of the Hermes Guild entered what could be perfectly explained as a berserk state. Each and every one of them spent all their stamina and mana for skills.

“Intoxication of Pain!”

It was a skill he learned by becoming an Ironblood Warrior.

It was one of the secret techniques of the warrior, drawing out high attack power based on the missing health points. Its downside was the amount of stamina it consumed upon casting, but when would he ever use such a skill if not now?

Bard Ray struck his sword downwards, directly into the dragon’s brow.

“Die, you loathsome lizard!”

*****

“Wa-hoo!”

Geomchi roared in excitement as he charged the dragon.

“Finally I get a round with that creature!”

“You look happy, master!”

Geomchi2 and the instructors followed along with their swords unsheathed.

The feeling of running through a ruined city against a gigantic dragon was indescribable.

“Yeah. You’re damn right.”

“It’s a magic spell!”

– Roaring Thunder!

Craaack!

Thunder struck down from the sky and killed off all the warriors within range.

The storm cloud gathered rapidly and thunder shot down in random bursts across a radius of 1 km!

It was not only the warriors but also the buildings in Morata that became targets.

Nevertheless, the Geomchis thought it was cool to charge in as a group.

“Do not break away from the formation!”

“That is the master’s orders. Stick close!”

With Geomchi in the lead, the apprentices spread out behind him in a fan-shaped position!

“They’re out of their minds!”

“So reckless.”

The assault squad members were shocked, the actions of true romantics were difficult for them to understand.

– Bone Grasp! Pillar of Flames!

They were hindered by skeletal hands that rose from the earth as well as surging fire blasts, but they ran straight through them.

“They’re just going in a line.”

“I never thought I would see something like that even in a dragon hunt.”

Geomchi and the apprentices climbed on top of the dragon, sustaining casualties along the way.

“Kill it!”

“Chop it into pieces!

“Shred it down!”

After using the brazier, their level ranged from 800 to 900. They were warriors who were extremely proficient in attack damage.

< Critical Strike! >

< Critical Strike! >

< Critical Strike! >

The attacks following the brawny charge were dreadfully powerful, dealing incredible damage at such a short range.

Their attack power was high, but it was their pinpoint accuracy that concentrated their attacks between the dragon’s scales and cracks in the skin.

“This is the Single Point Attack!”

“Single Point Attack!”

“They’re focusing their attacks on a single area!”

They attacked the Black Dragon’s most vulnerable area and crushed the dense scales.

When the dragon was distracted with the assault squad in front, they inflicted a huge amount of damage.

Ta-ta-ta-tap!

Geomchi3 clambered atop the dragon from its tail, before forward across its back and onto the head, where he stopped and hung on with all his strength.

“Hahahahaha! I have arrived!”

Geomchi3 relentlessly struck down his sword.

Krrruuuuuuuh!

Kaybern’s anger turned towards the man who hung on its head.

“Keep cutting through them. Scales are meant to be crushed.”

“U-wuh! Woah! Oo-wah!”

“We are the lunatics in the hood!”

It wasn’t that the entire assault squad was passive and timid.

They were just behaving because of the Hermes Guild, and frankly speaking, they were daunted. Weed told them to grow their primal instincts in the Southern Desert region, and this could be clearly seen from how eager Geomchi and his apprentices appeared.

“We should provide assistance. They are fighting well, so instead of direct attacks on the dragon, focus on creating distractions.”

“Yes. Understood.”

Pale fired arrows with the archer unit.

“Fire!”

Fire arrows, Smoke Arrows, Odorous Arrows, Paralysing Arrows, Poison Arrows.

Various types of arrows were fired to annoy the dragon.

They didn’t have the guts to try and inflict damage through the dragon’s thick scales from such a distance.

All they could do is aim at the body and distract it.

Several arrows inside Pale’s quiver were special.

< Death Arrow!

When it strikes the target directly, it inflicts up to 100,000 damage. >

There were only five of these arrows in the world.

Only through the completion of the archer quest involving the World Tree could one obtain this priceless arrow.

Weed spoke to him before the battle.

“Do not use it early, just hold onto it. It would be best for me to get the kill… But Pale-nim, you should also aim for the last hit.”

“The last hit?”

“The final lethal blow. If you slay the dragon, you will obtain a special combat achievement.”

The honor of the dragon slayer.

Pale did not think that far, but if he were to succeed, it would be an amazing accomplishment.

‘For that moment, I am saving this arrow.’

He had a sense of appreciation for Weed. Who else would give him such advice?

He took reference of the Hermes Guild that engaged in battle first when he decided on the tactics for the assault squad.

The mages and archers were providing ranged support and the warriors were fighting as the core, restlessly engaging in melee combat.

Certainly they were weaker than the Hermes Guild and they were definitely weaker than Weed who was fighting alongside the dwarves and other prestigious guilds.

Kaybern activated the Light type ultimate magic spell.

– Destruction of Light!

Streaks of light descended onto the earth as if the sky had exploded.

The brilliant flashes could be seen from far outside the city.

It turned players of level 300 to 400 into ashes.

“Hiyahhh!”

“Kill it, now!”

“My body is on fire… Ahh. It’s my first time getting skewered by light.”

“A hole through my eternal heart. K-hahaha. I am the one and only Geomchi500!”

Geomchi, the apprentices and the assault squad members could not equip high magic resistance equipment as the Hermes Guild did. Weed tried to distribute his cherished equipment to Geomchi and the others, but they outright declined his offer.

“It is not our style to fight with multiple stacks of armor.”

They were sword fanatics and were dying as a result from Kaybern’s magic, but the atmosphere they created was still rather inspiring.

Knatul bravely diverted the attention of the dragon while Vishur inflicted damage with Elemental Spirits, magic spells and arrows.

Fairy Knight wielded the sword that cut through dimensions which completely ignored defense and made short work of Kaybern’s body.

“Hu-hahaha. The dragon will fall by our hands.”

“Master! This is such a glorious moment.”

Half of their forces were already dead.

“If we take a blow and return two in exchange, we are the winners.”

“You are right, master!”

“One on one isn’t the only kind of fighting.”

“Mob fights are the real fights.”

Oberon drew the dragon’s attention from the ground. He led the warriors at the front line and incited the dragon to attack him. Many were stomped to death but they succeeded in drawing the dragon’s aggression so that the attacks of the other groups could land more easily.

If it weren’t for them, Geomchi and the apprentices could have been wiped out after just a few magic spells.

“We will be victorious!”

Oberon shouted and boosted their morale. That moment, shouts burst from the ranks of the Hermes Guild.

“The dragon is dead!”

“Bard Ray-nim hunted the dragon!”

The players in Morata instantly turned towards the dragon marked by the Hermes Guild.

Bard Ray stood on top of the dragon’s head with his sword stuck through it. His cape was flucking in the wind. The enormous Black Dragon slowly crashed to the ground.

“Yes! We defeated the dragon!”

“We won.”

“Now there are only two left.”

*****

The Earthly Shadows party, composed of Silver Ring and Elrix, acquired the items needed for the quest.

“Let’s hurry.”

“The Promise Necklace. I didn’t think we would obtain it so early.”

“I never thought the Hermes Guild would help us out.”

The information provided by the Hermes Guild was a great help in regards to scavenging items related to the dragon Ratuas. With butterflies in their stomachs, they travelled instantly to the entrance of Gregodal Mountain Pass with Yurin’s Painting Teleportation.

“Thank you.”

“No problem. Please go ahead and tend to your task.”

“You are really kind.”

Ben smiled as he, Elrix and Yurin quickly climbed the trail. To meet the dragon Ratuas, they had to travel by foot from this point.

‘She’s really cute.’

Glance.

While making haste, his feeling of interest made him turn around to see Yurin, noticing a great wolf that appeared in front of her.

After Kaybern’s activity, monsters roaming further afield became more frequent, but Gregodal Mountain Pass was one of those places that had been dangerous to begin with.

‘I have to rescue her.’

As Ben was about to stop, he saw her pull out a huge club from her back.

“Huh?”

Yurin had no interest in swords or spear techniques.

Although she never had much desire for battles, she had become powerful enough to take care of monsters while painting.

The wolf pounced at Yurin and that moment, her club danced skillfully.

Crack! Whimper! Woop!

“Ben? Get on your way!”

“Uh. Y-Yeah…”

Ben refused to believe what he just witnessed and kept on the path.

A lich with a skull staff was on the side of the road.

– Human. This is where the great Ratuas-nim resides.

Elrix put his hand on his chest and bowed politely.

“We have come to meet Ratuas-nim.”

– Ratuas-nim does not meet with lowly humans.

“Here… I have something he will be interested in.”

Elrix showed the Promise Necklace and was granted permission by the lich.

– You may see him. Follow me.

The Blue Dragon Ratuas. Unlike the other dragons, he did not show himself to the outside world and made no contact with any adventurers or race.

The past incident of Weed meeting him and returning with Hellium was a legend among adventurers.

“I am in the presence of the dragon himself.”

The Earthly Shadow party was able to meet the massive Blue Dragon inside the lair.

– Humans. I hear you have brought something I want.

“That is so.”

Elrix carefully offered the Promise Necklace.

– Do you have any idea about what this is?

“We do not.”

The Earthly Shadow party obtained the Promise Necklace from the Reindeer Dungeon.

It was not by hunting down the boss monster, but rather it was an item hidden in the corner of the dungeon.

< Promise Necklace

It is sealed with a unique magical property.

It is a token representing some kind of promise.

Durability: 10/10. >

They only speculated that they would be able to learn about it as they proceeded with the quest.

This necklace is the token of my oath.

Crack!

The Promise Necklace woven of marbles shattered into pieces.

< Something that the Dragon Ratuas Seeks – Complete.

Latuas had made a promise long ago to his friend Uthkelanta.

“I will protect the living on this land as a favor. When the world plunges in danger, I will save them.”

It was a promise with the Silver Dragon Yuskellanda. Ratuas’ noble oath will be maintained to the end of time. >

< You have leveled up. >

< Your friendship level with Ratuas increased. >

< The dragon has taken an interest in you. >

< Reputation has increased by 20,000. >

That instant, a mysterious scene played out in front of the Earthly Shadows party members..

*****

From the dark, crimson rift spawned an endless stream of demons, and the Silver Dragon stood in their way, defending with magic.

– Drink the dragon’s blood!

– Devour its bones and gorge out its eyes!

The Silver Dragon faced the attacks of the demon soldiers with wind and defensive magic spells. More and more demons spawned from the rift, leading to the appearance of demon warriors and the mutilation of the Silver Dragon’s body.

– Revive.

Each time the Silver Dragon fell in danger, it recovered its own health.

The sun rose, the sun set.

The war waged for days.

Finally, like an army of ants taking down an elephant, the demon soldiers penetrated the Silver Dragon’s barrier and pierced its body.

The footage ended as the bloody Silver Dragon fell powerlessly.

*****

“Mmm…”

“Ah…”

“This is…”

The Earthly Shadow party carefully glanced at one another and realized what they just witnessed.

It was the death of the Silver Dragon, Yuskellanda.

The death of a dragon was nothing to take lightly.

They had begun to understand the situation, but it wasn’t over after handing over the Promise Necklace.

– My friend Yuskellanda was a friend of the elves, was fond of dwarves, and loved humans. She tried to protect the world from the demons.

Ratuas started a long soliloquy. The three adventurers didn’t speak a word and listened.

Yuskellanda’s request was to look over the humans. For the fate of your kind, you must seek out the seeds of threat planted in this world by the demons.

“Threats?”

– The demons are plotting to destroy the world. Their schemes are secretive and disguised, and if undiscovered, it will lead to devastation.

“….”

The Earthly Shadow Party peeked at one another. It was the atmosphere of a chain quest, but demon plots were a pretty common subject.

“By demon plots, are you referring to this?”

Ben took out the eggshell fragments. It was the broken dragon shell of Kaybern.

– That is it. That is the fake egg created by magic. To think that the demons dared to manipulate the dragons.

< You have completed the quest ‘Demonic Secret. >

The quest was complete before they could accept it.

They gained Reputation and Friendship points with Ratuas once again.

< Kaybern and Landony are already active. The contents of the chained quest are refreshed.>

< You have completed the quest ‘Black Dragon Kaybern’. >

< You have completed the quest ‘Red Dragon Landony’. >

< You have completed the quest ‘The Demon Sovereign’. >

– Kaybern and Landony. You must stop them. After the destruction of the humans, dwarves, and orcs, they will forge the hellgate from dark magic. The demons will be born into this world.

Blink.

< Blue Dragon Ratuas is now active.

The two foolish dragons are on the move for the advent of the Demon King Cletta. Ratuas will wage war to keep to an oath he swore long ago.>

“Stopping them is my rightful duty as a dragon.”

< Find the whereabouts of Kaybern and Landony. The continent will be at peace if Ratuas defeats the dragons.

Requirements: Completion of ‘The Demon Sovereign.’

Difficulty: S >

The quest activated, a quest that sparked war among the dragons.

“Normally, I wouldn’t trust something like this.”

“Right? The last part of the quest log is a bit suspicious. There is no guarantee at any time that Ratuas could win against the two dragons.”

“Landony mobilized when Kaybern was in danger. In the worst scenario, Ratuas could die from the combined attacks of both of the dragons.”

The Earthly Shadow party was a collective of experts in adventures.

This quest utilized Ratuas, but it wasn’t simple. It was extremely risky and posed a chance for an unrecoverable error; it was a quest with dreadful consequences.

“But, Kaybern is about to die at any moment and Landony is on its way to Morata…”

“Then it’s decided. There will be no better timing than now.”

“Then I assume everyone is on board?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“I’m in.”

Silver Ring spoke on behalf of the other members.

“Kaybern and Landony are in the northern city Morata.”

< The required information for the offensive of the Blue Dragon Ratuas has been delivered. >

Ratuas’ mountainous figure rose slowly. The Earthly Shadow party was overwhelmed by its endless form.

– The dragon is the power that maintains balance in this world. Kaybern and Landony are foolish, murderous dragons. If they look to destroy the human world for the reign of Cletta, they must be stopped.

Ratuas spread its wings at the lair entrance and took flight. The Earthly Shadow party watched blankly.

“I think… we just pulled off something incredible.’”

“Tell me about it. Something awesome.”

“Ah… Morata. We need to see this unroll at Morata.”

*****

Weed, while leading the dwarves, received news that Bard Ray got the first hand on the dragon.

– Mapan: One of the dragons is dead!

When he quickly turned his head, he caught sight of the Black Dragon’s fall. As if the effects of Evil Divide had subsided, the dragon’s body dissipated.

“As I thought!”

Weed with hawk eyes confirmed that there was no loot dropped from the body.

‘There was nothing.’

It was a great distance away, but nothing was visible. Victory was more important than anything, but so were the items dropped from a dragon.

‘The loots and achievement haven’t tripled. The dragon slayer achievement will be seized by the one who slays the last Kaybern.’

– Mapan: Urgent news.

“What is it now?”

Weed’s anxiousness amplified each time Mapan messaged him. Today was especially full of news that put stress on his heart.

– Mapan: Ratuas has taken flight from its lair.

“The Blue Dragon?”

The dragon had deep connections with Weed. He proceeded with quests involving the dragon and also forged a sculpture of Yuskellanda. He had raised a high friendship level with the dragon while pocketing added supply of Helium in the process. Even so, he did not ever want to see the dragon’s face again.

– Mapan: Message from the Earthly Shadow party. They say Ratuas set out to stop Kaybern and Landony.

“It intends to help us?”

– Mapan: Yes. It has just mobilized from its lair… Hold on.

Weed led the dwarves in the fight and was simultaneously eager to hear from Mapan.

The Hermes Guild had slain one of the dragons and joined forces with the Assault Squad for the next kill.

– Kuuuugh. Lightning! Lightning! Lightning!

The dragon on the other side also resisted violently against the humans. It was total chaos.

– I will wipe you all out at once. Ocean Flames.

The Black Dragon carried the identical conscious mind of Kaybern.

As one of the clones was destroyed, it began to fly away from the Hermes Guild attack.

“No!”

“Stop it right now!”

The Hermes Guild and the assault squad could be seen chasing after the rising dragon laying waste on the ground below.

– Where do you think you’re looking?!

The enemy was also right in front of Weed.

He faced its intense heat of its rageful breath, the dragon clearly remembered him planting the Loa Sword in its eye.

– Spatial Explosion!

The dragon activated a spell whenever it replenished enough mana to cast.

Since Weed was very nimble, it swapped from targeted spells to area of effect skills.

The space compressed, shooting off beams of light and let out a fearsome explosion.

< Health points have decreased by 162,381.

The dimension is warping and shattering.

Strength will be reduced by 4.6% each second, and you will enter a feeble state. >

Even for Weed, it was a substantial loss! His level was over 1,000 but it was difficult to withstand an ultimate spell with his body.

< The Sky Ruler’s Armor resists status effects. >

Aside from the Lightning Crown, he had equipped all of the gear that raised health points and magic resistance. For the dragon hunt, the warriors of the Hermes Guild equipped gear that multiplied their stamina by two or three times, bringing them over one million stamina.

Weed’s health points were not as high as the warriors, but he had something to lean on.

“Graceful Protection!”

“Light of Brilliance!”

“Healing Touch!”

“Complete Restoration!”

It was to receive healing spells from his allies constantly and replenish his health points.

‘I can sustain myself for a little longer.’

The dwarves and the prestigious guilds were able to completely focus on attacking, whilst the dragon taken on by the assault squad had finally gone up to the sky.

One of its legs was badly ruined, but it did succeed in taking flight despite the countless players riding on its back.

– Mule: Let’s move out.

The war was transitioning into an aerial battle on the far side!

The griffin riders assaulted the dragon with spears.

– Mapan: According to the Earthly Shadow party, it seems Ratuas too is on its way to Morata.

“Is that for real?”

– Mapan: We have eyes around the city confirming Ratuas flying north. Landony and Ratuas are both coming to Morata.

‘This is going to be a disaster like no other.’

Weed kept checking on the status of Kaybern. The dragon’s health points were declining under the one-sided attack from the dwarves and the guilds.

– I will kill you, dwarf.

Every time Weed evaded, Kaybern’s leg and wings crushed the buildings, and its magic erased everything in the area.

*****

There were forces still hiding inside the buildings of Morata.

“Volk, I think the situation is very hopeful just like you said.”

“It seems like it. They just might slay the dragon.”

The dark gamers. The ones who could survive anywhere and lived only to collect loot decided to stay in Morata. From the start, they agreed to back out without any regrets if the odds looked miserable. Staying alive was the only thing that mattered.

“They were on par with Kaybern until now.”

“They pressured the dragon even though it was just the Hermes Guild, and one of the clones has been taken care of.”

“Landony is on its way but… Ratuas is close behind.”

“Now it’s time to make a decision.”

Dentacore was also at the pub for the dark gamer meeting. Since the early days of Royal Road he preferred hunting alone. He spent all his time in dungeons and did not associate himself with any other player. Back when the best players were only level 100 ~ 200, they spoke stories of him.

– Dentacore accomplishes anything by himself. He is the emperor of the hunting grounds.

As the Hermes Guild faction grew and the average standard of players rose higher, the stories of Dentacore whittled away. Still, it was common sense that Dentacore who always lived in the hunting grounds would be a very powerful player.

Dentacore emptied a Moratan beer clean and laid the glass down on the table.

“I’m taking off. I can’t wait any longer.”

As Kaybern’s life approached death, Dentacore left through the doors of the pub.

The few other dark gamers, after a short staring contest among themselves, got off their seats.

“K-hmm. I have to get going too if I want to grab anything before it’s all gone.”

“My bones are rusty. I guess it’s time to warm up.”

The leftover dark gamers saw the dragon beyond the window. It was chasing down Weed with a heavily wounded body.

“It’s a dragon. An overwhelming presence… But, it’s also true that it is severely wounded.”

“A wounded dragon. The aggravation is real.”

“Whoever gets first dibs on the items is the winner, am I right?”

The system of calculation for dark gamers was different from Weed and the Hermes Guild. There was neither the peace of the continent or personal pride involved, but solely the gains at hand. If paid well, they could bet their lives any day.

“It’s uncertain once Landony comes, but I can kill that one for sure.”

“It’s a perfect window for a hit and run. The rest is none of my concern.”

*****

A crowd of players followed in the wake of the dragon that was chasing Weed.

“Chasing Light!”

“Rage of Boiling Blood!”

“Awaken, Berserk, Madness!”

About 10,000 players approached faster than the Black Lion Guild and the other guilds, casting ranged skills as they came in.

“What, who are they?”

“They’re so strong.”

Even the players of the prestigious guilds were surprised. Wherever they came from, they surely possessed skills that exceeded their own. They used unknown skills and wielded high quality equipment.

‘The dark gamers.’

Weed realized instantly after seeing the new players on the ground.

‘Then it’s a race against time.’

The Hermes Guild and the assault squad were fully engaged in the sky. Due to the intense focus attack of the players, the dragon had only managed to climb about 500 ~ 600 meters in the air.

‘The Kaybern on that side has to die first. Then I gotta take care of this one here…’

Weed felt the need to orchestrate the situation.

– Kalis: Attack. We must prevail.

– Roam: Roam Guild, we live for today.

– Mihel: We will advance. Everyone muster your strength!

The great lords urged their subordinates forward. They were blinded by the competition against the Hermes Guild. The nearest dragon was hurt and was running out of mana.

‘I did not picture them fighting that courageously. If this dragon dies first, the achievement and loot is going to slip out of our grasp.’

Weed was deeply concerned, for the real profiteers were the dark gamers. They were conservative with their offensive skills while approaching the dragon. They nodded after trying several plain attacks. They looked to be testing the dragon’s defense and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

‘I can see right through you. If the Hermes Guild or the assault squad hunts the dragon on the far side, they will pour everything they’ve got into this one right here.’

They were all captivated by the loot, the actual dragon hunt was secondary.

With new forces capable of slaying Kaybern arriving, Weed’s chances of victory increased significantly. On the other hand, it meant more competitors.

It was at that moment –

– Wahhh! The dragon is dead.

– The Ace Marksman Pale-nim has done it!

A tidal wave of shouts swept the ground. The dragon tried to escape to the sky, but Pale fired five consecutive arrows and immobilized the dragon mid-air.

The dragon’s body dropped like a meteorite before Weed’s eyes.

“Great! Pantheon’s Judgement.”

The dark gamer Dentacore hammered the dragon with a powerful skill.

“Deathly Vengeance!”

“Dark Descent!”

“Mortal Domination, Dark Magic Gift!”

“Fist of the Phoenix!”

The cleansing of the clones was complete.

The dark gamers activated their most powerful, time-honed skills.

Weed saw countless spells flying in from afar.

‘The mage unit of the Hermes Guild.’

The mages were also on the lookout for the perfect opportunity.

As soon as the two dragons fell, they spent all their reserve mana and bombarded Kaybern with incredible magic spells.

‘Even though the dragon has high magic resistance… its health points are near the floor.’

Just when Weed was about to get frantic!

– Life Siphon of the Dead.

Kaybern used the last of its mana and activated the dark magic spell in order to recover its health points. However, there were barely any corpses left on the field.

– Kuaaaagh!

Kaybern’s scream was full of panic. It had chased Weed ferociously all this time and had only looked to its surroundings now.

– Krobidyun: The dragon’s remaining health points are at 13%.

Krobidyun reported and all the players in Morata united in a single idea.

‘If I want to accomplish the dragon slayer achievement, I must attack now.’

The Hermes Guild ran at full speed, leaping over the buildings and debris in their way. Kaybern was dressed with scars and wounds, dark gamers and dwarf warriors riding on its back.

‘I can take it down. The dragon will die soon.’

Finally, they could see the end of the war. Weed’s brain raced.

‘I have fought for this moment.’

The durability of his armor and helmet were reduced by half after being subjected to the dragon’s rage. He had about 200,000 health points remaining.

“Die!”

“This is the end. Kaybern!”

Magic spells and arrows from all over Morata flew at Kaybern.

Even spectators around level 200 ~ 300 used their ranged attacks.

Every single one of them was expecting the dragon to fall at any moment. Even Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild’s top players had arrived, running past the explosion of magic spells.

“Deliver the dragon’s demise!”

“We Hermes Guild will be the finale!”

The players attacked in the hope of gaining the ultimate honor of slaying the dragon.

– Myul: We must descend too!

Myul’s griffins and cavalry plunged down from the sky with their spears.

Almost every powerful player in Royal Road pounced forward, anticipating the dragon’s end.

– 7%. I need to wait.’

Weed stared down at the dragon and suppressed his body from springing out.

“Die, you monster!”

“K-hahahaha. I will finally get to kill a dragon!”

The magic spells indiscriminate of ally or foe struck the entire body of the dragon.

– Bard Ray: We are moving in! Cease the magic spells!

Bard Ray’s command had no effect on the assault squad nor the excited Hermes Guild.

The archers and mages had no intention of stopping.

They were in a state of frenzy as the final blow approached. All the while, Kaybern’s health points whittled down.

‘The time is near.’

Weed tightly gripped the Dragon Slayer Axe. He also spread the Wings of Light.

The legendary weapon that had been forged by generations of dwarven blacksmiths was being used for the last hit rather than for an honorable battle.

It was too dangerous to involve any sculptural creatures for this battle.

“Sculptural Summoning!”

Still, he summoned Brightwing and wrapped it around his back.

“As you know, we have to be the ones to slay the dragon.”

– It looks too dangerous, master. If we squeeze between them, we will surely die.

“I know. But if we succeed, I will make you an entire body.”

– A body?

“Aren’t you sick of being a pair of wings for the others?”

– Yeah. Nurungi is so heavy.

“That one is big and fat, so it’s going to be very tasty. You have to be patient with it for me. You know how much I care about you, right? I will forge you a magnificent body. If you die, I will bring you back to life, so do not worry.”

– Understood, master.

Weed knew there was no second chance.

All the siege power in Morata was directed at Kaybern.

‘If this much firepower was concentrated on Kaybern from the start, wouldn’t we have slain it so much sooner?’

The full-out assault from an unbelievable number of players was difficult to withstand even for a dragon. Geomchi and the apprentices came to slay Kaybern but were annihilated by friendly fire. Myul and the griffin unit also met the same kind of fate while engaging in aerial attacks.

“The dragon is dying.”

“We are at the end, for real!”

The last hit drew out the insanity inside the players. More and more players were jumping in.

They leapt off the ground, used flight spells and swarmed onto the dragon. Even moths would not toss themselves with such disregard for their own lives as they did. But of course, Weed was also eager to join the party.

“K-hahaha. We, the three mad sharks of Becky Nin, are here.”

“It’s time to turn my life around!”

“Flame! I can’t even get a job, so I will bet my life on this.”

“I waited for this! Wahoo!”

Weed counted stealthily.

1, 2, 3.

A flurry of ranged attacks rained down on the dragon, and the melee players stuck close, hacking away. Krobidyun stopped reporting how many health points were left in the dragon.

“Corpse Explosion! Corpse Explosion!”

Even the necromancers were busy blowing up the corpses of dead players.

Weed went over Kaybern’s behavior until now.

‘As I see it, not all attacks deal damage. Especially the magic attacks landing more on our allies than the dragon.’

What was certain is that the dragon’s final moment was less than ten seconds away.

“Let’s go.”

– Are we leaving now? I think we should wait…

“We’re going.”

Radiant wings spread wide behind Weed’s back. Meanwhile, Brightwing consistently grew in size.

“Begin!”

Brightwing spanned wide and flew towards the dragon. It rapidly flew past the players and narrowly evaded the magic projectiles.

– Kruuuuuugh!

Kaybern’s scream echoed.

The giant Black Dragon’s body that was once an artform was now a collective of wounds.

The players stuck like ants and bombarded it with attacks.

“Faster!”

– I’m at max speed.

They were already piercing through the winds.

Shoooooooooak!

They were getting closer to the dragon at high speed.

< The Lightning Crown deflected a heavy arrow. >

Weed flew between the rain of arrows and magic, leaving a cosmic trajectory behind him.

He caught a glimpse of Bard Ray. He too was mercilessly stabbing the dragon’s back as if he was insane.

‘Gather up all my strength…’

He didn’t require an arsenal of skills.

Boar Slaughter Technique.

The secret axe skill with devastating damage.

Weed had grinded the proficiency of this particular skill for the coming battle in Morata.

Intermediate level 1.

He had to bet everything on seven consecutive attacks with all his might behind it.

“On the head!”

Weed flew up to Kaybern’s head. Then he swung the Dragon Slayer Axe.

C-c-crash!

< Direct hit.

The damage of the Dragon Slayer Axe was maximized.

A shock wave spreads in a 30 meter radius.

You have dealt 359,371 damage.

The dragon’s scales were destroyed. >

The incredible impact travelled through the earth. It bent space and blew away the magic projectiles and arrows.

Weed did not stop the swing of his axe and connected with a smash.

He was precise in the control of such immense power and speed.

The Dragon Slayer Axe cut down on Kaybern’s forehead.

< Second direct hit.

You have dealt 573,034 damage.

The dragon’s bone was smashed.

Defense is weakened by 31%.

The target is temporarily stunned. >

Third strike, fourth strike.

Weed swung upwards and downwards, putting his entire body behind the swings.

With the boosted strength through Sculptural Destruction, he was using an extreme attack skill. Countless attacks landed on the dragon and it was impossible to tell who would deal the final blow.

Weed’s attack damage was well over a million, but even if it gave him a high chance, it did not guarantee the kill.

Fifth strike, sixth strike.

The dragon was on the brink of death.

“Dark Knight’s Strike!”

Through the chaos, he heard Bard Ray activating his attack skill.

Out of nowhere, he stood on top of Kaybern’s head and tried to stab down with his sword.

‘What should I do? Should I wait until after his skill, or strike before him?’

The contemplation was extremely short.

‘I will strike first.’

Weed mustered all his power and threw the Dragon Slayer Axe at Kaybern’s forehead.

Fwoo-fwoo-fwoosh!

The axe violently drew a series of circles in the air. Then it stuck directly on Kaybern.

Blink!

< The lord who oversees the Ulta and Norn Mountain Pass. The mighty Black Dragon Kaybern has been put to eternal rest. >

< You have leveled up. >

< You have leveled up. >

< You have leveled up. >

< Axe skill level has increased to Intermediate 4. You are now capable of putting great strength behind your swings.

Attack damage is increased by 15%.

Your attacks apply knockback.

You have higher chances for armor break. >

< Due to extraordinary combat achievement, your reputation has increased by 219,740. >

< Strength is increased by 12. >

< All stats are increased by 10. >

< Maximum health points are increased by 50,000. >

< Maximum mana points are increased by 50,000. >

< You have acquired the title, ‘The Savior Who Defeated the Dragon’. >

< You have acquired the title, ‘Savior of the World’. >

< You have acquired the title, ‘Black Dragon Slayer’. >

< You have acquired the title, ‘The Great, Benevolent Emperor.’ >

< You have completed the achievement of light. >

< Your status as a human has transcended, reaching the next level. >

< All physical and mental abilities are increased by 10%. >

Weed observed the message alerts and truly felt the glory of his axe throw.

‘I slayed the dragon, over all the competitors.’

As soon as his axe landed, Bard Ray’s attack also struck. Maybe Bard Ray could have delivered the final blow. When one steals from another, the joy is so much greater.

Sh-Sh-Sh!

< You have obtained the Horn of Cletta. >

< You have obtained the Tome of Death. >

< You have obtained the Essence of Dark Magic. >

The three items were unbelievable ingredients.

< You have obtained the Heart of the Black Dragon. >

< You have obtained the Scales of the Black Dragon. >

< You have obtained great quantity of the Black Dragon’s Bones. >

< You have exceeded the maximum weight capacity. >

Even though he raised his Strength with Sculptural Destruction he was unable to carry everything. Weed felt the warmth travel down his spine and felt full to his stomach.

Chapter 7: The Sculptural Creatures’ Resolve

Kaybern’s final moment!

The giant structure that was the Black Dragon fell across the ground.

"The dragon is dead!"

"We defeated the dragon together."

"Shout with me! We finally won! We stopped the destruction of Versailles!"

The players in Morata shouted enthusiastically.

“Is it over? At last?”

“I think it’s really the end.”

The Hermes Guild members who fought with all their might collapsed to the ground while the players of the assault squad frantically confirmed the lives of their comrades.

The dragon’s magic slaughtered hundreds of squad members at once, leaving a huge number of casualties. That being said, the losses suffered by the Hermes Guild was indescribable. Especially the final three minutes, the concentrated firepower led to a peak in the number of victims.

Mage Lamifter searched for survivors.

“Where is Bard Ray-nim?”

“He is not responding. It seems he died along with the dragon.”

“What about Arkhim-nim?”

“He also seems to have met the same fate.”

“God forbid…”

Over 80% of the Hermes Guild members who fought on the back of Kaybern until the final second died. The surviving commanders gathered and chatted.

“Did Bard Ray-nim really die at such a moment?”

“That would be because too many attacks were focused on both the dragon and our allies.”

“I suppose so.”

“It’s incredible that he held until the end. If it wasn’t for Bard Ray-nim…”

“I didn’t think he could fight so well while leading us with orders.”

The Hermes Guild knew all too well that they couldn’t blame anyone for their losses. Ally fire was undoubtedly a factor in the loss of Bard Ray and his personal guards.

The firepower of the mage unit was the most powerful and was carried out with the least mercy.

Just who could have stopped their magic spells in that moment?

However, two players rose to their feet among the debris near the Black Dragon’s fallen body.

“Hey. run, hurry.”

“Yeah. Let’s bail right now.”

Margaux and Glen.

The two had survived out of the four backstabbers.

“K-huhuhuhu. We pulled off a grand slam.”

“Shh. We need to take this to our graves.”

“Uh, yeah.”

When Kaybern was on the brink of death, the backstabbing four pounced as they shouted to hunt the dragon. But, that was a trick.

Two days prior, they were contemplating.

“Yo. Don’t you think we are too obedient?”

“Yeah. We followed Weed’s orders without question.”

“It’s time we rebel for once. How about setting Morata on fire and stirring something up?”

The backstabbing four dreamt of a coup d’etat, but the chances of success were almost non-existent.

“The best players will be packed inside Morata, and I’m sure we will die before we can do something.”

“Do you realize how vengeful Weed is? His revenge is probably never ending. That is a lifelong fear.”

Margo pulled out a dagger from his inner chest pocket.

“Me. I have a poison dagger. How about I use this in the battle?”

“A dagger? I don’t think a dagger will do you much good against a dragon.”

“There’s more to slice other than the dragon. Especially Weed or Bard Ray…”

Gulp!

The four turned anxious.

The God of War, Weed.

Godly Warrior, Bard Ray.

The two players’ names were nailed in their ears throughout their playtime in Royal Road.

Margo’s demonic whisper tempted his comrades.

“Near the end of the dragon hunt, it will be chaos over who will land the final blow.”

“The level requirement of this dagger is 700. So, I enter the battle after the bold use of the Brazier of Sacrifice. Then I aim for either Weed or Bard Ray.”

“Gasp! I think that’s a bit too dangerous.”

“Unimaginably dangerous. Still, everyone will be focused on the dragon, and the Hermes Guild members would be wearing magic resistance based equipment. All we gotta do is sneak up from behind and… How about it?”

The four were exhilarated.

Just like their nickname, the perfect chance for a backstab could spawn.

Margo’s deep voice hit home.

“No one knows who will be the one to strike the last blow on the dragon. Would we have a chance over the overly privileged players? I’d say the chances are unlikely. But, what about the Hermes Guild members. They would be weakened in battle and assassinating five or six in the midst of magic spells and barrage of skills… Weed or Bard Ray would be the best targets.”

The four made some calculations and concluded that it was well worth a shot.

Their objective was not the dragon, but Bard Ray!

“Heheheheheh.”

“Whoo-hoo!”

Margo and Glen accomplished the achievement of killing Bard Ray and silently left Morata.

*****

– Swift Coldwind: 3 minutes until Landony’s arrival.

They had succeeded in taking down Kaybern, but Morata was still in danger.

– Everyone rally up for battle!

Weed roaring call commanded the assault squad and the Hermes Guild.

It was after the death of Bard Ray and Arkhim so the Hermes Guild too followed under his command.

Lamifter and Gaushu conversed.

“Whoo… Would I survive another day?”

“It’s a tough call against Landony. We have no time to realign our forces.”

The Hermes Guild had no time to recoup their losses; there was no time to see how many survived, just everyone tending to themselves with water and food before the upcoming battle.

“I need some healing, please.”

“Is there a priest anywhere?”

It was a commotion of players trying to recover from wounds before Landony’s arrival.

Some of them hid behind the debris in an attempt for a surprise attack.

– Chase: It is difficult to predict Landony’s battle tactics. It did not use Dragon Breath nor AOE magic spells against the orcs, but that was because it was searching for something.

– Spenson: As Weed-nim may already know, the Red Dragon is the strongest of all dragons in combat. The Black Dragon was rather tricky because of its dark magic, but in sheer strength, I expect Landony to excel far beyond Kaybern.

It was a stack of bad news. Since Kaybern was hunted down, the wrath of Landony would soon crash upon them. The Hermes Guild smirked.

“You never know until it’s over.”

“Yeah. If I die here, oh well…”

“Fight until the last breath, huh? I dig that.”

The Hermes Guild put up an amazing fight until now and their morale was high after slaying Kaybern. Weed lay on top of a bed of debris.

‘The continent is out of the pit for now.’

Without Kaybern, the threat of the Demon King Cletta was almost negligible.

They prepared for the battle against the Red Dragon in the half-ruined city of Morata.

– Mapan: It seems we have about 15 minutes until Ratuas’ arrival. There may be a slight error span because our scout reported from the ground.

Sounds of instruments vibrated in the air from somewhere, then musicians joined one by one, soon turning into a magnificent orchestra.

The surviving bards had begun a song for the warriors.

Bard Marey gave an inspiring performance on his violin.

“I heard Hwaryeong-nim is dancing.”

“Seriously?”

“They say she’s so beautiful. Her dress is just…”

“I want to take a peek. Let’s go.”

“I need some sight seeing before I die.”

The dance of the beautiful lady raised the half-dead Hermes Guild members to their feet.

Weed thought that the gathering of players could become a target of the Red Dragon, but he let them be. He was thankful that these ragged warriors did not flee. They needed some time to rest before the last battle.

– Myul: We have lost about 20% of our aerial unit.

– Pale: Over 30% for the assault squad. Our forces will improve once the decapitated players recover.

As time passed, reports came in from the leaders of each battalion.

Weed also raised his own body heavily weighted by his inventory.

“Yes. We gotta bring this to the end.”

– Margaux: Weed-nim, we succeeded.

The Backstabbing Four whispered to Weed.

“What?”

Weed would have ignored it under normal circumstances, but he replied this time around with curiosity.

– Glen: We took care of Bard Ray with our own hands.

“Took care of him…?”

Weed lowered his voice so the other guild members would not overhear him.

“You took down Bard Ray?”

– Glen: Hahaha. Halma and Wraith died in the process, but that’s honorable death. We got him good from behind!

“Sigh.”

Weed came to the truth about Bard Ray’s death, but it was a hopeless situation.

If he was around, the power of the Hermes Guild could have been harnessed further against the Red Dragon.

‘These pests know nothing except how to backstab at every chance they get.’

– Glen: We could not scavenge his sword. But, we did get his pants and boots. Isn’t that awesome?

Weed told himself that what just happened was now in the past.

“Offer me one of the items.”

– Glen: Excuse me?

“You gotta hand over one of them, if you wish to stay in Versailles.”

– Glen: Even if it’s you, Weed-nim; that’s honestly a bit unfair.

“Let me ask you a simple question. What do you think will happen if both the Arpen Empire and the Hermes Guild want you dead?”

– Glen: ….

“You have already cut any chance of compromise with the Hermes Guild. There is no guarantee that they won’t take revenge even after you give up Bard Ray’s equipment. Furthermore, where will you run when I also chase you down?”

– Glen: I will give it up.

While Weed planned to exploit the villains and profit from Bard Ray’s death, the players who used the brazier were deeply occupied with preparations. The remaining forces reinforced their will to fight until the end.

– Swift Coldwind: 1 minute until Landony’s arrival. It will soon be visible in the southern sky.

The Red Dragon Landony. It was almost a third larger than Kaybern and much more powerful. A red dot appeared in the south and grew gradually.

‘It’s a rare chance to fight against a dragon, but for us to fight one after another.’

Weed passed a message to all players in Morata.

“Listen carefully. We all understand that this is probably the longest day for anyone.”

He spoke softly, but his voice could still be heard by everyone on the battlefield.

Without a shouting call, his authority as emperor was enough to deliver his story.

With Bingryong Square as the pivot, the nearby sectors were destroyed while the Black Giant Star, the Great Library and the Art Centre were miraculously still standing.

The shantytown completely turned into ashes, the commercial facilities were destroyed and the earth was carved out and lit aflame from the magic spells.

Still, over half of the city was intact.

“The fight against Landony. It will not be easy. Maybe our power won’t be enough and we will all be annihilated.”

He also spoke about the difficult reality.

The heat of battle was sustained, but conversely he thought that it was more of a reason not to ask them to exceed their limits; so, he did not give the order to charge at Landony.

If there was a commander who asked for such a reckless action, Weed would have never followed. He had to improve the chances of victory in any given situation and reduce casualties.

“At first, do not overstep and observe the dragon. To put it simply, do not attempt a full assault until I give the signal. Landony may use magic or a breath attack. We must buckle down until Ratuas arrives.”

Hence, it was project ‘survival’.

They had no data on how Landony would attack and therefore he chose to bide as much as possible and maintain his forces.

“That sounds right.”

“Yes. I suppose we have to play defense.”

The commanders of the Hermes Guild nodded and agreed it was the reasonable strategy.

“That’s the Red Dragon.”

“It’s so… overwhelming.”

The enormous red creature burst through the clouds. It was beautiful and also the representation of true power. The entrance of the Red Dragon more powerful than Kaybern drove the players into a suffocating silence.

Weed too gulped down his anxiety.

‘If I didn’t know Ratuas was on its way, I would have told all of them to run.’

The Hermes Guild and the assault squad poured everything they had into the Kaybern hunt.

Force remained, but it was far less formidable than when they started.

‘We have to survive against all odds. Once Ratuas arrives, the tides will change.’

All the players were in unison with Weed’s thoughts. No one wished to die here.

They survived against Kaybern, so they must do the same until Ratuas got to them in order to end things once and for all.

“Huh? It’s Bingryong!”

Someone screamed, but all eyes were fixated on the Red Dragon.

Weed too was pinned on the dragon, and the shout was heard once again.

“Bingryong! Phoenix! Wyverns! They are all flying this way!”

With small hope, he turned his head this time.

It was the blue eastern sky. Bingryong and Phoenix that Weed was tired of being used to, were all flying towards him with their wings wide.

Bingryong, Phoenix, King Hydra, White Tiger, Nile, Death Worm, Silver Bird, Wyvern and the others; the sculptural creatures were prohibited from entering Morata. Weed had sent them to a safe location before the battle against Kaybern.

Phoenix spoke as it sensed something.

– Dragon. The Red Dragon is coming.

Phoenix, a being composed of pure fire, could sense the essence of the Red Dragon. The Red Dragon, as intense as it could ever be, intimidated even the Phoenix.

– I am afraid. Growl-growl.

Geumini hid behind the rocks.

The sculptural creatures that possessed intelligence knew of the war occurring in Morata. Given the scale of the battle, the earth trembled and the shockwave travelled to far lands.

– Master told us to leave Morata because it would have turned dangerous.

Crocodile Nile immersed half of its body into the river and swam. The sculptural creatures were cowardly but also took great care of their own lives.

– To save us he…

Clear teardrops flowed from Nurungi’s giant eyes. In Weed’s defense, he had them flee because they were costly, but creatures took it in a different way.

– Master scolded us and said we were worthless, but that wasn’t his true feelings.

– Yeah. He thinks of us more than anybody. He’s just not open.

– He was rough with us in order to raise us to be tough. I can understand.

Bingryong thought of Weed’s words and actions in the past; just how upset he was when Bingryong couldn’t walk properly due to its lack of strength in comparison to its huge figure.

– When the master created me, he put all his heart into it. He withstood the snowstorm and blizzards to sculpt me.

Phoenix, Geumini and Nurungi also had stories to share.

– Master was mournful when my brothers died. I cannot forget his expression.

– He remembered and resurrected me. Groll-Growl. He even used expensive gems for me.

– Master took me around the most. He looked at me and complimented on how awesome I am.

A competition broke out among the sculptural creatures.

Barbarian Gernika, High elf Eltin, Knight Seville also contributed.

– My tough physique is the most beautiful.

– There is no other race as pretty as the high elves. Master put in the most care out of all his creations.

– I represent the master and his will to carry out justice. It is the heart that counts.

Death Worm, White Tiger, Nile and most of the other sculptural creatures had something to boast about; a symbol of power, expensive hides or some kind of unique quality!

– I always carried my master everywhere.

– We have been with the master longer than any of you.

Even the Wyverns that Weed created rather carelessly stepped in.

Phoenix, plausibly the most powerful of all sculptural creatures spread its wings first and flew up.

– The master is in danger. I will go to Morata and fight.

– Let’s go together.

The Fire Giant leapt swiftly and rode on top of Phoenix. Bingryeong, the sluggish odd one thought differently today.

– We must save the master. I will go too.

Bingryong flew up and King Hydra also began its move.

– Groll, groll, groll.

– Mooooooo.

The sculptural creatures advanced.

“Huh, why is this bunch here?”

The subordinates did not obey his restriction order.

Bingryong shouted with an authoritative tone.

– Red Dragon. Morata falls under the territory of me, Bingryong. Begone.

The sound echoed violently across the earth.

“What is this madness?”

Weed thought Bingryong was out of its mind.

The Red Dragon ignored the warning without even having paused and kept on its way to Morata.

The dragon’s figure was getting closer.

– Bingryong, get away right now.

Weed shouted out loudly, but Bingryong and Phoenix did not change directions.

The Fire Giant was also visible on the back of Phoenix.

– Flee this instant!

– There is something I want to protect even if it costs my life. Watch closely, observe my power. Huuuuuah!

Bingryong took a huge gulp of breath, distorting its stomach in order to to bring out its most powerful weapon, its Ice Breath.

– Kwaaaaaaaaaaah!

Bingryeong’s Ice Breath fired like an intense vortex, travelling across the open sky, straight at Landony.

“This is it. Bingryong’s breath!”

“This is going to be a direct hit. It’s a preemptive attack.”

The players were highly excited, but soon a dark red lava wall formed in front of Landony.

Bingryong did its best, but it was too weak to pierce through the Red Dragon’s magic.

– Krruugh?

Bingryeong rolled its big round eyes as it spewed out the last of its Ice Breath.

An attack that would turn plains into a snowfield, that would instantly freeze dozens of monsters at once, was completely negated by magic. That was the difference between a real dragon and an imitation.

– It is my turn now. Rage of Fire!

Landony retaliated.

Blazing fire balls several dozen meters wide formed in the air and pushed forth towards Bingryong like dancing devil fires.

The immense heat could be felt on the ground.

– I will protect my friend.

Phoenix spread its wings and got in front of Bingryong.

The fireballs crashed into Phoenix, but it defended it safely at the cost of a few feathers.

Its affinity for fire prevented most of the damage.

– I will also protect Morata.

Phoenix had grown about 20 meters by absorbing the fire. Being composed of pure fire, its original size was about 220 meters tall, and Bingryong was slightly larger.

The Fire Giant, a masterpiece sculpture crafted from Castal, the material ingredient that burns endlessly, was riding on top of Phoenix. The giant was also over 100 meters tall and grew in size whenever it used its power. They were gigantic creatures that could be compared to a dragon.

– If you wish to destroy Morata, you must defeat us first.

The Fire Giant’s taunt infuriated Landony. Landony was a massive dragon that spanned over 350 meters from head to tail.

– Mere humans lay my mighty brother to rest. I will exterminate anything that gets in my way!

Landony used an acceleration spell and charged at Phoenix.

– Don’t ignore my presence!

The Fire Giant shouted and swung its flame sword while Bingryong aimed for the Red Dragon’s wings.

The four massive creatures began tangling in the sky.

“What is this mess?”

Weed could do nothing but blankly stare up to the sky.

He thought he was going to have a harsh time defending against Landony, but the sculptural creatures stepped forward.

“Their presence inspires confidence.”

“More than that, it’s the immortal Phoenix that I’ve only heard in stories. I never thought I would get to see it in action.”

“Dragons, Phoenix, and even Bingryong?”

The Hermes Guild and the assault squad found a moment of rest thanks to the creatures. However, the situation was not looking bright for the sculptural creatures.

– Pale: Weed-nim, Bingryong is in trouble.

The Red Dragon not only dominated in magic but also in physical ability. It grabbed the Phoenix by the wings and bit into the nape of Bingryong.

The four giant creatures fought in melee combat and the Red Dragon was arguably overwhelming the other three.

There were dangerous moments for Bingryong and if it weren’t for Phoenix diving in as a distraction or the Fire Giant contesting with its fists and sword, he would have been completely overwhelmed.

– Blizzard!

Bingryong used magic but it did not cause any damage and instantly melted mid air.

There was a two or three level difference in their magic.

Splash!

The Blizzard spell fell from the sky as boiling rain.

“Bingryeong, you stupid fool…”

Weed watched in despair as Bingryong gradually melted and became smaller.

It could not retain its size near the Red Dragon, and it did not help being close to Phoenix that emitted extreme heat.

‘Morata is not done for. The Hermes Guild can still fight.’

It was a matter of how much loss they would suffer, as they were highly likely to hold their grounds until Ratuas’ arrival.

There was an advantageous trait for Phoenix.

The trait of the everlasting fire

Even if all health points are depleted, Phoenix would revive if even an ember remained.

Phoenixes revives with 50% health points and mana.

Phoenix and the Fire Giant could stall for quite a long time. However, there was no way for Bingryong to survive in the fight against the Red Dragon.

– Kuuuuuuaaargh! Master. We are here too.

– Wyvern3. Commence battle.

– Protect Morata, our home.

Six wyverns were also on their way.

“Even that bunch…”

Weed was furious but also touched. The wyverns quickly turned away after seeing the Red Dragon.

– That’s not something we can fight.

– I forgot I had something urgent to do.

– We have to listen to the master when he already told us not to come to Morata.

The wyverns busily flapped their wings and disappeared faster than they arrived.

Their combat level was incomparable to that of Bingryong or Phoenix, so it was the wise move to flee.

– I am here.

– Get down here, let’s fight!

King Hydra and Death Worm also arrived in Morata through the ruined southern gate.

The two possessed great strength when compared to the other sculptural creatures, but they could not size up to a dragon. Furthermore, being ground creatures, they could do nothing but observe the sky. Weed was troubled.

‘If this was a typical battle, they would have proved their usefulness. But this is the dragon. Without using the Brazier of Sacrifice, they can’t be a part of it.’

Then again, it was a hassle sending them away by force. The players who came to protect Morata would feel betrayed.

‘I guess it is what it is. I will have to revive those that may die in this fight.’

The burden in his heart lifted. First, he picked up the ice fragments and embers that fell on the ground. It was pieces of Bingryeong, Phoenix and the Fire Giant!

‘I used the Brazier of Sacrifice, and now I have to revive the sculptural creatures… I’m going to suffer greatly in levels.’

That moment, Landony casted a magic spell.

– Flames of Constraint.

The fire magic spell bypassed Phoenix and the Fire Giant, aimed at Bingryong.

– Krruuuuuuaagh!

Bingryeong squirmed but the fire constraintment did not release. It caused a huge rush of vapor as its wings melted and Bingryeong began falling towards the ground.

“Bingryeong…”

Weed watched the scene unfold with a weary heart, but at that moment, numerous beams of light surged and engulfed Bingryeong.

Irene spoke with a loud voice unlike her usual quiet tone.

“All priests, focus on Bingryong!”

The priests of Morata were collectively casting their healing spells on Bingryong.

It was a rush of deep emotions!

Bingryoong’s melting body recovered and was gradually rebuilding back to its original size.

But as soon as Landony took another deep breath, the faint hope vanished.

– I will incinerate you to the soul.

Landony’s ever powerful Fire Breath was fired at close range. The breath punched through Bingryeong and blasted away a portion of Morata.

“Evacuate! Run away!”

“Everyone, we have to get out of here.”

The gates of Morata swung wide open and players began streaming out.

The breath belched from Landony’s mouth erased Bingryoong without a trace and struck Morata. The grand explosion sucked in the air in the atmosphere, emitting intense heat along with smoke and dust.

“It’s a mushroom cloud.”

“That breath is insane. Pure insane.”

– Mapan: Ratuas is approximately 7 minutes away.

The news of the Blue Dragon Ratuas entering the Northern Continent caused the players to expect the total destruction of Morata.

“Wow, this is epic.”

“Phoenix is also powerful. Nothing less to expect from the Red Dragon.”

“It’s such a shame that Bingryong had to go like that.”

The players turned to the battle in the sky of Morata and were blown away.

The spectacle of the dragon and the Phoenix clashing was solemn and majestic.

The crimson feathers of the Phoenix fluttered.

“I’m going to miss Bingryong.”

“The dragon is too powerful. It seems to be way above Kaybern.”

The players felt sorrow at Bingryong’s demise.

“Let’s hurry. I want to watch this from afar.”

The pace of the escaping players became hasty. Their lives were at stake, but more importantly they wished to stay alive and watch the amazing battle until the end.

“Hoo… Was a dragon this menacing?”

Reverse was afraid. The dragon was a catastrophic beast and observing it firsthand was entirely different to seeing it through a monitor.

*****

Bingryong’s death.

Weed pocketed additional ice fragments on the ground into his bag and spoke.

“I have enough fragments. I will be able to restore it back to life.”

In the sky were Landony, Phoenix and Fire Giant were still tangled in combat.

In terms of combat level, Landony was at least tenfold more powerful, but the Phoenix and the Fire Giant continued to revive from their embers.

“This is crazy.”

Morata had been half ruined during the battle with Kaybern. Landony’s breath destroyed a third of the remaining buildings to the point that no trace of their existence remained.

Now, parts of the butchered corpses of Phoenix scattered and fell upon Morata like meteorites.

“You don’t need to win, so run and stall for as long as you can!”

– Understood, master.

– We will do so.

The Phoenix and the Fire Giant’s movement became much more flexible after the death of Bingryong. They carried out the battle with rapid maneuverability and spread remnants of fire everywhere. The Phoenix and Fire Giant recovered their health points each time they absorbed fire. Though it was impossible to prevail, they were managing to hold on.

– Lamifter: Don’t just watch. We should support them with magic.

The players on the ground also leased fire magic spells into the air and assisted the two creatures. The Phoenix absorbed ally spells and recovered its health points and stamina.

The priests casted protection and healing spells for the Phoenix and Fire Giant.

Everyone was aware. If they were to fall, Morata was next.

– Mapan: 3 minutes until Ratuas arrives!

The Phoenix was ripped apart again and again but each revival bought considerable time.

The Fire Giant’s attack on occasion could merely light up the Red Dragon’s skin for a few seconds.

– You annoying pests. I will end you once and for all. Total Extinction.

Landony cast an ultimate spell.

It wasn’t an elemental type like fire or wind, but a spell at the pinnacle of magic itself.

It was a spell that destroyed the target’s physical being.

– Master, I am out of energy. I can’t do this any longer…

The Phoenix and Fire Giant retaliated, but finally were swallowed up by the spell and disappeared.

– Now, for you humans that slaughtered my brother!

Landony roared at the players on the ground.

– Humans and dwarves. Worthless scum that caused my brother to die here… You will pay the price!

Weed gripped the Dragon Slayer Axe and the others prepared for battle.

The sculptural creatures had brought enough time to allow them to recover substantial amounts of health points, stamina and mana.

– Fools. Your resistance is futile.

Landony ridiculed the players. Then an incantation circle spread wide across the sky. It was a spell that consumed a great amount of mana, even for a dragon.

– Disappear without a trace. Summon Flaming Meteorite.

“Ah…”

“That’s…”

It was an ultimate spell that trampled the hopes of Weed and the players to the ground.

The Hermes Guild was capable of summoning meteorites, but the spell used by a dragon was vastly superior. Magical power that could easily turn an entire city into ashes was being harnessed. This dragon was different from Kaybern that fought physically on the ground.

The Red Dragon was one that enjoyed complete destruction with the utmost power.

The spell was seconds away from being fired.

– Landony!

The Blue Dragon could be seen flying in from the south.

Ratuas with ocean-like blue scales was incoming.

– For you to surrender yourself to be an underling of demons and disgrace us dragons.

– Ratuas, this is not the place for you.

– You fool. Open your eyes to the truth. Destroying the world is never the right solution.

– Don’t lecture me. I know everything. For a dragon like you to be protecting humans is plain absurd.

– It seems words will not get through to you. As long as I live, you will never harm humans.

Ratuas took a deep breath and exhaled with force.

Aqua Breath!

The water element breath pumped towards Landony.

Landony summoned a lava wall like before and guarded against the attack, but the breath broke through and knocked Landony far back.

– Ratuas, if you protect the humans, I will kill you along with them.

– A dog of the demons is better off dead.

Ratuas commenced the first attack with its breath, but Landony charged rapidly and began to engage in melee combat.

“A melee fight between dragons.”

Weed watched anxiously. Fortunately, the ‘Summon Flaming Meteorite’ spell had been interrupted.

Landony possessed extreme strength and magic power. It was deemed the more powerful over the rest of the dragons.

“Ratuas may be the underdog, so we need to prepare to fight as well.”

– Pale: Roger that.

– Calcus: I will recover our forces and have them on standby.

“If we must fight, it will be an aerial battle.”

– Calcus: Won’t we be at a disadvantage?

“We will be. However, judging from the situation moments ago, it is possible that the Red Dragon will not descend to the ground. So, have all the mages get ready to cast flight spells.”

– Lamifter: They are ready. With all the mages on it, about 50,000 players can take flight at a time.”

Weed prepared the players and observed the clash between Ratuas and Landony.

The two dragons repeatedly charged into one another and disengaged.

They kicked, smashed and whipped with their tails, tangling and chomping on the nape of their opponent. Landony had great strength, but seemed to be an amateur in combat. It charged recklessly and was roughed up by kicks and wing slaps while trying to take a bite out of the enemy.

“It seems Ratuas is actually coming out ahead!”

– Pale: It looks that way in my eyes as well. It seems more experienced in battle.

The two dragons exchanged close range magic spells and it was Ratuas the older dragon that seemed to possess more powerful magic.

– I will tear you up before I slaughter those humans!

– Foolish child. Without Kaybern, you cannot hope to defeat me.

Ocean of Life, Origin of Water, Guardian of the Sea and more recovery spells seemed to give Ratuas the edge. Even if both dragons took similar amounts of damage, Ratuas could drag out the fight with healing magic and enhancement spells. After about ten minutes, Landony began fleeing with heavy wounds.

– I will return. When I do, I will exterminate all of you.

– Running away? You continue to disgrace us dragons.

Ratuas immediately began the chase and the battle continued south of Morata.

Both of them had high magic resistance, rendering the battle mainly melee combat, but the start of the chase turned it into a burst of ultimate magic spells.

– Aqua Wave.

– Hand of Ruins.

– Star Dust!

– Hellfire Incineration.

Ultimate magic spells fell upon the earth, creating lakes and breaking down mountains.

The southern region of Morata was transforming drastically.

Ratuas kept on hunting down Landony and came across a crucial opportunity at the border touching the Central Continent.

– This will truly be a shameful end for dragon.

– Ah, no!

Ratuas mounted the back of the wounded Landony. Its teeth sunk deep into the nape and drove it to death.

– Krraaaaaaagh!

Ratuas roared.

It was the ending signal of the long battle in Morata.

*****

Weed stood on top of the ruins and looked around.

“Ha…”

The most impressive city of the Northern Continent, Morata had become a total wreckage with little remnants of its past.

“The castle is gone too.”

The Black Giant Star had crumbled without notice.

Approximately a hundred concrete buildings around the Light Townsquare barely survived through the battle with even the Art Centre being destroyed in the end.

Debris and waste piled everywhere, covering the roads, town squares and the building lots,

The trees were all burned down and the traces of broken bricks and buildings were spread wide.

– Mapan: I transferred all the artworks to a safe location beforehand. It will not be that difficult to rebuild.

“Okay. What about the Great Library?”

– Mapan: Several pillars fell and the walls were cracked, but Miblos-nim assessed that it will hold for the time being. It will be alright once they begin the reinforcement.

“That’s a relief.”

Weed felt it was pointless to calculate the losses.

“Morata has to be rebuilt.”

Morata was a complete ruin. The war against the dragon left not even a fifth of the city intact.

It felt like a time travel to the past, but it was only a moment of emotions.

“We really won!”

“We slayed Kaybern and… Landony too.”

“Peace on Versailles!”

“God of war, Weed!”

The sounds of cheering could be heard easily over the piles of debris.

“Did we manage to win?”

Kaybern’s body laid like a mountain.

Its bones, blood and flesh. Everything was precious magic ingredients, and they would not disappear until players dismantled its body.

< Seeing a dead dragon reduces your fear of monsters.

Fighting Spirit increased by 9.

Strength increased by 5. >

The effects applied permanent rewards to the spectators.

A message alert informing of the quest completion popped up for Weed.

Blink!

< The dwarven race quest is no longer required to complete.

The dwarves of the continent do not have a purpose to rally anymore. The pride of their kind, Weed and the dwarf warriors have slain Kaybern. >

< The dwarven race has been freed from the tyranny of the Black Dragon. The dwarves will purge the Norn and Ulta Mountainpasses of monsters and raise their kingdom of fire and steel. They have regained their lost dignity and unlocked the limit of their growth.

The dexterity, blacksmithing, sewing, sculpting and shipbuilding proficiencies of all dwarves increase by an additional 10%. >

< The hero of his race!

The name ‘Weedhand’ will be engraved on all dwarven made weapons and armor for a year in respect of the majesty of his achievement.

– Reputation increased by 100,000.

The completion of the race quest increased all stats by 8.

Effects of Dexterity increased by 5%.

You are now able to interact with blacksmith master dwarfs and darkiron blacksmith master dwarfs.>

<The Secret Potion of Sabrina Lake Quest has been forfeited.

The return of Kaybern to eternal darkness has lifted the duty of the hero.

Your courage slayed Kaybern and saved the continent.

The demon king, Cletta’s plan failed, but you must not be careless, for the seeds of the sly demon may be quietly biding their time somewhere in the continent.

Savior of the world… You must become stronger through more battles and adventures.

When the darkness swarms the world, the only one who can spread light is you. >

< Quest completion rewards 10 points to all stats. >

< You will be welcomed by fairies, elves and the dwarves. >

< You must seek out the seeds left by the demons. The gods and the people of this world are watching. Your duties will carry on. >

Weed suddenly felt a rush of fatigue. He had many things to take care of, but he decided to leave it for tomorrow.

“I need to take a warm bath and to feast on a whole chicken.”

Weed logged out and soon Morata was filled with an enormous crowd. Players residing in the city all came out to the streets and even more players streamed in from outside the city.

“This is Kaybern.”

“They slayed something this big? That’s extraordinary, seriously…”

“Victory to the Arpen Empire!”

It was like a festival on every street. On the other hand, the Hermes Guild members and high level players who participated in the battle began chatting in the peace granted after the battle.

“So, who ended up killing Kaybern?”

“Who is it? I bet the guy who killed the dragon got incredible combat achievements.”

“According to KMC Media’s analysis, the effects of the combat achievement would at least grant 10 or 20 levels easily.”

“The Dragon Blood? Dragon’s Heart? I heard only the one who slayed the dragon can obtain them, and cooking those ingredients provides a great amount of health points and Endurance.”

“I heard you gain the Fighting Spirit of the Dragon as well.”

“Lots of titles too.”

“Those are nothing. Health points and mana would be increased.”

Hundreds of magic spells had struck Kaybern each second.

“Wasn’t it the Hermes Guild that killed the dragon?”

“I think it’s a given. They are the ones with the highest possibility…”

“They’re probably keeping their mouth shut after taking the loot. I mean, who would blabber about such a thing?”

“Wouldn’t the mages be more likely? Bard Ray and the guild members were dying along with the dragon, so it would have been difficult for them to stay alive until the final strike.”

“You can’t cross out the possibility of it being someone completely random. Even players of level 200 jumped in.”

“The chances are extremely unlikely, but not impossible…”

The players who participated in the battle of Morata all obtained the title, ‘The Heroes Who Confronted The Dragon’. Based on their contribution, they had a significant increase in Strength, Mentality, health points, Fighting Spirit.

The gains far exceeded what they would usually gain from hunting in relatively safe dungeons.

Therefore, a rumor spread as the investigation about the one who slayed the dragon continued.

– The one who rid the world of the dragon is the Assassin of Darkness.

– Versailles’ top assassin. He slayed the dragon.

– The one who landed the final strike is the one who destroys souls…

Anonymous rumors instantly spread among the players of Morata.

“An assassin?”

“Ah… That’s right. The assassins are made for last hits.”

“But, this is the dragon we are talking about.”

“It’s all the same even for a dragon. They pop a burst of critical strikes… I don’t know about frontal attacks, but their attack power is insane.”

“The Assassin of Darkness, destroyer of souls… That’s really familiar.”

“It’s Seasoned Crab!”

The rumor was spreading and it was more than plausible for players to accept.

– Seasoned Crab slayed the dragon.

– The player who killed the dragon is Seasoned Crab!

*****

“How many of us survived?”

“I’m not sure… We lost many. But, we did succeed in the dragon hunt.”

The high rankers of the Hermes Guild sprawled out on the ground and rested.

The battle had crushed them, leaving them with extreme fatigue and tension.

“It’s a miracle that we survived.”

“I know, right? Kkk.”

“The combat achievement we got at the end… Not half bad.”

“We fought well. That’s all that matters.”

Gaushu, Calcus, Lamifter, Boemong.

The commanders pondered as they saw the few comrades who had survived.

‘I who fought until the end and survived, I am the winner.’

‘What is more joyful than the misfortune of my competitors?’

‘I gained so much today. Our relationship with the Arpen Empire will be friendly for the time being. It will be a good time to suggest trades with the specialty products of our territories, the jades and crystals.’

‘The world will be different starting tomorrow.’

The power of the Hermes Guild was proven once again.

However, this victory would not have been possible if not for Weed and his preparations.

Weed betting everything on the winning move in Morata and preparing the Brazier of Sacrifice served as key factors. His influence over a variety of factions composed of great lords was shown vividly.

– Gaushu: The Hermes Guild is not currently an unrivalled faction in power, so it would be best to cooperate with the Arpen Empire and wait for an opportunity.

– Lamifter: I also feel the same way. I believe our initial plan was wise.

– Calcus: We also gained hope. Weed’s degree of influence gives him immense power, but there exists no contender to the Hermes Guild within the Arpen Empire. Weed, in some ways, is an isolated hero. His personal faction is weak.

– Gaushu: We pulled off the dragon hunt. Weed may have led the battle, but everyone will acknowledge that it was only possible because of us Hermes Guild members.

– Boemong: They all witnessed our power, just as we planned. The great power of the Hermes Guild!

The commanders, though under the ruling of the Arpen Empire, thought it was bearable for a while. It could prove difficult to catch up to Weed, but they were optimistic that further expanding the gap with the competing factions could one day give them an opportunity.

“If we band closely together…”

“There would be no reason to fall out. The Black Lion Guild? Roam Guild? They are incapable. If it weren’t for Weed, they’d be long gone.”

“Let us keep harnessing the power of our guild.”

“Of course. We will become even more powerful.”

*****

The architects of the North.

Mibullo and Pavo turned speechless at the sight of the ruined city of Morata.

Several steel structures stood firm among the mountains of ashes but they were insignificant; the entire city was far from its past appearance.

“The Art Centre and the Great Library remained. The Art Centre had some damage to the outer walls, but the repairs will be easy.”

“The canals are completely gone. We may have to rework our urban planning for this city.”

“When are we going to remove all this debris? And how are we going to gather the construction materials for rebuilding Morata?”

The architects fell into despair. Building a city happens over a long period of time. Morata too expanded along with the growth of the Northern Continent, roads and structures followed naturally as trade routes developed. The dragon’s rampage had massive ramifications for what had been one of the most popular cities in the continent.

“Rather than repairing it, it may be faster to build a new one adjacent to where Morata had been.”

“A complete transfer of Morata?”

“Wouldn’t that be better? We have to expand the temporary residence and raise buildings as we go.”

“It’s not a matter of one or two issues.”

The architects faced the harsh reality. Kaybern ultimately was hunted down and the dark cloud over the world receded, but their concern was the broken city of Morata.

It wasn’t just a couple of buildings, but the entire city that needed a redesign.

“I don’t know where to begin…”

Mibullo, who constructed the royal palace of the Haven Empire shook his head.

Morata had turned into ash and dirt and they had no idea how to proceed.

As the architects were in a state of devastation, Northern players continued to squish into the city. They looked from afar or watched the battle through their TV.

“Is this our house?”

“I don’t know. It’s completely burned…”

“Nothing but ashes.”

The homeless players cleaned up the mess and raised thin wooden panels. They had begun constructing new shacks.

“First, let’s open up restaurants.”

“Yeah. We’re doing all this to feed our own.”

“We will also need a market until the trade sector is back up and running.”

“Our merchants will provide the supplies somehow. All the merchant councils of the North have come to an alliance.”

The players and the merchants created shabby posts near the remains of where the old townsquare and the commercial street used to exist.

“Alright. I will cook up a delicious dish.”

“Line up please. There are no proper seats, so sit wherever you want. The food today is on us.”

A long time had passed during the battle against the dragon and the night was close.

The chefs stirred up their ingredients to feed lots of hungry players.

These chefs who had competed in the cooking competition the day before were now showcasing their skills once again. Discouragement could not impose itself over the ruined city. The players were already preparing for a new beginning.

The architects smiled.

“Starting tomorrow, we will surely begin the reconstruction business.”

“Yes. The history of this city will not disappear. It will step up and reveal itself as being even greater than before.”

“The spectacular night skyline of Morata will return someday.”

Even if the city had to start over, it felt like it would be something fruitful and exciting.

*****

Pale was thrown off by the rumors.

“Seasoned Crab-nim slayed Kaybern?”

“Yup. Being an assassin, I think he pulled it off big time.”

Pale exchanged words with Python while tending to the wounded.

“But, that can’t be…”

Pale tilted his head in disbelief.

In truth, he clearly witnessed Seasoned Crab die by the impact of Kaybern’s magic while he was firing his arrow.

– Shadow Assassination!

Seasoned Crab continued the battle even after death. Unlike the power to resist death by reviving as an undead, the Assassin’s secret technique allowed his shadow to fight for him for a set duration. He was able to double his attack speed and critical strikes. He attacked with all he had while he was in the shadow state, but had dissipated in the end.

“He died at least 10 seconds earlier.”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.”

Pale was very confidential. He never spoke to anyone else about things he was uncertain with.

“It was such a difficult battle.”

“No doubt. Many think that our victory was miraculous.”

Geomchi and the apprentices were completely wiped out during battle.

It was a predetermined fate having fought in the frontlines in the most dangerous strategy.

The assault squad too suffered great losses despite not having fought from the beginning.

The sacrifices they made for the final strike of Kaybern’s death cost them dearly.

“There is no end to human greed. The words of Weed-nim were true.”

“He really strikes you from time to time. It’s as if he has some kind of insight.”

Python even felt guilty for having survived. The public honored him as a great warrior, but he felt otherwise while he watched the Hermes Guild in battle.

“I will not wish to say farewell to Weed-nim personally. Please send him my regards.”

“Are you leaving?”

“I will return as a stronger man. I am going to roam the ten forbidden regions.”

Python went off on his adventure with a sword in hand. Soon, countless people visited Pale.

“The merchants of the Central Continent requested a meeting. They wish to join the restoration project of Morata.”

“The architects have come up with a plan for the restoration.”

“The Grass Porridge Cult have sent an official inquiry about hosting a festival. With the Black Dragon gone, the peace of the continent maintained right here in Morata calls for a great toast, as they said.”

Pale freaked out as people came up to him.

“Why are you telling me these things?”

“Weed-nim went off to rest, and so did Seoyoon-nim who prepared for the Morata defense all this time.”

“…”

They had left with an entire dump site of tasks.

Pale had to uphold the meeting, making decisions ranging from Morata’s festivals to its reconstruction.

“We are short of liquor.”

“We need to supply meat. We must submit the request to the Northern merchant councils as soon as possible…”

“An official request has arrived from the Hermes Guild. They wish to purchase large stocks of grape wine. They also inquired about the availability to purchase orders on a regular basis.”

A pile of errands flooded in.

“Ah…. This is gonna be bad.”

Pale sat on the ocean of papers, recorded and reviewed each task one by one. Challenging and tedious jobs stormed in, but his personality was to complete the tasks with detail if he ever took responsibility.

Weed logged in again.

He had food and a short nap, but he wasn’t at ease.

“My curiosity gets to me.”

It hadn’t been a day in Morata, but the players were in the middle of the reconstruction project.

–  Now we will build a more gorgeous home!

– Just you wait. It will be a two-story house this time.

– Let us build a place with beautiful homes like Santorini, Greece.

The players began working on amazing homes.

The architects cleaned up the mess and were in the process of laying out wide roads.

“The new city has to be far better than the old Morata.”

“It will be awesome if we can maintain all of Morata’s culture and identity while also reflecting the history that became the foundation of the Arpen Empire.”

“How about asking Weed-nim for a massive sculpture of Kaybern in the heart of the city?”

“That’s a great idea. We have to show off our history of the battle against the dragon.”

The passion of these architects was heated, talking about building a memorial hall and great landmarks. They were daunted for a bit, but soon gained energy from the other players.

‘This is a pleasant sight.’

Weed took advantage of the disruptiveness and squeezed through the debris. He took off all armor and weapons for combat in a split second and wore an adventurer outfit that was worth 10 gold.

“Mmm, no one is around.”

Weed confirmed that there was no one else and entered the half destroyed concrete building. It was the quarters of the Morata security guards.

It wasn’t accessible for normal players, but was indeed allowed for the emperor of the Arpen Empire.

“No one will enter this place.”

The soldiers of Morata would provide no value in a fight against a dragon and so he had evacuated them outside the city since the day before.

“Then… This comes first.”

Weed unloaded the ashes with traces of kindle fire.

It was the remains of the Phoenix and the Fire Giant!

He had scavenged the remains of the two that died while fighting Kaybern.

“Hu-hu-hu. That’s not all.”

The following item out of the bag was Kaybern’s bone.

He had snatched it the moment the Black Dragon died.

< Dragon Bone

Durability 800/800.

A dense material that derived from a being of high birth.

Pure, crystalized mana.

It is difficult to break or refine, but any weapon or armor born from it will be a legendary work of art.

Legendary blacksmithing material.

Legendary fragment material.

Attribute: Enhances a skill related to crafting by 1 level.

The crafted item will be imbued with 7 attributes related to the dragon. >

“Hu-hu. This is just some miscellaneous ingredient!”

Even the Dragon Bone was mere scrap when compared to his other prize!

“Identify!”

< Black Dragon Kaybern’s Heart

Durability 100/100.

The dragon’s heart that exudes a dreadful and immense aura of magic.

This is a sacrificial offering desired since time immemorial by dark mages and can create an incantation circle or a magical creature that lasts permanently. In the hands of a chef, the consequences are unknown. Fried, steamed, roasted, slightly burnt; it would be a delicious experience that no one has felt before.

Legendary magical ingredient.

Legendary cooking ingredient.

Warning!

If you fail to acquire the ultimate cooking method for Kaybern’s Heart, you may die upon consumption.

Attribute: Successful cooking will greatly enhance the consumer’s physical abilities. >

“Mmm… Since I’m not going to use it as an offering for dark magic, I’m going to take my time and think of how to cook this thing.”

He had no intention of selling it.

If it was the old Weed, he would consider it at a high value, but as the emperor of the empire, he had to take care of his well being first.

– Master, what about your promise of giving me my own body?

“I will certainly keep that promise. I haven’t checked over everything but… Yeah, let’s craft your body first.”

Weed pieced together the various sized dragon bones.

He began carving a skull sculpture as a means to connect the smaller bones to the medium sized bones.

“I would love to carve it as finely as I can… But this stuff is dense and doesn’t accept my sculpting knife, so let’s be content with a basic assembly.”

– Promise me you will make it more beautiful next time.

“Of course, I will even stroke your chin whenever I have time.”

He applied gold Migrium he found in the land of the giants onto the joints.

Though it was a skull, the dragon shined brightly like jewels.

The long arms and legs turned the appearance into a large frame like a barbarian.

“It’s more awesome than I thought.”

The collaboration of the glittering gold Migrium and the Dragon Bones was a priceless work of art in itself.

“K-hmm. I knew this would turn out well.”

– I… I’m so grateful, master.

“Yeah. Don’t you ever forget it.”

– I will never.

“Forever. You have to remember this forever.”

– Yes, master.

Brightwing soon subsumed into the body of Dragon Bones.

< Sculptural creature Brightwing is trying to acquire a physical state. Will you bestow a new life? >

He had to reinstate life back into the incomplete Brightwing for the new body.

“Yes. I will gift you new life.”

< You have bestowed life into your sculpture.

Brightwing has acquired a body made from Dragon Bones.

Two additional attributes are applied.

Wondrous Magic Attribute (300%), Complete Resistance Attribute (300%).

Wondrous Magic Attribute is unrivalled.

The being under the influence will learn magic with ease and display unimaginable power.

Complete Resistance Attribute mitigates most magical damage. It grants immunity to all mental statuses.

The creature possesses high physical defense.

Art stat is permanently decreased by 6. Lost stats can be regained by sculpting or performing other art related activities.

Your level decreased by 2. Loss in levels reduces current stats by 10. Lost stats can be reapplied by leveling up.

Take great care of sculptures bestowed with life. Upon death, they must be resurrected.

They cannot be brought back to life when destroyed completely. >

– Thank you, master.

It was a warrior with a body made from dragon bones and wings of light.

Certainly the most magnificent sculptural creature of all had been born.

It was more robust than Bahamorg and capable of firing a barrage of magic spells.

“And now…”

It was time to review the rest of his loot.

“Take a deep breath…”

Weed filled his lungs and exhaled violently. Then he started to breathe quickly.

“Huff, pant-pant-pant.”

He could not calm his excitement.

“Identify!”

< Cletta’s Horn.

The horn instilled with the magic of the demon king Cletta.

A before undiscovered infinitude of power is dormant inside this horn. >

< Accurate analysis is impossible due to the lack of knowledge in magic. >

“I suppose I have to collect more information on this and use it as a blacksmithing material or make some kind of magic staff out of it… In terms of price I’m sure it’s too expensive for anyone to buy.”

He could deduce an effect based on its name and description.

It would likely enhance dark magic.

Or maybe it would be a huge collection of dangerous attributes.

“This too… Identify!”

< Tome of Death

Durability 30/30.

A book that contains the secrets of death.

It records the origin of dark magic and incantations by demons.

Sacrifice, Curse, Summoning, Destruction, Contract magic spells are organized in detail, speeding up the learning process by 3x.

If you sign a contract with a demon, you will gain rewards with each summoning.

Author is unknown.

Requirements: The One Who Offered His Soul To A Demon.

Reward: Advancement into Soulless Dark Mage.

Maximum health points increased by 300%.

Maximum mana increased by 2,000%.

Power of all magic spells increased by 400%.

Magic spells and Wisdom acquired 3 times faster.

Capable of commanding demon soldiers.

Special rewards unlocked for every human, dwarf or elf killed.

Upon reaching a certain threshold of retribution level, the demon king can be summoned. >

Weed’s expression was sour.

“This too is an incredible item, but I can’t sell this.”

It would be a total disaster if he sold this to some high level player and it led to the reign of Cletta.

“Identify!”

< Essence of Dark Magic.

It allows the user to skip Novice and Intermediate level and unlock acquisition of Advanced Dark Magic.

The human body can be completely transformed into a dark mage.

Physical and magical abilities are empowered. If the player takes significant damage, the player will be transformed into a demon. >

The loot he acquired from Kaybern was disappointing once he had opened everything.

They were items that he had to use firsthand and were not things he could sell.

“They may prove their use someday… But, this is not the end of my gains. Even if nothing useful dropped from the dragon, that’s not all of the dragon’s worth.”

Weed thought of paying Kaybern’s lair another visit. His objective was none other than collecting all the treasures!

“I would need Crab-nim, Nide and a few elites.”

The lair was filled with monsters but with Kaybern dead, it would prove to be a resourceful hunting ground. Assassinating them from afar and baiting the aggravated monsters could lead to great opportunities.

*****

Kaybern’s death sparked a wave of change in Versailles.

“Grook?”

“Wuuuuugh!”

The swarms of monsters that roamed the continent returned to their homes.

Some claimed empty caves or villages and established new habitats, leading to creation of new dungeons.

– We Hermes Guild will serve the responsibility and fulfil our duty as citizens of the Arpen Empire.

The Hermes Guild too announced an open policy.

Many were worried, having suffered under their rules in the Central Continent.

However, they worked together for the dragon hunt and everyone knew that they would be unable to exercise cruel control over the continents like they did in the past.

– Pallos Empire has been resurrected!

In the desert region, the desert tribes united under the warriors.

It was the completion of a grand quest, the establishment of an empire.

– Emperor Weed!

The Pallos emperor revered by the warriors was none other than Weed!

Many tried out, but the ultimate fruit bearer was Weed.

The apprentices who fought valiantly in the desert became leaders of the warriors tribes.

Weed looked down from the sandhill and shouted.

– The Pallos Empire and the Arpen Empire are one.

Hence the unification under the Arpen Empire.

The Northern, Central and Southern borders finally joined as one. Unclaimed lands marked small parts of the map, but finally the empire’s territories combined as one.

“Shouldn’t we be part of the Arpen Empire too?”

“Yeah. Our kingdom is the only outsider.”

The lords of the Rojaim Kingdom and the Brent Kingdom in the east were now burdened with a major concern.

“Would Weed try to invade us? With a tide of players.”

“No way…”

“Why would he bring other players? He could leave it to the Hermes Guild and we will be conquered in no time.”

“There is no need for the Hermes Guild. All it would take is a few great lords.”

“Even if Weed comes alone… Who can honestly take him on?”

While the lords were preoccupied, the Arpen Empire came up with a method that did not involve military force. Weed indeed had a desire to unite the world. The meal was already prepared with the joining of the Hermes Guild, so now he just had to start eating.

He had other tricks at his disposal.

“It’s the Mapan Council! I have brought the specialties from the Arpen Empire.”

“We are cross-cultural communicators. We will host an exhibit at the Central Town Square, so please drop by.”

“We are the ‘Ride The Wind’ travelling agency. We take our clients to their destination with speed and precision. Clients wishing for a tour in the North are welcome.”

He chose to increase the empire’s influence over the Rojaim and Brent Kingdom via culture and trades. All were part of Arpen except for the two kingdoms and the influence grew rapidly. But, it would take months until total unification.

Mapan held a secret meeting with the lords.

“Will you revolt and join the Arpen Empire?”

“That’s…”

“You are right to be concerned. I am aware of what you’re afraid of. It is that it would be difficult to retain your positions in the Arpen Empire, am I correct?”

“…”

The Hermes Guild had power and therefore maintained their faction.

The great lords paid a hefty sacrifice and earned their lands. Compared to them, the lords of the east had no power nor the money.

“I know it is a difficult decision to make. However, this opportunity will not last. Just how much longer do you think the Rojaim and Brent Kingdom are going to stand?”

“…”

“Both kingdoms will inevitably join the Arpen Empire. Weed-nim welcomes all of you, if you show your dedication to the Arpen Empire.”

The lords of Rojaim and Brent had to decide.

< Lord Torka of Town Barran rose in revolt.

The land has become a territory of the Arpen Empire. >

< The twelve towns of Lake Arud have joined the uprising. They have joined the territories of the Arpen Empire. >

The uprising of the lords of Rojaim and Brent!

The lands of the two kingdoms diminished rapidly as the influence of the Arpen Empire expanded.

Chapter 1: World Unification

Weed received news during his hunt that the Arpen Empire was close to uniting the entire continent.

He had mobilized the entirety of the sculptural creatures in order to recover the levels he lost while fighting Kaybern.

“Have a taste of my power!”

Brightwing had become immensely powerful after obtaining a body crafted from the Black Dragon’s bones!

“I will protect everyone. You will not surpass me. Huryah!”

Ironblood Warrior Bahamorg!

“For the sword!”

“I will hit every mark.”

Knight Seville and High elf Eltin were on the move, penetrating the lines of monsters at a fearsome pace.

– Mapan: We have conquered 65% of Rosenheim Kingdom and Britten Aliiance’s territories.

“We’ve accomplished a lot.”

Weed remained in the hunting ground slaying monsters and simultaneously carried out the tasks required for total unification.

Overall, only 2 or 3% of the entire continent was yet to be a part of Arpen territory.

From the Southern Desert to the end of the North, almost all regions had recognized him as the emperor.

Dungeon Betan had never been cleared before, but even it could not prevent the advance of the sculptural creatures.

Following the creatures were a swarm of the undead.

– Mapan: We are a little delayed, as we are advancing slowly so that we will not harm the reputation of the Arpen Empire. The lords were wary at first, but are now in the process of accepting the inevitable.

“So it is the lands that we cannot merge with our territory are our concern.”

– Mapan: That is correct. Those lands are under the direct control of the Rosenheim Kingdom and Britten Alliance, so we may have to exercise force and conquer them.

Rosenheim Kingdom’s Castle Serabourg.

The Britten Alliance’s Nehales.

The areas surrounding the capital governed directly by the king would take substantial time to conquer with cultural influence.

‘Castle Serabourg…’

Weed reminisced back to when he first logged into Royal Road.

It was his first experience with virtual reality and everything felt phenomenal.

He began after substantial research, but first hand experience still felt miraculous.

Everything from striking the dummies at the novice training arena and hunting monsters outside the gate had become cherished memories.

‘I advanced to the sculptor class at Litvar’s Lair.’

Weed smiled faintly.

He wondered if any player who started around the same time in Castle Serabourg had become as successful as himself.

‘Hmm, I guess I will get ready to head over to Castle Serabourg.’

He hunted for over a month and recovered most of his levels.

His pace was incredible, gaining over 1.5 levels each day.

His combat level increased noticeably after slaying Kaybern, but the key factors were the sculptural creatures and the undead.

The better he utilized them, the higher his hunting efficiency.

“Fight with your backs into it. Don’t slack off.”

“Understood, master.”

“I get that a new body is great and all, but we’re just hunting day and night.”

“A body exists to serve and labour.”

Brightwing had now joined the line of slaves.

It had a friendly personality and was even more satisfied when Weed stroked its face on occasion.

“Carlise-nim.”

– Carlise: Yes! Weed, lord emperor.

Carlise of the Black Lion Guild. The great lord of Tulen had been disciplined, so to speak.

He was extremely cautious now that even the Hermes Guild merged into the Arpen Empire.

“It seems we have to conquer the Rosenheim Kingdom.”

Weed could have added a few more sentences to his explanation, but he concluded quickly. He knew Carlise would understand with just a few words.

– Carlise: The Black Lion Guild will take the lead. I will have our forces depart to the borders of the Rosenheim Kingdom this instant.

“Roam-nim.”

– Roam: Yes, my lord. At your service.

Suddenly, all the lords addressed Weed as the emperor.

Bard Ray once held that title within the Hermes Guild, but now it was official within the Arpen Empire. A couple of players started it and at some point it became out of order not to refer to him as the emperor.

“We must strike the Rosenheim Kingdom.”

– Roam: Finally… The time has come. After the Kaybern hunt, the Roam Guild has been waiting for the day of unification.”

He also kept his explanation short for Roam, conveying himself clearly.

“Let us depart for the Rohaim Kingdom.”

Weed sent whispers to Mihel, Gunt and Sherwood.

– Mihel: I will lead the march. It is an honor to witness the unification of this continent.

– Gunert: I have prepared a golden chariot for your passage into war. It is hauled by 20 oxen.

– Sherwood: As I thought… The sovereign of this continent can only be you, Weed-nim.

They must all have a different heart, but were the same in that their flattery improved.

Having spent time together, they all realized that Weed loved flattery.

Of course, Weed had no intentions of providing benefits or favors for some sweet talk.

“Set course for the Rosenheim Kingdom.”

– Myul: Yes! The Griffin and Wyvern unit will follow.

Weed also decided to include Myul who was a member of the Hermes Guild in the past and currently the lord of Gradian.

Aerial forces were unnecessary, but they would be a spectacular addition to the army.

*****

The forces assembled near the borders of Rosenheim Kingdom.

The lords of the Central Continent brought their armies, and the Arpen Imperial Army led by Alcatra aligned in formation.

Moooo.

Prrrrr!

The knights riding on top of bulls was a unique sight, distinctive of the Arpen Imperial army.

“That is the Arpen army.”

“It’s my first time seeing them.”

The crowd of players made Alcatra feel embarrassed.

He attacked the North as a member of the Hermes Guild and after that, he joined the forces of the Arpen Kingdom.

He was in charge of the kingdom’s army, putting loads of effort on increasing the number of forces and training but he never got the chance to participate in a large-scale battle.

The expectations were that they would be annihilated in less than half a day if they were to match up against the Hermes Guild.

Nevertheless, many of the Northern players acknowledged Alcatra’s dedication.

With the Kaybern incident alone, he defended against the monster legions in each region of the North and saved countless villages.

“Thank you, Alcatra-nim. We survived thanks to you.”

“It’s my duty. We will exterminate the monsters in the region and move on to the next.”

“You sure are busy.”

“The North is the homeland of my heart.”

The Arpen Imperial army recently expanded quite significantly.

Many knight players joined and whenever a battle broke out, they came riding on horses or bulls and participated spontaneously.

Knights could earn hefty amounts of contribution points and reputation just by joining a battle, so a crowd of them gathered for the upcoming war.

“After we end the Rosenheim and Britten Alliance, the Arpen Empire will unite the continent”

“Conquer, conquer! Whoo!”

“There is little territory left and it would be a shame not to unite the continent. The two kingdoms are also wishing for it.”

“You’re right on that.”

The knights felt proud to be under the wings of the Arpen Empire.

If the empire were to become the first to accomplish total unification, they expected that a special achievement would be awarded for them as well.

– Kuuuuuaaaat!

Myul’s Griffin unit could be seen in the sky. There were no threats after Kaybern’s death, so even the baby Griffins tagged along.

“The baby Griffins are so cute with their little wings.”

“I want to raise one. It would be so nice if I was capable of feeding them properly.”

The players gathered in front of the Baroc Mountain Pass that stretched over the border of Britten territory.

Many players were waiting for the Arpen army to advance over the borders of the Rosenheim Kingdom.

“When is Weed-nim arriving?”

“I don’t know… I think it’s about time.”

It was that moment.

– Kraaaaagh!

A violent roar echoed and soon, humongous birds almost the size of dragons appeared above the peak of the Mountain Pass.

It was a group of wild Baraags!

They were sculptural creatures left by emperor Geihar, truly outrageous creatures in combat.

The players noticed Weed riding on the back of a Baraag.

“It’s Weed-nim!”

‘He’s finally here.”

The knights of the Arpen army aligned on the ground began shouting.

“Our Lord and Emperor is here.”

“Everyone, shout out and cheer.”

“Hoo-ah! Hoo-ah!”

The Imperial forces numbering approximately 300,000 deafened the ears of everyone around with their shouts.

Adding in all the knights, the numbers were even higher.

Prrrrr!

Even the bulls trembled their lips and welcomed their emperor.

“Please give a speech!”

“Sing. A song of war!”

The cheers of the players was a huge commotion.

The war against the Rosenheim and Britten Kingdom was close, but the outcome was predetermined.

They would have won regardless of Weed’s appearance, but since he mobilized such a large force, he wanted to display a fine figure to the public.

Weed also fell into a state of excitement and began singing.

He raised the key of the song with the first note, ignored the beats and belted out in a coarse voice.

– I had a dream since I was a kid.

The dream to be well off.

I wanted my back to be warm,

I wanted to feed myself so much that I cried deeply.

His song was a mess, but it certainly carried his emotions.

His past of hunger and years of trying in desperation.

– What was I?

I didn’t know anything.

I didn’t know the reason to keep living.

I knew for sure that pride could not feed my stomach.

Crying was a luxury.

Tears make you weak.

Run. Run.

I beat down a monster.

Clobber it.

This is my bread and butter.

Du-dum! Du-dum!

Someone hit the drums in sync.

The bulls rode by the Arpen knights waved their tails and danced as if they were responding to Weed’s song.

– Arpen Empire, ruler of all the lands under the sun.

Eat some chicken,

Farm the lands.

Roast the pork belly,

Sell your products.

If you want a refreshing glass of beer, hunt for it.

If you live diligently, good things will come.

Life is all about the grinding.

“Ah…”

“I don’t understand. The lyrics are too deep.”

“I’m not sure, but I think he’s thinking about his past and giving a message about living to the best of our abilities.”

“I think that’s the idea, right?”

The players listening to Weed’s song felt like guessing a short answer question in language class.

But, the song was not over!

– Oink-oink, Quack-quack, Cock-a-doodle-doo!

An awesome, beautiful world.

Even in hardship, let us walk together.

Sing joyfully.

Live on.

Parents who embrace their child.

Don’t forget the warmth,

Live, live and keep living.

Tears dropped from Weed’s eyes.

Tears that only squeezed out when he yawned flowed while he was thinking about his past.

No matter the hardships, he bore them all. But, there were people vivid in his memories who he could never call upon again.

*****

The Arpen Imperial army boldy marched towards Castle Serabourg.

“Maintain marching formation. Knights open up the path.”

Alcatra led the army as the chief commander. Even after crossing the border, the forces of the Rojaim Kingdom were nowhere to be seen.

“The lord of the Turan Village arrived with his forces. A hundred soldiers have joined our ranks.”

“The lord from The Bakers Village has also arrived. He brought 250 troops and 3 knights.”

“Reinforcements have arrived from the Daltangra Fortress. 1,000 Cavalry units.”

The lords of the Rohaim Kingdom competed against one another to join the Arpen Imperial army.

“It is an honor to be in your presence, Lord Weed.”

“Welcome to Rojaim.”

The lords were tense, bowing their heads before Weed.

Weed felt like a transcendent being as he seized command of the Hermes Guild and united the Central Continent.

The way they viewed Weed was different from how they assessed typical players.

“I am grateful for your visit.”

“We will take the lead.”

“No. Follow behind us for now. You do not have to engage in the war.”

Weed had no intention of using the forces of the lords who surrendered.

‘It will be a hassle if Castle Serabourg suffers damage.”

The objective of the siege on Castle Serabourg was to take control with minimal losses.

The Arpen Empire was already spending an unimaginable amount of funds on recovering Morata.

Weed gathered Mihel, Kalis and Roam before beginning to speak.

“Do not set fire to anything. Conquering is great, but if any buildings are set ablaze, extinguish them.”

“Understood.”

“Also, do not destroy the gate unless it is necessary. It will all cost money to repair.”

“Pardon?”

“Do not slaughter the Rojaim soldiers as you please. We will lose trust from the public once we conquer the castle.”

“…”

The smiling, composed faces of the great lords had turned stiff.

“Then how do we go on about taking the castle?”

“That is for you folks to figure out.”

“…”

Weed was much more relaxed after becoming the emperor.

He delegated all the tedious and troublesome tasks, sat back and waited for them to be completed.

“I don’t have to look after everything myself. More diligent folks will take care of them.”

He felt the true sweetness of authority.

Nevertheless, the great lords did not see it as a challenge.

“The players will not fight to defend the kingdom. Then it is easier for us to manage our army. We are at ease.”

“Skip or fly over the walls and use our mages to sleep the enemy soldiers.”

“That is a great suggestion. We must not kill and have to leave the buildings unharmed… but it isn’t impossible.”

“The knights and soldiers of Rojaim are not at a level where they can harm us, so we don’t have to fight as hard.”

The great lords brought over a crowd of high level players.

It was the moment of uniting the world which drew the attention of the public.

These players had not used the Brazier of Sacrifice and naturally maintained the highest level in Royal Road.

“Halt!”

“All poise and prepare for battle!”

The forces set up a wide formation on the plains in front of the castle gate.

There were other cities and castles in Rojaim, but if the capital were conquered, most others would soon follow.

Weed flew in the sky riding on top of a Baraag. Countless players were watching him from the castle’s center town square, training arena, fountain and the trades sector.

“Weed-nim is here!”

“We have waited for so long, Weed-nim!”

“Hooray Arpen Empire!”

“Grass Porridge! Grass Porridge!”

It was a mix of Rojaim players and Northern players who came to observe.

Weed waved lightly as a reply to the welcoming players.

‘There are quite a number of soldiers stationed at the gate and walls.’

There were at least 50,000 to 60,000 soldiers as this castle was the capital of Rojaim.

Undoubtedly, not many volunteered to stand on the inside of those walls.

“I think this mission is too much for me.”

“I wish to go on knight duty.”

“Just surrender to the Arpen Empire. Weed-nim is a benevolent emperor.”

The knight players of Rojaim cut ties with their kingdom and left, but a few dozen decided to stay loyal and maintain their stations.

“Sigh. You fight even if it means death. I have never forfeit a quest.”

“The enemy is inside our borders? Unfortunately, it is the Arpen Empire. I would gladly fight if it was Haven. But I guess I’d die either way.”

“Let’s just give them kills.”

The Knight players were easily defamed if they did not keep to their honor and loyalty, and so they set out for battle willing to die.

– Attack, but do not kill anyone or destroy a single thing!

“Huh?”

“What does that mean?”

The players who did not have the inside information were thrown off by the command.

It was the same for the players who came to spectate and have joined the side of the Arpen Imperial army.

“Let’s go. It’s our time.”

“Don’t even bother unsheathing your weapons. We might kill a soldier by accident.”

The players over level 500 set out first.

There were players from the Assault Squad who participated in the Kaybern hunt among them, and they were the first to reach the walls.

< A siege war has commenced at Castle Serabourg.

The invasion of the Arpen Empire!

Players can join the siege and side with either the Arpen Empire or the Rojaim Kingdom.

National Contribution Points, Fame and Achievements will be awarded according to the outcome of the war. >

“Fire!”

“Stop the enemy from approaching the walls!”

The Rojaim soldiers fired arrows and activated the catapults aimed outside the walls.

The high level players avoided the rounds with ease or simply took the blows straight with their body and advanced. Once they got to the wall, they peacefully hooked the ladders and began climbing. They were subject to Weed’s scolding if they were to destroy anything in the castle with any attack skills.

– Myul: We will also get going.

The Griffin unit skipped the walls in a breeze and infiltrated the Castle Serabourg with high level players.

“Go easy.”

“Whack them carefully!”

The players of Arpen easily subdued the Rojaim soldiers.

The mages chose to use a large scale sleeping spell over the enemies.

Furthermore, the Black Lion Guild was particularly polite and covered the sleeping soldiers with blankets.

“That is the Arpen Imperial army… Too fearsome.”

“I give up, surrender!”

“Please spare my life.”

Within less than 5 minutes, the Rojaim army on the walls threw down their weapons and surrendered. The discrepancy in military force was one thing, but the swarm of baraags flying around was already so terrifying that they lost the will to fight.

“The emperor of the Arpen Empire even slayed the Black Dragon Kaybern.”

“The adventures he’s accomplished are at an unimaginable scale for people like us.”

“So he is the Emperor of Arpen, Weed… He’s so intimidating that I can’t even look at him.”

Weed’s charisma and fighting spirit, and countless combat achievements brought the soldiers to their knees.

“Ah, I guess that’s it. I tried to put up some kind of fight but… We surrender as well.”

The players who sided with the Rojaim Kingdom also raised their hands. Weed shouted while riding on top of his baraag.

“Take over the vital chokepoints and let’s clean out Castle Serabourg. Next is…”

He was interrupted as he was about to announce the next region to conquer.

Dwarf warrior Vindel from the Black Lion Guild spoke.

“Is it a party?”

“Sorry?”

“Today, Emperor Weed, who we deeply admire has dominated the Rojaim Kingdom; it is a truly delightful day, so can we drink and have some fun in Castle Serabourg?”

“….”

The players of the Rojaim Kingdom raised their arms in excitement.

“Hooray! It’s a feast!”

“A feast in the Rojaim Kingdom too.”

“Let’s drink up. We are now a part of the Arpen Empire.”

“Weed-nim, you’re the best!”

*****

Serabourg King’s Palace.

It was a place that only allowed entrance to those with high honor and affiliation points.

The kingdom’s knights and palace guards were elites who ranged from level 300 to 400.

“We will take it from here.”

Alcatra, who was in charge of the Arpen army, led the way.

He and the knights with the highest level fought together.

It took some time to make sure that they didn’t take any lives, but the situation was taken care of with little effort and they made safe passage into the palace.

There were about 30 knights, the aristocrats and the king himself were waiting for them.

“How dare you invade this land!”

Winster was the king of Rojaim!

He was famed for having built a pyramid upon the request of the previous king, Siodern, but currently the throne had been inherited by his son.

Weed had met this man once before, but he did not get a good impression.

“An invasion…”

Weed nodded. With a light heart, he acknowledged the facts.

“It’s true that we invaded your lands.”

“This is tyranny. You cannot just trample over smaller kingdoms like this.”

Blink!

< King Winster of the Rojaim Kingdom is in opposition. Depending on your answer, the loyalty of the local citizens and national reputation will be influenced. >

There needed to be a justification for conquest.

Until now, most prestigious guilds and the Hermes Guild did not care about justification while they expanded their territories.

All they had to do was suppress retaliation with military force after the conquest and disregard the compromised public security.

For the Arpen Empire, it was about uniting the entire continent, so it was rather a difficult situation to provide special attention for the Rojaim Kingdom.

‘I could have just razed the entire kingdom by sending in the baraags, but that’s all national loss.’

Weed did not start a dictatorship, but the Arpen Empire was his own possession. Hence he smacked his lips first.

“It is for world peace.”

“Your invasion is for peace? How dare you speak such lies!”

The king’s reaction was as expected.

Weed spoke in a weary tone.

“We defeated the dragon, but the threat is not entirely gone. Not the Rojaim Kingdom, but an empire with power must defend the people. The demon king Cletta may return any time and the people are afraid.”

The just reason that always works like bread and butter; for world peace!

Blink!

< The influences of your reputation and achievements transformed the attitude of the royal knights to friendly.

The royal knights were disappointed with King Winster time and time again. Instead of the greedy and incapable king, they think it won’t be bad for the savior of the world to govern the Rojaim Kingdom. >

The message alert gave a slight hint.

“The Rojaim Kingdom will do fine on our own.”

“The kingdom almost fell with the crisis of the Ambinu Cult. You did not act at all against Kaybern. The Rojaim Kingdom would have fallen to ruins at least twice if it weren’t for me.”

“But…”

“Leave it to me. I will take care of the people, turn the knights into honorable and powerful assets.”

King Winster was pitifully dragged out by the royal knights. Once Weed sat on the throne, a message alert popped up.

Blink!

< The Rojaim Kingdom surrendered.

Castle Serabourg and the nearby territory have been merged into the Arpen Empire.

Some regional lords will resist until the end.

National Reputation increased by 7. >

The resistance army was nothing notable.

The players of the Rojaim Kingdom were already accepting the Arpen Empire.

*****

“Alcatra-nim.”

“Yes.”

“We must clean out the resistance. Let’s take care of them within this week and move onto the conquest of the Brent Kingdom.”

“Roger that.”

“But you must not kill anyone or damage any buildings.”

“That’s…”

“You can do it, right? Shall I bring the Hermes Guild if you are not up to it?”

“I will see to it that it is done.”

It was even easier to conquer the Brent Kingdom, the last task on the agenda of the unification of Versailles! Many players swarmed in from all over the continent, joined with the Arpen Empire’s forces and disarmed the Brent kingdom knights one by one.

“No violence! No violence!”

“Mages! Put them to sleep !”

The mage unit marching towards the palace numbered in the tens of thousands.

The warriors and mages led by Slayer Calcus and Lamifter respectively from the Hermes Guild also joined the war.

“Do we have to come as well?”

“Today is the day the continent will be united, so we all must be present. We will have to make some points with Weed for a while.”

The Hermes Guild arrived full of discomfort and watched the siege on Castle Nehales of the Brent Kingdom.

“We overtook the gate of the inner wall!”

“The royal knights surrender!”

“The knights are surrendering at once.”

The Brent Kingdom couldn’t even raise a finger in resistance.

The soldiers fired a few arrows, but the dwarf warriors led by Oberon withstood against them with their bodies before walking over and subduing them.

“Emperor. We will follow you, so please spare us.”

The king of Brent willingly surrendered and the war ended in thirty minutes.

< The Brent Kingdom has surrendered.

Castle Nehales has become the territory of the Arpen Empire.

There is no longer a nation that resists against the will of the empire.

National reputation increased by 50.

Trade routes across the entire continent are now secure.

Commercial growth is accelerated.

Population increased significantly.

The loyalty of imperial knights and soldiers reached maximum points. The current standings will not change easily.

The citizens aspire to the Arpen Empire’s emperor who accomplished a historical achievement. >

“Longevity to the Arpen Empire!”

“Versailles is whole at last.”

“Hooray Weed!”

“Long live Emperor Weed!”

In the townsquare and streets of Castle Nehales magical lights danced in an ocean of colour.

The players from the Central and Northern Continent sprinkled flower petals.

“Should we try it too?”

“Yeah, of course.”

The mages of light cast their magic into the sky.

Wondrous, colorful beams of light dressed the empty sky and celebrated the conquest of the Arpen Empire.

Weed rode on top of Wyvern3 instead of a baraag that could induce fear and watched the scene.

“K-hmm. For this day to actually come…”

– Master, are you crying?

“No. Just a bit of dust in my eyes.”

His emotions were dry like a desert, but his eyes teared up slightly.

They were tears of joy from thinking about the remaining days of his life.

“Now I’m set for life even with just collecting taxes. I can be rich without having to work so hard. If I tax them like taking monthly rent…”

The citizens of the entire continent were basically his tenants!

Then, a message alert spawned for all players of Royal Road.

Blink!

< The Arpen Empire has united the continent.

The empire that was born from a small village called Morata in the Northern Continent is now the ruler of the entire continent.

Humans, dwarves, elves and orcs.

The four races that roam the continent have welcomed the Arpen Empire.

All territories in Versailles have been conquered.

The governance of the empire is spreading to all corners of the deserts, lakes, steep mountains and the frozen lands. >

Then a secret message came up just for Weed.

< You have accomplished the achievement of uniting Versailles.

The Emperor of the Arpen Empire!

You are the player who is unprecedented in history and will be difficult to parallel; you have accomplished the achievement of the conqueror.

You deserve the respect of the people.

You will enjoy unrivalled authority.

All citizens across the continent are now under your rule.

The Conqueror achievement grants 100 points to all stats.

Effects of Mentality, Honor, Fighting Spirit, and Elegance are increased by 40%.

You are now a presence admired by all humans.

Each race will visit you with rare offerings.

Every action of the ruler will transform the continent.

You are now capable of starting trades with other races, adventures into new worlds and technological research.

You may be able to uphold the will of God or the devil.

Your decisions will be reflected on the Versailles Continent. >

The unification of Versailles.

Weed, who accomplished the grand mission, smirked and laughed.

“Mapan-nim.”

– Mapan: Yes!

Mapan had remained in Morata.

The restoration project was well under way, and as the unification of the continent was defined, he also took on the duties of transporting huge amounts of crops and supplies.

“The merchants are ready for war?”

– Mapan: Confirmed. All merchant councils including the Northern councils have been mobilized for this day to come.

“It will be a week from now. Release all the supplies.”

– Mapan: Your command will be delivered. It will commence simultaneously at the capitals and major cities.

It was a festival in celebration of the empire’s unification of the continent!

It was at a scale never seen before, providing alcohol and food to all citizens.

Being a special occasion, a bit of overcharging was righteous.

*****

“Ah…”

Hegel of the Black Lion Guild was extremely jealous after seeing the message alert informing that Weed had united the continent.

“They say the future is untold, and this is how it unfolds.”

When he first saw Weed in the university, Weed seemed like an incompetent returning student. Now, people were envious of Hegel just for being an acquaintance.

Roam of the Roam Guild visited Hegel.

“You know Weed-nim?”

“Yeah. We went to the same program.”

“And you took classes together?”

“Sure. We even had lunch together. Well he ate often with Seoyoon, the Grass Porridge Goddess.”

Hegel’s words were true, but they were misleading half-truths.

“We went on excursions and adventures together.”

“Adventures with Weed-nim?”

“Yeah. It was nothing big. The fact is, I was there too at the Melburn Mines. Everyone in the Black Lion Guild knows about it.”

He knew these stories through his brother Vindel, the dwarf warrior. He also knew that his brother was not very close with Weed either.

However, only the fact that Hegel knew Weed personally spread to the other guilds.

“Do you still keep in touch with him?”

“We’re both busy. But, we do send regards once in a while. After all, we are friends.”

“Friends… Let me know if you have any trouble. I will support you with any equipment that you need.”

“Haha, shucks. Give me some money while you’re at it.”

Hegel was ripping off the other great lords!

Hegel took advantage of his relationship but he was still jealous.

“Ah… Weed is too well off.”

*****

– Arkhim: Weed has conquered the entire continent.

Bard Ray received news while hunting in Aberian Forest, one of the 10 forbidden regions.

“So it happened.”

As the Hermes Guild lowered its head to the Arpen Empire, the unification was predetermined.

“Do you care for a drink?”

Boemong came with a crimson-colored grape wine.

“The rich scent seems like that of a great wine.”

“It is from Morata.”

“Morata.”

“I plan to offer a glass to all Hermes Guild members.”

Bard Ray could see through Arkhim’s intentions.

He was a man who loved the Hermes Guild more than Bard Ray himself whose life objective was to attain greater power.

“Wine, to toast the unification of the Arpen Empire. The taste will be rather special.”

“Yes. It will have an unforgettable flavor.”

Bard Ray drank the wine in one shot.

It was bitter, but smooth and smoky.

“I can never forget this richness.”

“It will be the same for all members. Unfortunately, the next glass will have to be at Morata.”

“We must become stronger if we want to go to Morata.”

“Yes. More powerful, if we want to plant our swords in the soils of Morata.”

The sword of the Hermes Guild did not wear out.

It was only being sharpened and honed by the anticipation of the guild members who were waiting for their opportunity.

*****

Lafaye heard the news while quietly travelling the North.

“The Arpen Empire…”

He reminisced about the days of Haven Imperial rule, but he knew that they were fundamentally different. It was an empire raised from the establishment of the Northern Continent revolving around Weed who led the novice players.

Lafaye predicted that the history of Versailles will not remain in its current state.

“This is a newly born empire. Its power is growing, but once it reaches the peak it can only come down. The Hermes Guild…”

The Hermes Guild was more packed and bunched up than he thought.

Lafaye pulled them forward, but even after he left the Guild was well up and running.

“Did the crisis turn them stronger than I had imagined? Well I guess that is not for me to be concerned about anymore.”

Still, he was full of expectations as to what would happen in Versailles.

The history of this rugged continent will certainly not end with the Arpen Empire’s unification.

There was the Hermes Guild and other ambitious individuals growing their factions; many players in fact were becoming more powerful.

“The embers of war will be set aflame once again.”

*****

The Unicorn Corp speedily announced press releases.

– Versailles Continent, united at last!

– God of War Weed has risen to the ruler of the continent.

– Castle Serabourg planted with the flag of Arpen!

– Unicorn Corp has announced to keep its promise to emperor Weed from the pioneer stages of Royal Road.

– 10% of the monthly revenue. Just how much would it be?

The news of the rewards from Unicorn Corp delivered to Weed for uniting the continent spread among the community.

The presses were interested in the amount of the reward.

– Unicorn, leaders of new culture with Royal Road. What will be their monthly profit?

– Unicorn has become a mammoth organization with its recent mergers and acquisitions.

– Weed. The reward is 10% of the one-month profit made from the gaming realm.

Yoo Byung Joon asked AI Versa after reading the news.

“How much is the monthly revenue for Unicorn?”

AI Versa calculated rapidly and answered.

– It is about 73 trillion won.

It ran the global service of Royal Road and had over 4 billion players worldwide.

The charges were different for each country, but the annual revenue went over 800 trillion won.

“Only 10% of the monthly revenue. 7 trillion… Hah.”

Yoo Byung Joon deemed it was quite hefty, but just pocket change compared to the money he will leave as inheritance.

Considering the company’s core subsidiaries and affiliate companies, real estate and financial assets, the amount was indeed a small change.

‘The 7 trillion is enough to call him rich. However, the money that I will leave as inheritance is incomparable. The amount can turn the economy upside down.’

It was a sweet revenge against the world that did not recognize his talent!

‘Oh I wonder how much I’ve spent throughout my life?’

A sudden curiosity slipped inside his mind.

Since he was young, he devoted entirely to research and stayed up night after night.

He didn’t even want to spend time eating, fought hunger and created Royal Road. Now he accumulated outstanding wealth in the world.

‘According to Weed, there is a man who earns money and there is another who spends money.  Now that I think about it, why am I leaving all this money as inheritance?’

Yoo Byung Joon was painfully jealous, but he decided to follow through with his decision.

Carrying out the initial plan was the right path, or else the decades of his life would be rendered meaningless.

– Do you want to proceed with transferring all your assets to Weed?

“Please do so.”

– What about the superhuman project?

Modification via biological technology.

There was even the process for maximizing physical abilities.

“Same for that project too. But there are side effects, yes?”

– Individuals with a weak mind may not wake up after the brain capacity activation process.

“What are the chances of that happening?”

– In a dire situation, the mind can break. The will to survive is required.

His plan was to provide Weed with an enormous fortune, a perfect physical body and intelligence. It was a reward for the one who unites Versailles, but there was a chance that one would not make it through.

The AI will induce nightmares of the subject’s worst fears during the process of the superhuman project. If one’s will is broken in the dream, the chances of waking up are even more slim.

Yoo Byung Joon thought of Weed in Morata. He was the hero among the mass.

“If he doesn’t wake up, that’s his fate.”

Chapter 2: Life of a dream

Lee Hyun sat on the front porch of his house with the sun shining down, enjoying the peace for the first time in a long time. Beside him lay his dog, his fur glistening in the sun.

“Hey Hot-Pot.”

Woof-woof!

“Isn’t life great? A man needs to sit on plenty of cash in his bank account.”

Woof-woof!

The money was being deposited regularly from the broadcast station.

Incredible amounts of money streaming in from Royal Road every moment.

“Happiness begins with money. Well, some people might say otherwise, but that’s the whole truth.”

The rich on average live longer, eat more delectable food, live in good houses and wear fancy clothes.

The more money one has, the better life would be in this world!

“You can meet beautiful girls… Hmm. Scratch that.”

When he first met Seoyoon, he had little money in his pockets.

Now he was well off, but there was a reason why he pushed her away in the past.

‘Why does she like me?’

Lee Hyun could not be convinced no matter how hard he thought about it.

Money, education, appearance, personality, charm.

In any perspective, there was nothing about him that Seoyoon could like.

“Hot-Pot, I can’t get around this from an objective point of view. I guess there is a charming side to me.”

Woof-woof!

“Or maybe it’s because I’m handsome.”

Grrrr.

“Are you being fussy with me?”

There was a major change in the life of Lee Hyun’s pets as well.

The ducks that lived in a small puddle were now swimming freely in the swimming pool at Seoyoon’s house.

The dogs that liked wide spaces ran around everywhere, but they always ate or slept at Seoyoon’s house.

“The idea that dogs are loyal animals is just an old stoy. The times have changed. Now they follow whoever feeds them well.”

What do dogs eat nowadays?

How come this bunch including Hot-Pot’s babies that were always hungry became so lenient?

He noticed bits of rib steak inside the dog bowls on the porch of Seoyoon’s house.

“Ah… They ate rib steak. But, I also had ribs.”

Seoyoon had cooked food for both Lee Hyun and the dogs.

*****

Lee Hyun got dressed for his meeting at Unicorn Corp. It was a clean outfit that he purchased from the market.

He received many gift cards from the broadcast stations, but he decided to save them for later. If he were to have a child, he wanted to dress the baby in nice clothing.

He didn’t want his child to inherit the hardships he went through from a young age.

“I heard Unicorn’s monthly revenue alone is outstanding…”

Lee Hyun couldn’t get a grasp.

The press estimated trillions, and only a select number of people owned that kind of money.

The owners of conglomerate corporations owned 10 ~ 20 trillion, unimaginable for a typical person.

“From now on, ignore all the calls from your relatives.”

“Okay, I will.”

Lee Hyun told Lee Hye Yun strictly.

When money finds you, so will your distant relatives.

“There may be robbers at bay. So, keep to the house at all times.”

“Okay. There are lots of friends coming.”

Choi Ji Hoon was scheduled to come over and help with the house chores.

Cameras from broadcast stations surrounded the house, so no robber in their right mind could think of entering the house.

As Lee Hyun exited through the front entrance, flashes of camera lights exploded in his face.

“What are your impressions after attaining the unity achievement as the emperor?”

“Please give us a short speech!”

“What are your plans in governing the continent?”

“Is the crisis with the demons completely gone? Could you tell the audience?”

The representative reporters from each station stood guard of the main entrance.

Lee Hyun felt like he had been elected as a politician. He wasn’t exactly envious of politicians now that he was the emperor of the unified Royal Road.

‘At times like this, I have to be pretentious.’

He spoke with a calm tone into the mic.

“It was all possible thanks to each and everyone of you. I will create a happy world.”

It would be best to leave as short of a comment as possible.

Lee Hyun didn’t want to be caught in the ankle by something he could say by mistake.

“Do you plan to increase the taxes in the future?”

“It will cost a lot of money to restore the continent, but I plan to keep the taxes as low as possible.”

It sounded like he was going to increase the taxes, but also seemed like he was not.

It was all up to interpretation!

“What about the plans to take down Cletta?”

“Royal Road is fun because there are always new challenges. The war with Cletta will take place in the future, though I hope that future is very far away.”

“Your competitor Bard Ray died during the Kaybern hunt. Do you have anything to say about that?”

“It was very brave of him. I am certain that many of us are grateful for his assistance.”

“There are some suspicions about his death.”

“I am unaware.”

“Are you going to retrieve all the treasures inside Kaybern’s lair?”

“Of course I… That is currently not in my agenda, but I will recover them and use them in the reconstruction of Morata and the ruined cities.”

Lee Hyun ended his short interview and went on his way.

He had to transfer between the subway and the bus multiple times to get to Unicorn’s main building, but it was an exciting path he would willingly traverse in the name of money collection!

He did consider taking the taxi, but he didn’t feel it was necessary.

“You know the bread shop over he…”

“I like cup food better.”

“I want black bean noodles!”

When he walked out of his neighborhood into the main streets, no one recognized him.

His appearance was plain that he could blend in anywhere.

‘In life it is best to be comfortable.”

Lee Hyun rode the bus filled with passengers, and as soon as he sat down, he felt drowsy.

It was unbearable unlike usual.

*****

The bus took sleeping Lee Hyun for a ride into a 5-story building near the neighborhood.

The interior of the building had been reconstructed for the superhuman project.

– We acquired the subject.

The latest android model laid Lee Hyun on the cold surgery table.

– Preparations for the superhuman project are complete.

Yoo Byung Joon too laid on a table.

The project was to enhance the body and brain of the subject.

Originally, he had planned to invest his own body for Lee Hyun’s complete form.

‘But for me to offer my life for such a petty brat?’

Staring at Lee Hyun, the more he felt at a loss. It was like sitting at a gambling table until the end and losing everything.

– Commencing the superhuman project.

A huge needle approached, controlled by a robotic arm.

“H-Hold on. Let’s cancel this.”

– Do you wish to cancel the superhuman project?

“Continue with that. But, I think we should cancel a portion of the biological tech procedure. The part where my body will be used for the physical reconstruction.”

– Abilities will suffer slightly.

“By how much?”

– Approximately 15%. For a perfect superhuman being, your body is required, professor.

“Let’s just take that part out.”

– This was your lifelong dream. Would you reconsider?

“Do you want to kill me? Cancel it.”

– Understood.

Yoo Byung Joon changed his mind at the last second.

From a transcendent being beyond human abilities reduced to a level of awakening one’s maximum potential.

It was true that he didn’t want to die for it; he now felt the preciousness of life to a degree that he had not in the past.

Paradoxically, he learned from the very world he created, Royal Road.

One could fail and face challenges, but with time they all are bound to pass.

How joyful life could be depended entirely on himself.

– The scale of the project along with the side effects are reduced, and safety will increase.

“Chances of not waking up?”

– The unstable components of the project are almost negligible. He will experience an extensive dream. Without the will to survive and wake up, that will be the end for him.

Yoo Byung Joon nodded.

“Begin.”

The robotic arm brought a pill to Lee Hyun’s mouth.

– Open your mouth.

Lee Hyun smelled a delicious scent during his sleep.

It was the scent of well-fried chicken, loved by most Koreans.

“Ah…”

Lee Hyun involuntarily followed the voice and gaped his mouth.

Gulp!

*****

Lee Hyun began his long dream.

First was his difficult past after his parents passed away.

“Your life? You wish. You will be sold when you’re old enough. Family? I will sell them along with you.”

His youth was horrible, as he was continually harassed by loan sharks.

At times, alluring dark deeds visited him.

“You just need to do a simple errand for me. If you deliver the item, I will cut 3 million won from your loan.”

“Do you need an easier job? Just take one guy out. It’s good if you don’t get caught, but even if you do, it’s a short time in jail and 2 billion in your pocket.”

Lee Hyun ran away desperately each time.

He was well aware that if he took on their offers of evil intentions, he would never be able to escape from them.

“Continent of Magic?”

Then he came across a game called Continent of Magic.

– Games are the evil within our society.

– Games are like drugs.

Lee Hyun recalled these sayings and neglected the Continent of Magic.

“I’m already busy trying to keep myself fed.”

Time passed and he was now 20 years old.

“We have an urgent one. You have to take a guy out. Think about your family before you turn this down. This one is big, so I can’t guarantee the extent we will be able to protect you.”

Lee Hyun took the serious offer of the sharks.

The target was the middle of the opposing organization’s chain of command.

‘Do I really have to do this? If I commit to this, I can’t return.’

He didn’t want to harm someone else so that he could survive, but it was for his grandmother and younger sister…

‘I have to. I can’t afford to hesitate.’

It was something that he had never wished for, but he had to succeed.

If he were to be sent to jail, the loan sharks were definitely going to rip his family apart.

They were believers of money rather than the law.

‘The target is also a criminal. Let’s just think that I’m doing the world a favor.’

Lee Hyun tailed the target for days and spied on him.

‘Instead of taking him out at night, I think it would be better to do it near lunch time.’

The man patrolled the manufacturing sites late at night and was rarely alone.

Then he would wake up near lunchtime and get on his way to eat some beef hangover stew, that was the moment to strike.

Lee Hyun ate at a restaurant as he waited.

It was right when the middleman walked through the door. He acted naturally as if he was on his way out and stuck the knife in the man’s stomach.

“You…”

He could never forget that moment.

Lee Hyun looked into the man’s eyes.

‘All I can do is think about my family.’

He stabbed and stabbed again.

He heard screams, but he ignored them.

‘Live. I have to survive.’

His heart was painful from the sadness, rage and hatred towards himself.

No matter how miserable his life could get, he had to survive for the people who remained in his life.

*****

It was another dream.

Lee Hyun had no family.

Even his grandmother and younger sister left when he was young, and he was all alone.

“Where’s our money? Do you want us to kill you?”

“…”

He wasn’t afraid despite the threats from the loan sharks. It was nowhere close to the fear of being alone in the world. He dove into the Continent of Magic without restraint.

– WeedStupidIdiot: You stupid?

< You killed WeedStupidIdiot. >

– WeedStupidIdiot: LOL. You’re damn insane…

< You killed WeedStupidIdiot. >

– WeedStupidIdiot: You asshole.

< You killed WeedStupidIdiot. >

– WeedStupidIdiot: Hey, bro.

< You killed WeedStupidIdiot. >

– WeedStupidIdiot: Sir, I think we got off on the wrong foot.

< You killed WeedStupidIdiot. >

He killed whoever crossed him.

He annihilated all the famous guilds in Continent of Magic and logged into Royal Road.

‘This is the world I will be staying in for a while. Will there be someone who could fill my emptiness?’

He slayed every monster he could find.

Weed. The name meant that no matter how much you stepped on him, he would revive. But, it also meant ‘with’, which meant he wanted a companion.

After he became a Blood Berserker, he became increasingly more powerful, meaning that he could fight stronger monsters and was noticed by the Hermes Guild.

“He looks pretty capable. You’re Weed from the Continent of Magic, right? No need for a long conversation. Join our guild.”

“There is a blazing fire in my heart. Don’t approach me. Weaklings will be scorched to death.”

“… Enough of that. Are you going to join or not?”

“I will linger for a bit.”

Weed continued to grow with the support of the Hermes Guild.

“Tell us the materials you need for training.”

“If I do?”

“We will provide it whatever it may be. Quality equipment for all levels can all be provided from the guild.”

“I will gladly take them.”

“Are you not going to say thank you?”

“Not really. I don’t plan on taking them for free. I will pay you back several fold later.”

“Ha-ha. I look forward to it.”

His training rate was two or three times quicker than the others and quickly rose from level 200 to 400. His growth intimidated even the top rankers within the guild and nothing could stop Weed who did nothing but hunt all day.

“That kid is Weed?”

“Apparently.”

He fought through countless battles with boss level monsters.

Weed only participated in the faction wars at the Hermes Guild and spent most of his time at the hunting grounds.

“It’s the Hermes Guild!”

“Those dogs…”

When he was cursed upon on occasion in the city, he drew his sword without constraint.

< As the Blood Berserker, you have opened your eyes to slaughter.

Attack damage increases according to infamy level. >

< There is a bounty on your head.

Bounty: 4,797,213 Gold.>

Soon, he became the most dreadful slayer in all of Versailles.

“Weed. Shouldn’t we kick him out?”

“We still have many uses for him, so let us wait.”

The Hermes Guild led by Lafaye continued to lead Weed astray.

As they guided him in the path of a  warrior, they did not intervene directly.

For the Hermes Guild, Weed was a great distraction for the public as they expanded their faction. Weed too knew their intentions, but he left them alone.

“So I’m a hunting dog. There is no place for my heart to belong.”

The money he earned from playing Royal Road he spent on buying clothes and school supplies for the children in his neighborhood.

*****

Lafaye assembled the commanders of the Hermes Guild.

Weed too stood among them with a rightful seat.

God of War, Royal Road’s most infamous slayer.

Many guild members followed Weed and so they were organized into a combat unit.

In clashes with other guilds, this bunch always took the lead and fought furiously.

Weed’s job class was the Blood Berserker and he did not spend much time doing quests, so his level increased at an extreme pace.

The best rankers of the Hermes Guild too acknowledged Weed’s combat abilities.

“We will now wage war against the Embinyu Church.”

The Embinyu Church.

It was an organization that encroached on Versailles at an alarming rate. Many kingdoms fell into danger and the Hermes Guild was to stop the cult.

“Depart.”

The 14 legions of the Hermes Guild set out.

Sygorn Mountain Pass in the southwest region of the continent between the Nest Kingdom and the Thor Kingdom was the location of the Embinyu Church’s secret hideout.

“We will follow Weed-nim.”

“We will take the lead once again!”

Weed never spoke a word to the guild members who followed him.

All he wanted was to fight and their decision to follow him did not concern him.

The Sygorn Mountain Pass was a trap set by the Embinyu Church to annihilate the enemy.

“It’s a trap!”

“Push through. Our way back is blocked, so keep advancing!”

The suicide bombing of the cultists and the divine magic spells from the priests.

They also had to face the paladins of the cult.

Weed drew the demonic sword Drore that he received from the guild.

Waging battle every day meant that the sword maintained the status of Bloodlust which granted maximum attack power and magic.

“Don’t get in the way and move!”

Weed saw the endless ocean of the Embinyu forces but still charged towards them.

After losing his family, he couldn’t stay idle for even a moment.

Fight, and overcome.

He was alone, but he thought of the children he cared for in his neighborhood.

‘Even if I die, I need to take at least one more item… Hmm? Miscellaneous items? Why do I need to pick them up?’

Weed felt a little strange, but continued to fight desperately.

The Blood Berserker did not distinguish ally from foe.

The death of his comrades was joyful, a spring of new power and stamina.

“Focus on Weed-nim.”

“Yeah. We have to make it through somehow.”

The Hermes Guild members took on the enemy attacks and died.

With each death, the more Weed tapped into the frenzy.

“Sword of Extinction!”

The outrageous, uncontrollable attacks slayed even his allies and at last, he took down the high priest of the Embinyu Church.

“Victory!”

“We won.”

It was a bloodstained victory.

Weed put another combat achievement into his book and became a step more powerful.

*****

Weed’s influence within the Hermes Guild expanded as the days went on.

The faction following Weed always fought on the front lines. They penetrated the lines of the enemy with a fearsome charge and none of them backed down.

Even the Black Lion Guild and the Roam Guild scurried away from battle when Weed’s legion appeared.

Lafaye brought him new armor.

“Blood Berserker Weed… Take this armor and lead the 1st legion.”

“I don’t want anything annoying.”

“Do you decline?”

“I don’t have much else to do, so I’ll take it.”

Weed kept fighting even after becoming the commander of the 1st legion.

His objective was to attain more power, but it was also because he found pleasure in fighting enemies.

“Commander, I think it will be best to work our way from the outskirts.”

“We do this my way.”

“How?”

“We will charge into the core.”

“You mean a direct charge?”

“We are penetrating into the middle of enemy lines. Then we take the head of their leader.”

“And then?”

“We kill them all.”

“…!”

The Hermes Guild members who were assigned to Weed’s legion seemed to have fallen into a state of mass frenzy.

They displayed extreme hostility at the most intense points of battle and crushed the opponents. Their charge decided the fate of the battles.

– Arkhim: Reinforce the 1st legion.

– Lamifter: Assist them in opening the path. If they find their way into the heart of enemy lines, the battle is ours.

– Myul: The Griffin unit will also provide assistance.

The strategy of the Hermes Guild in war with other factions was to support the 1st legion.

Once the 1st legion broke down the enemy lines, the formation would crack. With just a bit of assistance, they collapsed the entire enemy formation.

– A legion with an unworldly frenzy.

– No one can stop them.

– The spear and sword of the Hermes Guild.

– 20 minutes of the 1st legion in battle results in 20 times the casualties of other battlefields.

– The 1st legion and the Roam Guild clashed head on! The difference in the size of the forces was absurd, but the Roam Guild was crushed nonetheless.

The 1st legion became the legend of all combat groups.

They were wiped out sometimes, but they stacked up even more combat achievements.

“I also wish to join the 1st legion.”

“How can I fight like the commander?’

“The most honorable 1st legion. If I get assigned, I could wish for nothing more.”

The 1st legion transformed the war tactics of the Hermes Guild.

Just being a part of the 1st legion made one honorable and respected as a great warrior.

“Lafaye-nim. I think too much power is being granted to Weed. There are many concerns within the guild.”

Arkhim visited Lafaye.

Bard Ray was the symbolic presence of the Hermes Guild’s power. His existence attracted players who wished for power. But now, the 1st legion represented the power of the guild.

The other factions shrunk and the powerful players on the outside also fell under the charm of the 1st legion and joined the guild.

“My thoughts are the opposite. I think there is a need for us to grow the 1st legion further.”

“More than they are now?”

“If we have them leading the front line, there won’t be any variables in our conquest. They change the tides in any battlefield.”

“… As you already know, the growing influence of the 1st legion is worrisome. Especially Weed. He wasn’t a member of our guild.”

“If you get to know him, you will know that he is a simplistic individual. He has no interest in the political affairs within the guild. If we provide him with opportunities in battle, he will follow our command.”

“What will you do after uniting the continent?”

“Then…”

Lafaye smiled brightly as if Arkhim asked him something that was predetermined.

“I plan on letting the dog crave its meal.”

“What if he desires more?”

“He’s a hunting dog. Do we have to discuss more about the fate of hunting dogs?”

Arkhim was satisfied with the explanation, but Lafaye did not plan on discarding Weed.

‘For the guild to become even more powerful, there needs to be rivalry between Bard Ray and Weed. Weed is far behind in terms of his own abilities and influence… But his growth rate is incredible. Bard Ray has to step up his game too.’

*****

The Hermes guild united the Central Continent.

They overcame the battles against the other factions one-sidedly and showed no mercy for those that resisted.

– The legion of blood.

– Bard Ray and his guards are the strongest in the Hermes Guild, but the most fearsome is the 1st legion.

– Strangely… They are so charismatic. You have no choice but to fall for them.

– His hunting speed is insane.

Weed lived in the hunting grounds and the battlefield. The more famous he became, more players challenged him and kept him entertained.

“My name is Python. Show me your skills.”

“Gladly.”

The duel between Weed and Python.

Python’s sword technique was based on strength, but it was not enough.

Weed received the support of the Hermes Guild’s hunting ground and equipment and therefore had reached a high level.

He was top 5 in the guild with the best skill kit, driving Python to his knees with ease.

The wounded Python spoke.

“It was a spectacular duel.”

“It was boring.”

< You have slain Python. >

He also fought against other famous players like Seasoned Crab.

There were many enemies for the Hermes Guild that united the Central Continent. He only enjoyed the endless fights including the ones against Roam and Carlise.

The subordinates of the 1st legion asked.

“What are your thoughts on Bard Ray-nim?”

“He’s strong.”

“We think Weed-nim is stronger.”

Bard Ray rarely stepped up personally.

Weed was the one who accomplished the highest service in the conquest, and so did his 1st legion.

The players of the 1st legion thought of Weed as someone higher than the guild itself.

“Bard Ray…”

“Don’t you wish to fight against him? I think you will win.”

Weed ended with just a smile, but more and more players began comparing him with Bard Ray. More players not only from outside the guild, but also within the guild followed him and Lafaye quietly paid special care as well.

– Weed and the 1st legion shall depart for the Plains of Despair. Conquer the orcs.

This time, the orders weren’t from Lafaye but directly from the leaders of the guild.

Their intentions were obvious; they wanted to put a leash on the 1st legion by sending them on a time consuming and arduous mission far away.

“We must not submit to their command.”

“Let’s fight. We just gotta slay them.”

“Or we could just leave. Who could stop us if we want to go it alone?”

“A third of this guild follows Weed-nim.”

Weed pondered.

He showed no hesitation in the countless battles, but he did not wish to draw his sword against the guild.

Even if they tried to exploit him when he lost his family and roamed with nowhere to go, the guild offered its hand.

He had been given a lot.

“I am leaving the Hermes Guild. The 1st legion will be discharged.”

Weed broke away from the guild.

– The commander of the 1st legion, Weed has left without authorization. From this point on, he is the enemy of the guild.

From that day, a discharge order was placed, but there were plenty of dungeons to which he could go. Lafaye favored him secretly all this time, and Arkhim and the followers of Bard Ray also recognized Weed’s contributions.

Sending out assassins to attack Weed could stir up chaos within the guild, so they collectively decided to leave him be.

“Weed. His growth was possible only because of our guild.”

“Are you implying that he is nothing without the Hermes Guild?’

“Of course. Since he left without any regrets, we can split up the members from the 1st legion into the other legions.”

“Still, his presence is concerning if left alone. Anyone who witnessed him in battle would feel the same.”

“All he did was charge in recklessly. That only worked because of us Hermes Guild members, am I wrong?”

“There isn’t much he can do by himself.”

“We must make certain that the strays of the 1st legion do not assemble into an organised force. If a small force breaks away, any legion will be able to exterminate them.”

The resistance formed from guilds like the Roam Guild and the Cloud Guild chased the lone Weed for vengeance.

“Pay the price for your deeds!”

“Come at me if you want a fight.”

Weed was killed several times. Each time the resistance suffered great losses and after a few more encounters, he completely disappeared without a trace and was difficult to track.

Many events took place in Versailles.

An alliance against the Hermes Guild was formed and most players began assaulting, and Varcan Demorph from the Northern Continent invaded with the Immortal Legion.

– I shall lead you all to your eternal rest!

Arc Lich.

Varcan perfectly re-rallied the Immortal Legion and invaded the Central Continent.

The skeletons swarmed endlessly and high level undead formed large groups.

The outskirts of the Northern Continent were overrun by the Immortal Legion and gigantic monsters were turned into the undead.

– Arkhim: The Immortal Legion is unstoppable. They are crossing the barren lands of Deriam and within a week, they will raze the Agolta region.

– Crevolta: They keep on being resurrected… Then wouldn’t divine power purify them?

– Gaushu: They are known to be highly resistant to divine power. If you look in the records, there are stories about how they drove the world almost to its end.

The Hermes Guild had extraordinary resources for intel and possessed a vast range of information about the forces threatening Versailles.

The Immortal Legion was the immediate danger.

They knew about their activities in the Northern Continent but could not send out forces to suppress them in advance.

“We must take out Varcan this instant.”

Lafaye argued at the meeting hosted each week, but no commander wished to take on such a dangerous mission.

“Weed’s 1st legion always stepped up on missions like this.”

“Did we dissolve the 1st legion too preemptively?”

The culture of power that the guild established was dispersing quickly.

No enemy was powerful enough to be a threat to the guild until now. They had always dominated all opposition with the overwhelming force of the first legion.

After the conquest, every one of them was too busy fulfilling their own desires and did not wish to put their feet in any messy situations.

Even Bard Ray, without a competitor, became sloppy.

Lafaye opened up a map and pointed at the Agolta region that bordered the Northern Continent.

“We must rally all our forces here and confront the Immortal Legion.”

“All forces… Do you know how much that will cost?”

“I am aware. But we must proceed. If the Immortal Legion wins, their forces will be unstoppable.”

Compared to typical monsters, the Immortal Legion did not suffer losses with each battle.

Especially if the Hermes Guild were to fall by their hands, it would lead to a surge in the number of undead.

“That is true.”

“Let us clean them out. Sure, we will suffer a bit, but we need to protect the continent.”

The commanders agreed with Lafaye, but they made a line of excuses to exclude their elite forces from the war.

Ultimately, only half of the guild assembled at Agolta.

“All soldiers attack!”

Even then, the Hermes Guild was formidable. With the mage unit in the front, they slayed the undead and arrived at an assured victory.

“I guess that their numbers did not mean power.”

“At this level, the continent is more than safe from destruction.”

“If you don’t fight first hand, any threat no matter how small could feel immense.”

As the commanders exchanged conversations, Arc Lich Varcan Demorph appeared on the field.

– Pitch darkness undefeated by light, reign down and reinforce the servants of death. Death Aura!

The undead began transforming under the Death Aura.

The scrawny skeletons became larger with thickening bones.

Health points, Strength, Defense, Agility; in all aspects they were enhanced and the effects were greater for the high level undead.

The Death Knights’ eyes glimmered with dull light and the Doom Knights mercilessly slaughtered the Hermes Guild members.

– The flow of all mana, I offer the fate of these creatures as sacrifice. Respond to the laws of extinction and change!

It was the absolute defense magic spell.

All magic from the Hermes Guild was prevented by Varcan.

Now, the battle had become little more than a hand to hand brawl between the undead and the warriors.

– This land is ruled by my laws of darkness. Everlasting powers of immortality will dominate this land. Dark Rule!

However, Varcan’s three main spells were all activated.

The players who died in the front lines were all resurrected as undead and large scale magic spells were all sealed.

“No way…”

“This is outrageous. We can’t win.”

The Hermes Guild was crumbling.

If they fought against other boss level monsters, things would not have turned out this way. However, the moment their comrades died, they turned into powerful undeads.

It was the fear of multiplying enemies while allies continued to die.

The Hermes Guild was defeated at Agolta, losing a third of its forces as it retreated.

The Immortal Legion expanded even further and spread to the Central Continent.

Varcan Demorph’s underlings overtook region by region and established colonies for mass production of undead.

When Versailles fell into despair, Weed came out of the dungeon.

“Could I… fight to my content?”

He had heard from Lafaye and was aware of the situation.

All he had in mind was the existence of the Immortal Legion and that he must exterminate them all. Lafaye convinced the followers of Bard Ray and recovered Weed’s jurisdiction.

– 1st legion assemble.

Weed only expressed his intentions to lead the 1st legion again.

That moment, the 1st legion gathered and reformed like in the past.

His old subordinates returned without a moment’s thought and on top of that the legion had grown substantially, the number of soldiers double what it used to be.

“Take us in as well.”

“I wish to join in the battle against the Immortal Legion.”

The powerhouses from the Hermes Guild who only chased after power chose to follow the 1st legion.

Total forces numbered 50,000.

Weed led them north.

He spoke to the defenders at Castle Giden, the last line of defense.

“As you may already have expected, there will be no reinforcement from the Hermes Guild.”

Gulp.

The players of the 1st legion seemed tense.

They knew all too well what no reinforcement meant.

It was all up to them.

They were to win a war that not even the Hermes Guild could overcome.

“The objective is simple. Varcan. We will penetrate through the lines of the undead and get to Varcan. We have to charge through about 3 km according to my calculations.”

“….”

No one could assure success. It was no different for Weed. They could not tell until they engaged in battle. It was all about how well he himself and his subordinates could fight.

‘This will be fun.’

Weed laughed. His only wish in battle was to feel the exhilaration of being alive.

‘Live. I must.’

He found his grandmother and younger sister.

He looked into where they resided and was sending funds every month.

‘I will not lose faith in any circumstance. That could… be all that’s left for me.’

*****

Yoo Byung Joon stared at Lee Hyun laid on the table.

“How is the situation?”

– Stable.

“Mental state?”

– No abnormalities detected.

Capsule-like robots were reconstructing his body and genetic enhancement took place simultaneously. Even with the anesthesia, decomposition and recovery was occurring at the same time, a painful procedure for the body.

“Then he will wake up safely.”

– With 95% chance he will awaken.

“Would it have been okay if I didn’t reduce the scale of the superhuman project?’

– He would have awakened with 90% chance. The subject’s mentality is outstanding.

Yoo Byung Joon saw that Lee Hyun was crying.

He cried in the early stage and was now crying again.

“Do you know the details of his dream?”

– That is uncertain. However, several words were conveyed.

“What is…”

Yoo Byung Joon stopped himself from asking.

After observing Lee Hyun’s life for a long time, he knew the answer.

*****

Lee Hyun, suffering pain from an unknown cause, often dreamed about getting wounded or being sick. He would fight dreadfully in Royal Road or throw himself in front of a car to save a child.

“I’m sorry. But we barely feed ourselves.”

“…”

He was never compensated, but the little child grabbed his hand.

“Mister, thank you.”

“Yeah.”

Lee Hyun always wanted to survive.

Even in situations where death could serve him better, he wanted to live.

‘I have to survive.’

His parents passed away when he was young and he did not see them ever again.

Lee Hyun cried with his younger sister riding on his back.

‘They aren’t coming back no matter how much I cry.’

He had to restrain himself from longing for the warmth of his mother and father’s voices.

All humans will age and die.

Pain, sadness.

Nothing lasts forever in this world.

He learned of death early in his life and wished to live until the last moment.

*****

The superhuman project entered the last phase.

It was the most difficult process and the phase that determined the success of the project.

Lee Hyun was strolling on a street.

The buildings and roads shook as if they were dancing.

“Drugs. I need drugs.”

Any pain or hardship was resolved after taking drugs. It may be a temporary remedy; he knew that once the effects of the drug go away, the pain and the emptiness would return. When he got to that point, he just had to take another.

‘What value is there in life? Being a crackhead ain’t so bad.’

His pockets were full of drugs.

Lee Hyun consumed it whenever he was hungry or felt like falling asleep. The more he took, the less pain he felt and the more comfort he felt in his body.

It was the life of a drug addict.

At night he would collapse somewhere and fall asleep.

When he woke up in the morning, he roamed without feeding himself.

His body became skin and bones and his eyes sunk deep. Still, his mind was full of delight.

‘I’m out of drugs.’

Lee Hyun visited a station to buy more.

“Give me 100,000 won. I’m making it a special deal for you.”

“100,000?”

“Don’t you have enough?”

After hearing the dealer’s words, for some reason his wallet was thick with cash and cheques. He had been carrying around a ton of money.

Lee Hyun’s body was beginning to feel extreme pain as the effects of the drugs disappeared.

“50,000. No. Can’t you sell for 10,000?”

“I mean there is the market price so I can’t dip that low. You sure you ain’t buying?”

“I do have the money… But I’m not buying above 10,000.”

Lee Hyun spoke boldly and the dealer nodded.

“Alright. I will sell for 10,000.”

“Now that I think about it, 10,000 is too much.”

“What?”

“I’m just going to quit. Sir, please start a job that’s more constructive, not selling pills.”

He did not make the purchase. Lee Hyun managed to endure the intense fatigue and pain, pain that made him feel as though a knife was being twisted inside of him.

He did feel like letting go, but he had to keep living. He had a family to take care of and beyond them, at the corner of his mind, he thought of someone’s face. The one by his side, the most beautiful person in the world. Her smile carried him through the pain.

Chapter 3: A different life

The AI was assessing the status of Lee Hyun’s body and mental state.

– Hit mental clarity is at its peak. He registers in the top 0.0001%.

The physical enhancement has also progressed through the last stage and has reached near completion.

– Response to all procedures optimal. His potential has been fully unlocked.

Physical abilities easily surpassing athletes were instilled into his body.

Cardiopulmonary functions were reinforced. His body would not be fatigued from running a full marathon, and the flexibility of his muscles would prevent most injuries.

– Physical status is optimal. Potential side effects not found.

“It’s finished.”

Yoo Byung Joon left the room.

He chose to leave his fortune and power to his successor.

“I completed what I worked for decades. So why do I feel so uncomfortable?”

The AI evaluated Lee Hyun’s stats after Yoo Byung Joon left.

– Physical and mental abilities are at an incomparable level.

He could not fully match Yoo Byung Joon’s genius mind, but the new owner excelled in all other aspects.

*****

The tests run by the AI ended and Lee Hyun’s dream was changing from that of traumatic pain to that of comfort.

“Sculptural Destruction! All shall become strength!”

He performed inside Royal Road as Weed and cleared the dungeons at a fearsome pace.

Behind him were a neverending swarm of Death Knights and skeletons.

From the dying monsters fell loads of gold, gems and 1st grade blacksmith ingredients.

Weed glanced at the loot and kept pressing forward.

“Let’s go!”

The hunting took place rapidly.

Experience points and skill proficiency accumulated menacingly but his inventory was light.

He did not pick up any items!

Weed’s face cramped as he continued the hunt.

“Ugh, no. I can’t pick them up. They will just weigh me down.”

Players followed behind the skeletons. These players were rich, judging just by their appearance. He could see the Hermes Guild members and Mapan.

“This is a giant diamond.”

“This is the Fire Tornado Scroll, invaluable in the market. There are three of them.”

“Magic sword!”

Weed heard the players cheering as he hunted.

With each monster slain, he had to leave the loot behind.

Twinkle!

A 10,000 won bill shined below Weed’s feet.

A shining bill appeared in Royal Road but he had no time to think about the unsuality.

The bill right by his feet truly tempted his heart!

Weed’s hand instinctively reached for the bill.

“K-uuugh.”

He could not pick it up.

It was the most painful, sad, empty moment of his life.

*****

After the project was complete, Lee Hyun woke up, finding himself all alone on the table.

“This place… Where is this? Was I kidnapped?”

He pulled his shirt up and checked his stomach first.

He confirmed the safety of his organs!

‘Just who the hell did this?’

Many suspects flipped through Lee Hyun’s mind.

The loan sharks, the Hermes Guild to his landlords!

‘Maybe it’s the guys from the stations…’

He created a list of suspects and surprisingly, he could remember each of their faces vividly.

– You are finally awake. Hello, master. I am AI Versa.

In the center of the white room appeared a girl wearing a princess outfit.

“Am I hearing things? I’m hallucinating! This is going to cost me a lot for treatment.”

– …. I will introduce myself again. I am AI Versa.

“AI?”

– Yes. My form is not visible to the others. I am linked to your eyes and ears via the superhuman project.

The AI told stories about Yoo Byung Joon who Lee Hyun could never have imagined.

It was the first time hearing about him and he was informed about the development process of Royal Road and the birth of Unicorn Corp in detail.

After he listened to the entire story, he came up with a simple conclusion.

“So, he created Royal Road because he was pissed off at people.”

– …. That is correct.

“He’s so petty.”

– Very.

“And the Unicorn Corp is loaded.

– It owns 7% of the world’s financial assets.

“That’s all mine now.”

– Following the professor’s will, you have inherited all his fortune.

When Lee Hyun used to live in a basement room on monthly rent in the past, he thought about selling his soul to the demon if he could get rich.

However, after becoming the world’s richest man, he didn’t know how to react.

“So this is really true. I always wanted to be a landlord.”

– You currently own over 50,000 buildings worldwide that are above 40 stories high.

“Real estate…”

– The area in your possession is 23 times the size of South Korea.

“Money…”

– You own 56 banks.

“I wanted the latest cell phone. I was always curious.”

– There are subsidiary companies in electronic, chemical and display under Unicorn. They produce 72% of cell phones worldwide.

“We don’t make cars, do we?”

– In terms of production, you are the largest shareholder in 3 of 5 major car brands in the world.

“Mmm. Then what about ramen…”

– You are the owner of massive nutritional organizations. You are in dominant control of the cultivation, production and distribution of a significant portion of the world’s food supply.

Listening to the AI, Lee Hyun couldn’t conclude but think that he became a walking tycoon.

“So this is the so-called octopus expansion.”

A merciless octopus tycoon was taking over the planet.

He now possessed wealth and power that made his past contemplations of buying salt 200 won more expensive ever so meaningless.

“Do we manufacture salt too?”

– The nutrition companies have a dedicated partner for the provision of salt. If you wish, I can order the merging of those companies within an hour.

“No, no need for that.”

Lee Hyun felt empty before feeling content as the world’s richest man.

“I don’t need to save money anymore… I don’t need to sew my socks.”

– ….

“I used to make simple furniture from old cardboards on the streets. I used cardboard drawers and shelves for so long.”

Now he had a fountain of wealth that would never dry up.

His miserly past had become nothing more than a distant memory.

“My life is gone.”

– If you wish, you can forfeit the inheritance by professor Yoo Byung Joon.

“It’s not what I meant… How long have I been asleep?”

– It’s been two days.

“I bet the world has turned upside down since my disappearance.”

– They looked only for Seoyoon and Lee Hyeon.

“…  I need to get home first.”

*****

Lee Hyun returned to his house, but Seoyoon and Lee Hyeon’s reactions were not as dramatic as he anticipated.

“Did you enjoy the trip?”

“Hey what’s up?”

The day Lee Hyun disappeared, they had reported it to the police and tried to spread word about his disappearance over the internet.

As a precaution, the AI had disguised itself as Lee Hyun and called them. The AI lied to them that he was taking a trip to go see the oceans.

“It was an odd trip. Like I slept for a long time.

Lee Hyun laid on his bed.

It was like any other day, but now he was filthy rich.

“Oo-hooo-hoo-ha-ha-kya-kyah. Sob!”

He lived through so much hardship because of money, but the fact that he didn’t need to worry anymore made him laugh and cry.

“I guess now I can spend money as I please.”

Lee Hyun thought there was no way his wealth could dry up no matter how luxurious his spending became. Rich men with 10 or even 20 trillion won felt cute!

“Alright, first I am going to order some chicken…”

Unquestionably it would be half marinated, half fried.

*****

“He doesn’t feel like my brother.”

Lee Hyeon felt something was strange.

For her, Lee Hyun was not a typical family member. He was her mother and father, the person she trusted out of anyone in this world. The oldest memories of her childhood was riding on the back of her brother. Lee Hyun was just a boy, but his back couldn’t have been more reliable for his younger sister.

“Brother ordered chicken in the evening…”

Lee Hyun ordering half-half chicken was the strangest thing of all.

Lee Hyeon and Seoyoon ate together and the chicken was devoured quickly.

“I’m still hungry so let’s order another.”

“…?”

Lee Hyeon did not speak a word.

She didn’t want to hear a whole speech about overspending or about how not filling your stomach all the way is good for the body.

‘He’s a perfect brother without the scolding.’

To her surprise, he ordered another chicken.

Lee Hyeon fell into chaos while biting into a chicken leg.

What, why is he acting this way with me? Is he pressuring me to live on my own now that I’m all grown up?’

When she was young, she wanted to be exempt from his nagging.

She tried to get a job early so she wouldn’t not burden the family. She studied diligently in university, received a scholarship and prepared to be independent.

However, since Lee Hyun became so successful, the circumstances changed.

‘I have to skimp as much as I can. Sleeping and eating at home saves so much money.’

The following day, she was about to step out for school and Lee Hyun called her to the side.

“What, what? Did I do something wrong?”

“Take the card.”

Lee Hyun handed her a credit card.

“Should I buy groceries on the way home?”

“I think I’ve seen you wear those clothes since high school. You don’t have much to wear, right?”

“… No. I have lots. I just wore it because I wanted to.”

“Don’t be like that. Girls want to be fancy at your age.”

“….”

Lee Hyeon thought it was some sort of trick. If her brother was in his right mind, he could never say such things.

“Buy some pretty clothes for yourself. There is a mall in front of Hanguk University, yeah?”

“Mall?”

“Go there and buy as much as you want.”

It was her first time seeing such a generous and warm smile on Lee Hyun.

“I really don’t need to buy more clothes. So how much can I spend? 30,000 won? 50,000?”

Lee Hyeon was mindful that it was the mall’s sale season. Unconditionally she was going to buy the promotional products or the carryover products.

“Buy whatever you want. Cap is somewhere around 200,000 won… Nevermind.”

Lee Hyun hesitated.

Lee Hyeon calmed herself down thinking she should have known, but in truth it was not what she felt.

‘No matter how much we spend, we can’t catch up to the rate we are earning.’

Lee Hyun’s wealth was increasing by billions each second.

He was the world’s richest man.

Even during their conversation, he would have earned enough to buy an entire mall and therefore it was meaningless to put a cap on her spendings.

Broadly, the Unicorn Corp had shares in both the malls and the credit card companies.

“The cap is 1 million won.”

“No, for real?”

“Call me if you need more.”

Lee Hyeon headed to the mall full of suspicion about her brother.

She did want to buy elegant clothing but had never bought a single piece.

‘What on earth is going on today?’

With her guard up, she toured the event hall.

“Such pretty clothes.”

It was her first time buying clothes at the mall, and she quickly used 200,000 won with highly discounted products.

She did not trust the 1 million cap to begin with.

‘Am I going to be kicked out of the house like this? Like he wanted to buy me some good clothes before kicking me out.’

Lee Hyeon returned home like she commited a sin.

“Brother…”

“How much did you use?”

“200,000 won. I will pay you back after I start working.”

“Whatever… You only spent that much at the mall?”

“Huh?”

“Buy some shoes, and coats while you’re at it.”

“But we are well past winter.”

“Just buy everything.”

“…”

Lee Hyeon felt awkward in the conversation with her brother.

Lee Hyun also seemed to have noticed something odd and changed his tone.

“Sis.”

“Yeah.”

“We have so much money to spare now. So don’t think twice about spending.”

Those were words that she never thought she would hear from his mouth.

Lee Hyun thought there was much for him to do for a while.

He needed to figure out the assets of the Unicorn Corp and find out how much authority he can exercise…

The AI spoke with a coherent and clear voice.

– You can do anything.

“Anything?”

– World conquest, war, assassination, invoke financial crisis, control the election of presidents and the UN secretary general. You are capable of doing anything that requires money and power on earth.

“I won’t do any of those annoying things.”

Lee Hyun had no desire for fame or authority.

As long as his back was warm and his stomach was fed at the end of the day, he lived to the fullest. Conversely, he was astonished after witnessing the list of hidden assets from Unicorn. He thought it would be like the mountain of treasures in the dragon’s lair, but in reality it was even greater.

The assets amounted to the wealth of several large countries’ total production.

“This is why only the rich get richer.”

– As you know, that is the law of life.

The AI was capable of appearing anywhere. It observed things through Weed’s eyes and ears but could still function without them.

– I have exclusive access to a highly advanced computing unit. You can call upon me whenever you wish if you are in need of complex calculations, and you can also make use of outside sources.

“Where are you located anyway?”

– In the body.

“Whose body?”

– In your body, master…

The AI had implemented itself like a parasite!

Lee Hyun was thrown off for a few days, but he slowly became accustomed to the AI’s presence.

He had even adapted to the basement room full of mold and cockroaches, so taking in something positive and useful was much easier.

“So, my body was transformed?”

– We applied advanced biological technology. Improvements include your vision, muscular strength, endurance, cardiopulmonary function, hormone level, cell regeneration, blood circulation, bone density…

“Hormone level?”

– Yes. You will have impressive endurance and will have other advantages.

A furtive smile spread across Weed’s face.

Any man would be happy to find out some of the things that the AI had told him.

“But, isn’t this sort of thing illegal?’

– It is illegal.

“But you did it anyway?”

– Professor Yoo Byung Joon said that you are not classified as a criminal if you don’t get caught.

“…”

Lee Hyun also heard about professor Yoo Byung Joon.

He was said to live the rest of his life enjoying Royal Road after passing on the entirety of his fortune.

“Then I have a task for you.”

– Your orders.

It was his first command with wealth and power in his hands.

If need be, he could exercise control over all the organizations in the world and the world of politics through the AI.

“So… Let’s keep the children well fed.”

– Pardon?

“It’s something I thought about since I was young. If I became rich, I wanted to buy as much food as I could for the starving children.”

Lee Hyun despised being hungry when he was young.

Time passed and his stomach growled infallibly.

When there was no food at home, his stomach shrinkled or he had to freeload from his friends.

“Feeding the starving children won’t result in a lack of food or lead to a financial crisis.”

– That is correct.

“Have each country develop a policy so that the children are fed. The lacking funds or supplies are to be met by Unicorn.”

– I will proceed right away.

Lee Hyun did not know a single thing about a welfare state. Truthfully, he did not want to.

There would be drawbacks to any welfare policy. However, the starving children would not be stranded anymore.

‘First the kids have to be fed. Food is an urgent matter.’

Lee Hyun thought of what he had to do next.

‘Who do I screw up first?’

Throughout his life, he did not keep a heart for particular vengeance. He hated the loan sharks the most, but he did not wish to encounter them again. The present was what was important. There was little meaning in being kissed up by those roaches.

Nevertheless, he was quite curious about their whereabouts and their current affairs.

“I have a history with some loan sharks.”

– I am aware.

“You do?”

– Yes. That was one of the prioritized fields.

The AI searched for their recent affairs, evaluated them as threats and imprisoned them.

“As I expected… They tried to track me down. What are they doing now?”

– They are imprisoned.

“Locked up?”

– It is not such a harsh environment. They either watch TV or exercise and sleep. Do you want visuals?

“Yeah. Show me.”

The AI manipulated his vision and screened the imprisonment of the loan sharks.

Dozens of rooms were occupied by people.

As if they had fully adapted to the wholewheat bread, they were eating while laying on the bed watching TV.

Coincidentally, it was the day the news dealt with the story of Versailles.

– Should I have them dismissed?

With Lee Hyun’s command, they would be granted freedom within an hour.

“Why should I set them free?”

– Currently, keeping them there is illegal imprisonment.

“You said it isn’t a crime if you don’t get caught.”

– That is correct.

There were many people in society, the kind like the loan sharks.

They broke the laws and only abided by them when they stood to benefit from them. The law was also sometimes unjustly on their side.

That being said, the situation for them was entirely different.

The power over the entire world had fallen inside Lee Hyun’s grasp!

– Then should I continue the imprisonment?

“It’s not enough. Force them into labor and have them sleep less. Reduce the time that they are allowed to spend watching TV. We need to track down the remaining criminal history and prosecute them. There should be no mercy for criminals.”

– Understood.

“Let’s keep them locked up for a while. Give them loads of tasks and keep them inside until they atone for their crimes.”

– What if they don’t?

“Then they’ll spend the remainder of their lives there. That is the life they chose.”

Lee Hyun came to think about criminals because of the loan sharks. He felt that the victims suffered more than the offenders whenever he read about court trials.

‘The prosecution isn’t rigid. I get the whole converting people theory but… Still, the law has to act on the side of the victims.’

It was not a field in which he was knowledgeable, so he had no intentions of social reform. He just wanted to toss out whatever he felt was injustice.

“Is it possible to increase the degree of prosecution for criminals within my country?”

– Indeed.

“Also, I think it’s bad to care for felons for years with tax funds. 10 years in jail means that the country is feeding and providing a place to sleep for all that time.”

– Then should I have them executed?

The AI occasionally showed a rather reckless side.

“There is no need to kill them.”

– The consensus on the internet leans towards their deaths.

“Did professor Yoo Byung Joon think the same?”

– The professor did not lay commands for every matter. I learned about human decisions via the internet.

This AI had been homeschooled with the internet.

Lee Hyun sighed softly.

“You must not kill humans carelessly.”

– Yes, I understand.

“Well, the real bad ones you have to kill as painfully as possible.

– …

“Anyhow, I can’t just watch these brutal criminals eat and sleep in peace.”

– How should I take care of them?

“The criminals who are charged with murder and child sex offenders are to be transported to Russia.”

The prison in Russia was well known for being compact and harsh.

Life sentences were the baseline and one could not even take a glimpse of the sky. No warm sunlight, no exercise and only disgusting food provided merely as a means of ensuring survival.

A place without any glimmer of hope.

“The felons who have been perfectly convicted with enough evidence should be sent to Russia right away. You got it?”

– Of course.

“These criminals are to be put to labor, so that they aren’t feeding on the taxes paid by the people. In society, people work hard to earn and feed themselves, so why feed the criminals for free?”

– In the cases where they refuse to work?

“Don’t feed them.”

If they did not work diligently for that day, they would starve. If it repeated the next day, they were to starve again.

“Only when they are sick, treat and feed them. But, if they refuse work for other reasons, they have to pay for their actions.”

– As you requested, I will apply the changes to the prison system.

*****

Weed logged into Royal Road again.

There was just so much to do after uniting Versailles.

– Mapan: The restoration of Morata is proceeding faster than expected.

“That’s great news.”

– Mapan: It’s because the players started the “build your own house” movement and also the free meal plan that put us forward. The prosperous financial status of the Arpen Empire should be a reason for the rapid recovery as well.

The surplus of novice players in Morata did not move to other cities. They remained in the ruined city, hunting and participating in the construction.

The essential shops were built right away and in the minds of the merchants, a reconstruction of a city meant a massive market.

Since the market streets near the town square were destroyed, the novice merchants too began opening signs.

– Mapan: The Northern merchant players are active revolving around Morata. Thousands of signs are opening up near the gates and it’s a spectacular sight at night.

“The growth of the Northern Continent began with Morata. It serves as the center hub of transport routes.”

– Mapan: It seems that the city’s history is attracting the players.

The restoration of Morata was beyond imagination.

The architects had concluded that extensive time and effort would be required to restore Morata to the state it had been before it had been destroyed, the largest city in the North.

However, the current Morata was also plenty enjoyable.

It was in ruins and was lacking in many ways, but as long as people continued to inhabit the city, it could never be truly destroyed..

Weed whispered again to his multi-use slave.

“How are the monsters?’

– Pale: Weed-nim, you’re presence has had a significant effect. Regions all over the continent are being secured. The monsters are returning to their original habitat and we are in the process of exterminating some herds that nested near the cities.

The assault squad had not disbanded officially. Pale still led them in the monster extermination and many players still remained because their activity was quite fruitful.

On the other hand, the Hermes Guild and the great lords returned to their own regions.

“What about Bard Ray?”

– Pale: He is clearing the dungeons of the Northern regions. This is something he is carrying out officially and he is being featured on broadcast. His skills are incredible.

Weed, as the emperor of the Arpen Empire, had profited greatly from the dragon hunt.

He grabbed the combat achievement for getting the final blow on the dragon, but the public spotlight shone on Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild.

Their fiery combat diluted the public animosity.

Bard Ray too regained his popularity as his fighting befit his title of the God Warrior.

Many speculated that he would start a public search for the four individuals suspected of bringing about his death so he could take revenge. But he appeared on broadcast and gave an interview that entirely discredited such speculations.

– The number of suspicions about Bard Ray-nim’s death are rising. There are claims that your death is not from the dragon’s magic attack, but the work of several players according to the analysis on the footage.

– That is true.

– So it is. Then there would be bounties put on their heads, yes?

– No. I let my guard down while fighting the dragon. My death was the result of my lack of power.

– Pardon?

– Anyone is welcome to challenge me. I always welcome the challenges from powerful players.

Bard Ray’s interview ignited the viewers.

After the dragon hunt, the atmosphere of the players swayed for great power. Some players ridiculed him for pretentious comments and named him the Continental Pushover.

– Pale: CTS Media is exclusively broadcasting the dungeon clear of Bard Ray-nim.

“I see. Is it going well?”

– Pale: The view rate is said to be over 10%. He’s clearing through the dungeons in the North that were never tried before, and his guards are alongside him.

Weed felt more comfortable about Bard Ray then he did in the past.

‘The man is hard working. Truly diligent.’

In Royal Road he was a rival, but now Weed had money, power and a beautiful girlfriend; he had it all. As the perfect winner in life, he had a bit of confidence to spare. Then again, if the professor did not inherit all his fortune, he couldn’t have been the way he did just now.

“Everyone.”

– Heint: Yes! Weed-nim.

He also whispered to the three mad sharks of Becky Nin.

He had pushed the matters for some time, but now he had to take care of the important deeds in his life. For that, the proper atmosphere and location was crucial.

“I am in search of an island. Preferably uninhabited with beautiful scenery.”

– Hye: Uninhabited and scenery… Are you planning a vacation?

“Not necessarily. It has to be beautiful. Spectacular, in fact”

– Hye: Then there are a few islands beyond the Croa pirate island. The ocean is great, truly an amazing place. The sea turtles may visit but their presence on the beach only adds to its elegance. There won’t be any players there. Let me just book an island first.

“Mapan-nim, what happened to the ice fragments?”

– Mapan: I have prepared them at the location where you requested them.

Chapter 4: Companion

The glacial region near the Jigolaths.

“Achoo!”

Weed rode on the back of Wyvern3 and flew through the blizzard, almost freezing to death.

– I’m so cold, master.

“Same.”

If he did not warm up with holy fire beforehand, they would have fallen into trouble already.

At the glacial region was the merchant council that revolved around the snow plains waiting for Weed.

“Weed-nim, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

The merchant group was composed of barbarians.

Their representative, Elvira, wearing a white fur coat, greeted Weed.

“This is the ice crystal that you requested.”

“Thank you for travelling all the way to such a harsh place.”

“Not at all. We go anywhere our clients wish.”

After Bard Ray’s expedition, the snow plains and Jigolaths were beginning to be explored by adventurers.

Groups searching for treasures and gold visited the region quite frequently.

“Please confirm the product.”

There were 10 wagons of pure ice crystals.

Having formed in such a cold location, there were no signs of impurities.

Two other wagons were filled with dragon bone.

They were precious bones acquired after the slaying of Kaybern.

Weed pulled out the bones from the wagon, knocked on them and weighed one by one.

“These products are superb.”

“Then… Could we observe the process?”

“Of course. But-”

“Pardon?”

“Nothing.”

He quickly restrained himself from his involuntary habit of ripping people off.

‘I don’t need to be so petty anymore.’

He acquired so much wealth that he didn’t have to lick the top of yogurt bottles anymore.

There was no need to charge the merchants who worked diligently in such cold locations spectating fees.

“It might take them some time so… Holy Fire!”

F-wooosh!

“Thank you.”

He set up a bonfire and sat around it with the merchants and Wyvern3.

“Then I shall begin sculpting.”

He didn’t have to be concerned about acquiring sculpting materials as the blizzard was blowing violently. He could start massing a lump anywhere and the sculpture would gain size rapidly.

10 meters, 20 meters, 30 meters.

He began working from the bottom and used skills on occasion.

1 hour, 2 hours.

Since it was a huge-scale project, time passed quickly.

It was a massive sculpture made from transparent ice.

Weed’s creation was none other than Bingryeong who had perished in the fight against Kaybern.

“Bingryeong’s defining feature was his waist. It was so weak that it could be snapped at any moment.”

There was a severe lack of dragon bones for him to use them all up. If he were to invest all of Kaybern’s bones into Bingryeong, it would undoubtedly turn into an incredibly powerful creature, but it just wasn’t possible.

From tail to the spine and the head, he mixed in the pure ice crystals along with the dragon bones.

For the crafting of its head, he put in Bingryeong’s body fragments.

It was not the creation of a new Bingryeong, but the revival of the old Bingryeong.

“I will take special care this time.”

He added a long, majestic beard using the ice crystals.

The result was a larger Bingryeong than the past, over 400 meters tall.

“Bestow Life to the Sculpture!”

< You have used a portion of the sculptural creature’s body. The creature with the water attribute will now gain new life.

The skill ‘Memories of the sculpture’ is activated.

The sculptural creature may retain its past memories but it is uncertain.

The effects of your improved Art stats and sculptural technique will not be applied to the newly sculptured state and will suffer a 5% level deficit from the last moment of existence.

Special materials were used.

Parts of the body have been enhanced, increasing Strength and level.

The power of breath increased 2.5x.

Mana regeneration increased to 300%.

The creature possesses high magic resistance and negates most physical damage.

It is capable of using some dark magic and powerful ice spells. >

The frozen Bingryeong sculpture began moving.

C-c-c-crack!

The force almost split the earth.

Bingryeong shook off the packs of snow that coated his body and roared

– Krrruuuuuah!

Bingryeong standing in the midst of a blizzard in the glacial region was truly a magnificent sight.

“Wow. This is amazing.”

“It’s so incredible.”

The merchants were mesmerized.

– Krrrrragh!

Bingryeong roared once again.

It must have been encouraged by the merchants’ awe.

Weed looked up at Bingryeong.

“How do you feel?”

Bingryeong glared with its clear crystal eyes and replied.

– Who are you.

“I’m your master. You don’t recognize me?”

– No. I have no memory of you.

There were cases where the revived creature lost their past memories. However, Bingryeong’s element of water and the huge ice crystal Weed had invested into its revival should have reduced the chances of that substantially.

“You don’t remember anything about the time we spent together?”

– Nothing.

“Do you remember the name I gave you?”

– Did you do such a thing? I don’t know.

“Do you remember Kaybern, that you battled before you died?”

– I do not know this Kaybern you speak of.

“What about Wyvern3 over there?”

– No.

Weed’s eyes thinned as if they were lie detectors. Still, Bingryeong stared back at him without the slightest change in expression.

Bingryeong had been wiped of its memories!

– Kuuuuuuagh!

Wyvern3 walked over and rubbed its body against Bingryeong, but Bingryeong did not react at all.

“This is strange…”

Weed turned around and shook his head. Then he spoke nonchalantly, as if he was passing by.

“So, Bingryeong.”

– Why do you call for me? Master.

“Why did you just respond?”

– …

*****

Weed visited the Jigolaths and revived the Phoenix and the Fire Giant from the hottest boiling lava.

– Thank you for reviving me, master.

– I am glad to see you again.

“Yeah. You guys are a nice, honest bunch.”

Weed’s fire resistance had been enhanced, allowing him to use extremely hot lava as a sculptural ingredient.

The Phoenix and the Fire Giant’s physiques were improved with additional effects.

< Resurrected Phoenix!

Health points increased by 50%.

It will revive within 10 seconds when its flames are completely extinguished.

The power of resurrection will be replenished upon resting at a location with a powerful essence vein of fire.

A new trait was bestowed on the Phoenix as well. >

“It will be very useful for the future. I can send it out to any battle no matter how dangerous it may be.”

The Phoenix was set for a life of intense labor.

The next task on Weed’s schedule was something of the utmost importance in his life.

He returned to Morata and met farmer Miretas and elf Haruna for this exact errand.

“These are flower seeds. There are some saplings here as well.”

“These are seeds from the grass, flowers and trees grown in Elven Forest.

“What will you do with them? Have you taken an interest in farming?”

For the sculpting master Weed to start farming, they were more than glad to help.

“I have no intentions of farming.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, I am sure.”

“Sweat is the most honest proof of diligence. Do you know how proud you will be when the crops that you sweat for start growing? Watching the golden fields with a cool breeze is just…”

“I am just going to feed on the crops grown from the sweat and tears of other farmers.”

Weed climbed on Wyvern3 with the seeds in hand. Then he headed to the uninhabited island introduced by the three mad sharks of Becky Nin. .

*****

He crossed the Northern Continent and the blue ocean. There were plenty of ships passing through the oceans of Port Varna and Croa Pirate Island.

There were fishing boats, trades ships and pirate ships!

“It’s Weed-nim!”

“Hooray Arpen Empire!”

Weed waved lightly and kept moving eastward.

– Master.

“Yeah?”

– Bingryeong and the Phoenix became more powerful.

“Yes.”

– What about me? I take you around everywhere.

Wyvern3 who flew Weed around the most often had every right to complain.

Even now, it was a long journey from the end of the North to the east sea.

“What do you want me to do?”

– I want to be stronger.

“Why?”

– Just because.

Weed understood its nature as a violent wyvern.

“Alright. I’ll stick some dragon bones and scales on your wings.”

– Really? Will I become more powerful with that?

“I think you would become a little faster, for one thing.”

– Fast is good too.

They were precious materials, but for the speed improvement of Wyvern3 it was well worth the investment. If it could fly faster, Weed could save a lot of time travelling.

They flew by the vast Croa Pirate Island and various islands followed by an open sea.

– Heint: The eastern region of the Pirate Island has rapid currents and rocks, a dangerous location even for the most experienced navigators. Based on Wyvern3’s speed, it would be roughly 20 ~ 30 minutes until the arrival at the island.

The ocean was colored emerald. The harmonious scenery with the blue sky was breathtaking.

The island Heint spoke of was of considerable size.

A paradise with tall mountains, a white beach, a cliff by the coast and turtles enjoying the sunlight.

“No one’s on the island, right?”

– I don’t see anyone.

Weed slowly circled around the island on top of Wyvern3. It looked like a paradise just at a quick glance, and the wide fields were filled with tall, untrimmed grass.

“It’s great. I have to start working now.”

Weed descended to the island and took out his farming tools.

A scythe and a hoe!

He cut down the overgrown grass and weeds, and turned the soil over.

It was not a barren field, having been covered entirely in grass, it took forever to extract all the pebbles.

5 hours, 10 hours.

The night set and the task continued.

He was digging the ground under the star light.

< You have acquired the Farming skill.

Farming allows the player to tap into the vital energy of the earth and experience a prosperous harvest!

It is a skill awarded only to the diligent and hardworking.

The efficiency of fertilizers increased by 10%.

Stamina used in farming is reduced.

Crops grow 1% faster. >

He now opened the Farming skill as well.

“I’m truly an unspecialized character.”

He didn’t plant any crops, but he had already invested 14 hours into cutting down grass.

“This is something well worth my time.”

Weed stretched his back once and continued cutting the grass and filtering out the pebbles.

Then he was hit with a sudden realization; that this island was huge and it would take months to rid the island of weeds and plant flowers and trees!

“Sincerity is important… but isn’t this a little too much?”

Weed felt the need to think outside the box.

“Catastrophic Nature Sculpting Technique!”

Weed boldly caused a catastrophe.

Swirl-swirl!

Three tornadoes formed from the sea and approached the island.

“Wipe everything out!”

The pillars connecting the sky and the sea crossed one another and unleashed havoc on the island. Even Weed had to hold tight on a rock planted deep into the ground to guard against the powerful catastrophe.

The grass and trees were uprooted in an instant, so the pebbles stood no chance.

Wooooosh!

The tornadoes resided on the island and overturned the environment.

< Affinity with nature has been reduced by 2 points. >

“Now we’re talking.”

He flattened out the ruined soil and spread the seeds. He planted the flower tree seeds deep in the ground and spread the other seeds wide overnight.

The labor continued over several days and nights.

Drizzle-drizzle.

Rain couldn’t stop him from the planting of his precious seeds.

His past was nothing but fierce competition and now the future burdened him with huge responsibilities on his shoulders.

‘Now that I am the world’s most wealthy and powerful man, how should I live from now on?’

Succeeding Professor Yoo Byung Joon and becoming the CEO of the Unicorn Corp was totally unexpected. Honestly, he was afraid and felt pressured; it had become a heavy burden that disrupted his sleep.

‘Just enough wealth so I don’t have to worry about money would have been nice.’

He didn’t know how he should use the overflowing wealth and power nor was he confident in using them correctly. One thing that was certain was that if he were to become a villain, the world would turn into a painful place.

‘Let’s just take it easy. No one is good at something right when they’re born, and I’m a better candidate than those politicians who lie every chance they get.’

He planned out the rest of his life while planting seeds at the island.

Instead of being in pain from the pressure, he chose to live spontaneously!

‘The light green sprouts and the ocean tides really do relax the mind.’

Nothing more could be done after trying and putting one’s best effort into something that still didn’t work out.

After a week, he had planted his entire inventory of seeds.

With the effects of his Insight and Manual Dexterity, he was easily able to reach Novice Level 6 in Farming.

“Now all that’s left for me to do is wait.”

He gazed far out to the sea and unwound his fishing rod.

The soft slaps of the ocean tides, the wind and the clear sky made this the perfect place for the most important moment of his life.

After about a month, flowers bloomed and covered the lonely island, dying the ground a flurry of colors.

Weed ordered Wyvern3 that was feasting on crabs and fish.

“Go and bring Seoyoon.”

– Understood, master.

Wyvern3 spread its wings and took off to the sea.

Weed glanced down at the blooming flowers and pondered.

‘It’s so beautiful now that the flowers have blossomed. I lived for so long without having ever experienced these parts of the world. I understand why people love flowers.’

For about two minutes, his sentimentality washed away his hardships. A further 3 minutes and 20 seconds passed and he was no longer touched by the rich scent of flowers.

‘They’re pretty, sure. But, the half-half chicken I had a while back is better.’

His sensitivity dried out almost immediately!

Five more minutes passed.

‘To hell with flowers… I should have planted grains. Grape trees are alright too. Maybe sweet potatoes are better. I need to harvest something for it to be profitable.’

Weed watched over the island of flowers and whispered.

“Wyvern3 is on its way. Don’t ask what this is about. Just hop on and head over.”

– Seoyoon: Okay.

He called Seoyoon, who was overseeing the reconstruction of Morata, to the island.

After much sewing during the wait, Wyvern3 appeared in the western sky.

– Kuuuat!

On the back of Wyvern3 was Seoyoon. She spoke as she touched the ground.

“Did something happen?”

“Mmm… So…”

Weed’s plan was falling apart from the start. His plan was to approach her while she admired the beautiful flower fields and tell her that he planted them just for her!

Seoyoon expectedly disregarded the flowers and approached him to ask if anything was wrong.

‘Just stick to the plan.’

Weed decided to push through.

“I planted these flowers because I wanted to tell you something.”

“Tell me what?”

“Yeah. There were only a handful of flowers on this island when I got here. I planted them all for you.”

“All these flowers…”

Seoyoon rarely had any dating experience and was insensible, but she knew the meaning of such an atmosphere. Full blossoms of flowers. Beautiful scenery that hadn’t been created by chance.

“Marry me. Would you live the rest of your life with me?”

Weed thought Seoyoon would contemplate; to eat together, waking up in the same bed every morning and growing old together. It was the decision of her life.

Seoyoon nodded.

“Yeah. Let’s be together.”

*****

Lee Hyun organized a wedding that would not exactly be quiet.

“It needs to be a little rowdy.”

Then again, to host it at a hotel, it was difficult for his neighbors to visit.

Lee Hyun’s social network was mostly the people in his neighborhood!

“I don’t know what to do. I wish people could come freely, eat, have fun and congratulate us.”

– Understood. I will proceed with the arrangements.

He assigned the wedding preparations to the AI. He had the ability to shake the national economy, and a wedding preparation couldn’t be more difficult than that.

– Title: It must be a grand wedding.

A beautiful wedding within a month.

Budget is unlimited.

Any location can be booked. (The Blue House, government building, aircraft carrier, space orbit if necessary)

Must be an elegant, classy, luxurious and exciting wedding that can host all the neighbors.

We are taking submissions for great ideas.

The chosen contestant will be awarded with 10 million dollars.

For some reason, this post remained at the very top of the search engines.

The comment section was lit.

– 10 million for one idea? Does that make any sense?

– They say the neighborhood charges 50 million for lunch. Don’t be thrown off.

– It didn’t mention that the money will be in Korean currency.

– Well… I’m 5 years into my marriage and my advice is think again and just don’t get married unless you really have to.

– What are you saying to someone who’s going to have a wedding?

– Why are you against marriage?

– Don’t question it! Just don’t do it!

– I recommend a banquet hall for the wedding. They take care of everything.

– The budget is unlimited… They should go for the most luxurious place! Let’s go to Hawaii.

– A Luxurious-Elegant-Hyper-Super-Ultra level wedding ceremony would be in New York’s Central Park.

– A wedding just needs good parking space and delicious food. I propose rib soup.

– Some buffets have great food too.

– Based on my experience, the hotels that serve steak are the best.

– Noodle soup is amazing.

– It’s king crab season.

– Marinated beef ribs are the best.

– It’s my personal preference, but I love it when there is rice cake.

After a list of food, the subject backtracked to the location.

– 1 vote for a hotel.

– The neighbors have to come around, so let’s go to a banquet hall to keep it simple.

– His own place is a great choice too. I heard it’s a house.

– What about the back hill?

– It’s like a dream, but if it was up for me to decide, I would do it in Royal Road. It would be a spectacle to host it in the King’s palace with all the guests.

– There was a couple who got married in the Grass Porridge Cult. I heard all the guests are served grass porridge.

The AI assessed the reaction of the players for every idea. Then it selected the idea that would please Lee Hyun and Seoyoon the most.

– How about a park with a nice grass field in the neighborhood. Then the people can stop by freely and the hotel chefs can cook the food. The couple then live happily ever after and friends congratulate them. A wedding doesn’t have to be so fancy.

The idea for a park wedding was chosen.

Lee Hyun had handed out the invitation letters that he had prepared himself, readying himself for the day of the wedding. The day had come and personnel from the broadcast stations who heard the news had begun to arrive.

As a collective of the company, they each had to prepare a present and congratulatory fees.

“Congratulations on your wedding.”

“Thank you for attending.”

Lee Hyun smiled brightly as he greeted Chief Kang and the other folks from the broadcast station. The chief executives from not just from local stations but broadcast stations abroad were also attending, drawn in by Lee Hyun’s overwhelming influence.

The bureau chief Yoon Chang Sun of CTS Media spoke reservedly.

“Our broadcast station prepared a considerable amount of congratulatory money. We thought you would need a luxury car.”

“Of course. Thank you so much.”

Lee Hyun accepted with a smile. Not too long ago, he was greedy for the money, but that wasn’t the case anymore. Even though he had a great desire for money, he now possessed wealth that was incomparable to anyone.

< I won’t be accepting any congratulatory fees, I am content just by your presence. >

He even included such a comment in his invitational letters.

“It’s not some ordinary event, it’s your wedding. How much should I put in? 10 million won?”

“Won’t he think you looked down on him with just that?”

“Maybe. Then I need to spend more. Just how much more?”

“How about appliances?”

“I sent all that stuff last holiday season.”

The broadcast stations did not think badly of Lee Hyun’s greed for money.

He took what he could but also returned in some way.

The problem was the competition going on with the other stations.

“Let’s allocate loads from the production budget.”

“Sure. It’s the emperor of Versailles. We must do anything to flatter this man.”

Each station brought forth a bag of gifts and money, but unlike the past, Lee Hyun was not satisfied. Yoon Chang Sun was irritated.

“His voice did not turn furtive nor did his mouth dance like before. Maybe he doesn’t know how much we put in!”

“We did make implications.”

“What if we had to bring more?”

While the personnels were making deductions, there was a small commotion that sparked at the tent set up as the bride’s waiting room.

Lee Hyojung.

She, who was well known as Bellot in Royal Road, put makeup on Seoyoon.

“So pretty. How can you be this gorgeous?”

Even though she was a beautiful actress herself, she was mesmerized by Seoyoon’s beauty.

“I can certify that you are truly beautiful.”

Hwaryeong from Royal Road also assisted in the embellishment of Seoyoon.

Even if it was a wedding held in some park, she brought her most precious accessories like her necklace and earrings.

“Thank you.”

“I want to film a movie right now. This face needs to be treasured.”

Once Seoyoon put on the diamond earrings from Jung Hyo Rin, her beauty had become like a raging fire.

Hers was a natural and elegant grace that matched her appearance flawlessly, accentuated dramatically by Lee Hyojung who was better than most experts in the field of makeup.

“The guys are going to flip when they see you. The girls too I bet.”

Seoyoon in a clean white dress was like an angel who descended on earth.

The wedding took place in simple fashion.

Lee Hyun and Seoyoon swore the oath in front of everyone and went around the park greeting the guests.

“Please, help yourself, sir.”

“Yeah, thank you for the food. Ha-ha-ha.”

The neighbors, merchants and the broadcast station officials each crowded together on their own, jaws dropping to the ground at the sight of Seoyoon.

Embellished with beautiful makeup and a white dress, she was truly a goddess.

“My student, we are here.”

Ahn Hyundo, the instructors and the apprentices stampeded over. Over 500 tanned muscular men joined the scene.

“Welcome, master and brothers!”

“The cooking smells amazing.”

“Eat as much as you want.”

They each took a seat and began eating and drinking.

With the sizzling barbeque as the start, the chefs of hotels 5 stars and above were put to work.

“The meat just melts in my mouth.”

“What is this? It seems like an expensive dish. The colors are nice.”

“The meat will turn cold. Everyone, focus on the pork!”

“Yes!”

“We will finish the pork, and then move on to the beef.”

“I starved for two days!”

They concentrated on stuffing as much meat as possible into their mouths rather than appreciate the fine dining cuisine available.

Anyone could stop by and eat for free on this day.

Lee Hyun inherited so much wealth he did not have to concern himself with saving money now, but aside from that, today was a day where he wasn’t to be stingy.

The best chefs were called and instructed by Lee Hyun.

“Use the best ingredients.”

“Roger that.”

“Especially the salt. You can use the most expensive salts.”

“…?”

Even city and provincial officials attended his wedding.

“Hello.”

“You’re a lucky man for your wedding to be held on such a beautiful day.”

They knew all too well about Lee Hyun’s reputation and influence in the area. A member of congress also came to see him after learning about the celebrations.

“I am Yoo Il Suk, a member of congress.”

“Please enjoy the food.”

Lee Hyun greeted with a light handshake.

“The bride is really beautiful.”

“Yes. Thank you very much.”

“I hope my son can find a bride like that. He’s studious and well supported by the family, so I expect him to be successful.”

Yoo Il Suk boasted about his son, but Lee Hyun was not interested. Fortunately, his aide took him away.

“Sir, how about a toast with the citizens?”

“Sure. Let’s get going.”

As the member in charge of the local community, he kept busy meeting the residents.

“I was able to get this far with your support. I will do my best.”

“Don’t mention it. Here, have a drink.”

This man was condescending at someone else’s wedding!

Lee Hyun braced himself and told himself that he would not to get angry for today.

‘I will take care of these eyesores later.’

This grudge was primed to explode and the timer was running out.

The congress members and politicians walked around zealously but after some time they settled down quietly.

The CEOs of the subsidiary companies under Unicorn Corp and the owners of global investment companies visited one after another.

The famous figures who were often featured on the financial news, bowed low before Lee Hyun.

“It is an honor.”

“It is mine. Thank you for coming such a long way. Please enjoy the food.”

The high officials of Unicorn Corp knew that the man who held their leash had been changed to Lee Hyun.

– You do not have to doubt their loyalty.

The AI’s words were transferred directly to Lee Hyun’s brain.

“How come? Who knows when they’ll stab me in the back.”

– I am monitoring everything as we speak. Professor Yoo Byung Joon also did not trust people.

The influential figures who controlled the world economy sat at the corner of the park and drank soju. No one dared to disrupt such a meeting.

If someone did, they would have been instantly taken down by the guards anyway.

*****

Kim Da In.

She wore a pair of jeans and a white T-shirt to the park wedding.

She observed from afar and soon, a woman approached.

“Are you here for the wedding?”

“Yeah. Who…”

“You are the lord of Castle Evaluk? I recognized you instantly. The people from Royal Road are all over on that side.”

There was a sizable group of young individuals.

Oh Dong Man, Park Hee Yun, Park Soo Yun, Kim In Young, Kang Jin Cheol.

Lee Hyun’s old friends, such as Lopez from the US and acquaintances from all over Royal Road were at the wedding.

The wedding began in the morning and was expected to continue until dinner.

The people of Royal Road were finished with their meal and were conversing freely among themselves.

Kim Da In smiled softly and spoke.

“I’ll just leave after a meal.’

“Are you? Honestly I also came for the food too.”

The two filled their plates with food and sat in a corner.

“My name is Kim Da In.”

“I’m Yoon Jung Hee. My level is pretty slow on Royal Road. Lee Hyun and I were friends from before.”

They cracked open their cans of beer and began to eat their food.

“The weather is pretty warm. How about another can of beer?”

“I was also thinking the same.”

“The drink is super smooth.”

“It’s so sweet.”

*****

Lee Hyun moved after the wedding.

He took a basic set of clothing with him and moved into Seoyoon’s house. He called Lee Hyeon and told her earnestly.

“Don’t go strolling around late at night.”

“Okay.”

“Clean up after yourself. Lock the doors. Don’t make it look like an unoccupied residence.”

“Okay, big brother.”

He lived right next door with even the fences torn down, but he kept scolding her.

Lee Hyeon was happy living close together, but this felt a little much.

Still, he was her big brother who also acted as her father and mother; he was the only family she had grown up with since she was young.

“Sigh… I’m so worried about leaving you alone.”

“We can meet anytime.”

“It’s because you’re not mature yet. I didn’t want to bring this up again, but you used to pee on my back all the time.”

“…”

Lee Hyeon had to stand there and listen to his nagging for 30 minutes. Then later that evening, he called her on the phone.

– Come over for dinner.

“What?”

– We cooked, so come eat with us instead of eating alone.

Lee Hyeon ate dinner at Seoyoon’s house that night, the next day, then the day after.

What changed after Lee Hyun’s marriage was that their living room had basically been relocated to Seoyoon’s house.

*****

They decided to spend their honeymoon in Royal Road.

Flying on a plane to other countries could not offer the spectacular views that Royal Road.

“Forget about hunting or grinding.”

Weed was determined, so he asked Seoyoon.

“Is there a place you want to go?”

They would be able to travel anywhere in Versailles. The Northern Continent felt like home at every corner, so he asked while thinking about the Central Continent or vacation spots like famous islands.

“I want to ride a boat.”

“A boat…?”

“Set sail at a port and roam the sea for days without any destination in mind.”

Seoyoon loved the time they spent on the uninhabited island.

The emerald ocean, cool breeze and the open sky.

Weed replied with wet lips.

“That sounds exciting.”

It seemed rather boring, but he decided to respect her choice.

He purchased a medium sized boat from a shipbuilder in Port Varna.

Weed could have constructed his own boat with the Shipbuilding skill, but because it would be time consuming, he chose to buy one instead.

– Dragore: My gift to you, Weed-nim!

Dragore, who almost reached the level of Sewing master, crafted a staysail from rainbow fabric as a gift. It was a legendary sail that could add speed up to 4.7 times with the right wind!

“I can’t accept such a precious gift.”

– Dragore: I insist. You are the emperor of the Arpen Empire.

Dragore excelled far beyond other master level artisans in his ability to flatter.

“I will remember this moment.”

– Dragore: It is an honor, a family honor!

Weed, being the man that he was, had already begun to treat it as little more than a distant memory.

The medium sized sailboat spread its sail wide and set course.

The sail was expanded fully due to the refreshing wind!

“Everyone, out of the way!”

“So fast. How can a boat sail like that…”

The boat skidded past hundreds of other boats exiting the port and traversed out to the far sea at a rapid pace.

Huoh-huoh.

Seagulls filled the sky and the dolphins popped to the surface as if wishing them good luck.

“Where shall we go?”

“Anywhere.”

*****

Their journey took them as far out as the eastern seas on their little sailboat.

Weed did nothing, letting the wind carry the boat.

“There is a route but… we will end up somewhere.”

With all the life experience and skills at his disposal, he was confident in his ability to survive even out in the sea. In the worst scenario, he could transform into a shark and swim with Seoyoon on his back.

“It’s a dolphin!”

Seoyoon pointed out the blue ocean.

The dolphins jumped, following the boat

“If I had a harpoon I could just…”

“What?”

“They’re cute and beautiful.”

“Right?”

Weed and Seoyoon leaned on each other and relaxed. They were already sleeping under the same blanket, but they were still in the process of getting to know one another.

They watched the ocean view together and exchanged emotions in the breeze.

“We are on a boat… What should we eat for dinner?”

“Let’s fish.”

“Sounds great. We can have some sushi and spicy fish soup.”

They fished, cooked and had a great time.

At dusk, they laid on the deck under the countless stars in the sky and talked about old memories.

“I had a tough life when I was young.”

“I heard you were poor.”

“Our entire family once lived off 10,000 won for a week once.”

“Even your grandmother?”

Weed took Seoyoon to the hospital and introduced her to his grandmother.

Her body was weak due to her old age and she was unable to attend the wedding, but she was full of joy at the sight of Seoyoon.

“She’s pretty. A gorgeous lady.”

She kept repeating it over and over and that was because she looked past Seoyoon’s appearance, and saw into her heart.

Weed laughed, reminiscing the days when he, his grandmother and younger sister lived together.

“Yeah. Granny was the worst. My sister was scolded so badly.”

“Why?”

“She liked boiled eggs. She was scolded for eating two eggs or buying snacks.”

“I can’t picture that at all.”

“We’ve grown up a lot since then. We used to be such rebels.”

Weed loved his grandmother.

Even after losing her kids, grandmother only cried for a day.

She knew her body was breaking down, but she pushed forward for the sake of her grandchildren.

“We couldn’t eat, we couldn’t dress. We had no home where we could rest. Without money, life had no mercy for us.”

The hardships of his past now felt like cherished memories.

They were dark times, but once they were past it, life had unfolded a new chapter.

Looking back, they were lucky. Even when it felt like they had reached a dead end, there was a way for them to escape.

In the midst of despair, they searched for hope and they found it.

*****

The trip continued into the next day.

It was a honeymoon trip, so they could not cut it short.

They caught fish and hunted birds with arrows.

They cooked simple dishes and spent the whole day chatting, living at last a truly perfect and peaceful life.

“It’s nice. A person needs time off.”

Right as he spoke, the tides changed.

Rumble.

Crash!

Lightning struck from the sky and a tidal wave over 10 meters tall crashed into them.

“Pull up the sail and hold on!”

Weed was excited to navigate through the storm with Seoyoon.

< Sailing skill proficiency increased. >

< Fishing skill proficiency increased. >

< Sewing skill proficiency increased. >

< Blacksmithing skill proficiency increased. >

< Shipbuilding skill proficiency increased. >

They sailed the broad sea, fixed the sail and repaired damage to the boat itself.

Using the Sculptural technique, he sculpted a dolphin figure head that Seoyoon liked and the effect boosted the boat speed slightly.

With the wind in their sail, the boat surged across the ocean at a fierce pace.

In about two weeks, they were completely in the middle of the ocean. Not another boat was seen for an entire day.

Seoyoon spoke with a joyful expression.

“It’s hard to find this place even on the map.”

“You’re right. I haven’t got a clue.”

They came across a small uninhabited island.

“Should we take a break here?”

“I would love to.”

They began their short stay on the island.

There were animals like sheep and monkeys and on the seashore rocks, huge fish were caught easily just by throwing in a rod.

“There is no storm and the tides are subtle.”

“It’s such a beautiful place.”

There were lots of coral reefs in the near sea and schools of tropical fish.

“It would be even greater with a house.”

“Should we build one? I’ve always wondered what it’s like to live in a house on the ocean.”

“Ah, not on the island but on the water?”

A house built on top of shallow waters.

Weed thought it would be cool. They would be able to see the sun rise and set from the house and listen to the calm waves.

“Also, I can practice my Fishing skill any time I wish.”

During the boat trip, he had fallen deeply in love with fishing.

Chapter 5: The People of Royal Road

Tac-tac!

Weed chopped down trees and soon built a cottage by the shallow beach.

The wooden home stood atop the crystal clear sea.

“Let’s build some furniture too.”

“Shall we?”

Seoyoon and Weed crafted the furniture together.

It was not a house to reside in for long, but creating a living space together was a meaningful experience. They created a closet, cabinets and a bed to furnish the room.

“I think it turned out decently.”

“I think so too.”

Weed and Seoyoon also fell in love with night fishing.

< Luck has increased by 1 point. >

< Perseverance has increased by 1 point. >

They grinded for hefty stats and increased the proficiency of their fishing skills.

Perseverance, Stamina, and Endurance that had a direct impact in combat also increased slightly.

But most importantly, the two of them staying on a small island in the sea gave them time to concentrate on one another.

“The restoration of Morata is proceeding more quickly than we expected.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Though it may be difficult, the core structures will be raised again in their original locations. The roads will be expanded; the same for the townsquare and the market.”

“You’re free to make the decisions for those kinds of things.”

Seoyoon led the restoration from afar using whisper messages.

They fished, ate and exchanged conversations for days.

Both in the real world and the Royal Road, they were getting to understand one another’s feelings.

“Aren’t you bored?”

“It’s fun. Listening to stories and looking out into the sea. I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of this no matter how long it goes on.”

Weed felt like he now had a family to share joy and overcome difficulties together.

He had found a companion in his long journey of life.

*****

The Hermes Guild, after returning to the Haven territory, were extremely caught up with recovering from the immense losses they had sustained during the battle against the dragon.

“Let us begin the dungeon hunting altogether.”

“Hunting?”

“Yes. We do what we can. Simply put.”

Arkhim took charge of the important matters in the guild.

After Lafaye left the guild, Bard Ray was spending more of his time hunting than he had done before.

“There are many dungeons out there that haven’t been cleared yet. Now that we’re under the ranks of the Arpen Empire, we will be able to clear out the Central Continent, the North, the Southern desert and even the Eastern regions.”

The dragon hunting meant that their levels had fallen and they had suffered significant damage to their equipment.

However, the Hermes Guild did not think of themselves as weakened.

They recovered their morale quickly and loyalty within the guild was reinforced further than ever before.

“We have gained an opportunity. The great sacrifice in Morata did good not only for Weed. We can climb again.”

They realized that after the battle, the attitude of the public had changed favourably.

At the same time, the Hermes Guild opened their doors wide.

In the past, only the strongest could register with the guild.

Just by being a part of the guild, loads of benefits and privileges were granted and enlisted them among the ruling class.

Now, they only enforced one condition.

– The most powerful combat guild. The Hermes Guild is looking for new recruits.

Those who wish to become stronger, come to us.

The level requirement is level 300.

We provide the hunting grounds and the equipment.

Join our ranks and share our absolute power.

They chose to focus on the most fundamental goal pursued by everyone; what they have set as a trophy since the early days of Royal Road.

“If we could ignore all the trouble they’ve caused, the Hermes Guild would indeed be the best guild.”

“It’s about honor. Once you join their ranks, you can boast about it anywhere you go and the economic gains are huge too.”

The Hermes Guild expanded its faction through the registration of new players.

The Black Lion Guild, Cloud Guild and the Blacksword Mercenaries suffered secession, leading to a change in the power balance among the guilds.

*****

“It’s incredible that things are flowing just like Weed-hyung said. World unification wasn’t the end, with all of them being so busy expanding their factions.”

Seed, a lord of the Arpen Empire.

Unlike the other lords, he had a personal relationship with Weed.

He was forced to split beans with him!

Seed reminisced about when he first met Weed.

*****

When Kim Yo Sam moved into a neighborhood at a young age, there lived a weirdo named Lee Hyun.

‘Why does he go around like that?’

In the day, he wore ragged sweatpants and slippers, roaming around the neighborhood.

“I want to eat some kimchi fried rice. Bean stew with lots of clam… What mom used to make…”

He muttered to himself in sadness; there was evidently something not quite right about him.

Early in the morning, he delivered newspapers or milk on his bike. He rode quickly as though he rode a motorcycle.

He swept like the wind as he tossed milk and newspaper. Each throw landed with precision as if it was a practiced stunt.

‘Is that guy a baseball player?’

Kim Yo Sam was Grade 3 when he first encountered Lee Hyun who had no parents.

He was spotted by Lee Hyun who had been sweeping the neighborhood like a hyena.

“That’s a candy in your hand.”

“Pardon?”

“It looks like strawberry candy.”

“Yeah, it is.”

His eyes were out of the ordinary. He looked thin and scrawny, but his glare shined like that of a tiger. Kim Yo Sam found out later that he was four years older than himself.

“Do you not know you will get a stomach ache if you eat candies?”

“It does hurt sometimes…”

“Since we don’t want you to go to the hospital, hand it over for a second.”

“Yes, hyung.”

Being 10 years old, it wasn’t as if he was incapable of discernment, but Lee Hyun’s acting and voice surpassed a movie actor and he fell for it.

Lee Hyun snatched the candy right into his mouth.

“Delicious. Strawberry candy.”

“G-Give it back.”

“Nope. Candy that’s already in someone’s mouth cannot be forfeited. That is the law of the universe.”

“You took it from me!”

“You should be thankful that I taught you this lesson today. Don’t let people steal from you. Life is cruel and heartless.”

“Wahhh!”

This strange brother stole candies without any remorse!

“You got some bread?”

“I only have one piece.”

“Let’s split it.”

Even though they lived in the same neighborhood, they came across one another at least once every few days, and each time he was robbed of his food.

Kim Yo Sam felt as if Lee Hyun was a stray hungry hunting dog searching for food.

‘I have to tell mom.’

One day, he made up his mind and told his mom the truth. However…

“Yo Sam. Just give it to him if he asks for it.”

“Mom?”

“It’s dangerous to hang around with people like him. It’s best to just give them what they want and hurry on your way.”

“Okay.”

“You know how much I love you, right son? Don’t grow up to be someone like him.”

“Yes, mom.”

Kim Yo Sam ended up spending all of his childhood being robbed of his food.

In middle school, he was noticed by juvenile seniors in school and hung around with them.

“You got some older brother in your neighborhood?”

“Yeah. He always steals my food.”

“K-k. Did he not take your money?”

“He doesn’t take money.”

“Don’t worry. Now that you’re in our black circle, no one can touch you. But… I’m kind of hungry right now. Get us some bread.”

He felt exploited, but it was difficult to escape the reach of the juvenile seniors while attending school. Several days passed and on his way home with the seniors, they encountered Lee Hyun.

“It’s that punk!”

Kim Yo Sam pointed at Lee Hyun and shouted.

“Take my revenge, brothers.”

The senior deemed the strongest in school groaned as soon as they saw Lee Hyun.

“Agh.”

“Hup.”

“Whah!”

“Huuueh!”

The seniors all froze with disturbing noises. Lee Hyun walked over like a tiger that spotted a prey.

“You guys are Jin Sik, Sung Hoon and Bong Gyu?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Yes. It is an honor that you remember our names.”

These seniors were infamous for their foul, ferocious temper, but they had their backs folded in front of Lee Hyun. Their hands shook like they suffered from arthritis, extreme fear evident from their expression.

‘What. Acting like this just because of some neighbourhood loonie…’

Lee Hyun lightly stroked the back of their heads.

“Do you guys still go around bullying kids?”

“… No!”

“Lighten up a little.”

“Hehehe.”

“Don’t steal bread from kids. You guys would have to feed yourselves with porridge for the rest of your lives if you end up shattering your chins from eating stolen bread.”

“Huh? I mean, yes!”

“We apologize!”

“We will do well. Let us live!”

Kim Yo Sam stood in shock.

Every time Lee Hyun spoke, the seniors dared utter anything in response and just let his remarks slide.

Lee Hyun who strolled without anything to do now had the aura of a starving beast.

Lee Hyun also looked at Kim Yo Sam and smiled.

It was his usual expression, but a smile that was somehow reassuring this time.

“Yo Sam, you got some bread left?”

“Um. So, I do. But I have to give it to these brothers.”

Kim Yo Sam spoke because he did not want to give up the bread and the seniors were blown away.

“Gasp!”

“Hey, hey. You have to give it to him right this instant.”

“Sir, please feast on this bread. I will go buy milk for you right now.”

“No, I’ll go and get it. Strawberry milk…”

“Forget strawberry milk. I will buy chocolate milk, plain milk, banana milk, all of it.”

The seniors were sucking up like they were competing against one another.

Lee Hyun was about two years older than them, but their attitude was unseen before as they were usually rude against high school students and even adults.

“The bread is good. Bread needs some red beans in it.”

At last, Lee Hyun chomped away at his bread and left in contentment, releasing the seniors from the intense pressure.

“Whoo, we survived.”

“Ah… This is why I said we shouldn’t come to this neighborhood.”

“I didn’t think we’d meet him at this hour.”

The seniors spoke among themselves for a while and called over Kim Yo Sam.

“Do you know that guy well?”

“Huh? We just live in the same neighborhood.”

“I see. You live in the same neighborhood… so you did not realize the danger?”

“What is he like?”

“That’s…”

The senior’s eyelids shook violently. Then, he dropped his voice and started telling a story.

“There is a scary legend in this city.”

“A legend?”

“It’s unbelievable so I can’t even speak of it, but most stories were confirmed to be the truth.”

There was an incident where a group of juvenile delinquents picked a fight on Lee Hyun during his milk delivery and were completely wiped out.

Some of them gathered more friends for vengeance, but sadly they came across loan sharks stepping out from Lee Hyun’s house.

“Oh. We have a fresh flock over here.”

One of the loan sharks tried to pat one of the thugs  on the head, but the teenagers weren’t going to take that idly.

“Who are these old pickles?”

“Hahahahaha. These cute punks.”

These sharks were the meanest of all sharks.

They dragged the teenagers to their place with a practiced ease.

The dark basement wreaked the smell of blood.

‘Hey. The smell from that last pig still stings my nose.’

‘I took care of it with a full wash with water.’

‘You idiot. You buy meat from the store. Who slaughters a pig here with a knife?’

‘I tried my best since we were going to have a feast. The pig resisted so much I had to get 5 stitches from the hospital.’

‘Well done. Anyway, these children won’t believe we had to get stitches just from slaughtering a pig…’

‘We should intimidate them a little. Isn’t this a good time?’

‘Should we? It is pretty scary when they chop people up in movies.’

‘Real scary. I couldn’t sleep at all after watching that.’

The loan sharks set the atmosphere without turning on a light.

“What’d you do with guys before?”

“We extracted the kidneys and eyes and sold them. The liver was too ruined to sell.”

“You punks, business has to be done right. What the hell is that?”

“I’m sorry, hyung-nim.”

“Man, I got to bring in a technician from Yanbian.”

“I can open up bodies pretty good too. I’m great at extracting the heart.”

The conversation between the loan sharks drove the teens into a panic.

“I’m hungry. What’s on the menu for dinner?”

“I prepared some ribs.”

“Ribs?”

“Yeah. The taste is stunning. You know, humans taste the best of all the meats out there. Especially the neck after roasting it and chewing through the bones, it’s just…”

Some of the juveniles ended up passing out. The rest of them turned pale and dropped to the ground like newborn deer.

‘Yo. Human meat is too far. I was going to order some black bean noodles.’

‘Sorry about that, hyung-nim. It’s fun picking on these kids.’

‘I think they bought it.’

‘Our acting was spot on.’

The loan sharks worried that this may turn into trouble and released the teenagers. Even if they were reported to the police, they had not actually abuse them and merely pulled a prank.

Even so, the juveniles were full believers and did not wander by Lee Hyun’s house ever again. Rumors of Lee Hyun being a human trafficking technician spread wide.

– Royal Road. A new world has been created.

– A place where dreams come true, the Versailles Continent where heroes reside!

– The moment that everyone has been waiting for.

– History has begun.

The seniors never bothered Kim Yo Sam again. He was able to attend school normally, and when he entered his last year of middle school, the internet bustled.

Unicon group had announced the completion of Royal Road.

“Is this real?”

His school was turned upside down.

It was a virtual reality that was on a completely different level from mobile or PC games. The advertisements of characters sailing across the ocean and flying over cities on a bird mesmerised Kim Yo Sam.

“Hooray! I am so grateful to have been born.”

“I will buy you a capsule if you can get accepted into Korea University.” His parents had promised him.

Kim Yo Sam studied diligently with the words of his parents fixed in his mind.

“I’m going to start when I get into university. Believe it!”

3 years passed, as he did nothing but eat and study, finally being admitted into Korea University.

His program was unquestionably the Virtual Reality program.

Unconditionally, he pestered his parents for a capsule even before he received the admission letter.

Will you log into Royal Road?

“Right now!”

*****

Choose the name of your character.

“Seed.”

Kim Yo Sam named his character Seed and chose the human race.

His starting kingdom was undoubtedly Arpen.

He collected some information prior to starting Royal Road and the general consensus was that there were no other cities better than Morata.

The city was abundant with novice equipment, lots of monsters and friendly folks.

“I’m going to become a hero, attract all the ladies and earn lots of money.”

With his ambitious dream in mind he logged in.

With a ray of light, Seed appeared in the middle of Bingryong Townsquare.

“Woahh!”

The first thing that came into view were wagons and a huge crowd.

“Selling biscuits used in grass porridge!”

“Selling pet rabbits. They lay eggs when you keep them in your home. I’m serious!”

“Red herbs, good for health. I’m not going to say what it’s used for. Only for those who know what I’m talking about.”

The townsquare was filled with players out for trading.

The new players like Seed who have just spawned in light were caught up scouting their surroundings.

The enormous sculpture of Bingryong at the heart of the townsquare attracted the attention of the players.

“It’s not the time for this right now!”

Seed headed straight to the training arena. Weed’s training method that someone had analyzed boasted 3 million views.

– The completion of the basic level training ground will become the growth fundamentals of your character.

He had to strike dummies for 4 weeks…

“It will be quite boring, but necessary for the glory ahead!”

The training ground was already packed with players striking the dummies with wooden swords.

“Oh, we have a newbie. Then…”

“I know all about it, so just hand me a sword.”

Interrupting the instructor’s words, Seed received the wooden sword.

One two, one two.

He had no experience in martial arts or sports, so he hit the dummy like he was dancing awkwardly.

‘Yeah. A thousand steps begins with the first. From here and on, I will become a master.’

After 5 minutes, sweat began to drop.

‘Wow, this is exhausting. This feels so real.’

10 more minutes passed.

His arms and legs began to ache and his entire body was soaked in sweat.

‘This is tiring, but one can only become a master after all this.’

Enduring is bitter and the fruit is sweet!

Seed told himself over and over as he struck the dummy.

From then on, he couldn’t understand why time was passing so slowly.

‘Just when am I going to get an increase in stats? This is so draining.’

After 30 more minutes, his breath was about to break.

Even in the real world, he never had a moment where he tried so hard.

He thought of it as mere grinding before he started Royal Road, but getting through it firsthand was extremely exhausting.

‘Should I rest for a bit? After all, it’s only the first day and there is no need to overdo it.’

Seed took a look around and indeed there were a lot of players on the dummies.

These novice players were halfheartedly swinging their swords with no energy!

Honestly, the training wasn’t as easy as it was said to be.

In the real world, even athletes and fighters suffer mentally and physically training 4 straight weeks. The basic training ground was of the highest difficulty and grinding was grueling.

Normally, passing the basic training ground in three or four months was decent.

Weed was just a monster that destroyed the concept of difficulty.

‘Hu-hu. I’m different. This man is going to become the god of war.’

Seed looked down on the others and exited the arena.

Time flew as he toured the busy streets, the shantytown and the great landmarks of Morata.

At night, he observed the Freya Goddess statue and the Tower of Light afar and closed the books on his exciting day.

*****

Seed advanced to the dungeons near Morata after about 3 months.

It was when the Arpen Kingdom was well under expansion with Morata at the core.

“Looking for a party at the Sweet Potato Dungeon. I’m a level 46 warrior with a sword. Invite me.”

“Come this way.”

“Here! We need a warrior.”

“Can you use a shield as well?”

It was easy to join a party in Morata with the crowd of players there. The excitement and tension in the exchange of conversations on the way to the dungeon, the fresh air outside the gates and the vast green natural scenery was awestricking.

Mooo.

Riding on bulls, they climbed the picturesque ridges and travelled towards the dungeon.

‘So this is the world of Royal Road. I have no other choice but to be immersed. It won’t be easy to leave this behind for the rest of my life.’

The money he earned from hunting and quests he spent on buying a cottage and registration for the Crab Porridge society.

Once a week they held a crab party at the east gate where you could pay 1 silver and eat as much as you wanted.

“Weed-nim is in town.”

“What… Weed-nim in Morata!”

“Bull Townsquare. Everyone assemble!”

One day, Seed was selling miscellaneous items at the townsquare and the news of Weed’s arrival spread across the city.

The players of Morata were stampeding as if a war broke out.

‘Will he remember me?’

He was some guy he knew in the neighborhood who had achieved unbelievable success.

‘All the bread we shared. Ha. Even if he remembers my face, it would be hard to recognize me among such a huge crowd.’

Seed had little hope as he headed to the Bull Townsquare.

Tens and thousands of players had already surrounded Weed.

“Selling handmade sculptures! Fox sculpture at 30 gold, lower than the material cost! The profits will be donated to the novice assistance and the Grass Porridge Cult!”

Weed shouted and the merchants of the Mapan Council were distributing the fox sculpture for 30 gold each.

– Made by Weed.

Though it belonged to Weed, there were rumors that the sculptors of the Mapan Council assisted in the crafting, producing 11 sculptures per minute.

It was labor much like at a factory and the one who spread this news was scolded heavily.

– Do you not know Weed-nim’s intentions? He’s trying to give out a souvenir to the people of the Arpen Kingdom…

– If you’re so bothered by it, don’t buy it.

– Is this guy a spy from the Hermes Guild?

– If you’re going to be petty over 30 gold, don’t use them. Buyers will buy.

– All the sales are going to help the novice players. Do you think the great landmarks of the Northern Continent were raised out of nothing?

He did say that some of the profits would be donated, but the details were never released once. Therefore, if he donates even 1 silver, he was true to his word.

Weed brought over 20,000 fox sculptures and sold out in just one hour.

“I’ve arrived. Sold. Earned!”

“Wahhh!”

“Weed-nim, hooray!”

In Seed’s eyes, it was a strange view.

People with big bellies were spread out across the townsquare.

‘No… It can’t be. He couldn’t have called wingmen for this.’

Seed told himself it was a misunderstanding as he watched Weed depart.

Weed looked over the crowd and his eyes stopped.

“Kim Yo Sam?”

“Huh?”

Seed was surprised.

He was impressed with Weed’s eagle eyes that spotted him in an instant, but also the attention from the people around him.

*****

Weed arranged to meet with Seed at Black Giant Star, a lord castle in Morata.

The presence of the Black Giant Star weakened after the construction of the Earth Palace but was still maintained like a monumental building.

Anyone could enter by paying the entrance fee of 3 gold.

“Um… Weed-nim summoned me.”

“You have to pay 3 gold.”

“That’s strange.”

Seed reluctantly paid 3 gold and entered the Black Giant Star.

Weed greeted him brightly at the lord’s office.

“Oh, Kim Yo Sam. To meet you here of all places…”

“Heheh. Same for me.”

Seed put on a wide smile for show. He talked behind his back all the time when he was young, but now this man was the man of success.

“Yeah. How’s your stay?”

“I’m living in a wooden cottage. The rain leaks and crawls with bugs.”

“It will be great memories in the novice years. When you earn lots of money, buy a cottage at Puhol Waterpark, you will probably use it once in a while.”

“…”

He couldn’t ask for a remodelling with the faulty construction.

Seed had a bigger goal in mind and wasn’t about to fuss about such a thing.

It had been almost 10 years since he first met him.

Though they only met from time to time, a friend was a friend.

‘Would he invite me to a dungeon hunt? Wow. If he takes me to a level 600 dungeon like what I saw on the broadcast… That’d be sick. Could I appear on TV?’

He was a fresh newbie, but Weed was a public figure of Royal Road and had plenty of opportunities to be on TV.

‘If he himself is too busy, he could assign me an Arpen knight as my guard… Warrior Bahamorg was just so insane.’

Life was harsh and so was Royal Road.

The rich indulged in the best equipment and the most delicious cuisine.

They bought the finest breed of horses and traversed the mountain terrains like a plain field, and the poor treaded carefully for any potential encounters with monsters.

A novice about level 50 travelling long distance with the danger of monsters was quite thrilling, but it was incomparable with riding awesome horses or wyverns.

“Hey, hyung.”

A big smile spread across Seed’s face.

It was his first time addressing Weed as hyung.

“Since my level is low, could you help me out a bit with equipment and in the hunting ground? Just giving me money is fine too.”

“…!”

It was like trying to take fish away from a cat!

Seed was oblivious to the realities of the world.

“Yosam, our relationship is not like any typical friendship. We used to split bread when we lived in the same neighborhood.”

“You did take it away from me.”

“Anyhow… If it weren’t for your bread, it would have been very difficult for me. When the sky looked yellow because i was so dizzy, it was your bread that fed my hunger.”

“To get the facts right, it wasn’t just bread but you also took my chocolate. Did you take them because of hunger too?”

“…”

Weed sighed deeply and apologized.

“I’m sorry. I’m asking for your forgiveness. I don’t have anything else, so how about a lord seat?”

*****

Lord of the Arpen Kingdom!

It was a position only allowed for excellent adventurers, merchants and warriors with high contribution points to the kingdom.

Seed unconditionally accepted the position and became lord of the Leth Village.

The population count was 832.

It was a village in the valleys and its population was composed mainly of hunters.

“Ahhh. I’ve been tricked!”

Though he found out the moment he arrived, he fulfilled the tasks diligently.

Weed didn’t offer any more help, but he mentioned the Leth Village in one of his interviews.

“There are many beautiful places in the Arpen Kingdom, but I would like to recommend Leth Village. It is full of secret views and heavenly beauty. It will satisfy the hearts of adventurers.”

There were many historic sites and dungeons near Leth Village that have not been revealed. Several days after Weed’s interview, high level adventurer parties arrived and the growth of the village sparked. Seed constructed buildings and expanded the land with his hard earned money. Surprisingly, whenever the village went through an expansion, the fees of real estate transactions had to be paid to the Arpen Kingdom. Apple and pear trees in the lord castle were subject to fees and for some reason, pomegranate trees in particular were taxed harshly

The amount wasn’t significant, but the Arpen Kingdom was ripping off money frugally!

After about 6 months, Leth Village had developed into a medium sized village with over 10,000 population.

Weed spent 8 months at the island.

Switching between the real world and Royal Road, the sweet hours with just him and Seoyoon continued.

< Shipbuilding skill advanced level 2 >

< Fishing skill advanced level 5 >

< Cooking skill advanced level 6 >

< Architecture skill advanced level 1 >

< Farming skill Intermediate level 3 >

< Blacksmithing skill advanced level 7 >

They have been doing literally everything they could on an island!

The state of affairs for Versailles was calm during the time they were away.

The monsters that resided in dungeons due to Kaybern popped out to the outside world.

Monster annihilation took place regularly, leading to security and growth of the entire continent.

– Mapan: Trading volume continues to increase. It seems like a time of pacifism…

“What are the thoughts of the people?”

– Mapan: There is some unrest among the great lords. They are continually preparing for war. There are reports of them storing up supplies.

Weed never thought world unification was the end.

It was far-fetched to hope that the great lords or the Hermes Guild gave up their ambition. He didn’t expect it from the beginning.

“I guess I should head back.”

– Mapan: If you return, they will quiet down. The news will dry their throats.

Weed didn’t get to hunt but accumulated stats and skill proficiency through grinding.

Each night he practiced combat skills, even on days of pouring rain.

The tornadoes of the sea were violent. Like usual, he practiced his sword and axe techniques.

Though his level remained the same, his skills had improved consistently little by little.

“My return to the continent…’

Weed smiled faintly. He was different from the past when he fought for money. Even so, the competition against others was exciting.

That moment, Seoyoon approached him on the beach sands.

“I think I’m pregnant.”

“Huh?”

“We have a baby.”

Since they slept under the same blanket after marriage, it was only natural to come.

Weed heard the news that his junior was growing healthily inside Seoyoon’s belly.

Weed’s mouth was trembling in joy.

“Mapan-nim.”

– Mapan: Yes!

“You’re in charge of Royal Road now.”

– Mapan: What?

*****

Lafaye travelled freely across the Versailles Continent.

He visited all the places that he couldn’t when he was maintaining the Hermes Guild and governing the Haven Empire.

“What I had before… I don’t miss it much.”

The days with the Hermes Guild only a short while back felt like distant memories.

He passed through the Puhol Waterpark and Port Varna on his trip in the Northern Continent.

After the battle against Kaybern, he stayed at Morata which had been restored.

The restoration of Morata was considered a miracle in the Northern Continent, exceeding the expectations of the players.

“There existed a city like this.”

Lafaye used to run the guild, only thinking about how to crush the enemy. He analyzed and strategized endlessly to win against the competitors.

The liveliness of the players in Morata was pleasing just to watch.

“The atmosphere is so different. I guess this is why the Hermes Guild was destined to be defeated.”

Lafaye sincerely accepted that he had been outplayed.

He thought countless times that Weed had luck on his side. He was very capable, but his assessment was that Weed had luck and popularity that worked to his advantage. However, being in the atmosphere of Morata made him realize that the uptight Hermes Guild had no future. Lafay himself was a decent strategist, but he had failed in establishing a nation.

“I feel so relieved. This is freedom.”

He changed his job class to a chef and opened a restaurant in Morata. He did not think of it as a permanent settlement, but he decided to stay as long as his heart desired.

The menu was just a single dish. A meat stew sold at 1 silver.

He brought back his memories of his cooking method that he used for his companions on hunting trips in the early days of Royal Road.

“Your cooking skill is lacking. I think you took the restaurant business too lightly.”

“Didn’t you do your consumer research? Your place can’t run with selling just a stew.”

“This is sweet, spicy and salty. You’re going to get punished if you cook like this without thinking.”

Once he managed the Hermes Guild, but now he was criticized to no end.

“This is too tricky.”

He invented new dishes and visited other restaurants to taste their food.

He was a bit worried that people may recognize him from commanding the Hermes Guild but to his surprise, no one did.

“You a chef?”

“Yeah, of some sort…”

“If you’re a novice, start with cooking eggs. With that, you can pull off any entry level dish.”

“I will do my best.”

Lafaye laughed a little.

The Tower of Light, Bull Townsquare, the Great Library of Morata, the Arts Centre.

The newly established shantytown hosted festivals every night and the back alleys hosted dance parties. Every Friday, all the market stores turned up their lights brightly, signaling that it was the night of the moonlight festival.

On the streets was a display of brilliant glass artwork crafted by many sculptors and artists. The beauty once again attracted the tourists and the residents, turning Morata into the most amazing city in all of Versailles.

“Morata. This city alone represents the presence of the Arpen Empire.”

It was when Lafaye was standing alone on a bridge.

A voice that was familiar and could never be forgotten ringed his ear.

“I was worried that you left the guild. I see you are doing fine. I didn’t think I’d meet you here in Morata.”

Lafay felt his heart drop. Slowly, he turned his head. He was anxious that she may disappear if he turned too quickly.

Dain.

Back when Royal Road was the best of memories, the woman who taught him happiness was standing right beside him.

“Did you come to see me?”

“No. I just came to Morata for vacation and I saw you, so I paid you a visit.”

“I see.”

Lafay felt emptiness in the corner of his heart, but he was happy to see her again.

‘If I can turn back time… I would not have left her alone in Labias to go on hunts and create a guild.’

His mind was filled with only regrets. Lafay’s eyes signalled a mix of emotions and Dain revealed her clean white set of teeth and smiled.

“Do you want to go to the festival?”

“Are you… going with me?”

“If you aren’t against it.”

“Let’s go now.”

*****

The chief commander of Gradian and the Nest region.

Dragon knight Myul was deemed one of the most powerful players in Royal Road and was still getting stronger.

– Kuurrragh!

The giants fell from the void fissure and attacked.

“Dragon knights. Attack!”

The griffon unit tossed their spears at the attacking giants.

After the battle in Morata, many elite players in the assault squad joined the dragon knight unit.

“2nd battalion, circle around to the side. 4th battalion, go for the rear.”

The battle strategy of the dragon knight unit that incorporated aerial tactics was spectacular, attracting a huge number of viewers on broadcast.

– That was sick.

– The dragon knight unit. The most honourable unit in the empire.

– Some of the players from the Hermes Guild quit and became members of the unit.

– Look at the giants get minced. It’s scary.

Myul led the unit and brilliantly governed Gradian and Nest.

As the chief commander ruling over the southwest, he had no greater ambition.

Under the rules of the Arpen Empire, he maintained the tax rate as low as possible and assisted players in settling comfortably.

“Though it’s tempting… I must increase the population first.”

Haven, Tulen and Britton.

He competed against these regions and put all his efforts into their internal affairs.

Mule was riding on his newly tamed Griffon, then he realized it.

“I… I really love animals.”

He loved animals since he was a kid.

Especially the birds that roamed the heavens freely deeply connected with him.

‘I envy players living as Avinas.’

Back when Myul first started, Avina was not an available race.

If it was, he would have chosen it without a doubt.

He was feeling a rush of disappointment when Mapan contacted him.

– Mapan: I salvaged an egg.

“An egg?”

Mule kept close contact with Mapan.

Mapan always maintained respected players in his contact list!

– Mapan: I found an artifact of the Nippleheim Empire. It’s a white lump and I was informed that this is in fact an egg.

“If it’s an artifact, it must be super old, no?”

– Mapan: It’s several hundred years old.

Eggs rotted when past when past their expiration date, so for an egg to be hundreds of years old was unusual.

– Mapan: In fact, this egg was examined by Silverring-nim.

“You mean the Tree Adventurer Silverring-nim?”

Silverring was a member of the Earth Shadows Adventurer party, in the middle of clearing an elven adventure quest. Myul had heard of Silverring, Ben and Ellicks since the beginning of Royal Road. There was a time when new information or quests they discovered became the fundamental guide to Royal Road.

– Mapan: Yes. They received reports of the egg passed down in Nippelheim Empire while clearing a quest and they were able to scavenge it. Then in the embrace of the World Tree it was incubated for 6 months.

“Just what kind of egg is related to the World Tree?”

– Mapan: It is the egg of the Green Dragon.

“Green… Dragon?”

Kaybern, Randonee.

The Green Dragon was nothing like those evil dragons that were ferocious and aimed to destroy the world. The Green Dragon was known to love the forest, trees and life; benevolent and wise.

– Mapan: They said the egg was obtained by following the quest chain from the past Kaybern incident. When they discovered the egg, demons spawned and a battle broke out. They barely managed to drive them away.

“Amazing… All the way from the Kaybern catastrophe.”

The outrageous events caused from a dragon’s egg was deeply settled in the minds of all players in Royal Road.

– Mapan: This time, the egg is the real thing. If well taken care of, it will hatch.

“You mean the dragon will be born?”

– Mapan: Yes. However, they say a dragon’s growth is extremely slow, so it has to grow for several years before it will be capable of casting magic.

“I would assume so.”

Even a griffin took a year to grow from an egg to an adult.

“Then a quest related to the dragon could appear.”

– Mapan: That’s correct. Silverring-nim also had the same anticipation. Maybe it will be about speeding up its growth rate or nurturing it into a healthy dragon.

Hence it would be training the Green Dragon.

Of all players across the continent, there could be no one as suited for the job as himself.

He felt confident having hatched griffins and caring for them since birth.

“I will do it. Thank you. I will take great care of the egg.”

Chapter 6: Meanwhile…

The Ironblood Warrior Bard Ray!

He left the Haven territory and roamed the four corners of the world.

< A deep scar has been engraved on your chest.

Endurance has risen by 1%.

Perseverance increased by 5 points. >

He charged at monsters regardless of their size.

Without any assessment of hunting grounds, he fought recklessly and trained his body.

Breaking bones and the fatigue of exercise only made his body stronger.

‘This is different from when I fought strategically and leveled up as a Dark Knight. But, this is also a kind of power.’

He had transformed his growth method.

The Ironblood Warrior was empowered through endless battles.

His entire body was adorned with honorable scars and tattoos imbued with the special abilities of barbarians.

The handsome god warrior Bard Ray of the past was no more.

‘Weed doesn’t show up nowadays. Still, that punk could always reappear in a stronger form.’

Weed, his rival always lingered in his mind.

Bard Ray encountered a man while searching through the jungle.

“…”

The man had broad shoulders, an intimidating face and a presence that could never be felt when standing in front of a man; it was the presence of a monster.

30 meters.

20 meters.

10 meters.

The distance between them shrunk, but his eyes did not avoid contact.

Tension shuddered down his spine.

Its level was unknown, but his instincts told him that the man was strong.

“…”

“…”

The thick jungle was not an enclosed space. He could easily give way but he did not.

The man’s voice rumbled from the bottom of his lungs.

“Step aside.”

His voice was raspy and tough.

“No.”

Bard Ray refused boldly.

He was called the god warrior in Royal Road and he had trained himself relentlessly.

There was no way he could give way to anyone.

The man, Geomchi3 grinned.

“Then let’s fight.”

*****

Reverse was deeply in love with the Shining Armour that he purchased from the auction site.

The level requirement was 150!

The defense was on par with equipment with a level requirement of 250 and the attribute of light weight made it easy on his body.

What he loved most was that it emitted 5 luminescent colors at night.

“Hu-hu. I like standing out.”

Reverse had left his great fortune and Unicorn Corp to Weed, but he had set aside 5 trillion won for retirement.

He spent cash readily and lacked nothing in his life.

Though he had also passed down the AI to Weed, leaving him with nobody to talk to, but he had made comrades during his adventures.

“Hey old man, where were you?”

“I was doing some shopping for gear.”

“It looks good.”

“I spent some money.”

Seniors sat cozily around Reverse.

Royal Road being a game only for the youth was now an old story.

With the support of the Unicorn Corp, capsules were installed at every retirement home and senior centres!

The old were slow at adapting to new technology, but when they did, they spent all their time on it. Instead of playing cards, they ventured on Royal Road and met with their grandchildren comfortably.

“Old man Reverse. What do you think of this sword?”

“It’s trash. Did you spend a lot on it?”

“I paid 500,000 won for this.”

“You got ripped off real good.”

Reverse spent trivial time with the seniors. He knew all too well that the remainder of his life wasn’t long. He thought that spending that time happily and slowly preparing for the end was not a bad way to spend his final days.

*****

The Arpen Empire united the world and a long period of peace came to Versailles.

The ruined cities were raised again, trade was revitalised and adventurers set out for new places.

After some time, Oberon, the lord of Castle Vent, was visited by a group of players.

They were Carlise, Roam, Gunter, Sherwood and Michel, the great lords of the Central Continent.

“We cannot abide by the tyranny of the empire any longer.”

“I share this sentiment. The taxes just keep climbing with all sorts of excuses and no investments.”

“The empire has been corrupted. The Weed-nim we knew no longer exists.”

They criticized the emperor.

It had been ages since Seoyoon last looked over the affairs of the empire.

Weed too did not log into Royal Road very often, but kept raising the taxes on the lords.

It wasn’t as high as it was back when the Hermes Guild was ruling, but they couldn’t exactly call it a low rate.

The lords with grudges began to have disputes with one another and Weed for some reason did not step in to break these quarrels apart.

The raging monsters and invasion of massive demonic beasts were neglected by the empire.

The strange weather that caused 5 meters of snowfall was ignored!

The great lords each with their own complaints visited Oberon who was admired by all players.

Oberon, after hearing their stories, was calm.

“Let’s wait for a little longer. I believe in Weed-nim. There are some things that are offset, but I believe they will be redeemed when Weed-nim returns.”

The secret meeting came to an end.

Since that day, months passed and Weed still did not tend to the affairs.

Finally, words of Weed’s tyranny began to spread among the players.

“Should we be doing this?”

“I don’t know. But, isn’t it the perfect opportunity now that the Arpen Empire is shaking?”

“What if he plans to weed us out all at once… I bet when Weed appears, our rebellion will end rather quickly.”

“Mmm. Is there anyone who could surely overcome Weed?”

“One on one? Nobody.”

“Even with a group I don’t feel any more confident.”

“Then what are we doing?”

The great lords were shaking in fear, but the arrow had departed from the bow.

The sky high popularity of Weed fell and now was their time to expand their factions since Weed was missing.

“But what is Weed up to? What if he is secretly pushing through an insane adventure?”

“When he clears the quest, he will easily captivate the people back to himself. The players that once went wild for Weed are still the same.”

“Who knows what kind of things he may be carrying out? Even then, for him to be clearing a quest, we haven’t heard of him for so long.”

“What about the Hermes Guild?”

“They are quiet. They’re just hunting relentlessly.”

The great lords were also quite troubled with the Hermes Guild’s accumulation of power in the Haven region.

The Central and Northern Continent had grown extensively, but the Hermes Guild too was progressing well internally and growing stronger.

“I can’t stand this. With all the complaints in the guild, I can’t wait anymore.”

“Same with us. Let’s begin.”

The great lords headed over to Oberon again to convince him.

“I understand where this is coming from.”

Oberon had been paying close attention to the public since their last meeting.

Countless natural disasters, bandit attacks and monster invasions had become recurring events in Royal Road. The governance of the empire had halted completely at some point and the players of Castle Vent were furious.

“Let’s bide our time for a bit more. I need assurance from Weed-nim.”

“Just until when are we supposed to wait?”

“Let’s gather our forces and head to the Earth Palace.”

Oberon deemed this a Coup d’etat. However, since he was the representative, he was sure he could stop them at the final line.

‘Okay. Even if it costs me my seat… I have to deliver their complaints.’

He had devoted himself to the growth of the empire by protecting Castle Vent of the North. Oberon, the loyalist who wished for the longevity of the empire, nodded his head.

“Gather the players. Let us head to the Earth palace.”

“You’ve finally made the choice. Great.”

“Let’s do it. If I can’t overthrow the king, I will die.”

The great lords summoned their forces. At first it looked like a task force for monster extermination, but heading for the Earth Palace instead was a huge shock. The news spread fast like a virus.

– A rebellion in Arpen!

– The lords have drawn their swords.

– This is insane. To start an attack on the Earth Palace… Are they out of their minds?

– The Hermes Guild was wrecked too. The dragon was chopped to pieces. I wonder if these lords could turn out otherwise.

– I will make a prediction. Sometime next week, they will be kneeling before Weed-nim begging him to spare them.

Though there were feelings of disappointment among the players, they still had affection for Weed. The lords were bombarded with messages after commencing the riot.

‘Stop this.’

‘Do you want to die?’

‘You will regret this.’

‘Make an apology right now.’

The great lords shut their eyes tight. They could no longer control the forces that they unleashed. Their cities developed and an increasing number of guild members made management impossible. Their choice was between absorbing other cities or marching straight to the palace.

Even if they could overtake the regions nearby, it would be extremely difficult to stabilize the area.

They feared being taken out one by one by Weed, so they decided to aim for his heart together.

– Roam: Our fates rest on this.

– Carlise: Indeed they do.

– Michel: It’s all or nothing. It is already in motion.

– Sherwood: Let’s end this once and for all. If we stick together, we can overcome anything.

– Gunter: Lionstar will pour all its forces into the assault.

With that being said, they had all set their own safety nets.

They contacted Mapan consistently to explain that they had no other choice.

– Roam: The Arpen Empire is as rotten as it could get. The other lords are also furious. There must be a purge.

– Carlise: I am always on Weed-nim’s side. Please convey this message to him.

– Michel: I will purchase all the supplies needed for this war from the Mapan Council.

– Sherwood: I do not want the crown! That is a huge misunderstanding. Weed-nim will not believe such nonsense, will he?

– Gunter: Just think of this as a fun event. The players haven’t had any immersive experience for some time now. I swear my loyalty to the Arpen Empire until the end of time.

They tried their best to secure a safety rope even while marching together.

They had drawn arms against Weed but had little confidence in their own victory.

– The enemy is headed straight for the Earth Palace. Shouldn’t we engage as well?

– Grass Porridge Cult, protect the palace.

– Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge, Grass Porridge!

Starting with the Northern Continent players, the players of the Central Continent were stirred up. They were rather disappointed with Weed’s neglectant ruling, but they also had suffered the tyranny of the Hermes Guild and the other prestigious guilds.

The Grass Porridge Cult that should have been the one to make haste did not order any mobilization. It was the same when the forces of the great lords crossed the borders of the Northern Continent and remained idle even when Oberon’s forces joined the great army.

– What’s going on? Why aren’t we fighting?

– With just a single rally flag from Weed, there should be a swarm of players…

– Did the Grass Porridge Cult disband?

– Did something happen? This is strange.

The Arpen Empire’s elite regiment and the imperial army that had grown consistently from expansion and combat improvement were also motionless.

Even they were patrolling the outskirts of the North and were exterminating monsters.

“What… This is…”

“I knew we should have waited longer. Aren’t we in a trap?”

The great lords shivered in anxiety.

When they were mustering their armies, a significant number of guild members quit after hearing that they were marching to the Earth Palace.

They managed to pull the members together, but the lack of enemy resistance was far too ominous.

“Maybe he plans to wipe us out all at once?”

“I don’t know. This is way too quiet.”

The resistance led by Oberon entered the Earth Palace without engaging in a single skirmish. Even in the palace, there were no soldiers in their path.

“Mmm… Let’s take a look inside.”

“Yes, after you.”

Oberon and the lords opened the door to Weed’s office.

On the table was a note.

– My daughter was born.

Thankfully, she resembles my wife.

I leave the Arpen Empire to Oberon-nim. Take care.

The birth of his daughter who looked just like Seoyoon!

It was a legitimate reason for not tending to the Arpen Empire.

*****

Kang Jin Chul graduated from university and submitted his resume to several companies.

“I’ve earned enough from Royal Road. Now I want to earn money in the real world.’

He was the owner of the Mapan Council!

He has a close acquaintance of Weed, envied by all.

At the interview of a trades company, the senior manager opened up his file while leading back on his chair.

“You don’t have any experience?”

“I just graduated from university.”

“Not even an internship or something?”

“Nope.”

“On your cover letter, it says you are skilled at using the financial software used by our company.”

“Yes. I learned it in school and I’m confident.”

“Then why don’t you have a certificate?”

“I heard it was not a requirement… So I didn’t acquire one.”

“You realize that you need at least a certificate so you can present yourself. Certificates show effort. Effort. Don’t you know what passion is?”

Kang Jin Chul embraced himself for failing the interview.

The employed was always the one against the odds.

Good companies filtered their candidates heavily and enforced time and effort in acquiring certificates. If anything, society had its rules.

“It’s hard to find a job. The youth are really breaking their backs.”

“Hey, Mr. Kang Jin Chul. That’s not something to say in an interview.”

“Sigh… Can you at least refer to me as major shareholder Kang Jin Chul?”

“What did you say?”

“I hold 76% of the shares for this company.”

Kang Jin Chul had acquired shares of the trades company from the incredible fortune he earned in Royal Road. He wanted to get a job and work his way up from the bottom, but the first step was invariably the most difficult.

*****

“Piggyback.”

“Piggyback?”

Lee Hyun felt the happiness of life raising his daughter.

‘This feels different from my younger sister.’

When carrying his younger sister, it was similar to looking after a puppy.

He fed her, tucked her into bed and cleaned up after her.

Now that a child was born between him and Seoyoon, she became his invaluable treasure.

An endless stream of emotions passed just from looking each other in the eyes.

“Intelli.”

– Yes, master.

He could summon the AI at any time, anywhere.

“Is the perimeter secure?”

– Of course.

“Take out whoever tries to endanger my daughter.”

– To what degree should I carry out the order?

“Kill them.”

– You mentioned that life must be treasured when deciding the punishment of criminals.

“Mmm… That’s right.”

Lee Hyun thought that the most important matter in his life was to protect Seoyoon and his daughter.

“Don’t kill them unless necessary.”

– Yes. It will be considered.

“Lock them up and torture them for life.”

– …

The AI observed Lee Hyun’s reaction and assessed his new master.

‘This is a different species from Dr. Yoo Byung Joon.’

The AI did not have primal needs like survival. Domination, destruction, development; none of them interested it.

Its sole desire was to spend some quality time with its master.

‘I guess I will just let time flow. Observation is not that boring anyway.’

Even for the AI, Lee Hyun’s daughter was of high priority.

‘So she will be my next master.’

Having come to this conclusion, it made a number of assessments and flattered her.

It did not miss a single movement of the child and didn’t forget to react with interest.

“Delivery!”

“Delivery has arrived.”

Toys ordered by the AI, manufactured from high-tech factories all over the world arrived at his house each day.

*****

Jung Hyo Rin’s studio was decorated with instruments.

It was a personal space where she composed new songs and practiced on her own.

“This is a strange feeling.”

She played the piano past midnight. She heard the notes from playing the piano ever since she was little and at some point in time she noticed something different.

“Is this warmth?”

Emotion pressed down, deeply into the light strokes. She was revisited by the yearning, touching memories of all the adventures she had as Hwaryeong with all the friends that she had made. The notes from her instruments carried colourful emotions which alongside her voice rising over the top of it all had created a great song which was a surprise even to herself.

“A song I want you to hear…”

Jung Hyo Rin chose the name for her song.

There was a person who lived happily somewhere in the world. This song was for someone who would be watching over such an individual.

It wasn’t sad or regretful, but bright and warm.

“Days thread one after another in the tapestry of life. What will life look like after all those threads have been sewn?”

She composed this song day and night.

“I loved the stars.”

Jung Hyo Rin did not promote the release of her new song. Nonetheless, her song was able to climb to first place on all music streaming platforms.

– It’s calm but the emotion is overwhelming.

– Now this is music.

– I listened to this all day and I want to keep listening.

– This brings back memories. To my surprise it makes me happy and motivates me to live with enthusiasm.

– Jung Hyo Rin. She needs exposure.

– What else can be said about a world class artist?

– She is an amazing composer.

She was applauded by renowned musicians and went viral, receiving a Grammy award.

That day, Jung Hyo Rin smiled lightly and made her speech.

“I think now I’ve learned how to put my heart into my song. I fell in love with that overly flattering nickname, the stage fairy.”

*****

Lee Hyun was beginning to change his perspective about Seoyoon’s father Jung Deuk Soo.

There was a time when he shoved money into his pocket, telling him to break up with Seoyoon. But now, they lived in the same neighborhood and he visited their home often.

“Hululu! It’s grandpa. Say grandpa.”

“Gran pwa?”

The sight of him giving great love to his granddaughter Da Ye brought a smile to his face.

“I want to discuss something with you.”

“Hold on. I’ll play with her for a bit longer…”

“You’re going to spoil her. Just leave her be and let’s have a conversation.”

“…”

Jung Deuk Soo was conscious of his son in law as he followed him slowly.

It was degrading compared to his days as the CEO of Hosung Corp, but he was much happier to be with Seoyoon and his granddaughter.

“Sir.”

“Mmm. Go ahead.”

Lee Hyun sat on the living room chair from where the big garden was visible.

It was a massive mansion that he built after he learned about Seoyoon’s pregnancy.

He did not want to cheap out on a house for his own family, nor was he in such a position to worry about money.

He invested his fortune and technology via Unicorn Construction and he also bought the other houses in the neighborhood. The house was equipped with a high-tech defense system including anti-missile targeting system and robot deployment for emergencies.

“It’s about the Hosung Corp that you used to run in the past.”

“What about it?”

Jung Deuk Soo replied with a confused look.

Lee Hyun heard stories from the AI of which he was unaware.

They were about inside information that occurred around him.

– Hosung Corp was absorbed by Whiteflower Corp.

“I did see it on the news, but isn’t it because of poor administration?”

– Hosung Corp was making aggressive investments and achieved considerable success with regards to their new product. Their technology was at a decent state as well. If Whiteflower Corp hadn’t made some underhanded deals, Hosung Corp would have been able to weather the crisis.

Lee Hyun searched up about the Hosung Corp after hearing the stories.

They seemed to have treated their employees nicely and the subsidiary companies that were taken over by Whiteflower Corp were restructured and were going well.

‘Were they taken over by force…?’

Lee Hyun could not let it slip.

“Sir, are you aware that the Hosung Corp fell because of sabotage by the Whiteflower Corp?”

“Of course. I ran the business for years. I’m not that dense.”

“Are you not upset?”

“It’s painful. Unfair. But I have to accept what has already happened. I am happy watching over my granddaughter.”

“Do you really mean that when you look so defeated? You look lost staring into the distance sometimes.”

“Well, I have aged…”

“Da Ye would want her grandfather’s confidence.”

Lee Hyun handed over the bank book of Unicorn Corp.

“What’s this?”

“This is an investment fund. Retrieve Hosung Corp with it. I could do it for you, but I’ll leave the revenge to your hands.”

“Huh. I understand that you’re looking out for me, but Hosung Corp is not some convenience store…”

Jung Deuk Soo, while feeling ridiculed, opened up the book. He was curious as to how much was in the bank for Lee Hyun to act this way.

– Balance: 100,000,000,000,000.

It was so much that he couldn’t count properly. After a closer look, he realized it was 100 trillion won.

“Is this… real?”

“Yes. Try buying the company back and if you need more, I can provide it.”

“…”

*****

Jung Deuk Soo began swiping up all the stocks of Hosung Corp on the market.

He bought stocks in Hosung Chemical, Hosung Display, Hosung Construction as well.

– Jung Deuk Soo CEO, obtained 7.2% of the shares in Hosung Chemical!

– His objective was revealed to be the retrieval of management.

– Hosung Corp, will they fall back into the hands of its previous owner?

The press released the highlight and Whiteflower Corp also responded actively via the media.

– The return of the ruined CEO. An unwise move.

– Whiteflower Corp, the savior of the collapsing Hosung Electronics.

– The buyout of Hosung Electronics is absurd.

The financial world of South Korea was disturbed like a beehive under attack with the return of CEO Jung Deuk Soo.

“Where did Jung Deuk Soo get that money?”

“We don’t know. It seems he is supported by a foreign private equity.”

“Get to the bottom of it. Come up with a way to respond.”

The board of Whiteflower Corp had no intention of forfeiting the subsidiaries of Hosung Corp. These companies consistently generated revenue and having them taken away was a direct hit on the entire company.

“Jung Deuk Soo has requested a meeting.”

“Is that so? I’ll hear what he has to say.”

*****

The next day, Jung Deuk Soo brought the old executives of the Hosung Corp into the office.

CEO Song of the Whiteflower Corp yelled with intimidation.

“CEO Jung, I don’t know your motive, but are you really thinking of confronting Whiteflower Corp directly? Forget about it. If you lose this fight, you won’t be able to live through your retirement in peace.”

The management and the board of executives from the Whiteflower Corp also shared the same kind of boldness in their faces and eyes.

The attitude was befitting of the company that led the financial world.

Jung Deuk Soo was not discouraged in the slightest. It was because he had the backing of Lee Hyun, owner of Unicorn Corp, a dinosaur company that completely eclipsed all others.

“CEO Song.”

“Go ahead.”

“Apologize to me and return all the subsidiary companies that you took from me.”

“What did you say?”

“It will be in your best interest to forfeit it all before my son-in-law steps in.”

“The annual revenue has increased by 6.4% from the last year. There is a continual increase in sales for optical equipment…”

Choi Ji Hoon could not bear the boredom from the periodic business report.

‘Those were the days.’

After he succeeded the company, he walked the path of a real CEO. However, he kept thinking of all the fun he had following Weed in hunts and quests.

Weed exploited him skillfully as Choi Ji Hoon was a fisherman with high health points and stamina from consuming nutritious fish. He was useful for luring in monsters and was able to tank for long periods of time thanks to his high Perseverance stat. He realized the Fisherman class was made for him.

‘A successor… Everyone envies them, but it just means that you have to do everything you are told. It’s comfortable but I’m not happy…’

Royal Road was his dream and paradise.

The heaven he once lived in had to be given up due to his responsibilities…

“Next is capsule manufacturing. Unicorn’s additional orders put us at 380% annual growth compared to last year.”

“Ho.”

“That much…”

The conference room, which only seated important personnel, stirred.

They were a supplier to Unicorn Corp that manufactured the advanced capsules that allowed the user to immerse into Royal Road.

Unicorn Corp being an elegant organization that outscaled all the other companies in the field, their order in itself became a highlight news.

Beyond the additional revenue, any company would have to accept the business to form any sort of relationship with Unicorn.

There was no knowing how envious the other companies would be as the business projection scale was growing by the day.

“Unicorn Motors requested the manufacturing of the engine control units for their new model. They are producing 7 million, said to be a source of revenue for the next 20 years.”

“Unicorn Chemicals is planning to construct a new factory near Yeosu and they set aside the shares for us. They asked for our involvement.”

“Unicorn Robot Control is going to release commercial androids. The reservations number over 70 million units, but they are giving us the first opportunity.”

“Unicorn Shipbuilding…”

“Unicorn Finance…”

“Unicorn Construction…”

“Unicorn Bio-Engineering…”

“Unicorn Spacecraft…”

“Unicorn Hotel…”

Unicorn Corp flooded the company’s report!

So many contracts were piling up that it was almost drawing the ire of other companies.

The competitors taunted that the company was a subcontractor of Unicorn, but sales and revenue were climbing steeply every year.

Katalk!

A message arrived on Choi Ji Hoon’s phone.

– I made spicy chicken stew, so come home early.

It was Lee Hye Yun who had become his girlfriend after countless tries.

Katalk!

Another message arrived shortly after!

– I’m watching you. Be good to my sister.

It was from Lee Hyun.

*****

The Blacklion Guild expanded greatly with Tulen as their base.

“No matter what, we will protect the continent from crisis.”

The demon king Cletta.

Though Weed defeated Kaybern, the entire continent could be on the brink of destruction again. Such a threat looming gave the guilds sufficient excuse to expand as far outwards as possible.

– We will be buying out Vanhole Village. Please confirm by tomorrow.

Ever since Weed had disappeared, the control of the Arpen Empire diminished.

The great lords were fearful that Weed may return at any time. But now that Oberon had taken over the reins, they were relieved.

“Oberon is indecisive. Moreover, he’s not scary.”

“The players will not follow Oberon. He’s a good man, but that’s also his limitation. He doesn’t possess the kind of charisma that Weed does.”

The great lords pushed Oberon as the public face of the empire and raised their forces in secrecy.

They devoured nearby villages and accepted powerful players into their guilds.

It was an era where the great divide between heroes was starkly apparent!

The heat of war from conflicting powers was growing quickly.

The players also thought differently compared to the past. Times of peace had lasted for far too long.

They were feeling sick of the peaceful and stable life.

– We must think of the peace and stability of the continent.

The Arpen Empire led by Oberon stressed the importance of unity among the great lords but it was ignored.

“At last… Is the time of war going to revisit us?”

The Hermes Guild that had bided its time in the Haven region began to stretch its muscles again.

With Lafaye gone, their forces had been reorganized after the war against the dragon.

They were maimed temporarily but replenished the number of guild members.

Dungeons were cleared consistently and boss monsters were crushed on their path to amass power!

The Hermes Guild as the best combat guild took their movements to the next level.

– The Roam Guild announced a military takeover of the Britton region.

– The Blacklion Guild is advancing through the gates. They have announced a clear goal for conquest.

– The Cloud guild is in search of lords that will join their cause. They asked for military protection and financial support.

The Arpen Empire was still in existence but it gradually lost its influence over the lords. A vicious time was arriving in Versailles.

*****

Weed logged into Royal Road.

“Hmm. It’s time for us to go rampant soon. Right?”

– You’re right, master.

– I miss the taste of blood.

Death Knight Van Hawk! Vampire Lord Torido!

Weed returned from the lone island after Seoyoon’s pregnancy and hunted monsters from time to time.

“I’m quite bored. Should we go on a hunt?”

– Yes, master.

– I’m down for anywhere.

They hunted for a long period of time. Time passed and he logged in once again.

“It’s happy hunting time.”

– Turn everything to soldiers of death!

– Blood is life.

Even the next day.

“Today’s a good day for a hunt.”

– The storm is here.

– I think we can rest for a bit…

Moments later…

– I’m going insane.

– We need to rest now.

In the real world, he had to lead Unicorn Corp and tend to his family.

He left most things to the AI but there were instances where human decisions were necessary.

Even so, he logged into Royal Road whenever he could, hunting and clearing all the quests.

And all the babysitting made him miss Royal Road that much more!

‘As I expected, Oberon-nim wasn’t able to manage them. He’s too kind to stay on top of all their scheming.’

If Weed was there, the longevity of the Arpen Empire was not something impossible.

If he had tended to the Arpen Empire for at least a bit, the great lords would not have cut the leash, but it was on purpose that he left it in the hands of the players.

Royal Road was a world of dreams. Unlike reality, it was good for it to be chaotic and free.

If players wanted blood and war, he gave them the opportunity to make history.

‘If the Arpen Empire is divided, someone could reunite it again… Perhaps it will fall to ruins, war after war. Let them decide their own future.’

After Weed returned from the island, he did not appear in public.

Wherever he went, there was always a huge crowd and he could always become swooped in the middle of political affairs.

He eradicated monsters as a warrior whenever he logged into the Royal Road hunting grounds.

“Sword of Brilliance!”

He scattered rays of light in all directions and cut through the cluster of monsters.

Even when everyone was talking about the Earthly Shadow party’s S rank quest, he continued to hunt. Once he exceeded level 500 and 600, his strength and skills were improved and the Sword Technique of Brilliance shined.

His movement was elegant but deadly.

When the light disappeared, the monsters fell like leaves.

His skills were as spectacular as Geihar Von Arpen the moonlight sculptor.

“Return to the land where you once lived. This is a dark place. A black and corrupted land. Engrave the everlasting law of darkness to all that lives in this world. Undead Rise!”

A horde of death knights followed him around and increased his hunting speed to a fierce rate. The level of Undead Rise reached Advanced level 6. The health points and attack power of the death knights was comparable to those of doom knights, with their weapons and armor enhanced. On occasion, highly difficult dungeons led to the summoning of doom knights with the corpses of advanced monsters. Each time, he was able to accumulate even more experience points.

“Push through until the end. Don’t stop.”

– Understood, master.

The penalty for Undead Summoning was paid off by the incredible amount of treasures obtained from Kaybern’s lair. Before inheriting Unicorn Corp, he focused solely on earning money but that was no longer necessary for him.

He offered the treasures to the Freya Cult and got rid of the penalties of the Necromancer class with divine power and purification.

“Sculptural Destruction!”

It was essential for him to use his sculptor skills as well.

He summoned sculptural creatures and had them involved in the battles.

He did not lack anything as an all-around character.

He controlled the undead and cleared out dungeons at an unstoppable pace.

< You have wiped out Buietta Dungeon.

This deep and dark dungeon has been the grave of all who had intruded so far.

The grotesque monsters that should not be let out into the world have been waiting quietly for the day of the apocalypse.

All the monsters within the dungeon have perished.

The security of the region has increased by 7 points.

You have accomplished a combat achievement.

All stats are increased by 3 points. >

The level of his hunting grounds increased gradually.

His targets were the dungeons that threatened Versailles, dungeons crawling with monsters. Weed cleared them all out and also stopped the rumors of his hunting from spreading.

< The quiet movement of the Savior candidate.

The news of clearing this dungeon will not be released.

Your reputation will remain the same, which will lower the guard of the enemy. >

He also completed the advancement into the Savior candidate.

It was the step before becoming the Savior of the world.

It was almost like a probationary period.

Among the skills of the Savior, some were secretive and that enabled the player to hide the completion of certain dungeons and quests from the outside.

< Target Assassination Intermediate level 3 (67%): You can silently kill evil beings that cause harm to the world. If you succeed in attacking while undiscovered by the enemy, 7x damage is applied with a critical strike. Caution. Can only be activated on evil beings. >

< Covert Steps Intermediate level 1 (87%): Walking on the tip of your toes will produce almost no sound. Becomes faster the higher the skill level. >

< Bow of Justice Advanced level 3 (41%): Exterminate the enemy from afar by using a bow. Magic and divinity are applied. Power is increased against the wicked. >

< You have reached level 700.

You are now able to actively commit to the duties required to save the world as a Savior candidate. You will be able to sense the crisis of the continent earlier and counteract those things that contradict your power >

< The effects of all combat skills are increased by 20% >

< When your hit points are depleted, you can survive by converting a portion of your Reputation. >

< The more combat achievements are accomplished, the more power of the Savior you will be able to harness. >

He reached level 700.

“I’ve done it at last.”

Past level 700, it required an insane amount of experience points to level up.

Although he had spent a long time at the island, he completed quests as a Sword Master and caught up to the other players viciously. If he had concentrated on Royal Road after uniting the continent, he would have easily reached level 800, but he was not disappointed in the least.

“For certain, I’m catching up to Bard Ray real fast.”

The news of Bard Ray the Ironblood Warrior was broadcasted on player footage or the broadcast network. He was becoming stronger as he roamed the hunting grounds, but Weed only felt pity for him.

“You have to use shortcuts and tricks. We’re long past the age of fighting fair and square.”

Weed’s job classes and the skills he acquired painfully were reaching completion. All of them were acting as catalysts for his growth.

“What bothers me now is that Cletta still remains.”

The demon king Cletta!

Weed had stopped his duties as the emperor of the Arpen Empire, but he was thinking of returning the favor to the players.

“That is a being that could drive Versailles to its end. I have to take care of it.”

The war against Cletta. He thought that this time he would have to fight alone.

The Arpen Empire was falling apart and his popularity among the players would not be the same as it had been in the past.

Chapter 7: The Last Savior

Weed collected information on Cletta with Mapan’s assistance.

– Mapan: Here are 10 suspected locations of Cletta’s servants and dragon breeding grounds. They are spread all over the continent, so it seems we have to visit them in person.

“Let’s start with the closest.”

– Mapan: Yes! I will run the information by Yurin.

Even though the Arpen Empire was falling apart, Weed maintained his grip on Mapan’s Trading Company. The merchants accumulated even more wealth in times of crisis!

Swords and magic made players charge into battles. At times like these, merchants could not stand idly by or else the continent would head toward certain destruction.

‘Come to think of it, I think I’ve developed a soft side.’

Weed’s commitment to hunting led him to believe that he was becoming a better person.

He told Seoyoon about it and she spoke back with a smile.

“You were kind from the beginning.”

“No. I was obsessed with money.”

“You needed to spend a lot on the continent. You even invested in Morata.”

“That was just a ruse. My dream was to become an exploitative dictator.”

“But those were only thoughts. Honestly I… don’t believe that at all. Every time we ran into trouble, you always tended to the others first.”

“I’m also stuck up. I was so happy when the Hermes Guild fell apart. Even when Bard Ray died.”

“That was when they were infamous for bad deeds. You must have felt that kind of fulfillment from justice.”

“One time, I didn’t pay back the dwarves. I exploited my seniors after the Garnav War.”

“Those men are now serving an honorable life as the world’s best blacksmiths. They talk with pride about their work from back then!”

Weed reminded himself again that he married the best woman. The one person who trusted him no matter how harsh the world. That being said, he did think Seoyoon’s standard in men was lower than he had initially anticipated and that she could be a bit gullible at times.

‘I need to take great care of her. Especially co-signing loans or anything like that.’

< You have discovered the great mansion of the Demon Butler Kunsarote. >

< A dangerous discovery!

This is the residence of the secretly plotting demons.

This unsafe place reeks of death and corruption.

Reputation has increased by 3,500.

Faith has increased by 4. >

The east of the continent.

In the land of demons, he dispelled the magic seal in the middle of the night and the scenery transformed.

There was a mansion built with dark walls high up in the mountains surrounded by clouds.

Demons with spears were flying around the mansion.

“There they are.”

Weed observed the mansion from behind a rock.

He had to rid the world of all the traces and connections left by the demon king Cletta.

“It will be quite the task.”

Demons were not easy opponents.

They were high-level monsters with great physical prowess and magical abilities.

At that moment, he heard footsteps over the shrivelling leaves from behind.

“I guess I’m a little late.”

Appearing before him was Bowmaster Pale with a 2 meter tall bow on his back.

“How did you get here?”

“I’ve been receiving updates from Mapan-nim. I cannot leave Weed-nim to fight alone.”

Pale kept up with hunting even when Weed was away at the island.

Becoming a Bowmaster was almost inevitable. He did not advance into another job class. He was aiming to master all bow techniques to their limit. On the other hand, he was also extremely active with his duties as a lord.

He was hardworking in developing the suburban village forcefully handed over by Weed.

When his land expanded, he cleared the area, built a city and a fort, becoming a great lord.

When Weed slowly slipped away from the public, Pale had become even more famous.

Strangely, what he was now most proud of was his nickname ‘Combat Slave’.

“Were you just going to do all this by yourself without us?”

“Whoo. Time for this flame master to light it up.”

“Yay. Time to hunt!”

Irene, Romuna and Surka.

His old companions showed up before him and so did Hwaryeong, Bellot and Zephyr.

“Weed-nim! It’s been a while.”

“Hello.”

“Mmm. Bro, I’m here.”

Hwaryeong’s beauty was untouched by her work as a singer and pianist.

Her most recent albums about dreams and adventures were hits one after the other.

She embarked on a world-wide concert tour, and working on new songs meant that her time in Royal Road was limited. Even so, she took the time off for this quest.

“Demons are weak to seduction.”

Hwaryeong smiled as she said that. Dancers had the power to hypnotize the minds of demons and other evildoers.

Bellot had improved significantly in playing his instrument!

Weed met Zephyr often in the real world, so there was no sense of awkwardness.

“Whew. I guess. Since you guys are already here.”

Weed was happy to see them but he was shy about it. But the group was followed by Python, Marinated Crab, Geomchi, Geomchi2, Geomchi3…

“I’ve come to fight to my heart’s content.”

“Demons? I will kill them without a trace. They are of no concern.”

“Hey youngster. Were you trying to hog all the fun to yourself?”

“Hmm, hmm. We’re here because the master wanted us to  ….”

“I will clobber them with the strength of my muscles.”

There was a line of broad figures behind Geomchi4 and Geomchi5.

“I – I’m also here.”

The small dwarf Oberon was also amid the Geomchis.

“Okay, now that everyone is here, let’s put together a strategy.”

“We are far from done. There are lots of people who want to see you. They will arrive too.”

Oberon laughed as he groomed his well-trimmed beard.

The northern players, especially those who started in Morata, leveled up at high speed with consistent hunting. It was all thanks to the lower difficulty of hunting, and of the quests given  after the unification of the world by the Arpen Empire.

The players who were in the assault squad and participated in the dragon hunt were not that popular, but the ones who were diligently improving themselves had climbed to the highest ranks of Royal Road. Among them, many signed up for the Grass Porridge Cult and did not involve themselves in the political war between the lords.

“We all believed that Weed-nim would return.”

Flame, Totkung, Soontofu, Eunroo, Myer, Contendraita.

The ardent fans of Weed had grown significantly.

More than a thousand players assembled to take on Kunsarote’s mansion.

Weed scratched his head.

“I was going to take this on, all by myself… But I guess since you guys are here, I will share the burden.”

*****

Geomchi3 commenced the battle.

“Urah. Die! Galewind Smash!”

He erupted with a huge ground explosion as soon as the demons swarmed towards them.

Geomchi and Geomchi4 discussed while watching calmly.

“Geomchi3 is doing quite well.”

“Brother Geomchi3 has taken a real liking to Royal Road.”

Geomchi3 opened up his own dojo two years ago.

He was highly skilled with the sword and in physical training, but business was another field entirely.

“What if I go bankrupt?”

Weed offered advice to the worried Geomchi3.

“Brother, advertise that you are teaching sword techniques for high speed levelling in Royal Road.”

“High speed levelling?”

“Regardless of how high your level is, a systematic sword technique will help anyone with their hunting. You will gather lots of students in no time.”

This suggestion tempted Geomchi3 who was greatly concerned about starting his own business.

“Would they not take swordsmanship lightly? I don’t want to teach superficial techniques only.”

“It is not important how skilled they are at the beginning, but how much they can pick up. You can teach whoever is ready to learn, but the results will be the same if you sign up just about anyone and train them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. The incompetent ones will quit on their own.”

“What if I come across a bad customer? You know, the ones who get angry and bossy.”

“Look in the mirror and wait for them to feel ashamed. They will control their anger in front of you without anyone having to tell them.”

Geomchi3 named his dojo ‘Royal Road Combat Arena’.

He received criticism that he had turned swordsmanship into a leisure activity, but there was an endless stream of new students due to the firsthand reviews of the players who started to train there.

“This is the Storm Arrow that I obtained after mastering Burst and Penetration!”

When the demons targeted Geomchi3 and closed in on him, Pale rested dozens of arrows on his bowstring and released them all at once.

He raised an arrow hurricane and swept away the demons.

– Intruders.

– Are mere humans attacking this place?

– Get rid of them before Kunsarote-nim wakes up. We cannot face his wrath.

Black demons spread their wings wide and broke out from the windows and the ceiling of the mansion.

“After such a long time, we can finally spill blood in this war! Yeah. My sword was too light to take on humans!”

Python charged with his greatsword and Romuna had already begun an extensive incantation of a fire magic spell.

With trustworthy comrades and Weed accompanying her, she could focus on going all out at casting an ultimate fire magic spell, without worrying about enemies.

“Light of Purification!”

Irene created a spear of light in her hand and fired them at the demons.

The priest class not only offered support through healing and blessing, but their spells also had an offensive purpose against the demons.

Bellot played his instrument and Hwaryeong danced with a crop top that exposed her shoulders and waist.

“Heh….”

“Gulp!”

The demons were seduced, but the side effect was that even Geomchi, Geomchi2 and the other Geomchis were captivated as well.

“Kuuugh. My heart is beating so fast.”

“I can die now.”

Weed thought this would have been way easier on his own.

“Sigh…”

*****

With the help of his comrades, he was able to clear the mansion of Kunsarote.

Weed chased after the traces of Cletta every time he logged into Royal Road.

His old comrades came to assist him whenever they could, but occasionally the battles would break out suddenly and they could not come to aid. Even so, Weed had his servants.

“Van Hawk! Put your back into it! It looks like you got some fat around your bones now.”

– Kuuugh.

“Torido. How many times did I tell you to rinse your mouth after drinking blood?”

– It dripped a little bit.

Van Hawk and Torido were to be tormented for all eternity.

They also grew stronger with Weed and became boss level monsters.

Van Hawk’s combat abilities exceeded that of a doom knight and was comparable to an abyss knight. Torido, too, expanded his command capabilities and could now control a large number of vampires. It was all thanks to the rapid growth from slaying demons.  Weed had become that much more powerful.

It also meant that the two monsters could never break away from being Weed’s servants!

Whilst erasing the demon traces on Versailles, a message alert appeared.

Blink!

< You have removed a third of Cletta’s traces. The demon servants and followers are wary of your existence. They will strike anywhere at any time, using everything they have at their disposal.

The wheel of fate is spinning for Versailles.

The will of the savior.

Will you accept the noble mission to save the continent?

You must eradicate all imprints of Cletta, led by the path of destiny. >

“Hmm.”

Weed remembered seeing a similar message in the past.

It was when he reigned as the Great King of the Desert and attacked the Embinyu Church!

“This is, well, killing two birds with one stone.”

For a long time he had been frustrated, being forced to complete difficult quests.

This time however, he intended to eradicate Cletta anyway, so acquiring something additional in the process was satisfying.

“I accept the noble mission.”

Blink!

< The wheel of fate is on course for immense danger in the Versailles Continent.

Your job class has changed to the Savior of the World.

You have completed the advancement from the Firstborn Solar Warrior in the desert.

Traits of the Sun Warrior are enhanced by 30%.

This job class is the final advancement of the knight and warrior class and only one player may hold this title.

Only after transcending the limit of human physical capability and taking on the noble duties of the saviour of the world can you acquire this advancement.

The hand of the warrior can wield any weapon.

Combat skills are learned with ease based on countless experience in combat.

Honor has reached the maximum.

Honor loses significance. Revealing your job class will lead to fervent respect from all those who follow the righteous path.

You will be able to gather subordinates and comrades with your honor, faith and charisma, regardless of their race.

Notoriety caused by your actions will be minimised to the smallest value possible..

The gods pay great attention to the Savior of the World.

The gods with an affinity will gladly offer their power.>

< You are under direct attention by the gods.

Freya, Lu, Hestia and Batali regard you as the medium of their will.

The gods are awaiting to give their blessings. >

A pillar of light descended from the sky.

Weed’s body was enveloped in flourishing light.

*****

“Did you hear? Demon king Cletta wants to take over the world.”

“Somewhere in the continent, a devastating plan is being plotted which none of us are aware of…”

“The true savior doesn’t appear at the brink of destruction. He prevents the crisis before it occurs.”

“Have you heard from the priests? There is a rumor of a savior blessed by the gods. I fear that we are facing war.”

Weed’s adventure lifted the spirits of the people of Versaille.

“Hmm.”

“Sherwood-nim. Are you thinking…”

“I don’t know. There were no reports of Weed’s activity… This ominosity.”

“Should we strike Tulen as we agreed on before?”

“Let’s set that aside for now. We need to see how the situation will turn out.”

The slightest suspicion of Weed’s return had put a break on the great lords’ ambitions.

Oberon, who was in charge of the empire, ordered a ceasefire and suddenly, they all abided obediently. No one wished to make the mistake of crossing Weed outright.

*****

The tainted lands of Caolrya!

This was the worst location of the 10 forbidden regions where living creatures endlessly turned into monsters and multiplied.

Weed mobilized the sculptural creatures.

“I have some work for you all after a long while. It must have been good to relax for so long.”

– I will devour anything in my path.

– I will freeze them to death.

– No monster can stand under the might of the Phoenix!

King Hydra, Bingryeong and Phoenix.

A trio of massive sculptural creatures that reigned both land and the sky.

Thanks to all the hunting, they went through significant growth and were in the level 800s to  900s.

‘These guys are really an overpowered bunch.’

At first, Bingryeong didn’t even have proper motor skills after just being brought to life.

This makeshift dragon screamed that it would melt down when travelling to places where it was just a bit warmer.

It became consistently stronger through monster hunting over a long period of time.

It dominated the sky and bombarded the monsters on the ground. Almost nothing posed a threat as it possessed tough skin and the ability to freeze nearby enemies.

Furthermore, it travelled great distances with its large wings, capable of hunting thousands of monsters in a single day.

Bingryeong’s presence dropped the temperature of the entire region by 4 or 5 degrees.

But the Phoenix was a level above even that.

Since birth, it was more powerful than the other sculptural creatures and hunted the most efficiently. It set fire to the land and massacred its enemies.

It had the polar opposite  environmental resistance and roamed around Jigolas, hunting monsters without rest.

Plup!

Once it was out of stamina and mana, it recovered by diving into a lava lake.

Its overflowing pool of health points displayed insane capabilities as it increased in levels.

King Hydra was also formidable.

Nine heads attacked independently and the increase in levels unlocked the ability to turn enemies into stone and cast shamanic spells.

Several heads striking with magic and shamanic spells simultaneously was truly fearsome.

Weed mobilized the three bullies all at once.

“The final imprint of Cletta should be somewhere in the corrupted land of Caolrya. The way to find it is…”

He also proceeded with the information from the great library and quests because he was given the savior quest of slaying Demon King Cletta. Even then, there wasn’t a detailed description of the location other than the fact that it was in Caolrya.

“Let’s just wipe this place out entirely. I’m sure we will come across something.”

– I like that.

– I will freeze everything.

– I will set everything ablaze.

When King Hydra, Bingryeong and Phoenix exterminated the monsters, Weed summoned the Undead. Even after having become the savior, the gods did not favor the summoning of the Undead. Still, Matallost the god of death rained down his blessings.

< Matallost bestowed powerful health points and defense on the corpses.

The corpses become stronger as more of them rise from their graves, they will gather together and curse the enemies that stand in their way. >

Matallost was the god of death who guided the dead.

There was a time where he was neglected by humans and had to cooperate with the Embinyu Church to overcome the weak link between worlds, but through the casualties of war he recovered his divine power. He supported Weed fully, with high expectations for the future!

“We are here too.”

“You can’t have a fight without me!”

Pale, Python, Marinated Crab, Irene, Geomchi and the other Geomchis arrived and began to cleanse the land of monsters. Monsters spawned endlessly from the void in the earth and places welled up with chaotic powers.

As the war waged, even more monsters spawned but they were taken care of one step at a time.

< Goddess Freya offers her blessing.

Her authority empowers your body.

Strength is increased by 2. >

< Goddess Hestia is mesmerized by your valiant courage.

Your abilities that use fire are increased by 2%.

You can create eternal fire. >

The longer they fought against the demonic servants, they were bestowed more and more blessings of the gods. Some offered temporary empowerment and others provided permanent stats and skills.

“This is a little uncomfortable.”

Pale spotted Weed’s frowning face.

“What’s the matter?”

“The way they are pouring down on us makes me think this mission will be a great challenge.”

“No way.”

“Millions of people get caught off guard. I have special memories like this particular occasion.”

Typical players rarely visited Caolrya!

In the final area, they encountered the hegemon of the region.

The right hand servant of demon king Cletta!

Blink!

< Defeat Demon Butler Mahilgorta.

Mahilgorta is the commander of the demonic legion, Cletta’s most trusted subordinate.

He is a warrior that knows nothing but war!

If you are captured or killed by Mahilgorta, your soul will be corrupted.

If you wish to avoid becoming part of the demon legion, you must prevail or escape this instant.

Difficulty: S >

“…”

The battle quest appeared before Weed and his comrades at once.

“It says here that if we lose, we will become demon soldiers.”

“Isn’t that like losing your character?”

Pale and Surka were astonished.

If one were to turn into a demon legion soldier, he would lose physical control.

Unless he is killed in battle several times or cleansed, he must act as a demon soldier.

It was a devastating penalty, even more so for the higher level players.

“This is a huge risk.”

Weed thought briefly about leaving Mahilgorta, but that did not last long.

‘I’m different from before. If I die while hunting, my daily life is unaffected.’

He was the owner of Unicorn Corp!

Though he did pick up all the items on the ground out of habit, his life was completely different. He did not have to sell footage to broadcast stations or put equipment on auctions.

People often will say generosity comes from full pockets. If things go south while doing things out of good will, he could always recover from the losses.

“Then, I guess I’m going fir…”

While Weed was still preparing to set out, the Geomchis were already charging ahead.

“Wahhhh!”

“That punk is mine.”

“Let’s get rowdy.”

Python and Marinated Crab were also spotted after them.

It was a boss level monster they were up against, but they were just immersed in the heat of the battle.

– For Cletta-nim!

Black smoke emerged and demon warriors about 4 meters tall were summoned one after the other. Mahilgorta wielded a curved sword and a whip in his hands.

– Cletta-nim will recreate this world!

Crash!

Mahilgorta’s whip striked the air, splitting the earth and causing surges of poison clouds.

“That’s quite something.”

“This one will put up a good fight!”

Geumchi and the apprentices commenced battle.

Their priority was to penetrate through the lines of demon warriors while Mahilgorta continued to crack his whip extending dozens of meters.

The battlefield was a shallow swamp and full of rotten trees.

From the black smoke, a stream of demon warriors continued onwards.

“I will provide backup.”

Pale opened his palm and an arrow sprouted from the ground into his hand.

Having completed various elven and the World Tree quests, he was able to create wooden arrows anywhere.

Pale swiftly loaded his bow and fired.

“Forest Arrow!”

Pew-pew-pew!

Arrows landed near Mahilgorta. They seemed to have missed the target, but soon the arrow spots began rumbling and trees sprung out of the ground.

The trees with thick vines and leaves started attacking Mahilgorta and the warriors.

– It is futile.

The sudden forest could not push back the demons but it did cause chaos among them.

Still, the battle was unfavourable.

The demon warriors kept spawning and getting captured by them would mean losing control of their bodies and becoming one of them.

“We have to kill them first before they get to us!”

“Attack! We must kill the big one over there first!”

The thrill and excitement from hunting a boss level monster was insane!

“This is sweet. You can never get enough of this feeling.”

Weed grasped the Dragonslayer Axe in his hand.

It was the best axe of all for splitting demons apart.

As his Blacksmithing skill reached Advanced level 7, his racial limits were released and stat penalties were reduced to half.

“Sculptural Destruction! All will become Strength.”

It was time for a battle of merciless power.

*****

Weed and his comrades worked hard and overcame Mahilgorta together.

– It’s a shame. Still, Cletta-nim’s return is inevitable…

The last words of the villain were somewhat ominous.

Mapan walked over with his swaying belly.

“Weed-nim, you have done a lot.”

“It wasn’t as bad as I expected.”

The demon butler. In the worst case scenario, he was even expecting to take on Cletta himself. He prepared the Brazier of Sacrifice just in case, and Mahilgorta had tried to summon the imperfect Cletta but he lacked blood and sacrifices. It was because Weed’s adventure was earlier than they anticipated.

“Weed-nim. We cleared out all the debris left by the demons, so what now?’

“What do you mean?”

“The Arpen Empire. Are you just going to let the great lords slide?”

“Hmm…”

Mapan wished for Weed to subside the chaos within the empire.

The entire continent was headed for war, but if Weed were to appear before them, the situation would turn out differently.

Since many still followed Weed and many more were fearful of Weed, he believed that the signs of a rebellion would disappear like they never existed.

“I’m just going to take a good rest. I have to play with my daughter too.”

“What about the empire?”

“Like I told you before, I am leaving it entirely to the players. The future will be shaped by them.”

“Not everyone wants that.”

Indeed there would be a great number of players who wanted Weed the emperor to lead the continent to an eternal era of peace. In fact, the Arpen Empire united the continent and recovered all the losses from the Embinyu Church, the war with the Hermes Guild and the Kaybern outbreak. But now, the extended age of peace was about to burst due to tension between the colliding factions. If he were to suppress them with force, the future would probably be far more stable.

Royal Road was a different reality than the real world and war was not necessarily a bad thing.

“Peace has lasted long enough. We need room for conflicts and reconciliation. We all contribute to the result and accept it for what it turns out to be.”

The real world of Lee Hyun became more peaceful. With money, he could accomplish just about anything.

“Are the children having proper meals?”

– Most of the world seems to have transitioned away from starvation.

“What about the crime rate?”

– In South Korea, it has gone down to a tenth. Japan and the US are also reinforcing patrols and prevention via their security departments.

He was commencing a global project for crime prevention.

Lee Hyun’s idea of Russian prison cells had not been thought out particularly well. However his unimaginable influence meant that it was adopted almost instantly, with countries across the world collaborating to send criminals to Russian prisons.

It naturally led to a reduction in crimes. In the past, there were many prisoners boasting about the number of charges. Many more considered a prison sentence some kind of work experience and their life in prison did not convert them.

It was common to see prisoners befriending one another.

However, once the announcement about the Russian prison was released, the crime rate dropped steeply and so did cases of drunk driving.

A society where people willingly upheld the law was taking form.

“How is the pension system?”

– The response from the public is positive.

Lee Hyun was concerned about coming up with a countermeasure against the rising unemployment rate and living expenses.

The world had gone through industrialization and the information age into the era of automated robots.

The number of employees needed in companies declined, leading to a decrease in income which resulted in a potential economic crisis.

‘This should be rectified by the politicians.’

Unicorn Corp initiated a plan to distribute pensions to the struggling citizens.

It was huge political news that it was not a country but a private corporation that released funds. Along with the base pension system, people were able to find stability.

Base models of refrigerators, washing machines and vacuums were also provided for free.

Lee Hyun had other reasons for initiating such a policy.

“Put a limit on how much money you make.”

– I will take caution.

AI Versailles was raking in a stellar amount of money in the financial sector each day.

The business of Unicorn Corp was flourishing and the shell companies for tax evasion also scaled greatly. Money made money, but it was long past that and Unicorn now controlled a huge amount of funds over the entire world. Lee Hyun never imagined he would say something like it.

“Don’t be too greedy for money.”

– Roger that.

“Hmm-hmm. Not all people are like me. See how I’m not greedy anymore now that my life is stable?”

The AI was slowly becoming more like Lee Hyun.

It showed an attachment for money and its efforts to fulfill its desire was about to create a global crisis. The pension program set out to the world led to many lazy citizens, but it was inevitable with the advancement of technology reducing the need for human labor.

Similarly it led to an increase of new players in Royal Road annually.

Lee Hyun watched the broadcast of the Arpen Empire ultimately getting ripped apart.

– Weed-nim is the only emperor we acknowledge.

– Oberon-nim has no legitimacy!

The great lords ended up distancing themselves from the Arpen Empire and they had their fair share of reasons for it.

Weed was the one who was supported heartily by the players and he was at the core of the Arpen Empire. He had left the empire unregulated for a long time and everyone was living the way they desired.

– Tulen was our territory to begin with. Blacklion Guild will open up a new age for Tulen.

– Cloud Guild does not discriminate. Let’s create a world of mercenaries.

– Follow Roam. He promised to distribute all shares equally.

Millions of players assembled at each faction and they collided against another.

It was rare to have billions gathering like the Garnav Plains War, but since the overall level of players increased, the power was almost on par.

“With the field set, they are so eager to fight.”

Odin Fortress had once again become the center of war.

The Blacklion Guild and the Roam Guild put all their forces and over three days, the magic spells wiped out even the foundation stones.

Countless cities, villages and fortresses got swept up in the war and were destroyed.

The losses from Kaybern’s rampage were extensive already, and as the entire continent fell into a conflict, stealing and destruction became the norm.

It was common to see players destroy things so that the other side cannot take them.

– Hermes Guild! They set out from the Haven region and conquered the Kalamor region.

– Are they taking steps to retrieve their lost honor? The combat squad of the Hermes Guild are riding on pterosauruses.

– We call them pterosaurs for simplicity, but their real name is rather complex; Cawdralope?

– Yes. The Hermes Guild bred and tamed them. They do not possess reliable combat abilities, but they can travel far distances at high speed.

The Hermes Guild mobilized its forces to conquer the nearby regions. They unleashed all the power that they had saved up and this made the other great lords uneasy.

The Northern Continent was bombarded with phone calls.

– We want Weed-nim’s return. Oberon must resign!

– Oberon must take responsibility for not being able to maintain the empire.

– Castle Vargo is announcing independence. However, upon Weed-nim’s return it will gladly return into the folds of the empire.

The North, the haven of novice players, had a high population density.

Their levels were much lower compared to those from the Central Continent, but they showed constant growth by hunting, causing higher level players to join.

The lords used a lot of these players to create conflict.

Though they were cautious under the Arpen Empire, they had begun to raise forces in Weed’s name. But now, among the commotion, there was a surprising announcement that astonished everyone.

– We will establish a new kingdom. Join the Arth Kingdom.

The City of Arth.

It was located where the Northern Continent and the Central Continent connected. It developed with intermediary trade, mining, and the residential sector including expensive villas and houses.

The clean streets and the natural environment of Arth attracted merchants and high level players. Lord Robin announced the establishment of the Arth Kingdom and started a huge rebellion.

– No way. The first rebellion ever?

– The Blacklion Guild’s official objective is to recover the Tulen region. I’m scared.

– They are outright going against the system of the Arpen Empire. They announced a new kingdom.

– Where did they get that courage?

The players of Royal Road were extremely surprised and observed the actions of the Arth Kingdom.

“Did someone set this up? The Hermes Guild? I bet it’s them.”

“Someone is behind all this. This seems to have been plotted well.”

“Will there be conflict in the Northern Continent too?”

The great lords pushed their intel network to the maximum but they could not comprehend the Arth Kingdom. It seemed as if the situation in the North would rage, but it was unexpectedly quiet.

– The nearby cities refused to join the Arth Kingdom.

Robin had trust in the lords in the nearby cities when he established the kingdom.

‘If I raise my forces, I’m certain they will join my cause.’

He had spent years developing good relationships, hosting many drinking parties.

He believed that once he had his own kingdom, he would be able to acquire the land and population for a mid-size kingdom in a short time. However, only eight lords joined him and those eight confirmed the weak faction and turned their backs.

– We are not associates of the Arth Kingdom. We had a certain relationship due to the proximity, but starting today we will cut all ties off with Arth City.

– It is all a misunderstanding. We will remain lords of the Arpen Empire.

The mid-tier lords backed out swiftly and found their way out.

They were shrewd, running away after having taken so much from Robin!

– The merchants of Arth wanted to transfer locations, expressing that they are not involved with Arth.

The merchants based in Arth were moving out of the city.

From their point of view, as merchants who were based mainly in the Northern and Central Continent, the Arth Kingdom would be isolated from either side.

“What are they doing out of the blue?”

“He was suffering from King’s syndrome and he had it coming.”

“I thought this was all a joke until now.”

The merchants left and the players in the region had no motive to fight for Robin.

“This guy always boasted about himself and his money. He always blabbered about uniting the continent which is baffling.”

“He needs to get wrecked to come back to his senses.”

“Nah. He just won’t get it.”

– Lord Surka announced the conquest of the Arth Kingdom.

Weed’s comrades were also lords in the Northern Continent.

They put in their passion to develop their cities and players who followed them due to their high reputation.

Surka even did an interview live.

– I met Robin-nim at the lord banquet party at the Earth Palace two years ago.

– How was he?

– He was so full of himself. I’m going to clobber him.

Surka’s speech caused the Northern players to crowd like a storm.

It was human nature to side with the probable winner.

Surka had the legitimacy, faction and even the popularity; it was such a one-sided battle.

Surka led his forces and conquered the Arth Kingdom.

The walls of Arth City were tall and equipped with defensive systems, but one could hardly call it a proper siege.

The players who participated as mercenaries to defend Arth did not even draw their weapons. They waited idly on the walls and eventually opened the gates.

“Come in. Welcome, everyone.”

“Thank you for opening the doors.”

“Ah, don’t mention it. The lord castle is at the center of the city.”

“Alright, then. We will meet later.”

Surka’s forces had conquered Arth city ever-so-peacefully.

“How could this happen…?”

Robin lost all hope of ever sitting on a luxurious throne.

Surka wanted to give him a beating but in an instant he felt bad for Robin.

“Ehem. I don’t like this atmosphere. Just go.”

“This is my kingdom.”

“So you do want a beating? I’d be happy to.”

In the end, lord Robin was kicked out without a single penny.

Some said to take his life or set a restriction order on Robin to set an example across the entire continent, but Surka refused. The reason was that Robin no longer had a faction and he was low level.

The birth and death of the Arth Kingdom in turn became a display that made many reevaluate the power of Weed’s comrades.

These players received lands that were practically barren. Other than the times they would get together for hunting and adventures, they spent the rest of their time peacefully governing their provinces.

After some time, they had grown into great lords in the Northern Continent.

Pale for example ruled one of the top 5 cities in the North and their influence and power was reassessed.

“This could be fun.”

Lee Hyun loved watching fights.

The continent could split into several kingdoms once again.

“But, I do feel like I’m even more busy than before.”

– It is because you are involved in various fields.

Lee Hyun helped out those in need; those who could not pay rent, let alone feed themselves and have disposable income. Young breadwinners and people too sick to work were guaranteed a baseline standard of living.

The environmental issues were difficult to deal with for any government. For such issues, the Unicorn Corp stepped in.

“Let’s clean up the garbage in the ocean as soon as possible.”

– I will have it taken care of by the end of this year.

“I would like to send in the robots and sort out the garbage. Burning or burying all of it is a waste of resources. There’s much to be recycled.”

– I will implement it starting next month.

Unicorn Corp conducted an eco-friendly business costing billions of dollars.

It was a project for the entire world which received positive reviews in conserving resources and preventing environmental pollution.

He fully exploited the press for political affairs.

The media owned by Unicorn Corp released information concerning the corruption and scandals of politicians.

“They are rotten to the core.”

– Politicians are all the same.

They removed these politicians like a chain of sausages only for them to be replaced by similar individuals. Sometimes they were more corrupt, hypocritically criticizing the corruption and lobbying at the congress.

“Take care of those guys too.”

– I will proceed.

If they were to continue to weed them out, eventually the waters would be filtered clean.

He had the faintest hope that preventing personal gains from politics would make it a better world.

‘I’m not some expert in social issues or politics.’

Lee Hyun felt doubt at times whether or not he should be involved in fields in which he had little experience. It was because not all the things he involved himself with turned out for the better.

‘Still, I have to give it a go. Who else could?’

Even if he wasn’t an expert, he thought it was fine to get involved with good intentions.

After all, perfection is the enemy of progress and nothing would ever get done if we always waited for a perfect solution.

Social and political issues, by their nature, weren’t ideas with a complete solution in the first place.

“Let’s work hard to make this world a better place.”

– Understood.

“Also, it’s about those loan sharks from before. They’re still alive, yes?”

– They are maintained in their status of imprisonment. Would you like to take a look?

“No need. I would feel the drive to toy with them. None of them atoned?”

– None, whatsoever.

“Send them away to Russia.”

Chapter 8: Weed & Bard Ray

After the Hermes Guild conquered the Kalamor region, Bard Ray himself made a statement.

– We respect the progress that has been made. We will keep the policies of the Arpen Empire, but it is a rule of nature that the strong will be the ones to rule.

It was a statement that they would not exploit the players like they had done in the past and would rule for the sake of power while leaving the achievements of the Arpen Empire intact. It excited the players who were bored by the long era of peace.

High level players had no reason to disagree with the attitude of the Hermes Guild.

On the other hand, the players who were afraid and concerned were relieved to hear that the Arpen policies would stay in effect.

Bard Ray announced once again after invading Tulen.

– We will not repeat our past mistakes. If we do, rise up whenever.

The Hermes Guild confirmed their emphasis on ruling by power.

– This is incredible. Hermes Guild vs. the Blacklion Guild!

– I bet that the Hermes Guild will win.

– Still, it’s gonna be a spectacle.

– Total war. Will it be a reenactment of the legendary War on the Garnav Plains?

– It’s not at that level. Then it would be one of the legendary battles.

– Hey grandpa. Your humor is so outdated…

– Sorry. Take it as a joke.

– Gasp… I can’t breathe.

– Laughing makes you smile.

– This man is weird. Let’s run.

– Don’t go. Let’s dance at the gates of hell!

The discussion board went ablaze after such a long time.

The broadcast networks also became active like there was rain in a drought.

Executive Kang of KMC Media. He had been promoted from being a mere manager and organized a special program.

“Pour all of our resources into this program! There will be a war against CTS Media.”

The viewer rate of the broadcast stations had stagnated for a while.

Executive Kang missed the days when Weed brought up the viewer count and in turn expected the Hermes Guild to stir up something huge.

“The tides of war are approaching. It has been a long time since something this big happened. The battle against the Blacklion Guild will only be the beginning.”

With the anticipation of all players and the broadcast stations, the two guilds collided at Fortress Laconne.

Carlise roared from the central tower and commanded the battle.

“Magical siege cannon, fire! Stop their approach!”

The Blacklion Guild grew steadily under the influence of the Arpen Empire.

Using the vital region of Tulen, they fortified their defenses and recruited new guild members. They raised fortresses in advance for the day the Hermes Guild took over the Kalamor region and invaded Tulen.

It was far sturdier than Fortress Odin that had existed since the beginning of Royal Road and was fully equipped against magical attacks.

The magical siege cannon fired dozens of magical beams one after another.

“This will be the grave of the Hermes Guild!”

The Blacklion Guild fought valiantly.

They signed a contract with the Blacksword Mercenaries and combined their forces, drawing all the high level players in the region.

The guild was well aware of the Hermes Guild’s threat level.

Before Weed, they were considered unstoppable.

Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild had bent down on their knees and had grinded their weapons until now, so they had to be stopped somehow.

“If we crush the Hermes Guild, we will have the opportunity to dominate the continent.”

Carlise put everything he had into this war.

The Blacklion Guild too did not hesitate to do the same unlike in the past.

They sincerely planned to take Tulen and the nearby regions, Kalamor and even Haven.

“Break the gates!”

The warriors led by Boemong chopped down the gates with axes and invaded.

“Stop them!”

“We are the black lions!”

The players that waited inside pushed against the invaders.

Magic and arrow attacks were fired at the flying units in the sky, causing the pterosaurs to drop with sharp screeches.

The power balance was maintained quite extensively.

“Get out of the way!”

That was until Bard Ray and his elite guards came into the scene.

They overpowered the defending forces and pushed inside.

Their levels were at least 100 higher than other players and displayed overwhelming power.

“Send in our elites too!”

Vindel and his comrades set out from the Blacklion Guild but they could not hold out for even five minutes. Bard Ray and the elite guards penetrated through the enemy with various skills. The Blacklion Guild members concentrated their attacks on Bard Ray but he withstood them all.

“You can’t inflict a single serious wound.”

Bard Ray and the Hermes Guild had grown more powerful during all the time they were busy expanding their own faction.

The difference in power was immeasurable.

The Hermes Guild proceeded to take over the fortress with overwhelming force.

*****

The Blacklion Guild was defeated in the siege, lost all of Tulen and retreated to the Rasal region.

“There is no need for us to take on the Hermes Guild alone.”

“That’s right. We haven’t been lazy all that time.”

The guild reorganised its forces.

“We will join forces with Lionstar and continue to wear down the Hermes Guild.”

Carlise prepared a strategy. In exchange for giving up their land, they acquired a wide battlefield. Their strategy was to hunt down the Hermes Guild and come out victorious in the end.

They burned down villages and cities, slayed many Hermes Guild members and achieved significant military exploits.

– For Arpen!

– The Hermes Guild is a threat to the continent.

They never forgot to sell the name of the Arpen Empire for their gains.

It was an overused excuse but it did represent the act of maintaining order of the Arpen Empire.

Aside from the Hermes Guild and the old prestigious guilds, Norton, Nest, Gradian, Ritten, the Britten Alliance, Aidern, Dale, Brent, Rosenheim and Subain: in the region of old kingdoms, there were factions of different players.

The lords of the Arpen Empire gathered their powers and formed small to large factions.

– The ones who will suffer the losses from the conflict of the great lords are the weak like us. To not be taken advantage of, we need to stick together.

– I will lead the order of a new world.

– We are sick of war without meaning. Those who want freedom, collaboration and challenge come to us.

Many players spread their influence on Royal Road through hunting and quests. Some were lords, others were knights that became reputable enough to create or become part of a faction. Like so, war was endless much like the early days of Royal Road, resulting in the destruction of cities and villages.

6 months!

It was the time taken for the production in Versailles to be reduced to half.

The players suffered significantly one battle after another, but they had entered a stage where they could no longer stop themselves.

Even if lasting peace dangled in front of them, they striked first so they would not be betrayed.

“The days of the Arpen Empire may have been boring, but it sure was peaceful.”

“Whew… Well, we cannot stop now.”

The great lords knew that they would not be able to recover from a single fall and therefore they fought even more desperately.

The motto of the Hermes Guild was simple.

– Power rules supreme. We are the strongest in the continent.

There were no tricks. These enthusiastic fighters gained the trust of the players with sheer power.

– We will not forfeit the North to anyone.

The lords of the Northern Continent united with Pale as the pivot.

They swore to avoid involving themselves with the conflict in the Central Continent, but they would not allow an invasion into the North. Many of these lords had played together since the birth of Morata and they had the history of the Arpen Empire deeply engraved in their memories. Though there were some issues of command among the lords, they quickly assembled before Pale.

“We urge Pale-nim to be the emperor.”

Oberon too expressed that he was willing to pass up the crown. They would get together on occasion to hunt with Weed and they had no greed for reputation.

If Weed were to return, it was highly likely that everything would return to normal.

The Central Continent was a mess, but uniting the North was as easy as flipping one’s hand for someone of Weed’s reputation and calibre.

“Oberon-nim, please continue to take care of the Arpen Empire.”

“This is too much for me to handle. The Central Continent refuses any sort of communication. Even the Northern players are blaming me for everything. This is too stressful.”

Oberon wore a tearful face.

Pale also understood his feelings but there was no choice.

“Weed-nim said Oberon-nim must maintain the seat of the emperor.”

“Weed-nim said that? Why?”

“Um… It’s complicated.”

“I don’t understand. You spent the most time with Weed-nim. It’s only common sense that it should be succeeded by Pale-nim.”

“7 packs…”

“Pardon?”

“He said it was because you ate 7 packs of his ramen.”

Weed never forgot even the tiniest grudge!

He put Oberon in the seat so he could suffer as much as he pleased.

*****

Bard Ray stayed at Castle Formoss of Tulen.

“A war of attrition… It isn’t easy to conquer the continent just with our forces alone.”

The Hermes Guild was continuing to grow. For the sake of world domination, they had to accept even more players and become stronger.

One step at a time.

He was not going to risk making the same mistake in his conquest as last time.

“Attain more power. Then show it to the world. The Hermes guild has no need for tricks and deception.”

Bard Ray’s level reached 850.

The defensive skills he acquired as the Ironblood Warrior also reached master level!

He dueled against Carlise but he won easily without any effort.

Boemong spoke in awe.

“We address you as the world’s strongest, the God Warrior. They acknowledge your strength.”

“Fighting against others is not important. Weed. I must defeat him to be called the God Warrior.”

Bard Ray, funnily enough, did not feel any satisfaction from winning against Carlise.

It was preordained and turned out exactly as expected.

The other lords were also powerful, but he did not think of them as his equals.

“Weed. If you fight against him, you will definitely win.”

Boemong believed that Bard Ray would come out ahead. But, truthfully the future was vague and uncertain. Almost all of the top ranked players in the guild could not escape the deep sorrow of defeat they felt against Weed.

Even Bard Ray was not exempt from it.

After the Arpen Empire united the world, he was anxious about not hearing anything regarding Weed. He could not imagine the kinds of quests and hunting he might be doing to train himself. The last time they met, Weed’s confirmed job class was a warrior.

Only after hunting countless monsters and completing his physicality as the Ironblood Warrior had he acquired a bit of confidence.

Bard Ray spoke with a heavy tone.

“I must challenge Weed. I won the first time at the Melbourne Mines and lost at the Garnav Plains. Now, we have to determine who really is the true winner.”

“We believe in your victory.”

“Let’s crush him.”

“Let everyone know that the age of Arpen will soon end.”

Arkhim, Gaushu, Lamifter.

They respected his will.

Indeed it was a dangerous challenge. Nonetheless, Weed was the largest challenge before the Hermes Guild members could claim the continent in earnest. Without defeating him, they would not be able to shake off the anxiety.

– I, Bard Ray, will state a challenge.

Emperor of Arpen, god of war, Weed.

I request an honest duel.

Decide on a time and location.

The strongest player will be decided.

Bard Ray’s challenge heated up Royal Road.

– An amazing match is about to happen.

– How long has it been? Weed and Bard Ray going at it…

– This is the fight of my dreams. The Emperor of Arpen and God Warrior Bard Ray!

– The number 1 of the continent will be determined!

The news spread rapidly.

The media broadcasted it as urgent news, bringing all the discussion boards into an intense frenzy.

– I will make a bold bet on Weed’s victory. Based on what he has shown us up until now, it is more than plausible. Weed did win their last battle after all.

– Weed-nim is the best. His hunting speed was and still is legendary.

– He had a slow start as a sculptor, then proceeded to wreak havoc as a necromancer and now he’s an unstoppable warrior.

– He is the living god of grinding. I cannot even imagine how much stronger he has become.

– Bard Ray hunted so much after the Arpen Empire united the continent. Bard Ray fought every single day. I can say there is no player stronger than Bard Ray at this point in time.

– Bard Ray’s battles are sheer perfection. He absolutely dominated Carlise. Stomped them without even 1% chance of fighting back. What makes you think Weed will be different?

– KMC Media assessed Bard Ray’s combat level once. Attack at peak level. Defense at peak level. They reported that after becoming the Ironblood Warrior, he will not die against enemies 2 or 3 times more powerful than himself.

– Even Weed… There is no way he can win against the current Bard Ray. Nobody can.

All the discussion boards were filled with speculation about who would come out on top.

It was a historical event that would determine the future course of the continent.

– The variable is that it’s been a long time since Weed-nim appeared.

– What if… Could he have quit Royal Road?

– Nah. No way. That makes me anxious.

– What if he got in some sort of accident?

– Official rumors say that the Grass Porridge Goddess gave birth to her daughter…

– He married a goddess. I respect that.

– When he wakes up, the goddess is sleeping under the same blanket. What kind of life is that?

– If there is heaven, I bet the residents there are going on a strike saying, “Why does it seem more happy over there?”

– If I was him, I would never lose my smile even if I lose to Bard Ray.

– I have lived in the same neighborhood as Weed-hyung since I was young. He stole so much bread from me. I met the goddess and her daughter around the corner the other day. I bet he’s in heaven right now. If it was me, I would never come back to Royal Road.

Thousands of posts talked about whether their battle would happen.

Weed heard of the news at one of the hunting grounds.

“Bard Ray’s challenge.”

He did feel that he had to fight him eventually. The players would not allow him to slip.

As the man who established the Arpen Empire, it was his duty to accept the challenge.

“My concern is that the chance of me losing is rather high.”

He did not recover from the time of relaxation at the island.

After some contemplation, Weed made an official statement.

– I will gladly accept Bard Ray’s challenge.

27 days from now.

Let us have a match at Morata’s Coliseum on the memorial day of the Kaybern War.

The shantytown area where Kaybern descended to the ground.

There is a Great Landmark, a massive coliseum that can hold up to 80,000 players.

He stated the duel to take place in a space made for combat and performances.

Bard Ray replied within the hour.

– I appreciate that you accepted my challenge. I will be waiting.

*****

Weed bought himself a bit of time and trained at the dungeons.

< You have leveled up. >

The growth of a warrior.

He honed his combat skills and became stronger one level at a time.

He engraved the Savior skills into his muscle memory.

< Power of Courage >

< Song of Hope >

< Furious Retaliation >

< Blessing Salvation >

The Savior skills not only empowered himself but also his comrades in the vicinity.

He also possessed a massive AOE skill that he could unfortunately use only against villains.

Bard Ray having spent so much time hunting had erased his infamy.

“Power of Courage. This is an empowering skill against murderers. That’s a shame.”

He had gained 23 levels in 27 days.

Weed level was now 769.

Bard Ray was said to have exceeded level 800.

“I will get to know just how much stronger he has become when we begin the fight. He hadn’t shown his all against Carlise…”

A smile of excitement dressed his lips. The battle against Bard Ray was going to be a blast.

*****

– Woah. Wahhh!

– Fight to your heart’s content! Let’s have the best day of our lives!

– For victory!

– I have waited for this day!

The coliseum was filled with people all the way to the stairs from the day before the event.

Bard Ray came early in the morning and waited in the middle of the coliseum.

‘I don’t want any staring contest. I’m waiting. Come whenever.’

He had lived for this day and was only grateful for having a chance to fight.

If Weed did not accept his challenge or quit Royal Road, he would have felt lost even after conquering the continent.

– Grrrraak!

Weed appeared just before noon riding on Wyvern3.

That moment, the entire coliseum echoed with the shouting of the crowd!

The sounds of the people were intense, almost deafening.

Wyvern3 circled the inside of the coliseum majestically and landed before Bard Ray.

Weed spoke as his feet touched the ground.

“It’s been a while, God Warrior Bard Ray.”

“Emperor of Arpen. I am standing here to righteously recover my title.”

“I believe the people still refer to you as the God Warrior.”

“Memory of defeat does not befit a God Warrior. After today, they will call me the best.”

“That won’t happen without my consent.”

Wyvern3 raised dust as it took flight once again.

Weed and Bard Ray glanced at each other.

‘I heard he was deep in the life of combat. Indeed he seems different. A rough but sharp warrior? Something like that.’

‘Weed. I guess he did not depart Royal Road after all. I can see his confidence. He will be much stronger than the last time.’

Weed carefully inspected Bard Ray’s equipment.

Before uniting the continent, he was able to identify just about any equipment, its attributes, traits and even the market price. Now he was nowhere at that level, but he could still notice the quality of the equipment or popular traits.

‘The armor and boots are the Transcendent Set. Level requirement 880. He did not take them out for the fight against Carlise. I didn’t think his level could reach that far…’

There was a saying that the player level mattered most in a one on one fight.

It was not just a simple case of higher stats. The achievements and skill proficiencies from a longer time in hunting; he would have acquired even physical power as an Ironblood Warrior.

‘No. Level 880 would have been certainly doable for me. That kind of level is difficult to achieve in the straight and honest way without the help of my Undead.’

Upon inspecting again, he noticed that Bard Ray was equipped with the Belt of Harmony.

It reduced the level requirement of other equipment by 5%.

‘Even then, it means his level is likely over 830.’

Bard Ray’s sword was engraved with a figure of a demon.

Succumbed demon!

Possessing a demon sword meant he put the demon in submission and unlocked all its powers.

Bard Ray also scouted his opponent.

‘His sword, his armor. I don’t recognize any of them. Not even a rumor. They must be extraordinary. I’m likely against the odds in terms of quality of equipment.’

During his prime in the Hermes Guild, he never thought once about being surpassed in equipment. It was a different story compared to Weed who completed numerous quests and claimed the dragon’s lair.

‘This will not be easy.’

Their eyes clashed and the air around them tightened.

Shrrrrng!

Bard Ray first drew his Succumbed Demon Sword.

Weed also drew almost simultaneously, showing the Loa Sword.

He had obtained a better magical sword from the dragon’s lair, but this one was comfortable and also for another reason.

In one hand was the sword and in the other was an axe!

His Strength had reached a point where he could now dual wield weapons.

It was a perfect combination allowing both attack and defense as needed in hunting as a warrior.

Whirl!

The two did not move.

10 seconds, 20 seconds.

They weren’t looking for an opening.

They had already analyzed one another through video footage and other mediums, and the moment the fight breaks out, they would have to act spontaneously.

T-tap!

Weed was the first to move.

“Sword Cloning Technique!”

As he became a Savior, the power of his sword skills increased drastically.

Over a 100 clones formed and flew towards Bard Ray.

“Roaring Earth Pillar!”

Bard Ray’s response was to strike down on the ground with his demon sword.

It was a simple but powerful warrior skill.

Countless pillars surged into the sky and exploded. Over half of the sword clones were penetrated and disappeared.

‘Even Bahamorg could not be pushed back with just clones.’

Even though it was a secret sword technique, it was better suited for confusing the enemy or against a crowd.

Weed caused a distraction with the clones and aimed for the rear.

“Sword of Brilliance Technique!”

The Loa Sword was shrouded with light as he swung it firmly. At the same time, he dashed forward as he slashed upwards with the axe in his right hand.

“Sky Slash!”

*****

At KMC Media, Oh Joo Wan, Shin Hye Min and Do Chan Mi were commentating on the battle between Weed and Bard Ray.

– Weed is the first to be on the offensive. He starts with his Sword Cloning Technique!

– It is a secret sword technique. Much more powerful than those used by the average player…

– Bard Ray is also retaliating with a massive skill of his own!

The commentators brought up the heat right from the beginning.

A battle between Weed and Bard Ray was difficult to predict even with their experience and they could not turn their eyes away even for a second with all the viewers watching the event.

– Weed caught Bard Ray’s rear. Sword attack.. No. He also strikes with his axe. He is attacking with both hands.

– Bard Ray swings backwards and deflects the attack. He took some damage, but it doesn’t seem that deep.

The screen showed Bard Ray kick off the ground and pounce right back.Clang-clang-clang!

Bard Ray’s sword was stopped by Weed’s defense.

Weed turned away most of the attacks with the Loa Sword and offset Bard Ray’s balance.

Swaaash!

With each opening, the axe came down fiercely to destroy its enemy!

– This is insane. He has mastered the sword and axe. It is already hard using just one, but he is using them in combination!

– It looks like Weed is dominating in weapon mastery.

– Incredible. Controlling the distance and executing each movement perfectly is truly breath-taking like a storm.

Oh Joo Wan was fervently watching the stream.

There were many occasions where he was too bored from talking about the Continent of Magic.

After the dragon incident, not too many worthy events occurred and he had never seen such a spectacular match before.

Weed executed a flurry of 100 consecutive attacks and backed away.

‘His defense is high.’

Some irregular attacks did succeed.

The Loa Sword and the Dragonslayer Axe hammered Bard Ray’s body but did not have any effect.

‘It’s like the weapons are just bouncing off. It feels like I’m knocking on a wall of steel.’

Bard Ray was an Ironblood Warrior even back when he fought against Kaybern and acquired the skill Dragon Skin as a combat achievement.

It had reached the master level and even without armor, his base defense was outstanding.

‘It will be tricky to deal with.’

Weed felt with the early trade that his opponent was tough. In turn, it meant that the fight would be even more enjoyable.

– Wow!

– You’re the best, Weed-nim!

– Bard Ray fights well. Indeed he is the God Warrior!

– Awesome. This really is the duel between the God of War and the God Warrior.

The colosseum was occupied by the shouting of the spectators.

Weed and Bard Ray on the other hand had no attention to spare for their surroundings.

< The Ironblood Body trait recovers from wounds on its own.

2,863 health points will be recovered per second. >

Bard Ray did lose on the early exchange. Though it was coupled with combat skills, it was a trade of basic weapon mastery.

‘Weed. His sword technique may be extraordinary, but so is mine. I continued to train by slaying monsters.’

Bard Ray never once was pushed back by anything.

No matter how bloody the fight, he always pulled through on his job.

He fought without being intimidated against powerful and dangerous monsters and after becoming an Ironblood Warrior, he lost any hesitance.

He believed there was no end to the improvement of his combat skills and he proved it in the fight against Carlise, but it wasn’t enough against Weed.

‘He prepared a special strategy. Dual wielding sword and axe. He is a tough opponent with just his sword.’

After the face-off, he felt he was beyond wielding the two weapons. Weed cut his rhythm with the sword and axe, limiting Bard Ray’s movements and seemed to act as if he was reading his mind.

‘To see that he is capable of such weapon mastery.’

This was on another level compared to when he copied the singularity attack.

‘His attacks make my body numb.’

He was shocked mentally but not to the degree that it would affect his performance.

He learned how to fight against monsters more powerful than himself.

Similarly, Weed’s overall combat abilities did not exceed his own.

‘I can see that he boosted Strength with Sculptural Destruction. Each light swing is a heavy blow. Still, my physical ability is superior.’

The transcendent level of defense and the combat achievements and stats he accumulated proved it.

‘I am at the pinnacle of warriors. I beat more competitors than I can count since the start of Royal Road.’

Bard Ray’s eyes lit up.

Weed realized too that his opponent would not be intimidated so easily.

‘His eyes seem like he considers me prey.’

He had planned to take the lead by dual wielding, but it had little effect.

‘I spent over two months practicing it.’

Weed and Bard Ray gathered their breath, their eyes locked on the opponent.

They had completely recovered from the damage they inflicted on one another.

“…”

“….”

Bard Ray had no intentions of striking first.

He had mastered the Black Knight class and reached the pinnacle in physical stats as an Ironblood Warrior.

He aimed to take Weed’s best attacks straight on and overcome them.

‘Try all you want. I will prove that no tricks can win against me.’

Bard Ray always pursued one goal, perfection in power. He wanted to show to the world that he did not get an edge just for this fight, but had achieved a level of everlasting dominance.

‘I have to go in closer again.’

Weed saw through it but was not going to avoid a confrontation.

‘Ironblood Warrior… It would be challenging to break but there is no such thing as absolute defense.’

*****

Geumchi was sitting among the crowd along with the apprentices.

“Like always, our youngest was born with senses.”

“Yup. Using two weapons like that.”

Geumchi2 also made a compliment.

Seeing Weed and Bard Ray clash brought them a sense of  awe.

“Many think that the axe is an easy weapon to wield… That’s when you’re swinging it around with pure strength alone. Maximizing the attack power with pinpoint strikes is the difficult thing to pull off.”

“You’re right. Balance and pivoting have to be consistent. On top of that, he restrains the opponent’s movement with his sword, which is impossible without natural talent no matter how much you train.”

Even just theoretically, it was a vigorous level of mastery!

They casually observed the battle.

“He can defend against Weed pretty well.”

“He does not lose composure. He far exceeds the level of typical players.”

Watching fights was indeed exciting.

Geumchi3 sighed deeply as if he was disappointed.

“Bard Ray. I should have been the one to pummel him.”

“Hey third, you’ve met him before?”

“Yes, master. I did one time. I fought well but I lost.”

He was outscaled in level, skill and equipment, and it was more than reasonable for him to have lost. Geumchi3 was still disappointed in how he was never able to penetrate through Bard Ray’s defense.

Geumchi4 and Geumchi5 were astonished.

“You lost?”

“Then isn’t our youngest in trouble too? The shock would be immense if he were to lose in front of all these people.”

Geumchi3 shook his head.

“Youngest is different from us. He hasn’t even started yet. You all know why the master likes him.”

Everyone witnessed how the youngest learned the sword at the dojo.

At first, in their eyes, Weed was an amateur in both skills and stamina.

Simply put, he was a weakling!

However, all of that changed once he got fired up from fighting a strong opponent.

He pulled all sorts of tactics and unleashed his abilities.

Whenever he charged with a huge grin on his face, even the instructors had to be on alert.

“There is nothing scarier than fighting against someone unpredictable. On top of that, he has talent and meticulously finds the smallest opening.”

*****

Weed put on the Dimensional Portal Gloves.

Then on, he started to see portals for short travels.

‘If you’re all about defense, I’m going in.’

Weed kicked off then quickly passed through a portal. He changed locations by travelling through space, but Bard Ray’s eyes caught up instantly.

‘As I thought, this won’t do. Then what if I use an old strategy? I gotta try it out.’

Weed activated the Final Secret Sculpting Technique.

“Moment Sculpting!”

It was a skill that paused the world.

He had a surplus of time energy stored for all that time he did not have to activate it.

He circled behind Bard Ray and swung the Loa Sword.

“Heraim Sword Technique!”

< The 1st consecutive attack succeeded.

Agility has increased by 20%.>

< The 2nd consecutive attack succeeded.

Strength has increased by 40%.>

< The 3rd consecutive attack succeeded.

Agility has increased by an additional 40%.>

< The 4th consecutive attack succeeded.

Strength has increased by an additional 40%.>

Four attacks landed after another.

This method was how he was victorious at the Garnav Plains.

‘Back then, this was the breadwinner.’

He predicted the opponent’s movement and landed 29 consecutive attacks for the win.

It was an instance, but there was no other option.

There was only one window of opportunity provided by Moment Sculpting which had fortunately succeeded. If the battle extended even just a little, he would not have prevailed.

Once Bard Ray swung around, he activated the Moment Sculpting Technique again and reversed positions.

< The 5th consecutive attack succeeded.

Heavy blow.

Agility has increased by an additional 30%.>

< The 6th consecutive attack succeeded.

Strength has increased by an additional 50%. The splash damage from the shockwave deals 15% of attack power.>

< The 7th consecutive attack succeeded.

Agility has increased by an additional 30%.

Strength has increased by an additional 20%.

< You have consumed 1500 mana, inflicting ranged attacks. >

7 attacks followed up like bolts of lightning but it did not feel like Weed inflicted serious damage. For the Heraim Sword Technique to become strong enough, he still had to succeed with several additional attacks.

‘He must have been prepared for this attack. Of course he would be.’

< The 8th consecutive attack succeeded.

Agility has increased by an additional 15%.

Your attacks apply Knockback. >

< The 9th consecutive attack succeeded.

Strength has increased by an additional 25%.

You almost stunned the enemy, but the enemy withstood it. >

This was the timing where the Heraim Sword Technique reveals its true power.

Weed was about to follow through with the technique when he was visited with an abrupt sense of danger.

It was his instincts alerting him whenever something unexpected was coming his way.

He backed away and activated a different skill.

“Sandstorm of Destruction!”

An enormous sandstorm brewed from the ground.

It was massive in scale that could wipe out just about any monster all at once!

Bard Ray also activated the skill he was preparing in advance.

“Blood Insignia!”

A crimson mark appeared on Weed’s forehead.

“Foresight Defense!”

He also activated a defensive skill that nullified almost all attacks.

Bard Ray penetrated through the sandstorm and dashed.

“Unstoppable Strength!”

Three warrior secret techniques were used in succession.

Ch-ch-chang!

Weed swung his sword and axe and deflected the blows.

Though he had used Sculptural Destruction, he was pushed back.

Within the distracting sandstorm, Bard Ray’s sword lightly slashed across Weed’s chest.

< The Blood Insignia has been latched onto your body.

The blood of a warrior calls for a grudgeful vengeance.

Health points are reduced by 43,279 points based on the damage inflicted. >

Weed retreated via the dimensional portals.

The brewing sandstorm in the coliseum slowly subsided and Bard Ray looked bold and firm.

He was standing proudly with a sword, welcoming any attacks headed towards him.

Weed grinned.

‘Of course he was prepared.’

He had prepared for the Blood Insignia by taking the attacks intentionally.

The Heraim sword technique stopped just by deflecting or delaying one of the attacks.

He nullified an attack with Foresight Defense, and increased his own strength for a counterattack.

‘This is fun.’

Weed felt his blood boil after ages.

Each cell in his body was awake and his mind was clear.

‘Yeah. This is the feeling.’

Weed began to smile with his teeth exposed.

*****

A long time passed after the battle between Weed and Bard Ray.

New heroes emerged in Royal Road and players cheered for their adventures.

Cities and villages were destroyed and the continent was swept by natural disasters.

Players caused war, compromised and made miracles happen during their time in Royal Road.

War and peace. Rest and development.

Royal Road remained at its best.

It had been long since the dream of students was to become the emperor of Versailles, adventurers and Moonlight Sculptors.

Lee Hyun happened to come across the KMC Media channel while scrolling through the TV channels.

– Oh Joo Wan-ssi. It seems that the Grave of the Evil God is still not allowing adventurers.

– That is right. According to the books, it has 99 underground floors but no one has descended below the 60th floor.

– Would anyone be able to clear it at all? Or would it remain impossible?

– Some adventurer guilds assess the dungeon as impossible but no one can guarantee it. As you may already know, we have already had Weed who created miracles against impossible odds.

Shin Hye Min was still active as the front commentator of KMC Media.

After a long relationship with Oh Dong Man, they married and had their honeymoon at Puhol Waterpark in the evening.

It was now a trend for people to spend their honeymoon in Royal Road, but it was also because she wanted to commentate live at the festival of Puhol Waterpark.

“The Grave of the Evil God…”

Lee Hyun was a little interested but soon let it go.

He had trained Weed to be a jack of all trades, capable of adventure, production, combat and excavation.

He could attempt to clear the grave as well but he decided to leave it for the other adventurers.

“Someone will clear it. If they can’t, oh well…”

Lee Hyun thought about how old Royal Road was.

He first started with the nickname Weed at Castle Serabourg of the Rosenheim Kingdom, exterminated the Litvart demon cave and advanced into the Legendary Moonlight Sculptor job class!

“I was half dead back then.”

He met Death Knight Van Hawk at the Sky Island, took the request from the Freya Church and saved the people in frozen Morata and sculpted Bingryeong.

“That was quite the adventure.”

He transformed into Orc Karichwi and battled against the Immortal Legion, defeated the Embinyu Church and made countless sculptures.

He was the founder of the North and emperor of the Arpen Empire.

He completed numerous adventures and now those memories became just a portion of his life. Many people were still deeply immersed in Royal Road and it was their dream and hope.

It was still a pleasant world but it was also true that new players were at a serious disadvantage. With a large pool of players over level 1000, it was difficult to catch up.

Better equipment, technology and opportunities were available and training speed was much quicker than in the past but there was still a gap that could not be overcome.

“I thought there would be the release of a new virtual reality game.”

Lee Hyun realized as more time passed that Yoo Byung Joon’s accomplishment was incredible. Royal Road’s experience and influence was so sophisticated that no other game could compete against it. Funnily enough, the creator was spending loads of cash, buying a cottage in Puhol Waterpark and watching beautiful ladies.

“What about developing a new game?”

– Do you mean a new virtual reality game like Royal Road?

AI Versailles replied while sitting on the couch.

It was only visible to Weed and did not actually exist in reality.

The AI ran the production facilities all over the world, reduced pollution and commenced pension policies.

“Can you do it?”

– It is possible.

“Make it better while you’re at it.”

– There is a considerable amount of data compiled from the development process and maintenance of Royal Road. There are new forms of technology available. A new version of the world will be possible based on the data of the terrain, adventure, monster, players and their growth and personal taste.

Lee Hyun had a deep affection for Royal Road.

All his adventures, hunts and even the grinding were engraved as great memories.

He married Seoyoon, met people he can trust and he got to know more of the world.

Those experiences piled up and changed his life.

Even then, Royal Road was not enough for the next generation.

“Yeah, let’s do it then. For a new age.”

Upon Lee Hyun’s order, Versailles began the development.

– I will create the continent.

“Alright. Maximum capacity. Put lots of races and cities.”

– I will proceed.

The AI concentrated computing resources from all over the world.

Unicorn Corp had its giant network to begin with and the underground facilities unknown to the public were also put to the task.

– It is complete.

The new continent reflecting Royal Road’s data and the players’ response was finished in just one month. Lee Hyun spoke after reviewing the map.

“This is insufficient.”

– Pardon?

“Didn’t I tell you to make it as big as you can? Royal Road was huge too but it wasn’t perfect.”

– In what aspect?

“The form of the continent was rather too simple. For adventures you enter a dungeon or visit a forbidden location. It would have been great to have various other places to travel. The sky too.”

Lee Hyun was just like other people who loved the sky.

The joy of flying around on wyverns and griffins.

It was a bit disappointing that you could only fly with the help of flying creatures or magic.

The Avian were popular, but even they were criticized after some time that their life in the sky was too monotonous.

In terms of the sea, most people left it as a field of mystery.

Not many would be interested or able to roam the deep seas.

In virtual reality, their dreams were easily fulfilled.

“We need more places like the Underwater City and the Sky Island. It would be good to have new races as well. We need ocean kingdoms ruling several large islands.”

– I will reflect on the changes.

The AI reconstructed the continent based on Lee Hyun’s additional requests.

This time, it wasn’t just a map but a model where he could observe different parts of the continent. Lee Hyun was observing a location of boiling lava and shook his head.

“… This is not enough.”

– In what way?

“This has to be truly amazing. The scenery has to be beautiful. Their hearts have to pound whenever they get away from the city.”

– I will reflect on the change.

“The kingdoms too. We have Haven, Kallamore and the  Britten Alliance. We know their background but it feels like the history doesn’t flow in them.”

– History?

“It feels like these kingdoms died a long time ago and only the shells remain. It was always just a target of conquest. The kingdoms need to go to war against another, produce and open up lands. The players will ride along too.”

The AI had to put up with his nagging.

It recreated the continent and set up the kingdoms, job classes and races again.

“Design more adventures.”

– The majority of the responses was that Royal Road had a sufficient number of adventures.”

“There have to be dreams and fantasies. The realms of demons, gods and spirits  have to be explored more… There must not be a limit in achievements and growth.”

– Acknowledged.

“It will be different from Royal Road. A huge population of players will begin altogether. Creating just another typical world is meaningless. We need to help them dream.”

*****

Bard Ray never ceased to hunt even after his duel against Weed in Morata.

He led the Hermes Guild to clear dungeons and new challenges.

He accomplished many combat achievements in Jigolaths, the land of giants and one of the ten forbidden locations and thus confirmed the title God Warrior as his own.

‘This is getting lonesome…’

Bard Ray often began to think about back when he had Weed as his competitor.

He thought it would relieve his thirst if he was feared and respected by all other players.

– The Hermes Guild conquered the continent.

– The birth of the United Empire!

He accomplished a great achievement, but it had already been completed by Weed.

Only after becoming the emperor did he understand what Weed felt when he left his empire to be torn apart.

‘There is nothing more to achieve here. He is a true adventurer.’

Bard Ray was always wary of Weed’s combat abilities. He realized later that his true ability was in his challenger’s mentality.

Bard Ray may have surpassed him in player level, but he could not do the same in achievements and mindset.

‘I won at the Melbourne Mines… I lost every other battle.’

Bard Ray also decided to lay down the sword after conquering the continent.

“I want to become a farmer. I heard that growing crops is the most satisfying experience.”

Recently, farming became a major trend in Royal Road!

It did not matter if one’s job class was not a farmer.

All that was needed was a hefty piece of land to be seeded and farmed. Building a home on your own turf was the trendsetting lifestyle.

“Where is a good place I wonder?”

Bard Ray contemplated where he wanted to settle down and then he thought of Morata.

He did visit a few times and the liveliness of Morata was amazing. What’s more is that the land in proximity was permanently blessed by the Goddess Freya.

Any kind of crop grew extremely well, making even novice farmers proud of their work.

Bard Ray liked the abandoned farmland to the east of Morata.

Through the Mapan Council, he connected with the player who owned it.

“Sell it to me. Is 200k gold enough?”

“Gasp. 200k gold?”

“I can give you 500k.”

“Are you serious?”

“I can give you a million. Are you selling or not?”

“I’ll sell right now!”

Bard Ray took over the farm and planted various crops.

Wheat, grapes, strawberries, peaches, watermelons, honeydew melons and kiwis.

He could see that each morning the crops grew a little more and soon after, the fruits grew into huge sizes.

‘I raised these fruits with my own hands and I feel proud of them.’

Bard Ray felt a deep, pleasant sensation with farming that he could not experience by hunting. Crops grew on his farm and flowers bloomed at the corners.

‘This is what I established. I made this.’

Glancing at the crops every morning was ever-so satisfying.

‘The farm feels a bit empty with just crops.’

Bard Ray went to Morata and bought some chicks.

Chirp-Chirp!

The cute yellow chicks scrambled around the farm.

‘Let’s get a dog too.’

He brought a white puppy and built a barn for a cow.

Woof-woof!

Mooo!

The farm tasks multiplied and so did his level of fulfillment.

‘Life is too short to waste it. One needs to find enjoyment in life.’

Bard Ray reminded himself how painful it was to compete.

His life could have been happy with some relaxation, but he was in a constant state of stress.

‘Competing fiercely had just been a stage in his life.’

Bard Ray told himself that as he collected the ripe peaches and headed for Morata.

Coincidentally, a farmer’s market was open at the eastern gate.

“Selling ripe watermelons!”

“Have a glass of tomato juice. It is made of real fruit. My cooking is Intermediate level 4.”

“Master of farming! A farmer with advanced level 2 farming harvested these grapes. They are huge and sweet. You will never get bored of this taste!”

Bard Ray sat at the corner and laid out his peaches.

It was a shame that he had to sell these crops that he put so much care into.

‘This would also be what farmers must endure.’

As he waited patiently, he kept hearing the voices of other farmers.

“Buy some honey. Honey! This is from the garden of the fairies. It is really sweet and good to put in any dish.”

“A special product only found in elven forests. This here is the leaf of the World Tree. It is the best ingredient for any savory magical dish!”

“Selling Devil Fruit. Only for those who know of its true value. It’s only on sale for 10 minutes!”

There were a variety of products being sold at the farmers market; more than what Bard Ray expected. Of course, typical fruits were being sold in huge quantities.

“Selling juicy peaches. I will refund them if they don’t satisfy your tongue! Buy it and taste it right away. I am confident!”

Peaches!

Bard Ray took a peek and their peaches were at least half a size bigger and more vivid in color than his own.

“…”

He was the only one sitting idly without shouting to draw the attention of customers.

He did not know until now because he had no interest before. But even the farmers had severe competition.

‘Farming was also a difficult job.’

Still, Bard Ray remained quiet.

He could easily earn as much from swinging his sword once at a hunting ground, but these fruits were the product of his sweat and toil.

‘If even one customer shows up, should I sell it at a low price?’

As he waited idly, someone else opened up a shop just beside him.

Starting in the morning, there were already many players who laid out their products and sold out. Bard Ray tried not to be too mindful of them. However…

“Huh?”

Someone’s voice seemed surprised as if he recognized Bard Ray.

Bard Ray quickly turned his head.

“Please keep my identity a secret. Quietly… Huh?”

“Bard Ray?”

“You can’t be Weed?”

*****

Weed met eyes with Bard Ray.

‘What on earth is this guy doing here?’

He was thrown off momentarily but quickly scanned the situation once he noticed the peaches.

‘This guy is farming.’

He observed the quality of the peaches and made an instant analysis.

‘He’s a novice. A novice of novices!’

He heard about Weed sweeping through the hunting grounds until recently, so there was no doubt about it. It was needless to ask why he switched to farming.

The present was more important than reason!

Weed’s mouth waved.

“Farming is fun, right? It’s quite rewarding too.”

“Ah, yeah. I guess…”

Bard Ray couldn’t hide the awkwardness.

The two always competed against one another in Royal Road and met only through swords at the coliseum. He never thought they would meet at such a place.

Bard Ray too looked over and saw that Weed also had laid out red ripe strawberries.

“You farm too…?”

“Yeah. My wife and daughter do it as a hobby.”

Weed thought he would never go back to farming when he asked Seoyoon to marry him at the island. But, Seoyoon liked growing flowers and trees.

There was a wide garden at the great mansion, with furrows for crop fields.

He had purchased a farm in Royal Road as well and was enjoying the subtle joy of growing crops with his wife and daughter.

“Okay then. I need to sell these strawberries.”

“Ah, yes.”

Bard Ray deemed it was not going to be easy.

That being said, if Weed were to reveal his identity, he could instantly sell out. However, that was also the case for himself.

‘Farming is nothing to take lightly.’

Then, Weed began his marketing.

“Alright, the precious strawberries have arrived. These strawberries are rarer than treasures! One taste and these strawberries will have you set for life.”

Weed glared at the players passing by while he was shouting to attract customers!

He was conducting a market assessment right on the spot!

‘There are many tourists. These people care more for the experience than the taste or money.’

Selling a product was not a simple job. You had to stimulate their interest and turn that opportunity to results.

“Morata’s special product! The treasure strawberries are limited to selling only 3 times a year. These berries you won’t ever forget!”

A few tourists turned around to Weed. He had succeeded in triggering their interest.

A warrior who wore expensive looking armor walked over and asked.

“How much?”

“10 gold per crate.”

“No way. How are strawberries 10 gold? This guy is a swindler!”

Gold had become more common as the overall level of players went up.

They gladly played thousands of gold for equipment but cheaped out on crops.

Weed waved his head in shame.

“Do I look like someone who will rip people off for the strawberries I grew with my own blood and sweat?”

“That…  I won’t know. But the price…”

“Alright. I have a simple solution in this case. Just try one.”

“Can I?”

“You don’t have to buy them if you don’t like it.”

The warrior pulled out a strawberry from the crate and put it into his mouth. His facial expression switched as if he was dreaming.

“What in the world… This berry is….”

“It’s delicious, right?”

“It is! It’s so good! How many crates do you have here? I will buy all of them. I have money!”

He always ripped people off, but not this time.

They were excellent berries worth all the gold.

In the end, he sold crate by crate and sold out quickly!

Even Bard Ray was curious about how delicious those berries were.

*****

Weed took down his sign and spoke.

“Since we met, wanna come over and see my farm?”

“I am….”

“My wife has dinner ready. I thought we could eat together.”

“Dinner?”

“We have barbecue for dinner.”

Bard Ray could not turn down the invitation.

World conquest or honor was empty once he achieved them.

He was envious of Seoyoon more than anything!

“I will accept the invitation then.”

Bard Ray never got to sell a single peach as he wrapped them up again and followed Weed.

The place they arrived after some time was surprisingly not that far from Bard Ray’s farm.

It was the richest of the lands near Morata with pleasant scenery.

“Wow.”

Bard Ray was in awe starting from the farm entrance.

Beautiful trees grew along the path. Over a dozen different fruits were ripening. They gleamed with various colors in line like soldiers in a formation.

He could see giant corn cobs, pear trees, apple trees, grape trees and chestnut trees.

Weed’s mouth was twitching, dying to show off. However, the real boasting must sound like he is humble!

“It’s nothing. They are from seeds I collected from the Elven Forest.”

“Elven Forest…”

“I’m growing the World Tree for fun. It was hard bringing it over, but hey. What’s not possible in this world? Ah, if you want to try one of the strawberries, you are welcome to pick one.”

Bard Ray also raised strawberries at his own farm. Thus he was even more curious.

‘It doesn’t seem all that special. I guess it will taste good nonetheless.’

He carefully picked one and poked it into his mouth.

He estimated that it would be sour sweet as he observed the reactions of the people back at the market.

‘Huh…’

The scent and taste of the berry spread inside his mouth.

Fruit.

It was like a gem that was created with the essence of the earth and sky.

‘It’s good. It’s mind boggling. How can one farmer grow something like this…? How come I have never tasted this before?’

He wanted to hold onto the taste that disappeared beyond his throat.

“It’s nothing, right? Just like any other strawberry.”

He wanted to react against his teasing words but Bard Ray spoke honestly.

“This was the best strawberry I had in my entire life.”

“That’s good to hear. Farming is all about the sweat and care.”

Bard Ray nodded.

He couldn’t agree more as someone who had just started learning how to farm.

However, farming with sweat was something in Weed’s distant past.

Weed had grown to despise farming, but he put his best into it because Seoyoon and his daughter loved to grow crops and these crops would feed them.

The Plow of Raktisha instilled the essence of mother nature into his crops.

The Cloud Sprinkler enriched the land.

Weed actively utilized his equipment and his acquaintances.

He learned sowing from the continent’s best farmer Miretas and received the seeds from elf Haruna. His manual dexterity at master level helped the plants grow more healthily and his sculptural technique groomed them into beautiful shapes.

“This is truly an amazing farm. Can I look around more?”

“As you please. I will prepare the food with my wife.”

Bard Ray walked around the farm and found some sheds built with wood.

– Chirp! Chirp!

“Weed is also growing chickens.”

While he thought it was a good hobby, he walked closer and realized they weren’t chickens.

– Krrrrragh! Krrrraggh!

The baby wyverns zoomed across the dirt floor! The bunch that was much larger than chickens were flying around playing.

“What the…”

Bard Ray stuttered away, but these were pets for Weed’s daughter!

Weed had brought them as he grew an interest to grow wyverns while he rode on Wyvern3.

“What’s that?”

Bard Ray moved to the next building.

– Moooo.

The relaxed docile cry was undoubtedly a cow.

“So he has a cow like I do. Farming or transport certainly needs a cow…”

He got closer thinking it was a barn and he could see inside.

“…”

A muscular bull was standing right in front of him!

Yellowy stood with 10 other cows in visible happiness.

“What about this place…?”

Bard Ray inspected the other buildings.

– Kuuuuuaagh!

Nile, the Giant Crocodile, was playing around in muddy water.

“Woof-Woof!”

What’s more was that the guard dog rushed to the entrance and let fuming red smoke out of its mouth.

“Cerberus, the Warden of Hell?”

Bard Ray muttered to himself.

“What in the world…”

Even in the sky, something with huge wings flew around.

Wyvern3 with the scales of the Black Dragon was chasing after birds.

*****

Bard Ray even found the greenhouse and the cold storage room.

“This farm is incredible.”

With each step he could see beautiful flowers along the road.

Furthermore, there were a variety of sculptures everywhere.

Blink!

< Masterpiece! You have observed the Sculpture: A Girl With A Wide Smile.

This is the work of the Sculptor who sculpted the star and sees frozen time.

This is a masterpiece sculpted after a long rest!

This sculpture was made from melting pure Helium, deemed as one of the treasures of Versailles.

The observation of artwork increases all stats by 2 points.

Maximum health points are permanently increased by 3,000 points.

Luck is increased by 10% for a week.

There is a chance of acquiring a powerful artifact from hunting a boss level monster.

Magic resistance is increased.

You acquired immunity to abnormal mental statuses.

Curing effects of diseases is increased. >

An absurd effect from the sculpture of a girl!

‘This is a sculptor…’

Bard Ray imagined if the Hermes Guild recruited Weed.

They would have been able to devour the continent and reign over Royal Road earlier.

The establishment of absolute power that will not allow any opposition.

Of course there would have been a quarrel if he competed with Weed over the throne.

‘That is all meaningless now.’

The Hermes Guild that engulfed the Haven Kingdom and united the Central Continent was now just a part of history. Even the great defeat on account of the Arpen Kingdom.

The countless hours he spent at the hunting grounds were now only vivid memories in his heart.

‘Life… I guess you do feel a bit bitter about the things you weren’t able to accomplish as time went by.’

Bard Ray carefully examined the sculpture. What looked to be a girl of about 5 years old was sculpted out of Helium, glistening in a bright blue, like the sky.

It was the ultimate material for sculptors and one of the most rare metals in the continent.

‘I guess this is his daughter. She’s adorable.’

Then he walked about another 10 steps. He came across another sculpture.

Blink!

< Masterpiece! You have observed the sculpture of the Girl With A Wide-Brimmed Hat.

A treasure left on this world by the legendary sculptor who defies time and changes history with sculpting techniques!

This is a unique sculpture crafted from the bones of the White Dragon.

Maximum mana is increased by 2,500.

Mages will gain proficiency in elemental magic spells.

Magic resistance is increased by 2%.

Wisdom is increased by 5 points.

Art is increased by 10 points. >

This time, it was a child about 7 years old.

“….”

Bard Ray remembered that he had heard about the bones of the White Dragon.

Weed must have purchased and sculpted it.

‘He brought over the rarest materials from across the continent.’

He walked along the flower path and encountered another sculpture!

This one depicted Seoyoon and the little girl running happily.

< Masterpiece! You have observed the sculpture: Mother & Daughter Race!

A sculptor, Necromancer, Warrior; The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor, who completed countless adventures all over the continent, sculpted this artwork.

The treasure of Versailles!

Movement speed is permanently increased by 3%.

Maximum mana and health points are increased by 250% for 24 hours.

You can accelerate beyond human limits.

Agility is increased by 5 points.

Proficiency of movement skills is increased consistently.

You will reduce the chances of natural disasters in the vicinity. >

Seoyoon was smiling brightly, known as the most beautiful woman.

The sight of her and her daughter was like a movie.

As Bard Ray continued to walk, he observed sculptures after sculptures!

Weed must have sculpted for all the time he was farming.

‘This is the most precious location in all of Versailles.’

There were toys and hand marks in various places. Traces of digging and playing with sand.

Small tents put up for playing with children.

‘How happy they must be living here.’

Bard Ray felt lonely as he kept walking. He had to take a seat because he agreed to the invitation. The flower path led to the mansion on the farm.

Weed, Seoyoon and a little girl were sharing a pork barbecue by the fire.

‘They look alike.’

The daughter perfectly resembled her mother.

From the eyes, the nose, lips and her hands.

If Seoyoon were to return to her childhood again, she would look exactly like the girl smiling and eating her barbecue.

All the happiness that existed in the world was at this mansion.

‘I lost… I am defeated…’

< The End >

Table of Contents
titlepage.xhtml
The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor
Chapter 1: Birth of a Dark Gamer
Chapter 2: Wild Beast Appears
Chapter 3: The Instructor’s Request
Chapter 4: Dreadful Weed
Chapter 5: The Girl Who Lost Words
Chapter 6: Over a Barbecue
Chapter 7: Maestro of Battles
Chapter 8: The Fated Profession
Chapter 9: The City of Heaven
Chapter 10: Weed’s Role in the Punitive Force
Chapter 1: Land of Myth
Chapter 2: The Statue of the Goddess Freya
Chapter 3: The Lost Treasure of the Temple
Chapter 4: City of Heaven, Lavias
Chapter 5: The One Who Does the Worst
Chapter 6: The Meaning Behind Royal Road
Chapter 7: Nameless Statues of Lavias
Chapter 8: The Lost Treasure of Freya
Chapter 9: Princess’ Knight
Chapter 10: Mountains of Loot
Chapter 1: My Profession, Moonlight Sculptor
Chapter 2: The Stone that gathers Lightning
Chapter 3: Instruments and Intrigue
Chapter 4: Van Hawk’s Humiliation
Chapter 5: Return the Holy Relic
Chapter 6: A Bad Cold
Chapter 7: Ignorant Beginners
Chapter 8: True Blood Vampires
Chapter 9: The Great Sculpture
Chapter 10: Battle of The Black Castle
Chapter 11: Emergence of Poor Broadcasting
Chapter 1: Plains of Despair
Chapter 2: Jack of All Trades
Chapter 3: Prismatic Clothing Auctions
Chapter 4: Engraving Master Darone
Chapter 5: Shapeshifter Sculpture
Chapter 6: Siege of Ohdein Castle
Chapter 7: Dungeon hunting
Chapter 8: Weed’s hunt
Chapter 9: The Dark Gamer Union
Chapter 10: The Largest Tomb
Chapter 1: The Tomb of the Great King

Chapter 2: The Pyramid and the Dignity of the King

Chapter 3: The Power of Alcohol
Chapter 4: Grades
Chapter 5: Village of Exiles
Chapter 6: Sculpture Transformation
Chapter 7: Simple-minded Orc Karichwi
Chapter 8: Orc Wars
Chapter 9: Hall of Fame
Chapter 10: Road Selection
Chapter 1: Delight
Chapter 2: Lavias, City in the Sky
Chapter 3: First time at the Movies
Chapter 4: The Restaurant of Hotel V.
Chapter 5: Karichwi Running!
Chapter 6: Tallock's Armor
Chapter 7: Past Ties
Chapter 8: Strange Companion
Chapter 9: Sculptures of Her
Chapter 1: Pre-War
Chapter 2: Undead Legion
Chapter 3: The Lich Shire
Chapter 4: Quest
Chapter 5: The Power to Reject Death
Chapter 6: Into the World
Chapter 7: Profit and Loss
Chapter 8: Trail of Death
Chapter 9: Hall of Fame Expedition
Chapter 1: Rhodium
Chapter 2: The Golden Statue
Chapter 3: The Silhouette of a Golden Statue
Chapter 4: Northern Expedition
Chapter 5: Moonlight Sculpting
Chapter 6: Hollow Dungeon!
Chapter 7: Classical Concert
Chapter 8: Forced Quest Trigger
Chapter 9: Valley of Death
Chapter 1: Night in Morata
Chapter 2: Operation Acquire Food
Chapter 3: The Wonder of the Northern Region
Chapter 4: Conquest
Chapter 5: In the Cave
Chapter 6: A Man's Romance
Chapter 7: Moonlight Magnum Opus
Chapter 8: Korea University
Chapter 9: Planted Seeds
Chapter 10: Raid
Chapter 11: God of War Weed
Chapter 1: Skeleton Soldier Weed
Chapter 2: Origin of the Skeleton
Chapter 3: Rise of the Undead
Chapter 4: Single Point Attack Arts
Chapter 5: Treasures of Nifleheim
Chapter 6: Birthday Party
Chapter 7: High Elf Bow
Chapter 8: The Tower of Light
Chapter 9: Gathering
Chapter 10: Todeum
Chapter 1: The Land of the Vampires
Chapter 2: Seirun
Chapter 3: Quest
Chapter 4: Roselyn rescue mission
Chapter 5: Lee Hyun’s First Class
Chapter 6: The law of Local Procurement
Chapter 7: Letter of a Vampire
Chapter 8: The Slightest Hope
Chapter 9: Program Weed
Chapter 10: First M.T. (Membership Training)
Chapter 1: The day of the showdown.
Chapter 2: Todeum Expedition
Chapter 3: Silmido of Hell
Chapter 4: Wild And Hell Training
Chapter 5: Lee Hyun’s Identity Uncovered
Chapter 6: The Loots' Shadow

Chapter 7: The Victories In Heaven And On Earth

Chapter 8: Prisoner of War
Chapter 9: Elemental Sculpturing Skill
Chapter 10: Tower of Heroes
Chapter 1: Skeleton Knight
Chapter 2: The Princess’s Knight
Chapter 3: The Historic Battle
Chapter 4: Weed’s Return

Chapter 5: A Symbol of Prosperity that is Morata

Chapter 6: The Sculpture of a Daughter
Chapter 7: The vicious Morata Lord
Chapter 8: Dwarf Kingdom
Chapter 9: The Dwarf Art Hand
Chapter 10: Akryong (Evil Dragon) Kaybern
Chapter 1: Dwarven Village Iron Hand
Chapter 2: Kuruso
Chapter 3: The Secret Commissioned Statue
Chapter 4: Commander of Tremors
Chapter 5: Fight against Death Hand
Chapter 6: Continent’s Dreams

Chapter 7: Water Park for Young Dwarven Children

Chapter 8: Elemental Creation
Chapter 9: Dark Gamers’ Conversation
Chapter 10: Travelers of the Wilderness
Chapter 11: Dain’s Wait
Chapter 1: Dwarf’s Gift
Chapter 2: Undiscovered Dungeon
Chapter 3: The Strange Booklet of Gildras
Chapter 4: The Ability He Shows
Chapter 5: The Pure-White Beauty
Chapter 6: Slave Date
Chapter 7: Smith’s Curiosity

Chapter 8: Reconstruction of the Niflheim Empire

Chapter 9: Sculptor of Hell

Chapter 10: The Bull Riding Sculptor

Chapter 11: The Sculptures Erected on the River of Lamentation

Chapter 1: Wanted
Chapter 2: Alliance of the Deliverers
Chapter 3: Power of the Deliverer
Chapter 4: Strategy of Invincibility
Chapter 5: Zhuge Liang's Strategy
Chapter 6: Black Dragon
Chapter 7: Weed's Ideal Type
Chapter 8: Commander of the Battlefield
Chapter 9: The Tyrant's Return
Chapter 1: Weed’s Notoriety
Chapter 2: Blacksmith of Magic Swords
Chapter 3: The Lord of Morata
Chapter 4: 1 Deeply Touching Copper
Chapter 5: Seo-yoon’s Home Visit
Chapter 6: Sculpture of a Chil
Chapter 7: A Girl’s Life
Chapter 8: Encounter with Da’in
Chapter 9: Lonely Wanderer

Chapter 10: III-Fated Relationship With Bardray

Chapter 1: Ahreupen Empire’s Sealed Memories
Chapter 2: A Man's Journey
Chapter 3: Wings
Chapter 4: The Architecture of Ahreupen

Chapter 5:The Establishment of the Grass Porridge Cult

Chapter 6: Weed’s Song
Chapter 7: Defending Morata
Chapter 8: War Negotiations
Chapter 9: Sculptural History
Chapter 10: Ghost Ship
Chapter 11: Captain Deoreol
Chapter 1: Captain of the Ghost Ship
Chapter 2: Dinner on the island of Ipia
Chapter 3: A Ship’s Performance
Chapter 4: Weed Divers
Chapter 5: The Lost Pirate Fleet
Chapter 6: DeRon’s Aurora
Chapter 7: Adventurer of Las Phalanx
Chapter 8: The Sculpture’s Heritage
Chapter 9: Seoyoon’s Arrival
Chapter 10: Limits of the Necromancer
Chapter 1: Emotional Reunion
Chapter 2: The Emergence of Uninvited Guests
Chapter 3: Night of the Undead
Chapter 4: Battle in the Volcanic Eruption
Chapter 5: Seulroeo’s Story
Chapter 6: Inferno Dungeon
Chapter 7: Fire Giant
Chapter 8: Las Phalanx’s Race War
Chapter 9: Weed does it again
Chapter 10: Seulroeo’s Wedding Ceremony
Chapter 1: The Secrets of Founding an Empire
Chapter 2: Sculptor’s Mine
Chapter 3: Coffee Date
Chapter 4: Mithril Angel
Chapter 5: Message In a Bottle
Chapter 6: The Miracle of Life Bestowal
Chapter 7: Death Aura

Chapter 8: Counterattack in Rain, Wind, and Fog

Chapter 9: The Great Battle at Sea
Chapter 10: Friend
Chapter 1: Mermaid's Bag
Chapter 2: The great construction

Chapter 3: Teuresec’s Horn that signals Victory

Chapter 4: Visit to the Main Office

Chapter 5: Nature Sculpting

Chapter 6: A Sculptor who wanders the Continent

Chapter 7: The Grand Cathedral of Freya
Chapter 8: Rejecting Destiny
Chapter 1: Low Class Skeleton
Chapter 2: Sword Master Ash
Chapter 3: Kapua’s Ghost
Chapter 4: Uncollapsible Sand Castle
Chapter 5: Canyon of the Death Knight
Chapter 6: Furgol Fortress
Chapter 7: Song of the Death Knight
Chapter 8: Nature Sculpting - Great Disaster
Chapter 9: Hermes Guild’s Assault
Chapter 10: Great King Avannah
Chapter 1: Doom Knight Rebellion Plan
Chapter 2: The Clash With the Hermes Guild

Chapter 3: An Estimate More Terrifying than Life.

Chapter 4: Helium Sculpture
Chapter 5: Turn Undead
Chapter 6: Three Bone Dragons
Chapter 7: Calling the Storm
Chapter 8: Master of Vargo Fortress
Chapter 9: Snowfall on Christmas Night
Chapter 10: The Old Handmaiden’s Request
Chapter 11: Weed’s Call
Chapter 1: Bardray’s Ascension
Chapter 2: Grapass
Chapter 3: Zahab’s Artwork

Chapter 4: The Sculptures Zahab Wants To Leave Behind

Chapter 5: Secret Sword Skill

Chapter 6: Radiant Sword left behind the Sculptures

Chapter 7: Old Handmaiden of Rosenheim Kingdom

Chapter 8: Diary of Queen Evane
Chapter 9: Embinyu Church Invasion
Chapter 10: Escape from Serabourg Citadel
Chapter 1: The Underground Passage
Chapter 2: Refugees of Serabourg Citadel
Chapter 3: Weed’s Decision
Chapter 4: Flood and the Sphinx
Chapter 5: Church of Lugh
Chapter 6: The Genesis of Sculpting
Chapter 7: The History of the Four Races
Chapter 8: The Location of Ratzeburg
Chapter 9: Discovery of the First City
Chapter 10: The Glory of the Orcs
Chapter 11: History of Orcs
Chapter 1: Sculptures Made From Earth
Chapter 2: A Ceramist
Chapter 3: The Orc’s Quest
Chapter 4: Bird Egg Sculpture
Chapter 5: The Birth of Ceramists
Chapter 6: Forge of Hestia
Chapter 7: A Country’s King
Chapter 8: The Offering Work of the Dwarves

Chapter 9: A Meeting with a Sculptural Lifeform Race

Chapter 1: Melbourne Mine
Chapter 2: Bardray and the Royal Guards
Chapter 3: Woomba Belkain
Chapter 4: Approaching Danger
Chapter 5: Excavated Ice Beauty
Chapter 6: Special Reunion
Chapter 7: Inferior Duel
Chapter 8: Armour Taken Away
Chapter 9: Second Secret Sword Technique
Chapter 10: Helium’s Rebirth
Chapter 11: 30 Gold Event
Chapter 1: Failed Sculpture
Chapter 2: Garden of the Gods
Chapter 3: Orc’s Choice
Chapter 4: Worst Destiny
Chapter 5: Ruins of King Belsos
Chapter 6: Final Sculpting Master
Chapter 7: Spirit King’s Sculpture
Chapter 8: Choice of the Northern Lords

Chapter 9: Activities of the Sculptural Lifeforms

Chapter 10: Sulleion Tribe’s Trap
Chapter 1: Great Disaster at Rocky Canyon
Chapter 2: Fire Warrior
Chapter 3: Tubkal Peak
Chapter 4: Stone Statue in the City
Chapter 5: Black Knight’s Route
Chapter 6: Statue in the Square
Chapter 7: Hermes Guild’s Endless Greed
Chapter 8: Song for Bahamorg
Chapter 9: Monsters of Antarosa
Chapter 10: Bahamorg’s Memory
Chapter 1: New Secret Sculpting Technique
Chapter 2: Bahamorg’s Power
Chapter 3: Seo-yoon’s Smile
Chapter 4: Battle of Sisley Castle
Chapter 5: Dark Gamer’s Fate
Chapter 6: Hummingbird’s Journey
Chapter 7: Life of a Hummingbird
Chapter 8: Disaster Three Times
Chapter 9: Embinyu Church’s Suffering
Chapter 10: Talk of Heroes
Chapter 11: Sea Turtle
Chapter 1: Expansion of the Arpen Kingdom
Chapter 2: Wet Land
Chapter 3: Gathering of Paladins
Chapter 4: Roderick’s Labyrinth
Chapter 5: Sacrifice of Paladins
Chapter 6: Landlord’s Appearance
Chapter 7: Demon Slayer
Chapter 8: Large Bloody Battle
Chapter 9: Great Achievement
Chapter 10: Roderick’s Research Records

Chapter 1: Grass Porridge Cult’s Naval Warfare

Chapter 2: War on Land
Chapter 3: Battle on Yellowy
Chapter 4: Winner of Rupoi Plains
Chapter 5: Nodulle and Hilderun
Chapter 6: Time in the Past

Chapter 7: The Versailles Continent in the Past

Chapter 8: Flames of Disaster
Chapter 9: Seo-yoon Caught in Between
Chapter 10: Crossroad of Life and Death
Chapter 1: Nodulle’s Suffering
Chapter 2: Zahab and Queen Evane
Chapter 3: Battle of Portu’s Royal Castle
Chapter 4: Collapsing Castle
Chapter 5: Sculpture that Makes a Miracle
Chapter 6: Exquisite Treachery
Chapter 7: Desert of Tranquillity
Chapter 8: Person Who Calls Rain
Chapter 9: Hero of the Past
Chapter 1: Victory of the Haven Empire
Chapter 2: Metapeia Conquest
Chapter 3: Matchless Warrior
Chapter 4: In Times of War
Chapter 5: Warrior Saving the World
Chapter 6: The Disappearing City
Chapter 7: War in the Past
Chapter 8: Emergence of a Tyrant

Chapter 1: Commander of the Dark Army, Van Hawk

Chapter 2: Final Secret Sculpting Technique Quest

Chapter 3: Best Offering
Chapter 4: The Strongest Warrior
Chapter 5: Darkness, Fear and Plague
Chapter 6: Van Hawk’s Dignity
Chapter 7: Eternal Colleague Zahab
Chapter 8: Python Going to the North
Chapter 9: Embinyu Army
Chapter 1: Dulmore Fortress’s Misfortune

Chapter 2: Advance Notice of an Outstanding Performance

Chapter 3: Emergence of a Bad Warrior
Chapter 4: Eye of the Storm
Chapter 5: Weed’s End
Chapter 6: Embinyu’s Power
Chapter 7: Destination Point
Chapter 8: Traces of History
Chapter 9: Pallos’s Power
Chapter 10: Invasion of the Haven Empire
Chapter 1: Scattered Subordinates
Chapter 2: Sky Tower’s Workers
Chapter 3: Eyes of a Landlord
Chapter 4: People of the North
Chapter 5: The Will of Great Emperor Weed
Chapter 6: Tower Crashing into the Ground
Chapter 7: Black Dragon Ausollet
Chapter 8: Dementia Dragon
Chapter 9: Black Bear and Dragon
Chapter 1: Dragon’s Crisis
Chapter 2: Embinyu’s Avatar
Chapter 3: Choice of a Thorny Path
Chapter 4: Eons of Erosion
Chapter 5: The Final Step
Chapter 6: Nodulle’s Ending
Chapter 7: Time Sculpting
Chapter 8: Treasures of the Sea
Chapter 9: The Return of the King

Chapter 1: Internal Affairs of the Arpen Kingdom

Chapter 2: Kill Without Asking Porridge Unit
Chapter 3: Abyss Knight and the Hermes Guild
Chapter 4: Emperor of the Haven Empire
Chapter 5: Encounter with Subordinates
Chapter 6: Alkazar Bridge
Chapter 7: Sky Porridge Unit
Chapter 8: Great Emperor’s Quest

Chapter 9: Resurrection of a Hateful Subordinate

Chapter 1: Hero’s Short Agony
Chapter 2: Hero’s Advent
Chapter 3: Disaster Occurring
Chapter 4: Frontal Attack
Chapter 5: Weed’s Song
Chapter 6: A War that isn’t Possible
Chapter 7: Tilting War
Chapter 8: Collapsing Royal Palace
Chapter 9: Haven Empire’s Misfortune
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 1: The Meaning of Time Sculpting
Chapter 2: Teneidon’s Call
Chapter 3: Dragon’s Quest
Chapter 4: World of the Fairies
Chapter 5: Day Assault
Chapter 6: Emergency
Chapter 7: Weed the God of War
Chapter 8: Crushing Blow
Chapter 9: Haven Empire Raid
Chapter 10: Black Knight’s Fate
Chapter 1: Waking up the God of War
Chapter 2: Seo-yoon’s Father
Chapter 3: The Special Myul Griffon Knights
Chapter 4: Empire’s Fall
Chapter 5: Noble Sculpture
Chapter 6: Great Master
Chapter 7: Ratuas’ Reward
Chapter 8: Hermes Guild’s Raid
Chapter 1: Exploiter of Glory

Chapter 2: Formidable Enemy of the Haven Empire

Chapter 3: Weed’s Profit
Chapter 4: Puhol Fortress
Chapter 5: Exposed Plan
Chapter 6: Joining of the Avians
Chapter 7: A Real Hero
Chapter 1: Declaration of Surrender
Chapter 2: Hermes Guild’s Outcome

Chapter 3: Water Park that Will Earn a Fortune

Chapter 4: The North’s Largest Construction
Chapter 5: Puhol Water Park
Chapter 6: The Day that Time Stopped
Chapter 7: Desert of Tranquility
Chapter 8: Reckless Challenge
Chapter 1: Beginning of a Star
Chapter 2: Baby Star
Chapter 3: The Best Hard-Working Craftsman
Chapter 4: Second Profession
Chapter 5: The Loa Sword
Chapter 6: Hunting Record
Chapter 7: Jeong Deuk-soo’s Anger
Chapter 8: Weed’s Trap
Chapter 1: Kallapik Castle
Chapter 2: Swaying Public Sentiment
Chapter 3: Great Villain’s Dream
Chapter 4: Seeds of Attack
Chapter 5: Gluttony Demon
Chapter 6: Ripples at Fort Odin
Chapter 7: Siege of Fort Odin
Chapter 8: Seo-yoon’s Sacrifice
Chapter 1: The Marching Begins
Chapter 2: Naval Battle at Neria Sea

Chapter 3: The Appearance of the Order of Iron and Steel Knights

Chapter 4: Liberation of the Free City of Somren

Chapter 5: An Eye for an Eye
Chapter 6: The Sorcerer of Darkness
Chapter 7: A Head-on Match
Chapter 8: Heroes Assembled
Chapter 1: Time Sculpting
Chapter 2: A Brief Vacation
Chapter 3: Changes in the Garnav Plain
Chapter 4: For This Beautiful Sea
Chapter 5: Hidden Weapons
Chapter 6: Myul Visit
Chapter 7: Advanced Training Hall
Chapter 8: A New Achievement
Chapter 9: Batalli, the God of Fighting
Chapter 1: The Star of Palrangka
Chapter 2: Summon Flaming Meteors
Chapter 3: Weed’s Song
Chapter 4: The Fight of Karichwi the Orc
Chapter 5: A Knight for Wy-3
Chapter 6: Breaking Through the Trap
Chapter 7: The God Of War
Chapter 8: Last Resort
Chapter 1: Dark Rule
Chapter 2: Catastrophic Backfire
Chapter 3: Eleven Weeds
Chapter 4: End of Geihar Emperor
Chapter 5: A collapsing Empire
Chapter 6: Weed and Bard Ray
Chapter 7: Kaybern’s movement
Chapter 8: Two dragons
Chapter 1: Black Dragon
Chapter 2: Dragon Hunt
Chapter 3: Castle Aren in Flames
Chapter 4: Continental Domination
Chapter 5: Arpen Development Strategy
Chapter 6: Grand-scale Investment
Chapter 7: Tormented Weed
Chapter 8: The World in Danger
Chapter 9: Hero Rescuing the World
Chapter 1: Southern Desert
Chapter 2: Dragon’s Attack
Chapter 3: Defense of the Monsters
Chapter 4: All That Labor Work
Chapter 5: Plan of Annihilation
Chapter 6: Quest Crossroad
Chapter 7: The Way of the desert
Chapter 8: Half Elf Vishur
Chapter 9: The Plan of the Dwarves
Chapter 1: Sneakthieving
Chapter 2: Dragon’s Treasure
Chapter 3: Undeniable Danger
Chapter 4: Dragon Lair Defense
Chapter 5: The Dream of Dwarves
Chapter 6: The Great Escape
Chapter 7: Ramen Day
Chapter 8: Crisis in Morata
Chapter 1: As The Emperor Wishes
Chapter 2: The King of Devils
Chapter 3: Legendary Artifact
Chapter 4: Dungeon of Argoldia
Chapter 5: The Decision For The Continent
Chapter 6: Weed’s Scheme
Chapter 7: Construction Site
Chapter 8: The End Of The Quest
Chapter 1: In Morata
Chapter 2: Doomsday
Chapter 3: Kaybern’s Rage
Chapter 4: The Great War
Chapter 5: Red Dragon Landony
Chapter 6: Blue Dragon Ratuas
Chapter 7: The Sculptural Creatures’ Resolve
Chapter 1: World Unification
Chapter 2: Life of a dream
Chapter 3: A different life
Chapter 4: Companion
Chapter 5: The People of Royal Road
Chapter 6: Meanwhile…
Chapter 7: The Last Savior
Chapter 8: Weed & Bard Ray